Microsoft Launches I.T.: It’s More Fun in the Philippines Campaign

Microsoft Philippines launches Microsoft I.T.: It’s More Fun in the Philippines campaign, their first ever nationwide technology roadshow that will not only highlight various technology innovations in 15 cities around the Philippines, but also enable individuals and communities to improve productivity using technology.

 

 

The roadshow will run for two months beginning September 10 in General Santos.

             Microsoft’s I.T.: It’s More Fun in the Philippines campaign that is in line with our plan to increase our focus on empowering Filipino-owned businesses and helping them achieve global competitiveness through productivity solutions and continuous innovations,” said Karrie Capellan-Ilagan, Microsoft Philippines Managing Director, in her opening speech. “To kick start this program, we will be having a 15-city productivity roadshow that will also highlight some of the most fascinating innovations in the country

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CHOCOLATE PECAN TEA BREAD

I’M FLOORED!

There is no substitute for hard work. 

– Thomas A. Edison 

She sighs heavily, dropping to the ground, flopping down exhausted onto the spot where minutes ago she had been vigorously pushing the worn metal scraper. Every centimeter of old, dried glue has now been lifted away revealing the raw wood, unveiling long, slim, pale slats of parquet, and all of her hard, painful, concentrated work is rewarded by a gorgeous stretch of livingroom floor. Sunlight floods in and across the glowing pine, a near angelic golden warmth wrapping around her. She pushes herself up and wanders room to room amid the echoes of “You all done?!”, contentedly surveying a job well done, basking in the pride of their having achieved so much, even at their age.

With a satisfying scritch scritch of the Velcro, she yanks off the now worn yellow and black work gloves and tosses them onto the nearest radiator. Her pink sneakers are enveloped in an ethereal dusting of white powder, her knees are a lovely shade of bruised, the color of aubergine, her clothes smudged and smeared with weeks of manual labor. Battered white paper masks now streaked with the brown of wood dust are scattered across floors where they have been pulled off willy-nilly and left to retire. She glances into what will one day be a sparkling new bathroom all in shades of black and white to see how the men have advanced. Dust and grime coat old tiling speckled with bits of plaster as holes where walls once stood are filled. Pencil marks delineate bathtub and shower and light fixtures. Plumbers wander in and out, analyzing, pondering, debating. Through the open window, she listens to the noise of boards being crowbarred off of the balcony slats, boards to be replaced with insulated panels. A new laundry room!

The kitchen has become the universal holdall, tool shed and general dump; the last of the bags of wood dust and gravel, the old industrial vacuum cleaner, ramshackle, jerry-rigged tables and shelves holding a world of tools and equipment at the ready. Half-drunk cans of soda, boxes of cookies and other various paraphernalia of a construction site fill in the gaps. She squints and works her imagination, envisioning this space as a gorgeous open kitchen all in creamy shades of white, brown and gray. But first, the floors must be looked after. Her job is done and now it is time for Men and Machines.

 Add a bit of electricity into the game...

3 days of sanding ensue: heavy machinery whirs and buzzes and roars across the parquet, shaking the building, resonating through the entire neighborhood. Industrial sanders pushed heavily, patiently back and forth, back and forth as the dust billows around his scruffed sneakers. Son follows, leaning over the tiny edger, pushing it into corners and up against the woodwork. She scurries after them, broom in hand, gathering up the sawdust, leaving the wood clear for yet another turn of the machines. One day and two, three days of muscle and sweat and now the wood is stripped completely bare. Now swathe those boards lovingly in sheets of plastic, carefully pushed up against the woodwork and taped, sealed against any wayward spattering of paint. For now the painting must begin.

All things are difficult before they are easy. 

– Thomas Fuller 

And she hurries home to bake, something gentle, homey and calming, to soothe sore bodies and sour souls (which sometimes happens in such situations). A tea bread. Chocolate, of course. Light and airy, less dense and moist than usual. With the snap, the pliant crunch of chopped nuts. Nothing complicated, no gooey dessert. Just something to slice and pick up with the fingers, those fingers now scraped, worn and calloused, an ideal cake for any time of the day, from breakfast to snack. Sit and savor a slice or two in the early morning when the sky is fading from black to gray, dunked in a steaming bowl of café au lait. Just to brace the nerves and build up energy for yet another day of work. Or snitch a slice quickly as one passes through the kitchen late in the afternoon, swallowed down greedily, hungrily, washed down with a tall cool glass of milk.

We wash off the grime before dinner, and spread a cloth on the coffee table in the livingroom. Dinner together, as a family, forgetting the sore muscles, putting off disagreements until tomorrow, just for another evening. Pass around thick slices of Chocolate Tea Bread lightly dusted with powdered sugar and place a scoop of ice cream atop each one. Or a froth of whipped cream. And make it a special dessert.

Until tomorrow.

CHOCOLATE PECAN TEA BREAD
Adapted from ideals Hershey’s Chocolate and Cocoa Cookbook, 1982

1/3 cup (75 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200 g) sugar
3 large eggs
2 ¼ cups (315 g) flour
1/3 cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup (185 ml) milk
About 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Generously grease a 9 x 5 x 3-inch standard loaf pan.

Cream the butter, sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy.

In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. On low speed, beat the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar/egg mixture in 3 additions alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating just to blend, no more. Using a spatula, fold in the chopped nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes or until well risen and just set in the center.

Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before sliding a knife blade around the edges to loosen and remove from the pan.

Tea breads are slightly drier and cakier than regular quick breads and are best eaten the day of or within 2 days of baking. This is a wonderful chocolate bread to eat with a mug of tea or coffee or a glass of milk simply dusted with powdered sugar. Although a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of freshly whipped cream never hurt anybody. The perfect treat to decompress, a soul-soothing snack after a long, hard day of work.

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H ιστορία των φαρμακοποιών της Ισλανδίας και τα διδάγματά της

Ας διαβάσουμε προσεκτικά το παρακάτω κείμενο που μας έστειλε ο Λευτέρης Μαρίνος,  για την ιστορία και τα διδάγματα από τους συναδέλφους μας της ΙΣΛΑΝΔΙΑΣ . Ο Λευτέρης  Μαρίνος, συνάδελφος και συγγραφέας –ερευνητής , μελετάει εδώ και 2 χρόνια σχεδόν, την εξέλιξη των φαρμακείων της Ευρώπης και όχι μόνο,   στην εποχή της οικονομικής κρίσης, τις συνέπειες που είχαν ,τις αλλαγές που έκαναν  ή προσπάθησαν να κάνουν τα φαρμακεία εκεί κλπ. Όσοι είχαν την τύχη να τον ακούσουν στις  ενημερώσεις που μας έκανε, ενθουσιάστηκαν με το εύρος και την ποιότητα της δουλειάς του. Αλλά θα μας τα πει και πάλι σύντομα.   ΠΟΤΕ; Διαβάστε οι της Αττικής, Πειραιά  και Περιχώρων παρακάτω!

 

H ιστορία των φαρμακοποιών της Ισλανδίας και τα διδάγματά της

 

   Τελικά τι είναι αυτό που μας συμβαίνει;  Για να αντιληφθούμε τον τελικό αντίκτυπο των πολιτικών που εφαρμόζονται στον κλάδο μας, αρκεί να έχουμε τη διάθεση να διδαχθούμε από την ιστορία των άλλων. Και η ιστορία της ήττας των φαρμακοποιών ιδιοκτητών ανεξάρτητων φαρμακείων της Ισλανδίας μέσα από τη μελέτη[1]του τμήματος κοινωνικής φαρμακευτικής του πανεπιστημίου της Δανίας (Department of Social Pharmacy, Royal Danish School of Pharmacy, Copenhagen, Denmark) έχει να μας προσφέρει την αποκρυσταλλωμένη γνώση που χρειαζόμαστε. Το αντικείμενο της μελέτης συνοψιζόταν στο εξής ερώτημα: κάτω από ποιες συνθήκες μπορεί ένας επαγγελματικός κλάδος να συνηγορήσει σε εκείνες τις κυβερνητικές πολιτικές που οδηγούν στην απορύθμιση (καλείται monopoly στο άρθρο) του επαγγέλματος και τελικά στην ίδια την αποσύνθεσή του;

 

 

 Οι συγγραφείς της μελέτης καταλήγουν ότι τρεις παράγοντες συνετέλεσαν στη διάρρηξη του ρυθμιστικού πλαισίου της φαρμακευτικής νομοθεσίας:

1.       η σαφής κυβερνητική βούληση για την εφαρμογή νέων πολιτικών ανταγωνισμού και απορύθμισης.

2.       η σαφής κυβερνητική βούληση για τη μείωση των δαπανών υγείας

3.       οι εσωτερικές διαιρέσεις των μελών που απαρτίζουν τον συγκεκριμένο επαγγελματικό κλάδο.

Μάλιστα για το τρίτο σημείο οι ερευνητές μπόρεσαν να διακρίνουν τουλάχιστον τέσσερις τέτοιες εσωτερικές διαιρέσεις μεταξύ:

1.       φαρμακοποιών αστικών κέντρων και επαρχίας

2.       εργοδοτών και εργαζόμενων

3.       διαφορετικών επιπέδων εκπαίδευσης μεταξύ των φαρμακοποιών

4.       και τέλος μεταξύ νέων και παλαιών φαρμακοποιών.

 

 

Το συμπέρασμα της μελέτης είναι το εξής: Το άρθρο αυτό δείχνει πώς ένα επάγγελμα που αποδυναμώθηκε από τις εσωτερικές διαμάχες μετατράπηκε σε θήραμα για τις πολιτικές περικοπής των δαπανών για την υγεία. Αυτή η μελέτη παραθέτει ένα παράδειγμα του πώς οι εσωτερικές συγκρούσεις, όχι μόνο αποδυναμώνουν ένα επάγγελμα, αλλά δημιουργούν ένα ευνοϊκό κλίμα ώστε να χαθεί το ρυθμιστικό πλαίσιο . Τα ευρήματά μας εγείρουν θεμελιώδη ερωτήματα σχετικά με το μέλλον των επαγγελμάτων στην κοινωνία σήμερα. (Social Science & Medicine, 1999)

Αν κανείς σκεφτεί ότι από τις τρεις αρχικές προϋποθέσεις για τη διάρρηξη του ρυθμιστικού πλαισίου οι δύο, δηλαδή η κυβερνητική βούληση για την εφαρμογή νέων πολιτικών ανταγωνισμού και απορρύθμισης καθώς και η προσήλωση στη μείωση των δαπανών είναι ομολογημένη και φανερή, μας μένει μόνο η τρίτη για να ολοκληρωθεί το εγχείρημα. Είναι εύλογο ότι για το σκοπό αυτό, οι όποιες διαφορές υπάρχουν θα τροφοδοτηθούν προκειμένου να διογκωθούν τόσο, ώστε το βάρος τους να συνθλίψει τη σπονδυλική στήλη του κλάδου που δεν είναι άλλη από τη συνοχή και την εμπιστοσύνη μεταξύ των μελών του, στην επίτευξη των κλαδικών του αιτημάτων.

 

 

 

 Δική μας υποχρέωση είναι να αναγνωρίσουμε και να απαξιώσουμε αυτές τις δηλητηριώδεις ενέργειες  που σπέρνουν διχόνοια και αν όντος επιδιώκουμε να πορευθούμε και να αγωνιστούμε με αυτοπεποίθηση για τη σωτηρία του τμήματος της πρωτοβάθμιας περίθαλψης που έχουμε αναλάβει καθώς και τη δική μας, θα πρέπει να αντιληφθούμε ότι είναι επιτακτική ανάγκη να μάθουμε από την ιστορία των άλλων.

---

[1] No struggle, nostrength: how pharmacists lost their monopoly. Soc Sci Med. 1999 May;48(9):1247-58.          

                                                         

                                                ΛΕΥΤΕΡΗΣ   ΜΑΡΙΝΟΣ    6-09-2012

 

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Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 the new Windows Phone 8

The first two new Windows Phone form Nokia is now official, it's the Nokia Lumia 820 and the Nokia Lumia 920 both powered by 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core processor and Wireless charging support with separate wireless charging covers.

 Nokia Lumia 820

Nokia Lumia 820 specs

Display	4.3 inch screen
Storage	1 GB RAM, 8 GB memory
Camera	8 MP with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash; front-facing camera (VGA)
Processor	1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core processor
Battery	Removable battery BP-5T (1650 mAh) Wireless charging support with separate wireless charging covers
Network	GSM, LTE, WCDMA

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Autism and Education: Conor Votes For FLEXIBLE Inclusion

UPDATE: Conor had a great day at school today!

Conor got up at 6 am today, as he has for the last 2+ months to mark down the number of days to school. He started doing this with 65 days to go and today he was very happy to mark 0 days to school! He also placed his packed bookbag and lunchbag at the front door to make sure we went to school.

Conor has severe autistic disorder with "profound developmental delays".  He was removed from the regular classroom, at our request, early in his education when we realized that the self inflicted bite marks were happening because of his placement in the regular classroom where he was overhwhelmed.  The biting declined, and disappeared completely, once he was placed in an individual learning environment to receive his ABA based instruction.  Since then adjustments have been made so that he starts his day and spends breaks with other challenged students in a resource center at the Leo Hayes High School. It is an important and valuable resource where Conor has been very well received and where he has made friends.  He also socializes with other students in the halls and in a variety of settings in the school and on expeditions. He receives his primary ABA based instruction outside the mainstream classroom in a quieter, less overwhelming individualized environment.

Conor's flexible model of inclusion works for him and many other students who require accommodation of their disability based challenges. The rigid ideological everyone in the classroom philosophy for learning did not work for Conor and does not work for ALL students with autism and other challenges.  Some students with autism can prosper in the classroom some can't.  

It is necessary, in an evidence based, humane and lawful education system to look at the needs and strengths of each child and accommodate those who require accommodation.  In some cases that means outside the mainstream classroom. 

Conor voted against the rigid inflexible model of full inclusion for all when he came home each day with bite marks on his hands. Today, once again, he voted for FLEXIBLE inclusion when he marked his board to show ZERO days to school.  Conor is going back to school, flexible inclusion and all, and he is very happy.

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Meet the Lenovo A60+ a 1Ghz Processor Android Phone for only Php4,999

Lenovo is releasing its Mobile Phones left and right, since they entered the Phone business. One of their newest offering is the Lenovo A60+ is the newest Android Phone with 1Ghz Processor.

The A60+ is powered by 1G processor, with Android 2.3 Gingerbread onboard that can do rich multi-media, and enhanced user interface, the A60+ has features that exceeds the needs of the new smartphone user. Quality Android you can afford!

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iPhone 5, Will be Announce on Apple September 12 Event

The long wait is over, all those speculations about the upcoming iPhone 5, will get closure on September 12 which will be a big event for the flagship product of Apple.

As you can see from the official invite the shadow of the number 12 is the number 5, its clear that the next iPhone will be iPhone 5.

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