2017 deal-making could translate to more huge returns for Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth next year.
Reported by Motley Fool 6 days ago.
These Marijuana Stocks Are the Kings of Deals -- but Is Buying Them a Good Deal?
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Optimal Vehicle-Exterior Protection Invented (DPH-193)
Pittsburgh-based InventHelp, a leading inventor service company, is submitting this client’s idea, Master Guard Auto Cover, in the hopes of a good faith review.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 14, 2017
PITTSBURGH...A lot of people have to pay for expensive repairs after hail damages the exteriors of their vehicle, so an inventor from Aurora, Colo., decided to come up with a way to avoid this frustrating problem.
The MASTER GUARD AUTO COVER provides better protection for a vehicle exterior. It prevents scratches, dents and other damage caused by hail and other inclement weather. As a result, it avoids the need for expensive repairs, which saves money.
Ergonomic, easy to use and producible in different sizes and colors, the MASTER GUARD AUTO COVER is compatible with all vehicles.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-193, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 6 days ago.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 14, 2017
PITTSBURGH...A lot of people have to pay for expensive repairs after hail damages the exteriors of their vehicle, so an inventor from Aurora, Colo., decided to come up with a way to avoid this frustrating problem.
The MASTER GUARD AUTO COVER provides better protection for a vehicle exterior. It prevents scratches, dents and other damage caused by hail and other inclement weather. As a result, it avoids the need for expensive repairs, which saves money.
Ergonomic, easy to use and producible in different sizes and colors, the MASTER GUARD AUTO COVER is compatible with all vehicles.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-193, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 6 days ago.
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AWS Offers Aurora Cloud DB Service Compatible With PostgreSQL
Amazon Web Services on Tuesday announced the general availability of Amazon Aurora with PostgreSQL compatibility. The service is now fully compatible with both MySQL and PostgreSQL, the company said. AWS also announced that customers migrating to Amazon Aurora from another database can use the AWS Database Migration Service free of charge for the next six months.
Reported by Linux Insider 5 days ago.
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Author Barry Koplen’s “Why The Last Capitol of The Confederacy Became A Capital Attraction” Wins Best of Los Angeles Award for “Best Historical Education Book” 2017
Author Barry M Copeland’s book “Why The Last Capitol of The Confederacy Became A Capital Attraction” won the Best of Los Angeles Award for “Best Historical Education Book” 2017 according to Aurora DeRose, award coordinator for the Best of Los Angeles Award community (https://www.facebook.com/BestofLosAngelesAwards/).
LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) December 14, 2017
Award-winning author and publisher Barry M. Koplen released his latest historical book, “Why The Last Capitol of The Confederacy Became A Capital Attraction,” in May of this last summer. The book depicts the revival of the historical downtown of Danville, Virginia as seen through the eyes of the men and women who made that possible. Long considered dead, Danville’s downtown has experienced a resurgence that rivals that of many southern cities, even larger ones, because of its wealth of structures that have provided block after block of living history. During the eighteen months spent writing Why The Last Capital Of The Confederacy Became A Capital Attraction, Koplen has tracked Danville’s resurgence in ways that explain why the population of the downtown has gone from near zero to more than 1400 residents. The book was met with rave reviews from readers across the country immediately after its release:
"What a exceptionally told story of a historical city’s history and recent resurgence, with great illustrations! Koplen really captures the vitality that has become an irresistible feature of historical downtown Danville!" Julie Benson - Denver, CO
“Reading ‘Why the Last Capitol of the Confederacy Became A Capitol Attraction' is like a Ken Burns adventure into an epic story of grandeur. The people involved come alive with Mr. Koplen's narration and rich pictures. When he takes you into an antebellum building, the imagination jumps. The future leaps from the pages as you look & 'listen' to the men & women responsible for Danville's transformation. A fascinating and fun read!” John Andrews – Los Angeles, CA
"This book is a great read and a joy to roam through. Koplen takes us through the countless phases of Danville’s history and prominence, and which can also be seen as a microcosm as the trajectory of most American historical cities.” - Edward Hasgard – Westfield, MA
The “Best of Los Angeles Award” community was formed three years ago and consists of over 3,700 professional members living and working in Southern California. It celebrates the best people, places and things in Los Angeles with a slogan “No Ads. No B.S. Only the Best.”
“The mission of the community is to celebrate the best of Los Angeles, and allow its community members to connect with other members who share the highest standards of quality and integrity,” said DeRose.
"I am honored to receive this award from the Best of Los Angeles," says Copeland. "I worked hard to write an interesting and informative book on the complex resurgence of one of the most historical and unique places in our country."
To learn more about Barry M. Koplen and his work, visit his book's Facebook page. Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) December 14, 2017
Award-winning author and publisher Barry M. Koplen released his latest historical book, “Why The Last Capitol of The Confederacy Became A Capital Attraction,” in May of this last summer. The book depicts the revival of the historical downtown of Danville, Virginia as seen through the eyes of the men and women who made that possible. Long considered dead, Danville’s downtown has experienced a resurgence that rivals that of many southern cities, even larger ones, because of its wealth of structures that have provided block after block of living history. During the eighteen months spent writing Why The Last Capital Of The Confederacy Became A Capital Attraction, Koplen has tracked Danville’s resurgence in ways that explain why the population of the downtown has gone from near zero to more than 1400 residents. The book was met with rave reviews from readers across the country immediately after its release:
"What a exceptionally told story of a historical city’s history and recent resurgence, with great illustrations! Koplen really captures the vitality that has become an irresistible feature of historical downtown Danville!" Julie Benson - Denver, CO
“Reading ‘Why the Last Capitol of the Confederacy Became A Capitol Attraction' is like a Ken Burns adventure into an epic story of grandeur. The people involved come alive with Mr. Koplen's narration and rich pictures. When he takes you into an antebellum building, the imagination jumps. The future leaps from the pages as you look & 'listen' to the men & women responsible for Danville's transformation. A fascinating and fun read!” John Andrews – Los Angeles, CA
"This book is a great read and a joy to roam through. Koplen takes us through the countless phases of Danville’s history and prominence, and which can also be seen as a microcosm as the trajectory of most American historical cities.” - Edward Hasgard – Westfield, MA
The “Best of Los Angeles Award” community was formed three years ago and consists of over 3,700 professional members living and working in Southern California. It celebrates the best people, places and things in Los Angeles with a slogan “No Ads. No B.S. Only the Best.”
“The mission of the community is to celebrate the best of Los Angeles, and allow its community members to connect with other members who share the highest standards of quality and integrity,” said DeRose.
"I am honored to receive this award from the Best of Los Angeles," says Copeland. "I worked hard to write an interesting and informative book on the complex resurgence of one of the most historical and unique places in our country."
To learn more about Barry M. Koplen and his work, visit his book's Facebook page. Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
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InventHelp Inventor Redesigns Sofa for Ease in Moving (DPH-213)
Pittsburgh-based InventHelp, a leading inventor service company, is submitting this client’s idea, SU CASA FURNITURE in the hopes of a good faith review.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 15, 2017
An inventor from Aurora, Colo., has developed the SU CASA FURNITURE, an improved sofa design that can be assembled and disassembled for easier moving. Additionally, it can be modified into a sectional by adding one additional piece. A prototype is available.
"Sofas can be found in almost any living space, but they often stay unmoved due to the bulkiness and weight. My invention will provide users with the luxury of easily moving and transporting a couch as needed," said the inventor. The SU CASA FURNITURE disassembles into manageable pieces and reassembles easily. Users can more easily move the couch from one location to another without the weight and struggle associated with moving a standard couch. This, in turn, reduces strain on the body and back. In addition, it prevents damage to walls or doorways due to the bulkiness of standard sofa designs. Individuals living in small apartments or houses will appreciate the versatility of this item, as well as professional movers and moving companies.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-213, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 15, 2017
An inventor from Aurora, Colo., has developed the SU CASA FURNITURE, an improved sofa design that can be assembled and disassembled for easier moving. Additionally, it can be modified into a sectional by adding one additional piece. A prototype is available.
"Sofas can be found in almost any living space, but they often stay unmoved due to the bulkiness and weight. My invention will provide users with the luxury of easily moving and transporting a couch as needed," said the inventor. The SU CASA FURNITURE disassembles into manageable pieces and reassembles easily. Users can more easily move the couch from one location to another without the weight and struggle associated with moving a standard couch. This, in turn, reduces strain on the body and back. In addition, it prevents damage to walls or doorways due to the bulkiness of standard sofa designs. Individuals living in small apartments or houses will appreciate the versatility of this item, as well as professional movers and moving companies.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-213, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
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Professional Cordless Hair-Care Tool Set Developed by InventHelp Inventor (DPH-183)
InventHelp, founded in 1984 in Pittsburgh, is attempting to submit this idea, CHIC DESIGNS to applicable companies for their consideration.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 15, 2017
Cosmetologists rely on a variety of hair-care appliances like hair dryers with cords that easily tangle and can cause trips and falls. Current cordless models, however, are not powerful enough to adequately serve clients. Fortunately, an inventor from Aurora, Colo., has found a way to solve both problems.
She developed CHIC DESIGNS to, first of all, operate more efficiently than existing models. At the same time, it provides greater maneuverability for styling and cutting hair and eliminates the need to untangle cords. Thus, it creates a safer environment for both stylist and client. Furthermore, this handheld invention is compact in size, lightweight and easy to use. In addition, it is portable, practical and user friendly. Other appealing features are convenience, effectiveness and an affordable price.
The inventor’s professional experience inspired the idea. “Working as a cosmetologist for years, I had trouble with appliance cords getting in the way;” she said, “and the cordless ones I found did not have adequate heat levels and battery life to completely service a client."
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-183, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 15, 2017
Cosmetologists rely on a variety of hair-care appliances like hair dryers with cords that easily tangle and can cause trips and falls. Current cordless models, however, are not powerful enough to adequately serve clients. Fortunately, an inventor from Aurora, Colo., has found a way to solve both problems.
She developed CHIC DESIGNS to, first of all, operate more efficiently than existing models. At the same time, it provides greater maneuverability for styling and cutting hair and eliminates the need to untangle cords. Thus, it creates a safer environment for both stylist and client. Furthermore, this handheld invention is compact in size, lightweight and easy to use. In addition, it is portable, practical and user friendly. Other appealing features are convenience, effectiveness and an affordable price.
The inventor’s professional experience inspired the idea. “Working as a cosmetologist for years, I had trouble with appliance cords getting in the way;” she said, “and the cordless ones I found did not have adequate heat levels and battery life to completely service a client."
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-183, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
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DIGITAL HEALTH BRIEFING: Microsoft developing health chatbot platform — Lifespan aims to cut $182 million in costs with GE partnership — Hitachi working to reduce hospital readmissions
Welcome to Digital Health Briefing, a new morning email providing the latest news, data, and insight on how digital technology is disrupting the healthcare ecosystem, produced by BI Intelligence.*Sign up and receive Digital Health Briefing free to your inbox.*
Have feedback? We'd like to hear from you. Write me at: lbeaver@businessinsider.com
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*MICROSOFT IS TESTING ITS NEW HEALTH CHATBOT PLATFORM: *The tech giant is developing the platform as a part of its Healthcare NExT program and has partnered with Aurora Health Care to create the Aurora Digital Assistant, a new chatbot service that aims to demonstrate how digital assistants can benefit not only patients but healthcare providers and networks, too. Currently, the platform is being privately previewed to Microsoft's new partners.
*Microsoft hopes the service will help make it easier for users to access medical info from their smartphones.* Aurora patients can “text” the digital assistant in a conversational manner via an app, answering a series of questions relating to their ailment. The assistant uses these responses to determine the type of care the patient may need and when they need it. The patient can then use the app to schedule an appointment with an appropriate doctor.
*For healthcare providers, AI-integrated services, like chatbots, are showing great potential to make healthcare more efficient. *They can help cut costs associated with processes including triage, admissions, reimbursements, and others. For example, insurers can use chatbots to make it easier for potential and existing customers to look up plans, or the status of a claim. Healthcare providers could save just over four minutes per inquiry by 2022 or $8 billion in savings, according to Juniper research. That’s up from $20 million in 2017.
*Although the current utility of chatbots in healthcare is limited, there is growing interest from a range of US medical providers that have shown interest in Microsoft’s efforts.* These include Premier Blue Cross, the largest health plan in Pacific Northwest, and UPMC, a leading US integrated healthcare delivery network, according to Microsoft.
*LIFESPAN PARTNERS WITH GE HEALTHCARE TO CUT COSTS: *Lifespan, the Rhode Island-based hospital system, is partnering with GE Healthcare in an effort to reduce $182 million in costs over the next six years. In what is being dubbed a shared-risk model, GE Healthcare will only be paid once certain outcomes are achieved. These outcomes likely fall under improving patient flow, increasing capacity for services, decreasing wait times, improving efficiencies, and ultimately reducing costs. In order to achieve these outcomes, GE Healthcare plans to lean heavily on digital health technology, including data analytics and tools. This is GE Healthcare's fifth shared-risk model partnership in the US — all of which were initiated in recent months. This appears to be part of two growing trends. Hospitals are beginning to adjust to the digitization of the healthcare system by adopting the latest technologies. However, they are also not completely sold that these technologies can achieve all of the positive outcomes being marketed which explains the shared-risk model.
*HITACHI AND PARTNERS HEALTHCARE TO USE AI TO LOWER HOSPITAL READMISSIONS: *Japanese technology company Hitachi has partnered with Partners Healthcare’s Connected Health group to develop artificial intelligence (AI) powered tools to predict and prevent hospital readmission in patients with heart failure, according to HIT Consultant. The AI algorithm that they developed uses a form of machine learning that can highlight critical factors that lead it to identify a patient as being at high risk for readmission. This gives hospital personnel the opportunity to take steps to mitigate that risk. Researchers working on the algorithm tested it by using it on data from over 12,000 heart failure patients who were discharged, comparing its predictions to what actually happened. Preventing hospital readmissions is a critical metric for hospitals — too high a readmission rate can lead to penalties under the Affordable Care Act and can cost payers well over $10,000 per incident. Using AI-powered tools to prevent readmissions can help hospitals and insurers to reduce costs and improve outcomes.
*MERCY JOINS AVIA INNOVATOR NETWORK TO IMPROVE INNOVATION:* Mercy Health, the largest health system in Ohio, announced that it has joined the AVIA Innovator Network to gain insights into digital innovation. AVIA is a network of over 24 health systems across the US and the UK that have partnered to accelerate the identification, adoption, and circulation of highly impactful digital strategies. Through these collaborations, AVIA has been able to create a field-tested methodology to enable health systems to develop an innovation blueprint. While only 10% of providers and payers were actively executing digital transformation initiatives as of March, that number is expected to reach 42% among providers in the next year, according to an IDC survey cited by HealthcareITNews.
*In other news…*
· The *FCC* voted to repeal 2015’s Open Internet Order, which established net neutrality regulations on Thursday, according to TechCrunch. The decision will likely impact the deployment of telemedicine in the US, however, parties disagree whether the effects will be positive or negative.
· *MassChallenge*, a non-profit startup accelerator, has named 32 startups to participate in PULSE 2018, its digital health program, AmericanInno reports. The program aims to partner startups with healthcare institutions, systems, and payers to better achieve milestone goals.
Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 5 days ago.
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InventHelp Inventor Develops Enhanced Cutting Board
InventHelp, founded in 1984 in Pittsburgh, is attempting to submit this idea, the Cutting Board Pro, to applicable companies for their consideration.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 15, 2017
"I needed a better cutting board that would keep my work area neat and clean while allowing me to slice up food items efficiently," said an inventor from Aurora, Colo.
He developed the CUTTING BOARD PRO to allow the cutting board to be elevated above the countertop. The design makes it easier to slice and chop various food items. It allows for safer food preparation. The accessory ensures that liquids drain away from the work area to keep the cutting surface clean. The unit keeps the countertop and surrounding area neat and tidy. Additionally, it limits waste and increases yield as well as increases efficiency of food preparation according to the inventor.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-209, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. -https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 15, 2017
"I needed a better cutting board that would keep my work area neat and clean while allowing me to slice up food items efficiently," said an inventor from Aurora, Colo.
He developed the CUTTING BOARD PRO to allow the cutting board to be elevated above the countertop. The design makes it easier to slice and chop various food items. It allows for safer food preparation. The accessory ensures that liquids drain away from the work area to keep the cutting surface clean. The unit keeps the countertop and surrounding area neat and tidy. Additionally, it limits waste and increases yield as well as increases efficiency of food preparation according to the inventor.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-209, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. -https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 5 days ago.
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The Marine Corps just successfully tested a fully autonomous helicopter
· *The US Marine Corps just finished testing a fully autonomous helicopter that can conduct missions start to finish without ever being piloted — even remotely.*· *The aircraft could potentially be used to re-supply and reinforce units in hot zones.*
· *The technology itself is a kit, meaning it could possibly be integrated onto other platforms in the future.*
--------------------MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (NNS) -- Autonomy options for the Marine Corps have taken a major step forward, as ONR officials announced Dec. 13, a successful final helicopter flight demonstration with autonomous capability at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, part of the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS) program.
AACUS is a partnership between the Office of Naval Research and technology company Aurora Flight Sciences and will enable the Marine Corps to rapidly resupply forces on the front lines using cutting-edge technology sponsored by ONR.
The system consists of a sensor and software package that can be integrated into any manned or unmanned rotary-wing aircraft to detect and avoid obstacles (like telephone wires, other vehicles or large ground objects) in unfavorable weather conditions or to facilitate autonomous, unmanned flight.
This capability will be a welcome alternative to dangerous convoys or manned aircraft missions in all types of weather.
"This is more than just an unmanned helicopter," said Dr. Walter Jones, ONR executive director. "AACUS is an autonomy kit that can be placed on any rotary-wing platform and provide it with an autonomous capability. Imagine a Marine Corps unit deployed in a remote location, in rough terrain, needing ammunition, water, batteries or even blood."
"With AACUS, an unmanned helicopter takes the supplies from the base, picks out the optimal route and best landing site closest to the warfighters, lands and returns to base once the resupply is complete-all with the single touch of a handheld tablet."
The need for this capability surfaced during Marine Corps operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, experts say. Cargo helicopters and resupply convoys of trucks bringing fuel, food, water, ammunition and medical supplies to the front lines frequently found themselves under fire from adversaries, or the target of roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices.
AACUS is designed for simple use; an operator with minimal training can call up the supplies needed and order the flights using only an intuitive handheld tablet.
During the Dec. 13, demonstration tests at Quantico, a Marine with no prior experience with the technology was given a handheld device and 15 minutes of training.
The Marine was able to quickly and easily program in the supplies needed and the destination, and the helicopters arrived quickly-even autonomously selecting an alternative landing site based on last-second no-fly-zone information added in from the Marine. The demonstration featured a UH-1 "Huey" flying autonomously on multiple missions.
"We've developed this great capability ahead of requirements and it's up to us to determine how to use it," said Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, commanding general, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. "The young Marines today have grown up in a tech-savvy society, which is an advantage. We've got to keep pushing and moving this technology forward."
Officials say AACUS represents a leap-ahead technology for the Marine Corps and Navy, moving unmanned flights far beyond the current standard, which requires a specialized operator to select a landing site and manually control an unmanned aircraft via remote.
"AACUS gives revolutionary capability to our fleet and force," said Dennis Baker, AACUS program manager. "It can be used as a pilot aid to operate in GPS- and communications-denied arenas or allow fully autonomous flights in contested environments-keeping our pilots and crews out of harm's way."
Warren Duffie Jr. is a contractor for ONR Corporate Strategic Communications.
*SEE ALSO: We took a rare tour of one of the US Navy's most dangerous warships — nicknamed the 'Sledgehammer of Freedom'*
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: A Navy SEAL explains what to do if you're attacked by a dog Reported by Business Insider 4 days ago.
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Aurora police investigate Saturday morning shooting death
Aurora Police Department officers responded to a house near 14th Avenue and Chester Street at about 5:35 in the morning, finding a deceased man with a gunshot wound. His name has not been released.
Reported by Denver Post 3 days ago.
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Inventor Develops Play Set for Children (DPH-203)
InventHelp, founded in 1984 in Pittsburgh, is attempting to submit this idea, Heaven's Folding Troll and Fairy Hut, to applicable companies for their consideration.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 17, 2017
"I wanted my grandchildren to have their very own fairy garden they could play in," said an inventor from Aurora, Colo. "I came up with this idea to provide young children with an engaging play set that would encourage them to use their imagination."
She developed the HEAVEN'S FOLDING TROLL AND FAIRY HUT to serve as a fun play set for children of all ages. The toy promotes creativity and the use of imagination. This allows make-believe play to be more exciting. The play set offers hours of entertainment. It is suitable for indoor/outdoor use. Additionally, the house folds for ease of storage and transport.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-203, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com -
https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 3 days ago.
PITTSBURGH (PRWEB) December 17, 2017
"I wanted my grandchildren to have their very own fairy garden they could play in," said an inventor from Aurora, Colo. "I came up with this idea to provide young children with an engaging play set that would encourage them to use their imagination."
She developed the HEAVEN'S FOLDING TROLL AND FAIRY HUT to serve as a fun play set for children of all ages. The toy promotes creativity and the use of imagination. This allows make-believe play to be more exciting. The play set offers hours of entertainment. It is suitable for indoor/outdoor use. Additionally, the house folds for ease of storage and transport.
The original design was submitted to the Denver office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-DPH-203, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com -
https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp Reported by PRWeb 3 days ago.
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Denver-based DEA opioid probe of McKesson was 'hijacked,' says Washington Post-'60 Minutes' report
After years of investigation of McKesson Corp., led by a Denver-based Drug Enforcement Administration team, over the pharmaceutical giant's distribution of powerful opioid drugs in Colorado and elsewhere, DEA agents say they thought they had gathered enough evidence to warrant criminal charges, fines of more than $1 billion and blocking distribution of opioid pain pills from McKesson warehouses in Aurora and elsewhere. The DEA probe examined whether San Francisco-based McKesson (NYSE: MCK) failed…
Reported by bizjournals 3 days ago.
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AltMed Enterprises Signs Letter of Intent for International Licensing for Distribution of its Award Winning MüV™ Cannabis Infused Products
An agreement with Canadian partners Aurora Cannabis and CannaRoyalty would make MüV™ premium cannabis products available in Canada, Australia and Europe.
SARASOTA, Fla. (PRWEB) December 18, 2017
Alternative Medical Enterprises, LLC (AltMed) has signed a letter of intent with Aurora Cannabis Inc. and CannaRoyalty Corp. giving Aurora the exclusive right for 90 days to negotiate a final licensing agreement.
The final licencing agreement concerns the acquisition by Aurora of the exclusive rights for Canada, Europe and Australia to the intellectual property, manufacturing procedures, and the sales and marketing rights related to specialty branded cannabis drug delivery technologies from AltMed’s MüV brand, to which CannaRoyatly holds certain licensing rights.
For AltMed, the agreement represents an important breakthrough in expanding the MüV brand footprint to the fastest growing cannabis markets in the world.
Canada is scheduled to commence full adult recreational legal cannabis use on July 1, 2018, opening-up the nationwide marketplace and fueling demand for new products that can best serve the needs of consumers.
According to Deloitte, with national legal adult use, Canada has an estimated base retail market value, of between $4.9 billion and $8.7 billion, and ancillary market potential of over $20 billion (source report).
"Canada alone represents a massive opportunity for our brands and gaining access to this market has been a high priority for AltMed,” said Matt Duffy, AltMed Enterprises President. “Further, with many countries in Europe introducing legislation to allow cannabis sales, the opportunity on the continent could more than double MüV’s global, addressable market.”
According to The European Cannabis Report, the Marijuana market in Europe will reach $66 billion USD in the next five years (source report).
CannaRoyalty and Aurora Cannabis are ideal partners to deliver on the promise of the licensing agreement’s potential. Aurora is one of Canada’s largest licensed producers, with production facilities in Alberta and Quebec. It is in the process completing a third 800,000 square foot facility known as Aurora Sky. CannaRoyalty has an expanding portfolio of growth-ready assets in high-value segments of the cannabis sector, including research, consumer brands, devices and intellectual property.
“Working with the best possible partners is vital to our success, and we see Aurora as optimally positioned to achieve MüV’s potential in the Canadian, European and Australian cannabis markets,” said Duffy.
The MüV brand, at the center of this agreement, was launched in Arizona in 2016 and quickly gained international attention and recognition. MüV has already won five best of Arizona medical cannabis awards, including two first prizes for its proprietary extractions that are the basis of all MüV products, and most recently MüV won first prize for best Topical products.
MüV Products are currently available in Arizona and are expected to be available for Florida patients beginning in early 2018.
About AltMed Enterprises
Alternative Medical Enterprises, LLC, headquartered in Sarasota, FL and doing business as AltMed Enterprises, is a fully integrated company that brings pharmaceutical industry precision to the development, production and dispensing of medical cannabinoids.
About CannaRoyalty
CannaRoyalty is an active investor and operator in the legal cannabis sector. Our focus is building and supporting a diversified portfolio of growth-ready assets in high-value segments of the cannabis sector, including research, consumer brands, devices and intellectual property. Our management team combines a hands-on understanding of the cannabis industry with seasoned financial know-how, assembling a platform of holdings via royalty agreements, equity interests, secured convertible debt, licensing agreements and its own branded portfolio.
About Aurora
Aurora’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aurora Cannabis Enterprises Inc., is a licensed producer of medical cannabis pursuant to Health Canada’s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (“ACMPR”). The Company operates a 55,200 square foot, state-of-the-art production facility in Mountain View County, Alberta, known as “Aurora Mountain”, a second 40,000 square foot high-technology production facility known as “Aurora Vie” in Pointe-Claire, Quebec on Montreal’s West Island, and is currently constructing an 800,000 square foot production facility, known as “Aurora Sky”, at the Edmonton International Airport, as well as is completing a fourth facility in Lachute, Quebec through its wholly owned subsidiary Aurora Larssen Projects Ltd.
In addition, the Company holds approximately 17.23% of the issued shares in leading extraction technology company Radient Technologies Inc., based in Edmonton, and is in the process of completing an investment in Edmonton-based Hempco Food and Fiber for an ownership stake of up to 50.1%. Furthermore, Aurora is the cornerstone investor with a 22.9% stake in Cann Group Limited, the first Australian company licensed to conduct research on and cultivate medical cannabis. Aurora also owns Pedanios, a leading wholesale importer, exporter, and distributor of medical cannabis in the European Union, based in Germany. The Company offers further differentiation through its acquisition of BC Northern Lights Ltd. and Urban Cultivator Inc., industry leaders, respectively, in the production and sale of proprietary systems for the safe, efficient and high-yield indoor cultivation of cannabis, and in state-of-the-art indoor gardening appliances for the cultivation of organic microgreens, vegetables and herbs in home and professional kitchens. Aurora’s common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol “ACB”.
Forward-Looking Statements
To the extent any statements made in this press release contain information that is not historical, these statements are forward-looking in nature and merely express our beliefs, expectations or opinions. For example, words such as “may,” “should,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “continues,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “potential,” “strategy” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations or estimates and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) our ability to implement our business strategy of distributing high quality cannabis products where permissible under applicable law; (ii) availability and cost of additional capital; (iii) our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees and management; (iv) the impact of federal, state or local government regulations; (v) competition in the cannabis industry; (vi) our ability to generate revenues; and (vii) litigation in connection with our business. All forward-looking statements included in this press release and attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are qualified by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, regardless of whether new information becomes available, future developments occur or otherwise. Reported by PRWeb 2 days ago.
SARASOTA, Fla. (PRWEB) December 18, 2017
Alternative Medical Enterprises, LLC (AltMed) has signed a letter of intent with Aurora Cannabis Inc. and CannaRoyalty Corp. giving Aurora the exclusive right for 90 days to negotiate a final licensing agreement.
The final licencing agreement concerns the acquisition by Aurora of the exclusive rights for Canada, Europe and Australia to the intellectual property, manufacturing procedures, and the sales and marketing rights related to specialty branded cannabis drug delivery technologies from AltMed’s MüV brand, to which CannaRoyatly holds certain licensing rights.
For AltMed, the agreement represents an important breakthrough in expanding the MüV brand footprint to the fastest growing cannabis markets in the world.
Canada is scheduled to commence full adult recreational legal cannabis use on July 1, 2018, opening-up the nationwide marketplace and fueling demand for new products that can best serve the needs of consumers.
According to Deloitte, with national legal adult use, Canada has an estimated base retail market value, of between $4.9 billion and $8.7 billion, and ancillary market potential of over $20 billion (source report).
"Canada alone represents a massive opportunity for our brands and gaining access to this market has been a high priority for AltMed,” said Matt Duffy, AltMed Enterprises President. “Further, with many countries in Europe introducing legislation to allow cannabis sales, the opportunity on the continent could more than double MüV’s global, addressable market.”
According to The European Cannabis Report, the Marijuana market in Europe will reach $66 billion USD in the next five years (source report).
CannaRoyalty and Aurora Cannabis are ideal partners to deliver on the promise of the licensing agreement’s potential. Aurora is one of Canada’s largest licensed producers, with production facilities in Alberta and Quebec. It is in the process completing a third 800,000 square foot facility known as Aurora Sky. CannaRoyalty has an expanding portfolio of growth-ready assets in high-value segments of the cannabis sector, including research, consumer brands, devices and intellectual property.
“Working with the best possible partners is vital to our success, and we see Aurora as optimally positioned to achieve MüV’s potential in the Canadian, European and Australian cannabis markets,” said Duffy.
The MüV brand, at the center of this agreement, was launched in Arizona in 2016 and quickly gained international attention and recognition. MüV has already won five best of Arizona medical cannabis awards, including two first prizes for its proprietary extractions that are the basis of all MüV products, and most recently MüV won first prize for best Topical products.
MüV Products are currently available in Arizona and are expected to be available for Florida patients beginning in early 2018.
About AltMed Enterprises
Alternative Medical Enterprises, LLC, headquartered in Sarasota, FL and doing business as AltMed Enterprises, is a fully integrated company that brings pharmaceutical industry precision to the development, production and dispensing of medical cannabinoids.
About CannaRoyalty
CannaRoyalty is an active investor and operator in the legal cannabis sector. Our focus is building and supporting a diversified portfolio of growth-ready assets in high-value segments of the cannabis sector, including research, consumer brands, devices and intellectual property. Our management team combines a hands-on understanding of the cannabis industry with seasoned financial know-how, assembling a platform of holdings via royalty agreements, equity interests, secured convertible debt, licensing agreements and its own branded portfolio.
About Aurora
Aurora’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aurora Cannabis Enterprises Inc., is a licensed producer of medical cannabis pursuant to Health Canada’s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (“ACMPR”). The Company operates a 55,200 square foot, state-of-the-art production facility in Mountain View County, Alberta, known as “Aurora Mountain”, a second 40,000 square foot high-technology production facility known as “Aurora Vie” in Pointe-Claire, Quebec on Montreal’s West Island, and is currently constructing an 800,000 square foot production facility, known as “Aurora Sky”, at the Edmonton International Airport, as well as is completing a fourth facility in Lachute, Quebec through its wholly owned subsidiary Aurora Larssen Projects Ltd.
In addition, the Company holds approximately 17.23% of the issued shares in leading extraction technology company Radient Technologies Inc., based in Edmonton, and is in the process of completing an investment in Edmonton-based Hempco Food and Fiber for an ownership stake of up to 50.1%. Furthermore, Aurora is the cornerstone investor with a 22.9% stake in Cann Group Limited, the first Australian company licensed to conduct research on and cultivate medical cannabis. Aurora also owns Pedanios, a leading wholesale importer, exporter, and distributor of medical cannabis in the European Union, based in Germany. The Company offers further differentiation through its acquisition of BC Northern Lights Ltd. and Urban Cultivator Inc., industry leaders, respectively, in the production and sale of proprietary systems for the safe, efficient and high-yield indoor cultivation of cannabis, and in state-of-the-art indoor gardening appliances for the cultivation of organic microgreens, vegetables and herbs in home and professional kitchens. Aurora’s common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol “ACB”.
Forward-Looking Statements
To the extent any statements made in this press release contain information that is not historical, these statements are forward-looking in nature and merely express our beliefs, expectations or opinions. For example, words such as “may,” “should,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “continues,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “potential,” “strategy” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations or estimates and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) our ability to implement our business strategy of distributing high quality cannabis products where permissible under applicable law; (ii) availability and cost of additional capital; (iii) our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees and management; (iv) the impact of federal, state or local government regulations; (v) competition in the cannabis industry; (vi) our ability to generate revenues; and (vii) litigation in connection with our business. All forward-looking statements included in this press release and attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are qualified by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, regardless of whether new information becomes available, future developments occur or otherwise. Reported by PRWeb 2 days ago.
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Huxen opens demonstration center for smart office applications
Smart office solution provider Huxen, a subsidiary of the Aurora group, has opened a demonstration center to promote the digital transformation by local enterprises using smart office equipment and devices as well as cloud systems, according to company sources.
Reported by DigiTimes 21 hours ago.
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Boeing Unveils New Drone Which Will "Change The Future Of Air Power"
Boeing’s IR team had been working around the clock for today’s unveiling of the ‘Batmobile’ style unmanned refueling tanker drone. For days, the internet had been in suspense, trying to guess what Boeing’s big surprise would be. To boost the suspense, the company's twitter account released a statement last week saying the new aircraft is set to "*change the future of air power*."Revealed and ready! #BoeingMQ25 #UAS future @USNavy tanker will extend the range of combat aircraft from the flight deck to the fight!
RELEASE: https://t.co/tkDt0R84zB #MQ25 #PhantomWorks pic.twitter.com/gSgS8xmIRR
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) December 19, 2017
And judging by the hype generated by Boeing, the marketing campaign paid off. Boeing’s MQ-25 unmanned aircraft is currently in engine trials before heading to the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in 2018. The MQ-25 was specifically made for the Navy to extend the combat range of deployed Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, and Lockheed Martin F-35C fighters.
Don ‘BD’ Gaddis, a retired admiral who leads the refueling system program for Boeing’s MQ-25 said, “Boeing has been delivering carrier aircraft to the Navy for almost 90 years. Our expertise gives us confidence in our approach. We will be ready for flight testing when the engineering and manufacturing development contract is awarded.”
Boeing unveils the U.S. Navy's MQ-25 unmanned tanker.
In the first half of 2017, Boeing was selected by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to complete the design work for the agency’s new Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1). And so far, Boeing has released one photo of the aircraft facing head-on to the camera, proving that the company has fabricated a prototype and that — as expected — it has moved away from the flying wing design it considered putting forward to the precursor of the MQ-25 program, when the Navy prioritized strike and ISR capabilities for its first carrier-based drone.
“It’s an aircraft with the mission in mind, and we felt confident that the wing-body-tail design was the best for the refueling mission,” said Boeing spokeswoman Didi VanNierop, who added that the company incorporated lessons from its Phantom Ray unmanned demonstrator and other Boeing unmanned aerial systems.
Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager said, “the XS-1 would be neither a traditional airplane nor a conventional launch vehicle but rather a combination of the two, with the goal of lowering launch costs by a factor of ten and replacing today’s frustratingly long wait time with launch on demand.”
Boeing’s MQ-25 is slated to conduct engine runs by the end of the year at its St. Louis, Missouri, facility before moving on to deck handling demos early next year, the company said in a news release.
During the deck handling demonstrations, the company will take the aircraft to the ramp, which will be marked to the measurements of an aircraft carrier’s flight deck, VanNierop said. There, operators will taxi the aircraft via remote control and move it within the confines of the deck. They will also validate that the aircraft will engage the launch bar of a catapult.
However, the aircraft will not fly during those demonstrations, and Boeing has not set a date for first flight, she noted.
“Boeing has been delivering carrier aircraft to the Navy for almost 90 years,” Don Gaddis, who leads the refueling system program for Boeing’s Phantom Works, said in a statement. “Our expertise gives us confidence in our approach. We will be ready for flight testing when the engineering and manufacturing development contract is awarded.”
“We’re very pleased with Boeing’s progress on the XS-1 through Phase 1 of the program and look forward to continuing our close collaboration in this newly funded progression to Phases 2 and 3—fabrication and flight.”
Boeing has stoked conversation about its “mystery aircraft” for about a week. On Dec. 14, the company posted a short video of a stationary aircraft draped in a drop cloth on its Twitter account.
“Robust? Check. Ready? Check. Changing future air power? Check it out!” read the caption, which then implored viewers to come back on Dec. 19 to see the plane’s reveal.
Robust? Check
Ready? Check
Changing future air power? Check it out!
See the reveal 12/19! #PhantomWorks pic.twitter.com/92PZCtIQP5
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) December 14, 2017
As a result, the internet had speculated these additional prototypes from Boeing could have been released.
Some aviation enthusiasts correctly guessed that Boeing would debut its MQ-25 offering, but others speculated that the new Phantom Works aircraft could be a new version of the Bird of Prey subsonic stealth aircraft, its Phantom Ray unmanned combat drone or even a new collaboration with Aurora Flight Sciences, which the company acquired this year. The XV-24A LightningStrike VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) plane was acquired last year by Boeing from Aurora Flight Sciences. Applications for the plane include commercial and military purposes.
Aurora Flight Sciences successfully tested the Subscale X-Plane Aircraft for vertical take-off and landing.
The Phantom Swift, a Boeing prototype initially built in less than 30-days, has been accepted into the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) X-plane program. The aircraft has two large fans in the fuselage and two wingtip fans for stabilization.
“Proving these capabilities in a single aircraft has been the holy grail for tactical military aviation,” said Dan Newman, Boeing Phantom Works Advanced Vertical Lift capture team lead. “We’re confident that Phantom Swift could be the solution.”
And while much the internet guessed wrong about today’s MQ-25 unmanned refueling drone release by Boeing, it signals that the military-industrial complex shows no signs of slowing, as President Trump will soon be able to attack even more targets, at an even further dustance by extending the combat range of some of the Navy’s aircraft. There is one final question: how dangerous is it to fly an unmanned gas tank over hostile territory? Reported by Zero Hedge 6 hours ago.
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Police: Man stabbed stepfather to death, then shared video
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Police say a 19-year-old man is accused of stabbing his stepfather to death before taking cell phone video of the aftermath. The Aurora Sentinel reports that Nickolas Khalil Vinson faces a first-degree murder charge in connection to the death of his 50-year-old stepfather Oscar Lemar Owensby. Vinson was arrested Dec. 14 […]
Reported by Seattle Times 4 hours ago.
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“More sprouts, Mr. Obama?” Former US President is UK's Most Wanted Guest for Christmas Dinner
Wednesday 20 December, 2017Former US president Barack Obama has topped a new poll as the famous person UK adults would most like to invite as a guest to Christmas dinner this year.
In the poll of over 2000 UK adults, conducted by Aurora Market Research this week, Obama beat Sir David Attenborough to the top of 2017's most wanted Christmas dinner guest list, with Stephen Fry in third place ahead of the Queen and Prince Harry.
Peter Kay, Ed Sheeran and Jeremy Corbyn complete the top ten along with more seasonal wished-for guests, Jesus Christ and Father Christmas.
When the same poll was conducted by Aurora Market Research in 2012, Stephen Fry topped the list. David Beckham, David Cameron and Boris Johnson were also in the top ten in 2012 but none of the three make the 2017 shortlist. Theresa May and current US President Donald Trump also do not figure in this year’s top ten.
Click here for full results
Justin Alderson, Managing Director of Aurora Market Research, commented “Our survey shows that the UK public love voices of authority and wisdom to spark off engaging conversation and debate around the Christmas dinner table. I am sure everyone in our most wanted top ten would be able to keep the festive conversation going with some interesting stories to tell!”
Notes to editors:
Aurora Market Research asked the following unprompted question: “If you could invite one famous person to Christmas dinner this year who would it be?” online of a nationally representative sample of 2022 UK adults between 16-20 December 2017, and the same question online to a sample of 1079 UK adults between 19-22 November 2012. For more information please visit www.auroramr.com, or email justin@auroramr.com
* *http://www.auroramr.com/press/Christmas_Dinner_Guests_2017_Final.pdf
* For more information regarding media usage, ownership and rights please contact Aurora Market Research Limited.
Distributed by http://www.pressat.co.uk/** Reported by Pressat 6 hours ago.
In the poll of over 2000 UK adults, conducted by Aurora Market Research this week, Obama beat Sir David Attenborough to the top of 2017's most wanted Christmas dinner guest list, with Stephen Fry in third place ahead of the Queen and Prince Harry.
Peter Kay, Ed Sheeran and Jeremy Corbyn complete the top ten along with more seasonal wished-for guests, Jesus Christ and Father Christmas.
When the same poll was conducted by Aurora Market Research in 2012, Stephen Fry topped the list. David Beckham, David Cameron and Boris Johnson were also in the top ten in 2012 but none of the three make the 2017 shortlist. Theresa May and current US President Donald Trump also do not figure in this year’s top ten.
Click here for full results
Justin Alderson, Managing Director of Aurora Market Research, commented “Our survey shows that the UK public love voices of authority and wisdom to spark off engaging conversation and debate around the Christmas dinner table. I am sure everyone in our most wanted top ten would be able to keep the festive conversation going with some interesting stories to tell!”
Notes to editors:
Aurora Market Research asked the following unprompted question: “If you could invite one famous person to Christmas dinner this year who would it be?” online of a nationally representative sample of 2022 UK adults between 16-20 December 2017, and the same question online to a sample of 1079 UK adults between 19-22 November 2012. For more information please visit www.auroramr.com, or email justin@auroramr.com
* *http://www.auroramr.com/press/Christmas_Dinner_Guests_2017_Final.pdf
* For more information regarding media usage, ownership and rights please contact Aurora Market Research Limited.
Distributed by http://www.pressat.co.uk/** Reported by Pressat 6 hours ago.
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Aurora man stabbed stepfather to death, then shared video, police say
Police say a 19-year-old man is accused of stabbing his stepfather to death before taking cell phone video of the aftermath.
Reported by Denver Post 3 hours ago.
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Here’s Why 2018 Could Be the Best Year for Marijuana Stocks
*The Game-Changing Year for Marijuana Stocks Is Here*If you fear the bull market in marijuana stocks is over, then we urge you to reevaluate that assumption. Because come 2018, we’re expecting a major growth spurt in marijuana stocks.
2016 was the best year on record for marijuana stocks. It gave us the three unicorns of the marijuana industry—*Canopy Growth Corp *(OTCMKTS:TWMJF), (TSE:WEED) stock, *Aurora Cannabis Inc* (OTCMKTS: ACBFF), (TSE: ACB) stock, and *Aphria Inc* (OTCMKTS:APHQF,.
The post Here’s Why 2018 Could Be the Best Year for Marijuana Stocks appeared first on Profit Confidential. Reported by Profit Confidential 3 hours ago.
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Bruce Brown, Lady Bird, the City of Trees, and the 96-MPH Caponord: An Appreciation
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Over the weekend, I saw Greta Gerwig’s much praised Lady Bird. The release of that film was probably the biggest thing to hit my sleepy, sprawling burg of Sacramento since the Kings arrived from Kansas City in 1985. The movie was filmed here and set during the the protagonist’s final year of high school in 2002–2003, nine years after I was a starry-eyed senior set to head off to the Bay Area for college, and more than half a decade before everybody had a smartphone. Sacto native Gerwig touches on the importance of magazines at what was perhaps the last possible moment before the World Wide Web ruled everything. For those raised prior to an era of always-on digital access, the feeling of cultural isolation could be acute. Glossies like Spin, Details, and newsprint zines in the vein of Maximumrocknroll were a window into another world. I’d read up, wander across the street to the original Tower Records, and try something out. But before I fell into the world of music and lifestyle books, BMX magazines were my first key to another, seemingly richer world. Go—a short-lived successor to BMX Action and Freestylin’ put together by a talented crew that included Spike Jonze and Jackass director Jeff Tremaine—turned me on to the music of DC hard-core stalwart Ian MacKaye. Without punk rock, my career path wouldn’t have led me to Car and Driver. But Go might not have existed at all were it not for Bruce Brown, who died Sunday at the age of 80. In essence, I owe Mr. Brown the last 30 years of my life.
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Bruce Brown, camera in hand, during the filming of The Endless Summer.
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He’s best remembered for his seminal surf documentary The Endless Summer, which I first saw in seventh-grade science class, around the same time I was devouring BMX rags and spending hours convincing my parents to let me go out and race. In one retrospective on the sport’s early days in the 1970s—which may have appeared in BMX Action—racers including Stu Thomsen discussed having their minds blown by the opening credits in Brown’s 1971 motorcycle doc, On Any Sunday. In it, a pack of kids tear around a kid’s-bike-sized motocross course on Schwinn Stingrays, crashing, pulling wheelies, jumping, and making motorcycle sounds. Shortly thereafter, organized bicycle motocross races sprung up, because what kid hasn’t pretended his bicycle is a motorcycle at some point? When I finally got around to seeing On Any Sunday, I was immediately smitten. Mert Lawwill and Malcolm Smith are inspired protagonists, the cinematography—rudimentary by today’s standards, but advanced for its day—still enthralls, and Brown’s good-natured California-cornpone narration lays out the action in a way that even the layman can enjoy. It’s not just a great motorcycle movie; it’s a great movie, period.
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Brown, fundamentally, was a harbinger of good, a DIY magician who brought his cinematic works to the masses and, in doing so, made the seemingly impenetrable accessible. In the early days of his surf films, he’d barnstorm up and down the West Coast, showing his movies in high-school gymnasiums, narrating them in real time. Sensing that he had something bigger with The Endless Summer, he tried to secure wider distribution. When the majors said no, that it wouldn’t play beyond the niche of edge-of-the-continent surf rats, he rented a theater in whitebread Wichita, Kansas, and sold it out. And sold it out again. And again. Finally, the distributors took notice. The success of the landmark surf film paved an easier path for On Any Sunday, allowing Brown to secure funding from Steve McQueen, who figures prominently in the Elsinore Grand Prix section as well as the famous final sequence, during which he, Smith, and Lawwill bomb through the countryside and roost around on a Southern California beach.
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A few years back, I asked Mark Wahlberg whether he preferred Easy Rider or On Any Sunday. He chose Easy Rider, and that sort of tells you all you need to know about Mark Wahlberg.
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In one form or another, on bikes or in cars, I’ve sampled many of the motorized pursuits Brown runs through during the course of On Any Sunday, and although my heart lies with flinging a bike sideways through a corner while my steel-shod left boot skips along the ground, a couple of gnarly wrecks at a recent trip to Rich Oliver’s Mystery School have me reconsidering flat-track shenanigans, given my suddenly brittle 42-year-old frame. Long-distance touring, a discipline not covered in Brown’s film, is ultimately where I’ve found my niche, but in motorcycling, if you’re not at least something of an omnivore, you’re invariably missing out on something great.
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For all of Sacramento’s foibles, it makes a case for itself as perhaps the best city in America to live in if you’re a motorcyclist. There’s year-round riding weather. It has less traffic than Los Angeles or San Francisco, but it’s clogged up enough to enjoy the feel-good benefits of lane splitting, which, of course, is only legal in California. What’s more, there are phenomenal, quiet roads within an hour’s ride in just about any direction. Sears Point and Thunderhill are 90 minutes away, there’s speedway racing up the hill in Auburn, Sacramento Raceway offers a dragstrip, and it’s only three hours to Laguna Seca. The Hangtown Classic is a legendary motocross event (covered by Bruce’s son, Dana, in On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter), and, of course, there’s the storied Sacramento Mile, which serves as the coda to the flat-track portion of the original movie.
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When I heard Brown had died, everything fell away. Lady crushes, clerical business, chores that desperately needed doing. All I wanted to do was get on my motorcycle, as going for a ride felt like the only fitting tribute and perhaps the only way to alleviate the empty thud in my chest. I only had a couple of hours, so I figured I’d run down into the California Delta. In Lady Bird, Gerwig’s camera lingers pretty hard on the rivers in Sacramento. The geographic picture she paints of the place roughly parallels the town’s footprint before the war. It has now been decades since this place wasn’t an agglomeration of cities and unincorporated areas stretching halfway across the Central Valley. Her decision makes a lot of sense, as much of the infill and expansion that led to our very own mini-megalopolis fundamentally paralleled the rise of the internet. I imagine one day, perhaps in my lifetime, you’ll be able to drive clear from Colfax in the Sierra Nevada to Gilroy, south of San Jose—a distance of nigh on 200 miles—without once truly leaving an urban area. Although the city has crept inexorably south, following the Sacramento River down toward its mouth at Suisun Bay is a quick way to escape the sprawl. Ironic, in that the river itself was the original transit corridor between San Francisco and Sac during the Gold Rush.
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The Capo at the edge of Panamint Valley. Note obscene selective-yellow lights.
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Awash in thought, I got on the Aprilia Caponord Rally I bought back in October. I’d picked it up at Moto International in Seattle, on my way home from an office visit to Ann Arbor. Just before I rode away, Dave Richardson, the face of the shop for 25 years and a man deeply beloved and respected in the Moto Guzzi community, told me that it was the last motorcycle he’d ever sell. I knew he was retiring, but the idea that this was the final bike he’d usher out of that little dealership on North Aurora meant that I needed to put it to good use. So far, I’ve put nearly 6000 miles on the clock, riding it through seven states in two months. The motorcycle itself turned out to be a dead-end design for the Noale-based Piaggio division. The smooth, rowdy 90-degree 1200-cc twin wouldn’t pass Euro 4 emissions regulations, and Aprilia had only built about 5000 Caponords in total since the bike was introduced in 2013. My bike is a leftover 2016 model, hardly the only such motorcycle in Aprilia dealer inventory. Do the math. Making the bike pass Eurosmog wasn’t worth the effort.
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Down on power compared to Ducati’s Multistrada or KTM’s big ADV machines and lacking the dealer network, aftermarket support, and reputation of BMW’s category-defining R1200GS, the Capo’s adventure-touring variant is nonetheless the best mile-eating motorcycle I’ve been on. For my build, anyway, it fits better than the outgoing Gold Wing. It outplushes a Harley FL (buy my 2015 Ultra Limited, please) and will smoke it through a corner or in a straight line. The Capo offers the same sort of sporting comfort as a BMW RT, but without the bland efficiency of the latest Bavarian boxer twin. Say what you will about Italian quality, the salami set seems almost incapable of building naturally aspirated engines that don’t delight. Its default velocity is 96 miles per hour. Start the bike, twist the throttle, let out the clutch, look down at the speedo, and it will invariably read 96. Why do I need more power? Who are these KTM-riding maniacs? To bring this back around, I hold Brown somewhat responsible for the fact that I currently own five motorcycles, one of which always goes 96 miles per hour.
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I pointed the Ape west, then south, chasing a Duc and a Hog down I-5, and popped off at Twin Cities Road. The “twin cities” in question are the humble hamlets of Walnut Grove and Locke, not much more than growths on the eastern levee of the Sacramento River. To be fair, Walnut Grove does feature a drawbridge and an auto-repair shop that often features interesting classic Benzes and Lamborghinis in the window. And Locke was the subject of the first novel by my perennial homecoming date, the American Book Award–winning Shawna Yang Ryan. The haze drifting up from the devastating Thomas fire—a whopping 300 miles to the southeast—hung brown as the sun dipped toward the Coast Range, but the valley air was still clear enough to make out the shape of Mount Diablo in the distance, off across the farms and marshland that separate the river from Fairfield.
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Mert Lawwill, Malcolm Smith, and Steve McQueen during the filming of On Any Sunday.
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Eighty-odd years ago, when Locke was still a town built and run by Chinese immigrants rather than standing as a monument to the Chinese immigrants who built it, my grandfather and his work buddies would drive down the levee to gamble here. One night, the infamous tule fog rolled in. It’s one of California’s meteorological curios, one perhaps even more deadly than the fire-pushing Santa Ana and Diablo winds, given the severity of the automobile accidents that its zero-visibility soup causes. Sometimes, it will inundate the valley from Redding in the north, all the way down past Pumpkin Center, 450 miles south. Anyway, the young AT&T engineers got stuck in the stuff after a night at the tables. One unlucky sod, presumably with a few drinks in him for fortitude, was tasked with standing on the car’s running board, making sure the driver didn’t dump them into the river on the 25-mile drive back up to Sacramento. Riding back from Las Vegas a month ago, I found myself caught in the stuff. Upping the power on the 13,000 lumens worth of selective-yellow lamps I’d installed on the Aprilia did nothing to improve the situation. I didn’t expect it to, but when things are uncertain and you’ve got a rheostat, you invariably wanna twiddle with it. With twiddling having proven itself fruitless, I fell back on my dad’s advice: Keep a truck’s taillights just barely in view.
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It’s a primitive mode of travel at that point; no motorcycle technology developed in the past 46 years was going to help much, save perhaps ABS if things suddenly went pear-shaped. Fumbling forward in the fog, chasing a dim light. That was life in a pre-internet Sacramento. And, I suspect, plenty of other towns in America. There was no one grand font, no place you could go for the inside scoop. You had to piece it together out of rumor, innuendo, going out and seeing shows, meeting people, catching movies, and perhaps by getting lucky at Tower. Life was a series of hyperlinks that loaded at what, in retrospect, seems like an absolutely glacial pace. Now and then, however, there’d be a supernova moment that would allow so much else to fall into place. Nirvana on the radio. Bruce Brown bringing the possibility of a different sort of life to kids in landlocked towns.
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· Bad Buggies and Ballyhoo: Bashing through the Desert in VW-Powered Off-Roaders
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· Escape to Baja: Three Blissed-Out Days Touring Mexico on a Harley-Davidson
-
· Niken a Go Go: Yamaha’s Radical New Three-Wheeled Sportbike
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I rode home up the river as the sun set, toward the great silver water tower that used to read “City of Trees.” Gerwig’s languorous shots of the river flitted through my mind as the river itself turned gold, then faded to purple in the waning light. The visions of riparian quiet fought for mental space with Brown’s footage of Malcolm Smith ripping across a dry lake down in Baja, Cal Rayburn putting a streamliner on its side at Bonneville, and Mert Lawwill leaving home in that rad old Econoline on Torq-Thrusts, XR750 in the back, off on a futile quest to defend his AMA Grand National title. Then it all jelled into one great historic, present mass. What was once disparate was suddenly all of a piece. Time slips forward and fragments reassemble themselves in your mind as needed. A nice drive in a good car helps the pieces mesh more harmoniously, but taking that same trip on a bike somehow amplifies the experience exponentially.
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At the end of The Endless Summer, Brown, in voice-over, says simply, “This is Bruce Brown. Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed my film.”
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No, Bruce. Thank you.
- Reported by Car and Driver 1 week ago.
Over the weekend, I saw Greta Gerwig’s much praised Lady Bird. The release of that film was probably the biggest thing to hit my sleepy, sprawling burg of Sacramento since the Kings arrived from Kansas City in 1985. The movie was filmed here and set during the the protagonist’s final year of high school in 2002–2003, nine years after I was a starry-eyed senior set to head off to the Bay Area for college, and more than half a decade before everybody had a smartphone. Sacto native Gerwig touches on the importance of magazines at what was perhaps the last possible moment before the World Wide Web ruled everything. For those raised prior to an era of always-on digital access, the feeling of cultural isolation could be acute. Glossies like Spin, Details, and newsprint zines in the vein of Maximumrocknroll were a window into another world. I’d read up, wander across the street to the original Tower Records, and try something out. But before I fell into the world of music and lifestyle books, BMX magazines were my first key to another, seemingly richer world. Go—a short-lived successor to BMX Action and Freestylin’ put together by a talented crew that included Spike Jonze and Jackass director Jeff Tremaine—turned me on to the music of DC hard-core stalwart Ian MacKaye. Without punk rock, my career path wouldn’t have led me to Car and Driver. But Go might not have existed at all were it not for Bruce Brown, who died Sunday at the age of 80. In essence, I owe Mr. Brown the last 30 years of my life.
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Bruce Brown, camera in hand, during the filming of The Endless Summer.
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He’s best remembered for his seminal surf documentary The Endless Summer, which I first saw in seventh-grade science class, around the same time I was devouring BMX rags and spending hours convincing my parents to let me go out and race. In one retrospective on the sport’s early days in the 1970s—which may have appeared in BMX Action—racers including Stu Thomsen discussed having their minds blown by the opening credits in Brown’s 1971 motorcycle doc, On Any Sunday. In it, a pack of kids tear around a kid’s-bike-sized motocross course on Schwinn Stingrays, crashing, pulling wheelies, jumping, and making motorcycle sounds. Shortly thereafter, organized bicycle motocross races sprung up, because what kid hasn’t pretended his bicycle is a motorcycle at some point? When I finally got around to seeing On Any Sunday, I was immediately smitten. Mert Lawwill and Malcolm Smith are inspired protagonists, the cinematography—rudimentary by today’s standards, but advanced for its day—still enthralls, and Brown’s good-natured California-cornpone narration lays out the action in a way that even the layman can enjoy. It’s not just a great motorcycle movie; it’s a great movie, period.
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Brown, fundamentally, was a harbinger of good, a DIY magician who brought his cinematic works to the masses and, in doing so, made the seemingly impenetrable accessible. In the early days of his surf films, he’d barnstorm up and down the West Coast, showing his movies in high-school gymnasiums, narrating them in real time. Sensing that he had something bigger with The Endless Summer, he tried to secure wider distribution. When the majors said no, that it wouldn’t play beyond the niche of edge-of-the-continent surf rats, he rented a theater in whitebread Wichita, Kansas, and sold it out. And sold it out again. And again. Finally, the distributors took notice. The success of the landmark surf film paved an easier path for On Any Sunday, allowing Brown to secure funding from Steve McQueen, who figures prominently in the Elsinore Grand Prix section as well as the famous final sequence, during which he, Smith, and Lawwill bomb through the countryside and roost around on a Southern California beach.
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A few years back, I asked Mark Wahlberg whether he preferred Easy Rider or On Any Sunday. He chose Easy Rider, and that sort of tells you all you need to know about Mark Wahlberg.
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In one form or another, on bikes or in cars, I’ve sampled many of the motorized pursuits Brown runs through during the course of On Any Sunday, and although my heart lies with flinging a bike sideways through a corner while my steel-shod left boot skips along the ground, a couple of gnarly wrecks at a recent trip to Rich Oliver’s Mystery School have me reconsidering flat-track shenanigans, given my suddenly brittle 42-year-old frame. Long-distance touring, a discipline not covered in Brown’s film, is ultimately where I’ve found my niche, but in motorcycling, if you’re not at least something of an omnivore, you’re invariably missing out on something great.
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For all of Sacramento’s foibles, it makes a case for itself as perhaps the best city in America to live in if you’re a motorcyclist. There’s year-round riding weather. It has less traffic than Los Angeles or San Francisco, but it’s clogged up enough to enjoy the feel-good benefits of lane splitting, which, of course, is only legal in California. What’s more, there are phenomenal, quiet roads within an hour’s ride in just about any direction. Sears Point and Thunderhill are 90 minutes away, there’s speedway racing up the hill in Auburn, Sacramento Raceway offers a dragstrip, and it’s only three hours to Laguna Seca. The Hangtown Classic is a legendary motocross event (covered by Bruce’s son, Dana, in On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter), and, of course, there’s the storied Sacramento Mile, which serves as the coda to the flat-track portion of the original movie.
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When I heard Brown had died, everything fell away. Lady crushes, clerical business, chores that desperately needed doing. All I wanted to do was get on my motorcycle, as going for a ride felt like the only fitting tribute and perhaps the only way to alleviate the empty thud in my chest. I only had a couple of hours, so I figured I’d run down into the California Delta. In Lady Bird, Gerwig’s camera lingers pretty hard on the rivers in Sacramento. The geographic picture she paints of the place roughly parallels the town’s footprint before the war. It has now been decades since this place wasn’t an agglomeration of cities and unincorporated areas stretching halfway across the Central Valley. Her decision makes a lot of sense, as much of the infill and expansion that led to our very own mini-megalopolis fundamentally paralleled the rise of the internet. I imagine one day, perhaps in my lifetime, you’ll be able to drive clear from Colfax in the Sierra Nevada to Gilroy, south of San Jose—a distance of nigh on 200 miles—without once truly leaving an urban area. Although the city has crept inexorably south, following the Sacramento River down toward its mouth at Suisun Bay is a quick way to escape the sprawl. Ironic, in that the river itself was the original transit corridor between San Francisco and Sac during the Gold Rush.
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The Capo at the edge of Panamint Valley. Note obscene selective-yellow lights.
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Awash in thought, I got on the Aprilia Caponord Rally I bought back in October. I’d picked it up at Moto International in Seattle, on my way home from an office visit to Ann Arbor. Just before I rode away, Dave Richardson, the face of the shop for 25 years and a man deeply beloved and respected in the Moto Guzzi community, told me that it was the last motorcycle he’d ever sell. I knew he was retiring, but the idea that this was the final bike he’d usher out of that little dealership on North Aurora meant that I needed to put it to good use. So far, I’ve put nearly 6000 miles on the clock, riding it through seven states in two months. The motorcycle itself turned out to be a dead-end design for the Noale-based Piaggio division. The smooth, rowdy 90-degree 1200-cc twin wouldn’t pass Euro 4 emissions regulations, and Aprilia had only built about 5000 Caponords in total since the bike was introduced in 2013. My bike is a leftover 2016 model, hardly the only such motorcycle in Aprilia dealer inventory. Do the math. Making the bike pass Eurosmog wasn’t worth the effort.
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Down on power compared to Ducati’s Multistrada or KTM’s big ADV machines and lacking the dealer network, aftermarket support, and reputation of BMW’s category-defining R1200GS, the Capo’s adventure-touring variant is nonetheless the best mile-eating motorcycle I’ve been on. For my build, anyway, it fits better than the outgoing Gold Wing. It outplushes a Harley FL (buy my 2015 Ultra Limited, please) and will smoke it through a corner or in a straight line. The Capo offers the same sort of sporting comfort as a BMW RT, but without the bland efficiency of the latest Bavarian boxer twin. Say what you will about Italian quality, the salami set seems almost incapable of building naturally aspirated engines that don’t delight. Its default velocity is 96 miles per hour. Start the bike, twist the throttle, let out the clutch, look down at the speedo, and it will invariably read 96. Why do I need more power? Who are these KTM-riding maniacs? To bring this back around, I hold Brown somewhat responsible for the fact that I currently own five motorcycles, one of which always goes 96 miles per hour.
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I pointed the Ape west, then south, chasing a Duc and a Hog down I-5, and popped off at Twin Cities Road. The “twin cities” in question are the humble hamlets of Walnut Grove and Locke, not much more than growths on the eastern levee of the Sacramento River. To be fair, Walnut Grove does feature a drawbridge and an auto-repair shop that often features interesting classic Benzes and Lamborghinis in the window. And Locke was the subject of the first novel by my perennial homecoming date, the American Book Award–winning Shawna Yang Ryan. The haze drifting up from the devastating Thomas fire—a whopping 300 miles to the southeast—hung brown as the sun dipped toward the Coast Range, but the valley air was still clear enough to make out the shape of Mount Diablo in the distance, off across the farms and marshland that separate the river from Fairfield.
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Mert Lawwill, Malcolm Smith, and Steve McQueen during the filming of On Any Sunday.
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Eighty-odd years ago, when Locke was still a town built and run by Chinese immigrants rather than standing as a monument to the Chinese immigrants who built it, my grandfather and his work buddies would drive down the levee to gamble here. One night, the infamous tule fog rolled in. It’s one of California’s meteorological curios, one perhaps even more deadly than the fire-pushing Santa Ana and Diablo winds, given the severity of the automobile accidents that its zero-visibility soup causes. Sometimes, it will inundate the valley from Redding in the north, all the way down past Pumpkin Center, 450 miles south. Anyway, the young AT&T engineers got stuck in the stuff after a night at the tables. One unlucky sod, presumably with a few drinks in him for fortitude, was tasked with standing on the car’s running board, making sure the driver didn’t dump them into the river on the 25-mile drive back up to Sacramento. Riding back from Las Vegas a month ago, I found myself caught in the stuff. Upping the power on the 13,000 lumens worth of selective-yellow lamps I’d installed on the Aprilia did nothing to improve the situation. I didn’t expect it to, but when things are uncertain and you’ve got a rheostat, you invariably wanna twiddle with it. With twiddling having proven itself fruitless, I fell back on my dad’s advice: Keep a truck’s taillights just barely in view.
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It’s a primitive mode of travel at that point; no motorcycle technology developed in the past 46 years was going to help much, save perhaps ABS if things suddenly went pear-shaped. Fumbling forward in the fog, chasing a dim light. That was life in a pre-internet Sacramento. And, I suspect, plenty of other towns in America. There was no one grand font, no place you could go for the inside scoop. You had to piece it together out of rumor, innuendo, going out and seeing shows, meeting people, catching movies, and perhaps by getting lucky at Tower. Life was a series of hyperlinks that loaded at what, in retrospect, seems like an absolutely glacial pace. Now and then, however, there’d be a supernova moment that would allow so much else to fall into place. Nirvana on the radio. Bruce Brown bringing the possibility of a different sort of life to kids in landlocked towns.
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-
· Bad Buggies and Ballyhoo: Bashing through the Desert in VW-Powered Off-Roaders
-
· Escape to Baja: Three Blissed-Out Days Touring Mexico on a Harley-Davidson
-
· Niken a Go Go: Yamaha’s Radical New Three-Wheeled Sportbike
-
-
I rode home up the river as the sun set, toward the great silver water tower that used to read “City of Trees.” Gerwig’s languorous shots of the river flitted through my mind as the river itself turned gold, then faded to purple in the waning light. The visions of riparian quiet fought for mental space with Brown’s footage of Malcolm Smith ripping across a dry lake down in Baja, Cal Rayburn putting a streamliner on its side at Bonneville, and Mert Lawwill leaving home in that rad old Econoline on Torq-Thrusts, XR750 in the back, off on a futile quest to defend his AMA Grand National title. Then it all jelled into one great historic, present mass. What was once disparate was suddenly all of a piece. Time slips forward and fragments reassemble themselves in your mind as needed. A nice drive in a good car helps the pieces mesh more harmoniously, but taking that same trip on a bike somehow amplifies the experience exponentially.
-
At the end of The Endless Summer, Brown, in voice-over, says simply, “This is Bruce Brown. Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed my film.”
-
No, Bruce. Thank you.
- Reported by Car and Driver 1 week ago.
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