July 28, 2003

From the Inside Out
OVERCOMING BULLIES

The old saying goes that you are what you eat. I hope that's wrong. I don't think I'd like to awaken one morning to discover I've morphed into a super size McBurger meal (with a Diet Coke — gotta counteract those biggie fries somehow!)

Better still, there is an old proverb that hits the mark much truer: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Thousands of people suffer from low self-esteem, the product of wrong belief about one's self. "I'm dumb", or "I'm ugly", or
"No one will ever love me" — these wrong thoughts soak into the very belief system of the low self-esteem sufferer. It is reality as they see it.

People often suffer low self-esteem because they believe a lie. Along the line somewhere in their life, somebody told them they were stupid, or ugly, or would never amount to anything. That somebody could be a father- or mother-figure, a teacher, a schoolmate... somebody trusted and respected. Perhaps they were teased at school, singled out for cruel, childhood ridicule. Whatever the reason, they heard the lie. And they believed it.

People who run other people down and cause them pain have two common denominators: 1) They are bullies. 2) They, too, have low self-esteem.

Bullies become bullies to overcompensate for some psychological shortcoming they have. They tend to attack the weaknesses they perceive in others that are the same as (or close to) the weaknesses they see in themselves. One of the hardest things for self-loathing individuals to do is look in a mirror. I don't necessarily mean that literally, but figuratively.

Looking at one's self, the very essence of who they are, is painfully tough (if not excruciating) for those with self-image problems. True, healthy inner reflection is not one of the benchmarks of low self-esteem. Realizing this, here are three steps to help people with low self-esteem:

1) YOU ARE NOT DEFINED BY OTHERS. No other human being has the right to impose his or her judgment on you. Often times, bullies are just casting off dispersions they've received and cannot handle. When bullies attack you verbally, remember: they do not know your heart, so don't let them judge your heart.

2) LOVE THE BULLIES. When people bully, they are merely acting out of anger and pain because they know no other way to deal with it. The only way to reach through a heart of stone is to soften it with love. A lump of moistened clay is much more malleable than a hard brick. Love is the answer (isn't love always the answer?). If you will refuse to accept the lies of the bully and, instead, show him love, one of two things will happen: either the bully will go away and leave you alone, or you'll have won a friend and softened a heart. Either way, you win.

3) LOVE YOURSELF. Love others as you love yourself. However, if you don't love yourself, it's a bit hard to love those around you. Forget the lies you've been told. Recognize that you have gifts, talents and beauty. Just because someone else hasn't noticed doesn't mean they aren't there. Before anybody can see the good in you, you have to show it to them. If it's hidden, who's going to see it?

I write this in love, because I used to be a sufferer of low self-esteem. I couldn't see any value in myself. But, let me tell you, once I grabbed hold of the truth that I am a creative, beautiful, lovable (and much loved) being, my life began to change.

So, go look in that mirror. It's OK. Don't be frightened by what you see. Look even deeper and you'll find there is an awful lot of good within you.

~ Chris Courtney , e-ncouragement.com
Excepted from : Heartwarmers.com

Yes You Can!
FIND MORE AT GOOGLE

While it may not be apparent from the sparse-looking homepage, there's a lot more to Google than meets the eye. There are five tabs on the Google homepage. The first one is labeled ''Web,'' which allows you to search billions of Web pages. If you're searching for multiple pieces of information, using ''OR'' can be a time saver. Google's help file (google.com/help) offers the following example: vacation London OR Paris will search for vacation information about both cities. Note that OR is capitalized.

Google also recognizes something called ''advanced operators.'' One that I use frequently is the ''site'' operator, which searches within a single website. If the search function on a site I'm perusing isn't very good, I go to Google and enter my keywords followed by ''site:'' and the name of the site I'd like to search. So entering alumni site:umd.edu returns pages with the word alumni from the site umd.edu. Note that there's no space between the colon and the address of the site.

Use ''allinurl'' and Google will find websites with a specific word in the address. If I wanted to find websites with ''boston'' in the address I'd enter allinurl:Boston

Adding a ''-'' to your search query forces Google to ignore pages that include that word. Example: Boston -fenway will overlook pages that contain both Boston and fenway. A ''+'' does the opposite, requiring a word or phrase to be included.

See that ''Advanced Search'' link just to the right of the search box? Under there you'll find all kinds of ways to slice and dice a search, including by date, language, or file type (handy if you want to search just pdf files, for instance).

Just below Advanced Search is ''Preferences.'' Here you can change Google to any one of a long list of languages from Afrikaans to Zulu. Speaking of languages, just under Preferences is the ''Language Tools'' link where you can translate a phrase or an entire Web page or restrict your search to Web pages in a specific language.

Now, back to the tabs. The second one, ''Images,'' searches for photos and graphics. Don't overlook the advanced search where you can specify that images be a certain size (icon, medium, large), full color, or black and white.

The next tab, ''Groups,'' will search discussion forums where people yak about every possible topic imaginable. I find this most useful when I'm researching a purchase and want to see if anyone's complained about the product. The advance Groups search lets you further refine by criteria such as author and date.

Next up is ''Directory,'' which presents you with a neatly categorized list of topics, such as Arts, Computers, and Shopping. Even though the last tab, ''News,'' has been around for a while, it's a ''beta'' or test version of Google's news search. The best thing about this feature is freshness. Breaking news stories from around the world can appear here within minutes.

You may not have noticed the ''Services & Tools'' link at the bottom of the Google homepage. If not, click it and explore. Here you'll find a couple of my favorite shopping aids: froogle.google .com, a comparison shopping tool and catalogs.google.com. There's also answers.google.com where researchers will answer a question for a fee, and don't overlook that link to ''Google Labs'' (labs.google .com). There's quirky stuff here that's still in development.

Michelle Johnson, Freelance Writer
Excerpted from article Personal Tech, Boston Globe
Contributed by Jim in Galena, Illinois.

Painting: Jean Claude Legagneur Medalia.net

Haitian art, especially painting and sculpture, is among the most prized in the world. Haitian artists from many generations have earned international acclaim. Everybody: the shoe repairman and fisherman, river washerwoman and marketstall holder, paints everything: cloth, cardboard, cans, wooden boards, walls, whatever presents itself. They paint in a great outburst of splendor, with the seven souls of the rainbow. Numerous pieces of Haitian Art now belong to to museums permanent collections and are cherished and sought by private collectors.

LINKS
THAT SHINE

"Wildlife Conservation Society"

WCS is at work in 53 nations across Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America, protecting wild landscapes that are home to a vast variety of species from butterflies to tigers. These activities change individual attitudes toward nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in sustainable interaction on both a local and a global scale.
www.WCS.com


CLICK FOR MORE LINKS

Click Here If You'd Like to

Help Inspiration Line

 

Fascinating Facts
CATARACT SURGERY EVOLVES

Earlier this month, I learned that I have a small-sized cataract in each of
my eyes .... what a shock it was at first. Once I processed my fears about needing surgery of any kind, I realized how fortunate I am that cataract surgery has evolved tremendously in recent years. I also have the opportunity to actually improve my vision by having corrective vision lenses implanted next month during this procedure. ~Chelle

What exactly is a cataract? A cataract is a clouding of the eye's internal lens, which lies behind the iris and the pupil. It works much like a camera lens, focusing light onto the retina at the back of the eye. The lens is mostly made of water and protein. The protein is arranged in a precise way that keeps the lens clear and lets light pass through it. But as we age, some of the protein may clump together and start to cloud a small area of the lens. Over time, it may grow larger and cloud more of the lens, making it harder to see and may occur as early as age 40.

Cataracts do not spread from one eye to the other, although they may develop in both eyes at the same time. Cataracts usually develop gradually over many years and are not related to cancer. They are not caused by overuse of the eye nor does use of the eye make the condition worse. There is no evidence to indicate that working at a CRT computer screen causes cataracts. Scientists have studied eye characteristics in long term computer users and have not found any evidence of increased risk for cataract. However, there are a number of symptoms that may be experienced by computer operators: Computer Vision Syndrome .

There are no absolute rules regarding the timing of cataract surgery. It could take weeks or years between the time of diagnosis and surgery. Think about surgery when your cataracts have progressed enough to seriously impair your vision and affect your daily life. Many people consider poor vision an inevitable fact of aging, but cataract surgery is a simple, relatively painless procedure to regain vision. Cataract surgery is very successful in restoring vision. In fact, it is the most frequently performed surgery in the United States, with over 1.5 million cataract surgeries done each year. During surgery, the surgeon will remove your clouded lens, and in most cases replace it with a clear, plastic intraocular lens (IOL). Nine out of 10 people who have cataract surgery regain very good vision, somewhere between 20/20 and 20/40.

Read More about Cataracts at the Vision Channel.net

Where did the @ sign come from?

Click for Answer

Laughing It Off
RÉSUMÉ BLOOPERS

Just how bad a mistake can you make on your résumé?
Here are some real-life examples:

"Instrumental in ruining entire operation for a Midwest chain store."

"Education: Curses in liberal arts, curses in computer science, curses in accounting."

"Personal: Married, 1992 Chevrolet."

"I have an excellent track record, although I am not a horse."

"I am a rabid typist."

"Exposure to German for two years, but many words are not appropriate for business"

"Proven ability to track down and correct erors."

"I have become completely paranoid, trusting completely nothing and absolutely no one."

"Personal interests: Donating blood. 15 gallons so far."

"Don't take the comments of my former employer too seriously, they were unappreciative beggars and slave drivers."

"References: None, I've left a path of destruction behind me."

"My goal is to be a meteorologist. But since I possess no training in meteroology, I suppose I should try stock brokerage."

"I procrastinate - especially when the task is unpleasant."

"I am loyal to my employer at all costs ... Please feel free to resond to my resume on my office voicemanil."

"Disposed of $2.5 billion in assets."

"Extensive background in accounting. I can also stand on my head!"

"Accomplishments: Oversight of entire department."

"My intensity and focus are at inordinately high levels, and my ability to complete projects on time is unspeakable."

~TopGreetings.com

Untangling the Web

WHAT A SITE!

Maps, Maps and MORE Maps...
The Library of Congress searchable collection is at.
(NASA SP-206) Map Collections, 1500-2003
You can also search broad topical areas: military campaign maps, discovery/exploration, cities/towns, conservation/environment, transportation/communication.
Historic Cities: Maps and Documents
features maps, documents, books and other relevant material concerning the past, present and future of historic cities in Europe and the Near East.

COMPUTER-EASE

Run to a Web Page!...
A quick way to get to a website if you know the URL and don't want to wait for the home page of your Internet browser to load first, is to click on Start and then Run. Type the URL in the Run dialogue box and press the enter key. As long as you are running Windows, your browser will automatically start, and take you directly to that web page.

Photo: Will Burgess /REUTERS


A meerkat warms itself under the glow...
of a heat lamp in its enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. Weather officials say Sydney experienced its coldest maximum July temperature in seven years, reaching 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit), prompting zoo keepers to activate the lamps to help warm the meerkats, which are native to Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Southern Botswana. ~REUTERS