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In Secret Service
By Mitch Silver
Read by Simon Jones and Dagmara Dominczyk
Abridged Audio Download
Chapters/Indigo
In 1964, James Bond's creator sealed a package containing a manuscript he thought no one would read until fifty years after his death. As an officer in Britain's Naval Intelligence during World War II, Ian Fleming had his own adventures to recount, and a conscience to unburden. His family ties and his career had taken him to the upper echelons of British and American society and espionage, the world of danger, betrayal, and deceit that he replicated in his famous James Bond novels. But this hidden manuscript contained a real spy story...with secrets that could explode history if revealed.
In 2005, Amy Greenberg -- a young American academic with a glittering future -- is summoned to Ireland to claim the contents of her grandfather's safe deposit box, in which she finds a manuscript by Ian Fleming. The pages contain confidential information so potentially explosive that Amy soon discovers that people on both sides of the Atlantic are willing to kill to maintain its secrecy. In a race against time, Amy must unlock the manuscript's secrets and outwit unknown assailants who will do anything to bury the truth. In Secret Service is a historical mystery inside a contemporary thriller, a brand-new take on espionage suspense.
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When Amy Greenberg, an American art historian, travels to Ireland to collect the contents of her late grandfather's safe deposit box, the last thing she expects to find is a nonfiction manuscript by the master of spy fiction Ian Fleming. Even more shocking are the claims and details found in the document, secrets concerning the role of the British royal family in World War II, so inflammatory, Amy soon learns, that people are ready and willing to kill for it. As Amy fights her way back home, she must also navigate Fleming's mid-century world of spies and secrets, learning the truth that could save her life...or end it.
Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. In Secret Service opens with two scenes of well-known historical events, more than sixty years separating them. How does the prologue create a sense of danger and urgency in the present-day narrative? Though the events are recognizable, the perspective on what transpired is unique. How do these initial scenes set the tone for the novel? In what sense to do they validate the claims of Fleming's manuscript in advance? Why do you think this is important?
2. What is your impression of Amy Greenberg? In what ways is she an unlikely heroine for an espionage thriller? Consider her work in academia -- finding historical pieces to bring to light. How does this contrast with the work of a spy? How does her background aid her as the bearer of the manuscript?
3. Most of the chapters of Fleming's manuscript are headed with a copy of a document. Examine a few of them. What purpose do you think each serves in bolstering Fleming's theory? How does the presentation of the documents draw the reader into Amy's perspective? How would the novel be different if the documents were merely described?
4. How would you describe the typical "Bond girl"? How does Wallis Simpson fit the image of a Fleming femme fatale? In what ways does she differ from the type or subvert it?
5. How would you characterize Fleming's personality? In his letter, he addresses Amy directly, creating a narrative conversation. How does this help Fleming serve as Amy's ally, while she is in danger? In what ways does this humanize the document itself and encourage Amy to protect it?
6. Consider the central characters in the novel -- Amy, Fleming, and Devlin, in particular. How does each compare to the James Bond archetype that you are familiar with? If Devlin is the most Bondlike figure, how does this comment on the reality of espionage versus the usual fictional portrayal of spies?
7. Amy is threatened from more than one angle by groups ready to kill or die for the sake of the manuscript. What is at stake for the Windsors? What does public exposure of the facts mean to the Irish faction? What does it mean to Fleming? What does the discovery of the manuscript mean for Amy?
8. Were you surprised by the revelation of Scott's connection to the Windsor letter? Do you think his involvement undermines the validity of his feelings for Amy, or does it support their relationship through an interconnected history?
9. Silver unfolds Fleming's story within the context of actual historical events and characters, blurring the line between history and fiction. How does this ambiguity create a heightened sense of reality in the rest of the novel? Discuss the depictions of real historical figures in the novel. How do they compare to your prior conceptions of these individuals?
10. In his letter, Fleming vividly describes the changing political culture of England from the Great War to the 1960s, and Amy herself gets a harrowing glimpse of the secret workings of the modern-day system. How does the world of spies and secrets found in the novel evolve from the early twentieth century to the present day? Compare the personalities of the various agents that Amy comes into contact with -- Devlin, Sheridan, Macken, and Ramesh. What characteristics do they share? How do they differ from the mid-century model of Fleming and Anthony Blunt? What parts of Silver's depiction do you find believable, and which far-fetched?
11. Why do you think is it important to Fleming to keep the manuscript hidden until after the deaths of everyone involved?
Enhancing Your Bookclub
• Are there any lingering questions about where fact deviates from fiction in In Secret Service? Look up the biographies of key players like Ian Fleming and Wallis Simpson on a website such as wikipedia.org.
• Why not make your next book club selection an Ian Fleming novel? Start with the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale and discuss how it compares with the spy world of In Secret Service.
• Set your meeting in a clandestine location -- perhaps a private room of your own local club or favorite restaurant. Have fun discussing your own conspiracy theories -- but be sure to keep voices low...just in case!
Mitch Silver
Mitch Silver is an advertising agency creative director who lives in Rye, New York. In Secret Service is his first novel.
About The Reader
Simon Jones Broadway credits include: The Real Thing, Benefactors, The School for Scandal, The Herbal Bed, and Waiting in the Wings (Outer Critics Circle nominee). Off-Broadway credits include: Woman in Mind, Terra Nova, Privates On Parade (Drama Desk nominee). Film and TV highlights: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Devil's Own, Brideshead Revisited, PBS's Liberty and HBO's Oz.
Dagmara Dominczyk
Dagmara Dominczyk's film credits are Rock Star, The Count of Monte Cristo, Kinsey, and Lonely Hearts. On television she's appeared in Five People You Meet in Heaven, and 24. Her Broadway appearences are Closer, Enchanted April, and The Violet Hour.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (May 2007)
Runtime: 6 hours
Fiction > Thrillers
"A monarchy in trouble, murderous treason, and a World War II betrayal that resonates into the present. The real thrill of In Secret Service is watching this contemporary and historical tale recounted through the fun house mirror. Enjoy the ride." -- Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of The Book of Fate
"First-time novelist Silver spins an entertaining tale . . . and his high spirits are so contagious that readers will happily go along for the ride." -- Publishers Weekly
Book Cover Image (jpg): In Secret Service
Abridged Audio Download 9780743562249
Author Photo (jpg): Mitch Silver


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Conference urges NGOs to employ IT tools - Daily News Egypt
Lifestyle Conference urges NGOs to employ IT tools
Conference urges NGOs to employ IT tools
CAIRO: A two-day conference brought together NGOs from all over Egypt, outlining their role in the transitional period, all through resorting to IT. A joint collaboration between Microsoft Egypt, UNDP and ICT Trust Fund, the conference titled "Nebny Masr" or "Building Egypt," was hosted by the Sawy Culture Wheel in Zamalek. The first day of …
DNE September 29, 2011 Be the first to comment
CAIRO: A two-day conference brought together NGOs from all over Egypt, outlining their role in the transitional period, all through resorting to IT.
A joint collaboration between Microsoft Egypt, UNDP and ICT Trust Fund, the conference titled "Nebny Masr" or "Building Egypt," was hosted by the Sawy Culture Wheel in Zamalek.
The first day of the conference focused on the sectors in Egypt which need the most development, highlighting how NGOs can play a vital role in bringing about development through a better understanding and usage of IT.
A session tackling education in Egypt – given by Amal Nasrallah; monitoring and evaluation director at the Egyptian Education Initiative – said the education problem in Egypt lies in the incentives for improvement which always "brings us back to square one."
In order to overcome this problem, Nasrallah clarified in the presentation; attention must be given to three main aspects which she referred to as the "3 Ps": the path (of change), the plane (to ride though the path) and the pilot (who would fly the plane).
Just like all other sessions, this one featured a Microsoft representative explaining how Nasrallah's words could be implemented through the use of IT. Ahmad Abou El Magd – Microsoft representative – introduced several Microsoft products which could be used to provide students with simpler tools for a more interactive learning experience.
Democracy in Egypt and NGOs role in making the community more prone to its practice was the subject of the next session. Acting Minister of Administrative Development Ashraf Abdel Wahab started the session with a detailed explanation of the proper voting procedures for the coming round of elections in Egypt, while Microsoft representative Hussein Al Safy focused on how IT can enhance democracy – in general – by giving people a chance to voice their opinions through the use of internet and social media.
The conference also included sessions about the role of IT in developing the environment and job appointments.
More attention was given to developing NGOs from within on the second day of the conference. Microsoft started with introducing its campaign "Kol Masr;" an educational campaign with the objective of spreading throughout Egypt to eradicate digital illiteracy. The session featured some Microsoft volunteers who worked on the campaign. They shared their experience of teaching people in Boulak district how to use a computer, urging all the NGOs present to take part in the campaign and help spread it to isolated places.
Marketer John Antonios gave a presentation about branding through social media, focusing on the importance of branding NGOs through outlining their values and activities to facilitate their outreach to potential donors. He also explained how social media could play a vital role in that process through the correct use of social media tools such as: pictures, blogs, forums, ratings, podcasts, videos and bookmarking.
Other sessions included strategic planning of NGOs through the use of IT; one of which featured a brief overview of Free Microsoft business products which NGOs can easily use to achieve this goal.
The conference concluded with specialized sessions, discussing NGO-related skills of running projects and writing proposals to donors.
Finally, empirical training was provided to the NGOs in order to practice those skills.
Representatives of participating NGOs told Daily News Egypt that the conference was a fruitful opportunity for interaction and learning.
"We managed to build networks among NGOs for better collaboration," Ashraf Seddik, president of Masr Al Mustaqbal NGO stated. "It also helped in creating lobbies which could act as pressure groups in order to persuade the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to provide all necessary help in development projects."
Seddik also added that the conference introduced several Microsoft products, activities and initiatives which NGOs had been previously unaware of.
"We shall use the trainings provided by Microsoft in this conference to train other less advantaged NGOs," Seddik added.
On the downside, Seddik felt that such a huge conference should have been designed only to help bigger NGOs, since he saw that small-scale NGOs wouldn't know how to benefit from the information and services offered properly.
Other NGO representatives also sketched the gap between the innovative IT initiatives presented by Microsoft and the poor capabilities available in reality, questioning whether it was the NGOs' priorities to provide the people with the basics before offering digital opportunities.
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https://cdn1.dailynewsegypt.com/2011/09/29/conference-urges-ngos-to-employ-it-tools/
Thumbs to the rescue: Digital volunteers put vulnerable people on the map

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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More than 60 Frisians gathered to protest against the wood stoves at a meeting in Leeuwarden on Thursday evening.
Almost nothing is as 'gezellig' as a wood-burning stove, and it is a very cheap source of heat, popular in Friesland and across the Netherlands. Unfortunately, burning wood has two disadvantages: it harms the environment, and neighbours often suffer ill-effects from it. On Thursday evening, more than 60 people gathered at the Stenden Hotel to have a meeting urging the government to take action against wood-burning stoves.
At the moment, people who experience nuisances from their neighbours wood-burning stoves must submit a 'request for enforcement' at their municipality, before it will act. The speakers at the event suggested, backed by national government figures, that wood smoke is just as harmful as cigarette smoke, and causes much more particulate matter than traffic fumes.


Join Kelly Laughlin of Odette Press for an afternoon of bookbinding, reflection, and journaling. How can bookbinding and writing shift our focus and bring more clarity and joy into our lives? In this class, we'll explore the how-to's of bookbinding, and the benefits of a daily writing practice — two amazing tools we can use to stay grounded on the path of self-discovery.
You'll learn about bookbinding tools and processes and walk away with two hand stitched journals, made by you, and the tools needed to make your own journals at home. We'll also explore a list of ways to use your journal – perfect for staying grounded amidst the winter holiday season.
Keep both journals, or keep one and give one away!
Ticket price includes all materials needed to make two notebooks in class, along with a take-home tool kit for creating your own journals at home, in addition to light snacks and refreshments.This class is perfect for anyone who is interested in bookbinding, journaling, writing, or simply learning a new skill and is a great compliment to our earlier paper marbling class.


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MIAMI (WSVN) - Dozens of protesters concerned about the effects of the tourism industry on the people of Cuba took to the streets of Downtown Miami, Saturday.
About 50 people gathered outside of Bayside Marketplace to voice their opposition to the growing number of Americans choosing to travel to the Caribbean country.
The group was mostly comprised of Cuban exiles.


His grandfather ruled 500 million people, fought the Japanese Imperial Army and lost to the communists in a civil war. His father masterminded one of Asia's economic miracles and democratized his country.
Chiang Hsiao-wu has a more humble station in life, although in some respects no easier.
He heads Taiwan's unofficial embassy in Tokyo, seeking to put his government's case in a country where senior officials are forbidden to meet him.
"I cannot compare myself with my glorious grandfather and father," he said in an interview in the spotless meeting room on the top floor of the Assn. of East Asian Relations.
From the walls their portraits look down at him--Chiang Kai-shek, head of the Nationalist Republic of China from 1926 until his death in 1975, and Chiang Ching-kuo, its prime minister in the 1970s and president from 1978 to 1988.
Born in April, 1945, in his father's home province of Zhejiang in China, Chiang is the second son of Chiang Ching-kuo and his Russian wife, whom he married while working in a Siberian factory in the 1930s, a virtual prisoner of Josef Stalin.
When the communists drove the nationalists from the mainland, Chiang went with his family to Taiwan, where he graduated from the Chinese Culture University with a degree in Sino-American relations, before going to study politics at the Institute of Politics in Munich.
"I saw much of my grandfather during my youth. He never changed his daily schedule whatever happened, with a walk of at least 1,000 paces after dinner, meditation and prayer," he recalled.
"Whenever I have a problem, I think of what my father and grandfather said in the past," he said.
Chiang was the most politically oriented of Chiang Ching-kuo's three sons. The eldest contracted diabetes and later cancer of the throat. He died in 1989. The youngest is a businessman.
He has two half brothers, who bear the name Chang. One is a senior official of the Nationalist Party in charge of foreign affairs and the other a university dean.
Chiang served for 10 years in top posts in broadcasting stations in Taiwan before being posted to Taiwan's trade office in Singapore in 1986, first as deputy chief and then chief.
He took up his Tokyo post in January.
Although Singapore does not have full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it has close military and economic ties and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is a frequent visitor to Taipei.
"Whenever I wanted to see him, I could. He had good relations with my father. I respect Lee very much as a man of principle," Chiang said.
It is a different story in Tokyo, which broke relations with Taipei in 1972, when it recognized the communist government in Beijing.
Japanese government officials from above the level of deputy section chief are not officially allowed to see Chiang Hsiao-wu or any of his staff. Beijing's embassy watches vigilantly for any exception to the rule.
"We face many obstacles and difficulties. But, due to the hard work of the staff here, we have friends in many circles in Japan, especially in the Parliament," Chiang said.
Parliament has two China-Japan associations, with 220 legislators belonging to the one that is pro-Taiwan. Chiang is unable to say how many of the 760 members of the two houses back Taipei, not Beijing.
It is an uphill job, with Tokyo keen to maintain good ties with Beijing despite the military crackdown on student-led protest last June and Beijing showing no sign of allowing Taiwan more diplomatic room as its president has requested.
The Taiwan press closely watches Chiang for any sign that he will try for high office and continue the dynasty.
"I do not think of it. My ideal is to serve my country and my compatriots, not to take part in political demonstrations," he said. "I do not think today of being a national leader nor will I tomorrow."


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Two Brothers Review
by Alex Fuller · Published November 26, 2013 · Updated February 28, 2019
One Wore Black and One Wore Green
Ackk Studios' Two Brothers evokes fond memories of early adventure games, while providing a few fresh ideas to the genre. Unfortunately, it's also a title where some of the pitfalls of being a small, indie studio rear up. There are a lot of interesting ideas and a fair share of enjoyable gameplay lying underneath, but the technical issues and lack of execution on some of the ideas take a lot of gloss off the experience.
Two Brothers follows the tale of Roy Guarder. The academic is exploring some ruins with his wife before tragedy strikes and both them are cut down. Roy finds himself in what appears to be the next world, full of colour and vibrancy that is indescribable to his drab world. However, Roy is prevented from moving on with his wife when he is told it is not his time yet, and he is kicked back down to his original world. The memory of this vibrant world stays with Roy and he and his brother Bivare decide to devote their lives to bringing proof of these marvellous colours to their world. Roy discovers that he has the power to freely return from the afterlife whenever he dies, and can even return some of those who might've got there a bit too soon. The power is pretty neatly reflected in the gameplay by simply dumping Roy in this next world in lieu of where other games would places game over screen. Here he can explore the afterlife before returning to his previous location by walking off the edge.
Despite the interesting premise, colour doesn't have a wider effect on the game itself as it might have. Instead it gets somewhat relegated to the position of plot coupons for the vast majority of the game. This is a pity, as when the game gets colour treatment, such as in the afterlife and the final dungeon, it looks good. Instead gamers have to make do with the standard two-tone Game Boy era graphics, which are decent enough and used pretty well but are too lacking to impress. The story comes up a bit short for most of the game as well. It starts off fairly decently, if a bit rushed, but for a large section in the middle, when Roy's quest to find the colours has been fully established, it all feels rather directionless. When the story does come back to the fore towards the latter stages it does a pretty good job reaching a climax, but until that point it doesn't hold all that much interest.
I imagine being about to fight some form of wild cat?
In keeping with its visual cues from the Game Boy era, the top-down real-time adventure gameplay is unashamedly retro. Controls involve using the directional buttons, one button for primary melee attacks, and another for secondary, usually ranged attacks. A more powerful melee attack can be used by pressing both attack buttons at the same time, but this is usually too slow to be useful in most cases. One more button allows Roy to dive into the ridiculously spacious bag carried around by one of his companions in order to change weapons or keep track of what has been picked up, but that's it in terms of controlling Roy. Roy is often followed around by a companion, who will often attack any enemies that come within range. They're nice to have, but don't have much impact, good or bad, on the combat as a whole. The combat is alright; it does the job without being anything spectacular but there are some annoyances. For one, Roy isn't particularly quick, which makes dodging and positioning quite difficult in some case. Timing and hit boxes also aren't quite as clear-cut as players might like, especially against the few enemies that can block Roy's attacks.
The game also harkens back to the older days in terms of its expectations on players. Players are required to figure out where they should be heading next with just a few clues from NPCs or signs to guide them. Fortunately, exploration is enjoyable, with lots of chests or other things to find in the many nooks and crannies. There are no modern conveniences like quest logs or maps, although an overview of the world is at least viewable from the afterlife. This gets some usage as the best way for players to establish where to go next, although the direction as the required order of traversal isn't as straightforward as the map might imply, requiring at least one track back and then forth again. Players will need to travel to the afterlife to pick up a hint from one or two of those who can no longer be found in the "real" world, although an opportunity to travel back is never far away whether or not players actually want to at the time. At least the journey back is very quick in those many cases the trip is unwanted.
Where the game performs best is in the dungeon exploration. All of the game's dungeons are good challenges, often requiring lots of exploration, and getting through each dungeon or solving a puzzle provides a great sense of achievement. The variation amongst the game's challenging bosses also helps keep things interesting, with the most enjoyable ones easily being those that focus more towards puzzles rather than straight out combat. This is partly thanks to the aforementioned difficulty with hit boxes and timing, but also because the puzzles are just the right level of challenge to figure out. Most will probably require at least a few attempts of experimenting before figuring out the correct tactics needed for victory, but there's usually a nice sense of accomplishment when the bosses do go down. This is another area where the autosave and lack of actual game over is a blessing, as players will be dumped straight where they left off rather than being forced to traipse back for another attempt. A number of bosses or sections reward more experienced gamers with some amusing references to games from the past, such as one that takes several cues from a well-known glitch from Pokémon Red/Blue.
If only I could just jump down and resume from where I died. I can? Excellent.
There is a decent chunk of side content, although most of it is either obtuse enough or requires players to go a bit too much out their way that only the more hardcore completionists will find that much interest in it. There is also a sense the game has been released before it was fully ready as at the time of writing PC users are effectively the game's beta testers. Almost all bugs were minor, such as out-of-date speech appearing in places, or can be immediately fixed with a quick restart without losing any progress thanks to a near-constant autosave. Ackk Studios has at least been quick in releasing patches since the game's release, and the one issue that did glitch the save file (the single time the autosave proved a hindrance rather than very helpful) and prevented further advancement through the game was quickly repaired by the developers with no loss of progress.
The game's chiptune soundtrack is on the whole pretty good and enjoyable to listen to. That said, there a few dud tracks that are pretty grating, but at least the music can be muted with a quick button press when they do appear. Track repetition isn't at all a problem as there over four hours on music in total over the fifteen or so hours the game takes to complete, allowing all locations to get their own distinct tracks.
Two Brothers will find most appeal with those who grew up in the earlier periods of adventure gaming, when players had to make their own way through the world. Some more recent gamers may take issue with the lack of more current conveniences, but there are moments when the simple enjoyment of exploring a dungeon and its puzzles shines through. The current technical hiccups and weak direction in the middle prevent a full recommendation, but there are good ideas to be found here and Ackk Studios has shown some decent potential that it should be able to build on well in future.
Enjoyable dungeons and puzzles
Interesting ideas and inspirations
Although sometimes lacking in execution
Tags: Ackk StudiosPCTwo Brothers
Alex Fuller
Alex joined RPGamer in 2011 as a Previewer before moving onto Reviews, News Director, and Managing Editor. Became Acting Editor-in-Chief in 2018.
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February saw The Concerto Group launch exclusive new networking event Concerto Connect. The event took place at new Kensington venue Bodo's Schloss, bringing together the industry's top brands.
The day took the form of a speed networking event, with guests making their way around 15 stations, each one representing a different Concerto Group brand. In attendance were a host of Concerto Group brands including Ultimate Experience, Mask, Eventwise and OXO2.
Speed networking was followed by a short talk by Nick House of Brompton Brands. Nick, owner of Bodo's Schloss as well as other exclusive bars including Mahiki, spoke on his career running events. Guests then enjoyed exclusive use of the club, as they caught up with colleagues and enjoyed cocktails and canapés.
Bodo's Schloss is a bar and restaurant which has brought the Austrian Alps to London with snow covered pine trees and a lodge themed interior.
For more information about the event please visit the Concerto Connect website.


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Theaters open up with new releases, classics
photo or infographic by Summer Rains
BACK TO THE SHOW. Movie theaters are slowly reopening. Movie goers can catch new movies including The New Mutants and Unhinged. Some classics are also returning to the big screen during the reopening.
by Summer Rains, VOW editor
Slowly but surely the world is reopening. Many businesses went through a rough patch during the widespread quarantine, and the movie theaters took one of the hardest hits of all. A lot of production companies have pushed back the release dates for their films and movie goers are reluctant to enter the theaters, but new movies are starting to trickle back onto the big screen. Cinemas are also playing old films as well to give audiences a chance to relive some of their favorites in the theater.
One of the newest releases is The New Mutants. The film was set to release in 2018 but faced some challenges so it was pushed back to March of 2020 and then Corona hit. Six months later the PG 13 film was released and is having a hard time with the critics, but it's been more popular with the audience. The plot of the story is that five teenagers are in a facility due to their abilities and they have to move past their difference to deal with a shocking turn of events. The movie had a slow start and there were several creepy scenes, but there were also some appreciated and unexpected plot twists that left the audience intrigued.
Another film that's made its way onto the big screen recently is Unhinged. The rated R film has dealt with it's own problems due to the pandemic and hasn't received the best reviews either but if you're looking for a thriller, this is the one to see. The Russell Crowe film is about a divorced man with a large road rage problem that commits several gruesome acts of violence. The film puts you on the edge of your seat and has high intensity moments throughout the film that will make you think twice about honking at a stranger.
If none of the latest motion pictures seem attractive, maybe an old release is a good option if you're looking for a chance to get out of the house. The replays vary from theater to theater, but it's worth the time to see if any of the old classics are playing like the Goonies or Jurassic Park.
Dutch Bros add new options for drive-through coffee addicts
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 2022 (PG-13)
Hulu docuseries explores dark backstory of America's 'cuffs and collar' clad dancers
Netflix's Wednesday good for every day of week
Hidden truth behind the hero's mask exposed in DC's new 'Black Adam'


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Let's assume the advice in the preview sections worked and your company is open to a remote worker program in general terms. The next question your boss will ask is: Why do you want to work remotely? You need to have a good answer to this question in addition to the arguments in the previous section. This part isn't about company policy. It is about you. Will working remotely work well for you?
Your family needs to move.
You want to take care of your small children.
A family member is ill and needs extra care.
Everyone understands family, and it sounds a lot better than, "I really want to work in my underwear." Even if your family isn't the primary reason you want to work remotely, it is a good one to start with.
If you can't use your family, then use geography. Talk about wanting to move. Make it clear that you are making this transition because it is the right thing for you and it doesn't have anything to do with your boss or your team. Reiterate that you really want to keep doing the work you have been doing and you are looking for a way to make it happen. Present a solution, not a problem.
Once you have shown your boss how working remotely will work for your company and for you, the next step is to make it work for your team. Show your boss you have a plan for making the transition go smoothly with your team. Start by being open and upfront about any changes your team will require to support a remote engineer. They shouldn't have to do much to support you, but there are some required changes.
Most of the changes focus on communication. You need a plan for how you and your team will communicate when you aren't in the office. What technologies will they use? Does your company need to buy a conference phone? Does your team need to start using IM or IRC?
The third part of this book is about the specifics of communication. Take a look at the communication options, figure out which ones are the best for you and your team, and discuss it with your manager.


text:
2012 No. 1
The Unfinished Business of Katyn
by Adam Bosiacki
As befits a crime shrouded in so much deception and political intrigue, the so-called Katyn massacre even today is not a closed case. The execution of more than twenty thousand Polish prisoners by Soviet secret police in 1940 is still a thorn in the side of Russian-Polish relations because of Russian reluctance to help answer lingering questions about documents, potential compensation, the fate of other Polish prisoners held by the USSR, and even what to call the massacre—which for half a century Moscow officially denied, blaming Hitler.
The Katyn crime made an indelible stamp on the history of Poland and its international relations. It was a brutal attempt to eliminate the elite of the Polish nation and impose a communist system on the country, which at the time the USSR was occupying in partnership with Nazi Germany. Today the legal legacy of the mass murders is a court case in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where relatives of the slain Poles seek to have their deaths defined as genocide and a war crime, and to have the victims posthumously rehabilitated. They claim that Russia, which closed the books on its own investigation in 2004, failed to investigate the killings fully and never brought the perpetrators to justice.
The massacre was a taboo topic in postwar Poland, and the Soviet Union did not admit responsibility until 1990, during the perestroika era. Thus for fifty years no one knew, for instance, when most of its victims had been buried or the exact locations of the mass graves. The sites of graves of many of the Polish citizens who were murdered during the same operation but elsewhere, in prisons in Ukraine and Belarus, remain unknown to this day.
The unanswered questions of the Katyn massacre are closely tied to documentation.
On March 5, 1940, the Politburo, the leading organ of the Soviet Communist Party, no doubt inspired by Stalin, decided to order the murders of thousands of Polish citizens being held in three main camps (Kozielsk, Starobielsk, and Ostashkov) and in prisons in eastern Poland. The Soviets had invaded Poland under the terms of the Stalin-Hitler Pact of 1939, euphemistically known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, under which Moscow agreed to carve up Eastern Europe with the Third Reich.
The head of the secret police, Lavrenty Beria (1899–1953), proposed to liquidate 25,700 people: military and police officers, administration officials, intellectuals, professors, doctors, teachers, and others. His figure was an estimate; the eventual Katyn toll was 21,857. The victims were buried in unmarked graves near the village of Katyn, eleven miles west of Smolensk in central Russia; near Piatikhatki, on the outskirts of Kharkov in contemporary Ukraine; and near Mednoye in the Tver (then Kalinin) region, one hundred and twenty miles northwest of Moscow. The German government discovered the mass graves near Katyn in 1943, after the Third Reich had turned against its former Soviet ally, and announced them to the world as evidence of Soviet brutality. The Soviet cover-up began immediately and continued through the postwar Nuremberg war-crimes trials—where Moscow produced falsified evidence blaming Katyn on the Germans—and into the Cold War era.
The unanswered questions of the Katyn massacre are closely tied to documentation. Many of the files touching on Katyn can be studied in the Hoover Archives, which keeps copies of Soviet-era intelligence documents, including the "smoking gun" memorandum on which Stalin scrawled his approval of the mass murders. Details of the crime began to emerge in 1992, when the first president of post-communist Russia, Boris Yeltsin, presented documents about Katyn to Polish President Lech Walesa. This was when the world learned that the crime resulted from a decision by the Politburo, signed by a majority of its members and confirmed by two more (others must have been absent). The documents were said by Russia to flesh out the work of the General Procuracy of the Russian Federation, which was investigating Katyn but had not had access to the Politburo documents. The documents did not describe all the circumstances of the crime, but a final explanation was closer than ever before.
The documents Yeltsin delivered can be divided in two groups: the first containing files about the committing of the massacre, and the second holding documents about its concealment. Interestingly, the two were often contradictory. The Soviet organs that attempted to hide the crime seemed unaware, at least officially, that it had been committed by the NKVD.
The sites of many Poles' graves remain unknown to this day.
Two of the documents were of utmost importance: the statement ordering the murder of the prisoners, directed by Beria to Stalin on March 5, 1940, and confirmed by the Politburo, and a document created nineteen years later by the chairman of the Committee for State Security of the USSR (KGB), Aleksandr Shelepin (1918–1994), to Nikita Khrushchev, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. This memorandum suggested destroying the individual files of murdered Katyn prisoners and summed up the crime. Shelepin's letter contained several important facts: first, the number of victims; second, the existence of individual files; third, the role of special NKVD troikas, known to Soviet history as committees of three, that condemned the men without trial. (The last fact is significant in the current Strasbourg hearings, in which Russia maintains that because the Katyn victims were executed without trial, they cannot legally be exonerated.)
Khrushchev's decision about whether to destroy the files was not disclosed in these documents. If he decided against such an action, he must have had important security considerations of which even Shelepin was unaware.
The matter of the individual files leads to a major obstacle to resolving the Katyn case: Russia's continuing refusal to release all of its information. The files of the victims were not, of course, presented to the Polish government in 1992. Why? And why has Russia neither confirmed their destruction nor since released them? Even if the files contained discredited or sensitive information about victims, perpetrators, or people who remained alive, their release would not trouble present-day Russia. The documents need not be made public: it would be enough to deliver them to Polish legal authorities.
Beyond withholding its investigative materials, Russia refuses to acknowledge the Katyn massacre as genocide.
Meanwhile, the non-delivery of the documents feeds legal challenges, international scrutiny, and friction between Russia and Poland. The General Procuracy of the Russian Federation has so far given Polish authorities sixty-seven volumes of material while withholding one hundred and sixteen. It is difficult to say what all the secret material consists of. It certainly includes testimony of witnesses, which, for some unknown reasons, the Russians do not want to reveal. The existence of such testimony can be deduced from a January 1991 letter the general prosecutor of the USSR wrote to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, saying that accounts of witnesses concerning "the tragic fate of the Polish war prisoners had been collected from all around the country." A copy of that letter was delivered to President Walesa in 1992 among the other documents.
Beyond withholding its investigative materials, Russia refuses to acknowledge the Katyn massacre as genocide. Yet the USSR had no trouble labeling it as such in 1946, when it accused Nazi officials of the crime at Nuremberg. (Moscow failed to make its case for Nazi involvement then and the court dismissed the charge.)
Thus Katyn casts its shadow on Polish and, to some extent, international public opinion. The current legal dispute at Strasbourg shows this climate of mistrust and frustration. The plaintiffs demand that the massacre be treated as genocide and that Russia disclose the secret part of its investigation. Irrespective of any verdict, ill will toward Russia will be difficult to erase.
Sooner or later, these questions must be answered:
1. What happened to the victims' personal files? If they survive, their publication would not create problems. Even facts that might be "inconvenient" for the victims or their families, not to mention data about Soviet special agents, would pose no obstacle for modern Russia. Negative facts, if any, would reflect mainly on Poles.
2. How did the victims spend their last moments? The testimonies of witnesses to or participants in the crime are a major missing piece. Again, exposing the identities of witnesses or participants would not create any legal consequences for them. Authorities would use the information to establish either that such persons were dead, or, if they were still alive, that they bear no criminal responsibility.
3. How many victims were shot in the territories of the so-called Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, and where? After the massacre, the so-called Ukrainian and Belarus lists of victims were delivered to Moscow. Current archaeological investigations, such as one being performed in Bykivnia near Kiev, are yielding some information about graves, but the complete list of victims from Belarus and Ukraine cannot be compiled without the support of the Moscow archives. Once more, it is difficult to imagine how exposure of these materials would create any political or historical complications.
Clearing the air on the legal issues of Katyn does not seem impossible. True, if Russia condemned the Katyn crime as genocide, complications could result. Descendants of the victims could claim compensation, for instance, although the plaintiffs in Strasbourg have said they seek only moral compensation. An international agreement could settle the matter.
For the Russian side in the Strasbourg hearings, the motives for the massacre have a bearing on whether it could be considered genocide. Beria argued for murdering the prisoners by stating that all of them were "obdurate . . . enemies of the Soviet power." These individuals would be hostile to a Soviet system: captured soldiers, naturally, dream of escape and fighting to liberate their homeland. Without exception, Polish public opinion sees the motives as clearly genocidal: certain social groups were to be murdered, among whom 97 percent were Poles. But what wider motives Stalin had for killing these people is unknown. Another group of similar prisoners, also held in the Kozielsk camp only three months after the Katyn killings, was not massacred. The Soviets, in fact, probably planned to use them in a common Polish-Soviet struggle against the Nazis.
At any rate, the Russian nation, the countries of the former USSR, and the Russian authorities should not, in fact, feel linked with the Stalinist and communist period, treating it somehow as their heritage. The perpetrators are long dead, and any question of compensation could be solved. The remaining questions about Katyn are, in fact, few, and a full accounting of the notorious event is not out of reach. Resolving the unfinished business would improve relations between Poland and Russia and perhaps, after more than seventy years, lay the memory of Katyn to rest.
Special to the Hoover Digest.
Adam Bosiacki
More from Hoover Digest
New Issue Of Hoover Digest Online
More from International Organizations & Politics
Europe's Struggle To Take Its Destiny Into Its Own Hands
by Josef Joffe


In Norway, the state liquor monopoly Vinmonopolet wants to take over the sale of wine and spirits in tax-free shops. According to Vinmonopolet, airport sales threaten their legitimacy and financing.
As of yet, there has been no contact between Vinmonopolet and the airports in question about taking over wine and spirit sales. However, according to The Local Vinmonopolet would like to open talks about the subject. Currently, the tax-free sales are managed by the company Travel Retail Norge.


Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK) is a center whose aim is to connect research and development component of scientific field with the business sector, focusing on creating new job opportunities oriented towards the future, based on knowledge and new technology.
Donors and supporters that make the Innovation Centre Kosovo mission possible.
Open Tenders and other open calls are published here regulary.
Are you looking for oppurtunities to work or practice at ICK, click here for more.
Current open positions at our working environment.
A dedicated corner with proper information for news agencies.
Click here if you want to know where to find us. We are more than happy to see you.
If you want to call us or send us an email, please don't hesistate and tell us your story.


A connector can have a wide range of properties, with some connector types having fewer, simpler properties and others having more and more-complex properties. You edit these properties on the '<connector type> Properties' dialog. Some properties are visible on a diagram as text labels on or around the connector, and you can change these labels using the 'Label' context menu.
(Optional) Type a representative name for the connector; this name displays on the diagram.
(Optional) Type any comments you want to record on the connector. You can format the text using the Notes toolbar at the top of the field.
These notes can be included in searches, reports and documentation, if required.
Displays the name of the source element for the connector.
Displays the name of the target element for the connector.
(Optional)Type an alternative name or alias for the connector.
Click on the drop-down arrow and select the appropriate direction details: from source to destination, destination to source, bi-directional, or unspecified.
Some connectors have arrow heads that depend on this setting, and some connectors are logically dependent on this (such as Inheritance).
Some connectors can also have the Bezier style, under which the connector follows a smooth curve.
(Optional) Type the name of a stereotype for the connector, or click on the button and select the stereotype from the 'Stereotype Selector' dialog.
If specified, the stereotype is displayed on the diagram and it over-rides the connector type in the report documentation.
(For Generalization connectors) Click on the drop-down arrow and select True or False to indicate if inheritance is virtual or not.
(For Generalization connectors where the child Class is C++.) Click on the drop-down arrow and select the appropriate value for the scope (used for inheritance).


All treatment offered at mindfulSF is individually tailored and collaborative. We believe that our clients are the experts of their own experiences, We utilize evidence-based treatments to support people with living the life they want more fully. Scroll down to learn more about treatments that are effective for our areas of specialization.
OCD is a common diagnosis that affects nearly 2.3% of the population in the United States. OCD is characterized by the presence of obsessions (repetitive, unwanted, intrusive thoughts and/or images that cause distress) and compulsions (repeated behaviors or mental acts that are performed to prevent a feared outcome and/or to decrease distress caused by obsessions). People who suffer from OCD are usually aware that their thoughts are excessive or irrational, and often report feeling compelled to engage in compulsions. For this reason, OCD can be extremely debilitating. For some people obsessions and compulsions can take up hours each day and can make it difficult to carry out tasks of daily living.
The good news is that OCD is recognized as a highly treatable condition. Research shows that a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) called Exposure and Response (ERP) is consistently effective in the treatment of OCD. At this time ERP remains the gold-standard behavioral treatment for OCD, but there are also findings to support other therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness that can also be effective in the treatment of OCD.
People with panic disorder often worry about having future panic attacks and are fearful of body sensations that are associated with panic attacks. Research supports that CBT including a technique called Interoceptive Exposure is an effective treatment for panic disorder. Interoceptive exposure involves gradual introduction to feared thoughts and body sensations in a systematic and repeated manner. Through interoceptive exposure you can learn to relate differently to anxious thoughts and body sensations so that they become more manageable and no longer get in the way of you living life the way you would like to.
Do you find that you are constantly worrying and have a difficult time being present? You are not alone. According to ADAA, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects approximately 3.1% of the United States population. GAD is characterized by persistent and excessive worry about a number of topics that can include work, health, family, school, natural disasters, etc. In order for a diagnosis of GAD to be made a person must experience excessive worry on more days than not for at least 6 months.
GAD may get in the way of engagement in important life domains that include family, leisure, work and school. A number of treatments offered at mindfulSF can help with GAD. These include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (CBT), and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
The defining feature of social anxiety disorder is intense fear or worry about being judged or negatively evaluated. Social anxiety can show up in a variety of social or performance situations (e.g. meeting someone new, going to a party, job interviews, performance arts, etc.). Social anxiety disorder can cause avoidance of situations where social interaction or performance is needed. As a result, it can interfere significantly with daily routines, occupational/school performance, and relationships. People with social anxiety often recognize their fears as irrational, and despite desiring to connect with others may avoid these interactions due to the distress it causes.
Both individual and group therapy can be helpful for Social Anxiety.
Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior is a general term for a group of related disorders that include hair pulling (trichotillomania), skin picking (excoriation), and nail biting (onychophagia). These behaviors are complex and oftentimes lead to feelings of shame and isolation that can be the exacerbated by physical body damage.
At mindfulSF we treat BFRBs using the Comprehensive Behavioral Model (ComB), developed by Charles Mansueto and his colleagues at the Behavior Therapy Center of Greater Washington. ComB is one of the leading Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approaches for the treatment of BFRBs. If you are struggling with a BFRB, some of the ways we help is through awareness training and support with modifications in domains that include sensory, cognitive, affective, motor and place. Integration of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness, and self-compassion can also support the treatment of BFRBs.
If you are struggling with a BFRB contact us for a free consultation to see how we can help.


text:
HomeEquipmentScreening & SeparationFormer Eriez President and CEO Chet Giermak Dies
Former Eriez President and CEO Chet Giermak Dies
Chet Giermak, who served as Eriez president and CEO from 1971 to 2003, died on March 16.
"Chet was a great man who has left an indelible mark on Eriez' business, people and culture," says Eriez president and CEO Tim Shuttleworth. "His legacy lives on at Eriez every day."
Giermak blended lessons from his days as a two-time All-American college basketball player at William and Mary together with his business acumen, and applied them successfully during his 33-year tenure as Eriez president and CEO. In a 2012 article, Giermak stated that the greatest legacy he left to Eriez is the team he left behind to succeed him — a commitment he made to Eriez' board of directors.
"Chet's active, hands-on managerial style led him to walk through the offices and plant on a daily basis talking with as many employees as possible," says Charlie Ingram, Eriez vice president of sales and marketing. "Able to address every employee by name, he maintained an 'open door' policy that encouraged any company employee to come in and discuss any issue with him at any time."
Along with the respect he accorded every employee, Giermak also treated everyone with an uncommon degree of trust. He ordered time clocks removed "as a way of saying to our people that we trust them to arrive and leave at designated times." He then removed all bells and buzzers that signaled start and quit times and coffee breaks "in Pavlovian fashion." He also eliminated the mandatory vacation during summer shut-down, opting to trust each individual to determine his or her own vacation schedule.
Giermak also introduced a variety of improvement programs - from first-aid instruction to blueprint reading classes and from financial planning sessions to pre-retirement seminars. A free counseling program was put in place to help employees and their family members deal with estate and personal problems. He initiated a 10-year program to first limit and then eliminate smoking at Eriez. In 1986 the company began a policy of hiring only non-smokers, and later announced there would be a completely smoke-free environment at the company by July 1, 1992.
Giermak was active in both industry organizations and community affairs. A past president of the Processing Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA), he also served as a director of the National Association of Manufacturers. Locally, he was active in ACES (Americans for the Competitive Enterprise System) and the Sales and Marketing Executives Club of Erie. He was a board member and past president of both the Erie Conference on Community Development and the Manufacturers Association of Northwest Pennsylvania. He also served on the board of directors of Erie Press Systems and Parker White, both in Erie.
A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he was also a corporator of Hamot Medical Center and trustee and past president of the Saint Vincent Foundation for Health and Human Services. Today, Eriez management continues to be active in many of the same community and industry organizations.
Giermak's contributions extend far past company culture. During his time with Eriez, the company developed problem-solving products for more than 80 industries. Eriez' offerings grew to hundreds of types of permanent magnetic, electromagnetic, vibratory, conveying, and metal detecting equipment, ranging from simple plates, grates, and traps to highly sophisticated devices such as rare earth roll separators, eddy current separators and superconducting high gradient magnetic separator systems.
When Giermak joined Eriez in 1960, sales were $.8 million. Sales were about $8 million when he accepted the reins as president in 1971, and rose to $80 million in 2003.
Today, Eriez is recognized as a world authority in separation technologies. The company's magnetic lift and separation, metal detection, materials feeding, screening, conveying, and controlling equipment is used in numerous industries. Eriez manufactures and markets these products through 12 international facilities located on six continents. Chet Giermak's legacy lives on in the 1000 Eriez employees around the world, and the thousands of lives he touched during his exceptional life.


Blackburn understands that we want to save weight wherever we can. Its sleek-looking Camber UD Carbon Cage uses unidirectional fibers to offer a claimed weight savings of between 11 and 17 grams when compared to steel and alloy cages. The Camber's rib cage design keeps the bottle secure, while its flared opening offers you quick and easy access, so you can keep your eyes on the road.


text:
Huawei Watch review
In an increasingly competitive landscape, does the premium smartwatch from Huawei manage to stand out? We find out, in this in-depth Huawei Watch review!
Joshua Vergara
The Huawei Watch may be the first Android Wear device to get the "watch" aspect of the smartwatch right, but that does result in a premium price point. The device doesn't really go above and beyond the competition by a big margin either, even though the Android Wear experience is what is the limiting factor.
- High-end, classic design
- Straps are easy to replace
- One of the best displays on a smartwatch to date
- Long-lasting battery
- Plenty of custom watch faces included out of the box
- No ambient light sensor
- Can be difficult to charge at times
- One of the pricier Android Wear devices on the market
Our scores
01Design02Display03Performance04Hardware05Software06Gallery07Conclusion
Aiming to create smartwatches that allow for the look and feel of a classic watch, more and more OEMs have been adopting a circular design when it comes to their wearable devices. One such Android Wear smartwatch that has piqued our interest since its introduction has been the smart wearable from Huawei, and the beautifully-designed device is certainly one that a lot of people have been clamoring for. Does this smartwatch manage to be more than just all about looks? We find out, in this comprehensive Huawei Watch review!
[related_videos title="More great Android Wear devices" align="center" type="custom" videos="643628,644990,646212,639839″]
Not surprisingly, the design of the Huawei Watch is the most important part of the entire experience, and given that the unboxing of the device was also a pretty luxurious affair, its obvious that this is a watch made for both the executive, business dress, as well as for the casual, everyday style.
With a leather strap with the base model and a metal construction, Huawei has definitely hit a lot of the right notes. The screen is completely round, and without any breaks in the shape, and found at the 2 o' clock position is a single button. The button is nice and solid, with good tactile feedback and a bit of a spring action to it, and while not jarring in its appearance, Huawei certainly hasn't attempted to hide it away. At the top and bottom are nubs with some curve to them, that houses the standard 18 mm straps this version comes with. Speaking of straps, it is very easy to replace them as well to any of the numerous options that Huawei has available, with the presence of quick release pins.
There's no doubt that this executive design checks all the right boxes, with the tuxedo color scheme fitting in with everything from suits to a more casual attire. That said, if your getup isn't all that presentable, the shiny, silver watch may look out of place, and it also quite difficult to take advantage of the fitness capabilities of this Android Wear device, given its more formal design. Another point of note is that while the 42 mm size is pretty standard for watches in general, the thickness, of just over 11 mm, exacerbates its size, and if you have small wrists, it will unfortunately look strange.
As mentioned, there are quite a few different color and strap options available with the Huawei Watch, even if it isn't at the level as what is possible with the Moto 360 (2nd Gen.) and Moto Maker. Silver, black, or rose gold finishes are coupled with a number of watch bands, ranging from leather, to full deployment clasp metals in different colors. Of course, you will have to shell out a little more to get the look that fits your wants.
We do think that the Huawei Watch is one of the first Android Wear devices to get the classic round watch design right, but that is important only if you really want your smartwatch to look like an old timepiece, but with a whole lot of extra capabilities baked in. To that end, you do get the sense that the Huawei Watch tried just a little too hard to be everything, and while it knows what makes a watch a watch, it then has to contend with the tropes of a smart device. The curves of the top and bottom nubs feel just a touch out of place from the rigidity that is the flat AMOLED display, and the leather watch strap, though a prerequisite of typical luxury, isn't anything too special.
There's no denying that the Huawei Watch is one of the new Android Wear devices that melds the worlds of watches and smart devices together in a seamless way, but that looks to result in as many disadvantages as there are positives.
One of the best displays on a smartwatch to date
The Huawei Watch comes with a 1.4-inch AMOLED display, with a 400 x 400 resolution, and allows for one of the best smartwatch display experiences available right now. Sapphire Crystal covers the display, which is another classic timepiece note that Huawei manages to hit. Text is really crisp on this screen, and the high resolution makes the otherwise rather cut and dry Android Wear software look smooth and snappy.
There are also benefits from having the perpetually on screen with an AMOLED display, as it helps keep the watch from using too much power, and the contrast does help things pop. While the screen does make viewing quite great, it does again seem to be trying just a little too hard however. Without an ambient light sensor available, the screen is left at the user defined brightness, which will ultimately require a little more micromanagement of the watch than might be desired. Thankfully, the brightness is otherwise good enough to allow for comfortable outdoor visibility.
Under the hood, the Huawei Watch packs a Snapdragon 400 processor, backed by 512 MB of RAM, which is pretty standard fare as far as Android Wear devices are concerned. 4 GB of on-board storage is also available for those looking to locally store some music on the watch for phone-less workouts, even though we stand by the fact that a watch like this doesn't really fit in with gym attire.
It is of course, quite difficult to really push an Android Wear smartwatch through its paces and really test the performance, as there isn't much to do on one, other than swipe among cards, and occasionally perform some input within installed applications. In our daily usage, there weren't any problems with getting applications to load, checking or dismissing notifications, and also keeping track of our fitness activities. In a way, one of the benefits of Android Wear is that things remain pretty reliable across the board no matter what watch you get, and the Huawei Watch is no different.
Typical Android Wear smartwatch features are found on the hardware side of things as well, including a heart rate sensor on the back, but Huawei tries to make it more accurate by adding a second one. When comparing this to my Polar heart rate monitor, it did stay within a smaller margin of error than what is seen with some other smartwatches out there.
An IP67 certification keeps the watch safe from the elements, and you won't have to worry about it breaking down under water contact. That said, you will probably feel like taking a watch like this off before any kind of contact with water happens anyway, regardless of the fact that nothing would go wrong with it.
Huawei Watch unboxing and initial impressions
The built-in microphone is one of the main methods of input for Android Wear, and it performs as well as expected, even if taking to the watch takes some getting used to. Really noisy environments can stifle recognition of your voice however, which can be annoying primarily when in the car, but this isn't an issue seen with only the Huawei Watch, but most other Android Wear devices out there.
Battery life on the Huawei Watch is very impressive
On the battery front, we have to give the Huawei Watch some credit for being one of the more impressive devices in this aspect. Huawei claimed a day and a half of battery life, and that is what was actually observed in our testing as well. Having to plug in the watch every other night is a marginally better situation to be in, and also a big plus, given the fact that Huawei takes an unfortunate step back with their charging solution.
The Huawei Watch requires usage of a contact-based charger, instead of the more preferred wireless solutions, which means that you have remember to keep this charger on hand, and what is disappointing is that the magnet doesn't always make the pins line up properly, which can become annoying.
Finally, Android Wear is the cusp of the experience surrounding the Huawei Watch, and as mentioned many times before, this watch manages to check all the right boxes, but without really excelling, or being truly exciting. The is what is expected from the Android Wear experience though. There are cards that require a lot of swiping around, certain shortcuts are available, including voice input, and unless specific applications are installed along with your smartphone apps, that is essentially all there is to it.
Android Wear is still best described as a notification center, and gives you the ability to respond or control plenty of them as they come through. Certain applications, like being able to have directions and maps on your wrist prove the usefulness of Android Wear, but the very nature of looking at and controlling another touchscreen makes it less than ideal for some situations, like when you are driving.
Huawei does try to inject what it can to the typical Android Wear formula, such as the availability of plenty of custom watchfaces, and its own health suite, but ultimately, the general feel is the same, and as far as the software aspect of the Huawei Watch is concerned, it all boils down to whether you love or hate Android Wear.
Pricing and final thoughts
As far as the price is concerned, the Huawei Watch does fall at the higher end of the price spectrum, with the potential to get quite expensive depending on which version of the watch you want. The base silver model with the leather band will set you back $349, the addition of a clasping metal band will bring that up to $399, and if you want to go completely gold, $799 is what you will have to spend.
The most expensive Android Wear watch yet is coming on November 9 from Tag Heuer
So there you have it for this in-depth look at the Huawei Watch! A good bit of money will be needed to pick up a watch that does succeed in adding luxury to the equation, but it is otherwise bogged down by what is currently a cut and dry Android Wear platform. The Huawei Watch may be the first device to get the "watch" aspect of a smartwatch right, but it does so at its own peril. Unless you're really looking for a classic look, this device could actually be a little boring, made only slightly better by one of the other color and watch band options available, which also be more expensive. In an increasingly round smartwatch landscape, Huawei should be lauded for being the first that got it right, but it isn't going to be alone for much longer, and that might be its biggest problem.
Google Wear OSHuaweiHuawei Watch


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Festmacherleinen sind Leinen oder Trossen (auch: Tauwerk), die zur Befestigung eines Schiffes an Pollern am Kai, an der Pier oder an einem anderen Schiff benutzt werden.

Bezeichnungen der Leinen
Gebräuchlich sind:

 Vorleine oder Bugleine.
 Achterleine oder Heckleine.
 Vorspring (schräg an der Seite des Schiffes vom Bug nach hinten verlaufende Spring)
 Achterspring (schräg an der Seite des Schiffes vom Heck nach vorn verlaufende Spring)

Zusätzlich können Brustleinen oder Querleinen angebracht werden, um das Schiff dicht am Steg zu halten. Zwischen Boot und Steg werden Fender befestigt, damit durch die Schiffsbewegungen am Steg nicht der Rumpf beschädigt wird.

Ankerketten zählen nicht zu den Festmacherleinen.

Anwendung

Wurfleine
Um die bisweilen dicken, schweren Festmacherleinen an Land zu bringen, kann eine Wurfleine verwendet werden, die an einem Ende mit einem sandgefüllten kleinen Lederbeutel, einem Wurfleinenknoten oder einer Affenfaust beschwert ist.

Belegen der Leinen
An Land werden die Leinen meist auf einem Poller belegt. Dazu ist in ein Ende der Festmacherleine ein großes Auge fest eingespleißt und zum Schutz vor Abrieb oft mit Leder oder Gewebe überzogen.

Kleinere Schiffe werden an Pollern, Ringen oder Klampen belegt (vergl. Belegen auf der Klampe). Die dabei am häufigsten verwendeten Knoten sind der Palstek, der Webeleinenstek, Rundtörn mit zwei halben Schlägen und der Roringstek.

An Bord von Booten werden die Festmacherleinen auf einer Klampe belegt. Auf großen Schiffen werden die Festmacher mit einer Seilwinde gespannt und auf einem Doppelpoller belegt.

Ruckdämpfung

Damit das Schiff auch im Seegang möglichst ruhig liegt und die Schiffsbewegungen gedämpft werden, wird entweder vierkant-geflochtenes Tauwerk verwendet, das durch diese Flechtart eine hohe Dämpfung aufweist und sehr gut handhabbar ist. Zum anderen kommt geschlagenes (gedrehtes) Tauwerk zur Anwendung, das dehnbarer ist als normales geflochtenes (mehr "Reck" besitzt). Bei Yachten werden die Festmacherleinen nicht fest gespannt, sondern hängen immer leicht durch, damit sich das Schiff im Seegang etwas bewegen kann. Bei kleinen Booten werden am Liegeplatz auch Ruckdämpfer aus Hartgummi oder in Form einer Stahlfeder eingesetzt. Eine doppelt "auf Slip gelegte" Festmacherleine hat eine doppelt so große Dämpfung wie eine einfache.

Eine Alternative zur Festmacherleine ist ein hydraulischer Bootslift für kleinere Boote. So ist das Boot nicht den Gezeiten und dem Wellenschlag ausgesetzt.

Rattenabwehr
Festmacherleinen sind ein Weg, auf dem in Häfen Ratten an Bord gelangen können. Deshalb steckt man erforderlichenfalls auf jede Festmacherleine ein Rattenblech.

Material

Festmacherleinen sollen besonders ruckdämpfend, reißfest und idealerweise schwimmfähig sein. Diese Eigenschaften werden von den zur Verfügung stehenden Materialien nicht gleichzeitig erfüllt. Besonders elastisch ist Polyamid (Nylon), besonders reißfest ist Polyester, schwimmfähig ist Polypropylen. Hier hilft eine besondere Flechtweise, um auch weniger elastisches Material elastischer zu machen: die 8-fache-Quadratflechtung in Kombination mit Polyester ergibt hochfeste elastische Festmacherleinen, die zudem sehr weich in der Handhabung sind und keine Kinken (Seilfehler durch Verdrehung oder Knicken) bilden.

Literatur
 Seemannschaft. Handbuch für den Yachtsport. 30. Auflage, Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3248-9, u. a. S. 198 ff.

Seemannschaft
Segelschiffbau

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Now That's Thunder Basketball
An Oklahoma City Thunder Blog
2013-14 Thunder Schedule
2014 Playoff Schedule
Player Salaries
NTTB Podcast
Topic: Thunder Podcast
Tag Archives: Houston Rockets
Topic: Thunder Podcast – The Weekly, Episode 11
December 10, 2018 Topic: Thunder PodcastG-League, Houston Rockets, Khris Middleton, Oklahoma City Blue, Oklahoma City Thunder, Paul George, Russell WestbrookAlex Roig
On the latest episode of The Weekly, the Topic: Thunder crew discuss the following topics:
Looking back at the 3-game road trip from last week
Khris Middleton trade ideas
Houston struggling, smiles abound
The OKC Blue are the top team in the G-League
People imitating Russell Westbrook, but Russ receiving no credit
Looking at the next 4 games against tough Western Conference opponents
Thank you for listening to our podcast. You can catch the post-game recaps on the 2018-19 Schedule page on this site and on Thunderous Intentions. You can listen to us anywhere you get your podcasts. Please leave us a 5-star review on Itunes if you would like. That really helps with our ratings on Itunes. You can follow us and interact with us on Twitter (@OKCTopicThunder). Thank you for listening, and as always, Thunder Up!
https://anchor.fm/okc-topic-thunder/episodes/TT—The-Weekly–Episode-Eleven—Stop-copying-Russ-e2nvvc
Topic: Thunder Podcast – The Weekly, Episode 7
November 11, 2018 Topic: Thunder PodcastCarmelo Anthony, Dennis Schroder, Houston Rockets, Jimmy Butler, Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell WestbrookAlex Roig
Looking at the week that started off streaking, but ended up with a loss at Dallas
Looking forward to this week's game against three (likely) lotto teams
Comparing this team to last year's team in relation to how they perform without Westbrook
Discussing the Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia trade
Discussing the possible ouster of Carmelo Anthony from Houston
Thank you for listening to our podcast. You can catch the post-game recaps on the 2018-19 Schedule page on this site and on Thunderous Intentions. You can listen to us anywhere you get your podcasts. Please leave us a 5-star review on Itunes if you would like. That really helps with our ratings on Itunes. Thank you for listening, and as always, Thunder Up!
https://anchor.fm/okc-topic-thunder/embed/episodes/TT—The-Weekly–Episode-Seven—The-Thrill-of-Victories–the-Agony-of-Defeat-e2iomp/a-a6dpfu
Thunder At A Glance – 09 November 2018
November 9, 2018 Thunder At a GlanceHouston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Terrance FergusonAlex Roig
Dylan Huntzinger of the Topic: Thunder Podcast gives you the recap of the Thunder's win over the Rockets.
Erik Horne (NewsOK) looks back on the Thunder's 7th victory in a row: "Teams like the Rockets and Warriors will more than certainly finish the season with more 3-pointers made and better field goal percentages than the often-off-shooting Thunder. But you'll be hard-pressed to find a team that makes the Rockets and Warriors grimace more than the Thunder, who pushed its winning streak to seven games and swept a back-to-back for the second time this season with relative ease." Continue reading Thunder At A Glance – 09 November 2018 →
Rockets vs. Thunder Preview (Game 11 of 82)
November 8, 2018 Game PreviewsCarmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, Houston Rockets, James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell WestbrookAlex Roig
When: Thursday, 08 November 2018 at 7:00 pm CST
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
TV: TNT
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))
Line: HOU -4.0 | O/U: 214
Off Rating: OKC – 106.3 (19th) | HOU – 105.8 (20th)
Def Rating: OKC – 103.7 (4th) | HOU – 110.1 (22nd)
Winning ugly is the staple of a good team. Especially when the team is missing key contributors due to injury or other reasons. The Oklahoma City Thunder team of last season would've likely succumbed to the malaise of not having a Russell Westbrook and would've lost an ugly game. But this year's team seems to be a bit different. Continue reading Rockets vs. Thunder Preview (Game 11 of 82) →
November 8, 2018 Thunder At a GlanceCarmelo Anthony, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dennis Schroder, Houston Rockets, Jordans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell WestbrookAlex Roig
Topic: Thunder gives you a recap, in podcast form, of last night's victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Maddie Lee (NewsOK) on why the Thunder wanted Russell Westbrook to join them on this road trip: "He's a leader," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "It gives him an opportunity here to get treatment while he's on the road. I think he can help those guys from the bench and locker room, talking to them, spending time with them. I've always said this about him: People see him play, but they don't see a lot of the things he does behind closed doors." Continue reading Thunder At A Glance – 08 November 2018 →
NTTB Podcast (Episode 31) – Paul George and the Butterfly Effect
April 8, 2018 podcastAlex Abrines, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder, Patrick Beverly, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, WrestlemaniaAlex Roig
On Episode 31 of the NTTB podcast, we discuss the following topics:
Week in Review – L vs. Golden State, W @ Houston
Instant Recap of the Rockets game
Paul George's recent comments
Slumping Raymond Felton
Alex Abrines stepping up
Billy Donovan's playoff rotation
Russell Westbrook and the media
Western Conference standings
NBA talk
Intro/Outro music provided by OSC Productions
Thank you for listening. We will be doing a podcast once a week. If you have any Thunder or NBA related questions, make sure you hit us up on Twitter (@alexroig_NTTB or @Montero_A13).
We are on ITunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and Tune In under the NTTB Podcast. Make sure you leave us a 5-star review if you can. As always, Thunder Up!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/111153/677876-episode-31-paul-george-and-the-butterfly-effect.mp3
NTTB Podcast (Episode 22) – Refs, We Have A Problem
December 30, 2017 podcast, UncategorizedAlex Abrines, Andre Roberson, Carmelo Anthony, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Houston Rockets, James Harden, Milwaukee Bucks, nba, Oklahoma City Thunder, Paul George, referees, Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Toronto RaptorsAlex Roig
On Episode 22 of the NTTB podcast,we discuss the following topics:
Weekly Recap – Games vs. Houston, Toronto, and Milwaukee
Referee issues throughout the league
Return of MVP Russ
Sacrificial Melo
What's going on with Alex Abrines?
We are on ITunes under the NTTB Podcast. Make sure you leave us a 5-star review if you can. As always, Thunder Up!
http://www.buzzsprout.com/111153/616534-episode-22-refs-we-have-a-problem.mp3
Rockets vs. Thunder Primer (Preseason Gm. 1)
October 3, 2017 Game PreviewsAndre Roberson, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Houston Rockets, James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder, Paul GeorgeAlex Roig
When: Tuesday, 03 October 2017 at 7:00 pm CST
Where: BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
TV: NBATV
They say every journey begins with one step. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, this game represent the first step in what they hope to be a season that stretches all the way into June. Many a team is crowned in the preseason, only to flame out when the real games begin. But sometimes, teams are forged and crystallized in the preseason to become what they were meant to become.
The Thunder bring, what is in essence, a brand new team into this season. Two of the starters have been replaced by All-Star level players. And much of the reserve unit has also been changed. While it may seem easy to take two role-playing starters and replace them with two All-Stars, a seamless transition doesn't always happen. There is, as has been mentioned before, only one ball on the court. Continue reading Rockets vs. Thunder Primer (Preseason Gm. 1) →
Daily Thunder Rumblings – 29 June 2017
June 29, 2017 NTTB Rumblings, Offseason BeatBlake Griffin, Chris Paul, Houston Rockets, Nick Collison, Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook, Victor OladipoAlex Roig
So Houston actually got Chris Paul. I wonder what this means for the Thunder and Blake Griffin? Let us explore on this edition of DTR.
It's no secret the Thunder like Blake Griffin. But to make it work, Griffin needs to like OKC: "It's uncertain what the move means for the Thunder, but it's another power play for a Western Conference team in a relatively quiet summer (so far) for OKC. What could be revealed soon, however, is the fate of Blake Griffin – the Oklahoma City native and former University of Oklahoma All-American who the Thunder has reportedly had interest in for more than a year." Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 29 June 2017 →
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder preview (Game 77 of 82)
April 5, 2015 Game RecapsDwight Howard, Houston Rockets, James Harden, MVP, Oklahoma City Thunder, playoffs, Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Western ConferenceAlex Roig
When: Sunday, 05 April 2015 at 12:00 PM CST
Its becoming quite apparent that the race for the 8th seed in the Western Conference (and Eastern Conference, I guess) is likely coming down to the last few days of the season. Both New Orleans and Oklahoma City have 6 games remaining as of the start of Sunday, with the Thunder holding a slim one game lead. Injuries and tough schedules have made it difficult for either team to gain any separation in the standings from the other. Just when the Thunder looked like they were beginning to put it together, down go Serge Ibaka, Nick Collision, and Andre Roberson in succession to various knee and ankle ailments. Just when the Pelicans thought they could gain ground on the Thunder, down goes Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson with ankle and knee injuries. While injuries are a shame, its good to know that both teams are battling through them and remaining relatively competitive. Here's to both remaining healthy the remainder of this season and into next season.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between these two teams. Houston has won the previous two meetings. The first game was one of the more weirder games you'll ever see. The Thunder were down both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, but completely muddied up the game and held the Rockets to 69 points in the game. Unfortunately, for the Thunder, they only scored 65 in that game. The second game featured all the star players, but lacked any real drama, as Houston opened the game with a 40-18 first quarter, and put that baby to bed early.
The Opponent
The Houston Rockets come into the game with a 52-24 record, half a game up on the Memphis Grizzlies for not only the Southwest Division title, but also for the 2nd seed in the playoffs. Houston general manager Daryl Morey has transformed the Houston Rockets from a purely offensive team to one that is one of the more balanced outfits in the league. They rank in the top half of most major categories and are carried by their MVP candidate shooting guard James Harden. With starting point guard Patrick Beverly sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn wrist ligament, Harden will be asked to take on more of the ball handling duties for the team. Veteran Jason Terry takes over for Beverly in the starting line-up. On the wing, Trevor Ariza has been a great addition as one of the better 3 and D guys in the league. The returns of both Terrance Jones and Dwight Howard have bolstered the Rockets' attack, even as they work their ways back from their injuries. Off the bench, the Rockets have one of the most diverse reserve corps in the league. Josh Smith and Joey Dorsey provide help up front, while Pablo Prigioni and Corey Brewer provide wing help.
Probable Starting Line-Ups
PG – Jason Terry
SG – James Harden
SF – Trevor Ariza
PF – Terrance Jones
C – Dwight Howard
PG – Russell Westbrook
SG – Dion Waiters
SF – Kyle Singler
PF – Enes Kanter
C – Steven Adams
1. Dion Waiters – When you talk to Thunder fans about Dion Waiters, you usually hear about 2 things: his streakiness shooting the ball and his on the ball defense. Well, both will be tested against the Rockets. This group of Thunder players is at its best when Waiters is being effectively aggressive. That is, he gets to the basket, but when he gets there, he actually makes the shot or gets fouled. On the flip-side, Waiters will have to stay in front of James Harden for the Thunder to have any chance of containing the Rockets. The Rockets' attack is almost always initiated by Harden, so staying in front of him is the key to defending the Rockets.
2. Foul Trouble – Steven Adams has struggled in the last few games with staying out of foul trouble. With Dwight Howard and James Harden both on the floor, it will be extremely important for Adams, the only defensive big currently able to play, to stay on the floor. Also, the Thunder wings have to play defense without fouling. Waiters, Westbrook, Anthony Morrow, and DJ Augustin are going to have to do more shuffling and less reaching.
3. MVP dual – This game matches two of the top three candidates for MVP this season in Westbrook and Harden. While Westbrook has won the last two Western Conference Player of the Month award and is on the Thunder, my vote this season goes to Harden. He has taken a team that many thought would struggle to make it to the playoffs at the beginning of the season and turned them into a powerhouse that is battling for the 2nd seed in the toughest conference in basketball. Westbrook has been great and is extremely valuable to the Thunder, but Harden is just a little bit more valuable to the Rockets.
Happy Easter to all my readers. Thank you for tuning in.
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