A few nice turning components China images I found:
Tattle Tales Magazine (Fall Edition 1937) – Mistaken Identity …item 2.. The drip, drip, drip of hidden hotel fees continues to add up – “The online travel agency determines how to display it.” (Posted on Saturday, 09.15.12) …
Image by marsmet523
Resort fees are routinely hidden on travel and hotel sites, but nowhere, as Steve McEvoy recently discovered, are they more dramatically concealed than on such so-called “opaque” sites as Hotwire and Priceline.
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……..*****All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ……..
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A doctor and his wife were having a big argument at breakfast. "You aren’t so good in bed neither!", he shouted and stormed off to work.
By mid morning, he decided he’d better make amends and called home. "What took you so long to answer?" "I was in bed."
"What were you doing in bed this late?" … "Getting a second opinion."
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LOL, yeap that sounds about right to me !!!
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LADIES: FIVE SECRETS TO A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP:
1) Its important to have a man who helps at home, cooks, cleans & has a job
2) Its important to have a man who can make you laugh
3) Its important to have a man you can trust & wants only you
4) Its important to have a man who is good in bed & enjoys being with you
5) Its absolutely vital that these four men dont know each other
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…..item 1)…. website … The Atlantic … Politics … for a Muffin?! A Justice Department Boondoggle
SEP 20 2011, 4:17 PM ET
Yes, hotel food is overpriced. But muffins, sodas, and cups of coffee are still pretty pricey for a government agency — or anyone.
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img code photo…….sweets !!!!!
cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/andrew_cohen/muffins…
Flickr/CulinaryHistoriansOfCanada
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www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/09/-16-for-a-mu…
Well, here is something you don’t see every day.
The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General Tuesday released a report blandly titled "Audit of Department of Justice Conference Planning and Food and Beverage Costs." The menu may be tough to digest — it’s 148 pages, after all — but political gourmands of all persuasions are likely to find its main entrees simply delectable, especially since they are being presented for public consumption at a time when official Washington is supposed to be tightening its belt and pushing itself away from the table.
Internal inspectors — from the same office which once upon a time investigated the Justice Department’s role in the 2006 U.S. Attorney scandal — have concluded that mid-level DOJ officials consistently failed in 2008 and 2009 to follow federal guidelines designed to keep food and beverage costs at reasonable rates for government-sponsored conferences. They were taken advantage of, in other words, by private contractors (See? It doesn’t just happen with military contracts). Here from the report is a sample platter of the OIG’s findings:
… DOJ spent about 0,000 (11 percent of costs) on food and beverages at the 10 conferences. All the conferences occurred at major hotels that applied service fees – usually around 20 percent – to the cost of already expensive menu items. Our assessment of food and beverage charges revealed that some DOJ components did not minimize conference costs as required by federal and DOJ guidelines. For example, one conference served muffins while another served Beef Wellington hors d’oeuvres that cost .32 per serving. Coffee and tea at the events cost between
Anxiety – Stress .. Time management vital for finals …item 2.. Target’s data breach: Yes, it gets worse (January 18, 2014) …item 3b.. Muddy Waters – After The Rain – Full Album (1969) …
Image by marsmet481
“Some students let the stress get to them,” says FSU sophomore Allison Tepperberg. “They pull all-nighters, which is actually proven to make your test performance worse because you don’t retain half of the information that you’re studying.”
To release the academic stress, Tepperberg takes one hour from her day and spends it away from books and at the gym. McGregor also handles stress by setting time aside specifically for the gym.
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……..*****All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ……..
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…..item 1)…. FSU News … www.fsunews.com … Time management vital for finals …
Students take priorities into account when preparing for exams
7:45 PM, Nov. 28, 2012 |
Written by
Alexis Armstrong
Staff Writer
FILED UNDER
FSU News
FSU News Campus
www.fsunews.com/article/20121129/FSVIEW1/121128031/Time-m…|newswell|text|frontpage|s
Write a five-page paper, then study for a final exam. Now multiply that by four additional classes, the minimum for a full-time student’s course load.
In the remaining weeks of this fall term, FSU students begin feeling the pressures and anxiety that arise during preparations for finals.
Though additional study hours are expected during finals, time management and prioritizing are key components to keep students well-rounded and healthy during their finals stress. In visualizing their schedules through weekly and monthly calendars, students can keep track of important dates, but also of their availability.
According to Medical News Today, a new study shows that stress affects students’ sleep more than caffeine, drugs/alcohol or technology use. Daily activities, such as a positive sleep, diet and exercise regimen tend to be dismissed during finals time.
However, to ensure healthy lifestyle choices, students should be leaving room for unexpected events in their schedules, as well as time for personal relaxation.
After hours of focus on Powerpoints and rereading highlighted text, students can grow weary and burnt out, thus useless for long-term retention.
“I tend to nap before doing any kind of long-term studying and that way I am well rested before starting any studying,” says FSU sophomore Erin McGregor. “I strongly believe in getting plenty of sleep instead of straining your body.”
Part of what causes students’ stress levels to rise during this time is the overwhelming feeling that comes with multiple deadlines per class in close proximity.
“Some students let the stress get to them,” says FSU sophomore Allison Tepperberg. “They pull all-nighters, which is actually proven to make your test performance worse because you don’t retain half of the information that you’re studying.”
To release the academic stress, Tepperberg takes one hour from her day and spends it away from books and at the gym. McGregor also handles stress by setting time aside specifically for the gym.
“I actually learned in one of my classes that this is one of the top ways to relieve stress and make you feel better,” says McGregor, a current nursing student.
As students scribble out to-do lists and mark calendar days, tunnel vision of studying for upcoming exams may also affect students.
“It’s extremely important to maintain a social life while studying for finals, because sometimes you end up reading a chapter and at the end, you have no idea what you read,” says Tepperberg.
An article produced by U.S. News & World Report about time management in college makes the point that over-committing and being over-involved can hinder a student’s time management. When looking for time to fit in those extra study hours, priorities matter.
While time management applies throughout the semester, and beyond schooling itself, prioritization of multiple things is crucial during finals time.
“Either way, there will be some kind of consequence with doing so many things, whether your grades become worse, you lose relationships with friends, or even lose your job,” says McGregor.
Students who feel overwhelmed by the final demands of the semester may seek out their advisor, counselor and tutoring centers or professors.
Many students opt for study groups for study sessions; it is harder to break the promise of studying at a specific time and length with a group.
“My number one piece of advice is to cancel your Netflix subscription,” says FSU senior Ardon Polukoff. “I know plenty of people, myself included, who could spend an entire day ploughing through movies. Honestly, we all have too much going on and the last thing you should be doing is spending your time watching every episode of Madmen or Entourage. Save that for when you retire and have nothing better to do.”
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……item 2)…. Target’s data breach: Yes, it gets worse …
… CNET News … news.cnet.com/ …
CNET News Security & Privacy Target’s data breach: Yes, it gets worse
Target and Neiman Marcus weren’t the only name-brand retailers to be stung by cybercriminals last holiday season. Plus: Was a teenager behind the malware?
Follow @rachelking
by Rachel King
January 18, 2014 12:09 PM PST
news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57617447-83/targets-data-breach…
There appears to be no end in sight for just how bad the unprecedented hack attack at Target was last holiday season.
And now it looks like Target was not the lone, er, target, in this particular sting.
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img code photo … Target logo
asset1.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2014/01/18/Target-lo…
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We’ve already heard about a similar style attack on the point-of-sale hardware infrastructure at high-end department store chain Neiman Marcus.
Now Reuters is reporting that cyberintelligence firm IntelCrawler has unearthed evidence pointing toward at least six ongoing schemes at U.S. merchants with credit card processing systems plagued by the same type of malicious software.
The news agency’s report didn’t specify the other retailers afflicted by the attack — only that the infected systems were at stores with locations in California and New York.
IntelCrawler followed up with a related memo published to its site on Friday, detailing evidence pointing to who could turn out to be the author of the BlackPOS malware that successfully lifted personal data from the magnetic strips on the backs of credit cards belonging to more than 70 million Target shoppers between Thanksgiving and mid-December.
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According to IntelCrawler’s sources, the malware has been tested out and infected point-of-sale hardware across Australia and Canada as well as the United States.
The same dates the detailed information and reverse-engineering report were shared with Visa and several major US banks, after which US LEA released internal notification for financial industry about that.
The bad actor was pretty opened for trading this malware for 2,000 USD or by receiving 50% from selling of all intercepted credit cards by his customer through Liberty Reserve.
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The full report and associated screenshots are available on IntelCrawler’s Web site now, with the hypothesis that "the age of BlackPOS malware author is close to 17 years old and the first sample of it was created in March 2013."
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This story originally appeared as "Target’s data breach: No, really. It gets even worse." on ZDNet.
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Topics:Cybercrime, Security, Corporate and legal, Privacy and data protection, Vulnerabilities and attacks, Hacks, Malware Tags:Target
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…..item 3a)…. youtube video … Muddy Waters – Eletric Mud (1968) Full Album [HQ] … 36:50 minutes …
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYpwQsHb2_o
Published on Sep 2, 2012 by Jefferson Nunes
Electric Mud is a studio album by Muddy Waters. Released in 1968, it is a concept album which imagines Muddy Waters as a psychedelic musician. Producer Marshall Chess suggested that Muddy Waters record experimental, psychedelic blues tracks with members of Rotary Connection in an attempt to revive the blues singer’s career.
The album peaked at #127 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. It was controversial for its fusion of electric blues with psychedelic elements, but was influential on psychedelic rock bands of the era.
from: Wiki
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Mud
All Music Review (Rating: 1.5/5)
www.allmusic.com/album/electric-mud-mw0000611996
Track Listing
01 00:00 "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
02 04:17 "I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man"
03 09:07 "Let’s Spend the Night Together"
04 12:15 "She’s Alright"
05 18:44 "Mannish Boy"
06 22:31 "Herbert Harper’s Free Press News"
07 27:06 "Tom Cat"
08 30:43 "The Same Thing"
Track listing
No. Title Writer(s)
1. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" Willie Dixon
2. "I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man" Willie Dixon
3. "Let’s Spend the Night Together" Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
4. "She’s Alright" Morganfield
5. "Mannish Boy" Morganfield
6. "Herbert Harper’s Free Press News" Sidney Barnes, Robert Thurston
7. "Tom Cat" Charles Williams
8. "The Same Thing" Willie Dixon
Category:
Travel & Events
License:
Standard YouTube License
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…..item 3b)…. youtube video … Muddy Waters – After The Rain – Full Album … 36:21 minutes …
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIbFJETrScI
Published on May 16, 2012 by olwltd
This record was first released in 1969 and gained great reviews. But by some reason it was never released on cd. So I decided to transfer it from my orginal vinyl to upload it here. I remixed it and adjusted the volume levels to make it sound better. Hope you enjoy and if you want more please suscribe to my channel.
Category:
Music
License:
Standard YouTube License
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.62 and .03 an ounce. At the .03 per-ounce price, an 8-ounce cup of coffee would have cost .24.
It’s a bipartisan mess. Inspectors looked specifically at 10 DOJ conferences in 2008-2009, six during the last year of the Bush Administration, when the Justice Department was led by Michael Mukasey, the former judge selected to replace the hapless Alberto Gonzales as attorney general. They also looked at four conferences during the first year of the Obama Administration, when the Department was led, as it is today, by Attorney General Eric Holder. Alas, it will be Holder who will have to answer the inevitable questions and deflect the inevitable comparisons. "Let them eat cake? How about letting them eat a muffin?"
At places all over the country and the world, the conferences took place after the Justice Department had been warned by the OIG in 2007 that there was too little oversight over food and beverage costs. Investigators determined, for example, that the DOJ "spent 0,000 (14 percent of costs) to hire training and technical assistance providers as external event planners for 5 of the 10 conferences reviewed. This was done without demonstrating that these firms offered the most cost effective logistical event planning services. Further, these event planners did not accurately track and report conference expenditures."
Here’s another taste of what’s in the new OIG report:
… conference attendees received Cracker Jacks, popcorn, and candy bars at a single break that cost per person, including service charges and indirect costs… [There was also] a "deluxe" ice cream assortment that cost per person including service charges and indirect costs… When one event planner applied an approved 15-percent indirect cost rate to the price of food and beverages at a conference, the cost of one soda increased from .84 to .57.
Hotel food is notoriously expensive. But talk about your stimulus package! All this time "event planning" has been the "winning" formula to get America working again. Someone, quick, tell Anthony "A.J" Soprano! Unsurprisingly, the report concludes that the event planners and others responsible for charging these prices ("components," they are cryptically called in the report) were "unable to provide adequate justifications for the expensive food and beverages." The OIG concedes that some of the conferences were planned before new cost directives were put into place in April 2008. But investigators also say they
remain concerned that not all components will take into account service fees, taxes, and indirect costs when deciding what food and beverages — if any — should be served at a DOJ conference. In our opinion, the lack of documentation we found regarding the necessity of costly food and beverage items indicated that not all sponsors were seriously questioning the need for expensive meals and refreshments at their events.
The Justice Department will say this is old news and that it has done much more since 2009 to reduce these costs. And Congressional Republicans and the GOP presidential candidates will likely use the report to take pot shots at Eric Holder and President Barack Obama for wasteful government spending. Perhaps the only appetizing "component" of this meal is that copies of Michael Kinsley’s under-appreciated book "Curse of the Giant Muffins and Other Washington Maladies" now likely will soar. In fact, I hear the Justice Department just bought a few copies at 5 each.
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…..item 2)…. The Miami Herald … www.miamiherald.com … The Miami Herald > Living > Travel ..
TRAVELWISE
The drip, drip, drip of hidden hotel fees continues to add up
Posted on Saturday, 09.15.12
BY CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT
TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/15/v-fullstory/3000653/the-dr…
Like many resort hotels, the Marriott San Juan Resort and Stellaris Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico, adds a fee to its daily room rate to cover amenities such as bottled water, a casino coupon, local phone calls and wireless Internet.
And as is the case at many resort hotels, it doesn’t matter whether you drink bottled water, want to visit the casino, make a phone call or use the Internet. Marriott’s fee is mandatory.
Resort fees are routinely hidden on travel and hotel sites, but nowhere, as Steve McEvoy recently discovered, are they more dramatically concealed than on such so-called “opaque” sites as Hotwire and Priceline.
When McEvoy booked a room at the Marriott through Priceline, a site that doesn’t reveal the name of the hotel until you’ve paid for a nonrefundable reservation, he was told that he’d pay only 0 a night. But his e-mail confirmation said that he’d be billed an extra in fees — that, in effect, the surcharge was part of the room rate. “Is anyone trying to write a law to prevent this from happening?” asked McEvoy, a transportation consultant who lives in Philadelphia.
As a matter of fact, yes. The lack of disclosure of these extra charges, a longtime source of frustration for travelers, is getting some attention from a group of consumer advocates led by Ed Perkins, a fellow syndicated travel columnist for Tribune Media Services and a former Consumer Reports editor. In a letter he sent to the Federal Trade Commission last month, Perkins asked the agency to rule that these fees are “unfair and deceptive.” An FTC decision on the matter would close a loophole that collectively costs travelers tens of millions of dollars every year.
The way some resort fees are broken out and disclosed is commonly referred to as “drip” pricing: This means that a company initially advertises only part of a product’s cost, then reveals additional mandatory charges later, as a consumer goes through the buying process. And hotels aren’t the only ones to use this price-tag sleight of hand; you can also find it in the automobile sales and financial services industries, among others.
Drip pricing is a special concern to the FTC. This spring, the agency hosted a workshop on the issue and solicited complaints from consumers, a potential sign that it may soon act to curb this practice. Perkins hopes that the government will start with hotels. A representative for the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the trade organization for the U.S. hotel industry, said that the organization couldn’t speak about the issue until it consulted with its members. The FTC didn’t respond to a request for a comment on Perkins’ letter. A Priceline representative wouldn’t comment on its resort-fee disclosure practices, although in past cases, the company has said that it believes the way it displays mandatory fees after a purchase is sufficient.
Asked about Priceline’s disclosure, a Marriott representative pointed to his company’s website, which prominently shows a resort fee but calculates it as part of the price after a room is selected. Marriott can’t control how these fees are displayed on Priceline, he added. “We provide the rate and applicable fees,” he said. “The online travel agency determines how to display it.”
The hotel industry’s best argument for charging resort fees is that everyone is doing it. If one resort stopped, and displayed a true price, then it would lose business to competitors whose rates look cheaper because they don’t include a resort fee in their base price.
But fixing the resort fee problem might require creative thinking on the FTC’s part because of a layer of other players, notably online travel agencies, which determine how rates get advertised and displayed. It’s worth noting that resort fees have survived despite widespread public criticism and threats of lawsuits.
According to Perkins, government action isn’t without a precedent. After fuel prices spiked, for instance, many airlines started carving out a portion of a true airfare by labeling it a “fuel surcharge” and excluding that amount from their price promotions and displays, he said. The Transportation Department stepped in, forcing airlines to quote an “all in” fare.
Cruise ships stopped drip pricing in the mid-1990s after Florida’s attorney general investigated “port fees” that covered more than the actual dockage costs. Turns out they also covered cruise lines’ operating expenses for fuel, fresh water and wages. Six cruise lines agreed to stop drip pricing in Florida.
The timing on the current effort couldn’t be better. Not only are hotels and online agencies taking a harder line with guests who grumble about resort fees, but the success of these extras is also emboldening some non-resorts to match them. John Kazlauskas, a writer from Los Angeles, recently had to pay a resort fee on a -a-night motel room in Anaheim, Calif., that he found online. “It is truly ridiculous,” he told me.
Although no one tracks resort fees by hotel, they’re part of a class of extras referred to as “ancillary” fees. A recent New York University study projected that the American hotel industry would earn nearly billion in ancillary fees this year, nearly quadruple the 0 million it collected a decade ago.
Ideally, the government would require hotels, as it did airlines, to include any mandatory fees in their prices. But even if the FTC only issued specific guidance on how and when to disclose the fees, it would mark an important step toward solving one of the most vexing problems facing hotel guests today.
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals (Wiley) and writes that Travel Troubleshooter that runs in this section. Read more tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at chriselliott.org.
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