Fearsome hounds are dogged by depression
0 Comments | Sunday Telegraph, The; London (UK), Jul 18, 2010 | by ROGER DOBSON
DOGS THAT growl and bite people may not be hostile by nature — merely depressed, according to researchers.
Scientists who studied badly behaved pets concluded that they had low levels of the “feel-good” hormone serotonin.
In humans, low serotonin levels are known to cause depression and anxiety. It is hoped the findings will lead to new ways of treating canine aggression, the most common behavioural problem seen by vets.
In the study, reported in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, blood samples were taken from 80 dogs that had been referred to veterinary teaching hospitals after they had behaved aggressively towards humans.
Samples from normal dogs were also taken. Tests showed that the aggressive dogs had significantly lower concentrations of serotonin in their blood – 278 units compared with 387. The lowest readings were from a group whose bad behaviour appeared to be an attempt at self-defence
Once you know which of your competitors
Once you know which of your competitors gets the most traffic to their site you can start the process of search engine optimisation (SEO). Primarily this means sending more traffic to your website and not your competitors by ranking you higher on the search results.
Once you know what ranking your competitors are at you can find out how they optimised their sites starting with back links, how many places are linking to their sites in comparison to you. Find out how many of their pages have been indexed by other search engines such as Google. Search their content to select ten keywords and find out how well those words are ranked on the major search engines. Do your competitors use META description tags to show a more appropriate description on their listing? Do your competitors tell the search engines, are the Google spiders encouraged by the directions listed in the robots.txt file?
Of course the key to sending more people your way is still making sure you have a professional website that is not only SEO friendly but also user friendly.
internet marketing review
Luxury not always expensive
Luxury not always expensive
0 Comments | Dominion Post; Wellington, New Zealand, Jul 14, 2010 | by Carolyn ENTING
Oh la la – Australia’s boudoir queen has looked to the French for inspiration for her new lingerie line, writes Carolyn Enting.
SHE TRAINED in Wellington, lives in Sydney and shows twice a year in Paris.
This time next week, Collette Dinnigan will jet into Auckland for the launch of her new underwear collection into Farmers.
But why Farmers and not Kirks or Smith & Caughey?
To make it in the bras and undies business, you need to produce higher volumes of product, which means bigger distribution, the designer says, and Farmers is New Zealand’s biggest distributor. It also means fans can now afford a piece of Collette Dinnigan luxury without the hefty price tag that her main line commands. Bras range in price $49 to $59, and briefs and G-strings $19 to $29.
The underwear is luxurious – no skimping except when it comes to cheeky cuts – made of silk chiffon and French lace, and complemented by details such as hand-stitched rosettes, bows and delicate embroidery.
“I wanted to use silk because it’s something generally not known for lower-priced underwear. It’s not the cheapest in the world, but it’s very reasonable price for what it is,” Dinnigan says. “Natural fibres are so much better because they breathe and keep you warm.”
The shapes, featuring French knickers, chemises, balconette and plunge bras, briefs and boy shorts in floral, polka-dot and animals prints, are sensuous, with a distinctly nostalgic feeling.
Dinnigan collected inspiration from scraps of 1920s and 30s floral wallpaper, china tea cups and snippets of antique lace from French markets. She traced the antique lace trims back to the companies that designed and produced them. “Most people don’t realise it, but there is copyright on lace. It lasts forever,” she says
Fish out of water
Fish out of water
0 Comments | Winnipeg Free Press, Jul 24, 2010
There I was, at a private lodge in the middle of nowhere
The fishing lodge is a mysterious place of legend that the average woman never visits. My main motivator: a chance to work on my tan.
Where did this incident take place? At a private fishing lodge in Nopiming Provincial Park on Bird Lake. This is northeast of Lac du Bonnet close to the Ontario border. It’s about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Winnipeg (or shorter if it’s not me driving).
Day One: I was awakened for breakfast. It was pouring out. Went back to bed. It rained all day. No tan.
Day Two: Went to the local store to buy a fishing licence. Stumper question: “What kind of licence do you want, ma’am?” I was worried for a second that maybe I was on the TV show Who wants to be a Fisherman? If I didn’t answer the question correctly, I’d be off the show (or column). Correct answer: The cheapest one. And buy ice cream with the saved money.
Once out on the water, the challenge was on! Who would catch the first fish? Who would catch the biggest fish? Or more important, who would get the best tan?
The first fish we caught we couldn’t keep as they were too small to eat and had to be thrown back. One was a “floater” — it went belly up and was floating in the water. A bald-headed eagle sitting on a tree nearby spotted it and began swooping down between our boats. I don’t know if it didn’t trust us with our boats being so close but he didn’t pick it up at first
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Read his article. If you are “inspired” by
Read his article.
If you are “inspired” by a particular idea, and you notice others taking up the flag as well, don’t fret about being stolen from, or someone getting “there” faster than you. Instead, rejoice that the morphic field is making your inspiration more accessible and understandable to the general public.
? Creative Commons Licensing
Instead of a regular strict copyright, you can use the Creative Commons licensing approach to be more flexible and generous in approaching your “intellectual property.”
In their own words: “Creative Commons offers a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors and artists. We have built upon the ‘all rights reserved’ of traditional copyright to create a voluntary ‘some rights reserved’ copyright. We’re a nonprofit. All of our tools are free.”
For more information, check them out. http://creativecommons.org/
? Wholesale stealing of your entire show.
I have seen instances when someone has copied a website completely, word-for-word, including the free give-aways and bonuses. I always feel a little sad the very, very few times I’ve seen or heard of this, because someone is so clearly shut-down in their heart, and feeling desperate.
kung fu dummy
So it is important
So it is important to dress them in a way that is matched and meaningful. Remember these images will be with you and your children for a long time so it is important to dress accordingly as some clothes can date. Sometimes the minimalist approach offers the greatest opportunity for uniqueness. Props are kept to a minimum. An expert in Child Photography will endeavour to capture any unique features of your children. From smiles, attitudes, expressions, emotions, laughter and togetherness and anything that is characteristic of your children is included.
Posing, placing and positioning for Child Photography is very important as is image design and style. Some photographers are well trained to allow this type of posing to occur naturally and capture these important attributes in a spontaneous and uninhibited way.
maternity photographer
Without treatment, the buttocks, legs
Without treatment, the buttocks, legs and foot can also start to feel the pain. In the worst case scenario, the ?ice pack gel? can completely break open and you can be in for a long recovery. Proper lumbar support is necessary for prevention of muscle and nervous system issues when seated at your workstation. Without this prevention, serious injuries can occur and workplace production can be completely put on hold. Proper lumbar support can be found in most good office chairs. Make sure when shopping for your chair that it has the back support needed for your work hours. Ezine Platinum Author: Amy Lieberfarb currently runs two online websites dedicated to Ergonomic Office Chairs and Furniture.
science fairs
Be careful about moisturizers
Be careful about moisturizers that are ?too heavy? on the skin, because they may be uncomfortable to wear and look smudgy under make up. Choose intense moisturizing products that blend lightly but work hard.
Ability to reduce pore size. Enlarged pores are another telltale sign of aging skin. The face-lift cream should solve this problem if it is effective. The cream must effectively unclog pores of oil and slightly peel off old skin, so that pores look smaller over time.
Peeling and firming properties. The facelift cream should gently but effectively rid your face of old skin to give way to new, younger-looking skin. It should do so without making your skin too red or irritated. The face-lift cream must also tone your skin to reduce sagging and eliminate uneven corners around the mouth and eyes.
Cleansing properties. Your facelift cream should not only cosmetically enhance your skin ? it should also effectively clean it.
removing blackheads
DDU to reach out to rural youth [Ahmedabad]
DDU to reach out to rural youth [Ahmedabad]
0 Comments | Times of India, The, Jul 22, 2010
AHMEDABAD: Dharamsinh Desai University will soon enter rural areas of Gujarat to educate children and youth. The university will conduct these programmes using a van that will be equipped with all types of communication facilities wired and wireless Internet, VSAT/Edusat. In the first phase of the project, the university will cover 50 villages having total population of 25,000.
This project of DDU is the result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that the university signed with Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. With the MoU, DDU has joined MeLT (VSAT-enabled Mobile e-Learning Terminals) Project, as network institution
free college education
The hellish injustice of Major Bill Shaw MBE; He served with distinction for 28 years. Yet now Major Shaw languishes in the Afghan Alcatraz on trumped-up charges, mourned by his family and a target for the Al-Qaeda inmates. Nadene Ghouri is the first jour
The hellish injustice of Major Bill Shaw MBE; He served with distinction for 28 years. Yet now Major Shaw languishes in the Afghan Alcatraz on trumped-up charges, mourned by his family and a target for the Al-Qaeda inmates. Nadene Ghouri is the first journalist to report from inside his prison nightmare
0 Comments | Mail on Sunday (London, England), The, June 27, 2010
Byline: Nadene Ghouri
The towers and the crudely mud-plastered perimeter wall surrounding the grounds of Poli Charki prison have a medieval look. But the square-faced guard in khaki uniform staring down from the brick watchtower belongs firmly in the modern world. He has an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder and his gaze runs regularly along the razor wire covering the top of the ramparts.
Security at a series of large metal gates is intense. At each one, people trying to get inside are body searched by armed guards, mobile phones are confiscated and bags checked for explosives or weapons. At the fourth and final gate a guard signs both his name and a long serial number in black marker pen on the forearms of those going inside. Only those who can show the signature will be allowed back out again. Any others will be assumed to be escaping prisoners and arrested or, if they try to run, shot dead.
Afghanistan’s equivalent of Alcatraz is one of the most notorious prisons in the world. It’s home to the guilty, the desperate, the damned and, in some cases, the innocent. It’s also currently home to two British inmates. The first, former paratrooper Anthony Malone, is there because he allegedly owes money. The second man, former British Army major Bill Shaw MBE, is there because he fell foul of the semi-official system of corruption by which Afghanistan functions today. Both men are in the prison’s notorious maximum-security block, normally reserved for members of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, where they share toilet facilities and meals with some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists.
Incongruously, the main compound is garlanded by newly planted roses. Their sweet scent hangs heavily in the still hot air. They are an attempt to improve the prison buildings and grounds. Behind them, the long rows of concrete cell blocks are inhabited by murderers, thieves, drug smugglers and Al-Qaeda operatives. Of over 1,000 prisoners in Poli Charki, 137 are foreigners, most of them African drug smugglers, Russians accused of spying, Iranian criminals and Chinese people-traffickers. Fewer than half a dozen are from the Commonwealth – two South Africans, an Australian and the two Britons.
Once inside the main prison compound we’re free to wander the grounds alone. To a certain extent things here are relaxed. They can afford to be. Escape is virtually impossible. The last prisoners who tried to run, right after being marched outside to be executed by firing squad, were shot in the back by guards as they fled across the desert.
Prisoners gather at the entrances of the low-security wings as family members hand over bags of vegetables and cooking oil. Families are expected to supplement the prison diet of rice and potatoes. Those without relatives to bring them extra food simply go hungry.
In the governor’s office I’m asked to sit on a metal chair and wait while a guard brings chai (tea). Large black blowflies buzz around. Sometime today Bill Shaw is due to be transferred from a holding prison in central Kabul, but he hasn’t arrived yet. The white-bearded governor tells me he’s worried because he knows Shaw will be targeted by the Al-Qaeda inmates: ‘We need to give him a lot of extra protection.’
Shaw is a target for Al-Qaeda because he is British and a high-profile senior ex-serviceman. He was in Kabul working for G4S, a company that provides security for the British Embassy.
Shaw had a remarkable military career. He served for 28 years in the Royal Military Police, working his way up from corporal to commissioned officer, ending up as a major and being awarded the MBE
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