I was personally very impressed and moved by President Obama’s decision to come out openly and vocally in support of same-sex marriage. For all the guff we throw at him, and not withstanding the obvious political calculations that came along with the decision, his move was a courageous and truly historic gesture befitting the expectations that came along with his ascendancy to the presidency.
The cultural waters in terms of gay rights continue to move and shift in profound and irreversible ways. I see this as well in the religious communities that I am part of. Recently, my friend Bowie Snodgrass, who is one of the executive directors of the excellent Interfaith community Faith House here in Manhattan, presented a sampling of the liturgy, song, and scripture she and others in the Episcopal Church have been developing for a same-gender blessings marriage ceremony. (For more information, click here to visit the Episcopal Church’s “Same-Gender Blessings Project”)
Still, within my own tradition (the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition of Hinduism), and within its contemporary cultural expressions, I feel a certain hesitancy to be so supportive of gay rights. Within my own heart and conviction, there is no conflict. But I wonder how I will be perceived by my immediate and extended religious community. Nevertheless, I use this platform on The Huffington Post to bring this conflict into a brighter light, because I think it is part of the larger question of establishing and defining the relevancy of my tradition in the world today.
It is an unfortunate aspect of my experience within the Vaisnava tradition that I have experienced prejudice towards the gay community. Some of this prejudice has been overt, some of it simply a matter of cultural conditioning and unfamiliarity, but in either case, it has always made me quite uncomfortable. I had many gay and lesbian friends when I was an undergrad at the University of Michigan. I imagine I will have many gay and lesbian friends when I began grad school at Union Theological Seminary in the fall. I am naturally comfortable with people of this sexual persuasion, because of the simple fact that, beyond sexual preference, I see no difference between them and me. Therefore when I encounter prejudice against gay people and gay culture, even if it is not with the intent of malice, it feels abhorrent in the fiber of my being and spirituality.
I feel comforted knowing there are many people of faith who feel the same way I do, and who are trying to come to grips and understand why the prejudice of homophobia can never be supported in any kind of genuine spiritual way. As always, I look to support from the timeless scriptures of the Vedas, the fount of universal wisdom. For example, in the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna states:
The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle br?hma?a, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater (outcaste).
From this passage we understand a very elevated spiritual principle that calls out to our everyday experience. The fact of the matter is that prejudice of any kind has no spiritual foundation. We are called as spiritual people to apply the principles of equality, and to understand how these principles of equality can be applied in the secular world in a common-sense way, so that people do not unnecessarily suffer because of who they are, and so they can be encouraged to understand their real spiritual nature, beyond any conceptions of the physical body.
One may make an argument that gay marriage is not supported by scripture or tradition, but is homophobia ever supported by scripture or tradition? Forgive my ignorance per se if this kind of prejudicial support exists, but even within the scriptural evidence of Hindu antiquity there is plenty to support a nuanced and inclusive culture towards people of same-sex persuasion. To explore such an example, I suggest taking some time to read an excerpt from the book “Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex-Understanding Homosexuality, Transgender Identity and Intersex Conditions Through Hinduism” by Amara Das Wilhelm, which is available at the website of GALVA (The Gay And Lesbian Vaisnava Association).
In his book, Wilhelm explores the reality of the “third sex” (tritiya-prakriti) and its various permutations as we know them today in the LGBTQ community. He reveals how individuals of the “third sex” naturally fit into traditional Hindu/Vedic culture, and how they were not excluded from traditional social customs like marriage and religious customs as well. It was an enlightening read for me, and I imagine it might be for you as well.
In future editions of this blog, I want to continue to explore the issue of prejudice against the LGBTQ community within my own tradition, and how these issues relate to and expand outwards within the spiritual quilt of our humanity. I do no want to shy away from this conflict as I see it, even if it brings upon me misunderstandings and doubts from others.
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Follow Chris Fici on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@ChrisFici
Set over the course of seven weeks, a creative writing competition promoted by the young Cape Verdean journalist Odair Varela on his blog, Crioulo n’Descontra, has led a dozen word lovers from three different continents to get behind their keyboards and let their imaginations flow.
The competition was launched at the end of March [en] to ?promote a taste for writing and for linguistic and artistic evolution?. Odair suggested a set of four challenges; the responses, written in either poetry or prose, were published on his blog.
On 9th May the winners were announced, determined by counting the number of views their texts had received. This article will provide an overview of the stories told.
What will Cape Verde be like in 2090?
In the first challenge, competitors were asked to imagine possible routes for Cape Verde in terms of sustainable development, energy, environment and climate change. Anete Carvalho wrote ?Pa?s Museu? (Museum Country), Jos? Soares posted a poem, ?Verdes eram as ilhas?, (The Islands were Green), and ?Retrospectiva 2012-2090? (2012-2090: Retrospective) was written by Silvianne Spencer. The piece with the most views was a poem written by Suruk Rodrigues:
Men of the Atlantic. Photo by Martin Edstrom copyright Demotix (27/07/2008).
Constr?i-se uma terra de bet?o. E do sonho cultivado, colhe-se desilus?o! Que caia chuva, para transbordar apenas barragens cheias de l?grimas dos que choram em v?o!
A land is built from concrete. And from the dream grown, disappointment is harvested! Let the rain fall, and allow the reservoirs filled with the tears of those who cry in vain to overflow!
Different approaches to tourism were also portrayed in several texts, such as that of Let?cia Varela, written in Galician and entitled ?Rel?gio do Tempo? (Time Clock). The possible extinction of Cape Verdean Creole was alluded to in the pieces by?Nani Delgado, ?N?o Vou Ficar? (I Will Not Stay), and by Ary Rodrigues, ?Um Povo Sempre Escravo? (A Nation Forever A Slave), which also talks about the country’s economic growth and the influences of China.
Carla Gon?alves tells the story of an anthropologist and researcher who, in 2090, finds the book ?A Morabeza das Ilhas Crioulas’ (The Morabeza of the Creole Islands), which has a ?clear cover that features stunningly beautiful white dunes; beautiful moraines and flowers with mountains towering in the background?, causing him to search for the meaning of ?morabeza?. He travels to the islands; when he arrives, however, the last remaining inhabitant says ?N?o h? mais Cabo Verde? (Cape Verde is no more):
Eis que Nh? Chico lhe responde num ingl?s rudimentar: Morabeza era a nossa ess?ncia, a m?sica, a saudade. Morabeza eram as nossas crioulas, uma diferente da outra, mas todas ?nicas. Morabeza eram as nossas praias de areias brancas e negras, as montanhas fortes e imponentes, a simpatia e acolhimento. Morabeza eram as flores, a diversidade cultural, a dan?a. Morabeza era aquilo que nos distinguia, que nos fazia ?nicos. Mas isso acabou e n?o h? mais aquele Cabo Verde?
Nho Chico spoke to him in broken English: Morabeza meant our essence, our music, our desires. Morabeza meant our creole women, each one different from the others, all unique. Morabeza meant our beaches covered in black and white sands, our strong, imposing mountains, our friendliness and hospitality. Morabeza meant flowers, cultural diversity, dance. Morabeza was what distinguished us, what made ??us unique. But now it’s over and Cape Verde is no more?
Murder and escape
Dolls from Cape Verde. Photo by Wanaku on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
?Someone has to be killed, and that’s your task?, states the second challenge, which encourages the use of fast-paced prose to deliver crime, action and lots of gore.
From the boss murdered by an indignant ex-employee, the beautiful brunette who succumbed to the poison of a Loxosceles anomala spider, the ?Grande Mist?rio da Boneca Assassina? (The Mystery of the Murdered Doll), to the crime of passion and the classic butler mystery, but there was still room for a coup d’?tat from the revolutionaries, and for the introduction of the movement of the ?indignados? in Cape Verde, as Suruk Rodrigues wrote in the story of Zeca:
Zeca sofria com persegui??o pol?tica dos novos tempos, que poucos entendem, ou seja, na rua era bandido, na escola era drogado, e n?o conseguia bolsas de estudo, est?gio, trabalho ou coisa melhor. Arquitectou com genialidade o movimento dos indignados de Soncent com sede e ac??o no Mindelo, que no m?s de Julho de 2012 vinha a ocupar as manchetes dos jornais neoliberais numa dura persegui??o aos ?fascistas? e entre eles o pai da sua amada.
Zeca suffered from a newfound political persecution, which few understood. In other words, he was a criminal in the street, a drug addict in school, and he couldn’t get scholarships, an internship, work or anything better. He had the brilliant idea of starting the movement of the outraged of Soncent, based in Mindelo. In July 2012 he came to be in the headlines of neoliberal newspapers in a stringent persecution of ?fascists?: among them, the father of his beloved.
He ends up being stabbed in the back by his future father-in-law in a public square, in full view of everyone.
Who killed Eva?
More crime to inspire the authors, but this time the challenge profiles the suspects of the murder of Eva Sequeira, a fifty-something-year-old wealthy widow who was found dead in her mansion.
Everyday life in Cape Verde. Photo by Nuno Lobito copyright Demotix (12/02/2008)
The suspects include ?Eva’s stepdaughter, who she never got on well with?, the ?retired doctor who had been in love with Eva since childhood (although it was never reciprocated)?, the ?young, good-looking stranger?, the ?butler’s son who was devoted to C?rmen [the stepdaughter]?, and Eva’s best friend:
No final do interrogat?rio, o investigador Nataniel Borges prendeu dois suspeitos sob acusa??o de cumplicidade na morte da senhora Eva Sequeira. Quem foi para a cadeia? Quais os motivos que os levaram a cometer t?o horrendo crime?
At the end of the interrogations Detective Nataniel Borges arrested two suspects on the grounds of involvement in Eva Sequeira’s murder. Who was sent to jail? What forced them to commit such a horrendous crime?
The story with the most views, written by Margareth Lima, blamed Eva’s best friend for committing a crime of passion:
?eu amei aquela vadia desde o dia em que a conheci. Sofria cada vez que a via com outro, meu ?nico conforto era a exist?ncia de outra pessoa que ela ignorava o amor. E justo quando ganho coragem e me declaro ela pede desculpas dizendo que s? me queria como amiga. Queria ficar com esse imbecil [o m?dico aposentado], porque era seu Ad?o. Mereceu morrer sem disfrutar do seu Ad?o.
I loved that bitch from the day I met her. I couldn’t bear seeing her with other people. My only comfort was the existence of another person whose love she ignored. And just when I plucked up the courage to admit my love for her, she apologised saying she just wanted to be friends. She wanted to stay with that prick [the retired doctor] because he was her Adam. She deserved to die without enjoying her Adam.
Three days and a farewell
What would you do if you were told that you had only three days left to live?
The repentence of someone who only ever knew how to be ?a vile executioner, an opportunist and often sadistic for power?: he is taken door to door to visit those he owes apologies to for his behaviour in life.
A woman from Santo Ant?o. Photo by Julien Lagarde on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The ?poet?, in ?Quando fui morrer? (When I went to Die),? ?[she hurried] to condense [her] life for her family and closest friends? in an all-night celebration.
Vanda wanted to fulfil the dream she had beyond her Creole life: to see the snow. She ends up in the Swiss Alps with her eyes closed, a smile on her lips and a heart full to bursting.
While the ?bride??decided to block all social networking sites before she died (?I never liked the idea of seeing dead people on Facebook.?), Vitoria, the character in Bolivian Margareth Lima’s winning piece, took advantage of the social network to arrange a huge birthday and farewell party with ?family, former classmates, teachers, workmates, friends, and even enemies?. She was the only one who had a reversible death, as at the end of the story we find out that the results of the medical tests were not in fact hers.
And thus ended the first creative writing competition launched exclusively by a blog and promoted through Facebook, sowing the seeds for ?changes in writing habits and routines that can put down their roots and become even more developed with the passage of time?.
Hypnosis is something that many folks can’t understand. It is commonly greeted with argument. Folk do not think that hypnosis exists. Many have seen it on shows and think that it just something for a night out which you can enjoy.
From the other perspective there are folk who think that hypnosis is pretty much real, but they can not prove it. To proof it they have tried it on themselves and found that it actually works. But it is hard to proof it to others who are distrustful and are not content to believe it without any tangible explanation.
The unbelievers don’t want to change their perspective. It looks that they are scared of something new. They believe it is simply an imagination and that the folks who believe it are just too vulnerable to recommendations from others.
Folk who accept the usefulness of hypnosis and have actually seen it working can get frustrated hearing the negative arguments about it. They do however understand that hypnosis is tough to proof because it isn’t something you can touch and feel.
Not that many people know that hypnosis has been medical proven to be real. Analysts have used brain scanning equipment and asked test subjects to accomplish certain activities while they were under hypnosis. They were able to proof that the results of hypnosis on the brain is very real. The study showed that the individual is not 100% being manipulated to do things that they normally would not do, rather the brain is open to recommendations.
The study also showed clearly that the brain showed changes that were not related to just relaxation but due to hypnosis. Hypnosis is very real and it is being used for the sake of body and spirit. Because it is scientifically proven to work, we shouldn’t just ignore it but use hypnotherapy for the sake of plenty more people.
hypnosis is a new and imminent field among medics to appraise and treat many psychological Problems. The hypnotherapist is the individual that works in this profession.
<!– –> Leon Edward helps people in Personal and Career Growth, leadership Development, Goal Setting, Success, Motivation, Self-Improvement, Happiness, Memory Improvement, Stress Reduction and more through his articles, blog posts and special reports . Join Leon Edwards Awesome Success Free, Get his personal success, development and growth weekly newsletter as well as success classics and tips on attracting success and wealth. Visit his Success-Leadership Library, Articles at http://www.AwesomeSuccess.org Leon Edward also helps people improve IQ, focus, memory, concentration, creativity, speed reading, public speaking , time management and reducing stress. Download his IQ Mind Brain Memory Self-Help library at his website http://www.IQMindBrainLibrary.comLeon Edward helps people improve in Leadership Development, Goal Setting, Success, Motivation, Self-Improvement, Happiness, Memory Improvement, Stress Reduction and more through his articles, blog posts and special reports . Join Leon Edwards Awesome Success Free, Get his personal development training, success and growth weekly newsletter as well as success classics and tips on attracting success and wealth. Visit his Success-Leadership Library, Articles at http://www.AwesomeSuccess.org
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Just two days after John Travolta’s first accuser filed papers to dismiss his sexual battery lawsuit against the actor, the second accuser has followed suit.
The second accuser, also a male masseur, just fired his lawyer and will reportedly file new papers in an effort to dismiss the lawsuit in the near future.
The second accuser had claimed Travolta assaulted him on January 28 at an Atlanta spa resort. Travolta allegedly grabbed the masseur’s penis, etc.
It’s the last remaining lawsuit against Travolta, as both the third accuser (Fabian Zanzi) and the fourth accuser who came forward today have not filed.
The first accuser, who had claimed a similar junk-grabbing incident occurred on January 16 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, dropped his lawsuit on Tuesday.
This Facebook IPO had better go well — there’s an awful lot riding on it.
Forget all of the people, including Mark Zuckerberg annd early investors — not to mention Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs — who are going to get immediately, sickeningly rich (or much richer) on the deal. They, like Facebook itself, don’t need the money all that much, unless they have some epic coke habits we don’t know about.
Rather, there’s a whole ecosystem of secondary beneficiaries with a lot riding on this IPO, which priced at the top of expectations Thursday afternoon at $38 per share, according to CNBC, making this the biggest Internet IPO in history.
Silicon Valley Real Estate: Perhaps driven by speculators, home sales in Silicon Valley doubled in the two months after the IPO announcement, VentureBeat.com wrote recently, and sale prices have gained 15 percent. “While that?s not a conclusive cause-and-effect connection (there?s a lot more wealth in Silicon Valley besides Facebook stock), the rising real estate prices do indicate that something big is happening. Once the IPO happens and employees? lock-up periods expire, prices will go even higher,” the tech blog says. Unfortunately, it’s not like Silicon Valley real estate really needed much help. Too bad Facebook isn’t headquartered in, say, Georgia or Florida.
San Francisco Bay Area Economy: Facebook money is already starting to trickle down to the Bay Area economy, the Los Angeles Times reports, saying restaurants are packed, upscale stores are booming and luxury cars are flying off the lot. It’s not just Facebook, though — earlier tech IPOs and old mainstays such as Apple and Google are helping, too. And then there’s the whole tech-bubble thing to worry about: “We’re back to the Kool-Aid-drinking times,” a Palo Alto builder tells the paper. What could possibly go wrong?
California’s Tax Coffers: The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), a nonpartisan adviser to the California government, recently estimated the state could take in nearly $2.9 billion in tax revenue as a result of the Facebook IPO between now and fiscal year 2014-15. The bulk of that will come in the 2012-13 fiscal year, according to the LAO. And Facebook alone will count for about a fifth of the growth in personal income in the entire state in calendar year 2012, the LAO estimates. This is money California desperately needs — though it’s not nearly enough to close the state’s $16 billion budget gap.
Online Brokerage Firms: The Facebook IPO could churn up some extra business for online brokerage firms like E-Trade and Ameritrade, writes MarketWatch. The CEO of Just2Trade, a smaller online broker, told MarketWatch he expected trading volume to quadruple. “There?s a lot of interest from retail customers. It translates to significant amount of trading volume,” he said. But this might be little more than a temporary jump — mom-and-pop and day traders are increasingly abandoning the stock market, and Facebook probably won’t stop that trend, MarketWatch says.
Other Social Networks: Having a bunch of investors getting rich on the Facebook IPO might be enough to create demand for more social-network IPOs in the future. In fact, already-public social networks such as LinkedIn and Zynga have benefited (if only temporarily) from a bit of the Facebook-IPO halo effect, the Fiscal Times wrote recently. But the IPO pipeline is not exactly crammed full, notes Bloomberg Businessweek, which asks whether Facebook could be sucking all the air out of the market. It answers its own question, though, by pointing out that the broad market has been awful, which has kept many IPOs on the sidelines.
The Entire Stock Market: Did we mention that the U.S. stock market has not been doing terrifically well recently? The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index in particular has suffered, falling more than 9 percent since late March. Sometimes all it takes to get the old animal spirits flowing again is to see a big IPO take flight. If people are willing to pump their money into a tech bubble, then shouldn’t the rest of the market get happy, too? Meh, probably not. “The pop, if any, that Facebook may provide, may be a temporary distraction for traders, but material problems will likely take precedence,” Rob Kurzatkowski, an analyst at OptionsExpress, wrote on Thursday.
Every so often, a product graces the PCMag Labs that will leave more than a few of us scratching our heads in befuddlement. Enter the Sharper Image Cooling Station ($79.99 direct), an item whose main purpose somewhat eludes me. Ostensibly, it’s a portable keyboard with a built-in touchpad for your laptop, yet it can only work inches away from the laptop’s keyboard. And, as the name implies, it also cools your laptop, but that requires the laptop to be placed in a ridiculously awkward position in order to accommodate the built-in keyboard. And therein lies the main problem with the Sharper Image Cooling Station: while there’s obviously nothing inherently wrong with portable keyboards or cooling stations in and of themselves, a combination of the two winds up compromising the utility of both elements to such an extent that the overall product consequently suffers as a whole.
Now, I’m fully aware that Sharper Image isn’t a company known for computing prowess. It’s more of an entity that specializes in innovative-cum-gimmicky items ranging from foot massagers to automatic tie racks. This lack of focus is apparent with the cooling station. It’s a hastily sketched out idea that tries to perform more than one function and winds up doing none of them adequately.
Design
The Sharper Image Cooling Station is constructed out of flimsy plastic and comes in a silver finish. It folds open and close like a laptop, and when it’s open and laid out flat, the unit is 17 inches wide and 13.75 inches long, whereas it stands at about 9 inches tall when opened up like a laptop. Opening it up for the first time is a mildly jarring experience because you encounter a keyboard in the lower half but no screen above it, like an incomplete laptop. Instead, you place the bottom of the laptop on this upper portion while tilting your screen upwards. In the end, you wind up with an eye-level screen and the strangely disconcerting, Shining-esque sight of two keyboards staring at you point blank. From an aesthetic angle, the Cooling Station’s keyboard is a dead ringer for the MacBook Pro’s keyboard, so its keys are in the familiar chiclet style. But while the Cooling Station’s keyboard emulates the MacBook Pro’s look, the keyboard also has a Windows Start Menu button since it’s meant to be compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems. As a mini keyboard, its size is nearly identical as the Evoluent Essentials Full Featured Compact Keyboard (EKB) ($49.95 direct, 3.5 stars). There’s also a touchpad beneath the keyboard which, despite its superficial similarity to the MacBook’s touchpad, does not feature any multi-touch capabilities, like two-finger scrolling.
But before you actually mount your laptop onto this thing, you’ll notice a few features on the upper half, namely three horizontally arranged cooling fans that the Cooling Station owes its namesake to. There’s a rectangular flap beneath the fans that you push out so it sits obliquely on an adjustable plastic panel behind the system, sort of like a picture frame; adjusting the flap’s tilt in turn alters the viewing angle of the laptop screen. There’s a removable plastic window to the left of the flap that opens up to reveal a built-in USB 2.0 cable that powers the Cooling System’s fans.
To the left of the keyboard are three additional ports: there’s a micro USB port for connecting the keyboard and touchpad to your laptop (via the included USB 2.0 cable), as well as two available USB 2.0 ports for connecting additional peripherals. Annoyingly, the micro USB port and the built-in USB cable are both located on the Cooling Station’s left side, so if there aren’t any USB ports on the left side of your laptop, it’ll take some patience and creativity to hook the Cooling System to your Laptop; this problem is exacerbated by the fact that both the included USB cable and the built-in cable are only 21 inches long and, consequently, offer very little slack.
Performance
Although the Sharper Image Cooling Station’s three cooling fans performed decently and succeeded in lowering my laptop’s temperature by 2 degrees Celsius after a few minutes, its built-in keyboard and touchpad must also be considered since the three are inextricably linked and, in appraising the item holistically, the good must also be evaluated in addition to the bad. And, man, there’s plenty of that going on here.
Despite Sharper Image’s claims that the Cooling Station increases productivity, I found the opposite to be true in actual practice. The combination of a tiny palm rest that forces your hands off the edges and flimsy plastic material made typing on the Cooling Station’s built-in keyboard an exceedingly difficult and frustrating endeavor. While the Cooling Station’s keyboard succeeds in emulating the MacBook Pro’s aesthetic, it doesn’t come anywhere near the latter in terms of quality and performance. The Cooling Station’s stiff and clacky keys are almost entirely devoid of springiness. Unlike the better, equally portable Evoluent Essentials Keyboard (EKB), there are no hot keys whatsoever. Only the most basic keys are here. Even standard, fairly ubiquitous function keys like screen brightness and volume control haven’t been included. These omissions paradoxically force you to return to your laptop’s now-vertically positioned keyboard to access these keys even while another keyboard sits directly in front of you, thus begging the question: why even bother using this keyboard at all, especially when your laptop almost invariably comes equipped with a better one? Those looking for a portable keyboard to use in addition to their laptop’s would be much better served by the significantly cheaper Verbatim Mini Wireless SlimBoard Keyboard & Mouse ($30 street, 3 stars), which also boasts wireless connectivity, or the Evoluent Essentials (EKB) since it’s practically the same size as the Cooling Station’s built-in keyboard and also sports hot keys that would actually succeed in increasing productivity.
It doesn’t help that the keyboard lacks rigidity and give off an overwhelming sensation of cheapness. The shallow area where the keys are located feels disconcertingly hollow, and typing on it with a normal level of intensity yielded a noticeable amount of bending beneath the weight of rapid keystrokes. Overall, the Cooling Station made for an unpleasant typing experience. The cramped keyboard served as a prelude to the even more cramped and equally limited touchpad. Its responsiveness was average at best and its left- and right- click buttons were stiff and clunky. As mentioned earlier, there aren’t any multi-touch capabilities on the touchpad. As was the case with the Cooling Station’s keyboard, you’d very likely be better off using your laptop’s touchpad, or with a mouse-keyboard combination like the Verbatim Mini Wireless SlimBoard Keyboard & Mouse or its full-sized counterpart, the Verbatim Wireless Slim Keyboard and Mouse ($63.00 direct, 3 stars).
In the end, the Sharper Image Cooling Station’s lack of focus seals its fate. It’s a cooling system that harbors aspirations of being a keyboard, and it consequently performs poorly as whole. Even if it didn’t come with an inflated price tag, its odd design and lackluster keyboard and touchpad make for a strange, entirely half-baked product you’re better off avoiding.
Go for the automated tie rack instead.
Compare the Sharper Image Cooling Station with several other keyboards side by side.
More keyboard reviews: ??? Sharper Image Cooling Station ??? Corsair Vengeance K60 ??? Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover (for New iPad, iPad 2) ??? Evoluent Essentials Full Featured Compact Keyboard (EKB) ??? Corsair Vengeance K90 ?? more
Now that Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich is spreading we've seen a lot of apps get UI updates to conform a little better to Google's design philosophy and now, we can add Evernote into that group. The latest update available in the Google Play Store brings a whole new design to Evernote along with plenty of changes for the better:
A redesigned Home Screen, with improved note and notebook lists across the app
Responsive Action and Navigation Bars, which relate to the screen you're viewing and disappear for easy reading or note viewing
Swipe navigation horizontally to scan through Notebooks, Tags and Places easily
Location tagging for all your notes, if your phone is "Location Services" enabled
Aside from the visual changes, Evernote has worked plenty on the engine below the surface that powers the app. You'll find plenty of bug fixes and improvements overall. If you're looking to see it in action before giving it a go, you'll find a video below along with the download link.
Inspirational Visionary, Angela Clay, Calls on Women To Love The Me They See
? A Groundbreaking Self-Esteem Experience in an Empowering Self-Defining Workshop Setting ?
? Having enriched the self-esteem of thousands of women with her acclaimed book, Angela Clay announces her descent on Texas to host the third annual ?Loving the Me I See? self-improvement workshop. ?
Author Angela Clay
Dallas, TX (May 15, 2012) ? In the eyes of Angela Clay, every young girl and woman has the potential to achieve anything. More importantly, Angela is also aware of the challenges girls and women face from society, the media, and themselves. Now, following her hugely successful self-improvement book, the inspirational visionary announces a workshop which plans to empower, enlighten and educate.
?In short, I am a self-esteem enthusiast,? explains Clay, who is hosting her third annual ?Loving the Me I See? Girls? Self-Esteem Workshop in Richardson, Texas on July 28th.
She continues, ?I believe in promoting self-esteem in the lives of preteen and adolescent girls as an essential bedrock for their spiritual, emotional, physical, and total wellbeing as they transition into womanhood.?
The event aims to promote positive changes, self-acceptance, and personal commitment. Those attending will be challenged to understand who they are as a person, the value their self-worth has and what they should do to love and respect it.
Angela, who released a hugely successful book, also titled ?Loving the Me I See?, developed the concept of her workshop after noticing what she calls a ?cry for help? from women across the globe.
?Young girls are suffering quietly from low self-esteem, which manifests itself in destructive behavioural patterns that can so often lead to looking for love, answers, and approval in all the wrong places. July?s workshop will allow young girls and women to address issues of self-esteem in a non-discriminatory and non-judgemental setting, calling on inspiration from both myself and those around them,? Angela adds.
Jade Richardson, a sixth-grade student at Bermuda Whitney Institute found that her own life dramatically changed after reading Clay?s book. She is excited for those who are able to attend the workshop, understanding the changes they?ll be empowered to achieve.
?Loving The Me I See is a book that challenges young girls to express themselves and to come from behind the curtain? she says.
Those in attendance will benefit from free parking at the venue, lunch, numerous workshop sessions, a Loving the Me I See drawstring bag, wristband, T-shirt, and compact mirror.
Registration costs $45, with group rates available.
More information about the event can be found at www.lovingthemeisee.com
Those wishing to attend are urged to register early at http://lovingme2012.eventbrite.com
About Angela Clay Angela Clay is a tenacious, high-spirited, and full-of-life woman. Born and raised in the natural state of Arkansas (USA), native of Little Rock, makes this all-American girl a true Arkansan.
On the platform in the speaking arena, Clay is a dynamic Motivational Speaker. With refreshing frankness, life experiences, and relying on the infinite wisdom of God, she delivers inspiring and uplifting power-packed presentations. Known as a vivacious self-esteem enthusiast, Clay is constantly seeking to challenge preteen and adolescent girls to value their self-worth and to encourage them to possess a healthy, polished, and powerful profile of positive self-esteem.
Author Angela?s inspirational writing has been featured in the Seattle Medium, Frost Illustrated, Dallas Weekly, Insight News, Pittsburgh Courier, Newark Speaks, The Louisiana Weekly, Mon The Gazette, The Michigan Citizen, Traditions of Excellence, The Black Scroll Magazine, The Royal Gazette (Bermuda), Understanding Media, Minority Journal, and more. Her easy-read but well-crafted book has been shipped to various cities across the USA as well as to the beautiful Island of Bermuda and the United Kingdom.
Clay is a woman on-the-move who stresses the importance of maintaining a healthy balance in life. She believes that studying God?s Word keeps her spiritually fit and mentally in shape. She also believes that eating healthy, maintaining a positive attitude, and working out contributes to a healthy lifestyle.
For more information about Angela Clay, visit her Web site at www.angelaclay.com.
For more information about the 2012 LOVING THE ME I SEE Girls? Self-Esteem Workshop or to schedule an interview with Author Angela Clay, please contact Charlotte Williams at 214-762-9725 or e-mail her at info@angelaclay.com
Old Dominion is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association and joining Conference USA.
The move will be effective July 1, 2013, school President John R. Broderick said in a release Thursday. The Monarchs, who restarted their football program only three seasons ago, will play at the Bowl Subdivision level after one more year in the Championship Subdivision.
The school has scheduled a 2:30 p.m. press conference.
The Monarchs become the second school to leave the CAA this week. VCU announced Tuesday that it is heading to the Atlantic 10 in July, 2012, and the league faces the likelihood of having UNC Wilmington and Towson banned from postseason play in men’s basketball next season for shortcomings in meeting the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate. Those penalties will be announced late next month.
Leaving the CAA will be costly for Old Dominion, which will have to pay a $250,000 exit fee and add football scholarships, but Monarchs boosters have already pledged $3 million in private support to help meet those expenses, Broderick said.
The move also will be made without an increase in student fees, he said, which was among the factors he viewed as critical while the school studied the impact the change would make.
“While the university was not actively seeking a change, recent events necessitated an earlier consideration of our future, and in particular, for our football program,” Broderick said in the release. “C-USA’s invitation provided the right opportunity at the right time to reclassify our football program and broaden the national footprint of our athletic program.”
That footprint, indeed, gets larger, as will ODU’s travel budget.
Conference USA members include East Carolina, Tulane, Louisiana Tech, Florida International, Marshall, and UNC-Charlotte in the east, and Rice, Tulsa, North Texas, Southern Mississippi, Alabama at Birmingham, Texas at El Paso, and Texas at San Antonio further west.
CAA bylaws do not currently allow a team to participate in league tournaments after it has announced its intention to leave, but Commissioner Tom Yeager said following VCU’s announcement on Tuesday that the matter could be reconsidered by league schools.
It was not immediately clear whether the CAA will allow the Monarchs to contend next season, and Yeager did not immediately return a phone message left Thursday morning.
Details of ODU’s move are not yet finalized, Broderick said, including finding homes for athletic programs that Old Dominion competes in that are not offered by their new league.
If you don?t watch ?Ice Loves Coco? you might assume that Ice-T and his wife Coco have a shallow, reality show relationship. After all, he?s a rap star, she?s a voluptuous model; usually that combo doesn?t make for the most healthy and equal partnerships. But anyone who has watched ?Ice Loves Coco? knows that these two crazy kids are actually the reality show exception: they have a genuinely solid relationship and have been married for over 11 years. As an avid fan of the show, I thought it might be helpful to compile some relationship tips I?ve learned from watching the show. Read on for seven love lessons from Coco and Ice-T that we should all take to heart?
1. Stay curious about your partner. Even after 11 years, Coco and Ice still seem genuinely intrigued by each other. As Ice said in a recent episode, ?I think you stop learning new things about your partner when you?re uninterested in them.? So simple, so true. No matter how well you think you know each other, remember that there?s always more to learn.
2. Adore each other. This sounds so corny, but you guys, the way Ice and Coco look at each other is seriously the sweetest thing ever; you can tell how much they adore each other. Many people try to play it cool in their relationships, but really, we should all take a page from Ice and Coco?s playbook and be more transparent about our romantic feelings. Never hide your love away!
3. Go on adventures. Some of the best bonding experiences a couple can have are of the random, crazy, adventurous variety, so practice saying ?yes? to new experiences as a couple. Ziplining, art classes, even trying new foods?anything that takes you out of your comfort zone is good. And if one or both of you is a little scared, even better: you can take turns playing the fearless hero.
4. Prioritize your relationship. Coco was recently offered the lead role in an action movie, but when the director mentioned that it would be filming in New Mexico for three months, Coco paused. She didn?t want to be away from Ice for that long. When she talked it out with Ice, he agreed it would be awful to be apart but reminded her that should never sacrifice her career for their relationship. The lesson here? Your relationship shouldn?t necessarily be more important than other parts of your life, but you should always take it into consideration.
5. Be a cheerleader. Coco is always by Ice?s side at his movie premieres and often visits the set of ?Law and Order? to cheer him on, which is awesome. Even more awesome, though, is that she knows that support goes both ways: Ice goes to Coco?s photo shoots and is always rooting for her, too. Remember to cheer your partner on in whatever they?re passionate about, and expect them to cheer for you in return.
6. Revel in your differences. Ice is naturally laid back. Coco is a self-professed control freak. Does this cause tension sometimes? Of course. Do they ever try to change each other? No way. Ice and Coco understand that our differences are often the things that bring us together and ultimately strengthen our relationships.
7. Don?t take life too seriously. One thing I see time and time again in successful relationships is an element of playfulness, an ability to keep things light even when times are tough. Ice and Coco are no exception?they?re always teasing each other, laughing, and just generally having fun. Try to make some room for lightness and laughter in your relationship, especially when things feel heavy. Trust me ? if it works for Ice and Coco, it will work for you.
