Actually im pretty sure that it was a 3 year contract that had expired. The problem occured when they wanted these things added into the new contract.
Yes that is what happened and last time they went on strike it was for the same kind of reason. They wanted to receive money on VHS tapes, and the companies they work for said they will give them a beginning rate to let them have time to explore the new market. Once the VHS market exploded they never changed the percentage. That is what they are trying to do again and the WGA does not want to get screwed again.
Many of you obviously have no idea what the strike is about. It is not about there salaries it is about a large company that does not want to give them money for stuff they write. The main issue is with what they are calling "new media", mostly internet streaming or downloading. As of now the writers do not receive any royalties for that kind of media and the royalties that were offered, at negotiations, was far to low. Yes America watches way to much TV and hopefully the strike teaches them do something other than poor useless information into their heads.
I have not tried cube lube personally but I have used some cubes that have been lubed. They spin really well but you have to be careful that you don't have a pop while you are solving.
I also use a basic layer by layer. I have looked at the Petrus system and definitely see the advantage it has to a layer by layer. I want to learn Fridrich but with so many algorithms I think I will try the Petrus method first.
