2009年6月5日星期五

Sea Gold

wrangling
lay claim to


The Sussex controversy pales in comparsion to the trouble stirred up over Odyssey's Black Swan Project. This shipwrect in the North Atlantic contained more than 17 tons of gold and sivler coins. In March 2007, Odyssey recovered the treasure and flew it back to Florida without revealing the exact location or identity of the shipwreck. The secrecy gave rise to a great deal of speculation and legal wrangling over the rightful ownership of the treasure. The Spanish government, for example, claimed the coins were from a Spanish ship the British sank in 1804. Others thought the treasure was from the British Merchant Royal, a vessel that sank in 1641. Even Peru laid claim to the treasure, saying the treasure had originated there.

Though Odyssey later confirmed that the ship was in fact Spanish, they maintain they still had a claim to the treasure. They claimed that the ship was a "mixed-use" vessel, used for both government and commercial purposes.

To avoid this type of haggling in the future, Odysesey is widely expected to announce partnership agreements with a number of countries. These agreements would cover the distribution of money from numerous shipwrecks amony the parties concerned.

The United Nations estimates there are more than 3 million shipwrecks on the ocean floor. Why do ships sink? Sometims it's because of the ship's poor design, which leads to instability. Ships also sink because of navigational errors, leading to collisions or running aground. Of course, bad weather is a big reason, as is warfare. Sometimes boats and ships are intentionally sunk. This is called scuttling.

2009年4月28日星期二

Sea Gold

Modern day treasure hunting with Odsy marine exploration

It sounds like the plot of a new adventure movie: explorers using sophisticated technology to salvage the wreck of an ancient ship lost beneath the sea. The ship contains a disputed treasure worth half a billion dollars. Throw in a few explosions or sword fights, and it would make for a perfect summer blockbuster.

The star of this story, Odyssey Marine Explloration, won't be appearing in theters anytime sonn, but the company has generated headlines. Odyssey, which is based in the U.S. state of Florida, works to recover deep-water shipwrecks, Using high-tech sonar ships, Odyssey locates the wreckage of long-lost vessels and recovers any artifacts or treasure at the site.

Odyssey only targets vessels that are considered fair game under international laws. This usually means commercial ships that have sunk in international waters since non-commercial goverment and military vessels are the legal property of their respective countries. The only exception is if Odyssey has a pre-existing agreement with a county. In 2002, the company agreed to a deal with the U.K. government to share potential spoils from the HMS Sussex, a British ship that sank in 1694,. The agreement stalled under eavy criticism from British archeological organizations.

2009年4月4日星期六

Urban Exploration 3

Since UE often occurs in places that are abandoned or neglected, safety is a very import concern. Disused sites may be unstable, while tunnels and sewers may flood if it rains - trapping explorers inside. Abandoned sites are often scattered with debris and broken glass, while hospitals and factories may contain dangeous chemicals. The legality of exploration must also be considered. While many sites are on public land with unrestricted access, others are on private property, condemned or fenced off and should be avoided. And since September 11, 2001, security has become espectially important. Walking down a dark tunnel is probably not worth jail time or a steep fine. In addition, there are ethical considerations. Every effort should be made to avoid damaging sites so they remain open and safe for future visitors. Explorers often refuse the locations of places they visit to protect them from vandalism.

While these risks are real, urban exploration can offer people an exciting glimpses of unseen places all around. From catacombs to abandoned buildings, you never know what adventures
may be waiting around the corner -- or under your feet.

2009年4月3日星期五

08095 - Ubran Exploration 2

The term urban exploration covers a wide range of activities. Since it is usually a hobby, practitioners often visit sites that are near their homes. As a result, ubran explorers in different cities focus on examing different types of places based on their availability.

The most popular and readily accessible destinations are often abandoned buildings. Disused factories, hospitals, and even housing developments can offer interesting glimpses into the past and make great subjects for photography. Other popular destinations include obsolete military fortifications and even buildings destined for demolition.

Ancient European cities often lie atop networks of catacombs. These underground tunnels have served many purposes through the years. Some have acted as cemeteries and bunkers while others have sheltered revolutionaries, smugglers and religious groups. Some of the most famous catacombs, such as those in Rome, Paris and Odessa, have sections that are open for tours.

Over time, cities go through stages of growth and decline. In newer cities, which haven't experienced such a decline, it can be difficult to find abandoned buildings. In these places, urban explorers may decide to go underground and explore the city's storm drains or sewers.

2009年3月28日星期六

080904 - Unban Eploration (1)

Human enviroments can be a lot like mazes. Both above and below ground, cities, especially very old ones, are home to interesting structures. Tunnels, sewers and old buildings wait just begging to be explored! While some of these are still in use, many others now lay neglected and forgotten. Urban explorers find, visit and sometimes document the unseen places around us. As urban exploration (UE) has grown in popularity, it has captured the popular imagination. Often misunderstood, UE has developed into a whole subculture, complete with web pages, newsletters, books and movies. Many major cities even have informal groups that meet or use the internet to share their adventures. Since UE has varying levels of intensity, it is open to a diverse group of people. The Cave Clan, an Australian group, is open to anyone older than 18 and has a memebership that ranges from tradespeople to government employees. The group provides a meeting place for like-minded people and encourages them to participate as much, or as little, as they are comfortable with. This might entail crawling through storm drains or may simply invole poking around old houses.

2009年3月22日星期日

20080908 - Asia's Amazing Malls

New malls pop up everythere.

More than just a place to shop, these Asian malls - among the larget in the world - are entertianment destinations.

see eye to eye

with one's eyes closed:

Asian's Amazing Malls

More than just a place to shop, these Asian malls - among the largest in the world - are entertainment destinations. Shopper can find not only spacious indoor shopping areas but also ice-skating rinks, indoor atriums, amusement parks and more.

Big debut in Dubai

Located in the shadow of the world's tallest building, one of the world's largest shopping centers - the Dubai Mall - just opened this year. Under one roof, shoppers will find several distinct shopping areas, including a gold souk with 220 stores. It has retail space for 1200 stores in its 500000-square-meter area. The mall's centerpiece - a large aquarim with walk - through glass tunnels - will bring shoppers eye to eye with sharks, stingrays and other marine species.

Firsts for the Philippines

The Philippines claims three of the world's largest malls thanks to one man: Henry Sy, a Chines-Filipino entrepreneur, His company, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has 30 malls in the Philippines, including the SM Mall of Asia. This mall, which opened in 2006, introduced many "firsts" to the Philippines, including an Olympic-size ice-skating rink and an IMAX theater. The mall has golf carts to accommodate those who need help moving around .

2009年3月14日星期六

090302: Telephone Past, Present and Future

电话从出生开始已经走了很长的一段路了.
Telephone has comd a long way since its early days.

Imagine smoke signal, carrier pigeon and rider on a horseback. Although these may sound strange, years ago, people used them to communicate.

Bell received a patent for a telephone.

2008年12月22日星期一

Desktop for 2009.04

Hopefully you've all had a chance to play with the 2008.11 release for
a couple of weeks now. For some of us, that means it's time to start
thinking about 2009.04 :)
Obviously, we have a somewhat compressed schedule for the April
release (especially with the intervening holiday season), so in
addition to sticking with GNOME 2.24 this time around, we don't have a
huge scope for desktop enhancements. However, if you have any desktop
issues, tweaks or other suggestions that you haven't already filed a
bug at defect.opensolaris.org, this week would be a good time to do
so-- we're starting work on the 2009.94 UI spec right about now.

2008年8月1日星期五

I Love ...

As an ice breaker, I would like to introduce myself from the following four aspects: my name, my education, my family and my hometown.

My name is Cai Qingming. Some Chinese like to name their children in Chinese idioms. For example, in a family with surname Zhang, if there are 4 children, they may be called Zhang Wen, Zhang Wu, Zhang Shuang and Zhang Quan. Their given names come from a Chinese idiom "Wen Wu Shuang Quan" which means well versed in both polite letters and martial arts. There are 3 children in my family, my elder brother's name is "Cai QingDong", my elder sister's name is "Cai LiFang" and my name is "Cai Qingming", our last characters in names make up of a Chinese idiom "Dong Fang Ming", means the orient is brilliant. If I were a girl, I guess that my parents must name me "Hong", then the idiom becomes "Dong Fang Hong" which is the song that was played by the first China man-made satellite.

My Family

My wife and I have been married for two years. She is so lovely that anyone who knows her will like her. She is also good-looking, which I can't match. What always makes me annoyed is that when many people meet us first time, they may think she must have married a rich man. But the fact is not.

Both My wife and I like playing badminton. Our courtship also started from the badminton. That was about several years ago we fell in love during a badminton activity. So far, we still keep the habit of playing badminton every week. She has become one of the outstanding amateur female players, but I am still at the same level as before.

Another common hobby of us is singing. We look at singing not just as a way of relaxation, but a kind of physical exercise as well. My wife is good at singing popular songs, while folk songs are my departments. Sometimes we will go out for karaoke with friends and we often perform the wonderful duets.

My Education

I was born in a poor family in a small town of north east of China. Every one in 1970's can imagine how poor the life was at that time in China. Especially for a common family with 3 children who needed to finish their education. In my memory, at that time, even a 5-cent ice cream seemed luxurious for me. My grandfather had told me something that I will never forget "We will send you to college even by selling our iron pots". This was encouraging me to keep going forward in my education. Now I feel appreciative that I could finish my education successfully. I also thank my grandfather and my parents so much for their support and dedication.

My Hometown

Located in the central west of Jilin Province, the city of Songyuan has an area of 22,000 square kilometers and a population of 2.62 million. It is richly endowed by nature and has always been known as "an oil city, a grain store, a meat store, a sea of forest and a fish producer." Songyuan enjoys convenient transportation and modern communication facilities. Urban construction has changed the city's outlook with each passing day, while people's livelihood has improved year by year. At present, the overall economic strength of Songyuan holds the fourth place among cities in the province.

Beautiful Songyuan City has its unique tourism resources. Songhua River flows through the municipal region. There are a lot of sightseeing sites along the river, which form a scenic line.

In Chagan Lake, one of the top ten famous fresh water lakes in the nation, there are all kinds birds and fishes. The famous actress "Gao Xiumin" came from SongYuan and her TV serial "At the bank of the Holy Water Lake" was filmed on the location of Chagan Lake. In addition, there are also many historical spots in Song-yuan, such as Triumph Eulogy Stele of Jin Dynasty, Tahu-cheng Ruin, Ruin of Liaojin. They are all among the nation's key protected cultural relics.

In 2008, SongYuan city was luckily selected as one of the torch relay cities. Through this activity, the city will become well-known around China even the world.

Overall, I am absolutely a common person which may not leave you much impression. But you should know that I'm the same as most of Chinese people, I love my family, I love my hometown and I love my China. I am proud of them!

2008年7月31日星期四

This book tooks 2 years to write, compile and edit. It has been a true labor of love for all of us. One the greatest joys in creating this book has been working with hundreds of teenagers and adults who gave this project not just their time and attention, but their hearts and souls as well. We would like to thank the following people for their dedication and contributions, without which this book could not have been created.

Thanks again for giving us the space, time and emotional support we needed to follow our passion and complete what must have seemed like an endless task. We love you all more thatn words can ever express.

We would like to extend a very special thanks to a group of teens who worked with us to ensure this book would be about issues that truly concern teenagers.

2008年6月22日星期日

Summer Moview Magic - Day 3 20080524

[news:/s/00:39.8-00:43.6] Hi Friends, welcome back to SCW. My name is Vance.
[news:/s/00:43.6-01:04.6] And I'm Rachel. And thank you for joining us for day 3 of our lesson "Summer Movie Magic". Now we've told you about a lot of movies, we've told you about animated and comedies some very fast pact action and adventure movies and today we're going to continue talking about some of the movies that we will count the theatre this summer.
[news:/s/01:04.6-01:15.9] That's right,Rachel.After this article I'm getting ready to see a lot of movies after I find a baby-sitter of course for the girls. But I'm getting excited about some of these movies and really we can get a lot of fun watching them.
[news:/s/01:15.5-01:30.5] I agree. And some of the movies that we're going to talk about today which include fantasy and action also look very exciting. So make sure your magazines are open. Let's begin with our reading on page 38 in the right hand column starting on line 1.
[news:/s/01:30.5-03:10.0] More fantasy and action

Box office superstar Will Smith plays a hard-living superhero who seeks the help of a public relations consultant in Hancock. This fantasy adventure also costars Charlize Theron.

funnyman Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, in the comedy Get Smart. Bumbling Agent 86 and his beautiful partner, Agent 99 (played by Anne Hathaway), battle the evil organization KAOS in this film.

Brendan Fraser returns as Rick O’Connell in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In the film, O’Connell and his son uncover the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin (played by Jet Li). The movie was filmed on location in China. Michelle Yeoh and Russell Wong costar in the film.

Fraser also stars in Journey 3-D, a new telling of the Jules Verne story of a trip to the center of the earth. There, a lost world awaits the team of explorers. The film’s special effects look especially dramatic in 3-D.See one or more of these films and enjoy this summer’s movie magic!

[news:/s/03:09.0-03:25.4] Hi welcome to the section on summer movie magic. We're looking at the section titled "More fantasy and action". Fantasy, we looked at that word earlier, the stories of magic and excitement and these alternate worlds, these alternate magic worlds.
[news:/s/03:25.0-03:52.9] That's right. Fantasy movies include things that probably wouldn't happen in the real life but we really like to watch them on the big screen. It's bringing the super natural to the movies. So the first movie we're going to talk about stars, a very popular man, in fact once I read him was one of the most recognize movie stars in the world. His name is Will Smith. And you probably all are familiar with him and he is definitely a box office superstar.
[news:/s/03:52.9-04:07.1] That's right. He's a box office super star if anybody can sell movie tickets, I read in this once in our article. Will Smith can, he can sell tickets to any kind of movie. People just love the guy. And really he is kind of funny. I like him too.
[news:/s/04:07.1-04:23.5] I like him as well. So he is a box office super star and in this movie he plays a hard-living superhero who seeks the help of a public relations consultant. And the movie is called Hancock. So the name of movie is Hancock and he plays a superhero.
[news:/s/04:23.5-04:38.0] That's right, but he is a hard-living superhero. He has difficult time in life. I think actually he kind of lives in some ways of a homeless man. And he doesn't only have it all together but he happens has the superpowers and he's a superhero.
[news:/s/04:38.0-05:01.7] Well let's look also at those words public relations and consultant. Consultant, he seeks the help of a public relations consultant.Now public relation sometimes is shorten to PR. And probably every company or organization has a PR department. And these are people, who work with public relations, and they work with others, and they're people persons.
[news:/s/05:01.4-05:25.4] That's right. They try to manage the relationship with the public, in the other words; they try to give a good image for the company. And this consultant, the consultant is somebody that is called in or brought in from the outside to help with that image. They want to create an image. So people view their company in a good way so they bring in somebody that knows things, that is an expert on this topic.
[news:/s/05:25.4-05:45.5] Ah, good word. Consultants are usually experts. And we also use the verb consult. If you consult with somebody then you're seeking their opinion or their advice. And so he meets with this public relations consultant. And this fantasy adventure also costars Charlize Theron. Did I say her name correctly?
[news:/s/05:45.2-05:55.5] I guess so. I don't know much about that this actual apparently she is very famous as well. And she's the costar. She also stars in this movie. She is the costar.
[news:/s/05:55.5-06:11.0] Alright. So let's move on to our next movie. Starting in line 7, we see a movie called "Get Smart". And this stars Funnyman Steve Carell. He is playing the role of Maxwell Smart, agent 86, in this comedy.
[news:/s/06:10.4-06:30.7] You know I remember Get Smart is an old TV show. And so in keeping with this popularity of re-making old TV shows into movies.” Get Smart" is joining the club, and Agent 86, and all the other Characters of course replayed by new people, but a little bit funning I think to see their interpretation of this old television show.

[news:/s/06:30.7-06:56.1] I agree. And we know that Steve Carell is a funnyman. (I,we) you notice that this word here combines those two words into actaully the decription of him. He's a funny man. So you can use this if you know an actor who just tends to do a lot of funny or silly movies. Maybe Jim Carell would also be known as a funnyman. But as to Steve Carell, he's definitely gotten quite popular in the last couple of years.

[news:/s/06:55.1-07:09.9] Yeah, actually I just saw a movie with him was "even all my dear".I think he was in that movie as well. And he is a funnyman, a comedian, somebody who likes to crack jokes. And there is a lot of funny expressions on his face and I really did laugh during that movie. He is a funny man.
[news:/s/07:09.4-07:28.1] He sure is. And in this current movie he is going to be a bumbling agent. So you know it's going to silly it's going to funny. If you're bumbling, then you lack physical movement with your skills or with your hands. You probably always triping or massing things up; you just can't seem to do the right thing.

[news:/s/07:27.7-07:37.0] Yeah. you might call him clumsy. He probably makes a lot of mistakes. But somehow he still plays the role this hero. He probabaly gets lucky a lot.

[news:/s/07:36.7-08:02.7] Hi, I agree. Well he is lucky enough to have a beautiful partner agent 86. They have this code name for that man. This is played by the beautiful Anne Hathaway. This is kind of a new role for her. I'v seen her in a lot of kind of romantic or more movies maybe more for girls, but anyway she is playing this action hero where she battles the evil organization KAOS Sir, something like that.

[news:/s/08:02.7-08:22.4] Yeah, KAOS probably stands for something. But if you read that word chaos, and of course, C-H-A-O-S, chaos, it's a word that means really, they're making masses, they're really intermaking the struction and creating distruction. So that probably says a lot of about organization right there.

[news:/s/08:22.4-08:40.4] Well that's good, Vance, because I didn't quite catch that word KAOS man. So now it makes a lot more sense to me. So anyway they're fighting this organization that's evil and this will be quite the funny movie. Well we need to visit the chatroom now and take a break, but don't go away because we're going to be right back.

2008年6月15日星期日

vocabulary

budget the time.
misread
skim over the newspaper
couldn't resist the temptation

2008年6月14日星期六

Test Success

Don't live in fear of your next test. Overcome your fears, and ace your next exam by following these tips!

Before the test
Pay attention to the hints your teacher gives about an upcoming test. Write down exactly what you will be tested on. Knowing what the test will cover is half the battle.
Make a review sheet that includes important points from class and the reading material. Then your study notes will be in one place. Plus, rewriting the material will help you to remember it.
Don't cram! Test prepartion begins the first day of class, so do your reading assignments and homework consistently. Then you just need to review for the test - not learn all the material. Waiting until the night before to try to learn everything will only stress you out. Get a good night's sleep before the test, but if you can't, don't pull an all nighter.
Research shows that getting at least four hours of sleep produces the best test results. Eat a nourishing breakfast to keep your mind sharp. Avoid sugar, as it will hinder your ability to concentrate.

2008年3月24日星期一

precast

V30072S2,V40203S2S3,V40109S1S2,V40106S1S2,V40104S3,V40104S2,V68S2,V07148S3 ,07102S3,V07135S1,V07142S1S2,07141S1S2,V07147S14 ,V60134S1,V60148S4,V60141S3,V60113S2S4,V30033S1S4,V30034S1,V30038S2S3,V30040S2,V30014S4,V30058S1S3,V30015S3 ,V30018S3,V30060S1S3,V30019S1S2S3,V30061S1,V30020S1,V40213S4,V30036S1S4,V06316S3,V30042S1S3S4,V30032S1S3,V30033S1S3S4,V30044S1,V30037S1S4,V30076S1S3,V30078S1S2S4,V30085S4,V50130S2,V50147S2S3,V40213S4, V37S2S3S4,V40S4,.V66S1S2, V68S1,V69S1,

2008年3月23日星期日

Describe some of the problems that overpopulation causes, and suggest at lease one possible solution

first paragraph:
1.poor countries: starvation, unemployment, environment.
2.rich contries: effective services, more crime
3.abortion, one child policy
4.summry

In many countries of the world the population is increasing alarmingly. Especially this is true in poor and undeveloped contries. Overpopulation causes a considerable number of problems.

In poor countries, it is very difficlut to provide enough food to feed even the present number of people. In addition, education to limit the number of children of per family is not always successful. Poorer countries usually have a lot of unemployment too, and the increase in population simply makes the situation worse. The enviroment also suffers when there are too many people living on the land.

In rich, industrialized and developing countries, it is difficult for the government to provide effective public services in overcroweded cities. Moreover, there is usually a great deal more crime which is often due to high rates of unemployment. Further large increases in population only causes more overcrowding, unemployment and crime.

There are two main solutions to the overpopulation problem. Firstly, every woman who is pregnant but who doesn't want to give birth should be allowed by law to have an abortion. Secondly, the goverment should educate the people to limit the size of their families. In China, couples who have more than one child will be punished financially. Altough it may seem cruel, the "one-child policy" is beginning to have an effect in the world's most populous nation. Eventually, similar policies should also be necessary in other nations such as India, for example.

All in all, if the population explosion continues, many more people will die of starvation in poor countries. Life in cities, even in affluent countries, will become more difficult.

2008年3月17日星期一

Impose harsh punishment

With car ownership soaring in China, the issue of traffic accidents has been thrown into sharp relief. According to recent research conducted by China's Ministry of Transportation, the annual incidence of traffic accidents is nearly three times as high as the corresponding figure a decade ago. Many people have been alarmed by this trend and claim that imposing stiffer punishment on the perpetrators is the only way to curb this disturbing phenomenon.

On the one hand, more severe penalty does carry certain advantages. First, it would be the most cost-effective way to deter those would-be driving offenders. Heavy fines, long community service or jail terms would render most of the aggressive drivers apprehensive about violating the traffic law, even without extra goverment funding to upgrade the traffic surveillance cameras or augument traffic police force. Further, the effects of this hard-line punishment on driving offenses would be immediate. Once the related regulatory decrees are release, we would be sure to witness a substantial decline of driving offenses overnight.

However, there are also traffic hazards that we can't address by merely stiffening the punishment of aggressive or destructive driving conduct. To begin with, pedestrains who habitually jaywalk will not be discouraged by this move. Pedestrians account for a considerable proportion of tracffic-accident culprits. Thus pedestrian offenses such as jaywalking must be effectively checked as well. Secondly, if people who are regually behind the wheel are not awakened to the horrific consequences traffic offense may breed, they will would take advange of every loophole in sight. If people abide by the traffic law solely out of fear for punishment, when a surveillance camera is out of order or traffic police fail to keep tabs on a specified section of a freeway, all hell will break loose. Lastly, strict punishment of disorderly driving conduct doesn't guarantee infallible detection of traffic offenses. Without sophiticated traffic-offense detectors and a capable traffic police force, traffic laws, no matter how draconian, would be lax enough for hardened reckless drivers to disregard.

All in all, although hash penalty on driving offenses constitutes an effective way to deter would-be driving behavour. The rampant driving offense cannot be curbed by stiffer punishment of driving offenders alone. To conclude, I firmly believe that we must take a more integrated approach to this modern-day scourge.

2008年2月28日星期四

Similar Fridends or Disimilar Friends

Do you have many friends? Are they similar to you or different from you? Which kind of friends do you prefer?

Having friends whose characters, hobbies and social conditions are similar to yous can be very advantageous. Maybe you are fond of collecting stamps, then what a pleasure it is to have a friend with the same taste and to get to exchange the little "treasures" with him. Or maybe you are interested in playing tennis then how wonderful it is to compete with your friend, who is a well-matched tennis parter, on a green court. Similar friends are easy to get along with, and between you and your friends, there are always something that all of you are familar with. Because of the similarity, they can see something in your opinions, and understand you well.

But how about making different friends? They may have not what you have, but they have what you don't have. The dissimilar friends are like the protagonists in the scientific novel "Around the World in Eighty Days". Mr Fogg, and his ardent, humorous and talktive servent, Jean, who was not a bit like her old-fashioned master. But who would say that Mr. Fogg's courage and braveness during the great trip, and his compassion towards Mrs. Aouda were not partly from the influence and help of Jean? A dissimilar friend is a mirror which can reflect your virtues and shortcomings. From him, you can find what you lack and you can learn what you need. When viewed from these perspectives, different friends may have more to do with shaping you than the similar ones do.

No matter how similar they are, every two friends have differences, and no matter how different they are, as friends, they have at least one similarity: the sincerity towards the friendship. In sincere friendship, you can find shelter from danger, courage in need, and willing hands to help. Open your heart to your friends, whether they are similar to or different from you, and you may become the happiest man in the world.

2008年2月19日星期二

What's in a Name

CON
What's the big deal about name brands? One term used for products that aren't name brands is generic, which means common. Sometimes I get the feeling that the only reason people buy name brand products is because they fear being labeled "common". Generic products have the stigma of being boring and ugly while name brand products are exciting and stylish. Well, I'm not buying it. I'm buying generic. Why?

Cost Generic products can be from a quarter up to even half off the price of the comparable name brand product. Check for yourself. The next time you're in a drug store, find the generic medicines or store brands and compare them with their name brand counterparts. The generic brands have the same active ingredients as the name brands but are considerably less expensive. Buying them instead is a no-brainer!

The same stuff, only in a different disguise
Sometimes, discount brand companies manufacture similar - if not identical - products for the more famous label companies. What that means is the quality of the less expensive brand products is about the same as the name brand products - it's just the label that's different! So, save some money and go with the less famous brand, or go generic! Now what's your viewpoint?

2008年2月18日星期一

Impression's of St. Peter's school

Impressions of St. Peter's School (1)
St. Peter's School, Cambridge
Insights into life at a New Zealand boarding school
Located on a beautiful 100-acre campus. St. Peter's is an independent, coeducational school with students from grades 7 to 13. Of the 1000 students who attend this school, 430 of them board here, and 60 students come from abroad.

Diary
As my host drove me through the gate at St. Peter's School, my first thought was that this must be a school for royalty! Fields of green grass surrounded us as we made our way up the long driveway lined with gigantic trees.

As I walked around the school, the different colored shirts of the school uniforms(according to grade)caught my attention. Both the boys and the girls looked very smart.

The international student manager, Rosanne, tole me that the rules for both dress and behavior are very strict. No form of physical contact between boys and girls is allowed on campus. I think this rule is great because students come to learn, not socialize. The boys' boarding houses are across the campus from the girls' houses. The younger students share bedrooms while students in years 12 and 13 have their own rooms. I feel the design is really good because younger students need support and older students need their space.

Impressions of St. Peter's School (2)
At St. Peter's, a holistic style of teaching is emphasized with the goal to develop and strengthen students' minds and bodies and spirits. They teach the students how to learn, which develops and broadens their minds. The school also requires that students participate in two PE classes per week and extracurricular sports to help their bodies become strong . In addition, the school enriches students' spirits through teaching about Christianity.

For many classes, students are grouped together based on similar academic performance, an approach called streaming. When observing an English class, I discovered three major differences between the classrooms at my school and those at St. Peter's. First, the classes at St. Peter's are small with an average of 12 students. Second, I was struck by how eager the students were to answer questions or voice their opinions. The interaction was excellent, and the students participated enthusiastically in class activities. Third, the teacher gave a lot of class time for finishing homework and a lot of individual assistance to students as they worked. This was a valuable learning expericence for me, and I plan to incorporate what I learned at St. Peter's into my own classes.

Holistic: holistic medicine, holistic ecology.
Steaming: the students are grouped together based on similar academic performance, the
appoach is called streaming
Steamlining: The company or organization often needs streamlining. The boss may let some people go to save on expense and make operation more efficiently. This practice of reorganizing or simplifying the organization is also called streamlining.
Steamline design

2008年2月14日星期四

What's in a Name

substandard: below standard, sub: below or less than something. subtract, subtiles, submarine, subway

apparel

What's in a Name
Name brands are cool, but are they really worthe the extra money?

PRO
There are hundreds of them. Well-known appliances, electronics, footwear, apprael and computers. The famous brands - they are what we call name brands. These products are not necessarily successul because companies pour millions of dollars into promoting them - though that certainly doesn't hurt. People spend money on name brand products for several reasons:

1.Quality
A name brand can't become name brand without qualiy. If it's a food, the ingredients are wholesome; if it's a machine, quality parts are a must. Quality attracts customers and keeps them coming back.
2. Consistency
Over time, customers grow to expect a certain level of quality and performance from a product or service. If I'm in a foreign country and need shampoo, I'm going to buy a name brand product because I know it will be good. Name brands deliver quality consistency, regardless of time or location.
3.Customer services
Admittedly, some substandard name brand products occasionally get shipped out. To deal with this inevitability, smart companies help to support customers. For name brand companies, customer satisfaction is a priority. These three qualities give name brand products longevity. And that's worth a little extra money, right?