The Blessings

I knelt to pray when day was done
And prayed, "O Lord, bless everyone,

Lift from each saddened heart the pain
And let the sick be well again."

And then I woke another day
And carelessly went on my way,

The whole day long I did not try
To wipe a tear from any eye.

I did not try to share the load
Of any brother on the road.

I did not even go to see
The sick man just next door to me.

Yet once again when day was done
I prayed, "O Lord, bless everyone."

But as I prayed, into my ear
There came a voice that whispered clear,

"Pause now, my son, before you pray.
Whom have you tried to bless today?

Gods sweetest blessing always go
By hands that serve him here below."

And then I hid my face and cried,
"Forgive me, God, I have not tried,

But let me live another day
And I will live the way I pray."

Swine Flu

U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(As of April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET)

States	# of laboratory confirmed cases	Deaths
Arizona	1
California	14
Indiana	1
Kansas	2
Massachusetts	2
Michigan	1
Nevada	1
New York	50
Ohio	1
South Carolina	10
Texas	26	1
TOTAL COUNTS	109 cases	1 death

International Human Cases of Swine Flu Infection
See: World Health OrganizationExternal Web Site Policy.

In response to an intensifying outbreak in the United States and internationally caused by a new influenza virus of swine origin, the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 5External Web Site Policy. on April 29, 2009. A Phase 5 alert is a “strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.”

The United States Government has declared a public health emergency in the United States. CDC’s response goals are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency. CDC is issuing and updating interim guidance daily in response to the rapidly evolving situation. CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) continues to send antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak. The swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. In addition, the Federal Government and manufacturers have begun the process of developing a vaccine against this new virus.

Broadband Manipulation Must Be Stop

Something disturbing is happening in the online broadband space. Fear, deception, and cheat presentation of facts abound—all of it designed to attract competitors' customers, either by planting doubt in their minds about the honesty of their current providers or by tricking them into thinking that they've found a bargain.

The other morning as I prepared my lunch, I heard a new Cablevision Optimum Online commercial. Stopping to watch, I noticed that it wasn't one of those catchy ones, with the guy singing the phone number. Nor was it one of the beautifully produced ones that show people walking around with multimedia playing all over their bodies. (They're supposed to be grist for promoting a better life through broadband use, but I think they're the basis for a horror film. Whatever.) This commercial was different. It featured a woman against a white background—Optimum's preferred color when it wants to be serious—trying to set the record straight about what you get from Optimum versus "the phone company"—Verizon. Whenever cable companies want to take on Verizon, or other telcos that are homing in on their broadband and TV business, they invoke the seemingly derogatory "phone company" slur. Ooh, that's scary. I would never want a "phone company" delivering my broadband and TV, would I?

Obviously, as a Verizon FiOS customer, I would, but back to the commercial. In this 30-second-or-so spot, the Optimum lady spends a lot of time talking about all of the hidden fees you incur as a Verizon customer and how, even after you sign up for what that company is touting as a great deal, prices will go up. And she says—horrors!—that if you try to get out of the deal before your contract is up, you play cancellation fees. A lot of this is true. It was also true when I was with Cablevision, but the great thing about the battle going on between Cablevision and Verizon is that Cablevision has been forced to offer better service and more competitive prices since Verizon started cutting in on its business. Cablevision will still jack up prices after an initial honeymoon period, too. That period can last a year or two. And here's the kicker: The Optimum lady said that Verizon would deliver your broadband on its plain old copper lines.

At first I thought, "Well, that's a bald-faced lie!" I watched the Verizon FiOS tech install both my fiber broadband and fiber TV service, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms that the company delivers a fiber line right to a box attached to the side of my house. It's fiber all the way back to the company's switching office.

But wait. The Optimum lady said Verizon's broadband service. She never actually mentioned fiber or FiOS. That's when I realized that she's right. If you buy Verizon's other broadband service, DSL, it will be delivered to you via good, old-fashioned copper wires. Of course, DSL runs at a fraction of the download speeds you get through either fiber or Cablevision. On the other hand, no one is getting TV through DSL. I don't think anyone can say (or is saying) that DSL is directly comparable with Optimum's Triple Play (broadband, TV, and phone) or even Optimum's Internet service by itself. Yet, if you're not paying attention, Optimum's tiny bit of misdirection leaves you with the impression that Verizon's FiOS service is a lie and is fiber in name only.

At the same time, Cablevision is touting its new DOCSIS 3.0–based 100-Mbps, $99-a-month broadband service. It even got most of the major national media to name it the fastest cable in the country. This could lead people to think it's the "fastest broadband in the country." Yes, Cablevision's offering is, for now, twice as fast as Verizon FiOS's current fattest residential pipe, and Verizon charges a whopping $144 a month for just 50-Mbps download speeds. Still, Cablevision's new 100-Mbps service is simply a carrot to lead people to the rest of its more affordable, non–DOCSIS 3.0–based (and therefore slower) offerings. Just as hardly anyone is actually paying $144 a month for Verizon's 50 Mbps (since cheaper, though slower, FiOS packages are available), no average consumer is going to pony up almost $100 for home broadband service—regardless of speed. It is a brilliant marketing ploy, though. These superhigh speeds will roll out across the country, but only a handful of well-heeled customers will pay for them. Those users will inadvertently become foot soldiers in Cablevision's efforts to battle FiOS in the more affordable broadband space.

Cablevision is not lying about anything; it's just doing a bunch of hand-waving to make you look at it, instead of at the other options out there.

The other commercial I've taken notice of lately is NetZero's. Company CEO Mark R. Goldston stands there and explains how you can get online for less and save tons of money in the process. Who wouldn't want to pay $9.99-a-month for, as the ad puts it, the "same Internet". I want it. Look at all the money Goldston says I'll save. It's amazing. In these tough economic times, it's an idea that really resonates with a lot of people. Here's the problem: It…is…INSANE. Mr. Goldston is offering dial-up as an alternative to broadband. Dial-up! No matter how much pre-fetching and artificial boosting you do, it's still dial-up.

Not that long ago, I watched the semi-classic You've Got Mail. The 1998 film starts with someone dialing onto America Online. The sound track you hear is the old modem dialing, probably at a 14.4-baud rate, then connecting and handling the connection with the then-well-known set of toots and whistles (we used to call it a "handshake"). This is the world that NetZero wants us to return to—the only-on-when-you-dial connectivity, with all its worries about sending too-large photos, trying to view too big a video online and giving up, and wondering how you can slice up files so they're small enough not to choke your narrow dial-up pipe.

I get that people are hurting, but if that's the case for you, save up your Internet activities for, say, a once-a-week visit to Starbucks, McDonald's, or your local library. Don't suffer through dial-up again.

The thread of connection among all these things is fact versus obfuscation and sometimes outright fiction versus fantasy. Broadband is not available to everyone everywhere, but that should be the goal. And the broadband we get should be on the fastest, most reliable pipes out there. I'm not trying to say whose pipes those are, but if we all want to find out, then we have to demand the facts—and only the facts, please—from everyone.

taken from pcmag.com

Smart Thinking

By -Shel Silverstein


My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more then one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes-- I guess he didn't know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head--
Too proud of me to speak!

Let Positive TriggersT Turn on Your Best Self

One day last year I was sitting in my office, by myself, and I wasn't
feeling good. Yes, it's true. I research, write and speak about Positive
Psychology, but I admit it, I wasn't having a good day.

Here's my first question: Where do you look when you're feeling bad? Most
of us look down. And that's what I was doing in my office; I was looking
down at the floor. And then I started laughing! I realized that Ariela and
Eliana, my 2 and 3 year old little girls, had put stickers all over my
shoes. Somehow they slipped them on when I was kissing my wife Dawn
goodbye before I left the house that morning. Just thinking about my
little girls slipping stickers on my shoes without my knowing made me
laugh. But then I laughed even harder when I thought, "Where had I been
all morning with stickers stuck all over my shoes?!" It was at that moment
I got it.

The stickers my little girls had put on my shoes were a Positive TriggerT
for me. They instantly made me feel good. So here's my second question:
Where do you look when you're feeling good? You look up! And that's what I
did in my office; I looked up and my day was reset. I had a second chance
to make my day a good one. I was experiencing positive emotion.

Research studies from around the world have confirmed the power of
positive emotion. Positive psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson at
the University of North Carolina, best known for her "Broaden and Build
Theory of Positive Emotion," found in her research that positive emotions
widen your attention, they increase your intuition, and they increase your
resilience to adversity.

Alice Isen, a psychology researcher at Cornell University, demonstrated
that when you experience positive emotion, you are more kind, generous,
and helpful. Isen also found that you're more creative and better able to
solve problems requiring "ingenuity and innovation."

Neuropsychology researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Richard
Davidson, discovered that positive emotions help boost your immune system.
And at least three studies have shown that there is a strong connection
between a longer life and experiencing frequent positive emotion.

Here's my takeaway. If you are being chased by a bear in the forest, you
should feel plenty of negative emotion! As my grandmother used to say,
"Run like the dickens!" Otherwise, positive emotions help you think better
and they help you build better relationships with others. People prefer to
be around curious and creative people, more than around people who always
seem to be running away from bears! And I'll bet, if you ask the people in
your life, they'll tell you that when you're experiencing positive
emotion, you do better work, you're a better leader, you're a better
spouse, and you're a better friend. I know that I'm a better dad to two
little girls when I'm experiencing positive emotion.

So, what are your positive triggers? What makes you smile? What makes you
laugh? What puts you in a creative mood? What triggers your passion,
excitement, and hope? For some of us it's looking at pictures of our loved
ones. Some of us listen to a favorite song. Others go for a quick walk, or
do a little dance. Some read a short, funny story. Others remind
themselves of their goals. Take a moment to think about the things that
trigger your positive emotions.

Think of it this way. When you enter a dark room, what do you do? You
reach for the light switch. Because you know when you flip it, just like
that, you'll have light. So what's your light switch? What turns on your
positive emotions? What positive triggers will help you look up when
you're feeling down?

Need some stickers?