Bridge survivor sees art as healing tool for youth

Walz, 30, opened Courageous HeARTS in April, on a busy corner at Cedar Avenue and E. 42nd Street, where a convenience store once stood. The center's mission is to offer youths a safe space to heal, create and lead through a plethora of artistic endeavors, including gardening, yoga, filmmaking, sewing, tie-dye, songwriting, poetry, hip-hop dance and improv.The center is a work in progress, its walls and beams newly painted in lime green and purple, couches and art supplies trickling in. Walz, too, is a work in progress, patiently stripping away layers that held her back and pushing forward to fulfill a dream she's had since she was 16, although the path has been vastly altered.

On Aug. 1, 2007, 24-year-old Lindsay Petterson was heading to her Minneapolis apartment when her Volkswagen plunged into the Mississippi River as the I-35 bridge collapsed. Now-husband Dave Walz, with whom she worked at a group home for high-risk teens, would have been in the car, too, but he had the overnight shift."That was a good thing," she said.As her car filled with water, she punched and kicked at every surface before somehow breaking free. She spent five months in a back brace with a broken vertebrae, then years trying to regain her physical and emotional footing. Physical and massage therapy, chiropractors and yoga, as well as a survivors' support group, all helped then and help still.

Economic Impact of Construction and Demolition Waste, as the sixth anniversary of the bridge collapse approaches, she's hoping "to change the story a little," she said. "Post-five-years, I wondered, 'What do you do a story about?'?"Her answer began in the hospital, when she read about a class called Soul Painting. "It drew me in right away," Walz said. "Obviously, my soul needed a little work."A month later, still wearing her brace, she attended her first class through St. Louis Park.munity education. She recalls an ice cube tray placed in front of her "with every color you could imagine," plus a blank piece of paper and brushes. Her first painting was of a big brown river. "I was so angry, so sad," she said, recalling reaching for reds, grays and blacks.

Economic Impact of Construction and Demolition Waste

This tool reduces the environmental impact caused by quarrying, due to the fact that it gives value to inert solid waste with little commercial outlet that accumulate in landfills. In addition, the economic costs are reduced, since research by Joan Esteban Altabella shows that currently there are landfills in operation or closing phase that could obtain significant savings if they employ aggregates derivate from construction and demolition and not from quarry.The programme estimates the aggregate demand in phases or periods of time, thus getting a better organization and cost reduction that can be quite significant. It is a multifactorial dependency tool that identifies the variables that influence a greater or lesser demand for aggregates and relates them mathematically, so that it changes the result if any of them varies.

Labwaste.12 offers the possibility of using specific facts of a landfill or, by default, use the average data already included in the programme. It also provides information on other materials required in this type of installation, such as geomembranes, pipes, geotextiles, etc. Finally, the programme provides a final report to check the entered data and it automatically generates a budget with the required aggregate costs.In the month of July, Francisco J. Colomer has presented a paper on this work entitled "Labwaste.12: herramienta de cálculo para el dise?o de vertederos de residuos sólidos con valorización de residuos inertes" in the 17th International Congress on Project Management and Engineering that was held in Logro?o, which has been awarded the prize for the best paper of the congress.

In October, he presented the communication "Aprovechamiento de residuos inertes para la construcción, explotación y clausura de rellenos sanitarios" in the V Latin American Symposium on Waste Engineering to be held in Argentina, and the book Aprovechamiento de residuos inertes para la construcción, explotación y clausura de rellenos sanitarios will be published in the collection "Sapientia" by Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume including a CD containing the software and a user manual.The research by Joan Esteban Altabella and Francisco J. Colomer is part of the project "Evaluación de la viabilidad teórica, ambiental y socioeconómica de la transformación de un tiradero en un centro de manejo integral de residuos" funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in 2009 within the subprogramme for the Promotion of International Scientific Cooperation of the Programme of National Internationalization of R & D of the Waste Engineering Research Group at the Universitat Jaume I.

Saudia Cargo unveils new online tool to speed up goods shipment

OK-2-KSA will enable Saudia Cargo's clients to request approvals online for automotives, dangerous goods, high value goods, human remains and live animals.Additionally, OK-2-KSA will enable Proof of Delivery to be requested online for shipments to the airline's hubs in Saudi Arabia."The OK-2-KSA tool replaces the current manual approval process of emails/faxes for import shipments to Saudi Arabia. As the global specialist for cargo to Saudi Arabia, Saudia Cargo will handle the OK TO FORWARD-status as required by authorities for the shipments to the Kingdom for our clients. This new online tool is part of our vision to exceed customer requirements through innovative technology," said Peter Scholten, VP Commercial at Saudia Cargo.

"We hope that this new service will provide our clients with the appropriate tools to enhance their business and ensure a smooth shipment process to Saudi Arabia," he added.Saudi Airlines Cargo operates a fleet of 15 freighters and sells the belly-capacity on 145 passenger aircraft for Saudi Arabia's flag carrier Saudia, spanning a rapidly expanding global network of 225 destinations. In addition to its scheduled freighter services, Don't use our leader as bargaining tool and practical worldwide charter flight solutions from a growing fleet of dedicated charter aircraft.The Australian Government launched an online widget to help tourism operators offer online booking and payment options to customers.

Tourism businesses such as hotels or tour operators can install the Australian Tourism Booking Widget on their websites or Facebook pages to offer a basic system providing real-time booking, payment, and helpdesk options.The government launched this tool to help the tourism industry capitalise on the visits to their websites by providing an easily accessible booking and payment facility."The challenge for the Australian tourism sector is converting potential visitor interest into a booking", said Gary Gray, Tourism Minister. "This Widget aims to fix this by getting more of our tourism operators online for bookings and payments – and help them grow their businesses, particularly in regional areas where online facilities may be the only channel for operators to directly engage with their customers".

Don't use our leader as bargaining tool

"It's of utmost importance for policy and decision making that swidden areas are charted so that REDD+ mechanisms can also apply to these forgotten landscape that are home to poor rural populations."This research was carried out as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, the Comprehensive Analysis of the Trajectories of Changes Program supported by CIFOR and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement. and the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research North-South. It has benefited from collaborations within the I-REDD+ project of the European Commission Framework Project and received financial supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and participating institutions.

The anti-dialogue faction of ULFA has appealed to Bangladesh not to use its jailed leader Anup Chetia's extradition to India as a bargaining tool to secure custody of some Bangladeshi criminals.Chairman of ULFA Independent Abhizeet Asom, in a letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said Chetia was "not a criminal but a leader of the freedom-loving people of Assam".ULFA's appeal to Hasina came in the wake of reports that the Bangladesh government had sought the extradition of two criminals, Subrata Bain and Sajjad Hossain, in exchange for Chetia.While Bain was arrested in Kolkata in 2012 on charges of carrying fake currency, illegal arms and for illegal immigration, Hossain - who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail - is wanted in several cases of murder in Bangladesh.

"I believe Chetia has approached your government volunteering to be repatriated rather than being held in protective custody anymore. However, upon being made aware that you are seeking a few citizens of your country who are indicted as criminals and currently held by India, like Subrata Bain in exchange of Chetia's repatriation, I am deeply dismayed that Chetia's requests has been used as bargaining tool for getting hands on Bangladeshi criminals currently in India," said the letter.  

Writer's Studio is an amazingly.plete authoring tool for iOS

Got a desire to produce your own personal e-book? Need to create an eye-catching presentation on your iOS device? Writer's Studio may be just the ticket. This US$1.99 app, currently on sale for $0.99, has many more features than I expected.You start with a blank page and then pick a color or a background photo. Next add some text in your choice of size, font, color and style. Add graphics with a variety of paintbrush tools, or add shapes in colors that can also be filled Microsoft spreads Office Store to 22 new markets.If you're not an artist, try the built-in clip art, or you can find even more in the cloud from the server provided by the developers. Some of the features are very advanced.

Drop in or import a graphic, and text flows around it.You can add your own music, record your own narration or let the e-book read your text with a text-to-speech tool.When you are done, share your creation via email or YouTube. You can output a .mov file, a PDF or even play it to AppleTV via AirPlay.I tried the app over the weekend, and it is very powerful, packing a lot of tools that are amazing at this price. There is help built in, but this is not the kind of app where you just start exploring and things happen as expected. With many of the features, there is a bit of a learning curve, but it is not punishing. I found I had to create some projects, and experiment to make sure I understood how each tool is used and what some of the icons represented.

On a third-generation iPad, I found the app sometimes a bit slow to respond, but it is doing a lot of rendering.Writer's Studio isn't an app that will let you publish to Apple's App Store for wide distribution. Apple has iBooks Author for that. But if you want to create some personal, rich media e-books or presentations, Writer's Studio is a good call.The app is universal, although it'll feel cramped on an iPhone. Writer's Studio requires iOS 4.3 or greater and is optimized for the iPhone 5.

Microsoft spreads Office Store to 22 new markets

No decisions have been made about future use, a DNC official said, adding the rental for the Markey race was done in-kind — meaning no money changed hands between the party and the campaign.Obama's data trove — which includes an email list with as many as 30 million addresses, metadata on millions of voters and contact information for all campaign volunteers — is owned by what remains of his campaign, which is in the process of winding down and closing the books on the 2012 cycle.

Since Election Day, the campaign has only allowed Organizing for Action — the nonprofit set up to help advance the president's agenda — the Presidential Inaugural Committee and the DNC to use the list, a campaign spokesperson said.Organizing for Action is working to make sure the list doesn't go stale. Former Obama campaign email director Toby Fallsgraff is running digital for the group, and a team of email copywriters is testing out headlines and body copy — a technique the campaign used extensively to optimize their emails."Ongoing list management is very important," said Ben Simon, former director of new media campaigns for the DNC and Organizing for America.

"And it takes a team of smart people who know what they're doing."Using email tactics first pioneered by the Obama campaign, Organizing for Action has sent out frequent email blasts — sometimes several a day — on issues ranging from immigration to climate change. It also used the list to raise funds at the end of close quarterly deadlines and even brought back an old campaign favorite: raffling off a chance to meet the president.He said that the department was prepared to conduct awareness programmes at the schools, if any school came forward to organise the same.

Healthy New York Yankees could make it interesting

Heading into the weekend, the Yankees are eight games above .500 and trailing red-hot Boston by 5? games in the AL East.In other words, they are in the hunt just days from the All-Star break.That's pretty remarkable, really, given the toll injuries have taken since late last season.And it could be the set-up for a boffo script for A Bronx Tale II with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in star roles come to save Gotham'??s baseball season.Jeter was in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Saturday night, and could be back with the big club as early as July 16 when the Yankees open the second half of the season at Fenway Park.Anyone who doubts he'??ll be effective upon his return obviously Tools To Help You Hide Online Raise The Ire Of Advertisers.

And the plan for A-Rod is said to be a July 22 return.What he will add is a much more complicated question, of course.But it is a pretty safe bet that if Rodriguez is healthy enough to play, he will contribute more to the Yankees than the current third-base platoon has.Add in that backup infielder Eduardo Nunez is back to add defensive bench depth, and that revived starter Ivan Nova tossed a sparkling complete game in Friday night'??s come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Orioles, and you have the makings of a pretty interesting story line.

Now toss in the arrival of lefty power bat Curtis Granderson for August and September and A Bronx Tale II might just be one of those surprising summer releases that runs into the end of October.    The question left as yet unanswered in all the ugliness of the Aaron Hernandez situation is simply this:How did the New England Patriots keep this alleged homicidal sociopath splattered with gang tattoos around as long as they did?I'd like to hear the organization explain that.As with just about every other profession you can think of, at the end of the day professional baseball is a small world.

Tools To Help You Hide Online Raise The Ire Of Advertisers

But cookie-blocking is a blunt instrument, and when you turn it on, some sites don't work right. Mozilla's lead privacy engineer, Sid Stamm, says he wants to build a better cookie-blocker, "one that blocks only the bad stuff and allows only the good stuff."That master list will be the Cookie Clearinghouse, which will be hosted at Stanford. Experts will curate the list, with an eye to transparency and user privacy, while looking for certain technical problems that only human beings can sort out.

It's those humans Rothenberg doesn't trust. "They're academic elites who have no relationship whatsoever with the business of advertising, making Star Chamber decisions about what gets blocked and what doesn't get blocked," he says.Advertisers worry about the financial consequences. If Mozilla's super-cookie-blocker catches on, it could undermine the business of targeted advertising — particularly the third-party ads that sustain "the mommy blogs and the libertarian political sites," as Rothenberg puts it.For the past few years, the online advertisers have been negotiating with browser makers and privacy groups over the details of the "Do Not Track" system. The DNT option is already built in to most of the newest browsers. You can check if yours is on by visiting this test page.

The problem is DNT doesn't do much, yet. The parties haven't been able to agree on what websites should do when they see that you've set the Do Not Track option on your browser (or your mobile device). The negotiations, hosted by the W3C organization, have been bogged down by a lot of details. But the core difference is that advertisers believe DNT should limit which ads you see, while privacy groups think DNT should block websites from collecting your information.The current uproar over spying by the National Security Agency has increased public concern about privacy, which in turn has turned up the pressure on all sides to finally agree to a DNT standard. Browser manufacturers are especially worried about blowback from the public; just a week after the first NSA leaks, Microsoft ran big Sunday newspaper ads that tried to reassure the public about privacy — and it touted Internet Explorer's Do Not Track function as evidence of the company's concern for user privacy.

Guitar, keyboard, drums and bass, in one place

Is it a guitar? Is it a piano? Nope, it is a crazy iPhone-powered combination of both. Plus it has a built in bass, violin and drum machine to boot. The Artiphon Instrument 1 looks something like a medieval lute, but with a smart phone jammed into its belly.The new instrument, released for pre-order this month, combines a keyboard, fret board, built-in plectrum and accelerometer-powered wawa effect. Named the Artiphon Instrument 1, it is the invention of Mike Butera, a Ph.D. in sound studies, from Virginia Tech.The Instrument 1 draws on the computational power of a modern smart phone to make and record sound. A downloadable app on the phone allows you to select different modes,Cool off and Relax at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.

Butera says the invention of the Artiphon came to him at a dinner party in his native Nashville that descended into a late-night iPhone-based jam session."It was a bit comical," Butera says, "the singers staring down in their lap at the phone, fingers and hands contorted around a device that just begged to be dropped, trying to tap the right notes to songs we could have instantly played on a normal keyboard or guitar."It was then that I had the idea of a multi-instrument that would adapt to each person's playing technique and musical style. This wasn't a guitar or a violin or a keyboard but it could be any of them."Butera says that he finds contemporary digital instruments such as keyboards, drum machines and laptops boring, so he invented his own device.

"I wanted to make something that people at all skill levels could play, a device as agnostic to musical style as the piano but as expressive as a violin."The Instrument 1 is made out of bamboo and hardwoods, and is produced by Nashville-based woodworkers. The speaker grilles are made of polished aluminum and the entire device is assembled locally.Butera says it was important to him that the instrument should be high quality in its construction and materials: "I want to make instruments with innovative technologies that people want to keep and pass on rather than toss when they are obsolete," he says.