The Refresh Orlando Heirs

Most people long for or have an image of a true love that they nourish or search for all their life.

Depending on the level of consciousness, true love can mean something completely different for different people.

On the level of the physical well-being, love is the satisfaction of vital sensual needs and the expression of bodily pleasure and vitality on the base of an intimate relationship.

If there is a distortion on that level, sexual love turns into sex addiction or sexual dependency. In such a case you see the other as an object of your satisfaction. In sex addiction you satisfy your need for bodily stimulation, in sexual dependency your need for affection.

On the level of personal well-being you care for what is best for you and what makes your life fulfilled. The task on this level is to acknowledge and truly love yourself with all your strengths and weaknesses.

If you do not know or appreciate your own value, you make yourself dependent on the appreciation and love of others. You need others to fill yourself not on the sexual level as before but on the emotional-mental realm. You demand appreciation, identity and self-confidence. You enter the relationship as somebody who needs love rather than somebody who is willing to give love.

On the interpersonal level, you look for somebody, who compliments you, stabilises your self worth and satisfies your needs. According to the law of attraction you fall in love with somebody, who looks for the same.

The dilemma is that two dependent people who are attracted to each other for the satisfaction of their dependency needs are not in the position to fulfil each other’s wants. They cling to each other like two burrs, without being able to give each other the nourishment of true love that each one longs for. The frustration of the lacking fulfilment leads to anger and hate.

Some spend their whole life playing this game of love and hate. Others separate and look for a better substitute. Usually the exchange ends in the same drama, if you refuse to unfold your potential.

If you on the personal level have found to yourself and you know your value, you also recognise and acknowledge it in others. When you are satisfied with yourself you don’t request the other person to change for your own sake.

On the contrary: You will support him/her to unfold his or her potential. You stand back, if necessary, or you stand at his/her side. You share your strengths and weaknesses, allow yourself to be vulnerable and in that way deepen the intimacy of the partnership.

The “yes” to the other person is a necessity to provide the safety to master a crisis together. The relationship is an instrument of growing together, and growth means an imbalance in time. This imbalance however does not endanger the relationship, but releases the potential for creative solutions.

The ability for an intimate relationship and an open and fair dispute forms the core for a co-operation within larger circles of people. The perspective on the social level expands from the cell of the pair relationship or family to the social orders, which furthers the social well-being of all.

Through your abilities, your engagement or your love, you strengthen your neighbourhood, your job or organization, which you have joined. You work together on goals, which serve the preservation of life and the common whole.

If true love means to you, that the other should mother and protect you, you will on this level look for a community that might fulfil your needs. This even more so if a couple relationships has not satisfied you. The community becomes a mother substitute.

Instead of synergy you experience the fight around attention, lack of respect for other community members, hidden power struggles, and the defence of privileges

When you reach the level of ethics or principles will you be able to differentiate the different levels with their options and challenges. This level enables you to distance yourself from yourself.

In practice this means, that you can observe, like a neutral observer how you have handled the options and challenges of love on the different levels of development, and what kind of thought forms and behaviour may even today hinder you to give and receive true love. As you are not completely identified with your own thoughts and responses anymore, you can choose how you may best overcome the obstacles.

If your partner for instance would like more room for himself, you will not simply react with fears of loss and trying to hold the partner, but you observe the responses in you and you use your competence to develop another way of dealing with such situations. With the consciousness of the fifth level, you attain the freedom to direct your thoughts and behaviour in such a way that it leads to your chosen goals.

If you integrate all that you have learned on all the levels, you become an embodiment of true love that spreads to all people. This feeling of universal love is the all-encompassing feeling of compassion that Buddha spoke about. It is the wish to ease the suffering of people helping them to understand the transitory nature of this world

Each level has its own qualities and challenges, and it will take time to come to terms with them.

For a more comprehensive description and a hands-on manual on how to move towards true love, check out her Ebook: Beyond Suffering.

About the Author

Dr. Ulla Sebastian is a well-known author, trainer and psychotherapist. Her work spans a wide range of themes for professional, personal and spiritual growth and is the result of forty years of research and work with thousands of people from all over the world. For a more comprehensive description and a hands-on manual on how to move towards true love, go to http://www.visioform.com/uk/ebook-joy.htm

Sports card collecting appeals to a wide variety of people from different age groups and backgrounds. These people collect for various reasons which range from the love of sports to monetary gain. The sports cards themselves have grown to represent most of the major sports including Nascar.

My first recollections of sports card collecting were in the early 50’s when baseball was a major part of my life. These were the good times when I looked on life as being simple with my greatest concerns being good grades in school and finding another pickup game of baseball to play in.

This was the era when a few extra pennies meant that I walked or rode my bicycle about a mile to the store below my house and purchased Topps baseball cards. It meant that they were separated into teams and put into a small toolbox that my father had made for me. I collected Yankee baseball and Mickey Mantle cards along with others until I graduated from high school and went off to college. This was the year that my cards were given to a younger boy in the neighborhood by my mother. To this day I still get a funny feeling when I walk into a store and see the new packs of sports and racing cards.

When these sports cards were first produced, they were used primarily as promotional items for products such as tobacco which was later replaced with bubble gum. By this time, the cards were taking over the focus more so than the products that they were advertising. Sports cards, to this day, are still used to draw attention to various products.

One sports collectable that some may not consider a sports card but has always been a fascination to me is the 1952 and 53 Dixie Cup lids. These were Dixie Cup ice cream lids with famous pictures under them and covered with a paper similar to wax paper for protection. The Dixie Cup company produce these picture lids from the early 30’s until the mid 50’s but the 2 afore mentioned years were the only ones that produced sports figure pictures.

After WWII major league players returned from the war and the paper stock was no loner need for the war effort, the first nation wide baseball card set was produced by the Bowman Gum Company of Philadelphia in 1948. Compared to the standards of today, these cards weren’t very much to look at and contained no color. The faces were black and white pictures of players. These contained not writing referring to the players name or position. The backs had writing but were kept very simple with some player information included. There was an advertisment at the bottom of the back. These were smaller than most of the cards produced at a later date. This was the first nationally issued set since the early 40’s.

These 48 Bowman cards were produced in two series and were printed in sheets of 36 cards. This was the size of the sheets that the factory could produce. This whole set contained a total of 48 cards and the twelve additonal cards were were substituted for 12 of the original cards printed on the first sheet. This resulted in short-prints of some of the cards from the original series.

Naturally, this first set since the war had an abundance of rookie and first time printed players. Included in these, were players such as Berra, Musial, Spahn, Sain, Henrich, and Rizzuto. Some of the popular and rookie players fell into the short-print group making their cards even more sought after.

Topps, probably the most know bubble gum and sportscard producer, came onto the scene in 1951 and along with Bowman were the only card producers until the early 80’s. Topps purchased Bowman in 1956 and was the only producer until this time. In the early 80’s Fleer and Donruss began producing sportscards. In 1989 Upper Deck, what I consider the supreme sports card maker, started production. These upper end cards went for a premium price and led the way for the later more expensive card lines.

Since the late 80’s and early 90’s the number of various sports card sets have increased considerably. Each of the 4 main card companies produced many sets in each sport category. Some produced under different labels such as Topps Stadium Club etc. Along with this increased production came a dilution of card values. Each producer also over produced the lines that they had.

Even though this lowering of values came along, it probably just did away with some of the inflation of prices due to hype and demand. Some felt that the newer cards didn’t carry their true value and were overpriced when they first came onto the scene anyway. Some of the new cards had inflated value that caused their prices to be as high as the true collectable older cards. There was no real reason for the new cards to carry the prices that people were asking.

No matter what the price, true or not, there a still a lot of people collect the sports cards for various reason. These people collect in different ways and concentrate on different areas of collecting.

One of the main areas of collecting is the individual player rookie cards. These cards may not necessarily be from the first year that a player plays in the major leagues but it is his first card produced within a set. Generally a player has a first card produced by several manufactures and may even be in some subsets. The number of each sets produced helps determine the value of the individual players card in that set. His card value is also affected by his statistics in his career, others expectations of him at the plate and how popular that he has become on his way to the major leagues. Some collectors lose money due to the fact that the player does not live up to his expectations. I have also seen other players card values change because of his life off of the playing field. In some cases, drug use by a player has greatly affected the value of his career and also his sports cards.

Another type of collecting is the area of special cards or insert cards added to the regular. This became popular in the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s. The insert cards can be special player cards from other sports. One of the first popular inserts that comes to mind was the Michael Jordan card in the Upper Deck packs. Signature cards are also a popular type of insert card. Most of these cards were produced in a limited number thus increasing their value due to lesser quantities. Sometimes redeemable cards are used that you can turn in for other products or cards. The practice of inserting older valuable cards into packs have been used.

Some individuals collect cards by buying and keeping unopened packs. This practice seemed to be more prevalent before the price inflation caused the values to drop. Unopened cases and boxes were kept as investments for the future. Some of these unopened cases were like gold. Some of their values were unbelievable.

Complete sets from certain years are very popular collectables. If Topps or one of the other manufacturers had a very good card for a certain year or the set contained a lot of good rookie cards the sets became more collectable and sought after. Some collectors only kept factory sets and others built sets from boxes and packs. Most ot those that built their own sets looked for the perfect card with the highest grade. Which of the sets, factory or hand built, has the greatest value is still debatable.

A card collector that collects for the enjoyment does it for many different reasons. Some collect cards of their favorite teams, players, regions, or sports. Whatever the reason for collecting, sports card collecting has in the past and still is a very popular and sometimes moneymaking hobbie.

Charles Oxford
Webmaster
http://www.getawaycrafts.com

Data, or information stored on your computer, can either be held on fixed disk drives inside the computer or on removable media such as CD’s that can be inserted and removed. Removable media can be used to transfer files between computers or to backup the data already existing on fixed disk drives. There are three types of removable media: Magnetic, Optical and Flash.

Magnetic Storage

Magnetic Storage: Hard disks, floppy disks and digital audiotape are examples of Magnetic storage. They operate through a read/write head, which creates and reads magnetic impressions on the disk.

The downside…

• The magnetic impression only lasts for around five years
• The capacity of most removable magnetic disks is too low for many types of files

Optical storage

Optical Storage holds information in digital form that is written and read by a laser. All CD and DVD devices are examples of this.

The upside…

• Increased capacity: one Optical disc can store the same amount of data as over 500 diskettes
• Durability: they last up to seven times as long as Magnetic forms of storage

Flash Memory (Solid-State Removable Storage)

Solid-state memory (or Flash memory) is a high-performance plug-and-play storage device that contains no moving parts. It is found in digital cameras, video game consoles and digital audio players. You can use it in the form of USB Flash Drives to transfer or backup data. Flash memory is small, light and fast.

Backup

Backup is the copying of files onto portable media so that if your computer crashes, data won’t be lost in oblivion. Backup is usually routine in large businesses but is often neglected by individual users. Some suggest backing up data files and duplicating your hard drive weekly. It takes around 45 minutes to backup a 500-megabyte hard disk.

There are two options- Local or Internet backup. The following is a list of Local backup options. Most of these also double as devices used to transfer data between computers.
• Diskettes
• Zip Drives
• CD’s
• DVD’s
• Flash Drive

Internet Backup

Another backup option is sending your files to an Internet site for safekeeping. If your computer crashes you can simply download them from the site. Here are a few examples of such sites:

Backup Defender- www.backupdefender.co.nz
My Backup- www.mybackup.co.nz

N.B. The author does not recommend or endorse any of the above service providers.

Diskettes and Zip Drives

Diskette

A Diskette is a 3.5-inch removable magnetic disk. The older version, the floppy disk, is 5.25 inches square and flexible. Copying to a diskette is quick and economical.

Ideal for…

• Those who use their PC for personal finance - the diskette enables you to retrieve checkbook balances etc.
• Projects that need to be continuously backed up such as a film script, as it is a cheap alternative.

Not so good for…

• Some newer computer and laptop models that do not have a diskette or floppy drive installed.
• Large amounts of data as diskettes don’t have a great storage capacity

Zip Drives

A Zip drive is a small, square shaped magnetic disk that is ideal for backing up your PC. The 100-megabyte size holds the equivalent of 70 floppy diskettes. They also come in a 250-megabyte size

Ideal for…

• Duplicating your entire disc drive
• Archiving
• Storing graphic images or other large files
• Transferring large files
• Keeping certain data separate from files on your hard disk

The downside…

• They seem to be a fleeting technology - most computers do not have a Zip Disc drive installed and opinion varies on how long they will be around for.

Compact Disks

There are different standards of CD’s that have different capabilities. Just to confuse us they are recognized by seemingly similar acronyms; CD-R, CD-RW, CD+RW, DDCD and E-CD.

CD-R

CD-R (Compact Disc - Recordable) is a CD that can be recorded to only once. It usually holds 74 minutes of audio or 650 MB of data, although newer versions hold up to 80 minutes of audio (700 MB of data). If your PC has CD burning software and a compatible CD-R or CD-RW drive, the CD-R can be used in the same way as a diskette. However unlike a diskette it cannot be deleted or overwritten. Look out for CD-Rs that have an additional protective layer which make them less susceptible to damage caused through scratching.
Ideal for…

• Making music CD’s
• Storing photos
• Storing permanent data

Not so good for…

• Transferring files as they can only be used once

CD-RW/CD+RW

A CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable) and CD+RW can be recorded onto as many times as desired. Data can be overwritten and erased. Other than this, the CD-RW is identical to the CD-R. If it wasn’t for their finite durability CD-RW’s and CD+RW’s could be reused endlessly.

Ideal for…

• Transferring files
• Holding temporary data

Not so good for…

• Holding important permanent files-in case they are accidentally deleted

Double Density CD (DDCD)
This disc has a much greater storage capacity than an average CD-R or CD-RW.

Ideal for…
• Backing up
• Storing archival data

Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD (E-CD) is an audio CD with CD-ROM data added. CD-ROM data is added in the space not taken by audio. Recording artists can use this to include videos, lyrics, interviews or promo material. The E-CD can be played on a CD player but to view additional material you need access to a multimedia-capable device, such as a CD-i player, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM drive.

Bridge Disks
A CD-Bridge disc holds extra information on a CD-ROM XA track. The disc can be played on either a CD-i player attached to a television, or a CD-ROM XA drive attached to a computer. Software such as Photo or a Karaoke CD player can provide lots of fun with the Bridge Disk.

DVD (Digital Versatile Disk): More than movies

Although DVD’s have become more associated with video, they can also hold audio and computer data; hence their name Digital Versatile Disk. Like the CD, a DVD is a 120-mm by 1.2mm thick disk. However the DVD has more tracks than a CD so holds far more data. CD’s have an unvarying storage capacity of 750MB, whereas DVD’s store up to 17GB.

A range of acronyms is also used to distinguish between the different types and capabilities of DVD’s available. These include DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-Audio.
DVD-ROM

DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc - Read Only Memory) is similar to a movie DVD, but is designed for computers. The DVD-ROM stores data in the same way that the CD-ROM does and is used in the DVD-ROM drive of your PC.

The upside…

• Larger storage space – hold more data than a CD
• Can be filled with nearly everything; video, music or computer specific data
• A base speed of 1.32 megabytes/sec

The downside…

• Many older computers do not have a DVD-Rom drive installed
• Can be recorded on only once

DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio (DVD-A) is designed for audio data and high-quality music. Its storage capacity is seven times that of a CD and provides at least twice the sound quality. Like the Enhanced CD, DVD-A can contain other data, providing the listener with extra information such as lyrics or images. DVD-A is predicted by many to replace the standard audio CD in the music industry.

DVD-R

Like the CD-R, the DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc-Recordable) can be recorded on once.

The upside…

• A DVD-R can contain an assortment of information; video, text, audio and computer data

• A DVD-R can be played on your normal DVD video player but remember, if you have additional data not of the same format e.g. video and audio together, you will need a DVD-ROM or Multimedia player of some kind

• A DVD-R is read at the same speed as commercially made DVD’s

DVD-RW and DVD+RW
Similar to the CD-RW, a DVD-RW or DVD+RW (Digital Versatile Disc – Rewritable) can be recorded on, rewritten and erased multiple times. Other than this they are identical to the DVD-R.
DVD minus and plus are just different versions with the same functionality.

The Future of CD/DVD Storage

The majority of the technology industry predicts that soon DVD’s, with their larger storage capacity and faster access time, will replace CD’s. DVD-ROM drives are likely to be sold with new computer systems in the way that CD-ROM drives once were. However we are always on the cusp of newer technologies, such as the HD-ROM.

HD-ROM (High Density-Read Only Memory)

HD-ROM uses a more precise particle beam to write data. This enables information to be written on more durable materials such as metal so storage is virtually permanent. HD-ROM has hundreds of times the storage capacity of the CD-ROM.

Flash Drives

A Flash drive is a small portable memory stick that holds anywhere from 1Mb to 1GB of data. It is surprisingly lightweight and is often worn around the neck or carried as a funky key chain. They are compatible with any PC that has USB port and with Mac OS 9 and OS X, Windows 2000 and XP or Linux 2.4.17.

The upside…

• Durable - more so than CD’s or DVD’s
• No need for batteries or a separate power source
• Convenient - your computer should recognize the additional drive as soon as you insert it into the USB port
• Ideal for backup
• Larger storage capacity then many other portable devices
• More portable than ZIP drives, CD’s and Diskettes
• Quick transfer rate (approx. 1Mb/sec)
• Edit, rewrite, delete as many times as desired
• Help desk personnel can use Flash Drives as a portable toolkit that includes system updates and recovery tools.

The downside…

• More expensive than other portable devices
• Viruses - The portability and compatibility of the Flash Drive increases the chance of spreading viruses. In many cases viruses carried by a Flash Drive will not be detected as most antivirus software is reactive and only recognizes known viruses
• Theft - a Flash Drive can make it easier for data to be stolen from an unlocked PC
• Little Security - the size and weight of the Flash drive makes it very easy to misplace. Most have little or no security features and data is accessed easily. Some Flash Drives do have built in security; either a password or in some cases a finger print system - but this comes at a price.

Article by David Haysom. David is the eCommerce Manager for OfficeRocket, www.officerocket.co.nz/ . OfficeRocket is an online store that offers a wide range of office supplies including computer data storage media.

With more offshore fishing boats taking customers further out into the
deep blue ocean in search of Billfish, Tunas and others, satellite phones
are quickly becoming an essential for all offshore fishing and boating
enthusiasts.

The growing popularity in offshore fishing tournaments, charter boats,
and individuals searching for that elusive Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna,
Swordfish and other fish that reside in deep water, warrants the utmost
in boating safety. These days most anglers fishing the deep, blue water
have the opportunity to buy or rent Satellite Phones. Satellite phones on
boats have become a very important and necessary piece of safety
equipment on your boat. These days Iridium and Inmarsat satellite
phones are compact, and offer satellite phone service if the vessel has
problems. The best part however is that these satellite phones are
economical priced.

Most large boats often come outfitted with Inmarsat satellite equipment,
and can easily be switched with a sim card that will immediately add
safety and assurance to the boats passengers and crew. This sim card
offers boat owners the security of knowing that if a problem arises, with a
quick phone call, help is on the way. This sense of security helps bring
confidence to each boat owner as well.

In the past renting a satellite phone was unheard of. Today, many
companies offer this service, with competitive prices, reliability and
global coverage around the world. Renting a satellite phone for boat
marine enthusiasts offers the comfort of knowning that you’re in good
hands, and can get assistance where-ever you are, in any country
around the world. Renting a satellite phone is inexpensive, and satellite
phone services offer great prices for boat owners.

With more than 66 satellites circling the earth, a satellite phone offers
users the opportunity to call any number, anywhere, anytime. Especially
since cellular phones will not pick up a signal when just a couple miles
offshore, or in different countries. Satellite phones also offer quick help
by dialing a 4-digit number; you will be connected with a service
representative will help you with any problems that you might be having.

Here is my personal Top 10 list of why you should own or rent a satellite
phone when traveling abroad:

10. Safety

9. 24-Hour Customer Service

8. Affordable

7. Reliable
6. Worldwide Reception

5. Easy to use

4. Convenient 10 digit global number

3. Customized Options

2. Piece of Mind

#1 Reason

It’s the best way to let your family know when you’re gonna be late.

Copyright 2005 Troy Denson - Satellite Phone Services of Satcom
Marine http://www.satcommarine.com

When choosing a pioneer car audio MP3
it’s important to address a few key
questions.
How much do you want to spend?
What features are most important to you?
An MP3 is a way to encode audio that
compresses data so it can store a lot more
of it while keeping a high standard of
quality. Pioneer has a long-standing
reputation for quality and also for being
one of the easiest car audio systems to
install and use. They make a range of car
audio that can play MP3’s, including the
lower end DEH-P3700MP for a little over
$100 to the AVICD1 navigation system for
about $1,600. If you are looking for a
basic system to play CD’s and MP3’s, a
simpler system will be fine. But, if you
want more features like navigation or a DVD
player you will pay a lot more for a higher
end system.

One of the most important things to look for
is how you are going to navigate through
all of your MP3 files, especially while
driving.
If you have a large library of music, you
will need to find an MP3 player that makes
browsing through the discs as easy as
possible. Many discs can hold up to about
250 songs, and it’s crucial that you can
find exactly what you’re looking for as
quickly as possible. One of the most
reasonably priced MP3 player’s Pioneer
makes is the DEH-P5500M, which costs around
$270 and allows you to organize files by
artist, track, folder name, file name, and
album. It also has satellite radio and CD
changer controls. It’s also imperative that
you check that the discs you use on your
computer for music are compatible with the
ones for the MP3 player, otherwise you
might end up with a library of music that
won’t play in your car. ID tags to identify
songs must be a certain version compatible
with the car’s system, or you’ll end up with
a lot of unusable music. If you figure out
what you’re looking for, you can make an
educated decision about which system will
best suit your budget and your listening
needs.

James Southall Jr.
I have 10 years experience with the automobile industry I have worked on the volvo, oldsmobile, ford and the chevy from electrical and electronics to breaks and bumpers.
http://www.audio-car-pioneer.com

When I was younger and worked on mainframes I was always working with pretty mundane stuff; batch processing for the most part with what little online work being done with smaller computers (Buker-Ramo if you must know) with the mainframes running DOS/VSE. It was hardly the big league and I lusted after the really exotic stuff like MVS/TSO and the top of the heap; VM or Virtual Machine. VM was a “hypervisor”. That is it wasn’t really an operating system but an environment whereby multiple operating systems could run on a single machine, each with protected access to the full instruction set and, most importantly, protected from each other. You could crash and burn your private virtual machine and everything else kept on running without a hitch. I can’t recall the number of batch jobs I killed because a problem with a program in one partition in DOS/VSE caused the whole machine to crash.

I say “was a hypervisor”. Firstly it was an OS in it’s own right and thus is more than a hypervisor and secondly it’s
still around to the point that it’ll run Linux as a client operating system. But my experience was from afar, I left the mainframe world and never got to work with it full time.

But now I have my own little virtual world. A while back Microsoft bought Connectix and their virtual machine technology. Oh, I’d tried it along with VMWare a while back and frankly it didn’t do much for me either because my hardware wasn’t up to it, the software wasn’t robust or a combination of both but recently I picked up the latest version of Virtual PC from Microsoft and wow, how the worm has turned, Virtual PC 2004 has come into it’s own.

What does it do? Firstly it installs in Windows XP Pro or Win 2k Pro just like any other program. Once set up you’re ready to create as many virtual machines as you can find.

A wizard is available to walk you through the set up but it’s hardly needed. You set up the amount of RAM and hard drive space you want to allocate to the “guest” operating system and start preparing the virtual machine like you would a regular computer. This might mean partitioning the hard drive, formatting it
and then installing the operating system.

What operating system? Doesn’t seem to matter. It took more time to track down old floppies than it did for me to install Windows 2003 server, FreeDOS, BSD and DOS 7.0.

Fire up Virtual PC and a console comes up that allows you to select an existing guest operating system or install a new one.

So what’s the benefit? Well it’s pretty cool to be able to
isolate various operating systems so you can do just about anything yet not have your main machine crash and burn. You can set up a virtual machine just like it’s a real computer with it’s own IP address, installed programs, anything you can thing of.

Want to try and trash your little virtual machine? By all means do so with no worries, you are isolated from the host
operating system and won’t bother it. In fact you’re so isolated
your virtual machine will need to have all patches, anti-virus
software, etc. installed just like it was a new standalone machine.

Other than the obvious benefits to developers there’s also the legacy aspect of all that great (okay, maybe not so great) DOS software that’s still out there. If you’ve ever wanted to
experiment or, if you’re a refuge from the old days, experience some of the old stuff again without trashing your current system Virtual PC is the way to do it.

Performance on a perky AMD 4200+ system was brisk. Oh, Windows Server 2003 wasn’t as fast as it would have been had it been the only thing running but it was certainly acceptable. Everything else was certainly faster than any hardware I’d used it on before, certainly far, far faster than say an 80286 so it seemed
remarkable quick. I did have one session in Win 2003 where I dropped a few characters from the keyboard and from time to time I’d have to tell DOS that there was indeed a floppy in the drive two times (a pain when installing the 8 disk Windows for Workgroups update to Win 3.1) but nothing terminal.

There are troublesome questions; will the police break down your door if you set up a virtual copy of XP Pro using the same copy of XP Pro that’s hosting Virtual PC? Read your EULA but Microsoft has announced that they will allow “virtulizing” Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise and the Datacenter edition of “Longhorn”. Sadly they haven’t made any changes to the desktop software license.

But there’s still plenty of stuff to plink away at and you can try Virtual PC for 45 days for free. List price from Mr. Softie is $129. I’ve seen it discounted at several places and, as
always, be sure to check around for the best price. Meanwhile if you want to check it out you can download the trial version off the Microsoft info page here.

And my biggest problem? Finding a 5.25″ diskette drive for all that old software.

Don Watkins, PCNet-Online.com. Copyright, 2006. May be reprinted in compliance with ezinearticles.com terms.

About Don Watkins - Don has been in involved in computers since the 60’s starting PCNet on CompuServe in 1983. In 1994, Don was awarded the John Dvorak Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the SIA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Interested in learning how to read Tarot cards? If so, one of your first decisions will be “What style of deck should I use”.

Although there are now hundreds of brands of Tarot decks, most fall into one of three general styles — Marseilles, Rider-Waite-Smith (also called Rider-Waite, or just RWS), and Thoth.

There are 78 cards in a Tarot deck — 13 cards in each of four different suits, plus an extra 22 cards called the “Trump” cards. These 22 trump cards are known as the Major Arcana, the remaining 56 cards are called the Minor Arcana. It’s the treatement of the Major and Minor Arcana that determines which general style your deck follows.

The first style — Marseilles — follows the traditional, old-school style found in early Tarot decks. The artwork on the Major Arcana tends to be simple and limited to only a few colors. The Minor Arcana looks much like ordinary playing cards — there are four face cards (King, Queen, Knight, Page) and 10 “pip” cards (Ace through Ten). Again, the artwork on the face cards tends to be simple. The pip cards don’t have artwork other than a “pip” count. For instance, a Five of Swords will have five swords depicted on the card.

The Marseilles style looks so much like playing cards because Tarot decks were originally used to play a card game! It wasn’t until later that mystics began to use these decks for divinatory purposes.

The second style of deck — RWS (After Rider, the publisher, Waite, the designer, and Smith, the artist) — was published in the early 1900’s. It was designed from the very beginning for magickal use.

Because of this, the artwork is much more complex and symbolic. The Major Arcana and the face cards are much more colorful, lifelike, and detailed. It’s the Minor Arcana, though, where you’ll find the main difference.

Rather than use simple counts, the artist (Pamela Coleman Smith — who also illustrates childrens adventure stories) decided to draw vignettes of people engaged in some phase of everyday life. Because of this, the pip cards are highly enriched and yield many thoughtful perspectives — what are the people thinking, what are their motivations, what are their fears, etc — to enrich Tarot readings.

The final deck style is the Thoth style — named after a deck designed by Aleister Crowley and painted by Lady Freida Harris. The Thoth deck was intended for magickal use from the very beginning. The paintings are surrealistic and highly symbolic. Thoth adds a new technique to the mix, though. Each non-face card of the Minor Arcana has a subheading describing some motivation or aspect — things like Happiness, Luxury, Virtue, Oppression, etc. Because of this, some readers find it easy to read with Thoth decks. Thoth decks also make it easy to draw from other esoteric disciplines — astrology, for example — in order to create inspired Tarot readings.

Most decks you’ll find in a bookstore will follow one of these three basic styles. Marseilles styles will use pip counts, RWS styles will use pip scenes, and Thoth styles tend to be surrealistic but label the Minor Arcana with additional descriptions.

About the Author

Joey Robichaux rides the weekly consultant road warrior circuit. He uses Tarot to find perspectives on business problems and also maintains dozens of web sites, including one of the oldest sheet music websites on the internet — Free Sheet Music at http://www.freesheetmusic.net — and also the Woodsong Tarot site at http://www.woodsongtarot.com