Pearls
I read this in the Gulf News yesterday and thought it was interesting enough for you to share it too.
The Pearl Industry in the Gulf
• First pearl in history found 7,000 years ago in Kuwait
• 335 pearling chows in Dubai
• 80,000 people made their living from pearls at the height of the pearling industry
• The annual value of the pearling industry is $1 billion
• Global pearl production in 2005 was 1,552 tonnes
• Pearl prices range from $50 to $50,000 per pearl grain
How a Pearl is Formed
Natural pearls are formed more or less at random when an irritant such as a grain of sand or a parasite becomes lodged in the tissue of an oyster or mollusc.
In response to the irritation the oyster secretes nacre: a combination of calcium carbonate and organic substances, which gradually build up on layers around the irritant.
Over a period of several years this build up of nacre forms a pearl.
The size, shape and colour of the pearl are determined by a combination of factors including the size and shape of the original irritant, whether the mollusc is living in salt or fresh water and the region where the mollusc lives.
How to dive for Pearls
A diver holds his breath while he descends to the sea bed, up to 36 metres or so beneath the waves. He holds on to a rope attached to one of the mother ship’s oars: this rope has a stone attached that helps the diver to descend more efficiently. He is also attached to a second rope that will be used to pull him up at the end of the dive.
The rope and stone are pulled up once the diver reaches the sea bed. The diver then start to collect oysters with his hands and drops them into a basket he has taken down with him.
When he is ready, the diver tugs on the second rope and his is pulled skywards!
Once on the surface, the diver hands over his catch and rests for five minutes before taking another dive: a total of 10 dives per session.
Who gets What?
Various people get various shares in the diving industry, here are some of the details.
• The Al Nukhdha and his deputy, in charge of everything on the ship, each get three shares of the yield of the ship
• The diver, the ghais, gets three shares
• Al Saib gets two shares: Al Saib is the man who pulls the diver out of the water
• Al Azal were essentially freelance divers aboard the ship and they kept their earnings apart from handing over a fifth of their earnings to the benefit of the ship’s yield.
• Al Radeef, young trainee divers, received one share of the yield: they also carried out light duties on board the ship
• Al Tawash: the pearl trader often the richest of them all and they often had their own ships
The Biggest Pearl in the World?
The biggest pearl in the world is called the Pearl of Allah and was found in 1934 off the Island of Palawan
Source: Gulf News 29th April 2007
In my private version of this file there are two pictures: not reproduced here but here are their web addresses if you are interested.
picture of pearl from http://billhails.net/Pearl.png
picture of pearl fishing boat from http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/pearldiversPersianGulf.gif
Management ability
If you want an example of someone being appointed as a manager and making a success of it, take a look here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/6588831.stm
Put any prejudice aside and read about how a man with no track record as a manager made his way in his own way: Roy Keane at Sunderland AFC.
Read my review of Roy Keane's autobiography here, too, as a matter of interest! http://www.duncanwil.co.uk/kea.html
Duncan Williamson
Harris Tweed
Latest business of the day? Harris Tweed apparently. There's a big splurge going on I am happy to say as some of my family are still involved in the weaving of the great cloth.
They're marketing it in a big way in New York, I have just learned; and some big name designers are keen on it.
You heard it first!
Duncan Williamson
Rate my school
Since many, if not all, readers of this magnificent blog come from the teaching profession/education, why not use the newly established web site to rate your school? This is a good idea, I think, providing people who go there and complete the various forms and so on do responsibly.
Remember: whatever you do, do it responsibly.
Duncan Williamson
Examiners Cheating on Behalf of their Students
A simulcast.
I was called by a journalist last week who wanted to discuss the way that Britain's GCSE examiners may be behaving. He was specifically worried that the examiners who are marking our children's examination scripts are providing private tuition and behind closed doors advice to teachers and students alike.
We had a useful discussion and you can see the fruits of that discussion on the Times Ediucations Supplement dated Friday 20th April 2007: there is a story on the front page, on page 18 and there's an editorial on the subject on page 24: that editorial has the headline, Examiners should stop cheeating.
I am happy to say that this is not the end of the matter: there is to be another article on the coming Friday by another journalist from the TES. I am delighted to say that I have been able to provide some detailed evidence that is being used for this forthcoming article and I am grateful to Chris Sivewright for providing the contact details that got me and journalist in contact with each other: she sits at the desk next to last week's journalist!
I have been campaigning against the practices to which these articles relate and I am keen to see them develop further and lead to the outlawing of these grossly immoral and unprofessional activities of these unscrupulous examiners.
In case you think these examiners are not being so badly behaved then answer this question: have YOU and/or your students/children benefitted from such presentations and meetings? The chances are that you and they haven't. That means that you have automatically been disadvantaged as a result.
The second major argument concerns the fact that once an examiner says, for example, just concentrate on these 42 questions and you know automatically that the quality of education and learning have suffered. Full stop. Idle Jack will do no more and even though s/he may pass the exam, s/he will still know nothing except the answer to 42 questions. If you are happy with that then you are happy to condense 11 years of education into nothing of value.
DW
The Apprentice
I watched The Apprentice last night: the first time I have watched the Alan Sugar version. I watched a few of Donald Trump's version and thought it was tripe.
I missed the start of the programme but was hooked by what I saw. I am pleased to reveal that as soon as I saw the person who was fired last night, I decided that she should be sacked. I felt she was like a fish out of water. I then turned over to see the follow up programme with the sacked one and she just got worse. I was reaching for the off button (NB, not the stand by button!) as she was describing her personality, how she was academically so well qualified (erm, why is that relevant in that context?) and had just said that she was 'bubbly' when I cut the power.
The thing that struck me most of all about that episode last night was how the contestants are allowing personality clashes to get in the way of just about everything they are doing.
Bubbly my @rse.
DW
Global Warming, Climate Change ... Call it what you like
Everyone knows that I read The Economist and from time to time feel that there is something worthy of sharing with everyone here: another simulcast, by the way.
You may have read or heard about how the Antarctic ice cap is melting and how that is PROOF that global warming is nigh and that we are all doomed. The article I am about to refer to says that if all the ice on Antarctica melted today (don't panic, it's not going to happen) then sea levels around the world would rise by 70 metres. In general, this message has been spread far and wide and we are being encouraged to panic because if, say, just 10% of the Antarctic ice melted then sea levels would rise by 7 metres ... Taking a very simple and linear view ... Feel free to tell me that such changes would occur exponentially, geometrically or otherwise and I'll happily concur with the proof. Although The Economist says, Even if part of that ice melted, the sea level would rise dramatically.
Moreover, the article says that of all the ice in the world, about 90% of it is on Antarctica.
It was a surprise for me to read that In much of the Antarctica so little snow falls each year that it is technically a desert. Nevertheless, the article also says that lots of snow falls in the East of Antarctica; and this means, they say, that the Eastern ice sheet is thickening at the moment although the Western ice sheet is thinning at the rate of 10cm to 1 metre a year.
So in addition to redressing the scare tactics of the global warming mongers who only tell us about the Western Antarctic ice sheet, the article also says So far, it looks as if the ice sheets have advnaced and retreated more than 50 times over the past 5 million years. They know this from the work being done on core samples taken from the ice sheets that allow scientists, literally, to drill back in time for many millennia.
My point is this, here in the UK we have had ice ages and now we haven't. In the Antarctic the ice has thickened and thinned: at the moment thickening in the East, thinning in the West. The world may be warming but I really, seriously, ask everyone to learn as much as possible before falling for all of the histrionic hype that we are all climatically doomed.
Yes global warming happens: it happens naturally. Yes man is pumping noxious substances into the atmosphere at an alarming rate: it should stop. The Al Gore film you might have seen, whose title I can never remember, has done more damage to the global warming crusade in my opinion than one excess tonne of carbon emissions. Anyone who watches that film and falls for his nonsense is guilty of the sin of having fallen asleep in their maths lessons and statistics lessons when they were around 14 years of age. Yes, in my opinion, Al Gore is using the maths and stats of the 14 year old to strengthen an argument that in my opinion is not as strong as such people would have us believe.
In conclusion: stop burning and using fossil fuels as a matter of routine for all our sakes, not just to feed this global warming frenzy. Stop driving around in a car with just one occupant: walk when you can, too. Turn lights off that you don't need. Do you really need an air conditioner in your house or office ... really need? Switch it off when it's not vitally necessary. Do you buy processed and pre packaged food and other items where that packaging serves not functional purpose? Stop buying it. Recycle where you can.
I have changed many light bulbs in my house from incandescent to energy saving and now spend just one sixth on them compared to before; and before you say that these new bulbs cost the earth, not at Home Base they don't. I work from home and told one client who wanted me in the office every day that I would continue to do stay at home as much as possible as I was wasting as much as £50 worth of petrol a week to fend off his loneliness: that's around 35 litres of petrol a week I saved. I am a lacto ovo vegetarian and because of that and because I buy loads of fresh fruit and veg, my packaging needs are tiny. When I am alone, I need my rubbish collecting no more than once a month. I recycle my plastic, paper and glass: they don't recycle card board where I live. In addition,once I learned that it could be costing me £1 a week to leave my television on standy by I switch it off at the set every time I go out or go to bed or stop watching it. I also know from carrying out a simple experiment that my laptop uses a lot of electricity when it's in stand by mode
Finally, please read State of Fear by Michael Crichton: it's a novel with some very useful and fascinating information on global warming and climate change. Really well worth reading as he takes the same stand point as me: man is a nuisance because he is doing lots of stupid things with the planet. However, he says, just look at the hype carefully please: you will be shocked at what he tells you. Your mind will, however, be better balanced as a results. The story in the novel is enjoyable too so that's an energy effiicient book to boot! You can read my review of this book here http://www.duncanwil.co.uk/cri.html although I have just found out that the graphics linked to the page have suddenly stopped working ... I'll find the cause and cure it!
Duncan
The purpose of business
Just watched one of those Tom Peters types, Jason Jennings, who asked the question: what is the purpose of business? Which would you accept as the answer?
The purpose of business is to make money
The purpose of business is to find customers
The purpose of business is to find and keep customers
The purpose of business is to find, keep and develop customers
The purpose of business is to find, keep and develop the right customers
What's a Tom Peters type? Someone who assembles newspaper clippings and then sells them under attractive titles such as Wow, Spook the Customers, Getting to yes, How I am fantastic but actually don't do anything myself except take loads of your money.
Forgive my cynicism as Tom Peters lectures to and consults for some very influential people world wide. Last time I heard Peters' engagement fee was £100,000 a day.
Duncan Williamson
Brian Clough: football manager extraordinaire
Younger readers will have no idea what I am going on about here but please stay with me.
Yesterday I answered the phone to a young lady who wanted to speak to David Coleman. I said, 'That's a blast from the past. One of the most famous men ever to commentate on sport on the BBC.'
She replied that she had no idea who I was talking about and when I said it was a wrong number we both put the phone down. She doubtless told her colleagues that she'd just spoken to someone weird!!!
Anyway, Brian Clough is a hero of many older football fans in England because his record and his management style are both unsurpassed. So you might be interested to know that I just reviewed his autobiography http://www.duncanwil.co.uk/book_reviews/clo.html and then prepared this page: http://www.duncanwil.co.uk/cloughie.html which has just a few insights into Clough's management style that are very revealing I think.
Duncan Williamson
What a Leader Expects
Another April 2007 Harvard Business Review article that I found fascinating, here is the executive summary
What Your Leader Expects of You
By Larry Bossidy
The success of an executive team depends heavily on the relationships the boss has with the people reporting directly to them. Yet the leadership literature has had little to say about what is expected in those relationships: on either side. Larry Bossidy, formerly the chairman and CEO of Honeywell and before that of AlliedSignal, shares what he calls “the CEO compact,” detailing the behaviours a leader should look for in subordinates and what they should be able to expect in return.
A CEO’s best people, he says, know when a situation calls for them to get involved. They generate ideas: remembering that some of the best ones may sound crazy at first. They are willing to collaborate, putting the long term good of the company above short term goals of their divisions. They step up to lead initiatives, even if the outcome is uncertain. They develop leaders among their people, especially through direct involvement in performance appraisals. They stay current on world events and anticipate how those events may affect the company and its competition. They drive their own growth by exposing themselves to new people and ideas and by accepting demanding assignments. And they sustain these behaviors in bad times as well as good.
On the other side of the compact, the boss should provide clarity of direction; set goals and objectives; give frequent, specific, and immediate feedback; be decisive and timely; demonstrate honesty and candour; and offer an equitable compensation plan. Executives who aren’t lucky enough to have such a boss can create a compact with their own subordinates, Bossidy says and demonstrate by example. The result will be to improve team and company performance and accelerate individual growth.
I have edited the above a little since the syntax and grammar was a little shoddy!
Please note some of the key points that both teachers and students would do well to learn from:
- stay current on ... events and anticipate how those events may affect the company and its competition
- drive their own growth by exposing themselves to new people and ideas
- accept demanding assignments
- sustain these behaviours in bad times as well as good
This article is only available by susbscription or by going to the library and reading it! I am a subscriber and can fill in some of the detail if you wish even though I cannot send you the whole article.
Duncan Williamson
Women in Management
I think you may be surprised to learn that the situation as far as women in management is not as we have been led to believe. There is a summary of a report on the matter of women in management in the latest issue of the Harvard Business Review (April2007) and it reveals that
Women are more likely to be promoted than men early in their careers
Women are more likely to be more quickly promoted than men
This means that a much larger percentage of Fortune 1,000 women have made it to executive officer positions in their thirties, forties and fifties than have men their age.
Since the source population of this survey is the Fortune 1000, the data come from the USA: is it, however, the same in the UK and elsewhere? I wouldn't be surprised to find that it is to be honest. I have said so many times that the women I work with are more talented and smart than many of the men I work with. Generally. With exceptions!
Follow the lengthy URL that follows to see the short article and a revealing graph: this will be a surprise to many and will be a great talking point ... what happens at the most senior levels, that is?!
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?_requestid=10198&ml_subscriber=true&ml_action=get-article&ml_issueid=BR0704&articleID=F0704C&pageNumber=1
This article is advertised as being available free of charge so the URL should work: let me know if not and I'll do what I can!
Duncan Williamson
