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It's a common meme among the "professional left" that President Obama is just like George W. Bush when it comes to economic and foreign policy. But could that meme, if true, be helpful to the president on two key issues?
There's already been grumbling on the right and the "pro left" about Obama's alleged bypassing of Congress and the War Powers Act to accede to NATO's call for help in Libya. That debate continues (read a rebuttal of the left/right argument against Obama.)
But conservatives are also accusing the president of bypassing the will of Congress (and in their exegesis, the "American people") when it comes to immigration. From Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft:
The US Senate voted down the DREAM Act in December. But, it doesn't matter. Obama pushed the law through by executive order last week.
Hoft links to (well, he attempts to, since his link is broken) an article by a Phoenix, AZ Conservative Examiner who writes:
The Obama administration memo from the John Morton, Director of I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) directs I.C.E. agents now to use "prosecutorial discretion"with regard to enforcing immigration laws.
Director Morton says that Obama Administration policy directs border patrol agents not to enforce immigration laws: "When ICE favorably exercises prosecutorial discretion, it essentially decides not to assert the full scope of the enforcement authority available to the agency."
You read that right. According to the Obama administration "favorable" enforcement means NOT enforcing the law!
According to one of the first press reports to break this important story, the new Obama policy is cut and dry: "federal immigration officials do not have to deport illegal aliens if they are enrolledin any type of education program, if their family members have volunteered for U.S. military service, or even if they are pregnant or nursing."
The story has also been picked up by HotAir and the birther site WorldNutDaily.
The memo, which you can read for yourself here, simply states that ICE agents should take several factors into account when deciding whether and how to use prosecutorial discretion, including the age and circumstances of a person's entry into the U.S., the person's pursuit of education, and their or their family's military service. It is being interpreted by the right as an Obama administration end-run around Congress' rejection of the DREAM Act, which specifically calls for a path to citizenship for people who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children, who are pursuing higher education, and/or who have served or intend to serve in the U.S. military. The question is, does the executive branch have sufficient discretion over the spending of congressionally allocated resources to prioritize detaining and deporting, say, violent illegal immigrants versus illegal immigrants who are students, soldiers, or Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, based on the limited resources available.
In another question of how far Obama can push executive discretion without hitting a constitutional firewall, The New Republic's Matthew Zeitlin alarms the Hot Airians by floating the idea that if Republicans in Congress continue to play politics with the debt ceiling, risking the full faith and credit of the United States, the president might just be able to ignore them, and keep paying our debts:
… barring a timely resolution to the standoff, could President Obama simply ignore the debt ceiling and keep making good on the country's obligations? As the deadline grows nearer, the question has been popping up on law blogs and other forums, and according to a number of legal experts with whom I spoke, the answer, surprisingly, appears to be yes—and it is conservative justices who have played the biggest role in making it possible.
When it comes to Congress's ability to stop the Obama administration from ignoring the debt ceiling, legal experts note that the first obstacle standing in its way is the question of standing, or whether a certain party has the right to sue over an issue in the first place. Jonathan Zasloff, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who has discussed this idea on a blog that he writes with several other academics, told me that while an order from the president for the Treasury Department to continue issuing new debt sounded extreme, it was unclear who could prove sufficient injury from the decision that would qualify the person to sue the administration in court. "Who has some kind of particularized injury, in fact?" Zasloff asked, and he could not come up with a satisfying answer.
Part of the reason for Zasloff's difficulty in identifying an appropriate plaintiff is that members of Congress have tried before to sue the president for diminishing their legislative and appropriating power and have typically failed. In 1997, for instance, a small group of congressmen sued Office of Management and Budget director Franklin Raines, arguing that the 1996 Line Item Veto Act diluted their voting power as members of Congress. But seven justices of the Supreme Court disagreed, and did so largely by drawing from an earlier opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia that denied environmental groups standing to challenge the government's interpretation of the Endangered Species Act. In the majority opinion, then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote that because the congressmen had not shown that their injury was "particularized," and that the action of the President had not affected the congressmen in a "personal and individual way," they did not have standing to sue.
Beyond whether Congress could muster a credible plaintiff to get standing to sue the president should he simply ignore them and keep issuing treasury bonds to pay America's obligations (the article states that perhaps the only credible plaintiff would be one Americans would hardly side with: people who bought credit default swaps that would pay off in the event of a default); Zeitlin finds a second potential reason Obama could simply "pull a Dubya" and ignore Congress (as liberals often mistakenly, but in the case of things like signing statements and funding wars through emergency supplementals, rather than in the budget, believe Bush did):
But even if standing could be established and the Obama administration gets taken to court, some legal experts note that an additional argument of surprising strength could be made: The government cannot legally default on its debts. Former Reagan official and maverick conservative budget wonk Bruce Bartlett has suggested as much by invoking Section Four of the Fourteenth Amendment, which says that "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law … shall not be questioned." Although there has been little litigation or discussion of this section, it could be read to imply an absolute firewall against statutory limits on paying or devaluing the debt.
Garrett Epps, a legal journalist and professor at University of Baltimore School of Law, has made an even broader argument in a pair of articles for The Atlantic's website. In an interview, Epps told me that there was a strong argument that the debt ceiling is unconstitutional because it exceeds the legislative branch's power of the purse. The argument goes like this: Because Congress already appropriated the funds in question, it is the executive branch's duty to enact those appropriations. The debt ceiling, then, is legislative "double-counting," because the executive branch is obligated to spend the money Congress appropriates, without having to go back and ask again for permission.
Of course, for the Obama administration to win such a case if one did materialize and make it to the Supreme Court, you'd have to believe that the conservative justices would stand by their own precedents, and not flip sides based on it being the Obama, rather than a Republican administration. For me, that's a big leap, particularly when it comes to the most partisan Justices: Thomas and Scalia. But at least some legal scholars have faith that the conservative justices would be consistent, and the Obama administration would win such a challenge.
Using executive power to help soften immigration enforcement against the very people the DREAM Act would help is certainly a winning strategy when it comes to the important Hispanic electorate. And using presidential authority to make sure seniors get their Social Security checks and that Wall Street doesn't crash would be smart strategy heading in 2012, since the White House could simultaneously dump on Republicans for being irresponsible by refusing to pay America's bills. So politically, these two instances of what the right is calling overreach would be good things for the White House. Even a showdown with the right wing Supreme Court would be good politics.
What's ironic, though, is that members of the pro left often criticize the president for not bullying Congress enough, and not being aggressive enough in exactly exactly what he wants from the legislative branch. At the same time, this same group complains that Obama is too much like Bush when it comes to war policy. If in these two instances, Obama were to "pull a Bush" and bypass Congress on the DREAM Act and the debt ceiling, would the far left be for it, or against it? (We already know the right will be against anything Obama does, no matter how consistent that position might be when stacked against their complete support for "all things Dubya." But on the left, the potential cognitive dissonance is enough to give you a headache.


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August 2, 2015
A 42-year-old Bryan woman has been convicted of health care fraud while running two local medical equipment companies.
Investigators say, Yolanda Nowlin, who operated Yellabone Medic Care Express Equipment Company and Yellabone Medical Equipment Incorporated on Texas Avenue, submitted millions of dollars of claims to medicare and medicaid for equipment that wasn't needed and never delivered.
They say she paid kickbacks to a large number of recruiters in return for the referral of beneficiaries.
She'll be sentenced in December.
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August 2, 2015
A symbolic ground breaking took place Thursday for College Station Independent School District's seventh elementary school.
Creek View Elementary will look a lot like Forest Ridge Elementary, with a few improvements.
The $16 million facility will be located off of Emerald Dove. It is expected to be completed by the fall of 2009.
To check out artist renderings of the new school, click on the link below.
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Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content, but the station is under no legal obligation to do so.
If you believe a comment violates the above rules, please use the Flagging Tool to alert a Moderator.
Flagging does not guarantee removal.
Multiple violations may result in account suspension.
Decisions to suspend or unsuspend accounts are made by Station Moderators.
Questions may be sent to email@example.com. Please provide detailed information.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


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Since forming in 1967, CHICAGO has become one of the best-loved and most successful bands of all time, due in no small part to their incredible pop-rock sensibility and innovative use of horns.
Ekucenter.com for more information and tickets.
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Help make Plasma Active 4 shine
Plasma Active 3 was released on 15th October 2012, and since then, work on the next version has not stopped for a minute, now the work on Plasma Active 4 is well on the way.
Another important release at the horizon is the KDE Plasma Desktop shell 4.10, due in February.
We believe our desktop and mobile products are closely interrelated, both from a technology point of view and from a continuity of the user experience, therefore Plasma Active 4 will be based upon the KDE 4.10 release. This will mean that PA4 will automatically gain some of the features of 4.10, at least from the technology platform point of view, but means also another important thing: ease of setup.
We are planning to release it around the end of March, and since some hardware is approaching as well, this release is more important than ever.
Plasma Active 4 will have a number of important new features over PA3, there are countless small improvements, and few features that will be really visible, including:
- Faster and more usable web browser
- Improved usability of the on-screen keyboard
- Numerous improvements in the File browser application: faster, more usable and scalable to very big amounts of data
- Device-wide ownCloud integration
- "Developer mode" on the device, to more easily work with it
- More user friendly ui for setting alarms
- Better notification
- New applications
- Community support for new devices
But I want to know more!
This is where you can make the difference: it's very important that the new release will have an user experience as smooth as possible. The work for new features is coming to an end (even tough you are still in time to present a work plan if you want to work on a particular one). But is starting an even more important period: testing, stabilization, bugfix.
There are many ways to help in making the release shine: it may be just installing an image and testing, it may mean getting random people to test and register the issue they had with it, it may be participating in the discussions on IRC or the mailing list, it may be setting up a build environment, and start hacking.
Starting hacking on the components of Plasma Active is easier than ever, because as i said, PA4 will be based on KDE 4.10, that means everything specific of Plasma Active can be built on top of the development packages of KDE 4.10 from your distribution of choice, while having the active workspace and active applications running from git from your machine in matter of a minute.
From a packaging point of view, is ridiculously easy as well, as all you have to do is to install the Mer sdk, that is completely self contained, can be dropped on top of any distribution and doesn't really "touch" your system
If you are interested, drop in in IRC, on the #active channel of Freenode, or join the malinglist firstname.lastname@example.com
I battle as a result of webOS' program and Android's "multitasking" and PA would be incredible to have. When we have higher resolutions where it bodes well to not run applications full-screen, we can include this usefulness. http://www.safeformens.com/
Mobile Okular problems
I hope mobile Okular will be fixed in time for PA4 release. Right now it's practically unusable, since it's crashing all the time on zooming.
owncloud sync
@bugsbane owncloud support will only support file synching. Other assets might be added in the future, but the first version will be limited to files.
Not that you can already sync contacts and addressbook using Kontact Touch, and access owncloud through webdav.
Re: Biggest problem
* The textfields should produce a context menu on touch, as do links in the webbrowser -- if that doesn't work for you, please file a bug so we can look into it
* I don't see the need for zooming, we will not add specific features and then try to come up with usecases. All our features have to address specific usecases to be addded in the first place
* Restart won't be added to the lock screen, it's the same as shutdown, just switch the device on again after that -- the usecase is not important enough to warrant a UI option
* Full screen apps will not go away for the resolutions PA currently supports. Once we have higher resolutions where it makes sense to not run apps full-screen, we can add this functionality. Just disabling it without a good idea about its usecases and UX won't happen
* An app being "basic" is, to me, a good thing, unlessthere's something specific missing, we'll keep it basic, as simple is good. If there are important features for a certain workflow missing, we can add those, but we won't add "random features" to make the UI look less empty (or simple)
As to your other points, "shockingly basic" isn't very expressive, except that you are personally missing something -- but no word what.
Some of your issues are real bugs, some are unfortunately only vague ideas how something should be done, without much thought or background info put into it. Some are just too unspecific for being useful ("more options in apps" -- which options are really missing, for which usecase?)
Biggest Problem
Biggrest problem is device support. It may help is Canoncial also put in latest version in their repositories then if there is a Ubuntu image for a device one can then inslal Plasma Active easily.
Other problems I noticed in PA3 (testing on Nexus 7 unit);
* No text field touch contextual menu, other words holding down finger on a text entry field does nothing, when you should be able to paste or copy, etc
* On Screen Keyboard was awful and at most times got in the way or was slow
* File application was shockingly basic
* Could not delete some widgets/containers off screen
* Get rid of the full screen thingy with apps, it's awful and no reason on tablets. Give user options how they want the defautls to be. That way one cna drag items from one app to another
* Most apps have ZERO options/settings, fix.
* Control-Panel/settings was shocking. Only three sections with little options in total
* The start screen had no restart option, onyl shutdown or sleep, and unlock
* A good direction would be to design the desktop as being zoomable with a slider, other words everything is zoomable bar the pull downs and menus.
What is the speed of PA on a WeTab?
Even with PA3 it can be quite slow and unresponsive... I don't know if this is just on my machine or is this common on all of WeTabs :S
(I have the "better" version of WeTab: 3G + that hardware acceleration for video or something similar)
RE: Switched to a 10" Form Factor?
> Those photo's look gorgeous. Surprised that no one else has commented that those last two photo's are looking more like a 10" than a 7" form factor.
No, those photos are of the usual old ExoPC i usually use for videos.
Specs of the actual Vivaldi hardware will be announced as soon is ready to come out.
Switched to a 10" Form Factor?
Those photo's look gorgeous. Surprised that no one else has commented that those last two photo's are looking more like a 10" than a 7" form factor. I just *really* hope that there's a version with 3G. That was the big roadblock for me with the Vivaldi.
Very, very happy to see that the browser is being addressed, given it's importance to any mobile experience (especially one that aims to support the open web over silos of different platform's apps). As a tabaholic, the browser was probably the harshest bit to deal with in PA3 for me. OwnCloud integration everywhere would be absolutely brilliant. I know this could cover a million things, but it would be awesome if it could just cover syncing files, contacts, calendars and bookmarks it would be fabulous.
Very curious what apps we're going to see!
Nexus7 image to flash
+1 on a wiki page with an image ready to flash on Nexus 7: in this way we can follow the devels and submit bugs
RE: Image list
> What would be really helpful, is a single, simple page where I can have a list of available device images, with date, working stage, PA version, sorted by date.
yeah, that's a god idea, it may be kept perhaps on the wiki.
would you like to join the mailinglist and start asking around?
some of the devices it has been demoed on probably have been an one-time work that
HP Touchpad
I second gaboo on the image directory.
Could, please, anyone make an image for HP Touchpad? I struggle because of webOS' browser and Android's "multitasking" and PA would be great to have.
I have seen a youtube video of PA on HP Touchpad, but the author never cared to share the recipe and I don't have enough time to do it myself.
I would be very thankful if someone tried this.
Image list
What would be really helpful, is a single, simple page where I can have a list of available device images, with date, working stage, PA version, sorted by date.
So that, quickly, I know if there is an image for my device, and where to download it.
I vaguely know that it works on nexus 7 and some wetab, but a central place to get that information and an image to flash would help :)


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Learn how to WASTE ZERO at the Free Small Business Week Workshop
Don't Let Your Bottom Line Go To Waste – WASTE ZERO
Recology Sunset Scavenger and Recology Golden Gate, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of the Environment, invite you to attend a lively discussion centered around reducing waste at your business. By maximizing recycling, composting, and reuse options, you can help reduce your impact on climate change, save natural resources, and improve your company's bottom line.
This interactive panel discussion will focus on the meaning of zero waste, how to take effective steps to reduce waste at your business, and will also provide you with information about the many free resources available help your business go green.
Bob Besso, Recology
John Hanscom, LEED AP, ESA, Renewable Resources Group
Alex Dmitriew, San Francisco Department of the Environment
Chris Levaggi, Recology
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Session 4, 3:20-5:00pm
Small Business Conference
SF State Downtown Campus
Compostable vs. Biodegradable… ugh
We live in a world filled with complicated plastics, which include plastics #1-7, bioplastics, degradable plastics, and compostable plastics.
When people ask me recycling questions about San Francisco's programs, I sometimes get funny interpretations. "That is combustable, right?", "Yes", I say, "it's compostable", meaning, it is acceptable in San Francisco's green compost collection bin.
Plastic manufacturers are trying to green plastic packaging and capitalize on greenwashing. Consumers are still trying to grasp recycling basics and when you add biodegradable and compostable plastics to the mix, it just adds to the confusion. I often field questions from our customers who inquire about different products and their recyclability. "Can I compost my wheat-based kitty litter?", "How about my biodegradable diapers, if there is no poo?", "My fork says biodegradable, can I put it in the green bin?"
The answer to all of these questions is "no", they are not acceptable in the green compost bin.
New "green" products and plastics are the cause of much misinformation and confusion. The sales pitches, acronyms and poor labeling are so overwhelming that consumers say "I just throw everything in the recycling bin." This is not what recycling companies want to hear.
The following are some examples of terms and phrases used in the "green/bio" plastics industry.
- Biocompostable
- New generation of plastics
- Made from corn
- Taterware, Spudware or Greenware
- Renewable raw materials
- "Feels and look like plastics for the most part"
- Polylactic Acid (PLA)
Regardless of what the manufactures claim, let's learn how to properly sort plastics into the correct recycling, compost or trash bins.
Compostable Plastics or items certified as ASTM D6400 compliant are "capable of undergoing biological decomposition in a compost site…" (I spared you the longer version from the American Society for Testing & Materials or ASTM). Their definition of compostable ASTM D6400 compliant plastics goes on to say, for a plastic to be called "compostable", they need to meet three criteria. They must:
- Biodegrade
- Disintegrate, and
- Have no eco-toxicity
In short there must be no toxic residue left after the material is composted, it should look like dirt.
Biodegradable plastics that do not meet ASTM D6400 standards usually contain some plant based/"bio" plastics or additives mixed with real plastics and are not compostable or recyclable in San Francisco's recycling programs. Yes biodegradable or bioplastics may be greener or contain less petroleum based plastics, but once you mix plant and petroleum plastic resins you can not separate them, recycle or compost them, they go to landfill (San Francisco's black trash bin). Biodegradable plastics are designed to break down into smaller pieces of plastic outside of a landfill; they never "go away". We already have enough smaller pieces of plastics in our oceans. Do we really need more?
I advocate for zero waste everyday and hope that everyone can begin to think in the same way. When determining what type of plastic to purchase (recyclable, compostable or non-recyclable) or any type of disposables for that matter, remember the basics (reduce, reuse, and then recycle). Ask yourself:
- Do you really need the disposable product? What alternatives exist?
- Can the product be replaced with something durable or reusable?
- What is the end use or recycling options for plastics?
In San Francisco and most communities that have a three bin system, sort your plastics as follows:
- Biodegradable plastics = landfill or trash
- Compostable = compost
- Recyclable (non-compostable or non-biodegradable) = recycling
WASTE ZERO everyday.
No-Fuss Options for Separating Kitchen Scraps
San Franciscans have numerous options for separating food scraps for compost collection.
The keys to keeping your kitchen neat and clean are to place your scraps in a container that will not leak and transfer them to a compost collection (green) cart before they begin to break down. Usually that means taking them out once a day, such as after dinner.
Please place all food scraps from the preparation of meals and all plate scrapings from unfinished meals in a compost container. You can request a kitchen pail, at no additional cost, online at RecologySF.com, just click "order green cart." You also can call Sunset Scavenger, (415) 330-1300, or Golden Gate, (415) 626-4000, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Stores selling kitchenware offer countertop compost containers of different styles and price ranges. People typically rinse their countertop container with a little soap and water after use. Another option is to line the container with a little soiled paper, such as a paper napkin, to absorb moisture.
Paper grocery bags also can be used to hold kitchen scraps. To control moisture, line paper bags with a little newsprint or a few used paper towels. Then toss vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, and other leftovers inside. Once a day (before you go to bed) roll the top of the paper bag shut and toss it in a composting (green) cart.
A gable-top paper milk carton is another option. If you buy a paper carton with a plastic spout, which we do not recommend, split the top open and remove the plastic spout before placing food scraps inside.
Some people simply wrap kitchen trimmings in newspaper like a burrito. Newspaper and food soiled paper, such as paper napkins, mix with food scraps at the compost facility and compost well.
Please remember you should place all your food scraps, including meat and bones, soiled paper, and plants in the green cart for composting pickup.
Food scrap collection is easy; find the best method that works for you.
New data shows that composting is a highly effective way to help protect the environment. San Francisco residents and businesses have composted more than 620,000 tons of material, mostly food scraps, through the city's green cart program. By composting all that food since the program was created instead of sending it to landfill, San Francisco:
- Avoided creating 137,000 tons of methane gas, which the Environmental Protection Agency reports is 21 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
- Sequestered, or put back into the soil, 18,400 metric tons of CO2. That is the equivalent of keeping nearly 3,600 cars off the road.
- Created a total CO2E benefit (methane avoided and carbon sequestered) of 155,000 tons. That's equal to reforesting 35 square miles of sustainable forest for 23 years or offsetting emissions from all vehicles crossing the Bay Bridge for 311 days.


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TOKYO--With Sony Computer Entertainment head Kaz Hirai delivering a keynote address at the opening of the Tokyo Games Show today, many expected some new announcements to be made. But what Hirai delivered instead was a fairly news-less speech, with the only notable fact being that the new Slim PS3 had sold more than a million units within three weeks of launch.
However, at a press conference held later in the afternoon, Sony confirmed that the new motion controllers for the PS3 would indeed be available in spring 2010, But more importantly, the company revealed which first-party games would actually be supporting the new technology. Ape Escape, Echochrome 2, Eccentric Slider, Sing and Draw, Champions of Time, Motion Party, The Shoot, and Tower will be new games which will incorporate motion controller use from their release. Other games such as Pain, Flower, Hustle Kings, High Velocity Bowling, and Eye Pets will be made compatible via downloadable updates.
Also announced were new accessories for the yet-to-be-released PSP Go. A Bluetooth stereo headset and a converter cable adapter will be released on December 24, 2009, in Japan, at a recommended retail price of ¥4,980 ($54.58) and ¥1,980 ($21.70), respectively. Sony has confirmed that these two accessories will eventually make their way to North America, Europe/PAL territories, and Asian countries and regions beginning January 2010.


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Too cute to eat—but you'll manage—are these barbecue cookies from Eleni's Cookies. There's a grill, a cooler, hamburgers, hot dog, two fries, two lemonades, three ice cream cones, three ice cream sandwiches...and two smiling bees to buzz over it all. Gift tin, $48.00.
August 2005
Marketplace / Entertaining Guide
Spice Up Your Labor Day Weekend
Here's What We're Serving Up At THE NIBBLE Barbecue
1. What To Drink: Natural Sodas
Natural means the flavors are
Boylan's Old Fashioned Sodas
The taste of all natural sodas is eye-opening. Boylan's has all the classic flavors—Birch Beer, Black Cherry, Cola, Ginger Ale, Grape, Orange, and Root Beer. The sugar-free flavors are spectacular—you won't know you're drinking diet soda. Suggested Retail Price: $1.59, 12-ounce bottle.
Click here for our review and shopping information.
Izze Sparkling Juice
If you're not into the classics but would like a more sophisticated sparkle, try an "adult soda" like Izze, in fashionable fruit flavors like Blueberry, Clementine, Grapefruit, Lemon, Pear, and Pomegranate. It's 100% juice, 100% natural. Suggested Retail Price: $1.49, 12-ounce bottle; $4.99, 4-pack.
For more about Izze and other alternative sodas, click here.
Flavors for the more sophisticated pop
2. What To Grill: Natural & Organic Meat & Poultry
Natural and organic meats are
Coleman Natural
Coleman Natural is the better grade of meat available in many supermarkets: you'll find their Purely Natural beef, bison, chicken, lamb, pork, and sausage. The meat comes from animals that are vegetarian fed, and raised without antibiotics or hormones.
Beef burgers are available in 1/3-pound frozen, uncooked patties made from 100% all natural, high-quality beef cattle like Angus and Hereford. Average retail price $7.99.
Dakota Beef
People spend more money on organic beef because it tastes that much better. We had one of Dakota Beef's hot dogs recently and it was an out-of-this-world experience. This year, why not upgrade to organic and see for yourself if you think it's worth it.
Dakota Beef is a relatively new company with limited retail distribution. There's a store locator on the website—but you can order their superb products online. Suggested retail price for Dakota Dogs: $3.99/pound.
Niman Ranch
Niman Ranch began raising cattle 30 years ago in Marin County, across the Golden Gate Bridge. It soon became a favorite with San Francisco restaurateurs, adding lamb and pork. Niman fame spread across the country, and its products became the first nationally branded gourmet meats to be named on restaurant menus.
Niman Ranch has franks with and without nitrates, made with premium-quality Niman Ranch beef, smoked over hickory. There are dozens of other choices including steaks, ribs, brisket, and virtually any other cut of beef, lamb, or pork you could ask for. The complete line is sold at the online store and at specialty retail distribution nationwide. Suggested retail price for a 2-pound package (4 links) of Fearless Franks, $7.95; Uncured Beef Franks, $8.95.
Bell & Evans
It's hard to find a better-tasting chicken than Bell & Evans. Professional chefs, food writers and restaurant reviewers agree that these chickens are in a class of their own. The birds live in a minimal stress environment, eat an all-natural diet, and are free to roam. They produce moist white meat and buttery dark meat, with excellent flavor and aroma. You can see a visible difference in quality in a side-by-side comparison of uncooked birds, and you can certainly taste the difference. Suggested retail price: $1.59/pound for legs, $2.79/pound for bone-in breast.
Bell & Evans chickens are sold in 39 states. There's a store locator on the website.
3. Barbecue Sauce
|A great grilling sauce is a treasure
Grandville's Gourmet BBQ Sauces
Everyone has a favorite barbecue sauce, whether it's one's own blend or a favorite brand. We've tasted a hundred, it seems, and Grandville's stands out. In Original, Mild, Extra Spicy, Cajun, Tropical, and Teriyaki, these sauces are so packed with good things, you'll want to use them beyond meat, poultry and fish on the barbecue. Spread them on toast and sandwiches, accent vegetables and potatoes, use them to dip kabobs and things that haven't been near a barbecue. Try grilled bananas with Tropical BBQ Sauce!
Thicker and more textured than a typical barbecue sauce, they have a consistency is between a dessert sauce and a jam. Cajun and Tropical are Scovie Award winners. Even if you don't get them in time for Labor Day Weekend, just get them! Case sales only, six 18-ounce jars per case, mix and match: $36 per case plus shipping.
Bronco Bob's Chipotle Sauces
Bronco Bob's Smoked Bacon Chipotle Grillin' and Dippin' Sauce won first place in the Condiments, Meat Sauce category at this year's Scovie Awards, and pretty much wins everything it enters. Why? Great taste, great packaging. In addition to the heat, the flavors are intense, whether you like Smoked Bacon, Tangy Apricot, Wild Cherry Berry, or Roasted Raspberry.
All are great as a starter, spread over cream cheese (or blended) and served with crackers. And we love the fruit flavors as dessert sauces. In addition to vanilla ice cream, try Roasted Raspberry over raspberry sorbet. The heat and the cold are quite exciting. Set of 3 15-ounce bottles of one flavor, $28.00; gift sampler with one of each, $38.00 (prices include shipping).
4. How to Season
|Spice it up with international
French's GourMayo Flavored Mayonnaise
We love this line of light mayonnaises: we have all four flavors. The two we'll spice it up this weekend are Wasabi Horseradish and Smoked Chipotle. Both have just the right touch to give your potato salad, cole slaw, or dip a little something special...without being too overtly flavored.
Wasabi Horseradish has zestiness, Smoked Chipotle has smokiness with a bit of pepper heat. They come in squeeze bottles so you use them on burgers, sandwiches, wraps, and hors d'oeuvres with ease. Suggested retail price: $2.59 for an 11-ounce squeeze bottle. There's a printable 75 cent coupon on the website!
Salad Splashes
Use a lighter dressing—called a splash—on your greens, to marinate tomato and cucumber slices, as a lighter dressing for cole slaw, to mix potato salad. Sweeter splashes can work as fruit salad dressings, even as ice cream toppers!
The original Salad Splash® was created by The Silver Palate some 20 years ago. We've been a big fan of their Raspberry Sun Salad Splash ever since. It can glaze a chicken, grace a salad, make cole slaw, or top a sundae. Suggested retail price, 12.5 ounces, $4.39. There's also a fat-free version, Really Raspberry Salad Splash®.
Now, splashes come in many nationalities, like this Lemongrass Salad Splash from Thai Kitchen, which is also low-calorie: just 10 calories a tablespoon. Suggested retail price, 7 ounces: $3.29.
Both brands are available in many supermarkets as well as in specialty food stores.
International Seasonings
Labor Day is an American holiday, but we're a country of world cultures: we all reached this soil from somewhere else. Embrace the culinary heritage of another culture's spices in your marinades, dressings and seasonings. You can find ready-made international-themed marinades, sauces, glazes salad dressings in specialty food stores, international markets, and many mainstream supermarkets. There are plenty of recipes online if you want to cook from scratch. Some ideas:
A Thai cuisine favorite, peanut sauce
is accented with garlic, chile, lemongrass
and coconut milk. There are specialty
brands like Wild Thymes (11-ounce jar,
$6.99, available in specialty food stores
and at WildThymes.com)...
...and brands like Thai Kitchen (10-ounce
jar, $4.49), which is easy to find in many supermarkets and as well as at
Spice Up Your Potato Chips
Gourmet brand Kettle Chips asked consumers to vote on new flavor for 2005, and it was a Thai...actually, a tie between Spicy Thai and Cheddar Beer. If you want to make a matching dip for the former, try blending chutney and yogurt. The 2006 winners, Tuscan Three Cheese and Buffalo Bleu, will be hitting the stores shortly.
Kettle Chips makes so many wonderful flavors that you can't help but think, "so many chips, so little time." Go Mexican with Jalapeño with Tequila and Lime or Salsa with Mesquite. Go French with Honey Dijon or Roasted Red Pepper with Goat Cheese. Classic chip lovers can have Sea Salt and Vinegar, Sour Cream and Onion, Classic Barbecue, and yes, even "regular" Lightly Salted and an Unsalted. Kettle Chips are sold at fine supermarkets and specialty food stores nationwide. The price for a 5-ounce bag can range from $2.49 to $2.99 depending on the region and retailer.
Tied for first place in a national vote
of chip lovers. (THE NIBBLE editors
voted for it!)
|5. Dessert #1 - Chocolate
|Favorite finger food:
no muss, no fuss
Fairytale Brownies
Made with Callebaut dark Belgian chocolate in regular, walnut, pecan, peanut butter, chocolate chip, and caramel, plus the less frequently found flavors we love like coconut, mint, raspberry swirl, toffee crunch, and white chocolate. Get one of each flavor brownie for $36.00 plus shipping.
|6. Dessert #2 - Spicy Fruit Salad
|Spice it up with a versatile
China Blue Cider Splash
China Blue is known for its gorgeous bottles and the line of fine Shanghai sauces, glazes, dressings and oils inside. Their versatile Cider Splash can be used as a dressing for green salads or, as we suggest here, to splash on fruit salads. If you don't want to cut up an entire fruit salad, just slice pineapple or mango.
Available online and at fine retailers including Whole Foods and A Southern Season. Suggested Retail Price for a 10-ounce bottle, $10.99.
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text:
Lecia V-LUX 30 Overview
Posted: 05/26/2011
Based on the popular Panasonic Lumix ZS10, the pocket-friendly Leica V-LUX 30 couples a 1/2.33-inch type, 14.1 effective megapixel, RGB-filtered MOS image sensor, and a Leica DC Vario-Elmar branded 16x optical zoom lens. In 35mm equivalents, the V-LUX 30's lens provides everything from a very generous 24mm wide angle, to a powerful 384mm telephoto. When recording movies, a stronger focal length crop results in a 35mm-equivalent range of 29 - 464mm, still a reasonably useful wide angle, and an extremely powerful telephoto. As you'd expect with this much telephoto reach, there's an optical image stabilization system included, and when shooting movies, an Active mode allows a greater degree of correction. Continuous shooting is possible at a up to 10 full-resolution, fine-quality frames per second for as many as 15 frames, or up to 60 frames per second at reduced resolution.
There's sadly no optical or electronic viewfinder; for framing and reviewing images and videos, the Leica V-LUX 30 opts instead for a 3.0-inch LCD display with 460,800 dot resolution, equating to approximately 153,600 pixels, with each pixel comprising separate red, green, and blue dots. This panel includes a touch screen overlay, allowing the V-LUX 30's display to act as an input device, with a tap of the finger enough to set the point of focus and metering. The Leica V-LUX 30's lens has a maximum aperture that varies from f/3.3 to f/5.9 across the zoom range. The minimum focusing distance for the Leica V-LUX 30 is ordinarily 50 centimeters, but drops to just three centimeters at wide angle or one meter at telephoto, when switched to Macro mode.
Like the V-LUX 20 before it, the Leica V-LUX 30 includes a built-in GPS receiver, allowing automatic geotagging of images with the location at which they were shot. The Leica V-LUX 30 has a 23-point multi-area autofocus system which also includes a single-point focusing mode. An AF assist lamp allows the V-LUX 30 to focus on nearby subjects in difficult lighting conditions. As with almost all digital cameras these days, there's also a face detection function, with Leica's implementation using the information to adjust both focus and exposure to properly capture your subjects' faces. Going a step further than many cameras, though, the V-LUX 30 can also be programmed to recognize specific individuals' faces, and prioritize these over other detected photos when capturing photos, or search for photos containing a specific person's face in playback mode. The Leica V-LUX 30 also has an implementation of autofocus tracking, which can monitor a subject as it moves around the frame, continuing to update autofocus as required.
ISO sensitivity ordinarily ranges from 100 to 1,600 equivalents, with the ability to extend this as far as ISO 6,400 equivalent in High Sensitivity mode. Shutter speeds from 1/4,000 to 60 seconds are possible. The Leica V-LUX 30 uses Multi-zone metering, with Center Weighted and Spot metering options available. The Leica V-LUX 30 offers six white balance settings including Auto, Manual, and four fixed presets. A whopping selection of twenty eight still image scene modes, and 18 movie scene modes, let users tailor the look of their images and movies with a minimum of effort, and the Leica V-LUX 30 also offers aperture-, shutter-priority, or fully manual still image modes when more control is desired. There's also an Intelligent Scene Selection function, which can automatically select from a subset of seven scene modes -- portrait, scenery, night portrait, night scenery, handheld night shot, sunset, or macro. In movie capture, there are four options for Intelligent Scene Selection -- Portrait, Scenery, Low Light, or Macro. The Leica V-LUX 30 can also capture 3D images in MPO (Multi Picture Object) format, by processing data from a number of sequentially captured images. A five mode flash strobe includes red-eye reduction capability, and when using Auto ISO sensitivity, has a rated range of up to 5.0 meters at wide-angle, or 2.8 meters at telephoto. There's also digital red-eye correction, and Intelligent Exposure, Intelligent ISO, and Intelligent Auto functions as seen on past models.
As well as JPEG still images, the Leica V-LUX 30 can capture movies with stereo sound at up to 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution or below, using AVCHD compression for 1080i and 720p, or Motion JPEG compression for 720p and standard-def movies. Full HD movies are captured at an interlaced 60 fields per second from 60 frames per second sensor data, while 720p movies can be captured at either 60 or 30 progressive-scan frames per second, and at lower resolutions, all movies are recorded at 30 frames per second. All movies include stereo sound. A Video Divide function allows in-camera movie splitting, letting users trim away the unwanted portions to keep just the parts of movies that they desire.
The Leica V-LUX 30 stores its images and movies on Secure Digital or MultiMediaCards, including the newer SDHC and SDXC types. There's also a not-so-generous 18MB of built-in memory. Connectivity options include a USB 2.0 High-Speed connection, plus standard definition NTSC / PAL video output. The Leica V-LUX 30 can also output high-definition video via a mini-HDMI (type C) connection.
Power comes from a proprietary BP-DC7 lithium-ion battery that is rated for 260 shots on a charge to CIPA testing standards. The generous software bundle includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 for still editing and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 for movies.
List pricing for the Leica V-LUX 30 is set at US$749 with availability starting in early June 2011. Leica is also offering two camera cases for the V-LUX 30: "a strong and resilient leather case and a soft leather case."


text:
Dec 09 2009
The Saddest Two Photos in History
Over the next four days, in the days preceding my triumphal return home back to our beloved and manure-speckled ranch, you're going to see a lot of content on this website. And generally speaking, the content you'll see on this website will fit neatly into one of two categories:
1. Fun, happy, yippy-skippy posts
2. Homesick posts
I'll leave it up to you to decide which category today's post fits into.
Sorry I ended with a preposition. It happens when I'm homesick.
Oops! Just gave it away.
The last time I was home was November 30—the day I pulled away from the ranch to embark upon the last leg of my Griswold Family Book Trip. Charlie was sitting on the grass right next to my car, and he watched as I loaded bag after bag into the vehicle.
I scratched his ears. I kissed him. I sniffed his paws. I told him Mama loved him.
Then I sniffed his paws one last time and got into the car.
And Charlie…just…looked at me.
And then.
And then I started the car and put it in reverse.
And then this happened:
Charlie knew what was happening. He knew what reverse sounded like. He knew what it meant.
Because misery loves company, here's a closer look:
I hope you can forgive me for sharing these photos.
I just needed someone to share in my pain.
528 Comments
Kristin On Thursday, December 10 at 4:50 pm
Awwww… Charlie, thank you for sharing Ree with us. You will appreciate her so much more now that she has been gone for so long.
Now Charlie, when Ree gets home I want you to hold still long enough for her to bury her face in your ears, to sniff your paws and to manhandle your jowls.
You can do that for her, can't you?
I know how hard it is for you to slow down and stay still enough to be loved on, but I KNOW you can do this for her.
You will won't you?
Of course you will! You are such a good dog! ;0)
Kim On Thursday, December 10 at 5:51 pm
Adorable, but it hit home. My beagle makes a face like that when I leave and it makes me feel SO guilty every single time!
Robin On Thursday, December 10 at 6:53 pm
I have said it before-I love Charlie………….
Ondrea Harrison On Thursday, December 10 at 7:05 pm
I swear on my life there was a dog in our local animal shelter (maybe still is) that looked so much like Charlie, I ALMOST adopted him just to be more like you. But then I thought that would be sort of creepy and weird. But then I felt sorry for the dog that I had almost considered adopting him but didn't. Then I just felt sorry for him, but not sorry enough to adopt him. He's still there, I think… I hope… well, I hope he's either there or with a family. But anyway, I don't know why I'm telling you this except that maybe those eyes made me feel guilty for not springing Charlie's twin and maybe I need to go back over there tomorrow, you know, just in case he's on death row. Okay, now I'm off to check Petfinder and try to clear my conscience.
Kelly On Thursday, December 10 at 7:24 pm
Man, I love this dog. How you actually continued in reverse after looking at that face I'll never know,
Laura in PA On Thursday, December 10 at 7:33 pm
Hi my name is Laura.
And I'm addicted to Charlie.
Steven On Thursday, December 10 at 9:49 pm
Best Griswold post yet. I have a BIG poutty pooch every time I leave. Unconditional love. Yep.
Dawn Long On Thursday, December 10 at 10:34 pm
I understand that my baby yorkies (3) and my great dane can't hardly stand it when I leave them. When I came back from Thanksgiving the great dane thought I wasn't staying when I was packing their stuff up and poked his head through the gate and just whined for me.
Tara On Thursday, December 10 at 10:44 pm
I feel your pain…my puppy looks like that when I leave him to check the mail…and he also smells like fritos, but it is his nose not his paws…puppy dog eyes break my heart…
Kristina On Thursday, December 10 at 10:49 pm
oh, what a sweetheart doggie.
Intaly On Thursday, December 10 at 11:05 pm
Oh, Ree! How could you?? I can't look at him anymore, too sad.
Jen On Thursday, December 10 at 11:56 pm
I really like this post and I don't even like dogs in general. But your dog Charlie looks very likable…. i think it's that glum look on his face. The look all pups have at the pet store. The "Please don't go look. Please take me home with you" Or in your case…."Please stay home."
Brynn On Friday, December 11 at 12:51 am
ahh, Charlie looks so sad but he is still cute. you should enter him in the Hallmark cute dog contest! I just entered my pooch, a little late, but I couldn't resist…look how cute he is!:
Mrs. Accountability On Friday, December 11 at 9:52 am
Awwwwwww… poor Charlie. Maybe you need to take him on one of the road trips? I'm sure he wouldn't mind stamping his paw print!
Bren K On Friday, December 11 at 10:25 am
How sweet Charlie is. He is going to miss his mamma, how cute is that?! Hopefully you and Charlie will be together soon. Thanks for sharing.
Erica Hoke On Friday, December 11 at 11:07 am
How did I miss this?!
Poor Charlie, he actually looks like he needs to go inside and have himself a hearty little cry.
That guy really, really loves you.
Emma On Friday, December 11 at 11:08 am
dear #513, you're dog is sooooo cute. he should totally win that contest.
Amy On Friday, December 11 at 11:56 am
Oh, this made me tear up. Dang pregnancy hormones. I love my dog too, and I hate leaving him. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be easier to leave my child somewhere happy with people to play with than it is to leave my dog. Alone. In the house. Without anyone there to rub his tummy. How can he possibly be happy there?
Dynelle On Friday, December 11 at 12:18 pm
I have seen that face before. We have a cat who crawls into any bag that is left open. He's tried everything to come with us. Our dog on the other hand grabs his blankie and carries to the door and sits patiently next to our bags waiting. The sad part is when we have to take the cat out of the luggage and bring the dog and his blankie back to his area and leave them both behind. they are both such characters. Enjoy as much as you can.
Kelly On Friday, December 11 at 1:04 pm
You're about to make me go buy another basset puppy. Lord help! I love these Charlie shots. Who can resist those beautiful basset eyes?
Jackie On Friday, December 11 at 1:16 pm
I can so relate!! I have a little beagle and she has the same puppy dog eyes that just break my heart when I'm leaving the house.
Annette Mary On Friday, December 11 at 4:49 pm
Aww that reverse sound and Charlies situation really puts a lump in my throat, and a watering in my eyes. God Bless Charlie.
Daisy On Friday, December 11 at 6:12 pm
Oh Lord in Heaven, that would have stopped me in my tracks. Poor Charlie. Of course he could have been jsut jerking your chain and gone off and took a nap as soon as you were out of sight ! I am sure he will be glad to have his paw sniffin mama back home for good : )
Elisa Albury On Sunday, December 13 at 11:34 am
You made me cry PW. Like big, fat, streaming down the cheeks alligator tears. Two months ago I moved to a little town in Indiana for work. My husband and dog haven't been able to join me yet. It makes me very sad. Just like Charlie. I'm happy for you that your tour is over.
Texas Rhea On Sunday, December 13 at 11:45 am
Nothing says homesick quite like a sad looking basset hound. They've totally perfect that look.
Kathy On Sunday, December 13 at 2:40 pm
No coverage yet about the Atlanta signing. : (
janet grubbs On Sunday, December 13 at 11:41 pm
oh my goodness.. you and the poor puppy had me laughing and crying at the same time… Safe travels and I'm sure the puppy will get lots of loving when you get home..
Rosemary Wenzel On Sunday, December 13 at 11:53 pm
My heart is aching for you and him.I have a pug and and Ive seen that face before.Absence makes the heart grow fonder.And they are always so happy to see you come home.


text: Hiring in the retail sector has dropped sharply. It needs fewer people and is also becoming more discriminating. High inflation, which has led to a drop in consumer demand, is certainly a factor. "This industry is driven by consumer sentiment," says E. Balaji, Managing Director and CEO, Ma Foi Randstad, an HR firm. "When consumers are unsure of their salaries, they will postpone big-ticket purchases. This automatically has an effect on retail sales and through it on hiring."But with fewer openings to fill, retail companies are also getting choosy. Industry insiders claim many aspiring to join the sector are unaware of the roles and responsibilities it entails. "Companies are now raising the bar while recruiting," says Thomas Varghese, Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's National Council of Retail. He is also Managing Director, Retail, Aditya Birla Group.V. Suresh, Executive Vice President and National Head, Sales, naukri.com, a job portal, maintains employer scepticism extends to recruitment at midcareer and senior levels, too."Around eight to 20 years of experience across different domains like merchandise, operational delivery, supply chain management, accounting and information technology will be prerequisites for any mid-career or senior level appointments," he says. Some of those already recruited are not measuring up. The Aditya Birla Group, for instance, has become cautious about promoting employees as a matter of course, simply because they have spent some years with the company."A store staff member may not possess the qualities required in a store manager," says Varghese. To improve skillsets, the Future Group - which runs the Big Bazaar chain - has been offering MBAs in retail services in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Open University since 2010.However, in the long run, the situation is bound to improve. Organised retail is still at such a nascent stage in the country that it has to grow. "I expect huge expansion in the next two to three years," says Suresh. "Companies will double or even treble the number of stores as they move into Tier-II and Tier-III cities."Again, if the currently stalled proposal to allow 51 per cent foreign ownership in multi-brand retail is accepted at some stage, the expansion that is certain to follow will create many new jobs.


text:
A method for forming contact studs to connect the substrate component devices to the overlying wiring patterns is disclosed herein. The contact studs are formed by a combination of blanket depositing an adhesive and reactive layer into the contact opening. Onto said adhesive and reactive layer is deposited a seed layer and said contact stud is completed by filling the contact opening with a third metal layer. Preferably, the adhesive and reactive layer is a transistion metal and the seed and filler layers are refractory metals.
1. A process for making a contact stud structure for the connection of semiconductor device components formed in a substrate to the wiring for interconnecting said device components to other device components comprising:
(a) depositing an insulator material having an etch-stop layer on said device substrate,
(b) forming at least one opening in said insulator material and said etch-stop layer at said device component locations,
(c) depositing a first metal layer in said opening of said insulating layer and said etch-stop layer, said first metal layer being reactive with said substrate and adhesive thereto and lining said opening in said insulator and said etch-stop layer,
(d) depositing a second metal layer conformally onto said first metal layer,
(e) depositing a third metal layer conformally onto said second metal layer and filling said opening in said insulator layer and thereby forming said contact stud, and
(f) wherein said second and third metal layers being selected from the group comprising refractory metals.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the thickness of said first metal layer is in the range from about 200 Å to about 1000 Å.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein the thickness of said second metal layer is about 1000 Å.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein said substrate is silicon.
5. The process of claim 1 wherein platinum is deposited on said component contact opening.
6. The process of claim 1 wherein said insulator material is a multi-layered structure comprising in sequence a bottom layer of SiO2, a layer of Si3 N4, said etch-stop layer and a top layer of SiO2.
7. The process of claim 6 wherein said bottom layer of SiO2 is about 1000 Å and said layer of Si3 N4 is about 1500 Å.
8. The process of claim 1 wherein said first metal layer is selected from the group comprising transition metals.
9. The process of claim 1 wherein said first metal layer is titanium.
10. The process of claim 1 wherein said first metal layer is an alloy of one of the transition metals alloyed with one of the refractory metals.
11. The process of claim 1 wherein said refractory metal of step (f) is tungsten.
12. The process of claim 10 wherein said alloy is titanium tungsten.
13. The process of claim 1, wherein said substrate is monocrystalline silicon.
14. The process of claim 1, wherein said substrate is polycrystalline silicon.
15. The process of claim 1, wherein said opening is larger than said one of said semiconductor device components formed in the substrate.
16. The process of claim 1, wherein said stud is large enough to contact a plurality of device components formed in the substrate.
17. The process of claim 1, wherein said first metal layer makes a direct physical contact with the wiring for interconnecting said device components.
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/252,836, filed on Oct. 3, 1988, now abandoned.
1. Field of the Invention
In general, this invention relates to a method for producing multi-level, co-planar, metal/insulator interconnection layers for high performance semiconductor chips and more particularly to a method for making contact studs for interconnecting the metallization layers at different levels in said semiconductor chips.
2. Description of Related Art
A semiconductor chip consists of an array of devices whose contacts are interconnected by patterns of metal wires. In VLSI chips these metal patterns are multi-layered and separated by layers of an insulating material. Interconnections between the layers of metal wiring patterns are made by holes (or via-holes), which are etched through the insulator. Typical chip designs consist of one, two or three wiring levels.
The forming of an interconnection metallurgy system for integrated circuit devices has conventionally been done by blanket depositing a metal layer, forming a photoresist layer on the metal layer, exposing the resist to the desired metallurgy pattern, developing the resist, and subsequently etching the exposed portions of the underlying metal layer to thereby form the interconnection wiring. The wiring pattern was subsequently covered by an insulating layer, planarized and then another metallurgy pattern was then formed on said insulating layer. Contact between layers was made through via holes, until the desired interconnection wiring diagram was complete.
Interconnection of the multi-level wiring structure to the device contacts on the substrate was typically made by the incorporation of an access wiring layer.
In an effort to further reduce device processing time and reduce size, access wiring layers were replaced by via studs or vertical wires, known in the art as studs. Studs were now able to be placed directly on top of the device contacts to make interconnection with the above multi-level wiring system.
Studs are known to be formed by using what is termed an "expendable mask method" or "lift-off method", which was initially described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,389. Improvements to the basic lift-off method have been made, as for example in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,849,136 filed Aug. 31, 1973 and 3,873,361 filed Nov. 29, 1973. However, the lift-off technique for forming stud metallurgy does not totally overcome the problems of: uniform deposition of stud metallurgy, planarity problems associated with achieving uniform stud height, high aspect ratio stud depositions, and electromigration tendencies of the preferred stud metallurgies.
An example of the problems associated with stud formation can be seen from the use of lift-off with aluminum as the stud metal. The aluminum must be deposited by evaporation; however, evaporation of aluminum is known to create problems of voids and irregularities in its formation.
Another problem associated with stud formation is the structural irregularities which are known to be created by the nature of the master-slice processing. For example, as master-slice processing causes variation in depth of contacts, the height of the deposited studs becomes variable such that the aluminum studs must be ion etched back to form a planar surface. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,169.).
While there have been many techniques proposed for achieving planarity of studs, these techniques have all been based on the use of Ion Etch back with lift-off, (For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,410,622; 4,470,874, and 4,541,169) wherein the results have not achieved consistent planarity and the methods have been limited to larger line widths and studs.
Moreover, with aluminum as a stud metal, there are added problems in terms of contact alloying/penetration, electromigration, and silicon particle formation. Silicon will form particles and thin films in the contact holes which results in the aluminum being isolated from the substrate surface. Moreover, with the ever-continuing reduction of dimensions in the device multi-level interconnection system, limits as to insulation and electromigration tolerances in using aluminum are encountered.
Electromigration problems associated with aluminum deposited on silicon type substrates have been proposed to be cured by use of tungsten films as diffusion barriers (M. L. Green and R. A. Levy, Technical Proceedings, SEMICON/EAST 85, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute Meeting, September, 1985, pp. 57-63). However, defects "wormholes" originating at the tungsten/silicon interface and problems with preferential erosion of N+ implanted silicon versus P+ implanted silicon from LPCVD tungsten deposition have taught against the solitary use of LPCVD tungsten as the contact stud filler metallurgy.
In a more recent publication (U. Fritsch, G. Higelin, G. Enders and W. Muller; Technical Proceedings, V-MIC Conference Meeting; June 13, 14, 1988, pp. 69-75), the authors propose one possible solution to the defects associated with deposition of CVD tungsten in CMOS devices. Therein, the authors propose first depositing a titanium/titanium nitride diffusion barrier by sputtering followed by a CVD tungsten layer. However, this structure does not create a seed layer which matches the atomic structure of the CVD refractory metal which is to follow. Therefore, there can be interface problems between the CVD refractory fill metal and the titanium nitride layer such as mechanical separation and/or electrical resistance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to produce a method for producing a multi-level co-planar metal and insulation interconnection system for VLSI semiconductor devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to produce planar studs for contacting the substrate to the first level of interconnection wiring.
It is a still further object of the present invention to produce interconnect studs, incapable of being produced with liftoff tolerances (i.e., stud widths of less than 1.5 μm).
It is another object of the present invention to produce substrate contact studs of a non-reactive metal for void free deposition with low electromigration characteristics.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a substrate contact stud structure useable with different component contacts.
Onto a substrate which has been processed to the point of being ready for the contact stud metallurgy, an insulator is blanket deposited. This insulator is, then, planarized and portions are then selectively removed at predetermined locations to expose the substrate surface for contact.
A reactive adhesion layer is, then, blanket deposited over said insulator and into said contact openings.
A seed layer is, then, deposited over said adhesion layer. Both the adhesion and seed layers are sputter deposited. Preferably, the adhesion layer is a transition metal capable of reducing SiO2 and the seed layer is a refractory metal. However, depending on the specific transistor component to which contact is to be made, the adhesion layer can either be a transition metal or an alloy of the reactive metal with a refractory metal.
A refractory metal, such as, tungsten, is then chemically vapor deposited (CVD) as a filler layer to complete the formation of the contact studs. The surface is again planarized such that said insulator and said studs form a co-planar surface.
Successive upper layers of interconnecting metallization can now be fabricated onto said contact studs. Thus, onto said studs is deposited wiring metallurgy such that contact to said substrate is made through the previously deposited stud.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional representation of a portion of a semiconductor chip processed through forming a device contact on said chip.
FIG. 2 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 1 with the deposition of an etch stop layer onto the substrate surface.
FIG. 3 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 2 wherein an insulator has been deposited over the semiconductor chip.
FIG. 4 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 3 wherein the insulator has been planarized.
FIG. 5 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 4 wherein the device contacts have been exposed.
FIG. 6 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 5 wherein a metal has been deposited over the surface.
FIG. 7 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 6 wherein the contact stud metallurgy has been deposited over the diffusion barrier.
FIG. 8 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 7 wherein the metal and insulator has been made to be co-planar.
FIG. 9 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 8 showing the deposition of the wiring metallurgy.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a substrate 1, which is typically monocrystalline silicon or other semiconductor material with an overlying layer 3, of an insulator material, such as SiO2, or for example of a dual dielectric layer, as for example SiO2 /Si3 N4. Preferably, the dual dielectric layer is comprised of a layer 2, of thermally grown SiO2 about 1000 Å thick onto which is thermally grown a Si3 N4 layer 4, of about 1500 Å.
The substrate 1 in the preferred embodiment of the process of the invention is an integrated circuit device having active and passive devices fabricated therein and means (not shown) for electrically isolating the devices from each other. In this application, layer 3 is provided with contact openings 5 for making contact to contact area 7 (e.g., PtSi).
Referring now to FIG. 2, an etch stop layer 9 has been conformably deposited over the dielectric layer 3 and the substrate 1. The etch stop layer 9 can be of any suitable inorganic material that will conformably blanket and adhere to the surface of the substrate and dielectric layer, while also presenting a significant difference to etch resistance than the subsequent overlying material.
As shown in FIG. 3, onto said etch stop layer 9 is deposited a second layer of insulation 11. For example, sputtered or chemically vapor deposited (CVD) SiO2 or borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) or phosphosilicate glass (PSG) can be placed down over the structure shown in FIG. 3. It should be recognized by those skilled in the art that the thickness of this layer 11 determines the thickness of the level of metallization to be formed in the channels which are to be etched into layer 11 for the formation of the stud metallurgy. Next, the layer 11 is planarized by any conventional planarizing technique including Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) etch-back as shown in FIG. 4.
Referring now to FIG. 5, once the insulator surface has been planarized, via-holes or studs holes 13 are formed in layer 11 by using standard photolithographic and RIE techniques. The intended stud pattern is then transferred to the etch stop layer 9 by wet or RIE etch techniques, although the latter are preferred especially where fine dimensions are required. Other possible techniques of forming the via-holes or interconnection metallurgy pattern include projected laser assisted etching, sputtering techniques or reactive ion beam etching. Both layers 9 and 3 are opened to expose the substrate contact 7. It should be noted that while FIG. 5 shows the contact area 7, of the same width as the via holes or stud holes 13, the stud holes or via holes 13, can be larger than the area 7 and/or can even connect two or more contact areas 7.
After the via holes or stud holes 13, are defined, an adhesion and reactive layer 15 is sputtered or evaporated over the structure of FIG. 5 as shown in FIG. 6. The adhesion metal is deposited to be around 200 Å to 1000 Å thick. In the preferred embodiment, titanium is used as the adhesion metal for emitter contacts which contacts are made directly to the silicon. Those skilled in the art will recognize that SiO2 and/or to form an ohmic or Schottky barrier contact without forming silicides. Other metals are also well suited for use as the adhesion and reactive metal including any of the transition metals. However, it is noted that the exact adhesion metal layer to be used will vary with the specific component contact to be structured.
For example, if the component of the integrated circuit is a low barrier height Schottky barrier diode (LSBD), it is necessary to use either a pure reactive metal (e.g., titanium) or an alloy of a reactive metal, a refractory metal (e.g. TiW alloy with 10% Ti and 90% W). This layer is, then, followed by a seed layer of pure refractory metal (e.g., sputtered tungsten).
For other contacts such as those for high barrier height Schottky barrier diodes (HSBD), base, collector and resistors; the contact areas 7 may have platinum deposited therein, which forms platinum silicide. In these contacts, only the sputtered refractory seed layer is required.
Referring again to FIG. 6, onto said adhesion and reactive layer 15 is sputtered or evaporated, a metal seed layer 21. This seed layer 21 is typically about 1000 Å thick, but this is an approximation and the actual thickness can vary depending on the ability of the seed layer to prevent penetration of silicon to the subsequent filler layer.
In addition to providing a diffusion barrier to the silicon, the seed layer also acts as the nucleation layer for deposition of the filler layer 17. In the preferred embodiment, the seed layer is a metal of the class of refractory metals (i.e., tungsten, molybedenum, tantalum, etc.).
Onto said seed layer 21 is, then, chemically vapor deposited the contact stud filler metallurgy 17. The contact stud metallurgy is deposited so as to overlie the surface as shown in FIG. 7. The thickness of the contact stud metallurgy is at least as great as the stud via. Similar to the metallurgy of the seed layer, the refractory metals (e.g., tungsten, molybedenum, etc.) are the preferred metals for the contact studs.
As seen in FIG. 8, once the filler 17 metal has been deposited, the contact stud structure can then be planarized. A number of techniques exist for planarizing dis-similar layered structures with large removal rate ratios for combination of metals and dielectric materials. Possible techniques include but are not limited to RIE Etch, etc. By these techniques, the overlying adhesion, seed and filler layers are removed such that the surface of the insulator contact and metallurgy are co-planar.
Next, interconnection channels are defined by standard photolithography in a resist overlayer (not shown). In places where a stud via connection to overlying metallization is desired, the respective channel opening in the overlayer must be aligned with and at least, partially cover a contact stud.
As shown in FIG. 9, in one specific type of embodiment after the channels are defined in the photoresist, the overlying level of metallization 19 is deposited over the structure. The photoresist and excess metal is removed leaving interconnection metallurgy 19. However, it should be recognized by those skilled in the art that while an additive lift-off process has been described, it is also possible to practice this step of the process with a subtractive process (i.e., RIE or wet etch).
Onto said interconnection metallurgy is then deposited a layer of insulating material, for example, sputtered SiO2 or CVD oxide. With the SiO2 insulation, via-openings can be etched therein to contact the interconnection metallurgy. Then, stud metallurgy is sputter deposited into said via openings and overlying said insulation. Preferably, at this level, the stud metallurgy base is the same metallurgy as the interconnection metallurgy. This is, preferably, an Al-Cu based alloy.
The overlying metallurgy is then planarized to the insulator surface in preparation for the next levels of personalization. The preceding wiring process steps can then be repeated to form successive layers on the substrate.
FIG. 9, further shows that the insulator layers 3 and 11, sandwich the etch-stop layer 9. The insulator layers 3 and 11, and the etch-stop layer 9, have at least one opening 13, at the component contact location for the formation of the contact stud. Additionally, at least a portion of the contact stud passes through the etch-stop layer 9, and at least a portion of the etch-stop layer 9, surrounds the contact stud, as shown in FIG. 9. The etch-stop layer 9, can be of any suitable inorganic material that will conformally blanket and adhere to the surface of the contact area 7, and the dielectric layer 3, while also presenting a significant difference to etch resistance than the subsequent overlying material. As shown in FIG. 3, onto the etch-stop layer 9, a second layer of insulation 11, is also deposited. FIG. 9, also shows that the first metal layer 15, that is conformally deposited in the hole 13, makes a direct physical contact with the interconnection metallurgy 19.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
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Yep, this week is a total fail with the menu plan. I probably ought to add a big red circle with a slash up there.
It just happens that way sometimes.
We have a lot of busy evenings this week – calendar planning at church tonight, allergy shots tomorrow, Ash Wednesday services, trying to fit in trips to the gym we're considering joining, a baby shower on Saturday and a casual get together on Sunday.
Luckily, I have a stocked freezer, a good selection of produce, a pressure cooker I'm in love with and I'm near the grocery store on a daily basis taking The Boy to and from school. It's not a perfect week by any means, but we'll get through. I also picked up this new paleo ebook from Multiply Delicious, and have already started a list of recipes to try. Her recipes have never failed me – in fact, she's my one of my two go-to sites when I'm looking for something specific (the other being Nom Nom Paleo).
This isn't the way I prefer to head into a week, but sometimes it's necessary.
Any tips or suggestions for weeks that menu planning just doesn't happen?


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The Illinois Women's Soccer League will sponsor the first in a series of special Saturday matinees at The Catlow Theater, 116 W. Main St. in Barrington, with a screening of "Grease" at 11 a.m. Oct. 12.
The 1978 movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John will be presented in digital video and audio, taking advantage of The Catlow's recent digital system upgrade. Tickets for the special event can be purchased at the door for the regular admission price of $5.
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In trading on Monday, shares of First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE: FPO) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $12.72, changing hands as low as $12.71 per share. First Potomac Realty Trust shares are currently trading up about 0.3% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performance of FPO shares, versus its 200 day moving average:
Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed below their 200 day moving average »
Looking at the chart above, FPO's low point in its 52 week range is $10.94 per share, with $15.10 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $12.93.
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According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, FPO makes up 3.31% of the KBW Premium Yield Equity REIT Portfolio ETF (AMEX: KBWY)which is trading lower by about 0.6% on the day Monday.
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