text:
|29, 2, 5, 29, 30, 31, 32, 30, 31, 32
(Paints) Paints, varnishes, lacquers; preservatives against rust and against deterioration of wood; colorants; mordants; raw natural resins; metals in foil and powder form for painters, decorators, printers and artists. Explanatory Note This class includes mainly paints, colorants and preparations used for the protection against corrosion. Includes, in particular: paints, varnishes and lacquers for industry, handicrafts and arts; dyestuffs for clothing; colorants for foodstuffs and beverages.Class 5:
(Pharmaceuticals) Pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations; dietetic substances adapted for medical use, food for babies; plasters, materials for dressings; material for stopping teeth, dental wax; disinfectants; preparations for destroying vermin; fungicides, herbicides.Class 29:
(Meats and processed foods) Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, fruit sauces; eggs, milk and milk products; edible oils and fats.Class 30:
(Staple foods) Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, tapioca, sago, artificial coffee; flour and preparations made from cereals, bread, pastry and confectionery, ices; honey, treacle; yeast, baking-powder; salt, mustard; vinegar, sauces (condiments); spices; ice.Class 31:
(Natural agricultural products) Agricultural, horticultural and forestry products and grains not included in other classes; living animals; fresh fruits and vegetables; seeds, natural plants and flowers; foodstuffs for animals, malt.Class 32:
(Light beverages) Beers; mineral and aerated waters and other nonalcoholic drinks; fruit drinks and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages.


text:
Cisco was recently recognized as the first global networking company to be awarded the J.D. Power and Associates Certification for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience." A blue-ribbon panel of industry leaders from more than 50 leading technology companies has awarded this prestigious certification for delivering outstanding customer support worldwide for the Cisco product line.
This certification, presented through the Certified Technology Service and Support (CTSS) program, is awarded based on the following criteria:
J.D. Power and Associates has over 30 years of expertise in recognizing customer satisfaction and is a brand that is synonymous with high quality and excellent service. This new certification program was developed jointly by J.D. Power and Associates and the Service and Support Professionals Association (SSPA) to assist customers in identifying companies that have demonstrated technical support excellence before selecting what products to purchase.
"With Cisco's sophisticated networking product line, earning this certification for global technical support is a huge accomplishment," said Bill Rose, the founder and executive director of SSPA. "Prospective Cisco customers can now buy with the knowledge that the Cisco support team can help them achieve success with their products."
J.D. Powers and Associates comprehensive evaluations of Cisco's support operations included on-site audits at three locations in North and Central America. Satisfaction data was collected from customers who recently used Cisco's technical support services.
For more information on this recognition, please visit:
Cisco Product Identification Tool - UPDATE:
Instructions Now Available for Electronic Retrieval of Serial Numbers
The recently updated Cisco Product Identification Tool now includes instructions for using CLI or SNMP commands to retrieve serial numbers from selected products electronically. You can also now access a listing of product IDs associated with the illustration. To view these new features, search or browse for the Cisco Catalyst 6509 Switch.
Accurate and accessible serial number information is important to you
and to Cisco. The Cisco Product Identification Tool provides detailed descriptions, instructions for electronic retrieval, and illustrations showing the location of product serial number labels. This information can be used for inventory purposes and for ensuring that you receive the appropriate level of technical support.
Visit the Cisco Product Identification Tool today at:
Not registered with Cisco.com? Visit the URL below to register and begin taking advantage of this and many other useful online tools:
Cisco Technical Support & Documentation Website - UPDATE:
Updated Support Pages Feature Customers' Most Requested Documents
Cisco recently began introducing a new functionality across the Technical Support & Documentation Website. The new Most Requested Documents section -- located at the top of select Product Support pages -- displays documents that were most frequently accessed by customers during the previous month. By placing these documents in one location, you can more easily find the information that is most important to you.
Visit the following technology pages today to access their Most Requested Documents:
Security and VPN
Voice and IP Communications
More pages are scheduled to be updated in the upcoming months.
You may have also noticed some updates to the Cisco Technical Support Newsletter this month. These recent updates include:
Cisco TAC Case Collection - UPDATE:
Recent Updates Enhance Search and Navigation
If you are a customer registered with Cisco.com and have a valid service contract, you can now benefit from enhanced search and navigation to locate over 3,800 Cisco TAC Case Collection Solutions to common network issues. These solutions are developed from actual cases that have been resolved by Cisco TAC Engineers.
Thanks to a recent update, the Cisco TAC Case Collection now highlights those words that strongly correlate with your Free Text Query and are linked with Solutions. In addition, the Guided Search has been updated to display only those values with Solutions. To view all values for Guided Search select "Show all answers."
Visit the TAC Case Collection today at:
(available only to registered customers with a valid service contract)
Note: Due to the dynamic nature of the TAC Case Collection content, Cisco recommends using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape 6.0, or later versions.
Be sure to check out the Cisco TAC Collection Solutions located in the New Technical Tips and New Field Notices sections of this newsletter.
US Cisco Networkers 2006 Conference - UPDATE:
Early Bird Discount Expires on April 21
The Early Bird discount of US$400 for US Cisco Networkers 2006 expires April 21. This year's conference will be held June 18-23 in Las Vegas, NV, and includes:
When registering, choose from more than 200 Technology Breakout Sessions, full-day Techtorials, labs, Birds of a Feather sessions, and more. Because many sessions fill quickly, you are encouraged to register early so you can enjoy the sessions and testing opportunities most important to you.
Register for US Cisco Networkers 2006 and immediately build your schedule today at:
CCIE Central - UPDATE:
Change to Documentation Access in Lab Exams
While access to Cisco product documentation will still be available during CCIE lab exams at the Documentation Website (UniversCD), candidates will no longer be able to use the search function on that site. The search has been disabled due to a change in the way product documentation is maintained at Cisco. As a workaround, candidates should be prepared to use the drop-down index to navigate the Documentation Website.
Candidates may want to spend more time becoming familiar with the index and practicing how to quickly locate relevant information. Candidates can check their specific due date (at Certification Status) and easily reschedule exams online at:
Note: Candidates who want to reschedule their lab date should remember that changes to CCIE lab exam dates or locations must be made at least 28 days before the scheduled date. The last day to make a change is the Lab Exam Due Date, after which no changes are allowed. Candidates who do not show up on the day of their scheduled exam will not be eligible for a refund.
Please contact CCIE customer support at firstname.lastname@example.com for questions or assistance.
In conclusion to the announcement posted in our November issue, the CCIE Program is pleased to announce the availability of the CCIE Voice lab exam in Sydney, Australia. Online scheduling is now available for this location.
Note: Candidates thinking of taking their exam in Sydney should be aware that the US$1250 cost of the CCIE lab is subject to GST taxes; prices may vary due to exchange rates.
For more information regarding the CCIE Voice lab preparation, visit the Lab Exam preparation page at:
Cisco Marketplace - UPDATE:
Special DVD Offer for Registered Users
The Product Documentation DVD offers a comprehensive library of Cisco product documentation on a portable medium. If you are a registered Cisco.com user, you can order an evaluation copy of the DVD at the first-time low price of US$20. To take advantage of this offer, simply visit the Product Documentation Store below, and enter DOC-DOCDVD=EVAL in the search field.
"What's New in Cisco Documentation" is an online publication that provides information on the latest documentation releases for Cisco products. Updated monthly, this online publication is organized by product category to direct you quickly to the documentation for your products.
Highlights of the April release include documentation for the following:
You can view the latest release of "What's New in Cisco Documentation" at:
Visit the Product Documentation Store today at:
(available only to registered users)
Networking Professionals Connection - UPDATE:
Upcoming "Ask the Expert" Events and TechTalks
Networking Professionals Connection is an interactive Website where you can discuss Cisco networking products and technologies with Cisco experts and networking professionals around the world.
Upcoming events on Networking Professionals Connection include:
Note: "Ask the Expert" events are subject to rescheduling. Please refer to the URL above for the most current schedule.
To attend an event or participate in a discussion forum, visit Networking Professionals Connection at:
Cisco IOS
Tech Note:
Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2SB
Cisco TAC Case Collection Solution:
Router Loads Cisco IOS Software Successfully after an Upgrade Using the "xmodem" Command, Yet No File Is in the Flash
Content Networking
Password Recovery:
Procedure for the AON Node
LAN Switching
Tech Note:
Common Issues with Cisco Catalyst 4500 Switches That Run Cisco IOS Software
Cisco TAC Case Collection Solution:
How to Configure VLANs with the Cisco Catalyst Fixed Configuration Switches
Tech Note:
STM4 Circuit Fails during Transport through a Third Party Carrier
Tech Note:
Tune the CTC HEAP Variables on the PC to Improve CTC Performance
Security and VPN
Configuration Example:
IPSec Tunnel between PIX 7.x and VPN 3000 Concentrator
Configuration Example:
PIX 7.x to Support IPSec over TCP on Any Port
Configuration Example:
SMTP and ESMTP Connections Inspection with Cisco IOS Firewall
Configuration Example:
Cisco Easy VPN with a Cisco ASA 5500 as the Server and Cisco 871 as the Easy VPN Remote
Configuration Example:
ASDM: Restrict the Network Access of Remote Access VPN Users
Configuration Example:
Cisco 7200 Easy VPN Server to 871 Easy VPN Remote
Configuration Example:
PIX 7.x: Set a Connection Timeout Based on an Access-List
Security Advisory:
Response to Cisco PIX Embryonic State Machine TTL(n-1) DoS and Cisco PIX Embryonic State Machine 1b Data DoS
Cisco TAC Case Collection Solution:
How to Upgrade the Cisco PIX Firewall Software in a Failover Scenario
Voice and IP Communications
Configuration Example:
Cisco 7970 IP Phone: Set the Time Zone
Tech Note:
Cisco CallManager Cannot Open the DC Directory
Tech Note:
Cisco Unity for Lotus Domino - Manually Update the Lotus Domino Directory
Tech Note:
Cisco Unity Server: Failure to Retrieve Voicemail Messages after Exchange Recovery
Tech Note:
Cisco Personal Communications Assistant Scalability
Tech Note:
Cisco Unity Express Installation and Upgrade Guide
Tech Note:
User Rights for the Installation of ICM/IPCC Enterprise and Hosted Editions Version 7.x
Tech Note:
Cisco CallManager Express: Create a Customized Background Image for the 7970 IP Phone
Tech Note:
Call States Sent to SCCP Endpoints by Cisco CallManager
Cisco TAC Case Collection Solution:
In the Cisco CallManager 4.0 cluster, RTMT Sends Alerts about Low Memory Availability on the Publisher and That SQL Uses Most of the Memory
Configuration Example:
WLAN Controller Failover for Lightweight Access Points
Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) Troubleshoot
Tech Note:
LWAPP Decodes Enablement on WildPackets OmniPeek and EtherPeek 3.0 Software
Tech Note:
Wireless LAN Controller IDS Signature Parameters
Cisco TAC Case Collection Solution:
How to Update Access Point Firmware Using TFTP when it Is Not Possible to Perform Update through the HTTP Interface
Broadband Cable
SCA BB 3.0.0 - Link Failure-reflection and Connection-mode Are Not Saved Correctly to the Startup Config - Upgrade
SCA BB 3.0.x - HTTP Redirection for Some Browsers - Upgrade
15454-32-WSS - Optical Channels Cannot Be Added to an ROADM-Based Network after Software Upgrade to Release 6.0.1 or Release 7.0
CRS-8: AC Power Supplies May Encounter Hang, Communication to the Power Supply Is Lost; Workaround or RMA for Fix
Cisco TAC Case Collection Solution:
Router Loses Configuration due to Wrong Config-Register Value
IDS/IPS - Sensor Software Versions 5.0(X) or 5.1(X) May Become Unresponsive on Daylight Savings Time Boundary Transition - Service Pack Update Required
IP Phone Firmware 7.2(2), 8.0(1) and 8.0(2) Cause Handset Audio to Be Too Loud
Cisco Aironet 1240 AG Access Point Mounting Bracket
If you would like to view Technical Tips that have recently received major updates, visit the Updated Technical Tips page at:
(available to non-registered users)
(available only to registered users)
Forget Your User ID or Password?
Your user ID is usually your first initial followed by your last name; for example, John Doe's user ID might be "jdoe." If you can't remember your password, send a blank e-mail message to email@example.com. An automatic check will verify that your e-mail address is registered with Cisco.com. Account details with a new random password will be e-mailed to you.
Important Notices:
© 1992-2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement, Cookie Policy, and Trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tarina Tarantino HELLO KITTY CAT Cigarette Case Lighter
I love this! I got one and it is soo handy and useful. You can use it as a wallet case, thingy. Or a regular cigarette case. It comes with it's own refillable lighter and is so cute. Men have complimented me on this! I couldn't believe it, lol. So I figure if a man would ask me about if....for his female friends, Id put it up here, to share with you All! Join me and enjoy in all of my Hello Kitty madness!


text:
Warehouse Circus presents "Projected"
Showing at the Belconnen Community Theatre from the 18th to the 20th of December
Canberra's premiere youth circus Warehouse Circus presents it's major theatre production for 2010 Projected. Projected is an energetic, witty and awe inspiring performance by the Warehouse Circus advanced performance troupe. It is the culmination of skills and ideas developed over the past year in the Warehouse Circus advanced training program. Don't miss this captivating show, suitable for all ages, written and performed right here in Canberra by Canberra's finest young circus performers. You will be amazed!
Ever wanted to run away and join the circus?
Warehouse Circus is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving the mental and physical health of young people in the ACT through the medium of social circus.
Warehouse Circus has been providing social circus classes in Canberra since 1990. We have a host of programs including core circus programs for beginner, intermediate and advanced performers, adult classes, school holiday programs, and workshops and performances for community festivals and other events.
We teach a range of skills including tumbling, mini trampoline, stilt walking, unicycling, rolla bolla, hula hooping, juggling, diabolo, staff or poi twirling and aerial. We foster a co-operative environment rather than a competitive one, and aim to give everyone an opportunity to learn fun skills they can show off with. You will be amazed at what you can learn!
Our training space is located in Chifley at the newly established Chifley Health and Wellness Hub (Cnr of Maclaurin Crs and Eggleston Crs, Chifley). We also hold a weekly Belconnen beginner class at the Belconnen Arts Centre.
Our website is currently under construction so watch this space in future for exciting updates on what Warehouse Circus is up to! In the meantime, please contact the circus office to enrol or for more information about our classes and performances around town.


text:
this season
'Seafaring Wanderer' is a collection of garments inspired by the sea and those who work upon its waves and shore.
It is my answer to the call of the sea, my interpretation of the places where land, sea, and sky collide in a vast violent caress.
Many of the shapes used in this collection are influenced by traditional clothing worn by the fisherfolk of the northern
British Isles and other rugged coastal areas, and are meant to be worn for both work and leisure.


text:
Amanda Lepore Gets A Makeover As Some Of The World's Most Famous Supermodels
In this eye-popping editorial for, ahem, Tush, transgender model Amanda Lepore gets dolled up as supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Karen Mulder, Nadja Auermann, and Claudia Schiffer. Don't know who Lepore is? Well, welcome to it. She's arguably the most famous transsexual in the world. She's been the face of MAC, modeled for Heatherette, and she's David LaChapelle's muse. We like this editorial because it reveals modeling as the charade it is. You don't have to have been born a girl to do the Evangelista. More shots after the jump.


text:
|From: Robby Findler (robby at cs.uchicago.edu)
Date: Sat Apr 21 11:31:03 EDT 2007
Just a little bit of clarification: we produce drscheme etc, but others then pack them up in order to make them be more "easily" installed via apt-get, etc. Sometimes ... "more easily" isn't actually easier, but more difficult ... If you want to try installing it directly from what we provide on our web site (www.drscheme.org) we'll be in a much better position to help you. Note that, in our distribution, mzscheme is included as a part of drscheme. hth, Robby On 4/21/07, Eli Barzilay <eli at barzilay.org> wrote: > On Apr 21, Ronny wrote: > > [...] > > Now I have to throw in the towel. I am not (yet) experienced enough > > with linux to solve this problem by myself, hence my mail to this > > list. Any hint to get me in the right direction will be greatly > > appreciated! > > You talked about many problems, and from all of them, I couldn't see > anything that is related to MzScheme or DrScheme. It looks like you > had a failure somewhere in the installation, which made things fail, > then you cleaned things up and installed again -- and got a bunch of X > errors from the installer tool. (X errors cannot happen because of > MzScheme, since it's not using X.) > > So, one thing that you can try is some kubuntu mailing list or if you > know people who use it. > > But to get things running, you can try our installers -- we don't have > a kubuntu installer, but there are good changes that one of the linux > installers will work for you. > > -- > ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) Eli Barzilay: > http://www.barzilay.org/ Maze is Life! > _________________________________________________ > For list-related administrative tasks: > http://list.cs.brown.edu/mailman/listinfo/plt-scheme >
|Posted on the users mailing list.


text:
that was a beautiful reply man. thank you. where were you 12 days ago? :)

On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 11:58 PM, John Magolske <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:

>> haul all the couches off to the dump and replace them with
 >> folding metal chairs"
 >
 > oh yes because i enjoy spending a good hour or so on my laptop
 > sitting in my nice warm comfy metal chair.

My comment about folding metal chairs was a bit hyperbolic...sorry
 about that. Actually, I really do appreciate comfy couches. When
 using a laptop I find couches and low-slung chairs to be much more
 ergonomic than upright chairs and tables.

 > how about we just get couch covers? then all you'd have to do
 > is take them off every now and then, shake out the couch candy,
 > and wash them. sure it's not 100% as effective as replacing soft
 > cushions with cold metal in bed bug deterrence but, you know,
 > common.

For a couch cover to have any effectiveness at all against bed bugs,
 it would need to completely enclose the couch, be made of a tight
 weave fabric, and have zippers that seal the whole thing shut tight.
 Such covers can be had for box springs & mattresses in the $70 - $100+
 range (check out the Bed Bath & Beyond [1] and Keetsa stores in SF for
 box spring covers & mattress covers respectively), but I don't think
 they exist for couches. It would probably need to be custom-made and
 rather expensive. Might be more interesting to make a custom couch [2]
 with cushions that could be removed and run through the washer & dryer
 (which definitely does kill bb's).

 In any case, the main reason I bring this up is to draw attention to
 the vulnerable situation we're in with respect to people sleeping
 on couches at Nb. If one of our couches gets infested, it would be
 non-trivial to un-infest it. Steaming the crevices could be somewhat
 effective (and I certainly don't want to discourage steam-cleaning),
 but if any bugs happen to crawl up inside a couch and make a home in
 its frame, it would be really difficult to get rid of them. Placing
 the couch in an oven and heating it to 120°F for a 4-5 hours or in
 a freezer down to at least 32°F for a couple days would probably
 do the trick. Most likely, an infested couch would just have to be
 shrink-wrapped and hauled off to the dump. By far, the most effective
 and least troublesome solution would be to prevent an infestation from
 getting established in the first place.

 > plus i thought we banned bed bugs a few weeks ago.

And what would go a long ways towards achieving this would be if
 people were to refrain from overnight sleeping in the Nb space.
 Without sleeping bodies to feast on, the bugs will not be able to
 get established.

 I understand too well the frustration of being stranded by public
 transit systems that turn into pumpkins at the stroke of midnight.
 And I can appreciate the comfort of being able to rest after being
 absorbed in a project into the wee hours. Napping breaks are great!
 Some relevant discussion: [3].

 Personally, I think it would be an interesting challenge to create a
 hacker space with some sort of sleep capacity to accommodate visitors,
 enable multi-day hacking sessions with sleep-overs, etc. We can't
 really do that in the space we're in now with the lease we have...and
 there seems to be a range of opinion as to whether this is desirable
 at all.

 Regardless, please bear in mind that sleeping at Noisebridge,
 particularly overnight (bb's tend to be most active in the 2-6am
 range), essentially amounts to leaving food out for potential pests.

 We avoid leaving dinner leftovers out overnight so that rats don't get
 fed & come back for more. We do not know if bed bugs are present at
 2169. It's entirely possible that they aren't. But we do know there
 are rising levels of infestations occurring in SF (and many other
 places as well). Having personally dealt with an infestation myself, I
 assure you it can be a very costly and troublesome thing to eradicate.
 Waiting until it's a problem before dealing with it would *not* be a
 good strategy in this case.

 If it does end up being necessary to sleep overnight, IMO the best
 approach would be to pack (& take with you) your own sleeping bag,
 and sleep on a folding metal cot with double-sided tape (carpet tape
 is good) wrapped around or Vaseline smeared on the legs of the cot's
 frame. Or place its feet in cups of oil or Tupperware tubs dusted with
 talcum powder. And don't let any bedding touch the floor. Do some
 research. Please be considerate to others who use the space.

 *

 [1] I just went to the Bed Bath & Beyond store in SF yesterday to find
 they were mostly sold out of box spring covers (only Twin & CA
 King left). They said Manhattan NY had completely depleted the
 stock. Interesting to note that the Colma store was not sold out.

 [2] A dream I had a while back was to build custom furniture for the
 Noisebridge space well-suited to comfortably sitting & creating
 with a laptop & having everything right there ... couches with
 built in ethernet RJ45 jacks & retractable power cords for
 Thinkpads, MBPs, et al, USB charging ports, cup holders, flop-out
 writing surfaces & book stands, headphone-jacks & seat warmers ...
 you know, the ultimate experience when you want to sit down to use
 a laptop and get into the creative flow. I'm now thinking if I ever
 approach this overly-ambition project, something additional to
 toss into the mix would be extreme resistance to bed bugs & other
 pests. Not sure if it's something I'd have time for...maybe I'll
 sketch out some ideas & throw something up on kickstarter.

 [3] Hacker News | Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps
 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1732182

 Thanks for reading,

 John

 --
 John Magolske
 http://B79.net/contact
 _______________________________________________
 Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
 firstname.lastname@example.com
 https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss

--
Trying to fix or change something, only guarantees and perpetuates its existence.


text:
Managing Change at WorkSubmitted by SharpMan Editorial Team on Friday 15th October 2010
- Six strategies for taking advantage of a situation.
- The value of being incompetent.
- How to get people to literally follow you anywhere.
In this SharpWork installment, Los Angeles-based management consultant Terri Gonzalez writes about how SharpMen can save their hides and climb higher in a changing workplace.
Corporate America is changing…or at least slowing…forcing workers throughout the country to play by different rules and adjust to a new reality. In the new millennium, mergers and acquisitions, increasing competition, downsizing, rightsizing and restructuring affect more and more people. Sound familiar? Keep reading for the SharpWork story on how you can make yourself more valuable during this transitional time:
Change: It's Going On and Ongoing
Most people instinctively resist change, in the workplace or otherwise, because they fear they will lose something they value. For example, due to restructuring, your responsibilities may change, your friends may be required to change departments or locations or you could be moved into another department. That type of change is relatively easy to accept because it only involves a shift in direction, not an objective loss.
On the other hand, coworkers, friends and subordinates can be laid off. You may lose decision-making authority over projects or budgets. You may find yourself working for someone with whom you had no prior contact, and who is just the type of person that caused you to leave your last job. You may lose control over your own time, and no longer spend time doing an activity you enjoy, such as talking on the phone, interacting with clients or managing projects. You may even be asked to move to a different city or state. This type of change involves giving up something and is more difficult to deal with.
While there are different needs and different ways of reacting to change, working for others — or yourself — will always require SharpMen to deal with and adjust to variations.
Strategize: Change Equals Opportunity
Of course you want to succeed in new circumstances, but you may find it difficult to embrace changes in your work environment. You may be frustrated because your routine has been interrupted, but realize that some change is never-ending.
Once you become accustomed to the fact of changing circumstances and learn to take advantage of it, your frustration will decrease. After all, people can prosper and grow as a result of having different conditions thrust upon them.
Try to focus on what is next. Think strategically. Identify your company's needs and the potential benefits of the new situation. Determine how to take advantage of a new situation and execute a plan. You may not see the results of your efforts at first, but don't give up; keep plugging. Consider the following suggestions for your plan of attack:
Be incompetent. Step outside your "comfort zone." If you are comfortable with everything you are doing, you are not learning. Try new things, even if you don't necessarily think they will work. In fact, make a point of doing whatever you are not comfortable doing. Give that marketing pitch, prepare that complex report, lead that training or that orientation. Yes, this strategy involves stress, and no, you don't want to be incompetent in the long run. But you will be happy when you master new tools and develop new skills. You may even learn to speak in front of groups, manage teams or learn a new technical skill.
Be the MVP. Become indispensable within your company and among your peers. You can be someone who makes others better at what they do. Learn about your company's goals and then think of ways that you can help your company achieve the goals. Identify needs in your company that are not being met and find ways to meet them. If someone else is working towards meeting a need or achieving a goal, help find and develop new ways to achieve the goals. Put yourself in a position where you can add value to your company. If your company is all about research and development, research and develop. If it is all about sales, sell. If it is about service, then serve. Then help others around you to research, sell or serve.
Be flexible. Try to get comfortable with any new situation and show people that you are able to work in different environments and with diverse styles. People love someone who is able to work anyplace, anywhere, anytime–and who gets results. Just because you have always done something one way, or you like doing it one way, or you think it ought to be done one way, does not mean that is the only way to do it. Think "politician." Be willing to compromise, or learn to just accept someone else's way of doing things. Also, motivate yourself to develop a new way of doing something. Corporate America loves innovation. Think the Wright Brothers and Henry Ford.
Be the nice guy. Treat everyone as if they are the CEO. Be courteous to everyone (even the mailroom guy and the woman who takes out the trash) at all times. Make time for helping other people with their problems. Relationships are vital in the workplace, now more than ever. By building and maintaining strong relationships you are setting yourself up for success no matter what the state of the economy. And do not restrict yourself to people who work with your company. Start up a conversation with people in elevators, next to you at basketball games or standing in line. Make your face a welcoming one.
Be a whiner. Whine with a purpose. Provide constructive criticism. If you do not agree with something, speak up. But provide specific alternatives that will produce the intended results and avoid current roadblocks. Be willing to listen, negotiate and compromise. But be careful: never make it personal. When phrasing your thoughts, focus on the desired outcome, not your like or dislike of the person or the process.
Be silent. Listen and be heard. Good listeners are few and far between. Being a great listener can win you friends, boost your business profits or advance your career. It can make people feel so good about being with you that they will literally follow you anywhere. Listen without thinking how you are going to respond. You cannot really listen to others respectfully when most of your attention is focused on what is going on in your head. You will find that if people feel heard, they will not only want to talk to you more, but will also ask what you have to say.
Succeed: It's Payback Time
Change takes no prisoners and offers no safe harbor. Every successfully survived change adds to your confidence. Those who take advantage of change will survive into the next millennium with wisdom and careers intact. Your ability to respond and adapt quickly in the midst of change will be a great leverage point for achieving sustainable competitive advantage in both the workplace and your personal life. You will become resilient and consistently able to rise to the occasion. Your productivity will increase. You will develop new skills, experiences and relationships that will make you more valuable and marketable both inside and outside of your company. You may well be on the road to a new career, a happier life and a better you.This article last updated on Friday 15th October 2010


text:
Check out these Great Collectible Posters for FOX's 75th Anniversary
This year is 20th Century Fox's 75th Anniversary, and If you've been to the movies recently then you've probably noticed that they have changed up their opening sequence logo introduction to correspond with their 75th anniversary. In addition to that, Fox has created a series of great looking limited edition movie posters for some of the classic films they have released over the years. To obtain one of these posters for free all you have to do is buy one of their 75th Anniversary DVDs from either Fox or Amazon.
Hope you enjoy the poster designs below, and thanks to our friends at Firstshowing for pointing them out to us!
Joey Paur — Co-Founder / Editor of GeekTyrant.com, and if you haven't noticed I write… a lot. Movies are my passion and I live and breathe all things geek. This site is part of my life's work, it's a part of me. I love what I do, and I enjoy sharing everything I can with you when it comes to movies and geekery. In my spare time I travel to the netherworlds to battle demons. @JoeyPaur | email@example.com
Featured Posts on GeekTyrant


text:
Shaq feels the Heat but Kobe stays with Lakers
Page Tools
Kobe Bryant, who helped lead Los Angeles to three NBA titles in the past five years, has rejected an offer from the Los Angeles Clippers, opting today to remain with the Lakers.
Bryant signed the contract during a news conference at Staples Centre arena while sitting next to Laker GM Mitch Kupchak.
"I struggled with the decision," Bryant said. "But I have been a Laker fan since I was a little kid. It is in my heart.
"It feels great to be a Laker for the next seven years. I have a chance to finish my career out here."
Bryant, who turns 26 next month, reportedly would receive a seven-year deal worth about $188 million dollars. He was also talking to the Clippers but rejected their offer of a six-year contract at $138 million.
The move brings some stability back to the Lakers who are considered the flagship franchise of the NBA.
It also comes just one day after the Lakers dealt disgruntled centre Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat for forwards Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a future first-round pick.
"Shaq did what is best for him and his family. I pray Shaq has a great career and stays injury free," Bryant said.
Along with having the advantage of offering Bryant a seven-year contract, the Lakers also made him the undisputed leader of the team by parting ways with coach Phil Jackson and trading O'Neal. Both criticised Bryant for deviating from the Lakers playbook and especially the triangle offence.
After losing to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA finals, Bryant announced he planned to test the free agent market.
The Clippers attempted to clear out enough salary cap space on Wednesday to offer Bryant the maximum amount when they agreed to trade centre Melvin Ely and guard Eddie House to the Charlotte Bobcats for second-round picks in 2005 and 2006.
Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling said he "realised that this was an important decision for him and we respect the process undertaken to reach it."
Both clubs made their final pitches to Bryant on Monday. Lakers new coach Rudy Tomjanovich met with Bryant at his home in Newport Beach.
Regarded as the NBA's best shooting guard, Bryant has always had the benefit of playing with O'Neal in his eight years with the Lakers. Last season, he averaged 24.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
The re-signing puts a cap on the most trying season of Bryant's professional career.
The Lakers said they're not worried Bryant's legal problems, expecting him to be acquitted.
His trial for the alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old hotel worker and former high school cheerleader in Edwards, Colorado on June 30, 2003, is scheduled to begin on August 27. It is expected to last at least three weeks.
Bryant has admitted having sex with the woman but contends their encounter was consensual.
If convicted, he faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.


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Maryland (October 14, 2011) A jackknifed tractor-trailer on I-95 south forced the closure of two lanes in Hartford County. According to the Maryland State Police the accident occurred around 11 a.m. just before Exit 80 when a tractor-trailer jackknifed in the southbound lanes. The accident caused the truck to leak diesel fuel, forcing authorities to close the right two lanes of I-95 south.
The Fire department and HazMat team responded to the scene to clean up the spill and transfer the remaining fuel into tanks.
Traffic backed up as only one lane of I-95 was open.
The Maryland State Police are investigating the accident.


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Ahh Lich King, a band I have been keeping my eye on for quite a while now. The band's website may make the band seem like they have egos about 5 times larger than their heads but after getting to know Tom somewhat through a forum it quickly becomes apparent that he is quite the jokester and this cockiness was actually just mistaken for just kidding around. Today some bands take their music really seriously but leave no room for a sense of humor. Lich King successfully manage to create some serious music while retaining a sense of humor. Tom shows his love for bands like Municipal Waste, F.K.U. and Dr. Living Dead for their goofy lyrics, imagery and of course heavy ass kicking riffs to go along with it.
Of course the real heart of Lich King seems to lie in the bay area scene. The riffs have that sense of melody and a cleanliness about them that separated the bay area from the rest of the thrash world in the 80s. Void are the elements that made up the German thrash identity. There is no blackened vibe to be found here whatsoever. Bands like Exodus and Vio-lence seem to be the main influences here. Lich King even throw in some cool covers of these bands. What really impressed me about Lich King is their ability to stick true to the 80s roots while actually sounding entirely fresh. This is a rare feat.
The riffs have a very heavy sense of crunch similar to Demolition Hammer's Epidemic of Violence. This makes them very easy to headbang to and I even had to turn my subwoofer down in order to hear the riffs properly over the pounding bass. Lich King mix up their riffs pretty well and thankfully don't feel overly repetitive and monotonous like many bands end up falling victim to. Numerous breaks are included with Reavers being the best example of this. Certainly one of the best thrash tracks in the last 15 years.
The vocals are also something to marvel at. The vocalist doesn't sound like he is trying to hard to emulate his favorite thrash vocalist or just fit into the rest of the bands. He possesses that something extra and really gives it his all on this release with his punkish shouts. The vocalist is also backed by some gang vocals that are just as exuberant as he is.
In terms of production, the band fucking nailed it dead on. Thrash bands are finding themselves on big name labels now but the problem with this is that I have heard on more than one occasion an album that could have been killer actually brought down a fair bit due to the production sounding to polished, taking away from that aggression that is so necessary for this kind of thrash metal. The whole production on Necromantic Maelstrom sounds razor sharp, gritty yet clear and has pounding bass. This is exactly how this kind of thrash should sound.
For the future I would like to see a greater addition of solos. They certainly show some real shines with this, especially midway through Thrashssacre. I really can't think of anything else to nitpick at here as this one of the finest packages of thrash metal, a quality that has hardly been seen since the early 90s.
I recommend this band for any fans of Vio-lence, Evil Dead, early Exodus and the likes.


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Before joining HelloWallet, I was a microtargeter; I'd co-founded a small microtargeting company that helped non-profits find potential volunteers for their causes. We used machine learning techniques on huge datasets to identify people who might become active. Our success was judged with randomized experiments showing whether the people we identified really did care about the cause and would volunteer (generally, they did).
One of the things we thought a lot about was what types of information you need, to discover if someone actually wants to, and is ready to, try something new. The best algorithm in the world doesn't help if you don't have good data to use it on. That's especially true when you're working with a rare and time-consuming behavior like volunteering, instead of voting.
So what data seems to give the most bang for the buck?
To make things concrete, I'll talk about a client of ours that's an advocacy organization; I'll call them "ActMore" so they don't sue me. ActMore is an environment-related NGO, and wanted to encourage its members to become more involved in their community of like-minded folks. They had a large number of people who had given money to the organization, and had said they wanted to do more, but hadn't yet really gotten involved. First, ActMore needed the basics – age, location, income, gender, etc. They already had most of that information, and we supplemented it with third party sources to provide hundreds of data fields.
We wanted to understand how strong the members' interest would be in a specific event the organization was putting together – a rally on Earth Day. We were looking specifically for divisions within the member base: groups of people who would respond differently to appeals to join the rally. Each group would get its own personalized appeal that made sense given their background and level of experience. Potential volunteers would interact with outreach materials and an associated website (and, as I remember, there was a phone-calling component as well).
Microtargeting entails throwing algorithms at large amounts of data. But, with ActMore, and with other companies and organizations I've worked with, there are certain types of data rise to the top. You can focus on them when you don't havemounds of data, and get most of the way there.[1] Here are questions that I've found are most relevant to ask about a population, from the perspective of product-mediated behavior change:
- Prior experience with the action: do the people have experience taking similar actions? (For ActMore – have they been to other, similar rallies? In the voter microtargeting world, one question is: have they voted before?) It's much easier to increase an action than to start a new one. Existing habits around the action are especially important. Prior experience is almost always the strongest predictor of future political action.
- Prior experience with similar communication channels and products: if the product used to reach people employs an email and a website, do the people have regular access to a computer (and know how to use them)?
- Relationship with the company or organization: or, to put it more bluntly, do they trust you? You'll have a harder time making your case for the people who don't trust you versus those that already know you and love you . Again, this is especially true for rare behaviors like volunteering; I think it's less so with voting.
- Existing motivation: why would the people want to take action in the first place? In other words, what can the product build upon, and so it doesn't need to do all of the work itself?
- Physical, psychological, or economic impediments to action: this isn't as common, but sometimes arises. Are there groups of people for whom the action is especially difficult? People that are homebound, or don't have the money to travel to the rally, etc. (We faced this with ActMore, in fact).
These five things provide a broad picture of whether people care about your action, and whether they are likely to act. In a data poor environment (like most product-mediated behavior change), you can focus on them. To gather it, you can use the standard tools of market research and product development – collecting existing quantitative data on user demographics, using field surveys, running qualitative research with one-on-one interviews, etc. Just make sure you add these five questions: their actual prior experience with action and with the communication channel, existing motivations, existing relationships with the company, and problems vis. a vis. the action.
Since we were doing microtargeting, the end result of our process was a set of machine-learning models of the propensity of ActMore's members to respond to different outreach campaigns, which we then field tested before rolling out the product for real. We used quantitative data from the organization and from third-party providers. But in a less quantitative-data heavy environment this approach can help you with the same core goal: who is ready and able to act, but just needs to be asked?
— This post is an extract from a much larger piece I'm writing about designing products for behavior change. It's a step-by-step, "how to do it" manual. If you'd like to take a look at it, drop me a line, or just enter your email address here.
[1] While we've all heard humorous stories that what liquor people drink predicts their voting preferences, that stuff is all on the margins – it's helpful after you have handled the really major factors.


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Nanotech News
October 16, 2006
Rapid Detection of Protein Variants Using Microfludics
A new microfluidics device that uses immobilized antibodies and carbon nanostrings as detection agents can identify slight variations in protein composition, known as protein isoforms, that could indicate the presence of cancer. The device generates results in as little as 15 minutes.
Maria L÷nnberg, Ph.D., and Jan Carlsson, Ph.D., of Uppsala University in Sweden, developed a lab-on-a-chip device to separate proteins based on slight variations in the sugar molecules that are attached to the majority of human proteins. These changes in sugar modification alter the net charge of a protein, a fact that the two investigators take advantage of by creating ion-exchange chromatography columns within the channels of a microfluidic device.
As a protein solution flows through the ion-exchange column, those molecules with a slightly greater charge move more slowly than those with a slightly smaller charge. Once separated, the proteins pass over a second region of the chip containing immobilized antibodies, which capture the proteins. Following this capture step, a solution containing a second antibody, this one linked to carbon nanostrings, is injected into the capture chamber. This detection antibody binds to any captured protein, producing a visible black stain within the device channels. Though easily seen with the naked eye, the researchers use an image scanner in order to quantify the amount of each trapped isoform.
Use of an image scanner also increases the number of individual proteins that can be detected, with the investigators noting that their device was capable of making 944 measurements on a single biological sample on one chip. The results of these experiments appear in the Journal of Chromatography A.
This work is detailed in a paper titled, ōLab-on-a-chip technology for determination of protein isoform profiles.ö An abstract of this paper is available through PubMed.
View abstract.


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Barak warns Egyptian regime on terror from Sinai (JERUSALEM POST) By GIL HOFFMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF 06/26/12)
Source: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=275192
JERUSALEM POST Articles-Index-Top
Israel will not tolerate continuing terrorist attacks from the Sinai Peninsula, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned new Egyptian president- elect Mohamed Morsy at a meeting of his Independence faction Monday at the Knesset.
When terrorist attacks emerged from Sinai over the last several months, Israel limited its response, in part because it did not want to be seen as interfering in the Egyptian election. Now that the election is over and a victor has been declared, Barak toughened his talk regarding Israels southern neighbor.
We will not accept our citizens way of life being harmed and we will not tolerate citizens getting hit from Sinai and terror, Barak said.
We have an obligation to our citizens in the Gaza periphery, who are showing determination and strength.
Barak praised the Iron Dome rocket defense system for providing Israeli forces added flexibility and freedom to act and helping build deterrence.
The IDF will continue to take action against terrorists, he vowed. We will not accept rocket fire on the South.
The defense minister said he respects the democratic process in Egypt and expressed his expectations that Cairo would honor the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
Calling the treaty a bedrock of stability in the Middle East, he said Israel would monitor developments in Egypt, in particular as they pertain to security, stability, peace and regional quiet. The Egyptian leadership, he added, has both opportunities and challenges ahead of it.
Vice Premier and Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz said he expects that Israels relationship with the regime and the people of Egypt will be as it should for two countries that have a peace treaty between them.
That is our goal and I believe it is the goal of the Egyptians as well, he told a meeting of the Kadima faction in Ashkelon.
Intelligence Agencies Minister Dan Meridor on Monday expressed cautious optimism that Israeli-Egyptian relations would be maintained despite Morsys victory.
The story in Egypt has not yet finished, he said, but we hope that the bilateral cooperation will continue and that the peace treaties signed by [former prime minister Menachem] Begin and [former Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat will be honored.
Speaking at a Jewish Agency conference in Jerusalem, Meridor added that Morsys election victory is the latest change in an unstable Middle East. When we look around us, everything looks quiet and calm. But in reality, the world is trembling.
Turning to the ongoing massacre of civilians by Syrian President Bashar Assad, Meridor said: If the Syrian regime falls, and I hope it does because of its cruelty, it will be a severe blow to Iran.
The intelligence agencies minister also said that it is incumbent upon the international community to display resolve in confronting the Iranian threat.
There is a struggle between Iran and the civilized world. If Iran is allowed to achieve nuclear weapons status, it will change the rules of the game completely, said Meridor. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 06/26/12)
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The 1.0L Tracking system features a 75 mile diameter screen scaling and it reports dog
status (stopped or direction of movement) with an easy to read Hand Held device. The hand held receiver features a lightweight
design, an integral, tilt-compensated compass, and can run for 20 hours on a single charge. Like the hand held, the transmitter
collar is designed for durability and ease of use and will also run for 20 hours per charge. The unit comes with one collar, but will track up to twelve dogs with addition of TEK-L collars. Or you can choose to track and train multiple dogs by building on this system with the addition of any combination of TEK Series accessory collars or training modules.


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Sanjay Gupta, MD, Everyday Health: We may have found yet another use for adult stem cells, those chameleon-like cells that can transform into almost any kind of human tissue. They are now being tried on people with a painful condition called Crohn's disease. Crohn's is a chronic inflammation of the bowel that afflicts more than 700,000 Americans.
About a quarter of those patients suffer a complication that adds even more pain and misery – a fistula. The inflammation actually bores a tunnel from the bowel to the outside.
William Faubion, MD, Mayo Clinic Gastroenterology and Hepatology: And having a draining fistula around the rear end is a chronic problem. People really, really suffer with this.
Eric Dozois, MD, Mayo Clinic Colon and Rectal Surgery: It's one of the most frustrating parts of my practice, because I have so little to offer these patients.
Dr. Gupta: Fistulas are very difficult to treat, and they often recur. Now researchers at Mayo Clinic are experimenting with stem cells to make a more permanent repair.
They start by harvesting stem cells from the patient's own fat, then grow them in a dish until they have tens of millions.
Allan Dietz, PhD, Mayo Clinic Human Cell Therapy Lab: These are the cells that, when you have a wound of some type, they play an important and critical role in initiating repair of that tissue.
Dr. Gupta: Those stem cells are then applied to a porous synthetic material in the shape of a plug. In the operating room, the surgeon pulls the plug through the fistula.
Dr. Dozois: It's an outpatient procedure. They recover very well from it. They have very little pain.
Dr. Gupta: The plug eventually dissolves, leaving just the patient's own tissue. This procedure is still experimental, but researchers say the vast majority of patients they have tried it on have healed completely. With Everyday Health, I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Be well.


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HIV-Negative: How the Uninfected Are Affected by AIDS
Copyright © 1995 by William I. Johnston
New York: Insight Books-Plenum Press
I was 23 years old when I told my father I might not live another five years. We were seated in armchairs 15 feet apart in my parents' formal living room. I had just returned from a year traveling in Europe after graduating from college in 1985. My Grand Tour was supposed to have opened my eyes to the limitless horizons of a young man fresh out of college. Instead, as I discussed career plans with my father, I spoke of the difficulty of planning a future when the presence of AIDS left me uncertain how long I might live. I had not yet taken an HIV test.
Across the room my father sat baffled and fearful. Why was I afraid I wouldn't live another five years? Had I done something unsafe? Was I infected with the AIDS virus? I told him that I had little reason to think I was infected, but that since I did not know, I had to assume I might be. One consequence of this assumption was an inability to plan for the future. Years of pretending or assuming I might be infected had taken their toll. It became clear to us both at that moment how profoundly AIDS had affected me. A son in his early twenties was speaking like a man in his eighties.
Before HIV testing existed, the fear of already being infected kept many gay men like me occupied with the present rather than the future. Now that HIV testing exists, the HIV-negative are offered some solace in learning that they are uninfected, but the possibility of becoming infected in the future looms large and sometimes seems inevitable. Envisioning the future is something that should occupy HIV-negative men but often does not.
Contemplating a future in which many of our friends and lovers will be gone -- a "fewtopia" -- is a bleak prospect. David, 35, who in chapter 9 compared being HIV-negative to being in a spinning aircraft, used another image to express his despair when thinking about the future:
I want to use the analogy of being in the eye of a hurricane, walking towards it. I can see the violence of the storm, still increasing, and wonder what will be left of the fields out there, of the towns, of the friends. Will the hurricane leave any seeds in the fields after it tears out the plants? Will it leave pieces of wood that we can rebuild with? Will it leave any friends, or will even the places they are buried be hidden?
I cannot answer what being gay in those future times will be like, but I can answer what it is like to be gay today: it is to see the shadows of death color everything one loves, to take a last loving glance at the bars and the streets every time one is there, and toast to the friends and the neighborhoods, before the storm descends in earnest.
This kind of grim thinking is sometimes shared by the HIV-positive, who in perverse moments voice thanks that they will probably not live to see such a diminished future.In an essay about the psychological toll of AIDS on uninfected gay and bisexual men, Walt Odets quotes a 23-year-old HIV-positive gay man: "I'm sometimes glad to think that in ten years I'll be dead. By then the only gay people left will be those whose lives were ruined by watching the rest of us die."[1]
Feeling that life is not worth living and that there is no future worth looking forward to is natural when one has been widowed. Such feelings pass with time, when mourning has done its work. What HIV-negative gay men face now, however, is a kind of continuous and unremitting grief. Not content with one sweep through us -- causing one great round of loss -- HIV seems intent on plaguing us without end, and its cussedness in foiling our attempts to fight it is daunting. We see people dying now and more people becoming infected. We call it the "second wave" or "third wave" of infection, but in the end all it points to is more loss and more grief.
I am not surprised that some men question whether remaining uninfected is important. Having lost much and facing future losses, who is to be so presumptuous as to say that "life is really worth living after all"? Indeed, there is something about the consistency of life in a plague that makes a future that is livable and desirable seem distant indeed.
Envisioning a future is particularly difficult for people living with partners who are HIV-infected. Cathy, 27, a social-work graduate student whose partner Louie has AIDS, told me that she focuses on living in the present:
Louie's in A.A., so he's got a mindset of "one day at a time," which I have found very difficult to adjust to. He used to ride a motorcycle across country saying, "We'll stop where we stop." He was always like that. In his mind there's a way to think about the future without planning. I'm learning a little. I still don't quite get it.
Louie will say things like, "I'm going to be there to see you graduate," which is at least three years away. I don't even think about my graduation. It's too far. I don't keep the appointment book that I used to. It's more important for me to stay home and watch TV with Louie at night than to go to a lecture on HIV vaccines, which a year ago I would have gone to. My priorities are different. I try not to plan things too far in advance.
Cathy thinks in terms of the rest of Louie's life as opposed to the rest of her life. "What am I going to do for the rest of my life?" she mused. "I have no concept. What am I going to do for the rest of his life? That's easier. I know what I'm going to do. I want to be with him."
Some men told me their difficulty in looking toward the future came from not wanting to celebrate life, as if doing so would somehow dishonor those who have died or offend the HIV-positive who are faced with life-threatening illness.
Randy, a 31-year-old social worker, talked with me about his decision to become a parent, something that had been a lifelong goal of his. After months of discussion with his partner and a woman interested in coparenting, Randy decided to become a father. He was expecting a child when I interviewed him:
I think the most interesting thing to say about parenting in the age of AIDS is that it's something I've wanted to be really quiet about. I feel social awkwardness about it, especially around HIV-positive people for whom becoming a biological parent is not an option.
It came up last night after I went to the movies. On the way out, I fell in stride with two people I know who are HIV-infected. Then behind us came a friend whose lover is positive. It was beginning to be overwhelming for me, at the end of a long day when I wanted a night away.
When we got to the end of the sidewalk where we were going to part, one of the three men said, "Oh, so congratulations on your baby!" One of the other two knew, but I had told him not to tell people. He said, "Oh, well, I guess the secret's out." I said, "Yeah." The third guy, who was pretty sick, had a real strong reaction to it. His explicit reaction was not about AIDS at all, but the tone was bitter: "Well, I hope you know the people really well." Would the reaction have been so strong were he not facing the end of his life right now?
If I were a straight man, I think his reaction might have been, "Big fucking deal. You're having a baby. That's so unconnected to my life." I've found talking about becoming a father much more difficult as a gay man, partly because it's predicated on "negative" sperm.
I feel also that it's about wanting to have a private celebration rather than a public one. I don't want to celebrate during the age of AIDS. That's what it's really about. That is the profound thing here. It's really a hard time to do that, for me.
One of the greatest challenges facing HIV-negative gay men these days is to find a way to celebrate their futures and build lives worth living, without feeling that by doing so they are abandoning the HIV-positive. To embrace life is not to dishonor those who have died or give affront to those who are ill.
A negative HIV test can be an opportunity to reframe one's attitudes toward the future. Edward, 39, described how his reluctance to plan for the future changed when he tested negative:
It took a fair amount of time for me to figure out that I had not been planning ahead, that I had taken my sights of the future and brought them close in, to within two or three years, and was not thinking about anything further than that.
All of a sudden the realization came down on me that I had a life to live. It was like a fog lifted: "You have to start thinking about getting old. That could possibly happen." Retirement issues used to be something that would just go right over my head, because who was thinking about retirement? I wasn't able to plan until I realized that there was this enormous possibility opening up.
Austin, 36, told me that he had gotten tested partly to learn whether he should go ahead with some of his lifelong plans. "If the test was negative," he said, "I was going to proceed with the things I had been dreaming of for a long time, liking buying some land. If I was positive, I wouldn't go through with that. I wouldn't be around long enough to get through all the hassles." When he tested negative, he found that he could fulfill some of his dreams, but at a cost to a friendship:
I experienced a transition in my relationship with a friend who was diagnosed with AIDS. The transition came when I realized that my life was going to go on and he was going to die. I was in the process of buying some land, and I brought it up in a conversation with him and his parents. We were talking in a restaurant about what I was going to do with this land in Maine, how I was going to build a cabin and all this stuff.
After that, when we were alone, I said to him, "I just need to know how you feel about that." He was very sick. He said, "I really can't talk about it." And I realized that there were some things that I couldn't talk about with him, because I was planning for a future and he was planning for how long he was going to live, and it wasn't going to be much longer.
Although Austin was sad that he could not share some of his dreams about the future with his friend, he has not abandoned dreaming. "I am still able to have my goals and my dreams, and talk about them with different people," he said. "Some people can talk about it and some people can't. It depends on their perspective. I have a friend who is very sick right now but is interested in what I'm doing with my house and wants to come visit."
Looking at the narrative chapters in this book, one reader responded by asking me, "Am I supposed to be proud of these people because they can talk about their problems?" He implied that many of them had not been very successful in resolving their anxieties and issues about being HIV-negative.
When I hear people call for "resolution" of difficult issues, I remember what I have learned by reading about trauma and chronic illness, and I switch the conversation to how people can "accommodate" their anxieties. Accommodation, not resolution, seems to me a more fruitful avenue. I don't expect anything more than that.
What does it mean to accommodate HIV? For me, accommodating the virus means accepting the epidemic as a lifelong event in my life. Accommodating the virus means not nurturing unrealistic hopes of medical advances. Accommodating the virus means acknowledging that seroconversion among gay men will continue and is a possibility in my own life. Accommodating the virus means recasting my concept of life expectancy, perhaps even redefining -- I am 32 now -- what it means to be "middle-aged."
When I think about the future of gay men, I am optimistic about our ability to face the challenge that AIDS poses. We can find ways to accommodate the virus without actually harboring it in our own bodies. We can find ways to incorporate our losses without letting them destroy us. We can allow ourselves to experience the despair that AIDS engenders in us without letting that despair rule us. And perhaps we can even take our uncertainty about the future and turn it to our advantage.
In 1986 Susan Sontag published a story in the New Yorker called "The Way We Live Now."[2] In this fictional account, Sontag presents a near-complete alphabet of friends and lovers -- from Aileen to Zack -- who recount the ways in which they have been profoundly changed by the unnamed life-threatening illness of an unnamed central character. When I read the story, I imagined the emphasis in the title resting on the penultimate word -- "The Way We Live Now" -- because the story speaks to me about how our lives have been affected by AIDS, even when we are not ourselves infected with HIV.
Meditating on the uncertainty of the future has made me wonder if another reading of Sontag's title is possible, one which puts the emphasis on the last word: "The Way We Live Now." AIDS forces us to confront our mortality, to recognize the uncertainty of the future, and to live in the present. AIDS has changed the way we live the now.
"AIDS has challenged me to look at things I was taking for granted," said Todd, a 26-year-old pianist. "It has made me realize I'm not immortal. I may not have the rest of my life to accomplish the things I've set out to do. Indeed, what does 'the rest of my life' mean? AIDS has made me focus on the fact that all we really have is right now." This understanding has fueled Todd's creative output as a composer. "I used to be one of those people who said, 'When I learn enough counterpoint, I'll write an orchestral piece,'" he told me. "That's bullshit. I'm writing an orchestral piece now."
Contents ·
Foreword ·
Prologue ·
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Conclusion · Appendix A B C · Notes · Contributors
ordering information


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This was music without a road map, but if you listened to what haden was doing, you never got lost.
In a similar fashion, you can hear the pulse and drive of Hank Williams and Maybelle Carter in what haden was doing on the bass.
We really grow so fond of Mr. haden that I do not know what to expect.
"Miss haden must have locked it when she went out," she stammered.
haden was the schoolmaster Whistler found him when they first met; one's older relatives have a way of forgetting one can grow up.
"What a dreadfully noisy girl you are, Lily," said Mrs. haden.
Illustrated with an original etching by Mr. haden, and fourteen facsimiles from his collection.
"You must all stay to supper," cried Mrs. haden in deafening hospitality.
"Doant 'ee say a word to check the boy, Bill," Mrs. haden said to her husband, as he was about to burst out into jeering remarks.
And, honestly, Mrs. haden, I didn't think you minded me taking Lily out.