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I realize I am not THAT interesting so instead of a personal blog I choose to blog on what I think will be useful to the people that take the time to read it: Current (and not so current) news, free stuff, great/neat/interesting websites, useful products or software, and anything else that I want to share with the world.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Expand your vocabulary and solve world hunger!
Try this new Internet game that helps strengthen your vocabulary and help world hunger: http://freerice.com/index.php
It gives you a vocab word, and you pick one of four listed definitions. Every time you select the right definition, ten grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program thanks to sponsors who display small ads at the bottom of the page.
The game automatically adjusts to give you the correct level of vocabulary to help you learn.
The BBC reports that since its start in early October the site has raised one billion grains of rice (enough to feed 50,000 people for one day).
Educational and Beneficial!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Here's a thought...
I know it has been a really long time; Sorry!
Here's an interesting thought:
Here's an interesting thought:
Ecclesiastes 4:4 (NIV)
And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Man vs. Wild: Season 2 Episode 4
Bear Grylls recommends drinking urine to stay alive if you don't have water.
I have researched this for quite some time and I have found people on both sides of the issue (whether it is advisable to drink your urine in a survival situation), however the majority of the experts I have read about recommend NOT drinking urine as it does more harm than good.
(Please note that sterile does not mean potable- bleach is sterile, free from microorganisms, but it is not safe to drink)
I cite the following sources:
Equipped.com (a survival website) says: "Never drink blood or urine. They will only hasten dehydration."
simplesurvival.net says: "Do not drink urine. It is a waste product of a body and is just that, waste (think about that for a second…when a body passes urine, it is not longer need or useful). Drinking urine can even make you sick." (You should see the credentials of the author: Master Sergeant Gary L. Benton)
Adventure Sports Online gives 5 basic survival tips and I quote: "Never drink urine."
USGI Canteen Group: "Also, don't drink urine or sea water. Some folks say that it's saved their lives, but there is no evidence to back this up. Both contain high levels of toxins that cannot be filtered out except by distillation or reverse osmosis."
Wilderness-Survival.net "Do not drink urine."
US Army Field Manual 21-76, Chapter 6.
Dr. Elfarr, Urologist and president of the Texas Urological Society.
("In general, it is not beneficial to ingest one's own urine during times of starvation and/or dehydration. The urine at those times is concentrated with high sodium, other electrolyte and mineral content. This is counterproductive when one is dehydrated."
Tom Brown Jr. ("head of the largest tracking and wilderness survival school in the U.S." )
"Don't drink urine (unless you've first purified it by means of a solar still) because doing so will increase your body's rate of dehydration."
If you would like to offer a counter argument saying that it is beneficial to drink urine in a survival situation please by all means contact me!
--
To be fair let me add three sources for "pro-urine consumption" (?):
Bear Grylls (Man vs Wild: Season 2, Episode 4)
Aron Ralston (author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place a story where as a stranded solo hiker he was forced to cut off his own arm) drank his own urine and although the acidity of the urine burned his mouth he survived. "Sip after sip of acidic urine has eroded my gums and left my palate raw."
A man in Egypt gets trapped in a fallen building, drinks his own urine and survives. His child and wife chose not to drink their urine, and they died. (Story cites: Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News, October 16, 1992)
To me, these aren't enough to go against all the evidence on the other side, but let me know what you think!
Bear Grylls recommends drinking urine to stay alive if you don't have water.
I have researched this for quite some time and I have found people on both sides of the issue (whether it is advisable to drink your urine in a survival situation), however the majority of the experts I have read about recommend NOT drinking urine as it does more harm than good.
(Please note that sterile does not mean potable- bleach is sterile, free from microorganisms, but it is not safe to drink)
I cite the following sources:
Equipped.com (a survival website) says: "Never drink blood or urine. They will only hasten dehydration."
simplesurvival.net says: "Do not drink urine. It is a waste product of a body and is just that, waste (think about that for a second…when a body passes urine, it is not longer need or useful). Drinking urine can even make you sick." (You should see the credentials of the author: Master Sergeant Gary L. Benton)
Adventure Sports Online gives 5 basic survival tips and I quote: "Never drink urine."
USGI Canteen Group: "Also, don't drink urine or sea water. Some folks say that it's saved their lives, but there is no evidence to back this up. Both contain high levels of toxins that cannot be filtered out except by distillation or reverse osmosis."
Wilderness-Survival.net "Do not drink urine."
US Army Field Manual 21-76, Chapter 6.
Dr. Elfarr, Urologist and president of the Texas Urological Society.
("In general, it is not beneficial to ingest one's own urine during times of starvation and/or dehydration. The urine at those times is concentrated with high sodium, other electrolyte and mineral content. This is counterproductive when one is dehydrated."
Tom Brown Jr. ("head of the largest tracking and wilderness survival school in the U.S." )
"Don't drink urine (unless you've first purified it by means of a solar still) because doing so will increase your body's rate of dehydration."
If you would like to offer a counter argument saying that it is beneficial to drink urine in a survival situation please by all means contact me!
--
To be fair let me add three sources for "pro-urine consumption" (?):
Bear Grylls (Man vs Wild: Season 2, Episode 4)
Aron Ralston (author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place a story where as a stranded solo hiker he was forced to cut off his own arm) drank his own urine and although the acidity of the urine burned his mouth he survived. "Sip after sip of acidic urine has eroded my gums and left my palate raw."
A man in Egypt gets trapped in a fallen building, drinks his own urine and survives. His child and wife chose not to drink their urine, and they died. (Story cites: Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News, October 16, 1992)
To me, these aren't enough to go against all the evidence on the other side, but let me know what you think!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
A very handy site for Travelers:
http://www.enetplanet.com/
Where you can:
Use an online on screen keyboard to 'type' passwords and copy and paste into websites to foil key-loggers, encrypt a message for sending, make cheap/basic business cards, convert measurements, chat securely, and more.
A very basic site, but some nice features!
http://www.enetplanet.com/
Where you can:
Use an online on screen keyboard to 'type' passwords and copy and paste into websites to foil key-loggers, encrypt a message for sending, make cheap/basic business cards, convert measurements, chat securely, and more.
A very basic site, but some nice features!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar Guest
Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.
Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.
Labels: inspirational, poem, quote
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Whew....
~3 hours and lots of stress has earned me #11 high score (10,160) on www.blufr.com
It's addicting: They give you a fact and you say if it is Way! (true) or No Way! (false).
Give it a try at: www.blufr.com
PS: If this is your first time here- this is a 'blog' that I post to when I find interesting or useful things and I want to share them with the world. Hope you like it and be sure to check back for more awesome things coming as soon as I come upon them!
Edit: Apparently the high scores are reset every day...
Bummer, I wish they at least would have told me.
Edit #2: Go ahead and try blufr yourself (this 'script' available at www.blufr.com)
~3 hours and lots of stress has earned me #11 high score (10,160) on www.blufr.com
It's addicting: They give you a fact and you say if it is Way! (true) or No Way! (false).
Give it a try at: www.blufr.com
PS: If this is your first time here- this is a 'blog' that I post to when I find interesting or useful things and I want to share them with the world. Hope you like it and be sure to check back for more awesome things coming as soon as I come upon them!
Edit: Apparently the high scores are reset every day...
Bummer, I wish they at least would have told me.
Edit #2: Go ahead and try blufr yourself (this 'script' available at www.blufr.com)
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Send up to 500 free txt messages a month from your e-mail account to a cell phone. All you need to know is the number.
Instead of having to look up the (number)@_______.com/.net format for every one of your contacts (depending on what cell provider they use*)- just type in the number with the area code and add @teleflip.com and it will send it for you FREE!
(number) @ teleflip.com
TeleFlip
*Just for fun: See what the different domains are at: (Link)
Instead of having to look up the (number)@_______.com/.net format for every one of your contacts (depending on what cell provider they use*)- just type in the number with the area code and add @teleflip.com and it will send it for you FREE!
(number) @ teleflip.com
TeleFlip
*Just for fun: See what the different domains are at: (Link)
