JetBlue is not offering unfettered access to the Web - at least not yet - so no googling your in-flight neighbor. That would require a lot more bandwidth at a much higher cost. Instead, the service turns the plane into a flying Wi-Fi hot spot for mobile devices. When a plane reaches 10,000 feet, three WiFi access points hidden in the cabin's ceiling are activated, so that most wireless devices with Flash browsers or Wi-Fi-enabled laptops can connect to Yahoo Messenger or Mail, which can also be used to send text messages to mobile phones. (Gmail and other e-mail services won't work.) BlackBerry handsets also work just as they do on land. The radios onboard the plane monitor the 100 cell towers around the U.S., looking for the one with the strongest signal. As the plane flies, it leaves one cell tower and connects to another with a better signal. In theory, JetBlue could use the same technology to allow passengers to use their mobile phones in flight, but the airline has mercifully decided against it. (Not so in Europe, where regulators approved in-flight mobile service this summer.) "People don't want that," - says JetBlue founder and chairman David Neeleman. "Half of them hating it is too big a risk."

Neeleman said he had been asking JetBlue's engineers about using his BlackBerry on their planes for years, thinking it should be pretty simple. Not only was connectivity more complicated than he thought, it was also extremely costly to create the software needed for full Web browsing. So instead, they came up with the idea of limited access for passengers, partnering with Yahoo and Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry. "If we just give people e-mail, that would solve 90% of the problem and would be one-tenth of the cost," - Neeleman says. Full Web access would have been so expensive that the airline would have had to charge passengers to use it. "Nobody cares if it's not free," - says Neeleman. "It's so irritating to go into a hot spot and have to pay." JetBlue and other airlines learned that lesson with seat-back phones. That service was discontinued because of lack of interest from passengers unwilling to pay several dollars for one in-flight phone call. The ground-to-air spectrum used for those in-flight calls came up for bid in July 2006, and JetBlue's subsidiary, LiveTV, purchased a slice from the Federal Communications Commissions to use for its Wi-Fi service. LiveTV will also offer the new service on its spectrum to other U.S. carriers.

As cell phones conquer consumer minds and markets, scientists have discovered that cell phone transmissions disrupt the brain sites for memory and learning, causing forgetfulness and sudden confusion. Also, its electromagnetic signals reduce the ability to concentrate, calculate and coordinate complicated activities such as driving a car. “Hands-free” mobile speaker-phones cause even more crashes because they typically emit 10-times more brainwave interference than handheld units.

The amount of radiation is based largely on how close the device is to your head during calls, the number of phone calls you make, and how long your calls last.

Unfortunately, sleeping in a room in which we are surrounded by all our favorite devices like cell phones or cordless, digital clocks, CD/radio players, computers and televisions can seriously suppress our nightly melatonin production. Much like a boxer taking repeated blows to the head, rapidly pulsing cell phones signal permanent brain damage.

Different studies have been done that link this radiation to brain tumors, cancer, and other health conditions. In fact, in one study done with mice, the incidence of cancer and tumors was higher when the mice were exposed to electromagnetic radiation than when they were not. Many other studies have been done, and they all point to the fact that cell phone radiation causes cancer and other problems with our bodies.

The interesting thing to note is that when you hold the phone to your ear, the electromagnetic radiation can reach up to the middle of your brain. This puts your brain at risk! This is why there have been numerous brain tumors that are present on the side of the brain that gets exposed. That is scary news.

You have become accustomed to using your cell for everything from business to staying in touch with the people you love. You are not going to give it up very easily. On the other hand, you don't want brain tumors either. If you must pack a cell phone, treat it like a loaded pistol. Keep it turned off. Don’t carry it near ovaries, testicles, or the heart. For partial protection, buy an antenna shield. Limit calls to one-minute, six to 10 minutes a month. Never fire off a cell phone with children anywhere in sight.

P.S. A better bet is to facilitate the growth of organic telephone networks with lots of fiber. Instead of more microwave towers.

The fact that women usually outlive men is the subject of study for centuries not only years.
According to the researches power of the male heart is less for 20-25% between the ages 18-70. But the data shows that in the case of women health women’s heart at the age of 70 can function like the heart of 20 years-old.

LJMU research studied 250 healthy men women between the ages of 18-80. The main purpose of choosing only healthy candidates was determined by the fact that it would have been easier to make decisions and conclusions about the study that reveals the results giving opportunities to evaluate the data.

Professor Goldspink says: "By simultaneously studying both men and women we have been able to look for either similarities or differences between the two sexes as we get older. We now have a much clearer holistic picture of changes that take place in the human body throughout our life cycle."

Research finds that men can improve the indicators of the results by increasing regular exercising as it is clear with the veterans that their heart condition at the age of 50-70 is like it was in their 20-ies.

· Each volunteer taking part in the ageing and cardiovascular system research underwent five hours of non-invasive tests, focusing on three key aspects of our cardiovascular system.

· First, Tom Reilly, Director of LJMU’s Research Institute for Sports & Exercise Sciences, and his team measured body composition to establish bone density, muscle mass and the amount and distribution of body fat in each individual.

· Then Professor Goldspink’s team measured blood pressure, how fit each person was and in particular how powerful their hearts were at rest and when exercising to their limits on a treadmill.

· During the final phase of tests, heart performance was measured. Dr Keith George used ultrasound to measure the size of the chambers of the heart, the thickness of its muscular walls and its filling and emptying actions. Professor Tim Cable’s team studied the movement of blood out of the heart through the arteries to the muscles and skin of the limbs.

· The resulting information has produced a very detailed picture on the changes that occur in the cardiovascular system as we age naturally and shows that men and women experience a lot of similar changes as they get older:

o Most men and women become less active and less fit as they grow older, reducing muscle mass and increasing the amount of body fat.

o Blood pressure increases both at rest and during exercise, because the large arteries become stiffer and less elastic as we age.

o Blood flow to the muscles and skin of limbs also progressively decrease. These changes in the structure of blood vessels occur earlier in men, but women soon catch up after the menopause.

According to Science Daily, Kruger and co-author Randolph Nesse, a professor of psychology and psychiatry and director of the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, argue that the difference in life expectancy stems from the biological imperative of attracting mates. "This whole pattern is a result of sexual selection and the roles that males and females play in reproduction," Kruger said, "Females generally invest more in offspring than males and are more limited in offspring quantity, thus males typically compete with each other to attract and retain female partners." Scientists think that determining impact has the social status of a man, too.

But except serious findings of the research there are some funny approaches to this issue. The photos say why men live less than women. You can have a fun.

Geldman Computers Systems Inc. announced it’s nomination as exclusive distributor of Planium’s Business Planner software in Canada,

Business Planner is an advanced multi-purpose business planning software for businesses of all kinds and sizes. It aims to help managers and business people to make more informed business decisions. Business Planner was developed by a team of business consultants and software experts with the ideal of creating a tool that will enable its user to plan the future of a new or existing business analyze various business scenarios and come to the right decisions before investments are done and real money spent.

The dynamic business environment of today requires every business to prepare for changes and to use its resources as efficiently as possible. Business Planner is already used by thousands of managers, entrepreneurs, business people, investors, accountants and consultants around the world. It is also used in a number of universities and business schools as a training tool in business planning courses.

Business Planner enables it’s users to perform the following functions: Business Plan; Cash Flow Forecast; Profitability Analysis; Marketing plan; Feasibility Study; Business Value Estimation;

Budget Planning and Controlling.

Business Planner is easy to use and quick to learn with the on-line wizards, samples, guides and help functions that assist the new user in learning the use of the software. Business Planner is a very powerful tool for business planning. Business people and managers will find it a crucial assistant in planning the future of their business and arriving at the correct decisions.

Geldman Computer Systems Inc. was established in 1986 and is a software development firm that specializes in database business applications for all company sizes. They also distribute and support other products that complement ours and add value to our customers.

Planium Software Ltd. Is an Israeli hi-tech software development company specializing in Business Planning software. The main product of Planium is the Business Planner which is being sold in many countries world wide.

It's common for teens to think about death to some degree. Teens' thinking capabilities have matured in a way that allows them to think more deeply - about their existence in the world, the meaning of life, and other profound questions and ideas.

There are many reasons why a young person may think about or actually carry out a suicide. The most common underlying problem is depression. Depression in teens does not always look like sadness; sometimes it appears as a loss of interest in activities, falling grades, or irritability blowing up for no reason at all. "In others, depression may hide behind a mask of humor" or an "I don't care" attitude.

A suicide survivor said in his interview: "I did many things to try to die. It was truly hell on earth".

Teen girls and boys are both at risk for suicide. Teenage boys are four to five times more likely to die by suicide than girls, although girls actually attempt suicide four times more frequently. Boys may be more inclined to take impulsive action. Girls may use suicide attempts such as swallowing pills (where there is often time for others to intervene) as a way to call out for help. Boys may feel that asking for help even in such a dramatic way is unmanly or babyish. So they choose suicide actions that are more surefire. Over half of teen suicide deaths are inflicted by guns.

Many suicide attempts occur when a teen is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Alcohol and drugs have depressive effects on the brain. Misuse of these substances can bring on serious depression, especially in teens prone to depression because of their biology, family history, or other life stressors.

The primary care physician should refer most patients with persistent suicidal thoughts to a psychiatrist skilled in psychotherapy. Patients who do not begin to improve in 4 to 6 weeks should be referred to a psychiatrist, who may recommend a higher dosage, a different medication, and a shift in psychotherapy approach, hospitalization, electroconvulsive therapy, or other treatment.

Dealing with teenagers can be very difficult at the best of times. If you are aware of a young person who seems constantly unhappy or bad tempered, don't be afraid to ask them about how they are feeling. Often just knowing that someone cares is enough to let them unburden their problems, and may prevent tragedy.

Tapping the unused processing capacity of a network of individual PCs offers the power of an expensive supercomputer Latest News about supercomputer at a fraction of the cost and allows researchers to cut the lag time for some calculations from years to days.

Such "volunteer computing" studies have also spawned a quirky global subculture of home enthusiasts who are bringing their personal passion and the collaborative power of the Internet over 800,000 High Quality Domains Available for Your Business. Many volunteers are computer programmers or scientists, but others have no link to the projects aside from their own enthusiasm.

To join the projects, computer owners download a program that lets their PCs work on small pieces of a larger research problem. When a PC finishes a chunk of the calculation, it sends it off to be double-checked and plugged into the big data set.

One initiative has wooed gamers who use the Sony PlayStation 3 Latest News about PlayStation 3 console, which contains a speedy graphics processor. A Stanford University protein study called "Folding@home" now gets the majority of its processing work from the consoles.

"I donate to other causes, and I just considered this a donation to society and science," said Cory Parker, a product assurance technician from Inverness who runs Folding@home software on his four Sony game consoles. He said he uses only one PlayStation for gaming; the other three are damaged units that he bought at a discount just to further the study.

Strength in Numbers

The sheer number of people needed to make such projects worthwhile can be daunting, researchers said. Folding@home, which began in 2000 and is one of the largest undertakings, uses about 250,000 computers at any given moment.

Professor Benjamin Wandelt, director of Cosmology@home wanted to test how minor changes to initial conditions after the Big Bang could have affected how our cosmos would look billions of years later.

To address that question, Wandelt's team runs thousands of computer simulations of cosmological evolution and tinkers with the initial conditions, such as the speed of the universe's expansion or the amounts of certain fundamental particles.

However, he realized that the initial set of simulations would take about 300,000 hours of computer time -- about 30 years using an ordinary home computer. By distributing the computing chore among 2,800 users from 78 countries, Wandelt's team has amassed more than 300,000 hours of work in just six months' time.

Advancing Science

Programs such as Folding@home provide the most demanding tests of a PC's performance, many users say. Amassing an impressive processing record is a mark of achievement, and it earns users "points" -- statistics that are worthless except as tokens of a user's computing prowess.

To rack up more points, many volunteers buy computers solely to use on the projects. Michael McCord, a retired anesthesiologist from Beaumont, Texas, said he has seven PCs running the Folding@home software full-time -- and many users devote even more computers to the cause.

"The competition and camaraderie got me interested," McCord said. "I'm blessed that I can afford the electricity bill."

Intriguing Work

So far, volunteer computing has not changed how physicists think about the universe or led to any concrete cures for diseases, but researchers say they've published intriguing work stemming from the approach. Wandelt of Illinois said his team has just submitted its first paper based on results from Cosmology@home. He said he's found a way to distill his data so other cosmologists can run more speedy simulations of the early universe.

Vijay Pande, director of Folding@home, said his team has published 54 studies based on its protein-folding simulations. Proteins must fold into precise shapes in order to function properly, and many diseases can be traced to errors in folding, including Alzheimer's disease and ALS. Pande's work is designed to offer insights into that process and aid the design of drugs that could help crucial proteins fold correctly.

Yet not every scientific question lends itself to being solved by thousands of computers, each working on one tiny piece of the problem, "Some problems can't be divided,” says Vijay Pande.

• Record-low Arctic sea ice extent, which led to first recorded opening of the Canadian Northwest Passage;
• The relatively small Antarctic Ozone Hole;
• Development of La Niña in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific;
• Devastating floods, drought and storms in many places around the world.

Data shows that the winter and spring is ranked 4°C higher than the long-term monthly averages for January and April. In contrast to Bulgaria, the South of the United States, in August, where the highest temperature was fixed, Australia recorded its coldest ever June with the mean temperature dropping to 1.5°C below normal. South America experienced an unusually cold winter, bringing winds, blizzards and rare snowfall to various provinces with temperatures falling to -22°C/-7.6°F in Argentina and -18°C/-0.4°F in Chile in early July.

The joint press release also indicates the results and consequences about sea level. It continued to rise at rates substantially above the average for the 20th century of about 1.7 mm per year. global averaged sea level by 2007 is about 20 cm higher than the 1870 estimate. Modern satellite measurements show that since 1993 global averaged sea level has been rising at about 3 mm per year.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 4th Assessment (Synthesis) Report, 2007, “warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”

Two posts were already covered on global warming at Blogvasion:
Green Ethernet Technology To Solve Global Problems,
Global Warming Effects and Ways of Informing Society.

The last one got two comments, that show the importance and actuality of the issue on the global arena of problems. The representative of Right Democrat: A Mainstream Populist Voice indicated in the comment that “the best way to slow global warming would be to expand nuclear power,” and asked me to visit the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsiE3Ldc8hM . I think that Video on You Tube “Dr. Patrick Moore on Nuclear Energy and Low CO2 Emissions” will be informative and productive for the Blogvasion readers, too.

Its 300,000 words in Hebrew were inscribed on a silicon surface at the Haifa Institute of Technology. Scientists say the aim of the project is to increase young people's interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The record for the smallest copy is held by a Bible measuring 2.8x3.4x1cm (1.1x1.3x0.4in), weighing 11.75g (0.4 ounces) and containing 1,514 pages.

The 0.5sq-mm (0.01sq-in) nano-Bible was written on a silicon surface covered with a thin layer of gold (20nanometres thick - 0.0002mm).

It was written using a device called Focused Ion Beam (Fib). The Technion's microscopic Bible was created by blasting tiny particles called gallium ions at an object that then rebounded, causing an etching effect.

"When we send the particle beam toward a point on the surface, the gold atoms bounce off of this point, thus exposing the silicon layer underneath," - Ohad Zohar, one of the project's managers at Technion, said.

"By sending a particle beam towards various points on the substrate, we can etch any pattern of points, especially one that represents text."

The next step for Technion researchers is photographing the Bible and displaying it on a giant wall within the Faculty of Physics.

You shouldn’t forget that acquaintance via the internet is always the communication under a mask. It’s always easier to talk with someone who does not see you and may never do. That’s why acquaintance via the internet happens much easier than in the real life.

The first sign of disappointment, doleful phrase: “Well, you do not look like your photos in the internet at all.” These words can have two meanings. In one way he/she may be disappointed with the new acquaintance and in the other surprised because his/her date looks better than on photos. If the person is nice or at least polite, he/she will surely add: “You look much better!”

Truly the history still remembers such cases when a couple has found each other via internet. As an example we may review popular movie of 1998 year - “you’ve got mail”, when man (Tom Hanks) and woman (Meg Ryan) communicate via e-mail, make marvelous acquaintance and to the end they are much happier then the beginning of the story.

Get married in Second Life? A Gartner analyst is predicting that 2% of U.S. citizens will get married in virtual worlds by 2015 to people they have never met, and may never meet even after they are married. These online virtual marriages will carry all the same legal implications of marriages that take place in the "offline" world, the Gartner analyst claims.

Nowadays when technologies in parallel with human development rises, notwithstanding of these virtual vs. realistic stories, chats, blogs and other communicators keep the internet overcrowded and the relationship history is still under its way.

In Zittau, on Germany's eastern fringe — where the country meets Poland and the Czech Republic — Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso raised a border gate as children set loose dozens of blue balloons covered by stars — symbolizing the EU flag. "We are all quite happy to be able to celebrate this truly historic moment together," - Merkel said.

Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta joined the EU in 2004, but could not be part of the Schengen frontier-free zone until now because their police and border guards were not considered in line with EU norms.

"It would have been better to wait a year or two longer to abolish the border controls," said Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister of the German state of Bavaria, which borders the Czech Republic.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said Friday his country will be ready to join the Schengen zone by 2011. "It depends, of course, on how prepared Romania will be, since it would be strange for Bulgaria to join, but to have a Schengen border with Romania." - Kalfin said

On the Polish side, in Porajow, Tusk said the day was "exceptional" for the Poles, Germans and Czechs who came of age in a divided Europe.

Hours before the controls ended at midnight Thursday, Polish and German officials gathered at the Frankfurt an der Oder border crossing, east of Berlin, cutting a symbolic ribbon.

But the move has also forced the EU to tighten controls on its new eastern borders to prevent infiltration by criminal gangs, illegal immigrants and even terrorists.

The EU's front line in the fight against illegal immigration remains to the south where thousands of poor Africans make a hazardous sea journey to the coasts of Spain, Italy, Malta and Greece, while would-be migrants from the Middle East and Asia take the overland route through Turkey and the Balkans.

Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer dismissed concerns that the expansion would aid criminals or illegal immigrants as he symbolically joined Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico to saw through a barrier on the countries' border. "Schengen is not crime, not insecurity, not fear," Gusenbauer said. "Schengen stands for freedom, security and stability."

The Schengen agreement is named after the village in Luxembourg where it was signed in 1985 by France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands to allow citizens to travel freely between them. Since then, they have been joined by Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, as well as non-EU nations Norway and Iceland.

Beginning Friday, Serbian citizens need the EU's Schengen visas to travel to neighboring Hungary, or even to Slovenia — the country they shared the old six-republics Yugoslav federation with until 1991.

Serbia's pro-Western officials hope that Serbia could by 2009 be placed on the so-called "white Schengen list" that would allow its citizens to travel visa-free.

But because of its perennial political instability, and fears that Serbs would flee en masse to the West if the visas were lifted, the EU has kept the requirement — although some categories, such as students, researchers, business people and journalists will be able to obtain visas to the EU more quickly as of Jan. 1.

New genetically engineered mice show no fear of cats, according to the Japanese scientists who created the rodents. The modified mice may also shed new light on mammal behavior.

Scientists at the University of Tokyo say they have used genetic engineering to successfully switch off a mouse's instinct to cower at the smell or presence of cats - evidence that fear may be genetically hardwired and not learned through experience, as commonly believed.

Kobayakawa developed the fearless mice by shutting down receptors in their olfactory bulb - the area of the brain that processes information about smells - which would normally induce panic as soon as they get so much as a whiff of a cat.

"Mice are naturally terrified of cats and usually panic or flee at the smell of one. But mice with certain nasal cells removed through genetic engineering didn't display any fear," - research leader Ko Kobayakawa said.

Rather than flee or freeze when confronted with their feline enemy, the mice sniffed and even played with them, blissfully unaware of the potential dangers.

"The mice approached the cat, even snuggled up to it and played with it. The discovery that fear is genetically determined and not learned after birth is very interesting and goes against what was previously thought," - Ko Kobayakawa said.

According to him, the findings suggest that the human aversion to dangerous smells like that of rotten food, for example, could also be genetically predetermined.

Kobayakawa said his findings, published in the science journal Nature last month, should help researchers shed further light on how the brain processes information about the outside world.

"Once removing innate elements by which mice fear cats from them, we are able to make mice who can get along with cats. So by applying this theory to other mammals, we will probably be able to make other animals that are not afraid of their natural enemies," - he said.

Also, according to the researchers, even the modified mice froze in fear whenever the cats miaowed.

So far, the research indicates the drugs will only be effective for one form of autism that is caused by a mutation of a gene on the X chromosome, a condition known as fragile X syndrome.

The exact cause of the disorder remains elusive but it has been linked to a variety of genes, including the fragile X mutation that can lead to both mental retardation and autism. The mutation is thought to lead to mental problems because it causes hyperactivity of a brain protein called metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) that normally plays a role in learning and memory.

A team led by Bear wondered if reducing levels of mGluR5 protein could restore normal brain function. The researchers used a combination of genetic engineering and selective breeding to produce a line of mice that had both the fragile X mutation and toned down levels of the mGluR5 protein in their brain. The intent was to get an idea of what would happen when the protein was suppressed using a drug in human patients.

In a finding that the researchers described as “remarkable” the mice — which should have had mental retardation and autism-like symptoms due to the fragile X mutation — instead showed near-normal brain function and memory.

Pill in the works

That was exciting in and of it, because it indicated that blocking the mGluR5 protein could lead to improvements in some forms of autism and mental retardation. But Bear said the even more provocative implication is that a compound that does just that already exists. A few years ago, he founded Seaside Therapeutics, a small pharmaceutical firm in Cambridge, Mass., that is developing a mGluR5-blocking drug called STX107. The agent, which would be taken as a pill, has passed all the safety studies required for beginning studies in people.

Randall Carpenter, Seaside's president and chief executive officer, said he's “cautiously optimistic,” about STX107's potential to reverse autism symptoms in people. “These are really exciting findings, but we really don't know how helpful it's going to be until we test it in humans,” he said.

Outside researchers also were enthusiastic about the potential of the compound.

“It seems very promising indeed,” said Matthew Belmonte, a neuroscientist at Cornell University's Department of Human Development. He said the study in mice suggests that drugs that suppress mGluR5 can restore brain function without causing any other ill effects. That bodes well for human trials, Belmonte said, but he noted that suppressing a gene in an animal study is not the same as using a drug in people so there could be unforeseen risks that may turn up.

Not everyone is on board, however. Sophia Colamarino, a neurobiologist and vice president of research for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, which helped fund Bear's research, said the finding “give us hope” that this could be a viable strategy for treating autism, but she added that it's too early to tell whether STX107 will improve autistic behaviors in people. The drug could reduce mGluR5 levels, but autism is such a complex disease, this may not be enough to restore normal behavior in patients, Colamarino said.

Two other drugs in the works

If the drug does fail, there still may be hope for patients and their families. The Fragile X Research Foundation (FRAXA), which co-funded STX107 research, is supporting investigations involving two other drugs that block the same protein Lithium, Fenobam.

“We believe that drugs which block mGluR5 have enormous potential for the treatment of fragile X and related developmental disorders, including many cases of autism,” said Katie Clapp, president and executive director of FRAXA.

The newly anointed Ashe's spitting cobra, or large brown spitting cobra (Naja ashei), can reach lengths of more than 9 feet (274 centimeters) and is believed to deliver more venom with a single bite than any other cobra on the planet.

The aggressive reptile was previously identified as a brown-colored variant of the black-necked spitting cobra, though researchers had long suspected that it merited its own species. Now blood and tissue analysis have confirmed this theory to be true.

The snake dwells in the dry lowlands of north and east Kenya, as well as in Uganda and Ethiopia. It is named after James "Jimmy" Ashe, a prominent herpetologist who founded the Bio-Ken snake farm and research center in Watamu, Kenya, where the snake is commonly found. Bio-Ken milks snakes for their venom and sends it to labs to develop antivenin.

The findings were first published earlier this year in the animal taxonomy magazine Zootaxa by researchers at the University of Wales and the Biodiversity Foundation for Africa in Buluwayo, Zimbabwe.

But they gained wider notice on Friday when the researchers announced the new species through the nonprofit conservation group WildlifeDirect.

Spitting cobras eat eggs, carrion, snakes, lizards, and birds. Their venom has two uses: to kill prey and for defense. The reptiles can spray venom several yards and usually aim for the attacker's eyes, giving the snake the best chance for escape.

A Healthy Appetite

Snake experts had long believed that the brown spitting cobra was fundamentally different from the black-necked spitting cobra. Other variants of the black-necked spitting cobra fought harder when handled and took longer to settle down in captivity. Once in their cages, they were picky eaters. But the Ashe's cobra was less resistant to handling, generally less alert, and less picky. And they were bigger. Ashe's cobras are not the only kinds of snakes that get lumped together.

Researchers suspect that many different species of snake, such as the highly venomous puff adders, have been grouped into species that need greater differentiation.

Ineffective Antivenin

The greatest significance of the new finding may be for residents along Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, who are at risk of being bitten by the new cobra. Its venom is similar to the species it was previously grouped with, but it can deliver about twice the amount of venom with a single bite.

That means that doctors previously treating bites from what turned out to be Ashe's cobras were only administering half the necessary dose of antivenin to victims. New developments in antivenin may be made from studying the chemical makeup of the new cobra's venom, researchers add.

"The fact that this is a separate species raises a question of the efficacy of existing antivenins," said David Warrell, a herpetologist at the University of Oxford, who was not among the co-authors.

"It hasn't been studied at all, so that's a complete mystery."

During the course of typical processing, before data is written to disk, it is stored in the cache which is backed up by specialist batteries to keep the data viable in the event of unexpected downtime. When the batteries are near end of life, the system issues a message to alert operators to check the battery status and make an appointment for an IBM engineer to replace them. If this message is missed or ignored, for example when the message is issued out of hours or to a particularly stretched management team, batteries may fail and cause the system to begin writing data directly to disk. This process can cause system performance degradation, impacting users and even causing system failure, what’s more the last data collection stored on the cache will be lost.

QSystem Monitor’s cache battery monitor eliminates this from occurring by tackling the issue on several fronts. Firstly, operators now have a fast means of checking the life of each battery network-wide, at any time, via QSystem Monitor’s Online Monitor. This eliminates the laborious checking of each battery of each card on each system. Secondly, they are alerted to the battery issue through real-time prompts so there is no chance that the generic, system generated request could be mistaken for something else. For large networks, a map view can show the location of the problem for easy visual reference. Operators can then take pro-active measures to quickly check the other batteries and schedule a single engineer visit to replace several near end of life batteries rather than wait for the next one to approach expiry.

The manual process of checking also presented a problem of having to enter the SST (System Service Tools) menu to perform a number of commands in order to check the remaining battery life. The SST menu is a sensitive area that should only be accessed by very few authorized people – the consequences of accidentally disabling passwords when looking for battery cache information could be incredibly significant system-wide. The new cache battery monitor ensures this routine task becomes part of the parameters that can be monitored with thresholds away from this sensitive area.

“This is the latest example of how our solutions evolve with unique, innovative features based on real-world customer demands. Cache battery monitoring is not the chore or cause for concern it once was – it can be a simple part of routine network monitoring. Now operators can have an immediate view on all batteries on all the I/O adapters on all partitions or systems in a single window that gives them all the relevant details they need.” - says Paul Ratchford Product Manager, at CCSS,

CCSS develops, supports and markets IBM System i performance monitoring and reporting, message management and remote management solutions. An Advanced IBM Business Partner, CCSS develops powerful solutions to support some of the world’s most demanding System i environments across many industries including insurance, banking, pharmaceutical and manufacturing. All CCSS solutions are IBM Server Proven.

Existing customers that rely on CCSS’s feature-rich solutions include leading organizations such as Volvo, Mattel, Newell-Rubbermaid, and The Royal Bank of Scotland, Siemens Medical, RWE npower and Waterston’s.

The genetic changes have related to numerous different human characteristics, the researchers say in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Two genes involved in determining the size of the human brain have undergone substantial evolution in the last 60,000 years, researchers say, suggesting that the brain is still undergoing rapid evolution.

The scientists make their claim based on the recent evolutionary history of two genes microcephalin and abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated, which appear to regulate brain size.

Over thousands of years, both genes seem to be generating new and improved versions of themselves - beneficial mutations that are spreading rapidly among the human population to reshape and strengthen brain capacity.

Many of the recent genetic changes reflect differences in the human diet brought on by agriculture, as well as resistance to epidemic diseases that became mass killers following the growth of human civilizations, the researchers say. For example, Africans have new genes providing resistance to malaria. In Europeans, there is a gene that makes them better able to digest milk as adults. In Asians, there is a gene that makes ear wax drier.

“The changes have been driven by the colossal growth in the human population, from a few million to 6.5 billion in the past 10,000 years, with people moving into new environments to which they needed to adapt. The central finding is that human evolution is happening very fast, faster than any of us thought,” - says Professor Henry Harpending, a University of Utah Anthropologist.

Most of the acceleration is in the last 10,000 years; basically corresponding to population growth after agriculture is invented.

Gene mutations

The researchers looked for the appearance of favorable gene mutations over the past 80,000 years of human history by analyzing voluminous DNA information on 270 people from different populations worldwide.

Data from this International HapMap Project, short for haplotype mapping, offered essentially a catalogue of genetic differences and similarities in people alive today. Looking at such data, scientists can ascertain how recently a given genetic change appeared in the genome and then can plot the pace of such change into the distant past. Beneficial genetic changes have appeared at a rate roughly 100 times higher in the past 5000 years than at any previous period of human evolution, the researchers determined. They add that about 7% of human genes are undergoing rapid, relatively recent evolution. Even with these changes, however, human DNA remains more than 99% identical, the researchers note.

Harpending says: “the genetic evidence shows that people worldwide have been getting less similar rather than more similar due to the relatively recent genetic changes.”

Genes have evolved relatively quickly in Africa, Asia and Europe but almost all of the changes have been unique to their corner of the world.

This is the case, because since humans dispersed from Africa to other parts of the world about 40,000 years ago, there has not been much flow of genes between the regions.

To catch a person's attention and create a memorable impression very quickly, leaving the reader thinking about the advertisement after they have driven past it; a billboard on Airport Blvd just west of Interstate 65 shows a wanted poster of Oscar Finch. He was a suspect in a bank robbery last month. More than a week after the crime, authorities obtained the photo and immediately posted it on 12 digital billboards in Mobile, using the eye-catching electronic signs as digital wanted posters.

The billboard showed a grainy mugshot of Finch taken during the November 20 heist. The image, which was mixed in with commercial ads, included his name, his alleged offense and a phone number to contact police.

The 21-year-old Finch, who was the first suspect featured on an electronic billboard in Mobile, surrendered on December 1 -- just a day after his picture appeared. Police spokeswoman Nancy Johnson said he apparently turned himself in after seeing news coverage of the billboards.

"We had been looking for this individual for 10 days and turned it around in 24 hours," - Johnson said. "So we're thinking it's going to be highly effective. I think it's a great asset for us."

With digital billboards, police can now display a suspect's face to thousands of people, sometimes almost immediately after a crime is reported.

"We can be up in 15 minutes" of getting a suspect's photo, said Troy Tatum, general manager of Lamar Advertising, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company that provided free use of the billboards in Mobile as a public service.

Mobile Police Chief Phillip M. Garrett doesn't want to give such prominent display to "every lawnmower thief" wanted by police. He said the billboards will be used only in high-profile cases or in searches for missing people.

Only a fraction of U.S. billboards are digital -- 500-plus out of an estimated 450,000 total signs, according to the industry. But production of electronic boards is expected to grow. Police in other parts of the country are also beginning to use the billboards.

Police in other parts of the country are also beginning to use the billboards.

In September, Florida authorities arrested a drug suspect two weeks after his photo was displayed on a billboard in Daytona Beach. A tipster who saw the suspect's picture found him sitting in a McDonald's.

The billboards have also been useful in disasters. When an interstate bridge collapsed in August in Minneapolis, billboards displayed an emergency message within 15 minutes.

The signs also have critics. Mobile City Council member Connie Hudson has proposed a temporary moratorium on any new billboards, saying the city needs safety regulations to control the number and spacing of the signs because they may distract drivers.

The full council has not acted on Hudson's concerns.

Ken Klein, vice president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc., in Washington, D.C., said billboard wanted posters became more common after a young woman was slain in 2002 in Leawood, Kan.

The victim's father, Roger Kemp, approached Lamar Advertising for help, and the company posted a composite sketch of the suspect on a conventional billboard. A tipster who saw the sketch led authorities to Benjamin Appleby, 31.

Appleby was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to life in prison for killing 19-year-old Ali Kemp.

• Highly acclaimed Personal Leadership Programme aims to help you transform yourself, your organization and the people in it
• Attend FREE breakfast briefing on January 16th with Roger Black MBE and Penny Ferguson
• Alumni service launches to enable delegates to stay in touch and share experiencesAs

SourceWire admits PLP is “designed to enable individuals to become the best leaders they can – both at work and at home – the PLP has proved life changing for individuals from all walks of life, from CEOs of major corporations, to primary school teachers and charity workers. Now, PFL has launched an exclusive online Alumni service, to enable delegates to communicate easily with one another and share experiences and ideas, whilst keeping up-to-date with the latest news and industry thinking. “

“The power of the Personal Leadership Programme lies in its simplicity,” commented Penny Ferguson, CEO. “Ask anyone what attributes make for effective leadership and no doubt, listening, how you think and focusing on people's strengths will come high on the list, however often these very simple things are not actually practiced by the majority of individuals,” she continued. “It’s more common sense than rocket science! The feedback has always been extraordinary – the PLP provides fundamental enlightenment and enables sustainable change – this is the beauty of the programme.”

The Alumni service is free of charge at http://www.pennyferguson.com/alumni/register/. Registration provides access to a whole host of information and features including:

• Bi-monthly e-Zine, The Penny Drops
• Monthly podcast
• 'Search and send' internal messaging system
• 'Penny for Your Thoughts' Forum · News and special events.

Among the list of served organizations are: British Gas, Sun Microsystems, Somerfield, ICI, Centrica, CISCO, HM Prison Service, NHS, Intel, Staples and Sage (UK) Ltd.

Elias Howe, who invented the sewing machine, received a patent in 1851 for an 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' Perhaps it was the success of the sewing machine, which caused Elias not to pursue marketing his clothing closure. As a result, Howe missed his chance to become the recognized 'Father of the Zip.’ Forty-four years later, Mr. Whitcomb Judson (who also invented the 'Pneumatic Street Railway') marketed a 'Clasp Locker' a device similar to the 1851 Howe patent. Being first to market gave Whitcomb the credit of being the 'Inventor of the Zipper’; However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper. The Chicago inventor's 'Clasp Locker' was a complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener. Together with businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Whitcomb launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker had its public debut at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and met with little commercial success.

Gideon Sundback, an electrical engineer, by December of 1913, had designed the modern zipper. Gideon Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider. The patent for the 'Separable Fastener' was issued in 1917.

Today we have several types of zippers:

* Coil zippers now form the bulk of sales of zippers world-wide. The slider runs on two coils on each side; the "teeth" are the coils. Two basic types of coils are used: one with coils in spiral form, usually with a cord running inside the coils; the other with coils in ladder form, also called the Ruhrmann type. This second type is now used only in a few parts of the world, mainly in South Asia.

* Invisible zippers' teeth are behind the tape. The tape's color matches the garments, as does the slider, so that, except the slider, the zipper is "invisible". This kind of a zipper is common in skirts and dresses. Invisible zippers are usually coil zippers or to be precise polyester zipper.

* Metallic zippers are the classic zipper type, found mostly in jeans today. The teeth are not a coil, but are individual pieces of metal moulded into shape and set on the zipper tape at regular intervals.

* Plastic-molded zippers are identical to metallic zippers, except that the teeth are plastic instead of metal. Metal zippers can be painted to match the surrounding fabric; plastic zippers can be made in any color of plastic. Plastic zippers mostly use polyacetal resin though other resins are used too like polyethylene.

* Open-ended zippers use a "box and pin" mechanism to lock the two sides of the zipper into place, often in jackets. Open-ended zippers can be of any of the above specified types.

* Closed-ended zippers are closed at both ends; they are often used in baggage.

The next big boost for the zipper came when zippers could open on both ends, as on jackets. Today the zipper is everywhere, in clothing, luggage and leather goods and countless other objects. Thousands of zipper miles produced daily, meet the needs of consumers, thanks to the early efforts of the many famous zipper inventors. TALON still exists as an American brand, now owned by TagIt Pacific of USA.Tag It recently changed its name to Talon International Inc.

Nowadays zipper manufacturing appears to be one of the most successful businesses A large part of these are manufactured by YKK. Almost all of the rest are made in Southeast Asia. Major zipper manufacturing countries in Southeast Asia are now Bangladesh, China and India. These countries are not only manufacturing zippers for domestic use and use in exported products but are exporting zippers directly to other countries as well.

Look around your wardrobe, you could easily find out that each third zipper on your cloth belongs to the YKK company and each fourth to TALON. Surely it is amazing, facts shows that those companies obtain zipper business worldwide.

Japan as the leader country makes 68% of the world's zippers. It seems to be a huge percentage that delivers it’s product in exchange of big money. As the world's largest zipper manufacturer, YKK Group is most famous for making zippers. However it also manufactures other fastening products, architectural products, and industrial machinery. YKK claims to be the first zipper company to promote environmental protection measures. YKK developed a line of environmentally friendly zippers, following the company's philosophy "The Cycle of Goodness" which means that one prospers when the person renders benefit to others. It seems that hard work of Japanese was not promoted in vain, profusion is still maintaining.

Talon International (formerly Tag It Pacific) doesn't mind being "it." The firm develops brand-identity programs for manufacturers of fashion apparel and accessories and for specialty retailers and mass merchants. Talon's "trim packages" (also sold individually) include items such as thread, zippers, labels, buttons, and hangers, as well as printed marketing materials (hang tags, bar-coded tags, pocket flashers, size stickers) designed to promote and sell the products. It also distributes its Talon brand metal and synthetic zippers and other apparel components, such as waistbands, under its TEKFIT brand. The firm's more than 500 customers include Abercrombie & Fitch, Levi's, and Victoria's Secret. Also their zipper sales increase 31% for the first nine months of 2007.

Admirable success has been made by China. China's zippers and parts industry has been growing an average 18 percent for the past five years. China-made zippers are known for their low prices. However, suppliers are finding it difficult to compete on price alone and are moving to midrange and high-end products; but zipper export manufacturing industry is comprised of 200 small to large enterprises, 40 percent of which have direct export capability. Sixty percent of these suppliers are private locally owned, 20 percent are private foreign-owned, 15 percent are joint-ventures, and only a few are state-owned.

Zippers industry supply and global markets demand remains under mutually beneficial relationships, the need of this product seems to be long-termed and always under usage of every mere citizen.

Christmas Decorations

Without a doubt, one of the most important holiday customs is the family Christmas tree. Year after year, trees are decorated with different kinds of ornaments and various decorations and are carefully stored once the season is over. In some families ornaments are kept from generation to generation which brings childhood and pleasant memories for family members.

Most houses are decorated with garland, mistletoe, and wreaths. Some families go all out and put up Christmas lights outdoors.

In some countries Christmas tree is different. For example, in Italy, the Christmas tree is called ‘Italian Ceppo’, a pyramid shaped structure made of wood often called the tree of light, decorated beautifully with fruit, nuts and presents. Geor­gian "Christmas tree", the chichilaki, is made of wood shavings. It sits in a window, set against a sunlit snowscape over a traditional Georgian balcony. It is surrounded by seeds, beans, Georgian sweet called Churchxela (made with nuts, fresh grape juice (thickened with flower) and dried on air hanging on long sticks) and preserved fruits. It is an ensemble of hope.

Christmas Dinner

A traditional Christmas dinner includes stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a variety of other dishes. Some families have ham or roast goose instead of turkey. Favorite desserts include mince pie or pumpkin pie, plum pudding, and fruitcake. Eggnog is a popular Christmas beverage in many homes.

Christmas Parties

Parties are the usual Christmas Tradition. It's a time for family members and friends to get together, exchange gifts, and celebrate the holiday season. There are various Christmas dinner traditions in different countries.

Stockings

It doesn't matter if there is a fireplace in the house or not. Every child hangs a Christmas stocking out for Santa and his elves to fill up with goodies and candy canes. The bigger the stocking is the better. This is usually the first thing checked on Christmas morning when the children wake up, full of anticipation.

The company has developed a sensor-laden headset that tracks brain activity using a single electroencephalography sensor (EEG) at the forehead, and other sensors that monitor breathing rate, head motion, heart rate, blink rate, and skin temperature--all of which can be indicators of whether a person is engaged or excited. In addition, says Hans Lee, chief technology officer at Emsense, his team has built proprietary algorithms that find meaning from the data collected by the sensors. . Founded in 2004, the company was originally developed to build an EEG-based video-game controller. Recently, though, the team found that using its technology for market research is more lucrative. And, as the political season ramps up, the company is testing its system internally on campaign ads.

"Our technology allows us to collect moment-by-moment metrics while avoiding the cognitive bias that can interfere with self-reporting and focus groups," says Lee. He explains that Emsense spent about four years collecting data on how viewers reacted to specific events in commercials and games, such as an intense battle scene, or a joke or a sales pitch in an ad. The company used this data to build mathematical models describing how physiological signals change in response to specific events. The technology, he claims, can let a game maker know the point at which people get sucked into a game and the point at which they lose interest. An advertiser can learn if its sales pitch comes at a time when commercial watchers have a positive or a negative feeling about the ad, Lee says.

The idea of using biometrics to provide marketing insight isn't new. , there is a fairly large body of published scientific work that correlates people's physiological responses toadvertisements by measuring skin conductance, heart rate and eye movements, says Alan Gevins, executive director of the San Francisco Brain Research Institute and president of SAM Technology, a company funded by Federal grants since 1986 to do brain research and develop technology that tests attention and memory using EEG. There are also some studies using EEG to evaluate advertising but it is a much more difficult problem technically and scientifically and the results are not that robust. "Use of EEG for this purpose is not at all ready for commercial prime time," he says. "It's really difficult."

Gevins says that he has no way of evaluating the Emsense technology because there is no technical information on their website about what they are actually doing or any data or references to peer-reviewed research they've published using their technology. But he notes that Emsense isn't the first company that has tried to use EEG sensors to track people's emotional responses to advertisements. "There have been a number of start-ups that have made EEG headsets of unknown quality and tried to market devices or studies for evaluating advertising and other analogous uses," Gevins says. "They have a lot of press releases, but ultimately they fail ... The bottom line is, they couldn't do it." For example, in the 1990s, a company called Capita Research tried to use EEG technology licensed from NASA for marketing purposes. Gevins, who has been working on correlating EEG to attention and memory for decades, says that he's skeptical of companies that lack scientific depth in this area. "If someone has the capability of actually doing this," he says, "then there would be objective indicators that it's real, for instance publications that have gone through peer-review."

Even so, Emsense, which was founded by a handful of MIT graduates, claims that its technology is superior to that which has come before it. While it hasn't published in peer-reviewed journals, it has 22 patents that cover topics that range from sensing using a dry EEG sensor to processing the data and analyzing it for its customers, says Lee. And he claims that customers, such as video-game maker THQ, creator of Frontlines, are coming back.

Emsense contacts potential testers in its database of about 5,000 people. These testers go to Emsense testing centers, scattered throughout the country, where they put on the headset and sit down to watch television or play a game. Lee explains that from the headset's data, the company's algorithms deduce a handful of coarse assessments about a tester's experience: when she has positive or negative feelings, whether or not she is concentrating, if she is excited, and, for games, how much she is engaged with it. Emsense then produces charts that qualitatively show these responses throughout the experience.

For instance, in a commercial for a detergent, an advertiser shows a pregnant woman, who is wearing a pink shirt, eating ice cream. A few seconds into the ad, she drops ice cream on her shirt, scoops it up with her spoon, and continues to eat. Toward the end of the commercial, the product is introduced, and the stain removed. According to Emsense's data, women tend to respond negatively to the first part of the ad, apparently growing distressed as the woman drops the ice cream and scoops it up. When the product name is introduced and the stain removed, women's responses turn more positive. Men, however, respond positively when the woman drops ice cream, but they remain neutral throughout the rest of the commercial. This is evidence, says Lee, that the commercial works well with its intended audience--namely, women.

But positive emotions, in particular, are difficult to measure using EEG, says Brian Knutson, professor of neuroscience at Stanford University. His group uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to peer deep within the brain, where the electrical signals that correspond positively are strong, he says. But by the time they make their way to the scalp to be measured by EEG, the signals are much weaker, and it's difficult to get a clean reading. But ultimately, Knutson says, the important question to ask is whether or not Emsense's approach is better than self-reporting, which is "a hell of a lot cheaper."

Jingle all the way!

O what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh…

Almost the whole world is waiting for the Christmas day; day of huge happiness, day when we make gifts and get ours.

In most areas, Christmas Day is the least active day of the year for business and commerce; almost all retail, commercial and institutional businesses are closed, and almost all industries cease activity.

Christmas is so close and there are no ideas about your choice of present. Look around, surf through your imagination and fantasy, if there is emptiness so you may apply for the online children's toy store featuring top toys from KidKraft, Anatex and Alex.

Toys2Wish4.com provides considerable savings on children's toys, toys for toddlers and babies and toys for teens. Offering popular items such as Make-a-Plate Kit, Kid's Gardening Tool Set, Webkinz and Illustory, the company focuses its product offering on toys and books that inspire kids to learn as well as be entertained. From books, musical instruments, bath tub activities and science projects, Toys2wish4.com strives to keep today’s youth enjoying fun time and broadening their horizons.

The online toy store carries just about every top toy on the market right now and has a variety of cool gift ideas for kids of all ages. The company has been selling toys online since 1999 and continues to provide customers a balance between the toys of tomorrow with the favorites of yesteryear.

"We offer customers a wide selection of toys from popular brands like KidKraft and Anatex to local manufacturers, such as Melissa & Doug. We are rooted in tradition, but aren’t afraid of moving forward in today’s world. Chances are when you walk in the door or shop online, you’ll see something you hadn’t seen in years, or something you’ve never seen before," stated Jan Lawrence, spokesperson for Toys2Wish4.com.

Quality, creativity and affordability are the three most important factors in the toys offered by Toys2Wish4.com. The company seeks to bring affordable, yet widely popular toys to families nationwide.

Toys2Wish4.com is an online retailer of children's toys, learning toys and activity toys and continues to provide popular toys from top manufactures including Hasbro, Lego, Mattel, Tomy, Tyco, Breyer, KidKraft, Anatex and Alex. Children of all ages have been enjoying toys offered through the website since its start in 1999. Toys2Wish4.com was founded by Creative Toymaker which began operations in 1994. With headquarters in Glastonbury, CT Creative Toymaker and Toys2Wish4.com have grown steadily over the years, catering to parents, teachers and children of all ages.

An economist’s analysis calculates that Christmas is a deadweight loss under orthodox microeconomic theory, due to the surge in gift-giving. This loss is calculated as the difference between what the gift giver spent on the item and what the gift receiver would have paid for the item. It is estimated that in 2001 Christmas resulted in a $4 billion deadweight loss in the U.S alone.

1. The earliest known book is an Egyptian papyrus scroll from the 25th century B.C., on which are recorded the maxims of the vizier Ptahhotep.
2. The earliest known cookbook is about nine hundred years younger than the scroll, suggesting that lawyers preceded chefs on this wicked planet.
3. The earliest known printed book in the West, set in moveable type but otherwise prepared in much the same way as the Ptahhotep scroll, was a specimen pamphlet by the German printer Johann Gutenberg, dating to 1436 or 1437. Gutenberg printed his famous Mazarin Bible
4. The first author to receive a royalty, as opposed to a flat fee for licensing a work, was the English novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819–1880), who wrote under the pen name George Eliot.
5. The ever-curious Roman historian Pliny the Elder—who died off the Neapolitan coast in 79 CE, overcome by poisonous fumes from a volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which he had sailed from Rome to witness—records in his Natural History that he once saw a papyrus manuscript of Homer’s Iliad so small that it could be rolled up to fit inside a walnut shell.
6. It’s generally believed that the first children’s book was the Orbis sensualium pictus by Jan Comenius, published in Germany in 1658.
7. The world’s longest novel remains Jules Romains’s Hommes de Bonne Volonté, tipping in at two million words and eventually published in twenty-seven volumes.
8. Folklore has it that baseball was born Athena-like from Abner Doubleday’s thoughtful brow in 1839.
9. America’s top ten literate cities are, in descending order: Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Washington, Louisville, Portland (Oregon), and Cincinnati.
10. The first copyright infringement suit known to us occurred in Ireland in AD 567.

The family network for online family trees has been launched in English. A huge interest in the European countries shows a trend concerning family trees and genealogy on the internet. The pan-European service is the Germany’s community of the year and the fastest-growing German Social Network.

Christian Richtscheid, Manager in charge of the international website says that: “Due to our easy-to-use interface, you can create your own family tree with a few clicks completely free of charge. Relatives can be invited automatically via email and after registering look at their tree or participate in the building process. This way, a family network can be built up all around your family tree.”

There are various possibilities for active users to add information on living or deceased relatives such as photos, birth places or hobbies. All information in the family trees is only visible to family members that have been invited previously.

Christian Richtscheid explains: “In most countries, the family is the core of society. This fact, in connection with English as the world language, opens an extremely wide-spread target group all over the world.”

The web-site is available in English, Italian, Portuguese, German and Spanish so far. This internationality allows the creation of multinational family trees across language barriers. If family members already have a family tree on their PC, they can easily import their data completely free of charge.

“I’m very proud of my family tree, gathered history is very important to me. My little child always asks if what have been doing his grandma when I used to be a teenage. An answer is always the same- let’s see our family tree.”-says Antony Moier .

You want to know who was your old grandfather or maybe his cousin, her mom or uncle. It seems that you need your own folk’s history. The genealogy truly can help keep family traditions alive or reveal family secrets.