Gurada

Not everyone in the world has sufficient internet access capability to take advantage of the benefits from VoIP. Shoot….most folks are lucky to have 1 phone line for that matter. This dose of reality kinda puts the dampers on the “VoIP will take over the world” conspiracy theory.

But hold on there Junior….the little guy may just have found a hero.

Mail2speak, a US-based company, is offering users cut-throat rates to place international calls. But wait until you learn how they do it….read on.

For example……

* You can call the US and UK from South Africa for R1.35 a minute. Telkom charges between double and triple the price for these calls. Calls to Australia from SA are also about 50% cheaper.

* You can call anywhere in the United States and most of Europe from Malaysia for just 45 sen per minute compared to 98 sen per minute at present charged by a local company using land lines. For mobile phones, the calls will be 68 sen per minute as opposed to 98 sen. A call to China costs 50 sen per minute on a fixed line compared to 1.98 RM by fixed line charged by a local company.

* You can call anywhere in the United States and much of Europe from Brazil for around 0.33 BRL.

* You can call Japan from Italy for 0.11 EUR……the US for 0.08 EUR.

* You can call India from UAE for 2.63 AED…….the UK for 1.74 AED.

Those are just a small sample of what is available.

How?

What makes the service unique is that unlike other Internet telephony applications, mail2speak does not require a microphone, a software download or a dedicated broadband connection with special equipment. All that is required to use the service is access to the website and an open phone line or cellphone to receive a call. You can place an international call from any phone or mobile/PDA at super low rates.

The process is simple. Just visit mail2speak and fill out a few registration details. After that enter the overseas number you wish to call and within seconds your phone will ring. The call will have been placed for you and you can talk to your loved ones….or business contacts…. at a ridiculously low rate.

The service is available to and from 280 countries around the world. Your relatives and business contacts overseas can also use this service to contact you and pay in their local currency.

If, as in many international homes with Internet connections, there is only one phone line available, Mail2speak will automatically call you again in one minute to give you time to end the Internet connection and receive the call. They do this because calls to cellphones cost more in some countries.

For business people who make frequent international calls, mail2speak is especially convenient because it allows you to store the numbers that are called and simply click on them to be connected automatically.

** In addition, if you do not need to have a two-way chat there is another great service that is offered.

You can use your telephone to leave a message for as many overseas friends as you want for just 63 cents a minute. This message will be e-mailed as an Internet sound file (voice email).

All in all….pretty cool solution for the average Joe around the globe. VoIP technology for the little guy. Gotta love it.

Monitoring temperature is a critical element in many different segments of industry and business today. There are several means of measuring temperature, each of which has its own pluses and minuses. In the past you had to use a manual method, where an employee used a thermometer to determine temperature and a piece of paper and a pencil to record. This was time consuming, expensive and of questionable accuracy.

When chart recorders were invented it was used for monitoring temperature twenty-four hours a day. However it still required an employee to change the chart every day or week and because it was mechanical it often broke down requiring even more maintenance.

The Data logger appeared in the late 80s. They were not mechanical, which eliminated the ongoing maintenance and made monitoring temperature easier and less expensive. They recorded temperature in RAM memory and could do their work unattended. They were also rugged so they would be put in places that were inhospitable to humans.

Many businesses began using the data logger for monitoring temperature. This worked fairly well as long as the temperature they were monitoring didn’t change frequently or require a response to certain events. The big drawback to the data logger is that the temperature can’t be seen until it is downloaded into a computer. The data logger hasn’t, until recently, come with a display.

There is now a new type of data logger available which does have a display. This class of instrument, called data viewers collects and stores temperature history, just like a data logger, but it also displays the temperature on an LCD display. This improves the utility of the device immensely. The most useful and low-cost data viewer is the ThermaViewer, manufactured by Two Dimensional Instruments, LLC.

This very useful instrument can be installed in minutes and easily used by every employee. It doesn’t require an IT professional to set up or interpret. Once in place, it draws a chart on the large LCD display that is very easy to read. It is being used in laboratories and hospitals for measuring temperature of refrigerators and freezers where drugs and vaccines are stored. It is definitely easy enough for nurses, orderlies, and maintenance personnel to use.

The digital camera market today offers buyers a large number of choices, with products in widely differing price ranges, sizes and degree of operational complexity. From miniatures the size of a credit card, to fully functional professional SLR (Single Lens reflex) systems, you can buy a digital camera from manufacturers including traditional camera brands such as Canon, Pentax, Nikon, film companies such as Kodak and Fuji, and consumer electronic companies like Sony. Then there are other options that include the mobile phone manufacturers, and webcam suppliers.

The advantages of digital photography are numerous. Topmost is the fact that there is no film processing: expensive both in cost and time. But there is also the advantage of smaller sized equipment, portable media and instant picture viewing. And if you don’t like what you see, you simply delete it and shoot again: no wastage.

If you like to take pictures, being a digital photographer makes a lot of sense. But which camera is the best one for you? In a field of excess abundance, how do you narrow down what you need? How much to pay? How many megapixels? (What are they anyway?) Which brand? How much memory?

Every shopper is different.

At MyShopping.com.au we recognise this fact, and so we list practically all brands and models from hundreds of suppliers. These listings include the cold hard digital data facts about each camera and a range of comparative pricings offered by different suppliers. But just as every shopper is different, every photographer is different too. And just having the facts may not make you feel any more knowledgeable about which camera is right for you.

You could begin with the question: What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera? This is a valid starting point because from here you can begin to qualify your requirements in terms of technical capability and price. What sort of pictures will you take with your new digita l camera? Is it simply for happy snaps whenever you get together with friends and family at weekends and holidays? Or are you a serious bird watcher and you want to capture nature at its finest? Perhaps you want a camera for work to record your inventory, or recording information from a client. Maybe you’re a PI on a mission. The point is, you need to begin by recognising that your reason for buying a digital camera may not be the same as that of your best friend who is recommending the model she bought.

Once you’ve figured out the sort of pictures you are going to take, you can then set about deciding on the type of camera that will meet your needs. If you need something highly portable that fits in your shirt pocket or your handbag and lets you take it anywhere you go, make size a big consideration. If you want to take seriously good photographs, and you want to pursue an artistic endeavour, make image flexibility your main concern.

It might also be worthwhile considering your own position in the digital photography experience. Are you a novice about to buy your first camera, do you have some intermediate experience, or are you an advanced user?

Someone new to the market will likely not want to spend a lot of money, nor have a lot of mind-boggling features that leave you confused. There are cameras ideal for beginning users that have basic ‘point and shoot’ features including optical and digital zoom lens, flexible storage media and built in flash. There is a huge range of cameras available with simple features at low cost.

If you consider yourself an intermediate user with some operational knowledge of digital camera technology, you may want to consider more advanced features that give you more control over the pictures you take. These features usually come in a range of automatic settings and manual settings for capturing the image and different storage options in terms of resolution and picture type (raw data, jpeg, tiff). Naturally there is some cost attached to additional features when compared to more basic cameras.

For advanced users, there are a lot of professional options you can consider; such as SLR view finding and lens interchange ability. Cameras in this range provide much greater control over the image, both before and once it is captured. These options include shutter speed and aperture adjustment, and many cameras offer the ability to manipulate images ‘in camera’, such as cropping, and brightness and contrast adjustments.

After the picture is taken

A further main consideration is what are you going to do with your images once you have them? The great beauty of digital photography is the simple fact that you can store them on digital media such as CDs and media cards, and view them on computer screens and in many cases, your television. You need print only when and those you want to see, or show to others. Digital photography also gives fantastic opportunities to manipulate your images using popular image manipulation programs, resizing them, altering brightness and contrast characteristics, and correcting problems such as red eye, or removing skin blemishes.

Most digita l cameras are computer ready, able to plug directly into your PC or Mac using USB connectors. They usually include proprietary software allowing you to easily and instantly manage your image files in photo albums or slide shows. Many digital cameras also include a video capture facility enabling you to take short motion pictures.

What you want to do with your images after you have them can have an impact on your choice of camera. If you want to make enlarged prints for example, you will want a high megapixel capacity (also talked about as ‘resolution’). If you want images for website use, you will want to get the best quality images that can be reduced in resolution without severe degradation.

Beauty is in the ‘I’

Great pictures usually come from great conditions. You capture a great moment, the light is just right, the subject is at the perfect distance, the image is perfectly framed. But not every digital camera offers the flexibility to make the best of existing light conditions, or position. Most digital cameras (certainly at the budget end) come with a built in automatic flash, which is terrific for happy snaps in darkened environments. And the automatic flash automatically does not ‘go off’ in bright sunny conditions. But in those times when you want to use the existing light, you need a camera that gives you manual control over the operation or not, of the flash.

Moreover, most digital cameras in the lower and medium price ranges are highly automated. If you are moving from a traditional SLR film camera where you have maximum control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO speeds, it may be frustrating to not have easy access to the same range of tools to take advantage of existing light conditions.

In the more advanced (and therefore more expensive) range of digital cameras, most lens and aperture functions are available in exactly the same way as other SLR systems. What differs is how the colours and light of the image is translated through pixel capture compared to the chemical processing systems.

You may want a wide range of focus options. Most digita l cameras have two different types of image magnification, lens magnification (zoom) that may be equivalent of a 35mm to 150 mm lens, and a digital magnification that may be to ten-fold (expressed as x10). This provides you with zoom lens capability, which may be limited in its depth of field control and is subject to soft focus and movement if the conditions aren’t just right, and a digital magnification of the pixel image. If being able to capture magnified distant images is important to you, you need more megapixels, and a lens system that gives you some control over its focus and aperture management.

A final word on accessory

Digita l cameras are electronic equipment. That means they run on batteries, and if you use your camera a lot, you will find that you will be frequently replacing batteries. Some cameras have rechargeable batteries; others simply use dry cells (AA), which you can of course load with rechargeable ones. It pays to have spare batteries so that you always have a charged power source. Some cameras have docking stations to help manage the connection with computers. Many digital SLR cameras have interchangeable lens systems, some of which may be compatible with traditional film SLRs.

You can also print your own pictures at home with special printers that handle standard photograph paper, and connect directly to your camera. Although it may be less expensive to simply take your camera’s card, or a CD to your local camera store, and now many supermarkets and department stores, and use the automatic printing machines to print the images you want.

There is a lot you can do with a digital camera, and you can pay les than $200, or more than $10,000. It all depends on how you see yourself as a photographer, what you’re shooting, and what you want to do with your pictures. At Myshopping.com.au you can very quickly compare specifications and prices.

During the speach, Dr. Reg McDaniel talked about first seeing new stem cells in the peripheral blood of clients using glyconutrients many years ago and not recognizing these cells as stem cells. They were 10 times the size of white blood cells and they were given the name “Gee” cells for some time as that’s what Dr. Reg said when he observed these new cells that no one could identify! Now we have the tools to identify these cells appropriately as stem cells which can be used as “master keys” to move to places in the body as the body calls for. About a year ago there was an article in JAMA regarding the stem cells implants of male cells into female bodies of women with leukemia who had received a stem cell transplant. When these women died, male marked cells were found as neurons in the brain.

Dr. Reg realized that this might offer an explanation in the many children with fetal alcohol syndrome that were doing so well with the glyconutrients and others who had advanced so far beyond their perceived genetic limitations. He told the story of several adopted aboriginal children in Canada who had fetal alcohol syndrome who have done remarkably well, improving from IQ’s estimated to be around 50 to levels around 100. One girl who had difficulties with reading and numbers and was in remedial classes after 3 years with glyconutrients was able to read a Harry Potter book in a week and discuss what she had read.

When they measure the before and after stem cell counts in the blood, virtually none are detectable prior to glyconutrieints. Within a week of giving glyconutrients, there are 200-400 stem cells seen in a microliter of blood with about 5-10 thousand white blood cells. If one extrapolates to the whole body, it is possible that there are 1.7-3 trillion new stem cells throughout our body as we add in glyconutrients. We’re at the beginning of understanding all of what is possible with stem cells. There is an article in the June Scientific American if you want to read
more about stem cells.

A New STEM CELL SURVEY CD for the Health Care Professional will be available next week that contains evidence that glyconutrients increase Stem Cell activity in the human body (This is a presentation CD not an audio CD). This NEW Stem Cell CD by H. Reg McDaniel, M.D. documents how glyconutrients integrated into traditional therapy may benefit every disease that Stem Cells benefit and THAT IS EVERY DISEASE.

You may request the CD online at http://www.results4kids.org for a $50 donation. Proceeds are split 50/50 with Fisher Institute for Medical Research and the Results Endowment for Medical and Educational Research. These organizations are
seeking major funding for Stem Cell Research using glyconutrients. The syllabus on stem cell information related to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can be found at Fisher Institute’s website.

Note: Glyconutrients are not intended to heal, treat, or cure any disease.

Zach Thompson works internationally as a Glyconutritional Consultant. He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of rural Virginia. He serves primarily the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, & New Zealand. His clients range from Professional & Olympic Athletes to those with auto-immune disease & children with Learning Disabilities. He uses exclusively Pharmaceutical-Grade Glyconutritonals, & Dietery Supplements that meet or exceed the criteria set forth by The Council for Responsible Nutrition in his practice. The consumption of Organic & chemical-free foods along with a low-glycemic diet plan is an integral part of of his clients path to wellness. You can get more information at: http://www.myglyconutrientstore.com .

The August issue of Tooling & Production highlights, “Leaning ETO Project Management.” The term engineer-to-order (ETO) denotes a style of manufacturing rather than a specific industry segment. Other synonymous terms are “project-based” or “custom” manufacturers. ETO companies typically have distinct characteristics about the way they conduct business that differentiate them from discrete or repetitive manufacturers.

According to Thomas R. Cutler, spokesperson for the ETO Institute, “ETO companies build unique products designed to customer specifications. Each product requires a unique set of item numbers, bills of material, and routings. Estimates and quotations are required to win business. Products are complex with long lead times, typically months or even years. Unlike standard products, the customer is heavily involved throughout the entire design and manufacturing process. Engineering changes are a way of life. Material is purchased not for inventory but for a specific project. All actual costs are allocated to a project and tracked against the original estimate. Once complete, the product is typically installed at the customer’s site. In most cases, aftermarket services continue throughout the life of the product.”

The ETO Institute (www.etoinstitute.org) is an independent organization committed to helping North American engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturers compete more effectively in an increasingly competitive global environment. Our resources section provides a list of articles and white papers focused on manufacturing and, in particular, engineer-to-order. The bulletin board provides a forum for organizations to share ideas and information and to discuss challenges and business issues.

Thomas R. Cutler
info@etoinstitute.org
www.etoinstitute.org
954-486-7562

About the Author

Professional Marketing Firm

ALTERNATE AND PARALLEL UNIVERSES: – The modern science of physics has opened many pathways or doorways to the infinite possibilities of ‘creation’. Evolution is not the only operational factor in our life and its purpose. Martin Rees is a world recognized astronomer and more. He has recently proposed that there have been many universes and their other components which have been created. The news reports have said that it was a matter of trial and error, until it became right. If so, who can say it is RIGHT at this moment? The theory of the mystics that is covered in ‘Harmonic Convergence’ relates to this possibility. There are universes outside the known universe according to science as it now stands.

Some describe the process as being like a balloon that one twists a piece off, which becomes a new balloon. Scalar fields of topographies with varying event horizons make the areas of science fiction most appropriate for conveying what is the state of the art in astrophysics. Event horizons or varying time elements also occur at the edge of ‘black holes’ and in different parts of the universe. The mere existence of ‘Black Holes’ is not possible to explain the reality of, by old paradigm thinking. Yet, they were known to the mystics and chaos scientists of 13,000 years ago. Energy comes out of them as well. There is more actual energy in the vacuum than everywhere else it seems.

ANCIENT INVENTIONS: – In Alexandria and in the Cave of Hathor there appear to be reasons to believe we had electricity. There is no doubt that fraudulent traders were using electrum plating techniques to make gold plate on other metals to sell as pure gold. Some think the cave drawings show electrical wiring conduits, and I think it might be phosphorous slush in hoses to make the light by which the cave was painted by artists. There are professors who would have us believe the reason there is no carbon deposits from oil or wax burning lamps has to do with blind artisans. Thales had a small steam engine, the lighthouse at Alexandria and their tri-level sea-going ships, slot machines and other things lead the authors of Ancient Inventions to say they could build anything we could build until the mid-20th century. They detail the skill of port construction and many other things. There is much more than they talk about for us to re-learn or know, and many whole disciplines or things we’ve not yet re-discovered.

ANTHROPOLOGY: – There are so many examples of forced ‘direct inference’ theorization rather than ‘observation and conclusion’ to fit all facts in every area of science. Anthropologists in Polynesia kept telling the native people that they came from S. E. Asia despite the native assertions that they came from South America or even the Nootka/Haida nation of the Pacific Northwest. Thor Heyerdahl proved the natives were correct. The lack of willingness to accept that humans were inventive and ingenious enough to create rafts is nearly funny. There is botanical proof that Hawaii’s vegetation is not all indigenous and came from the Caroline Islands of 1500 miles away. A cable TV documentary showed how the rites of the Caroline Islanders involve a bailing kind of movement and they established that as long ago as 150,000 BC these islanders traveled to Hawaii on huge rafts with outriggers. The jungles’ vines and logs would make a raft in even the earliest times of hominid development.

The anthropologists as a whole are more open-minded despite having made many judgement errors that conventional thinking and the funding process have contributed to in a big way. We are constantly finding the facts and opinions of what academia calls mavericks are able to enlighten the past in all disciplines of anthropology and archaeology. Gimbutas and Campbell have followed a long line of independent thought from Humboldt and Hawkes through Petrie and Marshack. In the end they have brought mythology to the foreground through the use of techniques like the space photos and now we have solid state chemistry and genetics to blaze new trails. There is still a lot of small-minded provincial ‘pissing-contests’ between the differing disciplines but there are a lot of exciting things being achieved. The cases of researchers spending up to twenty years working and living with natives, who tell them what they want to hear because they are gracious and kind, are numerous. (6) The value systems of our researchers who want to position themselves and the Euro-Centric financial backers as more civilized are rife in the annals of what some say is far from a science.

When a native group being held under academic scrutiny and subject to logical linear mindsets actually is able to educate the ‘experts’ about their culture it is the exception. Often such things are not funded because the data doesn’t ‘fit’ the prevailing literature. Carlos Castaneda was an anthropologist from UCLA who made a major breakthrough on his own. Even his debunkers have to admit he has brought a great deal of insight to the field as a whole. Dr. Wayne Dyer owes a great deal of the thought involved in his ‘You’ll See it, When You Believe It!’ to the work of Carlos Castaneda and his Toltec mentor Don Juan. It is possible that all of our research into human behavior has more to learn than we think we already know. That might mean we are wrong about many key things. One of the most obvious things that our cultural bias foists upon the data is the relative importance we place on intellect rather than spirit.

A wise man knows he is a fool, a fool thinks he is a wise man.

About the Author

Fitting all facts with wisdom requires thinking with all faculties and avoiding appeals to teachers or other authority.

Satellite radio has quite literally been a god send to people who live or travel regularly in remote locations, or even for people who are required to travel long distances. Static-free reception can now be experienced and enjoyed by listeners who have a satellite radio even if they are
in the remotest of locations.

In the past if you were travelling for long periods, every hour or so you would have to start tweaking with the radio dial, as the radio station you were just listening to began to turn to static after it seemed to fade in and out for a while. You would then frantically try to locate a new radio station to listen to and just as you did, it too would turn static. This would go on until eventually there were no
decent stations left on the dial and then finally you would succumb to putting on a cassette or a CD or even turning off the entire stereo all together. But with the advent of satellite radio, static, tuning, fiddling and complete boredom will soon be a thing of the past.

The standard, more conventional radio signals are only able to travel around 30-40 miles from their original
transmitters so if you travel beyond this distance then the signal will eventually get weaker and weaker until you are no longer able to hear the transmission at all. However in a far greater development of technology, satellite radio waves travel from space (around 22,000 miles) meaning that you will be able to travel across the entire country without even having to change national radio stations because the frequency will be consistent and strong.

Automobile manufacturers have been installing satellite radio receivers as standard fittings for some years now, so
when the satellite radio transmission finally begins most drivers will be able to clearly access the signals and won’t
experience any problems in utilizing the new technology. What a revolution!! Currently there are only three space-based radio broadcasters who are working on the
development of this technology. In 1997, the government agency the Federal Communications Commission gave licenses
worth around $80 million to these companies to experiment and deliver on the allocated radio band for digital satellite radio transmission.

These three satellite radio companies have conducted completely different research programs and as a result naturally are now offering different products to the market.
As a result there is more then likely going to be a ‘VHS versus Beta’ type battle between the companies as the
technology progresses. Two of the companies, XM Radio and Worldspace have made a formal agreement to share new
technological developments with the other party and to make every effort to work collaboratively to develop and design
further innovations in this expanding communications field. This partnership can only be a good thing for consumers,
particularly consumers who frequent remote locations on a regular basis and who need to communicate with the outside world when they do so.

About the author:

Corbin Mathieson is the webmaster of
Ask Satellite which is a
premier source of information about Satellite. For more
information, go to: http://asksatellite.com

Plants are intelligent forms of life who are capable of
intention, preference, and a will to survive, thrive and
interact. Scientific research indicates that plants communicate
with insects, animals, human beings and other plants in order to
keep themselves alive and safe. Evidence also reveals that
plants are telling us how to achieve health and wholeness for
humanity and the earth herself.

Plants Are Just Like People

In research which spans more than 100 years, scientists have
been documenting botanical adaptability and the amazing
similarities that plants have with animals and people. Studies
indicate that what metaphysicians, psychics, shaman, tribal
people and sensitives worldwide have been saying about the plant
kingdom for millennia is true: plants are intelligent beings who
can communicate with us, and, we can communicate with them.

Smart Strategies for Survival

In the book, “The Secret Life of Plants,” authors Peter Tompkins
and Christopher Bird describe how plants “talk to” people and
what plants “talk” about. Staying alive and safe tops the list.

To protect themselves, plants have developed highly adaptive and
strategic ways for living. According to the authors, “Plants
seem to know which ants will steal their nectar, closing when
these ants are about, opening only when there is enough dew on
their stems to keep the ants from climbing. The more
sophisticated acacia plant actually enlists the protective
services of certain ants which it rewards with nectar in return
for the ants’ protection against other insects and herbivorous
mammals,” thus serving the same function as friends and allies
do in the animal and human realms. Some vegetation develop a
bitter taste, some ooze gummy secretions, while others grow
thorns to defend themselves.

Prickles for the Pussy

Once plants feel safe, however, they may drop their need for
defense. In one study, a scientist wanted to determine if cacti
grow needles primarily for the purpose of keeping themselves
from harm. Safely housed in a greenhouse, the scientist talked
to numerous cacti assuring them that they were protected and
that he cared about them. He encouraged the plants to feel even
more secure by playing soothing music in the greenhouse. Within
several months the cacti dropped all their spikes. The offspring
of these bare cacti were born without needles. Defenseless
within this nurturing environment, the mature and new-born cacti
prospered. After a period of a year of being without their
protective quills, the cacti suddenly began re-growing their
bristles and new baby sprouts were born with needles again.
After some investigation, it was discovered that a house cat had
found its way into the greenhouse. Suspecting that the cat may
be the source of the perceived threat to the cacti causing the
reemergence of their means of protection, the scientist blocked
the cat’s way of entry. Once the cacti sensed they were once
again safe, all of the cacti dropped their prickly means of
defense.

You Can Hurt a Plants Feelings

Plants respond not only to insects and animals but to human
emotion and intention. Plants can distinguish between people who
are feel kindly towards them and people who don’t, and our green
friends cooperate with people they like. In one experiment a new
scientist came to study some test plants. Surprisingly, these
test plants which previously had been very responsive, were
completely non-responsive during the new scientist’s tests.
Investigating the change in the plants’ response, it was
discovered that the new scientist incinerated his plants in his
own personal research once his tests were completed. Shortly
after the new scientist left, the plants again began registering
activity and cooperating.

In another study, scientists found that vegetation reacted
negatively to people who found the plants unattractive, even to
the extent that the plants would “faint.” When over-stimulated
by emotions, plants will “go unconscious” or numb and can stay “
moody” for weeks. Scientific studies show that once plants
attune themselves to a particular person, they are able to
maintain a link with that person, no matter how far away. These
plants register “knowing” not only when a person is returning to
the plants, but when the person makes the decision to return.
Other reports show that plants respond to people talking to them
in a caring, loving manner, such as asking a tree to radically
change its growth direction so that it won’t have to be cut, or
asking weeds not to grow excessively in a vegetable garden.

Who Says Plants Can’t Move?

In order to stay alive, plants have learned to move and do so in
remarkable fashion, for extraordinary purposes and with high,
extra-sensory intelligence. “Plants,” says Viennese biologist,
Raoul France “move their bodies as freely, easily and gracefully
as the most skilled animal or human, and the only reason we don’
t appreciate the fact is that plants do so at a much slower pace
than humans. A climbing plant which needs a prop will creep
toward the nearest support. Should this support be shifted, the
vine, within a few hours, will change its course into a new
direction.” Plants will even grow towards a support that’s
hidden from view. France continues, “Plants are capable of
intent: they can stretch toward, or seek out, what they want in
ways as mysterious as the most fantastic creations of romance.”
As Thomkins and Bird relate, “Some parasitical plants can
recognize the slightest trace of the odor of their victim and
will overcome all obstacles to crawl in its direction.”

The Sophisticated Musical Tastes of Plants

Through their animated responses to classical and heavy rock
music, plants further divulge their preferences. In studies of
plants exposed to heavy rock music, the plants not only grew
away from the music source, but some grew either abnormally tall
and put out excessively small leaves or remained stunted. In
some cases the plants died. When classical music was played to
the plants, the plants grew toward the music source with healthy
growth. The same plants, marigolds, who died when listening to
rock music, flowered when listening to classical music. The
authors report, “the rock-stimulated plants were using much more
water than the classically entertained vegetation, but
apparently enjoying it less, since examination of the roots
revealed that soil root growth was sparse in the rock group,
whereas in the classical group, root growth was thick, tangled
and about four times as long.”

In India, Dr. T. C. Singh, in his studies of music and plants,
stated that he had “proven beyond any shadow of doubt that
harmonic sound waves affect the growth, flowering, fruiting and
seed-yield of plants.” Singh also reported that girls dancing
India’s most ancient dance style accelerated the growth of
daisies, marigolds and petunias. The dancing caused them to
flower much earlier than the control group of plants, presumably
because of the rhythm of the footwork transmitted through the
earth.

Plant Devas Caught on Camera!

Kirlian photography is now able to verify the existence of
living, changing light radiating from plants. And many “seers”
and scientists have seen light emanations and moving forms
coming from plants. Hindu sages refer to devas. Clairvoyants and
other sensitives are able to directly see and communicate with
the fairies, elves, gnomes, sylphs and other creatures which
live in and among plants.

Tompkins and Bird conclude, “Evidence now supports the vision
that plants are living, breathing, communicating creatures,
endowed with personality and the attributes of soul.”

About the Author

Drawing from the wisdom of native and ancient spiritual traditions, Keith Varnum shares his 30 years of practical success as an author, personal coach, acupuncturist, filmmaker, radio host, restaurateur, vision quest guide and international seminar leader (The Dream Workshops). Keith helps people get the love, money and health they want with his FREE “Prosperity Ezine” at www.TheDream.com.

Robert Elias Najemy

Connected Containers

Communication between people with close emotional contact such as lovers, parents, children or members of the same family, is very much like the flow of water in two containers connected on their lower half. When the water level in one container is pressured downwards, it will naturally rise in the other container.

Thus when emotionally close persons suppress their emotions or needs, these feelings generally are increased in the others, without either of them discussing or otherwise communicating about this openly.

When one suppresses fear, the other feels more fear. When one suppresses desires, the desire level in the other becomes accentuated. When one suppresses anger, or resentment, then the other finds himself or herself expressing anger and resentment for both of them.

For example, a woman who suppresses her anger may find herself receiving even more aggressive behavior from her husband, because he is receiving her suppressed anger on the subconscious levels. She may feel like an abused victim, but in fact it is her own suppressed negativity, which is coming back to her through him.

This is why it is so important for us to express our feelings and needs clearly and openly, so that we can openly discussed them and find solutions. When emotions are communicated in nonverbal and unconscious ways, through these “connected containers”, then little can be done to find solutions.

You may at times try to avoid problems by not expressing your feelings or needs. You are in fact, however, creating many more problems, which can never be solved, because there is no means of real communication. Your feelings will be passed on to the other whether you express them with words or not.

It is much better to express them with words and actions as clearly and as lovingly is possible.

(Adapted from the forthcoming “Contemporary Parables” by Robert Elias Najemy. His book “The Psychology of Happiness” (ISBN 0-9710116-0-5) is available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/holisticharmo-20 and http://www.HolisticHarmony.com/psychofhappiness.html. His writings can be viewed at http://www.HolisticHarmony.com where you can also download FREE articles and e-books.

About the Author

Robert Elias Najemy is the author of over 600 articles, 400 lecture cassettes on Human Harmony and 20 books, which have sold over 100,000 copies.
He is the Founder and director of the Center for Harmonious Living in Greece with 3700 members.
His book The Psychology of Happiness; ISBN 0-9710116-0-5 is available at www.amazon.com and http://www.HolisticHarmony.com. where you can view and download FREE articles and e-books.

Point and click. The new life of digital cameras gives us all the opportunity to capture images as we go. Whether you simply hit the shutter button to take pictures of your friends and family or if you want to have your camera with you at all times in order to capture the beauty of life wherever you find it, getting the most out of your digital camera can be easy.

Let’s imagine ourselves with the perfect set up of digital camera and a few accessories to make things just right. My personal and professional recommendation is that we start with memory. Get more today. If you only have one memory card for your camera it is time to add to the collection. If you have more than one then good job! The more memory you have for your digital camera the less likely it will be that you get stuck wanting to take more pictures and have no more room on the storage. Memory is relatively cheap, takes up no space in your kit and gives you total control over creativity.

Your camera comes with a variety of quality settings to work with when taking images. Don’t use TIFF, leave it on one of the medium quality level settings and your camera will take fine images for you and not eat up all your memory. If you use the highest setting you will get very few images onto your card. They will for the most part be of very high quality but you would only want to shoot at that level of quality if you are intending to make high quality large format prints of your images.

Now if that child of yours is just so incredibly cute and your wall is aching for a portrait of his or her shining face then by all means do it on the highest quality. The key will be to use good software to process the image and then a printer that can make a large format, high quality print of your image. They exist and for not unreasonable prices I might add.

I was stunned at a recent art show in my neighborhood to be looking at a photographer’s exhibit of large size prints (18×24 and up in size) to find out that he shoots exclusively in digital now. He was a former film photographer who switched over in recent years and now makes stunning prints from his digital images. His landscape images were simply amazing and to find out that he shot them on a good digital camera made me very curious about the process, but that is fodder for another article.

Juice is the answer to your next question. Always have more juice. I spent 20 years in the TV news business and my mantra was always have extra batteries ready to go and an extra tape under the back seat in case of emergency. For TV cameras the batteries were always big and heavy rechargeable NiCads. Lithium batteries are the rage nowadays as they are lighter in weight, have no memory problems, and run longer. Digital still cameras can take advantage of Lithium batteries but the cost is often slightly prohibitive for most of us. Some camera systems use proprietary battery systems. I would recommend not buying into that sort of system. Try to buy a camera that uses universal types of batteries such as AA’s. I use a camera that takes AA’s and I have three sets of rechargeable batteries so I can rotate through them and never be caught short. Total cost for three sets of batteries is about $30, and they will last you several years if you treat them right. If you just buy regular AA batteries and shoot a lot of images your battery cost might triple that over a like period of time.

Edison did it and now we consider him a genius. Experimentation is the name of the game. Digital images cost you nothing but time and a little battery life. Play around and take lots of shots of things, people, events, you name it. Look at magazines, newspapers and notice what images look cool to you. Try to take shots like that yourself so you can see how it is done. This will get you thinking about how to make your everyday shots better. Look for new and different ways to frame things, take both a vertical and a horizontal shot of the same thing and see how it changes perspective. Get closer to your subject, or get farther away to see which looks better. Find something unique about your subject and look for a way to exploit that for a better image. Here is and example, say for instance you have a great looking car you want a picture of, well don’t stand across the street from it and zoom in on the car, get right up close with the sun behind you so the car is sparkling shiny and fills the whole frame of the image. Find it’s best feature and center that in the shot say the awesome lines of front of the car or snazzy wheels.

Print something from your camera every week to remind you of the beauty of everyday things. Take shots all the time, pick one and print it out and then put it in front of you for a day or a week. Live life as though you want beauty around you all the time. If you are madly in love then surround yourself with pictures of that love. If you live in a beautiful place then take pictures of it all the time to make sure you never forget how special it is to be there in your life. Don’t let those images hide away and not be seen. Wallpaper on your computer can be another place to put your weekly image, change it regularly with images from your family, work, life, hobby and you will get more smiles and more joy out of your camera than you know what to do with. My current wallpaper takes me back to a wonderful day on a mountain lake this past summer paddling kayaks in the afternoon breeze. What about yours?

About the Author

Kevin Rockwell is a life long photographer and digital camera convert. He has spent his whole adult life taking pictures and now spends his time shooting sports images, training soccer players, and writing about digital cameras. The Flash Times is filled with tips, news, and information about digital cameras. Visit www.great-digital-cameras.com/signup.html to sign up today for this monthly newsletter.