News for today's 2018: 06/13/13

Dr. Scholl's Knows Customer Service

7:43 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">Hola y’all! You know kids; customer service is a dying art in this country. We hear horror stories all the time, especially on social media. People take to Facebook, Twitter or blogs to complain about being treated poorly by companies and how bad their customer service is. National restaurant chains and the cable company usually get the worst run. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-krxUw-G80T83xbZL84pHwNy3i45QV9Cbb5ammgzlzEPbJ6dyRZU0Z-XSDHDx5Y2JQ9-pRLOHra0e7JkYIb5VS85EeHSJa3pKDd_23QqYZAxPm6R8ObZyxZfOVEatJRJ3zyUh4KnRPI/s1600/excellent-customer-service.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-krxUw-G80T83xbZL84pHwNy3i45QV9Cbb5ammgzlzEPbJ6dyRZU0Z-XSDHDx5Y2JQ9-pRLOHra0e7JkYIb5VS85EeHSJa3pKDd_23QqYZAxPm6R8ObZyxZfOVEatJRJ3zyUh4KnRPI/s1600/excellent-customer-service.jpg" /></a>But, sometimes that’s just because it’s much easier, and usually more entertaining, to be negative. We don’t <o:p></o:p></div>hesitate to let people know when we are pissed off or annoyed or feel we’ve been mistreated. When we get good service we often forget to give companies props though. So, today here on IWS I’m gonna tell you guys about the TWO best instances of outstanding customer service I have experienced…<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">A few years ago I was in Las Vegas and decided to go to the <a href="http://www.ogvegas.com/" target="_blank">Olympic Garden Gentlemen’s Club</a>. IKR? I don’t normally go to places like that. Anyway, when I got there a <strike>bum</strike> middle-aged entrepreneur came up to me and told me that he would watch my car to make sure nobody messed with it for two dollars. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I thought that was a great service for someone to provide so I gave him a couple of bucks and thanked him. An hour or so and a few lap dances later when I came out of the club I was surprised to find him sitting on the curb next to my rental. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">“I made sure nobody messed with your car man!” he said as I approached. I looked over at the car and back at him and said “You did a hell of job man. You probably deserve a bonus.” He immediately agreed and I gave him a five dollar bill because you should expect to pay for quality service. I also told him to splurge and get a burger or something at the Wendy’s next door. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">“I might do that man” he said as he started to walk away. Suddenly he turned around and said “MIGHT get me a couple of cold ones with that too!” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Until yesterday that was pretty much the best example of quality customer service I had ever seen. Of course, I had never had occasion to see someone deal with the outstanding customer service you get from the <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/" target="_blank">BrownShoe Company</a> who are the people who make <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/brands-health-drscholls.asp" target="_blank">Dr. Scholl’s</a> shoes.  <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosFszKCVrQdHliOqY1JtVImnuErN0vFh-Sd0kY9e9t8Z5dryL4xxK02m_uN0PJgl0qPX5qalDA6_pI3s__QsGgANdw_9DSnlXFEt6DK1hxonuEJ72GLDUJmFxR7Y5FzWaFA0tWuH_rfk/s1600/Defective+Shoe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosFszKCVrQdHliOqY1JtVImnuErN0vFh-Sd0kY9e9t8Z5dryL4xxK02m_uN0PJgl0qPX5qalDA6_pI3s__QsGgANdw_9DSnlXFEt6DK1hxonuEJ72GLDUJmFxR7Y5FzWaFA0tWuH_rfk/s320/Defective+Shoe.JPG" width="316" /></a>As you probably know my friend <strike>lover </strike>and comedy partner Matt-Man had an issue with his new <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/brands-health-drscholls.asp" target="_blank">Dr. Scholl’s</a> shoes that he purchased with his hard-earned money from Walmart. The sole was coming off after only three months of moderate use! Personally I was stunned.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Matt-Man firmly, yet humorously brought this outrage to our attention and decided to email the <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/" target="_blank">Brown Shoe Company</a> and <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/brands-health-drscholls.asp" target="_blank">Dr. Scholl’s</a> shoes a link to his blog post so that they too know about his pain and suffering. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And what happened, you ask? Barely an hour later they emailed back and offered to make things right. They gave him a code to use on their website to get a free pair of shoes to replace the defective ones. They didn’t try to argue with him, or worse, ignore him. They simply apologized for his inconvenience and made things right. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">That, my friends is how customer service is done. There are a lot of companies out there, Cox Cable, Starbucks and most restaurant chains who could learn a good lesson from the <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/" target="_blank">Brown Shoe Company</a>, the makers of <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/brands-health-drscholls.asp" target="_blank">Dr. Scholl’s</a>. Because let me tell ya folks, not only does the <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/" target="_blank">Brown Shoe Company</a> and <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/brands-health-drscholls.asp" target="_blank">Dr.Scholl’s</a> know how to make shoes, they know how to treat their customers. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So here’s to you <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/" target="_blank">Brown Shoe Company</a> and <a href="http://www.brownshoe.com/brands-health-drscholls.asp" target="_blank">Dr. Scholl’s</a>! You guys rock! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://facebook.com/Jayman68" target="_blank">Facebook.com/Jayman68</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

Dr. Scholl's Knows Customer Service

Hola y’all! You know kids; customer service is a dying art in this country. We hear horror stories all the time, especially on social media....

CHINA AND NICARAGUA

7:13 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2s5bGOdKLrXCiyDUvo8weqjZfRPb8pYqmK_BKek6i0_zgPyqC7sa5yBtFedYVxaAT_Vfy6w5OQ0IzGff29pRoUi20MJuI7SseirqbXrRXTziX-gbB7ifbomapS6VgXzQObqhXRJZewNj/s1600/gg62183655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2s5bGOdKLrXCiyDUvo8weqjZfRPb8pYqmK_BKek6i0_zgPyqC7sa5yBtFedYVxaAT_Vfy6w5OQ0IzGff29pRoUi20MJuI7SseirqbXrRXTziX-gbB7ifbomapS6VgXzQObqhXRJZewNj/s320/gg62183655.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CHINA TO BUILD PANAMA CANAL BYPASS THROUGH NICARAGUA</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the most extraordinary stories of the past decade largely overlooked by the U.S. media is how CENTRAL and LATIN AMERICA have quietly escaped U.S. control since 9-11, as Washington focused on its Global War on Terror.GWOT diverted Washington attention long enough that progressive governments established themselves throughout the southern Western hemisphere, from VENEZUELA through BRAZIL, PARAGUAY and BOLIVIA, which were far less inclined than previous administrations to listen to advice from their giant “el Norte” neighbor.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A crucial element in this process has been CENTRAL and LATIN AMERICA expanding their trading opportunities with states frowned upon by Washington, from IRAN to CHINA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now, in the latest sign that Washington’s sway over the region is diminishing still further, NICARAGUA has announced that it will soon begin construction of a canal to compete directly with the Panama Canal further south, to be financed by – CHINA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6HL_MfGavu_PoBBKiZoTMeZacy1hhefEgMnnKEQ9G2BUtdEluPtZONnMUx_27Cm-n6YbtljTkMM3pgf9aoJCTreoZEjiMzPKcpqTK-s3lnCTeObgXcImvlErOgBFjs1n1ERFtokHkP0u/s1600/the-40-billion-chinese-plan-to-build-a-waterway-across-nicaragua-that-would-rival-the-panama-canal-sounds-ridiculous.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6HL_MfGavu_PoBBKiZoTMeZacy1hhefEgMnnKEQ9G2BUtdEluPtZONnMUx_27Cm-n6YbtljTkMM3pgf9aoJCTreoZEjiMzPKcpqTK-s3lnCTeObgXcImvlErOgBFjs1n1ERFtokHkP0u/s320/the-40-billion-chinese-plan-to-build-a-waterway-across-nicaragua-that-would-rival-the-panama-canal-sounds-ridiculous.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As with the Three Gorges Dam, Beijing is not thinking small, as the proposed canal could take 11 years to build, cost $40 billion and require digging roughly 130 miles of channel. The Panama Canal, in contrast, is 48 miles long.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, which has 63 of the 92 Parliamentary seats, has introduced legislation to award the project to HK NICARAGUA Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd. It is an extraordinary proposal for CENTRAL AMERICA’S poorest nation, which does not even yet have a highway connecting its Atlantic and Pacific coasts. NICARAGUAN President Daniel Ortega hopes to gain final approval in due course. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Planning for the project began in July 2012, when the NICARAGUAN government announced the approval of a law for the construction of the "<a href="http://www.miamidiario.com/economia/economia/america-latina/canal-de-panama/daniel-ortega/xi-jinping/nicaragua-china/contrato-por-30000-millones-de-dolares/gran-canal-acuatico-interoceanico-de-nicaragua/310015"><span style="color: blue;">Great Inter-Oceanic NICARAGUA Waterway Canal</span></a>," passing legislation that authorized the government to create a company whose state share would be 51 percent, while the remaining 49 percent would be acquired by a strategic partner. Daniel Ortega presidential adviser Paul Osquit, said that it was a project intended to send "a clear signal to the countries of the world" interested in investing in the mega project, which included VENEZUELA, BRAZIL, CHINA, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA and RUSSIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">NOTICE THAT THE U.S. IS POINTEDLY NOT ON THE LIST</span>.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It will not be an insignificant undertaking, as the canal’s proposed locks will require 1.7 billion gallons of water per day, given that the channel will be 200 feet deep in places. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Furthermore, NICARAGUA'S canal would have to be more than three times longer than the Panama Canal. A major advantage of the route however is that the massive Lake NICARAGUA is separated from the Pacific only by a thin strip of land; accordingly, large oceangoing freighters could travel about 50 miles on Lake NICARAGUA'S waters before going through a pair of locks, and into a waterway dug across the waist of the country to the Atlantic coast lowlands. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">NICARAGUAN advocates say that the channel is needed, arguing that inter-oceanic maritime freight traffic demand will outstrip the capacity of even the expanded PANAMA Canal by more than 300 percent within 123 years, and the canal’s construction create 40,000 construction jobs. Better yet, is could double the per-capita GDP.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FACTS AND FIGURES </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The PANAMA Canal is currently restricted to tankers of up to 65,000 tons, known as “Panamax.” Passage restrictions now frequently produce lengthy queues of up to 100 merchantmen outside the canal's Atlantic and Pacific entrances waiting to make the nine-hour passage. Since 1995 the volume of container shipping has tripled and since 2001 risen more than 50 percent. Maritime analysts now estimate that containerized cargo accounts for over 70 percent of international maritime trade, producing in 2006 almost 346,000 container shipments daily, a figure estimated by 2014 to exceed 600,000. About two-thirds of the cargo transiting the channel is headed to or from the U.S., with CHINA PANAMA Canal's second-largest user. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since 2007 the waterway has been undergoing a major $5.25 billion expansion, with construction of a third lane of locks to augment the current two sets, that will double the capacity of the Panama Canal to handle 600 million tons annually, with completion scheduled for 2013.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As for the new channel and its ASIAN constructors, the reality is that the U.S. retains an overwhelming preponderance of regional military and naval power in the region and asserts its ability and right to intervene if it feels its interests are threatened, as emphasized in 1989, when Washington sent 27,000 troops into PANAMA to arrest president General Manuel Noriega after two U.S. grand juries indicted him for racketeering, drug trafficking and money-laundering. Last but hardly least, U.S. warships have retained their historic right of precedence of passage in time of war. In 2008 Washington re-established its Fourth Fleet, traditionally responsible for Central and LATIN AMERICAN waters, which had been moribund since 1950.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">NICARAGUA WILL GRANT THE CHINESE COMPANY A CONCESSION FOR 100 YEARS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoc8FXIER0iwNUQAmp8C9fiMo5Zt2Ff-wYTAKdgGY0Ph5XJ1pFadInoWfklljhQzVUIUnq9m5qgYjXs7Hbm8fqqa2fisXFjRazCSXrbMqEUPhH2w2a-1DyX-_CquJ8eSSHWWw8e5jtW-J7/s1600/4ea3897a67cdc18a96f240a6a23f8fd0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoc8FXIER0iwNUQAmp8C9fiMo5Zt2Ff-wYTAKdgGY0Ph5XJ1pFadInoWfklljhQzVUIUnq9m5qgYjXs7Hbm8fqqa2fisXFjRazCSXrbMqEUPhH2w2a-1DyX-_CquJ8eSSHWWw8e5jtW-J7/s320/4ea3897a67cdc18a96f240a6a23f8fd0.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s in it for Hong Kong based HK NICARAGUA Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd.? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nicaragua intends to grant the CHINESE company a concession for 100 years.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not everyone in Managua is happy with the project. Opposition congressman Luis Callejas told reporters, "I do not understand what the rush is. It's such a sensitive topic that the population should be consulted."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How Washington will react to the new canal remains to be seen, but for the penny-pinching maritime shipping, shaving 100s of miles off transit routes will undoubtedly been seen as a godsend.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And who knows, if the U.S. begins LNG shipments from its East Coast to ASIAN markets, some U.S. energy firms may come to embrace it as well. And if there’s trouble well, there’s always the Fourth Fleet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By John C.K. Daly via Oilprice.com</span></div>

CHINA AND NICARAGUA

CHINA TO BUILD PANAMA CANAL BYPASS THROUGH NICARAGUA One of the most extraordinary stories of the past decade largely overlooked by the U.S...

Lily's Sweets Review!

5:49 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXXv1krKshWcPXKyqwMJakPv9MIhYux6pB2XVEX_lMP468M2bmIoDsLquxFS2qObGxJBMEsOQhnsD3bhjbUq2IUePO_f5qMJ7gZYE4QorrxVoVXvxOTT4G7xdNrscJOcQX-PyN2PyKpc/s1600/Lily's+candy+bars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXXv1krKshWcPXKyqwMJakPv9MIhYux6pB2XVEX_lMP468M2bmIoDsLquxFS2qObGxJBMEsOQhnsD3bhjbUq2IUePO_f5qMJ7gZYE4QorrxVoVXvxOTT4G7xdNrscJOcQX-PyN2PyKpc/s320/Lily's+candy+bars.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's so hard to stay away from things such as cookies,cake or anything with chocolate in it such as candy bars, so that's why when I eat something like that I eat them in moderation . </span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I absolutely love these candy bars that <a href="http://www.lilyssweets.com/">Lily's Sweets </a>sent me for review .</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These chocolate bars aren't your average at all they are made from real ingredients, chock full of flavor and works for the sweet tooth!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Goes great with a nice tall glass of milk or my favorite, which is coffee! </span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why?</span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sweet & Chocolaty Facts:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sweetened with Stevia</span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All natural</span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Delicious</span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chocolate </span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Full of flavor</span></div></div><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">USDA organic </span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">NON GMO</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No Sugar Added </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dark chocolate coconut:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am a coconut fanatic especially when there is delicious chocolate mixed in. I loved the taste of this particular candy bar because the exotic sweetness of the coconut worked perfectly with the bitterness of dark chocolate and made the perfect treat! You can also crumble some pieces up and add them to frozen yogurt or even mix it in with your favorite batter for baking! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crispy Rice and Dark Chocolate:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I loved the snap crackle pop of this indulgent dark chocolate bar it was chocolaty and was the perfect treat! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Original Dark Chocolate:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Almond Dark Chocolate:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I still have the other candy bars to review but I'm sure I will love them, why because its chocolate! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Website:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.lilyssweets.com/">http://www.lilyssweets.com/</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Face Book:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LilysSweets">https://www.facebook.com/LilysSweets</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Twitter:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://twitter.com/lilysweettweets"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">https://twitter.com/lilysweettweets</span></a></div>

Lily's Sweets Review!

It's so hard to stay away from things such as cookies,cake or anything with chocolate in it such as candy bars, so that's why when I...

Senior Software QA Engineer ( C++/ C# / SQC / Automated & Manual Testing ) (#109616)

5:31 PM Anonymous 0

<font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt;">  <div><b>Position</b>: Senior Software QA Engineer<br>    <b>Location</b>: Milpitas, CA <br>    <b>Duration</b>: Full time<br>    <br>    <b>Job Description</b>:<br>    Wafer Inspection Division (WIN) is the world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced optical inspection tools for inline monitoring of process defects in advanced semiconductor factories. WIN is seeking a Senior Software QA Engineer in our Milpitas,  California campus to enhance our software team.<br>    <br>    <b>Responsibilities:</b></div>  <div>The selected Software QA Engineer will join a world-class software team to plan, manage, execute, and report results for all testing activities for the team. He/She will be an effective team player and leader that will be responsible for the quality of  all released products. He/She will be a strong process advocate with an acute attention to detail and desire to continually improve the testing process. He/She must be able to partner with other teams to resolve quality issues quickly.</div>  <div> </div>  <div><b>Responsibilities include but are not limited to:</b></div>  <div>1) Develop test strategies and test plans for complex software, hardware systems.</div>  <div>2) Developing detailed test cases covering all forms of testing (functional/requirements based, regression, performance, reliability)</div>  <div>3) Executing manual and automated test cases.</div>  <div>4) Represent SQC team in product life cycle and key program meetings.</div>  <div>5) Work with global team members (India) on a daily basis.</div>  <div>6) Factory Automation testing/ scripts.</div>  <div>7) Test case automation (automating manual test steps)<br>    <br>    <b>Preferred Qualifications:</b></div>  <div>1) Experience with QTP/ CodedUI / Rational Products / Python and/or other test packages.</div>  <div>2) Experience with project management tools such as Microsoft Project 2003/ 2010</div>  <div>3) Experience with bug tracking software such as Rational Team Concert.</div>  <div>4) Experience setting up and managing test environment and virtual machines.</div>  <div>5) Passion for Technology and Software Quality.</div>  <div>6) Results-oriented, with emphasis on attention to detail.</div>  <div>7) Experience with large integrated HW/SW systems and semiconductor equipment applications.</div>  <div>8) Should be willing to travel to customer sites/ global offices (5%-10% time)</div>  <div>9) BS with 8+ yrs of experience or MS with 6+ yrs of experience in CS/CE/EE or equivalent field.</div>  <div>10) Excellent verbal and written communication skills.</div>  <div>11) Strong problem solving and analytical abilities.<br>    <br>    <b>Minimum Qualifications:</b></div>  <div>Doctorate (Academic) with at least 2 years of experience.</div>  <div>OR</div>  <div>Master's Level Degree with at least 4 years of experience.</div>  <div>OR</div>  <div>Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 5 years of experience.<br>    <br>    Kindly send your resumes to<font color="navy"> </font><a href="mailto:Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com"><font color="navy"><u>Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com</u></font></a></div>  <div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></font></div>  </span></font>

Senior Software QA Engineer ( C++/ C# / SQC / Automated & Manual Testing ) (#109616)

Position : Senior Software QA Engineer Location : Milpitas, CA Duration : Full time Job Description : Wafer Inspection...

Key West Outfits

4:13 PM Tukiyooo 0

What I wore to dinner each evening<div><br></div><div>Day 1 - Dinner in Flaming Buoy<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKGsz-o4bL2NxU3kBawjK6trsCulL2DoNPuc5zP-XkUqMJBU9Ad1_uvXevKrioefmo815MWTgl4elNro4irCvzJi4iY1nigVJ1w5-0l0qoCvqByeHPUfjgTrqChiqbtu-pmxZJMsQUZh6/s640/blogger-image--1190982341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKGsz-o4bL2NxU3kBawjK6trsCulL2DoNPuc5zP-XkUqMJBU9Ad1_uvXevKrioefmo815MWTgl4elNro4irCvzJi4iY1nigVJ1w5-0l0qoCvqByeHPUfjgTrqChiqbtu-pmxZJMsQUZh6/s640/blogger-image--1190982341.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Day 2 - Dinner in 7 Fish</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZEeSH2Ezpcl_ruRnEfumZUF94vXHujJGx6HmfqZjzaO7En9BiaLuu9gZYXc-yKOp7qVg4QfonK78KbSxlGer15fCGhOq20TxsmeKBNR0AWJa6GXXML7e7k6HS2yAbdWoDSq1UUiA8uWC/s640/blogger-image--563941968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZEeSH2Ezpcl_ruRnEfumZUF94vXHujJGx6HmfqZjzaO7En9BiaLuu9gZYXc-yKOp7qVg4QfonK78KbSxlGer15fCGhOq20TxsmeKBNR0AWJa6GXXML7e7k6HS2yAbdWoDSq1UUiA8uWC/s640/blogger-image--563941968.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Day 3 - Bar food in Solo then drinks in Green Parrott</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9iVelBEm-1QtfaraWCgeUYf2BRhyZPhUUHvtPtogGUTeI4fvgMkfBXU4kt6bLVYkULXenSpRrqAmp1wZDg2x67xEr_RR7FljQR8fqVA12jmv3l1wBCQtdacNsJcQWFc5MAbsOvXHN1A1r/s640/blogger-image-110918494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9iVelBEm-1QtfaraWCgeUYf2BRhyZPhUUHvtPtogGUTeI4fvgMkfBXU4kt6bLVYkULXenSpRrqAmp1wZDg2x67xEr_RR7FljQR8fqVA12jmv3l1wBCQtdacNsJcQWFc5MAbsOvXHN1A1r/s640/blogger-image-110918494.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Day 4 - Santiago's Bodega</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhni1aWOqfChBSq1rv9ta1A-2Uai-TvwcaEUDM70YSuOi02IC9cvW77GZj7mCeEImHA-62xCCX1r-G5HKp99rCWo_TH5MJK5hQwYsZFiM6KmeqQgjXBGmMBeGlTF7D-P7Zop8brAL72sAw0/s640/blogger-image-563530207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhni1aWOqfChBSq1rv9ta1A-2Uai-TvwcaEUDM70YSuOi02IC9cvW77GZj7mCeEImHA-62xCCX1r-G5HKp99rCWo_TH5MJK5hQwYsZFiM6KmeqQgjXBGmMBeGlTF7D-P7Zop8brAL72sAw0/s640/blogger-image-563530207.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbh_Llqa9eAxyI_5l2nMNFyJn2YUhMImVMJWNuZjIaomHq_wWkcV-Uk6ZPUB6nn33Ednui4SfxK_s5ITtRP-niSXTe66_C77dbf41zsb84Py1RAWj8doBpL2Pzo1zpB_gA5bCj973XR0l/s640/blogger-image-1751777537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbh_Llqa9eAxyI_5l2nMNFyJn2YUhMImVMJWNuZjIaomHq_wWkcV-Uk6ZPUB6nn33Ednui4SfxK_s5ITtRP-niSXTe66_C77dbf41zsb84Py1RAWj8doBpL2Pzo1zpB_gA5bCj973XR0l/s640/blogger-image-1751777537.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Day 5 - Sarabeths </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDrakryWjwQk2LHFIVTo5a-K9I5qDsYugeyzhxMLkAWoBH6gqX0rE2JZeYHkJvm3tWLtwliROoXOakckluDfaLhblafKSiZUdqLm4rxRCxFg6JvsyhXYdHRebmU3IG72xlBgbF95gs1D8/s640/blogger-image--771659627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDrakryWjwQk2LHFIVTo5a-K9I5qDsYugeyzhxMLkAWoBH6gqX0rE2JZeYHkJvm3tWLtwliROoXOakckluDfaLhblafKSiZUdqLm4rxRCxFg6JvsyhXYdHRebmU3IG72xlBgbF95gs1D8/s640/blogger-image--771659627.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Day 6 - Origami</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYec_2ZLu6ovK6t3HFtNmRpywK_MX9Yk1dSPtry4mrfQmFW60BqhjWwyzLPkEksP07DdgW9ZQAHuC1suzOHCeKh8ud-2l_9Qgruudx4FyqpFE0-YSkEIKQGgYaU-sk8acePVVBziVKGy1/s640/blogger-image-948417521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYec_2ZLu6ovK6t3HFtNmRpywK_MX9Yk1dSPtry4mrfQmFW60BqhjWwyzLPkEksP07DdgW9ZQAHuC1suzOHCeKh8ud-2l_9Qgruudx4FyqpFE0-YSkEIKQGgYaU-sk8acePVVBziVKGy1/s640/blogger-image-948417521.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Day 7 - Braza Lena </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimvl5-luLUlwYq7xPZZqtok_RKBBR2DT4Olp__gcYRA-en9ryEgUXU2rYDSk-dhMtYzXRVcjTcF8H6EtAXnq5eoeYrO4HqiuMw1tkRUOyYWwXScnnOqN9KyNvuS1z7QgPCH2SDy9r9gBG/s640/blogger-image-1070339178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimvl5-luLUlwYq7xPZZqtok_RKBBR2DT4Olp__gcYRA-en9ryEgUXU2rYDSk-dhMtYzXRVcjTcF8H6EtAXnq5eoeYrO4HqiuMw1tkRUOyYWwXScnnOqN9KyNvuS1z7QgPCH2SDy9r9gBG/s640/blogger-image-1070339178.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Day 8 - 915</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXb141uwbeUVy-l0BRFLgh1nFmaVIVOilFmU_0W0AvZwf5JCVHwpD3_zK9xfq4f8chqvP2OQXK-ijBik7DFpzrslpd6Qn_ZONoyrO8ZHgVOAqQWorRLjtUznA7p5GNlGOMysduhnBhuEB7/s640/blogger-image-130964542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXb141uwbeUVy-l0BRFLgh1nFmaVIVOilFmU_0W0AvZwf5JCVHwpD3_zK9xfq4f8chqvP2OQXK-ijBik7DFpzrslpd6Qn_ZONoyrO8ZHgVOAqQWorRLjtUznA7p5GNlGOMysduhnBhuEB7/s640/blogger-image-130964542.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Day 9 - Flaming Buoy</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mtE1Xbawb4Qnyi8FrLNf56w8spNly3pVi5wASMn2xgMxcOOYcWbPbPX1CBrSbQMeFMl-0b3xJqkvGU2bBT9-huWFKJe3xsx-HAT5GgaGJZbMzlBvAtLj8UFE6rDfRk-lo3wcvDPfQqU8/s640/blogger-image-903736699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mtE1Xbawb4Qnyi8FrLNf56w8spNly3pVi5wASMn2xgMxcOOYcWbPbPX1CBrSbQMeFMl-0b3xJqkvGU2bBT9-huWFKJe3xsx-HAT5GgaGJZbMzlBvAtLj8UFE6rDfRk-lo3wcvDPfQqU8/s640/blogger-image-903736699.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div>

Key West Outfits

What I wore to dinner each evening Day 1 - Dinner in Flaming Buoy Day 2 - Dinner in 7 Fish Day 3 - Bar food in Solo then drinks in Green Par...

Sabotage

9:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

Sabotage - just now figuring out that's what I'm doing.<br /><br />I know how to stop.  I just stop. Problem is, I don't want to.  I'm upset with myself yet too stubborn to listen to common sense at the moment.<br /><br />Maybe this pneumonia-killing medicine is making me feel rebellious to every responsibility on the planet.  Three more days of one and another week or so on the other.  I hear brattiness is in the air.  Maybe that's all it is.  <br /><br />Somewhere in the last couple weeks, I started another attempt at ceding <u>all</u> control over our family.  I am in charge of decisions for the ones shorter than me only.<br /><br />That's a scary thing to do for anybody.  Even when you know somebody's got your back, even when you know it's all going to be okay, that's still a scary proposition.  At least it would be to me.  But when nobody's got my back, nobody's there to set the ship back on course... just sucks.<br /><br />We've been bobbing along in that captain-less ship again.  No meaningful decisions being made.  No direction to anything we're doing.  It's not like he doesn't know I want him to lead us.  We've been through this a few times now.  I'm probably delusional but somehow think that eventually he'll get there.  Maybe it's not in him, or maybe he just doesn't want that.  Not like I'd know, he's never said anything back in response.  All communication of this sort is a one-way street.<br /><br />This isn't about DD, this isn't about being spanked.  This is just about him being the one at the head of the family.  Then the letter included quite a bit about this.  The letter he hasn't acknowledged - and that's okay and I know it!<br /><br />I've heard I'm a wee bit passive aggressive.  It goes well with my happy easy-going demeanor.<br /><br />Something snapped in my head, and like I do, I made a ridiculous leap to how I was going to solve my problem.  A thing that only makes every problem worse.  A thing that is sabotaging not only myself but also the household and family in general.  Poor kids.  Poor hubby.<br /><br />I decided I wasn't going grocery shopping again.  At least until I was told to go shopping.  Or until the fact we don't have food gets acknowledged in some way.  Why am I doing this?  Why oh why oh why?  Wish I really understood... We have no food left.  A few slices of bread - <i>woohoo</i> kids get lunch packed again for tomorrow!  A bit of spaghetti but no sauce.  No fruit.  No meat.  Some frozen veggies.  <br /><br />It didn't help that I got so sick, but again that was the passive aggressive thing.  I justified it differently.  I know though.  I wasn't going to the doctor until he told me.<br /><br />The kids toys are everywhere.  I'm not telling them to clean it up.  Why oh why oh why?  If I step barefooted on one more train track I'm going to scream!  But no, I just kick them out of the way to keep a clear path.  If he tells me to make them clean up, I'd be on my hands and knees with them until the house was spotless.<br /><br />I know something's gotta give.  I know that something is me.  I know I'm being childish.  I know we're all suffering.  I really want to get pizza tonight though.  And we've got swim lessons and it's too hot and frankly <u>i don't want to</u>!  And yes, that was said with my hands on my hips and I'm now sticking my tongue out!<br /><br />He brought me lunch today.  Fast food, 'cause there's no food in the house.  He wanted to take me out and I said I was feeling guilty for not doing any work for a couple weeks.  We own the business so it goes unnoticed.  I thought maybe he'd react, nothing.  He just brought me a lukewarm burrito and then left.<br /><br />I really wish I understood how to pull his head out of the sand.  I wish I knew how to pull my own foot out of my mouth too.  I wish I could stop trying to make him mad at me.  Yet I don't want to.<br /><br />Grrr.... again, this isn't a DD thing.  I know that's going to take a lot of time.  I'm frustrated with always being the mommy to everybody and me always being the one who has to fix everything.  I'd tell him, but he wouldn't digest the words, just leave me to feel stupid.  Again.

Sabotage

Sabotage - just now figuring out that's what I'm doing. I know how to stop. I just stop. Problem is, I don't want to. I'm ...

What keeps me long term interested in playing & coming back to ANY game?

8:50 AM Tukiyooo 0

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNgxXcSOlQJLtVsx0gtMFOM_GLQnKHEYW88ecBy8DKINDUSEMOpDtTLRcY1HmiiGhmKIwRL9kBhvBd7DM1E0j_qn72K6X52a8G-uJxVvivmN-jKFnc4YHViWBBZr38o6r5RhyeLfFPxlC/s1600-h/ScreenShot00015%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="ScreenShot00015" border="0" height="476" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6271Xe66qNw/UbnqQ6PtIHI/AAAAAAAAC90/ok5x-J7xVt4/ScreenShot00015_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" title="ScreenShot00015" width="844"></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">I’ve thought about this a lot recently and we will completely discount story for this posting because if any game doesn’t have a great story then there is no chance of keeping me interested for any length of time.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Games must have housing and wardrobe appearance slots.  These two items alone make all the difference in my long term interest in any game.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">I played <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/oblivion/" target="_blank">Oblivion</a> eons and ages ago on the XBox 360, heck it was my introduction to the Elder Scrolls IP.  It may not have had the detailed customization options that <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/morrowind/" target="_blank">Morrowind</a> had, which my husband still laments to this day, but I knew I could log-in and my character had a house where she could catch a nap, brew some potions, or just spend the rest of eternity safely.  </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><a href="www.everquest2.com" target="_blank">Everquest II</a> has done housing and housing customization the flat out best I’ve ever seen in any game.  The options for housing are seemingly endless and the developers, and now the community, continually add to the housing diversity.  All of my EQ2 characters share one house, which I must admit I love.  They’ve all got their alters to their particular gods and their trophies from questing.  I love the pillows strewn about the floor and the critters that roam the home.</font> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9J1NyNxM-DdVoeiK8pwyiYXVd_AlrhxebUmFiK6I13lJNdnzQ79RLcLdV5yIrhcFYXSzH0-WmUrzfTAZ9JtoQ4MNacvbLlTlf0y2xKyBxggwOMb-m9FmAVaC2uWnqC_rnJwaC-T99sd_d/s1600-h/EQ2_000013%25255B3%25255D.png"><img alt="EQ2_000013" border="0" height="476" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Uauz2zSn-cc/UbnqRlQWLFI/AAAAAAAAC-E/WmNSUCY2Wsg/EQ2_000013_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" title="EQ2_000013" width="844"></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><a href="www.lotro.com" target="_blank">Lord of the Rings Online</a> has a good wardrobe system as does Everquest II (appearance clothing).  However, neither game does it perfectly.  Both have stunningly beautiful armor and clothing models that my characters drool over but they both suffer from the same flaw.  No game offers enough wardrobe space to make it expansive enough to switch outfits as often as I’d like.  </font><a href="www.thesecretworld.com" target="_blank"><font size="3">The Secret World</font></a><font size="3"> has a pretty good wardrobe system which is perfect for a game set in the modern world with modern clothing, but a lot of their clothing is geared to a much younger player and none of my characters particularly want to walk around in what I consider slutty clothing.  </font><a href="http://www.riftgame.com/en/" target="_blank"><font size="3">Rift</font></a><font size="3"> now offers a decent amount of wardrobe slots for in-game currency or real life cash.  Problem is none of my characters are that rich in-game and I’m not spending real life money on wardrobe slots.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-m_fjHBrtWi4/UbnqSKhK_LI/AAAAAAAAC-I/4UY8EhsvmOI/s1600-h/EQ2_000124%25255B4%25255D.png"><img alt="EQ2_000124" border="0" height="364" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4y7YWZhAWlA/UbnqSozGe8I/AAAAAAAAC-U/LAX_BCb0Nnc/EQ2_000124_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" title="EQ2_000124" width="644"></a> </p> <p><font size="3">I love the look of this NPC in Everquest II.</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB5FCAPbDtrxll1vamAdiBCBMNWlCp_X27WN7zVpWOLVdRzj3p1z8xQedPrgd-_xNAGdlAcuBYFdP1aGmKJ9Zg8XUow0f-m_QbacJpn8AnAWL5em931DFrt2YsxVYXaNxgwMRPz5Mwpprh/s1600-h/ScreenShot00022%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="ScreenShot00022" border="0" height="364" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1JZWt6-fgHs/UbnqTedsaII/AAAAAAAAC-k/plmjso8brig/ScreenShot00022_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" title="ScreenShot00022" width="644"></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">My Guardian Hobbit in LOTRO never wears shoes but she does love a jaunty hat and on this fine day in Rivendell she was sporting her favorite hauberk.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The one thing </font><a href="www.guildwars.com" target="_blank"><font size="3">Guild Wars</font></a><font size="3"> and </font><a href="www.guildwars2.com" target="_blank"><font size="3">Guild Wars 2</font></a><font size="3"> do better than any of their competitors, and the only thing in my opinion, is the dye system.  Collecting dyes and not having them be consumed on use is brilliant and perfect system.  Other games need to adopt this model.  Yes they might lose out on some revenue but they would undoubtedly make up that revenue from players like me that won’t purchase a single use dye. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">No game, to date, gets housing or wardrobe perfect.  Rift has a goodly number of wardrobe slots but dyes are consumed on use and they don’t have pink dyes.  Rift does have housing but it has yet to make an emotional connection with me.  The Secret World has a decent wardrobe closet but the clothes are too revealing and cannot be dyed.  Guild Wars 2 only has the dye system in it’s favor.  Everquest II has <em><strong>phenomenal</strong></em> and extensive housing but no dyes and limited wardrobe to one outfit.  My characters <strong><em><u>NEED</u></em></strong> many, many more wardrobe slots in </font><a href="https://www.everquestnext.com/" target="_blank"><font size="3">Everquest Next</font></a><font size="3">!  The clothing and armor in the Everquest franchise is so well done and so varied texturally that limiting appearance clothing to one slot is simply criminal.  Lord of the Rings Online has beautiful clothing but dyes are consumed on use and wardrobe storage and slots are too limited.  LOTRO housing is also lacking in comparison with Everquest franchise.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"></font> </p> <div id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:3353e5ee-7e96-4e8f-bb47-a725ef2d36e4" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Everquest+II" rel="tag">Everquest II</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Everquest+Next" rel="tag">Everquest Next</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Lord+of+the+Rings+Online" rel="tag">Lord of the Rings Online</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/LOTRO" rel="tag">LOTRO</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/EQ2" rel="tag">EQ2</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/EQN" rel="tag">EQN</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/The+Secret+World" rel="tag">The Secret World</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/TSW" rel="tag">TSW</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Rift" rel="tag">Rift</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Guild+Wars+2" rel="tag">Guild Wars 2</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Guild+Wars" rel="tag">Guild Wars</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/housing" rel="tag">housing</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/clothing" rel="tag">clothing</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/wardrobe" rel="tag">wardrobe</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/dye" rel="tag">dye</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Oblivion" rel="tag">Oblivion</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Morrowind" rel="tag">Morrowind</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Elder+Scrolls" rel="tag">Elder Scrolls</a></div>

What keeps me long term interested in playing & coming back to ANY game?

I’ve thought about this a lot recently and we will completely discount story for this posting because if any game doesn’t have a great sto...

Library Office Assistant: Circulation Substitutes - West Hartford Public Library

8:22 AM Anonymous 0

<strong>Library Office Assistant: Circulation Substitutes - </strong><strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">West Hartford Public Library</span></strong></strong> seeks customer service-oriented individuals to join our staff as  on-call substitute circulation assistants. Duties: Charging/ discharging  materials; answering phones and routing calls; collecting fines;  issuing cards; assisting patrons in the use the self-checkout stations;  placing holds and performing other duties as requested. Hours & Pay:   Currently $ 17.77 per hour.  Hours may include nights and weekends.  Requirements:  Excellent communication and customer service skills;  previous library experience and knowledge of SIRSI is preferred as is  availability during daytime. To apply:  applications are available at  the Noah Webster Library’s Customer Service Desk or online at <a _fcksavedurl="http://71.6.170.26/revize/westhartford/living_here/town_departments/support_services_to_town_departments/employee_services/docs/employmentapplication.pdf" href="http://71.6.170.26/revize/westhartford/living_here/town_departments/support_services_to_town_departments/employee_services/docs/employmentapplication.pdf" target="_blank">http://71.6.170.26/revize/westhartford/living_here/town_departments/support_services_to_town_departments/employee_services/docs/employmentapplication.pdf</a>.  Completed applications may be dropped off or mailed to:  West Hartford  Public Library, 20 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, Attn:   Ann Marie Salerno.  Review of applications will begin immediately and  applications will be accepted until a pool of substitutes is developed.    EOE.

Library Office Assistant: Circulation Substitutes - West Hartford Public Library

Library Office Assistant: Circulation Substitutes - West Hartford Public Library seeks customer service-oriented individuals to join our st...

Systems Librarian for Public Services - Library Connection, Inc., Windsor

8:14 AM Anonymous 0

<strong>Systems Librarian for Public Services -</strong> <strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Library Connection, Inc.</span></strong></strong> (Windsor), a consortium of one academic and 26 public libraries, seeks  an experienced individual to serve as a Systems Librarian for Public  Services at its office in Windsor, CT. This staff member will initially  manage the consortium’s migration to a new ILS. After the migration is  complete, the position will transition into a full time Systems  Librarian for Public Services. Migration Manager duties include  planning, scheduling, and managing all aspects of the migration:   database cleanup; simplifying and standardizing data categorization;  accommodating transaction and fee data; data extraction; consortium and  library staff training; testing and quality assurance; customization of  library patron interfaces; and new member migration. System Librarian  for Public Services duties include working with member libraries,  committees, vendors, and Library Connection staff to support and enhance  our shared Integrated Library System; troubleshooting, developing and  enhancing system capabilities and consortia functionality that further  consortium goals. This individual must possess general knowledge of all  modules of an integrated library system. Familiarity with web  development tools and the ability to write or modify scripts and  programs is preferred. MLS or MLIS and 5 years experience required. See  the <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.libraryconnection.info/pdfs/positionAnnounce.pdf" href="http://www.libraryconnection.info/pdfs/positionAnnounce.pdf" target="_blank">complete job description</a> for full requirements. Salary range is $60,000-$80,000.  Applications, along with three references, should be submitted to <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:gchristian@libraryconnection.info" href="mailto:gchristian@libraryconnection.info">gchristian@libraryconnection.info</a>. Applications will be accepted through <span style="color: red;">July 1, 2013</span>.

Systems Librarian for Public Services - Library Connection, Inc., Windsor

Systems Librarian for Public Services - Library Connection, Inc. (Windsor), a consortium of one academic and 26 public libraries, seeks a...

So You Want to Learn About: Le Corbusier

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<i>The "So You Want to Learn About" series highlights books focused  on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architecture" and  "phenomenology," rather than  broad themes like "housing" or "theory."  Therefore the series aims to be a  resource for finding decent reading  materials on certain topics, born of a  desire to further define  noticeable areas of interest in the <a href="http://www.archidose.org/books/books.html">books I review</a>. And while I haven't reviewed every title, I am familiar with each one; these are not blind recommendations.</i><br /><br /><i>With the exhibition </i><a href="http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1321">Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes</a><i> opening Saturday, and the architect occupying much of my time and thoughts since <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2013/06/le-corbusier-atlas-of-modern-landscapes.html">seeing the exhibition</a> before the </i><a href="http://cfa.aiany.org/index.php?section=calendar&evtid=5806">Le Corbusier/New York</a><i> symposium last week, I've put together a list of books and essays by and on the architect. Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1887-1965) wrote more than 30 books, and the books written about him must be well over 100—not to mention the essays devoted to one of the most influential architects of the 20th century—so the list below is extremely partial, based on what I know and what's in my library.</i><br /><br /><b>Le Corbusier's Writings:</b><br /><img alt="about02-1.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/about02-1.jpg" title="So You Want to Learn About covers" /><br /><br /><b><a href="http://store.doverpublications.com/0486253325.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">The City of Tomorrow and Its Planning</span></a></b> <br /><b>By Le Corbusier</b><br /><b>Dover Publications, 1987 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486253325/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486253325&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><b>, originally published in 1925 as <i>Urbanisme</i> </b><br />Le Corbusier was not content designing houses; he wanted to rebuild cities. Many critics, even to this day, blame him single handedly for the urban renewal projects executed decades after he first published this classic treatise on the contemporary city. Necessary reading, if anything for recognizing how later architects and bureaucrats misinterpreted many of his ideas.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://store.doverpublications.com/0486250237.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Towards a New Architecture</span></a> </b><br /><b>By Le Corbusier</b><br /><b>Dover Publications, 1985 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486250237/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486250237&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>), originally published in 1923 as <i>Vers une Architecture</i></b><br />Le Corbusier's first book (a compilation of essays from his magazine <i>L'Esprit Nouveau</i>) lays out many of the ideas that have persevered both in terms of his oeuvre and modernism as a whole, particularly the inspiration found in industrial buildings (grain elevators) and machines (cars, airplanes, ships). The book is required reading in most early-level architecture classes, so most architects have read it and are familiar with his "unvarnished opinions and innovative theories."<br /><br /><b><a href="https://www.papress.com/html/book.details.page.tpl?isbn=9781568981536"><span style="font-style: italic;">Oppositions Reader</span></a> </b><br /><b>Edited by K. Michael Hays</b><br /><b>Princeton Architectural Press, 1998 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568981538/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1568981538&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />Le Corbusier wrote plenty of other books that are well known (<i>When the Cathedrals Were White</i> and <i>Le Modular and Modular 2</i>, to name just two), but his essay "In Defense of Architecture"—a 1933 response to Karel Teige's 1929 "Mundaneum" dissertation—is recommended by architect George Baird as "one of the most touching and frank texts of his whole career." Baird translated the text for the fourth issue (1974) of the journal <a href="http://www.modernism101.com/eisenmann_oppositions_set.php"><i>Oppositions</i></a>.<br /><br /><b>Monographs:</b><br /><img alt="about02-2.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/about02-2.jpg" title="So You Want to Learn About covers" /><br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.phaidon.com/store/architecture/le-corbusier-le-grand-9780714846682/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Le Corbusier Le Grand</span></a> </b><br /><b>Edited by Phaidon</b><br /><b>Phaidon, 2008 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0714846686/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0714846686&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />Le Corbusier receives the massive-Phaidon-book treatment, à la <i>Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary Architecture</i>. And what better way to take in the 2,000 images and documents, many unpublished? The 768-page tome includes an "insightful introductory essay by France’s most authoritative architectural historian and critic, Jean-Louis Cohen."<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/200493?rskey=snRIaE&result=19&q=corbusier"><span style="font-style: italic;">Le Corbusier: Oeuvre Complete</span></a> </b><br /><b>Edited by Willy Boesiger, Oscar Stonorov, Max Bill</b><br /><b>Birkhäuser, 1995 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3764355158/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=3764355158&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>), originally published 1929-1970</b><br />This eight-volume set of complete works, done in close collaboration with the architect himself, is the model for just about every monograph that has followed. Since 1995 Birkhäuser has published the books, available individually or as sets.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.abramsbooks.com/Books/Le_Corbusier-9780810934948.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Le Corbusier: Architect of the Twentieth Century</span></a> </b><br /><b>By Kenneth Frampton</b><br /><b>Abrams, 2002 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810934949/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0810934949&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a> / <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2003/10/05/le-corbusier/">Review</a>)</b><br />The first sentence in historian Kenneth Frampton's presentation of 16 completed Corbu projects is honest and telling: "We shall never finish with Le Corbusier." As the exhibition and crop of books here shows, that is certainly the case, particularly as people reconsider previous views and interpretations of his buildings and writings. Frampton's text is balanced by beautiful color photos in this coffee table book.<br /><br /><b>Historical Analysis:</b><br /><img alt="about02-3.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/about02-3.jpg" title="So You Want to Learn About covers" /><br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.papress.com/html/book.details.page.tpl?isbn=9781568989808"><span style="font-style: italic;">Le Corbusier, Homme de Lettres</span></a> </b><br /><b>By M. Christine Boyer</b><br /><b>Princeton Architectural Press, 2011 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568989806/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1568989806&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />Epic would be an apt word for describing this examination of "Le Corbusier's many writing projects from 1907-1947." When Swiss-born Le Corbusier became a French citizen in 1930 he indicated "homme de lettres" (man of letters) as the profession on his national identity card, rather than architect or painter. Boyer's clear text dissects the architect's evolution as an architect (and writer) through his voluminous written output—books, but also diaries, letters, sketchbooks, lectures, and essays.<br /><br /><b><a href="https://papress.com/html/book.details.page.tpl?isbn=9781616890681"><span style="font-style: italic;">Le Corbusier Redrawn: The Houses</span></a> </b><br /><b>By Steven Park</b><br /><b>Princeton Architectural Press, 2012 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616890681/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1616890681&link_code=as3&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a> / <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/02/04/le-corbusier-redrawn-the-houses/">Review</a>)</b><br />This book of 2-D and 3-D drawings contributes greatly to understanding Le Corbusier's architecture, especially for students, but Park's book is even more valuable for collecting 26 of the architect's  houses in one place, with orthographic drawings all to the same scale.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.artbook.com/9780870708510.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes</span></a> </b><br /><b>Edited by Jean-Louis Cohen</b><br /><b>Museum of Modern Art, 2013 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870708511/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0870708511&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />The companion to the MoMA exhibition goes well beyond the drawings, models, and photos found in the sixth floor galleries, with roughly 30 essays contributed by historians and critics. Appropriately, the "atlas" takes the reader on a journey through space and time, tracing the output of the first international architect. Historian and exhibition curator Jean-Louis Cohen's ambitious project looks at Le Corbusier's architecture and urban plans through the lens of landscape, a tactic that addresses a deficiency in the architect's scholarship and offers lessons to those practicing today.<br /><br /><b>Essays about Le Corbusier:</b><br /><img alt="about02-4.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/about02-4.jpg" title="So You Want to Learn About covers" /><br /><br /><b><a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/mathematics-ideal-villa-and-other-essays"><span style="font-style: italic;">Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays</span></a> </b><br /><b>By Colin Rowe</b><br /><b>MIT Press, 1982 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262680378/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0262680378&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />Three essays in this collection look in part or wholly at Le Corbusier's buildings: Villa Stein at Garches in the title essay; the same villa and the Palace of the League of Nations project in "Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal" (with Robert Slutzky); and one essay devoted to La Tourette. Dense but necessary reading.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.monacellipress.com/book/?isbn=9781580932707"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Scenes of the Street and Other Essays</span></a> </b><br /><b>By Anthony Vidler</b><br /><b>The Monacelli Press, 2011 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580932703/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580932703&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />In Anthony Vidler's first published essay, "The Idea of Unity and Le Corbusier's Urban Form" (in <i>Urban Structure</i>, 1968, edited by David Lewis), he draws parallels between Corbu's architecture and urban planning and the writing of 19th-century social thinker Charles Fourier. In this, Vidler sees a continuity of earlier ideas underlying the changes in form and technical means of the modern era.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-style: italic;">Essays in Architectural Criticism: Modern Architecture and Historical Change</span> </b><br /><b>By Alan Colquhoun</b><br /><b>MIT Press, 1985 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262530635/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0262530635&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />Colquhoun's 1972 essay "Displacement of Concepts in Le Corbusier" (originally published in <i>Architectural Design</i>, vol. 43) looks at how Le Corbusier's "Five Points" and other design methods are a displacement of traditional architecture, rather than breaks from them. Colquhoun argues that all architecture and theory is part of a larger architectural culture, and he sees Corbu's approach as a way of carrying cultural meanings forward.<br /><br /><img alt="about02-5.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/about02-5.jpg" title="So You Want to Learn About covers" /><br /><br /><b><a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/projective-cast"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Projective Cast: Architecture and Its Three Geometries</span></a> </b><br /><b>By Robin Evans</b><br /><b>MIT Press, 2011 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262550385/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0262550385&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br />A chapter on Le Corbusier's "Comic Lines" analyzes the geometries in the Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut, Ronchamp (1950-55), particularly the roof. Those familiar with Evans will not be surprised by the rigor and the inventiveness of his examination, in this case of a sculptural building that would seem to defy geometrical analysis.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/theory-and-design-first-machine-age"><span style="font-style: italic;">Theory and Design in the First Machine Age</span></a> </b><br /><b>By Reyner Banham</b><br /><b>MIT Press, 1980 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262520583/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0262520583&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>), originally published in 1960</b><br />A couple chapters in Banham's classic first book are devoted to Le Corbusier, one on <i>Vers une Architecture</i> and one on "town planning and aesthetics" as explored by Corbu in later writings. The former is a particularly thorough dissection of the book, chapter by chapter, but ultimately Banham find the writings of the latter "better-reasoned."<br /><br /><b><a href="https://www.papress.com/html/book.details.page.tpl?isbn=9781568981536"><span style="font-style: italic;">Oppositions Reader</span></a> </b><br /><b>Edited by K. Michael Hays</b><br /><b>Princeton Architectural Press, 1998 (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568981538/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1568981538&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a>)</b><br /><a href="http://www.modernism101.com/eisenmann_oppositions_set.php"><i>Oppositions</i></a> published two special double issues devoted to Le Corbusier: 15/16 (covering the period 1905-1933) and 19/20 (covering 1933-1960). From those, three are collected in this reader: "Aspects of Modernism: Maison Dom-ino and the Self-Referential Sign" by Peter Eisenman; "Antiquity and Modernity in the La Roche-Jeanneret Houses of 1923" by Kurt W. Forster; and "Le Corbusier and Algiers" by Mary McLeod. Respectively these are an obtuse argument for a sign system in architecture, an analysis of one of the architect's classic houses from the 1920s, and a thorough documentation and analysis of one of his most ambitious projects.

So You Want to Learn About: Le Corbusier

The "So You Want to Learn About" series highlights books focused on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architec...

CBC News - Can you patent a disease?

5:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus in the Middle East is not only raising worldwide health concerns but triggering questions about the ability of organizations to patent the genetic sequences of diseases for profit.<br /><br><br /><br>The World Health Organization reports that there have been 53 lab-confirmed cases of infection with a new coronavirus called the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV). Thirty-one of the people infected with the disease have died.<br /><br><br /><br>Saudi Arabia has seen the most cases, but the infection has also been found in countries such as Tunisia, Jordan and Qatar, as well as in Germany and Italy.<br /><br><br /><br>The virus was identified in September 2012, three months after the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, acquired a sample of it. The centre has taken out a patent on the virus's genetic sequence.<br /><br><br /><br>While Saudi officials and the WHO have said the patent will impede the process of containing MERS-CoV and developing treatments, Erasmus has defended the move.<br /><br><br /><br>Albert Osterhaus, a virologist at Erasmus, told Bloomberg News that patenting the virus was a "normal thing to do."<br /><br><br /><br>Indeed, the patenting of genetically modified or isolated viruses is nothing new, says David Schwartz, a patent lawyer and partner at the Canadian intellectual property firm Smart & Biggar.<br /><br><br /><br>"You can't patent a disease condition per se, such as cancer or influenza," says Schwartz. "But if you're talking about patenting a lifeform like a bacteria or virus, if altered by man, the answer there is yes."<br /><br><br /><br>A patent is a form of intellectual property that allows the patent holder to control the use of a product or method of doing something. That control includes the ability to charge royalties for its use.<br /><br><br /><br>Schwartz says that obtaining a patent on a simple mechanical invention, such as a Christmas tree stand, in a single country might cost about $10,000. But getting a patent on a more complex technology - such as one involving chemical synthesis - that also covers multiple countries can run $200,000 or more.<br /><br><br /><br>While patent law differs somewhat from country to country, in the area of microorganisms most nations agree on general principles, says Schwartz.<br /><br><br /><br>You can't patent something that is naturally occurring, he says, but if an organism is modified in some way, it is patentable.<br /><br><br /><br>One of the most famous cases of biological patenting is the so-called "Harvard mouse," a type of laboratory mouse genetically modified by scientists at Harvard University to carry an "oncogene," which makes the animal susceptible to cancer. It was patented in the United States, though not in Canada.<br /><br><br /><br>"Ninety-nine point nine per cent of the mouse is God's creation, but in its totality, as you would claim it as the subject for a patent, it's a non-naturally occurring, man-made thing," says Schwartz.<br /><br><br /><br>In the case of a gene, modifying its information or removing it from its chromosome typically would be enough to warrant a patent, says Schwartz, because the snippet of chromosome would not appear in nature by itself.<br /><br><br /><br>This is a key point in the case of the novel coronavirus. To pinpoint it, Erasmus likely used what is called "deep sequencing," says Earl Brown, executive director of the Emerging Pathogens Research Centre at the University of Ottawa.<br /><br><br /><br>In this process, the infected sample would be run against databases of known genes and viruses to determine its genetic composition. Brown says the researchers would then typically remove the sequence from its chromosome and copy it in order to conduct further tests.<br /><br><br /><br>The rationale for patenting a genetic sequence such as the novel coronavirus is to be able to develop products, such as diagnostic tests or a vaccine, that could be marketed and sold, says Bernard Dickens, professor emeritus of Health Law and Policy at the University of Toronto.<br /><br><br /><br>"Profit is what underlies the whole patent system," he says.<br /><br><br /><br>But as the science of biotechnology advances, people are taking a second look at some of the original patent decisions that helped set precedent.<br /><br><br /><br>The boom in biological patenting began with the identification of the gene for breast cancer, says Dickens.<br /><br><br /><br>In 1994, the University of Utah, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Myriad Genetics filed a U.S. patent on BRCA1, a gene that indicates a woman's susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer. The patent was granted in 1997. (In 1995, the same consortium filed a patent on the BRCA2 gene, which was granted in 2000.)<br /><br><br /><br><br /><br><br /><br>BRCA1 was recently in the news after Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie announced that she had undergone a double mastectomy after learning that she had a "faulty" BRCA1 gene that greatly increased her risk of breast cancer.<br /><br><br /><br>The problem with the breast cancer patent, Dickens says, is that Myriad Genetics was charging exorbitant rates for the use of its diagnostic tests.<br /><br><br /><br>"They were prohibiting hospitals, including in Canada, from undertaking the test using their technique. They were imposing charges that were really at a prohibitive level," says Dickens.<br /><br><br /><br>The dispute over the BRCA1 and BRCA2 patents has sparked a legal challenge that is currently before the Supreme Court in the U.S.<br /><br><br /><br>Depending on the court's decision, the case could either strengthen or undermine what can and can't be patented.<br /><br><br /><br>Meanwhile, at the World Health Organization's annual conference in Geneva in May, WHO Director General Margaret Chan stressed that countries need to share information on the novel coronavirus.<br /><br><br /><br>"Making deals between scientists because they want to take [intellectual property], because they want to be the world's first to publish in scientific journals, these are issues we need to address," she said.<br /><br><br /><br>Albert Osterhaus, the virologist at Erasmus, has said that his organization is sharing this coronavirus "with everyone who wants to do public health research."<br /><br><br /><br>The aim of patenting, says Dickens, is to encourage organizations to pour investment into solving a specific problem.<br /><br><br /><br>"The balance, and it still hasn't been satisfactorily resolved in every case, is giving investigators an incentive to invest in research to produce products, which they can then license and receive results on," says Dickens.<br /><br><br /><br>Some universities patent particular inventions for the purpose of preventing commercial exploitation, Dickens says. They get the patent and then publish it widely, so it's available to all researchers.<br /><br><br /><br>"That's part of the mission of universities, of course: to make investments for the public good," says Dickens. "So it doesn't follow that [a patent] is necessarily going to be exploited for profit."<br /><br><br /><br>Schwartz says that while some may see biological patents like a hindrance to gaining a handle on potentially lethal organisms such as a coronavirus, they are ultimately intended as an incentive for researchers to find solutions.<br /><br><br /><br>"Perhaps there are also other ways of advancing industry and science, but this is the globally accepted system," he says.<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/2013/06/07/f-gene-patenting.html">http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/2013/06/07/f-gene-patenting.html</a>

CBC News - Can you patent a disease?

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus in the Middle East is not only raising worldwide health concerns but triggering questions about the abil...