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Our market
From OLPC
The Market
For information about OLPC in a specific country, please see the status by country page in this wiki. Also, please note that there is a discussion of individual countries on the discussion page.
Child is a nebulous term; what is the exact age range you are targeting?
We are hoping to reach elementary and secondary-school-age children: ages 6 to 16 years.
Do teachers get their own laptop?
Unequivocally, yes.
How will these be marketed?
The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of "one laptop per child." Discussions have been held with representatives from government and non-governmental organizations from almost every country in the developing world. The laptop will be available in the United States and Canada for purchase for a brief period of time from 12–26 November 2007 through the Give 1 Get 1 program.
- The Give One Get One program has been extended until December 31, 2007. See: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php Gregorio 11:05, 11 December 2007 (EST)
Why go the government route?
Two reasons:
- It is hard to argue against the assertion that at some level, governments are responsible for their country's children. OLPC's role is to help countries develop this essential resource: educated, empowered children. Of course, some countries are not able—for a variety of reasons: war, poverty, etc.—to adequately provide for their children. In these situations, it is natural to be working with NGOs and other resources, both locally and internationally.
- Our initial launch plans—to get the volume up and the price down—involved large-scale purchases from large governments. This was never the steady-state plan, which is much more opportunistic—OLPC will work with any organization that has ideas about how to reach children.
Why some countries and not others?
OLPC is interested in deploying where ever there are children in need. However, we will not force one laptop per child on anyone or any country: we work where we are invited. That said, we as an organization have limited resources, so we try to focus our efforts where the need is greatest and where the economies of scale give our efforts the most leverage.
What about children in the US?
OLPC is open to working with children in the US. We are in discussions with a number of state governors and individual school districts and welcome their participation. Also, our Give 1 Get 1 program is designed to reach children in the US in a more fine-grained manner.
That said, our primary mission is to reach children who have no other means of learning—children in the least-developed countries.
What of smaller and poorer developing countries (than Brazil or China)? Will the $100 laptops pass them by?
Our intention is to include "smaller and poorer" countries, and we are currently investigating mechanisms to include some such countries in our launch. Regarding a cross-subsidy from commercial sales, this is something else we are exploring. It is not as simple as it appears on the surface: there are local issues, such as anti-dumping laws that need to be considered. We are also in discussions with organizations such as the World Bank and UNDP about alternative funding mechanisms. This is definitely not a one-size-fits-all initiative. Our Give 1 Get 1 program is designed to help smaller and poorer countries get started.
OLPC & UNPO Members
- N.B. UNPO => Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
Many regions are not represented by an official government. Kosovo, Somaliland, Iraqi Kurdistan and many refugee camp as Dafur/Mali, Myanmar/Thailand border,... have no chance to get support from any government (See UNPO). Normally the United Nations gives some support, but the people have no work and the people are bored.
Especially for these people, education is very important. It is also important to give them a voice with which to tell about their lives. The 100$ laptop and an internet link could improve the situation of this people very much.
These regions are too small to order one-million laptops but all this regions together have more then one-million children. Is there a special program for these children? There is no government to talk with, but the UN together with NGOs could do a lot.
Many people ask if it's possible to give some money for the OLPC project. If there is some money, this regions should be the first that receive sponsored laptops. One million children with the ability to send text and videos from daily life as a refugee could change the world. --Bz 09:28, 27 January 2007 (EST)
- We have been talking with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other agencies about these populations. We are very interested in developing mechanisms to reach them. --Walter 16:50, 15 October 2007 (EDT)
- There are plans to extend invitations to NGOs after the first phase—OLPC currently targets only national governments.
- Community sponsoring (ie: Buy 2 Get 1) is not being contemplated as an option in the near future—maybe later.--Xavi 10:21, 27 January 2007 (EST)
Can a legitimate NGO or foundation apply for your program?
We are soliciting ideas through proposals to broaden the reach of the program. Proposals will be accepted from governments and non-government organizations.
How are schools being selected as test sites?
We work with the ministries of education in the various launch countries to determine the best means of selecting schools for the initial deployment. The goals are to provide broad coverage to optimize learning while containing the program to a manageable size when it is still in its formative stages. Different governments are using different means to achieve this balance. For example, the current proposal in one launch country is to deploy in all "integrated" schools, which would provide some coverage in every state: an integrated school covers 1st through 12th grade in the same school. They exist primarily in small communities and thus enable 1:1 in entire schools, for all grades, and for the entire community.
What is the minimum quantity of laptops that governments can ask for?
This is a detail that must wait until funding mechanisms are worked out. In addition, it will be dependent on manufacturing costs, which decrease as greater volumes of the laptop are produced. Minimum quantities will be one of the last details determined and may well vary depending on country and details of the funding mechanism.
Will the means of distribution (through ministries of education) and lower price tag mean that this laptop will succeed where others have failed?
We do not expect to have a monopoly on low-priced computers and the bulk of our efforts over time will be in software. However, we do not believe that many previous efforts have positioned themselves properly for this problem-space: learning. It is not just price, it is choice of features, integration into the infrastructure—both communications and educational—and the decision to make this an open, global effort that we think will make the difference.
How does the color-/status-scheme work?
This map dates from 2007. See Deployments for the status of actual deployments in countries. We began mass production at the end of November 2007. We begun OLPC programs in Peru and Uruguay. Mexico is next. We have pilots under way in Cambodia, Thailand (3), Mongolia (starting in Jaunary 2008), Nepal (preparations under way), India, Pakistan (preparations under way), Afghanistan (preparations under way), Iraq (preparations under way), Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil (2), Paraguay, Haiti (preparations under way), United States (numerous), et al. We have inquiries from virtually every country and numerous small projects popping up in a grassroots manner in almost every country.
|Click image to enlarge & text country list
Basically countries in the OLPC_world_map are coded in four colors (plus a generic one):
| those countries we plan to pilot
Currently: Argentina, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Libya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Thailand, United States, Uruguay
|those countries we plan to include in the post-launch phase
|those countries who have expressed interest at the Ministry-of-Education level or higher
|those countries who are currently seeking government support
|countries under the radar or that have not made contact with the OLPC
See the OLPC status by country in 2007 page for a larger image and list.
The Black and Gray Markets
In some countries there is a lot of corruption. Would OLPC partner with an NGO instead of the education ministry?
While we are loath to do a complete end-run around the education ministry, we are working with regional and non-governmental entities.
Pls rephrase in a more international english as secondary language.--SvenAERTS 13:22, 21 February 2012 (UTC)
Will corrupt governments give the laptops to the very poor children or the highest bidder to line their own pockets?
You seem to have left a lot up to the individual governments for distribution. I can see many advantages of this, however, living in one of your target countries and having lived in other poor countries, I can see how leaving anything up to a country's government leaves room for corruption leaving the poor children out-of-luck again.
- Undoubtedly there is corruption in this world and not every laptop will end up where it is intended—in the hands of children. That said, we have a number of different strategies to mitigate wide-spread corruption. Our security system—Bitfrost—addresses some aspects of theft. We also will be working with NGOs— such as UNDP—to help us with distribution, so there are some built-in checks and balances. Furthermore, if there is a problem such that a government (or other) channel is not getting laptops to their intended recipients, we can stop further shipments through that channel.
AfricaCO2e.org sais: In Ruanda XO's were given only to kids of families that supported the President. We are mostly from Ruanda and we understand that the President has not invested a single euro OLPC of his own governmental budget. All he invested was money he received from donors, s.a. the Bill Clinton Foundation. Nevertheless, a child is innocent and can't help where it is born. For that child it is good that it has such a laptop to help educate itself to the fullest. OLPC should not wait untill corruption is out of the world. There are other teams working on corruption and they make breakthroughs as well. Meanwhile, focus on what you can do, not too much on what you cannot do. In countries where ethnical groups coincide with particular regions, we'll see that form of corruption happen as well. Most corrupt leaders only let through projects that inflate their prices and have everything first go via an ngo that plays along in the corruption: the government orders via the ngo iso directly via the producer. The NGO then inflates the prices, charges that to the ministry of finance/national central bank - who are also in the corruption plot, as well as the ministry of eduction - and the inflated prices that the ngo received are then transferred by the ngo to the hidden accounts of the President, the Minister of Education, the Central Bank Governor in e.g. Switserland where they have an account under a name of a company they or their family owns. Withouth an international court order, oblidging the Swiss government and banking system to hand over the real names behind the company name that holds the Swiss account it is impossible to demonstrate the corruption. These corrupt people don't hesitate to kill you of course if you press charges too much. So you better hide behind some organisation as well.
Corruption and Extreme Poverty
I understand that it is the responsibility of the country to contact you, but what about countries that are too poor to afford millions of laptops even if they are only $100? and how are you addressing highly corrupt nations where the leaders interests are not aligned with those of the population they govern? Arguably the corrupt nations are ones that would benefit the most seeing as there population could see how there leader compared to others around the world.
- We are looking into ways to help subsidize the purchase of laptops for the least-developed countries (See 1 Get 1 for example). Regarding government corruption, have local distribution partners who are not necessarily tied to government.
AfricaCO2e.org sais: since 2005 - the beginning of the Kyoto Protocol, the XO laptops print/generate CO2e certificates. They pay at least partially for the XO-XServer-PV implementation. More:--SvenAERTS 07:53, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
Black Market
How do you plan to fight the black market of this computers? They more or less cost $100 each, and in many of the countries mentioned, families could try to sell them to buy food or fulfill any other basic need.
- At some level, this is the responsibility of the country in which the laptops are deployed. They are more familiar with local culture, local social issues and local laws. However, we have gone to great lengths to build an anti-theft system (See Bitfrost for details).
How can you ensure the principle of one laptop per child will be followed after the countries purchase the laptops?
We cannot ensure that the laptops will be deployed in a manner unilaterally dictated by us. In every case, we are working with governments, which by their very nature have unique local agendas. While we can try to shape the nature of their deployment and are working closely with them on roll-out plans, ultimately, our biggest lever is to show them examples of best practice.
What will OLPC do to stop a grey market?
We will make efforts to deter the grey market, but we will not be able to stop it all together. While we can do things like require the machine to be periodically connected to the school network, there will always be some degree of theft. That said, we've seen no theft in our pilot projects in places such as rural Cambodia.
Will the laptop be available for relatively developed nations?
We are exploring the possibility of developing a commercial version and we are in discussions with representatives from these nations about distribution of the non-commercial version. However, our priority is to make the laptop available first where there is the greatest need.
According to OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte: "Many commercial ventures have been considered and proposed that may surface in 2008 or beyond, one of which is 'buy 2 and get 1.'"
A laptop can be purchased for a limited time between 12 November and 31 December 2007 with the Give 1 Get 1 program (Please also see Retail).
Are you worried that recipients of the laptop will re-sell them to people in the developed world?
We are trying to develop strategies to maximize the number of laptops in the hands of children. We realize that in some places there will be many pressures to undermine that goal and are working on tactics to mitigate these pressures to what ever extent is practical. Your ideas are welcome.
What happens to the laptop when the child grows up and leaves school?
Our intention is that the laptops belong to the children even after they leave school.
Information about OLPC for people in poor countries
There is ample written material about OLPC for people in rich countries: the newspapers are full of OLPC stories. People in poor countries don't know much about OLPC but maybe the children will receive a laptop in near future.
- It is up to each nation to order the laptops. It cannot be a decision made by groups or private citizens even of great means. If you like you can contact your government's Education Ministry and start from there.
- We are also trying to leverage organizations such as the UN, the World Bank, etc. as mechanisms for doing more and better outreach in the developing world. Your input would be welcome.
- News about OLPC should be translated into other languages and made available through channels beyond mainstream Western media. We are trying to do this, but can always use help via local news and blog networks, and through translation of important news and pages on this wiki... perhaps we need some sort of graphical flyer with minimal language to localize and make available for anyone to print and pass out, to spur discussion in new communities. Sj talk 02:46, 17 July 2007 (EDT)
Numbers & Statistics
I have heard in the Fall of 2007 a big shipment will go out. As of July 2007 how many Laptops have been given out in the thousands by nation? 8/1/07 Why is this information such as stats not found in a simple to find place?
I would like more information about the Nations that are involved with the OLPC program as far as statistics and population information!
- You can find out information about statistics here. Also, some countries have an infobox with an abstract.
Will OLPC make a profit rather than passing savings onto the schools?
OLPC will never make a profit and if we can reduce the cost of manufacturing, that savings will be passed along to the schools. We have not guaranteed a $100 price—that remains a target. However, what we have guaranteed is that our price equals cost and that whatever the launch price may be, it will float down thereafter. All successive models will be cheaper, not more expensive and feature rich.
Will OLPC spin-off a commercial subsidiary?
The idea is that a commercial subsidiary could manufacture and sell a variation of the OLPC in the developed world. These units would be marked up so that there would be a significant profit which can be plowed into providing more units in countries who cannot afford the full cost of laptops.
The discussions around this topic have focused on a retail price of 2× the manufacturing cost of the units. The Retail page on this wiki will be updated when we have firmer plans.
What's the optimal business model to assure a healthy future for the $100 laptop?
I am wondering what the business model will be for the $100 business model. Selling directly to countries and leaving it to them how to distribute might not prove the most sustainable solution. In the vaccine business in the Third World one of the biggest problems is reselling subsidized vaccines to 2nd or First World countries. Why not think of business models as innovative as the laptop itself? I think a great product like this deserves it. Why not leveraging micro credits to make it affordable to families to buy it themselves in stead of giving it away? Or monetize the cult status the machine now already has in western countries? I think it would be a missed opportunity to limit the business model to selling to countries only, and would be very willing to leverage my experience and network to come up with a more creative and innovative solution space.
email@example.com Business developer at eBay
- We would love to hear your ideas.
- A couple of pistes to answers.
- Few ways to honor a democracy - the universal human rights and the freedoms we get from them - more, than to come together with a group of people, think up a plan/project/product/service, add value to society with it, the proof of this latter will be an influx of money. And just about all the leading organizations point to that. This said, the capitalist model is not the only model to add value, nor is there anybody who claims that for profit projects / businesses / a free / capitalist market are a guarantee to nothing but adding value to society and nothing but one big feast of democracy. Thanks to the redistribution of wealth via taxes, the not for profit side of society, e.g. the educational landscape/sector anno say the year 2000, given the huge chunk of tax money they get, maybe we/you can be a bit more demanding from them. Maybe you can demand from them - anno over 2000 years after Jesus was born - that they take up responsibility so that society - from which they get their budget - doesn't remain or become a victim that's completely at the mercy of the capitalist market system. Meaning, especially since 2013, the NSA insights on how our intelligence departments seem to need more support from their democratically elected to ensure all kind of mass data collection practices are not leading to abuses. Also referring to the practise of programmed to fail practises by at least some ICT companies, be them computer manufacturers, tablet manufacturers or gsm manufacturers. Also referring to the ever increasing mega-concerns in the communication and media sector. Can society not expect from the not for profit side of society, e.g. the educational landscape/sector anno say the year 2000, that they form some counter-weight to stave of potential abusive practises in the for profit sectors? The chunk in the total taxes collected going to the educational landscape are not little. All the competences to make an open community project like the OLPC laptop-x-tablet are available in the educational landscapes. They also have the mass and organization they can throw in the balance to exercise a counterweight at the products, services and practices the for profit sectors are throwing at us - the consumers. We don't have to be passive victims. Don't students need open community projects like e.g. the wikipedia, open source soft and hardware, open robotics projects to tinker with? How do our teachers teach ict and robotics if not by allowing their students to participate in such projects? Tinkering with a low costs olpc XO-XS kind of laptop-x-tablet is a very good option: all the same screws, not programmed to fail, no hidden features so your device breaks when opening it, no need for a whole set of impossible screw-drivers and prying devices: no you can open the XO with a simple x-screwdriver and all the screws are the same. To put it more black-white: our intelligence services / the state is spying upon us without any scrupules, our laptops and gsm's are apparently all coming to us with programmed to fail features in them, everybody wonders if these companies make money selling devices or charging plugs - I mean this lead to the European Commission to intervene and impose a standard for chargers to limit the ever changing chargers bestowed upon consumers and leading to mountains of eWaste. And then there are the mobile phone and sat operators'marketeers who think up schemes to suck dry our citizens 1 buck at a time. Then I think an open community, open hardware, open software, open robotics project like the OLPC XO-XS is very welcome to throw in some counterweight: made to be repaired, some form of free communication thanks to wifi and built-in webcam/mice and speakers, mesh networking capability, rugged, low cost, etc. Why shouldn't we expect from our not for profit section of society, e.g. the educational landscape to plug in, into projects like olpc? So the answer to - what is the business model for olpc: not to be a business, not to use a business model, but a not-for-profit model, an open community model: there is enough money available, coming in via taxes/grants, there is enough mass and knowledge capacity, organizational capacity so that an olpc project can stay not-for-profit. I think the for profit ict sector has become quite sport in giving olpc it's chance and market space. The for profit sector is targeting the educational landscape, has been developing competing projects, but came to the conclusion the specific market niche olpc was targeting was not worth the efforts. It seems like it was more profitable to let olpc put a sort of basic layer in every society so that everybody can quicker read, write to basic math, understand how ict works, how to make phonecalls, how to watch TV, allow these citizens to work their way up in terms of income and when they have reached a minimum level to start targeting them because they have then become at least very modest consumers.
- Further we also notice that olpc XO-XS deployments are useful to the extent third parties want to chip-in for their deployments: institutes needing to gather reliable statistics want to chip in so every family has such a device and they can obtain data that is more reliable than ever before, also the for profit sector chips in via e.g. Corporate Social Responsibility programs, or the generation and sale of CO2e certificates from XO-deployments, foundations want to support xo-deployments, etc.
- By the way, I think eBay has been helping out olpc if my recollection is right. eBay has an interest in xo-deployments so that that majority of humans - billions - who cannot read, write, do basic math - acquire those skills asap, so they'll understand what eBays is and how to get to the eBay website because simply they can finally read what's written there and they can count. --SvenAERTS 14:51, 4 March 2014 (UTC)


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Oregon's duck dynasty tarnished
Philadelphia, PA – In what has seemed to become an increasingly alarming trend, yet another premier college football program has felt the sting of recruiting violations after reports surfaced this week indicting the University of Oregon.
Over the last several years the Oregon Ducks have been one of the elite football units at the FBS level. With a style of football all their own the Ducks have racked up four straight BCS bowl invitations, finished among the top five teams in the national rankings three times and even had their shot at a BCS National Championship in 2011.
Like so many other programs before it (Ohio State and USC come to mind), Oregon has now had that legacy tarnished as reports have surfaced of apparent recruiting violations by Oregon under the tenure of departed head coach Chip Kelly.
Kelly, who left the school in January to take on the head coaching job with the Philadelphia Eagles, has said in a statement that "While at Oregon, I know we were fully cooperative with all aspects of the investigation and I will continue to contribute in any way that I can."
During a press conference after the Eagles' first day of voluntary mini-camp Kelly also made a definitive statement that his choice to leave Eugene for the City of Brotherly Love had nothing to do with the NCAA's investigation into these reported violations.
"No, it had absolutely no impact on my decision to leave."
However Kelly's departure is eerily reminiscent of the same type of exit that current Seattle Seahawks' head coach Pete Carroll made when he left USC after the 2009-10 season. Carroll led the Trojans to the 2004 National Championship and also coached Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Reggie Bush.
Carroll was officially named the Seahawks' coach on January 11, 2010 and almost six months to the day, on June 10, the NCAA leveled a number of heavy sanctions on the Trojans. Those included postseason bans for both the 2010 and 2011 season as well as a vacation of all wins in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, which included a stripping of the 2004 National Title.
Bush was at the center of much of the recruiting transgressions and the school as well as Bush himself ended up returning their copies of his Heisman Trophy.
No one can blame Kelly or Carroll for leaving for the big lights of the NFL but their exits mean that they were able to take bigger pay days and completely avoid taking responsibility for violations committed under their watch. Meanwhile the players who remain behind are forced to pay for the transgressions they had no hand in crafting.
Though it is unclear what the punishment from the NCAA will be for Oregon, the school has proposed a two-year self-imposed probation period as well as a reduction in scholarships over the next three seasons.
One area where the Ducks have managed to stay away from some predecessors is that according to reports by the NCAA there was "no finding of lack of institutional control and no findings of unethical conduct."
Without those types of violations, Oregon may be able to avoid such decisive and crippling blows as the ones handed down to USC and Ohio State. The Buckeyes finished 12-0 this past season but due to a postseason ban, were not able to factor into the BCS Title conversation.
Oregon's reported violations come just weeks after reports that the NCAA was investigating the football program at Auburn University came to light. Former head coach Gene Chizik, who was fired following a dismal 3-9 campaign this past winter, has been less forthcoming than Kelly about alleged violations as the investigation continues.
Of course swirling around any possible violations by Auburn is the shady history of the recruitment of former star quarterback Cam Newton. The 2010 Heisman Trophy winner enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in college football history while leading the Tigers to the 2010 National Championship.
However there was always a dark cloud over Newton's accomplishments as a controversy about his eligibility hung over the season based on supposed illegal actions taken by Newton's father while he was being recruited out of Blinn Community College.
Although the investigation of Newton's recruitment ended after 13 months in October of 2011, recent developments just make any and all controversies in the past seem more shady.
Oregon's violations do not seem to be as major as those by USC, Auburn, Ohio State, or the long list of other schools that have taken hits of late in both football and basketball.
Despite that, the fact that yet another successful and respected program is embroiled in a controversy surrounding impropriety, just continues to chip away at the 'idealized amateurism' that collegiate athletics are supposed to perpetrate, replacing it with an air of suspicion of any and all programs that succeed.
At the very least, it has created a numbness to this type of blatant rule breaking in the name of winning.
It is unfortunate that when the dust settles following these investigations, the people paying the price are very often not those that committed the infractions, but rather the student athletes left behind.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ayotte critical of Obama for missing fourth budget deadline in five years
February 04. 2013 2:43PM
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte on Monday criticized President Barack Obama for missing a legal deadline to present a budget to Congress.
It was the fourth time in five years the President has missed the deadline for a budget blueprint, which is the first Monday in February.
The White House said this year's budget blueprint was delayed by the last-minute passage earlier this month of the tax hikes aimed at averting the so-called "fiscal cliff." It said negotiations over that plan forced it to delay its budget preparations.
Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican and a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said, "On the day President Obama is required by law to submit a budget, we're hearing crickets from the White House.
"It's the same on Capitol Hill, where Senate Democrats have failed for nearly four years to pass a budget for the country while nearly $6 trillion has been added to our debt," said Ayotte. "The President is not above the law. He's legally required to send Congress a budget on time, and there's no excuse that this is the fourth time in five years that he's missed the deadline.
"With four straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits, we can't afford to keep operating without a budget," said Ayotte.
The Washington Times reported that President George W. Bush was late once in his eight years in office, President Bill Clinton was late twice and presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan were each late once.


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What's wrong with being a geek or nerd? It pays the bills, it supports my crazy lifestyle, it pays my bills. It's just all about balance.
I love anime, but I also love outdoors, clubbing, hiking, kayaking, going out. It's all a balancing act. You don't let just one thing consume and define you. Enjoy it, but make time for other things too.
Life's short... do it all.
As long as you are happy and content with being considered a nerd, then no there is absolutely nothing wrong with it!
we're the ones that are gonna run everything in a few years, and that scares people are used to being on top (all the douchebags that were popular in highschool)
I have a nerdy/geeky side and a jock side. I love anime and trying to broaden my knowledge, but I play football, soccer, track, etc.
Nope, nothing wrong. Just don't go all hermit style. Get some sun on your pale ass every once in a while. (Guilty of not enough sun, but 2nd shift jobs and staying up late mess with that. xD)
One of the my favorite things I read - "Fantasy football - It's D&D for jocks."
Sanity is merely someone's perspective on your reality.
Nothing wrong with it. I hate both words. I just think of the said classified people as planely intelligent.
Plus I honestly think the word/nickname loss it's meaning anyway.My undertsanding of it earlier in life was that the person was really smart,was into computer stuff alot,acceled at all or academic subjects.All of which I am not/don't do (well except for probably the PC stuff lol).
Some classify a fanatic of anything but the socially popular geeks(Ex. manga readers,anime watchers). Or at least that's what I experience here.My inspiration for becoming an artist for instance comes from mostly japanese oriented things.Primarly manga and anime.Because of that I was also inspired to learn more about the culture.When people mispronounce words or use the worng meaning. I correct them.Peers around me seem to think that's enough to classify me as a geek.
So whatever. I suppose. I don't despise people who use the word. But I don't think of said classified people as any different than me. Because inside, I could be like them. But I'm my own person. I know what I want. Acting or doing anything I don't want to do is pointless.If I want to know lots about something. I will.If I don't,I don't. If the ocasion is school, I learn what I have to unless it's something I'm passionate about.
Yeah, I do have to say that the words have changed quite a bit since my time in grade/high school. It went from those being tech suave, science loving, math addicts being labeled as outcasts/nerds/geeks, to where if you don't know fairly new tech and do decent in school you're basically considered illiterate. Funny how things change.
I think anymore the labels mostly apply to the people that are fanatical about it, at least from a gamer's standpoint. IE, the NEETs that exist only online and refuse to accept reality. Which anymore a lot of people go through that stage in life, where they just want to escape. Hell, I was guilty of it for a while even.
Also, that's pretty much what I view myself as - a gamer/manga/anime lover, who also enjoys the outdoors, cars, books, and hanging with friends. And #$%^ anyone that doesn't like it, because their opinions mean nothing to me. Especially those that I knew back in school. The things kids say in school more or less are meaningless, and shouldn't discourage what enjoyment you get out of life.
A good book to read is "Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks" by Ethan Gilsdorf. He narrates his life as a nerd/geek/gamer, and shows that people can grow up fine and successful while being, well, a geek/nerd/gamer.
Sanity is merely someone's perspective on your reality.
Putting labels on people don't really do them any justice.
Partitioning people based on their activities or hobbies is really limiting. Most people can't be categorized into one thing.
Winter Is Coming.
Nothing wrong with being yourself.
I hate Crunchyroll.


text:
Light Energy Transition (a.k.a. Filling Up Sound 2)
The sound piece will help you to show the process of filling up or increasing of something in a more interesting way. These could be some meters in your game, some indicators in your flash-animation, some futuristic technical or sci-fi stuff in your youtube-video…
Good for games, animations, cartoons, different video projects.
I also want you to know that I have a similar thing: Filling Up Sounds Kit.
You can notice that (comparing to the first ones) this sound is more "serious", a little dark, has more cinematic and enigmatic mood, so it could really be used as a logo or just intro. Do not hesitate to take advantage of its versatility!
If you want custom edition of this sound, just get in touch with me. In some simple cases this can be done fast and for free.
check my other effects and logos:
Local Profile | Facebook Personal


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(Image - 0)' author='Daniel Rubino' original='/sites/wpcentral.com/files/resource_images/ACbanner.jpg' height="316" width="476" />
Take on the roll of the deadly assassin Altair to reclaim a holy relic lost in the midst of the Third Crusade. Journey across the Holy Land using stealth and strength to bypass Crusaders, Saracens, and Templars to obtain information from the secret order of assassin's and a network of spies. Leap across rooftops or navigate treacherous tunnels all laden with traps and pitfalls or run the open street to pickpocket, interrogate, and kill your way to your goal - the lost Sacred Chalice.
Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles HD is a port from the 2008 Nintendo DS version of the game and prequel to 2007's Assassin's Creed on consoles and PC. But does it hold its own on Windows Phone 7?
Hit the jump to see if Altair operates as well on WP7 as he has on every other device out there.
Gameplay is broken down into three distinct and mutually exclusive forms - platform acrobatics, quick mini-game sequences, and combat. The player moves Altair along a 2.5-dimensional plane. Think of it as a classic side-scroller with a bit of near-far depth. We can operate on street level or climb to the rooftops. Street level gameplay takes place in the foreground whereas rooftop gameplay takes place primarily in the background.
The player has the option of using a 360-degree virtual control stick or 8-direction D-pad on the bottom left of the screen to move Altair around each level. Action buttons for jumping, grabbing items, attacking and environmental interactions and so on appear on the bottom right. I found that the action buttons were constantly in the way of what was going on in the level, needing to have the thumb at the ready for a quickly executed jump often blocked seeing the jump up ahead. It didn't break the playability of the game but was certainly a hindrance. Combat was afflicted by this problem as well because the buttons to execute attacks were located in the same area. I found it was easier to play the game using my good ol' pointer finger on the right side and just holding the phone and controlling Altair's movement with my left hand.
Interrogations and pickpocketing were turned into mini-games for Altair's Chronicles. The mini-games are timed, but will be over long before you even notice that there is a timer. Opponents that have information you want need to be stealthily put into choke holds from behind. A sequence of screen taps then begins. A series of circles indicating pressure points on your victim slowly draw smaller and smaller and the objective is to tap them in succession before they close. This mini-game gets exponentially less fun each time you have to do it. I suppose it's there to break up the gameplay a bit but it really just extends gameplay by being more of an annoying distraction than an entertaining bonus.
Then there's the pickpocketing mini-game. I could hardly tell if this one is really fun or not since it's over just as soon as it begins. I liken the experience to dragging and dropping files on a computer. It's pretty much the same thing. Find the item you need (almost always a key), click it, drag it to where it's needed. The mini-games really draw the momentum out of the game because they take the player away from what is really the only fun half of the game - the acrobatics and combat.
Combat in Altair's Chronicles relies heavily on swordplay and is directly related to how many times you can swing your sword at other guys who also have swords. Really, that's all it boils down to. Altair is capable of blocking and parrying strikes from his opponents to which he may end confrontations with a single deadly swipe, which is pretty cool, but there is no strategy or finesse to the combat system. To win any battle the player must choose to between two tactics - block, counterattack, death-strike or keep swinging until everything else is dead. By the time you've battled through half the game you may find yourself avoiding combat just because you don't want to deal with it anymore, not because it's too challenging, but because it's just become so repetitive and mundane by that point.
It's unfortunate but the vast majority of the gameplay is at first a lot of fun but drowned in so much redundancy to become utterly trite and dull. I believe the only reason that I completed Altair's Chronicles was to see what the next level looked like and to reach the end of the story.
I really wanted to enjoy Altair's Chronicles because the console and PC titles in the Assassin's Creed series are really quite good. Too often though, I felt that Altair's Chronicles was really kind of thrown together for WP7 and left rather flawed as a result. The potential for a really good game is there and it has everything a good game should have, but it's all broken. The level design is great but is riddled with clipping errors and terrible character interaction. The graphics are really nice but they're plagued by dropped framerates, stuttered camera movements, and embarrassingly poor scaling issues. Seriously, if you look at some of the screen shots try to measure the characters up against a window or a door.
I was really surprised by the quality of the sound, it was fantastic. Then the characters started talking and ruined everything. Poor voice acting is one thing but what threw me was really odd - characters would switch their lines. One moment Altair would be talking to a market vendor and when the vendor replied, he replied in Altair's voice. When it came time for Altair to speak again he would speak in the market vendor's voice. Okay, I thought, weird glitch. But then it happened over and over again in a host of other dialogues between other characters. Sloppy things like this ruin games for me and while they are kind of funny they don't belong in a game that attempts to convey a storyline seriously.
Despite the slew of flaws and glitches that run rampant throughout Altair's Chronicles it's still fun trying to get through them to the end of the game - if you've got the patience and time to kill. Total play time can last anywhere between five to eight hours which is really decent for a mobile adventure game. The replay value is kind of low considering that no new content is unlocked by completing the first play through. Hard mode is unlocked but the levels and storyline remain completely unchanged. Enemy AI is a little but tougher to withstand damage, will block more frequently, and will attack all at once instead of one at a time. The biggest difference between Hard and Normal (or Easy) difficulty that I've noticed is how much damage Altair is capable of withstanding and how much is regained post battle, which is very little.
The price tag of $6.99 is justified by the length of game time but still a little steep when compared to the quality of other titles in this bracket. You may want to consider spending your money on something like Max and the Magic Marker or The Harvest that won't leave you feeling any buyers remorse. I'm not saying you won't be having any fun with Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles, quite the opposite. It's a very fun game. It's just a bit more frustrating and disappointing than it is fun.


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PARIS (AP) — France tackled the fractious legacy of Pablo Picasso on two fronts Tuesday, firing the director of the shuttered museum dedicated to the artist and recommending state protection for the studio where he painted "Guernica."
The reopening of the museum, closed for the past five years for renovations, has been pushed back until September. France's Culture Ministry said Anne Baldassari, who led the renovations and has been head of the museum for a decade, was dismissed because of the need to "reopen under the best conditions, protect the employees and restore confidence between the museum and its partners."
Claude Picasso, the painter's son, spoke out this month to denounce delays in reopening the museum, one of the premier art attractions in Paris.
The 52-million-euro (about $72-million) renovation of the Hotel de Sale, in the celebrated Marais district, is set to double the possible number of visitors and allow for the presentation of 400 artworks in 37 rooms, the ministry said.
Speaking to Le Figaro earlier this month, Claude Picasso said Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti had told him that troubles getting security guards in place, as required under French regulations, were behind the delay. Picasso said he had the impression France "doesn't care" about his father.
Filippetti's ministry then lashed out in a statement at "erroneous" media reports about the delay, and called on "everyone to get past personal interests" and be enthusiastic about the upcoming reopening.
"No polemic will sway the state from its mission" to protect and display national heritage, and to ensure proper workplace conditions and completion of the renovation, the statement said.
The museum's beauty and rich collections, it said, will "in no way suffer from an opening in September."
The other controversy centers on the fate of a Left Bank studio where Picasso lived and worked for 19 years, and painted his famed anti-war opus "Guernica" in 1937. A historic preservation panel on Tuesday recommended putting the site under its auspices.
As with many of the Cubist great's works, little is as it first appears.
A legal group has owned the 17th-century manor containing the studio since before Picasso worked there, and now wants to renovate it — perhaps as a luxury hotel.
Some high-profile art lovers are up in arms and say the studio deserves state protection from re-development. The case has raised questions about whether the birthplaces of great art — not just the works — deserve state protection from re-development as part of national heritage.
The Culture Ministry last year ordered a one-year pause to any development while officials consider the implications. That expires in July.
The panel meeting Tuesday favored putting it on a national register of historic sites, Filippetti said in a tweet that began with the words "Very good news!" That could make any redevelopment more costly and time-consuming at the least.
A group of artists and actors including Britain's Charlotte Rampling had signed a petition decrying any possible redevelopment.
Pablo Picasso spent 19 years living and working in the Hotel de Savoie, as the manor is known.
The redevelopment would "in no way impact the historic character of the building," said Alexandra Romano, a spokeswoman for the site's owners. She declined to specify the "several" development plans being considered, adding, "This battle doesn't honor the legacy of 'Guernica'."
Alain Casabona, an official at the state-backed National Committee for Arts Education, says the owners want to make the building a hotel. The committee enjoyed free office space in the studio for a decade.
Casabona was quoted in Le Parisien newspaper as suggesting that the birthplace of "Guernica" might become a "jacuzzi suite." He later told The Associated Press he was being provocative with that remark.
Two French cultural officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the studio bears no visible traces of Picasso's presence. One noted that the artist was evicted in 1955 for not paying his rent.
Associated Press writer Lori Hinnant contributed from Paris.


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David Souter: How the Constitution keeps up with the times
February 17. 2013 4:31PM
Editor's note: The commentary below is the first in a series on the topic, "How Does the Constitution Keep Up with the Times?" It is drawn from a public conversation between retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and PBS News journalist Margaret Warner to launch Constitutionally Speaking, a civic engagement initiative aimed at educating New Hampshire citizens about the nation's founding document and promoting the reintroduction of meaningful civics education into state classrooms.
The yearlong pilot project is a collaboration of the N.H. Supreme Court Society, the N.H. Humanities Council and the UNH School of Law. In addition to constitutional interpretation, future commentaries will highlight cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, concerning Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, affirmative action in undergraduate admissions and same-sex marriage.
M. Warner: Thirty- six years ago I wrote that you were critical of what you called broad interpretations of the written law, which you thought threatened public acceptance. So did I have it wrong then, or has your thinking evolved since?
D. Souter: I haven't changed my mind about that so far as that went. The meaning of the constitutional language has not changed with time, but what I said, in effect, left out something very important. And it's really what was left out that I've spent as much time on in the last 36 years as on anything at all. To explain what I'm getting at, let me set a little scene.
We have in a way two elements in the Constitution. One is structural - it constitutes the government. It says what it shall consist of: the President, two legislative houses, an independent judiciary, and so on. There are all kinds of specifications. The President has to be 35 years old, and under the present amendments the inauguration is January 20th. We've also got, call it the "Liberty Constitution." Not only the Bill of Rights, but those portions of the original Constitution that also had the effect of guaranteeing liberty. So there's one sort of dichotomy: structural vs. individual rights.
The other division that you can make in the Constitution is in the language as opposed to the subject matter. The Constitution has a great range of breadth of language. In the structural Constitution, it speaks of commerce among the states. It doesn't define it any more precisely than that. You get into the Bill of Rights and you get terms like "unreasonable searches and seizures," which are prohibited; references to freedom of speech without any further definition; security in people's houses. These general terms are best understood as kind of a listing or menu of approved values, the application of which has got to be worked out over time. They couldn't be worked out at that time. The whole point of it was that it was a Constitution and a Bill of Rights for the indefinite future. It was not like a statute that deals with a specific problem and can be amended relatively easily. The Constitution cannot be amended relatively easily, so the application of these values, the problem of trying to make them work in practice, was an assignment that was left to the future: to all the branches of government, for that matter; to all the people who select the people in those branches; and ultimately - when push comes to shove - to the judicial branch, to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Let's just take speech for a minute. No question, there is a right to freedom of speech, and it is an enumerated right. If you look, however, at how that right was enforced, you will find that the Supreme Court has held that it includes, or it implies, a right to freedom of association. It's a right that is recognized in order to give practical value to the general right of speech. A great deal of what the Supreme Court does, and cannot avoid doing, is trying to figure out how to make these things work. So there are two concepts of rights involved here: one, of the rights that are enumerated from which the court has to work; and the other, of the rights that are recognized in order to make practical sense of what the Constitution says are the values that we are there to protect. The obligation when the Supreme Court or any court is working out this "How do you make it work" kind of problem is to explain why the court makes it work that way; so that it becomes apparent that we're not just putting our own ideas of what might be nice into constitutional language.
M. Warner: But you do not think as some believe - Justice Scalia being one - that you can stick to what he calls the fair reading of the text, which he says is basically what a reasonable reader would understand the text meant at the time of it's adoption?
D. Souter: No, you cannot stick to that. I gave a speech a couple years ago in which I gave an example of why simply reading doesn't do it. That is, if you look at the text of the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech" and so on, "no law" sounds pretty tough. But in fact everybody recognizes - conservatives, liberals - there are some laws that Congress can make that in a practical sense do limit the freedom of speech. No one doubts, for example, that if an individual was poised with a microphone in his mouth to divulge America's nuclear secrets that he could be stopped without violating the First Amendment.
Another reason why simply reading is not going to give you answers is that there are constitutionally recognized values that can be in conflict with each other. They both can't win all the way, all the time. The paradigm examples are the guarantees of liberty and equality.
If I exercise my liberty to the greatest possible extent, I can suppress the rights of a lot of people.
An example is the Supreme Court's decision the year after I stepped down on political campaign contributions by corporations - the so-called Citizens United decision.
Should corporations in effect be subject to the limitations on political expenditures that they had been subject to for a century? There was a play of constitutional values going on. If the Supreme Court took a liberty model of free expression, corporations could spend all the money they wanted. If they took an equality model, they would say there's got to be the possibility of a limitation on corporations so that they do not drown out other speech. The Supreme Court in Citizens United went with the liberty model. But these kinds of conflicts in values are simply part of the Constitution. You can't say that you can resolve them by simply reading fairly the text because, if you read fairly the text, you'd have to conclude you can have it both ways all the time - and you can't. The writers of the Bill of Rights knew that just as well as we do. There are tensions that have simply got to be resolved - and the Constitution does not have a provision that tells you how you are going to resolve them.
M. Warner: To what degree should justices be sensitive or reflect the social realities of the time?
D. Souter: You know the word "should" is tough to deal with here. We can only see what our experiences open our eyes to. And one reason you have nine people on the Supreme Court rather than one, it is not merely once again to divide power - but because among nine people there are going to be those who can see things that others don't. And if they can convince the others of what they see, they may very well affect the result in a case. But that's why you want a lot of eyes and a lot of minds. We don't all see the same things because we have not all had the same experiences.
David Souter of New Hampshire is a former justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.


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Suffolk, ss. Division of Administrative Law Appeals
Yuriy G. Boldyrev, Individually and
American Sunrise Construction, Inc.,
(Cit. Nos. WH070048 and MW070045),
v. Docket Nos. LB-08-555, LB-08-610
Office of the Attorney General,
Appearance for Petitioner:
Eugene Lumelsky, Esquire
153 Worthington Avenue
ShrewSergeyury, MA 01545
Appearance for Respondent:
Marsha Hunter, Esquire
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Fair Labor and Business Practices Division
One Ashburton Place, RM 1813
Boston, MA 02108
Administrative Magistrate:
Judithann Burke
Pursuant to the provisions of G.L. c. 149 s. 27C (b)(4), the Petitioners, Yuriy G. Boldyrev, individually, and Sunrise Construction, Inc., appealed citation numbers WH070048 and MW070045 issued to them by the Respondent, Office of the Attorney General (OAG), pursuant, respectively, to: G.L. c. 149 s. 148 and 148B (non-payment of wages and misclassification of an employee as an independent contractor); and, c. 151 s. 19(3) (failure to furnish records for inspection), imposing civil penalties in the respective amounts of $1,010 and $200 and ordering restitution in the amount of $5,792. The citations were issued on July 9, 2007. A hearing was held on April 24, 2008 at the offices of the Division of Administrative Law Appeals (DALA), 98 North Washington Street, Boston, MA. At the hearing, nineteen (19) exhibits were marked, including several copies of the multi-page Russian Bulletin. (Exhibits 15-18). The Respondent presented the testimony of: Sergey Bondarev, the claimant of back wages; and Joseph Hyacinthe, an inspector in the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division. The Petitioner, Yuriy Boldyrev, testified in his own behalf and in behalf of American Sunrise Construction, Inc. The Petitioners also presented the testimony of Vikkie Lovett, Mr. Boldyrev's life partner. Both parties stated their arguments for the record.
Four audiocassettes were made of the proceedings. The record was left open for the submission by the Petitioner of the contract pertaining to the project in question, the "Brookline project". This document was received on May 2, 2008 and marked as Exhibit 20. Both counsel sent follow-up correspondence stating their positions regarding the meaning of the contract within the context of this appeal. The last letter, from Attorney Lumelsky, was received on May 14, 2008, thereby closing the case record.
Based upon the testimony and documents presented at the hearing in the above-entitled matter, I hereby render the following findings of fact:
1. The Petitioner, Yuriy Boldyrev, (Yuriy), 46 y.o.a., is the owner of American Sunrise Construction, Inc., a home remodeling company that was established in 2004. He is licensed as both a Master Electrician and a General Contractor. He worked as an electrical engineer in his native Russia. (Exhibit 9 and Testimony).
2. Sergey Bondarev (Sergey) was in his mid-twenties in 2005. He was an illegal immigrant at that time and he did not hold any professional licenses. During the entire calendar year 2005, Sergey advertised in the Russian Bulletin for Boston, a Russian publication that displays myriad local business advertisements of Russian entrepreneurs. Through September 2005, he held himself out as a General Contractor who owned/operated "Sergio's construction (sic) Co.", a home improvement business.
In October 2005, he advertised under the name "Graystone Contracting Co. (Exhibits 15-17).
3. Sergey is now a United States citizen. He still owns the Graystone Contracting Co. and he continues to advertise in the same Russian Bulletin. He now holds a General Contractor's license. (Testimony and Exhibit 18).
4. In July 2005, Yuriy's general contracting business was still new. He acquired two demolition jobs in Downtown Boston and he needed someone to perform the demolition work. Vikkie Lovett, who resided in Norwood, MA, with Yuriy, saw an advertisement for Sergey's company, Sergio's construction (sic) Co., on the internet under the heading "demolition". She also saw Sergey's advertisement in the Russian Bulletin. She noticed that Sergey's business was new and that he was unlicensed. She believed that his work might be less expensive than that of other demolition contractors.
Ms. Lovett next showed the ads to Yuriy, who in turn decided to contact Sergey.
(Exhibits 9, 15 and 17).
5. The details of how and when Sergey and his crew would be paid were verbally
agreed to prior to each separate job. Yuriy was not seeking hourly workers or regular employees during the first year of his business. He could not afford to do so. Rather, he was seeking companies and/or subcontractors to provide services that he could not render himself, including demolition, sheet-rocking, plumbing, painting, tiling and carpentry work. Sergey had both the knowledge and talent to perform all of these tasks. Sergey's ads mentioned that he was skilled in most of these areas. (Testimony and Exhibits 15-18).
6. Throughout 2005, Yuriy worked on his own electrical jobs to support himself while his General Contracting business was growing. He almost always had an electrical job on his work calendar that was separate from his work overseeing the few contracts he had for American Sunrise Construction, Inc. (Testimony).
7. Sergey first agreed to work with Yuriy on the two short-term demolition jobs in Boston in July 2005. The first project was located at the Boston Art Gallery. A new floor was to be installed. Yuriy brought in Sergey along with two other men who worked for Sergey, including Sergey's roommate, Andrey Pubach, and a third man, a "Julio".
Sergey and his crew did the demolition work on the project over a few days. Sergey brought many of his own tools to the project. Yuriy stopped by the project each morning to provide some additional supplies and to remove trash from the previous day. He also dropped by in the evenings to check out the work that had been done. Sergey was in charge of the site during the day. Sergey and his crew were paid as agreed upon their completion of the job. (Testimony).
8. After the completion of the project at the Boston Art Gallery, Sergey, Andrey and Julio did demolition work the on second of Yuriy's Boston demolition projects. Again, Sergey and his crew were paid as agreed upon completion of the job. (Id.).
9. Yuriy began a renovation project for a client in Brookline, MA in August 2005, the "Brookline project". The contract was signed on July 11, 2005 and the work was scheduled to be performed between August 1, 2005 and October 20, 2005. The initial project was the renovation of the kitchen. The project grew over time. (Exhibit 20 and Testimony).
10. Sergey was in charge on the Brookline project when he and his crew were working there. He and his crew did demolition work and some carpentry work in the kitchen in the early weeks. Sergey also built closets in the unit. Sergey stored his own tools on site throughout this entire project. When the kitchen was close to being finished, a change order was executed and Yuriy agreed to coordinate the remodeling of the bathroom. This work entailed replacing glass, lights, tiles, and plumbing fixtures. The kitchen cabinets were yet to be installed along with the kitchen flooring. The cabinets were ordered from Italy and the tiles from another location. (Testimony).
11. The initial work on the Brookline project ended in late September or early October of 2005. Yuriy and his subcontractors could not proceed any further without the cabinets or the tiles. In October and November 2005, Yuriy continued to work on his own electrical projects. He also performed electrical work on a project of Sergey's in Watertown, MA during that period. He was not an employee of Sergey while doing the electrical work on the Watertown project. (Testimony).
12. Sergey was paid the following checks in August and September 2005: check no. 1005, dated 8/20/2005 in the amount of $2000; and, check no. 1015, dated 9/9/05 in the amount of $4000. Neither income taxes nor any other deductions were taken from these checks. (Exhibit 3).
13. For several weeks beginning in or about mid-August 2005, Sergey had been asking Yuriy for a $3000 loan in order to purchase a car. He had been transporting himself and his crew to the job site via his own vehicle, but this car was breaking down.
The September 9, 2005 check issued to Sergey by Yuriy, no. 1015 in the amount of $4000, included payment to Sergey of $1000 for work performed by him and his crew and a $3000 loan to buy a car. (Id.).
14. On August 14, 2005, Yuriy issued a check in the amount of $547 to Andrey Pubach. Sergey actually filled in Andrey's name on the check. During August and September 2005, Yuriy also issued checks to the electrical and plumbing subcontractors and to an Alexander Androsenko for a small painting job at another location. No income taxes or other deductions were taken from any of these checks. (Id.).
15. On October 16, 2005, Yuriy issued check no. 1028 to Sergey in the amount of $3000 for work performed by Sergey and his crew on the Brookline project. No income taxes or other deductions were taken from this check. (Id.).
16. On October 21, 2005, Yuriy issued check no. 1033 to Andrey Pubach for work he performed on the Brookline project. Sergey kept a schedule of his own and Andrey's work hours on his home computer. He provided this information to Yuriy. (Id. and Exhibits 1 and 5).
17. In late September or early October 2005, Yuriy purchased a Tacoma pick-up
truck. Because Sergey was an illegal immigrant, he was not able to register a car in his own name. Yuriy allowed Sergey to operate the Tacoma. On October 14, 2005, Sergey issued check no. 133 from his personal account to American Sunrise Construction in the amount of $3000 to repay the car loan. He noted "loan for car" in the memo section of the check. (Exhibit 11).
18. Yuriy became upset with Sergey during the fall of 2005 when the latter did not appear for work on the Brookline project on a couple of occasions. He felt a kinship with the younger man, who reminded him of his own son. Yuriy wanted to help Sergey get established in his own business. (Testimony).
19. During November 2005, there was some intermittent work on the Brookline project. The plumbing subcontractor came back to disconnect the water so that the bathroom plumbing fixtures could be installed. There was also some electrical work done and some inspections were performed. (Testimony).
20. On November 23, 2005, Yuriy issued check no. 1055 to Andrey Publach in the amount of $1000. He also issued checks to the Town of Brookline for a permit and to the electrical subcontractor for the Brookline project during November 2005. No income taxes or deductions were taken from these checks. (Exhibit 3).
21. In early December, Sergey and Andrey Publach both did some work on the Brookline project. They prepared for and installed the sub-flooring in preparation for the delivery of the tile, which had been delayed for several weeks. (Testimony and Exhibit 19).
22. On December 5, 2005, Yuriy paid check no. 1059 to Andrey Pubach in the
amount of $660 and check no. 1060 to Sergey in the amount of $1000. Neither income taxes nor any other deductions were taken from these checks. (Exhibit 3).
23. After the preparation and installation of the sub-flooring, there was no more work to do on the Brookline project until the tile shipment. Sergey grew weary of the delays on the project and the resultant large amounts of time when he was not receiving payment from the project. (Testimony).
24. The tiles that were necessary to complete the Brookline project were delivered in late December 2005. Sergey disappeared with Yuriy's truck on December 30, 2005 and he did not appear for work on the Brookline job site on December 31, 2005. Yuriy decided to terminate his relationship with Sergey, as he would no longer tolerate Sergey's unexplained absences from the project. (Testimony).
25. In early January 2006, Yuriy and Ms. Lovett retrieved the Tacoma truck from Sergey. In early February 2006, Yuriy confronted Sergey about several missing tools of the former. Sergey acknowledged that he had taken some of Yuriy's tools and claimed that he had done so because Yuriy had not paid him. The value of the missing tools was in the $3000 to $4000 range. The tools were not returned to Yuriy. (Id.).
26. On May 25, 2006, Sergey brought suit against American Sunrise Construction, Inc. based upon his claim that the $3000 check he had paid to American Sunrise Construction, Inc. on October 14, 2005 had actually been a loan from him to Yuriy in order for Yuriy to purchase the Tacoma. Sergey claimed that American Sunrise owed him the full amount of that loan. (Testimony and Exhibit 10).
27. American Sunrise Construction, Inc. filed a counterclaim against Sergey for
the missing tools. (Id.).
28. On or about June 16, 2006, Sergey went to the OAG and made a claim against American Sunrise Construction, Inc. for non-payment of wages from October 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005. He claimed that he was owed a total of $5792. He also claimed that he had been paid by Yuriy on an hourly basis at the rate of $20 or $22 per hour. He submitted a handwritten schedule of his work hours from October 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005, therein indicating that he had worked nearly forty hours per week for American Sunrise Construction, Inc. during that entire period. He also submitted data generated on his home computer concerning hours he and Andrey worked and money he claimed they were owed. (Exhibits 1 and 5-7).
29. Also on June 16, 2006, the OAG forwarded a copy of Sergey's claim to Yuriy therein alleging that he had violated the Massachusetts wage and hour laws. (Exhibit 2).
30. On June 30, 2006, the OAG sent a second letter to Yuriy entitled "Failure to Respond to Previous Notice". Yuriy was told to remit a check to the OAG on behalf of Sergey or further action would be taken. Yuriy did not pay the claim. His counsel corresponded with the OAG. (Id.).
31. On October 4, 2006, Inspector Joseph Hyacinthe of the OAG issued a written request that then-counsel to American Sunrise Construction, Inc. provide any and all payroll records from July 1, 2005 to the present for inspection and transcription pursuant to G.L. c. 151 ss. 3 and 15. (Exhibit 4).
32. In response to Inspector Hyacinthe's inquiry, Yuriy and his attorney submitted copies of the American Sunrise Construction Co., Inc. checks that he had written between August 13, 2005 and December 14, 2005. (Exhibit 3).
33. Inspector Hyacinthe never saw any of Sergey's advertisements in the Russian Bulletin. He based his decision concerning the liability of Yuriy and American Sunrise Co., Inc. exclusively on the claims made by Sergey. Inspector Hyacinthe was also of the belief that Yuriy and Sergey were both licensed as General Contractors in 2005. (Testimony).
34. On July 9, 2007, the OAG issued the following citations to Yuriy individually and American Sunrise Construction, Inc.: no. WH070048 alleging violations of G.L. c. 149 s. 148, non-payment of wages to "employee" Sergey Bondarev in the amount of $5792 and a penalty of $810, and G.L. c. 149 s. 148B, misclassification of employee as independent contractor from July 31, 2005 through December 31, 2005 which carried a penalty of $200, for a total amount due of $6802; and, no. MW070045 alleging a violation of G.L. c. 151 s. 19(3) for failure to furnish records for inspection on October 25, 2006. (Exhibit 8).
35. The Petitioners filed timely appeals of both citations.
36. On November 30, 2007, judgment was entered for the defendant, American Sunrise Construction Co., Inc. on Sergey's claim of non-payment of the car loan. Sergey was ordered to pay a total of $3,309.98 on Yuriy's counterclaim for the purloined tools. This amount included single damages in the amount of $2800 and prejudgment interest of $509.98. Sergey has not as yet made any remuneration to Yuriy pursuant to this judgment. (Exhibit 10).
After a careful review of all of the testimony and documents in this case, I have concluded that the Petitioners are entitled to prevail in this appeal. Yuriy, individually, and American Sunrise Construction Co., Inc. have met their burden of proving that that Sergey was a subcontractor, and not an hourly worker, while working on the Brookline project.
In reaching this conclusion, it was necessary to resolve key issues of credibility.
The Respondent acknowledged in closing argument that this case involves "one man's word against another". Based upon their demeanor during the hearing, their demonstrated integrity and maturity, and, the plausibility and consistency of their versions of events, I have credited the testimony of Yuriy and Ms. Lovett.
In so doing, I have discredited the testimony of Sergey and afforded it no weight.
Sergey's testimony was inconsistent and incredulous on many levels. He was untruthful about how he met Yuriy in the first place, stating that they met through friends. He failed to acknowledge that Yuriy and Ms. Lovett had seen his ads in the Russian Bulletin or that he had received their attention due to those ads. It is reasonable to infer that his motive for this diversion from the facts was to downplay any role his ads may have had in procuring the job so as to bolster his claim that he was an hourly employee of Yuriy.
Next, Sergey claimed that he had no role in bringing on the crew that worked with him on any of Yuriy's projects. This is not the case. He brought his own crew to the worksites in his own vehicle. He lived with Andrey Publach and he brought Andrey to Yuriy's job sites as part of his own demolition-carpentry-painting-sheet-rocking crew. Yuriy had never laid eyes on Andrey, Juilo or any other men who worked on the job with Sergey until Sergey himself brought them to the job sites.
Sergey claimed that he was paid on a regular basis by Yuriy until October 1, 2005, the beginning date of his claim for hourly wages. In fact, Sergey had been paid once per month prior to that date, on August 20, 2005 and September 9, 2005 and once again on October 16, 2005. The frequency and amounts of these payments is more consistent with his being paid following the completion of a certain phase of work on a contract, as was stated by Yuriy. Sergey did not receive a set amount of money every week. Rather, consistent with work on a large and changing contract like the Brookline project, Sergey received remuneration for him and his crew when the particular job they performed was completed and paid for by the client. There is no evidence in the record that anything had changed between October 1 and December 31, 2005 with the exception that there had been no work for Sergey to do in Brookline at all in the month of November. Sergey was not on the job site of the Brookline project during that time Either: because he did not report to work with Andrey for some unexplained reason; or, because there was no work for any of Yuriy's subcontractors to perform while cabinet and tile deliveries were pending.
The record of payments by Yuriy, the nature of the Brookline project and the testimony of Yuriy and Ms. Lovett about Yuriy and Sergey being involved with other work during October, November and December 2005, all render the claim that Sergey was an hourly worker during that time utterly ridiculous. The chart that he submitted to Inspector Hyacinthe purporting to set forth his work hours carries no weight whatsoever.
Sergey was in fact putting much of the time that he claims he was an hourly worker of Yuriy's into other jobs, including one in which Yuriy performed electrical work upon Sergey's request. As such, his claim that he had no money for two full months does not ring true. Further, the Petitioners have argued convincingly that, inasmuch as Yuriy was a subcontractor and not an hourly worker on Sergey's project, the arrangement would have been the same the other way around.
The Respondent has asserted in closing argument that the issue of the car loan and Sergey's failed court claim is a red herring that is irrelevant to the resolution of this case. This contention is only partially correct. While the issue concerning the alleged car loan from Sergey to Yuriy does not bear on whether Sergey was an employee or a subcontractor, it certainly bears on Sergey's credibility, character and his whole approach to the relationship with Yuriy and the legal system. Sergey claimed in the trial court, and at the DALA hearing, that he, who was both cashed-strapped and unpaid come October 1, 2005, loaned Yuriy $3000 on October 16, 2005 for a truck that Yuriy had already purchased at least two weeks earlier. Very little needs to be stated here about the credibility of this claim. Sergey offered no set of facts in which it would be reasonable to believe that his alleged "boss/employer" would need to borrow money from him, especially since he was so cash strapped. The $3000 paid by Sergey to Yuriy on October 14, 2005 was, as Yuriy and Ms. Lovett testified, the repayment of the car loan provided to Sergey by Yuriy on September 9, 2005. That Sergey would suggest otherwise reflects that there are very few sensible boundaries to his story-telling.
Sergey took tools from Yuriy. Notwithstanding the judgment of the Somerville District Court that he is liable for their misappropriation and that he owes money to Yuriy, Sergey has not honored the ruling. Yuriy has not pursued the matter further.
Sergey has taken advantage of the good graces of Yuriy, the man who had tried to help him get started in his own home improvement business in this country and who had looked upon him as a son. Sergey's behavior and attitude is reflective of an angry, vindictive man seeking a pot of gold utilizing any means possible.
Based upon the foregoing observations of Sergey and my refusal to afford weight to his testimony, there is no merit to the Respondent's contention that Yuriy owes him nearly $6000 in back wages. Sergey simply has not documented this claim. He has not laid out a bona fide case that he was not paid by Yuriy for the work he actually did on the Brookline project. Accordingly, the Petitioners have no liability, pursuant to G.L. c. 149 s. 148, for the unpaid wages or the civil penalty imposed in citation no. WH070048.
The OAG Inspector based his decision to issue the citations in this case on the representations made by Sergey. Further, the Inspector had been wholly unaware of Sergey's advertisements in the Russian Bulletin. The OAG has offered no basis upon which to hold Yuriy, individually and American Sunrise Construction, Inc. accountable on either citation.
While the Petitioners have prevailed on all of their claims without an analysis of G.L. c. 149 s. 148B, it is still important to note that they have indeed met their burden of proving that they have satisfied all three prongs of the Independent Contractor Law, and ergo, they are not liable for the civil penalty imposed for any violation of s. 148 or 148B. G.L. c. 149 s. 148, the "Independent Contractor Law", effective July 19, 2004 created the presumption that a work arrangement is an employer-employee relationship unless the party receiving the services can establish that three factors are present. First, the worker must be free from the presumed employer's control and direction in performing the service, both under a contract and in fact. Second, the service provided by the worker must be outside the employer's usual course of business. And, third, the worker must be customarily engaged in an independent trade, occupation or business of the same type. See Commonwealth of Massachusetts Advisory on the Acts Amending Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law 0224/2, a publication of the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley updated December 10, 2004 and G.L. c. 149 s. 148B.
Yuriy provided no direct supervision to Sergey and his crew. The job duties that were expected of Sergey and his crew were well delineated. Sergey did demolition, painting and carpentry work on the Brookline project. Yuriy did none of these jobs on that project, nor did he perform work of that nature on any project. He left the supervision and direction of these jobs to Sergey. Sergey was in charge when he was on the job site. Sergey stored many of his tools on the job site. The only supervision he received from Yuriy was to be told when deliveries occurred and when Sergey and his crew were expected on the project. Yuriy also came to the site many evening to observe how the job was moving along. This is all consistent with behavior of a General Contractor and not an employer who is supervising hourly workers. The Petitioners have proven that, when in the performance of his work on the Brookline project, Sergey was free from the control of Yuriy.
Sergey's work, and that of his crew, was performed outside the usual course of
business of Yuriy. The OAG Inspector believed that both men had the same licenses during the Brookline project in 2005. They did not. Yuriy had been an electrician all of his working life and he was a licensed electrician and he was a newly licensed General Contractor. He was not, nor had he ever been, in the demolition, painting, carpentry, or tile businesses. Thus, he needed experts in those trades to perform work on his contracts.
He read Sergey's ads putting forth that his business did in fact provide services in the trades that Yuriy could not. The Petitioners have proven that the services rendered by Sergey on the Brookline contract were outside of the usual course of Yuriy's business.
Sergey had started two home improvement companies of his own in 2005 at the time he worked with Yuriy. He continued to advertise his companies and accept other jobs while he worked on the Brookline project with Yuriy. Yuriy even worked as Sergey's electrical subcontractor on Sergey's Watertown job. Sergey continues to work under the name "Greystone Construction" to this day. He was committed to getting his own business off to a good start back in late 2005. The Petitioners have proven that in 2005, Sergey had a business independent from Yuriy's, and, this fact was understood by all parties at all critical times.
The remaining issue for resolution in this appeal is whether the Petitioners were properly cited for non-compliance with G.L. c. 151 ss. 15 and 19(3). Section 15 provides:
Every employer shall keep a true and accurate record of the name, address and occupation of each employee, of the amount paid each pay period to each employee, of the hours worked each day and each week by each employee, and such other information as the commissioner or attorney general in their discretion shall deem material and necessary…(Emphasis added).
The Petitioners were not bound to comply with this section. The Petitioner, Yuriy, was a sole proprietor and a General Contractor. American Sunrise Construction, Inc. had no employees. Accordingly, the citation no. MW070045 was inappropriately issued, and the Petitioners have no liability thereon.
In conclusion, I have found for the Petitioners in this case. They owe no money to Sergey Bondarev or the Commonwealth.
Judithann Burke,
Administrative Magistrate
DATED: July 24, 2008
This information is provided by the Division of Administrative Law Appeals .


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Energy savings
Sen. Shaheen tours Grappone Toyota renovation, promotes new billBy BENJAMIN C. KLEIN
Union Leader Correspondent
July 29. 2013 6:23PM
BOW — Sen. Jeanne Shaheen spent part of her Monday touring Grappone Toyota to get a better idea of the benefits that the newly LEED certified building can create both environmentally and economically.
After the tour, Shaheen held a press conference to present the Energy Savings and Industrial Competiveness Act, a bill she is sponsoring that could make it to the U.S. Senate floor this week.
"This renovation is very impressive, and it is an example of what I am trying to do on a larger scale. This is an important issue for America, with dependence on foreign oil, sustainability and pollution all being such big issues," Shaheen said.
If the current version of the bill were to be passed, it would strengthen national model building codes to make homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient along with requiring the federal government to adopt energy saving techniques. According to information given out by Shaheen, the legislation would create 80,000 new jobs, save consumers $4 billion a year in energy costs, and lower CO2 emissions. Shaheen said it would be the first energy bill to reach the Senate floor since 2007.
"This bipartisan energy efficiency plan, which I introduced with Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, would make this goal a reality. Energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest way to address our energy challenges, and I am hopeful we can move this bill forward without delay. It is the right thing to do," Shaheen said.
Shaheen toured the facility with owner Amanda Grappone, who said the green renovations could end up reducing the facilities' energy consumption rate by 30 percent.
Beth Bassett, director of marketing at Grappone, said that while it was very important to make the facility as green as possible, the renovation would also help the facility save money in the long run.
"We knew we were going to do a major renovation, so we decided to do it the right way and take advantage of what is out there. Even though there is a lot involved, eventually you can become more self-reliant, which pays off in the long run," Bassett said.
Steve Savoy, business line controller at Grappone, said the renovation was Amanda Grappone's vision. Along with solar panels and recycling stations, Savoy said the facility also includes geothermal wells, furniture made from recycled material, and custom wood made using green foresting techniques.
"It is gratifying to have the senator come by and acknowledge what we did. The new facility is enjoyable, open and comfortable to be in. The customers' reaction to the renovation has been phenomenal. It's beautiful," Savoy said.
Grappone said that the newly refurbished facility is the only Toyota dealership in New Hampshire, and only one of two in New England, to be LEED certified.
"And there are only 20 in the whole country," she said.
Along with Grappone, other local business leaders also spoke to the financial and economic benefits of buildings facilities that are LEED certified. Nancy Kyle of the Retail Merchants Association, Will Tagye of Velcro USA, Tom Sullivan of Sullivan Construction, Jim Brett of the New England Council appeared during the press conference as well.


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Watch The ::God Is Imaginary Videos On YouTube ::
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Hi Everyone,I don't know if anyone is on our rival site, Richarddawkins.Net, but they've just announced they're changing their forum so it's, well, as far as I can understand, no longer an open forum. Instead, all topics will be have to go through moderation before posting, and all off-topic posts (you know, the religious LOLcats, the silly pictures of tranny Jeses's etc) will be banned.
I have mentioned our beloved site on RDN, in the hope of poaching a few more disgruntled members (although in the world of atheism, the more the better IMHO) but others of you might fancy going over there and collecting some 'friends' together.
Good. Then maybe it won't be such a waste of time. Maybe atheists will be able to get something accomplished. I raise a glass to Richard Dawkins for doing what Sam Harris should have done at The Reason Project.
I always say what I mean. But sometimes I'm a sarcastic prick whose tone can't be properly communicated via text.
Some explanation of the aparent uproar. It is rather one sided and not flattering.http://realityismyreligion.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/locked-entry-will-open-soon/


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Submitted to the Optic
New Mexico Highlands University will host a Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals legal forum for immigrants from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today (Friday).
The free legal forum will be in Douglas Hall, 805 University Ave.
Allegra Love, a Santa Fe attorney and immigration expert, will present an overview about DACA and who qualifies.
Love will also help participants individually with legal advice, a case review, preparing documents, and filling out paperwork. She is providing the service free of charge.
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