pictures

Nice Grinding Surface pictures

Klarm Machining

Verify out these grinding surface photos:

Charles Perkins Centre

Image by Sidneiensis
Founded in 1850, the University of Sydney is Australia’s 1st university and is regarded as a single of its most prestigious, ranked as the 27th most trustworthy university in the world. In 2013, it was ranked 38th and in the prime .3% in the QS Globe University Rankings. 5 Nobel or Crafoord laureates have been affiliated with the university as graduates and faculty. The University is colloquially identified as one of Australia’s &quotSandstones&quot, a status similar to that of the &quotIvy League&quot in the United States and the &quotRussell Group&quot in the United Kingdom.

The university’s Coat of Arms, granted by the College of Arms are an amalgamation of the arms of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and their essential figures, heraldry and other references to the two ancient universities are sprawled throughout the university in its architecture and character. Its motto, &quotSidere mens eadem mutato&quot translated actually gives &quotThough the stars adjust, the thoughts is the very same&quot, but has been a lot more liberally translated to give, &quotSydney University is actually just Oxford or Cambridge laterally displaced around 12,000 miles&quot.

The 2013 QS Planet University Rankings placed Sydney in the leading 20 in the planet in 11 subjects more than a third of the 30 measured. The University of Sydney was ranked 8th in the planet for Education, 9th in Accounting and Finance and 10th in Law. Moreover, Sydney was placed 12th in English Language and Literature, History and Archaeology, Linguistics and Civil Engineering and Structural Engineering, the highest in Australia of these subjects. Psychology at Sydney was ranked 14th, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, and Communication and Media were ranked 16th, and the Sydney Health-related School was ranked 17th.

Its primary campus has been ranked in the prime ten of the world’s most beautiful universities by the British Everyday Telegraph, The Huffington Post and Disney Pixar, among other individuals such as Oxford and Cambridge and is spread across the inner-city suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington.

The analysis and education hub of the Charles Perkins Centre is a 49,500 square metre state-of-the-art building made to help collaboration and new ways of considering. Opened for Semester 1 of 2014, the new developing comprises a structure of six floors, plus 3 basement levels, and an location of approximately 49,500 square metres – almost twice the surface location of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Located on the north-west boundary of the University’s Camperdown Campus, bordering St John’s College and subsequent to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) – Sydney’s largest hospital and the teaching hospital of the Sydney Medical School. The hub will play a important function in fostering collaboration and multidisciplinary analysis, generating a analysis and education precinct with hyperlinks to nearby affiliated medical analysis institutes and the hospital.

This creating along with the original sandstone Anderson Stuart health-related school is my new property.

Beauty Can Be Seen in the Pink of an Eye!

Image by antonychammond
These tulips have been opening up to the sun in our garden last spring.

The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, of which around 75 wild species are presently accepted and which belongs to the family members Liliaceae.

The genus’s native range extends west to the Iberian Peninsula, by way of North Africa to Greece, the Balkans, Turkey, all through the Levant (Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan) and Iran, North to Ukraine, southern Siberia and Mongolia, and east to the Northwest of China. The tulip’s centre of diversity is in the Pamir, Hindu Kush, and Tien Shan mountains. It is a common element of steppe and winter-rain Mediterranean vegetation. A quantity of species and several hybrid cultivars are grown in gardens, as potted plants, or as reduce flowers.

Tulips are spring-blooming perennials that develop from bulbs. Based on the species, tulip plants can be in between four inches (ten cm) and 28 inches (71 cm) high. The tulip’s large flowers usually bloom on scapes with leaves in a rosette at ground level and a single flowering stalk arising from amongst the leaves.Tulip stems have few leaves. Larger species tend to have several leaves. Plants normally have two to six leaves, some species up to 12. The tulip’s leaf is strap-shaped, with a waxy coating, and the leaves are alternately arranged on the stem these fleshy blades are often bluish green in colour. Most tulips make only 1 flower per stem, but a couple of species bear a number of flowers on their scapes (e.g. Tulipa turkestanica). The typically cup or star-shaped tulip flower has 3 petals and 3 sepals, which are often termed tepals due to the fact they are almost identical. These six tepals are frequently marked on the interior surface close to the bases with darker colorings. Tulip flowers come in a wide selection of colors, except pure blue (a number of tulips with &quotblue&quot in the name have a faint violet hue).

The flowers have six distinct, basifixed stamens with filaments shorter than the tepals. Each and every stigma has 3 distinct lobes, and the ovaries are superior, with 3 chambers. The tulip’s seed is a capsule with a leathery covering and an ellipsoid to globe shape. Each capsule includes quite a few flat, disc-shaped seeds in two rows per chamber. These light to dark brown seeds have really thin seed coats and endosperm that does not normally fill the entire seed.

Etymology

The word tulip, first described in western Europe in or around 1554 and seemingly derived from the &quotTurkish Letters&quot of diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, initial appeared in English as tulipa or tulipant, entering the language by way of French: tulipe and its obsolete type tulipan or by way of Contemporary Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend (&quotmuslin&quot or &quotgauze&quot), and could be in the end derived from the Persian: دلبند‎ delband (&quotTurban&quot), this name becoming applied simply because of a perceived resemblance of the shape of a tulip flower to that of a turban. This might have been due to a translation error in early instances, when it was trendy in the Ottoman Empire to wear tulips on turbans. The translator possibly confused the flower for the turban.

Tulips are referred to as laleh (from Persian لاله, lâleh) in Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and Bulgarian. In Arabic letters, &quotlaleh&quot is written with the exact same letters as Allah, which is why the flower became a holy symbol. It was also related with the Home of Osman, resulting in tulips being extensively utilized in decorative motifs on tiles, mosques, fabrics, crockery, and so forth. in the Ottoman Empire

Cultivation

Tulip cultivars have typically a number of species in their direct background, but most have been derived from Tulipa suaveolens, usually erroneously listed as Tulipa schrenkii. Tulipa gesneriana is in itself an early hybrid of complicated origin and is most likely not the exact same taxon as was described by Conrad Gesner in the 16th century.

Tulips are indigenous to mountainous locations with temperate climates and require a period of cool dormancy, identified as vernalization. They thrive in climates with extended, cool springs and dry summers. Tulip bulbs imported to warm-winter regions of are often planted in autumn to be treated as annuals.

Tulip bulbs are usually planted around late summer season and fall, in properly-drained soils, typically from 4 to 8 inches (ten to 20 cm) deep, based on the kind. Species tulips are typically planted deeper.

Propagation

Tulips can be propagated by means of bulb offsets, seeds or micropropagation. Offsets and tissue culture methods are indicates of asexual propagation for producing genetic clones of the parent plant, which maintains cultivar genetic integrity. Seeds are most typically employed to propagate species and subspecies or to generate new hybrids. Many tulip species can cross-pollinate with every single other, and when wild tulip populations overlap geographically with other tulip species or subspecies, they typically hybridize and create mixed populations. Most industrial tulip cultivars are complex hybrids, and usually sterile.

Offsets need a year or more of growth ahead of plants are big adequate to flower. Tulips grown from seeds frequently need 5 to eight years just before plants are of flowering size. Industrial growers usually harvest the tulip bulbs in late summer time and grade them into sizes bulbs huge sufficient to flower are sorted and sold, whilst smaller bulbs are sorted into sizes and replanted for sale in the future. The Netherlands are the world’s major producer of commercial tulip plants, generating as many as three billion bulbs annually, the majority for export.

For additional information please go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip

Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars

Image by NASA on The Commons
Description: This image, acquired by the Mars International Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in Might 2000 shows quite a few examples of martian gullies that all start–or head–in a specific layer roughly a hundred meters beneath the surface of Mars. These attributes are situated on the south-facing wall of a trough in the Gorgonum Chaos area, an region identified to have a lot of examples of gullies proposed to have formed by seepage and runoff of liquid water in recent martian occasions. The layer from which the gullies emanate has recessed backward to type an overhang beneath a harder layer of rock. The bigger gullies have formed an alcove–an area above the overhang from which debris has collapsed to leave a dark-toned scar. Under the layer of seepage is located a dark, narrow channel that runs down the slope to an apron of debris. The little, bright, parallel characteristics at the base of the cliff at the center-correct of the picture is a series of large windblown ripples. Though the dark tone of the alcoves and channels in this image is not probably to be the result of wet ground (the contrast in this image has been enhanced), it does suggest that water has seeped out of the ground and moved down the slope very not too long ago. Sharp contrasts in between dark and light places are hard to preserve on Mars for really long periods of time due to the fact dust tends to coat surfaces and minimize brightness differences. To preserve dust from settling on a surface, it has to have undergone some procedure of erosion (wind, landslides, water runoff) comparatively not too long ago. There is no way to know how current this activity was, but educated guesses center among a couple of to tens of years, and it is totally possible that the location shown in this image has water seeping out of the ground right now. Centered close to 37.9S, 170.2W, sunlight illuminates the MOC image from the upper left, north is toward the upper right.

Image # : PIA01033
Date: June 22, 2000

Good Precision Turning pictures

Good Precision Turning pictures

Klarm Machining

Some cool precision turning photos:

Jantar Mantar observatory, sundial, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur in 1724 – buses, automobiles, individuals, palms, trees, photo from hotel, atmospheric distance steamy hot morning, downtown New Delhi, on pilgrimage, 1993, India

Image by Wonderlane
The Jantar Mantar is situated in the modern day city of New Delhi. It consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments. The site is one particular of five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1724 onwards, as he was provided by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah the process of revising the calendar and astronomical tables.

The primary goal of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the instances and movements of the sun, moon and planets. Some of these purposes today would be classified as astronomy.

Completed in 1724, the Delhi Jantar Mantar had decayed considerably by 1867.

There are three instruments inside the observatory of Jantar Mantar in New Delhi: the Samrat Yantra, the Jayaprakash, and the Misra Yantra.

Samrat Yantra: The Samrat Yantra, or Supreme Instrument, is a giant triangle that is essentially an equal hour sundial. It is 70 feet higher, 114 feet long at the base, and 10 feet thick. It has a 128-foot-lengthy (39 m) hypotenuse that is parallel to the Earth’s axis and points toward the North Pole. On either side of the triangle is a quadrant with graduations indicating hours, minutes, and seconds.

At the time of the Samrat Yantra’s building, sundials already existed, but the Samrat Yantra turned the standard sundial into a precision tool for measuring declination and other associated coordinates of numerous heavenly bodies.

Jayaprakash Yantra: The Jayaprakash consists of hollowed out hemispheres with markings on their concave surfaces. Crosswires have been stretched amongst points on their rim. From inside the Ram, an observer could align the position of a star with different markings or a window’s edge.

Misra Yantra: The Misra Yantra was developed as a tool to decide the shortest and longest days of the year. It could also be utilised to indicate the precise moment of noon in different cities and places regardless of their distance from Delhi – very remarkable!

The Mishra yantras have been in a position to indicate when it was noon in a variety of cities all over the planet and was the only structure in the observatory not invented by Jai Singh II.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jantar_Mantar,_Delhi

Their view #hotwinterlight #essay #lastintheset

Image by ocDeluxe
Exhaustion. Fibrillation, noise, competing frequencies. My rhythm is off and I need to find my personal heartbeat once again. It is been foggy right here all week–I typically really like fog–but the final few months have left me feeling like a zombie, all hollow and empty and inhuman, and I haven’t been capable to take pleasure in it. I wake up every morning and go about my routine, which is about all I can say. I shared this with my wife and she suggested that I take the entire day off from what I normally do. (Thanks for the viewpoint and help, honey!) This morning I opened to exactly where I left off in the Bible and read Lev. 23, the Lord is establishing rules for days of rest. Huh, interesting… so possibly I make myself a guarantee to rest today, which ironically is even a Saturday, the classic Sabbath day. And by rest I mean avoiding all factors that really feel like work, like photography in most instances. I couldn’t think about wanting to perform anyway, feeling like a zombie and all, so mostly, I’d just concentrate on becoming and paying attention–but should the temptation arise I promised myself I would not work.

Friendship drew me out of the home this morning, got my proverbial feet moving, with the guarantee of a uncommon art show downtown. A myriad of booths promoting old prints from woodcuts, etchings, monotypes, linocuts, and some I’ve heard of, like mezzotints. Input. The 1 I liked most was 00. Pass, for now.

But I also necessary space, to be in space, by myself for a whilst. Someplace a handful of blocks away, on a library hold shelf, a Philippe Halsman retrospective sat with my name on it. So I let my pal Mike know I was going to duck out for a few minutes to fetch it. The hot winter light, living, alive, impossible to ignore caught my eye. It shaped, defined, every thing about me brick and stone brought to life. I created a handful of snaps on my phone as I walked, reflex, which didn’t feel like operate and I didn’t have to perform at it, although it did little to ease my weary spirit.

Sustenance. Mike and I headed northeast for lunch, to that one hundred-year-old schoolhouse turned restaurant that serves regional microbrews. Burger and a beer and, ahh, the bliss of unhurried conversation. My burger was overcooked, like me, but the copper ale, delicious. It is often wonderful to connect with buddies more than a great meal, and the conversation welcome and prompting of reflection.

The a single aspect I really feel is at the moment missing in my life: Solitude. There’s a vacancy in time to wander and stare. And now that I truly have the day cost-free I needed to figure out exactly where to devote the rest of it. Soon after I mentioned goodbye to Mike I drove to Cathedral Park. Despite the fact that I’ve spent most of my life in Portland and in no way observed it. Pity. It’s a lengthy drive, but seemed as good of location as any and so there I went. I wavered when although crossing the Freemont Bridge, seeing how beautifully hazy the extended views have been, but expertise tells me that if I changed my mind now I’d end up nowhere. The female GPS with a foot fetish (in 1000 feet, turn left…) guided me with disturbing precision into the parking lot. Craving simplicity I slung my manual film camera more than my shoulder and left the DSLR in the vehicle.

Temptation. A crowd had formed on the primary lawn, about a group of performers with soap buckets and roped sticks. Giant morphing bubbles emerging like dragons out of thin air. The halos and reflections… stunning against the textured sky. Youngsters were running and jumping, giggling, as they popped the bubbles. Photographers everywhere, I counted at least fifty if you consist of camera phones, and excellent photographs could have/would have come easy, though it would have felt like operate to me. My shoulders drooping, held back, I moved along to wander and stare and discover: following that intuitive thread beyond my comprehension. I wandered on the dock, along the bank, by way of the trees, back to the auto, back to the park, up along the bridge pillars, down and around. I was fairly thorough in my wandering. I hurried only once, when mud disguised as grass tried to swallow my shoes.

Withdrawal. I made my way to the prime of the park in line with the bridge pillars with the hope of sitting quietly by myself for a while. A number of photographers showed shortly right after and setup tripods around me–apparently I had picked a excellent photo spot–and went about their company quietly. I listened to the sound of clacking shutters for a while and then fled back toward the river in silence.

Train tracks cut through the park I guess I had seen them on my way in, but they never really registered. Had I been a tiny more quickly I may have beaten the train, but as it had been I was cutoff. I waited patiently and then not so patiently as every freight auto lumbered passed, eventually realizing I would be there for the longer I had patience for. So I walked along the graveled tracks toward the opposite finish of the park, often reaching out with my fingers and tracing the corrugated ribs on the passing automobiles, iron fence boards. How curious to be so close to such a massive moving object with out any sense of worry or awe. And I listened, deeply, to the higher-pitch groans and screams of the metal on metal as the tracks traveled up and down like slow-moving pistons flexing around every wheel. I believed about cutting amongst the vehicles, maybe using the access stairs, or possibly hopping on a vehicle, but knew it was a bad concept for a lot of motives, and, besides, I was here to be patient and stare. By way of the gaps I noticed other folks waiting on the other side. Apparently none of us were happy with exactly where we have been. Waiting was mandatory.

We uncover our own beat in silence. Stillness and quiet are essential to sound, or rather music. It is the rests in among that support shape the rest of time. And often, maybe, we can locate stillness amongst the noise.

Right after the train passed I settled into a bench for a whilst, close to the major activity. Three guys in blue jeans, black tees, baseball caps, circling a pull wagon overloaded with buckets and bags and discarded coats. A single of the guys handed his bubble sticks more than to young woman who was carrying out a great job. A father with blond curly hair, I’m guessing German by his speech, chassed a giggling small boy with matching features. The boy about my own’s age, produced me miss my family members. A performer with a video camera bolted firmly to a helmet steadily floated by means of the action as if balancing water. Shortly following, he launched an RC helicopter, a huge one, like 650 class, and dispatched some of the bubbles with the rotor blades before moving on to far more sophisticated maneuvers. And there I sat till the last of the sun crept more than the tops of the hills, just before moving down toward the bank to explore further.

I felt a tinge of jealousy for the boulders sitting along the bank, year soon after year and watching the river flow by, the sun rising and setting, the altering light on the beautifully gothic spires of the St. John’s Bridge. But there was also ugliness here too. In another context I may well have thought this river bank a crime scene: scattered discarded clothing, crunchy and brittle, bleached from the sun the purse, riffled and cast aside the empty liquor bottle the lone shoe bobbing face down among the rotting twigs and effluvium. I’m not sure why, but I finally felt compelled to pull out my Pentax and make a couple exposures of the bridge. Practically nothing I will want to keep, likely, but the making was enjoyable nonetheless–and it didn’t really feel like perform. And that prompted me to make a couple of snaps on my telephone, to complete the set from earlier, except my telephone flashed low battery and shut down unexpectedly soon after a couple of–a casualty of the casual GPS use earlier. Or maybe a sign.

In the distance the bubble guys now wielded a smoke machine. Really unusual–the blobs of trapped smoke looked specifically like anything from a lava lamp. They even managed to trap a smoke-filled bubble inside a bigger typical one. Impressive. Still no compulsion to photograph and I moved on.

I sat in the auto for really a whilst and watched the final of the light fade away. This day would never occur once again. I guess the time was excellent for the soul, I needed time to fill the vacancy, even if the encounter wasn’t wholly successful. The essential in the ignition eventually turned, I never bear in mind selecting to do this, the transmission engaged, I backed up, unconsciously headed in a familiar path. When I passed downtown I regarded dropping by operate for a couple hours to address one thing on my backlog I’ve been avoiding for weeks and then remembered my Lev. 23 promise. Near residence I pulled more than into a grocery retailer parking lot, exactly where I am now, and started performing this, journaling. I’m extremely thankful to God for providing me the present of a day like this. My head is nevertheless foggy, but I’m still grateful even if I could not clear my head. And fog requirements time to dissipate, correct? But fog can be great as well. It can support reveal depth to shape what we may otherwise take for granted. It’s the in-between that shapes the light and it’s the in-between that shapes us, which assists us locate our rhythm. And fog increases that in-between. If it tends to make focusing challenging, then perhaps I require to concentrate on what’s close to. My loved ones is near, so I guess it really is time to go home.

Nice Surface Grinding Aluminum pictures

Nice Surface Grinding Aluminum pictures

Klarm Machining

A few nice surface grinding aluminum images I found:

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: main hall panorama (F-4 Corsair, et al)

Image by Chris Devers
See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.

Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Vought F4U-1D Corsair:

By V-J Day, September 2, 1945, Corsair pilots had amassed an 11:1 kill ratio against enemy aircraft. The aircraft’s distinctive inverted gull-wing design allowed ground clearance for the huge, three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller, which spanned more than 4 meters (13 feet). The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial engine and Hydromatic propeller was the largest and one of the most powerful engine-propeller combinations ever flown on a fighter aircraft.

Charles Lindbergh flew bombing missions in a Corsair with Marine Air Group 31 against Japanese strongholds in the Pacific in 1944. This airplane is painted in the colors and markings of the Corsair Sun Setter, a Marine close-support fighter assigned to the USS Essex in July 1944.

Transferred from the United States Navy.

Manufacturer:
Vought Aircraft Company

Date:
1940

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
Overall: 460 x 1020cm, 4037kg, 1250cm (15ft 1 1/8in. x 33ft 5 9/16in., 8900lb., 41ft 1/8in.)

Materials:
All metal with fabric-covered wings behind the main spar.

Physical Description:
R-2800 radial air-cooled engine with 1,850 horsepower, turned a three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller with solid aluminum blades spanning 13 feet 1 inch; wing bent gull-shaped on both sides of the fuselage.

Long Description:
On February 1, 1938, the United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics requested proposals from American aircraft manufacturers for a new carrier-based fighter airplane. During April, the Vought Aircraft Corporation responded with two designs and one of them, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, won the competition in June. Less than a year later, Vought test pilot Lyman A. Bullard, Jr., first flew the Vought XF4U-1 prototype on May 29, 1940. At that time, the largest engine driving the biggest propeller ever flown on a fighter aircraft propelled Bullard on this test flight. The R-2800 radial air-cooled engine developed 1,850 horsepower and it turned a three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller with solid aluminum blades spanning 13 feet 1 inch.

The airplane Bullard flew also had another striking feature, a wing bent gull-shaped on both sides of the fuselage. This arrangement gave additional ground clearance for the propeller and reduced drag at the wing-to-fuselage joint. Ironically for a 644-kph (400 mph) airplane, Vought covered the wing with fabric behind the main spar, a practice the company also followed on the OS2U Kingfisher (see NASM collection).

When naval air strategists had crafted the requirements for the new fighter, the need for speed had overridden all other performance goals. With this in mind, the Bureau of Aeronautics selected the most powerful air-cooled engine available, the R-2800. Vought assembled a team, lead by chief designer Rex Biesel, to design the best airframe around this powerful engine. The group included project engineer Frank Albright, aerodynamics engineer Paul Baker, and propulsion engineer James Shoemaker. Biesel and his team succeeded in building a very fast fighter but when they redesigned the prototype for production, they were forced to make an unfortunate compromise.

The Navy requested heavier armament for production Corsairs and Biesel redesigned each outboard folding wing panel to carry three .50 caliber machine guns. These guns displaced fuel tanks installed in each wing leading edge. To replace this lost capacity, an 897-liter (237 gal) fuselage tank was installed between the cockpit and the engine. To maintain the speedy and narrow fuselage profile, Biesel could not stack the cockpit on top of the tank, so he moved it nearly three feet aft. Now the wing completely blocked the pilot’s line of sight during the most critical stages of landing. The early Corsair also had a vicious stall, powerful torque and propeller effects at slow speed, a short tail wheel strut, main gear struts that often bounced the airplane at touchdown, and cowl flap actuators that leaked oil onto the windshield. These difficulties, combined with the lack of cockpit visibility, made the airplane nearly impossible to land on the tiny deck of an aircraft carrier. Navy pilots soon nicknamed the F4U the ‘ensign eliminator’ for its tendency to kill these inexperienced aviators. The Navy refused to clear the F4U for carrier operations until late in 1944, more than seven years after the project started.

This flaw did not deter the Navy from accepting Corsairs because Navy and Marine pilots sorely needed an improved fighter to replace the Grumman F4F Wildcat (see NASM collection). By New Year’s Eve, 1942, the service owned 178 F4U-1 airplanes. Early in 1943, the Navy decided to divert all Corsairs to land-based United States Marine Corps squadrons and fill Navy carrier-based units with the Grumman F6F Hellcat (see NASM collection). At its best speed of 612 kph (380 mph) at 6,992 m (23,000 ft), the Hellcat was about 24 kph (15 mph) slower than the Corsair but it was a joy to fly aboard the carrier. The F6F filled in splendidly until improvements to the F4U qualified it for carrier operations. Meanwhile, the Marines on Guadalcanal took their Corsairs into combat and engaged the enemy for the first time on February 14, 1943, six months before Hellcat pilots on that battle-scared island first encountered enemy aircraft.

The F4U had an immediate impact on the Pacific air war. Pilots could use the Corsair’s speed and firepower to engage the more maneuverable Japanese airplanes only when the advantage favored the Americans. Unprotected by armor or self-sealing fuel tanks, no Japanese fighter or bomber could withstand for more than a few seconds the concentrated volley from the six .50 caliber machine guns carried by a Corsair. Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington assumed command of Marine Corsair squadron VMF-214, nicknamed the ‘Black Sheep’ squadron, on September 7, 1943. During less than 5 months of action, Boyington received credit for downing 28 enemy aircraft. Enemy aircraft shot him down on January 3, 1944, but he survived the war in a Japanese prison camp.

In May and June 1944, Charles A. Lindbergh flew Corsair missions with Marine pilots at Green Island and Emirau. On September 3, 1944, Lindbergh demonstrated the F4U’s bomb hauling capacity by flying a Corsair from Marine Air Group 31 carrying three bombs each weighing 450 kg (1,000 lb). He dropped this load on enemy positions at Wotje Atoll. On the September 8, Lindbergh dropped the first 900-kg (2,000 lb) bomb during an attack on the atoll. For the finale five days later, the Atlantic flyer delivered a 900-kg (2,000 lb) bomb and two 450-kg (1,000 lb) bombs. Lindbergh went ahead and flew these missions after the commander of MAG-31 informed him that if he was forced down and captured, the Japanese would almost certainly execute him.

As of V-J Day, September 2, 1945, the Navy credited Corsair pilots with destroying 2,140 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. The Navy and Marines lost 189 F4Us in combat and 1,435 Corsairs in non-combat accidents. Beginning on February 13, 1942, Marine and Navy pilots flew 64,051 operational sorties, 54,470 from runways and 9,581 from carrier decks. During the war, the British Royal Navy accepted 2,012 Corsairs and the Royal New Zealand Air Force accepted 364. The demand was so great that the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation and the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation also produced the F4U.

Corsairs returned to Navy carrier decks and Marine airfields during the Korean War. On September 10, 1952, Captain Jesse Folmar of Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-312 destroyed a MiG-15 in aerial combat over the west coast of Korea. However, F4U pilots did not have many air-to-air encounters over Korea. Their primary mission was to support Allied ground units along the battlefront.

After the World War II, civilian pilots adapted the speedy bent-wing bird from Vought to fly in competitive air races. They preferred modified versions of the F2G-1 and -2 originally built by Goodyear. Corsairs won the prestigious Thompson Trophy twice. In 1952, Vought manufactured 94 F4U-7s for the French Navy, and these aircraft saw action over Indochina but this order marked the end of Corsair production. In production longer than any other U.S. fighter to see service in World War II, Vought, Goodyear, and Brewster built a total of 12,582 F4Us.

The United States Navy donated an F4U-1D to the National Air and Space Museum in September 1960. Vought delivered this Corsair, Bureau of Aeronautics serial number 50375, to the Navy on April 26, 1944. By October, pilots of VF-10 were flying it but in November, the airplane was transferred to VF-89 at Naval Air Station Atlantic City. It remained there as the squadron moved to NAS Oceana and NAS Norfolk. During February 1945, the Navy withdrew the airplane from active service and transferred it to a pool of surplus aircraft stored at Quantico, Virginia. In 1980, NASM craftsmen restored the F4U-1D in the colors and markings of a Corsair named "Sun Setter," a fighter assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-114 when that unit served aboard the "USS Essex" in July 1944.

• • •

Quoting from Wikipedia | Vought F4U Corsair:

The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought’s manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought, in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history (1942–1953).

The Corsair served in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, Fleet Air Arm and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, as well as the French Navy Aeronavale and other, smaller, air forces until the 1960s. It quickly became the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II. Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II, and the U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio with the F4U Corsair.

F4U-1D (Corsair Mk IV): Built in parallel with the F4U-1C, but was introduced in April 1944. It had the new -8W water-injection engine. This change gave the aircraft up to 250 hp (190 kW) more power, which, in turn, increased performance. Speed, for example, was boosted from 417 miles per hour (671 km/h) to 425 miles per hour (684 km/h). Because of the U.S. Navy’s need for fighter-bombers, it had a payload of rockets double the -1A’s, as well as twin-rack plumbing for an additional belly drop tank. Such modifications necessitated the need for rocket tabs (attached to fully metal-plated underwing surfaces) and bomb pylons to be bolted on the fighter, however, causing extra drag. Additionally, the role of fighter-bombing was a new task for the Corsair and the wing fuel cells proved too vulnerable and were removed.[] The extra fuel carried by the two drop tanks would still allow the aircraft to fly relatively long missions despite the heavy, un-aerodynamic load. The regular armament of six machine guns were implemented as well. The canopies of most -1Ds had their struts removed along with their metal caps, which were used — at one point — as a measure to prevent the canopies’ glass from cracking as they moved along the fuselage spines of the fighters.[] Also, the clear-view style "Malcolm Hood" canopy used initially on Supermarine Spitfire and P-51C Mustang aircraft was adopted as standard equipment for the -1D model, and all later F4U production aircraft. Additional production was carried out by Goodyear (FG-1D) and Brewster (F3A-1D). In Fleet Air Arm service, the latter was known as the Corsair III, and both had their wingtips clipped by 8" per wing to allow storage in the lower hangars of British carriers.

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Air France Concorde

Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Concorde, Fox Alpha, Air France:

The first supersonic airliner to enter service, the Concorde flew thousands of passengers across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound for over 25 years. Designed and built by Aérospatiale of France and the British Aviation Corporation, the graceful Concorde was a stunning technological achievement that could not overcome serious economic problems.

In 1976 Air France and British Airways jointly inaugurated Concorde service to destinations around the globe. Carrying up to 100 passengers in great comfort, the Concorde catered to first class passengers for whom speed was critical. It could cross the Atlantic in fewer than four hours – half the time of a conventional jet airliner. However its high operating costs resulted in very high fares that limited the number of passengers who could afford to fly it. These problems and a shrinking market eventually forced the reduction of service until all Concordes were retired in 2003.

In 1989, Air France signed a letter of agreement to donate a Concorde to the National Air and Space Museum upon the aircraft’s retirement. On June 12, 2003, Air France honored that agreement, donating Concorde F-BVFA to the Museum upon the completion of its last flight. This aircraft was the first Air France Concorde to open service to Rio de Janeiro, Washington, D.C., and New York and had flown 17,824 hours.

Gift of Air France.

Manufacturer:
Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale
British Aircraft Corporation

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 25.56 m (83 ft 10 in)
Length: 61.66 m (202 ft 3 in)
Height: 11.3 m (37 ft 1 in)
Weight, empty: 79,265 kg (174,750 lb)
Weight, gross: 181,435 kg (400,000 lb)
Top speed: 2,179 km/h (1350 mph)
Engine: Four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk 602, 17,259 kg (38,050 lb) thrust each
Manufacturer: Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale, Paris, France, and British Aircraft Corporation, London, United Kingdom

Physical Description:
Aircaft Serial Number: 205. Including four (4) engines, bearing respectively the serial number: CBE066, CBE062, CBE086 and CBE085.
Also included, aircraft plaque: "AIR FRANCE Lorsque viendra le jour d’exposer Concorde dans un musee, la Smithsonian Institution a dores et deja choisi, pour le Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace de Washington, un appariel portant le couleurs d’Air France."

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: SR-71 Blackbird top view panorama

Image by Chris Devers
See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.

Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird:

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world’s fastest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird’s performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War.

This Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight’s conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation

Designer:
Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson

Date:
1964

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
Overall: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 55ft 7in. x 107ft 5in., 169998.5lb. (5.638m x 16.942m x 32.741m, 77110.8kg)
Other: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 107ft 5in. x 55ft 7in. (5.638m x 32.741m x 16.942m)

Materials:
Titanium

Physical Description:
Twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft; airframe constructed largley of titanium and its alloys; vertical tail fins are constructed of a composite (laminated plastic-type material) to reduce radar cross-section; Pratt and Whitney J58 (JT11D-20B) turbojet engines feature large inlet shock cones.

Long Description:
No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71 Blackbird. It is the fastest aircraft propelled by air-breathing engines. The Blackbird’s performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War. The airplane was conceived when tensions with communist Eastern Europe reached levels approaching a full-blown crisis in the mid-1950s. U.S. military commanders desperately needed accurate assessments of Soviet worldwide military deployments, particularly near the Iron Curtain. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s subsonic U-2 (see NASM collection) reconnaissance aircraft was an able platform but the U. S. Air Force recognized that this relatively slow aircraft was already vulnerable to Soviet interceptors. They also understood that the rapid development of surface-to-air missile systems could put U-2 pilots at grave risk. The danger proved reality when a U-2 was shot down by a surface to air missile over the Soviet Union in 1960.

Lockheed’s first proposal for a new high speed, high altitude, reconnaissance aircraft, to be capable of avoiding interceptors and missiles, centered on a design propelled by liquid hydrogen. This proved to be impracticable because of considerable fuel consumption. Lockheed then reconfigured the design for conventional fuels. This was feasible and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), already flying the Lockheed U-2, issued a production contract for an aircraft designated the A-12. Lockheed’s clandestine ‘Skunk Works’ division (headed by the gifted design engineer Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson) designed the A-12 to cruise at Mach 3.2 and fly well above 18,288 m (60,000 feet). To meet these challenging requirements, Lockheed engineers overcame many daunting technical challenges. Flying more than three times the speed of sound generates 316° C (600° F) temperatures on external aircraft surfaces, which are enough to melt conventional aluminum airframes. The design team chose to make the jet’s external skin of titanium alloy to which shielded the internal aluminum airframe. Two conventional, but very powerful, afterburning turbine engines propelled this remarkable aircraft. These power plants had to operate across a huge speed envelope in flight, from a takeoff speed of 334 kph (207 mph) to more than 3,540 kph (2,200 mph). To prevent supersonic shock waves from moving inside the engine intake causing flameouts, Johnson’s team had to design a complex air intake and bypass system for the engines.

Skunk Works engineers also optimized the A-12 cross-section design to exhibit a low radar profile. Lockheed hoped to achieve this by carefully shaping the airframe to reflect as little transmitted radar energy (radio waves) as possible, and by application of special paint designed to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. This treatment became one of the first applications of stealth technology, but it never completely met the design goals.

Test pilot Lou Schalk flew the single-seat A-12 on April 24, 1962, after he became airborne accidentally during high-speed taxi trials. The airplane showed great promise but it needed considerable technical refinement before the CIA could fly the first operational sortie on May 31, 1967 – a surveillance flight over North Vietnam. A-12s, flown by CIA pilots, operated as part of the Air Force’s 1129th Special Activities Squadron under the "Oxcart" program. While Lockheed continued to refine the A-12, the U. S. Air Force ordered an interceptor version of the aircraft designated the YF-12A. The Skunk Works, however, proposed a "specific mission" version configured to conduct post-nuclear strike reconnaissance. This system evolved into the USAF’s familiar SR-71.

Lockheed built fifteen A-12s, including a special two-seat trainer version. Two A-12s were modified to carry a special reconnaissance drone, designated D-21. The modified A-12s were redesignated M-21s. These were designed to take off with the D-21 drone, powered by a Marquart ramjet engine mounted on a pylon between the rudders. The M-21 then hauled the drone aloft and launched it at speeds high enough to ignite the drone’s ramjet motor. Lockheed also built three YF-12As but this type never went into production. Two of the YF-12As crashed during testing. Only one survives and is on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The aft section of one of the "written off" YF-12As which was later used along with an SR-71A static test airframe to manufacture the sole SR-71C trainer. One SR-71 was lent to NASA and designated YF-12C. Including the SR-71C and two SR-71B pilot trainers, Lockheed constructed thirty-two Blackbirds. The first SR-71 flew on December 22, 1964. Because of extreme operational costs, military strategists decided that the more capable USAF SR-71s should replace the CIA’s A-12s. These were retired in 1968 after only one year of operational missions, mostly over southeast Asia. The Air Force’s 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (part of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing) took over the missions, flying the SR-71 beginning in the spring of 1968.

After the Air Force began to operate the SR-71, it acquired the official name Blackbird– for the special black paint that covered the airplane. This paint was formulated to absorb radar signals, to radiate some of the tremendous airframe heat generated by air friction, and to camouflage the aircraft against the dark sky at high altitudes.

Experience gained from the A-12 program convinced the Air Force that flying the SR-71 safely required two crew members, a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO). The RSO operated with the wide array of monitoring and defensive systems installed on the airplane. This equipment included a sophisticated Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) system that could jam most acquisition and targeting radar. In addition to an array of advanced, high-resolution cameras, the aircraft could also carry equipment designed to record the strength, frequency, and wavelength of signals emitted by communications and sensor devices such as radar. The SR-71 was designed to fly deep into hostile territory, avoiding interception with its tremendous speed and high altitude. It could operate safely at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 at an altitude more than sixteen miles, or 25,908 m (85,000 ft), above the earth. The crew had to wear pressure suits similar to those worn by astronauts. These suits were required to protect the crew in the event of sudden cabin pressure loss while at operating altitudes.

To climb and cruise at supersonic speeds, the Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J-58 engines were designed to operate continuously in afterburner. While this would appear to dictate high fuel flows, the Blackbird actually achieved its best "gas mileage," in terms of air nautical miles per pound of fuel burned, during the Mach 3+ cruise. A typical Blackbird reconnaissance flight might require several aerial refueling operations from an airborne tanker. Each time the SR-71 refueled, the crew had to descend to the tanker’s altitude, usually about 6,000 m to 9,000 m (20,000 to 30,000 ft), and slow the airplane to subsonic speeds. As velocity decreased, so did frictional heat. This cooling effect caused the aircraft’s skin panels to shrink considerably, and those covering the fuel tanks contracted so much that fuel leaked, forming a distinctive vapor trail as the tanker topped off the Blackbird. As soon as the tanks were filled, the jet’s crew disconnected from the tanker, relit the afterburners, and again climbed to high altitude.

Air Force pilots flew the SR-71 from Kadena AB, Japan, throughout its operational career but other bases hosted Blackbird operations, too. The 9th SRW occasionally deployed from Beale AFB, California, to other locations to carryout operational missions. Cuban missions were flown directly from Beale. The SR-71 did not begin to operate in Europe until 1974, and then only temporarily. In 1982, when the U.S. Air Force based two aircraft at Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall to fly monitoring mission in Eastern Europe.

When the SR-71 became operational, orbiting reconnaissance satellites had already replaced manned aircraft to gather intelligence from sites deep within Soviet territory. Satellites could not cover every geopolitical hotspot so the Blackbird remained a vital tool for global intelligence gathering. On many occasions, pilots and RSOs flying the SR-71 provided information that proved vital in formulating successful U. S. foreign policy. Blackbird crews provided important intelligence about the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath, and pre- and post-strike imagery of the 1986 raid conducted by American air forces on Libya. In 1987, Kadena-based SR-71 crews flew a number of missions over the Persian Gulf, revealing Iranian Silkworm missile batteries that threatened commercial shipping and American escort vessels.

As the performance of space-based surveillance systems grew, along with the effectiveness of ground-based air defense networks, the Air Force started to lose enthusiasm for the expensive program and the 9th SRW ceased SR-71 operations in January 1990. Despite protests by military leaders, Congress revived the program in 1995. Continued wrangling over operating budgets, however, soon led to final termination. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration retained two SR-71As and the one SR-71B for high-speed research projects and flew these airplanes until 1999.

On March 6, 1990, the service career of one Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ended with a record-setting flight. This special airplane bore Air Force serial number 64-17972. Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and his RSO, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Vida, flew this aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging a speed of 3,418 kph (2,124 mph). At the conclusion of the flight, ‘972 landed at Dulles International Airport and taxied into the custody of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. At that time, Lt. Col. Vida had logged 1,392.7 hours of flight time in Blackbirds, more than that of any other crewman.

This particular SR-71 was also flown by Tom Alison, a former National Air and Space Museum’s Chief of Collections Management. Flying with Detachment 1 at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Alison logged more than a dozen ‘972 operational sorties. The aircraft spent twenty-four years in active Air Force service and accrued a total of 2,801.1 hours of flight time.

Wingspan: 55’7"
Length: 107’5"
Height: 18’6"
Weight: 170,000 Lbs

Reference and Further Reading:

Crickmore, Paul F. Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996.

Francillon, Rene J. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1987.

Johnson, Clarence L. Kelly: More Than My Share of It All. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985.

Miller, Jay. Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. Leicester, U.K.: Midland Counties Publishing Ltd., 1995.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird curatorial file, Aeronautics Division, National Air and Space Museum.

DAD, 11-11-01

Cool Machining Supplier pictures

Cool Machining Supplier pictures

Klarm Machining

Some cool machining supplier images:

Australasian Gaming Expo Trade Exhibition, Paltronics

Image by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer
Australasian Gaming Expo report from Sydney; Australia – Day 2

Today was the 2nd day for the most high profile and successful gaming expo in Australia – the Australasian Gaming Expo, which is being hosted by the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour.

It’s a key time for the gaming industry in Australia with all the regulation elements, responsible gambling initiatives and such, and most of the big boys of the industry were on hand to show off their wares, with some exhibitors demonstrating significant creative flair to help showoff their latest and greatest wares.

Our friends at Human Statue Bodyart had a couple of body models made up in bodypaint (Anastasia as a butterfly and Victoria as a panda) – complete with wings, for leading gaming brand Paltronics and its latest game ‘Jungle Madness’.

The expo centre itself is huge – 15,000 square metres (about the size of an Aussie Rules football oval) and this provided more than ample opportunity for over 750 slot games aka "pokies" to strut their stuff.

The Australasian Gaming Expo is by far the largest event of its type in Australia and one of the world’s biggest.

We learned through the grapevine that a trip for 2 to Las Vegas will be won by a lucky visitor on each of the 3 days of the Expo, and this is compliments of the Gaming Technologies Association which owns the event.

We understand that over 16,000 people have walked through the games thus far, with those in the business being the majority, and no doubt a few punters, checked through the gates (but note that the games on display do not accept coins or notes).

News…

Human Statue Bodyart helps make Paltronics…

Gaming firm Paltronics was once again looking for their fair share of attention by having a few body models made up in forest like bodypaint attire to compliment their selection of games, including the very popular ‘Jungle Madness’.

There’s little doubt that folks Paltronics knew that competitors of sorts, IGT, were going all out with an Elvis promotion (including imitator), and may have also noted their ‘Sex In The City’ promotional stand from last years show.

It’s always good to see Australian companies such as Paltronics take on international giants such as IGT and promotional models are just one of the weapons that gaming companies will continue to employ in the high stakes world of electronic gaming, and the folks from the Human Statue Bodyart creative arts agency certainly helped Paltronics make a positive splash today.

We hear that more bodypainted models are on the cards tomorrow (the 3rd and final day of the expo) so be sure to check the stands, with 11am to 2pm

News…

Shuffle Master promotes The Flintstones Slot…

"We are thrilled to be able to offer such an iconic brand as The Flintstones and we feel confident that it will take center stage at the show," said Adrian Halpenny, President of Shuffle Master Australasia. "Our game development team worked very hard to deliver a final product that demonstrated meticulous attention to detail in order to maintain the high quality and authenticity of the television series. As a result, The Flintstones is a breakthrough product that is not only highly enjoyable to play as a traditional gaming machine, but also brings the much-loved characters to life with entertaining and engaging features."

Since debuting on American television, The Flintstones has endured as one of the most recognized cartoon TV shows of all time and is still shown on TV around the world. The beloved characters of The Flintstones have been a part of our childhoods for decades, and this new game allows us to play and interact with them in new and exciting ways.

Preston Kevin Lewis, Managing Director of Warner Bros. Consumer Products ANZ, said, "It is testament to the enduring nature of The Flintstones brand that the likes of Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty continue to reach new audiences in diverse areas. Shuffle Master is one of the world’s leading gaming suppliers and we’re sure these fantastic machines will provide consumers with yet another opportunity to fall in love with The Flintstones."

Designed to make a big impact on the gaming floor with its broad appeal, The Flintstones is a three-level standalone progressive, low-denomination product with a suite of exciting base games and attractive jackpot prizes. It also introduces Shuffle Master’s patented new "mini-reel" feature trigger that ignites the player’s anticipation during game play.

The game offers three interactive bonus features that provide players with the chance to win jackpots and credit prizes. Each bonus feature evokes classic scenes from the original TV show, such as the ten-pin challenge at Bedrock Bowl, the family night out at The Drive-In and the antics of Fred Flintstone’s lovable pet dinosaur in Dino’s Dig.

Every element has been carefully crafted to captivate players. The Flintstones will feature themed door trims with matching halo lighting, a unique character marquee with a built-in LCD top box, and re-mastered music and sound effects from the original TV show. The three launch games – Lioness, Peacock Garden and Tiger Power – will be supplemented with more games from Shuffle Master on an ongoing basis to keep the installations fresh and exciting.

Press Release…

IGT Highlights Innovative 3D Gaming Technology and a Star-studded Gaming Lineup at the Australasian Gaming Expo…

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 20, 2012 — International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT), a global leader in casino gaming entertainment and systems technology, announced today it will deliver new industry firsts for Australia’s gaming enthusiasts at the Australasian Gaming Expo (AGE) Aug. 21 – 23 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre in Sydney, Australia.

IGT will launch the 3D gaming technology MLD™ (Multi-Layer Display™), paired with the unveiling of one of the world’s most iconic pop culture brands, Elvis The King®. This new title is now available in Australia exclusively on the IGT bluechip Neo® Tower Top cabinet after successful launches in other global markets, along with many new games and products.

"IGT continues to provide our customers with strong game performance, the widest variety of games, the latest in systems innovation and world-class service, all of which will be on display at AGE," said Eric Tom, IGT executive vice president of Global Sales.

"Our research indicates that many players are entertainment seekers who are attracted to iconic brands and IGT delivers this with our pop culture hit Elvis The King®. This game has been adapted to suit the Australasian players’ playing style. The 3D capabilities of MLD with Elvis The King® also provides venues with a strong differentiator as they look to broaden gaming’s appeal and provide something special for players," said Tom. "Elvis The King® is packed with multiple features and number one hits."

IGT’s 3D MLD™ screens take gaming to another dimension in play. The 3D effect is simulated because the content exists on two separate LCD panels; one in front of the other which gives a depth of field, with game elements appearing and moving between the front and back screens. This allows for new game play options and heightened entertainment.

The line-up of over fifty games at AGE reflects IGT’s re-invigorated game design strategy with the legendary performance of games such as Siberian Storm® and Dangerous Beauty®. Additional games debuting at AGE include:

Black Widow® – a low denomination game with a ‘web capture’ feature during free games for the chance to accumulate additional credits.

Dakota Thunder® – featuring the ‘Thunder Shudder’.

A global leader in casino gaming entertainment and systems technology, IGT provides a holistic solution to the industry and its strength in gaming management systems and new interactive technologies will also be showcased at AGE.

The IGT Advantage Club® System will be demonstrated with new technologies such as Service Window, a small window that appears on the left hand side of the screen. The Service Window can be used for personalized player messaging and for service requests, adding a unique level of service for venues with the IGT system. The IGT Advantage Club® system is proving to be a winner with clubs in New South Wales.

IGT will again be playing host to industry experts who will present a range of topics including game floor design, customer service and systems. For more details on the free business seminar sessions visit www.igt.com.au/AGE12.

About IGT
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) is a global leader in casino gaming entertainment and continues to transform the industry by translating casino player experiences to social, mobile and interactive environments for regulated markets around the world. IGT’s recent acquisition of Double Down Interactive provides engaging casino style entertainment to more than 5 million players monthly. More information about IGT is available at www.IGT.com or connect with IGT at @IGTNews or www.facebook.com/IGT.

© EPE, Reg. U.S. Pat & TM O_.

Dangerous Beauty and Black Widow were created by High 5 Games. For more information on High 5 Games, go to www.High5games.com

Pure Depth™, MLD®, Multi-Layer Display® and Actual Depth™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pure Depth, Inc. All other trademarks are registered trademarks or the property of their respective owners without the intent to infringe. www.puredepth.com. All trademarks or registered trademarks are owned by IGT (Australia) Pty. Limited or its related entities. All information is subject to change without notice. Game type availability is subject to jurisdictional approval.

Websites

Australasian Gaming Expo
www.austgamingexpo.com

Gaming Technologies Association
www.gamingta.com

PALtronics Australasia
www.paltronics.com.au

Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
www.scec.com.au

Human Statue Bodyart
www.humanstatuebodyart.com.au

Human Statue Bodyart Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/humanstatuebodyart

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

Australasian Gaming Expo Trade Exhibition, Paltronics

Image by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer
Australasian Gaming Expo report from Sydney; Australia – Day 2

Today was the 2nd day for the most high profile and successful gaming expo in Australia – the Australasian Gaming Expo, which is being hosted by the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour.

It’s a key time for the gaming industry in Australia with all the regulation elements, responsible gambling initiatives and such, and most of the big boys of the industry were on hand to show off their wares, with some exhibitors demonstrating significant creative flair to help showoff their latest and greatest wares.

Our friends at Human Statue Bodyart had a couple of body models made up in bodypaint (Anastasia as a butterfly and Victoria as a panda) – complete with wings, for leading gaming brand Paltronics and its latest game ‘Jungle Madness’.

The expo centre itself is huge – 15,000 square metres (about the size of an Aussie Rules football oval) and this provided more than ample opportunity for over 750 slot games aka "pokies" to strut their stuff.

The Australasian Gaming Expo is by far the largest event of its type in Australia and one of the world’s biggest.

We learned through the grapevine that a trip for 2 to Las Vegas will be won by a lucky visitor on each of the 3 days of the Expo, and this is compliments of the Gaming Technologies Association which owns the event.

We understand that over 16,000 people have walked through the games thus far, with those in the business being the majority, and no doubt a few punters, checked through the gates (but note that the games on display do not accept coins or notes).

News…

Human Statue Bodyart helps make Paltronics…

Gaming firm Paltronics was once again looking for their fair share of attention by having a few body models made up in forest like bodypaint attire to compliment their selection of games, including the very popular ‘Jungle Madness’.

There’s little doubt that folks Paltronics knew that competitors of sorts, IGT, were going all out with an Elvis promotion (including imitator), and may have also noted their ‘Sex In The City’ promotional stand from last years show.

It’s always good to see Australian companies such as Paltronics take on international giants such as IGT and promotional models are just one of the weapons that gaming companies will continue to employ in the high stakes world of electronic gaming, and the folks from the Human Statue Bodyart creative arts agency certainly helped Paltronics make a positive splash today.

We hear that more bodypainted models are on the cards tomorrow (the 3rd and final day of the expo) so be sure to check the stands, with 11am to 2pm

News…

Shuffle Master promotes The Flintstones Slot…

"We are thrilled to be able to offer such an iconic brand as The Flintstones and we feel confident that it will take center stage at the show," said Adrian Halpenny, President of Shuffle Master Australasia. "Our game development team worked very hard to deliver a final product that demonstrated meticulous attention to detail in order to maintain the high quality and authenticity of the television series. As a result, The Flintstones is a breakthrough product that is not only highly enjoyable to play as a traditional gaming machine, but also brings the much-loved characters to life with entertaining and engaging features."

Since debuting on American television, The Flintstones has endured as one of the most recognized cartoon TV shows of all time and is still shown on TV around the world. The beloved characters of The Flintstones have been a part of our childhoods for decades, and this new game allows us to play and interact with them in new and exciting ways.

Preston Kevin Lewis, Managing Director of Warner Bros. Consumer Products ANZ, said, "It is testament to the enduring nature of The Flintstones brand that the likes of Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty continue to reach new audiences in diverse areas. Shuffle Master is one of the world’s leading gaming suppliers and we’re sure these fantastic machines will provide consumers with yet another opportunity to fall in love with The Flintstones."

Designed to make a big impact on the gaming floor with its broad appeal, The Flintstones is a three-level standalone progressive, low-denomination product with a suite of exciting base games and attractive jackpot prizes. It also introduces Shuffle Master’s patented new "mini-reel" feature trigger that ignites the player’s anticipation during game play.

The game offers three interactive bonus features that provide players with the chance to win jackpots and credit prizes. Each bonus feature evokes classic scenes from the original TV show, such as the ten-pin challenge at Bedrock Bowl, the family night out at The Drive-In and the antics of Fred Flintstone’s lovable pet dinosaur in Dino’s Dig.

Every element has been carefully crafted to captivate players. The Flintstones will feature themed door trims with matching halo lighting, a unique character marquee with a built-in LCD top box, and re-mastered music and sound effects from the original TV show. The three launch games – Lioness, Peacock Garden and Tiger Power – will be supplemented with more games from Shuffle Master on an ongoing basis to keep the installations fresh and exciting.

Press Release…

IGT Highlights Innovative 3D Gaming Technology and a Star-studded Gaming Lineup at the Australasian Gaming Expo…

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 20, 2012 — International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT), a global leader in casino gaming entertainment and systems technology, announced today it will deliver new industry firsts for Australia’s gaming enthusiasts at the Australasian Gaming Expo (AGE) Aug. 21 – 23 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre in Sydney, Australia.

IGT will launch the 3D gaming technology MLD™ (Multi-Layer Display™), paired with the unveiling of one of the world’s most iconic pop culture brands, Elvis The King®. This new title is now available in Australia exclusively on the IGT bluechip Neo® Tower Top cabinet after successful launches in other global markets, along with many new games and products.

"IGT continues to provide our customers with strong game performance, the widest variety of games, the latest in systems innovation and world-class service, all of which will be on display at AGE," said Eric Tom, IGT executive vice president of Global Sales.

"Our research indicates that many players are entertainment seekers who are attracted to iconic brands and IGT delivers this with our pop culture hit Elvis The King®. This game has been adapted to suit the Australasian players’ playing style. The 3D capabilities of MLD with Elvis The King® also provides venues with a strong differentiator as they look to broaden gaming’s appeal and provide something special for players," said Tom. "Elvis The King® is packed with multiple features and number one hits."

IGT’s 3D MLD™ screens take gaming to another dimension in play. The 3D effect is simulated because the content exists on two separate LCD panels; one in front of the other which gives a depth of field, with game elements appearing and moving between the front and back screens. This allows for new game play options and heightened entertainment.

The line-up of over fifty games at AGE reflects IGT’s re-invigorated game design strategy with the legendary performance of games such as Siberian Storm® and Dangerous Beauty®. Additional games debuting at AGE include:

Black Widow® – a low denomination game with a ‘web capture’ feature during free games for the chance to accumulate additional credits.

Dakota Thunder® – featuring the ‘Thunder Shudder’.

A global leader in casino gaming entertainment and systems technology, IGT provides a holistic solution to the industry and its strength in gaming management systems and new interactive technologies will also be showcased at AGE.

The IGT Advantage Club® System will be demonstrated with new technologies such as Service Window, a small window that appears on the left hand side of the screen. The Service Window can be used for personalized player messaging and for service requests, adding a unique level of service for venues with the IGT system. The IGT Advantage Club® system is proving to be a winner with clubs in New South Wales.

IGT will again be playing host to industry experts who will present a range of topics including game floor design, customer service and systems. For more details on the free business seminar sessions visit www.igt.com.au/AGE12.

About IGT
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) is a global leader in casino gaming entertainment and continues to transform the industry by translating casino player experiences to social, mobile and interactive environments for regulated markets around the world. IGT’s recent acquisition of Double Down Interactive provides engaging casino style entertainment to more than 5 million players monthly. More information about IGT is available at www.IGT.com or connect with IGT at @IGTNews or www.facebook.com/IGT.

© EPE, Reg. U.S. Pat & TM O_.

Dangerous Beauty and Black Widow were created by High 5 Games. For more information on High 5 Games, go to www.High5games.com

Pure Depth™, MLD®, Multi-Layer Display® and Actual Depth™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pure Depth, Inc. All other trademarks are registered trademarks or the property of their respective owners without the intent to infringe. www.puredepth.com. All trademarks or registered trademarks are owned by IGT (Australia) Pty. Limited or its related entities. All information is subject to change without notice. Game type availability is subject to jurisdictional approval.

Websites

Australasian Gaming Expo
www.austgamingexpo.com

Gaming Technologies Association
www.gamingta.com

PALtronics Australasia
www.paltronics.com.au

Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
www.scec.com.au

Human Statue Bodyart
www.humanstatuebodyart.com.au

Human Statue Bodyart Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/humanstatuebodyart

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

Australasian Gaming Expo Trade Exhibition, Paltronics

Image by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer
Australasian Gaming Expo report from Sydney; Australia – Day 2

Today was the 2nd day for the most high profile and successful gaming expo in Australia – the Australasian Gaming Expo, which is being hosted by the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour.

It’s a key time for the gaming industry in Australia with all the regulation elements, responsible gambling initiatives and such, and most of the big boys of the industry were on hand to show off their wares, with some exhibitors demonstrating significant creative flair to help showoff their latest and greatest wares.

Our friends at Human Statue Bodyart had a couple of body models made up in bodypaint (Anastasia as a butterfly and Victoria as a panda) – complete with wings, for leading gaming brand Paltronics and its latest game ‘Jungle Madness’.

The expo centre itself is huge – 15,000 square metres (about the size of an Aussie Rules football oval) and this provided more than ample opportunity for over 750 slot games aka "pokies" to strut their stuff.

The Australasian Gaming Expo is by far the largest event of its type in Australia and one of the world’s biggest.

We learned through the grapevine that a trip for 2 to Las Vegas will be won by a lucky visitor on each of the 3 days of the Expo, and this is compliments of the Gaming Technologies Association which owns the event.

We understand that over 16,000 people have walked through the games thus far, with those in the business being the majority, and no doubt a few punters, checked through the gates (but note that the games on display do not accept coins or notes).

News…

Human Statue Bodyart helps make Paltronics…

Gaming firm Paltronics was once again looking for their fair share of attention by having a few body models made up in forest like bodypaint attire to compliment their selection of games, including the very popular ‘Jungle Madness’.

There’s little doubt that folks Paltronics knew that competitors of sorts, IGT, were going all out with an Elvis promotion (including imitator), and may have also noted their ‘Sex In The City’ promotional stand from last years show.

It’s always good to see Australian companies such as Paltronics take on international giants such as IGT and promotional models are just one of the weapons that gaming companies will continue to employ in the high stakes world of electronic gaming, and the folks from the Human Statue Bodyart creative arts agency certainly helped Paltronics make a positive splash today.

We hear that more bodypainted models are on the cards tomorrow (the 3rd and final day of the expo) so be sure to check the stands, with 11am to 2pm

News…

Shuffle Master promotes The Flintstones Slot…

"We are thrilled to be able to offer such an iconic brand as The Flintstones and we feel confident that it will take center stage at the show," said Adrian Halpenny, President of Shuffle Master Australasia. "Our game development team worked very hard to deliver a final product that demonstrated meticulous attention to detail in order to maintain the high quality and authenticity of the television series. As a result, The Flintstones is a breakthrough product that is not only highly enjoyable to play as a traditional gaming machine, but also brings the much-loved characters to life with entertaining and engaging features."

Since debuting on American television, The Flintstones has endured as one of the most recognized cartoon TV shows of all time and is still shown on TV around the world. The beloved characters of The Flintstones have been a part of our childhoods for decades, and this new game allows us to play and interact with them in new and exciting ways.

Preston Kevin Lewis, Managing Director of Warner Bros. Consumer Products ANZ, said, "It is testament to the enduring nature of The Flintstones brand that the likes of Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty continue to reach new audiences in diverse areas. Shuffle Master is one of the world’s leading gaming suppliers and we’re sure these fantastic machines will provide consumers with yet another opportunity to fall in love with The Flintstones."

Designed to make a big impact on the gaming floor with its broad appeal, The Flintstones is a three-level standalone progressive, low-denomination product with a suite of exciting base games and attractive jackpot prizes. It also introduces Shuffle Master’s patented new "mini-reel" feature trigger that ignites the player’s anticipation during game play.

The game offers three interactive bonus features that provide players with the chance to win jackpots and credit prizes. Each bonus feature evokes classic scenes from the original TV show, such as the ten-pin challenge at Bedrock Bowl, the family night out at The Drive-In and the antics of Fred Flintstone’s lovable pet dinosaur in Dino’s Dig.

Every element has been carefully crafted to captivate players. The Flintstones will feature themed door trims with matching halo lighting, a unique character marquee with a built-in LCD top box, and re-mastered music and sound effects from the original TV show. The three launch games – Lioness, Peacock Garden and Tiger Power – will be supplemented with more games from Shuffle Master on an ongoing basis to keep the installations fresh and exciting.

Press Release…

IGT Highlights Innovative 3D Gaming Technology and a Star-studded Gaming Lineup at the Australasian Gaming Expo…

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 20, 2012 — International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT), a global leader in casino gaming entertainment and systems technology, announced today it will deliver new industry firsts for Australia’s gaming enthusiasts at the Australasian Gaming Expo (AGE) Aug. 21 – 23 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre in Sydney, Australia.

IGT will launch the 3D gaming technology MLD™ (Multi-Layer Display™), paired with the unveiling of one of the world’s most iconic pop culture brands, Elvis The King®. This new title is now available in Australia exclusively on the IGT bluechip Neo® Tower Top cabinet after successful launches in other global markets, along with many new games and products.

"IGT continues to provide our customers with strong game performance, the widest variety of games, the latest in systems innovation and world-class service, all of which will be on display at AGE," said Eric Tom, IGT executive vice president of Global Sales.

"Our research indicates that many players are entertainment seekers who are attracted to iconic brands and IGT delivers this with our pop culture hit Elvis The King®. This game has been adapted to suit the Australasian players’ playing style. The 3D capabilities of MLD with Elvis The King® also provides venues with a strong differentiator as they look to broaden gaming’s appeal and provide something special for players," said Tom. "Elvis The King® is packed with multiple features and number one hits."

IGT’s 3D MLD™ screens take gaming to another dimension in play. The 3D effect is simulated because the content exists on two separate LCD panels; one in front of the other which gives a depth of field, with game elements appearing and moving between the front and back screens. This allows for new game play options and heightened entertainment.

The line-up of over fifty games at AGE reflects IGT’s re-invigorated game design strategy with the legendary performance of games such as Siberian Storm® and Dangerous Beauty®. Additional games debuting at AGE include:

Black Widow® – a low denomination game with a ‘web capture’ feature during free games for the chance to accumulate additional credits.

Dakota Thunder® – featuring the ‘Thunder Shudder’.

A global leader in casino gaming entertainment and systems technology, IGT provides a holistic solution to the industry and its strength in gaming management systems and new interactive technologies will also be showcased at AGE.

The IGT Advantage Club® System will be demonstrated with new technologies such as Service Window, a small window that appears on the left hand side of the screen. The Service Window can be used for personalized player messaging and for service requests, adding a unique level of service for venues with the IGT system. The IGT Advantage Club® system is proving to be a winner with clubs in New South Wales.

IGT will again be playing host to industry experts who will present a range of topics including game floor design, customer service and systems. For more details on the free business seminar sessions visit www.igt.com.au/AGE12.

About IGT
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) is a global leader in casino gaming entertainment and continues to transform the industry by translating casino player experiences to social, mobile and interactive environments for regulated markets around the world. IGT’s recent acquisition of Double Down Interactive provides engaging casino style entertainment to more than 5 million players monthly. More information about IGT is available at www.IGT.com or connect with IGT at @IGTNews or www.facebook.com/IGT.

© EPE, Reg. U.S. Pat & TM O_.

Dangerous Beauty and Black Widow were created by High 5 Games. For more information on High 5 Games, go to www.High5games.com

Pure Depth™, MLD®, Multi-Layer Display® and Actual Depth™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pure Depth, Inc. All other trademarks are registered trademarks or the property of their respective owners without the intent to infringe. www.puredepth.com. All trademarks or registered trademarks are owned by IGT (Australia) Pty. Limited or its related entities. All information is subject to change without notice. Game type availability is subject to jurisdictional approval.

Websites

Australasian Gaming Expo
www.austgamingexpo.com

Gaming Technologies Association
www.gamingta.com

PALtronics Australasia
www.paltronics.com.au

Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
www.scec.com.au

Human Statue Bodyart
www.humanstatuebodyart.com.au

Human Statue Bodyart Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/humanstatuebodyart

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

Good Vertical Grinding pictures

Good Vertical Grinding pictures

Klarm Machining

Some cool vertical grinding photos:

The Beth Chatto Gardens – (S)weeping into Pink!

Image by antonychammond
One of the greats of British gardening, Beth Chatto OBE has entered the realm of national treasuredom. Plants-woman, designer, author, ten-time gold-medal winner at Chelsea, holder of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour and, of course, the owner of the celebrated Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Industry, near Colchester, in Essex – her horticultural abilities seem boundless. With the notion of “right plant, correct place” – in other words, place a plant in conditions close to its organic habitat and it will thrive with out support – running as a thread all through her profession, she has inspired a generation of gardeners to take their lead from nature.

The garden has been the inspiration for a lot of of her influential books, such as The Dry Garden (1978), The Damp Garden (1992) and Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden (2000). It was developed on land that was previously portion of a fruit farm, owned by her late husband, Andrew, 14 years her senior, whom she married in 1943. “We met in the course of the war,” she says. “I was a schoolgirl of about 17, taking into consideration going to college.”

A scholarly man, who died in 1999 right after suffering from emphysema for 25 years, Andrew devoted much of his life to research into plant habitats. Chatto says it was he who inspired her interest in gardening and refers to him regularly, modestly deferring to his superior understanding. “He’s such an essential influence in my life,” she says. “My parents had been keen, but they had a conventional garden, using mostly cultivars.”

The couple lived initially in his parents’ in Colchester, but in the late 1950s moved to a modernist residence they’d built on the edge of the farm – exactly where Chatto nevertheless lives nowadays. Even inside, the garden is a constant presence. Big windows frame views and vignettes of the planting on each and every side and invite a tapestry of textures, colours and shapes into the house.

Chatto credits her husband practically totally for her achievement. “My two daughters had been teenagers ahead of I started to believe about generating a enterprise,” she says. “Andrew had looked after us and given me the safety and freedom to experiment.” Her husband’s failing overall health and the trials of operating a fruit farm concentrated her thoughts on developing the garden commercially, even though what we see these days took time to emerge.

“For the very first seven or eight years, significantly of the land was a wilderness,” she recalls. But there have been assets, too, not least a rare natural water source in the drought-prone east of Essex, where rainfall can be as tiny as 20in a year. “There were a few fine 300-year-old oaks and a spring-fed ditch ran through the hollow.” Right now, the ornamental gardens cover about 5 acres a further ten are occupied by the nursery, which opened in 1967, and working locations.

Obtaining water was not the only challenge. “There was land that was so dry, the native weeds curled up and died. That ultimately became my gravel garden,” she says. This she developed in 1991, on the internet site of a car park. Apart from watering in the young, drought-tolerant plants during the very first year, she has by no means artificially irrigated it.

Chatto has a knack for turning dilemma places into an asset, and there are several distinct places in the garden, each and every requiring a different approach. The large water gardens are dominated by a series of ponds surrounded by bog plants and swathes of lush grass. A lengthy, shady walk runs parallel to a single of the boundaries. Right here, shade-tolerant planting – including ferns, tiarella and pulmonaria – carpet the ground beneath oaks and other specimen trees added by Chatto. By contrast, the gravel region is a mass of sun-loving perennials, with asters, rudbeckias and sedums glowing via hazy grasses.

The garden could have started out to give pleasure to a loved ones, but it has developed into a self-contained horticultural powerhouse, attracting guests from all more than the planet – about 40,000 a year. “It’s like sowing an acorn, which is my symbol,” says Chatto. “I have an acorn and an oak tree on a weather vane, which was a superb present from my employees.” Incredibly, it is tended by only a single complete-time and four element-time gardeners and volunteers – many of whom are foreign students. Chatto remains resolutely hands-on and is keen to pass on the expertise she has gained through encounter.

Chatto utilizes grasses brilliantly, and was performing so lengthy prior to it became fashionable. She creates seemingly effortless but completely satisfying combinations. Therein lies her genius – there may be other individuals out there with an equal understanding of plants, but no one else has her eye. Shape, scale, proportion, texture, colour – all are balanced with the skill of a plate-spinner.

She also variables in horticultural considerations – how huge a plant will get, how quickly or gradually it will develop, what situations it requirements to thrive and how it is maintained. The result is a garden that performs on every level – sensible, horticultural and aesthetic – with layer upon layer of carefully placed plants, as enticing asmillefeuillepastry. It all appears totally uncontrived, but, on closer inspection, 1 notices geometric lines and angles. The huge picture is built up gradually, with small groupings of three or much more plants forming a satisfying melange of verticals and horizontals, and fluffy and solid plants. “I need the trees and shrubs to kind a background, to paint the sky and lead the eye upwards towards the clouds,” Chatto explains. “Then one particular adds the embroidery, which I appreciate so a lot.” Absolutely nothing is permitted to get out of hand, but stagnation is not an choice, either. “A garden is not a image hanging on a wall,” she says. “It changes not only from hour to hour, week to week or month to month, but from year to year.”

Chatto has definitely noticed the effects of climate alter. Drought is practically nothing new in her portion of the world, exactly where (the past two years aside) there is often no rain for up to ten weeks in the summer. “The most interesting adjust is the lack of cold weather,” she says. “Only ten years ago, we had icicles hanging down, and when the children have been small, they utilized to skate. Now we hardly have enough ice to bear a duck.” From an article by Rachel de Thame

Please check out www.bethchatto.co.uk/ for additional information about this inspirational gardener and garden.

I enjoy flickr – I love Flickr Day – January five, 2014

Image by Daniel Mennerich (Saigon HCM City)

Please join the campaign, if you do not like the proposed new flickr layout.
Please download this image and upload it to your stream on Sunday, January 5, 2014. You can also make your personal picture with the text as noticed in this picture ( or of similar nature, but make positive to emphasize the boycott ), in any language of your selection. Please circulate it and remember to upload it on Sunday, January five, 2014 ( or just before, if you know you are going to be away on January five )

Images of Beta :
www.flickr.com/photographs/110293295@N04/11461406716/in/photographs...
www.flickr.com/pictures/110293295@N04/11461406746/in/images...

Beta feedback : Completed / Top suggestions / Hot suggestions

Want to know ? :
Why there is a sudden rise in views of your photos ?
Why is Flickr slow now ?

———————————————————————- ————————————-

Français :

J’aime Flickr
J’aime Flickr jour – five janvier 2014
Les changements proposés vont ruiner Flickr.
Si la nouvelle photo expérience de est mis en œuvre sans selection, je vais déciderai à boycotter et appel également tous mes amis et les famille à boycotter toutes les marques / produits qui affichent des publicités sur Yahoo.
www.flickr.com/photographs/23416307@N04/11706877113/

Deutsch :

Ich liebe Flickr !

Ich liebe Flickr -Tag am five. Januar 2014
Die geplanten Änderungen werden Flickr ruinieren.
Wenn die neue Gestaltung von Flickr ohne Wahlmöglichkeit verpflichtend eingeführt wird, werde ich boykottieren und an alle meine Freunde, Kontakte und Familienmtglieder appelieren, in Zukunft alle Marken/Produkte zu boykottieren, die bei Yahoo werben.

——————–
Ich liebe Flickr
Ich liebe Flickr Tag – 5 Januar 2014

Die vorgeschlagenen Änderungen werden ruinieren Flickr.
Wenn das neue Foto-Erlebnis ohne Option implementiert ist, wird ich entscheiden, zu boykottieren und auch appelliere, alle meine Freunde und Familie zum Boykott alle Marken / Produkte, die auf Yahoo Werbung anzuzeigen.

____________________

Ελληνικά

Αγαπώ το Flickr.
Υποστηρίζω την Hμέρα για το Flickr της 5ης Ιανουαρίου 2014.
Οι προτεινόμενες αλλαγές πρόκειται να καταστρέψουν το Flickr.
Εάν η νέα παρουσίαση/εμπειρία εφαρμοστεί χωρίς να δίνεται η
δυνατότητα εναλλακτικής επιλογής, θα αποφασίσω να μποϊκοτάρω
όλες τις μάρκες / προϊόντα που εμφανίζουν διαφημίσεις στη Yahoo
και θα καλέσω τους φίλους και την οικογένειά μου να πράξουν το ίδιο

—————————–

Italiano

Che amo Flickr
Amo giorno Flickr – five GENNAIO 2014
Le modifiche proposte will rovinare Flickr .
Se la nuova esperienza foto è attuato senza l’opzione , deciderò di boicottare e chiamare anche tutti i miei amici e la famiglia di boicottare tutti i marchi / prodotti che visualizzano gli annunci su Yahoo .

_________________

Português

Eu amo Flickr
Eu amo Flickr dia – 05 de janeiro de 2014
As alterações propostas vai estragar Flickr.
Se a nova experiência foto é implementado sem uma opção, vou vai decidir boicotar e também chamar todos os meus amigos e família para boicotar todas as marcas / produtos que exibem anúncios no Yahoo.

———————–

Español – apelación

Por favor únase a la campaña, si no te gusta el diseño de la nueva propuesta flickr.
Descargue la imagen y subirla a su galeria el domingo 5 de enero de 2014. Usted puede hacer su propia imagen tambien con el texto como se ve en esta imagen (o de naturaleza related, el objetivo de hacer un uso Seguro enfatizar el boicot), en cualquier idioma de su elección. Ejemplo si la nueva experiencia fotográfica se realiza sin opcion , voy a decidir boicotear y también llamar a todos mis amigos y familiares a boicotear todas las marcas / productos que muestran anuncios en Yahoo .
Por favor, distribuirlo y recordar a subirlo a Domingo, 05 de enero 2014 (o antes, si usted sabe que va a estar fuera el five de enero)

______________________________________________________________________ __

Beta is a test preview of the alter that is receiving prepared to be implemented quickly. It can be for a limited group of flickr members, intended to seek feedback and right faults ( if any), just before it is made public.
Change is good and public has always welcomed good adjustments. The preference for Windows XP by most men and women even soon after the introduction of Vista is a classic example of public acceptance. The public liked and preferred the predecessor ( Windows XP ) and the follower ( Windows 7 and Windows eight ) versions of Vista. A change is good and frequently gladly welcomed by public, if it offers much more utilities and user friendliness, without depriving even a single advantage of the predecessor.
The Beta version is unacceptable to the majority of Flickr users* ( who occurred to encounter it ) , because it’s not user friendly and has only disadvantages to mention. *Please check the Beta feedback : Completed / Leading tips / Hot tips

The layout itself is a disaster. Please check : Try our new photo experience beta / Comment box
However they try, it is really evident that it’s not possible to offer a lot more space for descriptions, comment box, and comments not to mention comments with photos , group invites / awards. The far more they attempt to repair it, the much more cumbersome it becomes. The buddy icons now appear as dots making the web page a lot more unaesthetic than what you see in the earlier photographs of beta . They are desperately attempting to make it attractive and user friendly, which is actually impossible with the proposed layout .
It is a huge challenge for the programmers to attempt find indicates to provide a lot more space in a vertical column which is currently cramped.
Is it possible to make a rugby stadium inside a one hundred square feet ground ?

Want to know ? :
Why there is a sudden rise in views of your photographs ?
Why is Flickr slow now ?

The Beth Chatto Gardens – Weeping Willow or Sweeping Willow?

Image by antonychammond
One particular of the greats of British gardening, Beth Chatto OBE has entered the realm of national treasuredom. Plants-lady, designer, author, 10-time gold-medal winner at Chelsea, holder of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour and, of course, the owner of the celebrated Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Market place, near Colchester, in Essex – her horticultural skills look boundless. With the notion of “right plant, correct place” – in other words, put a plant in circumstances close to its organic habitat and it will thrive without support – running as a thread all through her career, she has inspired a generation of gardeners to take their lead from nature.

The garden has been the inspiration for a lot of of her influential books, such as The Dry Garden (1978), The Damp Garden (1992) and Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden (2000). It was designed on land that was previously element of a fruit farm, owned by her late husband, Andrew, 14 years her senior, whom she married in 1943. “We met throughout the war,” she says. “I was a schoolgirl of about 17, contemplating going to college.”

A scholarly man, who died in 1999 right after suffering from emphysema for 25 years, Andrew devoted considerably of his life to research into plant habitats. Chatto says it was he who inspired her interest in gardening and refers to him frequently, modestly deferring to his superior information. “He’s such an critical influence in my life,” she says. “My parents have been keen, but they had a conventional garden, using mainly cultivars.”

The couple lived initially in his parents’ in Colchester, but in the late 1950s moved to a modernist residence they’d constructed on the edge of the farm – where Chatto still lives today. Even inside, the garden is a continual presence. Huge windows frame views and vignettes of the planting on each side and invite a tapestry of textures, colours and shapes into the house.

Chatto credits her husband almost entirely for her good results. “My two daughters had been teenagers just before I started to feel about creating a organization,” she says. “Andrew had looked following us and offered me the security and freedom to experiment.” Her husband’s failing well being and the trials of operating a fruit farm concentrated her thoughts on establishing the garden commercially, even though what we see today took time to emerge.

“For the 1st seven or eight years, significantly of the land was a wilderness,” she recalls. Yet there have been assets, too, not least a rare organic water source in the drought-prone east of Essex, where rainfall can be as little as 20in a year. “There were a handful of fine 300-year-old oaks and a spring-fed ditch ran via the hollow.” These days, the ornamental gardens cover about 5 acres a further ten are occupied by the nursery, which opened in 1967, and functioning locations.

Locating water was not the only challenge. “There was land that was so dry, the native weeds curled up and died. That eventually became my gravel garden,” she says. This she developed in 1991, on the site of a vehicle park. Apart from watering in the young, drought-tolerant plants in the course of the very first year, she has in no way artificially irrigated it.

Chatto has a knack for turning dilemma locations into an asset, and there are a number of distinct areas in the garden, every single requiring a diverse approach. The big water gardens are dominated by a series of ponds surrounded by bog plants and swathes of lush grass. A lengthy, shady walk runs parallel to a single of the boundaries. Here, shade-tolerant planting – including ferns, tiarella and pulmonaria – carpet the ground beneath oaks and other specimen trees added by Chatto. By contrast, the gravel area is a mass of sun-loving perennials, with asters, rudbeckias and sedums glowing by means of hazy grasses.

The garden might have started out to give pleasure to a family, but it has created into a self-contained horticultural powerhouse, attracting guests from all more than the world – about 40,000 a year. “It’s like sowing an acorn, which is my symbol,” says Chatto. “I have an acorn and an oak tree on a weather vane, which was a great present from my employees.” Incredibly, it is tended by only 1 full-time and 4 component-time gardeners and volunteers – many of whom are foreign students. Chatto remains resolutely hands-on and is keen to pass on the expertise she has gained by means of knowledge.

Chatto uses grasses brilliantly, and was carrying out so extended before it became fashionable. She creates seemingly effortless but thoroughly satisfying combinations. Therein lies her genius – there could be other people out there with an equal understanding of plants, but no one else has her eye. Shape, scale, proportion, texture, colour – all are balanced with the ability of a plate-spinner.

She also factors in horticultural considerations – how large a plant will get, how fast or slowly it will develop, what conditions it requirements to thrive and how it is maintained. The result is a garden that works on each and every level – practical, horticultural and aesthetic – with layer upon layer of carefully placed plants, as enticing asmillefeuillepastry. It all seems totally uncontrived, but, on closer inspection, 1 notices geometric lines and angles. The huge image is built up progressively, with little groupings of 3 or more plants forming a satisfying melange of verticals and horizontals, and fluffy and solid plants. “I want the trees and shrubs to form a background, to paint the sky and lead the eye upwards towards the clouds,” Chatto explains. “Then one adds the embroidery, which I appreciate so considerably.” Nothing at all is permitted to get out of hand, but stagnation is not an option, either. “A garden is not a picture hanging on a wall,” she says. “It changes not only from hour to hour, week to week or month to month, but from year to year.”

Chatto has surely noticed the effects of climate change. Drought is absolutely nothing new in her part of the world, exactly where (the previous two years aside) there is at times no rain for up to 10 weeks in the summer time. “The most intriguing alter is the lack of cold climate,” she says. “Only 10 years ago, we had icicles hanging down, and when the young children have been little, they utilized to skate. Now we hardly have enough ice to bear a duck.” From an report by Rachel de Thame

Please check out www.bethchatto.co.uk/ for additional info about this inspirational gardener and garden.

Good Turning Machining pictures

Good Turning Machining pictures

Klarm Machining

Some cool turning machining photos:

Lovecats discover Japan-licious incl. Orientation Island from HELL, REC FollowCam, & Sketch Sky Pens finale on Saturday 70

Image by ▓▒░ TORLEY ░▒▓
Ultra! Ultra! Read all about it!

Lovecats explore Japan-licious incl. Orientation Island from HELL, REC FollowCam, & Sketch Sky Pens finale on Saturday 77

Image by ▓▒░ TORLEY ░▒▓
Ultra! Ultra! Read all about it!

Southwold Pier and Rocks

Image by -RobW-
Em’s household has been going to Southwold on vacation for at least 4 generations. I’ve never ever been, but I genuinely liked it. Beautiful town, quite surrounding villages, immaculate and quirky pier with some great handmade mad slot machines (which includes some designed by Brighton’s personal and awesome Sarah Angliss), a placing green on which I got a hole in a single (BOOYAH) and amazing birdwatching (saw a hobby, my favourite bird as a child, and but one I’d never ever noticed then!).

Of course, with an excitable 3 month old, I didn’t get a lot of a opportunity to strategy any trips just for photography, but I nipped out for an hour 1 windy day to attempt out the complete classic &quotlong exposure of sea&quot shots.

A bloke came up to me while I was setting up a single of these shots to chat about the technique – bloke, if you check Flickr out, the a single I was setting up is this a single here if you want to see how it turned out :o)

You might be asking yourself about the weird effects there is an explanation on this shot.

I posted this very first as it has the very best Southwoldy atmosphere, but I think the under the pier shot is my favourite artistically.

Any Southwoldophiles keep tuned, I also have a few night time shots to place up!

Cool Surface Grinding pictures

Cool Surface Grinding pictures

Klarm Machining

Some cool surface grinding images:

Minox Contax Racetrack Playa

Image by ▓▓▒▒░░
Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park.

For most of the year Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California is a dry lake, a completely flat expanse of cracked white clay. There are a few scattered stones on the surface, from a handful of centimetres in diameter to half a metre. Some of the stones have trails hundreds of metres long displaying that they have moved across the ground – but how?

Nobody has noticed 1 in motion, but geologists have tracked the stones progress for years, usually in March.

The most likely explanation entails the spring weather. Rain and melting snow from the surrounding hills leaves a lot of of the rocks partly-submerged in enormous, shallow pools. As temperatures fall at evening, ice can form a collar around the base of a rock. This creates enough buoyancy for strong winds to overcome friction with the lake bed. This is only possible simply because of the flatness of the Playa, which allows wind to gust at 90 mph close to the ground.

In any case, the movement probably on lasts less than a minute and might only happen every many years. This is probably why the sailing stones of Racetrack Playa have remained a single of the world’s more elusive climate phenomena.
-The Guardian

Sharan Miniature Contax I on expired Minox Minocolor 100 film.

Cool Precision Turning pictures

Cool Precision Turning pictures

Klarm Machining

Some cool precision turning pictures:

Waiting for the “Night Witches”

Image by Neil. Moralee
Candid shot Zell am Ziller, Austria.

&quotNight Witches&quot is the English translation of Nachthexen, a Planet War II German nickname (Russian Ночные ведьмы, Nochnye Vedmy) for the female military aviators of the 588th Evening Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th &quotTaman&quot Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, of the Soviet Air Forces. The regiment was formed by Colonel Marina Raskova and led by Key Yevdokia Bershanskaya.

The regiment flew harassment bombing and precision bombing missions against the German military from 1942 till the end of the war. At its largest, it had 40 two-individual crews. It flew over 23,000 sorties and is stated to have dropped 3,000 tons of bombs. It was the most very decorated female unit in the Soviet Air Force, every single pilot getting flown over 800 missions by the finish of the war and twenty-three possessing been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title. Thirty of its members died in combat.

The regiment flew in wood-and-canvas Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, a 1928 style intended for use as coaching aircraft and for crop-dusting, and to this day the most-produced biplane in aviation history. The planes could carry only six bombs at a time, so a number of missions per evening were essential. Though the aircraft were obsolete and slow, the pilots created daring use of their exceptional maneuverability they had the benefit of possessing a maximum speed that was lower than the stall speed of each the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and as a result, German pilots discovered them extremely hard to shoot down. An attack approach of the evening bombers was to idle the engine close to the target and glide to the bomb release point, with only wind noise left to reveal their location. German soldiers likened the sound to broomsticks and named the pilots &quotNight Witches.&quot Due to the weight of the bombs and the low altitude of flight, the pilots carried no parachutes

Brave women !

The athlete and his attendant – I

Image by egisto.sani
The funerary stele shows two figures standing 1 in front of the other. They are an athlete, the deceased young, and his attendant. The bust of the athlete is represented in 3-quarters, his head in profile. The features and the anatomy of the young are rendered with wonderful precision despite the relief is genuinely very low. The correct arm is lowered at the waist while the left arm is raised up to the shoulder and the palm turned towards the observer. The head of the young athlete is bent downward. His melancholy gaze is directed towards the attendant. The youth is standing in front of him, holding two standard tools form athletes: an aryballos containing ointment and a strigil.

Greek funerary stele
Pantelic Marble, H. 205 cm – W. 70.five cm
About 430 BC
From Greece
Vatican City State, Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Profano

Cool Gear Grinding pictures

Cool Gear Grinding pictures

Klarm Machining

Some cool gear grinding photos:

The Sad Dragonfly.

Image by Hammonton Photography
Rest in Peace, Sad Dragonfly.
&gtFor these of you who do not know a lot about dragonflies here is my &quotSad Dragonfly&quot story from nowadays &amp a few facts. ♥ I love dragonflies… &amp nicely, bugs!

&gtWhen I discovered him he was struggling, sad, &amp broken.. literally.
He had just gotten in a fight with another male dragonfly, probably more than a mate or lunch. When male dragonflies fight generally it is until the death, they grab the other’s wings &amp twist – &amp rip them off.
&gtDragonflies have six legs, but they cannot stroll. They can only fly or land. Strange. Nevertheless, when dragonflies fight &amp shed- they can no longer survive.

I found &quotThe Sad Dragonfly&quot today in my field. I was trying to figure out what was incorrect with him, and then I saw his wings had been torn. He could not walk, so he was just kind of flapping his wings &amp not moving very far. Then I remembered that dragonflies cannot walk, and I felt the require to step in.

When I see an insect suffering/dying normally I move it to a secure location, that way it is not place through any a lot more pain. [I cannot imagine leaving an insect on the ground helpless to be eaten alive by ants or a bird.. Even if that is Mother Nature’s way- not when I can aid it.]

So I brought him inside, I fed him insects &amp tonight he died.
He had so significantly power- you’d believe he would be fine, but he knew he couldn’t go on &amp he let go.

RIP Sad Dragonfly. ♥

cease , drop & drag

Image by ATOMIC Hot Links

Double Rainbow in Door County – Mark II

Image by elviskennedy
Elvis was meandering the backroads of Wisconsin, hunting for a excellent spot to photograph however another Door County sunset, when he turned about and was stunned to see this double rainbow. The road and the power lines ruined any vista near the roadway, so Elvis speedily grabbed his gear and headed out on foot. Rainbows are fleeting, there is no time to waste!

Then the rain started falling – in buckets. Undeterred, Elvis set up his Nikon D800 equipped with the Nikon 14-24mm lens and began firing.

Knowing how important it is to be ready (you never ever overlook some of these cub scout rules) Elvis had, just before leaving the cabin, set up the D800 to shoot 7-shot sequences, varying the shutter speed to develop photographs with exposure values of -3, -two, -1, , +1, +two and +3. The camera was also attached to the tripod and lying on the back seat – ready for action.

This allowed Elvis to focus (no pun intended) on the framing of the photographs even although he, and the camera/lens, have been receiving drenched.

In just a couple of minutes, the rainbow vanished.

Wiping down the gear and coming down from the adrenaline rush Elvis realized, as soon as once again, what a fortunate boy he is. Not only had he been fortunate adequate to be in the right place, at the correct time, he also got to knowledge life in all of its wonder.

Sight: The gorgeous and spectacular rainbow of colors in the sky, the clouds, the trees, the field and of course, the massive, bold arch overhead.

Sound: Rain splattering on the ground, on Elvis’ head and on the camera gear, punctuated by distant, rolling thunder.

Smell: The freshly reduce hay. The air, ionized by the passing storm.

Touch: The warm sun reduce by the cold raindrops. The warm breeze. The sharply reduce hay underfoot.

Taste: Even though the newly cut hay and freshness from the rain were practically adequate to taste, a large piece of tiramisu would have been amazing.

All that makes for a pot ‘o gold at the end of any rainbow. What a wonderful evening!

For a lot more, go to www.elviskennedy.com.