Recently the news seems to be filled with news about piracy. Be it actual piracy taking place in the oceans, the popular ‘file sharing’ network pirate bay’s owners being found guilty over copyright laws. Whatever the reason we seem to be in a full on love of pirates. So what has caused this?

Well the pirates of the Carribean films have helped this popularity for pirates, Johnny Depp as ‘Cap’n Jack Sparrow’ has definetley boosted the profile and imagination of a time where there was terror on the high seas. ‘Pirates…’ was a Disney film, so there was little surprise when mountains of POTC merch came out to surround us. Scottish metal band Alestorm, have created ‘Pirate metal’, mixing heavy guitars and pirate vocals to only further encourage the would be pirates out there. Theres also an obsession online about the fight to end all fights: Pirates vs zombies vs ninjas, as if any of these groups could actually get together for it. Does our need for escapism from our current situation of our lives actually help bring forth this obbession? We go to work in offices and shops, nothing near as exciting as sailing the oceans, boarding other pirate ships and drinking rum all day long, and as our economy takes a further nose dive and things seem bleaker, people seem to find the need to disapear into a pirate filled fantasy. Because i think if most of us had a choice, about half would go back to an era of swashbuckling and gold.

So what was the reality, rather than the ‘dream’? Life on ship could often see the food supplies going rotten, injured pirates having limbs amputated without any painkillers, often dying of any injuries substained in battle. Getting whipped with the ‘cat of nine tails’ can be very painful. It caused much damage to people with its nine ends, hence its name.

Does a sailing weekend or a treasure hunt in London now appeal to ye still?

Traditionally, an atlas of the world was used to show a nation’s topographical features, major road ways and natural habitats. The most modern atlases are geared toward animal species conservation, natural resource allocation, mapping out the oceans, tracing endangered languages, detailing natural disaster prone regions of the world and revealing environmental dangers our world faces. Sometimes gaining this at-a-glance bird’s eye view can grease the wheels of change to help us protect our planet and create a brighter future.

One of the most frequently used atlases is Goode’s World Atlas, edited by Edward B. Espenshade, Jr. This pocket-sized book contains a number of high-quality maps from a cache of professional geographers. Another great selection is the National Geographic Road Atlas of the United States, Canada and Mexico, which features, hands-down, the best street maps of North America. The 10th Edition Times Atlas of the World boasts 125 color maps and a quarter of a million place names. The DK World Atlas is full of entertaining facts, while also providing geographic information about every country in the world. You will also want to add the DK Atlas of World History, which includes maps, timelines, photographs and historical notes, and the DK World Reference Atlas, which has 1 to 6 pages about each country, discussing politics, climate, world affairs, economics, crime, health, media, education and communications.

Sometimes it can be difficult to get kids to sit down with an atlas of the world for educational purposes when they would much rather be watching TV or playing video games. However, there are a few selections that are bound to pique their young curiosity. The Read It 3-D World Atlas & Tour by Marie Javins is both educational and fun for kids ages 7-14, as it takes you around the world, offering pictures, postcard feature articles and maps, viewable with 3-D glasses. The unique layout, the colorful images and the engaging writing style offers a wonderful way for parents and children to explore continents, countries, regions and state landmarks together.

Are you looking for a new atlas to add to your collection? To learn more about the state of Africa, check out “The Kenya: Atlas of Our Changing Environment,” an innovative 168-page guide to the shrinking natural resources, disappearing fresh water lakes, loss of tree cover and mosquito breeding grounds that plague Kenya. Using satellite maps and images, you will be able to see why “greening” Africa could be the key to their survival. According to United Nations Environment Program Executive Director Achim Steiner, “The Atlas is for the government and for all Kenyans who want to see transformational change and a path out of poverty to prosperity by sustainably realizing this country’s true development potential.”

What is your first thought when you think about learning a new language? Some people are excited at the prospect and can’t wait for their first lesson, but for most their feelings range from quiet worry to panic as they think that they are incapable of mastering a new language such as Chinese as they have never done anything like it before in their lives. Today the normal speaking of a new language such as Chinese has never been so important as the business and leisure worlds are making travel to new countries.

If you want to learning Chinese easy steps are the best way as on the outside it can look as though it would take years and years to be able to hold a conversation in Chinese. In fact, if you ask anyone what would they think to be a tricky language to speak, then would probably say Chinese. But what would you say if I told you that you would be able to speak it within weeks of starting to learn Chinese easy enough? I am guessing that you would think I was joking or would tell me that I was out of mind, you may think that you wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation with someone in Chinese in a million years. How wrong you are.

By using a unique and easy to follow language learning system such as “Rocket Chinese” you too could be chatting away in Mandarin in no time, impressing your friends and family with your mastering of this language. This online course was designed with novices in mind and as a result the course has been tailor made to be delivered in 31 small yet comprehensive lessons that are easy to fit into your day. In fact it is that easy to use “Rocket Chinese” that many people won’t even realise you are learning Chinese.

The future preservation of nature is dependent upon the creation of new national parks around the world. With construction and the demands for housing eating up huge tracts of land, preservation is more important now than ever before. New national parks are being created every year around the world. The reasons range from protecting ecosystems to memorializing historic accomplishments.

The newest of these national parks are found on extreme northern Labrador. Created in January 2005, the Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve is the baby of the Canadian National Parks system. This park is a gift of Inuit land consisting of two distinct landscapes: the gentle Georgian Plateau formed by receding glaciers, and the spectacular Torngat Mountains. The mountains are amongst the most rugged in North America. Along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, a hiker would find an untamed coastline where cliffs seem to erupt 900 meters out of the sea, and fjords jutting up to 80 miles inland. Massive icebergs can sometimes be seen ferrying along the coast. This 3100 square kilometer park does whatever it takes to make an explorer seem small while expressing the grandeur of nature at its most beautiful and dangerous.

If you are looking for a place to witness firsthand many ecosystems living together, the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado are an excellent example of a national park that has a bit of everything. While the dunes were designated a national monument in 1932, they were not officially labeled a national park until September, 2004. This was done so that the surrounding areas could be protected. The dunes are tall and move at a very rapid rate. In fact, one dune has recently taken over a forest. Little green tips of tress can be seen coming out of the dunes. Medano Creek is also a very appealing attraction to tourists, especially when the weather is hot. A refreshing swim in the stream is a relaxation not to be missed after a long hike. If you want to see one of the most beautiful national parks in the country, visit the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado.

The Canadian national park that has the distinction of being one of the most remote is the Ukkusiksalik National Park found in northern Nunavut. It can only be reached by plane making it also one of the most untouched national parks. Previously inhabited by Inuits until the 1960’s, this twenty thousand plus square kilometer swath of land became an official national park in 2003. For those ambitious adventurers willing to travel to this park, you’ll be rewarded with such features as reversing falls, 8 meter high tides, a 24 foot waterfall that freezes in the winter, and archaeological sites of previous Inuit inhabitants. Also, nature abounds in this northern habitat with polar bears, seals, caribou, and over 100 different species of birds.

We have covered just some of the many national parks that are accessible in both the United States and Canada. By visiting these parks, you are showing your support and helping to build more new parks for the future. To learn more about American parks, you can visit www.nps.gov. For further information on Canadian parks, simply go to www.pc.gc.ca.

Despite seeing plants every day, and probably eating them most days, a lot of people overlook the importance of plants in our lives. A good science teacher, whether a parent or a teacher in a traditional classroom, can get kids excited about studying plants as part of their science program. The new biology text by Pricilla Spears, Kingdoms of Life Connected, makes the job easy and fun, and is an excellent addition to any secular homeschool curriculum.

The book details many projects that help children explore and understand plants, such as labeling nearby plants and keeping a file of plant images. Students will be fascinated by the history of plant discovery and will be eager to explore the many ways plants are used in their everyday lives. Edible plant families are likely to be a subject of interest that many teachers can use for topics beyond basic biology encompassing important issues in health and medicine. Of course, the practical experience of growing plants in gardens or inside the classroom is a great way to stimulate hands-on interest.

One of the strong features of Kingdoms of Life Connected is that it guides both students and teachers through the less commonly known types of plants and places them in the context of broader networks of life. The book will stimulate interest in many plant varieties that most students don’t even know exist, such as liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Show your students a picture of a quillwort or club moss and explain how it is related to the large, scaly barked tree “Lepidodendron” from the Paleozoic Era. And, suggest to your students that they refer to Kingdoms of Life Connected to discover what else was alive in paleozoic times.

This book’s high quality illustrations are an excellent complement to the text. Diagrams of plant relationships help students understand the important elements of order in the diversity of life. The plant kingdom has many fascinating tales to tell. Whether you want to discuss the ginkgo tree as the last survivor of its lineage, or talk about monilophytes and pteridophytes, you will find the new text to be a great resource to make your lessons both accurate and interesting.

Kingdoms of Life Connected is just one item in a growing catalog of science education products produced by Big Picture Science that are tailored specifically for biology for kids, whether in a homeschool setting, a Montessori or charter school classroom, or a traditional public school.

The Terasem Movement Foundation, Inc., founders of the award winning online immortality web site LifeNaut.com, announced the History Lives Project. This free, web-based project offers digital imaging & “artificial consciousness” technology that allows anyone with a PC and an internet connection to participate in bringing Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Charles Darwin and other historical figures back to life.

Created by an international software development team based in the United States and the United Kingdom, the History Lives Project is designed to make it possible for anyone to participate in the creation of interactive digital clones of past historical figures. Imagine having a interacting with Abraham Lincoln instead of just reading about him, or conversing with Gandhi about non-violence and other lessons from his struggle for India’s independence from British rule. Listen to Harriet Tubman speak about her life as an anti-slavery activist or Susan B. Anthony share her thoughts on the Women’s Rights movement before getting the right to vote. Converse with Mozart anyone?

Using tools provided by Lifenaut.com, groups and individuals will pool their knowledge and efforts to build the “mind file” for a digital representation of Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Charles Darwin, Harriet Tubman, or Gandhi will able to carry on speech and text conversations based on information accessed by custom built artificial consciousness software. A “mind file” is a digital archive that represents the values, mannerisms, unique knowledge, beliefs and behavior of a person- in this case, an historical figure. Over time, each “digital clone” will become more and more like the original. The project also invites people to propose other historical figures for “re-animation”.

The project is sponsored by the Terasem Movement Foundation, Inc., which in October of 2007 launched Lifenaut.com, the first free digital immortality social networking site to explore the possibility of creating robust digital archives or “mind files” of a person’s life that can be used in the future to re-create a digital clone.

Are you a historic expert of buff? You can help by getting involved or learn more, visit the History Lives Project.

Well the spring time is upon us, well okay, I must confess living in San Diego the weather seems like it is always spring.  What can I say?

Being the owner of a San Diego window cleaning company has it advantages.  But just because the weather is perfect and delightful, does not mean we don’t get dirty windows.

As a matter of fact, the perfect weather lulls us San Diegans into thinking our windows don’t ever get dirty.  I mean how can they?  Not so.

Now before I get started, this isn’t just an article for Southern Californians.  These window cleaning tips are for any part of God’s green earth.

Are you ready?  Let’s get started.

So let’s address the overarching problem when cleaning windows.  And that problem is those ugly streaks.  Let’s say you woke up and felt great.  So great you wanted to take on the world.  So what is it you decide to take on?  Your windows.

But let’s slow down for a second there my friend.  Before you begin your attack on those dirty windows, and I’m not implying that you can’t.  Let’s figure out what needs to be done first.  You’ll see it won’t be that difficult.

Ready for the tips?  Here goes in quick fashion.

First, make sure you have the right equipment.  This isn’t like you are cleaning you wonderful local family room glass table.  No this is glass that has been beaten up by the wind, rain, dust, birds, insects, doesn’t matter what part of the country you are in.

So what will be the tools that will be needed for the job.  Well it certainly won’t be windex and some paper towels.  It won’t be much more complicated than that.  The tools you will need is a squeegee and a spray bottle and then you can use the paper towels.

Use all these tools, and cleaning these windows will be a snap.

So now what do you do with these tools?  Well the final part is the secret sauce.  Ready for the secret ingredient?  Drum roll please.  The secret sauce is 2 gallons of water and a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid.  Sounds simple, but that is all you will need to make your windows streak free.

Oops, I forgot one last ingredient, and you will need plenty of this.  And this final ingredient is elbow grease.

Remember when you woke up all gung ho ready to take on the windows?  Well after the third window or so, that little bit of elbow grease might just not be enough.

Well when you do, don’t forget where you got the advice.  Your wonderful local San Diego window washing company, who won’t mind adding some elbow grease.

Till next time, happy cleaning.

In her last months of life, Jade Goody sold the story of her slow death from cancer to the papers. She let go of what dignity she had left, and allowed her family’s private and very personal pain to be broadcast across the world for all to see, a world where she knew she was already the subject of much media animosity. She knew that she would be criticised but she bore it well, and why? So she could die knowing her sons would be left with enough money for a private education.

Now, I’m not saying Jade was wrong to want that future for her boys – after all she herself was one of thousands, probably even millions, who feel they have been failed by the state education system. But it begs the question of the lengths parents have to go to get their children in to a good school, and whether private prep schools are really so much better than regular comprehensives if they come at such a cost to families?

School fees have spiralled in recent years, and the latest figures suggest that parents are now expected to pay an average of around £3,000 per term to keep their child in private education, or as much as £7,350 for boarding schools. Perhaps as a result of this rise in cost, there has been a bit of a backlash against private education, with many people believing that a child can succeed wherever they are if they get the right encouragement. Michelle Obama gave new life to this belief last month when she visited a girls’ state school in London and met with the pupils there, showing her obvious support for the school and telling its pupils that ‘you are all jewels’. 

But whatever the media decides to report next and however expensive it may be to send a child to private school, especially when many parents are struggling with the recession, the fact remains that on average private schools do achieve better grades. Bearing in mind that only 18 per cent of all sixth form pupils attend independent sixth form colleges, figures show that 10,156 of these pupils achieved three As at A-level last year, compared to just 7,484 pupils in state schools.

It’s certainly food for thought for parents, and a tough choice to make between what could be a better education for their children, but probably having to make serious cutbacks in other areas to be able to afford it. Many parents would have to start saving the moment their baby is born, or even earlier, just to get their child in through the door of a private school.

Have you dreamed of learning to play the piano? Nowadays you don’t even need to get a acoustic piano. Instead you can obtain a perfectly adequate second-hand digital piano for a very reasonable cost. Once you have bought one, the next plan of action is getting lessons. If you have loads of money, personal individual lessons are a reasonable way to learn. You will need to get hold of a local teacher and then organise lessons with them once a week. The main negative aspect of this is that it can be exhorbitantly pricey.

The best approach is to take lessons via online piano lessons or piano lesson DVDs. E.g. one of the most highly rated DVD based piano courses out there is  http://piano-lessons-reviews.info, which includes around14 DVDs of great course material. There are lots of other courses on the interweb that provide great teaching and are very cheap. They have a large number of advantages over a conventional human teacher. These include: learning at your own speed, reduced cost, allowing to play along to a backing musical piece and much less travel time. Imagine not having to play the same piece over and over again in the same room as a human teacher. Instead it’s much more favourable to play on your own with the aid of a computer or DVD player. The computer will not make you feel awkward or make you feel silly. It really is the best way to learn. The lessons usually come with video clips, sound clips, online forums, ebooks. They also include a large variety of piano music and music styles including jazz, classical and modern music.  

Another major advantage with online piano lessons is that they are extremely flexible and can adjust to your learning speed. You can take a lesson when you have the time available, you are not stuck to a fixed time every week. If you are at home for a period of time you can use the extra time having extra lessons! If you are really busy in the day you can fit in a lesson in the evening.
If you are seriously contemplating about learning to play the piano and are unsure of the best way to approach the problem then click on the hyperlink above to navigate to one of the best online piano lesson review sites. 

The first step in being able to memorize any kind of information is to understand how your memory works. When you know what the natural mechanisms of the brain are, you can utilize them to effectively memorize any type of information.

Find More Free Techniques For Memory Improvement

The truth is, your brain isn’t designed to memorize numbers and words. Your brain is designed to remember the connection between images, sounds, smells, and feelings.

Two main techniques for memory improvement exist:

The Chain Technique

The Chain Technique is the basic method for memorizing lists of information. With this method, images are connected directly to each other. For example, to memorize the list: Table - Book - Phone - Pen - Paper, you would picture in your mind a book on a table. You then picture in your mind a phone on the book. Next, you picture a pen on the phone, and finally, a paper on the pen. To recall this information, all you have to do is picture the table in your mind. The image of a book will come to mind, and you can recall the entire list in this manner. You can also recall the list in reverse order by the same method.

The Cicero Technique

The Cicero Technique is used to memorize information independent of each other. Objects in a room are selected in clock-wise order, and used as ‘Hard-Drive space’ in your mind. To memorize the same list, you would picture a table on your front door, a book in your front closet, a phone on your hallway table, a pen on your couche, and a paper in the fireplace. To recall information, you view the familiar locations in your mind and see the images connected to them in your mind.

These techniques are just a sampling of the available techniques for memory improvement. A solid foundation is required for real results.

You can have a phenomenal memory. Get ahead and learn how with these resources:

Get Real Memory Improvement, Real Results

Memory Improvement Techniques At Squidoo