text:
Why I sold my Oscar dress…
"You've got to get rid of it. It's a miracle you even remarried."
My friend Hope, a brilliant life-coach and stylist, was helping me cleanse my closet of every piece of clothing which no longer served me and the life I crave.
Once we were done, and more than ½ the items I'd had hanging in the closet were in bags to be donated, Hope asked…
"So is that it? Anything else?"
With a big sigh, I crouched down, slid out a huge Chanel box, and lifted up the heavy, full-length beaded gown.
"Wow! What's that!?" Hope exclaimed.
It was my Oscar dress.
Back in 2004, the documentary I co-created and co-starred in, Super Size Me, was nominated for an Academy Award. To get ready for the big event, I appeared on a makeover show called "How Do I Look?" and was given a gorgeous beaded gown. The host, Finola Hughes, co-star of the cult hit and personal favorite Staying Alive, called me "red carpet radiant." I thought I had hit the big time!
We didn't win that night, but Morgan and I went on to premiere the film in over 20 countries, got married, had a beautiful little boy together, and then, separated and finally divorced. What a roller coaster ride…and through it all, I kept that dress.
I didn't keep much from our marriage besides the kid, the memories, my engagement ring (which was stolen in a burglary 5 years ago), and that dress.
As I held the dress up for Hope to see, I realized how heavy it was: physically and emotionally.
"Why are you holding onto this dress, Alex?" asked Hope.
A dozen reasons jumped to mind, but none of them felt good enough:
- It was a hand-beaded designer dress! I only wore it once and it was worth at least $1000.
- I should save it for another amazing event some day
- I should save it for my daughter (BTW, I've happily decided not to have more kids)
- It was a huge moment in my life – how can I give this dress away??
- It looked amazing on me!
But something deeper was hidden in the folds of the tissue-wrapped silk and beading:
I was holding onto an unexamined belief that
I'll never make anything that great again…
that the best contribution of my life was behind me…
that this dress is the best I'll ever be.
Then I decided that these ideas were bullshit and it was time to say goodbye.
I asked my friend Kate Northrup, author of Money: A Love Story, who also teaches Feng Shui for Financial Freedom, what she thought of keeping this dress, under my bed no less?
Kate wrote back:
"Anything that's no longer a reflection of who you are and who you want to be in the future needs to be released ASAP. This includes old clothes, furniture, and anything else that's not up to par with your current reality and your desired future."
Hope and I talked about all of this, sitting on the bed together, touching and admiring the craftsmanship of the dress.
A few weeks ago another group of girlfriends gasped when I told them the dress was still under my bed. "It's a miracle you even remarried! Talk about bad relationship mojo!" They were right. But I just wasn't ready.
Now I am.
"It's time." I said, finally.
I'd wasted endless, worrying energy thinking about the dress and what to do with it. Ultimately, I'd done nothing, feeling lame for being lazy and indecisive.
It had all gone on too long, and it was time.
This Monday evening, I walked the heavy Chanel box to a resale shop in SoHo, filled out the consignment form, and walked out. I left the store feeling strange: light, yet a bit sad. A little empty.
I had scheduled a date with a good friend, and we met for a glass of wine to celebrate our lives. She toasted the dress, and we plotted our future triumphs.
The dress was beautiful.
It will be beautiful on another woman.
I hope it brings her incredible good fortune, whoever she is.
The dress itself, truthfully, means nothing. But it held an energy – a broken promise – and regret within its threads.
Moving forward often requires letting go of the things to which we cling. The heavy, the outdated, the old.
An entire identity – beliefs, myths, and unspoken agreements – attached like white cat hairs on black velvet.
That dress was a constant reminder of a younger woman's dreams. Some became a reality, and some were shattered.
Now it's time for a more mature woman's dreams to take flight and come true. A dream dressed in fine new cloth and new energy.
Join me in saying goodbye to the one thing that's keeping you tied to the past in a way that no longer serves you.
Maybe it's a dress in your own closet (or under your bed!) Maybe it's a way of eating, a way of being with people, a town or home you live in, or a job or relationship you're still in after too many years.
Say goodbye.
Toast your glass high to the dress.
Let it go.
Let's fly forward together.
Let's create the life we crave.
Reclaim Your Body, Embrace Your Cravings, Make Peace With Food:
Get my #1 Bestselling book Women, Food, And Desire on Audible or a real old fashioned book 😉


text:
Thanks for coming by to see yarning4asmile's Socks On The Rising ~ Looking Glass/White Walker!
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subset: commoncrawl


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During the last two years luxury fashion brands like to create touching short movies aiming to strengthen the brands giving them emotional human aspect. That trend in the communication of luxury fashion brands is maybe related to their ambitions to conquer bigger market going a bit more mass market and leaving behind the glamorous image turned once only around rich and famous but still saving the magic and the dream behind the brand.
Is that assumption true?
Let's search for an answer in the latest short movie released on-line for Dior:
Monday, 13 December 2010
New short movie for Dior: luxury fashion gets compassionate?
Публикувано от Rositsa Paunova
Етикети: Art + Brands, Short movies


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Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Navigate in OneNote without Exiting Full Page View
I love stumbling upon keyboard shortcuts in my favourite Office programs. (There's hundreds of keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Office so it's easy to do. Kudos to whomever has memorized them all.) Today while taking notes in Microsoft OneNote in Full Page View, I accidentally hit CTRL + G. To my delight the navigation pane popped Read More


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Response to critics of "Guided buses – on the wrong track?"
8 August 2008
Aside from my prophecy, my article on Guided Buses (July 2008) presents facts from named sources, and indisputable problems, not my views. In contrast, critics express their views, refer to freight and pray in aid schemes, within which they lump guided systems, as if they were without problems in that environment. A document downloaded from the Internet and kindly supplied by the German Embassy states that the 'British government has made it a criminal offence for an untrained driver to drive guide-wheel-equipped buses'. If 'criminal' is disputed, it is, unarguably, an offence for an untrained driver to drive such a vehicle. Dr. Tebb's reference to Construction & Use Regulations – with which I became acquainted 50 years ago – is a red herring. The legality of the vehicle is not disputed, only that of an untrained driver. I advanced no personal views comparing rail with guided buses. My book on Closures clearly shows that I carried no torch for branch lines.
If I dropped a cluster bomb, they have created a smokescreen around the facts:
· the rest of the world is disinterested.
· broken guide wheels are a problem.
· guided systems include free park-and-ride, which should first serve conventional buses, before calculating incremental financial benefits (if any) from installing guided systems.
· some operators will not convert to guided systems.
· the inventor of guided buses criticised the Cambridgeshire scheme.
· the most congested areas cannot be equipped with guide systems
· being part of a 'package' does not eliminate disadvantages
It is significant that critics do not dispute:
· there are few advantages, as no more are identified.
· cost escalation.
· construction delays.
· disused railways have to be widened.
· railway bridges had to be rebuilt.
· some passengers may stand.
· some operators, who promised support, have withdrawn.
Snow is
airily dismissed 'because railways are affected by snow'. Unlike
guided busways, which rely on men with spades or costly under surface heating,
trains attach snow ploughs; hence it is a problem for guided-bus systems. The
point that I was making about accidents in
Tebb's railway strike jibe is not backed by comparative road transport
statistics – because they aren't any. Railway strikes have no
bearing on the undeniable prospect of strike-bound guided-busways paralleled by
car-congested roads. Railway managers replaced key staff during disputes to
keep services running, as media reports revealed. No other industry dare do
likewise; they would face a walk-out. I did not 'witness' strikes
– implying passivity – but to maintain services, personally
directed pre-emptive measures – which did not concede a penny - the basis
of which non-railway people would not comprehend. If UK industry had made,
without dispute, labour saving economies analogous to those for BR track and
signalling staff from the earliest years of nationalisation, there would still
be a UK industry worthy of the name. I refer him to
Messrs Carr
& Richardson have misread my article. I neither said it is a complete
system, nor ignored off-system operations, which are clearly mentioned. Johnnie
Carr attributes
I do not
dispute that 'rare events' affect other road transport. Those
events will not merely affect guided systems, but will block them. No evidence
is advanced by Nick Richardson that they can be easily 'mitigated
against'. When debris falls into guided systems, buses will stop until it
is removed – by whom remains to be seen, but it is unlikely to be a
driver who would not be 'covered by insurance', and may contravene
'H&SE rules'. Conventional buses bypass debris or turn and use
another route – options not available on guided systems. He claims that the
article presented only negatives. Advantages claimed by advocates are listed,
although some apply to alternative systems (e.g. access for mobility impaired).
He claims that the listed disadvantages are not exclusive to one mode –
but they are exclusive to guided systems, since they present no problems on bus
lanes or elsewhere. It cannot be claimed that disadvantages are superficial -
why else is there disinterest from so many
There is no
need for an editorial apology for a factually based, source-identified article.
If submissions had to be considered by a 'committee', a lack of
consensus, together with the delay making everything out-of-date, would reduce
Focus to an annual stapled A4 Newsletter. It would certainly slash irrelevant
content from critics' letters! Methinks the
lady lobby doth
protest too much.
This letter answered every single point made by the three critical letters
published in Focus in August 2008. The only changes in 'Focus' from
my original are to replace 'Johnnie' with 'John', and
to leave out the word '


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Monday, 8 October 2012
Are we there yet?
We have to wait until Tuesday for a new dynamo to arrive from the UK after the Renault breakdown garage said it was 'impossible' to mend. The man from VW Heritage says otherwise, and we are crossing fingers, arms, legs and toes and anything else we can find. We want to set off for Italy on Wednesday.
We will be approximately a week late at our destination, Corfu.
When Bella the old Beetle shuddered to a halt, it was as if she'd been saying: 'Enough, for goodness sake. I need to rest my weary springs. Just a short break will be fine, and then I'll be back on my tyres again.'
So we checked into the Hotel Charmless, made bearable by the lovely receptionist, who was manning the fort while the owner and cook were away (together? A French tryst maybe?), and her eight-year-old son who was ready for bed in his Spiderman pyjamas.
'Good evven-ing,' the child said, in the French policeman's accent from Allo, Allo.
The Champneys bath gel I'd insisted on bringing helped calm frayed nerves in a roadside hotel set between the traintracks and flyover, and where the corridors smelt of stale cigarette smoke.
But when the dawn rose the next day, we had found ourselves, quite by accident, in the heart of Jura wine-making country. Result.
There could be worse places to be.
So we swapped the Hotel Charmless for a gite in a small village.
Today, on the road to nowhere, we were reminded of the Enchanted Village: Fog.
We made the mistake of Skyping home and then watching Mr Grigg's videos from our wonderful Jubilee celebrations in Lush Places, where I ran the disco and the old man led the boys in a well-rehearsed routine of The Village People's YMCA.
It got me thinking about all we had left behind. The village wedding, and Mr Putter's kilt.
Mr Grigg and Champagne Charlie slipping off to tap the beer barrel.
The hard work going into re-opening our village shop - now looking more and more likely to be somewhere else rather than in the heart of the square.
The harvest supper and all that village entertainment.
The arguments about where we should site the fireworks this year.
And the controversy sparked by just having a few sheep in the churchyard to keep the grass down.
It's making me all incredibly homesick. But, unlike Orpheus, there's no turning back.
That's about it.
Love Maddie x
4 comments:
No, don't...you'll start me off too...it happens, often, but you will have some fabulous memories when the year is over....ReplyDelete
Take care
- Anonymous8 October 2012 at 18:19
Trials and tribulations along the way... all adding to your wonderful adventure (although I'm sure it doesn;t feel like it at the moment)! Good luck with the car - Corfu will still be there next week. Enjoy the wine whilst your there - it will be better than the krasi in Greece! XXReplyDelete
Twas in the Jura that I first tasted morilles mushrooms. Heaven disguised as fat, crinkly prunes. I remember that every hilltop had a lake, which seemed incongruous somehow. We stayed at the Moulin des Truites Bleus, which had a waterwheel and really did extract trout from the surging white water to bring to the dining table. We have a watercolor that husband painted right there. What a fortuitous place to break down:)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous8 October 2012 at 20:59
As was said in The Hobbit (cartoon version) the greatest adventure is what lies ahead!ReplyDelete
As your sweet VW rests up and gets repaired, enjoy the scenery, the wine, and this unexpected adventure. Almost before you can say "Jack Robinson!" you'll be headed in the other direction, toward home. The anticipation of all that awaits you there will win out over being pulled back to Corfu by good memories of the year there - unlike Shirley Valentine, doncha know?!
Still, you're braver than I am in setting out in the first place. :)
Batten down those hatches, it's recycling day
It's blowing a hooley out there. The wind is lashing against the windows and the dogs are play fighting in front of the Aga before...
Over the past few years, I've avoided talking about Brexit, either online or in person. The referendum nearly three years ago ended up...
Back in Corfu and we've just learned that the village where we lived for a year is set to become another film location for The Durrell...


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During January and February, The Creative Collective was host to 4 French students on work experience all the way from Avignon. The Lycee Professionelle Vincent De Paul provides opportunities for their students to visit the country of their choice – depending on the second language they may have chosen – to improve their spoken language skills and to gain experience of the work place. Whilst in Kent, the young people stay at Kipps Youth Hostel in Canterbury and are placed with companies in the area.
Yousra, Marion, Natacha and Anais very quickly familiarised themselves with Ashford and the work we do at the gallery and provided valuable support by doing much needed research about all things arts and creativity. In our many very interesting conversations, it was clear that they are all passionate about politics, their country, multi-cultural society and women's causes and issues. We asked them to tell us a little about themselves so here are their stories:
Yousra is 18, she was born in Morrocco and studying for a BTEC. Like the others, she has chosen English as a second language. In her spare time Yousra likes to listen to music, spend time with friends and watch TV series. Yousra wants to be an interpreter and work for a commercial firm, and hopes to live in Canada or Australia. Yousra says: 'life in France is expensive. The people are sad and politics are not very constructive. But our education system is good because we study lots of subjects'.
Marion is 17 years old and was born in Paris. She has also opted for English as a second language. In her spare time, Marion likes drawing and horse riding. She will be going to university to study graphic design and hopes to work for an advertising company. Marion says: 'French people are negative and life in France is very expensive. Those who finish university, have a hard time finding work'.
Natacha (and yes it is spelled like that in French) is 18 years old and was born in Strasbourg. She wants to be an English and Spanish interpreter because she loves the two countries and the cultures. She would like to live in Australia. She says: 'Life in France is expensive and politicians are soft. Although the education system is good, there is a lot of bullying in schools'.
Anais is 21 years old and was born in Rochefort-du-Gard in Avignon. She is also studying for a BTEC and planning to go to university and become a veterinarian because she loves animals and wants to take care of them. Anais is an athlete and likes to shot put, throw the hammer and walk. She would like to travel to Asia and Latin America – Argentina in particular. 'French politics are a mess, the French president is hopeless' says Anais.
It has been a pleasure working with the students who will be living us tomorrow. A month already? They have produced really valuable work. They spend a few hours interviewing some of the artists and art students in the gallery so we'll be posting the interviews in a later blog.
We would like to wish them well in their journey and hope they will stay in touch and tell us what they're up to for years to come.


text:
I often mention my daughter is a top golfer here in Oregon. Here is a story about her that was in our newspaper on Monday.
A Stone-cold finish
Brie Stone, Joel Johnson win OGA Mid-Amateur Championships at Emerald Valley Golf and Resort
CRESWELL — When she walked off the 18th green, Brie Stone knew she had won her fifth straight Oregon Golf Association Women's Mid-Amateur Championship, though not until then.
"Out here, you can double-bogey a hole from nowhere, really," the 33-year-old Veneta resident said Sunday after her one-stroke victory over Lani Marie Elston at Emerald Valley Golf and Resort. "You hit the wrong part of the green, it can just happen so easily. I never quite felt safe, but I try to stay in that, too. When you think you're safe, that's when you're not."
Joel Johnson didn't feel quite safe until the trophy was finally in his hands.
The 28-year-old former University of Portland golfer shot a 1-under 70, tied for Sunday's low round and good for 1-over for the tournament. The left-hander had to wait for two threesomes to finish after him, then the totalling of scores, the anticipation of a very possible playoff — and a mistaken announcement that Bend's Charlie Price had won the tournament, quickly corrected — before securing his first Men's Mid-Amateur title, by one stroke over Price, who played in the last group and suffered bogeys on the last two holes.
"I knew those guys had to play the last few holes, which were playing difficult, with the wind picking up out there," Johnson said "I was just holding my breath."
Stone, who followed her first-round 73 with a four-over 76 (women's par was 72 in the tournament, men's 71), found herself tied with Elston going into the back nine but made key putts of about 6 feet for par on No. 11 and for birdie on No. 13, while Elston missed shorter putts on the same holes.
"Those were definitely the two big putts," Stone said. "Those were huge."
When Elston, a 31-year-old former player at Arizona who teaches piano in Milwaukie, triple-bogeyed the par-4 14th hole after pulling her tee shot into the marsh on the left, Stone's bogey gave her a four-stroke lead and some breathing room. With the pressure of her unprecedented Mid-Am winning streak, she needed it. Stone had two bogeys over the final four holes but safely recorded a par on No. 18, while Elston rallied from her triple to finish with three pars and a birdie on No. 18 to come up a stroke short of a playoff.
"I felt more nervous out there today than I have in a long time," said Stone, who was Brie Del Bone when she was a local juniors golf phenom and star at Sheldon High. "I can kind of fool myself sometimes that I'm not the favorite, but once you've won four in a row. ..."
There were worries for her caddie, husband Jason, too — though he's carried her bag on occasion, he hadn't in any of her previous Mid-Am victories.
"He said he was nervous about that," Brie Stone said. "I said 'don't say that to me.'"
The continuation of the winning streak, Stone said, is "pretty awesome. I just never imagined that something like that could ever happen. This one is just as good as the first one. They've all been hard-fought and could have gone either way. I feel pretty fortunate."
Johnson, who lives in Portland, began the day five strokes behind another former Sheldon star, former Oregon golfer Jack Dukeminier. "I knew I needed to make some birdies, fire at some flags," Johnson said. "Fortunately, I did that. I wasn't sure where I stood. ... I tried to look at the (leaderboard) at 15 and it wasn't updated. So I just tried to come in solid and see where I finished up."
While Johnson was gaining, his three bogeys off-set by four birdies, the 25-year-old Dukeminier, who works for an accounting firm in Portland, was coming back to the field, en route to a 7-over 78 that left him tied with three other golfers, including his brother, Chris, for fourth place.
"It was a tough day," said Jack Dukeminier, who had several three-putt greens on the front nine, and errant tee shots that led to double bogeys on No. 10 and No. 13. "I played alright coming in, but it was a little too late."
We are so proud of her ...
Now on to my card for this week's challenge at
and their sketch !
Here is my card !
Hope you like it. A little preview of fall ...


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Chemical promotes skipping in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Nature Communications
Identification of a chemical that can restore the production of dystrophin in the cells of a Duchene muscular dystrophy patient is reported this week in Nature Communications. These findings may be useful in developing a therapy for some mild forms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
In some mild forms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy a small amount of functional protein is produced via exon skipping. Masatoshi Hagiwara and colleagues previously screened a chemical library containing 100,000 chemicals and identified one compound that was associated with exon skipping. They now show that the compound can restore the production of dystophin in an individual patient's cells.
Although, synthetic DNA molecules have been shown to induce a similar exon skipping of the dystrophin gene, the identification of the chemical may also aid in the treatment of some forms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.


text:
Back in Stock!
Updated in March 2016 to reflect the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easement donations which was made permanent in December 2015.
Printed in full color, this book is a perennial favorite of land trusts who share it with landowners. Filled with helpful information on available conservation strategies, tax law and land trusts, it's written in a way to be accessible to all types of landowners.
If you have a 2015 copy (7th edition): While most of the content remains unchanged, the tax incentive changed some numbers. Download a PDF of these updates, organized by page number.
TOPICLandowner Resources, General Interest
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Washington DC 20005


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This article suggests that different moods may trigger different thinking styles, and bad moods might not be all that bad. I don't know whether the findings will hold up, but I do think sadness is an essential part of being human. CK Louis said "sadness is a lucky thing to feel," and Ben Casnocha agreed.
Archive for October, 2013
Embrace sadness
Posted in Happiness, tagged Bad mood, Ben Casnocha, Benefits, CK Louis, Happiness, Sadness on October 27, 2013| 1 Comment »
Michael Pettis on China's economic restructuring
Posted in Books, Economics and Culture, tagged Avoiding the Fall, China, Consumption and investment, Growth, Michael Pettis, Rebalance, Reforms, Restructuring on October 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I just finished Michael Pettis' new book on China recommended by Tyler. He uses a neat framework to think about China's growth and how it fits in the global system. I'm probably more optimistic about China's long-term growth outlook than Michael Pettis, although we might be thinking in a different time horizon.
Things I agree:
1) Continue rising debt to GDP is not sustainable, and at some point debt will be rising faster than debt-servicing capacity.
2) The structure of the economy (implicit government guarantee, distorted price signal, etc.) makes it vulnerable to capital misallocation, and the surge in credit and investment to GDP ratios suggest there are lots of wasteful investments.
3) Economists are bad at predicting turning points and adjusting their expectations during major turns in growth cycle.
Things I don't necessarily agree:
1) The assumption that China must rebalance toward a greater reliance on consumption. I don't think consumption is inherently better than investment from a growth prospective (it matters for income distribution and social welfare, but that's a different question). A debt-fueled consumption boom is probably worse than a debt-fueled investment boom. Michael Pettis noted that wasting money is always value destroying, but consumption is about spending money with no monetary return, while bad investment might still earn some returns. In general the classification between consumption and investment is not well-defined (housing, education, types of investments, etc.).
One could argue that investment is more likely to be debt-financed relative to consumption and hence less sustainable, or that stronger consumption could encourage investments in the service-producing sectors that are likely less capital intensive. Those are valid points for rebalancing but don't change my view about consumption versus investment. I think investment helps drive long-run productivity growth, while consumption is the ultimate end, and there is a trade-off to be made by each country. I see debt-financed investment and types of investments as the main problems, not investment per se.
A few other issues regarding consumption share: Data are not very good so we probably should assign less weight to the level of consumption to GDP. Singapore also has a very low consumption share but its model seems to be sustainable. Admittedly Singapore is a small economy and China probably won't get away with the type of current account surplus Singapore has. My point is that for sustainable economic growth, institutions are likely the key, not consumption level.
2) I think China's growth is more likely to slow sharply at some point as the economy deleverage, but I don't think a lost decade of very slow growth is a necessary outcome. Reforms are key, and China is slowly moving forward. FX appreciation and strong wage growth have been happening, There are also some limited progress on improving social safety net and hukou reforms, while gradual liberalization of interest rates, further hukou and land reforms, and energy price reforms are also on the agenda. These are all steps that should help redistribute income to the households.
I think the party leaders' main objective is to stay in power. As long as reforms are consistent with this goal, I think they will continue to pursue them. The progress might be too slow to solve the existing problems, with lots of powerful vested interests trying to stifle reforms. But there are not many emerging economies where the top leaders seem to be serious about reforms.
Assuming China hits the debt limit and growth slows down sharply, my base case is that this will help trigger some serious and difficult reforms, like what happened during Zhu Rongji's time. The government and state-owned enterprises will likely have to shoulder the bad debts, and they seem to have enough resources to do so (i.e. selling assets).
I'm more worried about political and social instability, a topic Michel Pettis doesn't focus on in the book. Barring major instability, I'm relatively optimistic about China's long-term economic outlook.
The Past, Present, and Future of Economic Growth
Posted in Economics and Culture, tagged China, Dani Rodrik, Development, Economic growth, India on October 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »
A paper by Dani Rodrik summarizing his recent works on growth & development. In his view the two dynamics behind growth are 1) development of fundamental capabilities in human capital and institutions [structural reforms], and 2) structural transformation [industrialization and moving labor into high productivity industries]. The first is slow and difficult, and most successful catch-up stories follow the second method until they reach middle-income [resource rich countries exception]. At that point the first dynamic would also be needed to break into high income level.
He noted that successful economic transitions rarely grown rapidly because of across the board institutional reforms, but most marked by sequential relaxation of one binding constraint after another, using policy tools that are tailored to local circumstances.
He noted six stylized facts about economic growth: 1) Growth has increased over time. Asia growth rate is incredible/unprecedented. 2) Convergence has been the exception rather than the rule [no tendency for poor countries to growth faster than rich countries]. 3) Economic development goes with productive diversification [not specialization]. 4) Industrialization and manufacturing exports have been the most reliable levers for rapid and sustained growth in the past. 5) Manufacturing industries are special in that they tend to exhibit unconditional convergences. 6) Most successful economies have not been ones with least state intervention
He is less optimistic about catch-up in other developing economies (like Africa or India) in the future due to 1) weaker Western growth which could lead to less tolerance for industrial policies, 2) change in manufacturing industries towards more capital and skill intensive, and changes in global supply chains with less positive spill-over for developing countries, 3) increased global competition, esp. from China, and 4) increased environmental awareness/concerns.
Applying Rodrik's framework, China needs to continue to reform its institutions to move up. I think it fares well on the human capital front. India is more concerning. Its rigid labor law & socialist policies hinder growth in the manufacturing sector. It'd need to find sectors that can help employ large numbers of relatively unskilled workers, absorb foreign technology, and build linkages with domestic economies. Otherwise it'd likely continue to perform below its potential. Opening up to multi-brand retail would be a good start, but so far no international multi-brand have entered yet, likely due to policy & political uncertainty and unclear requirements.
Abstract: Developing countries will face stronger headwinds in the decades ahead, both because the global economy is likely to be significantly less buoyant than in recent decades and because technological changes are rendering manufacturing more capital and skill intensive. Desirable policies will continue to share features that have served successful countries well in the past, but growth strategies will differ in their emphasis. Ultimately, growth will depend primarily on what happens at home. The challenge is therefore to design an architecture that respects the domestic priorities of individual countries while ensuring that major cross-border spillovers and global public goods are addressed
Beyond Korean style
Posted in Books, Economics and Culture, tagged Beyond Korea Style, Daniel Tudor, Korea, McKinsey Global Institute, The Economist, The Impossible Country on October 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The Economist has a special report on Korea this week, touching on the social issues it faces. Here's the concluding article. It cited a report by McKinsey Global Institute and also a highly readable book "The Impossible Country". Both are good reads to understand Korea better. The former focuses more on structural economic issues, while the latter provides good information on politics, culture, and the economy.
Korea is a highly stressful country to live in. It has one of the highest suicide rates, very long working hours, and alcohol consumption well above Japan's. This all stems from a very competitive society, starting when one is a child all the way up. Beside needing to spend a lot on children's education (private + extracurricular) to get ahead, parents also spend a lot to live in a good district, on branded accessories, expensive alcohol for guests, and plastic surgery, all to look good among peers (luxury sales growth in Korea is among the highest in world). Hence a lot of middle income households are feeling stressed and running high household debt. There seems to be a shift in sentiment in recent years toward improving living standards, but I don't think much has changed yet. Korea will probably need to change its growth model going forward.
I read the McKinsey report a while back. Below are some stylized facts I saved. There are also many interesting charts in the report.
PS: Going to Seoul next month and looking forward to try the ideal bibimbap.
Korea has gone from a nation where divorce was almost unheard of to having one of the highest divorce rates among OECD. It has the highest suicide rate in the world (31.7 per 100,000 people in 2011).
Only about 44% of Korean households have two incomes (vs 57% across OECD). Koreans also shoulder high monthly payments for housing loans and spend more on private education than almost any society on earth. More than 60% of respondents cited burden of education and child care as the reason not to have children.
Korea's household saving rate has fallen from around 19% in 1988 to 4% in 2012, among the lowest in OECD, and the proportion of middle-income households operating in deficit (paying out more in expenses every month than they take in) has jumped from 15% to 25%. If monthly principal payments for mortgages were counted, nearly 55% of middle income households could be considered in deficit.
Wealth of Korean families is nearly 3 times as concentrated in real estate as wealth of US families. Real estate makes up about 74% of household assets. About 90% of loans have floating interest rates. Monthly debt service averages 25% of income, more than twice the debt service ratio of US households. The average mortgage is for 51% of home price, and many purchasers take out additional higher cost loans from 2nd tier banks. The spread on a loan to cover 80-90% of a purchase price is 4pp over a 50% LTV loan, or twice the premium charged in the US.
Overall, service sector productivity (valued added per employee), is 30-57% below levels in the US, UK, and Germany. Service wages are 55% of manufacturing wages, larger gap than in Germany, Japan, UK, and US.
Korean economy is dominated by SMEs. In SMEs, which account for 88% of employment, pay is about 62% of large-company rates. The productivity of Korea SMEs is only 35% of that of large companies. SMEs account for 99.9% of estimated 3 million plus companies in Korea, and 96% are small companies with fewer than 50 employees.
Manufacturers shifted 17% of their production to overseas plants in 2010.
According to Hyundai Research Institute, unemployment rate would be closer to 11% if full accounting were made of the unemployed and underemployed. It estimates that about 803,000 Koreans are involuntary part-timers. Part-timers make only about 65% of full-time pay. Some 30% of labor force is self-employed, compared with 10% in other advanced economies. More than 80% of self-employed work in local services, including a large number of older workers who launch their own business after retirement.
Korea's college entrance was the highest in OECD in 2011, but graduates are having more trouble find good jobs than graduate from vocational high schools. McKinsey estimates that the net present value of the lifetime earnings of a Korean who goes through private school and university is less than the NPV of the earnings of a high school graduate.
Nation ranks highest on internet accessibility, airport one of the best, and highest smartphone penetration in the world. -Tourism revenue accounts for only 2.4% of GDP compared with OECD average of 3.8% (ranges as high as 10.2% in Spain). Employment in tourism accounts for 2.2% of jobs compared with 5% across OECD.
Future of education
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged debate, education, future of education, technology on October 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Interesting debate on the future of education. My experience is similar to Peter Boettke's. A few good teachers and peers did wonders in shaping my intellectual and personal developments, although nowadays the blogosphere plays a similar role.
Time to read
Posted in Reflection, tagged reading, time to read on October 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I tend to read more books (vs. emails/blogs/magazines) while traveling. Queuing and waiting are both good time to read; same for traveling in train/subway. As long as I've my Kindle with me I don't mind waiting nowadays. But I try to avoid reading when I'm travelling in a new place, so I can pay more attention to my surrounding.
On the plane there are more temptations, and I don't always read as much as I would like. I often waste too much time trying to optimize what movies to watch or music to listen vs. what to read.
I also tend to read more books in countries where I don't have easy internet access and often enjoy it. This suggests I probably still spend too much time reading blogs and checking emails (or do them too frequently) in my daily life.
Here's Shane Parrish on finding time to read. Finding time to do anything is mostly about willingness and trade-offs, and develop simple rules/habits help sustain the process.
Here's an infographic on whether you should check your email.
Conversations with David Foster Wallace
Posted in Books on October 21, 2013| 1 Comment »
Conversations with David Foster Wallace – a good book to learn about the life of DFW, how he thinks, and the inner struggles he had. The last article "The Lost Years and Last Days of David Foster Wallace" is especially poignant.
Thoughts from David:
"Writing fiction takes me out of time," he explains. "I sit down and the clock will not exist for me for a few hours. That's probably as close to immortal as we'll ever get.
The writers I know, there's a certain self-consciousness about them, and a critical awareness of themselves and other people that helps their work. But that sort of sensibility makes it very hard to be with people, and not sort of be hovering near the ceiling, watching what's going on. One of the things you two will discover, in the years after you get out of school, is that managing to really be an alive human being, and also to do good work and be as obsessive as you have to be, is really tricky. It's not an accident when you see writers either become obsessed with the whole pop stardom thing or get into drugs and alcohol, or have terrible marriages. Or they simply disappear from the whole scene in their thirties or forties. It's very tricky.
But there are a few books I have read that I've never been the same after, and I think all good writing somehow addresses the concern of and acts as an anodyne against loneliness. We're all terribly, terribly lonely. And there's a way, at least in prose fiction, that can allow you to be intimate with the world and with a mind and with characters that you just can't be in the real world.
I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction's job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. I guess a big part of serious fiction's purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of marooned in her own skull, to give her imaginative access to other selves. Since an ineluctable part of being a human self is suffering, part of what we humans come to art for is an experience of suffering, necessarily a vicarious experience, more like a sort of generalization of suffering. Does this make sense? We all suffer along in the real world; true empathy's impossible. But if a piece of fiction can allow us imaginatively to identify with characters' pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with our own. This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less along inside. It might be just that simple. But now realize that TV and popular film and most kinds of "low" art–which just means art whose primary aim is to make money–is lucrative precisely because it recognizes that audiences prefer 100 percent pleasure to the reality that tends to be 49 percent pleasure and 51 percent pan. Whereas "serious" art, which is not primarily about getting money out of you, is more apt to make you uncomfortable, or to force you to work hard to access its pleasures, the same way in real life true pleasure is usually a by-product of hard work and discomfort.
One thing TV does is help us to deny that we're lonely. With televised images, we can have the facsimile of a relationship without the work of a real relationship. It's an anesthesia of form. The interesting thing is why we're so desperate for this anesthetic against loneliness. You don't have to think very hard to realize that our dread of both relationships and loneliness, both of which are like sub-dreads of our dread of being trapped inside a self (a psychic self, not just a physical self), has to do with angst about death, the recognition that I'm going to die, and die very much along, and the rest of the world is going to go merrily on without me.
There is the anecdote about all Jane Austen's friends being terrified to talk around her because they knew they would end up in a book. I'm not sure how fiction and poetry work, but part of it is that really we notice a lot more than we notice we notice. A particular job of fiction is not so much to note things for people but rather to wake readers up to how observant they already are, and that's why for me as a reader the descriptions or just toss offs that I like the most are not the ones that seem utterly new but the ones that have that eerie "good Lord I've noticed that too but have never even taken a moment to articulate to myself."
Probably all jobs are the same and they're filled with horrible boredom and despair and quiet little bits of fulfillment that are very hard to tell anyone else about. That's just a guess.
He told me a joke: What does a writer say after sex? Was it as good for me as it was for you? There is, in writing, a certain blend of sincerity and manipulation, of trying always to gauge what the particular effect of something is gonna be," he said. "It's a very precious asset that really needs to be turned off sometimes. My guess is that writers probably make fun, skilled, satisfactory, and seemingly considerate partners for other people. But that the experience for them is often rather lonely.
Fiction's job used to be to make the strange familiar, to take you somewhere and let you feel that this was familiar to you. It seems that one of the things now is that everything presents itself as familiar, so one of the things the artist has to do now is take a lot of the familiarity and remind people that it's strange.
Success can be as difficult to recover from as failure. "You know the tic big-league pitchers have," his mother says, "when they know that they've pitched a marvelous game–but gee, can they do it again, so they keep flexing that arm? There was some of that. Where he said, 'OK. Good, that came out well. But can I do it again?' That was the feeling I got. There was always the shadow waiting."
In late 2001, Costello called Wallace. "He was talking about how hard the writing was. And I said, lightheartedly, 'Dave, you're a genius.' [DWF won the MacArthur genius award.] Meaning, people aren't going to forget about you. You're not going to wind up in a Wendy's. He said, 'All that makes me think is that I've fooled you, too."


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I've been married for a year, but with my husband for almost five years all together. Within the past seven months, I have felt like we are drifting apart. When we're together, we have nothing to talk about or everything he says annoys me. We are often in the same room together playing on our phones because there's nothing to talk about. I was recently contacted by an old fling, someone I had a huge crush on for about five years and was good friends with. We only slept together twice but never actually dated. While talking to this guy, I felt giddy and all my previous feelings resurfaced. It felt as though I had never met my husband. I am conflicted and don't know what I should do. I love my husband dearly, but I honestly feel bored with our relationship.
Their response:
Unfortunately, you're not alone. There's often a lull, right after the excitement of the engagement and the thrill of the wedding, when the honeymoon period peters out and two new spouses suddenly realize that they're not newlyweds anymore: They're just another married couple, sitting in another living room, playing Candy Crush on separate phones. And since you were together for four years before the wedding, I'm sure you have those days when you think that the wedding didn't change much: that you are, in some sense, right back where you started.Now reality, courtesy of me:
You sound so disconnected — and you mention twice that you're unable to even talk to each other. So, of course, this old flame rekindled some old passion. There's nothing wrong with a little flirting: Everyone flirts a little. It feels good to be desired. But you have to know your limits (and your partner's limits), and right now, you seem dangerously confused. It's one thing to flirt harmlessly when you know it's not going anywhere, but you're playing with fire when you're unhappy in your marriage and don't know what you want. It's probably not worth the risk. So think this through.
You say you love him dearly, so if you do, do not strike up some ill-conceived affair. It's only been a year since you took your vows, so it's too early to get complacent, and it's too early to become fatalistically convinced that nothing is ever going to change. You've got to focus on your marriage and not distract yourself. So, before you do anything else, tell your husband how you're feeling: Don't let quiet resentment gnaw away at your relationship from the inside. Start a discussion about how the reality of your marriage is different from your expectations. And try to get a handle on what's going on in his head too. He doesn't sound that happy, either.
Then maybe do something pro-active. This might sound cheesy, but maybe you should break up the monotony with a vacation. Get out of that house where you're always on your phones. Take a break, even if it's just for a weekend. Try to talk and have fun and reconnect.
And try to stop thinking about this former crush. Since you are distraught, I'd recommend that you cut him out of your life until you know what you want. Think about it: There are probably reasons you only slept with this old flame and never dated him. And there are certainly many more reasons you loved your husband so much that you put a ring on his finger.
Dear everyone who writes a litter like this:
The truth is, monogamy is not our biological norm and as such marriage is contrary to our nature. This sort of stuff will ALWAYS happen because the situation you're in is stupid to begin with and if we had been taught reality from the start no one would be in this mess.


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Share You Story on opensource.comOctober 16, 2016 - 1 minute read
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Results for "solyndra"
Dept. of Energy bureaucrats hole up behind pile of old Solyndra panels to dodge Trump's request for info
EuroSolyndra, here we come! Obama gives U.N. Green Climate Fund first $500 million of $3 billion he pledged
U.S. is only $20 trillion in debt, so why not?
California's 'green jobs' initiative has gone full Solyndra
Let's do lots more of this!
Hillary announces vision for America: A Solyndra in every home
Continuing, and increasing, the cronyism legacy
Hillary unveils economic plan: No Ubers, more Solyndras, rein in all hedge fund managers except her son-in-law
Sharing the prosperity (no, not hers)
Longing for the heady days of Solyndra, DOE 'investing' $4 billion to make it happen again
Memory lane
Solyndra-iffic: Energy Secretary Steven Chu stepping down
Green job
well done
Bankruptcy court update: Taxpayers to recover a grand total of $0 from Solyndra
Top Solyndra figure promotes 'Let's Move' at Dem convention
No Spinner zone
SOL Grotto: The Solyndra art exhibit
Down the tubes


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VAMOOZ is set to run two buses to the Grassington Dickensian Christmas Festival on Saturday 2nd December – picking up at Bradford, Shipley, Keighley, Burnley, Nelson, Colne and Barnoldswick.
VAMOOZ allows customers can request new bus trips and benefit from falling ticket prices as more people sign up – in the UK bus industry's first crowd funded and demand responsive service.
VAMOOZ manager, Rebecca Reeve-Burnett, commented: "The Grassington Dickensian Festival is one of the highlights of the Christmas season and we're pleased to be able to offer people a direct service. New VAMOOZ app customers also get £5 off their first trip so with this great offer – we're sure it's the cheapest way to get there too!"
Tickets can be purchased from Burnley Bus Station or Keighley Bus Station for a fixed price of £12.50 return but customers can benefit from the ticket price falling from £12.50 to £8, and a further £5 off for new customers, by making the purchase on the VAMOOZ app.
Customers living away from the route can also connect into the VAMOOZ trip pick-ups at no extra cost on any bus services run by the Keighley Bus Company and the Burnley Bus Company as these are run by Transdev Blazefield – the creators of VAMOOZ.
Booking travel on the special Vamooz branded buses is as simple. You can download the Vamooz App from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
There is also a dedicated website with full information on Vamooz, and more details on Twitter @goVAMOOZ and Facebook – just search for Vamooz.


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Read through of the general principle of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Learn about our objective diagnostic techniques, our utilization of natural herbs and various principles. We will even share knowledge about the basic theories of TCM. Learn more about the founder of Ming Town Refresh Health, Dr. Chen, or contact us for further information on our practices.
12 Physical Systems
There are twelve physical systems. According to a certain time and principle, they go up and down, and connect with each other on a daily basis. And each system has its own section of the most active time.
Three pairs of foot meridian have the highest representation of change in Yin/Yang. <The Yellow Emperor Inner Canon> said "The Tai Yang is to open while the Yang Ming is to close; the Shao Yang act like a hinge." This is to point out that Foot Tai Yang Bladder Meridian, Foot Yang Ming Stomach Meridian and Foot Shao Yang Gallbladder Meridian have their special functions in human physical activities. The abnormal changes in their Yin and Yang will be the key to disease.
The "Treatise On Cold Pathogenic Diseases" has thoroughly discussed in detail the abnormality of Yin and Yang of these three foot meridian and the pathological phenomena, and the resulting treatment rules.
The chart above is the twelve physical systems, six pairs of the Zang/Fu Yin/Yang (the yin/yang of our internal organs). In the connection of up and down, opening and closing of the twelve physical systems, each system has its own performance of a specific growth and decline of Yin and Yang, and they compose the activities of the human life large cycle, which is like a ring with no terminus. Their movement is as follows (on the left image).
Circulation Systems
There are three extremely important circulating systems that control and regulate Qi, Blood and Fluid respectively.
A. The system of heart, liver and spleen are responsible for regulating and controlling blood circulation.
B. The lung is the main source, constituting with all other meridian for Qi regulation and control.
C. The system of lung, spleen, kidney, bladder and SanJiao cooperate with each other for fluid regulation and control.
Foot Tai Yang Bladder Meridian is the easiest one to get affected amongst the twelve meridians, since it is the longest, most widely distributed and has the most important mission to our health. Once Foot Tai Yang Bladder Meridian breaks down, disease generates, such as diabetes, oedema, obesity, cervical spondylosis, sciatica, back pain, colds, fever, headaches, skin problems, etc. All this is closely related to Foot Tai Yang Bladder Meridian. Since the publication of "Treatise on Cold Pathogenic Diseases", the ancient medical doctors have provided a wealth of clinical experience and detailed discussions of this theory.
Diagnosis & Treatment
Cherry – Its property is warm, which can replenish our blood, strengthen the kidney, replenish Yang and strengthen our body, which is most suitable for people who are always weak and feel cold.
Pear – Pear helps to clear the heat and moisten our lung, and is suitable for people who have real heat or false heat that requires clearing.
Like we mention above, treating heat syndrome with cold methods and treating cold syndrome with heat methods is a kind of Chinese Medicine treatment. It reflects the rule of Yin Yang balance. To be specific, people who suffer from chills and lack of energy, in term of TCM, are Yang deficient. Therefore, energy and hot natural herbs should be used to help balance and regain the internal body environment. This is called "treating the cold syndrome with heat methods". However, Yin deficient people who suffer from hot night sweats should moisten with cool elements in nature, which helps to balance Yin and Yang. This is called "treating heat syndrome with cold methods". If this link is inaccurate, the internal body environment will not regain balance. On the contrary, it may cause further damage, and this is what we call misdiagnosis.
Yin Yang
(The Most Basic and Simple Theory in Traditional Chinese Medicine)
Yin/Yang balance – our body feels right, internal body environments are normal and there is no chance for any bacteria or virus to grow.
Yin excess/Yang deficient – our body feels discomfort, cold, lower energy and we lose the balance of internal body environments. This condition will cause the decrease of both the energy and immune systems, weakness of internal organs and, as a result, diseases generate.
Yin deficient/Yang excess – our body feels discomfort. We are hot internally, have night sweats and lose the balance of internal body environments. This condition will bring forth a decrease of both energy and the immune system, and disease will germinate. Under this condition, our body is host to a variety of pathogenic bacteria and virus growth. Skin disease and hair loss will appear.
Yin/Yang collapse – severe condition (dying).
Chinese Medicine describes the body physiology with pathology that is simple and clear. With improvements to the body's internal environment and an allowance of Yin and Yang to balance, the body will return to a normal and healthy condition. In the theory of Chinese Medicine treatment, Yin and Yang are always surrounded by the rule of balance. Simply put, treating heat syndrome with cold methods and treating cold syndrome with heat methods is a kind of Chinese Medicine treatment.
TCM Detoxification
This is a group of pictures which show a skin disease caused by toxins. The Chinese Medicine detoxification concept consists of three systems. Tai Yang Bladder Meridian, the Yang Ming Stomach Meridian and the Shao Yang gall Bladder Meridian cooperate with each other to detoxify the body through three important processes: defecation, urine and sweat.
The diagnosis for all skin disease must pay attention to these three systems, making sure they are normal. The causes of this skin condition most likely is the deterioration of detoxification function with improper diet and food. For example fish, shrimp, crab, fried and barbecue food will lead to such skin diseases.
The treatment for this disease is to strengthen the Yin substance and balance the Yin and Yang in order to enhance and improve the internal environment and detoxification system. Topical creams and anti-inflammatory medicine will not change the inner nature of the patient.
Pattern of Five Movements & Six Climates
These are a group of regular pattern charts "Five Movements and Six Climates" from years 2006 to 2012, which was created by a student of Professor Chen named Andy Leung. Andy based these on the Yellow Emperor theory, which is green representing the wood of the liver system, red representing the fire of the heart system, yellow representing the earth of the spleen system, white representing the metal of the lung system and black representing the water of the kidney system. The chart clearly indicates the change of the five elements, Yin and Yang as well as conditions of excess and deficiency.
Check Table for Five Movements & Six Climates
Mr. Andy Leung created this instant check table based on the theory of Yellow Emperor Inner Canon for "Five Movements and Six Climates (Wu Yun Liu Qi)". This is a quick and easy way to find out the condition of any year, which comes with the prediction, prevention and solution. One cycle contains 60 years. This table may apply to each cycle repeatedly. This theory is proved by a long-term clinical confirmation.
Prediction of Oncoming 2009 H1N1
Professor Chen has used the "Five Movement and Six Climates (WU Yun Liu Qi)" theory from the Yellow Emperor Inner Canon to predict that there would be a sudden onset epidemic of infectious disease in 2009. His predictive article was published on November 23 and 30 of 2007 in a Chinese newspaper. In fact, there was an epidemic H1N1 around the world after 2 years from making that prediction. This is one of the proofs of effective Chinese time medical theory.


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C21 Accounting & Payroll Solutions Ltd. are a limited company providing bookkeeping & payroll services to a variety of small and medium sized businesses, organisations and individuals. They offer a personal service which works around each clients requirements and provides a professional and efficient service. We also offer Auto Enrolment/Workplace Pensions assistance and ongoing reporting.
C21 Accounting & Payroll Solutions currently process payroll for charities, social enterprises, SMEs, Limited Companies, Nurseries, Play Centres, Franchises and for people in receipt of Direct Payments employing their own staff. Delivering a payroll service to a variety of ages and abilities.
Payroll prices vary depending on your payroll requirements but the service offers a very competitive pricing structure. For Direct Payments clients the service seeks to tailor their prices around funding, wherever possible.


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'Twas a world of limited options for digital libraries just a few short years back. Nowadays, however, the options are many more and the features and functionalities are truly groundbreaking.
Before I dive into some of the latest whizzbang technologies that have caught my eye, let me lay out the platforms we currently use and why we use them.
- Digital Commons for our institutional repository. This is a simple yet powerful hosted repository service. It has customizable workflows built into it for managing and publishing online journals, conferences, e-books, media galleries and much more. And, I'd emphasize the "service" aspect. Included in the subscription comes notable SEO power, robust publishing tools, reporting, stellar customer service and, of course, you don't have to worry about the technical upkeep of the platform.
- CONTENTdm for our digital collections. There was a time that OCLC's digital collections platform appeared to be on a development trajectory that would take out of the clunky mire it was in say in 2010. They've made strides, but this has not kept up.
- LUNA for restricted image reserve services. You and your faculty can build collections in this system popular with museums and libraries alike. Your collection also sits within the LUNA Commons, which means users of LUNA can take advantage of collections outside their institutions.
- Omeka.net for online exhibits and digital humanities projects. The limited cousin to the self-hosted Omeka, this version is an easy way to launch multiple sites for your campus without having to administer multiple installs. But it has a limited number of plugins and options, so your users will quickly grow out of it.
The Movers and Shakers of 2015
There are some very interesting developments out there and so here is a brief overview of a few of the three most ground-breaking, in my opinion.
If you took Blog DNA and spliced it with Journal Publishing, you'd get a critter called PresForward: a WordPress plug-in that allows users to launch publications that approach publishing from a contemporary web publishing perspective.
There are a number of ways you can use PressForward but the most basic publishing model its intended for starts with treating other online publications (RSS feeds from individuals, organizations, other journals) as sources of submissions. Editors can add external content feeds to their submission feed, which bring that content into their PressForward queue for consideration. Editors can then go through all the content that is brought in automatically from outside and then decide to include it in their publication. And of course, locally produced content is also included if you're so inclined.
Examples of PressForward include:
Built on Fedora Commons with a Drupal front-end layer, Islandora is a truly remarkable platform that is growing in popularity at a good clip. A few years back, I worked with a local consortia examining various platforms and we looked at Islandora. At the time, there were no examples of the platform being put into use and it felt more like an interesting concept more than a tool we should recommend for our needs. Had we been looking at this today, I think it would have been our number one choice.
Part of the magic with Islandora is that it uses RDF triples to flatten your collections and items into a simple array of objects that can have unlimited relationships to each other. In other words, a single image can be associated with other objects that all relate as a single object (say a book of images) and that book object can be part of a collection of books object, or, in fact, be connected to multiple other collections. This is a technical way of saying that it's hyper flexible and yet very simple.
And because Islandora is built on two widely used open source platforms, finding tech staff to help manage it is easy.
But if you don't have the staff to run a Fedora-Drupal server, Lyrasis now offers hosted options that are just as powerful. In fact, one subscription model they offer allows you to have complete access to the Drupal back end if customization and development are important to you, but you dont' want to waste staff time on updates and monitoring/testing server performance.
Either way, this looks like a major player in this space and I expect it to continue to grow exponentially. That's a good thing too, because some aspects of the platform are feeling a little "not ready for prime time." The Newspaper solution pack, for example, while okay, is no where near as cool as what Veridian currently can do.
ArtStor's SharedShelf
Rapid development has taken this digital image collection platform to a new level with promises of more to come. SharedShelf integrates the open web, including DPLA and Google Images, with their proprietary image database in novel ways that I think put LUNA on notice.
Like LUNA, SharedShelf allows institutions to build local collections that can contain copyrighted works to be used in classroom and research environments. But what sets it apart is that it allows users to also build beyond their institutions and push that content to the open web (or not depending on the rights to the images they are publishing).
SharedShelf also integrates with other ArtStor services such as their Curriculum Guides that allow faculty to create instructional narratives using all the resources available from ArtStor.
The management layer is pretty nice and works well with a host of schema.
And, oh, apparently audio and video support is on the way.


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Friday, July 17, 2009
Melissa's Denim Quilt
8 comments:
- Shari said...
Congratulations Melissa! This is stiking - and heavy I bet. This will surely keep you warm - and will make a great picnic rug too! Denim is such a hard-wearing material. Love the woven effect...
- July 17, 2009 at 8:12 PM
- Barb said...
Wow!!! That is awesome!!
- July 17, 2009 at 8:26 PM
- lawerence said...
Great job, Melissa!!! Love how you alternated the colors! welcome to the sisterhood!
- July 18, 2009 at 12:30 PM
- Melissa Wilson said...
Thanks! You all are so nice! It was a bit trying on my patience and my machine but I love it! Thanks for adding my quilt to the blog!
- July 18, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Hi! I am new to quilting, and I would really like to try making this one. I've collected denim for years, and I have a variety of contrasting colors that would look beautiful. How did you make this, Melissa?
I'd love the pattern if you don't mind sharing it.
- July 14, 2011 at 9:36 PM
- ictero said...
Melissa, I know you made this quilt a couple of years ago, but I just wanted to let you know that it was the inspiration for my Dad's Christmas present last year. I made it from his old jeans and some cool homespun plaids his sister gave to me. Thanks for the inspiration! Dad's quilt is here: http://pinterest.com/ictero/quilt/ and so is your inspirational quilt.
- September 9, 2011 at 9:03 PM
I love the look of this denim quilt. Are the blocks all the same size or is there an "A" block and a "B" block? What sizes of strips did you use and what are the finished and unfinished sizes of the blocks. I am also asking because I'm wondering if I will need to allow for more than 1/4" seam allowance. Thanks so much for responding!
- June 22, 2014 at 11:32 PM
- K Wardell said...
This quilt is fantastic!! So impressive that I would really love to have the instructions! Quite a feat, since even though I've sewn for years, I've always sworn off the idea of quilting! How would I access the instructions???? Thank you for your time!
Best regards!
- July 21, 2015 at 6:49 PM


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To honour this historic celebratory year we offer FREE postage to all of our valued customers using the code ROYAL MAIL at the checkout for any purchases made before 31 December 2016.
2016 commemorates 500 years since Henry VIII knighted Brian Tuke, the first Master of the Posts, in 1516. Since this time, Royal Mail has operated under 21 monarchs including our very own Queen Elizabeth II , our longest serving monarch of all time!
Royal Mail has been responsible for a number of world firsts – in 1840 the Penny Black, the first adhesive postal stamp launched; stamp and in 1911 saw the first ever airmail flight to name just two.
In 1943 Henry Cole launched the first Christmas Card and by the mid-1800s Robins began gracing the front of Christmas Cards. This change was due to the bright coated waistcoats that postman wore!
Today, the Royal Mail handles more than one billion parcels and more than 16 billion letters a year; is one of the UK's largest employers


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It's been a tough year for European egg shoppers. Millions of eggs were recalled in several countries after the harmful insecticide fipronil was discovered after the eggs were widely distributed to supermarkets. Seven countries have also reported salmonellosis outbreaks stemming from eggs.
At least 96 cases have recently been reported from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, with more than 30 probable cases also reported. The specific strain reported is Salmonella Enteritidis.
Earlier in the year, 14 countries confirmed 280 cases, with 257 probable-yet-unconfirmed cases. Food Quality News reports that in the prior four years, over 100 cases were confirmed, two fatal, with around 24 probable ones.
Investigations linked last year's outbreaks to a farm in Poland, and cases dropped after sanitation measures were taken at the implicated facility. It's still uncertain where the latest outbreaks came from.
Whole genome sequencing
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that the two confirmed cases fit in with two whole genome sequencing (WGS) groups, called Cluster_175 and Cluster_360.
WGS is a way of collecting data about Salmonella and other foodborne pathogens, like Listeria, Campylobacter and E. coli. It allows researchers to glean genetic information about a specific strain of bacteria. With the information gathered, outbreak investigators can track locations where the same pathogens have been found, forming links between where each strain appears. This makes it easier to trace back towards the source of any given outbreak.
About Salmonella Enteritidis
S. Enteritidis is one of the biggest concerns for poultry producers. The bacteria can contaminate eggs even if infected hens seem fine, and can pass on to humans via poultry meat or through undercooked or raw eggs.
In humans, the pathogen causes salmonellosis, a disease that is characterized by fever, cramps and diarrhea within 12 to 72 hours after contamination. Within 4 to 7 days, symptoms usually disappear without treatment, but severe cases are more likely to impact the very young, elderly, and immunocompromised. Serious cases may require antibiotic treatment or hospitalization to prevent the infection from spreading through the body.
Neogen offers rapid lateral flow and molecular detection tests for Salmonella in food and environmental samples. For more information, click here.


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Anthony Citrano, the photographer who accused W of Photoshopping Demi Moore's hip, claims that W Korea added a hip onto the same image for their January issue. Also: BoingBoing's been threatened with a lawsuit. [Anthony Citrano Photography via Us, BoingBoing]
Anthony Citrano Photography." />
Earlier: Lies, Hollywood Lawyers, & The Continuing Case Of Demi's Left Leg
Was Demi Moore Photoshopped Onto Model's Body For W? Not Likely
The Curious Case Of Demi Moore's Left Hip


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26feb - 28All DayBattery Japan 2020
Event Details
BATTERY JAPAN is world's leading
Event Details
BATTERY JAPAN is world's leading international exhibition for rechargeable battery, showcasing various components, materials, devices, finished rechargeable batteries for rechargeable battery R&D and manufacturing.
To learn more about Battery Japan: click here
26 (Wednesday) - 28 (Friday)
Aomi Hall
1-2-33 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan 135-0064
Reed Exhibition Japan Ltd.
28apr - 30All DayBattery Show Europe 2020
Event Details
The Battery Show Europe provides
Event Details
The Battery Show Europe provides an unparalleled opportunity to source the latest design, production, and manufacturing solutions from across the battery supply chain, including battery systems, materials, components, testing, and recycling.
To learn more about The Battery Show Europe: click here
28 (Tuesday) - 30 (Thursday)
Messe Stuttgart
Messepiazza 1 70629 Stuttgart, Germany
11may - 14All DayThe Banknote Conference®
Event Details
The Banknote Conference®, held every
Event Details
The Banknote Conference®, held every two years, has a long and rich history of providing an unparalleled opportunity to engage in interactive discussions with government and industry peers on leading technology trends and the state of the industry today. With presentations from respected government officials, technical experts, policy makers and enforcers, subject matter experts, banknote designers, and more, Banknote 2020 offers immense benefit and invaluable opportunities for delegates attending this technology-focused conference.
For more information about The Banknote Conference® : click here
11 (Monday) - 14 (Thursday)
Renaissance Washington
999 9th St NW, Washington, DC
8jul - 9jul 81:00 amjul 9Battery Cells & Systems Expo
Event Details
Battery Cells & Systems Expo
Event Details
Battery Cells & Systems Expo will bring together automotive manufacturers, electric utilities, battery system integrators, cell manufacturers and the entire manufacturing supply chain. A truly unique showcase, companies from around the world will use the show to launch products and demonstrate their technology to an audience of over 4,000 professionals.
To learn more about Battery Cells & Systems Expo: click here
8 (Wednesday) 1:00 am - 9 (Thursday) 1:00 am
Kenilworth CV8 2LZ, Stoneleigh, Coventry


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In this review, we re-assess the evidence that phonological awareness represents a skill specific to spoken language that precedes and directly influences the process of reading acquisition. Longitudinal and experimental training studies are examined in detail, as these are considered most appropriate for exploring a causal hypothesis of this nature. A particular focus of our analysis is the degree to which studies to date have controlled for existing literacy skills in their participants and the influence that these skills might have on performance on phonological awareness tasks. We conclude that no study has provided unequivocal evidence that there is a causal link from competence in phonological awareness to success in reading and spelling acquisition. However, we believe that such a study is possible and outline some ideas for its design and implementation.
Cognition – Elsevier
Published: Feb 1, 2004
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If you suspect someone in your family has a porn problem, arm yourself with truth. This column is much to short to delve into all you need to know in order to protect your family. Visit www.SalvoMag.com where you can order the "Silent Bondage" issue and equip yourself to combat pornography's stranglehold head-on.I'll get to the "Silent Bondage" as soon as I can.
Also Douglas MacKinnon purges David Brooks:
Brooks has unabashedly become a cheerleader for Obama. Again, that is his right. What is not his right is to color the facts, nor to arbitrarily assign intelligence and station in life to others....because I fucking know what that intelligence and station in life add up to and HE IS WRONG!
The Third Reason Townhall is Now All Gloss No Dross is John Hawkins with yet another fucking list, ending with this:
5) Obama is no Jackie Robinson: Because he's the first black President, Barack Obama's presidency is particularly meaningful to black Americans just as Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier meant a lot for the same reasons.John Hawkins is no:
However, there is a huge difference between the two men: Jackie Robinson was genuinely talented.
1. Irving Wallace
2. Amy Wallace
3. David Wallechinsky


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Watching this 60 minutes episode (scroll to end of post) got my mind running in a hundred different directions. Its clear to me now that the future of software is Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning. In the future, people aren't going to just want the software we're churning out right now. They're going to want software that learns their preferences and adjusts to their needs.
Manually set my alarm before I go to bed? pffft, the ios alarm app in 2020 will monitor the time you went to bed and use your past behavior to know that you need to be up in 4 hours.
The other thing that I realized is that the American economy is slowly moving to a phase where high skilled jobs will make up most of the job market. These jobs will be highly paid, but will also have to be highly taxed to support the rest of the country that simply will not have work.
We live in interesting times


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The Perverse Servility of Bill Barr - Frank Bruni: Donald Trump famously said that he could shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not "lose any voters." I don't know about that. But ...
30 minutes ago
Writer's Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Fone WST... +1318.717.9017
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." ~ Gaius Cornelius Tacitus
Posted by wst... at 12:58


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No Members yet
My Rating
Saji Surendran
G. Srinivasan, S. Kankalakshmi
M. Jayachandran
Kamal Haasan, Meera Jasmine, Jayaram, Jayasurya... more
Comedy, Romance
RA. Art Productions
Feb 03, 2012
Four Friends is a Comedy, Romance telugu movie, directed by Saji Surendran, starring Kamal Haasan, Meera Jasmine, Jayaram, Jayasurya along with others. Here, on the movie page, you will find every thing that you need to know. Check out what others are saying about the movie on twitter.
Copyright 2010-2013: Gomolo. All Rights reserved. | Terms | Privacy


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We believe that improved wellbeing translates to a healthier, happier and more productive workforce. That's why we developed a comprehensive, customizable program that seamlessly uses technology, activity trackers, targeted incentives and game mechanics to turn things we all should be doing—like drinking more water or taking the stairs—into motivating challenges that help people achieve healthier lifestyles.
start small or go big.
Choose the features that best fit your needs:
mobile app
Support employees on their wellness journey 24/7 with updates, goals, incentives and rewards—directly to their smartphones.
integrated coaching
Make the wellness experience more personal with coached challenges, a monthly health series and educational webinars. Click here for pricing.
fresh expert content
Engage employees with new monthly challenges, contests, incentives and programs to tackle weight loss, tobacco cessation and more.
unlimited challenge platform
Create custom challenges to complement the hundreds of expert-created and coached challenges in our extensive catalog.
biometric screenings
Give employees valuable health insights and recommend challenges that target their specific needs.
Click here for pricing.
launch support
Get strategic consultation to determine your organization's wellness goals and learn best practices for a successful launch.
turnkey incentive engine
Create custom, automated incentive programs using amazon gift cards, premium differential or HSA deposits.
device integration
Let employees easily check in or track progress by synching their data with activity trackers.
communication toolkit
Motivate employees to register and get started with customized communication tools.
Jumpstart the wellness experience with a health quiz that matches employees to relevant, immediately actionable challenges.
real-time aggregate reporting
Gain valuable insights by logging into the hubbub dashboard at any time to view real-time employee activity.
friend and family access
Keep employees engaged and accountable by offering hubbub access to their friends and families.
Book a tour of hubbub today | Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Fertility Tests
- Semen analysis: the male partner is often tested early in the evaluation as it is a test that easy to perform and generally of low cost. In 20% of infertile couples, the infertility appears to be exclusively attributable to the male partner and in 40 % of couples the male is partly responsible.
- Documentation of ovulation: A variety of methods exist to document that a woman is ovulating. A common approach is to test at home with basal body temperature chart (BBTs) or ovulation predictor kits (OPKs), which can be obtained over the counter at the pharmacy. Unfortunately these methods are not sufficiently precise or accurate. A better test, in our experience, is a simple blood test called progesterone, which can be drawn approximately one week prior to the next anticipated menses. An alternative is to do an ultrasound, but generally this is not necessary and more expensive than the blood test for progesterone. A lack of ovulation as predicted by a low progesterone level may be found in up to 20% of infertile women and can be relatively easy to treat.
- Documentation of normal female anatomy: The uterus should ideally be free of tumors that are large and/or near the endometrium, which is the site of embryo attachment. Additionally the tubes should be free of obstruction and freely mobile in order to capture an egg efficiently. A combination of tests may be necessary to fully evaluate all of these factors. An ultrasound is a commonly performed at the first visit. The purpose of the ultrasound to exclude the presence of uterine tumors, ovarian cysts, and estimate the number of eggs contained within the ovaries (preantral follicle count).
- Commonly the next test is a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), which is scheduled on a different day. If the tubes are closed, the sperm cannot reach the egg and fertilization will not occur.
- Lastly, a laparoscopy can be performed and is typically the last test of normal anatomy to be scheduled. This test is actually an outpatient surgery to identify endometriosis or scar tissue that can interfere with conception in a variety of ways.
- Other miscellaneous tests. Based on a couple's history, the age of the female, or the test results from the above testing, additional tests may be ordered. These include:
- Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Elevations of this hormone are generally not good as it indicates a limited number of eggs remaining within the ovaries
- Antimullerian hormone (AMH). Diminished levels of this hormone are another indicator of limited egg number.
- Semen profile. This is a more sophisticated sperm test than an ordinary semen analysis. It is often used as a follow up to an abnormal semen analysis and is performed when decisions are needed as to whether a procedure such as in vitro fertilization is necessary.
- Individuals with irregular ovulation should be tested with a variety of blood tests. These tests look for a variety of hormones that could explain the irregular or absent periods, and could be a clue to a simple treatment, such as hyperthyroidism (high thyroid levels) or hypothyroidism (low thyroid levels). One important test looks for an abnormality of blood sugar (glucose) levels and can be important for the babys and mothers health. Control of abnormal blood sugar levels is best accomplished prior to conception.
Our Services
We provide all services for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility including an outstanding IVF and donor egg program.
We also offer intrauterine insemination (IUI), medical treatment, and advanced laparoscopic surgery.
Office Hours
Monday-Thursday 8AM - 5PM
Friday 8AM - 1PM
Our patients can reach us for emergencies 24 hours a day by calling our main number.
If your situation is life threatening, dial 911 or go directly to your local ER.


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24-Hour Hotline 888.438.8700
The Hope's Door hotline is the gateway to all of our services. Call and speak up for yourself — or for someone who can't.
You don't have to give your name, and we won't tell you what to do.
We will help you maximize your safety, explore your options, advise you of your legal rights, and help you make the best decision for yourself.
You are not alone.
Emergency Shelter
A safe haven is the number one defense against domestic violence. At our shelter, we strive to create a welcoming environment where the residents can find safety, experience peace of mind, heal physically and emotionally, and plan for a future without abuse.
View our other Programs and Services.
Service Locations
50 Broadway, Office #01, Hawthorne, NY 10532. 914.747.0828 by appointment.
100 S. Highland Avenue, Ossining, NY 10562. 914.747.0828 by appointment.
Confidential Location – 24-Hour Hotline 888.438.8700


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It is important to us that you are completely satisfied with your
handmade wood box or clock. If it does not meet or exceed your
expectations please return it, in original condition, for an
exchange or full refund.
remember that if the gift recipient is not thrilled,
or simply wantsa different wood combination,
the box is returnable!
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or manipulated without the written permission of the artist.
Deborah Keese and Alan Freund
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Ann Arbor, MI 48105
E-mail: info@BurlWoodBox
Site Design and Image Production by Chris
Maher and Larry Berman


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Becky works as a public health engineer and researcher in South Africa. She is a trustee of Nile Swimmers and leads their Research and Vulnerable Communities programmes. On behalf of RLSS Commonwealth, Becky developed the Emerging Leaders Workshops which give young people from Commonwealth countries the project management skills necessary to run drowning prevention projects. She has presented to the Commonwealth on how drowning links with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She is interested in developing evidence-based, context-specific drowning prevention interventions for LMICs, and in the link between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and drowning prevention.
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Hair loss in women poses unique challenges. But there have been new advances that give many women hope for thicker, more beautiful hair.
Atlanta Face & Body now offers Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Hair Loss Therapy. This is one of the most talked-about new therapies for women's hair loss because PRP can improve hair health and encourage regrowth.
PRP can be used the treatment of Androgenic Alopecia (Female Pattern Hair Loss), Alopecia Areata, and Traction Alopecia.
You could be a candidate for PRP if you have been suffering from thinning hair, excessive hair loss, or poor hair health. Dr. Elizabeth and her staff will provide you with a thorough evaluation during your private consultation and present you with potential options for treatment. Then you'll be able to decide for yourself what is the best approach for you.
Your body is full of natural growth factors and stem cells that are activated by platelets to assist your body in wound healing and cell regeneration. PRP Hair Regrowth Therapy utilizes these natural growth factors and stem cells by isolating the platelet rich portion of your blood. This concentration of platelets, and therefore concentration of growth factors, is up to ten times greater than normal. PRP stimulates new hair growth by re-activating dormant follicles and heals the follicle at a cellular level, which results in healthier thicker hair.
Your platelets are harvested and concentrated, isolating the growth factors. The concentrated serum is then injected into your scalp using a series of injections. PRP has been around for over 20 years. It is used for its wound healing capabilities in various medical specialties including cardiovascular surgery, orthopedics, sports medicine, dermatology and other medical specialties. PRP was first utilized to treat hair loss in 2004, however it is not until recently that studies have shown its full potential in treating hair loss.
Because the process is non-surgical, recovery time is minimal. You'll be given detailed instructions as to how to care for yourself–and anything you should avoid–during the recovery process.
As the growth factors in your platelets begin to take effect in their targeted locations, hair growth is stimulated and your hair may become fuller and healthier. Ongoing treatment may be needed for maintenance of results.


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A Perfect Finish
When approached for floor tiles to suit this beautiful kitchen, we were thrilled!
We travelled to Coventry to measure and supply a FREE quotation to supply and fit floor tiles in this stylish kitchen/diner and through to the utility room. The tiles needed to be strong, versatile and resistant and fit the feel of the space, which is minimalist and sleek.
With the customer we choose a Porcelanosa 60cm x 60cm large format floor tile, which had a industrial, matt finish. The Tile had a grain like design running through which really gives it a natural look. Designer industrial tiles in beige/grey are one of the colour palettes favoured by our expert tile designers, we are always excited to work with our favourite materials and products.
After the quote was produced , the work got underway. We helped create this amazing, designer kitchen and think you will agree that the final rooms have been done to the best quality and look fantastic.
In order to create the final finish we used a number of our products including:
• Porcelanosa 60cm x 60cm tiles
• Ultra Tile - flexible rapid set adhesive
• Ultra Tile - grey grout with a 3mm space
• Concrete screed
• Floor primer
• Carpet to tile trims to finish.
This space with the grey concrete effect tiles produces a space that exudes urban chic and commercial elegance. These are highly contemporary and will age timelessly.
If you are thinking of starting your own project, why not contact our design experts and chat about your options. We have the tiles to suit any space, small or large.


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Deep Blue Depthmaster 3K II Automatic
This Deep Blue Depthmaster 3K II Automatic, one of a limited edition of 3000 pieces distributed worldwide, is in a 51mm x 19.5mm black PVD coated SS screw back case with unidirectional rotating bezel (featuring a sapphire insert) and SS case back, water resistant to 3000 meters. It has a sapphire crystal and the screw down crown is signed. The black wave dial features brightly fluorescent white baton markers with red trim and quickset date at three. This watch is on a signed, black PVD coated SS bracelet with fliplock, push button deployant clasp, long enough for an eight inch wrist. It is in near mint condition, without a scratch or other flaw on the case or crystal, with minor scuffs on the case back and deployant clasp. The Miyota cal 9015 24 jewel automatic movement maintains accurate time within a tolerance of nine seconds per day. This preowned Deep Blue dive watch, which will be sold with box and instruction manual, has a current list price (MSRP) of $999.
|Deep Blue


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I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Aon.
Applied thourgh campus recruitment. Mostly behavioral question. Asked about resume and leadership skills in particular. My career goals in several years later etc. and about exams taken. It was overall very typical.
I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Aon in January 2018.
Went through a video interview then a 1/2 phone screening. Despite multiple emails, they completely ghosted me and refused to give me an indication if I'd advanced to the next round. Completely gutless.
Interview Questions
Helpful (1)
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Aon in February 2016.
Talked to recruiter on the phone and then was sent a link to an online video platform for the first round of interviews. The first few questions you were given a few minutes to prepare and then the final questions you had to answer right away and did not have any time to prepare. Practice interviewing on a video platform beforehand because it is much different than real life.
Interview Questions
I applied online. The process took a week. I interviewed at Aon (San Francisco, CA (US)) in February 2017.
it was all online, very impersonal. It was not organic. Besides that it was quite average, easy to set up as long as you had the required specs on your computer. They asked questions relating to the position and not much else.
Interview Questions
Helpful (12)
I applied online. I interviewed at Aon in March 2017.
First round- Online Video Interview
Next round- 2 hour phone interview with 4 different people. The questions were mostly behavioral and they just wanted to know more about how I would fit with the company. They did a really great job of giving me information about the job so that I could know if I would fit well with the company as well.
Interview Questions
Helpful (1)
Recruitment on campus. Interview with two company representatives. They were friendly and gave time to answer questions. Asked mostly behavioral questions and some programming questions. There were several rounds of interviews.
Interview Questions
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Aon.
The process consisted of a phone screen interview and two assessments (personality and logic). It was pretty typical. Although I was not offered a position, I was overall please with their responsiveness.
Interview Questions
Helpful (1)
I applied through other source. The process took 4 days. I interviewed at Aon (Chicago, IL (US)) in June 2010.
My interviewers were friendly, clear and communicated clearly. They didn't ask any tricky questions and wanted to make sure I would be a good fit for the team.
Interview Questions
Negotiation was not necessary; interns are paid fairly.
there were a few interviewers waiting there and asking me to sit, they introduced themselves briefly and started asking me questions. there were a few interviewers waiting there and asking me to sit, they introduced themselves briefly and started asking me questions
Interview Questions
simple. English test with HR followed by the typical questions of why you want to work here. Then, there was another interview with head of department. This part consisted also on very easy questions. It was more a description of the role rather than an interview
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