The area is in the Hong Kong Tseung Kwan O industrial area, a famous place for HK-er to play off road RC and its crowed with people on a sunny Sunday afternoon! 

More Pictures
The red D4 is Adrian's and mines in blue!
I have always got a feeling that my blue D4 has the Power Ranger color tone...:P 

See!

Anyhow, Happy Shooting!

Joe Willmore

Willmore Consulting Group LLC
Phone: 703.323.6390
Email: willmoreconsulting@gmail.com
 
 
Guest Bio

Today’s episode features Joe Willmore of Willmore Consulting talking to us about Performance Improvement.
Joe Willmore is the President of Willmore Consulting Group, a performance consulting firm located near Washington, DC. He has more than 25 years of consulting experience with a wide range of organizations. He is the author of Performance Basics (ASTD Press) and has written numerous articles on the subject of human performance improvement.
 
Links and Resources

• Performance Basics by Joe Willmore
• T+D Article, The Future of Performance by Joe Willmore
• ASTD Human Performance Improvement Certificate

Dana Robinson, Jim Robinson – Performance Consulting

• HPI Essentials by George M. Piskurich
• Geary Rummler – Managing the White Space
• If you purchase one of the above from the ASTD Bookstore, help raise money for Metro DC ASTD - Use our source code, Ch2034, for all ASTD bookstore purchases.

Download MP3 (34:19, 23.5MB)

Robert Krahn from the Hasso-Plattner Institut announced this weekend on the squeak-dev list that he and his colleagues have created a SVN repository for their extended version of JSqueak - named Potato (like Dan Ingall's original VM) - which includes a lot of improvements:

He was very understanding. He said he had had contact from my insurance company (who had "suggested" i had CBT in the first place) who wanted a written report from him. I had already told him that i was uncomfortable with them and the information they have gathered about me, some of which i felt was not particularly relevant or accurate, so he told them he would have to show me anything he wrote before he sent it. Very nice of him. So after i said i did not think i would be coming back he offered to write a letter to the Insurance company on my behalf and said he will email it to me to check beforehand. I have not had it yet and i hope he does do that. He even asked me what i wanted it to say! I said that if he could back me up that i do not seem well enough to attend and also if he felt comfortable to say that he does not feel i am in dire need of CBT right now, i would be very grateful... he has only seen me for two hours in total and that was just asking me a lot of questions and setting the scene i felt, rather than actually doing CBT... so we will see what his letter says...

Also i did contact the DLS (Disability Law Service) and explained my situation to them, that i felt bullied into CBT and worried what they would "suggest" i undergo next, or that they would stop my payments... i don't think i should say exactly what they said but they sent me a good email of suggestions of what to do if they do continue to make claiming difficult :) Thanks DLS! I feel more empowered! Thanks also Rachel for sending me the link in response to a previous post on CBT.

I probably should have told him more specifics of how badly attending had affected me last time as it was like i had used up all my cognitive function in one go answering all his questions and spent the following couple of days lying in bed and my brain was in meltdown - random thoughts flew in and out - i couldn't remember certain things and kept thinking i had forgotten things (i probably had!) and it was all a bit traumatic. Although maybe if i told him that he would think i needed more CBT... sigh! So for now i am released from it, or at least in the process of, i am just waiting for the phone to ring though... the insurance company have not rung me for ages and it has been so nice to be left alone as they were ringing me very often for a while there before the CBT started... i suppose i will have to start screening my calls again... sigh. I always ring them back but sometimes i just am not in the right frame of mind to deal with their stupid questions...

For 87633 WHEELY KING ROCK CRAWLER CONVERSION SET
Genuine HPI quality spare part for #87633 Wheely King Rock Crawler Conversion Set, allowing easy maintenance and repairs.

Use these tubes, combined with #85637 Rod Ends, to make your own custom links for the Wheely King and other crawler vehicles!

Source : HPI

Drift / SUTORITOCHUNDOKA best matches! All 17 lights and lit six full-spec mode, with the ultimate light system.

An ultimate light system that can say the full spec specification equipped with 17 all lights and 6 lighting modes is born. It is attached ..six headlight lights, two front winker lights, two side winker lights, four taillight lights, and two rear winker lights and high luminance LED of one muffler light.. by the standard. A variety of lighting patterns are achieved by six mode switch. In addition, it can enjoy a more variegated lighting action by remote control in the use of 3ch Propo. Moreover, an epoch-making auto light system function to achieve automatic lighting/turning off by adopting an optical sensor according to brightness was added. The main body is connected with one connecting cable because of the main unit (body side) and the subunit (chassis side). The body can be detached to the preparation by simply bringing wiring together.

Contents and accessory
- High luminance LED17 light
･Headlight(two blue four white lights/lights)
･Reception desk winker(two orange lights)
･Side winker(two orange lights)
･Taillight(four red lights)
･Rear winker(two orange lights)
･Muffler(one red light)
- The main unit
(Size:46x46x13mm code an umbo is excluded. )
- Subunit
(Size:40x23x14mm code an umbo is excluded. )
- Connecting cable(20cm)
- Power supply connector

Source : HPI

Stabilizer mount for made of aluminum cyclonic TC. Holding improves further by changing from a standard resin type. The performance of the stabilizer is done and Hide is done to its maximum.

Source : HB

A more direct steering wheel feeling is achieved by assuming the steering wheel link and the arm to be an all-in-one design, and saving the servo saver mechanism. - The load to the servo when crashing grows because of the pure race specification that saves the saver mechanism.  Part No.: 67782

Source : HPI

BIG BORE ALUMINUM SHOCK SET (ASSEMBLED/SAVAGE)

SAVAGE / 4 High precision shocks. Requires silicone shock oil (sold separately).

The HPI Big Bore Aluminium Shock Set is a four shock conversion set that makes Savage trucks handle better, reduces maintenance time, and looks great too! The set is lighter, stronger, and smoother than the stock Savage shocks. Oversized shock shafts and hard anodized aluminium shock bodies deliver extra strength, while PTFE pistons, silicone bladders and titanium nitride coated shafts combine for smoother suspension movement and extra traction on bumpy surfaces.

The Big Bore Aluminium Shock Set includes 4 high performance coilover shocks with springs. It comes preassembled and fits all Savage trucks and includes 3 different piston sets, a variety of preload spacers, complete instructions and all of the hardware needed for installation.

Source : HPI

WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME/BLACK (6mm OFFSET)

6mm OffSet/Fit 26mm Width Touring Car Tires

These Work XSA 02 C wheels are officially licensed replicas from Work, manufacturer of some the lightest and strongest wheels available. Work wheels are extensively used by various motorsports teams in GT300, GT500, Formula 3, and the N1 endurance racing series. They are used on everything ranging from million dollar McLaren F1 race cars to Spoon Sports Honda Civics. Constant testing and motorsports feedback allows Work to develop super strong race proven wheels that are at home on the street or at the race track.

These wheels are available in 3mm, 6mm and 9mm offsets. 3mm offset gives a slightly wider stance to help fill out the wheelwells. Owners of 190mm electric cars can use our 6mm offset wheels if they want to use 200mm bodies. Throw on a pair of 9mm offset wheels for a super wide look.

All standard 26mm touring car tires will fit on these wheels. Sold in pairs.

• #3286 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME/BLACK (3mm OFFSET)
• #3287 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME/BLACK (6mm OFFSET)
• #3288 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME/BLACK (9mm OFFSET)

Also available in Chrome/White and full Chrome versions, in all 3 offsets!

• #3283 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME/WHITE (3mm OFFSET)
• #3284 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME/WHITE (6mm OFFSET)
• #3285 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME/WHITE (9mm OFFSET)

• #3280 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME (3mm OFFSET)
• #3281 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME (6mm OFFSET)
• #3282 WORK XSA 02C WHEEL 26mm CHROME (9mm OFFSET)

Source : HPI

Lost my phone!

In 2000 I lost my phone on the London Underground and went to the lost property office to try to find it. However, I was then faced with the task of providing a serial number or what we also know as the IMEI number. But in 2000  no one had really heard of what an IMEI number was let alone know their own!

Anyway after eventually finding my IMEI number and recovering my phone, I realised that all modern consumer electronic products have a unique serial number and that without them there was little way of distinguishing one item from another. Thus, I formed the idea that there was a need in the market for a pre-loss or theft registration service containing these serial numbers. 

 
Previous career path

My career has always involved providing services to the consumer, back in 2000, at the age of 40; I sold my chain of restaurants, bars and leisure facilities, with the aim of taking early retirement and relaxing after a very full working life… until the idea for CheckMEND hit me.

 
I decided to start up a company called Recipero (latin meaning to retain or recover), with a view to building a company that provided a range of products and services based on the accumulation, organisation and analysis of information relating to personal property ownership, associated criminality, fraud and illegal trading.

 
The simple pre-loss registration database:

The starting point was with a simple pre-loss registration database, but it quickly became apparent that there was value in the analysis of the data and potential to provide HPI-type data for consumer electronics.  This was reinforced at the time with the explosion of online auction sites and the willingness of people to buy and sell second-hand goods online. All at the same time as the huge increase in the theft of mobile phones and other mobile devices such as laptops, ipods and the like.
The next three years was spent populating the MEND data warehouse and building partnerships across the mobile industry, with the likes of Carphone Warehouse and mobile phone networks. The police forces were also a vital partner for me.
Eventually, the system grew and now contains billions of pieces of discrete information and is accessed over a million times a month by the mobile phone industry, all UK Police forces, major insurers, the second hand trade, recyclers and the public.
CheckMEND.com was launched in 2006 and the CheckMEND database is now used extensively by second hand trade and the public the most common use of CheckMEND by the general public is for when they are buying or selling items from online auction sites like ebay.

Taking it international:

I can now safely say the company is well established and we are starting to focus on business outside the UK. 2008 will see two new launches for CheckMEND.com. One in the US, which the Recipero and CheckMEND teams are extremely excited about, with the U.S. being the largest market for consumer electronics. Not only that, we have already begun the process of launching in Asia too.

 Obviously the road to where we are today didn’t all run as smoothly as suggested above, many a challenge was faced and problem overcome, but this is the CheckMEND story… so far…

Have a look at the youtube video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zcm9VFNvuQ

Dalam kurun waktu 1966 sampai dengan akhir tahun 1970-an, para ekonom di Indonesia telah berhasil mengembangkan sector industri dengan penuh kehati-hatian dan disesuaikan dengan kondisi makro ekonomi yang ada. Namun, sejak awal tahun 1990-an perkembangan industri tersebut berubah lebih menekankan pada industri berteknologi tinggi. Dampaknya adalah terjadi tekanan yang sangat berlebihan pada pembiayaan yang harus ditanggung oleh pemerintah.

Apa yang dapat dipelajari dari krisis ekonomi yang berlangsung saat ini adalah bahwa Indonesia telah mengambil strategi pembangunan ekonomi yang tidak sesuai dengan potensi serta kondisi yang dimiliki. Walaupun pada saat ini indicator makro ekonomi seperti tingkat inflasi serta pertumbuhan ekonomi telah menunjukkan ke arah perbaikan, terlalu dini untuk mengatakan telah terjadi perkembangan ekonomi secara fundamental. Lagi pula, tidak ada suatu jaminan bahwa Indonesia tidak akan kembali mengalami krisis pada masa mendatang jika factor-faktor mendasar belum tersentuh sama sekali. Ketergantungan terhadap pinjaman luar negeri, yang dipandang sebagai pangkal permasalahn krisis ekonomi saat ini, masih belum dapat diselesaikan. Bahkan, ada kecenderungan bahwa ketergantungan Indonesia terhadap pinjaman luar negeri ini menjadi semakin mendalam. Ketergantungan terhadap pinjaman luar negeri tersebut tidak akan berkurang jika pemerintah tidak melakukan perubahan mendasar terhadap strategi pembangunan ekonomi yang ada pada saat ini. Diperlukan suatu strategi baru dalam pembangunan ekonomi dengan mengedepankan pembangunan ekonomi berwawasan kependudukan.

2. Pengertian Pembangunan Berwawasan Kependudukan

Secara sederhana pembangunan berwawasan kependudukan mengandung dua makna sekaligus, yaitu :

1. Pembangunan berwawasan kependudukan adalah pembangunan yang disesuaikan dengan potensi dan kondisi penduduk yang ada. Penduduk harus dijadikan titik sentral dalam proses pembangunan. Penduduk harus dijadikan subjek dan objek dalam pembangunan. Pembangunan adalah oleh penduduk dan untuk penduduk.

 2. Pembangunan berwawasan kependudukan adalah pembangunan sumberdaya manusia. Pembangunan lebih menekankan pada peningkatan kualitas sumber daya manusia dibandingkan dengan pembangunan infrastruktur semata-mata.

Sebenarnya sudah lama didengung-dengungkan mengenai penduduk sebagai subjek dan objek pembangunan, mengenai pembangunan manusia Indonesia seutuhnya, atau pembangunan bagi segenap rakyat. Sudah saatnya tujuan tersebut diimplementasikan dengan sungguh-sungguh jika tidak ingin mengalami krisis ekonomi yang lebih hebat lagi pada masa mendatang. Dengan demikian indicator keberhasilan ekonomi harus diubah dari sekedar GNP atau GNP perkapita menjadi aspek kesejahteraan atau memakai terminology UNDP adalah Indeks Pembangunan Manusia (HDI), Indeks Kemiskinan Sosial (HPI) dan Indeks Pemberdayaan Gender (GEM), dan sejenisnya. Memang, mempergunakan strategi pembangunan berwawasan kependudukan untuk suatu pembangunan ekonomi akan memperlambat tingkat pertumbuhan ekonomi. Namun, ada suatu jaminan bahwa perkembangan ekonomi yang dicapai akan lebih berkesinambungan. Sebaliknya, pertumbuhan ekonomi yang tinggi hanya akan membawanya pada peningkatan ketimpangan pendapatan. Industrialisasi dan liberalisasi yang terlalu cepat akan meningkatkan efisiensi dan produktivitas, tetapi sekaligus juga meningkatkan jumlah pengangguran dan setengah menganggur.

Mengapa selama ini Indonesia mengabaikan pembangunan berwawasan kependudukan? Hal ini tidak lain karena keinginan pemerintah untuk mempertahankan laju pertumbuhan ekonomi yang harus senantiasa tinggi. Pertumbuhan ekonomi menjadi satu-satunya ukuran keberhasilan pembangunan nasional. Walaupun Indonesia memiliki wawasan trilogy pembangunan yaitu pertumbuhan, pemerataan, dan stabilitas, pada kenyataannya pertumbuhan senantiasa mendominasi strategi pembangunan nasional. Karena mengabaikan aspek pemerataan pembangunan akhirnya muncul keadaan instabilitas dan kesenjangan antar Golongan dan wilayah.

3. Dimensi Penduduk dalam Pembangunan Nasional

Ada beberapa alasan yang melandasi pemikiran bahwa penduduk merupakan isu yang sangat strategis dalam kerangka pembangunan nasional. Berbagai pertimbangan tersebut adalah sebagai berikut:

1. Penduduk merupakan pusat dari seluruh kebijakan dan program pembangunan yang dilakukan. Dapat dikemukakan bahwa penduduk adalah subjek dan objek pembangunan. Jadi, pembangunan baru dapat dikatakan berhasil jika mampu meningkatkan kesejahteraan penduduk dalam arti luas yaitu kualitas fisik maupun non fisik yang melekat pada diri penduduk itu sendiri.

2. Keadaan penduduk yang ada sangat mempengaruhi dinamika pembangunan yang sedang dilaksanakan oleh pemerintah. Jumlah penduduk yang besar, jika diikuti dengan kualitas penduduk yang memadai, akan merupakan pendorong bagi pertumbuhan ekonomi. Sebaliknya, jumlah penduduk yang besar, jika diikuti dengan tingkat kualitas rendah, menjadikan penduduk tersebut hanya sebagai beban bagi pembangunan nasional.

3. Dampak perubahan dinamika kependudukan baru akan terasa dalam jangka yang panjang. Karenanya, seringkali peranan penting penduduk dalam pembangunan terabaikan. Sebagai contoh, beberapa ahli kesehatan memperkirakan bahwa krisis ekonomi dewasa ini akan memberikan dampak negatif terhadap kesehatan seseorang pada 25 tahun ke depan atau satu generasi.

4. Mengintegrasikan Kependudukan dalam Perencanaan Pembangunan

Dalam hal mengintegrasikan dimensi penduduk dalam perencanaan pembangunan daerah maka manfaat paling mendasar yang diperoleh adalah besarnya harapan bahwa penduduk yang ada di daerah tersebut menjadi pelaku pembangunan dan penikmat hasil pembangunan. Itu berarti bahwa pembangunan berwawasan kependudukan lebih berdampak besar pada peningkatan kesejahteraan penduduk secara keseluruhan dibandingkan dengan orientasi pembangunan ekonomi yang berorientasi pada pertumbuhan. Dalam pembangunan berwawasan kepengufukan, ada suatu jaminan akan keberlangsungan proses pembangunan. Pembangunan berwawasan kependudukan menekankan pada pembangunan local, perencanaan berasal dari bawah (bottom up planning), disesuaikan dengan kebutuhan dan kondisi masyarakat local, dan yang lebih penting adalah melibatkan masyarakat dalam proses perencanaan.

Sebaliknya, orientasi pembangunan pada pertumbuhan ekonomi yang tinggi akan membawa pada peningkatan ketimpangan pendapatan. Industrialisasi dan liberalisasi yang terlalu cepat memang akan meningkatkan efisiensi dan produktivitas, tetapi sekaligus juga meningkatkan jumlah pengangguran dan setengah menganggur, sebagaimana yang terlihat selama ini di Indonesia. Demikian pula, dalam pertumbuhan ada yang dinamakan dengan limit to growth. Konsep ini mengacu pada kenyataan bahwa suatu pertumbuhan ada batasnya.

Ada beberapa ciri kependudukan Indonesia pada masa depan yang harus dicermati dengan benar oleh para perencana pembangunan, baik di tingkat pusat maupun di tingkat daerah. Beberapa ciri penduduk pada masa depan adalah sebagai berikut:

1. Pendidikan yang meningkat.

2. Peningkatan kesehatan.

3. Pergeseran usia.

4. Jumlah penduduk perkotaan semakin banyak.

5. Jumlah rumah tangga meningkat, struktur semakin kecil.

6. Peningkatan intensitas mobilitas.

7. Tingginya pertumbuhan angkatan kerja.

8. Perubahan lapangan kerja.

First, Tobias Pape and Arian Treffer, students of HPI, demonstrated SwaLint, a source code checker for Squeak. SwaLint is intended as a successor to SmallLint and, thanks to its flexible plug-in architecture, supports running SmallLint checks seamlessly. SwaLint can be configured in great detail: thresholds for all kinds of values can be set, and output can be filtered. Users can easily implement their own plug-ins for the tool.

Next, Michael Haupt (HPI) gave a brief demonstration of SqueakFS, which was implemented by Johan Björk and Eskil Andréen from Stockholm University, Sweden. SqueakFS makes the contents of a running Squeak image available as part of the file system. Currently, it is limited to read-only access, but the image can already be viewed from three perspectives: all classes as a flat collection, assorted by category, and by class hierarchy.

Robert Krahn presented SqueakSVN, which is an ongoing development effort in the Software Architecture Group at HPI. The purpose of SqueakSVN is to make Subversion version control available to Squeak developers; it is able to import Monticello projects. SqueakSVN will be released in June.

Martin Beck is currently working on his MSc thesis in the HPI Software Architecture Group. His work is dedicated to implementing NXTalk, a Smalltalk virtual machine for the Lego Mindstorms NXT platform. Development of NXTalk application takes place in a Squeak image, and assembled NXTalk images are transferred to the NXT for execution by the dedicated NXTalk VM. In the current state, simple images can be assembled and run: Martin demonstrated a program that can be used to steer a simple NXT bestowed with two motors.

The popular introduction to the Seaside web application framework that was produced at HPI was briefly presented by David Tibbe, one of its co-authors.

Robert Krahn had another appearance presenting the collection of games for the XO laptop developed by HPI students. All of the games are available for download as project or SAR files.

Finally, Carl Friedrich Bolz (Düsseldorf University), Adrian Kuhn (University of Bern), and Toon Verwaest (University of Bern) presented SPy, their ongoing effort to implement the Squeak VM in Python using the sophisticated PyPy tool chain. SPy is currently lacking GUI  and other I/O support, but is able to load images and run the tinyBenchmarks. Right after the Squeak association meeting, a PyPy development sprint in Berlin will, amongst others, bring new improvements.

After the official part of the association meeting, special guest Dan Ingalls gave a demonstration of Lively, his current project at Sun Labs. It looks and feels, admittedly, a bit like Squeak in disguise, but in Dan's opinion, there is nothing bad about building the "same" system several times if it's cool. That is certainly true for Lively.

On 15/16 May, the workshop on Self-Sustaining Systems (S3) took place at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut in Potsdam. An exciting event at a beautiful place, it featured invited talks by Ian Piumarta, Dan Ingalls, and Richard P. Gabriel, and five presentations of reviewed papers that approached self-sustainment from different angles.

After an opening speech by the HPI director, Prof. Christoph Meinel, the workshop immediately started with Ian Piumarta's talk on COLA. The ensuing first round of research paper presentations was entirely devoted to Lisp, with Christophe Rhodes presenting the bootstrap process of the SBCL Lisp implementation, and Charlotte Herzeel talking about a fully reflective Lisp.

The first day ended with a boat trip on the Havel lakes around Potsdam, which turned out to be especially beautiful due to the ideal weather conditions (warm, blue sky, soft breeze). Finally, dinner was served in a boat restaurant on the Havel.

Opening the second day, Dan Ingalls gave a demonstration of Lively. This day's research paper session featured presentations by Carl Friedrich Bolz on the SPy implementation of the Squeak VM using the PyPy tool chain, by Guillermo Adrián Molina on Huemul Smalltalk, and by Theo D'Hondt on the Pico programming language.

After the closing invited talk by Richard P. Gabriel, the official part of the workshop was over, which did not keep the participants from gathering, discussing and hacking.

All talks were recorded and will be made available on the Tele-Task web page. The papers, including those for the invited talks, will be published in Springer's LNCS series.

Many thanks to Michael Haupt for this report on what must have been a fascinating couple of days.

Well, I did promise to write about CBT, a contentious topic for us people with ME (pwme)...

 This post has been really hard to write, partly because I am so drained of all energy from going to CBT on Monday (It is now Thursday and I have been writing this gradually since) and partly because it is hard to write coherently about something that I am finding is linked to a lot of stress, anger, frustration, powerlessness etc. I am hoping that writing this, although draining in itself, will be more therapeutic than CBT has been so far... ha ha.

It (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is hailed by some as the one treatment that research has shown to be effective (but did these people who got better really have ME? Would they have improved anyway?), it is recommended in the NICE guidelines for treatment of CFS/ME but there is also a lot of evidence that it is unhelpful, no better than a placebo, or may improve people's mental wellbeing/coping abilities but they are still as physically ill as before... see www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk and search for CBT and you will see some recent research and debate...

It also seems to be seen as a primary treatment option for this condition, which angers pwme as much as it would anger anyone with a serious physical illness... It apparently costs the NHS about £100 per CBT session so many people think that maybe focussing all that cash on physical investigations/research may be more worthwhile. I am sure it is very effective for mental health issues and for helping some people deal with their illness, but a cure it is not.

So, I had my second session and it was ok. Not much else to say to describe it really... nothing much of any excitement happened! I don't think we have got started properly yet as we just seem to be collecting facts...

In the first session we discussed (or rather I was bombarded with questions - normal counselling, it seems, this is not!) about the time I originally got ill up until the present (a period of over 9 years), and this time we discussed all times before I got ill. I did get a bit upset talking about the time immediately before I got ill, as things were going particularly well for me then, but apart from that the session was all run of the mill. As most pwme will attest, we have to narrate our lives and histories over and over again to every new health professional we come into contact with and it just seems like going over the same old ground... While my CBT guy seems “enlightened” and does not seem to think CBT will be a miracle cure (but may help me to cope with my life better) he does seem to also be trying to figure out the mystery of it as well, he can’t resist it. They never can...

Guess what Mr Psychologist? No one who came before you made any startling discoveries about what caused my illness, but have a good rummage about anyway, be my guest...

He asked me questions about my personality... I can't remember the question but basically was I the sort to run myself into the ground by overachieving, not relaxing, being wound up etc... Well, sorry to say that although I was young and passionate about life, threw myself into whatever I did with enthusiasm, I don't think to any extreme that would have made me this ill... I get the feeling that it would be very convenient if I was a classic Type A personality then we would have something to work on. Even if I was, living with ME for all these years has changed me and my personality forever.

He asked me about my home life growing up, and unfortunately, it seems, my childhood does not seem to be any more unhappy/traumatic than most people's (was your mother at home when you were growing up? er, yes, and my dad worked from home too!). Yes, I have had my share of difficult times but who hasn't? When I try to say that the time just prior to getting ill was actually one of the best I had had for years, I am viewed with scepticism... (am I delusional now? or is it just disappointment that they can't find anything/anyone (me) to blame...)

At the end of the session he asked me to write a diary for a week and to put in what I do each day, and also mark each activity with scores of 1-10: my mood, how much "joy" I am getting out of doing it (as opposed to before I got ill, I think), how much energy I have when doing it and afterwards, any major symptoms, how much of a sense of achievement I have from doing it, etc etc. He then said that we can look at it and he will be "another head" to be used to look at these problems and see if we can improve anything.  All well and good in theory, but even he does not seem very enthusiastic. But maybe the diary will at least give him an idea of the severity of my condition which he does not seem to have grasped yet... maybe I will give him a copy of the one I did a few weeks ago for my DLA application, or one I did when I was attending the hospital group as well, just for good measure.

I may seem very negative about this whole thing, and unwilling to help myself. I do have problems coping with my illness and am getting increasingly frequent bouts of depression and sometimes anxiety too. But these are linked to times when I have an increase in symptoms and illness severity and I am just unsure if I am willing to give so much energy to this as an attempt to improve these things or whether I would rather see a friend, go out somewhere, get a massage, read a good book, etc instead... If I am going to overdo it, I would rather blow my energy on something with a feel good factor about it! It seems to take so much energy to get someone to understand my illness and how it affects me as a starting point for them to be able to engage with me, with no promises of it being anything more than a pointless exercise. I am trying to be open minded and "trust the process" but it is causing me a lot of stress already.

Unfortunately over the years I have had such bad experiences with psychologist-types (from NHS, insurance company etc) that I really am coming into this with "baggage"... I need therapy to get over my traumas from previous "therapy"... oh dear! After the first CBT session I got quite worked up about things he had said and judgements I could see him making about me (not very ill, looks fine, possibly in a "benefits trap" - yes he used that phrase) and had a bit of an anxiety attack... I don't really care about what he thinks about me but what his report will say could matter, see HPI below...

Another reason to feel negative is how completely draining it is. Monday after the session I had a lie down but it was nearly tea time and I did not want to sleep so late on as it would affect my sleep pattern that night. I felt so awful that evening, brain completely mal-functioning and a struggle to watch TV even on quietly. The next day I was spent most of the afternoon in bed as I said in my little post, and I still feel terrible now. There are so many things I would rather have used that energy for than for telling someone about my childhood... again.

 And so why am I even going?  Well I have to go as it has been recommended by my HPI provider (HPI is an insurance payment - my employer has an insurance policy which means they give a proportion of your wages if you are on long term sick). So if I don't go, it may seem as if I am not trying to help myself and they may then stop giving me my benefits... it was made quite clear to me that I need to comply with their treatments, as they want to "help me" and enable me to get back to work. While it was made clear that I should comply, they have not told me what my rights are to refuse treatment etc and what processes exist for any debate on this.

They are all nicey nicey on the surface though and ring me up all-the-time to check on how I am feeling about work, which feels like harassment sometimes. (I try to say it doesn't matter how I feel about work as I am not in a position to even consider going! They seem to think that if I thought positively enough I would give it a go, and then everything would be ok... and cannot conceive that I physically cannot get there or at least, not without serious, distressing symptoms which would make me unable to function).

Although it is not a fortune I am getting, as I was only able to work part-time, I am very pleased to be getting this extra cash and don't want it to stop, but how much can I put up with to keep getting it? If I say I don't want to continue with CBT, what is next? Another doctors/psych visit (please no, I can't cope with that), GET? (they already asked me if I have heard of it...), or just stop paying me? At what point do I say I can't cope with the stress of the insurance company, and hand my notice in at work which will stop the payments? Why should I have to do this when I am still too ill to work and therefore entitled to the money? What about all the people in the same boat who desperately need the cash and do not have the choice? Is this what life without the NHS would be like? I feel coerced into having CBT. No, it has not been a trauma as yet, but it seems like such a waste of my energy. It is also caught up in all the baggage that I have due to the insurance company and the two doctors that they have sent to visit me, who originally recommended i go to CBT, whose visits I found very traumatic... I may talk about that another day! 

Well, this has turned into a RANT! I better leave it there. I had better save some energy for my diary duties... hmm maybe I will start it tomorrow... or the next day... or the day after...

The Software Architecture Group at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut (who have produced a great online Seaside tutorial and associated book) have recently been involved in using Etoys in the classroom. They kindly sent us this report about the experience of two of their members when introducing Squeak and Etoys to high school students.

Pupils of the "Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Gymnasium" (high school) in Potsdam, Germany learned about Etoys and the basic principles of programming in a four-day workshop. Under the supervision of two student tutors of the Software Architecture Group at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut (Robert Krahn and Michael Perscheid), the 14- to 16-year-old pupils have implemented their own ideas and games in very short time using Etoys. All of them had no or little prior experience with computers and programming.

On March 25, the workshop started with an introduction to the subject matter. The tutors introduced themselves and provided a first look at Squeak and Etoys. Afterwards, Robert and Michael presented brief tutorials in which the pupils participated. The first tutorial involved drawing a car and letting it drive along a road according to some small scripts. The second tutorial dealt with implementing the Lunar Lander game. For increased fun, the pupils were encouraged to be creative, resulting in a wide variety of car and rocket designs. In the course of implementing the car and lunar lander games, the pupils also faced the problems of adequately modelling physical phenomena, such as gravity, in which process they were guided by the tutors. At the end of the first day, all workshop participants had grown accustomed to the development environment and were well prepared for their own projects.

The second day started with a brief introduction to object orientation, which put the knowledge and experience gathered during the first day in a broader and theoretically founded context. Over the following two days, the pupils worked on their own Etoys projects. The tutors had given some hints as to what kinds of games could be implemented, but the pupils came up with ideas of their own as well. Many beautiful and creative results were produced. Robert and Michael were always available for individually attending to the pupils.

On the final day, participants were asked to present their projects in 10-minute short presentations. Michael gave a brief introduction to presentation techniques, so that the pupils were well prepared for this. Everyone proudly presented their achievements. Although none of the participants had prior knowledge in computer science, they achieved astounding results in short time. As a gift, all participants were given a CD containing all projects and the Etoys environment.

Michael Perscheid, Michael Haupt

Heute will der Ankündigung insofern umgehend Taten folgen lassen, als dass ich ein wenig über den Deutschen IPV6-Gipfel berichte, den ich im Laufe des letzten Monats mit ein paar Kollegen bei uns am HPI organisiert habe, und bei dem just in diesem Augenblick der zweiten und letzte Konferenztag eingeläutet wurde. Die Notwendigkeit dieser Veranstaltung liegt auf der Hand:

Radio- und Fernseh-Sendungen übertragen, Videos und Online-Spiele bereitstellen, Telefonate übermitteln und Video-Konferenzen ermöglichen - das Internet muss heute sehr viel mehr können als früher. Selbst minimale Zeitverzögerungen oder Aussetzer im Datenfluss sind oft nicht mehr geduldet – kommuniziert wird immer häufiger in „Echtzeit“. Um Kapazität für die neuen Anwendungen bereitstellen und das „Internet der Dienste und Dinge“ realisieren zu können, benötigt das weltweite Rechnernetzwerk dringend verbesserte Datenverkehrsregeln. Diese Datenverkehrregeln könnten vom neuen Internetprotokoll sehr gut übernommen werden - dem "IPv6" oder "Internet Protokoll Version 6".

Die mediale Resonanz auf die Verantsaltung war schon nach dem ersten Veranstaltungstag sehr anständig. Einige Beispiele:

Netzzeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Heise.de, ZDF Heute.de, Der Standrad

Träger der Veranstaltung ist der Deutsche IPv6-Rat, Veranstaltungsort das Hasso-Plattner-Institut, und die Auswahl der Redner (siehe folgendes Programm) lässt sich wirklich mehr als sehen. Wir bedanken uns daher an dieser Stelle bei all den prominenten Vortragenden für Ihr Engagement bei unserem IPv6-Gipfel.

P600.00 really big tires for your monster trucks. Fits savage and related Trucks. 1 set of 4.

Used STOCK savage tire set. P300.00. 4 pcs.

ชุดคิทหุ่นยนต์กำลังได้รับความนิยมในญี่ปุ่นมากขึ้นเรื่อยๆ โดยความฮอตฮิตมันถึงขั้นที่ว่า

มีวิชาเรียนเป็นเรื่องเป็นราวไปเลย ซึ่งนักเรียนสามารถใช้เครื่องมือในห้องเวิร์กชอป เพื่อ

ปรับแต่งชิ้นส่วนประกอบหุ่นยนต์ ตลอดจนโปรแกรมการทำงานให้มันมีความฉลาดล้ำ

มากยิ่งขึ้น เท่าที่ซีทราบ บ้านเราก็มีสถาบัน Fibo ที่บางมดค่ะ

นอกเรื่องไปซะเยอะเชียว สำหรับ Gadget ที่จะแนะนำเพื่อนๆ ในวันนี้เป็นชุดคิทหุ่นยนต์

ที่วางตลาดเมื่อต้นปีที่ผ่านมา ชื่อว่า HPI GR-100 G-Robot ซึ่งใช้มอเตอร์ถึง 20 ตัว

ในการขับเคลื่อน โดยนอกจากเราจะสามารถโปรแกรมการเคลื่อนที่ให้กับ G-Robto ด้วย

ซอฟต์แวร์แอนิเมชั่นบนคอมพิวเตอร์แล้ว เรายังมาสามารถควบคุมการเคลื่อนที่ของมันได้

โดยตรงด้วยคอนโทรลเลอร์ที่เหมือนกับจอยของ PS2 เลยค่ะ

และเนื่องจากมันเป็นชุดคิทดังนั้น เพื่อนๆ อาจต้องใช้เวลาอย่างน้อย 2 ชั่วโมงในการ

ประกอบให้เสร็จ แต่ผลลัพธ์ที่ได้ก็คุ้มค่าค่ะ เพราะเจ้า G-Robot เคลื่อนที่ได้อย่าง

คล่องแคล่วมาก วงจรควบคุมของมันมีขนาดเล็กมาก โดยจะติดอยู่ด้านหลังถัดจาก

ท้ายทอยของมันค่ะ นอกจากนี้ยังมีเซ็นเซอร์คอยตรวจจับความร้อนของมอเตอร์อีกด้วย

ซึ่งมอเตอร์จะหยุดทำงานเมื่อร้อนเกินไป เพื่อป้องกันความเสียหายที่อาจเกิดขึ้นได้

สนนราคา G-Robot อยู่ที่ 199,980 เยนหรือประมาณ 62,000 บาทค่ะ

I am looking at quite a few stocks to buy in the next few days, if the market doesn't show too much weakness. One such stock is Diodes (DIOD). It is channeling upwards well, from its March 17 bottom that correlated with the Bear Stearns (BSC) crash. There is heavy accumulation occuring as the price trends upward, and yesterday's big move up was on high volume. The 50 DMA is starting to point back upward now, and if DIOD can break its channel resistance line on high volume, this would be a great play. I am considering buying right now, before any confirmation. Cut your losses at the 24.00 support level.

BJS Wholesale (BJ) is another great long candidate. It is caught in a rising wedge, and moved upward big yesterday. All it needs is a breakout from resistance on high volume and this stock can rake in big gains. It has to happen soon, as the wedge is almost at a point. My only concern is the lack of volume, and thought volume is one of my biggest indicators of price movement confirmation, the overall lack of volume pervading the market the last few weeks has left me turning a blind eye to a few instances. Also, its 50 DMA crossed its 200 DMA on the bullish side, which is a fantastic signal for break outs coming soon. Cut your losses at the wedge support line.

NX Quanex (NX) has been trading horizontally since its big move up last November. Yesterday, it finally broke that important resistance on high volume, so I'm looking for a nice uptrend for this stock to develop. There is lots of accumulation occurring and the price bounced off of the 50 DMA brilliantly. Cut your losses just under the resistance level it broke.

John Hancock Private Equity Fund (HPI) is caught in a rising wedge and bouncing off of the 50 DMA. Volume is low, but there has been ridiculous accumulation in the last few weeks, and it's really pushing me to buy this stock. Cut your losses under the 50 DMA.

Taiwan Fund Inc (TWN), my favorite long stock right now, broke out of a wedge pattern yesterday on high volume and closed at its high. It has been forming bases very well and volume is following the trend, an extreme rarity in this market. It is a fund that invests in Chinese and Taiwanese equities, so look for Baidu (BIDU)'s resurgence as a possible fundamental aid to this great technical chart. Cut your losses at the 200 DMA, but don't worry you won't have to, CMF is at ridiculous levels around 0.4.

Exide Technologies (XIDE) is channeling upward and moved up on high volume yesterday. Great accumulation occurring and a great base has formed to trend off of for a few weeks. Also broke resistance today. Great play.

Enernoc (ENOC) went up 35% yesterday on very high volume and if it can break through its channel resistance at around 14.00 on high volume, it should be in for even more gains. Accumulation is rising, as well. This is a stock, like a lot of the others I've mentioned, that isn't ready for purchase quite yet, but might be a good play to throw on your watch list.

American Superconductor (AMSC) is trending well in a rising wedge and just had a big up day on strong volume. If it can break out of that resistance, this is a great looking intermediate term stock play. Lack of accumulation troubles me, but price action is most important, so we'll see if it is able to break out. Its 50 DMA crossed its 200 DMA on the bullish side, which is a great break out signal. Watch this stock for the next couple days.

I've been daytrading a lot, and I obviously can't post those plays, because they're in and out within 20-30 minutes, but once the market calms down a bit, I should be looking at more intermediate and long term plays. Feel free to ask any questions and dood luck trading.

ถ้าให้ซีนึกถึงหุ่นยนต์สุนัขตัวแรกที่รู้จัก ก็คงจะหนีไม่พ้น Aibo ที่แสนฉลาดและน่ารักมากๆ

แต่วันนี้ซีมีอีกตัวมาแนะนำค่ะ ซึ่งมันอาจจะไม่น่ารักเท่า แต่ด้วยความสามารถในการเคลื่อน

ที่ที่คล่องแคล่วของมัน ทำให้ซีอดไม่ได้ที่จะนำมาฝากเพื่อนๆ กันค่ะ

G-Dog เป็นหุ่นยนต์สุนัขจากบริษัท HPI ซึ่งใช้ชิ้นส่วนพื้นฐานของหุ่นยนต์เหมือนกับทั่วๆ ไป

นั่นล่ะค่ะ แต่ด้วยวิธีออกแบบของ HPI ที่เน้นการเคลื่อนไหวที่คล่องแคล่วทำให้เจ้า G-Dog

ตัวนี้มีการเคลื่อนที่เหมือนสุนัขจริงๆ โดยแต่ละข้อต่อสามารถขยับได้ถึง 9 สเต็ปอิสระ และ

ใช้แบตเตอรี่แบบนิเกิลไฮไดร์ 7.2 โวลต์

ทางบริษัทคาดว่าจะวางตลาด G-Dog ในประเทศญี่ปุ่นช่วงเดือนกรกฎาคม สนนราคาก็ประ

มาณ 1,000 เหรียญฯ หรือคิดเป็นเงินไทยก็ประมาณ 33,000 บาทค่ะ

From Dvice:

Powered by 7.2 volt nickel hydrogen batteries, equipped with three-axis acceleration sensors and standing at 7.5 inches, the G-Dog comes as a kit for robot enthusiasts rather than as an out-of-the-box toy like the Sony Aibo.

So, how do you even compare a robot that looks like a dog to the real deal? Easy. Here are the Top 3 Pros and Cons of choosing a robot dog over man's best friend.

Top 3 Pros:

1. No dogshit. That's huge.

2. No waking up at 5am to take the dog out to have it's morning dogshit.

3. No fleas, ticks, shots, or periodic vet bills.

Top 3 Cons:

1. Something tells me robo-dogs aren't natural (pun intended) guard dogs. The G-Dog doesn't even have teeth.

2. You can't pick up chicks with a robot dog. No more days at the dog park using your dog's natural instinct to sniff other dogs cornholes as the ice-breaker to conversation. Check out the photo below. No cornhole.

3. We all need a good cuddle. Robo-dogs are clearly inferior when it comes to patting, petting, scratching behind the ears, and chilling on the couch watching Animal Planet.