Archive for January, 2010

Better Sleeping Tips

Having trouble to sleep? do you have insomnia?

Here are some tips from one of the health expert Mr. Simeon Margolis, M.D., Ph.D.

Tips to get you to sleep:

• Only use your bed for sleeping or having sex, not for reading, doing paperwork, watching TV, snacking, or making phone calls.

If you’ve been lying in bed but are beginning to fear you’re not going to drop off, try some of these techniques: Count sheep or count backwards from 100 (one of my favorites) to stop yourself from thinking about the problems of yesterday or tomorrow; breathe deeply for awhile; or visualize some peaceful place.

• If you can’t get to sleep after lying in bed for 30 minutes or more, get up for awhile. What to do? Try reading something incredibly boring. 
• Develop a bedtime routine.

• Keep regular bedtime hours.

• Before bedtime, avoid tobacco and caffeinated beverages (not just coffee, but other drinks like tea, cola, and Dr. Pepper).

• Avoid alcohol right before bedtime — a nightcap might get your mind fuzzy enough to put you to sleep, but such sleep may be interrupted by periods of awakening. By contrast, the stress-lowering effect of a drink with dinner may help to promote sleep later.

• Avoid naps (or falling asleep in front of boring TV programs, as I do).

• Try to get up at the same time every day rather than sleeping in on weekends.

• Exercise every day, but not shortly before bedtime since exercise gets the adrenaline going.

• If you use an illuminated clock for a wakeup alarm, place it where you can’t keep looking at it to check the time.

• Buy a firm mattress and keep your bedroom well ventilated (a cool temperature works best for me).

• And you might also try some of these: a warm bath, warm milk, light bedtime snack, massage, or quiet music (which turns itself off automatically).

• Use earplugs for extreme quiet.

• If you have a painful joint or a headache, take a pain pill before bedtime (but be sure it doesn’t contain caffeine).

• Avoid stimulating reading or television shows late at night.

If the insomnia stubbornly persists, check with your doctor to make sure some underlying health problem (such as depression, anxiety, hyperthyroidism, heart failure, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) isn’t keeping you awake. If all is well, you might ask for one of the several types of prescription sleeping pills that can be useful in the short term.

source: Yahoo Health, Article By Simeon Margolis, M.D., Ph.D.

5 Behaviors of Manipulative People

There are so many people that surrounds us in our everyday living, some of them are so close and even more friendly that we even tell our secrets and important details of our work , but do we really know if  we can trust them ? do we really know that they are true to us or they’re just doing good things to get some valuable information to get one step ahead of us?

Here are some things you shoud know:

Buttering You Up: To get their way, manipulators will often make you feel good so that they can then ask you to do something that they want.  The person may first compliment you or tell you what a wonderful job you did on something.  Making you feel good will, in their mind, make it difficult for you to say no…after all, you wouldn’t want to disappoint them or give them reason to think you didn’t deserve the compliment in the first place. What you can do: Return the compliments and the niceties before saying no.

Guilt: This doesn’t only pertain to Catholics and Jewish Mothers; guilt trips have been a successful manipulation tactic for centuries.  The saddest part of this strategy is that the victims of this tactic succumb to the manipulators’ demands because they feel they HAVE to, not because they WANT to.  In personal relationships, this sets up a co-dependency that is extremely unhealthy.  What you can do: Ask the individual if they want you to do something because you have to or because you want to.  If they say they want you to want to do it, tell them that you don’t and that they are trying to force you into something you don’t feel comfortable with.

Broken Record: Probably the most obvious of formats is the broken record tactic.  If a person asks you enough or pushes their agenda enough…constantly repeating the question or request over and over again…in slightly different ways, the victim will inevitably give in and give them what they want.  Oye!  What you can do: Ask the individual what they don’t understand about the word “no.”  Tell them that asking you over and over again isn’t going to change anything and that they are inappropriately over-stepping boundaries.

Selective Memory: This one gets me the most.  You swear you have a conversation about a plan and everyone is on the same page, and then one day, the manipulator pretends to remember the conversation completely differently, if at all.  What you can do: Record your conversations…seriously!  Okay, maybe not.  At least have a witness that you can count on to back you up if the person pulls this shenanigan.  Call them out on the fact that they conveniently change the game to fit their needs.

Bullying: If a person doesn’t get their way, they make you out to look or feel like the bad guy…like you are the wrong one.  What you can do: Be firm and tell them that their bullying tactics are inappropriate and unacceptable.

Keep your eyes open for these behaviors and continue to stand your ground to ensure that you aren’t a victim of manipulation.  Have you seen any other types of manipulative behavior?

 source: by Brett Blumenthal 

Naruto Manga 480 – SACRIFICE

This is supposed to be the last chapter to end the fight between Danzou and Sasuke, so is it the end? but from the title itself SACRIFICE – is this a ritual or another life that is served for the fight.

We start the chapter with the scene of Danzou and Sasuke on a tight pose because each has hit one another with their own chakra charged swords.  Madara seemed to be impressed with Sasuke’s move and said “So this is the extent of Sasuke’s power”…interesting words right? we will know why as we explain below.

We know from last chapter that Danzou has one last sharingan eye open that should work for Izanagi technique but something was definitely wrong.  Karin suspected that he could feel Danzou’s chakra decreasing with the hit of Sasuke’s lightning sword but still confused since Danzou is still using Izanagi but this confusion was not visible to Madara, he is the one who explained the series of events.

We remember that Danzou has a few more sharingan open during the fight with Sasuke but with continuos attacks each of those eyes were used and quickly closed one by one.  The trick was, when Danzou was carefully looking at how many was still open, Sasuke had turned on Tsukuyomi and placed Danzou under a genjutsu – making him believe that he still one eye left before he allowed Sasuke to hit him with the sword – but the reality is – the eye was already closed.

Danzou fell down to the ground, though not yet ready to meet Itachi at the after life, he seemed to be suprised to the sudden turn of events.  Sasuke proudly stood above the fallen Danzou stating that he who tried to mold the sharingan powers into his whole body would still be no match to the fight of the eyes with a true Uchiha ninja.

That pride didnt stay long as those last use of power made him really weak and fallen down himself, Karin immediately ran after Sasuke and offered her right arm to revitalize Sasuke – he didnt think twice and took Karin’s arm for power.

Taking this oppurtunity, Danzou thought about how a young and unexperienced Sasuke could defeat him.  The Shodai cells from Hiroshima’s powers became alive and turned to giant tree taking all of Danzou’s right arm including all of the closed sharingan eyes.  Madara noticed this and he was sure that Hiroshima’s power are not easy to control now that Danzou has lost most of his chakra and nearly dead.

But Danzou was not done yet, he removed the bandage from his right eye and showed the sharingan eye that he took from Shisui.  Sasuke charged him directly using chidori with his left hand, but Danzou was quick and grabbed Karin instead.  Danzou was undecided either to use genjutsu on Madara or use it as Izanagi but he surely knew that Sasuke was done for since he had already overused his mangekyou eyes.  But as we all know, Sasuke has other ideas (and for the Nth time, we dont know the extent of sasuke’s power.

Karin was pleading for his life and called into Sasuke, Sasuke ordered that she should not move.  His left eye was opened again and revealed the Mangekyou eyes, and next scenes were unprecedented.  While Danzou was still raving about saving Konoha and only him can deliver peace across the ninja world, Sasuke had made his attack. 

 A straight lightning charge came from his arm and hit directly to his opponent with Karin still before Danzou.  It was so strong that the charge was made directly to Danzou’s heart and this was a hit through Karin’s own body.  Karin was  so surprised and shock to Sasuke’s decision but Sasuke seemed to be very satisfied and Madara watching from the sidelines was very proud and impressed as Sasuke completely accepts the darkness of hatred.

“”Niisan”" as Sasuke said quietly … “One down”.  Sasuke continous to complete his mission of avenging the death of his brother Itachi and difficult life that he had to endure because of the love of Konoha village and his submission to Konohas’s elders.

Wow, the battle seems over but deep in my heart, its not the end of it.  Danzou is a vital villain that cant be killed easily and another question is that – is Karin really dead.  Karin is also helpful to Sasuke and important in giving him power in his battles – so why kill her now.  Was there really no loyalty in his heart anymore to the team mates he gathered and recently took no care and notice since the Kage meeting from the Iron country.

That’s the suspense that Kishi has left behind.  Is it another genjutsu from Sasuke that made Karin supposed to be sacrificed but in reality saved her before the lightning charge was released or is Karin really dead and out of the Taka team.  Is Danzou finally dead as well? what will Sasuke be turned into after he realized he killed someone who has a great crush on him and full loyalty and love is offered to him.

Till next chapter…enjoy guys… We just miss Naruto…next chapter I hope.

…….

State of the Union Address, 2010

US President Barack Obama, delivers a powerful speech in his first State of The Union Address in 2010. The speech was punctuated by tough talk, hearty applause from both sides, and an odd reaction from one Supreme Court justice.

He talks on Jobs, Healthcare & Economy and tries to defend his decision to support continued bank bailouts as “necessary.”

The increasingly cautious Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, He took them both on in one passage, challenging Democrats to use their majority to legislate and Republicans to join in passing bills rather than throwing roadblocks:

For those who missed the live broadcast on the State of the Union Address, you can watch a replay shared right below.

sources: yahoo news and youtube

Apple’s New Electronic Gadget the “iPad”

Apple’s just-announced its new electronic gadget, the iPad, an iPhone look a like but a bigger version, and it boasts a price tag that’s a lot lower than people expected, considering its $499 price tag (for the 16GB model), Apple’s new tablet is certainly one hot piece of gismo.

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs introduces the technical specifications of the new iPad during the launch of Apple’s new tablet computing device in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is betting the world will be excited about the much-hyped and rumour-laden iPad tablet computer.

In introducing the new electronic gadget Wednesday in San Francisco, Jobs held up the touch-screen device, which is a little smaller than a magazine.

“And we call it the iPad,” he told the audience.

“It is the best browsing experience you’ve ever had,” Jobs said in front of a giant screen showing the new product.

The icons are like those on the iPhone, complete with a tray at the bottom, and the iPad runs on the iPhone’s operating system. Jobs spent some time showing off some of the iPad’s features, including e-mail and web browsing. It will ship with iTunes installed.

here are some features of the new iPad, it has:

• 9.7-inch (25-centimetre) display
• ½ inch thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds (680 grams)
• powered by a 1GHz Apple A4 chip, and has 16GB to 64GB of flash storage
• 10 hours of battery life and over a month of standby power.

The iPad will be able to run any application in Apple’s App Store unmodified. To date, more than three billion apps have been downloaded for iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

Other source: Glenn Johnson and Kim Covert, Canwest News Service

MOBILE PHONE INDUSTRY HURT

A showdown between Google and the Chinese government could possibly hurt mobile phone makers who had bet on the Android system to increase sales in the world’s biggest mobile market.

Motorola Inc has bet its turnaround on Google’s mobile software and China. Phones running on Android, an open-software platform for mobile applications, are also being developed by several Chinese firms, including ZTE Corp and Huawei.

Last week, Google postponed the launch of two mobile phones in China that use its Android platform.

After first fending off criticisms from Google and Washington, Chinese officials and state-run media have launched toughly-worded warnings to the Obama administration that have the hallmarks of a concerted counter-campaign.

The People’s Daily, the main mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party, said on Wednesday that the Google dispute had added to strains that have created a rocky start for China-U.S. relations in 2010.

“All of this means that Sino-U.S. relations face severe challenges,” said the paper. It said the worries included U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, trade, and speculation that President Barack Obama may meet exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.

“If these issues are mishandled, they will have a powerful destructive effect on Sino-U.S. relations, and may even affect the broader development of relations.”

(Additional reporting by Lucy Hornby, Chris Buckley; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Jeremy Laurence)

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100127/wr_nm/us_china_usa

source: Reuters