Gold Archive : Almost Everything

Beware of Two-Way Mirrors in Trial Rooms

2009-11-11T09:42:00.001-08:00

Beware of Two-Way Mirrors in Trial Rooms

A Wish

2009-11-11T09:41:00.007-08:00

Bluetooth Computing

2009-11-11T09:41:00.005-08:00

Bluetooth Computing

Look closely and guess what they could be...

Are they pens with cameras?
NO

Any wild guesses? No clue yet?

NOT YET

Ladies and gentlemen.... congratulations! You've just looked into the future...yep that's right!

You've just seen something that will replace your PC in the near future.

Here is how it works:

In the revolution of miniature computers, scientists have made great developments with bluetooth technology ... .

These are the forthcoming computers you can carry in your pockets .

This 'pen type of instrument' produces both the monitor as well as the keyboard on any flat surface from where you can carry out functions you would normally do on your desktop computer.

Mexico Swine Flu

2009-11-11T09:41:00.001-08:00

Mexico Swine Flu

Swine influenza virus (SIV) is caused by Orthomyxoviruses that are endemic to pig populations. SIV strains isolated to date have been classified either as Influenzavirus C or one of the various subtypes of the genus Influenzavirus A.

Swine flu, unlike bird flu, is able to pass from human to human contact. The 2009 swine flu outbreak is the spread of a new strain of H1N1 influenza virus that was first detected by public health agencies in March 2009. Local outbreaks of influenza-like illness were detected in three areas of Mexico, but the presence of this new strain was not discovered for a month.

Following this discovery in the parts of United States bordering Mexico, its presence was swiftly confirmed in the local outbreaks in Mexico, and in isolated cases elsewhere. By April 27, the new strain was confirmed also in Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom and suspected in many other nations, with over 1,800 candidate cases.

The new strain is an apparent reassortment of several strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, including a strain endemic in humans and two strains endemic in pigs, as well as an avian influenza.

Reassortment is common in influenza viruses, due to the structure of their genome. This particular reassortment is consistent with a transmission of swine influenza from pig to human combined with the mixing of two viral infections in the same person.

In April both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expressed serious concerns about this novel strain, because it apparently transmits from human to human, has had a relatively high mortality rate in Mexico, and because it has the potential to become a flu pandemic.

On April 25, 2009, the WHO determined the situation to be a formal â€œpublic health emergency of international concernâ€�, with knowledge lacking in regard to â€œthe clinical features, epidemiology, and virology of reported cases and the appropriate responsesâ€�.

Government health agencies around the world also expressed concerns over the outbreak and are monitoring the situation closely.

Recommendations to prevent infection by the virus consist of the standard personal precautions against influenza. This includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially after being out in public. People should avoid touching their mouth, nose or eyes with their hands unless they've washed their hands. If people do cough, they should either cough into a tissue and throw it in the garbage immediately or, if they cough in their hand, they should wash their hands immediately.

Many countries confirmed that inbound international passengers will be screened. Typical airport health screening involves asking passengers which countries they have visited and checking whether they feel or look particularly unwell.

On April 27, the CDC recommended the use of Tamiflu and Relenza for both treatment and prevention of the new strain.

Some physicians in the US are recommending the use of masks when in public. The purpose of a face mask is to effectively cover a personâ€™s mouth and nose so that if a person is around someone who is infected, there is a decreased likelihood of transmission.

Cases by country
Country	Laboratory confirmed cases	Other possible cases*	Attributed deaths^â€¡	Refs.
Mexico (details)	26	1,995	149 (20)	^[1][2]
United States (details)	48	212+	0	^[3][2][4]
Canada (details)	6	28+	0	^[2][5]
United Kingdom (details)	2	21	0	^[6]
Spain (details)	1	35	0	^[7][8]
New Zealand	0	56	0	^[9]
Australia	0	19	0	^[10][11]
Colombia	0	12	0	^[12]
Brazil	0	11	0	^[13][14]
Switzerland	0	5	0	^[15]
Denmark	0	4	0	^[16]
Ireland	0	4	0	^[17]
Czech Republic	0	3	0	^[18]
Poland	0	3	0	^[19]
France	0	3	0	^[20]
Guatemala	0	3	0	^[21]
Israel	0	2	0	^[22]
Argentina	0	1	0	^[23]
Costa Rica	0	1	0	^[24]
Peru	0	1	0	^[25]
Russia	0	1	0	^[26]
South Korea	0	1	0	^[27]
Totals	83	2,443+	149 (20)
* Not all cases have been confirmed as being due to this strain. Possible cases are cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) that have not been confirmed through testing to be due to this strain. ^â€¡ Deaths with confirmed presence of virus in parentheses.

Questions and answers about swine flu

Mexico is contending with an outbreak of swine flu, suspected in the deaths of dozens of people and sickening perhaps 1,000. In the United States, at least eight cases have been confirmed with the infection, all of them in California and Texas; only one person was hospitalized. Here are some questions and answers about the illness:

Q. What is swine flu?

A. Swine flu is a respiratory illness in pigs caused by a virus. The swine flu virus routinely causes outbreaks in pigs but doesnâ€™t usually kill many of them.

Q. Can people get swine flu?

A. Swine flu viruses donâ€™t usually infect humans. There have been occasional cases, usually among people whoâ€™ve had direct contact with infected pigs, such as farm workers. â€œWeâ€™ve seen swine influenza in humans over the past several years, and in most cases, itâ€™s come from direct pig contact. This seems to be different,â€� said Dr. Arnold Monto, a flu expert with the University of Michigan.

Q. Can it spread among humans?

A. There have been cases of the virus spreading from human to human, probably in the same way as seasonal flu, through coughing and sneezing by infected people.

Q. What are the symptoms of swine flu?

A. The symptoms are similar to those of regular flu â€" fever, cough, fatigue, lack of appetite.

Q. Is the same swine flu virus making people sick in Mexico and the U.S.?

A. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Mexican virus samples match the U.S. virus. The virus is a mix of human virus, bird virus from North America and pig viruses from North America, Europe and Asia.

Q. Are there drugs to treat swine flu in humans?

A. There are four different drugs approved in the U.S. to treat the flu, but the new virus has shown resistance to the two oldest. If you suspects any symptoms of Swine flu, contact your physician.

Q. Does a regular flu shot protect against swine flu?

A. The seasonal flu vaccine used in the U.S. this year wonâ€™t likely provide protection against the latest swine flu virus. There is a swine flu vaccine for pigs but not for humans.

Q. Should residents of California or Texas do anything special?

A. The CDC recommends routine precautions to prevent the spread of infectious diseases: wash your hands often, cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, avoid close contact with sick people. If you are sick, stay at home and limit contact with others.

Q. What about traveling to Mexico?

A. The CDC has not warned Americans against traveling to Mexico but advises that they be aware of the illnesses there and take precautions to protect against infections, like washing their hands.

Dubai Airport Terminal

2009-11-11T09:40:00.005-08:00

Dubai Airport Terminal

A Date with a Woman

2009-11-11T09:40:00.003-08:00

A Date with a Woman

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said I love you but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.

'What's wrong, are you well,' she asked? My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.

'I thought that it would be pleasant to be with you,' I responded. 'Just two of us.'

She thought about it for a moment, and then said, 'I would like that very much.'

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous.

When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary.

She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel .

"I told my friends that I was going out with my son, and they were impressed" she said, as she got into the car. "'They can't wait to hear about our meeting". We went to a restaurant although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.

After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Large print.. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw myMom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

'It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,' she said.. 'Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor,' I responded.

During dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary, but catching up on recent events of each other's life.

We talked so much that we missed the movie.

As we arrived at her house later, she said, 'I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.' I agreed.

'How was your dinner date?' asked my wife when I got home. 'Very nice.

Much more so than I could have imagined,' I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to do anything for her..

Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place my mother and I had dined.

An attached note said: 'I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me.

I love you, son.

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: 'I LOVE YOU!' and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than God and your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till 'some other time.'

Robby - A Beautiful True Story

2009-11-11T09:39:00.009-08:00

Robby - A Beautiful True Story

At the prodding of my friends, I am writing this story. My name isMildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher fromDes Moines, Iowa. I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years. Over the years I foundthat children have many levels of musical ability. I've never had thepleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talentedstudents.

However I've also had my share of what I call "musically! challenged" pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when hismother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. Iprefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, whichI explained to Robby.

But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear himplay the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with hispiano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopelessendeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythmneeded to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and someelementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.

Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed andtried to encourage him.. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd alwayssay, "My mom's going to hear me play someday." But it seemed hopeless.He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from adistance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pickhim up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.

Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons.

I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack ofability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was gladthat he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!

Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flyer on theupcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked meif he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was forcurrent pupils and because he had dropped out he really did notqualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take himto piano lessons but he was still practicing. "Miss Hondorf . I'vejust got to play!" he insisted.

I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe itwas his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying thatit would be all right.. The night for the recital came. The highschool gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I putRobby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all thestudents and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage hewould do would come at the end of the program and I could alwayssalvage his poor performance through my "curtain closer."

Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had beenpracticing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clotheswere wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater throughit. "Why didn't he dress up like the other students?" I thought. "Whydidn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this specialnight?"

Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when heannounced that he had chosen Mozart's Concerto #21 in C Major. I wasnot prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on thekeys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimoto fortissimo. From allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were Magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played sowell by people his age. After six and a half minutes he ended in agrand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause.

Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robbyin joy. "I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it? "

Through the microphone Robby explained: "Well Miss Hondorf remember Itold you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passedaway this morning. And well . . . she was born deaf so tonight was thefirst time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special."

There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people fromSocial Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into fostercare, noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought tomyself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.

No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy. . . of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil For it is he thattaught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing inyourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't knowwhy.

Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. MurrahFederal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995. And now, afootnote to the story.

If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probablythinking about which people on your address list aren't the"appropriate" ones to receive this type of message. The person whosent this to you believes that we can all make a difference. So manyseemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with achoice: Do we act with compassion or do we pass up that opportunity

and leave the world a bit colder in the process?

Work Mood Change

2009-11-11T09:39:00.005-08:00

THIS IS YOUR STATE WHEN U COME TO WORK...........

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday & Sunday

7 Amazing Holes in the Earth

2009-11-11T09:39:00.001-08:00

7 Amazing Holes in the Earth

1. Sinkhole in Guatemala

2. Glory Hole - Monticello Dam, California

3. Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah

4. Great Blue Hole , Belize

5. Mirny Diamond Mine , Serbia

6. Diavik Mine, Canada

7. Kimberley Big Hole - South Africa

Saint Petersburg

2009-11-11T09:38:00.011-08:00

Saint Petersburg

Extraordinary Images

2009-11-11T09:38:00.007-08:00

Extraordinary Images

New Kind of Aquariams

2009-11-11T09:37:00.005-08:00

New Kind Of Aquariums

Hotel Burj Al Arab

2009-11-11T09:37:00.001-08:00

Hotel Burj Al Arab

Watercube National Aquatics Center, China

2009-11-11T09:36:00.005-08:00

Watercube National Aquatics Center, China

Watercube

National Aquatics Center

Beijing, China

The Watercube associates water as a structural and conceptual "leitmotiv" with the square, the primal shape of the house in Chinese tradition and mythology.

Architect Chris Bosse has sent us a series of photos of the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing - better known as Watercube - which officially opened on Monday 28th January 2008.

The centre, which will host the swimming and diving competitions at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in August, hosted its first event, the Good Luck Beijing 2008 Swimming China Open, on February 4th.

The structure of the WATERCUBE is based on a unique lightweight construction, developed by China State Construction Design International (CCDI), PTW Architects, and ARUP, and derived from the structure of water bubbles in the state of aggregation found in foam.

Behind the totally random appearance hides a strict geometry that can be found in natural systems like crystals, cells and molecular structures - the most efficient subdivision of three-dimensional space with equally sized cells.

The transparency and apparent randomness is equally transposed into the inner and outer building-skins, made of inflated ETFE cushions.

The reason for different coulours is The reflection of light changes the color; outside it reflects the sky and the outer layer is slightly tinted in blue, Inside the white prevails, the sun coming through highlights the ETFE and the structure.

Unlike traditional stadium structures with gigantic columns & beams, cables & spans, to which a facade system is applied, the architectural space, structure and facade of the Watercube are one and the same element. 90% of the solar energy falling on the building is trapped within the highly efficient structural zone and is used to heat the pools and the interior area.

Rainwater from the roof is reused, recycled and redistributed alongside efficient pool filtration and backwash systems.

The design uses state-of-the-art technology and materials to create a visually striking, energy-efficient, and ecologically friendly building. Conceptually the square box and the interior spaces are carved out of an unconfined cluster of foam bubbles, symbolizing a condition of nature that is transformed into a condition of culture.

Together with the main stadium by Herzog & de Meuron, a duality between fire and water, Yin and Yang, is being created with all its associated tensions and attractions.

The Project was recently recognized at the Venice Architecture Biennale for "demonstrating in a stunning way, how the deliberate morphing of molecular science, architecture and phenomenology can create an airy and misty atmosphere for a personal experience of water leisure."

Impossible In The Bottle

2009-11-11T09:36:00.001-08:00

Impossible In The Bottle

Success Road

2009-11-11T09:35:00.005-08:00

Beautiful Macro Images

2009-11-11T09:35:00.003-08:00

Beautiful Macro Images

Ice Sculptures

2009-11-11T09:35:00.001-08:00

Ice Sculptures

Foldable Bike

2009-11-11T09:34:00.007-08:00

Foldable Bike

The latest, the Strida 5.0, is now available in the US bringing with it a new hybrid commute sensibility that is rolling in praise. More than just a utilitarian part of greener transport, this bike is an exercise in cool.

Mysterious Nature

2009-11-11T09:34:00.005-08:00

Mysterious Nature

Back When I Was A Kid

2009-11-11T09:34:00.003-08:00

Back When I Was A Kid...

Back When I Was A Kid... by Mac Bledsoe

We must eliminate from our minds a few phrases when we are making decisions about how we will be raising our kids. They are the sayings like: 'When I was a kid...' and 'If I had done that when I was a kid, my dad would have...' or 'Back when we were in school they used to...'

Now, this may sound odd to you coming on the heels of our last article where we took the stand that as a nation, we need to 'recapture the sound of our kids among us just like we used to up at old Fairview Hall.' There is an important distinction here. As parents we must never allow ourselves to fall into the trap of using 'because it was done before,' or 'it has always been that way,' or 'that was the way my parents did it,' as the sole justification for our actions with our kids. It is imperative that we have a sound behavioral, moral, spiritual, ethical, or legal justifications for the actions we are teaching to or demanding of our children. We must be able to explain to our kids in a very logical way, why we are asking them to behave in a particular manner. In essence, we must not only decide: 1) WHAT it is that we want our kids to do but we must also decide, 2) WHY we want them to do it! 'Because it was done to me,' is never a good enough reason to repeat it with our children.

There have been a ton of mistakes made in the past and we are doomed to repeat them if we are not careful to think long and hard about the justification for duplicating those actions with our kids. Following are a couple examples to demonstrate what we are talking about.

Two historical events demonstrate the obvious problems with doing what has always been done before. Slavery was common in early America. We certainly would not advocate the continuation of that practice today simply because it was done before. Neither would we teach our children that women should

be second-class citizens in the United States even though they were not even legally recognized under the Constitution until the 19th Amendment was adopted in the early 20th century. Simply saying that women should not vote only because they never had in the past was a ludicrous idea.

Likewise, it is foolish for us to tell our children that they should wear certain types of clothing simply because that has been an appropriate style in the past. The same goes for hairstyles and many other standards and customs for behavior. Let's look at establishing dress codes for kids.

We are not proposing abandoning all standards of dress for young people but rather, we are saying that we ought to make the standards logical and explainable in a reasoned sort of way and not just on the 'If I had dressed that way my Dad would have killed me,' sort of an explanation.

We can have dress codes... but why do we have them is the critical question. Nobody, in their right mind would say that we scrap any sense of awareness of how our kids dress themselves. However, dressing in a certain way because a previous generation did is rather silly to impose upon our kids (unless, of course, we would like to go back and begin dressing like our forefathers who wrote that Constitution did, simply because 'that's the way they used to do it in this country.') Hey, let's get a few pictures of ourselves as teens and we can readily see that even we had some rather strange ways of dressing by today's standards.

The issue is 'why?' Why are we asking our kids to dress in certain ways?

Here is a possible discussion:

'But Dad, why can't I dye my hair blue (wear spandex shorts to church, wear this provocative Jennifer Lopez top, use four letter words at the mall like the other kids, etc.)?'

'Well, my child, you probably could do that and in a perfect world it really wouldn't matter. But, we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a world that has a few flaws: one of them being that most people in this world make a ton of snap judgments based upon some rather narrow preconceived ideas. It is a fact that most of the people you meet will not be able to see beyond the blue hair (or loud dress, etc.) to get to know you. Many of those same people are in a position to control the circumstances of your life or pass judgments about you that have a huge impact upon your life. For the same reason that it would be a bad idea to wear a ball cap to a funeral, it is a bad idea to dye your hair blue... most people would interpret it wrongly. A ball cap at a funeral would be viewed by most as being extremely disrespectful of the person being honored by the funeral. Blue hair would likewise be interpreted by most people as a sign of disrespect for others.'

'But dad, that's just the point, I'm trying to show my individuality. I don't want to just be like everyone else.'

'Great son, I am all in favor of you being a one-of-a-kind individual, but anyone can dye their hair. Why not distinguish yourself by being truly excellent at something? Or why not try to undo some terrible wrong done by society? Why not distinguish yourself by making the world a better place? I'd love to help you. What is the cause that you would like to choose? If the only way that you can come up with to make yourself different is dying your hair, I would be disappointed in you because you are such a unique person with so much to offer.'

Let us, as parents, become their teachers and give them some good solid reasons to choose to adjust their behavior in positive and productive ways simply because it makes sense to them.

Mac Bledsoe, founder and President of Parenting With Dignity?, lectures to parents organizations, youth groups, in schools and churches across America. Mr. Bledsoe and PWD have been featured on the TODAY Show, ABC's 20/20 show, and on numerous national and local radio and television programs. Visit PWD at: http://www.parentingwithdignity.com/

U.S. Economy Hidden Dangers

2009-11-11T09:33:00.005-08:00

U.S. Economy Hidden Dangers

Obama President of the United States gained popularity the past two days. Somali pirates inadvertently doing him a favor, the success of the rescue of the captain of the change in the Obama "tough enough" image. Might be like to take this east, perhaps in order to govern the upcoming "Days" coded, Obama again stressed on the 14th in a few days ago he said a word "dawn", he thought the U.S. economy is full of hope.

Not by the fact that people do not doubt. Obama said, "Dawn" on the grounds that a real estate, in which "the search for real estate mortgage refinancing people began to increase." Obama seems to have forgotten that the spreading global financial crisis is the root of the sub-loan crisis in the United States, that is, lending to actually buy a house does not have the strength, and the relevant bodies and then packaged these loans into financial derivatives, so that other institutions around the world to "carry" from one of the risk. With U.S. interest rates, loss of ability to repay more and more people, as the first domino tiles fell, triggering a series of knock-on effect.

U.S. real estate and sub-loan interest rates from the beginning of the crisis, but will not stop interest rate adjustments. At this point use the "mortgage refinancing" is a matter of exposure is the U.S. government and financial institutions did not reflect on the past model, however, lie in a "live for today" means the drink thirst Hatoyama. Perhaps the financial services industry with a number of financial buyers fault chain can be continued, but the future is still difficult to avoid a similar crisis.

Single data also need to observe. For example, in February the United States, Central, second-hand housing turnover increased by 5.1% than; banks with government support provided to small business loans increased by 20% the amount; 787 billion U.S. dollars economic stimulus plan is beginning to flow of funds within the framework of the nation's construction projects .

The first room on the second-hand data is very difficult to say instead of "false prosperity", as chain growth of the base last month, and the United States in July last year house prices has been downward, the overall decline too. So this month, in February alone, the volume, it does not show any problems. As the amount of growth in small business loans, of course, is good news, can prove that they are "not bad money" or "bad money", but in a grave economic situation in the development of the specific need to wait and see. As for the economic stimulus package of capital flows, the full of controversy, construction projects and the economy "back", a clear need for a longer cycle.

Obama talked about the "dawn", the spectator can also look at other data. For example, the United States in March's unemployment rate rose to 8.5 percent, a record 25-year high; the United States 10-year bond yields have declined for the third straight week, while U.S. government bonds is several times recently, the printing of U.S. dollars outside the , and then decided to issue a total of 59 billion U.S. dollars of treasury bonds; the United States deficit in March added nearly 200 billion U.S. dollars, and since October last year in October of this year's first half of fiscal year 2009, the deficit has reached nearly one trillion U.S. dollars .

Can not be denied that the United States will one day out of the current crisis, but if I do not know self-examination, self-satisfaction, the detour will still have a long way to go. From the outbreak of the crisis in the financial sector can not only solve the financial industry, manufacturing is the core of a country's competitiveness. And the United States, such as the automotive industry from the crisis has not yet "resilience", at this time to talk about "Twilight", only to play more to boost morale and attract the role of popular economic development materially assist hard.

VOIP in the Enterprise

2009-11-11T09:33:00.001-08:00

VOIP in the Enterprise

According to recent surveys of Chief Information Officers (CIOs), VOIP is top of the list as far as enterprise IT projects planned for 2006. That should be no surprise, for VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) can be a huge cost saver for most businesses. VOIP basically involves converting analog voice into binary bits, packaging it as IT packets, and routing it over the same network that carries your data. The benefits of doing this include:

Less infrastructure. With telephone traffic traveling over your data network, you only need to maintain one infrastructure (data) and not two (telephone and data), and less infrastructure means less cost in the long run.

Lower service charges. Early adopters of VOIP saw its biggest benefit in reducing or even eliminating long distance charges. While this is still a big draw for VOIP, some large telcos are seeking some kind of toll for providing Quality of Service (QoS) for piggyback IP traffic, so the magnitude of this benefit may decrease over time.

Integrated messaging. VOIP makes it easier to integrate phone, fax, and email into a single messaging system since each of these messaging formats is now carried over the same infrastructure. VOIP makes unified messaging or convergence a reality instead of merely a mantra.

New tools. VOIP also leverages the creative power of computing to telephone traffic, which means new tools and applications can be developed to do things with voice communications that couldn't be done using traditional circuit-switched phone systems. VOIP also makes telephone services more manageable for companies, and can give them greater control over how these services are deployed and maintained.

Global mobility. Wireless VOIP promises even greater benefits since the Internet is now ubiquitous everywhere, so a mobile VOIP phone that works at a hotspot in Kansas should also work in Taipei, Glasgow, or Sydney just as easily once this new technology has proliferated. In fact, wireless VOIP may even displace 3G as a global mobile communication standard, though we'll have to wait and see how the market shakes out on this.

Protocols

VOIP is still an evolving technology and there are several protocols that support it. These standards include:

H.323 and T120. These are the earliest VOIP standards and were developed by the ITU. The protocols are complicated and have high overhead, but many VOIP vendors support them. H.323 is basically a gateway protocol used to enable backbone networks carring VOIP traffic, but the family of associated protocols also specify an end-to-end VOIP and multimedia conferencing architecture

Megaco/H.248. This standard represents a joint effort of the ITU and IETF, and defines the operation of media gateway controllers and media gateways, which are conceptual elements of many VOIP systems. The standard also replaces the earlier MGCP standard and supports peer-to-peer communications in addition to centralized communication systems.

SIP. Session Initiation Protocol is defined in RFC 2543 and is a lightweight VOIP protocol that has gained in popularity recently. SIP was designed to help overcome some of the incompatibility issues that have prevented VOIP systems from different vendors from interoperating properly with each other. SIP is basically a signaling protocol for call setup and teardown, and does this using ASCII messages similar to how SMTP, HTTP, and other TCP/IP application layer protocols work. SIP doesn't completely replace H.323 however but it does sidestep some of the mechanisms of that standard, and the result is that while H.323 is seen as the established top dog in the VOIP world, many vendors see SIP as the way of the future and are aggressively promoting products that support SIP in their VOIP offerings.

Technologies

The number of different types of VOIP technologies is huge, and the reason for this has to do with three things: different protocols and standards, different vendor approaches, and different customer needs. Let's take the third issue first since it's most important, that is, you should only adopt the technology your business actually needs. Are you a small business that just wants to save on long distance costs? Using a VOIP service provider like Vonage would probably be your best approach, but crunch the numbers first before you buy. Or you can go out and buy a VOIP phone you can plug into your DSL router, or an analog terminal adapter (ATA) that connects your legacy phone with your router. Cheap and simple, and easy to maintain.

Or does your company just want to reduce long distance charges between headquarters and a remote branch office? In that case, setting up a VOIP gateway at each site is one way of doing this, while replacing your PBXs with IP PBXs is another if the telcos for your offices already have service provider VOIP gateways you can directly connect your IP PBXs to. And with the IP PBX approach you have two more choices: either leave your traditional phones and phone lines installed, or replace your phones with IP phones that plug into LAN drops around your office to get the greatest VOIP benefits for workers. And if you don't want to purchase or lease an IP PBX and maintain it, you can opt for an IP Centrex, which is basically an outsourced IP PBX service offered by some VOIP providers. Or if you're a large enterprise with high-end routers on your backbone, you can upgrade these routers with cards providing VOIP gateway and gatekeeper functions, replace your legacy phones with IP units, and have it all.

Solutions

There are as many VOIP vendors out there nowadays as there are stars in the sky, and while you may be able to get significant savings by going with a startup vendor that offers the latest innovations, large enterprises may want to take a more conservative approach and go with Cisco, still probably the dominant vendor in the high-end VOIP arena. Cisco offers different types of VOIP solutions for the needs of different businesses and according to the size of your business. A good place to start if you want to research these solutions is this page, which describes the different solutions and how they are implemented. If you want to go with other VOIP vendors, that's fine but make sure you do your due diligence concerning their offerings, history, and customer base-the last thing you probably want to do is implement a solution from a vendor that is here today and gone tomorrow.

Microsoft and VOIP

Which brings me to Microsoft. Why doesn't Microsoft have a VOIP offering for its customers? After all, they already own the desktop and have a significant share of the server market. The simplest explanation to their absence in VOIP offerings is that while they own the nodes (servers and workstations) they don't own the network (cabling, switches, routers, and wireless access points). Other vendors own the "pipe" and Microsoft products have traditionally been consumers of the pipe, not pipe itself.

But that may be changing. The first shot in this impending Battle of VOIP was fired when Microsoft announced a joint venture with Qwest to provide converged communications services using Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP services, a new offering we don't know much about yet, together with Qwest's OneFlex VOIP services. What we do know at this point is that Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services will be designed to enable telecommunication carriers to offer integrated voice, e-mail, instant messaging, presence and collaboration capabilities to their customers-particularly to customers using Microsoft server products like Live Communication Server 2005 and desktop products like Microsoft Office. In other words, it seems (and would be logical) for Microsoft's VOIP offerings to target not just the ability to enable telcos to provide new VOIP services but to base access to these services upon existing Microsoft products like Office. What that will exactly mean, and how long it will take until working prototypes are available is yet to be seen, but one thing we know about Microsoft is that once they eventually get rolling they can gain a lot of momentum in a market segment.

Conclusion

As I said at the beginning of this article, VOIP is on everyone's mind these days, from the home user who wants to save on long distance costs to the large enterprise that wants to leverage the benefits of unified messaging and new collaborative technologies. VOIP is and will be a hot topic for the next few years as new technologies are developed, so it's worth investing time and effort learning all you can about this technology, starting with this article as a launching point.

The Chronicles Of Narnia By: C.S. Lewis

2009-11-11T09:32:00.001-08:00

The Chronicles Of Narnia By: C.S. Lewis

Character Analysis

Peter Pevensie : The eldest of the Pevensie children; At first, Peter is unsure about his sister Lucy's declaration that the wardrobe is a doorway into Narnia. However, he soon finds out that the magical land does indeed, exist. He is looked upon as a hero for his part in the overthrow of the White Witch.
Finally, he is crowned as High King of Narnia, and becomes known as King Peter the Magnificent.

Susan Pevensie : The second oldest of the Pevensie children; She does not believe in Narnia until she actually comes to find that the magical land is real. Later, she is crowned High Queen, and becomes known as Queen Susan the Gentle.

Edmund Pevensie : The third oldest of the Pevensie children; In Narnia, he meets the White Witch who continuously feeds him with treats [Turkish Delight] and smooth talk. As he is tempted by the White Witch's promise of power and large supply of Turkish Delight, Edmund betrays his siblings, but eventually regrets his actions. After he helps Aslan and the good citizens of Narnia defeat the White Witch, he is crowned King of Narnia with his brother and later becomes known as King Edmund the Just.

Lucy Pevensie : The youngest Pevensie child; She is the first of the siblings to discover the land of Narnia when she slips through the magical wardrobe in the professor's house. When Lucy tells her siblings, Peter and Susan refuse to believe her and are convinced that she is just playing a kiddy game, while Edmund repeatedly encourages and teases her about it. After the restoration of Narnia, Lucy is crowned Queen with her sister Susan, and becomes known as Queen Lucy the Valiant.

Queen Of Narnia "White Witch" : Previously the Emperor's hangman, she proclaims herself queen and through her magic rules with an iron fist. Her spell on Narnia makes it always winter, but never Christmas. When provoked, she uses her wand to turn opponents into stone figures. However, she fears the fulfillment that "two sons of Adam" and "two daughters of Eve" will come to Narnia and help Aslan to overthrow her. However, at the climax of the story, the White Witch battles Aslan, his army, and the children - supported by the evil creatures of the forest ; she is then killed by Aslan himself. The White Witch represents greed, in addition to the power of evil.

Mr. Tumnus : A faun ; remembered as the first person that Lucy meets in Narnia.Tumnus befriends her, despite the White Witch's order to kidnap any human who enters Narnia. After getting to know Lucy, he changes his mind about handing her over to the witch. However, he is betrayed accidentally by Edmund, who tells the White Witch, before he knew who she was, that Lucy had met a faun. Tumnus is eventually arrested and turned into stone. Later, he is restored by Aslan and becomes a close friend of the Pevensies.

Aslan : King of the Beasts, he rules the land of Narnia ; and the White Witch is frightened of his power. The animals of the forest all know who he is, though not all of them know him personally. Aslan is just, and forgiving as is shown by his actions following Edmund's betrayal. In addition, he provides the children with an alternative to the education that they receive in their schools. Fashioned as a Christ-like figure, he later dies in Edmund's place, with the faith that he will come back to life. He knows that he will return to life because of the deep magic from before the dawn of time, but remains to fear the physical pain that he must endure. In the end, Aslan triumphs over the White Witch.

Mr. Beaver : The four siblings are lead to Mr. Beaver, who shows them the handkerchief that Lucy gave to Mr. Tumnus as a sign of friendship. He tells the children to be quiet, and leads them to his home. While they later share a meal provided by Mrs. Beaver, Mr. Beaver explains to the children that they are about to meet Aslan. He then provides them with important information about Aslan and the White Witch. Without Mr. Beaver's help, the children would never have reached the Stone Table and finally met Aslan.

Setting Of the Novel

Occurring in England, a country in Europe, the story takes place during and after World War II was in progress. The four children - Edmund, Lucy, Peter and Susan are sent away to the English countryside by their mother because of German plane bombings. The children arrive at an old professors mansion, in which they open a door into a total new world called Narnia. In this mysterious land, the main characters come across Mr. Tumnus' house ; a small cave like home with a cozy fireplace and minimal furniture. On the other hand, the Queen of Narnia's castle is filled with stone creatures located by the enterence way - the castle isnt very inviting, and its temperature is at freezing level. The overall main setting of the story, Narnia, is a snow covered land of wonder and enchantment filled with strange creatures that talk and act like humans.

Plot Of the Story

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe is the second of the many books published in the Narnia series written by C.S. Lewis. When the Pevensie family are suddenly forced to evacuate out of their home and country, they are startled by the idea of not knowing what to expect in their new home. Main characters Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are departed from London to the house of an eccentric professor during World War II. During a game of hide and seek, the youngest daughter, Lucy discovers a wardrobe in an empty room, frantic for a hiding spot she finds, and climbs into while being transported to the land of Narnia.
Covered in snow, Narnia is full of weird and wonderful creatures, but is watched over by the evil White Witch, also known as the "Queen of Narnia" ; who looks to danger children of the human kind. It is winter all year around in Narnia, but never Christmas ; due to a curse that the white witch put on all of Narnia territory. When all four siblings end up discovering Narnia, they come to a similar conclusion that the discovery was meant to be. As the journey continued, several friendships were established with creatures such as Mr. Tumnus, who was later held captive by the Queen of Narnia for not informing the Queen about the present humans in the white wonderland, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Beaver who molded the childrens path to defeating the Queen. As two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam, the children united with the mighty lion, Aslan, to finally defeat the evil White Witch. Once the Witch is defeated, the snow melts and the land of Narnia becomes joyful once again ; and for thefirst time, Spring begins.

Biography Of C.S Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis ; known to his friends and family as "Jack" or "C.S.
Lewis" is one of the most influential writers on Christian faith of the twentieth century. He wrote over 70 books, including science fiction, fantasy, poetry, letters, autobiography and Christian apologetics.

Born in Belfast in 1898, Lewis was educated at home and at boarding schools in Britain. After his mother died when he was almost ten, he grew closer to his older brother Warren.

Lewis studied English and philosophy at Oxford and served in the military. He became a professor at Oxford's Magdalen college for much of his life. As a member of the Oxford faculty, Lewis developed a large reputation as an imaginative writer of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction works on Christian faith.

Photo Digest

2009-11-11T09:31:00.001-08:00

Photo Digest

Same old, same old...

Kuba

with his arms around your love ;)

with his arms around your love

oh no, here comes the pain that you can't ignore

with his arms around your girl

he'll do all of the things you didn't do before

you had every chance, but you closed the door..

Lyric Project #1

"Someday, somehow, gonna make it alright but not right now..."

I feel like I've left things uncompleted and I need to mend those frazzled ends.

(Originally for Lyric Project Week #2, for the group created by Brianne)

tal vez todo lo malo sea cobrado,

después de la muerte,

ya no me importa.!

ando muy triste!

A Tribute To Jimi

It was a beautiful day when I visited the gravesite of the late, great rock legend Jimi Hendrix. It's amazing because not only is it a stunning structure adorned with marble artwork and lyrics, but it's also always visited by fans who leave guitar picks, flowers, matchbooks, notes, and other things. You have to see it to believe it, so I captured it the best I could.

Patrick Stump

Believers Never Die Part Deux Tour @ The Event Center arena San Jose 4-7-09

Day 210; To honour all of those that have been silenced.

Day 210 of my 'Project 365'. :)

Today, as many of you may know, was the 'National Day of Silence', where the LGBT community (and some of its supporters as well) take a vow of silence the entire day in order to represent those that have been 'silenced' for being gay, lesbian, or transgender.

I didn't do the day this year because I forgot about it until halfway through my second period class this morning (by which time I had already spoken a bunch - D'OH.) but I fully support the cause.

Love is love is love is love is love is love.

And that's all I've got to say.

This Sign Does Not Exist

National Domestic Violence/Child Abuse/Sexual Abuse: 1-800-799-7233

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

He fell asleep in this position about 3 seconds after I took this photo.

Double Exposure

Created on T-Max 400 film. This was completely an accident, but I kinda like the result!

Pouring with rain

I walked today in the rain from the main port of Fishguard along the cliffs to Lower Fishguard. This was the setting used making the film of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood. All the houses along the Quay had false fronts built onto them and there was great excitement locally to have Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole and Elizabeth Taylor staying in the area.

It was pouring today and I got some rain on the lens so there are some fuzzy bits!

How dare you try to answer that phone!

Bossy bunny is bossy. Also, he looks like he only has a nose and a mouth. Yeah, he's a little odd. And moody.

shes a tired pooch.

my childhood in one picture

I was upset about something, so I rode back and forth all day with this box on my head refusing to talk to them.

Central Park

Bay Bridge San Francisco -Photo like a painting

Photo like a painting. Bleak night photo on a point n' shoot camera changed into a photo-like-a painting with Photoshop magic!

Nerdcore

I bought myself a life!

And temporary invincibility!

And I have no idea what the mushroom with the stars does because I never played Mario games after the SNES died! Someone wanna tell me wtf it does?(I'm looking at you Ceph)

Brendon Urie Gives Me Wings

My first Red Bull. I don't know if it's working yet or maybe I'm just spazzing out but I think I likeeeee itt. I'm trying to type fast but my lack of typing skills makes it hard. I think it's working. Red Bull tates weird... but I like it cuz Brendon likes it. Happy Birthday Brendon. He he he. LOL. I shaking. I can feel my eyes getting bigger. LMAO. Now I see why Brendon always acts funny.

I'm getting dizzy @.@

Took this shot in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

I really don't know the proper name of this thing in English.. but i can tell you it was a bridge that crossed a giant pipe that was "turning" (?)..

Anyway, i like this shot. Hope you do too :)

Come At You Like A Buzzard!

Cake!

FACT: The other day someone asked me how old I'd be on my birthday and I actually had to do the math in my head.

So either I'm still too young to care about my age or I'm already losing my mind. Perhaps a little of both.

Thank you all so much for the happy birthday wishes!

You put a smile on my face and in my heart.

Photo Assignment #38 Is This The Real Life?

I was living a fantasy, thinking it was real life!

Citizen Erased

is pretty much the greatest Muse song of all time. It has everything.

(Actually, it''s a very close tie with Hysteria)

Which is real?

Which is a mask?

lil easter egg hunt

Here comes the sun.

Fever

Really amazing yellow building in Prague:)

Photography

Photography & Color

Andi, Erica, Jenny, Nikki, and I went to the Dells overnight yesterday and today so I have tons of pictures to post from that. This is the first of many, I'm sure.

here is another water picture

i printed this really big and framed it and now it's hanging in my room. it's my favorite photo i took the other day.

I Barely Have the Motivation

Is This The Real Life?

Well...

Is it?

Week 77

Lonely Man On BART

I was waiting for my train,

And on the platform across I saw this.

I thought it was sad,

So I took a picture.

Gold Archive : Almost Everything

Beware of Two-Way Mirrors in Trial Rooms

A Wish

Bluetooth Computing

Mexico Swine Flu

Dubai Airport Terminal

A Date with a Woman

Robby - A Beautiful True Story

Work Mood Change

7 Amazing Holes in the Earth

7 Amazing Holes in the Earth

Saint Petersburg

Extraordinary Images

New Kind of Aquariams

New Kind Of Aquariums

Hotel Burj Al Arab

Watercube National Aquatics Center, China

Impossible In The Bottle

Impossible In The Bottle

Success Road

Beautiful Macro Images

Ice Sculptures

Ice Sculptures

Foldable Bike

Foldable Bike

Mysterious Nature

Mysterious Nature

Back When I Was A Kid

Back When I Was A Kid... Back When I Was A Kid... by Mac Bledsoe

U.S. Economy Hidden Dangers

U.S. Economy Hidden Dangers

VOIP in the Enterprise

VOIP in the Enterprise

Protocols

Technologies

Solutions

Microsoft and VOIP

Conclusion

The Chronicles Of Narnia By: C.S. Lewis

Photo Digest

Same old, same old...

Kuba

with his arms around your love ;)

Lyric Project #1

A Tribute To Jimi

Patrick Stump

Day 210; To honour all of those that have been silenced.

This Sign Does Not Exist

Double Exposure

Pouring with rain

How dare you try to answer that phone!

my childhood in one picture

Central Park

Bay Bridge San Francisco -Photo like a painting

Nerdcore

Brendon Urie Gives Me Wings

I'm getting dizzy @.@

Come At You Like A Buzzard!

Cake!

Photo Assignment #38 Is This The Real Life?

Citizen Erased

Which is real?

lil easter egg hunt

Here comes the sun.

Fever

Photography

here is another water picture

I Barely Have the Motivation

Is This The Real Life?

Week 77

Lonely Man On BART

Went the strings of my heart

Doris

Back When I Was A Kid...

Back When I Was A Kid... by Mac Bledsoe