For my nephew’s christening last weekend, I packed a pair of brown slacks I bought about four years ago. I overestimated my swine-flu-weight loss. The pants were skin tight; we are talking spray painted. Even Mum asked if I had anything else to wear. Imagine! I was a little self-conscious at first, but eventually didn’t give a shit.

I returned to work on Monday and swore I would take action to lose weight. “No more junk food,” I declared. I am proud to say little sugar and carbohydrate touched my lips this week, until today that is when the canteen hosted a Thanksgiving lunch. I initially stood my ground, opting for salad. When I saw the desserts on offer, I caved for some mixture of mango, biscuit and cream; apparently, titled a Syllabub.

I carried my heaving stomach to my desk to find a large tin of Cadbury’s Roses. Since we are at year end, working hard, my boss treated us. Despite my earlier gluttony, I stuffed my face with Roses. I am sad to admit these Roses were not of the floral variety. I pretty much climbed into the tin of chocolate like it were a bath and I was some unwashed bastard. I stuffed my face.

Sometimes, I disgust myself.

“The MOA clarifies persons who are not required to secure TINs in their applications for driver’s licenses. The said individuals are accredited foreign personnel of diplomatic missions and international organizations; individuals not engaged in business, such as minors, students, househelpers, housewives, balikbayans and the like, provided that they are securing a non-professional driver’s license; foreigners such as tourists, foreign students, foreign missionaries; and professional members of religious organizations, such as priests, pastors, nuns, lay ministers, missionaries.”

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has partnered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the efficient implementation of Executive Order (E.O.) No. 98 through a signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at the BIR Executive Conference Room.

E.O. 98, series of 1999, directs all government agencies to include the Taxpayer Identification No. (TIN) as part of the essential requirements in all applications for a government permit, license, clearance, official paper or document.

LTO, in compliance with the said E.O., issued last December 8, 2000 a Memorandum Circular requiring the submission of TIN in all transactions applied at any LTO District Offices or Licensing Centers. There have been recurring complaints by applicants of driver’s licenses on the tedious process.

The MOA clarifies persons who are not required to secure TINs in their applications for driver’s licenses. The said individuals are accredited foreign personnel of diplomatic missions and international organizations; individuals not engaged in business, such as minors, students, househelpers, housewives, balikbayans and the like, provided that they are securing a non-professional driver’s license; foreigners such as tourists, foreign students, foreign missionaries; and professional members of religious organizations, such as priests, pastors, nuns, lay ministers, missionaries.

The MOA, according to Senior Deputy Commissioner (SDCIR) Joel Tan-Torres, “shall foster close coordination with BIR and LTO and thus pave the way to more uniform implementation of TIN requirement resulting in better service to the public”.

The MOA was signed by SDCIR Joel L. Tan-Torres and LTO Assistant Secretary Arturo C. Lomibao.

Aunt Gracie – Owned this metal box that mom inherited. There’s a hat pin, some old keys, and other odds and ends inside that Gracie had. Mom hasn’t removed anything or added to it. Kinda neat.

It has been a very hectic and tiring week.

I have been working on my identity and how I want to put myself across. Which has been quite hard. I have a basic outline of the function of how my personal site will work. But the visuals are another matter.

I’ve also been playin with drawn letter forms and different fills.

This is the font American Typewriter with a tinfoil fill as well as Bauhaus 83 with a monoprint background, and AT Artisan with a fabric background. It’s been a seriously tedious job scanning many different materials behind the acetate letter. Now it’s just time to figure out what to do with the 100+ letters I have accumilated.

am gasit poza asta pe jurnalul.ro si nu am rezistat sa nu o postez si eu.

Nichos make great Christmas GiftsSmall Tin Nicho makes great gift

I love working with these funky little nichos.  Creating a tiny display behind the glass-covered niche is challenging.  Though I designed tis one with Christmas in mind, they could be used all year long.  I have one hanging in my kitchen just to remind myself that I’m still a funky-chick even at my age!  These would make great teacher-gifts or girlfriend gifts.  Check out my etsy shop for more information.

www.ruthsartsandletters.etsy.com

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:
__________

Whether you call it “having a tin ear” or “being tone deaf”, many musicians feel the great frustration of not being able to accurately label the sounds they’re hearing. It’s a sophisticated activity when you think about it: we’re essentially listening to the air vibrate, and then identifying what that was. But if those kind of listening skills are in short supply, is there any hope for you?

I teach aural skills at university, and I’ve changed my view on this over the years. While there is a window of opportunity that is wide open in childhood, slowly closing as we age, I believe that adult musicians can make great strides in training their ear, and I’ve seen it happen.

A big step toward improving your ear is to learn a bit of basic music theory. Even if it’s just the nuts and bolts of being able to name notes on a musical staff, and learning how to write out some simple scales, this knowledge will get you going in the right direction. It’s part of basic music literacy.

Beyond that, I strongly believe that transcribing music will strengthen your aural skills more than any other musical activity. Here’s what I get my own students to do: I give them sound files of different pieces: solos, duets, trios, and so on. I give them a month per song to write down what they’re hearing. I encourage them to sit at a piano, or with their guitar, and find the notes they hear. Most students find this frustrating at first, but then become surprised by how much they are learning.

This kind of transcription exercise is a bit like learning a language by speaking it. At first, you feel that you’re getting no where, and then – you realize that you’re getting better and better.

I like transcription exercises more than simple “identify the interval” or “identify the chord” exercises, because it presents real music in a musical context.

The older you are, the slower progress can be, but you mustn’t give up. I have seen people of all ages improve with these kinds of transcription exercises. If you are in your late teens or early twenties, the window of opportunity is definitely closing, but it is not closed, and you will be surprised by how much progress you can make. There are lots of sites that can play intervals and chords for you, and tell you if you’re getting close.

Singing is also a great ear trainer, especially singing that requires you to match other singers, like in a choir. And singing in choir is great because you can couple your singing training with your ability to sing what you are seeing printed on the music in front of you.

It is normal for ear training to be a long, slow process, even at the best of times. So be patient, and you will see improvement.

___________

Gary Ewer has written six songwriting e-books designed to get you writing the songs you’ve always known you could write. Read about those e-books here.

done

This Week In Santa Clarita talks with Santa Clarita Transit about new technology that will provide riders up-to-the-minute information revealing the current location of their bus. The Transit Information Network (TIN) uses GPS tracking that will show bus location information at bus stops and for access though wireless devices.

Two real treats arrived for me off the plane from England. First, my good friend Marty, back from a couple of years as Brand Ambassador and general rapscallion for 42 Below over in England. The second treat was the hip flask of Oxley Gin Martin had slipped into his luggage.

I had first heard bout Oxley over at the Dizzy Fizz, and a few times on Twitter. Marty managed to fill in a few more juicy details.

Oxley has been developed by Bacardi, in response to an acknowledgement that the traditional style, premium Gin segment is growing very quickly and that the stalwart of their portfolio, Bombay Sapphire, doesn’t really deliver a good enough juniper hit amongst its 12 beautiful, if a little floral, botanicals.  Bombay uses the Carter Head still, reckoned by many to be the pinnacle of distillation.

Oxley is a big step away from the Carter Head still. Bacardi have patented a new type of still, to produce the spirit at sub zero temperatures. At sea level, the world over, alcohol is known to boil away at 78.3 degrees Celsius and water at 100. It is precisely this gap that makes the wonderful process of distillation possible. What some smart bastard at Bacardi must have noticed is that boiling points drop at higher altitude. Boiling a pot of water on Everest will only be tepid, as opposed to piping hot. Getting stuff to boil at sub zero temperature requires considerably more effort, there being no mountains higher than Everest and running a still in an unpressurized plane being frightfully expensive.

Now, according to the marketing spiel, the process is a closely guarded secret, distillation occurs at -5, then at -100 the vapour is cooled back into pure, lovely Gin. It does sound  very fancy and hard to work out. However, it’s really not. Those standard temperatures for boiling are at 760 mm Hg, which is an expression of pressure, as measured by mercury in a vacuum, or barometer, as it has come to be known. What Bacardi have done is to create a still whose pressure can be cranked down to a mere 12.6mm Hg approximately 1/350 of the normal pressure on earth. Which pretty much means they create an environment pretty close to the atmospheric pressure on the Moon. (actually about ten times the Moon’s pressure, but it’s a factor of ten we can’t really measure). Water would boil around 11 degrees at that pressure.

The point of all this physics (for any of you who are still reading) is that in normal distallation, the heat quite literally cooks the botanicals, degrading them and bringing out odd tastes, the freezy method means the 14 botanicals that Oxley includes stay snap frozen fresh. The result is a Gin that is very smooth, with good juniper and a nice balance of grapefruits. A little less spicy than the Beefeater 24, but very much its own thing as well.

The leather strapping, the tin bucket, the four day a week production schedule, the 240 bottle batches, the individual numbers all point toward a pretty special product. The 60 pound price tag will be seen by many (including me) as taking the piss, in the same way Absolut’s  Level did with vodka.

All that said, I can’t wait to try it in a martini.

Il celebre fumetto franco-belga “Tin Tin” trasposto sul grande schermo in una trilogia di animazione 3D diretta da Spielberg e Peter Jackson

Il nuovo film diretto da Steven Spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn dopo aver completato la fotografia principale in soli 32 giorni, in cui è stata realizzata la performance-capture lensing del film dalla Weta, è entrato nella fase intensiva della post produzione, a cui subentrerà il produttore Peter Jackson che si occuperà per i prossimi 18 mesi degli effetti speciali della pellicola.

The Secret of the Unicorn sarà il primo film di una trilogia a cui stanno collaborando Spielberg che dirigerà la prima pellicola e Jackson che sarà il regista della seconda e il responsabile degli effetti speciali dell’intera franchise. La seconda pellicola verrà girata probabilmente subito dopo la prima ma lo studios non ha ancora dato il via libera, perché si sta aspettando ancora la sceneggiatura.

È stato invece scelto come responsabile della colonna sonora per il primo film il compositore John Williams (Le due trilogie di Star wars, Lo squalo, Indiana Jones).

Il film racconta le avventure di TinTin (Jamie Bell), un giovane ed intrepido reporter alla ricerca di buone storie da seguire, che lo catapultano in un mondo di avventure. Nel cast Daniel Craig nei panni del nefasto Red Rackham, Andy Serkis interprete del capitano Haddock, Simon Pegg di Thompson e Nick Frost di Thomson.

Il film uscirà nei cinema nel 2011. 

Non vedo l’ora! Mi manca il cartoon di questa serie! EhEh non a caso il mio avatar è TinTin e Milù!

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is arguably the greatest stealth conflict of all time. It is a tragic irony that in spite of the fact that the availability of information about the world is at a level unprecedented in human history, the deadliest conflict since World War II can remain largely unknown to the world at large. This doesn’t say much for the real-world value (in terms of awareness about conflict) of the internet, jet airplanes, satellite videophones and other forms of technology that have supposedly made our world so much smaller.

The media have to take a large portion of the blame for this. The amount of reporting devoted to international news has dropped considerably since the end of the Cold War and regional biases (heavy on the ‘home’ region and almost always very light on Africa) are as pronounced as ever. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Japan. International news in Japanese newspapers accounts for just 1 (sometimes 2) of the roughly 30 pages printed, and Africa is even more neglected in Japan than it is in Western media. The Yomiuri Newspaper devoted just 1.9 percent of its international news to the African continent in 2000 (compared to 6.9 percent in the New York Times – see here for more).

The results are evident in the levels of public awareness of the conflict. In a simple survey conducted by the author in 2008, a class of 151 first year university students were asked a single question “Which armed conflict in the world since the end of the Cold War do you think has been the deadliest?” The top three answers were Iraq (death toll: >500,000?), Kosovo (death toll: 10,000) and Israel-Palestine (death toll: 5,000). Of the 151 students, not a single one could come up with the DRC (death toll: 5,400,000). The results are also evident in government policy. Over the past ten years, the Japanese government has given 47 times more aid to Iraq than it has to the DRC. It is also worth noting that the amount of research produced at Japanese universities about the world’s deadliest conflict is negligible.

All of this is rather odd, given the heavy reliance of the Japanese electronics industry on rare metals – many of which are found in abundance in the DRC (not least tantalum, of which Japan is a major consumer). The issue of rare metals was recently a front-page story on the Japanese edition of the Economist, and campaigns to recycle mobile phones and other electronic devices in Japan for the rare metals inside are taking place around the country. Economically, concern over access to rare metals seems to be of growing importance for Japan.

Some have even referred to the DRC conflict as the ‘PlayStation War’. The peak of tantalum prices in 2000 coincided with the release of Sony’s PlayStation 2. Global shortages in tantalum contributed to the failure of Sony to produce enough consoles to keep up with demand, and at the same time, the boosted demand for tantalum contributed to the violent scramble for the mineral in the DRC. Similarly, when environmental concerns over the use of lead in solder brought about a change in policy in Japan, tin (cassiterite) became the alternative component – contributing to a scramble for cassiterite in the DRC (see this video).

But few in Japan seem to be making the connection between these minerals and the situation in the DRC. Admittedly, the fact that the severely underpaid worker with the shovel digging for coltan (possibly under the barrel of a gun) is removed by some four or five stages (transporting, trading, refining and manufacturing) from the insertion of the tantalum capacitors into the Japanese mobile phones has something to do with this. Coltan changes hands many times before reaching the final consumer, and changes into an unrecognizable form hidden deep within the circuit boards of our electronic devices.

What all this means is that Japan makes for a very challenging environment to make traction in getting the issue of the DRC conflict on the agenda. With so little attention and awareness to begin with, there is not much of a base to build on. But at the same time, the rare metal connection should come in handy in some way in bridging the ‘it doesn’t affect me’ gap.

I have recently been involved in a number of events at Osaka University aimed at raising awareness that have left me with some optimism regarding what can be achieved in breaking the cycle of silence on this and other conflicts. My next post will cover some of these events.

Ahh, childhood memories.
During our recent move, I found this little memento from my past, pictured to the left.
When we were children, my brother and I were baking mud pies is this little tin stove.  Sounds innocent enough, right?  The problem is, this culinary undertaking took place in my father’s corn crib.
The fire we so wisely built on the floor of a wooden structure, destroyed, of course, said containment system.  Who would have seen that coming?!?!?
Just one of the many delightful playtime activities my brother and I engaged in.
We were so cute.

A lot of new product is SWIRLING around from store to store. You can find the goods from the most obvious stores as well as the obscure. In the last week or so I have come across a VAST amount of new release items as well as items that have ben out but just have now hit this area.It has been a very expensive mont6h already!

Grabbed a pretty cool CARS lunch Box

Nabbed a Gil and FINAL LAP packaging WALLY Hauler

I also found a few Mini Adventure 2 packs I was missing:

Shiny Wax and RPM 64 Piston Cup Racers

aaaand, wa-la!!  muffin tin calendars in progress:

since these pictures were taken, they have gotten their numbers and a few more embellishments – i’ve gotta say they’re so. cute!!  the one on the left is spoken for, but the one on the right will be on etsy in the next few days.

i’m back at work tonight for the first time in more than a week, and i’ve gotta say, i am worn out from standing here!  i could get used to staying home very easily… i think i need to step up my game…

Tin es el conjunto de ingredientes que hacen más elegante nuestra cotidianidad en la “nevera”. La “nevera”, para quienes nacimos en el Caribe colombiano, es la capital subida en la montaña. Ineludiblemente, un lugar privilegiado para emanar los latidos de nuestro Cielito Drive.

[With my CSM]

Event tt has recently past and gonna happen soon;

came back from LRRP course from Thailand,

some shag thing.

After that 30th Oct was my ORD parade.

7th~28th Nov flying to Taiwan,

my 8th overseas trip &  last military trip in my NSF life.

after coming back will be collecting my pinkie on dec 11 !

excited and lost in transactions..

meet up soon bros. miss you guys..haha !

Maden'den Külçe Oluşturma

Daha önceki yazımda sizlere maden toplamayı (Mining) ve topladığımız madenlerden Item (Sword, Axe, Armor) yapmayı anlatmıştım. Sizlerinde dikkatini çekmiştir, bazı metaları bulmak imkansız bunları da Smelting denen işlemle elde edeceğiz. Türkçe belirtmek gerekirse dağdan çıkardığımız metalı demircide eritip külçe haline getireceğiz.

Örneğin Rough Copper Velt adında bir zırh var, bu zırhı yapabilmek için malzeme listesinde Copper Bar’a ihtiyacımız olduğu belirtiliyor. Copper Bar elde etmek için madenlerden topladığımız Copper Ore’leri eritip Copper Bar’a dönüştürmemiz gerekiyor.

Bu işlem için önce bir forge (Fırın) bulmamız gerekiyor. Silah satın aldığımız yerlerde genelde bulunuyor.  Ocağın yanına gidip “P” tuşuna basıyoruz. Sonra çıkan pencereden Smelting yazan kareye tıklıyoruz. Yeni bir dialog açılıyor, orda kaç tane Copper Bar yapabileceğimiz yazıyor. Create butonuna tıklayıp oluşturuyoruz. İşlem bu kadar. Sonra oluşturduğuz malzemeyi silah yapımında kullanabilirsiniz.

Video’sunu izlemek için tıklayın.

When the Institute of Medicine (IOM) called in its 2009 report “School Meals” for increasing the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, along with reducing saturated fat and sodium, the Canned Food Alliance jumped on the bandwagon and waved vigorously with a study of the University of California at Davis, that concludes that all forms of fruits and vegetables – canned, fresh and frozen – are nutritionally similar and contribute important nutrients that comprise a healthy diet.

The goal of this action of the Canned Food Alliance is obvious. Although steel cans belong to the select group of oldest and most trusted pillars of the packaging industry it is beyond discussion that the steel can, like glass and wood, lost considerable market share to the new developed packaging formats which claim to be lightweight and consumer friendly with sophisticated designs and printing options.
And indeed it should be said that in general the tin is, except for the decorated tins promoted as collectables, a dull packaging format, with its cylindrical shape and paper-wrapped label. Except for some printing, neither vegetables, not fruit and other food products are showcased in this  packaging format worth the 21st century.

And still steel is a material that is particularly suitable for food packaging due to its many different properties. Just to refresh the memory, a steel can or tin can, or just a tin, is a single-walled container moulded mostly by impact extrusion of tinplate or black plate (including tin-free steel). Tin plate has been replaced by tin-free steel which is given a tin coating, usually as thin as a human hair, to prevent rusting. Protective (plastic) coatings applied to the inside of the cans ensure the integrity of the contents, allowing tins to hold a wide variety of products.

The canning process does not require the use of preservatives; precise heating in the canning process and vacuum sealing maintain the quality, safety and integrity of the product. And then there is the sustainability, the ‘greenness’ of the tin. Tins are 100% recyclable – which means that there are no waste and waste substances in the recycling process as with plastics or paper/cardboard. And furthermore the latest figures from APEAL (the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging) show that 69% of steel packaging is recycled in Europe. This represents over 2.5 million tons of food and drinks cans and other steel containers, saving 4.8 million tons of CO2. Top performers were Belgium and Germany where more than 90% of steel packaging was recycled. Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands follow closely behind, recycling over 80% of their steel containers.
In other words recycling is second nature for steel as recycled materials are an essential part of the steelmaking process. Steel is one of that few materials that have an infinite recycling loop – it can be recycled over and over again without any loss of its inherent properties.

So, when it’s such a perfect packaging material, why are the results, the designs, so dull. Shape communicates instantly. Shape creates memorable and recognizable branding. It also offers upscale, sophisticated cues. Innovative, shapely designs support brand positioning. A complimentary high-resolution colour printing helps contemporize metal packaging and the products they contain. Where is the creativity in simple steel cans?

I have to be honest. There is some. In 2008, Silgan Containers Corp., the largest manufacturer of metal food cans in the United States, launched it’s shaped can manufacturing capability under the brand name “Sculptured Metal Technology”, in a move to provide increased value.

And fortunately there is more to come. In Europe the R&D department of the Danish can manufacturer Glud & Marstrand developed a range of shapely steel containers under the name CupCan and CreaTin with remarkable decorating results in off-set printing.

The CupCan range is launched in a 100 ml ø73×36 mm and a 150 ml ø83×40 mm size with easy-open lids and full panel opening. The CupCan has a conical shape which gives it a nice organic look. It fits well in the hand and will have great eye-catching effect on the shelves, enhancing its perceived product value. The can is therefore well suited for more exclusive or modern products.
The new conical can is stackable which means that it only takes up approximately one-quarter of the space required by the traditional straight walled can when being transported and stored.

CreaTin is a product range – with a lot of different opportunities – made in either ø73 mm or ø99 mm and are available in different heights and different shapes. For the CreaTin range G&M developed a technology which can expand cans into new and unconventional shapes, starting from two expanded cans in the standard selection, creating a unique can that results in an exceptional sales promoting package.

The Milk Can as shown in the picture above is made by making a ground design that supports the effect with a finishing combining different lacquering techniques. By combining glossy lacquers with matt surfaces Glud & Marstrand created a three-dimensional graphic effect that accentuates the milk streaming over the top of the can.

Printing on metal is approaching photographic quality. Sharp and beautiful colours make the product stand out from other products. Using various matt, glossy and texture lacquers create a special visual (e.g. crackle) and touch feel (e.g. velvet) effect.

And furthermore there is the proprietary”Can2Can” design – a plastic ring that makes it possible to combine various cans from the G&M assortment in one package – metal packaging expands to new application areas. A nice opportunity for co-promotion of products from various categories such as sweets and toys or various components for ready-meals.

With some creativity the steel can certainly has a bright future.
*
If you want to know more about the steel can, its history and evolution, read my post: The Revival of the Tin Can – The Collectible as Marketing Tool , as the tin’s history began in 1795 when Napoleon Bonaparte, who famously noted that an army “travels on its stomach”, offered a prize of 12,000 francs to anyone who could invent a method of preserving food. From a marketing point of view the tin container became a very popular collectible in the past and of which we see a revival lately.

Crossposted at Packaging Digest blog: Excellence in Packaging

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