Lick invests in new machinery.That demand has been experienced by three divisions of the buisness - Lick Direct, Lick Online and Lick Digital The group has invested in three pieces of equipment, a Buhrs BB300, a Sitma C80 750 and a Konica MinoltThe Buhrs BB300 at Lick Direct is a six station enclosing machine that will mechanically enclose up to six items in to envelopes ranging in size from DL to C4. Running speeds for the Buhrs vary, but on average the machine is looking at enclosing 5,500 net per hour. The Sitma machine is a five-station polywrap line and will allow around 4,500 items, including brochures and catalogues, to be enclosed in polypropylene film each hour.

Lick said that the Buhrs machine will increase hourly production by 150 per cent against its older machines, as well as providing greater reliability and improved double and miss detection. The flexibility of sizes that the Buhrs machine can handle means Lick Direct is now able to produce a variety of work on a single machine.Lick added that the Sitma system will be able to treble the hourly output of polywrapped items.
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Warning Issued On Automatic Baseball Pitching Machines

The revolving pitching arm which has no guard retains sufficient energy to "pitch" even though the machines are unplugged or disconnected. This energy can release the pitching arm after only slight vibration of the machine. The downward rotation of the pitching arm at high velocity has resulted in serious injuries to persons in its path. The pitching arm may also separate from the machine during operation, becoming an uncontrolled and potentially lethal missile. The machines may also fire pitches erratically in unintended directions.Consumers are alerted to follow these important safety precautions:

Avoid placing any portion of the body within the arc or path through which the pitching arm revolves, unless the machine is disconnected from its power source and the coil spring is disengaged from the spring holder. Disengage the coil spring from the spring holder after use, and lock the machine in a location that will restrict unauthorized or unsupervised access. If the machine must be moved, disconnect the machine from its power source and disengage the coil spring from the spring holder before moving. Never store the pitching machine with the pitching arm in the 10:00 o'clock position
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World's first automatic motorcycle washing machine

Moto Express claim their contraption will clean your bike in five minutes flat. BORED WITH having to wash your bike the conventional way? How about this for another labour-saving device from the land of free, fat and lazy (or America, if you'd prefer).

The automatic motorcycle washing machine is called the Moto Express and the makers claim that it can do what would take all afternoon in around five minutes from start to finish. It sounds good in principal, but we're betting it's nowhere near as good as cleaning the wheel rims as we are with our collection of toothbrushes and tar remover. Dexter Laundry, Inc. is an employee owned manufacturer based in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. Founded in 1894, the company has grown to offer a full line of front load washers, drying tumblers, Easy Card systems, and equipment financing serving the on-premise and commercial laundry industries. Then hook the computer up to a big database full of info about crossword puzzles or market information. The computer uses the recipe to select data from the database and write and format it into book form. Parker estimates that it costs him about 12p to write a book, with, perhaps, not much difference in quality from what a competent wordsmith or an MBA might produce.
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JDub Records to release The Sway Machinery EP on September 16 2008!

Though The Sway Machinery carefully cultivates Lockwood's deeply felt relationship to his musical roots, his accomplished colleagues bring to the table the sounds of afro-beat horns, unassailable rock beats and an astutely contemporary musical sensibility. Lockwood layers the haunting notes of his Cantorial-influenced vocals over the energetic, celebratory rhythms of afro-pop, hard-hitting drums and the blues. The EP showcases pieces based on mystical texts taken directly from the Jewish High Holiday prayers and reconfigures them in a startlingly new musical landscape. Lockwood's ambitious melding of styles results in what The Village Voice has called a most “joyful synthesis.”

This year Hidden Melodies Revealed will feature a powerful set by the Sway Machinery and the premiere of a new animated masterpiece by renowned artist and New York Times illustrator Andrea Dezs?.This EP is the perfect opportunity to celebrate mesmerizing...ancient stories ranging from meditative and snaking to madcap and bone-rattling” (Village Voice) before The Sway Machinery releases their full-length album in January, 2009.
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Automatic writing

Parker quotes a 1999 complaint by the Economist that publishing "has continued essentially unchanged since Gutenberg. Letters are still written, books bound, newspapers printed and distributed much as they ever were." "Therefore," says Parker, "there is a need for a method and apparatus for authoring, marketing, and/or distributing title materials automatically by a computer." He explains that "further, there is a need for an automated system that eliminates or substantially reduces the costs associated with human labour, such as authors, editors, graphic artists, data analysts, translators, distributors, and marketing personnel."

The book-writing machine works simply, at least in principle. First, one feeds it a recipe for writing a particular genre of book - a tome about crossword puzzles, say, or a market outlook for products. Then hook the computer up to a big database full of info about crossword puzzles or market information. The computer uses the recipe to select data from the database and write and format it into book form. Parker estimates that it costs him about 12p to write a book, with, perhaps, not much difference in quality from what a competent wordsmith or an MBA might produce.