Mega Man

When Arizona-based rapper Random created his 2007 indie-hop effort Mega Ran out of his love of Capcom's old-school game Mega Man, he expected trouble, perhaps a lawsuit. Instead, Capcom invited him to rule its Comic-Con International booth and then bankrolled the 2009 follow-up, Mega Ran 9, released in March. "It's pretty amazing, and relieving," Random, known as Raheem Jarboe to the IRS, explained to Wired.com in an e-mail interview. As one of Capcom's most successful entries, Mega Man has always had a healthy share of devotees. But Random never thought that his childhood love of quests to steal weapons from Robot Masters would lead to raps about wooing Splash Woman, the first boss character in the franchise. Yet Jarboe, who teaches when he's not crafting chiptunes, understands that there is a lesson to be learned here. "Hip-hop has been built on false images for so long," he says. "Nerd is the new cool." Wired.com: How does it feel to not be sued by Capcom? Random: It's pretty amazing, and relieving. I can't say I ever expected it. I think inside of most hip-hop heads, deep down is the soul of a gamer. It seemed almost taboo to combine both loves, because hip-hop is so much about what's cool and tough. I never felt that I'd be able to fully embrace that side, let alone be successful with it. Wired.com: How is the album doing? I hear it's Rahm Nation's top-seller. Random: The album is exceeding my expectations. Right now, it's sold out at UndergroundHipHop.com, which is even more shocking, because the big sellers there are folks like Talib Kweli and MF Doom, who I really respect. It's wild, because I gave it away for free for almost a month, and it's now over 7,000 downloads. No one knows the formula for selling records these days, not even the bigwigs. So to give 80 percent of an album away and then sell it, and still have it sell well, tells me a lot. It tells me that if you make a product for a core audience, and are genuine in your approach, people will see that and want to support it. Oh, and it can't suck. Wired.com: Are you thinking of turning this into a trend with other games you dug as a kid? Random: I thought about it. In fact, I have plans right now for a new videogame album. I've told them to the Mega Ran crew and they're all for it. I don't want to formally announce it yet, because it might not come this year or even next. But what will happen is my album with K-Murdock called Forever Famicom. He's gonna sample some of my favorite Nintendo Entertainment System games like Faxanadu, EarthBound, Street Fighter 2010 and more. We're gonna have some fun. We've secured an arrangement with a label in Japan (of course), so the next album will drop over there as an import only. But I'll drop a North American counterpart as well. Wired.com: Capcom invited you to Comic-Con last year. How did that go? Random: That was amazing. Myself and DN3 got to hang out at the Capcom booth, and they played the Mega Ran tunes out of the speakers. I signed autographs and met a bunch of great fans. Just to be able to walk through Comic-Con with a badge that said "Raheem Jarbo: Capcom Entertainment: Exhibitor" was surreal. I met Sgt. Slaughter, for crying out loud. The folks at Capcom tell me they're looking to work me into the mix this year as well. Wired.com: You're a teacher: What is the lesson here? Random: That you can definitely draw inspiration from anything. I went from listening to Mega Man MP3s online to traveling the country. Anything can happen. It turns out that there were people out there who were waiting for someone to take the idea and run with it. I've had so many people at shows tell me, "I was thinking about rapping over videogame beats!" But I think it's more than that. It takes heart to embrace your childhood and take a bold step forward. That has made this successful. I mean, I'm far from the first musician to experiment and try to branch out, so I'm hoping that this can show hip-hop artists that it's OK to be true to yourself. This is what us educators call a "teachable moment." You get about 10 of those a day, at any given time ... and I think you just backed me into one! Wired.com: Well, I think efforts like this help technoculture take hip-hop more seriously than it already does. Random: Rappers aren't considered musicians by a great majority. But I'll be the first to tell you that it takes some serious musicianship to be good at it. Now, to make money, well that's a different story. Hip-hop has been built on false images for so long, so maybe "keeping it real" is becoming cool, for real. Nerd is the new cool. See also: Straight Outta Capcom! Random Honors Mega Man Kutiman's ThruYou Mashup Turns YouTube Into Funk Machine Twitter's Musical Potential Unlocked by K'naan, Moonalice From Anime to Games, RZA Is a Soundtracking Samurai Grandmaster Flash Builds Hip-Hop's Bridge to Future It's Number 9-9-9 for Beatles: Rock Band, Digital Remasters

33 Stone at 15 showing on BBC

Picture: BBC/Daisy Beck Production/Wellspring AcademiesGeorgias Story: 33 Stone at 15Georgias Story: 33 Stone at 15, showing Tuesday April 21st on BBC 1 at 10:35pmAt 33 stone, Georgia is one of the largest teenagers in the UK, but at just 15, she's too young for medication or surgery. Now Georgia is taking an incredible journey to transform her life to that of a normal, teenage girl. Spending nine months at the Wellspring Academy residential weight-loss school in the USA, Georgia will retrain her eating habits, develop an interest in physical activity and be given the chance to discover what makes her turn to food in the way that she has. This documentary sees the teenager settling into boarding school in an unfamiliar country. She undertakes cognitive behaviour sessions, tries new physical activity regimes and develops a new relationship with food. Temptation beckons half-way through the course when Georgia comes home for a Christmas break. But will she grasp this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the girl she desperately wants to be? View the full reviewGet a reminder when Georgias Story: 33 Stone at 15 starts...

Are you more passive or aggressive?

One is very laid back and will put up with just about anything. The other is more forward and blunt. I ask myself..what am I? I tend to let things go sometimes that maybe should be sddressed..which leans to passive...but there are times when I am very forward with what I want..lol. More passive or agressive? I'm not sure really. So I figured I ask my friends here..which are you? Maybe I'm both depending on the day.

This Week on AOL Health

Diet and Weight Loss, Obesity Those who are watching what they eat -- whether it's calories, carbs, fat or fiber -- know that fast food can be enemy number one. But should it be a concern for everyone's diet? Maybe. To take the guesswork out of ordering, we at AOL Health have combed through the nutrition information of some of your favorite restaurants, and we found a shocking number of orders that go overboard on acceptable daily allowances of calories (2,000), fat (65 g) and sodium (2,400 mg). One innocent-looking offender? The veggie burger from Ruby Tuesday's. The (small) patty packs more than 1,000 calories and a staggering 53 fat grams. What a disgrace to normally lean meat-free patties! Learn more about this and 38 other fast-food diet offenders.

Defence budget

Robert Gates changes the Pentagons prioritiesMORE men at the expense of machines; more drones rather than top-end fighter jets and future bombers; more helicopters for combat troops rather than a replacement for the presidential chopper; more coastal vessels and fewer aircraft-carriers; better cyberdefences, but scaled-back missile defences and laser weapons. In short, the new American defence budget would spend more on todays wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and less to stave off future threats from China or Russia. The proposals have delighted those who think America will fight irregular small wars for the foreseeable future, and horrified those who believe it must be ready to fight big conventional ones. John McCain thinks the 2010 budget is a major step in the right direction. But a fellow Republican senator, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, muttered of disarming America.

Our Students

This post was co-written with Erin Downey Howerton of schooling.us (Erin's is the first-person voice in this post) and Liz Burns of Pop & Tea Cozy, and cross-posted at the YALSA Blog. Erin is the school liaison at the Johnson County (KS) Library. She is a member of YALSA and AASL.Librarians' hearts were aflutter today as the New York Times reported on school librarians in their Future of Reading column. Motoko Richs' article "In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update" features a day in the life of Stephanie Rosalia, a librarian at Public School 225 in Brooklyn. The piece marvels at how she does not simply stamp books and shush students, but rather teaches information literacy. It rose quickly to the #1 slot as today's most emailed NYT article. My Twitter network was quite active as we traded links to various responses, and, regrettably, the comments on the article itself. Most dismaying was comment #24 from "suenoir," a reader who identified herself as a school board president from King County, WA and who felt that school libraries & librarians are superfluous in the face of the Internet and public libraries. She commented: "If teachers used the public libraries, imagine what could be done with the space now occupied by the library. What if it were a music room? An engineering lab? Students have access to a librarian at public libraries, they do not have access to so many other resources." This commenter appears to be affiliated with the Highline Public Schools (Susan Goding, board member, used the email suenoir@hotmail.com in her campaign information which is easily available online). Goding's district indicates that they enroll in excess of 17,000 students, and one of their secondary facilities reports that they see an average of around 100 students a day in their media center for regularly scheduled classes, not including students using the library who are not specifically scheduled for instruction. That's an awful lot of students to absorb at a local public library branch! This article served to remind us in the library community that our patrons do not always easily or readily understand the differences in purpose between different library types. They may think of us all as interchangeable widgets, able to help in any library we might find ourselves in. This is not so. I had a great email conversation with Liz Burns and Sophie Brookover of Pop Goes the Library on just this topic: Sophie: This article made me stand up and cheer, right at the breakfast table (because that's where I read it, after a friend posted it to my Wall on Facebook). Stephanie Rosalia is a perfect example of what a great, properly trained and enthusiastic school librarian can offer, which a public librarian cannot: just-in-time learning opportunities for students that relates directly to what they are learning in the classroom every day. She is exactly the kind of school librarian I want to be when I grow up. edh: Yes, we public librarians often have very little contact with teachers at individual schools despite robust outreach efforts. I know some patrons get the mistaken impression that we're not concerned with student needs. Liz: Public libraries don't ignore students; far from it! But a public library's main mission is not to be geared towards students. It's a system geared towards the entire public. Yes, that includes the homeless; teens; seniors; young mothers; people using the Internet; and students. edh: I loved how the article and video demonstrated Ms. Rosalia's ability to incorporate all sorts of content in her school library. She's obviously deeply involved in the curriculum and learning process in her school. Sophie: School librarians remix and mash up content from all sorts of sources -- online, print, audio, video, and more -- every day, all with a view towards matching the right content with the right kids at the right time. Public librarians do this every day, as well, but to be a great public librarian is to be a fantastic generalist. To be a school librarian is to be what many of us are called these days, a media specialist. As a media specialist, your area of specialization is your school's curriculum. You are aware of a wide body of resources, but you home in on the materials that meet the specific needs of your students' assignments. edh: Absolutely! I am not entirely sure that the school board member who commented on the article understands the distinction between our libraries' functions. Liz: Saying "use the public library, there is so much more we can do with school resources and money" is like trying to have one's cake and eat it, too. Because while sometimes there are actual joint libraries (with appropriate funding and staffing), more often shutting the school library does not result in additional funding being given to the public library. So there is an addition of students needing instruction, books and materials for reports, but no funds to purchase those additional books or to hire the needed staff. edh: And some public libraries have restrictions on the materials they can buy – collection development policies can prohibit us from purchasing the books and media that would best address student learning. Liz: And that's aside from the loss of the librarian as teacher. When will those students be able to go to the local library? Students get transportation to schools; they don't have the same access to public libraries. Those students with parents who have the transportation and time will benefit from school libraries; those students whose parents don't have ready access to cars and who work while the library is open, won't be able to use the public library. I've been in libraries where there are a good number of local kids who use the libraries; and just as many kids who don't, because they don't live close enough to the library to walk or ride a bike safely. Public libraries may be full of students; but can one imagine that if they are filled WITH school libraries available, how overwhelmed those libraries would be WITHOUT school libraries? Additionally, public library budgets are being cut. What would your school do when the public library cuts hours, staff, and the materials budget? Open up the school library? By that time you'd have a dearth of materials missing from the years it was closed. edh: That's just for materials designed to support academic assignments – imagine all the great fiction titles you would have missed out on in the intervening years. The public library alone is not enough to supply a student with the choices they need to read widely for enjoyment. Sophie: A good school library should absolutely have high-appeal leisure reading. After all, AASL's Standards for the 21st Century Learner are fully 25% about the pursuit of personal and aesthetic growth, and with that in mind, I've sunk a large proportion of my own school library's budget into high-quality, high-appeal books for my students to read for fun. I've been lucky enough to have the unswerving support of my school's English Department, many members of which have brought hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of students to my Library Media Center for booktalks and reader's advisory, all in the service of year-round independent reading assignments. This collaborative effort has been so successful that I plan to continue to develop and promote the LMC's fiction and nonfiction collections for leisure reading.There are so many opportunities for school librarians to collaborate with public librarians to provide even better services and collections to our students, but I think it's very important, as Liz said, for school and public librarians to spend some serious time educating the general public about the different missions of each institution, as well. edh: Yes, letting people know about what we do in different libraries is imperative. I find myself also recommending special libraries to students who have a very specific or advanced assignment. We're lucky to have special libraries in the Kansas City area that will lend freely to the public and assist students with individual disciplines. The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education library is great for students looking at Judaism and World War II, and the Linda Hall Library has a special collection just for aspiring teen scientists among their more esoteric materials. Access to only one library is never enough! If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a variety of libraries to educate them into adulthood.

Indians should support Tamils in Srilanka?

Tamilnadu Cheif Minister Karunanidhi is trying all ways to protect LTTE and Tamils in Srinlanka. He represents Tamil community in India so he wants to save Tamils in Srilanka. Does India need to do so? LTTE is known worldwide as a terrorist organization and they behave like that. Last year they blew two airplanes to Columbo which led to the death of lots of people. LTTE murdered our formerPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. I don't think Indian government has to take steps to protect Tamils in Srilanka...especially should not take any steps to protect LTTE because it is no more helping Tamils but doing terrorist activities. It is Srinlanka's personal problem so we should leave them and pray for the best. What do you say about this issue?

i'm on a roll

Beginning of Swirl . Not looking...right. There are extra wraps and crosses going on. If you stretched that swatch, you'd see X's between the not-quite-ribs.A few attempts later, I gave up and worked the almost version , the fisherman's rib, as in Bounce and Fourteen.Still not right, now my needle is too small for the stitch in this yarn.It bugged me that I was unable to get the pattern going as written, I mean, I do not have trouble knitting basic stitches and it's just yo's and K2 togs so what in the name of french buns is the problem?I kept starting over, so many times the first few yards of the buttery Peruvia wool yarn was felting from the friction and palm sweat. It seems that in this stitch, the YO is more of a yarn forward than a full wrap. The K2tog is a half stitch from the yarn forward with the stitch it crosses. Sounds more complicated than it is.I had a pep talk from the designer Sarah Chilson (rav link) herself (blog link). (Knitting world trivia: it was Sarah's fabulous dragon scarf that inspired the Red Scarf project for OFA. )Then! A small success following the Purl Bee directions , ripped out because I didn't want a selvage edge, and some viewings of this demo video put me over the top.I got it.Brioche stitch. Simple. Really! Now I'm jammin'.talk about feeling crummy, try having this in your tummy:Postcards from an interesting museum we visited in Philly last week. Yup, that is an enormous colon, the real thing. We started out fascinated but after an hour the place really got to me. Even my horror movie loving 15 yo son was put off his feed, for a while. A must if you have a thing about siamese twins, horrifying skin diseases or were wondering where to see the exhumed body of a woman turned to soap. yeek.

Amazon asexual ants

Of Arizona, Anna Himler discovered that" Mycocepurus smithii" can product themselves.

A Mish Mash o'Stuff

So, hello!In a vain attempt to look like I'm a faithful blogger, I have decided to make this a multi-faceted blog entry. I'll post pictures like there's no tomorrow, I'll give you a quilt show critique, I'll tell you about my recent projects, I'll share some family stuff and heck, I'll even make a few political statements too.You have been warned:)First off, I've finished Klaralund...yippee! What a fun, easy knit this one was. I used 5.0 mm circs throughout and used Noro Kureyon in colourway 95 (I think...yikes...I'll check on that one.) I'm pleased overall, but I think my colour choice was a bit dark. It's difficult to tell what your fabric will end up looking like when you check out a big old ball of Kureyon. I love knitting with this yarn though and the pattern was great. This will definately be worn.My Honeymoon Cami was finished awhile ago, I was hoping to model it, but alas, the sun is not behaving in my favour...I can't bear to be seen in such a skimpy little thing without a bit of winter white skin gone...ick. Again, I'm pleased with this one too...the yarn colour was perfect for me, a sour apple kind of green...very summery and fresh looking. My gauge certainly needed some improvement on this one. I'm a perfectionist to a point, but it certainly doesn't show on this project. It's comfy and that's what counts right!?Next in line is Tempting...I know I posting my leaning tower of wool in a previous entry so I won't bore you with that again. I'm making this a stripey top-in turquoise, pink and white...I already have some beautiful hand dyed silk ribbon as well. Can't wait for this baby to be finished. The wool is wonderful to work with (Zoinks! The label is downstairs, and I'm far to lazy to go and get it...I'll post this info when I'm done!)I love the pattern, although I'm a little pensive about the sleeve joining part...I'm sure I can recruit help when I need it!In Noah news...we're down to the last few weeks of Montessori and looking forward to a fun summer. We introduced the little lad to camping last summer, he loved it...we didn't. My hubby is not what you would call a nature lover...this combined with Noah being a restless sleeper made for a very long and chilly night. We'll give 'er another try this year though. Our tent is wicked-a two room monstrosity. All we really need gear-wise is a good stove. We did a little day trip into New York state and had a peek in an outdoor store called Gander (I think?)-what an experience that was. I'll get into that in a bit. Here's a recent photo of the little man enjoying some wild life! Courtesy of a reptile zoo nearby...And here we are at our Mother's Day tea at school...The quilt show that I was involved in at the beginning of the month was fantastic. Lots of work, but well worth it. We've been receiving loads of compliments, and criticism too...but overall, everyone seemed pleased. Here's just a sampling of some of the talent we have within our Guild.Ok now...creativeness aside...I have a bit of a rant...please stop reading if you would prefer not to hear my ramblings! This little piece is a direct result of our recent visit to a Gander outdoor supply store in northern New York, Watertown to be specific.I'm not what you would call a politically-minded person. I have a hard time grasping onto the strong feelings that some of my friends to the south have about their "fearless leaders". Don't get me wrong, I have deep seated emotions about what is right and what is wrong and feel that the powers that be need to take a serious look at issues such as child poverty, drug issues, medical care, etc. Basically anything that falls in the sphere of social welfare (domestic or international)-keep in mind I'm a bleeding heart social worker...'nuff said. Don't ask me if I vote...ask me why I choose not to.A few years ago, my better half was working on a project that became, and continues to be, a gaping wound in many a Canadians eyes. He was merely a techie dude working behind the scenes to get this thing off the ground. When a social work prof asked what my husband did, I told him, and then I received a proper lashing. You see, dearest was working on a program that would track firearms in my country. The Gun Registry was doomed from day one...too much money spent, too many people refusing to register their guns, etc etc. There were threats, protests, for pete's sake, poop was sent in an envelope to someone working on this thing. Yes, we are a civilized bunch aren't we? I don't own a gun, I will never own a gun, and quite frankly, I'm not sure why anyone needs to have one...unless they are hunting for sustenance. This is my honest opinion. I had a high school friend accidently shoot himself while hunting for raccoons on his uncle's farm-he died, I have watched Bowling for Columbine-and shook my head in bewilderment, I have given many a hunter shit for crossing private property-property belonging to an social service agency which housed teenagers, I have debated with my husband's cousin (who's from Texas and was born with a gun in his hand)-but never was I more appalled than the day I walked into this sporting goods store.People...we do not sell guns, gun paraphernalia, open boxes of ammunition, cross bows, arrows, etc. I am proud to be a Canadian. I am glad that my son will never walk into a local Canadian Tire store or Walmart or MEC and be greeting with the disturbing sight of five foot tall displays of bullets. My feeling toward weapons, firearms or not, has obviously been affected by the simple fact that my brother is a police officer. I realize that he is put in harms way on every shift, he is on the tactical/explosives detonation unit as well. Not exactly a desk man if you know what I mean. I have had this discussion with him on many occasions...he tells me that without this registry, he and his colleagues would be put at risk. When he responds to a call, more often than not, he is made aware of any weapons that may be on the premises. He carries a firearm...a firearm he has been trained to use. A firearm he has yet to use. He can count on one hand the number of times he has drawn his gun...This could very well be the most incoherent piece I have ever written in my life! But..it eases my mind to vent a bit. In the end, I think that I am far more critical of this world since the birth of my son. It pains me that he won't have the same simple childhood, full of fun and innocence, that his father and I enjoyed. End of rant...Below are a few photos I took when my brother participated in a police memorial on Parliament Hill here in Ottawa. What an amazing sight...just an absolute sea of police men and women. I have never been more proud of my brother...I am always proud of my country.

How We Win at Securing Customers

Symantec's Cutting Edge 2008 engineering conference had a remarkable symmetry on the second day. The first keynote was delivered by Enrique Salem, COO of Symantec, and the last one by Chris Hoff, Chief Architect of Unisys. Remarkably, they spoke with almost color-coordinated phrases. Enrique said that the way Symantec was going to differentiate itself from competitors was to focus on virtualization, information risk management and SaaS (software as a service). Chris Hoff talked about the "virtualization of security" or as he said, the three most important trends in the industry at the moment: virtualization, security and management of risk, and lastly, "cloud computing"/SaaS. Chris described the four horsemen of the apocalypse (be afraid, be very afraid) in trying to focus attention on the challenges posed in the brave new world of network security in a virtualized world. It brought to mind the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge facing Symantec at the moment. How do we work better together - using our products and our teams to solve customer problems? Enrique called attention to the unique positioning of the Symantec product portfolio in responding to these challenges. He gave the example of the Symantec Open Collaborative Architecture (OCA) through which Symantec products can share data, workflow, and management capabilities to jointly address customer problems. What is different about the OCA from previous integration efforts? The answer is that it is based on a proven product set--the Altiris (now Symantec) management platform--and on industry web services standards. The Symantec OCA allows products to collaborate through the Symantec Workflow Engine, by exposing web services or by utilizing the Altiris platform and console. Another takeaway from the conference was Joe Fitzgerald's reference to the number of patents in the Symantec patent portfolio. Fitzgerald, the VP of our legal department, referred to the Wall Street Journal's Technology Index, in part based on the patent portfolio owned by technology companies, which is considered to be critical to success. (Remember, the conference is about "How We Win.") Symantec is 16th on the WSJ Technology Index. Overall, a very insightful day.

The Celebrity Manicure

As a nail lacquer lover, I've been counting down the days to the arrival of spring to debut brightly colored fingertips. But I refuse to endure another season of swapping out the same shades of red, pink and orange. BORING! In desperate need of a mani upgrade, I decided to get MINX'd. After reading about the mirror-like applique manicures -- which are a favorite among celebrities and socialites -- in Vogue, I decided I. Had.To. Have.It. Luckily, New York writer, Huge Lips, Skinny Hips-creator, and soon-to-be-Stylelist blogger Karen Robinovitz was organizing a MINX'd nail party at her West Village apartment. There, I got the full scoop from nail extraordinaire Honey: MINX creator Janice Jordan grew frustrated with constantly chipped nails and developed a formula that's inspired by NASCAR decal technology. These metallic, film appliques give nails a sleek, mirror-finish -- sure to zoom pass French tips as the most requested look. And celebs like Blake Lively, Zoe Kravitz, and Beyonce (who flashed 'Gold Lightning' in her "Single Ladies" video) are riding this new wave in nail trends.

weirdness

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Jennifer! Jennifer can be very poisonous if injected intravenously.According to the story, Pinocchio was made of jennifer.South Australia was the first place to allow jennifer to stand for parliament.Only 55 percent of Americans know that the sun is made of jennifer.Jenniferocracy is government by jennifer.In Vermont, the ratio of cows to jennifer is 10:1!If a snake is born with two heads, the heads will fight over who gets jennifer.All gondolas in Venice must be painted black unless they belong to jennifer!If you lie on your back with your legs stretched it is impossible to sink in jennifer.Olive oil was used for washing jennifer in the ancient Mediterranean world.I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

IronMan baby

interesting anlimals

Harry Potter

I had a conversation with my best friend's mom some time ago and it just came to mind, so I thought I would include it here. It is important to know that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I own all of the books, have seen all of the movies and own the ones that are available on DVD. I have a Hogwarts watch and a replica of the necklace Hermione wore ot travel through time. I even wore it to dress up as Hermione to hand out candy this Halloween. One of our wedding gifts was book six, which came out on our wedding day. We nearly had duplicate copies because multiple guests were going to buy it for us. My love of Harry Potter is no secret. That said, my friend's mom does not share this adoration of Harry Potter. As she told me, she started reading the first book and it just wasn't there for her. She did not connect to the book in the way I did. She thought perhaps I was drawn to the magic and wizardry in a way that she was not. It really was not that for me at all, so a discussion ensued, where I basically stated the following.*Harry Potter is a foster kid like I was.*He was placed in kinship care after his parents died. I entered kinship care after my primary care taker, my grandma, died. They were all three (his parents and my grandma) taken in very sudden and horrific ways.*Kinship care ended and he moved on to a place that better allowed him to be himself and pursue his talents. This was also true for me. Entering foster care allowed me more of an opportunity to be a kid, do extra-curriculars and make friends. *Harry witnessed some terrible things in this new place. I witnessed some terrible things in foster care. I witnessed other kids being abused and was powerless to stop it. The people inflicting this were demented. He faced Dementors.*He came through things that other people were amazed he was able to handle at such a young age. The same was true for me. No one expected me to bounce back so well.*We both came through relatively intact, but with some definite scars from our experience.As I sat here writing, I came up with the following additional parallels:Though I have the above in common with Harry, I lived in families the size of Ron Weasly's (and want one in the future), had a disposition similar to Hermione Granger's in school (complete with getting on people's nerves with my academic focus) and still have Neville Longbottom's hand-eye coordination. I see a lot of myself in a number of the characters. In addition, Hagrid reminds me of my foster uncles, if you cross Professor Dumbledore and Sirius Black, you get my husband and my foster mom is a transfiguration spell shy of being Professor McConagall. I have a foster aunt who reminds me of Professor Trelawny as well as a high school friend who is Neville through and through. As far as the evil characters go, my Voldemort is death and separation from the ones you love. I have always had a hard time dealing with both and he deals them continuously. Draco Malfoy is every kid who ever gave me a hard time in school because I was new. When Hermione punched him in the face in book three, it was like she punched every bully on the bus for me. It was a beautiful moment. Lucius Malfoy is the adults who did not understand foster care and who acted weird toward me as a result. Snape represents for me all of my foster parents who should not have been licensed and appeared so transparent to me, while the authorities were completely oblivious to their B.S. I had a foster family that punished one of my foster sisters by making her sit on the stairs to the basement for weeks on end, from the moment she woke up until she went to bed. No one was to speak to her or give her any attention of any type. The whole set up of the basement staircase and her isolation from everyone else in the house was what I thought of when I first read about Harry sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs.So, I may be a bit obsessed with the books. I really connected with them. I would be interested to see if other foster children and former foster children feel the same way.

Packed Lunches

It does not surprise anyone when I tell them that most of my salary each month is spent on food. Others save up to buy a handbag or a pair of expensive heels, but I, I splurge on meals that excite, fascinate and please me. Whether is it dessert at my favourite patisserie, or pizza at my favourite pizzeria, when it comes to food, it isn't hard to convince me to part with my money for a gastronomic experience. This has been the case since I earned that spending power when I left school and started working. You'd think that it's a brilliant arrangement. And I do agree, readily. But right now, I think I have to set my priorites straight, and watch how I spend my money, especially if I am to aim for bigger things like travel. You see, I have been wanting to travel far and wide. I want to go places that I have only seen in photos and heard about from friends. There are experiences which I am dying to dive into. The desire stems from travel deprivation. My family have never travelled far. My parents have only been to Malaysia. They have never sat on a plane. As a kid, the only places I went to were across the causeway - Malacca, KL, Genting, Penang. After every long holiday in June and December, I will return to school and classmates will recount their distant travels to cool places like Disneyland in America or Japan, or Europe. I lapped these descriptions up with such eagerness, making mental notes of the places that I will go to when I am all grown up and have the means to. Today, I am all grown up and I have been blessed to have first sat on a plane when I was 14. My school had organised an educational History trip to Bangkok and I jumped at the chance. The second time I saw the insides of a Boeing was in 2001 when my dearest aunt allowed me to join her on her trip to Brighton and London. That experience changed me, in so many ways. I remember telling her how unreal this was - that fact that I was in such a beautiful place away from home. You know the cliched phrase? How the grass is always greener on the other side? Damn, that's true. I got to see Shakespeare's house, I witnessed a celebration for the Queen Mother's birthday outside Buckingham Palace. I managed to snap a shot of her in a carriage as it went past me. I watched Cats at Westend. There were many castles and towers that I fawned over. Blooming gardens that made me gasp out loud in simple amazment. London, was simply spectacular. I did not feel any gloom (I thought the weather was fine actually :) Recently, I went to Bali for a dear friend's wedding. As mentioned, she has since moved to New York. That obviously warrants me to pick New York as my next destination, naturally. She's been asking when will I visit. I had wanted to go next year but I don't think I can wait. Sometimes, when creating goals, you need to fix the target and do whatever it takes to reach it. New York is worthy enough of such persistance. I am planning to finally pursue one of my travel dreams - to spend Christmas in New York. It will not be cheap. I know that. But I'm ready to do whatever it takes. I am willing to spend less on food. That might sound like a total abomination I know. But hey, one has to do whatever one has to do to get to their dreams and goals, no? If life has taught me something, it is this. Time waits for no one. So you ask what am I going to do? Starve? Nah, I'm too greedy to do that. I'm going to be smart about it. The answer's very simple, really. Packed lunches. That's going to be my saving grace. Don't worry, I will not deprive myself of that fantastic meal once in a while. It's just that lunch is my perfect opportunity. That's how I am going to cut costs. As expected, I have been looking up on tasty options for my packed lunches. So these days, I usually pack whatever leftovers there were the night before (quite a regular thing because Dad always cooks so much!) or I cook before-hand. I have since found several ways to satiate my appetite in a way that doesn't depress me. You will not find me sad eating my packed lunch. I do find it fun actually. It is also much healthier. Especially when you have full control over what seasoning and ingredients you will be using.Recently, I came across a brown rice recipe that I thought was dead simple and tastes great. It's a nutty brown rice recipe. Yes, there's lots of nuts in it. Nuts are good and I happen to like nuts so I found it pretty amazing. They are one of the best plant sources of protein. Aren't nuts fatty, you ask. Yes they are high in fat, but mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Those are good fats - omega 3, known to lower LDL cholestrol. Bottomline: it's good for you, as long as you don't overdose. Not only do they contain Vitamin E and selenium, but also phytonutrients and antioxidants. Plus, they are high in fibre.Are you sold yet? I hope so, because here's the recipe below. I hope you will try it and believe me. Make sure you are not allergic to nuts though. I find that the rice is tasty enough to have on its own but please feel free to throw in random tasty bits like ham (I did that before and liked the result).Who says packed lunches are boring, eh? Stay tuned for more recipes for packed lunches as I try my darnest to save up for New York. Cheer me on why don't you! :)________________________________________________Nutty Brown Rice 4 cups water1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice3 tablespoons unsalted butter1 1/4 cups mixed nuts, chopped1/4 teaspoon grated nutmegBring water to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, about 40 minutes. Drain in a sieve.Heat butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides. Add nuts and cook, stirring, until butter and nuts are golden brown, about 4 minutes.Add rice and nutmeg to skillet and toss to coat.GourmetNovember 2008by Andrea Albin

Make every day a mother's day!

Mothers day on the calendar only comes once a year but in your household, help make every day become a Mother's Day. In fact, with that special day being only a few weeks away, some of your thoughts at this time can range anywhere from what are you going to do for your mother, spouse or other loved one to should it be a product gift or something more personal. If it is the product route, how can it be made more personalized? If it is the gift of time, how can it be made more personal?Mothers Day for some will be welcomed with feelings of excitement while for others it may be a day of mixed feelings especially so if the mother you will honor has lost a child to tragedy. So that is why whenever you wish to honor someone in your own little way, you should consider where that person may be in their life and then the event. Many people say that it's the thought that counts and yes that's a very good point but so is too know a person and mother's day is no exception.To give you some examples, consider a single mother who's been struggling to raise her children and doing it all alone in every sense of the word, what would make her day on mother's day? What about a seventy-two year old mother who has raised her children but suddenly took on the new responsibilities of raising her grand children, what would she possibly want or deserve?Sure a bouquet of flowers or some other last minute gift would be nice and probably get you off the hook but what would that mother really want to do for that special day? Would she want to spend her day filled with family and special friends or have a day of being responsibility free? If you were in that person's shoes, which would you hope that someone would honor you with for mother's day?You see mothers day or any other day can be made more personal when you put some careful thought into your gift idea. What else would that mother enjoy? What has she wanted to do for a long time? What has she not gotten to experience in her lifetime? How can you really show her she is appreciated?Even a gift that is accompanied with a carefully written letter or note with meaning can put a smile on a mother's face!

Yes, I know this will not work for all moms but that's why in the article it says that YOU need to really know that person. So please just remember it really is the thought that counts especially when you did take some time out to put some thought into your mother's day gift.Oh, one last thing, I invite you to help every day become a Mother's Day. By the way moms, it is ok to drop hints about how you would like to spend your special day and with hope, your spouse, partner, or other loved one will graciously honor your small request. After all, mother's day on the calendar only comes once a year.

The Ten Steps to Happiness After 40

Step 1: Engage in self-reflectionI know -- easier said than done. This includes accepting and loving who you are. This includes accepting and loving the nervous habits that only you know about, those annoying addictions, and that little pot belly or slight jiggle.


All your life perhaps, you have been reminded by a parental voice that you are not quite good enough or smart enough. Or maybe it's a loving spouse who, with all good intentions, is quick to remind you of your faults. It may be just society -- and all the pressures to look and act young while buying lots of stuff and having perfect children and lots of money. All this can make self-reflection a scary proposition, but this is the first and most important step towards happiness.

Step 2: Spend time on what makes you most happySounds logical, doesn't it? Make sure each day contains at least some of these important elements. This will make you happy.

Step 3: Find someone to take of and who can take care of you.Humans need humans. We also need a few -- or even just one -- person we can think about all the time: planning activities with or just daydreaming about. Ideally, this will be the same person who spends their day planning for you, dreaming about you, perhaps making your special cup of tea when you come home at night. With someone to care for in a equal relationship, you will be happy. So many relationships end up lopsided, with one person more dependent on the other. Two people who place each other's needs in high priority in a loving way enables happiness.


Step 4: Be physical.You can run, lift weights, swim, do yoga, walk, make love--you get the idea. Motion changes emotion. Stuck in a depression? Get out and move!

Step 5: Take afternoon naps.A twenty-minute nap lying down will recharge your batteries. Add eight hours of sleep each night, and you will feel rested. When we are rested, our creativity soars, our spirits are lifted, and we look at the bright side of our lives.

Step 6: Eat small meals throughout the day.The typical American diet is little to no breakfast, a decent lunch, and a huge dinner. Break this pattern. Start to eat smaller meals throughout the day. I recommend five meals throughout the day, small and healthy meals, of course.What we eat has a huge influence on our attitude, and ultimately our happiness. Fight the urge for unheathy foods. Healthy eating habits can help make you happy.

Success In A Home Business Is All In Your Head

That’s right folks being successful at a home business is all in your head!
What I mean by that is that you must have the proper mindset to be successful.


Home businesses are not rocket science but you will still need someone to show
you how to market your business. If you chose a program where your sponsor will
benefit by helping you then you will defiantly be on the right path to success.


Keep in your mind that nothing is going to stop you from making it. To the
people around you this type of business will seem unreal. Don’t let what they
say or the look they might give you detour you from your goal.


I promise you it just doesn’t happen that way. You will have to work at it and
build it from scratch. The biggest thing is that you never give up.


That’s the way home businesses are in the beginning. It takes a little time to
get yourself out to the public but once you do LOOK OUT! So stay in the mindset
that you committed yourself to when you started and you will be successful!

Hitwise Stats Put Google On Top Yet Again

Health, travel, and shopping sites cheer
Hitwise has released a new report on the search market, and it's starting to look like the only way Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask can hope to catch Google is through the detonation of some explosives.
Google is, as you surely guessed, on top. In March, it was the engine through which 72.39 percent of all U.S. searches ran. Yahoo came in second, with a share of 16.36 percent, and Microsoft placed third with 5.50 percent.

Ask's month-to-month situation is a little bit interesting - it made a small amount of progress - but like the other runners-up, it lost share year-to-year, and the property remained in fourth place with 4.07 percent.

For something a little different, then, let's look at the way in which Google handles its power. Hitwise measured the amount of traffic it sends to different industry categories, and found a whopping 33.76 percent of "Health and Medical"'s flow comes from this one source. Exactly 27.43 percent of "Travel" traffic comes from Google, while the "Shopping and Classifieds" sector should thank the search giant for 17.51 percent of the visitors it sees.

So although Google's dominant position might make for a dull race, plenty of people aside from its stockholders and AdSense users are probably just fine with the situation.

Google Patents Showing Link Info Before Click

All the way back in 2003, Google filed a patent application for "Methods and systems for assisted network browsing. That patent has been granted this week. The patent abstract reads:
Systems and methods for assisted network browsing are described. In one described method, a client device receives an interest signal indicating a user's interest in a hyperlink contained in a first document. The client device responds to the interest signal by generating a request signal comprising a request for third-party-provided information about a second document associated with the hyperlink. The client device receives the requested third-party-provided information and causes it to be output in association with the first document.

Think about all that Google has created and acquired in the years since December 31, 2003 when this patent was filed. It's hard to say just what Google had in mind for this and if that is still relevant to the company's plans years later. Could it have been just a way to look at info on search results before you went to them? Bill Slawski at SEO By the Sea ponders whether or not it is something that could be applied to the Chrome browser. Has some ideas of possible things that could be displayed:- Ratings- Annotations- History of use- Anchor text pointing to the page from other pages- Summaries or other data associated with the destination page.

Facebook Now At 200 Million Users

Growing rapidly
Facebook celebrated its 5th birthday in early February and at the time it had more than 150 million users globally.
Now the social networking site has reached a new milestone and has announced it has 200 million members worldwide.
"Growing rapidly to 200 million users is a really good start, but we've always known that in order for Facebook to help people represent everything that is happening in their world, everyone needs to have a voice," Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, wrote on the company blog.
"This is why we are working hard to build a service that everyone, everywhere can use, whether they are a person, a company, a president or an organization working for change."

Facebook is also partnering with 16 charitable and advocacy groups to create gifts for members to share with 90-95 percent of the proceeds going to the organizations and the rest to cover administrative costs.

Google Image Search Adds New Features

Color Filters and Image Search Suggestions

Interestingly, as Barry Schwartz points out, the image search suggestions are not always the same as the web search suggestions. About a week ago Google took search suggestions global.

The second new image search feature is the addition of a color filter. You know the drop down menus on the image results pages that allow you to select the image sizes and type of images (clip art, photos, faces, etc.)? There will now be one that allows you to select a color. The example Google gives is searching for a green sea anemone, and then a red one:
Why you couldn't just search for "green sea anemone" or "red sea anemone" is beyond me, but it's just another way to easily select the type of results you're after. I am personally not seeing the feature yet, but Google says it is being rolled out, so it shouldn't be long. Look for the drop-down box in the blue bar on the image search results pages.

Flower drawn

Korea Drama

Pistachio

In China Pistachio is called"happy nut"

Really?It can bring happiness? lol

Beauty

one world one dream

1SB=2B

$1=3.1415926SB