Westtribune's Blog

Image rotator: build your own! .

westtribune — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:43:16 +0000

Can’t wait to get your own image rotator? Go there!

Last year, when I published a post about displaying a random picture on a SharePoint page, I left some unfinished business. At the end of the post, I was suggesting some improvements, but I didn’t provide the related code.

So I have decided to build an image rotator generator: simply go to this page, choose your settings, and get your own script. You can then add it to a SharePoint page using a Content Editor Web Part, as usual.

One key ups feature of this image rotator is that it allows you to use pictures optimized for the Web, instead of the original pictures. I’ll provide more details on this in a dedicated post.

Another plus is the option to choose the refresh frequency, using the JavaScript setInterval function. This is something I had already mentioned in a SharePoint forum 3 months ago.

I am already thinking about future enhancements, for example:
- make it work for anonymous users, not just in authenticated environments
- add transition effects
- add a description to each picture

There is still a lot of room for improvement, so your feedback is welcome!

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Traverus Travel Enters into China and Trumps Ytb and Fdi International .

westtribune — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:52:39 +0000

Traverus Travel Network, the fast-growing, world-wide on-line travel promoter, and ChinaClicks2, the exclusive marketing partner of 5CTV, have announced the forming of a new travel venture in the People’s Republic of China . The new company, Traverus China , will dedicate itself to building a strong traveler’s network in mainland China , Hong Kong and Taiwan , the so-called Greater China Region.http://www.kingoftravel.info

Traverus Travel and Televerus Telecom and poised to become the next billion dollar company as Global Verge and Fdi International EXIT the Telecom Game Arena.

David Manning, the CEO of Traverus and Susan Pattis, CEO of ChinaClicks2 International Consulting, signed the joint-venture paper on May 19th, 2008 in Beijing , China . Kenneth Chou, one of the founders of the public-listed Internet travel company Star Travel in Taiwan , will sit on the advisory board of the new company. Both Susan and Kenneth will also join Traverus traverus Travel Network as partners.

Traverus Travel Network is also the exclusive travel industry partner with the recently aired 5CTV which is dedicated in programming that brings the world to China and China to the world, as Billy Campell, the CEO of 5CTV and formal CEO of Discovery Channel explained in its opening ceremony.

Traverus Travel just keeps getting Better and Better. People can join Traverus Travel at an affordable price for under $100 and learn how to REALLY book travel and Build a residual income. Traverus Travel is doing it Right. I am so impressed with the direction this company is going.

Traverus Travel is Building it OWN TRAVERUS TRAVEL RESORTS!! This company has so much vision. Now with the exclusive connection of world wide 5CTV and China Traverus Travel will be a household name globally! Traverus recently launched a Telecom division called Televerus Which is cooking up a storm and causing a storm in the Telecom and Wireless . http://www.kingoftravel.info

Traverus Travel is a 22 Year old Licensed and Bonded Brick and Mortar Debt Free, Fully International Travel Agency based out of Allen Texas. Traverus operates in 98 Countries and has Ministers of Tourism in many countries as Travel Agents with our Company.

ChinaClicks2 International Consulting Company Ltd(CC2) one of the most reputable wholly-owned foreign consulting firms in China (http://www.51prc.com.cn/)

Susan aslo serves as the Deputy Charman of the United World Chinese Association (based in Hong Kong) with over 50 million overseas Chines Members, in over 100 countries. Because of her contributions to several national projects, Susan is considered one of the most successful businesswomen in China and a National ICON!

Dr Susan Pattis will be on the Traverus Converance Cruise in November along with other Chinese Delegates. Here what her vision is with Traverus Travel on the Link above.

This is poised to be the World Class Leader in Travel and Telecom pioneering the Work From Home and Travel Industry.Traverus Travel China will soon become a Global Household name as we will be the first Internationally advertised Travel Company on all 5 Continents and the First into China. Those who are on board before this momentum hits are in the million dollar seats of the largest travel company in History. From The Citizens of China alone booking their Travel through a western company for the first time is Huge and will make us the most profitable Travel company in History.

Traverus created our own RTA travel portal which separated us from using another companies booking engine for our commissions. Now a Traverus agent can have a second booking engine without travelocity getting anything and the RTA will get the CTA %70 commission from this exclusive Traverus Booking Engine.

Traverus Travel Agents can sell our Booking Travel agents to other Travel Agencies and they do not have to Join Traverus. We will get %10 of all the Travel agencies volume for using our Portal. Talk about Leverage.

Why are travel agents attracted to our portal. Because they get the full commission of someone booking on a website just as if they did all the leg work of calling the vendor. Now they can give thier clients the website and they can book themselves and the Travel Agent gets Paid the Same.

Guess what you can remain an RTA with Traverus and you also able to Sell this portal to nonprofits and you do not have to pay anything extra to speak to non profits. We are currently revamping our program should be announced by the end of July with the added bonuses.

Traverus RTA’s Agents can even Sell our Travel Portal to Other MLM Companies. LOL Just like Travelocity. We see the trend of other MLM’s needing a Travel division for thier company for conventions and making it more affordable for thier leaders to travel and build the business. So we can Sell our Branded Travel Portal to XYZ network company and get 10% of all the Travel booked by that Company. http://www.kingoftravel.info

Does Toyota have a Credibility Problem? .

westtribune — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:42:27 +0000

Toyota is undertaking a massive recall of vehicles to fix accelerator pedals. Obviously, Toyota’s reputation has taken a huge hit. How are their incentives aligned with consumers in terms of fixing the problem?

At a fundamental level, Toyota has a huge incentive to make sure that they solve any problems in cars on the road and in dealerships and that there are no problems in cars they make in the future. If they put in a claimed fix to the problem and it’s not a real fix and there is an accident, their reputation takes another huge hit. The people who worked at AIG and caused the problems can find other jobs because they are still nameless to consumers. But Toyota’ brand name is its reputation and if that goes, suddenly G.M. has a future after all.

There are some conflicts of interest though between consumers and Toyota. Toyota have two fixes to the pedal problem. One is to just put in a new pedal. The second is to add a top sportsbooks steel bar to the bottom of the pedal to stop it sticking to the spring.

To the average consumer, a new pedal sounds better than the patched up old one. And it also sounds more expensive suggesting that Toyota is following a quick and dirty path to a recall with the steel bar. In an NPR interview, the Toyota CEO said both fixes cost roughly the same amount. But this does not convince non-experts, especially when Toyota has been so slow to react to the problems. So, it seems Toyota should go with the new pedal solution for everyone. Why aren’t they doing that?

This is where some conflict of interest appears: the steel bars can be produced more quickly than the new pedals. Toyota would like to get the cars on the road fixed as soon as possible to avoid another crash. So, it has decided to go for a fix which is fast but looks suspicious. This is the problem.

It has to try to make the solution as “above-the-board” as possible. Perhaps announce that anyone who got the steel bar can get the new pedal later in the year if they are not happy. If Toyota really believes the steel bar fix is as good as a new pedal, it should give away something free and valuable to make the solution credible and to say “we are sorry”. People wanting the new pedal should not get the freebie.

Not sure what the freebie should be..how about a discount on your next Toyota purchase? It should explicitly say that it can be added to any other discounts offered in the future so people know they are definitely getting a good deal

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Well, they finally did it

PSYCHIC DETECTIVES .

westtribune — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:50:39 +0000

A puzzling area of the paranormal is that of psychic detection. One of the most ridiculed talents, how is it possible for people to have knowledge of a crime through psychic means?
Many believers put it down to clairvoyance, but usually even this talent involves a degree of focusing – information comes from someone close to the receiver, or the psychic is concentrating on something in particular.
Neither of these apply to psychic detection. A few case studies.

TERESITA BASA

Forty seven year old Teresita Basa was found stabbed and partially burnt in her Chicago apartment on 21 Feb 1977. Originally from the Philippines, Teresita had worked at the Edgewater Hospital.
A Mrs Chua also worked at the hospital, and one evening shortly afterwards, she went into a trance and appeared to be taken over by Teresita’s spirit.
Before coming out of the trance, she accused a young black orderly called Allen Showery of the murder. Contacting the police, Showery’s flat was searched and Teresita’s jewels were found. Showery confessed to the murder.

DOROTHY ALLISON

On 3 December 1967 New Jersey housewife Dorothy Allison woke from a disturbing dream having seen a possibly Polish boy trapped in a pipe and wearing a green snow suit.
A few days later, she rang the police, who were sceptical. But the fact remained that a Polish boy called Michael had slipped and fallen into freezing water and his body had not been recovered.
Wearing a green snow suit, he had disappeared 2 hours AFTER Dorothy’s dream. Hypnotised, she claimed the boy would be found on 7 February in a car park behind an ITT factory. As the snows began to thaw on that date, the boy was released from a pipe near an ITT factory. Since the case, Dorothy has assisted the police many times.

NELLA JONES

Psychic Nella Jones offered some interesting information concerning the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, while he was still at large. She advised that the killer was called Peter, worked as a long distance driver, lived in an elevated house in Bradford numbered 6, and that on his lorry cab door was a name beginning with ‘C’. Peter Sutcliffe lived in an elevated house at 6 Garden Lane, Bradford. He worked as a driver for Clark Holdings.
Nella contacted the police with this information after a vision. In a further case – the abduction of four year old Simon Jones from Hemel Hempstead in September 1990 – Nella told police that the boy had not been murdered, as everyone thought, but was alive and his whereabouts were connected with a bell and a tunnel.
Two months later Simon was found alive and well in a men’s hostel close to The Bell pub, which was accessed by a narrow, tunnel-like alley.

JACQUELINE POOLE

One of the most impressive cases of psychic detection concerned the murder, in her Ruislip flat, of 25 year old barmaid Jacqueline Poole on 11 February 1983. Sexually assaulted and strangled, police were getting nowhere.
However, the following night, local woman Christine Holohan was visited by an apparition of Jacqueline. Over a number of nights she told Christine of some 120 varifiable facts about herself and the murder, including the name ‘Pokie.’
Christine went to the police, who had already interviewed Anthony ‘Pokie’ Ruark, but he had an alibi. In 1999 the case was reopened, and a jumper Ruark had tried to hide was submitted to DNA testing. It had traces of Jacqueline’s blood and saliva on it. He was convicted in 2001.

A TYPE OF CLAIRVOYANCE

The most appealing answer to such cases is to invoke a form of clairvoyance – in other words, the psychic detective accesses information about the cases from some pool of paranormal information.
The problem with this theory is that it is unproveable. And whilst I do not dismiss it as a possibility, what I want to do is see if any form of social interaction, linked with what we know of the human mind, can provide a glimpse of a more rational theory.
The obvious starting point is cryptomnesia. This is a known ability for the mind to access information from the unconscious the person did not realize was there. In effect, it passed into the mind without realizing it.

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

It is a matter of perception – or rather, unconscious perception. What we must ask is: when you sense the outside world, just how much information filters into the mind due to your observation?
In one sense, not very much. You only seem to ‘observe’ that which your attention is placed upon. But the reality is, everything that you are able to hear, see, or even smell enters your mind at some level.
The success of human cognition is our ability to ‘censor’ that which we need for conscious thought, allowing unrequired information to by-pass consciousness. But this information has to go somewhere, and it is most likely the case that it goes into the unconscious unnoticed.

INTERACTION

Taking this into account, just imagine an average person spending a day in the city. He has gone into the city on public transport, he has walked down many busy streets, maybe visited some shops, perhaps even gone to work in a large organization.
In just one day, our average person has experienced unrealized sensory input from perhaps over 10,000 people. If we then take those 10,000 people, and multiply the 10,000 people they have each had sensory input from, then we have a mass of humanity in the millions.
Now suppose two of the people you saw were talking about another person, who you hadn’t seen. Does ‘information’ about this person seep into your unconscious, too? If so, then this interaction of millions of people could place ‘knowledge’ of millions of people in your unconscious every day.

NARROWING DOWN THE ODDS

The reality of the human mind is that it could be so connected to the rest of humanity through unconscious interaction that we possess, in the unconscious, so much information that if it could be tapped, it would constitute a form of clairvoyance.
Of course, it is not just interaction that provides ‘information.’ Media sources such as newspapers, TV and radio must psychic chat be added to the memory bank of the unconscious. Indeed, cryptomnesia suggests simply scanning a paper is all we need for it to be inputed.
With such a mass of information available to the individual, it is not inconceivable that the mind can begin to make ‘connections’ between a media report, and a person someone else had seen that day.

THE DETECTION BEGINS

Once this process has begun, I suggest the conscious mind places ‘attention’ upon the information available in the unconscious. Bit by bit, other related factors surface, such as one of those millions acting suspiciously, as noticed by a third party.
Once the process has begun, deduction follows attention. And as the mind analyses this information mass within the unconscious, images begin to surface of a possible event or crime.
Is this a possible reality to psychic detection? Once it has happened once, can a person attune their mind to dredging information of other people and events, becoming a ‘serial’ psychic detective?
Of course, the theory is quite unproveable – there are too many social interactions each day to allow analysis. But it gives a strong hint that the answer to much paranormal phenomena may come, not from supernatural sources, but a realization of the vast, communal mind we could possess.

Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Click Tony On, on Blogroll, for my current affairs blog.
If you like fiction, click Fiction Page on Blogroll for my short stories.
Check out the pages. Find my Links on Eye On the World.

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Chad P. Kroeger vs. the Wading Pool .

westtribune — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:29:43 +0000

[Due to a total lack of depth on his part, Chad (the P. stands for "Penis") Kroeger often finds himself over his head. Whether he's trying to come off as "above the negative press" or counting his money and mourning the loss of his soul, Chad (of the Canadian Nickelbacks) will nearly always find himself overwhelmed by the pressures of his very existence.

In this particular anecdote, Chad finds his musical talent and grotesque growling questioned by the nearest object deeper than he is: a child's poker sites wading pool. Watch in shock and awe as Kroeger heads to the proverbial well more than once, only to find it patiently waiting to had his ass to him repeatedly.]

Note: this excellent piece of Chad-baiting prose comes to us courtesy of mostly-retired blogger Alan Truitt. This was stolen (with permission!) from one of his epic and monumental comment threads, the likes of which has not been seen since the last 2Girls1Cup reaction video.

Chad takes offense to something he thinks the Nikon has just said.

Fix YouTube .

westtribune — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:19:02 +0000

Some users may have noticed that YouTube videos can be slightly ‘jumpy’ in Firefox. Cain’t say I have or have not noticed this issue, may be I just thought it was normal. Anyway this problem started with Firefox 2 which introduced the Session Restore feature.

Many users, myself included, visit YouTube fhm on an almost daily basis. Ever since Firefox version 2.0 implemented the session restore function, when you are watching a video on YouTube (perhaps on other video sites as well, I haven’t really tested that), you may notice a tiny freeze-up of the video every 10 seconds or so. This happens because the session restore is by default set to save all open tabs every 10 seconds. This is especially noticeable if you happen to have a lot of tabs open at once.

There is an easy fix for this involving changing a setting in your about:config

In a new tab type about:config in the address bar and press enter
In the filter field type browser.sessionstore.interval
Double-click on the entry
In the pop-up enter 120000 (tabs will be saved about 2-minutes) or 300000 (tabs will be saved about 5-minutes)
Click OK
Close the tab

By the way here’s another good Firefox/YouTube ’Tweak’ YouTube: Auto Buffer and Stop AutoPlay

Source: Grand Stream Dreams

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Fashion Soup Corp. .

westtribune — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:45:53 +0000

Continuing our Fashion Week theme, I decided to give the full +/- treatment to a place I discovered on Friday, and mentioned briefly in yesterday’s post. Walking back to work from taking pictures of ‘wichcraft for my Fashion Week guide to Midtown Lunch, I randomly stumbled upon this weird little soup place- and based on the name alone, and what was going on half a block away in Bryant Park, I figured I had to check it out. As big and strange as NYC is, it really is a small world. Coincidentally enough, I ran into a friend of mine from college who I’ve maybe seen twice in the past 7 years, who was picking up lunch in the weird soup place.. so I asked him if it was any good, and on his recommendation I decided to check it out.

Whatever pre-conceived notion you might have about a place called “Fashion Soup Corp” it’s definitely wrong. There’s nothing about this place that is fashionable (unless you count the fashion magazines strewn around the counter for patrons to read). It’s actually so bare bones, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that they opened up just for Fashion Week attendees once a year (like those Halloween stores in the mall)… but that is not the case. Fashion Soup has been on 41st St. btw. 6th & Broadway for years- and the brother and sister duo who run it make a delicious array of homemade soups, sandwiches, quesadillas and empanadas for a menu that changes every single day.

What I got, and the +/- after the jump…

I’m not a huge fan of soup. I don’t *not* like soup… it’s just not at the top of my list of things to eat. It’s great on a cold or rainy day- but in general, I don’t really go to “soup” places. I’ve probably been to Hale & Hearty Soup twice, and both times got the soup and sandwich meal. After all, soup alone is no kind of lunch- unless it’s a big bowl of ramen. (Those soups are pretty sweet… but even they could still use some gyoza on the side.) Anyway, while the soups at Fashion Soup looked good enough, the fact that you could pair it with an empanada or 1/2 a quesadilla is what sold me on the place.

First the soups… then I’ll get to the other stuff. The menu consists of about 12 soups that are all home-made with fresh ingredients and change every single day. The lady behind the counter (the sister half of the duo) happily (and by happy I mean begrudgingly) informed me that all the soups were made fresh daily, all from fresh ingredients… no canned stocks or anything. For $3.75 to $7.50 you get a regular 12oz soup (the more expensive soups being the ones with seafood in them). A large 16oz soup will run you $6.50 to $9.50 (with the same sides) and the XL 32oz soups are too large to mention. Please- do not try to eat one of these on your own. Humans were not meant to eat that much soup, and it could be fatal. All soups ordered ala carte come with a piece of bread, cookie and fruit

Two of the soups are considered “Soups of the Day” and can be ordered as part of the “Value Meal”. The value meal consists of a 12oz cup of the soup of the day and an empanada or half a sandwich all for $5.50. For $5.95 you can get it with 1/2 a quesadilla. Clearly I needed the “Value Meal” which is both a value, and a meal. (Don’t get me wrong, fruit, bread and a cookie are delicious- but I’m all about the quesadillas & empanadas).

I decided to go with the Lentil Soup and 1/2 a quesadilla. elephant list The soup was hearty with a good peppery flavor. The quesadilla was surprisingly good (I’m pretty sure the owners are Eastern European… so I’m not sure where the quesadilla or empanada thing comes from). It was a thick quesadilla with what seemed like fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato and avocado, sandwiched between a thin, tasty tortilla. Not your typical quesadilla, but really good (especially if you like mozzarella, tomato and avocado).

For the sake of thoroughness (not because I’m a fat man who loves to over order), I decided to get a chicken empanada to try. These are the sacrifices I’m willing to make for you people! (Although my wife would probably say I was eating like this long before I started writing this blog…) Anyway, the empanada had a nice flaky crust, with a dry ground chicken filling- which I like. There’s also Ground Beef Empanadas, Beef & Mozzarella, Spinach & Mozzarella, and Broccoli & Cheddar. They range from $2.25 to $2.75 (or you can get it as part of the Value Meal).

All in all it’s a a great place for soup and non-soup lovers. If you love soups they’ve got tons of them, and the menu changes every day. And- the best part is, they post the daily list of soups every day on their website: http://www.fashionsoup.com. The day I was there, they had a Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella (supposedly the one soup that they have every day), Corn & Spinach, Potato and Leek Chowder, Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Chicken w/ Barley & Corn, Italian Wedding Soup (I love mini meatballs!), Chicken w/ Corn & Spinach, New England Clam Chowder, and Creamy Crab and Shrimp w/ Spinach.

If you just “like” soup, but wouldn’t go somewhere for soup and soup alone- then the Value Meal is the way to go. Pair up one of their soups of the day with a delicious quesadilla or empanada… but try to eat them there if you can- they don’t do so well on the walk home. They have two counters with stools where you can enjoy your fashion soup, and there’s reading material to boot! (As long as you like Vogue…)

THE +

All the soups are made daily using fresh ingredients
Great variety. The list of soups change every single day.
They have an updated menu of soups every day on their website… so you can check out what they’re serving before you leave the office
Forget about soup and sandwich… go for the soup and empanada, or soup and 1/2 quesadilla
Avocado in the quesadilla… hello delicious!
Quick, easy and cheap
Free fashion magazines to read while you eat

THE -

The decor is pretty bare bones- so it doesn’t make for a particularly comfortable lunch with a co-worker. Best to take it to go… but the quesadillas, and empanadas don’t do to well on the walk back to the office
If you do decide to stay, there aren’t very many stools to sit at (and no tables- just a counter, so it’s not recommended for more then two people unless you don’t care about looking at each other)

Fashion Soup Corp., 124 W. 41st. (btw. 6th & B’way), 212-704-0909

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Two Cars, One Night .

westtribune — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:23:14 +0000

While waiting for their parents, two boys and click tracking a girl meet in the carpark of a rural New Zealand pub. What at first seems to be a relationship based on rivalry soon develops into a close friendship as we learn that love can be found in the most unlikely of places. Nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.

BOY, Taika Waititi’s feature film inspired by Two Cars, One Night, is due for release in April 2010.

For world sales, contact Juliette Veber at the NZ Film Commission: http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/

Two Cars, One Night on Wholphin No 4: http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm…

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Hello world!

westtribune — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:43:10 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!