text:
Perverse Incentive: Hourly Pay Plus Piece-Rate Bonus
Gregorio Billikopf, University of California
Celina Lemus, California Endive Farms packing shed Production Manager
The California Endive Farms packing shed successfully moved away from the hourly pay plus piece-rate bonus compensation system they had ten years ago, one that caused high dissatisfaction among the packers, into a straight piece rate pay system that increased worker productivity, pay and satisfaction-and also augmented packing shed profitability.
Growers who are worried that paying by the piece will mean shoddy work, and that paying by the hour will mean slow work, have come up with an apparently astute compromise: hourly paid work plus a piece-rate bonus. We, however, call it the perverse incentive because as employees' productivity increases, workers receive diminishing pay for their efforts. Workers are paid the most for the first unit of output, and decreasingly for each subsequent unit. As a result, faster workers subsidize slower ones. Workers are not motivated by this corrupted piece-rate approach, and often share their dissatisfaction. Or, just as likely, they simply work as if they were being paid by the hour. To complicate matters, a misunderstanding of the 2013 California rulings that require that employers pay rest breaks for piece-rate workers is also pushing some growers towards an hourly pay plus piece-rate bonus, or the perverse incentive.
The wonderful news is that workers are motivated by a properly designed piece rate. And that there are other methods for successfully complying with the new rest break regulations. Such as simply adding the equivalent of the two ten-minute break periods to the daily paycheck. Or paying the equivalent for what employees would have earned if they had kept working during the break.
Packing White Endives
The plants are first grown in the field, harvested and stored for up to eleven months and the delicate root is then placed in a completely dark room with just the right temperature and humidity. Small variations in temperature and humidity can have serious adverse effects on the process.
Several teams of four women sort and pack endives at the California Endive Farms. In 2004, the employees made their dissatisfaction with the hourly pay plus piece rate bonus clear. They wrote management: "Please remove the weight from off our shoulders and change the way you pay." The letter signed by all packers went on to suggest that the wages should be raised and the perverse incentive eliminated. At the time, the base pay was $7.25 an hour for up to 75 pounds of produce handled per hour. The bonus began with production over the 75 pound base, and consisted of 5.5 cents per pound (Figure 1). All pay mentioned in this paper is pre-tax.
In his classic book Compensation Administration (1974), David Belcher-speaking about another piece-rate scheme-said: "Under the plan, wages increase with output but at a decreasing rate, and, regardless of output, it is impossible for an employee to make more than twice the hourly rate" (p. 321). Belcher's words can well be applied to any incorrectly applied piece rate system, including the perverse incentive. Over the years there has been way too much effort trying to work out some scheme or another rather than designing a straight piece rate that rewards employees fairly for their effort and benefits both employee and employer in the long run.
Figure 2 is an example of earning lines for those on a straight piece rate versus those on an hourly wage plus piece-rate bonus and shows how the faster workers (those who would have earned much more on a straight piece rate) subsidize the slower ones (those who would have earned much less on a straight piece rate).
Moving to a Straight Piece Rate
Four of the most vital piece-rate principles include: (1) protecting employees from piece-rate games played by management (including the perverse incentive); (2) protecting management from poor quality work and activities that benefit employees at the expense of the farm enterprise; (3) designing a pay for performance approach that rewards employees for their effort, or what is under their control; and (4) involving workers in the decision-making process.
The new program began February 2005, after some of the more vocal packers had a chance to review the suggested changes and make suggestions for implementation. Some of the endive roots that employees handle take considerably less effort to trim and pack than others. As a result, a multi-tier approach was designed. The best quality endives would be paid at 8 cents per pound. Those endives that would require more work were to be paid at either 9 or 10 cents per pound. The goal of the field and storehouse managers is to produce as much of the top quality endive as possible.
For roots that did not meet any of these three quality grades, work would be done by the hour at the standard $7.50 per hour wage. (Beside the white endives discussed in this paper, at that time red and organic endives were paid by the hour. Today all pick/pack work is by the piece.) In 2013, these wages range from 9.3 to 11.6 cents per pound.
But packers did not make a smooth transition into the straight piece rate as there were residual trust issues, especially during the first few months. Feelings of distrust loomed large during the transition period which was characterized by continual complaints, anxiety on the part of the employees, and sabotage of the new system (for a month some of the women decided to work at the same pace to prove the system wrong). By 2006 the packers were pleased with working conditions and from time to time informally approached management to let them know that things were much better. That they could make more money in less hours and that they could spend more time with their families. In fact, employees were so satisfied with their jobs that there was virtually no turnover.
Because the second author kept excellent data from the time she began her job, data was available to be analyzed beginning with September 2002. This has permitted us to present before-and-after measures and trend comparisons.
On a sample day in 2013, the lowest performing group earned $18.45 per-person-per-hour, and the highest, $22.54, both well over double the minimum wage. The packing shed was able to increase profitability and end up with a very positive return on investment (ROI).
Using multiple regression, statistical analyses was carried out with pounds processed per hour (total pounds divided by total number of person-hours) as the dependent variable or productivity measure. Independent variables included average pounds per tray, addition of new equipment, and change in compensation (from hourly plus piece-rate to straight piece rate). The new pay system had a statistically significant, positive effect on worker productivity.
We calculated an ROI of 254%, that is, a benefit/cost ratio of 2.5:1 (a gain of $2.5 per $1 invested). Before February 2005, endives processed seldom surpassed 90 pounds per person-hour. It was thought by management that a barrier of 120 pounds per hour could not be broken. Yet, within a few months this barrier was shattered (Figure 4).
This study shows that worker productivity can increase when people are rewarded for their efforts.
Gregorio Billikopf is a labor management farm advisor for the University of California. He may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Celina Lemus is a Production Manager at the endive packing shed, email@example.com.


text:
If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.
– Thomas J. Watson
I'm wrong again.
I asked you all to e-mail me your nominations for Favorite Christmas Songs, and the distinguished Clyde Lester, horticulturus emeritus for much of our region, quickly voted for Gene Autry's Frosty the Snowman.
As most of you know, Clyde is not only an expert on plants but also an expert on singing cowboys.
I replied, saying it was a shame my own cowboy favorite, Roy Rogers, didn't do Christmas music, but I was wrong. I checked YouTube, and Roy sings Christmas stuff, too. Just not as good as Gene.
And if you want to vote on best Christmas song, e-mail me your thoughts.
Bill Dekle and Pat Harmon already have.
My latest Kirby's Augusta history video is about our town's founder, James Oglethorpe. My favorite part is the story of Oglethorpe and the German general.
You can watch it at augustachronicle.com.
TESTING TIMES: It's Finals Week for the college student who used to live in our house, and Everett Fernandez took the time to explain how grades are determined with his inside look at how professors grade final exams:
• Department of Statistics: All grades are fitted to a normal curve.
• Department of Psychology: Students are asked to blot ink in their exam books, close them and turn them in. The professor opens the books and assigns the first grade that comes to mind.
• Department of History: All students get the same grade they got last year.
• Department of Theology: Grade is determined by God.
• Department of Philosophy: What is a grade?
• Each Music Department: Each student must figure out his grade by listening to the instructor play the corresponding note.
• Law School: Students are asked to defend their position of why they should receive an A when they really deserve an F.
YOUR MAIL: Pat and Wayne Fuller, of North Augusta, send postcards from Key West and Aruba, where they say pictures can't capture the area's beauty.
Corky and Debbie Holloway, of Evans, say they had a great time on their monthlong November vacation. They write, "Now we leave our fantasy world and rejoin reality!"
(Reality's ready, folks.)
TODAY'S JOKE: PJ Rodgers, of Evans, shares this one:
A mother asked her son, "Why don't you go over next door and see how old Mrs. Smith is this morning?"
The boy came back in a few minutes and promptly reported, "Mrs. Smith said to tell you her age is none of your business."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Lankan floods wreak havoc
The flood situation across Sri Lanka was easing off, but receding waters could reveal hundreds of thousands of acres of paddy fields totally destroyed in the two rounds of flooding in less than a month, officials said today.world Updated: Feb 10, 2011 00:05 IST
The flood situation across Sri Lanka was easing off, but receding waters could reveal hundreds of thousands of acres of paddy fields totally destroyed in the two rounds of flooding in less than a month, officials said on Wednesday.
At least 19 persons have been killed and nearly 1.2 million affected in several districts in north, central and eastern Sri Lanka in the second round of floods that swept the country in the last seven to ten days.
In the first round of rain and floods in January, more than 40 were killed and at least 1.1 million were impacted.
"The havoc caused by two rounds of flooding in Sri Lanka in January and February have destroyed 576,121 acres of paddy land in all 25 districts in the country. The total paddy cultivated was in 1.82 million acres and the total acres that were destroyed were 31% of the staple rice crop," the official government portal said on Wednesday.
In the district of Matale alone, around 4336 farmers had possibly lost their source of livelihood, latest statistics with the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) revealed.
Paddy and other field crops planted in Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts have completely been lost.
Many of the flooded areas were barely recovering from the January floods when intense rain over three to four days, again inundated fields, washed away homes and roads, triggered landslides and forced lakhs of people to take shelter in makeshift camps.
"In many places, a month's rainfall fell in 10 days. Ampara and Batticaloa (eastern Sri Lanka) were worst affected. We have announced landslide alerts in Kandy and Badulla. The good news is the flooding seems to be easing off in most parts," Brigadier (retd) Nimal B Weragama, director, operations, DMC told HT.
He added that initially 1000 camps for the displaced were set up. "At least 172536 people are staying in the remaining 646 camps," Weragama said.
The Sri Lankan government has estimated that the recent round of floods has caused damage worth LKR 50 billion (around Rs 20 billion).
Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera told reporters that thousands of acres of cultivations, around 450 small and big irrigation schemes, at least 75,000 cattle and many thousands of poultry and other animals were destroyed in the floods.
The UN said the recent flooding had hit the people still trying to recover from the last month's flooding, the hardest.
The government is apprehensive that destruction of paddy fields could have a severe impact on supply and price of rice across the country.


text:
To mark the last post of January, I will finish January off with my review of the outdoors show at the Excel London. I went to the outdoors show on the 15th January but couldn't open some of the pictures I took as the files got corrupted. This is possibly due to the fact that I have been speaking rather disparagingly about my Samsung camera so maybe this is to teach me a lesson about being loyal to my gadgets.
|Traversing the wall
I had a couple of sessions booked with the DMM stand at the show but in the end I only did one as my poor fingers were sore after a technique masterclass I did with Libby Peter. I did pass on my other booked sessions to my friend. The masterclass session started off with a chat with Libby asking the group what we wanted out of the session so as to tailor it to our needs. I mentioned that I wanted to get advice on getting the balance between keeping the body close to the wall and efficient use of energy by keeping arms straight when moving to different holds. There were three other people I climb with who were also booked on the session.
|Libby Peter
Starting off with traversing from one side of the wall to the other to get warmed up while Libby looked on. After a couple of minutes she gave tips on how to efficiently conserve energy by keeping the body low, close to the wall and aiming to keep the arms straight. At which point she gave a demo of what she meant. Watching her climb slowly with such grace from one foot hold to the next made it look so easy but trying it out was off course a totally different story.
Over all the session was brilliant and I picked up a lot from just watching her and trying out some of the techniques she was showing us. Like many things, climbing is one of those things that you have to put in the time and practice in order to improve technique and gain body strength. Sometimes I find that on a climbing route I tire quickly because I am either rushing the climbing or straining the grip on the hold because my arms are slightly bent. One technique I picked up from the session was to rest into the wall that is, making a few moves then resting by leaning into the wall. This allows you to rest your hands enough to allow you to climb for longer than you might otherwise do by rushing into a climbing route.
Bike show at the Animal Stand.
The session was meant to be for an hour but it went over a little which we totally didn't mind nor did we even realise as we were too engrossed in the fun of climbing. Overall I am even more excited to do more technique sessions both for lead climbing and techniques. Some of the sessions I do at the Reach Climbing Wall means that I can climb with different people so this still gives me the opportunity to learn from some of the experienced climbers in the climbing group. Sometimes I get stuck on a route and end up screaming at the belayer at the bottom to give me a hint on how to make my next move to the next hold and if all else fails I do a rainbow climb just to get over the hard move. A climb that involves a minor cheat or using holds from another route just to get over a hard section is what I call a rainbow climb as you will mix the colours of holds you use rather than stick to the one grade or route you started with.
As you can see some of the pictures that I managed to save are slightly dark, hence why my Samsung needs to be replaced by a younger and newer model. I can't complain too much though as its saved me well even when my iPhone camera died on me. Other than my techniques course I managed to blow some cash on some climbing goodies and try out the world's longest indoor zipline at the Go Ape stand. I also came away with some Red Chilli shoes, DMM slings, screw gates, nut key. I didn't spend as much as I thought I would as I still came back with half the amount I took with me. Again, no complains with that one!
|Longest Indoor Zip Line
Hope your NY resolutions are still going strong. As I am currently learning how to develop for the Windows Phone 7 don't be surprised if my next few posts in February are about programming.
Please don't forget to "like" me on Facebook if you haven't done so already! Thanks for your support!


text:
Larvets Mexican Spice Worm Snacks - 24 / Box
Some people are really into eating crazy sounding things and calling it food. Are you one of those people? You know the kind we're talking about. These people are the ones who adore chocolate covered scorpions and seasoned crickets. And if you're still reading this, then we have a feeling you might consider yourself among them. If so, you're in luck. Our Mexican Spice Larvet Worm Snacks are exactly what you need.
A deliciously fun treat, our Mexican Spice Larvet Worm Snacks are crunchy and delicious. These alternatives to potato chips pack a south of the border punch, with just the right amount of spice. So the next time you're in the mood for something a little out of the ordinary, you know where to turn! We've got your back with creepy crawlers to satisfy your snack cravings.


text: On Sun, Apr 06, 2003 at 04:50:03PM +1000, Russell Coker wrote: > On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 08:33, Matt Zimmerman wrote: > > On Sun, Apr 06, 2003 at 07:29:48AM +1000, Russell Coker wrote: > > > 1) A boot loader (a WinCE executable to load the Linux boot loader into > > > flash along with the boot loader itself) which is about 370K uncompressed > > > and 160K compressed. > > > > I don't think this makes much sense in Debian, since it makes no sense > > installed on a Debian system. > > It does make sense for a Debian user who wants to get their iPaQ running > Familiar! Debian users might want to perform network installations of Red Hat Linux, as well, but this does not mean that we should package their kernel, installer, etc. Does this package provide any value other than simply providing some files which need to be transferred to another system in order to be useful? -- - mdz


text:
I have been told that feverfew can be helpful in preventing migraines. How does it work, and is it safe?
Feverfew, a plant in the daisy family also known as bachelor's buttons, has been shown to be as effective as placebo (in other words, ineffective) in several clinical trials. I do not recommend taking feverfew to prevent migraines. I have never had a patient respond to feverfew as a preventive agent.
The National Center on Complementary and Alternative Medicine – part of the National Institutes of Health – is currently studying ways to standardize preparations of feverfew, so that reliable clinical trials of can be performed in the future. You can read more about feverfew at NCCAM.
Learn more in the Everyday Health Headache and Migraine Center.


text:
Weekly updates of hot teens getting laid and sprayed.
Slutty Skipping Student
Featuring: Kyle Clover"To be honest, sex wasn't on my mind. I just wanted to get out of school. It's so lame there. When the security guy pulled up and asked me for my ID, I knew I'd probably get in trouble. I didn't even care about that, but I really didn't want to go back to school. And he was starting to look kind of good to me. Read more »
A Long Time Cumming
Featuring: Annika Adams"My car broke down and I freaked out because I didn't know what to do. Luckily this cute guy showed up and called a tow truck for me. They said it was going to take three hours to get there! That's a long time to wait, but secretly, I was glad it was going to take that long. Because that's just about how long I wanted to ride this guy's dick. When we got back to his place I didn't waste any time getting naked. I wanted him inside me and that's what I got. Read more »
Truant Tramp
Featuring: Jayden PiersonThings that Jayden thinks are lame: school, schoolwork, studying and her friend who won't pick her up when she's skipping. Things that Jayden doesn't think are lame: being naked, blow jobs, cock and fucking. Unable to take the utter suckiness of school, Jayden ditches class and needs to find a ride fast before she gets caught. Dressed the way she is, that's not much of a problem. Some dude picks her up and it's not long till this blonde hottie is doing all the fun things on her 'Not Lame' list. She takes out her little tits and lathers up this guy's dick with her wet mouth. Read more »
Fuck My Ass!
Featuring: Ana Adams"I always kind of knew that I would love anal. I was never afraid to try new things, and one day I just stuck my finger in my butt. Just as I suspected, it was great. It would get to the point where I wouldn't even bother to touch my pussy when I played with myself. I'd just go straight for my ass. Don't get me wrong, I love to be fucked in my pussy. Read more »
Featuring: Niki Fair"Nobody fucking tells me that I'm a lousy lay! I can't believe that shit. I'm confident and everything, but after my boyfriend of five years told me that, I was a little unsure of myself. I thought, 'Shit, could I have just gotten so comfortable in this relationship that I stopped trying?' I had to know, so I fucked the first guy I met! I put my nice C-cups in his face and sucked his dick the best I could. I made sure to get lots of spit on it and suck really hard and moan so he knew how much I liked it. When I got on top to fuck him, I did all the work. Some girls are just lazy and kind of sit there while the guy drills away, but I made sure to work my hips so all he had to do was lay there and enjoy the show. Read more »


text:
A bill sponsored by Philadelphia City Councilman Jim Kenney at the behest of the gay community would require newly constructed or renovated city-owned buildings to have gender-neutral bathrooms in addition to men's and women's rooms.
"It can be an awkward and embarrassing situation," said Kenney, for anyone who may "feel more like a woman, but can't use the women's room. These functions should be fair for everybody."


text:
A hammer toe is the common term for a foot disorder where the end of the toe is bent downward. Usually occurring on the second toe, it may affect other toes as well, moving them into a downward position.
hammer toe is most commonly caused by wearing footwear that are too narrow and too tight. This can cause the toe into an awkward, bent position. Over time, the muscles and tendons in the second toe will shorten, leading to a permanent deformity. The most common populations that have hammer toe are women who commonly wear small shoes or high heels and children who wear shoes that do not fit. In some instances, hammer toe may be present at birth as a congenital defect, but it usually occurs over time.
While treating adults for hammer toe is more difficult, children are a much easier population. Usually doctors will manipulate and splint the affected toe. Making several lifestyle changes will also relieve symptoms and pain. Wearing the right size of shoe is important both to prevent the worsening of the condition as well as relieving pain. Avoiding high heels is important and also wearing soft insoles that help to relieve the pressure on the toe. If the joint is sticking out, protecting it with corn pads will help to minimize pain and discomfort.
Seeing a foot doctor is the best option. They can administer regulators or straighteners for patients which help to reverse or relieve the pressure. The earlier a hammer toe is recognized, the easier it is to treat, so seeing a doctor promptly is important.
Another treatment method is trying several exercises which will help to stretch out the muscles and tendons in the second toe. Place a towel on the ground and try to pick it up with the toes. Doing this activity several times a day will work out the tension in the muscle.
In some severe cases, doctors will recommend surgery to straighten the joint. The surgery is fairly simple, although patients will lose mobility for several weeks after the procedure. In the surgery, a doctor will cut and move tendons and ligaments. In some cases, the bones on the side of the joint will need to be fused together. Although surgery is an option, it is only recommended for severe cases.
Hammer toe is easier to prevent than to treat. Women should avoid choosing shoes that are too small for their feet. Also, avoiding high heels and wearing uncomfortable shoes sparingly will prevent the disorder. For children and adolescents, they should be careful during periods of growth such as puberty. It may be necessary to buy several pairs of shoes during a year to get a proper fit, but taking this step will do a great deal to prevent hammer toe from developing.
Hamnmer toe is a painful disorder although it is not dangerous. Treating it is possible through exercises that stretch the muscles in the toe. For anyone who has a hammer toe, seeing a doctor is the best course of action.


text:
Cory Booker Criticizes Obama Camp
Cory Booker is sick of negative campaigning, including the attacks on Mitt Romney by his own Democratic Party. "This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides. It's nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough, stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright," the Newark, N.J., mayor said on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday. Later Sunday evening, Booker—an Obama-campaign surrogate—walked back his criticism with a YouTube video explaining why he used the word "nauseated." Today, former Tennessee representative Harold Ford Jr. said, "I would not have backed off the comments if I were Mayor Booker."


text:
|Product Update
A series of hardware mounting kits for PC/104 and PC/104-Plus bus drives suited for restricted-space equipment designs have been engineered to facilitate assembly of modules and multiboard stacks. The kits may be used with any commercially available PC/104 module. Each kit includes all the hardware necessary to mount a single-board computer and is supplied with four #4-40 threaded spacers 0.600 in. long, four #4-40 × 1/4 screws, and four nuts. Separate catalog numbers apply to kits with brass components, kits with aluminum components, kits with stainless-steel components, and kits with nylon components.
Keystone Electronics Corp.
Astoria, NY


text: WASHINGTON - CUNA, NAFCU, and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions can be counted among several others as co-chairs of the Small Business Administration's Expo '04. The event is planned for May 19-21 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. SBA's Expo offers entrepreneurs educational, networking, and procurement opportunities. It is in recognition of the contributions America's small businesses make.


text:
Meteorologists are a subset of a larger category of natural and physical science professionals. Meteorologists work with and study the weather to predict future weather patterns. They also offer advice in natural disaster scenarios and research current and past weather events.
Quick summary
- Starting salary: $53,000 P/A Senior salary: $80,000 P/A Average salary: $66,000 P/A Wages will vary according to your level of skill, experience and employer Employment level: 8,700 as of November 2012 (Projected employment levels in 2017 of 10,100)
Average weekly hours: Average weekly hours worked for a full time Meteorologist is 42.3 hours
Employment by region:
The top three regions for employment as a Meteorologist include:
Courses you may be interested in
- Bachelor of Arts Griffith University Level: Undergraduate Qual.: Bachelor Degree Units: 24 units More info
- Graduate Certificate in Communication Griffith University Level: Postgraduate Qual.: Graduate Certificate Units: 4 units More info
- Bachelor of Science (Applied Sciences) RMIT University Level: Undergraduate Qual.: Bachelor Degree Units: 24 units More info
- Graduate Certificate of Science (Applied Statistics) Swinburne University of Technology Level: Postgraduate Qual.: Graduate Certificate Units: 4 units More info
- Graduate Diploma of Science (Applied Statistics) Swinburne University of Technology Level: Postgraduate Qual.: Graduate Diploma Units: 8 units More info
- View all courses 192 courses 11 universities 2 provider View all courses from Australia's leading universities. More info
Employment trends
Employment for Meteorologists has risen by a rate of 87.2% over the past 5 years and is expected to grow very strongly through 2017.
Employment growth
Total employment growth over the past 5 years for male and female, employed part-time and full-time is 4,000
Gender (including full time and part time)
The percentage of males and females working full time and part time are:
- Male Full Time: 58.6%
- Male Part Time: 8.9%
- Female Full Time: 18.8%
- Female Part Time: 13.7%
Other relevant information
- Advising governmental and non-profit agencies, as well as private businesses and individuals, on safety during natural disasters
- Forecasting both short- and long-term weather patterns and changes
- May involve teaching at a university or other higher-education level
- Researching the physics and dynamics of climate change
- Studying the atmosphere in an attempt to gain a greater understanding of weather patterns
- Oral and written communication skills
- Public speaking
- Reading comprehension
- Thorough knowledge of natural and physical science
- Use of logic, critical thinking, and reasoning to solve problems
Working conditions
Meteorologists usually work in scientific laboratories, whether in private settings, governmental agencies, or in universities or other institutions of higher learning. They may either work in this capacity solely or work with the greater public (for instance, being a weather broadcaster on a television station). They also may work "in the field" by studying weather patterns or natural disasters as they are happening.
Professional associations / Industry information
Related jobs and job titles
- Atmospheric Scientist
- Climatologist
- Hydrometeorologist
- Meteorological Consultant
- Meteorological Technical Officer
- Research Meteorologist
- Weather Forecaster


text:
OAKWOOD — Discussions became emotional when the village board discussed charging sports teams for use of public parks.
"We have to find places to cut expenses. We can also look for new revenues, but that is hard to find," said Bob Jennings, president of the village board.
Jennings said the teams could be charged a flat rate to help with maintenance expenses.
During baseball season, the Oakwood fields are used five days a week for about eight weeks serving 140 young people. The cost of electricity for the two months is $400 to $500.
Resident Kyle Vogel said sports teams generate commerce for gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants.
Oakwood Baseball League board member Amanda Wells questioned a maintenance fee, saying the toilets overflow and there is no door on the girls' bathroom. She also said parents have helped with tree trimming, mowing and roofing.
Oakwood could increase revenue by charging for the use of the pavilion and concession area. The pavilion is rented out about 35 times a year.
"Currently, we charge $15 for the day, and if they clean it up, we give the $15 back," said Jennings. Some suggested raising the rental fees to $50 to $100, with half of it given back if the facilities are left clean.
In the end, trustees went with Doit Robert's suggestion of, "Do nothing. Go as it is. Research the pavilion rental."


text:
1,800 redundancies made at Rok
ADMINISTRATORS acting for stricken housing maintenance firm Rok have made 1,800 staff redundant, it was announced last night.
PwC said that after reviewing "the ongoing requirements of the business in light of dialogue with interested parties approximately 1,800 redundancies have been announced" from Rok's 3,800-strong workforce.
The redundancies have been made in the maintenance and improvements division throughout the UK and also in the construction business in Scotland.
The administrators said 52 jobs would b... For the full story register now for free or login below...


text:
Christopher Keroack, the Test Manager for the Windows Accessibility team, asked me if I could post the following:
What do you think about desktop customization? This can either be out of necessity (e.g. making fonts bigger, making UI easier to click with the mouse) or to personalize it (e.g. changing the desktop background). I'm especially interested to hear from people who aren't necessarily font / scheme geeks, who only want to tweak something occasionally. What bugs you most? What do you do most often? What just doesn't make sense? And what do you think of the accessibility settings in Windows today?
Update 4/25/2005 Wow, this post is a year old. crazy how time files. Anyways, thanks to all those who answered. Now that Communtiy Server (our new blogging software as of 3/25/2005) allows us to control how long people can comment on a post, i was going to keep this one closed, but the blogging software doesn't allow you to see the previous comments. So, i'm going to keep the comments enabled, but I really don't think Chris is actively seeking this data any longer. =)


text:
Got this last week:
Dear The Weed,
I just happened to read your blog from a friends phone and loved it! I see that you are a therapist and I hope you are ok with me asking you a question (because I'm going to ask it anyway :). My daughter is almost 10. She is very bright, kind, social, and for the most part, happy. My daughter has been showing some aggression and cruelty to my miniature dachshund. She hits the dog, drags her behind her on walks, and has kicked the dog and has kept her 'captive' downstairs, not letting her escape. My daughter loves all animals (I know that sounds crazy). She is always very loving to any other animal... Except our dog. I had no idea until today that she had been that mean to the dog. She isn't like that to the dog when I'm around. I am concerned and don't know what to do. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for reading my ramblings... Sorry to be a pain :)
A Concerned Mother
Dear CM,
First of all, thanks a ton for asking me for advice!
Here are some thoughts:
1. Is the dog particularly ugly? Because I heard one time from a friend that they did a study once about babies and how if babies were uglier they got less sympathy from their parents which I think explains a lot about my childhood. And also the kid on Modern Family.
2. Is your daughter particularly ugly?
3. Has the dog recently bitten your daughter?
4. Again just to clarify: does your dog look like this?
5. How did you raise your daughter? Did you give her frequent treats? Was she coddled? Did you use lots of reward charts and also waterboard her occasionally? Did you breastfeed her, and if so until what age? Natural child-birth? When you were putting her to bed did you make her go potty before or after brushing her teeth? What kind of toothpaste did you use? How often did she eat blueberries? What is the total of the sum of the numbers in her birth-date multiplied by 8 divided by the numeric equivalent of her middle name? Does she like mint flavored ice-cream? Given the sequence 4835798475394378594 what does she answer as being the next seven digits in the pattern? The answer to any of these questions might contribute to our understanding of her behavior.
5. Okay, I jest I jest.
My impression is that her behavior is pretty normal. Her relationship with the dog is one where she has total power, and as kids grow up, there is experimentation to discover what having "power" or control over other beings means and feels like. It's possible that she is simply trying on a new role, controlling the dog, "disciplining" the dog, in an attempt to learn how to manage that kind of responsibility. It sounds like most of her behaviors fall in line with the idea of "disciplining" the dog, and I suspect she is simply trying to exert some control. I actually see this behavior sometimes in kids with their younger siblings as well.
If this is, in fact, the case then opening lines of communication about how to properly be "in charge" of a living thing might be helpful. I would probably avoid punishing her or making her feel "bad" for the way she's treating the dog in favor of simply framing it as "that's not the best way to take care of a dog..." That way she will avoid feeling unnecessarily that she is "bad" or "weird."
It doesn't appear to me that anything more troubling than that is going on, but of course keep an eye out for injuries on the dog, as that would probably be reason for concern.
Of course, I've never met your daughter. So that could all be totally off and she actually could be a sociopath. (Though that's highly unlikely.)
Good luck!
The Weed
UPDATE: I forgot to say: readers, do you have any insight or advice for CM? Feel free to share in the comments if you have any thoughts or happen to be a dog-abuse expert or whatever.
So, apparently this is "a thing" now. If you have any questions for the The Weed Advice Column, please send an email to joshua dot weed at gmail dot com. I answer questions about relationships, deformities, genocide, sex and different types of salad. And pretty much anything else, but mostly relationships and family stuff.
*Any and all advice is meant for entertainment purposes and you shouldn't take it like I'm a therapist even though I am a therapist. I'm just talking, all right? It's no big deal. We don't have a therapeutic contract. Unless you live in Washington. And you pay me. And sign some stuff. Which can be arranged.


text:
* Prices may differ from that shown
At first glance, the ASUS EAH5870 certainly makes a good case for itself, boasting an 850mhz clock speed, 1GB of onboard RAM, DirectX 11 support and to top it all off, easy overclocking with dedicated utilities.
Thankfully, the EAH5870 mostly lives up to expectations, performing exceptionally well on nearly any modern game you can throw at it. The card even performs well when running extremely modded games such as Skyrim, with frames being consistently high even when the game is burdened with all manner of texture packs etc.
The card also runs very quietly, with fan noise barely perceptible (in a well ventilated rig with many active cooling fans).
It's not all good though, as there is a downside to this. The card's DirectX 11 performance is not great. Tessalation in particular really makes the card chug. For example, on Crysis 2 DirectX 11 mode Tessalation drops the FPS from an almost constant 60, down to 15-20.
Overall though, this is a great card, with good speeds, temperature and noise level.
If you want DirectX 11 however, you are better off going for a 2GB card, or running two EAH5870s in crossfire.


text:
The engagement and approaching marriage of Andrea Marie Scaff and Richard Ryan Westover are announced by her parents, Charolette Marie McElroy and Thomas Burton Scaff. The prospective bridegroom is the son of Angela Kim Clarkson and Robert Ryan Westover. All reside in St. Augustine.
Vows are planned Sept. 27 at Grace Pointe Baptist Church, St. Augustine.
The bride-elect is a graduate of Bartram Trail High School and recently completed the R.N. program at St. Johns River Community College, Palatka.
The prospective bridegroom graduated from Pedro Menendez High School, and he is employed by Powell Heating and Air.
© 2017. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us


text:
Vintage Airplane Turkish Hand Towel
- No Longer Available -
Inspired by a folio of blueprints from the early era of aviation, our Turkish towels are thick, soft and amazingly absorbent.
More Details & Dimensions +
Click to Zoom
Product Not Available
We're sorry. This product is no longer available
Please continue browsing.


text:
One line, plenty of waiting.
After having finished as the Region 3-A runner-up, the North Central softball team looked forward to hosting last Thursday's first round game against a team they had seen twice this year.
There are gut-wrenching ways to end your season and then, there is how North Central's 2013 baseball campaign came to an end.
Even the best tightrope walkers stub their toe every now and then.
A one-run loss to Pelion prevented the North Central softball team from winning the Region 3-AA title, but it could not put a damper on what to this point has been a successful regular season.
There was a rush to get everything done for senior night. After that, the buzzword for North Central was patience.
Closing its regular season with a five-inning, non-conference doubleheader with Buford, the North Central baseball team split Wednesday's twinbill in Lancaster County.
First, it was a winning season. Then, came a first-time berth in the state playoffs.
With spring break over, the North Central softball team needed to get back to winning games after losing two of three, including their first in Region 3-AA play, in the week leading up to having a week off.
In a season of firsts, this is the biggest of them all ... so far.
It just might be time to break out the rabbit's foot, find a four-leaf clover or, taking a page from "Major League," sacrifice a live chicken because doing everything in reverse did not work for North Central baseball coach Robbie Cash.
And then, there was one.
The North Central baseball program will hold a two-day, spring break mini-camp on Monday and Tuesday, April 1 and 2, in Boonetown.
North Central continued to score runs in bunches and still sits atop the Region 3-AA softball standings after a pair of conference victories over Columbia High and Fairfield Central last week.
For the first time in its brief history, the North Central High School tennis team is above the .500 mark.
Page 21 of 36
North Central Middle School's annual summer reading celebration offers students a choice of a free book from selections recommended by the South Carolina Junior ...
Page 1 of 1
Contents of this site are © Copyright 2017 Chronicle Independent All rights reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of service


text:
Smart Urban Stage exhibits now in Barcelona!
Next generation of electric cars comes by the hand of Smart and will be exhibited in Barcelona, presenting the new "smart fortwo electric drive". Smart has created the only fully electric car existing today in the market and they are planning to start production next year. After the success in Berlin, Zurich, Rome, Paris, Brussels and Madrid, the will be installed in a temporary venue in Port Vell in Barcelona. Within the event it will be held the exhibition "Smart Future Minds", an exhibition showcasing two drafts for each of the following categories: Culture and Society, Design, Technology and Media, Science, Architecture and Urbanism and mobility. Then, among the ten projects of the 5 first categories (the category Mobility, linked to Smart, is out) will participate in a contest to choose the winner of the Future Smart Minds that will compete with winners from all participating cities. In addition, it will be given to the public the chance to drive the new 100% electric car. Adrenaline is served! Official event website When: From May 19th to June 2nd Where: Moll de Bosch i Alsina, Port Vell, Barcelona Remember that with Hostal Mare Nostrum you can make your stay in the heart of Barcelona cheaper by using our great offers!


text:
EA allegedly considering two ways of re-introducing microtransactions into Star Wars Battlefront 2; Details
Nov 17, 2017 | 20 Comments
New content for Valkyria Chronicles II has been released for download over the PSN Store.
The unnamed DLC pack costs $5 and, according to Sega, "comes with 22 missions to immerse yourself in the ultimate Valkyria Chronicles II experience. A wide range of missions are offered in order to add even more challenges to those with the game. Missions range from all-out assault missions, intercepting enemies intrusions, escorting VIP's in the battlefield, fighting enemies stronger then the main campaign and many more!"
Valkyria Chronicles II is out now for the PlayStation Portable System as a digital download or retail boxed copy for $39.99. A demo is also available at the PSN store.


text:
Enas Al Deghaidi files lawsuit against ART
Controversial Egyptian director Enas Al Deghaidi, well-known for being one of the most provocative and daring directors of the era, has filed a lawsuit against the Arab satellite channel ART. Enas's complaint came after ART aired scenes on the show "La Tathhab Hatha Al Massa" (Don't Leave This Evening), from one of her films "Muthakkarat Murahiqa" (Adolescent's Memoirs), that are restricted and uncensored.
According to the London based daily, Al Sharq Al Awsat, Enas was very disappointed when she found out ART had broadcasted the scenes that were restricted by the Egyptian Censors, in turn negatively affect her image and reputation. The show featured film critics that were focusing on Enas's daring film pointing out its negative features. Enas had taken part in the show over the phone in which she exploded in anger reprimanding those that referred to her a director who only produces sex films that have no real meaning to them.
Deghaidi has always been the cause of various hot debates in the Arab World for her films. She is known for arousing violent reactions among the audience and critics with her hot film scenes. Her film "Muthakkarat Murahiqa" is considered by some observers as an insult to the Egyptian girl, which prompted one of the viewers to file a lawsuit against her. She was found not guilty in the lawsuit raised against her for defaming girls in Egypt.
The court has said that, "the director has not harmed Egyptian girls directly when she described them as crossing the red lines as was stated by one of the actresses in the movie." Egyptian censors gave the green light to Enas after deleting most of the provocative sex scenes from the film.
"Although people objected to scenes in the film and demanded banning it, I nixed that and asked the censors to meet the director and screenwriter to discuss with them the omission of the objected scenes. Both the director and writer agreed to omit six scenes in response to the censors' demands," the chairman of the Censorship Committee, Madkour Thabet, said.
The film, which was scripted by Abdel Hai Adib, is about an adolescent student named Jamila (Hind Sabri), who is a romantic girl coming from a middle class family with dreams of love. Jamila fanaticizes about herself as Cleopatra, with her lover Antonio. She meets her lover accidentally and lives with him as if in a love story.
Despite all of this, Deghaidi insists on her style in tackling issues in the cinema pushing the envelope of challenge. She adds that "The reaction to the film is very good and this is evidenced by the large revenues it generated and the large number of people who saw it. The film doesn't in any way insult the woman and just brings-to-lightsome of the prohibited acts a girl may violate.
Once asked about the frequent and provocative sex scenes she uses in her movies, Deghaidi answered, "I try to deal with the social issues, however, they always, in one way or another, transfer themselves into one major issue: sex!!" - Albawaba
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
Top Headlines
- Enas al Deghaidi Anticipates Big Fuss Over 'Viagara Falls'!
- Ibrahim Al Hakmi files a lawsuit against the world
- Enas Deghaidi, Innocent of Defaming Egyptian Girls
- Enas al Deghaidi looks for Arab actresses to star in her new movie that is sure to create a fuss
- Egyptian Censors Nix American Film For Harming Arabs, Muslims


text:
A reality TV sewing star has teamed up with a long-serving Castleford tailor to deliver a fashion first - tweed for tots.
Julie Gromett, who starred on BBC 2 The Great British Sewing Bee, has joined forces with Ron and Vera Winter of Northern Men's and Boyswear, of Lower Oxford Street.
The trio have launched the Tweedy Gromett by Braggy range, which was debuted at Chatsworth International Horse Trials last weekend.
Mr Winter, who has worked in the clothes trade for 49 years, said: "Everybody was going mad for them. We put a large collection together, 140 to 150 waistcoats, mainly children's wear. Nobody had ever seen it before. It's so quirky."
They have been busy taking orders following the show and being on Look North last week.
Meanwhile, Mrs Gromett, a housing officer in Castleford, is also encouraging people to sign up for free sewing skills courses in Pontefract next month.
She said: "Sewing is completely liberating. It gives you the ability to turn visions into reality and produce something you can be proud of. It appeals to all ages."
The eight-week sewing course, run by WDH and Wakefield Council, is at Eastbourne Independent Living Scheme Community Centre on Eastbourne Close from Monday, June 2 between noon and 3pm. To book a place email email@example.com or call 01977 788647.


text:
ALEXANDRIA, Va. Medication therapy management services and cheaper therapies can help improve patient outcomes and save money, according to a new study sponsored by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
With funding from an NACDS Foundation grant, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill conducted the study at Kerr Drug, a regional retail pharmacy chain between 2006 and 2007. The study was published in the May/June 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, titled "Retrospective analysis of community pharmacists' recommendations in the North Carolina Medicaid medication therapy management program." The study found that when physicians and pharmacists worked together to review patient profiles and communicated more with their patients, patients listened to their healthcare providers and demonstrated better medication adherence.
The study found that through pharmacist-provided MTM services and coordination with prescribers, patient outcomes improved, while they also saved an average of $107 per year per beneficiary. The New England Healthcare Institute estimated that medication-related problems, including poor adherence, cost the healthcare system as much as $290 billion per year.
"Medication adherence is a crucial component in improving patient health and reducing overall public healthcare costs," NACDS Foundation president Edith Rosato said. "This study is a perfect example of the public benefits of medication therapy management. Counseling patients on how to adhere to medication regimen, recommending lower-cost medication alternatives and recognizing harmful drug interactions can, over time, result in better health for a patient and reduced costs for public healthcare programs like Medicaid."


text:
Znojmo, German Znaim, city, south-central Czech Republic, on the Dyje River, southwest of Brno, near the Austrian border. It originated in the 11th century as a fortified residence and was the stronghold of the Přemyslid princes until the mid-13th century. Many medieval buildings, as well as houses of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, are preserved in the old town, which is designated an ancient monument. Archduke Charles of Austria and Napoleon met at Znojmo after the Battle of Wagram (1809) to arrange an armistice. The modern town has tanneries and factories producing ceramics, footwear, and sports equipment. Winemaking and food processing, notably the canning of fruit, vegetables, and pickles, are significant traditional industries. Pop. (2007 est.) 34,902.
Keep Exploring Britannica
We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind.
- Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience.
- You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.
- Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources.
- At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.)
Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.
Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article.
Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed.
There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later.


text:
Energy consumption and GHG emissions of six biofuel pathways by LCA in (the) People's Republic of China
This paper presents life-cycle-analysis (LCA) energy consumption (EC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of China's current six biofuel pathways, which are: corn-derived ethanol (CE); cassava-derived ethanol (KE); sweet sorghum-derived ethanol (SE); soybean-derived bio-diesel (SB); jatropha fruit-derived bio-diesel (JB); and used cooking oil (UCO)-derived bio-diesel (UB). The tool utilized here is the WTW (Well-to-Wheels) module of Tsinghua-CA3EM model covering the entire lifecycle including: raw materials cultivation (or feedstock collection); fuel production; transportation and distribution; and application in automobile engines, compared with Conventional Petroleum-based gasoline and diesel Pathways (CPP). The results indicate: (1) the fossil energy inputs are about 1.0-1.5 times the energy contained in the fuel for the CE, SE and SB pathways, but 0.5-0.9 times for the KE, UB and JB pathways; (2) compared with CPP, the JB, KE and UB pathways can reduce both fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions; the CE and SB pathways can only reduce fossil fuel consumption, but increase GHG emission; the SE pathway increases not only fossil fuel consumption but also GHG emission; and (3) the main factors inducing high EC and GHG emission levels include: high EC levels during the fuel production stage and high fertilizer application rates during the planting of raw feedstocks. Conclusions are that of the aforementioned biofuel pathways in (the) People's Republic of China: (1) only the JB, KE and UB pathways have energy-saving merits as indicated by the LCA energy inputs and outputs; (2) compared with CPP, all but the SE pathway reduces fossil fuel consumption. However, the SB and CE pathway increase GHG emission; (3) all six displace petroleum by utilizing more coal; and (4) feedstock productivity levels must be increased, and there must be a reduction in fertilizer utilization and EC consumption during the cultivation and transportation stages in order to achieve the goals of energy balance and GHG emission reduction.
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Volume (Year): 86 (2009)
Issue (Month): Supplement 1 (November)
Pages: 197-208
|Contact details of provider:
| Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description
|Order Information:
| Postal: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
Web: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
No references listed on IDEAS
You can help add them by filling out this form.
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:86:y:2009:i:supplement1:p:s197-s208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Dana Niculescu)
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.


text:
Thick-film Packaging
Today, wafer level packaging (WLP) is a mainstream technology in micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), advanced complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and compound semiconductor devices. WLP helps reduce costs and ramp to high production volumes, enabling batch fabrication packaging processes, compact package sizes and increased functional density, to name a few.
The new EVG® 120 features multiple advantages for this versatile packaging market:
Thick-film coating technology plays a central role for all kinds of advanced packaging technologies, such as:
EVG's resist processing technology for thick-film packaging involves the following process steps:
Download "Polymer Coating of Compound Semiconductors" flyer
EVG® proprietary OmniSpray® resist atomization nozzle
® Logo in 400µm SU-8 on 6" Wafer
Megasonic Enhanced Photoresist Development
The increasing consumption of MEMS in consumer applications is a key driver for improving MEMS manufacturing technologies to support novel device functionalities and application areas, reduce process time and costs, and increase yields. MEMS devices often require photolithographic processes to produce high aspect ratio structures with resist thicknesses of up to 500µm and aspect ratios of 1:25. These parameters contribute substantially to production time and cost, and have been the subject of intense R&D activities within EVG and its supplier and partner network.
As a result of these activities, a megasonic-enhanced photoresist developer module was designed and implemented for the EVG1xx resist processing equipment family.
Megasonic agitation of fluids has been originally developed for wafer cleaning processes. The acoustic waves are optimized for producing cavitation, the formation and activation of gas and vapor bubbles in fluids. The cavitation stirs the fluid and accelerates the transport of fresh solvent. The collapse of the cavities can initiate so-called sonochemical processes, resulting in an increased chemical reactivity of the solvent. In the past megasonic enhanced resist developing was mostly applied in a fluid tank as batch process.
The EVG developer module is a single-wafer spin process station equipped with a triangular-shaped megasonic area transducer. This transducer covers a sector of the wafer and is placed in proximity to the rotating substrate. A layer of process fluid is maintained underneath the transducer and the pie shape of the transducer ensures that acoustic energy density is uniformly distributed across the rotating wafer. For thick-resist processing, the application of acoustic energy improves process uniformity and efficiency in material consumption, and decreases process time. Excellent performance has been achieved for SU-8 resists [1,2].
The EVG MegPie single-wafer development module is a MEMS-qualified and cost-effective tool, and is available in the new EVG120 fully automated resist processing tool. Considerable cost savings due to optimized solvent consumption, increased yield and process time reduction from a few hours down to a few minutes have been achieved.
[1] V. Dragoi, J. Bartel and D. Dussault, "Novel photolithography yield-enhancement technique: Megasonic - enhanced development", ECS Trans.¸ 33 (8), pp. 175, 2010.[2] D. Figura and J. Bartel, "Fabrication of High Aspect Ratio SU-8 Structures Using UV Lithography and Megasonic-Enhanced Development" ECS Transactions, 25 (31) 29-35 (2010)
Download "Megasonic Enhanced Photoresist Development" flyer
Fig. 1: EVG® Developer Module with MegPie
Fig. 2: SU-8 structures: height 470µm, sidewall thickness 20µm, aspect ratio 1:23, development time 10min
Leti demonstriert weltweit erstmalig 300 mm Wafer-to-Wafer Hybrid Direct Bonding mit 1 Mikrometer Pitch auf System von EV Group
EV Group und SwissLitho entwickeln gemeinsame Nanoprägelithographie-Lösung für dreidimensionale optische Strukturen im einstelligen Nanometer-Bereich
weitere News ..
SEMICON Europa 2017
2017 ANFF - AMMRF Annual Research Showcase
weitere Events ..
Technische Publikationen
Solutions for R&D
Product Range Brochure
EV Group Corporate Video


text:
This excerpt taken from the DLM DEF 14A filed Aug 8, 2007.
Del Monte Employees Retirement and Savings Excess Plan
The Retirement and Savings Excess Plan is an excess plan, designed to provide contributions that could not be provided under a related qualified plan. The plan was provided during the required two-year transition period in connection with Del Montes December 20, 2002 acquisition of certain former businesses of H.J. Heinz and after this transition period was frozen to additional contributions. The contributions provided under this plan were limited to employees who had been employees of H.J. Heinz prior to the acquisition and were intended to mirror contributions that had been provided to these employees when they were employees of H.J. Heinz.
No funds are set aside in a trust for payment of benefits under the Retirement and Savings Excess Plan. Rather, benefits are paid from Del Montes general assets. Accordingly, participants in the Retirement and Savings Excess Plan are general creditors of Del Monte with respect to the payment of these benefits.
Contributions. In connection with the transition period from the December 20, 2002 merger (in which Del Monte acquired various businesses of H.J. Heinz Company) through December 20, 2004, salaried employees who were former Heinz employees (including Mr. Lachman) were provided benefits, referred to as the Company Contribution Account, through both a qualified defined contribution plan (the H.J. Heinz Company Employees Retirement and Savings Plan in calendar 2003 and the Del Monte Savings Plan in calendar 2004) and a nonqualified defined contribution plan (the Del Monte Employees Retirement and Savings Excess Plan). Former Heinz employees did not receive benefits under any defined benefit plan during this period. The Company Contribution Account benefits under the qualified and nonqualified defined contribution plans were credited to employees plan accounts as a percentage of eligible compensation based on age. Eligible compensation included base salary, annual incentives, bonus, and sales incentives, but not
Table of Contents
equity compensation. Amounts, in aggregate for both the qualified and nonqualified defined contribution plans, were credited as set forth in the schedule below:
Amounts which could not be credited to the qualified plan accounts due to IRS limitations were instead credited to the nonqualified defined contribution plan, the Del Monte Employees Retirement and Savings Excess Plan. Salaried employees who were former Heinz employees had their account balance from a similar Heinz nonqualified excess plan transferred as their opening balance under the Del Monte Employees Retirement and Savings Excess Plan when it was established effective December 20, 2002.
Del Monte stopped crediting additional Company Contribution Account amounts under the qualified defined contribution plan (the Del Monte Savings Plan) and the nonqualified defined contribution plan (the Del Monte Employees Retirement and Savings Excess Plan) as of December 31, 2004. Thereafter, effective as of January 1, 2005, the former Heinz employees instead began participating in the Del Monte Corporation Retirement Plan for Salaried Employees and the related portion of the Additional Benefits Plan. Such employees had begun participating in the Additional Benefits Plan Savings Portion effective as of January 1, 2004.
Earnings. Accounts are credited with earnings as if the account had been invested in the applicable investment options provided under the qualified plans referred to in Contributions above and in the percentage allocations selected by the employee in such qualified plan.
Distributions and Withdrawals. Lump sum cash payment of the account balance is made as soon as practicable after the employees termination of employment (regardless of cause), including death.


text:
Hit-and-run mishap being probed
State police at Schuylkill Haven are investigating a hit-and-run accident that occurred in a parking lot of a Schuylkill County restaurant.
Troopers said the incident occurred about 1:28 a.m. on Aug. 3 in the lot of the McDonald's restaurant located at 928 E. Main St., North Manheim Township.
Troopers said an early 1990s model white in color sedan backed out of a parking space and struck the side of a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado damaging the driver's side rear. The driver of the sedan then fled south on SR61. The owner of the struck vehicle was identified as Wayne Pace, of Orwigsburg.


text:
Diff between Kernel Compilation and Kernel Configuration ??
Hi all,
What is the diff between Kernel Compilation and Kernel Configuration ??
I am little confused about it.
After you configure the various Kernel options you compile the kernel.
Can someone please elaborate a bit.
Configuring the kernel just sets the options it will be compiled with when you next compile it - which drivers are installed, which filesystems are supported etc. You still need to compile it then copy it across to your boot directory (and edit your bootloader conf).
hmm, got an idea. Do you have some links from where I can get detail information.
I will go through it and then catch you helpful people back.
If you have the source-code to your Linux kernel, you will find a hidden file (name begins with a ".") such as:
This file contains a very large number of "options"...
# CONFIG_64BIT is not set
For instance, in the configuration above, we see a comment that advises us that the option CONFIG_X86_64 is not set. Therefore (because "the option is not set," not due to the human-readable comment to that effect...), any and all code in the Linux source-tree that pertains (in this case...) to "Intel x86 64-bit architectures" will not be included when I compile my kernel.
But code to handle "GENERIC_CLOCKEVENTS_BROADCAST" will be. (Exactly what does that consist of? Dunno... "use the source, Luke.")
You don't have to remember what all of these options are: your distro writer might do it for you, or make menuconfig (et al...) will walk you through the setup process graphically and give you an explanation of each one.
So... this process allows the kernel developers to support many different possible configurations while writing only a single source-file (or set of related files). You include and omit whatever you need.
For instance, my system is a 32-bit x86 box with embarrassingly-small amounts of memory, so I don't need 64-bit support or "huge memory" support. Therefore, when I compile a kernel for my box, that support literally isn't there. But you could take the same kernel-source, provide different options, and build from the same kernel source tree an entirely-different setup ... for your "IBM honkin-big-mainframe with 400 :eek:-abytes of RAM." The only difference is the configuration-options that you used.
Thanks a ton sundialsvcs, this was really helpful.
|All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:08 AM.


text:
Silverfall - English Demo on Monday
View Single Post
January 31st, 2007, 19:29
Well, your accusations are still totally unfounded and paranoid and it's outright silly of you to imply that these sites merely exist to collect personal information.
First of all, you can fake all personal information. No one can check whether your name really is Duffy Duck or not
. The only thing that needs to be correct is your e-mail address so you can activate your free account. Big fucking deal. Just get a free spam address from one of those free mail providers for the sole purpose of signing up to sites that you consider suspicious and you're good to go.
Secondly, those "exclusive" deals have never worked. You were always able to find any demo hosted on other sites or BitTorrent shortly after it was released.
That's why they have changed the wording accordingly. As you may have noticed, it usually says now that the demo is "to premier exclusively on [GameSpot/GameSpy/IGN/FilePlanet]". The key word here is
It just means that no one is supposed to publish the file before one of those sites does. Again. Big fucking deal. Just check at what time the demo is due to debut on GameSpot/GameSpy/IGN and then check your preferred file hoster 15 or 30 minutes later.
You definitely don't need GameSpot, GameSpy or IGN/FilePlanet to download a demo. I haven't used any of those sites in years and I've always been able to play the demos that I wanted to play day of release (I usually get them from Gamer's Hell or a German file hoster called K-Files (KGN)).
I really don't see where the problem is. At least with demos. The only thing that is pretty lame and annoying sometimes is when they have subscriber-exclusive stuff like certain beta tests, stress tests etc that are only open to paying subscribers of GameSpot or IGN/FilePlanet or GameSpy. Those deals are luckily very rare though.
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Schland
Posts: 3,095
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
View Public Profile
Send a private message to Moriendor
Find More Posts by Moriendor


text: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office reported an investigation of stolen property, possession of stolen property, fencing, etc., early today. Joseph Allen Bibby 26, of Douds, was arrested at 12:16 a.m. today; Michael Paul Bibby 27, of Ottumwa was arrested at 12:50 a.m. today; and Amber Dawn Ladoucer 24. of Ottumwa was arrested at 1:45 a.m. today, all at the same Libertyville location. Each is charged with second degree theft, indicating a value of $1,000 to $10,000.


text:
Barium?..hardly knew him! Fingerprinty = decay
respectably nerdy dude shows off his collection of radioactive household items
So apparently the orange color of uranium oxide looks awesome as a cereal bowl glaze. WTF for real, never heard of this. Above link is pretty interesting. so is the reddit thread
It reminded me of a collector bro who had a short-lived panic: his old fingerprinty plastic was leaching Barium, and was gonna kill him. He almost rid his life of choice plastic for this fear. No need to worry, let's hope. But like those radioactive plates, products can take on a whole new (glowing) light given time.
Some plastic factory nerds told me that indeed the fingerprint phenomenon in discs is due to chemical leaching. We've all seen it, ranging from fingerprinty to a full-on sweat. The oldest and most leached-out plastic I've handled was simply disintegrating, very brittle.
This past (ongoing?) winter saw a lot of sob story posts about shattered OOP plastic. The stuff has disintegrated to the point that cold use can kill it. Yet the "fingerprinty" tag lives on as a good thing.
Although it's well known that 2001-2's plastic is struggling with cold by now, it seems that folks haven't yet connected the dots. Today's fingerprinty is the future's endangered species.
So how might this affect the bag theory of 2014-2020? With the 2000s' primo vintage candy losing its reliability, will it become less common to bag older discs? Sure, explosion of brands and models. But assume all things equal, if you froze every lineup right now, could an '06 Z-Buzzz be looked at as poor bag-building solely on its age and potential decay? Will "fingerprinty" plastic ever be associated with decay, in either a negative or positive light?
Fingerprinty = decay, but it also = more grippy than off the factory line. It's a desirable artifact of failing parts. In the wise words of my guitar teacher, "this equipment sounds its best.. right before it explodes."
Is it simply worth it to fall in love with a grippy run that's bound for shatter-heaven in 3 or fewer years? Have YOU ever had to give up a run because its decay was too great? Have you CE dealers taken a hit from this?
Will chemical lifespan become the new abrasion resistance? Will we see specialized rapid- or slow-decay materials? What if any advancements could you imagine this bringing in reality or market demand?
Seemed like one topic we haven't run into the ground and would make for interesting discussion. Pick any one or more of my 30 writing prompts there.. haha. Cheers!
I can see the CE thrower market drying up in a few years, as more and more shatter people are eventually going to be turned off by it and there will be less available. I think the mint collectible stuff will retain value though because it's just sitting on walls.
As much as people get boners for the old stuff, all manufacturers are putting out pretty legit plastic right now. Much better than what was out 3-4 years ago. As far as the next big plastic innovation goes I have no clue, but from my understanding the stuff used in frisbees isn't really anything special. There are much better plastics available but finding the right balance of cost and effectiveness is important right now.
Years down the road when DG finally sells out I wouldn't be surprised to see $30-40 stock discs. If the market gets large enough and it's proven that "pro" grade plastics would sell, you'll start seeing them.
I don't collect or throw OOP plastic, but...
+1 on thread title.
+1 on a humorous post with originality. Well done.
It is interesting to think about plastic in generational blocks and the philosophies employed in bag building as a result. Personally, I don't want that much plastic around so I grab a couple backups and that's it. A disc is a disc is a disc, and when you throw it you learn how it flies as an individual and adjust accordingly. It works for me anyway.
Maybe I'll start a spreadsheet with purchase dates on all my plastic and then just throw them away after five years. Keep it fresh. Hmm.
I just hope Opto Bites aren't radioactive.
Dang, I was ready to take my few fingerprinty discs to work and check them with a Geiger counter.
Instead I guess it is time to sell off my OOP throwers.
Old news, sort of. :D
From above linked thread:
I was never inclined to waste money on old plastic. Now I am even less so.
I spent a few hundred on discs before, but I eventually sold them all. I decided I wasn't going to get any more old discs when I saw all the old discs shattering this winter.
To clarify, the first two paragraphs are from the cited textbook, the third paragraph is my own writing. I was asked before whether the textbook specifically talked about CE plastic. :)
This explains why I'm going bald.
(Note to self: Take disc out from under pillow.)
|All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:01 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


text:
- Item No.
- 510590
- Mfg Part No.
- 68722
- Availability
- Not Available
Product Information for Tombow Mono Mini Series Correction Film
Highlights for Tombow Mono Mini Series Correction Film
Marketing Information
Single line correction tape in compact ergonomic dispenser provides complete coverage with no fax or copy shadows. Makes instant corrections with no drying time. Convenient, easy-to-use sideline applicator pinpoints accurate placement of white film for quick, clean complete coverage. Convenient rewind knob for tape adjustment.
General Information
Product Information
Physical Characteristics
Recycled Content0%
Assembly RequiredNo


text: Austrian Foreign Minster Sebastian Kurz claims that Europe has "lost control" of its borders and proposes harsher measures toward people smugglers and migrants. Speaking at a meeting of European Union (EU) officials in Luxembourg on Monday, Mr. Kurz said: "We have lost control. At the moment we, the EU, do not decide who comes to Europe, the people smugglers do." The Austrian government is pushing for a European solution to the crisis which still sees migrants smuggled in lorries, boats and other vehicles by organised gangs of people smugglers in North Africa and Eastern Europe. "We think that it urgently needs a European solution," Mr. Kurz declared, warning that if the EU member states cannot agree to coordinate then Austria would be forced to act on their own, Kronen Zeitung reports. The Foreign Minister was joined by Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka and Defence Minister Hanspeter Doskozil at the meeting. The ministerial trio laid out their vision for how the political bloc should act to stem the flow of migrants from the Middle East and, ever increasingly, from North Africa. The plan states that migrants who take boats and inflatable dinghies to cross the sea should be allowed to land on islands but not allowed to leave. This aspect of the plan


text:
bhindi masala recipe with video and step by step photos – here's another delicious bhindi recipe that is often made at home. this bhindi masala recipe is easy to make and is a semi dry curry. i have also posted the bhindi masala gravy recipe.
bhindi or okra is one favorite veggie at home, after gobi and arbi. all the folks prefer dry or semi dry version of any sabzi with bhindi like aloo bhindi, bhindi bhaji, bhindi stir fry. most of the recipes that i make at home are easy and simple to make. so is this bhindi recipe.
like all other dry bhindi recipes, even this bhindi masala is best served with soft phulkas or chapatis or paratha or naan and a cucumber raita or veg raita by side. they also go well as a side dish with some dal-rice or any rice-curry combo.
i still have to try making bhindi with yogurt. long time ago i has such a bhindi dish in a restaurant and it was fab. this bhindi masala recipes uses the typical punjabi onion-tomato base with the regular punjabi masalas (spice powders).
i usually add kasuri methi to most of the north indian food that i make at home. adding kasuri methi is optional in this dish. but if you want a restaurant type bhindi masala, then do add some kasuri methi.
if you want to check some more bhindi recipes then i suggest these recipes shahi bhindi, bharwan bhindi, bendakaya pulusu, kurkuri bhindi and bhindi do pyaza recipe.
bhindi masala quick video (59 seconds video)
bhindi masala recipe below:
- 200 to 250 grams bhindi (okra or lady finger)
- 1 medium size onion - chopped
- 2 medium size tomatoes - chopped
- ½ inch ginger and 2-3 garlic - crushed or made to a paste in a mortar-pestle OR ½ or ¾ teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania powder)
- ¼ or ½ teaspoon red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- ½ teaspoon amchur powder (dry mango powder)
- salt as required
- 2 tablespoon oil for frying the bhindi
- 1 tablespoon oil for frying the onion-tomato masala
- 1 teaspoon crushed kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves ) - optional
rinse the bhindi (okra) well in water.
dry them on a large plate on their own or wipe with a kitchen towel.
remove the base and stalk while chopping the bhindi. chop into 1 or 2 inch pieces.
also chop onions and tomatoes. keep aside.
make a paste of ginger garlic and keep aside.
heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai (wok) or pan.
- add the bhindi and saute till they are completely cooked. you will have to keep an eye on them and stir in between many times.
- taste the bhindi and if the crunchiness has gone and the bhindi have become soft, it means they are cooked. keep the sauteed bhindi aside.
- all the oil will be used up. so add 1 tbsp oil to the same pan.
- add chopped onions and fry till they become translucent.
- add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for 1/2 a minute or till the raw aroma of the ginger-garlic disappears.
- add the chopped tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are soft and mushy.
- if the tomato mixture becomes too dry add about 1/4 or 1/2 cup water and continue to cook.
- all the above cooking is done in a open pan and you don't need to cover the pan with the lid.
- add all the dry spice powders one by one.
- stir well and saute for a minute.
- add the sauted bhindi, crushed kasuri methi & salt and mix so that the onion-tomato masala coats the bhindi well.
- cook for 2-3 minutes. stir in between.
- serve the bhindi masala hot or warm garnished with some coriander leaves and accompanied with chapatis, rotis or naan.
rough nutrition info per serving:
lets start step by step bhindi masala recipe:
1. rinse 200-250 grams bhindi/okra well. spread them on a thali and let them dry on their own. i do this technique to dry the bhindi instead of wiping each one with a kitchen towel. when they are dry, then chop them in one or two inch pieces.
heat 2 tbsp oil and add the bhindi.
2. saute bhindi in oil, till they are cooked. remove and keep aside. by the way, frying or sauting the bhindi in oil minimizes the sliminess and stickyness.
3. in the same pan, add 1 tbsp oil. add 1 medium sized chopped onion and fry them till they are translucent.
4. add the crushed ginger-garlic or ginger-garlic paste (½ inch ginger and 2-3 garlic, crushed or made to a paste in a mortar-pestle or ½ or ¾ ginger-garlic paste).
stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic disappears.
5. add 2 medium sized chopped tomatoes and saute till they become soft and mushy.
6. now add all the dry spice powders – (¼ or ½) tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp garam masala powder and ½ tsp dry mango powder (amchur powder).
7. stir and saute for a couple of seconds. lastly add the fried bhindi, 1 tsp crushed kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves and salt as required. stir the whole mixture well. cook the bhindi for 2-3 minutes.
8. serve bhindi masala hot garnished with rotis, phulkas or naan or plain paratha.


text:
How was WWI about defending freedoms exactly?
I just wish they would stop calling it the 'Great War'. The 'Great Waste' would be more appropriate, or perhaps the 'Great Slaughter'. Considering the number who died for no particular reason, and arguably the events it caused in later years (German hyperinflation, rise of the Nazis etc), has there ever been a single event in human history which has claimed more lives and destroyed more nations?