Advances in technology have done much to change the way we live and communicate over the past quarter century, but no breakthrough has revolutionized life as much as the advent of the "wireless world".
In 1980, telephones were stuck to walls, facts were found in books and people had to browse shelves in a record store if they wanted to buy the latest music. Now, access to all of that and more is found by just reaching into our pockets.
For a long time people have thought of information as being a destination. You had to go to a book, you had to go to a library, you had to go to a shaman. ... But now, with new mobile technology and wireless technologies, information is turning into a companion.
In the Information Age having immediate access to data is fundamental to progress. In some cases the advances are serving to overhaul industries at a lightning-fast pace.
The Internet allowed tech-savvy music lovers to force changes in the way the music industry does business. Text messaging over cell phones has made written communication more immediate.
Having a computer in almost every home in America was instrumental to this massive technology shift -- ranking No. 5 on the list.
Now, having computer access in homes is not quite enough. We want to use these tools everywhere. Wireless hot spots have popped up in cafes, airports, universities -- even whole city blocks.
And just as computer use worldwide is exploding, the brains behind them -- the processors -- are getting smaller. Computer chips made the list at No. 9, and today a chip that you can balance on your fingertip can hold massive amounts of data.
This ability to store (No. 10) tons of information in cell phones or digital cameras allows us to keep our smart technology portable.
But even as our technology is getting faster and smarter, so is the e-baggage (No. 20) that comes with it.
When the Internet age dawned, the World Wide Web looked a bit like Eden. Not a sneaky snake in sight. Today, however, we are mired in problems caused by things like online scams and viruses -- traps aimed at taking down your computer and sometimes even your identity.
An entire industry meant to curb e-baggage and protect consumers has formed in reaction to this threat.
Scripting Your Entertainment Experience
Technological advances have also transformed the entertainment industry.
Satellite television and radio (No. 13) give consumers more choices. The development of the remote control (No. 21) allows viewers to tailor their own experiences.
Video game technology has made great strides. In the early 1980s, the first wave of video games' popularity was in full swing with a little yellow Pac Man gobbling dots on a computer screen.
Today, the $10 billion a year industry produces realistic games that invite players into fantasy worlds, sports and even wars.
The hunger for bigger and better screens with which to watch the tailored programs or new video games is being met with technological improvements. Advancements made to our television and movie screens -- such as plasma TV, HDTV and IMAX -- made the list at No. 24.
Leapfrogging Into The Future
Many life-altering innovations in the past quarter-century were made in scientific laboratories. Researchers decoded the genetic makeup of many organisms (No. 7), which led to advances in biotechnology (No. 4) -- the science of manipulating an organism's genetic material.
DNA testing and forensic science (No. 14) made it possible to reunite an unidentified baby with his parents after the Asian tsunami. Law enforcement officers said it helped them crack the 30-year-old BTK serial killer case.
Amazing new technologies are changing the way crimes are investigated and solved, although this science is still not as immediate as many prime-time crime television shows make it seem.
Biometrics, the science of digitizing information such as fingerprints or facial features for accurate identification, and animal cloning join the ranks at Nos. 16 and 22, respectively.
Making Advances
Higher fuel prices sparked more interest in alternative fuel vehicles (No. 3), and so far hybrid vehicles curry the most favor with the growing number of consumers willing to pay more for their cars to save money on fuel. Hybrid vehicles are those that use at least two power sources, typically gasoline and electricity.
As low-tech as it may seem, the compact fluorescent light bulb is doing a great deal to revolutionize quality of life. It is one of the most successful energy and water conservation devices developed to date; others include low-flow toilets and showerheads. Together they rank No. 17.
The widespread use of computers in the home logged in at No. 5 on the top breakthroughs of the past 25 years.
In manufacturing, robots build some things faster and cheaper than human hands. Technologies such as computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing make it possible for someone to build prototypes of devices or parts using a mouse and a keyboard. These advancements make the list at No. 23.
At No. 12, advances in fiber optics -- very thin strands of glass that transmit light and data much more efficiently than wires and cables -- not only improved the quality of voices transmitted over phone lines but also made high-volume phone traffic possible.
From banking to shopping to investing, technology and the Internet are transforming the way we conduct our global banking and financing, and our experts ranked this shift at No. 8 on the list.
"Really this has been a story about convenience," said Jim Smith, executive vice president of consumer Internet products at Wells Fargo.
"You can see everything from your checking account and savings account ... to home equity loans, mortgages, credit cards. Now customers can do all of that 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the comfort of their own homes."
Breakthroughs in defense technology (No. 2) changed the face of warfare. Smart bombs are guided to their targets by satellites. Robots are used to disarm roadside bombs in Iraq and to search out caves in Afghanistan.
Although laser technology (No. 6) was patented in 1960, it took years before it found practical applications in medicine and CD and DVD recording and playback.
In space exploration (No. 11), the Hubble telescope has allowed us to peer into galaxies more than 12 billion years away. Unmanned spacecraft have landed on Mars.
Rounding out the top 25 are advances storage batteries (No. 19), weather prediction (No. 25) and the development of microscopes called STMs -- scanning tunneling microscopes (No. 18) -- that allow scientists to see minuscule images like a fly's face in 3D.
TOP TECHNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGHS
1) Wireless world
2) Defense technology
3) Alternative fuel vehicles
4) Biotechnology
5) Computers
6) Lasers
7) Genomics
8) Global finance
9) Processors
10) Digital storage
11) Space
12) Fiber optics
13) Satellite TV & radio
14) DNA testing
15) Video games
16) Biometrics
17) Energy and water savers
18) Scanning tunneling microscopes
19) Batteries
20) E-baggage
21) Remote controls
22) Animal cloning
23) Manufacturing technology
24) The big picture
25) Weather technology
March 26, 2009
March 25, 2009
The Reel Is Gone
Say goodbye to scratch and hiss. Digital technology is set to transform the way we watch movies.
Two men stand by a shimmering lake. One is a journalist intent on exposing a government scandal, the other a source nervously feeding him a scoop. It's a remarkable scene from the Danish political thriller King's Game - not for what happens, but for how it looks. The lake is such a cool, vivid blue, you feel you could reach out and dip your hand in it. The image is so sharp, the colors so clear, you can make out the subtle pinstripes on the journalist suit. By the time it ended its run at the Curzon cinema in London's Soho in October, the film had played every day for more than a month-but not once did it shudder, skip or pop out of focus.
This picture-perfect vision comes courtesy of a brand-new digital cinema system, a combination of high-tech projector and computer server that could one day kick celluloid out of the projection booth for good. The old mechanism ran 3,600 m of delicate 35-mm film through a series of giant reels. Every screening added another layer of blips and blotches to the film. The new system plays the movie from the server at the touch of a button. And because the film is not on film - it's stored as a digital data file instead of being printed on strips of celluloid - the quality never degrades. Shown by a digital projector, every movie, whether it's a grainy, black-and-white indie drama or a blockbuster killer-thriller, looks exactly as the filmmaker intended. Every time.
The digital system at the Curzon is one of 238 being installed in movie theaters across Britain and Northern Ireland over the next two years by the government-backed U.K. Film Council (UKFC). It's the start of the world's first large-scale rollout of digital cinema systems, and leads the way for similar changeover for the rest of Europe, Asia and the U.S. The goal: to bring the movie-going experience into the digital age. Computer technology was the biggest thing to happen to the movies since color, and it has already permeated most of the filmmaking process. Special effects, editing and post-production are often done digitally, while more and more films are being shot on digital equipment. So why are we still watching movies the way we did 100 years ago?
The movie-house revolution was supposed to start in 1999, when George Lucas released Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and set up special screening to show how much better the film looked playing on a digital system. But few in the industry followed his lead, fearing that fast-advancing technology would make the equipment obsolete the moment it was taken out of the box. Nor could any-one decide who should pay for it-cinemas, studios or distributors. Six years later, just over 400 of the world's 120,000 projection booths use digital.
That could soon change. The kick-start came in July, when seven major Hollywood studios published a 176-page document that set out the minimum acceptable technical standards for everything from play-back speed and color contrast to audio quality and security encryption. It was a call for the industry to go forth and digitize, safe in the knowledge that any equipment that meets the specs will stay relevant longer than most actor's careers.
As for who ultimately foots the bill, the UKFC has side-stepped the issue for now by pouring $20 million from national lottery receipts into its trial digital systems, which cost around $100,000 each, compared with $30,000 for a conventional system. "The UKFC broke the mold in terms of actually doing something, as opposed to just talking about it"‚ says Richard Nye of Canada-based projector manufacturing firm Christie, which will provide almost 200 of Britain's new projectors.
But paying for ongoing costs, such as transferring films from 35-mm to digital, encoding them and getting them to movie theaters, calls for a more creative solution. Avica, which makes servers, wants to digitize all 500-odd screens in Ireland using private funding. In its bid to convert 500 screens across Europe by 2007, Belgian firm XDC will charge theater owners small monthly fee and make up the difference itself. And at Disney, which recently installed 84 digital projectors in the U.S. to show a 3D version of its big-buzz animation Chicken Little, senior vice president of technology Chris Carey says compromise is key. "Exhibitors, distributors and technology providers can all make some contribution to the cost of the infrastructure and advance the art".
The industry insists that a prettier picture isn't the only reason bytes are better. Right now, Hollywood might spend over $1 billion a year manufacturing and distributing film copies. Digital could slash that: the prints can be made for a fifth of the cost of celluloid ones and, stored on a hard drive which are easier and cheaper to transport then heavy, bulky reels. (Eventually, films could be sent to cinemas by satellite or cable, cutting out transportation costs altogether.) A more diverse range of films could be offered, too because studios could afford to take on riskier projects, while distributors would be able to send smaller, alternative films to wider audiences. And with up to 10 films sitting on one server, movie houses could change their programs to suit demand. If a showing for film sells out, add a copy on a second screen; if a film bombs, replace it with anything starring Julia Roberts.
Projector makers and server manufacturers that have been selling equipment in ones or two for almost a decade look for sales to boom. Belgium's Barco is one of three companies-along with Christie and Japan's NEC - that almost everyone goes to for digital projection. It has an 80% share of the market in Europe and makes half of the world's digital cinema systems. But that accounts for just 3% of the company's total sales; display and visual equipment for everything from rock concerts to air traffic control rooms accounted for the rest of the $806 million total for last year. Looking at a potential worldwide market for digital projection equipment of around $12 billion, Stephan Paridaen, head of Barco's media and entertainment division, expects sales to shoot up to 20% of the firm's total by 2008. Every year I would go in front of my board of directors and say : "Next year is the year of digital cinema", he says. But now it could actually be next year. The stars are aligning.
Yet even when the sizable portion of the world's projection systems are converted they may not be the money spinner everyone hopes, experts warn. "Distribution, storage, content management, delivery of the content in a safe way-all of that is far more costly than you would assume", says Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, an economist for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Cinemas that are used to spending minimal amounts on upkeep-fixing a belt here, replacing a bulb there-may have to pay more for service and upgrades.
Such issues may slow the revolution, but they won't stop it. Industry bosses say they won't give up on the promise of a brighter, faster, cheaper future. So sooner or later, digital is coming to cinema near you. "You can send a camera to Mars and get a perfect shot, but you can't walk into your local cinema and see a film without scratches on it", says RickMcCallum, producer of the Star Wars films. "This is about the quality of the experience, the adventure of going to the movies. If you care about the audience, you'll insist on digital".
For fans, filmmakers and the industry, the benefits of going digital are as clear as the image on the screen.
Two men stand by a shimmering lake. One is a journalist intent on exposing a government scandal, the other a source nervously feeding him a scoop. It's a remarkable scene from the Danish political thriller King's Game - not for what happens, but for how it looks. The lake is such a cool, vivid blue, you feel you could reach out and dip your hand in it. The image is so sharp, the colors so clear, you can make out the subtle pinstripes on the journalist suit. By the time it ended its run at the Curzon cinema in London's Soho in October, the film had played every day for more than a month-but not once did it shudder, skip or pop out of focus.
This picture-perfect vision comes courtesy of a brand-new digital cinema system, a combination of high-tech projector and computer server that could one day kick celluloid out of the projection booth for good. The old mechanism ran 3,600 m of delicate 35-mm film through a series of giant reels. Every screening added another layer of blips and blotches to the film. The new system plays the movie from the server at the touch of a button. And because the film is not on film - it's stored as a digital data file instead of being printed on strips of celluloid - the quality never degrades. Shown by a digital projector, every movie, whether it's a grainy, black-and-white indie drama or a blockbuster killer-thriller, looks exactly as the filmmaker intended. Every time.
The digital system at the Curzon is one of 238 being installed in movie theaters across Britain and Northern Ireland over the next two years by the government-backed U.K. Film Council (UKFC). It's the start of the world's first large-scale rollout of digital cinema systems, and leads the way for similar changeover for the rest of Europe, Asia and the U.S. The goal: to bring the movie-going experience into the digital age. Computer technology was the biggest thing to happen to the movies since color, and it has already permeated most of the filmmaking process. Special effects, editing and post-production are often done digitally, while more and more films are being shot on digital equipment. So why are we still watching movies the way we did 100 years ago?
The movie-house revolution was supposed to start in 1999, when George Lucas released Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and set up special screening to show how much better the film looked playing on a digital system. But few in the industry followed his lead, fearing that fast-advancing technology would make the equipment obsolete the moment it was taken out of the box. Nor could any-one decide who should pay for it-cinemas, studios or distributors. Six years later, just over 400 of the world's 120,000 projection booths use digital.
That could soon change. The kick-start came in July, when seven major Hollywood studios published a 176-page document that set out the minimum acceptable technical standards for everything from play-back speed and color contrast to audio quality and security encryption. It was a call for the industry to go forth and digitize, safe in the knowledge that any equipment that meets the specs will stay relevant longer than most actor's careers.
As for who ultimately foots the bill, the UKFC has side-stepped the issue for now by pouring $20 million from national lottery receipts into its trial digital systems, which cost around $100,000 each, compared with $30,000 for a conventional system. "The UKFC broke the mold in terms of actually doing something, as opposed to just talking about it"‚ says Richard Nye of Canada-based projector manufacturing firm Christie, which will provide almost 200 of Britain's new projectors.
But paying for ongoing costs, such as transferring films from 35-mm to digital, encoding them and getting them to movie theaters, calls for a more creative solution. Avica, which makes servers, wants to digitize all 500-odd screens in Ireland using private funding. In its bid to convert 500 screens across Europe by 2007, Belgian firm XDC will charge theater owners small monthly fee and make up the difference itself. And at Disney, which recently installed 84 digital projectors in the U.S. to show a 3D version of its big-buzz animation Chicken Little, senior vice president of technology Chris Carey says compromise is key. "Exhibitors, distributors and technology providers can all make some contribution to the cost of the infrastructure and advance the art".
The industry insists that a prettier picture isn't the only reason bytes are better. Right now, Hollywood might spend over $1 billion a year manufacturing and distributing film copies. Digital could slash that: the prints can be made for a fifth of the cost of celluloid ones and, stored on a hard drive which are easier and cheaper to transport then heavy, bulky reels. (Eventually, films could be sent to cinemas by satellite or cable, cutting out transportation costs altogether.) A more diverse range of films could be offered, too because studios could afford to take on riskier projects, while distributors would be able to send smaller, alternative films to wider audiences. And with up to 10 films sitting on one server, movie houses could change their programs to suit demand. If a showing for film sells out, add a copy on a second screen; if a film bombs, replace it with anything starring Julia Roberts.
Projector makers and server manufacturers that have been selling equipment in ones or two for almost a decade look for sales to boom. Belgium's Barco is one of three companies-along with Christie and Japan's NEC - that almost everyone goes to for digital projection. It has an 80% share of the market in Europe and makes half of the world's digital cinema systems. But that accounts for just 3% of the company's total sales; display and visual equipment for everything from rock concerts to air traffic control rooms accounted for the rest of the $806 million total for last year. Looking at a potential worldwide market for digital projection equipment of around $12 billion, Stephan Paridaen, head of Barco's media and entertainment division, expects sales to shoot up to 20% of the firm's total by 2008. Every year I would go in front of my board of directors and say : "Next year is the year of digital cinema", he says. But now it could actually be next year. The stars are aligning.
Yet even when the sizable portion of the world's projection systems are converted they may not be the money spinner everyone hopes, experts warn. "Distribution, storage, content management, delivery of the content in a safe way-all of that is far more costly than you would assume", says Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, an economist for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Cinemas that are used to spending minimal amounts on upkeep-fixing a belt here, replacing a bulb there-may have to pay more for service and upgrades.
Such issues may slow the revolution, but they won't stop it. Industry bosses say they won't give up on the promise of a brighter, faster, cheaper future. So sooner or later, digital is coming to cinema near you. "You can send a camera to Mars and get a perfect shot, but you can't walk into your local cinema and see a film without scratches on it", says RickMcCallum, producer of the Star Wars films. "This is about the quality of the experience, the adventure of going to the movies. If you care about the audience, you'll insist on digital".
For fans, filmmakers and the industry, the benefits of going digital are as clear as the image on the screen.
March 24, 2009
World's Strangest Laws
Driving shirtless, drinking juice in public, or just forgetting to flush the loo: Here are 10 odd laws that can get you in trouble around the world.
When studying up for a trip to the Holy Land, you might come across this warning: Whatever you do, don't take a bear to the beach.
Americans expect to experience some difference in laws when they travel the world, but some laws we found just sounded insane. In France, its illegal to name a pig Napoleon. In Florida, single women cant parachute on Sundays. And in England, you may urinate anywhere in public, including inside a policeman's helmet, providing that you're also pregnant.
Granted, most of us can rest easy on the plane ride to our destinations knowing that we wont run afoul of such rules. Plus, many reported laws are just urban legends, and in other cases, anomalies on the books that no one has the time or interest to enforce. (People here don't keep bears! an exasperated Israeli spokeswoman told us. Why would they take one to the beach?)
But other laws such as keeping your headlights on at all times while driving in denmark are in equal parts surprising and real. Get caught, and the resulting fine could run about $100 (and the entire EU may adopt the law).
While some laws seem ridiculous at first blush, they often carry their own logic. Pigeon-feeding is not tolerated (and fine-worthy) in Venice, because the winged troublemakers and really, their droppings wreak havoc on the city's old, vulnerable buildings. Singapore is infamous for its tough laws against chewing gum and graffiti (remember the 18-year-old American tourist who got caned for vandalism in the 1990s?). In the Singaporeans defense, the gum laws which have relaxed a bit were originally enacted to fight what authorities saw as rampant gum-wad littering. Even so, don't even think about leaving a public toilet unflushed. It could cost you $100.
What should you do if you do break a law, crazy or otherwise, while on vacation? Dick Atkins is a Philadelphia attorney who operates an international legal hotline, helping American travelers who have run afoul of the law in other countries. Its always best to try to get an attorney involved, he says. Ignoring the issue could result in problems if you make a return visit to that country.
Atkins says he commonly deals with college kids who have taken too many liberties with other countries lower drinking ages, or unsuspecting tourists who get arrested for trying to take home souvenirs (such as old rugs) that end up being antiquities. He says such problems raise the argument for buying travel insurance, or even buying travel assistance packages, which can offer legal help abroad.
Of course, most Americans dont bother with travel insurance. In that case, you can contact the American embassy or consulate for a list of local attorneys. Or you can handle the problem on your own. Robert Siciliano recently stayed at a Mexican resort, and when he and his family rented a car, they were almost immediately stopped by police and accused of swerving dangerously on the road. (Siciliano says he was merely driving around fallen palm branches and coconuts following the previous days Category 2 hurricane.)
They started to arrest me because they said all tickets were to be paid at the police station, Siciliano says. But when he asked if he could pay the ticket on the spot, the cops agreed. Siciliano handed them a $100 bill and they let him go. He immediately returned the car. Total rental car time, 20 minutes. Cost, $155, he said. Not spending a second in a Mexican jail, priceless.
When studying up for a trip to the Holy Land, you might come across this warning: Whatever you do, don't take a bear to the beach.
Americans expect to experience some difference in laws when they travel the world, but some laws we found just sounded insane. In France, its illegal to name a pig Napoleon. In Florida, single women cant parachute on Sundays. And in England, you may urinate anywhere in public, including inside a policeman's helmet, providing that you're also pregnant.
Granted, most of us can rest easy on the plane ride to our destinations knowing that we wont run afoul of such rules. Plus, many reported laws are just urban legends, and in other cases, anomalies on the books that no one has the time or interest to enforce. (People here don't keep bears! an exasperated Israeli spokeswoman told us. Why would they take one to the beach?)
But other laws such as keeping your headlights on at all times while driving in denmark are in equal parts surprising and real. Get caught, and the resulting fine could run about $100 (and the entire EU may adopt the law).
While some laws seem ridiculous at first blush, they often carry their own logic. Pigeon-feeding is not tolerated (and fine-worthy) in Venice, because the winged troublemakers and really, their droppings wreak havoc on the city's old, vulnerable buildings. Singapore is infamous for its tough laws against chewing gum and graffiti (remember the 18-year-old American tourist who got caned for vandalism in the 1990s?). In the Singaporeans defense, the gum laws which have relaxed a bit were originally enacted to fight what authorities saw as rampant gum-wad littering. Even so, don't even think about leaving a public toilet unflushed. It could cost you $100.
What should you do if you do break a law, crazy or otherwise, while on vacation? Dick Atkins is a Philadelphia attorney who operates an international legal hotline, helping American travelers who have run afoul of the law in other countries. Its always best to try to get an attorney involved, he says. Ignoring the issue could result in problems if you make a return visit to that country.
Atkins says he commonly deals with college kids who have taken too many liberties with other countries lower drinking ages, or unsuspecting tourists who get arrested for trying to take home souvenirs (such as old rugs) that end up being antiquities. He says such problems raise the argument for buying travel insurance, or even buying travel assistance packages, which can offer legal help abroad.
Of course, most Americans dont bother with travel insurance. In that case, you can contact the American embassy or consulate for a list of local attorneys. Or you can handle the problem on your own. Robert Siciliano recently stayed at a Mexican resort, and when he and his family rented a car, they were almost immediately stopped by police and accused of swerving dangerously on the road. (Siciliano says he was merely driving around fallen palm branches and coconuts following the previous days Category 2 hurricane.)
They started to arrest me because they said all tickets were to be paid at the police station, Siciliano says. But when he asked if he could pay the ticket on the spot, the cops agreed. Siciliano handed them a $100 bill and they let him go. He immediately returned the car. Total rental car time, 20 minutes. Cost, $155, he said. Not spending a second in a Mexican jail, priceless.
March 23, 2009
March 20, 2009
Marketing vs. Advertising: What's the Difference?
You will often find that many people confuse marketing with advertising or vice versa. While both components are important they are very different. Knowing the difference and doing your market research can put your company on the path to substantial growth.
Let's start off by reviewing the formal definitions of each and then I'll go into the explanation of how marketing and advertising differ from one another:
Advertising: The paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers.
Marketing: The systematic planning, implementation and control of a mix of business activities intended to bring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchange or transfer of products.
After reading both of the definitions it is easy to understand how the difference can be confusing to the point that people think of them as one-in-the same, so lets break it down a bit.
Advertising is a single component of the marketing process. It's the part that involves getting the word out concerning your business, product, or the services you are offering. It involves the process of developing strategies such as ad placement, frequency, etc. Advertising includes the placement of an ad in such mediums as newspapers, direct mail, billboards, television, radio, and of course the Internet. Advertising is the largest expense of most marketing plans, with public relations following in a close second and market research not falling far behind.
The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have slices of advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the strategy. All of these elements must not only work independently but they also must work together towards the bigger goal. Marketing is a process that takes time and can involve hours of research for a marketing plan to be effective. Think of marketing as everything that an organization does to facilitate an exchange between company and consumer.
March 19, 2009
Picture of the Week
Manila, Philippines -- Soldiers cover behind a car just before storming a 5-Star hotel which has been seized by rebel army officers. The rebels walked out of their trial for an earlier coup attempt and took the building. Soldiers soon retook the hotel.
March 17, 2009
Perspective on Life by George Costanza
"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death.
What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards.
You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home.
You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work.
You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement.
You drink alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school.
You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating... then you finish off as an orgasm!"
March 14, 2009
10 'Secrets' You Shouldn't Keep From Your Doctor
Do you remember the scene in the movie "Something's Gotta Give" where Jack Nicholson's character lies about Viagra to a doctor in the emergency room?
Jack Nicholson in "Something's Gotta Give" denies having taken Viagra -- a move that could've killed him. He'd just had a heart attack after romancing a (much younger) woman, and the doctor is furiously calling out orders to give him aspirin, blood pressure drugs, and ... nitroglycerine.
"Mr. Sanborn, did you take any Viagra today?" the doctor asks as the nurses load him up with the medicines.
"No. No Viagra," he says.
"Okay, good. Just need to be sure. Because I put nitroglycerin into your drip. And if you'd taken Viagra, the combination could be fatal," the doctor warns.
Cut to Nicholson, who rips the IV out of his arm.
Hollywood got it right: It can be deadly to lie to your doctor. Your doctor "must know everything about you, even if the discussion feels a bit uncomfortable," says Dr. Bernard Kaminetsky, the medical director of MDVIP, a group of boutique medicine doctors with headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. "What you omit may be the key to a diagnosis."
Dr. Vicki Rackner says patients lie to their doctors for a variety of different reasons. Sometimes they don't want to talk about intimate subjects -- she calls them "the three P's: peeing, pooping, and procreating." Other times they want to seem like the ideal patient, one who eats right and exercises and follows the doctor's orders 100 percent. "I think it's a drive to be seen as a good patient. We all want to be seen as good boys and girls," says Rackner, a general surgeon from Mercer Island, Washington, who writes and speaks about patient empowerment issues. Video Watch more on what to tell your doctor
From finances to sex, bathroom habits to spousal relationships, herbs to illicit drugs, here are 10 things about which you should always be open with your doctor.
Don't hide from your doctor the fact that you:
1. Smoke, drink excessively, do illegal drugs
No one's proud of any of the above, but your doctor needs to know. He can't accurately diagnose and treat your health problems if you hide your substance abuse. "Remember, there are strict privacy laws between patient and doctor, so the information is not going to be shared," Kaminetsky says.
2. Have peeing or pooping issues
"I once had a patient who literally died of embarrassment," Rackner says. "She had blood in her stool, but she was too embarrassed to tell her doctor. A year later she was in terrible abdominal pain, and did go see her doctor. It was colon cancer, and it had spread to other parts of her body." The patient came to see Rackner, but it was too late to do surgery. She died six months later.
"As children, we're taught 'Don't talk about poop. That's potty talk.' So on some level we don't like to talk about these things," Rackner says. "But if she'd brought up the blood in her stool to her doctor, [the cancer] would probably have been at an early stage and she could have been cured."
3. Take herbs
You might feel like your doctor looks down on herbs and other forms of alternative medicine, and there's a good chance you're right; many M.D.'s are dismissive of alternative medicine. But even if you fear seeing your doctor's eyes roll back in her head, tell her about the supplements you're taking. Certain herbs don't mix well with certain medications, so she needs to know.
4. See a chiropractor or an alternative healer
See above about the eye-roll you might get if you tell your doctor you're seeing a chiropractor. But if you're having neck pain, it would help your doctor to know that just a few days ago your chiropractor adjusted your neck.
5. Are having financial troubles
"Money is the ultimate taboo," Rackner says. "We have no idea how to talk about money." But talk about it we must, she says. For example, if your doctor recommends a procedure you can't afford, just say so. You might be able to work something out with the doctor. "Patients can offer to set up payment plans for expensive procedures and pay over time rather than a lump sum," says Dr. Lisa Forbess, assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas.
6. Want cheap medicine
If you want a cheaper medicine than the one your doctor prescribes, don't be embarrassed to say so. Rackner says for $4 you can buy a list of the generic drugs. Ask your doctor if something on the list could work as well as the one he's suggesting.
7. Feel depressed or anxious or stressed out
Along with money, many people have trouble talking about their feelings. "Depression is a serious disease and a lot of patients hesitate to tell their physician because because they think it's embarrassing, or the problem will go away by itself," Kaminetsky says. "Depression is too dangerous to keep a secret."
8. Defied the doctor's orders
When your gynecologist asks if you are doing your breast exams every month, don't lie and nod your head. Admit that you're not. Perhaps she'll come up with a way to make it easier to remember. Same goes for medicines: If you're bad about taking the drugs your doctor prescribed, she needs to know. This isn't school; you won't be punished.
9. Don't exercise and eat badly
If cupcakes are your best friend and you haven't exercised since the last century, just admit it. Perhaps together you and your doctor can come up with ways to develop better habits.
10. Have a small problem you think is unimportant
One of Kaminetsky's patients hesitated to tell him that he was experiencing subtle and occasional difficulty in swallowing. "The patient thought it was so minor and inconsequential that he didn't want to waste the doctor's time mentioning it," Kaminetsky says. But in the end, the patient did mention his symptoms and Kaminetsky says he was able to diagnose early -- and curable -- esophageal cancer.
So how do you get the guts to admit these things to your doctor? "You can just say to the doctor, 'Hey, this is embarrassing for me to talk about. This is hard for me. This is a taboo topic,' " Rackner suggests.
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Another option: Tell the nurse, if you feel like you connect with her better.
A third idea: "If your doctor does e-mail, try that, or just write a note," says Rackner. "Some people do better writing things than saying them."
Jack Nicholson in "Something's Gotta Give" denies having taken Viagra -- a move that could've killed him. He'd just had a heart attack after romancing a (much younger) woman, and the doctor is furiously calling out orders to give him aspirin, blood pressure drugs, and ... nitroglycerine.
"Mr. Sanborn, did you take any Viagra today?" the doctor asks as the nurses load him up with the medicines.
"No. No Viagra," he says.
"Okay, good. Just need to be sure. Because I put nitroglycerin into your drip. And if you'd taken Viagra, the combination could be fatal," the doctor warns.
Cut to Nicholson, who rips the IV out of his arm.
Hollywood got it right: It can be deadly to lie to your doctor. Your doctor "must know everything about you, even if the discussion feels a bit uncomfortable," says Dr. Bernard Kaminetsky, the medical director of MDVIP, a group of boutique medicine doctors with headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. "What you omit may be the key to a diagnosis."
Dr. Vicki Rackner says patients lie to their doctors for a variety of different reasons. Sometimes they don't want to talk about intimate subjects -- she calls them "the three P's: peeing, pooping, and procreating." Other times they want to seem like the ideal patient, one who eats right and exercises and follows the doctor's orders 100 percent. "I think it's a drive to be seen as a good patient. We all want to be seen as good boys and girls," says Rackner, a general surgeon from Mercer Island, Washington, who writes and speaks about patient empowerment issues. Video Watch more on what to tell your doctor
From finances to sex, bathroom habits to spousal relationships, herbs to illicit drugs, here are 10 things about which you should always be open with your doctor.
Don't hide from your doctor the fact that you:
1. Smoke, drink excessively, do illegal drugs
No one's proud of any of the above, but your doctor needs to know. He can't accurately diagnose and treat your health problems if you hide your substance abuse. "Remember, there are strict privacy laws between patient and doctor, so the information is not going to be shared," Kaminetsky says.
2. Have peeing or pooping issues
"I once had a patient who literally died of embarrassment," Rackner says. "She had blood in her stool, but she was too embarrassed to tell her doctor. A year later she was in terrible abdominal pain, and did go see her doctor. It was colon cancer, and it had spread to other parts of her body." The patient came to see Rackner, but it was too late to do surgery. She died six months later.
"As children, we're taught 'Don't talk about poop. That's potty talk.' So on some level we don't like to talk about these things," Rackner says. "But if she'd brought up the blood in her stool to her doctor, [the cancer] would probably have been at an early stage and she could have been cured."
3. Take herbs
You might feel like your doctor looks down on herbs and other forms of alternative medicine, and there's a good chance you're right; many M.D.'s are dismissive of alternative medicine. But even if you fear seeing your doctor's eyes roll back in her head, tell her about the supplements you're taking. Certain herbs don't mix well with certain medications, so she needs to know.
4. See a chiropractor or an alternative healer
See above about the eye-roll you might get if you tell your doctor you're seeing a chiropractor. But if you're having neck pain, it would help your doctor to know that just a few days ago your chiropractor adjusted your neck.
5. Are having financial troubles
"Money is the ultimate taboo," Rackner says. "We have no idea how to talk about money." But talk about it we must, she says. For example, if your doctor recommends a procedure you can't afford, just say so. You might be able to work something out with the doctor. "Patients can offer to set up payment plans for expensive procedures and pay over time rather than a lump sum," says Dr. Lisa Forbess, assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas.
6. Want cheap medicine
If you want a cheaper medicine than the one your doctor prescribes, don't be embarrassed to say so. Rackner says for $4 you can buy a list of the generic drugs. Ask your doctor if something on the list could work as well as the one he's suggesting.
7. Feel depressed or anxious or stressed out
Along with money, many people have trouble talking about their feelings. "Depression is a serious disease and a lot of patients hesitate to tell their physician because because they think it's embarrassing, or the problem will go away by itself," Kaminetsky says. "Depression is too dangerous to keep a secret."
8. Defied the doctor's orders
When your gynecologist asks if you are doing your breast exams every month, don't lie and nod your head. Admit that you're not. Perhaps she'll come up with a way to make it easier to remember. Same goes for medicines: If you're bad about taking the drugs your doctor prescribed, she needs to know. This isn't school; you won't be punished.
9. Don't exercise and eat badly
If cupcakes are your best friend and you haven't exercised since the last century, just admit it. Perhaps together you and your doctor can come up with ways to develop better habits.
10. Have a small problem you think is unimportant
One of Kaminetsky's patients hesitated to tell him that he was experiencing subtle and occasional difficulty in swallowing. "The patient thought it was so minor and inconsequential that he didn't want to waste the doctor's time mentioning it," Kaminetsky says. But in the end, the patient did mention his symptoms and Kaminetsky says he was able to diagnose early -- and curable -- esophageal cancer.
So how do you get the guts to admit these things to your doctor? "You can just say to the doctor, 'Hey, this is embarrassing for me to talk about. This is hard for me. This is a taboo topic,' " Rackner suggests.
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Another option: Tell the nurse, if you feel like you connect with her better.
A third idea: "If your doctor does e-mail, try that, or just write a note," says Rackner. "Some people do better writing things than saying them."
March 13, 2009
Friday The 13th
Friday the 13th is the thirteenth day in a month that falls on Friday, which superstition holds that it is a day of good or bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once a year.
Phobia
The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskev√ (meaning Friday), and dekatre√ (meaning thirteen), attached to phob√ (meaning fear). This is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a simple phobia (fear) of the number thirteen, and is also known as friggatriskaidekaphobia. The term triskaidekaphobia was derived in 1911 and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.
History
According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century. The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in an 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:
Rossini was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; and if it is true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day, and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday, the 13th of November, he died.
However, some folklore is passed on through oral traditions. In addition, "determining the origins of superstitions is an inexact science, at best. In fact, it's mostly guesswork."
Consequently, several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.
One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.
In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s. It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
On the other hand, another theory by author Charles Panati, one of the leading authorities on the subject of "Origins" maintains that the superstition can be traced back to ancient myth:
The actual origin of the superstition, though, appears also to be a tale in Norse mythology.
Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil - a gathering of thirteen - and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as "Witches' Sabbath.
Another theory about the origin of the superstition traces the event to the arrest of the legendary Knights Templar. According to one expert:
The Knights Templar were a monastic military order founded in Jerusalem in 1118 C.E., whose mission was to protect Christian pilgrims during the Crusades. Over the next two centuries, the Knights Templar became extraordinarily powerful and wealthy. Threatened by that power and eager to acquire their wealth, King Philip secretly ordered the mass arrest of all the Knights Templar in France on Friday, October 13, 1307 - Friday the 13th.
The connection between the superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in the 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code, however, some experts think that it is relatively recent and is a modern-day invention. For example, the superstition is rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
Social impact
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. "It's been estimated that $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day". Despite this, representatives for both Delta and Continental Airlines say that their airlines don't suffer from any noticeable drop in travel on those Fridays.
Rate of accidents
There are conflicting studies about the risk of accidents on Friday the 13th. The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) on June 12, 2008, stated that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home. Statistically speaking, driving is slightly safer on Friday 13th, at least in The Netherlands; in the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday; but the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500. However, a 1993 study in the British Medical Journal that compared the ratio of traffic accidents between Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, stated that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Fridays the 13th.
Occurrence
The following months have a Friday the 13th:
- January: 2006, 2012, 2017, 2023
- February: 2004, 2009, 2015, 2026
- March: 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026
- April: 2001, 2007, 2012, 2018
- May: 2005, 2011, 2016, 2022
- June: 2003, 2008, 2014, 2025
- July: 2001, 2007, 2012, 2018
- August: 2004, 2010, 2021, 2027
- September: 2002, 2013, 2019, 2024
- October: 2006, 2017, 2023, 2028
- November: 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026
- December: 2002, 2013, 2019, 2024
This sequence, here given for 2001‚ 2028, repeats every 28 years from 1901 to 2099. Any month that begins on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th, and there is at least one Friday the 13th in every calendar year.
The longest period that can occur without a Friday the 13th is fourteen months, either from July to September the following year (e.g. in 2001/2002 and 2012/13), or from August to October in a leap year (e.g. in 2027/28).
Each Gregorian 400-year cycle contains 146,097 days (365 * 400 = 146,000 normal days plus 97 leap days), 146,097 / 7 = 20,871 weeks, and 400 * 12 = 4,800 months. Thus, each cycle contains the same pattern of days of the week (and thus the same pattern of Fridays the 13th), but no day of the month up to the 28th can occur the same number of times on each day of the week (because 4,800 is not divisible by 7). The 13th day of the month is slightly more likely to be a Friday than any other day of the week. On average, there is a Friday the 13th once every 212.35 (212 and 241/688) days.
The distribution of the 13th day over the 4,800 months is as follows:
- Sunday: 687
- Monday: 685
- Tuesday: 685
- Wednesday: 687
- Thursday: 684
- Friday: 688
- Saturday: 684
Planned events on Fridays the 13th
Some events are intentionally scheduled for Friday the 13th for dramatic effect. They include:
* Comic Relief Red Nose Day 2009 is on Friday 13th March.
* Resident Evil 5 will be released in the US and UK on Friday March 13th 2009.
* Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970.
* The Opening ceremony of Athens Olympic Games took place on Friday, August 13, 2004.
* The 13th book in A Series of Unfortunate Events was released on Friday, October 13, 2006 by Lemony Snicket, also known as novelist Daniel Handler.
* Four of the twelve films in the Friday the 13th series, including the most recent (a remake of the second), were released on a Friday the 13th.
* Joss Whedon's new show Dollhouse aired its pilot on the same day as above (February 13, 2009).
* Every Friday the 13th thousands of bikers ride to the small town of Port Dover Ontario, Canada.
March 10, 2009
Film Quotes Stir Passion
Sometimes, when you need just the right thing to say, it's good to let the movies do the talking.
Whether it's daring someone to "Show me the money!" before sealing a deal, proclaiming "Houston, we have a problem" when something goes wrong or shouting "I'm the king of the world" on a particularly good day, there's a simple pleasure in using those instantly recognizable nuggets of dialogue.
And why not?
When some of the funniest, most dramatic, romantic and poignant words are spoken on the big screen, it's no wonder they stick with us long after the movie is finished.
It also turns out that using movie quotes in everyday conversation is akin to telling a joke and a way to form solidarity with others, according to a researcher who has actually studied why we like to cite films in social situations.
"People are doing it to feel good about themselves, to make others laugh, to make themselves laugh," said Richard Harris, a psychology professor at Kansas State University.
Harris decided to ask hundreds of young adults about their film-quoting habits after he and his graduate students realized it was a common behavior that no one had looked at closely before.
He found that all of the participants in his study had used movie quotes in conversation at one point or another. They overwhelmingly cited comedies, followed distantly by dramas and action adventure flicks.
As for horror films, musicals and children's movies, "fuh-get about it." They were hardly ever cited, Harris said.
When asked about their emotions while quoting films, most people reported feeling happy, the study found.
'The stuff that dreams are made of'
For those who can't get enough of movie quotes, there are countless lists and trivia dedicated to them online. Depending on your budget and taste, you can buy T-shirts, mugs, games and posters featuring your favorites. Web sites like MovieQuotes.com allow users to submit film lines to a growing quote bank and take quizzes.
Some movies, like "The Godfather," "Casablanca" and "Gone With the Wind," seem infinitely quotable.
Others can produce a single unforgettable line that will define that film forever: "You can't handle the truth" from "A Few Good Men" and "I see dead people" from "The Sixth Sense."
A number of Hollywood masterpieces can infuse a single word with meaning: Think "plastics" from "The Graduate" and "Rosebud" from "Citizen Kane."
Movie quotes can even be used to teach lessons in the unlikeliest places. A blog on JavaWorld.com recently took lines from movies such as "Jaws," "Jerry Maguire" and "The Princess Bride" and applied them to software development, of all things.
"My precious," the words uttered by Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, for example, can teach programmers a valuable lesson, the blog said.
"In software development, it is good to take ownership of things," JavaWorld's blogger Dustin Marx wrote in explaining the quote's significance. "However, we can take it too far to where we refuse to admit anything is wrong with what we've done or insist ours is the only way to go."
'Here's to looking at you, kid'
Like a food connoisseur pairing wines with meals, one man's fascination with memorable film lines led him to self-publish a book that advises readers which quotes would be perfect to use in which situations.
Jim Silverstein, author of "Movie Quotes to Get You Through Life," called the 14-year project a labor of love that grew out of his fondness for bantering in movie quotes with friends in college.
Silverstein -- a self-described "computer guy" who lives in suburban Chicago, Illinois -- began compiling his book in the early 1990s, watching hundreds of films and gathering more than 2,000 quotes in the process. The constant search for good lines made it hard for Silverstein to relax while watching films at home and annoyed his wife because he would frequently pause the movies to write down the lines, he said.
Silverstein, 39, categorized the quotes under topic headings such as compliments, excuses and marriage. Readers looking for zingers have an especially big selection of movie lines to choose from; the insults category has nine subgroups, including appearance, intelligence and sex.
Everyone loves movies, so citing them is a way to break the ice, Silverstein explained.
"I think it's a matter of lightening up conversation, maybe finding a better way to say it than you would have said yourself," Silverstein said.
"It's meant to help you be clever. ... Sometimes, when you don't know what to say, why not say what James Caan said? Why not pull out a Marlon Brando: 'Make me an offer I can't refuse'? Everybody understands."
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Silverstein's own favorite quotes include lines from movies such as "Roxanne" and "Spinal Tap." But with some of his friends looking for work in a tough economy, he has become fond of citing a line from "Raising Arizona" to cheer them up: "You're young, and you've got your health; what [would] you want with a job?"
Top 10 movie quotes
1. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." -- "Gone With the Wind"
2. "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." -- "The Godfather"
3. "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." -- "On the Waterfront"
4. "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." -- "The Wizard of Oz"
5. "Here's looking at you, kid." -- "Casablanca"
6. "Go ahead, make my day." -- "Sudden Impact"
7. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup." -- "Sunset Blvd."
8. "May the Force be with you." -- "Star Wars"
9. "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." -- "All About Eve"
10. "You talking to me?" -- "Taxi Driver"
March 9, 2009
March 2, 2009
Who is Maxime Chaya?
Maxime Edgard ChayaLebanon's foremost sportsman and climber, Maxime Chaya was the first person from his country to hoist its flag atop Everest, and he did so en route to ascending the highest mountain on every continent - the Seven Summits - while also skiing to the North and South Poles. Having experienced a multi-cultural education in Lebanon, France, Canada and Greece due to his homeland's civil war, Maxime went on to graduate with honors from the London School of Economics. He now regularly visits local schools and clubs to help motivate youngsters to "Climb Their Own Everest". He has been knighted twice for his achievements, and lives just north of his native Beirut, at sea level, with his wife Poupa and their children Edgard and Kelly.
Lebanese (Nickname: Max)
Married to Pascale Kesrouani in 1989
Father of Edgard (1994), and Kelly (1996)
Father Name: Edgar - Mother Name: Renee - Sister Name: Caline - Brothers Names: Nabil & Karim
Born and raised in Lebanon - Born on December 16, 1961
Schooling in Lebanon, France, Greece and Canada. Speaks English, French and Arabic.
GCE A Level grades: 2 A and 1 B. Head Boy, Most Outstanding Sportsman.
B.Sc. (Econ.) Honors degree from the London School of Economics - 1983.
Avid sportsman since childhood
Practiced several sports, most at top level
Captain and National champion in several disciplines
Represented Lebanon at several international venues
Trophies won at National and International level
Major International sporting achievements:
• 2nd overall at the “Trophée du Nil” - Egypt - 1998
• 3rd overall at the “Raid Thai” - Thailand - 1999
• Winner at the “Kenya Sports Safari” - Kenya - 2001
• 23rd at the UCI World Masters Championships - Canada - 2001
• 1st Lebanese “Ironman” triathlete - Holland - 2002
• Winner of the Redbull Sno-to-Sea – Lebanon - Four times 2003 to 2006
Climbed peaks, and reached landmarks:
• Mont Blanc (France) - 2001
• Cho Oyo (Tibet / Nepal) - 2003
• Mount Aspiring (New Zealand) - 2004
• The Geographical North Pole (the Arctic Circle) - 2004
• The South Pole (Antarctica) - 2005
• Mount Ama Dablam (Nepal) - 2005
• The Matterhorn (Switzerland / Italy) - 2005
Climbed successfully all Seven Summits:
• Mount Kilimanjaro (5,963m) Tanzania - September 2001
• Mount McKinley / Denali (6,195m) - Alaska - June 2003
• Aconcagua (6,962m) - Argentina - January 2004
• Vinson Massif (4,897m), Antarctica - December 2004
• Mount Elbrus (5,633m) Russia - July 2005
• Carstensz Pyramid (4,884m) Indonesia - November 2005
• Mount Everest (8,850m) - Tibet / Nepal - May 2006
Knighted “National Order of the Cedar” in December 2003, and again in May 2006 with a grade of “Officer”.
March 1, 2009
The Benefits of Trees - Part I
Most trees and shrubs in cities or communities are planted to provide beauty or shade. These are two excellent reasons for their use. Woody plants also serve many other purposes, and it is often helpful to consider these other functions when selecting a tree for the landscape. The benefits of trees can be grouped into social, community, environmental and economic categories.
Social Benefits
We like trees around us because they make life more pleasant. Most of us respond to the presence of trees beyond simply observing their beauty. We feel serene, peaceful, restful and tranquil in a grove of trees. We are "at home" there. Hospital patients have been known to recover from surgery more quickly when their hospital room offered a view of trees. The strong ties of people and trees are most evident in the resistance of community residents to removing trees to widen streets, or the heroic efforts of individuals and organizations to save particularly large or historic trees in a community.
The stature, strength, and endurance of trees give them a cathedral-like quality. Because of the potential for a long life, trees are frequently planted as living memorials. We often become personally attached to trees that we, or those we love, have planted.
Community Benefits
Even though trees may be private property, their size often makes them part of the community as well. Since trees occupy considerable space, planning is required if both you and your neighbors are to benefit. With proper selection and maintenance, trees can enhance and function on one property without infringing upon the rights and privileges of neighbors.
City trees often serve several architectural and engineering functions. They provide privacy, emphasize views or screen out objectionable views. They reduce glare and reflection. They direct pedestrian traffic. They provide backgrounds, soften, complement or enhance architecture.
Environmental Benefits
Trees alter the environment in which we live by moderating climate, improving air quality, conserving water and harboring wildlife. Climate control is obtained by moderating the effects of sun, wind, and rain. Radiant energy from the sun is absorbed or deflected by leaves on deciduous trees in the summer and is filtered by their branches in winter. We are cooler when we stand in the shade of trees and are not exposed to direct sunlight. In winter, we value the sun's radiant energy; and because of this, we should plant only small or deciduous trees on the south side of homes. Wind speed and direction can be affected by trees. The more compact the foliage on the tree or group of trees, the greater the influence of the windbreak. The downward fall of rain, sleet and hail is initially absorbed or deflected by trees and this provides some protection for people, pets and buildings. Trees intercept water, store some of it, reduce storm runoff and the possibility of flooding. Dew and frost are less common under trees because less radiant energy is released from the soil in those areas at night.
Temperature in the vicinity of trees is cooler than that away from trees. This cooling is accomplished as water is evaporated from the surfaces of tree leaves. The change from water to water vapor uses heat energy from the air. The larger the tree, the greater the cooling. By using trees in the cities, we are able to moderate the heat island effect caused by pavement and buildings in commercial areas.
Air quality can be improved through the use of trees. Leaves filter the air we breathe by removing dust and other particulates. Rain washes the pollutants to the ground. Leaves absorb carbon dioxide from the air to form carbohydrates that are used in the plant's structure and function. In this process leaves also absorb other air pollutants such as ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide.
By planting trees, we return to a more natural and less artificial environment. Birds and other wildlife are attracted to the area. The natural cycles of plant growth, reproduction and decomposition are again present, both above and below ground. Natural harmony is restored to the urban environment.
Economic Benefits
Individual trees have value, but the viability of species, size, condition and function makes determining their economic value quite difficult. The economic benefits of trees can be both direct and indirect.
Direct economic benefits are usually associated with energy costs. Air conditioning costs are lower in a tree-shaded home. Heating costs are reduced when a home has a windbreak. Trees increase in value from the time they are planted until they mature. Trees are a wise investment of funds since landscaped homes are more valuable than non-landscaped homes. The savings in energy costs and the increase in property value directly benefit each homeowner.
The indirect economic benefits of trees are even greater. These are available to the community or region. Lowered electricity bills are paid by customers when power companies are able to use less water in their cooling towers, build fewer new facilities to meet peak demands, use reduced amounts of fossil fuel in their furnaces and need fewer measures to control air pollution.
Communities can also save if fewer facilities must be built to control storm water in the region.
To the individual these savings are small, but to the community reductions in these expenses are often in the thousands of dollars.
Trees Require an Investment
Trees provide numerous aesthetic and economic benefits but also incur some costs. You need to be aware that an investment is required for your trees to provide the benefits that you desire.
The biggest cost of trees occurs when they are purchased and planted. Initial care almost always includes some watering. Leaf, branch and whole tree removal and disposal can be expensive, especially when landfill use is restricted or limited.
To function well in the landscape, trees require maintenance. Much can be done by the informed homeowner. Corrective pruning and mulching will give trees a good start. Shade trees, however, quickly grow to a size that will require the services of a professional arborist. Arborists have the knowledge and equipment needed to prune, spray, fertilize and otherwise maintain a large tree.
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