Nokia phonebook

Transferring data from your previous phone

There are several ways to transfer contact and other information when upgrading to a new phone. The most convenient method depends on:

* the phone models involved
* the type of information you are transferring
* the types of backup systems you have been using
* whether or not you are changing your operator or service provider.

Common methods of transferring data are:

* Transferring phone numbers via SIM card
* Transferring data via Memory Card
* Transferring data via Bluetooth
* Transferring data via PC

Transfer via PC is the most effective, but it initially requires more effort to set up. You will need to download and install PC Suite software on your compatible PC and ensure that a number of variables line up, including PC Suite version, Windows operating system, and connection method compatibility.

Transfer via memory card is the easiest method as long as both models support the same size of memory card. SIM card transfer is a simple method for transferring phone numbers only.

Transferring phone numbers via SIM card

SIM card transfer makes sense if you are only transferring phone numbers. Copy the phone numbers to your SIM card, remove the SIM card from your previous phone, insert it into your new phone, and store the phone numbers in your new phone's memory. For basic phone models without additional memory, the phone numbers may already be stored on the SIM card.
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What is a SIM card? Your SIM card is the small card with a notched corner that is inserted into your phone and allows your phone to establish a network connection. Provided by your operator or service provider, the SIM card includes your account and network information and a limited amount of memory.

Instructions for copying phone numbers to and retrieving them from your SIM card are phone model-specific and provided in your phone models' user guides. (Refer to your previous model's user guide for information on copying data and your new model's user guide for information on retrieving data.)

For many Nokia phone models, however, the process goes something like this:

1. With your previous phone, select Contacts

2. Select Options -> Mark All

3. Select Options -> Copy to SIM direct.

4. Select the contact details (for instance All) that you want to copy

Once the contacts have been copied, remove the SIM card from your previous phone, insert it into your new phone, and copy the contacts to your new phone's memory:

5. Select Contacts

6. Select Options -> SIM directory

7. Select Options -> Mark All

8. Select Options -> Copy to Contacts

Please note:

* In some cases, SIM card transfer may modify the appearance of the contact information. For instance, names may be shortened or multiple phone numbers for the same contact may appear as separate contacts after transfer.
* In some cases, you may also be able to transfer text messages with your SIM card.
* SIM card transfer also usually works if you are changing phone model manufacturers. In most cases, you can store information from another manufacturer's phone on your SIM card and transfer it accurately to your new Nokia phone's Contacts file.
* Since your SIM card is provided by your operator or service provider, using your SIM card to transfer data may be tricky if you change operators at the same time as you change phone models. The best thing to do is copy the information before ending your service contract with your previous operator or service provider.
* Depending on the number of contacts you have stored, you may have to perform SIM card transfer more than once. Usually SIM cards have memory to store several hundred contacts at a time.

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Transferring data via Memory Card

What is a memory card? A memory card is a removable memory card that you can use to store many types of data, including documents, photos, music, videos, and messages.

Many newer Nokia phone models have a slot for memory card in one of two sizes: standard or reduced-size. If you're not sure, you can check if there is memory card slot in your phone and the size supported from your phone's user guide.

Some of your phone's data may already be stored on your memory card, but in most cases at least some of your phone's data will be stored in your phone's built-in memory.

Instructions for transferring data from your phone's memory to your memory card are phone-model specific and are provided in your user guide. Look for information on:

* Copying/moving messages
* Copying/moving the contents of your Gallery (images, videos)
* Copying/moving music, tones, or other audio files
* Copying/moving documents

Copying or moving contacts, calendar items, add-on applications*, or games* may not work smoothly with a memory card. For these, try moving the information via Bluetooth or PC.

Once you have copied the data you want to your memory card, simply remove it and install it in your new phone. You can either leave the data on the memory card or move it to your new phone's memory.

Please note:

* If your previous phone supports a standard memory card and your new phone model supports a reduced-size memory card, use the reduced-size memory card to transfer the data. You will need to use an adapter to insert the reduced-size memory card into your previous phone model. This adapter may be included in your phone's sales package.
* If your memory card is already full, you may need to delete some data, transfer some data to your new phone for storage, or use another memory card with available storage to copy data from your previous phone's memory.

* Not all applications or games are compatible with all phone models. Check with the provider of the application for phone model compatibility. Information on free applications from Nokia is included on the phone model's Support pages: select your phone model from Product support.
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Transferring data via Bluetooth

What is Bluetooth? Bluetooth is a technology that allows two compatible devices, such as phones and PCs, to communicate wirelessly without the need for a line-of-sight connection. Many of Nokia's current phone models support Bluetooth wireless connections.

Instructions for transferring data via Bluetooth are phone-model specific and are provided in your user guide. All Nokia phone models with Bluetooth support transfer of data one item at a time.

Some of Nokia's newest phone models feature a built-in application called Data Transfer or Data Mover that allows you to transfer an entire Contacts, Calendar, or Gallery folder (Gallery contains images, sound clips, and video clips) via Bluetooth from one compatible Nokia phone to another. Open the application and follow the onscreen instructions to move the supported data formats from any other compatible phone. Compatible phones include all Nokia phones based on S60 software.

Please note that you cannot transfer emails, multimedia messages, or text messages using the Data Transfer or Data Mover applications.
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Transferring data via PC

Nokia offers free software, called Nokia PC Suite, that allows you to transfer data from your phone to a compatible PC via a data cable or a wireless connection. From your PC, you can then transfer the data to your new phone.

Will PC Suite work for me? Transfer via PC Suite can be very effective, but it requires a little effort to set up, and there are a number of variables that can affect how smoothly it will work.

Use PC Suite if:

* You are transferring data to another phone of the same model

or

* Both your previous and new phone models support PC Suite version 6 or later
* Your PC runs on Windows XP or 2000, and
* Your PC and phone support the same connection types: USB cable, Bluetooth, and/or infrared

PC Suite will not work if:

* Your phone models support different versions of PC Suite (for instance your previous phone supports PC Suite 4.8 or PC Suite for Nokia 6600, and your new phone model supports PC Suite version 6 or later)
* Your PC's operating system differs from the Windows operating systems supported by your phone's correct PC Suite version
* Your PC does not support the connection types supported by one or both of your phones.

In practice, this means that the information from Nokia phone models released prior to 2004 cannot be moved to new Nokia models via PC Suite. However, all Nokia phone models released today use the same version of PC Suite, meaning data transfer during phone model upgrade will become increasingly seamless into the future.

To find the correct version of PC Suite for your previous phone model, new phone model, and PC operating system, please visit step-by-step PC Suite download. Go through the tool once for your previous model and once for your new model and check to see if the versions offered match.

If the versions do not match, you may not be able to use PC Suite to transfer data from one phone to another. You can find the latest information on the intercompatibility of PC Suite versions at updating PC Suite.

To find information on the connection methods supported by Nokia phone models, see features supported by your phone or your phone's user guide.

Instructions on downloading and using PC Suite (version 6 or later) are provided on the PC Suite pages and the PC Suite user guide.

Children and Smoke Alarms

In spite of recent news events about children sleeping through them, smoke alarms and home escape planning are still a vital part of survival from fire. Smoke alarms have been and still are the cornerstone of fire safety technology in the home.

Statistics point to a fifty percent reduction in fire fatalities since the introduction of smoke alarms into the home. Although 90% of all residences have smoke alarms today, no smoke alarms were present in 42% of residential structure fires where fatalities occurred. Smoke alarms were present in 58% of fatal residential structure fires, but only operational in 37% of those fatal fires. That means that most often where smoke alarms are present in a fatal fire, the smoke alarm is nonfunctional due to dead or missing batteries.

However, the recent news events remind us of the need to continue research in fire safety and seek to improve on successful technologies such as smoke alarms. The USFA has recognized the need for a vigorous and timely exchange of information between the nation's fire safety stakeholders. It is important that the USFA and its fellow fire safety related organizations share information in order to analyze and disseminate appropriate and accurate information to the public and fire safety education specialists throughout the United States.

USFA and its partners are currently reviewing existing literature and studies from both foreign and domestic sources. USFA is also looking to identify and support relevant testing groups on this issue. Partners, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL), are currently reviewing criteria for establishing such testing.

What is imperative at the moment is for our citizens to understand the need not to rely solely on smoke alarms as the entire answer to escaping from fire. These recent news events serve to reinforce the need for home escape planning. Smoke alarms are a tool in the planning process. Parents need to clearly understand their supporting roles in the escape plan. After going over the plan with your family, you should conduct a walkthrough of the plan. When you feel comfortable with your plan, hold a fire drill at night (activate your alarm) while your children are sleeping so that you and they can determine the appropriate response to a smoke alarm.

Smoke alarms and automatic sprinklers do save lives but they are just tools in the home escape process. We will continue to conduct research and promote new fire safety technologies but families need to remember that while technology is an integral part of the process, the maintenance of that technology (e.g. regular testing, replacing batteries, etc.) and incorporating planning and participation in their use will be the key to saving lives.

Smoke Alarms – Why, Where, and Which

A smoke alarm is critical for the early detection of a fire in your home and could mean the difference between life and death. Fires can occur in a variety of ways and in any room of your home. But no matter where or how, having a smoke alarm is the first key step towards your family's safety.

This information is not intended to be all inclusive, but it is intended to inform the reader about some of the safety aspects and importance of having and maintaining working smoke alarms.

Why are Smoke Alarms Important?

Every year in the United States, about 3,000 people lose their lives in residential fires. In a fire, smoke and deadly gases tend to spread farther and faster than heat. That's one reason why most fire victims die from inhalation of smoke and toxic gases, not as a result of burns. A majority of fatal fires happen when families are asleep because occupants are unaware of the fire until there is not adequate time to escape. A smoke alarm stands guard around the clock and, when it first senses smoke, it sounds a shrill alarm. This often allows a family the precious but limited time it takes to escape.

About two-thirds of home fire deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms are considered to be one of the best and least expensive means of providing an early warning of a potentially deadly fire and could reduce the risk of dying from a fire in your home by almost half.
Where Should Smoke Alarms be Installed?

Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home, outside sleeping areas, and inside bedrooms.

A smoke alarm should be installed and maintained according to the manufacturer's instructions. When installing a smoke alarm, many factors influence where you will place it, including how many are to be installed. Consider placing alarms along your escape path to assist in egress in limited visibility conditions. In general you should place alarms in the center of a ceiling or, if you place them on a wall, they should be 6 to 12 inches below the ceiling.
* Install a working smoke alarm on every level of the home, outside sleeping areas, and inside bedrooms.
* Replace smoke alarm batteries at least annually, such as when resetting clocks in the fall or spring.
* Test all smoke alarms in your house once a month.
* Do not place a smoke alarm too close to a kitchen appliance or fireplace, as this may result in nuisance alarms.
* Avoid locating alarms near bathrooms, heating appliances, windows, or ceiling fans.
* Replace smoke alarms that are more than 10 years old. Smoke alarms don't last forever.
* Develop and practice a fire escape plan, because working smoke alarms and a fire escape plan will increase your protection in case of a fire.

Which Smoke Alarm Type is Better?

Although there are several choices to make in selecting the right smoke alarms to buy, the most important thing to remember is that smoke alarms save lives. For that reason, you should install a smoke alarm if your home does not have one.

Smoke alarms may contain different or multiple sensors

There are two main types of smoke alarms, which are categorized by the type of smoke detection sensor, ionization and photoelectric, used in the alarm. A smoke alarm uses one or both methods, sometimes with a heat detector, to warn of a fire.

Ionization detectors contain a chamber with two plates that generate a small, continuous electric current. When smoke enters the ionization chamber, the smoke particles disrupt the current flow, which triggers the alarm.

Photoelectric detectors use a light beam and light receptor (photocell). When smoke is present between the light and receptor, depending on the type of smoke chamber configuration, the reduction or increase of light on the photocell sensor triggers the alarm.

Smoke alarms may perform differently

Both ionization and photoelectric detectors are effective smoke sensors. Even though both types of smoke detectors must pass the same tests to be certified to the voluntary standard for smoke alarms, they can perform differently in different types of fires. Ionization detectors respond quickly to flaming fires with smaller combustion particles; photoelectric detectors respond more quickly to smoldering fires. There are combination smoke alarms also that combine ionization and photoelectric detectors into one unit, called dual sensor smoke alarms.

The amount of time a person may have to escape depends on many factors, such as the type of fire, location of the fire, and the closest smoke alarm.

Smoke Alarm Sounds

Do not waste any time saving property. The fire has already developed and the closest smoke alarm has detected the smoke.
Escaping

It may be smoky; getting low may make it easier to breathe and see. Smoke contains toxic gases which can disorient you or, at worst, overcome you.

The time it takes to get out depends on many factors including mobility, helping others, escape route, time of day, smoke, fire, and the location of the fire relative to you.
Exiting the Home

Once you are out of the home, never re-enter the home. ONCE OUT – STAY OUT!

The type of fire, slow smoldering or fast flaming, can determine the amount of time you have to escape before being overcome by smoke, heat, and toxic gases. A slow smoldering fire may go undetected for a long period of time before it erupts into dangerous flames and high heat. A fast flaming fire has a very short amount of time before flames and heat become intense. In either type of fire, once out – stay out.
Fast Moving Flaming Fire

Fast flaming fires don't leave much time for escape. An ionization smoke alarm may be seconds faster than a photoelectric smoke alarm, and those seconds will count in a fast moving flaming fire.

In a flaming fire:

* A fire escape plan will help reduce the amount of escape time required for you and your family to get out safely.
* These types of fires can develop rapidly; leave the home as fast as possible because the flames, heat, and toxic gases will become too intense in a short time.
* If your primary escape path is blocked by smoke, flames, and heat, use your secondary escape method, such as an alternative door or window.
* Smoldering fires develop slowly. A photoelectric smoke alarm can be minutes faster than an ionization smoke alarm in responding to a smoldering fire. Regardless of the type of smoke alarm, as soon as the smoke alarm sounds, leave the home as fast as possible.

Smoldering Fire

Smoldering fires develop slowly. A photoelectric smoke alarm can be minutes faster than an ionization smoke alarm in responding to a smoldering fire. Regardless of the type of smoke alarm, as soon as the smoke alarm sounds, leave the home as fast as possible.

In a smoldering fire:

* A fire escape plan will help reduce the amount of escape time required for you and your family to get out safely.
* When the smoke alarm sounds, leave the home as fast as possible; it is unpredictable when the smoldering fire may burst into a flaming fire.
* These types of fires produce a lot of smoke; getting low may make it easier to breathe and see. The smoke contains toxic gases which can disorient you or, at worst, overcome you.
* If your primary escape path is blocked by smoke, flames, and heat, use your secondary escape method, such as alternative door or window.

What Features Come on Smoke Alarms?

In addition to the type of smoke detection sensor, ionization and photoelectric, used in the alarm, smoke alarms can be powered differently or be interconnected or single station alarms. Considering all of the available options will enable you to select the smoke alarms that may work best in your situation to effectively detect a fire.
Power

Smoke alarms can be connected to the home's wiring system, battery powered, or a combination of both. Smoke alarms most often fail to alarm because of missing, drained, or disconnected batteries. A good reminder to replace the batteries in smoke alarms is in the fall or spring when resetting the clocks.

For older homes, battery-only smoke alarms are the simplest to install. For homes under construction, smoke alarms are typically connected to the household wiring (hard-wired). Smoke alarms connected to household wiring with battery back-up will provide protection even during power outages. Consider upgrading smoke alarms to hard-wired with battery back-up during a renovation or remodeling project.

If your smoke alarm begins to chirp, signaling low battery power, replace the batteries immediately to prevent you and your family from being unprotected. Also make sure that everyone in the house understands how important it is to have working batteries in every smoke alarm and how dangerous it is to remove the batteries even for a short time. Smoke alarms with sealed lithium batteries can last up to 10 years; after 10 years, the entire unit is disposable.
Interconnection

Interconnected smoke alarms may provide improved protection and offer more escape time in a fire. This type of smoke alarm allows all smoke alarms to sound if one has detected smoke. With interconnected smoke alarms, a fire in the basement, for example, will trigger the closest smoke alarm and alert all the occupants in the home by sounding all the smoke alarms. Not all homes have interconnected smoke alarms. Prior to 1989, existing homes typically had independent single-station, battery-only-powered smoke alarms. After 1989, new homes included hard-wired, interconnected smoke alarms.

Interconnected smoke alarms are typically connected using a wire, but newer wireless technology is available that allows smoke alarms to be interconnected without using wires. This allows easier and less costly upgrade to interconnected smoke alarms for older homes. Not all homes may need interconnected smoke alarms. Small, single-level homes may not benefit from interconnected smoke alarms because of the close proximity between smoke alarms.

Features on smoke alarms for your home:

* Depending on your home, smoke alarms can be powered in one of several ways.
o House wiring
o House wiring with battery back-up
o Replaceable batteries, such as 9 volts
o Sealed long life batteries; smoke alarms are disposed of after 10 years.
* Interconnected smoke alarms may offer quicker escape time and improved audibility.
o Hard-wired interconnected smoke alarms can be found in most homes built after 1989.
o Wireless interconnected smoke alarms are an alternative for older homes using single-station smoke alarms.

Which Smoke Alarm to Install?

Guide to selecting the smoke alarms to protect you and your family

Because both ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms are better at detecting distinctly different yet potentially fatal fires, and because homeowners cannot predict what type of fire might start in a home, use these guidelines to help best protect your family:
BEST

* IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SMOKE ALARM INSTALLED IN YOUR HOME, GET ONE AND INSTALL IT.
* Install a working smoke alarm on every level of the home, outside sleeping areas, and inside bedrooms.
* Install both ionization and photoelectric type smoke alarms.
* Install interconnected smoke alarms.
* Install smoke alarms using house wiring with battery back-up.

Better

* IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SMOKE ALARM INSTALLED IN YOUR HOME, GET ONE AND INSTALL IT.
* Install more than one smoke alarm.
* Install interconnected smoke alarms.
* Install smoke alarms with sealed 10 year batteries.

Good

* IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SMOKE ALARM INSTALLED IN YOUR HOME, GET ONE AND INSTALL IT.

Regular testing is the only way to make sure your smoke alarms are working. Test your smoke alarms once a month and installing more than one smoke alarm. If you test it less often and only have one smoke alarm, a non-working smoke alarm may leave you and your family unprotected.
A Fire Escape Plan May Save You and Your Family

Installing working smoke alarms is an essential, but they don't save lives unless everyone knows how to get out of the home safely. Make sure everyone knows how to escape when the smoke alarm sounds, whether awake or sleeping at the time. In your plan, have two ways out of each room, a prearranged meeting place outside and, most importantly, ONCE OUT – STAY OUT!

Minimizing the amount of time it takes to get out can improve your chances of surviving a hazardous home fire. Having a fire escape plan for you and your family can reduce the amount of time it takes to get out. Practicing the fire escape plan will help everyone understand what to do and where to meet.

Follow these steps when developing a fire escape plan for you and your family:

* Practice escaping from every room in the home.
* The best plans have two ways to get out of each room. If the primary way is blocked by fire or smoke, you will need a second way out.
* Practice the escape plan with your family during the day and at night. Children, older adults, and the hearing-impaired may sleep through a fire alarm or may need assistance in escaping.
* Designate a meeting location away from the home, but not necessarily across the street.
* For example, meet under a specific tree or at the end of the driveway or front sidewalk to make sure everyone has gotten out safely and no one will be hurt looking for someone who is already safe.
* Designate one person to go to a neighbor's home to phone the fire department.
* Practice the fire escape plan twice a year.

Safe Practices and Preventing a Fire in the Home

There are more than 300,000 residential fires a year. Working smoke alarms are a key factor in surviving a fire, but safe practices in the home are the first line of defense in preventing a fire from ever starting. Many residential fires and fire-related deaths are preventable. A fire can occur in anyone's home and does not discriminate against age, race, or education.

The type of structure and the furnishings in a home play key roles in the type and progression of fire. It is difficult to accurately predict the type of fire that might occur in your home, but some simple safety steps can help reduce the risk of fire and better protect your family.
Safety around cooking appliances

Cooking equipment accounts for the largest percentage of residential fires. Because of oils used these fires are most often flaming fires. However, normal cooking can also produce steam, smoke, and fumes that set off alarms. Disabling a smoke alarm to silence frequent nuisance alarms could be a fatal mistake. Instead, moving the smoke alarm farther away from the cooking appliance may help prevent nuisance alarms and still provide adequate detection of the small fast moving fires that occur in the kitchen.

Follow these steps to prevent cooking fires in the home:

* Always keep an eye on food being heated. Unattended cooking causes the majority of fires in the kitchen.
* If you leave the kitchen, set a timer to remind you that something is on the stove.
* Keep children away from appliances when cooking. Have a "kid-free zone" around the stove and teach youngsters not to play in that area.
* Roll-up sleeves or, if possible, wear short or tight fitting sleeves when cooking. Loose fitting clothing and sleeves can be dangerous near open flames.
* Try not to reach over the stove. You can avoid this by not storing items you use directly over or behind the stovetop.
* Turn handles inward so pots and pans won't be pulled or knocked off the stove.

Check heating and cooling equipment

Heating and cooling equipment fires constitute the second largest share of residential fires. Home heating equipment includes central heating units, portable and stationary space heaters, fireplaces, chimneys, and heat transfer systems, as well as some devices not used to heat living spaces, most notably water heaters.

Follow these steps to prevent heating and cooling appliance fires in the home:
* Have a professional technician inspect your heating, cooling, and water appliances annually.
* Have the fireplace chimney checked and cleaned routinely by a chimney "sweep" at least once a year.
* Do not leave a portable heater operating unattended or operating while sleeping. Portable electric air heaters are designed for use only as temporary supplemental heating and only while attended.
* Look for portable heaters that are listed by a nationally-recognized testing laboratory. These heaters have been tested to meet specific safety standards, and manufacturers are required to provide important use and care information to the consumer.

Check electrical cords and lighting

Electrical fires from wiring and lighting are the third leading cause of residential fires. Fire deaths are highest in winter months which call for more indoor activities and an increase in lighting, heating, and appliance use. Most electrical fires result from problems with installed wiring such as faulty electrical outlets and old wiring. Problems with cords and plugs, such as extension and appliance cords, also cause many home electrical fires.

Follow theses steps to prevent electrical fires in the home:
Electrical fire

* Do not use any electrical cord that is stiff or cracked. The insulation on electrical cords can become damaged by wear, flexing, or age.
* Inspect electrical cords for frayed wires, which can cause fires. Replace all worn, old or damaged cords immediately.
* Install additional receptacles where needed. Extension cords should never be used as a long-term solution to the need for installing additional receptacles.
* Never use damaged electrical cords. Cords can become damaged when run under rugs or furniture.
* Keep combustibles away from light bulbs. Light bulbs, especially halogen types, get very hot and can ignite combustible materials that get too close.
* Never place clothing or towels on top of a lampshade. Do not use table lamps without a shade where they might fall over onto a bed or sofa.
* Use the correct wattage bulb for the fixture. Most light fixtures are labeled to show the type of and highest wattage bulb that can be safely used in that fixture; too high a wattage bulb can cause the fixture to overheat and start a fire.

Safety around upholstered furniture and mattresses

Upholstered furniture and mattresses and bedding are the items first ignited and involved in the greatest numbers of fire deaths. These items are commonly ignited by open flame products (such as candles, cigarette lighters, and matches) or smoking materials (primarily cigarettes). Young children playing with matches and lighters are often involved in starting these fires and, unfortunately, are also their primary victims.
Follow these steps to prevent fires in the home:
* Keep matches and lighters out of the reach of young children.
* Exercise caution when using candles. Do not leave candles unattended or lit while sleeping.
* Candles should be kept away from combustibles. Extinguish candles when you leave the room. If power is out, consider using flashlights instead.
* Never smoke in bed and extinguish tobacco products when tired.
* Use an ash tray when smoking.

Safety Controlling the forklift truck pollution

LPG-burning forklift trucks account for more than 60 percent of all material handling vehicles and more than 80 percent of all internal combustion forklifts used worldwide, the adverse effects of occupational carbon monoxide (CO) exposure from the exhaust gases of propane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-fueled equipment and vehicles are well known. In principle, however, these LPG-fueled engines needn’t be a major source of CO exposure because complete combustion of fuel in the presence of an adequate oxygen supply will result in the formation of only carbon dioxide and water. However, an insufficient amount of oxygen will cause incomplete combustion of fuel and allow the formation of CO and carbon particulate (soot).

Adjusting the air and fuel mixture can control engine CO exhaust emissions in the exhaust, as well as ensuring proper engine power and fuel consumption. At the ideal air-fuel ratio, the CO concentration in the exhaust gas of an LPG-fueled engine will be as little as 0.4 percent (4,000 ppm), an amount that may cause little concern if a reasonable amount of dilution ventilation is present.

However, if the amount of air in the mixture is only 90 percent of ideal (what is called a “rich” mixture), the CO concentration will go up by more than a factor of 10 (44,000 ppm). Proper engine tune-ups are thus critical to ensure the exhaust gas isn’t spewing out an excessive amount of CO. Unfortunately, though, the tune-up process doesn’t often include measurement of the actual CO emissions, and tune-up technicians may not be trained to properly measure CO even if they are required to do so. The tune-up adjustments may therefore be set for greater power rather than minimal CO emission.

Field study
A field study to assess the process and effect of forklift engine tune-ups was conducted in an operational warehouse with CO exposure from five LPG-powered forklifts. The majority of forklift operation in the facility, where it typically occurs Monday through Friday beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m. The warehouse (121,000 square feet) is operated primarily as a storage and transfer facility for the shipment of bulk pallets of industrial products. There are 14 dock doors that provide tractor-trailer access for the loading and unloading of palletized consumer materials, and each dock door is manually closed when the dock door is not being used to access a trailer. The warehouse does not have a mechanical ventilation system, but there are 32 passive skylight vents in the warehouse roof. The forklifts are equipped with electronic emission and fuel computer modules to provide desired air-fuel ratios by continuous, active control of the fuel power valve, fuel injection system, and emissions sensors. The study forklifts were purchased as new models three years before the study and undergo tune-up and maintenance on a monthly basis by trained technicians. However, the tune-up process at this facility did not customarily include measurement of the CO emissions, as is typical for most forklift tune-ups.

Before a tune-up, CO measurements were made in the exhaust gas of each of the five forklifts using both colorimetric (detector) tubes and a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) gas analyzer and a commercially available tailpipe probe to sample and cool the exhaust gases directly from the tailpipe. The exhaust gas CO concentration averaged 5.0 percent for the five forklifts before the tune-up (range 3 to 7 percent), even though these were up-to-date engines that were regularly tuned. Both measurement methods gave the same results, but the NDIR analyzer was much easier and faster to use. It also required less operator care to ensure accurate results, though periodic calibration is necessary.

During the tune-up, the technician used the NDIR analyzer to aid in adjustment of the air-fuel ratio in a much more precise way than the customary process. At the end of the tune-up, the CO concentration in the exhaust averaged only 0.82 percent (range 0.7-0.9 percent), a reduction of more than 80 percent from the original concentration. The emissions control system of the forklifts was found to maintain the same CO output at all engine speeds from idle to full power. Efforts to use detector tubes to aid in the engine adjustment were unsatisfactory due to the length of time required for a measurement with a single tube. However, they were entirely suitable for an assessment of the CO emission either before or after the tune-up. The detector tubes also were used to sample at a location 1 foot behind the tailpipe opening, to simulate the situation in which a tailpipe probe is not available. Because of the dilution of the exhaust gas with the surrounding air, the measured concentrations were much lower, with an average of 0.4 percent (range 0.25 to 0.55 percent) CO before the tune-up. Without correction, this sort of measurement would give a very misleading estimate of the exhaust emissions.

However, the ratio between the in-tailpipe readings and the behind-tailpipe readings was quite consistent for the five forklifts (average 12.4, range 11.4 to 13.3). If no tailpipe probe had been available in this case, multiplying the measurements 1 foot behind the tailpipe by a correction factor of 12 would have given acceptable estimates of the true exhaust gas concentrations (within ± 10 percent of the true reading for all five forklifts).

Before and after tune-up of the forklift engines, breathing zone and area air samples for CO were also collected in the warehouse and adjacent spaces. Eight-hour time weighted average samples for two forklift operators and two helpers averaged 25.5 ppm before the tune-up and 10.3 ppm afterward; stationary samples at three locations scattered around the warehouse decreased from an average of 17.7 ppm to 8.7 ppm; and area samples collected in work areas attached to the warehouse (employee break room, manager’s office, reception) decreased from 10.7 ppm to 4.3 ppm. These reductions of CO concentration ranged from 51 to 60 percenta substantial improvement, though less than the 82 percent decrease in the exhaust gas CO emission.

Conclusions
Tune-ups of LPG (or propane)-powered forklifts using CO measurement are an effective way to reduce worker exposure when the forklifts are used in occupied spaces. Of course, even this precaution may not be sufficient under conditions of minimal dilution ventilation. Electric-powered forklifts or improved ventilation may be needed in those cases for control of the hazard.

Safety Maintaining The Gas Detection Instruments

Calibration gas should be checked to make sure it has not expired and that it meets the manufacturer’s speci -fications. The same worker concerns for function testing also exist for calibration. Automating this process will increase sensor accuracy, safety and reliability of the gas detection system.

Gas detection instruments are like any other piece of equipment they need maintenance to make sure they’re working properly. But more often than not, maintenance of fixed gas detection systems is overlooked, or at least done less frequently than with portable instruments.

Reduce hands-on testing
Almost a decade since the appearance of the first portable instrument “docking” system, a breakthrough technology has enabled similar cost and time savings with the automation of calibration and diagnostic testing of fixed or wall-mounted gas detectors.

With two-way communication, this fixed “docking” system for remote calibration and automated record-keeping reduces human intervention and encourages preventive maintenance. The docking system performs function tests and calibrations on a routine schedule, or on demand remotely from a computer console, eliminating the need to send a person around to each detector.

Increase reliability
A function test consists of applying a known concentration of gas to a sensor to ensure that the response exceeds the lowest alarm set-point. If the sensor does not respond properly, the filter may be blocked by dirtor debris, or the sensor may need to be calibrated. Function tests are done to ensure that the sensors and detector are still working properly. Without performing routine function tests, how can you know if the sensors are still working?

Automating this “bump” test process increases the reliability of the system, as well as increasing safety within the facility. Safety levels will increase because instruments are being tested and proven to work, and the personal safety of technicians will also increase as a result of their not having to conduct these tests while standing on ladders, lifts, or in hazardous environments. Function testing not only ensures that the instruments are working properly, but also conditions the sensors. Sensors such as chlorine need to see chlorine gas regularly in order to be accurate and responsive.

Keep calibrations current
Calibrations should be performed routinely. If a sensor fails, it should be replaced and the new sensor calibrated after it has been installed in the detector.Manufacturers’ recommendations on calibration flow rate and calibration concentrations should be followed to achieve the most accurate and precise calibration. Calibration gas should be checked to make sure it has not expired and that it meets the manufacturer’s speci -fications. The same worker concerns for function testing also exist for calibration. Automating this process will increase sensor accuracy, safety and reliability of the gas detection system.

Stay on schedule
Maintenance should be performed regularly on fixed gas detection systems. Many manufacturers recommend function testing on a monthly basis, and sensor calibrations should be performed at least once a quarter. The frequency of maintenance is best determined by end-user policy or local regulations.

Automating the maintenance program through an integrated control system will ensure that instruments are properly maintained and running. The “docking” station allows users to set the maintenance program to their own schedule so that function tests can be run weekly and calibrations conducted monthly.

At any time a technician can use the system’s interface to remote-start a function test or calibration on any instrument in the field. This allows for exception testing or for users to conduct tests at more opportune times.

Store records in a common database
The automated system also keeps track of all of the data in a common database. This eliminates the need to manually write details into a logbook. Keeping all data in one common area and making it easy to access is a significant improvement over current practices, and is quickly becoming “best practice” in the industry.

Replenish parts automatically
Once a problem is discovered, new equipment needs to be ordered. Replenish ment parts programs tied to the docking system facilitate replacement sensors to be automatically sent out when failures are predicted. This allows users to receive a new sensor before the current sensor dies, eliminating downtime and increasing safety

The fixed docking system also monitors calibration gas usage and filter life. Once gas levels are determined to be getting low, the system will notify the user with a low cylinder warning. This allows the user to reorder calibration gas before a cylinder actually runs out.

Barack Obama And Islam

If I were a Muslim I would let you know," Barack Obama has said, and I believe him. In fact, he is a practicing Christian, a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ. He is not now a Muslim.

But was he ever a Muslim or seen by others as a Muslim? More precisely, might Muslims consider him a murtadd (apostate), that is, a Muslim who converted to another religion and, therefore, someone whose blood may be shed?
The candidate for president of the United States has delivered two principal statements in reply. His campaign website carries a statement dated Nov. 12 with the headline, "Barack Obama Is Not and Has Never Been a Muslim," followed by: "Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." Then, on Dec. 22, in the unlikely setting of the Smoky Row Coffee Shop in Oskaloosa, Iowa, as he munched on pumpkin pie and drank tea with four locals, Obama provided more detail took on this topic than before. When asked to explain his Muslim heritage, he replied:

My father was from Kenya, and a lot of people in his village were Muslim. He didn't practice Islam. Truth is he wasn't very religious. He met my mother. My mother was a Christian from Kansas, and they married and then divorced. I was raised by my mother. So, I've always been a Christian. The only connection I've had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father's side came from that country. But I've never practiced Islam. … For a while, I lived in Indonesia because my mother was teaching there. And that's a Muslim country. And I went to school. But I didn't practice. But what I do think it does is it gives me insight into how these folks think, and part of how I think we can create a better relationship with the Middle East and that would help make us safer is if we can understand how they think about issues.

These statements raise two questions: What is Obama's true connection to Islam and what implications might this have for an Obama presidency?
Was Obama Ever a Muslim?

"I've always been a Christian," said Obama, focusing on his own personal lack of practice of Islam as a child to deny any connection to Islam. But Muslims do not see practice as key. For them, that he was born to a line of Muslim males makes him born a Muslim. Further, all children born with an Arabic name based on the H-S-N trilateral root (Hussein, Hassan, and others) can be assumed to be Muslim, so they will understand Obama's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, to proclaim him a born Muslim.

More: family and friends considered him as a child to be Muslim. In "Obama Debunks Claim About Islamic School," Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press wrote on January 24, 2007, that

Obama's mother, divorced from Obama's father, married a man from Indonesia named Lolo Soetoro, and the family relocated to the country from 1967-71. At first, Obama attended the Catholic school, Fransiskus Assisis, where documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather. The document required that each student choose one of five state-sanctioned religions when registering – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant.

Asked about this, Obama communications director Robert Gibbs responded by indicating to Pickler that

he wasn't sure why the document had Obama listed as a Muslim. "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim."

Two months later, Paul Watson of the Los Angeles Times (available online in a Baltimore Sun reprint) reported that the Obama campaign had retreated from that absolute statement and instead issued a more nuanced one: "Obama has never been a practicing Muslim." The Times looked into the matter further and learned more about his Indonesian interlude:

His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both schools he attended. That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class.

The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. "We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played," said Zulfin Adi. … Obama's younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign that the family attended the mosque only "for big communal events," not every Friday.

Recalling Obama's time in Indonesia, the Times account contains quotes that Obama "went to the mosque," and that he "was Muslim."

Summarized, available evidence suggests Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father. At some point, he converted to Christianity. It appears false to state, as Obama does, "I've always been a Christian" and "I've never practiced Islam." The campaign appears to be either ignorant or fabricating when it states that "Obama never prayed in a mosque."
Implications of Obama's Conversion

Obama's conversion to another faith, in short, makes him a murtadd.

That said, the punishment for childhood apostasy is less severe than for the adult version. As Robert Spencer points out, "according to Islamic law an apostate male is not to be put to death if he has not reached puberty (cf. ‘Umdat al-Salik o8.2; Hidayah vol. II p. 246). Some, however, hold that he should be imprisoned until he is of age and then ‘invited' to accept Islam, but officially the death penalty for youthful apostates is ruled out."

On the positive side, were Obama prominently charged with apostasy, that would uniquely raise the issue of a Muslim's right to change religion, taking a topic on the perpetual back-burner and placing it front and center, perhaps to the great future benefit of those Muslims who seek to declare themselves atheists or to convert to another religion.

But would Muslims seeing Obama as a murtadd significantly affect an Obama presidency? The only precedent to judge by is that of Carlos Saúl Menem, the president of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. The son of two Muslim Syrian immigrants and husband of another Syrian-Argentine, Zulema Fátima Yoma, Menem converted to Roman Catholicism. His wife said publicly that Menem left Islam for political reasons—because Argentinean law until 1994 required the president of the country to be a member of the Church. From a Muslim point of view, Menem's conversion is worse than Obama's, having been done as an adult. Nonetheless, Menem was not threatened or otherwise made to pay a price for his change of religion, even during his trips to majority-Muslim countries, Syria in particular.

It is one thing to be president of Argentina in the 1990s, however, and another to be president of the United States in 2009. One must assume that some Islamists would renounce him as a murtadd and would try to execute him. Given the protective bubble surrounding an American president, though, this threat presumably would not make much difference to his carrying out his duties.

More significantly, how would more mainstream Muslims respond to him, would they be angry at what they would consider his apostasy? That reaction is a real possibility, one that could undermine his initiatives toward the Muslim world.

7 Parpol Terancam Tak Ikut Pemilu

Pekalongan (ANTARA News) - Sebanyak tujuh partai politik (parpol) di Kota Pekalongan, Jawa Tengah terancam di coret sebagai peserta pemilu legislatif 2009 karena belum menyerahkan bukti rekening dana kampanye kepada KPUD setempat.

Divisi Hukum dan Kampanye KPU Kota Pekalongan RM. Firdaus, Kamis, mengatakan, dari 28 parpol yang ada di Kota Pekalongan hanya 21 diantaranya yang telah menyerahkan daftar rekening dana kampanye.

"Namun, tujuh parpol lainnya hingga kini belum menyerahkan rekening dana kampanye dengan alasan masih menunggu dana dari DPP Parpol masing-masing," katanya.

Ia mengatakan, pihak KPUD Kota Pekalongan memberikan batas waktu penyerahan hingga 9 Maret mendatang dan jika sampai batas waktu yang telah ditentukan belum menyerahkan daftar rekening parpolnya maka akan dicoret sebagai peserta pemilu 2009.

"Parpol ini bisa dicoret dari peserta pemilu legislatif jika tujuh hari sebelum masa kampanye belum juga menyerahkan rekening partainya," katanya.

Menurut dia, pihak KPUD sudah berulang kali memberikan peringatan kepada parpol untuk segera menyerahkan saldo awal dan nomor rekening parpol beserta daftar donatur yang menyumbangkan dana kampanye selama pemilu legislatif.

"Kami memang tidak akan main-main lagi karena hal ini sudah mendesak sekali mengingat dalam Pasal 134 UU NO 10 Tahun 2008 tentang Pemilu sudah mengatur ketentuan itu," katanya.

Ia mengimbau, kepada tujuh parpol itu untuk segera menyerahkannya mengingat batas waktu yang dimiliki tinggal beberapa hari lagi.

"Yang jelas, KPUD telah memberikan surat pemberitahuan kepada parpol. Namun jika dalam batas waktu yang ditentukan tidak juga menyerahkan, maka parpol bersangkutan tidak berhak mengikuti pemilu,"

How to Ace a DOT Safety Review

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) push for stricter state enforcement of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) has raised the potential for fleet audits in many locales.

Due to the regulations’ complexity (detailed at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.), it’s easy to become tripped up. A complacent attitude such as, “We’ve been running our fleet a long time, and we’ve never been audited,” can be equally dangerous.

An accident or roadside inspection, for example, can open a fleet to a full audit. If the fleet is found negligent in complying with regulations, it can be heavily fined or even operationally shut down.

In case of accidents, a high SafeStat score or negligence in complying can lead the fleet to significant exposure to litigation and claims for punitive damages by the plaintiff. (See sidebar for information on SafeStat scores.)

As poor risk management with significant downside exposure, noncompliance or litigation is worth striving hard to avoid, notes Vivek Khosla, director of product management for PHH Arval.

Small Trucks May Be Affected

Even as they provide guidance on vehicle ordering, commercial fleet management firms such as PHH Arval counsel clients on which vehicles require DOT compliance and ensure clients’ ongoing compliance with the requirements.

The DOT regulations begin coming into play on vehicles or combinations of vehicles at 10,001 lbs. gross vehicle weight (GVW).

Many fleets mistakenly assume that because the truck is small — a ½- or ¾-ton model below 10,001 lbs. GVW, for example — it is automatically and always exempt from regulation. However, by attaching a 4,000-lb. trailer to a Chevrolet Silverado, for example, its gross combined weight rating (GCWR) exceeds the 10,001-lb. governmental regulation limit. Therefore, fleets must pay close attention to any trucks that can potentially exceed 10,001 lbs. GCWR, once a trailer is attached.

At that point, companies must obtain a DOT number/decal and follow various FMCSR guidelines. The driver must have a medical exam, for example, documented on a DOT form. Employers are compelled to keep a driver file, including items such as certificate of road test evaluation, background check on moving violations, and log of hours spent on the road. Employers also must provide documented driver training in various regulations.

Determining Intrastate vs. Interstate

For the purposes of an audit, the DOT also must know the number of interstate versus intrastate trucks and drivers in a fleet operation.

Fleet failure to differentiate between these categories and maintain the necessary records is another common mistake, according to Dixie Burbank, vice president of ITS Compliance, Inc., headquartered in Sun Prairie, Wis. ITS partners with Wheels Inc. to offer compliance services for Wheels’ leasing customers.

Intrastate trucks and drivers must comply with DOT regulations or individual state regulations, whichever the fleet chooses to follow. However, if the trucks or the goods are hauled across jurisdiction lines, the trucks and drivers are interstate regulated, Burbank adds.

Many states have adopted the FMCSR in its entirety, even for intrastate drivers and trucks. Fleets must stay current with state regulations and track state changes to the FMCSR.

Companies also often delude themselves into thinking that they’re exempt from DOT requirements because they only operate intrastate, Jeff Robley, national truck sales manager for ARI, points out.

That may be true for operators in a few states, such as Texas and Wisconsin, but only if their trucks weigh less than 26,000 lbs. GCWR, and they’re not delivering items shipped to the companies from out of state.

Whenever a fleet delivers items sent from out-state to its warehouse, for example — even if its deliveries are local — the transport technically falls under the furtherance of state commerce, subjecting it to DOT regulations.

Some states, such as California and North Carolina, also have their own in-state commercial truck requirements. California regulations, for example, exceed those of the federal government, requiring operators of trucks over 10,001-lb. GCWR to have commercial driver license (CDL).

Safety of prolonged aortic clamping with blood cardioplegia

This study tests the hypothesis that aspartate enrichment of glutamate- blood cardioplegia improves metabolic and functional recovery after ischemic and reperfusion damage. Ischemic and reperfusion damage were produced in 15 dogs by 45 minutes of aortic clamping at 37 degrees C and 5 minutes of blood reperfusion, before 2 more hours of aortic clamping (simulated operation). Six received multidose blood cardioplegia at 4 degrees C. In nine others, the cardioplegic solution was infused at 37 degrees C for the first 5 minutes, followed by multidose infusions at 4 degrees C. Four received 26 mmol glutamate- enriched cardioplegic solution. In five, the glutamate (13 mmol) cardioplegic solution was enriched with aspartate (13 mmol). Oxygen uptake and ventricular function (stroke work index, left atrial pressure) were measured. These data suggest aspartate enrichment produced the highest oxygen uptake (32 +/- 4 versus 17 +/- 2 ml/100 gm for glutamate and 7 +/- 1 ml/100 gm for 4 degrees C blood cardioplegia). Complete functional recovery occurred in aspartate/glutamate-treated hearts (stroke work index 90% +/- 4%, left atrial pressure 12 +/- 2 mm Hg), whereas recovery was incomplete with both glutamate alone (stroke work index 66% +/- 14%, left atrial pressure 20 +/- 3 mm Hg) and 4 degrees C blood cardioplegia at low cardiac outputs. Eight of 10 hearts not receiving aspartate failed at high cardiac outputs. Aspartate enrichment of glutamate-blood cardioplegia improves recovery after severe ischemic/reperfusion damage by improving oxidative metabolism during cardioplegic infusion and during postischemic work.

Take 5 for safety

Each task on Kenny Construction Co.’s to-do list, regardless of its size, begins each day with a “Take 5 for Safety” meeting. The schedule and scope of work anticipated for the day is carefully outlined, and hazards inherent to these activities are itemized and discussed.

The meetings are one way that Kenny Construction showed it was a winner when it came to safety. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association, together with CNA, recognized their efforts with the ARTBA-CNA Contractor Safety Award, which honors those with strong safety programs.

Kenny Construction was the top winner of the award, which was developed to promote the concept that worker safety and health is a core value of the transportation design and construction industry.

Through a PowerPoint presentation, finalists explained their safety programs based on seven key criteria: management commitment, employee participation, incident investigation, audit procedures, safety planning, management review/implementation and risk assessment.

Kenny Construction, a family-owned general contractor founded in 1927, proved itself to be the best of the best. Kenny’s daily jobsite exposures include energized power transmission and distribution work to 765 KV; tunnels and shafts to depths of 350 ft; high-rise, residential construction to heights of 400 ft; and road, bridge and infrastructure construction in both rural and urban areas throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

“Kenny Construction faces complex and highly hazardous risks every day, and we continue to lead the industry with our safety results and new benchmarks of success,” Kenny said in its PowerPoint presentation. “Kenny’s effect on our enrolled subcontractors has empowered them to surpass all previous benchmarks of safety, while positively impacting the entire construction industry. More than 200 subcontractors, such as electrical, carpentry, masonry, HVAC and steel erectors, are included.”

Kenny Construction Vice President of Safety Dan Zarletti believes two key factors contributed to their achievement: one, total buy-in—senior management dedicating time and resources to a corporate-wide cause, so everyone in the company is aware of what is happening; and two—dedicated, qualified personnel.

“There are many contractors that have safety personnel, but they’re not necessarily dedicated to safety. They do other things,” Zarletti told Roads & Bridges. “In this case, these people are safety professionals assigned full-time to administration of safety culture—they have no outside responsibilities.”

In 1997, Kenny Construction’s Corporate Safety Program received an “extreme makeover.” First, employees made an assessment as to having the right controls in place to achieve their goal of performing all work incident-free. Every aspect of the program was renewed, including a complete revision of the corporate safety manual, job descriptions and measures for personal accountability. They emphasized interactive participation at all operational levels in the development of job hazard analyses and regulatory compliance control and enforced the Take 5 meetings.

Since that time, Kenny has reduced its incident rate by 90% and its lost-time incident rate by 95% while increasing its self-performed man-hours by 300%.

“This is the direct result of the relentless pursuit of perfection while maintaining nearly supernatural patience through the pangs of radical change,” Zarletti said. “This is an ongoing, day-to-day, 24-hour effort—not for the lighthearted. People don’t take well to change, but if the way they’ve been doing something is unsafe, change or leave. We have zero tolerance—everyone has to actively participate in the change.”

Part of the revamped safety protocol includes drug tests and safety orientation for every employee and subcontractor employee.

An intensive supervisory safety education matrix has been initiated for over 200 first-line supervisors, project managers and executives.

Kenny has invested nearly $2 million to “raise the proficiency level” of all key personnel through job analysis and hazard-specific programs over the past decade.

“We retooled the entire safety effort,” Zarletti said. “During that proc­ess, we redeveloped a safety culture that is now company-wide. Before, we had a program that had been in place for a number of years, and no problems seemed to come with it, but when the company started growing, it started showing signs of being outdated, so that’s why we did a complete restructuring.”

As a result of Kenny’s safety activities, they have designed an aggressive safety culture throughout all six operating groups in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, which gives them a wall-to-wall look at what they’ve done, Zarletti said.

Since 2001, Kenny Construction’s safety program has improved the overall safety performance of over 200 insured subcontractors by more than 70%. “Results like these cannot be achieved single-handedly,” Zarletti said.

Kenny Construction has been awarded for their efforts in the past as well. In 2003, they received the Green Cross for Safety Medal from the National Safety Council. The medal honors an organization that has distinguished itself over a period of years for outstanding achievements in workplace and off-the-job safety and health, community service, environmental stewardship and responsible citizenship. Kenny was the first contractor in America to receive this coveted award.

Kenny received the Contractor of the Year Award from the Associated Subcontractors of America in 2005 and has received numerous Build America Awards from the Associated General Contractors of America.

Drowning Rates Are Highest In Summer

BALTIMORE, June 11, 1996 -- Each year, more than 900 teenagers drown. Although the drowning rate for teens has dropped 300 percent over the past 60 years, it remains second only to motor vehicle accidents as a leading cause of unintentional death by injury. Eighteen-year-old males have the highest drowning rate, a fact that researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health attribute to a propensity among boys to engage in risky behavior.

Why do so many adolescents drown?

"Adolescents often choose to swim in remote -- and usually unsupervised -- places such as lakes, rivers, canals, and the ocean," says Gordon Smith, MO, associate professor in Health Policy and Management at the School. "Eighty-two percent of adolescent drownings occur in these places."

Remote waters can contain submerged rocks, strong undertows, and rough waters. They are also ideal places to drink alcohol without getting caught. Researchers suspect this is one reason that a reported 44 percent of boys and 33 percent of girls swim most often in remote areas without a lifeguard or other supervision.

Alcohol is a factor in about 40 percent of adolescent drownings. Drinking impairs swimming ability end judgment, and may hinder a person's ability to recover after being submerged. Alcohol my also delay laryngospasm, a protective reflex that closes the opening to the lungs to prevent water from entering.

Is knowing how to swim protection against drowning?

People who know how to swim aren't necessarily safe, says Ds. Smith. Various studies show that 15 to 45 percent of those who drown know how to swim. Swimmers' risk increases simply because they are more likely than nonswimmers to be in the water. Also, swimmers may put themselves at risk by being over-confident about their abilities and taking more chances. However, the Red Cross still recommends that anyone who is likely to play in or around the water receive water safety training that includes swimming lessons and rescue techniques.

What can a bystander do?

Get the victim out of the water as soon as possible. Victims are most likely to survive without brain damage if they are submerged for less than five minutes. "When people are submerged for more than 25 minutes, death or brain damage is almost guaranteed," says Dr. Smith. One study found that irreversible brain damage or death can occur after as few as nine minutes under water. All victims submerged for more than one minute should be hospitalized to watch for swelling of the lungs or brain.

If a victim isn't breathing, give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation immediately. This is more important than trying to expel water from the victim's lungs. Most experts agree that the Heimlich Maneuver should be used only if something is blocking the airway (many people mistakenly believe it should be done right away to rid the lungs of water).

If there's no pulse, start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at once. one study showed that victims under age 15 who survived near-drowning without brain damage were almost five times more likely to have received CPR from a bystander than victims who later died or had brain damage. Have someone called the paramedics while CPR is being given, and cover the victim for warmth.

Finally, if the victim vomits (50 percent do) turn him on his side so he doesn't choke.

Mine Safety Legislation

Following the Sago Mine disaster that took the lives of 12 miners in West Virginia in January, the Senate has come up with a plan to avoid future tragedies. Under terms of a recently struck deal, more emergency oxygen supplies and better monitoring would be on hand at all times.

Under the current policy, miners only possess one hour of oxygen as they set to work. Proposed legislation would double that amount. It also would require mine operators to store extra oxygen packs along escape routes. Randal McCloy Jr., the only trapped miner who survived at Sago, has said that at least four of the miners' air packs did not work, forcing the men to share.

Air packs have a history of malfunctioning; past problems have included deteriorating hoses and excessive carbon dioxide emissions, according to a review of federal Mine Safety and Health Administration records. Eleven of the trapped miners died from carbon dioxide poisoning.

The Boston Globe reported that Senators Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming - the top lawmakers on the committee that oversees workplace safety issues - have promised the families of the miners killed in the Sago accident that they would improve safety conditions.

''Congress should pass this legislation immediately, and the president should sign it into law this year," Kennedy said.

Dennis O'Dell, the top safety specialist at United Mine Workers of America, supported the proposed changes. They're better late than never.

''I think we should have done that way before now, but I'm happy to see that we're moving forward with that," he said.

The bill also would require mines to have two-way wireless communications and tracking systems in place within three years.

''NMA is especially gratified by the bill's inclusion of measures to improve communications and tracking and enhance mine rescue and air supply," Kraig Naasz, president and chief executive of the National Mining Association, said in a statement.

Relatives of some of the miners killed in the Sago accident attended a news conference on Capitol Hill yesterday. They urged the passage of safety legislation this year.

''Safety has got to be put before production, and it's got to be put before profits," said Deborah Hamner, whose husband, George, died in the West Virginia mine.

Legend Of Nabi Isa

STORIES travel from place to place and the exchange of thought among different nations has since time immemorial been much more lively than was formerly assumed. We know that the Buddhist Jataka tales, which are childhood stories of the Buddha, traved from India to Greece where they reappeared as Æsop's fables, and so the story of the Bodhisattva who became Buddha was retold in Christian countries where Bodhisat was changed to Josaphat, under which name he was made a saint of the Catholic Church.

But Christian stories also traveled into Buddhist countries, although the traces of the influence of Christianity were mainly obliterated just as the name of Buddhism has disappeared in the West, leaving only dim echoes, but we know that Nestorian Christianity was an established religion in Tibet and that more than one thousand years ago it was a religion officially recognized by the Chinese government. The Nestorian monument, one of the oldest Christian monuments in existence, was written in the Chinese language and recapitulates the main tenets of Christianity, still testifying to the pristine glory of Christianity in China. It stands in a country where now the people and the government are so vigorously opposed to Christianity that all missionary efforts seem hopeless. But echoes of Christianity have also reached the East Indian Archipelago, and it is strange to find a story of the prophet Jesus retold in the style of the Buddhist Jatakas, which has reached the island of Java not through Europeans but through natives. The Dutch masters of Java do not neglect the intellectual traces that can be discovered among the natives. They have carefully investigated and described the temple ruins of Borobudor, but have also studied the languages p. 500 and dialects of the country of which there are not less than fifteen, and have collected the literature of the Javanese.

We find among a collection of Indonesian folk stories translated by T. J. Bezemer, professsor at the School of Forestry in Wageningen, a story which is entitled "A Legend of Nabi Isa," which means the "prophet Jesus." The very form of the name indicates that the story comes from Syria and was originally told by Semites who are in the habit of calling a religious man a prophet or Nabi and "Isa" is the common form of "Jesus" in Western Asia. The story itself attributes to Jesus the character of a man who in his quiet wisdom and perfect goodness deals justly with other people while they suffer by their own avarice and egoism. We need not point out the resemblance of the character of Jesus to that of Buddha, nor that the story reminds us also of the folk legends of southern Germany. They appear like repetitions of ancient pagan tales, in which some god, be it Thor among the Teutons or Krishna among the Hindus, walks on earth and sets the people an example of righteousness and kindness.

This story did not reach Java through Europeans and missionaries. It must have been told and retold by natives of Syria, India, and Java, and became naturalized among the islanders. Our author, Professor Bezemer, discovered it there among other stories; of Indonesian lore, and included it in his volume of Volksdichtung aus Indonesien (The Hague, 1904).

{The fact that this legend did not come to Java through the Europeans does not necessarily mean that it travelled by a circuitous route eastward from Syria retaining its Syrian characteristics all the way. Java is today an Islamic island, and in the Arabic language, like the Syrian, the word Nabi is used for prophets, including the prophet Jesus, who is of course enormously important in Islam. This story has no overtly Christian content, but it is well known in Islamic lore, and is also reproduced in the book Christ in Islam, selection A., 54, p. 97.--CMW}



A LEGEND OF NABI ISA.*

When Nabi Isa was traveling around the country to proclaim his religion there came a man to him who said, "Lord Nabi Isa! I wish very much to become thy disciple and follower." Then Nabi Isa answered him, "Very well!" and they went on their way together.

Nabi Isa had three loaves of bread which he had taken along as provisions for the journey, and these he gave to his newly acquired disciple to carry.

When they came to the bank of a river Nabi Isa said, "Let us first rest a little while and eat the loaves. I will divide them. One I shall eat myself and one is for thee. The third thou shalt take care of until I am hungry again." These words filled the disciple with great joy.

Afterwards Nabi Isa went to the river to quench his thirst. When after a short time he returned to his follower the latter informed p. 501him that one of the loaves was lost. Nabi Isa listened in silence and asked for no further particulars. Later on as they were wandering in the forest they saw a hind with two fawns. Nabi Isa called one of the fawns to him, and the little thing came at once. He slew it and roasted the flesh in order to partake of it with his disciple. A little was left, and when he had pronounced a charm over it the animal came to life again through the power of God and ran after its mother.

Now Nabi Isa continued his journey with his disciple into another city where he saw hundreds of cows. He bade his disciple seize one of them. He then slew the cow and roasted the meat, and when it was finished they enjoyed it together. Soon, however, the owner of the cow came up with a great crowd of other men to seize Nabi Isa and his disciple, because it was thought that they had stolen the cow. Nabi Isa at once addressed the remnant of meat, "Live again through the power of God, and arise." The cow came back to life and joined the other cattle. The owner and his companions were greatly astonished and said, "These two holy men are extraordinarily versed in the arts of witchcraft."

Now they came to a sandy plain where they stopped a while. Nabi Isa took a little of the earth which was mixed with sand, and divided it into three small piles, to which he said, "O Sand, through the power of God be changed into gold," and it happened according to his words.

Then spake Nabi Isa to his disciple, "I will divide this gold into three little piles. one part is for me, one part is for thee, and the third part is for the one who ate the lost bread."

When the disciple heard this he said very submissively, "O Lord Nabi Isa, now will I honestly confess that it was I who ate the missing loaf."

"Very well," answered Nabi Isa, "take this share of gold, and my share too I give thee, but at the same time I dismiss thee from my service. Follow me no longer."

So Nabi Isa went away from that place and left the disciple behind with his gold. The latter now wished to sell it in order to obtain provisions for his wife and children. But not long afterwards two Bedouins came up with drawn swords and said to him, "O thou beggar of a monk, these three piles of gold certainly do not belong to thee. Whence hast thou stolen them?"

The disciple answered, "I swear unto you that this gold came from Nabi Isa who gave it to me, his follower." But the Bedouins answered him fiercely, "We do not believe what thou sayest. Thou p. 502 hast certainly stolen this gold, and for that deed we shall cut thy throat."

Then the disciple said, "O Bedouins, I beseech you let us divide this gold among the three of us."

The Bedouins answered, "Well then, we will accept this proposal." Then because they were very hungry they said to him, "But listen friend, thou must take a little of this gold and exchange it for bread in some dessa where it can be had."

The disciple was greatly pleased at this and went at once into the next village taking a little of the gold with him to buy bread. But on the way he said to himself, "After I have bought the bread I will put poison in it, and when the Bedouins have died from it gold will again be mine." Meanwhile the Bedouins had agreed between themselves that when the disciple came back with bread they would cut his throat and then divide the gold between them.

About an hour later the disciple came back bringing two poisoned loaves of bread with him. Hardly had he handed it to Bedouins when one of them drew a sword and cut off his head. Then they began to eat the poisoned bread, but had barely finished it when they fell over and lay by the side of the disciple, three corpses together.

On the following morning Nabi Isa came by with a large company of disciples. When he saw the three corpses lying there said to his followers, "Behold the gold! It has become the destruction of all these men who were led astray by avarice. Therefore, disciples, always bear in mind these warnings:

1. Pray to God and honor Him as the Lord who made Heaven and Earth.

2. Be content with that which the Lord has given you.

3. Give alms, food, and clothing to the pious needy ones who beg in the temple.

4. Work for the embellishment of the temple, and give mead and oil for its use. So will the Lord God reward you with good fortune in this world and in the next."

Wi-Fi Protected Setup Arrives

By vivi daya

At CES 2007 in Las Vegas today, the Wi-Fi Alliance said it has certified the first products supporting Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). This is an optional technology meant to make it easier for home and small office network operators – those without an IT staff — to deploy secure wireless LANs.

Parks Associates forecasts that 90% of homes with networks will use Wi-Fi by 2010; the Alliance's own surveys show security is among the top three issues most important to consumers with a WLAN. However, only 2 in 5 people have turned it on, according to JupiterResearch. Wi-Fi security has always been notoriously hard to configure for the layman — even for some experts. WPS is seen as the next, best step to making security a seamless part of the install process.

WPS requires support of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or WPA2, a super-set of the 802.11i security specification from the IEEE. Legacy products with WPA/WPA2 only can still join the network, but they have to go through the usual extra steps required today.

WPS will not work with wired equivalent privacy (WEP). If you have even just one device on the network that supports only WEP, you can't use WPS — WEP use forces the entire network down to that lowest common denominator.

WEP has long been considered flawed and easily cracked by anyone with the time and tools to bother — but it also continues to be the only security option found on some Wi-Fi products, even today. Karen Hanley, senior marketing director for the Alliance, says, "We're continuing to reach out to companies to get certified. As of March 2006, WPA2 was mandatory for certification. We encourage vendors to use the strongest level of security."

The setup of a WPS network is simple. Use a push button configuration (PBC) on the Wi-Fi router, or enter a 4- or 8-digit PIN code if there's no button. Each client laptop, camera, game device, phone, or what-have-you supporting WPS will come with a hard-coded PIN code. Set an initial client up to talk with the router/gateway and it becomes the master device used to enter PIN codes of other clients that want network access. There's no standard graphical interface for entering the PIN; the Alliance is leaving that up to the vendors.

Eventually, the Alliance says WPS could be deployed using a USB memory stick, by copying settings when plugged into a router, then plugging the same stick into each client -- or by using near-field communications (NFC). NFC means using a token or card that doesn't even plug in; the user would just pass it by the client system to copy the settings via a short-range wireless signal. Both of these options require the vendors to build in the technology.

Products supporting Wi-Fi Protected Setup will have the following "identifier mark" on their packaging once they pass Alliance certification

Older products that support WPA/WPA2 could be upgradeable via software/firmware to support the WPS PIN-code setup. Such products will need to go through testing again before they can carry the seal or use the term Wi-Fi Protected Setup, which is a trademark of the Alliance. "Branding-wise, we have a brand review and trademark function, and we discourage the use of our trademark unless certified," says Hanley. Vendors can't support WPS without being Wi-Fi Certified.

Several Wi-Fi chip, software and hardware vendors had a hand in helping to develop the WPS specification. Hanley says there were 20 to 30 voting members of the taskgroup working on WPS. It is also the first true specification from the Alliance -- in the past, it has worked only on specifications from the IEEE and other bodies.

"This is not only our first specification, but it's a nod to what the marketplace needs in terms of ease-of-use," Hanley says.

Many of the vendors who worked on the specification are represented on the list of initial products — really, reference designs used by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to make products — that are certified to become part of the WPS testbed used by the Alliance certification labs. They include Atheros, Broadcom, Conexant, Intel, Marvell and Ralink.

Atheros and Broadcom both had previous technologies to automate Wi-Fi security setup using software or push buttons. Atheros said today that it will keep the name of its technology, called JumpStart, but will upgrade to version 2.0 as it becomes fully compatible with WPS.

Buffalo Technology is also on the list of WPS certified products, with its AirStation Wireless-A&G High Power Access Point (model WHR-HP-AMPGV) and AirStation Wireless-A&G High Power Notebook Adapter. Buffalo was the earliest proponent of PBC security setup for Wi-Fi with its AirStation One-Touch Secure System (AOSS) tech, way back in 2004. This tech will continue to appear in Buffalo products, including new hardware introduced at CES such as the LinkTheater Wireless-A&G Media Player. Buffalo plans to implement both AOSS and WPS together. A button on a Buffalo product would activate both, enabling PBS connections to both legacy AOSS clients and new WPS clients.

The Wi-Fi Alliance later this year will start testing of the 802.11n specification as it reaches the Draft 2.0 stage with the IEEE. This is a first for the Alliance, which in the past has waited until specs were fully ratified by the IEEE's 802.11 Working Group. However, the number of products coming out with Draft-N support forced their hand — otherwise, consumers would be left to fend for themselves, as they have with Draft 1.0 products. That testing will coincide with the WPS testing, bringing the easy security to the higher-performing products.

"We are encouraged by the response to WPS," says Hanley, who adds that the labs are ready for testing. She expects that plenty of new products with WPS — even some supporting the NFC and USB setup — will ship within the next six months.

Steal This Wi-Fi

Whenever I talk or write about my own security setup, the one thing that surprises people -- and attracts the most criticism -- is the fact that I run an open wireless network at home. There's no password. There's no encryption. Anyone with wireless capability who can see my network can use it to access the internet.

To me, it's basic politeness. Providing internet access to guests is kind of like providing heat and electricity, or a hot cup of tea. But to some observers, it's both wrong and dangerous.

I'm told that uninvited strangers may sit in their cars in front of my house, and use my network to send spam, eavesdrop on my passwords, and upload and download everything from pirated movies to child pornography. As a result, I risk all sorts of bad things happening to me, from seeing my IP address blacklisted to having the police crash through my door.

While this is technically true, I don't think it's much of a risk. I can count five open wireless networks in coffee shops within a mile of my house, and any potential spammer is far more likely to sit in a warm room with a cup of coffee and a scone than in a cold car outside my house. And yes, if someone did commit a crime using my network the police might visit, but what better defense is there than the fact that I have an open wireless network? If I enabled wireless security on my network and someone hacked it, I would have a far harder time proving my innocence.

This is not to say that the new wireless security protocol, WPA, isn't very good. It is. But there are going to be security flaws in it; there always are.

I spoke to several lawyers about this, and in their lawyerly way they outlined several other risks with leaving your network open.

While none thought you could be successfully prosecuted just because someone else used your network to commit a crime, any investigation could be time-consuming and expensive. You might have your computer equipment seized, and if you have any contraband of your own on your machine, it could be a delicate situation. Also, prosecutors aren't always the most technically savvy bunch, and you might end up being charged despite your innocence. The lawyers I spoke with say most defense attorneys will advise you to reach a plea agreement rather than risk going to trial on child-pornography charges.

In a less far-fetched scenario, the Recording Industry Association of America is known to sue copyright infringers based on nothing more than an IP address. The accused's chance of winning is higher than in a criminal case, because in civil litigation the burden of proof is lower. And again, lawyers argue that even if you win it's not worth the risk or expense, and that you should settle and pay a few thousand dollars.

I remain unconvinced of this threat, though. The RIAA has conducted about 26,000 lawsuits, and there are more than 15 million music downloaders. Mark Mulligan of Jupiter Research said it best: "If you're a file sharer, you know that the likelihood of you being caught is very similar to that of being hit by an asteroid."

I'm also unmoved by those who say I'm putting my own data at risk, because hackers might park in front of my house, log on to my open network and eavesdrop on my internet traffic or break into my computers. This is true, but my computers are much more at risk when I use them on wireless networks in airports, coffee shops and other public places. If I configure my computer to be secure regardless of the network it's on, then it simply doesn't matter. And if my computer isn't secure on a public network, securing my own network isn't going to reduce my risk very much.

Yes, computer security is hard. But if your computers leave your house, you have to solve it anyway. And any solution will apply to your desktop machines as well.

Finally, critics say someone might steal bandwidth from me. Despite isolated court rulings that this is illegal, my feeling is that they're welcome to it. I really don't mind if neighbors use my wireless network when they need it, and I've heard several stories of people who have been rescued from connectivity emergencies by open wireless networks in the neighborhood.

Similarly, I appreciate an open network when I am otherwise without bandwidth. If someone were using my network to the point that it affected my own traffic or if some neighbor kid was dinking around, I might want to do something about it; but as long as we're all polite, why should this concern me? Pay it forward, I say.

Certainly this does concern ISPs. Running an open wireless network will often violate your terms of service. But despite the occasional cease-and-desist letter and providers getting pissy at people who exceed some secret bandwidth limit, this isn't a big risk either. The worst that will happen to you is that you'll have to find a new ISP.

A company called Fon has an interesting approach to this problem. Fon wireless access points have two wireless networks: a secure one for you, and an open one for everyone else. You can configure your open network in either "Bill" or "Linus" mode: In the former, people pay you to use your network, and you have to pay to use any other Fon wireless network. In Linus mode, anyone can use your network, and you can use any other Fon wireless network for free. It's a really clever idea.

Meraki Goes All In: 802.11n Triple Radio Outdoor Node

By vivi

Meraki started out as the little guy, with tiny $50 nodes that would self-organize into a mesh Wi-Fi network. Even as the company grew out of its origins, it still focused largely on indoor applications, where outdoor uses were an adjunct. Their new MR58, a 5 GHz triple-radio 802.11n ruggedized weatherproof outdoor node changes that entirely.

The $1,499 (list) unit, which meshes with all the existing gear and includes the license for Meraki's required software-as-a-service hosted management system, can go omnidirectional or directional on each of the three radios as separate systems. The company sees the unit as being a way to link locations (they claim 1 to 20 km with appropriate directional antennas), and provide front-end access in public places.

The company sells into several markets, including hotels and motels, apartment buildings, academic campuses, and hotzones. It doesn't emphasize corporate customers, although Meraki added WPA2 Enterprise authentication in a recent back-end update.

The gear Meraki is selling could be used for cities--the company has some such installations in towns--but the design is intended to extend Meraki's existing ecosystem from tiny indoor wall warts up to outdoor AC and solar-powered single-radio models.

The MR58 is 802.1af Power over Ethernet compliant, sucking down 8 watts at most, the firm's founder told me. This means a single Ethernet run to a roof can power the MR58; no AC outlets required.