windows 7 How to Weatherize Windows with Plastic Film Insulation ...

not a bad invention, but it does seem like a hole lot of work, the window sealant neednt be revised, but perhaps the the plasterising could actually be a? plastic blind with velcrow edging, benefits of such a aperatus is it?ll last a hole lot longer (slightly more expensive, obviously) but over 5nows (yrs) its saving you perhaps $70, just a thought.

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Source: http://www.whatisoperatingsystem.com/2012/02/18/windows-7-how-to-weatherize-windows-with-plastic-film-insulation-diy-home-improvement/

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List of winners of the 43rd annual Image Awards (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - Winners of the 43rd annual NAACP Image Awards, presented Friday in Los Angeles:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120218/ap_en_tv/us_naacp_image_awards_list

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Pharmacy On-a-chip Dispenses Drugs Automatically

An anonymous reader writes "The idea is simple ? load up a microchip with a whole pharmacy of drugs that are dispensed as needed automatically. The devil has been in the details, since mistakes could kill the patient if, say, a leak developed dumping dangerous cocktails into the bloodstream. This MIT sponsored company, however, claims to have perfected wireless control of a pharmacy-on-a-chip and has just completed the clinical trials to prove it. The test microchip has just 20 doses of a single drug, but their new prototype will house thousands of pin-prick sized drug reservoirs, after which they will seek FDA approval. The elderly (who have complicated drug regime) and soldiers could both benefit from these smart pharmacies-on-a-chip, since drugs can be dispensed even if the patient is unconscious."

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/tyzgekQIR6Q/pharmacy-on-a-chip-dispenses-drugs-automatically

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Mardi Gras means fat business beyond New Orleans

Revelers with the Mystic Stripers toss trinkets to the crowds gathered on Royal Street in Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. The pre-Lenten blowout continues along the Gulf Coast culminating in Fat Tuesday celebrations February 21. (AP Photo/Mobile Register, G.M. Andrews) MAGS OUT; NO SALES

Revelers with the Mystic Stripers toss trinkets to the crowds gathered on Royal Street in Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. The pre-Lenten blowout continues along the Gulf Coast culminating in Fat Tuesday celebrations February 21. (AP Photo/Mobile Register, G.M. Andrews) MAGS OUT; NO SALES

A reveler with the Mystic Stripers holds aloft a handful of beads for the crowds gathered on Royal Street in Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. The pre-Lenten blowout continues along the Gulf Coast culminating in Fat Tuesday celebrations February 21. (AP Photo/Mobile Register, G.M. Andrews) MAGS OUT; NO SALES

A reveler with the Mystic Stripers tosses trinkets to the crowds gathered on Royal Street in Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. The pre-Lenten blowout continues along the Gulf Coast culminating in Fat Tuesday celebrations February 21. (AP Photo/Mobile Register, G.M. Andrews) MAGS OUT; NO SALES

FAIRHOPE, Alabama (AP) ? Mardi Gras. It brings to mind beads, parties and fancy floats in New Orleans as people cram in all the fun they can before the austere religious period known as Lent begins.

In reality, Mardi Gras has long been celebrated in U.S. coastal towns from Texas to Florida. And it means big business.

"It is more of a regional thing, Mardi Gras is," said Stephen Toomey, whose family started a chain of Alabama-based Mardi Gras party supply stores.

"It means a way of life for people who live in these communities, but the bottom line is that it creates a lot of jobs."

Tourism leaders estimate more than 1 million visitors pour into the Mobile, Alabama, area each Mardi Gras season to watch the festivities. The city claims to be the place where the Fat Tuesday celebration originated in the U.S. in the early 1700s.

New Orleans and Mobile have long disputed where the tradition that dates to their French founders really began.

The celebration can stretch weeks and includes dozens of parades, balls and other events.

A 2004 study commissioned by the city of Mobile estimated Mardi Gras had a $225 million economic impact for the area, and tourism leaders say that has grown as the festivities become more popular.

"I would say tens of thousands of dollars are spent on the different beads and throws and things that are thrown off the floats. It really benefits every kind of retailer and the tourism industry," said David Randel, president of the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"From a convention and visitors bureau standpoint, you hope people come for Mardi Gras, fall in love with the area and come back to visit again when the weather is better."

In smaller towns like Fairhope, population 17,000, Mardi Gras is a big help.

Heavenly Creations Bakery sold 1,500 traditional Mardi Gras king cakes in 2011. The colorful cakes go for up to $19.99 each.

Rosie Miller has sold Mardi Gras ball gowns to the women of the Gulf Coast for 30 years. She has thousands of them, most for under $300.

The store has vanloads of women from small towns all over the region who come to shop. Some buy five or six gowns for the various balls they attend during the season.

"Mardi Gras has grown and grown and brings millions of dollars into our economy," Miller said.

Small towns all over the Gulf Coast have parades, balls and other festivities during Carnival Season. In Florida, Pensacola Beach's 2012 Mardi Gras' Schedule includes 16 events from Jan. 7 to Feb. 21.

"Oh yeah, Mardi is a ball, absolutely, it's fun," said Jill Jones, who dressed her dog up in a headband, jester collar and cape and wore a matching costume during the beach's pet parade this month.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-17-US-Mardi-Gras-Small-Towns/id-81b7c6c926f34c1f8bb2c0a076678f0f

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Importance of RSS

Published by witter | February 16, 2012 | | 4

If you have been online for quite some time and have been to blog websites, you probably have seen or heard something called ?RSS.? If you are like me when I first began blogging online, I had no idea what an ?RSS? was or how useful it was. I am going to explain those questions and how you can apply it.

Let?s begin by defining what an RSS is. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. I have been using RSS for about half a year now. I discovered the use for RSS while using Firefox, a browser alternative to Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.

The reason I use Firefox is because it makes using RSS very simple. They have made it so that everytime you visit a webpage that uses RSS, it shows you a small orange symbol in the address bar. When you notice the symbol, you can click on it which will give you the option to add a bookmark. Bookmarking allows for you to directly link to the RSS file or an XML file, which are a condensed version of the website that you just bookmarked. These RSS file are also commonly known as ?feeds.?

Firefox makes it so that you can read these RSS files without any 3rd party software or application. The feed will show a folder with bunch of links that are the articles from the RSS feed extracted from the website you bookmarked or subscribed to.

To use more advanced technique, you can install a ?RSS reader? to get more feed reading features. Firefox has an RSS reader extension called Sage, which you can download from their home page.

You can use other RSS reader from Google online, but I rather use browser interface RSS reader. It?s just preference and you can experiment with both and see which one you prefer.

If you do not want to use Firefox or if you are just use to other browsers, you can still subscribe to an RSS or XML feed by locating the small orange button anywhere on the site. These small orange icons usually stand for the RSS feed for that site.

There are RSS feeds used for Podcasts and Videocasts also. These are similar to internet radio or TV program that you can subscribe to and listen on a portable media playing devices. When you subscribe to one of these through iTunes, it will automatically update and? download the file and load it on your playlist. You can go to Podfeeder.com and use these feeds to load on other audio programs besides iTunes.

Source: http://www.1directory.net/internet-and-businesses-online/importance-of-rss-4950.html

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Dr. Jane Aronson: An Adoption Plan With a Happy Ending

As an adoption medicine specialist for more than 20 years, I have read and agonized over the social histories of thousands of children adopted domestically and internationally. These stories are fragments and secrets of a rich fabric of dysfunctional family life from all corners of the world in 196 countries, whether rich or poor, large or small. Most of the time, I have only been given a sliver of what is likely a complex and worthy life of a very young birth mother who may not have ever menstruated or a woman raped and beaten, birthing a precious life all the same.

I am always wondering and yearning to learn more. Sometimes I get the whole story and this is what I want to share today: a very complete story which starts with a very young mother and ends with the adoption of an infant who knew all the players and who will be, in so many ways, defined by the constellation of loving characters in this dramatic narrative.

Even though the vast majority of orphans are relinquished and not abandoned, we have little information about the roots of a child's life. The birth family is ashamed of the pregnancy and makes the decision to relinquish or abandon. There is no invitation from the community to be open and safe and secure. For those poor women who hide their pregnancy and birth, there is danger and desperation. Choosing not to parent one's own child is something that can stalk a mother for the rest of her life. Loss and emptiness from this start of life are rarely managed with gentleness and outreach. Social workers and counselors are not part of this dark moment in the majority of births in extremely poor countries. The birth mother, the new baby and the parents who adopt grieve when there are secrets. There is rarely permission given for contemplation, resolution and healing.

Recently, I received exciting news from a family adopting from Taiwan who I have been working with for about a year. The papers were complete and the child was cleared for adoption. The family had been in Taiwan for three weeks and now they were ready to come home. The baby was referred to the family living in New York about six months ago. This sweet little girl was born to a teenage mother who was 14 during the pregnancy and was 15-year-old at the time of the birth.

The child was placed in an orphanage at birth after the grandparents and unmarried adolescent parent examined the challenges and made the decision not to parent this child, but rather to "make an adoption plan." The child has since been in two foster placements and by the end of the week, she will be living in a permanent home in a transracial family with an older male sibling. During the six months of this child's life, the birth family has been very invested in the child's safety and security; they have visited the child and the child clearly knows this family's faces, their voices, their smell, their style of communication, and their sadness and commitment to her well-being.

The adoptive family has spent the last three weeks living in a foreign city learning about their new little girl. She will be named with her Taiwanese name in addition to an American name that reflects family tradition. They have visited with her in their hotel and have played with her and fed her and have had her overnight. Her six-year-old brother adores her and has become a key focus of the baby's life. This brother is playful and somehow intuitively knows how to charm his baby sister who is a bit reserved and anxious about all the newness around her. New adults of another race are especially suspect after a birth family, orphanage, and two foster care placements. A playful brother who has no expectations is a welcome moment for the baby.

The adoptive family has met the foster family and is very assured that their daughter has been cherished. The foster family is an urban family with two parents in their early 40s and their two daughters who attend local schools. This family has had other foster kids over the past 15 years and they are well-trained in the adoption/foster care network of their city.

And the adoptive family has spent time with the birth family. They have had their unofficial "giving and receiving" ceremony. The youngest daughter and aunt, is 12 and the birth mother is now 15. The visit was quiet and thoughtful; the birth mother has held her baby and she has said her goodbyes. There have been photos taken of the grandparents with their daughters and their grandbaby. It was all open and shared and still mysterious because of the language barrier and cultural puzzles.

And I have seen the photos and they tell a story that is inexplicable and important. When I get up in the morning, I look at the photos and agonize over their meaning. They tell the story of what could be if we could change attitudes about unplanned pregnancies and invest in social work and communities... if we could stop laying blame and keep our eyes on the prize which is about permanency.

This little girl can look at the photos and ask questions someday. There will be memories that can be shared with her and there can be satisfaction in knowing that everyone was able to have some closure to a very challenging and impossible moment in life. There was a process and there was support for the families involved. The baby can grow up and even consider going back to learn more about her roots... and meet her foster mother and her birth family.

And the 15-year-old birth mother, who is a good student, will finish high school and has plans to go to college. She is resolved and on her way to healing from a deep loss.

The baby girl is home in New York, eating well, recovered from jet lag, and adapting to her new life.

She was a little cranky and hard-pressed to give up her night bottle and because she slept with her foster mother, she is sleeping with her new "mama." She is giggly and excited at the end of a day when her daddy comes home from work and her brother comes home from kindergarten.

In the vast majority of adoptions, there are stories with only tiny tidbits of a secret life that existed and no social workers to help mothers consider their options. Adoption occurs and there is a new permanent life for the abandoned or relinquished baby, but the cycle of poverty has not been broken for the birth mother who is uneducated and homeless and living in the streets, perhaps... or worse.

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with the family to see how the little one was faring. We met in the street as I was approaching their home and we stepped into a local caf? to pick up my hot chocolate and mom's coffee. The baby was in a sling with a hooded sweater covering her sleepy head. Mom pushed the hood back and there she was... a relaxed and secure Asian face, no stress or vigilance apparent. She was snuggling with her "mama" and people in the neighborhood were engaging with her in the shop. The cashier spoke to her in Mandarin and she lit up. It was plain to see that she understood those tones and was happy to hear them. It was a memory sparked and a safe moment. An adoring adult friend threatened to "eat her up." That is so New York... and then we went home and watched her play and enjoy old plastic hair rollers and a salad spinner. Nothing fancy needed at this age. She is curious and sitting up, proud of her achievement to look out at a new level. She is noticeably unperturbed and comfortable; loved and clearly fitting into her new home and family. And her parents were very happy... deliriously appreciative of her presence in their lives.

?

Follow Dr. Jane Aronson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/wworphans

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jane-aronson/adoption-international_b_1281554.html

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Left-handed? Different bodies, different minds

ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2012) ? We like to think of ourselves as rational creatures, absorbing information, weighing it carefully, and making thoughtful decisions. But, as it turns out, we're kidding ourselves. Over the past few decades, scientists have shown there are many different internal and external factors influencing how we think, feel, communicate, and make decisions at any given moment.

One particularly powerful influence may be our own bodies, according to new research reviewed in the December issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Cognitive scientist Daniel Casasanto, of The New School for Social Research, has shown that quirks of our bodies affect our thinking in predictable ways, across many different areas of life, from language to mental imagery to emotion.

People come in all different shapes and sizes, and people with different kinds of bodies think differently -- an idea Casasanto has termed the 'body-specificity hypothesis.'

One way our bodies appear to shape our decision-making is through handedness. Casasanto and his colleagues explored whether being right-handed or left-handed might influence our judgments about abstract ideas like value, intelligence, and honesty.

Through a series of experiments, they found that, in general, people tend to prefer the things that they encounter on the same side as their dominant hand. When participants were asked which of two products to buy, which of two job applicants to hire, or which of two alien creatures looked more trustworthy, right-handers routinely chose the product, person, or creature they saw on the right side of the page, while left-handers preferred the one on the left. These kinds of preferences have been found in children as young as 5 years old.

But why should our handedness matter when it comes to making such abstract evaluations? It all comes down to fluency, according to Casasanto. "People like things better when they are easier to perceive and interact with," he says. Right-handers interact with their environment more easily on the right than on the left, so they come to associate 'good' with 'right' and 'bad' with 'left.'

This preference for things on our dominant side isn't set in stone. Right-handers who've had their right hands permanently handicapped start to associate 'good' with 'left.' The same goes for righties whose 'good' hand is temporarily handicapped in the laboratory, Casasanto and colleagues found. "After a few minutes of fumbling with their right hand, righties start to think like lefties," says Casasanto. "If you change people's bodies, you change their minds."

It's clear that this association has implications beyond the laboratory. The body-specificity hypothesis may even play a role in voting behavior -- Casasanto points out that many states still use butterfly ballots, with candidates' names listed on the left and right.

"Since about 90 percent of the population is right-handed," says Casasanto, "people who want to attract customers, sell products, or get votes should consider that the right side of a page or a computer screen might be the 'right' place to be."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. D. Casasanto. Different Bodies, Different Minds: The Body Specificity of Language and Thought. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2011; 20 (6): 378 DOI: 10.1177/0963721411422058

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/3Eyp_VIKUew/120214171121.htm

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