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Showing posts from June, 2009

The largest academic publishers

The world's largest natural science, technology and medical publishers
The first place: Elsevier
The second place: Springer
The third place: Wiley-Blackwell

Together they represent 63% of serials’ publishing and almost all of the academic libraries’ budgets.

Grass greener on the other side

See how BT undermines the foundation of its competitor Virgin:

Did you think the grass was greener when you left BT for Virgin? Did you think you couldn't find a better deal? Then it's time to take another look. Our Gas and Electricity supplier is British Gas, but sales representative of EDF persuaded my wife to switch from British Gas to EDF. British Gas called my wife the week after my wife signed the switch application form, and promised £50 credit to switch back, so did my wife.

First Dirct promises £100 for switching current account, and £200 if you are not satisfied its service, and subsequently move away . My wife switched her current account and then closed it after several months. She made many phone calls, and raised several times high blood pressure due to arguing with the bank, First Direct found an excuse and refused to pay that £200.

Are there any moral sense in this kind of competition? As a customer, I always trust my HSBC Bank - the World Local Bank, and MS Windo…

Touch wood and spit

Touch wood or knock on wood is a popular saying to reverse any bad luck that might come your way, due to a recent action you have taken or comment you have made. The superstition is that if someone remarks about something not wished for, or something that has not happened lately, they should immediately touch or knock on wood to avoid the fulfillment of bad luck, or the event not desired. For example, people are likely to touch wood immediately after answering a question in the negative, such as "no, I have not been sick lately."

In China, people spit after making a bad luck comment, especially in the Chinese new year season.

Touching wood after boasting of one's good fortune, or exemption from bad luck, was thought necessary to keep the streak of good luck intact. Touching wood is also practiced after an activity or event that has gone excessively well. As an example, if you give a good presentation you should touch wood afterwards to continue the success you are experi…

Child came to school with a pocket knife

A child came to school with a pocket knife and showed to her classmates. The teacher confiscated the knife after being informed, and reported to the headteacher. The headteacher took action immediately, she talked with the child, talked to the child's parents, reported the incident to the Police! and then wrote a letter to every child's parents to express her concerns about the offensive weapon. Below is the letter:

It has been brought to my attention today that a child in the junior building came to school with a pocket knife. The child showed the knife to children in the classroom. The teacher was told about the knife by a member of the class and she immediately acted on this information. The knife was located and then confiscated and the matter passed to me for investigation.

I have spoken to the child involved about the seriousness of this matter. The child's parent has been informed and I have reported the issue to the Police. The assistant headteacher responsible for t…

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in 52 of the world's countries. Sonora Smart Dodd of Washington was the first to solicit the idea of having an official Father's Day observance to honor all fathers. The first observance of Father's Day is believed to have been held on July 5, 1908.

It took many years to make the holiday official. Father's Day ran the risk of disappearing from the calendar. Where Mother's Day was met with enthusiasm, Father's Day was met with laughter. It was the target of much satire, parody and derision, including jokes from the local newspaper, Many people saw it as just the first step in filling the calendar with mindless promotions like "Grandparents' Day", "Professional Secretaries' Day", etc., all the way down to "National Clean Your Desk Day."

The Associated Men's Wear Retailers formed a National Father's Day Committee in New York City in the 1930s, which was renamed …

The first chain store company in the world: W.H. Smith

W.H. Smith is the first chain store company in the world and was responsible for the creation of the ISBN book catalogue system. ISBN catalogue invention.

In 1792 Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna established W H Smith as a news vendor business in London. The firm took advantage of the railway boom by opening newsstands on railway stations, starting with Euston in 1848. They also made use of the railways to become the leading national distributor of newspapers. They were the only newsagent found at London railway stations in the early years, which allows them to claim to be the company to use a chain store format in the world.

In 1966, W H Smith originated a 9-digit code for uniquely referencing books, called Standard Book Numbering or SBN. It was adopted as international standard ISO 2108 in 1970, and was used until 1974, when it became the ISBN scheme. (Wikipeida)

White-winged fairy, long-tailed cat, and pigly horsey

These are another masterpieces of my daughter's nursery jobs, a fairy with white wing, a cat with long tail, and a horse or pony that looks like a pig.
Piggy horsey
White-winged fairy
Long-tailed cat