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24 comments:
I am still prefer to use prime lens. I am lazy to think when should I zoom when using the zoom lens. I rather walk a few step away or closer to make my composition.ReplyDeleteReplies
No worries. we shoot with what we like but that does not mean anyone else who do not use what we use are anything less. I use my 50mm macro a lot too, but I also respect zoom users and I believe zoom lenses can make great photos too.Delete
Funny. Just when I mount my kit lens for a change (on the Pen this time), you write an article about them. I sometimes ignore that those kit lenses are zooms (tho that can be convenient as well), set them at a certain focal length like 17 or 25mm, and leave them there all day long. These kit lenses are definitely useful, and not bad at all. But since we seldom use them both at the same time (we have 2 for the Pens and one for my E-520), I could as well give one to my brother...ReplyDeleteReplies
Great minds think alike!! Yes I also have one for pen and one for the e520. I'm keeping both haha.Delete
I agree Robin with your well-spoken argument. I would only add that there is nothing wrong with preferring prime lenses (as I believe you said as well), only problem is with disparaging those who choose a different photographic philosophy. As you said so articulately, choose the tool that suits the job or your style, admire a photograph for it's content, accept all "vehicles" that get you to that destination.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Ken. I love how you use vehicles that get you to destination as a way to describe the photographer's tool to achieve his vision. Thanks for that !Delete
I agree with the value of the kit lens, and I had put mine to several great uses, one would upgrade from the kit lens that ships with the camera to a better kit lens, I upgraded from the Canon 18-55 to the 15-85 for the better range, better sharpness and faster focusing.ReplyDelete
However I have a different opinion about using primes, I like them because they are liberating in that they make you think about the composition more, you always know the viewing angle before you look through the viewfinder, while when I use my zoom lens (I do have one and I use it a lot when I need to) I keep trying different focal lengths and getting different looks for the same situation, this is not always a good thing when all I need is to concentrate on shooting whatever lens I have with me. On the other hand a zoom is indispensable when you need flexibility in focal lengths.
Another main reason for using primes are the wide apertures.Replies
By the way, I've sent you the mail I promised about my trip to Kuala Lumpur, the subject is called "Better Family Photos, Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur"Delete
Thanks mshafik for the email. I have gone through your blog, I have not had the time to respond to it yet. Been extra busy with work and everything else lately.Delete
Good to see that you love and do use your kit lens too.
Of course, the preference is personal, and as long as you admit that the choice is dependent on the photographer's own style of shooting. I just do not get how some prime shooters would dismiss the importance of zoom lenses.
Hello Robin,ReplyDelete
Thank you for the sharing of your photography thought.
Frankly I do not have kit lens as I opt for the body only. (One way to get my wife to pay for the camera at MYR2950) Then I add the Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.5 non-OS as a walk around lens. When my AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G (cheaper than f/1.4G), I keep my 18-200. But I never shot with my 18-200 in street yet. Maybe one of these days. I did use my new Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC for the street once awhile depend on the location. Normally in tight space, I will change to 17-50mm.
I agreed with you 100% that both lens Kit and primes have their place and it's all depend on the photographer.
Normal question my friends ask me: How much is your camera? Your camera must be very expensive? They never know that I have to shoot thousands of photos before I get ONE decent shot. Practice and practice.
But now they have new questions: How much they pay you?
Voices never end. But one thing I know sure that voice echos from you is reliable. Glad to know you and your blog.
May you have a great weekend.
John RagaiReplies
Hey John,Delete
lens choice is personal, and only you know what works best for yourself. If you find that certain lens is limiting, and in order to get that shot you have in mind you need another lens, and you have it with you, do not hesitate to switch to that lens !!
Thanks again for your kind compliments. Do not take all my words 100% in though, I was just sharing my thoughts and opinion, and like everyone else, they are subject to individual style and preferences too. Some things that work for me may not work for you.
Robin, If I come to Kuala Lumpur can I go street shooting with you?ReplyDeleteReplies
Kirk, if you come to Kuala Lumpur that would be better than striking a lottery !! Of course, I will surely be glad to go street hunting with you !!Delete
- Rafael Alcaide Juan8/27/2012 01:05:00 AM
I'm with you Robin. The zuiko E 14-42 "kit" lens, is a versatile, first class, standard zoom option. Is not an usual " cheap" lens. It has a high end design with a selection of glasses, and consistent rendition (from good to very good) in sharpness and contrast at all apertures. Maybe is not a "leica" prime, but it do the job in many situations. I use it for landscape and portraits, with always good results. Is hard to imagine a zuiko "not good", even the most economic zooms. I have three old OM zooms (28-48 mm, 75-150 mm and 65-200 mm), and the three are exceptional lenses. I apologize for the long post! Thank you Robin, for the fantastic set of images that you share. These photographies really go to the heart!ReplyDelete
Rafael Alcaide Juan. Ibiza island. Spain.Replies
Thanks Rafael for the kind compliments and also agreeing that the 14-42mm lens is not just a mere kit lens. Indeed I have been using it for years, my only complain is that sometimes it struggles to focus in very low light situation. Other than that there really is nothing to dislike about the lens. As you have mentioned the image quality is no slouch either ! No worries about long comments, I appreciate people who spend time to share their thoughts and opinion, and I shall gladly listen.Delete
I uses both fixed (20mm/45mm or 7.5mmFY) and zoom kit lens(12-50mm/45-200mm) depending on the situation or where I am going. Most important is to get the job done and be happy with the result. All are great lens when use properly. Some even condemn the kit len 12-50mmm come with OM-d as slow and soft. But I think it is a great outdoor lens. The 12mm wide side is great.The macro mode on the lens works really well.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks for the comment James. I agree that the 12-50mm is great shooting outdoors, having extra features that other kit lenses lack, such as close up shooting and extra wide angle. Those can give the photographers more flexibility and options to work with in their shooting.Delete
i think we all agree that Oly kit zooms are really a cut above the canikons. and whether we like zooms or prefer primes, as long as we make great pictures and enjoy the process.ReplyDelete
Me? i kinda need for speed, so my pre-loved Zuiko-s 50 f/1.8 is always on my e-620, i just love the fact you work with the lens to make the picture and the way the focus ring turns, it just feels so smooth with the right amount of damping. a bonus point of Oly zooms, and i have the 40-150mm too, they are so portable, i am taking all 3 lenses on my Aussie trip next month, in a very small lowepro rezo bag.
compare that to a canon 600d with a tamron 18-270mm, you need a 6 million dollar home to carry that one :)Replies
Indeed, Olympus has always stressed on portability, smaller footprint and lighter weight !! Glad to hear you will be travelling. Have a great time and snap plenty of pictures !Delete
Hello all, hello RobinReplyDelete
Here are my thoughts :
I have an OMD EM5 + 20mm 1.7 + kit 12-50mm 3.5-5.6.
After taking picture around I found out that I was making better pictures with the Pany 20mm 1.7.
Why? It's faster = less bad pictures when full bright light is missing.
Why? Because it's smaller so easier to have with me and less agressive to people.
Why? Because I work a bit more in the composition.
Why? Because with kit lense on 4/3 or m4/3 obtaining bokeh is hard!
Damm it's "40mm"! Many times I want it to be either super wide, wide or tele!
Damm I loose so much time switching from one lens to another! The cat / bird /scene ran away! Dammit!
Damm it's raining! Where's my 12-50mm?
I guess the Olympus 14-35mm 2.0 would be an ideal solution, but man is that a heavy and expensive beast! :D
I absolutely agree. And Olympus Kit lenses are very good. I have an old E-1 and i often use it with 14-42 (old) and in most situation it's very very good. I stopped using prime as "the only way" when i left Canon for Olympus. I'm in love with Oly's Zooms . They are perfect.ReplyDelete
- mitchsj1/16/2013 02:26:00 AM
Hi, Robin.. I'm a self=taught beginner and fully agree with you that photography is not abt what top notch gears one has, but one's creativity and ability that makes the photos great. I've been using Oly EPL series and have taken some pretty good images with the 14-42mm kit lens during my travels past 2 years.. I really, really love it. The only reason i'm now thinking of a prime 45mm f1.8 is for its aperture and exploring different kind of images. I've known of people whose bought some very expensive lenses and accessories to look "pro" but still, their images lack the WOW factor.. so, I'm glad to know my opinion abt "gearing-up" with tools vs skills are well-shared here. Thx!ReplyDelete
Hi Robin! I am very interested in how you do your panning shots. They are amazing! I have a budget Lumix GF2 camera and kit zoom lens(14-42mm)ReplyDelete
Did you know that you can create short urls with BCVC and get cash for every visitor to your shortened links.ReplyDelete


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A Polyphonous Dialogue
Every now and then, a little squeak slips out, but the three young Palestinian clarinet players don't let it get to them. They start again and again until the sound is just right. It's part of the workshop atmosphere at the Barenboim-Said Foundation's music academy in the center of Ramallah.
Martin Koegel, oboist with the German chamber ensemble Polyphonia, is more than happy with his pupils. He is in Ramallah with other members of Polyphonia, a subgroup of the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin. Koegel and his fellow musicians were guests of the Palestinian music school in the West Bank in December 2010, where young musicians from the region received training side by side by experienced performers from Germany.
"We have young people here who began playing just a year ago and others that have five years experience," Koegel said. "With the more experienced players, we work on pieces together in small ensembles that we'll present in concert. And with the beginners, we are laying a foundation to help them play together and learn what's important in the process."
Excitement conquers nerves
Inside the academy, music from all sorts of instruments is streaming into the halls from every direction – even the offices are full of young musicians hard at work.
11-year-old Yara Khawaja practices cello under the watchful eyes of cellist Thomas Roesseler. The young Palestinian player can scarcely be seen behind her instrument, which she has now been learning for two years.
"I was still a little nervous at the beginning," Yara said. "But it's a great opportunity to be able to play with these professionals. And after all, they've all been really nice," she added with a smile.
Her fellow pupil Faris Amin is also excited: "It's been great to get to play for three days and learn new things," he said, before quickly getting back to his music.
A rare opportunity
This institution sponsored by the Barenboim-Said Foundation is one of the few music schools in the Palestinian West Bank. The foundation itself is largely financed by the Andalusian regional government (Junta de Andalucía) in Spain. Since the music school opened in 2006, kids and young people have been able to learn music instruments and receive basic training in classical music there.
"Workshops with international musicians open doors to them – not just to the world of classical music, but also in terms of cultural dialogue," explained Nabeel Abboud Ashkar, director of the music academy. "Especially in such an embattled region, that's important."
The musicians of the Polyphonia Ensemble agree. "The people here are interested in classical music," said Martin Koegel, "but they don't have all of the training and educational opportunities that we have in Europe, for instance. And we want to do what we can to help."
Future professionals
In the West Bank for the first time in December 2010, the Polyphonia musicians have already offered similar workshops in other countries, most recently in Algeria and Morocco, with support from the German Foreign Office and Deutsche Welle. The children's industriousness and quick learning pace also make for great experiences for the musicians, they said.
As the workshop comes to a close, it starts to get serious for the young players. The Kasaba Film Theater in Ramallah is the venue for the first of their three concerts, in addition to an extra concert performed by the beginners. The more experienced musicians will play on stage alongside their workshop leaders from Germany.
For Mira Abu Elassal, a young cellist, that marks a very special moment: the young Palestinian from Nazareth hopes to become a professional musician. Concerts like these are a great way for her to get experience..
Tania Kraemer
© Deutsche Welle 2010
Editor: Rick Fulker/Deutsche Welle, Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de
Daniel Barenboim
Musical Diplomacy in the Middle East
Daniel Barenboim uses his music to cross all political and religious boundaries, e.g. by initiating the Israeli-Palestinian music workshop "West-Eastern Divan". Petra Tabeling provides an overview of Barenboim's many highly promising projects
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Consoling Concertos
Daniel Barenboim is on tour with his Israeli-Arab orchestra in times of war. He regards it as an "independent republic" – and he has a message to pass on that is otherwise all but drowned out by the noise of the battlefield. By Sonja Zekri
Oriental Music in the West
A Creative Musical Laboratory at the Heart of Germany
The Morgenland Festival Osnabrück is setting new standards in the encounter between the West and the East. This year's focus was the music of the Uyghurs, the Muslim minority in China. Stefan Buchen went along
Musical Worlds
The Islamic world and Europe are home to a longstanding independent, modern music scene that transcends belly dance and folk music clichés. In this dossier we present some of its most important figures, styles and encounters


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Emerging markets receiving the oxygen for recovery
James Barrineau argues that the key factors remain in place for emerging markets to maintain their current strong momentum.
Emerging markets (EMs) are running at full throttle:
- The local currency index, after a historically unprecedented fall, is up 9% this year.
- Dollar sovereign debt is up 4.5% – about four times the return for the whole of 2015.
- Interest rate spreads over US Treasury bonds have fallen 100 basis points since the highs of 11 February.
Why did this happen? And can it go on?
Our three investment theses for EMs - Chinese currency stability, oil stability, and supportive developed market central bank policy - have now been in place since late January.
The stabilising factors for the asset class actually began to fall into place before being reflected in asset prices. But, as we have often stated before, the single most important factor for EMs is the trend in the dollar.
Following last week's meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), and its message that rates are likely to be significantly lower than expected this year, the level of the dollar against the basket of currencies represented by the DXY Index fell to its lowest since last October.
But much more important is the trend and its underlying driver. The divergence in developed market monetary policy that had been propelling the currency higher is effectively over, given the Fed's new dovish stance.
That will be an ongoing support for EMs – after all, the dollar's stratospheric rise from mid-2014 was jump-started by a Fed promise to raise interest rates at a time when other central banks were running in the opposite direction.
Along with continued gains in the oil price, we need no further reassurance that the positive background continues.
Breathing life into EM assets
What follows from these supportive factors is the oxygen for the EM recovery – liquidity into the asset class.
- Measured from one perspective – the rate of change of global foreign exchange reserves – liquidity has risen sharply.
- Measured from another perspective – the ability to issue debt – liquidity has picked up after sovereign issuance jumped sharply in the last six weeks following a historically slow start to the year.
- Measured from a third perspective – fund flows – liquidity has also turned sharply positive.
Our risk appetite in this asset class is predicated on a simple, intuitive, historically reliable fact: when the rate of liquidity flowing into the asset class rises, asset prices follow upwards.
Though we cannot predict the future, it is historically unlikely that the rally would stop in its tracks without a sign that those flows are waning, even if their rate of growth may slow.
Discounting the negatives
The counter-argument to this seemingly optimistic scenario is that fundamentals remain shaky: companies have increased their debt levels and now have limited access to the market, while economic growth may be slow to return.
All of those points are hard to argue with. However, liquidity has always preceded fundamentals, whether up or down. So further improvement in EMs as currencies rally and central banks either stop hiking or cut interest rates is a high probability.
The last point that is continually impressed upon us as we talk to potential and current investors is the unrealistic view that still prevails about EMs.
- Investors bemoaning EM growth of 3.5[(-4) was not found] – down from the 6% or more seen in the past – are yearning for a world that may never return, at least in the short term, given that developed markets now do well to produce 1.5% growth.
- By the same token, those waiting for EM dollar debt to yield 9[(-10) was not found] before buying are ignoring a world where 24% or so of the global government bond index trades at negative interest rates in a yield-starved world.
- And investors worried that debt issuers will now rush in to dampen the rally are forgetting that sovereign issuance was set to be close to negative on a net basis this year.
- Moreover, the European Central Bank's new policy stance is incentivising the issue of euro-denominated debt that should inject an additional positive technical factor into the market.
Taking all these things together, the world we have before us seems to suggest there still seems to be good value in EM assets.


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John Holt's book Instead of Education is a 50:50 proposition. Half of it is hopelessly outdated. The Internet has made possible (and insanely cheap and easy) so many of the things that Holt describes as flimsy shoots of possibility in 1976. Educational materials are now abundant; getting together to do stuff, virtually or in person, just keeps getting easier. I wish Holt had lived to see what we have at hand now.
The other half of Holt's book has great insights, starting with the difference between what he calls S-chools and s-chools, as well as T-eachers and t-eachers. The capitalized versions are compulsory. They are coercive. They tell, they require, they compel. And in doing so, they begin to stamp out the freedom and curiosity that are natural in kids.
The point I had missed that Holt makes elegantly is that small-S schools can be highly structured and demanding. You just have to opt into them of your own free will. Think of a martial-arts dojo. The work is likely to be grueling, but you're there because you want mastery in that art. Lower-case schools and teachers are essential parts of the educational landscape.
It's coercion that breaks the system's natural beneficial powers.


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Economic Views
Chinese trend growth: The future for new China
In the final part of our China series, we look at what is in store for the country as it seeks a transition to a consumption-led economy. Can China find new drivers of growth?
In the final part of our China series, we look at what is in store for the country as it seeks a transition to a consumption-led economy. Can China find new drivers of growth?
So far in this series of notes on China, we have examined the prospects for Chinese trend growth, given the demographic outlook, planned urbanisation, and the scope for investment.
In this third and final note, we address the issue of where this investment can go, and whether there is macroeconomic support for the planned transition to the new, consumption-led, China.
In general, are the themes identified in our first two notes: demographics and capital catch up, supportive of the hopes that China can find new drivers of growth?
Infrastructure gaps remain
One argument we have heard advanced in favour of a bearish stance on China is that investment cannot continue to drive growth because there is nothing left to invest in.
That is, China is now entering the "bridges to nowhere" stage of investment spending, as seen in Japan and elsewhere. We do not agree with this argument unconditionally.
While it is true that China has invested huge amounts of GDP, and spare capacity problems in certain industries (along with "ghost cities") suggest overinvestment has occurred in some areas, we saw in the previous paper in this series that GDP per capita remains far behind the US or South Korean levels. There must be some gaps somewhere.
Starting at a simple level, Chart 1 shows some data on basic infrastructure across China.
The data is available at a provincial level, which is then grouped by region, each of which is generally recognised to be at a different level of development.
The eastern provinces, for example, are most closely tied to international trade and have seen the highest growth in GDP and income, and higher urbanisation rates.
Basic needs are broadly met across the provinces. Access to sanitation and clean water (not shown), for example, is near universal in urban areas.
But there are some gaps in provision of other basics. Access to gas, for example, is clearly much higher on average in the eastern provinces than in the west. Road density is also much higher in the east than west.
At this stage we are not attempting to make quantitative assessments of the amount of investment needed; this serves only as an illustration that investment is not "done" in China.
However, it will take more than catch up in gas provision and road density to generate meaningful scope for investment growth.
Manufacturing capital
One of the big drivers of investment and hence economic growth in China has been manufacturing, establishing the country as a workshop to the world for the first decade of this century.
But the problem of spare capacity in some industries and the negative producer price inflation (PPI, currently running at close to -6% a year) coupled with stagnant global trade would suggest further gains here are likely to be limited.
Drawing on data from a paper by Yanrui Wu , we have calculated current manufacturing capital stock for each Chinese province, and again grouped by region (Chart 2).
The intention here is to assess whether there is scope for investment to bring other regions of China in line with the more developed eastern provinces.
We look at regional averages rather than aiming for convergence to the province with the highest capital per capita, because we assume that manufacturing hubs will likely cross provincial lines, and that a province like Hubei has such a high level of capital because it is supplied with other resources by neighbouring provinces.
In much the same way that not every British city can be London, or every American city New York, not every Chinese province can be Hubei or Jiangsu.
As Chart 2 shows, regional averages for manufacturing capital per capita do not actually vary by much.
So there is perhaps something to the argument that investment here, at least, has run its course. This is not to say that China can no longer invest in manufacturing; some amount of investment will be needed to maintain the same level of capital stock per person thanks to population growth (for now) and depreciation, and to keep up with changes in technology.
There is also some scope for China to move up the value chain in manufacturing, producing higher technology goods to compete with developed market exporters. But the period of rapid, "catch up" growth in manufacturing may well be over.
Service sector playing catch up
Where the real gap lies between China and those economies with much larger capital stocks is the service sector (Chart 3).
While it is tempting to think of services as meaning things like tourism, finance and retail, none of which seem particularly capital heavy, it also incorporates telecoms, transport, and other infrastructure.
Again, visitors to the major cities like Beijing and Shanghai may think that even here the Chinese have done all they can; the situation is very different as we move away from the eastern provinces.
The right hand panel of Chart 3 shows that at the national level China still lags Korea in both high and low technology.
Even in the largest cities, the level of pollution and traffic alone implies that further investment in public transport would not go to waste.
Education and healthcare, too, are ripe for further investment, and will be essential to creating the human capital China will need if it is to compete in the highest value-added industries.
Arguably for service sector growth (and the associated investment) we need to see a growing consumer base.
One way to achieve this is to boost incomes through economic growth, but for an emerging market like China, incomes can also be boosted through urbanisation.
We went through this in more detail in our first note in this series, and to avoid repetition interested readers may want to read that paper for a more complete discussion.
Urbanisation of income and spending
Briefly though, the transfer of workers from the rural to the urban sector can be a powerful driver of growth given much higher productivity in the urban sector.
Given that pay is (generally) linked to productivity, this process also sees an increase in incomes for the workers involved.
As Chart 4 shows, urban dwellers typically have more than double the income of their rural counterparts.
Furthermore, the majority of this additional income translates into additional expenditures, with urban dwellers spending 2-3 times as much as those in rural areas.
Based on current income levels, if China were to achieve 80% urbanisation today (the developed world average), this alone would add consumption worth 3% of GDP.
Obviously, China will not achieve this level overnight. Happily, however, we have already conducted analysis of a likely urbanisation and implied trend growth path (see the first two notes in this series).
We can take advantage of this to calculate a probable path for consumption (Chart 5). We decompose growth in consumption into the contributions from urbanisation, population growth and income growth.
Urbanisation is assumed to proceed at a rate of 0.9% per annum, as laid out in the government's urbanisation plan. Korea managed to urbanise more rapidly, so we do not feel overly naïve in accepting a government target on this occasion.
Our numbers for population growth are based on UN forecasts, and we assume that incomes grow at the same rate as labour productivity (based on an assumption around the growth rate of the capital stock, discussed in our first paper).
We make no change to the propensity to consume (the share of income consumed rather than saved), though given the current high saving rate in China one would expect this to increase over time – an upside risk to our forecast.
Household consumption
As with our trend growth forecast, much of the boost to consumption is expected to come from growing household incomes. Yet demographics also prove supportive for most of the period.
Urbanisation adds around 1% to consumption growth each year, with a further 1% added by population growth for the first five years, though this dwindles to become negative by 2029.
Overall, consumption trend growth is higher than trend GDP growth across the period, picking up the slack from weaker investment growth.
With household consumption accounting for just over 36% of GDP, compared to roughly 44% for investment, it certainly seems possible for consumption to take over as a driver of growth.
What, then, should we take away from all of this about China's future? We think a few key themes are as follows:
- Whether considered from a demographic or capital accumulation perspective, trend growth in China is probably around 5.5%, and will decline to 3 to 4% over the next 15 years. Reforms and other changes can make some difference to this number but the margin is typically less than an additional percentage point.
- A declining workforce is not fatal to Chinese growth: gains in labour productivity, consistent with a more capital intense economy, easily outweigh the small drag on activity, and drive a growth rate which continues to exceed that of any developed market.
- There is ample scope for further capital accumulation, as is evident from a comparison of China and the US, or of China and Korea. Most of these investment opportunities now lie in the services sector. But the biggest catch up gains in investment are behind us.
- When considering GDP from an expenditure side, it is clear that consumption has the potential to be the main growth driver.
Of course, these are all long-term themes, and do not preclude a crisis in the short term.
Like others, we are concerned about the buildup of debt in China and see the financial system as the likely source of any hard landing.
But we see little evidence that the economy is overheating, looking at the data and at our estimates of trend growth.
In addition, a financial crisis need not throw China completely off track – a reversion to trend should be possible.
The views and opinions contained herein are those of Schroders' investment teams and/or Economics Group, and do not necessarily represent Schroder Investment Management North America Inc.'s house views. These views are subject to change. This information is intended to be for information purposes only and it is not intended as promotional material in any respect.


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Calendar Activities See All Calendar Activities
Not your everyday calendar, here you can find important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, all with related activities and resources that make them more relevant to students. View by day, by week, or by month.
February 11, 2020
Students read one of Jane Yolen's books, retell the story in the form of a puppet show, research animals in the book, and document their findings with the Animal Study interactive tool.
Grades 1 – 5
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FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (courtesy Framingham State sports infomation) -- Brandeis senior Dylan Britton (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) picked up his team-leading third win of the season for the Judges today after pitching six innings to defeat the host Framingham State University Rams, 10-6, despite a strong wind at William D. Carey Field.
"I just battled today despite not having my best stuff", Britton would say afterwards. "The team really came through and got a bunch of hits and scored a bunch of runs." Britton allowed nine hits and six earned runs, striking out two and walking one. Sophomore Elio Fernandez (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) was outstanding in relief, tossing 2.2 innings of two-hit ball with three Ks and a walk before giving way to Kyle Brenner (Brookfield, Mass./St. Peter Marian) for the final out.
Ivan Colon suffered his first loss on the season after going four innings and allowing four earned runs for FSU. The third inning gave Colon struggles as he gave up three RBI singles but would later help the Rams tie the game in the bottom half of the third with an RBI double.
The game would remain tied until the top of the fifth, when Brandeis scored four runs and would never look back. The big inning was highlighted by a two-run single by rookie CF Liam O'Connor (Avon, Conn./Avon), part of his career-high-tying three RBI.
Brandeis belted out 13 hits on the day, two more than the Rams. Four of those hits belonged to sophomore 2B Tom McCarthy (Yonkers, N.Y./Fieldston School) who was 4-4 on the day - a new career high for hits - and also reached base on a walk.
Head Coach Pete Varney, in his 32nd season with the club, said his team was able to pick up the road win due to "timely hitting."
With the win, Brandeis improved to 7-13 on the season. Both Britton and Varney both said consistency needs to be the teams focus on the second half of the season.
"We need to take this win and use it going forward, we have a nice stretch of games coming up to hopefully pick up some wins," Britton said.
The Judges are back on the road tomorrow as they travel to UMass-Dartmouth before hosting Worcester State at home Monday in their third game in as many days.


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'When you fast do not put on a gloomy look like the hypocrites..' (Matthew 6:15)
Lent is an opportunity to put our authenticity to the test. It is so easy to slide gradually away from the truth, to imagine a lot but let practice descend into a role-play that we perform as much for ourselves as to make ourselves look better in others' eyes. What a relief it is to get back to our real selves and accept ourselves even when we find we are flawed, unfaithful and generally imperfect. We don't have to make excuses, just to be honest.
To raise the reality check we are helped by an instrument – which is provided by a special practice we take on during Lent. Prayer, almsgiving and fasting are the traditional categories of spiritual practice.
So to cover all bases, we could begin with prayer. Reinforcing our discipline of meditating twice a day. Refreshing our commitment, straightening our posture. Adding a reading of the day's gospel. Then giving to those in need– if not materially then in the currency of time or attention or simple acts of kindness. Then fasting – letting go or reducing what we deep-down know is excessive or illusory or unbalanced.
If we do this practice for the right reason, in the right way, why be gloomy? There's everything in the right practice to make Lent a time for smiling. Fr Laurence


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On Looking
From the author of the number-one New York Times mega-best seller Inside of a Dog comes an equally smart, delightful, and startling exploration of how we perceive and discover our world.
Alexandra Horowitz's brilliant On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes shows us how to see the spectacle of the ordinary - to practice, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put it, "the observation of trifles". On Looking is structured around a series of eleven walks the author takes, mostly in her Manhattan neighborhood, with experts on a diverse range of subjects, including an urban sociologist, the well-known artist Maira Kalman, a geologist, a physician, and a sound designer. She also walks with a child and a dog to see the world as they perceive it. What they see, how they see it, and why most of us do not see the same things reveal the startling power of human attention and the cognitive aspects of what it means to be an expert observer.
As the million-plus readers of Inside of a Dog have discovered, Alexandra Horowitz is charmingly adept at explaining the mysteries of human perception. Trained as a cognitive scientist, she discovers a feast of fascinating detail, all explained with her generous humor and self-deprecating tone. On Looking presents the same engaging combination, this time in service to understanding how human beings encounter their daily worlds and one another.
Page by page, Horowitz shows how much more there is to see - if only we would really look. On Looking is nutrition for the considered life, serving as a provocative response to our relentlessly virtual consciousness. So turn off the phone and other electronic devices and be in the real world - where strangers communicate by geometry as they walk toward one another, where sounds reveal shadows, where posture can display humility, and the underside of a leaf unveils a Lilliputian universe - where, indeed, there are worlds within worlds within worlds.
Alexandra Horowitz's On Looking confirms her place as one of today's most illuminating observers of our infinitely complex world.
- Freddy
- 2013/01/12
Cataract Surgery for the Senses
Any additional comments?
As a trauma nurse out in Afghanistan, I experienced the death of a friend firsthand. He had passed away on route to our location and so all we could do was prepare his body for his journey home. After this moment, in time, I came to reject all my adolescent views on reality in search of objective truths. Those ideas shared between both science and religion, in order to see how others view the world.
I typed in "looking" on the Audible search engine and found this book. How lucky was I.
There is something about the "ding" moments in life where we put the puzzle pieces together. Only our puzzle is filled with thousands upon thousands of separate bits of information and often looking in the strangest places will reveal this puzzle we call reality. This book shows how others see the world and helps us get into the mind of interesting individuals.
For myself, a much deeper meaning emerges from her words.
There are so many fights between the sciences and religion. While I subscribe more to the former, this book shows how ignorant we are to the majority of the events around us. I am now forced to bite my tongue, listen, and understand the other to find common ground while noticing the differences between myself and others.
Ultimately, her perception further teaches us to notice the intricacies in life. The dull commute to work is now a dazzling spectacle, where one can even find beauty in a rock.
- Duane
- 2013/11/09
Promising, not quite ready for prime time.
Alexadra Horowitz is a brilliant scholar who works on interesting stuff, knows it, and wants to do something few scholars do: share it with the rest of us. Like Chet Raymo's "The Path: A One-Mile Walk Through the Universe" or David Haskell's "The Forest Unseen," she asks us to pay close attention to that small part of the world closest at hand, and thus most likely to be overlooked. Ms. Horowitz does so by bringing experts of various sorts along on walks around her block, and weaves together their insights on what lies beyond the eyeball with her own expertise into what's going on behind it. For all those reasons, I was looking forward to "On Looking." Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish listening to it.
As a writer, Ms. Horowitz tries too hard, like an earnest undergraduate who's fallen in love with language for the first time, discovered the thesaurus, and can't wait to use all the new words she's found there. Her love seems to spill over into her narration. She seems to be more focused on making sure that each of those lovely words is enunciated as clearly as possible with little awareness of the rhythm and flow of complete sentences, much less the broader arcs of paragraphs. Other reviewers seem to like this, and I really wish I could've gotten beyond it, but to my ear the overall result sounds overly pretentious and entirely too precious.
I hope Ms. Horowitz will keep sharing her world with us, mature into as good of a writer as she is a scholar, and leave the reading to a more skilled narrator who can bring her words to life.
- Andy
- 2013/01/27
not much to see, but a mellifluous narration
The content of this book did not move me at all.....far too much about the lovely infant child which the author justifiably adores. However, I was pulled in by the wonderful narration, which was so pleasant, I continued listening to the end.
- Tony and Erica
- 2013/03/09
Great Topic, Writing & Narration. Poor Editing
I really enjoyed this book because I am fascinated with the subject of how viewpoint shapes the world for the viewer. This book seems tailor made for me.
The writing is engaging, and the narration is refreshingly excellent for books narrated by the author. I would give Horowitz five stars for narration, but sadly, Audible does not let me separate performance and production.
My only quibble is with the editor. Some sentences feature a long pause for no particular reason. Other gaps are rushed. Horowitz's rhythm is quite good, but I suspect the editor grew complacent and forgot that some pauses are not intentional (pausing for a drink, the pause before a punch in, etc) and left them in without really listening.
- Avery Mello-Martinez
- 2020/02/05
Good concept, but not for me.
I liked the premise, but ended up pretty bored and couldn't finish. I can definitely see other people liking it, but it felt a bit repetitive and just couldn't keep my focus.
- Liz Scully
- 2019/05/14
I've not stopped talking about this book
Fascinating topic, engagingly discussed with a lively narration. I see many negative reviews - and usually I'm a very picky listener, but I found the ideas in this book captivating. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it since I finished it a few weeks back. One of the best books I've read so far this year
- Emily
- 2015/07/07
Interesting! Well read! A great enjoyment and addition to my own walks and long drives!
- Michael P Brazda
- 2015/05/30
Upgraded situational awareness...
Although a book being read by the author is generally ill advised in my opinion, any weakness here is more than overcome by a unique and educational series of 11 perspectives on the world around us. I walk away (pun intended) with not only a new ability to perceive the mundane details around me, but a renewed interest in investigating those details further in an effort to grow that insight. Well worth your time in my opinion!
- Carpenters helper
- 2015/04/07
Mind openning if you take it slow
You may want to listen to this book a few times to really "get it". There is no big moment in the narration, just continual examples of the details that we miss because we only see what we expect to see. The narrator is enjoyable.
- handoff
- 2015/02/04
stiff writing and narration, but thought provoking
this book truly is a fantastic idea, and the array of perspectives are contagious. these are topics I adore, and while Alexandra is certainly very observant and intelligent, but I wish she would have exchanged some of her vocabulary for more creative license. I hope she continues to write more and develop a voice that reads and sounds as good as the landscapes she puts herself into..
- Mrs
- 2014/05/26
I tried!
I was really keen to listen to this as I had read the author's book about understanding dogs. I had also seen this book referred to as one of the top ten books that should be read. The first three accounts of walks were interesting and then it became too samey. The author's voice is monotonous too and that doesn't help. I tried to return the book but the system wouldn't let me and said I had to ring audible customer service. As I didn't want to spend ages on the phone possibly justifying why I didn't like it , I decided to plod through to the end. And that's all it is now, a plod. I'm sorry, I tried.


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Unit 2A Applied Information Technology
Week 1
Rules for buying a desktop PC
(original transcript at CNET - Desktop Buying Guide)
1. Buy the best desktop you can afford, but one that has only the features you need:
Ever-improving technology means that today's dream PC is tomorrow's paperweight. Generally speaking, buying a PC with a faster CPU, more RAM, and a larger hard drive today will give you a longer window before the system starts to feel obsolete.
Beyond those core components, though, you should be selective about the features you pay for. A fancy graphics card isn't that important if you're not a gamer. And a Blu-ray drive has limited value if you're not going to watch Blu-ray movies. More PCs are sold as fixed configurations these days, so it's harder to pick and choose components. When you can, shedding extras you don't need can save you money. And on a traditional tower PC, if you find you do need a certain component, you can always add it post-purchase.
2. Consider an all-in-one:
All-in-one PCs -- iMac-style PCs that offer a large monitor, with the guts of the PC built directly into the back of the screen -- make up the fastest-growing desktop category, and every mainstream vendor makes one. You can find them across the PC price spectrum, and in a diverse array of screen sizes, both with and without touch input.
Among the benefits of all-in-ones are easier set-up and a cleaner appearance than separate tower-and-display setups. Built-in Webcams enable video conferencing without the need for a separate camera peripheral device. With fewer wires, it's easier to bring an all-in-one into a non-office environment such as a kitchen or a bedroom. An all-in-one with a larger screen can also work well as a secondary home entertainment center.
All-in-one PCs have their limitations, of course. They often have the laptop versions of their listed CPU and graphics card, which tend to be less powerful than the desktop equivalents. They usually lack the upgradability of desktop. And while monitors usually last longer than computing components, if your all-in-one's display does develop issues, replacing it means buying a whole new computer.
3. Timing is key:
It hurts to miss out on a deal, and it hurts more to buy a computer only to find a new CPU or other major component on the market for the same price a few weeks later. Solving both problems means research. Yes, Black Friday can be a great time to find a deal, but PC vendors also launch sales and "instant rebate" programs year-round, seemingly at random. Look around at all of the major PC vendors' sites, comparison shop, and don't be afraid to put off a purchase for a week or two to see if you can get a better price.
To ensure you get the most current tech for your dollar, it pays to read the news. If you like a certain PC vendor, or you're loyal to Intel or Nvidia, search around for news of products that have been announced but not yet launched. That way you can time your purchase to get either the most recent hardware or a great deal on the previous generation.
The categories
You can slice up PCs in a lot of different ways, by chassis design, by vendor, or by operating system, to name a few. I prefer to go by your intended use for the computer, and then by price. Within those parameters, it's easy to slice off only the most relevant portions of the PC landscape.
General-purpose PCs (under $1,000): If you're simply looking for a workaday PC for Web browsing, general office-type tasks, and light-duty media consumption and editing, you don't need to spend more than $1,000 -- and rarely even that much.
For the most budget-conscious user, any mid-tower around $400 or $500 will do here. You can go lower if you look to refurbished machines or extreme deals, but generally speaking, a current, budget-priced Windows PC will start around $400. A slim tower PC, a smaller version of the familiar tower desktop, can be a great choice here.
If you're a Mac loyalist, or want more hard drive space or a bit more computing power, you'll want to look in the $700-to-$800 price range, where you'll also start to find low-cost all-in-ones alongside more common tower desktops (and the Mac Mini for you fans).
Spend $1,000 and you can usually find a fully loaded all-around desktop that will net you a faster CPU, a large hard drive, and a discrete graphics card. Unless you want to dabble in gaming, video editing, or some other advanced multimedia task, general-purpose buyers rarely need to spend this much.
Gaming PCs ($1,000-plus): You can absolutely get away with a sub-$1,000 gaming desktop if you're willing to settle for lower image quality settings and choppy performance. For dedicated PC gamers, though, you will want to spend for at least a mid-range 3D card and a decent CPU, which will put you in $1,000-to-$1,500 territory.
The good news is that you don't need to spend much more than that to play current titles at 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution and decent image quality. Yes, those $5,000 desktops will have crazy-fast load times, gigantic hard drives, and let you play on three monitors at ultrahigh settings and at even higher resolutions, but those kinds of PCs are far from necessary for a perfectly solid PC gaming experience.
Luxury PCs ($1,250-plus): You could also call these "lifestyle" PCs. This class of desktop tends to be an all-around higher-end computer with a focus on media consumption, particularly video. Most of the recent class of 27-inch all-in-ones falls into this category, along with some more 24- and 23-inch models. Higher-end towers from Dell and HP also land here.
PCs in this category tend to have TV tuners, Blu-ray drives, and generally higher-end computing components. The all-in-ones will have a touch screen and occasionally gesture controls.
Media or specialized professional PCs ($1,250-plus): Business PCs aren't much different than mainstream general purpose PCs, but for media editors and others with particular work-related performance or features needs, the desktops most suited for you tend to be more expensive.
Typically this class of user requires a large display and/or a high-end, workstation-class graphics card or storage array. The 27-inch iMac can satisfy those needs for a lot of users in this category. Dell also has an XPS One 27 all-in-one with the same high resolution display as the big screen iMac, along with more current processors. For serious graphics work, or if you need storage that's fast or with enterprise-class stability, you might get away with a standard tower, but the specialized graphics card and hard drives you need will drive the price up.
Like it or not, you'll still have to pay at least some attention to specs and components. Here are the current Intel and AMD processors, and where you're most likely to find them.
AMD: This company (also the parent of of the GPU maker formerly known as ATI) has recently launched the second generation of A-Series accelerated processing units, previously known by the code name Trinity. Rather than CPU, or central processing unit, AMD these days uses the term APU, or accelerated processing unit, meaning that a CPU and a discrete-level GPU are combined.
Named the A4, A6, A8, and A10, these new processors claim to double the performance over the previous generation of AMD APU chips. They tend to offer slower general performance than Intel CPUs in the same price range, but better performance in 3D games. Note that far fewer desktops are available with AMD processors than Intel ones.
You may also run across AMD's E-series chips at the very low end of the desktop spectrum. AMD has a list of current processors here.
Intel: If you're looking at a desktop PC, chances are it has an Intel CPU in it. The current line confusingly has the same product names as the previous two generations. But the new chips, introduced in the second half of 2012, are also known by the code name Ivy Bridge (the previous generation was Sandy Bridge).
The 2012 Ivy Bridge (or third-generation) CPUs are easy to spot, as they have a part number that begins with the number 3; for example, the Intel i7-3770 CPU. A similar Sandy Bridge chip from 2011 was called the Intel Core i7-2770. A more detailed list of processors is available from Intel here.
- Core i3 Found in many budget desktops, this dual-core CPU is fine for everyday computing.
- Core i5 Intel's mainstream quad-core processor, found in many desktop between $600 and $1,000, as well as some more expensive, large-screen all-in-ones.
- Core i7 Expect to find Intel's flagship CPU in more expensive performance machines, although unless you're a gamer or serious video editor, it's unlikely you need this much power.
- Pentium and Celeron -- Yes, Intel still makes these lower-end chips, which have been the bane of our Labs testing team for years. If at all possible, avoid desktops with these parts. Step up to a low-end Core i3 instead, even if it's an older version.
Hard drives and storage: Your new desktop is going to have either a traditional spinning-platter hard drive (HDD), or a solid-state hard drive (SSD), which is flash memory, similar to what you'd find in an iPhone or an SD card. We've also seen a few examples of hybrid drives, where a small SSD (perhaps 20GB or 32GB) is paired with a larger HDD. In theory, this lets the system boot faster and helps apps open quickly, but stores bulky music and video files on the standard hard drive.
HDD Found in the vast majority of desktops, platter hard drives are large and inexpensive. Look for at least a 500GB hard drive, even in a budget system. Most drives run at 7,200rpm (revolutions per minute), but some run more slowly, at 5,400rpm. You won't really notice a difference in day-to-day PC use, but you will appreciate a faster hard drive when you transfer large files around or when you want to load a game or render a video file.
SSD These drives are much faster than traditional mechanical hard drives, but they're also much more expensive, with smaller capacities. You can usually find them as optional features in higher-end customizable PCs.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of ports and extras do I need? A couple of USB ports are a minimum. Most desktops now include at least two USB 3.0 ports, which are faster than the older USB 2.0 version, but only when used with compatible USB 3.0 devices, such as external hard drives.
For all-in-ones, many models, but not all, will include an HDMI input. This is a great feature that allows you to connect an external video component, such as a cable box or a game console, to your all-in-one to use it as a second display. With an HDMI input, you can turn your all-in-one into a true home media hub, which is a convenient option in space-constrained rooms such as a den, a bedroom, or a home office.
What kinds of ports and extras can I skip? DisplayPort for video or Thunderbolt (another high-speed data connection) are needed only if you have compatible hardware. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are both potentially useful, not to mention tidy, but they're not crucial given the desktop's stationary nature (assuming, of course, that the PC will be near an Ethernet port for Internet access).
Do I need an optical drive? The answer is starting to trend toward "no," and a few all-in-ones have gone without. Some people are definitely still tied to CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs as storage or media playback formats. And while you may have legacy software that's available only on disc, almost every current application is available for download, minimizing the need for optical drives going forward. Note that you can also add an external USB-powered DVD drive to any PC for under $40.
Do I need a graphics card? Unless you plan on playing serious PC games on your desktop (Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and so forth), you can get away with using the graphics capabilities built into desktops by default. Intel's current version is called HD 4000, and while it's not for serious gamers, you should be able to get away with playing casual or older games, or even newer games such as Diablo III if you keep the visual settings set to "low."
Shouldn't I just get a laptop or a tablet instead? If all you're doing with your desktop is watching Netflix movies, reading online news, and playing Bejeweled, a tablet can make sense. And if you fall into the general-purpose user category outlined above, you can often get away with a laptop.
The advantages of a desktop are larger hard-drive space, full-speed CPU and graphics cards, and, for towers especially, expandability and the ability to replace components yourself. Desktops also make sense for those who want to prevent user mobility.
What's better, Windows or Mac OS X? A loaded question. Windows users appreciate the flexibility of that operating system, allowing for extreme tweaking and personalization. It's also available on a nearly limitless variety of hardware. Apple's operating system, on the other hand, is available only on a handful of desktops and laptops. That said, the joint hardware/software platform makes for a much more stable/predictable overall experience, and many prefer the user-friendly OS X layout and controls. Finally, Windows has a much larger available software library, especially when it comes to free software and games.
What about Windows 8? The newest version of Microsoft's operating system debuted in October 2012. If you purchased a desktop before that but after June 2, 2012, you can, in most cases, upgrade to Windows 8 for $15. Other upgrades generally cost $40. That said, upgrading between operating systems can cause a lot of problems, so make sure to back up important data first. Nearly every PC maker also has new desktop models specifically designed to work with Windows 8 and its iPad-like interface and touch support. By now, any new desktop you buy will have Win8 pre-installed on it, so virtually every PC buyer will be using it eventually.
(Download a copy of this document)
Computer Tour - Have you ever wondered what is on the inside of your computer? Watch this video as we take you on a tour of your computer
Unit 2A AIT


text: Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - 20,000 dollars in Cambodia Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today! Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in 20,000 dollars in Cambodia Goto page 1, 2 Next Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Cambodia View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message winterwawaJoined: 21 Apr 2008Posts: 48 Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:02 am Post subject: 20,000 dollars in Cambodia I have now in Korea teaching at a University. I have been in this god forsaken country for 10 years. During that time I have been married and divorsed twice. Made and lost almost 80,000 dollars and am thinking it is time to move on. I don't want to go back the USA because there is nothing for me there. I am 54 years old, and will have about 20,000 dollars in February 2009. My questions are 1. Could a guy my age get a job in Cambodia 2. How long will 20,000 dollars last if I decide not to work. Thanks for any responses. Back to top BigGuyJoined: 17 Sep 2007Posts: 34 Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:27 am Post subject: Sorry, Winterwawa. You're right my reply was not helpful. I was drunk when I wrote it and I should not be so casual and confident as I too navigate the murky waters of mid life. I think a guy our age should be able to find decent work in Cambodia. I think age and experience still count for a lot there. As far as not working and just living off the 20K, an amount like that run out after a couple of years of even frugal living. Why not get a job there and just stash the 20K and save it for later? 54 is not that old; you still have a ways to go. Sorry again for my flippant reply. I should not use the internet late at night. Back to top saint57Joined: 10 Mar 2003Posts: 1221Location: Beyond the Dune Sea Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:14 am Post subject: I'm almost thirty, but I was thinking of "retiring" for one year in Cambodia after I've saved some money working here in Malaysia. In my head $24,000 is the magic number for one year. Back to top BigGuyJoined: 17 Sep 2007Posts: 34 Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:10 pm Post subject: Santis57, Being almost 30 and having 24K and thinking of "retiring" for one year in Cambo is very different from what Winterwawa and I are facing: mid 50s and "what to do"? 24K for a year is 2K a month; you could live like a prince in Cambo with that for a year. After that? What you gonna do? Back to top winterwawaJoined: 21 Apr 2008Posts: 48 Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:12 am Post subject: No kidding. I wish I had had 24 grand when I was thirty. I didn't even begin my esl career until I was 41. If I had it to do over I would 1. never have gotten married 2. saved like mad until I turned 50 3. moved to India where I could live like a king for the rest of my life. Apology accepted BigGuy. With the amount of cash you have, you should pic door number three above. Or keep saving until your 60 and then choose door # 3. With that much cash you could buy a wife in India. Back to top VanicaJoined: 31 Aug 2006Posts: 368Location: North Carolina Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:43 am Post subject: Can't you move to India and work online as an editor or translator? It sounds to me that you like it there and the cost of living is not high. Where in India would you like to go? I have money saved and I am a translator working for companies that have never seen me. I just have to decide where I, and my five year old, want to go. She likes Dora, gamelan, the North Pole and Disney World. Back to top guanghoJoined: 16 Oct 2004Posts: 476Location: in transit Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:28 pm Post subject: I worked as a copywriter and editor for a news organization in China- essentially correcting mangled Chinglish into something more palatable for mass consumption. It was a rip-roaring good time so I wonder if I can do something similar online. Any tips? Also, something about India and Cambodia both call to me- along the lines of super cheap tropical fruits and an appealing lawlessness. I just wouldn't want to work there and be at the mercy of said lawlessness. Back to top sidjamesonJoined: 11 Jan 2004Posts: 629Location: osaka Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:47 pm Post subject: I thought that if you worked at a university in Korea you could save US20k a YEAR! So if I were you Id go all out and save for a few years. In my experience 20k wouldnt last you very long in Cambodia if you are tempted by the transitory pleasures of the senses. If it did, what next? 57/58 looking for another TEFL gig? OP, I too am curious about India. How much would let you live like a king? And can a white man get/buy a wife there no matter how much money he has? Back to top DrVanNostrandJoined: 28 Mar 2008Posts: 70 Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:17 am Post subject: If I were 54 with $24k to my name (you made no mention of any retirement funds), I think I'd stay in Korea and save as much money as I could for as long as I could, investing wisely while I could, to keep me going into and throughout retirement. Based on everything that I hear about Korea, you should reasonably be able to save $15-18k per year living a relatively comfortable lifestyle. Elevan more years (taking you to 65), would bring you to approx. $189,000 in savings. Start investing and compounding along the way and you'll find yourself well over $200,000 at age 65. Wouldn't take long to build up a respectable nest egg, allowing you to move to any of a number of third world countries which would enable you to finish out your retirement years living like a king as you so desire. Back to top lost_gypsyJoined: 09 Apr 2004Posts: 274 Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 2:09 am Post subject: you kidding? you are in your fifties, and unless you have a family history of dying young (say, 60s), then why worry? Do as two others suggested. PUT THAT MONEY AWAY and let it collect interest. Play with about 5.5k in the mutual fund markets (1.5k in high risk/quick return/2k in med. risk/quick return/2k in low risk/slow return). Live off the money you make teaching/editing/lecturing (Vietnam and Cam are the new growth areas for business *Kaching!). And 15 years later, THEN retire...live off my good investment advice! Back to top jeffreytaosJoined: 04 Sep 2007Posts: 1Location: TAOS, NEW MEXICO, USA, Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 9:51 am Post subject: Well you will never be a hippy with an annual income of 24,000 us greenbacks. Let me ask you this? What do you teach kids about money? about the environment? about sustainability? These are only wuestions to ponder. Could you put twenty thousand in the bank, go to camboja on four and live like someone who has more money than most, enjoy it while it last, and know there was something to fall back on in crisis times? What could you do if you challenged yourself to break free of old habits, comfort zones, thrills, and luxuries? An adventure certainly awaits you. Money it seems is rarely the solution. I heard for a hundred or so a month you could have a flat in Camboja, so that is 1200.00 of your four thousand. beer money???OK coffee...I heard there are two kinds of coffee shops, starbucks and the local places....its just food for thought my friend. By the way, what do you do for fun when all else fails, I mean read, write, draw, paint, study, ??????And this is not really directed to you specifically...we are all thinking of these things...like what makes us happy and how do we build the world that we really want to live in. Somehow in all this, I am trying to hint at, what is sustainable living....If you did not spend the 20,000 on hotels and wine and women and whatever like that, perhaps you would have enough to start a business that increased your wealth and provided something for others. only ideas... Back to top khmerhitJoined: 31 May 2003Posts: 1874Location: Reverse Culture Shock Unit Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:43 am Post subject: flat 100-250 beer 400 food 300 other 250 = 1200/month, minimum, plus or minus Cambodia. Try it and See. Back to top matthew156Joined: 30 Jan 2009Posts: 140Location: The Majik Kindom Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:00 am Post subject: Quote: I just have to decide where I, and my five year old, want to go. She likes Dora, gamelan, the North Pole and Disney World. have you thought of Antarctica? Matt ps. good if you have happy feet but those psycho penguins from the new york zoo thought it was boring there Back to top cha muirJoined: 28 Apr 2003Posts: 64Location: Plateau, Montreal Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:12 am Post subject: My goodness, It's been years since I have read these forums. Seeing Khmerhit here plugging Cambodia is really a blast from the past! Still Having Fun, Charles Back to top HowieJoined: 18 Mar 2009Posts: 22 Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:59 pm Post subject: khmerhit wrote: flat 100-250 beer 400 food 300 other 250 = 1200/month, minimum, plus or minus Cambodia. Try it and See. $400/month for beer! $300/month for food! You must be on a liquid diet. 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WaterColor Inn & Resort
Located on the Florida Panhandle, WaterColor Resort has access to 1,400 feet of sugar-white sand. The David Rockwell--designed boutique inn features 60 rooms and a spa, and there are miles of hiking and biking trails to explore.
Don't miss: asking your concierge to set up the Grayton Beach Explorer adventure, which will have you kayaking across a rare, 220-acre coastal dune lake to historic Grayton Beach and the Gulf of Mexico. Watch for bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, and the occasional stingray.


text: Colombian army soldiers patrol the Loma de Cristobal neighborhood after warring gangs forced dozens of families to flee. Medellin used to be the most dangerous city in the world but officials embarked on innovative projects designed to make life better in tough neighborhoods. Paul Smith for NPR hide caption toggle caption Paul Smith for NPR Parallels Once Home To A Dreaded Drug Lord, Medellin Remakes Itself June 13, 2013 The Colombian city was the world's murder capital in the 1990s, but it managed to turn its fortunes around. Homicides were cut by 80 percent and made big gains on a number of fronts. But the city still faces many challenges in a region plagued by violence. Once Home To A Dreaded Drug Lord, Medellin Remakes Itself Listen · 7:45 7:45 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/190964521/191226089" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript


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Decisiv Inc., a provider of service relationship management platforms, announced at the 2013 TMC Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition that Saia Inc. is now deploying QR Codes on 17,000 assets to automate and improve the efficiency of its inspection and maintenance processes.
The initiative at Saia represents the largest deployment of QR codes at a commercial fleet using Asist, the service relationship management platform developed by Decisiv for Volvo Trucks.
Saia has been using Asist internally and to manage breakdowns. The company, offers less-than-truckload, non-asset truckload, and logistic services through three service groups, and operates 147 terminals in 34 states.
Across Saia's network of 36 shops, and at three trailer yards in Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas, technicians are now applying QR Codes to all tractors regardless of OEM, all makes of trailers in the fleet, and all converter dollies and forklifts. Decisiv supplies the codes, unique to each unit. Plans call for the application of QR Codes on the entire fleet to be completed by the end of the year.
"Our technicians are now using iPad tablet computers to scan QR Codes on vehicles and access and conduct pre-loaded inspections," said Charles Rozelle, regional maintenance manager at Saia's shop in Dallas where 175 tractors and 312 trailers are domiciled. "The QR codes take away the possibility of data entry errors, and by automatically transferring inspection results via a Wi-Fi network to the shop we can instantly see if service or repairs are needed. The platform also gives us easy access to inspection histories for DOT and internal use. Before, our inspection forms were stored in a trailer in Atlanta and if a report was needed someone had to physically search for it."
The QR codes now being applied to all Saia equipment can be used on any type of commercial asset.
Scanning the unique code at any authorized service location on a smart phone or tablet computer launches a Decisiv mobile application and immediately loads asset information, customized inspection details and pending work.
The application also allows service technicians to add odometer readings to trigger and send pending preventive maintenance operations, and simultaneously send any operations based on inspection results to shop personnel and the parts counter so they can be ready when the truck arrives in a service bay.


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Congressman says he has "theories" that foul play may be involved
Steve Watson
March 12, 2012
In a conversation with reporters in Missouri this weekend, GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul said that he and his supporters were suspicious about the outcomes of several caucuses because the crowds and volumes of support have been much bigger for him than for any other candidate.
"Quite frankly I don't think the other candidates get crowds like this, and we get them constantly" Paul said, after he had spoken to yet another crowd of over 2500 supporters in Missouri.
"You would get the perception that we would be getting a lot more votes." He added.
"Sometimes we get thousands of people like this and we'll take them to the polling booth, yet we won't win the caucus." Paul said, adding "A lot of our supporters are very suspicious about it."
When informed that Santorum had won the Kansas caucuses, Paul admitted that he had not seen the numbers on it at that point but again reiterated his point, stating:
"That reminds me of a picture I just looked at. I had four thousand people and he had a hundred and fifty. So who knows."
The picture, below, shows a huge turn out at a Kansas town hall meeting for Paul this weekend, compared to virtually nobody showing at Santorum's event.
The Congressman admitted he could not elaborate on his suspicions but commented "It's just instinct and hearsay stories, verbal stories that you hear and the kind of things that we heard about up in Maine."
"They said we can't have a recount because they just write these numbers down on pieces of paper and then throw them away afterwards. So it's that kind of stuff that makes you suspicious." Paul urged.
As we previously reported, evidence of possible vote fraud has been uncovered in Maine, where several towns and counties that Ron Paul won were omitted from the final state count for no identifiable reason.