Freddy@NDS

Good to see you Steve!

http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content..../id/521994.html Matthew A. Vipond, 32, Altoona, died unexpectedly Tuesday at Altoona Regional Health System, Altoona Hospital Campus. He was born in Tyrone, son of Robert E. Vipond and the late Linda L. (Ziegler) Vipond. Surviving are his father; his fiancee of 13 years, Krista Samuel; a son, Simon, age 6, at home; a daughter, Aubree, age 4, at home; two brothers: John R. (Duane) of DuBois and Christopher P. (Amber) of Altoona; and grandmothers: Geraldine Ziegler and Helen Vipond. He was preceded in death by his mother and his grandfathers: Paul Ziegler and Robert Vipond. Matt was a 1994 graduate of Altoona Area High School. He was the secretary/treasurer of Vipond Appliance and was head designer at Penn Sign. He was a past board member of the Altoona Community Theatre and a member of the Altoona Special Events Planning Committee. He was an active member of Signs 101 and a volunteer for the Blair County Arts Foundation, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona Area Public Library and Altoona Symphony Orchestra. He was one of the founders of the downtown jazz concerts, was instrumental in the reorganization of the Wing-Off, and was very involved in the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Festival. Matt enjoyed spending time with his kids, his family and his friends. Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, at The Stevens Mortuary Inc., 1421 Eighth Ave., Altoona (www.stevensmortuary.com). A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, at Stevens Memorial Chapel by Father John Hutnyan. Interment at Blair Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the family c/o Krista Samuel, C&G Savings Bank, 1201 12th St., Altoona, PA 16601.

From a costing perspective it is almost impossible to determine the current gas fill cost per unit since too many variables will exist - an average of gas usage over time may be factorable within certain confidence levels but still there are too many factors that will affect the costing outcome per unit, mainly due to human methods/errors. Further the cost of fill gas is negligible to the overall cost of the final product. Fill gas should be costed as a bin stock item or variable consumable. If you are going to this extent of costing how are you estimating your glass scrap factors, free mercury usage, and all of the other variable costs associated with creating a letter? Chalk it up to your variable cost column and use past usage history for forecast costing since every system, shop, and person does things differently.

NAFTA is far from going away regardless what any of the political people promise or say. If you saw the infrastructure over the border for manufacturing facilities you would soon realize that the threat of altering or overturning NAFTA is mute at best. China prices are going up and will keep on going up. As for the degrading Chinese quality over time - yup, very true indeed, seen it first hand on too many occasions.

Well the same can be said for pen and paper - ever see a cashier use them or try to figure out something in their head - nope - dependant on the calculator. The dumbing of America. LEDs have their place and look at the packing installation note: for ages 1-3.

I guess it works in a pinch but I would imagine it increases hand,arm, wrist fatigue.

You never know he may be located 10 miles out of town on a dirt road in the middle of no where so no one can find him. Location, location, location.

These are made right down the street from us and are outstanding machines, at least the newest models we have seen are. But as mentioned earlier, you will need the CNC and the Stappler or the Riveter would be a great asset. Not cheap new by any means - this price is a steal. As for Neon Wizard, well, yes it works for letter fill but that's all I will say.

There sould be a little red diamond that will allow you to move the text around the circle.

If I understand you right, what is happening is when you Fit Text to Path your letters are coming out upside down on the bottom of the circle. Easy way to do the botton is to type a new text line and then flip the text before you fit it to the path.

Hi David, I no longer have Version 10 installed so I can not look to see how to do it, but as mentioned above there should be a pull down menu to allow you to convert to inches from pixels. I would recommend you upgrade to Version X3 (13). Well worth the upgrade.

Physicists are fearless..... since they know the truth.

I highly doubt this will ever go into effect. The current Mayor Miller is leaving, the city is in battle against smoking bans, there is a lot of powerful money here, few will install timers, and the insurance companies will not be mute on this. I agree darker places may increase crime but the lit skyline of Dallas is one of the city's greatest assets. They worry about electricity consumption here when everyone is driving their truck or SUV to work every day.

FOR SALE: ROOTS 36AF LOBE BLOWER - COMPLETE! http://www.neondesignsolutions.com/Equipme...iquidation.html PROFESSIONALLY REBUILT ROOTS 36AF Blower system complete with Air Intake Filter and Pressure Relief Valve. Perfect for the beginning or the fully established neon shop. Roots blowers are well known in the neon industry. Their long life, dependability, easy maintenance, constant airflow, high PSI and the ability to alter their CFM (via sprocket ratios) make them desirable. Roots blowers are the workhorse of our industry. This blower will operate 1 or 2 sets of fires in its current configuration, but as many as 4 or 5 sets of fires depending on blower speed, relief valve setting, blower RPM, plumbing diameter and length, etc. FEATURES: -Roots Model 36AF Blower - Cleaned and Rebuilt -Includes Intake Filter/Muffler Housing with NEW Filter -Intake Filter/Muffler Reduces Blower Noise -Complete Pressure Relief Valve System with 12 Additional Weights -Sprocket and Chain Driven System with Chain Guard -3/4 HP 5/8" Shaft Continuous Duty Motor with Thermal Protection -Sturdy and Solid Base with 4" 1000 pound Locking Swivel Casters -2" MNPT Threaded Connection for Air Flow Output -2.5" FNPT Threaded Connection for Air Intake -Smooth, Stable, and Reliable Operation -Durable Hammered Metallic Paint -Documentation, Wiring Diagram, Vendor Parts Listing Included Please visit us at: http://www.neondesignsolutions.com/Equipme...iquidation.html for additional details.

Best thing to do. We have scanning software that caught this well before it caused a threat. Looking at the files inside the zip it appears to reset registry settings and capture your email addy book. Dang kids got nothing better to do I am sure.

Afternoon all, In the event you get an email from Support Team regarding a message that your computer has been flagged as having spyware - DO NOT OPEN the attached zip file. Once opened you will crash fast. The message is also not text but a pic - so beware. untitled.bmp

...The Anals of....

I will try to be politically correct and not stomp on anyone's toes - but bear in mind this is just one person's opinion. From a strategic management marketing perspective we can declare that the “war” on LED’s by either one or a “band of brothers” is at this point mute. It will fall on deaf ears. The answer is not to fight LED’s but to reinvent the marketing curve for neon. Comparing the attributes of neon and LED’s fits the old cliché of “comparing apples and oranges”. Yes they are both a fruit, but can be utilized in different ways thus allowing profitability amongst the different grower associations. The key is not to prove that neon is better than LEDs or vice versa. We need to concentrate as an industry (manufacturer, shop, and supplier) to promote the different ways neon may be utilized. We must step up to the plate and admit in a certain case LED’s would prove a more viable choice over neon, and in other instances neon would be of greater benefit to the end user. There is no way the neon industry can fight the LED giant – at this point the economics, the legitimacy, and the credibility are so skewed in favor of LEDs that our industry has already lost. Further, ever increasing technology coupled with supply and demand will favor the continued advancement of LEDs. Look at the variety of neon suppliers and manufacturers present. Many of these companies have realized that electrodes, glass, transformers, equipment are now commodity goods, and that lower wage rates in foreign countries are benefiting their bottom line. The syllogism of offering LED’s and neon is a smart move on their behalf since they are offering solutions to a variety of audiences and extending the longevity of their marketing curves. We can not fault each other in this industry and expect to survive. The choices these companies are making are adding to their existence – it is a smart move. For a company to survive based on the route they have taken for decade’s shows no incentive for product advancement or future profitability. Basic business economics suggests that following an unaltered core competency will eventually turn the company on a downward slope. Unfortunately, too many companies do not realize where they are on the growth curve and find themselves at a point of far diminishment. In other words, to sit idle prevents progress and encourages decline. Business strategy does not look at the present but looks at the future. And how does the future look?

WCSG, As with most websites, it takes time for them to mature - give it time, lots of time. The amount of work you have invested in this site can not compare to the lack of efforts on other sites. To be honest, I check this site daily, usually read or can the message when I have time, but I am here. I can not say that for the other websites. As you indicated, the amount of interactive traffic on the "other" sites is minimal in this arena. It may be because we have just lurkers who are afraid to participate or perhaps no one has anything to say. You know as well as I do that the friendly atmosphere you have developed here does not exist on the other sites – for the most part they can be quite hostile at time. Especially with admin moderation. Your site has freedom of speech, which I truly appreciate. I would not change anything in terms of design. And I certainly enjoy the splash screens! One thing you must realize is that you have created a place where people actually respect the other members. Off all of the neon and electronic sign board forums this one is the one I recommend to other people in the same trade. I have yet to hear anything negative about the board. Keep up the good work!

Erik, Started this early this morning and never finished till a bit ago - mostly repetive with what has already been said. Other areas of our industry such as Vinyl have more cohesiveness amongst its members because of the low barriers to entry. Looks at the membership of these sectors, it is huge. The neon sector of the industry is no longer a closed door but open wide. Knowledge transfer is wide spread, but spread poorly. Generations: Compare the two generations. One works hard and earns what they have – the other generation has a different work ethic and expectations. Granted this is a generic statement and there are exceptions but people are simply lazy in the X generation. You have more input from the Baby Boomer generation because they take pride in what they do and care about their livelihood. Is it fear of spreading ideas to your competition? Is I doubt it since modern day competition appears to be price driven. Who needs quality when the expected life span of a small business is less than five years and large business “modernizes” about every seven years? In my opinion too many what they do is simply their job and it is viewed as just that. When the end of day bell rings they go home and forget about their livelihood since what they have accomplished during the day is “acceptable.” I've never met a more "hush hush" crowd than those in this part of the sign trade, whether it's here or in my own backyard. One big tool I thought would be largely used is the "Live Chat room" and I'm shocked to find it never used. Have you ever met a neon bender that did not carry a large ego? Even the amateurs consider themselves master benders! They know it all! With restrictive legislature on the horizons based on false information, power consumption, unfounded Mercury falsehoods closing our industry down I'd have thought more communication would be about and not a lack of. Well stated but look at the population size of the neon industry as compared to vinyl or LED’s. Cabinet making, glass bending, processing, installation and other aspects of our industry require years of practice and expertise before an individual may be labeled as a craftsman. Yes, many of us can weld aluminum together but there is no way we can achieve the level of craftsmanship that an experienced welder can attain. The problem is the level of “adequacy” that our industry accepts. I met with an owner of a large cabinet shop the other day and a comment he made was “Freddy, all I have is helpers, I can not find experts.” I believe this statement sums it up. Additionally, the components of our industry are becoming commodity based. When was the last time you saw any advancement in the fabrics of our industry? We haven’t, thus the threads of an old reliable industry begin to ravel. Even if a revolution was on the horizon, it most likely would not be implemented since the membership of our industry is small, preventing fast large profits (American mentality). Just look at our manufactures and suppliers…. Instead of banning together to support a common cause they are diversifying their product lines to increase their longevity amongst the marketing and profitability curve.

SB won't do a dman thing since the neon industry isn't filling their pocked with advertising.

This is great news! Now LED's will even cost more since you know you must use this new plastic! Yea Neon!

The bottom line is that we can not sell new mercury based neon tubes to anyone in the state of Vermont based on their legislation. They are however, allowing repairs to exisiting signage.

http://isa.files.cms-plus.com/PDFs/Vermont%20Mercury.pdf

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, lol.