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maemst writes “Can you code 24 hours non-stop? Hackontest is a new Google-sponsored 24-hour programming competition between different open source projects. Its goals are to enhance Free Software projects according to user needs and to make visible how enthusiastically open source software is being developed. During the current online selection process users and developers of [...]

Join SAP, Consumer Goods Technology, AMR Research, and The Coca-Cola Company for a comprehensive online discussion, and discover how critical insights about consumer demand are integrated into multiple disciplines. More: continued here

All SAP solutions have certain identical components that address common, cross-industry business processes. Now, the most frequently used business features are being combined on one business process platform. More: continued here

This Webcast and Podcast discuss how various organizations have transformed innovative ideas into significant financial returns through success-based patterns, independent of economic cycles or industry dynamics. More: continued here

Pregnancy — which are the dangers?? Question:I found straight out today that I… with my fifth child!!! are more schwanger! I am thus excited. I am overloaded, therefore I did not find out, until I was three months. I had my period all three of those months and used protection. Well… is here the problem, which [...]

[Chorus] Uh uh uh uh oh ooh why’d you have to go-oh away from home me love. Uh uh uh uh oh ooh why’d you have to go-oh away from home me love. [Verse 1] See the first time me looking at your eyes me be tell you want a guy like me -guy like me we use to ave gud times on da evening me and you [...]

Click to enlarge: 11×5.5″, Acrylic on Arches hot press 100% rag paper, frame included Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if you are interested in this painting. I must be feeling a little better today, because I was somehow able to summon the energy to trudge down to the studio and do this portrait of Lulu, one of my Jenday Conures. We have five parrots here, but Lulu prides herself on being the biggest troublemaker of them all. She loves to sit on my shoulder, where she constantly picks at my shirt collar or hair, and I have to wrestle my eyeglasses away from her! It’s hard to get angry with her when she turns around and says, “Kiss?” I had picked up a few long/tall format frames, and they turned out to be perfect for this painting of Lulu, so this painting is available framed! I couldn’t resist showing Lulu her portrait. She thinks it makes her appear too sophisticated. I think I’ll have to do another with her doing some of her usual bratty antics

Will South Africans have to steel themselves for the future? Read the article at the bottom of this post and try answering this question! This Battle took place on 16th December 1838. For some South Africans, like myself, the 16th December will always be a day to “remember”…a day to commemorate….on this day, the Battle of Blood River took place between the Zulu impis of Dingane and the Voortrekkkers. On this picture you can see the Voortrekker laager in a D-shape. That was because of the two rivers that meet there, the Donga - and the Ncome rivers. Sarel Cilliers, a Voortrekker leader and a preacher, had promised God that they will build a church and commemorate this day as a Sabbath day to thank God for helping them. God intervened in this Battle and till 1993, this day was always a public holiday in South Africa to commemorate the events of that day. Today, after 1994, it is now called  a day of “Reconciliation”. Read HERE about it. On the  f

I always needed time on my own I never thought I’d need you there when I cry And the days feel like years when I’m alone And the bed where you lie is made up on your side When you walk away I count the steps that you take Do you see how much I need you right now? When you’re gone The pieces [...]

6×6″, Acrylic on sealed, primed hardboard Not yet done! I was hoping to wrap up this painting today, but sometimes life interferes with painting and I just can’t finish in time. Since I couldn’t offer my viewers a finished product for today, I thought I’d at least show some images of the steps along the way. First I drew in my composition with acrylic burnt sienna paint, and blocked in some values. I don’t spend too much time on this stage—just enough to kill some of the white support, add a little complexity to the color, and give myself a road map for local color and values. Next, I set out a pretty large selection of colors for this painting because I really wanted to capture the vibrancy of the fruit and bright bowl: I started with the shadow areas, and worked until the support was covered with the local colors. (See first image.)To finish, I’ll be pushing lights and darks, adding in some details, highlights, and reflected color.

‘Tis the season to give gifts.  And everybody loves getting gifts.  It’s also a great way to promote your personal brand: I don’t mean giving gifts with your logo on it (though, done with class, is not such a bad idea).  Rather, your personal brand relationship with that other person. Having said that, gifts and cards should be personal. At the very least, personalized.  Obviously I love the wonders of technology and mass-customization, but still, micro-customization - our handwriting - is still a great personal touch.  With a tablet or other e-writing pad, you can also digitize your signature (like my book).  More importantly, a personal note makes the greeting card extra special for each of us. We shouldn’t feel obligated to give cards and gifts.  We should feel honored that we can share our love & appreciation. But be sure that the amount of gifts and its costs are within your professional compliance and ethics regulations.  Obviously we’re

I’m holding on your rope, Got me ten feet off the ground And I’m hearing what you say but I just can’t make a sound You tell me that you need me Then you go and cut me down, but wait You tell me that you’re sorry Didn’t think I’d turn around, and say… that it’s too late to apologize, it’s too [...]

It surprises me how often people get nervous over installing things just because it’s new to them. The other day I had a guy harass our technical support for 20 minutes on the phone because he was wanted to install SHOUTcast. Honestly, before then I had never installed SC simply because I don’t use it, but all he had to do was RTFM (which is what I did)…but we all know that customers don’t like to read documentation and would rather you do everything for them.  Don’t get me wrong, I mean, part of my job is consulting with people on things like this and I enjoy doing it, but there’s a line to draw when the answer is right in front of you and you just don’t want to look. So, here it is…a dumbed down and simplified tutorial for SHOUTcast. Yes, you can do this without the help of your hosting company, only you might need to the open your SC port in the firewall (don’t expect them to do this if you’re on a shared server) Crea

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SOLD! 5×7″, acrylic When I received word today that this painting had sold in a gallery, I went looking on my website and couldn’t find it! Sometimes I just forget to post my work, and this one never made it onto my site. This painting was done in late September and went straight to the Bannerman Island Gallery.

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20×24″, oil on stretched canvas Please email me if interested in this painting. This is a fall plein air painting looking toward North Salem, across Peach Lake. It’s quite large for a plein air painting at 20×24″, and took several sessions on location to complete. It is one of the works that will be featured in my upcoming North Salem show.

2. sezonun sondan bir önceki bölümüne geldik. Ama şu kadarını söylemeliyim bence bu sezon 1. sezon kadar güzel olmamış. Hiç yaratıcı değiller, sıkıcılar hatta. Sylar, sezonun başından sonuna kadar güçlerini bir türlü kullanamadı. 11. bölümde onu öldürürlerse hiç şaşırmıycam. Sylar yerine başka kötü adamlar geldi. Ve yine Dünya’yı kurtarıyorlar. Bu konu artık baymaya başladı bence. Bölüm özetini okuduğunuzda çok fazla bir gelişme olmadığını da göreceksiniz. Bu bölümde Sylar, Maya, Alejandro, Mohinder, Molly, Niki, Micah, Monica, Noah-Claire Bennet, Bob, Elle, Victoria Pratt, Adam, Peter var… (spoiler!!!) (more…) Bu Yazıyı Paylaşın

(It’s Britney, bitch) (I see you, and I just wanna dance with you)Everytime they turn the lights on Just wanna go that extra mile for you You got public display of affection Feel’s like no one else in the room (but you)We can get down like there’s no one around We’ll keep on rockin’ (We’ll keep on rockin’) We’ll keep on [...]

Which is the superior cultural product? The Latino Comedy Project’s Mac/PC ad parody “Mex vs BC (Born Citizen) Pt. 2″, a video from the LCP’s all-new full-length sketch comedy show “AlienNation”. Visit WWW.LCP.ORG or www.myspace.com/latinocomedyproject for more info! (more…)

5×7″, Acrylic on Strathmore 500 smooth bristol (100% rag, archival) $100 via PayPal, $7 shipping within US What a miserable, rainy day outside! I decided over the weekend that I’d like to start a series painted from windows, and what do you know—the very first day I go at it, it’s grey and raining. I really enjoyed capturing the remains of the fall colors from inside the warm, cozy space here. I’m amazed by how long the oak trees are hanging onto their leaves this year. Palette: Ultramarine Blue Cadmium Red Light Cadmium Yellow Medium Burnt Sienna Titanium White

This week Part IV of 10 WAYS YOUR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOU, we’ll take a look at what eye opening facts your profit margin reports can illuminate and to what level of detail.  To review previous parts I-III of this white paper click here.  Or read this white paper in its entirety. Part IV: What is Your Profit Margin? You may know the profit of your business but at what level of detail can you breakdown where this profit comes from? If your company bases profit largely against the cost of inventory, the ability to track and know the cost of your inventory becomes critical. In addition, it’s difficult for any business with more than a handful of inventory items flowing through their business or being used for raw materials to see where your profit margin comes from. An effective sales profit report makes it possible to study your business from virtually any angle to see exactly where your profit is coming from and evaluate how profit margin percent transla

A long time ago a fellow San Diego blogger was gifted a Kitchenaid stand mixer and asked me for a mixer-friendly brioche recipe. This is probably a few months late but…. Brioche is an enriched French bread with a large amount of butter and eggs that gives this bread a soft, sweet crumb. Brioche are formed into many different shapes but the brioche a tete is probably the most widely known. They’re usually cooked in small fluted pans with an extra small bun on top. You can see here that I had my best go at the ‘a tete’ variety. I didn’t have access to the small fluted pans so I used a large muffin pan and tried and stay with the theme. They don’t quite look as beautiful without the fluted sides but the muffin pan worked in a pinch and produced a reasonable facsimile. What many people don’t know is that brioche is made into other shapes including plain old loafs of bread. It seems like brioche should deserve a better fate than a normal loaf, bu

2. sezon 8. bölümde 4 ay öncesine gidiyor ve kafamızda oluşan hayda bu Peter’ın bu konteynır içinde ne işi var yarı çıplak sorularını cevaplıyor. Bu bölümde: Peter-Angela-Nathan Petrelli, Niki-Micah-DL Sanders, Maja-Alejandro Kardeşler, Bob ve Elle, Haitili Adam ile ilgili gelişmeler. (spoiler!!!) (more…) Bu Yazıyı Paylaşın

Many apologies, seems I forgot to post Part III of our white paper — 10 Ways Inventory Management Can Make or Break You — last week.  Part II discussed the various costing methods — LIFO, FIFO, Weighted Average and Standard Cost — and the impact they can play on your balance sheet, income statement and cash flow.  Read Parts I & II. Part III tries to impress upon you the importance in knowing “where your cash is.”  It is more than simply looking at your bank statement.  What you really need to know is how much of your inventory is paid for, which items you might still owe some money on, and whether all your customers who have purchased items are paid in full.  This will give you a true picture of your cash-flow.  Part III: Where is Your Cash? Inventory is a liquid asset that heavily influences cash balances. Most businesses are careful about monitoring their cash, and keeping track of how much they have. However businesses that simply re

Bu bölümde merak ettiğimiz çoğu soruya cevap bulduk. Eğer 2. sezonu benim gibi ABD ile aynı anda seyretmiyorsunuz lütfen özeti okumayın çünkü gerçekten önemli bilgiler vericeğim. Heyecanınızı kaçırmak istemem. (Spoiler!!!) 7. Bölüm “Out of Time” da Peter Petrelli, Niki, DL, Maury, Matt, Molly, Mohinder, Noah Bennet, Claire Bennet, West, Nathan Petrelli, Angela Petrelli, Hiro, Ando, Kensei, Yaeko, Adam Monroe!!! etrafında geçiyor. (more…) Bu Yazıyı Paylaşın

Last week we introduced our 10 part series “10 Ways Inventory Management Can Make or Break You.” Part I asked the question whether you knew what the value of your inventory was, right now, so that you can effectively plan and assess your financial position.  If you didn’t see it, here it is again — Part I.  Part II further illustrates the importance of having a good Inventory Management System that has the costing method options of — FIFO, LIFO, weighted average and standard cost – and the impact it plays on your balance sheet, income statement and cash flow.  Part II: What Valuation Method are You Using? It is important to understand your valuation method because it can impact profit margins and your income statement based on which method you are using. The valuation methods available, for example, are First in First Out (FIFO), Last in First Out (LIFO), Weighted Average and Standard Cost. FIFO is an approach in which the tracking of inventory

It’s Almost Halloween! Something that can be as scary as Halloween’s ghosts and goblins is the thought of recovering from a disaster for which you were unprepared. If you have not already, now is the time to learn what steps you can take to prepare yourself. Financial Planning - A Guide to Disaster Preparedness . If you are recovering from an unexpected crisis, the information in this guide can help you through the steps you need to take to recover, Disaster Recovery: A Guide to Financial Issues . The guides above were developed by the AICPA, Red Cross, and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). Visit www.FeedthePig.org <http://www.feedthepig.org> for more money-saving tips.

7×5″, oils on canvas covered hardboard $100 via PayPal, $7 shipping within US (email me for international rates) Gourds have so much personality, don’t you agree? I have a great time personifying them in paintings. These two snugglers are the result of a trip to the local farmer’s market.

 We thought we’d try something a bit different this time.  Instead of asking you to find time out of your very full day and ask you to read a lengthy white paper, we decided to give this white paper to you in pieces.  There are 10 parts to this information on Inventory Management.  We plan to issue at least 1 part each week, maybe 2.  Obviously if you’d simply like to read this in full all you need do is click here and there it is in its entirety.   But let’s start our discussion right now on what we feel you should think about when looking how to control your inventory and management of it. Inventory generally represents a large portion of your assets, if not the largest.  If your business handles any inventory or is largely made up of purchasing and selling items, then the abilities within your Inventory Management system can effectively make or break your business. In a retail environment a business must purchase, store, and then sell items to customers.

  İşte dizi şimdi hız kazanmaya başladı. Bazı sorulara cevap buldum. Ve yeni sorularla karşılaştım. Özetin sonunda kafamda oluşan yeni soruları sizlerle paylaşacağım. Bu bölümde: Hiro, Peter Petrelli, Nathan Petrelli, Matt Parkman, Maury Parkman, Bob, Mohinder Suresh, Elle, Niki-Jessica, Monica ve Micah var… (spoiler!!!) (more…) Bu Yazıyı Paylaşın

By: James Angell  Having spent even just a little time on the Internet, you’re probably aware of the term “SEO,” which stands for “search engine optimization.” However, if you’re like many people, you might have only a rudimentary understanding of what SEO is and how it works. SEO is a process. It’s the way webmasters help draw more and better traffic to their websites from search engines. Because most users scan a computer screen for information beginning at the top and moving toward the bottom and from left to right, it behooves the webmaster to have their site listed as close to the top of a list of search results as possible. Search engines typically use complex algorithms and other factors to rank sites according to relevancy to a search term. Improving a site’s rankings could mean changing something about the coding of the site, bettering its structure and presentation, or delivering better quality of content. Achieving better rank

12×16″, oil on canvas covered hardboard, unframed Click here to see Ebay auction listing or to bid Welcome to my Ebay Weekly Special! This painting was done on location at Teatown Lake in the Hudson Valley of New York State. Bidding starts at just $79.99—a steal for a painting of this size!

Today I had the idea that you could walk into a room and your friends, who were watching TV, were now on the other side of the screen. That would mean that the TV screen is really a portal to another location. Or, it could be a monitor with a feed from a camera somewhere. It got me thinking: What if in the future, technology is so advanced that it allows us to get complacent, lazy even? Say you want to go see a friend. As it used to be, you'd give him a call. Before phones, you could write a letter or go in person. Now, we can instant message each other. In the future, what if we take things one step further? Imagine a room in your house in which the walls act as both cameras and televisions. So you enter the room, and say, "Let me see Jenny." Your house calls her house, or apartment, or wherever she is. How does it know where to find her? Maybe she's got a chip in her head. Let's not worry about that. Ok, so the network finds her, and a CGI oper

For fun, I recently went to a “seminar” for a company which advertised that they will help you pay off your mortgage in a significantly reduced amount of time. There are several companies which are touting this “revolutionary” idea. The general gist of this product is that you open up a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) with your bank and you then use it as a checking account to pay down all your bills. These companies then offer a software program that tells you when you need to transfer money between accounts to utilize your money for the longest amount of time possible. They threw around the term “discretionary” income and showed that if an extra $800/month were paid toward the principle, your mortgage would be paid off in no time. What they failed to mention is the fact that you are still paying extra towards your mortgage no matter if you have a HELOC or not. I don’t think the people in the “seminar” realized that if they just set aside some extra money th

PDF-eXPLODE — E-mail Invoices, Statements as PDF Attachments Automatically and Directly from your Reports Newly launched Software in Canada aims to help companies reduce their administration expenses like postage, printing, envelope stuffing as well as speeding up cash flow through early delivery of invoices and statements to customers. A completely automated system that turns your invoices, statements etc. into individual emails with a PDF attachment. “PDF-eXPLODE from 3000AD SYSTEM has been a huge time-saver for us. We were processing 4 separate reports each week which needed to be split up and mailed out to 75 different people. It took one person almost an entire day each week to do this. PDF-eXPLODE allowed us to combine all 4 reports into a single report, separate it into the 75 different pieces and email them all out each week. Now it only takes 1 hour to process everything!” — Bob Larson, Fujitsu Consulting, USA (more…)

I love to play in my sketchbook. I’ve had so many shows lately that the pressure has been on to turn out finished pieces, but sometimes I think this is how I like to spend my time the most. It enables me to test drive ideas, relax, and enjoy the “doing” of art. The pears in the shallow bowl are ink sketches, with acrylic washes laid over while the ink was too wet. I get impatient. Below the pears are my new bottle of Sennelier Walnut Ink, and a little inkwell I got in the gift shop at Sturbridge Village. It’s made there in the pottery shop, and it works really well! The apple and pear on the facing page are from the Brewster Farmer’s Market. They are painted in Golden Fluid Acrylics, with no preliminary drawing; I just went in straight with paint—always my favorite painting method! For the pear, I experimented with the Irridescent Gold Deep, using it to mix my greens, and with ochre. The shimmer is quite subtle when combined with the other colors. W

8×10″, Oil on linen This was painted en plein air overlooking the Hudson River from the Benmarl Vinyard in Marlboro, New York. I was there with several other painters. Everybody was painting the river or the orchard, but I was drawn to these two chairs facing the river. They looked like they were enjoying the view, in the shady spot under the ornamental tree with the cascading branches. It’s one of my favorite paintings for my show at: Bannerman Island Gallery 150 Main Street Beacon, New York Come join us for the opening reception this Saturday, October 13, from 4-6pm. I’ll probably be there until 7 for any latecomers. I have 17 paintings in the show that are mostly Hudson River Valley scenes which I painted on location. The show was just hung this morning and it looks great! Beacon’s “Second Saturday” is always loads of fun, with all the gallery openings on one night, and the shops stay open late. The show will hang through November 7, so if

5×7″, acrylic on sealed, primed hardboard $100 via PayPal, $7 shipping within US (email me for international rates) I had such a wonderful time when I was down at the Marshlands Conservancy in Rye a couple of weeks ago. The weather was perfect, and there were gorgeous views and scenes to paint everywhere I looked. Fortunately, I took a lot of photos while I was there, because I couldn’t possibly paint every view I saw that day on location. I put one up on my computer monitor to paint this scene. Marshlands Conservancy Rye New York beach landscape painting acrylic

5×7″, Oils on Canvas covered hardboard, unframed Click here to view Ebay auction or to bid on this painting This is my first “Weekly Special”! Bidding starts at just $49.99 for one week only. Look for a special painting to be auctioned each Sunday night. Auctions will run for one week. The little image and link on the left sidebar will remain through the week, so you’ll find it easy to get to the auction at any time during this week. It’s raspberry season in the garden! I picked this sprig with a single ripe berry and set it in a glass to paint in my studio. raspberries glass still life fall oil painting garden

8×6″, Acrylic on sealed, primed hardboard $135 via PayPal, $7 shipping within US (email me for international rates) Many thanks to everybody who came out to Ward Pound Ridge Reservation today for our second show reception and to see us paint! The building with the gallery where our show is has a nice view of the little “toll booth” on the preserve where the parking fees are collected. The trees beyond were at peak fall performance, and the fields were ablaze with pink grasses. It provided the perfect fall subject to paint while chatting with visitors to the show. Ward Pound Ridge Reservation fall landscape painting impressionist acrylic Hudson Valley Westchester Parks

Maybe your PR peeps aren’t on the ball, guys, but seriously — stop trying to confuse us by announcing products that have been out for weeks. (more…) Gadgets, General, Images, Mobile News, Sony Ericsson, Technology News, W580i

You may have heard these terms bandied about and wondered what exactly they are and (more importantly) what they mean for your business. So let’s dig right in and get some answers. First, some definitions. More: continued here

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More and more Americans can go without sex longer than the internet, Study Finds. A survey of about 1,000 Americans showed that the Internet has become such an essential part of their every-day lives that 28% said they spend less time socializing with friends because of it. And 20% said they spend less time having sex because they’re too busy online, according to a study by advertising agency JWT. Sex VS Internet According to JWT, only 17% of the 1,011 online Americans who participated in the survey said they willingly had gone without connectivity for more than two weeks within the past year. When asked how long they would feel OK without online access, 15% of respondents said just a day or less, 21% said a couple of days and another 19% said a few days. About half of people 35 and older said if they can’t access the Internet when they want to, they feel like something important is missing. (Source: InformationWeek)

In every sport, event, or activity there is, it can’t be avoided that at one time or another, there are accidents or mishaps or disasters that has happened.  It may be because such activities are risky or because the environment is not that safe or because the event is plain dangerous. There are [...]

Have you seen so many signs around or within the vicinity of a public swimming pool?  Have you really taken a few minutes to read or understand what those swimming pool signs mean, or you just haven’t bothered about it?Well, it’s a fact that signs are placed as a warning or [...]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes; the writing is going well. I took a break from it this morning to finish putting my garden to bed, which gave me a chance to reflect on the past growing season. Each year, I try a few new seeds. This year I planted Hokaido Stella Blue squash and Dave Four-O-Seven quinoa. The squash has been a big hit –it’s sweet and buttery, and hardy. I’d go so far as to say it’s the best new seed I’ve tried in years. The quinoa was a bust; pretty much the whole crop developed rust. Each year, I try a new experiment. This year I wanted to see how breaking vs. not breaking the scapes off my garlic plants affected the growth. Breaking scapes doubled the size and weight of the bulbs. Each year, there is some aspect of the garden that makes that particular year distinctive. 2007 will go down as the Year of the Vines. They overran the whole place: pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, and grapes galore! It’s been a memorable summer. Because

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine must not be reaping the benefits of their new album just yet — he doesn’t even have enough money to pay the valet! TMZ spotted the tatted up rocker outside Magnolia last night, where he had to take the wallet from his female companion to get money for a tip! Who bought dinner?! Watch the video here @ TMZ.com

Rainbow Butt Monkeys: Canadian “Circles”; ‘Letters From Chutney‘ (1995) Click Here For More Canadian Music… do it kids, stick it to The Man. . The First Three News Stories On 08/20/07 . Monday’s News Sometime Later: I’ve stopped taking this thing so seriously and it’s getting easier as a result, so it looks like the Monday News thing is a keeper. [...]

10×8″, oils on canvas covered hardboard Not currently available as this is my color reference for other paintings from the island, but paintings of this scene in any size/medium may be requested (Email me at link at top of this page) This is a second oil sketch that I did on location on Bannerman Island in the Hudson River yesterday. It was a real challenge with time consraints on such a complex subject. This is the remains of the castle residence at the peak of the island. I tried to walk around the island as much as possible during the time I was there, both to take photos to work from and to do some paintings/sketches on location. I’m pleased with this one in many ways, and look forward to doing some more from this area of the island with this color reference and my photos. I may or may not go back into this painting and bring it to a more finished state. Bannerman Island Castle plein air oil painting Hudson River

Opps, this issue supposed to have ended and never to be brought up again. I don’t wish to stir things up but my curiosity got the better of me. Since this controversy started, the government was the one who make hell lot of noise about it. What happen to the voice of the opposition? DAP, the Chinese dominated party has issue statement supporting Namewee and even invited him to join their rank. No response whatsoever from PAS and Keadilan. Or maybe I haven’t come across their statement. Please enlighten me if anyone heard anything from these 2 parties. Don’t you think the government in Malaysia is omnipotent? Jurisdiction, legislative and executive all roll into one. Can we define what is practice here as one party democracy? Lyrics in Malay from Dewan Pemuda PAS Wilayah Persekutuan   ILoveMyCountry - Negarakuku Negaraku Negarakuku Negaraku Negarakuku Negaraku Negarakuku Aku cinta negaraku, Hanya bila ada negara, Ada tanah air ku Hanya bila ada tanah air ku, Di s

The investment in the health of a nation should not lose out to the prosecution of foreign wars. Yet that seems to be what has been happening in the US under the Bush Administration. This article at Huffington Post traces the investment in scientific research over the past number of years and explains its impact on the health and longevity of Americans. Today, Americans will live on average 30 years longer than they did a century ago. This is due to the triumph of public health interventions such as sanitation, improvements in hygiene and nutrition, clean water supplies, measures to reduce infant and maternal mortality, safety regulations, and advances from scientific research including vaccinations, antibiotics, and new technology to effectively diagnose, treat and prevent diseases. But that investment has been diminished under the Bush Administration with attendant threats: Alarmingly, the effects of significant decreases in funding for biomedical research are coming at a ti

One of Budapest Zoo’s rare Persian leopard cubs (Panthera pardus saxicolor) practices it’s snarl during the first public appearance of the triplet cubs, Bella, Bara and Bahar in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007. The triplets were born on June 19. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Afghanistan is a depressing story because so little is being done to help the actual people. Trying to find some good news out of that war-torn country is next to impossible. All the anecdotal tales about individuals and families tend to say the same thing: there is no economic progress, there is no hope. This BBC article entitled Aid failings ‘hit Afghan progress’ is typical of many: not enough money is being invested in the country and too little of it is getting through to the people who need it. In fact, “too much of the money earmarked for aid to Afghanistan actually goes straight back to donor countries.” The amount of money promised per head for Afghanistan was far lower than in other recent post-conflict countries, and too little of it has gone into increasing the capacity of the Afghan government to run things for itself. In a report more than a year ago, the World Bank warned of the dangers of an ‘aid juggernaut’, a parallel world operating

The Northern Pikes: Canadian “Girl With A Problem”; ‘Snow In June‘ (1990) . The First Three News Stories On 08/06/07 . Yesterday’s News Sometime Later: Technically the idea behind this post was to compare the news cycles of Canadian, American and British national and local news… unfortunately I haven’t been able to give it as much attention as [...]

With summer in full swing and Cait out of school, we spend more time at my mother’s place up in the Adirondacks. Since I always appreciate seeing pictures of where you all live around the world (it helps to satisfy my wanderlust), I thought you might enjoy seeing more than just my pond. When the locals talk about the Adirondacks, they’re usually referring to the mountains which attract hikers and climbers from all over. There are 46 “High Peaks” dominated by Mt. Marcy at 5,344 feet, New York’s highest point. These are all contained within the 6 million acre Adirondack State Park. To give you an idea of scale, the Adirondack Park is the largest US park outside of Alaska. It’s the size of Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks combined. Over 85% of the wilderness east of the Mississippi is located within its borders. With more than 3,000 lakes and ponds, 2,000 miles of hiking trails, and four seasons, it’s a recreationalist’s para

As I struggle in the role of book doctor for a writer friend whose manuscript needs, shall we say, a little work, I am able to keep charging through, because at least I haven’t come across any of these! If you need a good laugh, go ahead and click.

The man everyone loved to hate is now the toast of cyberspace: Every day, journalists and media executives in newsrooms across the land hope they’ll have something that catches Drudge’s fancy — or, as he has put it, “raises my whiskers.” Most keep their fingers crossed that he’ll discover their articles on his own and link to them. Others are more proactive, sending anonymous e-mails or placing calls to him or his behind-the-scenes assistant. Drudge’s following is so large and loyal that he routinely can drive hundreds of thousands of readers to a single story, photo or video through a link on his lively compendium of the news. With media organizations competing fiercely for online audiences, the whims of Matt Drudge can make a measurable difference. The LA Times article entitled Hot links served up daily explains the grudging rehabilitation of “the idiot with a modem’s” rep. It also explains that Drudge has made vast amounts

The National Stadium A bird’s eye view   Venue: National Stadium; Location: Olympic Green; Total land surface: 258,000 sq m; Seats: 91,000; Competitions: Athletics, Football; Post-Games use: The Stadium is to stage sports events at national and international levels, as well as cultural and entertaining activities; Groundbreaking date: Dec. 2003; Designer: Herzog & DeMeuron (Swiss) and China Architecture Design Institute; A night shot   The exterior   Seating bowl   The lobby   View from the plinth   The stadium in the sunset   The shopping center in the stadium   Entrance to the shopping center   The east corner   The green area   A bird’s eye view of the Olympic Green POST BY: http://www.welcome-to-china.com.cn/

Martha & The Muffins: Canadian “Echo Beach”; ‘Metro Music‘ (1980) Watch for the keyboardist getting weird, especially at 36 seconds. Yum. . The First Three News Stories On 07/30/07 . Yesterday’s News Four Days From Then: This was delayed because I’ve been preparing for a special guest while dealing with a sudden growth spurt in my life activity. Next week’s going to [...]

This is Finnegan, our Maine Coon clown. As you can see, he lurvs my laptop. And he lurvs to scratch and claw my furniture. In fact he lurvs clawing so much that he’s been systematically ruining each piece of upholstered furniture I have. A while back, I asked for advice about Finn’s clawing the furniture. Jen, from Fuzzy Logic, recommended Feliway (Comfort Zone) spray and diffusers . Feliway is a cat pheromone that duplicates the smell of a cat’s natural scent glands. The pheromone helps cats feel calm. which significantly lessens the urge to claw (or urinate or spray) to mark their territory. I’m not one to put much stock in miracle products; I’ve been disappointed with the results too many times. But Feliway is one product that really delivers! Without further ado — the results of using the Feliway plugin. Before Feliway: Clawing until the stuffing gets pulled out. After Feliway: No more clawing. Stuffing stays put. With results like these,

from Guardian Unlimited: How long can Dubai’s boom last? By Vicky Baker It’s big, brash and it’s all about cash. Is there any stopping Dubai? The emirate may have a couple of newly-arrived boutique hotels on the scene, but these are very much out on a limb. Essentially Dubai is still all about trying to out do everything else on the planet. Vegas, once unrivalled as the world’s most absurd place, needs to up its game if it wants to compete. Appearing in the desert soon: Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping mall; the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building; and Dubailand, the world’s largest theme park. That’s not forgetting the Palm project, containing man-made islands visible from the moon, and Dubai China Town, set to be the largest outside China, complete with its own Great Wall. With oil supplies running low, Dubai has decided tourism is the way forward and it’s clearly not doing things by halves. When oil revenues fell to

“Oil price rises to all-time high,” shouts the BBC banner and below it this: Oil prices have climbed to a record high of $78.71 a barrel amid worries about whether oil supplies can meet global demand. It is time for amateurs to take stock of this situation because who the hell trusts the oil industry? And who the hell trusts governments to tell us the truth any more? When Bush invaded Iraq he did so with a promise that oil prices would come down: ‘as the Iraqis build up their production capacity, prices will drop.’ The reviled Wolfowitz is still occasionally visited on the screen telling us that increased Iraqi oil production would pay for its reconstruction — after the horrific shock and awe of US bombing. Not quite, not quite by a long shot. Not only have oil prices rocketed ever since the start of that illegal war, but Iraq production capacity to deal with an increasingly world demand for an increasingly shorter supply … has dropped to lower than

A Sikh’s sword, or Kirpan, is actually a symbol of peace and Truth. And how Sikhs use our Kirpans forces us, under vow, to act with tremendous restraint, writes Kamalla Rose Kaur who contributes to this site. Our Kirpan can be large or small, worn under our clothes or on the outside, but we never ever pull the blade from the scabbard. Oh we clean and sharpen our Kirpans, as needed, and Kirpans are used passively in Gurdwara for a moment,  but beyond these two exceptions, a Khalsa Knight does not pull her/his Kirpan except when we are sure, beyond a doubt, that we are being required under Khalsa vows to defend someone. So before a Khalsa Knight can pull a gun, s/he will have to first pull the Kirpan. And before you pull the Kirpan you and the Almighty must be absolutely sure that you are not acting out of revenge, fear, or rage. It is a “Zen” moment. It takes No Time. It stops time. Then, when a Khalsa Knight pulls his or her Kirpan - which again we never do becau

You can use the Perception Laboratory’s Face Transformer to change the age, race or sex of a facial image, to transform it to the style of a famous artist, to make an exaggerated caricature or even make an ape of yourself! Cait and I have been amusing ourselves for hours. Face Transformer

Just as we are getting over the stalking astro, we learn that to some of the Space Pioneers “bottle to throttle” was not a prohibition against booze 12-hours before a flight, but a challenge. Could this be true? Could astronauts actually have lifted-off pissed? And the very fact that the following question could be asked to A NASA official is positively surreal: had he ever had to deal with a safety issue involving an inebriated astronaut in space? Those images, you know the ones, of the selfless dedicated, smart, committed flying-scientists? Remember? It may turn out that astronauts are just like us, lovers of dutch courage and good times — which, when you think about it, is probably the message we should be sending to our stratospheric neighbours.

Bizy, Inc. (www.bizyinc.com) addresses ‘web site renovation’ with its just released Bizyweb Place Management application. Just as the home remodeling industry touted its mantra “don’t move, improve” and aging neighborhoods became coveted places to live, the Bizyweb Place Management application was designed to remodel web sites. By using existing web pages as templates, areas on a page called ‘places’ can be made editable using familiar desktop keystrokes highlight and click in the Bizyweb Enabler, a rich Internet application. Then, using the Bizyweb Place Editor, the content in each ‘place’ can be changed. Only the enabled places can be edited, thus preserving the look and feel of the page. Pages can be cloned and modified to create new content. (more…)

Piecing together accurate information about the potential of ethanol as a viable alternative to petroleum ain’t easy. See earlier post What is the TRUTH about ethanol? In an article entitled The unintended consequences of the ethanol quick fix the Christian Science Monitor makes this contribution: Ethanol is expensive to produce, has contributed to a rise in gasoline prices, and has its own pollution problems. It requires a lot of fertilizer, fresh water, and farm land. And, because of corrosive properties that make pipeline transportation problematic, it takes a lot of trucks to haul it. And its production is contributing to an alarming rise in price of corn. With more than 20 percent of corn now dedicated to ethanol production, the US Department of Agriculture is projecting a record US corn crop in 2007 – along with record prices. (The US  government intends to boost production of corn-based ethanol with a massive 51-cent-per-gallon subsidy.) Outside the United State

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Helix: Canadian “Rock You” (uncensored); ‘Walkin The Razor’s Edge‘ (1984) There was a request… more like a dare, for more 80’s Hair Metal. . The First Three News Stories On 07/23/07 . Yesterday’s News The Day After Tomorrow: It’s been months since I’ve heard the voice of Jim Lehrer, the anchor of “The News Hour” on PBS. The 400-foot [...]

This is the same fish balls noodles that I had always eaten with my husband at Woodgrove. However, after the GST increase on 1st July 2007, the fish balls are not the same anymore. If you compared this fish balls to those I had taken some time earlier, at Good Food Ends With Good Talk, one of my other blog — Best Fish Balls Noodles, you will see that the fish balls are smaller. You cannot taste the fish balls. Let me tell you the difference. The fish balls taste different, not as nice as before. Before the GST, the fish balls are bigger and tastier. Now, the fish balls are smaller, softer, not much of taste — don’t taste like fish balls even, taste more flour balls than fish balls. I suppose they had put more flour, say 70% flour as compared to the amount of fish, 30%. Of course all other ingredients were adjusted according too — the salt, MSG, flavouring, soy sauce, etc etc. Their price remains the same S$2.50 per bowl of fish balls noodle. Ho

Right now David Stern, Roger Goodell, and Bud Selig all have major problems, but at least they can take solace in the fact that they have nothing to do with Chilean soccer. Chile’s major problem began when the team boarded their bus after a heated 3-0 loss to Argentina in their U-20 World Cup semifinal match. According to one officer at the scene, frustrated Chilean players had boarded the team bus after their 3-0 loss to Argentina in the Under-20 World Cup semifinal when they broke metal arm rests off the seats and used them to break bus windows. The police then stepped in and a large scuffle ensued. Eventually the team was taken back into the stadium, and in the end nine players were detained. The fact that many them had been bloodied, pepper sprayed, and tasered has many people criticizing the Canadian police for using excessive force. Ah, the Canadians and their legendary police brutality. At least the players had quality universal healthcare to help heal their injuries. T

The people who rent my grandfathers farm made an oops while we were up there chopping wood. . . “And if I show you my dark side, will you still hold me… tonight? And if I open my heart to you, and show you my weak side, what would you do?” “The Final Cut”, Roger Waters (1983) . “A list poem is one [...]