Care newsletter

I received a newsletter from Care with some interesting pictures from the results of their campaigns on 2006. It is important to share this information because it shows that this kind of support organizations are really making their work.

El Fant, Egypt

Shaymaa Ramadan, Reda Mohammad and Wafaa Ramaden learn to read Arabic in a multi-grade classroom built through CARE's New Schools Program. Our education programs reached nearly 9 million students by expanding opportunities to attend school - particularly for girls - and improving the quality of education. (©2006 Meredith Davenport/CARE)

Kilamba Kiaxi, Angola

Lorena Olympia Jao Manuel, 42, stands in the grocery store she started with business development training from CARE. Almost 8 million people, more than half of them women, participated in CARE projects that improve access to credit and help people start and sustain small businesses. (©2006 Evelyn Hockstein/CARE)

Irukpal, India

Mothers and young children receive services including vaccinations and antenatal care at a monthly nutrition and health day sponsored by CARE. CARE reached 38 million people in FY06 with information and services to improve their health, including family planning, safe deliveries and newborn care. (©2006 Ami Vitale/CARE)

Preas Ang, Cambodia

Chab Parath purchased a small rice field with a loan from her CARE-initiated HIV support group. Through health and social services, we helped 4.2 million people protect themselves from HIV & AIDS, reduce stigma associated with the illness, and mitigate its economic impact. (©2006 Phil Borges/CARE)

Paraccay, Peru

Emeleth Torres Pacheco, a CARE health worker, helps children wash their hands before lunch at the Las Gotitas school. Four million people gained access to safe water and sanitation and learned hygiene skills in fiscal year 2006, keeping families healthy and freeing time for women and girls to take part in other activities. (©2006 Maggie Steber/CARE/CARE)

Klaten, Indonesia

Survivors of May's Java earthquake carry home jerrycans and other emergency supplies distributed by CARE. Worldwide, 13 million people received assistance responding to and preparing for disaster, with emphasis on the needs of the most vulnerable, especially women and children. (©2006 Josh Estey/CARE)

Merry Christmas!

One of the happiest moments I had was a couple of days ago when I received one CD from one Slovenian school. It was the work of some great teachers and a group of special and lovely kids.
Simona, Matjaž and me... were impressed and touched. I had to hold a tear from falling :)
I would like to share their work with you:


Video: Wishes from OS Toneta Okrogarja and PS Senozeti
For sure God is within those kids! Thanks to all of them to make me feel proud of living in this time!

A good new from Prazniki.net

I mentioned before that we are running a Christmas competition, in Slovenian language, that has like goal to get letters from kids to Santa Claus. This is the third year and we are very happy with it.
This year, one of the good news, is the wish of one of the kids. Her wish is to give poor kids the chance to have what she already have, she means that she has covered her basic needs. That wish is coming true! And just because of her honest wish some kids will receive help from Unicef.

Saving your life... and other's

Are you feeling prepared in case of emergency?
That was a question I made on Yahoo Answers and the answers I got were in some way disappointing. Most people isn't prepared.
What means to be prepared? I think the most important is to know what happens when emergency comes:

• No clean water.
• No electricity.
• No easy way for making fire.
• No medicine.
• No shelter.
• No fridge for keeping food conserved.
• No telephone, at least no batteries.
• No contact with others.
• No easy way to find where you are.
  

Some days ago a reporter died after few days of walking in the snow. His family survived waiting for him in the car. He was found dead close to the car. He was probably walking in circles; there was no signal for his mobile phone. His family survived by using the car fuel for heating and after it was over they used the tires of it.
So why not to be prepared for those cases?
I think it is important to have 2 emergency kits: 1 for the car (when going to trips), one in a protected or safe space at home.
What should we have there?

1. A solar charger for GSM or other devices. Click here; If you find something better don't doubt on sharing the link.
2. General solar charger. Click here.
3. Flash lights. Specially if they can be recharged with movement, manual generators and better if they use leds instead of bulbs. Click here.
4. A set of basic tools: Multitools, Tool sets.
5. Tape.
6. First aid supplies.
7. Sleeping bags.
8. A tent.
9. A cooler for storage of food.
10. Aluminum paper.
11. Batteries.
12. Winter cloth.
13. A radio.
14. A water filer.
15. A GPS or a compass.
16. Rope.
17. Lighter.
    

Well, what a kit! many things that I don't have actually. Ideas will be welcome!
And if you are thinking in an original present for the holidays you can help your friends or family to start building their "life saver" kit.

All the work of Mozart free for you!

More than 400 000 hits during the first 12 hours of opened... and for sure with millions of hits to come, is the web site where all the work from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is available for free!
Click here to see the web site. (The site is a bit slow now... probably many people is downloading and downloading).

Mysteries of life

Something that always kept my attention is Nature and the way life is developing all around our planet.
When I was a kid I had the chance to read and see wonderful books. With nice illustrations and easy to understand texts. The rest was my imagination.
In our days I see the impact of technology in the way we learn. Much better quality contents are available in many different formats: magazines, TV programs, movies, web sites.
Again The National Geographic Society made an outstanding achievement: "Animals in the womb". I was able, during the TV program, to make the first explanations about how the life starts to my 3 years old son. You can see a video preview of the program: here

A gadget to enjoy with the family

Today I went to make some shopping with my wife and children. It was a good day!
And I found one of the presents "Santa" wished to give me... the Nintendo Wii.
I'm now a proud owner of one of these wonderful gadgets and I can tell you that is the most funny thing I ever had. I'm a lover of technology but until now was very difficult to involve my family (of course they are not interested in productivity software, HTML, SharePoint...).
This game console is super simple to install, intuitive and extremely funny! Tatjana, my wife, won a tennis competition very fast! The game controls are wireless and are sensible to the movement. Tati was jumping and swinging to hit the tennis ball for some time!
It is a gooood new! not only because finally there is a gadget that is for all the family but because innovation shows up again to change the rules on the market. (You can read about Microsoft Xbox, Sony PS3). Both Xbox and PS3 got big part of the market Nintento had some years ago but I think Nintendo changed the rules introducing a new concept. Now they are running in a different race.
I will write more as soon as possible!

A Human base in the Moon?

An interesting report about a wish from the U.S. to build a Moon station. Read the article on the BBC
Click on the image bellow.. it is my new way of showing some opinions :)

Skysails

According to an article in News.com this kind of kite is able to save in fuel costs at about US$ 1000 a day!
This one is a good new for the environment. In worldwide scale is definitely an innovation capable to change the way that industry works for ever.
"Turn wind into profit".. sounds great!

A good way of helping and having fun

As I mentioned in other posts Prazniki.net is a web competition site focused on the December holiday season. It is targeted to the Slovenian speaking audience and of course is specially created for children.
The past year we got amazing results. This year we are including many new features into the project and also we are including presents from many different companies that believe on the cause this web site is trying to reach each year: To have a good reason to have a nice time on family and to get the chance of winning an award.
But this year is also different because we introduced an idea that extends the reach of the web site. We bought some presents from Unicef and now they are available to the winners of the competition. That means that this year Christmas greetings to our partners and customers will be in email format and that we will replace the present we were normally delivering to them for the satisfaction that tenths of families had a reason to smile and without knowing were also helping children in need from around the world (Unicef).
It is a small initiative but I wanted to share it because it could give you better ideas to give this holidays more meaning by having more sense of responsibility for what happens outside of our normal environment.

New "Get a Mac" videos!

Hello! As always... I'm posting the new videos that Apple releases for the campaign "Get a Mac": http://www.apple.com/getamac/
This set is not the best one... but they are worth to see :)

One laptop per child project

The OLPC project is a very well advertised initiative that wishes to make easier for students from poor countries to get access to a PC. There are many critics against the project and many comments in favor. For sure many kids need first to get food and cover their basics needs instead of having the chance to use a PC but at the same time many kids that will not use PCs probably will have less competitive advantages than students that do use PCs.
In any case the project is running and in a few weeks the first 100$ pcs will be mass produced. I think that the project can change the way many persons live and specially how the world could create betters ways to improve conditions for poorer countries.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Home

Interesting new: Crossing Wild and Conventional Wheat Boosts Protein, Avoids Genetic Modification

Check the article from Scientific American: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0CDE8682-E7F2-99DF-35261FF74C7B6D86

Hurricane Data Portal for Scientists, Educators, and Application Users

The NASA launched a new portal with animations and scientific information about many hurricanes. The animations are based on satellite data. To see the hurricane viewer visit: http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/hurricane/HurricaneViewer.shtml
But don't loose the opportunity to check the rest of the hurricane portal because there is a lot of information, pictures, videos and news regarding the topic. Really impressive!
One video: http://www.nasa.gov/mpeg/151029main_a003362.mpeg

Formula 1: Zanardi makes happy return

Life is always prepared to give us the chance of experiencing challenges. Some of them happy and some others full of pain and sadness. But Life is also constantly showing us good samples and models of determination and leadership.
Alex Zanardi, a formula 1 pilot, lost his leg after an accident. After 5 years he returned to the F1 and he completed 4 laps. His comments:
"I feel like somebody cast away on an island for many years and suddenly he gets joined by a top model."

"It's a fantastic feeling to see all the faces smiling when I brought it in - that was the highlight of the day."

Is inspiration a good new?

I personally think it is. From the roots of our Human being we are in the constant search for happiness and in many cases it comes from the enjoyment of what we really like to do or what we really would like to make better. The sense of constant improvement and the attempt to "reach" ideals or dreams are, from my experience, a way to find happiness. Inspiration is a wake up call to help us remember what we think is good, valuable, important and transcendental.
I was checking some minutes ago a web site from Adobe with some neat animations and videos. It is full of material for inspiration. Give a check on it and discover if it motivates your imagination!

Prazniki.net and B4Contact's Web are alive!

This is certainly a gooood new for me! I had a traumatic problem with one upgrade to our servers and that caused that Prazniki.net and B4Contact's web sites were out of the Internet for more than 12 hours.
I could not solve the problem with my backups. But I think that with patience and with the wish to understand the reason of the problem. So finally they are back!
Otherwise... the work of weeks would have to be used one more time.

Technology enables

Some years ago was impossible to think of prosthetic body parts that are integrated with microprocessors for making easier to be used in different conditions.
It is certainly a good new to know that there are already a few cases of persons that lost a foot and now they are in condition of living a normal life. Access to that technology is expensive and for sure it is not available to all. But the first steps are made. Let's wait to see what the future will bring.
Read an article from BBC about one real case.

How to charge the batteries of mobile phones, notebooks, MP3 players... Without cables?

It looks like there is an answer! Even it is still in "theory" mode, a group of researchers are convinced that it is possible. One of the best things is that the "charger" would even work on distances of few meters.
You can read more about it in http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6129460.stm

Gooood news for lovers of The Beatles!

During this week I had many times a word repeating: Talent.
So if it is about talent the Beatles are a case to take into consideration. So if you like their music you will be able to listen to full previews of some new mixes for a new album. The songs you will be able to find are: Strawberry fields forever, Octopus' garden, Lady Madona and While my guitar gently weeps.
The name of the album is Love.
http://www.thebeatles.com/ (you need to register, it's free)

Gooood news for Prazniki.net!

Yesterday was a great day for one of my company's projects. This is the third year we are running the Prazniki.net competition. The past years was a great success and we've learned a lot about the "online" business potential.
One of the most problematic components of the project itself is the "rating system" that helps us to find who is the winner and of course that gives the excitement to the competition. During the past year holidays season we had to invest many days of work just solving bottlenecks with our rating system.
After many hours of work from Andrej and after months of his renewed solution, Boris and me started with the implementation of the solution. 10 hours of work gave a great result! We have implemented the solution in the same server than the past year and we replicated 24 thousands ratings on 930 letters to Santa! SO almost the same work the server had to resist in 1 month reduced to some minutes. The results were great! Almost no stress in the server and more than that... Correct results!
Now we are able to move the solution to a better server!
Long live the Prazniki.net!

Do you remember the 7 Wonders of the World?

Well, if you don't at least you can be part of History by selecting the new wonders of the World!
That's great! And even better because one of the wonders is coming from my country! so you bet which was my vote!
Visit the site and help adding a new chapter on the World's history! http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php
There you will be able to find different language versions of the site...
Have fun! and don't forget the the vote is a secret!

Hope for restoring vision!

A team of scientists from the UK treated mice with eye damage using some kind of cell translplants. After the treatment the mice were able to see again!
There is a full article in http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6120664.stm

New design for a silent aircraft

The idea is good. That aircraft not only makes no sound (pollution) but also consumes less fuel.

The BBC has a special article with all the details.

Good news from Kevin

 

I'm in the look for great software and web sites for kids. So one of my ideas was to make a question in the Yahoo Answers service. I received a very kind answer (the best answer) and I think this is a gooood new! Thanks Kevin for your time and help!

In this post I'm just adding the links for kids.

• Recommended Sites on the World Wide Web
  http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/urls/...

Curriculum, Lesson Plans, Colouring Links & Fun Stuff.

• http://www.wplwloo.lib.ia.us/kids.html
• http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/kidstuff.html
• http://www.crayola.com/educators/lessons/index.cfm
• http://cp.c-ij.com/english/3D-papercraft/science/index.html
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/
• http://www.underfives.co.uk/wshtalph.html
• http://www.rhymes.org.uk/
• http://www.didyouknow.org/animals/animals.htm
• http://www.allpopularsites.com/cartoons.htm
• http://www.coloring-page.com/
• http://www.coloring.ws/
• http://www.funbrain.com/index.html
• http://www.letsreadclyde.com/
• http://www.starfall.com/
• http://pbskids.org/
• http://www.schoolexpress.com/
• http://gamequarium.com/
• http://jambav.com/
• http://www.fisher-price.com/us/
• http://www.allpopularsites.com/kids.htm

Printable Work Sheets.

• http://cp.c-ij.com/english/3D-papercraft/science/index.html
• http://www.mardar.us/
• http://www.worksheets4teachers.com/
• http://familyfun.go.com/printables/
• http://www.akidsheart.com/
• http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/worksheets.htm
• http://www.akidsheart.com/color.htm
• http://www.preschoolprintables.com/
• http://ivyjoy.com/coloring/search.html
• http://www.webeans.net/hutt/ffgames.htm
• http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/
• http://www.ezschool.com/worksheets/
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
• http://www.abcteach.com/
• http://choreworksheetsforkids.com/
• http://school.discovery.com/
• http://www.kidsdomain.com/
• http://www.beginningreading.com/
• http://teacher.scholastic.com/
• http://tlsbooks.com/historyworksheets.htm

Childrens Nursery Rhymes

• http://www.nurseryrhymes4u.com/
  

Lost Lyrics of Old Nursery Rhymes

• http://www.rhymes.org.uk/
• BBC

Many of the illustrated nursery rhymes presented below are accompanied by funny sounds. Look around for surprises!

• http://www.mamalisa.com/house/
• http://www.zelo.com/family/nursery/index.asp
  

Learning to Tell Time
Clocks and watches have both a big hand to tell the minutes and a little hand to tell the hour. Look at the picture below. The hour hand is pointing to the 1, and the minute hand is pointing to the 12 (or 0 minutes). It is exactly one o'clock.

• http://arcytech.org/java/clock/telling_time.html
• http://www.pitara.com/activities/math/time/time.asp

Drag the hands of the clock to show the correct time. When you think you have the right time, press OK. If you answer incorrectly, click the clock face afterwards to see the correct answer. Try and score a perfect game(10 out of 10). Press OK to begin.

• http://www.cyberbee.com/games/timeteacher.html
• http://www.teachingandlearningresources.co.uk/time.shtml

Good luck.
Kevin, Liverpool, England.

A green Christmas season!

December is coming fast and an important part of our planet is ready to celebrate the holidays season.
I received a newsletter today and I'm very glad to see that many companies are offering products for saving trees during December. From recycled paper cards and paper for gifts until cards with seeds!

There are many options but most important there are good samples:

• http://www.stjudesranch.org/Content/cardprogram.asp This is an Organization that makes from the "old cards" new ones!
• http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/card-ornaments.shtml How to make ornaments for the Christmas tree with old Christmas cards.
• http://greenestgreetings.com/

2.65 billion cards bought in the US each year aren't recycled!

And also this kind of thinking can make our kids to participate and prepare themselves to keep the "spirit" of December and at the same time get values for protecting their environment.

I thing a greener December is a gooood idea!

Making children to use the time learning

Today the weather was not so good for my kids to go and play in the garden. SO we stayed at home most of the time. So I prepared my old notebook for my kids to play and learn.
So, I wish to share with you my discoveries.
One of the first probelms I found is that many games are designed for kids older than 4 years. That is a problem because Andre has 2 years and Marko 3 and a half. Here is what I found usefull:

1. BBC CBeebies: There you will find a great program for painting online. It is super because it teaches the kids how to use the mouse. The motivation is the result... by every click the see a nice result!
   
2. Something similar but less powerful is a program called Painter
3. Other painter software is available here
4. Then I found a program for learning the countries of the world... really cool! super simple but a great thing. Its name is Seterra

More than a good new a good idea

All of us have periods when is needed to be alone. At least that happens to me.

When I came to live in Murska Sobota one of the first things I made was to go and buy 2 bikes, 1 for Tatjana and one for me. It was great thing! after some time we got 2 kids and the normal life made us to use the bikes each time more for "need" than for "fun". Between winters, diseases, bad weather and of course many priorities, to go out with the bikes is a challenge. In my case there is another factor: a huge resistance for changing the comfort of being at home.

But today I needed to be alone, sun is shining, the wind is fresh, the colors of the fall are amazing and more than that! I was able to break with the "comfort" and I went out for some hours.

I took my MP3 player, an audiobook loaded, my mobile just in case and I went to see the nature and to see within my self while listening a wonderful book. Now I'm feeling better!

A new way of sharing pictures in your Blog!

I'm building the new web site for the Prazniki.net season for 2006!
That is our yearly Christmas competition on the web for our great slovenian kids... and of course great slovenian adults as well.
The past year we received close to 1000 letters to Santa! and many many visits to the web site. For this holiday season we wish to show a part of the great material from the past year! I think I found the solution! Slide.com

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Chile and Peru in real efforts to get closer

Like a peruvian I can tell that the relationship between my country and Chile weren't good after the war both countries had at the end of the XIX century.
Chile is showing to the world an interesting economic development. Peru is still fighting against corruption and a deep social crisis. Peru is a resourcefull country that can be a strategical partner for Chile and that is a strong reason for both nations to try to get a strong and fruitful relationship. Especially because Peru is showing economic growth and good political signs for the past 5 years
I'm personally very glad to see the first steps of that cooperation, where both countries are agreeing to share militar information and to start a process for a new militar force of peace. To make both countries to trust is essential.

SoapBox promotion

I just received a message from Andrej about a new promotion for using the SoapBox video service from Microsoft.
Even it is only for US citizens.. I think it is a gooood new for my readers because you could win a Video Recorder.. Why not to give it a try?
Click here

The Time Capsule

I saw this web site some time ago, but I just found a time to go deeper into it. The Time Capsule is a service from Yahoo and the goal of it is to share information about us. Yes about you and me. About all of us interested into let a message to the world and to history.
The interface looks wonderful and it is easy to use. Go to http://timecapsule.yahoo.com/ and start your adventure. I advise you to see first some samples of what the rest of visitors are writing, saying or even how they look like.
The gooood news are that the service has so many beautiful messages or "contributions" that I think is a great opportunity to remember who we are like Humans and to understand a bit more about ourselves.
Great!

Purple tomatoes?

Yes! Exist the possibility that soon you will have a great salad of purple tomatoes in your favorite table.
The gooood news about it is that they are not only looking different! They are healthy for you! Because they contain anthocyanin and that means that can work like anti-oxidant. The pigment is responsible for that.
Tomatoes are the second most used vegetable in the world (After the potato)!
Read more here and on CNN

October 24th Is Take Back Your Time Day!

I didn't know that there is a day for the "Time"... Until today when Andrej told me about.
When someone says something about the importance of the electricity and how it helped millions of students to be able to study at night... We should also think that electricity and hundreds of modern discoveries also contributed to extend the time we are busy. I mean... Not having time for many important things like the family, the friends and of course for self improvement and entertainment.
The idea of the "day of the time" is good! Because it makes us remember that we should take back our time and enjoy of the "other things we know we have to do... But we have no time.
So I'm better going to sit down with my kids and wife to play something together!
http://www.timeday.org/

Goood news for the world of science!

Before reading... see the manuscripts from Darwin...click here

"The complete evolutionary works of Charles Darwin have gone online, including the stolen notebook he carried in his pocket around the Galapagos Islands." Reuters

It is an amazing web site because it includes scanned documents. It is a really interesting site. It is a bit slow now.. (probably because of the big amount of visitors) but is really worth! http://darwin-online.org.uk/

From the site:

"Most of the editions provided here appear online for the first time such as the first editions of Journal of Researches [or Voyage of the Beagle] (1839), The descent of Man (1871), The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle (1838-43) and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th editions of the Origin of Species. There are also many newly transcribed and never before published manuscripts such as Darwin's Beagle field notebooks. Also appearing for the first time online are complete images of Darwin's early notebooks on geology, transmutation of species and metaphysical enquiries. "

Do you need free pictures for your web site or PowerPoint presentation?

If yes then I have a good new for you!
My friend Boris wrote a post in his Blog about the web site I will talk about for the next few lines. The web site is: http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml

There you will find a lot of pictures! But not all are free. In any case you need to register first. But before you can try to search for something interesting for you. To do it first you must click on the menu option: Advanced Search.
Then you must be sure to select the option "no" in the selection box named "Restricted". Of course you need to add your search criteria. That's it! If you are registered you will be able to download the images and work with them!

Jim Collins web site

In my search for articles I found a great web site. It is www.jimcollins.com and there you will find articles in text and audio format. This web site is good for all persons interested in business knowledge.
Jim Collins is a known writter. Clich here to learn more about his books.

Say thank you to all the world!

Today Boris sent me a super link! For sure it is a good new for all of us that enjoys to have contact with people from all the planet. Do you want to say "thank you" in Quechua? or maybe in Aguaruna?... well you can find many languages and translations!
http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/thankyou.htm

iPod Nano RED - (PRODUCT) RED

Gooood news again from Apple!
The IT industry is making some efforts to contribute to the efforts to solve problems that concern to all human kind. In this case Apple and Bono are offering to the market a special version of the iPod Nano, a red colored Nano.
What is particular here is that Apple will forward 10$ from each one of the gadgets sold to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.
I think that if you are willing to get an iPod, this is a great chance to choose a product for the christmas season that will bring double satisfaction. Check more about.

Learn more about PRODUCT RED.
http://joinred.blogspot.com/

Solar chargers!

Gooood news for environmental friendly persons!
I just discovered an innovative product. It is a foldable solar panel that lets you charge your notebook, mobile phone, iPod using solar energy. There are many models for different power needs. Check them here.
As you will see there are many accessories like battery chargers, sattelite phone chargers... really interesting. Even in case of natural disasters.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2006

Click here to visit the official page of the Nobel Foundation.
Mohammed Yanus and the Grameen Bank (Rural bank) received the most "wanted" price in the world. They were helping millions of poor people using micro credits in Bangladesh.
You can read more in: BBC News, CNN.

Small business against big companies?

Today returning from Ljubljana, (capital city on Slovenia), I was listening to some podcasts. Like always I was my imagination working full and creating new ideas. None of them very good yet...
But something I think is a really good new is something I've listened about a small company threatened by a big one. The real story plus some salt and pepper (from my side) is something like that

" There was a very small town in the center of a small country where people used to go to buy some nice cloth in a small and warm boutique. Development started on the town and big firms hungry for new markets started building their big malls.
The small boutique was unable to compete with prices and with the amount of products offered by the competition. The owner started thinking on closing the store..."

I also hear that the "problem" is the mother of "creativity".

"... But suddenly one idea came to life and the owner said: If I can't compete with those low prices then I have to offer big prices. After that she closed the store but she offered an exclusive service that was bringing to the customer's home their complete collection and a fashion advisor. The owner of the company and their team of professionals lived happy ever after!"

So what we can learn is that the difference is not in the price... Is in the value added and the target group. Both components should be dynamic as the needs of the market are.

Are you a mother or father and you don&t know what else to do to keep your kids in 1 place?

Well, here I have some links that will help you to keep them learning... and busy!

1. Origami models: like airplanes, dinosaurs, flowers, boats...
   Other link:
   - http://www.origami.as/home.html
2. Coloring pages: This one is to teach kids to color online!
   Other links:
   - http://disney.go.com/magicartist/coloring/
   - http://www.janbrett.com/activities_pages_artwork.htm
3. Video trailers: I advise you to first check which trailers to show them...

Gooood luck!

(The image comes from Meet the Robinsons)

Waking up after 22 months!

It is so nice to see a young boy to play after having a 22 months coma. Certanly it is a good new for him, his family and all of us that enjoy with the miracles that life brings.
Check the CNN video clicking here.

Bio plastics!

I'm very surprised to see each time more places on the internet about how to improve our environment. I just subscribed or registered to "Ideal Bite" and I received my first newsletter.
So I discovered a bit more about "bioplastics" and its application in our daily life.. like mobile phones and scaners. Check the article
Those bioplastics are made with corn!
Check more on Wikipedia

Helping our kids to know more

The weather this weekend was perfect! We went out each day and we were enjoying of our Wonderful World. We were on Saturday on the harvest of the vines in a small town named Bogojina (Slovenia). Today we were with some friends on a special Catholic happening in other town named Beltinci. All of them in a natural region called "Prekmurje" or "over the Mura". Mura is the river!
If you are not already bored with my introduction... I want to give you a link where you will find excelent information about Geography, culture of the world, music and all designed for parents and educators trying to teach kids. It is just a wonderful place! Visit the web site on: http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/index.html
I advise you to check the web site and then ask kids to join you in the exploration! Good luck!

More ECO friendly technology!

Our Good News Blog is getting "green" and I'm very happy for that.
There is a company that is introducing a fantastic idea: "to solve the energy requirement for kids toys". Actually all of them are using batteries that we all know are not friendly with the environment. The company, Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, is using small fuell cells and hidrogen power stations! Like the car on the picture. Read more about it: http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/edu_hydrogen.htm

Captivating Mars

One of the most beautiful experiences Humans are sharing for generations is the knowledge that our sky is able to offer.
Many great moments of our personal existence are happening when watching the dark sky in contrast with the shining stars.
Mars is still captivating Human imagination and inspiration.
We are living in a wonderful era when to see mars is not anymore impossible. We have a vehicle roving the surface of the planet and over Mars there is an Orbiter getting wonderful photos from the surface. Wow! That's great to be able to enjoy from home the view of Mars and to enjoy what Human knowledge and technology is able to discover for all of us.
Do you want to see more? just click here.

Improve your contact with friends and family using "voice" emails!

I'm a peruvian citizen living in Europe. It means that I have many important persons far from me. Actually the distance problem is partially solved because I use MSN Messenger to communicate with them using video and voice.
But my family or friends are not always online at the same time with me. So the perfect solution would be here to send them email messages with voice!
I found a free service that helps on that task.. and I really like it! It's name is SpringDoo
But I should not forget to say that it also include the possibility to add video!
Give a check on their demo
The service is not for commercial use. So give a check on their terms of use.

2 New Nobel prizes

"For their discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA"

"Americans Andrew Fire and Craig Mello won the 2006 Nobel prize for medicine on Monday for their groundbreaking discovery of how to "silence" genes, which has opened up potential new paths to treating disease." News.com

A wooden WV Camper! what a great idea!

Wow! I love the idea!
If they will produce it I think they have on me a first customer!
CHeck more on http://news.com.com/2300-11389_3-6121227-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
I like very much that the companies are wearing the "green" t-shirt... making more awareness on nature and environmental care is just positive.

More green tech!

"The California Clean Tech Open, a competition in which participants created technology-enabled, environmentally friendly products and business models, announced its five winners this week in San Francisco.” - News.com

You can see more info in: http://www.cacleantech.com/events.php?page=home

Good idea = Good new!

I was reading a very interesting article from Richard Ghail from the BBC. The article talks about how to protect the environment by using "car pools". From the article:
"...The UK's greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 4%. Perhaps most compellingly, it would save 309 lives per year, and prevent nearly 4,000 people from being seriously injured."

What if you could share the car with your co-workers in such a way that each day one of them would drive to the office? The parking place will have more space, the roads with less traffic, each person would save some money in transportation and of course would help to decrease pollution. I think it sounds great!

Read the article: click here
How would you implement a car pool system?

Bulgaria and Romania in the EU

I think Bulgarians and Romanians must feel very good about being accepted to be part of the UE from the first day of the next year! Congratulations for them!
On the news I can see that the feelings in Europe are mixed after the huge "pack" of countries accepted before (you can get more detail on BBC).
I'm living in Slovenia, one of the new members since 2004. And from my perspective EU means progress to the country. That's why I think this is a great new!
I also understand the problematic related with the acceptance of new members, like more migration the the richer countries. But this is a problem the UE leaders will have to solve. Otherwise the european people will not stay without expressing their opinions. You already know about what happened with the idea of a new European Constitution for France and Holland.
Good luck Bulgaria and Romania!

here more info from LonelyPlanet.com:

• Bulgaria
• Romania

Thinking green

Looking for good news on the web I found an interesting place that offer the chance to organizations and individuals to help on the task of protecting Nature.
They have a free newsletter that might be interesting for all of you who enjoy on the idea of having each time a healthier planet.
Here is the link: http://www.nature.org

Clean energy

I think that the new revolution of the silicon is coming soon. I'm talking in a new massive use for that material. Normally it makes us to remember the "chips" but actually it is also used for making solar panels.
Finally the industry is getting more and more interest into create real alternatives that could replace or at least decrease the usage of traditional energy sources such as coal and natural gas.
You can learn more about it in the following links:
Silicon Valley Goes Solar http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/09/25/silicon.valley.solar.ap/index.html
World's largest solar power plant: http://news.com.com/2300-11395_3-6112320-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

Good news from the deepest part of peruvian coast!

I was reading some good news about the activities of some kind of bacteria that is turning organic waste into propane. Those are very good news because it could mean that bacteria could be in charge of transforming other kind of bio waste into useful propane (it is the same gas used for heating water).
To learn more visit: http://news.com.com/2061-11128_3-6118485.html

Free courses from MIT and Yale

Getting access to high class courses is a great opportunity. And the best of it is that can be for free.Today I was reading an article in News.com about a project of sharing video contents from Yale University. That is a great new!
Click here to get access to the article.
But just in case if you would like to check some other great free training materials coming from the MIT check the following link:http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

My parents came for visit!

Well, I think this is a very good new! at least for me and my family.
They live in Lima, Peru. I live in Murska Sobota, Slovenia. We've visited different places, from Vienna, Gorizia, Portorož, Liebnitz, Ljubljana, Bled.
But the good news is not only about the visit. It's more something related to the values we all have in common. And normally are the ones all families have. Is wonderful to see people you love and feel like you saw them one day ago. My last visit to Peru was a bit more than a year ago. To get lunch together, talk, talk and talk... It's just great.

Live QnA

After my post about Yahoo Answers one friend made a comment suggesting to give a check on http://qna.live.com/
I was checking it an it has many similar capabilities. One of the interesting things there is that by having 2 services we can make the same questions to different audiences... Then mixing the results we could be able to get really good info.
At this moment I'm taking a short holiday with my family so as soon as I will get a better internet connection I'll came back with more details!

Ask whatever you want! You will get an answer...

One of the best places in the web is without any doubt Yahoo Answers! http://answers.yahoo.com/
What a great idea... And it is a good new because you can use the system to learn what other are thinking about different topics. You will be able to receive answer from teenagers until well mature persons.
I'm making some surveys there and in a near future you will see here some of the conclusions!

Improving the way we use energy

It looks to me that the global community is really moving towards a world with a healthier vision of how we spend energy. Each time more I can see different news about how researchers are finding new ways to generate or transmit light.
Today in News.com I found a nice picture gallery with some interesting possibilities. Click here if you wish to see them. http://news.com.com/2300-1008-6111917.html

People and places

Yesterday my brother, Alejandro, was telling me that his performance in a competition about "general culture" was a real disaster! His team got 12 points and the winner 55. He made the questions to me and I can say with confidence that my performance was as bad as his. I didn't know many names of cities and to which countries they belong. That was the case of Casablanca.
But I also know of many cases when the children are interested into know more about the world, the people and the places. And I'm sure you heard about some brilliant kid that knows all the capitals or countries in our planet!



National Geographic's web site improved very much. Now it is really easy to get clear information with multimedia contents like videos and animations. Really great. And if you wish to know more about the countries of the world there is a perfect place! click here to learn more.

Life goes on

This is the title of a good new from CNN . It's talking about a young couple getting married in Lebanon. The article shows a high contrast between the reality of war, the beauty of love and the importance of the values.
It is not nice to read about the devastation result of war but is extremely positive to learn how the human is willing to place hope for the future.
Congratulations Huda and Abbas! Long life of prosperity for you.

Smiling @ you!

Wow! it is true!
I've heard so many times that an environment full of happiness is able to make you feel better! and when you are listening laughings normally you will start laughing as well!
For sure it happened to me... and some times I really couldn't stop laughing. So why not to try it online?
Is it possible that something online will make you feel in better mood? Make the experiment! With me it worked!

Click here

Good news bites

In my constant look for good news I found an interesting page with small bites of good things going on in the world!

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation

http://pearlingtonproject.org/
The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation

The mdeia is full of reports about how are the persons doing after 1 year of the strike of the huricane Katrina on the coast of United States. And it is positive to learn how so many people is still helping to recover the hope from so many humans. On CNN I found one article about a person that dedicated herself to help people, her name is Angela Cole. Click here to read the article. But on her web site (mentioned above) you will find pictures and interesting information. And if you wish to help... that's a good place where to stob by.

One friend told me once that to drop a tear can be a sign of sadness, happiness or whatever but anyway can help us to know that we need to act! and act means to solve problems and be positive!

Its nice to smile

Just today my friend Andrej sent me a couple of links that made me laugh. It was needed in a day full of work and stress

1. It is each time closer!! http://home.valornet.com/sabruf2/countchr.html
2. I knew it! http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/flattery.html

Thanks Andrej!

A clean way of making iron

Well to tell you the truth I didn't know that the process of making iron was "dirty". So now I know.
I was reading a Blog from Michael Kanellos where he mentions about that new methodology that produces iron and oxygen... Excluding from the traditional method the generation of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
This time was the MIT! Click here to see their report
And to see Michael's post click here.

Beauty in nature

Picture by Jane Cockman

After checking the great picture of the Hummingbird Hawkmoth I went to get more information about it. There a few articles in the web site of the he Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

And if you wish to continue being surprised by the beauty of our nature click here to see a great slideshow from Flikr with thousands of pictures tagged with the word "nature": enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/NATURE/show/

Tip: in the past address... if you replace the word "nature" and you right some other word like "beauty" or "green" or whatever you like Flikr will generate a slideshow for you!

Contradiction? what whaaat?

It looks like all of us have some moments when we feel like "we need"to change.
I'm talking about those moments when we are not sure if what we are doing is what we really wanted to do in our lives, if we are working in the right place or even if we studied the right career.

I think that the nature of the human is to be in constant contradiction, and that contradiction is basically in:

1. When some change is coming there is always the need of security, no changes, routines. A force against the change.
2. When the day to day is giving security and it's full of routines there is always space for questioning, for wishes of change, adventures. A force against routines.

But the interesting thing is that the professional and personal development do have direct effect on making a balance. Security is fine and measured risks are fine as well and there...is no contradiction because one can take some risks without changing what gives the security. I also found that basically in the same place where we are working it is possible to develop all our dreams but it all depends on the leadership and initiative of each person.

But something is missing. And it is to have clear sense of purpose.
In the following link you can find an interesting place on the Internet where to find a great tool to make it! I really advice you to give a check on it. http://tips4uall.blogspot.com/2006/08/tip-n3-leadership-on-web.html

Boy scouts saved a baby girl!

When I was a kid I was a boy scout! But at this time of my life I forgot about that noble group of people.
A baby of 18 months was rescued by some boy scouts. Here you have the link. There is a video as well.
For more information in Wikipedia about boy scouts click here.

Get well soon!

This is a great message! If you would like to know who made that image, why... and inspired on whoom... click here
On that web site you will find also some other great messages and good news!
Can you see the "get well soon" text within the tree?
There are 10ths of wonderful banners like the one this post... really great things and you can download PDFs of each one of them! enjoy!

Tribute to Lillian I. Frederick

Just blogging around I found a great site and idea. It is named The 2,996 project.
This site is built to offer a tribute to all the 2996 persons that died on the 9/11 terrorist attack. Each person that registers will get a number and that number is equivalent to one of the victims.

Bad news are out of this blog. So I will not talk about terrorism. The good new is that with ideas and initiatives like that our world will get more to the "good" side of the balance.

Lillian, I saw you for first time today, in a nice picture. I've decided to write you here because by doing it I will show that all victims, like you, are still affecting positively the concept and need of peace. Remembering the bad moments can be painful, but forgetting them is unforgivable.

Lillian I. Frederick, 46, Teaneck N. J., World Trade Center, 9/11

New ways of making money... are also good news :)

I'm working on some training courses for SEO, Search Engine Optimization, and I would like to share some tools I find very interesting to improve the way your web site is listed on the most important search engines.
But why is this so important?
Well, if you don't have a web site and you think that a business on the internet, managed at home is a potential interesting opportunity or a risk you can afford; or if you do have a web site and it is not producing any kind of profit for you... Then SEO is something you would like to know.
There are tons of information about it on the web. Try on wikipedia. But because of that is very important to find the "best" information available. I already made the work and I would like to share it here.

Just expand the following flashpaper document making a click on the button that is at the right side of the printer icon:

Coming back home!

This picture is telling everything! they are coming back home! The cease-fire, between Israel and Lebanon, started making feel happy many persons.

A great alternative to fight against HIV/AIDS

This time Bill and Melinda Gates participated in the XVI International AIDS Conference, (August 13-18 in Toronto, Canada).

Both presented their new sense of optimism after a trip to Africa where they discovered better coverage and more effective actions in the fight against AIDS. But at the same time they showed the urgent need of additional attention to improve better systems of prevention.

"We believe that microbicides and oral prevention drugs could be the next big breakthrough in the fight against AIDS" said Bill gates during his keynote speech.

There is an article about it also in UNICEF web site, worth to read.
Other related new in BBC click here