Glass News For The Discerning Window Cleaner

The miracle spray-on glass that stops the bugs: Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool is coating the toys in its wards with a revolutionary form of "liquid glass" that has proven in trials to reduce the number of disease-causing bacteria living on the surface of objects. Severely ill children being treated at Alder Hey are often not allowed to play with the hospital's pool of toys because of fears that infections will be passed between patients, some of whom may have suppressed immune systems resulting from their life-saving treatment. The liquid glass, which is safe and completely inert, forms an invisible, flexible coating on the surface of an object and repels dirt and grime. More importantly, it is believed to prevent the build-up of hospital-acquired infections such as the superbug Staphylococcus aureus, which is resistant to many antibiotics.
Alder Hey is testing the experimental coating on the toys in its children's wards because these shared objects come into intimate body contact and could easily become a source of a hospital-acquired infection spread between the children. "We have an awful lot of toys and many of them are difficult to clean. We even have to remove some of them because they are so difficult to keep clean, yet they are so important for the children," said Pauline Bradshaw, operational director of infection, prevention and control at Alder Hey."We view toys in the same frame as any other medical device that has to be cleaned and decontaminated. Once the toy is coated with the liquid glass you cannot see any difference whatsoever. I think it's got great potential not just for toys but for other hospital settings," Ms Bradshaw said.
Tests of the liquid glass in another nearby hospital, Southport and Formby District General, have shown that coating surfaces such as floors, bedside tables, washbasins, toilet handles and lift buttons, can reduce bacterial growth by between 25 and 50 per cent. The three-month trial at Southport compared surfaces coated with the liquid-glass, made by a German company called Nanopool, against untreated surfaces. Hospital staff followed their usual cleaning routines and were not told which surfaces had been coated. Scientists took swabs of different hospital areas every week for the 12-week period and the final results demonstrated a clear, statistical difference in bacterial load between the treated and untreated surfaces, according to the official evaluation of the trial. "These initial results suggest that the Nanopool coating would be effective in reducing levels of contamination on a range of surfaces in hospitals and could potentially improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the cleaning regime," the report says.
"The evaluation also confirmed that the Nanopool coating can be applied in a busy hospital setting with relative ease and with minimal disruption," it says. The liquid glass, a form of silicon dioxide in solution, was originally developed as an anti-graffiti coating for the outside of buildings but scientists soon realised that it had the potential to act as an anti-bacterial barrier. Nanopool said that it has conducted tests at a meat-processing plant in Germany and found that cleaning treated surfaces with hot water was just as effective at killing bacteria as cleaning untreated surfaces with a bleach solution.
Neil McClelland, Nanopool's UK project manager, said that the liquid glass coating is just a few millions of a millimetre thick and the electrostatic forces on the nanoscale film repel water and dirt. They also prevent bacteria from replicating in the way they would normally do on an untreated surface, he said. "The tests show that we can reduce bacterial loading by between 25 and 50 per cent at a stroke and I suspect it may be higher with a bespoke cleaning method we are developing. As soon as the data on the trial was released we got a request from the same hospital in Southport to coat 150 toilets," Mr McClelland said. Brent Dunleavey, the managing director of Radal Technology, which is subcontracted by Nanopool, is working with Alder Hey and other NHS hospitals interested in using liquid glass to coat surfaces at risk of spreading superbugs. The trial on the Alder Hey toys will involve a new cleaning method that does away with the usual caustic, bleaching agents and instead uses a "skin-safe, food-safe biocide", said Mr Dunleavey. Conventional cleaning products used in hospitals often leave a residue that could interfere with the anti-bacterial properties of the liquid glass, he said. Previous blog on nanopool here.

Volvo sues Pilkington over 'price-fixing': The claim by Volvo could run into millions of pounds and will pit the car maker's new Chinese owner, Geely, against Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG), the Japanese company that bought Pilkington for £2.2bn in 2006. In December 2008, the European Commission found Pilkington and three rivals – Asahi, Saint-Gobain and Soliver – had breached competition law by conspiring to fix prices and allocate markets for car glass products between 1998 and 2003.

Glass Pool Walls See Increasing Popularity in Australia: Glass and glazing trends vary from country to country. In Europe, for example, double-glazed facades are quite common, while in Australia, glass railings and balustrades can be seen on many homes, condos and hotel projects. In addition to balcony and patio railings, glass walls surrounding pools are also growing in popularity in Australia. “[Large-scale], frameless, glass pool walls are at the top end of the affordability scale,” said Vince Bianchini with Cooling Brothers, an Australian glass company located in High Wycombe, Western Australia. “There is an increasing trend for glass pool windows, which our company engineers, supplies and installs on a regular basis.”

Glass or metal? That could become an increasingly important question for developers of concentrating solar power projects. A growing number of companies, from 3M to Abengoa Solar, are working on mirrors made of metals and polymer that aim to be lightweight and cheaper than the glass variety. 3M is doing a pilot-stage launch of its Solar Mirror Film, and it’s planning for a full commercial launch by the end of the year, said Daniel Chen, business development manager of 3M’s renewable energy division. “Saving time and material costs are the big advantages,” Chen said during a recent poster session at 3M’s headquarters in Minnesota. Metallic films “also are easier to transport – you can pack them densely and use aluminum locally” for project construction.
Like GE and other titans in their industries, 3M is keen on winning a fat slice of the growing renewable energy market. The use of metal film, which is then laminated onto an aluminum backing, isn’t a new concept, and 3M launched a similar product in the 1980s. It lasted for 4-5 years before the entire market disappeared, Chen said. The company restarted the research in this area about two years ago, when the solar industry began to revive in earnest. Proponents say metal mirrors are suitable for all types of solar thermal power plant designs, including parabolic trough, power tower and stirling dish. But replacing glass, a durable and highly reflective material with a long history of surviving the outdoors, won’t be so easy. Investors and utilities tend to prefer well-proven technologies over novel ones. The largest solar thermal power complex in the world, the 354-megawatt solar field in the Mojave Desert, was built between 1984 and 1991 with glass mirrors.



Glass-bottomed hot air balloon takes its maiden flight: These stomach-churning images capture the moment the world's first glass-bottomed hot air balloon took its maiden flight today. The traditional wicker four-man basket has a completely transparent floor which provides passengers with heart-stopping views of the scenery below. The balloon took to the skies over Bath, Somerset, to mark the start of the 2010 Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. The basket was the brainchild of Christian Brown - a pilot with 18 years experience flying balloons - who admitted the flight was a 'terrifying experience'. He said: 'We've done tethered trials before, which usually end with passengers shrieking and screaming in fear, but this is the first time we've actually taken to the skies unaided. 'Ordinarily, you would look over the edge of the basket to peer at the ground below but there is something very disconcerting about seeing it right beneath your feet. The traditional wicker-sided basket carries up to two passengers and two pilots who stand on two-inch thick glass. Christian, 44, travelled the world in a balloon with tycoon Richard Branson and currently holds the tethered altitude world record after flying at 10,000ft on a mountain in Chile. Click pictures to enlarge.

The CEO of Molded Fiber Glass Companies, a distinguished international composites manufacturer, has earned additional recognition while serving as honorary president of the recent JEC Composites tradeshow in Paris. Richard Morrison opened the global show and served as a host for the awards ceremony. He also presented an overview of the fast-growing U.S. wind energy market, which Molded Fiber Glass (MFG) supports by manufacturing blades for wind turbines. During the global show, MFG was cited as one of the most “innovative advanced composite enterprises in the United States.” “As in other sectors, composite processors are currently under pressure, squeezed between raw material suppliers, who are hiking up their rates, and customers, who are holding out for better prices,” said Frédérique Mutel, president and CEO of the JEC Group, which promotes the use of composites worldwide.

Pilkington owner Nippon Sheet Glass expects profits: Pilkington owner Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) is now expecting to go back into the black this year as the global recovery is increasing demand for its products. The company had forecast that it would make a loss of £29m in the year to March, 2011, as its key markets in construction and the automotive sector remain depressed. But improvements in both those markets mean it is now predicting a net income for the year of £7m. Its annual sales forecast remains constant at £4.4bn, thanks to the effects of the strong yen. In another sign that its markets are strengthening, last month Pilkington announced it was to restart one of its St Helens float lines in a move that will create up to 130 jobs. The decision was attributed to strong demand in South America.

47-inch touchscreen machine launched: No one has embraced the technological revolution quite like the Japanese. And when we say embraced, we mean produced a number of impressive, hi-tech gizmos and gadgets that could definitely be classified as exorbitant. And this latest bit of futuristic kit, without doubt, falls into that category. Because Japanese firm JR East has developed a vending machine that does away with the old fashioned method of simply looking through the glass and choosing the actual product you want, and instead gives the user a digital representation of what's on offer via a 47-inch touchscreen display. The display is also fully customised for the user, based on their age and gender, (it scans them using an embedded camera) and can also use its WiMAX capabilities to store buyers' purchase history.

Soladigm to Build $130 Million Factory, Create 300 Jobs in Mississippi: Soladigm, a developer of high-tech materials for energy efficient glass windows, announced that it will invest $130 million to build a factory in Olive Branch, where it expects to create about 300 jobs that will pay between $18 to $25 an hour. To attract the company here, the State of Mississippi is providing a $40 million loan and another $4 million of incentives for project improvements. Founded in 2007, Soladigm is currently operating a pilot production line at its headquarters in Milpitas, Calif. The company is backed by around $40 million of venture capital investment from Khoshla Ventures and Sigma Partners. In June, the U.S. Department of Energy also provided Soladigm with a $3.5 million stimulus grant.
Soladigm’s products include recent advancements in glass, optical coatings, and semiconductor technologies. Its glass can change from clear to tinted on demand, controlling the amount of light and heat that enters a building, resulting in energy savings. “The combination of Mississippi’s dedication to manufacturing, the proximity of our new plant to Memphis, the nation’s logistics and distribution hub, and Governor Barbour’s tremendous support were key factors in us determining to locate our first high volume manufacturing facility in Olive Branch,” said Rao Mulpuri, CEO of Soladigm.

Spanish glass-maker for solar plants to build $50 million US headquarters in Phoenix suburb: SURPRISE, Arizona. - A Spanish manufacturer of glass for commercial solar plants announced Wednesday that it will build a $50 million U.S. headquarters in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise.
Rioglass Solar said the 130,000-square-foot facility will employ more than 100 workers. An additional 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space is on the drawing board. The company makes curved glass sheets used in solar plant parabolic concentrators. It is a subsidiary of Rioglass Solar Holdings.

Construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts this week entered an important phase with the installation of the first of nearly 1,400 exterior glass panels. The glass will form the dramatic transparent canopy enclosing the southern face of the arts center and what will be its four-story-tall grand lobby. Each glass panel, fabricated in China, is affixed to a complex, intricately engineered network of masts and cables.



28 'gorgeous' windows given new life: As a teenager growing up in Germany, Paul Winter was given two career options: organ builder or stained-glass expert? "I really wanted to be a civil engineer building airplanes, but that wasn't possible in Germany in 1946," he said. "So I chose stained glass, because I thought there would be fewer costs than organs." More than 60 years later, Winter is still working at his colourful craft, using his talents to brighten up an Edmonton religious institution.
Winter, 80, is considered a master in stained glass, a job that requires the technical skills of a tradesperson and the vision of an artist. He trained for several years in Germany before moving to Edmonton in the late 1950s. Despite the fact his field has relatively few clients, he has maintained a busy career travelling all over the world designing, fixing and installing stained glass for virtually every Christian denomination.
"Sometimes you do one window, and sometimes the whole church," said Winter, who seemed destined for such a profession considering he was born in a church near Cologne and his father worked in one. "I don't think there is anybody else in Alberta right now who can do this kind of work."
The job is highly specialized and can also be dangerous. Winter remembers one project when a piece of falling glass sliced through his shoe and pinned his foot to the floor. "I couldn't move. I had to yell for help." His son, Andre, said there has been a fair amount of blood on the current seminary job. "These windows are one-inch thick. They're very heavy and very sharp, so there were a lot of cuts," Andre said. "I think Dad and I averaged about two to four Band-Aids per window."

1962 glass invention poised to become multi-billion dollar seller: In the 1960s, an ultra-strong glass was invented but it contained no purpose. Nearly a half a century later, Corning Inc. is expected to sell a multi-billion dollar product by installing the glass to face of touch-screen tablets and plasma televisions. Corning Incorporated is expected to rake in billions of dollars over the next little while a 1962 invention of an ultra-strong glass – Gorilla - is poised to be the face of touch-screen computers and plasma televisions

Window Cleaning Titbits

Ask a Window Cleaner: This week, Andrew Horton (pictured), who has been a window cleaner for more than two decades and knows the secrets of the trade and safety practices, will be responding to readers’ questions about his career. Readers who would like to ask Mr. Horton a question should do so in the comments box below. His first set of responses will be published on Wednesday. Mr. Horton, 54, has worked on landmark buildings all over the city, including the Empire State Building, the Twin Towers, the Hearst Building and dozens of others.
He said he was always content with his job until one day, hanging off the 86th floor of the Empire State Building with just a belt tying him to a window, he decided that he should rethink his livelihood. Mr. Horton now runs New York City’s main safety training program for window washers at the building service workers union 32BJ, teaching future window washers how to reduce risks and promoting safety while working a thousand feet up in the sky. “What’s more important up there?” he asks. “Prevention, prevention, prevention!” Mr. Horton was born and raised in New York City. He is married, has two sons and lives in Queens. He enjoys fly fishing and is a youth basketball coach at his parish.

Bogus window cleaner stole from great-gran: A low-life who posed as a window cleaner to fleece an 81-year-old great grandmother has been locked up for five years. Serial criminal Philip Lamb (pictured) has spent 10 years of his life behind bars after carrying out distraction burglaries time and time again. Just weeks after getting out of prison for his last offence, he turned up at the home of a trusting pensioner and pretended to be there to clean her windows. Lamb tricked the 81-year-old into making it clear where she kept her money and when her back was turned stole £500 of her savings from her bedroom.
The victim, from Jarrow, had answered a knock at her door in the middle of the afternoon on April 21. Standing there was Lamb, who lied that he was there to clean her windows and she agreed. He asked her for a bucket and water and came into the lady’s hallway while she went to get the materials. She came back to the hall and Lamb told her the bucket was overflowing and when she went to check it he followed her into the kitchen. The devious thief then set about finding where she kept her money, first asking to borrow 10p to ring his girlfriend then asking her to change £5 from coins into a note. The old lady, trying to be helpful, went to her bedroom and took £5 from a box where she kept her savings. Lamb then went outside and made an excuse that he had to leave and when the pensioner went back into her bedroom she realised £500, which had been in the box was missing.

Why the glass is half empty at Pilkington: Pilkington was once a national treasure. From its St Helens base in England's northwest, it was a pioneer of the wor ld of glassmaking. Now, that same cradle of innovation is an operational outpost of a disparate Japanese empire. The Merseyside town is these days better known for its rugby league side rather than its iconic manufacturer. Britain's biggest glassmaker has all but slipped from public view since succumbing to a £2.2bn takeover by Nippon Sheet Glass in 2006. But the company has recently attracted some unwanted attention after hitting customers with massive price rises of 134pc in the space of a year. Pilkington last week wrote to its customers with the latest bad news - it is imposing a third huge hike in its tariff in 12 months, raising the cost of its most popular product by 20pc from July 19. Why the price hikes? The company has previously indicated that they were essential.
Founded in the Lancashire town in 1826 as a partnership by members of the Pilkington and Greenall families, it became a leader in the field in the 1950s when it invented the Float Glass Process. This was a method of producing high quality flat glass by floating molten glass over a bath of molten tin, which eradicated the costly job of having to grind and polish plate glass to make it clear. This success and pedigree inevitably attracted takeover interest. This is why Pilkington had to fend off advances from BTR Industries in early 1986, before succumbing to NSG in 2006.

Finding the Right Bus: The first prospective Double Decker PDX bus was discovered in Boise, Idaho. Based on the description, photographs, and price, it seemed like a deal worth pursuing so Metcalf, 23, and Thompson, 22, flew to Boise the weekend before midterms. What they found was a disappointment. The next bus they found was sitting in a parking lot in Osage Beach, Missouri. It was a green, 1959 Bristol Lodekka being used as a billboard for a real estate broker’s business. After serving Londoners for nearly 30 years, the vehicle had been shipped to Chicago where it was used as a tour bus. Eventually, it was retired and sat idle for a decade before the Missouri owner purchased it. There were aesthetic flaws and it needed mechanical work but most of the bus’s original interior was intact. The owner was asking $50,000. The partners negotiated and in the end, Thompson says they were able to purchase the bus for “a really good price.” They won’t reveal what they paid.
Thompson and Metcalf say they approached a number of credit unions, national and regional banks for a business loan, with no success. Although they had saved some money from past businesses (a mobile car detailing company and residential window washing service) the entrepreneurs had to secure private financing to purchase the bus and to complete the complicated renovation.

ABM Janitorial Services Inc, the wholly owned subsidiary of ABM Industries Inc. (ABM - Analyst Report) completed the all-cash acquisition of South Carolina-based janitorial services company Diversco Inc. from DHI Holdings Inc. The acquisition will expand ABM Industries’ janitorial and security businesses within key regions across the country and among key client segments. Diversco provides janitorial, security guard, yard and grounds, window washing, maintenance and repair services across the United States. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, Diversco generated revenues of $79.3 million. ABM Industries expects the Diversco operation to be integrated by the end of the year. Given Diversco’s strong manufacturing and industrial client base in the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, the acquisition offers ABM Industries a wider geographic reach. Diversco's business also complements its operations infrastructure and national presence.

Filth-obsessed genius creates car art from rear-window grime: We're far too lazy at Car Tech to ever clean our cars, but it turns out that's a good thing - some genius with a paintbrush has devised a way to turn rear-window grime into incredible pieces of art. That man is Scott Wade, an artist who paints using using dirty cars as his canvas. Rather than the usual dirt-art clichés - oddly shaped genitalia, "clean me", "if the Prius is a-rocking, don't come a-knocking" - Wade creates entire masterpieces you wouldn't dream of washing away. Wade, from San Marcos, Texas, uses an unusual technique. Ironically, he thoroughly cleans each car window before he begins his work. Once dry, he applies dust (plenty to hand in that part of the world) to each windscreen, grabs his trusty paintbrush and begins. Once done, he takes a snapshot for posterity then washes away all trace of his work. Reverse graffiti.

Medical marijuana for sale in Ferndale: More than 50 Michigan cities, townships and counties have passed ordinances limiting or banning medical-marijuana dispensaries, the term used in other states for shops that sell to doctor-approved patients. But a few communities are moving toward treating medical marijuana like any new industry. In a squeaky clean storefront sharing a building with a screen printer, a fitness studio and a window cleaning firm, Clinical Relief did a brisk business in packaged medical marijuana and in foods that have it as an ingredient -- from candy bars to soda pop. Each client signs a form promising not to resell the medical marijuana.

NEW YORK -- Every Fourth of July, Coney Island stages an event featuring two of America's biggest loves: hot dogs and competition. The two pastimes merge Sunday afternoon by the Brooklyn boardwalk for the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. In recent years, a crowd favorite is New York window washer and nude model Crazy Legs Conti, the star of a 2004 documentary whose dreadlocks bounce as he dances and speed-eats.

As with many objects of pop-culture nostalgia, the 1980s hit TV show "The A-Team" is more fun to reminisce about than to actually revisit. All that said, the new big-screen version makes the original look like "The Wire." If you've never felt an appreciation for the charisma of George Peppard, for instance, you'll understand that, for better or worse, he inhabited the role of Hannibal Smith, while Liam Neeson, in the same part, is just doing an impression - and a bad one. Cue the action set pieces: an escape from a U.S. Army base in Germany, during which the boys parachute from a demolished transport plane while inside a tank; an assault on an office tower involving shoulder-launched missiles and the old fake window-washer ruse - see minute 2:04 here on the official trailer.

Shortly after Robert De Niro and Mayor Michael Bloomberg affixed a sticker supporting the 9/11 Memorial to the front door of De Niro’s Locanda Verde restaurant last week, the sticker disappeared. After DNAinfo's inquires, a new sticker appeared Thursday evening — not on the door, but on a side window, behind a pine tree and several bushes. Only if passersby look past the shrubs and through the branches can they see the blue, black and white sticker, which is not much bigger than a playing card, from outside De Niro’s restaurant. Its message reads: “We Support the 9/11 Memorial. Forever Changed. Forever Connected."
De Niro, who is a board member of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, installed the sticker in a ceremony with the mayor as part of the memorial’s “Signs of Support” program, where local business owners get a sticker to place in their windows in return for making a donation. The purpose of last week’s photo-op was to encourage other businesses to do the same. A manager at Locanda Verde, who did not give his name, said Thursday afternoon that the sticker put on the front door last week was never intended to be permanent, because it was stuck to the outside of the door, where it was subject to wear and tear and window-washing.

MCCC takes strides towards a more energy efficient campus, including replacing the windows of the Life Science building. On May 7 the maintenance crew of MCCC began replacing the 39-year-old, two-story curtain walls due to costly damages resulting from leaking and also the potential of future hazards. The project also goes along with other renovations being done to make the college more energy efficient. According to the director of the Physical Plant, Jim Blumberg, many people were unaware of the reasons for this work. “Most people have been asking me if it’s just for aesthetics,” Blumberg said, “But we should have replaced the windows ten years ago.” Some of the problems caused by the water intrusion include damage to computers, desks, carpet, drywall, the surrounding wooden framework, and costly lab equipment. Extended exposure to water damage can also lead to mold or rotting wall systems, both wood and brick. “Water can get into the walls, into the ceilings, places you don’t see, so then air quality becomes an issue,” Blumberg said. “We haven’t had any, thankfully, but you don’t want anything to develop.”

It could have been a volunteer window cleaner! UCLA students, alumni team up with Clean Carwash Campaign to boycott car washes, fight for worker rights - During the summer of 2008, Aura Lopez, a worker at Best Way Hand Car Wash in Los Angeles, was standing on the wheel of a truck while washing its window when she fell and landed on a metal key. The fall damaged her spinal column. She should have been using a ladder, but she said the owner told his workers he did not have the money to buy more. UCLA students, alumni and university labor programs have been incessantly fighting alongside the CLEAN Carwash Campaign for the rights of car wash workers like Lopez. Best Way Hand Car Wash and Celebrity Car Wash declined to comment on the claims because of lawsuits they are facing. Vermont Hand Wash and Lawndale Car Wash refused to comment. Five Star and Magic Wand were unavailable to give a response.
According to campaign members and car wash workers, industry owners have been exploiting their employees for years. Instead of taking Lopez to the hospital, the owner took her to a family clinic. “They didn’t have the adequate doctors to treat me there. When my sister told my employer she was going to take me to a general hospital, he said he wasn’t going to make himself responsible for me,” Lopez said. The hospital Lopez was treated at informed her that she had the right to press charges. Fearful of losing her job, Lopez initially refused to do so. However, she filed a lawsuit after realizing her employer would not pay the bill two months after her injury. The lawsuit has yet to see its full way through. Since the accident, Lopez said she suffers constant pain, and she was recently told she needs surgery. Unemployed since the incident, Lopez cannot afford to undergo the operation and is relying on either her insurance’s coverage or the lawsuit to cover the charges.

Pfizer Inc. volunteers assisted the Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut in Niantic with some large improvement projects earlier this month. Forty Pfizer employees worked at the museum on June 10 and 11 and washed all the windows and weeded the museum's gardens. They also scraped, sanded, and primed the exterior of the building in preparation for a fresh topcoat. Some of the volunteers are planning to return to the museum on their own time to complete the paint job. In addition, the Pfizer volunteers brought their own ladders, paintbrushes, and window-cleaning supplies, saving the museum additional costs. Christy Hammond, the museum's executive director, said similar work would have cost the museum between $25,000 and $30,000 with outside contractors.

Tips for selling your house this summer: If you are counting on selling this summer, then take some advice from agents who look at homes 24/7. We may be in the middle of the selling season, but it is still a tricky market and, they say, small details make a big difference in encouraging people back up the path for a second viewing. “Think about how you would want to present yourself on a first date,” says Edward Church, partner at Strutt & Parker in Canterbury, “and do the same for your house – all buffed up clean and shiny, and smelling nice.” People are always drawn towards windows – a plus in the height of summer when they can look out onto your carefully tended garden, so make them a real focal point. Apart from ensuring the glass is sparkling (well worth paying a window cleaner), clear junk off window sills and keep curtains pulled well back to make rooms seem lighter and bigger.

Village cricketer Steve Witham has scored the world's quickest century in a one-day game - off just 35 balls. Steve's ton included nine sixes and nine fours. He was finally out for 110. He took the record off Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, who hit 100 off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in 1996. Steve, 38, from Sudbury, Suffolk, was captaining his club's second team against Clacton. The window cleaner, who once hit six sixes off one over, said yesterday: "I was hit in the groin by the first ball so I decided to do as little running as possible." Team mate Louis Brookes said: "Steve is a big hitter and he was on really good form that day."

Skyscraper plan cut down to size: An ambitious plan to build a glass needle skyscraper that would have been Cardiff’s tallest building has been axed, the Echo can reveal. The iconic £50m development, earmarked for land next to Cardiff Central Station, would have housed more than 100 luxury apartments. Officially named Seren – the Welsh word for star – by developer Urban Solutions, the 32-storey needle would have stood alongside two smaller blocks containing luxury hotel rooms. They would have been run by a company called Doubletree , which is part of the Hilton group. But after years of delays and the onset of the worst economic downturn in 60 years, London-based Urban Solutions has scaled back its plans. It has submitted a proposal to Cardiff Council to build two hotels on the derelict site. Instead of acres of gleaming glass, the buildings will have white metal cladding, according to documents lodged at City Hall.

Rivals Gareth Potts and Adam Davis are on course to meet in the final of the Foster's World 8-Ball Pool Championships. The two friends have battled through to the last eight of the £25,000 tournament at Blackpool's Imperial Hotel. Victory over Ely window cleaner Harrison will earn Davis a shot at former champion Mick Hill or Gareth Hibbott.