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Thursday, March 02, 2006

NSG meeting with C4H Nursing Leads

Yesterday evening I attended a meeting organised by the British Computer Society Nursing Specialist Group (NSG) with Barbara Stuttle and Susan Osborne the two newly appointed nursing clinical leads for NHS Connecting for Health.

Apart from terrible train journeys it was an interesting meeting - if a little short on detail for me. Barbara and Susan were welcomed by Richard Hayward NSG Chair at the Bloomsbury Holiday Inn Hotel, London

Barbara opened her presentation by making light of the fact that the projector and laptop were not working properly by suggesting "it's normally Connecting for Health (C4H) that gets accused of not delivering".

She set out how she sees her role as the "voice of nursing" on C4H, & perhaps it's conscience. The international perspective included not just the relationship between England and the other four countries in the UK but also a recent trip she had made to the HIMSS conference in the USA. This highlighted global issues for nursing which are vital for the quality of care.

Cost and investment in C4H inevitably was considered along with current political buzz topics such as choice and an overview of the complexity of the largest civil IT programme in the world.

Barbara used examples from her own time as a patient to describe the advantages to be gained from the programme, with improvements in patient records and cultural changes. Each of the components of C4H was briefly described and placed in context within a changing world of multidisciplinary and multiagency working of health and social care, with "outside" providers increasingly providing care for patients, and how they need to be enabled to access records to provide optimum care.

Telemonitoring, particularly for elderly patients featured prominently, and linked to discussions of social interaction and the need to make the technology user-friendly and understandable for all. Barabara described her obvious delight at using a tablet PC - likening it to an "EtchaSketch" !

Further highlights included improvements in confidentiality and raising standards - reducing variances, meauring who's good & who isn't and making nursing evidence enabled.

The importantce of education and training with projects for curriculum development was highlighted - however perennial issues of "backfill" to replace staff on courses continue to prove a barrier. Barbara argued that even when money is made available for backfill, appropriate staff were not available to cover the shifts.

She concluded with positive comments about nurses as the "glue of the NHS" and a vital conduit for communication who will be supported by appropriate and accessible IT - and hinted at a new programme for 2006.

Susan Osborne then spoke briefly from her perspective within acute care, mentioning the wireless capabilities for ECG monitoring & the pilot of a bedside robot at St Mary's Hospital, and ID bands with bar codes and the capability to monitor vital signs.

She consluded with positive comments about the exciting times which develop nurses analytical skills and encourgaing clinical staff to "say what they want".

The presentations were followed by a wide ranging set of questions and answers, with some discussion, from the speakers and those who attended. These included;

* Mechanising processes with system add ons rather than supporting nursing practice
* Education & training - not just IT skills but deeper understanding and analysis
* Quantifying nurses "gut feeling"
* ECDL & the propsoed additional "health specific" module
* Numeracy skills & patient saftey/reduction in medication errors
* GP domination & nurses involvemenet in software development and implementation
* Care pathways & multidisciplinary care
* Analytical skills eg Watrelow scores rather than assessment principles & practice
* Examples of the Scottish approach
* The need to clearly define nursing art & science
* A telling question asked whether it is now too late in the process for nursing involvement.

The final comments were about mecahnisms for involving nurses from a variety of backgrounds in C4H projects were discussed including a suggestion from Stuart Glendinning Hall of running a blog - but it was suggested many nurses would not be able to access this. Information will also be collected from pilot sites/early implementers about nursing involvement & the effect on nursing practice. The possibility of story lines in Holby City & other soaps was also raised and is being followed up.

Barbara & Susan are willing to act as conduits and will make their email addresses available, on the NHS Connecting for Health Connecting with Nurses page.

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Monday, October 31, 2005

OSS Watch Wiki

OSS Watch Wiki

OSS Watch, the open source software advisory service from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), has announced the launch of a public wiki.

Wiki's are an evolving open content phenomenon. Anyone can visit a wiki to read pages, edit pages and add new pages. Adding content is easy, which makes sharing knowledge in a community easy. In this they match up nicely with the spirit of free and open source software.

OSS Watch provides unbiased advice and guidance about free and open source software for UK further and higher education. The launch of this wiki marks an important step towards sustainable community support for open source software.

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New report looks at suitability of Creative Commons for UK public sector

New report looks at suitability of Creative Commons for UK public sector

Complex issues about copyright and intellectual property rights have for many years proved a stumbling block to sharing of resources. This new report commissioned from Intrallect and the AHRC Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property & Technology Law at the University of Edinburgh, by the Common Information Environment (CIE) explores many of the issues and suggests possible ways forward via Creative Commons licensing.

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How much is a blog worth?

I've just come across a strange tool, Dane Carson on a Business Opportunities Weblog, which was inspired by Tristan Louis's research into the value of each link to Weblogs Inc, I've created this little applet using Technorati's API which computes and displays your blog's worth using the same link to dollar ratio as the AOL-Weblogs Inc deal.

I'm not sure about the algorithm used & whether the number of clicks & links can truely be considered to equal "worth", but I think it is an interesting idea - for the "value" of this blog see below.

My blog is worth $3,951.78.
How much is your blog worth?

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Sunday, October 30, 2005

BCS Meeting - Sean Brennan on NPfIT

BCS Meeting - Sean Brennan on NPfIT

I'm currently finalising the arrangements for a joint meeting of the BCS Nursing Specialist Group and Bristol Branch, to be held at UWE on 17th Nov, at which Sean Brennan will be speaking about "The NHS IT Project: the biggest computer programme in the world... ever!".

Details of the meeting are available from the link above & I still have a few places left. If you want to come please get in touch.

The title is taken from Sean's new book which is still available from Amazon & all good book shops.

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Friday, October 28, 2005

Information is the key to success in the NHS

Information is the key to success in the NHS

This article in the Independent Online (28th Oct 2005) examines a variety of roles in the NHS falling under the Health Informatics banner and usees vignettes from a range of staff to illustrate some of the trials and tribualtions for potential staff.

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Complementary competencies: public health and health sciences librarianship

Complementary competencies: public health and health sciences librarianship

This article (which is available in full text for free) from the Journal of the Medical Library Association (93(3): 338–347) by Marcus A. Banks, Keith W. Cogdill, Catherine R. Selden, and Marjorie A. Cahn, sought to identify opportunities for partnership between the communities of public health workers and health sciences librarians.

The authors "reviewed competencies in public health and health
sciences librarianship, and drawing on historical and contemporary experience, this paper presents an initial framework for forming collaborations between health sciences librarians and members of the public health workforce."

As the paper points out there are a range of "correspondences" which exist between many of the public health informatics competencies and the skills essential to being a successful health sciences librarian.

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Adoption and perception of electronic clinical communications in Scotland

IngentaConnect Adoption and perception of electronic clinical communications in Scotland

This article from June's edition of Informatics in Primary Care (13(2) 97-104), by Claudia Pagliari, Peter Donnan, Jill Morrison, Ian Ricketts, Peter Gregor, and Frank Sullivan reports a survey of the change in uptake of the NHS Scotland Electronic Clinical Communications Implementation Programme (ECCI) across Scotland over a 15 month period.

The survey showed "Across Scotland as a whole, the process of implementation was gradual. While there were marked gains in the availability of ECCI facilities over the observation period, rates of adoption lagged behind and varied across alternative facilities." and that "Perceived benefits of ECCI facilities included convenience, ease of use, time-saving and provision of an audit trail. Perceived barriers included the need to duplicate data entry where new systems were not universally implemented, technological difficulties, time, training and resources."

The study concluded that "Whilst, among users of ECCI facilities, perceptions of the programme and its potential benefits were generally positive, its full impact will not become evident until the new electronic tools are implemented nationally and have been more fully integrated into normal work routines."

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Watch Your health, your care, your say live on the net

Watch Your health, your care, your say live

The Department of Health is planning to webcast it's national listening event in Birmingham on 29 October. This is aprt of the "Your health, your care, your say" consultation excercise.

I wonder what the viewing figures will be?

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NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has recently launched a new service, which enables you to register to use their search engine and sign up for regular tailored newsletters.

As they say in their email when you sign up: "The site is under development so not all services will be available immediately nor are they in a final fully polished package, however we want to encourage early use and as much feedback as possible in order to help us develop the site to meet your needs." and there are some areas which still don't seem to have much content or work intuitively.

The services they are aiming to provide include:

* Searching for information: The Institute monitors a range of innovation and improvement web sites enabling you to find relevant resources. You can search these sources through the Institute web site and can save searches with the results and a summary e-mailed to you when new matches are found. We welcome suggestions for other sites to include within our search index.

* Recommended information: The Institute web site will recommend documents which appear to be of interest to you based on your saved searches and your activity profile on the site.

* Newsletters: You can register to receive newsletters on a range of topics

* Searching for people: you can search for people with relevant interests or expertise. This is based on peoples saved searches and personal profiles. You can only access people search if you yourself have agreed to share your details.

* Collaboration, discussion and co-creation of documents: you can work in collaboration with other registered users to create documents and discuss topics of interest

This appears to be an interesting move towards trying to provide a customised information service which cuts out some irrelevant information and provides material which is particularly tailored to an individual's role. At the moment the search function appears to only identify documents from the National Library for Health & National electronic Library for Health (which are still running in parallel and overlap) and the Department of Health, it will be interesting to see what other sources are seen as being reliable & what the criteria for selecting these are.

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Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Architecture for Knowledge-Based and Federated Search of Online Clinical Evidence

Architecture for Knowledge-Based and Federated Search of Online Clinical Evidence

This interesting paper has just been published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

The authors Enrico Coiera, Martin Walther, Ken Nguyen and Nigel H Lovell from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, clearly identify some of issues for clinicians in keeping up with the volumes of relevant literature and difficulties in searching across multiple databases for relevant information.

Their approach uses federated meta search tools, with a variety of filters (e.g. disease processes) into a system they have called "Quick Clinical (QC) which guides the user through the different profiles and keywords into queries which can be sent to a variety of different resources and their individual syntax in an effort to identify key resources in the shortest time possible. The interface and architecture which underly QC are described and their integration into Unified Query Language (UQL) and Unified Response Language (URL) using XML outlined.

I was slightly confused by their explanation of how "specific wrappers translate a UQL query into the native query language and format of the source", but I'm sure this will make sense to the more technically advanced. Some initial technical and user evaluation data is presented, but I think we will have to wait to see whether the product is scaleable and whether it is more widely adopted before decisions can be made about it's possible utility in clinical practice.

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AMIA2005 - VistA and EHR

This morning's panel sessiojn titled 'Deployment of the VistA Free and Open Source EHR/EMR Software Stack' was well-attended, attracting about 150 attendees to 4 speakers about various aspects of VistA (, WorldVistA ( and free/libre/open source software (FLOSS) in healthcare.

The panel was chaired by Ignacio Valdes, Editor of Linux Medical News ( The opening speaker, K.S. Bhaskar, looked at open source software deployment issues, and provided a general overview of FLOSS and whay it should be used. Stating that his mission was 'world domination with free/open source software', he recapped many of the issues of the benefits of FLOSS in terms of security, quality and price, as well as the issues around freedom (the libre/free elements). On the security issues of FLOSS, he asserted that 'monocultures are essentially insecure' and that 'given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow'.

KS went on to describe some of the aspects of FLOSS business models, including lack of licensing charges, lack of restrictions on use, and thus the exploration of revenue generating potential based in support, education, enhancements and implementations. He concluded by discussing some aspects of the porting of VistA on GT.M and GNU/Linux.

David Whitten covered 'WorldVistA deployment and support plans', Brian Lord addressed aspects of business models for WorldVistA and vendors, and Ignacio Valdes concluded the session by looking at aspects of public policy.

The session concluded with the award of this year's Linux Medical News Freedom Award to Joseph Dal Molin.

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Informatics in Primary Care vol. 13 no. 3 November 2005

Informatics in Primary Care vol. 13 no. 3 November 2005

The latest edition of the journal Informatics in Primary Care has just been published. It includes the following articles;

TI: Is the time right for direct entry into a career in health and biomedical informatics?
AU: de Lusignan, Simon; Ellis, Beverley

TI: A real-time, mobile phone-based telemedicine system to support young adults with type 1 diabetes
AU: Farmer, Andrew; Gibson, Oliver; Hayton, Paul; Bryden, Kathryn; Dudley, Christina; Neil, Andrew; Tarassenko, Lionel

TI: Designing and implementing an electronic health record system in primary care practice in sub-Saharan Africa: a case study from Cameroon
AU: Kamadjeu, Raoul M.; Tapang, Euloge M.; Moluh, Roland N.

TI: The implementation of electronic services: planned or organic growth?
AU: Cole, John; Colledge, Malcolm; Megaw, Tony; Powls, Martin; Bullock, Seth; Keen, Justin

TI: Pandora's electronic box: GPs reflect upon email communication with their patients
AU: Goodyear-Smith, Felicity; Wearn, Andy; Everts, Hans; Huggard, Peter; Halliwell, Joan

TI: Development of functional requirements for electronic health communication: preliminary results from the ELIN project
AU: Christensen, Tom; Grimsmo, Anders

TI: Randomised studies in general practice: how to integrate the electronic patient record
AU: Mosis, Georgio; Koes, Bart; Dieleman, Jeanne; Ch Stricker, Bruno; van der Lei, Johan; Sturkenboom, Miriam C.J.M.

TI: INRstar: computerised decision support software for anticoagulation management in primary care
AU: Jones, Robert Treharne; Sullivan, Mark; Barrett, David

TI: Links between systems in Accident & Emergency and primary care
AU: Harrop, Nick

TI: The National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics: an update
AU: Bates, David W.

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AMIA2005 - open source event

The AMIA OSWG (Open Source Working Group) business meeting was held on Monday evening. It was well-attended, with 35-40 people present, although only 8-10 were actually signed-up OSWG members.

The meeting was chaired by Alric M O'Connor, who began by announcing the results of the elections for the leadership team. Alric was confirmed as Chair-elect, with Ignacio Valdes as ViceChair and Will Ross as Secretary. Bill Lober was confirmed as a member-at-large, as was Fred Trotter.

The meeting discussed plans for what the WG wants to do in the next few years, and a number of interesting and exciting ideas were generated. Among these were an open source symposium at a future AMIA conference, a thinktank/OpenSteps North America meeting, and encouragement of presentations and other FLOSS contributions to international conferences, including trying to get a full track at future conferences, including AMIA.

About 10 members then adjourned to the Polo India Club restaurant for food, drinks and further discussions. A very pleasant evening and useful meeting - more information will appear in due course for OSWG members and via other sources.

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Monday, October 24, 2005

AMIA2005 - Monday second report

'Personal health records:problems and solutions' is the title of a session including four presentations dealing with aspects of personal health records; in the UK, it has implications for developments such as MyHealthSpace.

In the paper 'How accurate is information that patients contribute to their electronic health record?' Lynn Volk from Partners' Healthcare System reported on research that had been undertaken on patient input to their electronic records. She reported that electronic health records are often complete and patient contributions can help to provide a complete record. However, she suggested that their needs to be doctor overview of the patient input. This provoked a number of questions about the relative roles and knowledge levels of patients and their doctors.

'Online communication and support for cancer patients: a relationship-centric design framework' was presented by Jacob Weiss from Vanderbilt University. He based his presentation in a hypothesis that informatics can support the communication that is an essential part of cancer support and care. He highlighted the importance of communication and support needs for informal caregivers.

He looked at different tyoes of relationships (eg clinical and supportive relationships) and compared the sorts of questions and explanations that might be seen within two models, ie a relationship-centric design and an information-centric design. In the former, the interactions between people help to explain the communication, while in the latter, the exchange of data/information is the focus. It is an interestiong comparison.

Other papers in the session were:

'Household computer and Internet access: the digital divide in a paediatric clinic population' and 'Copy fees and patients' rights to obtain a copy of their medical records: from law to reality'

The session seems to be very popular, with a fairly full room, so there must be about 250 or so people attending this session.

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AMIA2005 - Monday morning report

Monday morning already, and another day of meetings - maybe I'll get to actually attend some of the conference sessions. On Sunday evening, Graham Wright and I presented our workshop, based in the Education Steps project (see
). We had 10 brave souls who had nothing better to do with their Sunday evenings than come to our workshop. We presented some of the rationale and background to the project, what had been done so far, and some of the plans for future work. Then, as it was meant to be an interactrive workshop, we got the attendees to look at some of the outputs of the Otley meeting and give their views, from a perspective of people coming from different backgrounds and health systems. The results of the discussions will be added to the project report in due course.

Sunday afternoon saw the opening of the conference, and of the exhibition area, which includes a mixture of commercial providers showing their wares and university departments providing information about their health informatics offerings.

More reports later today, time and wireless access permitting.

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Sunday, October 23, 2005

AMIA2005 - Sunday afternoon report

AMIA2005 is now in full swing here in Washington DC. This is the first opportunity I have had to sit down and try and write a little about what is going on.

As Rod Ward and I have discovered from previous conference blogs, the secret of successful blogging at these events is not to be doing too many other things - so, breaking this rule right from ther start, I have been busy with meetings etc. and not had time to write.

We arrived into a dull and wet Dulles airport on Friday afternoon - weather fairly similar to what we left behind at Heathrow. After doing some of the tourist trail yesterday (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the newly-opened American Indian Museum, and then Union Station for afternoon tea), today has been a succession of meetings, and it's still only mid afternoon.

As well as the many formal meetings in the programme of AMIA Working Groups and other groups, there is the usual host of opportunistic meetings that people organise at these events. So, froma working breakfast, it was on to a 3-hour meeting of the IMIA Strategic Planning group, and then a quick dash down to the Cosmos Club for a brunch and the launch of the new edition of Saba and McCormick's 'Essentials of Computers for NUrses'. Many of the chapter authors were present, including my co-author on the 'open source and free software' chapter, Alric O'Connor.

The wireless network here seems to be working well for Internet access, so I hope to be able to provide some 'live' reports from some of the meetings - we have our Education Steps workshop later this evening, and the business meeting of the AMIA Open SOurce Working Group tomorrow (MOnday) evening.

More to follow as time permits and there is something worth reporting on.

Peter Murray

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Friday, October 21, 2005

USAID Global Health E-Learning Center

USAID Global Health E-Learning Center

The USAID Global Health Bureau has announced the new Global Health E-Learning Center. The Center offers a series of health and population e-learning courses that will cover a wide range of public health issues.

Six beginning course offerings are now available:

-Antenatal Care
-Logistics for Health Commodities
-Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage
-Standard Days Method
-Tuberculosis Basics

The e-learning courses will:

-Provide useful and timely continuing education for professionals interested in health and population issues

-Offer state-of-the-art technical content on key public health topics

-Serve as a practical resource for increasing public health knowledge

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Thursday, October 20, 2005

Technocrati tags for blog posts

Technocrati tags for blog posts

Regular readers of this blog may notice that a few recent and (hopefully) all future posts on Informaticopia will have technocrati tags at the bottom. These are a way of easily linking to messages on other blogs about similar topics. By clicking on them you will see a list of other recent posts from around the world which have used the same terms for tags.

Another new innovation for me is that this is the first post written with the blogger plug in for word which enables you to write a message (& spell check etc) in word and then easily publish it to the blog see

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Tomorrow's operating room to harness Net, RFID etc

Tomorrow's operating room to harness Net, RFID

This story from CNET reports a presentation at a conference in San Francisco of the sort of data management systems which could revolutionise work in operating theatres, including the wearing of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags by nurses and doctors to track their locations - just one of the myriad of RFID applications in healthcare which are emerging at present.

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2005 Health Libraries Week

November 14th – 18th this year sees the 2nd annual Health Libraries Week, co-ordinated by the National Library for Health (NLH) a library and information service for the NHS, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It offers a range of services to support patient care, staff development and research. The library mixes traditional services such as professional support from NHS library staff, with web based services such as a comprehensive search engine, clinical question answering, and current awareness. The NLH’s web resource can be found at, and work is under way to link and develop existing local NHS library resources, both electronic and traditional.

The aim of the week is to raise the profile of health library services, and increase awareness of the range of library and information services and resources available to those working in healthcare in England.

Did you know that health library services offer help and advice from skilled staff, journal and book collections – electronic as well as paper, study space and internet access, training courses and current awareness services, search services and document delivery – all designed to help busy healthcare staff find the best available evidence about healthcare matters as quickly as possible.

In addition to the personal services within local libraries, the National Library for Health website ( is available to all NHS staff in England, allowing access to information at a time and place that is convenient to them. The NLH website offers a range of Specialist Libraries that identify the best evidence on a range of the major healthcare topics, as well as links to high-quality resources such as the Cochrane Library and the BMJ’s Clinical Evidence. NHS staff can also access bibliographic databases such as Medline and Cinahl, as well as over 1500 full text journals and a collection of electronic books. The site also offers a search engine, a question answering service aimed at staff working in primary care, and news and current awareness services.

There will be various events taking place in and around health libraries up and down the country during Health Libraries Week - why not take the opportunity to contact your library and see what they have to offer, and how you can best make use of their services to support patient care?

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Wednesday, October 19, 2005

careandhealth - Laming challenges child database plans

careandhealth - Laming challenges child database plans

This interview on highlights the change in views of Lord Laming about the setting up a of a national child database as set out in the Climbie inquiry and taken up by the Department for Education and Skills in their document "Every Child Matters".

He now feels that this would not be useful "A national, all singing, all dancing, complicated database, accessible to everybody is not only expensive but I doubt it will improve case outcomes. It also breaches reasonable safeguards of data protection."

Perhaps the concerns, which have been raised by various groups, about the implications of the setting up this sort of database are now being heard & I wonder what the implications for NHS Connecting for Health and the National Programme for IT will be?

The comments coming out at the same time as the ID bill being passed by the hose of commons (with some new caveats), highlight issues around the relationship between rights and responsibilities and the individual versus the sate.

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AMIA2005 - the prequel

The 2005 Autumn (or in US parlance, Fall) Symposium of AMIA, the American Medical Informatics Association, takes place in Washington, DC, USA on 22-26 October. Rather than develop a separate blog for the event, as has been done for MIE2005 (see, SINI2005 (see and other events, a series of reports from the event will appear here.

Titled 'Biomedical and health informatics: from foundations to applications to policy', the event has the usual conference structure and mix of posters, peer-reviewed papers, panels, workshops, etc. As always with events outside the UK, it is going to be interesting to compare the 'view of the health informatics world' as seen from the USA with what is happening in the UK, and to see if there are any similarities and similar lessons. A first quick look through the programme seems to show a strong emphasis on biomedical computing and bioinformatics, as well as uses of GRID technology, genomics, and the usual plethora of talks about terminologies, ontologies, and electronic health records. An increasing focus in this event, and other US conferences, is on disaster planning and management, and there seems to be a growing interest in personal health records.

Assuming the technology allows, there will be more starting on Saturday.

Peter Murray

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Monday, October 17, 2005

Medical record linkage in health information systems by approximate string matching and clustering

Medical record linkage in health information systems by approximate string matching and clustering

This interesting paper by 3 French researchers has just been published in the open access Biomed Central journal Medical Informatics and Decision Making.

The paper highlights important issues which arise where health records from several sources are being combined into single databases for communication & record sharing purposes. This is a major headache currently for NHS Connecting for Health & the UK's National Porgramme for IT which is trying to match records from GPs, hospitals etc where each patient may have multiple records each with different hospital numbers.

The study analysed 300,000 records & found over 10% had 2 or more records for the same patient - I suspect this ratio may be even higher in the UK - and examines tools to enable accurate matching and aggregation of these records.

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Thursday, October 13, 2005

Blackboard and WebCT Announce Plans to Merge

Blackboard and WebCT Announce Plans to Merge

This announcement that the 2 major players in the provision of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in UK Higher and Further Education are too merge has some significant implications.

Potentially the resulting products could incorporate the best features of both, but the virtual monopoly it could create may limit development opportunities and affect the pricing regimes.

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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Audit Commission - Early lessons from payment by results

Audit Commission - Early lessons from payment by results

The audit commission has released its report on "Early lessons from payment by results" which includes some important lessons for all sectors of the NHS.

In particular the report highlights problems with the quality of data and the mechanisms for recording clinical activity, particularly coding, on which the payments are being made.

"Good information systems that produce high-quality data on clinical activity and cost are important for sound management and delivery of patient care......As part of investment planned under NHS Connecting for Health, a comprehensive electronic Care Records Service should be in place by 2010, which will go some way towards achieving this. However, trusts still need to strengthen their internal arrangements to produce timely and accurate data."

"Coding of diagnoses and procedures is particularly important under payment by results, as these codes are two principal determinants of the HRG that the patient is assigned to, which in turn determines income. Incomplete coding translates to loss of income for trusts, while inaccurate coding leads to inaccurate payments, which can impact negatively on the finances of providers or commissioners.

We have previously highlighted weaknesses in clinical coding at NHS trusts, pointing to significant levels of uncoded activity, outdated patient administration systems and weak coding arrangements. Payment by results provides the incentives to improve data quality and we can already see the increased priority this is being given across the NHS."

As a result of these systems being introduced it appears that the average number of diagnoses recorded for each patient has increaswed significantly. The report also considers moves from ICD10 and OPCS classifications to SNOMED and the disruption involved.

"NHS Connecting for Health will require most NHS trusts to invest in their information systems and migrate data between systems. Several NHS trusts, including foundation trusts, implemented new systems in 2004/05, and found that the level of disruption was greater than expected. In extreme cases, it resulted in no activity information being available for the majority of the financial year. Under payment by results, where income is based on activity levels, this exposes trusts to considerable financial risk. Trusts and PCTs need to be aware of the risk that this presents and, if possible, put in place contingency arrangements to protect against loss of income due to associated data-quality issues. One foundation trust negotiated a block contract for 2004/05, which set a minimum level of income; while another based financial reports on estimates rather than actual activity."

For further discussion of this report and it's implications see:

E-Health Insider Investment in clinical coding now critical

Guardian - Too much, too often, too disruptive

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005

OpenClinical Latest

OpenClinical Home: Knowledge management technologies and applications for healthcare

A series of new reports and articles have just been published on open clinical;

Background -

Electronic medical records - provides definitions, barriers and benefits of EMR systems, an overview of standards and brief update on the situation in different countries.

e-Health - provides definitions, barriers and benefits + an expanded bibliography

Public reports: e-Health - overview and excerpts from national & international governenments & bodies eg WHO & EU

National information technology programmes for healthcare and first set of summaries of implementation plans covering Canada, England, France, New Zealand, USA.

Research - Projects

EORCA: (France) Development of a formal method for modelling collaborative medical activities in the ICU to support the creation of care team guidelines

Clinical - Demonstrators

ASEMR: (US) Active Semantic Electronic Medical Record for Cardiology

Commercial - Suppliers

iSoft: (UK & others) Integrated patient and clinical information systems - LORENZO: enterprise-wide clinical and administrative application. LORENZO is the electronic medical record planned for implementation in three of the five cluster regions that make up the NHS Connecting for Health programme in England.

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eMJA: The woefully wired world of health service computing

eMJA: The woefully wired world of health service computing

This "Postcard from the UK" in an Australian Medical Journal gives a succinct and perceptive overview of the state of informatics in the NHS. It highlights many of the issues which are a factor of daily life for many clinicians and paints a depressing picture, presumably aimed at Australian Medical colleagues.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

The Impact of e-Health and Assistive Technologies on Healthcare

The Impact of e-Health and Assistive Technologies on Healthcare

This report which is designed to:
* encourage and facilitate the application of appropriate technologies to support the modernisation of healthcare service delivery

* identify effective procedures and practices which may be extendable or transferable to other disciplines and/or to other organisations.

has been produced by TeHIP (The E-Health Innovation Professionals' Group of the Institute of Healthcare Management, ASSIST and the British Computer Society Health Informatics Forum) following interviews, questionnaires and workshops with more than 100 clinicians, healthcare managers, informaticians, equipment and service suppliers.

The report argues for active implementation of ehealth projects in advance of the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) implementation because of a "lack of understanding" about the importance and potential of e-health, as well as confusion over what exactly e-health is. Because of this, small-scale projects tend to stay that way, petering out due to the inability to prove clinical benefits and ehealth is seen as an IT and never a care issue, and that clinical benefits were not generally understood by IT staff. | Health | Hewitt agrees to hand over NHS statistics to private firm | Health | Hewitt agrees to hand over NHS statistics to private firm

Interesting speculation in today's Guardian that there are plans to "privatise" the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

This is particularly significant in the light of discussions about using data from this centre in the 2011 Census.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

IngentaConnect Table Of Contents: He@lth Information on the Internet 47(1)

IngentaConnect Table Of Contents: He@lth Information on the Internet 47(1)

The latest edition of He@lth Information on the Internet has just been published and includes the following articles:

TI: Wikipedia
AU: Childs, Sue

TI: The NLH Primary Care Question Answering Service
AU: Brassey, Jon

TI: Current literature
AU: Anagnostelis, Betsy

TI: Networking nutrition research
AU: Astley, Sian

TI: Bookmarks: health economics
AU: Blenkinsopp, John

TI: View from the front line: information sources
AU: Brown, Harry

TI: NLH: the customer perspective
AU: Turner, Alison

TI: What's new?
AU: Williamson, Laurian

Journal of Medical Internet Research - Table of Contents Volume 7, Issue 5 (2005)

Journal of Medical Internet Research - Table of Contents Volume 7, Issue 5 (2005)

2 new interesting articles have just been published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research:

A Historical Overview of Health Disparities and the Potential of eHealth Solutions
Michael Christopher Gibbons, J Med Internet Res 2005 (Oct 4); 7(5):e50

Computers and the Internet: Tools for Youth Empowerment

Ruta K Valaitis, J Med Internet Res 2005 (Oct 4); 7(5):e51

Saturday, October 01, 2005

The NHS Faculty of Health Informatics

The Faculty

The NHS Faculty of Health Informatics was recently launched on the 28th September 2005 and aims to develop a national community of practice for health informatics learning and development, applied research and professional services across a wide range of clinical and professional backgrounds across the NHS and the academic sector.

The faculty will act as a national focal point for the study and facilitation of informatics learning and research on behalf of the National Health Service, working with partners including further and higher education institutions on related interests.

It will be interesting to see how many people apply for membership and the role that this new body plays in developments over the next few years.

CfH Academic Partnerships Manager

Academic Partnerships Manager

This interesting job advert appeared during the week for someone to manage the relationships between higher and further education and NHS Connecting for Health within the Informatics Programme and emerging NHS Faculty of Health Informatics.

This shows an explicit recognition that research, education, training and development provision, contribute directly to the achievement and maintenance of the highest standards in NHS Information programmes and wider NHS functioning and development.

If the post wasn't based in Leeds I would be considering the role myself!

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roh morgon

Coming Soon

Runner: Book II of The Chosen

Welcome to my blog home

You may notice that it’s a bit musty, with a few cobwebs in the corners and dust bunnies lurking in the darker places. But I’m in the process of opening the shutters and sweeping the floors, so you can expect some changes over the next few weeks as I tidy up broken links and outdated content. Be sure to stop by – I promise to have a clean chair so you can stay awhile.

roh morgon @ Saturday, 18 February 2017 8:04 pm
Comments (2)
category: catalog,e-Watch,vampire

  1. Can we look forward to a second book in the Watcher series? ssl

    Comment by Shawn Lavac — Monday, 3 April 2017 @ 7:51 pm

  2. Hello Shawn,

    Yes, Runner: Book II of The Chosen, is with my editor now and is scheduled for a fall release. I will send out announcements on its release date later this summer.

    Thanks for asking!

    Comment by roh morgon — Monday, 3 April 2017 @ 8:55 pm

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Shop Talk: Busy Cycle in Tarheel State

Former Rep. Robin Hayes was elected Saturday to a full two-year term as chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. Hayes, who ran unopposed for the position, had been elected in January to serve the remainder of outgoing Chairman Tom Fetzer's term.

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, "In some ways, the convention was the kickoff of the 2012 election season, in which North Carolina is expected to be a battleground state with competitive races for president, governor, and legislature, and with reconfigured Congressional seats after redistricting."

President Barack Obama narrowly won North Carolina in 2008, and Democrats are holding their national convention next year in Charlotte.

Pulling for Pawlenty

Ann Marie Hauser has been named communications director for Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign. Hauser started Monday and joins Press Secretary Alex Conant in the Minneapolis headquarters of the former Minnesota governor.

Hauser was most recently vice president of media relations at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and previously served as communications director for Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.). She has formerly served as press secretary and director of public affairs at the Department of Commerce, regional press secretary at the Republican National Committee and Iowa communications director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign.

Obama '12 Snags 'Technologist'

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign hired Harper Reed as chief technology officer, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Describing Reed as a "well-known Chicago technologist," the Tribune reported that the former chief technology officer "of clothing company Threadless joined the campaign in late April and will focus on helping field operators improve voter contact."

Online organizing, fundraising and advertising played a big role in Obama's 2008 victory, and the campaign will likely look to jump on the latest technology available to stay ahead of the competition.

Netroots Nation Next Week

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer will deliver the keynote address and participate in a question-and-answer session with the more than 2,000 progressive activists expected to attend next week's Netroots Nation.

The sixth annual gathering will be held June 16-19 in Minneapolis. Other speakers include Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Obama national field director Jeremy Bird and Minnesota Democratic Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar.

Reps. Jared Polis (Colo.) and Donna Edwards (Md.) will hold a briefing on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program.

Former Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) is also scheduled to speak.

Hari Returns to His Roots

Hari Sevugan resigned Friday as national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. Sevugan has signed on as vice president of communications for Students First, an education advocacy group formed by Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools.

Sevugan, a lawyer and former New York teacher who was raised in the Chicago area, was a senior spokesman on President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. In previous cycles, Sevugan served as communications director for Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's 2006 campaign and policy director for Tim Kaine's Virginia gubernatorial campaign in 2005.

"I look forward to working with well-meaning people of all political stripes," Sevugan said in a statement, adding that education policy has been a "driving motivation" for his career as a Democrat.

"As a former teacher, I know that the challenges facing our educators are great," he said. "I look forward to working to ensure that our teachers have the support they need to do what's right by our students ... [and] to working to lift these teachers up, and ensuring that every student has an excellent teacher in his or her classroom."

Live Long at Prosper

Republican pollster and strategist Tyler Harber recently joined Prosper Group as a partner. Harber's experience includes more than a decade at top GOP polling firms Public Opinion Strategies and Wilson Research Strategies (now Wilson Perkins Allen Research).

"Tyler brings significant experience, strong contacts and considerable talents to our company," Prosper Group President Kristen Luidhardt said. "His consulting pedigree is exceptional, allowing him to leverage his vast network of contacts into a significant expansion of our client base."

Prosper Group also recently announced the additions of Dan Huber as Web project manager, Rachel Pecor as voter contact specialist and Jarrett Ray as account manager.

The Prosper Group provides online strategy, telephone voter contact and general consulting to campaigns, political organizations and public affairs clients. It worked on dozens of campaigns last cycle, including the Senate campaigns of Republican Sharron Angle in Nevada and GOP Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Dan Coats (Ind.).

RNC's Regional Strategists

The Republican National Committee has new regional political directors for the 2012 cycle. They are Chris Carr in the Western region, Jessica Ennis in the Southeastern region, John Gibson in the Northeastern region and Mark Jefferson in the Midwestern region.

Carr served as the Nevada GOP executive director, Ennis worked for the North Carolina GOP, Gibson for the Maryland GOP and Jefferson for the Wisconsin GOP, where now-RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was chairman.

Submit campaign staffing news and tips to Shop Talk here.


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Friday, December 11, 2015

From Crisis Comes Leviathan

-Jacob G. Hornberger
Lovers of big government love crises because crises are the sure-fire way to get big government. It is during crises that many people go into a fright-filled panic, demanding that government assume extraordinary powers to keep them safe. Government officials, of course, are always willing to oblige, given their love of power over others.

Then, as Robert Higgs points out in his insightful book Crisis and Leviathan (which I highly recommend), once the crisis is over, while the size of government might diminish, it hardly ever returns to the size that it was before the crisis. Thus, with each new crisis, the government only gets bigger, more powerful, and more oppressive.

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Commercial, Products, Public Service, Regulatory

United Rotorcraft Delivers First WAAS-Equipped EC145

By Staff Writer | May 7, 2012

Peoria, Ill.-based OSF Aviation, a division of OSF HealthCare, has received the first of four Eurocopter EC145s outfitted with an aftermarket wide area augmentation system (WAAS) from United Rotorcraft. The handover represents the first delivery of a WAAS-certified EC145. United Rotorcraft, a part of Air Methods, expects to hand over the remaining three helicopters later this year.
Related: Avionics & Instruments News

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Military, Products

Navy Grants Australian MH-60R Contract to Sikorsky

By Staff Writer | June 18, 2012

Sikorsky Aircraft has received a $19.1-million extension from the U.S. Navy for non-recurring engineering efforts related to the handover of 24 baseline MH-60Rs to the government of Australia. The services are part of Australia’s Future Naval Aviation Combat System effort, which falls under a foreign military sales (FMS) program. Sikorsky will conduct the work in Stratford, Conn., with a completion date targeted for September 2017.
Related: Procurement News

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Player Page

T.J. Yeldon | Running Back

Team: Alabama Crimson Tide
Ht / Wt:  6'2' / 221

Latest News

Recent News

Jaguars selected Alabama RB T.J. Yeldon with the No. 36 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Yeldon (6'1/226) outplayed Eddie Lacy as a true freshman before emerging as Alabama's lead back as a sophomore and junior, finishing his career with 3,322 yards and 37 TDs on 576 carries (5.77 YPC), along with 46 catches. Yeldon ran 4.61 at the Combine, but improved to 4.52/4.53 at his Pro Day. A downhill zone runner with smooth, gliding foot movement, Yeldon has some Le'Veon Bell to his game. He's a "singles and doubles" rather than home-run hitter and one of the top pass-protecting backs in this draft. Yeldon gained five-plus yards on 46 percent of his 2014 carries, the highest rate in this year's class despite facing the toughest schedule. He has all the tools of an NFL every-down back. Yeldon is set up for immediate fantasy success as the Jags' new feature back, pushing Denard Robinson into a change-of-pace role and Toby Gerhart to H-back. Fri, May 1, 2015 07:28:00 PM

Highest Searched Players over the last 7 days


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ROCKTON - The Hononegah girls basketball team clinched its fourth straight NIC-10 title with a 51-28 win over East on Friday.

Karley Kolberg had 18 points for the Indians, who have compiled a 63-1 conference record in four years.

Shamarrhea Cross scored 11 points for East.

Auburn 56, Belvidere 49: Melena Burke and Brianna Davis each scored 16 points to lead the Knights. Cynthia Santiago had a game-high 24 points for the Bucs.

Freeport 55, Harlem 51: Chasitee Shroyer scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half to lead the Pretzels, who trailed 39-31 after three periods.

McKaela Schmelzer had 15 points to lead Harlem.

Belvidere North 53, Jefferson 40: Elise Rand had 18 points for North. Elizabeth Bankole led Jefferson with 12 points.

Class 1A Warren Regional

Galena 45, East Dubuque 33: Galena outscored East Dubuque 19-10 in the fourth period for the win. Olivia Middendorf scored 13 points to lead Galena for the regional championship title.

Michaela Marty had 14 points for East Dubuque.

Marengo 49, Rockford Christian 48 (OT): Marengo rallied for the win. Sam Bubnack had eight points for the Royals.

Harlem 51, Freeport 42: Giovanni Offard scored 13 points and Quavon Meeks had 12 for Freeport in the loss. DeJwon Woods had 19 points for Harlem.

Harvard 61, North Boone 48: Michael Gilmore scored 10 points in the loss for North Boone.

Mendota 66, Stillman Valley 43: Trevor Gerig had 15 points for the Cardinals, who fell behind 37-22 at half. James Carroll of Mendota had 29 points. He now has scored more than 1,000 points for his career.

Hononegah 49, East 45: The Indians outscored the E-Rabs 16-8 in the fourth period. Kyle Damon had 13 points for Hononegah. Tony Evans Jr. had 27 points for East.

Boylan 52, Guilford 46: Demry Croft had 12 points for the Titans, who led 27-21 at half. Sedrick Jones Jr. had 19 points for Guilford.

Lutheran 61, Byron 42: Joseph Kellen hit five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 17 points to lead Lutheran. Nate Wieting had 14 points and Thomas Kopelman added 13 for the Crusaders. Daniel Lowe had 11 points for Byron.

Jefferson 79, Belvidere North 74: Jefferson rallied from a 57-55 third-period deficit.

Chaz Johnson went 12-of-14 from the free-throw line and finished with 24 points to lead Jefferson.

Hunter Blake had 20 points for North.


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RTS Jackson Financial Aid

Financial Resources

Cost of Seminary Housing: RTS Jackson offers affordable housing whether you're single, married, or married with kids.  Seminary housing not only reduces your cost of living, but puts you in fellowship with other students.

Local Job Listings: Most students work part-time jobs while in school.  Begin your job search here and be sure to network with the Admissions office. See more ideas for part-time jobs in the Jackson area below.

Building a Personal Support Network: It's not uncommon for students to raise support during their time at seminary.  If you're considering raising support, this document might help.

Student Insurance Options: Students taking 12 or more hours are required to demonstrate proof of health insurance.  Here are ways for you to meet that requirement.

Jackson-Specific Financial Aid Options

Most financial aid options are available institutionally. However, we are pleased to offer a few additional options that are only available for RTS Jackson students.

African American Leadership Initiative (AALI)

Awarded to those who demonstrate a heart for ministry in African American, multi-ethnic, or urban contexts.  Please attach a brief essay (no more than 500 words) about your ministry experience and future desires for working in African American, multi-ethnic, or urban contexts.

  • 50% tuition awards

Learn more about the African American Leadership Scholarship.

GI Replacement Grant

The Jackson campus is not able to accept the GI Bill or Post 9/11 benefits, but we are very grateful for the service of our veterans.  In lieu of the government benefits, RTS Jackson offers the GI Replacement Grant which covers up to 100% of the cost of tuition.  Simply provide documentation of the funds you would be receiving from the federal government along with your financial aid application.

  • Up to 100% tuition awards

The acronym FORTS stands for Friends of RTS.  This historic scholarship is for international students who are returning to their home countries upon graduation.  These funds have been given to see the spread of the Gospel around the world.  RTS Jackson has 10 FORTS recipients each year.  In addition to the financial aid application the international student should complete and submit the FORTS agreement.

  • 100% tuition awards + a small book stipend

Learn more about the FORTS and International Student Scholarships.

International Student Awards

Awarded to those who are coming from other countries to study at RTS Jackson.  We have students from all over the world who study with us.

  • Up to 50% tuition awards

Learn more about the FORTS and International Student Scholarships.

RTS Jackson has a number of part-time on-campus jobs for current students. To inquire about on-campus work, first, you must be admitted as a student. Once admitted, you may contact Wanda Rushing at wrushing@rts.edu to learn about job availability.

Jackson and the surrounding community boast a wide variety of different kinds of employment. Local employers frequently contact RTS looking for part-time employees because of our long-standing presence in the community. Students work at UPS, Starbucks, local restaurants, as RDs at Belhaven University and Mississippi College, and of course in the many churches in the area. Ministry internships abound in the local churches, and students serve in a wide variety of areas: Christian Education, Discipleship, Missions, Visitation, Youth, College Ministry, and Pulpit Supply. For a listing of current local jobs, click here.

Debt & Loans

Not many students decide to take out loans for their seminary education, and we don't typically recommend it. Since the White House federalized student loans in March 2010 and RTS does not accept federal funding, the only remaining opportunity for loans would be private loans secured through a local bank.

If you have outstanding educational debt from your undergraduate degree or are considering using private loans to pay for seminary, here is a helpful handout that outlines what to expect financially as you work through paying off that debt after graduation.

Contact Us

Whether you're a prospective student, current student, alumnus, donor, or friend of RTS, we would love to hear from you.


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Burgundy Rose Lattice Yoke Midi Dress

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We're sorry, but the item you selected is no longer available.

    We're totally in love with the look and feel of this midi dress. It's crafted with super soft flat knit in a figure-flattering cut, featuring beautiful rose prints. Complete with a lattice neckline that flaunts metallic hardware.

    • Lace-up yoke
    • Three quarter sleeves
    • 92% polyester, 8% spandex
    • Machine wash
    • Model wears size Small
    • Imported
    • STYLE: 0101-001110-0007745


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No 1 Compton California Tee

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    A trendy graphic tee that styles boldly on its own or layered with your favorite button down. This jersey top features screen print graphics of "No 1 Compton California."

    • 100% cotton
    • Machine wash
    • Model wears size Medium
    • Imported
    • STYLE: 0276-000923-0008601


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NRC: Eagles head to Country as they aim to rise above Melbourne

The NSW Country Eagles and Melbourne Rising meet in Tamworth to play their round three match of the Buildcorp NRC.  Eagles captain Paddy Ryan and Rising utility Mick Snowden with the rare chance to play in their hometown.

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Stronger In The Long Run

Top training secrets from marathoners who turn in solid performances year, after year, after year

Friday, October 6, 2006, 12:00 am
More than 20 years ago, on an overcast morning in November, I stood on the starting line of the Marine Corps Marathon, in Washington, D.C. There were butterflies in my stomach and a trash bag over my shoulders. Back home on Long Island, New York, I had done some of the training for my first marathon with local veteran runners. However, I followed only about half their advice--the half I ignored included the part about making sure I had trained sufficiently. Instead, as an overconfident 30-year-old who could easily run a sub-40-minute 10-K, I had tried to cram in long runs like last-minute study sessions for a final exam. I did other stupid things, too. I rode my stationary bike for an hour the morning before the race. Then, after arriving in D.C., I spent the whole afternoon on my feet at the expo, enjoyed a couple of beers with dinner, and didn't bother to eat breakfast race morning. On top of everything else, I went out way to fast.

You can see where this is going: By mile 16, I was walking. Quads sore, spirits sagging, I struggled to finish in a disappointing 3:56. I swore I'd never run another marathon.

Two decades and 19 marathons later, I decided to return to the Marine Corps Marathon to exorcise some old ghosts and answer an important question--important not just to me but to anyone who is passionate about the 26.2-mile distance. With all that the marathon demands physically and psychologically, is it possible to be a lifelong marathoner, maintaining consistent--even competitive--times over the years, if not decades?

For most people, says William Roberts, M.D., medical director of the Twin Cities Marathon, the answer is yes. "There is little reason you cannot run marathons and run them well for many years," he says. Provided, of course, you avoid injuries. "You don't recover as quickly after age 40," says orthopedic surgeon Nicholas DiNubile, M.D., author of FrameWork: Your 7-Step Program for Healthy Muscles, Bones and Joints. And considering that the median age of male marathon finishers in 2005 was 40 (for women, it was 35), those planning to marathon over the long haul need to wise up fast--with smart training strategies and new approaches to the distance.

That can also be part of the fun--and why, if the marathon is your cup of tea, you can keep savoring it for years to come. "You never stop tinkering with the marathon," says Gordon Bakoulis, 45, five-time qualifier for the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials. "There's always something that can be adjusted, fine-tuned, or experimented with."

Experiment is the right word. We don't yet have the long-term studies that can tell us the precise formula for achieving quality marathon performances from the time you're 25 until the time you're 75, simply because so few have done it. Maybe that's the chapter of this story you'll write. But in the meantime, we asked nine marathon veterans for the training strategies that have been key to their long-term success. Their secrets to longevity are relevant even if you're not chasing 26.2-milers, because who doesn't want to keep running as well as possible for as long as possible?
And I can vouch for the efficacy of these tips, because last October I put them to the test when I returned to D.C. to redeem myself at Marine Corps. Although it wasn't my fastest finish, I ran 3:16--an accomplishment that enabled me to declare myself a lifelong marathoner who was 20 years older and 40 minutes faster. With a little luck and a lot of smart training, I'll keep going strong for another 20 years. So can you.

Keep your training--and your weight--consistent.

Alan Ruben, 49, of Manhattan has run 19 straight New York City Marathons--the last 15 of them under 2:40. For him, there are no big secrets to long-running longevity. "If you want to run quality marathons over the long term, you simply need to train consistently," he says. Doug Kurtis, 54, who ran 76 sub-2:20 marathons between 1980 and 1994, agrees. "If you're consistent in your training year-round, you're better able to control your weight," Kurtis says, "and that makes it easier on you come marathon season."

Keeping your running at a steady level throughout the year counters the age-related weight gain that plagues most people (the average American gains one to 1.5 pounds a year after the age of 25). But that doesn't mean you need to crank out megamiles all year long for the rest of your life. Few runners can handle 100-mile marathon-training weeks for one season, much less over the course of two or three decades. "Definitely think quality over quantity if you want to keep running marathons," says exercise scientist Bill Pierce of Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

So what's the magic number? That really depends on the individual. Ruben runs 60 to 80 miles a week, but he's a sub-2:40 marathoner. And studies have shown that the number one predictor for running injury is total weekly mileage--the higher the total, the higher your injury risk. So while you may want to bump up the miles during your peak marathon training, most runners should remain in the 20- to 40-miles-per-week range during off-season training to help keep injuries at bay.

Fewer Marathons = Faster Marathons.

Marathon running can become a compulsive habit. There are some marathoners who toe the line every month (the Fifty State folks come to mind). That's fine, if your body and temperament allow it--and if your goal is to simply cross the finish line. But if you want to run quality marathons, you need to run them less frequently. "I used to think I needed only one month of decreased training to recuperate after a marathon," says John Valentine, 56, of Roxbury, Vermont, who ran a 3:20 marathon in 1966 and a 3:19 in 2005. "Now I think it's closer to two months before I can get back into real quality training."

For some runners this means limiting themselves to one spring and one fall marathon. For others, concentrating on one big race a year works best. "I don't plan to ever again run two marathons in a single year, whereas that used to be my minimum," says Bakoulis. "To still run decent times, avoid injuries, and take care of my family, job, and other responsibilities, I've had to adapt and channel my efforts into one solid race per year." Pierce--who ran a 3:11 marathon at age 55--breaks his running year down into three race goals: a 10-K in the spring, a half-marathon in late summer, and a marathon in the fall. "That way your training has a different focus from season to season," he says, "but you're still staying in shape for the ultimate goal: that yearly marathon."
Stay Strong.

It's a fact that strength fades as we get older. And as strength fades, so does speed. But you can retain the strength and speed you need to run quality marathons by lifting weights. "Strength training helps everything from overall strength, to your posture, to your arm carriage," says Dennis Petrushkevich, a 49-year-old runner who has run 21 sub-three-hour Chicago Marathons. You don't need to spend hours pumping iron to see a difference. Two 30-minute sessions per week with an even mix of both upper- and lower-body exercises will do the trick. Stick with weights that are about 60 percent of your maximum.

Take Care of Your Body.

Longevity in marathon running, Dr. Roberts says, is largely a question of "use versus abuse." To ride that fine line year after year, you need to do everything you can to promote full recovery between your workouts and your marathons. "A weekly massage is one of the best investments you can make," says 62-year-old Hal Goforth of San Diego, who believes his 60-minute weekly session on the table is one reason he's been able to run the last 31 Boston Marathons, finishing 27 of them in less than three hours. Goforth, also an exercise physiologist, believes massage is particularly important for the veteran marathoner's body. "Connective tissue becomes less pliable as you age," he says. "When your legs get tight from training, a good massage therapist can find those little knots in your muscles, bust them up, and give you greater stride length."

Secure Sideline Support.

Experienced marathoners agree that they couldn't keep pace year after year without a supportive partner and family. Sports psychologist Charlie Brown of FPS Performance in Charlotte, North Carolina, cites a Canadian study of cardiac rehab patients that showed a spouse's attitude toward the rehab program was an even stronger predictor of compliance than the patient's. Brown believes the same holds true in long-distance running. "If your partner does not respect or admire your marathon running, I'm sorry, it's not going to happen," says Brown.

Note that Brown did not say your partner has to be a marathon runner, too. He or she just needs to be on board with the idea of you training for and racing them regularly. And if your family isn't supportive, Brown says, "find out what would need to happen to get them on board." For example, you may have to do your long runs earlier on a Saturday morning so that you're showered and ready to help with the chores once the rest of the family is up. The bottom line: While your family doesn't have to be at the finish line, cheering wildly every time you finish a race, they have to be supportive of your efforts to get there.

Have Fun.

"I find that some folks are so fixated on performance, they view the daily training as stressful," Pierce says. Contrast that with Gary Allen, who has racked up an incredible 41 sub-three-hour marathons since 1978. "When people ask me how I've done it, I say by being consistent and keeping it fun," he says. Allen, 49, keeps his training enjoyable by surrounding himself with good running partners and by exploring new routes around his home on Great Cranberry Island, Maine. While you may not be lucky enough on your long runs to spot moose or bald eagles, as Allen has, whatever you do to make running fun should keep you heading out for years to come.


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Dummyimage.com Can Calculate Ratios Now

Thanks to Duncan Stephen’s blog post about dummy images, I was inspired to add a new feature.

All of the customisation options have got us excited, but I can think of a few more features that would improve it even further.

The ability to set a width and an aspect ratio, for those times when you know you need a 16:9 image but just can’t be bothered to get the calculator out.

What a great idea! It took me an hour or two to thoroughly test the new feature to my satisfaction and push it live. I’ve also updated the documentation and source code for anyone who wants to take a look to see how it’s done.

You can use aspect ratios with the width like so:

or with the height

I enjoy adding new features that make a designer/developers life a bit easier. If you have something that you would like to see dummyimage.com do, let me know!

List Of Dummy Image Generators

Ordered by when the domain name was registered.

  1. http://dummyimage.com (2007-07-20)
  2. http://fpoimg.com (2010-01-26)
  3. http://www.ipsumimage.com (2010-02-03)
  4. http://nosrc.net (2010-02-04)
  5. http://placehold.it (2010-02-04)
  6. http://placekitten.com (2010-11-22)
  7. http://placehold.us (2011-01-14)
  8. http://placedog.com (2011-03-01)
  9. http://flickholdr.com (2011-03-05)
  10. http://placesheen.com (2011-03-07)
  11. http://lorempixum.com (2011-03-23)
  12. http://placepuppy.it (2011-04-11)

Other Dummy Image Generators that I couldn’t figure out when they were created

I’m glad dummyimage.com inspired others to build a placeholder image service and expand upon my original idea. You can download my source code and do whatever you want with it.

Thanks to Web Resource Depot for the round-up where I first heard about many of these sites.

The History Of Dummyimage.com

As 2010 is wrapping up, I decided to take some time to chronicle the history of one of my biggest web development milestones of the year.

In December of 2006, I started my first real job out of college as a frontend developer at USNews.com. My first big project was to turn a new site design from a collection of Photoshop documents into functioning HTML and CSS code. I had to slice up dummy images to put into the layouts. As the redesign process wore on, sizes of elements changed ever so slightly meaning I needed to make new images with each iteration. I had wished there was a way to conjure up these placeholder images on the fly. I ended up tucking that idea away in the back of mind.

For whatever reason I decided to purchase the domain dummyimage.com on the 20th of July, 2007. I can’t remember if I had some early prototype version working by then but I had made up my mind that I was going to do something with this idea. Like most tinkering web devs, I have a stable of domains for other ideas sitting around until one day when I can get around to them. Dummyimage.com was not like those other ideas.

Fast forward to August 11th, 2007, when I attended my first Bar Camp in Washington DC. I had mentioned my dummy image idea to Jason Garber and Jeremy Carbaugh in passing. They said it was a cool idea and should be pretty easy to do.

From then on, I was determined to figure out how to make my idea work. Aside from toying around in WordPress (which resulted in this blog you’re reading now) I had zero experience with PHP. I was quite comfortable with JavaScript however and found PHP easy to pickup. On August 26th, 2007, I had launched my first version of dummyimage.com.

The first release was as simple as could be. The only thing you could change were the dimensions of the images. Everything was a gray background with the size of the image in centered black Arial text. I released the source code via a no-frills zip archive for anyone to take it and do what they wanted. I didn’t even bother with a design for the site itself thinking only a handful of people would even see it.

Around December of 2009 I began toying with some new capabilities for dummyimage.com. The biggest request I got was for the ability to change the colors of the background and text. I didn’t really see the point so I sat around on the new changes. Then on January 25th, 2010. My friend Charlie Park (whom I met at the first DC Bar Camp in 2007) tweeted out a link mentioning dummyimage.com My site made its way through the developer community like wildfire thanks to HackerNews, and Twitter. Suddenly I felt the need to get working on new features and a redesign for dummyimage.com based on the feedback that was pouring in.

On March 10th, 2010, (Chuck Norris’ Birthday & International Day of Awesomeness) I launched version 2 of dummyimage.com.This added color options, the ability to customize the text displayed on the image, and a simple form on the homepage to make generating custom dummy images easier. I switched the typeface from Arial to a completely free and open font called M+. I also released the source code under the liberal MIT license based on feedback I had gotten.

I wanted the new dummyimage.com look to be a little rebellious. Most sites are centered align in relation to the browser. I deliberately made the dummyimage.com homepage align to the right. You can really notice this the larger your monitor’s resolution is. One person even sent me an e-mail providing a CSS tweak to make it center align. He thought I had made a mistake.

Since other people were doing other things with the dummyimage idea like making plugins for text editors and different platforms, I decided to curate those and link to them from dummyimage.com I was happy to see my idea taking hold with the community, even spreading to non-english areas of the web. I guess the simplicity of my little project transcends language barriers.

Dummyimage.com gets about 10,000 unique visits to it’s one and only page. It’s single largest day of traffic was January 26th, 2010, with 15,766 unique visits. Of course most of the traffic comes from people embedding images into their pages. I get about 5.8 million requests (pageviews essentially) for a total of 11.4 gigabytes of bandwidth in a typical month. I have gigs and gigs of server logs to analyze if I really wanted specifics but I leave dummyimage.com’s server stats open for anyone to take a look at.

With the redesign I aimed to make a little extra change by placing 3 ad units to the left. They probably bring in a couple dollars a month via Amazon.com referrals. I don’t really pay attention to that stuff.

So all in all I’m happy with where dummyimage.com has come and it makes for a great milestone in 2010. Hopefully in 2011 I can manage to launch even bigger projects I have in mind.

Dummyimage.com Gets New Features

Ever since the surge of interest in my pet project dummyimage.com I’ve been meaning to add some new features. Today is the International Day of Awesomeness (which coincides with Chuck Norris’ birthday) and I couldn’t think of a better time to unveil DummyImage.com‘s new functionality to the public.

a 600x200 Dummy Image

Here is a run down of the changes:

Specify Custom Colors

You can choose the background and foreground colors of the dummy image right in the url using a 6,3,2, or even 1 character hexcode. Don’t worry if you forget to do this as dummy image will default to gray and black.

Add Your Own Text

A lot of people wanted to be able to add their own text to a dummy image to better communicate what it is representing. Now using the &text= parameter you can.

A Better Typeface

Arial be damned! Font geeks cringed at my basic choice of a font. Some seemed worried about my distribution of the most popular font on Earth. Now both camps can be happy as I’m now using the completely free and open M+ Font. I also changed the X in the middle of the images to a multiplication sign × as pointed out by Erinah and Dave Cortright.

Standard Image Sizes

Dummyimage.com is a useful prototyping tool and a lot of prototypes and wireframes have ad positions. Instead of memorizing dimensions you can now bring up ad sizes by their industry-standard name like largerectangle, skyscraper, and fullbanner. You can even customize the colors, text, and formats of theses sizes as well.

Pick Your Format

Before you could add any image format extension to the url but my script would still generate a GIF image everytime. Now you can generate proper PNG, JPG, and GIF images and drag them into another app trouble free.

Happy Birthday Chuck Norris

And with these new features I figured it was time to give the site a proper, though still simple, design. Rather than bury how these features work in long, boring text I made a little tool that shows you everything you need to know with minimal fuss.

Not a fan of change? Don’t worry, you can still use Dummyimage.com to generate place holder images exactly the same way you have always been doing it.

So thank you to everyone who has e-mailed me, tweeted me, left a comment on a post somewhere or otherwise provided feedback on dummyimage.com. I’m glad so many people found it as useful as I think it is. Keep the ideas and dummyimage variations coming. I’m sure this thing could be better.

Dummyimage.com Sees A Surge In Interest

Way back in August of 2007 I built a simple PHP tool that generates place-holder images at different size by simply changing the URL. The idea came to me when I was working on a redesign for USNews.com. I hated opening up Photoshop, creating a new document,  filling the background layer, and exporting for web just to make a simple placeholder image. That is why I made dummyimage.com.

I figured it would be useful to other people which is why I also released the complete source code, documented and including instructions for setting it up on your own server. But like most new things, few gave it any notice.

The other day my friend Charlie Park (founder of Pear Budget) found it when doing some in-browser wire-framing and sent out a tweet to all of his followers. But he didn’t stop there. Charlie also posted it to Hacker News, a simple news aggregator aimed at geeks. It was obvious that my little tool was resonating with other developers with the tagline “Lorem ipsom for images.” In 24 hours, the Hacker News story got 161 votes with 77 comments, 513 people bookmarked it on del.icio.us, and 337 tweets.

What really struck me was how dummyimage.com was crossing the language barrier. I saw tweets mentioning in SpanishJapanese, Russian, German, Dutch, even Latvian. I’m glad my idea was simple enough that foreign speakers could easily pick it up without any translation help.

All of this sudden attention also produced helpful feedback and new feature ideas. I started working on an update this past December for a few additions I wanted to see but this recent surge of interest has lit a fire under my butt to continue developing. As is the nature of opensource software, people don’t have to wait for me; they can adapt the code to their own needs. Here are some iterations that have already been made:

And somewhere down the line I would like to give it an attractive homepage. Hooray for side projects!

Dynamically Create Dummy Images At Any Size

Over the weekend I worked on a little micro project to help me during web development work. Have you ever needed a dummy image while laying out a site but opening a graphics app, entering the dimensions, saving it out, and uploading said image to your server seemed like too much work? Yea it was a bother for me to.

That’s why I created DummyImage.com which let’s you spit out a filler image at any size you want. All you have to do is construct a URL like so http://dummyimage.com/300×240. Replace the numbers with whatever you want and my script will spit back a GIF image for you.

300×240 Dummy Image from DummyImage.com

I have even packaged up the source code so you can download it, run it on your own server, mash it to bits or whatever else you want. Comments, suggestions, improvements are always welcome and hopefully this thing won’t take down my server from all of the image generating on the back end.

Happy Dummy Imaging!


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Roanoke Valley .NET User Group

The Roanoke Valley .Net User Group was formed to support the .NET users in the Roanoke Valley and beyond. We're a friendly group that welcomes both questions...and answers!

We meet on the first Thursday of each month at the Grandin CoLab, next to Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op on Grandin Ave.

What's New

  1. August Meeting: What's the Hype with Docker?

    Thursday, Aug 03

    Presented By: Michael Irwin Docker is the latest “buzzword” floating around the industry and there’s certainly a lot of hype! But, is it really worth your time? Why should you even care about Docker? What is an image? What is a container? How are containers different than VMs? How does Docker change my organization’s culture? If any of these questions sound familiar, you don’t want to miss this presentation! Michael Irwin, a Docker Captain, will explain answers to each of these questions, as well as talk about how and why Docker is truly changing the software industry.  Michael Irwin is ...


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Under Offer

£50,000 Fixed price

Wellshot Road, Tollcross, Glasgow, G32 7AU

1 bedroom flat for sale

Property Details

Part Exchange Available ,Traditional Tenement Flat ,Second Floor Position ,Fully Refurbished ,Walk In Condition ,Double Sized Bedroom ,Spacious Lounge ,Open Plan Kitchen ,Modern Bathroom ,Gas Central Heating ,Double Glazing ,Energy Rating - C Move Quick are open 7 days a week: Monday - Friday 8am - 8:30pm &Saturday &Sunday 9am - 6pm to arrange your viewing appointment.

Reception Hallway
Lounge/ Dining Room
Modern Kitchen
Bedroom 1
MOVE QUICK are delighted to present to the market this superb second floor tenement. Set within a well established and popular residential area of Glasgow's East End this fantastic 1 Bedroom flat offers a perfect opportunity for the first time buyer. This well appointed property has been fully upgraded and truly is walk in condition.

The traditional tenement comprises of a welcoming reception Hallway offering access to all apartments. To the front of the property is the impressive double sized Bedroom which is flooded with natural light from the stunning bay window offering views of the Tollcross Park. This bright room is complemented by its fresh decoration.

The modern family sized Bathroom adjacent to Bedroom benefits from a 3 piece white suite of W.C, Wash hand basin and separate Shower over Bath.

As you Journey back through the Hallway you arrive at the generous sized Lounge and Modern Kitchen to the rear of the property. This great space offers aspects to the rear of the property and plenty of natural light due to its elevated position. The open plan modern Kitchen flows effortlessly into the Lounge/Dining Room. The Kitchen boasts ample storage from its many wall and base units, contemporary worktops and brand new integrated electric hob and oven.

Furthermore this immaculate property boasts excellent extra storage in the way of a large walk in storage cupboard in the Hallway, gas central heating and double glazing.

Externally this traditional tenement boasts a communal drying green and on street parking.

The property is located opposite Tollcross Leisure Centre and has easy access to local amenities and public transport routes with easy access to Glasgow City Centre.

This house description is based upon information supplied by the owner, or on behalf of the owner. These property particulars are produced in good faith and do not constitute or form part of any contract. s1homes do not take any responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this document.

Sold price history for G32 7AU in past 5 years

Sold price history for G32 in past 5 years

If a property value displays '0', don't worry it just means no properties have been sold in that area during that time.

Sold house price data is supplied to us by the Registers of Scotland, a government department responsible for compiling and maintaining property registers, every month. There can be a delay of up to 3 months from when a property is sold to being recorded with Registers of Scotland. We provide house price data for your information only, we do not accept any liability for any errors. If you have noticed any incorrect information, please contact Registers of Scotland.

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Property History

  • Property added on 13 November 2014
  • Property Under Offer on 16 December 2015
  • New price Fixed price £50,000 as of 2 June 2015
    Was: Offers over £50,000
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Monday, December 20, 2010

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Today is Daniel's 43rd birthday. I met him when he was 24. That's a lot of birthdays together.

When I do math, which isn't often, the amount of years I have spent with Daniel is boggling to me.

Where did the time go? When did my husband get to be 43?! (You look good at 43!)

Especially when I still feel 29.

Actually, I like my age now and I like who I am but I don't think how I feel matches how I think I should feel at that number.

In case you're wondering, I am not 40, yet.

It seems like we just met last week, (Who are these kids anyway?) then it seems like we have been together forever. Haven't we always been married with kids? Haven't we always had meatloaf and green bean hot dish on Dec. 20th? Where would we be if we weren't together? Have all these years been worth it?

Yes, they are worth it. Even though we have had our ups and downs, I wouldn't want to be married to anyone else. Besides, we have too much shared history and too many private jokes and kids, we have kids! I wouldn't have Maeve and Hilde if it weren't for Daniel.

Yes, birthdays really do cause me to be this introspective. Even someone else's birthday.

Daniel, I think, was just grateful for the meatloaf and hot dish.

Happy Birthday Honey.

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Education Programs

Music Education

Music classes are designed to create an environment where students can develop their individual musical skills and provide opportunities to practice those skills in solo or group performance. We believe that there is no such thing as a non-musical child, there are just non-musical adults who did not get this practice as children.

The curriculum is designed to best meet the needs and interests of the child and to encourage a lifelong joy of making and appreciating music. Students are introduced to the basic elements of music. Activities like drum circles help internalize concepts like rhythm and tempo, while singing and playing pitched instruments puts into practice the student's knowledge of melody, harmony and notation.

Students learn from the lives and music of composers of the past and also explore more recent trends in music like recording and film music. Creativity is greatly encouraged through activities like composing and visualizing music through art or movement.


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Freephone: 0800 13 23 23

Signage for reserved disabled parking areas

Identify permitted parking areas for disabled users

From: £22.05 ex. VAT ( £26.46 inc. VAT)

  • Lessen the chances of unauthorised parking with this unambiguous disabled parking signage
  • Helps to ensure compliance with relevant disability legislation
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Without appropriate signage, it's easy for nuisance parking to occur. This notice provides a clear indication that your parking is for disabled users only, providing authorised users with the information they need to park appropriately and reducing the likelihood of others parking inappropriately. The reserved parking signs are weatherproof and designed to resist UV radiation, as well as temperature extremes and moisture. Disabled parking signs can be fastened to posts, poles, fences or walls using a selection of different sign fixings. Designated parking signs can be used as stand alone items or with other < a href="">disabled parking signs.

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Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign - F7495, Fire Alarm Signs by

Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign

Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign
Item #:
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Fire Alarm
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A Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign has safety messages for emergency response protocol and compliance. A Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign is a helpful resource to help protect the health and safety of personnel, and is not a substitute for required protective measures for reducing or eliminating hazards.
Fire Alarm
12 × 4″
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.055″ Polyethylene Plastic Sold Individually Four 7/32″ holes (one in each corner) F7495-BO $13.15 $12.45 $11.30
.040″ Rust-Free Aluminum Sold Individually Four 7/32″ holes (one in each corner) F7495-FO $16.65 $15.75 $14.20
3.5 Mil Adhesive-Backed Vinyl Sold in Packages of 5 N/A F7495-AO $17.30 $16.55 $14.80
Special Freight Arrangement: Due to the size of this product, freight shipping will be required. You may contact our customer service team for a quote or you can place your order and a customer service representative will contact you about freight shipping charges. If you would like to use your own freight carrier, please include your freight carrier account in the special instructions box at the bottom of the checkout page before placing your order. A customer service representative will be in contact with you if there are any questions.

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The viewing distances listed in this chart reflect the maximum viewing distance for the sign under favorable viewing conditions.
Favorable viewing conditions are those which allow for a clear, unobstructed view of the message on the sign. Examples of favorable viewing conditions are a bright lighting source over the sign, clear weather conditions, and a clear line of sight with no obstructions blocking the view of the sign from certain angles and no other nearby signs creating distractions.
In unfavorable conditions, the sign is viewable at up to half the favorable distance. Unfavorable viewing conditions are those which make it difficult to read the message of the sign. Examples of this are poor lighting such as a dimly lit room, obstructions blocking the view of the sign from certain angles, poor weather conditions, and other signs posted nearby which create a distraction.
It is the responsibility of the end user to determine the correct size, viewing distance, sign positioning, and sign size for your specific hazard. According to the ANSI Z353.2 sign standard, a ratio of 25 feet of viewing distance per inch of text height, under favorable viewing conditions, should be used to determine the size of your sign. Under unfavorable viewing conditions, such as in low light or for signs with complex messages, the ratio of viewing distance to text height is 12.5 feet to 1 inch.
More Options understands that the Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign may not be available in the size that you require. Please contact our customer service team today and we’ll be happy to work with you to produce exactly what you need. Contact us now.
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Adhesive-Backed Vinyl Outdoor grade high gloss calendared vinyl film, and coated with aggressive LEED compliant acrylic adhesive formulated to adhere to a variety of surfaces, ensuring durability in most commercial and industrial environments. Resistant to fading and mild chemicals. This material is in compliance with the standards set forth by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule #1168 and the Green Seal Standard, GS-36 for commercial adhesives pertaining to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). Clean and dry surface before applying. Minimum application temperature is 50°F. 3.5 mils 4 to 5 Years -20° to 176° F
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Polyethylene Plastic A tough plastic that is rust free and resistant to chips, cracks, fading and mild chemicals. It is an economical alternative to aluminum without a significant compromise in durability. Thicknesses of .055" and less will easily bend to fit certain surfaces without causing material fractures. 0.055″ 3 to 5 Years -40° to 180° F
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Rust-Free Aluminum A durable metal material that will not chip, crack, or rust, offers superior resistance to harsh weather conditions, and has good chemical resistance properties. The optimal choice for outdoor usage. 0.04″ 5 to 7 Years -40° to 212° F
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This Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign is printed with the latest digital printing practices, which reduce set-up times and allows to ship out faster than competitors. These advanced printing processes also eliminate set-up charges and order minimums. Your text and graphics won't peel, unlike a Fire Alarm (Right Arrow) Sign from companies that laminate graphics over the sign material. At, we print your text and graphics with UV inks directly to the substrate, without lamination.
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We use a three-stage process to test all of our printing processes. We print our signs using only the processes that pass all three stages, giving you the highest quality signage possible.

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