Lors de ma dernière visite sur le site ContactDistance.fr (vous trouverez le lien sur ma Blogroll), l’article en date qui s’appelle : “Motivation des salariés : ce n’est pas qu’une question d’argent” m’a guéri du syndrome de la page blanche et,  j’en suis venue à me demander : Qu’est ce qui nous motive, nous téléconseillers, à nous lever tous les matins pour prendre des appels toute la journée? Là encore, je me dois de ne pas laisser cette question trop en suspens!

Sachez bien que dans MON centre d’appels, la motivation des salariés ne passe pas par l’appât du gain, sinon ça se saurait! Ah si, il y a une “modique”prime de fin d’année, en compensation de nos efforts et attribuée à la tête du client, pour ceux qui auraient lu mes précédents articles, notamment”Comment ça marche“, ça vous étonne? Je vous invite à postuler dans mon entreprise et vous vous en rendrez vite compte! Vous vous direz peut-être que l’argent ne fait pas tout, qu’il y a aussi l’ambiance  entre collègues, la passion pour le métier, les perspectives d’évolution et la reconnaissance de sa hiérarchie…. oh douce utopie, si seulement…

Qui dit primes allouées à la bonne tête du téléconseiller, dit forcément rancoeur et jalousie des autres, qui triment tout autant, si ce n’est plus et fournissent le même bilan de fin d’année mais, qui ne se voient jamais rien venir! Sans parler de ceux à qui l’on donne le privilège de prendre peu d’appels et que l’on sollicite régulièrement pour répondre à des mails, référence à mon article”vous avez un mess@ge!”. A la différence de certains centres d’appels comme Téléperformance ou même , moins connu, Télétech et d’autres surement (croyez-moi, j’ai mes sources!!), pour lesquels les primes ne sont certes pas mirobolantes, mais suffisamment pour que le téléconseiller s’investisse : il a des objectifs et, si ces derniers sont atteints, il gagne une certaine somme! simple, juste et efficace, voilà une bonne technique qui a fait ses preuves. Il n’y a donc aucune injustice ni différence entre téléconseillers, chacun travaille pour soi et, du coup cela ne crée aucune animosité entre salariés! J’en conclus donc et, je vous le confirme pour le vivre, que l’on n’est donc pas motivé à se lever tous les matins pour retrouver les collègues et la bonne ambiance qui règne ici, dans MON centre d’appels!!

Mis à part l’aspect financier de la chose, car apparemment” Motivation des salariés : ce n’est pas qu’une question d’argent”, pour reprendre encore cette phrase “choc” qui m’a pour ainsi dire sauvée de la page blanche, les perspectives d’évolutions pourraient être une roue de secours! Mais là encore tout dépend de la taille de votre centre d’appels! Le mien est tout petit, nous n’avons que cinq superviseurs, qui tiennent à leur place comme à la prunelle de leurs yeux, parce qu’ils sont conscients d’être rémunérés à ne rien faire! Il y a bien des places qui se libéreront lors du départ en retraite de certains de nos collaborateurs qui travaillent en sections départementales (centres d’accueil physique et de gestion des dossiers de nos “appelants”)mais là aussi, celles-ci coûtent chères parce qu’il y en a peu et certaines sont déjà gardées bien aux chauds. En même temps, c’est mathématique: plus le centre d’appels est grand, plus il y a de turn over et donc des chances d’évoluer, encore faudrait-il et les postes à évolution se libèrent et aussi qu’un bon téléconseiller puisse faire un bon superviseur ou un bon gestionnaire et, là aussi  je vous assure que ça n’est pas toujours le cas!

Mais alors, que nous reste t-il? La reconnaissance de ma hiérarchie? Celle que j’imagine me convoquer moi, Zoé, téléconseillère depuis presque 3ans, pour me féliciter pour mes fidèles et loyaux services, me promettant de me donner la prime, en guise d’encouragement, peut-être l’année prochaine, si je continue à travailler comme ça, à y croire…encore et encore…Faut pas rêver, jamais un” merci” ni de”félicitations”, rien!!

Moi je vais vous dire ce qui  nous “motive” à nous lever tous les matins pour en baver toute la journée, traités comme des esclaves, parce que nous sommes vraiment dans l’air de l’esclavagisme moderne : à part nos horaires pas trop durs, en 35h annualisées parce qu’on doit se caler sur les vacances scolaires de nos “appelants” et qui nous permettent, surtout l’été, de partir à 15h , voir 15H30, nous nous levons pour avoir juste assez de quoi financer tous nos besoins primaires : payer nos factures, la scolarité de nos enfants, faire nos courses alimentaires, et une fois tout cela réglé, il ne reste plus rien pour se s’accorder un petit extra, se faire un petit plaisir et, je ne sais pas qui a osé nous caser dans la tranche sociale du travailleur moyen?!…qu’il vive avec mon salaire pendant un mois et il verra bien, moi qui me sent plus pauvre que les pauvres, certains mois!

Mais vous, qu’est-ce qui vous motive dans votre travail?

Pour terminer ce  billet, je voulais remercier toutes les personnes à être venues aussi nombreuses visiter mon blog et, j’espère que ça continuera! A tous les lecteurs ayant travaillé ou travaillant encore, comme moi, en centres d’appels, je vous remercie de me lire vous aussi, ainsi que pour vos commentaires, drôles et touchants à la fois! Puisse notre métier être reconnu à sa juste valeur!

Bonne soirée et à très bientôt.

Posted by Audiegrl

The guest list for Tuesday’s gala remains a secret, but it should solidify who is considered a VIP in the Obama White House. The dinner honors India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Los Angeles Times/Katherine Skiba—What’s the hottest ticket in the nation’s capital? An engraved invitation to Tuesday’s White House state dinner, the first hosted by President Obama.

He and the first lady will honor India’s prime minister. But in a departure from the traditional venue — the elegant State Dining Room — the Obama’s will gather with a few hundred VIPs in a huge, heated tent on the South Lawn.

The guest list for the black-tie gala remains a closely guarded secret. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, will certainly be there.

Several notables are good bets, such as Oprah Winfrey and Chicago hotel billionaire Penny Pritzker, as are top Obama aides David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett and Rahm Emanuel.

Dee Dee Myers, who served as President Clinton’s press secretary, said the lobbying by people seeking an invite had probably been relentless.

Dinner Menu from the Clinton Whitehouse

“The first [state dinner] is always the most dramatic,” Myers said. “First impressions are important. That’s your A list, that’s your top game right there. By the time you get to the eighth state dinner, it’ll be a lot less important.”

The gargantuan tent affords a bigger crowd than could fit in the State Dining Room, which holds 140.

State dinners generally draw administration officials and members of Congress, the Cabinet and the diplomatic corps. Obama donors and corporate titans, Hollywood glamour, athletic greats and leading artists are bound to be thrown into the mix, possibly joined by some academics and journalists.

And the morning after, hotheads left off the list are bound to let off steam.

Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh

“There’s always a few angry calls,” Myers said, “because people read the guest list” in the morning papers.

But until the dinner takes place, the heat is on, perhaps for no two people more than Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary, and Cristeta Comerford, the White House’s top chef.

Myers was a guest at a few state dinners put on by Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is another guaranteed attendee Tuesday. As Secretary of State, she hand-delivered the invitation to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July.

Tented parties for state dinners aren’t entirely new. In President Clinton’s final year in office, he had about 700 guests under a tent for an earlier Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee.

More @

Obama State Dinner Challenges, Real & Imagined: A Vegetarian Guest of Honor, A Scarcity of Vegetables…

“Vegetable veracity: The garden is low on crops, Mr. Singh is fond of fish, and about that beehive gift for dinner guests…“

Please visit our friends at Obama Foodorama. They have more pictures and details about the tent, menu, chef, etc…they are a great source for anything food related at the Obama White House.

Join the Live Feed here on 44-D:
November 24, 2009 8:15 PM EST
State Dinner in Honor of His Excellency Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur

Click image to watch live:

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

I recently had yet another chance to travel to Sydney and stay for a while whilst working. Sydney’s weather didn’t treat me too well but apart from that, it was a good time had by all, I shopped, partied, hung out with friends and family, explored new places, met some amazing new friends, and set some awesome things up that you’ll see in the future. Aside from all that I got two days of shoots in for the lovely Asia Power’s 2009/2010 summer capsule range of which you’ll see the finals for within the next few days…

So here are a few test shots, and setup shots from the two days of shoots enjoy while I sort through everything and get it up on my Flickr and the blog, there are many more shoots to edit and upload so keep your eyes peeled enjoy…

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city i’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Umar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke says the summit just concluded in Rome has been helpful because it drew the world’s attention to the problem of world hunger, but it has also shown there’s still a long way to go to meet UN goals for improving food security worldwide…. From VOA. Full story

This site may contain information about: food. The blog is also related to: food.

In a country where people are not able to find sugar and other daily usage items and where electricity has become a real luxury , the elite political , military ,corrupt business and bureaucratic classes consider themselves above every law of the land and don’t think of themselves answerable to any system of justice.

Below is the list of NRO beneficiaries which include list of accused criminals who got their selves cleaned with this draconian law introduced by the dictator Musharraf.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Finally, dreaded NRO list is out and official

The News

By Ansar Abbasi
Source : http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=25672

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) presented to the government on Thursday a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the NRO.

Sources in the Law Ministry while sharing with The News the “complete list” of NAB’s NRO beneficiaries, explained that thousands other cases of NRO beneficiaries did not belong to the NAB but with the provincial governments because they were criminal cases and were not covered by the NAB law.

On top of the list is the name of President Asif Ali Zardari while his several close associates, both political and bureaucratic, including Rehman Malik, Salman Farooqi and his brother Usman Farooqi, Hussain Haqqani and Siraj Shamsuddin are also reflected.

The list, which also reflects a brief introduction of the cases dropped against each name under the NRO, also includes the name of serving and former ministers, federal and provincial secretaries, ex-chief secretaries, existing or former members of the national and provincial assemblies and others.

According to the list, Asif Ali Zardari remained the beneficiary No 1 of the NRO as at least eight of his NAB cases of corruption and misuse of authorities were dropped. These cases included the alleged kickbacks from SGS PSI Company, grant of licence to ARY Gold causing huge loss to government, corruption in purchase of Ursus tractors under the Awami Tractor Scheme, illegal award of contract to Cotecna for pre-shipment, assets beyond means, received kickbacks from Sajjad Ahmad (late) ex-chairman Pakistan Steel Mills, illegal construction of Polo ground at PM House and the money laundering SGS Swiss case.

Others amongst politicians include Nawaz Yousaf Talpur, ex-MNA and former minister, who was co-accused in URSUS tractors case; Ms Nusrat Bhutto, assets case; ex-MNA and the PPP Secretary General Jehangir Badr, assets case and corruption in Sui Southern Gas Company; ex-minister for commerce and presently Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar, misuse of authority in issuing sugar export permit to non-entitled persons in 1994; ex-MNA Malik Mushtaq Ahmed Awan, embezzlement in Octroi contracts; ex-MNA Rana Nazir Ahmed, assets case and misuse of authority; ex-MPA Mian M Rashid, assets case and illegal appointments; ex-MPA Tariq Anees, assets beyond means; ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood Dina, assets beyond means; ex-minister of education Sindh Agha Sirajuddin and others, misuse of authority; ex-chief minister and former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, misuse of authority, illegal allotment of plots and assets case; ex-provincial minister Ghani-ur-Rehman, assets beyond means; ex-senator Haji Gulsher, misuse of authority and acquisition of land; ex-provincial minister Habibullah Khan Kundi, misuse of authority and acquisition of land; ex-MNA Mir Baz Muhammad Khan Khethran, misappropriation of government funds allocated for people’s works programme; ex-federal minister Anwar Saifullah Khan, misuse of authority in allocation of LPG and illegal appointments; ex-provincial minister Sardar Mansoor Laghari, corruption in Utility Stores Corporation; ex-Mayor Sargodha Ch Abdul Hameed, assets beyond means; ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Ch Shoukat Ali, ex-MNA Haji Kabir and ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Ch Zulfikar Ali in Zila Council fraud case.

Amongst government servants and others, who had benefited from NRO and got themselves cleared from NAB cases include ex-additional director general FIA and presently Interior Minister Rehman Malik, embezzlement of funds on account of un-authorized released of imported yellow cab cars, illegal detention of complainant and illegal gratification; ex-secretary information and presently Pakistan’s ambassador in the US Husain Haqqani, co-accused in Ms BB case of TV channels; ex-federal secretary and presently principal secretary to the president Suleman Farooqi, illegal allotment of textile quota, forgery and fraud, obtained illegal benefits in connivance with exporters; ex-chairman Pakistan Steels Mill, caused loss to Pak Steels through illegal disposal of 15.93 MT of end cuts, procurement of Ferro Silicon at higher rates; ex-joint secretary PM Secretariat, former principal secretary to the PM Gilani and presently Executive Director ADB Siraj Shamsuddin, illegal appointment; ex-NBP president and presently Pakistan’s ambassador M B Abbasi, corruption and corrupt practices and loan default; ex-secretary Sindh Rasool Baksh Rahoo, KPT land cases; Mashook Ahmed Usmani, Aurangzeb, Moin ul Arfeen, Akhtar H Askari and Kher M Kalochi of Pakistan Steels Mills (PSM) in the case of purchases on exorbitant prices for PSM; ex-DG textile quota Nayyar Bari and ex-DD Export Promotion Board Anees Alam, illegal allotment of textile quota, forgery/fraud, obtained illegal benefits in connivance with exporters; ex- secretary commerce Brig (R) Aslam Hayat Qureshi, co-accused in ARY Gold case; ex-advisor to Prime Minister A R Siddiqi, co-accused in AAZ and BB cases; ex-principal secretary to the PM Saeed Mehdi, co-accused in polo ground case; ex-principal secretary to the PM Ahmed Sadiq, assets beyond means; ex-chief secretary Punjab Javed Qureshi, fraud in Zila Council Lahore contracts; ex president HBL, willful default, ex DG Intelligence Bureau Brig Imtiaz, assets beyond means; ex-MD Printing Corporation of Pakistan Pir Mukarram, corruption and corrupt practices; ex-DG Textile Quota Akhtar Alam in textile quota case; ex-secretary Petroleum Capt (R) Naseer Ahmad, misuse of authority in awarding contracts for OGDC; ex-Director Textile Quota Syed Arfeen, textile quota case; customs officials Khalid Aziz, Muhammad Nawaz Butt and Mumtaz Ali Changezi in illegal evasion of tax duties case and wrong refund of customs rebate case; Pak Steel employees Syed Iqtedar Rasool, Qaiser Raza, Irfanuddin, Hisamuddin and Qurban Ali Jatoi in import of PIG iron for PSM case; General Manager Port Qasim Authority Abdul Sattar Dero, corruption in PSM; businessman/transporter Pir Deedar Hussain Shah, yellow cab scam; ex-FIA Assistant Director Sajjad Haider, ex-Inspector Muhammad Sharif Qureshi and inspector Moeen Ashraf, all three co-accused of Rehman Malik in embezzlement of funds on account of unauthorized release of imported yellow cab cars case; Assistant Director FIA Agha Ishrat Ali, assets beyond means; ex-Deputy Director FIA Ch Muhammad Sharif, assets beyond means; ex-Additional Commissioner Income Tax Javed Iqbal Mirza, assets beyond means; ex Managing Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Aftab Ahmed, misuse of authority in awarding contracts; Project Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Fareed Ahmed, misuse of authority in awarding contracts; ex-Regional Commissioner of Income Tax Sindh Abrar Ahmed, assets beyond known resources.

The names of other beneficiaries are Collector Customs Imtaiz Ali Taj; ex-Secretary Javed Burki, DG Port Qasim Authority Irshad Ahmed Sheikh; AD FIA Noor Muhammad Kaka; Maj (R) Rashid Khan; Additional Director FIA Ali Qaswar Bokhari; ex-DG Peshawar Development Authority Syed Zahir Shah; Suptd Customs Check Post Mand Muhammad Younas Butt; Customs officials Sherdad Khan, Sajad Hussain, Muhammad Sarwar and Abdul Hameed Siddiqi; Senior Store Manager Muhammad Iqbal; District Engineer Water Supply Quetta Zamarak Khan; Revenue Officer Pashin Rehman Ali; Assistant Revenue Office Pashin Hafiz Matiullah; Superintendent Revenue Officer Pishin Muhammad Iqbal; Junior Auditor Ibrar Hussain; ex-SP Railways Inamur Rehman Sehri; ex-DC CDA Ch Muhammad Aslam; ex-Secretary CDA Abdul Ghafoor Dogar; ex-AD CDA Mushtaq Ahmed Baloch; ex-Sub Engineer CDA Muhammad Ismail; ex-DC CDA Ahmed Khan; ex-Account Officer Attaullah Khan; ex Patwari Muhammad Farooq; ex-Patwari CDA Muzamil Hussain; Clerk CDA Dawood Khan; ex-Deputy Director Planning CDA Muhammad Iqbal; ex-DC CDA Muhammad Amin; ex-DC CDA Shoukat Ali; Supervisor PTCL Sheikh Liaqat Ali; Assistant Manager GHQ Habibullah Tasnim; Assistant Store Keeper Muhammad Saeed; ex-DG Services CDA Mohiuddin Jameeli; ex DD CDA Muhammad Ashfaq; ex-Asstt Estate Manager CDA Din Muhammad; EGDC official Raheel J Qureshi; GPO Rawalpindi officials Muhammad Farooq, Salim Raza, Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Akhtar and Arshad Mehmood; ex-Tehsildar Raja Zahid Hussain; Dy DG Military Land and Cantonment Department Abdul Naeem Khan; ex-SSD MEO Rwp Sh Muhammad Amin; Assistant Director Military Land and Cantonment Abdul Hayee Qamar; ex-DG Military Land and Cantonment Qazi Naeem Ahmed; Abdul Ghafoor Khan, Muhammad Ali; ex-Chairman SLI Zaheer; ex-DG NHA Iqbal Ahmad; ex-Chief Engineer CAA Raees M Irshad; CAA officials Ghulam Qadir Lakhan, Shafique Siddiqi, Ahmed Hussain, Iqbal Bangash, Khurshid Anwar, M Akbar, A D Abbasi, Kh Farooq Ahmad and Rafique Shad; OGDC officials Jaffar Mohammad, Khalid Subhani, Capt (R) Nazir Ahmed; Najmul Hassan, M Ishaq, Muzaffar Hussain, Shahid Ahmed, Qamar Hussain Shah, M Israel Khan and Bashir Ahmad Bhatti; PWD officials Mureed Ahmed Baloch, Sadaqat Ali, Khalid Mehmood Nasir, Akram Rao, Rashid Mujib Siddiqi, Aslam Shahid, Zahid ullah Khan and Shabbair Husain; Wapda officials Anwar Hussain, Wapda Line Superintendents Saifullah, Muhammad Arshad, Syed Ehsan Ali Shah, Mirza Saeed Ahmed, Akbar Ali and Allah Wasaya; Nadra officials Hakim Din, Sardari Ali and Nadir Khan; Zakim Khan Masood, Sadiq Ali Khan, Sardar Mansoor Leghari, Din Muhammad, Sikandar Ali Abbasi, Ahmad Yar Gondal, Amin Jan, Sharif Alam Padri, Usman Ghani Khatri, Adnan Khawaja, Nadeem Imtiaz; ex-official Abdul Hakeem, proprietor M/s Techno Int Pir Bux Solangi; private person Abdul Sattar Mandokhel; official S M Attaur Rehman; Sahib Dad Mengal; Hamza Khan Gabol; Riaz ul Hassan Rizvi; Shamsuddin, Ayaz Ahmed, Mukhtiar Ahmad, Muhammad Ali, Abdul Aziz, Rasheed Muhammad Qureshi, Mumtaz Ahmed Bhutto, Maqsood Ahmed, ex-UDC MEO Sialkot Naeem uddin, ex Asst Audit Officer Muhammad Hanif Rahi; ex-cameraman Abu Zar Jaffari; Auditor General officials Muneeruddin Ch, Abdul Razaak Bhatti, Mehr Sajjad Ahmed, Mirza Sajjad Ahmed, Mirza Muhammad Ayub, Muhammad Iqbal Shah, Mukhtar Ahmed, Malik Shahmat Ali, Mian Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Shafique, Syed Javed Hassan, Syed Muzaffar H Shah, Muhammad Sarwar Safi, Muhammad Shabbir and Tariq Mehmood; Food Department officials Ch Nazir Ahmed, Safiullah Awan and Muhammad Usman; Wapda’s Liaqat Ali, Customs Ali Muhammad Sheikh; PTCL’s Munawar Hussain, Muhammad Ashfaq Naz and Muhammad Shahid; Lahore Wapda’s Shahid Iqbal Ghauri, Manzoor H Chohan, Muhammad Javed, Abdul Rehman, Iftikhar Ali and M Qasim; Amjad Hussain Sandhal, Syed Zahir Hussain, Ghulam Mustafa, M Hanif; Sadiq Muhammad, Sameer Amjad, Ch M Siddiqi, Rasheed Ahmed Patwari, Mirza Sher Muhammad; businessmen Seth Nisar Ahmed and Zahid Mehmood; official Murid Ahmed Baloch, Qazi Afzal Hussain, Shaukat Hussain Shah, Maqbool Ahmed, Noor Jamal, Sardar Muhammad Nasim, Mirza Sher Muhammad, Rashid Ahmed Patwari, Muhammad Usman, Arshad Mehmood, Muhammad Akhtar and Waheedur Rehman.

A little while back I spoke about trying to make images of common place things, of scenes that I was familiar – even overly familiar – with, instead of constantly wishing for something more exotic. That’s not an easy challenge to rise to, much less to walk away from with good images. And while I still haven’t applied that line of thinking to most of my work the way I should have, I did take a first step.

We have a late afternoon, nothing too impressive, but some nice golden light. It’s too late to try and drive anywhere, I’d miss the light while en route. So instead I stayed in, focusing on images I could make by window light in one room of my apartment. Good for a change of venue and for a change in perspective I went with my new 50mm lens for that super-shallow DOF.

Most of the time I’d cringe at the thought of taking photos of my household plants – goodness knows that the internet is already saturated with photos of people’s pretty flowers. So my trick, to let myself get away with it, was to try and see the plants, the everyday mundane objects around me, in a different way. And I’ll mention that I was inspired in no small part by a video my girlfriend had just shown me, some strange marriage of animation between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney, complete with melting clocks and transmorgifying people.

Sadly I wasn’t able to make things melt and reform, but I am pleased with how I managed to render some subjects that I manage to otherwise overlook. The scented oil with the stick-thingies in it, the spines on a cactus, the trunk of a palm tree. I’m always hesitant to stand up and claim that I’ve made art, always afraid that such a statement is pompous and obnoxious. But I’d like to think that in this case, I did manage to at least show the mundane in an artistic way. If nothing else, it was a fun experiment.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes es un juego de aventuras en primera persona desarrollado por Retro Studios y distribuido por Nintendo. Fué lanzado el 15 de Noviembre de 2004 en Estados Unidos, el 16 de Mayo de 2005 en Japón y el 26 de Noviembre de 2005 en Europa para la consola Nintendo Game Cube, y recientemente una versión para Wii. Es el segundo juego de la trilogía Prime de la saga Metroid.

Argumento

El juego transcurre seis meses después de los acontecimientos ocurridos en Metroid Prime. La cazarrecompensas Samus Aran ha sido contratada por la Federación Galáctica para investigar la desaparición de una nave tripulada de la federación en el planeta Éter y prestarles ayuda si es necesario. En Éter se encontrará desde sus enemigos naturales, los Piratas Espaciales, una raza alienígena: los Luminarios, que le piden ayuda para derrotar a sus antagonistas, los Oscuros (provenientes de la versión oscura de Éter: Éter Oscuro, nacido de una colisión de un meteorito de Phazon contra Éter), y también se encontrará con su versión oscura: Samus Oscura que es como Samus pero con mejores armas que la original.

Jugabilidad

La jugabilidad es la misma que la del primer Metroid Prime, Echoes es un juego de aventuras, exploración y plataformas en primera persona dejando en un segundo plano los combates. La cámara de situa dentro del casco de Samus donde se visualizan el radar, un mapa tridimensional de la zona, un medidor de peligro, los visores, misiles y munición de rayo disponibles. Se progresa en el juego cuando consigues nuevas armas y habilidades recorriendo el planeta y derrotando a los jefes que aguarden algunas de ellas.

Regiones

La historia del juego transcurre en Éter, del que existe su versión oscura, por lo tanto todas las regiones de Éter tienen su versión oscura. Las regiones que se visitan son:

Tierras del Templo: Es la región en la que comienzas al principio del juego. Esta región es la que se comunica con todas las demás. Su parte oscura es Tierras del Templo Oscuro.

Yermos de Agón: Es una zona desértica y es la base de operaciones de los Piratas Espaciales. Su parte oscura es Yermos de Agón Oscuro.

Ciénagas de Torvus: Es una zona de habitat acuático donde la mitad del templo está inundado. Su parte oscura es Ciénagas de Torvus Oscuro.

Fortaleza del Santuario: Es una zona de gran tecnología creada por los luminarios para defenderse de los oscuros. Su parte oscura es La Colmena.

Gran Templo: Es donde se encuentra el líder de los luminarios y donde hibernan el resto hasta que desaparezca Éter Oscuro. Su parte oscura es el Templo del Cielo donde se encuentra el líder de los Oscuros (no llega a ser una región).

Inventario

Samus tiene un amplio repertorio de armas y habilidades para progresar en la aventura. Echoes tienes más armas y habilidades que Prime:

Cañon: este puede usar rayos y misiles:

Rayos: está el Rayo Estándar con su combo de recarga al igual que los anteriores juegos de Metroid pero es el único que se repite hay tres rayos nuevos con sus respectivos combos de recarga: Rayo Oscuro, Rayo de Luz y Rayo Aniquilador estos rayos tienen munición limitada la barra de munición de luz, la barra de munición de oscuridad, el Rayo Aniquilador utiliza las dos barras de munición.

Misiles: son los mismos que en Metroid Prime y añaden una nueva habilidad el Localizador capaz de lanzar cinco misiles a la vez.

Morfosfera: las habilidades son las mismas que en Metroid Prime: Bombas, Bombas de Energía, Aracnosfera y Turbosfera.

Trajes: los trajes de Echoes son menos que en Prime: empieza con el Traje Climático, el siguiente es el Traje Oscuro que resiste más a la atmósfera de Éter Oscuro, el siguiente es el Traje de Luz que resiste totalmente la atmósfera de Éter Oscuro.

Visores: Visor de Combate, Visor de Escaneo,Visor Oscuro donde ves cosas ocultas en Éter Oscuro y el Ecovisor.

Dispositivos de movimiento: Botas de Salto Espacial, Módulo Acuático y Salto en Barrena.

Modo Multijugador

Hay dos modos de juego Venganza y Codicia:

En el Modo Venganza simplemente tienes que derrotar al resto de jugadores sin importar las armas que utilices, aunque tambien puedes almacenar armas para luego enfrentarte al otro jugador. Gana el que más veces mate al resto de jugadores.

En el Modo Codicia simplemente tientes que coger más monedas que los demás jugadores para ganar. Puedes vencer a los otros jugadores para quitarles sus monedas o buscar el cofre que se esconde en el escenario.

En este modo pueden jugar hasta cuatro jugadores, hay hasta 6 escenarios distintos (algunos los tienes que desbloquear en el modo historia).

Opinión personal

Es el mejor juego de Nintendo Game Cube, gráficamente inmejorable, escenarios que muestran un mundo en declive pero a la vez maravilloso, cambios drásticos de escenarios; estás en un templo desértico, te vas a otro templo y éste resulta estar lleno de tecnología alienígena. Trae armas totalmente nuevas que tienen que ver con la trama y jefes totalmente nuevos nunca vistos en anteriores entregas de la saga Metroid, y una historia entre dos mundos, dos razas: luz y oscuridad, o sea, Samus y Samus Oscura. Otra obra maestra de Retro Studios. Pero esto no es todo, si no lo has jugado todavía tienes la oportunidad de hacerlo con Metroid Prime Trilogy para Wii. No te arrepentirás.

Lo Mejor

• Vídeos espectaculares hechos con el motor del juego
• Luchas contra los jefes, sobre todo los jefes de templo y Samus Oscura.
• Multijugador, puedes jugar con tus amigos como si todos fuerais Samus.
• Escenarios muy variados, tienes la oportunidad de ver la versión de cada escenario de Éter.
• Historia totalmente nueva, nunca vista en la saga Metroid.

Lo peor

• Se repiten algunas cosas de la versión anterior.

Nota: 9,8

Si tienes la oportunidad de jugar a este juego aprovéchala, no te arrepentirás.

Saludos

ScorpioDominator.

Aseară a avut loc a nuştiucâta ediţie de Maratonul Publicităţii la ISE, unde nimeni nu a luat-o la fugă, s-a stat şi s-a privit la reclame, multe reclame, organizat de studentii de la secţia de marketing, ASM la o adica.

În deschidere Călin Crainic, Creative Director la Vitrina,  ne vorbeşte despre relaţia dintre nenea Brand şi nenea Consumator, sau mai bine zis tanti Consumator, deoarece nenea Brand şi-o trage cu tanti Consumator ca s-o facă clienta lui. Călin a folosit ca întotdeauna un limbaj care l-ar fi făcut şi pe ultimul prost să înţeleagă ce vrea să zică, cu toate că unii şi-au exprimat indignarea faţă de vocabularul lui şi despre metodele sale de exemplificare… nimeni nu i-a zis asta în faţă.

Au urmat apoi serii de reclame din anii ‘50, ‘60, ‘70,’80,’90 şi anii 2000. Diferenţa dintre decenii se vede clar, şi nu mă refer aici la stilul sau calitatea materialelor, fie ele color sau alb-negru, ci la mesajul transmis de ele.

În anii ‘50-’60 erau la modă mesajele transmise pe ritm de melodie, Cosmote cu Mirela lor cred că asta face, şi mă scoate din sărite!

Organizarea a fost bună, s-a lăsat şi cu un concurs, nu de cultură generală, ci mai mult de noroc, doar îţi scriai numele pe o foaie, îl aruncai într-o cutie şi spunea de 3 ori Tatăl Nostru, cu speranţa că numele tău va fi cel extras, şi câştigai o carte de la nu ştiu ce editură, în engleză.

Mai nou sunt în PRime Cluj, vedem ce o să fie, sper să fie o experienţă bună pentru mine şi să am prilejiul de a îi ajuta şi pe ceilalţi.  Imediat merg la sedinţă să punem ţara la cale.

Ne mai vorbim

I feel like that at some point, every photographer has to answer this question. Some of the best photographers I know hate talking about gear. They just don’t like it. I envy them. I constantly wish that I wasn’t naturally such a sucker for shiny things with buttons, but unfortunately for my wallet, I am.

So, moving along…

I get asked multiple times a week questions along the lines of, “What camera do you use?” and “What camera should I buy?” and “What’s your take on the new SuperGlam 5000?” So this is my best attempt to give a broad, general purpose guide to gear (in a completely subjective, Mike-tainted way) that covers as many of those questions as I can.

The first thing you should buy is the new Train album. It’s grand. I personally haven’t bought it yet, but I stream it (Jesus answers prayers through Spotify) at least four times a day. Seriously. It’s glorious.

Warning:
If you don’t want to read any technoblabber, go buy the album and have a nice day. This is where the techie side of me comes out.

My main set up right now consists of a Canon 5DmkII, Canon 35mm f1.4L, and Canon 135 f2L. I could (and probably do) 90% of my work with those three things. The benchwarmers include a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 EX, a Canon 50mm f1.8 mkI, and a Canon 580EX Speedlite. Memory cards are all of the relatively quick (133x-300x) Sandisk and Lexar variety. I’ve seen far too many cheap cards go bad, so I try and stick to those two brands when loading up on memory. I personally like the Sandisk best; they look prettier.

What’s next on my list? Canon 45mm f2.8 TS-E. I’ll try and scoop one up once I get back to the States.

So now that we got me out of the way, let’s talk about you.

“I don’t currently have a DSLR, but want to pick one up and start taking some better pictures. What should I get?”

Anything. Every camera that Canon and Nikon currently makes will take some absolutely stunning images. You really can’t go wrong choosing any camera between those two companies. While some people are big Pentax and Olympus fans, I generally find that their cameras are a generation or so behind the latest and greatest Canon, Nikon, and Sony equivalents. And while they have a great selection of old-school manual focus lenses, they don’t have the huge range of current autofocusing glass that Canon and Nikon offer. Sony is the new kid on the block, and I think they’re on to something. They’ve come out with some great cameras, superb lenses, and innovative flashes in the past couple years. They’re whole system is still in its beginning stages, and they can’t match Canon and Nikon’s big range of lenses, so I don’t currently recommend them. However, give it a few years and that may change.

Go into a store, and try some cameras out. Go see which camera fits in your hand best. Figure out which one is easiest to operate. Then buy it. For most people’s purposes, any DSLR camera under $800 or so will do just about everything that the one sitting next to it will. Don’t get sold on megapixels. They’re not important. I promise.

If you are really thinking about getting serious about photography, then there are a couple more things to consider. The lower end Nikons (D40, D60, and D3000… maybe even the D5000) don’t autofocus with some lenses, and so I would avoid them. If I were stepping into Nikon and wanting to be serious about my photography, the minimum I’d grab is a D90.

“Ok, I have a DSLR, I’ve been taking photos for awhile now, and I’d really like to step up my game. What now?”

Learn to shoot in manual. Understand what the camera is doing. Be active in determining how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO effect your shot. If you really want to spend money, get a few photography books (I’ve heard that “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson is a good one).

“Check. Call me the manual master. I’ve got it down.”

Pick up a 50mm f1.8 for around $100. Both Canon and Nikon make them. They are cheap little primes (fixed focal length; they don’t zoom in and out) that are awesome for the price. I still use mine. They are great for teaching you about depth of field, shooting in low-light situations, and forcing you to be creative in your compositions.

“Sweet. I can take good pictures and I now own $918,494,843 worth of photo gear, but my photos still don’t look like yours! What gives?”

You can take great photos, but many times they need a little extra zing to top it off. This is where post processing comes into play. I process all of my photos through Adobe Lightroom and occasionally Adobe Photoshop CS4. Sometimes photos need some extra contrast, more saturation, or some cropping to really make them come to life. For what it’s worth, my “style” of processing usually includes lots of contrast, lots of clarity (or microcontrast), lots of vibrance, and warm colors, sometimes with green and magenta undertones thrown in. Grab a copy of Adobe Lightroom, Apple Aperture, or Adobe Photoshop (either Elements or the real deal) and a good Photoshop book or techie friend and play around a little.

It’s worth noting that shooting photos in RAW format will make a big difference when you process your images. You will be able to tweak the colors, exposure, and noise reduction even more than if you shoot in JPEG format. However, RAW files look much worse straight out of the camera, so I recommend shooting in RAW if you’re going to post process the images. I nearly always process my photos, so I nearly always shoot RAW.

“Gear: Check. Taking good pictures: Check. Knowing how to process: Check. My photos still don’t look like yours. What the heck?”

Duh. I’m me. You’re not. Your photos shouldn’t look like mine! Take photos that know one else sees, and process them in ways that people don’t think of. We call this style. Go get your own.

If you guys have more photo questions, email me, comment, text me, face my book, flik my r, twit my ter… Just ask.

Look for Scotland pics tomorrow, they’re all exported and ready to roll.

Peace.

 The Truth by Prime

2009 (15 tracks, 49:05)

hip-hop/rap