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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Aug 23 BlogRoaming

Dr. John has noticed something that I have too. It seems news stories have precursors which make the oddest connections between seemingly unrelated articles and events.

Gotan Project - Espectacular !

Photo Editing, Fonts and Ubuntu

The other day I got an annoying email claiming that "the main reason not to switch to Linux is for me the impossibility to use Adobe's Photoshop". It caught me by surprise. I work with Photoshop 8.01 CE on Ubuntu with Wine. Old trick and wellknown. Aside from that at least 15 online photo-editors are available amongst others: Adobe's Photoshop!............However, upon Googling around, I noticed that many fall short of installing their Photoshop version in Wine. Main complaint install errors and a poor font quality in the menus, making work with it quite difficult. An oversight: Photoshop requires the so-called 'msttcorefonts' and in particular Tahoma to get good readable menus again.

Ubuntu - Spiritual, believe it or not!

Ramadan mubarrak to all my Islamic readers and those who know what this means: happy Ramadan. The 'ninth month' is for muslims a month to contemplate, to fast during the day, but have copious festivities when the Sun is down. My Jewish friends look forward to their New Year, Rosh Hashanah, at September 18th and Yom Kippur starting at September 27th. Dates that change gradually throughout our fixed Western calendars. A good moment to pay attention to spirituality and computing. Most of us prefer working behind a computer screen without being reminded of religious obligations and traditions. For others that is part of their lives and they want details to be observed. Their good right. Having provisions in place to make this possible is to my opinion a good thing. Specific software to study the Qur'an for instance, or read from the Bible. Even engaging in the teachings from the Buddha can be enlightening after some hours of electronic banking. However I wonder if the appearance of certain Ubuntu distros (releases) claiming exclusivity for certain religious convictions is in accordance with the philosophy of the word 'Ubuntu'...

Solar Cycle 24 - starting anew?

The mystery about Solar Cycle 24 could come to an end. If we are to believe the Global Oscillation Network Group that studies the behaviour of our Sun in its deeper layers. Usually the Sun shows a cycle that takes about 11 years. Currently the Sun appears 'hibernating' and until today shows no distinct signs of awakening. That is: on its bright surface. But deep within some processes show that things could go changing. The study of the Sun depends on the precision of our observational instruments. The last few years many new insights were acquired about the nuclear furnace that makes life on Earth possible...

Psychological Harassment Information Association

Bullying Tactics and Strategies Revealed

Indirect Communication Indirect Threats
Conditioning your mind Negatively or Positively
Rejection Hurts The Never Ending Test
Intrusive Thoughts (Degrading Themes)
Ambiguities - Self Doubt and Uncertainties
Metaphorical Speech – Hidden Threats
Responsibility and Vulnerability 
Ideation used to Manipulate Victims
Credibility and Psychological Warfare
Covert Type Investigations
Fear of Fear and Attacks to the Honor
View on Reality Manipulation 

Index

Psychology

Mastering Your Own Mind

Distracted? Angry? Envious? There's growing evidence that attention, emotion —even love—are skills that can be trained through the practice of meditation.... 

The Goals That Guide Us
Setting objectives can guide us to well-being and success. Having a road map for the future is a key element to success. 
Read more 
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Hits: 545 

More:
How To Fight—and How Not To 
Keeping Interrogation Clean 
How to Calm Down 
Don't Lose Your Cool 
Build Your Confidence 
Fighting Stage Fright 
Video

Mind Games - Tricks to Boost Your Memory - Video
How to improve your brain and memory with different games and food. 10/05/2009 
Read more 
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Hits: 119 

Depression and the Heart
The American Heart Association recommends depression screening for patients. 10/09/2008 
Read more 
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Hits: 284 

More:
ABC Stress Video 10092008 
Possible Link Between Sleep and Diabetes 
Paying Employees to Live Healthier 
Increasing Your Happiness 
Do Yoga at Work 
Workplace

Female veterans struggle with PTSD (video)
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Hits: 13 

Report: Army didn't want PTSD diagnosed (video)
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Hits: 13 

More:
Work: When Personalities Clash 
Why Monitoring Employees Backfires 
Work: When Personalities Clash 
Bad Boss, Sick Employees 
Cubicle Wars 
Workplace - Productivity

Making a Difference at Work

When workers know their work makes a difference, productivity rises and so does job satisfaction. 
Read more 
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Hits: 549 

The Price of Depression
Depression affects productivitiy at work, costing Americans billions of dollars. 
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Hits: 513 

School

Bad Boys and Girls
What contributes to aggressive and violent behavior? The relationship between self-esteem and aggressive behavior in children. 
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Hits: 720 

Health - Mental

PTSD: Battlefield can leave invisible scars (video)

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Hits: 15 

Boost Your Brain Power
Can't find your keys? Stay sharp with our memory-boosting games 
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Hits: 737 

More:
Don't Let Sugar Get You Down 
Unwanted Thoughts 
Health

12 surprising signs you’ll live to 100

You're the life of the party 
Outgoing people are 50 percent less likely to develop dementia, according to a recent study of more than 500 men and women age 78 and older fr... 

The 10 Best Foods for Your Heart
Heart disease is often silent, hits without warning, and kills an American every 26 seconds. But you can reduce your risk of a heart attack by 80 percent. Here’s ho... 

Health - Stress

Stifle Stress, Sleep Soundly (10 ways)

10 ways to control your stress and get a better night’s sleep 

Don't drink caffeinated beverages after noon. Caffeine can stay in your system as long as nine hour... 

Mind Your Body: A Higher Road to Relaxation

Cool your exercise jets—the body's best cure for stress may be a little face time. 

The most efficient stress-reducer might just be a smile. Engaging socially wit... 

More:
Secret Shame 
The High Price of a Broken Heart 
Health - Depression

Bad Breakups Cause Depression
Losses that involve lower self-esteem are more likely to lead to depression than a loss such as a death of a loved one. 
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Hits: 570 

Vitamin Power

Vitamin deficiency may lead to depression and dementia in the elderly. 

In a study conducted by the National Institute on Aging, disabled women over age 65 with a vitamin B... 

Health - Anxiety

A 13-hour Flight and Panic-free

A 13-hour Flight and Panic-free 
How to get to Hong Kong without anxiety setting in. 

Not only do you need to know that most outcomes you fear will never come to pass, but th... 

Insomnia - Sleep Deprivation

The Rewards of Shut-Eye

Adequate sleep reduces stress. A midday nap can help deal with information overload. 

Fact : The late stage of sleep—sometimes missed by early risers—can boost b... 

Sleep or Suffer
At some point, nearly everyone struggles to sleep. Tips on how to get your snooze schedule back on track and on how to avoid sleepless nights.  
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Laws

Mo. governor signs bill outlawing cyberbullying
Updates laws that require harassment to be written or over the telephone

Israel hits back over Swedish organ harvesting article

Israel retaliates for story in Swedish newspaper by withholding press credentials.

( I ran a quick search for hits on a story of Israel denying the truth of the story....Zip. Nada.

A story of criminal conspiracy was changed to one of Israel alleging antiSemitism quickly enough.

Quick. Aren't Arabs Semites? Uh-huh.

Israel is on the wrong side of the record for protecting Palestinians. )

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs : Search Parameters for Articles

VA workers given millions in bonuses as vets await checks

While hundreds of thousands of disability claims lay backlogged at the Department of Veterans Affairs, thousands of technology employees at the department received $24 million in bonuses, a new report says. full story

VA claims processing sees strides, setbacks, report says 

The Veterans Administration's handling of disability claims has seen improvements and setbacks, a congressional watchdog said Wednesday.
updated Wed July 15, 2009
Pentagon: Troops won't lose their war-zone smokes 

The defense secretary will not ban smoking by troops in war zones despite a recommendation to do so by a Pentagon-commissioned study.
updated Tue July 14, 2009
Veterans' facilities fall short in women's treatment standards 

Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities do not consistently offer the level of services and infrastructure necessary to properly treat the growing number of female veterans, a government investigation concludes.
updated Sun July 12, 2009
Study recommends total ban on smoking for soldiers 

You've seen the iconic picture of a soldier with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, but that could soon be a thing of the past.
updated Tue June 16, 2009
Inspections find many VA facilities lack colonoscopy safety 

Lawmakers reacted with anger and dismay Tuesday to the second report this year that Veterans Administration facilities had inadequate safety procedures in place to ensure that colonoscopy equipment is sterilized between patients.
updated Wed May 27, 2009
'Tell somebody,' if you're thinking of suicide, says general 

The 101st Airborne's senior commander in effect ordered his soldiers Wednesday not to commit suicide, a plea that came after 11 suicides since January 1, two of them in the past week.
updated Sat May 23, 2009
Advocates await specifics of Obama's plan for vets program 

As President Obama reminds Americans that Memorial Day is more than the casual start of summer, many veterans advocates are eagerly waiting for more details about his plans for a revamped veterans program.
Video 
updated Thur May 21, 2009
Former addict gives homeless veterans a second chance 

Following a faint trail through a dense patch of woods in Florida's Palm Beach County, Roy Foster is a man on a mission.

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Debunks "Phony Claims" about Health Reform; Emphasizes Consumer Protections

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Obama set the record straight on some of the most pervasive myths about health insurance reform. He addressed a range of "outrageous myths" including that illegal immigrants will be covered, that abortions will be funded by taxpayer dollars, that so-called "death panels" will be formed to decide who receives treatment, and that reform will lead to a government takeover of health care. In addition, the President reiterated that a public option would be just that – an option, not a requirement, for consumers - and would help introduce choice and competition to the health care market, while reminding American’s that it is only one component of health reform. The proposed reforms will also provide Americans unprecedented security and stability by prohibiting insurance companies from refusing or dropping coverage due to medical history, capping out-of-pocket expenses, and banning caps on coverage, among other consumer protections.

The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.

Influenza vaccination: How to stop an outbreak
from The Economist: Science and technology

No matter which outcome was looked at, nor which pattern of epidemic was chosen, the result was the same. The best approach to influenza is to vaccinate young people and their parents, not infants and the elderly. Moreover, it is a cheaper and more efficient option. Around 85m doses of vaccine are distributed in the United States in normal years. Dr Medlock and Dr Galvani reckon that if their approach were followed, that might be cut to just over 60m.

Homelessness Grows In Shadow Of White House (PHOTOS)

( Food, shelter and clothing are considered 'necessities of life'. Funny water - immediately critical - isn't thought of, as its urgency overrides most imperatives. Sanitation limits spread of disease also. )
Cover Art Mini Stories

Open Ended : Ars covers the world of open source

OpenSUSE community konfesses love for KDE, makes it default

The openSUSE Linux distribution will offer KDE as its default desktop environment in future versions. This move echoes the SUSE community's historical affinity for KDE and indicates that this preference still persists among contemporary users of openSUSE.

SUSE, one of the oldest commercial Linux distributions, was originally established in 1992 as a derivative of Slackware. It evolved considerably over the years and dropped its Slackware heritage, shifting towards the RPM package manager and other aspects of the Red Hat ecosystem. It also gained many unique features such as the YaST configuration system. The company behind SUSE was one of the most well-known European Linux vendors and became a very active contributor to the KDE project.

Novell acquired SUSE in 2003 shortly after acquiring Ximian, one of the most prominent GNOME distributors. Novell brought the two distros together and continued to actively contribute to the advancement of both KDE and GNOME. Novell's commercial SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) ships with a GNOME environment, however, and much of Novell's investment in desktop application development has been heavily focused on GNOME.

Novell's community-driven openSUSE distro, which is used as a proving ground to stabilize the technology that is used in SLED, has largely aimed to be desktop-agnostic. The installation DVD image includes the full set of packages for both desktop environments and requires users to manually select one during the installation process. Installable Live CD images are also available for each desktop.
( KDE was the desktop on a dual-boot Linux installation I had a few years back. If I had only had the sense of encouragement then that I've had -  without proper comparison, admittedly - from Ubuntu -  I'd have been using a KDE desktop years ago. Lack of familiarity and of any sense of where to get help killed my enthusiasm then. It seems to take a while to get 'into' Linux. )

Gigantic Lightning Jets Shoot from Clouds to Space
"Gigantic jets are literally lightning that comes out of the thunderclouds, but instead of going down, like most lightning strokes do, these apparently find their way out the tops of thunderclouds, and then keep going and keep going and keep going until they run into something that stops them," Cummer explained. 

The something that stops them is the ionosphere, the topmost layer of the Earth's atmosphere (right at the edge of space), which is made up of electrically charged atoms, or ions.




 




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