/ The lamp was designed as an object capable of creating light effects through the use of open / closed pattern that populate a base surface of proliferation.

Once we have defined the geometric relationships of a basic component,

is able to create parametric iterations;

once tested, the component will populate an area of proliferation,Powercopy.

A singular planar pattern having two triangular openings will modulate the light in a scalar way,starting from the base with small openings until the final part at the top with medium-large openings.

So design must perform similarity,at just the right balance between material,geometry and force,Fineness.

For the fabrication we discretized the 3D model in order to have all the components of planar sheets,

ready for the laser cutting machine KNK;

Waiting for a possible production, the material chosen for the two prototypes is: cardboard-color ;

The material we hypothesized for the production is polypropylene 5mm

designed by Thomas Bagnoli & Michela Tonelli

SOL Austin: Net-Zero Capable

www.solaustin.com

Photos by DeLea Becker @ Beck-Reit and Sons, Ltd.

www.beckreit.com

Beck-Reit and Sons Ltd., an Austin General Contractor, has been working on sustainable construction methods since the day we started building houses. Our desire to build a better house led us to develop SOL (Solutions Oriented Living) subdivision in East Austin. We partnered with local architect, KRDB, to design, develop and build a net-zero capable sub-division centered around a community of 40 modern homes. Thru passive design, efficient building envelope and solar power these homes can produce more energy than they consume. The homes have been rated 4-5 star by the Austin Energy Green Building Program. SOL Austin has received national attention and has been featured in the New York Times, Metro-Homes, DIY Network’s "This New House", Builder Magazine, and Green Builder Magazine.

Capable of letting its body temperature fall to 48 F when entering a state of torpor to conserve energy, the normal body temperatrue is 107 F. Seen at Baylands.

This is a Tsimshian canoe, capable of sea-going travel. The Tsimshian people used these canoes for fishing and warfare.

Craig from Idaho.

Mixed media on paper, 16x20"

One out of every 5 couples is not capable to conceive naturally. Infertility affects the both men and women. When a couple is not able to conceive it could be due to a difficulty with either of the partners. Gone are the days when the infertility referred to a problem with the woman. Today male infertility affects almost 30% of the young couples. Infertility is a condition when a couple is not capable to get pregnant after a year of regular unprotected sex. Over the last two decades since 2000, there has been a sudden rise in the infertility. For those who are not directly affected this problem, you are probably wondering how infertility is an issue when we have an overpopulated plant! It is not only a problem affecting the affluent but every class of society is suffering from infertility. If you need to understand more about IVF Treatment in Delhi, Best IVF Centre in Delhi, Best IVF Doctors in Delhi, Best Infertility Treatment in Delhi, Best IVF Doctor in Delhi, Best Infertility Specialist in Delhi, IVF Hospital in Delhi, best tube baby centre in Delhi, Best IVF Centre in Delhi, IVF Clinic in Delhi etc, then you can call us at +9196507 25386, +91 011 22503927 or visit link www.kjivf.com/

In the late 1940s, the newly independent U.S. Air Force faced a plethora of challenges, two of which were paramount: 1. Developing a reliable strategic nuclear bomber and 2. Developing interceptors capable of defending the United States from the Soviet Union’s strategic nuclear bombers. The USAF had a plan in mind—the so-called “1954 Interceptor” that would evolve into the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart—but these were still some years away. To bridge this gap, Northrop was developing the F-89 Scorpion, but delays to the Scorpion project meant that the United States was theoretically defenseless until it entered service. The USAF then called for interceptors that could be converted quickly from existing aircraft. This would evolve into two aircraft: the F-94 Starfire and the F-86D Sabre Dog.

The F-86D started life as the F-95A. Unlike the F-94, which was a relatively straightforward conversion of the T-33A Shooting Star trainer into an interceptor, the F-95 was designed to be flown by one man. In previously dedicated interceptors, a two-person crew was deemed optimum, as the second man would operate the complicated radars of the day. A single-seat interceptor was unheard of, but as the 1954 Interceptor was also going to be a single-seat aircraft, the F-95 would provide valuable research into the concept. To achieve this, however, the fire control system would have to have advanced computers assisting the pilot.

Though it was based on the F-86 Sabre day fighter, the F-95 had less than 30% commonality with its parent design: the fuselage was deeper, wider, and longer; the intake had to be redesigned to accommodate the nose radar; the tail was larger; the engine was upgraded with an afterburner for quick takeoffs and climbs; and the canopy was changed to a hinged type rather than the sliding model on the F-86. The latter’s machine gun armament was removed in favor of an under-fuselage tray of 24 Mighty Mouse folding-fin aerial rockets (FFARs).

As the F-95 prototype neared completion, there was some thought that Congress might cancel the aircraft: it was redundant with the F-89 and F-94 also entering service. The F-95 did have the Sabre’s remarkable combat record behind it. In a funding dodge, North American changed the designation from F-95 to F-86D, making it seem like just another Sabre variant rather than the nearly entirely new aircraft that it was. This also earned the aircraft its informal nickname, Sabre Dog, based on the old phonetic alphabet for D.

Some pilots, however, claimed the Dog stood for the way the F-86D flew. While it did not have the same propensity to go into uncontrollable pitchups as the F-86 (which was known as the “Sabre Dance”), it could easily be overcorrected, with much of the same fatal results. It was not as easy to fly as the “standard” F-86, and the fire control computer, as could be expected for an early 1950s aircraft, was not very reliable. An optical sight was provided for the pilot if the computer went down, which was frequently. Moreover, North American, now operating in “emergency” mode, could turn out F-86Ds before Hughes could complete the fire control system. At one point, over 300 F-86Ds sat idle at the North American plant, waiting for computers. Because of the faulty computer and the flying characteristics of the Sabre Dog, it was considered one of the most complicated aircraft to fly in the USAF at the time, requiring a training syllabus matched only by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet.

The United States wasn’t the only nation that needed interceptors, and several NATO nations requested F-86Ds of their own. The fire control system was considered too advanced for export, however, and instead, it was downgraded to a simper version; the rocket tray was removed and replaced with four 20mm cannons, and it was supplied to friendly nations as the F-86K. While still not the easiest aircraft to fly, the pilot had a better chance of scoring a kill with the more accurate cannon, and the F-86K was successful in NATO service. Subsequently, several F-86Ds were returned to North American, undergoing an avionics upgrade, a more straightforward cockpit layout, and extended wingtips. This resulted in the F-86L, which was used by several Air National Guard interceptor units into the mid-1960s. While American Sabre Dogs only carried rockets, foreign aircraft were modified to carry AIM-9 Sidewinders later. Sixteen foreign air forces also flew the Sabre Dogs.

A total of 2,847 F-86Ds and associated variants were built and were the most prolific interceptor aircraft in the West during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Most were replaced by more advanced aircraft beginning in the mid-1960s, but a few Yugoslavian F-86Ks soldiered on into the early 1980s. None of them were ever involved in combat. Today, only a handful of them remain in museums.

This F-86, BuNo 53-0965 was originally built as an F-86D and first entered service with the active duty 47th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Niagara Falls, New York. In 1957, it was converted to a F-86L, and after a short stint with the 53rd Fighter Group at Sioux City, Iowa, it was transferred to the Air National Guard and the 144th FG (California ANG) at Fresno. It was retired in 1966 and donated to the Pima Air and Space Museum in 1974.

Though looking a bit worn, 53-0965 still looks pretty good; interestingly, it is shown in the colors of the 354th FIS out of McGhee-Tyson Airport, Tennessee, a unit this aircraft had never served with. Given that the 354th now flies the A-10s next door at Davis-Monthan AFB, this could also be the reason.

Konya ordered 12 trams capable of catenary-free operation from Škoda in May 2014. as a follow-on order for 60 ForCity Classic 28T trams. This brings the total order value for 72 trams to KC3•4bn. Following certification in January, a prototype Catfree tram has been on test at Škoda’s Plzeň factory.Roof-mounted nano-lithium-titanium batteries enable catenary-free operation for up to 3 km, and are recharged through the pantograph.

‘The tram managed to accelerate 30 times to 30 km/h for a total of 8 km without recharging’, explained Milan Šrámek, Škoda Transportation’s Electric Product Manager.

The trams for Konya are to be used on a new line which will have a 1•8 km section without overhead wires. The first 28T from the original order entered passenger service in February 2014.

This Lotus is capable of switching from gasoline to bioethanol to methanol (CH3OH), which can be produced synthetically from CO2 and hydrogen. Ultimately, emerging processes to recover atmospheric CO2 will provide the required carbon that can entirely balance the CO2 emissions at the tailpipe that result from the internal combustion of synthetic methanol.

The van can run on gasoline or biomethane gas - derived from food waste.

Lotus Engineering regards sustainable alcohols as the third step in a process towards carbon neutral driving:

1st Generation: there is a handful of current bio-ethanol models on sale around the world. These cars run on E85 bio-ethanol, which is produced from valuable arable crops (food). This is unsustainable in the short and medium term as global demand for fuel will outstrip the supply available from farmland to the detriment of food production.

2nd Generation: the next generation bio-ethanol fuels will be based on biomass waste, for example crop stubble, waste vegetable-based oils and any biodegradable waste matter. This is thought also to be unsustainable in the medium to long term as the required volume of biomass increases beyond that which can be supplied.

3rd Generation: sustainable alcohols such as synthetic methanol that can be produced from entirely sustainable, readily available inputs, with an environmentally neutral overall impact.

4th Generation: Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: over the longer term, sustainable alcohols in internal combustion will facilitate the soft introduction of direct methanol fuel cells as a long term sustainable future fuel.

A capable but unloved camera from the 90's

Capable of 100 mph and built in 2000 in Zaragoza, Spain, to replace Class 308 units on the Wharfedale and Airedale routes, this Class 333 is seen here arriving into Keighley, from Skipton, and is heading for Leeds, on 26/04/2015. © Peter Steel 2015.

Truly impressed with the sharpness of this lens. I have much more dedicated macro lenses for my 7D but I was stunned once zoomed to 100% what detail the Fuji camera was capable of.

These capable hands have held babies, changed nappies, fixed any thing and everything in the house and cars. Tended and cared and worked. They are dexterous and agile and strong, and it feels good when they hold my hand!

Scavchal13 - Delicate or work-hardened, shoot close up to capture the character of a hand or hands

The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the earlier, piston-engined E-1 Tracer, which was rapidly becoming obsolete. The aircraft's performance has been upgraded with the E-2B and E-2C versions, where most of the changes were made to the radar and radio communications due to advances in electronic integrated circuits and other electronics. The fourth major version of the Hawkeye is the E-2D, which first flew in 2007. The E-2 was the first aircraft designed specifically for its role, as opposed to a modification of an existing airframe, such as the Boeing E-3 Sentry. Variants of the Hawkeye have been in continuous production since 1960, giving it the longest production run of any carrier-based aircraft.

The E-2 also received the nickname "Super Fudd" because it replaced the WF (later E-1) "Willy Fudd". In recent decades, the E-2 has been commonly referred to as the "Hummer" because of the distinctive sounds of its turboprop engines, quite unlike that of turbojet and turbofan jet engines. In addition to U.S. Navy service, smaller numbers of E-2s have been sold to the armed forces of Egypt, France, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan.

Grumman also used the basic layout of the E-2 to produce the Grumman C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft.

From Wikipedia:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_E-2_Hawkeye

Photo by Eric Friedebach

Hot Rod Magazine featured “Big John” Mazmanian’s beautiful candy-apple red, drag racing Corvette on their March 1963 cover and called it the “Double-Threat ‘Vette” referring to how it was equally capable at being a racer and show car. Once you seen this car, you’ll know they hit the nail right on the head!

John Mazmanian began his “Corvette” adventure” when “Dyno Don” Nicholson, who ran the dynamometer at C.S Mead Chevrolet in Pasadena, California, told him about a 1961 “fuelie” Corvette” that dyno’ed better than all the other cars on the lot. John wasted no time in purchasing it and he raced it occasionally. But when he found out his nephew, Rich Siroonian, was borrowing it to race on the streets of Los Angeles County, John decided that he and Rich would take it racing, but this time, legally.

The first year out, they won the 1961 NHRA Winternationals in A-Sports (A/SP) turning 109.96 mph with the fuel injected 283 small block. Over the summer they replaced the fuel injection with a GMC 4-71 blower and Hilborn two-port injector and won the C-Modified Sports (CM/SP) title at the 1962 Winternationals with a speed of 113 mph. They also took home the 3rd place trophy at the Winternationals Car Show.

Then they got serious and installed the “Bones” Balogh 327” small-block opened up to 338” and equipped with a GMC 6-71 blower, Hilborn four-port injector, Isky cam, Jardine headers and B&M Hydro. This bumped them to B-Modified Sports (BM/SP) and by March of ‘ 63 were turning 130 mph and 10.90 seconds e.t. with “Bones” doing the driving.

“Big John” sold the ‘Vette in late 1963 and built the car he is most famous for: the ‘41 Willys Gasser that was one of the “Big Four” of the “Gasser Wars” era of drag racing. But the candy-red ‘Vette will always be remembered as one of the prettiest cars to ever run the quarter-mile.

“Big John” Mazmanian

1961 B&C M/SP Corvette

“The Double-Threat ‘Vette”

Release date: 2007

Manufacture: Precision Miniatures

History Content taken from Box Art!

Built by the Schiffswerks Rieherst company in Hamburg, the Umbria was launched on December 30th 1911 with the name of Bahia Blanca. It was a large freighter by that time, 150 meters long, with a power capable of providing a speed of 14 knots that could carry 9,000 tons of cargo and up to 2,000 passengers. In 1912 it began operating the Hamburg-America line doing different jobs between Europe and Argentina until the outbreak of World War I, when it was based in Buenos Aires. In 1918 the ship was acquired by the Argentinian government and it was not until 1935 when the ship was taken over by the Italian government and renamed again: the Umbria. From that moment its trips were to transport troops and during the following two years carried several thousand soldiers to the Italian colonies in East Africa.

The loss of the Umbria

In May 1940, when Italy was still neutral in World War II, the Umbria was secretly loaded with 360,000 bombs between 15 kg and 100 kg, 60 boxes of detonators, building materials and three Fiat Lunga cars, carrying a total 8,600 tons of weapons towards the East Africa. The explosives had destination Massawa and Assab, Eritrea, that was Italian colony by then, and the rest of the cargo was heading different locations in Asia. Italy's entry into the war was imminent and this shipment was destined to the defense of the colonies against the Allies and to the possible expansion of its African territories.

On 3rd June 1940 the Umbria reached Port Said, northern Egypt, where loaded with 1,000 tons of coal and water in a movement to fool the Allies, trying to look like a harmless freighter. The port, controlled by the Royal Navy, and its authorities allowed the ship enter on the Red Sea three days after arrival. The British delayed the departure of the Umbria knowing that Italy's entry into the war was imminent and that the cargo of Umbria had devastating power that sooner or later would be used against the Allies and why not, to get a great load to fight fascism. But Italy, as a neutral country that it was, had every right to transport weapons much like any other cargo to its colonies.

Having met the deadline to be retained, the Umbria crossed the Suez Canal on June 6th but with the escort of the HMS Grimsby. The importance and destructive capacity of the cargo required it. Three days later the Umbria entered in Sudan waters and the HMS Grimsby ordered the Umbria captain to anchor on Wingate Reef under the pretext of searching for contraband. Moments later the British warship HMS Leander arrived with a group of 20 sailors who boarded the Umbria. After thoroughly searching the ship and finding nothing, the captain ordered the British troops to remain the night aboard the Umbria.

The next morning Lorenzo Muiesan, Umbria captain, was in his cabin listening to the radio when Mussolini announced the entry of Italy into the World War II. Hostilities would begin at midnight of that day. Muiesan, a very patriotic captain with long experience, was the only one in the area who had heard the news and knew immediately that both Umbria and the burden would be used by the Allies against their own country. He had no option to disable both. In a move of extraordinary intelligence, as the hours passed retained by the British who did not yet know that Italy was officially the enemy, the captain ordered his crew conducting a rescue simulation... that was more real than the British thought. This maneuver, which the English soldiers agreed as they believed it would serve to further delay the departure of the Umbria. While the Italians occupied the lifeboats, the chief engineers, following Muiesan´s orders, opened all the valves and drown the ship to the bottom of the reef. With the crew safe, the British only had time to get on their ship and watch the freighter slid slowly.

When the captain of HMS Grimsby asked why he had done that Muiesan confirmed the declaration of war from Italy to Britain. The next day Muiesan and the rest of Umbria crew departed detainees to India, where they spent four years in prison.

CARGO:

The Umbria was carrying 360,000 individual aircraft bombs ranging in size from 15, 50 and 100 kg. The vessel also carried a large quantity of fuses, ammunition and detonators as well as other traditional cargo. The captain knew these bombs would be confiscated and used by the enemy against his country should they ever discover them which was why he made the call to sink the ship.

The Umbria had sailed in June 1940 with 6,000 tons of bombs, 60 boxes detonators, explosives, weapons and three Fiat 1100 Lunga from Genoa via Livorno and Naples in the Suez Canal and on the way via Massaua and Assab to Calcutta.

SOL Austin: Net-Zero Capable

www.solaustin.com

Beck-Reit and Sons Ltd., an Austin General Contractor, has been working on sustainable construction methods since they day we started building houses. Our desire to build a better house led us to the development of the SOL (Solutions Oriented Living) subdivision in East Austin. We partnered with local architect KRDB to design, develop, and build a net-zero capable sub-division centered around a community of 40 modern homes. Thru passive design, efficient building envelope and solar power these homes can produce more energy than they consume. SOL has received national attention and has been featured in the New York Times, Metro-Homes, DIY Network’s: This New House, Builder Magazine, and Green Builder Magazine.

www.beckreit.com

twitter.com/#!/BeckReit

Photos by DeLea Becker @ Beck-Reit and Sons, Ltd.

This is a family dedicated channel to our beloved big lad Benji

We got Benji in 2007 when he was 4 years old as the owner was suffering from an illness and was no longer capable of looking after him

We got him on the 21st may 2007 so we used that date to celebrate his birthday

When Benji came to live with us he was a very independant lad and was always the boss especially over my two young sons and he stamped his authority quite quickly

He did test us at the beginning but soon knew that living here with us he was going to get nothing more than love and attention and he got that in abundance

He loved his home comforts as he would often take over the settee and would declare that space as his own

I myself have had health issues and Benji would always pop his head up to see if everything was alright with me and i would do the same with him everynight

We nearly lost Benji in 2013/2014 when we discovered a small lump on his groin and the vet at the time told us it was just a fatty lump and just ignore it

We knew something was not right and advised the vet that we wanted it removed and we would pay for the operation

We booked him in 2 weeks after that appointment and when we got him to the PDSA they told us that it was a good job that we ignored her colleagues advice and decided to go for the operation as it saved his life as this so called fatty lump was actually a growth that was cutting off his blood vessel, The operation was a success and it extended our time with Benji

There was times that we questioned some of the vets advice as for when we kept asking about all the lumps that was appearing on his body and again we were told that they were just fatty lumps

Over the past couple of years we were concerned of a few lumps under his chest and a few that would appear around his ribs etc and again we were told to ignore them as they were fatty lumps

Well those lumps turned out to be cancer and cost our baby boy his life as his liver had also became very enlarged and we had to make a decssion if we wanted to die in agony as we were informed or for the vet to give him that terrible injection

We took him home for a day so that he could say his goodbyes to my sons and we stayed awake with him all night

The following morning we gave him his favourite a tin of tuna and he had a good drink of water and at 10:15am on September 1st 2017 Benji was put to sleep

My wife held him in her arms as i cuddled his head and kept him from seeing the needles and he dropped into his deep sleep forever

The vet that dealt with Benji on his final moment was a wonderful and caring vet and we thank her from the bottom of our hearts for all she done

We love you Benji and we will walk together again one day soon

Forever your

Mammy, Daddy and Brothers

New Sony Soundbars And Home Theatre System Capable Of 3D Audio... All daily inspiration

noun

a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, esp. one programmable by a computer.

• (esp. in science fiction) a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically.

• used to refer to a person who behaves in a mechanical or unemotional manner : terminally bored tour guides chattering like robots.

ORIGIN from Czech, from robota ‘forced labor.’ The term was coined in K. Čapek's play R.U.R. ‘Rossum's Universal Robots’ (1920).

Blue and yellow in charge of the mail train today as #4038 brings QNYLA up the hill at Edelstein, Illinois, October 13th 1991.

The BMP-2 (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty, Russian: Боевая Машина Пехоты, literally "combat machine/vehicle (of the) infantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s.

Although the BMP-1 was a revolutionary design, its main armament, the 2A28 Grom and the 9S428 ATGM launcher capable of firing 9M14 Malyutka (NATO: AT-3A Sagger A) and 9M14M Malyutka-M (NATO: AT-3B Sagger B) ATGMs, quickly became obsolete. Therefore, the Soviet Union decided to produce an updated and improved version of the BMP-1. The main emphasis was put on improving the main armament. In 1972, work got under-way to develop an improved version of the BMP-1.

During its combat debut in the Yom Kippur War, Egyptian and Syrian BMPs proved vulnerable to .50 calibre machine-gun fire in the sides and rear, and to 105 mm M40 recoilless rifles. The 2A28 Grom proved inaccurate beyond 500 metres, and the 9M14 Malyutka missile could not be guided effectively from the confines of the turret.

Several Soviet technical teams were sent to Syria in the wake of the war to gather information. These lessons, combined with observations of western AFV developments, resulted in a replacement project for the original BMP in 1974. The result was the BMP-1P upgrade, which was intended as a stopgap to address the most serious problems with the existing design.

Smoke grenade launchers were added to the rear of the turret and the manually guided 9M14 Malyutka missile system was replaced with the semi-automatically guided 9K111 Fagot / 9M113 Konkurs system. The BMP-1P was in production by the late 1970s. Existing BMP-1s were gradually upgraded to the BMP-1P standard during the 1980s.

The BMP-2 is broadly similar to the BMP-1. The most significant changes are:

The commander now sits with the gunner in an enlarged, two-man turret.

Armament changed to the 2A42 30 mm autocannon and the 9P135M ATGM launcher capable of firing SACLOS guided 9M111 "Fagot" (AT-4 Spigot), 9M113 "Konkurs" (AT-5 Spandrel) and 9M113M "Konkurs-M" (AT-5B Spandrel B) anti-tank missiles.

Only seven troops can be carried instead of eight.

Two rear infantry roof hatches instead of four.

Slightly improved armour.

In the centre of the vehicle is the welded steel turret, which seats the commander and gunner, both of whom have hatches. The commander sits to the right and has three day-vision periscopes, a 1PZ-3 day-sight designed for anti-aircraft use with 1.2× and 4× magnification, an OU-3GA2 infra-red searchlight, a TNP-165A designator and a TKN-3B binocular sight with 4.75× day magnification and 4× night-sight magnification.

The gunner sits to the commander's left and has a smaller rectangular hatch with a rearward-facing day periscope. There are three other day periscopes facing forward and left. The gunner has a BPK-1-42 binocular sight with a moon/starlight vision range of 650 metres, or 350 metres using the infra-red searchlight, and a TNPT-1 designator. An FG-126 infra-red searchlight is mounted coaxially to the 30 mm cannon.

The driver sits in the front left of the vehicle, with the engine in a separate compartment to his right. The driver has his own entry hatch above him, with three day-vision periscopes. The centre TNPO-170A periscope can be replaced with either a TNPO-350B extended periscope for amphibious operation or a TVNE-1PA night vision scope. An infantryman sits immediately behind the driver, and has a firing port and vision block. TNPO-170A periscopes are used throughout the vehicle and are electrically heated.

In the BMP-1 and BMP-2, ammunition is stored near or even inside the compartment, which can lead to a catastrophic failure in case of a hull breach.

The BMP-1 and BMP-2 share the same chassis and have almost identical road performance. The BMP-2 is heavier, but also has a more powerful engine to compensate.

The BMP-2 is amphibious with little preparation, using hydrodynamic fairings to convert track momentum into water jets. Peacetime regulations require that any BMPs entering water must have a working radio set, since its bearings are not airtight and it can be carried away by currents in case of loss of engine power (the vehicle lacks an anchor).

The main armament is a turret with a stabilized 30 mm 2A42 autocannon with dual ammunition feeds, which provide a choice of 3UBR6 AP-T and 3UOR6 HE-T / 3UOF8 HE-I ammunition and 9M113 Konkurs ATGM. The gun has a selectable rate of fire, either slow at 200 to 300 rounds per minute or fast at 550 rounds per minute. This gives a continuous fire time of 100–150 seconds (or only 55 seconds, depending on the rate of fire chosen) before running out of ammunition. The original stabilization provides reasonable accuracy up to a speed of about 35 kilometres per hour.

The AP-T ammunition can penetrate 15 millimetres of armour at sixty degrees at 1,500 metres. A new APDS-T tungsten round can penetrate 25 millimetres at the same distance. A typical ammunition load is 160 rounds of AP ammunition and 340 rounds of HE ammunition. The ammunition sits in two trays located on the turret rear floor. The gun can be fired from either the commander's or the gunner's station.

The commander's 1PZ-3 sight is specifically designed for anti-aircraft operation. Combined with the high maximum elevation of 74 degrees, it allows the 30 mm cannon to be used effectively against helicopters and slow flying aircraft. The turret traverse and elevation are powered and it can traverse 360 degrees in 10.28 seconds and elevate through 74 degrees in 12.33 seconds.

Reloading the BMP-2's 30 mm cannon can be somewhat problematic and can take up to two hours, even if the ammunition is prepared. The cannon is normally only used on the slow rate of fire, otherwise, fumes from the weapon would build up in the turret faster than the extractor fan can remove them.[citation needed]

The effective range of the 30 mm cannon is up to 1,500 metres against armour, 4,000 metres against ground targets, and 2,500 metres against air targets.

A coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun is mounted to the left of the 30 mm cannon. 2,000 rounds of ammunition are carried for it. On the roof of the turret is an ATGM launcher. On Russian vehicles this fires 9M113 Konkurs missiles. On export models it normally fires 9K111 Fagot missiles. A ground-mount for the missile is carried, allowing it to be used away from the vehicle. The missiles are a substantial improvement on the 9M14 Malyutka missiles used on the BMP-1, in both range and accuracy.

Behind the turret is the troop compartment that holds six troops. A seventh sits just behind the driver. The troops sit back to back, along the center of the vehicle. Down each side of the compartment are three firing ports with periscopes. Access to the compartment is by the two rear doors, which hold fuel tanks. Both doors have integral periscopes. The left door has a firing port.

In addition to the main weapons, it can carry a man-portable surface-to-air missile launcher and two missiles, and an RPG launcher and five rounds. The vehicle is fitted with a PAZ overpressure NBC system and fire suppression system, and carries a GPK-59 gyrocompass.

The original BMP-1 had a vulnerability in its mine protection scheme, which only became obvious during the war in Afghanistan. The one-man-turret fighting vehicle seated its driver and commander in tandem layout, in the front-left side of the hull alongside the diesel engine. When a BMP-1 hit a tilt-rod anti-tank land mine its steeply sloped lower front glacis armour plate allowed the mine's arming rod to tilt with little resistance until the maximum deflection was reached, at which time the mine was already well under the chassis.

When it subsequently detonated, the blast usually killed both the driver and the vehicle commander. This shortcoming was addressed in the BMP-2 design, where the tank commander shares the well-armoured two-man turret with the gunner. The driver's station has been enlarged and he is provided with an armored driver's seat, in addition to extra belly armor in the lower front.

The IFV lacks the ability to install add-on protection packages like slat armor cages or explosive reactive armor (ERA). The BMP-2's armor is very similar to the original BMP-1, resistant to 23 mm armor-piercing rounds on its frontal arc from 500 meters (and immune to 12.7 mm armor-piercing from the same angle) and to 7.62x39 mm armor-piercing rounds to its sides. Its armor is slightly thinner than the BMP-1's but the higher-quality steel used in its construction grants it the same effective protection.

The basic hull armor on the BMP-2 can be easily penetrated by any shaped-charge missile, from the 66 mm LAW on up. One important modification carried out as the result of operational experience in Afghanistan was the fitting of a second layer of stand-off armor, usually a high resistant ballistic rubber-like material, to act as spaced armour around the top of the hull sides and around the turret.

According to Russian sources, the vehicles repaired as of November 2023 are equipped with attachments to install additional protection kits.

Trailer 🎬 👉 youtu.be/sgtpBrDLSIQ

🔸Capable ( Kaabil 2017 ) India ⭐7.3/10 - 76% Liked.

🔸Director: .................... Sanjay Gupta

🔸Cast: .......................... Hrithik Roshan, Yami Gautam, Ronit Roy

🔸Runtime: ................... 2h 19min

🔸Genre: ....................... Action | Drama | Romance | Thriller

🔸Rated: ........................ NR

🔸Country: .................... India

🔸Language: ................. Hindi

🔸Studio: ....................... Film Kraft

🔸Budget: ..................... $14 million

🔸Synopsis: A blind man goes out for revenge for the murder of his wife by two evil brothers.

As time progressed, smartphones became more and more capable on the photographic side. And actual top models can really surprise delivering better results and capabilities than small sensor compact cameras. The P10 uses the most capable twin camera with Leica optics and two sensors combining data into one image. The pixels are still very small and the focal length sometimes a bit limiting, but the focusing is very fast, dynamic range is surprisingly good, and the level of details impressive especially in DNG. Finally a smartphone, which produces images usable for more than showing on the screen, when the need is there.

Hmm..... Well my brain works a little differently to most.. It's childlike!

My knowledge is small..but my imagination is MASSIVE!!

I spend time worrying about this..And about getting left behind!

Sometimes I wonder if I have enough skills. But I guess it all comes down to whether or not I am capable! And YES! I may be a little eccentric to some..But I'm a Mum (a fun one at that or so he always tells me!) I run my own little business and also do a small job on the side.. I look after my little family and furry friends and I try my best to spread sunshine wherever I go!

As for being left behind..Most of the time the world in my head is more fun anyway..

Feel free to come along!

Oh yeah but the picture... Is inspired by my Mum telling me as a child that she needed

to be an octopus to get EVERYTHING done..And my Mum is the most capable lady I know!

She says that the downside to being capable is that you will work HARD..

The more incapable you act the more people will do for you.

But I know full well that if she got to do it all again she wouldn't change a thing!

P.S.. I know it's a squid... My Jacob LOVES squids!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope it kinda makes sense!!??

CA SEA OTTERS: MONTEREY BAY

The southern, or California, sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) has been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 1977. It belongs to the order Carnivora and the family Mustelidae. Two other otter subspecies are also recognized – E. lutris kenyoni, which is found from Oregon to Alaska, and E. lutris lutris, which inhabits parts of Russia and northern Japan. Sea otters are highly specialized marine mammals capable of living their entire lives without ever having to leave the ocean, have the densest fur of any mammal and are one of the few marine species to use tools. Sea otters are an apex predator of the near shore ecosystem. The species is considered a keystone species because of their critical importance to the health and stability of the near shore marine ecosystem. They are also considered a sentinel species because their health reflects that of California’s coastal oceans. The southern sea otter population has exhibited high levels of mortality in recent years. Scientists attribute up to 40 percent of southern sea otter mortality to infectious diseases alone, many of which are known to have anthropogenic causes and land-sea linkages. The single greatest threat to the sea otter is an oil spill. One large oil spill in central California could be catastrophic, with the potential of driving the entire southern sea otter population into extinction.

Description

The sea otter is one of the smallest marine mammals, but one of the largest members of the family Mustelidae, a group that includes skunks and weasels among others. Adult males reach an average length of 4.5 feet (1.4 m) with a typical weight between 50 and 100 lbs. (23 to 45 kg), while adult females reach an average length of 4 feet (1.2 m) and typically weigh 45 lbs. (20 kg). It has a highly buoyant, elongated body, blunt snout and small, wide head. Sea otters have an acute sense of smell and taste and have good vision both above and below the water surface. They also rely heavily on their sense of touch.

Sea otters exhibit numerous adaptations, which help them survive in their challenging marine environment. Long whiskers help them to detect vibrations in murky waters and sensitive forepaws, with retractable claws, help them to groom, locate and capture prey underwater, and use tools. When underwater, they can close their nostrils and small ears. The sea otter’s hind feet are webbed and flipper-like, and are used in conjunction with its lower body to propel the animal through the water. It has a long, flattened tail, which they use as a rudder and for added propulsion. Hearing is one sense that is not yet fully understood, although studies suggest they are particularly sensitive to high-frequency sounds. Their teeth are unique for a mammal in that they are blunt and designed for crushing, rather than being sharp for tearing like most marine mammals are equipped with.

With the exception of its nose and pads of its paws, the sea otter’s body is covered in dense fur. The fur consists of two layers. The short, brown under fur can be as dense as 1 million hairs per square inch, making its fur the densest of any mammal. By comparison, we only have about 100,000 hairs in total on our heads. A top layer of long, waterproof guard hairs helps to keep the under fur layer dry by keeping cold water away from the skin. The pelage is typically deep brown in color with silver-gray highlights, with the coloration of the head and neck being lighter than the body. Unlike other marine mammals, such as seals and sea lions, sea otters do not have any blubber, so they depend on this exceptionally thick, water-resistant fur to stay warm in the cold, coastal Pacific.

Range & Habitat

Historically, southern sea otters were present in coastal marine habitats from northern California to Baja California in Mexico. This range decreased significantly during the fur trade during the 18th and 19th centuries, with excessive hunting nearly driving the species into extinction by the early 1900s. The current range extends along the California coast from Half Moon Bay in the north to Santa Barbara in the south, though individuals are occasionally seen outside these limits. A small population of sea otters lives at San Nicolas Island as a result of translocation efforts initiated in 1987.

Sea otters are found in a variety of coastal marine habitats, including rocky shores and sea-bottoms, sandy sea-bottoms, as well as coastal wetlands. Sea otters naturally inhabit offshore areas with an abundance of food and kelp canopy. They tend to live in ocean depths shallower than 130 feet (40 m) with water temperatures ranging between 35°F and 60°F.

Behavior

Most of a sea otter’s life is spent at sea, though they do occasionally haul out on land, where they appear clumsy and walk with a rather awkward gait. They eat, sleep, mate and give birth in the water. Sea otters spend most of their time floating on their backs at the surface grooming, eating, resting, and diving for food on the seafloor. Sea otters are relatively slow swimmers, generally traveling at 3-5 mph (5-8 km/h). They typically swim belly-up on their backs, propelling themselves through the water using their webbed hind feet. If a faster speed is required, for instance when a male is patrolling it’s territory for competing males or when in hot pursuit of a sexually receptive female, it turns over onto its stomach and in addition to using its webbed hind feet, it undulates its entire body for greater propulsion and acceleration.

Sea otters groom themselves almost continuously while at the surface, a practice critical for maintaining the insulating and water repellant properties of their fur. Its pliable skeleton and loosely fitted skin allow the animal the flexibility to reach any part of its body. During a grooming bout, which generally occurs directly after a foraging bout (a period of time in which diving and eating takes place) or resting bout, the animal can be seen somersaulting, twisting and turning, and meticulously rubbing its fur at the water surface. This behavior not only cleans the fur, but also traps air bubbles against the skin within the millions of hairs of its pelage. This layer of entrapped air creates an insulating barrier (similar to that of a double-paned window), which prevents water from reaching the skin. Constant grooming is absolutely critical for their survival. If cold ocean water reaches their skin, it will immediately begin to draw heat out of the animal, which disrupts the animal’s ability to thermo regulate and will ultimately lead to hypothermia and death.

Sea otters often rest together in single-sex groups called rafts. They are known to wrap themselves up in kelp to keep from drifting out to sea. While resting at the surface, a sea otter will often times hold its forepaws above the water surface and fold its hind feet up onto to its torso to help conserve heat.

With the exception of territorial males, who have the privilege of living among females, males and females tend to live in separate groups. The center of the sea otter range is predominately occupied by females (of all ages) and territorial males, as well as some dependent pups and recently weaned juvenile males. The northern and southern edges of the range are largely male dominated areas; consisting of juvenile, sub adult and adult males. Numbers in these male areas tend to increase in winter and spring because there are fewer mating opportunities with sexually receptive females during this time of the year.

Females generally have small home territories while many adult males hold larger aquatic territories consisting of several adult females. Bachelor males (animals who are either to young or too old to defend their own territories) reside in the large male-only groups at either end of the range. Males travel much greater distances throughout the range than females, typically making seasonal treks of up to 200 miles between the months of June and November when the highest proportion of females are in estrous. On any given day though, males tend to remain in the same general location, moving only a mile or two along the coastline. Females, on the other hand, are sedentary by nature, generally staying within 10 – 20 miles of their home ranges. Their home ranges are smaller because they have higher metabolic costs while pregnant and raising their pup.

Sea otters are equally active both night and day. A foraging bout occurs for several hours in the morning, typically starting just before sunrise. A second foraging bout begins in the afternoon, usually lasting for several hours until sunset. A grooming bout occurs before and after each foraging bout and resting bout follows at midday, followed again by another grooming and resting bout. A third foraging bout may also occur around midnight.

Although difficult to hear from shore, sea otters exhibit a variety of vocal behaviors. Pups are the most vocal. A pup can be heard squealing when its mother leaves it to dive for food and often times when a male approaches. Their cry is similar to that of a gull. Other vocalizations include: coos and grunts, which occur when an animal is eating or when content, as in the case of a pair-bonded couple during courtship; whines occur when an animal is frustrated, as in the case of an older pup wanting to suckle or an adult male attempting to mate with an uninterested female; growls, snarls, whistles and hisses can be heard when an animal is frightened or distressed, as in the case of a captured otter.

Food & Foraging

An otter must consume approximately 25% of its bodyweight in prey each day just to stay alive! A 75-pound otter can eat up to 1,500 sea urchins a day, or about 25 pounds of seafood (for a 75 pound kid, that would amount to eating 75 quarter pound hamburgers every day!). To meet its high energetic and thermoregulation demands, a sea otter’s metabolic rate is 2 to 3 times that of comparatively sized mammals. Sea otters consume a wide variety of benthic invertebrates. Prey items include sea urchins, abalone, crabs, mussels, clams, marine snails, marine worms, sea stars, and squid. In total, otters eat at least 50 species of benthic (bottom-dwelling) invertebrates, although individuals tend to specialize on only a few main prey types. Prey specialization and feeding preferences are passed on from mother to pup.

The strong forelegs paws are used to locate and capture prey. Pockets of loose skin under each foreleg are used to store prey it has gathered on the seafloor for the ascent to the surface. Rocks are often used as tools to dislodge prey on the sea floor and to break open the hard outer shells of some prey items upon returning to the surface. Floating belly-up in the water, they place rocks on their chests and repeatedly pound hard-shelled prey against them to gain access the meat inside. While eating, an otter will roll repeatedly in the water to wash away food scraps from its chest. Unlike most other marine mammals, sea otters commonly drink seawater. Although most of the animal’s water needs are met through the consumption of prey, its large kidneys allow it to extract fresh water from seawater.

Sea otters generally forage close to shore in depths shallower than 60 feet (18 m) but are capable of diving to depths of 300 feet (90 m) or more. With a relatively large lung capacity for it’s size, an otter can hold its breath for 5 minutes, but most dives are two minutes or less in duration. Source: www.seaotters.com

Capable of In-Flight Aerial Refueling.

I was attached to Attack Squadron 35, "The Black Panthers" ie-VA-35 based out of NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Deployed onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt-CVN-71,

USS Saratoga-CV-60

via Instagram bit.ly/2WpFWK2

The Focusun 10T sea water flake ice machine is capable of producing almost 10.000 KG of ice in just 24 hrs. The Chinese company produces high quality plants using only the best quality parts from world renowned companies. Focusun produces all its machines in Mainland China. Also in Focusun's long list of product catalog with different capacities include: Block Ice Machine, Tube Ice Plant, Cold Storage, Artificial Ice/Snow Maker, Cube Ice Machine, Plate Ice Plant, Ice Crushers, Ice Compactors, Water Cooling Systems, Ice Bagging Machines, Air Cooling Systems, Diesel Generators and more...

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The Al-Fateh Mosque (also known as Al-Fateh Islamic Center & Al Fateh Grand Mosque) is one of the largest mosques in the world, capable of accommodating over 7,000 worshippers at a time. The mosque is the largest place of worship in Bahrain. The huge dome built on top of the Al-Fatih Mosque is made of pure fiberglass. the dome is currently the worlds largest fibreglass dome. The mosque was built by the late Sheikh Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifa in 1987. It is named after Ahmed Al Fateh, the conqueror of Bahrain. Besides being a place of Islamic worship, the mosque is one of the prime tourist attractions in

Bahrain; attracting tourists from all over the world of all communities.

SOL Austin: Net-Zero Capable

www.solaustin.com

Photos by DeLea Becker @ Beck-Reit and Sons, Ltd.

www.beckreit.com

Beck-Reit and Sons Ltd., an Austin General Contractor, has been working on sustainable construction methods since the day we started building houses. Our desire to build a better house led us to develop SOL (Solutions Oriented Living) subdivision in East Austin. We partnered with local architect, KRDB, to design, develop and build a net-zero capable sub-division centered around a community of 40 modern homes. Thru passive design, efficient building envelope and solar power these homes can produce more energy than they consume. The homes have been rated 4-5 star by the Austin Energy Green Building Program. SOL Austin has received national attention and has been featured in the New York Times, Metro-Homes, DIY Network’s "This New House", Builder Magazine, and Green Builder Magazine.

In 1935, the US Bureau of Commerce launched a competition for a new regional airliner--an aircraft capable of servicing small rural airports, that would pick up passengers and shuttle them to the larger airports. This was something of a precursor to the "hub and spoke" business model of modern airliners, and the Bureau of Commerce hoped it would spark investment in airports and air infrastructure in rural areas--something very important to the Roosevelt New Deal. Lockheed, Beech, and Barkley-Grow all responded with designs, but only Lockheed's Model 12 Electra Junior won the competition in 1936--Lockheed had developed the Model 12 so fast that the Beech Model 18 and the Barkley-Grow T8P were not even at prototype stage yet.

Lockheed had achieved this speed of development by simply downsizing the Lockheed Model 10 Electra: reducing the fuselage size to carrying six passengers instead of ten. Other than the smaller dimensions, everything else was identical to the Electra, which Lockheed hoped would be a selling point: the Model 10 had experienced modest success, and airlines could have some commonality in parts and pilot experience between the Electra and Electra Junior. Since the latter kept exactly the same engines as the Model 10, it was fast, almost as fast as USAAC fighters then in service.

Unfortunately for Lockheed, while the US government liked the Electra Junior, airlines didn't: very few ordered them, especially in the cash-strapped Depression years. Lockheed had marginally better luck with government contracts, selling 36 to the Netherlands for use in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). British Airways (no relation to the modern version) had two for commuter flights in Europe: in reality, these aircraft were equipped with hidden cameras, used by British intelligence to photograph potential targets in Germany and Italy before the war. As the United States geared up for World War II, more Electra Juniors were ordered as the UC-40; these would be used during the war in the executive transport role.

Once the United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor, Lockheed halted production in favor of the P-38 Lightning fighter. There was some hope that production would restart after the war ended, but this never happened, and only 132 Electra Juniors were built. A number have survived to the present, some flyable.

This aircraft was built as 38-0540, and was delivered to the USAAC in 1939. It would spend the war acting as a general transport and "hack" aircraft for various USAAC/USAAF airfields, mainly in the South. In 1945, it was deemed surplus and sold, and was bought by a private owner. It was kept flyable, and in 1992 was picked up by a warbird collector. Yanks Air Museum of Chino, California bought 38-0540 in 1998 and it underwent a full restoration to its prewar appearance, returning to the air in 2006. It remains flyable.

It's always something to see an aircraft that you can see your reflection in, especially when that aircraft is 83 years old. 38-0540 is maintained the way it would have looked on delivery to Maxwell Field, Alabama, with prewar markings.

EDIT: Sadly, this aircraft crashed with the loss of two people in June 2024. Losing such a vintage aircraft is terrible enough, but in the end, aircraft are just things. Lives are not. A sad day.

"Guve raised this stone after Olov, his son

a very capable young man

He was killed in Estonia

Håvard carved (these runes)"

a view from slightly above ...

Cusyomized VW Beetle ' Baja ' style -

Dune Buggy .. Off road capable ..

Guildford - Surrey -UK

Capable of 100 mph and built in 2000 in Zaragoza, Spain to replace Class 308 units on the Wharfedale and Airedale routes. Seen departing from Keighley heading for Leeds on 29/10/2017. It's starting station was Skipton. © Peter Steel 2017.

Wild Thang (capable of producing weather changing flames reaching over 20 feet in the air) at Friends of Steve McQueen Car Show to benefit Boys Republic, Chino Hills CA

DSC06284 2014 06 07.1080

I'm glad we brought Kari's vehicle. It's been very comfortable and capable.

derek.broox.com/photos/colorado-cabin-quarantine/38851/

The RF-86F filled an important gap until more capable reconnaissance aircraft became available. The Sabre, originally built as a day fighter, was first modified for reconnaissance during the Korean War. USAF personnel custom-fitted cameras to about a dozen F-86 fighters (known as "Honeybuckets" or "Ashtrays") to replace the slower RF-80 for missions in northwestern North Korea -- "MiG Alley" -- and into Manchuria.

After the Korean War, a handful of F-86Fs received more capable cameras under Project Haymaker. In order to fit the film magazines for the vertically mounted cameras, the aircraft acquired a distinctive bulge on both sides of the forward fuselage. The armament was removed to allow for the cameras, and the RF-86F "Haymakers" had painted-on gun ports to appear as if they were armed.

In March 1954 the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron deployed to Komaki Air Base, Japan, receiving eight newly-modified "Haymakers." With these aircraft, they secretly overflew Soviet, North Korean and communist Chinese territory in the mid-1950s.

The RF-86F "Haymaker" on display (S/N 52-4492) participated in these critical overflight missions. It was transferred to the South Korean air force (ROKAF) in 1958, which flew it into the 1980s. Arriving at the museum in 1998 for restoration, it was placed on display in 2005. It is marked as it appeared while assigned to the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.

TECHNICAL NOTES:

Engine: 5,910-lbs. thrust J47-GE-27 jet engine

Maximum speed: Approx. 650 mph

Range: Approx. 1,900 miles

Ceiling: 54,000 ft.

Serial number: 52-4492

SOL Austin: Net-Zero Capable

www.solaustin.com

Beck-Reit and Sons Ltd., an Austin General Contractor, has been working on sustainable construction methods since they day we started building houses. Our desire to build a better house led us to the development of the SOL (Solutions Oriented Living) subdivision in East Austin. We partnered with local architect KRDB to design, develop, and build a net-zero capable sub-division centered around a community of 40 modern homes. Thru passive design, efficient building envelope and solar power these homes can produce more energy than they consume. SOL has received national attention and has been featured in the New York Times, Metro-Homes, DIY Network’s: This New House, Builder Magazine, and Green Builder Magazine.

www.beckreit.com

twitter.com/#!/BeckReit

Photos by DeLea Becker @ Beck-Reit and Sons, Ltd.

We were never meant to hope. In their state of innocence before the Fall, Adam and Eve were not capable of hoping because there simply was nothing for them to hope for, living as they still were in that limpid space where nothing was unseen because their world and their consciousness were illuminated entirely by God.

The choice in the garden of Eden was a choice in how humankind would develop its spirit, that part of them that held the essence of God’s image, the most essential of which, it seems, was freedom. For it was not a test of love, or power, or creativity, but rather of choice that God presented to them in the form of the two trees. Spirit must be given the opportunity to define itself, just as God is defined by no one other than himself (“I am who I am”), or else it is no longer truly spirit.

They choose wrong, and were punished for it by the loss of their privileged status. But they did not lose their fundamental identity as spiritual beings. And so Kierkegaard as Anti-Climacus writes in The Sickness Unto Death of despair as “the highest qualification of spirit”. What he means is not that it were somehow a virtue to despair, but rather that to despair and to be conscious of it is the first step to acknowledging what Paul Tillich refers to as the “emergency state” of our human condition. It is to return to that defining moment in our ancestry just after Adam and Eve had been cast out of the garden of Eden and to recollect the cutting realization of all that they had forfeited and could never …. hope to recover, but see, it is also precisely here that hope enters into the human experience; its birth is excruciating and terribly unwelcome, but nevertheless it is born, not as some fanciful virtue from which to derive comfort and security, but as this immensely tragic awareness of what had been lost. In Adam and Eve, spirit existed not as actualized but as an empty, unconscious capacity. Had they chosen the tree of life, the “highest qualification” would surely have been something else, but as it stands, we first became aware of our spirits through our despair.

It is this recognition of the origins of hope that underlies Paul’s charted course to it in Romans 5: “... knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…” For we cannot obtain true hope through wishful fantasizing of how things should be better or more pleasant, but we must instead begin from hope’s beginning, from an acute sense of suffering...

Some background:

]The VF-4 Lightning III began development in 2005 under the initial designation of the VF-X-4. Developed as a successor craft to the VF-1 Valkyrie, the VF-4 Lightning III was designed as a variable fighter that emphasized mobility in outer space.

The VF-4 variable fighter remained in active service into the late 2040's but was complemented or substituted in many branches of the UN Forces by the cheaper and more atmospherically maneuverable VF-5000 Star Mirage. The VF-4 Lightning III was eventually replaced as the main variable fighter of U.N. Spacy in the later half of the 2030s by the VF-11 Thunderbolt.

General characteristics:

Manufacturer: Stonewell/Bellcom

Equipment Type: Variable fighter

Government: U.N. Spacy, U.N. Space Marines

Introduction: 2012

Operational Deployment: September 2012

Dimensions:

Accommodation: pilot only

Fighter Mode: wingspan 12.65 meters; height 5.31 meters; length 16.8 meters

Mass: empty 13.95 metric tons

Structure: space metal frame, SWAG energy conversion armor

Powerplant:

2x Shinnakasu/P&W/Roice FF-2011 thermonuclear turbine engines,

rated at 14,000 kg (137.34 kN) each

2x dorsal rocket engines (mounted on top of the main thermonuclear turbine engines)

2x ramjet engines (embedded into the inner wing sections)

P&W HMM-1A high-maneuverability vernier thrusters

Performance:

Fighter Mode: Mach 3.02 at 10,000 m

Mach 5.15 at 30,000+ m

Thrust-to-weight ratio: (empty) 2.01 (rating for turbine engine thrust ONLY)

g limit: unknown

[Armament:

2 x large beam cannons in forward engine nacelles

12x semi-recessed long range missiles (mounted on engine nacelles and ventral fuselage)

8x underwing pylons for missiles, gun pods an/or drop tanks

The kit and its assembly:

Well, this build has been lingering for almost 25 years in the back of my mind. It just took so long that a suitable IP kit (with a reasonable price tag) would materialize!

The original inspiration struck me with a VF-4 profile in the source book "This is animation special: Macross PLUS" from 1994, which accidently fell into my hands in a local Japanese book store. Among others, a side and top view profile of an aggressor VF-4 in an all-brown, Soviet-style paint scheme was featured. At that time I found the idea and the scheme pretty cool, so much that I even built a modified 1:100 VF-1 as a ground attack aircraft in this paint scheme.

However, the original VF-4 profile from the source book had always been present, but for years there had been no affordable kit. There have been garage/resin kits, but prices would start at EUR 250,-, and these things were and are extraordinarily rare.

Things changed for the better when WAVE announced an 1:72 VF-4 kit in late 2016, and it eventually materialized in late 2017. I immediately pre-ordered one from Japan (in a smart move, this even saved money) and it eventually turned up here in Germany in early 2018. Patience pays out, it seems...

I had preferred a 1:100 kit, though, due to space issues and since almost any other Macross variable fighter model in my collection is in this small scale, but I am happy that a decent VF-4 kit at all appeared after so many years!

Concerning the WAVE kit, there’s light and shadow. First of all, you have to know that you get a VF-4A. This is mentioned nowhere on the box, but might be a vital information for hardcore modelers. The early VF-4A is a rather different aircraft than the later VF-4G, with so fundamental differences that it would warrant a completely new kit! On the other side, with a look at the kit’s parts, I could imagine that a VF-4B two-seater could be easily realized in the future, too.

The kit is a solid construction, a snap-fit kit molded in different colors so that it can be built without painting. This sounds toy-like, but - like many small scale Bandai Valkyrie kits - anything you ask for is actually there. When you use glue and put some effort into the kit and some donor parts, you can make a very good model from it.

The kit's box is pretty oversized, though (any sprue is shrink-wrapped, horrendous garbage pile and wasted space!), and the kit offers just a single decal (water-slide decals, not stickers) option for a Skull Squadron VF-4A – AFAIK it’s Hikaru Ichijoe’s machine that appears in one of the Macross Flash Back 2012 music videos, as it escorts the SDF-02 “Megaroad” colonial ship after launch from Earth towards the center of our Galaxy.

The parts are crisply molded, and I actually like the fact that the kit is not as uber-engineered as the Hasegawa Valkyries. You can actually call the WAVE kit simple - but in a positive sense, because the parts number is reduced to a minimum, material strength is solid and the kit's construction is straightforward. Fit is excellent – I just used some putty along the engine gondolas due to their complex shape, but almost anything else would either fit almost perfectly or just call for some sanding. Impressive!

Surface details etc. are rather basic, but very crisp and emphasized enough that anything remains visible after adding some paint. However, after all, this aircraft is just a fictional animation mecha, and from this perspective the kit is really O.K..

After building the kit I most say that it's nothing that leaves you in awe, and for a retail price of currently roundabout EUR 50-70,- (I was lucky to get it for an early bird deal at EUR 40,-, but still pricey for what I got) the kit is pretty expensive and has some weaknesses:

The model comes with a decent (= simple) cockpit and a very nice and large pilot figure, but with no ordnance except for the semi-recessed long-range missiles (see below). The cockpit lacks any side consoles, floor or side wall details. If you put the pilot into the cockpit as intended, this is not a big issue, since the figure blocks any sight into the cockpit’s lower regions. However, the side sticks are molded into the pilot’s hands, so that you have to scratch a lot if you want to present the cockpit open and with an empty seat.

The landing gear is simple, too, and the wells are very shallow (even though they feature interior details). As a special feature, you can switch with some extra parts between an extended or retracted landing gear, and there are extra parts that allow the air intakes and some vectoring nozzles to be closed/extended for orbital operations. However, detail fetishists might replace the OOB parts with the landing gear from an 1:72 F-18 for an overall better look.

Provisions for underwing hardpoints are actually molded into the lower fuselage part (and could be punched/drilled open - another indication that more VF-4 boxings with extra sprues might follow?), but the kit does not come with any pylons or other ordnance than the dozen fuselage-mounted AAMs. Furthermore, the semi-recessed missiles are just that: you only get the visible halves of the only provided ordnance, which are simply stuck into slits on the model’s surface. As a consequence, you have to mount them at any rate – building a VF-4 for a diorama in which the missiles are about to be loaded would require massive scratch-building efforts and modifications.

Another problem indirectly arises when you put some effort into the kit and want to clean and pre-paint the missiles before assembly: every missile is different and has its allocated place on the VF-4 hull. The missiles are numbered – but only on the sprue! Once you cut them out, you either have to keep them painstakingly in order, or you will spend a long evening figuring out where which missile belongs! This could be easily avoided if the part number would be engraved on the missiles’ back sides – and that’s what I actually did (with a water-proof pen, though) in order to avoid trouble.

The clear canopy is another issue. The two parts are crystal-clear, but, being a snap-fit kit, the canopy parts have to be clipped into the fuselage (rear part) and onto a separate canopy frame (front part). In order to fit, the clear parts have cramps molded into their bases – and due to the excellent transparency and a magnifier effect, you can see them easily from the outside – and on the inside, when you leave the cockpit open. It’s not a pretty solution, despite the perfect fit of the parts.

One option I can think of is to carefully sand the cramps and the attachment points away, but I deem this a hazardous stunt. I eventually hid the cramps behind a thin line of paint, which simulates a yellow-ish canopy seal. The extra windscreen framing is not accurate, but the simplest solution that hides this weak point.

The kit itself was built OOB, because it goes together so well. I also refrained from adding pylons and ordnance – even though you can easily hang anything from Hasegawa’s VF-1 weapon set under the VF-4’s wings and fuselage. A final, small addition was a scratched, ventral adapter for a 3.5 mm steel rod, as a display for the flight scene beauty pic.

Painting and markings:

As mentioned above, the livery is based on an official profile which I deem authentic and canonical. My aircraft depicts a different machine from VFT-127, though, since I could not (and did not really want to) 100% replicate the profile's machine from the Macross PLUS source book, "13 Red". Especially the squadron’s emblem on the fin would create massive problems.

For the two-tone wrap-around scheme I used Humbrol 72 (Khaki Drill) and 98 (Chocolate Brown), based on the printed colors in the source book where I found the scheme. The pattern is kept close to the benchmark profile, and, lacking an underside view, I just mirrored the upper scheme. The starboard side pattern was guesstimated.

As a second-line aggressor aircraft, I weathered the VF-4 with a black ink wash, some post-shading with various lighter tones (including Humbrol 160, 168, 170 and 187) and did some wet-sanding treatment for an uneven and worn look.

Interior surfaces were painted according to visual references from various sources: the landing gear and the air intakes became white, while the cockpit was painted in RAF Dark Sea Grey.

In order to add some color to the overall brown aircraft I decided to paint the missiles all around the hull in white with tan tips – in the profile, the appear to be integrated into the camouflage, what I found dubious.

Most stencils come from the OOB sheet, but I added some more from the scrap box. The grey "kite" roundels come from an 1:72 Hasegawa Macross F-14 Tomcat kit sheet, which I acquired separately for a reasonable price. Even though it took four weeks to be delivered from Asia, the investment was worthwhile, since the sheet also provided some useful low-viz stencils.

The VAT-127 “Zentraedi Busters” unique tail insignia was more complicated, because these had to be printed at home. As a side note, concerning the fin marking, I recently found a translation of the benchmark profile's text on mahq.net, which is interesting: "The Regult within the targeting reticle on the tail met with disapproval from micronized Zentraedi pilots, and so was only used for a short time." The comment also reveals that the original aircraft's modex is "713", not just "13" as depicted, so I tried to reflect these details on my build, too.

I eventually settled for a solution that was partly inspired by the kit’s OOB fin marking and the wish for more contrast for the motif: I scanned the original Regult pod illustration from the source book and printed it on white decal sheet. This was sealed with two layers of glossy acrylic varnish (applied with a rattle can) and then cut into a white field that fills the fixed part of the fin (using the WAVE kit’s OOB fin markings as reference). Once in place and dry, two black outlines were added separately (generic decal material) which help blend the decal and the surroundings. Finally, thin strips of silver decal sheet were used for the fins’ leading edges.

This design variation, compared with the original “13 Red” illustration, led to the idea of a flight leader’s machine with slightly more prominent markings. In order to take this concept further I also gave the aircraft a white stripe around the front fuselage, placed under the kite roundel and again with black outlines for a consistent look. It’s not much different from “13 Red”, but I think that it looks conclusive and, together with the white fin markings and the missiles, livens up the VF-4’s look.

The appropriate flight leader tactical code “01 Red” was puzzled together from single digits from a Begemot Su-27 sheet, the rest of the bort numbers were taken from the OOB sheet (which incidentally feature a “01” code, too).

Concerning the OOB decal sheet, there’s much light but also some deep shadow. While the register is excellent and the carrier film flexible enough to lay down smoothly, the instructions lack information where to place the zillion of stencils (“No step” and “Beware of Blast” stuff) are to be placed! You only get references for the major markings – the rest has either to be guessed, OR you are in possession of the VF-4 source book from Softbank Publishing which was (incidentally?) released in parallel with the WAVE kit. This mecha porn offers an overview of all(!) relevant stencils on the VF-4A’s hull, and ONLY with this information the exhaustive decal sheet makes some sense…

As final steps, the VF-4 received some dry-brushing with light grey around the leading edges, some chipped paint was simulated with dry-brushed aluminum and, finally, light soot stains around the vectoring nozzles all around the hull and the weapon bays were created with graphite. Then the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Well, in the end, it’s not a carbon copy of the inspiring illustration, but rather another machine from the same squadron, with more creative freedom. I stayed as true to the benchmark as possible, though, and I like the result. Finally, after almost 25 years, I can tick this project off of my long ideas and inspiration list.

Considering the kit itself, I am really torn. I am happy that there finally is a VF-4 IP kit at all after so many years, but to me it’s a contradictive offer. I am not certain about the target group, because for a toy-like snap-fit kit it’s too detailed and expensive, but for the serious modeler it has some major flaws.

The biggest issue is the kit’s horrendous price – even if it would be more detailed or contained some fine resin or PE parts (which I would not want, just a “good” plastic kit). Sure, you can put some effort into the kit and improve it, e .g. in the cockpit or with a donor landing gear, but weak points like the “flat” missiles and the lack of proper bays for them are IMHO poor. For the relatively huge price tag I’d hoped for a “better” OOB offer. However, the kit is easy to build and a good representation of the Lightning III, and I am curious if there are kit variants in WAVE’s pipeline?

The southern, or California, sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) has been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 1977. It belongs to the order Carnivora and the family Mustelidae. Two other otter subspecies are also recognized – E. lutris kenyoni, which is found from Oregon to Alaska, and E. lutris lutris, which inhabits parts of Russia and northern Japan. Sea otters are highly specialized marine mammals capable of living their entire lives without ever having to leave the ocean, have the densest fur of any mammal and are one of the few marine species to use tools. Sea otters are an apex predator of the near shore ecosystem. The species is considered a keystone species because of their critical importance to the health and stability of the near shore marine ecosystem. They are also considered a sentinel species because their health reflects that of California’s coastal oceans. The southern sea otter population has exhibited high levels of mortality in recent years. Scientists attribute up to 40 percent of southern sea otter mortality to infectious diseases alone, many of which are known to have anthropogenic causes and land-sea linkages. The single greatest threat to the sea otter is an oil spill. One large oil spill in central California could be catastrophic, with the potential of driving the entire southern sea otter population into extinction.

Description

The sea otter is one of the smallest marine mammals, but one of the largest members of the family Mustelidae, a group that includes skunks and weasels among others. Adult males reach an average length of 4.5 feet (1.4 m) with a typical weight between 50 and 100 lbs. (23 to 45 kg), while adult females reach an average length of 4 feet (1.2 m) and typically weigh 45 lbs. (20 kg). It has a highly buoyant, elongated body, blunt snout and small, wide head. Sea otters have an acute sense of smell and taste and have good vision both above and below the water surface. They also rely heavily on their sense of touch.

Sea otters exhibit numerous adaptations, which help them survive in their challenging marine environment. Long whiskers help them to detect vibrations in murky waters and sensitive forepaws, with retractable claws, help them to groom, locate and capture prey underwater, and use tools. When underwater, they can close their nostrils and small ears. The sea otter’s hind feet are webbed and flipper-like, and are used in conjunction with its lower body to propel the animal through the water. It has a long, flattened tail, which they use as a rudder and for added propulsion. Hearing is one sense that is not yet fully understood, although studies suggest they are particularly sensitive to high-frequency sounds. Their teeth are unique for a mammal in that they are blunt and designed for crushing, rather than being sharp for tearing like most marine mammals are equipped with.

With the exception of its nose and pads of its paws, the sea otter’s body is covered in dense fur. The fur consists of two layers. The short, brown under fur can be as dense as 1 million hairs per square inch, making its fur the densest of any mammal. By comparison, we only have about 100,000 hairs in total on our heads. A top layer of long, waterproof guard hairs helps to keep the under fur layer dry by keeping cold water away from the skin. The pelage is typically deep brown in color with silver-gray highlights, with the coloration of the head and neck being lighter than the body. Unlike other marine mammals, such as seals and sea lions, sea otters do not have any blubber, so they depend on this exceptionally thick, water-resistant fur to stay warm in the cold, coastal Pacific.

Range & Habitat

Historically, southern sea otters were present in coastal marine habitats from northern California to Baja California in Mexico. This range decreased significantly during the fur trade during the 18th and 19th centuries, with excessive hunting nearly driving the species into extinction by the early 1900s. The current range extends along the California coast from Half Moon Bay in the north to Santa Barbara in the south, though individuals are occasionally seen outside these limits. A small population of sea otters lives at San Nicolas Island as a result of translocation efforts initiated in 1987.

Sea otters are found in a variety of coastal marine habitats, including rocky shores and sea-bottoms, sandy sea-bottoms, as well as coastal wetlands. Sea otters naturally inhabit offshore areas with an abundance of food and kelp canopy. They tend to live in ocean depths shallower than 130 feet (40 m) with water temperatures ranging between 35°F and 60°F.

Behavior

Most of a sea otter’s life is spent at sea, though they do occasionally haul out on land, where they appear clumsy and walk with a rather awkward gait. They eat, sleep, mate and give birth in the water. Sea otters spend most of their time floating on their backs at the surface grooming, eating, resting, and diving for food on the seafloor. Sea otters are relatively slow swimmers, generally traveling at 3-5 mph (5-8 km/h). They typically swim belly-up on their backs, propelling themselves through the water using their webbed hind feet. If a faster speed is required, for instance when a male is patrolling it’s territory for competing males or when in hot pursuit of a sexually receptive female, it turns over onto its stomach and in addition to using its webbed hind feet, it undulates its entire body for greater propulsion and acceleration.

Sea otters groom themselves almost continuously while at the surface, a practice critical for maintaining the insulating and water repellant properties of their fur. Its pliable skeleton and loosely fitted skin allow the animal the flexibility to reach any part of its body. During a grooming bout, which generally occurs directly after a foraging bout (a period of time in which diving and eating takes place) or resting bout, the animal can be seen somersaulting, twisting and turning, and meticulously rubbing its fur at the water surface. This behavior not only cleans the fur, but also traps air bubbles against the skin within the millions of hairs of its pelage. This layer of entrapped air creates an insulating barrier (similar to that of a double-paned window), which prevents water from reaching the skin. Constant grooming is absolutely critical for their survival. If cold ocean water reaches their skin, it will immediately begin to draw heat out of the animal, which disrupts the animal’s ability to thermo regulate and will ultimately lead to hypothermia and death.

Sea otters often rest together in single-sex groups called rafts. They are known to wrap themselves up in kelp to keep from drifting out to sea. While resting at the surface, a sea otter will often times hold its forepaws above the water surface and fold its hind feet up onto to its torso to help conserve heat.

With the exception of territorial males, who have the privilege of living among females, males and females tend to live in separate groups. The center of the sea otter range is predominately occupied by females (of all ages) and territorial males, as well as some dependent pups and recently weaned juvenile males. The northern and southern edges of the range are largely male dominated areas; consisting of juvenile, sub adult and adult males. Numbers in these male areas tend to increase in winter and spring because there are fewer mating opportunities with sexually receptive females during this time of the year.

Females generally have small home territories while many adult males hold larger aquatic territories consisting of several adult females. Bachelor males (animals who are either to young or too old to defend their own territories) reside in the large male-only groups at either end of the range. Males travel much greater distances throughout the range than females, typically making seasonal treks of up to 200 miles between the months of June and November when the highest proportion of females are in estrous. On any given day though, males tend to remain in the same general location, moving only a mile or two along the coastline. Females, on the other hand, are sedentary by nature, generally staying within 10 – 20 miles of their home ranges. Their home ranges are smaller because they have higher metabolic costs while pregnant and raising their pup.

Sea otters are equally active both night and day. A foraging bout occurs for several hours in the morning, typically starting just before sunrise. A second foraging bout begins in the afternoon, usually lasting for several hours until sunset. A grooming bout occurs before and after each foraging bout and resting bout follows at midday, followed again by another grooming and resting bout. A third foraging bout may also occur around midnight.

Although difficult to hear from shore, sea otters exhibit a variety of vocal behaviors. Pups are the most vocal. A pup can be heard squealing when its mother leaves it to dive for food and often times when a male approaches. Their cry is similar to that of a gull. Other vocalizations include: coos and grunts, which occur when an animal is eating or when content, as in the case of a pair-bonded couple during courtship; whines occur when an animal is frustrated, as in the case of an older pup wanting to suckle or an adult male attempting to mate with an uninterested female; growls, snarls, whistles and hisses can be heard when an animal is frightened or distressed, as in the case of a captured otter.

Food & Foraging

An otter must consume approximately 25% of its bodyweight in prey each day just to stay alive! A 75-pound otter can eat up to 1,500 sea urchins a day, or about 25 pounds of seafood (for a 75 pound kid, that would amount to eating 75 quarter pound hamburgers every day!). To meet its high energetic and thermoregulation demands, a sea otter’s metabolic rate is 2 to 3 times that of comparatively sized mammals. Sea otters consume a wide variety of benthic invertebrates. Prey items include sea urchins, abalone, crabs, mussels, clams, marine snails, marine worms, sea stars, and squid. In total, otters eat at least 50 species of benthic (bottom-dwelling) invertebrates, although individuals tend to specialize on only a few main prey types. Prey specialization and feeding preferences are passed on from mother to pup.

The strong forelegs paws are used to locate and capture prey. Pockets of loose skin under each foreleg are used to store prey it has gathered on the seafloor for the ascent to the surface. Rocks are often used as tools to dislodge prey on the sea floor and to break open the hard outer shells of some prey items upon returning to the surface. Floating belly-up in the water, they place rocks on their chests and repeatedly pound hard-shelled prey against them to gain access the meat inside. While eating, an otter will roll repeatedly in the water to wash away food scraps from its chest. Unlike most other marine mammals, sea otters commonly drink seawater. Although most of the animal’s water needs are met through the consumption of prey, its large kidneys allow it to extract fresh water from seawater.

Sea otters generally forage close to shore in depths shallower than 60 feet (18 m) but are capable of diving to depths of 300 feet (90 m) or more. With a relatively large lung capacity for it’s size, an otter can hold its breath for 5 minutes, but most dives are two minutes or less in duration. Source: www.seaotters.com

SOL Austin: Net-Zero Capable

www.solaustin.com

Beck-Reit and Sons Ltd., an Austin General Contractor, has been working on sustainable construction methods since they day we started building houses. Our desire to build a better house led us to the development of the SOL (Solutions Oriented Living) subdivision in East Austin. We partnered with local architect KRDB to design, develop, and build a net-zero capable sub-division centered around a community of 40 modern homes. Thru passive design, efficient building envelope and solar power these homes can produce more energy than they consume. SOL has received national attention and has been featured in the New York Times, Metro-Homes, DIY Network’s: This New House, Builder Magazine, and Green Builder Magazine.

www.beckreit.com

twitter.com/#!/BeckReit

Photos by DeLea Becker @ Beck-Reit and Sons, Ltd.

Straight as a dye no messing around though he was capable of twirling his kayak.

Wild Thang (capable of producing weather changing flames reaching over 20 feet in the air) at Friends of Steve McQueen Car Show to benefit Boys Republic, Chino Hills CA

DSC06282 2014 06 07.1080

Cascade Female Factory Hobart.

In 2010 UNESCO granted World Heritage status to the convict factory in Hobart as it tells the largely ignored story of transported convict women to Tasmania. It is one of eelven UNESCO listed convict sites in Australia but little remains of the original convict factory and this female factory was just one of many. In fact there five female factories in Tasmania (Van Diemen’s Land) – Hobart Gaol, the Cascades, Launceston, Georgetown and Ross. During the era of convict transportation between 1803 and its end in 1856 some 12,500 female convicts were transported to Tasmania with about 7,000 of them going to the Cascades. The Cascades Factory was expanded from the initial one yard with one dormitory to five yards and five dormitories which were capable of housing 1,000 women and 175 babies and infants. The current visitor centre and the revamped Female Factory museum opened in March 2022.

The Cascades site was previously a distillery until 1828 when the government acquired for the female factory. Female convicts in Britain were sentenced to a set number of years in gaol after transportation if their crimes were considered serious. Many female convicts were assigned to masters as “free” labour almost from the time they landed in Hobart, but the factories had to exist to process many women for assignment and then primarily to rehouse them in gaol conditions if they committed crime whilst assigned as a worker. Many committed theft or disobedience or similar crimes but the most common crime was getting pregnant. As soon as female assigned convicts became pregnant they were returned to the Cascades Female Factory. The convict dormitories were above the cot rooms. A very high proportion of the hundreds of children born at the Cascades died in infancy. Conditions were poor and bleak and the babies were undernourished. But these female convicts were probably treated better than many male convicts transported to the Australian colonies. It is a sad place. Apart from some of the original 1828 prison walls the only remaining structure still intact from the female factory era is the Matron’s House built in 1850. It is well worth a visit in the grounds and prison yards with their information boards. After the opening of the Cascades as Female Prison in 1856 that only lasted until 1877. Thereafter it housed the insane and those with infectious diseases. The other government institutions were closed by 1890 and the whole complex was demolished and stone re used for other buildings etc. During the era of convict transportation some 72,000 convicts were shipped to Tasmania between 1803 and 1853 of which about 7,000 were female.

Although there life stories of some of the convict women in the museum website there are few stories told on the information boards. Crimes was severely punished, by our modern world standards in the early 19th century, but some convict women were able to leave their criminal pasts behind and do well in the colony half way across the world from their homes. Only 2% of the female convicts were transported for violent crimes like murder and serious assault; most were transported for theft and what we would consider minor theft these days. Nevertheless some women were habitual criminals and found it hard to stop stealing. Others were caught for a one off desperate theft in England which determined their life outcome. Some female prisoner’s stories.

•Mary Deveraux convicted of counterfeiting coins was transported for life; she arrived in 1831; she was returned from assignment by 13 households for her abusive and bad behaviour; in 1838 she got her Ticker of Leave. She died a pauper in 1849.

•Nappy Ribbon convicted of stealing a sheep; arrived in 1849; she was a well behaved assignee and got her Ticket of Leave (like parole) in 1851; alas caught living in sin with another convict in 1853 and her Ticket of Leave was revoked. Freed from Cascades in 1855. Married in 1858.

•Sarah Mason convicted for theft three times; arrived 1851; given hard labour for her bad behaviour; her assignment lasted three days and she absconded; her second assignment lasted one month; spring 1856 granted Ticker of Leave. Late 1856 married. A women of her name & date of birth died in 1873.

•Margaret Shaw convicted a larceny; transported on the Rajah in 1841 and worked as a nurse on it; at the Cascades was again employed as a nursey in the infirmary; she was granted Ticket of Leave in 1843; in 1844 she got the government job of a nurse at the Orphan School on £18 per annum; next she worked in the laundry; she was freed in 1847.

•Winifred Sheridan transported for theft of clothes in 1849; rebellious so not assigned till 1851; absconded and returned to Cascades with hard labour; made watchwoman; 1853 given her Ticket of Leave; found drunk and Ticket of Leave rescinded ;tried for theft in 1855 and her sentenced extended; 1856 escaped twice from the Cascades then returned; freed in January 1857; Married a shoemaker in 1857; and agreed to marry another man in 1858; he accused her of stealing his purse; Winifred disappeared probably went to Victoria.

•Ann Eccles transported for 7 years when convicted of stealing; arrived Hobart 1837 at the Cascades Factory; a few days later assigned to the Lieutenant Governor’s wife Lady Jane Franklin as her maid; 1838 worked for a Ticket of Leave man; 1839 had a daughter and married the Ticket of Leave man; they lived and managed property near Sorell in 1839 but did not own it; she had five children; caught a chill and died in 1852 aged 33 years.

•Janet Cree sentenced to transportation for several thefts in 1850; arrived in the Cascades July 1850; assigned as maid Nov 1850 but absconded after a few days; given four moths hard labour and sent to Ross Factory; 1851 assigned and absconded again and returned to Ross Factory; 1852 assigned to a religious landowner; August 1852 applied to marry an emancipated man; baby arrived shortly after marriage in a church; 1854 given her Ticket of Leave; Janet and husband had 11 children all baptised; Janet died in 1912 as a church going woman of 82 years.

•Jane Allen arrested for stealing boots, bonnet and kettles in 1850; transported to Hobart 1851 and immediately assigned as a nursemaid; absconded and taken to Cascades Factory for hard labour; 1852 assigned again, no bad behaviour and granted Ticket of Leave in 1854; had a baby in 1854 that did not survive and married a Ticket of Leave man( a plastered) at Battery Point 1855; they had four children; her husband died in 1874; remarried in 1877 and had one more son; died in 1911 aged 81 years.

The Rajah Quilt depicted in the Cascades Female Factory and Tasmanian Museum and Art gallery.

In London in 1816 Quaker reformer Elizabeth Fry formed the British Ladies Society for the Reformation of Female Prisoners. Her pioneering work with female convicts bore fruit in 1841 when 170 female convicts being transport to Van Diemen’s Land in the ship the Rajah sewed an intricate quilt. At the bottom of the quilt the convict ladies sewed a text about the quilt and themselves and honoured Elizabeth Fry. On arrival it Hobart was presented to the Lieutenant Governor’s wife Lady Jane Franklin. Sometime later it was returned to England to Elizabeth Fry. It was rediscovered in Scotland in 1987 and is now in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. There is a photograph of the quilt in the Cascade Female Convict Factory and in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery an artist, Bern Emmerichs, has done an amazing naïve painting of the 170 convict women on the Rajah with imagined portraits of the women from their convict records and details.

Mary Reibey. The most successful female convict was Mary Reibey charged with horse theft. She was transported for life around 1792. A sub-lieutenant on the ship that transported her, Thomas Reibey took a shine to Mary. In Sydney sShe was immediately assigned as a servant. In 1794 she met Tom Reibey who worked for the British East India Company in Sydney. They married that year and Tom got a 30 acre land grant on the Hawksbury River. The couple soon had shipping and farming businesses and Mary bought three shops to run. Next they owned three ships. When Mary was 33 years old Tom died and she inherited the businesses. At one stage she owned most of the houses in George Street and Macquarie Place, Sydney and she became the wealthiest woman in the colony. The bank of New South Wales was established in 1817 in her house. In 1821 Mary bought 3,000 acres in northern Tasmania for her son who built Entally House. She died in 1855 and is depicted on the Australian $20 note.

BMW Unveils ‘Smart’ Mobility App: The automaker features a new 'smart' app, capable of learning, at the Micros... t.co/478inRrjp9 (via Twitter twitter.com/luxury_hd/status/717202161428537345)