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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Selective Placement Program Manager Sharon Randle, left, and Departmental Management (DM) Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) Diversity Director Zina Sutch discuss a class assignment class, about the new Just-In-Time web based toolkit that helps managers better provide reasonable accommodations and disability inclusiveness at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), on Tuesday, May 5, 2015, in Washington, D.C. The class covered a wide range of topics, from proper verbal labels, and best strategies for various work place scenarios, to applicable laws, to name a few. The class provided knowledge for employees at all levels. The web-based toolkit was made in collaboration with Cornell University. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Pic: Tune Hotels has innovatively transformed the guestroom experience into a modern-style accommodation featuring the all-new room design with a sleek writing table, luggage platform and a 32-inch flat screen LED TV, bringing about an improved, sophisticated but cool ambience throughout the property.
NEWS RELEASE
TUNE HOTEL klia2 OPENS 9 MAY
Latest airport hotel set to be Group’s largest, flagship property
SEPANG, 1 May 2014 – After five years providing high quality yet affordable accommodation to guests at KLIA’s Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) here, the Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will close down effective 9 May 2014, giving way to the brand new, 400-room Tune Hotel klia2 that will open on the same day.
Tune Hotel klia2 is directly connected to the new klia2 terminal via a covered walkway and link bridge. A short 10 minute walk is all that it takes to get to the terminal, allowing easy and convenient access to check-in counters as well as the Gateway@klia2 shopping mall.
With an annual capacity of 45 million passengers, the klia2 is the world's largest purpose-built terminal dedicated for LCCs that replaces the current LCCT. The new airport commences commercial operations on 2 May 2014, while the AirAsia Group will move its entire operations at LCCT to the klia2 on 9 May 2014.
Group CEO of Tune Hotels, Mark Lankester said: “We are extremely excited with this new hotel. To us and all our guests, the new Tune Hotel klia2 is as highly anticipated as the klia2 airport itself. It is set to be the largest in the Tune Hotels platform and will be our flagship property.”
He said guests with a booking at the Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will automatically be transferred to the Tune Hotel klia2 on 9 May 2014.
“Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will operate until 8 May and for all bookings with dates of stay made up to 8 May, guests will remain at the current Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT. To facilitate guest relocation, all in-house guests will be provided complimentary transfer to the klia2 terminal building and Tune Hotel klia2 on 9 May. For guests with bookings for 9 May and after, check-in will be at the Tune Hotel klia2,” Mark explained.
All affected guests will be notified by email. They can also get in touch with the Customer Care Team by emailing to enquiry@tunehotels.com or by calling 1300 88 8863 (within Malaysia) or +603 7962 5888 (from overseas).
To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel klia2, guests will be enjoying an all-in rate from only RM98 nett per room per night. Booking can be made from 2 May up to 4 May 2014 for stays at Tune Hotel klia2 from 9 May 2014 up to 31 January 2015. The offer is exclusively for online booking at www.tunehotels.com and is on a first come, first served basis.
“We’ve really listened to our guests over the last few years and have taken into account collaborative comments made to us in terms of how we can improve what we do. As a result, we have innovatively transformed the guestroom experience into a modern-style accommodation featuring the all-new room design with a sleek writing table, luggage platform and a 32-inch flat screen LED TV, bringing about an improved, sophisticated but cool ambience throughout the property. Business and leisure guests as well as airline passengers on extended waits will enjoy a totally improved experience and most importantly a very comfortable and refreshing stay,” said Mark.
Meanwhile, guests on short transits can opt for short stay ‘Refresher Package’ that is available between 9.00 am to 6.00 pm daily, subject to availability of rooms. This option is however only available for walk-in guests.
To add to the guest experience and comfort, he said, the hotel’s spacious lobby is designed to feature a cool casual seating lounge with free wifi, and an expansive open-air courtyard lounge, overlooked on the ground floor by a 24-hour restaurant and beverage centre. For guests with further transportation needs, the hotel includes a transport counter for overland transport needs and for flights, two AirAsia self check-in kiosks within the lobby for added convenience to hotel guests. For airline passengers the lobby area features flight information displays for up-to-date information on arrivals and departures.
In terms of transport connectivity, the klia2 terminal boasts not only bus and taxi services but also the Express Rail Link KLIA Express train service that connects to and from Kuala Lumpur Sentral. For guests arriving at or departing from the KLIA Main Terminal, they can make use of the scheduled shuttle service via the Express Rail link that charges just RM2 one way and stroll over to the hotel via its covered link bridge and walkway.
For those who drive in, Tune Hotel klia2 has 167 parking bays which are conveniently located just a few steps away from the airport terminal.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
There are currently 44 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotels and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
-ENDS-
About Tune Hotels
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money, Tune Insurance, Tune Talk, the AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Caterham Group, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and the Epsom College in Malaysia.
Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
Media enquiries:
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 315 3638
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
This musical phenomenon comes to Theatr Clwyd for the first time thanks to Tip Top Productions.
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. “Prologue – Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” additional material written by Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe; ”Memory” additional material written by Trevor Nunn.
The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year—the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one they tell their stories to Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life. Among the candidates are the aging theatre cat, Gus; the rocker, Rum Tum Tugger; and the once-glamorous Grizabella, now but a faded memory of her former self.
Boasting a score that includes Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, Mr. Mistoffelees and Memory, this compelling fable takes audiences to a fantastical world that can only exist in the theatre. Cats has been performed worldwide and translated into over 20 languages. The original West End production ran for 21 years and the original Broadway production ran for 18 years
For tickets and more info see:
Pic: The spacious lobby at Tune Hotel klia2 is designed to feature a cool casual seating lounge with free wifi, and an expansive open-air courtyard lounge, overlooked on the ground floor by a 24-hour restaurant and beverage centre.
NEWS RELEASE
TUNE HOTEL klia2 OPENS 9 MAY
Latest airport hotel set to be Group’s largest, flagship property
SEPANG, 1 May 2014 – After five years providing high quality yet affordable accommodation to guests at KLIA’s Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) here, the Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will close down effective 9 May 2014, giving way to the brand new, 400-room Tune Hotel klia2 that will open on the same day.
Tune Hotel klia2 is directly connected to the new klia2 terminal via a covered walkway and link bridge. A short 10 minute walk is all that it takes to get to the terminal, allowing easy and convenient access to check-in counters as well as the Gateway@klia2 shopping mall.
With an annual capacity of 45 million passengers, the klia2 is the world's largest purpose-built terminal dedicated for LCCs that replaces the current LCCT. The new airport commences commercial operations on 2 May 2014, while the AirAsia Group will move its entire operations at LCCT to the klia2 on 9 May 2014.
Group CEO of Tune Hotels, Mark Lankester said: “We are extremely excited with this new hotel. To us and all our guests, the new Tune Hotel klia2 is as highly anticipated as the klia2 airport itself. It is set to be the largest in the Tune Hotels platform and will be our flagship property.”
He said guests with a booking at the Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will automatically be transferred to the Tune Hotel klia2 on 9 May 2014.
“Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will operate until 8 May and for all bookings with dates of stay made up to 8 May, guests will remain at the current Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT. To facilitate guest relocation, all in-house guests will be provided complimentary transfer to the klia2 terminal building and Tune Hotel klia2 on 9 May. For guests with bookings for 9 May and after, check-in will be at the Tune Hotel klia2,” Mark explained.
All affected guests will be notified by email. They can also get in touch with the Customer Care Team by emailing to enquiry@tunehotels.com or by calling 1300 88 8863 (within Malaysia) or +603 7962 5888 (from overseas).
To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel klia2, guests will be enjoying an all-in rate from only RM98 nett per room per night. Booking can be made from 2 May up to 4 May 2014 for stays at Tune Hotel klia2 from 9 May 2014 up to 31 January 2015. The offer is exclusively for online booking at www.tunehotels.com and is on a first come, first served basis.
“We’ve really listened to our guests over the last few years and have taken into account collaborative comments made to us in terms of how we can improve what we do. As a result, we have innovatively transformed the guestroom experience into a modern-style accommodation featuring the all-new room design with a sleek writing table, luggage platform and a 32-inch flat screen LED TV, bringing about an improved, sophisticated but cool ambience throughout the property. Business and leisure guests as well as airline passengers on extended waits will enjoy a totally improved experience and most importantly a very comfortable and refreshing stay,” said Mark.
Meanwhile, guests on short transits can opt for short stay ‘Refresher Package’ that is available between 9.00 am to 6.00 pm daily, subject to availability of rooms. This option is however only available for walk-in guests.
To add to the guest experience and comfort, he said, the hotel’s spacious lobby is designed to feature a cool casual seating lounge with free wifi, and an expansive open-air courtyard lounge, overlooked on the ground floor by a 24-hour restaurant and beverage centre. For guests with further transportation needs, the hotel includes a transport counter for overland transport needs and for flights, two AirAsia self check-in kiosks within the lobby for added convenience to hotel guests. For airline passengers the lobby area features flight information displays for up-to-date information on arrivals and departures.
In terms of transport connectivity, the klia2 terminal boasts not only bus and taxi services but also the Express Rail Link KLIA Express train service that connects to and from Kuala Lumpur Sentral. For guests arriving at or departing from the KLIA Main Terminal, they can make use of the scheduled shuttle service via the Express Rail link that charges just RM2 one way and stroll over to the hotel via its covered link bridge and walkway.
For those who drive in, Tune Hotel klia2 has 167 parking bays which are conveniently located just a few steps away from the airport terminal.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
There are currently 44 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotels and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
-ENDS-
About Tune Hotels
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money, Tune Insurance, Tune Talk, the AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Caterham Group, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and the Epsom College in Malaysia.
Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
Media enquiries:
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 315 3638
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
Vastitude explores concepts of ‘vastness’. Its simple architectural form hosts multidimensional displays that respond in real time to web-based interactions by users.
The exterior of Vastitude is a simple rectangular structure that hosts a complex three-dimensional grid of LED lights suspended inside parallel mirrors, creating the illusion of a deep, vast ‘field of lights’.
Users interact with the installation in real-time through a dedicated social media portal. When users direct their posts to the installation system, it will translate the user’s post into values that control the colour, speed and type of animation that will be displayed.
Artists: Cox Richardson Architects and Planners (Andrew Butler (Australia) / Danny Nguyen (Australia) / Rob Asher (South Africa / Mitchell Page (USA) / Adrian Taylor (USA)
Collaborator: Rebekah Collins (Australian)
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish and British English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies.
Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breakers yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'.
The most common type of wreck yards are automobile wreck yards, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small airplanes and boats exist too.
Many salvage yards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severely damaged, has malfunctioned beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard; in some cases—as when the car has become disabled in a place where derelict cars are not allowed to be left—the car owner will pay the wrecker to haul the car away.
Salvage yards also buy most of the wrecked, derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sold at auction from police impound storage lots,and often buy vehicles from insurance tow yards as well.
The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from the location of its purchase to the yard, but occasionally vehicles are driven in. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another.
Some yards keep inventories in their offices, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Many yards have computerized inventory systems. About 75% of any given vehicle can be recycled and used for other goods.
In recent years it is becoming increasingly common to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source.
In the 20th century these were call centres that charged a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now Web-based with requests for parts being e-mailed instantly.
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish and British English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies.
Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breakers yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'.
The most common type of wreck yards are automobile wreck yards, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small airplanes and boats exist too.
Many salvage yards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severely damaged, has malfunctioned beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard; in some cases—as when the car has become disabled in a place where derelict cars are not allowed to be left—the car owner will pay the wrecker to haul the car away.
Salvage yards also buy most of the wrecked, derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sold at auction from police impound storage lots,and often buy vehicles from insurance tow yards as well.
The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from the location of its purchase to the yard, but occasionally vehicles are driven in. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another.
Some yards keep inventories in their offices, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Many yards have computerized inventory systems. About 75% of any given vehicle can be recycled and used for other goods.
In recent years it is becoming increasingly common to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source.
In the 20th century these were call centres that charged a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now Web-based with requests for parts being e-mailed instantly.
epiFlection.epiclectic.com - The Album
Twisted graphic enhancements of mostly found life form images captured from the web-based world, courtesy of the epiPhone camera, Photoshop and the warped mind of the epiclectic.
Disclaimer - If anyone objects to me reprocessing one of their images, please drop me a flickr mail and I will be more than happy to provide a link to your original image - or remove it from my public photo stream.
Call for Images - If you have a photograph you would like to submit for an official epiFlection treatment, send me a flickr mail with a link to your photo. Once posted, you will get credit, a link to your photo, and a great photo for downloading, printing, framing and giving as a wonderful gift to loved ones in your close circle of friends.
✨ Welcome to my Cozy Multiscenes Skybox in Second Life!
This skybox was designed to offer comfort, creativity, and beauty all in one space above the clouds.
Each scene has its own cozy atmosphere, perfect for relaxing, taking photos, or decorating your virtual home.
🌿 Whether you love peaceful corners, warm lighting, or stylish design, this skybox gives you everything you need for your Second Life lifestyle.
📍 maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Night%20Haven/183/75/1004
💖 Pay 4 Week 1 Gift 💖
NAME (Mili )
skybox $L250/week 50 Prims
•Rezzer Bed ( 40 Differently)
•Rezzer Bed ( 5 Differently)
•XXXtra Box ( 19 Differently)
• New scenes added every month at no extra cost
• Free upgrades – all new builds are automatically added to your rezzer
• Tenant group invite control – let your guests rez and set home
• Hybrid dance ball for couples
• Web-based radio included
• Built-in security for total protection
• Pick from furnished, part-furnished, or unfurnished
✔️ Every month brings a new home scene to explore.
✔️ Perfect for romantic or relaxing times with friends.
ANOREXIA TABLEAU
Damselfly Chair
Reassembled, carved and wood-burned chair bones; mirror platform
Spill
Beaded bracelets created by college students and family members in Kansas, Minnesota, and Illinois
Haunted
Headphones; audio recordings and sound compositions: No One Could Make Me Eat, Frightened to Death, Ana Wants
A skeletal, distressed, cut up wooden chair personifies the painful emptiness experienced by victims of eating disorders.
Spilled on the floor are hundreds of intestine-like, blood red, white and blue beaded bracelets, like those sometimes worn by “Pro-Ana” or “Pro-Mia” members. Fueled by the Internet and social media, this disturbing ‘secret society’ trend presents eating disorders as desirable behavior and simply a “lifestyle choice.” Along with virtual communities, these web-based groups provide effective starvation technique tips and post ‘thinspiration’ images of anorexic celebrities and models. They encourage those battling eating disorders to ‘stick with it,’ and can trigger relapse for those in recovery.
Anorexia is the most deadly mental illness. A person with the disease has a dangerously low body weight and thinks about food constantly, but limits the amount eaten to gain a sense of control over their lives. 12% of people who develop anorexia will die from complications. The mortality rate for eating disorders is 12 times higher than that of all other illnesses for females 15-24 years old. 85% of anorexics and bulimics are female, but the incidence in males is growing. Only one in ten people with an eating disorder receives treatment.
YSE cumple cuatro (4) aniversarios y lo festeja en su lanzamiento #17, mess-up mess-age issue, con un CD de temas originales compuestos y ejecutados para la ocasión por Nevus Project/Albert Jordà -gratuito, por supuesto-. Cada track del CD fue hecho en función de la temática de cada uno de los números de Y SIN EMBARGO.
# # #
YSE celebrates its 4th anniversary with the release of YSE magazine #17 and also gives you a CD with YSE original music. Free, of(f) course). The whole CD was made, track by track, according to each issue of Y SIN EMBARGO.
Download FULL CD (166 Mb)
Download PDF cover (9.6 mB)
Front cover JPG (2.1 Mb)
Stream (320 Kbps)
Música escrita por Albert Jordà excepto #10, Gymnopédies, nº 1, música original Eric Satie.
Letras escritas por Albert Jordà excepto #10, Son Corps Leger, de Gherasim Luca.
Albert Jordà: Sintetizadores, guitarras, bajo, voces, theremin, beats, soundscapes, efectos, ukulele, armónica, percusión.
Benn Lawrence: Bajo en #12.
Juan Moreno: Beats en #14.
Luminita Jiorica "Lumi”: Voz en #15.
Julia Medina: Flauta en #17.
UBU WEB: Samplers en #06 y #10.
Freshwidow.com: Sampler en #16
Soundscapes #07, #08, #11, #12, #15, grabados por Albert Jordà.
Producido y arreglado por Nevus Project.
Grabado en Nevus Lab H.S., Tarragona y Reus (Spain), desde septiembre de 2004 a septiembre 2008.
Mezclado & masterizado en Nevus Lab H.S. Reus, septiembre de 2008.
Nevus Project
Albert Jordà
Fotografías: Fernando Prats
Dirección de arte y diseño: Estudi Prats
Acerca de este CD, por Albert Jordà:
01.
El tema original consistía en un loop interminable cada vez que el lector de YSE entraba a la web. Basándonos en este loop como base rítmica, ahora la pieza transcurre sobre una capa más terrenal, utilizando sonidos armónicos más crudos y analógicos para que fuera menos monótona.
*1.The original theme consisted on an interminable loop every time an YSE reader entered the web. Basing us on this loop as rhythmical base, now the piece goes by over a more earthly layer, using a more raw and analogue harmonic sounds, to make it less monotonous.
02.
Y sin embargo conserva la melodía como frase principal, apoyado esta vez sobre un riff completamente nuevo. La pieza se divide en tres partes: la primera y la última nos llevan a un lugar no definido, con una modulación tensa y variable y la segunda parte digamos que corresponde a la parte original, el estribillo.
*2. However, it keeps melody as the main phase, based this time on a completely new riff. The piece is divided in three parts: the first one and the last one lead us to an undefined place, with a tense and variable modulation and the second part, let’s say it belongs to the original theme, the chorus.
03.
Como dice el título de la canción el riff principal desarrollado al unísono por un bajo eléctrico y otro de sintetizador están copiados y pegados, cosidos a un nueva base rítmica, envueltos en una capa sintética “on the run” para elevarlos del suelo.
* 3. As the song title says, the main riff developed in unison by an electric bass and another one of a synthesizer are copied and pasted, sewed to a new rhythmic base, wrapped ‘on the run’ on a synthetic layer to raise them from the floor.
04.
Primero de los temas “-trance”, con connotaciones tecno envueltas en frases extraídas de anuncios de teletienda y de algún que otro programa de telebasura. Un pieza que a priori no nos lleva a ninguna parte pero que al final nos deja alguna que otra mora-leja.
*4. First of the ‘trance’ tracks, with techno connotations wrapped in rhythmical phrases extracted from teleshop commercials and some other teletrash program. A piece which, a priori, doesn’t take us anywhere, but leaves us some or other moral in the end.
05.
De Hannoversal a Harmonirsal. Una canción suave siguiendo un patrón de blues cointerpretada por una armónica filtrada por pedales y efectos y un piano de largo sustain.
*5. From Hannoversal to Harmonirsal. A soft song following a blues pattern, co-performed by a harmonica, filtered by effects and pedals, and a long sustained piano.
06.
Podemos estar cómodos y sonreír en un entorno confortable como éste. Al igual que la primera canción, conserva el loop original aunque la melodía se ha visto reforzada por más sintes y guitarras eléctricas. Contiene sampler de "Zzzzz" de Ron Padgett, del LP Sugar, Alcohol. & Meat, Giorno Poetry Systems Institute GPS-018-019, 1980. Agradecimientos a UbuWeb.
*6. We can feel comfortable and smile in such a cosy environment as this one. Like the first song, it keeps the original loop, although the melody has been forced by more electric guitars and synthesis. It contains a Ron Padgett ‘Zzzzz’ sampler, from the Sugar LP, Alcohol & Meat, Giorno Poetry Systems Institute GPS-018-019, 1980. Special thanks to UbuWeb.
07.
El único tema del disco en que todos los ingredientes son acústicos. Nos introducimos en un mercado de una ciudad cualquiera, escuchamos de fondo el tema original y luego como si allí mismo pasara, encontramos guitarristas y percusionistas. Jota de vacindade es un guiño a Chega de Saudade.
*7. The only track from the record in which all the ingredients are acoustic. We got into a market from an ordinary city, listened to original theme as background and then, as it was happening right there, we found guitarists and percussionists. Jota de vacindade is a wink to Chega de Saudade.
08.
El desorden sonoro agrupado y repartido en fragmentos cortos que entran y salen sobre una base rítmicamente monótona pero que la lleva en brazos. Los sonidos están captados en distintos establecimientos comerciales.
*8. Sound disorder grouped and scattered in short fragments coming in and out over a rhythmically monotonous base which carries them in her arms. Sounds are captured on different commercial establishments.
09.
Un leitmotiv musical llevado acabo por un piano y acompañado por una guitarra y un vocoder. Aunque se repite constantemente, se supone que no cansa al oyente.
* 9. A musical leitmotiv carried out by a piano accompanied by a guitar and a vocoder. Even if it’s constantly repeated, it’s supposed not to tire the listener out.
10.
Esta pieza se compone de tres partes: (la primera) el poema Ghérasim Luca, (la segunda) la versión para guitarra de Erik Satie Gymnopedie Nº 1 y (la tercera) el theremin, que une a las dos anteriores. Las vidas del poeta rumano Ghérasim Luca y de Satie parecían estar predestinadas. De ahí la unión en este tema. Contiene sampler de Erik Satie - Gymnopedie_No1 (Pièces pour Guitare, Played by Pierre Laniau EMI, 1982) / Ghérasim Luca - Son Corps Leger (Ghérasim Luca, 1913 - 1994. La Fin Du Monde, 1969, In Parallpomenes, Paris). Agradecimientos a UbuWeb.
*10. This piece consists of three parts: (the first one) the poem Ghérasim Luca (the second one) the guitar version of Erik Satie Gymnopedie Nº1 and (the third one) the theremin, which links the previous two. Ghérasim Luca and Satie’s lives seemed to be predestined. Hence the union on this track. It contains Erik Satie - Gymnopedie_No1 (Pièces pour Guitare, Played by Pierre Laniau EMI, 1982) / Ghérasim Luca - Son Corps Leger (Ghérasim Luca, 1913 - 1994. La Fin Du Monde, 1969, In Parallpomenes, Paris) samplers. Special thanks to UbuWeb.
11.
Escrita originalmente en 1996, reescrita para la ocasión en 2007 y regrabada ahora. Describe el momento en que cuando mejor estamos, desearíamos congelar el tiempo y que nunca finalizase.
*11. Originally written on 1996, re-written for the occasion on 2007 and re-recorded now. It describes the moment in which we feel at our best, wishing to freeze time and make it last forever.
12.
Sencilla melodía de suave ejecución que contrasta con algún que otro ruido de la calle -pero que al fin y al cabo habitan dentro del mismo hábitat-. La casa abierta a la calle, la calle abierta al hogar. Un feedback en el cual nos hemos acostumbrado a convivir.
Benn Lawrence: bajo.
*12. Simple melody of soft performance contrasting with some street noise –but which, in the end, inhabit the same habitat- The house opened to the street, the street opened to our homes. A feedback in which we’ve got used to live in.
Bass: Ben Lawrence.
13.
Segundo de los temas “-trance”. En este caso, con un guiño a J.S. Bach pero transformándolo en una continua y pesada repetición capaz de odiar la construcción musical como si de música máquina se tratase.
*13. Second of the ‘trance’ tracks. In this case, giving a wink to J.S. Bach but transforming it on a continuous and heavy repetition, able to hate musical construction as if it was machine music.
14.
Acumulación. Bytes, beats, números y todo tipo de datos manipulados en tiempo real. El tema cabalga en un elegante riff de bajo sintetizado.
Juan Moreno: beats.
*14. Accumulation. Bytes, beats, numbers and all sort of real time manipulated data. The theme rides on a fancy synthesized bass riff.
Beats: Juan Moreno.
15.
Voces entrando y saliendo en distintos idiomas. Una va contando del uno al quince en castellano y rumano. Esta voz aparece puntualmente cada ocho compases.
Luminita Jiorica "Lumi": voz
*15. Voices coming in and out in different languages. One counts from one to fifteen in Spanish and Rumanian. This voice punctually appears every eight compasses.
Voice: Luminita Jiorica ‘Lumi’
16.
Canción un tanto shoegazing, cargada de espesas capas de guitarra y teclados envolventes, asciende a medida que va avanzando. Un crescendo cada vez más ruidoso e impenetrable. El tema es introducido por el propio Marcel Duchamp. Se agradece.
*16. A bit shoe-gazing song, loaded of thick guitar layers and surrounding keyboards, ascends while m forward. A more and more noisier and impenetrable crescendo. The theme is introduced by Marcel Duchamp himself. We are grateful.
17.
Para esta entrega de Y SIN EMBARGO, hemos vuelto a la calma. Bueno, a la calma tensa. Música repetitiva, minimalista llevada a cabo por una flauta y acompañada -como no podía ser menos-por molestos sonidos contemporáneos luchando para llevarse la mejor posición en panorámica y profundidad.
Julia Medina: flauta.
*17. For this Y SIN EMBARGO issue, we’ve calmed ourselves down. Well, with a tense calm. Repetitive minimalistic music, carried out by a flute accompanied –couldn’t be less- by disturbing contemporary sounds fighting to take the best position in perspective and depth.
Flute: Julia Medina.
Alright, since I probably won't take another photo of all my Xbox 360 games until Spring of 2010, I thought I'd take a quick moment to review Borderlands and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, since they both deserve it.
The MW2 review will be longer than normal, but I have strong opinions on it.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
★★☆☆☆
This game was absolutely disappointing. I will speak about the single player and "Special Ops" game modes briefly, but the main reason I purchased this game was for the multiplayer, and the multiplayer component of the game will be the main topic as a result.
Multiplayer
First off, let me say that in theory, the changes and additions from COD4, overall, look like good decisions. Things like HQ being up for a while before you can capture and changes to perks are all things I either outright like or things I am open minded about. It's the matchmaking, UI, netcode and Party Chat restrictions that I have the most issues with, and that frustration is likely having an impact on how much I actually enjoy the multiplayer games themselves.
None of the three dozen or so people (friends and friends of friends) that I have played with have seen issues like this with COD4 or COD:WaW, and every single one of them has experienced issues with Modern Warfare 2. Those of you who have been following Modern Warfare 2 for a while now may remember that back in September, Infinity Ward's community manager, Robert Bowling (aka Fourzerotwo), said the following:
"Alright, let me attempt to clarify as much as possible as its clear that there is some misunderstanding on how matchmaking works in Modern Warfare 2 for international users. The functionality you're asking for, the ability to connect to BEST connection rather than first available game aka quickest match, is already built into the matchmaking. There is no need to include an additional toggle where you manually have to ask it to put you in the game best suited for your connection, that should all be done automatically without requiring you, the player, to go through an extra step to request it. That's what I was referring to in the tweet of, "you don't select a region or country, it is auto-assist". Meaning, matchmaking will automatically put you in the best game for YOUR connection."
If that's true, why is MW2 the only game where I've spent upwards of 30 minutes with five other friends, all within 20 km of each other, with each of us on fiber internet connection, being unable to get a game started, despite regularly gaming together for quite a while?
(To give you a background on what that "YOUR connection" would mean to me, SpeedTest shows I'm on the following connection: Download 94.63 Mb/s, Upload 65.67 Mb/s, 3 ms ping, Open NAT dedicated IP that is MAC tied exclusively to my primary Xbox 360 )
The matchmaking isn't necessarily fast, I've seen it be very fast, and I've seen it take several minutes. Regardless of whether it is fast or slow, my friends and I find ourselves losing party members more than half the time. That is unacceptably bad.
I fail to understand how, with my connection, people who connect to me with no problems, who play COD 4 and COD:WaW with me with no problems, don't even have a 50/50 chance of joining a game with me successfully.
When we do lose people, they have no way of telling us, as you might have already heard about Infinity Ward's controversial decision to restrict Party Chat from all but a few maps. That means we have to visually scan for who is and who isn't there. If Modern Warfare 2 would allow Party Chat, they'd be able to say, "Hey guys, I got booted." But virtually every game mode requires you to leave party chat to play. Even game modes where you can speak to living teammates while waiting for your respawn.
I understand there will be those people who prefer the lack of party chat, in hopes that it will encourage team communication between strangers, but literally everyone I know who's playing MW2 either mutes everyone or now has their 360 set so that they can only hear people on their friend list.
The lack of Party Chat irks me as I am one of those people who mutes everyone. I would prefer not to eliminate game chat from every other game I own just because of Infinity Ward's restrictions on Party Chat. I do want the option of people able to talk to the people I play in fighting games, most recently Street Fighter IV, so often times I will use game chat in games like Street Fighter IV. But when it comes to a social team game like the Call of Duty titles, I want to jump on with a group of friends as a team and socialize with them while playing. No one else wants to hear the details of how work is going, and I don't want strangers listening in while I'm socializing and talking about game strategy concurrently.
You do have the option to mute people rather quickly, but as Tycho said in his Penny-Arcade news post, "There are playlists that support Party Chat, identified by a black asterisk, but players who are just beginning to play don't have access to any gametypes that actually support multiple party members. it wasn't a dealbreaker, in that we could mute people (everyone) in either the lobby on the in-game roster, but anytime you take a process that involves zero inputs and substitute fourteen, it's something you should take pretty f**king seriously."
Again, just the lack of Party Chat wouldn't be a deal breaker, but coupled with the ridiculous difficulty of getting five friends into a single game successfully does make it extremely frustrating.
When we did finally get into a game, over half the games we entered were yellow connections or worse, and the majority of those were quit out of because the connection was so bad it was unplayable. The same problem plagued Call of Duty 4 but wasn't nearly as pronounced as it is here.
Treyarch was able to add a "Local" and "Locale Only" search option to Call of Duty: World at War, which allowed my friends and I to wait for a good game. If it took 10 minutes to get a game going, it was better than spending 30 minutes jumping out of unplayable games that we were repeatedly thrown into, losing friends on the way, and constantly having to re-invite people to the party but being unable to talk with them half the time due to the lack of Party Chat. (Party chat allows you to talk during loading screens and when people are booted or trying to join.) The "Locale Only" search option was a key reason World at War was my group of friends' game of choice over the last year. After a full year of caring about each win (2,747), and loss (645), in World at War, I very quickly hit the point that I no llonger care about taking a loss in Modern Warfare 2, because the number of unplayable connections and friends lost when joining games means that dropping out of games is a regular occurrence, and win/loss stats mean nothing as a result.
Treyarch's World at War was also smart enough to include a "Leave with party" option that meant the party leader could pull everyone out of a game together. If someone was getting a drink or using the restroom, the party leader didn't need to wait for them to return to change game types. In MW2, everyone needs to quit out individually, and again, without Party Chat, people sometimes get lost. This may not seem like a big deal for many, but for those of us who work and have families, we're rarely all jumping on or logging off at the same time, and what was a brief wait in World at War has become a point of dread in MW2. (Jumping out to get someone means there's a possibility that you'll spend the next 30 minutes unsuccessfully trying to enter a playable game without losing a party member again.)
Now you may wonder why I'm waiting so long to talk about the game play. The truth is that I've yet to formulate a final opinion. There are really fun games and there are really frustrating games...but the game community is still evolving. If camping seems problematic or levels seem unfair, those issues may change as players become familiar with the maps, other people's tactics and the vast majority of people have seen all the perks and weapons. I'm giving Modern Warfare 2 a much longer look than I would give most games, because I truly do want it to be great. I want it to be more fun than World at War with a larger active community than World at War had. However, truthfully, I'm not sure how enjoyable this game will be, nor how many people will stick around after the first month.
Here are the things I think urgently need to be addressed, as they're easy to fix but complete game breakers for many:
1. Party Chat: Put party chat back in for everything but S&D. Put in an MLG game room or whatever alternative rooms you want for angry young racists with a mic that don't want anyone using Party Chat, and let them yell at each other in there. Those of us who view online games as a social outlet to play with friends want this...BADLY. Even Penny-Arcade is wondering why this decision was made. If it was to keep us from talking after we die...why can we still talk after we're dead in game chat in every game type I've played so far? (I have not played S&D yet) Is it technologically impossible to prevent people in Party Chat from playing on the other team? I would love it if Party Chat guaranteed that people in your party would be on your team.
2. Match Making - Lost Team Members: I'm still repeatedly losing party members when trying to get games going. Is this really that difficult to fix? I can understand there are bugs that need to be worked out, but thanks to the lack of Party Chat, there's no way for dropped people to let their team know they've been dropped. A message like, "Party Members were unable to join the game, would you like to back out and get them or continue the game without them?" would be helpful. Baring that, making your squad members easy to visually differentiate (possibly a blue background or text for everyone in the party) which would make it possible to quickly confirm all X number of party members made it. Also, just enabling Party Chat would make it easier to communicate in cases where some people don't make it.
3. Match Making - Bad Connections: I'm still regularly being thrown into games where we have unplayable connections (people in our squad will be all red and yellow connections, even when there's six of us geographically within 20 km of each other jumping into a 6-on-6 game). A "Locale Only" option would be very welcome. I'm happy to sit around for minutes waiting for a playable game. I doubt a patch will come soon enough to make me care about my W/L stats...so I will continue jumping out of games with bad connections...but again, I'm more than willing to wait for a game where everyone on both teams has a reasonable playable connection. Net code improvements? Server upgrades? You guys can do whatever you want there...but until I see a "Locale Only" or "Maximum acceptable ping" or similar option, I'll be of the assumption that you really don't care about my interest in a playable connection, and my team will keep jumping out of matches with bad connections, which is a less than ideal solution when it isn't an issue in other games...
The following are improvements that seem obvious to me, most of which are probably seen in the majority of online games:
1. Leave with Party: This one is obvious. If a group of friends playing together wants to change games types, the party leader should have the option to leave with group. The group can enter games together...why can't they leave games together? COD:WaW did this, so it can't be hard to implement. Everyone dropping in and out separately is annoying enough when you are able to use Party Chat. It's horrible without Party Chat.
2. Add to Squad: There were squads in COD that meant we didn't all have to jump out every time a friend jumped on. They could join the game and if they were on our team, they could join our squad and stay on our team without everyone having to drop out and try to jump back into a game again. Again, this was in COD:WaW, so it can't be that hard to implement and it keeps people playing instead of having them search for games...(with the currently inevitable booting of people randomly and joining games with unplayable connections.)
3. "Invite" option: Why would I want to invite people from the game menu and then play against them? The only benefit I can see for this is people who spam invite people they've played against and beaten... If I use the invite option to invite a friend, I want to play with them. Why not have invites sent this way automatically add them to your squad when they accept? I don't want random spam invites to play against people I don't know, and I was excited at the possibility that we could just invite friends to our team without quitting out of the game.
4. X to skip: I'm not big on skipping levels, and I haven't played enough to dislike any levels enough to skip, so I didn't notice this at first, but why make skipping more difficult than it needs to be? Neither this or the items the follow below are nearly as important as the first six points in my mind.
5. Volume control: Another option I used in World at War that disappeared is the ability to adjust individual volume sliders for the game sound effects, music, and other noises. I have A40 headphones now, so it's no longer an issue for me personally, but if someone's trying to keep the volume at a reasonable level, let them lower the BGM slider and other non game sounds while keeping the SFX (the important game sounds) at the highest setting. When I did adjust these settings, I never felt it gave me any sort of advantage in hearing people in the game, it just lowered the pre and post game music enough to placate my wife.
Lastly, improvements that I'd like to see when getting into games with friends and having fun is taken care of:
1. Barracks Leaderboards: Where did the breakdown by game type go? I could care less about K/D in any game type other than Deathmatch, as that's the only time it's the main point. Even in Free-For-All, killing 25 people and dying 20 times is better than killing 15 people and not dying if you're playing in the spirit of the game...so why create leaderboards that encourage people to focus on kills in game types that focus on objectives? (In the last COD game, I'm 2.27 k/d in TDM and 1.5 in Headquarters, but I believe I have a better win rate in HQ because I play the game...) The new stat system leaves a lot to be desired. It would be great to see a lot of information available, and I understand this may be coming in the future.
2. Lobby Leaderboard: Something to look at between matches when you aren't adjusting classes, and wondering who exactly you're playing with and against.
3. Online Leaderboards: Again these are all things that can be added in the future, and would add to the fun, but aren't as important as the points above: Online stats, iPhone app, Web based challenges you can complete in game, being able to compare accolades with friends, being able to compare individual gun stats with friends, stats by game type, trending stats (k/d average for each hour of a given game type, etc.), etc, etc, etc. There's plenty of data people would love to gobble up, and stats added to my enjoyment of Halo 3 and Call of Duty: World at War. But really, it's secondary to all the multiplayer issues I listed above, and I'd be very happy if IW took those points into consideration and made changes to improve the multiplayer experience for everyone.
Honestly speaking, if every single one of the improvements above had been included out of the box, my rating for multiplayer would almost certainly be 3 or 4 stars, with the potential for a 5 star rating depending on how multiplayer holds up over time...but even if there's a great game under all the BS, the BS is currently getting in the way.
Single Player
I honestly enjoyed World at War more than COD4 for multiplayer, and I doubt that was just due to the improved matchmaking, but I will also say that COD4's single player is probably the greatest FPS campaign I have played. Even though I bought MW2 for the multiplayer, I was hoping that the single player would also be amazing.
Visually, this game is amazing. The sound and music are excellent. If a grade were as simple as rating how it looks and sounds, the single player would be a home run. However, this is a poor successor to COD4. The game has bugs, is short, and the story is feels like a roll of duct tape used to connect different environment and mission types.
A friend of mine said, "If you're going to make a highly detailed game, expect people to focus on the details." One such detail is the checkpoints. Multiple times I would go well past a checkpoint, yet at my death I would spawn back at a prior checkpoint, only to have the checkpoint triggered on the second time through. Near the end of the game, I was in a house on a staircase with an enemy just outside the front door (straight ahead, but just to the side of the door frame) and in the room to the right (just behind the door leading to the base of the stairs) and the game saved my check point with a flash bang about to go off at my feet. Every time I spawned, I was flash banged. After dozens and dozens of tries, I eventually was able to kill both enemies while completely blinded and continue with the game, but I knew that if I didn't make it to the next checkpoint, that I would need a lot of time and luck to pull that trick off again.
The HUD is minimalistic, which I appreciate, but multiple times the verbal directions and on screen directions are either difficult to follow or a complete lie. I don't remember my own specific examples, but a friend of mine tells me that one such point is being told to jump off a building. If you actually jump, you die from the fall. However, if you just run off the building, you're fine. (That may not be the best example, but I'm not going to bother playing with single player again to be reminded of the ones I encountered.)
While you have almost certainly already heard about the terrorist level, consider this warning for anyone who hasn't, as the next three paragraphs mention it. It occurs in the first quarter of the game, and I think any potential purchaser of this game should know about it. Discussing the game story as little as possible, I will say that it essentially ruined the game for me. First, even if you do not kill any innocent people, you cannot clear the level without attacking soldiers. I had attempted to knife terrorists in the back when they separated from the others. I attempted to shoot the terrorists. I attempted to run to the end of the level without engaging the army...despite the fact that the story could progress at my death without forcing me to play to the end of the level, the game shoe horns you into a movie that I personally wouldn't pay to see. You die at the end of the level regardless, but the game forces you to kill the soldiers trying to stop terrorists. The single player campaign lost me at this point.
The reason is simple. Good stories require the viewer/user to have empathy for the characters. If you follow the "They're not real!" school of thought, you're left with apathy for these characters, and the experience of the game suffers a result. So yeah, they're not real, and that notion stayed with me for the rest of the single player campaign. Moving my character through the level was what I did. In Modern Warfare, I crawled past the troops in the sniper level, and II felt the tension. In MW2, my character did what ever the developers demanded to progress from one checkpoint to another.
What surprises me about the terrorist level is not the people with empathy or the people with apathy, but rather the large contingent of what seems to be angry young males with antipathy for their fellow man who will tell you how they enjoyed shooting the people because it was "fun". If that was the demographic that IW was going for with this game, than it's no wonder that it missed the mark with me.
Having me select a "No, I will not be offended" option the first time I start this game up doesn't mean I won't be offended by a short, disjointed game with a bad story, mostly uninspired levels, buggy checkpoints and unclear objectives. Dying doing what I'm told to do in order to figure out the hard way what I'm actually supposed to do is not my idea of an enjoyable game.
That said, breaching was fun (and they certainly realized that, as they included more than enough), the snow level was fun, and the final cinematic quick time event ending would have been great if I cared about the characters or the game at that point. Unfortunately, a few enjoyable moments do not make a sub-par game enjoyable. As a single player game, it's several notches below World at War and a flight of stairs below Call of Duty 4.
Special Ops
If someone asked me to criticize Special Op, my response would be that you can only play with one friend at a time. Special Ops is the best part of Modern Warfare 2 in my opinion, which is shame, because it's the part of the game I was least interested in.
If you have exactly one friend you want to play with who's roughly near your skill level and wants to play bite sized portions of co-op player vs. computer scenarios, Special Ops is fantastic fun. There are 15 separate challenges with no check points, and you and your friend must work together to complete them. (With the exception of the sniper level, which was fun alone, these games really need a friend to give you the proper experience.) There are a few minor design issues, such as the fact that if a friend hasn't unlocked a specific level, they won't get credit for completing it with you, and not all levels are created equal, but there's some very good fun there.
I'm not sure what the rational was for restricting the Special Ops levels. It meant that in order to play with a friend who hadn't tried it yet, he either had to play without getting credit, or I had to play through several games I'd already played so he could unlock the levels I wanted to play. All that did was confirm that these are great fun the first time, but not something I enjoy enough to want to go back and play again after completing them on Veteran difficulty.
I can't imagine anyone buying this game specifically for Special Ops, but it's a nice addition to an otherwise disappointing game so far, although I finished the 15 challenges rather quickly.
I believe that I've outlined why I've had more frustration than fun with the mutliplayer, how I felt about the single player, and what I think about Special Ops. While also disappointed with the single player, I bought this game primarily for the multiplayer, and expected that the matchmaking, UI and feature set would reflect the fact that this game had a humongous budget and that the previous iteration of Call of Duty had so many matchmaking improvements and additions. Instead the feature set and functionality feels barebones and buggy, and the problems are so bad that the ability to enjoy the game suffer. A controversial decision to restrict Party Chat from almost every game type compounds things even worse. To quote a friend:
"It's such a damned shame. Some small details are killing a fantastic game. The thing is that those small details add up freaking fast and it makes the game sooo much less fun."
That friend has spent his last 24+ gaming hours playing COD:WaW and Borderlands because, in his words, "I just want to get online and play a fun games where I can talk to my friends."
Gaming details: Completed single player campaign on Hardened, completed every Special Ops on Veteran and played +19 hours of multiplayer with an additional +8 hours trying to play multiplayer games, but with matchmaking failing to put the entire party into a game successfully.
I've done reviews for the majority of the games I've owned. Check out my March 2009 collection, my April 2008 collection or my Borderlands (★★★★★) review by clicking on the links if you're interested.
Update: You can now see my August 2010 Xbox 360 games collection photo here, and a list of my XBLA games along with ratings for each here.
I went to a nearby outdoor mall yesterday to get a Valencia Orange beverage at Starbucks. I noticed that the Discovery Bay Corvette Club was having an event. There were a plethora of Corvettes lined up along and around the mall. I didn't have my DSLR with me so I captured my favorite 'vette (1956) of the bunch with my phone. I have to say that I am pleased that I walked into this scene since I did not put much thought into my photo for the week... ;)
At the same time, I noticed a plume of smoke out in the distance. There is a major grass fire on Mount Diablo. As of now, it is approximately 20% percent contained. Many people have been evacuated from their homes. I took several captures and submitted them to various news outlets. One major news outlet (KRON4) has been televising my photos and using one of them as a backdrop (as well us using them for their web based articles). A few local online news publications have also used my photos. Pretty cool but so very sad at the same time (a few of them below)...
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish and British English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies.
Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breakers yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'.
The most common type of wreck yards are automobile wreck yards, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small airplanes and boats exist too.
Many salvage yards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severely damaged, has malfunctioned beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard; in some cases—as when the car has become disabled in a place where derelict cars are not allowed to be left—the car owner will pay the wrecker to haul the car away.
Salvage yards also buy most of the wrecked, derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sold at auction from police impound storage lots,and often buy vehicles from insurance tow yards as well.
The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from the location of its purchase to the yard, but occasionally vehicles are driven in. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another.
Some yards keep inventories in their offices, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Many yards have computerized inventory systems. About 75% of any given vehicle can be recycled and used for other goods.
In recent years it is becoming increasingly common to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source.
In the 20th century these were call centres that charged a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now Web-based with requests for parts being e-mailed instantly.
Under Secretary of the Army Joseph W. Westphal discusses the Army's Business Transformation and the value of collaborating with industry on best business practices with the Army News Service and Army Broadcasting at the Pentagon, 16 Oct. 2012, Washington, DC. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Bernardo Fuller)
Photos were captured at the Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory on the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Dec. 13, 2016, to accompany the feature story below: "Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans." Article online here (and below): goo.gl/viKEZF
Photo by Matt Christenson, BLM
Story by Toshio Suzuki, BLM
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For the first Americans, and the study of them today, it all starts with a point.
A sharp point fastened to a wooden shaft gave the hunter 13,000 years ago a weapon that could single-handedly spear a fish or work in numbers to take down a mammoth.
For a prehistoric human, these points were the difference between life and death. They were hunger-driven, handmade labors of love that took hours to craft using a cacophony of rock-on-rock cracks, thuds and shatters.
They have been called the first American invention, and some archaeologists now think 3-D scanning points can reveal more information about both the technology and the people.
The Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory at Oregon State University takes up only a few rooms on the ground floor of Waldo Hall, one of the supposedly haunted buildings on campus.
There are boxes of cultural history everywhere, and floor-to-ceiling wood cabinets with skinny pull-out drawers housing even more assets, but the really good stuff, evidence of the earliest known cultures in North America, lives in an 800-pound gun safe.
Loren Davis, anthropology professor at OSU and director of the lab, thinks 3-D scanning, printing, and publishing can circumvent the old traditions of the field, that artifacts are only to be experienced in museums and only handled by those who have a Ph.D.
“We are reimagining the idea of doing archaeology in a 21st century digital way,” said Davis. “We don’t do it just to make pretty pictures or print in plastic, we mostly want to capture and share it for analysis,” he added.
Nearby in the L-shaped lab, one of his doctoral students is preparing to scan a point that was discovered on Bureau of Land Management public lands in southeast Oregon.
Thousands of points have been unearthed since the 1930s in North America, the first being in eastern New Mexico near a town called Clovis. That name is now known worldwide as representing the continent’s first native people.
More recently, though, other peoples with distinctive points were found elsewhere, and some researchers think it means there was differing technology being made at the same time, if not pre-Clovis.
One such location is the Paisley Caves in southern Oregon ― one of the many archaeologically significant sites managed by the BLM.
The earliest stem point from Paisley Caves was scanned at Davis’ lab and a 3-D PDF was included in a 2012 multi-authored report in the journal Science.
Davis estimates his lab at OSU has scanned as many as 400 points, including others from BLM-managed lands in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
More scans would mean a bigger database for comparing points and determining what style they are.
“Ideally, we want to get as many artifacts scanned as possible,“ said Davis. “The BLM offers a lot of access to public data ― this is just another way of doing it.”
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Transforming a brittle piece of volcanic glass, by hand, into a beautiful and deadly 4-inch-long spear point is a process.
In one hand would be a hard shaping rock, or maybe a thick section of antler, and in the other would be the starter stone, which in addition to igneous could be jasper, chert, or any other chippable rock that creates a hide-puncturing level of sharpness.
After what might be hundreds of controlled strokes and rock rotations, the rough shape of a lance or spear tip would take form. Discarded shards of stone would often result in more points, or other useful tools like scrapers and needles.
Clovis points are distinguished by their length, bifacial leaf shape and middle channels on the bottom called flutes. Eventually the repetitive flaking of the point would stop, and the hunter would use precise pressure points to create the flute on one or each side that likely helped slot the finished product into a spear-like wooden pole.
The hunter was now mobile and ready to roam.
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Prior to 3-D scanning, OSU doctoral student Sean Carroll picks up a can of Tinactin, gives it the obligatory shake, and completely covers “one of the oldest technologies in North America” with antifungal spray.
The talc and alcohol from the athlete’s foot remedy helps the software see even the slightest indents in the point, and it rubs right off afterwards.
“I want to scan all the Clovis I can get my hands on,” said Carroll, who came to OSU because of Davis’ 3-D lab and is using the medium as a big part of his dissertation.
Two random items, a power plug adapter and a ball of clay, are placed on each side of the fluted point to give the camera and light projector perspective. The objects create margins that force the structured light patterns to bend and capture more of the point’s surface detail.
Even so, like the hunter rotating the shaping rock, the archaeologist has to rotate the foam square holding the three items. Each scan takes about six seconds.
Carroll and Davis estimate that the learning curve for this process was about 100 hours. One hundred hours of trial and error -- and a lot of watching YouTube videos -- for a finished product that they think is indisputably worth it.
A completed 3-D scan of a point will have about 40,000 data points per square inch. The measurements are so precise, they can determine the difference between flake marks as thin as a piece of paper.
Davis says no archaeologist with a pair of calipers can come close to measuring the data obtained via 3-D, because simply, “there are some jobs that robots are really good at.”
“If the end game is measurements, well you could spend your whole life with a pair of calipers trying to achieve what we can do in 10 minutes,” said Davis.
---
Last year, the famous human relative nicknamed Lucy had 3-D scans of her 3.2 million year old bones published in the journal Nature.
In 2015, archaeologists from Harvard University completed a 3-D scan of a winged and human-headed stone bull from Mesopotamia that stands 13 feet high at the Louvre Museum.
And the Smithsonian Institution is currently beta testing a website dedicated to publishing 3-D models from its massive collection, including molds of President Abraham Lincoln’s face and the entire Apollo 11 command module.
All of these new-school efforts are based upon the old-school scientific principles of preservation and promotion.
Rock points, fossils, hieroglyphics -- various forms of cultural assets are susceptible to environmental conditions and not guaranteed to be around forever. Three-dimensional scanning is the most accurate way to digitally preserve these items of merit.
Once accurate preservation is done, there are opportunities for promoting not just science, but specific research goals.
In the case of the Lucy bones, scientists hope that crowdsourcing the 3-D data will help get more experts to look at the fossils and prove that the tree-dwelling ape died from a fall.
When it comes to comparing one specific stemmed point to an entire hard drive of scanning data, BLM archaeologist Scott Thomas thinks the work being done at the OSU lab can move archaeology to a new level.
“The 3-D scanning method blows anything we have done out of the water,” said Thomas.
That ability to compare points can lead to insights on how these hunting tools moved over geography, and even expand theories about how native groups learned new technologies.
“It’s going to be a really powerful tool someday -- not too far off,” said Thomas.
While long-term data analysis may not be the sexiest form of archaeology, holding a 3-D printed stem point is a pretty cool educational tool.
Davis of OSU has incorporated 3-D prints into his classes and said his students are able to make a tactile connection with artifacts that otherwise are not available.
“The students really enjoy these printed and digital models and often say that they are almost like the real thing,” said Davis.
---
This spring, Davis is traveling to Magadan, Russia -- aka Siberia -- to inspect and scan some points that may be linked to Clovis peoples.
The goal in Siberia, of course, is to further expand the 3-D database. He is specifically interested in comparing them to stems from a BLM-managed site he excavated in Idaho called Cooper’s Ferry.
As his student, Carroll, begins to clean up and put the scanned points into their individually labeled ziplocked bags, Davis can’t help but mention how much easier international research could be with 3-D scanning.
“You can share cultural resource info with people in other countries and you don’t have to come visit,” he said, adding that Russia isn’t the easiest country to enter.
“It’s as easy as sending an email,” Carroll agreed.
Davis then mentioned his 11-year-old child and how much of school curriculum these days is web-based as opposed to text-based.
“There’s nothing wrong with books, I’m a huge fan of books, but it’s a different way of learning,” said the archaeology professor.
And with that, he made another point.
-- by Toshio Suzuki, tsuzuki@blm.gov, @toshjohn
Best places to find 3-D archaeology online:
-- Sketchfab.com is one of the biggest databases on the web for 3-D models of cultural assets. Institutions and academics alike are moving priceless treasures to the digital space for all to inspect. Two examples: via the British Museum, a 7.25-ton statue of Ramesses II is available for viewing and free download; and via archaeologist Robert Selden Jr., hundreds of 3-D models are open to the public for study, including several Clovis points from the Blackwater Draw National Historic Site in New Mexico.
-- The Smithsonian Institution is bringing the best of American history to a new audience via their 3-D website (3d.si.edu). Amelia Earhart's flight suit? Check. Native American ceremonial killer whale hat? Check. Face cast of President Abraham Lincoln? Check and check -- there are two. And their biggest 3-D scan is still coming: the 184-foot-long space shuttle Discovery.
-- Visitors to Africanfossils.org can filter 3-D model searches by hominids, animals and tools, and also by date, from zero to 25 million years ago.
The sleek website, with partners like National Geographic and the National Museums of Kenya, makes it easy to download or share 3-D scans, and each item even comes with a discovery backstory and Google map pinpointing exactly where it was found.
Photos were captured at the Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory on the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Dec. 13, 2016, to accompany the feature story below: "Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans." Article online here (and below): goo.gl/viKEZF
Photo by Matt Christenson, BLM
Story by Toshio Suzuki, BLM
----------------------------------------
For the first Americans, and the study of them today, it all starts with a point.
A sharp point fastened to a wooden shaft gave the hunter 13,000 years ago a weapon that could single-handedly spear a fish or work in numbers to take down a mammoth.
For a prehistoric human, these points were the difference between life and death. They were hunger-driven, handmade labors of love that took hours to craft using a cacophony of rock-on-rock cracks, thuds and shatters.
They have been called the first American invention, and some archaeologists now think 3-D scanning points can reveal more information about both the technology and the people.
The Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory at Oregon State University takes up only a few rooms on the ground floor of Waldo Hall, one of the supposedly haunted buildings on campus.
There are boxes of cultural history everywhere, and floor-to-ceiling wood cabinets with skinny pull-out drawers housing even more assets, but the really good stuff, evidence of the earliest known cultures in North America, lives in an 800-pound gun safe.
Loren Davis, anthropology professor at OSU and director of the lab, thinks 3-D scanning, printing, and publishing can circumvent the old traditions of the field, that artifacts are only to be experienced in museums and only handled by those who have a Ph.D.
“We are reimagining the idea of doing archaeology in a 21st century digital way,” said Davis. “We don’t do it just to make pretty pictures or print in plastic, we mostly want to capture and share it for analysis,” he added.
Nearby in the L-shaped lab, one of his doctoral students is preparing to scan a point that was discovered on Bureau of Land Management public lands in southeast Oregon.
Thousands of points have been unearthed since the 1930s in North America, the first being in eastern New Mexico near a town called Clovis. That name is now known worldwide as representing the continent’s first native people.
More recently, though, other peoples with distinctive points were found elsewhere, and some researchers think it means there was differing technology being made at the same time, if not pre-Clovis.
One such location is the Paisley Caves in southern Oregon ― one of the many archaeologically significant sites managed by the BLM.
The earliest stem point from Paisley Caves was scanned at Davis’ lab and a 3-D PDF was included in a 2012 multi-authored report in the journal Science.
Davis estimates his lab at OSU has scanned as many as 400 points, including others from BLM-managed lands in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
More scans would mean a bigger database for comparing points and determining what style they are.
“Ideally, we want to get as many artifacts scanned as possible,“ said Davis. “The BLM offers a lot of access to public data ― this is just another way of doing it.”
---
Transforming a brittle piece of volcanic glass, by hand, into a beautiful and deadly 4-inch-long spear point is a process.
In one hand would be a hard shaping rock, or maybe a thick section of antler, and in the other would be the starter stone, which in addition to igneous could be jasper, chert, or any other chippable rock that creates a hide-puncturing level of sharpness.
After what might be hundreds of controlled strokes and rock rotations, the rough shape of a lance or spear tip would take form. Discarded shards of stone would often result in more points, or other useful tools like scrapers and needles.
Clovis points are distinguished by their length, bifacial leaf shape and middle channels on the bottom called flutes. Eventually the repetitive flaking of the point would stop, and the hunter would use precise pressure points to create the flute on one or each side that likely helped slot the finished product into a spear-like wooden pole.
The hunter was now mobile and ready to roam.
---
Prior to 3-D scanning, OSU doctoral student Sean Carroll picks up a can of Tinactin, gives it the obligatory shake, and completely covers “one of the oldest technologies in North America” with antifungal spray.
The talc and alcohol from the athlete’s foot remedy helps the software see even the slightest indents in the point, and it rubs right off afterwards.
“I want to scan all the Clovis I can get my hands on,” said Carroll, who came to OSU because of Davis’ 3-D lab and is using the medium as a big part of his dissertation.
Two random items, a power plug adapter and a ball of clay, are placed on each side of the fluted point to give the camera and light projector perspective. The objects create margins that force the structured light patterns to bend and capture more of the point’s surface detail.
Even so, like the hunter rotating the shaping rock, the archaeologist has to rotate the foam square holding the three items. Each scan takes about six seconds.
Carroll and Davis estimate that the learning curve for this process was about 100 hours. One hundred hours of trial and error -- and a lot of watching YouTube videos -- for a finished product that they think is indisputably worth it.
A completed 3-D scan of a point will have about 40,000 data points per square inch. The measurements are so precise, they can determine the difference between flake marks as thin as a piece of paper.
Davis says no archaeologist with a pair of calipers can come close to measuring the data obtained via 3-D, because simply, “there are some jobs that robots are really good at.”
“If the end game is measurements, well you could spend your whole life with a pair of calipers trying to achieve what we can do in 10 minutes,” said Davis.
---
Last year, the famous human relative nicknamed Lucy had 3-D scans of her 3.2 million year old bones published in the journal Nature.
In 2015, archaeologists from Harvard University completed a 3-D scan of a winged and human-headed stone bull from Mesopotamia that stands 13 feet high at the Louvre Museum.
And the Smithsonian Institution is currently beta testing a website dedicated to publishing 3-D models from its massive collection, including molds of President Abraham Lincoln’s face and the entire Apollo 11 command module.
All of these new-school efforts are based upon the old-school scientific principles of preservation and promotion.
Rock points, fossils, hieroglyphics -- various forms of cultural assets are susceptible to environmental conditions and not guaranteed to be around forever. Three-dimensional scanning is the most accurate way to digitally preserve these items of merit.
Once accurate preservation is done, there are opportunities for promoting not just science, but specific research goals.
In the case of the Lucy bones, scientists hope that crowdsourcing the 3-D data will help get more experts to look at the fossils and prove that the tree-dwelling ape died from a fall.
When it comes to comparing one specific stemmed point to an entire hard drive of scanning data, BLM archaeologist Scott Thomas thinks the work being done at the OSU lab can move archaeology to a new level.
“The 3-D scanning method blows anything we have done out of the water,” said Thomas.
That ability to compare points can lead to insights on how these hunting tools moved over geography, and even expand theories about how native groups learned new technologies.
“It’s going to be a really powerful tool someday -- not too far off,” said Thomas.
While long-term data analysis may not be the sexiest form of archaeology, holding a 3-D printed stem point is a pretty cool educational tool.
Davis of OSU has incorporated 3-D prints into his classes and said his students are able to make a tactile connection with artifacts that otherwise are not available.
“The students really enjoy these printed and digital models and often say that they are almost like the real thing,” said Davis.
---
This spring, Davis is traveling to Magadan, Russia -- aka Siberia -- to inspect and scan some points that may be linked to Clovis peoples.
The goal in Siberia, of course, is to further expand the 3-D database. He is specifically interested in comparing them to stems from a BLM-managed site he excavated in Idaho called Cooper’s Ferry.
As his student, Carroll, begins to clean up and put the scanned points into their individually labeled ziplocked bags, Davis can’t help but mention how much easier international research could be with 3-D scanning.
“You can share cultural resource info with people in other countries and you don’t have to come visit,” he said, adding that Russia isn’t the easiest country to enter.
“It’s as easy as sending an email,” Carroll agreed.
Davis then mentioned his 11-year-old child and how much of school curriculum these days is web-based as opposed to text-based.
“There’s nothing wrong with books, I’m a huge fan of books, but it’s a different way of learning,” said the archaeology professor.
And with that, he made another point.
-- by Toshio Suzuki, tsuzuki@blm.gov, @toshjohn
Best places to find 3-D archaeology online:
-- Sketchfab.com is one of the biggest databases on the web for 3-D models of cultural assets. Institutions and academics alike are moving priceless treasures to the digital space for all to inspect. Two examples: via the British Museum, a 7.25-ton statue of Ramesses II is available for viewing and free download; and via archaeologist Robert Selden Jr., hundreds of 3-D models are open to the public for study, including several Clovis points from the Blackwater Draw National Historic Site in New Mexico.
-- The Smithsonian Institution is bringing the best of American history to a new audience via their 3-D website (3d.si.edu). Amelia Earhart's flight suit? Check. Native American ceremonial killer whale hat? Check. Face cast of President Abraham Lincoln? Check and check -- there are two. And their biggest 3-D scan is still coming: the 184-foot-long space shuttle Discovery.
-- Visitors to Africanfossils.org can filter 3-D model searches by hominids, animals and tools, and also by date, from zero to 25 million years ago.
The sleek website, with partners like National Geographic and the National Museums of Kenya, makes it easy to download or share 3-D scans, and each item even comes with a discovery backstory and Google map pinpointing exactly where it was found.
. . . flight to Bangkok
________________________
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, four-engine, wide-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed and produced by the European aerospace company Airbus. The A340 was assembled at Toulouse, France. It seats up to 375 passengers in the standard variants and 440 in the stretched -600 series. Depending on the model, it has a range of between 6,700 to 9,000 nautical miles (12,400 to 16,700 km; 7,700 to 10,400 mi). Its distinguishing features are four high-bypass turbofan engines and three-bogie main landing gears.
The A340 was manufactured in four fuselage lengths. The initial variant, A340-300, which entered service in 1993, measured 63.69. The shorter -200 was developed next, and the A340-600 was a 15.96 metres stretch of the -200. The -600 was developed alongside the shorter A340-500, which would become the longest-range commercial airliner until the arrival of the Boeing 777-200LR. The -200 and -300 models were powered by the 151 kilonewtons (34,000 lbf) CFM56-5C, while the 267-kilonewton (60,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Trent 500 was the exclusive powerplant for the extended-range -500 and -600 models. The initial A340-200 and -300 variants share the fuselage and wing of the twin-engine Airbus A330 with which it was concurrently designed. The heavier A340-500 and -600 are longer and have larger wings.
Launch customers Lufthansa and Air France placed the A340 into service in March 1993. In September 2011, 379 orders had been placed (not including private operators), of which 375 were delivered. The most common type were the A340-300 model, with 218 aircraft delivered. Lufthansa is the biggest operator of the A340, having acquired 59 aircraft. The A340 is used on long-haul, trans-oceanic routes due to its immunity from ETOPS restrictions; however, with reliability and fuel efficiency in engines improving, airlines have gradually phased out the type in favour of the more economical Boeing 777 twinjet, while Airbus has positioned the larger variants of the Airbus A350 as a successor. Airbus announced on 10 November 2011 that A340 production had been concluded.
DEVELOPMENT
BACKGROND
When Airbus designed the Airbus A300 during the 1970s, it envisioned a broad family of airliners to compete against Boeing and Douglas, two established US aerospace manufacturers. From the moment of formation, Airbus had begun studies into derivatives of the Airbus A300B in support of this long-term goal. Prior to the service introduction of the first Airbus airliners, Airbus had identified nine possible variations of the A300 known as A300B1 to B9. A 10th variation, conceived in 1973, later the first to be constructed, was designated the A300B10. It was a smaller aircraft that would be developed into the long-range Airbus A310. Airbus then focused its efforts on the single-aisle market, which resulted in the Airbus A320 family, which was the first digital fly-by-wire commercial aircraft. The decision to work on the A320, instead of a four-engine aircraft proposed by the Germans, created divisions within Airbus. As the SA or "single aisle" studies (which later became the successful Airbus A320) underwent development to challenge the successful Boeing 737 and Douglas DC-9 in the single-aisle, narrow-body airliner market, Airbus turned its focus back to the wide-body aircraft market.
The A300B11, a derivative of the A310, was designed upon the availability of "ten ton" engines. It would seat between 180 and 200 passengers, and have a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km). It was deemed the replacement for the less-efficient Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s still in service. The A300B11 was joined by another design, the A300B9, which was a larger derivative of the A300. The B9 was developed by Airbus from the early 1970s at a slow pace until the early 1980s. It was essentially a stretched A300 with the same wing, coupled with the most powerful turbofan engine at the time. It was targeted at the growing demand for high-capacity, medium-range, transcontinental trunk routes. The B9 would offer the same range and payload as the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, but would use between 25% to 38% less fuel. The B9 was therefore considered the replacement for the DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar.
To differentiate the programme from the SA studies, the B9 and B11 were redesignated the TA9 and TA11 (TA standing for "twin aisle"), respectively. In an effort to save development costs, it was decided that the two would share the same wing and airframe; the projected savings were estimated at US$500 million (about £490 million or €495 million). The adoption of a common wing structure also had one technical advantage: the TA11's outboard engines could counteract the weight of the longer-range model by providing bending relief. Another factor was the split preference of those within Airbus and, more importantly, prospective airliner customers. Airbus vice president for strategic planning, Adam Brown, recalled,
North American operators were clearly in favour of a twin[jet], while Asians wanted a quad[jet]. In Europe, opinion was split between the two. The majority of potential customers were in favour of a quad despite the fact, in certain conditions, it is more costly to operate than a twin. They liked that it could be ferried with one engine out, and could fly 'anywhere' - ETOPS (extend-range twin-engine operations) hadn't begun then.
DESIGN EFFORT
The first specifications of the TA9 and TA11 were released in 1982. While the TA9 had a range of 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km), the TA11 range was up to 6,830 nautical miles (12,650 km). At the same time, Airbus also sketched the TA12, a twin-engine derivative of the TA11, which was optimised for flights of a 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) lesser range. By the time of the Paris Air Show in June 1985, more refinements had been made to the TA9 and TA11, including the adoption of the A320 flight deck, fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system and side-stick control. Adopting a common cockpit across the new Airbus series allowed operators to make significant cost savings; flight crews would be able to transition from one to another after one week of training. The TA11 and TA12 would use the front and rear fuselage sections of the A310. Components were modular and also interchangeable with other Airbus aircraft where possible to reduce production, maintenance and operating costs.Airbus briefly considered a variable camber wing; the concept was that the wing could change its profile to produce the optimum shape for a given phase of flight. Studies were carried out by British Aerospace (BAe) at Hatfield and Bristol. Airbus estimated this would yield a 2% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency. However, the plan was later abandoned on grounds of cost and difficulty of development.
Airbus had held discussions with McDonnell Douglas to jointly produce the aircraft, which would have been designated as the AM 300. This aeroplane would have combined the wing of the A330 with the fuselage of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. However, talks were terminated as McDonnell Douglas insisted on the continuation of its trijet heritage. Although from the start it was intended for the A340 would be powered by four CFM56-5 turbofan engines, each capable of 25,000 pounds-force (110 kN), Airbus had also considered developing the aircraft as a trijet due to the limited power of engines available at the time, namely the Rolls-Royce RB211-535 and Pratt & Whitney JT10D-232.
On 27 January 1986, the Airbus Industrie Supervisory Board held a meeting in Munich, West Germany, after which board-chairman Franz Josef Strauß released a statement, "Airbus Industrie is now in a position to finalise the detailed technical definition of the TA9, which is now officially designated the A330, and the TA11, now called the A340, with potential launch customer airlines, and to discuss with them the terms and conditions for launch commitments". The designations were originally reversed because the airlines believed it illogical for a two-engine jet airliner to have a "4" in its name, whilst a quad-jet would not. On 12 May 1986, Airbus dispatched fresh sale proposals to five prospective airlines including Lufthansa and Swissair.
PRODUCTION AND TESTING
In preparations for production of the A330/A340, Airbus's partners invested heavily in new facilities. Filton was the site of BAE's £7 million investment in a three-storey technical centre with an extra 15,000 square metres of floor area. BAe also spent £5 million expanding the Chester wing production plant by 14,000 m2 to accommodate a new production line. However, France saw the biggest changes with Aérospatiale starting construction of a new Fr.2.5 billion ($411 million) assembly plant, adjacent to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, in Colomiers. By November 1988, the first 21 m pillars were erected for the new Clément Ader assembly hall. The assembly process, meanwhile, would feature increased automation with holes for the wing-fuselage mating process drilled by eight robots. The use of automation for this particular process saved Airbus 20% on labour costs and 5% on time.
British Aerospace accepted £450 million funding from the UK government, short of the £750 million originally requested. Funds from the French and German governments followed thereafter. Airbus also issued subcontracts to companies in Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, South Korea, Portugal, the United States of America, and the former Yugoslavia. The A330 and A340 programmes were jointly launched on 5 June 1987, just prior to the Paris Air Show. The order book then stood at 130 aircraft from 10 customers, apart from the above-mentioned Lufthansa and International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). Eighty-nine of the total orders were A340 models. Over at McDonnell Douglas, ongoing tests of the MD-11 revealed a significant shortfall in the aircraft's performance. An important carrier, Singapore Airlines (SIA), required a fully laden aircraft that could fly from Singapore to Paris, against strong headwinds during mid-winter in the northern hemisphere. The MD-11, according to test results, would experience fuel starvation over the Balkans. Due to the less-than-expected performance figures, SIA cancelled its 20-aircraft MD-11 order on 2 August 1991, and ordered 20 A340-300s instead. The MD-11 failed commercially and unsuccessfully competed with the A340.
The first flight of the A340 occurred on 21 October 1991, marking the start of a 2,000-hour test flight programme involving six aircraft. From the start, engineers noticed that the wings were not strong enough to carry the outboard engines at cruising speed without warping and fluttering. To alleviate this, an underwing bulge called a plastron was developed to correct airflow problems around the engine pylons and to add stiffness. European JAA certification was obtained on 22 December 1992; FAA followed on 27 May 1993.
ENTRY INTO SERVICE AND DEMONSTRATION
Airbus delivered the first A340, a -200, to Lufthansa on 2 February 1993. The 228-seat A340-200, named Nürnberg, entered service on 15 March. The A340s were intended to replace aging DC-10s on the airline's Frankfurt–New York services. Meanwhile, Air France took its first A340-300 on 26 February, the first of nine it planned to operate by the end of the year. The A340 replaced the Boeing 747s on Paris–Washington D.C., flying four times weekly. Coincidentally, the first Air France A340 was the 1000th Airbus aircraft to leave the Toulouse facility since the consortium's beginning.
During the Paris Air Show, on 16 June 1993 an A340-200 named The World Ranger took off for a round-the-world demonstration and publicity-stunt flight. The aircraft, carrying 22 persons, had been modified for the flight, including the addition of five center tanks. Taking off at 11:58 local time, The World Ranger made only one stop en route – in Auckland, New Zealand – and arrived back in Paris 48 hours and 22 minutes later, at 12:20. The flight broke six world records at the time. Among the six was the longest non-stop flight by an airliner, when the aircraft flew 19,277 kilometres (10,409 nmi) from Paris, arriving in Auckland in record time. The A340 would hold this record for a total of 12 years; in 2005, a Boeing 777-200LR flew from Hong Kong eastward toward London, successfully completing a 21,602 kilometres (11,664 nmi) journey.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS AND END OF PRODUCTION
During the 1990s, the A340-300 was challenged by the more fuel-efficient Boeing 777-200ER twinjet. In addition, airlines were looking for replacement aircraft for their 1970s-era Boeing 747-100s and -200s, so Airbus investigated a stretched airframe in the form of the A340-400X. This proved unpopular, as the CFM56 engines were at the limits of their growth capability and the range would have decreased to around 10,000 km (5,400 nmi). A new plan to develop an A340 variant with a larger wing and engine combination was decided upon. Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and General Electric competed to be selected as the supplier of the new engine to power the type; talks between General Electric and Airbus over an exclusive engine arrangement collapsed in 1997 following disagreement over cost and risk-sharing. Airbus ultimately decided to adopt a variant of the Rolls-Royce Trent engine series, which was viewed as cost-effective as it did not involve developing an independent power plant. In April 1996, Airbus announced that it would offer a stretched variant of the aircraft, designated as the A340-600. The A340-500/600 would be developed as ultra-long range (ULR) aircraft.
During the 2000s, sales slowed despite the introduction of the A340-500 and A340-600 and their high gross weight variants, the A340-500IGW and A340-600HGW, respectively as the Boeing 777-200LR and -300ER began to dominate the long-range, 300-400 seating sector. Airbus confirmed in January 2006 that it had conducted studies into developing an A340-600E (Enhanced). Airbus projected that it would be more fuel-efficient than earlier A340s, closing the 8–9% disparity with the Boeing 777 via the use of the new Trent 1500 engine as well as technologies derived from the A350 programme. In 2007, Airbus predicted that another 127 A340 aircraft would likely be produced through 2016, the projected end of production.
On 10 November 2011, Airbus announced the end of the A340 program. At that time, the company indicated that all firm orders had been delivered. The decision to terminate the program came as A340-500/600 orders came to a halt, with analyst Nick Cunningham pointing out that the A340 "was too heavy and there was a big fuel burn gap between the A340 and Boeing’s 777". Bertrand Grabowski, managing director of aircraft financier DVB Bank SE, noted "in an environment where the fuel price is high, the A340 has had no chance to compete against similar twin engines, and the current lease rates and values of this aircraft reflect the deep resistance of any airlines to continue operating it”. Airbus has positioned the larger versions of the A350, specifically the A350-900 and A350-1000, as the successors to the A340-500 and A340-600.
As a sales incentive amid low customer demand during the Great Recession, Airbus had offered buy-back guarantees to airlines that chose to procure the A340. By 2013, the resale value of an A340 declined by 30% over ten years, and both Airbus and Rolls-Royce were incurring related charges amounting to hundreds of millions of euros. Some analysts have expected the price of a flight-worthy, CFM56-powered A340 to drop below $10 million by 2023. As an effort to support the A340's resale value, Airbus has proposed reconfiguring the aircraft's interior for a single class of 475 seats. As the Trent 500 engines are half the maintenance cost of the A340, Rolls-Royce proposed a cost-reducing maintenance plan similar to the company's existing program that reduced the cost of maintaining the RB211 engine powering Iberia's Boeing 757 freighters. Key to these programs is the salvaging, repair and reuse of serviceable parts from retired older engines. Airbus could offer used A340s to airlines wishing to retire older aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, claiming that the cost of purchasing and maintaining a second-hand A340 with increased seating and improved engine performance reportedly compared favourably to the procurement costs of a new Boeing 777.
DESIGN
The Airbus A340 is a widebody twin-aisle passenger airliner which, along with its sibling the A330, has the distinction of being the first truly long-range aircraft to be produced by Airbus. It is powered by four FADEC turbofan jet engines, optimized to perform long distance routes. The A340 had built upon developments made in the production of earlier Airbus aircraft and as such shares many features with those aircraft, such as a common cockpit design with the Airbus A320 and A330; as the aircraft was developed at the same time as the A330 the two aircraft employ many similar components and sections, such as identical fly-by-wire control systems and similar wings. Both before and after the A340 entered revenue service, the features and improvements that were developed for the type were usually shared with the A330, a significant beneficial factor in performing such programs.
The A340 is a low-wing cantilever monoplane, the wing itself is virtually identical to that of the A330. The wings were designed and manufactured by BAe, which developed a long slender wing with a very high aspect ratio to provide high aerodynamic efficiency.[Nb 1] The wing is swept back at 30 degrees and, along with other design features, allows a maximum operating Mach number of 0.86. The wing has a very high thickness-to-chord ratio of 12.8 per cent, which means that a long span and high aspect ratio can be attained without a severe weight penalty. For comparison, the rival MD-11 has a thickness-to-chord ratio of 8–9 per cent. Each wing also has a 2.74 m tall winglet instead of the wingtip fences found on earlier Airbus aircraft. The failure of International Aero Engines' radical ultra-high-bypass V2500 "SuperFan", which had promised around 15 per cent fuel burn reduction for the A340, led to multiple enhancements including wing upgrades to compensate. Originally designed with a 56 m span, the wing was later extended to 58.6 m and finally to 60.3 m. At 60.3 m, the wingspan is similar to that of the larger Boeing 747-200, but with 35 percent less wing area.
The flight deck of the A340 is a glass cockpit, based upon the control systems first used on the smaller A320. Instead of a conventional control yoke, the flight deck features side-stick controls. The main instrument panel is dominated by a total of six cathode ray tube monitors which display information to the flight crew; on later aircraft these monitors have been replaced by liquid crystal displays. Flight information is directed via the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) and systems information through the Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor (ECAM). The aircraft monitoring system is connected to various sensors throughout the aircraft and automatically alerts the crew to any parameters detected outside of their normal range; pilots can also manually inspect systems of their choosing at any time. The information display system is designed to be easily interpreted and give a clear picture of the aircraft's operational status. Instead of paper manuals, electronic CD-ROM-based manuals are used; Airbus offers web-based updates to electronic documentation as an option.
Many measures were taken from the start of the A340's design process to reduce the difficulty and cost of maintenance, which was reportedly half of that of the earlier Airbus A310 despite the increase in size. The aircraft's four engines featured improved controls and monitoring systems that enabled engine parameters to be more readily checked and avoid unnecessary early removals; the four-engine approach also avoided the stringent ETOPS requirements such as more frequent inspections. The A340 also has a centralised maintenance computer which provides comprehensive easily understandable systems information, which can be transmitted in real-time to ground facilities via the onboard satellite-based ACARS datalink. Some aspects of the maintenance, such as structural changes, remained unchanged, while increased sophistication of technology in the passenger cabin, like the in-flight entertainment systems, were increased over preceding airliners.
OPERATIONAL HISTORY
The first variant of the A340 to be introduced, the A340-200, entered service with the launch customer, Lufthansa, in 1993. It was followed shortly thereafter by the A340-300 with its operator, Air France. Lufthansa's first A340, which had been dubbed Nürnberg (D-AIBA), began revenue service on 15 March 1993. Air Lanka (later renamed Sri Lankan Airlines) became the Asian launch customer of the Airbus A340; the airline received its first A340-300, registered (4R-ADA), in September 1994. British airline Virgin Atlantic was an early adopter of the A340; in addition to operating several A340-300 aircraft, Virgin Atlantic announced in August 1997 that it was to be the worldwide launch customer for the new A340-600. The first commercial flight of the A340-600 was performed by Virgin in July 2002.
Singapore Airlines ordered 17 A340-300s and operated them until October 2013. The A340-300s were purchased by Boeing as part of an order for Boeing 777s in 1999.[75] The airline then purchased five long-range A340-500s, which joined the fleet in December 2003. In February 2004, the airline's A340-500 performed the longest non-stop commercial air service in the world, conducting a non-stop flight between Singapore and Los Angeles In 2007, Singapore Airlines launched an even longer non-stop route using the A340-500 between Newark and Singapore, SQ 21, a 15,344 kilometres (8,285 nmi) journey that was the longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight in the world. The airline continued to operate this route regularly until the airline decided to retire the type in favour of new A380 and A350 aircraft; its last A340 flight was performed in late 2013.
The A340 was typically used by airlines as a medium-sized long-haul aircraft, and was often a replacement for older Boeing 747s as it was more likely profitable. Airbus produced a number of A340s as large private jets for VIP customers, often to replace aging Boeing 747s in this same role. In 2008, Airbus launched a dedicated corporate jetliner version of the A340-200: one key selling point of this aircraft was a range of up to 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km). Airbus had built up to nine different customized versions of the A340 to private customer's specific demands prior to 2008.
The A340 has frequently been operated as a dedicated transport for heads of state. A pair of A340-300s were acquired from Lufthansa by the Flugbereitschaft of the German Air Force; they serve as VIP transports for the German Chancellor and other key members of the German government. The A340 is also operated by the air transport division of the French Air Force, where it is used as a strategic transport for troop deployments and supply missions, as well as to transport government officials. A one-of-a-kind aircraft, the A340-8000, was originally built for Prince Jefri Bolkiah, brother of the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah. The aircraft was unused and stored in Hamburg until it was procured by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of the House of Saud, and later sold to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, then-President of Libya; the aircraft was operated by Afriqiyah Airways and was often referred to as Afriqiyah One.
In 2008, jet fuel prices doubled compared to the year before; consequently, the A340's fuel consumption led airlines to reduce flight stages exceeding 15 hours. Thai Airways International cancelled its 17-hour, nonstop Bangkok–New York/JFK route on 1 July 2008, and placed its four A340-500s for sale. While short flights stress aircraft more than long flights and result in more frequent fuel-thirsty take-offs and landings, ultra-long flights require completely full fuel tanks. The higher weights in turn require a greater proportion of an aircraft's fuel fraction just to take off and to stay airborne. In 2008, Air France-KLM SA's chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon disparagingly referred to the A340 as a "flying tanker with a few people on board". While Thai Airways consistently filled 80% of the seats on its New York City–Bangkok flights, it estimated that, at 2008 fuel prices, it would need an impossible 120% of seats filled just to break even. Other airlines also re-examined long-haul flights. In August 2008 Cathay Pacific stated that rising fuel costs were hurting its trans-Pacific long-haul routes disproportionately, and that it would cut the number of such flights and redeploy its aircraft to shorter routes such as between Hong Kong and Australia. "We will ... reshap[e] our network where necessary to ensure we fly aircraft to where we can cover our costs and also make some money." Aviation Week noted that rapid performance increases of twin-engine aircraft has led to the detriment of four-engine types of comparable capacity such as the A340 and 747.
By 2014, Singapore Airlines had phased out the type, while Emirates Airlines decided to accelerate the retirement of its A340 fleet. International Airlines Group, the parent of Iberia Airlines (which is also the operator of the last production A340 built), is overhauling its A340-600s for continued service for the foreseeable future, while it is retiring its A340-300s. The IAG overhaul featured improved conditions and furnishings in the business and economy classes; the business-class capacity was raised slightly while not changing the type's overall operating cost. Lufthansa, which operates both Airbus A340-300s and -600s, concluded that, while it is not possible to make the A340 more fuel efficient, it can respond to increased interest in business-class services by replacing first-class seats with more business-class seats to increase revenue.
In 2013, Snecma announced that they planned to use the A340 as a flying testbed for the development of a new open rotor engine. This test aircraft is forecast to conduct its first flight in 2019. Open rotor engines are typically more fuel-efficient but noisier than conventional turbofan engines; introducing such an engine commercially has been reported as requiring significant legislative changes within engine approval authorities due to its differences from contemporary jet engines. The engine, partly based on the Snecma M88 turbofan engine used on the Dassault Rafale, is being developed under the European Clean Sky research initiative.
VARIANTS
There are four variants of the A340. The A340-200 and A340-300 were launched in 1987 with introduction into service in March 1993 for the -200. The A340-500 and A340-600 were launched in 1997 with introduction into service in 2002. All variants were available in a corporate version.
A340-200
The -200 is one of two initial versions of the A340; it has seating for 261 passengers in a three-class cabin layout with a range of 13,800 kilometres (7,500 nmi) or seating for 240 passengers also in a three-class cabin layout for a range of 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nmi). This is the shortest version of the family and the only version with a wingspan measuring greater than its fuselage length. It is powered by four CFMI CFM56-5C4 engines and uses the Honeywell 331–350[A] auxiliary power unit (APU). It initially entered service with Air France in May 1993. Due to its large wingspan, four engines, low capacity and improvements to the larger A340-300, the -200 proved heavy and unpopular with mainstream airlines. Only 28 A340-200s were produced. The closest Boeing competitor is the Boeing 767-400ER.
One version of this type (referred to by Airbus as the A340-8000) was ordered by the prince Jefri Bolkiah requesting a non-stop range of 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nmi). This A340-8000, in the Royal Brunei Airlines livery had an increased fuel capacity, an MTOW of 275 tonnes (606,000 lb), similar to the A340-300, and minor reinforcements to the undercarriage. It is powered by the 150 kilonewtons (34,000 lbf) thrust CFM56-5C4s similar to the -300E. Only one A340-8000 was produced. Besides the -8000, some A340-200s are used for VIP or military use; users include Royal Brunei Airlines, Qatar Amiri Flight, Arab Republic of Egypt Government, Royal Saudi Air Force, Jordan and the French Air Force. Following the -8000, other A340-200s were later given performance improvement packages (PIPs) that helped them achieve similar gains in capability as to the A340-8000. Those aircraft are labeled A340-213X. The range for this version is 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nmi).
As of April 2016, there are 11 Airbus A340-200s in service, of which 6 are used in government fleets.
A340-300
The A340-300 flies 295 passengers in a typical three-class cabin layout over 6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km). This is the initial version, having flown on 25 October 1991, and entered service with Lufthansa and Air France in March 1993. It is powered by four CFMI CFM56-5C engines and uses the Honeywell 331–350[A] APU, similar to the -200. Its closest competitor is the Boeing 777-200ER. The A340-300 will be superseded by the A350-900. 218 -300s were delivered in total.
The A340-300E, often mislabelled as A340-300X, has an increased MTOW of up to 275 tonnes (606,000 lb) and is powered by the more powerful 34,000 lbf (150 kN) thrust CFMI CFM56-5C4 engines. Typical range with 295 passengers is between 7,200 to 7,400 nautical miles (13,300 to 13,700 km). The largest operator of this type is Lufthansa, who has operated a fleet of 30 aircraft. The A340-300 Enhanced is the latest version of this model and was first delivered to South African Airways in 2003, with Air Mauritius receiving the A340-300 Enhanced into its fleet in 2006. It received newer CFM56-5C4/P engines and improved avionics and fly-by-wire systems developed for the A340-500 and -600.
As of April 2016, there were 135 Airbus A340-300s in service.
A340-500
The A340-500 was introduced as the world's longest-range commercial airliner. It first flew on 11 February 2002, and was certified on 3 December 2002. Air Canada was supposed to be the launch customer, but filed for bankruptcy in January 2003, delaying delivery to March. This allowed early deliveries to the new launch customer, Emirates, allowing the carrier to launch nonstop service from Dubai to New York—its first route in the Americas. The A340-500 can fly 313 passengers in a three-class cabin layout over 16020 km (8650 nm). Compared with the A340-300, the -500 features a 4.3-metre fuselage stretch, an enlarged wing, significant increase in fuel capacity (around 50% over the -300), slightly higher cruising speed, a larger horizontal stabilizer and a larger vertical tailplane. The centerline main landing gear was changed to a four-wheel bogie to support additional weight. The A340-500 is powered by four 240 kN (54,000 lbf) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 553 turbofans and uses the Honeywell 331–600[A] APU. It was the world's longest-range commercial airliner until the introduction of its direct rival, Boeing 777-200LR, in February 2006.
Due to its range, the -500 is capable of travelling non-stop from London to Perth, Western Australia, though a return flight requires a fuel stop due to headwinds. Singapore Airlines used this model (initially in a two-class, 181-passenger layout, later in a 100-passenger business-only layout) for its Newark–Singapore nonstop route, SQ 21: an 18-hour, 45-minute "westbound" (really northbound to 130 km (70 nm) abeam the North Pole; then south from there across Russia, Mongolia and People's Republic of China), 18-hour, 30-minute eastbound, 15,344 kilometres (8,285 nmi) journey that was the longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight in the world, this flight route ceased operation in 2013. The Singapore Airlines -500 is the first aircraft to include a corpse cupboard, used for storing the body of a passenger who dies during a flight.
The A340-500IGW (Increased Gross Weight) version has a range of 17,000 km (9,200 nmi) and a MTOW of 380 t (840,000 lb) and first flew on 13 October 2006. It uses the strengthened structure and enlarged fuel capacity of the A340-600. The certification aircraft, a de-rated A340-541 model, became the first delivery, to Thai Airways International, on 11 April 2007. Nigerian airline Arik Air received a pair of A340-542s in November 2008, using the type to immediately launch two new routes, Lagos–London Heathrow and Lagos–Johannesburg; a non-stop Lagos–New York route began in January 2010. The A340-500IGW is powered by four 250 kN (56,000 lbf) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 556 turbofans.
In April 2016, there were 8 A340-500s in service.
A340-600
Designed to replace early-generation Boeing 747 airliners, the A340-600 is capable of carrying 379 passengers in a three-class cabin layout 13,900 km (7,500 nmi). It provides similar passenger capacity to a 747 but with 25 percent more cargo volume, and at lower trip and seat costs. First flight of the A340-600 was made on 23 April
2001. Virgin Atlantic began commercial services in August 2002. The variant's main competitor is the 777-300ER. The A340-600 will eventually be replaced by the A350-1000.
The A340-600 is 12 m longer than a -300, more than 4 m longer than the Boeing 747-400 and 2.3 m longer than the A380. It held the record as the world's longest commercial aircraft until February 2010 with the first flight of the Boeing 747-8. The A340-600 is powered by four 250 kN (56,000 lbf) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 556 turbofans and uses the Honeywell 331–600[A] APU. As with the -500, it has a four-wheel undercarriage bogie on the fuselage centre-line to cope with the increased MTOW along with the enlarged wing and rear empennage. Upper deck main cabin space can be optionally increased by locating facilities such as crew rest areas, galleys, and lavatories upon the aircraft's lower deck. In early 2007, Airbus reportedly advised carriers to reduce cargo in the forward section by 5.0 t to compensate for overweight first and business class sections; the additional weight caused the aircraft's centre of gravity to move forward thus reducing cruise efficiency. Affected airlines considered filing compensation claims with Airbus.
The A340-600HGW (High Gross Weight) version first flew on 18 November 2005 and was certified on 14 April 2006. It has an MTOW of 380 t and a range of up to 14,630 km (7,900 nmi), made possible by strengthened structure, increased fuel capacity, more powerful engines and new manufacturing techniques like laser beam welding. The A340-600HGW is powered by four 61,900 lbf (275 kN) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 560 turbofans. Emirates became the launch customer for the -600HGW when it ordered 18 at the 2003 Paris Air Show; but postponed its order indefinitely and later cancelled. Rival Qatar Airways, which placed its order at the same airshow, took delivery of only four aircraft with the first aircraft on 11 September 2006. The airline has since let its purchase options expire in favour of orders for the Boeing 777-300ER.
In July 2015, seven airlines worldwide operated A340-600s. In April 2016, there were 77 A340-600s in service
OPERATORS
A total of 227 aircraft (all A340 variants) were in airline service in July 2015 with operators Lufthansa (41), Iberia (24), South African Airways (17), Swiss International Air Lines (15), Air France (13), Virgin Atlantic (11), Etihad Airways (11), Cathay Pacific (8), Scandinavian Airlines (8), and other airlines with fewer aircraft of the type.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS
As of September 2015, the A340 has never been involved in a fatal incident, although there have been five hull losses:
20 January 1994 – an Air France A340-200 registered F-GNIA was burnt out after a fire started during servicing at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
24 July 2001 – an A340-300 of SriLankan Airlines was destroyed on the ground at Bandaranaike International Airport; being one of 26 aircraft which were damaged or destroyed during a major attack upon the airport by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam militants.
2 August 2005 – Air France Flight 358, a crash and fire after A340-300 F-GLZQ overran runway 24L at Toronto Pearson International Airport while landing in a thunderstorm. The aircraft slid into Etobicoke Creek and caught fire. All 297 passengers and 12 crew survived; 43 people were injured, 12 serious.
9 November 2007 – an Iberia Airlines A340-600 was badly damaged after sliding off the runway at Ecuador's Mariscal Sucre International Airport. The landing gear collapsed and two engines broke off. All 333 passengers and crew were evacuated via inflatable slides, and there were no serious injuries. The aircraft was scrapped.
15 November 2007 – an A340-600 was damaged beyond repair during ground testing at Airbus' facilities at Toulouse Blagnac International Airport. During a pre-delivery engine test, multiple safety checks had been disabled, leading to the non-chocked aircraft accelerating to 57 km/h and colliding with a concrete blast deflection wall. The right wing, tail, and left engines made contact with the ground or wall, leaving the forward section elevated several meters and the cockpit broken off; nine people on board were injured, four of them seriously. The aircraft was written off and was later used at Virgin Atlantic's cabin crew training facility in Crawley. It was due to be delivered to Etihad Airways.
20 March 2009 – Emirates Flight 407 was an Emirates flight flying from Melbourne to Dubai-International using an A340-500. The flight failed to take off properly from Melbourne Airport, hitting several structures at the end of the runway before eventually climbing enough to return to the airport for a safe landing. The occurrence was severe enough to be classified an accident by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
WIKIPEDIA
Photos were captured at the Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory on the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Dec. 13, 2016, to accompany the feature story below: "Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans." Article online here (and below): goo.gl/viKEZF
Graphics + Photo by Matt Christenson, BLM
Story by Toshio Suzuki, BLM
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For the first Americans, and the study of them today, it all starts with a point.
A sharp point fastened to a wooden shaft gave the hunter 13,000 years ago a weapon that could single-handedly spear a fish or work in numbers to take down a mammoth.
For a prehistoric human, these points were the difference between life and death. They were hunger-driven, handmade labors of love that took hours to craft using a cacophony of rock-on-rock cracks, thuds and shatters.
They have been called the first American invention, and some archaeologists now think 3-D scanning points can reveal more information about both the technology and the people.
The Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory at Oregon State University takes up only a few rooms on the ground floor of Waldo Hall, one of the supposedly haunted buildings on campus.
There are boxes of cultural history everywhere, and floor-to-ceiling wood cabinets with skinny pull-out drawers housing even more assets, but the really good stuff, evidence of the earliest known cultures in North America, lives in an 800-pound gun safe.
Loren Davis, anthropology professor at OSU and director of the lab, thinks 3-D scanning, printing, and publishing can circumvent the old traditions of the field, that artifacts are only to be experienced in museums and only handled by those who have a Ph.D.
“We are reimagining the idea of doing archaeology in a 21st century digital way,” said Davis. “We don’t do it just to make pretty pictures or print in plastic, we mostly want to capture and share it for analysis,” he added.
Nearby in the L-shaped lab, one of his doctoral students is preparing to scan a point that was discovered on Bureau of Land Management public lands in southeast Oregon.
Thousands of points have been unearthed since the 1930s in North America, the first being in eastern New Mexico near a town called Clovis. That name is now known worldwide as representing the continent’s first native people.
More recently, though, other peoples with distinctive points were found elsewhere, and some researchers think it means there was differing technology being made at the same time, if not pre-Clovis.
One such location is the Paisley Caves in southern Oregon ― one of the many archaeologically significant sites managed by the BLM.
The earliest stem point from Paisley Caves was scanned at Davis’ lab and a 3-D PDF was included in a 2012 multi-authored report in the journal Science.
Davis estimates his lab at OSU has scanned as many as 400 points, including others from BLM-managed lands in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
More scans would mean a bigger database for comparing points and determining what style they are.
“Ideally, we want to get as many artifacts scanned as possible,“ said Davis. “The BLM offers a lot of access to public data ― this is just another way of doing it.”
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Transforming a brittle piece of volcanic glass, by hand, into a beautiful and deadly 4-inch-long spear point is a process.
In one hand would be a hard shaping rock, or maybe a thick section of antler, and in the other would be the starter stone, which in addition to igneous could be jasper, chert, or any other chippable rock that creates a hide-puncturing level of sharpness.
After what might be hundreds of controlled strokes and rock rotations, the rough shape of a lance or spear tip would take form. Discarded shards of stone would often result in more points, or other useful tools like scrapers and needles.
Clovis points are distinguished by their length, bifacial leaf shape and middle channels on the bottom called flutes. Eventually the repetitive flaking of the point would stop, and the hunter would use precise pressure points to create the flute on one or each side that likely helped slot the finished product into a spear-like wooden pole.
The hunter was now mobile and ready to roam.
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Prior to 3-D scanning, OSU doctoral student Sean Carroll picks up a can of Tinactin, gives it the obligatory shake, and completely covers “one of the oldest technologies in North America” with antifungal spray.
The talc and alcohol from the athlete’s foot remedy helps the software see even the slightest indents in the point, and it rubs right off afterwards.
“I want to scan all the Clovis I can get my hands on,” said Carroll, who came to OSU because of Davis’ 3-D lab and is using the medium as a big part of his dissertation.
Two random items, a power plug adapter and a ball of clay, are placed on each side of the fluted point to give the camera and light projector perspective. The objects create margins that force the structured light patterns to bend and capture more of the point’s surface detail.
Even so, like the hunter rotating the shaping rock, the archaeologist has to rotate the foam square holding the three items. Each scan takes about six seconds.
Carroll and Davis estimate that the learning curve for this process was about 100 hours. One hundred hours of trial and error -- and a lot of watching YouTube videos -- for a finished product that they think is indisputably worth it.
A completed 3-D scan of a point will have about 40,000 data points per square inch. The measurements are so precise, they can determine the difference between flake marks as thin as a piece of paper.
Davis says no archaeologist with a pair of calipers can come close to measuring the data obtained via 3-D, because simply, “there are some jobs that robots are really good at.”
“If the end game is measurements, well you could spend your whole life with a pair of calipers trying to achieve what we can do in 10 minutes,” said Davis.
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Last year, the famous human relative nicknamed Lucy had 3-D scans of her 3.2 million year old bones published in the journal Nature.
In 2015, archaeologists from Harvard University completed a 3-D scan of a winged and human-headed stone bull from Mesopotamia that stands 13 feet high at the Louvre Museum.
And the Smithsonian Institution is currently beta testing a website dedicated to publishing 3-D models from its massive collection, including molds of President Abraham Lincoln’s face and the entire Apollo 11 command module.
All of these new-school efforts are based upon the old-school scientific principles of preservation and promotion.
Rock points, fossils, hieroglyphics -- various forms of cultural assets are susceptible to environmental conditions and not guaranteed to be around forever. Three-dimensional scanning is the most accurate way to digitally preserve these items of merit.
Once accurate preservation is done, there are opportunities for promoting not just science, but specific research goals.
In the case of the Lucy bones, scientists hope that crowdsourcing the 3-D data will help get more experts to look at the fossils and prove that the tree-dwelling ape died from a fall.
When it comes to comparing one specific stemmed point to an entire hard drive of scanning data, BLM archaeologist Scott Thomas thinks the work being done at the OSU lab can move archaeology to a new level.
“The 3-D scanning method blows anything we have done out of the water,” said Thomas.
That ability to compare points can lead to insights on how these hunting tools moved over geography, and even expand theories about how native groups learned new technologies.
“It’s going to be a really powerful tool someday -- not too far off,” said Thomas.
While long-term data analysis may not be the sexiest form of archaeology, holding a 3-D printed stem point is a pretty cool educational tool.
Davis of OSU has incorporated 3-D prints into his classes and said his students are able to make a tactile connection with artifacts that otherwise are not available.
“The students really enjoy these printed and digital models and often say that they are almost like the real thing,” said Davis.
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This spring, Davis is traveling to Magadan, Russia -- aka Siberia -- to inspect and scan some points that may be linked to Clovis peoples.
The goal in Siberia, of course, is to further expand the 3-D database. He is specifically interested in comparing them to stems from a BLM-managed site he excavated in Idaho called Cooper’s Ferry.
As his student, Carroll, begins to clean up and put the scanned points into their individually labeled ziplocked bags, Davis can’t help but mention how much easier international research could be with 3-D scanning.
“You can share cultural resource info with people in other countries and you don’t have to come visit,” he said, adding that Russia isn’t the easiest country to enter.
“It’s as easy as sending an email,” Carroll agreed.
Davis then mentioned his 11-year-old child and how much of school curriculum these days is web-based as opposed to text-based.
“There’s nothing wrong with books, I’m a huge fan of books, but it’s a different way of learning,” said the archaeology professor.
And with that, he made another point.
-- by Toshio Suzuki, tsuzuki@blm.gov, @toshjohn
Best places to find 3-D archaeology online:
-- Sketchfab.com is one of the biggest databases on the web for 3-D models of cultural assets. Institutions and academics alike are moving priceless treasures to the digital space for all to inspect. Two examples: via the British Museum, a 7.25-ton statue of Ramesses II is available for viewing and free download; and via archaeologist Robert Selden Jr., hundreds of 3-D models are open to the public for study, including several Clovis points from the Blackwater Draw National Historic Site in New Mexico.
-- The Smithsonian Institution is bringing the best of American history to a new audience via their 3-D website (3d.si.edu). Amelia Earhart's flight suit? Check. Native American ceremonial killer whale hat? Check. Face cast of President Abraham Lincoln? Check and check -- there are two. And their biggest 3-D scan is still coming: the 184-foot-long space shuttle Discovery.
-- Visitors to Africanfossils.org can filter 3-D model searches by hominids, animals and tools, and also by date, from zero to 25 million years ago.
The sleek website, with partners like National Geographic and the National Museums of Kenya, makes it easy to download or share 3-D scans, and each item even comes with a discovery backstory and Google map pinpointing exactly where it was found.
Panorama of Milford Sound, Lake Adelaide and the Darren Mountains from Barrier Ridge, Fiordland. Lake Adelaide is about 900m below.
About 4 Hrs from the Gertrude valley carpark. Carry crampons/ice axe year round, high avalanche danger in winter.
I am fairly new to web based media and this is my first group posting. Feel free to 'educate' me. Thanks.
8 image stitch. 1450 x 450mm @ 300dpi.
This musical phenomenon comes to Theatr Clwyd for the first time thanks to Tip Top Productions.
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. “Prologue – Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” additional material written by Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe; ”Memory” additional material written by Trevor Nunn.
The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year—the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one they tell their stories to Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life. Among the candidates are the aging theatre cat, Gus; the rocker, Rum Tum Tugger; and the once-glamorous Grizabella, now but a faded memory of her former self.
Boasting a score that includes Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, Mr. Mistoffelees and Memory, this compelling fable takes audiences to a fantastical world that can only exist in the theatre. Cats has been performed worldwide and translated into over 20 languages. The original West End production ran for 21 years and the original Broadway production ran for 18 years
For tickets and more info see:
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish and British English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies.
Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breakers yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'.
The most common type of wreck yards are automobile wreck yards, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small airplanes and boats exist too.
Many salvage yards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severely damaged, has malfunctioned beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard; in some cases—as when the car has become disabled in a place where derelict cars are not allowed to be left—the car owner will pay the wrecker to haul the car away.
Salvage yards also buy most of the wrecked, derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sold at auction from police impound storage lots,and often buy vehicles from insurance tow yards as well.
The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from the location of its purchase to the yard, but occasionally vehicles are driven in. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another.
Some yards keep inventories in their offices, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Many yards have computerized inventory systems. About 75% of any given vehicle can be recycled and used for other goods.
In recent years it is becoming increasingly common to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source.
In the 20th century these were call centres that charged a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now Web-based with requests for parts being e-mailed instantly.
© Jon Buono 2009 All rights reserved
Click "original size" for legible image
Introduction
In the spring of this year, representatives of the United States’ Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the U.K.’s Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BRE-EAM), and the Australian Green Star rating systems initiated meetings to align their assessment tools and develop common metrics to measure CO2 equivalents from building construction. Later this summer, BRE and the French Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB) declared their joint effort to create a Pan-European assessment method. These events represent both the global adoption of the sustainable construction philosophy and the need for developing consensus among standards.
The ideological commitment to producing sustainable buildings is an ethical response to both global and local environmental issues. However, the criteria for “green” building evaluation among international organizations continue to evolve. To some degree, the bias for operational efficiencies of new construction over the value of existing buildings has lessened in recent years. But the importance of economic and environmental metrics to construction planning and design is only likely to increase. Given the heightened political interest in global conditions, the metrics for sustainable construction have been widely adopted by national and municipal building regulators. This suggests an amended method for the evaluation of architectural resources for conservation.
Ultimately advocates for building conservation must become active participants in a potentially unfamiliar analytical dialog. Scientific and engineering methods and data must, to a certain extent, be adopted by the historic preservation professional. The “conventional” wisdom of conservation practice - namely that stewardship of our historic building stock is an act of sustainability – is increasingly subject to demonstration and verification.
In the wake of this paradigm shift, it is appropriate to consider the net effect of sustainable construction standards in practice. To date, the “green” building movement has mostly represented an incremental change rather than a radical rethinking of the built environment (Kibert, 2004). High-performance designs must also be recognized as experiments in the trial and error process to achieve “sustainable” buildings. The development of a new generation of construction materials and systems - engineered according to standards for low environmental impacts - appears remarkably similar to the post-WWII era when architecture readily embraced experimental products with limited life-cycle testing.
The existence of experimental building technologies in modern movement buildings has long been identified as a conflict to preservation’s paradigm to conserve original building fabric. This debate, however, rarely addresses the design movement’s underlying focus on “performance” – an essentially non-existent concept in pre-19th century architecture. The era’s mantra of “doing more with less” resulted in more than just a compression of construction assemblies- it introduced the operational logic of industry, specifically the machine, to the art of architecture. One could argue that the very presence of rapidly-deteriorating, petroleum-based products within 20th-century buildings suggests the need for a conceptual understanding of conservation more akin to automobiles than to pre-modern architecture.
In recognition of the modern movement’s nascent adoption of new material technology, and yet its significant reliance on durable construction methods, this essay considers the opportunities and constraints of various models for the assessment of sustainable building.
Birth of the Green
The “green” building movement reflects many societal factors, not least of which are the escalation in fuel prices and the growing popular concern for global warming. The present condition represents an epic paradox of civilization: although “cheap” energy supported exponential worldwide growth and modernization, the resulting competition and demand cannot be sustained by the original fuel source. Of course this observation is not new, but we among oil-consuming economies “fell off the wagon” sometime in the last three decades.
At the time of the last energy crises, the concerns for nature first written by Henry David Thoreau had matured into an environmental movement within western nations. In the developing century of thought, the human role of “stewardship” found recognition and asserted that mankind’s fate is linked to that of nature; concluding there can be no competition between the two. Therefore, civilization must mitigate the long-term impact of its reliance on natural resources. The definition of “mitigation” prompted a debate of natural vs. cultural priorities. An early example was the argument of land management versus preservation, lead by Gifford Pinchot and John Muir. Overall, the parallel movements have been unified by many seminal texts and thinkers, but an ideological tug-of-war has occasionally pitted one priority against the other. Today, some of this polarity has been diminished through the recent concept of the “triple bottom line”. This more inclusive, and arguably sustainable action model, suggests equal footing for economic, environmental, and social criteria.
Building Impacts
Proponents of high-performance construction often quote an estimate that during a building’s lifespan, the majority of its energy expenditure is consumed by building operations. Although this estimate does not hold true for the full history of extant buildings, conservators generally agree that this pattern of consumption typifies construction of the 19th-20th centuries. The lifespan ratio is commonly differentiated as 16% initial embodied energy, 10% recurring embodied energy, and 74% building operations.
Initial embodied energy in buildings represents the non-renewable energy consumed in the acquisition of raw materials, their processing, manufacturing, transportation to site, and construction. The recurring embodied energy in buildings represents the non-renewable energy consumed to maintain, repair, restore, refurbish or replace materials, components or systems during the life of the building.
Building upon the early research of architect Richard Stein and others, the U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) commissioned a landmark study (Booz, Allen, Hamilton 1979) based on an extensive analysis of U.S. building industry data. Although the data for industrial processes has not been updated since its initial compilation, the original calculations represent the prolific period of post-WWII construction.
In most circumstances, initial embodied energy is significantly less than the energy consumed by a building over its lifetime. Green building research has therefore focused primarily on improving efficiencies in building operations and reducing construction waste and pollution.
Comparison of Standards
To date, the LEED program has certified over one thousand buildings, with thousands more waiting in application. The majority of these certifications have been voluntary. Following the early adoption by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), municipalities, and some universities, LEED certification has been mandated by many facility owners and operators. Since the incorporation of the LEED standards, alternative rating systems have been developed and warrant consideration in context.
The U.K.’s BREEAM rating system was introduced in 1990 and has been recognized as the first environmental building assessment tool. Following the U.N.’s “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, the international momentum for such standards grew. The non-profit U.S. Green Building Council was established in 1993 and introduced LEED in 2000. In the same year, the Canadian Building Owners and Mangers Association (BOMA) released the Green Globes rating system. It must be noted that both systems were heavily influenced by BREEAM, and in fact Green Globes grew out of a 1996 BREEAM franchise by the Canadian Standards Association. Unique to the BOMA revision, however, was their partnership with the joint U.S.-Canadian non-profit Athena Institute. Beginning in the 1990s, the institute was devoted to the research and development of material life-cycle assessment tools for new and existing building construction.
Today, BREEAM, LEED, and Green Globes are the most widely used of more than ten independently-authored “green” building programs developed internationally over the past 20 years. The top three have expanded their systems to other countries; Green Globes entered the U.S. market through the non-profit Green Building Initiative (GBI) in 2005 and is finalizing ANSI certification; LEED has been franchised for use by non-profit Green Building Councils in India, Brazil, and Canada.
By 2006, the emerging market competition for “green” standards became apparent when the GBI filed a grievance against the GSA for their endorsement and requirement of LEED certification. In response, the GSA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to operate “rating system neutral,” maintaining however that LEED is currently the “most credible rating system available to meet GSA’s needs” and will re-evaluate systems every five years.
It is difficult to forecast what the afore-mentioned rating system partnerships will yield. Although multiple standards allows for the intrinsic variability of the construction market (private/public, residential/ commercial/institutional), the use of variable metrics problematizes the comparison of impacts which are decidedly global in their nature.
Given the common roots and similar goals, the LEED and Green Globes standards are more similar than different. A 2006 comparison by the University of Minnesota identified eight generic categories common to both analyses: 1) Energy Use; 2) Water Use; 3) Pollution; 4) Material/Product Inputs; 5) Indoor Air Quality & Occupant Comfort; 6) Transport; 7) Site Ecology; and 8) Other Sustainable Design. On the surface, the Green Globes system was initially credited with providing a less expensive and more efficient means of building certification through an on-line mechanism. In some cases, however, the “yes/no” format of the web-based data system was criticized as being prone to interpretation. LEED recently-introduced version 3 has notably replaced their paper-based system with a web-based format. However in their substance, the two systems offer differing values for the conservation of existing buildings.
Promise of LCA
Life cycle assessment (LCA) attempts to quantify the environmental impacts of a product or service caused or necessitated by its existence. The assessment method provides a systematic view of the environmental aspects of a product from “cradle to grave.” This includes: 1) a description of the entire product’s life-cycle; 2) key environmental impacts from production and use of the product; 3) the product’s functional quality. Based on these three conditions, the LCA quantifies a product’s range of environmental impacts (Trusty, 2004).
In the concept of embodied energy, it was earlier noted that the energy required to operate a building over its life exceeds the energy attributed to the products used in its construction. This statement does not take into account other embodied effects such as toxic releases to water, effects during the resource extraction and manufacturing stages that greatly outweigh any releases associated with building operations. Byproducts from the manufacture of long lifespan materials, such as iron, steel, hydraulic cements, and lime, have a significant impact on global warming. As well, the extraction of iron, sand, and gravel also contribute to natural resource depletion.
Research conducted by the Athena Institute demonstrates the value of retaining structural and envelope systems, which on average account for half of a building’s embodied energy (Cole and Kernan, 1996). This ability for detailed itemized assessment is well suited to the modern movement’s development of core and shell construction technology.
For example, two scenarios of “Impact Avoidance” can be used to estimate the environmental effects that are avoided by rehabilitating a building. The minimum avoided environmental impact case involves saving only the structural system of an existing building, with the rest demolished and replaced. The avoided impacts equal the effects of 1) demolishing a structural system and 2) rebuilding a comparable structural system. This scenario is demonstrated by the curtain wall replacement project for the Lever House and in development for the United Nations secretariat tower. In both cases, the effects of demolishing the envelope are not avoided. The maximum scenario involves saving the envelope as well as the structure, with avoided impacts equal to the effects of: 1) demolishing a structural/envelope system and 2) rebuilding a comparable structural/envelope system. The rehabilitation of the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam remains one of the most comprehensive examples of this alternative to date.
Until recently, both the LEED and Green Globes rating systems were criticized for not rationally weighting their assessment criteria according to environmental relevance. Although some LCA inconsistencies remain, Green Globes has been credited with including explicit rating criteria for both life-cycle strategies and building durability/ adaptability. LEED, however, historically has favored specific products according to LCA impact. LEED version 3 has re-distributed the credit values of its criteria according to LCA, but there is no single criterion that explicitly evaluates the cumulative life-cycle of a construction project. For example, the “Materials and Re-use” section requires the use of rapidly renewable materials to reduce the use of long-cycle renewable materials. However, there is no allowance for evaluating the impact of using a rapidly renewable material that must be replaced 10 times more frequently than its long-cycle alternative. Notably, a consortium of university facility managers has recently decided to eliminate the installation of bamboo flooring from future projects due to its limited service life in their prior LEED projects.
Conclusion
“In exploring the primary general categories of 'green' or 'sustainable' design and construction (energy, durability, air quality, and environmental impacts) and the ability to develop and specify requirements and standards of performance, measurement is a critical issue. Specifically, if you can't measure it, it is difficult to set up specific requirements and standards for it.” (Smith et al., 2006)
The professional evolution of preservation has lead to scientific methods and technologies to physically support the conservation of historic structures and sites. In turn, measurements have been conducted to demonstrate the positive economic impact of this mission. Despite some occasional reluctance, metrics have become fundamental to practice.
In deference to the legitimacy of environmental concerns, one cannot address today's global condition using yesterday's individualized arguments. This has occasionally been a shortcoming of the policy statements of historic preservation leadership. In the wake of the last energy crises, the aforementioned ACHP’s substantial investment in embodied energy research was an appropriate response. However, during that same period, the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation was revised for only a narrow consideration of energy efficiency. Although the topic was addressed (primarily the weatherizing of wood sash windows), it was not sufficiently encouraged, nor have the challenges of integrating both criteria been explored.
During the past boom of U.S. construction, the values of conservation and building integration largely lost out to the practice of tabula rasa- which the private development community has historically preferred for project expediency. Preservation advocates can attest to the large number of buildings demolished before the end of their technical service life due to a common list of “red herrings” that may now include operational inefficiency. It is too simplistic to conclude that modern architecture is logically produced and removed from the landscape based on its original bias for experimentation and technological innovation. To offer a counterpoint, there is a fundamental difference between “shortening the replacement cycle” of our mechanical systems versus our building stock and by extension communities and architectural heritage.
Architectural preservation has repeatedly been argued to be an act of sustainability. In the immediate future, LCA methodology suggests a potential bridge between the preservation community’s interest in increasingly rare building materials and techniques, with the environmental principles supporting “green” building standards. But as a caution against any suggestion of a “silver bullet”, LCA expert Arnold Tukker offers the following: “It will never be possible to solve controversial discussions about products with an LCIA [life cycle inventory assessment] method that is based solely on mathematical relations between interventions and protection areas. There are simply too many uncertainties, there is too much ignorance, and they can only be overcome by all kinds of subjective, subtle, and basically value-laden choices. …”
Preservation and conservation advocates are tasked with addressing the present paradigm shift. Future programs and processes within both academia and the profession must acknowledge the environmental impacts of construction. Simultaneously, those forces must impart the values of social interaction and cultural enrichment inherent to architectural heritage to expand the popular definition of sustainability.
References
Anonymous. 2009, April 10. American National Standard 01-200XP: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings. Public Review Draft. Green Building Initiative.
__________ 2008, July 30. “USGBC Lists Certification Lineup for LEED 2009.” Greener Buildings online journal.
__________ 2003, November. “White Paper on Sustainability.” Building Design & Construction Magazine.
__________ 2004. “Towards Sustainable Use of Building Stock.” Joint Workshop on Sustainable Buildings. Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development/International Energy Agency.
__________ 2008. “Green Building Practices and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation.” Draft edition. Pocantico Symposium. National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Booz, Allen, Hamilton. 1979. “Assessing the Energy Conservation Benefits of Historic Preservation: Methods and Examples.” United States Advisory Council for Historic Preservation.
Campagna , Barbara A. 2009, June 15. “How Changes to LEED™ Will Benefit Existing and Historic Buildings.” Preservation Architect: The Newsletter of the Historic Resources Committee. American Institute of Architects.
Cole, R.J. and Kernan, P.C. 1996. “Life-Cycle Energy Use in Office Buildings.” Building and Environment, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 307-317.
Frey, Patrice. 2007, October. “Making the Case: Historic Preservation as Sustainable Development.” Draft edition. Sustainable Preservation Research Retreat. National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Kibert, Charles A. 2004. “Green Buildings: An Overview of Progress.” Journal of Land Use. Vol. 19:2.
Smith, Timothy M., Miriam Fischlein, Sangwon Suh, Pat Huelman. 2006, September. “Green Building Rating Systems: a Comparison of the LEED and Green Globes Systems in the U.S.” University of Minnesota.
Trusty, Wayne. 2004. “Renovating vs. Building New: The Environmental Merits.” The Athena Institute.
yosemite falls
Check out my Profile Page for more information on my images and my website and contact details
Copyright © 2012 Neal Pritchard PhotographyThis photo may not be used in any form without prior permission. All rights reserved. All images may NOT be used on websites, blogs or in any other form of media print or web based without explicit written permission by Spool Photography
Rocky outcrop on the south west coast of western australia
Multi frame stitch taken with canon 5d mrk II and zeiss glass ...
Check out my Profile Page for more information on my images and my website and contact details
Copyright © 2012 Neal Pritchard Photography
This photo may not be used in any form without prior permission. All rights reserved. All images may NOT be used on websites, blogs or in any other form of media print or web based without explicit written permission by Spool Photography
This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report:
www.gao.gov/products/GAO-22-103441
Preventing a Dirty Bomb: Vulnerabilities Persist in NRC's Controls for Purchases of High-Risk Radioactive Materials
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish and British English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies.
Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breakers yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'.
The most common type of wreck yards are automobile wreck yards, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small airplanes and boats exist too.
Many salvage yards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severely damaged, has malfunctioned beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard; in some cases—as when the car has become disabled in a place where derelict cars are not allowed to be left—the car owner will pay the wrecker to haul the car away.
Salvage yards also buy most of the wrecked, derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sold at auction from police impound storage lots,and often buy vehicles from insurance tow yards as well.
The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from the location of its purchase to the yard, but occasionally vehicles are driven in. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another.
Some yards keep inventories in their offices, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Many yards have computerized inventory systems. About 75% of any given vehicle can be recycled and used for other goods.
In recent years it is becoming increasingly common to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source.
In the 20th century these were call centres that charged a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now Web-based with requests for parts being e-mailed instantly.
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish and British English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies.
Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breakers yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'.
The most common type of wreck yards are automobile wreck yards, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small airplanes and boats exist too.
Many salvage yards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severely damaged, has malfunctioned beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard; in some cases—as when the car has become disabled in a place where derelict cars are not allowed to be left—the car owner will pay the wrecker to haul the car away.
Salvage yards also buy most of the wrecked, derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sold at auction from police impound storage lots,and often buy vehicles from insurance tow yards as well.
The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from the location of its purchase to the yard, but occasionally vehicles are driven in. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another.
Some yards keep inventories in their offices, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Many yards have computerized inventory systems. About 75% of any given vehicle can be recycled and used for other goods.
In recent years it is becoming increasingly common to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source.
In the 20th century these were call centres that charged a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now Web-based with requests for parts being e-mailed instantly.
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish and British English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies.
Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breakers yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'.
The most common type of wreck yards are automobile wreck yards, but junkyards for motorcycles, bicycles, small airplanes and boats exist too.
Many salvage yards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severely damaged, has malfunctioned beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard; in some cases—as when the car has become disabled in a place where derelict cars are not allowed to be left—the car owner will pay the wrecker to haul the car away.
Salvage yards also buy most of the wrecked, derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sold at auction from police impound storage lots,and often buy vehicles from insurance tow yards as well.
The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from the location of its purchase to the yard, but occasionally vehicles are driven in. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another.
Some yards keep inventories in their offices, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Many yards have computerized inventory systems. About 75% of any given vehicle can be recycled and used for other goods.
In recent years it is becoming increasingly common to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source.
In the 20th century these were call centres that charged a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now Web-based with requests for parts being e-mailed instantly.
NEWS RELEASE
AHMEDABAD OPENING MARKS TUNE HOTELS’ ENTRY INTO INDIA
Presents new green ideas; Rs 599 per night introductory rate
NEW DELHI, 3 May 2013 – Award-winning international hotel chain, Tune Hotels, is all set to welcome its first guests in India with the opening of the 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad this month.
“We look forward to offering travellers to Ahmedabad an unbeatable proposition that combines great savings with a great comfortable stay and in a location that is annexed to the newest Shopping Mall in Ahmedabad. Our business model is designed to take care of the needs of travellers in India looking for great comfort without paying exorbitant rates,” said Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.
“Ahmedabad is an amazingly vibrant city in the fast growing state of Gujarat and we are looking to welcome both business and leisure travellers. We are very excited about this hotel as it marks our brand’s very first entry into India’s very exciting hospitality market. The Tune Hotel Ahmedabad aims to serve both domestic travellers and visitors from abroad, especially members of the large non-resident Indian (NRI) community from Gujarat settled in places like the US, Britain and the Gulf, who may already have had prior knowledge of the brand in the five countries we are already present in” he said.
To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, online bookings are now accepted with attractive all-inclusive room charges that start from as low as 599 Indian rupees (US$11 / RM34 / Bt330 / Rp108,000). Guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and bookings can be made from 3 May 2013 until 10 May 2013, subject to availability of rooms. The rate is available on a first come, first served basis, for stay period starting 15 May 2013 until 30 September 2013.
The arrival of Tune Hotels in India will also introduce new green ideas to hotel stay.
“We at Tune Hotels pursue a conscious policy of being environmental-friendly by optimising use of available resources, reduction of waste and by introducing processes that save on energy consumption. And our guests have endorsed our operations that encourage lifestyles that protect the environment,” Lankester said.
“As part of our business philosophy, we strive to remain locally-relevant in each and every community that we’re in, and this includes being responsible towards the local environment. We invite our guests in India to celebrate with us the introduction of new green concepts.”
The 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, annexed to the newly developed 4D Square Mall in the city’s Motera area, is well positioned on the main thoroughfare to the state capital of Gandhinagar and a stone’s throw away from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel cricket stadium.
Providing world-standard, high quality accommodation by focusing on key essentials but minus the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, Tune Hotels keeps its operating costs low and savings are passed on to guests in the form of super low rates.
Aside from its standard single and double rooms, Tune Hotels will be introducing family rooms that can accommodate between four to six people in order to meet the needs of the Indian guests, especially in the wedding market.
“In addition to larger room varieties, we have also made other adjustments in our offerings to serve our Indian guests better including more expansive food and beverage availability within the hotel. With a view to the huge wedding market in India, the hotel is able to cater to the needs for major banquet facilities for that total wedding experience. In fact, we’ve taken bookings for our very first wedding entourage already!” said Lankester.
Apart from properties in major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai –Tune Hotels is focusing on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities along with hotels in the tourist triangle destinations of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. Tune Hotels will have five to six hotels in Gujarat as part of our 20 planned hotels across India in the next three years.
Commenting on the prospects for Tune Hotels in India, Lankester said: “India’s domestic hospitality market in total is huge and the major international brands all have a focus on the country. We see strong growth in both business and tourist segments as the domestic economy remains resilient. India’s middle class is expanding and rising disposable incomes have boosted travel. We are in a good position to offer quality affordable accommodation to these travel groups.”
Tune Hotels has received over four million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, there will be 29 Tune Hotels in operation globally. The rest are 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, four in the Philippines, four in Thailand and four in Indonesia.
By the end of 2013, Tune Hotels will have operating hotels in eight countries. Apart from India the company is set to open properties in Japan and Australia this year. Future projects are also coming up in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels’ Indian expansion signifies growing economic relations between India and Malaysia, which has emerged as India’s key partner in Southeast Asia. Companies and business people are increasingly benefitting from these expanded business links and two-way flow of investment and people continues to rise. India-Malaysia trade hit a record high of $13.5 billion in 2012, a 7.3 per cent growth over 2011, while tourist traffic also continues to remain strong between the two countries.
Tourist arrivals between the two countries have been on the rise with Malaysia being among India’s top 10 sources of tourism, while India was Malaysia's sixth biggest source of tourists in 2012.
The opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad comes as Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia plans to launch its domestic airline services in India in a new venture.
“We see this as a great boost for not only travel between Malaysia and India, but adding further attraction to increasing travel within India. Like AirAsia, we pride ourselves on being a customer-focussed brand,” Lankester said.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsIndia and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
AHMEDABAD FACTS & ATTRACTIONS:
Bhadra Fort – Situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, its significance was established in 1411 the year Sultan Ahmad Shah established Ahmedabad as the capital of Gujarat Sultanate. The fort was built on the East Bank of the Sabarmati River and in 2012, a joint initiative between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Archeological Survey of India was signed to restore and redevelop to the fort to its former glory.
AutoWorld Museum – Featuring the largest collection of vintage automobiles in India, the AutoWorld Museum is located in Ahmedabad. The museum was founded by the Pranlal Bhogilal family and features cars, motorcycles and jeeps by marque carmakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Daimler-Chrysler and many more.
Sidi Sayed Mosque, Lal Darwaja – The mosque of Sidi Sayed is one of the most prominent mosques in Ahmedabad. Constructed in the year 1573, the mosque has gained worldwide recognition for it's intrincate artistic splendour.
Kankaria Lake – The Kankaria Lakefront development offers its visitors a myriad of activities and attractions apart from the gorgeous and serene view. Along the lake's 2.3km circumference, visitors can treat themselves to water sports & rides, visit the Balloon Safari, Kankaria Zoo, Kid City and a host of other attractions.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial - This is one of the most important buildings in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat. It is a museum as well as an exhibition center, dedicated to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Akshardham Temple – The temple in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat is one of the largest Temples in the state. The monument that enshrines the 2.1 metre gold-leafed Murti of Lord Swaminarayan is the focal point of the temple. The monument itself, which is 30 meters in height was build with 6 thousand tonnes of Pink Sandstone and is largely heralded as an architectural masterpiece.
Sabarmati Ashram – This ashram is widely known as the Gandhi Ashram, in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who spent 12 years of his life here. Located at the base of the Sabarmati river, the Ashram is recognised as a monument of national significance due to the role the place had played for the Independence of India.
- END –
About Tune Hotels
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity.
All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security.
The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
For media enquiries please contact:
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 315 3638
Fax: +603 7955 5899
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
Q & A with Mark Lankester
Group CEO, Tune Hotels
Q: Where does the environment figure in Tune Hotels’ business philosophy?
A: For us at Tune Hotels, being environment-friendly is not a slogan. Using resources in a way that reduces waste and promotes healthy lifestyles is built in our daily operations whether it is saving energy or minimising waste. As a value hotel chain we by nature consume less resources. Shorn of the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, we are promoting a more sustainable form of travel.
Q: What specific examples of green steps can you provide?
A: To give you an example of our energy conservation ways, we have a pay-as-you-use air-conditioning system programmed into guest keycards. Ceiling fans are a standard feature in our hotel rooms so guests have a choice not to use air-conditioning. And those who do need air-conditioning have it by agreeing to a small charge. Hallway air-conditioners in our hotels are set on a timer system so they turn on in alternate sequence to conserve power. We also actively use energy-efficient bulbs wherever we can. In developing new projects, we will look at how green standards can be incorporated in the location, size and building methods. Recycling containers are provided at all our hotels.
Q: How will Tune Hotels execute its green initiatives in India?
A: As part of our green initiatives, we encourage people to make smarter choices about the use of resources. Most people in India consider wastefulness as something bad. There is already a level of awareness about environmental degradation and how resources must be used better. People listen to arguments in favour of protecting the environment. Therefore, it is important for the hospitality industry to take its corporate social responsibility seriously.
Just recently the government of Delhi asked the city’s five-star hotels to conserve water and set up waste treatment plants. In our messages we are going to highlight why sustainable travel is important and how our guests can be part of our environment-friendly practices. Our properties do not feature swimming pools so most of our efforts will be directed at efficient use of water in rooms, laundry and energy efficient practices.
Q: These days it is not uncommon to see hotels putting up instructions for guests on towel and linen use. What are Tune Hotels’ practices in this regard?
A: This is an important area for any hotel to show what it can do to check water pollution. Laundry operation involves significant use of detergents, chemicals, water and electricity. By seeking the cooperation of our guests we can considerably reduce water use. Most people who stay at home are happy not to change bathroom towels and their bed linen every single day. Surely they can be encouraged to do the same during hotel stays. Tune Hotels reduces water consumption and the flow of laundry effluents into the environment by providing towels, if required for a small charge.
Q: How does Tune Hotels set green standards?
A: When we develop our hotels we invest in systems and technologies that are compatible with our green standards. Then we invest in our staff training and customer education so that we benefit from our environmental efforts. We always look at new technological developments in the hospitality industry so that we can improve our response to environmental issues.
We are keen to work with government bodies, academia, community and industry associations to promote green practices in travel. We strongly believe that environmental concerns should go mainstream in the hospitality business.
- ENDS -
Taking advantage of the powerful android engine in it, I downloaded a working frogger app onto the controller unit, using the touch screen to move frogger about
The controller runs MaxTime traffic signal software in the background regardless of what other app(s) are running.
It is a traffic controller by nature, and although has Google Android brain in it, it can only run smaller file size apps. Larger games crash or will not open. It is not designed to run games, even if it can!
The ability to download apps opens the door for traffic signal manufacturers to develop web based software that can be downloaded directly to the controller without a laptop or extra cabinet equipment.
I had a little bit of a medical scare here in Seattle today. While my plane was landing, I experienced a violent "popping" sensation behind my right eye followed by excruciating pain. The pain became a little more bearable after I landed, but it was still very uncomfortable. Thinking I had a brain aneurysm, I drove myself to the nearest hospital. The emergency room was full. I prepared myself for a very long wait, but was surprised when they called my name after just a few minutes. I was initially excited about skipping the line, but then it dawned on me that skipping the line at the ER isn't quite the same as skipping the line at Disney World. Mickey Mouse doesn't triage.
Also fearing that I had a brain aneurysm, the doctors ordered this CT Scan you see here. Although afraid of what it would show, I was secretly proud that Dr. Google and I came to the same potential diagnosis as the real docs. Thanks Google!
After a ten minute wait which seemed like fifteen, the doctor came into my room with a smile on his face. I was expecting him to say, "Michael I've got good news. We're going to be naming a disease after you." Instead he said, "You know how babies often cry when they're on a descending plane?" I already knew the rest of what he was going to say. To make a long story short, I was experiencing severe sinus pressure from the altitude change... and I'm a baby.
I can't tell you how I got my hands on this picture, because I don't want to get anybody in trouble, but there's a funny story behind it. (Hint: It involves Print-Screen, Web Based Mail and a little distraction.)
NEWS RELEASE
AHMEDABAD OPENING MARKS TUNE HOTELS’ ENTRY INTO INDIA
Presents new green ideas; Rs 599 per night introductory rate
NEW DELHI, 3 May 2013 – Award-winning international hotel chain, Tune Hotels, is all set to welcome its first guests in India with the opening of the 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad this month.
“We look forward to offering travellers to Ahmedabad an unbeatable proposition that combines great savings with a great comfortable stay and in a location that is annexed to the newest Shopping Mall in Ahmedabad. Our business model is designed to take care of the needs of travellers in India looking for great comfort without paying exorbitant rates,” said Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.
“Ahmedabad is an amazingly vibrant city in the fast growing state of Gujarat and we are looking to welcome both business and leisure travellers. We are very excited about this hotel as it marks our brand’s very first entry into India’s very exciting hospitality market. The Tune Hotel Ahmedabad aims to serve both domestic travellers and visitors from abroad, especially members of the large non-resident Indian (NRI) community from Gujarat settled in places like the US, Britain and the Gulf, who may already have had prior knowledge of the brand in the five countries we are already present in” he said.
To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, online bookings are now accepted with attractive all-inclusive room charges that start from as low as 599 Indian rupees (US$11 / RM34 / Bt330 / Rp108,000). Guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and bookings can be made from 3 May 2013 until 10 May 2013, subject to availability of rooms. The rate is available on a first come, first served basis, for stay period starting 15 May 2013 until 30 September 2013.
The arrival of Tune Hotels in India will also introduce new green ideas to hotel stay.
“We at Tune Hotels pursue a conscious policy of being environmental-friendly by optimising use of available resources, reduction of waste and by introducing processes that save on energy consumption. And our guests have endorsed our operations that encourage lifestyles that protect the environment,” Lankester said.
“As part of our business philosophy, we strive to remain locally-relevant in each and every community that we’re in, and this includes being responsible towards the local environment. We invite our guests in India to celebrate with us the introduction of new green concepts.”
The 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, annexed to the newly developed 4D Square Mall in the city’s Motera area, is well positioned on the main thoroughfare to the state capital of Gandhinagar and a stone’s throw away from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel cricket stadium.
Providing world-standard, high quality accommodation by focusing on key essentials but minus the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, Tune Hotels keeps its operating costs low and savings are passed on to guests in the form of super low rates.
Aside from its standard single and double rooms, Tune Hotels will be introducing family rooms that can accommodate between four to six people in order to meet the needs of the Indian guests, especially in the wedding market.
“In addition to larger room varieties, we have also made other adjustments in our offerings to serve our Indian guests better including more expansive food and beverage availability within the hotel. With a view to the huge wedding market in India, the hotel is able to cater to the needs for major banquet facilities for that total wedding experience. In fact, we’ve taken bookings for our very first wedding entourage already!” said Lankester.
Apart from properties in major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai –Tune Hotels is focusing on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities along with hotels in the tourist triangle destinations of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. Tune Hotels will have five to six hotels in Gujarat as part of our 20 planned hotels across India in the next three years.
Commenting on the prospects for Tune Hotels in India, Lankester said: “India’s domestic hospitality market in total is huge and the major international brands all have a focus on the country. We see strong growth in both business and tourist segments as the domestic economy remains resilient. India’s middle class is expanding and rising disposable incomes have boosted travel. We are in a good position to offer quality affordable accommodation to these travel groups.”
Tune Hotels has received over four million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, there will be 29 Tune Hotels in operation globally. The rest are 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, four in the Philippines, four in Thailand and four in Indonesia.
By the end of 2013, Tune Hotels will have operating hotels in eight countries. Apart from India the company is set to open properties in Japan and Australia this year. Future projects are also coming up in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels’ Indian expansion signifies growing economic relations between India and Malaysia, which has emerged as India’s key partner in Southeast Asia. Companies and business people are increasingly benefitting from these expanded business links and two-way flow of investment and people continues to rise. India-Malaysia trade hit a record high of $13.5 billion in 2012, a 7.3 per cent growth over 2011, while tourist traffic also continues to remain strong between the two countries.
Tourist arrivals between the two countries have been on the rise with Malaysia being among India’s top 10 sources of tourism, while India was Malaysia's sixth biggest source of tourists in 2012.
The opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad comes as Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia plans to launch its domestic airline services in India in a new venture.
“We see this as a great boost for not only travel between Malaysia and India, but adding further attraction to increasing travel within India. Like AirAsia, we pride ourselves on being a customer-focussed brand,” Lankester said.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsIndia and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
AHMEDABAD FACTS & ATTRACTIONS:
Bhadra Fort – Situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, its significance was established in 1411 the year Sultan Ahmad Shah established Ahmedabad as the capital of Gujarat Sultanate. The fort was built on the East Bank of the Sabarmati River and in 2012, a joint initiative between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Archeological Survey of India was signed to restore and redevelop to the fort to its former glory.
AutoWorld Museum – Featuring the largest collection of vintage automobiles in India, the AutoWorld Museum is located in Ahmedabad. The museum was founded by the Pranlal Bhogilal family and features cars, motorcycles and jeeps by marque carmakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Daimler-Chrysler and many more.
Sidi Sayed Mosque, Lal Darwaja – The mosque of Sidi Sayed is one of the most prominent mosques in Ahmedabad. Constructed in the year 1573, the mosque has gained worldwide recognition for it's intrincate artistic splendour.
Kankaria Lake – The Kankaria Lakefront development offers its visitors a myriad of activities and attractions apart from the gorgeous and serene view. Along the lake's 2.3km circumference, visitors can treat themselves to water sports & rides, visit the Balloon Safari, Kankaria Zoo, Kid City and a host of other attractions.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial - This is one of the most important buildings in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat. It is a museum as well as an exhibition center, dedicated to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Akshardham Temple – The temple in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat is one of the largest Temples in the state. The monument that enshrines the 2.1 metre gold-leafed Murti of Lord Swaminarayan is the focal point of the temple. The monument itself, which is 30 meters in height was build with 6 thousand tonnes of Pink Sandstone and is largely heralded as an architectural masterpiece.
Sabarmati Ashram – This ashram is widely known as the Gandhi Ashram, in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who spent 12 years of his life here. Located at the base of the Sabarmati river, the Ashram is recognised as a monument of national significance due to the role the place had played for the Independence of India.
- END –
About Tune Hotels
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity.
All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security.
The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
For media enquiries please contact:
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 315 3638
Fax: +603 7955 5899
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
Q & A with Mark Lankester
Group CEO, Tune Hotels
Q: Where does the environment figure in Tune Hotels’ business philosophy?
A: For us at Tune Hotels, being environment-friendly is not a slogan. Using resources in a way that reduces waste and promotes healthy lifestyles is built in our daily operations whether it is saving energy or minimising waste. As a value hotel chain we by nature consume less resources. Shorn of the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, we are promoting a more sustainable form of travel.
Q: What specific examples of green steps can you provide?
A: To give you an example of our energy conservation ways, we have a pay-as-you-use air-conditioning system programmed into guest keycards. Ceiling fans are a standard feature in our hotel rooms so guests have a choice not to use air-conditioning. And those who do need air-conditioning have it by agreeing to a small charge. Hallway air-conditioners in our hotels are set on a timer system so they turn on in alternate sequence to conserve power. We also actively use energy-efficient bulbs wherever we can. In developing new projects, we will look at how green standards can be incorporated in the location, size and building methods. Recycling containers are provided at all our hotels.
Q: How will Tune Hotels execute its green initiatives in India?
A: As part of our green initiatives, we encourage people to make smarter choices about the use of resources. Most people in India consider wastefulness as something bad. There is already a level of awareness about environmental degradation and how resources must be used better. People listen to arguments in favour of protecting the environment. Therefore, it is important for the hospitality industry to take its corporate social responsibility seriously.
Just recently the government of Delhi asked the city’s five-star hotels to conserve water and set up waste treatment plants. In our messages we are going to highlight why sustainable travel is important and how our guests can be part of our environment-friendly practices. Our properties do not feature swimming pools so most of our efforts will be directed at efficient use of water in rooms, laundry and energy efficient practices.
Q: These days it is not uncommon to see hotels putting up instructions for guests on towel and linen use. What are Tune Hotels’ practices in this regard?
A: This is an important area for any hotel to show what it can do to check water pollution. Laundry operation involves significant use of detergents, chemicals, water and electricity. By seeking the cooperation of our guests we can considerably reduce water use. Most people who stay at home are happy not to change bathroom towels and their bed linen every single day. Surely they can be encouraged to do the same during hotel stays. Tune Hotels reduces water consumption and the flow of laundry effluents into the environment by providing towels, if required for a small charge.
Q: How does Tune Hotels set green standards?
A: When we develop our hotels we invest in systems and technologies that are compatible with our green standards. Then we invest in our staff training and customer education so that we benefit from our environmental efforts. We always look at new technological developments in the hospitality industry so that we can improve our response to environmental issues.
We are keen to work with government bodies, academia, community and industry associations to promote green practices in travel. We strongly believe that environmental concerns should go mainstream in the hospitality business.
- ENDS -
NEWS RELEASE
AHMEDABAD OPENING MARKS TUNE HOTELS’ ENTRY INTO INDIA
Presents new green ideas; Rs 599 per night introductory rate
NEW DELHI, 3 May 2013 – Award-winning international hotel chain, Tune Hotels, is all set to welcome its first guests in India with the opening of the 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad this month.
“We look forward to offering travellers to Ahmedabad an unbeatable proposition that combines great savings with a great comfortable stay and in a location that is annexed to the newest Shopping Mall in Ahmedabad. Our business model is designed to take care of the needs of travellers in India looking for great comfort without paying exorbitant rates,” said Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.
“Ahmedabad is an amazingly vibrant city in the fast growing state of Gujarat and we are looking to welcome both business and leisure travellers. We are very excited about this hotel as it marks our brand’s very first entry into India’s very exciting hospitality market. The Tune Hotel Ahmedabad aims to serve both domestic travellers and visitors from abroad, especially members of the large non-resident Indian (NRI) community from Gujarat settled in places like the US, Britain and the Gulf, who may already have had prior knowledge of the brand in the five countries we are already present in” he said.
To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, online bookings are now accepted with attractive all-inclusive room charges that start from as low as 599 Indian rupees (US$11 / RM34 / Bt330 / Rp108,000). Guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and bookings can be made from 3 May 2013 until 10 May 2013, subject to availability of rooms. The rate is available on a first come, first served basis, for stay period starting 15 May 2013 until 30 September 2013.
The arrival of Tune Hotels in India will also introduce new green ideas to hotel stay.
“We at Tune Hotels pursue a conscious policy of being environmental-friendly by optimising use of available resources, reduction of waste and by introducing processes that save on energy consumption. And our guests have endorsed our operations that encourage lifestyles that protect the environment,” Lankester said.
“As part of our business philosophy, we strive to remain locally-relevant in each and every community that we’re in, and this includes being responsible towards the local environment. We invite our guests in India to celebrate with us the introduction of new green concepts.”
The 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, annexed to the newly developed 4D Square Mall in the city’s Motera area, is well positioned on the main thoroughfare to the state capital of Gandhinagar and a stone’s throw away from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel cricket stadium.
Providing world-standard, high quality accommodation by focusing on key essentials but minus the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, Tune Hotels keeps its operating costs low and savings are passed on to guests in the form of super low rates.
Aside from its standard single and double rooms, Tune Hotels will be introducing family rooms that can accommodate between four to six people in order to meet the needs of the Indian guests, especially in the wedding market.
“In addition to larger room varieties, we have also made other adjustments in our offerings to serve our Indian guests better including more expansive food and beverage availability within the hotel. With a view to the huge wedding market in India, the hotel is able to cater to the needs for major banquet facilities for that total wedding experience. In fact, we’ve taken bookings for our very first wedding entourage already!” said Lankester.
Apart from properties in major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai –Tune Hotels is focusing on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities along with hotels in the tourist triangle destinations of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. Tune Hotels will have five to six hotels in Gujarat as part of our 20 planned hotels across India in the next three years.
Commenting on the prospects for Tune Hotels in India, Lankester said: “India’s domestic hospitality market in total is huge and the major international brands all have a focus on the country. We see strong growth in both business and tourist segments as the domestic economy remains resilient. India’s middle class is expanding and rising disposable incomes have boosted travel. We are in a good position to offer quality affordable accommodation to these travel groups.”
Tune Hotels has received over four million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, there will be 29 Tune Hotels in operation globally. The rest are 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, four in the Philippines, four in Thailand and four in Indonesia.
By the end of 2013, Tune Hotels will have operating hotels in eight countries. Apart from India the company is set to open properties in Japan and Australia this year. Future projects are also coming up in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels’ Indian expansion signifies growing economic relations between India and Malaysia, which has emerged as India’s key partner in Southeast Asia. Companies and business people are increasingly benefitting from these expanded business links and two-way flow of investment and people continues to rise. India-Malaysia trade hit a record high of $13.5 billion in 2012, a 7.3 per cent growth over 2011, while tourist traffic also continues to remain strong between the two countries.
Tourist arrivals between the two countries have been on the rise with Malaysia being among India’s top 10 sources of tourism, while India was Malaysia's sixth biggest source of tourists in 2012.
The opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad comes as Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia plans to launch its domestic airline services in India in a new venture.
“We see this as a great boost for not only travel between Malaysia and India, but adding further attraction to increasing travel within India. Like AirAsia, we pride ourselves on being a customer-focussed brand,” Lankester said.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsIndia and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
AHMEDABAD FACTS & ATTRACTIONS:
Bhadra Fort – Situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, its significance was established in 1411 the year Sultan Ahmad Shah established Ahmedabad as the capital of Gujarat Sultanate. The fort was built on the East Bank of the Sabarmati River and in 2012, a joint initiative between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Archeological Survey of India was signed to restore and redevelop to the fort to its former glory.
AutoWorld Museum – Featuring the largest collection of vintage automobiles in India, the AutoWorld Museum is located in Ahmedabad. The museum was founded by the Pranlal Bhogilal family and features cars, motorcycles and jeeps by marque carmakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Daimler-Chrysler and many more.
Sidi Sayed Mosque, Lal Darwaja – The mosque of Sidi Sayed is one of the most prominent mosques in Ahmedabad. Constructed in the year 1573, the mosque has gained worldwide recognition for it's intrincate artistic splendour.
Kankaria Lake – The Kankaria Lakefront development offers its visitors a myriad of activities and attractions apart from the gorgeous and serene view. Along the lake's 2.3km circumference, visitors can treat themselves to water sports & rides, visit the Balloon Safari, Kankaria Zoo, Kid City and a host of other attractions.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial - This is one of the most important buildings in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat. It is a museum as well as an exhibition center, dedicated to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Akshardham Temple – The temple in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat is one of the largest Temples in the state. The monument that enshrines the 2.1 metre gold-leafed Murti of Lord Swaminarayan is the focal point of the temple. The monument itself, which is 30 meters in height was build with 6 thousand tonnes of Pink Sandstone and is largely heralded as an architectural masterpiece.
Sabarmati Ashram – This ashram is widely known as the Gandhi Ashram, in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who spent 12 years of his life here. Located at the base of the Sabarmati river, the Ashram is recognised as a monument of national significance due to the role the place had played for the Independence of India.
- END –
About Tune Hotels
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity.
All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security.
The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
For media enquiries please contact:
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 315 3638
Fax: +603 7955 5899
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
Q & A with Mark Lankester
Group CEO, Tune Hotels
Q: Where does the environment figure in Tune Hotels’ business philosophy?
A: For us at Tune Hotels, being environment-friendly is not a slogan. Using resources in a way that reduces waste and promotes healthy lifestyles is built in our daily operations whether it is saving energy or minimising waste. As a value hotel chain we by nature consume less resources. Shorn of the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, we are promoting a more sustainable form of travel.
Q: What specific examples of green steps can you provide?
A: To give you an example of our energy conservation ways, we have a pay-as-you-use air-conditioning system programmed into guest keycards. Ceiling fans are a standard feature in our hotel rooms so guests have a choice not to use air-conditioning. And those who do need air-conditioning have it by agreeing to a small charge. Hallway air-conditioners in our hotels are set on a timer system so they turn on in alternate sequence to conserve power. We also actively use energy-efficient bulbs wherever we can. In developing new projects, we will look at how green standards can be incorporated in the location, size and building methods. Recycling containers are provided at all our hotels.
Q: How will Tune Hotels execute its green initiatives in India?
A: As part of our green initiatives, we encourage people to make smarter choices about the use of resources. Most people in India consider wastefulness as something bad. There is already a level of awareness about environmental degradation and how resources must be used better. People listen to arguments in favour of protecting the environment. Therefore, it is important for the hospitality industry to take its corporate social responsibility seriously.
Just recently the government of Delhi asked the city’s five-star hotels to conserve water and set up waste treatment plants. In our messages we are going to highlight why sustainable travel is important and how our guests can be part of our environment-friendly practices. Our properties do not feature swimming pools so most of our efforts will be directed at efficient use of water in rooms, laundry and energy efficient practices.
Q: These days it is not uncommon to see hotels putting up instructions for guests on towel and linen use. What are Tune Hotels’ practices in this regard?
A: This is an important area for any hotel to show what it can do to check water pollution. Laundry operation involves significant use of detergents, chemicals, water and electricity. By seeking the cooperation of our guests we can considerably reduce water use. Most people who stay at home are happy not to change bathroom towels and their bed linen every single day. Surely they can be encouraged to do the same during hotel stays. Tune Hotels reduces water consumption and the flow of laundry effluents into the environment by providing towels, if required for a small charge.
Q: How does Tune Hotels set green standards?
A: When we develop our hotels we invest in systems and technologies that are compatible with our green standards. Then we invest in our staff training and customer education so that we benefit from our environmental efforts. We always look at new technological developments in the hospitality industry so that we can improve our response to environmental issues.
We are keen to work with government bodies, academia, community and industry associations to promote green practices in travel. We strongly believe that environmental concerns should go mainstream in the hospitality business.
- ENDS -
NEWS RELEASE
AHMEDABAD OPENING MARKS TUNE HOTELS’ ENTRY INTO INDIA
Presents new green ideas; Rs 599 per night introductory rate
NEW DELHI, 3 May 2013 – Award-winning international hotel chain, Tune Hotels, is all set to welcome its first guests in India with the opening of the 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad this month.
“We look forward to offering travellers to Ahmedabad an unbeatable proposition that combines great savings with a great comfortable stay and in a location that is annexed to the newest Shopping Mall in Ahmedabad. Our business model is designed to take care of the needs of travellers in India looking for great comfort without paying exorbitant rates,” said Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.
“Ahmedabad is an amazingly vibrant city in the fast growing state of Gujarat and we are looking to welcome both business and leisure travellers. We are very excited about this hotel as it marks our brand’s very first entry into India’s very exciting hospitality market. The Tune Hotel Ahmedabad aims to serve both domestic travellers and visitors from abroad, especially members of the large non-resident Indian (NRI) community from Gujarat settled in places like the US, Britain and the Gulf, who may already have had prior knowledge of the brand in the five countries we are already present in” he said.
To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, online bookings are now accepted with attractive all-inclusive room charges that start from as low as 599 Indian rupees (US$11 / RM34 / Bt330 / Rp108,000). Guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and bookings can be made from 3 May 2013 until 10 May 2013, subject to availability of rooms. The rate is available on a first come, first served basis, for stay period starting 15 May 2013 until 30 September 2013.
The arrival of Tune Hotels in India will also introduce new green ideas to hotel stay.
“We at Tune Hotels pursue a conscious policy of being environmental-friendly by optimising use of available resources, reduction of waste and by introducing processes that save on energy consumption. And our guests have endorsed our operations that encourage lifestyles that protect the environment,” Lankester said.
“As part of our business philosophy, we strive to remain locally-relevant in each and every community that we’re in, and this includes being responsible towards the local environment. We invite our guests in India to celebrate with us the introduction of new green concepts.”
The 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, annexed to the newly developed 4D Square Mall in the city’s Motera area, is well positioned on the main thoroughfare to the state capital of Gandhinagar and a stone’s throw away from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel cricket stadium.
Providing world-standard, high quality accommodation by focusing on key essentials but minus the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, Tune Hotels keeps its operating costs low and savings are passed on to guests in the form of super low rates.
Aside from its standard single and double rooms, Tune Hotels will be introducing family rooms that can accommodate between four to six people in order to meet the needs of the Indian guests, especially in the wedding market.
“In addition to larger room varieties, we have also made other adjustments in our offerings to serve our Indian guests better including more expansive food and beverage availability within the hotel. With a view to the huge wedding market in India, the hotel is able to cater to the needs for major banquet facilities for that total wedding experience. In fact, we’ve taken bookings for our very first wedding entourage already!” said Lankester.
Apart from properties in major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai –Tune Hotels is focusing on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities along with hotels in the tourist triangle destinations of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. Tune Hotels will have five to six hotels in Gujarat as part of our 20 planned hotels across India in the next three years.
Commenting on the prospects for Tune Hotels in India, Lankester said: “India’s domestic hospitality market in total is huge and the major international brands all have a focus on the country. We see strong growth in both business and tourist segments as the domestic economy remains resilient. India’s middle class is expanding and rising disposable incomes have boosted travel. We are in a good position to offer quality affordable accommodation to these travel groups.”
Tune Hotels has received over four million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, there will be 29 Tune Hotels in operation globally. The rest are 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, four in the Philippines, four in Thailand and four in Indonesia.
By the end of 2013, Tune Hotels will have operating hotels in eight countries. Apart from India the company is set to open properties in Japan and Australia this year. Future projects are also coming up in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels’ Indian expansion signifies growing economic relations between India and Malaysia, which has emerged as India’s key partner in Southeast Asia. Companies and business people are increasingly benefitting from these expanded business links and two-way flow of investment and people continues to rise. India-Malaysia trade hit a record high of $13.5 billion in 2012, a 7.3 per cent growth over 2011, while tourist traffic also continues to remain strong between the two countries.
Tourist arrivals between the two countries have been on the rise with Malaysia being among India’s top 10 sources of tourism, while India was Malaysia's sixth biggest source of tourists in 2012.
The opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad comes as Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia plans to launch its domestic airline services in India in a new venture.
“We see this as a great boost for not only travel between Malaysia and India, but adding further attraction to increasing travel within India. Like AirAsia, we pride ourselves on being a customer-focussed brand,” Lankester said.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsIndia and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
AHMEDABAD FACTS & ATTRACTIONS:
Bhadra Fort – Situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, its significance was established in 1411 the year Sultan Ahmad Shah established Ahmedabad as the capital of Gujarat Sultanate. The fort was built on the East Bank of the Sabarmati River and in 2012, a joint initiative between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Archeological Survey of India was signed to restore and redevelop to the fort to its former glory.
AutoWorld Museum – Featuring the largest collection of vintage automobiles in India, the AutoWorld Museum is located in Ahmedabad. The museum was founded by the Pranlal Bhogilal family and features cars, motorcycles and jeeps by marque carmakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Daimler-Chrysler and many more.
Sidi Sayed Mosque, Lal Darwaja – The mosque of Sidi Sayed is one of the most prominent mosques in Ahmedabad. Constructed in the year 1573, the mosque has gained worldwide recognition for it's intrincate artistic splendour.
Kankaria Lake – The Kankaria Lakefront development offers its visitors a myriad of activities and attractions apart from the gorgeous and serene view. Along the lake's 2.3km circumference, visitors can treat themselves to water sports & rides, visit the Balloon Safari, Kankaria Zoo, Kid City and a host of other attractions.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial - This is one of the most important buildings in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat. It is a museum as well as an exhibition center, dedicated to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Akshardham Temple – The temple in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat is one of the largest Temples in the state. The monument that enshrines the 2.1 metre gold-leafed Murti of Lord Swaminarayan is the focal point of the temple. The monument itself, which is 30 meters in height was build with 6 thousand tonnes of Pink Sandstone and is largely heralded as an architectural masterpiece.
Sabarmati Ashram – This ashram is widely known as the Gandhi Ashram, in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who spent 12 years of his life here. Located at the base of the Sabarmati river, the Ashram is recognised as a monument of national significance due to the role the place had played for the Independence of India.
- END –
About Tune Hotels
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity.
All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security.
The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
For media enquiries please contact:
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 315 3638
Fax: +603 7955 5899
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
Q & A with Mark Lankester
Group CEO, Tune Hotels
Q: Where does the environment figure in Tune Hotels’ business philosophy?
A: For us at Tune Hotels, being environment-friendly is not a slogan. Using resources in a way that reduces waste and promotes healthy lifestyles is built in our daily operations whether it is saving energy or minimising waste. As a value hotel chain we by nature consume less resources. Shorn of the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, we are promoting a more sustainable form of travel.
Q: What specific examples of green steps can you provide?
A: To give you an example of our energy conservation ways, we have a pay-as-you-use air-conditioning system programmed into guest keycards. Ceiling fans are a standard feature in our hotel rooms so guests have a choice not to use air-conditioning. And those who do need air-conditioning have it by agreeing to a small charge. Hallway air-conditioners in our hotels are set on a timer system so they turn on in alternate sequence to conserve power. We also actively use energy-efficient bulbs wherever we can. In developing new projects, we will look at how green standards can be incorporated in the location, size and building methods. Recycling containers are provided at all our hotels.
Q: How will Tune Hotels execute its green initiatives in India?
A: As part of our green initiatives, we encourage people to make smarter choices about the use of resources. Most people in India consider wastefulness as something bad. There is already a level of awareness about environmental degradation and how resources must be used better. People listen to arguments in favour of protecting the environment. Therefore, it is important for the hospitality industry to take its corporate social responsibility seriously.
Just recently the government of Delhi asked the city’s five-star hotels to conserve water and set up waste treatment plants. In our messages we are going to highlight why sustainable travel is important and how our guests can be part of our environment-friendly practices. Our properties do not feature swimming pools so most of our efforts will be directed at efficient use of water in rooms, laundry and energy efficient practices.
Q: These days it is not uncommon to see hotels putting up instructions for guests on towel and linen use. What are Tune Hotels’ practices in this regard?
A: This is an important area for any hotel to show what it can do to check water pollution. Laundry operation involves significant use of detergents, chemicals, water and electricity. By seeking the cooperation of our guests we can considerably reduce water use. Most people who stay at home are happy not to change bathroom towels and their bed linen every single day. Surely they can be encouraged to do the same during hotel stays. Tune Hotels reduces water consumption and the flow of laundry effluents into the environment by providing towels, if required for a small charge.
Q: How does Tune Hotels set green standards?
A: When we develop our hotels we invest in systems and technologies that are compatible with our green standards. Then we invest in our staff training and customer education so that we benefit from our environmental efforts. We always look at new technological developments in the hospitality industry so that we can improve our response to environmental issues.
We are keen to work with government bodies, academia, community and industry associations to promote green practices in travel. We strongly believe that environmental concerns should go mainstream in the hospitality business.
- ENDS -
NEWS RELEASE
AHMEDABAD OPENING MARKS TUNE HOTELS’ ENTRY INTO INDIA
Presents new green ideas; Rs 599 per night introductory rate
NEW DELHI, 3 May 2013 – Award-winning international hotel chain, Tune Hotels, is all set to welcome its first guests in India with the opening of the 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad this month.
“We look forward to offering travellers to Ahmedabad an unbeatable proposition that combines great savings with a great comfortable stay and in a location that is annexed to the newest Shopping Mall in Ahmedabad. Our business model is designed to take care of the needs of travellers in India looking for great comfort without paying exorbitant rates,” said Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.
“Ahmedabad is an amazingly vibrant city in the fast growing state of Gujarat and we are looking to welcome both business and leisure travellers. We are very excited about this hotel as it marks our brand’s very first entry into India’s very exciting hospitality market. The Tune Hotel Ahmedabad aims to serve both domestic travellers and visitors from abroad, especially members of the large non-resident Indian (NRI) community from Gujarat settled in places like the US, Britain and the Gulf, who may already have had prior knowledge of the brand in the five countries we are already present in” he said.
To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, online bookings are now accepted with attractive all-inclusive room charges that start from as low as 599 Indian rupees (US$11 / RM34 / Bt330 / Rp108,000). Guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and bookings can be made from 3 May 2013 until 10 May 2013, subject to availability of rooms. The rate is available on a first come, first served basis, for stay period starting 15 May 2013 until 30 September 2013.
The arrival of Tune Hotels in India will also introduce new green ideas to hotel stay.
“We at Tune Hotels pursue a conscious policy of being environmental-friendly by optimising use of available resources, reduction of waste and by introducing processes that save on energy consumption. And our guests have endorsed our operations that encourage lifestyles that protect the environment,” Lankester said.
“As part of our business philosophy, we strive to remain locally-relevant in each and every community that we’re in, and this includes being responsible towards the local environment. We invite our guests in India to celebrate with us the introduction of new green concepts.”
The 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, annexed to the newly developed 4D Square Mall in the city’s Motera area, is well positioned on the main thoroughfare to the state capital of Gandhinagar and a stone’s throw away from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel cricket stadium.
Providing world-standard, high quality accommodation by focusing on key essentials but minus the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, Tune Hotels keeps its operating costs low and savings are passed on to guests in the form of super low rates.
Aside from its standard single and double rooms, Tune Hotels will be introducing family rooms that can accommodate between four to six people in order to meet the needs of the Indian guests, especially in the wedding market.
“In addition to larger room varieties, we have also made other adjustments in our offerings to serve our Indian guests better including more expansive food and beverage availability within the hotel. With a view to the huge wedding market in India, the hotel is able to cater to the needs for major banquet facilities for that total wedding experience. In fact, we’ve taken bookings for our very first wedding entourage already!” said Lankester.
Apart from properties in major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai –Tune Hotels is focusing on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities along with hotels in the tourist triangle destinations of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. Tune Hotels will have five to six hotels in Gujarat as part of our 20 planned hotels across India in the next three years.
Commenting on the prospects for Tune Hotels in India, Lankester said: “India’s domestic hospitality market in total is huge and the major international brands all have a focus on the country. We see strong growth in both business and tourist segments as the domestic economy remains resilient. India’s middle class is expanding and rising disposable incomes have boosted travel. We are in a good position to offer quality affordable accommodation to these travel groups.”
Tune Hotels has received over four million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, there will be 29 Tune Hotels in operation globally. The rest are 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, four in the Philippines, four in Thailand and four in Indonesia.
By the end of 2013, Tune Hotels will have operating hotels in eight countries. Apart from India the company is set to open properties in Japan and Australia this year. Future projects are also coming up in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels’ Indian expansion signifies growing economic relations between India and Malaysia, which has emerged as India’s key partner in Southeast Asia. Companies and business people are increasingly benefitting from these expanded business links and two-way flow of investment and people continues to rise. India-Malaysia trade hit a record high of $13.5 billion in 2012, a 7.3 per cent growth over 2011, while tourist traffic also continues to remain strong between the two countries.
Tourist arrivals between the two countries have been on the rise with Malaysia being among India’s top 10 sources of tourism, while India was Malaysia's sixth biggest source of tourists in 2012.
The opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad comes as Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia plans to launch its domestic airline services in India in a new venture.
“We see this as a great boost for not only travel between Malaysia and India, but adding further attraction to increasing travel within India. Like AirAsia, we pride ourselves on being a customer-focussed brand,” Lankester said.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsIndia and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
AHMEDABAD FACTS & ATTRACTIONS:
Bhadra Fort – Situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, its significance was established in 1411 the year Sultan Ahmad Shah established Ahmedabad as the capital of Gujarat Sultanate. The fort was built on the East Bank of the Sabarmati River and in 2012, a joint initiative between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Archeological Survey of India was signed to restore and redevelop to the fort to its former glory.
AutoWorld Museum – Featuring the largest collection of vintage automobiles in India, the AutoWorld Museum is located in Ahmedabad. The museum was founded by the Pranlal Bhogilal family and features cars, motorcycles and jeeps by marque carmakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Daimler-Chrysler and many more.
Sidi Sayed Mosque, Lal Darwaja – The mosque of Sidi Sayed is one of the most prominent mosques in Ahmedabad. Constructed in the year 1573, the mosque has gained worldwide recognition for it's intrincate artistic splendour.
Kankaria Lake – The Kankaria Lakefront development offers its visitors a myriad of activities and attractions apart from the gorgeous and serene view. Along the lake's 2.3km circumference, visitors can treat themselves to water sports & rides, visit the Balloon Safari, Kankaria Zoo, Kid City and a host of other attractions.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial - This is one of the most important buildings in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat. It is a museum as well as an exhibition center, dedicated to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Akshardham Temple – The temple in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat is one of the largest Temples in the state. The monument that enshrines the 2.1 metre gold-leafed Murti of Lord Swaminarayan is the focal point of the temple. The monument itself, which is 30 meters in height was build with 6 thousand tonnes of Pink Sandstone and is largely heralded as an architectural masterpiece.
Sabarmati Ashram – This ashram is widely known as the Gandhi Ashram, in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who spent 12 years of his life here. Located at the base of the Sabarmati river, the Ashram is recognised as a monument of national significance due to the role the place had played for the Independence of India.
- END –
About Tune Hotels
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity.
All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security.
The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
For media enquiries please contact:
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 315 3638
Fax: +603 7955 5899
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
Q & A with Mark Lankester
Group CEO, Tune Hotels
Q: Where does the environment figure in Tune Hotels’ business philosophy?
A: For us at Tune Hotels, being environment-friendly is not a slogan. Using resources in a way that reduces waste and promotes healthy lifestyles is built in our daily operations whether it is saving energy or minimising waste. As a value hotel chain we by nature consume less resources. Shorn of the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, we are promoting a more sustainable form of travel.
Q: What specific examples of green steps can you provide?
A: To give you an example of our energy conservation ways, we have a pay-as-you-use air-conditioning system programmed into guest keycards. Ceiling fans are a standard feature in our hotel rooms so guests have a choice not to use air-conditioning. And those who do need air-conditioning have it by agreeing to a small charge. Hallway air-conditioners in our hotels are set on a timer system so they turn on in alternate sequence to conserve power. We also actively use energy-efficient bulbs wherever we can. In developing new projects, we will look at how green standards can be incorporated in the location, size and building methods. Recycling containers are provided at all our hotels.
Q: How will Tune Hotels execute its green initiatives in India?
A: As part of our green initiatives, we encourage people to make smarter choices about the use of resources. Most people in India consider wastefulness as something bad. There is already a level of awareness about environmental degradation and how resources must be used better. People listen to arguments in favour of protecting the environment. Therefore, it is important for the hospitality industry to take its corporate social responsibility seriously.
Just recently the government of Delhi asked the city’s five-star hotels to conserve water and set up waste treatment plants. In our messages we are going to highlight why sustainable travel is important and how our guests can be part of our environment-friendly practices. Our properties do not feature swimming pools so most of our efforts will be directed at efficient use of water in rooms, laundry and energy efficient practices.
Q: These days it is not uncommon to see hotels putting up instructions for guests on towel and linen use. What are Tune Hotels’ practices in this regard?
A: This is an important area for any hotel to show what it can do to check water pollution. Laundry operation involves significant use of detergents, chemicals, water and electricity. By seeking the cooperation of our guests we can considerably reduce water use. Most people who stay at home are happy not to change bathroom towels and their bed linen every single day. Surely they can be encouraged to do the same during hotel stays. Tune Hotels reduces water consumption and the flow of laundry effluents into the environment by providing towels, if required for a small charge.
Q: How does Tune Hotels set green standards?
A: When we develop our hotels we invest in systems and technologies that are compatible with our green standards. Then we invest in our staff training and customer education so that we benefit from our environmental efforts. We always look at new technological developments in the hospitality industry so that we can improve our response to environmental issues.
We are keen to work with government bodies, academia, community and industry associations to promote green practices in travel. We strongly believe that environmental concerns should go mainstream in the hospitality business.
- ENDS -
Photo caption:
From left – Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels; Hon. Dr Denis Napthine, Premier of Victoria; Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Co-Founder of Tune Group; Stuart Myerscough, Commercial Manager Australia of AirAsia X unveiling the opening price of Tune Hotel Melbourne.
NEWS RELEASE
MELBOURNE – THE WORLD’S MOST LIVEABLE CITY MAY HAVE JUST GOT BETTER!
Tune Hotel Melbourne opening November with A$49* launch rate
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 June 2013 - International hotel group Tune Hotels today announced the pre-opening sale of its first Australian property in Melbourne and that the city will serve as its operational headquarters for the Australia and New Zealand region.
The announcement was made here today by Mark Lankester, the Group CEO of Tune Hotels in the presence of the visiting Premier of Victoria, Honourable Dr Denis Napthine. Also present was Co-Founder of Tune Group, who is also Group CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
Tune Hotel Melbourne at 609 Swanston Street, Carlton is conveniently located next to the University of Melbourne, just two streets away from popular Lygon Street and minutes to Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD). The 225-room property will open for customers on 1 November 2013.
To celebrate its arrival, Tune Hotel Melbourne is offering an attractive room rate from just A$49* (US$46 / RM157) per night. The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
Bookings can be made from 18 June until 28 June 2013 for stays between 1 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to availability of rooms. A total of 1,000 rooms will be made available at that price.
Dr Napthine said: “Melbourne’s new Tune Hotel would open its doors in Melbourne’s CBD in November to coincide with Victoria’s world-famous Spring Racing Carnival.”
Dr Napthine also welcomed the decision by Tune Hotels to set up its Australia and New Zealand Operational Headquarters in Melbourne. “Together, the investment is expected to create up to 100 jobs.”
The Premier is currently leading around 300 Victorian businesses and 450 delegates on a Super Trade Mission to South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur is the mission’s first stop before moving on to other key Asean cities – Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Hanoi, among others.
In a recent ranking of the world's "most liveable" cities, Melbourne took the number one spot for the second year running. The city was awarded perfect marks for education, healthcare, and infrastructure by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
As Australia’s events capital, Melbourne boasts a rich calendar of theatre, sporting and cultural events. Blockbuster annual events include the Australian Open Tennis Championship, Formula One Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and more.
Melbourne is a romantic, stylish, cosmopolitan city with a European feel and hidden city laneways and arcades for visitors to discover hidden treasures, cafes, boutiques, bars and restaurants. The city is also the gourmet capital of Australia with award-winning chefs and a diverse cuisine with unique settings, provincial specialties and world class wine regions within easy access of the city.
A range of diverse travel experiences are available within easy reach of Melbourne in regional Victoria. Whether it’s skiing the Victorian Alps, reclining on picture postcard beaches, sampling award-winning wines or unwinding in luxurious day spas, regional Victoria is replete with immersive experiences year-round.
To add to the celebration, long-haul low cost airline AirAsia X is also running a joint promotion where a one-way flight seat from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne is going from as low as RM329**. Guests have until 23 June 2013 to make a booking for travel between 15 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to the availability of seats. Also on offer are Fly Thru services from Jakarta-Melbourne (from IDR 1,459,000** one-way) and Bangkok-Melbourne (from THB 5,890** one-way), allowing guests to seamlessly connect via Kuala Lumpur.
Guests who would like to travel with extra comfort may also fly on AirAsia X’s Premium Flatbed seats from as low as RM2, 299** from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne. AirAsia X was the first long-haul, low fare carrier to introduce Premium Flatbed seats, which have standard business class specifications of 20” width, 60” pitch and stretch out to 77” in full recline position. Premium seat guests also enjoy premium complimentary products and services including Pick A Seat, Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage, 25kg Baggage Allowance, Complimentary Meal and Pillow & Duvet. For more information and flight bookings, please visit airasia.com.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said: “AirAsia X had been serving the Melbourne route for more than four years now and it is one of our best-selling. I am very pleased that Tune Hotels will now have its presence in Melbourne to give visitors to this wonderful city a truly compelling accommodation alternative. We are sure the Australian market will welcome and embrace Tune Hotels just as they did AirAsia X.”
Commenting on Melbourne as Tune Hotels’ Operational HQ for Australia and New Zealand, Group CEO Mark Lankester said: “We are very excited about Tune Hotel Melbourne as it marks our growing brand’s entry into Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne will be the location for our HQ overseeing Australia and New Zealand operations, working in conjunction with the corporate office in Kuala Lumpur. Given our long term plans for the region, the Australia and New Zealand HQ will be staffed relevantly to oversee and provide central support to Tune Hotels’ properties in Australia and New Zealand.”
“And to celebrate in true Tune Hotels style, we’re offering travellers one of the lowest room rates seen in central Melbourne for years. Tune Hotels is all about offering a great night’s sleep at a great price. Tune Hotel Melbourne will serve domestic business and leisure travellers and visitors from abroad who are looking for great comfort just minutes from Melbourne’s CBD without paying the usual exorbitant rates,” added Lankester.
The basic room rate at Tune Hotel Melbourne is already inclusive of air-conditioning and and/or heating. For an additional A$10, guests will get a pair of towels and toiletry kits and enjoy high-speed wireless broadband and Foxtel TV entertainment.
Tune Hotel Melbourne features an indoor courtyard, a recreational lounge, a restaurant, café/ convenience store, luggage storage, self-service launderette and computer kiosks. It is also equipped with a basement car park, something unusual for city centre hotels in Australia.
The hotel is just two streets away from Lygon Street, more famously known as Little Italy. The central business district, Melbourne Central Train Station and QV Melbourne; one of Melbourne's finest retail, dining and entertainment precincts, is only two tram stops away.
Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation which focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to pass on savings to its guests in the form of super low room rates. Its pay-as-you-use concept lets travellers choose and pay only for amenities that they require to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy.
All Tune hotels feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: 5-star beds and powerful hot showers. The strategically located hotels provide housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, extensive CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard past midnight for extra security.
The group has received almost five million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. Tune Hotels has one hotel in India, 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, and four each in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The company is set to open another property in Japan this year while future projects are planned in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsAUS and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
* Rooms at promotional rates are limited and subject to availability. Promotional rates are limited to double rooms, exclude peak periods, available only on specific dates and only for bookings made via www.tunehotels.com. Advertised rate includes GST and is for room only (excludes comfort package (WiFi, Towel & toiletries and TV) and all optional add-ons). Bookings that are made at the promotional price are strictly non-refundable or changeable. Booking period is 18 June 2013 - 28 June 2013, or until promotional rooms are sold out. Stay period is 1 Nov 2013 to 31 March 2014. No additional charges for booking payments made using PayPal. Additional charges may apply for online bookings paid using credit and debit cards. All amounts are in Australian dollars unless stated otherwise. Refer to www.tunehotels.com for other applicable terms and conditions.
** Promo fares include airport taxes and fees (all-in fares). Flights and fares are subject to availability and are for one-way travel only.
-ENDS-
About Tune Hotels & Tune Group
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
About AirAsia X Berhad
AirAsia X is the low-cost, long-haul affiliate carrier of the AirAsia Group that currently flies to destinations in China, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Nepal and the Middle East. The airline currently serves 14 destinations across Asia (Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Kathmandu), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast) and the Middle East (Jeddah) with flights to an additional destination, namely Busan, commencing in July 2013. AirAsia X operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300s, each with a seat configuration of 12 Premium Flatbeds and 365 Economy seats. The airline has carried over 9 million guests since it commenced long-haul in 2007. Our vision is to further solidify our position as the global leader in low-cost, long-haul aviation and create the first global multi-hub low-cost carrier network along with other carriers of the AirAsia Group.
More photos can be downloaded from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
Media enquiries:
MALAYSIA & INTERNATIONAL
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 3153638
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
AUSTRALIA
Brenton Gibbs
Tel: +61 (0)419 828 440
Email: brenton@crookgroup.com.au
Photos were captured at the Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory on the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Dec. 13, 2016, to accompany the feature story below: "Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans." Article online here (and below): goo.gl/viKEZF
Photo + Story by Toshio Suzuki, BLM
----------------------------------------
For the first Americans, and the study of them today, it all starts with a point.
A sharp point fastened to a wooden shaft gave the hunter 13,000 years ago a weapon that could single-handedly spear a fish or work in numbers to take down a mammoth.
For a prehistoric human, these points were the difference between life and death. They were hunger-driven, handmade labors of love that took hours to craft using a cacophony of rock-on-rock cracks, thuds and shatters.
They have been called the first American invention, and some archaeologists now think 3-D scanning points can reveal more information about both the technology and the people.
The Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory at Oregon State University takes up only a few rooms on the ground floor of Waldo Hall, one of the supposedly haunted buildings on campus.
There are boxes of cultural history everywhere, and floor-to-ceiling wood cabinets with skinny pull-out drawers housing even more assets, but the really good stuff, evidence of the earliest known cultures in North America, lives in an 800-pound gun safe.
Loren Davis, anthropology professor at OSU and director of the lab, thinks 3-D scanning, printing, and publishing can circumvent the old traditions of the field, that artifacts are only to be experienced in museums and only handled by those who have a Ph.D.
“We are reimagining the idea of doing archaeology in a 21st century digital way,” said Davis. “We don’t do it just to make pretty pictures or print in plastic, we mostly want to capture and share it for analysis,” he added.
Nearby in the L-shaped lab, one of his doctoral students is preparing to scan a point that was discovered on Bureau of Land Management public lands in southeast Oregon.
Thousands of points have been unearthed since the 1930s in North America, the first being in eastern New Mexico near a town called Clovis. That name is now known worldwide as representing the continent’s first native people.
More recently, though, other peoples with distinctive points were found elsewhere, and some researchers think it means there was differing technology being made at the same time, if not pre-Clovis.
One such location is the Paisley Caves in southern Oregon ― one of the many archaeologically significant sites managed by the BLM.
The earliest stem point from Paisley Caves was scanned at Davis’ lab and a 3-D PDF was included in a 2012 multi-authored report in the journal Science.
Davis estimates his lab at OSU has scanned as many as 400 points, including others from BLM-managed lands in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
More scans would mean a bigger database for comparing points and determining what style they are.
“Ideally, we want to get as many artifacts scanned as possible,“ said Davis. “The BLM offers a lot of access to public data ― this is just another way of doing it.”
---
Transforming a brittle piece of volcanic glass, by hand, into a beautiful and deadly 4-inch-long spear point is a process.
In one hand would be a hard shaping rock, or maybe a thick section of antler, and in the other would be the starter stone, which in addition to igneous could be jasper, chert, or any other chippable rock that creates a hide-puncturing level of sharpness.
After what might be hundreds of controlled strokes and rock rotations, the rough shape of a lance or spear tip would take form. Discarded shards of stone would often result in more points, or other useful tools like scrapers and needles.
Clovis points are distinguished by their length, bifacial leaf shape and middle channels on the bottom called flutes. Eventually the repetitive flaking of the point would stop, and the hunter would use precise pressure points to create the flute on one or each side that likely helped slot the finished product into a spear-like wooden pole.
The hunter was now mobile and ready to roam.
---
Prior to 3-D scanning, OSU doctoral student Sean Carroll picks up a can of Tinactin, gives it the obligatory shake, and completely covers “one of the oldest technologies in North America” with antifungal spray.
The talc and alcohol from the athlete’s foot remedy helps the software see even the slightest indents in the point, and it rubs right off afterwards.
“I want to scan all the Clovis I can get my hands on,” said Carroll, who came to OSU because of Davis’ 3-D lab and is using the medium as a big part of his dissertation.
Two random items, a power plug adapter and a ball of clay, are placed on each side of the fluted point to give the camera and light projector perspective. The objects create margins that force the structured light patterns to bend and capture more of the point’s surface detail.
Even so, like the hunter rotating the shaping rock, the archaeologist has to rotate the foam square holding the three items. Each scan takes about six seconds.
Carroll and Davis estimate that the learning curve for this process was about 100 hours. One hundred hours of trial and error -- and a lot of watching YouTube videos -- for a finished product that they think is indisputably worth it.
A completed 3-D scan of a point will have about 40,000 data points per square inch. The measurements are so precise, they can determine the difference between flake marks as thin as a piece of paper.
Davis says no archaeologist with a pair of calipers can come close to measuring the data obtained via 3-D, because simply, “there are some jobs that robots are really good at.”
“If the end game is measurements, well you could spend your whole life with a pair of calipers trying to achieve what we can do in 10 minutes,” said Davis.
---
Last year, the famous human relative nicknamed Lucy had 3-D scans of her 3.2 million year old bones published in the journal Nature.
In 2015, archaeologists from Harvard University completed a 3-D scan of a winged and human-headed stone bull from Mesopotamia that stands 13 feet high at the Louvre Museum.
And the Smithsonian Institution is currently beta testing a website dedicated to publishing 3-D models from its massive collection, including molds of President Abraham Lincoln’s face and the entire Apollo 11 command module.
All of these new-school efforts are based upon the old-school scientific principles of preservation and promotion.
Rock points, fossils, hieroglyphics -- various forms of cultural assets are susceptible to environmental conditions and not guaranteed to be around forever. Three-dimensional scanning is the most accurate way to digitally preserve these items of merit.
Once accurate preservation is done, there are opportunities for promoting not just science, but specific research goals.
In the case of the Lucy bones, scientists hope that crowdsourcing the 3-D data will help get more experts to look at the fossils and prove that the tree-dwelling ape died from a fall.
When it comes to comparing one specific stemmed point to an entire hard drive of scanning data, BLM archaeologist Scott Thomas thinks the work being done at the OSU lab can move archaeology to a new level.
“The 3-D scanning method blows anything we have done out of the water,” said Thomas.
That ability to compare points can lead to insights on how these hunting tools moved over geography, and even expand theories about how native groups learned new technologies.
“It’s going to be a really powerful tool someday -- not too far off,” said Thomas.
While long-term data analysis may not be the sexiest form of archaeology, holding a 3-D printed stem point is a pretty cool educational tool.
Davis of OSU has incorporated 3-D prints into his classes and said his students are able to make a tactile connection with artifacts that otherwise are not available.
“The students really enjoy these printed and digital models and often say that they are almost like the real thing,” said Davis.
---
This spring, Davis is traveling to Magadan, Russia -- aka Siberia -- to inspect and scan some points that may be linked to Clovis peoples.
The goal in Siberia, of course, is to further expand the 3-D database. He is specifically interested in comparing them to stems from a BLM-managed site he excavated in Idaho called Cooper’s Ferry.
As his student, Carroll, begins to clean up and put the scanned points into their individually labeled ziplocked bags, Davis can’t help but mention how much easier international research could be with 3-D scanning.
“You can share cultural resource info with people in other countries and you don’t have to come visit,” he said, adding that Russia isn’t the easiest country to enter.
“It’s as easy as sending an email,” Carroll agreed.
Davis then mentioned his 11-year-old child and how much of school curriculum these days is web-based as opposed to text-based.
“There’s nothing wrong with books, I’m a huge fan of books, but it’s a different way of learning,” said the archaeology professor.
And with that, he made another point.
-- by Toshio Suzuki, tsuzuki@blm.gov, @toshjohn
Best places to find 3-D archaeology online:
-- Sketchfab.com is one of the biggest databases on the web for 3-D models of cultural assets. Institutions and academics alike are moving priceless treasures to the digital space for all to inspect. Two examples: via the British Museum, a 7.25-ton statue of Ramesses II is available for viewing and free download; and via archaeologist Robert Selden Jr., hundreds of 3-D models are open to the public for study, including several Clovis points from the Blackwater Draw National Historic Site in New Mexico.
-- The Smithsonian Institution is bringing the best of American history to a new audience via their 3-D website (3d.si.edu). Amelia Earhart's flight suit? Check. Native American ceremonial killer whale hat? Check. Face cast of President Abraham Lincoln? Check and check -- there are two. And their biggest 3-D scan is still coming: the 184-foot-long space shuttle Discovery.
-- Visitors to Africanfossils.org can filter 3-D model searches by hominids, animals and tools, and also by date, from zero to 25 million years ago.
The sleek website, with partners like National Geographic and the National Museums of Kenya, makes it easy to download or share 3-D scans, and each item even comes with a discovery backstory and Google map pinpointing exactly where it was found.
Photo caption:
Speech by Hon. Dr Denis Napthine, Premier of Victoria.
NEWS RELEASE
MELBOURNE – THE WORLD’S MOST LIVEABLE CITY MAY HAVE JUST GOT BETTER!
Tune Hotel Melbourne opening November with A$49* launch rate
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 June 2013 - International hotel group Tune Hotels today announced the pre-opening sale of its first Australian property in Melbourne and that the city will serve as its operational headquarters for the Australia and New Zealand region.
The announcement was made here today by Mark Lankester, the Group CEO of Tune Hotels in the presence of the visiting Premier of Victoria, Honourable Dr Denis Napthine. Also present was Co-Founder of Tune Group, who is also Group CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
Tune Hotel Melbourne at 609 Swanston Street, Carlton is conveniently located next to the University of Melbourne, just two streets away from popular Lygon Street and minutes to Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD). The 225-room property will open for customers on 1 November 2013.
To celebrate its arrival, Tune Hotel Melbourne is offering an attractive room rate from just A$49* (US$46 / RM157) per night. The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
Bookings can be made from 18 June until 28 June 2013 for stays between 1 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to availability of rooms. A total of 1,000 rooms will be made available at that price.
Dr Napthine said: “Melbourne’s new Tune Hotel would open its doors in Melbourne’s CBD in November to coincide with Victoria’s world-famous Spring Racing Carnival.”
Dr Napthine also welcomed the decision by Tune Hotels to set up its Australia and New Zealand Operational Headquarters in Melbourne. “Together, the investment is expected to create up to 100 jobs.”
The Premier is currently leading around 300 Victorian businesses and 450 delegates on a Super Trade Mission to South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur is the mission’s first stop before moving on to other key Asean cities – Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Hanoi, among others.
In a recent ranking of the world's "most liveable" cities, Melbourne took the number one spot for the second year running. The city was awarded perfect marks for education, healthcare, and infrastructure by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
As Australia’s events capital, Melbourne boasts a rich calendar of theatre, sporting and cultural events. Blockbuster annual events include the Australian Open Tennis Championship, Formula One Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and more.
Melbourne is a romantic, stylish, cosmopolitan city with a European feel and hidden city laneways and arcades for visitors to discover hidden treasures, cafes, boutiques, bars and restaurants. The city is also the gourmet capital of Australia with award-winning chefs and a diverse cuisine with unique settings, provincial specialties and world class wine regions within easy access of the city.
A range of diverse travel experiences are available within easy reach of Melbourne in regional Victoria. Whether it’s skiing the Victorian Alps, reclining on picture postcard beaches, sampling award-winning wines or unwinding in luxurious day spas, regional Victoria is replete with immersive experiences year-round.
To add to the celebration, long-haul low cost airline AirAsia X is also running a joint promotion where a one-way flight seat from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne is going from as low as RM329**. Guests have until 23 June 2013 to make a booking for travel between 15 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to the availability of seats. Also on offer are Fly Thru services from Jakarta-Melbourne (from IDR 1,459,000** one-way) and Bangkok-Melbourne (from THB 5,890** one-way), allowing guests to seamlessly connect via Kuala Lumpur.
Guests who would like to travel with extra comfort may also fly on AirAsia X’s Premium Flatbed seats from as low as RM2, 299** from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne. AirAsia X was the first long-haul, low fare carrier to introduce Premium Flatbed seats, which have standard business class specifications of 20” width, 60” pitch and stretch out to 77” in full recline position. Premium seat guests also enjoy premium complimentary products and services including Pick A Seat, Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage, 25kg Baggage Allowance, Complimentary Meal and Pillow & Duvet. For more information and flight bookings, please visit airasia.com.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said: “AirAsia X had been serving the Melbourne route for more than four years now and it is one of our best-selling. I am very pleased that Tune Hotels will now have its presence in Melbourne to give visitors to this wonderful city a truly compelling accommodation alternative. We are sure the Australian market will welcome and embrace Tune Hotels just as they did AirAsia X.”
Commenting on Melbourne as Tune Hotels’ Operational HQ for Australia and New Zealand, Group CEO Mark Lankester said: “We are very excited about Tune Hotel Melbourne as it marks our growing brand’s entry into Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne will be the location for our HQ overseeing Australia and New Zealand operations, working in conjunction with the corporate office in Kuala Lumpur. Given our long term plans for the region, the Australia and New Zealand HQ will be staffed relevantly to oversee and provide central support to Tune Hotels’ properties in Australia and New Zealand.”
“And to celebrate in true Tune Hotels style, we’re offering travellers one of the lowest room rates seen in central Melbourne for years. Tune Hotels is all about offering a great night’s sleep at a great price. Tune Hotel Melbourne will serve domestic business and leisure travellers and visitors from abroad who are looking for great comfort just minutes from Melbourne’s CBD without paying the usual exorbitant rates,” added Lankester.
The basic room rate at Tune Hotel Melbourne is already inclusive of air-conditioning and and/or heating. For an additional A$10, guests will get a pair of towels and toiletry kits and enjoy high-speed wireless broadband and Foxtel TV entertainment.
Tune Hotel Melbourne features an indoor courtyard, a recreational lounge, a restaurant, café/ convenience store, luggage storage, self-service launderette and computer kiosks. It is also equipped with a basement car park, something unusual for city centre hotels in Australia.
The hotel is just two streets away from Lygon Street, more famously known as Little Italy. The central business district, Melbourne Central Train Station and QV Melbourne; one of Melbourne's finest retail, dining and entertainment precincts, is only two tram stops away.
Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation which focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to pass on savings to its guests in the form of super low room rates. Its pay-as-you-use concept lets travellers choose and pay only for amenities that they require to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy.
All Tune hotels feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: 5-star beds and powerful hot showers. The strategically located hotels provide housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, extensive CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard past midnight for extra security.
The group has received almost five million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. Tune Hotels has one hotel in India, 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, and four each in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The company is set to open another property in Japan this year while future projects are planned in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsAUS and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
* Rooms at promotional rates are limited and subject to availability. Promotional rates are limited to double rooms, exclude peak periods, available only on specific dates and only for bookings made via www.tunehotels.com. Advertised rate includes GST and is for room only (excludes comfort package (WiFi, Towel & toiletries and TV) and all optional add-ons). Bookings that are made at the promotional price are strictly non-refundable or changeable. Booking period is 18 June 2013 - 28 June 2013, or until promotional rooms are sold out. Stay period is 1 Nov 2013 to 31 March 2014. No additional charges for booking payments made using PayPal. Additional charges may apply for online bookings paid using credit and debit cards. All amounts are in Australian dollars unless stated otherwise. Refer to www.tunehotels.com for other applicable terms and conditions.
** Promo fares include airport taxes and fees (all-in fares). Flights and fares are subject to availability and are for one-way travel only.
-ENDS-
About Tune Hotels & Tune Group
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
About AirAsia X Berhad
AirAsia X is the low-cost, long-haul affiliate carrier of the AirAsia Group that currently flies to destinations in China, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Nepal and the Middle East. The airline currently serves 14 destinations across Asia (Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Kathmandu), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast) and the Middle East (Jeddah) with flights to an additional destination, namely Busan, commencing in July 2013. AirAsia X operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300s, each with a seat configuration of 12 Premium Flatbeds and 365 Economy seats. The airline has carried over 9 million guests since it commenced long-haul in 2007. Our vision is to further solidify our position as the global leader in low-cost, long-haul aviation and create the first global multi-hub low-cost carrier network along with other carriers of the AirAsia Group.
More photos can be downloaded from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
Media enquiries:
MALAYSIA & INTERNATIONAL
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 3153638
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
AUSTRALIA
Brenton Gibbs
Tel: +61 (0)419 828 440
Email: brenton@crookgroup.com.au
Boat Landing
Check out my Profile Page for more information on my images and my website and contact detailsCopyright © 2012 Neal Pritchard PhotographyThis photo may not be used in any form without prior permission. All rights reserved. All images may NOT be used on websites, blogs or in any other form of media print or web based without explicit written permission by Spool Photography
Photo caption:
Speech by Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.
NEWS RELEASE
MELBOURNE – THE WORLD’S MOST LIVEABLE CITY MAY HAVE JUST GOT BETTER!
Tune Hotel Melbourne opening November with A$49* launch rate
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 June 2013 - International hotel group Tune Hotels today announced the pre-opening sale of its first Australian property in Melbourne and that the city will serve as its operational headquarters for the Australia and New Zealand region.
The announcement was made here today by Mark Lankester, the Group CEO of Tune Hotels in the presence of the visiting Premier of Victoria, Honourable Dr Denis Napthine. Also present was Co-Founder of Tune Group, who is also Group CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
Tune Hotel Melbourne at 609 Swanston Street, Carlton is conveniently located next to the University of Melbourne, just two streets away from popular Lygon Street and minutes to Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD). The 225-room property will open for customers on 1 November 2013.
To celebrate its arrival, Tune Hotel Melbourne is offering an attractive room rate from just A$49* (US$46 / RM157) per night. The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
Bookings can be made from 18 June until 28 June 2013 for stays between 1 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to availability of rooms. A total of 1,000 rooms will be made available at that price.
Dr Napthine said: “Melbourne’s new Tune Hotel would open its doors in Melbourne’s CBD in November to coincide with Victoria’s world-famous Spring Racing Carnival.”
Dr Napthine also welcomed the decision by Tune Hotels to set up its Australia and New Zealand Operational Headquarters in Melbourne. “Together, the investment is expected to create up to 100 jobs.”
The Premier is currently leading around 300 Victorian businesses and 450 delegates on a Super Trade Mission to South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur is the mission’s first stop before moving on to other key Asean cities – Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Hanoi, among others.
In a recent ranking of the world's "most liveable" cities, Melbourne took the number one spot for the second year running. The city was awarded perfect marks for education, healthcare, and infrastructure by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
As Australia’s events capital, Melbourne boasts a rich calendar of theatre, sporting and cultural events. Blockbuster annual events include the Australian Open Tennis Championship, Formula One Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and more.
Melbourne is a romantic, stylish, cosmopolitan city with a European feel and hidden city laneways and arcades for visitors to discover hidden treasures, cafes, boutiques, bars and restaurants. The city is also the gourmet capital of Australia with award-winning chefs and a diverse cuisine with unique settings, provincial specialties and world class wine regions within easy access of the city.
A range of diverse travel experiences are available within easy reach of Melbourne in regional Victoria. Whether it’s skiing the Victorian Alps, reclining on picture postcard beaches, sampling award-winning wines or unwinding in luxurious day spas, regional Victoria is replete with immersive experiences year-round.
To add to the celebration, long-haul low cost airline AirAsia X is also running a joint promotion where a one-way flight seat from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne is going from as low as RM329**. Guests have until 23 June 2013 to make a booking for travel between 15 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to the availability of seats. Also on offer are Fly Thru services from Jakarta-Melbourne (from IDR 1,459,000** one-way) and Bangkok-Melbourne (from THB 5,890** one-way), allowing guests to seamlessly connect via Kuala Lumpur.
Guests who would like to travel with extra comfort may also fly on AirAsia X’s Premium Flatbed seats from as low as RM2, 299** from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne. AirAsia X was the first long-haul, low fare carrier to introduce Premium Flatbed seats, which have standard business class specifications of 20” width, 60” pitch and stretch out to 77” in full recline position. Premium seat guests also enjoy premium complimentary products and services including Pick A Seat, Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage, 25kg Baggage Allowance, Complimentary Meal and Pillow & Duvet. For more information and flight bookings, please visit airasia.com.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said: “AirAsia X had been serving the Melbourne route for more than four years now and it is one of our best-selling. I am very pleased that Tune Hotels will now have its presence in Melbourne to give visitors to this wonderful city a truly compelling accommodation alternative. We are sure the Australian market will welcome and embrace Tune Hotels just as they did AirAsia X.”
Commenting on Melbourne as Tune Hotels’ Operational HQ for Australia and New Zealand, Group CEO Mark Lankester said: “We are very excited about Tune Hotel Melbourne as it marks our growing brand’s entry into Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne will be the location for our HQ overseeing Australia and New Zealand operations, working in conjunction with the corporate office in Kuala Lumpur. Given our long term plans for the region, the Australia and New Zealand HQ will be staffed relevantly to oversee and provide central support to Tune Hotels’ properties in Australia and New Zealand.”
“And to celebrate in true Tune Hotels style, we’re offering travellers one of the lowest room rates seen in central Melbourne for years. Tune Hotels is all about offering a great night’s sleep at a great price. Tune Hotel Melbourne will serve domestic business and leisure travellers and visitors from abroad who are looking for great comfort just minutes from Melbourne’s CBD without paying the usual exorbitant rates,” added Lankester.
The basic room rate at Tune Hotel Melbourne is already inclusive of air-conditioning and and/or heating. For an additional A$10, guests will get a pair of towels and toiletry kits and enjoy high-speed wireless broadband and Foxtel TV entertainment.
Tune Hotel Melbourne features an indoor courtyard, a recreational lounge, a restaurant, café/ convenience store, luggage storage, self-service launderette and computer kiosks. It is also equipped with a basement car park, something unusual for city centre hotels in Australia.
The hotel is just two streets away from Lygon Street, more famously known as Little Italy. The central business district, Melbourne Central Train Station and QV Melbourne; one of Melbourne's finest retail, dining and entertainment precincts, is only two tram stops away.
Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation which focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to pass on savings to its guests in the form of super low room rates. Its pay-as-you-use concept lets travellers choose and pay only for amenities that they require to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy.
All Tune hotels feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: 5-star beds and powerful hot showers. The strategically located hotels provide housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, extensive CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard past midnight for extra security.
The group has received almost five million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. Tune Hotels has one hotel in India, 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, and four each in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The company is set to open another property in Japan this year while future projects are planned in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsAUS and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
* Rooms at promotional rates are limited and subject to availability. Promotional rates are limited to double rooms, exclude peak periods, available only on specific dates and only for bookings made via www.tunehotels.com. Advertised rate includes GST and is for room only (excludes comfort package (WiFi, Towel & toiletries and TV) and all optional add-ons). Bookings that are made at the promotional price are strictly non-refundable or changeable. Booking period is 18 June 2013 - 28 June 2013, or until promotional rooms are sold out. Stay period is 1 Nov 2013 to 31 March 2014. No additional charges for booking payments made using PayPal. Additional charges may apply for online bookings paid using credit and debit cards. All amounts are in Australian dollars unless stated otherwise. Refer to www.tunehotels.com for other applicable terms and conditions.
** Promo fares include airport taxes and fees (all-in fares). Flights and fares are subject to availability and are for one-way travel only.
-ENDS-
About Tune Hotels & Tune Group
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
About AirAsia X Berhad
AirAsia X is the low-cost, long-haul affiliate carrier of the AirAsia Group that currently flies to destinations in China, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Nepal and the Middle East. The airline currently serves 14 destinations across Asia (Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Kathmandu), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast) and the Middle East (Jeddah) with flights to an additional destination, namely Busan, commencing in July 2013. AirAsia X operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300s, each with a seat configuration of 12 Premium Flatbeds and 365 Economy seats. The airline has carried over 9 million guests since it commenced long-haul in 2007. Our vision is to further solidify our position as the global leader in low-cost, long-haul aviation and create the first global multi-hub low-cost carrier network along with other carriers of the AirAsia Group.
More photos can be downloaded from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
Media enquiries:
MALAYSIA & INTERNATIONAL
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 3153638
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
AUSTRALIA
Brenton Gibbs
Tel: +61 (0)419 828 440
Email: brenton@crookgroup.com.au
Photo caption:
From left – Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels; Hon. Dr Denis Napthine, Premier of Victoria; Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Co-Founder of Tune Group; Stuart Myerscough, Commercial Manager Australia of AirAsia X unveiling the opening price of Tune Hotel Melbourne.
NEWS RELEASE
MELBOURNE – THE WORLD’S MOST LIVEABLE CITY MAY HAVE JUST GOT BETTER!
Tune Hotel Melbourne opening November with A$49* launch rate
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 June 2013 - International hotel group Tune Hotels today announced the pre-opening sale of its first Australian property in Melbourne and that the city will serve as its operational headquarters for the Australia and New Zealand region.
The announcement was made here today by Mark Lankester, the Group CEO of Tune Hotels in the presence of the visiting Premier of Victoria, Honourable Dr Denis Napthine. Also present was Co-Founder of Tune Group, who is also Group CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
Tune Hotel Melbourne at 609 Swanston Street, Carlton is conveniently located next to the University of Melbourne, just two streets away from popular Lygon Street and minutes to Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD). The 225-room property will open for customers on 1 November 2013.
To celebrate its arrival, Tune Hotel Melbourne is offering an attractive room rate from just A$49* (US$46 / RM157) per night. The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
Bookings can be made from 18 June until 28 June 2013 for stays between 1 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to availability of rooms. A total of 1,000 rooms will be made available at that price.
Dr Napthine said: “Melbourne’s new Tune Hotel would open its doors in Melbourne’s CBD in November to coincide with Victoria’s world-famous Spring Racing Carnival.”
Dr Napthine also welcomed the decision by Tune Hotels to set up its Australia and New Zealand Operational Headquarters in Melbourne. “Together, the investment is expected to create up to 100 jobs.”
The Premier is currently leading around 300 Victorian businesses and 450 delegates on a Super Trade Mission to South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur is the mission’s first stop before moving on to other key Asean cities – Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Hanoi, among others.
In a recent ranking of the world's "most liveable" cities, Melbourne took the number one spot for the second year running. The city was awarded perfect marks for education, healthcare, and infrastructure by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
As Australia’s events capital, Melbourne boasts a rich calendar of theatre, sporting and cultural events. Blockbuster annual events include the Australian Open Tennis Championship, Formula One Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and more.
Melbourne is a romantic, stylish, cosmopolitan city with a European feel and hidden city laneways and arcades for visitors to discover hidden treasures, cafes, boutiques, bars and restaurants. The city is also the gourmet capital of Australia with award-winning chefs and a diverse cuisine with unique settings, provincial specialties and world class wine regions within easy access of the city.
A range of diverse travel experiences are available within easy reach of Melbourne in regional Victoria. Whether it’s skiing the Victorian Alps, reclining on picture postcard beaches, sampling award-winning wines or unwinding in luxurious day spas, regional Victoria is replete with immersive experiences year-round.
To add to the celebration, long-haul low cost airline AirAsia X is also running a joint promotion where a one-way flight seat from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne is going from as low as RM329**. Guests have until 23 June 2013 to make a booking for travel between 15 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to the availability of seats. Also on offer are Fly Thru services from Jakarta-Melbourne (from IDR 1,459,000** one-way) and Bangkok-Melbourne (from THB 5,890** one-way), allowing guests to seamlessly connect via Kuala Lumpur.
Guests who would like to travel with extra comfort may also fly on AirAsia X’s Premium Flatbed seats from as low as RM2, 299** from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne. AirAsia X was the first long-haul, low fare carrier to introduce Premium Flatbed seats, which have standard business class specifications of 20” width, 60” pitch and stretch out to 77” in full recline position. Premium seat guests also enjoy premium complimentary products and services including Pick A Seat, Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage, 25kg Baggage Allowance, Complimentary Meal and Pillow & Duvet. For more information and flight bookings, please visit airasia.com.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said: “AirAsia X had been serving the Melbourne route for more than four years now and it is one of our best-selling. I am very pleased that Tune Hotels will now have its presence in Melbourne to give visitors to this wonderful city a truly compelling accommodation alternative. We are sure the Australian market will welcome and embrace Tune Hotels just as they did AirAsia X.”
Commenting on Melbourne as Tune Hotels’ Operational HQ for Australia and New Zealand, Group CEO Mark Lankester said: “We are very excited about Tune Hotel Melbourne as it marks our growing brand’s entry into Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne will be the location for our HQ overseeing Australia and New Zealand operations, working in conjunction with the corporate office in Kuala Lumpur. Given our long term plans for the region, the Australia and New Zealand HQ will be staffed relevantly to oversee and provide central support to Tune Hotels’ properties in Australia and New Zealand.”
“And to celebrate in true Tune Hotels style, we’re offering travellers one of the lowest room rates seen in central Melbourne for years. Tune Hotels is all about offering a great night’s sleep at a great price. Tune Hotel Melbourne will serve domestic business and leisure travellers and visitors from abroad who are looking for great comfort just minutes from Melbourne’s CBD without paying the usual exorbitant rates,” added Lankester.
The basic room rate at Tune Hotel Melbourne is already inclusive of air-conditioning and and/or heating. For an additional A$10, guests will get a pair of towels and toiletry kits and enjoy high-speed wireless broadband and Foxtel TV entertainment.
Tune Hotel Melbourne features an indoor courtyard, a recreational lounge, a restaurant, café/ convenience store, luggage storage, self-service launderette and computer kiosks. It is also equipped with a basement car park, something unusual for city centre hotels in Australia.
The hotel is just two streets away from Lygon Street, more famously known as Little Italy. The central business district, Melbourne Central Train Station and QV Melbourne; one of Melbourne's finest retail, dining and entertainment precincts, is only two tram stops away.
Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation which focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to pass on savings to its guests in the form of super low room rates. Its pay-as-you-use concept lets travellers choose and pay only for amenities that they require to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy.
All Tune hotels feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: 5-star beds and powerful hot showers. The strategically located hotels provide housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, extensive CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard past midnight for extra security.
The group has received almost five million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. Tune Hotels has one hotel in India, 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, and four each in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The company is set to open another property in Japan this year while future projects are planned in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsAUS and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
* Rooms at promotional rates are limited and subject to availability. Promotional rates are limited to double rooms, exclude peak periods, available only on specific dates and only for bookings made via www.tunehotels.com. Advertised rate includes GST and is for room only (excludes comfort package (WiFi, Towel & toiletries and TV) and all optional add-ons). Bookings that are made at the promotional price are strictly non-refundable or changeable. Booking period is 18 June 2013 - 28 June 2013, or until promotional rooms are sold out. Stay period is 1 Nov 2013 to 31 March 2014. No additional charges for booking payments made using PayPal. Additional charges may apply for online bookings paid using credit and debit cards. All amounts are in Australian dollars unless stated otherwise. Refer to www.tunehotels.com for other applicable terms and conditions.
** Promo fares include airport taxes and fees (all-in fares). Flights and fares are subject to availability and are for one-way travel only.
-ENDS-
About Tune Hotels & Tune Group
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
About AirAsia X Berhad
AirAsia X is the low-cost, long-haul affiliate carrier of the AirAsia Group that currently flies to destinations in China, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Nepal and the Middle East. The airline currently serves 14 destinations across Asia (Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Kathmandu), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast) and the Middle East (Jeddah) with flights to an additional destination, namely Busan, commencing in July 2013. AirAsia X operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300s, each with a seat configuration of 12 Premium Flatbeds and 365 Economy seats. The airline has carried over 9 million guests since it commenced long-haul in 2007. Our vision is to further solidify our position as the global leader in low-cost, long-haul aviation and create the first global multi-hub low-cost carrier network along with other carriers of the AirAsia Group.
More photos can be downloaded from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
Media enquiries:
MALAYSIA & INTERNATIONAL
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 3153638
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
AUSTRALIA
Brenton Gibbs
Tel: +61 (0)419 828 440
Email: brenton@crookgroup.com.au
Mobile Social Networking: Two Great Tastes
John Kemp, Franklin Reynolds - Nokia
14th October 2008
Introduction
In the 1980s, mobile telecommunications was, by some accounts, a wilderness. Along came Short Message Service (SMS). Many thought that SMS would be most useful for things like sending a message to a user saying that she had received a voicemail, and few imagined the extraordinary explosive growth of person to person short messaging. Initial growth of the service though was slow - in 1995 an average of only 0.4 messages per GSM customer per month were sent. But, by 2003, there were apparently 4.2 million active users, and "texting" had entered popular culture. Mobile phones were not perfect for SMS, but the enforced short message size and poor keyboards created an environment where a new language flourished.
With person-to-person calling and text messaging, the mobile environment created a powerful social networking effect.
By contrast with the spare interface presented to the SMS user, modern social networking sites provide sophisticated user interfaces and large numbers of graphical images and other rich media content. Such things are inevitably better handled by computers, with faster processors, relatively large screens and a full keyboard, than by mobile phones.
Is a "mobile social network" nowadays then simply a Web-based social network interface displayed in the Web browser of a mobile phone, or is there something more? How do we engage the still-growing number of people who are more familiar with the mobile phone than they are with the Web?
What's so different about mobile phones?
Phones, mobile and fixed, have historically been person-to-person communication channels - they have not been multicast or “publishing” type communication channels. These are substantive differences which have strongly influenced how mobile phones and the Web have been used for social networking. There are legal implications that arise from these differences such as:
* Who is held accountable for slander or libel?
* What constitutes protected speech?
* What are reasonable expectations for private communication?
Mobile phones also have obvious limitations, such as a small screen size, limited keyboard and often intermittent or poor network connectivity.
Increasingly, however, so-called "smart-phones" have overcome previous limitations of processing power and storage, and provide a powerful computing environment. In addition, mobile phones now provide several advantages over their larger and more stationary computing device cohorts.
Engagement of multiple senses.
Through the use of haptic technologies, the sense of touch can be applied to social networking. Currently, most interaction in social networking is through visual feedback. By using haptic feedback it is possible to provide interaction through touch. Apple's iPhone and other touch-screen phones already provide opportunities for such experimentation. A user interface combining visual interaction with tactile interaction may become both more immersive and more subtle - more socially appropriate.
In my pocket
My mobile phone is always with me. Through its GPS device, it knows quite precisely where I am. It's my music player, so it knows what music I am listening to. This presents both opportunities and challenges. Since a telephone number is a relatively good identifier - it is linked usually only to one person, there are privacy implications of supplying information linked to that identifier, such as geolocation coordinates, or listening habits. As such devices add features, the phone becomes a more complete repository for personal data linked to a single individual.
When worlds collide
As mobile devices become more full-featured, and provide a more complete user interface, there are more opportunities to immerse the user in an environment where the "real" and virtual worlds of the user are linked.
For example, using Semacode or similar technology it is possible for a mobile phone user to photograph a barcode placed on a real-world object, and have that photographed barcode be decoded as a URL, whose associated Web document will then be opened in the phone's Web browser. Applications such as Wikitude where the phone GPS and camera alone (without recourse to barcodes) provide an even more stunning glance at the future of augmented reality.
A distributed architecture for social networking?
In contrast to the increasingly sophisticated capabilities of mobile phones, the fundamental architecture of the Web has not changed much over the past 10 years.
Existing social networks usually employ a "hub and spoke" model, where the website is the hub of all activity within the network, and where there is a "client" and a "server". Since all traffic must pass through the hub, that site may become a bottleneck. Furthermore, each transaction must pass up one spoke to the hub, and then down another spoke, when the people interacting may be much closer to each other (in network terms) than either is to the hub site.
Mobile phones have become quite sophisticated in the features they provide, and offer serious processing power to software applications. There is the opportunity to create an architecture that distributes the load to the devices sitting in our coats and pockets, rather than solely on massively scalable Web sites. Such an architecture would require better interoperability between social networking sites and mobile devices than we have today, and should remove any dependence on an "always-on" network connection.
The multiple-radio capability of some phones (Bluetooth, NFC, WLAN and GSM/GPRS) allows the formation of a social "web of trust" [8] where people physically co-located can "connect" using a near-field radio, and later access each other's phones over the Internet, based on the initial connection of a local radio. This allows the trust that comes from seeing each other to be extended into the virtual world, where we often cannot see each other.
Conclusions
Mobile social networking involves more than simply replicating existing PC browser-based social networking interfaces in a mobile environment. Social networking systems could benefit from some of the context brought by the technology provided in such personal devices, but must become more aware of the social responsibility inherent in taking advantage of these features. Integrating person-to-person calling devices into a socially-networked Web is not the same thing as displaying the socially-networked Web on a mobile phone.
During the next three to five years industry analysts predict another billion new mobile phone users. When we bring Web-based social networking to mobile phones and these new users, it might be useful to consider that most people on the planet have much more experience with phones than the Web.
www.w3.org/2008/09/msnws/papers/nokia-mobile-social-netwo...
Photo caption:
Speech by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Co-Founder of Tune Group.
NEWS RELEASE
MELBOURNE – THE WORLD’S MOST LIVEABLE CITY MAY HAVE JUST GOT BETTER!
Tune Hotel Melbourne opening November with A$49* launch rate
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 June 2013 - International hotel group Tune Hotels today announced the pre-opening sale of its first Australian property in Melbourne and that the city will serve as its operational headquarters for the Australia and New Zealand region.
The announcement was made here today by Mark Lankester, the Group CEO of Tune Hotels in the presence of the visiting Premier of Victoria, Honourable Dr Denis Napthine. Also present was Co-Founder of Tune Group, who is also Group CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
Tune Hotel Melbourne at 609 Swanston Street, Carlton is conveniently located next to the University of Melbourne, just two streets away from popular Lygon Street and minutes to Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD). The 225-room property will open for customers on 1 November 2013.
To celebrate its arrival, Tune Hotel Melbourne is offering an attractive room rate from just A$49* (US$46 / RM157) per night. The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.
Bookings can be made from 18 June until 28 June 2013 for stays between 1 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to availability of rooms. A total of 1,000 rooms will be made available at that price.
Dr Napthine said: “Melbourne’s new Tune Hotel would open its doors in Melbourne’s CBD in November to coincide with Victoria’s world-famous Spring Racing Carnival.”
Dr Napthine also welcomed the decision by Tune Hotels to set up its Australia and New Zealand Operational Headquarters in Melbourne. “Together, the investment is expected to create up to 100 jobs.”
The Premier is currently leading around 300 Victorian businesses and 450 delegates on a Super Trade Mission to South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur is the mission’s first stop before moving on to other key Asean cities – Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Hanoi, among others.
In a recent ranking of the world's "most liveable" cities, Melbourne took the number one spot for the second year running. The city was awarded perfect marks for education, healthcare, and infrastructure by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
As Australia’s events capital, Melbourne boasts a rich calendar of theatre, sporting and cultural events. Blockbuster annual events include the Australian Open Tennis Championship, Formula One Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and more.
Melbourne is a romantic, stylish, cosmopolitan city with a European feel and hidden city laneways and arcades for visitors to discover hidden treasures, cafes, boutiques, bars and restaurants. The city is also the gourmet capital of Australia with award-winning chefs and a diverse cuisine with unique settings, provincial specialties and world class wine regions within easy access of the city.
A range of diverse travel experiences are available within easy reach of Melbourne in regional Victoria. Whether it’s skiing the Victorian Alps, reclining on picture postcard beaches, sampling award-winning wines or unwinding in luxurious day spas, regional Victoria is replete with immersive experiences year-round.
To add to the celebration, long-haul low cost airline AirAsia X is also running a joint promotion where a one-way flight seat from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne is going from as low as RM329**. Guests have until 23 June 2013 to make a booking for travel between 15 November 2013 and 31 March 2014, subject to the availability of seats. Also on offer are Fly Thru services from Jakarta-Melbourne (from IDR 1,459,000** one-way) and Bangkok-Melbourne (from THB 5,890** one-way), allowing guests to seamlessly connect via Kuala Lumpur.
Guests who would like to travel with extra comfort may also fly on AirAsia X’s Premium Flatbed seats from as low as RM2, 299** from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne. AirAsia X was the first long-haul, low fare carrier to introduce Premium Flatbed seats, which have standard business class specifications of 20” width, 60” pitch and stretch out to 77” in full recline position. Premium seat guests also enjoy premium complimentary products and services including Pick A Seat, Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage, 25kg Baggage Allowance, Complimentary Meal and Pillow & Duvet. For more information and flight bookings, please visit airasia.com.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said: “AirAsia X had been serving the Melbourne route for more than four years now and it is one of our best-selling. I am very pleased that Tune Hotels will now have its presence in Melbourne to give visitors to this wonderful city a truly compelling accommodation alternative. We are sure the Australian market will welcome and embrace Tune Hotels just as they did AirAsia X.”
Commenting on Melbourne as Tune Hotels’ Operational HQ for Australia and New Zealand, Group CEO Mark Lankester said: “We are very excited about Tune Hotel Melbourne as it marks our growing brand’s entry into Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne will be the location for our HQ overseeing Australia and New Zealand operations, working in conjunction with the corporate office in Kuala Lumpur. Given our long term plans for the region, the Australia and New Zealand HQ will be staffed relevantly to oversee and provide central support to Tune Hotels’ properties in Australia and New Zealand.”
“And to celebrate in true Tune Hotels style, we’re offering travellers one of the lowest room rates seen in central Melbourne for years. Tune Hotels is all about offering a great night’s sleep at a great price. Tune Hotel Melbourne will serve domestic business and leisure travellers and visitors from abroad who are looking for great comfort just minutes from Melbourne’s CBD without paying the usual exorbitant rates,” added Lankester.
The basic room rate at Tune Hotel Melbourne is already inclusive of air-conditioning and and/or heating. For an additional A$10, guests will get a pair of towels and toiletry kits and enjoy high-speed wireless broadband and Foxtel TV entertainment.
Tune Hotel Melbourne features an indoor courtyard, a recreational lounge, a restaurant, café/ convenience store, luggage storage, self-service launderette and computer kiosks. It is also equipped with a basement car park, something unusual for city centre hotels in Australia.
The hotel is just two streets away from Lygon Street, more famously known as Little Italy. The central business district, Melbourne Central Train Station and QV Melbourne; one of Melbourne's finest retail, dining and entertainment precincts, is only two tram stops away.
Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation which focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to pass on savings to its guests in the form of super low room rates. Its pay-as-you-use concept lets travellers choose and pay only for amenities that they require to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy.
All Tune hotels feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: 5-star beds and powerful hot showers. The strategically located hotels provide housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, extensive CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard past midnight for extra security.
The group has received almost five million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. Tune Hotels has one hotel in India, 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, and four each in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The company is set to open another property in Japan this year while future projects are planned in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.
For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsAUS and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.
For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.
* Rooms at promotional rates are limited and subject to availability. Promotional rates are limited to double rooms, exclude peak periods, available only on specific dates and only for bookings made via www.tunehotels.com. Advertised rate includes GST and is for room only (excludes comfort package (WiFi, Towel & toiletries and TV) and all optional add-ons). Bookings that are made at the promotional price are strictly non-refundable or changeable. Booking period is 18 June 2013 - 28 June 2013, or until promotional rooms are sold out. Stay period is 1 Nov 2013 to 31 March 2014. No additional charges for booking payments made using PayPal. Additional charges may apply for online bookings paid using credit and debit cards. All amounts are in Australian dollars unless stated otherwise. Refer to www.tunehotels.com for other applicable terms and conditions.
** Promo fares include airport taxes and fees (all-in fares). Flights and fares are subject to availability and are for one-way travel only.
-ENDS-
About Tune Hotels & Tune Group
Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).
About AirAsia X Berhad
AirAsia X is the low-cost, long-haul affiliate carrier of the AirAsia Group that currently flies to destinations in China, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Nepal and the Middle East. The airline currently serves 14 destinations across Asia (Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Kathmandu), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast) and the Middle East (Jeddah) with flights to an additional destination, namely Busan, commencing in July 2013. AirAsia X operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300s, each with a seat configuration of 12 Premium Flatbeds and 365 Economy seats. The airline has carried over 9 million guests since it commenced long-haul in 2007. Our vision is to further solidify our position as the global leader in low-cost, long-haul aviation and create the first global multi-hub low-cost carrier network along with other carriers of the AirAsia Group.
More photos can be downloaded from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.
Media enquiries:
MALAYSIA & INTERNATIONAL
Cymantha Sothiar
Mobile: +6012 3153638
Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com
AUSTRALIA
Brenton Gibbs
Tel: +61 (0)419 828 440
Email: brenton@crookgroup.com.au
Photos were captured at the Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory on the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Dec. 13, 2016, to accompany the feature story below: "Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans." Article online here (and below): goo.gl/viKEZF
Photo + Story by Toshio Suzuki, BLM
----------------------------------------
For the first Americans, and the study of them today, it all starts with a point.
A sharp point fastened to a wooden shaft gave the hunter 13,000 years ago a weapon that could single-handedly spear a fish or work in numbers to take down a mammoth.
For a prehistoric human, these points were the difference between life and death. They were hunger-driven, handmade labors of love that took hours to craft using a cacophony of rock-on-rock cracks, thuds and shatters.
They have been called the first American invention, and some archaeologists now think 3-D scanning points can reveal more information about both the technology and the people.
The Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory at Oregon State University takes up only a few rooms on the ground floor of Waldo Hall, one of the supposedly haunted buildings on campus.
There are boxes of cultural history everywhere, and floor-to-ceiling wood cabinets with skinny pull-out drawers housing even more assets, but the really good stuff, evidence of the earliest known cultures in North America, lives in an 800-pound gun safe.
Loren Davis, anthropology professor at OSU and director of the lab, thinks 3-D scanning, printing, and publishing can circumvent the old traditions of the field, that artifacts are only to be experienced in museums and only handled by those who have a Ph.D.
“We are reimagining the idea of doing archaeology in a 21st century digital way,” said Davis. “We don’t do it just to make pretty pictures or print in plastic, we mostly want to capture and share it for analysis,” he added.
Nearby in the L-shaped lab, one of his doctoral students is preparing to scan a point that was discovered on Bureau of Land Management public lands in southeast Oregon.
Thousands of points have been unearthed since the 1930s in North America, the first being in eastern New Mexico near a town called Clovis. That name is now known worldwide as representing the continent’s first native people.
More recently, though, other peoples with distinctive points were found elsewhere, and some researchers think it means there was differing technology being made at the same time, if not pre-Clovis.
One such location is the Paisley Caves in southern Oregon ― one of the many archaeologically significant sites managed by the BLM.
The earliest stem point from Paisley Caves was scanned at Davis’ lab and a 3-D PDF was included in a 2012 multi-authored report in the journal Science.
Davis estimates his lab at OSU has scanned as many as 400 points, including others from BLM-managed lands in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
More scans would mean a bigger database for comparing points and determining what style they are.
“Ideally, we want to get as many artifacts scanned as possible,“ said Davis. “The BLM offers a lot of access to public data ― this is just another way of doing it.”
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Transforming a brittle piece of volcanic glass, by hand, into a beautiful and deadly 4-inch-long spear point is a process.
In one hand would be a hard shaping rock, or maybe a thick section of antler, and in the other would be the starter stone, which in addition to igneous could be jasper, chert, or any other chippable rock that creates a hide-puncturing level of sharpness.
After what might be hundreds of controlled strokes and rock rotations, the rough shape of a lance or spear tip would take form. Discarded shards of stone would often result in more points, or other useful tools like scrapers and needles.
Clovis points are distinguished by their length, bifacial leaf shape and middle channels on the bottom called flutes. Eventually the repetitive flaking of the point would stop, and the hunter would use precise pressure points to create the flute on one or each side that likely helped slot the finished product into a spear-like wooden pole.
The hunter was now mobile and ready to roam.
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Prior to 3-D scanning, OSU doctoral student Sean Carroll picks up a can of Tinactin, gives it the obligatory shake, and completely covers “one of the oldest technologies in North America” with antifungal spray.
The talc and alcohol from the athlete’s foot remedy helps the software see even the slightest indents in the point, and it rubs right off afterwards.
“I want to scan all the Clovis I can get my hands on,” said Carroll, who came to OSU because of Davis’ 3-D lab and is using the medium as a big part of his dissertation.
Two random items, a power plug adapter and a ball of clay, are placed on each side of the fluted point to give the camera and light projector perspective. The objects create margins that force the structured light patterns to bend and capture more of the point’s surface detail.
Even so, like the hunter rotating the shaping rock, the archaeologist has to rotate the foam square holding the three items. Each scan takes about six seconds.
Carroll and Davis estimate that the learning curve for this process was about 100 hours. One hundred hours of trial and error -- and a lot of watching YouTube videos -- for a finished product that they think is indisputably worth it.
A completed 3-D scan of a point will have about 40,000 data points per square inch. The measurements are so precise, they can determine the difference between flake marks as thin as a piece of paper.
Davis says no archaeologist with a pair of calipers can come close to measuring the data obtained via 3-D, because simply, “there are some jobs that robots are really good at.”
“If the end game is measurements, well you could spend your whole life with a pair of calipers trying to achieve what we can do in 10 minutes,” said Davis.
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Last year, the famous human relative nicknamed Lucy had 3-D scans of her 3.2 million year old bones published in the journal Nature.
In 2015, archaeologists from Harvard University completed a 3-D scan of a winged and human-headed stone bull from Mesopotamia that stands 13 feet high at the Louvre Museum.
And the Smithsonian Institution is currently beta testing a website dedicated to publishing 3-D models from its massive collection, including molds of President Abraham Lincoln’s face and the entire Apollo 11 command module.
All of these new-school efforts are based upon the old-school scientific principles of preservation and promotion.
Rock points, fossils, hieroglyphics -- various forms of cultural assets are susceptible to environmental conditions and not guaranteed to be around forever. Three-dimensional scanning is the most accurate way to digitally preserve these items of merit.
Once accurate preservation is done, there are opportunities for promoting not just science, but specific research goals.
In the case of the Lucy bones, scientists hope that crowdsourcing the 3-D data will help get more experts to look at the fossils and prove that the tree-dwelling ape died from a fall.
When it comes to comparing one specific stemmed point to an entire hard drive of scanning data, BLM archaeologist Scott Thomas thinks the work being done at the OSU lab can move archaeology to a new level.
“The 3-D scanning method blows anything we have done out of the water,” said Thomas.
That ability to compare points can lead to insights on how these hunting tools moved over geography, and even expand theories about how native groups learned new technologies.
“It’s going to be a really powerful tool someday -- not too far off,” said Thomas.
While long-term data analysis may not be the sexiest form of archaeology, holding a 3-D printed stem point is a pretty cool educational tool.
Davis of OSU has incorporated 3-D prints into his classes and said his students are able to make a tactile connection with artifacts that otherwise are not available.
“The students really enjoy these printed and digital models and often say that they are almost like the real thing,” said Davis.
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This spring, Davis is traveling to Magadan, Russia -- aka Siberia -- to inspect and scan some points that may be linked to Clovis peoples.
The goal in Siberia, of course, is to further expand the 3-D database. He is specifically interested in comparing them to stems from a BLM-managed site he excavated in Idaho called Cooper’s Ferry.
As his student, Carroll, begins to clean up and put the scanned points into their individually labeled ziplocked bags, Davis can’t help but mention how much easier international research could be with 3-D scanning.
“You can share cultural resource info with people in other countries and you don’t have to come visit,” he said, adding that Russia isn’t the easiest country to enter.
“It’s as easy as sending an email,” Carroll agreed.
Davis then mentioned his 11-year-old child and how much of school curriculum these days is web-based as opposed to text-based.
“There’s nothing wrong with books, I’m a huge fan of books, but it’s a different way of learning,” said the archaeology professor.
And with that, he made another point.
-- by Toshio Suzuki, tsuzuki@blm.gov, @toshjohn
Best places to find 3-D archaeology online:
-- Sketchfab.com is one of the biggest databases on the web for 3-D models of cultural assets. Institutions and academics alike are moving priceless treasures to the digital space for all to inspect. Two examples: via the British Museum, a 7.25-ton statue of Ramesses II is available for viewing and free download; and via archaeologist Robert Selden Jr., hundreds of 3-D models are open to the public for study, including several Clovis points from the Blackwater Draw National Historic Site in New Mexico.
-- The Smithsonian Institution is bringing the best of American history to a new audience via their 3-D website (3d.si.edu). Amelia Earhart's flight suit? Check. Native American ceremonial killer whale hat? Check. Face cast of President Abraham Lincoln? Check and check -- there are two. And their biggest 3-D scan is still coming: the 184-foot-long space shuttle Discovery.
-- Visitors to Africanfossils.org can filter 3-D model searches by hominids, animals and tools, and also by date, from zero to 25 million years ago.
The sleek website, with partners like National Geographic and the National Museums of Kenya, makes it easy to download or share 3-D scans, and each item even comes with a discovery backstory and Google map pinpointing exactly where it was found.