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The Sun is also a Star tells the story of a day spent by Natasha, an illegal immigrant about to be deported, and Daniel, a Korean American about to go to an interview for Yale.
Natasha holds on to science while Daniel dreams of writing poems. It is a contrast that was evident from the start.
Natasha –
When they say the heart wants what it wants, they're talking about the poetic heart—the heart of love songs and soliloquies, the one that can break as if it were just-formed glass. They're not talking about the real heart, the one that only needs healthy foods and aerobic exercise. But the poetic heart is not to be trusted. It is fickle and will lead you astray. It will tell you that all you need is love and dreams. It will say nothing about food and water and shelter and money. It will tell you that this person, the one in front of you, the one who caught your eye for whatever reason, is the One.
Daniel –
"We have big, beautiful brains. We invent things that fly. Fly. We write poetry. You probably hate poetry, but it's hard to argue with 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate' in terms of sheer beauty. We are capable of big lives. A big history. Why settle? Why choose the practical thing, the mundane thing? We are born to dream and make the things we dream about."
But with the help of a study about falling in love, which includes a set of questions and a 4-minute eye contact, coupled with Daniel's charm and persistence, they find safe place with each other. They had an undeniable and unexplained connection – as if the universe conspired for their paths to cross for this day.
The narrative consistently shifts its point of view between the two. And for me, it worked. I understood both Natasha and Daniel, including their concerns, opinions and decisions. I felt the difference between the two and how they eventually melded to each other.
Moreover, I liked that it had chapters for the other characters as well. As a reader, I was treated to how Natasha's father, Atty. Fitzgerald, Irene, etc, see things. This part for me was not overdone as it was enough for readers to better understand the other characters in the story. The narrative was also made more interesting by chapters that expound on certain points made by Natasha and Daniel, such as history of hair and narrative on eyes.
And what about the lovers who spend hours staring into each other's eyes? Is it a display of trust? I will let you in close and trust you not to hurt me while I'm in this vulnerable position. And if trust is one of the foundations of love, perhaps the staring is a way to build or reinforce it. Or maybe it's simpler than that.
A simple search for connection.
To see.
To be seen.
Admittedly, my conservative self is stilI shocked how quickly the events unfolded but I guess that is how strong their connection was. But, I also like Daniel as he was not really pushy… for me, he respected Natasha. I am still on the fence about saying if it was love since it was only for a day but I would not deny the connection they had.
My favorite line in this book reads:
Maybe part of falling in love with someone else is also falling in love with yourself.
I agree to this. Though we should not need someone else to love ourselves, I think there are certain aspects wherein it will help to do so (maybe speed up the process somehow?).
I was surprised how fast I was able to read my way through this book but I guess it was mostly due to its structure with very short chapters and shifting point of view. Would I read it again? Maybe, but not anytime soon. After all, my kindle library has been expanding faster than I could keep up.


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At a gathering recently, someone in the group shared that she and her husband had been trying to live with an approach that they phrased simply, "how is it really?". When they shared this, it seemed to be very similar to what I've been trying to live out for the past couple of years in my own life. It's the mindset that what my eyes see is not always what the fullness of the reality is. It can be quite general, and it can also be quite specific. For example, I may be sick in my body, but according to the Word of God, I am healed. I may have no money in my pocket, but in light of eternal things, I am rich. In a moment, things may look dire or they may look incredibly great – nonetheless, I choose to always see what the LORD is doing in the midst of it all, whether it looks like I think it should or not.
One word sums it up best – perspective.
For me, it's much more than just putting a "positive" spin on circumstances. It's setting my mind on things above, rather than earthly things. It's living a life that activates the mind of Christ that I was given at my salvation. It's living according to what the Word of God says, no matter what the reality is in the natural. It's a life that doesn't settle for what I see or what I hear, in the natural. I'm fully aware that what is before me is not the whole story.
What too few Christians seem to understand is that those who are truly in Christ have been given two sets of eyes to see. We have our physical eyes, which take no faith, no imagination, no expectation and little effort. We have also been given spiritual eyes to see things in the realm that parallels this one. Interestingly, just as in the physical it is in the spiritual. In order to see, one must open their "eyes" to see. In order to read this article, you had to choose to open your eyes to see it. Your will, your desire, was to read this. Likewise, you must desire to see what is in the spirit. You must be willing to open your spiritual eyes and look about. It is quite simple, really. My eyes, in both cases only view what I choose for them to. If I don't want to see something, I simply don't look at it.
The spiritual realm has somehow been deemed as some sci-fi, fantasy-land that Believers need not venture into. Discussions of what the Bible has many accounts of would most likely be deemed as new age or mysticism now within the Church. Does the Body of Christ even believe in the supernatural anymore? Not messengers of heaven that bring you personal wealth or angels that drop fairy dust on us, but I mean the simple fact that there is a realm all about us that is not seen with physical eyes! Do we really believe this anymore? Does anyone ever even delve into the realm of the spirit and see what is going on there? I think, perhaps, we've just lost sight of the fact that we are spiritual beings. We're so fascinated with our flesh that there is simply no room for any other view. Our advancing of worldly agendas so consumes us that many Christians will never even experience a supernatural life while here on the earth. Even Christianity is primarily about carnal, temporal comforts. Million dollar media, elaborate campuses, comfy chairs and cozy environments - you know the drill. Natural senses are awakened and entertained yet the spirit man that is within us remains in slumber.
Here's a little pop quiz to help you asses your current approach to some daily circumstances and how you view them.
You're in line at the supermarket and the person in front of you is obviously angry, they're cursing and they're bordering on being violent. Do you gasp and wonder how anyone could act in such a ghastly manner or do you ask the LORD what has caused them to be so troubled and possibly even encourage them?
A business venture goes south and you lose money. Do you become anxious and worry or do you trust your Father to take care of you because you understand that He is your Provider anyway and it's all His?
You're busy doing a task that is under time constraints and you come across a person in need. Do you stop and help them, seeing them in the midst of your busy-ness? Do you eagerly see past your natural tasks and duties, looking beyond the demands of this world?
Things get all chaotic in the world, more specifically, our nation. Is your response dread and fear or do you hear what the Spirit is saying about it all and seek the LORD for wisdom knowing that He has a much higher plan set in motion that may not look like what you think should unfold?
There is an accident or something detrimental that happens to you or your family. Is it all automatically deemed an "attack of the devil" or do you step back and praise God in the midst of it all because you choose to rest in the fact that nothing happens in this life without His consent?
You see, perspective is key!
Let's quickly look at a couple of biblical examples on each side of this coin. First, we let's look at Elisha talking with his servant in 2 Kings, chapter 6. The servant was in distress as he informed Elisha of the great army that had been assembled against them. He, likely riddled with great fear and trembling because of what he saw in the natural, asked Elisha, "What shall we do?". Elisha's response shows us the power that resides in seeing with spiritual eyes and not solely relying on what is fact in the natural.
"[Elisha] answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, 'O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."
First of all, Elisha was not ignorant of the physical circumstances. He did not forsake wisdom and just hope for the best. But what he did do was see the bigger, deeper picture. He saw both sides of his reality – the physical and the spiritual. It worth noting that Elisha's seeing in the spirit did not change the reality of the physical circumstances (those who were against him were still a legitimate threat to him). However, when the servant saw this great supernatural army that was ready to do battle on their behalf, his perspective likely changed dramatically! What his physical eyes beheld was likely overwhelmed by what the LORD allowed His spiritual eyes to see. I want to walk as Elisha walked, with spiritual eyes to see what is going on, no matter what my physical eyes see!
The flipside here could be well portrayed by the "grasshopper men" found in Numbers 13. When Moses sent them into Canaan to explore the land, they returned forty days later and reported what they saw with their natural eyes. "'We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.' Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.' But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.' So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight'."
Boy does this paint a clear picture of perspective! The majority chose to follow what their natural eyes saw and they allowed it to dictate their actions. They did not see as Elisha did, they saw the situation through carnal eyes of doubt and fear. Perhaps most important of all is what the result was of this "natural vision" report.
"Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?'"
Oh the dread! The agony! The horror! (smile) You can literally sense the defeat that was fueled by the lack of spiritual perception by those who went out to inspect the land! I wonder what would have happened if they had come back and raved about the beauty and bounty of the land and forged ahead without the "but" part of the story. Doubt and faithlessness spreads like wildfire! Is it not the same for us today? "Well, the Word of God says I'm healed, but…" "Well, I know that I'm supposed to have faith and believe but…" "I know that God is in control but…" Some things never change.

subset: commoncrawl


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breakfast, brunch, cooking, dairy free, egg cups, eggs, food, gluten free, Greek, healthy breakfast, kalamata olives, mini frittatas, recipe, spinach
Eating protein in the AM sets the tone for the remainder of the day. I can't stress enough the importance of enjoying breakfast within 1 hour of waking. The first meal revs up your metabolism, communicating to your body it's time to start burning calories and fat for fuel. Not eating breakfast sends our bodies into fat storing mode and the imbalance makes us feel sluggish and starving beyond 2-3pm.
Most Americans are hungry, because even though eating we are starving for nutrients. McDonald's hamburger, fries and coke send very different messages to our bodies than a meal of grilled fish, roasted vegetables, quinoa and water. Nourishing our bodies with nutrient dense foods, like these tasty Mini Greek Frittatas, keep us satisfied and alert for the daily tasks that come our way. Try serving with my Sweet Potato Hash and fresh berries for a complete breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Each day we have the great opportunity to choose foods that give us life, energy and enjoyment. Also, an easy, healthy recipe for showers or brunch gatherings!
gluten & dairy free recipe
makes 12
• 8 EGGS, large
• 1/3 cup WATER
• 1 tsp OLIVE OIL, EXTRA VIRGIN, cold pressed
• 1/2 tsp GARLIC POWDER (or 2 garlic cloves minced)
• 1 tsp ITALIAN SEASONING
• 1/4 tsp each SEA SALT AND PEPPER
• 20 WHOLE KALAMATA OLIVES, pitted & chopped
• 1/2 cup SUN DRIED TOMATOES, chopped
• 2 cups BABY SPINACH
• 1 RED or GREEN BELL PEPPER, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or grease 12 – regular size muffin tin cups.
2. Whisk eggs, water, olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Fold in spinach, olives, tomatoes and red or green pepper with a spatula. Scoop even amounts of mixture into each prepared muffin tin.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until egg cups are almost set (slightly liquid center). Let set a few minutes and serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in the freezer or refrigerator. Serving size, 2 mini frittatas.
VARIATIONS: Add or substitute any favorite vegetables like chopped tomatoes, finely chopped broccoli, mushrooms or kale.
NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING (2 frittatas): Calories 160, Total Fat 10g, Cholesterol 285mg, Sodium 440mg, Total Carbohydrate 10g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 4g, Protein 10g


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The Alive in Baghdad Project first presented the idea that torture is still ongoing in Iraq over a month ago. Now, after a raid in an outlying area of Baghdad, the mainstream media is again discussing the ugly face of torture in Iraq.
Although I posted a photo of a man tortured with an electric drill before his death last month, and another a few days ago, the mainstream media is finally willing to admit this practice is occurring.
I will be travelling tomorrow, but I will attempt to put together something more in-depth on the ongoing situation of torture currently facing Iraqis by the evening. During my recent trip to the Middle East I also had the opportunity to interview Khalid Jarrar, who can be seen in these segments: 1, 2, and 3. Khalid was held in one of the secret Interior Ministry detention facilities, and claims there is or was a facility on the seventh floor of the main Interior Ministry Building in Baghdad, where he was held. U.S. Brig. Gen. Karl Horst now claims American and Iraqi forces will search each Interior Ministry facility. Gen. Karl Horst claimed to the Los Angeles Times, "We're going to hit every single one of them, every single one of them," if so it should be only a matter of time before they discover this facility as well.
Until the mainstream media presents more revelations about the ongoing torture situation facing Iraqis please check out these photos, and these. I obtained them on my last visit to Iraq, which detail the torture and abuse that aren't happening in Iraq.


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Published on : Tuesday, March 21, 2017
With ambitions to welcome 440,000 visitors a year by 2024, the government of Ku wait is pressing ahead with multiple plans that will see billions of dollars invested in projects and a further $1 billion budget earmarked to promote the Gulf state over the same period.
Plans are in place to establish a Supreme Commission for Tourism to initiate its tourism strategy as the country prepares to showcase at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre 24-27 April.A number of mega-projects will share the multi-billion dollar development budget, including: Madinat Al Hareer and Silk City, a proposed mega-development in the country's north; the expansion of Kuwait International Airport, reaching 25 million passenger per year capacity by 2025; and cultural attractions such as Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Islamic Centre.
Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, ATM, said: "Kuwait is evolving into a multifaceted destination with many things to offer both corporate and leisure visitors. The government is making huge investments at a crucial time for the country's development and, in channeling significant funds into tourism infrastructure, leisure developments and lifestyle destinations, in the long-term Kuwait is telling the world it's very much open for business."
According to figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council, travel and tourism investment in Kuwait is set to rise 1.5% per annum over the next ten years to KWD135.6 million in 2027.The latest Colliers International Kuwait Hospitality Market Snapshot, reports 70% of visitors arrived in Kuwait as corporate travelers in 2016, with the country's leisure industry comprising only 6% of total arrivals – hotel performance declined 6% overall for the year as a result. Business spending also suffered losses, falling 2.4% over the course of the year.
Tags: Kuwait's tourism industry to be worth over USD1 billion by 2027, Travel Event news


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Justin Timberlake & 'Special Guest' Will Be in Bai Super Bowl 2017 Commercial!
Justin Timberlake is doing a 2017 Super Bowl ad for Bai brands beverages!
"When we saw the impact that last year's commercial had on our brand awareness and engagement, we knew we had to do something again, but on a national stage," Ben Weiss, founder and CEO of Bai, said in a statement. "[Justin] played an integral role in the development of this spot," he said, adding Justin "has been working closely with our team on several new projects and we are excited to see them all come to life in 2017. This is just the beginning."
Not only that, but Justin will be joined in the ad by "a surprise special guest." We can't wait to see it!


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7 EC connections daily from Munich! Travelers, for example, from Hamburg, Cologne or Frankfurt can travel quickly and conveniently to Jenbach via the ICE hub at Munich. Thanks to "BahnCard - Rail Card" discounts or super-saver tickets, you can travel incredibly reasonably to Mayrhofen - from € 39.90! Tickets from Munich are available from as little as €19.90. FAMILIES are offered extra special savings: children under the age of 15 years can travel with parents or grand-parents free of charge!
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You will arrive well-rested and able to start your holiday stress-free.Details on ÖBB NIGHT-JET services


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a friend of mine came up to me in march.
"can you make me a lace scarf for my sister's wedding?" she asked. "of course", i replied, with a magnificent halo of professional knittingdom above my head. "i can do anything."
so she bought a pattern and some super fancy silk yarn, and told me to do my thing.
i went home, sat down and said, "gee willikers". well, something to the effect. beginning with the letter F.
i'm not very smart, you see. any work that requires active usage of the brain scares me. combine that with a whole lot of chart repetition, which hardly appeals to my tragic attention span and TV knitter habits, and you've got yourself a nice little shit sandwich.
but i boldly took up the challenge anyway, and after mere six months of extreme procrastination and subsequent consuming guilt the scarf is finally done. and i'm ready for some serious compliments, people. lie if necessary.
i'm really happy with it too. really. i am. the yarn wasn't exactly an orgastic joyride to knit but works great in the finished piece. all shiny and excessive. i made 28 repeats of the chart and together with a rather violent blocking ended up with spot-on two meters of lacey drapeness.
but where the designer (and other normal balanced individuals) sees flowers, i see angry bees. for some completely non-freudian reasons, i'm sure.
i'm still not hugely and obsessively in love with lace for aforementioned reasons, but i do like the part where i get to say "finished" and get unconditional admiration from people who can't or won't knit themselves (and who thus don't know any better). and of course it's nice to be able to make something and then
but the biggest mystery about this whole thing is how my friend knew what she's going to wear for the wedding 18 months in advance. because it won't be held until fall 2012. very, very not girly-like. in fact, i'm not sure she's a girl at all. i check myself regularly. maybe she should too.


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"Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth then you're stupid. Did you hear that? Stupid."
- Arthur Sylvester, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (1961 – 67)
This cartoon is clumsy propaganda and it should be offensive to any true progressive. You depict the Russians and rebel fighters as neanderthals instead of revealing the insidious nature of the fascist thugs in Kiev. How can you believe the propaganda spewing out from the U.S. media and government officials? The U.S. started this mess and is exacerbating it because Russia stands in the way of American global dominance – period.
I find it incredibly suspicious that ALL media, and both political factions are united in their hatred of Putin and Russia. I know it's not because they care about Ukrainians or the poor victims of MH17.


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First, then, we will consider certain FALSE REPENTANCES. I will begin with this remark—that trembling beneath the sound of the gospel is not "repentance." There are many men who when they hear a faithful gospel sermon, are exceedingly stirred and moved by it. By a certain power which accompanies the Word, God testifies that it is his own Word, and he causes those who hear it involuntarily to tremble. I have seen some men, while the truths of Scripture have been sounded from this pulpit, whose knees have knocked together, whose eyes have flowed with tears as if they had been fountains of water. I have witnessed the deep dejection of their spirit, when—as some of them have told me—they have been shaken until they knew not how to abide the sound of the voice, for it seemed like the terrible trumpet of Sinai thundering only their destruction. Well, my hearers, you may be very much disturbed under the preaching of the gospel, and yet you shall not have that "repentance unto life." You may know what it is to be very seriously and very solemnly affected when you go to God's house, and yet you may be hardened sinners. Let me confirm the remark by an instance:—Paul stood before Felix with the chains upon his hands, and as he preached of "righteousness, temperance, and of judgment to come," it is written, "Felix trembled," and yet procrastinating Felix is in perdition, among the rest of those who have said, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season I will call for thee." There are many of you who cannot attend the house of God without being alarmed; you know what it is often to stand aghast at the thought that God will punish you; you may often have been moved to sincere emotion under God's minister; but, let me tell you, you may be after all a castaway, because you have not repented of your sins, neither have you turned to God.
Further still. It is quite possible that you may not only tremble before God's Word, but you may become a sort of amiable Agrippa, and be "almost persuaded" to turn to Jesus Christ, and yet have no "repentance;" you may go further and even desire the gospel; you may say: "Oh! this gospel is such a goodly thing I would I had it. It ensures so much happiness here, and so much joy hereafter, I wish I might call it mine." Oh! it is good, thus to hear this voice of God! but you may sit, and, while some powerful text is being well handled, you may say, "I think it is true;" but it must enter the heart before you can repent. You may even go upon your knees in prayer and you may ask with a terrified lip that this may be blessed to your soul; and after all you may be no child of God. You may say as Agrippa said unto Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian;" yet, like Agrippa, you may never proceed beyond the "almost." He was "almost persuaded to be a Christian," but not "altogether." Now, how many of you here have been; almost persuaded" and yet you are not really in the way of eternal life. How often has conviction brought you on your knees and you have "almost" repented, but you have remained there, without actually repenting. See that corpse? It is lately dead. It has scarcely acquired the ghastliness of death, the color is still life-like. Its hand is still warm; you may fancy it is alive, and it seems almost to breathe. Every thing is there—the worm hath scarcely touched it dissolution hath scarcely approached; there is no foeted smell—yet life is gone; life is not there. So it is with you: you are almost alive; you have almost every external organ of religion which the Christian has; but you have not life. You may have repentance, but not sincere repentance. O hypocrite! I warn you this morning, you may not only tremble but feel a complacency towards the Word of God, and yet after all not have "repentance unto life." You may sink down into the pit that is bottomless, and hear it said, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
Yet, again, it is possible for men to progress even further than this, and positively to humble themselves under the hand of God, and yet they may be total strangers to repentance. Their goodness is not like the morning cloud and the early dew that passeth away, but when the sermon is heard they go home and commence what they conceive to be the work of repentance, they renounce certain vices and follies, they clothe themselves in sack-cloth, their tears flow very freely on account of what they have done; they weep before God; and yet with all that, their repentance is but a temporary repentance, and they go back to their sins again. Do you deny that such a penitence can exist? Let me tell you of a case. A certain man named Ahab coveted the vineyard of his neighbor Naboth, who would not sell it for a price, nor make an exchange. He consulted with his wife Jezebel, who contrived to put Naboth to death, and thus secure the vineyard to the king. After Naboth was put to death, and Ahab had taken possession of the vineyard, the servant of the Lord met Ahab, and said to him, "Hast thou killed, and also taken possession. Thus saith the Lord, in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall the dogs lick thy blood, even thine. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy prosperity "We read that Ahab went awe, and humbled himself; and the Lord said, "Because Ahab humbleth himself before me I will not bring evil in his days." He had granted him some kind of mercy; but we read in the very next chapter that Ahab rebelled, and in a battle in Ramoth-Gilead, according to the servant of the Lord, he was slain there; so that "the dogs licked his blood "in the very vineyard of Naboth. You, too, I tell you, may humble yourselves before God for a time, and yet remain the slaves of your transgressions. You are afraid of damnation, but you are not afraid of sinning: you are afraid of hell, but you are not afraid of your iniquities; you are afraid of being cast into the pit, but not afraid to harden your hearts against his commands. Is it not true, O sinner, that you are trembling at hell? It is not the soul's state that troubles you, but hell. If hell were extinguished, your repentance would be extinguished; if the terrors awaiting you were withdrawn, you would sin with a higher hand than before, and your soul would be hardened, and would rebel against its sovereign. Be not deceived, my brethren, here; examine yourselves whether you are in the faith; ask yourselves if you have that which is "repentance unto life;" for you may humble yourselves for a time, and yet never repent before God.
Beyond this many advance, and yet fall short of grace. It is possible that you may confess your sins, and yet may not repent. You may approach God, and tell him you are a wretch indeed; you may enumerate a long list of your transgressions and of the sins that you have committed, without a sense of the heniousness of your guilt, without a spark of real hatred of your deeds. You may confess and acknowledge your transgressions, and yet have no abhorrence of sin; and if you do not in the strength of God resist sin, if you do not turn from it, this fancied repentance shall be but the guilding which displays the paint which decorates; it is not the grace which transforms into gold, which will abide the fire. You may even, I say confess your faults, and yet have not repentance.
Once more, and then I have gone to the farthest thought I have to give on this point. You may do some work meet for repentance, and yet you may be impenitent. Let me give you a proof of this in a fact authenticated by inspiration.
Judas betrayed his Master; and after having done so, an overwhelming sense of the enormous evil he had committed seized upon him. His guilt buried all hope of repentance, and in the misery of desperation, not the grief of true regret, he confessed his sin to the high priests, crying, "I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us, see thou to that." Whereupon he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, to show that he could not bear to carry the price of guilt upon him; and left them there. He went out, and—was he saved? No. "He went out and hanged himself." And even then the vengeance of God followed him: for when he had hanged himself he fell from the height where he was suspended, and was dashed to pieces; he was lost, and his soul perished. Yet see what this man did. He had sinned, he confessed his wrong, he returned the gold; still after all that, he was a castaway. Does not this make us tremble? You see how possible it is to be the ape of the Christian so nearly, that wisdom itself, if it be only mortal, may be deceived.
Filed under: Charles Spurgeon, Solid Preaching | Tagged: Charles Spurgeon, Christianity, Religion, Repentance | Leave a comment »


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Ways abroad
A stay abroad is increasingly seen as an important components of your curriculum vitae. In case there are more than one applicants for the same vacancy, in most cases the one with experience abroad will be successful. This is mainly because these applicants are expected to have better language skills and intercultural competences. But is that really true?
Why go abroad?
First of all, you have the opportunity to improve your language skills when staying abroad, provided that you surround yourself by native speakers. That means living together with locals.
Secondly, you can strengthen your intercultural competences. This means to deal with people of different cultural origins, aiming on a positive and profitable working atmosphere.
Finally, of course, don't forget to bear in mind, that a stay abroad is far more than the previous mentioned: you have the chance to travel the world, to see new locations, to get to know various people and, most importantly, to make memorable experiences.
What's the catch?
Beside all positive aspects of a stay abroad, unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to be aware of. You will leave your home country, so that you have to do without your family and friends for a long time.
In addition, it is important to find the right option to go abroad. For some it may be relatively hard to organize it, resulting in raised costs. In order to prevent this some important issues have to be considered beforehand: you have to pay transport and flight costs to get to your desired country and after having been arrived you have to bear for your daily living costs and maybe invest in a rent car.
Regarding that, a stay abroad is quite an investment in your education or further professional development.
Ways abroad
There are many options of organizing and realizing the stay abroad. Whereas a vacation is usually not regarded as a stay abroad, a length of stay of 6 to 8 weeks is already defined as one.
There are various circumstances and motivations of a stay abroad: in the course of educational or academical training as exchange student, as a high school year, as au pair or as a semester abroad. Besides, you have always the options to combine your stay abroad with a language course. A lot of people also manage it to abroad in the course of an internship or as a volunteer of a social institution. The point of time varies between the time before, during or after graduating.
Depending on the level of education and profession you have the opportunity to go abroad when starting your career. Everyone who is planning a stay abroad should be aware of some important issues already at an early stage:
- What is the purpose of my stay abroad (fun, career, change)?
- Which option to go abroad is the most appropriate (education, experience, language skills)?
- Which perspectives of funding are available (duration, kind of stay abroad)?
- Which country I want to go to (funding/financial resources, language)?
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Filed under: Romantic Comedies
About two minutes into "Smart People," I started to wonder why college literature professors in movies are always arrogant, emotionally stunted pricks. Wouldn't it be a kick if once – just once– they made a movie about a college professor who was a really great guy? One who had a stable emotional life and good relationships with his spouse and kids and who was really liked by his students? I'm sure those people exist in real life, but they're pretty damn hard to find on celluloid.
Well, within those first two minutes, you find out that "Smart People" won't be that kind of movie. Like his predecessors in films like "Wonder Boys," "The Squid and the Whale," and "The Savages," Dennis Quaid's character (Lawrencce Wetherhold, a Carnegie-Mellon professor of Victorian literature) is a self-absorbed, pompous windbag who doesn't get on well with anyone.
What almost redeems "Smart People" ('almost' being the operative term here) is its honest observations that 1)college professors aren't the only people who are self-absorbed and emotionally stunted; and 2) sometimes, self-absorbed windbags know they're self-absorbed windbags and feel real pain about it.
After his car is towed (for parking illegally across two parking spaces, his usual habit), Wetherhold attempts to break into the lot where the car is being held by scaling the fence. He falls and hits his head, which triggers a seizure, and he ends up in the emergency room where his doctor is the comely Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker). Hartigan is a former student, but Wetherhold doesn't recognize her. (Not surprisingly, since he barely recognizes the students he currently teaches.) Unable to drive after the seizure, Wethehold must enlist his ne'er do well brother, Chuck (Thomas Hayden Church) to be his chauffeur; his uptight, acid-tongued, Young Republican daughter, Vanessa(Ellen Page), is too busy studying for her SATs to take on the job.
So Chuck moves into the Wetherhold household, introduces Vanessa to pot and beer and tries – none too successfully – to loosen her up. Meanwhile, Lawrence begins an awkward romance with Janet. What follows is not predictable, and I will grudgingly give props to writer Mark Poirier and director Noam Munro for that. The standard choice would have been for Janet to be the emotionally open, nurturing and forgiving woman who brings Lawrence to life, but instead, Janet turns out to be a bit difficult herself. The relationship develops in fit and starts, largely due to Janet's passive-aggressive and withholding nature.
Meanwhile, Lawrence emerges as an ever more sympathetic character as we begin to see how deeply he is still grieving for his late wife, and how much pain his own behavior causes him. Although the other three main characters continue to operate with the understanding that Lawrence is the one with the problems, it becomes ever clearer that their behavior towards him is often insensitive and casually cruel.
Props are given grudgingly to Poirer and Munro, however, because while I admire what they attempted to do here, it isn't all that interesting to watch. My friend, Mary Anne, who saw "Smart People" with me, put it very succinctly:"These characters are stunted and the movie is stunted, too." You keep waiting for a chemistry to develop between characters, for one blistering or heartbreaking exchange of dialogue that sharpens and illuminates your understanding of the characters. And it never comes to fruition. Instead, "Smart People" just keeps muddling along from one well-intentioned-but-half-baked scene to the next.
It's a shame, too, because these four actors are talented people who could have used a surer directorial hand. Hayden Church falls back on his lovable stoner persona fairly successfully, but we've seen that before. And I won't be the first to note that Page basically plays Juno McGuff as Young Republican, and it'd be nice to see something different from her, too. I had trouble believing Parker as an emergency room doctor, although she does capture a certain prickliness in her character which works well. And Quaid falls pretty far short of the gold standard set for this kind of role by Jeff Daniels in "The Squid and the Whale." He sports all the right profesorial affectations (beard, paunch, and an awkward, shuffling kind of walk), and gets at the emotional depth of the character, but I never once believed he was a real academic.
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Thanks for the welcome to LAMB.Really glad you liked the post, hope you've had a chance to see the Strangers on a Train, when you do let me know what you think.I really like your blog, I've added you to my links. Look forward to your next post.
Hi Pat, Sadly, SJP's movies usually ALWAYS let me down. I will probably watch "Smart People" when it comes on cable in a few months.You know who plays a good, non windbag type Professor? Robin Williams. I loved him in "Dead Poet's Society" and in "Good Will Hunting". He was an odd professor, but a kind one too.See you tomorrow!
ibetolis – Glad you stopped in. I want to get to "Strangers on a Train" soon, but my DVR is so backed up! I'll be anxious to discuss it when I get to it. I'll be adding your blog link today.PJ – Ah, yes – Robin Williams in "Good Will Hunting" is a good example of an intellectual character with a heart. I wish there were more. Looking forward to tomorrow night!


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|Directed by
|Sudhir Mishra
|Produced by
|Ritesh Sidhwani
Farhan Akhtar
|Farhan Akhtar
Kareena Kapoor
Chitrangada Singh
Raahul Singh
Dhruv is a Hindi film directed by Sudhir Mishra , based on the life of Dwarka Prasad Mishra, Chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. The film is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar.
In March 2009, there were many rumours that this was another adaptation of Devdas, however the producer and director refuted these claims[1][2].
Several rumours in the press lead to believe that it was based on "political dynamics of the man-woman relationship".[3]
In an interview with Mid-day, Sudhir confirmed that he is using several elements of his grandfather Dwarka Prasad Mishra's personality in the political film [2].
Later it was confirmed that Kareena Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar will be playing politicians , whereas Chitrangada Singh will be playing a femme fatale of politics and the underworld. Sudhir describes Chitrangda's role as "that of an escort and power-broker in politics" [4][5].
Kareena's role is said to undergo various transformations, Sudhir Mishra enlightens "her character becomes a politician from an ordinary girl, who is the daughter of a police commissioner. The film chronicles how Kareena's character is sucked into the world of power"[6].
The director has confirmed that parts of the plot are inspired from Shakespeare's Hamlet [7].
Chitrangada later enlightened "It is about two women madly in love with the same man (Farhan) who is involved in politics," [8].
On 24 February 2009 several rumours released indicating a Kareena-Farhan starrer produced by Excel entertainment and directed by Sudhir Mishra. Farhan Akhtar confirmed this news[3].
Ritesh Sidhwani and Sudhir Mishra confirmed the film and its subject at later stages[1][2] .
On 15 March Kareena Kapoor confirmed her presence in an interview in Hindustan times[10].
Sudhir Mishra then confirmed that Chitrangada Singh is also a part of the film [11].
There is much hype as comparisons with Prakash Jha's Rajneeti will be made , as Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor have similar roles to Kareena Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar respectively[7].
Pre-production, in the form of casting for the film has begun. Shooting was meant to begin in Rajasthan in September 2009[12], however due to date problems the movie has been postponed to January 2011 [13], . .


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Motherhood is one hell of a journey. It has its ups and downs, you have good days and bad days, but you have the best job of all: being a parent.
It's definitely the most rewarding but can also be the most challenging! It's crazy how many things you learn and how you learn to adapt to keep this tiny little life happy and help them grow, there's so many things I wish I knew before I actually had Zach, I have spent the last 14 months literally 'winging it'.
People say 'once you give birth the hard part is over!' Sweet Jesus lord. The hard part is not over!! I didn't realise just how painful contractions were, and while every single birth is different I was quite lucky in the sense that Zach flew into the world after 19 minutes in the delivery suite! I went from 3cm to full blown labour in an hour and didn't even have chance to think, once he was in the world it was crazy. I wish I knew just how much it hurt AFTER birth. No one tells you how much it hurts and how sore you'll be, no one mentions how you darent even go to the toilet without fear of your insides falling out, and no one mentions how much it will physically and emotionally test you. What they do tell you though- is just how much love you can have for this tiny, squishy little human that has come to turn your life upside down, this is true.
No one tells you it's easy, because it isn't, we're only human, after all! The first few weeks are a blur of feeding, changing, visits and washing! The bloody washing! Once you try and get yourself into a routine it can all help, although it's easier said than done with a baby, but it does get easier, I promise.
I wish someone had told me about online support groups! I discovered these when Zach was about 8 weeks old and they helped massively. One in particular runs all sorts of groups and it helped me gain enough courage to venture out and actually meet some mums with babies the similar age as none of my friends had children, which is where I met Lauren, Cara, Jess and Micheala! They've been a life saver!
I wish someone had told me just how much being a parent actually does change you, you think you'll be exactly the same person when actually you won't be. Or I'm certainly not for that matter. You become protective of everything and everyone, you worry about bath temperature, cutting food up into pieces big enough for them to hold but small enough for them not to choke on, if they're warm/cool enough! The list goes on! I often wonder what I used to talk about before I had Zach, my whole life revolves around him! If I'm not with him I'm talking about him or buying him clothes!
When I asked the girls what they wish someone had told them I had equally hilarious mixed responses: 'I wish someone had told me how hard it was to keep their folds clean and dry!' 'I wish someone had told me how toddlers are basically little stubborn men in a toddlers body' and 'I wish someone had told me that your head will never be the same again, never mind my downstairs, that's recovered. My brain not so'. And my personal favourite- a lovely video sent in the group chat accompanied with 'I wish someone had told me my nipple would one day stretch this far!!' BRILLIANT.
Do you have anything that you wish someone had told you? Or that you didn't know then but definitely do now? Let us know in the comments! Thank you for reading!


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2015 Pet Blogger Challenge
Hey everyone! Today I decided to join in on the 2015 Pet Blogger challenge that was set up by Go Pet Friendly. I have only just found their blog but I am really looking forward to being able to read their posts over the next year. If any of you run a pet blog I would love you to join in, and just link your post in the comments section so I can check it out! With all that being said, let's jump right in!
1. How long have you been blogging? And, for anyone stopping by for the first time, please give us a quick description of what your blog is about.
We have been blogging since March 2014. Our blog is all about our pets (Two Guinea Pigs, Two Dogs and a Rabbit) and all things pet. We have multiple different types of posts from pet product reviews, book reviews to beauty related things for us that are humanely made. We also tell of our experiences owning our pets, and tips/tricks for your pets also.
2. Tell us one thing that you accomplished on your blog during 2014 that made you proud.
Being our first year, it was a big accomplishment to actually get a blog up and running. We love seeing the views count up, and each post slowly doing better. We love the idea that someone somewhere is reading our content, and that it provides some sort of entertainment or information for them.
3. What lessons have you learned this year – from other blogs, or through your own experience – that could help us all with our own blogs?
I think just utilizing everything that we have to our advantage in this day and age. I notice a difference when I use social media compared to when I am too lazy to do that side of things. I also think that as bloggers we really need to help each other, and support other like minded people out there. So lately, I have been finding some other blogs I really love and making an effort to comment on their posts to show them what I enjoy.
4. What have you found to be the most successful way to bring traffic to your blog, other than by writing great content?
As I said above, really utilizing the power of social media. Blogging is quite a secluded area, and unless you are using a search engine to find certain pages, we can be eaten up by the web. The easiest way I have found to get people to know about and see your blog is by promoting it via social media, finding similar pages and talking with them, and just really getting out there with your page.
5. What was your most popular blog post this year? Did it surprise you that it was your most popular?
My most popular post was Feline Plasma Cell Pododermatitis. This did surprise me as we don't often posts about cats as I don't personally own any. The cat that sadly got this condition is my mothers cat, and I can happily say she is better now. I do understand how it could have got popular though as when I was researching about it, I went on many different blogs to see what they said.
6. What was your favorite blog post to write this year?
To be honest, nothing I have written this year sticks out above all else.I feel like I put an equal amount of effort into each post I write, however because I have to pick one it would be my book review on 'The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary' I really enjoyed writing this as this book really spoke to me, and it meant I wanted to share this with as many people as possible. It was such an inspiring and heart wrenching book, and I really recommend everyone check it out.
7. Has your policy on product reviews and/or giveaways changed this year?
If you do reviews, what do you find works best, and what doesn't work at all?
If you don't do reviews, is this something you'd like to do more of? What hurdle is getting in your way?
I personally love reviews, whether it is reading or writing them. I think it gives people a great insight into products that they might have been tossing about whether to buy or not. I try and avoid writing horrible reviews, as it leaves me in a negative mindset so you will notice that most of my reviews are of products I love. All my reviews currently are all unsponsored and I have purchased all the products myself.
I find that honest opinions work best, and you can tell someone that is being genuine in their posts. I don't mind people earning money for reviews, as they are doing what they love for a living and I give kudos for that, however I want honest opinions over anything else.
8. What's your best piece of advice for other bloggers?
Don't give up at the first hurdle. No blog is going to be famous overnight, but you must just keep chipping at it. Plus, if you are only after the fame then there is no point in doing it. You must enjoy what you are doing.
9. What goals do you have for your blog in 2015?
I have a lot of things lined up this year that I would love to achieve. I have a series planned for Diego which is us showing you a bunch of different dog walks within New Zealand. I also want to look at doing more charity work and just building up DaisyPets as a brand.
10. If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one challenge you're having with your blog, what would it be?
I think my biggest challenge at the moment is coming up with ideas for small pet related posts. I have lists and lists of things that I could blog about with Diego, however when it comes to the guinea pigs and rabbit I find it hard apart from the obvious product reviews!


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A Recipe for PR Success
We've just provided some great publicity for one of our clients. It just goes to show what can be achieved if the right PR elements are in place.
Nicky Gray is a single mum whose two children have severe food intolerance. She's so determined to improve awareness of the issue that she's started her own business. Food Freedom is designed to educate food professionals about the dangers involved.
Nicky asked Arch Communications to help promote her launch. A big part of any successful PR is having a strong human story to work with. With Nicky, the story was ready-made.
But how to ensure the media would be interested? Well, it always helps if you can make the story topical. In this case, that was provided by tough new EU laws on reducing the risk of adverse food reactions – plus a local survey revealing restaurants didn't know about their new legal obligations.
The final piece in our jigsaw was to get 20 chefs into a single restaurant, for a special tutorial from Nicky – useful for the TV cameras.
The result? An impressive media turn-out from TV, radio and press, leading to some great coverage for Nicky. Here are just a couple of examples.
Job done!


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Saturday, February 5, 2011
Rose Pendant and China Trip
12 comments:
Una maravilla de trabajo, fantástico!ReplyDelete
Thank you for your comments, Lucila. :)ReplyDelete
wow fantastic, its a great work.
Beautiful necklace,Caroline,with the so romantic resin rose cabochon.I love it!!!ReplyDelete
You have experienced a wonderful adventure in China.The bead shop is amazing, just magic.I hope,I could see soon many new, beautiful necklaces with all those things,that you bought,which I can admire:)
Warm greetings:)
Dear Caroline,ReplyDelete
a very elegant combination of cabochon, beadwork
and used pearls, congratulations.
Best greetings:
Thanks Susy, Arkadia and Uli. Glad you all like that rose cab. I wish I had bought a few more as I have not been able to find any since. Your comments are much appreciated. :)ReplyDelete
Very pretty Caroline....great colours and you have made that cab into a stunning festive celebration. Thanks for sharing your story...hopefully one day we can all go to China bead shopping!!ReplyDelete
Melissa x
Thanks Melissa. Yes wouldn't it be great if we could go on an overseas bead hunting trip together, maybe with some of our other beady friends too? That would be a dream holiday for sure. :)ReplyDelete
Oh a trip all together for bead shopping and eating :-) how much fun that would be. I missed this one and I am so glad that I checked in today to see it. It is gorgeous and I am glad you will make one for yourself. It is very, very special. Hugs always my friend. BJReplyDelete
Thanks sweet BJ. Yes the trip was fun. Wouldn't it be great if a few of us beading buddies could do that together! We'd have a blast for sure! Hugs to you too, dear friend.ReplyDelete


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Presented by SappyFest and CFRU 93.3 FM
Sackville, NB
Since his debut album in 1970, BGC has been a creative force that continues to move and inspire. With the recent reissue of 1986's Keyboard Fantasies, more people are discovering his genius. His live show is a deeply captivating and organic experience – and one that is full of deep grooves. For this very special performance, BGC will be joined by Jeremy Costello, Nick Dourado, Bianca Palmer, Kurt Inder and Thom Gill. This show is being co-presented with our buds at SappyFest and CFRU 93.3 FM.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland will also be doing an artist talk on Saturday April 14th, 1pm at Kazoo! HQ.


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Samsung to Release New NB30 Pro Netbook, Four New Laptops
Samsung has recently announced that in a few days, they will be releasing a new netbook, as well as four business-based laptops.
Samsung's newest netbook, the NB30 Pro, is based on the NB30 model that was released earlier this year. It'll feature a 10.1″ screen, be equipped with a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 160 GB hard drive. The NB30 Pro will also have 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, three USB 2.0 ports, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, and the Windows 7 Professional OS. Battery life on this baby isn't bad at all — 6.5 hours — but it's not the best available either; some netbook batteries last up to 10 or 12 hours.
Samsung's four new business-based laptops are part of the P80 Premium and P30 Essential series. The P80 Premium series will feature two new laptops, the 14″ P480 and the 15.6″ P580. Both of these laptops will be equipped with a 2.26GHz Intel Core i5-450M processor, up to 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, and up to 320 GB of storage space (5400rpm). The laptops will also have Intel GMA HD graphics, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, high definition audio, four USB 2.0 ports, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, and a pair of 1.5W speakers. Battery life for the P480 laptop will be roughly 4.3 hours while that for the P580 laptop will be roughly 4.4 hours.
The P30 Essential series will feature two new laptops as well, the 14″ P430 and the 15.6″ P530. Both laptops will be equipped wiht a 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M processor, up to 3 GB of DDR3 RAM, and up to 250 GB of storage. Other features of these laptops include Intel GMA HD graphics, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, three USB 2.0 ports, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, and a pair of 1.5W speakers.
Since all these laptops are geared towards business use, they will (by default) come with the Windows 7 Professional operating system. No information regarding pricing of these netbooks or laptops is yet available, but we'll keep you posted when he we hear more news.
Via TechTree.
Acer, ASUS, and HP Lead Netbook and CULV Notebook Growth in 2010
Market research company iSuppli is reporting that notebook shipments are expected to post double-digit growth in 2010. This growth is expected because of increased shipments for netbooks and Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (or CULV) notebooks.
Overall in 2010, 209.5 million units of notebook PCs will be shipped, which is 25.5% higher than the amount of notebooks shipped the previous year. The netbook category itself is expected to have 34.5 million shipments in 2010, a 30% increase from the previous year. Four years from now in 2014, netbook shipments are expected to hit a whopping 58.3 units! CULV notebooks are expected to have 14.5 million units shipped in 2010, which is a 93% increase from last year's 7.5 million units.
Taiwan-based netbook manufacturer Acer leads the pack in netbook shipments; it has been the market leader for two years and holds 37% of the market. ASUS, also Taiwan-based, currently ships 5.5 million netbook units and holds 21% of the market. Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, and Dell are third, fourth, and fifth in netbook shipments. These top five netbook manufacturers make up 90% of the market.
Via eWeek.
Apple Signs Contract With Samsung
Apple has most likely sold a lot of iPads during the pre-order period and apparently expects to sell a lot more because it has signed a three-year, $240 million deal with Samsung in order to secure three million displays for the iPad.
Samsung is not the only company that has signed big, long-term deals with Apple. LG has been supplying Apple with displays for some time now. By signing with multiple suppliers, Apple can ensure that it is not dependent on just one company to supply displays.
According to a Samsung executive, Apple and Samsung are allegedly working on a contract for supplying displays for the next generation iPhone. The executive probably was not supposed to leak this information, so it remains to be seen if the notoriously secretive Apple will be angry over this news becoming known.
Via Forbes, image via Apple.
Samsung Introduces iPhone Competitor
Samsung has introduced their latest phone, which is called the Wave. It's apparently supposed to be an iPhone killer. Samsung has a history of producing excellent, high-quality electronics (I loved their UpStage cell phone) but I don't think Apple's iPhone sales will suffer due to this new phone. The Wave was announced before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The Wave is based on Samsung's Bada platform, which is supposed to compete with other mobile platforms such as Android, Windows Mobile, and the iPhone OS. There will be an app store with similar apps to those found in Apple's App Store. Bada, like Android, is an open platform.
Some analysts have said that there are so many mobile platforms and app stores out there that Samsung will have a hard time attracting developers. Other analysts have said that Samsung has other motives in developing its own mobile operating system: to reduce its reliance on the less-than-stellar Windows Mobile from Microsoft.
The Wave will feature a new kind of touchscreen technology that allows for brighter colors and a thinner device. And, very significantly, the Wave will support Adobe Flash, unlike Apple's iPhone.
Via The Sydney Morning Herald, image via The Sydney Morning Herald.
Samsung Confirms Chrome OS Netbook
Samsung's Phil Newton has confirmed the company is currently developing a netbook that will run on Google's Chrome OS. The netbook will be similar to the N210 netbook, and will be released as soon as later this year, or early in 2011. Specifications for the new device are largely unknown, but so far we know that the netbook will have a 12 hour battery life, 3G and wireless connectivity, a 10.1″ screen with LED backlighting, 2 GB RAM, and at least 64 GB of storage. It is likely that the device will run a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
Via Engadget
Pressure Sensitive Touchscreens to Hit Phones
Peratech already caught everyone's attention a few weeks ago when it announced its pressure-sensitive touchscreen technology. We were excited about the promise of quantum tunneling, but assumed it would take some time before it managed to hit the market. Peratech, however, has already laid plans for its product to hit phones.
Peratech has created a 5-directional input device using QTC called Navikeys, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics appears to have developed a keen interest in it. Samsung EM is a major provider for cell phone components, so this means Navikeys could replace traditional input on many phones.
It also doesn't seem like this will be too distant, as Peratech has already announced "Navikey using QTC from Samsung EM is already being used in a Tier 1 mobile phone". Let's hope applications of this might be expanded to netbooks and tablets in the near future as well.
Via Engadget.
The Laptop You Can See Through
Did you know that Air Force fighter pilots have face shields with heads-up displays projected on them? The effect is much like what game makers have been doing with first-person shooters – there's a targeting reticle on the opponent and an ammo count at the corner. While the official point is to increase the amount of information a pilot has at hand, I just always thought that it was cool how real life has begun to imitate video games.
Why do I bring this up? Samsung created a laptop that uses a clear active matrix OLED screen (AMOLED). In layman's terms, that's a transparent screen. The display gives clear, sharp, bright images, but still allows one to see things through the screen. This laptop is different from those HUDs so loved by pilots in that the images aren't projected; the screen is just transparent.
As of right now, I doubt that many people have a true practical application for this beyond just looking really cool. But hey, imagine one day having a glass table in your living room that doubles as a platform for a Microsoft Surface. Or maybe windows that double as interactive screens for your smart-house. Baby steps.
Via Tom's Hardware.
January 2010 Will Mark Arrival for New Samsung Pine Trail Netbook Lineup
Some interesting news has just been revealed from the Netbook World Summit in Paris. Samsung Notebook Product Manager, Jaewoo Seo has revealed that Samsung will be revealing their new lineup of Intel Pine Trail platform-based netbooks in January 2010. Surprise, surprise.
Many of the larger netbook manufacturers are already planning to show off their new Pine Trail-based netbooks in January at CES 2010. Samsung claims that their new netbooks will have a superthin design and have longer lasting batteries. Considering that Samsung already makes netbooks that excel in these categories, we can't wait to see what the manufacturer has in store.
In addition, Samsung is rumored to show at least one netbook with a touchscreen display. Samsung's new Pine Trail-based netbooks will feature an instant on OS, which will allow quick and easy access to the Internet and to selected software.
Via NetbookChoice.
Samsung N510 Netbook Finally Available in the U.S.
Samsung's Nvidia ION-powered N510 netbook is now shipping in the U.S. Only available in black so far, this netbook's listed on Newegg for $599.99 and the offer includes free shipping.
It's a bit on the pricey side for a netbook we agree, but you're also getting some improvements over the European version, including 2 GB of RAM, a 250 GB hard drive, and Windows 7. (The European version of the netbook comes with 1 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive, and Windows XP.) The Newegg listing also claims that the netbook comes with the Nvidia ION LE chipset rather than the originally proposed ION chipset, but this may or may not be a typo.
If you're interested in learning more about the Samsung N510 netbook, check out one of our previous articles before heading over to Newegg.
Give Your Loved One a Netbook This Holiday Season
LightInTheBox.com has recently put up a webpage with a selection of 38 recommended netbooks that woud lmake great gifts this holiday season. Some netbooks on the site cater more to students while other cater more to professionals, but all of them are no doubt adequate for doing the most common of tasks, which include but are not limited to e-mailing, surfing the Internet, and editing documents.
The netbooks on this site range from $129.99 to $1,270.00 and many of them even have free (international) shipping. There are the big name brands like ASUS, HP, and Samsung and a few of the lesser known brands such as Kohjinsha and Viliv, among others. Check them out!
Via SearchSysCon.
Samsung Go Netbook to Arrive in AT&T Stores on November 22
Samsung has recently announced that it will be teaming up with AT&T to offer its Go netbook. This netbook has pretty typical tech specs, including an Intel Atom processor, a built-in HSPA modem, and Wi-Fi. The Samsung Go netbook also features a comfortable yet stylish pebble-style keyboard and Windows 7 Starter Edition. If you're interested in learning more about the netbook, check out one of our previous articles.
Pricing for the Samsung Go netbook is not yet available, but it will probably be around $200 with a two year AT&T data plan contract. We'll keep you posted on any developments.
Via IntoMobile.
Samsung to Release World's Thinnest Flash Memory Chip
Recently, Samsung has revealed a multi-chip memory package that can be used for mobile electronic devices like laptops and netbooks. The chip package is a mere 0.02 inch thick and provides 32 GB of storage. It's 40% thinner and lighter than the conventional memory package.
Samsung's new memory chip package features a thinner "bare" chip that measures half the thickness of a conventional chip. The chip package includes eight stacked NAND flash chips that were built using a 30-nanometer production process.
With creations like these that increase the amount of memory that can be stored while maintaining the same physical size and weight of the storage space, perhaps the size of computing devices will shrink in the future. Maybe the average size of netbooks will even get smaller.
The new Samsung memory chip package could also be housed in solid state drives as replacements for hard disk drives.
Via InformationWeek.
Samsung OLED Netbook Spotted At FDP Tradeshow
AkihabaraNews has spotted a new 7-inch Samsung netbook packing a 1024 x 600 pixel WSVGA OLED display over at Japan's FDP tradeshow this week, and it is beautiful. Behold:
Word has it there are no plans to put the prototype Samsung OLED netbook onto store shelves just yet, but Samsung is saying next year will bring OLED laptops and netbooks galore.
Samsung N140 Netbook Kicks It Up A Notch
The Samsung N140 netbook is a new machine with a bunch of specs we've been looking for in a new netbook, including the all new Microsoft Windows 7 OS.
The new netbook has been released in India as the Samsung N140 Ultra-Portable Netbook. It runs for up to 11 hours with its 6-cell battery, thanks to some touch-ups like an energy efficient LED display.
It weighs 1.27 kg and features a 10.1-inch display and spillproof keyboards. Furthermore, its hard drive is a massive 250 GB.
Other features include 3 USB 2.0 ports, including one that charges portable devices even when the netbook is off, and a 3-in-1 card reader. It has Ethernet LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, VGA, and an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam.
The new Samsung N140 goes for Rs 24,990, or around $535, on Indian markets.
Via UB-News.
Samsung N130 Netbook Available for Pre-Order
The Samsung N130 netbook is already on sale in Europe and now, it's also available for pre-order on Amazon.
The N130 features a 10.1″ screen display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, an Intel GMA 950 graphics chipset, 1 GB of RAM, and a 160 GB hard drive – pretty typical specs for the average netbook. The N130 can come with either the Windows XP or Windows 7 Starter OS.
The Samsung N130 netbook is available in pink for $350.99 and in blue for $362.43 and if you're not in a rush to get yours, they also come with free super saver shipping.
Via i4u.
Image via Smartech.
Samsung May Release OLED Laptops By End of 2010
Samsung, the largest OLED manufacturer in the world, is planning on releasing OLED laptops by the end of next year, when OLED will become commercially available for laptop screen displays. OLED would allow for thinner frames, lighter weight, and longer battery life.
Hopefully, if and when Samsung does decide to manufacture these machines, they'll be available for purchase through mainstream retail and thus, bear a reasonable price tag. There's currently no more information available about these laptops, but we're hoping for mean, sleek, powerful machines.
Via OledDisplay.
Samsung Gears Up To Launch New CULV Laptops
The Samsung 15.6″ X520 CULV notebook was recently spotted, and the company is planning on launching their 11.6″ X120 and 14″ X420 notebooks soon. These computers are part of Samsung's thin-and-light series.
We don't know much yet about these two new notebook models, but the Samsung X120 will be powered by an Intel Celeron 723 processor and cost around €550.
The larger Samsung X420 model will be powered by a SU2700 CPU, have 3 GB of RAM and a 250 GB hard drive, and cost over €700. Although the price tag on this 14″ laptop isn't quite so tempting, at least it weighs in at a mere 1.7kg. Its battery isn't bad either; it's rumored to last up to 9 hours.
Via Fudzilla.
Image via PicturePhoning.
Yet Another Samsung Netbook With a Long-Lasting Battery
Samsung has recently announced the N140 netbook, a creation with a battery that can supposedly last up to 11 hours. But other than that, it doesn't seem like this netbook will be much different from any others of the Samsung line.
Netbooks are Samsung's fastest growing business unit, and the N140 will be replacing the Samsung NC10 netbook that was launched roughly a year ago.
The N140 will have a 10.1″ screen, weigh roughly 2.8 pounds, and be available in several different colors. There is currently no more information about Samsung's N140 netbook, but we'll keep you posted.
Via CNet.
11-Hour Battery Life on the Samsung NC310 Netbook
The Samsung NC310 netbook is here, but we've discovered one woefully under-marketed aspect of the netbook that we think you'll find interesting – it can last as long as 11 hours with a battery upgrade. This beats out the majority of netbooks out there, and for a machine designed for portability that's definitely a good thing.
Remember that the battery only lasts that long if you opt for the battery upgrade, which can be expensive. Stick with the standard battery and you'll get a decent 5 hours of life on your Samsung NC310.
Other features on the Samsung NC310 include the Intel Atom CPU, a 10.1 inch screen, 160GB of space on the HDD, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, and an onboard 1.3 megapixel webcam.
Via GeekWithLaptop.
The New 12.1-inch Samsung NP-NC20 Netbook
The 12.1-inch Samsung NP-NC20 netbook is one of the largest we've seen yet. That may be a down side, but it seems to add a few features to the mix that, while not quite world-turning, are nice to see in a cohesive package.
$549 will get you a machine with a 1280 x 800 pixel screen, good enough for HD video playback on the netbook. The display is glossy but usable, depending on your environment.
The new Samsung netbook won't be winning any awards for its tinny speakers and weighs a full 4.1 pounds. However, it has a much more robust keyboard to fill up the extra space, and a single touchpad button that functions as both right- and left-click in the style of a MacBook.
The 6-cell battery is also fantastic, running for 5 hours and 50 minutes on a single charge. You get three USB ports, VGA, audio, and ethernet built in, as well as a Kensington lock slot and SD card slot. All in all the Samsung NP-NC20 seems to be a strangely configured but usable quasi-netbook with a nice set of features for those who just cant make up their minds.
Via PCWorld.


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Years ago, while I was visiting the State Department legal adviser's office, a lawyer who handled treaties said he wanted to show me something. He disappeared into the massive vault that safeguards the official copies of all U.S. treaties and emerged holding a document by its corner, between his thumb and index finger, as though it were a rare curiosity. "Look at this," he said. It was an instrument of ratification from a nation that had only recently approved the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact. (The United States is the designated depository.) "Can you believe that?" he asked. In years of working on use-of-force issues on Capitol Hill, I'd never heard anyone refer to the pact. But, as my friend pointed out, it had never been formally terminated, and now and then new instruments of ratification continued to trickle in.
By its terms, the pact should hardly be forgettable. In only two sentences, it lays out an unqualified prohibition against going to war. Article I provides that "[t]he High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Article II adds that "[t]he High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means." That's it. The pact provides no exception for self-defense, whether in response to an actual armed attack or an imminent threat of one. Yet every major belligerent in World War II was a party.
The pact became a laughingstock. Thomas Bailey wrote that it "proved a monument to illusion." George Kennan described it as "childish, just childish." Robert Ferrell concluded that the pact showed "that American popular understanding of the great problems and policies of post-1918 international affairs was appallingly naïve." To Ian Kershaw, it is "singularly vacuous." James Lindsay called it "the international equivalent of an air kiss."
Two prominent legal scholars, Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro, set out to prove them and a host of others wrong. "Provocative" is hardly the word for their effort. The dust jacket announces that "this book will change the way we view the history of the twentieth century..." The pact's signing, the authors write, was "one of the most transformative events of human history" (p. xiii). Before its ratification, they suggest, the world was a Darwinian jungle in which states typically addressed wrongs through war. That world came to an end in 1928 with ratification of the pact. "War has been outlawed for nearly a century and the result has been a period of unprecedented peace and cooperation between states" (p. xxi). "[I]nterstate war has declined precipitously, and conquests have almost completely disappeared" (p. 418).
Theirs is quite a pirouette, spinning through not only two centuries of wars of conquest but a maze of interstate wars in general. As a history of ideas, the book is well-written, jargon-free, and informative. It's filled with lively sketches of the main characters and engrossing historical vignettes.
As a work of international law and relations, however, the book suffers from an array of problems. Its main weakness lies in the shaky scaffolding supporting its thesis. The argument that the pact succeeded overstates the prevalence of war before its ratification and understates it afterwards. The book fudges the pact's legal obligation. Wars of conquest, the pact's supposedly indisputable success story, are rendered a thing of the past largely by defining them out of existence. The book fails to establish causality. And its case rests ultimately on a mistaken notion of law as the prime source of revolutionary change.
Read the full review


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In a recent (29 July) article in the FT titled "Banks 20 years behind in risk management", the author cited a survey by Corven, a consultancy, that indicated that "the largest banks and insurers are at least two decades behind their peers in the aviation industry in managing risk."
The article continued:
"Respondents described 62 per cent of "major risk incidents" as attributable to culture, leadership or behaviour but 91 per cent reported that the response to such incidents had been to change processes and systems. Meanwhile, 93 per cent of financial institutions have no way of measuring culture or behaviour, according to the survey."
The article itself, as much as the research, is revealing.
First, the title. In a press release the following day discussing the research, Corven actually states:
"Emerging themes suggest that the largest banks and insurers are many years behind their peers in the oil and gas and aviation industry in measuring and changing behaviours in response to major operational risk." (emphasis added)
The sub-editors at the FT clearly believed "twenty years" and "two decades" would grab the reader more effectively than the rather anodyne "many years", and, of course, they would be right. Also, wisely, the reference to the oil & gas industry was omitted from the article.
It is particularly telling that a survey of only "25 senior risk officers" should attract the attention of the FT at all. The number is very small and, from it, few reliable inferences can be drawn. The statement in the FT article that "four percent claimed they were proactive" could be rewritten "one respondent claimed his or her institution was proactive."
Turning to the findings, "62 percent of 'major risk incidents' attributable to culture, leadership or behaviour" means people, pure and simple (and especially in the BIS operational risk categorizations). That 91 percent of respondents changed "processes or systems" is unsurprising; the alternative would be to change people.
However, the truly staggering bit comes next. To repeat "meanwhile, 93 per cent of financial institutions have no way of measuring culture or behaviour, according to the survey." The truly interesting piece here is the other 7 percent (although how many organizations is 7 percent of 25? 1.75, by my calculation) believe they have a way of 'measuring culture or behaviour'. Given that there is no meaningful way of measuring risk culture (and never will be) and that risk behaviour seldom reduces to objective metrics, it is the understanding of the 7 percent that must be called in to question.
The expectation that complex, emergent human phenomena are measurable and, that if they were, the metrics produced would be objective and operable is a comforting delusion but a delusion nonetheless. But it seems to sell newspapers (and ameliorate regulators).
Of course, the real story is that most banks really are well behind the curve in terms of both operating and risk and control systems. Our research on systemic risk published in 2010 (available here) highlighted this problem clearly. In some areas, '20 years behind present functionality' may not be an exaggeration. To the institutions themselves must be added central bankers and regulators (payments processors and exchanges are considerably more advanced).
There is no doubt that banks' and insurers' systems investment programmes have lagged the exigencies of their business activity resulting in excessively complex systems architectures, abundant reliance on 'legacy systems' and contorted interfaces between systems that are as unreliable as they are unnecessary. The root cause of these problems, however, has not been lack of expenditure; it has been spending on the wrong things. The problem is endemic. The material question is why?
The answer is as unpopular as it is controversial. At a CSFI event at which I outlined our research and our findings on systemic risk, I was rounded upon by a well-known city figure (among others) for daring to suggest that the answer was right in front of us (or would be if we were standing on the south side of North Colonnade in Canary Wharf, just to the east of the DLR track).
Of course, it is not merely the Financial Services Authority that is to blame; in many ways, they have simply been a conduit. The problem lies in the artifice of the potential efficacy of on-going (dare I say 'perpetual'?) regulatory change driven by zealous legislators and regulators in Brussels and Whitehall; Brussels, mostly. A similar, though uncoordinated flow has been evident in Washington and in other financial capitals.
The perpetual torrent of regulation has been a reaction to the on-going string of financial crises and institutional failures that have bedeviled the industry (and always will). The belief has been that these failures have been the result of insufficient regulation. The implication is that more regulation is better and will fix the problem(s). This profound assumption has proceeded virtually unchallenged except by industry bodies and the institutions themselves, who are (rightly) presumed to be self-interested.
The effect of the perpetual torrent of regulation has been to deny financial institutions the opportunity to plan over a reasonable horizon their systems strategies and to execute those strategies uninterrupted. Instead, institutions have had constantly to adjust and revise their systems development and replacement plans to accommodate the changes necessary to permit compliance. This has been especially true in the all-important area of risk management.
This problem has been compounded by constant merger activity and the notorious challenges of integration systems post-merger. Ironically, it is often mis-handled systems rationalisation that ultimately nullifies the presumed benefits of a planned merger.
For those firms operating across borders, there has been the additional problem of multiple flavours of each regulatory initiative. While, in some instances, this offers these firms the potential for regulatory arbitrage, it complicates the systems picture and results in patches in each country to achieve the specifics of that jurisdiction's compliance requirements. For internationally operating firms (ie. big ones), these divergent regulatory approaches limit the benefits of a unified systems approach and substantially complicate core system replacement.
Another pervasive problem is excessive prescription of control activities in countries' regulatory approaches. Rather than focusing on what firms must achieve, regulations also frequently prescribe how. The degree of detail prescribed by regulators around the world has two mutually-reinforcing effects: (i) it makes system design and configuration a potentially limiting factor for compliance and (ii) crowds out firms' own initiative to develop and implement efficient regulatory responses. Both of these militate against intelligent systems design as a predictable source of competitive advantage. This, in turn, reduces firms' appetite for and investment in systems replacement reinforcing the need to divert resources to maintain the compliance currency of legacy systems. The result is predictable.
However, at indsutry level, the biggest problem, all-but-ignored by regulators, is inconsistent data standards and unreliable data provenance in firms' securities and customer data. The absence of consistent global standards for securities and customer data bedevils all attempts to improve data quality and, as a result, the quality and reliability of firms' reporting to regulators. It makes forming a consistent and reliable view of systemic risk functionally impossible. Regulatory fiat, a la Solvency II, will not solve the problem (although it may force the industry to put in place work-arounds, thus creating more complexity).
At the regulatory level, national and global regulators have been delinquent in developing and defining a standardized reporting structure for risk exposures across classes. The absence of coherent industry risk data architectures holds back both regulatory efficacy and firms' investment in their core information technologies.
Driven by uncertainty over regulatory direction and initiatives, the result has been a systematic and industry-wide predilection for IT spend to focus on short-term, compliance-driven upgrades to existing systems rather than longer-term strategic systems replacement and enhancement. Firms have then had to stomach criticism from regulators for the very systems management practices their perpetual torrent of regulatory change has fostered.
Recent IT failures at institutions in the UK and further afield are, beyond doubt, the responsibilities of the firms themselves. But European and national regulators need to be both far more conscious of their impact on firms' systems investment decisions and of the utility of defining the data architecture they need to perform effective supervision at firm and system level.
Excessive regulatory prescription is strangling firms' initiative and turning them in to compliance factories. The result weakens rather than strengthens risk management and encourages firms to retain and patch dated systems. Perhaps a regulatory rethink is in order.