Bell Labs: John Franey on its low-static, eco-friendly packaging technology

Intercept Technology Xtend Pkg Shot Show 2010 Vegas

Intercept Technology Xtend Pkg Shot Show 2010 Vegas
Originally uploaded by laineyd7

Plenty to see at the Xtend/Intercept Packaging Booth at Day 3 of Shot Show 2010 in Las Vegas. Intercept is important material for evidence protection and we have some intelligent new products on view at Booth L-124.

Short or long-term storage, clean, no corrosion or degradation of evidence, no outgas or particle shed, so no chemical compounds introduced to the evidence. Intercept materials meet stringent environmental and packaging regulations of Europe and the US.

Intercept see-through evidence bags mean easy content verification during audits, so no opening and resealing.

Say hello to Ken (seen here in Terminator pose) and Chris if you stop in.

Liberty Packaging and Xtend Packaging Announce New Product for Evidence Protection

Liberty Packaging Co and Xtend Packaging Announce New Product for Evidence Preservation and Weapons

Breaking the Rubber Band

As I walked through the local park a few weeks ago, the sun was shining, the breeze warm, and Umphrey's McGee's "Mantis" was blasting on my iPod. I've taken to listening to that album pretty exclusively while at the gym or outside walking, because it lifts my spirits like no other music. A bit of an obsession, you may think, but I always feel refreshed and full of ideas following an Umphrey's workout session.

One of the lines in the Umphrey's song "Mantis", "Turmoil stands like old rubber bands, unbreaking" started me thinking. The fact is, rubber bands eventually do degrade and break - it has probably happened to you and it stings if one snaps on you while you're trying to wrap it around a pile of books or tuck your hair into a ponytail.

There's no denying that there is turmoil of all types in our world. The smaller stuff (spilling your coffee, or a dead battery in your car) to the more weighty (a sick child or parent, or worse) - it can often feel like pretty big trouble while it's happening to you. Terrorism, war, economic crises and pandemic illnesses loom large, touching some directly and all by our connection to each other.

If rubber bands can and do break, I propose that the chain of turmoil can be broken as well. It will mean breaking the habit of focusing on the negative, talking about only the bad news, the problems, the annoyances, the illnesses, the terrorists. I don't suggest we bury our heads in the sand, but each in our own way concentrate on spreading positivity and good. Support one another. Laugh when we can. Acknowledge the challenges, then begin the plan to change our individual lives and the world, bit by bit, one rubber band at a time.