Robert Parker should be given some award or recognition for his contribution to the wine industry and the benefit of the consumer by actually braving to ink the "fraud" element of the wine industry.  What other agricultural product has so much fraud inherently? Caviar maybe? I cannot think any mainstream product that is plagued by so much fraud and an absolute silence exists everywhere.  

July 3, 2009
Will Reid

French scientists have made a breakthrough in the fight against counterfeit wines. 

The scientists used mass spectrometry to analyse the wood used in the barrels during the winemaking process. 

As each forest gives its own chemical signature depending on the soil type and the mixture of lichens growing there, scientists can identify the exact forest in which the barrel wood was grown. 

The technique of using mass spectrometry to analyse different varieties of wine is nothing new. Scientists can already identify the age or grape variety of a particular sample by analysing the compounds in a vapourised sample of the wine. 

However the ability to trace the origin of the barrels could be hugely important in the fight against counterfeits. 

By analysing the wine samples against information on lichen growth and recent climate patterns, the age of the barrels can also be determined, and, if the barrels are younger than the claimed vintage of the wine, the wine must be a counterfeit. 

The wine trade is plagued by the sale of counterfeit vintage wines, which some experts say accounts for up to 5% of the fine wine secondary market. 

Last year billionaire William Koch filed a case against auction house Acker Merrall for $107 000, after he discovered that five wines bought from the auction house were counterfeits. 

Universities operate as entities of highest standards and the public accepts a great deal of what stated with origins of such background as definitive.  I think whoever made the following study needs to do a great deal more than the little that got a paper published.  The practice of self-affirmations is standard procedure in some industries such as sales and management for the development of ordinary individuals into solid and dependable professionals.  The demands of the professionals environment make the behavior of an undisciplined mind unacceptable and contrary to the practices leading to success in business.  I have used maybe 500 affirmation statements and thoroughly absorbed them into my subconscious.  The practice requires the absorption to take place over a period of no less than 30 days (used to be 21 days by some standards but now 30 is accepted) and the statements begin to function independently afterwards.  The practice has significant consequences in overall productivity of an individual and is a directed training.  Any business person who is solid and active in business from middle level to above has developed a professional mind.  One of the purposes of the professional graduate programs is to teach the students such thinking.  Medical school teaches not only medicine but also how to act and function as a doctor.  Law school teaches not only law but also how to act and function as a doctor.  Business school is no different.  Many people especially in the sales field have career paths outside of the traditional training and receive limited training otherwise.  Affirmations are common practice in such avenues and work great for the established proofessional upgrading to higher levels.  The real use of the techniques is not for mood therapy but improving the subconscious mind for serious performance.  Oversimplifying the process to fit any ordinary person obviously can make for multitude of problems.  The process is designed to work properly by utilizing a great number of statements.  Using one or a handful of verses from the bible as self-affirmations will not make one a Christian nor make for a Christian mindset.  A great many select verses has to be meditated on for reasonable time to change the subconscious mind into operating EFFECTIVELY otherwise.  Oversimplification is the problem and not the process of self-affirmation.

Legal System is an Opposing Views issue and as any other volumes provides good and comprehensive coverage of the topic.  I have to admit reading it quickly, I am no different than the rest of the population and know a good deal about various debate issues relating to the legal system than many other important issues.  I obviously have my own opinion on several of the issues but the reading is still interesting because the positions taken are unusual in some cases.  I learned a few things and probably read other related volumes but not Legal System again.

The desktop PC used to be so impressive.  I remember the days when processors were speeding up and the memories matched the internet flow via analog modems.  People spent about $2000 to get a desktop replacing the slower machines and Internet was taking off very fast.  The desktop used to beat laptops mostly because the upgrading possible.  The passage of time made the memory and processors fall behind and laptops had little remedy for this problem but desktop could add memory chips and even change the processor to live on for another year.  The happy days ended as the prices of laptops began to drop quickly.  The life of a computer became shorter and shorter and Internet lines faster and cheaper.  The laptop beat desktop when mobile became the norm.  The generation Y 18 to 24 plug into the net every waking moment and movement is necessary.  The rise of mobile brought new technology and applications.  The laptop fell behind but caught on quickly by beating the handhelds and the cellphones.  Today laptop is the king and even threatens the new (old) invention-The Netbook.  The laptop wins in every category against its competition and proves evolution determines the future survivors.  The weight has gone down.  The screen has got bigger and better.  The processor speed beats them all.  The memory and storage are impressive.  The connectivity is ridiculous.  I can list every single category and the laptop has beaten all devices and not only the desktop.  Is the Desktop PC dead?  I would say not.  The PC exists as  a form in the personal and business universes.  It maybe gone and dead for some of us and for sometime but the future may bring it back with new capabilities to make its place again.
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from Lifehacker by Azadeh Ensha

Desktop sales fell by 23 percent last year across the computer industry. In the U.S., 80 percent of sales went to notebooks. Gizmodo declares the desktop dead, but we're wondering if you see a future for non-mobile systems.

Photo by coda.

Our gadget-focused sibling argues that a laptop can now do everything a desktop can do, only more simply, wirelessly, and with a negligible price difference. While they concede that graphics and hard drive performance, for the most part, are generally less costly across desktops, these differences are becoming less pronounced, so much so that "in virtually any scenario, a laptop is the sensible buy." We're going out on a limb and assuming that they're factoring laptop-to-bigger-monitor hook-ups in their world view.

Given how rewarding a built-from-scratch PC can be, we're curious to hear how our own—perhaps less shiny/new-obsessed—readers feel about the desktop computer. Can any application keep it a viable market force? What would it take for you to consider one over a laptop? Share your declarations, prognostications, and/or eulogies in the comments.

So Long Desktop PC, You Suck [Gizmodo]

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/9F7bki_wp2I/is-the-desktop-pc-dead

The economy may or may not be doing okay.  The beginning of the year was scary and it was an election year so had to bring some kind of new spirit to direct the votes.  Has it got better? Probably not.  The only thing significant nationwide is to keep the public content and the flow of consumer money going.  As far as the big folks are concerned our economy begins and ends with the consumer spending.  The business has been good for Hollywood however.  Last statistics I saw mentioned Hollywood as our number one export after agriculture.  And agriculture is subsidized which means the government pays that industry to stay alive and also export helping the big folks make lots of money in the process in the name of the economy, the poor farmers, the GDP but never in the name of big corporate profits.  Last week was a lucky week for Hollywood.  Poor Michael Jackson's troubled life ended efficiently.  It is interesting how little can be done when the time is right for some folks to benefit from something tragic or disastrous and so on.  Business will be booming for how long that Michael Jackson has passed away?  Elvis had the biggest exit and he still pays for the publicity he got in his lifetime.  Michael Jackson did very good in his life for a while.  It used to be back in the old days when Hollywood had the studio system, the stars were called "cows" and were not allowed to have names!  They were called Universal's girl or in Michael Jackson's case what?  Michael would have been Sony's Black Dancer? He would have been loaned around to other big name companies to make their own products (music) for a fee and make plenty of money off his no-name!  The life of success ended probably without a notice.  Things began to go down over the years and who knows what Michael Jackson did to deserve him his exit.  The big folks love him to death now.  The flow of sales direct and indirect is never-ending probably till next year.  Hollywood exports moved up.  On another note, a few fools may distance themselves from the noise and the celebration to spend a moment thinking of Michael Jackson as a human being? The books listed here sound more insightful into the real life of Michael Jackson than the garbage the media broadcasts to benefit the folks bigger than us in the pocket books.  I am interested in the first one and will probably check it out.
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Jun 30, 2009, 11:54 AM | by Ken Tucker

Categories: Books, Michael Jackson, Music

If you're looking for something to read about Michael Jackson that will give you some insight into the man's talent and life, I recommend these three very different books:

1. The Michael Jackson Story, by Nelson George. First published in 1984 as a paperback quickie, The Michael Jackson Story is actually a first-rate cultural study by the journalist-critic-historian Nelson George. George draws on his deep knowledge of soul and rhythm & blues, along with lots of original reporting, to place Jackson in the history of popular music in a lively, exciting way.

2. Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream, by Dave Marsh. A 1985 book by the well-known rock critic that argues that Jackson's background as an abused child and his subsequent attempts to live in a safe, self-contained world of Peter Pan-like surroundings, trapped him in an artistically limiting way. Despite being critical of many of Jackson's decisions and those of the people surrounding him, Trapped also brims over with love and knowledge of Jackson's music, and offers some of the finest analyses ever about what made Jackson's hits work, and why his best music is so brilliant.

3. Moonwalk, by Michael Jackson. This 1988 autobiography was a typical bit of non-music Jackson product. Which is to say, it was marketed as a revealing tell-all but published mostly to promote his then-new album Bad, while trying assiduously to reveal as little as possible. Filled with banalities such as "The price of fame can be a heavy one" and "It hurts to be mobbed,"Moonwalk ultimately cannot help but disclose more than its author intended. His chronicles of his upbringing under the brutal hand of his father Joe are far more poignant and painful than he alluded to in the TV documentary Life With Michael Jackson. And Michael's discussions of his show-biz models -- what he calls "the real showmen: James Brown, Sammy Davis, Jr., Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly" -- are fascinating. The book also captures Jackson's contradictions, such as when he speaks of his muscial achievements and his multi-million-dollar contracts for Pepsi-Cola commercials with equal pride. It's a rare peek into the way Jackson's mind worked.

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/06/michael-jackson-moonwalk-books.html?xid=rss-popwatch-Three+Michael+Jackson+books+you've+got+to+read

Today is the middle of 2009 and once again I hear about the high speed train that moves from SF to LA.  I always thought it the greatest idea in California for a long time.  The California life can change so much if the train comes around and the population can move.  The population can begin to move away from the Pacific coast and settle inland ending so many of the problems the great (?) state of California has and many more benefits.  Most people probably do not know this but the BART which is the high speed commute train in Northern California was originally designed to loop the Bay and provide great transport for millions of the population but those a*&(oles in the South Bay and Peninsula refused to pay for their share.  Why? They feared the locals would shop in San Francisco and take their money away.  Thank God for the Internet taking their money away if not now but eventually.  The good old American monopoly of retail has been fading for years and eventually will break loose holding millions captive with their dictates of price and brands.  The high speed train will someday be built and as long as it does not branch to Las Vegas which seems to be the plan can do California wonders.  The Las Vegas extension is downright evil.  The average person living in the Los Angeles area lack so much in personal abilities compared to the Northern California that the latter dummies are labeled "intellectuals."  The Las Vegas train will funnel so many paychecks straight into Nevada Casinos and ruin so many communities the people pursuing it would have been prosecuted in another stage of American society as unAmerican.  Anything good that is coming up will bring something horrible in the same package.  
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Shot by Shot is a large book but reads very easily.  The information is interesting and I found them to be useful for learning to make videos and motion pictures.  I definitely will read Shot by Shot again expect to apply the information in the meantime.  The book blends techniques from any area of filmmaking that serves its directing aim.  It is one of the better film books I have read and will be particularly interesting once I know the underlying disciplines much better.

Screenwriting for Teens targets specific readers but can be beneficial to others and I was right in my assumption.  I learned more by quick reading than many other screenwriting texts.  The good thing about such texts is the important ideas are always included and emphasized.  A good text also simplifies them to be understandable and this assumption has held true for me reading many such books intended for other audiences.  I will read Screenwriting for Teens again and probably a third time someday to cement the ideas and the 100 concepts introduced are invaluable to a person who is young or inexperienced (as I am).  I recommend if you have a use for the material.

Creative Essentials are nice compact size books and very well organized in content.  The information is accurate and comprehensive.  "Short Films" is no exception and provides a good deal but is not as useful as one would expect.  The information is borderline general and practical.  The person who reads Short Films will benefit from a good deal of information in that regards but still has a good deal to learn before finds one on track.  How-to books are good for learning the very practical stuff needed to get to work and succeed.  Short Films qualifies as a how-to but is provides a good deal of information adequate for career person who wants to be well rounded in their position rather than someone who is 100% about results.  I think it addresses a British filmmaker more than an American and comes across as a huge load of stuff only a little of which is needed for sure.

The Eye Is Quicker is an editing book but written in a continuous form.  The text continues without stopping to separate concepts but does boldface the important.  I read through quickly and will read it again.  The examples are quite interesting and was definitely worthwhile.  Editing is finally getting a feel of familiar for me.  The books I have read help me absorb the concepts and the thoughts relating to the editing process.  In time, I possibly feel able to think of a movie in terms of the edit.  I recommend the Eye Is Quicker as a good investment of your learning time.