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|SQL*Module for Ada Programmer's Guide
Release 8.0
This chapter describes the criteria that a Ada application must meet when accessing module procedures, or when calling RPC stubs generated by SQL*Module. Topics covered include
The sample programs in this chapter are source code listings for the Module Language procedures that are called by the sample programs in Chapters 6, and a set of SQL statements that create and partially populate the example tables. These sources are also available on-line, in the demo directory.
The developer determines the structure of an application program that uses SQL*Module. A significant advantage that you obtain from using SQL*Module is that it imposes very few special requirements or constraints on the program design, unlike some other SQL programmatic interfaces.
The code that you write is purely in the language of the host application program. There is no need for special declare sections, embedded SQL statements, and special error handling and recovery. Database operations are mostly transparent to the application program developer, being taken care of by the Module Language or PL/SQL stored procedures.
There are, however, some SQL concepts of which the host application developer must be aware
Each Module Language procedure that is called from the host application must contain a parameter that returns status information to the application. There are two status parameters that you can use: SQLCODE and SQLSTATE. SQLCODE returns an integer value, while SQLSTATE returns a five-character string that contains an alphanumeric code.
SQLCODE is provided for compatibility with applications written to the 1989 SQL standards; new applications should use the SQLSTATE parameter.
When calling stored database procedures through an RPC stub, you include SQLCODE and/or SQLSTATE in the parameter list of the WITH INTERFACE clause in the procedure's package specification. See "The WITH INTERFACE Clause" on page 3-13.
SQLCODE is an output parameter that can be included in a module procedure, and in the WITH INTERFACE clause in PL/SQL stored package specifications. SQLCODE returns a value that indicates whether a procedure completed successfully, completed with warnings, or did not complete due to an error.
SQLCODE returns three kinds of values:
Indicates that the procedure completed with no errors or warnings.
< 0
Indicates that an error occurred during execution of the procedure.
Indicates that a SQL statement did not find a row on which to operate.
Negative SQLCODE values are Oracle message numbers. See the Oracle8 Messages manual for a complete list of Oracle codes and their accompanying messages. See the next section, "SQLSTATE", for mappings between Oracle error numbers and SQLSTATE values.
The procedure error_message in the public package oracle_sqllib was introduced in release 8.0. This procedure obtains the text associated with the SQLCODE of the latest error returned. The prototypes are (with and without a runtime context):
procedure ERROR_MESSAGE (ctx oracle_sqllib.sql_context, msg_buf system.address, msg_buf_len sql_standard.int);
procedure ERROR_MESSAGE (msg_buf:out system.address, msg_buf_len:out sql_standard.int);
SQLSTATE is a five-character alphanumeric output parameter that indicates the completion status of the procedure. It is declared as SQL_STANDARD.SQLSTATE_TYPE.
SQLSTATE status codes consist of a two-character class code followed by a three-character subclass code. Aside from the class code 00 ("successful completion"), the class code denotes the category of the exception. Also, aside from the subclass code 000 ("not applicable"), the subclass code denotes a specific exception within that category. For example, the SQLSTATE value '22012' consists of class code 22 ("data exception") and subclass code 012 ("division by zero").
Each of the five characters in a SQLSTATE value is a digit (0..9) or an uppercase Latin letter (A..Z). Class codes that begin with a digit in the range 0..4 or a letter in the range A..H are reserved for the predefined conditions (those defined in the SQL92 specification). All other class codes are reserved for implementation-defined sub-conditions. All other subclass codes are reserved for implementation-defined sub-conditions. Figure 4-1 shows the coding scheme.
Table 4-1 shows the classes predefined by SQL92.Table 4-1 Predefined Classes
|successful completion
|no data
|dynamic SQL error
|connection exception
|feature not supported
|cardinality violation
|data exception
|integrity constraint violation
|invalid cursor state
|invalid transaction state
|invalid SQL statement name
|triggered data change violation
|invalid authorization specification
|direct SQL syntax error or access rule violation
|dependent privilege descriptors still exist
|invalid character set name
|invalid transaction termination
|invalid connection name
|invalid SQL descriptor name
|invalid cursor name
|invalid condition number
|dynamic SQL syntax error or access rule violation
|ambiguous cursor name
|invalid catalog name
|invalid schema name
|transaction rollback
|syntax error or access rule violation
|with check option violation
|remote database access
Note: The class code HZ is reserved for conditions defined in International Standard ISO/IEC DIS 9579-2, Remote Database Access.
Appendix D, "SQLSTATE Codes" shows how Oracle errors map to SQLSTATE status codes. In some cases, several Oracle errors map to a status code. In other cases, no Oracle error maps to a status code (so the last column is empty). Status codes in the range 60000 .. 99999 are implementation-defined.
Starting with release 8.0, function rows_processed, in the public package oracle_sqllib, returns the number of rows processed by the last SQL statement.
The prototypes are:
function ROWS_PROCESSED return integer;
function ROWS_PROCESSED (ctx oracle_sqllib.sql_context) return integer;
where the context, ctx, has been allocated previously.
A database column or a SQL expression can have a value, or it can have a special status called null. A null means the absence of a value. A numeric value or a special string encoding cannot be used to indicate a null, since all allowable numeric or string values are reserved for actual data. In a SQL*Module application, you must use an indicator variable to test a returned value for a null, or to insert a null into a database column.
Note: The term indicator variable is also referred to as an indicator parameter when discussing a variable being passed to or retrieved from a procedure.
From the host language point of view, an indicator variable is a small integer that is passed to a procedure. In the SQL statement of the procedure, the indicator is associated with the corresponding host parameter. For example, the Module Language procedure below performs a simple one-row SELECT (the host parameter in the WHERE clause is assumed to be a primary key):
PROCEDURE get_commission ( :commission REAL, :comm_ind SMALLINT, :emp_number INTEGER, SQLSTATE); SELECT comm INTO :commission INDICATOR :comm_ind FROM emp WHERE empno = :emp_number;
In an Ada application, you call this procedure and test for a possible null in the returned COMMISSION as follows:
EMPNO := 7499; GET_COMMISSION (COMMISSION, COMM_INDICATOR, EMPNO, SQLSTATE); if COMM_INDICATOR < 0 then PUT_LINE("Commission is null."); else PUT("Commission is "); PUT(COMMISSION); NEW_LINE; end if;
So if an indicator variable is less than zero when a procedure returns, the associated host parameter has an undefined value.
You can also associate indicator variables with input parameters, for column values that are used to insert a new row into a table, or update an existing row. If the value in the indicator variable is greater than or equal to zero, the value in the associated parameter is used as the input value. If the indicator variable is set to -1, the value in the associated parameter is ignored, and a null is inserted as the column value.
For example, the following module procedure inserts a new row into an inventory table:
PROCEDURE new_part ( :part_no INTEGER, :description CHAR(200), :bin_number INTEGER, :bin_no_ind SMALLINT, SQLSTATE); INSERT INTO inventory (part_number, description, bin_no) VALUES (:part_no, :description, :bin_number INDICATOR :bin_no_ind);
When you call this procedure with the parameter bin_no_ind set to -1, any value in the parameter bin_number is ignored, and a null is inserted into the BIN_NO column of the table.
If the host language parameter is a character type, and has an associated indicator variable, a returned indicator value greater than zero indicates that the returned value was truncated. The value of the indicator is the original (un-truncated) length, in bytes, of the column or expression value.
Programs that retrieve data from a table can work in two different ways. In one case, a query might be constructed that expects either one row of data to be returned, or no row. For example, if the program performs a request such as ``give me the name of the employee whose employee number is 7499", where the employee number is a primary key of the table (and hence, by definition, unique), the request either returns the name of the employee whose employee number is 7499, or returns an indication that no such employee exists in the table.
If no employee exists with that number, the query procedure returns a ``no data found" indication in the SQLCODE or SQLSTATE parameter.
For Oracle to process any SQL statement, a cursor is required. However, SQL*Module implicitly defines a cursor for INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements, as well as SELECT statements.
However for queries that can return multiple rows, an explicit cursor must be defined in the module or stored package to fetch all the rows. You can use static cursors, or cursor variables. See "Cursors" on page 4-8 for a description of cursor variables.
See the code in "Module Language Sample Program" on page 6-10 for several examples that use explicit cursors.
The SQL*Module compiler generates specification files. These are text files that contain declarations for the module or interface procedures that SQL*Module generates.
You must include the specification file directly in the source of your host application. The name of the specification file is the base name of the Module Language output file for SQL*Module, with a system-specific extension. These extensions are documented in "Specification File" on page 5-10.
In Ada applications, you must compile the specification file (or files) that SQL*Module generates. You then include the specification for the module procedures or stubs in each application that calls module procedures or stubs using the with context clause.
The naming of specification files is discussed in detail in Chapter 6, "Demonstration Programs".
You call procedures generated by SQL*Module using the normal procedure call format of the host language. Procedures can only return values in parameters, including the SQLCODE and SQLSTATE parameters. The generated procedures are not functions.
SQL*Module supports array bind and define variables as arguments to procedures and functions:
PROCEDURE foo (:arrname ARRAY(n) OF type, SQLCODE);
where n is the size of arrname, and type is listed in "National Language Support" on page 4-10.
For example:
PROCEDURE selempno (:eno ARRAY(14) of INTEGER, SQLCODE); SELECT empno INTO :eno FROM emp;
Note: Host arrays are allowed in SELECT, FETCH, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statements only.
1. Arrays may not be specified when RPC_GENERATE=yes or STORE_PACKAGE=yes. See "Stored Packages" on page 3-4 for more information. See both these command-line options in Chapter 5, "Running SQL*Module".
2. The maximum dimension of an array is 32000
3. SQL*Module does not allow multi-dimension arrays.
Not all writing systems can be represented using the 7-bit or 8-bit ASCII character set. Some languages require multi-byte character sets. Also, countries have differing ways of punctuating numbers, and representing dates and currency symbols.
Oracle provides National Language Support (NLS), which lets you process single-byte and multi-byte character data and convert between character sets. It also lets your applications run in different language environments. With NLS, number and date formats adapt automatically to the language conventions specified for a user session. Thus, NLS allows users around the world to interact with Oracle in their native languages.
You control the operation of language-dependent features by specifying various NLS parameters. Default values for these parameters can be set in the Oracle initialization file. The following table shows what each NLS parameter specifies:
|NLS Parameter
|Specifies ...
language-dependent conventions
territory-dependent conventions
date format
language for day and month names
decimal character and group separator
local currency symbol
ISO currency symbol
sort sequence
The main parameters are NLS_LANGUAGE and NLS_TERRITORY. NLS_LANGUAGE specifies the default values for language-dependent features, which include
NLS_TERRITORY specifies the default values for territory-dependent features, which include
You can control the operation of language-dependent NLS features for a user session by specifying the parameter NLS_LANG as follows:
NLS_LANG = <language>_<territory>.<character set>
where language specifies the value of NLS_LANGUAGE for the user session, territory specifies the value of NLS_TERRITORY, and character set specifies the encoding scheme used for the terminal. An encoding scheme (usually called a character set or code page) is a range of numeric codes that corresponds to the set of characters a terminal can display. It also includes codes that control communication with the terminal.
You define NLS_LANG as an environment variable (or the equivalent on your system). For example, on UNIX using the C shell, you might define NLS_LANG as follows:
setenv NLS_LANG French_Canadian.WE8ISO8859P1
SQL*Module fully supports all the NLS features that allow your applications to process multilingual data stored in an Oracle8 database. For example, you can run a SQL*Module-derived client application that interacts with a remote server, where the client and the server are using different character sets, possibly with a different number of bytes per character. In these contexts, remember that specification of the lengths of string types, such as the SQL datatype CHARACTER(N), is always specified in bytes, not characters.
You can even pass NLS parameters to the TO_CHAR, TO_DATE, and TO_NUMBER functions. For more information about NLS, see the Oracle8 Application Developer's Guide.


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Have a blast at Machine Guns Vegas
I've had some memorable times in Las Vegas over the years, as Sin City has always been about creating over-the-top experiences with all the gambling and wild nightlife. But on this last trip I tried something new and exhilarating that I'll remember for years!
I was invited to check out the all-new Machine Guns Vegas (MGV), a unique attraction that will soon be on most to-do lists for guys visiting Vegas. MGV combines a VIP ultra lounge setting with the ultimate firearms experience. The selection of guns you can shoot will blow your mind, so it's perfect for gun enthusiasts along with first-timers who want to feel the thrill of firing these powerful weapons.
I'm the latter. I'd never shot a gun before even though I'd always wanted to try it. Now I'd get my chance, but it wouldn't be with a simple handgun. I was going to shoot three badass, fully-automatic machine guns, and I couldn't wait to try it.
As soon as you arrive at MGV you enter into a spacious and comfortable lounge area where you can relax and get ready. The staff is very professional and you can pick all sorts of packages for your experience. Guests are matched with a shooting host who uses interactive multimedia displays on an iPad to showcase each of the shooting experiences offered. Long lines are not an issue here as you can relax in the lounge while you pick your experience and wait your turn. My experience would consist of three machine guns – the M4 5.56 (US), the MK-47 (Russian) and the HK MP5 9MM (German).
After talking to my instructor, we decided to start with the M4 5.56 carbine fully automatic machine gun. The M4 is a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 assault rifle, sharing 80% of the parts, but it's still a beast. It's used by the U.S. military and is slated to replace the M16 for many combat units in the army. The instructor explained the proper way to shoot the gun. The stance is critical, as you don't want this thing to knock you back when you fire. Balance and leverage is important as you keep your right foot back and prepare yourself to lean forward as you press the trigger. The instructor then sent out the target and I was ready to go.
It's hard to describe the rush I felt the first time I pulled the trigger and let loose a blaze of bullets. My form was good but the gun pushes you back and the front end naturally rises up and to the right as you shoot. But the more I practiced, the more I got the hang of it, and each round I unleashed got easier to handle. I don't think I'll win any awards for accuracy but you hardly need to be a sharpshooter to do serious damage with the M4!
Next we turned to the infamous AK-47. The original AK-47 was one of the first assault rifles to be manufactured six decades ago and it's still the most commonly used assault rifle in the world. It's been manufactured countries all over the world and has been used by various armies, revolutionaries and terrorist organizations. More AK-type rifles have been created than all other assault rifles combined. I was shooting a fully automatic Russian version. It had some serious kick to it as well but after shooting the M4 I was able to control this one much more quickly while still experiencing the awesome power of shooting a badass machine gun. I was having a blast!
The last gun was the HK MP5 9MM submachine gun. After the first two guns I almost felt like a pro shooting this one. It was much lighter and easier to handle, and from the beginning I was very accurate with this model. I felt like I could keep shooting it all day. I had brought along one of our Bullz-Eye models, the beautiful Brittany Myers, and she wanted to give it a try as well, so I had her shoot some rounds with this last gun. She didn't have the advantage of starting with the heavier guns, but she did great as she tore into the target with a flurry of bullets.
As we walked out of the shooting area, we both left with huge smiles on our faces. The experience is truly exhilarating, and regardless of your experience level you can't help but have a great time.
Our hosts then showed us the VIP areas, which were even more luxurious as you can see from some of the photos above. It's a great option for corporate events or bachelor parties as you can have total privacy.
Whether you get the VIP package or not, the overall experience is a great option for anyone coming to Vegas. The ambiance of the MGV is great either way, but it all comes down to the amazing shooting experiences, and there are so many more I want to try on future visits. You can shoot popular firearms like Rambo's M60 machine gun or Bullet Tooth Tony's .50 Caliber Desert Eagle Handgun from "Snatch."
There's a WWII experience that includes the 1911 pistol, a MP 40 submachine gun and the M3 submachine "Grease Gun." The Mafia package includes the .22 Suppressor, the infamous Thompson submachine gun from the Prohibition era along with shotguns. There's also a SEAL Team VI package that includes the firearms they used in the covert operation that took out Osama bin Laden. Guests are issued 20 rounds with a .22 Suppressor, the HK MR556 rifle and the choice of a squad automatic weapon (SAW) or a M60 machine gun.
You can imagine how much fun you can have here, whether you're with a large group, a couple of buddies or even a date. Set up an appointment and they'll pick you up in a shuttle at your hotel for the short ride from the Strip. MGV is the perfect addition to Las Vegas, as it's extreme and luxurious at the same time. Check out their website or follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Book some time there and it will likely be the highlight of your trip.

subset: commoncrawl


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MyCsa (0)
Leading keynote speaker bureau in India
Ricardo Lagos is a lawyer, economist and social democrat politician, who served as President of Chile from 2000 to 2006. Since 2007 he has served as a Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations. He inaugurated his own foundation in 2006 called Democracia y Desarrollo ("Democracy and Development") in Santiago.
"Ricardo Lagos finished his six-year term with historic approval ratings above 70%"
Ricardo Lagos earned a Ph.D. from Duke University and then became a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the political sciences department. He was professor of economics in the School of Law of the University, and between 1971 and 1972 he was Director of the Institute of Economy. He was later named Director of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences. He has worked in various roles for the UN including ambassador and being in charge of Project UNESCO, of their Development Programme (UNDP) in Buenos Aires. In 1990, he was named Minister of Education and in 1994 Minister of Public Works. In 2007, Brown University announced that he would teach at the Watson Institute for International Studies for a period of five years.
What he offers you
Ricardo Lagos is one of South America's most influential and successful economists. He has also enjoyed advising all the governments in the South American continent on the matter of employment. He offers in depth insights into South American politics and economics as well as providing in depth knowledge of the global effects of climate change on the world's leading economies.
How he presents
Ricardo Lagos' powerful presentations are memorable for his charisma, astuteness and his strength of character.
He presents in English and Spanish.
Want to know more?
Give us a call or send us an e-mail to find out exactly what he could bring to your event.
How to book Ricardo Lagos?
Simply phone, fax or e-mail us.
To discuss how we can help you find the right speaker for your event, call us on:
000 800 100 9469 (toll free)
or: +44 1628 601 410
or send us a direct email
[email protected]


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Jason Statham was born in London and initially started his career in driving, placing 12th in the World Championships in 1992. Statham began to move into his acting career starting as a model for companies such as French Connection.
In 1998, Statham made his film debut in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Statham would quickly find movie fame, with a second Guy Ritchie film, Snatch, in 2000 and roles in Ghosts of Mars and The One in 2001.
Beginning with 2001, Statham became a big name in action movies proving he was more than just Guy Ritchie's favorite star, when he starred in The Transporter in 2002 and its followup in 2005.
Since then, Jason has had an impressive film resume that includes several successful movies that keep yielding sequels including The Italian Job and Crank. Don't expect Statham's career to slow down anytime soon.
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Dubai-based Emirates Airline has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to acquire up to 36 additional A380 aircraft.
The agreement was signed this morning at the airline's headquarters in Dubai by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, and John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft. The commitment is for 20 A380s and an option for 16 more with deliveries to start in 2020, valued at US$16 billion at latest list prices.
Sheikh Ahmed said: "We've made no secret of the fact that the A380 has been a success for Emirates. Our customers love it, and we've been able to deploy it on different missions across our network, giving us flexibility in terms of range and passenger mix. He added: "Some of the new A380s we've just ordered will be used as fleet replacements. This order will provide stability to the A380 production line. We will continue to work closely with Airbus to further enhance the aircraft and onboard product, so as to offer our passengers the best possible experience. The beauty of this aircraft is that the technology and real estate on board gives us plenty of room to do something different with the interiors."
"I would like to thank Emirates, HH Sheikh Ahmed, Tim Clark and Adel Al-Redha for their continued support of the A380," said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft. "This aircraft has contributed enormously to Emirates' growth and success since 2008 and we are delighted that it will continue to do so. This new order underscores Airbus' commitment to produce the A380 at least for another ten years. I'm personally convinced more orders will follow Emirates' example and that this great aircraft will be built well into the 2030s."
Following delivery of its first A380 in July 2008, Emirates took its 100th A380 on the 3rd November 2017 in Hamburg.
The A380 is an essential part of the solution to sustainable growth, alleviating traffic congestion at busy airports by transporting more passengers with fewer flights. The A380 is the best way to capture growing world air traffic, which doubles every 15 years. The A380 flies 8,200 nautical miles (15,200 kilometres) non-stop and can accommodate 575 passengers in 4 classes.
The spacious, quiet cabin, smooth and most comfortable ride have made the A380 today's passenger favourite, resulting in higher load factors wherever it flies. The A380 is the world's largest aircraft, with two full widebody decks, offering widest seats, wide aisles and more floor space. The A380 has the unique capability to generate revenue, stimulate traffic and attract the passengers, who can now specifically select the A380 when booking a flight via the innovative iflyA380.com web site.
To date over 200 million passengers have already enjoyed the unique experience of flying on board an A380. Every two minutes an A380 either takes off or lands at one of the 240 airports around the world, ready to accommodate this magnificent aircraft. To date, 222 A380s have been delivered to 13 Airlines.
About Airbus
Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016 it generated revenues of €67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats and business aviation products. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world's leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.


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In Outlook 2010 I have created a recurring meeting with my non-gmail e-mail address. After a Google Calendar Sync, Outlook does not recognize me as the organiser anymore. If I look in Google Calendar it says "Created by 'gmail e-mail address'". It seems Google Calendar is changing the meeting organizer to the Google Calendar e-mail address.
Now, I need to reschedule the recurring meeting, but Outlook is not letting me, because he does not think I am the meeting organizer. Does anyone know how to fix this and how to prevent this in the future?


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For years, Amy Farler, who designs transmission components for International Truck and Engine, suffered in silence. Once in a while, when an allergy-related sinus headache escalated into a full-blown migraine, she missed a day of work. But most of the time, she went to the office and quietly lived with the congestion and discomfort of her seasonal allergies. "Sometimes, it's like you wouldn't mind if your head rolled off your body," says the 31-year-old engineer, who spends most of her day working with 3-D models on a computer screen. "You feel clogged up and hazy. The pressure makes you want to close your eyes. It's hard to focus. You end up just muddling through."
Woody Allen once said that 80% of success in life can be attributed to simply showing up. But a growing body of research indicates that—in the workplace, at least—this wry estimate may be somewhat optimistic. Researchers say that presenteeism—the problem of workers' being on the job but, because of illness or other medical conditions, not fully functioning—can cut individual productivity by one-third or more. In fact, presenteeism appears to be a much costlier problem than its productivity-reducing counterpart, absenteeism. And, unlike absenteeism, presenteeism isn't always apparent: You know when someone doesn't show up for work, but you often can't tell when—or how much—illness or a medical condition is hindering someone's performance. "Outwardly you look fine," says Farler, who over the years tried numerous prescription and nonprescription medications for her allergies, with little success. "People don't see how you feel."
Unlike absenteeism, presenteeism isn't always apparent. You know when someone doesn't show up for work, but you often can't tell when—or how much—illness or a medical condition hinders someone's performance.
However, a handful of companies—including International Truck and Engine, Bank One (recently acquired by JPMorgan Chase), Lockheed Martin, and Comerica—are recognizing the problem of presenteeism and trying to do something about it. That entails determining the prevalence of illnesses and medical problems that undermine job performance in the workforce, calculating the related productivity loss, and combating that loss in cost-effective ways. This is a new area of study, so questions remain around a host of issues, including the central one: the exact degree to which various illnesses reduce productivity. But researchers are discovering increasingly reliable ways to measure this and are concluding that presenteeism costs companies billions of dollars a year. Emerging evidence suggests that relatively small investments in screening, treatment, and education can reap substantial productivity gains.
For example, International Truck and Engine, as part of a study of how allergies affect the company's workforce, offered interested employees free consultations with an allergy specialist at its truck development and technology center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Amy Farler works. After her meeting, Farler decided to get a complete evaluation from another allergist, who ultimately determined that she had in the past been misdiagnosed: She was allergic not only to seasonal ragweed pollen but also to dust mites, which was why her symptoms persisted throughout the year. The doctor prescribed a combination of drugs that significantly improved her condition. Although she still has some problems during peak hay fever season, most of the time she feels pretty good. "I'm definitely a lot more alert and able to concentrate better," says Farler, who estimates that her productivity may have suffered by as much as 25% before she was correctly diagnosed.
Experiences like Farler's raise some broad questions about today's vigorous efforts to contain health care expenses. For example, in trying to reduce direct costs by trimming employees' benefits, could companies be achieving false savings that are offset by the indirect cost of reduced productivity? Conversely, could targeted investments in the treatment of certain common illnesses more than pay for themselves through productivity gains?
Illnesses You Take to Work
Presenteeism, as defined by researchers, isn't about malingering (pretending to be ill to avoid work duties) or goofing off on the job (surfing the Internet, say, when you should be preparing that report). The term—which has gained currency despite some academics' uneasiness with its somewhat catchy feel—refers to productivity loss resulting from real health problems. Underlying the research on presenteeism is the assumption that employees do not take their jobs lightly, that most of them need and want to continue working if they can.
"We're talking about people hanging in there when they get sick and trying to figure out ways to carry on despite their symptoms," says Debra Lerner, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, who notes that presenteeism may be more common in tough economic times, when people are afraid of losing their jobs. "If every employee stayed home each time a chronic condition flared up, work would never get done." That some managers hold a less generous view of worker attitudes serves as a backdrop to researchers' continuing efforts to document their findings more conclusively.
Many of the medical problems that result in presenteeism are, by their nature, relatively benign. (After all, more serious illnesses frequently force people to stay home from work, often for extended periods.) So research on presenteeism focuses on such chronic or episodic ailments as seasonal allergies, asthma, migraines and other kinds of headaches, back pain, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, and depression. Progressive conditions like heart disease or cancer, which require expensive treatments and tend to strike people later in life, generate the majority of companies' direct health-related costs—that is, the premiums a company pays to an insurer or, if the company is self-insured, the claims paid for medical care and drugs. But the illnesses people take with them to work, even though they incur far lower direct costs, usually account for a greater loss in productivity because they are so prevalent, so often go untreated, and typically occur during peak working years. Those indirect costs have long been largely invisible to employers.
Illness affects both the quantity of work (people might work more slowly than usual, for instance, or have to repeat tasks) and the quality (they might make more—or more serious—mistakes). Untreated allergies like Amy Farler's can impede concentration. The discomfort of gastrointestinal disorders—common but seldom-talked-about ailments such as irritable bowel syndrome and gastroesophageal reflux disease (also known as GERD, acid reflux disease, or, somewhat more prosaically, heartburn)—is a persistent distraction. Depression causes, among other things, fatigue and irritability, which hinder people's ability to work together. Arthritis makes manual labor more difficult.
Clearly, different conditions have different effects on different jobs. While depression may not seriously impair an auto mechanic's performance, lower-back pain might. An aching back may not be a big problem for an insurance salesperson, but depression is likely to be. The result in either case: a significant sapping of worker productivity.
Costs That Can't Be Seen
Well-publicized studies in recent years have estimated the nationwide costs of several common ailments in the U.S workplace. Two articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year reported that depression set U.S. employers back some $35 billion a year in reduced performance at work and that pain conditions such as arthritis, headaches, and back problems cost nearly $47 billion. "Pain, no matter what the cause, will always translate into lost time at work," says the studies' lead author, Walter F. ("Buzz") Stewart, a director of the Center for Health Research & Rural Advocacy at Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania.
Researchers have also tried to quantify the impact of disease in general on workplace productivity. Using the same methodology employed to gauge the costs of depression and pain—a yearlong telephone survey of 29,000 working adults, dubbed the American Productivity Audit—Stewart's research team calculated the total cost of presenteeism in the United States to be more than $150 billion per year. Furthermore, most studies confirm that presenteeism is far more costly than illness-related absenteeism or disability. The two Journal of the American Medical Association studies, for example, found that the on-the-job productivity loss resulting from depression and pain was roughly three times greater than the absence-related productivity loss attributed to these conditions. That is, less time was actually lost from people staying home than from them showing up but not performing at the top of their game.
Researchers have found that less time is lost from people staying home than from them showing up but not performing at full capacity.
What may be more significant—but is also controversial—is that presenteeism appears to cost companies substantially more than they spend directly on medical treatment and drugs. (It's important to note that many presenteeism studies, though conducted by academics or health management consultants, are proposed and funded by pharmaceutical companies hoping to show that certain medications are worth paying for because they will increase worker productivity by ameliorating symptoms of illness.) Typically, studies show that presenteeism costs employers two to three times more than direct medical care, which is paid for by companies in the form of insurance premiums or employee claims.
But such findings, while striking, are academic until a company takes a close look at the effects of illness on the productivity of its own workforce. Bank One, for instance, has calculated its direct and indirect health costs and found that the direct spending represents only a fraction of the company's total costs. (See the exhibit "The Hidden Costs of Presenteeism.") Comerica, another large bank, analyzed the impact of irritable bowel syndrome, an often-undiagnosed ailment common among women, on presenteeism. The company discovered that at least 10% of its predominantly female workforce of 11,800 suffered from the condition, whose symptoms include painful abdominal cramps. The study—funded by Novartis, which makes Zelnorm, a drug used to treat IBS—found that flare-ups reduced workers' on-the-job productivity by approximately 20% across a wide range of clerical and executive jobs. "People show up for work, but with the pain—not to mention frequent trips to the bathroom—they're just not very productive," says David Groves, vice president for corporate health management. Other companies' studies have assessed the impact of individual illnesses ranging from arthritis to allergies, often because they appear to be a problem in a particular workforce. [For a look at how seasonal allergies have impaired productivity at a number of companies, see the sidebar "The Stealth (ah…ah…) Enemy (ahh…) of Productivity (…chooooo!)."]
The Hidden Costs of Presenteeism
The Stealth (ah...ah...) Enemy (ahh...) of Productivity (...chooooo!)
Some companies are trying to get a handle on the full array of illnesses affecting worker productivity. Lockheed Martin did a pilot study, involving 1,600 of its 25,000 workers, that examined the effects of more than two dozen chronic medical problems. Using a detailed questionnaire to assess how different illnesses affected workers' physical and mental ability to do their jobs, the company tentatively identified how much each of the various conditions reduced productivity. (For a tabulation of the productivity costs of several health problems studied at Lockheed, see the exhibit "A Presenteeism Report Card.")
A Presenteeism Report Card
An Emerging Field
Productivity, always an elusive concept, is particularly difficult to measure in today's postmanufacturing, widget-sparse economy, in which so little of what we produce can be counted. So researchers have turned to questionnaires that ask employees whether they suffer from a medical problem and, if so, how much it impairs their performance. At least a half-dozen assessment tools are currently in use, each looking at reduced productivity from a slightly different perspective. One, developed by Buzz Stewart and used in the American Productivity Audit, asks workers how much productive work time they think they've lost because of medical problems. Another, developed by Ronald Kessler, a professor at Harvard Medical School, asks workers about their overall performance; it has been adopted by the World Health Organization and will also be used early next year in two large regional studies sponsored by business organizations in the midwestern and southeastern United States. A third, developed by Debra Lerner at Tufts, looks at several ways an illness can hurt an employee's ability to function and how the combination will affect different jobs; it is used by a variety of academic researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and employers—including Lockheed, in the company's pilot study.
These and other research approaches have yielded quite different estimates of on-the-job productivity loss. According to a recent review of the research, such estimates range from less than 20% of a company's total health-related costs to more than 60%.1 Without a standard tool for measurement, "there is a lot of confusion about what we're even measuring," concedes Stewart. There are other soft spots in the research. For example, a relatively small decline in one person's performance may have a ripple effect on, say, an entire team that falls behind schedule because the ailing member has to skip a meeting. And researchers continue to wrestle with such challenges as measuring the relative effects of individual ailments on productivity for workers who suffer from more than one medical problem.
Many executives—and even some academics in the field—are wary of using surveys to gather data on presenteeism and suspicious of the current substantial estimates of presenteeism's costs. The skeptics include CFOs and benefits administrators, who are accustomed to citing, down to the penny, the amount a company spends on medical and pharmaceutical benefits. "There are naysayers," admits Sean Sullivan, president of the Institute for Health and Productivity Management, an organization of large employers, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, and others interested in the relationship between employee health and business results. "They say, 'Show me the hard data.' But in the modern economy, we're simply going to run out of hard data."
Validating the Findings
Despite the skepticism—and even though the study of presenteeism is still young and the methods used to measure productivity loss are continually being reassessed—there have been some recent successes in firming up the research. These involve the validation of self-reported employee information, the kind of data most commonly used to gauge presenteeism. For example, workers' estimates of productivity loss drawn from the Stewart, Kessler, and Lerner questionnaires have been found to correlate with company-generated productivity data, including supervisor ratings and objective measures of employees' work output. A study involving 10,000 workers at International Truck and Engine focused on the possibility that surveyed employees might be less than candid about their health and productivity. But the study found that employees' reports correlated with past instances of such verifiable productivity problems as absenteeism and accident-related disability—and with subsequent ones, which the employees presumably wouldn't have foreseen when they responded to the questionnaire.
Some of the strongest evidence of a link between self-reported presenteeism and actual productivity loss comes from several studies involving credit card call center employees at Bank One. There are a number of objective measures of a service representative's productivity, including the amount of time spent on each call, the amount of time between calls (when the employee is doing paperwork), and the amount of time the person is logged off the system. A study the company conducted in the late 1990s showed a relationship between workers with certain known illnesses (identified from earlier disability claims) and lower productivity scores. A more recent study, by academic researchers, compared the results from a presenteeism questionnaire with objective measures of call center workers' productivity. The employees' self-reports of diminished productivity because of health problems correlated strongly with the objective data. "We're getting to the point where, if objective data aren't available, which they usually aren't, we have a pretty good way to calculate the relationship between illness and on-the-job productivity," says Wayne N. Burton, MD, longtime senior vice president and corporate medical director at Bank One and, since the company's acquisition, medical director at JPMorgan Chase.
Ronald Kessler, the researcher at Harvard, notes that companies regularly make important business decisions based on subjective information, such as 360-degree performance evaluations and survey data that can be colored by respondents' bias or lack of candor. What's important, he says, is "not 100% accuracy but consistency" in the results over time.
Reducing Presenteeism
Whatever the shortcomings of current measurement tools and research, most people agree that presenteeism represents a problem for employers: When people don't feel good, they simply don't do their best work.
It's one thing to show that there's a problem, though, and another to demonstrate that there's something you can do about it—and, if something can be done, that the benefits will justify the investment. A central aim of presenteeism research is to identify cost-effective measures a company can take to recover some, if not all, of the on-the-job productivity lost to employee illness.
The first step, clearly, is making your managers—and yourself—aware of the problem. Buzz Stewart recalls doing research in the late 1990s, when he was a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University, on the impact of migraines on productivity. He was initially skeptical about the magnitude of his own findings. Then people at the university started telling him about how migraines affected their work. The big surprise, though, came several years later at a party, where he was chatting with the migraine study's project manager. She told him that about twice a month, she would close her office door as soon as she got to work, turn off the lights, and put her head on her desk. The problem: migraine headaches, of course. "Here I was, a 'national expert' on the subject," he says, "and I wasn't even aware of what was going on with my own staff."
The next step involves getting to know the particular health issues facing your employees. This might entail a formal study, but to begin with, you could simply look at your workforce with health issues in mind. Lerner, at Tufts University, puts it this way: "An employer might say, 'We're a company with a workforce of mostly women, and our profitability depends on excellent customer service. Women are more likely than men to suffer from depression, and depression can affect customer relations. So maybe we should be doing something about this.'"
Educating employees is also crucial. You may want to set up programs to ensure that illnesses aren't going undiagnosed because employees don't realize they have a problem or—as in Amy Farler's case—that illnesses aren't being misdiagnosed. Comerica's study of irritable bowel syndrome revealed that some employees had for years unsuccessfully sought help from as many as five or six doctors, who incorrectly diagnosed the condition; in a misguided effort to ease their pain, many workers had even undergone an exploratory appendectomy, hysterectomy, or other type of surgery.
It's also helpful to teach employees how to better manage their illnesses. A recent education program at Lockheed Martin for arthritis sufferers gave explanations of treatment options and advice on making physician visits more productive. Comerica sponsored a series of hour-long Lunch and Learn sessions led by a gastroenterologist, which focused on things employees can do, like changing their diet and reducing stress, to relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Such programs usually emphasize the importance of regularly taking one's medications.
These steps seem simple, but the challenge of improving health education is far from trivial, as findings from the International Truck and Engine allergy study highlight. The company had augmented its traditional ways of relaying information to employees (newsletters, brochures, and bulletin board displays) with Web pages and on-site consultations with allergists. But a follow-up study revealed that the interventions hadn't boosted the relatively small proportion of allergy sufferers—about 25%—who took the new generation of nonsedating medications. "One-shot education isn't going to be effective," says consultant Harris Allen, who led the research with William Bunn, MD, vice president of health, safety, and productivity at the company. "Even when potential benefits take the form of such low-hanging fruit as getting people to switch to a more effective medication, you need to overcome such motivational barriers as a reluctance to try something new or simple inertia."
Spending to Save
Ultimately, improving productivity by improving employees' health takes more than relatively low-cost education programs. It requires paying for new or better medical treatment, whether medication for allergies, counseling for depression, or tests to determine the cause of chronic headaches. Certain medications—for example, those used to treat allergies, migraines, asthma, and depression—have been found to significantly improve productivity, according to a survey of recent research on the subject.2
So far, though, there have been only a few studies showing that productivity gains completely offset the direct cost of providing the medications. One such study looked at the effect of allergies on Bank One's call center service representatives and concluded that productivity improvements would indeed be more than worth the cost of providing the allergy medications. Even the more general findings—that productivity increases when workers with health problems take appropriate medications—suggest that a company's pharmacy costs should be viewed at least in part as an investment in workforce productivity. Take the case of Pitney-Bowes. In 2001, with the aim of cutting health care costs, the office technology company sharply reduced employees' co-payments for diabetes and asthma drugs. Subsequently, the direct costs of treating patients with those diseases fell by more than 10%, presumably because the employees took the more affordable drugs regularly. A likely additional benefit: reduced absenteeism and presenteeism. Conversely, a study by researchers from Harvard Medical School and pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions, published last December in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that patients faced with a steep increase in their co-payments may stop taking necessary medications—a problem that, through increased absenteeism or presenteeism, could wipe out a company's savings in direct medical costs.
Hints such as these about the potential cost-effectiveness of investments in employee health are driving further research. The two forthcoming studies of companies in the Midwest and the Southeast, each involving several dozen organizations, will try to identify economic moves companies might make to stem health-related productivity losses. Another study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and involving 100,000 workers at a number of companies, including American Airlines and Northeast Utilities, is looking at whether depression-related presenteeism can be reduced cost-effectively through screening and outreach programs, access to inexpensive medication, and individual case management.
The poster child for a positive return on such investments is the flu shot. Numerous studies have shown that the cost of offering free shots is far outweighed by the savings realized through reductions in both absenteeism and presenteeism. There is also strong evidence that well-designed employee assistance programs (which offer counseling services for employees and their families), health risk assessments (which gather information from workers on conditions, such as high blood pressure, that may cause future health problems), and wellness programs (which promote healthy practices such as exercising and following a nutritious diet) more than pay for themselves by lowering companies' direct and indirect medical costs.
At the heart of programs like these is the belief that healthy employees are an asset meriting investment—that you may see a greater improvement in efficiency if you treat workers' asthma than if you install a new phone system.
Piece of a Larger Puzzle
Cost or investment? It's the question that underlies a slew of current research on the broad subject of "human capital." Just as the expense of training is seen by many as an investment in a skilled workforce, the expense of medical care is viewed as an investment in a healthy workforce—one whose productivity isn't impaired by relatively minor but common medical problems. In both cases, improved business results are anticipated.
"Better management of employee health can lead to improved productivity, which can create a competitive business advantage," says Sean Sullivan of the Institute for Health and Productivity Management. In fact, he adds, investments to reduce presenteeism, because they are so rare, offer greater opportunities for getting ahead of the competition than investments in traditional areas such as training.
Standing in the way of these efforts, according to numerous researchers studying presenteeism, is the "benefits mentality" of many whose job it is to monitor and control corporate health care expenses. From this perspective, employees benefit from what the company spends on them rather than the company benefiting from what it invests in employees. (For a radical version of this view, see the sidebar "Rooting Out the Problem.")
Rooting Out the Problem
More than two centuries ago, Adam Smith noted in his Wealth of Nations that workers are less likely to work productively "when they are frequently sick than when they are generally in good health.…[Sickness] cannot fail to diminish the produce of their industry." Smith's words ring just as true today, as researchers attempt to document in detail how this commonsense notion plays out in companies and what managers can do in response.
1. See Ron Z. Goetzel, Stacey R. Long, Ronald J. Ozminkowski, Kevin Hawkins, Shaohung Wang, and Wendy Lynch, "Health, Absence, Disability, and Presenteeism Cost Estimates of Certain Physical and Mental Health Conditions Affecting U.S. Employers," Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April 2004.
2. See Wayne N. Burton, Alan Morrison, and Albert I. Wertheimer, "Pharmaceuticals and Worker Productivity Loss: A Critical Review of the Literature," Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, June 2003.


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Being a huge Highlander fan with no belief in an afterlife, I have to say that I'm jealous:
If you're thinking McLeod, you couldn't be further from the truth. What you have to do is think small; not microscopic, just big enough to see with your naked eye. Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan, and it's considered by scientists to be the only animal that cheated death.But then again: is a life without sex a life still worth living? My brain says yes but I suspect that it's merely lying to my penis on this one.
Solitary organisms are (according to current belief) doomed to die, after they completed their life cycle. Hydrozoa are a huge class of predatory animals that live mostly in saltwater, closely related to jellyfish and corals. Eggs and sperm from an adult jellyfish (medusa) and they then develop into polyp stage. Medusae evolve asexually from polyps.
Still, our Turritopsis nutricula (could we call it Joe??) managed to find a way to beat that. What these little folks do is they revert completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after they reach sexual maturity. They're even cooler than that. When they're young they've got only several tentacles, but at a mature stage, they get to 80-90 of them.
They're able to return to polyp stage due to a cell change in the external screen (Exumbrella), which allows them to bypass death. As far as scientists have been able to find out, this change renders the hydrozoa virtually immortal.


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As the 2012 Pritzker Prize was being awarded in Beijing's Great Hall of the People to Chinese architect Wang Shu, the building that truly proves that Chinese architects are emerging on the international stage was already under construction nearby—and it wasn't by Wang. The new Phoenix International Media Center, a ballooning torus formed by a twisting lattice of steel, rivals any structure designed by a Westerner in China over the last decade. Through the design for their new headquarters and broadcast center, China's largest private broadcaster engaged its biggest rival—the government-owned CCTV, housed in the now-famed tower by Rotterdam, Netherlands–based OMA—on a playing field few thought possible: the architectural stage.
It was inevitable that, sooner or later, Chinese architects would challenge the hegemony of foreign architects "colonizing" China's cities with landmark projects. Wang may have won the Pritzker, but in recognizing an architect who prides himself on thinking and building locally, studiously avoiding what he considers imported architectural spectacle, the prize's committee may have bet on the wrong horse. Representing a different, more internationally competitive point of view is the Phoenix's designer, Shao Weiping, executive chief architect of the government-owned Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD). He was the local architect that collaborated with Norman Foster, Hon. FAIA, on Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3. But at the Phoenix, there was no Foster, only Shao, fresh with Terminal 3 expertise and a backup crew of architects largely trained abroad.
The Phoenix marks a transfer of knowledge and information, signaling the paradigm shift from "Made in China" to "Created in China," the inference being that China need no longer import talent. If the CCTV tower marked the opening of China for an innovative, modern architecture, the Phoenix means that the baton for the movement might be passing into Chinese hands.
Over the last 15 years, municipal governments and Chinese companies have sought progressive foreign architects to create new structures because of their innovative design thinking, so there is irony in the fact that this TV station from Hong Kong, a city that has long been oriented to the West, was the one that sought a Beijing architect when it moved its headquarters to the mainland. Phoenix acquired land between the city's third and fourth ring roads, a prime gateway site into Chaoyang Park, one of China's largest urban greenspaces.
The TV station's objective was to create a transparent headquarters, outside and inside. So the architects integrated gardens and reflecting pools into the site to attract visitors to linger and to provide outdoor spaces for the workers within. At the building's west end, near a busy intersection, the architects lift the torus off the ground to open a path into the central courtyard, and at the far east end, they lift the torus even higher, forming a gateway to the park beyond. With the building entirely glazed with thousands of panels, the interiors are visible from the outside.
Despite the beguiling convolutions, involutions, and revolutions of the torus's compound curves, the building's parti is deceptively simple: The torus acts as a shell enclosing two conventionally structured buildings inside. The architects stacked nine stories of offices within the taller, south side of the torus, and organized the television studios, a club, and high-end restaurants in the lower, northern end. Here, an art café occupies the top level, which is open to the glazed skin of the structure's shell overhead.
Starting near the main entrance, sinuously ramped promenades connect these elements together, passing by the studios, which are open to the viewing public. "It's the only TV broadcasting station in Beijing open to the public," Shao says. At the east end, within an atrium overlooking the park, the promenade leads to a maelstrom of ramps that twist and turn through the air to maximize the intake of views for those walking from the studio area to the offices on the south side.
The complexity of the building's latticed façade, with its differentially stretched web of steel, implies the complexities of parametric modeling, but the form generation was more conceptual than computational, and, as with many recent projects in China, the concept ties into tradition. To the architects, the emblem of the station—a pair of intertwined phoenixes—suggested complementary yin–yang figures, which are often associated with the Möbius strip. The architects transformed the continuously evolving surface of the Möbius strip into the continuously turning volumes of a Klein bottle before settling on the torus, all forms which "remember" the Möbius strip as a primitive.
The volumes of the torus were inflated and deflated to accommodate the interior programs of offices, studios, and public spaces. The architects fixed axes and a series of loops, in plan, from which they generated the geometry for the surface of the torus. Enclosing the final form required 3,800 glass panels, each differently sized and detailed. Shao says that the latest 3D modeling software enabled the architects to conceive and execute the project, which required a high degree of precision. Shao, who heads the Un-Forbidden Office within BIAD, a smaller studio within the larger company, says he did his utmost to create an iconic piece of engineering and artistic beauty to break the pattern of monuments by international designers dominating the capital.
At the very least, Shao and his office have declared their independence with an ambitious design they skillfully executed. They and their colleagues will continue to challenge the bias for foreign architects. With the Phoenix, they have tasted their own success.
Project Credits
Project Phoenix International Media Center, Beijing
Client Phoenix Television
Architect Architect BIAD UFo (Beijing Institute of Architecture Design, Un-Forbidden office), Beijing—Shao Weiping (executive chief architect); Liu Yuguang, Chen Ying, Li Gan, Zhou Zewo, Wu Xi, Hao Yihan, Pan Hui, Xiao Lichun, Wang Yu (project team)
Structural Engineer Shu Weinong, Zhu Zhongyi, Zhou Sihong, Zhang Shizhong, Shen Zhenkai, Wang Yi, Bu Longgui
Mechanical Engineer Zhang Tiehui, Yang Yang, Qian Qiang, Liu Yun
Electrical Engineer Sun Chengqun, Jin Hong
Plot Plan Design Engineer Lv Juan
Lighting Engineer Zheng Jianwei
Economist Zhang Ling
BIM Engineer Chi Shengfeng
Landscape Design LAURstudio
Interior Design SAKO Architects
Lighting Concept Consultant Speirs + Major
BIM Consultant Beijing BIMTechnologie Co.
Construction & EPC Beijing Tianrun Construction Co.
Steel Structure Jiangsu Huning Steel Mechanism Co.
Curtainwall Consultant Shenzhen King Façade Decoration Engineering Co.
SRC Curtainwall Shanghai Winsun Building Products Co.
Interior Decoration Suzhou Gold Mantis Construction Decoration Co.
Lighting Haoersai Lighting Technology Group Co.
Size 65,000 square meters (699,654 square feet)
Cost Withheld


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Recently, two of my favorite artists, Beyoncé and Drake, released albums (Lemonade & Views). Beyoncé has wowed the world once again with a visual album. The film to accompany Lemonade aired on HBO a few weeks ago & the soundtrack so to speak was Lemonade. The album is currently available for streaming on Tidal.
The film chronicled Bey going through an emotional journey of dealing with her husband's infidelity. Each song represented each emotion that she went through during the process. It ended on forgiveness, which makes sense since she & Jay-Z are still together. It was very powerful to see her get so personal and raw with the world. I thought that her self-titled album was personal, but Lemonade takes the cake.
I love the album from start to finish, but here are my top 5. The top five are: "Hold Up," "Don't Hurt Yourself," "Sorry," "Freedom," and "Sandcastles." On "Sandcastles" you can hear Bey's raw emotions in her vocals especially when she sings: What is it about you that I can't erase? You can hear her voice crack, and it sounds like she's on the verge of tears. This song definitely delivers in the feels department. Beyoncé experiments with a lot of different genres on this album from rock, reggae, hip-hop, country and r&b.
Meanwhile, after all of the speculation, push backs and rumors, Drake's new album Views is finally here. Drake has delivered yet again with this album. In an interview with Zane Lowe, Drake said that this is his best album vocally and I agree. Drake is doing what he's known for, which is mixing rapping with singing and once again it works. One of my favorite sections of this album is what I would consider the reggae section. The two tracks "Controlla" and "One Dance," which is currently the #1 song in the country, both have reggae vibes to them and it makes almost impossible to not dance when those two songs come on. Towards the end of "Controlla" you can hear reggae artist Beenie Man and I felt that transition was genius.
Another great song on this album is "Weston Road Flows," which features a sample of a Mary J. Blige song called "Mary's Joint." On this song, Drake displays his storytelling abilities while reflecting on his past. "U With Me?" is another great song on Views. It samples two DMX songs and has Drake wondering if his girl will stick with him. "Still Here" is also great for it's uptempo jam style.
Both artists have delivered quality albums that I'm sure will be on a lot of "Best of 2016" lists at the end of the year. Lemonade and Views are in our catalog for request but if you can't wait, you can stream Views on Hoopla and Beyoncé's previous albums are available for download on Freegal. Beyoncé and Drake will be making their way to Pittsburgh very soon. Queen Bey will be gracing the Burgh with her presence on May 31st when her Formation World Tour makes a stop at Heinz Field. The 6 God himself will be at the Consol Energy Center on August 17th when his Summer Sixteen Tour stops here.
Happy listening!
Refresh Your EarsReserve Lemonade
Kayla works at Squirrel Hill as a Clerk, so when you come up to the customer services desk you might see her face! When she's not at the library she enjoys reading, watching TV & listening to music. You might also find her at your local Starbucks, because she loves her Frappuccinos.


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Hello. This is about to be an article about moms. We could go back and forth all day screaming about whether working moms hurt stay-at-home moms' feelings, or whether stay-at-home moms contribute to a culture that takes working moms less seriously by default, but let's not. Here is the situation: Some women want to work and raise kids. Some women want to stay home and raise kids. Some women don't want kids at all. Some women don't want to work but must to support their families. Some women are listless heiresses who just want to lounge on a yacht. Some women want to be rescued. And no matter what your opinion is on any of those lifestyles, here is the takeaway: When women tell you what they want, they are not full of shit.
I feel like there's still a subtle but pervasive feeling in our culture—even among educated liberals—that no matter how much women insist we want independence and autonomy, biology dictates that we'd all secretly love to stay home, be taken care of, and take care of children. Babies come out of us, after all. There are different strains of that idea, of course—from mild ones (women are natural nurturers!) to violently misogynistic ones (women are lazy gold diggers!)—but it's an idea that chips away, however slightly, at women's ability to make our own choices and have those choices respected.
So ANYWAY, in case anyone's still on the fence about whether or not women really want to be liberated (maybe you suspect that feminism is just a conspiracy to get out of doing the dishes and indulge in masturbatory bitching until Sir Lancelot invents a time machine and takes us away from all this)—here is some science for you.
Researchers from the University of Akron in Ohio studied 2,540 women who had children between 1978 and 1995:
After adjusting for other factors that could influence the findings, such as prior health, employment before pregnancy, race/ethnicity, single motherhood, cognitive ability, and age at first birth, they found the choices women make early in their professional lives can influence their health later on.
Women who go back to full time work shortly after having children reported better health, both physical and mental. They have more mobility, less tendency to depression, and have more energy, at age 40.
"It gives women a sense of purpose, self-efficacy, control and autonomy."
"They have a place where they are an expert on something, and they're paid a wage."
The study takes particular interest in a group they found to be the least healthy—the "persistently unemployed." These are mothers who are persistently in and out of jobs, usually not by choice. "Struggling to hold onto a job or being in constant job search mode wears on their health, especially mentally, but also physically," the study claims.
Now. Obviously this issue (oh, it's just life and the choices we make in it—NBD!) is impossibly complex. It's not particularly surprising that moms who have the education and social stability and access to childcare to hold down steady careers would have better quality of life overall. But we can draw a few observations:
1. Being unemployed fucking sucks. For everyone.
2. Work is rewarding for men and women. Women like to be recognized for what they do just as much as what they are.
3. Stress is bad for you.
4. Taking care of children full-time is HARD. It's grueling and draining. It's not a job that ends at 5 pm, and it's isolating to spend all your time without any other adults around.
5. If all of this seems like common sense, that's because it is. This study doesn't "prove" one type of mom to be "better" than another—but it's a convincing tally in the "women are people" column. Women can make choices for women, and sometimes the best choices might be counter to traditionalist notions of "biology." Women aren't magical nurturing baby incubators just whiling away their single years at the ad agency like it's a hobby. Women aren't homogeneous. And if a woman tells you she wants something—whether it's to work or to stay home with the kids—just fucking believe her.
Photo credit: yuri_arcurs / Stockfresh.


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Ah, Black Friday. The day where you push and shove to get in a store for a "Doorbuster deal". This year, Apple will be getting in the game with their own Black Friday Deals. But are the supposed price reductions a discount, or a slap in the face to the consumer?
Apple is doing something they haven't in a long time. Put a sale on their computers. Usually, if you want to buy a Mac, prices are set and you have no choice. However, this holiday season, Apple is doing something different – they're putting devices on "Black Friday" deals.
According to 9to5mac.com, this Friday you can get a 16GB iPad2 for $458 – A $41 discount. Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and iMac will all get $101 discounts, and iPod Nano and Touch will get a $11 discount. accessories will also be discounted.
So the best deal out of the group is the Macbook Air for $898. While it is a discount to normal prices, this doesn't feel like a Black Friday deal. Usually, if you stand in a line for hours, you can get a free MP3 player or 20″ LCD TV. You can get a 20% discount on certain items in the store.
Apple's discount is about 10%.
With Kindle Fire being $199 and nook color at $249, then add in the fact that Blackberry Playbook just got reduced to $300, Apple's $41 discount on an iPad might not be the magic number for people to get excited in standing in a Apple Store line on November 25th. Then again, Apple always has been about quality, and with quality comes price.
Still, some fans hold Apple products on a silver pedestal. They will pay whatever price Apple puts in front of them. So a $41 discount might be a big deal to someone who wants an iPad.
Conspicuously missing was any price breaks for iPhones. Especially since Best Buy posted their Black Friday circular (in which an Apple TV is $10 off). Some other phones will be 30-50% off on Friday. Six Android smartphones will be free (with 2 year activation).
The LG Thrill is one of those phones – a 4G phone with glasses-less 3D technology. It matches the specs to an iPhone 4S. That would be a good reason to hit Best Buy when they open.
Still, any discount is a good one. So get your running shoes on and get ready for a long day in shopping lines. Unless you are like me, waiting for Cyber Monday to get all the deals online…


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Mukhtar was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be executed by hanging [by Italians] in a public place. The fairness of his trial has been disputed by historians and scholars. When asked if he wished to say any last words, he replied with the Qur'anic clause:
"Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un."
"From Allah we have come, and to Allah we will return."
|Omar Mukhtar led the rebellion against occupation of Libya
Italian Libya was formed from the colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania which were taken by Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 after the Italo-Turkish War of 1911 to 1912. Both Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, along with Fezzan, were merged into Italian Libya in 1934.
The colony expanded after concessions were made from the British colony of Sudan and a territorial agreement with Egypt. The Kingdom of Italy at the 1919 Paris "Conference of Peace" did not receive anything of the German colonies, but as a compensation was given from Great Britain the Oltre Giuba and France agreed to give some Saharan territories to the Italian Libya. After many discussions during the 1920s, it was only until 1935 that the Mussolini-Laval agreement was reached and Italy received the Aouzou strip that was added to Libya, but this agreement was not ratified later by France.
Libya was lost as a colony in early 1943 when it was occupied by the Allied powers near the end of the North African Campaign.
Omar Mukhtar was born in eastern Cyrenaica, Al Butnan District, in the village of East Janzur east of Tobruk. He was orphaned early and was adopted by Sharif El Gariani.
A teacher of the Qur'an by profession, Mukhtar was also skilled in the strategies and tactics of desert warfare. He knew local geography well and used that knowledge to advantage in battles against the Italians, who were unaccustomed to desert warfare. Mukhtar repeatedly led his small, highly alert groups in successful attacks against the Italians, after which they would fade back into the desert terrain. Mukhtar's men skillfully attacked outposts, ambushed troops, and cut lines of supply and communication. The Italian army was left astonished and embarrassed by his guerrilla tactics.Omar Mukhtar led the rebellion against Italian occupation of Libya for 20 years until his capture and execution at the old age of 70.
|Omar Mukhtar arrested by Italian Fascicsts
The Sanusies previously fought with him against the French and British, did not come to his aid in time. Instead, many of them became loyal to the Italians by giving them Muslim lands in exchange for clemency, montly salaries, and free taxation from the latter.
Mukhtar's struggle of nearly twenty years came to an end on September 11, 1931, when he was wounded in battle near Slonta, then captured by the Italian army.
Mukhtar was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be executed by hanging [by Italians] in a public place. The fairness of his trial has been disputed by historians and scholars. When asked if he wished to say any last words, he replied with the Qur'anic clause:
"Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un."
"From Allah we have come, and to Allah we will return."
|Omar Muktar : "From Allah we have come, and to Allah we will return."
On September 16, 1931, in the hope that the Libyan resistance movement would wither and die without him, Mukhtar was hanged in front of his followers in the concentration camp of Sollouq the orders of the Italian court. They forced the Libyans to watch their hero been hanged. There were no considerations of human rights in the Libya.
Remember that the Italians caused the death of half of Libya's population and killing Omar Al-Mukhtar to the Italians was ending the Libyan resistance which to them means finally taking control of the country after 20 years of struggle. Libya was under the Italian occupation till 1943 when Italy was defeated in World War II and Libya became under the Allies Armies occupation till December 24, 1951 when Libya achieved its independance after years and years of occupation.
His final years were depicted in the movie Lion of the Desert (1981), starring Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, and Irene Papas. It was based on the struggles of Mukhtar against Rodolfo Graziani's forces.
Yes - the same Fascist hero GRAZIANI !
He was notorious as Benito Mussolini's military commander in colonial wars in Ethiopia and Libya where he carried out massacres and used chemical weapons. [Read more Italy memorial to Fascist hero Graziani sparks row]
|Colonel Gaddafi in Italy:
The picture on Colonel Gaddafi's chest is of a Libyan resistance fighter, Omar al-Mukhtar,
Read Also :
Who is Idris of Libya? Who is Gaddafi?


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Click to return to Bernard BoutetDeMonvel's artwork
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Bernard BoutetDeMonvel
Costumes Parisiens
This is a plate-signed hand-coloured pochoir illustration from the 1912 Journal des Dames et des Modes (Plate #16) - a Parisian haute couture journal containing these(unbound) artworks published by Tom Antongini from June 1912 until August 1914. In her 1979 book "Parisian Fashion" Christina Nuzzi describes this Journal: "With its expensive layout, its society columns, its poetic texts, its colourful annotations and its fashion reports, it represented the last brilliant, refined, impartial and aestheticizing impulse of a happy and optimistic society occupying the centre of the stage in the period that has aptly been called the 'Belle Epoque'". The life of indolence captured! Rich, intense coloration. H. 8.625in X W. 5.625in; H. 21.9cm X W. 14.3cm
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4 Reasons you should choose a licensed speech-language pathologist to see YOUR child!
4 Reasons you should choose a licensed speech-language pathologist to see YOUR child!
- We are specially trained. All speech-language pathologists hold a masters degree, which means we have completed years of extra schooling specifically in communication disorders. This means we are uniquely qualified to diagnose and treat a variety of communication disorders.
- In addition to our schooling, we also completed over 1,000 hours of therapy time under an already licensed SLP before we could practice on our own. This means we enter the field with a lot of great experiences under our belts!
- We are required to be licensed by our state to practice and most of us are also credentialed by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). This means we are held to high standards in our knowledge, practice and ethics.
- We are required to complete several hours of continuing education every year in order to keep our license and certification. This allows us to keep our knowledge and skills fresh!
If your child is receiving speech therapy, ask the right questions so you have the most qualified person helping them succeed!


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Product details
About the brand
The latest trends at affordable prices are the basic characteristics of the JENNY FAIRY brand. Her fashion DNA reflects the most up-to-date designs inspired by catwalk projects. Perfect for clients who love to be in the spotlight and regularly reach for the biggest hits of the season. Bold colours, original materials and innovative trim make JENNY FAIRY a leader in the production of fashionable, inexpensive footwear for many seasons. The richness of stylish models creates an excellent range of shoes for special occasions, such as a wedding, carnival or parties.


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- Gourmet Grater Plates
- >
- Butterfly Blue Design / Gourmet Grater Plate
Butterfly Blue Design / Gourmet Grater Plate
SPECIAL FOR CHRISTMAS ! IF YOU BUY 5 PLATES - WE WILL GIVE YOU AN EXTRA GRATER PLATE (with brush and Peeler) F O R F R E E ! !
The Gourmet Ceramic Grater Plates
Triple glazed ceramic, hand painted and lead free !
the grater is a beautiful and functional addition to any kitchen!
Round and around, up and down - grates in any direction.
For best results, hold grater in palm of hand,
rub whatever you want grated across bottom of plate.
Saves time in the kitchen and looks beautiful too.
This set, includes:
One Triple Coated Ceramic Grater Plate (5 1/4" round)
Silicone Garlic Peeler
Kitchen Brush
and information sheet)
All for $20.00
Get 10% off all garlic plates with coupne code garliclover at check out.
Use the PEELER to peel garlic cloves without a knife and with very little effort. Just put a clove inside the Peeler, roll it on your countertop and out pops the peeled clove. The CERAMIC GRATER PLATER purees garlic and so many other foods quickly and easily with a few strokes of your hand. The BRUSH is used to move the pureed garlic into the center of the Grater to easily remove it. Use the Grater Plater to grate: garlic, ginger,shallots and onions, nutmeg, nuts, hard cheeses (Parmesan etc.), chocolate, fruits and vegetables .
The grater plate is top-rack dishwasher safe. To clean the natural bristle brush,
simply work dishwashing liquid through the brush and rinse in warm tap water
- let brush air dry.
If you have any questions please contact me by email firstname.lastname@example.com
or 928-231-0195


text: Polyester rowing seat for IOD'95 and non IOD Optimists. Unlike other rowing seats this seat consists of 2 seperate sections which lock together in the Optimist daggerboard case. Due to this unique construction the seat can be easily stored or transported. Comes without rowing locks. Also available a set of 1.50 m long varnished wooden rowing oars.


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Here's a tip for incoming and current college students: If you want to have a high-paying job on graduation day, study computer science.
Slideshow: 10 hot computer science schools
2012'S NUMBERS: Largest IT employment gains in 4 years reported
UPDATE: The 5 hottest IT jobs for summer 2012
That's the advice coming out of the top U.S. computer science programs, which are seeing rising enrollment and applications as more college students discover that their job prospects are better — and their starting salaries higher — if they have a computer-related degree.
Leading universities report that enrollment in computer science and engineering courses is up significantly this year among students pursuing computer science majors as well as those studying other subjects, particularly science or business.
"I think the job market is what's driving the growth," says Professor Bruce Porter, Chair of the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, which has seen its enrollment increase more than 5% this year. "The government has made it clear that computer science is a growth field, and I think that message is getting back to students and their parents."
Corporate recruitment of top computer science grads has remained steady throughout the economic downturn. Last spring, at the height of the recession, Georgia Tech's College of Computing had the highest job placement rate of any major on campus and the highest starting salary.
EXPERT GUIDE: IT job search
"We had placed 87% of our undergraduates in jobs as of last spring," says Cedric Stallworth, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Enrollment at Georgia Tech's College of Computing. "The financial sector — credit card companies, insurance companies — are very much interested in computer science students, as are defense companies and software development and networking companies."
Computer science grads from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are being recruited by software, healthcare, trading and agricultural companies. Last year's grads received an average of 2.3 job offers and had an average starting salary of more than $72,000 – the highest of any starting salary in the university's College of Engineering.
"We really didn't see a drop in recruiting efforts," says Cynthia Coleman, associate director of external relations for the University of Illinois' Department of Computer Science. "We have seen a significant increase in companies in other industries that typically haven't recruited in computer science interested in our students. What a lot of our students are going to realize is that every industry has computer science needs."
Solid job prospects
The message about solid job prospects and starting salaries as high as $105,000 for computer science majors is resonating with college students and their parents.
At Stanford University, the number of students declaring themselves as computer science majors is up 40% from last year. The university attributes this dramatic rise partly to the fact that its required computer science courses were streamlined and more areas of concentration added. But the rest of the increase is attributed to the recession.
"We surveyed our students to see why they declared computer science as their major," says Professor Mehran Sahami, associate chair for education in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University. "What we found is that half of the increase was from the change in our curriculum and the other half was from macro-economic conditions. Especially in these challenging economic times, students consider computer science a safer choice."
More than half of Stanford's undergraduate students are taking the department's introductory computer science class this year. This represents an increase of 20% over last year.
"We will probably have 800 students take it this year," Sahami says. "Our students do believe that having some computing skills will be useful in other fields, whether in a scientific field where they see the immediate applicability in simulations or longer-term, where they think it's a good skill to have."
Computer science is not only a more popular major, it's also a more popular field of study for students majoring in something else. At the University of Illinois, for example, informatics is now the most popular minor on campus.
"Everybody is realizing that IT is going to be important in the marketplace, and they are looking to beef up their resumes with some kind of certificate or qualification that would give them an edge," says Professor Lenny Pitt, Director of Undergraduate Programs for the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois.
Computer Science Major is Cool Again
The interest in computer science courses is especially strong among students pursuing science-related majors.
"Computational biology, computational medicine – computation is just invading so many other disciplines," Porter says. "What we're seeing is that a number of students have a fundamental interest in astronomy or biology or chemistry, and they see computer science as playing a key role in that field."
Computer science also is a back-up for business students who once may have pursued lucrative jobs in investment banking.
"Last year, a bunch of students saw that maybe not all the interesting jobs in the world are in the financial industry," says Professor Andrew Appel, Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University. "It used to be that a good portion of our computer science majors went to Wall Street. Last year, fewer went to Wall Street…Maybe there was a little scrambling, but we didn't have a problem with unemployed graduates last year."
Applications rise
The trend will continue next year, as applications to top computer science programs pour in.
The University of Illinois says the number of applicants to its Department of Computer Science is up 26% from last year to 860.
"The projections that have come out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics have indicated a relative cornucopia of jobs in the near term for computer science majors," Pitt says. "Parents may well be aware of the job opportunities in the IT industry, which is suffering the least despite the downturn."
At Carnegie Mellon University, the number of applicants to the School of Computer Science's Computer Science Department reached 3,000 this year, up 14% from last year and up 76% from 2005. The department caps enrollment at 130 students per year for a total enrollment of fewer than 550 students.
"We're getting very close to the peak, which was 3,237 applications in 2001," says Catherine Fichtner, program coordinator for undergraduate education in the Computer Science Department at CMU's School of Computer Science.
One reason applications are up at CMU's computer science program: high starting salaries. The median starting salary for 2009 graduates was $80,000, with the highest reported salary at $105,000.
"Our salaries were pretty consistent last year," Fichtner says. "Our students have always been able to find jobs, and 30% of our students go on to graduate school."
Applications are up 5% this year at Georgia Tech's College of Computing, which currently has 900 students.
"Historically, this was perceived as just for the nerds. But now it's perceived as something everybody can get involved in," Stallworth says. "Our students are looking to solve problems in their lives, and they feel now that technologies can help them do that."
Not another dot-com boom
Enrollment in computer science programs has been rising since 2005, when parents and students stopped worrying that corporate outsourcing of IT functions would result in less demand for computer scientists in the United States. But it hasn't reached dot-com era levels.
"We feel that the bust is over, and the number of computer science students is going to keep increasing,'' says Kate Riley, director of operations for the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at UC Berkeley.
Undergraduate enrollment in UC Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department's degree program is 929 students, up 8% from last year. Another 120 liberal arts students are enrolled as computer science majors, up 9% from a year ago.
"We're spending a lot of time developing new courses and focusing more on industry," Riley says. "Berkeley is a research school, and that has been our focus for our graduate students, but now we're looking more toward industry partnerships for our undergraduates."
None of the top computer science programs are as big as they were during the dot-com boom. School administrators say they aren't sure they want to grow that large again.
"At our high point, we were at about 2,400 majors. Now we're at 948," Porter says of the University of Texas' computer science program. "We're not aiming to get back to 2,400. That was beyond what we could manage…Our goal is to get back to 1,400."