text:
The soul grows clotted by contagion,
Imbodies, and imbrutes, till she quite lose
The divine property of her first being.
Such are those thick and gloomy shadows damp
Oft seen in charnel-vaults and sepulchres,
Lingering and sitting by a new-made grave,
As loth to leave the body that it loved,
And linked itself by carnal sensuality
To a degenerate and degraded state."
("Comus," 453–475.)
2. The Angelic Hierarchy.
Besides Satan, the chief characters of the First and Second Books are the fallen angels. In speaking of the angels, whether faithful or fallen, Milton uses several different names, and in order to avoid confusion we should understand something of the traditional ideas on the heavenly hierarchy, with which of course Milton was familiar. The most commonly accepted tradition goes back to the works which passed under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, who, as Dante says,
" Had learnt Both this and much beside of these our orbs From an eye-witness to heaven's mysteries."
(" Paradiso," canto xxviii. ad fin.) This "eye-witness was St. Paul, who (2 Cor. xii. 4)
caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable things." And Dionysius himself was held to be the very man mentioned in Acts xvii. 34, who had heard Paul at Mars Hill, and so become converted. Such was the tradition: under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite there still exists a treatise " De Cælesti Hierarchia." 1 In this treatise the angels are said to be ranged in three orders of three ranks each, as follows:-Seraphim, Cherubim,
* Translated from Greek to Latin by John Scotus in Migne's Patrologia, vol. 122, pp. 1038 ff.
Thrones ; Dominations, Virtues, Powers; Princes, Archangels, Angels. These names are all of them found in the Bible in one place or another, but never all together, nor is any such arrangement stated in scripture. The names Seraph, Cherub, Angel, are of course frequent; Archangel is not uncommon; the other orders seem to be gathered from the writings of St. Paul, perhaps chiefly from Col. i. 16, ii. 15, Rom. viii. 38. Wherever found, however, the hierarchy was largely accepted by the mediæval mind, appears in Dante in the canto cited, and of course was familiar to Milton.
All these names Milton uses in the course of the poem, and, in fact, in the first two books. In i. 129, the followers of Satan are called "the embattled Seraphim; " i. 157, Beëlzebub is called a Cherub, and in i. 534, Azazel. In ii. 310, 311, Beëlzebub calls the angels assembled Thrones, Powers, Virtues; in i. 315 Satan addresses them as "Princes, Potentates;" in ii. 11, "Powers and Domin
Satan is himself called an Archangel (i. 593), and the term Angel is common. But the more the matter is studied, the more will it be plain that Milton rarely used the names with any exact meaning. The recurrence of the line "Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers,"
(v. 601, 772, 840; X. 460), has led some to the belief that he contemplated a fixed order. So one would think also from the lines, "Where sceptred Angels held their residence,
And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King
Exalted to such power and gave to rule,
Each in his hierarchy, the Orders bright."
(i. 734-737.)
* The mighty regencies
Of Seraphim and Potentates and Thrones
In their triple degrees."
(v. 748–750.)
ions."
Probably, however, it was only occasionally that Milton used these names with any particular thought as to their meaning. If he had done so, Beëlzebub, who was next to Satan in power, would hardly be called a Cherub (as above) while Satan's other followers were called Seraphim, and Satan himself an Archangel. Indeed, later in the poem, Raphael is called not only Seraph (v. 277), but Virtue (v. 371), Power (viii. 249), and Archangel (vii. 41). In one or two cases Milton seems to make a distinction, but it is only now and then, and never carried to any length.
On the other hand, Milton does seem to recognize the more popular distinction which thinks only of angels and archangels. The archangels were seven in number (iii. 648, 654), of whom, however, Milton only mentions four,Michael, the Sword of God; Gabriel, the Man of God; Raphael, the Health of God, and Uriel, the Fire of God. Of these seven, Satan had been one, and one of the chief (v. 660); or it may have been that before his fall there had been eight.
This matter is worth considering a little for two reasons. The first is that Milton could not accept these traditions of the Church, as Dante had, for instance; he found nothing about the angelic hierarchy in the Bible, and he could not, therefore, believe implicitly in it. He knew, also, as Dante had not known, that the writings which went under the name of Dionysius were not really by the convert of Paul, and he did not recognize the authority of the Church of Rome, which gave them a certain sanction. As Scriptural terms, therefore, these names were precious to him, but he went no farther than he found warrant for in the Bible. The second reason why it is interesting to note Milton's use of these terms is for the evidence it bears as to the nature of Milton's genius. The reader of Macaulay's Essay will remember the comparison between Milton and Dante. We have here an evidence in the same direction. It was not according to the natural tenor of Mil
ton's mind to be particular or precise in his use of such terms. He used words, especially unfamiliar ones, in a large, grandiose way; they were to make an effect, not to convey information. A certain definiteness of conception was necessary: but it was also necessary to leave room for the stirring of the imagination. We shall see much the same thing in Milton's conception of the cosmology of his poem, and, indeed, in one or two other places.
3. The Cosmology of the Poem.
To turn to a consideration of another matter which will make these two books easier to us. To have really a good idea of the course of events, we must know something of what in everyday language we might call "the lay of the land.' The name common among students of Milton is the cosmology of the poem, that is, the distribution of the cosmos, as conceived by Milton, and as assumed in Paradise Lost."
At the first, -not at the beginning of the poem, but at the beginning of the action, all things were divided into Chaos and Heaven. Of Chaos we shall gain an idea toward the end of the second book, 11. 891-1009. It was a confused, indescribable anarchy of amorphous elements. Of Heaven we learn but little in our two books, but there is sufficient account of it later. We cannot form a definite idea of it, nor did Milton try to do so, but, in a general way, he gives us an adequate conception. For one thing, it was above. It is often called "the highest Heaven," and, on the other hand, Chaos is called the Deep, the Abyss. It is a firmament above the jarrings of Chaos; Milton conceives it in images of this earth; it has its hills and valleys, its pavements and mansions, its towers and battlements. Here abide from all eternity, God and his angels, and here it is, as we have seen, that Lucifer is in
* See p. xxv. above.
flamed with pride and ambition. He rebels, and, being conquered, he and all his following are cast forth from Heaven and fall to the place appointed for them.
The place appointed for them is Hell, apparently nonexistent before, but created in punishment of their sin. Of Hell we have ample description in the two books in this volume. Like Heaven, it is conceived in images of this earth (see especially ii. 570-628), with the difference that all is either burning hot or freezing cold. It is arched over by a fiery sky (if we may use the term) which separates it from Chaos, and in which, apparently, is the famous portal where sit Sin and Death, through which Satan flies forth in his search for the newly created Uni
verse,
The Universe, or this earth and the starry systems which circle around it, is created immediately after the expulsion of Satan; we are given an account of the Creation in Book vii. It is a hollow sphere carved out of Chaos, against which it is protected by a solid shell, of which Milton makes a curious use in Book iii. 416-497. Satan comes to the outside from Chaos,
"A globe far off
It seemed; now seems a boundless continent."
A hollow sphere suspended from Heaven by golden chains, such is the Universe from without; far within, at the centre, is our earth.
At the highest point, nearest Heaven, is an opening whereby the angels may ascend and descend.
So much is all that we need to know on such matters to appreciate these two books, to understand the fall of the angels, and the flight of Satan. A word or two more, however, about the Universe may be added.
The Universe as presented in " Paradise Lost" is not the Universe we think of, a myriad of suns, each with its ring of planets, nor even our own solar system, where the sun in the centre compels the earth and all the rest to


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Quincy Enunwa emerging as 'playmaker' in Jets offense
Sports // NFL
Dennis Waszak Jr. The Associated Press
Through two games, Quincy Enunwa is leading the Jets with 13 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.Kathy Willens — The Associated Press file
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. >> Quincy Enunwa will leave the labels to everyone else.
He's listed as the New York Jets' No. 3 wide receiver, but is considered by many as more of a tight end. Or, even an H-back.
The answer is simple, as far as Enunwa is concerned.
"I'm a playmaker, I guess," he said with a big smile Thursday.
Through two games, Enunwa is leading the Jets with 13 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown. And that's for a team that also has wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, and running back Matt Forte in the mix.
"It feels pretty good right now," Enunwa said of his strong start. "I don't want to get too high. It's only been two weeks."
But he has gone from being perhaps an afterthought by many fans to one of the most-added players in fantasy football circles this week after a career-high 92 yards on six catches against Buffalo last week.
And, if Marshall is unable to play Sunday at Kansas City with knee and foot ailments, Enunwa could be in line for even more action — on the field and in online leagues.
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"I hate that," a smiling Enunwa said of all the talk about his fantasy value.
"I mean, it's cool because it has more people following me, so more people want to see, 'OK, how's Quincy going to do this week?' At the same time, these aren't fans. So, the minute I don't have enough points for their fantasy (team), then I'll hear that. That's almost like, OK, well, I'm blocking you."
The fact Enunwa is even factoring prominently in the fantasy football conversation is a bit of an early season surprise.
What he's doing on the field — in reality — is less stunning to the guys who play with him.
"I think a lot of it for him, he's come a long way as a receiver, is his confidence," quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said.
"He wants the ball. He's getting open. He's making tough, contested catches. A lot of it is just his mental state, how confident he is as a football player right now."
Enunwa was a sixth-round draft pick out of Nebraska in 2014 and spent most of his rookie season on the Jets' practice squad before a late-season promotion.
Up until that point, his NFL career had been notable mainly for his arrest for domestic violence simple assault in October 2014 — charges that were later dropped.
New Haven students sickened by THC candy released from hospital as cops investigate, mayor says
As a result, he was suspended by the NFL for four games last season for violating the league's personal conduct policy, but came back in Week 11 as a consistent contributor the rest of the season.
Enunwa finished with 22 catches for 315 yards, starting six games while establishing himself as a strong blocker in the run game.
"Whether it be in the run game or the pass game, that's what I want to be," he said. "I don't want to go out there and be like, 'Oh, man, I'm the No. 3 receiver.' I'm a guy who's going to go out there and just do my job. That's it. I don't want to do more than my job."
He approached the offseason with a renewed sense of dedication, working on all aspects of the game and wanting to make an even bigger impact on the offense.
Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said Enunwa has improved his route running, his hands and expanding his knowledge of the offense. Coach Todd Bowles said Enunwa's offseason work ethic was better.
"Just being able to know what I'm supposed to do, Year 2 in the offense, I don't have to worry about, 'OK, what am I supposed to do on this play? What's going to happen on this play?"' Enunwa said. "Now, it's more so, 'What's the defense doing? OK, now react. Don't think, just react."'
Working closely with Fitzpatrick last season and throughout the offseason workouts has also helped.
"It hasn't just been good for him, it's been great for our offense," Fitzpatrick said. "We feed off of his confidence and how physical he is and the different plays that he's made in the first two games."
At 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, Enunwa is an imposing figure who looks the part of a bruising tight end — or a linebacker. Against smaller defensive backs he can use his size and strength to get to passes and bust through tackle attempts.
Whether it's lined up on the outside, in the slot or on the line of scrimmage, Enunwa has been able to make a difference so far for the Jets.
"He's worked very hard to get where he is at this point," Gailey said, "and I think he'll do well with whatever role we have him in."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Is your roof damaged or in need of some service? No matter what roofing service you need, you should look out for a good Passaic County local roofer. Deegan Roofing may be just the roofing contractor that you're looking for. From roof cleaning to roof installation, they do it all with quality and concern for customer satisfaction. Here are some of the services they offer!
1. Roof Cleaning – Roof cleaning is a service that is needed by many homeowners. There are a few different ways that roofers may perform roof cleaning, but not all of them are good necessarily. Some roofers may do a power-wash style of cleaning while others may use harsh bleaches and chemicals to clean your roof. Deegan Roofing offers a roof shampoo and scrub that is safe for the environment and tough on mold to get the best results.
2. Roof Repair/Installation – This is a primary service that is offered by nearly every Passaic County local roofer. It is a common need amongst homeowners with varying levels of damage that need to be looked at. Some roof repair may just need a small patch up or some shingles replaced while others may be much larger issues. In very extreme situations, such as damage from a storm, it may be decided that you need a new roof installed. This is an issue that varies from case to case and a professional Passaic County local roofer will help you navigate your individual need.
3. Gutter Repair – Gutter repair is another big service that is more necessary than many realize. Your gutter plays an important role in protecting your roof and home. It essentially carries water and debris off of your home and a safe distance away so that your siding and foundation do not risk damage. If your gutters become damaged, they will lose the ability to perform their job efficiently or at all and that leaves you at risk.
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text:
by Elaine Burke
From left: Pioneer Group GM Niamh Madden; Dara Calleary, TD; Dr Ayokunmi Ajetunmobi, director of venture development at Pioneer Group; and Sinead Murray from Theia eye care project. Image: Julien Behal Photography
The Campus in Cherrywood has already attracted an Irish and an international start-up to set up shop in its life sciences ecosystem.
Minister Dara Calleary, TD, was in south Dublin today to officially open The Campus, an incubation and acceleration facility aspiring to be Ireland's 'Silicon Docks for life sciences'.
The 30,000 sq ft facility in Cherrywood was first announced last year by developers Spear Street Capital, with Pioneer Group on board to operate it.
The Campus comprises specialised lab, office and collaboration spaces built for early-stage life sciences businesses to grow alongside established sci-tech players. APC, Genuity Science, Dell, Zoetis, Accenture and Elavon already have a presence, and new emerging life sciences enterprises are encouraged to take up bench space in this new ecosystem.
Already doing so is VLE Therapeutics, a spin-out of APC backed by Enterprise Ireland. Established in 2020 to act as a 'medicine accelerator', VLE is focuses on the manufacture of vaccines and advanced therapeutics including cell and gene therapies.
Australian commercial-stage biotech company Inventia has also established a base on The Campus. Backed by IDA Ireland and with VC funding amounting to more than €25m, Inventia uses 3D bioprinting in biomedical research and drug discovery.
Built to accommodate all types of life sciences businesses, The Campus has a mix of shared and private lab space, including a 'co-lab' where early-stage businesses can rent bench space. In all, the office space can accommodate up to 20 life sciences companies.
This facility is just one part of the life sciences cluster in Cherrywood being developed by Spear Street Capital.
Innovation anchor
"The life sciences sector in Ireland has been nothing short of transformative for our economy," said Calleary. "As a small, advanced economy, we are uniquely exposed to global changes and shifts. Our best protection is to continue developing our little island as a world-class destination to invest and grow business."
Dr Ayokunmi Ajetunmobi, director of venture development at Pioneer Group, cited Ireland's global reputation as a "centre of excellence for pioneering innovation, biopharmaceutical developments, pharmaceutical manufacture and supply", and said that Cherrywood will be a "key location" for Pioneer Group.
"Our vision is to grow and fully develop this strategically important site and amplify the existing strong fundamentals of a highly educated talent pool, groundbreaking research and rapid growth," he said.
Spear Street Capital president Rajiv Patel said that The Campus will be an "innovation anchor" that will benefit organisations across the life sciences spectrum, from start-ups and academic institutions to large corporates. "Today's announcement shows how The Campus at Cherrywood will be at the heart of the vibrant life sciences sector that continues to grow across Ireland," he said.
Related: Genuity Science, Dell, incubators, life sciences, R&D, Ireland, IDA Ireland, accelerators, Dublin, Enterprise Ireland, medtech, Accenture, biotech
Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech's Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.
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text:
Foreign students protest slave labor at Hershey's
Posted byRussian_Village	 August 19, 2011 Leave a comment on Foreign students protest slave labor at Hershey's
If you ask Willy Wonka what the formula for a good product is, he'll tell you it's 93 percent perspiration, 6 percent electricity, 4 percent evaporation and 2 percent butterscotch ripple.
Those at the Hershey's chocolate factory in Pennsylvania have a similar setup themselves, but somewhere in the mix they manage to include the exploitation of foreign exchange students into the equation.
Hundreds of students that have come to America from around the world as part of a State Department exchange program are protesting against the Palmyra, PA plant that manufactures treats for the candy company, saying that they've been subjected to unjust conditions and wages.
The students are all part of a program that brings foreigners stateside for the summer to learn about American life. They are given special J-1 visas for their participation and are told that they will be able to take in the cultural experience of the United States while working on their English language skills, all while making ends meet.
The international students working at the Hershey plant are saying they're barely breaking even on the excursion to the US after everything is taken into account, however, despite their salaries.
Students had to fork over upwards of $6,000 to the California-based Council for Educational Travel USA, or CETUSA, for participation in the program.
Though workers are making $8.35 an hour, housing and program fees are deducted directly from their paychecks. While they came to America seeking a land of opportunity, many are finding themselves in the hole now that their duration with the program has neared expiration. Once all fees are taken into account, students say they are left with less money than they had at the beginning, even after weeks of grueling labor.
When they aren't working the assembly line during all-night shifts, they are crammed two to a room in tiny apartments. And as far as learning English goes, many say that isn't happening either.
Yana Brenzey, 19, of Ukraine, tells the Lebanon Daily News out of Pennsylvania that she has had hardly begun to experience American culture. "Working hard, eight hours, we have no opportunity to speak at work. If I speak, my supervisor comes to me and says, 'Don't speak anymore, or I'll send you home,'" she says.
"I come here to improve my English because it's very important to my profession. I want to be a journalist," Brenzey adds.
The paper reports that the other workers on the Ukrainian girl's third-shift are from Puerto Rico and don't speak English at all. The Philadelphia Inquirer quotes another worker as saying that English isn't even among the top-five languages spoke during his shift.
The National Guestworker Alliance out of New Orleans was approached by the workers earlier this summer and is now helping to organize the protests that have been occurring outside the facility since Wednesday. That afternoon saw around 150 demonstrators rallying outside. Protests reportedly led to production being halted during Wednesday's workday but by Thursday, however, a spokesperson for the factory said that most of the students scheduled for the first shift were at work as expected and that production would not be hindered.
Jacob Horwitz, an organizer for the National Guestworker Alliance, tells the Lebanon Daily News that the students were "made captive" by their employers. He adds that there have also been instances where workers were threatened with deportation when asked to be reassigned. Now, he says, workers are protesting and demanding that they are paid back for the work they weren't properly compensated for.
Another representative or the National Guestworker Alliance told reporters that students had filed a complaint with the US State Department and were expecting federal assistance in the matter. According to NGA's Stephen Boykewich, the Department of State is deploying an investigative unit to look into the allegations.
On Friday, demonstrations are scheduled to occur not just outside the facility, but in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as well.
John Bilan, age 22, came from Romania to work at the plant. He tells the Lebanon Daily News that he approached CETUSA to discuss his grievances but was shrugged off.
"They say you have the contract. You signed the contract. You need to respect it," Bilan says.
As Willy Wonka the Chocolate Factory's Sam Beauregarde character would tell you, however:
"Don't talk to me about contracts . . . They're strictly for suckers."
"We have all seen Charlie's Chocolate Factory," Harika Duygu Ozer tells The New York Times. "We thought, 'This is good.'" Ozer, age 19, came from Istanbul and figured the experience would not only be fun but would help her pay her medical school tuition back home. Instead, she says, she stands for eight hours at a time.
"It is the worst thing for your fingers and hands and your back; you are standing at an angle."
At least no one's been turned into a blueberry. Yet.
CETUSA released a statement on Thursday in which the organization states, "We are continuing to reach out to students to explore ways to meet their concerns, including seeking new cultural experiences for the students." Horwitz from the National Guestworker Alliance, however, says the CETUSA previously told workers that they would be fired for attempting to strike.
While the students have been churning out chocolate for the Hershey Company, they are all formally employees of SHS Online Solutions, which was actually subcontracted to staff the warehouse for an Ohio-based company named Exel. On top of the ladder is The Hershey Co. itself, who outsources to Exel to manage the facility.
As of Thursday, the only official statement offered up by the chocolate giants read only one sentence long:
"The Hershey Company expects all of its vendors to treat their employees fairly and equitably."
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Matricultura's analytical model works with visual language: Schemes, that illustrate the systems to be analysed in their complexity and at the same time show them clearly displayed. On the basis of these schemes insufficiently developed potentials, powerfully integrated and also overloaded areas of life can be examined.
Drifting, incited by the wheel of destruction, latch the people, runs and rotates with it. Who falls off it will be wildly and arbitrarily wheeled around, pushed to the fringe and shaken. The creation of Mother Earth is collapsing because of it. The element fire dominates. The elements earth, water and air are exploited and contaminated; the element energy of life is multiply fissioned.
Step-out-step-in-pioneers break open the wheel of the patriarchal-characterized world view. The more people dare to make this break, the bumpier it must speed - it is slowed down.
The core values of Matricultura are on the path towards vividness. The more we focus on this way, the weaker shall become the wheel of destruction.
The life-giving path towards life-centred livelihood is structured into the five elements earth, water, fire, air and energy of life and is illustrated. Each element is related to a segment. This is a way to detect how each element is integrated into the Life-Biotope and how the connections and circulations between the elements are converted.
The snake of metamorphosis and health touches the core values of Matricultura that are strongly integrated in the system to be analysed. The more manifold the movement patterns are, the deeper the anchoring of the Life-Biotope in Matricultura. At the beginning of the construction of a Life-Biotope the line of the snake will still have to touch some points of the wheel of destruction, the healthier the Life-Biotope is, the further away is the snake from the wheel and snakes with relish on the surface of a healthier Mother Earth.


"My wife and I like to entertain at home and in the past have hired various musicians to provide the appropriate musical ambiance. We are always on the lookout for professionals whose musical talents will enhance any social event. A mutual friend mentioned Carole, so I called her. From my first awkward, 'You-don't-know-me, but..." sentence, speaking with Carole was like talking with an old friend. The conversation was instantly comfortable.
After discussing what we were looking for in terms of musical atmosphere and asking some questions about Carole's background and experience (which is very impressive), I retained Carole to play at a Sunday brunch we were hosting. In addition to her incredible musical talent, Carole has a warm, infectiously friendly personality, so she was a perfect fit for a warm and friendly event with friends and colleagues.
From the initial conversation, which was delightful, our entire "Carole experience," as we refer to it, could not have been better. Carole, a consummate professional, arrived an appropriate amount of time before the event allowing a relaxed, unhurried opportunity for us to review where the event was being held (both inside and outside). After viewing the physical layout, I welcomed Carole's suggestion for a location to position herself for the maximum enjoyment of our guests, while not impeding the flow of people during the event.
Part of the enjoyment of watching and listening to Carole play is the enjoyment she projects while playing. She clearly loves what she does and that is reflected in her music. Her volume level (always a concern at a house party) was right on the mark -- not so loud as to make conversation difficult, but loud enough to be enjoyed by all. The mix of music was equally enjoyable, truly something for everybody.
Our guests loved Carole and we received lots of positive feedback after the brunch, not only about the wonderful music she provided, but for the guests who did speak with her, Carole could not have been more gracious and friendly to them, as well.


Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairy tale. So when I realized this one was a retelling of that tale, I had to read it. This is my second time reading it, and I must say that it is better the second time through.
Annabel was by far my favorite character, although Frau Eustacia was probably a close second. This story stayed a little more true to the original fairy tale than the first book in the series did, and that was interesting to see. Having a beastly human can be challenging and I was pleasantly surprised by how well Melanie set Lord Ranulf up to be both beastly and kind just like the beast.
The dialogue was fitting to the story and the location it was set in. I enjoyed the miscommunications and misunderstandings.
This almost had a full star, but then I realized there was a plot hole at the end. So it got degraded slightly. Overall, however, Melanie did a great job creating a solid plot with many twists and turns. I enjoyed it.
I am a bit more picky when it comes to traditionally published books, and this one, unfortunately didn't live up to my standards. The formatting of the Kindle version was a little off here and there and I feel like it could have gone through another edit or two before publication.
Despite those minor details above, this book was almost impossible to put down. I kept wanting to know what would happen next. And am glad I had a day of down time in which to read the whole thing in one day.
If you like fresh looks at tales as old as time (come on, I had to do it once), you'll like this one. There is some violence that could be a bit much for some people, but for the most part this book is very clean both in the romance and violence.
Great review! We have this book in our church media center and I haven't read it yet, but now it's moved up on my TBR list! Thanks!
I read a review about More Than Meets the Eye and then left your page and then opened it back up and wrote this comment. Now I realize I wrote it in the wrong place! Yikes! But this book sounds good too!
Not a problem. I'm glad you enjoyed the reviews!


Tonight we went back to Smith and daughters for dinner, and they had a new menu! Exciting for new foods, but also slightly disappointing there's no paella anymore.
We had a taster plate of the tapas, mushroom pate, and crab cakes with mango salsa. Followed by chocolate torte with avocado ice cream (way better than it sounds, creamy and subtle).


Honor, Huawei's sub-brand company, has gained a reputation for steady mid-range devices that despite some compromises, deliver the general high-spec experience found in way pricier devices. With its latest device, the Honor Magic 2, Honor seems to be redefining what a mid-range phone can be.
After Huawei's unveiling of its premium Mate 20 line, Honor seems to borrow some features from its bigger sibling, as well as introducing some new nuances of its own. On the power side, the Magic 2 comes with the brand new Kirin 980 as well as either 6GB or 8GB RAM. If the mate 20 is anything to judge by, it's fair to assume that this combination will deliver some of the smoothest experience in the Android space.
When it comes to the screen, the Magic 2 is Honor's first implementation of an OLED panel, also surprisingly implementing the exciting on-screen fingerprint scanner that even Huawei's own Mate 20 (not the pro) can't deliver. Furthermore, the Magic 2 doesn't come with the controversial notch, instead opting for the same all-screen treatment that companies like Oppo and Vivo have shocked us with.
The Honor Magic 2 is also the first Honor device, as well as one of the first devices in general, to deliver the slide mechanism as a way of accessing its selfie cameras. While this comes at the cost of some battery, coming in at 3500Mh instead of the 4000 usually seen in a device with its size (around the same as Huawei's P20 Pro), it eliminates the risk of any motorized mechanisms breaking up down the line.
Lastly, Honor also seems to be delivering on the camera front, taking cues from both the P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro. More specifically, it packs six cameras, three at the front, and three at the rear. For selfie fanatics, the 16MP primary sensor, as well as two 2MP depth sensing cameras, ensures that proper Face ID is available. On the back, the 16MP primary sensor followed by another 16MP wide angle lens and a 24MP black and white lens should ensure fantastic camera shots- but only time will tell.
The Honor Magic 2 launches November 5th exclusively to the China market with three configurations: 6GB RAM + 128GB storage for 3799RMB, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage for 4299RMB and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage for 4799RMB. All of the following models can be purchased in a silver gradient, red gradient or blue gradient finish.


text:
Emily Atkin/ July 27, 2017
It's Never Been Harder to Be a Climate Scientist
Legal attacks, internet harassment, and a Trump-fueled "culture of fear" are making their work more difficult than ever.
Molly Adams/Flickr
One month before President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the climate scientist Michael Mann wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post about the time someone sent a letter filled with fake anthrax to his office. The August 2010 scare, he recalled, was "just one in a long series of threats I've received since the late 1990s, when my research illustrated the unprecedented nature of global warming." Things had gotten better in recent years, he wrote—no more anonymous mail with potential bio-weaponry, no more personal investigations by congressional committees, and far fewer death threats. But with Trump's inauguration imminent, he wrote, "my colleagues and I are steeling ourselves for a renewed onslaught of intimidation, from inside and outside government."
Six months into the Trump administration, the onslaught Mann feared has arrived. Scientists and science advocates say climatologists inside and outside the government are facing unprecedented intimidation from the Trump administration, conservative groups, and internet trolls. Jon Foley, a climate scientist and director of the California Academy of Sciences, said he's more worried about the future of his profession than any time in his 20-year career. "The ebbing and flowing of political currents effects science—it always has—but this is different," he said. "This is much worse than anything we've ever seen before."
Climate scientists working directly for the Trump administration are the most affected. A report published last week by the Union of Concerned Scientists describes a "culture of fear" as government scientists are gagged, sidelined, or fired, and funding cuts loom. "Some are afraid to utter the words 'climate change,'" the report reads. The fear has pushed some agency scientists to seek advice from outside sources. Lauren Kurtz, executive director at the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, says several federal climate scientists have asked her about their legal options for speaking out. "One researcher just called to say hey, my boss has made it really hard for me to do my job. What can I do?" she said.
A timeline of "attacks on science" since Trump came into office, compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Center for Science and Democracy
Kurtz is also dealing with a problem that has existed for years: lawsuits filed by conservative groups against non-government climate scientists seeking their private communications. And just generally, Kurtz said she's hearing from more private climatologists worried about the future of their grant funding, or the backlash they might receive from empowered internet trolls if they choose to publicly criticize against cuts that would effect their work. "It's definitely become a more stressful profession," Kurtz said. "Long-term, there's room for optimism. But right now—especially when you factor in things like potential funding cuts and dealing with harassment, yes, it has become more difficult to be a climate scientist."
As the political, social, and economic ramifications of their findings become more urgent by the day, it only makes sense that attempts to silence and intimidate climate scientists stand to intensify.
Climate scientists have been harassed since long before Trump's rise, much of it personal and internet-based: Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe has said that after a media appearance, she receives up to 200 emails and letters a day filled with threats and accusations. "One email I got said something like, 'I hope your child sees your head in a basket after you've been guillotined for all the fraud you climate scientists have been committing,'" Hayhoe told InsideClimate in 2015. Personal attacks exist off the internet, too. Climate scientist Ben Santer famously found a dead rat left on his doorstep, a story he told most recently to talk show host Seth Meyers.
Climate scientists working inside and outside the government have been subject to more than just internet trolls, though. Conservative organizations, some with ties to fossil fuel interests, have for years filed lawsuits against them seeking e-mail communications and unpublished research under various open records laws. The point, Kurtz says, is "to embarrass them"—indeed, in one ongoing lawsuit against University of Arizona researcher Jonathan Overpeck and climatologist Malcolm Hughes, the coal-funded Energy & Environment Legal Institute admitted it was seeking emails that "embarrass both Professors Hughes and Overpeck and the University." The conservative group Judicial Watch is suing the U.S. Department of Commerce, seeking the communications of former NOAA scientist Thomas Karl and former director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren. Their purpose is to see whether these scientists "mishandled scientific data to advance the political agenda of global warming alarmism."
Those groups are still at it. The difference, Kurtz said, is not that lawsuits have increased, but that the attorneys who perpetrated them have more political power. E&E Legal Institute General Council David Schnare, for instance, has sued several universities to gain access to climate scientists' emails. He was named to the Trump transition team for the EPA and then joined the so-called "beachhead" team there, before eventually resigning because of differences with Pruitt. E&E Legal senior fellow Christopher Horner was also a member of Trump's transition team.
Personal attacks persist as well, though it seems to rise and fall with the news. Hayhoe told me the amount of hate mail she's received "spiked noticeably for two weeks" after Trump announced he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. (Hayhoe had spoken out against the decision.) "I mentioned it to quite a few people, [the spike] was so marked," she said. Mann says he receives less hate mail too, and thinks the dip has to do with the fact that targeted trolling is less effective than it used to be. "The favorite approach of the climate change denial machine used to be to go after individual scientists, to try and make it seem like the consensus all depends on one person," he said. "But I think now that the consensus has become as strong as it has, it feels like there's been less aimed at me personally, because it's just no longer credible to say that it's all based on the work of Mike Mann."
Indeed, most scientists say what's really increased is a quieter form of intimidation: preventing government climate scientists from doing their jobs. The Union of Concerned Scientists' report accused the Trump administration of "creating a hostile environment for federal agency scientists who serve the public," citing the anti-climate rhetoric of agency administrators like Scott Pruitt and Rick Perry, proposed decimation of funding, and general interference in scientists' work. The DOE's International Climate Office (which has since been eliminated) asked staff in March to avoid the words "climate change," "emissions reductions," or "Paris Agreement" in communications. Political appointees at the EPA are reviewing scientists' work, and political appointees at Interior Department are reviewing science-based grants and contracts. "All action at the agency on climate has effectively stopped," an EPA air quality scientist told The Guardian in June. And they're being discouraged from interacting with other climate scientists. "There was a climate conference in Atlanta last month and EPA employees were told not to go," the scientist said, "so even simple interactions are coming to an end."
There's probably good reason why that last quote is anonymously sourced: Government scientists can't even speak about the most uncontroversial aspects of climate change without fearing demotion. Joel Clement, former director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Interior Department, and a scientist who worked on climate issues, last week said he was demoted to the accounting office after speaking out about the threat of climate change to Alaska's Native communities. "Silencing civil servants, stifling science, squandering taxpayer money and spurning communities in the face of imminent danger have never made America great," he wrote in The Washington Post. "Let's be honest: The Trump administration didn't think my years of science and policy experience were better suited to accounts receivable. It sidelined me in the hope that I would be quiet or quit."
Speaking out has always been the best way to ensure harassment. "There's a target on your back if you're a prominent communicator of climate change," Mann said. "Sometimes it feels like the Boy Scouts fighting the marines. We face a very well-armed, determined opposition, and they don't have to operate by the rules that we do." As the scientific facts about climate change become more alarming, and the administration tries to keep silencing it, more scientists will feel the need to speak the truth—or so Mann hopes. "I think a lot of scientists have been cowed into submission by the assaults, the attacks," Mann said. "The purpose of this fossil-fuel-funded attack machine is to intimidate scientists so they don't speak out, and make an example of those who do.... The worse thing any of us can do is give in to that."
Emily Atkin @emorwee
Emily Atkin is a contributing editor to The New Republic and the author of the climate newsletter Heated.
Politics, Environment, Michael Mann, Climate Change, Science, Donald Trump, Scott Pruitt, Rick Perry, EPA, Environmental Protection Agency


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HomeNewsMan dies following road traffic collision in Ruislip
Man dies following road traffic collision in Ruislip
Credit: London Ambulance Service
Police have appealed for witnesses and any road users with dashcam footage following a fatal collision in Ruislip this morning (4 September).
A male, who police believe was the driver of a car involved in a road traffic collision, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene in Ruislip.
Met Police said: "Officers were called at approximately 06:10hrs on Saturday, 4 September to reports of a road traffic collision on the westbound carriageway of the A40 in Ruislip. A car was found to have left the road.
"London Ambulance Service also attended and despite the best efforts of the emergency services, a male (no further details), believed to be the driver of the car, was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Next of kin are yet to be informed.
"Road closures remain in place.
"Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing; there has been no arrests."
Anyone who was in the area at the time and who witnessed the incident is urged to call 101, or tweet @MetCC and quote ref: CAD1555/04Sep21.
Police have also said that they are particularly keen to hear from anyone who has dashcam or other video footage which may have captured the incident.
Source: Met Police
Hillingdon News


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It's easy to step on sea urchins. Many of them are less visible and much smaller than you see in photographs They can be found at the reef at low tide, 20 cm across the main body.
1) look carefully when wading or putting down your feet.
2) wear sandals that attach well to your feet in water.
3) bring some vinegar to apply to sea urchin punctures - vinegar dissolves the broken needles in the foot.


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LETTER OF
BARSHOW
SPECIAL GUESTS
ANNUAL BOTTLES
NADESHIKO-CUP
2019 Annual Bottles
Cocktail Culture Foundation Collection
Mr. Dale DeGroff
Mr. Dale DeGroff is a bar industry veteran aptly called the "Kind of Cocktails". He began to hone his genius in the 80s with a number of bars, the most famous being the Rainbow Room in New York City. There he was responsible for rejuvenating the classic cocktail. Dale has been the recipient of countless awards and has been tremendously influential in the industry spanning many years. He also serves as a consultant for bars all over the world, trains bartenders, judges cocktail competitions, and is the founder of the Museum for the American Cocktail. A legendary bartender, Dale DeGroff has a penchant not only for cocktails, but for music too.
Mr. Dave Broom
An editor of alcohol and music, David has been active for many years and is well published In particular, he is famously well-known for the publication of The 'World Atlas of Whisky' which explores key whisky distilleries in great detail. Dave has made the trek to Japan for TIBS four times and in 2018 he served as Official Executive for the Tokyo International BarShow.
© Cocktail Culture Foundation


ABSTRACT - Economists and behavioral researchers take two distinctly different approaches to assessing the effects of price and other factors on consumer choice behavior. The economists' view, which ignores consumers' perceptual biases related to price and product information, was tested by varying the conditions under which consumers made a choice between two similar brands. The results suggest that the parsimonious theory relied upon by most economists may be a misleading oversimplification in some product categories.
John J. Wheatley, Richard F. Yalch, and John S. Y. Chiu (1980) ,"In Search of the Economists' Consumer: the Effects of Product Information, Money, and Prices on Choice Behavior", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 07, eds. Jerry C. Olson, Ann Abor, MI : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 533-537.
Economists and behavioral researchers take two distinctly different approaches to assessing the effects of price and other factors on consumer choice behavior. The economists' view, which ignores consumers' perceptual biases related to price and product information, was tested by varying the conditions under which consumers made a choice between two similar brands. The results suggest that the parsimonious theory relied upon by most economists may be a misleading oversimplification in some product categories.
Economists, when addressing themselves to the question of consumer choice behavior, frequently take the position that, "on average," individuals are knowledgeable about the products they buy, have well-defined tastes and preferences, and are concerned with getting the most satisfaction possible from the limited amount of money they have to spend. This results in the postulated downward sloping demand curve, or in other words, a decrease in the purchases of any product as its price increases. All other things remaining the same, the argument goes, a price increase is equivalent to a decline in the income of the buyer, i.e., less of a product whose price has increased can be bought with the same amount of money. Other products, which may serve as substitutes for the product whose price has increased, also become less expensive, relatively speaking. Thus, what might be called the monetary constraint effect of higher prices serves as a deterrent to purchase behavior. Any deviation from this hypothesized choice model is generally assumed to be an unlikely situation (Stigler 1947).
Behavioral researchers tend to believe that prices affect consumers in ways other than those included in the economists' model of consumer choice. One way is to serve as an aid to those unable to judge products. Even though higher priced products are not always of higher quality, this can be a useful heuristic (Andrews and Valenzi 1970). For example, Sproles (1977) recently found a positive price-quality relationship existed for 51% of the products he analyzed while only 14% had a negative relationship. Under these circumstances, assuming that a buyer wants, can afford, and does not pay disproportionately for higher quality, always choosing the higher priced of two brands may be more satisfactory than any other decision rule. Thus, higher priced products may be purchased rather than lower priced ones.
Prices are also thought to influence consumers' judgment by affecting their perceptions of product quality. In a large number of studies consumers have been shown to evaluate a higher priced product as being of higher quality than a lower priced one, even though they were actually of equivalent quality. Olson (1977), reviewing 24 of these studies of the price-quality perceptual bias, found them generally supportive of this proposition, but also noted many methodological problems which hindered interpretation of the results. Only two of the 24 studies were reported as involving "brand choice," rather than quality perceptions (Leavitt 1954; Tull, Boring and Gonsier 1964), and closer examination reveals that neither involved monetary transactions. They merely recorded paper and pencil indications of what the subjects would buy on a simulated shopping trip. Thus, given evidence that perceptions are only moderately predictive of attitudes (cf., Mazis, Ahtola and Klippel 1975), and that attitudes are only somewhat related to behavior (Wicker 1969), one must conclude that there is insufficient evidence to reject the economists' consumer choice model which ignores the price-quality perceptual bias.
In light of this observation, a research study was conducted to determine if consumers behave as postulated by the economic model or whether the price-quality perceptual bias is a significant factor in product choice. Three research questions addressing this issue are discussed below.
1. Will a price-quality perceptual bias affect actual behavior? Many studies have demonstrated a perceptual bias when consumers are asked to evaluate products differing in prices, but none has sought to determine whether it is sufficient to alter actual product choice. If, in fact, it has little or no influence, then perhaps the economists are correct in concluding that it can safely be ignored. This question is to be answered by determining whether choices between equivalent products occur nonrandomly merely because one brand is identified as having a higher price than the other. Choice of the higher priced brand was encouraged by not requiring the consumers to sacrifice anything in order to select the higher priced brand.
2. Will the introduction of price as a monetary constraint eliminate the behavioral effect of the price-quality perceptual bias? It can be argued that while the perceptual bias is capable of affecting behavior under conditions in which the subjects do not have to give up anything in order to exercise a preference for a more expensive brand, this preference effect might disappear in a more realistic setting involving sacrifices. This argument recognizes that prices may have two roles in determining the value received for a given expenditure. One is to determine the quantity of goods and services received so one tries to pay less in order to get more products; the other is to suggest something about the product's quality, and thus one is willing to pay more in order to get better quality. This question is to be addressed by introducing money into the choice process and observing whether it results in a significant change in choice behavior. Theoretically, from the economists' view, consumers should select the lowest priced product in order to realize the maximum satisfaction with their choice.
3. Will the combination of the monetary constraint factor and "perfect" information eliminate the behavioral effect of the perceptual bias? It has been shown that one reason why individuals prefer higher priced products is because the higher price is thought to indicate the product's high quality on some attribute. If consumers have the opportunity to evaluate the products, this effect should be minimized. However, they may be influenced by the higher price into believing that there are hidden qualities not readily apparent on a one-trial test. Thus, the perceptual bias might persist. Economists and many public policy advocates believe if "expert" information is presented to consumers about the true quality of a product then these is no reason for any perceptual bias to continue. This is equivalent to "perfect" information and price's only effect should be to cause consumers to select the lower priced product as a way to maximize their satisfaction. To behave otherwise would violate the economists' model.
This question, which represents the most stringent test of consumer models ignoring the price-quality perceptual bias, is to be answered by comparing the brand choices of consumers in a "perfect" market situation with those predicted by the economists' consumer model. Thus, any choice of the higher priced brand under the condition in which individuals have reasons to know that it is of no higher quality based on expert judgment and their own personal assessment, and when they must sacrifice money in order to acquire the more expensively priced product, would substantiate the importance of psychological factors in consumer choices.
H1: In the absence of price as a monetary constraint and "perfect" information, consumers will not evidence a price-quality perceptual bias by selecting the brand labeled with the higher price at a greater than chance level.
H2: When price serves as a monetary constraint, consumers will not select the lower priced product at a greater than chance level.
H3: When price serves a monetary constraint and when consumers have "perfect" product information, consumers will not select the lower priced product at a greater than chance level.
The research design utilized three treatment groups to test the behavioral effect of the price-quality perceptual bias under increasingly more "perfect" market conditions. Subjects were recruited from a university library cafeteria on the basis of their indicating they were cola users. Cola was selected as the test product because it is likely to be familiar to the subject population, it could be evaluated by the subjects, and pilot tests had established widespread belief in the existence of quality differences among brands. In addition, under chilled conditions (a normal drinking situation), few consumers could detect differences among brands, and thus cola quality seems to be a perception frequently biased by price information. Ultimately, 219 subjects were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three different market conditions.
After their cooperation was solicited, the participants were seated at a table upon which two six-packs of cola were displayed, wrapped to prevent identification. The respondents were asked to fill out a short questionnaire dealing with such matters as frequency and quantity of cola consumed, favorite brand, type of container usually purchased, and prices paid. These responses were later used to determine if the random assignment procedure was successful in getting three equally experienced groups.
After responding to the questionnaire, each subject received a brief written message. Those assigned to the "perfect" product information group received information from the Food and Science Department of a prestigious private university, which a pilot test had determined to be an unbiased source of information on food matters. The expert information concerned similarities in the contents of cola drinks and the way in which they are manufactured as well as research evidence from a scientifically conducted experiment with a large sample of cola users which revealed that it was impossible for consumers to perceive brand differences in a blind taste test. Individuals assigned to the other two groups received only filler material.
All experimental subjects were next offered two glasses of cola marked Xt and Wb, two letter labels predetermined to be neutral in terms of their effect on product choices. The Xt brand was identified as having a retail price of $1.59 per six 12-ounce cans while Wb retailed for 994> per six pack. These prices were selected because, at the time, they represented the high and low prices being charged by local retailers. The two samples were served in a random fashion from bottles that were covered with opaque plastic to prevent identification of the actual brand used or the shape of the container. In actuality, the two brands were the same cola.
Since choice behavior corresponding to the three conditions could not easily be observed in the market place, a technique suggested by McConnell (1968) was used to simulate it. Rather than have subjects pay for the cola they selected, which might have resulted in a substantial loss of participants from the study, it was decided to manipulate the monetary constraint factor, i.e., the sacrifice one makes when one purchases a higher priced product, by taping 104 to each can of the less expensive brand to represent the actual price difference per can.
Thus, two groups were able to trade off the selection of the higher priced brand with the option of receiving more money along with the lower priced brand. The subjects in the first group (no monetary constraint) did not have the option of receiving money with any of the alternatives presented to them. They selected only products with price information displayed on them, a procedure followed in most behavioral science studies of price-quality relationships (Olson 1977).
It should be noted that price as a cue to product quality was present in all three groups, they all tasted the two products, and except for the manipulation of two factors, price as a monetary constraint and "perfect information," all three groups were handled in exactly the same fashion. A fourth group to complete the full factorial design, "perfect" information with no monetary constraint, was not included in the study because it did not represent a research question of any theoretical interest or practical significance since it is not typically encountered in the market place.
Analysis of the premanipulation questions revealed that there were no significant differences between the three groups in terms of experience with the product. The demographic characteristics of the three groups were also similar so the randomization procedure appeared to be successful.
This will be used to determine if the choices by any of the groups varied from that expected by chance. The behavioral choice data of the subjects are next used to answer the three research questions posed and this is followed by an analysis of the subjects' open-ended explanations for their behavior.
1. Will a price-quality perceptual bias affect actual choice behavior? In their pretaste questionnaire responses, most subjects indicated that they believed that there were perceivable quality differences in cola drinks (mean = 4.5 on 1 to 7 point scale with 7 labeled strongly agree). The choice results for Group I demonstrate that the reported belief in quality differences did not lead to more selections of the higher priced brand, Xt, than one would expect by chance despite the absence of a monetary sacrifice. The choice of 3.3 cans of the higher priced brand was only slightly greater than the 3.0 cans expected by chance, and this difference is not statistically significant using the t-test. The t-test, it should be noted, is appropriate here because while the individual choices are discrete the mean number of cans selected is a continuous variable (Snedecor and Cochran 1971, p. 95). Thus, the first null hypothesis cannot be rejected.
The results for the first group support the belief that a price-quality perceptual bias may not necessarily affect choice behavior. However, in this study, participants had the opportunity to compare directly the two products and this may have overcome most of the perceptual bias. This suggests that to a large extent, price-quality perceptual biases may be reduced by allowing consumers the opportunity to evaluate products before making their choices. Unfortunately, this is rarely done in retail stores for many of the packaged goods assumed to be associated with perceptual biases and few consumers appear to conduct this type of test on their own. This result also suggests that, in this study, any demand artifact, i.e., a desire to behave in accord with the experimenter's hypotheses, was minimal.
2. Will the introduction of price as a monetary constraint be sufficient to eliminate the behavioral effect of the price-quality perceptual bias? Since the first group gave only slight evidence of being influenced by the price information on the packages, one would expect that most subjects would select the lower priced brand once they were able to receive money for doing this. However, this did not occur. The subjects in the second group selected the lower priced brand only slightly more frequently than those in the first group (3.3 versus 2.7) and this was not statistically significant (t = 1.5, df = 145, p > .05, one-tailed test) or significantly lower than that expected by chance. Thus, the second null hypothesis cannot be rejected and one must conclude that the imposition of price as a monetary constraint was not sufficient to cause subjects to select the lower priced brand.
3. Will the combination of the monetary constraint factor and "perfect" information eliminate the behavioral effect of the perceptual bias? It was expected that when subjects could realize an actual money savings by selecting the lower priced brand and when they knew that there were no meaningful quality differences between the two brands, the overwhelming choice would be the lower priced brand. The results offer only partial support to this hypothesis. The 3.9 cans of the lower priced brand selected by the subjects in the third group was significantly lower than the number selected by the subjects in the first group, who lacked information and could not realize a real savings (t = 3.0, df = 145, p < .004, one-tailed test); it was also significantly lower than expected by chance (t = 3.1, df = 71, p < .004, one-tailed test). Further, an impressive 50% of the subjects in this group selected six cans of Wb and received the full 604 bonus. However, it remains to be explained why the other 50% did not do likewise.
It may be observed that the mean difference between the first and third groups, which is attributable to both the monetary constraint and product information, amounted to 1.2 cans while the difference between the first and second groups, which is attributable to the monetary constraint alone was .6 or half of the effect when the two were combined. In other words, assuming there was no significant interaction, the information effect on choice behavior was equal to the monetary constraint effect of price.
After the subjects made their choices, they were asked to explain in their own words how they decided to make the choice that they had just made. Analyses of these open-ended responses revealed that taste was the most frequently mentioned reason for the selection made in all three groups.
Over 70% of the subjects in Group I, where price did not serve as a monetary constraint, gave taste as their basis for choosing while not a single respondent mentioned price. On the other hand, while slightly over 50% of the subjects in Group III which was price constrained mentioned taste, almost 30% said that they were influenced by price considerations.
Apparently responding to the "expert" information that they had been furnished, a larger proportion of the subjects in Group III also said that they could not tell any difference between the two samples than was the case for Groups I and Ii which, of course, had not received this information.
A proportion of the subjects became so absorbed in the taste testing that their choice with respect to the number of cans of Xt and Wb was apparently influenced by a desire to continue with the process on their own. That is, between 20 and 25% of the subjects in each treatment group chose three cans of Xt and three cans of Wb, and a substantial number of them indicated that they did so because they wanted to test the differences between the two samples by themselves. This was empirically determined to have no effect on the statistical significance of the results.
Finally, all of the subjects were asked what they personally thought the purpose of the research study was. None of the answers indicated any awareness of the research hypotheses under investigation.
It must be remembered that this was a laboratory experiment rather than a field experiment. This means that the results reported here should be viewed cautiously. For example, all of the consumers involved in this experiment were placed in a forced choice situation involving only one product. It seems very likely that in a real world setting, characteristics of buyers such as their income level would cause at least some persons not to choose to buy their favorite brand of cola at all if its price were to be increased.
As Shapiro (1975) has pointed out, persons with high levels of education, such as college students, have a tendency to rely less on price as a cue to product quality than those with lower educational achievement. This might explain the small behavioral effect of the price-quality perceptual bias in the first two groups. Care should be taken in extrapolating the results of experiments involving mostly student subjects, although in this case they do constitute a reasonably important segment of the market for colas.
Only two variables, price and product information, were utilized to influence choice behavior. While both the prices used and the information provided were realistic, most consumers are capable of utilizing additional information in making either judgments about products or purchase decisions. In the field, the significance of these factors might also be diminished or enhanced because of a tendency on the part of consumers to perceive the elements of the buying situation in a selective manner, disregarding or emphasizing other potentially useful bits of information.
The results of this study suggest that the economists' virtually total emphasis on the monetary constraint effect of price on purchase behavior is possibly excessive. The almost equally strong concern of consumer researchers with the effect of price and other variables upon perceptions exclusively seems inappropriate, too.
Product information turned out to have a significant effect on behavior. Price information, serving as a quality cue exclusively, had the effect of influencing behavior slightly in one direction, but when price served also as a monetary constraint behavior was reversed. Specifically, when price served only as an information cue as it did in Group I, choice behavior tended to be in the direction of selecting the higher priced alternative. On the other hand, when price served both as an information cue and a monetary constraint, as it did in Group II, choice behavior was influenced in the direction of selecting the lower priced alternative. The latter behavior was further strengthened by the presence of product information (Group III) but never reached the magnitude expected by the economic model.
Probably the most important findings were that the magnitude of the behavioral effect caused by product information was as large as the monetary effect of price, and that even in a "perfect" market individuals did not completely avoid selecting the higher priced brand. Since price is one of only two factors that economists usually take into account when explaining consumer choice, this raises important questions about the usefulness of conventional economic price theory as a universal guide to price setting by sellers. Economists, of course, acknowledge that choice or purchase behavior depends on many factors but these "other factors" tend to be viewed by them as unimportant enough so that they can be ignored. The evidence from this experiment suggests not that economic price theory is illogical or invalid but that it may be a dangerous oversimplification. In some circumstances, the "other factors" seem to matter a great deal.
It would seem appropriate to suggest that, in view of these results, attempts should be made to replicate the findings reported here with different products, price manipulations and other non-monetary factors that might be expected to affect price and income constrained consumer choice behavior. Extant research findings on factors that appear to influence consumer perceptions of products such as brand, retail outlet, and the physical characteristics of products, provide interesting hypotheses about the elements of what economists include under the rubric of "tastes" that could also affect such behavior. Notwithstanding the general impression that factors such as brand and store image do matter in a realistic setting, there is, surprisingly, virtually no confirming empirical evidence in the consumer behavior, marketing, or economics literature to support this viewpoint. As a consequence, very little is known of the magnitude of the effects that such factors may have on consumer choice in these circumstances.
On a more optimistic note, appropriate experimental designs may ultimately succeed in establishing the nature of a linkage between perception and constrained choice behavior. Rao (1972) has already suggested that consumers simply try to maximize perceived quality per unit price paid.
Andrews, I. and Valenzi, E. (1970), "The Relationship between Price and Blind-Rated Quality for Margarines and Butters," Journal of Marketing Research, 7, 393-395.
Hodges, J. and Lehmann, E. (1964), Basic Concepts of Probability and Statistics, San Francisco: Holden Day.
Leavitt, Harold (1954), "A Note on Some Empirical Findings about the Meaning of Price," Journal of Business, 27, 205-210.
Mazis, Michael, Ahtola, Olli, and Klippel, R. Eugene (1975), "A Comparison of Four Multi-Attribute Models in the Prediction of Consumer Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, 2, 38-52.
McConnell, J. Douglas (1968), "The Price-Quality Relationships in an Experimental Setting," Journal of Marketing Research, 5, 300-304.
Olson, Jerry (1977), "Price as an Information Cue: Effects on Product Evaluations," in Consumer and Industrial Buying Behavior, eds., Arch Woodside, Jagdish Sheth and Peter Bennett, New York: Elsevier North-Holland.
Rao, Vithala (1972), "A Model for Brand Choice Under Price Quality Hypothesis," American Marketing Association Proceedings, No. 34, 366-371.
Shapiro, Benson (1973), "Price Reliance: Existence and Sources," Journal of Marketing Research, 10, 286-294.
Snedecor, George and Cochran, William (1971), Statistical Methods, 6th ed., Ames: The Iowa State University Press, 95.
Sproles, George (1977), "New Evidence on Price and Product Quality," Journal of Consumer Affairs, 11, 63-77.
Stigler, George (1947), "Notes on the History of the Giffen Paradox," Journal of Political Economy, 55, 152-156.
Tull, D., Boring, R. and Gonsier, M. (1964), "A Note on the Relationship of Price and Imputed Quality," Journal of Business, 37, 186-191.
Wicker, Allan (1969), "Attitudes Versus Actions: The Relationship of Overt and Behavioral Responses to Attitude Objects," Journal of Social Issues, 15, 41-78.


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Tagged with: feminism
Bitter Brew: Why The Hoodwitch Should Hex Starbucks
Written by Katherine de Vos Devine of Cauldron Arts Incubator
Starbucks recently introduced a "Crystal Ball Frappuccino," presumably hoping for a sequel to its wildly successful Unicorn Frappuccino.
Here is Starbucks' Crystal Ball Frappuccino Instagram post from March 22, 2018:
Purple, green or blue-they say the Crystal Ball Frappuccino chooses you. ✨🔮 Available in US, Canada and Mexico...while the magic lasts.
This Starbucks ad is clearly based on the distinctive images produced by Bri Luna, aka The Hoodwitch, for her web site, social media, and various collaborations.
Bri Luna is a distinctive witch. Her look, style, writing, and images do not fit popular stereotypes about what witches look like, what they wear, or how they act. Luna troubles the definition of "witch" and expands it to be more broadly inclusive. She's intersectional and inspirational.
But Luna was not remunerated, consulted, or in any way involved in the production of the Starbucks ad. Understandably, Luna was pissed, as were her Instagram followers and fans.
Granted, most witchy imagery isn't distinctive enough to merit this level of outrage. The stereotypical witch aesthetic is culturally pervasive – and thus ineligible for copyright protection – at this point in time. But black brujas with witchtips, a predilection for saturated colors, a penchant for glitter, and love of neon haven't exactly reached critical mass on the internet or in the popular imagination. If Starbucks had gone with a black cloth, silver jewelry, and a milk-white hand, I'd probably be on their side
But they didn't.
If I say "crystal ball," you're likely to think "witch" or "fortune teller."
If I say "witch," you may think green skin, hooked nose, pointy hat, enjoys the company of flying monkeys.
If born after 1975, pale skin, black-clad, silver jewelry, dark lipstick, and a scowl may come to mind.
If you're into millennial witchcraft, you may also think Free People, tarot apps, and palo santo perfume.
You probably don't think:
It's hard to call anything or anyone "original" in the twenty-first century, but Luna is one of the few people I laud with that accolade. Luna has greatly expanded what it means to be a witch. (So have lots of other witches, in lots of different ways, but that's a different post.)
Yet, witchcraft remains a fairly small community, its internal aesthetic debates are not known to the broader public, and the singularity of Luna's imagery is not likely to register with most Starbucks customers.
Thus, prospective Crystal Ball Frappuccino buyers aren't likely to see the Starbucks ad above and think, "Hey, that looks like Bri!" They're likely to think, "Oooo, that's looks magical, fresh, colorful, sweet, and kind of badass." But "magical, fresh, colorful, sweet, and [totally] badass" is Luna's brand, her imagery, her vibe. And it's highly distinct from other magical practitioners.
And that's why Starbucks' behavior sucks.
Ripping off an artist's images to sell corporate coffee is poor form.
Riffing on witchcraft to sell corporate coffee is worthy of an eye roll, but this is not the first time that mysticism has unwittingly served capitalism.
Jacking an African-American-Mexican bruja's photographs, concepts, and style, which have greatly changed how the witchcraft community sees its members, but are mostly unknown to the broader public…that's a multi-pronged abuse I can't dismiss.
Legally, it's tough. Hypothetically, were Luna to sue Starbucks, a court would look at specific similarities between the Starbucks image and Luna's images. There are plenty. Thus, most courts would consider "substantial similarity" and "total concept and feel" – a doctrine developed for situations such as this one.
When considering total concept and feel, a judge is invited to consider both "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" elements.
"Extrinsic" elements are defined as "the type of artwork involved, the materials used, the subject matter, and the setting for the subject." [Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 970 F.2d 106 (9th Cir., 1977)] But…"Obviously, no principle can be stated as to when an imitator has gone beyond copying the 'idea,' and has borrowed its 'expression.' Decisions must therefore inevitably be ad hoc." [Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 970 F.2d 106 (9th Cir., 1977), citing Peter Pan Fabrics, Inc. v. Martin Weiner Corp., 274 F.2d 487, 489 (2 Cir. 1960)] Translating this legalese: things can get fuzzy.
"Intrinsic" elements concern the judgment of "an ordinary person" when the expression of the works are compared. The comments on Starbucks' Instagram post are divided, and suggest that witches see too much similarity, while non-witches don't see a problem. Thus, we're left with a question: who is the ordinary person? Someone familiar with Luna's imagery or someone who is not? (Get nerdy about the identity of the "ordinary person" with me in the comments – it's definitely an open question.)
I'm sure another lawyer could argue that the elements in each image are so simple that "total concept and feel" doesn't apply. Or that the ordinary person is a non-witchy type who wouldn't see Luna's imagery as distinctive. But I think the Starbucks image clearly bites Luna's style, in a way that might rise to the level of infringement. (And, before you ask, fair use absolutely does not apply here, as the Starbucks image has no purpose consistent with fair use.)
As you can see, the legal answer is a bit messy. But, ethically, it's pretty straightforward.
Starbucks, a multinational corporation, decided to mimic imagery from an independent artist who belongs to numerous minority groups – African-American, Latina, witch – and seemed to think she wouldn't fight back, that her fans wouldn't notice, and that consumers wouldn't care. (Given my interactions on Instagram, 1 out of 3 of my assumptions seem to be correct: Becky just wants her Frappuccino.) This is an abuse of power and this is wrong.
Starbucks most likely paid someone to source and create imagery for the ad. If they liked Luna's work so much, they should have asked her to direct the project, take the photographs, or style the ad. At minimum, Starbucks should have credited Luna as the inspiration for the Instagram spot. And it's all much worse because Luna actually lives in Seattle and has a robust online presence. She isn't hard to find.
Finally, Starbucks posted the ad to Instagram, one of Luna's primary modes of interaction, with no credit. Even a nod – "Inspired by @thehoodwitch" – would have gone a long way towards mollifying Luna's fans (if not Luna herself). However, they would never do this, because it could weaken Starbucks' position should Luna sue them for infringement. Which, frankly, should make you more suspicious than anything I've said so far.
As I've discussed before, there is aware appropriation and there is sterile appropriation. (The terms are Jaron Lanier's and if you haven't read his book, go do that right now.) Aware appropriation uses pre-existing material in ways that enliven the images or information, creating a new lens for the viewer or reader. It takes thought, feeling, and effort to be an aware appropriator. Sterile appropriation, on the other hand, repurposes pre-existing material in ways that are flat, serve only the appropriator, and have no intelligent effect on the audience's engagement with the pre-existing material. Corporations almost always engage in sterile appropriation, but with a modicum of effort, entities like Starbucks can use their colossal influence in more positive ways.
It starts, as you might imagine, with crediting – and paying – artists like Bri Luna.
Written by Bri Luna On March 23, 2018 In Brujalife Tagged art, artist, theft, feminism, legal


X-BOTS won 2nd Place Think Award, 1st Place Promote Award and 2nd place Compass Award at the Virginia State Championship.
Congratulations to all the winners and teams advancing to the Eastern Super Regional. Thank you FIRST Chesapeake and all the volunteers for hosting such an excellent State Championship. Thanks to ECPI University for sponsoring and St.Christopher HS for hosting. Working on Relic Recovery Challenge has been a great learning experience for the team.
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text:
Archives|51 Killed in Collapse of Scaffold At Power Plant in West Virginia
https://nyti.ms/1kP8R6k
51 Killed in Collapse of Scaffold At Power Plant in West Virginia
By IVER PETERSON APRIL 28, 1978
WILLOW ISLAND, W.Va., April 27—Scaffolding inside the cooling tower of an unfinished power plant here tore loose this morning, dropping 51 workers 170 feet to their deaths.
The men, mostly steelworkers, carpen ters and laborers, were buried under tons of debris at the bottom of the tower, where rescue workers labored through the afternoon, trying to locate survivors. Appareotly, there were none.
Eleven members of a family were among the victims of the accident, which Gov. John D. Rockefeller 4th termed the worst non‐mining industrial accident in the state's history.
[The New Jersey company building the tower said it has built 36 others in the past decade without any major accidents, United Press International reported. Page A23.]
According to officials of the Monongahela Power Company, which was building the tower as part of its plant expansion here in the upper Ohio River Valley, the scaffolding ringed the upper edge of the tower's inward‐sloping walls and was designed to be moved upward as each succeeding layer of wall was poured.
It was bolted to the 28th layer of concrete, which the crew apparently had finished pouring yesterday. The men were beginning to hoist cement for the next layer when the layer of day‐old cement began to peel away and the platform of workers to fall to the ground below.
"They just started dropping down like dominoes," a worker who was standing below said. He said he saved himself by rushing underneath a truck ramp at the bottom of the tower. None of the men on the ground was injured.
John Peppier said: "The first thing I heard was concrete falling ... I looked over my left shoulder and I could see it falling. I could see people falling through the air and everything falling."
Federal experts, many of them with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, converged on Willow Island from all along the Eastern Seaboard. Although they have yet to make a thorough inspection, there was immediate speculation that the topmost layer concrete had not been allowed to harden thoroughly before the scaffolding was attached to it. One expert said he had "never seen anything like" this accident in many years in the business.
A makeshift morgue was established in the volunteer firehouse in nearby Belmont, and the weeping and angry members of the dead men's families were escorted by state police into the cinderblock hall to identify their husbands, brothers and sons.
Lee Steele, from nearby Shultz. said that the accident had taken four of his sons, two sons‐in‐law and a nephew. His surviving son, Robert, was also a member of the construction crew but was not on the platform when the collapse came. Robert Steele said that he knew, as soon as he heard the sounds, that he had lost his four brothers, three uncles and two cousins. That brings the toll for the family to 11.
Many of the dead lived in a trailer park set up by construction workers across from the gate of the job site. The noise of the fall brought residents of the park rushing to their doors.
"In a matter of seconds, that thing went around and that was it," Mrs. Charlotte Farson said later. "It was like opening a can. I was standing there looking and I knew something bad was happening but I couldn't grasp it."
"We could see a lot of dust and people running all over the place and all the time loudspeakers were blaring 'Stay back, stay back, emergency personnel only'," Mrs. Erin. Pritchet said. "Pretty soon we heard the noises of the ambulances. It seemed like forever before they got to those men."
Frank Counts, a friend of one of the victims, Edgar Phillips, said: "This is terrible. We're family. He's got a wife and she's pregnant. He's got a boy and he's just the nicest boy in the world. I'm just very, very sad."
The chilly dusk found groups of workers and their families peering through the locked chain‐link fence at the pile of rubble and construction material visible on the ground inside the tower base. A mood of anger and frustration had settled over the crowd.
In Cathy's Lodge, a nearby roadhouse whena many workers normally stopped for a drink after work, a fight broke out for no evident reason, and Cathy Lent, the owner, closed the place for the rest of the evening.
"They're all keyed up and angry over what happened," she said. "They want to hit out at something and they can't hit the company so they started hitting each other, and I closed up."
The cooling tower, 360 feet in diameter at its base, is supposed to be 400 feet high when completed. It is part of a $660 million, 626‐megawatt coal‐fired generating plant that will draw water from the Ohio River a hundred yards away. The discharged steam from the turbines will be cooled in two huge towers, the first of which is already completed and stands nearby.
Work on the second tower was being done under subcontract by the ResearchCottrell Corporation of Bound Brook, N.J.
Since 1976, there have been at least three accidental deaths involving the power station. Two men died after falling from a smokestack, and another man was killed when a steel beam knocked him off the top of a boiler building.
There also have been two fires at the site. In March 1977 a fire destroyed an office building, and a few months ago there was a fire in a storage tank.
BOUND BROOK, N.J., April 27 (UPI)—The company whose scaffold collapsed at a West Virginia power plant, killing 51 persons, said today that it has built 36 similar cooling towers in the past decade without any major accidents.
Philip Cocco, spokesman for ResearchCottrell Corporation of Bound Brook, N.J., said, "We've had individual accidents before, but never anything like this."
The design of the Willow Island tower was described as similar to half the cooling towers in the country. The company has built such towers in Europe for the, past 15 years and in the United States since 1967.
Research‐Cottrell is an environmental control company that designs and builds air and water pollution control systems for utility companies. It has been in business since 1907. The tower design and construction for the West Virginia tower were handled by the company's Hamon Cooling Tower Division, located in Bridgewater, N.J.
A version of this archives appears in print on April 28, 1978, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: 51 Killed in Collapse of Scaffold At Power Plant in West Virginia. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe


* Copyright (c) 2011, Comtrol Corp.
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Mastering the Art of Monotasking – UNDERTONES.
I'm writing lakeside in the foothills of Southern Alberta where I've been camping for a handful of blissfully secluded days. There is a beach towel laid out beneath me and my faithful hound, Levi, is nestled beside me—his fur slick from an energetic dip in the water. Cross-legged beneath a canopy of trees, my skin is flushed and freckled from several days of soaking in uninterrupted sunshine. There is a faint mountain breeze skimming across the lake and all is quiet. It's a welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle of city living and an ideal setting in which to place pen to paper and delve into some long overdue writing.
This year has been an eventful one marked by a busyness that has been both exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure. There has been a marked progression in areas of my life that were entirely unexpected. Now, for the first time in recent months, I have a moment in the welcome tumult of it all to sit back and reflect in a tranquil setting.
During the past six months, I've had a couple of short stories published by Canadian literary journals. I've had the opportunity to connect and collaborate with the creative teams of different magazines and have written soon-to-be published articles. I've returned to school on a part-time basis while maintaining my nine-to-five profession. I've started writing a screenplay along with a new collection of short stories. I've traveled, moved homes, adopted a dog, and had the pleasure of forming new friendships and creative partnerships.
Having undertaken these notable ventures has made me wonder—when it comes to personal goals, creative pursuits, professional aspirations, relationships, and commitments—is it possible to strike and maintain an equitable balance between each? Or is it better to focus wholeheartedly on one task at a time?
In the past, I would fault myself for not being able to more seamlessly flit between tasks. I used to view the zealous pursuit of a single goal as a negative. Now, however, I see the vitalizing quality that lies within such focus. I understand the enriching effects an all-consuming, soul-igniting passion has in other areas of a person's life. By no means am I commending situations where a person becomes fixated on something to the detriment of their other responsibilities. Yet, within reason, it can be beneficial for a pursuit to eclipse other priorities. Particularly when doing so casts into shadow things we previously deemed as important, illuminating only that which matters most.
This time of sheltered self-reflection has inspired me to recommit myself to a process known as "monotasking" (also referred to as "single-tasking"). Monotasking is defined as the process of dedicating oneself to a given task by minimizing potential interruptions until the task is completed or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. Monotasking contrasts with multitasking, which is the attempt to divide one's focus among multiple ventures. A great deal of our cognitive power can be wasted by switching between tasks unnecessarily. Each time you reply to a text, check the status of your most recent Instagram post, glance at the muted episode of Queer Eye on Netflix, make a cup of coffee, put in a load of laundry—all while trying to read a chapter or two of a book—you are depleting your mental reserves. Quite often resulting in a subpar performance in multiple endeavors. Worst of all, the activity you initially set out to do (in this instance, making headway on your latest read) has been interrupted by a series of less relevant tasks.
Listen, I'm not saying monotasking is always possible. Sometimes life gets busy and you're just barely keeping your head above the rising tide of tasks that must be accomplished that day. We also don't have control over external stimuli that disrupt us (parents and pet owners, am I right?). Therefore, it's all the more important to develop a monotasking mindset in areas of your life where you do have control. Whenever possible, learn to disconnect from the unnecessary and commit yourself solely to one project at a time. Engage fully in the process of seeing something through to completion. Rather than skimming the surface when it comes to concentration and engagement, delve a bit deeper. Be mindful of what you are doing. You'll not only maximize the neural energy you are expending, but you'll produce quality results.
If you're unsure where to start in your newfound commitment to monotasking, begin with something as simple as tucking your phone away while you are reading, watching a show, or visiting with a friend. And I don't mean tucking it away as in placing it on the table or couch next to you. I mean placing it in another room altogether. On silent.
If you have a specific project or task that needs some serious focus, set aside sheltered time in which to do it. Try to choose a time of day when you are least likely to be disrupted, and establish a space in which to work. Block out time in your work calendar or set up a reoccurring appointment to establish defined times for accomplishing certain tasks. Routines can be invaluable in this regard. For instance, on weekdays I've been (forcibly) waking up at 5 a.m., fixing myself a cup of tea, tucking myself into my office, and spending an hour or so reading and writing. Admittedly, on certain days I do this begrudgingly, but I know this period of uninterrupted time is when I have a fresh mindset and am at my peak period for productivity.
Turn off notifications or establish a schedule where you only check your email, text messages, and social media at certain times of the day. This will help to mediate the constant barrage of stimulus that technology provides, which, unless managed, can be unnecessarily disruptive and compromise our ability to focus, be present, and be effective in our daily activities.
Identify two–three top priorities for the day and make sure you accomplish them first. Attending to your most important tasks during your brain's prime time will help you be more focused and effective.
Sheltered time is essential particularly when a task requires uninterrupted focus. Close your door, put on headphones, set your phone to silent, place a "Do Not Disturb" sign up, and let family, friends, and colleagues know that you're unavailable for a while. Be possessive of your time.
Cluster certain tasks and tackle them together at specific times of the day. For instance, answer emails or text messages for 10- or 15-minute increments, several times a day. This habit is particularly beneficial when it comes to tasks that are typically distracting. Quite often, messages don't merit an immediate reply and you rarely need to be instantly reachable. Rather than answer emails and texts one at a time, straightaway throughout the day, consolidate them by setting aside a dedicated response time.
Perform a task for as long as your mental focus and ability to concentrate permit. Don't fault yourself when your attention span starts to wane. It's far better to have executed an activity for 15 focused minutes than to try and force an hour-long performance when your attention isn't centered.
From time to time, it's necessary to rest and recharge your brain so that you can approach a task with renewed focus. Establish a pace and rhythm to your workflow by incorporating in scheduled breaks. By taking a break, I don't mean watching an episode of your latest binge-worthy series on Netflix. I mean take a break where you go for a 20-minute walk, jog, stretch, or nap.
Monotasking isn't for everyone, but for those of you who find your attention is being unnecessarily and ineffectively divided in a day, I hope that one or two of these tips will help you to master the art of monotasking, so you can effectively accomplish your pursuits (and those pesky day-to-day tasks) in a more meaningful and productive way.
Great post. I'm a huge opponent of multitasking, since it runs counter to the way the human brain was designed to work, and really took root as a corporate work-strategy in the 1990's. I wrote a blog post about it a few years ago specifically concerning writing https://bldaniels.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/multitasking-hurts-writing/ so I'm glad to see another author embracing the idea and talking about it. I also had never heard of "cluster tasking" but I'm going to try that out specifically when it comes to email.
Here's a great post by Jackie over on Undertones blog about "monotasking". I wrote a post a few years about my belief that multitasking hurts writing and that authors should avoid it whenever possible.
I'm glad to see there are other like-minded writers out there with me.


Charming fully renovated home with modern touches. Tons of closets & natural light. Kitchen now includes clean white cabinets, granite counter tops, tile back splash, tile floors, & will also be supplied with new stainless steel appliances, including a Fridge! Bathrooms are updated with tile shower surrounds, tile floors, new vanities & fixtures. Huge deck in fully fenced & a garage! All systems have been updated including plumbing & electrical. New roof. Like a brand new home!