The sharing economy,and the companies that embody it, have often waded into a fight wherever they set up shop. That’s because local governments aren’t nimble enough to cope with such radically new ideas, and the companies themselves often struggle wi…
Tea is a delicious and nutritious drink that can add a lot to your overall health, especially when you drink it hot. There are a million different types of tea from all over the world that are made from a range of plant life like leaves and flowers to bark and berries with everything in between. If you are well-versed enough in tea to know how delicious loose leaf can be, you’ve likely made the switch to either getting an infuser or some sort of press. While my personal favorite is the Ingenuitea because it’s so easy to use and doesn’t leave grimy bits behind, that doesn’t mean it’s the only one to use.
For those looking for a fun infuser that will be nice for either personal use or when guests are over, the Baby Nessie Tea Infuser will add some cuteness to your afternoon cuppa. This little critter has a long neck and short stubby feet that sit underneath the body that will hold the loose leaf tea. The top and the bottom both have holes to make sure that none of the flavor will be stuck inside.
This is available in blue, purple, or green, and will cost you anywhere from $12.99-14.99. It only stands around 5.7” tall, and is small-bodied so that it can still fit in your favorite mug. While you can stick this in the dishwasher after using it, don’t put it in the microwave. Hopefully you never heat up your tea in the microwave, but we all understand that desperate times can sometimes befall the best of us.
Available for purchase on Amazon
[ Baby Nessie Tea Infuser injects some cute into your daily routine copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
VLC, the venerable and widely used multi-platform video player, received a major update on Android today, adding a number of highly requested features while managing to actually reduce the number of permissions it needs. That seems like an infallible sign of a trustworthy developer right there. Read More
It’s the people who make Taiwan my second-favorite country in the world to visit.
The Taiwanese people have a very appealing confidence in themselves that has been forged through decades of struggle with China, as well as 50 years of Japanese cultural influence when Taiwan was under colonial rule from 1895-1945. This self-confidence allows the Taiwanese to turn outward towards other countries, as cosmopolitan, refined citizens of the new global order.
Taiwan blooms with an infectious passion for living. And one of the best ways to experience that vibrant life is on a bicycle. Owner Alex Chang of Taiwan Cycling took me on an unforgettable day trip outside the city of Taipei, and we pedaled through lush, verdant countryside from the mountains down to the sea shore. The villages were charming, and the people were smiling and friendly.
Whereas driving a car through a neighborhood is too fast to take in the ambiance, and walking can be tiring after a few hours, biking is just right. You can roll slow enough to take in a lot of the daily life in a village, while still enjoying the exhilaration of balancing on two skinny wheels with the gentle breeze on your skin.
The Grand Hyatt Taipei was the first of two hotels I sampled in Taipei, and their Yunjin Restaurant stood out for a delicacy to which I am addicted, known as the Sichuan Peppercorn (ask for 香椒子 xiāng jiāo zi, “aromatic peppercorn” or 青花椒 qīng huā jiāo. See the green branch below).
Don’t let the name fool you: this spice is only distantly related to the chili pepper. Rather, it is a member of the citrus family, and offers a remarkable sensation. When you eat it, it slightly numbs your tongue while also setting it a-tingle. It produces a symphony of sensations in your mouth, as if you can taste, touch and feel your food all at the same time, sort of like eating in 3D. Amazing.
The Hyatt’s rooms were recently renovated and the decor is both tasteful and well-appointed. But the hotel’s perfect location left me within walking distance of almost every venue I wanted to visit. This turned out to be a very important advantage when there were rain showers.
The highlight of my stay at the Grand Hyatt was a tiny act that made a huge impression on me. One afternoon, the doorman noticed that I was leaving on foot and stopped me to say, “Sir, I know it doesn’t look like it right now, but I think it will rain soon. Would you mind taking my umbrella with you?”
I looked at him like he was crazy, but grasped the umbrella while we stood in the baking sun. That same afternoon the blazing sun suddenly became a drenching downpour, and there wasn’t a taxi available for even a million dollars. As I imitated Gene Kelly splashing back to my hotel and singing in the downpour, that doorman’s thoughtful, considerate act saved my laptop and my mood as I arrived at the Grand Hyatt with wet feet but a grateful heart. This was service at its best, and you can’t fake such kindness.
Those of you who read my article on the Spanish art of “ambiente” know that my travels are a constant search for friendly social settings where it’s easy to meet locals. The R&D Cocktail Lab was like I’d died and gone to Heaven. So, how does one bar have so much ambiance while others do not? Perhaps it has to do with the beautiful wrought-iron artwork on the walls, or the bar that looks like it was pulled out of a 1930’s Prohibition speakeasy. But the ambiance *definitely* has to do with the sky-high morale of the staff, who laugh and joke their way through serving up the most delightful custom-made cocktails I ever enjoyed.
For example, I told the bartender I love gin, ginger and Szechuan food. In a hand-pounded copper cup he served me a mixture of gin and ginger with a tincture of spicy Szechuan oil that I still dream about a week later. I remember the cup’s cool condensation on my hand as the gin and ginger lit up my tongue, while the oil lit up my throat. These folks have mastered an art form, and you will not be disappointed. And how many lounges actually have a guy named “Frenchy” tending the bar? He’s Basque, a co-owner, and a genius all in one. Ask for him.
I was introduced to R&D by Kevin Chen (kevin.chen.2014@aya.yale.edu), a Taipei-based writer and fellow Yale alum. An avid foodie and design enthusiast, Kevin has connections to some of the best restaurants and bars in town; if you’re ever dropping by Taipei, you should contact him first for recommendations.
So R&D wins the bar category for ambiance, but the restaurant category winner has to be Woolloomooloo. Owner Jimmy Yang loved his stint of several years in Australia, and decided to name his place after a working-class district of Sydney. Aside from being a delightfully loveable teddy-bear of a man, Jimmy’s gift is for architecture that brings human beings together to be the social animals we are.
Woolloomooloo features seating around big, square tables that allow guests either to turn intimately to their companion, or to turn outward to any of several conversations going on at the table. I watched families talking with other families, and singles mixing with other singles.
Their wine list was all-star Australian, but the cuisine was a delightful fusion. I loved the clams blanched in sorghum wine and garnished with leek sprouts. The beefy Thai noodle stir-fry and the prawns fried in garlic sauce were also a big hit, but the star of the evening was a Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2007 from Canberra.
But the highlight for me was the second-floor balcony that allowed guests to commune with the sights and sounds of the street. It had a yesteryear feel for what Taipei must have been like 30 years ago, before air conditioning and digital screens isolated us in our boxes. I had to return for lunch the next day, just to get my fill of this balcony. This was where I was the day the Hyatt doorman gave me his umbrella, and I relished my sensory experience of the thundering downpour and the thick, sultry air while I sat inches away, at my lovely, dry table.
The “It” hotel of Taipei is The W Taipei, which has the feel of a boutique hotel combined with the guarantee of great value and service because it’s part of the Starwood luxury hotel chain worldwide. The staff all seem like friendly ex-fashion models who take tremendous pride in their work, and they definitely succeed in making their guests feel special.
The W’s attention to design is hugely rewarding.
Each part of the hotel feels like a photo shoot from Architectural Digest, from the brightly lit, uber-cheerful “Kitchen Table” for breakfast…
…to the sultry, mood-lit WOOBAR beside their beautiful swimming pool. WOOBAR has a live DJ every night and I was really impressed with how many of the hotel guests come out of their rooms to mingle and socialize.
The YEN Chinese Restaurant on the top floor of the hotel has stunning views of the landmark Taipei 101 building, and the cuisine specializes in Dim Sum that is both delicious and fun to eat, because you can choose from dozens of tasty treats hiding under those steaming bamboo lids.
And now we have to talk about Din Tai Fung. No restaurant has ever deserved its Michelin star more richly, and your first must-have is soup dumplings, pictured above: these are small, white dumplings, twisted closed at the top, that usually contain a combination of vegetables and pork, shrimp, or crab meat. What makes them particularly novel is the soup broth that cooks within the dumpling. You eat them with a splash of dipping sauce and a few delicate strands of ginger, and you bite off the top, then suck the savory juice out of the dumpling before consuming the rest. Besides being incredibly delicious, they are just plain fun-to-eat.
Above are the fabulous chefs of Din Tai Fung, the undisputed king of soup dumplings. It began in Taiwan but now has franchises in over a dozen countries, including Dubai, Australia and the US (Seattle, L.A., and now the Bay Area).
For more ideas on where to eat in Taipei, one of the best English resources is A Hungry Girl’s Guide to Taipei which has 11 years of restaurant reviews and photos on it. Her Instagram features her latest eats and travels, from night markets to private kitchens and the newest food trends.
The “It” club of Taipei is called “Chess,” and the co-owner is a Harvard grad named JL. He told me that when he started the club, no one else believed hip-hop could work, but Chess quickly found its niche and took off and is about to celebrate its 4th year. I didn’t see any celebrities when I was there, but the clientele was beautiful, and the Taiwanese all talk about this club in hushed tones. Note that the dress code bans shorts and sandals.
Nothing comes close to the National Palace Museum as the world’s top collection of Chinese art. But I also fell in love with the Songshan Creative Park, a new arts and culture space in Taipei. In 2011 the government converted an abandoned tobacco factory and warehouse into a giant space to nurture design and creative arts. The Songshan features Taiwan’s new wave of artists and designers in room-after-room full of ambiente and retro-chic. As a bonus, the adjoining Eslite Bookstore is a fabulous source of Taiwanese culture and souvenirs. Unforgettable…
…As was my time in Taiwan. This is a hugely underrated gem of Asia, and any time you spend here will be richly rewarded. I wish you the same unforgettable experience I had here.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) teamed up with MoveOn.org to make a video slamming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over his taxes.
In the video, Warren criticizes Trump for refusing to release his tax returns.
“The last time Donald Trump’s taxes were made public, it turned out that Donald Trump paid nothing in federal taxes. Zero,” Warren said. “Zero taxes before, and for all we know, he’s paying zero taxes today, and he’s proud of it.”
Warren and Trump have been engaged in battle for months now, with Warren saying she “won’t stop saying” that Trump is not qualified to be president.
Watch the video above.
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Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kelly Rohrbach will make a big splash when she takes over Pamela Anderson‘s iconic role of C.J. Parker in the upcoming remake of Baywatch.
Rohrbach was honored with the Rising Star Award at the 2016 Maui Film Festival on June 15, 2016, which “honors a young film artist whose every role — even in their formative years — surprises, enthralls and delights audiences of every age.”
In this clip, she discusses what she’s looking for in her next role.
— Getty Video for the Maui Film Festival
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Many freelancers have to enter into contracts with their clients. A basic agreement can be made explaining the work that will be done as well as payment terms and other important details. While it’s best to meet with a lawyer, the following is to show the advantagess of working with a proposed timeline.
1. Include a timeline on your contract.
If applicable to the type of work that you do, make a proposed timeline that gives specific dates and the action steps that will take place on those dates. This way both you and the client know what to expect and can plan accordingly. You can also anticipate the steps involved and when the project will be completed. It may also let the client know that the freelancer may need their input or another task done throughout the process. It sets expectations for each person so they can anticipate when they have to partake in any decision making, task or next step in the process in order to move the project along on time. It shows what needs to happen so that everyone involved meets the desired deadline.
2. Include payment terms in the timeline.
You can intersperse your payment terms in the timeline, it gets thrown into a chronological order between other expected outcomes. You can signify when you will start and include other important dates with bullet points and bold text of the actual date. Put a line or two about the action required by the client or freelancer. If you expect a payment upfront and the contract signed from the beginning, then include that information next to the date.
These are the first logical steps to begin working. It indirectly sets up a structure showing that the client needs to pay first before the work begins without having to say that directly or include it in a separate section. Once you outline other steps in the process, include when the work will be finished along with the date that you expect to complete the project. Add a line and date about how the freelancer gives an informal heads up as to when the freelancer will be paid the remaining balance amount before the last invoice is sent out.
3. A timeline keeps everyone on the same page.
You don’t have to wonder when something will be completed or worry if the person is making the project a priority. The timeline is a proactive approach that takes any guessing out of what will happen while working together. It will eliminate going back and forth on email unnecessarily if everything is clarified from the beginning. Also, it explains the process and gives an idea of how it will take to complete the task at hand. When the client sees all the steps involved, they get a better understanding of what you are doing and how long it will realistically take to accomplish the project. Joe A. Carbone, Jr. of FocusPlanningGroup.net uses a timeline in his agreement. He explains, “It sets the expectation for job completion. If a client hires me to complete a financial plan or some other consulting job, my contract states the plan should be completed in 30 days and the agreement is good for 6 months. I set the expectations to put a timeline on job completion and it sometime helps keep the clients moving along the process.”
The Bottom Line
It’s best to check with a lawyer when drawing up a contract but including a timeline can allow everyone involved to be on the same page when it comes to the time and tasks involved to complete work. It also allows both parties to be aware of other important dates during the project and know when payment is expected.
The Benefits of Using a Proposed Timeline was originally published on Due Online Invoice by Karen Cordaway.
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By Matthew Butson Vice President, Hulton Archive at Getty Images
“How charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durable and remain fixed upon the paper!” – William Henry Fox Talbot
In 1846, Fox Talbot diarised his struggle to produce lasting images. At this time photography was still in its adolescence with its forefathers Niepce and Daguerre laying the groundwork for a medium that today many of us hold in our pockets.
Technology has developed at such speed in the last century that it has become a process we take for granted. Whether it’s a family celebration, a music concert or last night’s dinner it is all too easy to snap and share. These images pass us by on Instagram or gather dust in old photo albums. However, what may seem trivial today, will one day be historic traces into how we lived.
Images of the every day taken by the photojournalists of years gone by, give us a glimpse into a time few of us have known. It is this journey to the past that has inspired Getty Images’ latest gallery exhibition. Motivated by the Queen’s 90th birthday the exhibition – 1926: Britain through the lens – explores both daily life and the events of ninety years ago; revealing some intriguing similarities and some inevitable contrasts. From a cow being milked on the platform of King’s Cross station, to soldiers being sent off to Egypt – these rare and often candid photographs offer the viewer a snapshot of the past that is t once both alien and eerily familiar.
One of the most exciting and challenging parts of bringing together a gallery like this is reviving the images. The photographs on display have all been printed by hand from the original glass plate negatives. Back in 1926 negatives would have gone through a process called ‘dipped and done’, which can leave damage on the pictures. In some instances, this has been cropped out or hand-retouched in order to provide the best possible print whilst remaining true to the photographer’s original vision. Where damage is visible in the finished prints, it reminds us of their age and serves to highlight the importance of preserving this priceless visual heritage.
As a nation, we have a fascination with all things old. From our Victorian seaside towns to vintage clothes and Bruce Forsyth – we love a blast from the past. The lure of old photographs could be put down to a hunger for historical knowledge, an academic look at how we once lived; however I think it runs much deeper than that.
Nostalgia hangs on the corners of each negative, bleeding out through sepia tones. Even photos from the 80s seem disconnected to modern life. Such is the blessing and curse of the photograph; it is in one instant both immediate and dated. With each flash, the camera steals a moment and contains it to one time and place. The instant the photo is taken it slips into history. When we look back at these images be them thirty, fifty or ninety years old we are given a window into the past. An opportunity too mesmerising to miss.
Taking these images from fragile artefacts and breathing new life into them is what we call a ‘Lazarus’ project. If you are working in this industry it is vital to not only celebrate modern work but guard and, when appropriate, resurrect images from gone by eras. With a combination of modern technology and time honoured methods, we can revivify a moment snatched in the blink of a shutter.
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We have a reached a time in the world where interfaith relations have gained a great importance in our society socially, politically, and economically. In every community, one can find some sort of an interfaith organization — small or large — dedicated to improving relations between different interfaith groups and bringing people together to educate their neighbors and encourage a richer perspective with a greater commitment to diversity.
The positive effects of interfaith dialogue can be seen in policy changes on a political level and in more diverse community gatherings on a social level. However, although many interfaith communities present themselves as positive movements committed to diversity and acceptance, this truly is not the case and in there lies the great hypocrisy that plagues interfaith communities.
Most interfaith communities never go past the dialogue stage of initiating an interfaith movement. They are all well-intentioned, of course, but we tend to forget that many of these groups are led by people who are very much so human in that they have their own personal biases and motives. However, the problem does not necessarily lie in the leadership; rather it lies in the fact that people will in every way, shape, or form always resist to change. We will never truly accept that which is foreign to us. True acceptance does not exist and interfaith communities often wither and die off because people generally do not have the desire to get past the dialogue stage. In doing so, we subsequently fall into this cycle of hypocrisy.
Within interfaith communities there is acceptance. However, it is a conditional form of acceptance. Recognizing this is the first step to truly creating effective interfaith communities whose influences will actually have a presence in our societies. We must understand that true acceptance and interfaith unity is not measured by the amount of dialogues we have. Instead, it is seen in our communities and in the ways we interact. We are often willing to say “I love my Christian or Jewish or Muslim neighbor” but to what extent do we truly embrace them in our communities? Will we have them at our homes and invite them to our parties and introduce them to our friends and family? Or, would we dare intermarry? Last but not least, does it just stop at the monthly dialogue we come together for where we talk about unity and acceptance with the reassurance that we will never truly be held accountable for our words when it comes to action?
When we speak of unity and acceptance it all sounds beautiful and magical. However, if we come to look at it, talk is often where it ends. It is my belief that speech is in many ways like magic. It creates an illusion of something that truly is not there. It is an illusion that quite easily fools many and one where many of us are responsible for using it to our advantage. Interfaith leaders including myself must step up and re-evaluate ourselves and our personal biases. We must strive to do our best to prevent them from negatively impacting our progress towards our unified goal of creating more accepting communities where having different faiths becomes something that unifies us rather than something that acts as a barrier between people.
We must do this first and foremost by holding ourselves accountable for what we say. Within our organizations, rather than holding monthly dialogues where religion and more specifically differences in religion are the main factors that guide our conversation we should hold more interactive events. For example, one possible idea is organizing events where we can bring people together to socialize and create an environment where there truly is an opportunity for people of different faiths to connect on a deeper level. It is my belief that the conversation is not what truly matters. It is the connection. When we hold dialogues that are restricted to “explain your religion to me,” we are teaching people that the only thing of interest in a person of a different faith is their faith and we are simply defining people by how they are different from us.
Truly effective conversations about faith cannot happen without there being some sort of relationship that is based on specifically who we are and our common interests. It makes no sense to gather strangers in a room and command them to talk about religion. This often leads to a situation in which people are simply interrogating one another and everyone feels uncomfortable. Our goal as interfaith leaders should simply be to bring people together to laugh, talk and connect.
The conversation shouldn’t matter. Once there is an established connection between people, we can then start to have deeper conversations about religion. People are more willing to listen and learn more about each other when there is a relationship of mutual respect. We are more accepting towards our differences only when we realize the true magnitude of what we have in common.
Yes, true acceptance within interfaith communities is something that will be difficult to achieve and there will always be biases that everyone has towards one another. However, if we could minimize our biases and create an environment of accountability, we can truly achieve true acceptance and unity in our communities to some extent.
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The story goes that, at the time of the Buddha, a group of monks wanted to do a quiet retreat away from the crowds of followers, so the Buddha sent them to a glade in the forest where he said they would be undisturbed.
The monks found their way there and settled down to meditate. But what they didn’t know was that a gang of tree spirits inhabited the glade and they were really upset that the monks had come. And when tree spirits get upset they can be extremely scary, ugly, very smelly, and unbelievably noisy, ferociously shrieking all over the place. They did everything they could to spook the hermits and make them leave.
And it worked. The monks couldn’t possibly meditate with so many disturbances, so they went back to the Buddha and begged him to let them go somewhere else. But the Buddha said no; instead, he taught them a meditation practice of loving kindness, or metta in Sanskrit, which develops loving kindness towards everyone, including yourself and your enemies. And then he sent the monks back to the forest. His famous words were, Loving kindness is the only protection you will need.
Thinking the Buddha must be mad, the monks reluctantly went back to the glade, sat down and began practicing the Loving Kindness meditation. And the tree spirits, who at first were not at all pleased to see them returning, no longer had any affect on them. For all their antics, the monks just kept sitting there and beaming out loving kindness. Eventually the tree spirits were won over by the waves of love and compassion emanating from these robed ones and, far from trying to chasing them away, the same nasties that had been so ferocious now became disciples.
The question is, who are the tree spirits? Answer: they are everything that goes on in our minds–all the doubts, insecurities, fears, anger, negative thoughts– that constantly undermine our balance and positivity. And the point the Buddha was making is that loving kindness has the capacity to overcome all manner of inner monsters and ghouls and lead us to a true heart opening.
We know this sounds so easy: just be kind and loving, how great, what a cool idea. But in practice it’s definitely not always so easy, such as when someone says or does something that is personally critical or hurtful. Can metta still flow when the ego is upset? By focusing on loving kindness as a way of living, it shows us all those places that are bound in selfishness; it brings us up against our limitations. Where is our capacity to step into greater kindness?
Metta is the act of extending our love, kindness and friendship equally towards all beings, proving that love is more powerful than any negative force. Rather than trying to deal with negativity, we cultivate the opposite; seeing and knowing pain, we bring loving kindness. Then amazing change is possible.
*****
Ed & Deb are the authors of many books. Deb is the author of award-winning Your Body Speaks Your Mind, now in 21 languages. They have three meditation CDs. See more at EdandDebShapiro.com
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
