Category: News

Egypt Exploration Society (Jo Rowland)

As usual the last few days are of course the busiest – hence our silence on Tumblr! This week saw the confirmation that there is further material to investigate in T3 in one of the next seasons. We photographed our small and special finds from the season this week and completed our recording forms too. It has been a week of final ‘post-excavation’ plans and the seasonal act of covering the archaeological remains and ‘back-filling’ the trenches with sand – this is both to ensure that anything standing is not damaged by the environment, and also to ensure that future archaeologists know that someone has been excavating in certain areas in the 2000s!

A quite remarkable discovery occurred earlier this week in the surface layers of T5 and this will be further investigated during the summer and published soon as well.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

Greece’s finance minister recently told traders they would ‘lose their shirts’ betting against Greece.

The country is also reportedly very close to finalizing negotiations with the IMF in regards to a 45 billion euro financial lifeline to help with an upcoming chunky 8.5 billion euro May 19th bond maturity date.

So then why are Greek bond yields absolutely exploding right now? The ten-year bond is yielding 9.32% right now according to Bloomberg data, which is far higher than it was trading last week even. The two-year has exploded to… get this… 12.55%. Just to lend Greece money for two years.

This is a financing crisis happening right now, right on the eve of a bailout. Which says it all. Clearly, traders believe the bailout won’t be enough. The bailout is just a short-term band-aid fix, and an expensive 45 billion euro one at that. This is painfully obvious based on the yield explosion right now.

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Discovery News (Larry O’Hanlon)

With photograph and slideshow.

British RAF pilots in the early 20th century were the first to spot the strange kite-like lines on the deserts of Israel, Jordan and Egypt from the air and wonder about their origins. The lines are low, stone walls, usually found as angled pairs, that begin far apart and converge at circular pits. In some places in Jordan the lines formed chains up to 40 miles long.

Were they made by some weird kind of fault? Ancient astronauts?

A new study of 16 of what are called desert kites in the eastern Sinai Desert confirms what many researchers have long suspected: The walls form large funnels to direct gazelle and other large game animals into killing pits. What’s more, the kites are between 2,300 and 2,400-years-old, were abandoned about 2,200 years ago and are just the right size to have worked on local gazelles and other hooved game.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

Sarah Jessica Parker has been tipped as New York City’s newest museum guide!

The Halston spokesmodel — who plays fashionista Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex And The City franchise –will provide voiceover narration for the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibition at the world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET) in Manhattan.

The American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity — which looks at women’s clothing from 1890 to 1940 –opens on May 5.

“Because of Sex and the City, she is so much associated with New York and with America, and with using fashion as a way to shape identity,” Andrew Bolton, the institute’s curator, told Women’s Wear Daily Monday.

Em Hotep (Keith Payne)

Was King Tut a warrior king or “one sick kid”? Even as the Family of Tutankhamun Project was publishing its findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association that the Boy King was a frail young man who needed a cane to walk, Egyptologist W. Raymond Johnson was publishing his evidence that Tut was an active young man who rode chariots into battle.

So which is the true Tut? What if both versions are accurate? Could this perfect storm of physical challenges and adventurous behavior have led Tutankhamun to a heroic but early grave?

There’s an update in a post two weeks later:

Two weeks ago I posted my article about the JAMA* report’s analysis of King Tut’s foot problems and how they might have potentially led to his downfall (no pun intended). One of the elements of my argument was that Tutankhamun was missing a toe bone in his right foot. But he wasn’t (and probably still isn’t).

I had based my contention on a typo in one of the tables in the JAMA report, a typo that is contradicted in numerous places throughout the rest of the article, a series of dots which I somehow failed to connect. As a result, Gentle Reader Monica gently but concisely took me to task for my mistake in the Comments section of the article.

Now a writer for a much more high-profile (at least for now) outfit than Em Hotep has made the same mistake. So shamey-shamey on us. But how did the same mistake make it past the editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association?

It seemed like a pretty good thesis at the time: the combination of a painful foot condition in Tutankhamun’s left foot, a right foot weakened by a missing toe bone, and a brash young prince given to occasional risky behavior led to a traumatic fall and an untimely death.

It’s still a pretty good thesis, for the most part. . . . .

In another post on Em Hotep there is a round up of all the main responses to the JAMA article.

So much for the evil god Set keeping his mouth shut—people just seem to insist on questioning authority. The JAMA article is jammed with answers, but queries continue. Assembled here for your pleasure and edification are the best examples of critical questioning culled from the Egyptological blogosphere.

Tangled roots, the passed-over prince, aging them bones, lack of control, and Kate Phizackerley’s Quest for Accuracy.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

According to the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), which is a professional organization of business economists within corporations, job creation has already begun in the U.S., in the first quarter of 2010, and it will now continue robustly over the next two quarters.

NABE:

Job creation increased for the first time in the past two years of this NABE survey. The percentage of firms increasing payrolls rose to 22% from 13% in the January survey. The percentage of firms cutting jobs moved lower—from 28% in January to 13% in April. The share of respondents expecting their firms to add employees over the coming six months rose to 37%, up from 29% in the previous survey.

Thing is, their hiring plans and recent job growth has almost nothing to do with government stimulus they say:

The vast majority (73%) of respondents reported the fiscal stimulus enacted in February 2009 has had no impact on employment to date. While 68% also believe a jobs bill, such as the one recently enacted into law, will have no impact on payrolls, 30% do believe it will boost payrolls moderately.

Despite the fact that these people are on the ground seeing job growth from within corporations, we’ll just say that it would be hard to imagine that stimulus didn’t create any jobs. You can argue whether or not the jobs it creates are sustainable or even useful (some will say they are just make-work type projects and such). But near-term jobs are indeed created even if in the long-term they aren’t economically beneficial (let’s leave this endless debate for another space).

The perspective of these economists might highlight how stimulus hasn’t done much to stimulate job growth at private companies, since these are people at private companies, even if it has created a lot of public sector jobs (or public sector-driven jobs such as contractors hiring people to fulfill government bestowed contracts).

Regardless, for investors and workers right now, the good news is that private companies are increasingly looking to hire. Which is a good sign. It just may be that we shouldn’t be applauding stimulus for the change in hiring outlook.

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Talking Pyramids (Vincent Brown)

With photos and 2 minute preview video.

The Giza Archives Project at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has for many years been the most extensive online resource on the archaeology of the Giza Plateau. Much of the archived material is from the 40 years of excavations carried out by Egyptologist George Reisner who led the the Harvard University-Boston MFA expedition at Giza from 1902 to 1942.

Now the Giza Archives Project has moved into the virtual arena with the release of Giza 3D!

However, this is not the first time the project has used 3D immersive technology to explore the possibilities of ‘Virtual Egyptology’.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

By Laura Grimes

The pressure’s on. Mr. Scatter, otherwise known as my current first husband, has hightailed it outta town, and his responsibilities mean he probably won’t have a chance to write or find a wi-fi to post for about a week.

But you’re in luck. Before he left town, he got up early to write this review of Small Steps at Oregon Children’s Theatre.

I am more than a little envious that he got this assignment. I’m the one who’s had my eye on this show for months. I’m the one who bought the book. I’m the one who was trying to see how this could wedge into the schedule and — stink — he landed the gig, skedaddled with the Small Large Smelly Boy (also known as Felix/Martha in some circles), and I was stuck with chauffeur duty for the Large Large Smelly Boy who had a class at the same time.

At dinner after the show, the Small LSB niftily and oh-so-casually wove it into the conversation that he got to meet Louis Sachar.

“Excuse me?” I said. “You got to meet him?”

I could tell he was stifling a grin and playing cool. “I got to shake his hand. It wasn’t big.”

“What? His hand wasn’t big?”

“No!” he laughed. (Got him!)

“I knew what you meant. And, yes, it was a big deal.” And, no, I wasn’t there.

But I got a report. You can read it for yourself. Mr. Scatter says it’s a good ‘un.

In looking at my schedule, I’ll be in town exactly one weekend day during the run that’s open to the public. Must sign off to buy a ticket … and then finish the book.

*

ILLUSTRATIONS:

Top: Johnny Crawford as Armpit in “Small Steps.” Photo by Morphis Studios.

Bottom: Louis Sachar/Wikipedia

drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass)

With photographs

Many people have claimed that the pyramids were built by slaves, or even by aliens. In the past, it was difficult to convince the public that it was actually ordinary Egyptians who constructed these great monuments. With the discovery of the Cemetery of the Pyramid Builders, however, I was finally able to reveal the truth to people around the world.

In my 1987 doctoral dissertation for the University of Pennsylvania, I predicted that we should look for the tombs of the workmen who built the pyramids in the area to the south of an ancient stone wall known as the Wall of the Crow (Heit El-Ghurob). This wall lies to the south of the Great Sphinx, and I theorized that it had been built to separate the area where the workmen lived and were buried from the royal necropolis that they had labored to construct. Earlier excavations south of the wall had found traces of the activities of workmen. Egyptian archeaologist Selim Hassan found architectural remains, along with a few potsherds and 4th Dynasty seal impressions, in the 1930’s when he was helping the local villagers to find an alternative site for their cemetery. In the late 1980’s my friend Mark Lehner and I excavated to the southeast of the wall. We found the remains of what we thought might be granaries, although we did not see any sign of tombs. We left the area without exploring further to concentrate on other things. Although we were beginning to see signs of the daily lives of the pyramid builders, the location of their tombs was still a mystery.

In April of 1990, I was sitting in my office at Giza when a guard came to tell me that an American tourist had been thrown from her horse when the animal stumbled over the remains of a mud-brick wall. The guard took me and my assistant Mansour Boraik to the site – south of the Wall of the Crow, in an undeveloped area of desert only about thirty feet from where Mark and I had been digging a few years earlier.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

Each and every rotary phone-styled iRetrofone Base is handmade from resin, and not only does it give you a stationary calling experience, it also docks and syncs via USB. Available now for $195. [Etsy via Retro To Go] More »

German magazine GameStar’s June issue reveals some more relevant information about the up and coming Test Drive Unlimited 2. With scans too.
 
 
 

The 2010 BMW 3 Series coupé and cabriolet show some small changes to the style of the range, but this model year mostly focuses on a new engine range updated to comply with Euro 5 anti-pollution laws. The BMW 3 Series keeps its elegant (and successful) style, with a few sports features keeping it interesting enough.

There are new bi-xenon headlights with LED lights and indicators, and a few slight changes to the front of the car. The bumpers get a new design with brushed finish and the front bonnet ‘V’ is more pronounced. The rear keeps its bumper shape with a few changes, again, to the lights. The BMW M3 keeps its design with no changes to the bodywork, including only some touches to the headlights.

The 2010 BMW 3 Series engine line-up is comprised of the six-cylinder TwinPower unit with 3.0-litres, 306 hp and 400 Nm of torque. It uses the Valvetronic direct injection system with to get fuel consumption of 8.4 litres and 8.8 litres per 100 km on the coupé and cabriolet respectively, and acceleration to 100 km/hr of 5.5 and 5.8 seconds.

2010 BMW 3 Series pics

New diesel engines in the range are a 2.0 and 3.0-litre unit. The former produces 184 hp and 380 Nm of torque with 4.7 litres per 100 km of fuel consumption and a sprint time to 100 km/hr of 7.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 237 km/hr (all figures are relevant to the coupé model). The 3.0-litre diesel unit has 204 hp and 430 Nm of torque, acceleration of 6.9 seconds, 244 km/hr of top speed and fuel consumption of 5.7 litres per 100 km. These 320d and 330d models are available with a six-speed manual gearbox or automatic transmission as an option.

The rest of the engine range includes the 320i with 170 hp, 325i with 218 hp, 330i with 272 hp and hte 335d with 286 hp. All wheel drive options with BMW xDrive technology are available but only on the coupé model. The 2010 BMW 3 Series pricing starts from about 35,500 euros for the 320i, while the 320d starts at 38,850 euros. The 335i model is about 49,850 euros and the 3 Series cabrio range starts at 43,650 euros. If you want the M3 models you’re looking at 70,700 and 78,350 euros.

In terms of aggregate dollars, foreign investment into China exploded around 2006 and remains near a peak.

Yet this chart from China Daily shows how the number of new foreign companies has fallen year and year since 2005. The chart below can differ in trend from the chart above because the chart above includes new investment by established foreign companies in China.

Thus it appears as if established foreign players are investing in the country, but the number of new foreign players is dwindling. Are companies becoming gun-shy to invest in China at this stage? Is it becoming more difficult to become established?

China expert James McGregor thinks this may be a function of an increasingly difficult investment environment.

China Daily:

“You have a time now where there are a lot of local governments protecting their local companies and discriminating against foreign companies. The foreign business community certainly feels that way,” he added.

McGregor says the immense power of China’s State-owned enterprises can make life very difficult for anyone wanting to do business in the country.

“State-owned enterprises are very powerful. They have access to capital and they have the relationships here that bring them a lot of business opportunities. I think even some Chinese private entrepreneurs have concerns about the recent emphasis on State industry,” he said.

And.. does this augur a coming drop in China’s net foreign direct investment?

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A 12MP cameraphone has been turning up in leaked documents, photos and patents, but finally Russian site Mobile-Review has done us proud and snagged hands-on pics. Apart from that image sensor, it’s also sporting Symbian^3, the first to do so. More »

Greece’s “bailout” depends on it being able to deliver real budget cuts. And fast.

FT reports:

Greece has been told to produce detailed plans this week to meet its budget deficit reduction targets in 2011 and 2012, as well as this year, before it can qualify for a combined rescue package from the International Monetary Fund and fellow eurozone members.

As pressure increased in Athens to step up the pace of negotiations, Germany made it clear that a three-year programme must be agreed with the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission, before the combined €45bn ($60bn) loans can be approved to meet the Greek government debt repayment schedule for the current year.

On paper Greece can probably do this. Whether its citizens will accept the sharp deflation-inducing budget cuts without taking to the streets is another question.

The question is: how long before the Greeks begin to wonder what the benefits of being part of the vaunted European community really are, especially given the obvious hostility from the continent’s economic and political balast, Germay.

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El microcoche urbano que está terminando de desarrollar Gordon Murray, el creador del McLaren F1, ya ha empezado a rodar por las carreteras británicas para seguir con sus pruebas. Los fotógrafos de la revista Autocar lo han pillado saliendo de los estudios de diseño de Murray en Guildford, en Surrey, y la imagen que han publicado muestra claramente el aspecto definitivo que tendrá el T25.

En ella se ve la curiosa puerta única del coche, la cual se abre desplazándose hacia arriba y luego hacia el frontal para facilitar el acceso a cualquier plaza. El vehículo tendrá tres asientos: el del conductor delante y en el centro, y los de los pasajeros detrás a cada lado, los cuales serán abatibles. Su espacio interior será mayor que el de un Toyota iQ o de un Smart Fortwo y su peso de 650 kilogramos será igualmente menor que el del alemán o el del japonés.

El motor del Murray T25, localizado en la parte trasera, será un gasolina de un litro y tres cilindros, y estará unido a una transmisión de seis marchas sin embrague. Otra característica especial del coche será su proceso de producción, un invento llamado iStream que permitirá reducir considerablemente los costes de manufactura, inversión, espacio físico requerido en la planta y energía necesaria.

Según Gordon Murray, el T25 podría estar listo para salir al mercado en dos años y su fabricación muy probablemente sea en territorio británico. Después irá apareciendo en varios sitios del mundo, especialmente en los mayores entornos urbanos pues es el hábitat natural de este microcoche.

Vía | Autocar

Art Museum Journal (Stan Parchin)

With some lovely photos.

Ancient Egypt’s later 18th Dynasty and its controversial personalities come alive in an expanded version of the compelling special exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at New York’s Discovery Times Square Exposition (April 23, 2010-January 2, 2011)), a spacious venue well-suited for the grand layout of the show’s more than 130 antiquities. The works on display end their seven-city United States tour with a nine-month stay in the heart of Manhattan. Upon their return to Cairo, the objects and some 5,000 other treasures from the pharaoh’s tomb will await their state-of-the-art installation in the Grand Egyptian Museum near the Great Pyramid at Giza, set to open in 2013.

After a brief video introduction, the exhibition opens up into 12 dramatically lit and thankfully carpeted galleries. Their contents are arranged chronologically and thematically. The show’s first half is devoted to subjects such as: Egypt before Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.); daily life; traditional beliefs; death, burial and the afterlife; and religious revolution during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1353-1335 B.C.), Tutankhamun’s heretical father. A stark white transitional room runs archival film footage of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, compliments of The New York Times. The exhibition continues with an exploration of the boy-king and his world, objects from his burial and recent scientific discoveries.

NY Daily News (Henrick Karoliszyn)

Visitors to the first day of the boy king’s new exhibit at the Discovery Times Square Exposition were wowed not only by the dazzling artifacts – but also by the eclectic souvenirs.

From a nearly $9,000 Eye of Horus necklace to a 25-cent temporary tattoo, mummy fans were taking a piece of Tut home.

“This is their favorite part of the exhibit,” joked Paula White, 41, of Manhattan, who bought her daughter a golden King Tut crown as well as a tattoo for her son.

Exhibit-goers were scooping up light blue amulet stones made in Egypt for a buck and Golden Age of the Pharaohs pencils for 99 cents.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

No theme tonight. Just a series of bullets to throw a tarp over the fantasy week that was.

• Chalk up another double-digit strikeout effort for Colby Lewis(notes), who struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings to improve to 3-0 for the Rangers. Things looked a little dicey early for Lewis. Austin Jackson’s(notes) first major league home run led off the highlight reel (video). It was a glorious shot and the Tigers would plate two more runs in the first and one in the second to put Lewis on the ropes. But the righty settled down, later crediting his off-speed stuff with allowing him to retire 15 straight hitters. Lewis joined Nolan Ryan and Bobby Witt as Rangers pitchers with multiple double-digit strikeout games in April. Decent company.

The backstory has already been told in this space and so far the Lewis saga has played out exactly as predicted. The Boston start wasn’t overly messy, but it also wasn’t particularly useful (5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, ND). Lewis’ next turn should come against Seattle, then the Rangers have series against Oakland, Kansas City, Oakland (again) and Toronto. As Andy advised after that 10 strikeout turn against Cleveland, you can’t possible drop a player after a performance like that. Well, after today’s gritty effort, you can’t possibly let the rest of this story play out on someone else’s roster. Lewis had been added in about 2,500 leagues as of Sunday evening, but still remained a free agent in about 80 percent of Yahoo! leagues. Act now.

• Brad Hawpe(notes) landed on the disabled list Sunday, allowing Eric Young Jr. to shed the "NA" tag via a promotion from Triple-A Colorado Springs. Young did not start Sunday, but singled as a pinch-hitter and stole second base in the eighth inning. Everyone knows the story here. Young stole 58 bases in the minors in 2009 and in six seasons on the farm had 303 swipes in 573 games. Reliable first-hand accounts say he has as much speed as anyone in baseball.

If you’re chasing steals and have a disposable roster spot, Young could help out in a MI slot. Just know that he wasn’t exactly tearing it up in Triple-A (.228 avg., 17 Ks in 57 ABs) and his promotion was characterized as a depth move. The Rockies could move Carlos Gonzalez(notes) down in the order, yes, but Young hasn’t exactly established himself as a reliable table setter. We’ll see if manager Jim Tracey decides to give Young an extended look at second base (Clint Barmes(notes) reached base three times Sunday, but is hitting just .204), or keeps him stashed as a late-inning weapon on the basepaths. Stay tuned.

• Paul Konerko(notes) homered for the third consecutive game and fifth time in nine games in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Seattle. It wasn’t cheap (video here), but Konerko is. As Sunday draws to a close he’s a free agent in about 46 percent of Yahoo! leagues. It may be true that corner infielders with pop are like point-per-game centers in hockey, but we’ve discussed before that most MLB cleanup hitters are relevant in most formats, and the case gets stronger when the guy hitting out of the four hole is a perennial 30-homer threat playing half his games in a solid hitting environment.

• Lefties entered play Sunday hitting .458 against Cleveland’s Justin Masterson(notes), so the A’s decided to front-load their lineup with left-handed batters, going L-L-L-L-R-L-R-L-R from top to bottom. The result was a tidy 11-0 victory, with the lefties having their way with Masterson and three Tribe relievers. Eric Chavez(notes) turned back the clock with two hits and three RBIs and Daric Barton(notes) went 3-for-4 to raise his average to .328. These struggles aren’t anything new for Masterson, who last year held righties to a .203 average while lefties fattened up, hitting .323. He’ll try to snap a nine-decision losing streak against Minnesota. The Twins have a couple of decent left-handed swingers in the heart of their order and perhaps a visit from Masterson can get Jason Kubel(notes) going again.

Barton sustained a small fracture in the middle finger of his right hand in the seventh inning. He’ll be evaluated Monday and his status for Oakland’s upcoming six-game road trip is in doubt. Jake Fox(notes) was behind the dish for the Athletics. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, but more importantly collected his fourth start at catcher. One more earns him catcher eligibility, and if he can ever get his bat going consistently, there’s four-position appeal here (he’s already good to go at both corner infield positions and outfield).

• A pair of baseball’s top pitching prospects had useful turns down on the farm Sunday. Toronto’s Kyle Drabek(notes) struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings in his best start since joining the Blue Jays organization. Drabek had Tommy John surgery back in 2007, but was the top pitcher in the Phillies minor league system last year (12-3 at two levels) and was considered to be nearly major league ready entering the 2010 season.

Meanwhile, Phillippe Aumont(notes) appears to be getting comfortable in the Phillies system. He pitched six no-hit innings in his longest and most effective start since joining the organization in the Cliff Lee(notes) deal. Will we some day refer that Halladay-Lee four-teamer as the Drabek-Aumont deal?

• Speaking of Lee, his owners got some good news on Sunday, as the rehabbing lefty threw six strong innings for Triple-A Tacoma. Lee is on target to make his Mariners debut Friday against Texas.

• Tyler Colvin(notes) hit .468 for the Cubs in spring training to make the roster and now is doing everything he can to force manager Lou Piniella to find a way to get him in the lineup. The Cubs gave Marlon Byrd(notes) a rare day off Sunday, with Colvin batting fifth with favorable results: 3-for-4, three RBIs, triple short of cycle. He’s now 7-for-14 with two homers in his last three starts. Byrd and his .338 average aren’t going anywhere, but Piniella is committed to an outfield rotation that will keep all parties fresh. "I said we’d give everybody an opportunity and some at-bats and playing time, and that’s what we’re doing," Piniella told MLB.com. Colvin has already started at all three outfield positions in 2010.

• Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer states the case for Carlos Santana(notes) remaining in the minors near-term. Goods points, all, even if the arbitration angle was muffled a little bit. Lou Marson(notes), for the record, went 0-for-3 Sunday to lower his average to .088. Santana pinch-hit Sunday at Triple-A Columbus and flied out. He’s hitting .333.

Handshakes: Francisco Cordero(notes) walked two and allowed the tying run to reach third base, but held on for his seventh save in a 5-4 Reds win over the Padres. … Matt Capps(notes) made it 8-for-8 in save chances, retiring three in a row to protect a 1-0 lead after allowing a James Loney(notes) double to lead off the ninth. Tyler Clippard(notes) worked a scoreless eighth. … Jim Johnson(notes) got five outs for the Orioles, but had nothing left in his third inning of work and had to be bailed out by Cla Meredith(notes), who got the last two outs in the 10th for his first save. … Bobby Jenks(notes) blew away Ken Griffey Jr.(notes) with a high fastball to record his fourth save of the season. A Casey Kotchman(notes) double had put the tying run in scoring position. … Joakim Soria(notes) struck out Michael Cuddyer(notes) and Jim Thome(notes) to close out his fifth save of the season. A Justin Morneau(notes) RBI double had cut the K.C. advantage to 5-4.

Ryan Franklin(notes) earned save No. 6 in fairly routine fashion. … Chad Qualls(notes) punched out Greg Dobbs(notes) and Chase Utley(notes) to notch save number four in Arizona’s 8-6 win over Philadelphia.

Injury blog: Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera(notes) was not in the lineup Sunday, stating he was only 50 percent after getting hit on the knee by a Johnny Cueto(notes) slider on Saturday. … Ryan Zimmerman(notes) took some cuts Sunday and could be back in the Nationals lineup Monday. … Freddy Sanchez(notes) could return to the Giants lineup in two weeks. … Kerry Wood(notes) threw a bullpen session for the Indians on Sunday, but no timetable has been set for his return. … Justin Upton(notes) is day-to-day after fouling a ball off his left leg. … Cameron Maybin(notes) was still feeling the effects of a Saturday collision, so he sat it out Sunday.

Speed round: Rhyne Hughes(notes) went 4-for-9 with a double and two RBIs for Baltimore over the weekend subbing for a struggling Garrett Atkins(notes). … Nolan Reimold(notes) went 2-for-5 batting leadoff for the first time in his career. … David Price’s(notes) first career shutout featured nine strikeouts. … Justin Smoak(notes) is hitless in seven at-bats for the Rangers. … Fifty at-bats later, Brandon Wood(notes) finally has his first RBIs of the season. Of course, it took a late break by Yankees left fielder Marcus Thames(notes) to open the door. But hey, gotta start somewhere. … Sixty-percent owned Brad Penny(notes) won his third consecutive start, pitching into the eighth and scattering eight hits in a 2-0 win over the Giants. … Kelly Johnson(notes) still wants your attention. He hit his seventh homer of the season Sunday.

They really tried to play through this for a while …

In this new era of shipbuilding it is refreshing to see that new methods and technology are being used and embraced, particularly by the young. These up and coming tradesmen who are picking up new skills with ease are producing excellent results. This has been in part due to continuous “in house” training programs coupled with new technologies. A great example of how new methods are being used are at the “Govan” and “Scotstoun” Shipyard where their workforce has just recently been receiving on-site training put together and run by trained professionals within the Shipyards workforce.

The yard which was formally owned by Kvaerner was acquired by BAE Systems in 1999 and has gone from strength to strength. Through the use of welding automation from Gullco International (UK) Limited a long lasting strong business relationship with the Govan shipyard has formed. Gullco have supplied a good deal of equipment for past projects over the years such as bevelling equipment, which has been used in the preparation of the Super Duplex steel used in their Type 45 Destroyer ships as well as welding carriage automation (KAT Oscillator) which was used to greatly reduce the time and cost of the welding procedure..

The use of welding automation to improve the overall process and increase arc on time is something Govan and Scotstoun have used to stay competative. They have recently used KAT welding automation and cutting automation on 19 “block hull link ups” on the Type 45 Destroyers with great results. The older equipment has recently been added to with, new, up to date Gullco KAT Oscillation equipment and gas cutting automation in anticipation of the Aircraft Carrier Project of which a large protion will be completed by BAE Systems Surface Ships Limited, Govan.

The Caterpillar Stockton (UK) Ltd. plant selected Gullco International [UK] Limited to supply welding automation equipment to improve quality and efficiency in a variety of M.I.G/M.A.G. welding applications. One of the applications involved Side Panel welding utilizing a twin torch system. The scope of supply was for 4 complete, custom designed welding machines to be used for different jobs at the Caterpillar Stockton works facility. The unit was built of a large Gullco travel carriage complete with wire feed units, fume extraction equipment, control equipment and two Gullco Kat welding carriages with seam tracker combinations. These large 6 to 12 meter long “turnkey” units were assembled totally “in-house” at Gullco’s Appley Bridge, UK facility from 60% standard Gullco products. This enabled Gullco to meet critical delivery deadlines established to ensure Caterpillar production schedules were maintained. The machines are controlled by Mitsubishi PLC’s programmed by Gullco [UK]. Dual torches are used in these machines to substantially increase productivity and improve efficiency by welding two sides of a component simultaneously. Weld accuracy and quality are dependent on precise seam tracking and a reliable electrical interface of all the components via the PLC. In order to meet the production and quality requirements at Caterpillar, the Gullco Kat-Tracker WSG-1200 was selected. These tactile seam trackers continually sense the slightest variation across the weld seam and automatically correct the position of the weld torch. They provide precise control over the welding parameters and can automatically detect tacks and the end-of-plate. In total, eight Gullco Kat-Trackers were used in the 4 machines.

As part of this project, Caterpillar purchased a Gullco KBM-28-U high speed portable, self propelled plate beveling machine. It is used to produce a clean machined bevel with no thermal distortion on thick section plates at 2m/min. This rugged beveller with adjustable beveling head can produce bevel angles 22 1/2° through 55°. The rotary shear principle incorporated by this machine results in low noise and vibration at the same time as high speed operation. This KBM-28-U unit bevels the underside of the plate. This beveling machine in partnership with the Kat Tracker system helped Caterpillar to achieve their goals of improved quality and efficiency.