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Managing Parkinson's Disease
Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's Disease affects the nervous system. It is a progressive illness that develops over time. The disease in itself is not life threatening, however it can have a disabling impact on the sufferer and their families.
There are a wide range of symptoms for Parkinson's Disease.
The major symptoms include:
- rigid or stiff muscles
- problems with balance and walking
- trembling or shaking
- bradykinesia, which means slow movements and difficulty adjusting to positions
- akinesia, which means no movement or very limited movement
Trembling is the symptom most associated with Parkison's Disease. However, a small percentage of patients do not develop the tremor. There are two types of tremors. Most patients experience trembling when they are resting. Some patients also experience tremors when trying to move.
Minor symptoms
There are a wide range of symptoms. Not everyone with Parkinson's Disease will have them. Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty sleeping, dribbling, a loss of facial expression, a low spoken voice, reduced manual dexterity and difficulty with handwriting, dementia, constipation and depression. Some of this symptoms are also side effects of the medication used to treat the disease. The sources I have read vary, but indicate dementia affects approximately 15 - 25 % of Parkinson's Disease patients.
The disease is more common in the older age bracket. A diagnosis before the age of 40 is called young-onset Parkinson's Disease.
Causes and treatment of Parkinson's Disease
There is no known definitive cause of what triggers Parkinson's Disease. Doctors know that sufferers have a gradual loss of particular nerve cells in the brain that produce a chemical called dopamine. Dopamime affects our ability to perform motor skills and mental concentration or focus. It is the loss of dopamime that produce the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.
More information about the role of dopamime can be found on this link: http://chronicfatigue.about.com/b/2008/07/31/the-role-of-dopamine-in-your-brain.htm
There are a range of different theories about what causes the degeneration of the brain cells that lead to Parkinson's Disease. It does not appear to be a genetic disease.
Theories include exposure to viruses or toxins. It does not appear to be a disease caused by dietary factors. Information about possible triggers for Parkinson's Disease and potential treatments can be found here:
Unfortunately there is no known cure for Parkinson's Disease. However, symptoms can be managed.
Modern medical treatment of Parkinson's Disease aims to alleviate symptoms by artificially replacing dopamime levels in the patient. This is done through a series of regular drug treatments. Dosage levels will be altered according to the side effects of the treatment and the progression of symptoms.
The most common treatment is a medication called Levodopa. It is most effective for the first five years of treatment. However it does have side effects such as nausea. It also becomes less effective with time.There are other medications used to treat the disease, which have varying levels of effectiveness and side effects.
In some cases surgical intervention is also used to treat the disease. However, the surgery does have risks and side effects so it is usually not the preferred method of treatment.
Progression of Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's Disease is a progressive disease. Many patients find the initial diagnosis to be a traumatic time. They and their families have to adjust to the fact that they have a progressive disease, that will worsen over time.
Many Parkinson's Disease sufferers can become anxious, stressed or depressed. Sufferers gradually become less mobile and independent. Consequently, as the disease progresses, they become less confident in interacting with the 'outside world'. Anxiety can be heightened because often the disease causes couples to undertake a gradual role reversal. Ofter partners have to undertake tasks that were previously undertaken by the person with Parkinson's Disease. The progression of the disease also puts mental and physical pressure on the spouse who has to care for the sufferer.
Management of Parkinson's Disease
In the inital stages of Parkinson's Disease sufferers are able to go about their daily lives with the help of medication.
As the disease progressively worsens, it has a more disabling effect. Sufferers can also become very tired. Consequently many sufferers of Parkinson's Disease need to move in with family members or into care as they become more debilitated.
There aer various therapies that can help alleviate the symptoms of the disease. These include speech and language therapists, dieticians and physical therapy. There are also various Parkinson's Disease support groups. Many of the various Parkinson's Disease organisations can refer patients to these therapists. Patients may not necessarily be referred to these therapies by their doctor, so it can be useful for patients to contact local support organisations.
Parkinson's Disease support groups and information
The PDMDS, a non profit organization, was developed to work towards improving the quality of life of people with Parkinson's and their care givers.
- http://www.parkinson.ca/site/c.kgLNIWODKpF/b.5842619/k.C7EB/Welcome/apps/s/custom.asp
Parkinson Society Canada is the national voice of Canadians living with Parkinson's. Our purpose as the Parkinson Society Federation is to ease the burden and find a cure through advocacy, education, research and support services.
- Parkinson's UK - The support and research charity - (formerly Parkinson's Disease Society)
Parkinson's UK - we're the Parkinson's support and research charity. Help us find a cure and improve life for everyone affected by Parkinson's.
- Parkinson's UK - The support and research charity - (formerly Parkinson's Disease Society)
Parkinson's UK - we're the Parkinson's support and research charity. Help us find a cure and improve life for everyone affected by Parkinson's.
- Parkinson's disease | European Parkinson's Disease Association
European Parkinson's disease umbrella organisation concerned with the health and welfare of people living with Parkinson's disease and their families and carers. Enabling a full life with Parkinson's while supporting the search for a cure.
- Parkinson's Australia
Parkinson's Australia website provides information and resources to people with Parkinson's, their friends, carers and relatives.
- http://www.parkinsons.org.nz/
The various web links above were useful in providing information for this hub. The following were also used:
Jahanshahi, Marjan M.D. and Marsden, David M.D "Parkinson's Disease A self-help guide" Demos Medical Publishing, New York, 2000
Books about Parkinson's Disease
Comments and useful links
I would welcome any useful comments about treatment, references or websites about Parkinson's Disease in this comments section.
No comments yet.


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Senior Financial Analyst
|Melbourne CBD, Victoria
|Contract Type:
|Banking & Financial Services
|AU$110000.00 - AU$130000.00 per annum
The role is newly created and will have exposure to stakeholders throughout the business, thus giving you the opportunity to further develop your technical ability and influencing skills. Very much looking for the right personality fit, the team are looking for a like-minded, ambitious and energetic qualified financial analyst to compliment them.
Key Responsibilities
- Preparing and presenting, technical financial analysis and recommendations to the business.
- Developing and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Completing required reports on time and in accordance with company reporting guidelines.
- Working with project teams to create budgets and revise forecasts.
- Various ad-hoc accounting duties including analysis and management accounting.
- Continually identify and implement ongoing improvements.
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Relevant tertiary qualification in Accounting/Business/Financial Analytics or equivalent professional experience (CA or CPA highly desirable).
- At least 2 years' experience and exposure within the Banking and Financial Services industry.
- Demonstrated experience within high performance financial services environments.
- Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to work in constantly changing environments.
- Track record in problem solving skills, interpreting data and recommending solutions for their implementation and quick adoption.
- Strong attention to detail, business partnering and analysis skills.
- Big 4 experience would be advantageous.
If this role appeals to you, please apply or contact Mathew Lewis at Ambition on 03 8629 1033 for a confidential discussion.

subset: commoncrawl


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NEW DELHI State-owned Indian Oil Corp would like to merge its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp with itself as part of a government plan to integrate state oil firms to create a national oil behemoth, its chairman said on Thursday."Chennai Petroleum will benefit by integrating with IOC. Certainly given an opportunity we will like to merge," B. Ashok told Reuters.He said IOC had previously merged its fuel retail subsidiary IBP Ltd and refiner Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd with itself. Chennai Petroleum operates two refineries in southern India.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last week announced that the country plans to create a giant national oil company by merging some state firms to take on global rivals.
India has about a dozen state-owned oil firms.Ashok, who heads the country's largest refiner with limited exposure in exploration, favours integration of companies to create oil majors with a presence in drilling to retail sales.
"It is a good idea to integrate across value chain and of course it helps us to leverage ourselves in terms of bigger size when we compare ourselves with international companies," he said.
Ashok said the creation of multiple integrated firms would benefit consumers as the companies would compete among themselves to provide better services to improve performance. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Malini Menon)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.
Updated Date: Feb 09, 2017 18:32:42 IST


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Though IBM does not discuss job-cut figures, the group Alliance@IBM, a union supported group, said IBM cut thousands of jobs in the United States in 2009 while increasing its overseas work force. State records show about 1,000 jobs were cut in Dutchess and Orange counties, reducing IBM's Hudson Valley work force to below 10,000 for the first time since 1999. "Last year IBMers remember the company also announced record profits and the very next day terminated about 5,000 employees around the country," said Lee Conrad, national coordinator of Alliance@IBM, who worked 26 years for the company. "So when employees look at record profits, they don't see any connection between record profits and them keeping their job. All they see is shareholders doing well and employees finding the unemployment line."
Doug Shelton, who was identified by an IBM spokesman as the company official who could discuss job cuts, did not return a call seeking comment.
According to Alliance, IBM had 105,000 U.S. workers at the end of 2009, down from 115,000 in 2008, continuing a trend that saw their domestic work force shrink from about 134,000 workers in 2005.
Meanwhile, IBM hired tens of thousand of workers overseas in 2009. According to Alliance, citing IBM reports as their source, Big Blue hired some 13,300 workers in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan, where about 850 workers were hired. IBM hired 18,800 people in India in 2009, and 7,000 in Latin America. Meanwhile, the company hired some 3,500 workers in the United States and 2,900 in Europe. ...
"IBM is not making the company smaller, jobs are being off-shored and sent out of the United States," said Conrad. "Worldwide the company is growing, it's just not growing in the U.S. They are getting record profits by cutting jobs here and paying lower wages, lower benefits overseas. They can pay Indian and Chinese workers a fraction of what they pay workers here. It's about cost cutting to improve shareholder profits." ...
Conrad said that he expects IBM will reduce its American work force soon, so as to maximize profits for the year. "The next couple of weeks we're going to see job cuts again," said Conrad. "Last year it started right about now and continued right through till May. They like to get this done early in the year to reap the full benefits. "It's pretty scary," said Conrad. "How do you have an economic recovery if companies like IBM keep throwing employees out of work in this country and moving jobs off shore?"
One year ago Obama was inviting Sam Palmisano to all kinds of White House affairs to discuss job creation. I assume Obama meant in the US - but for sure we know Sam Palmisano did not. Check out UTube and you will see Obama and Sam Palmisano shoulder to shoulder talking about high speed rail service and the Grid and how the government and Uncle Sam Palmisano (a cousin) to Uncle Sam apparently where going to create all kinds of work when Obama gave Sam all those Omnibus Stimulus dollars of yours and mine.
Did anyone believe it then- well you know I didn't. Did the White House ever clue Obama in about Sam Palmisano's out-souring of jobs to all the BRIC countries?
So in his State of the Union address Obama says he will not put up with off-shoring all those good American jobs out of the country. He goes on to say NO MORE TAX incentives for companies who do that. Was Obama crossing his fingers, did he say behind our backs oh- but we will excuse IBM because Sam Palmisano made those big campaign contributions. He might say to Joe Biden- lets make Sam Palmisano an earmark- we just won't tell America. What the heck they will never know. We kept the health plan a secret this will be easy.
Then Obama went on to say that China , Brazil, and Germany were not sitting on the side lines they were building their infrastructure and creating jobs, but of course he did not say IBM and other American companies where the backbone of this job creation via outsourcing.
It was a quick and simple answer. In IBM, everyone below a lettered band position is a RESOURCE and everyone in lettered bands is an ASSET. All efforts will be done to retain assets, primarily because they have knowledge of sensitive and many times embarrassing information of the company. An asset is part of the inner circle, with a "svengali" mentor, etc.
Resources, on the other hand, are disposable, just like tools. You know the rest of the story.
If I would have the chance to ask I would try get a perspective on social responsibility. This not only for IBM, but also for the industry in general and leadership in specific. Reading thru the comments it seems many her seem to have a similar issue than I do related to the throw away culture of US employers. These employers are deemed to be entitled to receive bail-outs, but in return do not do anything related to their social responsibility.
In the "old" IBM an employee was an investment, that needed to be fostered to strive and invent. Today it is purely a numbers game. What do leaders like Sam think about their responsibility to their employees and how do that plan to make it not just about the numbers. Don't get me wrong I understand that cuts are sometimes necessary, but it seems that in a downturn companies start to just blindly throw 10 - 20% cuts around.
In my perspective a leader has a certain amount of responsibility and cuts like the described are just an excuse for bad long-term planning. The responsible company plans with buffers and has strategic plans for expansion/reduction. However, it seems we still subscribe to the roller-coaster model of hire and fire.
I would also contest that this is a reason for motivational issues in the work force, if you are seen as cost and a number you act like it, as well as the customer and quality focus, with people not taking the pride in their work and the brand as they have been shown they are not an investment the company has made they are just considered a cost factor.
How do leaders at that top tier see factors like this and find a good balance of growth/revenue and responsibility to their workforce. I would like to believe that solving this inherit conflict will transform a company and make it succeed in the long-term and add longevity to their company. I'm not saying everything can be explained this way, but think it would be interesting to hear about this topic.
The PBC system is ridiculous. The managers decide on your number first and then come up with the reasons for it afterwards. And, of course, you're 'graded on a curve'. You can only get a good PBC rating if one of your colleagues gets a bad rating. It makes for an unpleasant work environment. They try to give the appearance of objectivity to something that is hard to quantify. It would be nice if your manager could just tell you at the end of the year whether he thought you did a good or a bad job without all the rigmarole of the PBC process. And forget about ever getting a pat on the back from your manager or a kind word.
Basically, there are no I/T jobs in the US anymore unless I move to one of the new GDF sites. IBM offers no moving and living. That might be ok I'd suck it up and move my family if I would have some sort of job security for the next year or two. IBM requires a one year commitment from anyone taking a job at the new GDF. However the kicker is that IBM will not make any such promise to the employee. They have the power to lay you off whenever they want.
All the employees pretty much know that our salaries are higher than any of the new hires coming into the GDF. Also, the position levels are several bands below the current structure. At this point, is an unwritten fact that if you move on your own dime to the new GDF, you will be kept around ONLY until they can find someone cheaper to replace you.
IBM is keeping costs to a minimum. That means NO education for US employees unless you can find something free, and then you're on your own to make the time to take the class.
I think even management has given up on IBM. The first line managers have become face-less drones on the other end of a telephone. They don't offer any information, rarely offer a pat on the back, and even rarer still are they aware of what is going on with the customers we support. They are all pretty much technically challenged (read - not I/T skills).
My U.S. co-workers are great. I have never seen such a great group of technically adept people anywhere. They put in countless overtime hours, without any form of extra compensation, handle 24x7 pager rotation duty (again without any extra compensation). They always go above and beyond what is expected, even knowing it be compensated in the form of an award, or come through on their appraisal or in the form of a raise. It will be difficult for IBM to duplicate that level of expertise in the BRIC countries for many years to come (if at all). But hey, they're cheaper, so it's ok.
I have to mention benefits. Every year, IBM attacks another benefit. From the decimation of the pension plan, to raising the cost for the employee stock offering. (Employees used to be able to purchase IBM stock at 15% off the market price, it is now 5%). Every year, we have to pay more for medical (I pay over $400 a month for my family).
Pay used to be above average, now is stale even as other benefits and bonuses have eroded. PBC rating system is bogus, it's all about your manager's opinion of the job you're doing. Working from home is great, but the number of hours offsets that. I'm seriously considering bailing for a local job with fewer hours.
There are no education or training opportunities here (and even if there were, there's no time to do them, because we are so short staffed that there aren't enough people to do the work even when everyone is here, let alone when someone is taking vacation, training, etc) and IBM has lost all of their respect for the individual.
There was a time when we had the opportunity to do the right thing, but that has passed and now the only thing that matters are quarterly earnings. Customer sat is in the tank and employee morale is at an all time low. Advice: don't join IBM if you have another viable alternative, and if you are an IBM employee in the US, like me, your days are numbered.
Why? Unfortunately, the IBM of today is totally focused on the bottom line, is led by bean-counters (accountants types) who are helping prop up the stock price on the backs of laid off workers and the poor souls left behind who have to do 2 to 3 people's jobs, seems to be solely focused on padding the pockets of the senior executives who have a LOT of stock options they want to exercise in a couple of years (thus the need to artificially drive up the stock price), has a very flawed appraisal system (called the PBC system) which forces managers to "skew" the ratings to match a normal "bell shaped" curve distribution (a system that is demoralizing and an unfair means of keeping pay increases and bonuses low), expects everyone to put in at least 50 to 60 hours per week or more (anything less just won't do or you'll end up way behind), has lost any sense of decency or respect for the individual (you'll be a small cog in a big machine), often promotes incompetent kiss-ups into management and executive-level positions (OK, I was a manager, but I didn't get there by being a kiss-up), and will work you to the bone as you live in daily fear of losing your job (since in a global economy this global company has the hots for low-cost, "global resources" and will turn you out in a heartbeat if they can find a way to "offshore" your job).
In January of 2009, the day after IBM announced the highest earnings in the history of the company, I was advised my services were no longer needed because I was being vastly overpaid for work that others in overseas locations could likely do (although not as well, but who cares) for 1/5th to 1/8th the cost. My job didn't go away, it was just transferred to an inexperienced team outside the U.S. IBM has even laid off senior project managers who were 100% billable on external, customer engagements – just to save a buck – and has left customers high-and-dry. Why? Because they felt they could get cheaper resources to do the job. It didn't matter that the customer was miffed, only that IBM could save money.
If you like the idea of developing stress-related illnesses such as insomnia, arrhythmias (irregular heart beat), hair loss, skin rashes, headaches, muscle tension, and ulcers – then by all means, give IBM a try. If, however, you prefer to be treated decently, shown a reasonable level of respect, paid fairly, and have the chance of really enjoying your job, then by all means -- look elsewhere if IBM comes knocking.
First the reimbursements for telecommuting costs were eliminated (ie., broadband). Then all the administrative assistants were kicked out. The IBM Help Desk was 're-branded' the IBM Lack-of-Help Desk by almost every employee which experienced some kind of frustrating problem. Education reimbursements dried up, and you basically had to be on the "pet list" to have any chance of participating. IBM AZ became the company's health-care "experiment", by introducing new plans (which usually did not benefit the employees) and seeing what kind of reception they garnered. There was a 'type' of work/life balance, if you can call it being able to come and go as you please as long as you attended all kinds of after hour meetings, worked until all hours of the night, and gave up going on vacation to meet the "needs of the business". But 'oh yeah, if you don't take all your vacation this year you'll lose it'. I don't see any problems with managers hiring their kids and relatives, however if those people are morons then all they're doing is wasting company resources.
By the time I got swept up in the mass layoffs earlier this year (2009), there was no resemblance to the IBM of the late 20th century. Promotions are now given by managers to their pets without merit, every department has at least 4 or 5 band 9's, education reimbursement what?, and incompetent project managers and underlings seem to run rampant. If you don't participate in meetings all day long, you're considered a pariah. I was frequently chastised by a former boss when I was not actively attending every possible meeting she could assign me to. I guess she felt our jobs could be done at night, when there weren't any more meetings. She also thought it was appropriate to berate myself and my team members in her office with the door open so everyone down the hall could hear her yelling.
It's unfortunate that most managers of the Tucson site today are incompetent and only use intimidation to get things done or force their people into line. What happened to the people who inspired loyalty by giving their employees respect and treating them fairly? Sadly, most have left IBM years ago. What a pity.
The company does not value quality, only cost. You will be treated like an animal and will be worked to death. You will deeply regret investing any loyalty into this company as it would be one-sided only (your side) and will not be returned in any shape, fashion, or form (company side). The executives are greedy and are only in it for their own short-term personal gain before they can jettison out with their golden parachutes, leaving the company and our country raped, pillaged, and destroyed.
Independent of company performance, they will skin-flint you out of any raises, promotion, or training opportunities. The company is continuously devising clever ways to skirt the law and utilizes co-employment schemes to cheat workers out of benefits. The company is forever rebalancing the workforce to lower-cost labor, and ultimately would like to enforce the return of slavery, so that "resources" can be free again at zero cost to the company; with no other purpose than to enrich their greedy and hell-bound executive overlords. For the love of God, do not work here!
That little stirring you feel in your heart when you see your coworkers, friends and country get systematically abused, mistreated, fired and replaced for cheaper labor, and those left in your group underfunded, understaffed, and grossly overworked to pick up the pieces; when the company cheats workers of jobs and benefits through supplemental employment, H-1B visas, and co-employment schemes, then robs the rest of their pensions; not because the company is doing poorly, but in times where the stock price continues to rise on record profits; and you see these things done not for the long-term good of the company, but only for short-term greed and executive rape - that little stirring is God's way of reminding you of your sense of decency, morality and human dignity.
No more US layoffs! "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing". Let us not assassinate this country further, Mr. Palmisano. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
When we were bought back by IBM in 2008, it was the usual two-faced BS about how glad they were to have us back, what a mistake they had made selling us in 2002, and then 6 months later they were telling us our jobs would be offshore in a year. I was lucky enough to get out before the axe fell, and found a real job for an employer that appreciates my efforts, recognizes I have a life outside of work, and provides me with work more meaningful than making the IBM executives rich.
Most of my coworkers weren't so lucky, and now find themselves out of work. All this is my long-winded way of saying if you want to be just a faceless commodity to be bought, sold, and discarded on a whim, go work for IBM. You'll fit right in. If not, look elsewhere. Don't let the cache of IBM sucker you in because the company today is not the IBM of even ten years ago.
The other reviews here are true...PBC's are a joke with ratings determined high above immediate management, raises are paltry and arbitrary, respect for the individual gone, training non-existent unless you count lame web-based pabulum, byzantine outdated processes, and poorly defined lines of responsibility. IBM continues to survive only because of it's sheer size, but sooner or later even that won't save it unless executive management wakes up and starts to look past their next stock option exercise or quarterly P&L results.
The rationale for those that were not resourced within my division was a total lie, as their skill set did not match the "future" direction of the division. The true criteria was age, salary and attachment to the incompetent management that made the decisions. There were actual people who were "on the bench" and had not been utilized who were retained. I worked on a project where all of us resourced had well above 100% utilization and solid prospects for continued utilization.
Flash forward six months. IBM chose to cancel my COBRA for no apparent reason. After an extensive process, during which I was given inaccurate information MULTIPLE times, it was reinstated. I continued to regularly apply for jobs but at the time of my COBRA cancellation, my account mysteriously disappeared on the NetMedia job board.
I would never recommend IBM as an employer. They have systematically eliminated millions of U.S. jobs. There is no forward vision, respect for employees or opportunity for advancement unless you are a "declared' diversity employee.
In 2009, IBM decided to get rid of as many over 50 workers as they could and they also eliminated a lot of the original Lotus experts in favor of lower paid and totally inexperienced IBMers from other divisions. They had no experience or history with Lotus software but now are selling it. Terrible decision and not one person in my group could adequately represent or demo the products. Microsoft and Google will take major market share from Lotus but the accountants only see lower cost of sales.
Avoid IBM at all costs and avoid selecting their products. They laid off over 10,000 Americans in 2009 and many of the jobs were moved to communist and third world countries
How wrong I was.
Over the years IBM has showed its true colours as an employer time and time again. IBM is a greedy, immoral, dishonest, disrespectful, miserly, untrustworthy, lying, two-faced, bloated weasel of a company. It treats its employees with utter contempt. It has no loyalty.
As a manager, I have been forced annually to deliver poor appraisals to team members who have bust a gut for IBM. I have brought good people to tears by telling them that they are "relatively low performers". These low performers get no bonuses. These low performers get no pay rises. Year after year after year. Yet these same "low performers" work long hours FOR FREE, to keep this sick puppy of a company afloat. These low performers continually pick up the pieces when services off-shored in haste to India fall in an undignified heap under the supervision of inadequately skilled off-shore employees.
I've had enough of IBM. I've tried for years now to help IBM improve from the inside, to persuade my managers that we are damaging ourselves and our company in our approach to business. I've failed. I've now decided that I'll get out of this vile, decrepit bucket of an organization as soon as possible in 2010. For my colleagues' sakes, I really hope that IBM improves. Sadly, I fear that it won't.
As a footnote, I Ieave you with this. A good friend of mine, an ex-IBMer, lost her fight against cancer in 2009. I know she wouldn't mind me mentioning this. She had left IBM a couple of years prior to her passing. Her sons read her eulogy, which she had written herself before the end came.
In that eulogy she found time to mention how much she had grown to loathe working for IBM. This was a rational. capable, intelligent, funny, normal, brilliant woman. In her last testament to this Earth, she took the time to pen a couple of sentences on what a horrible company IBM had become. To me, that says more that an infinite number of monkeys blogging for an eternity on IBM could do (I include my self in the number of monkeys). Think about it, if you had one speech left to make in this world, how deeply would you have to dislike your employer (or ex-employer) to rubbish them in that speech?
There is no job security at IBM. I have seen 1, 2+, 2 and 3 performers fired during resource actions. I have seen an entire 2nd line organization fired during a resource action (-5). Work/life balance - Multiple deliverables per year (>5), developers are expected to be on call 24x7x52 (continuous crunch time) - (-5). There is no career potential/growth in the United States/Canada/Europe (US/Canada/Europe are seen by the Executives as places for "cost savings"; i.e. outsource all the jobs to BRIC) - all growth is in the BRIC countries (-5). I can work from home a couple of days a week, which seems like a pretty typical bennie for the industry (0).
Co-worker competence - This varies wildly dependent on whether or not you are dealing with a global resource, a H1-B/L-1 visa holder, or a domestic employee, so I'm not going to rate it. Work environment - the above list says it all (-5).
Work/Life Balance: That is now an old-school phrase...its now Work/Life Integration...which essentially means all work...and squeeze in some Life if you're lucky...the preventative HealthCare programs and initiatives offered are fundamentally meaningless if you have no time to do them.
Career Potential/Growth: Ahh...in my first managerial role, I was ranked a 1 (top of the statistical heap). I did not see any potential job/role that would further negatively impact my Work/Life Integration...so I voluntarily ceased to be a manager...but not a leader...the story continues...but I am looking outside for better opportunities.
Location: Flexibility is nice, but expense accounting is horrible. I work from home, but am not allowed to account for mileage from home, even when I cannot get a mobile work area at the local office...its just a way to foist more expenses on the rank and file...and improve the quantitative bottom line.
Competence: I continually have to set context and direction for co-workers...they are all good people, basically, but some just don't get it...so others have to cover for them and do their work for them.
Work environment: Lets just say the reality does not match the corporate rhetoric...bottomline...everything is about the money....revenue or expense....which goes to Wall Street and the return to the stockholders. Smarter Planet is a nice marketing initiative, which has its roots in reality. The issue is that once you understand being smarter...understanding true sustainability and true carrying capacity of the earth...the quantitative model of corporations and Wall Street breaks down. We need new, qualitative measurements on how to gauge human progress...GDP is not the only criteria of a life well lived.
Oh, well..on to better, not necessarily bigger, things...
The Court's decision will strengthen the hand of incumbent interests over unorganised emerging interests. That is not good. Incumbent business interests often see upstarts as competing unfairly, as needing to be regulated, and as deserving of being suppressed. Incumbent businesses like politicians to squelch new entrants. With their chequebooks now opened up, they will support politicians who seek to regulate and suppress upstarts. Upstarts do not have money yet to finance their own political campaigns, they are disorganised, and they don't yet know the ropes in Washington and the state legislatures. They are new, weak, and inexperienced.
The ruling will also strengthen further the hands of managers and directors inside large American companies. They, after all, are the ones who decide whether to contribute to political campaigns, not shareholders. Corporate and securities law in the US already strongly favours managers over shareholders. Usually, it is just fine that shareholders are distant from the corporation and its directors; shareholders don't know the company's business, while directors and managers do. But when directors or executives stumble, American shareholders (in contrast to British and other nations') today have only weak tools to influence or replace the faltering chief executive.
The ruling was a victory for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, the National Rifle Association and other interest groups most likely to run ads with money from their treasuries. It's unlikely major corporations would want their name on an ad, but they can avoid that by giving money to interest groups, who would then run ads and disclose the spending under the groups' names. It also presents a new option to wealthy individuals who were allowed to spend millions on their own to run election-time candidate ads before, but now can join forces to do so and get more bang for their bucks. ...
Campaign finance watchdogs predict members of Congress now will cast their votes on controversial legislation with an eye to whether their position on it risks inviting a barrage of special-interest ads against them before the election, or on the flip side, could draw outside spending favorable to them. "I just think the court got it dead wrong if it thinks that a $10 million expenditure in a campaign can't buy influence of a corrupting nature the same way that a $10 million contribution can," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, who pressed for the ban on election-season corporate- and union-financed ads that the court swept away. ...
Heartened by the court's view that corporations have the same free-speech rights as citizens, opponents of campaign finance restrictions think the time is ripe to press the justices to go still further and do something not allowed since the robber-baron bribery scandals of a century ago: let corporations and unions give money directly to candidates. ...
The ruling could bring more than office politics to the workplace. Bopp reads it to permit corporations and unions to speak freely about elections to employees and authorize partisan politicking on their property, rather than stop at simply encouraging workers to vote, as they've had to do until now.
But in all honesty, what I heard from my HP friends was even more alarming. Mark Hurd apparently takes HP in and out of businesses frequently in his continual drive to make HP more profitable. When a decision is made to exit a business, the employees associated with that business, according to my friends, are simply fired. There is no retraining, no pretense that a position might be available elsewhere in HP. Out of curiosity, did a search on layoffs at HP and found an interesting read. According to Mark Hurd:
"In this country, we have a problem. The source of this country's greatness has been its technical talent . . . But you have to go where the tech talent is, and right now the tech talent is in Asia." "We often can't keep [engineers] in the country even after they've graduated from U.S. universities like Stanford."
Bottom line: What's happening at IBM is industry wide and there are very few places to hide, even in Silicon Valley. For additional details, see: http://nerdtwilight.wordpress.com/category/layoffs/
I wanted 6 months severance pay, and the ability to collect NY State unemployment insurance. Neither of which I'd have gotten if I had voluntarily raised my hand. Your friend may not be located in New York, and therefore collecting unemployment insurance could be different for her than it was for me. If she raises her hand and volunteers to retire, IBM will gladly shake it, but as for putting any severance pay in it, she can forget that.
Look, IBM has treated it's employee in a very shabby manner since the early 1990's. Due to that, I made it a priority to try to get something in return from them. I think I earned that after being treated so poorly for 16 years. All I ever did for the 17 years prior to 1993 was work as hard as could for IBM, simply because they treated me so well during those years. When their attitude towards me changed, I changed mine towards them. IMHO, anyone with 30 years is crazy if they leave voluntarily after what IBM has put the employee's through since 1993.
Things had gotten entirely too annoying. First it was White House (and populist) complaints about Wall Street recklessness and greed (humongous bonuses). Now it was White House desire to attach new regulations and taxes to banks. Enough!
And so a rally was organized at lunchtime on the 23rd floor of 14 Wall Street, directly across the street from the New York Stock Exchange, in the cushy offices of John Thomas Financial, a three-year-old investment house. It was much more comfortable than, say, the street. As Thomas Belesis, the 35-year-old chief executive of John Thomas who hatched the idea, put it, "It's cold out." ...
The event didn't quite go the way it was foreshadowed. The press alert promised a "rally with hundreds of brokers and traders." In fact, about 30 of the attendees were from elsewhere on Wall Street. The rest were the brokers and traders at John Thomas. Since the rally was held on the firm's 25,000-square-foot trading floor, where some 100 brokers had their desks, most of the attendees were basically working.
According to media sources, the key players in giving IBM the money do not know. State, local and economic development officials all repeat the IBM line that hiring is "on track". So how many employees does "on track" mean? How is it possible that those responsible for handing out the money do not know the number of employees hired? Where is the accountability to Iowa taxpayers? Why isn't IBM disclosing the employee number?
While there certainly are positive aspects of IBM establishing a facility in Dubuque, it must be remembered that IBM is notorious for not being transparent and open on hiring and job cut numbers. IBM's stonewalling of information must end.
The Alliance@IBM is calling on IBM to disclose the following:
IBM must immediately disclose the true number of employees in the Dubuque facility. The citizens of Iowa deserve transparency and accountability for their money.
Knowledge Transfer Plan The key component of this transformation is achieving an efficient and effective transfer of institutional knowledge of the product set and of the DFS-managed environment. Tasks to address these knowledge gaps and the associated knowledge transfer will be scheduled into a labor transition plan which is separately shared with DFS. The IBM project office and Sr. Project Delivery Executive will work with DFS to ensure a smooth transition. This timing of transitioning labor is dependent on IBM's ability to staff positions and perform knowledge transfer with the effort scheduled to begin in 1Q2010 and continue into 2011. -A Nony Mouse-
Alliance reply: If you have the opportunity to retire (you listed 31 years service); then it may be your only option to sanity. We thank you for joining and supporting Alliance@IBM, and organizing, encouraging your co-workers to join and organize, as well. Please tell us more about your situation: Contact Us
"But dependency on government has never been bad for the rich. The pretense of the laissez-faire people is that only the poor are dependent on government, while the rich take care of themselves. This argument manages to ignore all of modern history, which shows a consistent record of laissez-faire for the poor, but enormous government intervention for the rich." From Economic Justice: The American Class System, from the book Declarations of Independence by Howard Zinn.
Focus group participants say they are concerned about the deficit? Then let's throw in a 3-year spending freeze, delivered with a populist spin. "Like any cash-strapped family," the president said, "we will work within a budget to invest in what we need and sacrifice what we don't. And if I have to enforce this discipline by veto, I will."
Sure, the freeze will actually have little impact on the multi-trillion dollar deficit, exempts budget-bloating defense spending, and, as Steve Clemons puts it, "will essentially forfeit America's growth future to China." But "spending freeze" moved the test dials -- so spending freeze it is!
Remember when serious health care reform was going to be the main path to reducing long-term budget deficits? Not anymore. Now we're going to freeze spending -- except, of course, on the wars of choice we are fighting, at a cost of $250 billion a year, in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The president and his team know that the spending freeze is little more than what The Economist's Ryan Avent calls "a bright shining gimmick." And no one in the administration could really have believed that conservatives would suddenly swoon and fall into line at the mere mention of "freezing discretionary spending." Indeed, the reaction of Republicans to his announcement that the freeze won't take effect until 2011 was so derisive that Obama fired back with a caustic ad lib: "That's how budgets are done."
The truth is, the American people are not angry because of all the money the government has spent this year -- except, of course, the people who believe Obama was born in Kenya, is a Muslim, and a Socialist. The rest of the people, the ones Obama has a chance of reaching, are angry because the vast majority of that money went to -- and continues to go to -- rescuing Wall Street, which has thanked taxpayers by reducing lending, recording record profits, paying out massive bonuses, and using our money to pay lobbyists to scuttle financial reform. That is what is putting voters on the electoral warpath.
One week later, in the State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a temporary freeze in nondefense discretionary spending.
Wait, it gets worse. To justify the freeze, Mr. Obama used language that was almost identical to widely ridiculed remarks early last year by John Boehner, the House minority leader. Boehner then: "American families are tightening their belt, but they don't see government tightening its belt." Obama now: "Families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same." ...
Meanwhile, health care reform faces a troubled outlook. Congressional Democrats may yet manage to pass a bill; they'll be committing political suicide if they don't. But there's no question that Republicans were very successful at demonizing the plan. And, crucially, what they demonized most effectively were the cost-control efforts: modest, totally reasonable measures to ensure that Medicare dollars are spent wisely became evil "death panels."
So if health reform fails, you can forget about any serious effort to rein in rising Medicare costs. And even if it succeeds, many politicians will have learned a hard lesson: you don't get any credit for doing the fiscally responsible thing. It's better, for the sake of your career, to just pretend that you're fiscally responsible — that is, to be a deficit peacock.
So we're paralyzed in the face of mass unemployment and out-of-control health care costs. Don't blame Mr. Obama. There's only so much one man can do, even if he sits in the White House. Blame our political culture instead, a culture that rewards hypocrisy and irresponsibility rather than serious efforts to solve America's problems. And blame the filibuster, under which 41 senators can make the country ungovernable, if they choose — and they have so chosen.
I'm sorry to say this, but the state of the union — not the speech, but the thing itself — isn't looking very good.
Vault's IBM Business Consulting Services message board is a popular hangout for IBM BCS employees, including many employees acquired from PwC. Sample posts follow:
We all have to play nice-nice with our GR (global resource) peers. and when your GR team lead sends notes to IBM US mgmt that they need MORE WORK from their US counterparts, IBM mgmt. rolls over and gives them more work. Reminds me of an old CCR song: Fortunate Son.
And when you ask them, how much should we give? Ooh, they only answer more! more! more. What a sad, pathetic, f'ng company.
What's more pathetic is how India is not held accountable since they are Sam's chosen ones and how anyone who reports problems with India are considered anti-team, racist and uncooperative.
The sacred cows over in India aren't cattle, they're the "office boys" pretending to be IT professionals working for IBM. What a sad, pathetic f'ng company indeed.
This site is designed to allow IBM Employees to communicate and share methods of protecting their rights through the establishment of an IBM Employees Labor Union. Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act states it is a violation for Employers to spy on union gatherings, or pretend to spy. For the purpose of the National Labor Relations Act, notice is given that this site and all of its content, messages, communications, or other content is considered to be a union gathering.


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Enter here:
CR84FN - Black, white and pink
Jeg ser og ser blir liksom ikke ferdig med å se på dette kortet. Mange flotte detaljer, nydelige blomster og lekkert fargelagt som vanlig. Helt nydelig.
Ha det flott i kveld:)
Oooh..oooh...ooooooh...please tell me it's mine!!! ;o) I'll have a birthday again!!!! lol
Jill....it's just ABSOLUTELY magnificent......I want to be you when I grow up!!!!!...xxxxx
Oh she'll LOVE it Jill...;O) I won't tell.....xx
Stunning creation Jill, love your fantastic attention to detail, your friend will adore it! I feel guilty that you struggled with the challenge, but let me tell you I did too! I thought of it ages ago and when it came to making something my ideas flew away! Typical LOL!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Love Nicola xxx
Nydelig kort ♥
Oh Jill, this really is beautiful. The delicate pink is so pretty & femine. Love it all
Have a lovely weekend
HUGZ Fleur xXx
This is just stunning Jill and what a lovely fold which is really different (might need to try that out).
Have a good weekend.
B x
Meeeen jag bara smälter stumpan....tänk att du alltid lyckas få mej att bara döööö eller smälta,jag borde ha gått ner i vikt sen jag började terrorisera din blogg(men se det har jag INTE)!! *hi hi* Underbart är det iallafall att få se dina fina skapelser pyret!!
Kram fr the fanclub leader
Nydelig julekort,Jill!Lekker bretting og pynting!
Ha en koselig kveld!
KLem,Kari :)
Helt nydelig julekort!
lekker bretting og dekorering.
Simply stunning Jill - the softness of the pink against the black is striking!
Great card design too.
Have a fab weekend.
Debs xx
Nydelig kort, Jill! Likte brettemåten du har brukt her..
Du får kose deg med besøk nordfra :)
Absolutely beautiful! I love all the details. Great card!
WOW Jill! What a gorgeous card! Love the shimmery wings and the beautiful flowers! Thanks for sharing the inside as well! Thanks for joining along with CR84FN :)
Ooohhh I love this sweet image and how you've colored it then added some sparkle! Very prety card :)
Beautiful card, the colours and details on it is one of the best creation. Cutting from each corner is perfect and your work always looks superb. It is too pretty card.
This is lovely - so many fabulous detail. The image is really cute and beautifully coloured! Thanks for playing along with CR84FN!


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Game 55: Ducks Finish Road Trip In Buffalo
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks(25-19-10) finish the road trip against the Buffalo Sabres(14-29-9). The Ducks are 0-1-0 against the Sabres this season. The game starts at 4:00 PM PT and will be on Prime Ticket locally and AM 830.
Anaheim Outlook:
The Ducks won their first game on this road trip against the red-hot Boston Bruins, but then dropped the next three games. The Ducks will go with Ryan Miller again, who hasn't been great in his last two starts. Anaheim did call up Nic Kerdiles from San Diego and he could play tonight. John Gibson was placed on the IR to make room for Kerdiles.
Keys To The Game
Nothing is going right for Anaheim right now. They need to play more discipline by taking less penalties and working on their defensive play. Anaheim has given up 12 goals in their last two games. Randy Carlyle put some of the original lines back together yesterday, but it didn't work. Ducks need to turn their play around and quick.
Anaheim's Projected Lineup:
Rickard Rakell – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry
Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler – Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie – Adam Henrique – J.T. Brown
Chris Wagner – Derek Grant – Ondrej Kase
Cam Fowler – Kevin Bieksa
Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson
Korbinian Holzer – Brandon Montour
In Net
Ryan Miller, 6-4-5, GAA 2.63, SV% .922 (Confirmed)
Buffalo's Outlook:
The Sabres are in last place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. The good news is they are playing the Ducks on the second of back-to-back games. Anaheim has also been struggling in their last three games. Buffalo is 4-6-0 in their last 10 games.
Keys To The Game
If the Sabres can score first and put Anaheim in a hole early, then they have a chance to earn two points. Buffalo should focus on establishing a forecheck in hopes of getting penalties drawn against Anaheim, who have been lacking discipline lately.
Buffalo's Projected Lineup:
Zemgus Girgensons – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart
Evander Kane – Ryan O'Reilly – Kyle Okposo
Scott Wilson – Evan Rodrigues – Jason Pominville
Benoit Pouliot – Jacob Josefson – Jordan Nolan
Marco Scandella – Rasmus Ristolainen
Justin Falk – Jake McCabe
Nathan Beaulieu – Casey Nelson
In Net
Robin Lehner, 11-20-6, GAA 2.80, SV% .914 (Confirmed)
Want to start your sports media career? Then Join The Puck Network!
DucksNPucks is part of The Puck Network, which covers the entire NHL. There are openings to cover your favorite team(s) and earn school credits! If you are interested, then apply by filling out the form here: Join Our Team. What are you waiting for? Start your sports media career TODAY!
February 6th, 2018


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This video was posted to YouTube in June with the tongue-in-cheek title, "The endless dispute between the French and the Germans." The blurb that was posted beneath the video explains:
LH687 from Tel-Aviv to Frankfurt. Economy class is occupied with a few dozens of French tourists. Suddenly they start a 'pillow war' inside the cabin.Clearly, this was a good-natured "war" -- and everyone applauded at the end!
Lufthansa flights attendant seems to take active part in the war.
If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.
Hat tips to YouTube user voerman19, who posted the video, and to Twitter user @Aife_Earthstone, who told me about it.


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Café Rosso
Roman bars served as the godfathers for Café Rosso which accommodates 40 guests in the vestibule of the Alte Oper. This is where you meet for a quick espresso on the way to the office or later for a tarte flambeé, a plate of pasta or one of the sweet homemade tarts with your afternoon coffee.
The spacious veranda of the Café Rosso spreads onto the Frankfurt Opernplatz and can seat 220 people. Breakfast guests and newspaper readers come here in the mornings for a coffee and croissant – it is a Mediterranean "seeing and being seen" all day long till the last spritz in the early hours.
Café Rosso 50 seats
Terrace: 150 seats
Café Rosso
Kuffler AOF Restauration GmbH & Co.
Opernplatz 1
60313 Frankfurt am Main
60313 Frankfurt am Main
Email rosso (at) kuffler [punkt] de
Fon +49. 69. 1340 390
Fax +49. 69. 1340 239
In the wintertime (October - March)
10:00 am to 8:00 pm and after the concert
In the summertime (April - September)
9:00 am - 12:00 pm


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98 Double Eagle Ranch II
This property is Tract 98 (10.20 acres) in the Double Eagle Ranch, Phase 2. The property is located 12 miles south of George West and 27 miles north of Alice just off Highway 281 and fronts on County Road 170. Double Eagle Ranch is only 1 hour from Corpus Christi and 1.5 hours from San Antonio. This beautiful south Texas land is level to gently rolling and covered in mesquite, black brush, and scattered oaks. There is electricity 500' from the property. Water wells in the area are 300 - 350 feet in dept, drilling costs averages $17/ft. The property fronts on an all weather caliche road with a 60' recorded easement for access. Restrictions allow mobile homes, cabins, and trailers. Fixed rate owner financing is available with as little as 5% down for up to 20 years ($2,300 down, $419/month) Qualified Texas Veterans can use their Texas Veterans Land Board Loan to purchase the property ($2,300 down, $290/month).
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Other Land for Sale from
- Live Oak County Properties by City
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NOTE: The information contained herein is provided as general information only and has been obtained from sources deemed reliable. It is provided without any guaranty, warranty or representation, expressed or implied, made by Lands of America, or any related entity, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information. The information is presented subject to errors, omissions, change of price or conditions, prior sale or withdrawal without notice. Prospective purchasers should make their own investigations, projections and conclusions concerning the information.


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Artist Statement
I am often enthralled by the people, places, and cultures foreign to my everyday surroundings. I began cultivating my voice as an artist by interpreting how I feel and see the world onto the canvas. Naturally I transitioned to using globes as a substrate for my paintings to further express my child-like curiosities and wanderlust spirit. Painting on a sphere has proven to be both a challenging and fun experience.
My process begins by priming the surface with Gesso and then layering on a variety of mediums such as acrylic paint, spray paint, and gold leaf. I create intuitively allowing land-forms and imagery to emerge organically—if at all. I will often add textures and details using the end of my paint brush or any other tools I can find, as I dance to music in my studio and let my mind wander to faraway places. My most recent work is a reflection of my desire to explore the world and my personal encounters abroad. It is influenced by cartography, travel, culture, and is held by private collectors all around the world.
Fun Facts
- I have a Bachelors in Journalism and Masters in Education, but the greatest lessons I've learned from the journey within.
- I've chosen a word to focus on for the past 6 years and it has been a game changer for sure--this year my word is value.
- A few things I love are 80's music, old family photos, writing, and African drum circle.
- People always seem surprised to learn that I am 40 Earth years--#blackgirlmagic ;)
- The thing I've feared the most has become the thing that brings excitement and immense joy to my life--TRAVEL!
Studio Scenes
Dallas, TX


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Training Teachers
Between the 11th and the 16th of
July (2003), the 1st Training Program in Microelectronic
Technologies entitled "Microelectronics and Electronic
Materials in High School" was held in the Department
of Material Science, under the PRODEP III directive.
The training was supported by CENIMAT and CEMOP whose
research centers/laboratories are related to the Department
of Materials Science. Although most of the 17 participating
teachers where from the 11 schools of the Lisbon area,
some came from as far as Entroncamento and Óbidos.
From the opinions expressed by
the participants, the training exceeded all the expectations
because they had the opportunity to work with the techniques
they thought were not available in Portugal. During
the training, the participants had the chance to design,
simulate, build, test and encapsulate a junction photodiode
that can be used as a prototype in their classes. This
may enhance the motivation of the high school students
since it is a device built by their teachers and not
bought in an electronic store.
During the 5 days training, some theoretical notions
were presented and several practical sessions were included:
Due to the enthusiasm, motivation
and interest demonstrated by the participating high
school teachers, the faculty of the Department of Materials
Science will continue to work on these initiatives the
next years, with new editions of the training already
planned, such as:


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Forex Factory Calendar is a Bohemian together with online trading website 5th edition Which Currency Pairs exist and why do their Rates fluctuate in a volatile way? IMF: Antar Bank Sentral Dunia Diharapkan Menjalin Komunikasi Websihe trend antara dua kutub utama inilah yang rawan dapat merusak perekonomian global.
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Category: Automation and High-Throughput Technologies
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been widely used in fabricating microfluidic devices for prototyping and proof-of-concept experiments. Due to several material limitations, PDMS has not been widely adopted for commercial applications that require large-scale production. This paper presents a mass-producible Injection-Molded Plastic Array for 3D Culture Tissue (IMPACT) platform that incorporates a novel microfluidic design to integrate patterned 3D cell culture within a single 96-well. Multiple hydrogel patterns can be sequentially assembled by utilizing capillary-guided flow along wedges and narrow gaps designed within the well. The patterning is quick and robust. It is as simple as placing a liquid droplet on any part of the wedge structure to obtain spontaneous patterning within 1 second. Optimal dimensionless parameters required for successful capillary loading have been determined. The IMPACT platform was used to co-culture HUVEC and LF, and to obtain angiogenic sprouts with lumens and tip cells that are comparable to those observed in PDMS based devices. A key feature of this platform is the ease of use and efficiency in terms of time, and cost for 3D co-culture. Moreover, it works at most stages such as fabrication, experiment preparation, and cell arrangement. We expect that the injection-molded PS platform with novel capillary filling design can be used in building organ-on-a-chip platform that is compatible with imaging and fluid handling equipments used in high-throughput screening. This platform is expected to have a wide range of applications related to biological discovery, tissue engineering and drug screening, and can be used in a variety of scales from lab bench to automated equipment.
Younggyun Lee– MS candidate, Division of WCU (World Class University) Multiscale Mechanical Design, Seoul National University, Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
MS candidate
Division of WCU (World Class University) Multiscale Mechanical Design, Seoul National University
Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Bio-MEMS, Micro fabrication, Mechanical Design, Senior engineer of Samsung Electronics Health and Medical Equipment Division


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Champa Devi Shukla – India
Linked with Rashida Bee – India.
She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.
Champa Devi Shukla has been a leading figure in the international campaign seeking justice for the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide Gas Tragedy in Bhopal. Starting with protests and rallies in India, Champa took her fight against Union Carbide Company (UCC) and its partner, Dow Chemicals, to the streets of New York and other American cities. Dow Chemicals is today fighting a series of cases filed by Champa and other protesters.
Champa Devi Shukla – India
Champa was awarded the 2004 Goldman Environmental Prize for bringing the Bhopal disaster to the international center stage. It has been over two decades since the Union Carbide methyl isocyanate gas leak killed more than 30,000 people in Bhopal – the worst industrial disaster in history. The survivors, and the subsequent generations, continue to suffer the consequences of the disaster. But in 52-year-old Champa Devi Shukla, the survivors found new hope. For 19 years now, she has been a leading figure in the international campaign to seek justice for the victims.
On 3 December 1984, more than 27 tons of highly-toxic gas leaked from a storage tank at a Union Carbide pesticide factory into the heart of the thickly-populated city of Bhopal, almost instantly killing 8,000 people. More than 20,000 more have died since from direct or indirect effects of the leak. The survivors and their children suffer from long-term health effects ranging from cancer, tuberculosis, birth defects, to chronic fevers. Studies have found mercury, nickel, and a noxious combination of other toxins in the Bhopal groundwater. Women's breast-milk has been found to contain dangerous levels of toxins like lead.
Champa, a standard X dropout, was married to Badri Prasad Shukla, a government employee. Badri, caught by the gas, was among the many people afflicted with cancer, and passed away in 1997 after struggling for more than a decade.
Champa and Badri had three sons and two daughters at the time of the disaster. The oldest and youngest sons died of gas leak-related health problems, her older daughter was paralyzed a few months after the disaster, and her other son and youngest daughter confront serial health problems till today.
Champa and her partner Rashida Bee (see their photos in this slideshow), in activism since 1986, met at a factory where they were working in, and founded an independent union to fight for better labor conditions and wages for women. In 1989, their struggle culminated in a 469-mile march to New Delhi. More than 100 people were part of the march, and they submitted a petition of their demands to the then prime minister. The result was a wage raise for the women laborers at the factory, and a melange of other benefits.
Champa then took the initiative to leverage their union's newfound power to seek justice from Union Carbide. Her own health had also been affected. More than a decade after the incident, most survivors had received only a fraction of Union Carbide's US$ 470 million payout, which was stuck in the craw of Indian bureaucratic red tape.
In 1999, Champa joined activists and disaster victims in a Class Action Lawsuit filed against UCC in New York, that sought a cleanup of the factory site, and damages to cover medical monitoring and costs incurred from years of soil and water contamination. The case is continuing.
Meanwhile, Dow Chemicals, which merged with Union Carbide in 2001, maintains to this day that it has no liability in the disaster.
In 2002, Champa led a 19-day hunger strike in New Delhi to underscore their demands, which included
- - the extradition of senior UCC officials and its former CEO, Warren Anderson, on criminal charges to face trial in Bhopal (successive US administrations have been stymying his extradition);
- - long-term healthcare and monitoring for survivors and their future generations, and information dissemination on the gas leak's health impact;
- - cleaning up the UCC "ghost" site;
- - and economic and social support to survivors unable to pursue their trades.
This protest coincided with a month-long hunger strike in front of the UCC factory in Bhopal, a rusty memorial today.
More than 1500 people from across the world took part in what would become the first global hunger strike for a common cause.
In 2003, Champa and others confronted Dow officials in Mumbai and the Netherlands with samples of toxic waste, an initiative that resulted in
- - a protest tour of more than 10 American cities,
- - a passionate protest at a Dow shareholders' meeting in Michigan,
- - and a 12-day hunger strike and rally on New York's Wall Street.
Students from American colleges and universities organized
- - nationwide rallies,
- - thousands of people joining protests in the United Kingdom, China, Spain, Thailand, and Canada.
Two years after merging with UCC, Dow's stock prices dropped by 13 per cent. Forbes wasted no time in crediting the 'Indian-bred tort litigation' for the bourse slump.
Champa and Rashida Bee were awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for 2004, in recognition of their efforts in bringing the Bhopal disaster to international focus. Champa's leadership has, literally, lit a fire under the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. She has used the power of the assertive voice to communicate to the world that the people of Bhopal will never give up.
Champa has overcome obstacles that would have dissuaded someone less motivated – chronic health problems, abject poverty, and ridicule against women taking the lead in a patriarchal society. But Champa and Rashida's struggle continues unabated. The former has used the power of her assertive voice to communicate to the world that the people of Bhopal will not give up until UCC and Dow are held accountable. (1000PeaceWomen).


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I am a fucking. SUCKER. For pink walls and pretty green plants. Since I moved I'm trying my hardest to decorate my place with pastels, greenery, and metallic accents. SoooOooOo when I saw photos of the newly opened June Motel in Prince Edward County I opened my laptop and booked a weekend away, like, immediately.
It's about a 3-ish hour drive and luckily, Riley's mom lives in Prince Edward county we were able to grab a Zipcar (do you guys have Zipcar in America?), drop the dog off to have the time of his life in her big backyard, and head over for a lovely weekend.
The Motel is located in Picton, a little wine town of FOUR THOUSAND PEOPLE, in Prince Edward County. The local wine is amazing (they pour you some sparkling rose at check-in) and the town is adorable. Places I super recommend (everything is within a 15 minute drive of the motel):
The Miller House– gorgeous patio right next to the bay, and amazing charcuterie. I've been craving meat cheese, bread, and olive oil every day since I've been back.
The Vic– adorable little cafe on Main Street (I highly recommend just walking along Main St in general).
Kelly's Shop- The owner Kelly is super nice and her shop stocks really cute straight size AND plus size clothes (like vintage looking circle skirts with donuts all over them) as well as patches, pins, ban.do stuff, and a bunch more accessories. Also her dog Henry is part wiener dog and part yorkie and he's ADORABLE.
Slickers Ice Cream– Homemade ice cream and there's a BENCH OUTSIDE THAT LOOKS LIKE AN ICE CREAM CONE.
Sand and Sumac– I honestly spent like an hour and a half in this small-ish shop. They have furniture, housewares, clothing, accessories, and a million other things either handmade in Canada or in other places around the world (I got a pair of mules handmade in Morocco.) If you go anywhere I REALLY suggest this place.
Also, a million vintage/antique shops. There are just way too many to name.
Overall if you live in Ontario (or outside of Ontario if you'd like a little bit of a longer trip?) I highly suggest this place. Everything was perfect and relaxing and quiet and the perfect summer weekend away.


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History of MOTM
The first-ever Marrow On The Move™ celebration was held on July 30th, 2016 at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, MN. We had more than 500 participants take part in this successful event and raised $60,000 for blood and marrow transplant (BMT) research! Highlights of the 2016 event included inspiring testimonials from transplant survivors and a keynote address by Dr. Daniel Weisdorf, Director of the University of Minnesota Adult BMT Program.
Dr. Weisdorf told the audience, "Our transplant community is stronger, and our resolve is strengthened when we join our efforts and our hearts to help tomorrow's patients and their families. Our commitment to BMT research honors those who've come through transplant therapy successfully. And our efforts to ensure that others have a more successful journey honors the memory of those we've all lost."
Hundreds of families and friends enjoyed a day full of activities at the 1st annual Marrow On The Move™. Cyclist, runners, and walkers enjoyed beautiful weather and views of Lake Nokomis. Other highlights of the day included a family fun tot trot, large bone marrow tunnel, and a guest appearance by Goldie Gopher, who was a big hit with kids of all ages!
We are incredibly thankful to our sponsors and volunteers who helped make the day's events a tremendous success!
2016 MOTM Funding Awardees
- Dr. Veronika Bachanova, "Genetic characterization of Ph-like ALL in patients relapsing after allogeneic HCT"
- Dr. Nelli Bejanyan, "Virus-specific immune cell reconstitution after reduced intensity conditioning double umbilical cord blood and matched sibling donor peripheral blood hematopoietic cell transplantation"
- Dr. Shernan Holtan, "Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Signaling in Acute GVHD: Hot or Not?"
- Dr. Armin Rashidi, "Association between TNFa rs361525 polymorphism and grade II-IV acute Graft-versus-host disease"


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Knit With Hannah: Smartphone Case
Hannah Gilly, Knit With Hannah
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Knit With Hannah: Smartphone case introduction2:14
Choosing Your Materials2:35
Calculating Your Stitches3:38
Casting On6:24
Garter Stitch6:00
Purl Stitch7:02
Casting off2:32
Sewing up and finishing9:36
Bonus Class: Do I knit or do I purl now?4:43
About This Class
This class will build on the skills learned in the first video series, Knit With Hannah: Beginner's First Scarf, and will give you a brilliant handmade smartphone case once you've finished.
Knit along with Hannah to create a custom-made case for your smartphone or iPod. Hannah will take you through the steps for this knitting project, from choosing the yarn, deciding which needles to knit with, to finishing with a case to be proud of.
All the methods are carefully introduced with step-by-step instructions including how to hold the needles and yarn and how to put stitches on the needle so you can start knitting. All the questions you wanted to ask are answered right here.
We will learn how to make button holes and the purl stitch so you can create a finished item with contrasting and interesting textures on the fabric.
Step one...Choose your yarn and needles with the help of video 2. Show us your choices once you've rummaged through your craft supplies or been to the local wool store.
Step two...Cast on with the help of video 3. I'll guide you through putting stitches on the needle so that you can start your project. Show your success with everyone in the project gallery
Step three...Continue to create stitches in rows to make the garter stitch texture and then and follow along with me in video 4 to make stocking stitch texture. As you make progress let us see how you're getting along and ask me any questions here as you go. (check out the bonus class, Do I Knit Or Do I Purl Now? if you are confused as to which stitch comes next).
Step four...Follow along with the video as we make buttonholes and then finish the border with garter stitch.
Step five...Remove the stitches from the needles with the Casting Off video, then complete your project by sewing in the loose ends of yarn and adding your buttons.
You've finished! Show us your finished smartphone case with photos in the project gallery.
Music used on intro: Far Behind by Silent Partner
Class Projects See All
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- Beginner
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- All Levels
- Beg/Int
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Community Generated
The level is determined by a majority opinion of students who have reviewed this class. The teacher's recommendation is shown until at least 5 student responses are collected.
Hannah has been avidly knitting since she was five-years-old. While teaching herself various techniques and styles of knitting she realised how sometimes the written patterns didn't quite suit her needs, so Hannah began writing her own fashion accessories patterns in 2008. She sold the items and gave them as gifts and now sells the patterns on her website KnitWithHannah.co.uk
Always being the one who her friends turn to in times of knitting crisis and having taught a few peopl...


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Jayne is hosting a Birkenstock Trunk Show on Friday April 22nd from 11 – 4. Our Birkenstock Sales Rep will be on hand to show the full line of Birkenstock sandals available for special order during this one day event. There will be a free gift with purchase and a chance to win a free pair of Birkenstocks valued at $140.
- This event has passed.


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Take Back the Bunsen Burners!
Mon, October 02, 2006
The mediasphere has been boiling over with news about women in science lately. I guess it's been close to a year since Harvard Prez Lawrence Summers lodged his foot in his mouth by saying, basically, 'girls are bad at math!'—so maybe some real info on the issue is shaking down and entering the zeitgeist.
A couple weeks ago, the first Iranian woman, an American telecommunications entrepreneur, went into space, becoming one of the first few space tourists ever to put on the big suit. (She got her hand slapped for trying to wear both USA and Iranian patches on her space suit. Didn't anyone tell her her homeland was part of the Axis of Evil?). According to one article a woman in Iran watched her streak through the sky and said with pride: "She will shine in Iranian history as a woman who broke barriers and succeeded in conquering space with her endeavor." (And courageous role models are more important than ever these days as Iran's new conservative prez is trying to roll back the reforms of his predecessor Khatami.)
Newsweek also spilled some ink about ladies in lab coats, as did the New York Times. The nutgrab? New studies say there is a Science Glass ceiling—in hiring practices, research, university settings, and the private sector. Half the population continues to be excluded because of good old fashioned sexism as well as
"inadequate child care, a rigid tenure clock that penalizes mothers who take off time after childbirth and a less-than-welcoming attitude among colleagues and administrators."
And I appreciated the transcendent declaration in Newsweek by Janna Levin that she doesn't ever want to talk about being a 'woman scientist' again. It's boring. What is interesting to her? "The origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes."
As the last month's news reiterates, there's work to be done. At HQ we're planning to leverage the media and develop a Science Divas series. It will share the spirit and global perspective of our original PBS series, but will be lousy with brainy girl geeks, hard science, erupting volcanoes, powerful role models, environmental divas, space ships and… and… and pink Bunsen burners??
fuel the discussion — post your comments »
Great post! I love reading what you have to say.
bravo! women's brains are a vast and largely untapped resource. personally, I think that if a real movement existed to solve the childcare dilemma so many women face, our country could maintain it's leadership in information technology, science, etc.—which is rapidly slipping just behind manufacturing. so let's get after it. don't let up.
the high-minded lowdown from holly morris and the diva blog crew
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shop the bazaar for the book Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for Women Who Are Changing the World and the documentary series »


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The Amazing Spider-man #646
As seems to be the way with Marvel Comics these days, Amazing Spider-man issue #646 came in 3 different covers. Nowaday's I've overcome the obsessiveness, so only feel the urge to buy one copy of a comic I like. I plumped for the vampire variant cover. Marvel comics, like everyone else, is trying to make a fast buck on the Twilight bandwagon, and has vampires running wild all over the Marvel Universe. The X-Men are currently having a big bust up with Dracula no less, and this cover is promoting that storyline.
The last time comic book publishers went into overdrive with variant covers was in the early to mid 90s when many shops shut, Marvel went bankrupt, creativity went out the window, replaced by 1 comic book with 5 spangly different covers, usually one with a hologram. Speculators snapped these up as investments which they soon realised would not mature, and walked away from buying comics. Chaos and the market collapsed. You can read more about this here, but it's really not an especially good read - lots of numbers crunching.
Anyway I think the publishers have learned their lesson, and are a bit more measured with the marketing gimmicks, but it's creeping back into the market...not a good thing.
This cover is a pretty straightforward homage (rip off) to Amazing Fantasy 15, and looks quite nice. It's by Mike Mayhew who I don't know too well - he seems to be doing some pretty regular comic book cover work - nothing too top-selling, so getting a Spidey cover is a pretty good gig for him I'd say.
The issue itself is pretty standard fare - part 5 of "Origin of The Species" where Spiderman has been trying to get the infant goblin baby before the bad guys get to it. A different Spidey villain pops up every other few pages. I did like Tombstone appearing - was always a fan - but he doesn't look as good when not pencilled by Sal Buscema. The colours have been dark and muddy and the inks heavy and unsubtle - all a bit rushed looking. Written by Mark Waid more well known for his work on DC, this storyline is rumbling along to an end - I think the sooner it get's there the better. 6 issues could have been done in 3. It's all fairly predictable stuff.
Roll on issue 648 with new creative team, change of direction and hopefully the cobwebs of recent months will be blown off.


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Softcover Photo Book – Only Pay Shipping!
Perfect gift idea for Mother's Day!
Mother's Day is just around the corner! Have you got something for the special lady in your life yet? Me either! I am glad to see this awesome freebie from York Photo though! Right now you can pick up a FREE 4×6 Softcover photo book and only pay the $3.99 shipping fee. Any mother would love this! Check out the details below…
4×6 Softcover Photo Book – FREE!
Ships for $3.99!
- For new customers only.
- Design a 4×6 softcover photobook for free.
- The limit is 1.
- You can get bigger sizes and score an amazing deal right now too:
- 8×8 Softcover book – $3.99 + $3.99 Shipping!
- 8×11 Hardcover book – $8.99 + $3.99 Shipping!
More great deals available from York Photo right now
There are actually quite a few awesome deals going on over at York Photo right now! Some of these are avialable for new and old customers so be sure to check the details. Many of these promo codes and deals expire 5/1/2016. You can not combine these promo codes or deals with other promo codes or deals! Get ahead of the game and get Mother's Day gifts taken care of now…
- Custom Photo Playing Cards – $3.99 (Saving you $16!) You will have to pay $3.99 shipping. You can order up to 3 decks at this price right now.
- Custom Photo Fleece Blanket – $19.99 (Saving you $38!) This is open to NEW & OLD customers. Use promo code MOM at checkout. There is a $6.99 shipping fee. You can order up to 3 of these fleece photo blankets!
- Custom 8X10 Gallery Wrapped Photo Canvas – $19.99 (Saving you $27!) Use promo code NEWCANVAS at checkout. You will have to pay a $6.99 shipping fee. This is open to NEW & OLD customers. You are limited to only 1 on this deal.
- New and existing customers can get FREE shipping on York Photo orders of $20 or more!
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Grapes Self Malai Lawn 2014 collection includes brand long Kurta with Block Print Daaman and tight plazo or trousers.First , we would like to briefly discuss the introduction of this brand broth .Also grapes brand is considered to be established and emerging brands in Pakistan . Clothing brands , has been working since 2013 .This summer 2014 including clothes , fashion and update .Grapes brand began last summer , and its exclusive 2014 for ladies.
All summer dresses that are designed according to the latest fashion trends and styles.The brand is used bright colors like pink , red , orange, green and etc .Since 2013 grape mobilized many brands , according to the season . The main product line of brand is normal wear party wear evening wear . In the short term this brand is very cool and nice .If we talk about the color ,self malai lawn block print daaman collected in summer 2014 ready to wear pattern.All long shirt and was designed kurtas with a print job . In short , this is a perfect and great for the summer season .


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Sydney has been ramping up the heat this Summer and I've been searching for refreshing foods and drinks to cool me down. While ice-creams and ice-blocks are delicious (and I certainly do enjoy them from time to time), sometimes you're after more of an everyday healthy treat. This certainly delivers on both counts.
I've seen recipes for yoghurt bark floating around on the internet and thought, what a great idea! You really can use any type of yoghurt and top it with just about anything- nuts, seeds, fruit, coconut, mint, lemon, etc. Get creative with it! Here's the basic recipe for raspberry swirl yoghurt bark, but you could always just top it with whole raspberries (or any other fruit) instead.
300-400g reduced fat plain Greek yoghurt (e.g. 2x tubs Chobani)
½ C frozen raspberries
3 Tbsp boiling water
2 tsp honey
Flaked almonds
Coconut flakes
Chopped mint
- Blend raspberries, water and honey until smooth.
- Pour yoghurt into a bowl and swirl through a third of the raspberry mixture.
- Pour onto a tray lined with baking paper and spread out evenly until 0.5-1cm thick.
- Drizzle over some more of the raspberry mixture (you probably won't need it all but make sure you save it for a later use!) and sprinkle over toppings.
- Freeze for a few hours or until hard. Break into pieces ('bark') and store in a snap lock bag in the freezer.


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Happy Halloween, from Bing
Bing has a little Halloween treat for us today. The search page has gone all creepy, with hidden gems from a number of classic horror movies. I won't spoil it by revealing which movies are featured. it's more fun if you try to guess. But, if you do get stuck, there are links to Bing searches for each of them to provide an answer.
And, as a Halloween bonus, here's the trailer for my favorite horror movie, Jason X.
New da Vinci found in Italy
A lost work by Leonardo da Vinci has been found during the restoration of the Sala delle Asse in the Sforzesco Castle. It is believed that this is part of da Vinci's work from when he was the court artists for the Duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro, in the late 1400s.That is the same Duke that commisioned The Last Supper. Work continues to restore as much of the work as possible, with some parts being covered by up to 17 layers of white wash. You can read more about it, and find more photos, at Discovery News.
New pictures from NASA
NASA has released new images from the Chandra Data Archive. October is American Archive Month. As part of that, NASA is releasing a collection of images that have never been seen by the public to highlight the role the CDA plays in the astronomical community. You can read more about that in the official release, where you will also find more images. Here are two of my favorites. Click to enlarge.
The $40,000 Mac Pro
The new Mac Pro is a pretty amazing device. For the last decade or so, the top of the line system has been a 40 pound behemoth housed in a hulking aluminum case. This latest version is in a tiny cylinder. The difference is size is jarring. The old systems were 20.1″x8.1″x18.7″. The new ones are 6.6″ x 9.9″.
That tiny cylinder is packed full with the latest and greatest: The latest Xeon processors (up to 12 cores), dual GPUs, PCIe-based storage, Thunderbolt 2, support for 4k video. It really is remarkable, both as a design, and as a marker of where our technology is heading. Systems will be shipping in December, for a starting price of $2999.
If, however, you have a few extra dollars to throw at your computing solution, there is a one-of-a-kind option. Jony Ive and Marc newson have put together a special edition of the new Pro to be auctioned off for Red at Sotheby's. The estimated price going in is $40,000 – $60,000.
People are crazy!
Here's a crazy video for your Friday. I saw this bouncing around my copy of the internet the last couple days. It's GoPro video from Kelly McGarry's run at the Red Bull Rampage. And yes, it is amazing. But you don't really get just how amazing it is until you see this course from a different angle. The realities of the GoPro being mounted to Kelly, and the change in perspective that comes with that, take a lot of the elevation out of what is really happening. To give you an idea, have a look at this highlight reel. And, of course, don't try this at home… or at work… or anywhere… ever.
Guillermo del Toro's Bleak House
There are man caves, and then there is the Bleak House. That is the name given to Guillermo del Toro's house that showcases all of his strange and wonderful things. From fine art, to bizarre odds and ends like tentacles in jars and various skulls, it is a fascinating collection. But it has more of a purpose than just a catalog of the strange and wonderful. It is meant to be used as an inspiration. Hear his explanation of that, and see more of the collection, in this video.
Your eyes lie to you
This video will warp your melon. I probably shouldn't even give that much away. You'll now be looking for the unusual when you watch the video. I really don't think it matters. Your brain and your eyes will fool you every time. Apparently this was created for Ray-Ban. I'm not exactly sure how this ties in to sunglasses, but these kind of experiments always fascinate me. Just watch the video.
Heads Up Display for Motorcycles
This helmet is awesome. If you are a motorcycle rider, chances are that at some point you have messed about with integrating your phone as part of your riding experience. And, more than likely, the result was something less than stellar. The idea is solid. Hands free calls… Music… GPS… Turn By Turn Nav… Voice Control… The reality is that it's always a kludge. There are wires and bolt on accessories. And if it rains, the phone can't come out and play. Fortunately, a new answer is on the way.
Meet the Skully Heads Up Display Helmet. Simply put, it builds all of that functionality you are looking for into the helmet, and adds a heads up display to give you access to it.They call the system the Synapse(TM) integrated Heads-Up Display (HUD). In more detail, that gives you a 180° rear-view camera, GPS mapping and navigation, and Bluetooth integration with your phone. The animation below shows what it looks like in action with rear-view, GPS, turn-by-turn, phone calls, and weather.
Behind the scenes, the Synapse system is running on Skully's version of Android. That's notable, as the company is planning on releasing a SDK later, allowing developers to add new functionality to the helmet. The lithium ion battery is reported to be good for nine hours of use, which should be more than enough for all but the craziest of riders. The future is now! Or, rather, next year. Current plans have the helmet releasing to the public in 2014.
Welcome To Elgin Park
Things are not as they seem in Elgin Park. In fact, if you try to locate the town on the map, it doesn't exist. The entire thing is the invention of model maker Michael Paul Smith, and it's incredible. Smith has a love for the mid-20th century, and a talent for making models. He put those two things together and created the Elgin Park you see in the photo above.
But things are not that simple. What really bends your mind is when you see how the photos are created. Not everything you see is a model. Through clever placement to take advantage of perspective, Smith is able to blend his models in with his surroundings seamlessly. It's rather brilliant. Here's the wide angle from the above shot.
Pretty amazing, right? Here's another scene from the world of Elgin Park, from both angles.
These are just the tip of a very big iceberg where Michael Paul Smith and Elgin Park are concerned. You can find a lot more images if you visit his Elgin Park website. If you like the photos of the setups, there are plenty more of those as well, on his flickr stream. One more surprise from Elgin Park? The equipment Smith uses to capture these wonderful images. I won't spoil it. Have a look at this video for a complete list of all the gear used.
14/48 The World's Quickest Theatre Festival
14/48 is one of the treasures of the Seattle theatre community. In a nutshell, it works like this: Thursday night, a group of actors/writers/directors/musicians/technicians get together at the theatre. They each put a piece of paper in the cone of destiny that answers the question: I want to see seven new plays about ____________. After the theme is drawn, the writers draw their slots and find out how many characters they have. Then they head home to write those seven new plays.
Friday morning everyone meets up at the theatre again. The directors and actors, also randomly paired, get the plays and set off to learn them as the designers, musicians, and technicians get started on hammering out the details. Twelve hours later, the show opens and the seven world premiere plays are performed.
Throughout the night, the audience can put their theme suggestions into the cone of destiny. After the show, a new theme is drawn and the whole process starts all over again. The writers head home and write seven more plays. Saturday morning those are handed off to the directors. And at 8:00 Saturday night there are seven more world premieres. It is a wonderful thing to behold.
Of course, the speed of the whole thing isn't without its problems. Occasionally you will hit on one that just doesn't work. The amazing part is how often it really does work. I've seen a lot of amazing things happen at 14/48. Occasionally, things that would probably never happen anywhere else. Ideas so crazy that they wouldn't make it through the process of most short play festivals. But at 14/48, anything really does go.
If you would like to get an idea of what this all looks like in practice, you're in luck. This past winter, the whole thing was filmed for a documentary. It's still in the finishing stages, but they have released a teaser that gives a great look at the festival.