Peter Head of the British design firm Arup. Head leads the 100-person team
behind the green city of Dongtan, set to be completed by 2050.

Dongtan is a new city planned for the island of Chongming, near Shanghai. The city should be open, with accommodation for 50,000, by the time the Expo 2010 opens in Shanghai. By 2040, the city is slated to be one-third the size of Manhattan. Dongtan is the first of up to four slated “eco-cities†to be designed and built in China by Arup, a British company. (Pics and Video after the jump)

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I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don’t know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

Poem by Pablo Neruda - Love Sonnet XVII
Photo by Denis Collette

• @CaliforniaBlogN Sweet Potatos/Yams go great with marshmellows #
• @QueenofSpain Corned Beef and Cabbage! And save some for me! #

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Just a quick note: I’ll be recording and releasing episode 50 of the podcast on my nine month anniversary, this Thursday December 22nd. This will likely be the last regular episode I release before Christmas, so if you are considering sending comments either in print or by voice, please do so soon so I can include them in the episode.

Thanks,
Bob

I had a little fun to kick off my ability to participate over at seesmic today.

So you’ve overcome all the customer’s objections and asked for the sale. And you made the sale! Congratulations! Now what? You’ve got a little bit more to do to be a truly skillful salesperson. You’ve got to wrap-up the sale.

How do you wrap-up a sale that is already done? Well, you can start by thanking your customer. Always thank your customer. It also doesn’t hurt if you compliment the customer on the wonderful choice they just made by buying your product. And even though you may think it goes without saying, invite the customer to return. Offer them something that will help keep your name on the forefront of their mind when they are looking for products. A business card of sorts. Maybe you can get them to sign up for a “special deals” mailing list.

Much like all of these skills, the wrap-up seems overly simple. If you’re like me, you’ve been looking for the catch the whole time. There isn’t one. These really are some basic sales skills that will help you make a sale every time and improve your bottom line from here forward.

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This Sunday, Daylight Saving time goes into effect. Remember the concept “spring forward” and set your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed Saturday night. Fire department officials also suggest you replace your smoke alarm batteries at the same time.

We’re all tired of the professional D300 reviews, after all, how many of us actually earn much money with our camera? As for me, fighting the computer all day to get it to dance pays a ton more, so it’s nice to see reviews like this:

All I know is I am now confident of shooting at ISO1600 and ISO3200 if I must. The reason the images you see on the internet using a D300 at ISO3200 seems so bloody good is because they are ALL resized for web use (72dpi and less than 2MP). Viewing ISO 3200 images at 100% on a monitor at home is still bad in my humble opinion and I would NOT even print them anything bigger than 5R (maybe I’m just too demanding now).

The Indian Express calls for the truth:

If the results from the negotiations between India’s National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and the Chinese Vice Minister Dai Bingguo have been disappointing, the situation on the ground all along the border with China has been alarming. Having rapidly modernised the transport infrastructure in Tibet, and probably sensing a tactical advantage against India, the People’s Liberation Army has resorted to aggressive actions on the border.

It is worrisome that the Centre has been less than honest in sharing with the public the new turn of events on the border. The nation is only partly reassured by the UPA government’s reaffirmation that the entire state of Arunachal belongs to India and by the PM’s promises during his recent visit on accelerating the state’s integration with India. Whether it is the fear of offending its communist partners, who refuse to countenance anything unpleasant on China, or the furtiveness of the security bureaucracy, the government seems reluctant to reveal the gravity of the current situation. India paid a heavy price in 1962 for placing political correctness above truthfulness. If the UPA does not come clean with a comprehensive account of the situation on the China border, it is the duty of the opposition to demand it in the collective interests of the nation.