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Plastic water tanks are a far cry from the armored behemoths also referred to as tanks, but they do share a curious historical connection. Yes, that’s right, modern plastics were invented after World War II, while tanks first made their debut in the waning years of the Great War, but there is something of a relationship.

While not plastic water tanks, military tanks were first so named by their British inventors in an effort to conceal their research and development. It was hoped that by classifying these inventions basically as “tanks” on paper, any German spies who may have gotten a hold of the secret documents that referred to them could perhaps be mislead. As it turned out, the label stuck and tanks have been referred to as just that ever since.

In English, anyway. In German, and numerous other languages, they are known as only “armor,” a more appropriate term that’s a recognized synonym in the English-speaking world, particularly among military circles. A far cry from today’s plastic water tanks indeed, but the notion is never far away in the minds of military history buffs.

The connection is a little more than merely etymological, in fact, as the earliest designs did resemble nothing more than basic water tanks to those who had the security clearance to see them. Tanks have dominated the battlefield for over sixty years, and even nowadays they form the core of most conventional land warfare tactics.

The introduction of attack helicopters and guided missiles have significantly reduced their striking power, and also the asymmetrical warfare prevalent in conflicts these days render them ill-suited for most missions, but nothing on the horizon can match the tank in its useful combination of firepower, maneuverability, and defensive capacity. Though less used, the tank still figures eminently in offensive tactics and grand strategy and should find a role for itself in the decades yet to come.

Stocking and providing medical office supplies has traditionally been one of the duties of a hospital dispensary, which is mainly dedicated to dispensing medication according to doctors’ prescriptions. These days, the term “dispensary” refers to a handful of different institutions around the world – or, even, within the country.

For instance, in California a dispensary is a specially designated store licensed to sell not medical office supplies but medical marijuana (which is also the case in the Canadian province of British Columbia), while in the states of Idaho and South Carolina a dispensary used to refer to the governmental agency that served as the only legal source of alcohol.

Also no source of medical office supplies is the Kenyan dispensary, a small outpatient health facility generally managed by a registered nurse. These nurses report to clinical officers at a health centre, which is also where patients are referred to for treatment in cases much more complicated than a common ailment like cold or malaria. Modeled on the British system, this sort of healthcare dispensary is no basic storehouse of supplies but what Americans would call a community clinic.

This kind of medical clinic or dispensary got its start up in London, England back in the 1700s, and is credited with aquainting doctors with the issues of the poor mainly because unlike the case with hospitals or a private practice, this dispensary service really brought doctors into their patients’ homes. Their social consciences shocked, thus were the first dispensaries set up – free healthcare for the poor.

Indeed, young aspiring physicians of the day had been very eager to serve as honorary physicians to the dispensaries, though such an appointment was usually voluntary (with no more than a small honorarium at best) and not as prestigious as a hospital posting. It was nothing short of a healthcare revolution: for the first time since the Hippocratic Oath, altruistic motivations were the norm.

Severe headaches? Squinting? It may perhaps be indicators of declining eyesight. So what do you do next? You head out to see an eye doc (of course) and it could possibly be that you will require eye glasses or contact lenses. Now there is always the option of laser surgery but this article will not talk about that.

Go for the glass? Eye glasses have been around for many years – think Benjamin Franklin, an iconic wearer of eyeglasses. Eye glasses are either made from plastic or glass. The frames for them also come in a wide variety of materials. And, if you’re nervous about not finding the proper frames, don’t stress they currently have frameless designs. And if you are one of those individuals who can’t even consider putting their finger in their eye and cringe at the thought of it, eyeglasses may be your best solution.

However contact lenses have some advantages over glasses. One benefit, the rain, I imagine you know what happens. Two, fog, eyeglasses tend to fog up. Three, sliding down your nose any time you perspire, etc.

Whichever you opt for, the most essential issue is the fact that you see clearly.

With media attention by and large targeted on foreclosed homeowners, this article will take a brief look to consider the effect on homebuilders such as Isaac Toussie.

Embittered homeowners who have been foreclosed upon have taken to trashing the premises before getting kicked out, with anecdotal estimates by real estate agents putting the number of such vandalized properties at up to one half of all such units. But given all the media coverage of foreclosed homeowners, it’s time to take a look now at how the same crisis is affecting homebuilders like Isaac Toussie. After all, many of the small-time businessmen had to take out loans in order to finance their housing developments. Of course, there are no such developers out on the street, and their cases, unfortunate in themselves, are not anywhere near comparable to that of homeowners who have nowhere to go at all. But it’s intriguing to see how things can turn out for businessmen and women caught up in the same economic hurricane, and how responses can differ – or not.

For example, many small homebuilders have had to dip into personal savings just to keep their companies afloat, a familiar dilemma to many homeowners. Buyers were disappearing with cash deposits of several thousand left on the table, proof that local residential property markets had turned ice-cold. Even more unfortunately, many homebuilders have proceeded since then to file for bankruptcy protection, with vast sums owed not only to their lenders but also their subcontractors and workers. But still worse yet, these small-time builders have often financed their businesses with so-called recourse debt which allows banks to seize homes, cars, and other personal assets in case of default – again, quite a familiar scenario comparable to that faced by many homeowners.

Such problems have increased and are now considered widespread across the country. Many a builder has been left with unsold units and land, falling behind on interest payments and facing foreclosures. And in a very bad sign of the extent of the destruction involved, even very large homebuilders are in trouble, with legendary builders such as Levitt & Sons, founders of Levittown, New York on Long Island, famous for epitomizing postwar suburbia, forced into bankruptcy like some small unfortunate start-up.

It’s gotten so bad that once solid partnerships and friendships have frayed as an every-man-for-himself mentality creeps into the proceedings. Contractors and subcontractors have had to take out liens on the property they build in order to protect themselves. And it is in this regard that the ordeals of homeowners and homebuilders differ: the latter have almost no hope of any governmental assistance whatsoever, despite being affected by the same subprime mortgage industry shenanigans that’s made owning a home so suddenly burdensome.

Legal Disclaimer: Be advised that such information as has been presented so far only constitutes mere opinion and should under no circumstances be misconstrued for professional advice of any kind whatsoever! Always consult those properly licensed and/or otherwise qualified when it comes to making business decisions of any financial importance.

Greek vases are among the most well-known museum replicas anywhere, and no wonder. The pottery of ancient Greece aren’t only stunning objects of art but bear witness to one of the most intellectually important civilizations of humankind. Having a museum replica of Greek vases oneself is really a way of connecting to a glorious golden age and lends a “blue-blooded” kind of elegance to any setting.

After all, it could be argued that the Greek vase has set the aesthetic standard for the Western Civilization for hundreds if not thousands of years. Having one on your desk, mantle, or shelf can produce the ideal atmosphere for yourself to be inspired! There is something to be said about having a faithful reproduction of a museum masterpiece in your own home or office. Imagine the feeling on your next trip to the museum as you walk through a collection, identifying those which you own a personal copy of!

Museum replicas allow us all to play the part of a refined collector of antiques – not “antiques” in the now commonly debased sense of someone’s grandmother’s grandmother’s quilt abandoned at a yard sale, but treasures from the ancients now owns to enjoy thanks to the painstaking skills of replica sculptors who work in the conventional methods with traditional materials.

More or less always handmade, such replicas of vases can be so faithfully reproduced as to fool even professional appraisers! Offered in a wide variety of styles, these fine works are truly no less art objects in themselves, so exquisitely crafted as to warrant being their own museum pieces!

They also tend to be very affordable, too, allowing true connoisseurs the opportunity to own more than one. Finally, they make excellent gifts, as well: thoughtful, and a little out of the ordinary, after all its not everyday you get a Greek vase as a present.

We should have brought a backpacking tent along. Instead, being young guys we relished in challenging ourselves and flirting with danger. We cavalierly enjoyed our mountaintop vista even as the sun was about to dip, and by the time we had turned home we could scarcely go another thousand yards before we realized that we could not see very well.

Real hikers would have just quickly pitched or otherwise put together a backpacking tent but obviously we didn’t have one because we were novices and by no means imagined we’d need one. This was supposed to have been a casual day-hike, after all. And yet, here we were at the end of the day and barely started on our descent. What we did not count on was how incredibly fast darkness could grow in a forest.

Though light was still in the sky, it wasn’t getting to us because of the thick canopy of leaves. Even during high noon the ground would be mostly shaded, never mind now, right before nightfall. And in one of the most amazing experiences ever, I saw my own hand fade away right in front of me, literally in seconds, melting away into the enveloping darkness like some movie fade-out.

Except that it was happening all to me; We were still practically two thousand feet up from the trail head; and also we didn’t even have a backpacking tent!

Thankfully, friends below summoned local volunteer park rangers and we were eventually rescued. But not before spending six or seven hours shivering in the cold and dark! Although it had been a humid summer day, it felt more like late autumn in rural New York at night. When I started to finally shiver and shiver I thought it was going to be the end of me! So never,never,never – ever – go hiking without a tent or sleeping bag.

Data recovery is an essential part of our modern day world, with computers facilitating the vast majority of our lives online and off. The loss of personal data and customer records would be catastrophic for any business, and so data recovery software is a popular kind of insurance for many. But, more broadly speaking, data recovery or memory itself has been a favorite subject of science fiction, with many plots revolving around the uncanny sensation that we are nothing more than our memories – which, in a perfectly digitized world, would be nothing but easily copied bits of data!

Exciting as these considerations are, for an even more explosive idea all you have to do is blend them with old-fashioned notions of clairvoyance and déjà vu. First coined by New Age spiritualist P.M.H. Atwater (née Phyllis Johnston), future memory is conceived of as the phenomenon whereby one can know the future.

With plain old prophetic foresight now repackaged in 21st Century techno-speak, science fiction writers are busy exploring the nexus between man and machine, self and other, reality and virtual reality. The gist of it all is pregnant with implication: if we are nothing but our memories; if our memories are but bits of data; if technology can capture these bits the same way it manipulates all other information; then what does it mean to be oneself?

Philip K. Dick touched on these very inquiries in his short story “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Adapted into a kind of futuristic movie noir under the title of Blade Runner, the topic concentrates on just what it means to be human in a world where very humanlike androids can be made.

Another film adapted from a Dick short is Total Recall, involving a government agent’s manufactured memories. More recently, the Leonardo Dicaprio vehicle Deception also explored the same what-if scenarios: what if memories could be planted? Never mind data recovery; seems like technological innovation will one day create the need for deliberate information loss! And indeed, there are any number of science fiction stories devoted to that topic, too…

Ah, a portable ice maker. Finally, a sure-fire way of keeping cool when out of doors under a hot summer sun. You have a picnic, or a hiking trip, or even just a small get-together in the backyard and don’t wish to keep running back inside for ice – you want a portable ice maker.

It will not only save you trips and hassle, but save you from such things as running out of ice all of a sudden. Having one of these niffty little marvels of modern engineering will prevent you from looking like a bad thoughtless host. And nothing beats a portable ice maker at the beach! Like, booyeah.

It’s just what you need when enjoying the landscapes. It could even be a fantastic conversation starter. Forget about helping to apply suntan lotion – give her the gift of perfectly shaped ice cubes and see what happens next! No, really, it works (with some people, but not all). In any case, the water’s salty – but fresh ice cubes? Come one, you’ll be the king of the beach.

Make sure you get one with helpful features for instance a low water light to remind you of refills. Some models will even reuse melted water right back into ice cubes. Make sure to get the capacity you need, too. Portable ice makers are fairly straightforward machines so you should have no trouble finding one that’s just right.

Take one to your next tailgating party. Need one for your RV? Portable ice makers are practically essential on boats. These devices are helpful in a number of situations. When in the market for one, you might find that the most essential aspect of your purchase is simply the choice of color! That’s how simple it is to buy one, because that’s how straightforward they have become these days.

Looking to sell your company and retire off the proceeds? Think again. Because of these recessionary times, banks are unwilling to lend cash – meaning that it’s harder and harder to sell your company simply because buyers generally cannot borrow more than sixty percent of the selling price.

Everybody is skittish. And numerous company owners aren’t rueful of not having sold when they had that proverbial chance. It is harder than ever just to stay in business, and while the actual value of your company might not have declined much, if declined at all, it’s simply an extraordinarily bad time to be in business – or to try to sell one, even a successful one.

And regrettably for numerous owners, they increasingly have to work out alternative payment schedules, more akin to a loan except where profitability is concerned. However, all isn’t lost if you’re determined to sell your company.

For one thing, the tax rate right now is at historical lows, though many experts expect it to go up, to twenty percent from the current fifteen capital gains rate, in one more year or so. This means that your after-tax income from a sale right now could be greater than if you wait for the economy to improve and take a hit from increased taxes.

Obviously, it is tough to let go of the notion that your business is still worth what it was during the economic boom years of just five years ago. But it’s important to cut your losses, as it were, while you still can and get out before you put any more time, or even money, into a company when all you want to do nowadays is retire to the good life. After all, isn’t that why you’d worked so hard through the years?

When looking at real estate, articles generally comment on what is recommended by industry experts such as Isaac Toussie. But learning from failure is as important as learning from success; indeed, the two are symbiotically interweaved. And thus, following up on the previous installment’s discussion of desirable but still affordable New York City neighborhoods, we will consider the worst of the worst here by way of steering you to properties elsewhere!

A borough-by-borough run-down concludes as follows:

Staten Island: generally speaking, the areas closest to the ferry terminal will be the worst, with crime, noise, and other social ills most prevalent.

Manhattan: a much more diverse set of circumstances here, but a good rule-of-thumb principle holds that areas north of Central Park should be avoided (though gentrification has made many such areas much better than previously was the case). With the exception of Chelsea and Upper East and West Side areas like Lincoln Center, avoid all areas with a public housing project.

Bronx: the whole borough should be avoided (but for Riverdale on the west coast and Throgg’s Neck on the southeastern one).

Queens: the most complex situation in the whole city, with many neighborhoods fairly mixed ethnically, racially, and socio-economically. But clearly inferior places include vast tracts of Jamaica and surrounding areas, especially towards points south near Brooklyn. Ravenswood is another problem area, next to Astoria in Long Island City. Roosevelt Island is deliberately mixed, but as is always the case, the bad will drive out the good, and it’s quite a debate whether gentrification can work there. East Elmhurst (but not all of Elmhurst proper) should also be avoided for the mix of noise, crime, and other social ills presented by many of its denizens. Jackson Heights is on the borderline, once a nice nabe but now host to a vast illegal immigrant community.

Brooklyn: another complex case, though rather more clear-cut than that of Queens described above. Sunset Park is gritty and working-class but at least somewhat safe, relatively speaking. Definitely avoid Bushwick and surroundings, as well as Flatlands and even, nowadays, Canarsie. Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights are not very desirable areas and have a history of violence, as is the case with Ocean Hill and Brownsville. East New York should be avoided like the plague. Coney Island is also often bad, though the City of New York is finally committed to a wholesale revitalization effort.

Tough stuff? Hardly. One cannot be too truthful when it comes to the persisting pockets of urban blight. For those new to New York, such “color” is very often enticing. But for many others, peace and quiet is desired above all for thinking, studying, and enjoyment of being.

The neighborhoods listed are anathema to those values, peopled as they are by those of a disposition, whether cultural or otherwise, towards noisy commotion and even physical violence. Yet because the city bursts with new arrivals each day, industry observers like Isaac Toussie agree that property prices and rent will still be very expensive, even when compared to more desirable spots in the same city. For example, Kingsbridge and Bedford Park in the Bronx, ghetto to the core, can still command rents only a couple of hundred less than those in premier places like Riverdale or Throgg’s Neck!