text:
• Multimedia SCTJM
• Splendor of Religious
• SCTJM Pilgrimages
Angelus Address
"On the Meaning of Advent"
December 3, 2017
The Holy Father prays
for the victims of the massive earthquake on Iran-Iraq boarder
Angelus Address
Solemnity of All Saints
November 1, 2017
Intentions of the Holy Father
Month of October
Let us unite with the Holy Father during the month of October to pray for the following intentions...+
All on Divine Mercy
Page by SCTJM
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
in the Church Today
Sr. Sara Marie, sctjm
Mary: Heart of Theology
Theology of the Heart
Card. Christoph von Schoenborn, OP
The Importance of
Divine Mercy for Our Times
Mother Adela Galindo, sctjm
"The Blood and Water from
Side of Christ"
Dr. Brant Pitre
Consecration of the Family to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Written by Mother Adela, Foundress SCTJM, based on the legacy of St. John Paul II on the Family
Feast of St. John Paul II
October 22
The Servants invite you to celebrate this great day,
see details of the event>>>
Making Memory of the Legacy
of St. John Paul II
With Mother Adela Galindo, Foundress sctjm
Homily on the Easter Vigil
April 14, 1979
"In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness!"
Homily of St. John Paul II
Dedication of Divine Mercy Shrine, Krakow, Poland
August 17, 2002
Fatima, Marriage, and the
Theology of the Body
Brian Kranick
"You are being ordained
for them, not for you"
Homily of Archbishop Thomas Wenski
Metropolitan Archbishop of Miami
at the priestly ordination of 4 deacons
May 12, 2018
"For Jesus' Followers,
The Cross is the Way"
Reflection by Archbishop Thomas Wenski
Good Friday, March 30, 2018
Australian Bishops: "A change in civil law does not change the Catholic understanding of marriage"
The Rosary in the Family
Ingruentium Malorum
Encylical of Pope Pius XII
Religious Freedom:
A Gift and Challenge
Archbishop William Lori
Wisdom of the Heart:
St. Jose Maria Escriva
"The Lord's triumph, on the day of the Resurrection, is final... Be filled with hope: Jesus Christ is always victorious."
St. Thomas the Apostle
Feast: July 3
One of the Twelve Apostles. Known for
having coming to believe in Jesus' resurrection only after having touched His wounds. Evangelized India..+
St. Elizabeth of Portugal
Feast: July 4
Queen who dedicated herself to charitable works for the glory of God...+
St. Maria Goretti
Feast: July 6
Young girl who was killed defending her purity. Before dying she forgave her attacker...+
Prayer to the
Blood of Christ for Families
by Mother Adela, sctjm
"Be Protagonists of the Future to Build a New Civilization of Love"
Mother Adela, Foundress, SCTJM
Theology on Tap
Archdiocese of Miami Young Adults
Consecration to the Pierced Hearts
of Jesus and Mary
Written by Mother Adela, Foundress, SCTJM
Suffering: A Mystery of Love and Fecundity in the Lives of the Saints
by Mother Adela, Foundress SCTJM
The Triumph of the Maternal Heart of Our Lady and the Church
Teaching given to the Respect Life Ministry
by Mother Adela, Foundress SCTJM
Heart to Heart with
Mother Adela, sctjm
"Like Our Lady, Let us Be On a Journey to Go in Haste Wherever the Spirit Leads Us"
Words of Mother Adela, sctjm at the First Profession of Vows of Sr. Monica and Sr. Molly
A Tribute to Religious Life
according to St. John Paul II
by SCTJM
What's the Secret to 70 years of Religious Life? The Virgin Mary, this Religious Says
"Joyfully and Serenely"
33 Questions Regarding Vocations
to the Religious Life
SCTJM & Msgr. Charles Mangan
Do you feel called to
the Religious Life?
Brief vocational exam
Pope Paul VI as Prophet:
Have Humanae Vitae's
Predictions Come True?
Dr. Janet Smith
The Power of the Rosary
Testimony from the Life of St. Dominic
from the writings of St. Louis de Montfort
US Supreme Court Case:
A California law requires pro-life centers to display abortion information
"The Journey of Education"
Pope Francis shares how Catholic schools constitute the ideal environment for enhancing the commitment to the gospel...+
Fr. Imad Twal
"In What Sense is the Life of
Christ a Mystery?"
Part of the Compendium Series
by Sr. Mary Angela, sctjm
Eucharistic Cenacle:
October 19, 2018
"Jesus, I Trust in You"
(see video)
"He Wanted Me to be Totally His"
Article in Florida Catholic
about the First Profession of Four of our Sisters
"John Paul II and the Youth:
I Believe in You"
Address to Catholic School Teachers
Diocese of Peoria, IL
Sr. Sara Marie Kowal, sctjm
Every Life is a Gift
Rosary Decade Campaign
Promoting the Dignity
of Life
Click for more information...
Veneration of the Official Pilgrim Relic of the Blood of St. John Paul II
Liturgical Calendar
Month of October
The Bible and the
Practice of Lectio Divina
Fr. Joe Rogers
Homily: 10th Monday in Ordinary Time
"The Beatitudes: A Path to Building the Civilization of Love Inside of Us and Around Us"
Fr. Theodore Lange
"On the Role of the Old Testament
for Knowing Jesus"
Address of St. John Paul II to the Pontifical Biblical Commission...+
"St. Paul Apostle of Christ"
Address of Jim Caviezel to Youth
"When Love Was Born"
Mark Schultz
World Watch List for
Persecution of Christians
Map of where in the world Christians are
being most persecuted...+
by Open Doors USA
*For more information see
the flyer>>>
*To fill out the application in a
Google form form>>>
*To make your donation
* Angelus
* Totus Tuus
* Memorare
* Holy Rosary
* Our Lady of the Smile
* Total Consecration of Oneself to Jesus Through Mary - St. Louis de Montfort
* Consecrations to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary written by Mother Adela Galindo, Foundress SCTJM
* Memorare of
St. Joseph
* Prayers to St. Michael the Archangel
The Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary began this page on August 22, 2006, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary,
placing our Marian charism at the service of the New Evangelization.
It is our constant prayer, that this simple effort may help many hearts to discover the splendor of the Magisterium and Treasures of the Church,
and so form ardent and luminous witnesses of the faith to build a new civilization of love and life.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2006-2014


text:
BBC Books
|Mark Michaelowski
|0 563 48613 9
|Synopsis: To lose one set of memories may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two smacks of carelessness. The Terran colony world of Espero seems the unlikely source of a sophisticated distress call. And the Doctor, Fitz and Trix are not the only ones responding to it. While Fitz consorts with royalty, the Doctor's on the run with a sixteen year old girl, and Trix meets a small boy with a dark secret. In a race for the minds and souls of an entire planet, the Doctor and Trix are offered temptations that may change them forever. At least one of them will be unable to resist.
Therapy... by Joe Ford 12/5/04
Why is the Doctor deliberately ignoring his memory loss? Does Fitz have kinky dreams about the Doctor? Is Trix a human being or just a nasty stereotypical cow? Can the EDA's continue after the definitive conclusions that Sometime Never... provided for the series without feeling anti-climatic? Open the pages of Halflife to answer all of these questions and more...
Therapy. Every now and then any series needs some. I have noticed a pattern emerging in each of the Doctor Who lines; every time there is a huge upheaval in the arc storyline there is book afterwards that is a little lighter, a little brighter and a re-affirmation that something new and wonderful is starting despite the changes. Tears of the Oracle had The Joy Device. Interference had The Blue Angel. Adventuress of Henrietta Street had Mad Dogs and Englishmen. And Sometime Never... is fortunate enough to be paired with Halflife, a long therapeutic massage for each of the regulars, taking the time to examine their relationships that were pushed to the sidelines in the arc-thick run of books that ran from Time Zero to S N...
Can I just say it is WONDERFUL to have the Doctor and company back out in the universe. I am a huge fan of the Earthbound stories which may have accounted for my fawning affection for the shattered realities arc but even I have to admit visiting alien worlds is an absolute joy. And Espero proves to be rather unusual because although it is an alien world it is colonised by humans with an obsessive religious system. Michalowski creates a strange new world based on the Catholic religion with some intriguing city names like Eden and Paradise but with lots of off kilter reminders that this is not Earth.
There is an intriguing passage in the book that addresses the feeling of Justin Richards and the Doctor's amnesia. The Doctor and Father Roberto are talking about Espero and their law against remembering the past and some of the lines ring true when you take them as a metaphor for the Doctors memory status. "How can we know where we're going when we don't know where we've come from" says Roberto to which the Doctor replies "But we all need a fresh start sometimes, we can't live in the past forever." Roberto considers this and replies "It would be nice if we could just start living in the present." Very interesting when taken out of context.
With all honesty it was about time somebody wrote this story. The Doctor has been without his memories for such an age now and people were starting to be put off by the books because they refused to address this issue. Admittedly I was fine with the avoidance, hints were enough to keep me hooked. Both City of the Dead and Camera Obscura dealt with the horror of the Doctor being restored, that he was forcibly pushing the memories back because they would harm him. Timeless brought up the issue again and the Doctor's moody response to Anji's prodding suggested that he knew their return was a possibility but he was scared of finding out the truth. Halflife takes the idea of re-uniting with his past to a climax where he is genuinely offered his past lives back, a huge gift which he isn't sure he really wants. Of course I will not tell you the result of his decision, only that it makes perfect sense, dramatically, creatively and in keeping the fans happy. This was probably a response to the fan uproar and I'm glad it took place; you'll find yourself hanging on every page as your hero comes closer and closer to his dreams.
Also addressed was the Doctor's relationship with Fitz and one that I noticed was showing signs of wear and tear in recent stories. The Doctor's treatment of Fitz in Sometime Never... was extraordinarily harsh; he was patronising and rarely had any time for his best friend who was left at the sidelines scratching his head throughout. Okay so all of predicted history was in danger of extinction but you would think the Doctor would remember his manners.
I loved how Halflife dealt with their strained friendship, a truly unusual way of bonding. When you reach the scene of Fitz and the Doctor naked in the console room rubbing bum cheeks together you will be laughing out loud at the lengths Michalowski goes to show that they are still very much best friends. There is a wonderful moment at the book's climax where he Doctor examines the adventure they have had and realises just how tough it is to be Fitz during all their hair raising adventures. It is this sort of revelation that keeps you returning to these characters, where they continue to be friends despite the obstacles that are thrown in their way. It is rare for the Doctor to be this close to any of his companions, and trust me they get closer than you could ever imagine, and it confirms that he and Fitz are made for each other. For anyone who wanted to see Fitz leave earlier, this book may force them to change their opinion.
So what about the sour apple in the orchard? Miss Beatrice Macmillan. Astonishingly Michalowski manages to get us closer to Trix in her FIRST scene of Halflife than in any of her previous books put together. Trix is used to excellent effect here, her obsession with disguising herself is bordering on self-loathing and here it is her downfall. In a planet full of black people where she cannot hide herself behind a fake persona she is forced to confront who she really is. Interestingly she keeps thinking of Anji, a jealousy that points to her fear of failure, to really wanting to fit in with the Doctor and Fitz. Plus the book hints at a dark past for the character, one that is bound to creep out in future books. Needless to say she now has a hook, Trix is very troubled in a very different way from New Ace and Sam (thank God!), rather than the spoilt brats of the past here we have a dangerous personality, aggressive emotions bubbling under the surface and waiting to burst free. We haven't seen anyone this unpredictable in the TARDIS since Leela, let's see where she takes us...
Despite using the regulars very effectively, the book enjoys an engaging number of secondary characters that glow from the pages. Camalee occasionally threatens to fall into the 'potential companion' trap (you know, the 'Oh I wish I could come with you and escape my ever so dull life') but she is faithful and opinionated and about halfway through I decided I would quite like to see her leave at the end. Her presence in the Doctor's amnesiac life is welcome; she continually slaps him around the face (with words) and reminds him of what is important. Her monkey Nessus is terrific rather than sickeningly cute, he provides one of the best twists in later chapters, proving surprising and tragic. Imperator Tannailis has a wonderful line in insults, especially towards his horrid wife ("Horse cack!" was my favourite!) and while his presence in the book is rather superfluous early on he is nevertheless very funny to be around ("It was a beautiful day until you dragged your raddled old carcass in here!"). I am pleased that during the furious climax Michalowski does not forget his characters and provides a fitting end for each of them. Alinti and Trove, a memorable pair of nasties get a fitting send off! The plot bubbles with mysteries and the characters are written very entertainingly to divert you from the answers.
These positive words might lead you to think this is a perfect book, I don't believe in such a thing and while this does follow Michalowski's promising debut with something even stronger he once again gets ponderous in the middle chapters. It is frustrating because the Doctor and Fitz, the only ones who can give us answers to all the strange things going on in Espero have both lost their memory. It feels as though a lot of weird things are happening without a reason and the characters are just meandering until the answers turn up. Admittedly this it is hysterical meandering with the Doctor smoking, eyeing up women and swearing like a trooper but even so I was happier when events started to fall into a more cohesive whole. I also take objection to some of the heavier swearing in the book, a lot fresher than the 'cruks' from the NAs but they were cropping up all over the place. For such a fun book this seems like some annoying stabs of reality.
The last third is the best of the book and some very imaginative ideas are exposed. I loved the answer to what was happening to the ground of Espero and just what came down in the first chapter. Its great to see the book range using such BIG SF ideas again and it helps give the book a fresh feel after the heavy realism of recent books. Events come to a head in style; there are moral dilemmas, anguished characters, fights, deaths, rebirths and character confrontations... the whole kitten caboodle! Like Sometime Never... the future looks bright and with some intriguing talk of regeneration, memories and re-unions, there is still plenty of life left in this series.
It is the first book to be published since the news that the EDAs will be coming to an end as a series, Halflife reminds us that the 8th Doctor range isn't all arc plots and angst. Sometimes adventuring can just be a laugh and this is perfect therapy to anyone who has been put off of late. The book is a laugh riot with a serious message, the past is good (of which there are some marvellous kisses to) but what is happening now is just as fab.
Brilliant entertainment and the best look at the Doctor and Fitz by
Supplement, 5/8/05:
Supplement, 5/8/05:
Reasons to enjoy Halflife...
Reasons to dislike Halflife...
A Review by Finn Clark 25/6/04
There's a lot to enjoy in Half Life. I like its world. I like its easy readability. I even like its characters, despite an uninspiring start. (I don't care about Joshua, I want Trix dead, I'm not even supposed to like Alinti, etc.) The Signal From Fred on p160 has a certain amount of truth, but I kinda liked Calamee, Sensimi and the Imperator. I was happy to read about them, anyway.
Unfortunately it's an 8DA. I'm imagining the anguished telephone call. "An 8DA starring who? That's very, um... couldn't I just write it as a PDA? No, any era. Absolutely any era. Or maybe a flashback 8DA with the Congenital Idiot and Sam Jones? I'd even let you stick forks in my eyes. Yes, I know I missed the Alternate Universe Arc and, yes, I'm very grateful, but..."
The 8th Doctor gets amnesia. Yes, again. You know, because it was so thrilling the first, second, third, etc. times. In fact this is extremely well handled and is the kind of thoughtfulness we desperately needed in early 2001, but by now I've fallen through "not caring" into active derision. There's an impressive rationalisation of the Doctor's attitude on p128, but we all know the real reason why he doesn't want his memories back. The editor hath spoken. I couldn't ask for a better exploration of the Doctor's feelings about his amnesia, but I'd have preferred an exploration of something I want to read about. The whole thing's a bit crap and has been for years now.
Trix is, um. Yeah, well. There's an exciting bit on p244 where we think she's going to die, but unfortunately the Doctor saves her. I had to laugh at the dramatic climax where either: (a) the Doctor must let Trix die, or (b) get his memories back. What, can't we have both? [No, I won't tell you how that gets resolved.] Oh, and on p99 we learn that Trix doesn't usually 'do kids'. So now you know.
Fitz is still here too. Why?
There's fannishness, as in Relative Dementias, this time manifesting itself through sad squeaking references to other books. It's like a Gary Russell novel, except that it's reminding us about last year's stories instead of last century's. This backfires most spectacularly with the name of the planet: Espero. Half Life is littered with nods to other people's planets and I was going crazy trying to recall where I'd previously seen the name "Espero". After I'd finished the book, I realised I was misremembering "Hyspero" from The Scarlet Empress.
This links into a self-referential knowingness that I wasn't wild about. There's the aforementioned Signal From Fred, characters use the term 'technobabble' and the Doctor describes a flashback sequence as a "previously on..." (you know, as in Buffy or Angel). Maybe other people find this cute. I don't.
All that said, this is a good book. It's likeable and pleasantly written, feeling more like a pre-cutback novel than a post-cutback one. I'm impressed by Michalowski's subtle treatment of what happened to Fitz and the Doctor, which I didn't pick up on for yonks despite some big clues. Calamee makes a likeable temporary companion, though she ends up being superfluous to the plot. That's true of everyone, by the way. The baddies all meet convenient fates without affecting anything. However I liked the underlying story of alien knick-knacks and various offworld powers, so the novel kept me happily reading anyway.
The book even squeezed a laugh out of me on p105. Its world feels richer and more believable than most, with history and geography instead of the usual "two factions and a corridor". In fact I'd say that Half Life's strongest feature is Espero and its culture. Michalowski's handling of the TARDIS crew is impressive, all things considered, and if only the 8DAs had been like this over the past three years I might still care about them. Recommended.
A Review by Andrew McCaffrey 24/1/05
Halflife didn't have to do a lot to impress me. Coming after the "Alternative Universe/Causality Is Falling Apart/Sabbath's Employers Are Really Dull" arc, all Halflife had to do was show up, being vaguely enjoyable, and it would automatically rise above the average and set itself up as the bold look forward.
I did, in fact, find Halflife enjoyable, although I couldn't describe it as much more than mediocre. It does a lot of nice things, but it doesn't have enough of a wallop for them to be really effective. The book is successful when concentrating on the characters (I particularly enjoyed following Trix's story), but less so when forced along by its (merely adequate) plot.
For example, take the setting that we have. It's actually quite good and an effective use of world-building. I was really interested in this planet and enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second because that was the portion where much of the exploration and explanation took place. Yet, it doesn't quite ring totally true. In a nice touch, the population is made up entirely of non-white human colonists (despite the freedom that the novels allow, we still usually end up with planets populated by four to six British character actors). But somehow their society's ruling structure is based on Northern European fairy-tales (we have the evil, scheming Queen; the old, sick, kindly King; the dopey, "bad" Prince; etc).
There's a lot of other stuff that almost works, but just stops short of being really effective. Take the book's characters. When they're introduced, they're thinking, living creatures who you could imagine having lives of their own. Yet once the story gets going, they become more generic. In fact, in the later stages, I was having trouble keeping two characters separated in my mind despite the fact that in the beginning they had vastly different characteristics.
And as for the amnesia stuff that appears here again... Why is it I feel that I have more confidence in the amnesia idea than the editorial staff does? I mean, honestly, it's not that big of a deal. The Doctor's lost some -- but not all -- of his memory. This prevents him from spouting random continuity references every few paragraphs. Fine. Great. Must we keep going on defending it? If it's going to be resolved, can we get on with resolving it? If it's going to be the current state of affairs, can we not just treat it as the current state of affairs and continue forward? We aren't exploring this situation or learning more about it or doing new fascinating things with it, we're just rehashing it over and over again. Granted, Michalowski tries to make something interesting out of it, but it's an uphill fight. Moving into what seems like Year Twenty-Seven of this story element, I just can't imagine there are too many people left in the readership who even care at this point. I know I don't.
Despite my whines, this is still a decent story told simply and well. It's not the greatest book we've seen in this line, but it's head and shoulders above most of the previous story-arc. Its characters at least start off competently, and while the story may seem predictable at times, I found it absorbing the whole way through. If this is the Grand Future (at least until that Grand Future is bulldozed by the Second Rising of the New Series), then I'm warming to it. But, guys, no more amnesia waffling, okay?
Three out of Five by Jamas Enright 4/2/05
Where do I begin? How about with the amazingly obvious plot devices and plot drives to get things happening? It's likely that there are long-running repercussions from the events of this book (although, that said, it wouldn't be the first time something happened without any other author ever referring to it), but there are also some stupid rationalisations behind why other some things won't be happening. I'm going to pick on one example, because it doesn't have any repercussions and because it's partially revealed on the back cover blurb.
The event I'm talking about is the Doctor losing his memories. Yes, even the book is basically going 'again!', so you don't have to. Anyways, the Doctor needs to get his memories back, and he comes across a method of doing so (to preserve at least some spoilerage, I won't say how). But the method will enable him to get all his memories back, even the ones from before The Burning (I can understand not wanting to remember The Ancestor Cell). Of course, for the current story arc, this can't happen (that said, this would have been a good point at which to end that arc, and would fit in the whole 'let's not have a special Eighth Doctor series' deal the BBC Books will be doing). But the author (one Mark Michalowski of Relative Dementias fame) goes to extreme lengths to explain just why the Doctor only wants his current memories back, and not the long term ones. Very extreme lengths and on more than one occasion. Why? Because he wants the audience to believe this might be the right decision, because the alternative isn't allowed to happen in this arc.
(On the other hand, this does give the author an unreasonable excuse to have nothing happen in the first half of the book aside from the Doctor wondering around without memories.)
This is just one example of the stretch the author makes on more than one occasion to make this story happen. The rest of the story is some storyline that started by threatening to be another space western (what is it with space westerns that so many authors feel like they have to write them?), but fortunately slips into a concept ripped from The Pit. That's right, The Pit. And you thought it would never come back! Ha ha ha! (Hey, I liked The Pit.)
All that aside, the characters are well worth reading. Well, not really, but I wanted to say something positive. Fine, some of them are readable (such as Calamee and, to a lesser extent, Sensimi), but on the whole nasty things can happen to the others, and I'm not bothered by that at all.
The regulars get put through some changes (and 'forced through by the author' would be a better term), which could be interesting. On the other hand, it's more than enough time for a companion change, so there's a limit to how interesting they could ever be. A plot point about Trix is casually revealed that makes previous references suddenly make sense, but shame on the editor for it taking this long to be clear (I'm assuming that this plot point was intentional since, as I said, it makes other references make sense, but on the other hand, this should have been made obvious far sooner).
Halflife is a book with forced elements, and this is not a good thing. But it does at least take a story element from The Pit, and that I like.
A Trick of the Memory by Phil Fenerty 15/2/05
Halflife is a difficult book to review. It took me about 6 weeks to read (the longest time it's taken me to read a Doctor Who novel in a while), not because I wasn't enjoying it, but when I was half-way through (appropriately enough), my first child was born. So reading the second half of the novel (mostly on a business trip when I was travelling) was a little confusing, and I had to flip back and review earlier chapters to be sure what was going on.
Which, in a way, was also appropriate.
For the first time since, probably, Escape Velocity, the Doctor's amnesia has been a central part of a book. All through the various encounters with Sabbath and the Alternate Universes, the Doctor has been able to operate on his own terms. Whilst there have been flashes of his past (Camera Obscura, for example, which is referenced in the text), it has been left lurking in the background, waiting for the moment to strike.
And here, in Halflife, the Doctor's past comes back to haunt him.
Halflife is, at its core, a book about identity, about how the past can shape the present person. This is true not just of the Doctor, but also of Fitz, Trix, the colony on Espero and (specifically) the town of Sairossa. Virtually all of the main players in the book (with the possible exception of the mysterious Mr Trove) are shown as being moulded by what has happened in the past, and how it has affected them.
This is most obviously illustrated in the way that the Doctor, when offered a chance to regain his entire stock of memories, is less than enthusiastic. There are things he simply does not want to know he knew, as if the amnesia has given him the chance to live life on his own terms rather than carry around a lifetime's worth of accumulated memory.
Fitz's identity is also addressed, with the events of Interference being referenced. As the range comes to a close, it is a neat reminder that he, too, has been regenerated in the past, and that his memory is not what it was when he joined the Doctor.
The other interesting identity is the Espero colony. Originally human descendants, they left behind some of the technological trappings of the past and embraced religion (that the religion has become less unified and split into factions is a comment on the way Humanity uses belief for its own, rather than their God's ends, although it might also represent the fractured nature of the Doctor's past life). Michaelowski also uses Espeo to comment on the workings of British democracy, and the place of the Constitutional Monarchy in a modern society. The Sairossan ruling family contains a devious matriarch, a weak-willed son and an intelligent (if bored) daughter, headed by an ancient Imperator - who, despite his age, still manages to keep his finger on the pulse and his ear to the ground. The Imperator is an entertaining diversion within the book, haughty and grounded at the same time, and his range of invective is imaginative. Of all the guest cast in the novel, he is the most likeable.
Fitz and Trix are both served well, with the former learning more about his past than he knew previously, and the latter being better characterised than in any other novel. Trix, previously able to use disguise to blend into the background, is here thrust into the public gaze by her differences with the general populace. This forces her to address her own sense of identity, and allows us to assess the character without the usual trappings of disguise and subterfuge.
The Doctor and Fitz are affected by an Event at the start of the book which is only fully explained near the end. Hints as to its nature are dotted throughout the narrative, and whilst the resolution may not, to astute readers, be the surprise Michaelowski had hoped for, it is shocking to realise exactly what had occurred and its implications.
The end-phase of the book highlights the identity theme running through it, with a conflict between individuality and conformity taking place, and with the future of the entire planet at stake. The novel delivers a punch at the climax, and provides the Doctor with a tantalising dilemma. It is to Michaelowski's credit that there is no attempt to "blur" the Doctor's actions, rather the ending is clearly defined and shows exactly how it was achieved.
Entertaining throughout, Halflife is a prime example of just how good an EDA can be once freed from the constraints of an on-going story arc. There are no creaking plotlines to be shoehorned in, and, although dealing heavily in past events, allows them to stand alone within the confines of the book. Certainly one of the best EDA's of recent times.
Overall: Memorable.
Some responses to Halflife by Phil Ince 28/7/05
I enjoyed this book but I'm uneasy about it and find it severely flawed. On a first reading, I also felt I'd missed 'the point'.
The uneasiness comes from the Doctor's concluding decision to remain amnesiac. The flaws lie in the lack of influence of the world on which the TARDIS has landed upon the plot; only a single, convenient element is selected (this world's dissociation from its past), intending to create a novel about memory and forgetting. However, the intent is undermined by a lack of exploration of this world - it has the ambition of an Ursula le Guin novel (Left Hand of Darkness, for example) but is too disparate and frivolous to achieve its aim successfully for me. After a stumble in the opening chapters, Halflife has an energetic, fun surface. That surface, though, is the thinnest of veneers and - if you scratch it - the material beneath is of questionable quality.
The TARDIS has landed on Espero, a colony world established some centuries before by the Roman Catholic church. I think fairly, I presumed the church would be influential on the story but - despite being the basis of an entire society, and a society which went to some trouble to reestablish itself - ecclesiastic, theological and moral considerations seem to be nowhere present in the book.
The existence of a world predicated on a single religion would - I'd expect - result in a history of schizm, of doctrinal fighting which I don't remember sensing. Nor, that I recall, were Christian principles influential on anyone of the native's behaviours which - again - I'd have expected. If Espero was founded on religion, where was the influence of that religion in the everyday and momentary thought and actions of its people? Did their god, did Christ, did even the Church enter their heads? Did anyone stop to pray? Tell a rosary? Not that I saw.
Yet the Church's (off-stage) soldiery are referred to as a threatening force. If they're threatening, they're powerful and to be powerful the insitution in whose name they act must have been granted that power by the citizens and their government. In which case, the Church remains significantly forceful and yet ... in a society with centuries (?) of Christian tradition and teaching behind it, where are the physical and mental symbols of the Church's power and influence? Where's the 'moral fear'?
The cast of the book is remarkably small - of televisual size - given the scale of the institutions in which it deals.
The Church - overwhelming in authority - is barely present. A sole, benevolent priest.
At the Imperial Palace around which the plot revolves - Trove (an off-world bounty hunter in search of...?) is the only figure besides the Family and their single named servant Farine that we meet.
There are no advisors, no Ministers, officials of any kind. No housekeepers. No-one really to notice or intervene when unknown figures intrude. No-one really with any gumption either. Simini the teenage princess enters her father's palace with whomever she chooses (accompanied by Fitz; Trix later at her invitation). At one stage, Trove arrives to threaten the Doctor and the princess with a retinue of guards in tow. Why are these guards so biddable? Why do the soldiery follow Trove around? I didn't feel this was established. Despite the repeatedly mentioned powerlessness of the Family, the guard are either absent whilst strangers wander as they please or behave as though they're too timid to act. What are they afraid of? There seems to be a disparity between the Guard's implicit fear of interfering and the fear I'd expect amongst employees for the consequences of not doing their jobs. If the Family is as grand as is suggested by the imminent celebrations of the Imperator's birthday; if this Family is at the top of tree in the capital city of a nation, where are the servants and guardians to impede Trix and Trove? Indeed, towards the end of the book, the Imperator (alone but for a stranger to him, Trix) and the Imperatrix separately fly out into Espero's forests to take control of the situation. Halflife's ambition seems to be one of world-building and yet it has a drawing room, would-be intimate scale. Individuals vastly impact upon this world - one almost destroys, another saves it - but the book neglects to do more than reference the impact of the world upon the individuals. It fails to provide any effective context for the actions and that leaves me as a reader rather in the dark about why I should care or even be interested in what happens to Espero. It isn't a presence or force in the book and it's hard to make something so large and vague matter.
I think I've got a lot of questions for this book.
When there are two teenage girls with monkeys (Simini and Calamee - a girl the Doctor is rescued by as he flees the Palace at the start of the book) populating an active cast of only seven besides the regulars, I expect parallels or contrasts to have a purpose. I recognise that the girls do contrast, but not with a distinct pointedness. Was there 'a point'? I missed it if there was.
As an individual, Calamee is initally too articulate (in a prose-y manner) and insightful, almost parental, for me. Yet she doesn't exhibit a practical knowledge that I'd expect to necessarily accompany these attributes. She's also, as with the bulk of the cast, remorselessly selfish. Only Reo - the representative of The Makers who has come to collect Tain, a sentient, biological machine and the novel's chief protagonist -, only Reo seems to exhibit a sense of obligation to others, to a society. Everyone else is out for themselves, including - largely - the Doctor.
And so, morally, this book's a bit odd. The 'good' guys all get to live; the 'bad' all get to die. But despite being near the heart of a system which can be expected to impact on them, everyone seems to exist in a moral vacuum. In some respects, most particularly the Imperator, a man who has sufficient moral grandeur to be planning his abdication and yet who disparages his family so. "Charity begins at home". I don't hold with the (inferred) proposition that the Imperator is a 'good' guy if he speaks and acts to and of his family as he does, whatever the 'size' of the political/administrative decision he makes. Whatever the 'good' of that.
I enjoyed Halflife as a Who adventure - noted the low body count; the lack of capture and escape episodes (however this latter appears to have been achieved by simply not having anyone around the Palace to do any capturing!); it has a good energy that kept me turning the pages but, but ...
There are a number of elements in the book - Tain's story, the Doctor's, Trix's, Espero's - but personally I think I'd have like one above all to be dominant. As I reflect on it, the book may intend to be about detaching from the past but, as a new reader, the present - the world of Espero - is uppermost in my mind as I read whereas the pasts which are nominally being dissociated from are foremost in the book. To me, it's contradictory. Perhaps because I've only read one other amnesia novel, the memory matters aren't as significant or resonant for me as they will be for regular readers. Consequently, the story begins on page 1 rather than dozens of books before; I'm reading the book as standalone with references rather than a continuation of a life story (or of several life stories).
Espero is really only a setting, a backdrop, if you like. But, as a reader living in the present, I'm curious to know about this world and to know about it I need to see it living in, expressed through, motivating and inhibiting its citizens and I didn't feel I saw that and so I didn't see Espero. Espero as a world with a religious foundation didn't seem necessary to the storytelling. In that respect, it might have been any Emperor's history, anywhere on any world.
Towards the end of the book, the Doctor and Fitz are given the opportunity to recover their lost memories and this is the (late) hub of the book. Fitz takes the offer up but the Doctor declines. I wasn't persuaded by the Doctor's rationale for this. A lengthy simile likens his condition - and the choice to retain it - with moving house. Other people might not choose to live with him, the Doctor suggests, if they knew who he was. He may be fearful of who he was or what he's done, I accept that. But the implication of that is that he only regards himself and therefore others as being what they choose or decide themselves to be. That's a bit whimsical as an attitude to something so fundamental.
If - in his own mind - he may be someone or have done something that he wouldn't like, I don't see how simply choosing to forget it makes him any better? Whatever he did is still done. Whatever he isn't able to remember, he's still the person that did it - only less so. Isn't he?
Not only may he be someone or have done something that he doesn't choose to remember but in doing so he deprives himself of the insight not to do it again. Mistakes only become failures if we fail to learn from them and the Doctor - at present - is in collosal denial and, by implication, collosally dangerous.
Is the Doctor a mature person? Morally and emotionally, is he mature? I'd expect a sign of his maturity to be a confrontation with and of himself. If he's aware or fearful of deficiencies in himself, how does he grow if he doesn't acknowledge and accept them? How does he know himself and thereby know his mistakes won't be repeated? On the evidence of this book, of his electing for amnesia, I'd say that he isn't mature.
Separately in relation to choosing amnesia, it strikes me as reprehensibly self-centred. "I matter more than what I've done or what has happened to me, regardless of that occurence's impact on others. I'm what matters."
To make a parallel. I understand that Miranda was his daughter and that she has died and the book refers to the pain of that loss for the Doctor. It's explicit albeit off-stage that he's grieving.
But imagine and then make Miranda the subject of the amnesia - would you expect the Doctor to choose to forget he had a daughter so that he could forget he'd lost her? Wouldn't you feel that was a terrible cruelty? Would you respect a man who elected to abolish a child altogether from his memory because she'd died. Wouldn't that be an unforgiveable betrayal? Because the only compassionate alternative I can make to that harsh statement is to regard him as mentally ill. Choose.
Whatever the difficulty of dealing with the choices our lives offer us, isn't acknolwedging, accepting and learning about ourselves and the wider world, learning from what we've done and what's done to us the only way to live, to understand? Everything else is a specimen of death.
Jonathon Blum quoted Philip Segal's proposition that the Doctor is an explorer rather than a hero (whatever 'a hero' might be). I'd agree with that. But are there some pretty serious and consequential limits to his explorations? Himself, for example.
What knowledge can he gather, what morality can he propound, how can he ask others to supercede their instincts, natures, characters when he doesn't acknolwedge it as a possibility for himself? "Do as I say, not as I do" is a common explication of hypocrisy, isn't it? Does this Doctor have no faith in the ability of beings to learn and change? By his own complacency, that can be inferred.
Reading several Who books lately, the question arose for me, is the Doctor interesting? There are restrictions upon him as a character presented by the range's understandable difficulty in consistently managing developments in it when so many hands are separately presenting him. For my own purposes, the question's been answered and the answer - in response to some of the statements above - is "Yes. He is now".
The amnesia, far from being dealt with by Halflife has been emphasised as the Doctor's intent. He's choosing to forget, choosing not to know. He has, in effect, a selective memory.
"A selective memory" - not a phrase generally applied to flatter.
If amnesia, forgetting, not recognising, not reflecting, not knowing is the current basis of this character, it impacts on his status as explorer. His journey isn't one of the self; there are things he refuses to know and to refuse them he's now evading them. He's in denial.
Storing up trouble for himself, my father would have said.
Is he interesting? Damn right. He's back at a Hartnell-ian level of selfishness - "I won't inspect myself because I mightn't like what I see; my actions may impact on others but I don't want to know about it and will go to (what?) lengths to avoid knowing". How will this man now react if someone tries to force the knowledge into him?
From my current knowledge of this man, I can't view him as an explorer. Exploration may be incidentally what he does but he strikes me much more powerfully as primarily a refugee, in flight. But where can someone running from themselves find sanctuary?
This man is unwell. He's become neurotic. What's he going to do next? Choosing your memories and self-knowledge is a @#%$ dangerous business. It's saying, "I'm who I decide I am" and yet arises from "I'm afraid of who I am". There's a profound contradiction within him.
The anti-amnesiacs who are just anti because they don't like the change or what's been lost with it, I can't find I sympathise with. But those who say, "The amnesia isn't something we can forget about; the amnesia is a presence in itself. It's not about what's absent" - those people I'm in complete agreement with.
If the amnesia is solely a deck-clearing manoeuvre, it's dazzlingly ineffective because it requires amnesia on the part of the readership to work. But if it can be taken up and acknowledged as a development in itself, it's something stupendous and drags the character of the Doctor forward and down to somewhere black and terrible.
The countdown's on for the 8th Doctor novels because of the new television series. Juggernaut that the range is - it seems unlikely that the implicit consequences of the amnesia for the Doctor, for those he knows and meets, and for the audience can be dealt with in any very thorough or sophisticated way in the little time that's left. But ...
... is this Doctor interesting now? As a specific consequence of Halflife?
Damn right, he is!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Contact Us
Browse by:
Time actuated lockable food storage container
Time actuated lockable food storage container
Patent Drawings:
(2 images)
Date Issued:
July 14, 1992
October 12, 1990
Robinson; Roland C.
(Miami, FL)
Primary Examiner:
Price; William I.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney Or Agent:
Malin, Haley, McHale, DiMaggio & Crosby
U.S. Class:
Field Of Search:
International Class:
U.S Patent Documents:
Foreign Patent Documents:
2240175; 581677; 17972
Other References:
Sealable food storage containers having a time actuated locking mechanism to prevent access to food stored except at a predetermined time. The purpose of the invention is to aid dieters, children and compulsive snack or dessert consuming persons by permitting access to a particular stored food only at a predetermined time. This is to prevent between meal snacks or consumption of foods for dietary reasons. The device includes a sealable plastic or other type of food storage container that can be safely used within a refrigerated space and a removable separate time actuated locking mechanism that can be interchanged and used with a variety of food storage containers. The time locking mechanism includes a lid latching mechanism that has an engageable latch that is disengaged at a predetermined time by an electrical current provided to a small motor. The food storage containers include a pouch or separate access chamber that houses the timing mechanism and cooperates with the lid for the locking mechanism. The device can also be used as a lockable storage container for school lunches so that children do not have access to the food until lunchtime.
What I claim is:
1. A food storage device which is hermetically sealable and which can prevent unauthorized access to foods stored in the device except at predetermined periods of time,comprising:
a receptacle for receiving food, said receptacle having a closed bottom end and open top end, said top end having a raised lip around its perimeter;
a removable lid that has a groove which fits over said receptacle raised lip to form a hermetic seal therebetween;
a chamber formed with said receptacle and mounted on the outside of said receptacle;
locking means mountable within said chamber for locking said lid to said receptacle;
an extending lip connected to said lid, said lip having at least one aperture;
said locking means comprising a first segment that includes a latch and a second segment that couples to said lip, and a third segment which houses a locking bar for engaging said latch; and
timing means including an actuating means for disengaging said latch from said locking bar at a predetermined period of time, said timing means including a power source, whereby said first and second segments cooperate and engage said lid lip,coupling said first and second segments to said timing means.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sealable food storage containers that can be locked for a set time period and specifically to food storage containers that are hermetically sealed to store food in a refrigerated or non-refrigerated environment and thatinclude a time actuated locking mechanism that can be interchangeably used with a plurality of different food storage containers, especially useful for dieters or children.
2. Description of Prior Art
Time actuated locking mechanisms for storing various articles in a box are well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,506, issued to Simon, Dec. 3, 1974 shows a cigarette box that includes a self-contained locking mechanism that operates overa selected time period.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,408, issued to Wirtschafter, Nov. 3, 1982, shows a timer and alarm apparatus that is used for medication dispensing containers which houses a timing alarm to notify a person when a certain medication should be taken. Adrug dispensing device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,652, for time controlling and dispensing a particular drug as per a therapy routine in an unsupervised environment. This device includes a lockable storage container having a timing mechanism fordispensing the particular drug at a particular time. None of the devices shown in the prior art are appropriate or usable for storing perishable goods such as foods which must be hermetically sealed, if necessary, and refrigerated. Conventional plasticor rubber-like sealable storage containers have been marketed under the trademark of Tupperware and Rubbermaid. The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a sealable food storage container that has an interchangeable timeactuated locking mechanism to prevent unauthorized access to food in the container except at predetermined times. The device can be used as an aid for dieters and for children to prevent access to particular foods except at predetermined selected times. The interchangeable time lock mechanism can be used with a plurality of different sealable storage containers so that only one timing mechanism need be purchased for a plurality of containers of variable size, shape or particular use.
This invention is comprised of a plastic storage container for food that includes as separate components, a flat plastic lid having a groove disposed around the edges on one side which permit hermetic sealing of the lid to the plastic storagebox, a timing mechanism that includes a latch releasing device and a separate latch locking mechanism for securing the lid to the rectangular storage container.
The food storage container as stated above, may be substantially rectangular and includes a raised lip around its perimeter which engages a groove in the lid to ensure a hermetic seal with the contents inside. The container and lid plasticmaterial used is found today in conventional food storage devices that include sealed lids that are marketed under trademarks such as Rubbermaid and Tupperware. However the present invention is quite different than conventional food storage devices usedat the present time as is more fully described herein.
The locking of the lid to the storage receptacle is achieved through the use of a latch locking mechanism and an electrically powered, timing lock releasing mechanism which cooperate together to lock the lid to the storage receptacle.
In order to accommodate and use the time-actuated lock release mechanism, the storage receptacle includes on one side a pouch or chamber that has an open bottom that permits the timing mechanism to be inserted therein from the bottom. Inaddition, the chamber includes a flat top surface having apertures (described below) that fits flushly with an extended lip mounted on one edge of the container lid. The lid also includes fasteners which allow the lid to be fastened along one side toensure locking of the lid while at the same time in the unlocked position the lid can be completely removed from the food storage device for washing or total access to the food.
The latch locking mechanism includes a first flat surface having a hook shaped latch movably mounted under one side, preferably with a spring actuator, and a pair of downwardly positioned side panels. The other part of the latch lockingmechanism includes separate flat planar surface with curved end portions which engage the latch locking mechanism through an aperture in its center so that the two parts, one including the latch, can be physically engaged together by spring tension, allof which are mounted above the lid lip and the timing mechanism chamber top in the locked position.
The timing mechanism includes a locking bar and a motor actuated eccentric cam that can be rotated to disengage the latch, moving it away from the locking bar which permits the entire locking mechanism to be disengaged therefore permitting thelid lip t be raised to permit access to the storage box.
The timing mechanism and the locking latch mechanism are completely removable from the food storage chamber and disengageable from the lid such that the entire time actuated locking mechanism may be used with a variety of different food storagecontainers. Because of the hermetic sealing and particular materials utilized, the device can be safely stored in the refrigerator or freezes without damage to the locking mechanism or the containers. The containers can be subjected to a dishwasher andmicrowave oven without the timer and lock.
To operate the device, the lid is removed and a particular food placed in the food storage box. The fasteners on one side of the lid are then engaged and the lid is closed in a hermetically sealed position. In this position the lip on the lidengages the upper surface of the timing mechanism chamber. The locking latch mechanism is then positioned downwardly passing through the lid lip and the upper chamber wall surface wherein the latch then engages the locking bar in the timing mechanismwhich has been previously inserted into the chamber. The timing mechanism may be set for release within a particular time period to be determined by the user, or could be used in conjunction with a clock mechanism that permits it to be opened at aparticular predetermined time period.
Once the designated time has been reached in the timing mechanism, battery power through a circuit used in conjunction with the timer provides dc power to a small motor that rotates an eccentric cam positioned to engage the latch forcing thelatch away from the locking bar causing the entire locking mechanism to spring upwardly permitting its removal from the lid lip. The lid can then be opened permitting access to the food stored inside.
Since the timing mechanism and the locking latch mechanism are completely removable from the device, leaving only a plastic housing, the storage container and the lid may be washed in a conventional manner without damaging the locking mechanisms.
Several containers could be stacked and locked together with the addition of a locking strap that wraps around the stacked array and engages the locking mechanism mounted in a single container.
It is an object of this invention to provide a device that is suitable for storing foods in a refrigerated environment that includes a time actuated locking mechanism that permits access to the food in the storage container only at apredetermined time.
It is another object of this invention to provide a device that aids dieters and parents in preventing access to certain refrigerable food stuffs by the dieter or children except at predetermined times.
Yet still another object of this invention is to provide a hermetically sealable, refrigerable food storage container that includes a removable and interchangeable timing mechanism and locking latch mechanism that can be utilized with a pluralityof such food storage containers.
But yet still another object of this invention is to provide a food storage container that can be easily washed and cleaned and that also can receive a time actuated locking mechanism to prevent unauthorized access to the food therein except atpredetermined times.
In accordance with these and other objects which will be apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of the present invention that includes the food storage receptacle, lid and the timing mechanism.
FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the timing mechanism and the locking latch mechanism used in accordance with the present invention in perspective.
Referring now to FIG. 1, the present invention is shown comprised of a rectangular food storage receptacle or box 10 that has a raised lip 20 around the perimeter of the top opening which can engage with a hermetically sealable lid 12, havingcorrespondingly groove 26 disposed around one side that engages the lip 20 in the sealed position.
The storage receptacle 10 also includes a rectangular chamber 16 unitarily formed with the body of receptacle 10 that has an open bottom and an upper surface 18 including apertures 32a and 38 described below. A timing mechanism 14 is shown whichmay be inserted upwardly into the chamber 16.
The lid 12 includes a plurality of fasteners 28 which are received into apertures 24 on an extended lip 22 on one wall of the storage receptacle 10. Fasteners 28 are locked in groove apertures 24 to prevent the lid from being raised on that sideof the storage receptacle.
The lid 12 also includes lip 30 extending from one downwardly positioned edge that includes apertures 34, 32 and 36 which are used to receive the locking mechanism described herein. The lip 3 in the locked position lies flush with the topsurface 18 of chamber 16. Chamber 16 also includes a pair of ribs 16a on the inside, shown dotted, which act to hold the timing mechanism 14 firmly in chamber 16.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the latch locking mechanism is shown comprised of parts 42 and 40 which work in conjunction with a separate latch releasing timing mechanism 14.
The latch locking mechanism operates by combining parts 42 and part 40 so that the latch 44 is received through aperture 50 in the main body 72 of part 40. Part 40 also includes arcuate side walls 70 and straight side walls 70a protrudingupwardly which hold part 42 in place against spring tension caused by springs 52 in the locking position. An additional spring 46 urges the pivotal latch 44 in a direction that in the locked position engages the locking bar 56 located in the timinghousing 14. Part 40 also includes a pair of lateral slots 68 which receive the downwardly projecting side walls 48 in part 42. In the locked position, part 42 is engaged and fits flushly against part 40 with the latch 44 in a downward position, all ofwhich is then positioned through the lid lip 30 and the upper surface 18 of chamber 16 which is rigidly formed as part of food storage receptacle 10. Protruding diamond shaped guides 34a fit into diamond shaped slots 34 in lid lip 30. Flanged legs 54extending from part 40 are mounted through "T"-shaped lid apertures 36 and chamber top apertures 38 and moved laterally to retain part 40 to top 18 and to align slots 32 and 32a which receive side walls 48 in part 42. The side walls 48 pass throughnarrow rectangular slots 68 in part 40, narrow rectangular slots 32 in lid lip 30 and narrow rectangular slots 32a in chamber top 18 providing lateral stability for the locking mechanism preventing its removeable while firmly holding the lid lip 30 tochamber top 18 laterally. Part 40 is retained to chamber top 18 by the engagement of "T"-shaped legs 54 passing through lip lid apertures 36 and chamber top apertures 38 into side notches by slight lateral movement of part 40. In the lockedconfiguration, latch 44 is engaged with bar 56, side walls 48 are retained in slots 32 and 32a and legs 54 are retained in slots 36 and 38. In this configuration the latch locking mechanism firmly locks the lid 12 to container 20 and can only be removedwhen latch 44 is disengaged from bar 56. Latch 44 engages the locking bar 56 in the timing housing such that the lid cannot be removed. After a preset amount of time (which is determined by the start and stop actuating mechanism in the timing mechanism14), an elliptical eccentric cam 64 is rotated by motor 62 upon receipt of an electrical current through circuit 60 from battery 58. The eccentric cam 64 rotates and engages latch 44, moving it away from locking bar 56. Due to the spring tension fromsprings 52, the locking mechanism is forced upwardly away from the timing mechanism 14, releasing latch 44 so that the entire latching mechanism can be removed, allowing lid 12 to be removed.
For locking the device, the latching locking mechanism part 42 is positioned in conjunction with part 40 together by forcing the latch 44 down through lid lip 30 and the top surface 18. With spring tension from spring 46, the latch will engagethe locking bar 56 causing the device to be locked.
Referring back to FIG. 1, the timing mechanism 14 can then be quickly removed from the device with the latch locking mechanism removed so that it can be used with other food storage containers having a similar structure to that shown in FIG. 1.
The circuitry used for the timing mechanism 14 is conventional and can either include a real time clock or a stop watch type timer set for a predetermined number of hours and minutes through a start and stop mechanism. The circuitry 60 whichprovides power to the motor 62 from battery 58 at predetermined times is known and conventional in nature.
Although the container has been shown as rectangular, other suitable and conventional shapes could be employed.
With the use of the present invention, dieters or children can be prevented access to particular stored foods in the receptacle except at predetermined times by proper setting of the time sequence desired in the timing mechanism.
The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what it is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and thatobvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.
* * * * *
Recently Added Patents
Resuming piecewise calibration of a real-time-clock unit after a measured offset that begins at the next calibration period
Method for controlling a motor
Method for fabrication of a semiconductor device and structure
Terminal and method of controlling the same
Multi-domain dynamic group virtual private networks
Method of isolating human neuroepithelial precursor cells from human fetal tissue
Maize variety hybrid X03A157
Randomly Featured Patents
Testing device for determining mechanical properties of a granulated material
Nursing apron
Purification of vegetable oil
Conductive (electrical, ionic, and photoelectric) polymer membrane articles, and method for producing same
Polymerization of .alpha.-olefins with a dual transition metal catalyst
Aircraft passenger seat recline mechanism
Integrated endpoint detection system with optical and eddy current monitoring
Nonionic detergent mixtures based on specific mixed ethers
Cleaning method using both wet and dry steam, and apparatus adapted therefor
Noise eliminating circuit
© 2006-2011. PatentGenius.com All Rights Reserved.


text:
الحصول على الهداية من الخالق ، وإعطاء الهدايا إلى خلقه
Allah (The Glorified and the Exalted) has strongly warned those who are negligent in the fulfillment of these duties. Thus He said, "Those who hoard up treasures of gold and silver and spend them not in the way of Allah; give them the news of a painful punishment, on the Day when that (wealth) will be heated in the Fire of Hell and with it will be branded their forehead, their sides, and their backs, (and it will be said to them:) 'This is the treasure which you hoarded for yourselves. Now taste of what you used to hoard.'" [Al-Quran 9:34-35] And also: "And let not those who hoard up that which Allah hath bestowed upon them of His bounty think that it is better for them. Rather, it is worse for them. That which they hoard will be their collar on the Day of Resurrection. Allah's is the heritage of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Informed of what you do." [Al-Quran 3:180] Further, At-Tabarani relates, on the authority of 'Ali, that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Allah has enjoined upon rich Muslims a due to be taken from their properties corresponding to the needs of the poor among them. The poor will never suffer from starvation or lack of clothes unless the rich neglect their due. If they do, Allah will surely hold them accountable and punish them severely." (related by At-Tabarani in Al-'Aswat and as-Saghir). Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever is made wealthy by Allah and does not pay the Zakat of his wealth, then on the Day of Resurrection his wealth will be made like a bald-headed poisonous male snake with two black spots over the eyes. The snake will encircle his neck and bite his cheeks and say, 'I am your wealth, I am your treasure.'" (Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 24, No.486)
Next>>5.0. Why is paying Zakat beneficialfor me in this world?
The sister organization of Hidaya Trust, Hidaya Foundation was awarded Sitara-i-Eisaar (Star of Sacrifice) by the Government of Pakistan, in recognition of the results-oriented relief efforts of both the organizations during the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. It was awarded during a special ceremony held at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, DC.
In Keeping with our commitment to the communities in which Hidaya Trust operates, it hires its work force as an equal opportunity employer. It means that employment decisions are based on merit and business needs and not on race, color, status in the society, ancestry, sex, age, religion, creed and marital status.
124-B Sindh Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, Shahrah-e-Faisal Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: 021-3453 4666 | Fax: 021-3453 4666 | E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Visualisation of quark structure of neutron
A152/0054 Rights Managed
530 pixels on longest edge, unwatermarked
Request/Download high-res file
Uncompressed file size: 59.9MB
Downloadable file size: 2.8MB
Please login to use the price calculator
This image is part of the feature A Window On The Sub-Atomic World
Credit: ARSCIMED/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Release details: Model release not required. Property release not required.
Keywords: artwork, atom, atomic structure, chemical, chemistry, down quark, gluon, in neutron, neutron, particle, particle physics, quantum cloud, quark, quark structure, structure, subatomic particles, up quark, virtual particle
Licence fees: A licence fee will be charged for any media (low or high resolution) used in your project.


text:
The Changing of the Guard
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life
Power Ranking 2013 #8
Wimbledon Shakes up the Power Rankings
#1 vs. #2 and Murray vs. History/Expectations
1. Andy Murray – Murray broke a 77 year slump for men from the UK at All England. Over the past 52 weeks, Murray has won 2 slams, produced 1 slam runner-up finish and won a gold medal. His back-to-back titles at Queen's Club and Wimbledon have him looking toward #1 in the ATP computers Change since last ranking +3
2. Novak Djokovic – Tennis is cruel. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray each won 7 matches total between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Nole won 11 matches and has zero trophies. They each have 1 trophy.
3. Rafael Nadal – 7 titles in 10 events is enough to keep Rafa from falling too far from a first round upset. Change since last ranking -1
4. David Ferrer – It is hard…
View original post 367 more words


text:
by Fabian Chaundy | 8th June 2016
It's only been a few weeks since we last talked to Rob from Bright Tangerine at NAB 2016. However, the company has kept quite busy and were eager to show us some of their newest products. Geared Grad Tray This add-on to Bright Tangerine's Strummer DNA matte box allows you to control the position of a graduated filter by raising or lowering the filter tray. The mechanism works via a whip similar to those you can use on follow focus gears, with support on both sides of the tray for added stability. The Geared Grad Tray easily attaches to the back of the matte box, and is available in both 4×5.65 or 6×6 filter size. New Top Flag This new model will phase out existing top flags for this matte box. The advantage is that it now allows you to fully cover the front of the matte box when lowered down, protecting the front of your lens and filters during down time or lunch breaks ("Lunch breaks? What are those?" I hear some of you ask yourselves). Gloves Bright Tangerine have also developed gloves combining durable leather and lightweight materials. The result is a very useful pair of gloves suitable for all aspects of production. And it's designed to even work on touch screens. These new products – along with the Revolver follow focus unit which they demonstrated at NAB 2016 – will be available from their store in approximately six weeks' time. Thanks again to Rob Eagle from Bright Tangerine!Read more
by Sebastian Wöber | 15th April 2013
The Deity Mira viewfinder is an LCD loupe for the Canon EOS C300 and EOS C500 cameras offering a convenient, complementary solution for handheld and outdoor use. Filmmaker Sebastien Devaut has been closely involved in the development of the Deity Mira which was created with the quality demands of professional camera operators in mind. The device is made of high quality materials, precisely milled aluminum and two custom made glass elements. After a long development period it is finally beginning to be shipped out.Read more
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. cinema5D GmbH, Kranzgasse 22 / 9-10, A-1150 Vienna, Austria
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | About Us | Contact | Got a Tip?


text:
Remembering Cambodia's Enigmatic King
Prince Sihanouk's deep pain for his country was evident in person. So, too, was his sometimes difficult nature.
The death of Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia, who succumbed to cancer Monday at the age of 89, is a moment to reflect on one of the great tragedies of the late 20th century. It would be inaccurate to blame the erstwhile king, even indirectly, for the genocide that was ultimately perpetrated in his country. That blame attaches solely to the communists. I often wonder, though, how things might have gone differently had the mercurial monarch been prepared to gamble on America.
Instead he sought refuge among the very backers of the...


text:
I set my alarm for 5:45am. I was going to get up early and be at the park by 6:30… yeah I snoozed the alarm several times until 6:30. Waking reluctantly, I let Beanie out to take care of business, and fixed a large glass of water to help me wake up. Regretting not buying bananas while at the store over the weekend, I settled for my water and let Beanie back in.
He was wild. Turning in circles he urged me to move faster. Despite our week's break he seemed to know that today was a walking day. I slowly pulled on my athletic gear, layering up for the early chill that I knew would soon burn off with the rising of the sun. I slowly tied my shoes, pulled my upside down hair into a clip and athletic headband, not worrying so much about it's appearance, but more about not scaring my fellow exercisers on the path.
Beanie's agitation grew with each step I took as I dragged myself out the door to face the brisk air. We loaded up and headed out, forgetting my gloves. Upon arrival at our favorite park, I knew I was going to want those gloves and more. I zipped up my sweatshirt, pulled my hood up, and buried my hands in my pockets. I would miss some added exercise by not swinging my arms, but I hoped that the rising sun would raise temps as my walk progressed.
We had our usual stilted start, Beanie bounding from bush, to tree, to trashcans. Finally he settled into the rhythm of the walk and trotted on. I tried to focus on nothing but the sound of my steps. Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak. I had tied my right shoe a little loose but didn't feel like stopping to fix it. I was clearing my mind, focusing on the repetition and trying to push out the concerns of the upcoming workday and other worries.
I read an article yesterday on WebMD that had led me to this new "Zen" mission. It was Blissing Out: 10 Relaxation Techniques To Reduce Stress On-the-Spot and I was determine that my walk would be my meditation for the day. Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak. Beanie pulled on the leash, wanting to linger at the drop off for the doggie bags. I pushed on. My mind wandered, I brought it back. Relax your toes, relax your shins, Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak.
We were already around the back side of the park, I knew my pace was a little slow, so as I came to one of the gentle slopes up I pushed a little harder to speed up. I have never been one for speed walking. My aunt often complains when I walk with her about my slow pace. I enjoy the walk too much, she pushes to sweat, burn, and get done.
Focus Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak. My calendar loomed in front of me (a calendar that is giving me problems with my blackberry right now) and I began to plan out my time working at the local coffee shop, and when I would have time to write this blog. Then I jumped to what time should I take lunch. I was not meditating.
Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak. I cleared my mind, and before I knew it we had made the first loop. Beanie strained wanting to head up to the car, but I urged him on. I knew the second lap was hard for him, it was hard for me. I was going to start slowing down, my breathing would get more labored, I would most likely begin coughing towards the halfway point.
We got down the path and Beanie made several attempts to turn me back to the car. 4 times he turned 180 degrees and walked as far as the leash would allow. I reigned him in and locked the leash at a closer length until he gave in and dutifully trotted in front of me. We had reached the back side of the park again. I wasn't meditating.
Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak. Beanie's bag dispenser slapped haphazardly against the leash. The roar of a bulldozer for a nearby road expansion came rolling into the park. I saw a bench up ahead. It looked like a cozy couch in my mind. I pushed on, picking up the pace despite my labored breathing. I began to wonder how many people ever actually just sat on that bench and enjoyed nature. I decided it got much more use as a stopping place to stretch, tie shoes, or check a pulse. No one sits on benches in parks anymore, except for old, slightly overweight white men, in political thrillers.
Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak. We were easily halfway, I pushed on and pushed all thoughts but my pace out of my mind. The coughing began. I knew I should have taken my allergy pill before I left, but hindsight is always 20/20. I pushed on, letting the coughs come, but trying to not let them slow my pace. We neared the edge of the woods, and a waft of cigarette smoke caught me. I coughed some more and wondered who would want to smoke at a park. I had only seen people exercising like me, who combines that with the cancer sticks. I never did when I smoked.
I turned back to my shoes. Step, Squeak, Step, Squeak. Push on, almost there. Beanie decided to stop for one last gift to nature. We were almost there, the home stretch.
At last we finished, I deposited Beanie in the car and his present in one of the special receptacles placed around the path. I threw some trash away out of the car as I was near a trash can.
We had done it. We were both out of breath and wanting water and I hurried home to satisfy our thirst. It had been a good walk. I felt renewed in my goal to be starting Couch to 5K in another 2 1/2 weeks. I decided I should come out over the weekend and take a leisurely walk, maybe even check out the cross country trails in the park that beckoned me as I passed their trailhead markers.
Meditation, check minus. Sense of accomplishment, check plus.


text:
Editor's Note: EarthTechling is proud to repost this article courtesy of Green Car Reports. Author credit goes to John Voelcker.
Most Chinese carmakers have backed away from plans to attack the U.S. market, and their hopes of dominating electric cars have slowed.
But Chinese maker BYD continues to develop and test the e6 all-electric crossover utility it hopes to sell in the U.S. within a couple of years.
Now, we've had the chance to take a brief drive in the latest, updated BYD e6–known internally as the BYD e6-B. Its front styling has a grille-like opening below the blanking panel, and the front bumper and lower body panel are restyled.
We didn't get the usual full day's test drive, but were limited to several laps around the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Still, both driving and riding, we were able to come away with first impressions of this potentially important new electric car.
The car we tested is an updated version of the BYD e6 that has gone into taxi service in several Chinese cities. BYD presented its first results from the taxi test a year ago.
Prius echoes?
The styling of the BYD e6 is unremarkable. It attracted virtually no attention on the road, and its slab sides and vaguely Ford Edge-like shape look functional and pleasant enough.
Inside, the dash is essentially symmetrical, sweeping around to wrap into the doors. Upholstery is a mix of perforated and plain vinyl in a pleasant beige, with black plastic trim panels.
The long, shallow, central instrument panel display looks very much like the Multi-Information Display of a current Toyota Prius hybrid–a resemblance increased by the BYD's small drive selector, which looks and operates much like the one in Prius as well.
Approaching the BYD e6 while it's powered up, there's a noticeable humming whine coming from under the hood, unlike any other electric car we've seen.
Long rear doors
Getting into the car is easy enough, with especially long doors giving good access to the rear seat. The front seats are comfortable, though the electric adjustment only slides them back and forth–no electric tilt or rake is available. Visibility is good from most angles in the driver's seat, partially due to fairly slim pillars.
There's room for three in back, or two comfortably separated with the rear-seat armrest pulled down. Rear seat passengers will find good legroom even with the front seats pushed back.
Because the battery pack is in the floorpan, the rear seat is low to the floor, producing a knees-up seating position that could get uncomfortable–exacerbated by a rear seat back that's raked sharply to the rear. And the rear-seat cushions are peculiarly flat, without the subtle shaping of the seat foam found in modern cars.
Storage bins in the rear doors include speakers indicating an Infinity sound system, although the factory representative from BYD who accompanied our drive wasn't able to provide many details on the car beyond its numeric specifications.
While China drives on the right side of the road (e.g. left-hand-drive cars), the symmetrical dashboard and central instruments of the BYD e6 peculiarly site the numeric speed display to the right of the car's center line–far from the sight lines of a driver sitting on the left.


text:
At Internet World Fall 2000, Microsoft announced that the company was revamping the Microsoft Certified Solution Provider (MCSP) program and renaming it the Microsoft Certified Partner Program. The new program, which as of press time was scheduled to begin January 1, 2001, builds on MCSP and offers Microsoft's partners a variety of meaningful technical certifications that will benefit their customers. In addition, Microsoft is creating a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner certification level, which has much higher certification requirements and greater Microsoft support for members. According to Rosa Garcia, general manager of Microsoft Partner Programs, the new certifications are a win-win-win for Microsoft, its partners, and their customers.
"This is really exciting," Garcia said during a question-and-answer session with Windows 2000 Magazine. "In the past, we had relationships with partners, but this new vision opens up new opportunities for everyone." Microsoft's MCSP program, which has 31,000 members, has been in place since 1992, but the company wants to work more closely with its partners and help those partners work with, rather than compete against, one another. New peer networking services will help Microsoft partners more easily offer integrated solutions. Also, Microsoft Certified Partners can concentrate on market and technical readiness for the new .NET initiative. Garcia reported that more than 96 percent of Microsoft's revenue comes from its partners, so this program is an asset in which the company wants to invest.
"Our partners want to be able to differentiate themselves," Garcia said, "and make it easy to have a relationship with Microsoft. But they also want us to share intellectual property with them and treat them like employees." Microsoft won't hand out the Win2K source code any time soon, but the company will begin to share technical and marketing documents as well as other internal tools with its partners.
When asked what would make the new Microsoft Certified Partner program a success a year from its launch, Garcia was clear: The company wants to see 1000 of its partners elevated to the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner level and wants program renewals in the 96 percent range. "But most importantly," she added, "customers should respect the Microsoft Certified Partner Program and seek out our partners when they need to implement Microsoft technology. That's how we'll know we did the right thing."


text:
Having a new puppy this year has been quite an adventure. Teaching a pup to walk nicely on a leash probably comes easier to some dogs… my pup is a challenge. I've tried all sorts of training collars, with success and failures. So I though I would share my experiences.
Head Collar Training Collars:
Head collars are a bit like a halter for the horse. The basic idea is that they guide your dog's head, and when they pull – their head turns around and stops them from pulling. You can read my detailed experience with a head collar here. This is what we tried first, and I loved it for quite awhile. The problem we ran into is that my pup can be reactive to other dogs on a leash when walking, and I was afraid her pulling, shaking, twisting and going crazy was going to wind up with an injury, plus, she had managed to wiggle her way out once or twice and scared me. I believe a head collar is VERY useful for most dogs and should be a great choice for many – but conditioning to it, and being aware of your dog's neck is important.
Front Pull Harness:
A front pull harness hooks your dog's leash in the FRONT of their chest, rather than around their back. When they pull – their body then pulls around, making them stop pulling. We tried this for awhile, and I feel like it is a very good option for the right dog. It didn't work well for us because I couldn't seem to find one that would fit my pup just right. All we wound up having was the harness pulling over to the side. I have many friends who use a front pull harness with HUGE SUCCESS and I highly recommend it if your dog is not too much of a puller. One friend uses it for jogging with her dog and claims it is a miracle!
Prong Collars:
A prong collar looks pretty frightening. Metal, with little prongs on it. What happens is when your dog pulls, the prongs tighten and make your dog stop pulling. They soon learn that pulling=prong tightening, and stop pulling. This was recommended to us by one of our trainers. I was hesitant to use it, and used it only as a last resort. I did find that it worked VERY WELL, especially with my reactive pup, because it stopped her reacting to other dogs very quickly. I have read that some dogs get MORE reactive with the use of a prong collar, but this was not our case, my pup seemed calmer with it on. It is important to ONLY use a prong collar when shown how to properly fit it to your dog, and how to properly use it. I would not recommend this for just anybody, so please use with caution & training only. They do have their place in training, though, with the right dog. In the end, I have moved away from the prong collar as I felt my pup sorta "got used to it" after awhile and stopped responding as well.
Right now we are using mostly just a flat collar, and a head-collar when needed. I am trying to phase out of the training collar use at all now that she has a solid foundation of training. My most important piece of advice when selecting a training collar is:
USE WHAT WORKS FOR YOUR DOG. Not every method is going to work for every dog. Some dogs may not even need a training collar and learn to walk on a leash just fine without one. For us, it was a matter of safety, and sanity. Frustrating walks got us nowhere, and the use of training collars helped us along greatly.


text:
Free shipping (depending on region)
14 days to withdraw
Order before 2pm
Not satisfied? Get a cashback within 7 workdays
To lighten up your day, for airmail and winged words. Makes your thoughts fly and helps to hatch idea.
Handcrafted Content: black pen that can be replaced Feathers are a natural product and unique. Slight variations in colour and shape may occur.


text:
T-cells attacking tumour, artwork
C002/3780 Rights Managed
530 pixels on longest edge, unwatermarked
Request/Download high-res file
Uncompressed file size: 80.1MB
Downloadable file size: 3.8MB
Please login to use the price calculator
Credit: MEDI-MATION/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Release details: Model release not available. Property release not required.
Keywords: artwork, attacking, biochemical, biochemistry, biological, biology, cancer, cancerous, cell, cell biology, condition, defending, disease, disorder, human body, illustration, immune system, immunological, immunology, lymphocyte, lymphocytes, malignancy, malignant, medical, medicine, oncology, person, t-cell, t-cells, treatment, tumour, white blood cell, white blood cells
Licence fees: A licence fee will be charged for any media (low or high resolution) used in your project.


text:
The TLK1501 serdes evaluatiom module (EVM) board is used to evaluate the TLK1501 device (VQFP) and associated optical interface (NetLight™) for point-to-point data transmission applications.
The board enables the designer to connect 50 ohm parallel buses to both transmitter and receiver connectors. The TLK1501, using high speed PLL technology, serializes, encodes (8 b/10 b) and transmits data along one differential pair. The receiver part of the device deserializes, decodes and presents data on the parallel bus. The high speed (up to 1.6 Gbps) data lines interface to four 50 ohm controlled-impedance SMA connectors. The designer can either use this copper interface directly or loop back to the laser module section for an optical interface (not provided).