Quick Gardening Tips
Posted on | November 11, 2008 | No Comments
The principles that are used to decorate a home are the same principles that go towards a well decorated garden. Really, the garden is largely an extension of one’s home. A place for family and friends to relax and spend time, just as they would in a living or dining room. The natural beauty of the garden that stems from the trees, lawns, shrubs, plants, and the presence of living creatures can be enriched with the skilled use of additional garden decor and tasteful accents.
Just as there are many interior decorations that can enhance a home, there are a variety of outdoor decorations for the garden. The grass, plants, and flowers should be seen as organic decorations and utilized as such. Additionally, garden planters and containers accent these living decorations. In some environments where the topsoil is either non-existent or of poor-quality, planters are a necessity. They are especially useful in apartments, where a balcony may be the only option for a garden. Planters and containers come in a variety of sizes, shapes and materials, and thus can be suited to any garden to add shape, depth or height.
Statues and garden ornaments have a long history as garden decoration, and are both popular and highly stylish. But before you run out to the store for that classy plastic pink flamingo, you should know that by statues and ornaments, I’m referring to sundials, wishing wells, bronze sculptures, and bas-reliefs. These not only function as decoration but can become valuable collectibles, giving your garden an elegant unifying theme.
Other items to consider for your garden: waterfalls, trellises or arches, lanterns, wind chimes, or rock gardens. These are just a few ideas for your garden, and should afford you the freedom, uniqueness and flexibility you desire. Feel free to allow your imagination run wild, and experiment with different ideas. Let your garden become an extension of you. Gardens have a beautiful way of expressing who you are in a way that anyone can enjoy.
Smaller, Cooler, Faster, Better!
Posted on | November 5, 2008 | No Comments
So, you think you know what a computer looks like? Look again. Computers keep getting smaller and smaller, but does that mean that power and performance are being substituted for convenience and trend? Well, it all depends on what you use it for. The new mini PC’s or mini Laptops, which ever you prefer to call them, are aimed mostly at the education market, but also have wide-range appeal to your average Joe-the-businessman too! Now you can be connected wherever you go. With the laptop open and screens sitting low, students won’t be able to hide behind them or avoid the teacher. Some keyboards are spill-proof for up to an ounce of liquid too! They also fit snugly inside most briefcases.
The price alone of these super-condensed computers are a huge lure; typical price is somewhere between $300-$600 depending on the brand. Most weigh less than 2 kilograms, but the big drawback is that they are less powerful than full-fledged laptops so that the batteries last longer. They’re mainly designed for Internet surfing and work on spreadsheets or word processor documents, not for heavy duty gaming, video editing or other multimedia work. Depending on the brand, you could be running Windows, Mac OS X or Linux. Features and specs can include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity and high resolution LCD screens.
The Laptop Appeal
Posted on | October 29, 2008 | No Comments
Got a laptop? If so, you’re not alone. A growing interest in wireless computing plays to the laptop’s main strength: its portability. Even though they tend to cost more than desktop systems, consumers seem to want to take full advantage of the growing availability of high-speed, wireless Internet access at airports, schools, hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops—not just at home. Most laptops now have wireless networking capability built in and deliver long battery life. The thinnest laptops on the market are less than an inch thick and weigh just 3 to 5 pounds. But to get these light, sleek models, you’ll have to pay a premium and make some sacrifices in performance, screen size, and features.
A laptop computer is your best choice if portability and compactness are priorities. A desktop computer typically costs less for equivalent performance and is easier to upgrade, expand, and repair, but you can’t shove it in your backpack and take it to class either. But desktops offer better ergonomics, such as a more comfortable keyboard, bigger eye-level display, and enhanced audio.
Bigger, crisper displays and more usable key layouts have replaced small screens and cramped keyboards on laptop computers. Laptop processors have also caught up in speed with desktop models, and innovative dual-core processors are also available.
As computers become a repository for digital photos, music, and video, manufacturers are making laptops seem almost essential for everyday living.
Mac or PC?
Posted on | October 24, 2008 | No Comments
Which one are you?
Everyone knows the deeply embedded stereotypes: Mac users are cool, unshaven and use their computers for creative, edgy pursuits in music, art and video while the PC people are boring, overweight number-crunching nerds with a really thick laptop. Then again, PC enthusiasts probably think that Mac guy is a smug slacker with an ever thinning, over-priced MacBook that can’t do any serious computing anyway. Funny thing is, both stereotypes are wrong. With a 7.5 percent market share, Macs are no longer just the computer choice of artists and unemployed writers. (Apple is, in fact, the fourth largest computer manufacturer in the world.) And now, more than ever, the guts of both platforms are much more the same than different. Both machines use Intel processors. Both buy memory, hard drives and graphics cards from the same small pool of suppliers. While both operating systems are uniquely different; Microsoft Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard have surprisingly similar built-in multimedia, Internet and productivity applications.
Yet what makes the platforms feel so different is their approach to getting the same job done. Internet Explorer versus Safari, Windows Media Center versus Front Row, Photo Gallery versus iPhoto, Backup and Restore Center versus Time Machine—these system components from Microsoft and Apple are designed to accomplish essentially the same goals. But to users, the position and movement of the virtual knobs and levers make all the difference.
So, the next time you see one of those popular ads and begin to ask yourself which one you prefer, remember this: In the end, the same thing happens to both computers when flung out of a moving truck!
U.S. Government – 101
Posted on | October 1, 2008 | No Comments
The federal government of the United States is the central United States governmental body, established by the United States Constitution. The United States Government consists of three separate branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Together, they function as a system of lawmaking and enforcement based on checks and balances, and separation of powers intended to ensure that no individual or body of government ever becomes too powerful.
“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
- Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in Federalist 51
In the effort of enabling the government to control itself, it is important to understand how each branch functions.
The Executive Branch
The Executive branch consists of the President and his delegates. The President functions as the head of state and government, as well as the military commander-in-chief, chief diplomat and chief of party. The power to sign legislation passed by Congress into law, or veto it, is reserved by the President as well as the power to appoint Supreme Court justices and federal judges.
The Legislative Branch
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government. It is comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Constitution grants numerous powers to Congress. These powers are mainly over taxes, currency, the establishment of roads and post offices, promoting the progress of science and maintaining a powerful military.
The Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch is represented by the The Supreme Court. The court deals with interpretation of the United States Constitution, matters pertaining to the federal government, disputes between states, and can declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law.
Summary
In short, each branch has power to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and is in turn regulated by the other branches. For example:
• Congress may pass laws, but the president reserves the power to veto them.
• Congress reserves the power to override the president’s veto.
• The Supreme Court can declare a law approved by Congress and the president unconstitutional.
• The president can appoint judges to the Supreme Court, but Congress must approve them.
Do these branches function as a perfect system? Of course not. But “[i]f men were angels, no government would be necessary” (Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in Federalist 51).
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