Wednesday, April 30, 2008

THE SILENT ONE

This is one story that I would like to share to you all. A simple kindness means a lot to others. I got this nice story in the book Ripples of Joy. I hope you like it.

The girls on the tenth floor were a rowdy bunch. We worked the afternoon shift at the bank, from 3:00 P.M. until midnight. All the checks bank customers had written during the day passed through our processing machines during those evening hours. It was my job to supervise the little crew and make sure, through all the horseplay and rough girl talk, which work actually got done. Most of the time I was able to balance being good old girl and trying to keep the lid on things so the work was done correctly.

Jan was hired about a year after I started my supervisory job. She was very frail-looking girl with light red hair and pale blue eyes, and she was extremely quiet. Her first night on the job she asked me if she could use the bathroom. I told her she didn’t need permission.

I noticed that the “Previous Experience” section on her job application was sparse. One of my big complaints about my job was that, although I supervised, someone else did the hiring. Here we go again, I thought. This shrinking violet will never fit in here. They’ve given me a problem.

During the first month Jan was absent three days, and I decided to have a chat with her. She looks crestfallen when I called her into my cubicle. She explained to me in hushed and halting tones that she had been diabetic since early childhood, and health was sometimes an issue. She apologized for her absences and swore she could promise better attendance in the future. I was skeptical, but she looked so sincere that I couldn’t doubt she meant to keep her promise.

I noticed that the older girls gave Jan a wide berth, pretty much ignoring her, even at lunchtime when they were all busy talking about boys and hair and clothes and movies. Jan, at her age twenty-two, still lived at home and didn’t have much of a social life. Her mom dropped her off at work, and her dad pick her up. She never contributed to the conversation except to offer to help clean the lunchroom or to help out another girl who had gotten behind her work.

Wanting to encourage her, I offered her tips on how to win the monthly employee contest. When I could, I ate lunch with her. She told me about her luck growing plants and invited me over to her house to see her sunroom, crowded with exotic specimens she had successfully nurtured. One Monday she brought some pictures of an orchid that had bloomed over the weekend. I regret to say that, with my busy life, I never saw the actual flower.

One Friday night about six months after Jan started, we heard shouting down the hallway. Fire!

I ran to take a look. A corner of our paper supply room had burst into flames. I called 911, and the fire department responded right away. The brisk blaze was contained successfully, but not before we had evacuated the tenth floor. With almost two hours lost, our productivity had suffered. I asked for volunteers to work late, but most of the girls had reasons they couldn’t help out. Only Jan quietly said she would be glad to stay.

We worked together until almost 4 A.M. to finish up. She chatted cheerfully about her family and pets. By this time she was comfortable with me and was opening up a lot more. She even talked about a young man at church that she had her eye on. I remember being a bit overtired and telling silly jokes to pass the time. She giggled happily. I noticed she looked pale, but my focus was on getting the work done and getting home. “Thanks so much for staying,” I told her when we were finished. “See ya Monday.”

But I didn’t. I never saw her alive again.

Jan’s mom called Monday afternoon to tell me that Jan passed away Monday morning after we worked together. Her diabetes had taken its final toll on her heart. She had gone to sleep and never awakened.

I was stunned. I had never occurred to me that she was that delicate. She was so young that her death seemed impossible. I forgot to ask her mother about funeral arrangements, but her sister called a few hours later and gave me the information, asking me if I could attend. I said I would.

I felt very odd the morning of the funeral. I hadn’t really known Jan very well and thought I would feel awkward at the service. But I had accepted the invitation and was determined to see it through.

Jan’s father greeted me with warm smile and handshake at the door of the church. “You’re Kim, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. I’m sorry about your loss.”

He nodded. “We are so pleased that Jan’s best friend could be here today,” he said. “She spoke about you often and told us you were the closest friend she had ever had. Thank you so much for what you meant to my daughter.”

The words had barely sunk in when Jan’s sister and mother surrounded me and voiced the same sentiment. They gave me a place of honor at the front of the church, reserved for those closest to the deceased, and I was the guest of honor at the little reception at the family home after the funeral. I had been important to Jan, and now I was important to her family as well.

Whenever I question whether I truly can have an impact on others, I remembered Jan. I’m grateful I was able to make a little room for her in my busy life back then. Yes, I wish I had done more. But Jan thought me that it’s never too late: Opportunity for small kindness surrounds me everyday.

Next time, I’ll make sure to go see the orchid.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

MADONA'S OFFER


In Jewish law, there is a rule called the ‘tithe’ that states that everyone who comes to the temple must bring an offering of 10% of their salary to give as an offering. And the Kabbalah peeps must love to see Madonna heading their way!

The “Like a Virgin” singer was spotted arriving at New York City’s Kabbalah Center with gal pal Debbie Mazur yesterday. And it seems she’s passed her Jewish beliefs on to her daughter.

KIM KARDASHIAN IN THE LAND DOWN UNDER


They’re known for their jet-setting ways, and Kim Kardashian and her sister Khloe are enjoying all there is to offer in Australia. The Reality TV vixens are in the land down under for the 2008 MTV Australia Awards before hitting up a fashion show by Perth designer Ruth Tarvydas. They arrived a day early to try and combat the massive jet lag, and it looks like they got plenty of beauty rest.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

TOP IC MANUFACTURERS

Manufacturers of IC.

A list of notable manufacturers; some operating, some defunct:

* Agere Systems (formerly part of Lucent, which was formerly part of AT&T)
* Agilent Technologies (formerly part of Hewlett-Packard, spun-off in 1999)
* Alcatel
* Altera
* AMD (Advanced Micro Devices; founded by ex-Fairchild employees)
* Analog Devices
* ATI Technologies (Array Technologies Incorporated; acquired parts of Tseng Labs in 1997; in 2006, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMD)
* Atmel (co-founded by ex-Intel employee)
* Broadcom
* Commodore Semiconductor Group (formerly MOS Technology)
* Cypress Semiconductor
* Fairchild Semiconductor (founded by ex-Shockley Semiconductor employees: the "Traitorous Eight")
* Freescale Semiconductor (formerly part of Motorola)
* Fujitsu
* Genesis Microchip
* GMT Microelectronics (formerly Commodore Semiconductor Group)
* Hitachi, Ltd.
* Horizon Semiconductors
* IBM (International Business Machines)
* Infineon Technologies (formerly part of Siemens)
* Integrated Device Technology
* Intel (founded by ex-Fairchild employees)
* Intersil (formerly Harris Semiconductor)
* Lattice Semiconductor
* Linear Technology
* LSI Logic (founded by ex-Fairchild employees)
* Maxim Integrated Products
* Marvell Technology Group
* Microchip Technology Manufacturer of the PIC microcontrollers
* MicroSystems International
* MOS Technology (founded by ex-Motorola employees)
* Mostek (founded by ex-Texas Instruments employees)
* National Semiconductor (aka "NatSemi"; founded by ex-Fairchild employees)
* Nordic Semiconductor (formerly known as Nordic VLSI)
* Nvidia (acquired IP of competitor 3dfx in 2000; 3dfx was co-founded by ex-Intel employee)
* NXP Semiconductors (formerly part of Philips)
* ON Semiconductor (formerly part of Motorola)
* Parallax Inc.Manufacturer of the BASIC Stamp and Propeller Microcontrollers
* PMC-Sierra (from the former Pacific Microelectronics Centre and Sierra Semiconductor, the latter co-founded by ex-NatSemi employee)
* Renesas Technology (joint venture of Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric)
* Rohm
* Samsung Electronics (Semiconductor division)
* STMicroelectronics (formerly SGS Thomson)
* Texas Instruments
* Toshiba
* TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. semiconductor foundry)
* VIA Technologies (founded by ex-Intel employee) (part of Formosa Plastics Group)
* Volterra Semiconductor
* Xilinx (founded by ex-ZiLOG employee)
* ZiLOG (founded by ex-Intel employees) (part of Exxon 1980–89; now owned by TPG)

WATER THERAPY ON EMPTY STOMACH

WATER ON EMPTY STOMACH

It is popular in Japan today to drink water immediately after waking up every morning. Furthermore, scientific tests have proven a its value. We publish below a description of use of water for our readers. For old and serious diseases as well as modern illnesses the water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a 100% cure for the following diseases:

Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

METHOD OF TREATMENT

1. As you wake up in the morning before brushing teeth, drink 4 x 160ml glasses of water.

2. Brush and clean the mouth but do not eat or drink anything for 45 minute.

3. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.

4. After 15 minutes of breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours.

5. Those who are old or sick and are unable to drink 4 glasses of water at the beginning may commence by taking little water and gradually increase it to 4 glasses per day.

6. The above method of treatment will cure diseases of the sick and others can enjoy a healthy life.

The following list gives the number of days of
treatment required to
cure/control/ reduce main diseases:

1. High Blood Pressure - 30 days

2. Gastric - 10 days

3. Diabetes - 30 days

4. Constipation - 10 days

5. Cancer - 180 days

6. TB - 90 days

7. Arthritis patients should follow the above treatment only for 3 days in the 1st week, and from 2nd week onwards - daily.

This treatment method has no side effects, however at the commencement of treatment you may have to urinate a few times. It is better if we continue this and make this procedure as a routine work in our life.

Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active.

This makes sense .. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals ..not cold water. Maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain...

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion.

Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks: Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting.

Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack.

Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms.

60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up.

Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive...

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this article shares it to everyone they know, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.

WEB HOSTING MADE EASY

A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own websites accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation.

The scopes of hosting services vary widely. The most basic is webpage and small-scale file hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are usually delivered to the Web "as is" or with little processing. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service free to their subscribers. People can also obtain Web page hosting from other, alternative service providers. Personal web site hosting is typically free, advertisement-sponsored, or cheap. Business web site hosting often has a higher expense.

Single page hosting is generally sufficient only for personal web pages. A complex site calls for a more comprehensive package that provides database support and application development platforms (e.g. PHP, Java, Ruby on Rails, and ASP.NET). These facilities allow the customers to write or install scripts for applications like forums and content management. For e-commerce, SSL is also required.

The host may also provide an interface or control panel for managing the Web server and installing scripts as well as other services like e-mail. Some hosts specialize in certain software or services (e.g. e-commerce). They are commonly used by larger companies to outsource network infrastructure to a hosting company. To find a web hosting company, there are searchable directories that can be used. One must be extremely careful when searching for a new company because many of the people promoting service providers are actually affiliates and the reviews are biased.

Hosting uptime refers to the percentage of time the host is accessible via the internet. Many providers state that they aim for a 99.9% uptime, but there may be server restarts and planned (or unplanned) maintenance in any hosting environment.

A common claim from the popular hosting providers is '99% or 99.9% server uptime' but this often refers only to a server being powered on and doesn't account for network downtime. Real downtime can potentially be larger than the percentage guaranteed by the provider. Many providers tie uptime, and accessibility, into their own Service Level Agreement, or SLA. SLAs may or may not include refunds, or reduced costs if performance goals are not met.

Internet hosting services can run Web servers; see Internet hosting services.

Hosting services limited to the Web:

* Free web hosting service: is free, (sometimes) advertisement-supported web hosting, and is often limited when compared to paid hosting.
* Shared web hosting service: one's Web site is placed on the same server as many other sites, ranging from a few to hundreds or thousands. Typically, all domains may share a common pool of server resources, such as RAM and the CPU. A shared website may be hosted with a reseller.
* Reseller web hosting: allows clients to become web hosts themselves. Resellers could function, for individual domains, under any combination of these listed types of hosting, depending on who they are affiliated with as a provider. Resellers' accounts may vary tremendously in size: they may have their own virtual dedicated server to a colocated server.
* Virtual Dedicated Server: dividing a server into virtual servers, where each user feels like they're on their own dedicated server, but they're actually sharing a server with many other users. The users may have root access to their own virtual space. This is also known as a virtual private server or VPS.
* Dedicated hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server and gains full control over it (root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, the user typically does not own the server. Another type of Dedicated hosting is Self-Managed or Unmanaged. This is usually the least expensive for Dedicated plans. The user has full administrative access to the box, which means the client is responsible for the security and maintenance of his own dedicated box.
* Managed hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server but is not allowed full control over it (root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, they are allowed to manage their data via FTP or other remote management tools. The user is disallowed full control so that the provider can guarantee quality of service by not allowing the user to modify the server or potentially create configuration problems. The user typically does not own the server. The server is leased to the client.
* Colocation web hosting service: similar to the dedicated web hosting service, but the user owns the colo server; the hosting company provides physical space that the server takes up and takes care of the server. This is the most powerful and expensive type of the web hosting service. In most cases, the colocation provider may provide little to no support directly for their client's machine, providing only the electrical, Internet access, and storage facilities for the server. In most cases for colo, the client would have his own administrator visit the data center on site to do any hardware upgrades or changes.
* Clustered hosting: having multiple servers hosting the same content for better resource utilization.
* Grid hosting : this form of distributed hosting is when a server cluster acts like a grid and is composed of multiple nodes.
* Home server: usually a single machine placed in a private residence can be used to host one or more websites from a usually consumer-grade broadband connection. These can be purpose-built machines or more commonly old PC's.

Some ISP's actively attempt to block these servers by disallowing incoming requests to TCP port 80 of the user's connection and by refusing to provide static IP addresses.

Some specific types of hosting provided by web host service providers:

* File hosting service: hosts not web pages but files
* Image hosting service
* Video hosting service
* Blog hosting service
* One-click hosting
* Shopping cart software

Web hosting is often provided as part of a general Internet access plan; there are many free and paid providers offering these services.

A customer needs to evaluate the requirements of the application to choose what kind of hosting to use. Such considerations include database server software, scripting software, and operating system. Most hosting providers provide Linux-based web hosting which offers a wide range of different software. A typical configuration for a Linux server is the LAMP platform: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. The webhosting client may want to have other services, such as email for their business domain, databases or multi-media services for streaming media. A customer may also choose Windows for its hosting platform. The customer still can choose from PHP, Perl, and Python but may also use ASP .Net or Classic ASP.

Web hosting packages often include a Web Content Management System, so the end-user doesn't have to worry about the more technical aspects.

One may also search the Internet to find active webhosting message boards that may provide feedback on what type of webhosting company may suit his/her needs.

THINGS TO BE DONE WHEN YOUR COMPUTER SLOWS DOWN

Do you ever face the problem where you computer starts to become sluggish or slow in its processing? Computers are supposed to be machines and should be able to do what man cannot possible do, maintaining a peak performance everyday. If not, what is the point of having one then? What we need is a machine, a computer that can help us store our data, our plans and work and can churn out whatever we need at the snap of a finger. But as the years go by, it seems as though the snap of the finger now has changed to become two snaps, and with time, more snaps are needed.

What do we do then, when we can no longer have our information that we need instantly? There are a couple of methods or ways that one can implement to improve the speed of their computers.

Upgrading your RAM

Our computer's RAM determines the amount of memory that it has and ultimately the speed it can process at. Upgrading your RAM is as good as saying you want to improve the speed of your computer. However, it is not free of charge and comes with a cost. Given that upgrading your RAM is becoming more and more affordable these days, you may feel that it is a good idea to upgrade yours right now; however remember that it would be useless if you upgraded your RAM only to find that your computer is still slow due to other reasons. Thus think twice and be sure before you purchase a new RAM.

Clear the Registry

Each computer comes with something called the registry that not many people know of. The registry is an important part of your computer as it stores crucial information that has to do with the login users and also which applications are allowed to access the computer. With time, the registry gets clogged with unnecessary garbage and loaded with numerous false entries that only serve to slow the speed of the computer. As such, it is a good practice to regularly clean out your registry. How to get one is simple! Go to the Web and search for one, each will cost about 30 dollars, cheap and effective. A good buy indeed!

De-Fragmentation

Search for de-fragmentation in your computer system through the search function and carry out de-fragmentizing. This may sound too technical for some of us, but it simply means to arrange the data in your computer in a much more organized and efficient fashion as to speed up it's processing. Think of it as messy room compared to a tidy room. It would definitely be easier to walk through the room that is neater than the other. With the same analogy, a neater computer would process better than one that has yet to be sorted out.

There are many other ways to help solve the problem of slow computers, but those mentioned above are cheap and hassle-free. Also, they only take a short amount of time to be completed. But do take note that if all else fails; it is wiser to seek council from a technician who will certainly be able to help you out even more.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

ONLY PARIS HILTON CAN DO THIS


This picture was taken in London when Paris Hilton arrived. Wearing a shirt with her name on it. Making a statement on how fashionable her name is.

ORLANDO BLOOM AND CHRISTINA RICCI


Among the all-star cast working on the new collection of short films titled “New York, I Love You”, Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci were busy filming scenes in New York City on Monday morning (April 14).

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor and his Sin City actress co-star, who share the same manager, are involved in one of the twelve tales offering an inside look at the Big Apple’s five boroughs. I think there will be another cooking up here....

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY BABE: KIM KARDASHIAN


She gets paid to host parties all over the world, so it’s only natural that Kim Kardashian was having a great time at Claudia Jordan’s birthday party last night.


The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” babe looked like she was ready to shake her world-famous booty as she arrived at Boulevard 3 nightclub in Hollywood, Califorina. Better watch your back Paris Hilton is on her way.

CYNTHIA NIXON WITH BREAST CANCER


Cynthia Nixon, the star in Sex and the City was diagnosed two years ago with Breast Cancer.

AVRIL LAVIGNE AND COMPANY


Avril Lavigne is pretty. Annoying, but pretty. Deryck Whibley, not so much. It’s safe to say evolution left him behind. Like, if he and evolution were playing hide-and-seek, evolution would have gotten in its car and sped away before Deryck counted to 10. That’s why it’s a shock to see his hands all over Avril’s ass and breasts. Normally, the only time you’d see a pretty girl let a guy like this molest her without screaming for help is after he hit her over the head with a club, dragged her to his cave, chained her to a rock and threatened to kill her family. Although, Avril does look unconscious in the header photo. So, maybe that’s an accurate description of what happened?

PARIS HILTON STATEMENT


Another genuine Paris Hilton Statement. Paris Hilton called into the Morning Zoo show on KLUC-FM and was asked whether she would rather have Jessica Simpson’s breasts or Kim Kardashian’s ass. Not surprisingly, she wanted neither. And why not? She’s perfect in every way. From her wonky eye down to her clown feet. She’s like a walking Picasso. Paris added that Kim Kardashian’s ass is gross and disgusting, likening it to cottage cheese inside a trash bag and said Jessica Simpson’s chest is too big. Paris later said she felt sorry (she didn’t) and called Kim to apologize.


Whatever. Paris could not be more wrong. 500 years from now when World War III ends and the world is nuked, leaving civilization in a state of panic, people will begin worshiping Kim Kardashian’s ass like it was Zeus almighty. Meanwhile, Paris will be buried in an unmarked grave in the Las Vegas desert and I bet even though she’s six feet under, her gigantic feet will still be sticking out.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

DEALING WITH SKIN CANCER

Skin cancer is one of the most horrible diseases that could happen to anyone. As far as in modern medical knowledge has identify the major causes of skin cancer which consist of some risky activities. Many people seem to be more concern about how to protect and stay away from the disease. However, it is likely that apart from the person who may have genetic disease of skin cancer, the disease happen more to the one who work or live in the environment that has greater chance of skin cancer. According to this reasons for the once who living or working in such the environment have to be very careful and aware of these threads and also to find the way of effective protections. You may find the following details useful in terms of the identification of major cause of skin cancer, and to consider whether you are the one who are in such environment and in order to prepare in case you found that you are in early stage of the disease.

We will have a look at the first condition that usually (and most of the time) is the major cause of skin cancer, the sunlight. According to the fact that sunlight extremely has benefit to human's health and the human body can not work functionally without sunlight. This is because the sunlight has Ultra Violet Radiations, which is really necessary to human body to generate important glucose and haemoglobin. However, in the same time, the ultraviolet radiation is also the major cause of skin cancer if there are exceed in the amount that the person take it. For example, considering the person who has to work in the condition such as golf caddy, these people is obviously have to face with very strong sunlight all the time. Some people in this job category may try to protect themselves by wearing cloth that prevent the skin to have direct contact with the sunlight, but in fact, the ultraviolet radiation still radiate to the skin even though it is not a direct contact. The only one way of protection is to wear thick cloth to prevent radiation or using anti-UV lotion apply on the skin.

When talk about the radiation, the other condition that may risk of skin cancer and quickly come into my mind is for the person who work in a hospital, in the x-ray room. Yes, it is one of the most risk condition for skin cancer. As same as the radiation of the UV sunlight, x-ray contain some radioactive substances that impact to the human skin and cause cancer if the person has direct contact too often.

Other condition that may risk of skin cancer, apart from those two major factors is to have direct contact with some kind of chemical substances such as hydrocarbons and arsenic. We can see these days as many kind of what we use in everyday life contains these kind of chemicals. In some case, for many women who have to use excessive cosmetic on daily basis could also risk to have skin cancer.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

THE TWO OLDEST PROFESSIONS

There are two oldest professions in the world. The first oldest profession is the Money Lending. This type of profession has become the foundation our society today, especially the business community. In this generation it is much known as credit. As they say “Credit makes the world what it is today”. Because of credit, businesses were established and the foundation of trust and confidence by the lending or much known as the creditor. The best example of this type of profession is the banks that are operating and extending loans to all people for business or personal loan. Because of the potential of this kind of profession, there are many small time and mid-scale lending institutions that are extending credit to those qualified people who wants to have a loan. Even in the Internet, there are so many sites that offer unsecured loans.

The second oldest profession is Prostitution. It is one of the oldest profession dated year back to the year of Christ. This type of profession continues to evolve. It used to be a woman’s profession and now, it is also a man’s profession. In an interview that I conducted to one lady prostitute, she never wanted to enter into this flesh selling business. It was just because she was the breadwinner of their family. Her father and mother are both jobless and rely on her to bring food on their table. In the morning she goes to school, she was in her tertiary level already, and in the evening she earns a living by being a street prostitute. In one night she accommodates around 5 and even 7 customers. And when the night is lean, 2 customers will do. Every customer pays 300++ pesos depending on the arrangements between the pimp and the customer. When the deal is closed, she performs the job as she was paid to do and that is to satisfy the customer. Not the entire amount that was agreed goes to her. In fact 30% of the agreed amount goes to the pimp that transacts with the customer. Each customer is given an hour or two depending on the arrangements. The age of the prostitutes nowadays are getting young. There are already 10-year-old prostitutes in the streets, waiting for their customers to arrive. Men are now also in the flesh trade business. They cater to those old ladies and gay men who are in need of short and temporary pleasure.

As the years go by, these professions continue to evolve and who knows, there will be additional features in these professions in the coming years. Let us wait and see.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

THE QUIET ONE

This is one story that I would like to share to you all. A simple kindness means a lot to others. I got this nice story in the book Ripple of Joy. I hope you like it. I have already blog about this before in my other blog. But because the story is so touching, I would like to share it to others more. I hope you like it.

The girls on the tenth floor were a rowdy bunch. We worked the afternoon shift at the bank, from 3:00 P.M. until midnight. All the checks bank customers had written during the day passed through our processing machines during those evening hours. It was my job to supervise the little crew and make sure, through all the horseplay and rough girl talk, which work actually got done. Most of the time I was able to balance being good old girl and trying to keep the lid on things so the work was done correctly.

Jan was hired about a year after I started my supervisory job. She was very frail-looking girl with light red hair and pale blue eyes, and she was extremely quiet. Her first night on the job she asked me if she could use the bathroom. I told her she didn’t need permission.

I noticed that the “Previous Experience” section on her job application was sparse. One of my big complaints about my job was that, although I supervised, someone else did the hiring. Here we go again, I thought. This shrinking violet will never fit in here. They’ve given me a problem.

During the first month Jan was absent three days, and I decided to have a chat with her. She looks crestfallen when I called her into my cubicle. She explained to me in hushed and halting tones that she had been diabetic since early childhood, and health was sometimes an issue. She apologized for her absences and swore she could promise better attendance in the future. I was skeptical, but she looked so sincere that I couldn’t doubt she meant to keep her promise.

I noticed that the older girls gave Jan a wide berth, pretty much ignoring her, even at lunchtime when they were all busy talking about boys and hair and clothes and movies. Jan, at her age twenty-two, still lived at home and didn’t have much of a social life. Her mom dropped her off at work, and her dad pick her up. She never contributed to the conversation except to offer to help clean the lunchroom or to help out another girl who had gotten behind her work.

Wanting to encourage her, I offered her tips on how to win the monthly employee contest. When I could, I ate lunch with her. She told me about her luck growing plants and invited me over to her house to see her sunroom, crowded with exotic specimens she had successfully nurtured. One Monday she brought some pictures of an orchid that had bloomed over the weekend. I regret to say that, with my busy life, I never saw the actual flower.

One Friday night about six months after Jan started, we heard shouting down the hallway. Fire!

I ran to take a look. A corner of our paper supply room had burst into flames. I called 911, and the fire department responded right away. The brisk blaze was contained successfully, but not before we had evacuated the tenth floor. With almost two hours lost, our productivity had suffered. I asked for volunteers to work late, but most of the girls had reasons they couldn’t help out. Only Jan quietly said she would be glad to stay.

We worked together until almost 4 A.M. to finish up. She chatted cheerfully about her family and pets. By this time she was comfortable with me and was opening up a lot more. She even talked about a young man at church that she had her eye on. I remember being a bit overtired and telling silly jokes to pass the time. She giggled happily. I noticed she looked pale, but my focus was on getting the work done and getting home. “Thanks so much for staying,” I told her when we were finished. “See ya Monday.”

But I didn’t. I never saw her alive again.

Jan’s mom called Monday afternoon to tell me that Jan passed away Monday morning after we worked together. Her diabetes had taken its final toll on her heart. She had gone to sleep and never awakened.

I was stunned. I had never occurred to me that she was that delicate. She was so young that her death seemed impossible. I forgot to ask her mother about funeral arrangements, but her sister called a few hours later and gave me the information, asking me if I could attend. I said I would.

I felt very odd the morning of the funeral. I hadn’t really known Jan very well and thought I would feel awkward at the service. But I had accepted the invitation and was determined to see it through.

Jan’s father greeted me with warm smile and handshake at the door of the church. “You’re Kim, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. I’m sorry about your loss.”

He nodded. “We are so pleased that Jan’s best friend could be here today,” he said. “She spoke about you often and told us you were the closest friend she had ever had. Thank you so much for what you meant to my daughter.”

The words had barely sunk in when Jan’s sister and mother surrounded me and voiced the same sentiment. They gave me a place of honor at the front of the church, reserved for those closest to the deceased, and I was the guest of honor at the little reception at the family home after the funeral. I had been important to Jan, and now I was important to her family as well.

Whenever I question whether I truly can have an impact on others, I remembered Jan. I’m grateful I was able to make a little room for her in my busy life back then. Yes, I wish I had done more. But Jan thought me that it’s never too late: Opportunity for small kindness surrounds me everyday.

Next time, I’ll make sure to go see the orchid.

HIGH YIELDING INVESTMENT PROGRAMS EXPOSED

A High-Yield Investment Program (HYIP) is a type of scam. At one time, it was used to refer to an investment program which may have offered a high return on investment. The term "HYIP" was abused by the operators of scams to camouflage their scams as legitimate investments. Due to this overuse by scammers, HYIP has almost become synonymous with Scam or Ponzi.

Most HYIPs disclose little or no detail about the underlying management, location, or other aspects of how money is to be invested (often because money is not actually invested), and relatively little information (other than asserting that they do various types of trading on various stock and other exchanges) on how they actually generate the returns they purport. They are sometimes presented with some form of an emotional appeal, appeals for faith, and promises that they will help investors achieve financial freedom.

Online HYIP schemes rarely last for more than a couple of years and typically accept small deposits while promising astoundingly high returns. An overwhelming number of cases suggest that HYIPs are Ponzi schemes, in which new investors provide the cash to pay a profit to existing investors, which they typically then withdraw. This approach allows the scam to continue as long as new investors are found and/or old investors leave their money in the scheme, known as compounding (because even higher profits are promised). The SEC has said the following on the matter: "These fraudulent schemes involve the purported issuance, trading, or use of so-called 'prime' bank, 'prime' European bank or 'prime' world bank financial instruments, or other 'high yield investment programs.' ('HYIP's) The fraud artists... seek to mislead investors by suggesting that well regarded and financially sound institutions participate in these bogus programs."

The introduction of e-currencies has made it possible for HYIPs to operate on the internet and cross international boundaries, and to accept large numbers of small investments. HYIPs usually accept deposits by either e-currency, like e-gold, and INTGold, or use specialist third party payment processors like AlertPay, SolidTrustPay, CEPTrust, TriStarMoneyChangers and StormPay. HYIPs typically offer a significant incentive commission (for example, 9% of invested funds) for members to attract and refer new investors.

Arguably, the largest HYIP scam that has existed on the internet was PIPS (People in Profit System or Pure Investors). The investment scheme was started by Bryan Marsden in early 2004, (according to the Wayback Machine record of http://pureinvestor.com) and spanned more than 20 countries. PIPS was investigated by Bank Negara Malaysia in 2005 which resulted in Marsden and his wife being charged in a Malaysian court with 97 counts of money laundering involving more than RM77 million - US$20 million. Even after these charges were brought forth many of Marsden's followers/investors continued to support him and believe they would see their money some day. This behavior and denial could be seen and still is seen on hyip forums.

As a result of online forums and monitoring sites which have made HYIP investors more aware of their nature, a different sort of "honest" HYIP began springing up in the early months of 2006. Basically, the HYIP owner calls his or her program a "ponzi-structured game" where one should "not invest money one cannot afford to lose", and where there is "never a guarantee of earnings or refunds". They promise to pay out up to (for example) 95% of deposits, the rest going to hosting or other fees and the owner's profit.

In such "games", the first participants ("investors") may make a good profit and are encouraged to refer other people to the program because of referral commission, the fact that they have already made back their principal and are playing with profit, and that the more people who deposit money, the more money can be paid out to participants. In theory, strategies can be developed to maximize profit using these games (but, of course, since this is a zero-sum game, such strategies work by taking advantage of ignorance or errors by others). Some forum users may gain a reputation whereby others will trust their word that they have been able to withdraw their profits, encouraging others to invest in the hopes that more will invest after them and that they can therefore make a profit. As these games are by definition Ponzi schemes, it is inevitable that the vast majority of investors who are not at the top of the pyramid will lose their money.

These "games" might be considered as lotteries. However, the odds of winning cannot be determined, as one cannot know whether one is playing early enough to win money (that is, whether a sufficient number of new participants will follow). Thus, these activities are unlike a lottery or other forms of gambling, where a player has an equal chance of winning no matter when a ticket is bought, or where the odds of the game are known.

HYIP monitors, or HYIP listing/rating sites, are personal or commercial websites that list and/or promote HYIPs for referral commissions. The monitor charges each HYIP a listing fee which is usually then invested into that program, although there exist free listings and occasionally monitors which invest their own money. The monitor then labels the HYIP as "Paying" or "Not paying/Scam" depending on whether interest is received within the terms specified by the program. Monitors also allow other HYIP investors to rate and comment on the programs, based on factors such as promptness of payouts and responsiveness of the HYIP administrator. Programs with higher ratings achieve higher rankings on the monitor sites, which coupled with a "Paying" status may entice more investors who rely on the monitor.

In most cases, HYIPs only pay monitor sites to keep their "Paying" status visible, but do not pay other investors. As HYIP monitors are not affiliated with the HYIPs themselves, they are unable to prevent investors from being scammed; they neither help to recover lost funds nor track down the scammers. Promoting or perpetuating Ponzi schemes is a criminal offense punishable by jail terms or fines in most countries. That the monitor sites place disclaimers saying that they "do not promote the programs advertised on their website" does not absolve them from criminal liability.

In order to generate a "paying" status early (so that future visitors will see it) and maintain it for the longest possible time, newly opened HYIPs list their site quickly as well as constantly pay monitors their interest on time. Added to the fact that many monitors invest the listing "fee", and that a commission is received on each deposit made by people who visit the HYIP via the monitor, they are the most likely to profit when a program runs out of funds.

HYIP owners can manipulate monitors and forums, by paying people to comment positively or by using a range of IP addresses or proxy servers in different locations so that "paying" votes appear to come from around the world. This allows the HYIP to rise up the rankings more quickly than others, giving investors a false sense of security. Additionally, even if they know it will scam in the future, some investors will also rate new HYIPs positively until the HYIP stops paying, because they want more people to invest after them in the hopes that the program will last longer. Future scammers can also build up a good reputation on forums for a large payoff once most forum members trust them.

The problem is seen as many monitors appear only to make certain programs more acceptable and trustworthy. It basically shows the true face of the HYIP scene.


DOMAIN NAMES

As the world wide web grows thousands of gigabytes per day, the need for domain name becomes essential. If you are just budding to get your own domain name, as I have done several weeks past, try to remember these key questions in selecting the best domain registration:

1. Is this domain name that I wish to register reflects to the kind product/services I am offering? People tend to view the general category of the product when browsing them in the internet. If you had already successfully maintained a brand name or corporate image, be sure to get them. This will improve your search engine optimization (SEO) while implying the image you are projecting. If you can't get the domain name you think is the best one for your sites, you may want to get "com.ph" if your site is from the Philippines, or any.

2. Is the domain name selected simple? Remove any signs like hyphen, dash and asterisk and other possible fonts or signs that would make it seem too complex to input. Be sure that the name selected is short, simple and easy to remember. Name recall is the name of the game here.

3. Is the selected domain name almost similar to other sites? Simplicity and shortness of the name plays a crucial role in your selection. Avoid selecting domain names which are almost similar to what you are expecting. Much more avoid company owned brands and corporate image or you'll suffer trademark and other legal problems in the future.

4. Is your domain name viable for your long term plan? Identify your future plans for your site and integrate it to your site. As soon as you get regular browsers who look for your brand, keep it. Since you are just renting it from a provider, avoid your domain registration from expiring.

5. Is your domain registration site accredited? Avoid being scammed. Be sure to select legitimate and accredited online sites who can sell domains. I recommend that you check and search for domain registration site which offers cheap domain names that you want.

Any form of existence starts with a name. Keep them securely. Like your name, domain name is your identity.