icon tact

As my first entry i thought it appropriate to acknowledge those that have gone before me, blazing some excellent trails along the way. Randy Elrod of Ethos. Mark Lee of This guy falls down, Jeremy Thiessen of Normal Rockstar fame, Chad Jarnagin of *Blogstar. I'm certainly looking forward to life on the blog. Why icon tact? I just like the name. We all have icons and we all need tact at times. Sometimes when the two meet, you make some great music. Plus, those who make good icon tact are usually trustworthy folks.

Until next time...

I found this neat article on the Yamaha music website. It is an interview with Terry Lewis, Karl T. Bruhn and Barry Bittman, MD on yet another benefit of music. Here is the link

MSNBC has posted an application which shows a different way of aerial viewing the effects of Katrina. The company that developed the technology is Pictometry, and they fly aerial photography at an angle of ~45 degrees. Called Bird's Eye View, you can check it out here:

I've been a subscriber to WORLD Magazine for over five years now. The guys at WORLD have really put a classy newsweekly together. They have amassed a collection of great Christian writers and thinkers who take everyday topics and make sense out of them. Some of the regular contributors include Joel Belz, Marvin Olasky, Gene Edward Veith, Andree Seu, Cal Thomas, and more recently, Hugh Hewitt. When you just have to have a magazine to physically get your hands on, WORLD gets my vote. You can also check out their regular site (www.worldmag.com) and their blog (www.worldmagblog.com).

If you haven't seen Google Earth yet, you are missing out on one of the neatest web apps out there. earth.google.com. You'll need a some bandwidth (typical broadband is good. Dialup won't cut it). Download the app. You'll be in for the ride of your life. Travel from city to city or across continents. Take it for a spin.

Redlands, California-A new web application, the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Viewer, is now available from ESRI to provide detailed information about areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The site allows the public, emergency responders, relief organizations, and others to locate an address or zoom to areas of interest and view areas declared “damaged" by FEMA, affected delivery areas for the U.S. Postal Service, post-disaster satellite imagery, population density, street maps, and much more information. Visitors can also generate reports about people, housing, and businesses in the affected areas. The application is available online at http://arcweb.esri.com/sc/hurricane_viewer.

Went to Dreamlands BBQ Ribs for the first time today. It's located in Tuscaloosa AL. The best I've had.

I saw this on FoxNews after the Katrina events unfolded. http://www.ihealthrecord.com is a secure site that allows you to place your medical records online. There were many personal things lost, but the loss of all medical records in a disaster like Katrina means potentially decades of personal history that is unrecoverable. Just imagine if your own doctor's office was destroyed by a fire or flood. This site is supported by many doctors around the country, some of which it appears use it in conjunction with normal record keeping.

This info taken from a FOXNEWS report and from the iHealthRecords website.

Tired of sending the same old ecards. Try Hoops and Yoyo (www.hoopsandyoyo.com). Make sure you have your speakers turned up, but not too loud. There are categories for every occasion and they are very funny (at least the ones that are supposed to be funny). Send someone you know an ecard today. Hoops and Yoyo is part of the Hallmark family. Enjoy.

Recently, while waiting for a flight to come in at the Nashville Airport, a very small, but powerful thunderstorm passed through. It was very localized but packed an incredible punch. It didn't take long for all power to go out at the airport. It was interesting to see what was and was not backup generator powered. All elevators, escalators, lights, arrival & departure screens, and baggage claim screens went down. The main power grid and the lightning were battling for control. For the better part of an hour and a half, the lightning was winning. During those moments when it seemed the electrical side was making a comeback, all of the screens would begin to power up. In particular, the baggage claim screens slowly booted up. If you've seen Nashville's, they are all computerized LCD screens. I was a bit surprised to see the Welcome to Windows XP screen show up on about 4 screens at once. Then the storm, having abated momentarily, took back control and we were again left with nothing but blank screens. This cycle happened probably 5 times before the storm moved along to harass another suburb of Nashville. I was left wondering if there is anywhere that Bill Gates operating system arm doesn't reach?

Galveston, Texas - As Texas Gulf Coast braced for the worst, activist group MoveOn.org today began moving massive convoys of celebrities, civil rights rights spokesmen, reporters, conspiracy theorists and litigators into the region for the expected weekend landfall of Hurricane Rita.

MoveOn spokesman Peter Maloney said that the organization made painful mistakes during the Hurricane Katrina disaster which they would strive to avoid with Rita.

"Frankly, we were caught flat-footed by the Katrina," said Maloney. "We lost almost six hours before were able to coordinate our blame workers with our complaint teams, let alone set up basic communication links with the European media."

"This time, though, we are locked and loaded," he added, pointing to a detailed pre-Hurricane response plan that includes over 10 satellite uplink trucks, redundant teleprompters, and over 200 pounds of nails to flatten the tires of evacuating residents.

This article from iowahawk

I am sitting at the Portland OR Airport (PDX). I am happy. Why? Free wireless. There is perhaps nothing more frustrating for the wayward traveler than to boot up and find that either there is no wireless, or you have to pay $10 just to connect. Several gadgets have come out that help at least in the detection of whether wireless exists. You simply turn on the receiver/detector and it alerts you on wireless availability.

My friend calls his GPS unit Maggie. He takes her everywhere. What is cool is Maggie gives you second chances. If you miss your exit or turn, Maggie doesn't get frustrated. She simply says "recalculating route" and you are off again. It made me thing about life itself. How easy to get frustrated over missed opportunity. God gives second chances without getting frustrated too. I don't know if he sounds like Maggie, but I think he does say "recalculating route" when we veer off course.

At a McDonalds we order a couple of burgers and my friend likes his diet cokes with no ice. So i ask the guy behind the counter for two diet cokes: one with ice and one without. He repeats back the order, hands me the burgers and two empty cups. Then he says the ice is over there. Serve yourself. I hadn't noticed that it was self serve drinks.

As i was leaving the hotel, the big red Green Day tour bus was outside. Apparently they did a show over the weekend or are doing one today. I am used to seeing (or not seeing) tour buses. Most of the time the band prefers to be anonymous by hiring a non-descript bus. These guys want the world to know they are in town. Their faces are plastered all over the side of the bus.

How about security check points? I think most folks have resigned themselves to wearing as little as possible, but I prefer to at least have a shirt pocket. You can tell who is a frequent traveler by how casual the typical routine exists of removing all your "accessories" before even getting close to the xray and metal detectors. Turns out the only times i've ever been searched is when I'm really late for a flight.

Heading back to Nashville shortly. i like Portland.

USA Today had an interesting article yesterday about how Clear Channel dominates the live concert scene. The article is found here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-09-26-concerts-cover-usat_x.htm

From my post yesterday, it turns out Green Day was on for tonight in Portland, Or. Their website is similar to their tourbus in terms of boldness and color. www.greendayconcerts.com

An article by Steven Kalas

Something is wrong with this room. Something is amiss. Out of place. It feels like a glaring oversight, but somehow I can't put my finger on it. For hours now, I have been sitting, talking with dear friends in their new home. We have laughed some, cried some and enjoyed the warm communion that good friendship provides. So, what is it that seems so odd?

We are heading to Maine this weekend for some some R & R and some foliage capture. I'll be updating the blog with some pics along the way.

I thought i'd share some foliage websites in case you can't resist getting away.

Weather.com Fall Foliage section - Good overal view of US and regional maps. Not updated frequently though

The Foliage Network - great site with frequent updates. Allows for you to become a spotter on the network.

USDA Forest Service Foliage site - another great site, but government run so...

Intellicast - pretty good site

Maine Foliage - My favorite

Getting up to the Northeast is a breeze. You can fly into Manchester, NH on Southwest. Boston and Portland are good bets too.

Site59.com has some great last minute flights to just about anywhere a weekend traveler might want to go.

until next time...

"Maine's Autumn Magic: How Leaves Reveal Their Fall Colors"

This is a great video for kids. It explains the process trees go through each year at this time.

http://www.state.me.us/doc/foliage/kids/movie.html

Turns out the extended summer temperatures in New England have delayed the start of the color change. Good for business up here since it will likely extend past Columbus Day weekend. This time of year draws a good crowd to the white mountain regions of Maine and NH.

Spent a part of yesterday (saturday) at my 20th reunion at New Hampton School. I was the only one from my graduating class in attendance, so they let me do a photo with my whole family. We got a free lunch out of the deal too and it was good to see the old prep school again. Lots has changed, both with the school and with me. Amazing...

Today we took the kids to Story Land in Glen NH. It is a kid themed amusement park based on much loved children's stories. This year the park is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The only pictures to show so far are an awesome sunset from my folks home (where I grew up) in Bridgton ME. It overlooks the white mountain range, including Mt. Washington. That's the picture on this page. Bridgton is a great place to visit. We're heading north tomorrow to try to find some places to hike to find the "good" color change.

Will follow up with more later.

A View of Mt. Washington from Hawk Mt. in Waterford ME

Mary and I on the top of Hawk Mt. in Waterford ME

Hawk Meadow from the face of Hawk Mt. in Waterford ME

One of the most amazing things happened on this day. Just below this rock cliff is a meadow with a creek that flows through it. We were looking out over the meadow and what we thought was a hawk turned out to be a bald eagle. It was riding the updrafts from the meadow up the cliff face. It never once flapped its wings, but just glided gracefully in wide arcs. It was close enough to see the white head and tail and had a huge wingspan. He graced our presence for about 5 monutes and was gone across the meadow.

I thought about the 5 minutes window in which we witnessed this amazing sight and how if our schedules had been off by 30 mnutes here or there we might have missed it. I think it was my Mom who whispered that it truly was a gift from God.

This is an interesting article about the future direction of MapQuest.

http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=1985

Directions Magazine publishes weekly newsletters about geographic information systems, global positioning systems, desktop mapping, cartography, computer-aided design, remote sensing, web services, and more.

I found this video link at Lawtech Guru. It is several months old but is very funny. You think the Nano is small... view the video here

This has probably passed around the blogosphere a bit, but i still think it is a worthwhile read.

ICE is an acronym that stands for "in case of emergency," and it is a new idea that started in April and is spreading around the world.

After the London bombings, emergency workers had no idea which of the many phone numbers listed in cell phones of the injured and dead should be called.

The idea, which we understand was conceived by Bob Brotchie, a British paramedic, is to insert the word ICE before the people you'd like called in case of an emergency. That way, paramedics and other emergency workers will know whom to call.

Most paramedics now know what ICE means and they look for it. This saves them time, so your loved ones are contacted more quickly.

Tip: Always place ICE before more than one name in your cell phone in case the first person doesn't answer right away. You can even use ICE1, ICE2, ICE3... to designate the order you'd like the paramedic to call people.

Added benefit: If you lose your cell phone and someone honest finds it, they'll have more options of whom to call to get the phone back to you.

My wife and I are cheap. Occasionally we'll get a movie at blockbuster. Most of the time though we go to the local library and browse the selections there. This is especially useful for our kids as the library contains plenty of video fare for both the fun and educational palate (we homeschool, which is another topic). I walked in with my daughter and asked the sweet lady behind the counter about videos. My question went somthing like this:

Me: Hi
Marian, the librarian (hypothetical name): Hi, can I help you?
Me: Yes. I know where the kids videos are, but I'm looking for the adult videos... uh, i mean, uh, the, uh, non-kid, uh, videos. (smile, embarassment, red face).

I quickly grab my daughters arm before Marian could answer. We headed to nowhere in particular in the middle of the library. My daugter pointed to the video section, completely oblivious to the context of the conversation with Marian.

So I'm thinking, how on earth did the word "adult" get mixed up with such bad company. It is not always the case, mind you, but think about it...

I made a list just for starters. To keep this from getting blacklisted under some parental control, I'm separating the names in the list. You can probably think of some of your own to add.

Adult

• video
  
• beverage
  
• entertainment
  
• etc, etc, etc
  

Well, what do call it when someone goes to school as a grownup? Adult education. I've never been, but I'm curious what they teach there.

My point is, why not call it what it is. Putting the word Adult in front of some words somehow makes the phrase less of an evil and thus more acceptable. Words have a lot of power. Words market to our minds and sway our convictions.

They can also cause a lot of embarrasment to dads and daughters. We did find our videos that day. I smiled at Marian on the way out and was relieved to know that I wouldn't have to ask that "forbidden" question again.

My name is somewhat unique. Just for kicks, i put my name in a google search. Lots of interesting things popped up. I found out I have appeared in several non hetero movies. Some gal named Charlize has taken my first name as her last name. Go figure. And i am in several genealogies of which i wasn't aware. Interesting...

US Census Bureau Press Release - September 30, 2005

The number of businesses with no paid employees grew from 17.6 million in 2002 to more than 18.6 million in 2003, a growth rate of 5.7 percent, according to a report issued today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents the biggest rate of increase in self-employment since the Census Bureau began releasing such statistics in 1997; the rate during the 2001 to 2002 period, 3.9 percent, was the previous high.

According to the report, Nonemployer Statistics: 2003, Nevada led the nation in the growth of these small businesses, with a 11.4 percent increase between 2002 and 2003. Arizona climbed from ninth place in 2002 to second place in 2003, with a 9.4 percent increase. Georgia’s rate of business growth, the third largest, was 8.9 percent. Texas and Florida had business growth of 8.1 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively, to round out the top-five states in nonemployer business growth. (See Table 1. [Excel])

Nationally, these small businesses made up more than 70 percent of all businesses, with receipts nearing $830 billion.

Highlights:

* Clark County had the highest number of nonemployer businesses of any county in Nevada: 95,923, with receipts totaling $5.3 billion. Businesses in real estate accounted for more than 25.2 percent of the total nonemployer receipts in Clark County.
* Other counties with increases in nonemployer businesses included San Bernadino, Calif., 9.1 percent; Wayne, Mich., 6.2 percent; King, Wash., 5.5 percent; Montgomery, Md., 4.8 percent; Fairfax, Va., 4.7 percent; and Allegheny, Pa., 2.6 percent. (See Table 2. [Excel])
* Among the nation’s most populous counties, Los Angeles, Calif., had 742,767 nonemployer businesses, with Cook, Ill., second at 340,548; followed by Harris, Texas, at 255,222.
* Some examples of industries with impressive nonemployer business growth are real estate appraisers, 19.1 percent; nail salons, 15.9 percent; landscape architectural services, 14.6 percent; software publishers, 14.4 percent; clothing accessories stores, 12.9 percent; bed and breakfast inns, 8.5 percent; carpet and upholstery cleaning services, 7.5 percent; and confectionery and nut stores, 6.5 percent.
* Four economic sectors accounted for almost 60 percent of nonemployer receipts — real estate and rental and leasing ($176.0 billion, or 21.2 percent); construction ($126.4 billion, or 15.2 percent); professional, scientific and technical services ($102.9 billion, or 12.4 percent) and retail trade ($80.5 billion, or 9.7 percent).

The report has data on 16.2 million individual proprietorships, more than 1.2 million corporations and l.2 million partnerships. Nonemployer firms may be run by one or more individuals, can range from home-based businesses to corner stores or construction contractors and often are part-time ventures with owners operating more than one business at a time.

The detailed Internet tables show the number of establishments and receipts in nearly 300 industries for the United States, states, counties and metropolitan areas. The data do not cover all self-employed individuals, since many self-employed business owners have paid employees.

View the full release here

If someone comes to your front door saying they are conducting a survey on deer ticks and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!!

IT IS A SCAM; they only want to see you naked.

I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid now.

---------------------------
I can't take credit for this. My good friend Rob, the owner of Brainwave Studios, passed it along to me.

Dan Miller has devoted a good part of the last ten years of his life helping others through his 48Days.com website, email newsletter, and speaking engagements related to finding your calling. The newsletter is a great start-of-the-week-pick-me-up with quotes, humor, insightful commentary on work/careers, and much more. Dan's 48 Days books and materials come highly recommended by Dave Ramsey. Learn more here: http://www.48days.com

I came across this organization at, of all places, an eBay auction. The TEC Awards for Music and Sound are auctioning many cool items for charity. H.E.A.R. is one of the beneficiaries. As a musician, I was intriqued by the mission of the organization.

From the H.E.A.R website:
H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers) got started in 1988 when rock and roll musician Kathy Peck joined forces with local physician Flash Gordon, M.D. in San Francisco. After attending an excessively loud concert, Kathy and Flash decided to address the problems and dangers of loud music. As a former bass player and singer for the San Francisco rock band The Contractions, Kathy had suffered hearing damage while playing a set at the Oakland Coliseum in l984. The repeated exposure to excessive noise caused a ringing sensation in her ears called tinnitus, as well as decreasing her ability to hear. Though a professional and personal setback, the injury provided the incentive for Kathy to throw her energies in a new direction. With the help of Flash Gordon, Kathy launched H.E.A.R.

H.E.A.R. receives no state or federal money and depends entirely on contributions and private foundation donations. H.E.A.R. has been recognized around the world for its diligent efforts both to educate the public on the dangers of excessive noise, and to provide adequate hearing protection for musicians and music fans. From public service announcements in mainstream media, to information and earplug tables at concerts across the U.S., H.E.A.R. is dedicated to promoting awareness of hearing damage. As a voice of concern between the music and medical communities, we are determinded to make our message heard. H.E.A.R. wants you to enjoy the music for a long, long time.

Since our inception in 1988, H.E.A.R. has received support from some of the most respected, popular, and influential names in the music and medical industries. From performers such as Pete Townshend of The Who, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, and Les Claypool of Primus, to media giants like MTV, Guitar Player Magazine, Bass Player Magazine, Keyboard Magazine, and MIX Magazine; from medical groups such as The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, The American Academy of Audiology, and The American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, to trade groups like the National Association of Music Manufactureres, Audio Engineer Society, Consumer Electronics Association, as well as The Recording Academy, The Mix Foundation /TEC Awards, The Monterey Pop Festival, Aearo Corporation, Westone, Etymotic Research, RPG, Virgin Megastores , Ziljian, South by Southwest, Future Sonics, Shure and Energizer. H.E.A.R. is recognized and supported as leading the charge against preventable hearing damage.

More Cool Things They Do...
Hearnet is their interactive website that is updated regularly, providing information and resources on tinnitus, hearing loss, hearing evaluation referrals, hearing aids and assistive listening devices (ALD's), as well as a referral service of audiology partners, ear doctors, and entertainment links.

In addition to distributing information, H.E.A.R. conducts hearing evaluation clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as producing school programs, and public service announcements with music celebrities for national radio, TV and cable networks. H.E.A.R. has established H.E.A.R. Affliates world wide.

eBay Link to all items being auctioned by TEC Awards

I use Moveable Type (part of the Six Apart family of blogging software, which includes TypePad). Moveable type is great for someone who likes hacking code and for developers who need to maintain a consistent theme across a site. If you just want an easy to use, pre-configured, out of the box solution, there's TypePad and Blogger, probably the two most familiar with bloggers. So I had a friend ask me "how do I start a blog"?

So, you out there, what would you recommend for a new blogger? Blogger, TypePad, or something else. Let's assume that a user is not a web developer and doesn't know what CSS, PHP, XML, or any other related acronym stands for.

Since about 2000 I've been collecting the US Mint state series quarter dollars. Beginning in 1999, the US Mint has been introducing one state Quarter about once every 10 weeks. That makes 5 per year. I decided early on to save the quarters for my 2 daughters. For each state issue there are actually two coins, one from each of the mints, Denver and Philadelphia. Each state quarter has a unique design that the governor of each state submits. The mint can be determined by a small P or D on the obverse (the front). The states quarters are issued according to when they joined the union. To collect these, I got a standard coin book made by Whitman which you can get at places like Walmart. You'll end up with two separate booklets since the first 30 states are in one and the remaining 20 are in the other. There is a separate slot for both the P and the D versions.

Here are some neat benefits if you've got younger kids:

- Reading: teach your kids to read the state names. Of course, there is also In God We Trust, which you know they'll need to know at some point.

- Geography: teach your kids where the states are located by going to a map. This is fun because once you are there, you can ask about what the capital is, what famous landmarks are there, where you've travelled in the past, etc.

- History: teach your kids what year the state joined the union (the year joined is listed on the reverse). This will begin some great conversation especially about your home state. Discuss what famous figures were key during the days the state came into the union.

- Contributions: discuss what contributions your state makes to the country, like agriculture, technology, lumber products, etc. Often you can see this by the picture that was chosen to represent the state on the reverse.

- Investigative skills: Make a list of the quarters that you don't have. Then have your kids hunt through your loose change and see if they can find a missing quarter. They will have to use the spelling skills here. Check for the D or P, etc.

- Money: teach them how to add up coins, etc. Of course this will be age appropriate. You might get a snicker out of your teenager if you try this on them.

As you can see, this can be a fun way to introduce your kids to some everyday things that they may not have known about. Plus you might even learn something.

Currently, Kansas is being issued. You may have heard that a truck carrying the newly minted Kansas quarters caught fire and spilled most of its cargo about a month ago in Alabama. The truck was loaded with 39,000 pounds of quarters worth some $800,000. With quarters all over the road about two miles west of the Georgia state line, police called in a front-end loader from a wrecker company to scoop up loose coins and deposit them in buckets. The road was partially closed for 12 hours.

Discovered from Dan Miller - 48 Days newsletter

Researched and Written by Laura Morsch, CareerBuilder.com

We live in an aging, technology-hungry society – and the jobs of the future prove it.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one-in-four new jobs will be in the healthcare and social assistance or the private educational service sectors, and computer occupations account for five of the 20 fastest-growing occupations.

These 25 careers are expected to be among the hottest jobs in the fastest-growing industries in the United States through 2012. Some of them need applicants with a college degree. Some need people willing to learn on-the-job. All promise excellent job growth.

1. Computer Software Engineers -- $74,980 (applications); $79,740 (systems software)*
Computer applications software engineers analyze users’ needs and design and maintain computer applications software. Computer applications software engineers coordinate and maintain companies’ computer systems.

2. Detectives -- $53,990
Detectives gather facts and collect evidence for criminal cases.

3. Home Health Aides -- $18,330
Home health aides perform health-related services, including administering oral medications, to allow elderly or disabled persons to live at home instead of in a health facility.

4. Programmers -- $65,910
Computer programmers write, test, and maintain the programs computers follow to perform their functions.

5. Pharmacists -- $84,900
Pharmacists dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use.

6. Security Consultants -- around $45,000 (specific salary data not available)
Security consultants work to secure the safety of an organization against natural or man-made threats such as theft, earthquakes, computer hackers or terrorists.

7. Employment, Recruitment and Placement Specialists -- $41,190
Employment, recruitment and placement specialists recruit and evaluate applicants and attempt to match them with client firms.

8. Social and Human Service Assistants -- $24,270
Social and human service assistants aid the community in a variety of ways, including helping individuals establish their eligibility for benefits and services and providing emotional support.

9. Computer Systems Analysts -- $66,460
Systems analysts help solve computer problems, design new systems and add new software applications to help organization get the most from their technology.

10. Social Workers -- $39,440 (all other)
Social workers help individuals improve their relationships, living environments, personal and family problems.

11. Education Administrators -- Ranges from $35,730 (preschool) to $74,190 (elementary and secondary)
Education administrators serve as instructional leaders and manage the day-to-day activities of schools, preschools, and colleges and universities.

12. Database Administrators -- $60,650
Database administrators determine the most effective ways to organize and store data, such as setting up computer databases.

13. Occupational Therapists -- $54,660
Occupational therapists help people with disabling conditions become better able to perform daily living and occupational tasks.

14. Childcare Workers -- $16,760
Childcare workers care for and teach children of all ages in childcare centers, public schools, private households and other facilities when parents are away.

15. Fitness Trainers -- $25,470
Fitness trainers help clients to assess their physical fitness levels, demonstrate exercise techniques and help their clients set and reach their fitness goals.

16. Management Consultants -- $63,450
Management consultants analyze and propose ways to improve an organization’s structure, efficiency or profits.

17. Physical Therapist Aides -- $21,380
Physical therapist aides help make therapy sessions more efficient by keeping the treatment area clean and organized and helping transport patients from one area to another.

18. Speech-Language Pathologists -- $52,410
Speech-language pathologists assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent speech, language, voice and other related disorders.

19. Dental Hygienists -- $58,350
Dental hygienists examine patients' teeth and gums, remove deposits from teeth, teach patients good oral hygiene, and provide other preventive dental care.

20. Water and Liquid Waste System Operators -- $34,960
Water treatment plant and system operators treat water to ensure it is safe to drink. Liquid waste treatment plant and system operators, remove harmful pollutants from domestic and industrial liquid waste so it can be safely returned to the environment.

21. Hazardous Materials Removal Workers -- $33,320
Hazardous materials removal workers identify, remove and dispose of various hazardous materials such as asbestos, lead, and radioactive materials.

22. Network Systems and Data Communication Analysts -- $60,600
Network systems and data communication analysts design, test and evaluate network systems including local area networks and the Internet.

23. Preschool Teachers -- $20,980
Preschool teachers use methods adapting to children’s play to further language and vocabulary development, improve social skills, and introduce scientific and mathematical concepts.

24. Registered Nurses -- $52,330
Nurses observe, assess and record patients’ symptoms, administer medications and assist in rehabilitation.

25. Environmental Scientists -- $51,080
Environmental scientists measure and observe air, water and soil to identify sources of pollutants, and make recommendations on how to best clean and preserve the environment.

* May 2004 BLS data

Laura Morsch is a writer for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

If you haven't seen the work of the JibJab guys, you are in for a treat. This is another funny one.

If you are not aware of the growing problem with Methamphetamine abuse, know this: it is driving law enforcement bonkers. The effects of meth abuse go far beyond the user. A home or apartment once used as a meth lab can be considered on par with a toxic waste site and must be treated especially carefully. www.kci.org is a great resource for meth related topics. This post comes from the site.

Many people may be unaware that they're living near a meth lab. Here are some things to look for:

* Unusual, strong odors (like cat urine, ether, ammonia, acetone or other chemicals).
* Residences with windows blacked out.
* Renters who pay their landlords in cash. (Most drug dealers trade exclusively in cash.)
* Lots of traffic - people coming and going at unusual times. There may be little traffic during the day, but at night the activity increases dramatically.
* Excessive trash including large amounts of items such as: antifreeze containers, lantern fuel cans, red chemically stained coffee filters, drain cleaner and duct tape.
* Unusual amounts of clear glass containers being brought into the home.

Other Links:
National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA)
DrugRehabAmerica.net
Brain Research Institute

A Google dance sends waves of fear and panic into the heart of even the smallest webmaster. Overnight, it can virtually wipe out years of hard work...read this article by Titus Hoskins to find out how you can protect your site or sites against the next Google dance.

Halloween is a holiday that tends to cause consternation for some Christians for its characterization of evil. Others consider it a fun time to celebrate the fall harvest season, feeling that as long as the outfit isn’t outright demonic or overtly scary, then what harm may come in dressing up a little bit. My wife and I came across an article that really breaks down the hype and focuses on the truth about how Halloween came to be, and the ways in which Christians can participate, even if you happen to fall on the “anti-Halloween�? bandwagon. For example, our church (www.thepeopleschurch.org) participates in the local fall festival called Pumpkin Fest by setting up booths along a major section of the Franklin, TN downtown area. Kids of all ages from the surrounding communities come by to celebrate “Halloween�? festivities. What better way to get to meet and mingle with the community, while putting a positive spin on the holiday.

Some interesting facts you’ll discover in reading this article:

- All Saints Day was established in response to the Pagan festival Samhain on November 1.
- The night before All Saints Day was called Holy Eve (thus Halloween).
- "Bobbing for apples" is one practice the pagans used to divine the spiritual world's "blessings" on a couple's romance.
- On Halloween of 1517, Luther changed the course of human history when he nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg, accusing the Roman Catholic Church of heresy upon heresy.
- Today Halloween is almost exclusively an American secular holiday.
- Most people who celebrate Halloween have no conception of its religious origins or its heritage of paganism.

The article is fascinating. Read it here: http://www.answers.org/holidays/halloween.html

This article was written by Bob and Gretchen Passantino for:
Answers In Action
P.O. Box 2067
Costa Mesa, California 92628
(949) 646 9042

Formerly known as HitMaps, this tool rocks. If you look over to the very right side bar of this blog, you'll see it. They call it http://clustrmaps.com and the tool is very slick. It works by registering each time the map thumbnail (the map image on the right) is opened in a new browser session. By checking the IP address of the User, the physical location of the ISP that owns the IP address is registered as a red dot on the map.

The counter and tracking is not historical in that it begins tracking on day one and doesn't go backward to your log files.

Oh, and did i mention it's FREE.

ClustrMaps

If you are a user of Microsoft office, Microsoft has several sections at microsoft.com that provides lots of free goodies for a wide range of uses.

TEMPLATES (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx)
I've been using these things for a few years now. Interested in starting a business: you can find business planning spreadsheets or presentation material available for download. Looking for a nicely formatted calendar, find it here. Use MS Access? You'll find a bunch of databases already setup for use.

CLIP ART AND MEDIA (http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx)
This is great if you are looking for royalty free and pretty good quality stock photography. You don't even need Office to take advantage of it. The image catalog is searchable by topic and media type, and includes sounds. Looking for a toilet flushing sound to send to your competition, its there.

UPDATES (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/default.aspx)
If you are using Microsoft Office products, it is always a good idea to keep them updated. On this page, a "Check for Updates" link will start the Microsoft updater tool to check your current installation of Office for missing patches and service packs. You can choose from a list of available updates. The regular Windows Update does not update Office products, and many hacker attacks are going after Outlook and Word "holes" to get at your system.

I know a lot of the readership is on a Mac so pardon the Microsoft tilt on this post, but hopefull you've found some nifty info that will help your productivity.

This is another site that just has some coolness to it. www.auctionmapper.com has made a great mashup between the eBay auction location information and a map. Punch in your zip code and search term and you can see where the items are geographically. Doesn't bring much new functionality to eBay, but it has a cool factor of 10. Take it for a spin.

www.auctionmapper.com

A business site with a Christian testimony and statement of faith. Wow! I've been using Kaosweaver's extension for Dreamweaver for a few years but noticed a link on his site to "Eternal Perspective" and was intrigued. The page is very well presented and his site is very popular within the Macromedia exchange. What a great way to share the gospel. If you are a web developer using Dreamweaver, you may already be using his stuff. If not, it is sure worth a look.

http://kaosweaver.com/

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Mar