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| 7/12 |
| 2005/11/1-4 [Recreation/Dating] UID:40387 Activity:kinda low |
11/1 My lady's birthday is coming soon. All the obvious hints for gifts are
significantly more pricey than what she bought for me on my birthday
(we both have the same salary (within 5K). Is it still the case that
the guy is supposed to throw money at the girl ? -- puzzled
\_ Promise her anything, but give her the tab key.
(point taken)
\_ Well, your girl is giving you hints. You can: 1) Take them and
have a happy girl, 2) Ignore them and hope she's fine with
that, or 3) Find a low-maintenance girl. It's pretty common for
guys to spoil girls, yes. It's the price to pay for keeping
your ding-a-ling happy.
\ ding-a-ling == sex life right ?
\_ she's not a girl. she's a lady. -OP
\_ She's a lady! Whoa whoa whoa! She's a lady!
\_ We named the dog "lady".
\_ she's not a girl. she's a lady. like the dog. -OP
\_ Arf. http://tinyurl.com/e26ed -John
\_ Obviously you chose your present poorly. Now you pay for it.
\_ He hasn't chosen it yet. He chose his GF poorly.
\_ His *own* birthday gift. It's his fault he asked for crap
and she wants a Maserati.
\_ A relationship shouldn't be about "scorecards". If you love her
that much, it shouldn't matter the price.
\- search for "surprise" at:
http://home.lbl.gov:8080/~psb/Articles/Politics/DeBeers=Evil.txt
\_ We have a family policy against diamonds until I can get
cheap synthetics.
\_ Why cheap? I'd be more than happy to pay hight prices
\_ Why cheap? I'd be more than happy to pay high prices
for synthetic diamonds if it helped some company recover
their R&D expenses that made the diamonds possible.
Of course, I have other reasons for wanting synthetic
diamonds, but I think developing them is a good thing for
the world for several reasons. Diamond is an amazing
material.
\_ Ok, sure. But I'm a cheapskate. Although I
certainly do want to support the inventors, and I
don't want to support DeBeers.
\_ Heh. I think it's safe to assume that the DeBeers
are not likely to be inestors in any synthetic
are not likely to be investors in any synthetic
diamond venture.
\_ http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2005-10-06-man-made-diamonds_x.htm
\_ Geez, at least she's giving you hints. "Surpise me!" is FAR
worse.
\_ Yeah, it means your girlfriend has a speech impediment. -John
\_ Out of curiosity, what did she get you and what is
"your lady" lobbying for? Your use of "my lady" makes
me wonder about you. I suspect you are lacking balls
and are looking for affirmation.
\_ Does not parse. "speech impediment" was referring to
"surpise me (sic). You cannot see my testicles, as
they are currently teabagging yermom in my search for
affirmation. Sit. -John |
| 7/12 |
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| tinyurl.com/e26ed -> www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mb606/F2241577?thread=1247780 Now_for_the_Sidedish, Last Week News from Yorskhire Extract from the Yorkshire Evening Post: "A drunk who claimed he had been raped by a dog was yesterday jailed for 12 months by a judge. Martin Hoyle, 45, was arrested by police after a p assing motorist and his girlfriend found a Staffordshire bull terrier, c alled Badger, having sex with him at the side of a road in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Prosecutor Ben Crosland said the couple had stopped to help because they thought Hoyle was being attacked by the animal. But when they got closer they saw that he had his trousers round his ankles, was down on all fou rs and the dog was straddling him from behind. "The defendant mumbled something about the dog having taken a liking to h im," said Mr Crosland. "The couple were extremely offended and sickened by what they saw." Another passing motorist contacted the police and Hoy le was arrested as he walked with the dog down the road. Hoyle, of East view, Marsh, Huddersfield, told police "I can't help it if the dog took a liking to me. He repeated the ra pe allegation at the police station and added "The dog pulled my trousers down." Hoyle, who has had a long-standing alcohol pr oblem, was jailed for 12 months after he admitted committing an act whic h outraged public decency. His barrister said Hoyle had no memory of the incident because of his dru nken state, but was now very remorseful and incredibly embarrassed. Jailing him, Judge Alistair McCallum told Hoyle "Never before in my time at the bar or on the bench have I ever had to deal with somebody who vol untarily allowed himself to be buggered by a dog on the public highway. Spurs_Cockerel, Last Week Well ive never heard a judge say "Never before in my time at the bar or on the bench have I ever had to d eal with somebody who voluntarily allowed himself to be buggered by a d og on the public highway. EDGARALLENDEFOE, Last Week Well ive never heard a judge say "Never before in my time at the bar or on the bench have I ever had to d eal with somebody who voluntarily allowed himself to be buggered by a d og on the public highway. Frankly it is beyond most of our comprehensio n I used to live in Huddersfield and can categorically add ive never been raped by a dog on a public highway. robrev, Last Week No no i have found a favourite quote : "somebody who voluntarily allowed himself to be buggered by a dog on the public highway" I defy someone to find a funnier quote, on any subject, ever! |
| home.lbl.gov:8080/~psb/Articles/Politics/DeBeers=Evil.txt EDU Subject: FYI: DeBeers -> Lawful Evil Status: RO Talking about "blood diamonds" has been in vogue for a while, but I always found the debeers "reality control" practices more interesting. It is perhaps little dated as it does not discuss high quality artificial diamonds but the historical perspective is fascinating. Has anyone written an expose on DeBeers or otherwise cross them and live to tell about it? Especially hope you past and present DeBeers customers enjoy it :-) --psb >Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds were found only in a few >riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil, and the entire world >production of gem diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. Some hundred million women wear >diamonds, while millions of others keep them in safe-deposit boxes or >strongboxes as family heirlooms. It is conservatively estimated that >the public holds more than 500 million carats of gem diamonds, which >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >is more than fifty times the number of gem diamonds produced by the >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >diamond cartel in any given year ... The moment a significant portion >of the public begins selling diamonds from this inventory, the price >of diamonds cannot be sustained. For the diamond invention to >survive, the public must be inhibited from ever parting with its >diamonds. As far as De Beers and N W Ayer were >concerned, "safe hands" belonged to those women psychologically >conditioned never to sell their diamonds. see below and the full article for the problem of "cheating by cartel affilates" --psb >When the campaign began, in 1967, not quite 5 percent of engaged >Japanese women received a diamond engagement ring. By 1978, half of all Japanese >women who were married wore a diamond; by 1981, some 60 percent of >Japanese brides wore diamonds. In a mere fourteen years, the >1,500-year Japanese tradition had been radically revised. Japan became the second >largest market, after the United States, for the sale of diamond >engagement rings. De Beers ordered N W Ayer to reverse one of its >themes: women were no longer to be led to equate the status and >emotional commitment to an engagement with the sheer size of the >diamond. DeBeers >devised the "eternity ring," made up of as many as twenty-five tiny >Soviet diamonds, which could be sold to an entirely new market of >older married women. The advertising campaign was based on the theme >of recaptured love. Again, sentiments were born out of necessity: > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >older American women received a ring of miniature diamonds because of >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >the needs of a South African corporation to accommodate the Soviet Union. W Ayer learned from an opinion poll it commissioned from the firm >of Daniel Yankelovich, Inc. that the gift of a diamond contained an >important element of surprise. "Approximately half of all diamond >jewelry that the men have given and the women have received were given >with zero participation or knowledge on the part of the woman >recipient," the study pointed out. N W Ayer analyzed this "surprise >factor": > > Women are in unanimous agreement that they want to > be surprised with gifts.... They want, of course, to > be surprised for the thrill of it. However, a > deeper, more important reason lies behind this > desire.... Some of the women > pointed out that if their husbands enlisted their > help in purchasing a gift (like diamond jewelry), > their practical nature would come to the fore and > they would be compelled to object to the purchase. The study suggested a two-step "gift-process continuum": >first, "the man 'learns' diamonds are ok" fom the woman; then, "at >some later point in time, he makes the diamond purchase decision" to >surprise the woman. The male-female roles seemed to resemble >closely the sex relations in a Victorian novel. "Man plays the >dominant, active role in the gift process. " The woman seemed to believe >there was something improper about receiving a diamond gift. Women >spoke in interviews about large diamonds as "flashy, gaudy, overdone" >and otherwise inappropriate. Yet the study found that "Buried in the >negative attitudes ... lies what is probably the primary driving force >for acquiring them. Diamonds are a traditional and conspicuous signal >of achievement, status and success." It noted, for example, "A woman >can easily feel that diamonds are 'vulgar' and still be highly >enthusiastic about receiving diamond jewelry." The element of >surprise, even if it is feigned, plays the same role of accommodating >dissonance in accepting a diamond gift as it does in prime sexual >seductions: it permits the woman to pretend that she has not actively >participated in the decision. She thus retains both her innocence -- >and the diamond. The >"keystone," or markup, on a diamond and its setting may range from 100 >to 200 percent, depending on the policy of the store; if it bought >diamonds back from customers, it would have to buy them back at >wholesale prices. Most jewelers would prefer not to make a customer an >offer that might be deemed insulting and also might undercut the >widely held notion that diamonds go up in value. Moreover, since >retailers generally receive their diamonds from wholesalers on >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ consignment, and need not pay for them until they are sold, they would >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >not readily risk their own cash to buy diamonds from customers. A little bit below: >By 1978, the banks had extended $850 million in credit to diamond >dealers, an amount equal to some 5 percent of the entire gross >national product of Israel. The only collateral the banks had for >these loans was uncut diamonds ... At that rate, it would be only a matter of months before the >Israeli stockpile would exceed the cartel's in London. If Israel >controlled such an enormous quantity of diamonds, the cartel could no >longer fix the price of diamonds with impunity ... The cartel decided > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >that it had no alternative but to force liquidation of the Israeli >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >stockpile. De Beers announced >that it was adopting a new strategy of imposing "surcharges" on >diamonds. Since these "surcharges," which might be as much as 40 >percent of the value of the diamonds, were effectively a temporary >price increase, they could pose a risk to banks extending credit to >diamond dealers. For example, with a 40 percent surcharge, a diamond >dealer would have to pay $1,400 rather than $1,000 for a small lot of >diamonds; however, if the surcharge was withdrawn, the diamonds would >be worth only a thousand dollars. |
| www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2005-10-06-man-made-diamonds_x.htm Man-made diamonds sparkle with potential By Kevin Maney, USA TODAY BOSTON In the back room of an unmarked brown building in a run-down str ip mall, eight machines, each the size of a bass drum, are making diamon ds. By Geoff Forester for USA TODAY That's right making diamonds. Real ones, all but indistinguishable from the stones formed by a billion or so years' worth of intense pressure, later to be sold at Tiffany's. The company doing this is Apollo Diamond, a tiny outfit started by a form er Bell Labs scientist. Peer inside Apollo's stainless steel-and-glass m achines, and you can see single-crystal diamonds literally growing amid hot pink gases. This year, Apollo expects to grow diamonds as big as 2 carats. The diamonds will probably start moving into the jewelry market as early as next year at perhaps one-t hird the price of a mined diamond. The whole concept turns the fundamental idea of a diamond on its head. Th e ability to manufacture diamonds could change business, products and da ily life as much as the arrival of the steel age in the 1850s or the inv ention of the transistor in the 1940s. It can make computers run at speeds that would melt the innards of today's computers. Manufacture d diamonds could help make lasers of extreme power. The material could a llow a cellphone to fit into a watch and iPods to store 10,000 movies, n ot just 10,000 songs. Diamonds could mean frictionless medical replaceme nt joints. Or coatings perhaps for cars that never scratch or wear o ut. Scientists have known about the possibilities for years. But they've been held back because mined diamonds are too expensive and too rare. And th ey're hard to form into wafers and shapes that would be most useful in p roducts. It's like the difference between having to wa it for lightning to start a fire vs. "I'm just so completely awed by this technology," says Sonia Arrisonof te ch analysis group Pacific Research Institute. "Basically, anything that relies on computing power will accelerate." Arno Penzias, a venture capitalist and Nobel Prize winner for physics, sa ys, "This diamond-fabrication story marks a high-profile milestone on an amazing scientific journey." "We can't begin to see all the things that can happen because single diam ond crystals can be made," says Apollo co-founder Robert Linares, elegan t and slim in a golf shirt, slacks and loafers as he sits at the two pla stic folding tables that make up Apollo's low-budget conference room. Linares has worked on the technology for 15 years, much of that time in h is garage. From the start, he did this because of the promise of diamond s in technology. Well, actually, time will tell whether the accident was a happy one. Two different paths to diamonds In 1955, General Electric figured out how to use room-size machines to pu t carbon under extremely high pressure and make diamond dust and chips. The diamond material wasn't pure or big enough for gems or digital techn ology. But it had industrial uses, such as diamond-tipped saws. Such saw s made it possible, for instance, to cut granite into countertops. In the ensuing decades, companies and inventors tried to make bigger, bet ter diamonds. By the 1990s, researchers were fo cused on two different paths to diamonds. Some Russians became pretty good at it, and their ma chines were eventually brought to Florida by Gemesis. That company now c rushes carbon under 58,000 atmospheres of pressure at 2,300 degrees Fahr enheit, until the stuff crystallizes into yellowish diamonds. The stones are attractive for jewelry but not pure enough for digital technology. Gemesis sells its gems through retailers at around $5,000 per carat. The other process is called chemical vapor deposition, or CVD. It uses a combination of carbon gases, temperature and pressure that, Linares says, re-creates conditions present at the beginning of th e universe. Atoms from the vapor land on a tiny diamond chip placed in t he chamber. Then the vapor particles take on the structure of that diamo nd growing the diamond, atom by atom, into a much bigger diamond. It's also a way to make diamond wafers, much like silicon wafers for computer chips. The C VD process can be tweaked by putting in enough boron to allow the diamon d to conduct a current. A handful of companies and scientists, including Sumitomo in Japan and th e global diamond powerhouse De Beers, have chased CVD. After receiving his doctorate in materials science from Rutgers Universit y, Linares joined Bell Labs and worked on crystals that would be crucial in telecommunications. In the 1980s, he started Spectrum Technology to make single-crystal Gallium Arsenide chips, one of the key components in cellphones. Spectrum became the material's biggest US supplier, and L inares eventually sold the company to NERCO Advanced Materials. He then dropped out of business, putting his time and money into his pet project: making CVD diamonds for cutting tools and electronics. "Gemston es were the furthest thing from my mind," Linares says. Breakthrough in a garage workshop Linares built machines in his garage, superheating carbon in suburban Bos ton while his neighbors went about their lives. He got the CVD process t o work, at first making tiny diamond chips. He formed Apollo and started down the path to industrial diamonds. Then Linares inadvertently left a diamond piece in a beaker of acid over a weekend. The acid cleaned up e xcess carbon essentially coal that had stayed on the diamond. "When I came in Monday, I couldn't see the (stone) in the beaker," Linare s says. Apollo Diamond is making real diamonds through a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Here is an explanation of the process: A slice of diamond is placed flat inside a chamber. Hydrogen and hydr ocarbon gases are injected and heated to thousands of degrees at the rig ht pressure. Carbon atoms land on the diamond slice and replicate the crystals st ructure, the way a drop of water merges seamlessly into a pool of water. Or the diamond can be cu t into thin wafers for computer chips or other uses. Part of the slice i s returned to the chamber to make the next diamond. We basically grow our own raw material, says Apollo president Bryant Li nares. For Apollo, there are lots of good things about making gems. Diamond jewe lry will be a $60 billion global market this year, and it's growing fast . If Apollo can snag just 1%, the company would become a $600 million ro cket. While the military a nd companies are working on tech inventions that use diamonds, a real ma rket for diamond technology might be a decade away. By selling gems, Apo llo can make money now to fund the research for forthcoming diamond tech products. Aside from Li nares, Apollo is run by his son, Bryant, an MBA who started and sold an information services company. Vice President Patrick Doering had been le ad scientist at Spectrum. Bryant Linares notes that Apollo plans to spl it into a tech business run by the Linareses and a gem business run by a gem veteran they have yet to hire. For now, though, the gem business is a distraction with a steep learning curve. Apollo's other problem is De Beers, which doesn't like what Apollo is doi ng one bit. De Beers launched a public relations campaign and an educati on program for jewelers, all aimed at portraying mined diamonds as real and eternal and CVD or Gemesis diamonds as fake and tacky. Both Apollo and Gemesis want to market their gems as "cultured diamonds," taking a cue from cultured pearls. "It 's misleading and unacceptable," says De Beers executive Simon Lawson. " It makes people think (manufacturing diamonds) is an organic process, an d it's not." Even highly trained diamond experts find it almost impossible to tell a C VD diamond from a mined one. De Beers is determined to help by making ma chines that can detect the slightest difference in the way the two mater ials refract light. As part of that effort, De Beers stepped up its own CVD research "focused on producing state-of-the-art synthetic diamonds for testing on our equ ipment," Lawson says. Referring to CVD diamonds, he adds, "We don't see gemological applications fitting into it." So by ge... |