No site http://culturaladventure.com.br/ há outras opções envolvendo tambem estudos no pacote. 

No site http://www.englishtown.com.br também há opções de estudo no exterior.

Se interessar, procure informações nestes sites. 

Um abraço e até a próxima!

Vale muito a pena, dar uma olhada neste site para

Dentre todos as suas mensagens já publicadas no blog, encontra-se o http://www.inglesonline.com.br/2007/02/25/blogs-de-brasileiros-para-ajudar-quem-aprende-ingles/ com vários links de blogs para ajudar o seu ingles. Vale a pena conferir cada um deles e também o blog da Ana Luiza(faça um cadastro na sua newsletter e aprecie as belas dicas que receberás por e-mail. É muito bom!)

Um grande abraço e até a próxima.

"As a human document, Night is almost unbearable painful, and certainly beyond criticism."

--A. Alvarez, Commentary

Many many tears later, I can affirm that reading a true account of the reality of Hitler's prisoners physically hurts. Reading imagined horror is one thing. But reading the horror of someone's actually remembrance is excruciating.

Elie Wiesel and his family were taken from their home in the spring of 1944. Less than a year later, both his innocence and his family were dead.

Faithful, educated people were reduced to their most base instincts, left with the sense that God had left them to rot. The only aim was to avoid death and every decision, all critical in the context of survival, came with haunting consequences.

Within that frame, the small acts of compassion suddenly take on so much significance. They're moments that are heartbreaking precisely because they mean so much. A gesture of decency in a civilized world is expected, but in a world where burning people alive is no more than cleaning house, it means a glimpse of humanity.

The text is written very simply, with unembellished raw honesty. Wiesel shares the confusion, disbelief, fear, numbness, shame, and heartache that made up the days and nights of his imprisonment. He speaks in the voice of a witness forcing himself to testify, to meet a sacred obligation to tell what happened so that it doesn't happen again...ever.

It's a tiny book that you can read in one sitting. It took me several months, digesting only small bits at a time every couple of weeks. Not because of any excessive graphic description---which it doesn't have---but because this is not a story, it's a true account of how evil humanity can be.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/

Até a próxima!

www.livemocha.com

----------------------------------------------------------------

I'm off this list, the forum, the site, everything.

Give everything to vitamin, he's the über god. I just got an email
from a PM on the forum with this:

From: vitamin
To: DARKGuy
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:30 pm
Subject: Warning Quote message
Stop top posting.
All not relevant stuff -> /dev/null

HE/SHE/IT can move his 1&2&3 a** to /dev/null for all I care. I'm
tired of having to withstand his s**t. Don't expect any post from me
at least for a few years, I don't have to stand his f***ing über 80's
text console leetness, if he can't even stand a top post (which nobody
else has complained about, that I can remember) then I don't see how
he can stand being a forum moderator, where the forum zealots do worse
stuff. One day I forget to hit shift+home and he comes with this, to
the hell with it.

I never expected to have come to do this, but this guy gets on my
f***ing nerves, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Way to go
volcano-head. I know I've tried to make other people not to leave this
great help list, but now I can see the reasons why.

I'm off, stay with your f****ng list and forum vitamin, it looks like
you didn't get your vitamins today heh. I know I can get banned for
this, but I'd prefer to be banned, because I got to say everything
I've wanted to tell him/he/she deserves.

Bye.

------------------------------------------------------

Yes, that was my goodbye email to the WINE users list. That guy really gets on your nerves, he's rude, egocentric, prepotent, and anything else you can think about. He has no idea about forum moderation either, from what others and I with more experience on forums have seen, and out of nowhere, when the list gets merged with the mailing list, he gets moderator status. WTF?. I didn't had anything against that, but this PM doesn't even have a f***ing PLEASE. Zero manners my friend.

We've had an arguement before about top-posting and such, there are worse people (read: noobs) who don't do top-posting only, they also send emails unrelated to the email title (plus the ones that are off-topic on the forum) and he doesn't tell them off in public about that.

I'm f***ing p*ssed, and I know my email didn't go through, the topic DID but it got deleted a few minutes after. I'm sorry, but it was read by a few before whoever deleted it ^_^.

I hope he gets what he deserves, that nasty 1337-wannabe b**ch.

---

Oh and by the way...

HAPPY WORKERS DAY! :D

A system where I can run any kind of program I'd wish, either be Window's, Linux's or Mac's, either its header be ELF or EXE or DMG, either its toolkit is GTK+ or GDI.

A system where I can choose the packages/programs I want to install, either be open-source or not, getting them through the net, or through the system's package manager. They'd install in a flawless, non-intrusive way. Binaries kept in their path, libraries in their path and configuration files in the user's folder.

Programs would be accessable through a terminal/commandline without having to search for it around (ever tried to run msconfig through cmd?).

Programming GUI programs would be made with a scripting kind-of-like language, similar to AutoIT or such, and they will work cross-platform. We wouldn't need to have hundreds of languages, libraries or toolkits to easily make a quick program. Simply write your script, compile if neccessary, then run. Period.

I dream about full system GUI configuration. The GUI can be made to look like Vista, like Mac OS X, like Linux, like any movie's interface, like anything you can think of, without having to compile the entire graphic library in order to archieve an effect that might last a month or two. We're humans, we're not used to monotony.

Desktop and user interface will be extendable with plugins that work cross-program, and will modify the default appearance or behaviour at the user's will, globally, without errors.

If there is a hardware the system can't understand, the user will look for the driver on the driver database, or make it search for one online (not like Windows's because that feature NEVER works)... and if not, then some user might have made a driver for it and released it. Either way, the driver will install, the hardware will work. Period. No script/code configuring, no kernel parameters, no nothing, nada. Install, work, period.

Currently, no OS does that -yet-. When there will be one that will do so? Nobody knows. Only you can make the difference.

Also, I see OSes and OSes and new features and new things and new this and new that. When, WHEN will be the time when those OSes will be finished? When will be the time when you say "Ahh... myOS v10.0 released, final release, no more!"? Do you want to spend all your life programming new features in an OS that is enough for everybody already? Technology changes, but leave that for the game industry, they're the only ones benefiting from most manufacturers... as virtualization isn't such a big fuss right now, at least not in the desktop user's view. It can be in a corporative environment - but then again - are the needed changes THAT big?.

I see this as a neverending race for the best sotware, the best game, the best hardware... and yes, technology must advance, but I see a lot of new features, and less finished programs/features.

Still that wasn't the topic of this post and I'm sure this is a very arguably one, there are various "holes" where my argument can be made invalid or thrown off. I typed stuff it didn't look quite "right" but hey think about WHAT IF it were like that?...

Pages in this Story: • Get Better Sleep -- Starting Tonight   • Relax in the Tub • Soak Up Morning Sunshine   • Your Anti-Insomnia Kit • Exercise Early in the Evening   • The Pillow of Your Dreams • Dim the Lights at Night   • Foods That Help You Snooze • Cover Your Clock   • Does Melatonin Really Work? • Try a Sleep Herb   • Sleep More, Weigh Less • Perfume Your Pillow   • How to Think Yourself to Sleep

Get Better Sleep -- Starting Tonight

According to sleep experts, I'm doing everything wrong. I don't have a regular bedtime and often stay up way too late. There's always one more TV show to watch, one more e-mail to send, one more newspaper article to read. By the time I finally crawl under the covers it's after midnight, and even then sleep sometimes eludes me. Some nights I toss and turn and fluff and re-fluff pillows for what seems like hours, in search of that sweet spot for slumber. All too soon the alarm clock jolts me out of a pleasant dream. In a fog of fatigue, I hit the snooze button over and over, desperate to catch a few more zzz's.

That's my version of our national exhaustion epidemic. Sixty percent of American women sleep poorly most nights of the week, and 43 percent are so drowsy during the day that it interferes with normal activities, according to a 2007 poll by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Weariest of all are working moms. Not only do these women spend the least time in bed -- averaging fewer than six hours a night -- they're also the likeliest to suffer from insomnia. Stay-at-home moms don't get off so easily, either. They are likely to complain of waking frequently at night and not feeling refreshed in the morning.

The NSF poll paints a grim picture of the toll insufficient shut-eye takes on virtually every aspect of women's lives. Sleep-deprived women are likelier to be stressed-out (79 percent), late for work more than once in the past month (20 percent), and too tired for socializing (39 percent) or sex (33 percent). They fight daytime drowsiness with caffeine and do nothing special to wind down at night. In fact, frazzled moms typically spend the last hour of the evening multitasking -- finishing chores, squeezing in some time with their spouse and kids, catching up on work -- often while also watching TV.

A hectic lifestyle can sabotage sleep, says Carol Ash, DO, director of Sleep for Life, in Hillsboro, New Jersey. "A lot of my patients lie awake at night with racing thoughts. They're exhausted but their brain just won't stop humming. As they toss and turn they get increasingly anxious about not sleeping, which only makes the problem worse."

Stress isn't the sole reason for restless nights. Misunderstanding what helps -- or hinders -- slumber also plays a key role, according to Dr. Ash. But sleep problems can be solved -- in many cases without pills. The following surprisingly simple natural solutions work by enhancing your body's own mechanisms for lulling you into soothing, satisfying sleep.

Soak Up Morning Sunshine

Light, especially sunlight, has such a potent effect on your body's internal clock, or circadian rhythms, that you can use it to reset your sleep cycle, says Phyllis C. Zee, MD, PhD, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern University. "If you tend to be a night owl who can't get to sleep until 1 a.m., you may have delayed circadian rhythms. To shift to an earlier schedule -- and make it easier to get to bed and get up on time -- soak up as much sunlight as possible between 6 and 8 a.m." Force yourself to wake up early and sit in a sunny room or take a post-sunrise walk. When it's warm, try eating breakfast outdoors. Basking in early-morning rays prompts your body to suppress production of melatonin -- the sleep hormone -- during the day and release it earlier in the evening, so falling asleep isn't such a struggle. A light box of the type used for people with seasonal affective disorder can help. "Look for one with broad-spectrum light and with a UV filter," recommends Dr. Zee.

Exercise Early in the Evening

Though it's known that exercising within three hours of bedtime can leave you too wired to slumber soundly, a recent study by Dr. Zee finds a place for evening workouts. Exercising at least three times a week around 5 to 7 p.m. helped people improve their sleep. It may be that working out then creates a pleasant tiredness that helps the body prepare for sleep. Or it could be that exercise helps women unwind after work or a hectic day at home with the kids and they feel less stressed when they curl up under the covers.

Dim the Lights at Night

"Your body is primed to sleep when it's dark," says Marcel Hungs, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. "I encourage patients to dine by candlelight and turn down the lights in their home starting around 7 or 8 p.m." Avoid surfing the Web or checking e-mail close to bedtime, because the glare from the computer screen can stimulate your brain instead of letting it slow down for slumber. And turn off the tube at least half an hour before you go to bed, adds Dr. Hungs. "Many people doze off with the TV on, only to find themselves wide awake later in the night," he says. "That's because the bright, flashing images and noises are mentally stimulating on a subconscious level." The better bedtime wind-down choice: read (something printed on paper, not an e-book).

Cover Your Clock

One common mistake is keeping the alarm clock next to the bed, says Dr. Ash. "Then you wake up at night and check the time. Seeing that it's 2 a.m. or 4 a.m. only heightens your anxiety about not sleeping." She also cautions about the glow from the dial. "Even that little bit of light can signal your brain that it's time to get up." Instead, turn the clock to the wall, drape a towel over it, hide it under the bed, or find one without a lighted dial or glow-in-the-dark numbers.

Try a Sleep Herb

Many studies suggest that valerian, a mild sedative herb sold over the counter as capsules or tea, improves sleep and helps people nod off quickly. But most of these studies didn't use a sleep lab and aren't considered conclusive proof of efficacy. It can take up to four weeks of nightly use to get the full benefit. Valerian is considered relatively safe for short-term use -- up to six weeks. The usual dose is 300 to 900 milligrams, taken 30 to 60 minutes before bed. It's not recommended for pregnant women or nursing mothers and can cause headaches, dizziness, or upset stomach. Another drawback: Some find its odor reminiscent of dirty socks.

Perfume Your Pillow

Some fragrances can waft you into slumber, says Cherie Perez, RN, who teaches aromatherapy at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Place of Wellness. "Lavender is helpful for insomnia, stress, and migraines, while myrrh calms the mind and prepares you for sleep." Put a couple of drops of either oil on a handkerchief, then tuck it inside your pillowcase. Also use lavender for bath oil (see "relax in the Tub"): Mix two cups of Epsom salts with 15 drops each of lavender oil and orange (sedative/anti-anxiety) oil.

Relax in the Tub

Soaking in warm water can ease the transition into sound sleep -- and not just because it relaxes tired muscles. It also triggers a shift in body temperature, a natural cue it's time for shut-eye, explains Rubin Naiman, PhD, the Tucson-based author of Healing Night: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening. "When the sun goes down, the outside temperature falls, and the same thing happens inside our bodies to prepare us for sleep. After you climb out of a hot bath, you feel a pleasant chill. With the right timing, you can catch that wave and ride it into deep, blissful sleep."

Your Anti-Insomnia Kit

When you wake up at 3 a.m., it helps to have prepared relaxing activities ahead of time, says Dr. Ash. Put these in the next room:

• A simple sewing or crafts project, especially knitting or needlepoint
• A journal or notebook, with pen
• Crossword puzzles and pencil
• Magazines or a book that is pleasant but not a page-turner
• Soft, new age-type music and headphones

Why These Help "The back-and-forth movement of your eyes as you knit, sew, read, or write helps trigger neuro-controls for sleep," says Dr. Ash. The sound of soft music is relaxing. "Go back to bed the minute you feel drowsy, not before. You want to teach your brain that the bedroom is a calm, comfortable environment for rest."

The Pillow of Your Dreams

Foods That Help You Snooze

Some tasty ways to bring on zzz's:

Go Bananas
Sometimes called a sleeping pill in a peel, this fruit is rich in tryptophan, an amino acid linked to healthy slumber, says Elisabetta Politi, MPH, RD, nutrition director at Duke Diet & Fitness, in Durham, North Carolina. "Tryptophan increases serotonin in your brain and blood, which can improve relaxation." Other good sources include dairy products, turkey, peanut butter, and tofu.

Relax with Rice
Eating jasmine rice four hours before bedtime helped people doze off more quickly, according to a small 2007 study in Australia. Other starchy foods, such as potatoes or cereal, also do the trick, adds Politi. "A lot of my clients say that when they're stressed out, pasta helps them sleep better, which makes sense because carbohydrates can raise serotonin."

Combine Unsweetened Carbs with Protein
A high-carbohydrate, low-protein snack seems to help the brain use tryptophan efficiently, so it produces more sedating serotonin. Try apple slices with peanut butter, a small bowl of oatmeal with low-fat milk, or crackers topped with slivers of turkey. Don't overdo the protein before bed, since foods like meat or cheese also contain tyrosine, an amino acid that can rev up brain activity.

And don't...

• go to bed hungry or too full; both impede sleep.
• eat rich or spicy foods before bed; they may spark heartburn when you lie down.
• eat sweets within four hours of bedtime; they're a stimulant.
• drink decaf. Almost all decaf coffee has small amounts of sleep-busting caffeine.

Does Melatonin Really Work?

Melatonin supplements are marketed as sleep aids, but how well they work depends on your needs, note researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston. If study subjects got melatonin at night, when their bodies naturally produce the hormone, the extra dose had no effect. But taken during daylight hours, it increased shut-eye by about 30 minutes, suggesting that it could be helpful for people who work the night shift or are jet-lagged after crossing several time zones. Potential side effects include headaches, stomach discomfort, and dizziness.

Sleep More, Weigh Less

Sleep Cures from Mother Nature
Pages in this Story: • Get Better Sleep -- Starting Tonight • Relax in the Tub • Soak Up Morning Sunshine • Your Anti-Insomnia Kit • Exercise Early in the Evening • The Pillow of Your Dreams • Dim the Lights at Night • Foods That Help You Snooze • Cover Your Clock • Does Melatonin Really Work? • Try a Sleep Herb • Sleep More, Weigh Less • Perfume Your Pillow • How to Think Yourself to Sleep
How to Think Yourself to Sleep

Myth: If I didn't sleep well last night, I should catch extra zzz's whenever I can.
Why It's False: "Getting up three hours later gives you jet lag, like flying from new York to L.A.," says Jack Edinger, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center. So don't take a nap or sleep in on weekends.
What Is True: Naps can be healthy if you don't have insomnia. If you do they'll make it worse by leaving you less tired at night. No matter how tired you are, don't nap, and always get up at your regular time.

Myth: Everyone needs eight hours of sleep; I don't sleep that much so I must have insomnia.
Why It's False: Worrying about insomnia can make it harder to sleep -- or get back to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.
What Is True: Anywhere from six to nine hours is normal. If you feel rested, don't worry about how much shut-eye you're getting. And know that an occasional sleepless night is not harmful and doesn't mean you have a serious issue.

Myth: Even though I can't sleep, lying in bed at least provides some rest.
Why It's False: "Spending a long period lying awake in bed can make your bedroom feel like a torture chamber, as you get more and more frustrated about not sleeping," says Dr. Edinger.
What Is True: If you wake up for longer than 15 to 20 minutes, get up, go to another room and do something until you feel sleepy (see "Your Anti-Insomnia Kit"). Then go back to bed. This teaches you to associate sleepiness with bed and gives you tools to resolve your problems.

Myth: I know I won't be able to sleep tonight.
Why It's False: This expectation makes you anxious, setting you up for a bad night and a vicious cycle of expecting the worst and therefore being unable to relax while in bed.
What Is True: Knowing you will get up and do something enjoyable if you can't sleep helps you stop associating being unable to sleep with anxiety and unhappiness.

Originally published in Ladies' Home Journal, March 2008.

----------------------

Muy interesante

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/256.0/popup/index.php?cl=6834841
[yahoo=

]

By BabyFit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Aura-Soma equilibrium bottle (magenta over turquoise)

Aura-Soma is a holistic method of energy therapy based on colour and several forms of divination, devised by British pharmacist and chiropodist Vicky Wall. It shares similarities with other forms of divination such as tarot, the I Ching and the Kabbalah, and many of the concepts from Jungian psychology and other studies of mythology have also been related to the system. While not claiming healing in the sense of Acupuncture or other remedial systems, practitioners regard it as able to help identify the answer to what lies behind disease (referred to as dis-ease).

The central idea of Aura-Soma is that colour is a unifying universal language which relates to all other theologies and schools of psychology.^[1] It is part of the underlying order of the universe. Colour is a means by which connections can be made, with each colour relating to a different aspect of life. Practitioners attach great spiritual significance and psychological connotations to colour combinations chosen by an individual.

In traditional systems, such as the Chakras, colour is related to the different parts of the body and their underlying physical structure. Each of these physical attributes in turn is related to emotional, mental and spiritual states.

Colour combinations are represented by two-tone bottles known as equilibrium bottles. These bottles are made from two colours of organic oil and water (usually two different colours, but some bottles are monotone).^[2] Each bottle represents a series of symbolic, spiritual, mental, emotional and physical concepts defined by its two colours. The bottles are numbered from 0 to 106 (currently, more are being regularly added), and each has a name. Some of the bottles are named after associated series of figures, such as the ascended masters and the seven archangels.

//

[edit] History

The first Aura-Soma Equilibrium bottle was brought forth by Vicky Wall in 1983. She was 66 years old at the time and had become clinically blind.^[3] Wall claimed she could see auras around people, plants and animals and also that she had retained this ability even after the loss of her vision. Ms. Wall developed the coloured bottle system and asserted that the selection by the user may reveal their gifts, challenges and opportunities.

Over time the colour care system has come to include pomanders, oils, essences and sprays, all colour-related. These items are not held to have strict medical use, they are symbolic in nature. The theory being that if the practitioner can draw the state of mind of a client out through colour, then the application of appropriate colour in the life of the client can also have a restorative or healing psychosomatic effect.

Aura-Soma is looked upon by its practitioners as a constantly developing system. New bottles and methods are added to the system on an infrequent basis. In addition it is thought to reflect what is emerging for the collective as well as individuals.

After the initial start in 1983, Aura-Soma spread from the UK, becoming established in Denmark, Germany, the United States, Australia, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, China and South America.

[edit] Practice

Chakras and their corresponding positions on the human body

The standard divination process for Aura-Soma is based on the equilibrium bottles. The user picks four bottles one after another while faced with the full selection to choose from,^[4][5] and the practitioner then interprets the meaning of their selection. The order in which they are chosen is important:

• The first bottle represents the self, or a description of the user's current state of being
• The second represents the user's hidden gifts as well as their biggest obstacles
• The third represents their present energy, which gives a method which can be used to overcome their obstacles
• The fourth represents the energy that they are drawing toward them; the future that they are trying to create for themselves though overcoming the obstacles.

Afterwards, the user picks one of the four bottles which they use as an ointment, by shaking the bottle and applying the fusion of the oil and water to the parts of their body whose Chakras correspond to the colours of the bottle. This aids them with one area of disease which will help them achieve the outcome of the four bottle spread. Since much emphasis is on the obstacle, the second bottle is usually chosen.

While sounding superficially like the processes of other systems like Tarot, practitioners of Aura-Soma do not regard it as fortune-telling, but instead to be more like a counselling method, similar to the Lüscher color test, Rorschach inkblot test and other similar psychological methods of accessing the unconscious mind as separate to the conscious mind. Aura-Soma is not, however, a science or branch of psychology.

[edit] Practitioners and Teachers

There is an Aura-Soma Code of Practice that is regulated by the Art & Science International Academy of Colour Therapeutics (ASIACT). ASIACT maintains a practitioner register and issues certificates to those who work according to this code. Each certificate is valid for two years. A current certificate shows that the practitioner is continuing to be updated in the Aura-Soma system and works according to the practices set out by the Academy.

Practitioner training currently comprises 4 levels. Levels 1, 2 and 3 each involve attendance at an accredited course. Each level involves broader and more detailed instruction in Aura-Soma. Level 4 involves the completion of a piece of original research on colour, together with presentation of a required number of case records and researched responses to colour related questions. A practitioner's level of training is featured on their certificate.

Students may become practitioners at any time after the completion of Level 2, regulated by laid down guidelines. At Level 4 the practitioner has demonstrated experience of working with Aura-Soma and understanding of the principles of Aura-Soma and may develop a full public practice. Practitioners and teachers can be found at the ASIACT website.

The bottle system is now governed by a central company (called Aura-Soma Products LTD) and the term 'Aura-Soma' is a registered trademark of that company. It is currently managed by Mike Booth.

[edit] See also

• Chromotherapy

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Aura-Soma, Self Discovery through Color, by Vicky Wall.
• Aura-Soma: The Light and the Body introductory article from colourconscious.com.
• The Miracle of Color Healing by Vicky Wall, Aquarian/Thorsons Press, London, 1990.
• Aura-Soma, Healing Through Color, Plant, and Crystal Energy by Irene Dalichow and Mike Booth, Hay House, 1996
• The Aura-Soma Sourcebook by Mike Booth and Carol McKnight, Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Aura-Soma website
• Dolphins & Angels - has extensive information on Aura-Soma
• The Irish Aura-Soma website
• Aura-Soma Australia website

2. A better file manager for once and for all: Nautilus's space between items in detailed view (and color alternation, UGH!) is ridiculous and it looks terrible, even at the smallest size. X File Explorer (XFE) is great, but it lacks the kind of neat desktop/WM/DE integration that Nautilus has, even though it's neat, sleek, compact and it does the job quickly.. Konqueror looks good, but it isn't as simple as nautilus and it's way too bloated, IE-like. For the web there's Swiftweasel / Firefox / WhateverFloatsYourBoat, and Thunar is way TOO simple for my taste, and the user experience isn't as good as Nautilus's :P

3. A good P2P filesharing program: Learning (or configuring) giFT is an odyssey. GTK-Gnutella isn't that bad, but the interface is a bit confusing and it doesn't look as good as its Windows alternative. Ares FTW, but it's Windows-only :(. I'd love to see Ares for Linux... now that's a solid piece of program.

4. A good torrent client: Azureus is slow. As in "it's made in Java" slow. KTorrent is for KDE (though it's the best one out there if you don't mind using KDE libs on your GTK system), Transmission is fairly good if you don't need much features and are in love with GTK, and it kinda cuts it for me, but it doesn't look as robust as KTorrent does. uTorrent can be emulated through WINE but I've lost a few torrents I've progressed on because of some weird bugs (I assume) so I've opted to not to emulate it through WINE anymore... though uTorrent would be a great program if it was ported to Linux too...

5. A good MSN client: The best one so far is Mercury Messenger, supporting all features that WLM has and even more... the sad thing it's that it's Java-based, so that gives you an idea of how slow it is sometimes. Even moreso when you're a very popular person and you get about 5-10 IMs as soon as you sign in :P. Pidgin, the successor of GAIM, it isn't very feature-wise that we can say... the interface kinda sucks too, so it isn't a choice for me. Same goes for Kopete and aMSN (though it's the best native one if you don't want to use Mercury). If you don't mind not being able to send files (but you can receive) and having a bug or two, mostly related to sending/receiving messages, then emesene is a great project being worked on by some Argentinian guys (if I'm not mistaken, please correct me if I am!) that's worth a shot. However, the only MSN client that has satisfied me the best is VirtualBox+Seamless Mode+WLM.

Look for her in deviantART, the God who created her is "Axer Industries" o.o... I'd even make a fanclub if he let me, lol! xD

No, seriously, she's hot.

...

Is this a sign that I need a girlfriend? XD.

... k, bye :P

I've been using Linux since... what? 2005-2006 or so, when Ubuntu Edgy was around... of course I've tried Mandrake (now known as Mandriva) 10.1 back in 2002-2003... it was a really good experience, but Ubuntu really pwns them all.

HOWEVER, I've figured that this "Linux freedom" isn't freedom at all. When I use Linux, I feel trapped in a cage, I feel as if I can't breath, but why?. The reason is simple:

"Liberty is based on the freedom in which you can do what you want, when you want, how you want, in the way you want."

What do I mean with this and Linux? isn't Linux freedom of doing things your way?... it could be one point. Aren't you free to do things in the way you want in Linux? so says Gentoo/Slackware/<Insert any "./configure && make" hardcore distro here>... well that's anoyher point. There's also freedom as in free software, free software as in free beer, but I'm taking about the possibilities of doing stuff your way. Sometimes I feel Linux isn't ready for me.

I've been using Ubuntu x64 since Feisty, and I must say the change from Feisty to Gutsy was enormous (and really awesome!) but I've noticed I'm not in a free environment when sometimes a program just randomly closes, and I have to open a terminal (ctrl+alt+del anyone?), type "ps -ax", find the process ID of the program which is hanged and type "kill -9 ID"... Jesus, we're in the 2007 man! :/...

In terms of user-friendlyness, Windows wins all the way. I know, it even hurts to say it when I'm almost all for open-source and Linux, but simple tasks become absolutely ridiculous in Linux, sometimes. And I won't go about audio/video converting/editing or trying to play MIDI files, logging into MSN or trying to listen to any Shoutcast radio station. Oh, and did I mention audio/video converting/editing already?.

I'm gonna make a small list here, which I hope it gets around the world and some effort is put on the elements in it (hopefully). This, is coming from someone who has been using computers since he was 5 years old. I've used MS-DOS 5.5/6.0/6.22, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista (Ewwww), Debian Sarge 3, Knoppix 3, Mandrake 10.1, RedHat, Slackware, Zenslack, Zipslack, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Fluxbuntu... and the only OS "ready" for me would be XP, if it wasn't because I'm in love with Compiz :P.

So, Linux will be ready for me when they...

1. Fix the damn fonts: FIX THE DAMN FONTS DAMMIT xD... no, really, fix the damn fonts. I can't believe that at 1280x1024 (Gnome/KDE) I'm having the same screen real-state that I have in 800x600 in XP. That's the first thing I change everytime I install any Linux distro, they're so damn ugly and make my screen look BLOATED, and by bloated I mean HUGE. Choosing Bitstream Vera Sans 8px or installing the Microsoft TrueType Core Fonts package and choosing Arial 8px and disabling antialiasing for font rendering is really a relief...
2. 100-pixel spacing between buttons: Ok, it's no 100 pixels, but it's a good 20-30 separation between menu items / window buttons / controls / gadgets / ninjas. Even with the small fonts, I need to find a good GTK theme in gnome-look.org (I highly recommend Lyrae's themes!) that keeps an almost-to-none separation, say 2-5 pixels between window elements, now that's good, and it gives you more screen real-state.
3. Fasten the GUI: The GUI must be fast. Hella fast. Did I mention fast GUI already? it must be fast. Seriously, the GUI is SLOW, SLUGGISH SLOW. I can't believe that with my 3.2Ghz / 512Mb RAM / NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 AGP8X 128Mb the interface is damn slow. It could be either it GTK or QT apps, they're still slow. It could be with or without Compiz, they're still slow. It could be the propietary NVIDIA driver, free NV driver, or VESA... it's still slow. And did I mention slow?. I don't know what causes so much slow-ness, but man... I've measured the time (yes, I'm a time maniac xD) that takes into opening Firefox, Thunderbird, Notepad, WinAmp and MSN (except on Linux when I try Pidgin and Audacious) and I can open twice the programs in Windows (Well, except MSN because it's slow as always and it takes a bit of time to load), and I'm still waiting for the same apps to load in Linux, while if I was on Windows I'd be using the programs already. Also, even without Compiz or desktop effects, GUI apps appear lotta faster in Windows than in Linux. They're almost instant-display (if they aren't already) while in Linux sometimes I feel I'm using the old 933Mhz I had back a few years ago.
4. Fasten the Filesystem: And I won't try to extend on how my computer suffers from video/input lags when I'm installing some packages or the OS is in "heavy" HD use. And I say "heavy" because reading a damn package list shouldn't take THAT long. Neither opening any app in Linux which has a Windows build too, and the Windows build is 2x-5x faster than the Linux build. Shame. And why? it takes a LOT to read/write. I don't know WTF is wrong with the HD, but if you ask me, I know it isn't malfunctioning. Hell, Seagate disks are awesome (contrary to my Maxtor one which is having hella problems, and since then it has had Windows, and even with its normal, Windows typically heavy load syndrom, it's faster than my x64 Linux. Oh, and this happens in XFS... in Ext3 it even lags for a small bit when opening GEdit (no kidding).
5. Leave the terminal for the sysadmins: As in my previous example about trying to kill a hanged app, I know it's damn useful for when X hangs and you just switch to a terminal and kill X and/or restart X/GDM/KDM/whatever (a normal user would just reboot) but, Jesus, do I even have to open a terminal to convert an audio file or to edit some configuration file?. In Windows, "edit" was used back when MS-DOS and Win98 maximum (it's a great CLI editor too... not many features but the GUI rocks, it's for humans, as oppossed to some famous CLI editor for which you need to have a space shuttle keyboard, or use it just like "debug" or "edlin"... remember that one? :P).
6. GUI GUI GUI GUI GUI: did I say GUI?. As far as I know, there's no easy, cool, decent GUI for ffmpeg (maybe for Windows) that can provide all the features ffmpeg can do (ffs, ffmpeg can do what VirtualDub+Windows Movie Maker+GoldWave can do under Windows) but no one ever cares about GUI. Who needs GUI anyways? dumb users. OH YEAH, we all love the terminal... NOT. Again, we're in the 2007 (almost 2008 by now)... will we keep being in the stone age, typing comands in a black screen telling the computer what to do, when they can provide us amazing graphics and physics such as Crysis, powerful 3D modelling programs such as 3D Studio MAX, or even be our communication center with the rest of the world?. Seriously though, gotta grow up.

That's all I can think about right now (and sorry for the rant... I got carried away :P) but when I find more I'll extend the list in another blog post :).

Also, I've always said: "There's no need to emulate Windows programs, unless the Linux programs aren't good enough" and it's true. Why WINE? I'll tell you why:

• There's no Starcraft for Linux. Just a clone... Stratagus I think, but it's no SC.
• There's no Warcraft III for Linux...
• There's no World of Warcraft for Linux...
• There's no GGClient for Linux...
• There's no Quicken for Linux... (I think GMoney or whatever its name was doesn't cut it for most users? less confidence, perhaps)
• There's no 3D Studio MAX for Linux (The Lightwave/Maya/Wings3D/Blender (EWWWW) interface isn't good enough, or it's a space shuttle one)
• There's no Office for Linux (but OpenOffice rocks :))
• There's no GameMaker for Linux (maybe.. MAYBE pygame... :/)
• There's no Matlab for Linux (AFAIK)
• There IS Nero for Linux (YAY :D)... but they don't include it with their CD/DVD drives :/. Did I mention that the CD/DVD burning programs for Linux kinda suck? I've lost tons of CDs/DVDs because of them... and Nero doesn't work in WINE either. Boo-hoo.
• There's no cellphone software for Linux, that I know of, so if I wouldn't have Windows I wouldn't be able to use the cool stuff that my W200i has in its support/driver CD.

This list, and more and more and more stuff I won't be getting deeper into, is actually the fault of: The community, or the providers/developers themselves. Maybe they don't want to develop for Linux/Mac, it's ok. But that's a BIG gap in Linux and that's why WINE exists, Crossover Office exists, Cedega exists, Transmeta exists, Seamless Mode in VMWare/VirtualBox exists...

Now I want to clarify something: I don't want Linux to behave like Windows does, either (we already have enough with Kernel Panic, XD) but it doesn't hurt to learn from the best. Why does people use Windows? because of the marketing? ... that's a big plus, but it isn't the main thing.

Ubuntu can come shipped with Dell PCs, Intel's OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) program, whatever crosses your mind, BUT IT WILL NEVER GET AN AWESOME USER BASE IF THE FIRST DAMN THING THE USER SEES WHEN LOOKING FOR HELP IS "Open a terminal and type..." THEY SAY "WTF MAN?!" AND PREFER TO SPEND MONEY IN SOMETHING EASIER. But, of course, who doesn't want an easy life?

Computers are here for making our life easier (or at least, for that objective they were designed at first) and Linux isn't helping at all. Don't confuse though, I love the terminal (it's awesome for headless fileservers and such) and the control you get to your OS from it is unequal compared to Windows, but it's scary for most users.

That doesn't mean I don't use the Command Prompt in Windows and that I'm all GUIGUIGUIGUIGUI, but I use it far less times than I open a terminal in Linux for doing the same stuff that I can do in Windows with a GUI.

With fame comes a greater user base. With a greater user base comes the programs. With the programs, comes the +userfriendly factor in Linux, so people spreads the word, and the loop... loops.

I'd bet that most important companies don't try to support Linux because:

• "Who uses Linux? 5% of the global population?" - LOL.
• "The community can make their own drivers for my device. Windows doesn't, or it does poorly, but at least it makes my device work" - That's true. I still can't get my D-Link DWL-G122 Rev. B1 working in Ubuntu x64 (but it works in i386). Don't confuse though, D-Link has x64 drivers ............. for Windows -_-
• "They have 82317632876132663116387132 distros, I can't support them all!!" - Seriously, focus on a main distro dammit. (Alright, that's impossible, but at least try to keep them to the minimum! :/... that confuses less users, or do you have to go to a distrowatch.com-like site to choose what Windows do you want?)
• And I can't think on any more reasons.

So yeah, to put it short:

• Windows doesn't scare users. Linux does.
• Make it more attractive: Fix the damn fonts and the oversized spacing between window elements.
• Make it faster: Fix the GUI and the Filesystem.
• Make it more accessible: At least develop GUI front-ends!!, it never hurts to have the CLI alternative, but it shouldn't be the only way to use the program.
• Make it friendlier: Remove the terminal from the bare user's eyes unless they're ready to do so, and when I mean ready, I mean: "OH NOEZ I HAV LYK 318312837 VIRUSES I NEED TO FIXXXXX" (of course, you can't have viruses in Linux nowadays, but you get the idea: Unless it's the last thing to do... say a GUI app screws up your configuration file... Ok, it's a good reason).

Of course, you might be saying by now: WELL THIS GUY JUST WHINES AND DOESN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP HIS OWN CAUSE!!!!1111111oneoneoneelevenoneexclamationmarkone!1

I am.

I'm working along with a couple of very skilled friends on a 2D-soon-to-be-3D engine for making games easily under Linux and C++. All you'll need to do is to learn basic C++ and you'll be creating your own games in MINUTES. Yes, no kidding. I grew tired of searching in google's pants about some good, easy gamemaking library for Linux and found none. All of them were either complicated, hard to use, didn't had enough features, was slow, it required its own file format, etc.

If you want to stop by, we're developing a Gunbound-like multiplayer worms-like clone while at the same time developing the engine for the game and for any kind of game, since the engine is generic.

You can find more info at http://www.iteamgame.org and http://iteam.wikispaces.com :)

DEVELOPERS WANTED! :D

... Phew. That was a 3-hour first blog post!... longest one in my life I've ever made xD. If you read all up to here, then THANKS! :D you rule. Here's a cookie for ya :P.

- DARKGuy

If in your past you experienced cold (or hot) weather as a deterrent to working out, this season holds the opportunity of a lifetime for you.

Make this year different. Adopt a true athletic archetype and feel your desire for fitness success emerge. You can use old obstacles as opportunities to gain strength - mental and physical.

• Breaking through – that is your focus.
• Not giving up – that is your motto.
• Making your training a priority rather than a dispensable activity – that is your goal.

"Success is only a word, but achieving it is a lifestyle."

Make the decision - that’s what you have to do first. Decide that you want to maintain, begin, or improve your training this winter, then take steps to support (and reinforce) your decision.

Then, don’t give up no matter what. Act and think, in all areas of your life, like the athlete you want to be (and look like). Making your health and fitness a priority will be the best gift you give this winter to you and everyone else in your life.

So what do you do if it’s too cold to go outside and you haven’t got time to hit the gym?

Here’s what I do:

1. Lunges across the living room: find enough space to walk/lunge 8-10 paces and do slow, deep walking lunges in your home. Take a long stride and bend deeply as you walk slowly step-by-step working your quads, hamstrings and glutes. Four sets of 8-10 strides on each leg will have you feeling as though you’ve just done leg extensions and squats at the gym.

2. Push up on the stairs, on a bench or on the floor. If you are using a bench be sure that it is securely pushed up against a wall. On the floor, you may want to do your pushups on your knees instead of your toes.

Do four sets of 5-10 reps (and you can even do a little housework in between sets); believe me you will feel your upper body muscles the next day as though you were lifting weights at the gym.

3. Jump rope in the kitchen. Do five sets of 1-2 minutes of jumping rope. You’ll be conditioning your heart, burning excess calories, and revving up your system for a good day.

4. Jumping jacks in the bedroom. Nothing like a few sets of jacks to get your heart rate up and a little sweat going. Do 8-10 sets of 25 jacks and you’ll not only feel your whole body working, but the after effects of feeling your upper and lower body throughout the day will be satisfying and a reminder that you are an athlete in training.

5. Abs anywhere. First of all, keep your abs engaged on all of the above exercises. Then, on a soft surface lie on your back and do three sets of 15 crunches and three sets of 15 leg lifts supporting your lower back by keeping your hands on the floor, palms down, just under your lower back.

6. Begin your day with five minutes of quiet introspection. Sit still, close your eyes and relax. Focus on your breath and let the world become simple and peaceful.

You are on your way to a great Holiday season.
Peace,
Debbie Rocker

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/rockertraining/6585/try-these-cold-weather-workouts/

Such "balance sheet" calculation is still taught today as the most logical and systematic method for dealing with many of life's complexities. Kids are counseled to choose colleges and careers this way, and managers similarly deliberate the pros and cons in important business decisions; some people are even methodical in matters of the heart.

But is moral algebra really the best method for decision making in today's dizzyingly complicated world? Or is there virtue in simplicity for many life choices? A growing number of psychologists are questioning the soundness of Franklin's method, and its modern iterations, including data-heavy calculations by increasingly powerful computers.

One of the leading challengers to the dogma of decision making is psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer, of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, whose new book "Gut Feelings" collects a convincing body of evidence for the power of hunches over laborious data crunching. Hunches, gut feelings, intuition—these are all colloquial English for what Gigerenzer and his colleagues call "heuristics," fast and efficient cognitive shortcuts that (according to the emerging theory) can help us negotiate life, if we let them.

Consider the "take the best" heuristic. "Take the best" means that you reason and calculate only as much as you absolutely have to; then you stop and do something else. So, for example, if there are 10 pieces of information that you might weigh in a thorough decision, but one piece of information is clearly more important than the others, then that one piece of information is often enough to make a choice. You don't need the rest; other details just complicate things and waste time.

Gigerenzer has demonstrated this in the laboratory. He asked a large number of parents to consider a scenario in which their child wakes up after midnight short of breath, wheezing and coughing. They are told that a doctor could make a home visit in 20 minutes; it's a physician they know but don't like all that much, because he never listens to their view. Alternatively, they could take their child to a clinic 60 minutes away; the doctors there are unknown, but good listeners by reputation. Which to choose?

There are actually four pieces of information in play here: 20 minutes vs. 60 minutes, home visit vs. driving to the clinic, familiar vs. unfamiliar doctor, and good vs. bad listener. Some parents in Gigerenzer's experiment did weigh all four pieces of information, but almost half did not. Instead they made this very important decision based on one factor, and for the vast majority that factor was whether or not the physician was a good listener—even if it meant waiting 40 minutes longer for treatment. Many fewer made their decision based on waiting time alone. Nobody much cared about a home visit.

Gigerenzer calls such decision making "satisficing," as in "satisfying" enough to "suffice." Satisficers don't feel the need to know everything, in contrast to "maximizers," who do want to weigh every detail imaginable in making even minor life decisions. Interestingly, studies have found that satisficers are more optimistic about life, have higher self-esteem, and are generally happier than maximizers.

Gigerenzer has had a hard time convincing other cognitive scientists of the power and accuracy of heuristics. Nobody quite believes that you can make sounder decisions with less information and less time, which is what heuristics claim to do. To prove his point, he has gone head-to-head with powerful computers, which can crunch vast amounts of information in the manner of Franklin's moral algebra. Consider another experiment involving parents: in this one parents have to choose a Chicago high school for their children, and they want the one with the lowest dropout rate. But that information is unavailable, so how does one make a decision?

Well, there is a lot of other information available, including SAT scores, attendance rates, writing scores, and more—18 pieces of information in all. Gigerenzer had a computer do what's called "multiple regression" analysis, which is just modern jargon for Franklin's moral algebra. It estimated the importance of all 18 pieces of available information and did a complex calculation to predict the dropout rate for each school. Gigerenzer also had a computer choose a school using the "take the best" strategy. In this case, it looked first at attendance, but there was no significant difference in the schools, so it moved on to a second piece of information, writing scores. Based only on these two pieces of information, the "take the best" method was more accurate than the complex and time-consuming analysis in determining the actual dropout rates of Chicago schools—and much faster.

Gigerenzer and his colleagues have run similar head-to-head tests on dozens of real-world problems, in fields as diverse as economics and biology and health care. In every case, one good reason has proven superior to data-greedy mathematical equations in making the best choices. Psychologists now believe that these cognitive shortcuts evolved over eons in the brain's neurons, probably because exhaustive and complex calculation was so often impractical for our early ancestors, who were always only one step ahead of their predators. Today we're one step ahead of an information tsunami, so it's comforting to know that the quick and dirty choices we're forced to make on the fly are grounded in some ancient intelligence.

Wray Herbert writes the "We're Only Human…"column at www.psychologicalscience.org/onlyhuman.

© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/71514/page/1