The Refresh Orlando Heirs

Laptop computers are great portable offices, and as technology increases and speeds of computers increase, we are seeing battery life also increase and provide longer usage time with out the need to be “plugged in.”

But occasionally, as business travelers, who need to be plugged in, it can be hard to find an outlet and one may be stranded to only use the internal juice in your computer.

Most laptop batteries last about 2 hours on a full charge, but I found a couple of creative ways to turn those 2 hours into 3 or even 4 hours of pure usage time, with out having to buy more gadgets to fill up or weigh down my briefcase.

Here are two really simple things you can do, to prolong your power on your laptop and get more usage out of your charge.

1. Turn off your wireless transmitter

When you are using your laptop with your wireless transmitter, it is always looking for a signal. So by disabling it, in an area where you cannot get any internet access via wireless, it will actually conserve your battery life.

2. Lower Your Screen Contrast

Most people don’t think about this one.

But if you usually have your laptop monitor set at the highest and brightest contrast, your computer is working the hardest.

If you simply lower your contrast in half to make it less brighter, you will find you can still see the interfaces on your computer very well.

By doing this in a bright area, you may have trouble if your bightness “whites out” too much.

But in a dark airplane for example, lowering your contrast and brightness in half can actually make it easier to see your screen and make it less bright and even more enjoyable for your passenger sitting next to you, to not have a bright laptop light shining in their face.

Using these two simple powersavers can possible let your laptop power cycle jump from 2 hours to 3 or even 4 hours.

Jeff Mills is a former Youth Pastor of 9 years, who is now a full time internet information entrepreneur, book author, speaker, sales coach, and also an avid business traveler.

Jeff has passionately pursued seeking the best discount travel clubs and has discovered Coastal Vacations Travel Club to be the top of the heap, saving members up to 75% off their trips for life. Discover how you can travel and earn $1000 or more in commissions immediately at http://www.whoisjeffmills.com for a fantastic work from home business.

The Butterfly Effect: How to be a Doer –
Not a Blatherer

Batman’s friend said: “It’s not who your are inside, but what you

do – that defines you.”

The Butterfly Effect is the property of Edward Lorenz, of MIT.
“Small changes lead to massive reactions.” His work on predictability raised the question – Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?

If you choose to activate the following baby-stuff strategies – you initiate ‘small-changes”, which lead to major reactions in your ability to learn, remember and create new ideas that attract success in your life.

1. Why should you believe it?

Intelligent humans do not add techniques and strategies to their lives without evidence and proof of powerful usefulness. Many of us who are contrarians – skeptics and sarcastic, require a massive amount of proof before we believe and change our habits.

Dr. Richard Petty, Ohio State University, started his research on the effect of physical (behavioral) modifications on ‘confidence’ in 2000. In July 2003, they published his results in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. It has been replicated internationally and is a ‘given’, even though you never heard of
it until now.

2. Nodding

Nodding your head (up-and-down), reinforces your confidence, and a light goes-off in your brain that convinces you that you are right in your belief.

This action of ‘nodding,’ and its affect on your subsequent actions and belief – applies whether you are nodding in belief or ‘disbelief’.

When you nod your head (slightly or vigorous), when you have an idea – in confirmation or disgust (negativity), you are adding your sensory and motor contices to your thinking and understanding. Adding your body-language – (physically ‘nodding’) – to your left-and-right brain skills – creates a surge of endorphins (pleasure neurotransmitters), that signal your mind – you are on the right-track.

What happens when you ‘shake’ your head from side-to-side – creating a ‘No!’ body-language?

You reinforce your confidence that the idea or action you are engaged in - is lousy!

Hold it! If you ‘nod’ that something you believe is bad, wrong, negative – you reinforce your confidence of that reality, AND when you ‘shake’ your head that the idea or behavior stinks – you also confirm that you must reject and deny it.
Exactly right – it’s easier to negate than be positive.

3. Get this!

Dr. David Lykken, University of Minnesota, says this: Emotions combine internal feelings, together with physical-responses that provide ‘feedback’ to our brain.

The secret of emotions is our ‘limbic-system’, and in particular the ‘amygdala’, and hippocampus. After we come to a cognitive decision – simultaneous (within a half-second), we have a veto window-of-opportunity to not continue to a behavioral-reaction.

Right – you want to strangle your boss – but decide override the action.
A half-second in brain-time is an enormous period – our non-conscious mind processes eleven (11) million bits of information per second.

4. So What’s the Point?

Use this knowledge to create your self-confidence, self-esteem, and become
self-actualizing. Most of us are dependent on the reactions of significant-others
to decide if we are ‘smart’, ‘ethical’, and deserving of success.

Not you – you have a secret feedback-system to learn faster, remember more, read
faster, and be creative.

It takes some practice, but results begin the first day, and get stronger. For maximum results you must rehearse your Nodding a minimum of three-times daily,
for twenty-one (21) consecutive-days – the Law of 21.

Remember a ‘slight’ nod of your head up-and-down is as powerful and wide-movements. Both create feedback to our brains.

5. Why Bother With Fooling My Brain?

The answer is humans have weak-confidence in their own decisions and beliefs,
and will surrender their initial-conclusions in the face of rejection, denial or a
scowl on a listener’s face. We are strengthening our personality and character by the use of Nodding to reaffirm our decisions. The more you nod to your ideas, the more creative you become. Confidence is the difference between successful folks and the spear-carriers – who follow the orders of others.

Endwords

Nodding and shaking our head often work automatically – they are on auto-pilot.
The tennis player who misses his backhand return, and shakes his head cursing
‘himself’ – is reinforcing his confidence in failure. His feedback to the brain is
negative, and leads to a greater likelihood of another failure.

If you take five-minutes daily to install a ‘Duchenne-Smile (eyes-and-teeth), on your face three-times daily - Law of 21 – you improve your health, quickly recover from illness, and enhance longevity. Use this nodding – smiling or choosing to laugh for sixty-seconds – 3x daily for the next three-weeks – to improve your immune systems.
But only if you desire to live a long-healthy life.

If you are a contrarian – test these strategies that are completely under your control, require no financial investments, and are scientifically valid.
Your choice.

See ya,

copyright © 2006
H. Bernard Wechsler
www.speedlearning.org
hbw@speedlearning.org
———————————————————————————————————–

Author of Speed Reading For Professionals, published by Barron’s
Educational, partner of Evelyn Wood, creator of speed reading,
graduating 2 million, including the White House staff of four
U.S. Presidents.

http://www.speedlearning.org
hbw@speedlearning.org

Combining point-and-shoot convenience with a host of manual photographic controls, this camera is sure to inspire digital photographers to expand creativity and get better results. Armed with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, ISO sensitivities of 100/200/400/800 and shutter speeds of up to 1/2000 second in auto mode, the DSC-F717 produces stellar results, even in the most demanding of shooting situations.

Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar Lens
Multi-Point Auto Focus
Hologram AF Low Light Laser Focusing Assist
Multi-Pattern Measuring
Memory Stick® Media
NightShot®
Slow Shutter Noise Reduction
Mega Pixel

• 2/3″ 5.0 Megapixel Super HAD™ CCD
Super HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCDs provide excellent image quality by allowing more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

• Manual Focus/Zoom Ring

Take precise control of zoom and manual focus with the lens mounted ring. Fast, intuitive framing is easy with its natural “feel”, and two speed action.

• Pre-Flash Metering

With a momentary pre-flash, the camera illuminates the subject and calculates exposure through the lens directly from the CCD for accurate flash metering. Adjustable flash level and red-eye reduction insure great flash shots.

• 14-Bit DXP A/D Conversion

Sony’s 14-bit Digital EXtended Processor captures the range between highlight and shadow with up to 16,384 values, for extended dynamic contrast and detail.

• Dynamic White Balance

Accurate color balance under changing lighting and exposure settings is realized by linking the White Balance to the Exposure and Flash systems. Manual setting allows calibration with white card.

• Manual Exposure Controls

Flexible Exposure control is provided with Aperture Priority (f2 – 8), Shutter Priority (30 sec–1/1000 sec) and Manual Exposure modes. EV Compensation and flash output level allow fine tuning.

• Live Histogram Display

Available for capture and playback, the live histogram displays number of pixels at each luminosity to evaluate exposure.

• Eye-level & 1.8″ LCD Viewfinders

For accurate framing and following fast action, both the 180K pixel eye-level finder and 1.8″ 123K pixel LCD provide through-the-lens viewing & menu display.

• Quick Start-up and Response

Ready to shoot in little more than a second, the DSC-F717 reduced shutter lag and extraordinary responsiveness is always ready to capture the action.

• 5 MP (2560×1920) Image Size

With its high resolution CCD, the DSC-F717 captures in 4 different image sizes, in TIFF or Fine/Standard JPEG modes.

• NightFraming System

To capture beautiful color images in low or no light, NightFraming illuminates the subject with the NightShot® system for proper framing, focuses with Hologram AF and lights the scene with flash.

• File Folder Tool

By creating separate folders on Memory Stick media, you can select the location in which to record your images, helping organize your files.

• MPEG Movie HQX Mode

Captures full frame playback, high frame rate (16 fps) video clips (w/audio) with length limited only by the capacity of the media.

• Multi Burst Mode

Captures 16 320×240 frames as part of a single 1280×960 image which plays back sequentially in the camera. Selectable 1/7.5, 1/15 or 1/30 second frame intervals provide convenient motion analysis.

• Hot Shoe and ACC Terminal

Connect Sony’s HVL-F1000 flash or Remote Controls with ACC Terminal, or synchronize other flash units or studio lighting with the Hot Shoe terminal.

• Rechargeable InfoLithium® Battery

Provides reliable, long-lasting power for continuous shooting, without “memory effect”. AC-L10 adapter/charger provides stable power for USB transfer.

About the author:

Cyber-shot® Digital Camera
DSC-F717

Combining point-and-shoot convenience with a host of manual photographic controls, this camera is sure to inspire digital photographers to expand creativity and get better results.

First things first. What is Poetry?

Poetry, as what I learned in my literature class, is a timeless and creative expression of beauty, humanity and reality. It is a language of the heart to the heart. It is a union of heart and mind.

Writing poetry is like dressing up - you consider the style, the cut and accessory and harmonize them with a touch of good taste.

Here are 22 steps to make it right:

1. “Don’t study an art, practice it.” - Japanese Proverb

It is practice that can propel you to greater heights. And yes, natural talent wouldn’t hurt either.

2. Charm - The success in writing poetry lies in the personality of the poet. You are coaxing readers to read a few words, go on reading until you win them over.

Charm in poetry requires:

A big heart - I’m talking about kindness, unselfishness, a sympathetic nature and humility and being fair.

A big imagination - for you to come up with your own string of words and manner of presentation, for you to be able to put yourself into certain situations

Take a stone. How would you describe it? Consider where it came from, what it could be and with it will be. See. Feel. Imagine.

Honesty - with how you feel and what you think

Make poetry your testament; make it yours.

Eloquence - Describe in any way you can, in any way you want…any way. Just make readers feel and see, make them experience.

Uniqueness - It is what sets you apart from other writers. It shows in the way you use words in writing. Just be your lovely self and everything will follow.

3. Write when you feel like emotions are about to overflow from your heart or, find your strongest emotion and use it. Being rich in emotions would help you go a long way in poetry. Emotions are powerful tools. Humans after all are also governed by them. If poetry could speak, it would probably say, “Judge me not with your mind but with your heart. Don’t tell me I don’t make sense, only tell me if I have touched your heart.”

4. If you don’t quite trust yourself, have an audience in mind. Know who to please or who to share. It gives you focus. Take sides - “pro” or “anti”. Ask yourself what you want your readers to feel and think.

5. Have a reason. Why do you choose such topic? Why do you write your poem that way? Why do you want your readers to feel that way? But you can keep the answers to yourself.

6. The right environment. Although a silent environment is conducive especially when you write about tranquility or loneliness and lots of other things, you may write with noise all around you. Blaring stereos and people screaming each other can help fuel your writing especially when it is about anger and chaos. Keep it close to real.

7. Consistency. It is easier when you write only with one emotion or when you write about emotions that are closely associated such as anger and pain. I’m advising this to beginners. Shifting emotions (like from sad to happy or happy to fear) is quite a job to do. Do it when you are more able. For short poems, I discourage you to shift emotions but if you can find a way, the better.

8. Short poems are catchier than long ones. Having room for spaces eases the mind and makes you think of simplicity. The problem with short poems is, you tend to become unsatisfied especially when you could have written a lot.

9. Long-short-long-short or long-short-short-long - you’ve got the idea. This pattern may be modified according to what suits you. Like in paragraph rules, long-short patterns are also effective in lines and stanzas. You may follow a long phrase with a fragment. Play with the dots. But use them reasonably.

10. Punctuate to emphasize and to show. Ellipses, for example, can heighten and prolong emotions by giving the reader pause. It can cause doubts, reveal satisfaction, regret, doubt and confusion. Through ellipses you may make your readers “fill in the blanks”.

11. Don’t be too obvious. Make your readers think. Place a bit of mystery; play up the details. Play with your readers’ minds. Grasp their curiosity. 12. Play with words; enjoy. Discover what you can come up. Make them dance, laugh, cry. Use sound effects and you may even put in your reactions. For example, splash!

13. Be able to identify poetic words. There are words that sound dull in poetry such as collaboration, augment…business words. They’re unromantic! But if you can’t do away with them, do something with the phraseology or change the word. Instead of evening (sounds unromantic), use night – shorter, but gives you a picture of dark sky, shadows and stars. Leave evening to business correspondence or to formal writing. Trust your poetic ear - gut feeling, in other words. Read not only with your eyes but also with your mind’s ear. Translation: the lines should sound good.

14. Accessorize, but not too much. Use adjectives sparingly. Prefer verbs. They are simpler, but they give you a clearer picture. Adjectives, on the other hand, make your lines bulky. 15. Be graceful. Don’t merely tell it in plain language or what’s the point of writing poetry when you can just write it as prose? Try not to be corny, please. Don’t use word that bring no impact or that does not add weight and meaning to the line.

16. Allow your thoughts to wander. Follow the trail they make by writing whatever comes to mind. Be in a trance, and then be reasonable afterwards.

17. Use your innocence or innate goodness. Most people sympathize with that. But also, being someone knowledgeable or cleverly bad (whichever) is an advantage. Learn how to use whichever persona. With the innocent persona, don’t overdo; with the knowledgeable, don’t boast…never boast, period. You’ll drive away your readers. In poetry, too much is too much.

18. Choose the mood. Cheerful? Gloomy? Anything you’ve got.

19. Be able to see beauty and appreciate it. There is poetry everywhere because beauty is everywhere. In silence, in tears looming (tears that hang from long, thick lashes), there is beauty. 20. Gentleness is the key. Even in anger and vengeance, the readers must be able to sense your gentleness and even vulnerability, consciously or subconsciously. Even in the vengeful, they must see innocence. Use the why or the how of the situation. Make them want to care for you.

21. Use symbols. What does a blanket give you? Comfort. Warmth. Protection from the cold.

22. Inspire! Make them believe. Move them.

Sheryl is a junior editor of publishing company CannonCreek Asia Inc., currently dealing with business news, and is a contributor to the Sun Star Daily Cebu, goarticles, ezinearticles, writing village, writing.com, and poetrypoem. A journalism graduate, she writes short stories, poetry, essays and few novels.

January 31, 2006, Plymouth, Minnesota — Dotcom-Monitor
has just added Sydney as its newest web server monitoring location, bringing
executive class monitoring to Australia.

“Companies need to know how their web sites respond to customer
usage,” says Vadim Mazo, CEO of Dotcom-Monitor. “Adding the
Sydney monitoring station means they will now be alerted if
their web site is inaccessible or slow to Australian customers.”

The Sydney’s monitoring station is a robot that visits a
company’s web site, simulating a human visitor, and performs
various functions, including surfing, form-testing, shopping
cart usage, etc. Performance speed, accessibility and response
times simulate a human user’s experience.

Companies depend on remote web server performance monitoring to respond
quickly to emergencies (such as an order form no working), as
well as to plan for long term upgrades to ensure maximum
satisfaction for customers. It is estimated that $20 to $40
billion is lost each year from users who abandon slow loading
web sites.

Global web site monitoring secures customers world-wide

Global marketers understand that web sites respond differently
in different parts of the world due to trans-Atlantic
connections, bottlenecks, the quality of local connections, etc.
“Just because a web site performs well in New Jersey, does not
mean a customer in Sydney or London benefits from the same
performance,” Mr. Mazo says. “Monitoring your web servers from
Sydney will tell you if you need to make changes to better serve
your Australian market.”

While only 13% of U.S. home users still use sub-56K Internet
connections, that number is much higher in less developed
countries, meaning web sites optimized for U.S. customers might
not perform well overseas.

Sydney is the tenths monitoring station in Dotcom-Monitor’s
global network. The other five sites are:

- London, UK - Minnesota, USA - New York, USA - California, USA
- Florida, USA - Calgary, Canada - Colorado, USA - Frankfurt,
Germany - Honk Kong, China

Dotcom Monitor is an executive class website monitoring company, offering top
performance services above and beyond the norm in the industry.
Since 1998, its goal remains to protect the reputation and
profitability of online business by bringing together
monitoring, reporting, notification, escalation and analysis in
the combination best suited to a company’s needs.

About Dotcom Monitor: Dotcom Monitor is an executive class
website and network monitoring company, offering top performance
services above and beyond the norm in the industry, including
website load stress testing introduced in 2004 (offered by very
few monitoring companies). Since 1998, Dotcom Monitor has been
protecting the reputation and profitability of businesses online
by bringing together monitoring, reporting, notification,
escalation and analysis in the combination best suited to a
company’s needs. Visit the website at www.dotcom-monitor.com or get more details
about website monitoring services at
www.dotcom-monitor.com/web-site-monitoring.asp. Get information
on network monitoring at
www.dotcom-monitor.com/network-monitoring.asp.

Q: I recently received an email that supposedly came from eBay that said someone had attempted to log into my eBay business account without authorization (whatever that means). The email instructed me to click a link to re-enter and confirm my account information to make sure that my account had not been hacked. Being naturally paranoid I contacted eBay directly and found that my account had not been hacked and that this email was actually from someone trying to steal my eBay account information. Is there nothing that can be done about this kind of thing? — Wesley C.

A: The only thing you can do, Wesley, is be thankful that your paranoia kicked in because you were about to fall victim to just one of the latest attempts by thieves to steal your personal and credit card information.

As you discovered, the email you received was not from eBay, but from someone using a forged email address that gave the impression that the email was really from eBay. If you had clicked the link to “re-enter and confirm” your personal and credit card information, you would have been taken to a website that probably looked a lot like eBay, but was really a fake site created for the sole purpose of stealing your information. You would have been instructed to enter your eBay account information and other personal information, including your social security number, checking and savings account information, driver’s license number, and credit card number. In the end you would have supplied the thieves with everything they need to steal your identity.

The eBay scam is just the latest in a long line of sophisticated attempts to steal personal information through online means. Customers of PayPal, Amazon, Dell Computer, eTrade, Bank One, and many other online merchants have been the target of such scams in recent years.

The shear number of eBay customers is the main reason that eBay has become the most popular target of scam artists trying to steal personal information from individuals and businesses alike.

As we talked about way back in 2003, thanks to the Internet, stealing someone’s identity has never been easier. At any given moment, there are thousands of Internet thieves using all manner of high tech wizardry in an attempt to steal personal and business information from unsuspecting souls, and many times they can gain access to this information simply by asking the person to provide it through fraudulent means, like a fake email.

While most people are familiar with identity theft, most business men and women never think about it happening to them, at least on a professional level. Consider this: if a criminal can learn your business checking account number or the number of your company credit card, they can steal far more from your business than if they had simply knocked down the door and carted off your desk.

Here are a few ways to protect you from business and personal identity theft.

· Never give out your first name, last name, business name, email address, account passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, PIN number, social security number, or driver’s license number.

· Change your online account passwords every 30 days. Believe it or not, a hacker who steals your personal information can often guess your online account passwords in about two minutes. If your Charles Schwab online account password is your birthday or the name of your first born or family pet, count on a hacker cracking that code faster than you can say “Open Sesame.”

· Never provide personal information in response to an email or telephone call. Just because someone calls and says they are from Dunn & Bradstreet and need to confirm your business information does not mean they are really from Dunn & Bradstreet.

· Never give your business credit card number over the phone to place an order with someone who has called you unsolicited. If you are interested in what they are selling get their number, check out their company, then call them back to place the order.

If you think that you have become the victim of identity theft or think someone is trying to steal your identity or personal information you should report them immediately to the Federal Trade Commission. You will find more information on their website at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/.

For more information on what to do if identity theft happens to you visit http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm.

You should also remember that no reputable online company will ever ask you to log in and completely re-enter your account information. Think about it. They already have this information. Why would they ask you to provide it again? The answer is: they wouldn’t.

Be careful out there.

Here’s to your success

Tim Knox - Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker www.prosperityandprofit.com
www.dropshipwholesale.net www.smallbusinessqa.com www.timknox.com

When you prepare to install a video surveillance camera system for protection and security of your home, you should not neglect to plan in advance for the time needed to review the recorded images.

Please be advised that your choices of Video-surveillance systems, will determine, among other things, the amount of footage of video recordings and the time needed to play it back for home surveillance.

This of course is true when live monitoring is not possible or advisable like is the case for most home surveillance installations.

What can be done and how can one manage and reduce the amount of Video-surveillance information produced?

As far as Home Surveillance equipment and installation are concerned the most economic solution might well be that using time proven VCR (Video Cassette Recorders) either run at normal speed or at a reduced frame rate.

Special Time-lapse recorders are built to do just that. Two types are available. They may run continuously at a reduced frame-per-second rate, trading some less relevant information for increased tape cassette exploitation, somewhat sacrificing the quality and continuity of the recorded video clips.

Otherwise they may work at normal speed, but only when some action is detected in the camera field of view. They are programmed to go back to standby a short time after the action ends.

Saving on the amount of tape used makes it possible to reduce the cassette change frequency which in itself is a welcome gain.

But as far as the Video-surveillance reviewer is concerned it may make a huge difference if only selected parts of the recordings have to be examined, vs. the alternative of running the tapes.

Can you imagine how long would it take to play back all the long hours of video cassette tape, especially if multiple cameras are installed?

One might decide to run only a cursory examination of the records if no signs of burglary or other attacks are detected in the protected space.

But this policy might overlook premonitory signs, like those of somebody just looking around, with no clear purpose. This aspect is worth some thought.

Videotapes, to be examined, have first to be rewound, and then to be played back from beginning to end. They can be run at higher than viewing speed (Fast-forward), when scanning for clues to interesting images. The time required is anyhow substantial.

Traditional Video-surveillance systems offer analog recording methods (by videotape), perfectly responding to customers’ requirements, except that picture quality may suffer somewhat because of difficulties in keeping clean the heads, which may need some periodic care.

However in home surveillance systems, image quality may not be the first priority.
Additionally, in time, it may become increasingly difficult to find spare parts and adequate service, because of inevitable obsolescence.

Videotapes are only one of the available recording systems. They are based on analog signal processing that uses the electronic signals streaming from the camera without further manipulation.

But other systems are available, those making use of digital signal processing, which, possibly at a higher price, offer a whole set of features and advantages that may make them preferred, even for simple home surveillance tasks.

Elia Levi is a retired engineer.
He built a website to assist with a step-by-step guide to understand, design, select and set up, all by yourself the best and least expensive surveillance system for your home security.
Find out more on the subject of this article at
http://www.1st-diy-home-surveillance-guide.com/EAVideo.

Unsuspecting commuters and distant travelers pass by a neglected old Lafayette Street landmark, not realizing that within its massive exterior dwells something from the other side of reality…something that makes one’s skin tingle and envelopes one’s body creating labored breathing and sweaty pores.

Just the sight of this immense structure during daylight will evoke a feeling of apprehension and viewing this structure after sundown will evoke a much stronger apprehension. The whole area looks dilapidated and in disarray. The paint is peeling and flaking off its walls, windows are boarded up, withered vegetation clings to rough edges around the structure as if in a death grip.We were introduced to the property’s caretaker. He and his wife speak of mysterious happenings in and around this old structure after sundown. The caretaker points to the bushes outside this old convalescent hospital, stating that they will react strangely as people pass by. The wife is in fear for her baby, and because of this she says she keeps a loaded gun near her at all times.No one has spent the night inside this old structure since it closed down almost five years ago.We decided to investigate this old convalescent home and attempt to determine if there really was anything going on that would cause such fear in people.We arrived at the old hospital a little after 6 p.m. and met with a handful of workers who were taking some of the fixtures out. The building was destined to be demolished in about two weeks. The workers continued working until 8 p.m.

During the time that they are still there, we wandered throughout the dusty hallways and climbed up and down the creaky stairs to get a feel for where everything was and became familiar with the floor plan. When the sun went down, there would be no lights and someone could trip over something or worse, get lost in the maze of rooms there are in this building. Even in daylight, this building has an unusual way of making you feel on edge. It is almost too much for me as I walk slowly past the open doorways to the rooms in the convalescent hospital.I tried to imagine what it must have been like when old people walked these halls or were taken to the various areas of the hospital. We walked into a bathroom and I noticed that the tubs are now caked with dirt and dust from years of neglect. Dirty stains encircle the tubs and toilets and the mirrors are fogged.We all feel pretty safe with our flashlights and equipment and the workers not too far away. Sounds of drills and saws fill the air but soon they ceased. The workers left and we were alone in this building.Slowly we made our way back to the front of the building and took a look up the stairs one last time before the workers were all gone for good.

The workers leave and wish us luck. Someone tells us that no one has ever been able to stay in this building for a few hours let alone overnight. We tell them we were here to investigate and why. Why is it that no one can stay here? We wanted to find out why things were happening in this building. We might not get another chance.

We decided to start on the first floor and work our way up to the third floor. We decided to stay together. Even though we had walkie-talkies and everyone was buddied with another, we decided it would be safer to be together. We were unsure about the stability of the floors or the building.The sun had gone down but faint light filtered through the windows. The rooms were getting dimmer and dimmer until it got totally dark. Although there were streetlights and the safety of the street was not far away, I felt very apprehensive at that point.

We started to make our way through the first floor. There were boxes and barrels and construction equipment all over the floor and we had to watch our step as we made our way through room after room. If not for our footsteps on the floor and an occasional clicking of cameras or changing of tapes, the whole building would have been deathly quiet. We reached the end of the first floor. We had taken a lot of readings and a lot of pictures for documentation. By my watch it was 10 p.m. We started to make our way to the second floor. We began to settle in to our tasks and joked a bit. In the middle of a joke, someone said to no one in particular - do you hear that? We stopped in our tracks about halfway up the stairs. Suddenly, arms go up and recorders are turned on. We wait breathlessly. There it is again. It is faint, but audible. So faint though, I don’t think our recorders can pick it up. A lady is calling someone. The voice, small, yet quiet…young sounding. “Come here”. Pause. “Come here”. Four out of five in our group heard it. It was coming from above us. Don’t know where. Don’t know from whom. We had not yet reached the landing of the second floor. A member of our group stopped suddenly. He was feeling a tingling moving slowly up his legs. We stopped and waited to see what would happen. Suddenly, there were clicking sounds. The type of clicking sounds that happen when someone would “flick their Bic”. They happened in no regular pattern…3, 4, 5, 6 times. They stopped and then another voice…faint, strained — “nurse”. Pause. “Nurse”. An old man calling out, his voice strained as though he could barely talk. We all were standing still, motionless. Our eyes were all fixed on the landing in the darkness ahead of us. These sounds were coming from up there, apparently from outside a room or in the darkened hallway. They had an echo quality to them.Then they were gone. As soon as the sounds came, they were gone and then dead silence. We were definitely aware of everything going on around us. Our senses were extremely heightened. We waited for what seemed like hours. It was probably only about 15 minutes. We all decided to go on. We got to the second story landing and looked to the left down the long hall…nothing - and to the right and there is nothing. Nothing moving, nobody breathing and darkness for as far as the eyes could see. We heard sounds, which we attributed to the building.
We opted for the left side first. We walked halfway down the hall and heard a few noises, we all stopped dead in our tracks. It was nothing. The creaks and groans of an old building. We walked all the way to the end without anything further happening.We just started to make our way down the right side of the hallway. This floor had to have about 28 rooms on this floor, 14 to the left and 14 to the right. All the rooms were various sizes from small patient rooms to larger, perhaps office-type rooms. Some had bathrooms, some didn’t. As we approached what was maybe the third room on this right side of the hallway, one investigator went into a room and immediately came back out and told us of a cold spot. We had two more people go in with him and the rest stayed in the hall. In this area, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, the girl next to me told me she was getting really cold and then we looked across the hall to see and hear the remnants of a door slam shut. The people in the room came out quickly and asked what that was. We told them the door behind us just slammed shut. They said it was really cold in that room and that they felt like they were being watched. We switched places with them and indeed the room was cold, very cold. We all took readings and pictures and video. After a few more minutes of waiting we decided that since there was nothing further in the hall or in that room we would continue on. We completed that floor and ascended to the third floor. There was nothing up there. It was as quiet as the first floor. There was just a bunch of old rooms with boxes and papers and dirt all around. We decided to make our way down to the first floor.As we passed through the second floor, two people decided to detour into the cold room we were in earlier and discovered it was no longer cold. The door that had slammed shut earlier was now open again. As we descended the second floor, one person told us to stop and we did. You could tell she was straining to hear something, even turning her head toward whatever she was listening to. The rest of us didn’t hear anything. She said she couldn’t make out what it was but she heard a faint voice.We all went home that night knowing that this was the last time we would be able to go through this old convalescent hospital because in two weeks the building would be gone for good. They were going to put up a Sun Microsystems campus on that very spot. We wondered what would become of the people left behind…the old man calling out for his nurse, the woman calling out for someone to ‘come here’ and the other things that were happening on that floor. We checked and double-checked our readings, pictures and video from that evening. We did catch pictures of orbs and although we feel we did catch EVP from one room that night, it is very, very difficult to hear. Our thoughts still wander to that night and wonder if those people are now wandering the halls of Sun Microsystems. We felt that this was one of those places that we would have loved to go into again and to research it differently. We feel very lucky to have had that opportunity and one day we will contact Sun Microsystems and see what is happening on the second floor these days.

About the Author

Gloria Young has been a ghost hunter and paranormal investigator for over 10 years. She has dedicated her life to researching paranormal activity. She has written, “Faces of a Ghost Hunter” as well as three other books. She founded the paranormal research group, “Ghost Trackers”. She has co-produced two documentaries on ghost hunting. (www.ghost-trackers.org)

Are you aware that some of the things we use in our everyday
lives are plastics? When we talk about convenience, durability,
efficiency, stability, usefulness and practicality now days, we
use plastics.

One example of it Zip-lock plastic bags for storing left over
foods and use for packing foods when going outdoors. Another one
is, Coleman or Rubbermaid coolers use to keep preserve foods
while camping outside or going out of town and water jugs to
keep our beverages cool and a handy gadget outdoors.

And a lot more of plastics used for everyone’s convenience. But
these are not just ordinary plastics! We make sure its durable;
reliable, tough, helpful, easy to use and it costs less than
other products out in the market and Thermoforming has been a
part of it. Want to know the BIG SECRET behind it?

Thermoforming is one of the procedures being done to manufacture
plastic. A plastic sheet or film is used that can be easily
soften up when heated and becomes hard again when it cools down.

The kind of plastic used in Thermoforming can undergo through
melting and freezing without changing its chemical state and it
can be re-used again. The plastic sheet or film is heated
between specialized heaters in order to form the product with
its usual temperature range.

Then it is placed in a temperature regulated metal table or
molder until it is cooled down. The plastic formed from the
molder will be taken out of the sheet. Used or excess plastic
sheets are being recycled in order to form new plastic products
out of it.

This special procedure is being processed to form plastic used
for computers, machines, and other special equipments for
medical, electronics, and industrial products.

It is a technological breakthrough for its: 1. Reliability 2.
Convenience 3. Easier to produce 4. Ability to form small and
large objects for that specific product 5. Lower costs of
production 6. Great and unique design 7. Firmly and nicely
furnished 8. Shorter time for production 9. Can work on any type
of weather conditions, high and low temperatures.

In the history, it is stated that Thermoforming is one of the
oldest plastic manufacturing procedure. In the year 1890’s, Baby
rattles and Teething rings are formed out of plastics using
Thermoforming procedure, which the industries had a hard time
developing its new products.

The year 1930 came when some developments are made in its
plastic materials; until it grow and went successful in the late
1930’s in Europe.

Thermoforming has two general process categories called the thin
gauge and the so called heavy or thick gauge. Thin gauge is used
for thin sheets of plastics and can be directly processed with
regulated temperature.

Unlike the heavy or thick gauge, the plastic used there is
thicker than the thin plastic sheets and it still need to cut
into pieces before being processed.

Instead of using the regulated temperature for thin plastics
sheets in order to form a product, the temperature is higher
than the regulated temperature in heavy or thick gauge.

Heavy or thick gauge was formed during the World War II on
aircraft windscreens and machine gun turret windows in
aircrafts.

Now a days, Heavy or thick gauge parts are used in permanent
structures as additional parts in cars, trucks, refrigerating
units, bathroom accessories such as showers, plastic faucets,
plastic doors and toilet seats, electronic and electrical
equipment.

It is a big benefit for companies who use these kind of
procedure for their plastic products it’s lower costs,
durability, usefulness, and productivity. It also weighs less
than other ordinary and special types of plastics. Of course,
it’s also helpful for the consumers and users of this kind of
plastic.

A lot of Industries, big and small companies indulge and gain on
to this kind of procedure. Their clients prefer more of this
kind of procedure for its unique design, stability, efficiency
and value. Their aim:

Lower material and production costs, plus Mass production of
products, equals BIG MONEY, in order to be successful in this
kind of business.

DivX Great for Movies

If you love to watch video on your computer or DVD player, here
is a great format that you can watch and record to for great
video that doesn’t take up so much space- DivX. DivX is a great
video format and is extremely easy to use. Here are some tips on
using DivX.

Almost all you want to know is located on DivX’s main site, but
DivX is a great video format that doesn’t take up lots of space
on media, DivX can be quickly downloaded off the internet and
can also be played back on either your computer or a DivX
enabled DVD player.

DivX has been around when DVD’s became popular. Many people used
to download movies with a special DivX player and a telephone
line. Unfortunately, DivX lost out to the DVD format. Due to its
smaller size which is about only 25% of the size of DVD format
you can easily download DivX movies and record this format to
media easier than the DVD format.

By visiting DivX’s site you can download a DivX player for your
computer and learn how to receive free DivX video. You can also
purchase DVD players that offer DivX format so you can watch
DivX movies on your home theater system. So for a great video
format check out DivX.