You never have the second chance to make the first impression...

What's the best that you could buy regarding Home Furniture?
It is exactly the opposite many of us do.
And that is collecting stuff from everywhere and making a museum, not a "home".("Move the fine collectables to the study or the master bedroom until the kids are about eleven. Display them in Beautiful bedroom sets pieces. Available online.")
The Dining Room Furniture should be limited to the essential as you see in Furniture from Home website.
What is better than a nice, simple, lighted room, with few pieces, well assorted and useful?
And this is even more important for the Living Room Furniture .
The Living room should be what the name says: the room where you live and not a collection of useless items to show.
And for your office? Remember: "Move the fine collectables to the study.. " and furnish the reception desks to give a good, first impression to your customers.
The impression to arrive in a nice, inviting, ordered, stylish office.
Here more than in any other room it is of the utmost importance to have the right furniture.
You never have the second chance to make the first impression...

History Magistra Vitae

Historians will note that when the Berlin Wall came down and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapsed, a generation of American policymakers and military officers lost their reason for existence. The enemy that had defined their existence for decades ceased to exist, and it would be a while until a new one was found.

The Bell companies are in a similar mode. Following the Jan. 1, 1984 breakup of the old Bell System, the then-new Bell companies were in a state of war with the long-distance industry led by their former parent, AT&T, as well as MCI, Sprint and a batch of lesser foes. The conflict ranged from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the hall of Congress, to state legislatures as the long-distance industry fought to have the Bells make conditions ripe for competition, and the Bells sought to prevent them while getting into long distance themselves. Then SBC, a Bell company, bought AT&T, Verizon, another Bell (plus GTE) company bought MCI, and the big game was over. But who would there be to fight?

For a while, they just thrashed around, but then as the fights over who should control the Internet started, one company gradually raised its Washington profile to oppose the Bell machine: Google. Google until relatively recently had little or no presence in Washington.
But as the company became more prominent in Washington, to say nationally and globally, the Bell companies rejoiced. Now they had a new enemy, and a new talking point – the poor, downtrodden phone companies versus big, bad, freeloading Google.

Telephone company executives couldn’t wait to start throwing out Google’s name at every turn. They said Google was pushing Net Neutrality as a way of getting free or cut-rate telecommunications services. They said Google’s Net Neutrality policy would raise prices for consumers. Those are nonsense, of course, because Google pays millions of dollars in telecommunications charges.

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was considering how to auction off prime spectrum, the Bell companies again brought Google front and center. It was rich Google that was trying to get cheap spectrum and Google that wanted advantages in the auctions, the telephone companies said. Never mind that a coalition of public interest groups, including Public Knowledge, was in the forefront of some of the proposals. Never mind that the wholesale issue would bolster innovation. Google once again and front and center as the target.

Dewayne Hendricks
dewayne@warpspeed.com

What do you need for a VoIP Network?

As for the PSTN network, to run a VoIP network you need a certain infrastructure, because, even though you use the Internet Network, you still need certain components to use it for voice.
The Internet is the dumb Network that transports packets, but you have to specify which packets and where they are directed.
You usually need:

1) Terminal
A terminal is a communication endpoint that terminates calls and their media streams. Most commonly, this is either a hardware or a software telephone or videophone, possibly enhanced with data capabilities.There are terminals that are intended for user interaction and others that are automated, e.g., answering machines.

2) Server
Terminals usually register their addresses with a server. The server stores
these telephone addresses along with the IP addresses of the respective terminals, and is thus able to map a telephone address to a host.
When a telephone user dials an address, the server tries to resolve the given address into a network address.To do so, the server may interact with other telephony servers or services.
Furthermore a telephony server is responsible for authenticating registrations, authorising calling parties and performing the accounting.(in the case of call termination)

3) Gateway
Gateways are telephony endpoints that facilitate calls between endpoints that usually would not interoperate. Usually this means that a gateway translates one signalling protocol into another.(SIP into ISDN or viceversa or H323 and SIP).
Finding gateways between VoIP and a traditional PBX is usually quite simple. Gateways that translate different VoIP protocols are newer and the future for a really open VoIP.

4) Addressing
Regular telephony systems use E.164 numbers (the international public telecommunication numbering plan). An identifier is composed of up to fifteen digits with a leading plus sign, for example, +1234565789123.When dialling, the leading plus is normally replaced by the international access code, usually double zero (00).This is followed by a country code and a subscriber number.
IP addresses are not location-independent (even if IPv6 is used) and they are hard to remember (especially if IPv6 is used) so they are not suitable as user identifiers.
Current IP Telephony systems use two kinds of identifiers:
- URIs (RFC2396);
- Numbers (E.164).
(you can also use email addresses which are usually in the URL)
The ENUM system was invented, using adapted phone numbers as domain names.

5) Protocols
H 323
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
Transport Protocols RTP (Real Time Protocol) and RTCP (Real Time Control Protocol)
Today nearly every vendor that offers VoIP products uses his own VoIP protocol, the enterprise solutions usually feature such proprietary protocols at the cure and provide minimalist support for standardised protocols (until now usually H.323) with only basic call functionality.

The importance to have the right hints

To be a good IT expert you have two choices, either to be one or to have the right hints to become one.
When it comes to PPC tools (pay per click) usually when you become an expert is generally too late.
I'll explain better.
When you are involved in it, as all others, you make your own experiences in base on what you read and learn from other experts online.
The result is that when you arrive to the right knowledge you find out it is kind of obsolete, because many others arrived there in the same moment, and all the tricks and hints are just for nothing.
The secret to be succesful is quite simple: learn how and when before the others.
So that your how and when are effective.
How? For example investing in the right e-book.
The same could be written about SEO tools .
In this case it is probably more appropriate a software that includes
- article submissions
- link building and tracking
- keyword rankings checker
- checking competitors incoming links
- Find high page ranked and quality sites
It would help you to save time and reach the goal much sooner than the competition.
And what about search engine marketing hints?
First you need to know all about links.
What is important about them, how to get the most available and the best quality links.
I find this by far the most interesting subject.
I am fond of links and always trying how to get new ones.
Eric Cho is not a magician and doesn't promise 1000 new links.
But he is very good in explaining how it works, what you need and how you can get them.
The rest of course is up to you, but it is certainly much easier with the right hints...

Protocols: H323

H.323 has continuously evolved towards becoming a technically sound and functionally rich protocol platform for IP Telephony applications.
New features help facilitate more scalable Gateway and MCU solutions to meet the growing market requirements.
H.323 has been the undisputed leader in voice, video, and data conferencing on packet networks, and Version 4 endeavours to keep H.323 ahead of the competition.
The scope of H.323 encompasses multimedia communication in IP-based networks, with significant consideration given to gatewaying to circuit-switched networks (in particular to ISDN-based video telephony and to PSTN/ISDN/GSM for voice communication).

H.323 defines a number of functional / logical components:

- Terminal
Terminals are H.323-capable endpoints, which may be implemented in software on workstations or as stand-alone devices (such as telephones).
They are assigned to one or more aliases (e.g. a user's name/URI) and/or telephone number(s);

- Gateway
Gateways interconnect H.323 entities (such as endpoints, MCUs, or other gateways) to other network/protocol environments (such as the telephone network).
They are also assigned one or more aliases and/or telephone number(s).
The H.323 Series of Recommendations provides detailed specifications for interfacing H.323 to H.320, ISDN/PSTN, and ATM-based networks.
Recent work also addresses control and media gateway specifications for telephony trunking networks such as SS7/ISUP;

- Gatekeeper
The gatekeeper is the core management entity in an H.323 environment.
It is, among other things, responsible for access control, address resolution and H.323 network (load) management and provides the central hook to implement any kind of utilisation / access policies.
An H.323 environment is subdivided into zones (which may, but need not be congruent with the underlying network topology); each zone is controlled by one primary gatekeeper (with optional backup gatekeepers).
Gatekeepers may also provide added value, e.g., act as a conferencing bridge or offer supplementary call services.
An H.323 Gatekeeper can also be equipped with the proxy feature. Such a feature enables the routing through the gatekeeper of the RTP traffic (audio and video) and the T.120 traffic (data), so no traffic is directly exchanged between endpoints.
(It could be considered a kind of IP-to-IP gateway that can be used for security and QoS purposes);

- Multipoint Controller (MC)
A Multipoint Controller is a logical entity that interconnects the call signalling and conference control channels of two or more H.323 entities in a star topology. MCs coordinate the (control aspects of) media exchange between all entities involved in a conference.
They also provide the endpoints with participant lists, exercise floor control, etc. MCs may be embedded in any H.323 entity (terminals, gateways gatekeepers) or implemented as stand-alone entities.
They can be cascaded to allow conferences spanning multiple MCs;

- Multipoint Processor (MP)
For multipoint conferences with H.323, an optional Multipoint Processor may be used that receives media streams from the individual endpoints, combines them through some mixing/switching technique, and transmits the resulting media streams back to the endpoints;

- Multipoint Control Unit (MCU)
In the H.323 world, an MCU is simply a combination of an MC and an MP in a single device.
The term originates in the ISDN videoconferencing world where MCUs were needed to create multipoint conferences out of a set of point-to-point connections.


Signalling protocols
H.323 resides on top of the basic Internet Protocols (IP, IP Multicast,TCP, and UDP) in a similar way as the IETF protocols discussed in the next subsection, and can make use of integrated and differentiated services along with resource reservation protocols.

Components communicate using three control protocols:

Audio
Video
Gatekeeper Data Applications Conference
Control
T.120 Relaiable MC H.245 H.225.0 RAS RTP/RTCP RSVP
TCP + RFC 1006 UDP
IP / IP Multicast
Intergrated / Differentiated Services Forwarding

Optimisations: H.225.0 supports the following enhancements:

- Multiple Calls
To prevent using a dedicated TCP connection for each call, gateways can be built to handle multiple calls on each connection.

- Maintain Connection
Similar to Multiple Calls, this enhancement will reduce the need to open new TCP connections.
After the last call has ended, the endpoint may decide to maintain the TCP connection to provide a better call setup time for the next call.

- H.245 Conference Control-
The conference control channel is used to establish and control two-party calls (as well as multiparty conferences).
Its functionality includes determining possible modes for media exchange (e.g., select media encoding formats that both parties understand) and configuring
actual media streams (including exchanging transport addresses to send media streams to and receive them from).

An H.323 endpoint usually registers with a gatekeeper that provides basic services like address resolution for calling the other endpoints.
H.323 defines and utilises several address types.The one most commonly used and derived from the PSTN world is the dialled digit address, which is defined as a number dialled by the endpoint.
Unlike SIP addresses, an H.323 address can only be registered by one endpoint (per zone), so a call to that address only resolves to a single endpoint.To call multiple destinations simultaneously in H.323 requires a gatekeeper that actively maps a single address to multiple different addresses and tries to contact them in sequence.

Communication phases

In a H.323, communication may be identified in five different phases:
- Call set up;
- Initial communication and capability exchange;
- Establishment of audiovisual communication;
- Call services;
- Call termination.

Additional (call) services

- Conferencing
H.323 inherently supports multipoint tightly-coupled conferencing.

- Broadcast conferencing;

Security

- Authentication
Authentication can be achieved by using a shared secret (password) or digital signatures.
- Message Integrity
Integrity is achieved by generating password-based checks on the message;
Privacy Mechanisms are provided to setup encryption on the media streams.

In summary, it can be said that the H.323 family of standards provides a mature basis for commercial products in the field of IP Telephony.While the details of the protocol are often dominated by their legacy from various earlier ITU protocols, there is an active effort to profile and simplify the protocol to reduce the complexity.

What is reality?

It is as you like it, as you see it,as it appears to you, as you want it, as it is convenient to you, as it is convenient to somebody related to you, it is the way it is...
You can pick any of the above and you have the answer.

Arguing is not just a monologue...

"When arguing with family, Spence suggested that the goal should not be to win.
Arguing with someone close to you isn't about winning. It's about restoring that emotional balance."
I found this in Karl's blog.
I couldn't agree more.
For me arguing, discussing is mostly done for the sake of it.
I really couldn't live without a nice, lively, good discussion a day.
It is my soul's, my mind's bread.
So much that I tend to be very provocative (some time too much I agree).
I like to say the opposite of what they say.
And find right arguments on my side.
That is usually not so difficult, since everything is never black or white.
Very often the color depends from where you see it.

In principle colors are what they are depending from the light they get.
The same happens to arguments.
"We argue to balance out our emotions again. We use words to reposition our feelings. We feel bad, so we argue until we believe somebody else sees and accepts our point, then we can feel good again."
These are Karl Moore' words.
And I agree with them.
I tend to be very nasty when I am angry, and my husband is usually the scapegoat.
Not because I particularly hate him (the opposite is the case) but just because he is the only one available to "accept my point" and make me feeling good again.
Very often is not so simple, more likely the opposite.
I get so aggressive that from a little argument we fall into a real war, but that is something Karl Moore doesn't talk about...
Arguing is not just a monologue...
Nevertheless, if you are looking for "spiritual inspiration" it pays to visit this interesting blog.

Why would a broadcaster choose Streaming on IP?

Well, it is partially true. Downloading and, later looking at it, has advantages.
You can begin and stop when you decide, you can store and see it again.
That is why the invention of VCR was so profitable.
VOD they call it.
You decide to look at something, just download it and look at it.
At any hour at any day.

But what's the cost?
Not cheap certainly, unless you talk about P2P.
That is cheap (not as much as it looks, because if you consider the time to search and to download you find out that it gets expensive)but it is ILLEGAL.
It's like a Chinese copy of Prada or Chanel or Rolex, very much like the original at a 100th of the price.
Too bad you are not allowed to buy it.

It would be nice if it was free, just like the free TV.
Free is what makes everythign widespread.
But then, you have to pay looking a the commercial...
And commercials are what made TV what it is.
Somebody could object about quality and I could agree, but here I am discussing about popularity and availability.
I guess commercials is a good reason for a broadcaster to choose streaming instead of downloading...may be even with DRM so that people cannot record it and play it later without commercials.

But another reason, that would decide a broadcaster to choose streaming on IP instead of the usual TV is that he could finally make the REAL interactive TV.
That is going to be the killing feature of IPTV.
Tha is going to make it UNIQUE and unbeatable, the first choice of the consumers.
It opens doors I am thrilled thinking of.
A door to the Virtual World, to our second virtual life, a mixture of Video, TV, Video Games, Blogs, Vlogs and whatever you like, all mixed together as YOU PLEASE (or better, as the customer pleases...)

If your dream is poker-straight, sleek hair...

If I had many reasons to envy the British for living in the UK (which I think is one of the best places in Europe to live) now I have one more.
They can purchase GHD hair sraighteners till the start of the holiday season at great new prices, with savings of up to £45 against the RRP.
What exactly is ghd?
They are ceramic plates that heat up even faster than the competition, with an audible beep that lets you know the iron is hot and ready to use.
Which I think is very important.
I have electric rollers and I never know when it is the exact time to use them.
I either burn my hair for using them or they are not warm enough.
Besides these intelligent ceramic plates know when to shut off, avoiding in this way
damages.
You can use them for hair below the ear level, but also for longer hair, providing that it is not too curly or thick (mine, too bad is not very thick...)
So, if you are looking for poker-straight, sleek hair, now you know what you have to buy.(especially if you are British...)


This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.

Work kills

"A million accidents at work each year. 27.000 disabled people without a hand, a leg, three fingers. 41,000,000,000 Euro of social damage in 2006. A wonder world.
We are becoming a country of navigators, saints and cripples."
Italy is a dangerous place for those who work. "The thousand and one deaths".
4 workers a day multiplied by 300 (taking off a few feast days) correspond more or less to 1200 dead workers each year. If you survive the traffic (20 dead each day) and get to the building site you can’t complain. You’ve increased your chances of survival.
The culture of safety and hygiene in the work place is missing. This is a culture that should be taught at school and reinforced in the media with great importance.

The dead at work is a contradiction of terms. They should not exist.
There are also accidents that don’t end in death, but can cause irreversible damage. There are a million a year, a great round number. Easy to remember. I understand that Iraq is important, that Afghanistan is fundamental, that Kosovo is on the agenda. But slaughter at work, isn’t that more important? Each year we have a hundred Nassiriyas without the accompaniment of sung Masses and summit meetings. To be a good death to get into the TV and newspaper headlines and for the party secretaries, do you need to be in the military?


If the meaning of priority is: “to come first in relation to something else, the right to get precedence for urgency, importance, values or similar” , well, safety is second to NOTHING.

The art of shopping

One is brought up in the wrong belief that the aim of shopping is to BUY things, mostly things you need or fancy.
For me shopping is an economical activity, to buy something to actually SAVE and not SPENDING money.
The main goal is not actually buying what I need or like, but what looks to me the "special bargain".
That is why a website which offers "very special bargains" like high discounted articles is particularly attractive for me.
One like couponchief.com .
There you can have from $10 to $100 off stop smoking aids at drugstore.com .
"I don't smoke", you will say.
I don't either, but that is not the issue.
The issue is the huge discount, and besides, I have a mother who smokes, and I am sure you have somebody more or less related who still smokes...what better chance to convince him/her to stop?
But if you are really not interested in it, and luckily you do not have anybody interested in it, don't worry.
There is such a big selection of discounted articles, I am sure you'll find something..
For example a 500 GB Hard Drive for just $109.99.
That is something you always need.
Especially if you like to save (like me) downloading free stuff on the Internet.
That is another good way of saving.
And if you share with me that hobby, you'll find just irresistible a 46" LCD for $1699.99.
And last, but not least important, if you like to do some gardening beside shopping, you have the chance to do both, saving and later planting.
You can find the most extraordinary flowers at just $24!

Computer is a Senior's best friend...

Are you a senior?
Do you want to be up to date?
Do you need a simple to use Personal Computer?
Something easy to use and that in the meantime offers all the features you need?
If you think you could find something cheaper on eBay, you are wrong.
Besides the fact that when you have problems nobody will solve them for you (and if you are an amateur you can be sure you will), you also could buy something you cannot use (believe me it is easier than you think).
Dell computers is the place to go.
You will certainly find the best solution (which best suits you) at the lowest price.
If you have problems of space you can also opt for a Cordless Desktop which will give you all the freedom you are looking for.
A Personal Computer can be a TV, a video Games console, a DVD reader and writer, your personal bookkeeper, your communication aid, and everything you can think of.
Fantasy is your only limit.
In a few words, if diamonds are a girl's best friend, you can easily say that a Computer is a senior's best friend...

Building static web pages

What is a static web page?
It's a page that displays the content in a static way (always the same way) every time the page is loaded.
This is usually the case of a help page with address, telephone number, maplocation contact informations and so on...
Static pages do not use informations from a database.
What is a dynamic web page?
It's a page that contains content generated everytime the user loads the page.
The content is stored in a database and the page displays special informations from it, depending on the user's request.
Typical of this kind are category pages, shopping cart pages, registration and order form.
Google's guidelines suggest to create static copies of dynamic pages in order to makes a website easily accessible, because "not every search engine spider crawls dynamic pages as well as static pages ".
So, following Google direction you should build a lot of Static pages.
How?
The easiest way is using a SEO software that helps you to do so in the easiest way.
To drive search traffic to your pages you need a Seo Search Engine Optimisation.
That is what you will have with StaicPageBuilder in addition to SEM Search Engine Marketing software.
And all, which is important, in a ready to use way.
You'll find all the information you need in the tutorial .
You can even have a free trial !

What I call communication

I love discussions and I love arguments.
I love to be involved in the conversation and I love other people to be involved too.
I personally do not like too much people who 100% agree with me.
That means just one answer: Thanks. Period.

I like when somebody is provocative, when he has something different to say.
I like to fight, with words of course.
I feel like I always have something to learn.
Especially from the people who do not think as I do.
And I like to say: probably you are right, seeing from your point of view, yes it looks different.
Because that is the moment I learn something.
It is discussing and reading and commenting and understanding that your mind gets wider.
And in this the Internet is fabulous.
Because you meet if not everybody at least most of them.
The Pleasants and the Unpleasants.
And it is from a defeat that you learn, not winning.
Also with words.

See Australia without spending a fortune

If you ever planed a trip to Australia and you live in Europe, I guess this is the right time.
While here Winter is at the door, there Summer is arriving, and what could be better than leaving a cold place for a nicely warm one?
I would begin with Brisbane.
There Summer can be really hot and late Spring is the right moment to visit it.
After booking your flight you should book in cheap Brisbane hotels.
Then, what to do there?
Do not miss the Cultural Centre,the Lone Pine,a trip on the river, Moreton Bay, the City Botanic Gardens, the Story Bridge.
I am a gardens' lover and would spend most of my time visiting the Gardens, especially in late Spring...
Then I would first book cheap Melbourne hotels .
I would spend there most of my time, because that is my favorite town in Australia.
Because my favorite town in Europe is London, and Melbourne looks a lot like London, with the difference that in London you can be sure to find rain and cold while in Melbourne you can be sure to find a very nice weather.
Besides, it is home to a non-stop program of festivals, renowned dining, major art exhibitions and musical extravaganzas.
My last place to visit would be Sydney.
So Be sure to book also cheap Sydney hotels .
The most famous place of Sydney is of course the Opera House.
You can see it in every picture of Sydney.
Of course seeing it in person is something else.
If you are a fan of the beach you won't be deluded by Bondi Beach.
And also you will enjoy plenty of sun.
If you have children with you (but also if you don't) the Taronga Park Zoo is the Place to be.
But do not forget the Acquarium, neither the Historic Homes or the many Art Galleries or many Museums.
I do not know how long you can stay there, but I think it won't be enough.
The only nice thing is that you can always go back...

The Past, the Present, the Future.

We should look at the present through a rear-view mirror, we march backwards into the Future. The Present should reflect on the Past for what lies ahead.

We always see the Future as something totally new and unknown.
In reality the Future is nothing else than the repetition of the Past.
The more so because humans tend to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
We say: I did many mistakes in my life, we should say: I did the same mistakes many times.
When will we learn the lesson of History?

May be reflecting on past wars, we wouldn't begin new ones and finish at the same point over and over again.
For the whole human kind history, there was never a war that brought something new or good.
Just more misery and a lot of deaths.
But we still reason in the terms of war for solving our problems...

And the few who understand that it is wrong, still do nothing or too little to stop them...

Presumed guilty of DUI

What is DUI?

It literally means: Driving Under the Influence of...drugs, alcohol, anything that can impair your driving ability and cause damages to others.

That is (rightly in my opinion) considered a serious offense In California and can lead to harsh legal consequences if the person is convicted.
If you ever happen to be convicted of DUI it is of the highest importance to obtain the services of a DUI defense attorney who has the legal background and knowledge it takes to successfully fight DUI charges.
That is whatLos Angeles Criminal Defense Attorneys | California DUI Lawyers | Criminal & DUI Law Specialists can offer: over 50 years courtroom experience, and experience in all criminal and DUI matters.
With the advent of internet legal marketing, you can easily find many firms or services offering legal advice or attorneys to fight criminal cases.
You should find out which lawyer will represent you in court, and get it in writing. You not only have the right to know who will be your or your loved one's criminal defense lawyer beforehand, but you should also consider it the best way to assure yourself the best defense.

The best of the best of the best

Just when most begin to be fed up and aware that describing a product the best of the best of the best has no power anymore on the impulsive act of buying from the average guy, the same begins to be applyed on other "Market products" generating in such a way the "buying spree " among buyers.
It is not anymore the "night lotion", it becomes the "dream house".
And if you do not have enought cash, you can borrow it, and if your income doesn't afford it, who cares?
You buy today at 100 and sell tomorrow at 150.
You make a profit of 50 without the pain of investing your own money...
That worked and worked well for a certain time.
That is why people who couldn't afford were sure to be able to afford...
That is what happens when the house becomes nothing else than a bond on the stock market.
As long as the market is high, you make profits, if it isn't, they make losses...

Cosa accadrebbe se...

"Cosa accadrebbe se un mattino, un brutto mattino, qualcuno, ascoltati quegli insulti, quelle male parole contro Tizio o contro Caio, premesse un grilletto all'improvviso?"

Ha presente il 14 Luglio 1789?
Penso non solo che accadrebbe, ma che accadra'...se la classe politica odierna non vorra' sentire, non vorra' vedere.
Esattamente come allora.
Grillo o non Grillo.
Si tende sempre a sottovalutare la forza della massa, ma la massa si ripresenta sempre e quando esplode, esplode in tutta la sua forza.
Giusto o sbagliato che sia.
La storia non e' un insieme di battaglie o guerre.
La storia e' fatta dalla massa, dagli individui, che possono decidere di vivere in armonia e rispetto o possono decidere di sopraffarsi.
Attenzione a non esasperare la massa, perche' la sua risposta e' imprevedibile e "massiccia"...

Castigat mores ridendo

"Castigat Mores Ridendo"

Sono sicura che lei conosca questa frase.(se io sono vecchia lei non e' giovane...)
Era famosa ai miei tempi come linea di demarcazione tra coloro che aspiravano alla sufficienza e coloro destinati al vergognoso "banco degli asini".
Se dovessi trovare una spiegazione del suo operato la farei con questa frase.
Viva i comici che insegnano l'Educazione Civica".
Che perarltro era una materia insegnata ai miei tempi con una buona dose di retorica ( e di conseguenza noiosissima) e il cui abbandono non fece che consensi da tutte le parti, ma che ha in parte generato la situazione attuale.
L'Italiano medio in fondo NON VUOLE essere un cittadino.
Vuole andare a votare per chi gli promette di piu' e poi aspetta.
E si arrabbia se le promesse non vengono mantenute.
Se fosse un vero cittadino prima di votare chiederebbe come e quando cio' che viene promesso puo' e sara' mantenuto.
Cioe' voterebbe piu' "criticamente" e forse voterebbe meglio...
E' come colui che consegna i suoi risparmi alla Banca e li investe in obbligazioni che rendono cifre favolose, senza preoccuparsi minimamente di verificare come e quando e perche'.
L'Italiano medio non e' critico perche' nessuno gli ha insegnato ad esserlo.
Gli hanno insegnato a credere nella Provvidenza, in Padre Pio e nei miracoli.
E lui ci crede.
Cosi' fermamente che tende a ripetere gli stessi errori piu' di una volta.
E il suo compito e' quello di svegliare il cittadino medio.
Nel modo migliore: ridendo...

Non condivido al 100% quello che lei pensa, ma condivido il suo operato.
Non e' vero che il 60% degli Italiani voterebbe per lei: sarebbe il 90% (ci sono sempre gli irriducibili...)
Mia madre (83 anni) mi ha chiesto quando poteva votare per Grillo...

Dott. DiPietro

Buongiorno Dott. DiPietro,

Anch'io vorrei dire la mia sull'antipolitica.
Quello che ha evidenziato Grillo non e' affatto l'antipolitica, ma un bisogno immenso di politica.
Mi spiego meglio.
Io non penso che esista un'ideologia perfetta in se'.
Sia l'ideologia comunista che quella liberale hanno valori positivi e negativi.
Si tratta di una concezione della vita e dell'esistenza diverse.
Entrambe buone e entrambe cattive.
Quello che e' il bene e' la teoria, quello che e' il male e' il misuso che se ne fa di entrambe.
Che poi e' quello che crea l'antipolitica.
Gli stessi cittadini che hanno votato la sinistra ora sono accesi oppositori, ma non perche' siano diventati improvvisamente di destra, semplicemente perche' avevano idealizzato una concezione della vita che non e' realizzabile e che se lo fosse non porterebbe i risultati idealizzati.
La visione del politico ladro e corrotto non e' nuova.
Gia' mio nonno mi raccontava che ai suoi tempi, quando ci si recava nel capoluogo per chiedere certi permessi (mio nonno aveva una fabbrica di falci) ci si preparava con due o tre buste di denaro, messe in ordine nella giacca.
Prima si iniziava con la piu' piccola e, a seconda dell'espressione dell'interessato, si propinava la seconda o la terza o ci si fermava alla prima.
Questo succedeva ai principi del 900. Ben lontani da "mani Pulite".

E mi permetta di dire che questo non cambiera' mai.
Perche' l'uomo e' quello che e', se puo' fa il furbo e talvolta e' costretto a fare il "furbo".
Quello che puo' e deve cambiare e' il controllo che queste cose non succedano.
Noi abbiamo bisogno di creare una societa' con piu' "poltica", cioe' con una maggiore coscienza e partecipazione del cittadino alla vita pubblica.
Con un maggiore controllo dell'operato di chi gestice la cosa pubblica.
A tutti i livelli.
A iniziare dall'impiegato comunale per finire al presidente della repubblica.
Maggiore controllo e maggiori poteri per disincentivare questo "stile di vita".
Si deve iniziare con l'educazione scolastica.
Si deve insegnare l'Educazione Civica", intesa come diritti e doveri.
Vede il non pagare le tasse e' diventato un crimine piu' grande che uccidere.
Ma gli stessi che invocano una minore evasione dovrebbero ricordarsi che il cittadino non HA SOLO il dovere di pagare, HA ANCHE il diritto di controllare come i suoi soldi vanno spesi.
Io quando compro qualcosa lo pago, ma se e' difettoso lo riporto indietro e voglio essere rimborsata.
E nessuno oserebbe dire che non e' un mio diritto.
Allora perche' devo pagare a scatola chiusa, meglio a scatola aperta che rivela in continuazione sprechi?
Perche' devo pagare salatissimo un servizio come trasporti, poste etc e non poter neppure protestare?
Subire suprusi di ogni tipo, addirittura vedere i miei cari ammazzati nel modo piu' brutale e non avere il minimo del risarcimento? (che e' la condanna di chi ha perpetrato i crimini?)

Una societa' migliore e' quella in cui c'e' piu' controllo e piu' giustizia.
Sa, gli Italiani in questi ultimi anni sono stati colpiti da una malattia che va sotto il nome di "turismo".
Vanno all'estero e "vedono".
Vedono che tante cose sono possibili altrove e si chiedono: perche' non in Italia?

Spero che lei possa leggere questo mio sfogo, in fondo i politici dovrebbero essere come lei: colui che ha un indirizzo a cui essere raggiunto.
Perche' il mio malessere non e' un fatto personale, ma penso che mai piu' di adesso la gente abbia bisogno di sfogarsi e di vedere che "qualcosa cambia".

Patrizia Broghammer

San Antonio's chain

When I was in the elementary school (which was long time ago) I happened to know what was going under the name of "San Antonio's chain".
It worked this way: you wrote five post cards to five people and any one of them had to write five post cards and so on.
I do not remember how it really worked, because I guess I never played, but somehow and someway you got a certain amount of post cards and so on.
"Do not stop the chain...unless this or that".
Many years later I saw it was very successful in USA, with the most unusual things at the place of post cards.
And I see it still works pretty well.
You always find the sufficient number of people happy to go on and fearful to break the chain.
I guess the home business was something like this.
You bought a house and you made a loan, you sold it and bought a bigger one making a bigger loan and so on...
The problem was, somebody, somehow broke the chain and the full business showed its real face.
But I agree, America will recover, because of the never ending ingenious of some people on one side and never ending naiveté of others on the other side.
Next time it will not be houses, it will be something else, but who cares?
The important is that nobody breaks the chain...

Treating the compulsive Drug User

Every society has used drugs producing profound effects on mood, thought and feeling.
Moreover there were always a few individuals who disgressed from custom with respect to the time, the amount and the situation in which these drugs had to be used.
Thus, the problem of drug abuse is as old as civilization itself.
Since 1970 the opioids were used both for easing withdrawal and for maintenance.
The treatment of compulsive narcotics users with Methadone and similar drugs while having certain advantages, also created problems and public health risks.
Patients participating in programs were sources of illicit diversion of the drug prescribed, thus creating the potential of primary addiction to methadone in others.
In addiction, some intermittent heroin users became severely physically dependent if innapropriately admitted to maintenance programs.
Soon it was clear that with few exceptions chronic maintenance programs for these drugs were of little benefit for the patient.
The same happened and still happens with other rapid detox treatments.
Traditional drug detox programs have a success rate of less than 20% after the first year, others even less.
Waismann Method can claim the highest success rate of any other opiate detox treatment.
If you want to know more, you can call (310) 205-0808 or (888) 987-HOPE or send an email .

Where is marketing going?

It scares me sometimes to think of it.
The image of a company or of a product has got so important to be the company or the product itself.
We are getting more and more a visual society, to the point that we do not talk with words, we talk with images.
Children are brought up with books full of nice pictures, so many that the child is not able to abstract anymore.
If I think of the books I used to read, where the written part was 99% and we had just a few low quality pictures, I understand what is happening.
Our books let us a huge space for imagination, we read and we saw.
Now they see and are not able to read.
Of course they won't be able to write.

The future generations won't be able to imagine, to dream, to see trough the lines.
They will just be passive consumers of a world planed and displayed by others.
That in our times was called "brainwashing", and today is called "the right marketing tool".
If you are not able to argue, to complain, to criticize, you are condemned to live a life full of stereotypes, the life organized and driven by some superior brains that use you to produce and consume in a never ending circle...

The beauty ladder

Everybody knows the beauty of a face begins with the right smile and the right skin.
The first is something not everybody can learn and sometimes is innate, but the second is something you can achieve using the right products.
Especially natural products.
Technology comes at our help also in this case.
Long ago they discovered that one of the first cause of aging of the skin is the so called "Oxidation", caused by the free radicals in our body.
All what is against it, could be helpful as a "antioxidant product".
There is a fruit which grows in Vietnam which is very rich in antioxidants: Gâc” (Momordia Cochinchinemis Spreng).
And there is one product which is particularly rich in Gâc:R.G. Skin Revitalizer.
Asian households know since long the medicinal potentials of this fruit and grow it in their garden.
It is a ref fruit resembling a cantaloupe, it is very rich in carotenoids which are in a highly bio-available form (infact your body can absorb these fat-soluble nutrients better than if it were a juice).
Not only, the highly potent antioxidant (licopene),of which this fruit is particularly rich, can also have a strong cellular rejuvenation power.
But its particular benefit comes from being an oil, not a juice, like all the others on the market.
Being an oil makes it fatty soluble and the fat in the fruit pulp is essential for the absorption of those fat soluble nutrients.
To explain it better I will talk about Calcium and Vitamin D.
Many think that skimmed milk has the same effects as the whole milk, without the fattening.
That is utterly wrong.
Because Calcium and Vitamin D are fatty-soluble and the casein (the fat part of the milk) is rich in them.
If you take away all the casein you also take away the Calcium and Vitamin D.
That is why in any diet it is important to keep a part of the fat of milk.
The same applies in this case: it’s the fat in the fruit pulp (about 100 mg/g) that is essential for the absorption of β-carotenes.

20 years old

The technology behind the mobile phone is 20 years old according to the BBC. "The technology behind the mobile phone is celebrating its 20th anniversary. On 7 September 1987, 15 phone firms signed an agreement to build mobile networks ...

For me it is 20 years too much...

I am not a star

Not that I wouldn't like to be one.
Everybody at least once in his life would have liked to be a star.
Especially when bills arrive.
If I was a star I wouldn't bother, I wouldn't even see them, I would have somebody to care for them...

I am just a Planet.
I live of somebody else's light.
Which sometimes proves to be quite comfortable.
The only pain you have is to choose the right star.
But if you make a mistake, don't worry.
You can always change star and begin from scratch.

Many would say I am contradicting myself.
I wrote it is better to be an original nobody than an artificial somebody.
Well, see it this way: you are still a nobody, but a nobody reflecting somebody else's light.
Still an original thing.
At least it is not easy to find another nobody that reflects like you.
In that YOU MUST be original.
The first copy of an original, otherwise you become a satellite.
The copy of the copy, the reflecting of the reflected light.

You should aim to be, as I do, a reflected image which in some ways is better than the original.
An image that has its own life, that from a copy becomes something else, better or worse it doesn't really matter.
Think of it as the Hologram of a famous painting, where the model gets almost like a living creature.
The unreal very close to reality.
What Michelangelo lacked was probably the right light and the right sound and the right show.
That is what technology can add.
And isn't it suddenly something new, something alive, something different?
Better or worse, who cares? Every generation carries with it something new, something old, something borrowed...

Looking is giving the direction to one's sight...

Many people treat sight as a convenient method of avoiding bumping into things or watching television.
"Looking is giving a direction to one's sight" observed Leonardo da Vinci.
If you belong to the ones who believe that what you see and what you notice are not the same thing this post is for you.
If you belong to the ones who want to see more than the naked eye would allow them, this post is for you.
If you belong to the ones who like to look at the sky and see more and more, this post is for you.
Because in this case you needastronomical binoculars which are the required tool to see what you are looking at.
But the sky is not all.
You can look at nature and see things that you would have overlooked.
You can see much better your favorite sports, your favorite play, and many more things ...The limit is just your fantasy...

Thinking positive

Reading about Leonardo or Michelagelo or the many Italians who were geniuses and great one would think that it is the environment that makes the man.
I do not believe so, I think it is the environment that allows the genius to be so, if he needs it...

They say think positive and you'll get it.
I can think as positive as I can, but I still cannot get it...
I look at myself in the mirror and think: What am I?
The more I think and the less I know.
Even positive thinking.
Then I think negative and I get it: I am a nobody!
Well, it doesn't take much to be a nobody, but surely it takes a lot to admit it.
Is it better to be a genuine nobody or an artificial somebody?
In a period in which nature and natural are so popular I would answer the first.
Besides, it also has its advantages.
You can say and write whatever you want and like, nobody will care and complain.
You can go wherever you like (and can) and nobody will harass you.
In principle you have something many would like to have: you can be invisible.
Nobody hates or envies you, people usually have a friendly attitude towards the nobodies, their mere existence makes them looking like somebody...
In life you need to have somebody who is LESS than you, just to allow you to be Better.
Well, not only I am proud to be a nobody, I am also happy.
But I must be careful, if I go on having positive thoughts, may be I won't be a nobody anymore...

The value

In 1985 a Greek statue was acquired by the Getty Museum for seven million dollars.
Evidence now suggests it was one of those knocked off by Rodin's craftmen.
The Museum can't decide whether the statue is genuine or fake, whether it's worth seven million dollars or nothing, whether it's a creative masterpiece or a piece of junk.

How can something be worth seven millions or nothing?

DirectMatches.com

I really think it is a great idea.
In a world which is mostly going towards more and more self-employment where do you find partners and opportunities?
Of course online, but how?
And here we are.
A brand new, alluring website, a business network site where you can list yourself or scrolling the listed people and choosing who and how and when and where you think useful and interesting for your business.
You can look at Business people or business events, you can search and you can even post or view videos, of course they called it Mytube, because it looks a lot like the famous one, but this is a business video collection.
Just in case written words are not enough...
Well, this is really the way to meet successful business people, to look for a new partner, to learn more about your business, to promote your business, to promote your products, in a few words to be there, where you should be.
May be among the “Today’s popular business people”.
You can even build a network in the network, controlling who joins in it, have your own personal forum, and of course market your own Network home page and Website URL.

You are invited to have a free trial!
Just sign up and begin to work for your success...

Make a difference

We are made of stardust.
We are children of the stars from the very first moment of the Big Bang whence we came.
I am proud of my Simian ancestry.
I like to think that I was once a magnificent hairy fellow living in the trees.
Who would be so silly as to exchange this for the pallid couple in the Garden of Eden?
Many struggle to achieve immortality, without knowing that YES, WE are Eternal, in the sense that our DNA will go on living far longer than our mortal bodies.
Since the Dawn of Humanity, man has asked himself: what am I here for?
I have a simple answer: Because you ARE, and because you HAVE to make a difference.
In the life you live, a small, a big, an unknown a well known, a good, a bad, A DIFFERENCE.
Because you existed and you had the chance to exist.
I am not sure what kind of difference I can make.
Sometimes I do not even want to make a difference.
I would just like to live, without thinking, without a goal, without a purpose.
Then I think life would be so boring, so unlivable, so senseless and I feel like I want to make a difference.
Among the people I live with, among the flowers of my garden, among the things that surround me.
I want to make this today and that tomorrow, so that the day after tomorrow I can be proud and happy of what I did.
I want to wake up and know I have millions of things to do, duties to fulfill, tasks to enjoy.
Life for me is DOING, is LIVING, is WORKING, is going to be so tired, that my eyes close and I feel so good, just because I am in bed.
And I am so happy, because the simple fact of being able to lie in my bed and sleeping gives me so much pleasure.
The difference is not in being a famous writer, but in writing the things you like to read.
It is not being a famous actor, but living the life you like to live.
It is not having, but being.
A little bit less monkey and a little bit more human.
That is for me making a difference.

What I learn from...

...(and, um, don’t forget to fill in the blank) Middle Zone Musing

I do not forget, but I won't do it, because it would be such a long list, my writing laziness wouldn't be able to write all.
I will begin with an example.
I learned HTML the same way I learned Geometry.
I learned Geometry copying Pitagora's theorems and I learned HTML copying from people who were much better than me.
The first page was 90% a copy.

The 10% original was the colors, I had just learned what I needed to change them.
Then I learned how to change the words and then the rest.
At the end I was able to write an original page.
Which in one sense wasn't original at all.
I put the content, somebody else put the way to express the content.

Every word I read, every picture I see, every color I like changes a little bit the way I work and live.
Permanent learning, permanent changing.
Every minute of my life changes what I do and of course what I am.
So much that looking at myself and at what I did some years ago, I scarcely believe that the girl I see was the woman I am.
I cannot say there was something special that radically changed me, I can say there were many small details, some of which I wasn't even aware of, that changed the way I am, the way I look, the way I think, the way I live.
But one thing never changed and will never change: the fact that I will go on changing as long as I live.
An original sound can produce an echo, while an echo doesn't produce an original sound, but many original echoes...

Style is the man (or the woman)

"Style is merely the outside of content, and content the inside of style".
So, if you have content you still need an outside "style".
What about "Citizen of Humanity "?
Or "Frankie B Jeans"?
Or "Harajuku Lovers "?
These and many other "styles" are what you can find at True Religion Jeans.
There you can be sure to find the best in designer jeans and of course the best in contemporary "style".
Change your way of shopping, next time shop online for your sexy designer jeans and spare yourself the inconvenience of traditional shopping.
They have all of the hottest jeans, shirts, and accessories. You can avoid wasting time to look around.
And if Style is the man or the woman, you'd better be careful in choosing yours...

The modern tourist

Does this mean that the modern tourist is radically original in terms of his desires and aspirations? (Therefore, there being no such thing as a 'copy' tourist who goes to the same places his friends have gone to - contaminated paradises).

Herman Najoli

It just means that tastes have evolved and people are more critical and more simple in their tastes.
If simple means closer to nature and to respecting the natural environment.
Of course this can also have the "likeness" of a new fashion, which is what people of a certain generation follow.
The word "fashion" has a neutral meaning for me, it is just the "common taste".
And the 21st century's fashion is toward the environment, against wasting of energy and toward usage of "renewable" one.
This is probably more a need than an innate aspiration.
Man likes to consume and live the easy life.
Of course the new "fashion" is less easy to follow.
But it is more and more a need, if man wants to survive in this world.
Pollution has reached a peak that doesn't allow a healthy life anymore.
Do people know why cancer is the reason number one of death?
Or Alzheimer is the destiny towards our generation is heading?
The modern tourist is the modern man.
He has to change his tastes and choose a more "nature friendly" holiday.

Can you learn talent?

"There are only three kinds of people in the world:

a). Those that are continual learners.
b). Those who are not
c). Those who don’t care about learning."

100 Bloggers [philgerb@gmail.com]

and

"It’s one thing to have talent and it’s quite another to know how to exploit that talent. It’s the quality of thinking that separents talented achievers from talented underachievers.
Nothing is more natural than a person’s talents. The key to being able to develop your talent is to stay natural. Don’t be a cheap copy when you can be original! "

It looks easier than what it is.
Personally I believe that a good copy is ALWAYS better than a bad original.
Of course if you are talented you also are more willing to develop your talents.
But if you are not?

Let's talk about the "normal" "average" "mediocre" guy.
Which is the majority of us.
I really do not think it so dramatically bad to be just "mediocre".
The bad in being "mediocre" is in being ashamed of being one.
I myself like to be "mediocre" and feed on somebody else's genius.
So refreshing being just "normal"...

The no more "accidental tourist"

Even if the average tourist doesn't realize it, many things have changed lately in the way people approach holidays.
Once a holiday place meant some place where you could have fun and meant big hotels on the beach, no respect for nature or local natural attractions.
You could have the same experience in Rimini or Acapulco or Hawaii.
Now the tourist has become more sophisticated, he wants a special holiday, he is looking for an unforgettable, unique place.
With more respect for nature and local traditions.
He wants to see and to understand and to learn.
And that is what Maui vacation homes offers.
Ecotourism: it means a vacation in harmony with local nature and culture.
It means a commercial development that doesn't destroy the environment, but follows it and, if possible, upgrades it.
Maui's condo are built as a part of the landscape, trying to have the least possible impact on the precious local land and wildlife.
The modern tourist can find there what he is looking for: an uncontaminated paradise where to relax and enjoy nature while learning uses and history of the place.
So, if you are looking forHawaii Travel Information to plan an unforgettable holiday which will be a unique experience you just need to visit their website and will easily find all what you're looking for.