No snow yet – don’t worry.  No dry rock – don’t worry.  Coming soon…  Navigation courses with nineonesix

Em nosso primeiro dia em Buffalo assim que acordei olhei pela janela para ver como estava o tempo, infelizmente o dia estava cinza e com uma chuvinha que acabou perdurando o dia todo, fomos tomar nosso café da manha, o qual podia ser muito melhor pelo padrão do hotel, De fato café da manha como dos hotéis que ficamos na Alemanha especialmente o de Berlin vai ser fácil encontrar.

Buffalo é a segunda cidade mais populosa do estado de Nova York, perdendo apenas para Nova York. Localizada no oeste do estado de Nova York na margem oriental do Lago Erie e na cabeceira do rio de Niagara, Buffalo é a principal cidade próxima ao Niagara Falls e é a sede do Condado de Erie. Tem uma população de 292.648 (Censo 2000). Mas se contabilizando toda a região a população chega a casa dos 1.25 milhões de habitantes.

Não se sabe ao certo de onde o nome Buffalo surgiu, no entanto a maioria dos relatos populares afirmam que o nome “Buffalo” é uma corruptela da frase beau fleuve do francês que significa “rio bonito”, uma frase então dita por um explorador francês, ao ver o rio Niagara. Essa especulação, entretanto, é desmentida por fontes mais confiáveis uma vez que os exploradores franceses na verdade se referiam ao rio de Niagara como Rivière aux Chevaux, “Rio dos Cavalos.” 

A teoria mais antiga sobre a origem do nome relata uma história sobre cavalos roubados abatidos sendo vendidos como carne de bisão. Próximo a um riacho que ajuda a formar o Rio Niagara. O que está claro é que não havia nenhum bisão nativo na área, e que este lugar onde essa carne era supostamente vendida passou a se chamar Buffalo Creek, que acabou aparecendo pela primeira vez em um mapa em 1759-1760. Embora a teoria do Beau Fleuve seja a teoria menos plausível entre várias teorias, é pouco provável que a origem do nome da cidade de Buffalo tenha de fato derivado do animal.

A cidade tem uma historia muito rica, mas hoje encontra-se em processo de decadência economica visível por toda cidade. A cidade foi fundada em 1789, como uma comunidade de pequeno comércio perto do Buffalo Creek, mas a cidade cresceu rapidamente após a abertura do Canal do Erie em 1825, sendo a cidade como seu ponto mais ocidental.

A cidade também foi a primeira nos Estados Unidos a ter uma Rua iluminada com energia eletrica, proveniente de uma usina instalada no rio Niagara.  Foi palco de um atentado ao então presidente William Mckinley, que morreu 8 dias depois e foi sucedido por Theodore Roosevelt.

Em 1900, o búfalo era a maior cidade dos Estados Unidos, e passou a se tornar um grande pólo ferroviário, bem como o maior centro de moagem de grãos no país, e casa da maior produtora de aço em operação no mundo.  A titulo de curiosidade o limpador de pára-brisa foi inventado em Buffalo.

 Porem na última parte do século 20 sofreu profundamente com a abertura do St. Lawrence Seaway um fator muito importante no declínio da cidade, para se ter uma ideia no ano de 1990, a cidade tinha apenas um terço do nível populacional de 1900.

O encerramento ou realocacao de muitas das usinas siderúrgicas e outras indústrias pesadas na região também contribuiu para o declínio da cidade.

Como a primeira reunião do Mau era apenas as 10 da manha e o prédio do banco não ficava longe do nosso hotel decidimos ir caminhando ate la, a chuva parecia ter passado e la fomos nos, pelo caminho passamos por uma igreja muito bonita, a St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Catedral de St. Paul’s é a catedral da diocese da igreja episcopal de New York ocidental e foi construída em 1851, e refeita em 1888 após um incêndio do qual apenas suas torres se salvaram, um verdadeiro marco histórico no centro da cidade de Buffalo, no estado de Nova York. Foi declarada Patrimônio Histórico Nacional em 1987.

A Igreja tem um interior bastante decorado com vitrais realmente muito bonitos, o orgao da igreja também e algo bastante impressionante e muito bonito. Quando a cidade tem uma igreja imponente podemos ver que essa cidade tinha bastante poder economico na época em que ela fora construída.

Depois de visitarmos a igreja  seguimos em direcao ao One HSBC Centre,  um arranha-céu localizado no centro de Buffalo. Anteriormente conhecido como a Midland Marine Centre, que teve seu nome alterado quando o Marine Midland uma empresa que o HSBC Adquiriu e passou a ser parte do HSBC Bank USA.

Foi construído com um custo de US $ 50 milhões entre 1969 e 1972, e tem mais de 1.200.000 metros quadrados em 40 andares que ainda dominam o horizonte de Buffalo, com seus 161 metros de altura.

É um exemplar de arquitetura de estilo modernista da decada de 70, tendo como um dos aspectos mais interessantes ser atravessado pelo Metro de Buffalo no extremo sul da Main Street. Alem disso e ainda hoje o edifício mais alto entre Cleveland e Albany. Em dias claros o One HSBC Centre pode ser visto a mais de 32 km. Mas o mais impressionante do predio e seu interior revestido todinho com travertino.

Como ainda estava relativamente cedo para os compromissos do Mau aproveitamos para ir no HSBC Premier Centre, para checar nossa Conta Corrente e ver nossos e-mails, essa e uma das vantagens de ser cliente HSBC Premier, em qualquer lugar do mundo que você esteja que tenha um Premier centre você pode acessar a Internet, fazer ligacoes, imprimir documentos e ainda tomar um café.

Aproveitei para ir ao Consulado do Canada que fica no 30 andar do predio para checar que documentos e quanto tempo levava para o visto para la ficara pronto, bem o visto ficaria pronto no mesmo dia, porem como estou com visto B2 aqui nos EUA e não tenho provas substanciais como emprego ou passagem de retorno ao Brasil dificilmente conseguiria o visto, mais uma vez passei raiva como quando íamos para Austrália em Setembro.

 Alem do One HSBC Centre atrás do predio fica o Arena HSBC, uma arena multi-uso com capacidade para 18.690 expectadores, uma arena super moderna construída em 1996.

Acabei voltando ao hotel aquela chuvinha fraca continuava sem dar tempo, pela hora do almoço me encontrei com o Mau para almoçar, como a chuvinha continuava acabamos comendo no restaurante dentro do predio mesmo, digamos que a comida poderia ser muito melhor.

Como a garoa não dava trégua e o frio na casa dos 5 C digamos que acabava com qualquer vontade de explorar a cidade voltei para o hotel e aproveitei para tirar uma soneca e curtir o hotel Hyatt de Buffalo, eles estavam com um evento para levantar fundos para caridade, vendendo árvores e guirlandas de Natal, bem bonito.

Final da tarde já entediado por não poder sair do hotel com aquela chuvinha fraca, decidi pegar o carro e dar uma volta para explorar a cidade usando o GPS, decidi então ir ate as margens dos lago Eire, na verdade queria ir ate um farol, mas ao chegar la era uma área restrita da guarda costeira dos EUA.

Segui uns 500 m de volta na estrada e vi que havia uma trilha com uma placa na entrada, estacionei o carro ali mesmo e fui la tentar chegar a margem do lago, um vento forte, mas foi uma das experiências mais legais que tive esses últimos tempos, primeiramente a trilha levava ate um Deck de observação onde durante o período de migração dos Gansos Selvagens do Canada param para se alimentar, os gansos obviamente não estavam la nesta época do ano, mas ver aquela vegetação de banhado dourada e as árvores sem folhas foi legal.

Isso sem falar na vista da cidade daquele lugar.

Como os dias estão mais curtos essa época do ano, já estava anoitecendo quando ainda tentei continuar na trilha para chegar na margem do lago, quando de repente a cerca de 75 metros vejo um animal, inicialmente pensei que se tratava de um cachorro, mas quando me dei conta era um cervo americano.

Fui caminhando devagar para não assusta-lo, como já estava com pouca luz tentei tirar fotos, mas sem tripé elas não ficaram grande coisa, quando me dei conta não era apenas um e sim uns uns 4 – 6 animais, e eles pareciam bastante  dóceis, pois ia me aproximando e eles não fugiam de mim, finalmente alguma coisa para alegrar a visita, pois choveu o dia todo.

Embora eles pareciam dóceis evitei me aproximar muito afinal de contas eles não são animais domésticos, mas se quisesse acho que daria ate para tocar neles, legal ver na hora que eles fogem de você pois eles levantam o rabo branco que ai sim sinaliza eles na vegetação.

Tirei algumas fotos do lago ainda, mas sem o tripé estava difícil pois já estava quase noite, voltei para o carro e segui ate o Banco para pegar o Mau, passamos ao lado dos antigos grandes moinhos de Buffalo, uma área industrial antiga, bastante decadente, quase em ruínas, mas ao mesmo tempo interessante.

Fomos jantar em um restaurante de comida mongolesa, uma delicia por sinal, mas alem de comida mongolesa tinha comida chinesa e americana em um sistema de Buffet. O legal da comida mongolesa que você escolhe os ingredientes e eles são todos misturados na chapa como se fosse um Teppan-Yaki Japonês. Depois do jantar aproveitamos para dar uma volta pelo shopping ali perto, os preços são quase semelhantes aos de Delaware, no entanto sobre o preço em Nova York se aplica o Sales Tax.

Quando estávamos voltando para o hotel, vimos um Aldi, um supermercado de baixo custo da Alemanha que esta crescendo bastante em outros paises da Europa e também aqui nos EUA, quando morava na Alemanha tinha um a cerca de 100m de casa, e sempre fazia compras nele, pois tem preços otimos e produtos diferentes, mas nunca pensei que fossemos achar algo mais diferente do que achamos desta vez. Em uma rede de supermercados da Alemanha nos Estados Unidos encontramos Panettone Bauducco fabricado no Brasil, pode isso??

Engraçado que para ter maior apelo comercial na embalagem fala que e de Origem Italiana e usa uva passas da Marca Sun-Maid bastante popular aqui nos EUA, e você só descobre que ele e fabricado em Guarulhos lendo cuidadosamente a embalagem ou sabendo que a Bauducco e uma marca Brasileira, infelizmente nesses de exportação não tem os brinquedinhos natalinos como no Brasil.

Como o hotel não tinha estacionamento próprio estacionamos o carro todos os dias num estacionamento publico, o qual só conseguia comprar o ticket para o pernoite no parquímetro a meia noite, um saco.

O segundo dia em Buffalo foi muito melhor, as nuvens e a chuva sumiram o céu estava azul, por outro lado a temperatura caiu ainda mais e o vento deixava a sensação térmica negativa, para se ter uma ideia a temperatura media máxima do mês de Novembro e de +8º C e a mínima de +1º C em Dezembro e de +2º C e -4º C respectivamente, embora de manha ainda estivesse garoando, por isso acabei levando o Mau de carro ate o trabalho, mas pelas 09:30 da manha o sol resolveu aparecer.

Por sorte não chegamos a pegar Neve, mas no mês de Novembro em media Neva quase 29.2 cm e no ano em media 2,32m, por isso todo mundo que a gente fala que foi ou que ia para Buffalo pergunta se estava ou que pegaríamos muito frio.

Por Volta das 10 da manha com sol bem bonito mas um frio de rachar, fui “explorar” Buffalo, o primeiro lugar quase em frente ao hotel, o M&T Bank uma construção neoclássica muito bonita com um domo dourado impressionante, feito com 140.000 folhas de ouro 23.75 quilates.

Logo ao lado fica a Electric Tower, ou Torre da General Electric, um prédio histórico e é  o sétimo edifício mais alto no Buffalo. Com 13 andares de altura e em estilo neoclássico.

Ele foi projetado por James A. Johnson e construído em 1912. Adições foram feitas em 1923 e 1928. Foi inspirado pela Electric Tower na Exposicao Pan-Americana de Buffalo, era originalmente construída com tijolos aparentes mas posteriormente foi rebocada e hoje é branca.

A construção possui uma torre octogonal que possui três plataformas terminando em um grande farol, é também conhecida como Iskalo Electric Tower.

Seguindo em ao norte pela Main Street fica o Shea’s Performing Arts Centre, um teatro para turnês musicais da Broadway e eventos especiais em Buffalo, foi inaugurado em 1926 para mostrar filmes mudos. Possui um dos poucos órgãos de teatro dos EUA ainda em operação no teatro em que fora projetado.

Ainda na Main Street mais ao norte se encontra a Catedral St. Louis, construída em 1832 e foi uma pequena congregação ate 1843 servindo com o nome de Ovelha de Deus (Lamb of God), foi destruída por um incêndio em 1885, reconstruída em 1889 e consagrada Catedral em 1913.

De fato foi a primeira igreja católica da porção Ocidental do estado de Nova Iorque. Por ter uma coloração rósea e ser feita de arenito me fez lembrar da Catedral de Freiburg na Alemanha.

Em uma transversal da Main St, fica a Trinity Episcopal Church uma igreja Episcopal histórica, sua parte mais antiga foi construída em 1869 com estilo gótico. Desde 2008 esta listada no Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos dos EUA.

Ali perto presenciei do outro lado da rua uma abordagem policial a um motorista, coisa bem de filme americano, o carro vem com a sirene ligada e o motorista e obrigado a encostar o carro e mostrar os documentos, nunca vi isso antes no Brasil ou qualquer outro lugar. E engracado viver aqui nos EUA, aquelas coisas que aparecem nos filmes são em grande parte das vezes verdade.

Seguindo pela Delaware Avenue, vi outra Igreja, pelo menos parecia pela fachada mas de fato não e mais uma igreja, era também conhecido como Igreja Metodista Episcopal Asbury-Delaware que foi construída em duas fases, entre 1871 e 1876. Mas em 2006, a estrutura se tornou o lar de Righteous Babe Records, uma gravadora independente. A construção ia ser demolida, mas passou por uma reforma que conservou sua fachada um exemplo distinto de  arquitetura gótica vitoriana eclestial.  E desde então esta listada no Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos.

E esquisito todas as 3 igrejas que visitei ate esta estavam fechadas, esta tinha uma entrada de vidro ao lado, fui la tentar entrar, quando eu vi estava dentro de uma galeria de arte, pelo que parece a igreja tem cada vez menos importância, aqui nos EUA elas estão ate mudando de finalidade, o que na verdade chega a ser triste.

Na saída vi um Toyota Corola todinho pintado a mão, certamente de alguém que trabalha nessa gravadora independente, nunca tinha visto uma personalizacao de um carro assim antes.

Fui então caminhando em direcao a Niagara Square, que possui um obelisco em 4 leões os guardando que fica em frente ao Cityhall (Prefeitura) de Buffalo, uma imponente construção em estilo Art-Deco que foi terminada em 1931 com 32 andares e 115.2 metros de altura, sendo um dos mais altos edifícios municipais dos EUA.

A importância desta obra-prima Art Déco é imediatamente relevante sobre a sua visão de comando do centro de Buffalo e dos grandes lagos. Ao se aproximar da Prefeitura pela Niagara Street, e de se ficar impressionado com um estilo arquitetonico que é moderno para a época em que foi construído. O exterior e interior são adornadas com figuras simbólicas e decorações em relevo que retratam um tema industrial que foram esculpidos por Albert Stewart e a escultura executada por Rene Paul Chambellan.

 Como já estava na hora do almoço fui encontrar o Mau no One HSBC Centre, depois do almoço ele levou a maquina para tirar algumas fotos da vista do predio sobre os grandes lagos, diga-se lago Eire, e da cidade de Buffalo, suas igrejas e instalacoes esportivas.

Depois disso fui conhecer o HSBC Arena que é a casa do Buffalo Sabres da National Hockey League.

 A arena também é utilizado regularmente para jogos de basquete e principalmente torneios de Hockey no gelo. Além disso, o HSBC Arena e utilizado para hospedar vários eventos de wrestling profissional, principalmente o Smack Down da World Wrestling Entertainment.

Infelizmente não pude conhecer o interior da arena pois cheguei tarde de mais, se tivesse ido pela manha poderia ter assistido ao treino do Buffalo Sabres.

Do HSBC arena fui caminhando ate o Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, um museu às margens do Lago Erie. Onde hoje se encontram vários navios aposentados da Marinha Americana entre eles o Cleveland-class cruiser USS Little Rock, que ajudou a patrulhar as águas do Atlântico Sul durante a 2 guerra mundial.

O Fletcher-class destroyer USS The Sullivans, que recebeu este nome em homenagem aos irmãos Sullivan (George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, e Albert) com idades entre 19 e 27 anos que morreram a bordo do USS Juneau num ataque da marinha Japonesa na batalha de guandalcanal em 13 de Novembro de 1942, sendo a maior perda de uma família americana em uma guerra, todos os filhos do casal estavam a bordo deste navio. Este navio serviu tanto na 2 guerra mundial como na guerra das Coreias.

E ainda o Submarino USS Croaker, todos os três são abertos ao público para visitas mas não durante esta época do ano infelizmente..

Alem deste Submarino Americano, existe na entrada do local uma parte do USS Boston.

Ali também se encontram diversas aeronaves utilizadas pelos americanos nas suas guerras.

Bem como um memorial para as vitimas americanas de Buffalo nas guerras que os EUA criaram ou participaram.

Foi interessante conhecer um pouco da historia, mesmo que apenas por fora, mas o frio a beira do lago Eire com vento super forte não estava fácil, fui caminhando ate a desembocadura deste atracadouro onde fica esse museu naval, onde do outro lado fica o farol que tinha tentado chegar de carro no dia anterior.

A visão para o lago e super legal, mas o vento era tão forte e a sensação térmica tão fria que não dava para ficar muito tempo ali admirando o lago, que de tão grande parece ser mar, ainda mais com o vento que fazia e as ondas que quebravam no mole.

Voltei em direcao ao centro de Buffalo, fui na Igreja Católica de St. Joseph, esta estava aberta, e era super bonita, mas também não tinha uma alma viva la dentro, mas um lugar de muita paz com vitrais realmente bonitos e um orgao enorme.

Já voltando em direcao ao hotel, passei pela sede do condado do Eire, um predio de 3 andares com uma bela torre de 7 andares construídos em 1871-1876 em estilo neoclássico, na frente do predio fica uma escultura de George Washington o primeiro presidente dos EUA.

Ali na Frente haviam algumas arvores e um esquilo estava mesmo coletando folhas para fazer seu ninho para o inverno eminente.

Passei pelo Liberty Building, um raro exemplo de edifício neo-clássico. Construído em 1925, um prédio comercial de 23 andares com 101 metros, mas o que torna o edifício famoso são as duas réplicas da Estátua da Liberdade, esculpida por Leo Lentelli. Ele é o 5º edifício mais alto em Buffalo.

Por fim passei na Laffayete Square o marco zero da cidade de Buffalo, onde se encontra um monumento da guerra civil americana, em homenagem a infantaria, cavalaria, artilharia e marinha, Abraham Lincoln chegou a discursar nesta praça, que recebe o nome do general Laffayete, Chefe da Guarda Nacional Francesa que visitou a cidade em 1825.

Final da tarde fui buscar o Mau no trabalho de carro, fomos ate onde no dia anterior tinha visto os cervos, mas desta vez não tivemos sorte eles não estavam mais la, decidimos então ir jantar.

Jantamos na rede de pizzarias Uno de Chicago, a pizza era gostosa, principalmente a massa que e bem grossa, a única coisa que estraga um pouco as pizzas aqui nos Estados Unidos e o molho de tomate que eles usam.

Encontramos outro Aldi e compramos mais 2 panetones e um Stollen para levarmos para Delaware, já que la não temos nenhum Aldi ainda, quando voltamos para o hotel estacionamos em um estacionamento diferente, mais barato e sem a necessidade de ir comprar o ticket a meia noite.

Earlier in the year I purchased a GPS from Amazon. It’s not that I live in a particularly difficult driving area or that I can’t find my way around with a cheap road atlas and a printout from Google Maps, it’s just that I like gadgets. Anyway, it’s always performed well and I’m pleased with the item. Last week the windscreen mount broke so I contacted Amazon to get a replacement, just the mount you understand. Anyway, I received a prompt reply apologizing for not being able to get me a replacement and instead offered a full refund if I wanted to return the GPS. I got the box etc to return it and decided to see what alternative I could get with the money. The answer, nothing! I got the original GPS in a sale and to get another will cost at least half as much again. Now I have to make a decision. Do I send the whole lot back for a refund of do I keep it? Don’t forget that the system works well, I can probably fix the mount or find an alternative and I can’t get another for the same money.

From the  FMS Global News Desk of Jeanne Hambleton

Courtesy of ProHealth

Copyright © 2009 ProHealth, Inc.

Rumor on the ProHealth Message Boards has it that Viral Immune Pathology Diagnostics (VIP Dx) in Reno, Nevada (www.redlabsusa.com), will soon make available a test kit for the XMRV virus – the retrovirus which most of the world knows by now is thought to be a biomarker for a large proportion of chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) patients.

According to the buzz, ME/CFS patients and their physicians will be able to order VIP Dx kits as soon as pricing is established – and that was due to be Friday, Oct 16, according to a ProHealth ME/CFS Message Board user who has already arranged to receive a kit when they become available for shipment. According to her, “They send it to you by FedEx and you have to have a Dr. sign off and take it to a lab. [VIP Dx] pays for it to be sent back.”

This cannot  be offered in Europe. As of Oct 14, a Co-Cure listserv poster reported that Marguerite Ross, Director of Marketing & Client Relations at VIP Dx, indicated to him “we cannot offer the test in Europe because of the time difference and temperature changes the sample would experience,[which would render it]unsuitable for analysis.” In the same communication, she stated “the test will be available in the USA in about 3-4 weeks as it is undergoing final validation and licensing.”

According to the initial news on the VIP Dx test – posted Oct 9 on the CFS Warrior blog (http://cfswarrior.blogspot.com), there is “a PCR test for the XMRV virus itself. Another test kit recommended by Dr. Paul Cheney is the NKCP & LYEA test… If you want to be tested call the lab at 775-351-1890 and they will ship out a kit to you. Your doctor has to sign off, then take it to a local lab to get the test done and then it gets shipped overnight back to VIP Labs. It takes about two weeks to get the results. The woman I spoke to was very nice. They are swamped with calls but expected it.”

VIP Dx is the new name of the former REDLABS USA, launched years ago with the assistance of Belgium-based ME/CFS researcher Dr. Kenny De Meirleir, who has no financial interest in the venture. It was named after De Meirleir’s own R.E.D. Laboratories, a biotechnology company in Belgium focused on “developing clinical diagnostic tests and therapies for chronic immune diseases.” VIP Dx is located geographically near the Whittemore-Peterson Institute, which is part of the University of Nevada, Reno. VIP’s medical director – Dr. Vincent Lombardi, PhD – was recently hired from the UN-Reno School of Medicine, and reportedly played a role in the WPI testing.

Test Availability from Whittemore-Peterson?

Meanwhile, according to the XMRV FAQ at the WPI website, “The WPI has developed a blood test for the detection of XMRV. The test is currently undergoing clinical evaluation and validation. We hope to have a clinical test available to the public within the year.”

NEWS FROM  http://www.redlabsusa.com/  states:

LATEST NEWS: XMRV TESTING

VIP Dx 5625 Fox Avenue, Suite 369  Reno, NV 89506  Phone: (775) 351-1890  Fax: (775) 682-851 E-mail: info@vipdx.com 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (PST)

Press Releases

October 23, 2009, Reno, Nevada

It is with great pleasure that Viral Immune Pathology Diagnostics (VIP Dx) announces the introduction of its family of diagnostic tests for the Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-like Virus for XMRV associated neurological disease (XAND).

XMRV is a gamma retrovirus and replicates in dividing cells. Low-level latent infections are best detected in activated, dividing cells; to activate a latent virus takes additional cell culture. Productive infections are more easily detected without special treatment of the specimen.

Each XAND specimen must have an XAND acceptance code on the test requisition. The XAND acceptance code is assigned by our staff and will arrive on the test requisition in your specimen kit. Specimens sent without the appropriate acceptance code may result in the delay or inability to perform the diagnostic test. The diagnostic tests available for XAND* are as follows:

XAND by PCR for XMRV active infection: Test Code XAND ($400)

XAND1 by virus culture for XMRV latent infection: Test Code XND1 ($500)

XAND2 by PCR for XMRV active infection and virus culture for latent infection: Test Code XND2 ($650)

We are accepting XAND tests on Tuesdays and Fridays only due to the incubation period required for proper analysis. Therefore, you must have your blood drawn on Monday or Thursday and ship immediately back to us by priority overnight FedEx for receipt by us on Tuesday or Friday.

For XAND testing you must use the coded test requisition provided with your kit. Refer to the updated specimen guidelines in the right column of the test requisition for proper blood draw.

No special preparation is required for specimens; ship specimens at ambient (room) temperature. Specimens must be received within 24 hours for proper analysis. Collection and shipping instructions are included in each kit along with all required specimen tubes. The return clinical envelope and overnight airbill are also included.

To order you test kit, please e-mail your full name, address and telephone number toinfo@vipdx.com. There is a 4-6 week back order. VIP Dx is committed to having everyone tested who wants to be tested. Please accept our sincere apology for any delays. We thank you for your support and patience.

Please visit our website at www.vipdx.com for more information on VIP Dx and our tests.

Please visit Whittemore Peterson Institute for FAQ on the XMRV virus at www.wpinstitute.org.  On behalf of the VIP Dx team, we thank you for your continued support.

* The XAND tests were developed and their performance characteristics were determined and validated by VIP Dx. These tests have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for diagnostic purposes. Medical expertise is required for XAND test interpretation.

….ends…..

Google today launched its popular Google Maps Navigation (beta) for older devices that use Android OS version 1.6 or higher. It debuted as a free feature on Android 2.0 (Droid) handsets a few weeks ago and was received with much enthusiasm. Now devices such as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the G1 will be able to use the Internet-connected navigation system that offers voice-based guidance and automatic routing. “This release also includes the new Layers feature, which lets you overlay geographical information on the map. View My Maps, transit lines, Wikipedia articles about places, and more,” Google notes on its blog. Since I don’t drive, this system isn’t of much use to me. But I have seen some friends use it, and it’s pretty darn good — enough so to cause a long-term migraine for others in the dedicated GPS business. (Related post: “With Maps Navigation, Google Fires Another Shot at Carriers”)

Having to compete with the likes of Garmin and TomTom is no easy task, but Navigon is hoping to woo some new customers with the Navigon 7200T. Now, in the past, we’ve always commended Navigon for offering feature-rich GPS for an affordable price, but we’ve had issues with the spotty performance and the complicated user interface. The 7200T follows a similar story line, but with a happier ending. The GPS offers an attractive design and plenty of features, including voice address entry, 3D landmark renderings, text-to-speech functionality, and integrated Bluetooth. The user interface and maps still aren’t as clean as a Garmin or a TomTom, but performance has improved and address entry by voice can be quite accurate with some training–better than the similarly featured TomTom GO 930. Plus at $499, it’s a more affordable alternative to the Garmin Nuvi 880, though you don’t get all the voice command features with the 7200T. Still if you’re in the market for a higher-end portable navigation device that won’t completely bust the bank, the Navigon 7200T is a decent choice.

Design
Like the Navigon 2000S, the Navigon 7200T features a slightly new design with a black matte casing rather than the lacquered finish of the company’s previous models. It still keeps the compact size, measuring 4.6 inches wide by 3.2 inches tall by 0.7 inch deep and weighing 6.5 ounces, so you can use it in multiple cars or take it with you on vacations for use with rental cars.

The 7200T’s display is slightly different from the company’s other models. The screen is completely flat and doesn’t have a beveled edge, so it gives the GPS a more sophisticated and streamlined look. The display measures 4.3 inches diagonally and is sharp and bright, making it easy to view maps. The touch screen is also more responsive than other Navigon units we’ve tested in the past. The onscreen keyboard is slightly larger than the Navigon 7100, so address entry was easier and more accurate. Also, the GPS features predictive text, so as you enter letters, it will automatically bring up possible result matches. Unfortunately, you only have the option of an ABC-formatted keyboard and not a QWERTY one.

The user interface is pretty intuitive. From the start menu , you have four main options: New Destination, My Destinations, Take Me Home, and Voice Entry. As we’ve noted in our other reviews, the Navigon interface isn’t quite as clean or easy as a TomTom or Garmin GPS. For example, if you simply want to go to the map screen, you have to tap Options first and then Show Map, whereas the other systems have direct shortcuts. The extra steps required on the Navigon 7200T, but it definitely made us appreciate the simplified interface of the other units.

There’s a power button on top of the unit, while there’s a microSD expansion slot, a reset hole, a mini USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom. Finally, there’s an external antenna jack on the back.

The Navigon 7200T comes packaged with a car charger, a vehicle mount (windshield and dashboard), a software CD, and reference material. The car mount is slightly different than the ones that shipped with previous Navigon units. It consists of a disc that attaches to the back of the GPS, and that piece connects to the arm of the mount. There’s a bit of assembly required, but it’s quite easy. What’s difficult is removing the unit from the disc; there’s a little release lever at the bottom, but we still had problems. The good news is the mount securely held the 7200T in place during our road tests.

Features
The Navigon 7200T includes maps of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. To plan a trip, you can enter a location by specific address, point of interest, recent destination, user-defined home, and so forth. Of course, the big news is that you can enter addresses by voice. When you first use the voice command system, you do a little test read in your car so the GPS can learn your voice and the environment in which you’ll be using the 7200T. The first couple of times we used the voice entry system, the results weren’t very accurate, but the more we used it, the better it got (check out the Performance section for more details). Unfortunately, unlike the Garmin Nuvi 880, the voice command system is limited to just address entry and can’t be used for other tasks.

The 7200T can calculate routes in one of three ways–fast, optimum, and short–and gives you the option to allow or avoid highways and toll roads. There are also pedestrian and bicycle modes. In addition, the 7200T offers free real-time traffic updates for life, so you can know the road condition before hitting the road or finding alternative routes if you happen to get caught in traffic. If there are any incidents along your route, you’ll see a little exclamation point on your map screen (as well as get an audible cue) and by tapping it, it will bring up a list of congested areas. You can select a specific incident and get more details on the problem or choose to ignore it.
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Ever since the Garmin Nuvi 880 was announced at CES 2008, we’ve been excited to get our hands on this portable navigation system. Given the good track record of the other Nuvi series devices, we expected more of the same, solid feature list and good performance. However, we were most looking forward to taking its speech recognition capabilities out for a test drive. To be honest, we were a bit weary since we’ve tried other such-equipped GPS devices, including the Magellan Maestro 4250 and the TomTom GO 930, and while they worked, there weren’t the most accurate and the capabilities were limited. This isn’t so with the Nuvi 880. We were blown away at the accuracy of the speech recognition, the range of features you can use it with, and its overall ease of use. This, in combination with the navigation offerings, sleek design, and solid performance, makes it worthy of our Editors’ Choice award. The only downfall is that you’re going to pay for these features. The Garmin Nuvi 880 has a price tag of $ 1,071.41, but you can probably find it for a bit less online.

Design
Like the rest of the Nuvi series, the Garmin Nuvi 880 is sleek, compact, and simple. It measures 4.9 inches wide by 3.1 inches high by 0.7 inch deep and weighs 6.2 ounces for easy portability between vehicles. The small size also comes in handy when using the it outside of the car as an entertainment device or travel aid, since the Nuvi comes loaded with games and travel tools.

Another benefit is the Nuvi 880’s spacious 4.3-inch touch screen. With a 480×272-pixel resolution, the display is bright and easy to read, whether you’re reading maps or using the other features. You can adjust the screen’s brightness and there’s an automatic mode that switches the map colors for optimal viewing during the day or night. The touch screen was responsive to our commands, and the onscreen keyboard is available in QWERTY or ABC format. The keyboard is on the small side, so users with larger fingers might have some problems. The good news is that it has predictive text, so it will automatically pull up possible search results as soon as you start inputting a couple of letters.

The user interface and software is intuitive. All the icons and menus are clearly marked, and we found that you could pretty much figure out the basic operations just by playing with the device. However, for some advanced tasks such as planning a multidestination trip or setting up Bluetooth, you might want to consult the user manual.

On the left spine, you will find a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD expansion slot, and a mini USB port. There’s a power button on top, and the bottom of the unit holds an external antenna jack and power/cradle connector.

The Garmin Nuvi 880 comes packaged with a vehicle mount (windshield and dash), a car charger, a USB cable, a speech recognition remote control, and reference material. The vehicle mount is simple to install and attach, and it securely held the Nuvi 880 in our road tests. We found it interesting that there is a separate remote control for the speech recognition capabilities. On other systems with this technology, it is simply built into the device. The control consists of on and off buttons to activate the feature, and a rubber strap so you can attach it to some place in your car, such as the steering wheel. It’s a bit of an eyesore, but we’re willing to overlook this minor inconvenience since the accuracy of the speech recognition capabilities are the best we’ve seen to date (see Performance for more).

Features
The Garmin Nuvi 880 comes preloaded with City Navigator NT maps of North America and millions of points of interest. Perhaps the biggest highlight, though, is its speech recognition capabilities. We’ve seen this technology in other systems, such as the Magellan Maestro 4250 and TomTom GO 930, but the Nuvi 880 is the most impressive with the breadth of its capabilities and accuracy. In all, you can use voice commands to perform 30 functions, including entering addresses, adjusting the system volume, activating the hands-free speaker system, playing/stopping the music player, viewing the trip computer, and accessing MSN Direct services.

To start planning a trip, whether by using your voice or the touch screen, you can enter a specific address, choose a POI, or select a location from the Recently Found or Favorites list. The Nuvi 880 can store up to 500 favorites/locations. In addition, it supports multidestination trips and you can add waypoints on the fly. You have your choice of three route preferences (faster time, shorter distance, or off-road) and three usage modes (automobile, bicycle, or pedestrian). You can avoid certain road types if you choose, such as toll roads and highways. There’s also a detour function if you want to avoid a certain part of the given route and if you happen to get off track, the Nuvi 880 can do automatic route recalculations. If you don’t need guidance, you can just have the Nuvi track your movements by tapping View Map.

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This is an intermediate maintenance release that fixes a few issues in version 1.0 of the product.

PolarView: show bearing/distance information when moving waypoint used in route.

PolarCOM: solves a number of serial port connectivity issues – if you had a problem making your GPS work with PolarCOM, this update should resolve it (or so I hope).

Visit this Web site to see all the latest Black Friday deals on DeLorme as well as other brands. As you’ll see, there are some smoking hot deals out there now for the upcoming weekend.

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C’est une première.

Garmin, en partenariat avec Asus, lance un terminal hybride alliant des services de géolocalisation à un téléphone tactile de 3,5 pouce. Les marchés des GPS autonomes se retrouvent face à une concurrence sévère. Ce petit oeuvre d’art, répondant au nom de Nüvifone, a déjà été presenté  à la presse française.

Le Nüvifone n’est pas juste un GPS ou un téléphone mais un appareil qui est censé proposer des services géolocalisés en fonction de l’endroit où se trouve l’utilisateur ou du lieu où il souhaite se rendre.

Garmin entend même créer un nouveau segment de marché, celui des “navigation phone”. Le but de ce marché sera de faire converger les fonctions d’un téléphone d’un GPS et de la géolocalisation. Mais l’entrée de ce petit engin dans le marché ne sera pas aisée car la concurrence est  vive. Notamment dans le secteur de la téléphonie mobile. Quels arguments le Nüvifone pourra-t-il avancer pour pouvoir concurrencer le succès incroyable des smartphones qui sont capables d’apporter ponctuellement une solution GPS et dont le prix est déjà en baisse.

Le Nüvifone n’attire d’ailleurs pas particulièrement le regard. Il est costaud et épais. Il se distingue fort de la majorité des smartphones au profit bien plus affiné. L’extérieur ainsi que son intérieur sont plus proche d’un GPS que d’un téléphone mobile. Le Nüvifone ne peut se mettre en avant par son style, qui manque d’originalité et de singularité, mais par la qualité du matériau utilisé.

La navigation est intuitive et efficace. La fonction GPS est équivalent à celle d’un GPS autonome et le principal de géolocalisation est très bien intégré. L’appareil affiche des résultats de recherches très rapidement. Mais l’appareil ne peut lire ni audio et phone, ni aucune vidéo.

Whether underground or at the surface, unanticipated earth movement can pose particularly hazardous conditions on mines. Risks include the endangerment of lives, destruction of property and damage to valuable, specialised equipment… (more)

Besides Nokia also introduced a separate GPS device that is, the LD-4W. “This Device can be used with phones that are equipped with a map and connected via bluetooth connection,” said Dominic. So for mobile phones that do not have GPS but have added a device map LD-4W.

Nokia also provides services in the form of going home Lebaran access to information through short messages. “Just send an SMS to number 3789 with the writing Mudik (space) city (space) the desired information,” says Dominic.

For example the travelers can send a message ‘Mudik Jakarta resto’ to ask for restaurant information in the Jakarta area. Then the sender will get a reply in the form of a link that can be downloaded which contains the desired information. This service costs USD 1000, – per message.

Nokia 3600 is now available in the market price of Rp 2.2750.000, – while the new 6600 series will be available in the market some time next week with prices in the range of USD 3 million. Nokia 7510 Supernova will also be available in the market, but the price has not been announced.

Soon, Blue Bird Group will use the GPS device monitoring and dispatching system made in China for vehicle fleet. This was revealed at the signing of cooperation contract between the GPS and Shanghai Heritage Fleety Communications, Ltd. in the exhibition of equipment and commodity products of China in Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran, Jakarta, Friday (20/11). The signing of the contract conducted by the Director Sigit Djokosoetono GPS Heritage and CEO of Communications Shanghai Fleety James Wu.

Shanghai is a provider of Communications Fleety GPS service tracking and dispatching system in China. The company has distributed 125 systems and 70,000 units of Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) to various industries. Including, taxi companies and logistics at the Bamboo Curtain country. In this cooperation, Fleety provides a platform and hardware. Meanwhile, Heritage GPS as a sole distributor in Indonesia and serving after-sales service.
 
James Wu said the market potential of GPS for fleet and goods transportation in Indonesia is promising. “We hope to capture 50 percent of the total domestic market in Indonesia,” said James Wu.

Menjajal fasilitas assisted global positioning system (aGPS) yang tertanam di ponsel ini cukup menarik. Dengan program Wisepilot yang terinstal di dalamnya, saya mencoba “merekam” perjalanan dari rumah menuju kraton gawean.

Saya ingin membuktikan benar nggak sih ada “penyimpangan” antara kecepatan speedometer dan GPS? Ternyata benar! Tadi pagi saya memacu hingga 80 km/jam (speedometer). Namun, GPS mencatat angka berbeda, yaitu 75 km/jam.

Sementara kecepatan rata-rata (average) hanya 35 km/jam. Weleh, alonrider beneran nih.

Untuk lebih jelas soal uji coba perbandingan kecepatan speedometer versus GPS silakan melongok websitenya Bro Saftari. Pertanyaan lanjutan, perlu nggak kita memiliki alat ini? Nah, silakan ngejunk berkomentar di warungnya Bro Stephen.

Dia merupakan saksi hidup uji coba speedometer lawan GPS yang digelar Bro Saftari.

Item : DHNUVI1350T
Retail Price : $393.54
Sale Price : $357.76
Save : 9.09% ($35.78)

Vehicle GPS Units

Product Description:

nuvi 1350T, preloaded City Navigator North America NT, FM traffic receiver/vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disc, quick start manual.

PUEDES LEER AQUÍ EL ORIGINAL

Malos tiempos para ser periodista, recopilando despidos de los diferentes medios

Llevo varios días viendo a través del excelente blog 233grados (forma parte deLainformación.com), como se van produciendo día tras día noticias negativas en diferentes periódicos, principalmente Expedientes de Regulación de Empleo (EREs), despidos o reducción de sueldos.

A modo de resumen detallado, recopilamos aquí los diferentes despidos o EREs que se han producido en los últimos meses y que según el observatorio de la Federación de Asociaciones de Periodistas de España (FAPE) se ha llevado por delante 3.000 empleos en los medios de comunicación españoles :

• AP despide 91 empleados (20 noviembre)
• La voz deGalicia recorta salarios y evita los despidos (19 noviembre)
• 6 empleados menos en ABC.es (19 noviembre), mientras el año pasado despidió 252 trabajadores de su edición escrita (52% de la plantilla)
• Público despide a 16 trabajadores de sus 181 empleados (18 noviembre)
• GPS editora de revistas como Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Muy Interesante o Mía abre un ERE para recortar 93 puestos de trabajo (18 noviembre)
• Cien despidos en la editora de The Guardian (12 noviembre)
• La Región de Orense abre un ERE para despedir 35 trabajadores de sus 203 empleados (10 noviembre)
• 6 despidos en 20minutos.es (6 noviembre)
• Cierre de la Opinión de Granada de Editorial Prensa Ibérica se lleva por delante 45 empleados, 25 de ellos periodistas (5 noviembre)
• Despido de cuatro profesionales de la redacción de la agencia Colpisa (5 noviembre)
• Time Warner despide a 500 personas de sus revistas (4 noviembre)
• La BBC recorta sueldos y puestos directivos (29 ocutbre)
• El New York Times anuncia 100 despidos de su redacción (20 octubre)
• Motorpress Ibérica despide 76 trabajadores (9 octubre)
• …

Como podemos ver los casos de EREs o despidos es considerable y en los últimos días parece haberse acelerado….Estas cifras se añaden a los 46.600 despidos que hubo en los EE.UU durante el año 2008 así como los 4.000 que hubo en España en el mismo año.

A modo de resumen nos encontramos ante un sector en mínimos que genera una gran destrucción de empleo y que añade a la crisis económica un problema grave de modelo de negocio debido al impacto de  internet. En este entorno tan negativo, ¿alguién se anima a ser periodista? Cómo bien dice Silvia Cobo en su blog Lola como mola, emprender es el probable futuro de los periodistas!!!

Qualcomm está liderando esta recta final del año con lanzamientos muy interesantes en lo que a chips de comunicaciones se refiere. Si hace unos días destacábamos el lanzamiento del primer chip que soporta las modalidades de comunicación 3G/LTE con HSPA+, conocido como Mobile Data MODEM MDM8220, en esta ocasión se trata del Gobi2000, como continuación de la anterior generación Gobi1000. Destaca por ser una tecnología que permite la conectividad 3G multimodo, con lo que su principal habilidad radica en poder conmutar entre las diferentes señales portadoras de datos que nos encontramos en cada país, con el fin de mantener la conectividad a lo largo de todo el mundo. Y todo ello sin necesidad de tener que cambiar la tarjeta de comunicaciones. Esto además permite reducir los costes a la hora de desplegar la tecnología 3G en los equipos portátiles, ya que siempre que pueda, garantiza que la conectividad se llevará a cabo con el mismo proveedor. Además, la tecnología Gobi incluye un receptor GPS integrado para habilitar cualquier servicio basado en la localización, ya sea navegación o protección de datos en tiempo real. A las grandes compañías puede permitirles tener un mayor control de sus sistemas, con posibilidad de localizar la ubicación de cada equipo que forma parte del parque tecnológico. De hecho, todos los principales fabricantes de equipos han mostrado un gran interés por la solución, aunque por el momento, tan sólo Lenovo ha confirmado que esté trabajando para implementarlo en su serie de equipos ThinkPad, concretamente en la serie X, T y W. Será a partir del año que viene cuando comencemos a ver los equipos dotados de chip Gobi2000, alternando conectividad tanto HSPA como EV-DO alrededor del mundo, independientemente del tipo de solución de conectividad 3G que se ofrezca en dicha región.

Zu den Einsatzfeldern von Android dürften in absehbarer Zeit auch Navigationssysteme gehören: Darauf deutet ein neues GPS für den Einsatz im Auto hin, das ArcherMind in Zusammenarbeit mit chinesischen Hardware-Herstellern entwickelt hat und das das erste seiner Art sein soll.

Das System nutzt einen ARM-Prozessor und soll für seinen Besitzer nicht nur den Weg finden, sondern ihm auch erlauben, auf seinem 7-Zoll-Display (800 x 480) durchs Web zu gleiten und SMS-Nachrichten zu schreiben und zu empfangen. Außerdem kann das Gerät Musik und Audio-Bücher wiedergeben.

Das GPS verfügt sowohl über eingebauten Speicher (keine Angaben zur Größe) als auch über einen SD-Kartenslot und bietet 3G- und Wi-Fi/Bluetooth- Konnektivität.

Wann das System in echt zu bewundern ist, steht allerdings einstweilen noch in den Sternen – bislang soll sich lediglich ein chinesischer Autohersteller mit den Einsatzmöglichkeiten beschäftigen. [dieter]

[via Gizmowatch]

By Charles McMahon
cmcmahon@fosters.com

Thursday, November 12, 2009

PORTSMOUTH — The ability to track someone’s cell phone signal to a specific area may not be something new for fans of CSI and other TV cop dramas but the use of the technology became very real this past week as police searched for a little girl abducted by her father.

Maine authorities issued an AMBER Alert on Monday afternoon to find 38-year-old Gary Traynham after he allegedly assaulted his two-year-old daughter’s mother and fled the mother’s Sanford, Maine, apartment with little Hailey in a stolen pickup truck.

The U.S. Justice Department’s Website describes the Amber Alert Program as “a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child.”

And that’s what happened right after Hailey was taken. The airwaves were saturated with reports about her abduction.

Through witness reports and information received indicating that Traynham had ties to the Lakes Region, police began to scour communities throughout Central New Hampshire. Signs of the alert were visible everywhere, from the state, local and federal authorities positioned along Route 11 on Tuesday to the electronic construction signs that displayed messages about Traynham’s license plate number.

Hours into the eventual 30-hour manhunt, police caught a break when they were able to determine Traynham had made a phone call with his cell phone and the signal had “pinged” or transmitted off a communications tower in Alton.

Sanford Police Chief Thomas Connolly told WMUR that authorities were able to get an idea of where Traynham may have been headed when they received information his cell phone had used the signal from the tower.

“They were able to draw an arc on a map and said information from the cell phone indicates Traynham and his little girl were somewhere in that arc,” Connolly told WMUR. “Son of a gun they were found right in the middle of that arc.”

Hailey Traynham and her mother were reunited Tuesday night in Sanford, Maine, after a deer hunter spotted her and her father in a pickup truck on a logging road in Milton.

An unrelated incident in Portsmouth on Wednesday offered further proof that tracking cell phones for law enforcement purposes can be life-saving and in some cases an important precaution.

According to radio communications, around 10:30 a.m. local police were on the lookout for a possibly suicidal Connecticut man believed to be in the area. Radio transmissions indicated Connecticut authorities had received information that the man’s cell phone had last “pinged” off a tower in the Portsmouth area.

Police were then asked to be on the lookout for the man at area hospitals and eventually found him at a friend’s residence unharmed a short while later.

Portsmouth Police Community Relations Capt. Mike Schwartz said the effort in tracking someone’s cell phone is a team effort with law enforcement and phone service carriers and is only used in situations deemed to be an emergency. When police determine a situation necessitates using the technology, Schwartz said they contact the cell phone carrier, identify themselves as law enforcement and request a trace of the last known signal used.

Schwartz said the service is then able to tell authorities the last tower the cell phone signal “pinged” off.

“It’s for emergencies and there is tight criteria on it,” said Schwartz. “Every now and then we get people who say they lost their phone and ask, ‘can you ping it?’ We have to tell them ‘no,’ that’s not an emergency.”

The tracking is also not always 100 percent, said Schwartz, but does give law enforcement agencies a good starting point.

Michael Murphy, New England public affairs spokesman for Verizon Wireless, also acknowledged the relationship law enforcement and cell phone carriers have when it comes to potentially harmful situations.

“Verizon Wireless maintains a Law Enforcement Resource Team (LERT) that is ready and available 24/7 to assist authorities with life-threatening situations,” Murphy said.

ICORP NYC New York Website

Call ICORP Investigations regarding GPS tracking systems – Toll Free 866.984.2677

By Charles McMahon
cmcmahon@fosters.com

Thursday, November 12, 2009

PORTSMOUTH — The ability to track someone’s cell phone signal to a specific area may not be something new for fans of CSI and other TV cop dramas but the use of the technology became very real this past week as police searched for a little girl abducted by her father.

Maine authorities issued an AMBER Alert on Monday afternoon to find 38-year-old Gary Traynham after he allegedly assaulted his two-year-old daughter’s mother and fled the mother’s Sanford, Maine, apartment with little Hailey in a stolen pickup truck.

The U.S. Justice Department’s Website describes the Amber Alert Program as “a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child.”

And that’s what happened right after Hailey was taken. The airwaves were saturated with reports about her abduction.

Through witness reports and information received indicating that Traynham had ties to the Lakes Region, police began to scour communities throughout Central New Hampshire. Signs of the alert were visible everywhere, from the state, local and federal authorities positioned along Route 11 on Tuesday to the electronic construction signs that displayed messages about Traynham’s license plate number.

Hours into the eventual 30-hour manhunt, police caught a break when they were able to determine Traynham had made a phone call with his cell phone and the signal had “pinged” or transmitted off a communications tower in Alton.

Sanford Police Chief Thomas Connolly told WMUR that authorities were able to get an idea of where Traynham may have been headed when they received information his cell phone had used the signal from the tower.

“They were able to draw an arc on a map and said information from the cell phone indicates Traynham and his little girl were somewhere in that arc,” Connolly told WMUR. “Son of a gun they were found right in the middle of that arc.”

Hailey Traynham and her mother were reunited Tuesday night in Sanford, Maine, after a deer hunter spotted her and her father in a pickup truck on a logging road in Milton.

An unrelated incident in Portsmouth on Wednesday offered further proof that tracking cell phones for law enforcement purposes can be life-saving and in some cases an important precaution.

According to radio communications, around 10:30 a.m. local police were on the lookout for a possibly suicidal Connecticut man believed to be in the area. Radio transmissions indicated Connecticut authorities had received information that the man’s cell phone had last “pinged” off a tower in the Portsmouth area.

Police were then asked to be on the lookout for the man at area hospitals and eventually found him at a friend’s residence unharmed a short while later.

Portsmouth Police Community Relations Capt. Mike Schwartz said the effort in tracking someone’s cell phone is a team effort with law enforcement and phone service carriers and is only used in situations deemed to be an emergency. When police determine a situation necessitates using the technology, Schwartz said they contact the cell phone carrier, identify themselves as law enforcement and request a trace of the last known signal used.

Schwartz said the service is then able to tell authorities the last tower the cell phone signal “pinged” off.

“It’s for emergencies and there is tight criteria on it,” said Schwartz. “Every now and then we get people who say they lost their phone and ask, ‘can you ping it?’ We have to tell them ‘no,’ that’s not an emergency.”

The tracking is also not always 100 percent, said Schwartz, but does give law enforcement agencies a good starting point.

Michael Murphy, New England public affairs spokesman for Verizon Wireless, also acknowledged the relationship law enforcement and cell phone carriers have when it comes to potentially harmful situations.

“Verizon Wireless maintains a Law Enforcement Resource Team (LERT) that is ready and available 24/7 to assist authorities with life-threatening situations,” Murphy said.

Call ICORP Investigations regarding GPS tracking systems – Toll Free 866.984.2677

ICORP Long Island Website

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Today was my first day back on my bike riding in the “real world,” as opposed to riding inside on the trainer, since my accident on July 3.  For a long time, I couldn’t ride without risking hurting my arm if I fell, but lately I’ve been putting off riding out of what I now understand was just pure fear.  An odd fear, not one that I was even conscious of, even if I kept finding reasons not to get back on my bike — too cold, too windy, too much to do, needed a new helmet, etc., etc.  Only when I got back on the bike and started down the hill did I recognize:  I was afraid.  I felt uncomfortable, unsure, wobbly, the tires seemed to narrow, the road passed under me too fast.  I kept saying to myself, ’slow, just go slow, don’t fall.’

Right after it happened, it would replay over and over in my head: beginning the turn, suddenly becoming aware that I was not going to make it, drifting toward the stone wall while desperately trying to avoid it, then the sharp crash, a feeling of “ooof” as I struck the wall straight on, following by a consciousness of flying uncontrollably through the air with my bike, finally landing on my back, stunned and motionless, then hearing myself moaning, groaning, moaning, groaning, rocking from side to side like a baby, trying without success to lift my head, thinking to myself, ‘I have to move out of the road, I don’t want to get hit by a car,’ then looking up at a man and a woman, trying to sit up but still too stunned.

It took several minutes before I could sit up, and when I did I was automatically holding my left arm with my right, conscious that I had probably broken it.  I wasn’t so much in pain as I was in shock.  I didn’t have many cuts and scrapes, but I was aware on some primal level that I’d hurt myself badly.  The people who helped me tried to get me to stand up, but the first attempt did not work; I felt like I was going to be sick and had to sit back down on the pavement for several minutes before I could finally get up.  My whole body felt bruised.  I could barely lift myself into the back seat of the SUV that took me to the emergency room.  When I got out at the hospital, still holding my left arm, I felt woozy, unsteady.  I wondered if I could make it inside on my own.

I did, of course, but didn’t realize until later how seriously I’d broken my arm.  Not until a week and a half later did I discover I’d also broken a rib.  And the deep purple, almost brown bruises on my upper arm and side took many weeks to resolve.

So fear of getting back on the bike was, I guess, to be expected.  I had never had an accident so serious, and getting back on the bike, on  the road, I was right there again, in the same position, vulnerable.  To compensate, I took it slow and went on an easy short ride, on familiar roads, through a pretty, fresh, clear autumn afternoon.

Et voilà, quelques photos que j’ai prises sur la route….

Me and the bike:

Part of my route:

Grapevines in Autumn:

Finally, a cool technological thing:  I used the Google My Tracks application and the GPS on my new phone to create statistics and an xml file that works on Google Earth, Google Maps, or other mapping software.  Here’s the route shown on Google Maps:

View Larger Map

As for the statistics, well, they were nothing great, except to note that even with my fear of this ride, I managed at some point to hit 26 miles per hour, and had a total elevation gain of 700 feet.  Not too shabby, I guess, for the first time in almost 5 months.

by Donald B. MacGowan

Kilauea Lava Stream at Night: Photo courtesy of Big Island Air

Whether you visit the Big Island for a few days, a couple weeks or a few months, you want to make the most of your time in Paradise. With such a wide variety of natural and commercial attractions, it is natural for the visitor to get a little overwhelmed in the “Option Overload” and not be able to make a balanced and informed decision on what they want to do and how best to spend their time.

Amanda Maus at Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaiii Volcaoes National Park: Photo by Uncle Donnie MacGowan

Even choosing which beach you want to spend time on, or where you want to hike can be an exercise in confusion and conflicting advice.  Clearly, visitors to Hawaii could use help making quality decisions about how best to spend their time.

The Pacific Ocean and Waikupanaha Ocean Entry Explosion Plume at the End of Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Tour Guide Hawaii is excited and proud to announce the release of their new GPS/WiFi enabled App for iPhone and iPod that helps you navigate your trip to Hawaii with hours of informative, location-aware video and information. Although our video guide will lead you to dozens of unusual, untamed and unspoiled spots, let’s look at a scenic drive through one of Hawaii’s most popular attractions, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and highlight just a bit of the information you might not be able to find from maps and guidebooks that could otherwise cause you to miss some very interesting places and amazing sights if you did not have Tour Guide Hawaii’s new App.

Dusk at the Waikupanaha Lava Ocean Entry, Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

A Scenic Drive Through Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Introduction

La'epuki Lava Ocean Entry, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is a magical, spiritual, wondrous, strange and beautiful place comprised of great contrasts and contradictions: dry as dust desert to teeming tropical jungle; frigid sub-arctic wasteland to steaming black sand beaches to rivers of flowing lava.

Kilauea Crater and Eruption of Halema'uma'u, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

The star attractions in the Park are a pair of active volcanoes; Mauna Loa is the largest mountain on earth and Kilauea is most active volcano on earth. However, there are numerous other wonders from lava tubes to crawl down, black sand beaches with sea turtles to watch, mysterious petroglyph fields to explore, tropical jungles to hike through, endangered bird species to find, happy-face spiders to amuse and an otherworldly volcanic landscape so fresh it’s still steaming.

Hikers warily approach a stagnant lava flow whose surface is still glowing gently, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. During daylight hours, an access fee is charged. The Visitor Center has a 24-hour information line at 808.985.6000 and there is a 24-hour eruption hotline at 808.987.8862. Within the Park tune to A.M. radio 530 for continuous information broadcast. There are tourist items available for sale, and one restaurant and in the park; however, generally, shopping, restaurants and gasoline are mainly only available in the nearby village of Volcano.

iPhone and iPod Touch Video Tour Guide for Hawaii-fully GPS and WiFi enabled, fully interactive. Hours of interesting and compelling content. Available from iTunes or at www.tourguidehawaii.com.

There are four main roads which access most of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: the Mauna Loa Scenic road, which lies above the visitor’s center and winds up the slopes of Mauna Loa; Crater Rim Drive which circumnavigates the summit crater of Kilauea Volcano; Chain of Craters Road which runs down the southeast rift zone along a series of volcanoes and pit craters to the ocean and Hinlina Pali Road, which cuts across Kilauea Volcano to the cliffs along the sea.

Mauna Loa Scenic Road

View of Mauna Loa from the Mauna Loa Scenic Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

This gateway to the southern flank of the world’s largest mountain, Mauna Loa, lies about 2 ½ miles west of the main entrance to the park. The road traverses lava desert, ohi’a scrub savanna, fern forest and ends at the start of the hiking trail to the icy heights of Mauna Loa’s summit.

Lava Tree Molds, Mauna Loa Scenic Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

A small fork road heading east just after the start of Mauna Loa Road leads to a series of tree molds that formed when lava poured through the deep tropical forest. The trees were too wet to burn and the lava simply cooled around the trunks. Later, as the trees rotted, these unusual, deep pit molds were left behind. Definitely worth a visit, there are even pit toilets available at the Tree Molds.

About 1 ½ miles further along Mauna Loa Road is Bird Park, or Kipuka Puaulu. A forested island in a giant lava flow, this micro-ecosystem preserves forest plants and animals and is a haven to many bird members of Hawai’i’s endangered species. Cool, quiet, restful and inviting, there is a one-mile nature trail around this tropical forest oasis.

Looking into a Lava Tree Mold, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Mauna Loa Road is closed at various elevations at various times due to fire hazard. If one has the time and an adventurous heart, it is well worth the trip to drive to the end of the road and perhaps even hike a ways up it. The start of the Mauna Loa summit trail is here, but for even hardy hikers, that goal is at least two days hard hiking distant. The world’s largest active volcano is a LOT bigger than it looks!

Crater Rim Drive

Sunrise Mauna Loa from Crater Rim Drive, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

A fine introduction to the wonders of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Crater Rim Drive circles the summit crater of Kilauea Volcano, including Halema’uma’u Crater, the home of Madame Pele. The drive runs 11 fabulous and amazing miles through arid, barren volcanic desert, ohi’a forest and grassland and lush fern jungle. The most interesting sites along the drive are the Visitor’s Center, Jagger Museum, Halema’uma’u Crater, Kilauea Iki Crater, Devastation Trail and Thurston Lava Tube. Although the circuit can be made in under 40 minutes, one should allow at least three hours even to begin to explore this fantastic place; if you have never been here before, you certainly have never seen anything like it. Many people who plan to rush through the Park find themselves utterly engrossed, wind up spending much more time than they planned here and extemporaneously changing their plans, cutting time from some other attraction. Best plan to spend sufficient time here in the first place.

Halema'uma'u Crater, The Home of Madame Pele: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Experience has shown that the impact of the landscape is much greater if the drive is done anti-clockwise

Below are some suggested highlights along Crater Rim Drive. The road currently is closed between Jagger Museum and the intersection with Chain of Craters Road due to the eruption in Halema’uma’u Crater. Also, bear in mind that there are no services available along Crater Rim Drive, except for restrooms, drinking water and the book shop at Jagger Museum..

Frank Burgess Browses the Kilauea Visitor's Center Book Shop at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Kilauea Visitor Center: Newly remodeled and updated, the Kilauea Visitor’s Center is an outstanding resource of information on Hawaii’s volcanoes and the National Park; the not-to-be-missed first stop in the park you must make. The Center is run by enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff that has the most up-to-date information on viewing the eruption, hiking and camping, bird watching, stargazing and just about any other topic of interest to Park visitors. Available for sale in the Center are maps, guidebooks, books and videos about the volcanoes, Hawai’iana, history, plants and every topic you can imagine pertinent to the Park, even souvenirs. There are free brochures and pamphlets on various trails, attractions, hiking safety and lava viewing hazards and precautions.

Visitors Inspect the 3-D Physographic Map of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at the Kilauea Visitor's Center: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

The Visitor Center is open daily from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.; there are public restrooms, water and pay phones available. Starting at 9 a.m. and showing every hour on the hour is a 20 minute informative movie about the Park; the film changes from time to time, but always contains spectacular footage of eruptions, information on volcanology and the natural and human history of the Park. For information, please call their Info Hot line at 808.985.6000.

The Halema'uma'u Eruption from the Jagger Museum, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Jagger Museum and Hawai’i Volcano Observatory: Famed for its fabulous views of Mauna Loa and Kilauea as much as for its interesting exhibits, The Jagger Museum (named for geologist Thomas A. Jagger) is open daily from 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m. Exhibits include murals by Herb Kawainui Kane, seismograph charts of eruptions and earthquakes, geological displays and displays about the natural and human history of the Park.

Jagger Museum Parking lot is near a Nesting Ground for the Endangered Nene Goose, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

When entering the parking lot of the Museum/Observatory, be especially careful of the Federally-protected Hawaii Goose, the Nene, who seem to congregate here. The Nene is the State Bird of Hawai’i, and this parking lot and its surrounding area constitute one of the best places for viewing them.

Everet Maynard Explores the Entrance to Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Thurston Lava Tube: Nahuku, the Thurston Lava Tube, gives the visitor an opportunity for a close-at-hand inspection of the inner plumbing of a volcano. It also makes for an interesting and unique way to escape the noonday heat or afternoon shower, briefly. Lava tubes form when the outer crust of a flowing river of lava begins to cool and crust over, but the lava continues to flow beneath it; as the margins of the flow begin to cool and form walls growing towards the middle, the nascent tube is formed. When the flow has completely drained away, the lava tube is left behind.

Inside Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Thurston lava tube is a remarkably large, well-preserved and accessible example of a lava tube-type cave. An easy, 0.3 mile trail (about a 15 minute hike) winds through lush fern forest alive with singing birds and buzzing insects, down into a collapse crater entering the lava tube and slipping about 300 feet through the well-lighted, floored cave, popping up through a skylight in the tube and returning to the parking lot. A very easy walk and certainly a “must see” for any visitor to the park.

Eric Carr Enters Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

When Lorrin Thurston, founder of the Honolulu Advertiser, found the cave in 1913, the roof reportedly was covered with stalactites, now there are none—it is said that rapacious tourists removed every one in the intervening years.

Chain of Craters Road

Rainbow at Kealakomo Overlook, Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Following along Kilauea’s East Rift Zone, Chain of Craters Road passes through an amazing array of rift volcanoes, pit craters, lava trenches and flow fields. This road traverses and opens-up some of the most wild and beautiful landscapes seen anywhere, terminating near the active lava flows from Kilauea Volcano. Perhaps nowhere else on earth are the elements high mountains, wild seascapes and active volcanoes and their lava flows more dramatically displayed. Altogether, Chain of Craters Road is a singular and essential addition to any visit to the Island of Hawai’i. Crazily switching-back repeatedly down the Holei Pali, Chain of Craters Road finally reaches the untamed and scenically wild coastline, where giant waves spray and spume over sea cliffs dozens of feet high. Towering steam plumes in the distance at the end of the road mark where unimaginably hot liquid rock pours into the wild, wild sea. A place of mystery, a place of power, a place of wonder

Pitifu; Remnant of a Once Enormous Rain Forest on the Holei Pali, Now Surrounded By Fresh Lava: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Once connecting Volcano Village through the Park to Puna and State Routes 130 and 137 at Kalapana, Chain of Craters Road has repeatedly been badly damaged by earthquake, buried in lava, re-routed and re-built and broken up and buried again. The current eruption, which began in 1983, has buried a significant portion of the currently-closed nine miles of road between its temporary end inside the Park and the eastern closure at the town of Kalapana, outside the eastern edge of the Park. The road is now closed at the 19-mile marker, right at Holei Sea Arch.

Visitors Walk Through the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Field, Hawaii Volcanoes National Parl: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Collapse features, such as the numerous “pit craters” found along the Chain of Craters Road, form when lava drains out of subterranean chambers, causing the surface to collapse. Notice how all the debris seems to point downward into the bottom of the crater; there is no material around the rim of the crater that is suggestive of eruptive or explosive events. On the walls of the crater, one can see numerous, inter-layered, pre-collapse lava flows and airfall beds that were truncated by the collapse and exposed.

Petroglyphs at Pu'u Loa, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

If a car ride back up the pali can be arranged, riding bicycles round Crater Rim Drive and down Chain of Craters road can be a momentous and fun excursion. Starting slightly above 4200 feet in elevation and ending at virtually sea level, this 22 mile drop from misty mountain cloud forest, running through tropical rain forest and into tropical desert is invigorating physically, stunning visually and makes a wonderfully memorable addition to any visit to the Island of Hawai’i. However, if you decide to pedal the 4200 feet elevation and 22 miles back up Chain of Craters Road to Kilauea Summit in the heat of day, this will also ensure a quite memorable, though far less pleasant, addition to your visit.

Sea Cliffs, Sea Arches, Wild Surf and Magnificent Bird Watching Near the End of Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

There are no services, water, food or gasoline available along the length of Chain of Craters Road. Do not underestimate the draw of this area on your imagination and your spirit; you WILL spend more time here than you think. Plan ahead, get food, water and gas before venturing down the road. Remember, after dark on the South side of Hawai’i Island, it is virtually impossible to find gasoline or food for sale along the highway between Volcano VIllage west to Kona or north to Kea’au.

Hilina Pali Road

Vast Ocean Vistas and Incredible Sunsets are Some of the Rewards for Exploring Hilina Pali Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

At 2.2 mile down Chain of Craters Road is the turn off to the Hilina Pali Road. This road is 9 miles of some of the most spectacular, lonely and striking scenery in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Spectatcular coastal views, strangely-colored rock and twisted trees under weird skies make this an fantastic side trip for exploration and photography. Be especially careful when driving this road, it is mostly only one lane and there are more people enjoying this trip through the backcountry than you might think.

Kulanaokuaiki Campground on Hilina Pali Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

About halfway to Hilina Pali Overlook is the Kulanaokuaiki Campground. Set amongst rifts, collapse features and flows, this desert campground is secluded and spectacular. Driving further across the broad lava flows, past panoramic vistas of Mauna Loa, along the spectacular drop-off of the Hilina Pali (literally “cliff of faith”), one comes to the Hilina Pali Overlook, a great place for a picnic or short hike.

Mauna Loa from Hilina Pali Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Connecting with several longer trails across the Ka’u Desert, Kilauea Crater, or down the Pali to such abandoned coastal villages as Halape and Keauhou, the Hilina Pali Overlook is the central cross-roads of back-packing trails which crisscross the park

Spectatcular coastal views, strangely-colored rock and twisted trees under weird skies make Hilina Pali Road a fantastic side trip, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Hilina Pali Road, due to its remoteness and lack of bus traffic, is a great place for a mountain bike ride, birding, or just getting away from crowds and tours. There are magnificent views, heart-stopping sunsets and pit toilets at the Campground and Overlook,. There is no water or other services available. Hilina Pali is a nesting place for the endangered Nene, the Hawai’i State bird, which is related to the Canada Goose. Hilina Pali Road may be closed during Nene nesting season.

Devil'sThroat, Just Across Chain of Crater's Road from the hilina Pali Road Intersection: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Less than 1/10 of a mile from Hilina Pali road is the unmarked Devil’s Throat collapse crater…an excitingly vertically-sided pit that is worth the visit just for the “okole squeezing” peering down the throat will give you.

End of Chain of Craters Road

Holei Sea Arch, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

The end of Chain of Craters Road is currently at the 19 mile marker near the Holei Sea Arch. This is where the road was cut off by flowing lava which also destroyed the 2 million dollar Visitor Center. When the lava is flowing near the road, one can walk right up to it. There are displays about the volcano and natural history of the area, as well as a wealth of information on hiking to, and viewing, the lava, available here.

Hiking to the La'epuki Lava Ocean Entry from the End of Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Hiking all the way out to the active flows is one of the most spiritually rewarding, awe-inspiring, curiosity quenching and amazing things one can do anywhere in the world—but it is neither for the physically unfit nor the meek of spirit. It is a long, hot hike (currently seven miles) over broken ground and glass-sharp rocks; the heat from the volcano is savage; the weather, if clear, is sweltering…frequent squalls blow in off the ocean and the rain and wind can get pretty wild out on the lava plain where there is absolutely no cover or shelter to protect you. No water or shade is available anywhere along the hike. Plan assiduously before you go, make sure you have TWO working flashlights per person for the long hike back in the dark.

Lava Viewing Near Kalapana

Yet another lava viewing photo from Waikupanaha, Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

At this time, there is nowhere else can you see lava flowing from a volcano into the sea; no Big Island visit is complete without seeing this awe-inspiring show. Currently lava is only flowing into the sea outside the Park. From the belt Highway, turn south at Kea’au on Highway 130, continuing through Pahoa to the 20 mile marker; take the exit clearly marked “Lava Viewing”, a right branch about, for two miles to the parking area. Port-a-potties are available here. The road is open from 2 p.m. until 10; no cars allowed in after 8. Lava viewing information is available from Hawaii County at 808.961.8093; check conditions before you go. The easy trail, a 20 minute stroll to the viewing area, is well-marked.

Littoral Explosion Plume at Waikupanaha Lava Ocean Entry, Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

The quality of viewing varies as lava flows nearer or farther from the trail. Viewing is best at dusk so bring flashlights for the hike out. Take close-toed walking shoes and a hat, long pants and long-sleeved shirt, at least 2 liters of water, sun block and a rain jacket and camera. It’s a good idea to bring a tripod for your camera, or your shots will be blurred. Remember food and gas are not available anywhere nearby after dark, so fill up BEFORE you park, bring snacks and drinks. There are port-a-potties available at the parking lot.

Kilauea Lava River, Hawaii: Photo Courtesy of Big Island Air

To see the new iPhone/iPod Touch App, please visit http://www.tourguidehawaii.com/iphone.html. The best of Tour Guide Hawaii’s free content about traveling to, and exploring, the Big island, can be found here. For more information on traveling to Hawaii in general and on touring the Big Island in particular, please also visit www.tourguidehawaii.com and www.tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com.

The Best Lava Viewing at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is from the Air: Photo by Shannon Walker

Copyright 2009 by Donald B. MacGowan. All rights reserved.