text:
Downsizing stories prior to Sept. 30/98
[Commentary © 1998 Philip Hyde, PO Box 622, Cambridge MA 02140 USA]
9/29 Varian [Assocs. of Gloucester, Mass.] slashing up to 200 more jobs, by Todd Wallack, Boston Herald, p. 35.
...because of the "lingering depression in the semiconductor industry." Varian's cutback is the first sign that the downturn in the semiconductor industry is growing worse. Just last week, Teradyne Inc. in Boston said it cut 300 to 400 jobs this quarter. And an industry trade group said members booked $60 in orders for every $100 in shipments last month - the worst ratio ever. "Business stinks," said analyst Fred Wolf of Adams Harkness & Hill in Boston. "It's not going to improve in the near-term." The problems can be traced to an oversupply of chips, declining PC prices and turmoil in Asia.... At least eight other firms have also reported local cutbacks. Varian has already cut nearly a third of its payroll, which numbered 1,100 jobs in February. But as it shed 330 jobs, it added another 90 through an acquisition. Another 145 to 200 of the remaining 860 workers will be let go....
[Keep downsizing your own markets, you morons, instead of timesizing to buffer your market hit by KEEPING EVERYONE EMPLOYED at a reduced workweek.]
9/27 Cheating death-by-Microsoft-upgrade, by Hiawatha Bray, Bos Globe, D1.
In 1994, Artisoft Inc. of Cambridge was riding high. Since then, it has shrunk from 700 employees to 150 and tumbled from a $13.6 million annual profit to a combined loss of more than $30 million. What happened? Windows 95....
9/27/1998 Lights Out: For production workers, Osram's exit means NAFTA retraining provision kicks in - but anger and doubt persist, by Kathy McCabe, Bos Globe D1.
[So the middle class and the once-vast market it represented shrinks further by having to pay the training costs for these workers out of their taxes - to subsidize the astronomical pay of Osram executives.]
The closing of Osram Sylvania's light bulb factory in Danvers [Mass.] ends nearly a century of manufacturing by a Massachusetts company [photo caption].... whose bulbs have lit up everything from living rooms to Fenway Park and the Empire State Building../.. Osram's shift to Mexico and Canada has resulted in the loss of 690 Massachusetts jobs, including 570 workers laid off since July.... The average age of laid-off employees is 46. Blue collar workers at Osram earned an average of $24 an hour with benefits....
[There goes nearly 700 brand-loyal customers for Sylvania in Massachusetts, and their families, and their extended families, and their close friends - people who would buy Sylvania bulbs even if they were not the cheapest on sale. There goes nearly 700 families who were steady purchasers of all kinds of goods and services in Danvers - now they are strapped and are sharply curtailing their purchases of everything - all because the top executives of Osram Sylvania wanted to get cheaper labor elsewhere and keep their own astonomical salaries and perks steady and rising. But as the stock markets show, this near-sighted downsizing has already gone on so long that the purchasing power just is not out there anywhere in the world for virtually any big production facility that might serve as a destination for big investment.
The smarter move is to keep the jobs here and cut hours a bit if you want to save money. The long-term solution is to get bloated executive pay reinvested on as close as possible to a free-market basis in the wages of ordinary employees - that's what happens during wartime and that's why wars are good for economies - they stimulate spending by centrifuging wealth out of the top 10% and into the middle class, which has the time and need to spend it instead of just sitting on it.]
[Good news???...or just more executives trying to look like they're doing something.] 9/27 Troubled Signal [Technology Corp.] moves back to Massachusetts, Bos Globe, D4.
9/25 Cirrus plans to cut up to [500,] 28% of jobs, Bos Globe C2.
...The company employs about 1,800.
[Under timesizing, Cirrus would keep everybody employed, reassign jobs and cut the company workweek to 28.8 hrs/wk - just like VW did a few years ago to avoid 30,000 layoffs and the destruction of their home town of Wolfsburg in Germany.]
9/24 Philippine Airlines goes out of business, Bos Globe, p. C2.
...Asia's oldest. The shutdown left about 8,000 airline workers jobless.
9/23 Venator sheds last vestiges of Woolworth, Boston Globe, page F2.
...Venator, formerly known as Woolworth Corp., will sell its 357 general merchandise stores in Germany.... In recent years[owing to over three years of sagging sales and profits,] Venator has closed or sold more than 1,700 stores....
9/23 Intel to lay off 675 in Hudson [Mass.] - Chip maker vows output at facility won't decline, by Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe, p. F1.
[Ed: Great! even more unpaid overtime and less customer base.]
A nationwide wave of job cuts at computer chip maker Intel Corp. has finally reached the Bay State.... The Hudson plant employs 1,600 workers. Intel purchased the facility from Digital Equipment Corp. for $700M last year, as partial settlement of a patent dispute [that] required Intel to manufacture Alpha chips for Digital...since acquired by...Compaq.... Compaq...will begin using Alpha chips to power its high-end Himalaya computer systems used by banks and telecommunications companies. "This doesn't change...our commitment to manufacture Alpha under the agreement with Digital," said Intel spokesman Bill Calder. "What has changed is we think we can operate this manufacturing facility more efficiently." Intel has been in a nationwide efficiency drive this year, as it contends with dramatic decreases in computer prices and competition from chip making upstarts like AMD and Cyrix....
[Fair enough, there's an article right above the "continued" section of this one titled "AMD...Microprocessor about third of cost of rival's [Intel's]" on p.F13. But then we get to the part where Intel, as if it were no smarter than so many low-tech companies that practice this "strategy," does something real stupid and short-sighted - it confuses efficiency with cutting its customer base (and that of its client banks and telecom companies), i.e., cutting its own employee-distributed earnings -]
In April, Intel vowed to cut its worldwide headcount of 65,000 by 3,000 workers this year, mostly by attrition. Even before then, in January, Intel laid off about 1,100 workers at a chip plant in Arizona. And in May, the company cut 600 more jobs by shutting a plant in Washington that made private-label computers for retailers.... Like most plants, the Hudson facility runs 24 hours a day on three shifts.
[OK, time for me to have a little chat with my fellow nerds, the nearsighted boys running Intel - ah do you guys realize you're in a downward spiral, what we used to call a "vrille" in the first world war? You're cutting people who constitute and generate a market for their own (sorry, your own) products. As Walter Reuther said to Henry Ford when Ford taunted him with "Let's see you unionize these robots!" - "Let's see you sell them cars." Why not go from three 8-hr shifts to four 6-hr shifts if you want efficiency and KEEP THEM ALL EMPLOYED?! That's what far-sighted W.K. Kellogg did in 1930 and it raised efficiency without clobbering the cereal maker's own market, directly or indirectly. See Benjamin Hunnicutt's "Kellogg's Six-Hour Day" (Temple U, 1996).]
To...the father of Acting Governor Paul Celluci, [Argeo Celluci,] the news came as a disappointment, but not a surprise. Digital's management had overstaffed the plant, Celluci said, and layoffs were inevitable under the new owners.
[20/20 hindsight on "overstaffed," coupled with the last refuge of the near-term disappointed, longer-term suicidal coward - the excuse that layoffs are "inevitable."]
But Celucci predicted the lost jobs would have little impact on the region's economy, and that most workers would quickly find other jobs in any case.
[Sure, sure. More happytalk and "conspiracy of optimism." As we used to say in fundamentalist religion, "It's a sin not to smile." Brand on that smile, Argeo! Let somebody else take care of these laid off workers. Hey, we had no choice (and no imagination or foresight). Hey, we can always play the export card, right? Wrong - the Asian slump has hurt exports 'The loss of factory jobs is accelerating, and that's an indication that we are being hurt by the Asian slump,' said Cynthia Latta [of DRI in Aaron Zitner's "US jobless rate" article, Bos Globe, 9/5/95, cited on my " collapse" page.
[More from that other article, "As the currencies of Japan, Thailand, South Korea and other countries have weakened, the price of goods from those countries has dropped. This has made it harder for US companies to sell their products at home, where consumers can buy low-cost imports, or to sell them abroad, where the currency crisis has cut consumers' purchasing power. The Asian crisis most recently spread to Russia, where the value of the ruble has collapsed, and has hurt currency values from Columbia to Canada.... While [US manufacturing] added 95,000 jobs in August, the sector actually lost 48,000 or more jobs if the returning auto workers are excluded." Gentlemen, there's nobody out there to save you but YOURSELVES, and if you don't start maintaining your own markets via maintaining your own firm's employment levels, your markets will continue downward, killed by...yourselves.
[Where to get the extra money? How about from your own extremely bloated pay packages, CEOs of America? That's where it came from in World War II the last time we reversed a slide of this magnitude. The truth is, nobody else has any money - that's why prices are sinking all over the world - and if you don't start reinvesting a lot more of what you've got in your own markets, you won't have any either, as indicated in yesterday's (9/22) article by Bailey and Syre, "Executives' losses don't look good on paper - Stock market slump has trimmed portfolios by hundreds of millions" - Boston Globe, p. D1. In the good old days of five years ago, decision-makers could amass enough money to completely insulate themselves from any negative consequences of their own decisions - ergo, no feedback loop, no respondability. Now they've amassed so much that their wealth compression itself is undermining its own value! Squeeze it enough and it can't run around and circulate, and that's bad when it's whole game is running around and circulating - that's why we call it "currency," i.e., RUNNING stuff. And at the risk of monotony, repeat after me, "The more concentration, the less circulation" - it's called the "marginal efficiency of wealth or investment" in economic textbooks - you boys are just investing too much in too little - yourselves!]
[And a tidbit from our shrinking healthcare industry, recently fully one seventh of our economy -]
9/23 Carney [Hospital] slashes 56 jobs, Boston Globe RegionBriefs, p. F7. [Doesn't sound like much but, read on...]
...is laying off 56 full-time workers due to a drop in patients and multimillion-dollar cut-backs in the federal Medicare program. Spokeswoman...Baker-Gomez said..."We're expecting $4M less in revenues for next year." The hospital...asked people to volunteer for the layoffs.... Said Marge Adams, a critical care nurse..."We've never had anything as big as this." Hospital administrators are not expected to close any departments, but the layoffs will likely affect all departments. Carney's critical care unit, for example, will lose seven nurses.
[Even more overtime and stress, even less rest and employee health and...customer base. Funny how we get better and better equipment and technology, and worse and worse service from fewer and fewer more stressed out employees, and of course, there's more of us who need good service because fewer of us can afford health insurance and we have less and less money to keep ourselves healthy in a proactive way.
[At the risk of harping, we just don't know how to deal with technology. We would all be living in heaven if we used it for less work (and by market forces, more pay) instead of fewer jobs (and by market forces, less pay) - in other words, if we used it for "timesizing, not downsizing." If you're reading this and you haven't realized that this is the title of my book just out, go back to my top page and click on "For book lovers" in the menu near the bottom.]
[Now, a blast from the past (1996) to give Brockton Hospital a chance to show Carney what they SHOULD have done -]
2/29/96 Nurses OK hours cut to save jobs at hospital, by Diane Lewis, Boston Globe, p.30.
At a time when job security is uppermost in workers' minds, nurses at Brockton Hosptial have come up with a job-saving plan. Rather than the layoff of 86 nurses, the staff has agreed to reduced hours and pay cuts.... Under the plan,...about half of the 395 nurses...may give up one day a week or choose so-called flex positions and work a minimum of 24 to 32 hours weekly, with full benefits. When patient volume increases, nurses in flex positions would be asked to work 40 hours a week. "I'm new, which means without this plan I would not have a paycheck," said [Jennifer] O'Brien, who will now work in a 24 flex position.... Jody Fleit, a member of the union's negotiating team...developed the plan while reviewing the hospital's declining inpatient population and its staffing patterns.... Said Fleit..."For us, the challenge was to save jobs and have the right number of work hours per patient every day."
[And CEOs, remember that saving jobs is saving markets. Nucor Corp. of Charlotte, NC does the same kind of flexing as Brockton Hospital and they are one of the last surviving US steel companies. Similar, also, is Lincoln Electric of Cleveland, one of America's vanishing rustbelt companies (they make welding equipment and electric motors) but a survivor because of timesizing, not downsizing.]
Now back to the bad news - an entire downsized Canadian province -
9/20 Boston Globe Magazine's Colin Nickerson, p.14 - Newfoundland, farewell - Now that the once-abundant Grand Banks are fished out, many natives are doing something they never thought they'd do: leaving -
In 1992 [the federal minister of fisheries] ordered the fishing grounds closed indefinitely as stocks plummeted toward extinction [1,400,000,000 metric tons caught in 1968 down to 150,000 in 1991].... The desperate bid to protect the precious cod stripped nearly 30,000 fishermen and fish-plant workers of their livelihoods. By some reckonings, the emergency decree put 20% of Newfoundland's total work force onto the unemployment rolls.... Canada's poorest province - population 558,000 and falling - is also the only Canadian province to suffer a net loss of population in this decade.... In 1960, Newfoundland had 1,444 communities, mostly surviving on cod. Today, the number has shriveled to 700, as whole hamlets have been abandoned.... In interviews with recent graduates of [William Mercer Academy on the Bonavista Peninsula], students found that only 9% had gotten jobs in Newfoundland, while 42% had fled the province in search of work, 32% were on unemployment or welfare, and 17% were pursuing further education. [Hence Phil Hyde's identification of further education as yet another disguised government makework campaign.] Trepassey is one of those communities whose fortunes were tied wholly to the fishing grounds.... In five years, Trepassey's population has dropped by more than half, from 1,500 to fewer than 700 (53% unemployment and attrition).
9/19 The Economist 9 - The world's biggest chain of toyshops, Toys R Us, is to close 90 shops...in an effort to improve profitability. More than half of the shop it will be shutting are foreign. The firm has been suffering from cut-price competition.
9/16 Boston Globe's Jerry Ackerman F5 - ADE [Corp. of Westwood, MA] says it will lay off 15% [about 90 people] of its work force - Blames weakness in semiconductor industry
[This is a perfect situation for the type of timesizing legislated by the Robien Law from the rightwing in France between 1995 and 1997. To prevent 15% layoffs, firms were given seven-year taxbreaks to induce them to cut their corporate workweeks by 15%, reshuffle tasks and keep everyone employed and off the taxpayer. Disemploying people amplifies any downturn. Keeping them employed minimizes any downturn. CEOs take note - before you're facing government intervention on a scale that dwarfs the New Deal!]
9/11 AP via Boston Globe E4 - Pratt [& Whitney] to cut 1,000 [hourly] jobs in Conn. due to lost orders - or slightly more than 14% of its entire blue-collar work force in the state.... As many as 600 other salaried Pratt employees in the state also will face layoffs by the end of the year.... Other cuts to both salaried and hourly workers will be made at facilities in Maine, Florida and Georgia. This new round of cutbacks would bring Pratt employment in the state to about 6,000 hourly workers and 5,400 white-collar workers....\ Economic trouble in Asia has led some customers to defer engine orders, while instability in Russia has hampered sales and joint ventures.
9/9 Boston Globe's Michael Nol F2 - Metropolitan Life to cut 10% [or almost 2,000] of nonsales work force: Looks to slash costs as it mulls offering stock to public
9/3 Boston Globe D1 - Northwest [Airlines] lays off 27,000: Strike-plagued airline halts flights through Labor Day - Further layoffs are expected amoung Northwest's 50,000 employees as the strike continues
[Think this doesn't count because they'll get rehired when the strike's over? Hint - After getting left high and dry on Labor Day weekend, would you travel Northwest again? Depression doesn't arise suddenly from one source. It creeps in on little cat's feet from many sources.]
9/2 Northwest Airlines lays off 177 due to strike - says many of its 50,000 employees could be next,
by Karren Mills (and indeed 15,000 were to be laid off the next day because of the strike over pay and job security), p. D2, and
8/15 Oil's well that ends well, The Economist, 51.
The merger between BP and Amoco seeks to create a third "super major" in the oil industry. Is size really so important?
BP's workforce now has fewer than half the 112,000 people it had in 1992. Some 6,000...jobs at the new BP Amoco are already earmarked to go [of the 99,000 total jobs]
8/15 The Economist 5 - Hoping to cut costs...Britain's BOC Group...is laying off 10% [4,000] of its workforce of 40,000
The restructuring is a response to a strong pound, Asia's deteriorating market, and a slump in the chip industry, which the company supplies.
8/15 Boston Globe's Ronald Rosenberg E1 - Serono Labs will close its factory in Randolph: 100 workers to lose jobs as firm shifts production of two drugs to [Switzerland and Spain]
8/15 The Economist 55 - Asian retailing: Going cheap
A year ago, stores were packed with free-spending locals and tourists. Asia was the world's fastest-growing retail market.... But the glitzy malls they filled...now stand as symbols of all that led to Asia's crash. Nowhere is overcapacity as obvious as in the white-elephant shopping centres of Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Seoul and Hong Kong.... Yaohan's operation outside Japan has declared bankruptcy, closing dozens of department stores. Daimaru and Matsuzakaya will close their Hong Kong superstores later this month.... Joyce has shut its operations in Thailand, the Philippines and Korea and severely cut back elsewhere.... Earlier this month Theme International, a clothing chain once the darling of professional women, closed almost all of its Hong Kong stores.... Most other Hong Kong clothing retailers are also cutting back, trimming staff and inventories as they pull down the shutters of their worst-performing stores.... Widespread layoffs mean that experienced managers and staff are now available, easing one of the long-standing problems in Asian retailing. [Or rather, silencing one of the long-standing myths spread by spoiled CEOs.]
8/12 Boston Globe, C7 - Raytheon Co. of Lexington, MA cuts 261 jobs from Andover plant - The firm also said it has eliminated 297 of the 335 Massachusetts jobs it planned to cut in January as part of consolidation [ed: more like con-liquidation]. Speaking of "con," Raytheon sought and received state tax breaks in 1995, saying lower taxes would save jobs in Massachusetts. [Ed: when will our state legislators wise up?] Raytheon says it has added more than 500 jobs in the last 18 months and now employs more than 15,400 in the state. [Ed: OK, let's do the math: 501 jobs minus 261 layoffs minus 335 planned (of which 297 done) gives us negative 95 - nearly 100 jobs cut this year alone after we gave them taxbreaks. Fateful words in this story? "Consolidation" and "acquisition" - by Raytheon of GM's Hughes defense business and Texas Instrument's defense electronic instruments business last year.] Raytheon has already announced plans to fire 8,700 workers its defense business, another 1,500 at its engineering unit, and continues to cut administrative staff. [Ed: I got a question for you geniuses in the executive suites - why doncha learn how to manage your own company before you start grabbing other people's companies? And maybe Raytheon executives should read The Suicidal Corporation by Paul Weaver (Simon & Schuster, 1988) about How Big Business Fails America - and cuts its own markets - with its whining for corporate welfare, and cut their own undeserved pay&perks. Watch. Whining Fidelity Investments will be next, as "US stocks caught in worldwide tumble" (8/12 Boston Globe frontpage headline).]
Things to notice: notice how the media always talk about "employees" when it's a question of hiring, and "workers" when it's a question of firing - as if people somehow turn into Marxists in the meantime and that justifies laying them off - no matter how good a job they've been doing. Notice too how the newspapers keep fluff like Monica Lewinsky and Mike Barnicle in huge articles on the front pages, day after day, and bury the really important stuff like "Raytheon cuts 261 jobs..." on page 7 of the third section in a small article. You even have to dig to the third section to read the rest of the "US stocks caught in worldwide tumble" story from the frontpage. Note too how the really big layoff figures are buried in the middle of the article ("8,700 workers in its defense business and another 1,500 at its engineering unit"). Note too they don't add them up if the total would pass a alarming benchmark of some kind (8700+1500 = 10,200 ). As 8th District candidate Alex Rodriguez says, "Language - language is important." But dream on, America. This is 1928 revisited and your "news" media are controlled by that great team of lullaby artists, Turner and Murdoch.
8/3/98 morning radio news, Boston WCRB 102.5 FM: 17-year old Stratus Computer of Marlborough, Mass. has just been acquired by Ascend of Calif. for $843m and 500 jobs will be lost.
7/29/98 Boston Globe's Elizabeth Lazarowitz C5 - Consumer confidence falls on job concerns: Report is another sign of slowing economy
7/22/98 Bos Globe C1 from Wash Post's John Berry - Fed chief: Inflation top worry, Asia crisis slowing growth but not biggest US threat
[Our horse-and-buggy brained Federal Reserve Chairman is still glumping along on obsolete economics. What about the inflation in the stock market, Mr. Greenspan? And without "inflation" as you call it, in wages, how the hey do you foresee ever bridging the widening income gap, which you occasionally decry, evidently from behind a separate partition in your thinking?
7/14/98 Bos Globe's Jerry Ackerman D1: PRI Automation of Billerica, MA to lay off 180 or 15% of its workforce: cites Asia, slowdown in computer chip demand. Most of the layoffs will be in Massachusetts. The company also expects up to a 20% decline in sales for its most recent quarter from the previous 3-mon period, along with a net loss for the quarter of 12-16 cents/share. One of Massachusetts fastest growing companies, PRI was on its way to a record of $200 million-plus in annual sales through the first half of its fiscal year. A year ago, the chip industry expected big gains from an ongoing changeover in technology that would increase chip production. Instead, thousands of workers around the world have been pink-slipped as customers postpone orders for new machines or request a delay in shipments. Many Asia-based chip makers are cutting back on equipment purchases in the wake of the financial crisis that has swept the region; US chip suppliers are slowing production as Asian customers, such as computer makers, reduce spending. Note 7/3/98 Bos Globe C3 from Reuters: Rubin says Asia on right track [ed. what a moron].
7/3/98 Boston Globe C3 from Associated Press: GM signals it may drop some slower-selling models and possibly close some aging plants in Detroit. GM has already reduced its lineup from 109 models four years ago to 80 today. Two models most likely to go first are the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro made at the St. Therese plant in Quebec (ed: and according to the documentary, "Emperor's New Clothes," Quebec is already in economic depression). GM's stock rose 3/8 to close at 68-7/8 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.
6/27/98 Boston Globe's Lynnley Browning page F1: Raytheon lays off 1,500 workers from struggling engineering and construction unit, 500 more than originally expected when it announced cutbacks at the Cambridge-based division in January. Charles Q. Miller, head of the unit, quit "to pursue personal interests," the company said. Raytheon class B shares rose 1-15/16 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange to close at 56-7/8.
Early summer/98: 15,000 layoffs announced at the erstwhile huge individualism-fostering computer giant (#2) Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) of Maynard, Mass., now compacted into Compaq Computer with quite a different corporate culture.
3/27/98 High tech giveth - And it taketh away, Reuters 6:30am PST.
NEW YORK - High-tech has created many jobs in the past five years, but it is also costing jobs, according to a survey by the international outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The post-Cold War defense industry was No. 1 in job losses. Upheaval in telecomms (213,500 jobs lost) and computers (212,000) also had big cuts.
But No. 2 was retailing, hit by by a boom in new technology, especially in telemarketing and online sales. "Stores can now present their entire product line over the World Wide Web," said John Challenger, executive VP of the outplacement firm.... The survey reported that government deregulation may have negatively affected the telecomms, financial and transportation industries.
[Benefits or layoffs? - Choose one.... Now, those who chose layoffs are fired.]
1/25/98 Greater pains, greater gain - Franciscan Hospital survives layoffs, cutbacks - emerges as vital institution, by Mary Hurley, Bos Globe, City 1.
BRIGHTON [Massachusetts] ...Sitting on Warren Street, informally known in the neighborhood as "institution row," Franciscan Children's now offers a range of outpatient programs for children.... The day in 1994 when [CEO Paul] DellaRocco met with the staff to give a depressing choice - accept at least a 30% cut in benefits or at least 25 additional layoffs - has become a near-legend on Warren Street. When he asked for a show of hands, a clear majority chose the benefits cut. To those...who chose more layoffs, he said, "You're fired."...
[This makes a dramatic story, and it does yield the same kind of poetic justice as Solomon's decision about the two women and the one baby (I Kings 3:16-28). However, it is NOT the way we advise doing it, because it doesn't yield the same kind of win-win solution of cutting labor surplus and centrifuging wealth into wages as timesizing does.
[But we find that one of the great advantages of all these case studies is that they offer creative ideas for buffering the transition to the heaven of higher pay and shorter hours. Certainly we like the 'referendum' feature here - giving the employees the choice. And maybe a choice between job cuts or benefits cuts is less drastic than a choice between job cuts and hours cuts and should be offered first. On the other hand, it equates to a virtual pay cut, because you're working the same hours for less compensation. So no, we guess it's not part of the solution after all, just a creative wrinkle on the problem. But at least DellaRocco did Step One - give the choice to those affected - "no pain without input." To be on the road to the long-term solution, the choice, however, has to be jobs cuts or hours cuts, à la timesizing. "Jobs cuts or benefits cuts" just worsens the problem.
But what if it had been "jobs cuts or hours cuts - those who chose jobs cuts are fired"? No, that wouldn't work as an extendable strategy either, because word would get around and you'd have people deciding on the basis of Fear in the Workplace, something that Ed Deming said you should Banish (in Point 8 of his 14 Points for Management, modeled on Woodrow Wilson's 14-Point Plan for Europe after the War to End All Wars).]
[On 2/9/05 5:28:14 AM EST, we received the following email from Paul Dellarocco titled "Correction":]
Recently saw your quote concerning the Franciscan Children�s Hospital re: �you�re fired�. I�m afraid that whoever reported this bit of news never finished the quote or just got it plain wrong. The missing link here is that the statement was designed to show staff how they were all in this together. That is, if some staff believed that it was to their advantage to sacrifice others for their own betterment than they must be willing to reflect on the potential consequences associated with that belief. There were never any firings associated with this lesson. As with any downsizing, reductions in staff are far more targeted and generally directed to areas where there has been a loss of business.
For what its worth � Paul DellaRocco


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


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BRUSSELS, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The following are proposed mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures under review by the European Commission, and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS: -- Swedish mobile telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and chipmaker STMicroelectronics form Swiss joint ventures JVD and JVS (approved Nov. 26) -- Rail Cargo Austria AG, a freight transport and forwarding company, to buy Hungarian peer MAV Cargo (approved Nov. 25) -- British ...
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text:
On 18.05.2004 13:11 +0800 Samenlia wrote:
> my link is:
>
> or
>
> and i put freebsd.gif into /usr/local/captiveportal
> it still not work
> if i access http://www.xfocus.net
> the ie statusbar display download http://www.xfocus.net/freebsd.gif
> why and how ?(my os is 1.1b8)
You can't put anything in /usr/local/captiveportal as mini_httpd for
the captive portal has been modified to always execute index.php as a
CGI, regardless of which file has been requested (this is necessary
for transparent redirection). You need to put images on a separate
server somewhere and then allow that IP address to be accessed in the
captive portal config.
- Manuel


text:
As George Papandreou sent the eurozone into a frenzy last week, the news closer to home was hardly less bleak.
Okay, so the fact that Slaughters has slashed trainee bonuses and frozen associate pay bands isn't going to move markets, but the message is clear: times are tough.
It's a bit of a theme this week. While no one's going to weep for a £38,000-a-year graduate whose bonus has just been cut, the economic ripple effect at the opposite end of the profession is rather more sobering. With legal aid all but unattainable and no-win, no-fee being reformed beyond recognition, accessing legal services has never been more difficult. The impact on the high street is astounding.
But from the turmoil comes new ideas. Turn to pages 5 and 7 of this week's issue for evidence of legal providers innovating in the face of an ever-more cash-constrained client base. The introduction of ABSs could not be more timely, as the Co-op has proved with its plan to target "the most underserved group" of clients with its low-cost family advice.
Mills & Reeve, meanwhile, is responding to the new challenges ABSs will bring by engaging the services of a psychiatrist to ensure its family advice fits the
bill – and its bills fit the families.
Talk about survival of the fittest.
But what's all this got to do with commercial firms? Nothing, right? Wrong. The genius thing about evolution is that it affects us all, even if we're not aware of it.
As legalfutures editor Neil Rose points out in this week's feature (page 14), with DLA Piper throwing its weight – and its cash – behind ABS-in-waiting LawVest, the notion that the legal elite can ignore the upstarts has been scotched once and for all.
Don't expect Slaughters to follow suit, but many will. There will even be a China-controlled ABS in the near future if former Bird & Bird partner Stephen Kines gets his way. Having left the firm in August, Kines, who set up 2Birds' Eastern Europe operations, now runs a business whose sole aim is to find an Indian or Chinese firm to buy a share of a UK ABS.
If he pulls it off – and with a €5m price tag the stakes are high – the effect really could be market moving.


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Roll out the barrel - The PedalPub is in the Med City
The PedalPub bike is in Rochester and ready to tap into the party market here.
The 16-person, pedal-powered vehicle can be rented by groups for two-hour outings.
People can bring beer, wine, hard cider and food to consume on the bikes, but the business provides no beverages or food of any kind.
There's even a tap to serve from a keg of beer, if that's what the
customer brings.
PedalPub Manager Krista Bertelson says they'll first hit the Med City streets on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for "Familiarization Tours."
That means getting people used to riding the massive bicycle-stein
creature and for driver to get used to seeing rolling slowly down the
The official tours will start next week on Wednesday. Bertelson says they already have nine scheduled. They can run up to five tours a day.


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When it comes to ordering new cars, buyers are finding you can't always get what you want.
Automakers are drastically cutting the potential combinations of trim levels and options in a trend that recently has accelerated:
Automakers say fewer choices lead to higher quality because they perfect the few configurations. It avoids "creating complexity for the sake of complexity," says Chuck Russell, General Motors director of compact cars in North America.
It also cuts costs with fewer combinations to plan for and track on assembly lines. And it simplifies inventory planning for dealers.
One way automakers cut complexity is to herd options into "packages." Sienna's "preferred" package, for example, bundles power side doors with satellite radio. To get a Passat with a sunroof, you also must buy the premium sound system.
The potential downside: "You end up buying things you don't want or need in order to get things you do want or need," says John O'Dell, a senior editor for car research site Edmunds.com.
But automakers say the lower costs may be passed on to buyers and that they've gotten better at figuring out bundles buyers want.
"It's actually a relief. They are removing the work of trying to figure out what I want," says Kristen Andersson, senior analyst for shopping site TrueCar.com, who says buyers can even end up happier, with goodies they wouldn't have ordered but later love.
Not all makers are embracing the trend. High-end brands are more likely to still let buyers pick and choose. About 30% of Porsche buyers, for instance, custom order their cars. "It's expensive to do it the way we do it," spokesman Dave Engelman says. "It slows down the assembly line."
And even mainstream makers are going that way for key models:
Chrysler Group, for example, has cut combinations on many vehicles, reducing the number of ways you can order some of its biggest-selling vehicles for 2012, like Dodge Durango crossover or the Grand Caravan minivan. It reduced trim levels to five, down from 12. but for its $15,995-to-start, all-new 2013 Dodge Dart compact, it is allowing custom factory orders in up to 100,000 combinations.
Dodge Director Richard Cox says à la carte choices include "citrus peel" paint — a "vivid greeny yellow" — and push-button ignition. "They might want the 8.4-inch touch-screen but don't want navigation. We give them the ability to get that (without having to buy) a $3,000 package."
How does a plant handle that without driving up cost? "World-class manufacturing," says Cox.
Chris Woodyard is an auto writer for USA TODAY who covers all aspects of motoring. He revels in the exhaust note of a Maserati and the sharp creases of a Cadillac CTS. Chris strives to live a Porsche life on a Scion budget. More about Chris


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"Hitchcock" delves into the mind of the master of suspense
Movies about legendary historical figures almost always carry extra weight on their shoulders. They're subjected to inevitable scrutiny and comparison, and the question "Did they do justice?" constantly looms over the finished project.
Frankly, it sounds like hell. The only thing that could make it more intimidating would be making a movie about a legendary movie maker. But, the supposed masochists behind "Hitchcock" went there, and emerged relatively unscathed with a clever, if superficial, homage to the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
Based on "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho,'" the non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello, "Hitchcock" chronicles the controversies behind what ultimately became the director's most memorable film. More importantly, it brings the audience into the complicated partnership between Hitch, as he's called, and his wife, Alma Reville.
The making of "Psycho" is the external shell that frames the story, but the inner workings are structured completely on the couple (played expertly by Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren) and their relationship. They're introduced as a stable partnership of equals, serving as each other's supportive but affectionate critics. As the story progresses – and as troubles with the controversial horror project deepen – it becomes clear that this intro was just the calm waters that precede the stormy demeanor Hitch habitually embroils himself in on set.
His well-documented moodiness manifests itself visually as hallucinations of Ed Gein, the man who inspired "Psycho" the novel. As troubles with the picture continue to surface, Hitch's imaginings become the devil on his shoulder, second-guessing not just his decisions but the motives of his wife, who has taken on a side project (or, in his mind, "side project") with fellow screenwriter Whit (Danny Huston).
The tactic is smart, but tame. Hitch's reliance on his "relationship" with his murderous subject inversely mirrors the gro…Read more...


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Color & Cupcakes: Beginners Makeup Tutorial
Ruthanna Young
Saturday, August 30, 2014 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (PDT)
Who's Going
San Francisco, California
London, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Event Details
This class is for women (18+ only) who'd like to start learning to do their own 'Glamour' makeup.
Learn to enhance the features you love and correct/conceal the ones you don't.
We cover the basics of contouring, highlighting, blending of eyeshadows, using blush and bronzer and MOST IMPORTANT we find your perfect foundation.
Intimate group setting provides a fun environment to learn in.
A great way to prepare for a Girls Night Out or invite your girlfriends and make it a Girls Night In!
The class is completely FREE. However, products are available should you find anything that you try too irresistible to go home without.
Light refreshments provided.
When & Where
Mount Prospect Towers
402 Mt Prospect Ave
Suite 10G
Saturday, August 30, 2014 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar


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The world has grown used to seeing British Open champion Darren Clarke with a pint in his hand.
Well, take a picture it will last longer.
The golfer wants to hold less mugs and more trophies.
The 2nd January 2012 has also seen the appointment of Jonny Bloomfield as my new fitness trainer. ..My golf career has been extended somewhat by winning the Open Championship and I just thought that enough is enough and it was time to get myself into better shape. Jonny's a sports scientist and he's got me doing all sorts in the gym, having my eyes checked out, nutrition etc. Therefore my alcohol consumption is taking a massive dint.....currently down to zero! However, no pain, no gain and I'm very excited about the route that we're going down - it's a long road but I will give it my best shot.
TIGER WOODS: Superstar rips new book
PGA TOUR: Humana Challenge leaderboard
Reid Cherner has been with USA TODAY since 1982 and written Game On! since March 2008.
He has covered everything from high schools to horse racing to the college and the pros. The only thing he likes more than his own voice is the sound of readers telling him when he's right and wrong.
Michael Hiestand has covered sports media and marketing for USA TODAY, tackling the sports biz ranging from what's behind mega-events such as the Olympics and Super Bowl to the sometimes-hidden numbers behind the sports world's bottom line.


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Police Looking for Burglary Suspect in Surveillance Video
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Hillbilly Hot Dogs in Huntington is no stranger to busy business.
However, one customer Monday night was going for the finances more than the franks.
"It was $500-600 dollars total," owner Sonny Knight recalls of the amount stolen.
However, it's not the money that has Knight fired up.
"The disaster they left was just cremated," said Knight. "It just looks terrible."
From crates to cartons, this thief spent precious time ransacking every crevice.
He even busted through locked doors, trying to locate important documents.
With Sonny and his wife tested time and time again, having been broken into six times in eight years, this latest incident has forced them to consider closing shop.
"We work hard to keep it going. You know, we're a mom and pop. It's hard anyways trying to keep things afloat," said Knight.
They just want to operate the restaurant they love, without the heat that comes from people like the suspect caught on camera.
"We want justice," remarked Knight. "We want this person caught and pay their due."
The Knights are offering a reward for anyone with information. They says they will give away 100 of their signature hot dogs free of charge to anyone who can identify the person in the video and help bring them in.
Visit WSAZ.com for more info.


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This debut outing by one of Jakartas best-known djs is either the strong beginning of a new career making music or the pinnacle of Riri Rachmans days on the club scene. Either way its a welcome addition to the dance music scene that is slowly evolving into a vibrant culture in the Indonesian capital. Stereo Mestica was released on Riris own label, Spinach Records, but the fact that major label Aquarius took on distribution shows how the music industry is finally waking up to the talents, and mass appeal, of homegrown spin doctors. The 10 original tracks feature some beautiful female vocals over a light techno beat that is sure to fill any groove from dusk til dawn.
• Album Collaboration
"Keluar Malam"
(Spinach Records, 2007)
• Album "Stereo Mestica"
(Spinach Records, 2006)


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You can subscribe to this tag by rss or view all tags.
Why worry about getting twice as many people to visit your site, when it can be far easier to double the number of sales from the people already visiting? Here are 10 ways to improve your website conversion rate.
Read the rest of this post »


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By: B. Tracy
Everyone wants more free time to do the things they love. It can take hard effort to get things done and save time when our schedules are packed with things to do. But first, in order to save time, it's important to examine how we spend our time.
What Happened to Our Free Time?
According to time management specialist Michael Fortino, over an average lifetime, you will spend seven years in the bathroom. You will spend six years eating. You will spend five years waiting in lines. You will spend four years cleaning your house. You will spend three years in meetings. You will spend one year searching for things. You will spend eight months opening junk mail. You will spend six months sitting at red lights. You will spend 120 days brushing your teeth. And here's the big surprise: You will spend four minutes per day conversing with your spouse and thirty seconds per day conversing with your children.
Here are five ideas that you can use in your personal life to get things done more efficiently and save time:
1. Save Time by Shopping All At Once
When you go shopping, do it all at once. Don't shop at one store one day, and another store on a different day. Go out and do all of your shopping on a single day in a single trip. By the way, the very best time to shop for groceries is Tuesday afternoon and evenings. Why? Store shelves are restocked on Monday after the weekend. By shopping on Tuesday, you can get in, get the greatest selection, get out fast, and get more free time.
2. Save Time by Bunching Your Errands
When you have several errands to do, bunch them and do them all at once, rather than doing one today, one tomorrow, and so on through the week. If you get things done all at once, you will significantly increase the amount of free time you have to do the things you really want to do.
3. Don't Waste the Time of Others
Ask yourself, ''What do I do that wastes the time of others?'' Wasting the time of other people is usually not deliberate. It comes from not thinking about how valuable their time is. We often waste the time of others through lack of consideration.
If you are a boss or manager with people reporting to you, avoid the tendency to waste the time of your staff by keeping them waiting or being late for meetings. The more respect you show for the time of your staff, the more valuable and important they will feel. The same applies in your personal life. Show the same respect in the same way with your family and friends.
Ask yourself, ''How do I waste the time of my boss? My coworkers? My subordinates? My spouse? My children? And others?'' And then make efforts to avoid doing it. If you are curious, go and ask people. Say, ''What do I do that wastes your time? How could I change the way I use my time so that it would be more efficient for you?'' Don't be surprised by what they tell you. By asking these questions, you'll be able to save time for both parties.
4. Get More Free Time by Being Punctual
Only 2 percent of people are punctual all the time, and these people are recognized and respected by everyone. Punctuality is professional and courteous. Make a habit of being on time. Remember if you're not early, you're late. There is no such thing as being fashionably late. It is really just being inconsiderate and disorganized.
5. Get Things Done Quickly
Get things done by developing a fast tempo and picking up the pace. Remember, fast tempo is essential to success. Move quickly in cleaning up your house, putting things away, getting ready to go out—in all possible household tasks and responsibilities. The more things you do, and the faster you work to get them done, the more energy you have and the more you save time.
The faster you work and the more you get done, the better you feel. Most successful people work at a higher tempo of activity than unsuccessful people. They don't necessarily do different things, but they get things done more efficiently in a given time than the average person. They produce more in less time, and as a result, they get paid more and promoted faster. Fast tempo is essential to success.
The best advice is to always focus on your ability to save time. Continually look for ways to save time by cutting down or eliminating the major time wasters from your life at work or home. Only then will you have enough time to work on the goals that are central to your success and happiness. Only then can you become an excellent time manager.


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Television host Garry Moore (1915-1993) kept a personal collection of kinescopes from various programs he had a part in over the years. In 2006, his family donated those 12 reels to the Media Archives. The programs are primarily not entire shows, but short reels of portions of programs, compilations, gag reels, outtakes, and a home movie. These reels provide insight into what Garry Moore deemed important or amusing and worth keeping in his personal collection. The collection also includes the Edward R. Murrow "Person to Person" interview at the Moore home in February 1955.
Garry Moore was awarded a George Foster Peabody Award in 1970 for his work with Voice of America broadcasts.
The collection is currently restricted for preservation purposes, but portions can be made available upon request.
Thanks to Colorlab for work on preserving the reels, and to Dan Einstein of the UCLA Film & Television Archives for identification assistance.


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LG Spectrum Reviewed
- OK, first let me start by saying, "I am a hypocrite."
I said I would not buy this phone because of the way it "looks." I said it was too conservative looking. Well, after going and looking at it in a store, I decided I was wrong and bought it.
For my review, I will compare it to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as that was the last phone I owned (returned it) that is comparable to this device.
Build Quality:
Not bad... not bad at all. The build quality is actually very good. It is not as plasticy feeling as other phones such as the SG Nexus. The back cover is a high-gloss silicone battery cover that is not flimsy at all. It is horrid as far as finger prints and grease are concerned but it actually allows for a better grip. It certainly is not as slick or slippery feeling as the SGN. However, the first thing I always buy is a High-Gloss Silicone cover for my phones anyway so this concern is nonexistent for me.
The screen is beautiful. I have very bad eyes due to diabetes. A large screen as sharp and readable as this screen is a MUST for me. It is as brilliant and clear as you'd expect an IPS screen to be. The saturation of the colors is certainly not as vibrant as the SGN but the colors are very natural and hold enough saturation to be very enjoyable. The actual face of the screen (Gorilla Glass) is great. It is not as bad with fingerprints as the SGN or my old Droid X. I constantly carry a wipe cloth for my device's screens and I find myself cleaning this screen far less. The silverish HOME button is actually a good thing. I find myself searching for buttons in the middle of the night and the silver makes it easier to see. That being said, most hate the idea of capacitive buttons. I prefer them over on-screen buttons such as on the SGN. I get to use ALL 4.5" of IPS HD screen, not a portion of it due to some of the screen real-estate missing due to on-screen buttons.
The speaker is crisp and about 50% louder than the SGN. Probably about 20% louder than a Droid X. With Volume + loaded on it, it is the loudest phone I have owned besides my OG Droid. The High-Gloss Silicone case blocks the speaker when resting on its back so that is a drawback. However, I like to set my phones face-down. The case has a bumper to protect the glass and I can hear the speaker fully. The earpiece is just as clear and loud as the rear speaker. Along with the speaker, the vibration on the phone is stronger than the SGN and Droid X... even with the case on it!
The front facing camera is unremarkable. Pretty standard stuff there. The rear camera is an 8 MP shooter. I guess I will give it a scaled score: On a scale of 1-10 (where the SGN would score a 4 and a Droid X a 6), it would score a 7. It is very good but not mind-blowing. For additional comparison, I used the Rezounds camera and I would give it a 9. White balance is better than a Droid X. Noise in darker environments is very noticeable but seems less than the SGN and Droid X. Is the camera a disappointment? Well, kinda. I would expect a phone about two years after the development of the Droid X to have better improvements. Maybe I am just too picky.
I do not live in a 4G area so my comparison is strictly on 3G. The 1830mAh battery is so much better than the SGN. The SGN lasted me 10 hours on a charge at my house connected to a Network Extender with Wi-Fi and GPS off. The Spectrum lasted me 19 hours with equivalent usage. From 6:30 AM to 5 PM, the battery easily gets me through a workday. I usually have around 30% left when I get home. It charges relatively quickly, so within an hour, I am back up to around 90%. I foresee no reason to have an extra battery or an extended one. Nonetheless, if it was on 4G, I would estimate the phone would last 5-7 hours.
LG Skin and Bloatware (A.K.A. Achilles Heel):
Well, here is the Spectrum's "Achilles heel." The LG skin is almost an afterthought in development. It is like they tried so very hard to incorporate so many "cool" and unique features into Gingerbread, they ruined it. Think of Leonardo's Mona Lisa and if Leonardo decided his painting lacked style or something to set it apart from other works. So, Leonardo decided to add robots in the background of the Mona Lisa, then clowns in the foreground, water floating in the sky, and finally painted Mona up like a ***** in heat. Now, you have the LG Skin on the Spectrum. It isn't as bad as if Leonardo took a dump on the Mona Lisa but still it is... well... not right. Don't get me wrong, some things work really well. LG choose to use the same color blue as ICS uses in menus and fonts. Actually a nice touch and very noticeable where it counts. I installed ADW EX on it and really don't notice the LG skin anymore.
There are roughly 20 installations of bloat on this phone. In addition to the bloat, there are a few standard Verizon ads for VVM and VZN thrown in here and there. The phone only has 4GB of internal memory (which leaves around 1.8'ish GB for apps). Although most of these apps are relatively small in size, they need to be uninstalled.
I will be returning the phone.
As much as I like it, I MUST HAVE ROOT! There is virtually no interest or support out there for this phone. Due to this, I will be unable to handicap Verizon's onslaught of bloat. Since I cannot debloat this phone, It will go back at the end of my 14-day return period (unless a rooting exploit that works is discovered). I tried three of the latest Gingerbread exploits that work on the LG Nitro and nothing works on the Spectrum. I am sure it will eventually gain root but I am not taking a chance on the lack of dedication from developers and LG updating the OS to ICS. LG makes promises they conveniently "forget." If the phone had root access right now, I would keep the device. But where there is bloat, you must root.
Hope this review helps a few of you out there.01-25-2012 09:11 PMLike 3
- Thanks for the review.
2 years in, and I still haven't rooted my original droid, so that isn't a show stopper for me.
(I've got a rooted color nook, just haven't needed it on my phone.)
Your review definitely answers some of my questions.
I have some other questions that I haven't seen info about - so I thought that I'd post here in hopes that a spectrum owner can answer:
How good is it as a PHONE?
For all that we do on it as a tech toy, isn't being a phone one of the primary purposes?
What is call quality like?
How is the speaker phone?
How do you sound on the far end of calls (both in handset and speaker phone modes)
What is signal strength like?
Any issues with GPS location locks? (how long from a cold boot?)
Thanks in advance for any insights!01-25-2012 09:58 PM
- I picked up the spectrum on the day it came out. I wanted to love the phone and I did........except the battery. I was at work using my phone fairly steady for about an hour surfing the net and installed an app or two. During that time the phone literally used 50% of the battery. 50% in one hour. I expected lower battery life with 4g, but that was unacceptable. I returned it a couple days ago for a razr and it doesn't drain nearly as fast.01-26-2012 08:05 AM
- Text will NOT auto wrap in the browser when:
- You finger-pinch to zoom in on text.
Text auto wraps in the browser when:
- You double-tap to zoom.
- You finger-pinch to zoom and then use the on-screen zoom buttons (like Froyo's browser) to zoom in additionally.01-26-2012 04:56 PM
I too returned my Nexus for many reasons. Still not sure what to get at this point (leaning iPhone 4s). I did spend some time with the Spectrum at Verizon. The only positive for me was the display. Very crisp & clear. The laggy overlay really turned me off. I know I can use LP & ADW, but visually they look primitive compared to stock.01-26-2012 06:10 PM
- Thanks for the info.
I'm leaning toward getting the LG....01-27-2012 11:09 AM
- Has anybody notice how long it takes to delete email? Meaning, deleting more than ten.. Does it take a long time? Deleting from server.. Just would like to know.. Or, is my mind playing tricks? L O L01-27-2012 06:25 PM
- I have tried several phones....TBolt, Charge, GNex, Driod Razor, and the Spectrum. The overlay really hurts this phone. The radios on this phone awesome. testing Spectrum with all those other phones and the Spectrum at least gets 5 mbps more on both down/upload. Why isnt anyone jumping on to get root. this phone has good hardware. Isnt there any developers out there that will step up to the plate.01-27-2012 08:38 PM
- I don' think that it is no developers are jumping on the band wagon to get root, I think it's that getting root on this thing is going to be a pain for the moment. All the current exploits seem to be fixed now, including Gingerbreak and any temp root solutions. I don't doubt that all other phones coming out will be fixed in the same way as well and eventually a bigger support base will be together getting a glitch in place.01-28-2012 12:43 AM
- I agree. However, each new phone and OS they may fix something but the developers and hackers always find a new way to get it done. I don't know what it will take to get some developer love. If it takes a donation I am willing to get behind that and get it done. So what developer will raise to the challenge and show us some mad skills?01-28-2012 10:41 AM
- I agree love this phone just with I could root( not a deal breaker for me ) and if I had the skill I would be attempting to find myself but would be willing to donate too.01-28-2012 07:20 PM
- I got my Spectrum about a week ago. It is my 1st dual core/4g phone. I had a rooted cm7 Incredible. I played with it for the whole week with just the stock launcher and the like. I really like it as a phone and it moves so much faster than the Incredible. I liked the camera better on the Incredible ( It just takes better pictures for some reason).
I took your advice and added the ADW launcher and I'm MUCH happier with the phone now ( used the same skin as my Incredible and now it doesn't feel so.... foreign)
I'm looking forward to the exploit for the root, to get rid of the bloat, but until then I'm fairly satisfied!!!01-29-2012 08:14 AM
- I am glad you enjoy the phone. It really is nice for $200.
Don't get me wrong, this phone will receive root access. I just couldn't/didn't want to wait.
The current exploit to get root requires a downgrade from the current firmware on the Spectrum. This is almost the worst possible way to achieve root on this phone. You could be stuck with firmware you may never be able to upgrade from or you will lose root (and never get ICS).
My biggest disappointment was the camera. If I did not care about the camera, I would have kept the GN I had previously.
The Rezound's camera is the best on a Verizon Android phone now. That will change soon enough. I am just going to wait it out I guess.01-29-2012 10:04 AM
- Ya i have had most phones that verizon has offered my last being the thunderbolt which had monster dev support. But i still love this phone its damn fast with adw launcher ex on it and the screen is hands down the best. I figure root will happen at some point and ice cream sandwich is suppose to be coming soon.02-09-2012 04:39 PM
- Thanks for all the review info. The LG Spectrum (which I bought a week ago after after trading off with the Rezound) only lets my Mac access the SD card via USB as mass storage. It worked once the first time I tried it, but not since. My incredible allows access to both internal and SD memory. Is there any way to do that with the Spectrum? I tried unmounting the SD card, but it still can't see the internal storage. I am considering returning the LG for a Rezound: Better cameras, more internal memory, HDMI port, more like my Incredible, etc.02-12-2012 09:57 AM
- Thanks for all the review info. Coming from an Incredible, here are my impressions after a week with the LG Spectrum:
LIKE: Screen, Battery life, Application folders (allow you to set up custom folders (e.g. Clocks, Games, Audio, players, etc.) folders without filling up the 7 screens) , Thinner, light, still has removeable battery (nixed the RAZR for me) and removeable SD Card (Nixed the Galaxy for me), has Gesture features. e.g that help move the cursor by tapping on the sides..helps mitigate loss of trackball.
DISLIKE: Only 4G (<2G useable) internal memory that I can't access (see earlier post), Average cameras, no HDMI port, no trackball, no charging LED, no FM Radio, few accessories like batteries yet, no root solution yet.
QUESTIONS: Will the ICS upgrade cut into the useable (2G) internal memory?
Outlook for ICS Upgrade (It has just 3 buttons in anticipation)?
Have other LG phones eventually been rooted?
DILEMMA: Keep it or trade for a Rezound?02-12-2012 10:24 AM
- YourMobileGuruFormerly VZWRocksThanks for all the review info. Coming from an Incredible, here are my impressions after a week with the LG Spectrum:
LIKE: Screen, Battery life, Application folders (allow you to set up custom folders (e.g. Clocks, Games, Audio, players, etc.) folders without filling up the 7 screens) , Thinner, light, still has removeable battery (nixed the RAZR for me) and removeable SD Card (Nixed the Galaxy for me), has Gesture features. e.g that help move the cursor by tapping on the sides..helps mitigate loss of trackball.
DISLIKE: Only 4G (<2G useable) internal memory that I can't access (see earlier post), Average cameras, no HDMI port, no trackball, no charging LED, no FM Radio, few accessories like batteries yet, no root solution yet.
QUESTIONS: Will the ICS upgrade cut into the useable (2G) internal memory?
Outlook for ICS Upgrade (It has just 3 buttons in anticipation)?
Have other LG phones eventually been rooted?
DILEMMA: Keep it or trade for a Rezound?
An MHL adapter will take care of the lack of an HDMI out (converts USB to HDMI out)
Lots more accessories with the Rezound, no problem there.
I havent compared the cameras on the devices but the Rezound one is one of the better ones I have seen.
If you are hoping for a quicker update to ICS the Rezound is a better way to go (at least two leaked builds so far so work is well underway and we have no idea when it will come to the Spectrum. 3 buttons or no LG has a terrible update track record, especially on US devices.
It's really your choice but IMHO the Rezound is a better phone. If I were you I would go spend some serious time with the demo model at the VZW store.02-12-2012 06:40 PM
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Three Things to Know When Buying Your Lighting Essentials
Lighting can affect a shot, too much or less of it is a matter of delivering the perfect shot. Every photographer would stop relying on its camera's built – in flash and start discovering and exploring more on playing with light. Thus, this article will guide you on the essentials of lighting.
Flash Guns
There would come a point when enthusiasts are not satisfied with the internal flash of its camera since it can create flat pictures and red eye. Also, it can only bring light to objects that are close enough to the camera. With these problems came the used of flash guns or external flash units as a solution. It is able to give a photographer the control of the light's direction
When purchasing for a flash gun, look at its Guide Number, showing its power. It's normally indicated by companies with ISO 100 so it can be easily compared to other models or brands. In addition, the guide number helps in determining what aperture you need to use during a shoot.
Lighting Kits
Today, there are entry levels lighting starter kits that are affordable. These starter kits can give a person the chance to improve their skills into a new level by being able to have a professional studio set – up. Depending on what you need, a basic lighting kit can have a number of lights, stands and umbrella which is enough for those who are starting out. For those who are looking for a better set – up, some kits can have filters, diffusers, backgrounds and soft boxes. The kits come with bags or cases for easy transportation, keeping and handling of the equipment.
When choosing for a kit, there are factors to consider like the genre of photography, the space where it will be used, what you really need and the budget. Through this you can list what you need thus, eliminating over spending.
The Lighting Know – How
When setting up the lights it is important to know its basic things like the three – point lighting set – up. This set – up is a must to know for every photographer since it brings to life the photos being taken.
It is made up of the fill, key and back light. The key light is responsible for lighting the subject and can be placed at different angles to create different looks on the shots. Meanwhile, the fill light is used to equalize the shadows created by the key light. Lastly, the back light is placed behind the subject or model to highlight its contours and lines. This set – up makes the subject stand – out instead of blending in with the background and giving it more life.
For those who are building their own studio, it is important to know that there are a variety of lights to use in this set – up, these are the strobe lights (flashlights) and the continuous lights (tungsten and fluorescent). The continuous lights enable photographers have a look of an exposed image, thus he can adjust the color quickly. These lights are also common in the household. Meanwhile, the strobe lights are used to because of its flexibility and are great for shooting things in motion.
Author Bio:
JV White is a music and photography enthusiast and currently working as a writer for WePrintDiscs.com, a disc duplication, printing, and replication company. Follow him on Twitter @jvwhite1980


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When House Speaker Shap Smith dropped the gavel on the 2014 legislative session last month, many were left wondering if he would pick it up again in January.
Smith was back at his desk in the Statehouse on Thursday, saying he hopes to stay there.
The six-term lawmaker from Morrisville left observers in doubt after the session, saying he was torn by family and professional obligations. He kept those observers guessing until Thursday — the final day to submit petitions to appear on the ballot.
"I love the job, it's a great job to have," he said. "The heart of the decision was whether to leave a job I love because of other considerations. In the end, having talked with my family and talked with work, I really thought the issues over the next two years are ones that I'm interested in and hope to be a part of solving."
Those issues include health care financing, education reform and economic development, Smith said.
"Not only in Vermont, but for many rural states this is a pivotal moment when you are seeing continued migration from rural America to urban America and the challenge we face is to put in place policies that will allow Vermont to not only survive but thrive," he said. "I consider this to be an important challenge, and one that I want to be a part of."
He said he expects the Shumlin administration to deliver a financing plan for publicly funded health care early in the session.
"My sense is that if we don't have something by January or February it's pretty clear that we are not moving forward," Smith said.
Smith, 48, said the decision to run again largely hinged on having a support system in place for his wife, Melissa, and two young children.
"It's a challenge (during the session) with Melissa having a full-time job," he said. "I really needed to make sure Melissa and the kids were OK with it."
He said he was encouraged by many people to run for re-election, including Gov. Peter Shumlin.
"I think it's great that Speaker Smith has decided to run for another term," Shumlin said in a statement. "Shap is deeply committed to making progress for Vermonters, and I know his decision to run again was driven by that commitment. This next legislative biennium will be an incredibly important one for Vermont. And I can think of no better leader to help us move forward than Shap Smith."
Smith, an attorney with the Burlington firm Dinse, Knapp and McAndrew, said it's difficult to maintain the kind of majority enjoyed by Democrats in the Vermont House and he expects a spirited challenge from Republicans this fall.
"I take seriously the Republican statements that they're planning to run strong House and Senate races and I look forward to the conversation," he said.


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SINGAPORE – Singapore has agreed to "positively" consider a request to ease import restrictions on food and other farm products from Fukushima Prefecture, according to Japanese officials.
Lawrence Wong, Singapore's national development minister, said in a meeting Sunday with agriculture minister Hiroshi Moriyama that he will consider the request while examining moves on the matter by the European Union and others.
Moriyama told reporters after the meeting that he explained the EU's recent decision and asked Wong to ease the restrictions based on scientific grounds.
The EU on Saturday substantially eased its import restrictions on Japanese food and farm products, including those from Fukushima Prefecture. The curbs were introduced after the March 2011 crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Under the EU's previous rules, all Fukushima food products, excluding alcohol, were required to arrive with radiation inspection certificates.
Despite easing its requirements, the EU still continues to restrict imports of such items as rice, mushrooms and certain seafood products.
Singapore's ban on certain Fukushima products began in 2011.
"I explained the EU's step to ease" restrictions, Moriyama told Japanese journalists in Singapore.
Wong said Singapore "would take proactive steps by studying cases such as the EU's latest step," Moriyama told reporters after the talks.
Fukushima was a key player in Japanese agriculture before the March 2011 tsunami that swamped the nuclear plant and triggered a triple core meltdown, sending plumes of radioactive fallout over much of the prefecture.
Thousands of people were evacuated and huge tracts of land were rendered unfarmable, leaving the Fukushima brand contaminated both domestically and internationally.
The government has been encouraging countries across the globe to ease their trade restrictions on Japanese food after the nuclear crisis.
At least 14 countries, including Australia and Thailand, have abolished their restrictions, but dozens continue to maintain select regulations, according to Kyodo News.


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Taking a break from his usual activities, Orlando Bloom spent some time at a Syrian refugee camp back in April. And he couldn't believe what he saw.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" hunk told People magazine that the children he encountered were all suffering for lack of basic necessities and surrounded by turmoil.
He always loves a good show and Orlando Bloom was in good spirits as he arrived at the 2014 Tony Awards in New York City earlier tonight (June 8).
Walking the carpet solo, the 37-year-old star was more than happy to greet fans and pose for photos before heading inside Radio City Music Hall for the exciting evening ahead.
The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles was the place to be last night (June 1) as the Huading Film Awards boasted some big-name celebrities on the guest list.
"Charlie's Angels" stunner Lucy Liu played host for the evening which honored the hottest names in entertainment as voted by the Chinese public.
He certainly has a thing for supermodels, and Orlando Bloom is rumored to be moving on from his failed marriage to Miranda Kerr with a brand new poser.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" hunk has reportedly been spending all kinds of time with British model Laura Paine, having been spotted with her in West London over the weekend.
Enjoying the arts, Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt paid a visit to the Paris Photo Los Angeles private preview at Paramount Studios on Thursday (April 24).
The talented duo shared a laugh outside the venue before taking in the spectacular sites.
He's one of the world's best-known actors, so Orlando Bloom is using his fame to draw attention to the plight of refugees at the Za'atari camp.
On Thursday (April 10) the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star toured the grounds, near the Syrian border, meeting with children who have suffered as a result of the four-year conflict.
Bringing his British charm to Nokia Theatre, Orlando Bloom stopped by the 2014 MTV Movie Awards earlier tonight (April 13).
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" star took a few moments to pose with his prize after winning the award for Best Fight with co-star Evangeline Lilly.
Coming to the aid of an important cause, celebrities united to film a powerful video supporting the We Are Silent campaign, supporting Malala Yousafzai, in her battle for the education of all women across the globe.


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Only found in the Greek Peloponnese, a wonderful pure white form, very desirable, flowers from August to the end of October. Decorative leaves. Grow in deep pots to accommodate the long tap roots. A summer bake, together with some moisture from below will induce flowering.
Alpine House cultivation: All cyclamen are suitable for alpine house cultivation, especially the more tender species. The alpine house should receive maximum light, but will require shading in summer. Good air circulation is crucial and extra vents are a must. We advise growing this cyclamen in deep pots, using a suitable compost. This may be made up by mixing two parts (by bulk) of John Innes compost No2, one part of Perlite and one part of shredded leaf mould. This cyclamen is best watered from a saucer underneath the pot with the excess disguarded after an hour. Top dress all tubers with a layer of grit. Give just enough heat to exclude frost in very cold weather. Otherwise, plunging your pots in sand or covering with horticultural fleece during very cold spells will give an amazing amount of extra protection.
Available for delivery in the following locations:
United Kingdom (England, Wales, Mainland Scotland, Scottish Islands, Scottish Highlands, Isle of Wight, Northern Ireland, Isles of Scilly), Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden


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Congratulations! You are going to be a bride.
We know that everything has to be perfect on your special day in California. Wedding makeup is one of your top concerns after securing the location, finding the perfect dress and selecting the flowers and food.
You want to look absolutely beautiful on your special day. You also want to make sure your wedding makeup can stand up to the crystal-clear lens mounted on the photographers camera. Everyone knows the special day memories linger for years – however, photographs can last forever.
Choosing a qualified California wedding makeup specialist is critical to achieving your dreams for that perfect day! If you are local to the Sacramento, California area, Brenda Azevedo will make sure you are absolutely stunning for your special day.
Here are a few makeup tips that will help you on your big day:
- Make sure you use an oil-free foundation and then create a sheer makeup look by covering your face with a finishing powder. You don't want your wedding makeup appearing shinny or greasy in your wedding photos now do you? If your skin is naturally oily, starting your makeup routine with a face primmer is your best bet. It is an excellent base layer, applying it just before your natural mineral foundation.
- Speaking of shine, you will want to limit your eye shadow choices. Avoid shades that are overly frosted or shimmering. The camera will be instantly attracted to the shine and it will overpower the rest of your face. If you want shimmer, applying it to the eye lid is a better choice than the brow bone. Choose shades that accent your eye color, applying the darker shade of mineral eye makeup along the crease to create the effect of a "wide-open" eye.
- Using a waterproof mascara is a essential! Brides cry – yes, even though it's the happiest day of your life! One option is to use a mineral powder eye shadow swept onto the lower lash line instead of applying mascara. Then if you cry, simply blot – not wipe – the area. Your eye shadow should remain and you'll be ready for the rest of the day and dancing well into the night.
- For your lips, choose a long wearing lipstick and lip liner is a California wedding makeup MUST. Remember, you will be photographed for hours – after eating, smiling and kissing people you know (and those you may not know)! Lip liner is fantastic for outlasting even the longest meal. When your lipstick and lip gloss wears off, your lip liner will still show through (if applied correctly). Be sure to line your lips and then fill in the whole lip. As it wears through all the wedding day activities, you won't see a telltale line.
- Before applying lipstick, powder your lips first. This can help to extend the life of your lip color. Then apply your mineral lipstick. Finish off with the best lip gloss you can find. Be sure and carry both your lip stick and lip gloss with you so you can easily refresh your look throughout your special day.
If you would like help selecting the perfect California wedding makeup, please contact Brenda Azevedo, your preferred bridal party makeup artist, about just B Cosmetics. She'll be happy to assist you in finding the perfect mineral foundation, blush, eye shadow for your very special day.


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HOUSTON, Texas — Authorities said a boy who was fatally beaten in southwest Houston in December had more than 100 bruises and two black eyes when he died.
On Dec. 15, the 21-year-old Michael Allen Seaton is charged with capital murder in the death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son, Dustyn Roff.
A complaint filed by the Harris County District Attorney's Office states Roff had two black eyes, a cut on his chin and multiple bruises on his face, chest, arms, legs and back. The complaints states he had more than 100 bruises as well as multiple injuries to various internal organs. The cause of his death was multiple blunt-force injuries.
Two reports had been filed with Child Protective Services prior to Dustyn's death, according to a CPS spokeswoman. One alleged neglect, while the other was filed for possible physical abuse. Police have said the boy had different healing stages of bruises, indicating he had likely been beaten for several weeks.
Court documents show the boy's 23-year-old mother, Britni Glover, told investigators Seaton babysat the boy while she worked. She told investigators she noticed her son had two black eyes a few weeks before his death. When she asked Seaton what happened to the child, he told her the boy had fallen, according to the complaint.
When she came home from work on Dec. 15, Glover said Seaton was mad at her for not returning to the apartment earlier for lunch, the complaint states. She said that while she and Seaton were talking, her son came into the room and Seaton hit the boy in the face.
A few minutes later, Seaton went into the boy's room, grabbed the child with both hands and started shaking him, Glover told investigators. Then, she said, he tossed the boy onto a mattress that was on the floor and began punching him in the stomach and back.
She added that during the beating, Seaton was yelling, "I told you to … listen to me." Seaton then left the apartment after the beating, according to the complaint. Glover said she asked her son if he was alright and the boy told her his stomach hurt.
She also told investigators that he fell down in the bathroom later that night and hit his face, causing a bruise. She said she woke about 5 a.m Dec. 16 and found her son not breathing. She called 911.
According to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, Glover has been charged with injury to a child, serious bodily injury, for not seeking medical treatment for her son and for not protecting him from Seaton or taking him out of Seaton's care.
Meanwhile, Dustyn's father, Charles Blake Roff said last month he had been searching for Glover and his son for the past four months after she left with the boy during a visit. Roff said he was the boy's sole caretaker until that time and was working on gaining full legal custody. He said the couple is in the middle of a divorce and custody rights had not yet been determined.
Mfrances is a news writer for NinjaCOPS.com where you can get high quality self defense weapons, rechargeable stun gun flashlights, and law enforcement stun guns.


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IF you've got some spare time in the lead-up hours to tonight's fifth Wayne Swan Budget (have there really been that many?), try Googling a couple of key phrases that will help you when the Treasurer flips the switch to fiscal at 7.30pm.
Start with "Labor values", which you can bet will feature in Mr Swan's 30-minute speech, burnishing the Budget's credentials as both having core values and targeting the message at that shrinking segment of the electorate referred to as "the Labor base".
Those Labor voters not surfing harmony.com desperately looking for someone who shares their niche beliefs, will be reassured by Swan the Budget is all about the fair go - putting the government on the side of working families, rather than with billionaires who refuse to share the nation's wealth.
To drive home the point, Swan took the twitterverse yesterday, proclaiming - as well as having a surplus - it would be "a #FairGo budget, looking after low and middle-income Aussies".
You may have heard this bit before, as Swan has been reciting, repeating and regurgitating this line ever since he penned his "Us v Them" essay in The Monthly at the start of the year.
Next, you should look up "cooking the books", which Tony Abbott is sure to utter when he releases himself from his record-breaking vow of silence which has seen (but not heard) him stay away from butcher shops, car mechanics and roller-door manufacturers for three full days.
That this extraordinary reluctance to warn the public of the devastation just weeks away as a result of the Great Big New Carbon Tax coincides with the arrival of a shed load of tricky questions about Coalition involvement in the staffer allegations against stood-aside Speaker Peter Slipper is obviously a product of the weekend's supermoon.
The "cooking the books" line will be added to Abbott's current mantra, building on the "tax based on a lie" and any combination of the Slipper and Craig Thomson scandals.
One measure of a Budget's success is whether it meets expectations. A quick sample of opinion among senior Labor people yesterday pointed to an overall anticipation level of close to zero.
On that scale, the Budget is already a roaring success.
Originally published as The Budget jargon you should Google


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Ask Dorothy Page 3
Welcome to "Ask Dorothy" on
a place where you can ask Dorothy for advice or answers to anything that's bothering you.
Email your problem questions to Dorothy at
More Problems
Home Page
Page 1.
Page 2.
Page 3.
Dear Dorothy,
This is the 3rd time writing this - I don't know where to start. OK, I met someone nearly 2 years ago we have happy and bad times but for the past 4 months its getting worse - the fighting and everything. I've been trying to get her off smoking pot but to no avail. She is a different person when stoned, happy and loving but the rest of the time she hits me (don't laugh) orders me about, tells me what to do. It's getting us both depressed. I love her with all my heart and soul but the way she treats me sometimes is like a mum to a kid. What should I do? Help!
Dorothy replies
My, my, my, what a to-do! Your life to me sounds hectic and chaotic...... it sounds to me like your lady friend is obviously trying to relax. You sound uptight and it is time, young man, to get your own life in order. Letting a woman beat you? I've never heard of such a thing. If you are being treated like a child then just try behaving like one. Get up late in the morning, stay out late, play some music really loud. I recommend some nice Perry Como LP's. I always play them to annoy my next door neighbour when I've had a night out at the bingo. If this antagonizes her even more, then make yourself one of those pot cigarettes and do some relaxing yourself - but know this.... I do not approve of smoking in any shape or form. If all this fails and it gets too much then all I can really suggest is to give up on the ladies for a while and join the navy. It'll take your mind off things for a short while like 10 years and will toughen you up and that's for sure. Good luck sonny.
Dear Dorothy,
Gnome sweet gnome?
Please help me. I recently met someone through a lonely hearts ad entitled 'Small but Perfectly Formed'. When he arrived at my house I found to my dismay that he was a garden gnome. What can I do? He has taken root next to my pond and refuses to budge unless I agree to marry him.
Signed 'Worried' from Hull
Dorothy replies
Dearest worried, can I first say to you this, did he come with any guarantee? Some gnomes are very cheap and a little nasty. Tell him he must return from where ever he came from and under no circumstances will you marry him. If the blighter doesn't budge either set the dog on him or ring the environmental health. The number is in your local directory. May I also add that in the future if you ever get lonely again then go down to your nearest pet shop and purchase a perfect companion a budgie. I wouldn't be without mine. Not since my Harry past away. Good luck with the expulsion of your squatting gnome-love Dorothy.
Dear Dorothy,
I am a 45 year old man (balding slightly) and have been with my wife for 18 years with 3 kids and a mortgage to worry about. Frankly, I am sick of the whole thing. I feel apart from our family life, used simply as a taxi with a wallet attached. What's to stop me from breaking away from this madness and finding my own life?
Signed A fed-up husband
Dorothy replies
Calm down, fed-up husband - you are not the only one. 18 years? Give yourself a pat on the back, that's a long time, sonny! You need to 'chill out' and ask yourself one thing -
Do you love her, sweetie?
If you don't, it's time to let go - and you know why. But if you do, it's shake-up time. You take the lead, change whatever, then you take your wife, catch your taxi and spend some good money on the both of you. Find each other and do something amazing! Now then, fed-up husband, go do as I say and the best of luck to you both.
Dear Dorothy,
I have read that love is a chemical thing that happens between two people - something that just can't be stopped, whatever the circumstance. I fell in love, too. Tell me, why is it so painful?
Dorothy replies
Well, you sound like a nice young man! Pain is a very painful thing and it hurts even more when you are lonely, good looking and very sensitive. I am so sorry, young man, but it's time to toughen up.
Get strong! Sign up for some kick boxing lessons and get a grip. The sort of love portrayed in Catherine Cookson novels is nonsense (and STOP reading your mothers books!).
Go out and buy some new clobber, go to a nightclub and read the Sunday Sport after a very memorable Saturday night. Get arrested if you have to! Then, and only then will you feel experienced and grown up enough to meet a young lady and have 2 kids and a mortgage. That's what love is all about.
Dear Dorothy,
It's wonderful to see you appearing on
but tell me please, why a 98 year old lady, such as yourself, would want to write a column on a website.
Signed Editor.
Dorothy replies
Well, young man, I am still not quite sure what a website is, but I think a problem is a problem, no matter where it manifests itself.
Look here, I've been a Hull lass all my life and have experienced two generations of Hull people and their problems. Also, I read 'Hello' Magazine and I listen to Radio Humberside. Although I am not the proud owner of the latest PC (whatever that is) I do rely on my home help to read the questions and write for me. I do understand lovey, I really do, and if you want to sit yourself down and pour your little heart out, I am a good listener and will always try to understand your state of mind.
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Going Down
- Hull Mela Festival Sunday 31st July 2005
by Jane Foster
This year saw Hull's first ever
festival held at Pearson Park. A
is a traditional festival which originates from India. A welcome event (especially as there was no Grassroots festival this year), it brought together and celebrated the diverse communities of Hull. It was a successful day, well attended and enjoyed by both the public and the performers.
Read more...
Going Down
- Ella Street Festival Saturday 9th July 2005
by Jane Foster
As a resident of
Ella Street
I was pleased as punch to hear that this year we would be holding our very own festival, open to everyone. A group of residents had got together and organised this - well done to them all. About a week ago the banner and bright bunting went up, and the street held its breath waiting for this very special event...
Read more...
Going Down
- Cycling into Poverty History Monday 27th June 2005 By Martin Deane
"Don't tell the other towns, but Hull was the best reception we ever got!" Bright and early, by some measures - ok, 9am - 24 cyclists from Hull gathered by the café and then made their way over the Humber Bridge. The River Humber, she what drains a fifth of the country and puts more freshwater into the North Sea than any other, looked absolutely
Read more...
Going Down
- The Make Poverty History March, in Retrospect By Bill Linton
Well, the G8 season seems to have kicked off to a good start this year with Live 8 concerts internationally. Predictably, the Hyde Park concert gained almost wall to wall coverage on television and in the news, although media interest in the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh was somewhat less
Read more...
Going Down
- Make Poverty History Demonstration in Edinburgh 2nd July 2005 by Rich Mills
Having been a political activist for many years now, when the
Make Poverty History
demonstration came around, we just had to do something about it. The result being that with a lot of work from
Martin Deane
collecting money in, we managed to send a hundred people up to
for the day. Along with another hundred or so who made their own way up to Scotland,
was well represented.
Read more...
Going Down
- G8 2005 Demonstration in Edinburgh
by Mike Rose
On Saturday 2nd July we joined what turned out to be the biggest political demonstration in Scottish history. I've been on G8 demos before (
Prague 2000 - Genoa 2001
) but this one was the most diverse I have ever witnessed. The response from the churches was stunning. We had socialists, environmentalists, Christians, students, pensioners, and babies!
Read more...
Going Down
- Make Poverty History March In Edinburgh
By Sarah Golightley
There is nothing I loathe more than the sound of one of those wretched free ring tones on my mobile twanging away at 5 o'clock in the morning; especially when 5 o' clock is only three hours after I went to sleep following a night of clubbing at
and accidentally locking my friends out of their own house. And then trying to let them in
Read more...
Going Down
- Make Poverty History Demonstration in Edinburgh 2nd July 2005 By Mo
Martin Deane
invited me along with 2 full coach loads of people from Hull to the
Make Poverty History
Demonstration in Edinburgh on the 2nd July 2005. It was an early start, 6am, because we had a long 6 hour trip up to Scotland (and another 6 hours back which I tried to forget) as we hopped aboard that drizzly morning. I'd packed my sandwiches, water etc and had a flask of hot coffee prepared for me by
Read more...
Going Down
- World Music Day at Queens Gardens Saturday 18th June 2005 By Mo
This year's Hull
World Music Day
saw another impressive array of artists from across the globe. A warm sunny day was the perfect setting for various performances. These included the
Shyani Ngcobo Band
from South Africa, Persian band
, the
Zeela Women's Choir
from Liberia,
Allah Lake Afro Mandinka
from the Gambia,
Shantha Rao
of the Annapurna Indian Dance Company,
from Kurdistan
Read more...
Going Down
- Overnight Investigation of the Paranormal with The Spiritual Renaissance Group By Blair Ashworth Photos by Mo
Insomnia must be a real advantage when you're investigating the paranormal. At least, it would have been if the night at Holmpton had passed slowly - but for me, and for Mo, it was an amazing and unforgettable experience, and I for one intend repeating it as soon as the opportunity next arises. So, there we were, the car drawing up to the guardhouse of the Holmpton bunker near Withernsea.
Read more...
Going Down
- Isn't 'Ull Brilliant! Hull Aid Tsunami Benefit Event By Cilla, 11 page Photo Gallery by Darren Rogers.
After the unbelievable response to the
Hull Aid Tsunami Benefit Event
, where hundreds of you turned up to be entertained by some of the fabulous talent from in and around Hull, we can announce the current total donated by YOU! Together with collections at
Read more...
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The suspect was described by police as a black man in his early 20s, standing about 6-feet tall and in dark clothes. He pointed a small gun at her and demanded her wallet, police said.
When she protested that she wasn't carrying anything, he left, climbing into the passenger side of a dark van that then took off down the street.
Thirty minutes earlier, police reported, a man in his 50s walking a dog along the 200 block of Walter Hays Drive in Palo Alto also encountered an armed robber.
The suspect beamed a flashlight into the victim's eyes while brandishing a gun. At the robber's command, the man emptied his pockets and then watched the suspect flee with the stolen items.
Witnesses reported hearing a vehicle leaving at a high rate of speed, police said.
Menlo Park police spokeswoman Nicole Acker said the descriptions of the suspect were similar, but the Menlo Park victim was unable to provide more detail.
Detectives from both agencies are investigating the crimes. Police suggest that people remain aware of their surroundings when out for walks, and report suspicious behavior immediately to 911.
Anyone having information about these robberies may contact the Menlo Park Police Department at 330-6300 or the anonymous tip line at 330-6395.