If you have no clue how to open a banana “Like a monkey” then you’ve missed out on a lot. Trust me.

The reason why you should know how is because, have you ever got a banana and tried to open it but the stem wouldn’t break off? Instead it was squishing you banana? Well guess what, those days are over.

Here’s the steps on how to do this process.

First: Get a Banana
Second: Pinch the Stem
Third: Pull

Yep. It that’s easy! If you don’t know what I mean by pinch the stem the watch this video:

____________________________________________________________

Sorry for those of you who know how to do this.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it will tweak its Word application to remove a feature judged to be a breach of patent, ensuring that it will be able to continue selling one of its most widely used programs.

The world’s largest software company made the announcement shortly after a U.S. court of appeals upheld a $290 million jury verdict against it for infringing a patent held by a small Canadian software firm.

The court also affirmed an injunction that prevents Microsoft from selling versions of its Word program which contain the offending software, set to take effect January 11, 2010. Older versions of Word are not affected.

Microsoft said it is taking steps to remove the feature from Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007 put on sale from that date.

The disputed patent feature relates to the use of XML, or extensible markup language, used for manipulating text, in the 2007 versions of Word. Microsoft described it on Tuesday as a “little-used feature”.

However, Microsoft did not rule out further appeals.

via Microsoft loses Word appeal, will adjust program – Yahoo! News.

Dear God,

I thought that growing older, meant that wisdom was an assumed perk. As I age each year, I try to reflect upon my past, and strive to never make the same mistakes twice. It is with certainty, that I can confess that this is not always the case in my life. However, Your holy word confirms that You understand our human condition. You lived it, just as we do, and, You allow for our free will to make mistakes and learn form that behavior. While Your life remained sinless, we have the examples of how to defeat sin and overcome our afflictions.

In my morning devotions today, You brought me to I Corinthians 2:9. This chapter of the bible is informative and instructional.  In verse 6 we read, “We do, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. Verse 7, “No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. Verse 8, “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” However as it is written–

   “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—-

God,You have revealed this to us through Your Spirit, who searches all things, even the deep things of God. Verse 11, “For who among men know the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him”? In the same way, no man knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

God, our foolishness is the result of non-communication with You. For it is Your love that allows our physical body to breathe and our hearts to beat. Your wisdom is far greater than anything that mere man could conceive. We do have the ability to learn, to enhance our minds, to grow in the wisdom that You provide to us. Each day I want to grow and learn more about You, Your word, and the knowledge that will come when I trust my days to the Savior who supplies my daily needs.

It was King Solomon who had all of the physical amenities that we on earth can enjoy.  In I Kings 4:29 we can read this. “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Verse 30 says that, “Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all of the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man.” But, even he knew that this was not enough to make his life complete. We were designed to crave more than food, flesh, finance, and fortunes. We were designed to envelope the wisdom of the ages. I do not believe that the stories from the bible, and the detailed lives of those whose faith, and failures were recorded for posterity, were only for Christians to have faith. I belive that they are there as an instruction manual for the wisdom. If we seek Your face, and we attempt to overcome the temptations that plague us, then we must learn from those in our past. Those who denied You, and the consequences that followed them. But, also, for the great heroes that give encouragement and joy to everyone.

Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is he beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” In Proverbs I have learned the epilogue of how to become a wife of nobel character. In Proverbs 31:26 You tell us, “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” I pray diligently that the words I speak will be thoughtful with the wisdom that reflects a woman of noble character.

Even Mary and Joseph had the responsibility of instructing their righteous Son. Luke 2:52, And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men. This tells us that if we grow in wisdom, then we are growing in our relationships with man, and that brings favor to You, God.  In James we learn of the trials and temptations that will occur in man’s life. James 1:5 answers our question of what to do if we lack this quality. “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But, when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

I want to walk in faith, not by sight, I want to learn all that You would have me to gain in spiritual knowledge. I ask for strength to accept that wisdom and insight do not always bring joy, but it does bring with it, the assurance that Your will is being accomplished. If we pray asking that our decisions be made with the wisdom of the King, then we will have the full assurance that we are learning immeasurable lessons for a lifetime.

Desiring the Wisdom of the Ages-that comes from Christ our Lord,

Gina

Being a full-time, professional guitar coach is an amazingly interesting and fulfilling job. It has been my dream to do that for a living since I was a little kid – I started teaching guitar at age 15.

Therefore, I decided to write a short series of mini-posts on the most usual mistakes people will do when learning to play guitar. These are mistake that will SERIOUSLY hinder your progress, and I suggest you find ways to avoid them at pretty much all costs…. So, in essence, this is something similar to FAQ – or rather an “F.M.” – Frequent mistakes. You literally CANNOT believe how many times I’ve heard these exact stories… so let’s see if I can help a little bit in “preventing” these from happening again…

Mistake #1: Waiting to get “good” before you start lessons

What usually happens:

Young kid finds out about me and my guitar coaching and wants to have private lessons with me. Even though he REALLY wants that a lot (which is the thing that is MOST important), he does not DARE to call/email/chat with me because he feels he is not GOOD enough on the instrument to have my attention…(which is not the case)

So he stays home practicing (mostly useless stuff) for THREE YEARS, before he feels “worthy” of my attention…meanwhile 3 years of what could have been QUALITY tuition and practice time is lost…plus now I have to undo 3 ADDITIONAL years of damage of all the bad habits, now much more deeply ingrained in his playing!

FAQuestion:

“But, Ioannis, don’t you screen your potential students for ability BEFORE you teach them”?

Answer:

“I do not screen for ability – it is MY responsibility to CREATE that ability. I DO screen for ATTITUDE. I want a student that will be motivated and willing to follow instructions“

What SHOULD happen:

1. Don’t wait. If you have found out the teacher you want to study with, if you feel you can depend on that person and that you can trust him, contact him NOW. Not next week , Not tomorrow. NOW. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME – it is the ONLY non renewable resource in your life!
2. Do not care about how “good” you are BEFORE you start your lessons. Are you going to a top teacher to GET GOOD? Or are you going there so that he can tell you how GOOD you ALREADY are? Honestly, if you were THAT good, people would already be talking about you all around. So, chances are, you are not THAT good – YET! Keep in mind – you are going to a teacher and PAYING him to help you GET good – NOT tell you how awesome you already are… So, care a lot about if he can help you GET good!

Adobe confirms PDF zero-day attacks. Disable JavaScript now | Zero Day | ZDNet.com.

[UPDATE:  Adobe plans to patch this issue on January 12, 2010 ]

Malicious hackers are exploiting a zero-day (unpatched) vulnerability in Adobe’s ever-present PDF Reader/Acrobat software to hijack data from compromised computers. According to an advisory from Adobe, the critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions.  It is being exploited in the wild.

We can tell you that this exploit is in the wild and is actively being used by attackers and has been in the wild since at least December 11, 2009. However, the number of attacks are limited and most likely targeted in nature. Expect the exploit to become more wide spread in the next few weeks and unfortunately potentially become fully public within the same timeframe. We are fully aware of all the details related to the exploit but do not plan to publish them for a few reasons:

1. There currently is no patch or update available that completely protects against this exploit.
2. There is little to no detection of these malicious PDF files from most of the major Antivirus vendors.

With that said we can tell you that this vulnerability is actually in a JavaScript function within Adobe Acrobat [Reader] itself. Furthermore the vulnerable JavaScript is obfuscated inside a zlib stream making universal detection and intrusion detection signatures much more difficult.

In the interim, Adobe PDF Reader/Acrobat users are urged to immediately disable JavaScript:

Click: Edit -> Preferences -> JavaScript and uncheck Enable Acrobat JavaScript

Or, better yet, use an alternative PDF Reader software program.

Why is Andrew proud? This instructional video is bidet-phobic.

I’m going to show you a list of the top ten flash websites, starting with #10:

#10 | Dave Werner’s Portfolio

#9 | Section Seven Inc.

#8 | 2Advanced Studios

#7 | AgencyNet Interactive

#6 | NVIDIA® – Speak Visual™

#5 | Get the Glass

#4 | Marc Ecko

#3 | Water Life

#2 | MonoFace

#1 | Moodstream | Getty Images

Information from: http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/best-flash-sites

With a subject line like that, how could I ignore it? I received an e-mail from a friend who asked if this was real? According to the message, Norton, Snopes, CNN, Microsoft and McAfee are all legitimizing this so it must be true, right? Well, in this case, it’s partially right in that it’s a warning to be careful. However, there are a lot of scare tactics used which should tell you that the content isn’t true. Read the e-mail message below and I’ll explain myself afterwards.

Hi,

A check made with Norton Anti-Virus indicates that they are gearing up for this virus!

Snopes was checked as well, and it is for real. Get this E-mail message sent around to all your contacts ASAP.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!

You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled ‘POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,’ regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which ‘burns’ the whole hard disc C drive of your computer.

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address on his/her contact list. That is the reason why you need to send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it!

If you receive a mail called’ POSTCARD,’ even if it is sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN.

It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

COPY THIS E-MAIL, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS.
REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US

In this case, it says the virus will be delivered via an electronic card.  One of the ways that malware can get onto a computer is by clicking on a link or opening an attachment in an e-mail that will then download and try to install the payload. One way that the malware writers try to get you to click on the link is by making it look like it’s an e-card from a friend or family member. That’s been going on for sometime. So, that being said, you need to be careful anytime/everytime you think about clicking on a link in an e-mail, especially if it’s an e-card greeting. Legitimate greetings will tell you to go to a website and enter a code to see the greeting so you won’t have to click on a link.

Any time you get an e-mail message telling you to pass it on to everyone you know, especially since everyone is preparing for it and Snopes says it’s true (even though in this case Snopes really doesn’t even discuss it), question it. Go to an antivirus website and check their “hot” virus list. Mcafee’s Threat Center, Symantec Threat Explorer, US Government Threat Center will let you know what’s the current threats are. Then, you can decide whether to pass it on to everyone in your contacts or not.

Consider this with any message that you get “to pass on”. There was a warning from people about Facebook letting Google index everything about you starting that day. I saw the warning in several e-mails, a couple of groups and on Facebook.  I little detective work showed that Facebook had actually been doing that for the past 2 years, but not with “everything”, only with what the user has designated to be shared to everyone. What is set to be seen by only friends doesn’t and won’t be indexed.

So, if you receive a warning, take it as such and check the validity. Feel free to e-mail me and I’ll let you know if it’s legitimate or not and if so, what you need to do to protect yourself. Comments?

TECHNOLOGY
An Essay
By

VIKRAM KARVE

DEFINITION OF TECHNOLOGY

In our everyday lives, most of us use a number of words that we assume have a universal, agreed-upon, and accepted meaning for all people in all contexts.

Often, the more frequently the word is used, the more we take for granted that our usage is the only possible usage of the term.

One such popular word freely bandied about and very much in-vogue jargon now-a-days is “technology”.

Let us explore the meaning of the word “technology”.

The word “technology” comprises two parts – “technikos” & “ology”

The historical derivation of the term technology comes from the Greek word technikos, meaning “of art, skillful, practical.”

The portion of the word ology indicates“knowledge of” or a “systematic treatment of.”

Thus, the literal verbatim derivation of the term technology is literally “knowledge of the skilful and practical.”

However, this definition is too general in nature and we have to transcend this narrow view of technology since every technology starts from a human purpose, from the intention to satisfy some human need or behaviour.

Indeed, technology is the manipulation of nature for human purpose – yes, manipulation of nature, so let us use a slightly different definition of technology.

We will define technology as the knowledge of the manipulation of nature for human purposes.

This definition retains the notions of both knowledge and practicality (human purposes) but adds the new concept of manipulation of nature.

This implies that all practical or technical skills ultimately derive from alterations or manipulation of nature.

Technology depends on a base in the natural world (Science) but extends the natural world through the phenomenon of manipulation (Engineering).

Since we want to manipulate nature, the ability to predict what nature will do when manipulated is most useful, indeed imperative.

ETHICS OF TECHNOLOGY

By our very definition, technology manipulates nature for human purposes.

Technology manipulates nature.

Man is a part of nature.

By manipulating nature, man manipulates himself.

Thus, technology manipulates man, influences, even governs human behaviour, and in turn impinges on societal behaviour, traditions and culture.

Technology is an entity that intervenes in the life of human beings in multifarious ways, directly or indirectly, trying to alter behaviours.

Thus, Technology has an Ethical Dimension.

The very raison d’etre of technology is human purpose.

What is the fundamental purpose of human life?

Is it to increase standard of living?

Is it to improve quality of life?

Or is it to have greater satisfaction in life?

We can distill all these various aspects into a single holistic concept: VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE.

Thus, the cardinal aim of technology is to enhance the value of human life.

TECHNOLOGY and the VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE

Let us define the value of human life as the balance or ratio between satisfaction or happiness and pain or suffering:

Satisfaction or Happiness
Value of Human Life = ———————————–
Pain or Suffering

In the context of this definition, the ultimate purpose of technology is to enhance the value of human life, with a long-term perspective, by maximization of happiness and satisfaction and a concomitant reduction or minimization of pain and suffering (physical, mental and emotional).

As a generalization, people want a better life.

A better life may usually mean things like freedom from want, access to and possession of at least some of the “nonessentials”, comforts or luxuries, good health, a reasonable life expectancy, the absence of emotional stress, satisfying human relations (resulting from gratifying work experience and meaningful interpersonal relationships), intellectual stimulation, and personally rewarding leisure activities.

HUMAN NEEDS and VALUES

Human needs and values change through time as technology advances.

Man tends to accept the fruits of new technology more readily (satisfaction, happiness, comfort) whereas he is reluctant to accept changes in his personal life.

Thus, social and cultural changes always lag behind technology causing a mismatch and disconnect which consequently leads to unhappiness, dissatisfaction, pain and suffering (emotional) and concomitant lowering of the value of human life.

A crude but practical way of classifying human values is to divide needs into those that are essentially physiological and those that are psychological.

Most new technologies cater to the physiological aspect by performing Dangerous, Dirty, or Difficult jobs (the 3 D’s) thereby enhancing the value of human life.

As regards the psychological aspect, an example pertaining to Information Technology (IT) may be in order.

Information Technology (IT) caters to two unique categories of psychological needs of humans:

Cognitive Needs – which refer to the human need for information so as to be ready to act or make decisions that may be required, and

Affective Needs – which refer to the emotional requirements of human, such as their need to do challenging work, to know their work has value, to feel personally secure, and to be in control.

Undue emphasis on cognitive needs and consequent neglect of affective needs may cause emotional pain that counterbalances the gains from technology and this may be detrimental to the “value of human life” as a whole.

TECHNOLOGY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Effects and Consequences of Technology

In our haste to milk technology for immediate economic advantage, we often lose sight of the long-term consequences: the higher order and indirect effects, especially the delayed and unintended effects of technology.

The Sorenson multiple effect network methodology is a useful technique for an analyzing the impact and consequences of technology.

Let us introduce the term malefit to represent harmful effects and consequences of a technology in contrast with benefit as a useful output.

We may categorize the consequences of a technology [Effects vs Consequences] as:

EFFECTS CONSEQUENCES

(i) First Order : Benefits
(ii) Second Order : Direct Malefits
(iii) Third Order : Indirect Malefits
(iv) Fourth Order : Unintended Malefits
(v) Fifth Order : Delayed Malefits

Such analyses definitely help in assessing the impact of various consequences of a technology on the value of human life in the long-term perspective in holistic manner.

Early identification of factors detrimental to the value of human life may prove useful in technology impact assessment to reduce mismatches and smoothen out incongruities.

CONCLUSION

We must not lose sight of our basic premise that the cardinal aim of technology is to increase the value of human life by maximising happiness and minimising suffering.

Ethical Technology Management comprises a harmonious blend of rational thinking and empathic understanding wherein one studies, analyses and mitigates the conflicting interplay between human cognitive and affective processes.

It may be apt to conclude with a comment by RM Pirsig, who states that, “The way to solve the conflict between human values and technological needs is not to run away from technology. That is impossible. The way to resolve the conflict is to break down the barriers of dualistic thought that prevent a real understanding of what technology is… not an exploitation of nature, but a fusion of nature and the human spirit into a new kind of creation that transcends both”.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

vikramkarve@sify.com

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

Wouldn’t it be awesome to have you URL changed to a .com? Well that’s probably never going to happen without money. Without money there’s no way you could possibly do anything, but how there’s a new URL called, .co.nr. It’s very useful in many ways.

One Way:

Let’s say that you have a family website, that’s not easy to get to. Like the URL (Or site address) is  www.something.something.com/something. Most of your family would have to write that down just to remember it right? Well now it’s time to change to co.nr.

Another Way:

Let’s say that you’re very low on money right now and you want to open a personal business where you’d like to walk dogs for people. Instead of them, probably never finding it on the web because its address is so long, why not just change it to  www.something.co.nr?

The website:

Click HERE if you seem interested on making you blog/website a .co.nr

see the rest via sad and useless

When I think about true leadership I look to the life of Jesus as my example.  He was after all, the “Master” and He successfully lead His team (disciples) and trained them to be His ambassadors to the world.  There was only one failure in the group, Judas, but that didn’t rattle Jesus or hinder Him from His leadership mission.  He brought LIFE to His followers in more ways than one.

An effective leader works to facilitate connection and engage in mentoring.  They don’t isolate themselves, and they are inclusive, not exclusive.  They’re not high-minded separatists who exalt their peer group.  A successful leader is instructional, always looking to build and enhance the lives of younger leaders while bringing them close, so that they can learn by exposure to the leader’s own life.  It is the lifestyle of a servant leader, where building relationships is key.

Leading like the Master involves asking questions of others.  The truest form of learning often comes from asking the right question.  This invitation to participate stimulates the creativity of others and is the hallmark of humility and strength of character in real leaders.  I used to marvel at how many times Jesus asked His followers questions.  Jesus already knew the answer, but He wanted to engage them in the process and develop the depth of leadership into their own thought process.  Jesus always modeled effective leadership through practical experiences with His followers.

Through the process of parenting, we are all leaders/influencers and the qualities of a LIFE building leader can be effective when implemented with our children ~ when we understand that ultimately we are teaching them to think for themselves.  We are the ones who have the privilege of developing those traits that will help our children be successful in life.  Parents instinctively understand the role of children as our ambassadors, which is why we cringe and feel embarrassed when inappropriate behavior surfaces.

Masterful leadership involves a healthy separation, which acknowledges the uniqueness of those being lead, giving them room to grow and learn without taking on their followers’ failures as their own. When one of their followers stumbles or fails, the LIFE building leader helps to restore and rebuild that person so that they can grow through their failure.

Leadership is a privilege that has multifaceted responsibilities, something all true leaders recognize.  With that in mind, effective leaders intentionally work on their own improvement by choosing to refine themselves in their role as a leader.  They live with the awareness of their influence and the legacy they’re leaving behind, which aids in keeping them on track.

Spiritual perspective:  In the Gospels when Jesus is referred to as “master” it is in reference to His role as a teacher.  Leaders and influencers must always be mindful of their role as teachers.  Jesus addressed His disciples as individuals and as a group. He asked thought provoking and challenging questions, encouraged relationships within the group and spent quality time just sharing LIFE with them.

We are all leaders and influencers in some capacity through our various relationships.  With that in mind, I hope you’ll take a moment to ponder the following question…

How do these specific areas of LIFE fit into your agenda for 2010?

Leaving a legacy

Inviting uniqueness

Facilitating connection

Engaging in mentoring

As always, I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts!

So, I feel I must have talked about this before, but I still think it’s cool, so I’ll talk about it again. Ask me if I care I don’t.

So, I’m not clear if it’s in the code of Bushido (it probably is, but if it isn’t then it’s in some other warrior code), but there are a few principles which I think work really well together, and can apply to lives outside the battle.

First is the idea of the sheath being a place of peace. The sword is away, there is no fight. A place of peace, a time of peace. It works both ways too. If there is no fight, do not draw your sword. If your sword is not drawn, then there is no fight. And it does not return to the sheath until the fight is over and finished. A large part of what this means is that you must have the ability to recognize a fight. A sword does not draw itself. It is up to the warrior to recognize when it is time to unsheath it and release the war held within. The sword is still a tool, the skill is in the person wielding it.

Okay, second part is the part about having to taste blood. When the sword is unsheathed, it has to taste blood before it can go back. It’s not a rule, it’s not a law, it’s a truth. By unsheathing it, you unleash a torrent of battle. You can’t just pull it out and wave it around to scare people. This is Newton’s laws: actions have equal reactions. Invoking a great power is gonna cause a great change. And if you don’t have anything to apply the force to, it’s just going to come back to hit you. It’ll be your blood.

I like to note that this is a reflection of the value of efficency in Japanese culture. The idea of midevil europeans is of them with swords, and they’ll draw them to make a point or to scare people or to cut apples, whatever. But the thought of samurai are guys who show up with their swords still in the sheath, and then they don’t pull them out until the very last second before clash. And then every movement and step is towards making a killing blow, so that the sword can finish it’s job and be put back as soon as possible. Kind of like swordfight min-maxing.

But these two points lead to a saying that I think elaborates these ideas to another useful place. “The fight is best won with the sword still in it’s sheath.” The sentiment here is that even tho when necessary you can unleash hell, this isn’t the best thing. In reality, the best way to solve a problem is to not have to deal with it. A saying that more people may have heard is that, “An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure.” Either way you look at it, the meaning is that in most cases the best way to handle problems is to take care of them before they’re problems, or to just avoid having them become problems at all.

So the point to take away from this, is that ability doesn’t only lie in having great power or ability, but also in recognizing the right time to use it. Doing things at an inappropriate time are more then likely to come back and bite you in the ass. And the point that I want everyone to take home is that these are old sayings, but they are anything but outdated, and the culturial devide means nothing. Here and now, these ideas can help you lead an easier healthier and happier life.

I suppose this isn’t where I meant to post this then. I’ll put a copy of it over on guide2life.wordpress.com . Later. When I’m not asleep.

F*R*A*G: This isn’t a good silence. I guess I’ll fill with ad-libs. Woah, woah-oh-OH-oh! Sho~tay!

This has been something that has confused me for some time. Come to find out that I’ve been using the right word all along.

Maybe you’ve assumed that discs and disks are just two different ways to spell the same thing. In a new support article, Apple Computer explains that disc refers to optical media – CDs, DVDs, etc where as disk is your computer’s hard disk or floppy disk.

So, there you go. When you need to use one of these words while writing, you’ll now know which is which.

A very good instructional video for beginner’s playing Texas Hold Em. Topics covered include the Blinds, betting order, how to deal, descriptions of The Flop, The Turn and The River.

Since early September, I’ve been growing right here in my dormitory. I know it’s risky. I know I could’ve just bought whatever I needed. But I just had to do it. There’s nothing more satisfying. I decided against Hydroponics, instead choosing the simple pot and soil technique. And just so we’re all on the same page, I’m talking about my Basil plant. If you got here through some google search, well… sorry to disappoint.

I picked up Count Chocula (yes, that’s his name) at Shaw’s my first week at school. He’s very fragile and he has to be watered every other day. This past weekend he accompanied me on my Thanksgiving trip to Cape Cod, since no one was going to be here at Tufts to water and sing to him. Having never taken on the responsibility of a child or a pet dog, I’ve taken the Count’s life quite seriously. I’ve trimmed him twice, once because he got a little unwieldy, and once because I needed something to improve an improvised scallops dish (really easy—sauté some scallops in a little oil with cumin, kosher salt, pepper, and then a splash of half and half and the basil).

Unfortunately, I think it’s time to sacrifice the Count to the culinary gods. My goal is to make some delicious pesto this (or possibly next) weekend. I’ve got the pine-nuts; all I need is some parmesan cheese and a solid recipe. I’ll keep you all posted.

We here at Rag Tag like to make our own costumes. And it seems we aren’t alone in that…. tribal dancers love to get crafty! So I think I’d like to do a how-to for some costume pieces…. anyone interested in anything in particular? Coin bras, silly skirts, fringe belts, hair accessories… possibilities are endless.

hairfeather clip

The first project I’m thinking… hair feather clips! Not only do these look great with costumes, they’re fantastic for adding some fun to fancy outings. It might take me a while to get the whole how-to complete, so check in now and again to see the progress. I’m planning on making a few for holiday presents anyway, so it’ll be a multiply productive project.

You can leave comments here with specific requests, or send an email to ragtagtribal@gmail.com

*nicole

First off – had to change up the blog a little bit – It’s been about a month since I’ve made changes to the layout, and the overall feedback is that it’s a little difficult to read/follow. Thanks for all the suggestions friends!

I’ve been listening to a few episodes of Graydancer’s ropecast recently and having heard his recent ‘rant’ about rope bondage suspension, I’ve come to bit of a realization. In one of his interviews with Claire Adams, she tells him that “you have no business learning to fly in the air if you haven’t learned to fly on the floor.” I love rope, there’s no way around that, but I’ve recently begun to think about some of the requests I’ve received to ‘teach’ friends, and members of my community how to perform a suspension. Now, before I continue the post – by no means do I feel even remotely ‘qualified’ or experienced enough to teach anyone what I know. I would say that even I perform suspensions (on myself and on others) with moderation. I love doing it, I love the experience, however there’s so much to be said with regards to ‘learning to fly’, and finding that subspace/rope space whilst in bondage.

It may look impressive and flashy, but I notice that performing rope bondage suspension gives the impression that experience comes with suspension. I can safely tell anyone that I’ve only been suspending others for approximately four months, and suspending myself for a little longer than that. I learned from a man I admire, respect, and trust in terms of his ropework. I was taught by him, albeit indirectly, how to perform suspensions. I concur with Graydancer and Morpheous that suspension, in an ideal world, should be taught one-on-one under the tutelage of an experienced rigger.

I would really encourage people to spend the time enjoying and exploring different positions, ties, knots on the floor before moving to the sky! There’s much more that’s possible with floorwork than with suspension. Don’t miss out on some really amazing experiences that can be found with rope because of the anticipation to move to suspension!

/end rant.

Most men may not complain when young women these days wear their pants lower than where their mother’s pockets used to be, but it can be somewhat nauseating to see older females trying to keep up with their daughter and even granddaughter’s peer group. It reminds one of the sixties, when in order to be cool, boys had to wear Levi’s brand jeans, even though JC Penny sold a perfectly functional pair for half the price.

A Bob Dylan song back then touched on this “Mr. Jones” mentality of modern society and, what with large gas-guzzling SUV’s being purchased by American middle-class “McMansion” families in the midst of Middle East wars, oil shortages and looming planetary disaster, certainly nothing much has changed.

Liberal authors tend to blame corporate branding, but such a “keeping up with the Joneses” reality has existed since ancient Babylon and, traces back into the mists of prehistoric time. Tribal cultures on a global basis display culturally dictated rings, beads, feathers and other ornaments, paint faces and bodies in peer-pressure proscribed ways and, mimic each other in dress, speech and custom.

Ancient warriors often trimmed beards and hair in certain proscribed fashion and displayed specific tattoos and other body markings. Cultures throughout history display their own unique concepts of beauty, manliness and femininity, often directly contradicting what other cultures dictate. Heterosexual men in many societies have worn clothing that even the most overt homosexual male wouldn’t wear in our own.

Today, tattoos and body piercings are all the modern rage and women deliberately reveal bra straps they worked diligently to keep hidden not long ago. And, we are inundated with harmful food and “must have” gizmos and gadgets that no one in their right mind would consider purchasing for logical survival or any other purpose.

Are designs carved on ancient pottery and inlaid jewels on swords functionally necessary at all? And, was expensive architecture, art and sculpture purchased by kings and popes in the midst of massive poverty and famine during the Middle Ages, any less moral than modern Wall Street paper-shufflers earning 10,000 and more times as much as those who pick their fruit, cook their food, cut their lawns and pick up their garbage?

Does a wise society reward athletes with enormous sums to play games in the midst of rising poverty, homelessness and human suffering? Do wise people stand in long lines to see the latest film or to meet celebrities who really haven’t accomplished much of anything at all? How many Americans blindly believe we represent the greatest society in history, without even bothering to actually study much of human civilization, if any?

Culturally induced conformity might appear harmless, but it extends into endorsing the amassing of private wealth and consequent enslavement of the masses, supporting wars in a guise of false patriotism’ and, endorsing racism and classicism in order to “belong”.

Is it really true that “all we like sheep have gone astray”? You decide.

Link to footnotes and documentation for this article

Hi my name is Mistress Elisia and I will be your masturbation guide! Whether you crave denial or instruction… I can be as detailed and as determined as you need.

I am really sweet deep down inside. But don’t plan on seeing it anytime soon. Instead let me take over your masturbation, let me control it, let me instruct you on what I want you to do. Basically you should only jerk off MY WAY. Let’s talk soon victim!

Any call over 10 min. will receive my BONUS picture pack available only to my very special friends!!