? The LDS (the Mormons) have an emergency communications system for the Mormon Church:
?
??Amateur radio
When all other communication methods fail, amateur radio (HAM) has proven to be extremely effective and reliable. Amateur radio operators provide their own equipment and expertise, and they practice and prepare to provide emergency communications. [definitions and links to ARES and RACES will be needed].
The church has an emergency communications organization that includes amateur radio operators at church headquarters and select Bishop Storehouses specifically trained to provide Emergency Response Communications (ERC)??
? They use more than just Amateur radio but I just posted the ham part above.? You can see more on their church/religion communications plan at:? LDS Tech
?? I find it very strange and very odd and a bit scary that Mitt Romney wants to do away with FEMA. Plus now since Hurricane Sandy hit he is refusing to talk about his plan to do away with FEMA.? The media has been asking him and he will not say a word about it. ? You would think that he would have to answer.? You would think that he could come up with some sort of statement.? But he just will not answer the questions.? ?? I would think that would hurt? him big time but he refused to release his tax return and that does not seem to have hurt him.
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I once supervised a Compensation Analyst who had learned her craft through professional seminars and workshops.? One result of that education was her favored response when faced with a challenge at work; ?the greatest minds in Compensation say that . . . ?.? ?It took patience to educate this budding practitioner in the difference between classroom / textbook answers and workplace reality.
A while ago I came across an HR blog where the author instructed readers in how to create a merit performance matrix.? Very good stuff, I thought, admiring the technical step-by-step directions, except I knew from long experience that the procedure being described would never work in the real world.?
While it's critical to understand the technical foundations of Compensation methodology and practice, first and foremost practitioners need to anchor themselves in the here and now, to know what will work and not work in their organizations ? no matter what the finest minds in Compensation think.
Why does Compensation theory sometimes clash with workplace reality?
Business realities:? Management will know more about a particular business situation than you do.? What you provide to the decision-making process as a Compensation professional is often limited to your subject area, while management possesses the larger picture ? the perspective of multiple viewpoints. ?Your advice may not fit their business reality, no matter how logical your argument.
Bias of decision-makers: ?Management may feel that they intuitively know the right strategy (they?ve done it before, if-it?s-not-broke-don?t-fit-it mentality, a friend / relation / old college chum suggested an approach, etc.).? Perhaps they read an intriguing article and are now insistent to follow the advice of an author who lacks an understanding of their particular business.? Years ago I worked for a company whose CEO forced HR to implement a particular benefit plan solely because he had read a magazine article.
Problem avoidance: A favored management solution is to do nothing (you?ve exaggerated it, the solution costs too much, there?s still time, etc.).? These senior managers avoid major decisions until the issue bites them in the leg.? In such a situation it can be dangerous to your career if you try to force a decision.
Business culture or model: Some initiatives don?t ?fit? the organization.? For example, Managers with a laid back organization style will not be interested in recommendations to document uniform policies and procedures and have standardized forms for every action.? Picture your head banging against the wall.
Sometimes those experts who teach Compensation techniques fail to ground their instructions with a caution: check this process out in the reality of your workplace before you take a classroom technique and wave it in management?s face.
Another example:
When designing a pay-for-performance merit increase matrix the standard rule is to place the average increase percentage in the cell block most populated by employees (average performance and average position-in-range).?? The sound reasoning for this technique is to better manage the costs associated with that year?s annual increase process.
A lot of years ago I followed that approach in my first compensation leadership role.? I still have a little bump where my head hit the wall.
Here?s the rub; such a technique requires that the matrix change every year, as the analysis demands you study where the average population falls each year.? But management will likely have none of that. They want the same matrix every year, for ease of administration and communication.
Another area that separates the compensation technician from the professional is the ability to deal with what I call the ?softer? side of compensation.? Survey statistics, charts and formulae are very good analytic tools, but management will want to know what it all means and what to do about it.? So the answer isn?t simply reporting competitive data, but taking that next step to help management understand and strategize future action.
The contribution you can make to your organization is in blending technical knowledge (the how-to) with seasoning and experience to understand what will work for your organization, considering culture and management bias.? Technical knowledge will give you the same answer every time, but knowing how to use that knowledge like a craftsman?s tool to aid in achieving business objectives ? that's the key to success as a Compensation professional.
Chuck Csizmar CCP is founder and Principal of CMC Compensation Group, providing global compensation consulting services to a wide variety of industries and non-profit organizations.? He is also associated with several HR Consulting firms as a contributing consultant.? Chuck is a broad based subject matter expert with a specialty in international and expatriate compensation.? He lives in Central Florida (near The Mouse) and enjoys growing fruit and managing (?) a brood of cats.
SYDNEY (AP) ? The father of a teenager who spent 10 hours in a Sydney mansion with a fake bomb chained around her neck revealed Wednesday he might not have called the police had he known it carried an extortion note.
Bill Pulver told reporters he might have paid the unspecified ransom rather than call the police to avoid risking his daughter's safety further.
Pulver was speaking outside the New South Wales state District Court, where investment banker Paul Douglas Peters, 52, appeared for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to charges of breaking into the Pulver residence and committing a serious offense. He faces up to 20 years in prison when the hearing continues Nov. 7.
"If I had known there was an extortion letter, I ask myself the question: Would I have actually rung the police?" Pulver, a wealthy software businessman, said. "I'm really not sure what I would have done," he added. "He very nearly got away with it."
Peters admitted to entering the family mansion wearing a ski mask and wielding a baseball bat on Aug. 3, 2011 before tethering a harmless devise to then-18-year-old Madeleine Pulver, who had been home alone studying for high school exams.
The teen telephoned her father after Peters left the house, unaware that a note was attached to the fake collar bomb demanding an unspecified sum of money and warning that the device would explode if tampered with.
Bill Pulver raised the alarm, sparking a 10-hour police bomb squad operation that determined the device was harmless, and subsequently discovered the ransom note.
Peters, who traveled frequently between the United States and Australia on business, fled to the U.S. and was arrested nearly two weeks later at the Louisville, Kentucky, home of his former wife, Deborah Peters. He was extradited to Australia and has remained in prison custody since.
Two psychiatrists on Wednesday gave differing opinions on Peters' mental state at the time of the incident, which Peters has said he has no memory of.
Psychiatrist Jonathan Phillips testified that he believed Peters was in a psychotic state during the crime. Peters was one of the most difficult and complex cases he had ever assessed, he said.
"It's unusual for a person with a long and seemingly untroubled life and record to then commit an extremely callous and dangerous act," Phillips said.
Phillips said Peters suffered from a bipolar disorder and was in an intermittent psychotic state in the weeks or months prior to the incident.
Psychiatrist Stephen Allnutt said he did not believe Peters was suffering from psychosis.
"When you look at the (police) interview ... he's a fairly intelligent man who doesn't demonstrate any symptoms of mental illness," Allnutt said.
Revenge of the Telecomies and the Motor City?s PR nightmares du jour.
By Peter M. De Lorenzo
(Posted 10/30, 10:45 a.m.) Detroit. It?s appropriate that our publication date falls on Halloween this week, as the PR nightmares continue in and around this business, starting with, of course, the ridiculous give and take between our ? cough, hack ? illustrious presidential candidates, who continue to wrangle over the auto bailout while removing what little shred of credibility is left from either side of the discussion. They?re both in denial and saying anything they can to capture the highest office in the land and as the days wind down to next Tuesday, the words disgraceful and disgusting come to mind to describe their respective camps? behavior. But hey, that?s how politics is defined here in the good ol? U.S. of A. It?s a revolving cesspool of bad actors, empty promises and enough stupidity to make us collectively ask every four years: Is the best we can muster? Really?
Somehow this business and life its own self (kudos to Dan Jenkins and Dr. Bud for that phrase) comes down to Public Relations. Let me clarify that, good Public Relations. You either have it, need it, want it or wish you had it. It?s that simple. Because when you?re living in a swirling maelstrom of bad PR, life can be a brutal, never-ending slog of recrimination and self-flagellation.
Let?s start with Ford. Their swirling maelstrom of crap starts and ends with a Consumer Reports magazine crew that is out to crucify the company for egregious affronts to consumers both real and imagined. Did Ford go too far with its drive to be the most forward-thinking, touchy-feely techie car company in the land? Yes, of course they did. And the result? MyFord Touch has not been well received in ConsumerVille. (Ah yes, consumers. Their tolerance level for anything the least bit challenging is zero. But then again their credibility isn?t always impeccable, as their personal enlightenment too often leaves much to be desired. After all, from this illustrious group came the brilliant posse who bought Hummer H2s, and then proceeded to complain to J.D Power about the vehicle?s fuel economy in surveys. Nicely done.)
Have the Consumer Reports editors used its jihad against Ford to call attention to them and their publication? Absolutely. That?s what the magazine does on a regular basis, sort of like the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety does with its standing offer from NBC News to run crash tests that will look appropriately horrifying on the Today Show. But has the magazine thrown an entire company under the bus ? a company that?s building some of the best mass-produced vehicles in the world ? because of an electronics interface? Yes.
And therein lies Ford?s PR problem. Ford?s PR maestro, Ray Day, and his team, have their work cut out for them. The natural tendency in the PR biz is to always overreact, but so far, I haven?t seen that from Dearborn. They?re building excellent cars and trucks and they know it, and they?re tweaking MyFord Touch by the hour to make it better, but then again that may not be enough. A major reassessment of how Ford handles its consumer interface inside their vehicles may be in order. Until then, Ford will have to bend over backwards to gain positive consumer word of mouth.
How about the denizens of the Silver Silos? GM PR?s nightmare (besides me) begins with the fact that there?s a major disconnect between the excellent cars and trucks they build (for the most part) juxtaposed against the fact that the ?Government Motors? moniker is still hanging over the company like a giant scythe.
This is the one thing that vexes CEO Dan ?Captain Queeg? Akerson more than any other. It fuels negativity amongst a large section of the populace that still bristles over it, it prevents the company from luring top-notch talent to its executive ranks, and it?s killing the company image-wise. Akerson desperately wants out from under that tag, and he can?t wait until the U.S. Government divests itself from the company?s shares (which will happen sometime after the election and before the end of first Quarter of 2013, count on it).
In the meantime, powerless to do anything about GM?s ?Government Motors? cross to bear, Akerson careens around GM like a bull in a china shop, making bad decisions in rote fashion while operating in a blissful state of tone-deafness that defies description. His PR handler, Selim Bingol, who was brought to Detroit by drive-by former CEO Ed Whitacre, has had a tough time of it to say the least. But then again, all of these telecom executives who have wandered into this business through GM have had a tough time adjusting.
Why? Well it might have something to do with the fact that their arrogant attitude is unrepentant and jaw dropping to witness, even in this town of wildly self-inflated egos. It?s not in the Italians? league out in Auburn Hills ? not even close, in fact ? but it?s staggering to observe in its own right. The Telecomies just think the business is child?s play, and they don?t understand the fuss. Captain Queeg has repeatedly gone on record as saying that anyone can ?do? product, that there?s nothing to it and the constant hand-wringing about whether you?re a ?car guy? or not is juvenile and boring. Meanwhile Akerson and his hand-selected minions are threatening to drive GM and its True Believers ? the men and women keeping GM in the fight ? right over the edge.
You can always tell when Akerson has had a particularly bad spate of personally negative PR, because he inevitably donates a car or money to local charity to emphasize to all that he?s one with the community and that he cares. The money is welcomed, but the cynicism behind it isn?t. Akerson doesn?t live here and he?s not about to. And camping in a downtown hotel doesn?t constitute being one with the community either. It will never disguise the fact that he?s a carpetbagging interloper and an ?Accidental Tourist? of a CEO who will leave GM in a little over a year to collective shouts of ?thank goodness? and ?OMG, finally!?
I don?t envy Bingol in this mess, but then again he signed up for it, and it?s his unique burden to bear. (And that I am Public Enemy No. 1 in his and Akerson?s book is just fine with me, because I couldn?t care less. The High-Octane Truth is not for the faint of heart.)
In the end there?s no amount of PR wrangling that?s going to make Captain Queeg into a lovable, respected CEO. That?s just GM?s ? and Bingol?s ?? particular PR nightmare du jour.
And then there?s Fiat-Chrysler. The quasi-American, Italian-owned enterprise fueled by the talents of the True Believers out in Auburn Hills toiling in the shadow of their Italian overlords is cookin?. It?s quite a deal Sergio & Co. has worked out, actually. The True Believers do all of the work and make all the cash for the company, while Sergio and his merry men take all of the credit. And thus it was ever so throughout Sergio?s illustrious career. (The Vice-President denies that Sergio was ?gifted? Chrysler in his latest stump speeches, but the fact of the matter is that?s exactly how it went down.)
And why fight it? After all Sergio is The Exalted One, the eternal Smartest Guy in the Room, and not a discouraging word shall penetrate his fa?ade of greatness, because, if it weren?t for him Chrysler would be a faded memory by now, right? Right.
That his persona of invincibility and aura of greatness are all calculated is beyond most people, especially a shocking number in the media, but I digress. It is what it is, and his personal PR bag man, Gualberto Ranieri, operates in a kind of netherworld where his only job is to prevent discouraging words from ever crossing Sergio?s bow, which in this town is a cakewalk, what with the slobbering media hanging on Sergio?s every word and all. (In Italy it?s a completely different story, as Sergio has worn out his welcome and the agitation directed toward him is ramping up by the day.)
You would think that Ranieri would be, for all intents and purposes, Marchionne?s personal valet, someone seen and never heard, and that?s sort of how it works. (Except for this week when Ranieri had to correct the bumbling Romney campaign for a blatant falsehood about Jeeps being built in China. Will they eventually build Jeeps in China? Of course they will. Just not soon enough to be part of the discussion in this lame-ass Presidential campaign.)
But then again Ranieri is a graduate of the renowned Unctuous Prick University of PR (Bingol graduated summa cum laude from there as well) and he wears his boss?s condescending attitude and extravagantly overwrought hubris like a Day-Glo pocket square, with the only thing missing from his suit being the battle ribbons awarded to him by Sergio for his years of faithful and meritorious service.
That Ranieri marches to his boss?s beat is to be expected. That?s what professional PR people do. With Marchionne setting the tone by viewing anyone and everything that came before him in this town as being irrelevant, pedantic and well, inconsequential, Ranieri is in perfect lockstep with his boss, and the condescension plainly oozes right out of him.
Ranieri is also the only PR guy in this town devoid of the nightmares visited upon the others. His ?What, me worry?? attitude is perfectly in sync with his boss?s view of the world, and no negatives are even off to the horizon to threaten their blissful state. To that I say, ?We?ll see,? because as the European situation darkens further, the burgeoning calamity that is becoming Fiat may just derail Sergio?s grandiose plans for world domination for good.
The PR nightmares in this town change like the shifting winds, and the PR operatives engaged in dealing with them understand that implicitly. Some have it goin? on, and some will eventually leave their posts still searching for a clue. It doesn?t make it any easier by any means, but that?s how the game is played.
As I said, when it comes to good PR you either have it, need it, want it or wish you had it.
It really is that simple.
And that?s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
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See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.
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By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links:
It really is not so hard to start investing in commercial real estate. You should be sure to research your options before making a move. This article teaches you helpful advice so that you can make the most out of your experience.
Eliminate as many definitions of default (i.e., actions that constitute default) as possible before beginning to negotiate a lease with a new tenant. So a tenant can?t default on a lease they sign with you in this type of situation. A default is frustrating and costly.
You will need to have all of your financial information if you want to procure a commercial real estate loan. Without financial statements, a bank cannot verify your income and will not allow you to borrow money.
Your investment may require a large amount of time to begin with. First, you will need to search for an opportunity and purchase the property, as well as perform any repairs that are required. Do not give up because this process takes too much of your time. The rewards will show themselves later.
Focus on a single investment each time. Your center of attention should be placed on a specific investment, whether it is an office building, land, apartments, retail, etc. You can?t be successful if you try to focus on more than one type of real estate investment at a time. Choose one type of investment and put all your attention on making it successful. It is always more advantageous to be great at one thing than sub-par with many.
Borrowers have to order appraisals with commercial loans. Your bank will refuse the appraisal if you try to submit it. Make sure you have all your paperwork in order before you even apply for your loan.
Use your digital camera to take pictures of the property. The picture needs to show defects like carpet spots, wall holes, or discolored sinks and tubs.
Get the credentials of any person who will be doing an inspection on a property you are trying to buy. Pay particular attention to the credentials of any pest-control experts because many of them are not licensed. This can help you avoid headaches after the sale.
To find a trustworthy real estate firm, inquire about their methods on how they make a lot of their money. The representative?s answer should be open and honest and should make it clear whether or not the interests and principles of the firm are in line with yours. You should understand how they will look out for your interests, and when they might shift their focus to their own profit.
As you already no doubt know, smart commercial real estate investing takes time and research. This article has provided you with a good foundation for you to use in your deals, but continue to learn more and keep up with new opportunities in your area.
MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexico is putting up wind power turbines at a breakneck pace and the expansion is pitting energy companies against the Indians who live in one of the windiest spots in the world.
The country is posting one of the world's highest growth rates in wind energy, and almost all of it is concentrated in the narrow waist of Mexico known as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where winds from the Pacific meet winds from the Gulf of Mexico, spawning places so wind-blown that one town's formal name is simply "Windy."
The largely indigenous residents of the Isthmus complain that the wind farms take control of their land, affect fish and livestock with their vibrations, chop up birds and pit residents against each other for the damage or royalty payments. They also claim they see few of the profits from such projects.
President Felipe Calderon has made the inauguration of wind parks one of the main focuses of his administration's ambitious pledge to cut Mexico's carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2020, and on Tuesday ? as he has done before ? he stopped by the state of Oaxaca to inaugurate a new clutch of wind turbines, praising the extra income they provide for some farmers.
"Yes, you can fight poverty and protect the environment at the same time. This is a clear example," Calderon said at the opening ceremony.
But as in the past, he did so under tight security, as local protesters threatened to mar the inauguration. The president's office normally publishes a detailed schedule of his planned activities, but didn't do so with Tuesday's inauguration, keeping it under wraps until the event took place.
So far in 2012, Mexico has posted a startling 119 percent increase in installed wind-power capacity, more than doubling the 519 megawatts it had last year, the highest annual growth rate listed in the magazine Wind Power Monthly's "Windicator" index. Mexico had only 6 megawatts when Calderon took office in 2006.
While Mexico, with a total of around 1.3 gigawatts of wind power, is still a tiny part of the world's estimated 244 gigawatt capacity, it offers an insight into what happens when the industry focuses overwhelmingly on large farms dominated by large companies that are concentrated in a small, desirable area.
It has been mainly Spanish firms like Iberdrola, Union Fenosa and Gamesa, and U.S. firms like Sempra Energy, that have built the huge wind towers that now crowd the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, leaving the local population feeling invaded. Only 4 of Mexico's 17 wind farms are located outside the isthmus.
It raises the question of whether bigger is always better.
"We are asking these multinationals to please get out of these places," said Irma Ordonez, an activist from the Zapotec Indian town of Ixtepec, Oaxaca. "They want to steal our land, and not pay us what they should."
"When they come in they promise and promise things, that they're going to give us jobs, to our farmers and our towns, but they don't give us anything," said Ordonez, who traveled to Mexico City in October to protest outside the offices of a Mitsubishi Corp.
Industry sources say the distrust is unmerited, given the potential benefits to the poverty-stricken farming and fishing towns on the isthmus.
The latest battle focuses on a huge, 396-megawatt off-shore wind farm planned for a narrow spit of land in a lagoon near the village of San Dionisio del Mar, Oaxaca.
A source close to the project, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the project had been approved by village assemblies, would have little impact on fishing activities in the lagoon and would contribute an amount equal to about half the township's annual budget in coming years in compensation and royalties.
But opponents and supporters engaged in a tense standoff outside the town in October, when a group of men blocked roads to prevent a planned demonstration against the wind farm.
Saul Celaya, a Huave Indian farmer and San Dionisio resident, said the lagoon project would damage mangrove swamps where fish, shrimp and other sea life breeds, and scare off the fish that locals depend on.
"Just when they were doing soil studies, there was a mass die-off of fish," Celaya said, adding that projects opponents "are being intimidated, they're afraid to leave their houses, they're threatened."
The industry source denied the company was intimidating anyone, but acknowledged the project had suffered some delays due to disputes within the community.
Others say it didn't have to be this way, big corporations pitting villagers against villagers. There are proposals to have local towns start their own wind farms, so that they could decide where they would be situated and where profits should go.
Rodrigo Penalosa, an activist who supports the town of Ixtepec's proposed 100-megwatt community wind farm, noted that "the community has already approved it. The problem is that the (government) Federal Electricity Commission won't allow the community project to get access to the network.... but it does allow the multinationals access."
Sergio Oceransky, whose Yansa Group is trying to help kick-start the community wind project, said the commission is asking for financial guarantees of millions of dollars "that no community in Mexico could meet."
"These are requirements that are basically designed to ensure that only projects presented by multinationals can compete," said Oceransky, who claims that such guarantees are not required by federal law.
The commission did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
With a limited transmission capacity for the projects, and the last lots of line capacity being auctioned off, the situation is becoming critical; what could be a sterling example of alternative energy production is threatening to become a permanent political dispute in southern Mexico.
(Reuters) - Las Vegas Sands Corp and federal prosecutors have discussed a possible settlement of the U.S. Justice Department's probe of the casino company's alleged violations of money laundering laws, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the case.
Federal prosecutors are investigating the casino company to determine whether it had failed to report suspicious financial transactions of two of its big customers to the U.S. government, the Journal said late on Sunday.
The customers moved "millions of allegedly ill-gotten dollars through the casino operator's accounts," the Journal reported, citing court filings in two federal cases.
In July, lawyers for Las Vegas Sands tried to persuade prosecutors to drop the case. Prosecutors, however, countered that they could indict the casino operator on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the Journal said. (http://link.reuters.com/nym63t)
Federal prosecutors from the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office met company officials on Thursday, according to the Journal. It said Las Vegas Sands could pay a fine and change the way it handles customer money in order to avoid prosecution, the Journal reported.
The prosecutors and Las Vegas Sands are yet to reach an agreement on the settlement, the daily said.
A spokesman for Sands said earlier in the year that the company was innocent and was cooperating with the probe, the Journal reported.
Both Las Vegas Sands and the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney's office were unavailable for comment.
Sands Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson, whom the Journal said had not been a subject of the investigation, declined to comment to the newspaper.
(Reporting By Vrinda Manocha in Bangalore; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
In most ways, the Brother MFC-J4510DW is a fairly typical office-oriented inkjet MFP for its price range. It's a little slow, a little short on paper capacity, and packed with all the MFP features you're likely to need. However, it stands out for something you probably wouldn't expect at this price: It can print on up to tabloid size (11 by 17 inch) paper. The sheets have to be manually fed, one at a time, but if you have only an occasional need to print at tabloid size, this could be enough to make the printer your best choice. It's certainly enough to make it Editors' Choice.
The MFC-J4510DW is similar in many ways to the Editors' Choice HP Officejet 6700 Premium e-All-in-One that I reviewed earlier this year. Both are small enough to serve as personal printers in any size office, but both also offer Ethernet and Wi-Fi as connection choices, so they can serve as shared printers in a micro office. Beyond that, both let you print and fax from, as well as scan to a computer, including over a network, both work as standalone copier and fax machines, and both let you print from or scan to a USB memory key.
Like the HP 6700, the MFC-J4510DW offers Web-connected features and mobile printing. It will let you print from and scan to an assortment of online services, including Google Docs and Dropbox, as well as print from a smartphone or tablet with a Wi-Fi connection, using AirPrint or Brother's own print app. It even offers Wi-Fi Direct for easy connection. Very much worth mention is the 3.7-inch touch screen on the front panel, which makes it easy to both change settings and give commands.
Paper Handling and Size
The MFC-J4510DW's paper handling is a bit of a mixed bag, but much more of a plus overall than a minus. For scanning, as with most office-oriented MFPs, it offers both a letter-size flatbed and an automatic document feeder (ADF) that can handle up to legal size paper. The ADF in this case is only 20 sheets, which is on the low side but should be enough for most micro offices.
For printing, the MFC-J4510DW offers only a 150-sheet input capacity, which is enough for most personal use or for light-duty use for multiple users on a network. Very much on the plus side is that it includes a built-in duplexer (for printing on both sides of a page) and a manual feed slot in the back.
The manual feed slot not only lets you print on different paper stock without having to swap out the paper in the tray, it lets you print on paper as large as 11 by 17 inches (although you can't use automatic duplexing with tabloid size paper). This counts as more than a little unusual for a printer that measures just 7.3 by 18.9 by 11.4 inches (HWD).
The printer manages this paper handling trick very simply. Instead of orienting the paper tray with the long edge of letter-size paper parallel to the sides of the printer, as is typical, it rotates the tray 90 degrees. That puts the 11-inch side of the paper parallel to the front and back of the printer, and it lets you feed tabloid-size paper through the back, with its 11-inch side as the leading edge. You have to feed the pages manually, one sheet at a time, but if you need to print on tabloid size paper only occasionally, and particularly if you print only one or two page documents, that won't be a problem.
Setup and Speed and Output Quality
For my tests I connected the MFC-J4510DW to a wired network and installed the driver and other software on a system running Windows Vista. Setup was standard.
The printer's speed is best described as within the typical range for the price. I timed it on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), at an effective 3.3 pages per minute (ppm), which is essentially a tie with the Officejet 6700, at 3.4 ppm.
As another point of reference, the somewhat more expensive Editors' Choice Brother MFC-J6710DW , a true tabloid-size printer, came in at 4.1 ppm. (By true tabloid size, I mean it has two paper trays that can each hold up to 11 by 17-inch paper without needing manual feeding.) Photo speed with glossy photo paper is a reasonably fast 1 minute 7 second average for 4-by-6 photos.
The MFC-J4510DW's output quality is a touch below par overall, primarily because of sub-par graphics quality, but even the graphics output qualifies as acceptable. Text quality is at the low end of the range where the vast majority of inkjets fall, but easily good enough for most business needs.
Graphics output is good enough for internal business needs, but graphics on plain paper in my tests suffered from noticeably dull color and some minor banding. Depending on how much you value vibrant, eye-catching color, you may or may not consider the output suitable for, say, PowerPoint handouts. Photos on glossy photo paper were comparable to typical drug store prints, which, by definition, qualifies as true photo quality.
Ultimately, the MFC-J4510DW earns lots of points for its features, from its ADF to its touch screen controls, and at least doesn't lose any for its speed and output quality. What earns it Editors' Choice, however, is that it offers a useful, if minimal, level of tabloid-size print capability at an extraordinarily low price.
If you print lots of documents at tabloid size, you'll be better off with the more expensive Brother MFC-J6710DW. If you never need to print at tabloid size at all, you can save a little by getting the HP Officejet 6700. If you absolutely must print at tabloid size, but only occasionally and only for short documents, however, the Brother MFC-J4510DW may well be the perfect fit.
More Multifunction Printer Reviews: ??? Brother MFC-J4510DW ??? Samsung CLX-3305FW ??? Samsung CLX-4195FW ??? Samsung CLX-6260FW Color Multifunction Printer ??? HP LaserJet Enterprise 500 Color MFP M575dn ?? more
Sudden cardiac death in Ontario under age 40 is exercise dangerous?Public release date: 29-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jane-Diane Fraser jfraser@hsf.ca 613-569-4361 x273 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Research dispels myth that sudden cardiac arrests happens mainly during sports
It's a tragic news story that often makes headlines a young, healthy, fit athlete suddenly collapses and dies of cardiac arrest while playing sports.
Dr. Andrew Krahn of the University of British Columbia, presenting a study at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress about sudden cardiac death in Ontario, suggests this is a problem that warrants attention, but says don't blame the sports.
Reviewing coroners' reports, Dr. Krahn and a team of researchers found there were 174 cases of presumed sudden death in Ontario in 2008 in people aged two to 40 years.
Heart disease was present in 126 cases (72 per cent), 78 per cent of which was unrecognized. The majority of victims were male (76 per cent) between the ages of 18 and 40 (90 per cent).
With sudden cardiac death, people who seem to be perfectly healthy can die suddenly. Each year up to 40,000 Canadians die of sudden cardiac arrest. A significant proportion of these cases occur in otherwise healthy, young individuals.
Dr. Krahn's research dispels a myth that sudden cardiac death often takes place during rigorous physical activity. In fact, he found the majority of events (72 per cent) occurred at home.
Only 33 per cent of events involving children/adolescents and just nine per cent of events in adults occurred during moderate or vigorous exercise.
"Put it this way: If you have a 13-year-old kid who is not the star athlete who dies at home watching TV, it doesn't make the news," said Dr. Krahn. "But if the same kid is a high school quarterback or hockey star, then it's covered."
Regardless of the location of the cardiac event, Dr. Krahn believes his research sheds some light on this issue.
"This research gives us an idea of the scope of the problem there are almost 200 young people who die suddenly every year in Ontario. A good proportion of them have unrecognized heart disease. So the question is: How can we catch this before it happens?"
He suggests more attention be paid to possible warning signs such as fainting. He believes that teachers, coaches and an aware public may be key to detecting risk, ensuring prevention and formal medical evaluation and therapy.
"I would advocate for careful screening of people who faint, using questionnaires and education of healthcare professionals so that when warning signs present themselves, they recognize them and this information gets passed on to the right people," he says.
A nationwide screening program would be the most effective measure but there isn't currently such a thing in Canada, says Dr. Krahn. "Unfortunately, we lack a simple, inexpensive test that is ideally used for screening," he says. "There is a global debate about the merits of screening, which is not performed in most countries."
Still, there are other measures that could potentially save lives, feels Dr. Beth Abramson, a Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher.
Training in CPR and the placement of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) in schools, arenas and gyms could save the lives of many of these people, she says.
"Our goal is to make AEDs as available as fire extinguishers in public places from Yellowknife to St. John's," says Dr. Abramson. "The odds of surviving a cardiac arrest can increase to up to 75 per cent when early CPR is used in combination with an AED in the first few minutes." Since 2006, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has helped place more than 3,000 AEDs in schools and other public spaces.
The importance of AEDs was demonstrated this past summer when NHL hockey player Brett MacLean suffered a cardiac arrest at an arena in Owen Sound, Ont., during a pick-up game with friends. Players immediately performed CPR on the ice, while a spectator retrieved the AED in the arena.
Through their action, the 23-year-old survived and is currently recovering his home town of Port Elgin.
###
The Canadian Cardiovascular Congress is co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.
Statements and conclusions of study authors are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Foundation or CCS policy or position. The Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society make no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca), a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living and advocacy.
Healthy lives free of heart disease and stroke. Together we will make it happen.
For more information and/or interviews, contact the
CCC 2012 MEDIA OFFICE AT 416-585-3781 (Oct 28-31)
OR
Diane Hargrave Public Relations
416-467-9954 ext. 104
dhprbks@interlog.com
Congress information and media registration is at www.cardiocongress.org
After October 31, 2012 contact:
Jane-Diane Fraser
Heart and Stroke Foundation
(613) 569-4361 ext 273
jfraser@hsf.ca
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Sudden cardiac death in Ontario under age 40 is exercise dangerous?Public release date: 29-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jane-Diane Fraser jfraser@hsf.ca 613-569-4361 x273 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Research dispels myth that sudden cardiac arrests happens mainly during sports
It's a tragic news story that often makes headlines a young, healthy, fit athlete suddenly collapses and dies of cardiac arrest while playing sports.
Dr. Andrew Krahn of the University of British Columbia, presenting a study at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress about sudden cardiac death in Ontario, suggests this is a problem that warrants attention, but says don't blame the sports.
Reviewing coroners' reports, Dr. Krahn and a team of researchers found there were 174 cases of presumed sudden death in Ontario in 2008 in people aged two to 40 years.
Heart disease was present in 126 cases (72 per cent), 78 per cent of which was unrecognized. The majority of victims were male (76 per cent) between the ages of 18 and 40 (90 per cent).
With sudden cardiac death, people who seem to be perfectly healthy can die suddenly. Each year up to 40,000 Canadians die of sudden cardiac arrest. A significant proportion of these cases occur in otherwise healthy, young individuals.
Dr. Krahn's research dispels a myth that sudden cardiac death often takes place during rigorous physical activity. In fact, he found the majority of events (72 per cent) occurred at home.
Only 33 per cent of events involving children/adolescents and just nine per cent of events in adults occurred during moderate or vigorous exercise.
"Put it this way: If you have a 13-year-old kid who is not the star athlete who dies at home watching TV, it doesn't make the news," said Dr. Krahn. "But if the same kid is a high school quarterback or hockey star, then it's covered."
Regardless of the location of the cardiac event, Dr. Krahn believes his research sheds some light on this issue.
"This research gives us an idea of the scope of the problem there are almost 200 young people who die suddenly every year in Ontario. A good proportion of them have unrecognized heart disease. So the question is: How can we catch this before it happens?"
He suggests more attention be paid to possible warning signs such as fainting. He believes that teachers, coaches and an aware public may be key to detecting risk, ensuring prevention and formal medical evaluation and therapy.
"I would advocate for careful screening of people who faint, using questionnaires and education of healthcare professionals so that when warning signs present themselves, they recognize them and this information gets passed on to the right people," he says.
A nationwide screening program would be the most effective measure but there isn't currently such a thing in Canada, says Dr. Krahn. "Unfortunately, we lack a simple, inexpensive test that is ideally used for screening," he says. "There is a global debate about the merits of screening, which is not performed in most countries."
Still, there are other measures that could potentially save lives, feels Dr. Beth Abramson, a Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher.
Training in CPR and the placement of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) in schools, arenas and gyms could save the lives of many of these people, she says.
"Our goal is to make AEDs as available as fire extinguishers in public places from Yellowknife to St. John's," says Dr. Abramson. "The odds of surviving a cardiac arrest can increase to up to 75 per cent when early CPR is used in combination with an AED in the first few minutes." Since 2006, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has helped place more than 3,000 AEDs in schools and other public spaces.
The importance of AEDs was demonstrated this past summer when NHL hockey player Brett MacLean suffered a cardiac arrest at an arena in Owen Sound, Ont., during a pick-up game with friends. Players immediately performed CPR on the ice, while a spectator retrieved the AED in the arena.
Through their action, the 23-year-old survived and is currently recovering his home town of Port Elgin.
###
The Canadian Cardiovascular Congress is co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.
Statements and conclusions of study authors are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Foundation or CCS policy or position. The Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society make no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca), a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living and advocacy.
Healthy lives free of heart disease and stroke. Together we will make it happen.
For more information and/or interviews, contact the
CCC 2012 MEDIA OFFICE AT 416-585-3781 (Oct 28-31)
OR
Diane Hargrave Public Relations
416-467-9954 ext. 104
dhprbks@interlog.com
Congress information and media registration is at www.cardiocongress.org
After October 31, 2012 contact:
Jane-Diane Fraser
Heart and Stroke Foundation
(613) 569-4361 ext 273
jfraser@hsf.ca
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Ed Miliband?s speech on mental health today is a significant ? and good ? moment in the campaign to improve understanding and treatment of mental illness in Britain.
It is perhaps particulalry significant that this is his first major policy speech since he launched the theme of One Nation Labour at the party conference a few weeks ago. Because if one of the messages of One Nation is that nobody should be left behind, then clearly there?s a lot of work still to be done to ensure those with mental health problems still get to play a full and fulfilling role in society. Let?s be honest about this ? amid the austerity programme, and the cuts, Britain is going backwards on this.
That is why equally significant is the economic focus of Ed?s speech, and the observation that the question is less ?what is this going to cost?? than ?how much are we losing as a country by failing to tackle this?? So the issue for campaigns like Time to Change, of which I am an ambassador, is not just breaking down the stigma and the taboo and the discrimination, important though that is. It is also about persuading government and business that economically we pay a price in not doing so.
Ed tells the story of a constituent who, at a vulnerable moment in his life, as a relative died and his marriage collapsed, was lured into heroin addiction. The cost to the State since is infinitely larger than the few hours of grief counselling and therapy that might just have kept him from falling into that horrible addiction, and ruining his life for years. Yet still therapy tends to be seen as a luxury add on, not the genuine need it may be. When commentators like Janet Street-Porter describe depression as ?the latest must have accessory? you realise how far we still have to go in the fight for decency and proper understanding. Would she say the same about AIDS, or cancer, or a broken neck, or would she say these are ?proper illnesses? whereas mental illness is not?
Campaigns like Time to Change, and charities like MIND and Rethink Mental Illness, can help to change attitudes. But even in an era of greater cynicism about politics, do not underestimate the impact of the leader of the Opposition stating so clearly his Party?s commitment to a new approach to mental health. Likewise, Nick Clegg has made clear his strong support for Time to Change and for better services and understanding for mental ill health. The media has a role to play too and some play it well, and were rightly praised in today?s speech. But mental illness is not deemed to be a ?sexy? subject and therefore it tends to get relegated down the news agenda. The media today has a responsibility to give proper coverage to the speech Ed Miliband is making, and to launch a proper debate around it.
Change comes when people fight for change to happen. In recent weeks, Sue Baker of Time to Change and I have visited several of our top banks, and have been impressed by their desire to do something about changing attitudes of bosses and staff alike. Ed pointed out how a different approach by British Telecom led to them saving rather than losing money, by investing in proper mental health care for their staff, and by actively fighting discrimination.
If we can adopt that approach not just as individuals or as companies, but as a nation, we will all be better off. Done properly, it will save money, boost productivity, strengthen the UK socially and economically.
When I spoke at the ?Hear Us? group of Mental Health users in Croydon last week, I said that I thought we were a decade or two behind the tipping point moments which led to huge attitudinal change in the campaigns for racial equality, women?s equality, gay rights. Hopefully Ed?s speech has accelerated that process. I now look forward to hearing from Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron on the subject.
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OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada expects to maintain real economic growth of at least 2 percent through 2017, but lower commodity prices will cause government revenues to be a little lower than expected, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Monday.
The consensus of private sector forecasts, surveyed by his department, is for 2.1 percent growth this year, unchanged from the consensus forecast in the March budget. For 2013, the forecast is cut to 2.0 percent from 2.4 percent, but for 2014 it rises to 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent.
Flaherty told reporters after meeting private sector economists that lower prices have affected the nominal level of gross domestic product (GDP), which is not adjusted for inflation.
He said that, in turn, was hitting government revenues a bit, but that Canada remained on track to balance its budget in the medium term.
"The October survey underlines the renewed weakness we have seen ... especially in Europe and the United States, our two largest trading partners," he said.
"In particular, Canada has been affected by volatile and lower commodity prices, which are dampening government revenue growth. This will have an impact on the fiscal outlook that was presented in Economic Action Plan 2012 (the March budget)."
He said the government would control what it can control, which is its spending, and that it did not plan a new round of economic stimulus measures.
"We remain committed to returning to balanced budgets in the medium term. We continue to control the growth in government spending."
The mood among the economists was not all "doom and gloom", Flaherty said. He said that despite problems in the United States, he was encouraged by modest growth there and by signs of life in the housing market, which will help Canada's economy, especially lumber producers.
Flaherty added: "On average we're doing OK on real GDP growth, and certainly relative to the rest of the industrialized world we're doing relatively well on real GDP growth."
(Reporting by Louise Egan and David Ljunggren; Writing by Randall Palmer; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson; and Peter Galloway)
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