June 25th, 2010
Tissot introduced the first mass-produced pocket watch and the first pocket watch with two times zones in 1853 and the first anti-magnetic watch in 1929-30. Charles-Emile Tissot left for Russia in 1858 and succeeded in selling their savonnette pocket watches across the Russian Empire. The Tissot company was also the first to make watches out of plastic (IDEA 2001 in 1971), stone (the Alpine granite Rock watch in 1985), mother of pearl (the Pearl watch in 1987), and wood (the Wood watch in 1988). Tissot merged with the Omega watch making family in 1930 and Tissot-Omega watches from this era are sought after by collectors.
Still based in Le Locle,Switzerland and present in more than 150 countries around the world, Tissot has been a member of The Swatch Group Ltd., the largest watch producer and distributor in the world, since 1983.
Tissot is an official timekeeper for the world championships in cycling, motorcycling, fencing and ice hockey, and was used for the Davis Cup in 1957 and Downhill Skiing in Switzerland in 1938. Tissot was also a key Sponsor for the Formula one teams Lotus, Renault and Sauber.
Tissot has become known in recent years for its tactile, or “T-Touch,” technology; several new watches have touch-sensitive sapphire glasses and include compasses, barometers, altimeters and thermometers. T-Touch watches have been recently featured on Angelina Jolie’s wrist in the movies Lara Groft Tomb Raider:The Gradle of Life and Mr.&Mrs.Smith.
Famous people who have worn Tissot watches include the actress Sarah Bernhardt, singer Carmen Miranda,Elvis Presley,Grace Kelly, and Nelson Mandela James Stewart also wears a Tissot watch in the movie “Rear Window”.
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June 25th, 2010
In my dual profession as an educator and health care provider, I have worked with numerous children infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The relationships that I have had with these special kids have been gifts in my life. They have taught me so many things, but I have especially learned that great courage can be found in the smallest of packages. Let me tell you about Tyler.
Tyler was born infected with HIV: his mother was also infected. From the very beginning of his life, he was dependent on medications to enable him to survive. When he was five, he had a tube surgically inserted in a vein in his chest. This tube was connected to a pump, which he carried in a small backpack on his back. Medications were hooked up to this pump and were continuously supplied through this tube to his bloodstream. At times, he also needed supplemented oxygen to support his breathing.
This dreaded disease eventually wore down even the likes of a little dynamo like Tyler. He grew quite ill and, unfortunately, so did his HIV-infected mother. When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to survive, Tyler’s mom talked to him about death. She comforted him by telling Tyler that she was dying too, and that she would be with him soon in heaven.
A few days before his death, Tyler beckoned me over to his hospital bed and whispered, “I might die soon. I’m not scared. When I die, please dress me in red. Mom promised she’s coming to heaven, too. I’ll be playing when she gets there, and I want to make sure she can find me.”
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June 17th, 2010
Clad in a blue jumpsuit and waving, crew member Sukhrob Kamolov quipped “See you in 520 days!” before hopping into sealed-off chambers Thursday with five other men taking part in a simulated trip to Mars.
To cheers and air kisses from their wives and relatives, three Russians, a Chinese man, a Frenchman and an Italian-Colombian entered the wood-paneled modules where they will live until November 2011, in an experiment to test how isolation affects people.
“So many experiments out there must be done for the first time, and this is what we are doing for Mars,” Anatoly Grigoriev, vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told reporters before the crew “departed.”
But the European Space Agency (ESA) said it would be at least 30 years before humans could go to Mars, adding it would take up to nine months each way to reach it.
Unlike a real trip to the Red Planet, the crew on the record-breaking Mars500 simulated flight, housed in Moscow’s Institute of Biomedical Problems, will have gravity and no exposure to radiation.
But as on a true Mars mission, there is an alcohol ban, no fresh air, vegetables must be grown on board and the only contact with Earth will be via e-mail, with a 40-minute delay.
“When I was a little boy I asked if I could go to Mars and I am now proud that I am part of making this one day happen,” said Frenchman Romain Charles, who added he will bring along his guitar for entertainment.
Wang Yue, who had trained to be an astronaut in China, said he would learn Russian during the 520 days spent closeted away to communicate with the rest of the crew.
Though both English and Russian are official languages on the simulated trip, not everyone has a common tongue.
Led by Russian commander Alexei Sitev, the crew will live and work like astronauts from the $100-billion, 16-nation International Space Station (ISS), and they will split their time between experiments and exercise.
No one will be allowed in or out of the interlinking capsules, where the men — who were picked out of almost 10,000 applicants and are aged between 27 and 38 — will conduct dozens of psychological tests and live in six-meter squared bedrooms.
Thirty days will be spent camping on a red sand-covered Martian surface, lined with black rocks backlit by ruby and whose curved roof glistens with fake stars.
“HARDER FOR WOMEN IN ISOLATION”
Though over a thousand women applied for the venture — which dictates “astronauts” must be under 185cm (6ft 1in) — females are notably absent from the mission.
“It is harder for a woman to be taken out of life and put in isolation,” said Mars500 project director Boris Morukov.
“The most important thing here is motivation, and limitations would upset women. You’re not allowed to talk on a telephone,” he added.
The crewmembers said they would miss women terribly during the simulated trip but that the sacrifice was worth it.
“It will be hard but I just try to recall all the great travelers who found the New World and who were also without their families,” Sitev said.
Last year four Russians, one German and a Frenchman successfully completed a 105-day simulated space trip at the same institute.
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June 17th, 2010
An Australian restaurateur fed up with the waste left by diners has ordered her customers to eat everything on their plates for their sake of the earth or pay a penalty and not return.
Chef Yukako Ichikawa has introduced a 30 percent discount for diners who eat all the food they have ordered at Wafu, her 30-seat restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, that describes itself as “guilty free Japanese cuisine.”
“To contribute towards creating a sustainable future we request a little more of our guests than most other restaurants,” she says in a list of her restaurant’s policies that is pinned on the door to the eatery.
This list includes finishing all dishes ordered which are organic and free of gluten, dairy, sugar and eggs and the chef and her staff tell people who don’t clear their plates to choose another restaurant next time.
“Finishing your meal requires that everything is eaten except lemon slices, gari (sushi ginger) and wasabi,” says the menu.
“Please also note that vegetables and salad on the side are NOT decorations; they are part of the meal too.”
Wafu’s strict policy has been welcomed by some but criticised as overbearing by some reviewers. Ichikawa is undeterred.
“Wafu is not just a restaurant; it is an extension of Yukako’s personal ethos towards nourishment and sustenance,” says a statement on the restaurant’s website.
“We are not only committed to serving meals that nurture and respect the body but are actively dedicated to the notion of waste prevention, and take seriously our responsibility towards the environment and sustainability for the future.”
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