Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Why The Internet Is Like A Penis
* It can be up or down. It's more fun when it's up, but that makes it difficult to get any real work done.
* In the long-distant past, its only purpose was to transmit information considered vital to the survival of the species. Some people still think that's the only thing it should be used for, but most folks today use it for fun most of the time.
* It has no conscience and no memory. Left to its own devices, it will just do the same damn dumb things it did before.
* It provides a way to interact with other people. Some people take this interaction very seriously, others treat it as a lark. Sometimes it's hard to tell what kind of person you're dealing with until it's too late.
* If you don't apply the appropriate protective measures, it can spread viruses.
* It has no brain of its own. Instead, it uses yours. If you use it too much, you'll find it becomes more and more difficult to think coherently.
* We attach an importance to it that is far greater than its actual size and influence warrant.
* If you're not careful what you do with it, it can get you in big trouble.
* It has its own agenda. Somehow, no matter how good your intentions, it will warp your behavior. Later you may ask yourself "why on earth did I do that?"Some folks have it, some don't.Those who have it would be devastated if it were ever cut off. Theythink that those who don't have it are somehow inferior. They thinkit gives them power. They are wrong.Those who don't have it may agree that it's a nifty toy, but thinkit's not worth the fuss that those who do have it make about it.Still, many of those who don't have it would like to try it.
* Once you've started playing with it, it's hard to stop. Some people would just play with it all day if they didn't have work to do.
just in case you didn't know (cause i didn't till i read this)
http://www.johnmwillis.com/other/top-10-worst-captchas/
Top 10 Worst Captchas
By John February 16, 2008
Don’t you just love Captchas? CAPTCHA is an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing Test.” Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.” I just call them PITA (pain in the ass). Here are my top 10 worst Captcha’s ever.
click the link and see some really really horrible PITAs, lol
Stocks soar, Dow rises 420 points - Yahoo! News
NEW YORK - Wall Street stormed higher Tuesday as investors, optimistic following stronger-than-expected earnings from two big investment banks, were also galvanized by the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 420 points, its biggest one-day point gain in more than five years.
Many investors were expecting the Fed to cut rates a full point, but appeared to overcome their early disappointment, especially since a 0.75 point cut is still substantial. The central bank's benchmark fed funds rate is now at 2.25 percent — its lowest level since December 2004, and less than half what it was last summer. The Fed began lowering rates exactly six months ago, after the credit markets seized up due to soaring defaults in subprime mortgages.
In its statement accompanying the rate decision, the Fed said "recent information indicates that the outlook for economic activity has weakened further," but also that "uncertainty about the inflation outlook has increased."
"The Fed once again in the statement showed that it is ready for further action if this were needed," said Christian Menegatti, lead analyst for online economic research firm RGE Monitor. "It also showed the fact that it's still paying attention to inflation ... but that it is far from being the primary concern right now. And the market knows that, and it is happy."
Quarterly results from Lehman Brothers Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. early Tuesday gave great comfort to a market fearful about investment banks weakening further — and hurting the rest of the economy — due to losing bets on mortgage-backed securities. After Sunday's news that the stricken Bear Stearns Cos. was being bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co. at a bargain price of $2 a share, both Lehman and Goldman posted quarterly profits early Tuesday that were significantly lower than they were a year ago, but higher than analysts predicted.
"The overwhelming news this morning was the Lehman and Goldman Sachs earnings," said Jim Herrick, director of equity trading at Baird & Co. "The earnings this morning allayed investors' fears that there's going to be a hard collapse."
Still, while Wall Street's advance was heartening, investors were well aware that over the past six months, stocks have had many bursts higher, only to give them back at the first sign of credit market or economic trouble.
It will take some time before anyone knows whether the market is back on a true upward track, or is just staging another bear market rally. As market watchers will recall, the Dow jumped 416 points just last Wednesday after a $200 billion loan pledge from the Fed. A great deal of those gains evaporated late last week on worries about Bear Stearns.
After the Fed's decision was announced, the Dow first gave back half of its 300-point gain, then shot higher, closing up 420.41, or 3.51 percent, at 12,392.66. The Dow's point gain was the largest point jump for the Dow since a 447-point advance on July 29, 2002, when Wall Street was also struggling with a protracted decline.
Broader stock indicators also finished sharply higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 54.14, or 4.24 percent, at 1,330.74, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 91.25, or 4.19 percent, to 2,268.26, the steepest percentage gain for the tech-heavy index in five years.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.50 percent from 3.30 percent late Friday.
It was a good sign that short-dated Treasury prices rose while long-dated bonds fell, said Michael Materasso, senior vice president at Franklin Templeton. "What you're seeing is an unwinding of this flight-to-quality that we saw last week," he said, adding that the Fed's cut and statement indicated that it is willing to act further, but "not panicking."
After its last scheduled meeting Jan. 30, the Fed reduced rates by a half-point, pointing to not only stressed financial markets, but also tightening credit for businesses and households; a deepening in the housing contraction; and softening in the labor markets. The central bank repeated these concerns in its statement Tuesday.
Data released Tuesday supported the notion that the economy is sliding while costs are rising. The Commerce Department said home construction fell in February: housing starts fell 0.6 percent, while building permits plummeted 7.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported a 0.3 percent rise in its Producer Price Index for February, in line with estimates, but the core PPI, which strips out food and energy prices, rose by a greater-than-expected 0.5 percent.
Although the market was clearly upbeat on Tuesday, many on Wall Street have been unsure recently that rate cuts will give the markets and the economy the lift they need; rate cuts usually spur growth, but they also drive down the dollar, which in turn lifts commodities prices. It's likely that the uncertainty will lead to some more pullbacks until investors have a sense that the economy is indeed recovering.
Wall Street certainly remains nervous about the effect of inflation on cash-strapped homeowners. Still, the Fed's language about inflation Tuesday could be oddly comforting to investors, who may be relieved that policymakers weren't so preoccupied with troubles in the credit market as to set aside inflationary concerns.
"They're saying, 'You're healthy enough for me to talk about inflation,' " said Swiss Re senior economist Arun Raha.
Following the Fed's move, the dollar regained ground against some major currencies, while gold prices fell and crude oil surged $3.74 to settle at $109.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 9 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.38 billion shares, compared with 5.69 billion shares traded Monday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 31.45, or 4.83 percent, to 681.93.
Financial stocks were the biggest winners Tuesday. Lehman rose $14.74, or 46 percent, to $46.49; Goldman rose $24.57, or 16 percent, to $175.59; and Bear Stearns rose $1.10, or nearly 23 percent, to $5.91.
Stock markets overseas, which closed before the Fed decision, rebounded Tuesday from sharp drops a day earlier. Japan's Nikkei stock average bounced 1.50 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.42 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 3.54 percent, Germany's DAX index added 3.41 percent, and France's CAC-40 increased 3.42 percent.
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ARTHUR C. CLARKE DIES, NO GOOD AT ALL, HIS BOOKS WERE GREAT, I READ 5-6 OF THEM BACK IN THE DAY
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who co-wrote "2001: A Space Odyssey" and won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday, an aide said. He was 90.
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CHOPIN PRELUDES 10-14, 16
IF YOU'VE PLAYED PIANO, YOU KNOW HOW HARD SOME OF THE PRELUDES ARE, PAY ATTENTION TO #12 PRELUDE, SHE'S MADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD g AT THAT ONE, NO CHOICE
PRELUDE #12 OP 28 - G-SHARP MINOR PRESTO SON
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Grad Money Matters: 10 Steps Using Which Even a Lazy Person Can Be a Millionaire
Part 1: A quick summary of steps
- Start early
- Don’t ever turn down free money
- Make savings automatic
- Invest wisely
- Plan for everyday expenses
- Be prepared for unexpected expenses and emergencies
- Live below your means
- Avoid consumer debt at all costs
- Stop the money leaks
- Build up equity, set up streams of passive income etc.
- Bonus step: Eat and live healthy
Put the power of compounding on your side. The earlier you start the more time your money has for compounding. When you can have interest earning interest, you would be surprised by the way in which little amounts of money can turn into large fortunes.
Be it your employer offered 401K match, employee stock purchase options that offer immediate 10-15% returns, bonus for using one realtor versus the other when you buy a home, cash back on credit cards etc. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
We are human and if things were left to us to do everything on our own, we would still all be stuck in the Stone Age. Just as we trust everything else in life to automation, put your savings on auto mode too. Make sure that every month, before your paycheck is delivered to you, a part of it is deposited into a savings account.
If your money sits in your bank, then over the course of time due to inflation, it actually shrinks instead of growing! So choose your investment vehicle wisely, preferable something like the stock market or real estate which can offer you a growth percentage that is much more than the inflation rate. And a quick reminder – don’t get too greedy and gamble away your money on high risk investments.
Be sure that you have planned for your everyday expenses in such a way that small variations will not force you to abandon your above savings plan. People use all sorts of budgeting with different degrees of granularity. Pick the one that works for you.
The steps above can help you start building a nest egg. But, life has a way of throwing curve balls at you just when you start to get comfortable. And at such occasions, if you have to dip into your nest egg, you wipe out the benefits of compounding and your nest egg will never get a chance to grow exponentially. So make sure you have a separate fund to deal with all sorts of small and large unexpected expenses and emergencies.
Make sure you manage to live within your means. This doesn’t mean that you start depriving yourself and not indulge in any of life’s fine things. It just means that you prioritize your indulgences and give into only those whims that offer you the most pleasure and are things you can afford. Before you spend your money think if it is something that will bring you or your family joy or if your are just doing it to show off to your friends and relatives.
If you have a great offense but your defense sucks, you will still not be able to win many matches. Same thing applies to your financial plan. Unless you beef up your defense against consumer debt such as credit cards debt, auto loans etc., you will find it hard to reach your financial goals.
Look at your personal life – do you have any weak spots that are causing money leaks? These could be harmful addictions such smoking, alcohol, drugs etc. or harmless ones such as addiction to buying the latest CDs, books, shoes whatever. If it is something you do compulsively and is draining your bank balance, you should look into plugging them or at least getting them under control so the little leaks don’t turn in to gushing money drains.
Finally, in addition to the money you are saving make some provisions for yourself as you retire. Buy only as much home as you can afford and pay towards equity instead of rent, so someday in the future you can have a roof over your head without paying either rent or mortgage. Set up a stream of passive income to help you retire early or enjoy additional indulgences while you get there. While setting up additional income streams will in general need you to do some additional work, there are a few lazy options like investing in dividend yielding stocks or funding an energetic friend’s upcoming startup :)
This is really not obvious, but if you don’t take care of your health today, then as you grow older, a lot of that money you are saving will go toward paying your medical bills. Try to eat a balanced diet and incorporate some exercise in your daily routine. If you can go to the gym, great. If not then choose walking instead of driving, stairs instead of the elevators etc. Small changes can pay off huge dividends in the long run – both in your and your bank balance’s ability to live long and healthy lives.
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Kitchen Tips
CHRIST! IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!! - Fed Cuts Rates by 3/4 Percentage Point: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
Fed Cuts Rates by 3/4 Percentage Point
Tuesday March 18, 2:48 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
The latest action brought the federal funds rate -- the interest that banks charge each other -- down to 2.25 percent, the lowest point since late 2004. It marked the second back-to-back cuts of three-fourths of a percentage point.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have now cut the funds rate six times since last September, with the reductions becoming more aggressive since January as the central bank has faced growing turmoil in global financial markets.
However, there has been opposition inside the Fed to the aggressive moves. The latest rate cut came on an 8-2 vote with two members of the Federal Open Market Committee dissenting. Both Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas regional Fed bank, and Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia regional Fed bank, voted against the rate cut, arguing they would have preferred less aggressive action.
In explaining its actions, the Fed said that it was having to navigate a difficult policy environment that included sluggish economic activity and rising inflation pressures.
The Fed statement said that "the outlook for economic activity has weakened further" but that "inflation has been elevated" with some signs that expectations of future inflation pressures are rising, a dangerous sign for the Fed.
But the Fed signaled that it stood ready to cut rates further if necessary, saying that "downside risks to growth remain." Bernanke and other Fed officials have said in recent comments that they view the threat of economic weakness as a bigger risk at the moment than inflation given the risks to financial markets.
"Financial markets remain under considerable stress and the tightening of credit conditions and the deepening of the housing contraction are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters," the Fed said in its statement.
In Jacksonville, Fla., Tuesday, President Bush said the government will take further action -- if necessary -- to help the sagging economy.
The rate cut Tuesday caps an unprecedented period of Fed actions aimed at trying to stabilize financial markets and ward off a recession or at least keep it from being too severe.
While the cut was larger than the Fed's normal quarter-point moves, investors were initially disappointed that the central bank did not cut rates by a full percentage point.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 100 points within two minutes of the Fed's mid-afternoon announcement but it then resumed climbing and was up nearly 200 points within the first half-hour after the announcement. It had been up 286 points just before the announcement as stocks had posted a strong rally after Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter. That came as welcome news following the collapse over the weekend of Bear Stearns, which was forced into a fire-sale to JP Morgan Chase & Co.
The reduction in the funds rate was designed to lower borrowing costs and boost spending by consumers and businesses and thus increase economic activity. Economic growth slowed to a near standstill in the final three months of this year as the economy was hit by a series of blows including the credit crunch, a prolonged housing slump, rising unemployment and surging energy prices.
The funds rate cut quickly triggered announcements from commercial banks that they were cutting their prime lending rate to 5.25 percent from 6 percent, where it was before the Fed meeting. This rate is the benchmark for millions of business and consumer loans.
The spectacular fall of Bear Stearns, which had been the nation's fifth largest investment bank, has raised concerns about what other banks might fail as a result of multibillon-dollar losses that began last year with rising defaults on subprime mortgages, loans made to borrowers with weak credit histories.
The purchase of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase & Co. was helped by a pledge from the Fed that it would supply a $30 billion line of credit to back up Bear Stearns' assets.
That offer was the latest in a number of unconventional moves the central bank has made, including employing Depression-era procedures to pump cash into the financial system.
In addition to providing support for the Bear Stearns sale, the Fed also announced Sunday one of the broadest expansions of its lending authority since the 1930s, saying it would allow securities dealers for at least the next six months to borrow directly from the Fed. That privilege had been confined to commercial banks.
In other moves, the Fed last week announced that it would lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities that it owns to investment banks starting March 27 for a period of up to 28 days in return for a like amount of the investment banks' shunned mortgage-backed securities. The Fed also announced recently that it was boosting the size of special loans it has been making since December to commercial banks.
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Og Mandino Quotes
Act now. For now is all you have.
Action is the food and drink which will nourish my success.
Action will destroy your procrastination.
All men must stumble often to reach the truth.
All nature is a circle of moods and you are a part of nature and so, like
the tides, your moods will rise; your moods will fall.
All your problems, discouragements, and heartaches are, in truth, great
opportunities in disguise.
Always let your reach exceed your grasp.
Always raise your goals as soon as they are attained.
Always strive to make the next hour better than this one.
Always take another step. If that is to no avail take another, and yet
another. One step at a time is not too difficult.
Any act with practice becomes easy.
Apply all of your efforts to become the highest mountain of all and strain
your potential until it cries for mercy.
Avoid with fury the killers of time.
Bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.
Bathe me in good habits that the bad ones may drown.
Be happy.
Be hungry for success.
Be prepared to control whatever personality awakes in you each day.
Become master of yourself.
Begin now to accent your differences.
Beginning today, you can increase your accomplishments of yesterday by a
hundredfold.
Bury doubt under faith.
Cherish each hour of this day for it can never return.
Chuckle and your burdens will be lightened.
Concentrate your energy on the challenge of the moment.
Confidence will take away your fear.
Consider each obstacle as a mere detour to your goal and a challenge to your
profession.
Consider each obstacle as a mere detour to your goal.
Count your blessings today.
Cultivate the habit of laughter.
Destroy procrastination with action.
Dismember fear with confidence.
Do not allow yesterday's success to lull you into today's complacency, for
this is the great foundation of failure.
Do not be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments or indulge in
self-praise for deeds which are too small to even acknowledge.
Do not commit the terrible crime of aiming too low.
Do not dwell on the past.
Do not judge a man on one meeting.
Do not listen to those who weep and complain, for their disease is
contagious.
Do not make vain attempts to imitate others.
Do not permit the petty happenings of today to disturb you.
Do not think of yesterday or tomorrow.
Do not waste a moment mourning yesterday's misfortunes, yesterday's defeats,
or yesterday's aches of the heart.
Drink every minute to its fill; savor its taste and give thanks.
Drive a bad habit from your life and replace it with one which will bring
you closer to success.
Each day will be triumphant only when your smiles bring forth smiles from
others.
Each failure to sell will increase your chances for success at your next
attempt.
Each frown you meet only prepares you for the smile to come.
Each minute of today will be more fruitful than the hours of yesterday.
Your last must be your best.
Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow's good
luck.
Each nay I hear will bring me closer to the sound of yea.
Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid
them and you throw away your future.
Each struggle, each defeat sharpens your skills and strengthens your courage
and your endurance.
Enjoy today's happiness today.
Failure does not course through your veins as you were not delivered into
this world in defeat.
Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle.
Failure will never overtake you if your determination to succeed is strong
enough.
For now you know one of the greatest principles of success; if you persist
long enough you will win.
Forget the happenings of the day that is gone, whether they were good or
bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that this will be the best day of
your life.
Fulfill today's duties today.
Good habits are the key to all success.
Grant me compassion for weaknesses in others.
Grasp each minute of this day with both hands and fondle it with love for
its value is beyond price.
Green grass grows where dry desert ends.
Greet the sunrise with cries of joy.
Happiness is the wine that sharpens the taste of the meal.
Have confidence that this will be the best day of your life.
I can accomplish far more than I have, and I will, for why would the miracle
which produced me end with my birth? Why can I not extend that miracle to
my deeds of today?
I consider poverty to be the mark of a lack of ability or a lack of
ambition.
I have a choice and I will not let my life be fed to swine nor will I let it
be ground under the rocks of failure and despair to be broken open and
devoured by the will of others.
I have not time to hate, only time to love.
I need not wait for I have the power to choose my own destiny.
I shall live this day as if it is my last. And if it is not, I shall fall
to my knees and give thanks.
I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles
for they are my challenge.
I will be successful.
I will command, and I will obey mine own command.
I will do the work that a failure will not do.
I will encourage my friends and they will become brothers.
I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.
I will form good habits and become their slave.
I will greet this day with love in my heart.
I will greet this day with love, and I will succeed.
I will laud mine enemies and they will become friends.
I will laugh at evil and it will die untasted.
I will look on all things with love, and I will be born again.
I will love all mankind.
I will love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even
though they may be hidden.
I will love myself.
I will love the ambitious for they can inspire me!
I will love the beautiful for their eyes of sadness; I will love the ugly
for their souls of peace.
I will love the failures for they can teach me.
I will love the kings for they are but human; I will love the meek for they
are divine.
I will love the rich for they are yet lonely; I will love the poor for they
are so many.
I will love the young for the faith they hold; I will love the old for the
wisdom they share.
I will persist until I succeed.
I will persist and I will win.
I will say it is done before the failure says it is too late.
I will talk when the failure remains silent.
I will think naught of my profession when I am in my home for this will
dampen my love.
I will toil and I will endure.
I will walk where the failure fears to walk.
I will welcome happiness for it enlarges my heart.
I will work when the failure seeks rest.
If all things shall pass, why should I be of concern for today ?
If I delay, success will become betrothed to another and lost to me forever.
If I have no other qualities I can succeed with love alone.
If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will
succeed.
If I stumble I will rise, and my falls will not concern me.
If you bring joy, enthusiasm, brightness, and laughter to your customers,
they will react with joy, enthusiasm, brightness, and laughter and your
weather will produce a harvest of sales and a granary of gold for you.
If you feel depressed - sing!
If you feel fear, plunge ahead.
If you feel incompetent, remember past successes.
If you feel insignificant, remember your goals.
If you feel poverty, think of wealth to come.
If you feel sad - laugh.
If you must be a slave to habit, then be a slave to good habits.
If you persist long enough, you will win.
If you waste today, you destroy the last page of your life.
Ignore the obstacles at your feet and keep your eyes on the goals above your
head.
In setting my goals, I will consider my best performance of the past and
multiply it a hundredfold.
Increase your knowledge of mankind.
It pays to be persistent.
Just as love is my weapon to open the hearts of men, love is also my shield
to repulse the arrows of hate and the spears of anger.
Just as nature made no provision for your body to tolerate pain neither has
it made any provision for your life to suffer failure.
Keep work and family separate.
Laugh and your life will be lengthened for this is the great secret of long
life.
Laugh at goodness and it will thrive and abound.
Laugh at the world.
Laugh at your failures and they will vanish in clouds of new dreams.
Laugh at your successes and they will shrink to their true value.
Laugh at yourself for man is most comical when he takes himself too
seriously.
Leave your problems at home.
Lift up a friend in need.
Lift your arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day.
Live this day as if it is your last. Seal up the container of life so that
not one drop spills itself upon the sand.
Live this day as if it is your last.
Live today as if it is your last chance to prove your love and your
greatness.
Look upon each obstacle as a lesson to be learned.
Look upon misfortune as opportunity in disguise.
Love the darkness because it shows you the stars.
Love will melt all hearts like the sun whose rays soften the coldest clay.
Love yourself!
Make every hour count and trade each minute only for something of value.
Make love your greatest weapon.
Make the hours ahead priceless!
Make this day the best day of your life.
Many face each obstacle in their path with fear and doubt and consider them
as enemies, when in truth, these obstructions are friends and helpers.
Many succumb to despair and fail without realizing that they already possess
all the tools needed to acquire great wealth.
Master your emotions so that each day will be productive.
Master your moods through positive action and when you master your moods you
will control your destiny.
Meditation and prayer feeds the soul.
My desire to meet the world will overcome every fear I once knew, and I will
be happier than I ever believed it possible to be in this world of strife
and sorrow.
Nature knows not defeat.
Never allow yourself to become so important, so wise, so dignified, so
powerful, that you forget how to laugh at yourself.
Never be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments.
Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he
who has never tried.
Never will I allow my heart to become small and bitter, rather I will share
it and it will grow and warm the earth.
Never will I allow my mind to be attracted to evil and despair, rather I
will uplift it with the knowledge and wisdom of the ages.
Never will I allow my soul to become complacent and satisfied, rather I will
feed it with meditation and prayer.
Never will I labor to be happy; rather will I remain too busy to be sad.
Never will I overindulge the requests of my flesh, rather I will cherish my
body with cleanliness and moderation.
Never will I scratch for excuses to gossip.
No longer shall my vocabulary include such words as cannot, unable,
impossible, and quit.
No longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate
today.
Obstacles are necessary for success.
Only a habit can subdue another habit.
Only action determines my value in the market place.
Only with laughter and happiness can I enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Only with laughter and happiness can you truly become a success.
People will always respond positively to joy and enthusiasm.
Persist and develop your skills as the mariner develops his, by learning to
ride out the wrath of each storm.
Persist with the knowledge that each failure to sell will increase your
chance for success at the next attempt.
Practice the art of patience for nature never acts in haste.
Put your uniqueness on display in the market place.
Rain cleanses the spirit.
Remember that as today's dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow's bloom so
does today's sadness carry the seed of tomorrow's joy.
Remove from your vocabulary such words and phrases as quit, cannot, unable,
impossible, out of the question, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless,
and retreat; for they are the words of fools.
Rewards are great if one succeeds but the rewards are great only because so
few succeed.
Seek constantly to improve your manners and graces, for they are the sugar
to which all are attracted.
Set goals for the day, the week, the month, the year, and your life.
Should you concern yourself over events which you may never witness? Should
you torment yourself with problems that may never come to pass? No!
Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday, think of it no more.
Sleep in peace for you have not failed.
Small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.
Smile and your digestion will improve.
So long as I can laugh, never will I be poor.
So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist.
Strive for happiness and peace of mind.
Strive for happiness, to be loved and to love, and most important, to
acquire peace of mind and serenity.
Strive to become better than you are.
Strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.
Success comes to those willing to work a little bit harder than the rest.
Success will not wait.
Suffer me to know that all things shall pass.
The height of my goals will not hold me in awe though I may stumble often
before they are reached.
The only difference between those who have failed and those who have
succeeded lies in their habits.
The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning;
and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to
reach my goal.
The problems of the market place will be left in the market place.
The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.
There are good qualities in everyone.
There are lessons to be learned from failures.
There is no room in the market place for your family, nor is there room in
your home for the market.
There is not time to hate, only time to love.
This day is all you have and these hours are now your eternity. Greet this
sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death.
This is the place.
This is the time.
This too shall pass.
Time teaches all things to him who lives forever, but I have not the luxury
of eternity.
To conquer fear I must always act without hesitation and the flutters in my
heart will vanish.
To enjoy success I must have happiness, and laughter will be the maiden who
serves me.
To multiply your value you must multiply your actions.
To surpass the deeds of others is unimportant; to surpass your own deeds is
all.
Today I begin a new life.
Today I shed my old skin which hath too long suffered the bruises of failure
and the wounds of mediocrity.
Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.
Today I will surpass every action which I performed yesterday.
Today you will be master of your emotions.
Today, I will act.
Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy.
Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday.
True wealth is of the heart, not of the purse.
Try again, make one more attempt to close with victory, and if that fails,
make another.
Try, and try, and try again.
Understand and recognize the moods of others. Make allowances for their
anger and irritation for they know not the secret of controlling their
minds.
Unless you act you will perish in a life of failure, misery, and sleepless
nights.
Unless you put your skills, mind, heart, and body to good use, you will
stagnate, rot, and die.
Victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats.
We must have the night to appreciate the day.
Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who
forces his actions to control his thoughts.
Welcome happiness for it enlarges your heart; endure sadness for it opens
your soul.
What can take place before this sun sets which will not seem insignificant
in the river of centuries?
What is success other than a state of mind?
When an act becomes easy through constant repetition, it becomes a pleasure
to perform, and if it is a pleasure to perform, it is man's nature to
perform it often.
When I am burdened with wealth I shall tell myself that this too shall pass.
When I am moved to praise, I will shout from the roofs.
When I am puffed with success I shall warn myself that this too shall pass.
When I am strangled in poverty I shall tell myself that this too shall pass.
When I am tempted to criticize, I will bite on my tongue.
When others cease their struggle, then mine will begin, and my harvest will
be full.
When you are heavy with heartache console yourself that this too shall
pass.
Where dry desert ends, green grass grows.
Where there are idle mouths I will listen not; where there are idle hands I
will linger not; where there are idle bodies I will visit not.
Will my concern for this day not seem foolish ten years hence?
With each victory the next struggle becomes less difficult.
With love I will tear down the wall of suspicion and hate which they have
built round their hearts, and in its place, I will build bridges so that my
love may enter their souls.
Within you burns a flame which has been passed from generations uncounted,
and its heat is a constant irritation to your spirit to become better than
you are, and you will.
Yesterday's joy will become today's sadness; yet today's sadness will grow
into tomorrow's joy.
Yesterday's success will not lull me into today's complacency.
Yesterday is buried forever, think of it no more.
You are a unique creature.
You are here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not
to shrink to a grain of sand.
You are nature's greatest miracle.
You are rare, and there is value in all rarity; therefore, you are valuable.
You can accomplish far more than you have, and you will.
You can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles with ambition.
You have been given eyes to see and a mind to think.
You have but one life and life is naught but a measurement of time.
You have unlimited potential.
You may encounter failure at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind
the next bend in the road. You will never know how close success lies
unless you turn the corner.
You must fail often to succeed only once.
You must have objectives before your life will crystallize.
You must nurture your body and mind in order to fulfill your dreams.
You only have time to love.
You were conceived in love and brought forth with a purpose.
You will become great.
You won't know how close success is unless you turn the corner.
Source Unknown
HAD TO DROP THIS ON YOU GUYS ONE MORE TIME!
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
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How to Detect Lies
Become a Lie Detector
Introduction to Detecting Lies:
The following techniques to telling if someone is lying are often used by police, and security experts. This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers, and for anyone to use in everyday situations where telling the truth from a lie can help prevent you from being a victim of fraud/scams and other deceptions.
Warning: Sometimes Ignorance is bliss; after gaining this knowledge, you may be hurt when it is obvious that someone is lying to you.
 |
Signs of Deception:
Body Language of Lies:
• Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg movement are toward their own body the liar takes up less space.
• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact.
• Hands touching their face, throat & mouth. Touching or scratching the nose or behind their ear. Not likely to touch his chest/heart with an open hand.
Emotional Gestures & Contradiction
• Timing and duration of emotional gestures and emotions are off a normal pace. The display of emotion is delayed, stays longer it would naturally, then stops suddenly.
• Timing is off between emotions gestures/expressions and words. Example: Someone says "I love it!" when receiving a gift, and then smile after making that statement, rather then at the same time the statement is made.
• Gestures/expressions don’t match the verbal statement, such as frowning when saying “I love you.”
• Expressions are limited to mouth movements when someone is faking emotions (like happy, surprised, sad, awe, )instead of the whole face. For example; when someone smiles naturally their whole face is involved: jaw/cheek movement, eyes and forehead push down, etc.
Interactions and Reactions
• A guilty person gets defensive. An innocent person will often go on the offensive.
• A liar is uncomfortable facing his questioner/accuser and may turn his head or body away.
• A liar might unconsciously place objects (book, coffee cup, etc.) between themselves and you.
Verbal Context and Content
• A liar will use your words to make answer a question. When asked, “Did you eat the last cookie?” The liar answers, “No, I did not eat the last cookie.”
•A statement with a contraction is more likely to be truthful: “ I didn't do it” instead of “I did not do it”
• Liars sometimes avoid "lying" by not making direct statements. They imply answers instead of denying something directly.
• The guilty person may speak more than natural, adding unnecessary details to convince you... they are not comfortable with silence or pauses in the conversation.
• A liar may leave out pronouns and speak in a monotonous tone. When a truthful statement is made the pronoun is emphasized as much or more than the rest of the words in a statement.
• Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. In other
words, his sentences will likely be muddled rather than emphasized.
ther signs of a lie:
• If you believe someone is lying, then change subject of a conversation quickly, a liar follows along willingly and becomes more relaxed. The guilty wants the subject changed; an innocent person may be confused by the sudden change in topics and will want to back to the previous subject.
• Using humor or sarcasm to avoid a subject.
Final Notes:
Obviously, just because someone exhibits one or more of these signs does not make them a liar. The above behaviors should be compared to a persons base (normal) behavior whenever possible.
52 Proven Stress Reducers
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| 52 PROVEN STRESS REDUCERS | ||
| 1. Get up fifteen minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will be less stressful. 2. Prepare for the morning the evening before. Set the breakfast table. Make lunches. Put out the clothes you plan to wear, etc. 3. Don't rely on your memory. Write down appointment times, when to pick up the laundry, when library books are due, etc. ("The palest ink is better than the most retentive memory."- Old Chinese Proverb) 4. Do nothing you have to lie about later. 5. Make copies of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret spot in the garden. Carry a duplicate car key in your wallet, apart from your key ring. 6. Practice preventive maintenance. Your car, appliances, home and relationships will be less likely to break down "at the worst possible moment." 7. Be prepared to wait. A paperback book can make a wait in a post office line almost pleasant. 8. Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today; whatever you want to do today, do it now. 9. Plan ahead. Don't let the gas tank get below onequarter full, keep a well- stocked "emergency shelf'' of home staples, don't wait until you're down to your last bus token or postage stamp to buy more, etc. 10. Don't put up with something that doesn't work right. If your alarm clock wallet, shoe laces, windshield wipers-whatever-are a constant aggravation, get them fixed or get new ones. 11. Allow 15 minutes of extra time to get to appointments. Plan to arrive at an airport one hour before domestic departures. 12. Eliminate (or restrict) the amount of caffeine in your diet. 13. Always set up contingency plans, "just in case." ("If for some reason either of us is delayed, here's what we'll do..." Or, "If we get split up in the shopping center, here's where we'll meet.") 14. Relax your standards. The world will not end if the grass doesn't get mowed this weekend. 15. Pollyanna-Power! For every one thing that goes wrong, there are probably 10 or 50 or 100 blessings. Count 'em! 16. Ask questions. Taking a few moments to repeat back the directions that someone expects of you, etc., can save hours. (The old "the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get" idea.) 17. Say "No!" Saying no to extra projects, social activities and invitations you know you don't have the time or energy for takes practice, self-respect and a belief that everyone, everyday, needs quiet time to relax and to be alone. 18. Unplug your phone. Want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep or read without interruption? Drum up the courage to temporarily disconnect. (The possibility of there being a terrible emergency in the next hour or so is almost nil.) 19. Turn "needs" into preferences. Our basic physical needs translate into food, water, and keeping warm. Everything else is a preference. Don't get attached to preferences. 20. Simplify, simplify, simplify. 21. Make friends with nonworriers. Chronic worrywarts are contagious. 22. Take many stretch breaks when you sit a lot. | 23. If you can't find quiet at home, wear earplugs. 24. Get enough sleep. Set your alarm for bedtime. 25. Organize! A place for everything and everything in its place. Losing things is stressful. 26. Monitor your body for stress signs. If your stomach muscles are knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax your muscles and take some deep, slow breaths. 27. Write your thoughts and feelings down on paper. It can help you clarify and give you a renewed perspective. 28. Do this yoga exercise when you need to relax: Inhale through your nose to the count of eight. Pucker your lips and exhale slowly to the count of 16. Concentrate on the long sighing sound and feel the tension dissolve. Repeat 10 times. 29. Visualize success before any experience you fear. Take time to go over every part of the event in your mind. Imagine how great you will look, and how well you will present yourself. 30. If the stress of deadlines gets in the way of doing a job, use diversion. Take your mind off the task and you will focus better when you're on task. 31. Talk out your problems with a friend. It helps to relieve confusion. 32. Avoid people and places that don't fit your personal needs and desires. If you hate politics, don't spend time with politically excited people. 33. Learn to live one day at a time. 34. Everyday, do something you really enjoy. 35. Add an ounce of love to everything you do. 36. Take a bath or shower to relieve tension. 37. Do a favor for someone every day. 38. Focus on understanding rather than on being under stood, on loving rather than on being loved. 39. Looking good makes you feel better. 40. Take more time between tasks to relax. Schedule a realistic day. 41. Be flexible. Some things are not worth perfection. 42. Stop negative self-talk: "I'm too fat, too old, etc..." 43. Change pace on weekends. If your week was slow, be active. If you felt nothing was accomplished during the week, do a weekend project. 44. "Worry about the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves." Pay attention to the details in front of you. 45. Do one thing at a time. When you are working on one thing, don't think about everything else you have to do. 46. Allow time every day for privacy, quiet and thinking. 47. Do unpleasant tasks early and enjoy the rest of the day. 48. Delegate responsibility to capable people. 49. Take lunch breaks. Get away from your work in body and in mind. 50. Count to 1,000, not 10, before you say something that could make matters worse. 51. Forgive people and events. Accept that we live in an imperfect world. 52. Have an optimistic view of the world. Most people do the best they can. | |
Pearls of Wisdom
"Twenty-Five Things It Took Me Over
50 Years To Learn" by Dave Barry
- The badness of a movie is directly proportional to the number of helicopters in it.
- You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight-saving time.
- People who feel the need to tell you that they have an excellent sense of humor are telling you that they have no sense of humor.
- The most valuable function performed by the federal government is entertainment.
- You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
- A penny saved is worthless.
- They can hold all the peace talks they want, but there will never be peace in the Middle East. Billions of years from now, when Earth is hurtling toward the Sun and there is nothing left alive on the planet except a few microorganisms, the microorganisms living in the Middle East will be bitter enemies.
- The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
- The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.
- There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
- There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
- People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
- There apparently exists, somewhere in Los Angeles, a computer that generates concepts for television sitcoms. When TV executives need a new concept, they turn on this computer; after sorting through millions of possible plot premises, it spits out, "THREE QUIRKY BUT ATTRACTIVE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT," and the executives turn this concept into a show. The next time they need an idea, the computer spits out, "SIX QUIRKY BUT ATTRACTIVE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT." Then the next time, it spits out, "FOUR QUIRKY BUT ATTRACTIVE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT." And so on. We need to locate this computer and destroy it with hammers.
- Nobody is normal.
- At least once per year, some group of scientists will become very excited and announce that:
- The universe is even bigger than they thought!
- There are even more subatomic particles than they thought!
- Whatever they announced last year about global warming is wrong.
- If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
- The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
- The value of advertising is that it tells you the exact opposite of what the advertiser actually thinks. For example:
- If the advertisement says "This is not your father's Oldsmobile," the advertiser is desperately concerned that this Oldsmobile, like all other Oldsmobiles, appeals primarily to old farts like your father.
- If Coke and Pepsi spend billions of dollars to convince you that there are significant differences between these two products, both companies realize that Pepsi and Coke are virtually identical.
- If the advertisement strongly suggests that Nike shoes enable athletes to perform amazing feats, Nike wants you to disregard the fact that shoe brand is unrelated to athletic ability.
- If Budweiser runs an elaborate advertising campaign stressing the critical importance of a beer's "born-on" date, Budweiser knows this factor has virtually nothing to do with how good a beer tastes.
- If there really is a God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, and He decides to deliver a message to humanity, He will not use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.
- You should not confuse your career with your life.
- A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
- No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
- When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.
- Your friends love you anyway.
- Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
Cooking Mama makes Majesco profits rise
Majesco Entertainment's Q1 sales (period ending Jan. 31, '08) saw $18.7 million in sales and $2.7 million in profit. The publisher's got nobody to thank more than dear sweet Cooking Mama for the cash. The company saw 77% of its sales from handheld titles, like Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends on DS, and made 22% off console sales, with a heavy showing by Wii titles.
Majesco CEO Jesse Sutton says the quarter was exceptional and in line with the company's plan to focus on the casual market; he continues that Cooking Mama delivered revenue increases of 47% compared to the same period last year. The company's projections have it staying the course set by this first quarter throughout the year and here's hoping Majesco can find some franchise beyond Cooking Mama and her broken English over the next year.
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NEW EVIDENCE ON 2PAC MURDER, PDIDDY POTENTIAL PLANNER
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-naw-quad17mar17,1,5870468.story?page=1
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