… isn’t she just GORGEOUS!  I’m biased, I know, but really, she’s just perfect and beautiful.  I drove out to Salmon Arm today to meet her and visit my sister.  I had to tear myself away when it was time to go.  The little angel only opened her eyes for a few seconds in the absolute worst lighting EVER while the nurse tried to burp her.   Awww, can’t wait to do a full-fledged shoot with her next week.  But shhhhh, haven’t told Nikki I’m coming over with all my “stuff” yet. lol  Anyways, enough rambling… here she is one and a half days old:

Se zice ca daca vrei, poti. In cat la suta din cazuri? Este chiar irelevant daca te afli in multimea fara succes. In cazul in care vrei sa te apuci de un business pe cont propriu inseamna ca cel putin ambitia o ai. Iti mai trebuiesc insa multe altele. Ca sa afli ce anume si daca le ai, fa-ti un SWOT personal. Iti va spune, la un nivel e drept nu detaliat, daca vei fi capabil sa razbati.

Ia in calcul cel putin urmatoarele aspecte si pozitioneaza-te fata de ele. Analiza te va ajuta sa decizi daca esti facut pentru antreprenoriat, daca ai cunostintele si abilitatile necesare sau daca e mai bine ca la sfarsitul lunii sa stii ca iei bani, nu dai.
- furnizorii de produse: vei face si productie, cum ar fi ornamente pentru care trebuie sa cumperi partile componente sau materia prima sau vei vinde produse finite pe care le iei de la alte firme?
- concurentii: cat de multi sunt, cat de mari sunt, ce resurse au si ce interes iti vor arata in momentul in care vei aparea drept concurent. Au puterea sa te scoata din joc?
- piata: ai loc sa te desfasori? Teoretic poate ai concurenti dar daca va adresati unor segmente de clienti diferite, joci singur, cum ar fi in vanzarea intr-un oras diferit sau catre varste diferite.
- promovarea: vei avea nevoie de asa ceva cu siguranta. Care sunt modalitatile si costurile aferente fiecarei variante?
- logistica: cum vor ajunge produsele sau serviciile tale la clienti? Printr-un chiosc, website, magazin stradal.. le livrezi la domiciliu sau prin curier? Fiecare inseamna niste investitii.
- infrastructura: calculatoare sau aparate de sudura, bancuri de lucru sau sevalete, de ceva vei avea nevoie. In cat timp iti scoti banii?

Celelalte functiuni ale firmei am presupus ca sunt externalizate: contabilitatea, crearea unui website, PR-ul, etc. Pentru aspectele de mai sus, pe langa intrebarile date ca exemplu si pentru care recomand o intrare mai in amanunt, pune-ti si intrebarea: stiu sa fac chestia asta? stiu sa lucrez cu un astfel de partener sau client? Cel putin pentru faza in care business-ul e doar in stadiul de idee, ar trebui sa fie suficient. Daca analiza spune ca poti s-o faci, atunci vezi ce-ai invatat pana in momentul respectiv apoi pune-te pe invatat inainte sa te apuci de lucru. Nu vrei sa te trezesti si in strada si nu banii dati.

Apparently I have enough time to update my post tag list, nothing new in the land of N yet, trying to figure out how I’m going to interlink all of my story’s into movuies and stuff.

Mental Models are the deeply held images of how the world works; we all carry mental models. They guide our thinking and action in familiar ways. In order to change, we need to change our mental models. We can’t change these models unless we understand what they are. Surfacing, testing and improving our internal pictures of how the world works is an important aspect of learning and change.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Lectures, Line of Sight.

KIA ORA(hola), soy Carola Robinson,  quiero contarles mi experiencia en Nueva Zelanda, estoy en Auckland hace poco más de un mes,  estudio ingles en Kaplan Aspect, y aunque llegar a  un país distinto y estar solo no es fácil al principio, realmente ha sido un experiencia  maravillosa. Venía con muchas expectativas y llena de ilusiones, y puedo decir que todas mis expectativas han sido colmadas, realmente la ciudad es muy linda, muy segura y con una paisajes literalmente de película.  La gente es muy educada  y amigable, siempre encontraras alguien dispuesto a ayudarte si necesitas saber una dirección, o alguna información, a mi me han acompañado hasta el sitio, para asegurarse de que entendiera bien, realmente he apreciado eso.

Estoy alojada con una familia kiwi, y me han acogido en su hogar con mucho cariño,  me trata como si fuera de su familia, tengo un cuarto con su propio baño, y acceso a internet desde mi cuarto;  el primer día me llevaron al instituto y me enseñaron la ruta del  bus y como  regresar; tengo el desayuno y la cena en mi alojamiento, y  no he sentido diferencia pues  la comida es similar a lo que acostumbraba en mi país. Para el almuerzo preparo sándwich, o algo ligero;  En Kaplan tenemos una cafetería donde podemos  usar el microondas, tenemos a disposición agua fría, caliente, y hay maquinas de café, chocolate y gaseosas.

Para ir a estudiar espero el bus en la esquina de la casa, y en 20 minutos estoy en New Market , que es el sitio donde está el instituto, el servicio de buses es muy bueno, también esta la opción de tren en caso de requerirla.

Recomiendo Kaplan 100%,  al llegar te hacen un test para determinar  el nivel al que ingresas, quede en un nivel intermedio, y siento que en este tiempo he avanzado significativamente, los profesores son muy buenos, los clases son variadas, escribimos, leemos, hablamos, así que puedes practicar  todos los tópicos y de una manera amena. Además tienes a tu disposición clases On line según tu nivel, te prestan libros y DVD, tienes acceso a club de cine y de conversación. Además  cada día de la semana tienen diferentes actividades en las que conoces la ciudad, conoces otros estudiantes, y aprovechas para hablar ingles como: Salidas al museo, sky tower, clases de cocina, deportes, photo tour…etc ; a estas puedes acceder  por muy poca plata.

Cada salón es un mundo pequeño , yo por ejemplo estudio con gente de República Checa, Alemania, Italia, Arabia Saudí, Rusia, Korea, Japón , Kazajistán, Tailandia, Suecia y Francia;  Así que tenemos que hablar ingles obligatoriamente, al igual que en tu alojamiento o en  cualquier parte donde te  encuentres ,ya que es casi imposible que encuentres alguien que hable español en este lugar, haciendo de esta experiencia una escuela de 24 horas, no solo de ingles si no de aprendizaje de otras culturas, lo que te abre la mente a otros mundos.

Es una experiencia que recomiendo a todo el que quiera aprender ingles y tenga la oportunidad. Te aseguro que no te vas a arrepentir, además quiero agradecer a Shane Ball por su excelente asesoría, pueden confiar plenamente en Study New Zealand, puedo decir que todo lo que  ofrecen es absolutamente cierto, conté todo el tiempo con asesoría oportuna, no importa cuántas veces llamara, siempre fui atendida. Si tienes dudas, tranquilo es normal al principio, pero puedes llamar y Shane te aclarara todas la que tengas como lo  hizo conmigo muchas veces, se que al igual que para mí,  será para ti una experiencia muy enriquecedora.

SEE YOU!!!

In Japan’s early history, a serious disregard for manners could be punishable by death, and any samurai could kill any common person who failed to show him proper respect. The Japanese were required to behave in precisely prescribed ways—wearing permitted clothing, walking only a certain way, sleeping with their heads pointing in a certain direction and legs arranged a particular way. Eating, greeting, gesturing with hands, opening doors and many work tasks had to be done in assigned ways without deviation. Conduct became a measure of morality, and virtue in manners was visible for all to see. Even today, the code of conduct plays a significant role in the lives of the Japanese. Many societies, not Japan alone, have a prescribed form and manner for every familiar situation that might arise. Unforeseen situations can cause intense embarrassment or discomfort. Throughout East Asia, actions are judged by the manner in which they are performed. More important than the accomplishment of a task is the question of how someone went about trying to complete the task: Did he act sincerely? More important than winning the race is the grace of the runner. More important than expertise is the way one gets along with others. More important than profits is harmony. In contrast, Westerners and particularly Americans are more concerned with the principles of things, hard “measures” and objective facts. Although rules of ethics are extremely important, we are more goal oriented than method-conscious, we say “a good loser is a loser.”

One aspect of form is the concept of “face.” Much has been written about “face-saving” in Japan and China, but face-saving is important absolutely everywhere. The difference is only a matter of degree and nuance. Where an American might feel a little guilty or inadequate, an Asian, Arab or South American may feel deep shame and humiliation. What an American might see as a little honest and constructive criticism, the foreigner may take as a devastating blow to pride and dignity. A foreigner is likely to be sensitive to feelings of others in transactions that an American would consider strictly impersonal, such as returning a defective product or switching hairdressers. The traveler simply must be more conscious of saying things or behaving in ways that cannot be taken as disrespect, criticism or humiliation. In some countries it seems just about anything can be taken personally, even such indirect affronts as not taking your shoes off in a mosque or complaining about the heat.

Harmony with the environment can be as important as sensitivity to people in some cultures. In Japan a woman wears a soft pastel dress to a flower show so as not to take away from the beauty of the flowers. In countries where people believe in reincarnation they are careful about all forms of life. In India, for example, people are careful not to swallow gnats or step on ants—one might be a relative.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Lectures, Line of Sight.

Today is November 11th, the day we set aside to commemorate those who have fought and died so that we may live in freedom.  The service here in Kamloops was a beautiful tribute, and I fought back tears of thanksgiving for those lives lost, for me, for you, for freedom…

Coming from a much smaller community, the scope of this Remembrance Day ceremony was impressive.  There was even a fly-over of a flight Squadron from Slave Lake, AB.

The chorus of bagpipes gave me goosebumps… I could listen to them all day.. such a beautiful sound!!  I’ve not heard so many all at once, and they sounded phenomenal!

I didn’t have my wide lens on so I couldn’t capture the whole scope of how many people were in attendance, but there were LOTS!

A grandfather retired from the military tells the story to his grandson.  There is such a beautiful story in this photo, a heritage passed on to a new generation of the remembering…  may we NEVER forget the wars that have been fought for our present and future…

Simteam nevoia sa mai schimb ceva la blog. Asa ca… Dupa cum cred ca ati si observat, mi-am schimbat tema si mi-am schimbat si header-ul.

Header-ul: doar cateva combinatii de imagini facute in gimp si in paint.

Sper sa va placa!

Muzica…

Nouvelle Vague – Dancing with my self

Azi dimineata cand mergeam la scoala, pe masina, la radio am ascultat melodia aceasta. Din priima am recunoscut-o. Este melodia de la L.A. ink.

Nu e cine stie ce, dar e faina

M-am plictisit de tema veche. Era timpul sa o schimb.

So, ce parere aveti?

Joana

Well, we are all relocated to Kamloops and digging our feet in and getting settled.  I’m from Smithers, BC, a beautiful, mountainous, verdant, colorful, lush place.  We’ve found ourselves in the desert!!  So different.  So amazingly beautiful in a desolate, wistful, stark, desert-y (is that even a word??) way.  When I need a break from editing the non-stop sessions from before the move,  I’ve been taking my camera out and learning the landscape here.  Here is just a taste of the scenic side of Kamloops:

from the Reformation to the Beginning of the Reign of King George I, by Thomas Crosby

As noted in a previous post, I have been reading ‘The History of the English Baptists from the Reformation to the Beginning of the Reign of King George I,’ by Thomas Crosby. I have also been adding this work to my website (a link to this book appears at the end of this post).

I have now completed reading and adding the preface, table of contents and part of the first chapter.

The preface covers the period from the early church through to the first Baptists in England, tracing the origins of the Baptists and disproving their rise to that of the Anabaptists at Munster and the disaster that occurred in that city as a result of the Anabaptist rebellion.

Though a lengthy preface, it briefly touches on such as the Albigenses, the Waldenses, Wickcliff, Donatists, etc. Crosby goes back through history, from the reformation to the first century finding evidence of Baptistic beliefs and practices. It is a very interesting study, even though it is brief. Another interesting aspect of this study is the evidence for early Baptistic existence, even in the writings of Paedobaptist authors and the evidence against the early practice of infant-baptism in the early church.

To read the preface and further, please follow the link below:

http://particularbaptist.com/library/Crossby-Thomas_Vol1_HistoryEnglishBaptists_contents.html

Aspect

living’s progressive
of live dying’s progressive
of die they tell me

We are all working longer hours than we ever have in the past, modern times have increased the financial pressure we are all under which in turn determines the high levels of work output we need to achieve to maintain our lifestyles.

With many of us feeling exhausted and drained it is little wonder that spa breaks are enjoying increased popularity, as people are realising the importance of being able to unwind and relax when we can. Taking a Spa break is more than just getting a body treatment, it’s the experience as a whole that will allow you to feel revived. Every aspect of the environment is carefully planned with Spa hotels specialising in quality treatments and facilities and blending them together to ensure the experience you receive is completely rejuvenating.

With the services available currently it is mindless to give up your limited free time to stressful tedious chores such as grocery shopping, when this task can be completed in a fraction of the time on-line. Sensibly managing tasks to be done can easily release enough time for you to look after yourself.

Day spa breaks are equally as popular as weekends in spa hotels depending on your schedule budget, taking a detox holiday for an entire weekend can have real benefits on stress levels. As a guest staying at a detox retreat you will be pampered and receive great care and attention, many of us feel guilty about spending money on ourselves when we have so many financial commitments but it should be regarded as an investment. People do work extremely hard these days and suffer high levels of stress which can be detrimental to your health leading problem that could affect your ability to perform in the work environment; surely a regular spa break or day is a worthwhile investment in your general well being.

Spas often offer weight loss retreat weekends which can be a fantastic inspiring experience for those wishing to embark on the daunting task of losing weight. A quality spa will only employ highly qualified professionals and should offer a wide variety of facilities and treatments such as, body massages, facial treatments, swimming and sauna treatments.

Many years ago spa breaks were regarded as a expensive luxury enjoyed predominantly by rich women, nowadays spa breaks are enjoyed by men and women alike and are accessible to many more people. Spa breaks can make a great gift for many occasions for males and females as well as couples who often enjoy being able to share to experience and both reap the benefits of becoming totally relaxed.

Once you have recognised how rewarding a spa break can be, no doubt you will be making enquires as to which spa to visit. Personal recommendation is often great as friends will inform you of anything that may affect the some aspect of your day of recuperation, such as there being limited parking or traffic building up on route to the spas location. These handy titbits of information can help ensure that you enjoy every aspect of your spa break including the journey to and from the spa hotel.

I was editing Amie’s session, and I just have one more photo to share with you.

Have I said before how much I LOVE Senior (Grad) sessions???  They rock!  Contact me to book your session!

L’inversion of Control è gettonata da un paio d’anni e si vedono in produzione sistemi che usano estensivamente questo tipo di pattern, analogamente, però l’interception con Unity fa la sua sporca figura perchè è possibile con pochissime linee di codice wrappare completamente il policy application block e definire i CallHandler (ICallHandler) e impostare le posi di interception mediante attributi.

Ormai ci siamo i paradigmi stanno cambiando velocemente e con EL 5 le novità non mancano e probabilmente sarà anche da valutare l’ipotesi di adottare nuovi approcci architetturali il futuro è alle porte e su codeplex già esiste un progetto fantastico il Common Service Locator

http://www.codeplex.com/CommonServiceLocator

Le differenze nel paradigma stanno in questi spezzoni di codice

Oggi:

DatabaseFactory.CreateDatabase(“mia istanza”)

oppure

Container.Resolve<Database>(“mia istanza”)

Il futuro

   1: new TypeRegistration<Database>(

   2:     () => new SqlDatabase(

   3:                 ConnectionString,

   4:                 Container.Resolved<IDataInstrumentationProvider>(Name)))

   5:     {

   6:         Name = Name,

   7:         Lifetime = TypeRegistrationLifetime.Transient

   8:     };

oppure

   1: var configurator = new UnityContainerConfigurator(Container);

   2:

   3: EnterpriseLibraryContainer.ConfigureContainer(

   4:     configurator,

   5:     configurationSource);

Hello Everyone.

Hope you are doing best in all aspects of your life.

Today, I’m going to start new series of tutorials on new topic .i.e. Aspect Oriented Programming, in which you will learn about new programming paradigm (though it’s too old), its basics, its core concept, comparison with current programming paradigms like Object Oriented Programming (OOA) and finally implementation for any real world problem or scenario.

Again, may be my writing style, sentences structure, grammar, spells are not up to the mark, but it isn’t an issue, i will try to focus on contents and concept so kindly accept my apology in advance.

I will post 3, 4 articles for this topic, dividing this in following possible sections

• Object oriented programming approach and some flaws
• Core theme of Aspect Oriented Programming
• Solutions provided by AOP against OOP flaws
• Important terms use in AOP talk
• A programming example with OOP and AOP
• Introduction of aspectJ, a java implementation of aspect oriented approach.

Object Oriented Programming Approach

Computer software or programs are an automation of real world scenarios, a transformation of manual work into computer operated systems. Many approaches are in practice to design and develop more usable, user friendly, easily evolevable and maintainable computer systems. Different approaches handles under-considerate domain with its own style. Object oriented approach focuses on data, takes anything in real world as data having some attributes (data fields) and some operations (methods). This approach evolves in sixth decade of last century when the computer system becomes much more complex and the current programming paradigms were not much capable to cope with required features to facilitate both developer and end users. At that moment researches were make on some new style of programming and then introduced “data focused” approach .i.e. object oriented programming where everything in real life was considered as object, in other words every noun is an object. We design systems based on these nouns in real world like Pay, Account, Employee, Product, PurchaseOrder, Invoice etc

Object oriented approach was at its peak in mid 80’s and late 90’s, even still a great number of computer systems are being developed using object oriented approach, but from its birth, it is facing many critics. Though the implementer of this approach are introducing many new features day by day in their respective languages compilers but only adding feature after feature into something don’t makes it better. Polymorphism, encapsulation, abstraction no doubt are building block of any mature programming language and should available implicitly, yet still there are few areas where developer need more ease and re-usability of their efforts and code. Those area were perceived and make researches and then new approach was presented to design and develop software module with more ease in re-usability of existing code, more ease in extendability and maintainability. This approach was AOP.

Did you ever feel that while development in object oriented world, you have you rewrite same chunk of code in different classes/methods to achieve a same goal? like (as a very simple example) in data access layer, you have to open database connection, maintain its session, writing query, call to database to fetch data and at the end, closing and the database connections and sessions. Like following

method Fetch_Employee_DATA{

open data base session;
create query to fetch data;
call to database to fetch data;
close database session;
return results;

}

here the bold text are those lines of code you have to write in each method you call to fetch data from database, other lines are method specific and depends upon the business logic.

As an other example, if you have to log each and every database call .i.e. the query to database, its parameter, the returned results etc, then you have to write same line of codes every time in each method that is going to interact with database. The above method will look like

method Fetch_Employee_DATA{

log start of method;
open data base session;
create query to fetch data;
log query and its parameters;
call to database to fetch data;
close database session;
log returned data from database;
log end of method;
return results;

}

Again the bold lines are those lines of code you are replicating in each method to achieve a same gaol. Don’t you think you’re spending a lot of time writing the same bits of code when it comes to implementing the individual methods. These things like logging, security checking, transaction management are such aspects of the systems that are orthogonal to the specific application. Every organization need them and every developer has to implement them in their respected module, classes and methods. In short the method hasn’t concern with these replicated lines, or the core concern of the method is to fetch employee, not to log database transactions, session maintenance etc. Every class or method is doing something extra time and again that doesn’t concern to their core requirement.

To small projects for small level organizations, it may work. But what if you are going to design and develop a banking system, an ERP for large scale company, or a payroll system for big industry … where the modules are interlink cohesively, the domain is very large, covering all business scenario of under-considerate organization. In such system, you can’t afford such framework and design that is difficult to extend, maintain and reuse. You can’t let your developers to spend time and resources over rewriting the same bit of code in every class and method, instead of focusing core business logic of that class. In other words, you can’t let everyone to focus on those things that are not concerned with their core task.

Consider the above example again. You are working in on a project (let suppose inventory management). While developing different features or modules, you have to call database to fetch and insert data as per business logic and domain requirement. We have seen that in every method you write, you are writing code of opening database session, and for closing it properly. In a medium and large scale project, the number of methods doing the same things could be hundreds. Any how, you complete your task and deploy the application at client site. Next time you are ask to maintain logs for each database interaction (as we discussed above) you instantly recall the number of classes and methods where you have to write code related to logging …. you have more then 40, 50 classes (let suppose) and there are hundreds of methods interacting with database. You have to open each method’s body and has to write logging code there ….

“Sir it will take atleast 4,5 days to complete this task”

“4, 5 days, but way, its really a simple task”

“indeed its simple but i have review each and every package, class and method to embed logging code there. To make sure the sustainability of application, i have to test it thoroughly to check that our existing application are new changes are running fine”

“hmmm ok, add someone else with you and try to complete it within 2,3 day, there are lot of other things too to do”

“sure i will”

This is the expected dialog between a developer and his manager/team lead while incorporation a simple change in running application. See, the actual lines that has to write in every method are very simple, just 2, 3 lines. But when it span over entire application with hundreds of packages/classes/methods then it becomes worst, consuming your more resources in term of human effort, time and budge.

Think again … is the logging concerned to method which was written to fetch data from database? Should a developer concern with database issues like opening a session and closing it properly who want to focus his attention to design an optimal query to fetch data from database?

In next post i will introduce Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) and will discuss how AOP provides solutions for problems we discussed earlier.

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Cultural aspect

Gender differentiation

In most cultures, gender differentiation of clothing is considered appropriate for men and women. The differences are in styles, colors and fabrics.

• In Western societies, skirts, dresses and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women’s clothing, while neckties are usually seen as men’s clothing. Trousers were once seen as exclusively male clothing, but are nowadays worn by both sexes. Male clothes are often more practical (that is, they can function well under a wide variety of situations), but a wider range of clothing styles is available for females. Males are typically allowed to bare their chests in a greater variety of public places. It is generally acceptable for a woman to wear traditionally male clothing, while the converse is unusual.
• In some cultures, sumptuary laws regulate what men and women are required to wear.
• Islam requires women to wear hijab, or modest clothing. What qualifies as “modest” varies in different Muslim societies; however, women are usually required to cover more of their bodies than men are. Articles of clothing worn by Muslim women for purposes of modesty range from the headscarf to the burqa.
• Men may sometimes choose to wear men’s skirts such as togas or kilts, especially on ceremonial occasions. Such garments were (in previous times) often worn as normal daily clothing by men.

• Compared to men’s clothing, women’s clothing tends to be attractive, often intended to be looked at by men.^[2] In the modern West, women are more likely to wear makeup, jewellery, and colorful clothing, while in very traditional cultures women are protected from men’s gazes by modest dress.

There are at least three different viewpoints taken in attempts to evaluate the contribution of advertising to the economic health of the firm. The generalist viewpoint is primarily concerned with sales, profits, returns on investment, and so forth. At the other extreme, the specialist viewpoint is represented by advertising experts who are primarily concerned with measuring the effects of specific ads or campaigns. A middle view, one that might  be classified as more of a marketing management approach, understands and appreciates the other two viewpoints but, in addition sees advertising as a competitive weapon. Emphasis in this approach is given to the strategic aspects of the advertising function.

Building on objectives for advertising can be assigned that focus on creating awareness, aiding comprehension, developing conviction, and encouraging ordering. Within each category, more specific objectives can be developed that take into account time and degree of success desired. Obviously compared to the large number of people advertising makes aware of the product or service, the number actually motivated to purchase is usually quite small.

In the long run and often in the short run, advertising is justified on the basis of the revenue it produces. Revenue in this case may refer either to sales or profits. Economic theory assumes that firms are profit maximizers, and the advertising outlays should be increased in every market and medium up to the point where the additional cost of gaining more business equals the incremental profits. Since most business firms do not have the data required to use the marginal analysis approach, they usually employ less sophisticated decision-making models. There is also evidence to show that many managers advertise to maximize sales on the assumption that higher sales mean more profits (which may or may not be true).

The point to be made here is that the ultimate objective of the business advertiser is to make sales and profits. To achieve this objective, the actions taken by customers must encompass purchase and continued repurchases of the advertised product. Toward this end, an approach to advertising is  is needed that provides for intelligent decision making. This approach must recognize the need for measuring the results of advertising, and these measurements must be as valid and reliable as possible. Marketing managers must also be aware that advertising not only complements other forms of communication but is subject to the law of diminishing returns. This means that for any advertised product, it can be assumed a point is eventually reached at which additional advertising produces little or no additional sales.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Lectures, Line of Sight

I thought I saw the tiger’s child

With brilliant eyes that flash of fire

The one that rages day and night

With life and hope and more desire

Than any in this world could have

So always try to keep them close

Unleashed their powers are often brutal

To those they really love the most

I know that little tiger’s child

As others learned to spot them too

Their claws they dig so deep to flesh

To gouge at bone and stiff sinew

They try to keep emotions low

As running rampant they’ll do you harm

And cause such violent damage

With guile; and lethal loving charm

So if you see the tiger’s child

Try to pity, not judge their plight

As every threatened and unbridled creature

When feral, knows it has the right

To roam unguarded in the world

To snatch a hold on the pray it spies

And when taking hold of those it imprisons

It’s mercilessly cunning and terribly wise

I know you’ll see the tiger’s child

As fast within your sight it grows

To find that child’s not difficult

As each and every adult knows

You only have to glimpse them once

To let them cut you down to size

All the children on this earth possess

Those wiley glimmering tiger’s eyes

But can we tame the feral ones?

Guard them now and teach them well

Protect them in their majesty

Never break their precious spell

Let them beguile us whilst they may

Let them cling within our clutch

Show them care and they’ll repay

With every smile and look and touch

‘Cos if you raise a little tiger’s child

With all encompassing love and care

The tiger’s lore’s will be genuine

Of childish aspects you needn’t beware

But never let them take control

Just watch your wits and keep them close

It’s the children that are pussycats

Who sidle up; yet spit the most

Those tiger cubs within your lair

Will gaze through bright, yet wistful eyes

Like spears of light, they’ll prowl and bite

As they have such a sweet disguise

So try to out manoeuvre them

Don’t keep them separate or set apart

‘Cos if children aren’t reared wisely

They’ll find a way to wound your heart

Copyright ©20/08/2009 Beth Stratton

Acum citeva zile am vazut un film cu Natalie Portman, in rolul lui Anne Boleyn, ca sotie a regelui Henry al optalea. Filmul trebuie sa fi aparut deja de ceva timp dar cumva a iesit sa il vad tocmai acum. Aceasta bucata de istorie si episoade din viata regelui si a uneia din sotiile lui(caci a avut 6 in total, si chiar faimos pentru acest stil de viata de a se insura si reinsura..)Anne.

Filmul mi-a aparut interesant si intens. Dar mai presus de aspectul artistic m-a interesat sa compar si sa fiu surprinsa de cit de mult lucrurile s-au schimbat in ultimele 500 de ani si totusi cit de putin. Okay, nu ne mai trebuie postalionul care sa ia citeva saptamini ca sa duca un mesaj dintr-un loc in altul ci instant o secunda pentru un mesaj, nu avem nevoie de cai ci , ne urcam in masina, tren, avion.

Si multe beneficii de pe urma tehnologiei, tel mobil si cite si mai cite. Si totusi, ciudat este ca femeia si acum 500 de ani si astazi fara nici o diferenta nu face decit eforturi sa placa barbatului si sa fie atragatoare si interesanta daca e posibil. Si e posibil! Atita vreme cit industria cosmeticelor este dezvoltata, chirurgia estetica posibila, cariera care sa aduca venit, de ce nu ar fi posibil ca femeia sa fie atragatoare caci asta urmareste , nu? Sa fie atragatoare !! Ciudat este ca accentul nu se pune pe inteligenta, pe farmec personal, personalitate. Ci aspect exterior, este ori nu este?

 Pentru ca femeia ca o maimutica a trebuit sa faca pe plac barbatului acum 500de ani , si pentru ca isi respecta regnul trebuie sa continue sa faca pe plac barbatului, societatii de consum, care ceea ce vede, consuma! Fie ca poate cumpara , in ceea ce priveste obiecte, fie ca o sa cintareasca cu privirea, sa o evalueze ca pe UN PRODUS si nu om!

Iar femeia,  in functie de cum o sa apara dupa ce e cintarita cu privirea capata o apreciere sau e clasata ca nesemnificativa. Oare lucrurile trebuie sa fie asa?  Esential  aspectul exterior in locul caracterului omului??

Buna intrebare, dar care este raspunsul corespunzator timpurilor actuale si lumii in care traim?

A few photos from Kari & Jared’s beautiful wedding day.  Kari was so radiant, and so  emotional… editing her photos is bringing her emotion and joy right back again.  Jared just grinned at her all the time.  So beautiful, love is.

The flowers {and colors} were gorgeous!

That car was AMAZING!  Such gorgeous curves…

I love the blue hour, that hour after the sun goes down, when all the lights in town are on, but the sky is still that deep hue of blue that makes you hold your breath, just for a moment.  I had a chance to take some city photos from up in Batchelor Heights in Kamloops last week.  Such a beautiful sight!

Isn’t the city pretty at night??

Whatever the aspect, this combination can, and more often than not will, be a dominating force in any natal chart.  Intense beyond description, Pluto’s energies are focused easily through the medium of the Sun.  I rarely work with aspects outside of the 12th harmonic (conjunction, semi-sextile, sextile, square, trine, quincunx and opposition), never having observed any great influence to them beyond a supporting role for the major aspects (as listed above in parenthesis).  Let’s start then!

The conjunction is, contrary to popular belief, not necessary the strongest aspect in a chart.  Nevertheless, when Pluto conjuncts the Sun, the result is always terrifying to behold.  Great examples of this are Hunter S. Thompson and michael Jackson, both men incredibly powerful, magnetic, charismatic individuals.  They were both also intensely dark men, fortified with a depth of self-destructive intent the likes of which would make most lie down and cry.  Thompson lost his father early (Pluto killing the Sun), in the process losing his will to preserve his life.  Or perhaps he gained the will to stare into the abyss and laugh at it.  It takes a lot of strength to eye the abyss intentionally and survive the experience.  Thompson not only eyed the abyss, he directly challenged it.  Jackson did too, tempting death  every night with the use of extremely dangerous drugs.  Yes, the drugs finally won in both instances, but it wasn’t because these two men were lost.  No, this isn’t Neptune’s watery ocean.  Thompson and Jackson knew what they doing, and they didn’t care.  (to be continued)