Daredevil Skydiver to Attempt 23-Mile Supersonic Jump Sunday

UPDATE: Daredevil Felix Baumgartner's Red Bull Stratos capsule has lifted off for today's supersonic skydive attempt. Full story:?Daredevil Begins Balloon Flight for World's Highest Skydive

This story was updated at 11:05 a.m. ET.

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner is once again ready to attempt the world's highest skydive today (Oct. 14), and plans to break the sound barrier while he's at it.

After two delays due to high winds, Baumgartner is expected to don a spacesuit-like custom pressure suit and ride a capsule 23 miles (37 kilometers) into the sky, only to jump into the void in pursuit of the skydiving record.

The high-altitude balloon carrying Baumgartner's capsule will liftoff from Roswell, N.M., a place more commonly associated with a rumored UFO crash. The record-chasing mission, called Red Bull Stratos, is sponsored by the energy drink of the same name.

If all goes according to plan, the 43-year-old Baumgartner will go supersonic during his 5.5 minutes of freefall back to Earth and reach speeds of up to 690 mph (1,110 kph). He would be the first person to break the sound barrier without an aircraft, and do it on the 65th anniversary of the?first supersonic flight by Chuck Yeager in the X-1 rocket plane in 1947.

"I want to break the speed of sound, no matter what it takes," Baumgartner said in a statement. "As long as we have a spare balloon and more launch days, I'm good." [Photos: Skydiver Attempts Record 23-Mile Supersonic Jump]

You can watch the skydive live?here on SPACE.com.

Baumgartner woke early Sunday morning to don his pressure suit and climb inside the custom Red Bull Stratos capsule that will take him on the three-hour ascent to his jump altitude. High winds at the 700-foot level delayed balloon inflation work during the prelaunch countdown, but mission officials remained hopeful that conditions would clear in time for a jump attempt. The decision to begin inflating the gossamer balloon occurred just before 9 a.m. MT

Red Bull Stratos meteorologist Don Day said in a statement that Baumgartner's balloon was expected to be ready to launch by sunrise (6:45 a.m. MT, 8:45 a.m. EDT/1245 GMT), if weather conditions allowed. The launch window extends through 11:45 a.m. MT (1:45 p.m. EDT, 1745 GMT), he said.

Baumgartner is chasing a skydiving record that has stood for 52 years. In 1960, U.S. Air Force Capt. Joe Kittinger rode a balloon-toted capsule to an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,333 meters), setting the bar for all skydivers to come. Kittinger serves as an advisor on Baumgartner's mission, which is also aimed at studying "how the human body copes with the extreme conditions at the edge of space," according to a description.

"We are going to get your goal and your dream accomplished Felix," Kittinger radioed Baumgartner from Red Bull Stratos Mission Control, according to a mission Twitter update.

For Red Bull Stratos, which organizers have touted as a jump from the "edge of space," Baumgartner aims to leap from a height of 120,000 feet (36,576 m). While the jump will set the record as the world's highest skydive, it would still be short of the widely recognized boundary of space, which is an altitude of 62 miles (100 km).

Still, Baumgartner's Red Bull Stratos skydive would rack up a series of records. In addition to the highest skydive and the first supersonic freefall, the skydive would mark the longest-duration freefall and the world's highest balloon flight. He will fall through two of the four major layers of Earth's atmosphere during the dive.

The risks are high.

Baumgartner must be careful jumping from his capsule to avoid damaging his pressure suit or helmet. The air at his target altitude is too thin to breathe. The pressure difference could also cause bubbles to form in his bloodstream, commonly referred to as "boiling blood."

A loss of control during his descent could cause Baumgartner to lose consciousness. He has staged two successful practice jumps ? from heights of 71,581 feet (21,818 m) and 97,146 feet (29,610 m) ?respectively, earlier this year to rehearse for Sunday's attempt.

But conditions have to be right for Baumgartner to even try to attempt is record-breaking skydive.

The 55-story balloon that will be used to lift his capsule is extremely thin, about the thickness of a plastic sandwich bag. Strong winds could tear the balloon, Red Bull Stratos officials have said.

To avoid balloon damage, Baumgartner will only liftoff if winds at or near the liftoff site do not exceed 2 mph (3.2 kph).

High winds were the reason Baumgartner and his Red Bull Stratos team skipped a chance to try the skydive last Monday (Oct. 8), and then aborted an actual attempt on Tuesday.

Red Bull Stratos officials are optimistic for better weather on Sunday.

"I'm here with my family and friends who are all super supportive. I go to the gym and try to keep myself fit," Baumgartner said. "I've done all of my homework. Had all of my briefings with the team I trust. All we are waiting for now is the weather."

You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter?@tariqjmalik?and?SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/daredevil-skydiver-attempt-23-mile-supersonic-jump-sunday-052941747.html

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Sydney Sixers all set to unleash pacers ? Cricket News Update - Bettor

Sydney Sixers all set to unleash pacers ? Cricket News Update

Australia?s Sydney Sixers will be counting on the fearsome pace battery to outdo the star-studded IPL sides in the high profile Champions League T20 tournament, said Sixers? star Steve Smith, on Friday.

Sydney Sixers, the 2011-12 Big Bash champions, posses a fearsome pace arsenal featuring the likes of young guns Mitchell Starc, Patrick Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and veteran all-rounder Shane Watson.

Both Starc and Cummins starred for the mighty Aussies in the recently concluded ICC World T20 Championship in Sri Lanka, and must be high on confidence, while Watson clinched the Player of the Tournament accolade in the mega event, for his startling performances with the bat and ball.

The Sixers will be, however, without ace pacer Brett Lee and Doug Bollinger. Lee has opted to play for IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the esteemed league, while Bollinger, along with ?Mike Hussey and Ben Hilfenhaus, will turn out for former CLT20 champs Chennai Super Kings.

But the absence of the duo is not bothering Brad Haddin and men, who are focused on exploiting Indian batsmen?s inability to play short-pitched deliveries.

"Our big aim is to really get stuck into the Indian batters, I'm not sure all of them like it up around their ears," Sixers' star Steve Smith told AAP.

Watson is coming into the league at the back of an impressive show in the World T20, and is likely to play key role in Sixers? CLT20 campaign over the next couple of weeks. But skipper Brad Haddin urged the whole team to perform.

"If we want to go far in this competition, we've got to play well as a team," said the wicketkeeper batsman.

The fourth edition of the esteemed T20 league, featuring the domestic champions from around the world, gets underway in Centurion, South Africa, today, October 13, 2012.

Ten teams, divided into two groups of five each, will participate in the tournament. Group A comprises Australia?s Perth Scorchers, IPL sides Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils, South Africa?s Titans and Pool 1 qualifier Auckland Aces (New Zealand).

Sydney Sixers have been drafted in Group B, which also features IPL sides Mumbai Indians (defending Champions), Chennai Super Kings (2010 champions) and South Africa?s Highveld Lions.

Sixers will kick start their CLT20 campaign against Yorkshire, in Cape Town tomorrow, Sunday, October 14, 2012.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Sydney-Sixers-all-set-to-unleash-pacers-Cricket-News-Update-a194546

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CME seeks approval to offer currency futures in Europe

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Teachers Fear Change and Hate Testing ? Don't They ...

?Oh you teachers, you just want everything to stay the same ? what?s wrong with choice? ?Bloody teachers. ?Typical that they don?t want testing ? trying to hide that they?re all useless. What about our poor kids? ?Gnash gnash.?

That?s what I hear, in various forms, over and over again in the debate about charter schools, and it?s an ill-informed, simplistic and?sometimes?downright rude accusation against a profession that cares deeply for the education and well-being of children.

Let me just be clear about something:

Teachers do not fear change ? they embrace it.

Teachers do not object to choice ? they love it.

Teachers do not fear professional development ? they want to up-skill.

Teachers do not oppose testing children ? they test regularly and value how it helps them plan how to move kids forward.

What teachers object to is change that is wrong. ?Change that will not help kids or that will help a small handful at the cost to many, many more.

Let?s look at some of the claims.

Testing ?Is The Work Of The Devil

Nope, not even close. Testing can be fabulous. ?National Standards, however, are not so hot. ? Don?t confuse the two. ?National Standards data is out of date before parents see it. ?It doesn?t tell them or anyone about how children are progressing. ?It has no reference to value-added at all.

What would be of more benefit than National Standards?

• More time and resources to do classroom testing and plan from it so it is immediate and current and is used for each child to move forward right now. ?Timely feedback is very important.
• More training on testing methods so all teachers understand what good testing and quality analysis look like.

In other words, we want any testing we do to be effective and useful, and help children progress.

Teachers Are Useless and Don?t Want To Improve

Don?t be silly, of course we like learning!

If you believe this, you don?t know many teachers. ? Some are brilliant, some are great, some are good, and a few could do with improving. ?Like any other profession, in fact. ?Rather than beating up on an entire profession, would it not be better to add to the opportunities for professional development, fund more Masters courses, allow for more mentoring and so on? ? Make sure teacher training courses are to a very high standard and are teaching trainees about different methods of pedagogy, know in detail about how children learn and the stages they generally pass?through, know in detail about dyslexia, ADD, autism, Aspergers, behavioural problems, TESOL, and dealing with distressed children. ?Teachers do a great job and we want to do even better ? bizarrely, we rather like learning, and?funnily enough we want to do our very best for our kids.

Teachers Don?t Want Choice ? Same Schools For Everyone

Actually, no. ?We all know there is room for choice and that it?s a good thing. ?We know that no one system fits all. ? Which is why, in New Zealand, we already have Special Character schools, Steiner Schools, home schooling, private schools, bilingual schools, correspondence school, Te kura kaupapa Maori, State?integrated?schools, special schools, Health Units, and teen parent units, single sex schools, day schools, and boarding schools. [1] ?I really can?t see why another choice is needed. ?Anything that charters are deemed to be doing fabulously can be justified and then rolled out into the school system we have.

?And They Don?t Even Want Experts, Just Because They Don?t Have a Teaching Qualification!

Yes we do. ?We already have them! ?We already allow for experts or teachers without formal teaching qualification to work in our schools under the Limited Authority to Teach. ?It?s not the case that we don?t want anyone at all without a teaching degree, more that we don?t want people with no teaching degree and no experience and no expertise, but cheap ? which is what can happen.

For The Love Of All Things Holy, Please Don?t Let Things Change

Man, oh man, do people really believe that!

? said no teacher ever.

There are lots of things we would love to change. ?Off the top of my head:

• What about employing more admin staff and assistants so that teachers can spend more time on the educational stuff and less time printing, putting displays up, putting readers back and getting the next lot, and so on.
• Have more teacher aides, and a system for them to get qualifications and training, so that special needs children have more support.
• We would love to change that fact that so many children come to school hungry.
• We would love to change the fact that many kids don?t even have decent stationery ? and I am not just talking low decile schools here.
• We would love more brilliant resources like the Numeracy Project.
• We would love to have more art, music, Te Reo and sport specialists in school teaching kids or teaching us to teach kids.
• We would love to change the fact that we are losing our libraries and librarians.
• We would love there to be no school fees.

The list goes on. ?(Please feel free to add more. in the comments below.)

So What Is All The Harrumphing About, Then??

Working together to make things better ? that?s what makes us happy.

It?s not choice people are arguing against, it?s the addition of a choice that will either do nothing or little to help, or prove more detrimental than good. [2] Our children are not a commodity to be traded with, and nor is their education.

You may not agree with the fight against charter schools,?but be sure of one thing ? we want to improve things.

It?s not change we fear ? it?s negative change.

Teachers, parents, children, and all interested parties, the only way to progress our system is for all of us to research, query and learn, and for us to share ideas and listen to each other. ?So read up, ask questions, look into what is already available in NZ, find out what is working elsewhere, talk to kids, ask questions of?teachers?and politicians, and help identify changes that really will help progress our children further and faster.

Let?s Work Together To Improve and Progress.

That?s surely what we all want?

References and further reading:

[1]?http://www.minedu.govt.nz/Parents/AllAges/EducationInNZ/SchoolsInNewZealand/SchoolTypes.aspx

[2]?http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/National_Release.pdf

[2]?http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/27/19hehir_ep.h29.html

[2]?http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1210/S00049/new-research-shows-charter-schools-have-potential.htm

[2]?http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104029/pdf/20104029.pdf

[2]?http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/MULTIPLE_CHOICE_CREDO.pdf

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Source: http://saveourschoolsnz.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/teachers-fear-change-and-hate-testing-dont-they/

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SAAEA: Bridging finance: the solar sector's lifeline?

Bridge financing is a familiar and often vital instrument in bringing PV projects of all sizes to fruition.

If you are building a PV project then you probably want a piece of flat land with plenty of sunlight. But when it comes to paying for the development, the chances are you could do with a bridge.

Bridge financing, which is basically a loan to tide a developer over until money starts to come in for a project, is a common and frequently crucial ingredient in funding plans for PV plants.

It is particularly useful for developers that do not have deep enough pockets to fund for themselves the often-lengthy period needed for construction, grid connection and collection of receipts under a power-purchase agreement (PPA).

Since smaller firms are less likely to have large cash reserves than large businesses, bridge financing has been proposed as a way for small engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies to offer ?pay on delivery? terms comparable to those of larger competitors.

?Bridge financing provides small firms the ability to offer better credit terms to a client because they can get cash on day one, with cash rebates as collateral, to purchase equipment and pay for labour,? says Heatspring Magazine?s Guide to Bridge Financing for Solar EPC Contractors.

Purchasing equipment

?They can use this cash to purchase equipment and can bill the client later.?

Banks are usually happy to enter into PV bridge financing arrangements provided there is sufficient guarantee of income, often in the form of rebates or incentives such as feed-in tariffs, at the end of the project.

In the US, Builder?s Solar, an outfit dedicated to selling solar PV packages to general contractors for residential installations, even offers an off-the-shelf bridge financing deal from Umpqua Bank?s GreenStreet lending division, giving away unsecured loans up to USD$15,000.

Elsewhere, manufacturers with sufficient financial muscle, such as Phono Solar, which is owned by the Chinese engineering conglomerate Sumec Group, are able to offer their own bridge financing packages. Not just for minor projects, either.

Last month, for example, it was reported that Q-Cells North America provided a bridging loan to seal the $18 million backing for a 5MW project by SolarVision in Ohio, US, alongside investors New Energy Capital Cleantech Infrastructure Fund, Finance Fund and JPMorgan Chase.

Bridge financing

And back in July, the Indian PV maker Waaree launched a bridge financing scheme to complement its long-term finance packages for solar projects eligible for PPAs.

?Waaree?s mission is to make renewable energy affordable and accessible to all,? said Hitesh Doshi, the group?s chairman, in a statement.

Over the years, bridge financing has been instrumental in bringing some of PV?s biggest projects to fruition.

In April, for example, Deutsche Bank announced it had restructured an ?83 million bridge financing package offered in 2011 for the construction of one of the largest PV plants in Italy, S.A.G. Solarstrom?s 48MW Serenissima project in Canaro.

Given the prevalence of bridge financing across PV projects at all levels, it does not seem far-fetched to ask whether this form of support could be extended more widely throughout the value chain.

Cost-reduction path

After all, many manufacturers, particularly of technologies such as thin film or CPV where there is a clear cost-reduction path, could claim to be almost certain of a return to profitability once the current glut of Chinese crystalline silicon panels is exhausted.

However, say analysts, it would be take a brave bank indeed to offer anything like bridge financing to most of today?s PV makers.

?Bridge financing is rather common on projects but that is because they have a clear, objective outcome,? says IHS Emerging Energy Research solar power advisory analyst Josefin Berg.

?For a company looking for this kind of backing, for finance investors it could be interesting but they would have to be risk prone. If you look at the German companies that have gone bankrupt, many had been trying to find interim financing solutions since 2008, and couldn?t.?

Logan Goldie-Scot, of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, adds that for a manufacturer to hope to secure bridge financing or similar support ?is probably a bit too optimistic.?

Value chain

He says: ?At the moment most of the solar manufacturing companies along the value chain are operating at a loss, largely because they are working below their operating margin because there is this huge overcapacity in the industry.?

With many PV vendors currently having to sell their wares at cost or below-cost rates, not only are manufacturers currently a risky loan proposition, but in a number of cases also candidates for takeover or bankruptcy over the next year, Goldie-Scot adds.

?There is too much capacity for the market at the moment, which is why everyone is suffering. I would be surprised if many of these solar companies would be able to get bridge financing,? he says.

?For a project developer the economics are different because you have a project finance model and so a bridge finance facility definitely works better.?

Source: http://saaea.blogspot.com/2012/10/bridging-finance-solar-sectors-lifeline.html

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Don?t Let Privacy Fear Defeat Innovation

Survival in a harsher age. That's why we evolved to fear for our privacy. Without somewhere secret to sleep, defecate, or have sex so someone couldn't run up an club us while we were vulnerable. Times have changed but we carry the fear like a vestigial wing. If we don't stay conscious of our bias towards privacy, it could retard the progress of innovation.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hUn5Xia7dR8/

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Apple Butter Arts & Crafts Festival set in Redlands

REDLANDS - The history of the Apple Butter Arts and Crafts Festival, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, is a community-wide event that began in 1968.

Now, 44 years later, the festival lives on with the church's famous homemade apple butter as the main attraction along with a variety of artisans and craft vendors, a used book fair, children's book fair, bake sale, entertainment, opportunity drawings and snack bar.

There will be a bounce house for children at this family friendly event.

The event is open to the public.

Admission and parking is free at the church, 1207 W. Cypress Ave. in Redlands.

The fresh batch of apple butter will be offered for sale in

Zion Aimut stirs a 40-gallon pot of boiling apple butter in preparation for Saturday's Apple Butter Arts Crafts Festival at First Lutheran Church in Redlands. (Courtesy photo)

pint, half-pint and quarter-pint jars. The butter was created from natural ingredients and prepared by a couple dozen volunteers from the congregation on Sept. 28 and 29.

Donna Barnes, who along with husband Mac Barnes, coordinate the annual festival, says it took more than 20 cases of apples (Braeburn and Grannys) along with more than 200 pounds of sugar and nine jars of cinnamon to create this year's apple butter.

The apple butter was cooked for almost nine hours in two copper lined pots sitting atop a hot wood fueled fire behind the parish hall that produced 70 gallons of apple butter.

As the volunteers stirred both pots, the contents gradually transformed from a light, runny liquid into a smooth, dark brown

spread suitable for spreading over toast, bagel or your favorite dessert.

The original 30-gallon kettle used in the cooking dates back to 1959 when the late Norma Tee and her late mother Beulah Freebersyser had it shipped from Missouri to Oak Glen where the Tee family worked at Camp Yolijwa. They later sold the apple butter they made at First Lutheran as members of the congregation.

Church members then decided to host an annual fall event where crafts made by members and the Tee family apple butter would be sold at a big parking lot event that then Pastor John D. Foerster and member Florence Ford thought would be a good community outreach.

Matt Tee, a lifelong member of First Lutheran who jokingly recalls helping make apple butter while in the womb, was busy last Saturday helping stir the pot his mother brought to the church four decades ago and separating lids for the apple butter jars.

Current member Marilyn Pace was among the crafters at that first fair in 1968, two years after the congregation moved into its new sanctuary at San Mateo and Cypress across from Smiley Elementary School.

"Something like this helps the congregation," said Nolan Bolyarde, a member of First Lutheran for more than 40 years and a regular festival volunteer.

Current member Melanie Hendrickson remembers working as a teenager in the snack bar with her grandparents.

Starting in 1998, outside crafters, artisans and boutique vendors were invited to join members in having a booth at the festival, sharing a percentage of their profits with the church to help fund its various ministries, including community non-profit groups.

This year the booth operators will sell their wares in more than 30 new EZ-Up canopies that were donated to the church, providing shade and comfort for workers on a warm fall day.

For more information, call the church office at 909-793-2267 or visit the website at www.firstlutheranredlands.org

Source: Mike Murphy

Source: http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/ci_21690889/untitled?source=rss_viewed

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