2009 diary - time to make changes!

Shoe_Gal

Quick post before I head for the airport! Never been away on my own before, just starting to feel a bit nervous Have flown on my own before, don't mind that, and will only be on my own for two days before my friends fly out - but just feels a bit odd :rolleyes:

Sunny Spain - here I come :j:j

Fire_Fox

CULLEN SKINK

Ingredients:
A large smoked haddock (weighing around 2 lb)
1 medium onion, finely chopped.
1½ pints (900ml) milk
2 tablespoons butter
8 oz mashed potato
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
Chopped parsley
Water
Triangles of toast (as an accompaniment)

Method
Cover the smoked haddock with water, in a shallow pan, skin side down. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4/5 minutes, turning once. Take the haddock from the pan and remove the skin and bones. Break up the fish into flakes, return to the stock and add the chopped onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Strain, remove the bay leaf but retain the stock and fish. Add the milk to the fish stock and bring back to the boil. Add enough mashed potato to create the consistency you prefer (don't be afraid to make it rich and thick!). Add the fish and reheat. Check for seasoning. Just before serving, add the butter in small pieces so that it runs through the soup.
Serve with chopped parsley on top, accompanied by triangles of toast.

Lula-Hula

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Sheer brilliance Fire Fox :A

eco

Good receipe fire Fox, you can't have mash too thick and creamy, for a really authentic taste why not had some garlic and chilli pep it up a bit.

Lula-Hula

For motorway journeys, carrying heavy loads ( eg return journey from off licence) & towing carvans etc inflate the front tyres to 28 psi & the rear ones to 30.

Fire_Fox

The Art of Computer Programming[1] is a comprehensive monograph written by Donald Knuth that covers many kinds of programming algorithms and their analysis. At the end of 1999, it was named among the best twelve physical-science monographs of the century by American Scientist, along with: Dirac on quantum mechanics, Einstein on relativity, Mandelbrot on fractals, Pauling on the chemical bond, Russell and Whitehead on foundations of mathematics, von Neumann and Morgenstern on game theory, Wiener on cybernetics, Woodward and Hoffmann on orbital symmetry, Feynman on quantum electrodynamics, Smith on the search for structure, and Einstein's collected papers.[2] Knuth began the project, originally conceived as a single book, in 1962. The first three of what were then expected to be seven volumes were published in rapid succession in 1968, 1969, and 1973. The first installment of Volume 4 was not published until February 2005. Additional installments are planned for release approximately biannually with a break before fascicle 5 to finish the "Selected Papers" series.[3]


Assembly language in the book
All examples in the books use a language called "MIX assembly language", which runs on the hypothetical MIX computer. (Currently, the MIX computer is being replaced by the MMIX computer, which is a RISC version.) Software such as GNU MDK exists to provide emulation of the MIX architecture.
Some readers are put off by the use of assembly language, but Knuth considers this necessary because algorithms need to be in context in order for their speed and memory usage to be judged. This does, however, limit the accessibility of the book for many readers, and limits its usefulness as a "cookbook" for practicing programmers, who may not be familiar with assembly, or who may have no particular desire to translate assembly language code into a high-level language. A number of more accessible algorithms textbooks using high-level language examples exist and are popular for precisely these reasons.

References

1. ^ The Art of Computer Programming
2. ^ http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/taocp.html
3. ^ http://webofstories.com/person.html?cat=3&pers=1038&st=17155
4. ^ Morrison, Philip; Morrison, Phylis (November-December 1999), "100 or so Books that shaped a Century of Science", American Scientist (Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society) 87 (6), http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/100-or-so-books-that-shaped-a-century-of-science, retrieved 2008-01-11
5. ^ Zito, Tom. "Close Encounters of the Steve Kind". folklore.org. http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Close_Encounters_of_the_Steve_Kind.txt. Retrieved 2008-01-11.

• Slater, Robert (1987). Portraits in Silicon. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-19262-4.
• Shasha, Dennis; Cathy Lazere (1995). Out of Their Minds: The Lives and Discoveries of 15 Great Computer Scientists. Copernicus. ISBN 0-387-97992-1

skint_spice

lilmissmup

How to Do a "Loop the Loop" Trick with a Power Kite

Here's how to impress people with your power kiting skills.

1. Buy a power kite (one with safety wriststraps for beginners).
2. Set it up.
3. Balance the kite by steering it to the middle (see tips for how to steer).
4. Pull on one of the lines depending on which way you want it to loop the loop.
5. Stop when it is facing upwards.
6. Loop the loop the opposite way to untangle the strings.
7. Carry on flying the kite.

Tips

• To steer pull gently on the lines depending on which way you want it to go.
• Keep pulling if you want it to loop the loop more than once.

Warnings

• Don't fly the kite near tall objects, power cables and airfields.
• If you are a beginner don't attempt this stunt.
• Be careful not to cut people with the lines.
• If you are in a field it might get grass stains.
• The kite might rip if it crashes.

Things You'll Need

• You
• A power kite
• An open space

lilmissmup

How to Avoid New Broom Syndrome as a New Leader

"New broom syndrome" afflicts a lot of new leaders who suddenly find themselves in charge of things after years of being led by someone else. It refers to the desire to sweep out old practices, old ways, old methods, and even some of the old staff! Once you become a leader, it is really important to learn the ropes fully before flexing your muscles. You can only gauge the direction of everything as a leader by observing, talking with everyone and looking for the big picture first.

Don't assume you know what's "going down" even if you used to work in the same place. Being a general employee differs from being a leader. Once you become a manager or a boss, it will take time for you to spot the general trends in the overall landscape. What you learned in your previous role may have only pertained to that role, area, or service. Assume that you still have a lot to learn, and many pieces of the jigsaw to put back yet. You may benefit from reading How to Be Humble.

Tread carefully at the start. Don't assume that you will be liked. Your predecessor may have been so well-loved that nobody wanted to see him/her leave. Or (s)he may have been so unpopular that they're afraid that you might be just as challenging! Let people get to know you before you implement changes; earn their trust by being responsive, available, and honest. In other words, learn How to Be a Good Boss (or How to Be a Good Manager) before you tackle change.

Take time to get to know people and their roles. Ask them questions about how they perceive their role and how they perceive the general direction of the organization they work for. Don't make it feel like you're grilling them, though, or make them worry about losing their jobs.

Observe. Take a good look at how the unit functions, watch for bottlenecks, and get familiar with the culture of the department and staff. Do they talk, joke, laugh? Are they tense, terse, or reserved? Are they busy, or are they just looking busy? Are they efficiently going about their tasks, or are they spinning wheels on things that should not be first in line to get done? Watching first will help you identify problem employees and trouble spots before you just go in and start slashing.

Ask staff for their ideas. Although you're probably brimful of new ideas, simply presenting these as the new way of doing things is unlikely to get buy-in from existing employees - and can create resentment. Remember, these are the people who have been doing the work for a long time. Their "insider" view may be very helpful. Instead, take a dual approach of consulting employees to get their ideas and then thinking through the ways in which you can marry the most promising of these ideas with yours to achieve positive outcomes. Be sure to make it clear that you have benefited from staff ideas and pinpoint those that are being implemented. Doing this will smooth your way! When you delegate, you're more likely to get more useful, relevant feedback. See How to Delegate.

Implement gradual change. A bunch of sudden and abrupt changes will leave everyone lurching, and threatens to destabilize your organization. The best approach to implementing change as a new leader will usually be to gradually shift out existing practices and reshape them with new ones. The only exceptions to this will be a situation where the company is failing and everyone knows you have been brought in to try and turn it around in a short span of time, or when you are being confronted with an unexpected crisis. The latter would be a good opportunity to implement a new way of working if you clearly think it would propel the organization forward and resolve the crisis. Use any resistance you encounter at this point as a barometer of how ready the organization is to accept you and to clear out any dead wood at an appropriate (later) stage.

Don't accept the commonplace reasoning from worried or stagnating staff that "This is the way we've always done it." While it is vital to avoid the sledgehammer approach, you will need to do the role you were employed to take on. You were selected to lead and your superiors will expect to see you making improvements. Don't make changes for the sake of change alone, but do implement improvements. Employees become entrenched in routines that are either too redundant or too risky - where you notice such non-constructive workplace activity, make changes. Request and expect enhancing changes to be implemented at once. Most of all, don't be swayed by any resistance not supported by serious evidence that your proposed changes are not sustainable or beneficial.

Fire_Fox

Rice Market Monitor, September 2009

ROUND-UP
FAO’s June forecast of global paddy production in 2009 has been downgraded by 21.3 million tonnes to 668 million tonnes, which would be 3 percent less than in 2008. Much of the revision reflects unfavourable climatic conditions in northern hemisphere Asian countries, which are about to harvest their main 2009 paddy crops. Despite the anticipated decline, paddy production in 2009 would still be high, second only to the record hit in 2008.

Delayed progress of monsoon rains and erratic precipitation patterns are behind a worsening of the 2009 production outlook in Asia, now forecast to gather 601 million tonnes of paddy, 22 million tonnes or 4 percent, less than in 2008. Besides India, where the drop is likely to be particularly pronounced, the Chinese Province of Taiwan, Iraq, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand may also face declines. On the other hand, prospects are positive in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China mainland, Indonesia, the Islamic Rep. of Iran, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines and Viet Nam.

Despite less favourable growing conditions this season, paddy production in Africa is set to remain close to the outstanding 25.4 million tonnes gathered in 2008, reflecting an expansion drive from governments and renewed interest in the sector from both institutional and private investors. Particularly good crops are forecast in Madagascar and Mozambique, as well as Mali and Nigeria. By contrast, drought impaired crops in the eastern part of the continent, while restrictions on water use depressed plantings and production in Egypt.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, prospects are excellent, with paddy output forecast to rise by 4 percent to 27.5 million tonnes. In Central America and the Caribbean, larger crops are expected in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. In South America, where the 2009 is coming to a close, large gains in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela are expected to largely offset declines in Argentina, Guyana, and Uruguay. In the other regions, paddy production is projected to expand in the EU-27 and the United States. Although above the dismal 2008 result, 2009 production in Australia remains well below early 2000s’ levels.

Global rice trade in 2009 is forecast to rebound by 2 percent to 30.7 million tonnes. The recovery would be mostly on account of greater imports by the Philippines, the EU-27 and countries in the Near East (the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates). By contrast, deliveries to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Turkey, but also to countries in Western Africa, are set to fall, often sharply. As for world exports in 2009, these are expected to be boosted by greater shipments from Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Myanmar and, above all, Viet Nam, where they may hit a record. These gains should more than compensate for lower sales from China, India, Pakistan, the United States and Thailand.

Based on current expectations, FAO’s first forecast of rice trade in 2010 stands at 30.3 million tonnes, 1 percent less than foreseen in 2009. The near 400 000 tonne fall would arise from weaker import demand from major rice importers, mainly Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines, amid favourable production prospects. On the export side, an anticipated tightening of supplies and less attractive world prices may result in reduced shipments from India and Pakistan, but also from Viet Nam, Egypt and the United States. However, China, mainland, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar could increase their exports.

Given the excellent production results over the 2008 season that just concluded, FAO’s forecast of global rice inventories carried over in 2009 has been raised to 121.4 million tonnes, nearly 12 million tonnes, or 11 percent, above the previous year’s and the highest since 2002. Stocks are expected to be built up in several major importing countries, especially Bangladesh, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia, but also in rice exporting countries such as China mainland, India, Pakistan, Thailand and the United States. At the forecast level, world rice reserves would cover roughly 3.2 months of global rice utilization, with the stocks-to-use ratio now estimated at 27 percent. On the other hand, a preliminary forecast of closing stocks in 2010, points to a 3 percent decline to 117.4 million tonnes, as reserves will need to be drawn down to cover the anticipated 2009 production shortfall.

International rice prices remained generally steady in July and August but fell markedly across all market segments in September 2009, when the FAO All Rice Price Index (2002-2004=100) ended at 232 points, 20 points below June. Since the beginning of 2009, the Index has averaged 257 points, 45 points below its January-September 2008 value. Although expectations of below average crops in major exporting countries and the weakening of the US dollar is giving some support to international rice prices, the arrival of new supplies in coming months may cause them to slide further. However, actions by governments will remain of foremost importance. For instance, market players are likely to keep a close watch on how the large public stocks are administered in Thailand, but also on the effects of the new price insurance scheme soon to be launched in the country, which may lower Thai export quotations. Last but not least, the continued fall in international wheat prices, which in September had lost 30 percent year-on-year, may exert further downward pressure on world rice prices.