Christie’s State of the State 2013 Speech

Since George Washington delivered the first State of the Union in New York on this day in 1790, it has been the tradition of executive leaders to report on the condition of the nation and state at the beginning of the legislative year. So it is my honor and pleasure to give you this report on the state of our state.

One year ago, we were scheduled to gather on this second Tuesday in January when our friend and colleague Alex DeCroce passed suddenly the night before, causing us to delay this report. I miss the hard work and kind spirit of Alex. I think of him often, but I am so pleased to see his wife Betty Lou here in this chamber as a duly elected member of the Assembly today. She continues his work and does honor to his memory.

Just three months ago, we were proceeding normally with our lives, getting ready for a national election and the holidays to follow. Then Sandy hit.

Sandy was the worst storm to strike New Jersey in 100 years. 346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Nearly 7 million people and 1,000 schools had their power knocked out. 116,000 New Jerseyans were evacuated or displaced from their homes. 41,000 families are still displaced from their homes.

Sandy may have damaged our homes and our infrastructure,We open source indoor tracking system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. but it did not destroy our spirit.

The people of New Jersey have come together as never before. Across party lines. Across ideological lines.Product information for Avery Dennison cable ties products. Across ages, races and backgrounds. From all parts of our state. Even from out of state. Everyone has come together.

So today, let me start this address with a set of “thank yous” from me on behalf of the great people of this state.

First, I want to thank the brave first responders, National Guard, and emergency management experts who prepared us for this storm and kept us safe in its aftermath.

I want to thank the members of this Legislature for their cooperation in answering Sandy’s challenges and for being by my side as I toured so many of the devastated areas of our state.

I want to thank the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, the Southern Baptists, the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross – who helped us deliver over one million pounds of food and over five million meals and snacks to families who needed them.

They are part of a network of organizations, a family really, who make life better in New Jersey every day – and who really came through when the times were toughest.

I want to thank the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the state Chamber of Commerce, the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey and the National Federation of Independent Businesses — for keeping us in touch with the needs of small businesses in the wake of the storm, so New Jersey can help get these businesses back on their feet.

I want to thank the 17,000 out-of-state utility workers who came to New Jersey from all over America and joined with 10,000 of our own to get power restored as quickly as possible – so that within nine days of this horrific storm, electric power had been restored to 90% of customers.

I want to thank the members of my cabinet and senior staff, who for days before the storm and weeks after it, put their own personal losses aside, worked 18 hours a day and slept very little. They led their departments and their dedicated colleagues in putting the safety and well-being of others ahead of their own.

To everyone who opened their homes, assisted senior citizens, fed their neighbors, counseled the grief-stricken, or pitched in to clear debris,We open source indoor tracking system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. remove sand, or get a school back opened, I say “thank you.” You have helped define New Jersey as a community, one which – when faced with adversity – rolls up its sleeves, gets back to work, and in word and deed shows that it will never, ever give up.

The spirit of our New Jersey community was shown in the days immediately after the storm. In Sea Bright, Mary Pat was by the side of one small businessman at the moment when he was allowed to return to his business and see what Sandy had done to his restaurant, a pizzeria. As the plywood was removed, allowing him to see for the very first time the destruction of his means of earning a living, he turned and said without hesitation: “Don’t worry. We will build this back better than it was.”

Citizens like Frank Smith, Jr., the Volunteer Chief of the Moonachie First Aid Squad. His home was destroyed during the storm. His headquarters were destroyed during the storm. After securing the safety of his three young children, he did not take himself to higher ground. No, he led his team through fires and flood waters, through buildings and trailer parks, and saved over 2,000 lives. Moonachie’s citizens were saved because he put them first. Frank thanks for your bravery.

In Toms River, Marsha Hedgepeth, an emergency room technician, had the day off when Sandy hit her hometown. She could have gotten herself to safety and forgotten about her colleagues at the community medical center and most importantly her patients. Instead, facing several feet of water on her flooded street, she swam to higher ground, then hitchhiked with a utility worker from Michigan and got to the hospital for a 12-hour shift treating her fellow citizens. Swimming through flood waters to save lives—thank you Marsha for setting such a great example.

In Brick, Tracey Keelen and Jay Gehweiler watched as the flood waters consumed their town. Concerned about Jay’s father, they tried to reach him and could not. Not content to wait, they put on their wet suits, got in their row boat and rescued Jay’s dad. In the process, they saw dozens of others stranded in their homes. They turned back around and, one by one, saved over 50 of Jay’s father’s neighbors along with their pets. Then, for those they rescued who had no place to go, they housed them as well. They admitted they did not know these neighbors that well before the storm, but they didn’t care—they put extending a helping hand in a crisis ahead of social comfort. Thank you to Tracey and Jay for saving lives and making a difference.

New Jerseyans are among the toughest, grittiest and most generous people in America. These citizens are a small example of that simple truth. Our pride in our state in our moment of loss and challenge is reflected in the eyes of these extraordinary people.

We now look forward to what we hope will be quick Congressional action on a full, clean Sandy aid bill – now, next week — and to enactment by the President. We have waited 72 days, seven times longer than victims of Hurricane Katrina waited. One thing I hope everyone now clearly understands—New Jersey, both Republicans and Democrats, will never stand silent when our citizens are being short changed.

The people of New Jersey are in need, not from their own actions but from an act of God that delivered a natural, human, and financial disaster — and we are thankful to the people of America for honoring the tradition of providing relief. We have stood with the citizens of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Iowa, Vermont, California and Missouri in their times of need—now I trust that they will stand with us.

We have overseen the removal of over 2.We offer a wide variety of high-quality standard ultrasonic sensor and controllers.5 million cubic yards of debris to date and counting. 17 towns have already completed debris removal. Over 1,000 trucks are working daily to continue dry land debris removal with 26 more towns moving towards completion. We are now removing debris from our waterways. New Jerseyans need to know—nearly 1,400 vessels were either sunken or abandoned in our waterways during Sandy. In Mantoloking alone, 58 buildings and 8 cars were washed into Barnegat Bay. We will remove this debris and dredge the bay to reduce the risk of flooding and to improve the health of the bay—beginning the very same week that this Administration furthers its commitment to the health of the bay by implementing the toughest fertilizer law in America.

We have helped get temporary rental assistance for 41,000 New Jersey families, and where necessary, secured transitional shelters in hotels or motels or even in Fort Monmouth.

We have worked with the Small Business Administration to secure nearly $189 million in loans for thousands of home and small businesses, and through our New Jersey EDA, we have provided lines of credit for businesses awaiting insurance reimbursement, grants for job training, and benefits for displaced workers.Do you know any howo spare parts wholesale supplier?

Our New Jersey DOT has been one of the busiest agencies – removing over 4,400 truckloads of debris from state and local roads, and cleaning another 4,300 truckloads of sand to restore and replenish our beaches.

Our Department of Education has worked night and day to get schools re-opened right away, and where that wasn’t possible, to get them restored by the next school year – all while maintaining our commitment to a full 180-day school year of education for our kids.

ELNC's first 'Little School' opens to get vulnerable

A ribbon-cutting was held on Monday, Jan. 7 with ELNC partners, parents and community member in attendance.

ELNC, a nonprofit organization, has designed and is currently implementing an intentional preschool service system aimed at providing, expanding and sustaining the capacity of high-quality early care and education programs to low-income children living in predominately black and Hispanic communities.

In 2011, ELNC received a $5 million, four-year grant, from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to increase the number of children ready for kindergarten living within targeted neighborhoods, by providing resources and technical assistance to its neighborhood partners that would enable them to increase existing or create new capacity.

ELNC is currently providing financial resources for 110 children to attend quality pre-school programs. Ezeh, who is also associate professor of education & director of Early Childhood Education Faculty of Education at Aquinas College, said resources coming into Kent County too often are not reaching children and families most in need.

"This is definitely a program that I was looking for," said Kendra Bitner, who said she lives in walking distance to the preschool program her sons, Xavier, 4 and Zaiden, 3, attend the preschool class in the SECOM building.

"They were going to attend a paid program over on 44th Street, but I would have had to get them up very early to catch the bus there. I am glad the class is small so that each child's needs get attended to.

Teachers Lynnelle Mulder and Araceli Ojeda today was just trying to get the students used to being in a structured learning environment and learning the daily routing. After a breakfast of cereal, the students gathered on the carpet as Mulder read the book, "The Kissing Hand" to them. The story features Chester the raccoon, who is starting school and has some fears.

Most parents, like Bitner and Velasquez, stayed in the classroom, which has everything written in English and Spanish, for 10 or more minutes after dropping off their children.

"The children are not used to being in school, so we are getting to know them today and teaching them to raising their hands, to listen and follow instructions, and helping them get used to the routine," said Ojeda.

In addition to the SECOM site, the other ELNC programs slated to open in the coming weeks with its partners are at Wellspring Church of Grand Rapids, 811 Wealthy St. SE, and the Hispanic Center of Grand Rapids. The preschool classroom will be at San Juan Diego Academy, 1650 Godfrey Ave. SW.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings?

“We are trying to get as many schools as possible going because of the need in these communities,” said Ezeh, who said rehab work was required to create the preschool classes. “If the program needs to run through the summer to get children, we are prepared for that.”

Shawnte' Williams, ELNC project/compliance director, said the organization is moving with a "sense of urgency" to address the access issue in inner-city neighborhoods. She said their parents face financial, transportation and other challenges to getting their children in structured learning environments.

In September, ELNC plans to open a preschool that would allow them to serve 84 children. The Grand Rapids school board approved a lease for four years at $30,000 per year for ELNC to operate the school in its old Roosevelt Child Development Center, 644 Cordelia St. SE. The school was initially planned to open this month but rehab work on the building, vacant for three years, is still underway.

More than 80 percent of Grand Rapids schools students enter kindergarten unprepared. There are a few efforts targeting that problem, including First Steps, Grand Rapids Public Schools, and the Great Start Collaborative opening Early Learning Communities hubs.

"We want to these schools to become a part of the fabric of these neighborhoods," said Nadia Brigham, program officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. "We are trying to provide access to preschools across the city, so that these kids have the same access to a quality education as those in middle and upper income families."

Ezeh said her group will measure their success, not just by children being prepared for kindergarten, but by parents in the neighborhoods they target becoming more engaged, understanding and embracing the importance of early childhood education.

Sorry, but this kind of apology should come standard-issue from all 30 teams, especially those like the Flames and Bruins, who certainly led the charge for a lockout despite having massive fanbases, popularity, and most importantly, war chests.

Never forget this was a lockout. Never forget this was put upon you and the players and the sport by the owners. Never forget the two biggest engines in all this weren't poor, put-upon teams in tough markets, but rather financial giants whose sole motivation was greed and the desire to squeeze just an extra dime or two out of every dollar spent. They certainly accomplished their goal.

The fact that as far as I can tell the majority of the league's 30 teams haven't so much as considered apologizing is beyond irrational. Obviously, not every team wanted this lockout to happen, but those that stood idly by, hands in their pockets, while Gary Bettman, Jeremy Jacobs, Murray Edwards,If you have a fondness for china mosaic brimming with romantic roses, and the rest of their villainous cohorts did this are as guilty through their inaction as any actual negative actors in this process.

They should be down on their hands and knees, groveling for the fans to return to their arenas to buy seats and concessions and jerseys after all this. Everything should be half-price. Every purchase should come with the warmest "thank you" imaginable. But of course, they don't. Because the league doesn't give a rat's ass about its fans, no matter how much free Center Ice they throw at us.

Oh yeah, fans are excited to have the NHL back in their lives and, if you like hockey, you can't really blame them. I know many fans have already started buying tickets in a blind scramble to turn over more of their money to the oligarchs who just robbed them of their favorite sport for four months, and I know that all across the league, games will be played before packed houses sometime in the next few weeks. It disgusts me, obviously, but that's the way of the world. I'm sure the "Thank You (Again) Fans!" that's painted at both blue lines will more than make up for it.We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory. That's bridge-building for the NHL in 2013.

This league, which seems content to have itself reduced to a national sports punchline every seven or eight years (clock's ticking on that opt-out work stoppage!), has never cared about you, and will do so. Not really. Not as long as you're willing to throw wads of cash at it the second it gives you what it should have been giving you all along.

Everyone's giddy now. Many have lost any sense of reality they had throughout the process. I still can't believe I'm seeing legitimate hockey reporters — and not just the dummies in the owners' pockets — saying stuff about how the NHL gave the Players' Association concessions at the 12th hour.

Did it really? Almost everything the players once had still got rolled back,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. just not as much as the NHL would have liked. They didn't make concessions, they backed off absurd demands only when a federal mediator told them to stop being ridiculous, and even then, it took a pair of back-to-back days of 13 to 16 hours. That's near-indomitable malevolent will, eroded on a timeline not dissimilar what desert sands do to the pyramids.

This joyous celebration of hockey's return will only cause the owners to double down on their resolve next time around. They now know, absolutely and unequivocally, that they can treat you like garbage, not even think about apologizing for it,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. and you'll still cut them a blank check every single year.

That is, unless you remember how October, November and December felt. How mad it made you. How the vote to lock out the players for the second time since 2004-05 came unanimously. How the owners lied to you at every opportunity about Donald Fehr's intractability. How they used so-called "moderates" to defame him with absurd press releases. How they had the gall to compare him to a suicide bomber because he would not let the union be broken by their demands. How their steadfastness that the CBA needed to provide better protection for all 30 teams came without a meaningful improvement to revenue sharing. How they tried to move the goalposts the second the NHLPA's ability to file a disclaimer of interest expired. And especially how you swore you'd never give them another cent of your hard-earned dollars.

Django Fashion Unchained... Man Repelling in Print

Western looks are back on the big screen. Style in Quentin Tarantino's latest Golden Globe-nominated film, "Django Unchained," was inspired by cowboy movies of the 1960s. "Quentin had a lot of films for me to watch," costume designer Sharen Davis told Spy. "It was kind of fantastic because it pointed me in the right direction of how he wanted this film to go." Set in the South two years before the Civil War, Davis said the outfits in "Django" have elements of a spaghetti Western. "I had to characterize each of the leads so the audience would immediately know who was a good guy or bad guy," Davis said of working with top actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz.The oreck XL professional air purifier, Here, the costume designer (who is also eagerly awaiting the Academy Award nominations, out this Thursday) talks about bringing the Wild West to the Old South.

"We had a lot of cowboy boots, but I had to find boots that were in 1850 and not 1880. So a lot of the boots don't have a lot of flair, like tooling or that little Western-cut dip that cowboy boots are known for, because a lot of that started in the late 1800s. I got very little sleep because a lot of these characters, like Django [Foxx], are cowboys in 1850 and I couldn't stay within the confines of the period. I took a lot of inspiration from pioneer people traveling to the West, [such as] pre-cowboy looks, so I didn't cheat too badly."

"Leo plays a southern plantation owner born with a lot of money, so I put him in richer colors like brown and burgundy,High quality stone mosaic tiles. where most of the other colors are black and gray. Leonardo has great shoes. He has a pair of John Varvatos spat shoes that have side buttons and also a lot of half boots. We went to Varvatos for a lot of Leo's shoes because he makes shoes that kind of look like the period."

Get ready for a shoe shout out.Quickparts builds injection molds using aluminum or steel to meet your program. Man Repeller blogger Leandra Medine told Spy that footwear gets a notable mention in her upcoming collection of essays on her life experiences and fashion. "There's a chapter called 'The Glitter Shoes,'" the style blogger teased, "but that's all I'm going to say." Medine has been putting the finishing touches on her book,An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a term used for a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building. which is reported to hit shelves this year. "I get so wrapped up in what I'm writing," Medine said of the process, which requires her to relive good, bad and ugly moments, like an old break up with her now-husband.

Beverly Feldman found a muse for her fall '13 collection in an unlikely place: Nancy Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker) on Showtime's recently-ended "Weeds" series. "[Nancy's] style was so unlike mine, so California and so bizarre," Feldman said. "She wears knee socks with clog sandals or boots and loose weird tops. ... Not at all the Euro, high-fashion chic that I am familiar with. But I thought it was cool." The Alicante, Spain-based designer, who watched all eight seasons in late-night rerun marathons, also said she found a bit of herself in the main character. "I related to Nancy, as she was always trying to sell her product, support her family and getting involved with various bad boys. Just change the weed [to] shoes and there was my life." As for how the show will translate into footwear for her eponymous label, Feldman said a modernized aesthetic including booties, combat styles, sportier looks and round-toe shoes will exude California-cool. "I'm also including striped knee socks with every purchase," she quipped.

Will Scott Jurek be coming soon to a theater near you? The fabled ultrarunner, who gained a whole new level of fame after his star treatment in blockbuster running book "Born to Run," has been working with Peter Sarsgaard as the actor prepares to direct a big-screen adaptation of the tome. But Jurek said he's not sure if he'll play himself in the movie. "If [Sarsgaard] wants his brother-in-law" — yes, that would be Jake Gyllenhaal — "to play me, that would be OK, too."

Fred Mossler and his groomsmen in custom Lucchese boots he designed for his Dec. 22 wedding.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, The stingray-embellished style even featured a special embroidered message: "Fred and Meghan, Sundance Resort 12/22/12." Blushing bride Meghan Boyd sported Louis Vuitton during the ceremony and dinner reception, before switching to Giuseppe Zanotti for the dance party later in the evening. Meanwhile, Ugg Australia surprised the entire wedding party with first editions from the brand's new "I Do" collection of booties and slippers.

Kurt Geiger is linking up with hot emerging British menswear talent James Long for a collaboration to be unveiled at this week's London Collections: Men. The line will feature three styles, including a horse-hair ankle boot and two inside-out monk shoes, all of which come on a cleated rubber wedge. "We wanted to [fuse] the craftsmanship of our Kurt Geiger London label with James Long's unique attitude," said Geiger Creative Director Rebecca Farrar-Hockley. Added Long: "It has been a very organic collaboration. Having the shoes work with the collection's concept really finishes the look." The line will hit retail in September.

All Flex, manufacturer of flexible circuits and heaters, announces the purchase of the CAD and panelization portion of TRI-C Design, Inc., also located in Northfield, MN. TRI-C provides computer aided design, panelization, and automation for flexible and printed circuit board manufacturers. This service group performs the precision work of design and setup up for new parts manufactured at All Flex, providing the final tooling package necessary for production.

TRI-C has been providing this service to All Flex for over 20 years, developing a strong partnership and integrated business relationship. Both companies agree the purchase transaction allows each company to better address the needs of their existing and future customers. Greg Closser, President, says this investment in the CAD group’s flexible circuit, flexible heater, and panelization expertise demonstrates our commitment to continuous improvement, “All Flex is all about meeting the product and quick response needs of our customers. Adding these five talented individuals with extensive industry expertise will streamline job set up efficiency, ultimately getting product to our customer quicker. We are looking forward to strong revenue growth in 2013 and believe these additional internal resources will help us with some of the challenges that come with growth. ”

TRI-C Owner, Keith Hildahl, remains with TRI-C which will focus more on doing flex circuit design work for the industry. “Over the last 20 years, All Flex had become our largest panelization customer. A customer representing this volume requires and deserves considerable attention. The sale of the panelization portion of our business to All Flex seemed to be a natural progression in the business relationship at this time. This sale will allow TRI-C to again focus attention on enhancing design capabilities and on our many flexible circuit design customers,” Hildahl says.

The transition is expected to be fairly seamless as most of the designers already have working relationships with All Flex employees and some customers. This design group is located with other support staff in the additional 5,000 square foot building All Flex recently obtained to support the growing business. The acquisition of the assets and design services adds five people to the expanding company consisting of 140 employees between the Northfield facilities and a third production facility in Bloomington, MN.

By Taryn Quarmby

Major changes are occurring in local governments across Australia. Recent investigations into the transparency of procurement and purchasing within local government have led to overhauls to help improve communication with local suppliers.Directory ofchina glass mosaic Tile Manufacturers,

Sourcing local can be a faster and more affordable procurement strategy for local government. With a greater understanding of the many benefits of sourcing from within the local area, local governments are focusing on new, effective communication tools that enable them to engage with local suppliers.

These efforts involve combining the work of economic development and procurement departments to provide the best possible outcomes for both suppliers and local government.

By adopting technology that intuitively enables both economic development and procurement departments to share information, local governments are finding it easier to communicate with local suppliers in a transparent manner.

By providing a way for procurement teams to tap into the work that economic development is doing within the region, local government general managers can potentially save countless hours in duplicated work as well as ensuring that the process is open and honest.

However, current concerns facing local government procurement and purchasing departments have resulted in a rethink of the way these systems are being managed.

The issues facing these departments are many and varied and will require a long term, multifaceted approach both internally, through the development of new processes, as well as from external support.

Continuing concerns of corruption combined with the need to effectively advertise to appropriate suppliers, identify those who are interested, filter through expressions of interest in a timely manner as well as maintaining a transparent approach have resulted in a minefield of issues.

Making these potential areas of concern even more difficult to navigate is the fact that online systems have traditionally been difficult to uThe MaxSonar ultrasonic sensor offers very short to long-range detection and ranging.se for both local government and suppliers and due to their own financial concerns have led to spamming and security concerns. Systems such as Industry Capability Network’s (ICN) Regional Gateway portal have been designed with the current complex concerns of local government in mind.

Many regional local governments that I speak with find it increasingly difficult to identify the right local suppliers.

Whilst obviously trying to provide locally-based suppliers with opportunities, numerous procurement managers have stressed that it can be incredibly time-consuming to scour the region in search of the right capabilities for an opportunity. Thus in an effort to best utilise the minimal resources available the same suppliers are often used for successive opportunities. This can reduce competitiveness of price and lead to complacency.

A potential solution to this common concern is to use a system that suppliers can register with for free and receive updates from council through an email alert system.Thank you for visiting! I have been cry stalmosaic since 1998.

When local suppliers are able to enter their company details and register their interest in upcoming opportunities they are actively engaged in council activities. This not only provides a powerful communication channel, it also delivers transparency of local government procurement processes.

By using a third party opportunity alert system, councils are now able to connect with suppliers in a way that was not previously possible. Through a simple, free, online advertisement, suppliers can search for council projects through common search tools such as ‘Google’, receive daily email alerts suited to their capabilities and location, and register their interested in opportunities.

These processes work to remedy three of the primary concerns of local gvernments – how to identify local suppliers, how to communicate with them and finally how to know who is interested in upcoming opportunities.

One of the most time intensive parts of the procurement process can be filtering through the many suppliers who have registered their interest in any opportunity.

By asking the right questions at the registration stage, the time that this process takes can be significantly reduced. Finding a system that enables your purchasing and procurement departments to input the right questions for the jobwill significantly reduce the time that the filtering process will take.

Something that is perhaps obvious, but often forgotten is that suppliers also need to be able to answer these questions. By using unnecessary jargon in overcomplicated questions, suppliers could be confused leading to unsuitable responses or worse no response at all.

Some online systems, such as ICN’s Regional Gateway, allow local governments to generate their own reports based on the responses provided by suppliers who are interested in an upcoming opportunity. Such reports can be sorted by these prequalification questions, helping to ease the work required when receiving expressions of interest.

Another area that I am constantly asked about is how the increasing necessity for procurement transparency can be achieved without taking up any more time or costing council any more money. With complex procurement regulations as well as intricate internal guidelines at many local governments, procurement departments have been experiencing increased pressure to carefully adhere to a number of rules that may seem to conflict.China plastic moulds manufacturers directory.

According to the recent Operation Jarek report released by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in NSW, local governments should “analyse their procurement processes to identify points of corruption risk and take steps to improve the design of their procurement processes.” Such a process is complex and involves the cooperation of disparate departments within a local government.

Management needs to find a way to provide a balance between the business approaches of suppliers with the transparency of processes at council.

However this can be a difficult balancing act. By using an online system where all procurement details must be registered and comprehensive reports can be easily generated,Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. council management can keep on top of procurement actions while allowing the department to work without interruption.

An ongoing concern of local governments is that while the relevant departments are actively attempting to use new online systems to improve procurement processes, many of the systems and tools on the market are difficult to use and quite expensive for both council and local suppliers.

You really shouldn’t need to have a computer science degree to share information about upcoming opportunities with your local suppliers! Choosing a system with a simple ‘form-style’ layout for entering project details is integral to ensuring that all departments within council are able to fully use the software.

The financial side of selecting an online procurement tool is also incredibly important. Many have hidden costs or lock you into long, ongoing contracts – with very little benefit. It is also important to ask what the costs are for suppliers, whether they must pay to register, receive email alerts, submit their interest for projects.

A system that is free and provides email alerts for relevant opportunities is ideal for ensuring that suppliers are receiving information applicable to their business and not wasting their time or money.

An online procurement system is only as good as the suppliers receiving the information. By selecting a system that is too complex or expensive for suppliers to use, you risk not reaching the people that you need to be speaking to.

Suppliers also need to be able to use the system. Not only are many suppliers new to using online systems, they often do not have the time for the complexities involved in several online systems. Finding a system that is quick and easy for suppliers to use is essential.

In addition to the complexity concerns of these systems, another potential issue is that many are owned by companies with their own financial concerns. This is often unintentionally led to unwanted spam and unsolicited emails or phone calls through details being sold.

This leads me to the incredibly important issue of security when using online procurement tools. When providing council details to a third party, it is vital that the security of these details can be assured. Further to this, suppliers also need to be comfortable providing their details to this third party.

By working with an organisation such as Industry Capability Network (ICN) that is fully funded by federal, state and territory governments across Australia, local governments and suppliers can be assured that their details are secure.

Tips and tricks for holiday storage

New Year’s Day is the time people may start thinking about un-decorating, that tedious task of putting the festive Christmas decorations to bed where they’ll slumber peacefully till next year’s holiday season. If you’re like me, you’ve been wrapping your ornaments in the same tissue paper that’s now the texture of ancient parchment, into shoe boxes that bear the writing of my 5-year-old self. And although I haven’t had many casualties of the shoe-box system, I thought this may be the year for a new one.

I have an artificial tree but real evergreen wreath and heirloom ornaments, some of which I’ve had since I was a child. And apparently, there are better ways to store an artificial tree than trying to jam it into the box it came in when I bought it a few years ago.

Joyce Newman, certified appraiser of personal property, said it’s important to sort through things when you’re getting ready to put them back in storage.

“If there are items you didn’t use and think you won’t use it might be a nice time to give them as keepsakes to family members, donate them to a thrift store or put them aside for next year’s garage sale,” she said.

Greg Hart, store manager at Home Depot’s Damonte Ranch location said that typically, a couple of things you want to do before you start storing items is to dust them off and make sure they’re clean and also inspect them for damage.

“Really, it’s about inspecting it before you store it and storing it in a way that it won’t get damaged,” Hart said.

He said for wreaths, Home Depot has a plastic container to store them, or put your wreath in a plastic bag to store it,This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic materials from. because it will keep it dust-free. Clear plastic totes with flip-top lid can be used to store Christmas decorations.

Carefully packing and storing your artificial tree can ensure that its needles don’t flatten out, and will make decorating next season a little easier.

Karen Edenfield, a designer with Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, recommends a cool, dry storage area. Heat can shorten the life of the needles. She said to store the tree so it doesn’t have to be crammed back into its small box. If your artificial tree won’t make another holiday appearance at your house, don’t just throw it in the trash, she said. Consider donating or recycling it, or reuse its branches as filler for an even more ample tree next Christmas.

For much of its history, Balboa Park has been perceived less as an entity and more as the location of a number of San Diego’s most significant cultural institutions.

You attend a performance at the Old Globe Theatre, or visit the San Diego Museum of Art, or take your family to the Natural History Museum or perhaps the Air & Space Museum. Still, as the park’s research shows, you rarely do all or a combination of the above.

Although the leaders of Balboa Park’s individual institutions have been considering the bigger picture for nearly a decade — first forming the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership and then the Balboa Park Online Collaborative — with the 2015 centennial of the Panama-California Exposition only two years away, they are finally getting serious about emphasizing what they call “the Balboa Park experience.”

“We’re looking at how to really create more of a seamlessness and an integration around ‘the Balboa Park experience,’ rather than just have an assemblage of all of the disparate parts,” said Paige Simpson, interim director of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, which includes representatives from all of the park’s organizations.

Given the absence of a cohesive approach, Paige and her park colleagues assert that the park has not gotten the attention from tourists or locals that it deserves, despite being among the city’s undisputed treasures.

“Balboa Park,Manufactures flexible plastic and synthetic rubber hose tubing. unfortunately, right now is not seen as a destination,” said Michael Hager,Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. executive director of the San Diego Natural History Museum and the park’s representative on the centennial committee. “It’s not marketed as such. The Midway Museum is. SeaWorld is. The zoo is. Those are seen as destinations by people who do a lot of the (tourism) marketing.

“My hope is during 2015, and following 2015, it will be seen as a destination and marketing will help drive people here and kind of bring life to the park.”

With roughly 14 million visitors a year — according to Balboa Park Central, the park entity that operates the visitors’ center and is responsible for the park’s marketing — the park isn’t exactly a dead zone. And approximately half of those visitors attend a performance or go to a museum.

“Although we have a high visitation (figure), we have a tremendous story that really hasn’t been fully shared,” Simpson said. “People tend to come for one or two places and then tend to wander. They don’t always even know what else is available to them here. So how can we make that more apparent?”

While the centennial committee is quietly approaching potential donors and sponsors to underwrite a series of high-profile events that could transform El Prado into something resembling a digitally enhanced Disneyland Electrical Parade, the park’s institutions are assembling their own exhibitions, some with the help of $325,000 in grants from the committee.

“For museums, we generally plan two years in advance, sometimes three,” said Deborah Klochko, the director of the Museum of Photographic Arts and the president of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership. “So planning the right kind of exhibition for 2015 as a citywide celebration is trying to be formed is an interesting opportunity, especially when we look at 2015 as not just a single-year celebration, but an opportunity to really present the park and ‘the Balboa Park experience.’

“We want people to have a good experience and come back.This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic materials from. So we want to make sure there’s real quality in our exhibitions.”

The Centennial Celebration’s CEO, Mike McDowell, expects those institutional efforts to form the core of the yearlong centennial fete.

“We anticipate they will provide 365 days of programming and activities for our visitors,” McDowell said. “And it is from that core set of programming that we will build the rest of the celebration.”

McDowell compared the event to a series of concentric circles, with the institutions at the center. “Then think about the next circle as things we’ll present in the park (in the open spaces),” he said. “The next circle is things we will present in the neighborhoods, the next circle is moving out into our regional assets … .”

While all those circles will require outside funding, as much as $50 million, the core projects are largely being done under the umbrella of each institution’s exhibition budget (the planning grants not withstanding), even if the exhibitions are likely to be on a larger scale given the centennial.

“I’ve been sitting on that 2015 planning committee for the park for five years, and from the beginning we’ve talked about legacy projects,” said Charlotte Cagan, the director of the San Diego History Center, which will create a major, permanent exhibition related to innovation, which is the theme of the centennial, dubbed “EDGE2015.” “We inherited the legacy from 1915; we’re in it.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, And we want to leave a legacy for the next 100 years the way they did for us.

But no matter how intriguing or impressive the individual institutional offerings, how do they coalesce into a park-wide experience? The simple answer: a long-discussed and long-elusive park pass. Scheduled for a “soft” rollout in October of this year, it will work like a zoo membership or SeaWorld annual pass. For a set annual fee, you get unlimited access to 17 Balboa Park museums and institutions that charge admission (not including the zoo, although the partnership is working on a combination pass).

The park pass is intended for locals. Go to as many museums as you want without the pressure of feeling like you need to get your money’s worth in a single afternoon.

“This is about my third time proposing it in my 22 years here,” Hager said. “It wasn’t until the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership came together and we were working together as directors that the idea had any chance of taking off.”

A grant from the Irvine Foundation also helped, allowing the partnership to spend four years conducting a detailed study and develop a business model that would assure the institutions that the effort wouldn’t detract from their own membership efforts.

“We all answer to our own boards of directors, and there have been concerns,” Hager said. “Some of the smaller museums are concerned that the bigger museums will benefit. Frankly, I think the smaller museums will benefit because people will spend a little bit of time here, a little bit of time elsewhere, and they will pick up a lot more visitors that way.”

Blue-collar Alberta family businesses

In Sunday night’s episode of HGTV’s Massive Moves, Taber’s Wade Kerner oversees the journey of a 70-tonne house from north of Red Deer to Parkland Beach, Alberta.

It involves crossing bridges that seem too narrow, negotiating dirt roads lined with trees that hang too low and avoiding the occasional patch of ground too soft to withhold the weight.If you have a fondness for china mosaic brimming with romantic roses, To the untrained eye, it all seems fairly daunting. But that’s nothing compared to the wariness Kerner feels about appearing on TV.

“I haven’t seen them and I’m scared to,” said Kerner, who will appear in three episodes of the reality show’s second season. “I’m worried what it will be like.”

Kerner is on the line from the Taber offices of Wade’s House Moving and Heavy Hauling. He is a second-generation “house mover” and the gruff centre of Massive Move’s Season 2 opener on Sunday, an occasionally foul-mouthed boss in charge of moving a family-of-six’s 70-tonne dream home 55 kilometres to vacant land near Gull Lake.

At the time of this interview, he had no idea how the series would portray him. After all, he’s new to this whole TV thing and admits was reluctant at first to have the cameras trail him around on a job site.

“It was tough for me,” says Kerner. “I’m a little, as my sister would say, on the rougher side with the stuff I would say. But realistically, (the producers) told us straight out: ‘Don’t fake nothing. Don’t come out here and act like you’re a good little church-going boy. The public likes real people.’”

Alberta provides a good deal of those real people for the second season of the U.K-produced reality show. Seven episodes deal with homegrown families going through the stressful ordeal of having their house lifted off the ground and moved across “treacherous terrain” to a new location.

For the Alberta episodes, the jobs were divided between Kerner’s company and his Calgary competition, Dwayne McCann of McCann’s Building Movers. The first two episodes, both airing Sunday, involve Albertan families. Later this month, Kerner will oversee the nighttime move of a “monster manor house” through the heart of Calgary, which will be filmed for the season finale of the series that airs in late March.

For series producer Clare Fisher, the two colourful movers are a big reason that so much of the action takes place in Alberta this season. They are very different from each other, says Fisher. Kerner is down-to-earth and prone to cursing, McCann is well-coiffed, tanned and the “Hollywood version of the structural mover,” she says.

“They’re not just good at their jobs,High quality stone mosaic tiles. they’re good characters,” she says. “They’ve learned from their fathers and uncles and this is in their blood.”

But there are 26 half-hour episodes,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. which take place across North America. Finding the right families with interesting backstories was just as important as the shapes and sizes of the houses they wanted to move.

“We’re very particular in what we want to film,” says Fisher. “We want a family. We want there to be an emotional attachment to the building. It’s not just any old building and not a property developer. This is something they want to live in. It has to be a proper house. Some houses are built to be moved. We make sure these were never meant to be moved. They are structurally sound but are hopefully big and impressive or have some wonderful backstory.”

In Sunday’s season opener, the house in question was owned by a man who had recently won the lottery. He wants the old house gone so he can build a mansion on his land. Enter Joe and Bridgette McKeen, the parents of four young children, who are keen to plop the house on their rural land near Gull Lake.

It will be step up from their previous abode, a 26-foot trailer on the land that houses six people and some pets.

Unlike Kerner, the McKeens didn’t hesitate when asked by producers to participate.

“It seemed like a great way to remember the whole experience,” says Bridgette. “That’s really something for the kids to be able to watch five years from now, to see the transformation of what your house looked like before to what it looks like now.The oreck XL professional air purifier,”

Both Kerner and the McKeens admit that the move was relatively free of strife. But, as is usually the case with unscripted television, it’s all given a melodramatic push using narration, music and selective editing. There’s the soft ground, a few tight turns, those pesky low-hanging branches and the general headaches of lifting a 70-tonne building off the ground.

The show also has some computer-generated graphics to show how the movers overcome some of the challenges. This includes some worst-case scenarios, that usually ends with a spectacular, house-destroying crash. Like Kerner, the McKeens have yet to see the episode, but were fans of the series first season. They are curious. And a little nervous.

“I find they really try to dramatize the whole thing,” says Joe. “Of course, you’re going to do that to make for good TV. I didn’t feel it was all that dramatic. They’re going to have to mix and mingle to make it feel that way.”

As national attention hovers around school safety, following the Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings last month, local officials next week plan to meet and discuss how to make the town's schools safer.

Superintendent Steven Hiersche, Police Chief Richard Flannery and Fire Chief Ken Clark said they will look at ways to make schools more secure, perhaps by suggesting quicker implementation of phone technology that will allow cameras at the schools to be monitored remotely.

Hiersche said the renewed discussion on safety isn’t new or directly a result of the Sandy Hook incident. He said schools are already very safe.

"Certainly people’s heightened worry and awareness is definitely a response but we’ve been looking at security in school districts for quite some time," he said.

Many MetroWest districts have reexamined safety procedures and in some cases ramped up security following the Newtown, Conn. attack, where 26 people, including 20 children, were killed Dec. 14.

"From our standpoint, we just want to look at any improvements we think we can make," Hiersche said in a phone interview Friday.

The town is already implementing a new type of digital phone system,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china, known as voice over internet protocol, or VoIP, which Hiersche said will mean officials can monitor cameras in schools externally, such as from a laptop in a police cruiser, Hiersche said.

He said the exact location of cameras and whether cameras are continuously monitored is confidential because of safety risks.

"Giving detail is not what we want to do," the superintendent said.

The VoIP system would also allow officials to remotely access the parent emergency line, an alert system similar to reverse-911, the superintendent said.

How we'll stay afloat

All those great ideas on paper that the Thailand Creative and Design Centre decided last May were the best new ways to cope with flooding are now realities and on view this month at the centre in the Emporium.

The seven sketched-out notions that won the "Design for Flood" competition last spring are now in prototype form and ready to test in the field - although no one's in a hurry to see another deluge like Thailand endured in the autumn of 2011.

"We also teamed up with universities and private firms to develop three designs that didn't win," says Kittiarttana Pitipanich, an adviser at the design centre. "Our partners are willing to help develop prototypes within a limited budget.

"All of these are new innovations. We prepared the open-source blueprints to demonstrate how they could be produced and used, and now they have to be tested in a real situation to ensure quality and safety."

Tanakul Workgroup's Floating Toilet remains the most eye-catching invention. Made of plywood and resin-coated, it's foldable and relies on calcium hydroxide and chlorine for sanitation.

And while you're floating merrily down the stream in your toilet, you can keep track of your location thanks to Tanakul's foam emergency signs, in different designs and sizes.

The text on the signs, in water-resistant ink, is updated information about the current situation in any given area, including possible hazards such as sewage, slippery surfaces, submerged obstacles like speed bumps, strong water flow and loose electrical wires.

Another form of sign that can posted online bears a map with GPS coordinates so that relief teams can deliver food, medicine and drinking water.

Flat 6 Studio's FurFightFlood furniture, made from recycled polyethylene, is rugged but light enough to float, and mildew-resistant. It's designed to carry belongings and food and can be piled up as a flood barrier when sandbags are unavailable.

Nuttapong Thammaruksasit's fold-up-and-carry Wee Boat is made primarily for office workers. It's canvas on an aluminium frame and can carry one person through the wet or be set on its rollers to tote gear like a suitcase.

King Monkut's University architecture student Yotsawadee Luetrakulset's Sufficient Vegetables Gardening Kit is a handbook on fast-growing edible plants with a weekly planting schedule and a list of vegetables that require little sunlight,Trade platform for China crystal mosaic manufacturers just soil and, funnily enough, lots of water. In a flood that looks like it's going to last, you'll be dining on bean sprouts, water morning glory, coriander, scallions,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products.High quality stone mosaic tiles. bok choy, basil and Chinese cabbage and kale.

Vatcharanont Kongchatthai's Disease Diagnosis Kit could save lives by helping people record any symptoms that appear and compare them on a chart to those associated with five common flood-borne diseases. It explains the potential for infection and basic treatment while tracking the symptoms' progress as an aid for the doctor you eventually get to see.

The three designs chosen for development despite not placing in the competition include the Community Water Supply - a floating filtration plant that works on pedal power - and the foam-and-canvas Water Level Measuring Buoy,High quality stone mosaic tiles. which contains a retractable two-metre tape that could help commuters choose the safest routes for travel.

The third is a stainless steel Water Garbage Cleaner that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration can attach to the side of its trash-collection boats. It looks like a giant comb, ready to sweep up debris in canals.

Another concept from the contest is a monitoring system conceived by computer engineers in Chiang Mai University's OASYS Research Group, and the design centre vows to have a prototype finished before the exhibition ends.

The idea is to provide people in areas at risk what they were missing last time - accurate, up-to-date information on where the waters are rising. Sensors would watch the level and speed of floodwater and estimate how many days it will take to reach specific neighbourhoods. Cameras and devices to measure rainfall and temperature would be installed in every zone.

"We spent Bt2 million on all the prototypes, half of which were produced by the Tanakul Workgroup," says the centre's Waritthi Teeraprasert. "We used 'design thinking' as the framework, focusing on the real needs of people. We've created the prototypes and now the hope is that the government and private firms will develop them for the public."

Apple removed Google services from its iOS software with iOS 6, shedding both the native YouTube application, as well as Google Maps. Apple replaced Google Maps with its own Maps application, and included new features such as FlyOver and Turn-by-Turn directions. According to a report from TechCrunch, Apple is looking to improve its Maps, by acquiring turn-by-turn navigation company, Waze.

Waze brings a number of social features to navigation, allowing users to add in their own information as they travel. The service then learns from the routes traveled and provides routing and real-time traffic updates to others. Waze is already a partner in Apple’s Maps application, however, an acquisition would make the current Maps app much better. Apple’s Maps application launched to intense scrutiny after the service failed to locate some areas improperly and removed highly utilized features such as public transportation information.

TechCrunch’s own MG Siegler believes that it is unlikely that Apple is looking to purchase Waze and mentions that the two companies are likely in low-level discussions, having worked together prior to these reports.

Apple has been reported to be hashing out a deal with Foursquare for its Maps app. However, TechCrunch’s earlier report notes that if Apple were to acquire Waze, it would benefit the company more than data from Foursquare as it would not only be cheaper but because “Check-In” apps tend to not be as accurate as navigation apps.

The Fringies remove Tape #5 from the amber, and on it Tape Bishop explains that they will need two of those cylindrical beacon thingamajigs which they will find them in an old lab that Bishop and Bell used to use. The beacons will be locked in a storage facility that can be opened with Bell’s hand. So THAT’S why he was with us in the amber! Bell realizes. Well, that, and he claimed that he wanted to help us defeat the Observers, only to betray us, AsteriskAstrid reminds him. Pacey reminds Bishop that he called Pacey for help, and by the time Pacey had arrived, Bell had led the Observers to their location, and so Bishop ambered the lot of them. SO, let’s get Bell’s hand and go see what they can find at the old lab …

… or they would if it wasn’t covered in a huge pile of rubble. Pacey uses his Observer superpowers to find the entrance under the mess, which leads to a nasty earbleed, gross. The Fringies try to figure out how, exactly,High quality stone mosaic tiles. to get through the mess without attracting unwanted Observer attention: anti-matter batons will anti-matter the lab along with the rubble, and any sort of heavy machinery will be detected. HMM. And that’s when they decide that maybe they should contact Mrs. Roboto, as she might have something in her vast warehouse of magic tricks that they could use.