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Ikegami, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Keio University School of Medicine, is widely regarded as Japan's top health economist. In this interview, he explains how Japan's health care system is able to produce some of the best health statistics in the world while costing less than health care in most other developed nations. This is an edited transcript of an interview conducted Oct. 15, 2007.
The Secrets of Japan's Success
View this chapter from FRONTLINE's Sick Around the World.
- Some highlights from this interview
- How can an MRI cost $98 in Japan?
- GM pays $1,600 per car for health care, but Toyota pays nothing?
- A drawback of the Japanese system
- Is the Japanese system "socialized medicine"?
We're looking at health care systems around the world, and a striking thing about Japan is [it has achieved] universal coverage and very good results at such a low cost. How have the Japanese done this?
Well, there's the costs explanation to it, [which] is that we have better lifestyles and a better nutrition and, apart from the smoking, the public [health] factors are pretty good. But in Japan, too, the [health] expenditures were increasing at the same rate as the United States' in the 1980s, but then it plateaued after the 1990s. So there must be a system explanation for that, because the costs did not change that much.
So people had a good diet in the '80s when costs were rising. Something changed in the '90s?
Right. I think that it's because the government is able to control the flow of money. And the way the government controls the flow of money is that we have multiple payers and multiple providers, but there's a single-payment system -- not a single payer but a single-payment system -- so that all payers must abide by the payment system, and all providers must be paid by the system.
So this is like a valve, so that if the government wants to contain costs, it can cut, ... and that decreases the flow of money, or at least it contains the increase in the flow of money. This is done by a two-step method. The first step is that the prime minister himself decides how much the macro increase will be.
How much the total medical expense budget is going to go up?
Right. ... Having made that the first step, the second step is how to allocate that [increase] among the various procedures and drugs. And in this we have a completely different approach to that of the United States, where you, in Medicare, ... it's an across-the-board conversion factor, so that if there's a 2 percent decrease, it would be applied 2 percent for every single procedure in the surgical and in the medical procedures.
But in Japan this is done on a procedure-by-procedure basis and by a drug-by-drug basis, and the way that is done is that a survey is made of the financial situation of the providers.
So you're saying the government has the power to determine these prices, what they're going to pay. Don't the providers, hospitals, have power in pricing?
They can certainly negotiate, but after making the first-step decision I was saying -- prices are going to be decreased by 3 percent -- then everything must be fitted within that. So certain prices may go up, certain prices may go down, but in general, the final results should be that the overall budget should be as set by the first step, a 3 percent reduction.
Every two years, when they set the cost for things, they publish them in this big telephone-book-like manual. And everything's in there?
So there's one price for sutures and another price for stitches?
Yeah. If it's more than 10 square inches, it will be this amount; if it's less than 10 square inches, it will be this amount. So it's very finely defined. ...
Let's take an example of how these low costs work. In Denver, where I live, if you get an MRI of your neck region it's $1,200, and the doctor we visited in Japan says he gets $98 for an MRI. So how do you do that?
Well, in 2002 the government says that the MRIs, we are paying too much, so in order to be within the total budget, we will cut them by 35 percent.
If I'm a doctor, why don't I say, "I'm not going to do them; it's not enough money"?
You forgot that we have only one payment system. So if you want to do your MRIs, unless you can get private-pay patients, which is almost impossible in Japan, you go out of business. ...
... The price of that MRI is so much cheaper in Japan. Doesn't he have to pay the same price, $5,000, for an MRI machine like the man in America?
Well, it depends on what kind of image density the radiologist wants. And the MRIs that are available in Japan are much less expensive than those that are typically found in the United States.
So the imaging machine is cheaper? ... To me that's another advantage of negotiating low prices: Then the supplying industry has to cut its prices, and the MRI makers met this need.
Right. And MRIs have now become very big in [the] export industry.
So the health ministry set a low price, the MRI makers make cheaper machines to help the doctors meet that price, and now Japan is exporting these around the world?
Right. ... This is a situation where the market does work in health care. ...
... How many insurance plans are there in Japan?
Three thousand five hundred, but that's because about 2,000 of them are from local government, which are for plans for those who are not employed, and 1,500 is the number of large companies [which] have their own.
But for the doctor it doesn't matter, because there is one payment form and one set of forms to file.
Does this also give you a benefit on administrative costs?
It certainly does, because first of all, it's much easier to do the books if there's only one payment system. ... And then because providers and brands cannot individually negotiate, then you need to have highly educated and highly paid staff in order to do the complicated negotiations.
And an American doctor, as you know, when they file a bill with the insurance company, the claim is denied, constantly denied. Can an insurance plan in Japan deny a claim?
It can, but that is a secondary process. The primary process is that in each of our states there's a central [clearinghouse], ... and on average they deny about 1 percent in a month of the claims.
Does the doctor then generally forget that or fight it?
They can appeal, ... but the second part is that the health [insurance] brands can also have a secondary review, and then they can ask the state-level [clearinghouse] ... to reconsider. But it's up to the state level. ...
Is this right that, in Japan, there is just less cutting, less invasive surgery than in other cultures?
Yes, I think it's true. There's several explanations. [One] is that there's a cultural explanation, that we do not like to take aggressive treatment. Also, from the disease perspective, we have less heart disease. But I think, again, the system answer is the most convincing, and that is that our surgical procedure fees are low, so it does not financially pay so much to undertake these surgical procedures. And the fourth aspect is that surgeons who do operate are paid a fixed salary. So there's no incentive -- as we say, economic incentive -- to undertake that one extra surgery.
So, looking at it purely from the economic point of view, if I'm a doctor I could make more money treating somebody over years rather than doing surgery on them.
Yeah, a physician focusing on primary care would make more money than the cardiologist. ...
It seems to me that doctors should be livid about this control [from the government]?
Yeah. Well, again, when you say doctors, each doctor has his or her own stake, and whether that stake can [have an] impact on the general policy or not is another issue. In Japan the private practitioners are very well organized under the Japan Medical Association, so the Japan Medical Association has so far managed to cushion the effect of cost containment on their private practices. But the hospital physicians are not so well organized, so they have taken a harder hit, and that is why there's serious talk about paying hospital physicians more.
In America we tend to think of a doctor as a rich guy who drives a Lexus to the country club for dinner. Is that the image of a doctor in Japan?
To a certain extent. But ... it's only successful doctors in private practice who can have that kind of lifestyle, and not all those in private practice. As far as those employed in hospitals, ... if they are working in an urban, large medical center, they are going to [make] what their peers in the college would be earning in large companies, so there won't be that much difference. If they go to work in the rural hospital, then they might be only twice as much ... as the urban medical center physician. ...
... And this helps lure people to rural hospitals?
Yeah, because the rest of the hospital staff, the nurses and others, are more willing to work in rural hospitals at lower wages, so they can afford to pay higher wages to doctors. ... But this is a whole different notion than the United States, where orthopedic surgeons can get much higher income, especially if they practice in an urban medical center. ...
[Are these lower wages] driving down the number of doctors?
Well, as far as the competition to get into medical school, it's gone up. ...
A major issue in America is this notion that our big manufacturing companies are strapped with lots of health insurance costs, particularly the auto companies. ... For example it is often said that GM pays $1,600 per car for health care, and I just read recently in a big American newspaper that Toyota pays nothing. Is that correct?
That's completely wrong, because every employer is mandated to provide insurance to their employees. But since [health] expenditures are lower in Japan, the resulting premiums that they must pay are lower. So the premium rate for large companies is 7.5 percent of [an employee's] total income, and this is paid just over half by the employer and just under half by the employees. ... The law states that the employer must pay over half. So it can be from 50 percent to 80 percent, and that's negotiable.
For an average worker in Japan, … what would the average health care premium be per month?
Well, the average payment is about $3,000 per month, so 7.5 percent of that would be $230.
That's covering the family, too?
That covers the family.
At least the employer, we know, pays half ... So the employee at a decent Japanese company, for his whole family, is paying about $140 a month in health care insurance?
That's an incredible bargain by American standards.
You must remember that about one-third of health expenditures is financed by taxes, but at least the health insurance [premium] part would be about that amount. ... Our health expenditure is 8 percent of GDP [gross domestic product], whereas the U.S.'s is 16 percent. ...
... What medical services are covered in the basic insurance package?
... The general rule is that anything that is shown to be effective and safe will be covered.
Anything a doctor would do to you?
Is dental care covered?
Mental health?
Not for gratis.
For surgery or something?
Yes. ...
The care overall in Japan, the quality, is good?
Well, just the end results, the macro health [indicators] of infant mortality and longevity are the best in the world. If you can say that the health care system has little to do [with it], then you get to the next question: Why are you going to spend so much money?
So here we are in a country with the longest life expectancy, good health results, low costs -- sounds like paradise. Are there problems in paradise?
I think it's a mirror image of the United States in that we [underspend] on health care. For example, in the year 2006, health expenditures only increased by 0.1 percent, whereas the nominal GDP increased by ... 1.5 percent.
Health care went up 1/10 of 1 percent?
Right, and the reason why the government has this tight control over all prices is because the national government funds one-quarter of health expenditures, ... and the Japanese government now has a huge deficit amounting to 1.5 percent [of] GDP, and the debt is still increasing as a result of having to make tax cuts and investing in public works during the 10 years of deficit.
So in order to [start] paying back, they are making every effort to cut expenditures. This is across-the-board cost containment, and health expenditures are under that umbrella.
And remember that this is happening at the time when Japan is having a very rapid growth for the elderly. According to my calculations, just aging within the population should contribute a 2 percent increase, so the fact that there has been only a 0.1 percent [increase] means that real ... expenditures did decrease. ...
The United States overspends on health care. To me, overspending is a bad thing, I can see that. You say Japan underspends. Why is that bad? If you can save money, isn't that a good thing?
The investment must be made. ... If you want to have the goodies -- the latest device, the latest drug -- that needs to be paid by someone. And it's difficult to say if this particular procedure or if this drug prescribed, would it be a most efficient use of resources or not? From the patients' perspective, they don't want to be efficient for their particular care. ...
In terms of controlling costs, Japanese people appear to be prodigious consumers of health care. They go to the doctor three times as often as Americans do, [have] many more MRIs, many more scans than Americans have. They stay in the hospital much longer than Americans for the same procedure. Is that an area where they could control costs?
Yeah, but the government has made it a policy goal that they should shorten the length of stay. ... This is going to be [attached] to the subsidies that they're going to give to our new health insurance for the elderly over 75, so this will have some teeth in it. But the problem with health care is this: Health care is like a balloon, that if you squeeze at one end, another end pops up. So the pressure to decrease the length of stay would result in shifting services to outpatient and to long-term care. ...
Why do Japanese people go to the doctor so often, three times as often as Americans? Do they like it?
Well, the one thing is that total time spent by the patient with the physician may not be that different, because the consultation times are pretty short.
Pretty short? Meaning how long?
If it's a repeat consultation, it may be five minutes or so. ... If you're an elderly patient with a chronic illness, you may like to have a short visit to assure yourself, but if you want to have a long time going over the issues, that may not be a good practice. But the doctors may say that, since the consultation fees are kept low, they ask the patients to come more often. But then that's why the co-payment rate has been increased.
The co-payment is what the patient pays when he shows up at the doctor; used to be 20 percent of the bill?
For the employer it used to be zero. There was no co-payment due until 1980, and then they introduced 10 percent, and then it went up to 30 percent ... in 2003.
Do people go to the doctor less often because they have to pay more?
As part of the government team, we looked at the impact of the increase of the co-payment, and it has a short-term effect. ... But if you look at the annual records, it does not seem to have ... an effect.
The difference between paying 20 percent of the cost of a visit and 30 percent is how many yen?
For outpatient, it may seem pretty significant, but once it goes over a certain catastrophic amount, then the co-payment goes down to 1 percent. ... It's on a monthly basis, ... and the amount depends on the income. So if you have a low income, the cutoff point may be about $300, and if you're high-income, it would be about $1,200.
So people who are sick and have to go to the doctor a lot have a big break on the co-pay?
Well, I think it's mostly for inpatients who have very high cost, ... like dialysis and hemophilia. ... For these particular diseases, the catastrophic [rate] kicks in after $100 ... per month. If consecutive months exceed a certain amount, or if there are more members of your household exceed[ing] that amount, then that amount is lowered for the second month or for the second member of the family.
I think what you're getting at here is that they've got a system that makes sure people don't go broke paying medical bills.
Right. I think the main goal of a public health insurance system is to prevent people [from] going broke.
How many people in Japan go bankrupt because of medical bills?
None, or at least there should be none, because first of all, they should be covered, and if they're not covered, then they can get covered by paying back one year's premiums. And if they can't pay back the one year's premium, then they will be on public assistance.
If somebody in Japan loses [her] job, does she lose her health insurance, too?
She loses the employment-based insurance, but then there's the community-based insurance, which is mandated for her to enroll and for the local government to enroll that person.
Can they turn her down if she has heart disease or something?
That is forbidden. ... Neither can the employer deny in hiring someone because of health conditions.
So if lose my job I don't lose my health insurance; in fact, I'm required to buy it, but from the city instead of an employer?
Yeah. ... It's more like taxes rather than having something that you want to pay or must pay. ...
So in Japan you can walk into the hospital and say, "I need to see a heart specialist," and you can see one that day [without a referral]?
Right, and the government is trying to discourage that by a higher co-pay if you don't come with a letter, but that is only ... for the first visit; then everything else is covered. So it's not really acting too efficiently or effectively. ...
As a patient, I think that's great; I want to walk in and see a specialist without an appointment. As an economist, what do you think? Is that a good system?
No, but then for that gatekeeper function to be desirable, ... the patient must trust the gatekeeper. ... But then we have the reverse situation in that the patient may think he needs to be seen by a cardiologist, ... but may actually have another disease or maybe a psychological condition which could be better [if] followed up by a primary care physician.
We have a debate going on about health care in America. Some of the candidates basically say that anything in a foreign country is socialized medicine. Is Japan using socialized medicine?
Yeah. I mean, ... this is all part of the social health insurance system, so it is socialized medicine. For the government to decide unilaterally that the prices would go up or down, this is a socialized system.
Does the government own the hospitals?
No. ... The federal government owns only 10 percent. ... Ten percent is for the voluntary organizations. Eighty percent is truly private.
That's a higher percentage of private hospitals than in the U.S., isn't it?
The doctors are privately employed businesspeople, is that correct?
Two-thirds of our doctors are employed by hospitals. One-third are private practitioners working in clinics, but they do not have hospital privileges. ...
So hospitals are private, only 10 percent of the doctors work for the government, to me that's not the description of socialized medicine: the government running, the government providing, the health care.
But, for example, England's National Health Service, they have tried to privatize their hospitals by creating foundation trusts. I think that is a general direction in that it's just a tradition of the government being both the financing part and the providing part. They have been trying to split that so that there should be more market efficiency. It's the same internal market argument.
Do market efficiencies work in medicine?
To a certain extent. For example, the lowering of drug prices and for devices, that is an area where there are tangible aspects of it so that you can compare apples to apples. But if you are talking about comparing health insurance grants and trying to make them compete, they will compete on cherry-picking.
By picking healthy patients?
These health care plans covering basic health care for a worker and his family, do they make a profit?
No, because they are not allowed to make a profit. And anything left over is carried over to the next year, and if there's a lot carried over, then the premium rate would go down.
We've been hearing about Japan moving toward a more market-oriented system. Would that be moving toward the American direction?
... Back when [Junichiro] Koizumi was prime minister, there was a strong movement to allow extra billing. ... Extra billing is like, for example, using off-label drugs: The insurance says that this cancer drug can only be used for lung cancer because its studies have been only made for lung cancer, and we don't know whether that's effective for other cancer.
Now, the pro-market economy business leaders who were under the prime minister's council said that this should be deregulated, and providers can bill the part that is covered by the public health insurance to the public health insurance [and] the part that is not covered directly to the patient. But ... they decided, in effect, that the prohibition would remain, so that extra billing and balance billing would not be allowed.
Do you agree?
That's not a good way to go.
No, I don't think it's a good way to go, because the whole notion of choice in health care is very different from the typical market-economy situation. For example, plastic surgery may be the one area where market forces can work, where there's time available to make that rational choice; it is not a life-and-death situation, and the outcome is fairly predictable. ...
Do you think the Japanese people feel that everyone in this country should all have a basic package of medical coverage?
According to opinion polls, I would not only say basic but egalitarian coverage [for] all. Over 70 percent of the Japanese, when they're asked that question, say they're not only in favor of basic coverage, they are in favor of egalitarian coverage.
Do you think we're going to make [a] major change in U.S. health care?
Aside from Iraq, it would be the biggest election issue in the presidential election. Instead of a big-bang solution, you would need to have incremental adjustments so that eventually you get there. So if the presidential term is four years, aim for a three-year plan.
To do it in one term would be quite an achievement.
I think you do need to do it in one term, because there's no assurance that the president will be re-elected.


text:
Avenel, Vicomte Georges d'
Avenel, Vicomte Georges d'
Born June 2, 1855; died Feb. 7, 1939. French historian.
Many of Avenel's works, which contain much factual material, are devoted to French history under Richelieu, whom he depicts as the creator of a classless state. In his historical and economic works Avenel attempts to demonstrate that capitalism leads to an increase in the number of wealthy people and of their holdings—that is, to an increase in economic inequality. But at the same time, he contends that it is the small owners who will allegedly benefit economically more than the capitalists.
WORKSRichelieu et la monarchie absolue, vols. 1–4. Paris, 1884–90.
Histoire économique de la propriété, des salaires, des denrées et de tous les prix en général: Depuis l'an 1200 jusqu'en 1800, 2nd ed., vols. 1–7. Paris, 1913–26.
Découvertes d'histoire sociale. Paris, 1920.

subset: commoncrawl


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Update: Elder Scrolls Online May Have Day One Vulnerability
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Update: Elder Scrolls Online May Have Day One Vulnerability
All games developed by Bethesda since 2001 carry a security exploit that may put Elder Scrolls Online's launch at risk.
Update: Since The Elder Scrolls Online is being developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and uses "its own unique engine", there is little chance this particular vulnerability will exist in the finished game.
There are two generally accepted facts when it comes to Bethesda's RPGs: They feature vast worlds that players can explore for hours, and those worlds will be filled with various bugs. Such quirks are par for the course in single-player games, but they could create all-new problems for the MMO setting of Elder Scrolls Online. A security analyst poking around the developer's back catalog has discovered a vulnerability within Bethesda games stretching back to 2001. While the exploit was relatively harmless for single-player titles, the same code within Elder Scrolls Online could subject players to security and privacy risks when it launches later this year.
This exploit is a format string vulnerability, which allows users to manipulate the game's running stack. By activating specialized functions using the developer's console, players can display information hidden in the program's memory or, with a few keystrokes, crash the game to the desktop. The exploit has been tested using Morrowind, Skyrim, and even Fallout 3, although abuses would be understandably rare in single-player games. Trouble is, if Elder Scrolls Online uses the same code, potentially any user could access the functions of other systems, or perhaps the server itself.
So let's say the exploit is included in Elder Scrolls Online: What's the worst that could happen? The most likely answer is an increased risk of DDoS attacks on servers, which would prevent anyone from being able to play their recently purchased game. One could also activate administrative privileges for their characters, or even more concerning, display the account passwords of other players. That said, now that the exploit is public knowledge, hopefully Bethesda can patch any offending code before its game reaches the public. Not only would that make the launch easier on players and staff alike, but it would prevent an MMO launch disaster comparable to Diablo III in its scope.
Source: Joe's Security Blog, via Warcry
Allow me to quote what i said on the Facebook comment section on the article.
"ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE IS NOT BEING DEVELOPED BY BETHESDA! JUST PUBLISHED BY IT! (They do however have most creative control over it)."
This game is not made by Bethesda.
This game is not built in the same engine as any of the previous games.
This is a very silly article.
As other posters above have indicated, this article is absolute bunk.
Exactly. The game is being built from the ground up by Zenimax. TES engine would not work well in an MMO set up.
Remove the article, it is nothing but bunk.
I've seen better journalism in a KKK newsletter.
That is some pretty wild speculation, not to mention baseless. Also does this mean the Elders scrolls MMO is coming out soon?
Bethesda published games are also known for being so VERY bug free!
See: New Vegas. Brink.
That's not the point. The point is that the odds of this specific security vulnerability being in there are slim to none, because there's no reason to believe that this game would have any of the vulnerable code, seeing how it's being made by a different developer and (almost certainly) using a different engine.
Not silly, plain and utter stupid. Seriously does no-one working at the Escapist have any idea how game development, game engines and publishers work? Urge to wander off to a competent website....... rising.
Captcha: brush your teeth - fine if you say so captcha.... jerk
Okay fine. A Wordpress blogger can crash his Bethesda games with a console command. I believe it. MMOs don't give players access to the console so it's a moot point. Really, no effort was spent investigating the likelihood of this claim before this article was posted.
I hear that the previous few Elder Scrolls games also had a zero day exploit players could ue to alter the game to their benefit, called a console. Since it was in the others, it's likely to be in ESO too, right? Players could thus potentially exploit this "console" to level themselves, add items, and even kill other players or npcs!
^ Logic used by the article. Seriously, I'll add my +1 to the request to have this article removed.
I think I've played around with game stacks trying to get mods or quests to complete, it isn't that big of a deal.
Bethesda games have a history of being moddable and having dev functions like the console available for players to fiddle with.
I with the other posters on this. This article isn't very good.
In other news...
Come on News Room, you're better than this.
+1 to the "Why is this even news?" crowd.
Different developer
There is no logical reason to assume this kind of exploit has any possibility of being used.
This comes across as sensationalism purely for the sake of generating views.
Wait, I thought Bethesda was only-
Well, guess I was right. If anything, the problem ToSO will have on launch is not having enough servers to meet demand, like we have been seeing recently with the more infamous Simcity and Diablo 3 debacles.
I logged in just to add to the other crowd that this is a completely baseless and terribly researched article. Really brings down my perceptions of The Escapist, different engine and dev team entirely for ESO. Come on, if I was Bethesda's PR team, I would be pretty upset at you guys.
Yep, different developer and different engine. The article should just be removed or be marked with a huge disclaimer stating its nothing but pure and terrible speculation, before some other "news site" picks this up and starts spreading it around.
Does anyone really think you are going to have access to the developer console for ES:O like you do in the single player games? Really?
Yeah... in future, maybe you should ensure your articles are based on a bit more than the random musings found on some guy's blog.
this is a very nice blogpost by some random guy, but it completely ignores the fact that it was already established that TES online will not run on their endlessly recycled gamebryo engine. (which is fine by me in theory - it evolves pretty awesomely)
on a more calm note: I am pretty sure that despite my allcaps, this is a relevant problem.
You had a bug free experience with New Vegas? The very thought of this happening to anyone astounds me.
Also, Fanghawk - concerning doesn't work in your third paragraph, disconcerting fits. well it works, but I don't like it, so it doesn't.
You might want to get your sarcasm detector checked.
In other news; if the game was made with butter, it would melt in sunlight!
This article takes the cake for sensationalist title. Was any research done before this was written?
IF!? You're writing an article based purely on speculation!?
As many people have pointed out, Elder Scrolls Online isn't being developed by Bethesda. That alone should have given enough of a clue that it's not likely to happen.
If the developer console was available to everyone in this game it would be doomed to fail anyway.
Time I started getting geek news elsewhere I think.
Not really. Bethesda has been working with Gamebryo for over 10 years now, why would they abandon an engine with which they've gotten that far?
It's pretty easy for them now: they don't have to write the engine, just net and sync code. They've also got all the systems for NPCs and AI already coded, why write something new when the old one works just as well?
Even IF the dev team is different from the usual one for TES games, if they can get an engine that's already working well for the kind of thing they're trying to accomplish, they won't say no.
Because they've already abandoned it?
Skyrim was made with the in-house Creation Engine.
Which was made based on the source code of Gamebryo. It was also made to be compatible with all the processes the dev team was familiar with from Gambryo.
You mean C++? You do realize that its one of the more common computer languages? Hell, I think my sister is learning it for her computer science degree.
yeh it will have day one vulnerability it's called Wild Star. Seriously Wild Star wild star shaping out to be quite interesting game with great design and features, very different from ESO or at least what i saw of it.
Regardless of which engine was used to create skyrim, the current iteration of a gamebryo engine is very unsuitable for multiplayer play, for one very important reason. The features of the engine utilized in Skyrim require a lot of processing power to properly calculate. These calculations would require even more calculations if netcode were put into the game, opening up even more bugs and halting gameplay
Indeed, if Skyrim's engine was used for the Elder Scrolls Online, not only would this article be true, but the game would be unplayable once the amount of players logged in goes into the double figures.
But that doesn't matter at this time, since ESO is being developed by Zenimax Online Studios, who are not skyrim's developers. Skyrim's developers are Bethesda Game Studios. It is safe to assume that a different developer would be assigned a more appropriate game engine, if they do not already have an in-house engine for use for online game development.
Here are some wiki links relating to the two developers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZeniMax_Online_Studios, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethesda_Game_Studios
A) C++ is the most common programming language.
You're trying to mock me with something which you seemingly don't understand.
Thats a pretty far fetched claim. Elder Scrolls Online may not use the same engine but that doesn't matter. A client is never secure. A hacker could go ahead and use the vulnerability, or take the much simpler route of simply modifying the client. The presence of a client vulnerability is completely irelevant.
Illogical and untrue assumption, not even based upon real experience, uttered by an incompetent writer.
Did anyone even think this troufh? Screw this website. I'm out.
Lol....if Bethesda is giving the players access to the developer console in a MMORPG they would be the stupid!
Seriously...this article is just embarrassing!
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Unpaid Wages
The minimum wage in Massachusetts is set at $8.00 per hour and employees must be paid at least minimum wage for all hours worked. Labor laws also mandate that employees must be paid all monies owed to them by employers under the terms of an employment agreement and that employers must pay overtime for non-exempt employees who exceed 40 hours of work over the course of a week.
Unfortunately, employers sometimes fail to pay wages as promised to employees and as required by federal and state law. When this occurs, workers are entitled to take legal action. Complaints can be made to the Fair Labor Division or civil lawsuits can be filed to obtain unpaid wages. In any situation where you aren't paid what you've been promised, an experienced Boston workers' compensation lawyer at the Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Glassman can help.Understanding Unpaid Wage Claims
Unpaid wage claims can arise in a number of different situations including:
- When employers fail to provide a last paycheck to an employee who has quit, resigned or been terminated.
- When employers unfairly and illegally take deductions from a worker's paycheck, such as deducting for equipment or uniforms from the money that an employee is owed and has earned.
- When employers refuse to pay workers for time spent on-site preparing for work or for time spent in mandatory orientation or training sessions.
- When employers pay less than the minimum wage or fails to pay for all hours worked.
- When employers refuse to pay an employee for accrued unpaid vacation time.
These are just a few of many different situations that can give rise to unpaid wage claims. Regardless of the employer's motivations for refusing to pay for work performed, the employer's actions are a violation of both federal and state law and employees have a number of options to pursue to get their money from their delinquent employer.Taking Action for Unpaid Wages
If your employer has not provided your final paycheck or you otherwise have outstanding unpaid wages, you can complete a Wage Complaint and submit it to the Fair Labor Division of the Office of the Attorney General. Instructions can be found at Mass.gov and you will need to include on the form the dates of work for which you were not paid; the employer's complete contact information; a description of the work performed and the location where the work was completed; copies of paystubs; information on when you last demanded payment from your employer; and other details pertinent to the claim.
You can also file your own lawsuit against an employer 90 days after filing a Wage Complaint with the Fair Labor Division or sooner with permission from the Attorney General's Office. The compensation you may receive in a civil action includes not just money for unpaid wages, but also triple damages and legal fees.
To learn more or for help getting your claim started, contact the Boston employment lawyers at the Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Glassman today to schedule a free no obligation consultation.


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Programmatic Advertising Gives Recruiters MORE Control of Their Jobs and Recruitment Spend
Yes, you read that correctly. We are going to shift the responsibility of which jobs get posted out of the hands of recruiters and move it to programmatic job advertising software. And it's going to lead to more applications and more placements. For you. Let me explain. ELIMINATION OF JOB SLOTS It's human nature to… Continue reading


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The table is set for Milos Raonic.
In his eighth professional season, the kid who was born in Montenegro and grew up in Thornhill, Ont. will finish the 2016 campaign at No. 3 in the world, behind only top-ranked Andy Murray and Serbian star Novak Djokovic, the No. 2 player.
A brutally close loss to Murray in three sets Saturday at the ATP World Finals in London vaulted Raonic to the third spot, but also showed just how very, very close he is to becoming the first Canadian singles player of either gender ever to get to No. 1 in the world.
He had a match point on Murray in the final set tiebreak after matching the Scot shot-for-shot, angle-for-angle, inspiration-for-inspiration for more than 3 ½ hours. Long gone are the days when Raonic is just about a supersonic serve.
Twice in the third set, Murray broke Raonic to serve for the match, and twice Raonic — once dismissed as a poor returner — fought back to break Murray.
But in the end, Murray eked out a win, and then on Sunday outpointed Djokovic in much less dramatic fashion to finish the season at No. 1.
So what does it all mean for Raonic?
Well, in a season in which he dropped his trademark sleeve and again battled injuries, Raonic has gone higher than any Canadian before. Eugenie Bouchard, before her career cratered, went to No. 5 in October, 2014.
Montreal-born Greg Rusedski was as high as No. 41 before he turned his back on his country in mid-career to be a Brit for commercial purposes, and then he went to No. 4. Raonic's rise to third in the world nicely scrubs Rusedski and his Union Jack bandana from the record book for good.
Interestingly, Raonic won a single tournament in 2016, the first event of the year in Brisbane when he defeated Roger Federer. He went 52-17 and won more than $4.6 million in prize money. As far as Grand Slam competitions, he went to the semifinals in Australia, the round of 16 at Roland Garros, lost to Murray in the Wimbledon final and fell early at the U.S. Open.
In some ways, his rise to No. 3 was about consistency more than excellence, and also to some degree about the end of the "Big Four" era.
Murray and Djokovic are still at the top, but both are 29. The 35-year-old Federer hasn't played since losing to Raonic at Wimbledon and has fallen to No. 16 in the world. He plans to return next season, but his dominant days are over.
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, is 30, was limited to 53 matches in 2016 and has fallen to No. 9. Most of the talk about the superb Majorcanthese days comes from breathless tabloid reports on whether he has undergone a hair transplant.
Other than 23-year-old Dominic Thiem, meanwhile, Raonic is the youngest member of the ATP Top 10. For six years, since first breaking into the top 100, he has relentlessly surged upwards despite his frequent injury absences.
His strength lies three areas. First, the massive serve, which got him on tour in the first place. Second, his willingness to work diligently at developing other elements of his game. The way in which he rallied, attacked and counter-punched against Murray on Saturday would have been unthinkable even two years ago.
Finally, he has managed his career brilliantly. Many roll their eyes when he misses another match or tournament with injury, but he has always been able to understand the big picture and realize rest and recuperation are critical. As well, he has built a staff around him that sometimes resembles an NBA team, including multiple coaches — John McEnroe jumped on board for a portion of this season — and all the necessary training and support staff.
At 25, he is now moving into the prime of his career as most of his peers have passed theirs. Among the younger threats, a list that includes Thiem, bad boy Nick Kyrgios, 19-year-old Alexander Zverev of Germany and Frenchman Lucas Pouille, all could theoretically surpass Raonic if he plateaus. The next highly touted Canadians, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, are just getting started in relative terms.
As high as he has climbed, Raonic still needs that Grand Slam win. At the very least, the Rogers Cup is a bauble to pursue, one that he came close to capturing once.
But this is no longer about waiting for a breakthrough moment. Those usually come in the earlier stages of a promising career, like Monday morning when Canada's Mackenzie Hughes sunk a tricky 18-foot putt from just off the green at 8:17 a.m in chilly temperatures down on St. Simons Island, Ga., to win his first PGA tour event in a playoff.
That was one meaningful putt. The 25-year-old Kent State grad pocketed just over $1 million (U.S.), and gets an invitation to The Masters next year. He's off-and-running, the first PGA rookie to go wire-to-wire to win a tournament in 20 years. Now we'll sit back and see where this all leads.
For Raonic, many great moments have come in Davis Cup, on the lawns at the All-England Club and in winning eight ATP tournaments. He's already broken through. After eight years on tour, he's almost at the top.
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What comes next, in the next 4-5 years, will define Raonic's career. He's the best ever from his country. Other than Djokovic, he's beaten all of the biggest stars at least once.
Heading into his prime as the Big Four slowly dissolves, it's all there for the taking.
Damien Cox is the co-host of Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. He spent nearly 30 years covering a variety of sports for The Star. Follow him @DamoSpin. His column appears Tuesday and Saturday.


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Also known asGalanga, Blue Ginger, Thai gingerDescriptionThe Galangal plant is a rhizome with culinary and medicinal uses. Galangal was known to the ancient Indians, and has been in the West since the Middle Ages .In its raw form, galangal has a citrusy, earthy aroma, with hints of pine and soap in the flavor. The galangals are basically fascinating ginger-like spices used in South East Asia .It is available as a whole root, cut or powdered. The whole fresh root is very hard, and slicing it requires a sharp knife. Galangal can be used like ginger, powdered, bruised or crushed. One slice of the root is equivalent to half a teaspoon of powder. Greater galangal: A tropical herbaceous plant of the ginger family reaching to about 2m (6 1/2ft). The blade-like leaves are long and wide, 50 x 9cm (18 x 31/2in); the flowers are greenish white with a dark-red veined tip. The fruits are red berries. The rhizomes are orange to brown and ringed at intervals by the yellowish remnants of atrophied leaf bases.Lesser galangal: Smaller than the greater as the name implies. The leaves are long and slender, roughly half the dimensions of the greater. The whole plant, rarely more than 1m (3 1/4ft) high, vaguely resembles an iris. The flowers are small, white with red streaks. The rhizomes are reddish brown, about 2cm (3/4in) in diameter. They are more pungent than the greater and are similarly ringed.Kaempferia galangal: The rhizomes are reddish with a white interior. The plant is similar in appearance to lesser galangal.Chopped galangalGalangal should be washed very well since they tend to collect sand and soil. Put the washed and peeled galangal on a chopping board and chop them in small 1-2 inch sized pieces with a sharp knife.Galangal JuliennesWith a sharp knife the galangal is sliced on four sides to create a thick rectangular stick, then cut lengthwise into approximately 3 mm (1/8 inch) slices. Stacking these slices and again cutting lengthwise into strips creates thin uniform square sticks called juliennes. It is applied to the preparation of meat or fish, especially in stir fry techniques.Galangal StripsCut the galangal longitudinally to get thin or thick strips as per the recipe.Crushed galangalCrush the roots in a mortar and pestle to get coarsely crushed galangal.Grated galangalThis requires grating the galangal in a hand held grater. Shredded galangalThe rhizomes can be shredded coarsely in a shredded or manually, using a sharp knife. Cut the galangal in thin slices and then break up the pieces in shreds using fingers. Shredded collard is used as a garnish, in coleslaws or merely to reduce the cooking time.How to selectWhile shopping, it can be available in two forms ~ Whole and Ground. Whole galangal should be firm , orangish brown in colour and without any soft spots or discoloration. Galangal powder should be free of lumpiness and checked for expiry date.Culinary Uses· The use of greater galangal is confined to local Indonesian dishes such as curries.· Like ginger, galangal is a 'de-fisher' and so appears frequently in fish and shellfish recipes often with garlic, ginger, chilli and lemon or tamarind.How to storeThe powders should be stored in airtight containers and used within a short space of time.Health benefits· Resembling ginger in its effects, galangal is an aromatic stimulant, carminative and stomachic. · It is used against nausea, flatulence, dyspepsia, rheumatism, catarrh and enteritis. · It also possesses tonic and antibacterial qualities and is used for these properties in veterinary and homeopathic medicine. · In India it is used as a body deodorizer and halitosis remedy. Both galangals have been used in Europe and Asia as an aphrodisiac for centuries.
Try Recipes using Galangal


text: Package: wnpp Severity: wishlist Description: Query the online Dutch Van Dale dictionary This program is a frontend for the online Van Dale dictionary, http://www.vandale.nl/. It will search any word in the dictionary and return it's description in Dutch. Van Dale is a well known producer of dictionaries in the Netherlands. This is a multibinary package providing a commandline frontend, a Gnome frontend, a library and development package. It was downloaded from http://linux.denhaag.org/gnuvd/ Copyright: GPL version 2. Packages are already made, you can find them at ftp://sliepen.warande.net/pub/gnuvd/. -- Met vriendelijke groet / with kind regards, Guus Sliepen <email@example.com>


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|McClung, Anna
|McClung, Anna
Submitted to: Rice Technical Working Group Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A
Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: A number of important genes have already been tagged in crop plants and work on many more is currently underway. However, the application of DNA diagnostics in plant breeding is still in its infancy. Much of this work has been done using RFLP and other technologies cumbersome to apply to the thousands of samples that a breeder typically examines in a season. Molecular breeding programs thus require DNA assays that are rapid, cost effective and can be performed on thousands of samples. We are attempting to develop a cost effective high through-put DNA marker technology which does not require gel electrophoresis to facilitate marker-assisted breeding in plants. The TaqMan assay was tested using the granule bound starch synthase (GBSS) gene of rice, which is largely responsible for amylose content. Amylose content is important in rice as it largely determines rice cooking quality. Currently, about 20,000 amylose assays are performed each year on breeding lines developed by US public rice breeders. We have confirmed a single nucleotide change adjacent to the putative 5' leader intron splice site of GBSS gene by sequencing 32 rice varieties. The sequence data demonstrated that all 17 intermediate and high amylose varieties had the sequence ACGT in the putative 5' leader intron splice site while all 15 low amylose varieties had the sequence ACTT. TaqMan probes were produced corresponding to both alleles. PCR was performed on these 32 varieties, and also a segregating F5 population derived from a cross between low and high amylose varieties. Results obtained using this new non-gel based diagnostic technique indicated that it was effective in identifying the GBSS gene in rice and suggests that this will be an important tool for use in marker-assisted plant breeding.


text: According to a statement from the organisation, small businesses with less than ten employees can be subject to contract rollovers that often leave them on more expensive terms for a full 12-month period. It is paramount small and medium-sized enterprises get a grip on all their costs in the current economic headwinds, and with gas and electricity prices continuing to rise, this is one area in which they might curb their spending. Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, tabled the Micro Business and Energy Contract Rollover Bill that would limit the length of time energy companies can lock a business into a new agreement to 30 days. "It's deeply unfair that, while micro businesses often consume products and services in a similar way to domestic consumers, they do not enjoy the same level of regulatory protection," Ms Lucas said. "This leaves them vulnerable to being 'rolled over' from their current energy contract into a new one without their knowledge - making it impossible for them to negotiate a better deal for another 12 months." Research from the FSB has suggested one in four small companies have been rolled over without their knowledge, with 82 per cent of sampled businesses supporting the abolition of this practice. National chairman of the FSB John Walker said: "It is something which government and Ofgem must tackle to give small firms a better deal at the hands of the big six energy companies." No doubt a number of small firms will have increased their energy use last week as the winter weather conditions kicked in and much of the country suffered snow, ice and freezing temperatures. According to estimates from Green Flag Breakdown, this may also have proved costly for British businesses as 51.4 million working hours were lost to the bad weather - costing employers around £318 million. The content published on this website is intended to provide information only. The reader should seek advice from experts on the subject matter and independently verify the accuracy and relevance of any information provided here before relying upon it or using it for any reason. You can view our terms and conditions here.


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Of the hundreds of thousands of automotive enthusiasts around the world who worship at the altar of the sports car, very few can claim ownership of 2,014 Chevrolet Corvettes.
That's 2,013 in Charles Mallon's basement—contained in a display case and dozens of tote bags—and one in his garage: a 2005 LeMans blue C6.
One real Corvette is just enough for Charles Mallon.
Turning a hobby into a quest for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records isn't something one plans overnight. Indeed, Mallon has accomplished just that. In June, he was certified by the Guinness folks for having the "Largest Collection of Chevrolet Memorabilia."
He can trace back his affection for the marque to the age of 2, when, his mother tells him, he "could pick out a Corvette in a crowd, and run right over to it."
Mallon's Corvette-mania extends beyond just the miniature car models: He's been assembling all bits of Chevy memorabilia since he was 14, from signs and books and posters to soda cans and Chevy belts. But his heart lies with the car.
"I started serious collection when I was 14," he says. "I would bring home three models, then five models, and you get carried away. I'm into cars of all shapes and sizes, but growing up it was probably the look and the sound of the Corvette. It's America's sports car."
Now 54 and a consultant working with auto dealerships on facility improvements, Mallon—who's lived in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, all his life—still enlists friends to seek out Corvette miniatures on their visits to toy stores and flea markets. About 600, ranging in size from a few centimeters to more than a foot, reside in that display case in Mallon's basement, and the rest are packed away in tote bags, "rotated on display periodically," he says. Mallon's wife, Gina, is particularly good-natured about the whole thing. "That's his man-cave downstairs," she says. "It's not as bad as it sounds."
Mallon formerly belonged to a Corvette owners' club and is just now getting back in. "I traveled a lot and my kids were quite young so I didn't keep up with too many events," he says, but he's planning to attend a meeting later this summer. He's also planning to become more involved in the Corvette social media scene a community that embraces nearly 1 million fans.
One Corvette experience he's highly anticipating is checking out the Corvette 427 Collector Edition with available 60th Anniversary Design Package for 2013. "Should be a blast to drive… all that power in a convertible. I can't wait to collect all the miniatures produced for that special car."
Earlier this year Mallon assembled his entire collection on the floor of a high school gym near his home, part of the process of establishing a benchmark for a new Guinness category. He submitted a formal application—"to validate my insanity"—and was awarded the certificate in June.
Mallon says he's interacted with collectors who own many more miniatures than he does, but no one with as many Corvettes: "I catalog all of them on an Excel spread sheet; break 'em down by exterior color, interior color, wheel color."
Isolating a favorite for Mallon is part science, part impulse. He enjoys a couple of high-priced Franklin Mint Corvettes given to him as gifts, as well as a collection of cars with National Football League logos ("Every team but the Detroit Lions…they're owned by Ford").
Pick one? "A Betty Boop Corvette limited edition."
Thank you to Stephen Williams for this story. We liked it so much we wanted to share it with you!
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- 2013 Chevrolet Corvette 427 Convertible 60th Anniversary Quick Drive (motortrend.com)


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After a very long wait, Topp Dogg is finally here with their debut track "Say It"!
Topp Dogg is a 13-member hip-hop group from Stardom Entertainment. They're claimed to be the hip-hop version of Super Junior, which may or may not bode well with K-Pop fans.
Instead of releasing just a traditional music video, Topp Dogg decided that it would be best to simultaneously release their original music video for "Say It" alongside the dance practice version.
Topp Dogg's "Say It' is very catchy, especially the chorus, and the rapping is great, but I have to say… the auto-tune is a bit annoying. The song would be amazing without it.
All 13 members of Topp Dogg look intense, and I mean that in a good way. They all definitely have their own unique charms, which is great because it means that every member is able to stand out on their own from the group.
Check out Topp Dogg's music videos for "Say It" below! See if they're your new favorite rookie group.


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We try to always be ready for an unexpected adventure.Our daughter Jerie is nearing the end of her internship at Disney World in Florida.She called the end of October and said that she had 5 park hopper passes, plus discounted tickets to Mickey's Christmas party, plus we could watch the taping of the Christmas Special, plus she had a discounted character breakfast. Okay that was way too much to pass up. Used our Southwest reward points, found an inexpensive hotel and rental car and we were set. We invited Cindy's sister, husband and daughter. What could go wrong we were in Disney World….
We should have known that this wasn't going to be your typical trip, upon landing in Florida and waiting for Jim to return with the rental car, Bethany lost her gum. We looked and looked as I didn't want to step in it, found it on her Mom's dress!!!
After getting the gum off the dress, we dropped the bags at the hotel, picked up our "tour guide" Jerie and headed to Disney Springs. This is the shopping/eating area of the Disney park complex. One of Jerie's favorite places is Blaze Pizza. For around 10 dollar, you can get a pizza with whatever toppings you choose. Four pizzas was more than enough to feed the 6 of us.
Disney Springs has many places to eat and shop. There is an ATM cupcake, a dinosaur themed restaurant, street entertainment, like the gold statues, and a music DJ
We did a bit of shopping and had to get some pictures at the Lego store.
The next morning we grabbed breakfast at the hotel, had to start the day with Mickey waffles, and then headed to Animal Kingdom. This was the first time the Searle family had been to Disney World and we only had 3 days, so we wanted to see as much as possible.
First stop was the Safari. It doesn't matter how many times you have been on this ride, it will always be different, as you never know what animals you will see.
We did Everest and It's a Bug's Life. Along the way we did the Wilderness Explorer badges. You can get the book near the front gate.
We next headed to the Rapids. We had brought along inexpensive ponchos so we didn't get wet.
On our way out of Animal Kingdom we happened upon Briar Fox, Briar Rabbit, and Briar Bear from Splash Mountain. This is rare and Jerie was very excited to get their pictures.
We headed towards Epcot but made a quick stop at McDonalds. If you are park-hopping, this is a great way to save some money as it is less expensive than eating in the parks. Plus we had some gift cards leftover from a Christmas present so it didn't cost us anything to eat.
At Epcot, it was the last day of the Food Festival, so enjoyed some culinary delights, built our car at the Test Track, tasted the flavors of Coke around the world, and enjoyed the sights.
It was getting dark, we took our last look at Epcot and jumped on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. We wanted to do a few rides and watch the fireworks.
It had been a long day, but Thursday was filled with many new adventures. We had a character breakfast at the Floridian resort, tickets to the Christmas taping with Julianne Hough, and of course Mickey's Christmas party. The morning didn't go quite as planned…
Jim slipped in the shower and split his lip. We dropped Jerie and the Searle family off at breakfast while we headed to the clinic for stitches. To make a long story short, not impressed with the medical care in Orlando. They wouldn't stitch his lip unless we went to a surgical center and had a plastic surgeon do it, so we headed back to the hotel and steri-stripped his lip. We always carry a small first-aid kit that has everything we would need in an emergency, and this was an emergency. It cost us about 100 in supplies and a prescription for an anti-biotic. Saved us 8000 in what they wanted to charge. Not advising to follow this same path, but we did not have the time needed, as they wanted us to stay extra days. After Jim took a short nap we headed to Mickey's Christmas Party. Unfortunately we missed the character breakfast and show, but we were told that they were really fun. Jim looked a bit like Mario with his black bandages.
We had a great view of the sunset as we headed on the boat to Magic Kingdom. Obviously, Jim needs his lip split more often as he scored almost 900,000 points at Buzz Lightyear. At the Christmas party, they served a variety of cookies, along with hot chocolate and hot cider. They also had a variety of Christmas themed treats for sale. This is also an opportunity to meet the Princes. We met Cinderella who was accompanied by Prince Charming. In a future post, we will have a bunch of character meet and greet pictures.
Brian was a big fan of the Teacup ride. Santa was in the special Christmas parade and Jerie was happy to sit and wait for the special Christmas party fireworks and castle light show
On Friday, we flew back to SLC. We are not BYU fans, but they had tickets for $13.50 as a fund-raiser for the Boy Scouts, so we enjoyed the game, good food, and nice weather in Provo, Utah. We also watched Cosmo the Cougar, set the world record for the most back hand-springs in a minute by a mascot.
This adventure was fun and memorable to say the least.
Categories: Disney, family, Small Adventure


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This document intends for vidyo.io beginner. You can have the knowledge for building simple video chat application. If you have developed your application by other company solution and VidyoWorks API, you will experience how you can more easily develop video chat application than others.
Required software
- Android Studio
- Android Package of Vidyo.io
It can be downloaded from https://developer.vidyo.io/packages
Getting Started
Create a new Android Studio Project
- Start Android Studio and click "Start a new Android Studio project"
- Set Application name and location
- Select Minimum Android SDK
- The Vidyo.io SDK supports the Android 4.4+.
- Add an Empty Activity
Import the Android library
- Download the Android Package from https://developer.vidyo.io/packages
- This Package includes the Android library and a sample that can help developers to realize many features and start quickly.
- Copy all libraries into project libs directory: VidyoIODemo app "libs"
Develop the application
Configure Project
Add CAMERA and INTERNET permission in AndroidManifest.xml
Code Snippet:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
Add source sets in the build.gradle file.
Code Snippet:
sourceSets {main { jniLibs.srcDirs = ['libs']}}
Design the UI
- Use "RelativeLayout" in the activity_main.xml.
- Change to Design View and remove "Hello World!" TextView.
- Add 3 Operation Buttons:
START button with properties – Text: Start, onClick: Start
CONNECT button with properties – Text: Connect, onClick: Connect
DISCONNECT button with properties – Text: Disconnect, onClick: Disconnect
- Add Video Frame.
- Add the FrameLayout with properties – ID: videoFrame
Implement Source Code
- Import package of Vidyo.io library and add private member variable of VidyoConnector and FrameLayout.
- Initialize Vidyo Client.
Code Snippet:
Connector.SetApplicationUIContext(this); Connector.Initialize();
videoFrame = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.videoFrame);
Implement Start method
Code Snippet:
public void Start(View v) { vc = new VidyoConnector(videoFrame,VidyoConnector.VidyoConnectorViewStyle.VIDYO_CONNECTORVIEWSTYLE_Default, 16, "", "", 0);
vc.ShowViewAt(videoFrame, 0, 0, videoFrame.getWidth(),
Implement Connect method
Code Snippet:
public void Connect(View v) {
String token = "cHJvdmlzaW9uAGRlbW91c2VyX2IwOTZhNkA2OGY2MTMudmlkeW8uaW8ANjM2NjcxNjc5ODYAADI3NGEzZTUwZThkOTI2NmNlNzgyOTNmYmE2NDczYzM4NThjNGQ4OGYxMzc2MzY2MjU0ODRiMDIyZmZkMWEzY2ZmMzFkZDM0NzQ3ZjBhOGU5MTk2NjAyYzBiNGVmZDczMQ==";
vc.Connect("prod.vidyo.io", token, "DemoUser", "DemoRoom", this);
Get a token quickly
- Access to https://vidyo.io and login.
- Go to menu DEVELOPERS Demo.
- Click "GENERATE LINK" to get a meeting link.
The meeting link is as below:
The "%3D" has to be replaced by "=" when use it in the code, because it is transformed from equal sign "=" as URL rule.
How to Generate a Token
Access to https://vidyo.io and login.
Go to menu DEVELOPERS Documentation "How to Generate a Token"
Implement Disconnect method
Code Snippet:
public void Disconnect(View v) { vc.Disconnect();}
Implement IConnect Interface
Code Snippet:
public void OnSuccess() {}
public void OnFailure(VidyoConnector.VidyoConnectorFailReason vidyoConnectorFailReason) {}
public void OnDisconnected(VidyoConnector.VidyoConnectorDisconnectReason vidyoConnectorDisconnectReason) {}
The connect listener can be register when vc.Connect(…) method is invoked, which need to implement the iConnect interface.
Build and Run the Application
At first, go to Android mobile's "Developer Options" and enable the "USB Debugging".
And then connect mobile to the computer, which would be recognized by "Android Monitors" of Android Studio.
- Click run button to execute application.
- Click Start button and preview self.
- Click Connect button to join the meeting.
Other participants can join meeting via above URL generated from Vidyo.io.
- Click Disconnect button to leave the meeting.
Note: Everyone has to join the meeting via the same resourceId.
Video Clip – Vidyo.io | Build an Android Video Chat App in Minutes


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I had a few people mention this as a highly influential book on many well-known christians whose own writings I have read and liked. So I thought it would be worthwhile getting this book and having a read. I have to note that this is an extremely rich book, full of some much deeper theology than I was expecting of it. It is extremely well-research and referenced, clearly the product of a knowledgeable and passionate mind.
The one main criticism I would have was of an opportunity missed in the 2005 updated edition; specifically that of the language used. The style of writing is not as accessible as it might otherwise have been. Some of the phraseology is archaic and not straightforward to the lay reader. This is further used by the Bible quotations which are mostly from very old translations, not in the modern vernacular. For this reason, a modern reader who isn't familiar with this way of putting things (which I think would still have seemed a little antiquated when it was first published in the 1970s) could be easily put off.
Putting that small criticism aside and focussing on the substance of the book, it is clear to see why it is so highly esteemed. The huge range of references means that the vast majority of what the author has proposed is backed up with evidence. The real difference in this book that sets it apart is the unflinching look at ALL aspects of God's nature. Too often, the idea of God showing jealousy, judgement and wrath is dodged, ignored or glossed over by many a christian writer.
In terms of the scope of the book, the author has been very thorough. He has not left out any significant areas of God's character. I think this is a book I will come back to again and again. I haven't yet used the study questions at the back, but have had a flick through them, and they appear to provide good food for thought. It's not a short book and if you follow up all the references it will take several weeks to work your way through, but it will be well worth it.


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Getty Images stock
The 30th Annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo., kicked off this past weekend. With over 450 breweries from 48 states featured, approximately 2,375 different beers were served to close to 50,000 attendees. Needless to say, it was a drinking party not to be missed. Joining a growing cocktail trend, brewmasters delved into the deviant side of beer by adding basil, guava, chilies, and even bacon. Here are nine breweries that went on a limb to experiment and did it well.
Bull & Bush Brewery: Turnip the Beets
Eating your veggies takes on new meaning with this 2011 bronze metal-winning beer, Turnip the Beets. Head brewer Gabe Moline first came up with the name, then made the actual beer. Moline said they brought Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay barrels to their Denver location and filled them with chardonnay grapes, Champagne yeast and organic beets and turnips. After multiple tries, they finally got a flavor they liked. The resulting beer has a nice cotton candy head, a mildly sweet smell, and a smooth earthy flavor, which, in the end, isn't like salad at all.
Steelhead: Guava-licious IPA
This Eugene, Ore brewery has been turning out inventive beverages since 1991. Their pinkish guava-licious IPA is perfect for brunch: Who needs a mimosa when brewmaster Eddie Leal has put so much fruit into a beer? "I was eating a fresh guava one day and was inspired," he said. The flavor of the guava really comes through in the light ale, and, even though you can taste the fruit, it's not too jammy.
Uncommon Brewers: Organic Bacon Brown Ale
Yes, this is a meat beer. The Santa Cruz, Calif., brewery chucks in hunks of applewood-cured pork into the process to give this sweet brown ale a smoky, meaty taste. "I enjoy bacon and I thought using a nut brown would be the way to do it," said brewmaster and founder Alec Stefansky. Stefansky developed the beer with fellow brewer Reed VanderSchaaf as a companion to yet another strange brew, the Rubidus Red Ale. They weren't pouring it at the festival, but Stefansky said the latter was made with candy cap mushrooms, which grow wild in their area and give off notes of maple. The best part, he said, is that if you drink a few pints at night, then in the morning, you smell like maple syrup -- with the bacon beer, it's a complete meal experience.
BJ's Brewhouse: Juniper Rye
This 13-state brewhouse and restaurant chain constantly produces solid beers, but none are quite as unique as their Juniper Rye. Made with fresh juniper berries, this strong, 8.9-percent beer has a heady aroma of a gin that mellows out once you actually sip. The flavor has a story, too: One that involves the floral liquor marring a rich, brown rye and then producing this love child . "It's a traditional style -- since before hops were used, fruits like juniper berries were used to balance flavors," said brewer Alex Puchner. No wonder the brew has won them two medals at the past Great American Beer Festival.
Dad and Dudes Breweria: Basil Agave Blonde
Open just shy of a year, this new Aurora, Colo., based brewery and pizzeria has captured the appetites of the young and old with its beer-grain-laced pizza and solid brews. Owner Tom Hembree, aka Dad, said each batch of beer is brewed one keg at a time, which gives them reins to experiment more. With the Basil Agave Blonde, they started out adding five pounds of fresh basil to the batch, creating a light, effervescent ale with a sharp, spicy green body. It smells like fresh pasta sauce yet the flavor remains crisp, clean and surprisingly light. "It's super popular," said Hembree. "The second keg of this blend sold out in three-and-a-half hours."
Ommegang: Aphrodite
The goddess has landed with this bubbly pink beer. Brewed in Ommegang's New York facilities, this traditional Belgium-style ale debuted this year and has a limited run. Lucky us, this raspberry and pear melds beautifully with the grains of paradise, which are the seeds of a West African flower that lend a slight peppery taste. The brewery also uses Brettanomyces yeast, which gives the brew a roundness and floral tone that helps make it truly a beer of love.
Cambridge Brewing Co.: Banryu Ichi
Forget advice that warns against mixing your tipples, because sake and beer go perfectly together. "We like making beers that haven't been made before," said brewmaster Will Meyers. "I am a big fan of Asian cultures and knew a man who did a sake homebrew in Japan." In the Cambridge, Mass., brewery Meyers used polished rice, sake yeast and Koji to make 50 gallons of sake and built his wort using barley malt, flaked rice and brown rice. The name, Banryu Ichi, means "10,001 ways" in Japanese, and given the complex flavor profile of sweet rice, green apple, fennel and grape, it fits well.
Six Rivers Brewing: Chili Pepper Spicy Ale
There are chili beers and then there are super spicy, bold and beautiful beers infused with peppers. The chili-heavy wheat beer at McKinleyville, Calif.'s Six Rivers Brewery is one of them. "Our brewer Carlos Sanchez claims he is the originator of the chili beer," said co-owner Talia Nechshon. It combines so many chilies that the brewmaster wears a protective mask while he makes it. At first sip, the refreshing light wheat beer cools a parched throat, but within minutes the burn blossoms on the back of the tongue and throughout the whole mouth.
Brooklyn Brewery: The Concoction
While this brewery has a following, head brewer Garrett Oliver may be one of the most well known men in the beer world. With one sip of The Concoction, it's clear why. The sparkling beverage contains a heady lemon flavor with traces of honey and faint notes of whiskey. The result? A beer version of the cocktail Penicillin. "I just love the cocktail and thought about how they put all those elements together," said Oliver. "In the cocktail they work together, so, I thought it would be interesting to see it done in a beer." Oliver conditions his brew in old whiskey barrels to give it that special, slightly smoky kick. The perfect medicine indeed.


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About North Broward Preparatory School
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On the November 2017 ballot, voters were asked if they approve of a 100% property tax elimination rather than the 50% that a local school board "can" currently enact. The overwhelming response was 'yes' (54% to 46%).
So now, PA Senator Scavello states that he will introduce legislation that makes that change. (Pocono Record article here…)
The bill has not yet been introduced and therefore not yet available for close review. However, the Senator has issued a number of statements about what will be in it.
Once introduced, we'll see exactly how it compares to SB 76.
For now, our School Property Tax Elimination Committee wants our membership and the public to know that based on what we have seen so far, we will continue to lobby for SB 76, as it is the preferred solution.


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Bishop Thomas W. Weeks' Church Evicted from Georgia Church BuildingNovember 19, 2008
Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III, the leader of Global Destiny International Ministries, held services elsewhere Friday after his Duluth church was evicted from its campus Friday afternoon. "He hasn't made any payments at all since July of this year," said Stephanie Friese, attorney for Grimes-Square Executive, Inc. "The landlord did try to work out something with him."
Friese said the bishop owes more than $400,000 in rent and fees.
Eviction proceedings were initiated against Weeks in early October. According to court documents, Weeks tried unsuccessfully to delay the eviction.
A sheriff's deputy came to the church campus Friday to carry out the eviction. The campus includes business offices and a church.
Church officials said late Friday Weeks was still planning to hold worship services later that night. Church members were scheduled to meet outside of Global Destiny at 6:30 p.m. and then go elsewhere.
Weeks' divorce attorney Randy Kessler said he was unaware of the eviction. "I'm sure he will land on his feet if that is indeed the case," Kessler said. "He always does."
Weeks has long battled financial problems. During his stormy marriage to national evangelist Juanita Bynum, he faced several civil lawsuits for past-due accounts — including possible eviction from his church.
Weeks said in February Global Destiny Church had lost 1,600 of its 3,400 members after he attacked Bynum in an Atlanta hotel parking lot in 2007, but membership was on the rebound.
According to Gwinnett County Civil Court records, Friese filed an eviction notice on Aug. 23, 2007. Court records show Weeks owed $50,555 in back rent for his church .That case was later dropped after a payment arrangement was reached.
This time the landlord and Weeks could not come to an agreement.
"He never offered a set amount of money," Friese said. So his church is shut tight. "The possession is now with the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office."
Source: AJC


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This experiment was nothing short of a disaster. I had to take out a second mortgage on Southfork and then some to pay these debts. I ended up losing $15,750 on bets trying to pick TD underdogs to win straight up. I thought I had the feeling, I really only needed to hit 1/3 each week to make a profit. And it flopped. I was 6-34. Last week I missed all three. Again. This time none were really that close (I guess Georgia was, but were they really?).
To make up for it, I'm going to double down. I'm going to put $1K on 15 bowl games ATS this time. I guarantee I'll cut into my debts probably erase most. I won't clear them (not with the typical -$110 per ATS bet). But I will recover some. So stay tuned for the 15 "best bets" for the bowls ATS.
And I reserve the right to up the stakes and take it S/U if needed. Viva la Gambling!


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Hey guys! It's your girl, Wasidah, and today I wanna talk to you about genetics. Some of you have asked me about how to become curvy and voluptuous even though your parents and grandparents are super thin. Likewise, a few of you have been asking me what it takes to go from curvy to thin.
Weeelllll, let me tell you, when I was bodybuilding I learned a LOT about shaping your body. In case you didn't know, yes, I was a body builder! See the pics!?
Want to know my secret? It's really all about food. Yes, food. Whether you're trying to size your body up or down I have two tips for helping you create the body that you want.
- Food. Eat five times a day. Yeah, I know that seems like a lot but you can do it! In order to eat this many meals a day you'll have to plan ahead and you'll need to eat smaller portions. For each meal try to emphasize protein and veggies. And cut down on snacks or you won't want to each your next scheduled meal.
- Water. Drink a gallon of water a day. Ok, so you already know that you'll be running to the bathroom (lol!) but your body will eventually get used to it. Just don't try to drink a gallon in one sitting. Space it out throughout the day. Water is amazing! It will help you lose weight, clear your skin up and overall make you feel better. Trust.
The best advice I have, however, is that you should try to improve the canvas that you already have. When I started bodybuilding, I really thought I wanted a new version of me but I learned that all I really needed to do was improve the body that I already had.
If you work out regularly and follow my two tips above, you will absolutely create the best body that you're capable of having. And that's really all you can ask for. Just work on you!
Talk to you soon!


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To check the current status of our weigh-in-motion sites and sign up for email alerts for status changes, visit our Green Light Weigh-in-Motion System Status web page.
Carrying both transponders will likely cause problems because each transponder simultaneously emits its identifying signal. Even if you are traveling in Oregon with your Green Light transponder mounted correctly and your PrePass transponder stored in the glove box, there is still a good chance the system will detect the PrePass transponder signal first and spoil the chance to preclear the weigh station.
For trucks with both transponders, we recommend:
PrePass Transponders
Motor carriers with a PrePass transponder can sign up to use it in Oregon's Green Light Preclearance Program. Carriers wanting to use their PrePass transponder in Oregon should contact the PrePass Customer Service Center at 1-800-PREPASS (1-800-773-7277). Their hours are Monday through Friday, 6:00am to 7:00pm Mountain Time (excluding holidays). Request your PrePass transponder to be enrolled in the Oregon Green Light Program. PrePass will then contact us to complete the enrollment process.
Terms and Conditions of Transponder Usage in Oregon
Transponder Battery ReplacementThe Truck Transponder Service Center in Salem can refurbish transponders for about $19 each, so they can be used for another 5 to 7 years.
Batteries Plus Bulbs3045 Lancaster Drive NESalem, OR 97305Phone: 503-967-3691Hours: Monday thru Friday 8am - 8pm Saturday 9am - 7pm Sunday 10am - 6pm
Registration and Tax
Motor carriers have saved over 2 million hours by not having to enter Oregon weigh stations. Operating cost savings have exceeded $250 million.
The program currently serves 3,924 companies with 31,104 trucks equipped with transponders. See how preclearance participation has grown:
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The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) announced the winners of the Excellent Doctoral Dissertation 2015 and Excellent Tutor 2015 on October 9. The thesis written by Jiang Yanjuan, a Ph.D graduate of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), was awarded the CAS Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award 2015 and Prof. Yu Diqiu, Jiang Yanjuan's supervisor, won the title of CAS Excellent Graduate Tutor 2015.
Jiang Yanjuan's doctoral dissertation was entitled "Functional analysis of WRKY57 in Arabidopsis" The members of WRKY family have been implicated in the regulation of various response porcesses, including pathogen infection, abiotic stress and plant development. Drought is one of the most serious environmental factors limiting the productivity of crops in agriculture worldwide. However, the mechanism underlying drought tolerance in plant is unclear. WRKY transcription factors have been identified to function in adaptation to abiotic stresses. By screening a pool of WRKY-associated T-DNA insertion mutants, the researcher isolated a gain-of-function mutant, acquired drought tolerance (adt), showing improved drought tolerance. Under drought stress conditions, adt accumulated higher levels of ABA than wild type plants.
During her graduate studies under the guidance of Prof. Yu Diqiu, Dr. Jiang Yanjuan has published her research in such journals as Plant Cell and Molecular Plant.
The award of CAS Excellent Doctoral Dissertation firstly started in 2004. Its rigorous selection procedures require that the paper's research achievement is in high level in innovation and other qualities, which is an important indicator to measure the cultivation abilities of the graduate cultivation units of CAS.


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Humpback Rock
Monticello Trail
"Humpback" is a bit of a misnomer, because hiking actually exercises almost all parts of your body—legs, knees, ankles, arms, hips, butt, abs, shoulders, and neck —instead of leaving you with a, well, humped back. Most folks can climb the four-mile trail in two and a half hours, which is perfect because that's just what you need to reap the maximum benefits. At the Saunders-Monticello Trail, you can hike or bike the beautiful spot.


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Sorry for the delayed response for yesterday's Transplant Team Meeting...Over all the information we received is no worse than on Wednesday but its no better...Basically a Marrow or Cord Blood transplant is our only option. ... if we don't do it we're looking at as little as 6mths with her...There is a 20% chance that she may not make it through the process, which is quite in your face high but that is the worldwide %...Unfortunately she has a 50% chance of relapse of the new leukemia and 40% chance of Tcell relapse, post transplant ... but we will deal with those if they happen...She is on the urgent transplant list because there is a huge risk of her relapsing Tcell because she's unable to finish her chemo regime for that... either way she is fighting 2 cancers. .. the wait will be somewhere between 4-8 weeks with cord blood being the quickest alternative. ..She will definitely be totally infertile. ... and after much discussion between Dad and I (mum) we have decided not to keep an ovary... the risk of that procedure for her is too high and the fact that her ovary more than likely still carries Tcell in it, we're definitely not going to give it back to her....Information overload i know but there is so much more than this that i am still trying to dicipher ...Thankyou all for sticking with us through our journey so far... and we will continue to need your support for months to come.. x
Miss Addy had some skin biopsies done today for genetic testing. .. you wouldn't think little miss has 2 wounds and 4 stitches on that little bum... not with that smile anyway wink emoticonShe's only just started complaining now but i think its because its bedtime lol...And she is super excited because its her big 5th birthday tomorrow. ... oh wow... the baby in the family is 5!!naturally we're trying to make it as special as possible. ...I will be sure to post some birthday pics xo
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21st Century Women Versus Pilgrim Foremothers
Posted By Jennifer McBride on November 22, 2014
From Bambi Moore at In the Nursery of the Nation:
The inscription on the Monument to the Pilgrim Mothers in Plymouth, Massachusetts reads:
"They brought up their families in sturdy virtue and a living faith in God without which nations perish."
Years later, America's foe, British general Lord Cornwallis said:
"We may destroy all the men in America, and we shall still have all we can do to defeat the women."
Finally, French journalist Alexis Tocqueville concluded his great work Democracy in America:
"If I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so many important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply: To the superiority of their women."
Why is there a chasm separating our Pilgrim foremothers and 21st century women? If Tocqueville were around today would he attribute America's now weak condition, to the women as well? Is it merely that the years bring changes in clothing, hair-dos and modern conveniences? Surely it's more than that which separates us from these hard-working, resilient, reverent and faithful women.
It is the state of our souls.Our text-messaging, dinner is pre-made, God-is-my-cosmic-genie-generation has come so far in less than 400 years. Pilgrim women served the God of the universe: Sovereign and just, all-sufficient, even in death; the source and passion of their existence.


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Metropolitan focuses on generating current cash flow based on senior-secured debt investments and fractural participations across a diverse portfolio of asset types that tend to have limited correlation to underlying economic conditions. Our team has significant industry expertise and experience in structuring and executing the most flexible financing plan for specialty finance companies to achieve growth acceleration. Metropolitan has a strong history of helping portfolio companies secure incremental balance sheet funding.
Metropolitan pursues investments across multiple consumer and commercial market niches within the broader specialty finance universe including:
- Asset-Based Loans (Non-Traditional ABL)
- Equipment Finance and Leasing
- Factoring (Less Traditional Counter-parties)
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- Auto Loans
- Charged Off Consumer Receivables
- Consumer Leases and Rent To Own
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- Retail POS Financing
Metropolitan finances specific growth events for companies and helps them scale their businesses, expand their operations and avoid equity dilution.
- U.S. based companies with annual revenues of less than $100 million and no controlling institutional investors
- Businesses with significant assets or recurring/contractual revenues
- Strong management teams with conviction
- Businesses with a specific growth event or inflection point
- Niche focus and compelling value propositions
- Companies looking for a capital partner than can executive effectively within a tight deadline who require a responsive and decisive lender
Metropolitan finances pools of assets managed by capable servicers that are attached to opportunistic situations with a defined and imminent event. The assets are discrete, unrelated to the imminent event and can be monetized efficiently.


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Sergeant Robert Smyth
was born in 1876.
He was the son of George Rock Smyth and Elizabeth Smyth. His surname is sometimes recorded as Smythe.
Following his education, Smyth may have joined the Northern Banking Company around 1893 (about 17 years old).
In 1901, the family were residing in house 11, Cullybackey Road, Ballymena, Co. Antrim. Robert describes his occupation as a Bank Clerk. His father is an accountant and another brother is a clerk. He also has 2 sisters.
By 1911, the family address is now recorded as house 16, Cullybackey Road, Ballymena, Co. Antrim. Again, Robert is described as a Bank Clerk. The sisters still live at home but brother George is not recorded there on census day.
It is probable that Smyth volunteered and enlisted in 1916 into the 1st Bn. Welsh Guards as a Guardsman. His service number was 1820. He would have been aged 40 at this time.
Smyth records that he served in France from 26th September 1916 till April 1919 as a Corporal, Lance Sergeant and then a Sergeant.
Smyth was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His Medal Index Card is shown below:
Following his demobilisation, Smyth applied for an Army Pension and completed the army document (below) known as a 'Statement By A Soldier Concerning His Own Case' [*] on 17th January 1920. He stated that he had 'varicose veins and debility' and had also been treated in Ballymena Cottage Hospital for appendicitis.
In Section 7 of the document, Smyth records his employer before joining the army as the Northern Banking Company Limited, Belfast.
[*] The document was obtained by Alan Rosborough who is a researcher for the Cullybackey & District Historical Society.
E D Hill in his book, 'Northern Banking Co. Limited Belfast - 1824 - 1924 Centenary Volume' does not record a Robert Smyth as serving in the Great War. This is evidenced on page 230 (below):
The above page records the names on the brass Roll of Honour (see below):
Missing from the Northern Bank 'Roll of Honour'
We have 2 documents that record Robert Smyth as a Bank Clerk (Irish Census 1901 & 1911). The returns would have been completed by the head of household, George R Smyth.
We have the Army Pension form completed by Robert Smyth in 1920 stating Northern Banking Company as his pre-war employer.
We have the Centenary Book published in 1925 that omits Robert Smyth from the list of officials who served.
We have the actual Roll of Honour with the name of Robert Smyth omitted.
In response to a previous request by Alan Rosborough, the writer was able to visit the archives of Northern Bank (with their permission) and examine the Staff Record books. No record was found in the the early 20th century books. If he had joined the bank in 1893 it is possible that a further search may find him.
Without the staff record, it is not possible to tell if he rejoined the bank on demobilisation.
Why would E D Hill not have Smyth recorded in his book? There are many men who did not return to banking who are included in the book. We don't know when the Roll of Honour was made and installed in the bank Head Office.
Further Research?
Robert had a brother George who was not recorded in the family home in 1911. A further search of the Irish Census 1911 has discovered a 39 year old George Smyth residing in house 2.1, Charlotte Street, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. Age, religion and occupation (now a bookkeeper) match up. George and his wife, Emma Jane Smyth have 2 daughters and a son George Hill Smyth (age less than 1).
Further research on this part of the family may help find out the story of Robert Smyth.


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Keep Your Dog Entertained While You're At Work
Don't you wish every company could have a "bring your dog to work" policy? While a handful of jobs are letting their employees bring their furry friends to work, most of us don't have that luxury. While it's hard to say goodbye to your pet every morning, we have a few tips to make their day a little bit better while you're away (and give you some peace of mind that they aren't staying occupied by ripping apart your pillows).
Create a cozy sleeping area
Dogs like to sleep, a lot. In fact, large breeds can sleep up to 18 hours a day! While they may choose a few select areas of your home to catch their zzz's, it's important for your dog to have a bed, or plush blanket (or both). This gives them a sense of their own space, and can also be comforting if they start to feel any anxiety. You can even add an article of clothing to your dog's bed, as an owner's scent can be very soothing!
Keep toys handy
Have you ever noticed a toy will keep your dog occupied for hours? When picking toys, select ones that are safe, durable, and even some that dispense treats to reward your dog for good behavior while you're away. It's also a good idea to keep a few dog toys in a basket where they can easily grab them, and rotate the toys out every few weeks to keep the dog excited about them.
Hire a caregiver
CareBooker offers many wonderful options, from dog walking and sitting, to day care and boarding. Depending on your pet's needs, you can have someone come watch them for an hour, or spend the whole day with your dog. Caregivers can ease a dog's separation anxiety, and also give your pet attention, exercise, and companionship while you're away.
Get moving!
Let's face it, after a long day at work, you're probably not in the mood to exercise. But it's important for you and your dog to get outside, get some fresh air, and burn off any remaining energy from the day. Exercise has the same positive effects on physical and mental health for both humans and pets. Plus, it gives your dog a chance to socialize with other animals in your neighborhood.


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By Jessica Roy This week I'm going to keep it short and sweet, literally and figuratively speaking. While I was at the beach over the weekend, an antiquated ice cream truck complete with twinkling saccharine tunes made its rounds every 30 minutes or so, sending all the kids nearby into a tizzy. They would come from all across the beach kicking up massive amounts of sand for their share of frozen treats.
While I am a huge fan of some old-school frozen-goodness-on-a-stick, (or a plain ice cream sandwich), it got me thinking about whipping up something for the more mature adult palate — something decadent and richly satisfying, yet cool and creamy.
Well, the answer to that craving comes to you in the form of this week's amazingly easy recipe. With only 10 minutes of prep and a handful of ingredients, the hardest part will be the freeze wait time. Of course, if you're feeling a bit impatient, you can always opt to just enjoy the truffles sans freezing; you deserve a treat.
Chef's note: If you don't have a microwave, or just don't want to use one, simply use a double boil method to warm the cream, and melt the chocolate. Also, for a "Fudgsicle" feel, put a wooden stick down into each truffle before freezing!
Frozen Fudgy Dark Chocolate Truffles
Yields 12-14 truffles
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. package 60-70 percent dark chocolate chips
Topping options (feel free to get a little crazy!):
Cocoa powder
Coconut flakes
Crushed nuts
Powdered sugar
Anything else you like
Stir together cream and sugar in a heat proof microwave safe bowl. Place in the microwave on high power for 30-45 seconds, until the cream is just warmed and smells rich.
Fold the dark chocolate chips into the warm cream so they begin to melt. Place the bowl back into the microwave for 30 second increments, removing to fold & stir the mixture until the chocolate is just melted. This batch only took one chocolate melting round of 30 seconds.
Once the chocolate and cream are totally combined, place the bowl into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow the mixture to firm up.
Line a dish or baking sheet with wax paper. Scoop out tablespoon size measures of the chilled chocolate mixture, and roll into balls by hand. Roll the truffles in your choice of toppings, and place onto the wax paper lined dish. Repeat until all of the mixture is used. Freeze for 1 hour up to over night before serving.
Jessica Roy is a specialty chef and caterer, food writer and chef instructor, and owner of Shiso Kitchen in Somerville, where she teaches classes. Follow her at http://blogs.lowellsun.com/yourpersonalchef.