News Letter

1) Operating a Laptop with Eyes Only

For nearly 40 years, we’ve had the keyboard and the mouse.  But at the International Consumer Electronics, a company called Tobii, which was demonstrating a laptop with built-in eye-tracking software. (That’s Tobii, “with two eyes,” get it?)
Now eye tracking isn’t new. It is available, at huge cost, in the military, in specialized industries, for disabled people, and so on. But it’s one thing to pay millions for a heads-up display in a fighter jet, and quite another to have it on your laptop.
The first demonstration was an Asteroids game, in which you’re supposed to blow up incoming asteroids just by looking at them. You discover that Tobii’s system works perfectly, flawlessly, exhilaratingly. Your hands are free, your body is relaxed, and you’re blowing up space rocks instantly with nothing but the awesome power of your gaze.

On a PC running Windows 8, you could click toolbar buttons in Word, click tile buttons and swipe through screens, all using your eyes. In an architecture-design program, you could effortlessly move around a large blueprint with your eyes, using the mouse’s scroll wheel to zoom in at any point. (For the disabled, Tobii makes a kit that lets you “click the mouse” by blinking or staring, but the system really works best in conjunction with a regular trackpad or mouse.)

2)
Self-Defense Tactics

Being aware of your surroundings as you are walking to your vehicle is one of the most important things in your day to day life to protect yourself and avoid a self-defense situation. If you park in a garage where you work and are assigned a space, become aware of the vehicles parked around your vehicle. If possible, get to know the other vehicle owners. New friends are always a positive thing in your life. You will be more conscious of an out of place vehicle or person in your area if you know those who should be there at any given time.

Have your keys ready as you approach your vehicle. Taking time to find your keys when you reach the vehicle presents an opportunity for an attack. If you feel you are being followed as you walk to your vehicle, do not go to your vehicle. Continue to a populated area and summon help. It might seem like a good idea to get in the vehicle and lock the doors but if an assailant has some type of weapon they could smash a window and you would be in an undesirable position to defend yourself.
When and where possible back your vehicle into parking spaces. This allows for a quick getaway if the need arises. It also gives you an opportunity to check backup lights, brake lights, turn signals, etc. if there is a wall behind your vehicle. It also allows you a clear view to see if someone is approaching your vehicle after you have gotten into the vehicle. It is much easier to see out the windshield than it is out of the rearview mirrors.
These same ideas apply if you park in an open area or a garage at your place of residence or at the local shopping mall or grocery store. Self-defense is an ongoing process of awareness of the situation you are currently in. the more you are able to be aware of your surroundings the better you can protect yourself, your property and others.
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3)
Beware of Fast Food

Thirty-five experts from fifteen countries in Paris have developed a document urging the food industry to transform their cooking processes to minimize the presence of carcinogenic, and alert while the dangers of fast food. The so-called fast food, which includes pre-cooked with fat meat, different kinds of fried foods, bakery products are rich in carbohydrates and high caloric beverages with artificial sweeteners.

Take McDonald's, Burger King, and the Habit for example. They all sell a veggie burger. But that veggie burger patty (if the patty itself is not entirely vegetable based) is cooked in ANIMAL LARD number one, and number two, cooked on the same grill that meat (DEAD ANIMAL FLESH) is cooked on. All meat contains parasites and worms, and the ugliest ones that you could ever see with the human eyes.
Some people may think that they were avoiding animal byproducts by only eating French fries from the fast food restaurant, not knowing that most fast food restaurants such as McDonald's were cooking their fries in vegetable oil mixed with beef juice. McDonald's add beef juice to its cooking oil for flavor, in addition to spraying the fires with a sugar solution, freezing them and shipping them off to McDonald's franchises, and after cooking the sugar sprayed fries in beef juice (oil), sodium chloride (salt) is added and you have one of the most addictive products in America - McDonald's French fries.
Chemicals being used in the production of some of our most-popular foods:
Propylene glycol: This chemical is very similar to ethylene glycol, a dangerous anti-freeze. This less-toxic cousin prevents products from becoming too solid. Some ice creams have this ingredient; otherwise you'd be eating ice.
Carmine: Commonly found in red food coloring, this chemical comes from crushed cochineal, small red beetles that burrow into cacti. Husks of the beetle are ground up and forms the basis for red coloring found in foods ranging from cranberry juice to M&Ms.
Shellac: Yes, this chemical used to finish wood products also gives some candies their sheen. It comes from the female Lac beetle.
L-cycsteine: This common dough enhancer comes from hair, feathers, hooves and bristles.
Lanolin (gum base): Next time you chew on gum, remember this. The goopiness of gum comes from lanolin, oils from sheep's wool that is also used for vitamin D3 supplements.

Silicon dioxide: Nothing weird about eating sand, right? This anti-caking agent is found in many foods including shredded cheese and fast food chili.

4)

INTERESTING FACTS

1. If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

2. If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.

3. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

4. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

5. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.

6. The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

7. The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.

8. A cockroach will live nine days without it's head, before it starves to death.

9. Butterflies taste with their feet.

10. An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.

11. The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma.

12. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.

13. Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.

14. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

15. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.

16. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than the entire Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

17. Pearls melt in vinegar.

18. The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.

5) Heart disease risk from watching television, researchers warn

British researchers have found that if the average of four hours of television a day in the study were reduced to one hour, then eight per cent of deaths from heart disease could have been prevented.

As Britons are glued to the TV for the World Cup, it was found that every hour of television watched per day increase the risk of dying from heart disease by seven per cent.

The link between TV and heart disease was still strong even when lack of exercise, obesity, diet and smoking were taken into account.

It means that watching TV was independently linked to heart disease and the effect is not simply due to be inactive while watching television.

The research conducted by the Medical Research Council studied more than 13,000 healthy middle aged men and women in Norfolk.

Over the 10 year study, 373 of the 13,197 participants or one in 35 died from heart disease.

Of these deaths 30 could have been prevented if the average person watched one hour of television per day instead of four.

Dr Katrien Wijndaele co-author of the study from the MRC warned: “Our bodies are not designed to sit for long periods and we should be aware that, as we put in the TV-hours watching the World Cup, our risk of heart disease is probably increasing.

"It might seem obvious that watching TV is linked to heart disease but it’s really crucial that we look closely at how our lifestyles affect our health in order to develop more effective ways of improving the health of the nation. This type of research is a crucial part of informing public health advice.

“We need further research to see if other sedentary activities, like sitting behind a computer or in the car, generate the same results. However, we chose to focus on TV as it’s the most widespread sedentary leisure activity where people have an active choice to dramatically change their behaviour.”

6) Five guidelines to deal with..

You have a mind of your own. Doctors can't know everything. Perhaps some people trust doctors a little too much. They expect miracles and then blame the doctors when things turn out to be less than what they imagined. That's not fair to you or the doctor.

So here are a few simple things to keep in mind when you are dealing with medical issues
Step 1: Listen to your body. It's always sending you signal. If it doesn't "feel right" then it's time to re-evaluate your options.

Step 2: Get a third and fourth opinion on major a major diagnosis. For example, your doctor tells you that you have major disease. Confirm with another physician.

Step 3: Research your medical situation. The internet is packed with information. Go to discussion groups about your medical issue. Go to websites. Print out journals. Dig Deep. Why be in the dark about what's happening with your body? This is your life!

Step 4: Ask your doctor questions. This is why you pay the doctor. If he or she is worth anything, he or she will be happy to answer your questions and give you ways to find out more information. Some doctors use a sliding-scale fee system. They will charge more if you ask more questions. Find out the cost before your consultation.

Step 5: If your doctor gets offended or displays an overly-negative reaction towards your questions, find another doctor. You need a doctor in whom you can place your confidence.

7) D-roll Laptop

The D-roll Laptop is designed like an artist’s tube, which contains a roll up OLED screen and a cool slide out keyboard; it also has a mouse and a web camera which are used as the end caps for the case. It is designed by Hao Hua. This is a really cool design, it would be great to have a laptop that worked and looked like this, but I think this is probably a few years away yet.


D-roll is a next generation concept laptop design which is way distinctive from usual laptops in both shape and function. The long tube shape of this laptop, which was inspired from the storage tubes that artists are using for storing large drawings, eliminates perception of the traditional book looking laptops. This multifunctional laptop has two working modes. When it is operating in full function mode, the laptop is unfolded completely and all peripherals are turned on. The main display is turned off and a smaller screen, attached with main body is turned on allowing the users to check and send mails when D-roll is under email mode. VC is a helpful add-on for capturing pictures or videos and Locking System can provide certain security to the laptop.
D-roll set up like a regular laptop, and it's easy to imagine how portable it'd be all rolled up. There's an in-between configuration that you could theoretically use to browse email quickly, and the straps double as places to plug in your USB devices. It also has a detachable webcam you could use on the computer or wear on your wrist. Rather than carry around a notebook in a laptop bag, full to the brim with all manner of cables, the Rolltop concept proposes bringing everything together in a flat panel display that's wrapped around a central cylinder. The top of the column detaches and acts as a power plug while the carry strap doubles as a power cord.

8) Be Aware of Your Breathing

Emotional state and breathing mirror each other. Paying attention to emotions and breathing can help people identify and alter their responses. Fear, anger, and sorrow are the usually the most challenging emotions, and are often reflected in breathing in the following ways:

• Fear: When people feel afraid, they tend to hold their breath, breathe through their chests or, in extreme cases, hyperventilate. This elevates the stress level in the human body, and decreases the immune system’s ability to fight off illness.
• Sadness: When people feel sad, they inhale forcefully, but exhale weakly (an example of this is  expressed as sobbing). This inhibits the ability to breathe freely and to exude energy.
• Anger: When people feel angry, they exhale more forcefully than they inhale. This is a defensive state that renders people unable to receive or accept incoming information or energy.

In the midst of a busy day, a cleansing breath is an effective way to release negative energies and return to a place of balance and equanimity. When people exhale, they breathe out not only carbon dioxide and waste gases, but also mental and emotional toxins, concerns, worries, sorrow, anger, and fear.
When people inhale, in addition to oxygen people also take in life energy, light, love, happiness and inspiration. Consciously focusing on inhaling, even for a few breaths can become an exercise of healing and balance.

Purifying Breath Exercise

To become more mindful of your breathing, try this exercise:

• Inhale into a soft belly, taking in light, love, and healing energy. Picture this as clear, bright, or sparkling. Feel yourself becoming brighter as you fill with light and joy.
• Exhale fully, releasing any negative states or feelings. You may picture it as darkness or a fog. If you have anger, fear or sadness, breathe them out. If you have tension, anxieties, or worry, release them as you exhale.

9) Some funny facts which make you laugh

• Kleptomania is a mental disorder that causes people to have an irresistible urge to steal items of trivial value.

• Adults who have high IQs are more likely to use illegal drugs than those who have low IQs. 

• Not having friends has the same life expectancy effect as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

• 40% of cases a pizza will arrive sooner than an ambulance. 

• California has issued at least 6 drivers licenses to people named Jesus Christ.

• The total combined weight of the world’s ant population is heavier than the weight of the human population. 

• “FYI”, “LOL” and “OMG” are all now formally recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary.

• A chicken once had its head cut off and survived for over eighteen months, headless. 

• Justin Bieber can solve a rubik's cube in less than 2 minutes.

• Most people look at reflections when walk past parked cars or windows. 

• Budweiser beer can be used as hair conditioner.

• Approximately 1-2 calorie are burned a minute while watching T.V. 

• The world's oldest known recipe is for beer.

• Not only does 12+1=11+2, but the letters "twelve plus one" rearrange to give you "eleven plus two. 

• In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders.

• In the movie "The Matrix Reloaded" a 17 minute battle scene cost over $40 million to produce. 

• The average cell phone contains more bacteria than a toilet seat!

• Women own only 1% of the world’s land. 

• Gambling generates more revenue than movies, cruise ships, recorded music, theme parks, and spectator sports combined.

• Some people believe that if they eat makeup they can be pretty on the inside too.