Rock On!

If you were to say that my youngest boy, George likes to play the guitar. It would be like saying that the desert is a little on the dry side or the sea is a little salty.He is actually very good. In fact, he rocks!The day that we took cousins to the airport we were going to go straight on to the Edinburgh Zoo as it was a rare, free admission day. Sadly the traffic was horrid and we couldn't even get close to the zoo. As we headed back out of the city, we passed a guitar shop. It was open! I didn't have anywhere else we needed to be as the zoo was no longer an option so I parked up and we went in.George had one of those Wayne's World momentsbut for George is is not a 64 Classic White Stratocaster. For my boy it is the Gibson ES-335. The really sweet sales guy in the shop actually got it off the wall for him. After checking that he had no big belt buckles or zips that would harm the finish on this fine instrument, he let him play it! He had to phone is his dad and tell him. "Dad! You will never guess what I am doing right now . . ."Then they let him go into the soundproof room and plug the thing in - WITH EFFECTS PEDALS! He had a wonderful time! Please note the Gibson Les Paul (1952) gold top behind George in the last photo. It costs thousands and thousands. (£11,K) We didn't even dare to touch it!The only thing that would have made him happier would have been for me to say that we could put it on the credit card. That isn't going to happen, but I was happy to stand there and let him admire the fine sound and craftsmanship.

Obama urges 'new black mindset'

Mr Obama said the "pain of discrimination" was still felt in the US US President Barack Obama has told America's oldest civil rights organisation that African Americans should take charge of their own lives.

French Citizenship - Chapter Too Many To Count

One more year to go.That was the official word from the amazingly efficient fonctionnaire (if that isn't an oxymoron, I don't know what is) at the sous-préfecture in Béziers.My dossier has been sent on to the next level for review, to the Minister of the Interior I believe.So I wait. Patiently.Thus far the process has caused a bit of stumbling and a hiccup or two, required a train trip, a lot of check writing, and brought the Gendarmes around for a chat.More than a year has passed since I dropped off my substantial, 50+ page dossier at the Mairie for the first time, only to have it immediately returned due to a disagreement the sous-préfecture had with some dates. It was finally accepted several months later but was then held up by the delay of my Carte de Résident.Now it is complete. And it is out there. Somewhere. Hopefully not lost under a stack of other dossiers or shoved into the depths of someone's desk drawer.One more year.Anyone want to bet that it will take longer than that? I think the odds are pretty good...

Monkey See Monkey Do

I remember vividly going over to Bec’s house as a youngin' wanting to:a) Dress up in wigs and wear the patent leather high heels with red polka dotsb) Go out into her play shed and find salamanders, many of which looked like those high heeled shoesc) Play Paper Boy on her Nintendo consoleThere were various other games we played (Zing, “how many chews does it take to swallow a Dorito,” "girls with boyfriends"—in the half developed new homes on Stratton Dr, and don’t even get me started on the school bus ridiculousness that we created…why did we try to convince that one girl we spoke Chinese? And what were we thinking with that robot/rubber girl game?)I was not blessed (cursed?) with Nintendo as a child, so I resorted to coaxing my friends into playing when I had a playdate. And then there was the double bonus friends who had junk food AND Nintendo…Sarah at the end of our street was a warehouse for Twix. While I would never consider myself a “gamer” as a child, I do have memories of getting to steal a few moments to play video games. Why I bring this up is two-fold. First, my status of novice game player was quite evident if you ever watched me play Nintendo. Let’s take Excite Bike.For every jump, or dodging of an oil slick, I would use my hands to “jump” or “dodge.” And I am pretty certain I did a lot of tongue chewing. I think I believed if I "jumped" my hands hard enough, the bike would go higher. It was as though I thought I was playing a Wii. (Not that I have even played one before.) The only time my physicality worked was if I had a friend who had that track and field Nintendo game. Although--let's be honest. You would just jump off the mat for an extended period of time with the long jump, and jump back on. Anyway, I am someone who tends to mimic things with my body. It is diagnosed as UMR: uncontrollable mimicking reaction.I keep thinking of this when I, say, feed Miles. As he opens his mouth, I immediately open my mouth in tandem subconsciously thinking that the wider I open my mouth, the wider Miles will open his. Eric called me on this the other day and I began to realize how much of his life his mom has been playing a game of copy cat. If he screeches, I screech. When he crawls, I am compelled to get on the floor and crawl with him. I find myself playing monkey see, monkey do. It’s an innate primal urge that I have become acutely aware of recently. It started in infancy..Baby: cooMom: cooBaby: YawnMom: (faux) YawnBaby: stick tongue outMom: stick tongue outBaby: poopMom: po…wait. I am going too far.Eric and I both converse with Miles through his new screeches. Our house is full of wild yells as we echo his bursts of noise. Miles may not use words to mean much (his one friend at childcare only says "ball" and "clue." Clue?!?! That one has me), but he is so loud now. He sort of hums when he crawls and has started to explore yelling to get your attention. I am not sure if it is cute or grating. Hmmm...perhaps both.Second (yes, I did have a twofold intention to this post—see above). I attended a great talk by Richard Louv, the author of Last Child in the Woods. (READ IT) Providing ambiance, the talk was given during one heck of a thunderstorm that incited some electrical trickery as the power went out at a number of strategically positioned times. It added some much needed light to his sentiments. He is a wonderful author, but I am a stickler for engaging presenters. I must give him credit because he did toss in the word perfunctory and that won points with me. He actually acknowledged that he is not a good public speaker, and I have to agree. But the message was clear and passionate—our children need to spend more time outside! Interestingly, he did not blame video games for the problem—it’s not that they are not A problem, but the problem is more insidious and dangerous. He spoke a lot of that special place in nature we all had as a kid that we retreated to—a wooded area where leaves, sticks and dirt became ingredients for imaginary pie, or a park where boulders served as “home” for a made-up family with a baby named Tabitha (I loved that name). While I did have great times at my friends’ houses playing video games on occasion and don't think that my exposure caused irreparable damage, so much of my childhood was spent outside playing all sorts of games both with friends and family as well as all by myself. And yet, children today do not have that connection with nature in the same way. The tag line that kept coming up in the talk was "no child left inside." What’s changed? Well, what hasn’t changed? I really do suggest reading the book as the elements of the problem are multifactorial, and too vast for me to go into.What I did reflect on during my car ride home as thunder shook my poor Subaru is that it is obvious that Miles loves being outside, but even inside Miles’s favorite place to be (besides with his two feet pushed up against my chest and with a handful of my hair in our bed from 5am-6:30am) is standing on our couch, looking outside of the big picture window. He loves to see the runners, dog walkers, dump trucks, cars, and don’t get me started if Pappi comes to the door. I can just see him absorbing nature even from the confines of inside. He looks up at the sky when he hears a helicopter or darts his eyes down the road when a car approaches. It's like his version of a big screen TV.This weekend we got to spend the majority of the days outside (with a good smattering of sun tan lotion). Although Miles cannot help us with the lawn mowing (he does try to trim the scragglers by eating them) or planting, I think his senses being inundated with nature at this early age has to make a difference. It is also times like these I am glad we opted for the push mower. Miles chilled on the blanket with his grass clippings, puffs and toys while I mowed the yard right next to him. No gas going in his face, no noise pollution and I got some much needed grass cutting done! Now, planting in pots was a different story as he tried to crawl all over the pots and eat the begonias. Miles goes for walks every day at the ELC, and sometimes more than 1 time. We also try to take him for 45 minute walks or runs every day after work. Even tonight as he was having a meltdown, we committed to going out as a family to walk around the 'hood. Miles immediately calmed down and was lounging in his umbrella stroller, kicking his feet, and pulling his toes to his mouth enjoying life.In honor of a belated Earth Day I challenge you all to spend at least 45 minutes cumulatively of your day outside—weather permitting. I am not suggesting that we all don't have days where we become a part of the furniture, nor am I suggesting that no one should ever play video games (heck, someone needs to have them for Miles to play as a treat--ha ha), but I believe we owe it to ourselves to get outside and use our senses again--unplugged; and that means no iPods, no cell phone conversations. You'd be surprised what nature has to say.And for added interest, I suggest watching Frontline's Poisoned Waters online. I have somehow acquired restless leg syndrome and cannot for the life of me get to sleep these days, so I watched this late last night. It really makes you think...especially about chicken poop (and I thought I was obsessed with baby poop). On a completely unrelated note, here are some of the newest pictures of Miles in action at the ELC. You'll notice his older buddy S is pushing him in the wagon, and in the very bottom one, Miles is finally getting to act in a psuedo "big brother" role. Though, I think he was really just eyeing one of M's hanging toys to chew.

Gayle Muhs And Sheila Muhs

These two beauties are Gayle and Sheila Muhs. Gayle, 45, and Sheila, 45, are VERY protective of their privacy. They put up a sign in front of their property in Liberty County, Texas that reads Trespassers will be shot. Survivers (sic) will be reshot!! Smile I will.” They mean it, too - They once took a shot at their next door neighbor.
Nice people, the Muhs.
The Coffeys are nice people too. Donald, 36, his wife Becky, and their two children Donald Jr., 7, and Destiny, 5, are described by their neighbors as nice, simple country folk who never bothered anybody and were always there to lend a helping hand. They enjoyed taking their vehicles off road in the woods near their Westlake, TX subdivision.
Friday night, were at the end of a daylong excursion on off-road vehicles through wooded paths along the Trinity River. Donald Coffey Drove a Jeep with his son Donald Jr., a family friend, Patrick Cammack, and Cammacks son. Patrick Cammacks wife, Cindy Nelton, drove an SUV along with Becky and Destiny Coffey. An unidentified 11-year-old boy was also with the group.
Around 9:00PM the men stopped to use the bathroom and got out of the Jeep near the Muhses’ home when a woman’s voice boomed through the darkness, Nelton said. Sheila Muhs cussed out the group and told them to get off their property, even though they were on a public road. A shot rang out immediately afterwards as Sheila opened up on them with a 12 gauge shotgun.
“And then I heard a shot and our windows were blown out,” Nelton said.
Nelton, who never saw a shooter, said she immediately stomped on the gas and screamed, “We’ve got kids in this vehicle! Y’all need to stop shooting!”
A second shot, and possibly others, came as Sheila Muhs handed the shotgun to her husband Gayle. Nelton said she sped to safety near a bridge, unaware of the Jeep’s location.
Becky Coffey opened the door to the SUV to go look for her husband and son. When the inside light came on, Destiny was in the back seat screaming.
“She said, ‘Mama, they shot me. Mommy, they shot me.’ There was blood all over her,” Nelton said.
Nelton rushed the girl to a nearby fire station while Becky Coffey frantically searched on foot for her other family members. The victims were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital via air ambulance.
Meanwhile, Sheila Muhs had called 911. Bishop said the woman told a dispatcher: “They’re running over our levee in big-wheel vehicles, and I shot them.” FYI, The Levee belongs to the Westlake subdivision, not the Muhses. Neither does the road that the victims were shot on.
Donald Coffey Jr. was shot in the head and face, and died at the hospital Sunday afternoon. Destiny Coffey and her father, Donald Sr., who were both hit in the shoulder by shotgun pellets, were treated and released.
The Muhses are charged with aggravated assault and are being held in the Liberty County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail each. The couple is expected to appear in state district court in the coming week.
Authorities are expected to upgrade the charge to capital murder, Liberty County Sheriff’s Cpl. Hugh Bishop said.
Liberty County Sheriffs Department Chief Deputy Ken DeFoor told reporters that the shooting was the most violent reaction to something so blatantly, blatantly minor hes ever seen. He said the families in the two cars had done nothing illegal and they never set foot on the Muhs property.
I almost forgot to thank Electra for tipping me off to this story. This is the kind of thing that really get my blood boiling - theres nothing worse than people who are so selfish and self centered that theyve lost all compassion for others. I wonder if they realize the gravity of what theyve done, or if they even care. Somehow I have the feeling that if Gayle and Sheila Muhls are upset, its because theyre sitting in a jail cell for shooting some damned trespassers.
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Brought to you by People Youll See In Hell. The best reason to get a background check that just about anyone can think of.

Hail in July

We had a craving for American style pizza - our first since returning from China, so we went to one of the local pizza places. It was a long wait for our pizza but well worth it when it came! Here's Sophie trying to be patient. Peter and Jack's 15 year old cousin, Alex is here visiting us for a week. The boys LOVE having him around and they rarely let him out of their room! Sue, also getting hungry as we wait for our pizza to be delivered. OK, Chinese friends, here's an authentic American pizza restaurant for you... and it smells so GOOD inside! Gosh, we live in a small town! We ran into one of our old friends, Scott Simmons who was also coming in for lunch. The monsoon started in the afternoon as it usually does this time of year, and we got not only rain, but HAIL! Jack had to go out and stand in it to see how it felt. The courthouse across the street, looking through all of the hail! The streets are so deserted compared to China! This is about 1pm on a Thursday... where are all of the bicycles carrying people rushing around under their rain ponchos??Alex, outside, checking out the storm... The next stop was the local ice cream store - actually frozen yogurt, at the TCBY... The boys enjoyed their ice cream... ... and I saw this old cowboy "chewing the fat" with some other customers... you wouldn't see someone like him in China!

Personal Growth from the Inside Out

Lu Ting ate at a Greek restaurant because Papadopoulos, the owner, made really good fried rice. Each evening he would come in and order “flied lice”. This always caused Papadopoulos to fall down with laughter. Sometimes he would have two or three friends standing nearby just to hear Lu Ting order his “flied lice.” Eventually the Chinese’s pride was so hurt that he took a special diction lesson just to be able to say “fried rice” correctly. The next time he went to the restaurant he said very plainly, “Fried rice, please.” Unable to believe his ears, Papadopoulos asked, “What did you say?” Lu Ting shouted, “You heard what I said, you Gleek plick!” ~ A story from Joy: The Happiness That Comes from Within Why Inner Work? A reader asked me once – why is this entire blog about inner work? What about changing from the outside? Even the series on changing behaviours focused on inner meditations, and nothing external. In my experience, true change begins from within, from the consciousness that underlies everything else. There is a time for external work – for example, when one needs fast results – but otherwise, we are just covering up the real problem. Who You Are Speaks Too Loudly Perhaps an example would make it easier to see. Many popular books and workshops on social and dating skills teach external change. Touch creates bonding, they say, so strategically touch your target on the elbow as you speak. They teach structures of conversation, ways of listening, how to project your voice, proper body language, and on and on it goes. Sometimes, this fools those around you long enough to “work”. But at best, the eager student has merely learnt to be a carbon copy of someone who has really “got it”. I remember meeting a woman once. Her perfectly practiced words and gestures told me she cared; her eyes revealed something else. She seemed cold, selfish, and manipulative, and that was all that mattered. Most around her saw right through her facade after a few days. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said – Who you are speaks so loudly I cant hear what youre saying. One Door Closes, Another Opens I began personal development in a similar way. I was shy and lacked self-respect, and I was sick of it. So I tried developing confidence from the outside in. I tried a thousand and one things. I took on a teaching role in a small institution, I forced myself to meet strangers in a bar, and I forced myself to try public speaking. The first few times I was so nervous I nearly fell over. But eventually I became comfortable and was even having fun. Many of my new friends called me a social butterfly, impressed with how comfortable I made them feel, how easy I struck up a conversation. Did that mean I was genuinely confident and secure? No. I had only changed superficially – I had learnt to say “fried rice”. I felt surprised and even a little confused at the compliments I received, for they were aimed at the facade I was hiding behind, not me, never for me. Underneath it all, I was still the same little boy, playing dress-up in a superhero costume. Instead of becoming happier, I became stiffer, and more on guard. I was deathly afraid my mask will fall off, that my secret identity –together with all my fear, my bitterness, and my jealousy – would be exposed. And so no real change occurred. These unresolved issues manifested in many ways, an irrational fear of intimacy, for example. So what if I was now charming and smooth? When a woman got close enough, this fear arose subconsciously and without even knowing why, I would immediately sabotage the relationship, sometimes just cutting it off without a word. As Osho said – this is not the way of transformation. One door closes, another opens. Changing the outer is easy, but the real work consists in changing the underpinning of everything else – our inner consciousness. Another Perspective Nothing can change permanently without a corresponding shift in our consciousness. There was a point in time I used to smoke heavily, and this habit was driven by the same insecurities and fears I had struggled with for most of my adult life. Before I realised this, I applied the usual quitting techniques. I forced myself to quit through sheer willpower, and succeeded – for a while. However, each time I was stressed, whenever I was reminded of my insecurities, I found myself reaching for another cigarette. Sometimes I used a substitute; in fact the cigarette habit was itself a replacement for something else. It took a lot of work, but when I finally freed myself of those insecurities, these habits fell away on their own, with no need for replacements. And surprisingly, so did most of my other vices. This is why I dont agree with what many people shout about learning to love ourselves. Book a massage; treat yourself to a bubble bath; spend a day lounging in the sun. Find a new lover. Get more money, more possessions. Perhaps we are satisfied, relaxed, rejuvenated – but only for a while. But soon, very soon, everything comes rushing back, for who you are has not changed. The Transformation of Consciousness For some people, consciousness can change overnight. For most others, it is long, hard work. But it is the only work worth doing, for everything else falls into place. With a flowering consciousness, we develop courage to face the obstacles in any part of our life; we find a willingness to do what has to be done. We overcome the downwards pull of our pride, our anger, and our fears. Our consciousness determines our subjective experience of life – to a large extent, our very joy. A Newcomer’s Guide So how, exactly, do we do this? There are many approaches to inner work, and this blog covers my explorations of the best I’ve discovered, so go to the archives and start looking around! I’m also preparing a newcomer’s guide to UrbanMonk.Net, so look for that next. Stay tuned! Link Love In the personal development blog niche, there are a few up-and-comers, written with a lot of heart, that I’m proud to highlight here. The first is Seeking Mind by Sunny Jamiel. A mix of “standard” personal development and consciousness-oriented spirituality, with lots of free motivational wallpapers for his readers. A recent post you might like: 18 Truths about Life. Next is Quest for Balance by Lisis. Written with a lot of honesty and heart, and a lot of humour mixed in too. A recent post: The Beginner’s Guide to EXTREME Candle Meditation. Copyright UrbanMonk.Net

Florentijn Hofman' big monkey

'Dozens dead' in Baghdad bombing

At least 69 people die in a blast at a market in Baghdad's Sadr City, six days before US troops pull out of Iraqi cities.

A Higher IQ and Less Fat

Brain exercises and fat loss, nothing more. Simple brain exercise can boost IQ -- The exercise involves tracking small squares on a screen that pop into a new location every three seconds. Volunteers have to press a button when the current location is a duplicate of two views earlier. At the same time, consonants are played through headphones and a button is pressed if the letter is the same as that heard two "plays" earlier. If participants perform well, the interval to be tracked (n) increases to three or more stages earlier. Fat burning 101 -- How do we actually lose fat? What do we mean by fat "burning"? Here's a very simple, (dumbed down) explanation of what actually goes on to create a fat loss effect. High levels of fat mobilization + High levels of fat oxidation = Accelerated fat loss. The Top 5 Reasons to Get Even Leaner -- A leaner organism is a more effective organism. Come with minimal luggage. Don't bring more than you really need. Lean determines the ratio between work and rest, between production and administration, between muscle and fat. The more muscle that is at work against less and less superfluous weight -- as opposed to specific workload -- the more effective is the whole system. Think bureaucracy. Think governments. So, exercise that mind and that body and let the summer come. Now. Related Items Cascading Diet Recommendations Multiply Exercise and Nutrition to Look Even Better in 2008 The Top 5 Reasons to Get Even Leaner Free ebook Peer pressure, vanity and behavior, motivation tricks and hacks, success and pain, and how to excel, Celebrate Your Beauty.

UK building

NY Islanders Team Report

Before they can determine if John Tavares is going to come to the Islanders, the Islanders went to John Tavares. April 20, owner Charles Wang and general manager Garth Snow traveled to Ontario to personally scout Tavares, the London Knights center whom the Isles are strongly considering drafting with the No. 1 overall selection in the June entry draft. "I told Garth, 'If you draft John, he'd look forward to playing for your organization," Tavares' agent Pat Brisson told Newsday. "If he's drafted by the Islanders, he probably has a chance to play right away and contribute, and it's the New York market. We had a nice talk." Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman and Brampton center Matt Duchene also are rated among the top draft-eligible prospects, and Isles assistant GM Ryan Jankowski also scouted Duchene in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs on April 21. The Isles won the draft lottery after finishing the regular season with the worst record (26-47-9) in the 30-team NHL, but they did post two important "wins" since the playoffs began. San Jose's first-round loss to Anaheim bumped up their first-round pick, which the Islanders acquired just before the trade deadline from Ottawa, to 26th overall. The conditional pick the Islanders received in a late-season trade from Pittsburgh for captain Bill Guerin also has been upgraded from a fifth-round pick to a third-rounder because the Penguins advanced to the second round after eliminating Philadelphia in their first playoff series. SEASON HIGHLIGHT: It's hard to pinpoint many bright spots from a dead-last campaign. But in a season defined by growing pains for a slew of young players, resurgent veteran Doug Weight recorded his 1,000th NHL point in January and wound up third on the team in scoring (38 points) despite missing 29 games because of injury. The 38-year-old center also was rewarded with a one-year contract extension in early April. TURNING POINT: The first red flag flew atop Nassau Coliseum as soon as goalie Rick DiPietro was unable to play in the season opener. The team's franchise goalie underwent two surgeries on his left knee and ended up appearing in just five games because of complications, pretty much torpedoing any chance the Isles had of remaining competitive this season.NOTES, QUOTESG Rick DiPietro, who appeared in just five games all season due to two knee surgeries, has been spotted around Long Island on crutches since the season ended. DiPietro has 12 seasons remaining on his landmark 15-year contract, and he already has undergone two hip surgeries, two knee operations while also missing time with groin and concussion problems. "I'm sure what our fans want to know is whether Rick is on schedule to be with us for the start of training camp. The answer to that is yes," GM Garth Snow told the team-sponsored website islanderspointblank.com. "The plan is for him to begin skating in the summer and then (have him) with us for the opening of camp in Saskatoon.'Former Islander captain Ed Westfall won two Stanley Cup rings with Boston before joining the Islanders in the 1972 expansion draft, and he was a broadcaster during the Isles' Stanley Cup run in the 1980s. Westfall believes ancient and recent history has proven that the Isles are on the right track and can become competitive quickly if the right pieces are added. "I saw it happen in Boston and here on the Island. I played on teams that were worst in the league that became the best in the league. It can happen," Westfall told Newsday. "I'd like to think (the Islanders) will take a page from two teams who are just like them. St. Louis and Chicago were doormats after having a lot of success and now they've turned it around with good management people and rebuilt through the draft."QUOTE TO NOTE: "How could we travel all that way and not say hello?" GM Garth Snow, after he and Islanders owner Charles Wang traveled to London, Ontario on April 20 to scout and speak to potential No.1 overall draft pick John Tavares. ROSTER REPORT MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: D Mark Streit's signing for $20.5 million last summer drew some snickers around the NHL, but the Swiss-born former Canadien proved to be a bargain and far more than the power-play specialist he was branded as in Montreal. Streit led the Isles with more than 25 minutes per game and finished seventh among all NHL defensemen in scoring with 56 points despite missing eight games with injuries. MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: LW Jeff Tambellini wasn't a disappointment to those who didn't think he could put up big numbers at the NHL level. But the Islanders have to wonder if it's ever going to happen at this level for the former first-round pick and AHL scoring whiz after Tambellini had just seven goals and 15 points in 65 games. FREE AGENT FOCUS: GM Garth Snow actually went 2-for-2 with the signings of Mark Streit and Doug Weight last summer. And with immediate holes all over, it makes sense that the Isles will look to supplement their young roster again with a few more veteran bargains. After career minor-leaguers Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis were forced into 49 and 31 appearances, respectively, the Isles also might seek to find a proven NHL backup as insurance in case Rick DiPietro continues to be plagued by injuries. With Weight re-signed, forwards Dean McAmmond and Andy Hilbert, defenseman Thomas Pock and the two backup goalies are the only significant regulars eligible to be unrestricted free agents. PLAYER NOTES:RW Blake Comeau returned sooner than expected from a fractured wrist suffered late in the regular season (April 7). He played for AHL Bridgeport in their first-round playoff series against the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Penguins.LW Sean Bergenheim, who missed four games late in the regular season, was not cleared by the Islanders' medical staff to play for Team Finland at the IIHL World Championships in Switzerland. RW Rhett Rakhshani, the Islanders' fourth-round pick in the 2006 entry draft, reportedly has decided to return to the University of Denver for his senior season instead of signing his first professional contract. MEDICAL WATCH:RW Blake Comeau suffered a fractured wrist April 7 in Carolina and missed the rest of the regular season.G Rick DiPietro appeared in just five games because of multiple injuries, and none after Jan. 2, with swelling in his surgically repaired left knee. RW Trent Hunter suffered a fractured left ankle Feb. 21 against New Jersey and missed the remainder of the season.C Dean McAmmond missed the final six games with an undisclosed illness.RW Kurtis McLean suffered a torn Achilles tendon March 12 and was out for the season.D Freddy Meyer missed the final 40 games with a groin strain suffered Jan. 5. C Mike Sillinger underwent season-ending hip surgery for the second straight season on Jan. 26. D Andy Sutton underwent surgery on a broken right foot suffered Dec. 19 and missed the remainder of the season.

Is my Business Plan a Weapon or Just another Word Document (Cory Isaacson)

Drew's Note:p As I try to do every Friday, I'm pleased to bring you a guest post.p Meet anotherp thought leader who shares his insights via the blogosphere. So without further ado...Cory Isaacson.p Again. Enjoy!The economy is challenging investors and entrepreneurs like never before.p The bottomless well of funding has officially dried up as the fight for investment capital has become an all out war.p Yesterday’s business plan needs to be today’s battle plan, and for an entrepreneur, the ultimate validation for the battle plan will be its ability to connect a defined value proposition to a clear and attainable business metric. If not, then the real question one has to ask is “who really cares?”p As glib as that may sound, it should be a fundamental concern for any entrepreneur with a vision and the inspiration to put forth his or her thinking. pFirst things first, you need a clearly defined value proposition that answers two simple questions:p how will it disrupt the marketplace? how will it be profitable?p Coming up with the answers to these questions will be a challenge – it should not be a comfortable process, challenging yourself never is.p If those two questions are not answered, forget about it and head back to the drawing board.p Conversely, if it does answer those two questions, then you’re one step closer to arming yourself with a battle plan. pA bullet proof value proposition becomes your arsenal and shield, capable of mounting a solid offensive as well as defending the battle plan from the nonbelievers and an unpredictable business climate.p By clearly demonstrating how the value proposition can transcend the challenges posed by the marketplace, an entrepreneur will then be able illustrate the opportunity for growth. By illustrating that opportunity for growth, you’re ready for war.p It was with this very concise but simple approach that we drove the creation of the original Walton Isaacson battle plan for “The Planet’s Most Interesting Agency” – and in turn, generated the interest and funding of entrepreneur, media mogul, NBA legend and our partner, Earvin “Magic” Johnson.There will be more losers than winners during this time of economic crisis.p However, those entrepreneurs who fiercely believe in what they’re doing stand the best chance of winning.p The only factor any investor really cares about is results, and if results can be clearly communicated through your value proposition in a simple and direct manner, your vision and battle plan will become a well-funded reality.Cory Isaacson's expertise in developing and executing highly successful marketing programs is widely regarded throughout the industry. Over the years he has been recognized for his groundbreaking work, including Jack Daniel’s Studio #7, Hanes Hosiery / Tina Turner, Kodak / House of Blues, Burger King / Backstreet Boys, HP Moving Fashion Forward, Budweiser / Rolling Stones, and Ericsson’s “Power ofp Voice” with Celine Dion.p His unique approach has earned him numerous industry awards, including PROMO’s Pro Award, Ex Awards and Effies.p pIsaacson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Wisconsin and has taught MBA classes on entertainment marketing at Tulane University.p Cory currently resides with his family in Chicago and is a partner at Walton Isaacson.pp Every Friday is "grab the mic" day.p Want to grab the mic and be a guest blogger on Drew's Marketing Minute?p Shoot me an e-mail.

Bind is actually rather an understatement...

Battlestar Galactica 403 (or 405) "Ties that Bind"That was dark even by the really, really high standards this show has set for being dark and unsettling. It was an unrelenting parade of deeply screwed up people in torment, and the relationships that torment them. Naturally, I loved it, but if it wasn't so well written and acted, it'd be insufferably gloomy.Bullet points -- if you haven't seen it, and plan to, look away.The directing in this show was very overt, a lot of very artistic effects -- Starbuck only being shown from the back, a lot of blurred backgrounds and voice in Cally's point-of-view shots, the rotating star design motif. Most of it worked -- I thought that keeping us from seeing Starbuck's face was very effective. I could have done without the kind of druggy shots of the kid's mobile or whatever the heck that was.I was spoiled on Cally's death, but the spoiler note implied it was a suicide, so I was surprised by both the addition of the baby in the scene (which made it about 100 times darker), and by Tory's involvement. I guess we'll find out next week whether Tory told Chief what she did.I realize this is an odd place to make a stand on plausibility but... let me get this straight. Kara's crew has her, presumably pretty widely known in the fleet even before she died and came back; Helo, notorious as "the guy who married the toaster", plus he ran the refugees for a while, and he was Galactica's XO; and Anders, world famous athlete. All three of these people can just disappear for three weeks without anybody noticing?This is true: at the beginning of the episode I was thinking, hmm... on a spaceship it's never warm enough for people to get uncomfortable and sweaty. Then they cut to the Starbuck ship, which made Cool Hand Luke look like Ice Age (Cool Hand Luke = sweatiest movie ever in the pilot for Cheers... so it's a joke. Get it?).Haven't even covered: They made clear some things about Cally that were almost subliminal, about how she feels about Chief and all... thought that was nice to see. Also, Lee remains the easiest person to manipulate in the entire history of the Galaxy. Presumably Zarek nominated him to the council so he could always have one person he could con into doing goofy things.

Call for papers issue 16: children in the library (libreas)

Call for Papers Issue 16: Children in the Library (LIBREAS)http://www.libreas.eu/formal/english.htmChildren represent one of the largest groups of patrons served by the public library. This may be one of the reasons why many positive associations are linked to these institutions in society. Despite their importance, children lack representation within the LIS literature or, if they are subjects of literature, authors refer to well-intentioned but more paternalistic strategies which result in one-sided approaches. For instance, literacy is one of the main issues at which libraries work is aimed. However, a short glance in public libraries reveals that literacy programs constitute only one small portion of the children’s interaction with the library – children mostly make use of a library as a playground and a place for adventure.Apart from the practice-oriented discussion, LIS literature also lacks interdisciplinary connectivity to fields such as pedagogy, educational research, anthropology and sociology to name a few. One may assume that the already achieved knowledge which scrutinizes one-sided approaches to learning activities may influence the discussion. One may also expect a growing influence of the ongoing debate about new perspectives on early childhood education in the LIS literature.Last but not least, recent demographic changes within western societies are changing the social structure that children inhabit. On one hand, immigration leads to a higher proportion of children with multi-cultural backgrounds; on the other hand children are growing up in a more distinguished media landscape. These developments are undeniable and cause new challenges in practise. Nevertheless, there is a striking discrepancy between reality and scientific discourse.LIBREAS aims at shedding light on this discrepancy and proposes an interdisciplinary symposium held in Berlin complementing issue #16. ...

9 Hot and Cold Dips for Every Occasion

Dips are a party delight that everyone seems to love. There are all kinds of dip options to match your taste or diet, and many can be made in advance.Of course, dip needs something to stick to or sit on, and the choices here are also numerous - chips, crackers, veggies (aka crudit

Moving on...

Oh, the opportunities with SharePoint. Oh the places I’ll go! I have a lot to thank Microsoft and SharePoint. It’s was one of the hardest, but best decisions I ever made taking a pay cut to come work for Microsoft, and moving my family from Plano (Murphy), Texas to a Redmond Washington suburb, Duvall. It’s been a wonderful ride and I have a ton of people to thank for both the opportunities to work with them whether for pleasure or lessons learned through hard knocks. If SharePoint was a person then I’d give her a big kiss. She’s been really great. I'd also tell her, I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be there for her. So, I’m on to the next step in my career. What will I be doing? That’s an interesting question. · SharePoint Global evangelism · SharePoint Consulting, whitepapers, advisory and analyst work · SharePoint Community involvement · Speaking at SharePoint and Technical conferences around the globe All of the above. What I don’t know is who I’ll be doing these things for yet, or if I’ll be doing them for myself. I do plan to make a decision one way or another in the next few weeks. Don’t miss me, cause I’m not going anywhere. I’m still Joel Oleson in the blogosphere and I’m still as passionate about SharePoint as I was yesterday. Love, Joel Oleson Your favorite SharePoint Blogger.

is technology making people lazy and overweight?

DO YOU THINK THAT PEOPLE HAVE BECOME LAZY AND GOTTEN FAT BECAUSE OF TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY? WHEN I WAS YOUNG WE DIDNT HAVE MICROWAVES AND REMOTE CONTROLS. WE HAD TO GET UP AND CHANGE THE CHANNEL MANUALLY. IT SOUNDS CRAZY AND DREADFUL. I DONT WANT TO SCARE YOUNG PEOPLE OUT THERE IN myLot LAND BUT YES WE ACTUALLY HAD TO GET UP AND CHANGE THE CHANNEL DIRECTLY. WE ALSO HAD TO USE THE STOVE TO HEAT THINGS UP. WHEN MICROWAVES CAME OUT, PEOPLE WERE AMAZED. MICROWAVE POPCORN WAS INGENIUS. COMPARED TO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY THOSE THINGS SEEM SO SMALL. DVD'S AND DIRECT TV HAVE MADE IT SO WE DONT HAVE TO GO TO THE MOVIES. WE CAN JUST STAY AT HOME. NO MORE DRIVE-INS, MINI GOLF,NOT TOO MANY ARCADES. WE CAN GET IT ALL AT HOME. EVEN IF YOU'RE ALLERGIC TO DOGS, YOU CAN NOW ADOPT A VIRTUAL PET. ALL THESE THINGS ARE GREAT. HOWEVER, PEOPLE ARE BECOMING LAZY. WHY SHOULD THEY GO OUT WHEN THEY CAN GET ON THE COMPUTER AND DO THINGS VIRTUALLY. THE AVERAGE WEIGHT INDEX IS HIGHER. THEY HAVE TO CHANGE THE CRITERIA. NOW ITS BASED ON LOTS OF TECHNOLGICAL FACTORS. DO YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE BECOMING LAZY AND OVERWEIGHT DUE TO THE WAY TECHNOLOGY HAS MAD OUR LIVES EASIER? WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON TECHNOLOGY?

Nokia N97

Revisi sebelumnya Revisi per 23:28, 11 Mei 2009 Baris 1: Baris 1: + {{hapuskelayakan, [[WP:NPOVNPOV]]}} Nokia N97: ponsel multimedia berkapasitas besar Nokia N97: ponsel multimedia berkapasitas besar Baris 8: Baris 9: Direncanakan ponsel ini akan hadir di kawasan Eropa dan Asia, termasuk Indonesia, di Quarter 2 2009, atau sekitar bulan April. Warna yang tersedia adalah hitam dan putih. Harga dasar yang ditawarkan adalah EUR 550, atau dengan kurs sekarang sekitar IDR 8.4 juta. Tentunya harganya tidak mengikat. Apakah N97 merupakan jawaban untuk kebutuhan multimedia dan jaringan sosial Anda? Direncanakan ponsel ini akan hadir di kawasan Eropa dan Asia, termasuk Indonesia, di Quarter 2 2009, atau sekitar bulan April. Warna yang tersedia adalah hitam dan putih. Harga dasar yang ditawarkan adalah EUR 550, atau dengan kurs sekarang sekitar IDR 8.4 juta. Tentunya harganya tidak mengikat. Apakah N97 merupakan jawaban untuk kebutuhan multimedia dan jaringan sosial Anda?

Bmw Z4 by AC Schnitzer

Posted on 05.11.2009 18:30 by Terence KeonFiled under: AC Schnitzer BMW bmw Z4 car tuningThe Z4 is BMW's newest roadster, and the German tuner AC Schnitzer have just released the first wheel and tire combination for the future bimmer. The tuners are currently working on performance enhancements, suspension set-ups, interior accessories and aero parts. Press release after the jump. PRESS RELEASE We are delighted to welcome the latest member of the BMW family and - in good time for the official launch - can already supply a range of AC Schnitzer wheel and tyre combinations for (...)

Capetown Cameos #3

To finish up the Capetown trip, I will share a few pictures of the third day. After another wonderful sunrise from the roof deck,and breakfast on the pretty little front patio, we trundled off to Woodstock, in search of three of the top Galleries in the Cape, which are fortunately all in one building, a converted industrial space that was absolutely perfect for the display of art. Goodman Gallery had a fabulous review of some of South Africas iconic contemporary artists from the last 7 decades, and it was a treat seeing works by artists one can often only enjoy in textbooks. Then back to explore the charming De Waterkant district, which has such a fascinating vibe and unique character. It is such a delight wandering through the narrow cobbled streets, browsing through eclectic shops and cafes, and ending up in the Cape Quarter, at a fab Italian Restaurant.Then, reluctantly off to pack and get to the airport, for the return flight to PE. A pretty end to a blissful interlude, and both Julie and I can't wait to go back with our husbands to share this magical spot with them!Thanks for the visit. Please note that all photos are clickable if you want to see them full size.

Iranians In Your Backyard

For a while now, there have been concerns that Venezuela, one of this hemispheres more outspoken critics (or, depending on whom you listen to, avowed enemies) of the United States, is cozying up to Iran, and its (understandably) troubling. Why? Well, three days out of five, Iran is the greatest threat to global peace and prosperity since that Saddam guy was oh-so-flawlessly ousted from power, and the thought that theyre getting a significant political and economic foothold in the Americas is enough to keep, I imagine, the United States counterintelligence nerds awake at night. Thats one half of the threat, of course; the other is that Iran is proving all too happy to provide a wide variety of fairly advanced military hardware to Venezuela, with all the inherent implications for regional stability that suggests. Turns out, though, that while everyones been watching Venezuela, Irans been cozying up to an even closer neighbor of ours. See, it seems that Iran and Nicaragua are fast becoming buddies, again. Hell, a lot of the players are the same as last time around; deja vu all over again. NightWatch notes that not only does Nicaragua border Mexico, but members of the IRGC have reportedly been seen in the country this month, which is a little bit alarming. President Ortega, to judge from his recent public statements, dislikes the United States just as much as Hugo Chavez does, if not more. Yet, nobody seems to care particularly much that Nicaragua is fast becoming very much a proxy for Iranian interests in this hemisphere. The State Departments official line seems to be that Iran has no historical major interests in this part of the world, so theres nothing to see here, move along. Lets put this in perspective: If it was the spring of 1979, or even 1989, and an enemy country - Russia, China, North Korea, or one of their more obvious proxies (Albania, anyone?) were making huge and historically-unprecedented increases in their presence in this hemisphere, the U.S. government would have been crapping themselves not just at the thought of enemy agents on our doorstep, but those same powers getting access to indigenous human assets. (Im not a fluent speaker of Spanish; can you tell a Nicaraguan from a Mexican? How about if theyre speaking fluent English? How about just on sight? Didnt think so&) Even today, if China were developing new inroads in Central America, you can be sure itd be a matter of grave concern. But everyones decided that Venezuela is the problem, and anything that distracts from that message needs to be ignored. Never mind that, fairly literally, all that stands between Irans newest and bestest friend in the whole wide world and the good old US of A is this hemispheres most corrupt, lawless, and porous-bordered country. Nope, Venezuela is the problem, no more and no less. Oh, well; Im sure Irans interests in this part of the world are completely and utterly innocuous, and nothing to be concerned about at all, whatsoever

NY Mexican Consulate shuts down due to Other Campaign protest to free Atenco's political prisoners

MEXICAN CONSULATE SHUTS DOWN IN FACE OF PROTEST FROM THE OTHER CAMPAIGN NEW YORK DEMANDING FREEDOM FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS OF ATENCOOn the third anniversary of state repression against the people of Atenco, the Mexican Consulate in New York was “taken over” by the pro-zapatista group Movement for Justice in El Barrio.Authorities decided to close down the Consulate for the entire day.During a press conference the Consul, who was very angry, denounced and blamed the members of The Other Campaign New York.PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OTHER CAMPAIGN NEW YORKMOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE IN EL BARRIOTo our sisters and brothers from the People’s Front in Defense of the Land:To our Zapatista sisters and brothers:To our compañer@s of the Other Campaign:To our compañer@s from the Zezta Internazional:To our compañer@s who are adherents of the International Campaign in Defense of El Barrio and our allies from all over the world:Receive this greeting in solidarity from the women, men, and children, those marginalized in society who belong to the Other Campaign New York, Movement for Justice in El Barrio, in Zapatista East Harlem.Today, May 4, 2009, the Other Campaign New York took over the Mexican Consulate in New York to demand the liberation of the 12 political prisoners who have been brutally repressed for resisting neoliberal urbanization projects that are destructive to human life and culture, specifically the construction of an airport in Atenco, and for protecting displaced flower vendors in Texcoco.Today, on this third anniversary of the repression, the arrests, the violations, the torture, and the breaking and entering made by the military police in Atenco, a delegation of members of Movement for Justice in El Barrio succeeded in entering the offices of the Consulate of Mexico in New York despite the fact that these offices have been under strict and tightened security since precisely 3 years ago when Mexicans of The Other Campaign New York with real heart and memory, demanded the liberation of the political prisoners of Atenco. We succeeded in entering the offices to hold a non-violent protest demanding the immediate release of the prisoners of Atenco.Once inside, the compañer@s of the Other Campaign New York, amongst the clamor of: “Freedom for political prisoners (Presos politicos, libertad)!, Liberty, liberty, to those prisoners for fighting (Libertad, libertad, a los presos por luchar)!, We are all Atenco (Todos Somos Atenco)!”, along with other chants, and with our signs, some with prison bars to look like a cell, and also with bandanas, gave out to our fellow country men and women at the Consulate DVD’s of the video "Breaking the Siege", about the repression in Atenco, and informational flyers where we explain our main demands.Later, we demanded to speak with the consul Ruben Beltran in order to give him a letter of demands. First, they told us that he was not there because he was in Mexico, but we knew that this was a lie, since the day before the consul was in El Barrio at an event proselytizing for PAN during the imposed Cinco de Mayo celebration.After a while, the authorities of the Consulate told us that the Consul was in New York but that he could not be found in the Consulate, and they closed consular services to the public, asking all of their clients to abandon the offices. By the end of our action, the consul arrived. We gave him a giant size letter on a poster-board with the following demands: 1. Liberty for the political prisoners in Atenco. 2. Cancel the arrest warrants for those 2 who are being persecuted. 3. Revoke and appeal the sentences. 4. Complete respect for the human rights of the detained and the persecuted. 5. Punishment for those responsible for the violations of human rights.The consul, Rubén Beltrán, first told us that he was open to engage in dialogue with all Mexican people in New York and listen to all opinions, but then blamed us – and our cause, the liberation of the prisoners in Atenco – for having closed the services of the Consulate and for having left so many people unattended.We consider that the consul’s reaction is an act of great injustice and cynicism, since if the Mexican government would not torture, kill, rape and unjustly incarcerate its people for resisting its doing business with huge transnational companies that turn everything even water into merchandise, these things would not have to happen.Nonetheless, we are satisfied for having done this successful protest for the liberation of the martyrs of Atenco, and now we know that many Mexicans in New York will be able to inform themselves through alternative media like the DVD "Breaking the Siege".Afterwards, in the afternoon of this same day, the press was convened to gather at the Consulate for another event, and the consul took advantage to denounce us, and say that because of us the Consulate had to close for the entire workday. In this early evening event, the consul showed the press photographs of us from distinct angles. In this respect it was clear that our demonstration was peaceful. If he had retaliated against us for having exercised our right to freedom of expression in Mexican territory (as is in whatever representation of the Mexican government in other countries), this would mean that the Consulate’s authorities would have been violating our rights, just as they don’t respect the rights of the people of Atenco.It brings us much pain that dignified fighters for social justice, the real defenders of our land and our country, remain in prison. We will not rest until they are liberated. Human beings are not merchandise. They can’t move us & place us anywhere they wish so that they can build airports and hotels, not in Atenco, nor in Agua Azul, nor in our Barrio in East Harlem.From the Other Campaign New York, fraternally: ¡WE ARE ALL ATENCO! ¡FREEDOM FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS OF ATENCO!Movement for Justice in El Barrio, New York, May 4, 2009.

AirTran to offer Wi-Fi on all flights

In a bid to win over Internet-savvy travelers, AirTran Airways (AAI) this summer will become the first large U.S. airline to offer wireless Internet access on every flight nationwide.AirTran plans to have all 136 of its Boeing 737 and 717 jets equipped with in-flight wireless service by late July, CEO Bob Fornaro said Monday.For a fee, the Orlando-based, low-fare carrier will offer Wi-Fi for passengers' wireless-enabled laptops, smartphones and personal digital assistants. The airline plans to make the announcement today.AirTran began equipping its jets last month at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, its largest hub airport. Fornaro would not divulge the size of AirTran's investment or the revenue it could generate from the service."We think this is going to become a necessity" for airlines, Fornaro said. "Some carriers have it on some flights. We're going to offer passengers certainty, and I think that will give us a leg up."Airborne wireless service is gaining traction across the airline industry, which is going from experimentation to installation as it searches for new sources of revenue and a competitive edge.AirTran's decision to put it in fleetwide could accelerate adoption of the new service, which lets fliers access the Web from a handheld device or laptop for $7.95 to $12.95 a flight, depending on the device and the length of the flight.According to Aircell, the Chicago-based provider of the Gogo wireless service, more than 1,000 jets from several North American carriers will be Wi-Fi-equipped by year's end, up from about 30 at the end of 2008."That will be a huge sea change," says Aircell CEO Jack Blumenstein.He says a typical narrow-body jet can be equipped with the 125 pounds of necessary equipment and fiber-optic cable during an overnight stay at an airport for about $100,000.Once it's installed, air passengers will see a pop-up on their laptop, smartphone or PDA screen at 10,000 feet and connect to the Web through Gogo by providing their credit card information.Other carriers are at various stages of adoption. San Francisco-based start-up Virgin America says it will have Wi-Fi service on all 28 of its planes by May 25.Several of the USA's biggest carriers, including No. 1 Delta Air Lines (DAL) and No. 2 American Airlines (AMR), have begun equipping their fleets with Wi-Fi but won't be able to guarantee it on every domestic flight for some time.Delta said Monday that it has equipped 139 or about half of its domestic jetliners and expects to have all 300 full-size domestic jets equipped by September, but Delta's large regional jet fleet will not be.In June, Delta will start selling Wi-Fi passes that are good for a month. Delta acquired Northwest Airlines last year, and 200 old Northwest jets will be undergoing installation next year.American said in March it planned to equip more than 300 of its narrow-body domestic jets with Gogo wireless during the next couple years.Since August, American has tested wireless service on 15 wide-body Boeing 767s used on transcontinental flights and now plans to install Gogo on its narrow-body fleet.United Airlines (UAUA) and Air Canada also have plans to begin installing Wi-Fi capability later this year.

Believing in the Improbable

Bugs and books, naming names, and the improbable improbable from Kevin Kelly and Brian Eno. Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol -- Silicon Valley is experimenting with bacteria that have been genetically altered to provide 'renewable petroleum'. Books that changed my life -- I don't mean merely great books, or memorable ones, or favorite ones. I mean books that altered your behavior, changed your mind, redirected the course of your life. Books as levers. Unthinkable futures -- Improbability is still a strong bias to overcome. Much that is happening today would have been dismissed as unbelievably bad science fiction only 15 years ago. The US with secret prisons torturing Muslims? Street sweepers in India with their own cell phones? Obesity a contagious disease? A trusted encyclopedia written by anyone? Yeah, right, give me a break. [...] This list of unthinkable futures -- probabilities we tend to dismiss without thinking -- was published 15 years ago in the Summer, 1993 issue of Whole Earth Review. Our intent was less to correctly predict the future (thus the silliness) and more to predict how unpredictable the actual future would be. Believing in the improbable is quickly becoming a survival skill. A new profession -- cosmetic psychiatry -- is born. People visit "plastic psychiatrists" to get interesting neuroses and obsessions added into their makeup. A new kind of holiday becomes popular: you are dropped by helicopter in an unknown place, with two weeks' supply of food and water. You are assured that you will not see anyone else in this time. There is a panic button just in case. Seed companies start selling packets of unpredictable mutants produced by random genetic engineering programmes: "JUST PLANT 'EM AND SEE WHAT COMES UP!" Suburbia is covered with exotic new blooms and giant cucumbers. The first Bio-Olympics, where athletes can have anything added to or subtracted from their bodies, take place in 2004. A microbe engineered to eat oil slicks evolves a taste for rubber. [Ed.--See above.] Traveling as a process enjoys a revival. People abandon the idea of "getting from A to B" and begin to develop (or re-discover) a culture of traveling: semi-nomadism. Lots of people acquire super new faxed-and-modemed versions of the mobile home. It becomes distinctly "lower-class" to live in a fixed location. A two-part rule for naming your Startup -- Our minds are built to make connections, mostly at a subconscious level. When a metaphor is detected, it triggers a process in our brains that associates the metaphor with the next object or reference. This naming system forces the mind to take the cognitive step of associating the metaphor to the product it represents, thus forming a positive association to the brand. And once your brain has woven the connection, it sticks, so there’s a great chance your company name won’t be forgotten. Where nothing is improbable, nothing is impossible either. Related Items Tales of Virtuosity: Excellence at its Best Free ebook Peer pressure, vanity and behavior, motivation tricks and hacks, success and pain, and how to excel, Celebrate Your Beauty.

Al Qaeda's Heroin War in Luton

Thank you Anonymous for posting this linkDaily Star article belowGod bless the Daily Star and the reporters who have decided to take to the streets in Luton to see whether or not what is at the core of this blog is true or not. Those who did will have no doubt in the authenticity of what I write about concerning the Pakistani Moslem Heroin trade in Luton, their direct links to Al Qaeda in Pakistan/Afghanistan, and how Heroin is being used as a 'weapon of war' against us and our society as is proven in this article.(Even down to the the fine details stating the 'Gambinos' are on the streets.)I wonder whether the Government, Military, and Security Services will now lock this area down with the full force of the British State and clean up the mess that Al Qaeda and their Moslems counterparts in Britain have caused on the ground here in this locality seen as though the organised criminal networks are beyond the polices capability now that it isn't just criminality, it is an' Al Qaeda' guerrilla war effort, with Pakistani Moslem Heroin Barons that have direct links to Al Qaeda and terrorism being deeply entrenched in the area after having an unhindered reign for the past 20 - 30 years here. They have been swimming in wealth beyond most peoples imagination which has come as a direct result of poisoning and killing our people with this 'chemical weapon' that comes direct from the poppy fields of Afghanistan and then processed in Pakistan their ancestral homeland. Is it any wonder our streets are awash with this deadly destructive and very lucrative chemical.God knows who the Barons are, so it is only a matter of time now until you are removed!The military wing of your religion wants war with the British people, as was declared on 7/7 and with the fertiliser/Dirty bomb plot, with both originating in Luton, so you will reap what you have sown because nobody can escape the truth and its consequences.Heroin: The Golden Sword of JihadDaily Star(Links in this Daily Star article are links to my supporting blog posts)ASIAN TERROR GANGS TARGET UK WITH KILLER HEROINTERROR chiefs plan to flood our streets with heroin in a terrifying plot to wage “chemical jihad” on Britain.And they have been using hate-filled Muslim gangs as their UK dealers.Pakistani and Afghan-based al-Qaida and Taliban warlords are sitting on a £6billion stash of deadly heroin.And they have ordered their dealers to sell it only to non-Muslims.The ruthless racket is a two-pronged attack which peddles death and misery with heroin while netting massive sums to pay for future terror attacks.A senior security source told the Daily Star Sunday: “The Afghan poppy fields are probably the biggest financial contributor to al-Qaida and the Taliban.“The UK’s heroin trade is increasing at an alarming rate and most of the cash helps arm terrorists with bombs and guns.”The US has already been ­targeted in the evil campaign which mirrors a terror plot in the new James Bond novel Devil May Care.Between 1990 and 2005 Taliban-linked drug peddler Haji Baz Mohammed raked in a staggering £17billion by pouring heroin into North America.He told a US court that “selling heroin was a jihad because they were taking Americans’ money and the heroin was killing them”.Now the fanatics have made the UK their top target. A whopping 30 tonnes of heroin is being smuggled into Britain every year.The drug is grown in the Afghan badlands and bought for £1,500 a kilo in neighbouring Pakistan.It’s finally sold on Britain’s streets, often in the backs of cabs or over kebab shop counters, at between £30 and £50 a gram.Asian gangs are operating in South London, Luton, Preston, Manchester, Leeds, Oldham, Birmingham and Bradford.Our investigators went on the hunt for heroin in Luton and did a deal in the back of a taxi.Pulling out a handful of wraps, the ­driver said: “I’ll sort you a fix for £10 but a gram’s £50. It’s knockout gear.” Asked where the drugs came from he said: “Poppy fields between Pakistan and Afghanistan.“The big bosses have Taliban and al-Qaida connections and we’re often told only to deal it to non-Muslims. They call it ­chemical jihad and hope to ruin lives while ­getting massive payouts at the same time.“I’m more interested in the money. I knock it out to anyone, ­whatever their beliefs.“But there are lots of big-­hitters who only sell to non-Muslims – to poison them.”One of the Asian gangs is the so-called Gambino clan – a 100-strong mob named after the ­notorious US crime family.A 40-year-old small-time dealer turned Christian told us: “The Gambinos are the Pakistani Muslim gang that control most of the drug trade in Luton – and they’ve all got good connections to al-Qaida.“Heroin and crack are on sale 24 hours a day and they get local taxi drivers to drive the gear around and do deals.“It’s a massive business. They’re untouchable.”But the gangs are leaving a trail of misery. Just ask hollow-eyed junkie Greg Yates, one of 280,000 addicts in the UK.Huddled up and shaking on a bridge near Luton rail station, the 42-year-old former mechanic told us his £80-a-day habit had destroyed his life.“I can’t function without the hits,” he sobbed. “I’ve lost my job, my home and my family.“Heroin has killed me.”

Banks try social networking, jump on Twitter wagon

Social networking is becoming an increasingly popular way for banks to reach consumers amid the economic downturn.Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC) have begun to "tweet" post messages of 140 characters or less on Twitter.com with customers about everything from bank fees to product features. Discover Financial (DFS), American Express (AXP) and Citigroup (C) have launched Facebook or MySpace pages. Some banks even put marketing videos on YouTube."Social media is a whole new world, and you cannot afford to not be a part of it," says Pamela Blase, a spokeswoman for UMB Financial of Kansas City, Mo., which tweets about everything from the bank's financial stability to the industry's prospects.Banks say they're establishing presences on social-networking sites to tap into a growing demographic and to control the conversation about their brands. Yet the economic turmoil, some say, makes it even more important to reach out to customers any way they can."There's a lot of worry out there," says Ed Terpening, vice president of social media at Wells Fargo, one of the first banks with a group of employees dedicated to social networking. "That means that we have to stay close to our customers."The appeal of social networking, according to Steve Furman, Discover's director of e-commerce, is that it provides "pure, instant" communication with customers.In general, banks and card issuers have been slower to embrace social networking than other industries have. But social networking has become popular enough that, for many institutions, it's not a question of if but when to establish a presence on these sites, says James McGovern of Corporate Insight, a financial-services research firm.Yet as a growing number of banks become proficient in the social-networking world, the norms of customer service are being upended. Increasingly, today's online interactions between banks and consumers are peppered with shorthand, typos and even slang. "It sounds like you need 2 talk 2 someone abt your specific situation," read a recent Twitter post from a Wells Fargo rep.Adding to banks' challenges, social-networking sites are becoming another venue for consumers to complain and complain is exactly what they're doing as credit card rates and fees rise even as the economy struggles and unemployment rises.Jesse Hattabaugh, a software engineer from San Francisco, recently posted this message to banks on Twitter: "Stop making your living off my late fees! You fine me more than you loan me!"

Horrible clouds,is anger!?

Street 3D art

Renaissance Review

Below is a review of THE MASTER OF VERONA by Michael Lohr, of Renaissance Magazine. It will appear in their upcoming issue. At their request, I have happily reproduced it here, but please do visit them for their many other reviews and articles. “Montibus in claris semper vivida fides” - “Faith is always vigorous in the clear mountains." The Master Of Verona, the debut novel by Chicago-based Shakespearean actor and director David Blixt, is a historical and cultural immersion into fourteenth-century Italian life. We find ourselves standing on the cusp of the birth of the Renaissance, immersed in the Golden Age of Dante and the watching the cause and effect that would launch forth events that would inspire one of Shakespeare’s greatest works. The Master Of Verona focuses on the events that initiated the famous feud in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Blixt asked this question: what happened between the Montagues and the Capulets that eventually caused the tragic dual suicide? The Master Of Verona is the answer to that question.With a large ensemble of characters, we are exposed to a veritable cornucopia of swashbuckling eccentricities and temperaments. From such questionable persons as Giovanna da Svevia, the illegitimate descendant of Emperor Frederick II to more prominent folks such as Pietro Alaghieri, the eldest son of poet Dante, who like his father was exiled from Florence in 1312 to the callous Marsilio da Carrara, a knight from the family Padua, the novel is brimming with personality.In the same historical fiction tradition as Michael Chabon and his brilliant novels The Yiddish Policeman’s Union and Gentlemen of the Road, as well as just about any novel by Bernard Cornwell, The Master Of Verona is a beautifully realized historical novel. It is flowing with intricate plot movements, taut narrative, head spinning revelations and vibrantly painted scenes. At times the novel gets bogged down in fourteenth-century Italian minutiae; with all those Italian names swirling about, at times I felt like I was reading one of those Biblical “Jeddadiah begat Ezekiel who beget Ishmael” scriptures. But this complication is a mechanism of historical fiction and not the fault of Blixt. For historical accuracy you must use that which history gives you. Overall, The Master Of Verona is a rich, resonant novel, voluminous with the verve of life and a downright pleasure to read. This book is nirvana for any lover of quality historical fiction or books that focus upon Italian/European history. But it will also speak passionately to all connoisseurs of great fiction, regardless of their literati bent of interest.

Blobfish

Online gaming in China: Intangible value

Changyou is making a fortune selling items in a virtual worldPERHAPS it should not be a surprise. In the midst of a global capital shortage, the first company to list this year on New Yorks NASDAQ exchange not only needs no money; its source of profit is receiving cash for items that do not exist.Changyou is a three-year-old online-gaming business being spun out of Sohu, Chinas second-largest internet portal. The deal was due to be priced on April 2nd, as The Economist went to press, in a nostalgic reminder of what the stockmarket used to look like. At the top of the expected price range Changyou will be valued at about $820m, after a special distribution of $100m to its parent. The opening price may be higher still, given strong demand. ...

keep eyes open

Aye- Aye

The power of plant

libgdata

It’s about time to announce something I’ve been working on for about three months now: libgdata. It’s a GLib-, libsoup- and libxml2-based library for accessing GData APIs, as used by most Google services. There already exist several such libraries in a variety of languages, but as far as I’m aware this is the first one written in C — and thus the first which is widely accessible to the GNOME stack. So far it has decent support for YouTube video queries, and the beginnings of Google Calendar support. Having ported the Totem YouTube plugin to use libgdata, my next plan is to port the evolution-data-server Google Calendar backend as well. With that done, libgdata will hopefully be stable and fully-featured enough for people to get to work on starting to fulfil Rob Bradford’s dream of tighter desktop integration with web services.

Dave Neary

Daniel Chalef and Matthew Aslett responded to my suggestion at OSBC that copyright assignment was unnecessary, and potentially harmful, to building a core community around your project. Daniel wrote that he even got the impression that I thought requesting copyright assignment was “somewhat evil”. This seems like a good opportunity for me to clarify exactly what I think about copyright assignment for free software projects. First: copyright assignment is usually unnecessary. Most of the most vibrant and diverse communities around do not have copyright assignment in place. GIMP, GNOME, KDE, Inkscape, Scribus and the Linux kernel all get along just fine without requesting copyright assignment (joint or otherwise) from new contributors. There are some reasons why copyright assignment might be useful, and Matthew mentions them. Relicencing your software is easier when you own everything, and extremely difficult if you don’t. Defending copyright infringement is potentially easier if there is a single copyright holder. The Linux kernel is pretty much set as GPL v2, because even creating a list of all of the copyright holders would be problematic. Getting their agreement to change licence would be nigh on impossible. Not quite 100% impossible, though, as Mozilla has shown. The relicencing effort of Mozilla took considerable time and resources, and I’m sure the people involved would be delighted not to have needed to go through it. But it is possible. There is another reason proponents say that a JCA is useful: client indemnification. I happen to think that this is a straw man. Enterprise has embraced Linux, GNOME, Apache and any number of other projects without the need for indemnification. And those clients who do need indemnification can get it from companies like IBM, Sun, Red Hat and others. Owning all the copyright might give more credibility to your client indemnification, but it’s certainly not necessary. There is a conflation of issues going on with customer indemnification too. What is more important than the ownership of the code is the origin of the code. I would certainly agree that projects should follow decent due dilligence procedures to ensure that a submission is the submitter’s own work, and that he has the right or permission to submit the code under your project’s licence. But this is independent of copyright assignment. Daniel mentions Mozilla as an example of a non-vendor-led-project requiring copyright assignment - he is mistaken. The Mozilla Committer’s Agreement (pdf) requires a new committer to do due dilligence on the origin of code he contributes, and not commit code which he is not authorised to do. But they do not require joint copyright assignment. Also note when the agreement gets signed - not on your first patch, but when you are becoming a core committer - when you are getting right to the top of the Mozilla food chain. Second: Copyright assignment is potentially harmful. It is right and proper that a new contributor to your project jump through some hoops to learn the ways of the community. Communities are layered according to involvement, and the trust which they earn through their involvement. You don’t give the keys to the office to a new employee on day one. What you do on day one is show someone around, introduce them to everyone, let them know what the values of your community are. Now, what does someone learn about the values of your community if, once they have gone to the effort to modify the software to add a new feature, had their patch reviewed by your committers and met your coding standards, the very next thing you do is send them a legal form that they need to print, sign, and return (and incidentally, agree with) before you will integrate their code in your project? The hoops that people should be made to jump through are cultural and technical. Learn the tone, meet the core members, learn how to use the tools, the coding conventions, and familiarise yourself with the vision of the community. The role of community members at this stage is to welcome and teach. The equivalent of showing someone around on the first day. Every additional difficulty which a new contributor experiences is an additional reason for him to not stick around. If someone doesn’t make the effort to familiarise himself with your community processes and tools, then that’s probably not a big deal. But if someone walks away for another reason, something that you could change, something that you can do away with without changing the nature of the community, then that’s a loss. Among the most common superfluous barriers to entry that you find in free software projects are complicated build systems or uncommon tools, long delays in having questions answerred and patches reviewed, and unnecessary bureaucracy around contributing. A JCA fits squarely into that third category. In a word, the core principle is: To build a vibrant core developer community independent of your company, have as few barriers to contributing as possible. There is another issue at play here, one which might not be welcomed by the vendors driving the communities where I think a JCA requirement does the most harm. That issue is trust. One of the things I said at OSBC during my presentation is that companies aren’t community members - their employees might be. Communities are made up of people, individual personalities, quirks, beliefs. While we often assign human characteristics to companies, companies don’t believe. They don’t have morals. The personality of a company can change with the board of directors. Luis Villa once wrote “what if the corporate winds change? … At that point, all the community has is the license, and [the company]’s licensing choices … When [the company] actually trusts communities, and signals as such by treating the community as equals [...] then the community should (and I think will) trust them back. But not until then.” Luis touches on an important point. Trust is the currency we live & die by. And companies earn trust by the licencing choices they make. The Apache Foundation, Python Software Foundation and Free Software Foundation are community-run non-profits. As well as their licence choices, we also have their by-laws, their membership rules and their history. They are trusted entities. In a fundamental way, assigning or sharing copyright with a non-profit with a healthy governance structure is different from sharing copyright with a company. There are many cases of companies taking community code and forking commercial versions off it, keeping some code just for themselves. Trolltech, SugarCRM and Digium notably release a commercial version which is different from their GPL edition (Update: Several people have written in to tell me that this is no longer the case with Trolltech, since they were bought by Nokia and QT was relicenced under the LGPL - it appeared that people felt clarification was necessary, although the original point stands - Trolltech did sell a commercial QT different from their GPL “community” edition). There are even cases of companies withdrawing from the community completely and forking commercial-only versions of software which had previously released under the GPL. A recent example is Novell’s sale of Netmail to Messaging Architects, resulting in the creation of the Bongo project, forked off the last GPL release available. In 2001, Sunspire (since defunct) decided to release future versions of Tuxracer as a commercial game, resulting in the creation of Planet Penguin Racer, among others, off the last GPL version. Xara dipped their toes releasing most of their core product under the GPL, but decided after a few years that the experiment had failed. Xara Xtreme continues with a community effort to port the rendering engine to Cairo, but to my knowledge, no-one from Xara is working on that effort. Examples like these show that companies can not be trusted to continue developing the software indefinitely as free software. So as an external developer being asked to sign a JCA, you have to ask yourself the question whether you are prepared to allow the company driving the project the ability to build a commercial product with your code in there. At best, that question constitutes another barrier to entry. At OSBC, I was pointing out some of the down sides of choices that people are making without even questioning them. JCAs are good for some things, but bad at building a big developer community. What I always say is that you first need to know what you want from your community, and set up the rules appropriately. Nothing is inherently evil in this area, and of course the copyright holder has the right to set the rules of the game. What is important is to be aware of the trade-offs which come from those choices. To summarise where I stand, copyright assignment or sharing agreements are usually unnecessary, potentially harmful if you are trying to build a vibrant core developer community, by making bureaucracy and the trust of your company core issues for new contributors. There are situations where a JCA is merited, but this comes at a cost, in terms of the number of external contributors you will attract. Updates: Most of the comments tended to concentrate on two things which I had said, but not emphasised enough. I have tried to clarify slightly where appropriate in the text. First, Trolltech used to distribute a commercial and community edition of QT which were different, but as the QT Software Group in Nokia, this is no longer the case (showing that licencing can change after an acquisition (for the better), as it happens. Second, assigning copyright to a non-profit is, I think, a less controversial proposition for most people because of the extra trust afforded to non-profits through their by-laws, governance structure and not-for-profit status. And it is worth pointing out that KDE eV has a voluntary joint copyright assignment for contributors that they encourage people to sign - Aaron Seigo pointed this out. I think it’s a neat way to make future relicencing easier without adding the initial barrier to entry.

How is it like to be a plain housewife?

i've been to work since before i got married so i didn't experience being really just a plain housewife. during weekends, i personally do the household chores and sometimes i complained about it. well, no one had asked me to do that. it's just voluntary. i can't imagine being a plain housewife all my wife. i know it's a nobel work but sometimes one tends to forget about herself because of the never-ending chores at home. how is it like to be really at home 24/7?

emotional information retrieval

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 60, No. 5. (2009), pp. 863-876.Some documents provoke emotions in people viewing them. Will it be possible to describe emotions consistently and use this information in retrieval systems? We tested collective (statistically aggregated) emotion indexing using images as examples. Considering psychological results, basic emotions are anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness. This study follows an approach developed by Lee and Neal (2007) for music emotion retrieval and applies scroll bars for tagging basic emotions and their intensities. A sample comprising 763 persons tagged emotions caused by images (retrieved from ) applying scroll bars and (linguistic) tags. Using SPSS, we performed descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. For more than half of the images, the test persons have clear emotion favorites. There are prototypical images for given emotions. The document-specific consistency of tagging using a scroll bar is, for some images, very high. Most of the (most commonly used) linguistic tags are on the basic level (in the sense of Rosch's basic level theory). The distributions of the linguistic tags in our examples follow an inverse power-law. Hence, it seems possible to apply collective image emotion tagging to image information systems and to present a new search option for basic emotions. This article is one of the first steps in the research area of emotional information retrieval (EmIR).Stefanie Schmidt, Wolfgang Stock

My Gallery

My Live Gallery, Create Live Galleries, Photo Albums and Slideshows Online Upload Your Pictures & Publish Your Photo Gallery - About About MyLiveGallery : "MyLiveGallery.com enables you to instantly create live galleries, photo albums and slideshows online. Use it to turn your photos into attractive galleries and share them with others. It is as easy as 1-2-3. Just specify the name, upload your pictures or get photos from Flickr, select a theme and the gallery is ready!"(MyLiveGallery.com)Maak snel een fotogallery en slideshow van je digitale foto's. Geef een titel en upload alle foto's die je wilt gebruiken of foto's online van je Flickr-account. Kies een thema voor je foto-gallery en publiceer en deel met anderen. Je hoeft geen account aan te maken. Beertjes Weblog by Peter Franken

$5 milIion,would you sold yourself /your love

Do you remember the film "Indecent Proposal"? In it a man offers a couple a $1 million to sleep with the wife. Lets up rate it for inflation to $5 million. Would you?

I knew that grovelling would be bad for me

I have a blister on the very tip of my tongue.
A nasty white thing that is driving me nuts!
It won't kill me and I doubt that it will cause any significant deterioration in my enjoyment of life. But it is a blooming nuisance.
So sorry, if you want me to grovel and lick your boots tonight I'm not going to! What little health issues are annoying you at the moment?

The Order of the Blue Polo

As many of you know, the OpenNMS project is run by a super-secret cabal of ex-Illuminati called the Order of the Green Polo. The membership requirements are pretty stringent (and the initiation process is obscenely biological) and thus only the clinically dedicated tend to be involved. However, we know that there are others out there that simply enjoy using OpenNMS to solve their management needs (or at least enjoy downloading it - our servers post several days with greater than 300 GB of traffic every time we do a release) and now we want to hear your story. Becoming a member of The Order of the Blue Polo is simple: write to us a testimonial about why you like OpenNMS and how you use it. It would also be cool if you tell us the size of your network (number of devices, interfaces, and services). In exchange we’ll send you a super limited edition, very nice Royal Blue polo shirt embroidered with the OpenNMS logo. This is open to anyone on any size network in any country, subject to a few small requirements: 1) We get to print your testimonial on our website. 2) We get to print your name on our website. 3) We get to print the name of your company on our website. In our experience that last requirement is a bit of a sticky one. We have some commercial support clients in the financial sector that make us sign NDAs where we can’t even acknowledge they exist (seriously). To make things easier, we won’t use your company’s logo, and the header of the Order of the Blue Polo page will include the text: These testimonials reflect the opinions of the people writing them and not their employer. This should not be considered an official endorsement or recommendation by any of the companies listed. Think of these as director’s commentaries you find on DVDs with the same disclaimer that the movie studios use (and we all fast-forward through) at the beginning of the film. We need that information for two reasons: first, these shirts are really nice and they are not cheap, and second we are doing this to raise a greater awareness of how OpenNMS is being used, so we want to show that it is being used by real companies and not just some guy in his basement (although to all you guys in your basements using OpenNMS - we still love you, just not enough to send you a shirt). To join, send your testimonial to bluepolo@opennms.com along with your shirt size and a mailing address. We’ll have your shirt to you within three to four weeks. If you send us a picture of you wearing your shirt, we’ll be more than happy to add it to the website. Finally, we reserve the right to limit the number of members in the OBP (we don’t have unlimited money to spend on this joint). It will be first come, first served. -T Size Neck Chest Small 14 (36) 34 (86) - 36 (91) Medium 15 (38) 38 (97) - 40 (102) Large 16 (41) 42 (107) - 44 (112) XLarge 17 (43) 46 (117) - 48 (122) XXL 18 (46) 50 (127) - 52 (132) 3XL 19 (48) 54 (137) - 56 (142) size in inches (centimeters)

Three Dollar Amaretto

During my sophomore year in college my dad got transferred to sleepy Aviano, Italy. For the Christmas holidays in 1984, my fiancé (now wife) and I visited them for two weeks and saw the sights. We hit Rome, Florence, and Venice in addition to the family holiday festivities. Just before we returned to school, I went down to the base liquor store and loaded up on Amaretto Di Saronno®. They were three bucks each and I crammed four bottles into my carry-on bag. Since my dad was military I had to fly back on one of those over-crowded charter airlines that contract to the Department of Defense for moving military families back and forth. I think it was called ScreamingBabyAir or something. Anyways, I missed my connection in Philadelphia and the airline put me up in a motel for the night with a complete stranger. The next morning we took a hotel van shuttle back to the airport. Before I could run around back to get my bags, the driver had tossed them onto the curb shattering one of the bottles. All I could do was race to the airport bathroom and pour spilled liqueur out of the bag and fish all the glass shards out of the bottom. For the rest of the trip my luggage reeked of boozy almonds. Amaretto quickly became my favorite after dinner drink. Our wedding cake was amaretto flavored and was the best wedding cake I have ever had. At fancy restaurants I cringe when I order my little snifter of amaretto neat and it costs more than double or triple what I paid for those bottles from Italy. Nearly twenty-five years later, I am now down to just a finger or two left in the last remaining bottle. Today my wife and I will be winging our way back to Italy for our Spring Break vacation because it's time to pick up some more Amaretto. Somehow I doubt I can find such a good deal this time

Flat Stomach Tips - Tips For Getting a Flat Stomach

Your belly or stomach is just a portion of your body and unless you work out your whole body and strip the fat from all portions of your overweight physique/figure, how can you even think of losing fat from your belly? To flatten you abs and lose the tiers of fat from around your tummy which give rise to ugly paunches, you have to perform exercises which will target your whole body and then after rigorously going in for full body exercise, you may think of spot training and do a few specific exercises targeted at trimming your abs.

So obviously, you cannot escape from the swimming, cycling, jogging routine coupled with resistance training, weight lifting, muscle building, turbulence training exercises. Give cardio a miss for it is not beneficial in losing weight. Then for some spot training, you can do the different types of crunches which will tone up the abdominal muscles and tighten the abdominal wall.

One more belly buster that you should try out is torso twist. To tone your belly fast, you should regularly twist your body from the trunk upwards, once towards the right and once towards the left and you should increase your speed with practice. You can even perform these trunk twists and other ab flattening exercises in the water to create greater resistance because you have to work really hard to overcome the resistance exerted by water and besides it is difficult to cheat the water.

Side bends and front bends are also helpful in giving a workout to your stomach. In fact there are gymming equipments available called twisters which you may use to perform the twists and they are extremely helpful in shedding the extra calories from your tummy.

ylmoon

Have you ever seen the yellow moon?