Be healthy, prosperous and make love not war! All the best in 2008!

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The Materials of Economy - Shop Till We Drop?

I've been away for a bit. Had to move and get settled and catch up with people I haven't seen in a long time.

So i was forwarded this cool documentary and it makes you really think about the big picture of stuff we get and discard and how this effects our environment, people, and the economy.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/12/11/awesome-video-you-need-to-see-before-you-start-holiday-shopping.aspx

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Bargain Hunters Rejoice

If you shop at Amazon.com (a lot) wouldn't it be nice to know when there's a price drop on that special item you need or want?

There is a Firefox add-on called Price Drop that gives the user the option to track prices for selected items at the Amazon.com online store and notify him/her when the price drops. In addition to keeping track of price drops at the Amazon store it also notifies you if the price dropped after purchasing an item which helps in getting a refund for the item you bought because of the lower price.

The extension adds a ‘Price Drop. Track this item’ row on every single product page at Amazon. Clicking the row adds that item to the list of items that are watched for price drops. The list of tracked products can be viewed at anytime by opening it in Tools > PriceDrop and it is possible to delete items in that list as well.

The user will be notified in a popup window if a price drop has been recognized. A link to the product page at Amazon is given in that popup as well. Unfortunately the old price is not mentioned in there, only the new price is mentioned - but any price drop is a good thing.

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Israel Warns World War III May be Biblical War of Gog and Magog

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123961

by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) US President George W. Bush said a nuclear Iran would mean World War III. Israeli newscasts featured Gog & Magog maps of the likely alignment of nations in that potential conflict.

Channel 2 and Channel 10 TV showed the world map, sketching the basic alignment of the two opposing axes in a coming world war, in a manner evoking associations of the Gog and Magog prophecy for many viewers. The prophecy of Gog and Magog refers to a great world war centered on the Holy Land and Jerusalem and first appears in the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel).

On one side were Israel, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.
On the other were Iran, Russia, China, Syria and North Korea.

Geez, maybe it's time to head for the mountains.

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Adobe Develops 3D Camera Technology

Ah, the pace of technology!

At a recent event in France, Adobe showcased a prototype 3D lens that could essentially capture a scene from 19 slightly different angles simultaneously, giving photographers a lot more to work with when they return home for post-processing. Essentially, the firm boasted that by using this lens along with software designed to understand the 3D nature of the image, individuals could utilize newfangled tools such as a "3D healing brush" and make perspective shifts based on the different viewpoints originally captured. Dave Story, vice president of digital imaging product development at Adobe, called the technology "computational photography," and suggested that it could open up an entirely new window of image transformation opportunities.

Very interesting to see this coming from Adobe.

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Opera vs Firefox - I Like Them Both

I've been using Firefox since it started. I just recently started using Opera and am quite impressed with its speed, security and stability. I haven't made a switch, and probably won't - I've been with Firefox for too long to just up and leave. But I must say, Opera is a pretty sweet browser.

Help Net Security published an interview a couple of months ago with Christen Krogh, VP of Engineering at Opera. Most of the interview covers security in the Opera browser.

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A Warning To All Men About Beer

Police are warning all men who frequent clubs, parties, & local pubs to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman. Many females use a date rape drug on the market called "Beer."

The drug is found in liquid form and is available anywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, or from taps and in large "kegs". Beer is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and sleep with them. A woman needs only to get a guy to consume a few units of Beer and then simply ask him home for no strings attached sex.

Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several beers, men will often succumb to the desires to sleep with horrific looking women whom they would never normally be attracted. After drinking beer, men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened to them the night before, often with just a vague feeling that "something bad" occurred.

At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life's savings, in a familiar scam known as "a relationship." In extreme cases, the female may even be shrewd enough to entrap the unsuspecting male into a longer term form of servitude and punishment referred to as "marriage." Men are much more susceptible to this scam after beer is administered and sex is offered by the predatory females.

Please! Forward this warning to every male you know. If you fall victim to this "Beer" scam and the women administering it, there are male support groups where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter with similarly victimized men. For the support group nearest you, just look up "Golf Courses" in the phone book.

For a video to see how beer works click here:

Beer Demo

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You Wanna Talk Backwards?

In one of my previous posts I talked about reverse speech and some examples. Well now you can play around with it yourself.

Just go to talkbackwards.com and send them an audio file. After a few seconds you will hear it played back in reverse. They also provide a link to search for music at Altavista's search engine. Cool eh?

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Hide Your Folders For Free!

Got some secret, personal and private stuff on our computer that you need to keep safe? Hiding things on a computer can be difficult, especially If you can’t remember where you put it, and encrypted files can be a dead giveaway that you have something to hide.

Free Hide Folder is what you need. It basically makes folders and their contents disappear from Windows, and what the snooper can’t see they can’t break into. It’s unbelievably easy to use - just set a password, confirm it, specify the folders you want to hide and click OK. The only way to make them appear again is to open Free Hide Folder and enter your password, so just remember to hide the program, or give it a different name. It’s a really neat little program, and don’t forget to make a donation to the author if you find it useful.

Why do you need Free Hide Folder?

Most people have many files or folders on their computer which they do not want to others see or use them. If you are interested in protecting your personal information, Free Hide Folder is just what you are searching for. With Free Hide Folder you will protect your files avoiding them to be being modified, seen or erased by other users.

Platform: Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003
File Size: 742 KB
License: Freeware

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Websites That Appeal To Your Five Senses

If you're the artistic type or have children that like crafts, go to Ready Mech where you can download designs that can be folded as seen on their website. You just need double-sided tape, some paper, and some time.

I'm a carnivore, but I don't mind the veggie meals once in awhile, especially those falafels...mmmm. Well, here's a site with some great vegetarian recipes - some exotic ones too.

If you like Adobe Photoshop and the artistic results you can create, check out the wacky things you can do when cloning goes wrong. Or even better, and to include the sense of hearing, check out the clip below.



And finally, for all you Mac users (I'm one of them too), a couple of great sites for freeware or open source programs to customize your Apple computer.

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A Tire For The Next Generation

I first heard about this tire last year. A tire that requires no air, no repair kits and supposedly are very durable as law enforcement spike strips can't hurt it.


The tires, made by Michelin, should be out on the market very soon... I think I may have to get used to the look though. If you look carefully at the pics, you can see how functional they would be in conforming to any obstacle on the road. A sort of accordian like appearance, the design works in unison to evenly distribute pressure among all of the flexible spokes.


These tires were originally for military and after years of research, they were able to make them for civilians - more presentable and more noise reduction. Civilians will most likely pay a higher price for these over traditional tires too.

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Monday Morning Ramblings - Zagato, Fishkini, Anti-Satellite Weapons, Economy

I watched a car auction on the Discovery Channel HD Theater yesterday and caught a glimpse of a beautiful 1961 Aston Martin DB4 Zagato. It was at it's highest bid of 2.5 million and it still didn't meet the owner's reserve! I guess he wanted at least 3.5 million. That particular Zagato had been in some major races and I guess you also pay for its colorful racing history. If I was a minor millionaire I'd probably settle for a newer Porsche or Ferrari. But if I was a major player and had chump change of about 4 million sitting around, sure I'd make a bid on that sweet car.



In other news, a company out of Bangkok, Thailand has created a new fashion trend utilizing the skin of the Talapia fish. It's been used in hand bags and wallets and now it's getting rave reviews in the bikini market. It actually looks pretty cool and drys faster as it's waterproof. It takes about 15 fish skins to make one bikini. Go on, be a mermaid!



So now it seems that we have a new threat to be worried about - the threat of anti-satellite weapons that can knock out a lot of the major communications services we take for granted and rely on more and more each day. This anti-satellite weapon was tested by China early this year on one of their own defunct weather satellites and now the U.S. is a bit on the worried side. Will this cause an arms race in outer space? We shall see.

It seems the mortgage companies in the U.S. aren't the only ones that are hurting. Customers lined up in droves Monday morning outside of Northern Rock PLC mortgage company in London and its other bank branch locations across Britain to withdraw billions upon fears of insolvency. I fear something bad is coming our way economically.

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Graphic Software To Help Nab The Bad Guys

I stumbled upon this cool website that allows you to make composite drawings with a range of different characteristics in about 10 categories. I made a couple of drawings here and I found that you can really change the look of someone by simply swapping the eyes. I guess they really are the windows into the soul.

Another software I'm familiar with is used by police agencies, CIA and FBI - Faces 4.0. The software is user friendly and is a more robust program with a plethora of characteristics featuring 21 categories that include everything from eyebrows to glasses, jaw structure to noses, and hair to tattoos. There are 4,400 different features that can create 1 million different composites. You can fine tune the final composite, moving hairlines up or eyebrows down on the computer screen and the quality is more like a photo than a line drawing. The specs are below.


Create any face you like. Surprise your friends and family with a drawn picture of themselves. The FACES award winning program makes a composite look virtually like a photo and it produces a good quality image. That's why thousands of police agencies worldwide including the CIA, FBI and the US Military use FACES.

Information:
* Creates photo-like composites
* Generates unique alphanumeric code for every composite
* Extensive database of facial features
* Runs on any standard desk or laptop computer
* Expanded Latin, Asian and African-American features
* Three-tone hair color
* Side to side hair flip
* Facial markings: scars, moles, piercing, tattoos
* Improved age progression
* Detachable hats and headwear
* Full Windows XP compatibility
* Ability to export composite as JPEG file
* Integration with TRAK alert system
* Slide show capability
* "Not A Real Photograph" Indicator
* Improved zooming and positioning tools

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Are You Flexible Enough To Handle This?

Man, all I can say is - it hurts and... it freakin' hurts! This beautiful woman, Kristina Kareeva, is definitely amazing. Ok guys, get your minds outta the gutter about the extreme kama sutra ideas and all that jazz.


Extreme Body Bending By Kristina - Click here for another funny movie.

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Computers Use Google Earth To Join In The Search For Steve Fossett

It seems Nevada is a graveyard for planes. Over the last 50 years more than 300 small planes have disappeared in the state.

The search for 63-year-old Steve Fossett is entering its second week, and rescuers have received help from an unlikely source: Google Earth. The satellite imaging program has released new, up-to-date images of Nevada which, through a collaborative system run by Amazon called Mechanical Turk, enables individual users to search from their homes and notify rescuers in Nevada of potential leads. The system's creators say the plane Mr Fossett was flying would appear as an object about "21 pixels long and 30 pixels in wingspan". (Guardian Unlimited)

Read the rest of the article here.

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M.A.C. Beauty Trends For All You Professional Make-up Junkies

I just wanted to do a quick plug for an up and coming make-up artist and journalist extraordinaire, Joy (who happens to be my sis). She has tons of beauty tips and trends to keep you looking and feeling good.

Here's the M.A.C. Pro beauty news from her blog:

"I haven't visited the MAC Pro site in a while and I was excited to find some new products for their pro members. If you're not familiar with the site, it's full of products and tools that pro artist use and are only available in MAC Pro stores. The greatest part about being a pro member is of course the lovely discount you get which is exclusive to makeup artists and people in the entertainment industry. While on the site, I was checking out the Daily Trend Report and I fell in love with their artsy trend pictures! To view the inspiration and products used behind some of the hottest shows for Spring/Summer 2008 click on each day."

I've seen her work as a make-up artist first hand, particularly with a well-known runway model, Tasha Tilberg. She's got skills!

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Can You Defy Gravity?

I've read accounts of shamans, magicians and the ancient yogi who were able to levitate off the ground. There are a lot of skeptics, but there are a lot of things these shamans have learned and retained from ancient times. Or, it could be cables and wires... I just didn't see any in the video. Like I said before - I'll remain a skeptic believer.

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An Ebay Pitfall You Should Avoid

Do you hate being scammed? I hate it. I haven't been scammed online (yet) but my friends have and they've lost quite a bit of money as a result.

If you're selling or buying on Ebay, you should know that that is the hunting ground for scam artists. From browsing different internet forums, I've learned that these thieves know that their targets are in the know with respect to Western Union transfers. It's definitely not suggested and use at your own risk... risk of never getting your money back. Most scam artists are overseas and out of reach of U.S. law enforcement. If a seller says their monthly payment limit for Paypal is maxed out and they want you to use Western Union, move on.

But they'll have a counter to that as well. They may recommend an escrow service online. Let me tell you right off the bat that Ebay endorses only one escrow service - Escrow.com. Use any other at your own risk. The scam artists know that it's easy to buy a domain, set up a fake site and have the server somewhere overseas. You need to go to a site where you can trace and check out the domain name. Take a look at the date of creation and the physical address supplied by the registrant. If it was created recently with an address somewhere outside the U.S., be careful. Like I said at the beginning of this paragraph - Escrow.com is the way to go. So what is an escrow service anyway?

An escrow service is basically a "middle man" both parties can trust. Here's an example of a typical transaction:

1. Buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale. This includes item description, price, and time period of inspection.

2. Buyer pays the escrow service by check, money order, credit card, or wire transfer. Escrow.com does not accept Western Union or Money Gram.
   

3. Seller then ships the item to the buyer and provides tracking information to the escrow service so delivery can be confirmed.

4. Buyer inspects the product and can either accept or reject it.

5. If the item is accepted, the seller is then paid via check or wire transfer. If the item is rejected, it's sent back to the seller. Once she verifies the item is in satisfactory condition, the buyer's money is refunded by the escrow service.

Now you're in the know... savor it!

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Choosing The Right Ram For Your Computer And Installing It

A few months ago I decided to upgrade my Toshiba laptop's RAM from 1 GB to 2 GB. For some reason the user manual didn't mention what model or type of RAM I needed. It only mentioned that I had two 512 RAM slots. No biggy, as a quick search on Google brought me to Crucial. There you can select your brand, model and then receive a list of compatible modules. You can either purchase it from their website or use the information and buy the module at your local electronics store. I did the latter.

I'm more of a do-it-yourselfer and when I read the user manual, it explained that replacing RAM would be require only a few steps. Well, what the user manual didn't explain was that there's only one slot located in the bottom of the laptop and the other underneath the damn keyboard. Even Toshiba's website doesn't tell you that - WTF? So after replacing the one in the bottom I only had one and a half gigs - lame. I was panicking as I didn't have the slightest clue how to take apart the laptop in the proper order to replace the module under the keyboard.

Fortunately, I was able to search Google again and found a site that explains in great detail how to take out the parts needed to get to the slot - that was a definite lifesaver. I wish I'd kept url so I can publicly thank him here. One thing I should mention is that you should have a basic knowledge of ESD (electrostatic discharge) and how to prevent it. I'm a certified Apple Desktop Technician so those basics are already ingrained in my gray matter. Do a quick search on the net and you'll find the do's and don'ts. All in all it took less than 20 minutes to get my computer to recognize the full 2 GB. Phew!

So, don't despair, if you want to do it yourself just do a search on the internet and you're bound to find a great tutorial like I did. If not, well so sorry. Looks like you'll have to spend the extra cashola to get a techie to install it for you.

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A Pizza Recipe You And Yours Can Enjoy... At A Slow Pace

Well, I like my pizzas but I'm not too adventurous when it comes to trying exotic ones. At a get together recently I tried oyster pizza. I just wanted a slice but my friends and especially my wife, told me to eat more as oysters are great aphrodisiacs... hmmm.

I definitely can't do anchovies - no matter how much water or soda I'm having with it. But if you're someone with more sophisticated taste buds you might enjoy escargot pizza. This one is a truly French-inspired recipe right down to the dough.

Escargot And Chanterelle Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

* 1 French bread dough
* 10 ounces French snails (the smaller the better)
* 2 ounces Chanterelle mushrooms, dried
* 1 1/2 pound Raclette cheese, shredded
* 8 ounces Tomato sauce
* 2 cloves Garlic
* 2 tablespoons Parsley, fresh
* 1/2 pound Butter


Directions:

Make the French Bread dough recipe at least 1 day beforehand if you can. Roll the dough out into the shape of a pizza, put it on a pizza pan, and set it aside. It will keep in the refrigerator overnight.

Prepare the dried mushrooms according to published recipes (soak, wash, cut, resoak, wash,
drain).

If the snails are too large (larger than a garlic clove), then cut them in pieces. Drain the snails well. Melt the butter in a baking dish, add the snails, crushed garlic, about 1/2 salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Put the bread-dough pan on the top rack of the oven and the snails on the bottom rack of the oven, and cook them both for 10 minutes. Take them out.

Spread the tomato sauce in an even layer on the bread, then sprinkle the Raclette cheese over it. Add the snails, and then the mushrooms. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Bake at 425 degrees F. in the top rack for 12 minutes (bottom rack will burn the crust). Get it, use fondue cheese or a Gruyere.

There you have it! This would go well with maybe a nice Burgundy wine, but I'll take mine with a Stella Artois, please.

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What Are The Advantages Of A Sari Sari Store To People?

If you've read my header, you'll notice mention of the word 'sari sari.' Well, I guess I should give you a better explanation of what it is, how it benefits a community and its potential. The following, in my own words of course, is from the April 20, 2006 issue of Manila Standard Today.

The sari-sari store is a Philippine phenomenon that provides a means of livelihood for many families. A sari sari store definitely completes a neighborhood. There are even some high-end condominium units that have sari sari stores that are run privately without the knowledge (and sometimes, consent) of the building owner.

Only in the Philippines can a consumer buy 5 pesos worth of cooking oil that’s good for only one use. The same goes for other basic commodities like salt, sugar, vinegar and laundry soap.

You can think of the sari sari store like the water cooler at work - only you can buy stuff there. It is where people congregate in the morning to buy coffee, sugar and other breakfast supplies. It is where children go to in the afternoon to buy snacks and sodas.

“The trend in consumer spending is more frequent visits to neighborhood stores for daily needs and purchasing in small quantities or packs. This has led to increased demand for sari sari stores within and among neighborhood communities. However, these sari sari storeowners have not had formal training in running small businesses,” said Navneet Singh, Makro vice-president for customer development.

During a recent seminar jointly organized by Makro and Unilever Philippines, sari sari storeowners were asked, “Are you selling the right things?”

The seminar is part of a series of business lectures dubbed “Makronomics.”

“It is the first of its kind that is aimed at providing structured courses that are very targeted and relevant,” said Ralph Umali, Unilever’s key customer development manager for Makro.

“Some of these sari sari stores have grown into full-fledged groceries. With Makronomics providing tips and information, and Makro and Unilever selling low-cost quality goods, we are helping these people expand their businesses,” he said.

Singh said Makronomics helps participants improve their business management skills in a way that is simple and relevant with the use of short informative modules and workshops.

Considering the entrepreneurial spirit and sales abilities of the Filipinos the publicist Regalario wrote once: “Give a Filipino thousand pesos and he probably will use this sum as a start-up capital for a small retail business". This thesis seems to be confirmed, if you look in a typical street of a Philippine barangay. With few exceptions one sari sari store follows the other. You could gain the impression, that every house is or has a little street store - the Philippines as a jumbled cluster of small and smallest micro enterprises. The ubiquitous sari sari stores are also belonging to the typical inventory of the Philippines like the Jeepney, Barong or the Sampaguita garlands. They can provide the owners with an additional income.

Sari sari stores are often little wooden huts. A oversized billboard, emphasizing the importance, can contrast with a narrowly cut sales window. A look into the sales window shows a little room in semi-darkness filled with properly arranged goods. Here basic commodities are sold: rice, salt, sugar, preserved foods, calorie-rich candies, detergents, batteries, shampoo or floor wax. Very often soft drinks and surely also beer and gin are bestsellers. Cosmetics are bringing higher profits, so they are exposed in a favorable position. Fruits (for example bananas) and vegetables can be added, particularly if there is no “Wet Market " with fresh products in the neighborhood. A westerner might be astonished, seeing the sale of only one or two cigarettes. Sandals can be a special offer attracting possible buyers. Sometimes the exposed range of goods is thinned out to reduce the taxation by official and unofficial authorities. But the range of goods seems to be very similar even if there is a strong competition with other sari sari stores in the neighborhood. New products need further investments and the demand may be only small.

Sari saris have an important social function in everyday life. Just like the water cooler analogy above, you can hear the newest gossips and you can have a little chat. In the morning you might see women with their children, clinging on the apron strings and begging for sweets. Later, the pupils come for a Coke or a comic strip. And in the evening men can sit on benches smoking cigarettes or drinking beer and Ginebra, to help them forget the frustration of the day or to have some entertainment. With closing time the store gets very well secured... gotta protect the goodies!

Mainly, a sari sari store is a family business, which is open all day and late into the evening. For some sari saris, goods can come from a Tsinoy (Chinese-Filipino) Wholesaler or from supermarkets in the city. An important principle with regard to the volume of sold goods is: transform bulk goods into smaller quantities – so the sugar in a sack has to be redistributed in many, many little plastic bags. That’s the reason why a salesperson – if he or she is not selling or chattering – is mostly engaged in decanting, weighing and counting the goods. This sales strategy increases the profit of the storekeeper and offers to the buyer – what a wonderful world of trade - lower expenses viewed in the short term.

Sometimes you'll have people asking for credit. So now the owner has to ask: Should I give credits, and if so - to whom, what amount, and how often? Many owners try to evade this question by demonstratively putting up an information board, “ No Credit!.” But if they give no credits, they may lose buyers and if they give too much, the debtor may not come again. But despite of all information boards most sari sari shops, especially in the country side, operate as little creditors.

The Nielsen Company estimated for the year 2000, that there are round about 430 000 sari sari stores on the Philippines. If this number is nearly exact, it would mean that there is one sari sari store on 26 households. Even in the business and administration quarter of Makati there have been counted 3500 sari sari stores in 1997. But we should be skeptical about the data. The NSO-Census counted in 1975 nearly 750.000 sari sari stores, but this number decreased to miraculous 100,000 in 1996. One reason for this confusion of numbers can be that sari saris are still partly belonging to the underground economy despite pressures by the authorities responsible for registration and taxation. In 1996 there was a report that the unofficial GNP was estimated 30 – 40 % higher than the official GNP. A shop that isn't registered has a chance to evade fees and taxes.

From 1994 we have a statistic showing that the sari sari stores represent about eighty per cent of the retail outlets, but they took in cash only 12.4% of the consumption expenditures. About half of the consumption expenditure have been allotted to the supermarkets.

The above mentioned Nielsen data also delivers surprising information - that from 1997 to 2000 the number of sari sari stores increased by 88 %. That’s quite astonishing. In western countries we have a strong decline of corner shops in favor of chains of supermarkets (Wal-Mart anyone?).

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The Subconscious - Can It Reveal True Meaning Through Reverse Speech?

I always wondered about the validity of playing a recording backwards, where you hear subliminal messages. We used to do it for fun as kids but I really couldn't make out anything as I didn't have a way to slow it down. Can these messages be so shocking as to reveal the true thoughts of a person(s)? It's mind boggling how that can be connected to our subconscious; it's like our regular words and thoughts are a mask for what we really mean in our hearts.

I got the clip below from a friend at MySpace who was playing around with a few audio clips and what he heard after playing them backwards was pretty scary. I added another clip below that from Youtube... it seems there's a website called reversespeech.com that's totally into this. Is this a case of people having too much time on their hands? Do you think there's some truth to this?

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Alternative Way To Get Your Blog Noticed And Make Your Blogging Life A Lot Easier

Well, with a gazillion blogs out there, it should be no surprise that promoting your blog is half of the work. Sure you have great content, which should be the main priority, but without any knowledge on how to market your blog it's going to be the "shy guy at the party."

The given, well it should be a given, is to go to Ping-O-Matic to send out pings to places like Technorati and MyYahoo. Another is to get your blog in directories like DMOZ or Yahoo Directory. You can even pay people to review your blog and get noticed that way. Or, go over to Contest Blogger and promote your blog by advertising your blog contest. Sure you have to spend money and think of a unique contest, but maybe not as much as what you'd pay at Review Me.

A little effort goes a long way, especially in the blogosphere... so update your blog each day if you can and it will pay off in the long run. Is content king? What do you think?

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More Cool Websites To Help Ease Your Life

Well, this website is about making your life easier right? So here are a few links I think will do just that.

If you need to get rid of a lot of junk, junk that might be someone else's treasure, go to chanceXchange. They focus on trading dvds, vhs, games, books and more.

If you're on vacation but don't like the being part of a group tour, go to tourcaster. They allow you to download a podcast audio tour of your destination and points out historic landmarks and notable sites. I'll be sure to check this out when I'm on vacation.

Lastly, go to travelicio.us to get a compilation of blogs, articles, and pictures from Flickr, BootsnAll, del.icio.us showcasing different travel spots around the world and get helpful hints and reviews as well.

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If You Like Giveaways Then Read On

So I was looking around for a watermarking software for my photos and I came across this cool site that offers free, fully licensed software - Giveaway of the Day. The only catch is that you have a specified time frame to download the software. If anything, it's a good place to get some reviews on the software you're interested in testing out.

I did see a watermarking software they were offering for free, but I found a little software program, referred by one of the commentators, that does the job fine - and best of all, it's free!

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The Aftermath Of A Password Hack

A former colleague of mine emailed me the other day to catch up on life and just chew the fat. He mentioned that someone hacked into his Hotmail account and deleted some important information... but I'm sure he stole the vital information before the big deletion. And I'm talking social security number, a couple of credit card numbers and passwords, and most importantly, his freakin' address. He's paranoid now and looking to get a cctv surveillance system for his property. The house alarm's already installed... at least he's got that covered.

I had to say he had it coming. One thing you definitely do not do is keep sensitive information like that in an email account. Hotmail is not a safe. Yahoo mail is not Fort Knox. If you're in business, especially for yourself, you need to clean out your email account of any private or business data that can hurt you and your clients later on. I mean it's only common sense. He told me he was going to get around to it but had no time. Well, I guess he's going to make time now.

He's going to make time to research what is good password practice. His password was common, connected him to it and was most likely brute forced because the words in his password were commonly found in a dictionary. Do your own research and be safe.

I found some good information here that gives you the do's and dont's. You can learn about what programs people use to bypass passwords as well. It pays to educate yourself. If you need high security passwords, especially for wireless networks, go here.

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An Awesome Car - The Shelby GR-1

Like every other man, I always dream of driving those supercars, whether Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, etc. I remember taking a ride in a Porsche that was custom made for the track. That thing was a pain to get into as the seats really hug your body - and with good reason. That thing almost made me pee my pants. The acceleration was like nothing I've ever experienced before, and I've been in and driven a few fast cars. The tight seats are needed to allow you to take the G-force around a corner. The engine sounded like it belonged in a Mac Truck. And it really was made for the track. All the luxuries taken out to lighten the car.

I was watching the Discovery Channel HD Theater yesterday and it showcased the Shelby sports car. The father and racing legend, Carroll Shelby, talked about how his car was known as the "Ferrari Slayer" back in the 60s and 70s. Then they unveiled the new Shelby GR-1...all I can say is sweeeeet! The funny part of the show was when the design team took the Shelby to a Ferrari convention - a little silver car in a sea of red. But it got a lot of oooohs and awes.

The Shelby GR-1 American Supercar has the classic sports car look mixed with diamond cut machined styling. With powerful rear haunches, polished aluminum skin and tear drop side windows it looks fast when standing still.

The GR-1 shares some components with the Ford GT, among them suspension and the 6 speed transmission. The 600 horsepower comes from the 6.4L V-10 giving the GR-1 a theoretical top speed in excess of 200 mph.

The exterior designer, George Saradakis, only needed one try on paper to get the design for the Shelby GR-1 approved. If he's that talented, I'm looking forward to all his future designs. Bravo!

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Prevent Overheating And Monitor Your Computer's Temperature

If you work on applications that make your computer really work, like graphics applications, you might want to get a little program that monitors the cpu and hard drive temperatures and performance of your hard drive.

I found this great program called Speedfan that monitors your system's temperatures and can even control the fan speeds for you. I actually don't want to mess with another application controlling my fan speeds but Speedfan is great just as a monitoring device. Normally, the computer fan will kick in at certain temperatures but if you want to save the wear and tear on your fan you can get an external fan to help out - a chill mat.
I did some research and found a great chill pad that doesn't require any power - the THERMALTAKE I-XOFT. It uses what's called Gauber salt to dissipate the heat. At cooler temperatures it solidifies, but when the computer gets hot, the material inside the pad liquifies and dissipates the heat, bringing down the temperature of the laptop. It's portable and from all accounts and reviews, it really works.I did some more research and decided that the Targus Chillhub would work better for me. I'm using more and more usb devices hooked up to my laptop and the added 4 port hub that comes with the Targus Chillhub was just what I needed. The Chillhub has it's own AC adaptor and the two fans run at about 2500 rpm.
So now whenever I run graphics applications, I make sure to turn on Speedfan and when it shows that the CPU/Hard Drive is going over the limit, I just turn on the Chillhub and it brings the temps down to the normal range within a few minutes. I even leave it on for most of the time and the computer fan hardly goes on, thus saving on wear and tear and extending the life of the computer.

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Aaron Russo, Producer Of From Freedom To Fascism Has Passed Away

Aaron Russo, producer of From Freedom to Fascism has passed away this morning. August 24th, 2007. A great American Hero and patriot. God Bless you Aaron! He fought his battle with cancer long enough to inspire and educate countless people to learn the truth about the globalists' agenda. Aaron Russo was a Jewish-American filmmaker and produced the movies "The Rose" and "Trading Places."

This is sad news. I'm grateful for his passion and effort to educate us - we need to wake up! Condolences to his family, friends and volunteers who helped to spread his cause.

If you haven't already, watch From Freedom to Fascism - educate yourself.

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Sony Develops Battery Powered By Sugar!

Sony has developed an environmentally-friendly prototype battery that runs on sugars and that can generate enough electricity to power a music player and a pair of speakers.

The bio battery's casing is made of a vegetable-based plastic. It measures 3.9 cm (1.5 inch) along each edge and works by pouring sugar solution into the unit, where enzymes break it down to generate electricity.

This is very cool. For now, it'll take many of these to light a bulb so it's a baby step. But baby's do tend to grow so I'm really looking forward to seeing this as the next viable alternative for everyday use. Indeed, a freely available, growable energy source is what we need now!

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What You Need To Know About Bluetooth Security

Bluetooth is everywhere, from our laptops to our cell phones to our PDAs. But you need to know some important facts about its security issues. The following can be found here:

Bluetooth Security

Security has played a major role in the invention of Bluetooth. The Bluetooth SIG has put much effort into making Bluetooth a secure technology and has security experts who provide critical security information. In general, Bluetooth security is divided into three modes:

· Non-secure

· Service level enforced security

· Link level enforced security

In non-secure, a Bluetooth device does not initiate any security measures. In service-level enforced security mode, two Bluetooth devices can establish a non-secure Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) link. Security procedures, namely authentication, authorization and optional encryption, are initiated when a L2CAP (Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol) Connection-Oriented or Connection-Less channel request is made. (Haataja, 2006). The difference between service level enforced security and link level enforced security is that in the latter, the Bluetooth device initiates security procedures before the channel is established.

As mentioned above, Bluetooth‘s security procedures include authorization, authentication and optional encryption. Authentication involves proving the identity of a computer or computer user, or in Bluetooth‘s case, proving the identity of one piconet member to another. Authorization is the process of granting or denying access to a network resource. Encryption is the translation of data into secret code. It is used between Bluetooth devices so that eavesdroppers can not read its contents. However, even with all of these defense mechanisms in place, Bluetooth has shown to have some security risks. The next section of this paper will describe some of these vulnerabilities associated with Bluetooth technology.

Bluetooth Vulnerabilities and Security Risks

Bluejacking: Bluejacking is the process of sending unsolicited messages, or business cards, to Bluetooth-enabled devices. This does not involve altering any data from the device, but nonetheless, it is unsolicited. Devices that are set in non-discoverable mode are not susceptible to bluejacking. In order for bluejacking to work, the sending and receiving devices must be within 10 meters of one another. While this method has been widely used for promotional purposes, Bluetooth device-owners should be careful never to add the contact to their address book. While bluejacking is usually not done with malicious intent, repetitive bogus messages can be annoying to the user, and in some cases, can render the product inoperable. This can also open the door to a variety of social engineering attacks.

Bluesnarfing: Bluesnarfing is a method of hacking into a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone and copying its entire contact book, calendar or anything else stored in the phone‘s memory. By setting the device in non-discoverable, it becomes significantly more difficult to find and attack the device. However, the software tools required to steal information from Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones are widely available on the Web, and knowledge of how to use them is growing. (Kotadia, 2004)

The backdoor attack: This attack involves establishing a trust relationship through the “pairing” mechanism, but ensuring that it no longer appears in the target‘s register of paired devices. In this way, unless the owner is actually observing their devices at the precise moment a connection is established, they are unlikely to notice anything untoward, and the attacker may be free to continue to use any resource that a trusted relationship with that device grants access to…This means that not only can data be retrieved from the phone, but other services, such as modems, or Internet, WAP and GPRS gateways may be accessed without the owner‘s knowledge or consent. (The Bunker, 2003)

The cabir worm: The cabir worm is malicious software that uses Bluetooth technology to seek out available Bluetooth devices and send itself to them. According to Bluetooth SIG (2006), The cabir worm currently only affects mobile phones that use the Symbian series 60 user interface platform and feature Bluetooth wireless technology. Furthermore, the user has to manually accept the worm and install the malware in order to infect the phone. Although this may be the case, this shows that it is achievable to write mobile viruses that spread via Bluetooth and may cause other hackers to explore the possibilities of writing Bluetooth viruses.

The Mabir worm is essentially a variant of the Cabir worm where it uses Bluetooth and Multimedia Messaging Service messages (MMS) to replicate.

Bluetooth wireless is constantly growing in popularity because of the convenience of exchanging information between mobile devices. As Bluetooth usage rises, so do the security risks associated with the technology. Advantages to Bluetooth include the ability to simultaneously handle both data and voice transmissions which enables users to enjoy a variety of innovative solutions such as a hands-free headset for voice calls, wireless printing and fax capabilities, and synchronizing PDA, laptop, and mobile phone applications. (Bluetooth SIG, 2006) Bluetooth users should familiarize themselves with Bluetooth security issues before using Bluetooth devices, and especially before they bring these devices into the work place.

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China Will See Underwater Hotel

I've always enjoyed going to theme parks and riding in those mini-subs. In all my travels, I haven't seen or stayed in theme-type hotels. Well, now it looks like one resort will be making the underwater world as their theme and China will see the first one. I think this is cool and kind of freaky at the same time. That thing better be sealed good!

Having obtained sea rights from China, Crescent Hydropolis Resorts will build the world's first underwater hotel and resort there named Hydropolis Qingdao. The Hydrotower component will be located on 33,000 sq meters of land that was formerly the Ocean Entertainment Park in Qingdao, and completion is slated prior to the start of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. The actual underwater hotel section or Hydropalace, will be located southwest of the island of Chidao and will be operative in 2009.The company is also working on the underwater hotel in Dubai, with plans to build in London, Monaco, Munich, New York and the Isle of Man.

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A Fight Club To Ease The Pain

I caught an episode of Taboo on the National Geographic channel last night and saw a fight club that I'm familiar with - Gints Fighting Club. Gints Klimanis has been running this club out of his garage for a number of years and with him are a number of fighters who put their skills to the test in full contact fights. If you've watched Fight Club with Brad Pitt you'll know what I'm talking about. But in Gint's club they fight with knives, sticks, fists, and improvised weapons ranging from baking sheets to chairs to hoses. As you can see in the picture, people get hurt... bad. The show mentioned cases where fighters from other fight clubs have even died as a result of receiving a major blow to vital points.

I've been training in and teaching the use of sticks, knives, fists and improvised weapons for a number of years, but I've never tested my skills in this sort of arena. Other members in my organization have fought in full contact fights held by another group, The Dogbrothers. From watching the fights from last night's show and even some of the Dogbrother's clips, it seems that the fighters need a bit more training in the realm of defense. It is so hard to fight relaxed as your adrenalin is pumping, and you're nervous about getting hit - you get stiff. Another point is the ego factor. We get caught up in this ridiculous mentality of getting as many hits as you can (yes, even with no armor protection) while neglecting defense. And this is defense mainly in the close range. From what I saw in last night's show, fighters just want to clinch in the close range. Is that the best defense to use? Maybe for some, but not me. I may have not fought in these fight clubs but I've fought in the street and when you play on the street, you play for keeps. There's no, hitting with reckless abandon. On the street there's just the perfect opportunity and one nice hit to the throat and then run - you don't know if the attacker has friends nearby. They say there's no rules in fight club, but on the show there clearly was.

And this brings me to the title of my post. Yes, there are rules in fight club. Why? People have to work the next day, man! But it's like an event loop in computer programming - people have this instinctual need to act violent, over and over again. At work, you deal with crap situations and stupid idiots. You can't obviously punch a guy out at the office or risk getting fired. Go home, eat a bit, go to fight club, ease the pain of a most crappy day at work stuck in a cubicle dealing with ignorant, inconsiderate co-workers by beating each other up. With each other's consent, of course. And the loop begins the next day at work and so on.

Luckily, I don't feel the need to act out this way and prove my manhood. You prove your manhood by surviving each freakin' day anyway. If I have a really bad day at work, there's always Tai Chi. But to each his own right?

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Add A Great Service To Your Site And Earn Some Cash

I've recently added this great service, Job-a-matic, to my graphic tutorials blog. If you're looking for a unique way to add something to your unique blog that your readers will find value in, why not give it a try? You can earn extra cash and keep your visitors coming back to your blog. Best of all... it's free!

You can learn more about Job-a-matic in the clip below right from the source - CEO of Simply Hired, Gautam Godhwani.

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Is Global Warning Going To Do Us In?

Leishmaniasis is a potentially fatal flesh eating disease that is on the rise, and scientists from the University of Hull state that global warming appears to be the culprit. Leishmaniasis is caused by a parasite transmitted via sand fly bites usually found only in tropical climates. Rising temperatures will increase the number of countries the sand fly colonises, moving further north and through Europe.

"Because of travel and tourism, nations already affected by the disease are on the rise. Military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan are exposed to conditions ripe for developing Leishmaniasis. Global warming and the military presence in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan mean that this horrific and debilitating disease is affecting more people than ever before," says Dr. Ross Boyle, lead researcher on the project at the University of Hull. "My co-investigator, Dr. Tim Paget at the Medway School of Pharmacy, Hull PhD student Carrie-Anne Bristow and myself wanted to work towards finding a significantly better treatment.” Leishmaniasis currently affects 12 million people around the world, with 350 million people at risk of infection and a further 2 million new cases popping up each year." (treehugger)

Current treatments have unpleasant side effects and the chemists at the university are working on alternative methods of treatment to counter the parasite's increasing drug resistance. After years of research, they've discovered a method to halt the effects of Leishmaniasis by using photodynamic therapy - traditionally used to treat cancers. Also, medicinal chemists at Hull have synthesised the basic core molecule which could lead to a cure for cutaneous and mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis.

So I guess we're going to have be more aware the next time we're out on the beach or out camping. Bring your mini-torch, any sort of nettings, plenty of bug spray, but in my experience - covering up is the best protection. Some facts about the sand fly:

• They don't fly that fast – even at a slow walking pace they can't keep up and when it's windy they can't cope and will retreat to the grass or sheltered forest. If you stop for a break, it's best to stay out in the open where there is enough wind to keep them away. If you're worried about the sun and getting too dark, have a light umbrella handy and sunblock.

• They go away at night – as soon as it gets dark the sand flies will disappear, but will return at first light.

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Why Do Playboy Models Need To Be Photoshopped?

This is old news of a brazilian Playboy model who lost her belly button in an issue that caused a big stink among customers... and rightly so. The mistake went unnoticed for awhile, and the magazine sold 605,000 copies that month. That is not good for business, man. I wonder how many subscriptions they lost after that? If it comes to a point where a model needs her curves fixed or skin toned muted or highlighted, or whatever, then she shouldn't be in an issue. It also makes you think if the make-up artist or photographer did a sub-par job. Can you really blame them? Nah, I think it's a team effort.

I'm bringing this story up again because it's important to touch up on a few points about teamwork. I've worked with people in the graphic design sector that were really unpleasant. You get them in any work setting I'm sure. The important thing to realize is that it's not all about you. And it's most definitely not all about them too. It's about your client and the integrity of the company. But for me, it's more about the client. When I watch those reality chef shows like Hell's Kitchen, it really pisses me off that the product of teammates backstabbing, not pulling their weight, and doing crappy work, equals crappy food and ultimately, a dissatisfied customer who will never eat there again and probably tell 10 friends who will then tell 10 friends and so on. I know it's just a TV show, but you see the same thing in the real world all the freakin' time.

I don't know what happened with the team working on that issue of Playboy that resulted in a missing belly button on the model. It could've been an honest mistake that simply got missed or worse, a disharmonious atmosphere where a foundation wasn't set and agreed upon among all involved in the project. With no foundation you'll get a hell of a lot of politicking and no work or shabby work done. If you like your job, like eating and living, it's time to look at the big picture of a project, put the differences aside, and maintain your integrity and reputation of the company. You might even get a sweet bonus as a result. Now that's what I'm talking about!

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Are You On Par With Your Web Copy Writing Skills?

Writing web copy is a specialized genre that combines marketing savvy with an understanding of the culture, mindset, psychology and lingo of the internet. This means that there are some differences between writing copy offline and online. Selling on the web is text driven and to be effective, it needs to grab attention, create desire, cause an action, and create satisfaction.

You need good web copywriting skills or need to hire a good web copywriter if you're an internet marketer or website owner who sells goods or services, a professional who approves and organizes internet marketing campaigns, or even a webmaster who wants to expand his business offering more services or products.

I'll tell you write now, if you want to be successful marketing your goods or services online - don't make your website look like one big ad! Use editorial style web headlines and copy. Also, write much like you're talking to someone casually - a conversational style. This friendly and approachable style ensures you don't scare your visitors away and causes them to continue reading to a point that they have a desire that calls for an action.

Well, I could go on but I'm still studying as much as I can about internet marketing in case I decide to branch into selling products online. If you're also in the same boat I am you can probably use all the information and guides you can get your hands on in order to make the right moves in the internet marketing arena. If so, keep your eyes on my blog as I'll be giving away free e-books that'll give you the heads up on what you need to know.

The first giveaway is a book called "10 Steps To Killer Web Copy." This also includes all the material you need if you wish to market the book with a ready made website and all the resell rights. In order to receive this, you have to do the following:

• write about this giveaway on your blog (no trackbacks please, only full posts)
• describe what goods or services you are selling and how this giveaway may help you
• come back to my blog and fill in your contact information at the bottom of the page
• include your email, direct link to your post and I'll email you the prize if it's all good

As this is a giveaway and not a contest, it will be ongoing. So, if you're reading this and it's a few months (or years) down the road don't hesitate to follow the steps to receive a resource that can help increase your sales.

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A Hub Where All Videos On The Net Can Be Found And Shared

I learned about this cool site from AOL over at Digital Inspiration named Truveo. It provides users with the a one stop shop for video content found from different video sharing websites, content portals and most mainstream media websites.

Truveo offers great search options so you can zero in on a specific video and also provides RSS feed, a feature not found even in Youtube.

My only grip is that some information shown about the videos on Truveo don't reflect the information of the video from which they're sourced. For example, below you'll notice the number of views of a clip posted originally on Youtube - 9,420. On Truveo, when I did a search for "Most Viewed Of All Time" for a particular martial art, the same clip showed up among many other clips but the number of views reflects 16 as opposed to 9,420.




I'm sure the 16 reflects only the views from their site but in my opinion, give respect to these clips by posting the actual number of views as found on the source site... it's the least you can do.

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Enhancing Your Life Through Alternative Medicine And Therapy

I've always been impressed by the healing powers of Chi - the vital life force/energy in the body. There are a lot of skeptics out there and I used to be one. But the more you research it and experience its cultivation and manifestation, like in qi gong or tai chi classes, the more you realize that there's more out there that we just don't know. Or maybe at one time in the ancient past we did know but we've lost the old wisdom and we are now a shadow of our former selves. After all, we are only using a tiny percentage of our brain's capability and there's little information on what the pineal gland or third eye can do. I used to hear a lot about the third eye from friends who practiced yoga and meditation, where the sixth chakra (Ajna or third eye) is believed to be some dormant organ that can be awakened to enable telepathic communication. Too good to be true?

Having taken internal martial arts like tai chi and bagua zhang in the past, I've been on the receiving end of chi manipulation and pain received from certain strikes. I do believe in Chi and I believe we all possess it. Chi, when you used for harm, can do great internal damage to the organs. You don't see any bruises on the body, but you feel it inside. Chi can also be used to heal and there are many well documented cases where this has been successful. But like in any field you have your charlatans and quacks. The onus is on you to research, get referrals and ask the right questions when looking to receive alternative therapy. If there are state regulations or boards, contact them to see if the practitioner is licensed or has a history of complaints.

The clip below just amazed me and scared me at the same time. I respect the fact that the doctor was using his gift for healing purposes. I also see that he is really human after all... with egos just like the rest of us. Near the end of the video you'll see that he remembered that he shouldn't be showing off his skill and making it public. Ever since that documentary, he's refused any more students and invitations for interviews. It's true - those who know, don't speak; those who speak, don't know. What scared me, well maybe just a little, are the untapped powers each of us have but are not ready to handle. You don't learn about this stuff in science classes in school. In my opinion, western science works as an Imperial Command-Control system - anything that cannot be logically explained and proven is quackery. The workings of Chi and its manifestation is found in meditation and spirituality, both of which conflict with and have no place in western science as it cannot be seen, studied through a microscope and experimented on. But that's only one part of it. Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners of today also know the inner workings of the human body and their healing arts have been practiced for thousands of years with herbs, massage (tui-na), acupuncture and other secrets that all involve the use of and intimate knowledge of Chi.

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Why Solar Energy Is Good

The concept of using sunlight to power our homes, cars, industries and everyday gadgets has been discussed, researched and utilized for many years now. It's cost saving and helps the environment by not relying on fossil fuels. And with the looming global energy crisis, there have been suggestions of many other alternative energy sources - from thorium power, coal, water, hydrogen and the list goes on. We need to keep this on track because the powers that be will do everything in their power to ensure you keep "filling up" instead of "saving up."

Here in Nevada, I notice a lot of homeowners using solar panels. The only problem I hear from neighbors and friends is that solar roof panels are aesthetically unattractive... butt ugly! In my opinion they are a bit of an eyesore, but who am I to tell an owner of his castle what to do with it, especially if that means stifling his commitment and sacrifice to saving money and the earth? I say sacrifice because reports indicate that within the first many years of use, solar energy currently costs the equivalent of 20-25 cents per kWh, compared with 8 cents per kWh for conventional electricity. This means the materials and cost of producing these solar panels are quite substantial and will not be a viable alternative for many even if they wanted to. Oh, and not to mention the sacrifice of being ridiculed as the ugly duckling neighbor. Sheesh, stop the persecution already!

A lot of research has gone into finding materials that are cheaper to produce and designable so that you can have the panels or material match the color of your roof. Perylene/Polymer Composite Solar Cells may provide a good alternative to silicon solar cells in its designability and lower cost of production. A company called Nanosolar also provides a cheaper and more aesthetic alternative to regualar solar panels.

Nanotechnology can even play a major role in providing widespread use and integration of solar power in objects you would never think possible - like a sweater or in a can of paint. Ted Sargent, a pioneer in solar science, is working on solar nanotechnology that focuses on capturing the infrared portion of the sun's rays, the portion available to us even in cloudy weather.

In my opinion, solar cells are a more attractive renewable energy source because, unlike wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric power (which require windy areas, hot water reservoirs, and fast rivers, respectively) solar cells can be used in a larger range of locations. Even in regions where the sky is often cloudy, batteries can store the energy produced from solar cells while the sky is sunny for use at night and on overcast days. Solar energy - it's all good.

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My Observations On Interactivity In Life

Everyday I'm learning about new ways we humans interact with each other and the world. I observe that interaction or interactivity greatly enriches or greatly frustrates each of our lives. In some ways it splits us up and we grow farther from each other and in other ways it brings us much closer to each other.

I'm thinking that with new technology comes new innovations, like new ways of teaching. I also understand that with new innovations come new technology - we come back full circle. And smack dab in the center of that circle is a seed called human interaction. Always looking for faster and better ways of doing things, this seed grows into a tree and eventually, its branches meet with the boundary of the circle sharing with technology and innovation its experiences, wants and needs before the tree dies. But like the saying goes, "the old becomes new." So sooner or later a new seed is planted in the circle and the process repeats itself over and over and over again. I always wonder if there'll ever come a point when this circle and everything inside it will implode - I hope not.

I'm not going to go into a whole essay about interaction. We live with it everyday, we take part in it and we take it for granted... sometimes. I say sometimes because if you're an international corporate executive, you know about social interaction in different countries and cultures. You will not take this human-to-human communication for granted because it's important to establish rapport and therefore, garner a partnership that will help your company grow and prosper. The way you shake hands will differ between France and Japan. Once you've sealed the deal and start to work together with your new partner overseas you will plant a seed in your circle and through effort, experiences and more interaction, your money tree will grow and its branches will touch the boundary of the innovation/technological circle and subsequently another seed will be planted and the process starts again.

We see human interaction co-mingled with technological (ie. online/internet) creations in new media and the arts. For instance, a website called Wetpaint Please Touch invites guests to use different types of artistic media to paint a wall. They can interact with others by passing it along for the next person to finish or submit it to a gallery where others can rate it. Another website called Finish-a-Story encourages readers to creatively write and share their endings to different stories.

Another type of interaction we might take for granted is human-to-artifact communication. When I test out cell phones at a store the design, color and features are only one part of the equation. I also look at how intuitive it is to operate. How easy is it to navigate the interface? How cumbersome is it to push the keys to make a call, or control the volume? The interactivity of a cell phone is the behaviour of its user interface, the artifact, as experienced by me, the user. A very unique interactivity that in my opinion might be an extreme form of human-to-artifact communication is found in Empathic Painting. This is a video-based human-computer interface that allows an artist to convert an input photograph into a painting using stroke patterns and colors selected by special Computer Vision algorithms capable of recognizing facial expressions. So bright, happy smiles will translate to bright, vibrant paintings and sad ones will translate to gloomy, dark paintings. That is so very cool!

Haptic technology is another way for computers and software to interact with humans. Haptic coming from the Greek, Haphe, means pertaining to the sense of touch. The technology is seen and experienced through the use of devices such as the Wacom Pen Tablet. By applying force onto the tablet you can get different size strokes and effects just as if you were using the real medium. When I play games on the Wii, like tennis, it provides vibrations in the controller to simulate and enhance the virtual sensation of hitting the tennis ball. When you set your cell phone on vibrate, you're making use of haptic technology. New cutting-edge computers now allow the wave of your hand over the screen to manipulate objects and documents. Doctors will use teleoperators, or remote controlled robotic tools to perform surgery over long distances. The force-feedback reproduced to the surgeon will give them the sense that they're actually right there with the patient. I think the seed planted by haptic technology will give birth to more innovative products for users who'd rather interact with an interface through the sense of touch by applying forces, motions and feedback.

We have come full circle but the wheel of life never stops spinning, and I'm sure we're in store for a lot more innovations in humanoid, I mean, human interactivity.

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Is Your Handwriting Starting To Look Like Chicken Scratch?

I've noticed recently that whenever I write on a piece of paper, I can hardly read what I write - and it's embarrassing when I'm at the grocery to have to ask someone if they can make out what I wrote down. But I've learned that if I have to do that, to just go up to a worker because at least they can show me where the item is right after making out the chicken scratch. Now I do remember my handwriting being somewhat legible and clean in high school, but with our increasing dependence on computers and typing I think handwriting might fall by the wayside. Of course, not everyone wants to abandon their "old school" ways and there are some companies that are catering to this market and bridging the technological gap - in this case, pen and paper.

When I did a little bit of research on the internet I found that there are companies like Logitech and Nokia that offer a digital pen that is written on digital paper. I then went to Amazon and couldn't find any reviews on the Nokia digital pen, but did glance at a few comments about the Logitech one - not too favorable and it's used mostly by college students for basic note taking. I did find a blogger who uses the Nokia digital pen but complained that it only saves the data in GIF format.

My cousin gave me an old issue of Wired magazine dated April 2001. It showcased articles about different technologies and people to look out for - a future reference edition basically. One company I read about was Anoto, based in Sweden. This is the daddy of the digital pen and paper setting the defacto standard for this type of technology. After checking out there website, it seems like they're healthy and growing - and you can see that from their case stories. Obviously, industries are seeing the value and benefits of using this medium to transfer their handwritten notes and reports to computers. The website also gives a straightforward explanation of how the pen, paper and transfer of data works. I find the transfer of data particularly cool - by USB or wirelessly by Bluetooth via a mobile phone. Another important item - data may be exported in any preferred format to suit the recipient system. I like it!

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What Is The Million Dollar Wiki?

We've all heard about Wikipedia.org, the free online encyclopedia where topics are created, researched, shared and edited by numbers of interested individuals. Can you place a link of your website on a Wikipedia.org page? It has a high page rank and would most certainly help bring traffic to your site. But don't be surprised if it gets deleted one day. I've placed my martial arts school website link on a Wikipedia.org page and so far so good.

Now if you really want control and sole ownership of your wiki then The Million Dollar Wiki is the answer. Created by Graham Langdon, a 21 year old senior from the University of Connecticut, the content on each page is controlled by the page owner. Owners use the site, and specifically their page, as a vehicle to generate traffic, revenue or publicity. Each page costs $100 and Graham plans to sell 10,000 pages so he can make his million bucks. Graham is off to a good start with the project. Since starting it two months ago, he has sold 158 pages and made $15,800.

One of my favorite blogs, John Chow dot Com, is holding a million dollar wiki blog contest, sponsored by The Million Dollar Wiki. If you decide to to buy a Million Dollar Wiki page, make sure to enter JohnChow into the coupon code at checkout. This gets you $10 off. In addition, you get five entries into the contest to win a $600 LCD monitor and a signed copy of the best selling book, The 4-Hour Workweek! You can also get two entries by blogging about this contest. Find out how to enter here.

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