Family Tree - How The Symptoms Of Black Mold Exposure Often Go Unrecognized

Mold is a serious health problem, but the health risks of exposure to black mold have only recently come to light. Before, doctors thought that these were symptoms of other illnesses. The role that black mold exposure plays in these symptoms is just beginning to be fully studied. Here are some common symptoms of black mold exposure that are often mistaken. Chronic Sinus Trouble More than 35 million Americans suffer from chronic sinus trouble. This means that you have congestion, runny nose, sinus headaches and other symptoms. You don't have a cold or hay fever; you just have "bad sinuses." It's something genetic that's been passed down, or a seasonal allergy. Most people leave it at that. Recent studies have shown that sinus trouble is almost always caused by environmental factors. And, the number one environmental factor is exposure to black mold. Mold releases spores which become airborne. Everyone is allergic to these spores in varying degrees. When you come into contact with airborne spores, they irritate your sinuses and produce these symptoms. Asthma It has traditionally been accepted that asthma was genetic. It seemed that it was passed down from one generation to the next, and if it was in your family tree, you would be more likely to develop it. However, in the last few years studies have shown that asthma is due more to environmental factors than it was previously believed. There is a link between exposure to black mold in early life and the development of asthma later on. It is difficult to carry out a study on the effect of mold on the development of asthma, but the anecdotal evidence out there is overwhelming. Hopefully in the next few years, a definite link will be established. Flu Symptoms Some varieties of toxic mold can produce flu-like symptoms. This includes nausea, fever and headaches. It is difficult to diagnose as black mold poisoning, however, because it could be so many other things. Toxic mold spores can cause problems for any part of the body, including the digestive tract. We usually think of mold having an effect on breathing, but spores enter the body through the respiratory system. From there, the microtoxins can go anywhere. Mental Illness It is hard to believe that something as seemingly harmless as mold could have an effect on our brains, but it does. Exposure to toxic mold can have neurological effects, as spores enter the body and release toxins into the bloodstream. Common symptoms include chronic fatigue, hearing and memory loss, and mild symptoms of dementia. These are symptoms of the very advanced stages of toxic mold poisoning. If someone you know is suffering neurological damage due to toxic black mold exposure, you should seek medical help immediately. These symptoms are elusive, and that is why you should make sure your house is mold free. Have your house tested, either by a professional or do it yourself with a mold testing kit from your hardware store. Keeping the mold out of your house will greatly reduce the risk of developing these symptoms of black mold exposure. Learn more information on stop toxic black mold and health problems with toxic mold. ToxicBlackMoldHelp.org is a comprehensive resource to help individuals to test and inspect, identify health symptoms and removal of toxic black mold. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mandy_Fain

Family Tree - How To Write and Sell Nostalgia Articles

Most of us have inherited dog-eared piles of old black and white photographs, which now languish unheeded in the bottom of a draw. Well it's time to bring them out, dust them down and get them published. The past is the present trend and your photographs could form the basis for marketable articles, fillers and readers' letters. Nostalgia The over 50s market loves to remember old times. There are plenty of opportunities here for publication. In the UK, magazines like The People's Friend want first person memories of childhood, special events, people and places. Accompanied by relevant photographs from your family album, your work has an excellent chance of acceptance. Fillers and readers' letters are also a good bet. Yours magazine has a regular slot, 'The clothes we wore', and invites readers to send in illustrations of fashion through the decades. Sometimes readers are asked to contribute recollections and pictures on specific subjects such as holidays or Christmas. Social History Genealogy is big business and the wealth of family tree magazines offers many openings. Family history magazines are looking for interesting stories about readers' families that can be backed up by photographs. Pictures can also form the basis for less personal articles covering aspects of social history such as wartime, transport or housing. In the UK, The Lady will consider articles on social history, especially when tied in to timely anniversaries. If you can provide suitable photographs with your piece, your income will be enhanced significantly. Don't forget the trade press as technological advances can sometimes be best illustrated by comparison with the past. Old pictures can also emphasise the illustrious history of a product or company. A picture of granny sipping tea from a vacuum flask on a picnic in 1920 might be of interest to Thermos or to a specialist catering publication. Check out Willings Press Guide at your local library for the definitive list of trade papers. Local History County magazines constitute another market for your old pictures. How about a picture of your local High Street in the 1940s? Compare it with a recent picture and write a feature about how things have changed. Take another look at your family portraits - the background scenery might prove just as valuable as the human subjects. If your ancestors lived in several different places or took adventurous holidays you might find you have enough material to approach several different publications outside your usual locality. Heritage For UK writers, the heritage market is expanding, with much of the readership coming from a new generation of loyal expats. Articles about Britain's rich history of people, places, traditions and folklore will be welcomed. Can you remember a regular event that took place in your childhood town or a now famous person that lived nearby? Wartime memories are also popular with the older generation. Pictures of men and women in military uniform go down well with nostalgia magazines, particularly when accompanied by some lively memories or an authoritative article. Inspiration Thumbing through old photos can be an enjoyable way of stimulating new ideas. Who was that lady and why did she look so sad? Could this be the starting point for a short story? Looking at ourselves as children, or at loved ones who may no longer with us, may evoke emotions and thoughts that can be integrated into our writing. Perhaps you are working on a non-contemporary novel. Use your photographs to get the historical details, such as dress and location, just right. If you have a comprehensive collection of photographs of real historic interest, you might consider writing a non-fiction book. Do some further research to see whether your idea has real potential and remember that your chances of finding a publisher for non-fiction are higher than for fiction. If you are moved to write your personal memoirs - be warned. Unless you are famous or your life has been truly remarkable, you will hold little interest for publishers. However, as a legacy for future generations of the family, some find this a worthwhile project. Presentation All submitted photographs should be clearly labelled with a caption, your name, address and title of your article. Write these details on an adhesive label and attached it to the back of the picture. Never write directly onto the print. If you are wary about sending original photographs with your article query, enclose scanned copies in the first instance. If you are contributing readers' letters or fillers it is probably better to provide the original print. Editors may not feel motivated to correspond with you for this type of submission but they usually do send your pictures back. Louise Dop is a successful freelance writer and technical author. Her ebook, The Writer's Secret Weapon, brings together a collection of the best free online resources for writers and gives an insight into the writing life. With over 50 direct links to resources, this straightforward guide will show you the real-life tips and tricks that - armed with an Internet connection and basic computer literacy - you can try for yourself right away. http://www.clearlywrite.co.uk Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Louise_Dop

Family Tree - Why You Should Avoid Free Website and Hosting Deals

Do a search for free websites or free hosting on Google and you'll get 191,000,000 or more links to websites that offer this so called deal. If you are planning to setup a family site, with the latest news, photos of the kids etc, or you're a genealogist and would like to post your family tree and information for other genealogists, and all the traffic you want or need is your family, friends and whatever strangers you happen to meet and would like to send to your URL, then by all means take advantage of their offer. Because that is probably all the traffic you are going to get to visit your site. However if you are seriously considering becoming an internet entrepreneur, find yourself a reputable web design company and an affordable hosting plan. Too expensive? Not at all. Actually, the start up costs for an internet business is usually less than a hundred dollars (this figure is based on the average cost of a domain, a professionally designed website and set up fees). Naturally custom built websites would be substantially more expensive but, unless you require the addition of unique features in order to manage your business, your most cost effective choice would be a professionally designed website. There are three factors which I encourage my clients to keep in mind when selecting a website for their online business venture. The deciding factors when selecting your web design should be the ease of navigation and the suitability of the page layout to your content. Customers come to your site searching for a product, service, or information. If your site does not provide easy access to the content they want, they not going to hang around just to admire the design elements of your website. By selecting a layout suitable for the content you intend to place on your web pages, whether its product images and descriptions or informational content, like this article for example, you can save a lot of time and--if you intend to have your support staff setup your content-- money as well. The third factor is the basic web design. While many experts, and myself as well, believe customers are sub-consciously motivated by colors, (red encourages them to take action, blue promotes a sense of trust, yellow and orange, a sense of well being or contentment, etc), the basic design elements of your website such as the background colors, images, bullets, flash etc, are really a matter of personal preference. Your free provider offers templates you may use to create your website. However, before you go to the trouble, read the fine print. Those templates are the property of the free provider. You may only use them as long as you use the free provider's services. If you decide to move your site to another hosting provider in future, that lovely site you worked so hard to design isn't going anywhere bucko. On the other hand, once you purchase a professionally designed website, it's yours. You can move it to Timbuktu if you're so inclined. A good support staff is an extremely valuable if not totally indispensable resource for a new website owner. Unfortunately it is also a resource that very few free website providers offer. Would you like to know how to determine whether a web design company has a good support staff before you purchase your website? Simply email the seller these two simple questions. 1. How do I setup links on my site? 2. What software will I need to manage my site? If you don't get a response to your questions within 24 to 48 hours, look elsewhere for your website. If the only answers you receive are an offer to setup the links for you for a small fee and a list of expensive software products, look elsewhere for your website. A good support staff will respond to your request within 24 to 48 hours. A good support staff will offer to setup links on your site for you for a small fee--and provide you with a list of links to free software you can use to manage your site. The list will probably include some optional software products you may find useful for the management of your site. The key words here are free and optional. An excellent support staff will tell you up front whether a product is optional or not. The two software products you absolutely must have to manage your website are a good text editor and FTP program. Any support staff worth their salt will tell you that there are several free text editors with WISIWIG (what you see is what you get) capabilities available on the internet. These editors are an excellent choice for those of you who don't know HTML. The staff will also tell you that there you can get free FTP programs as well. An excellent support staff will offer advice similar to the advice given in the following paragraph. With a good WISIWIG text editor, you can easily set up your links even if you don't know HTML. Refer to the help section for "hyperlinks" in your WISIWIG text editor to learn how to use this feature on your editor. By the way, if you don't know HTML, it's actually an extremely easy language to learn. There are free HTML tutorials available on the internet. You can learn more about it here (www.tizag.com/htmlT/). A domain is an extremely valuable asset; you should most definitely have one of your very own. Without a domain of your own, you may as well save yourself the time and trouble of trying to start an online business at all. The average cost of a .com domain is approx $8.95 per year. You'll find that some web design companies will include your domain with your professionally designed website at no extra charge. If you are planning to use a free provider, then don't bother purchasing a domain for your new site unless you intend to shell out the provider's membership fee. Most free providers provide you with two membership options'free or paid. If you choose the free membership option, the provider will set up your URL for you website like this: FREE PROVIDER DOMAIN/YOUR USER ID, or even worse, like this: FREE PROVIDER DOMAIN/DIR/YOUR USER ID. Settle for either one these URLs, and you'll be lucky to even get your site indexed by the search engines and directories at all. You see, many search engines and directories will not accept your website submissions if your URL contains a forward slash. Some major search engines and directories categorically refuse to accept submissions for websites hosted with free providers at all. Google rarely indexes sites hosted by free providers, and even more rarely gives the site a ranking greater than 0/10. Even if you are lucky enough to land yourself a few customers for your site, the inclusion of a free provider's domain in your URL can also have an adverse affect on your ability to get repeat customers for your site. Yourdomain.com is fairly easy for your customer to recall. Your provider domain.com/your user id would be extremely difficult for them to remember since they have probably never done business with your provider. . Look at it this way. Your URL is the name and address of your online company. If you were operating a brick and mortar business which name and address would you want to print on your business cards, forms and advertisements? Your Free Provider's Company Name/ Your User ID, we're located inside Free Provider Company's premises. Or Your Company Name, we're located at 123 Main Street. Of course your free provider will be more than happy to setup your website under your own domain'provided you pay their membership fee and purchase the domain yourself to boot. Sort of defeats your purpose of saving a few bucks, doesn't it? Now let's take a look at the pros and cons of your hosting plan. They are not providing free hosting out of the goodness of their hearts, my friend. Read that fine print again. The majority of free providers offer limited amounts of web space, bandwidth and features. Better check the number of web pages you're allowed to setup under your free account while you're at it, because some providers set a ridiculously low limit. If you exceed whatever limits your free provider allows, you'll have to pay their membership fee and/or purchase one of their hosting plans. Paid hosting providers offer you a choice of plans tailored to fit your needs. If your needs change, you simply upgrade to the next plan. Although prices vary, hosting plans range from 8.95 to 14.95 per month, based on the amount of space, bandwidth and features you want. I've found some free providers who offer small quantities of additional memory for as much as 5 bucks each. Choose that option and you may find yourself paying twice as much for hosting as a paid provider charges for the best hosting plan they offer. Again, you need to make sure your hosting provider offers a good support staff. So before purchasing a hosting plan, email them a couple of simple questions, such as; how do I set my DNS (Domain Name Servers) and will you set up my site for me? A good hosting company offers 24/7 support. Their support staff will respond within 24 hours and give you two options to both questions. A good support staff offer to set up your DNS at no charge and setup your site for a small fee An excellent support staff will also give you simple instructions on how to do these tasks yourself. Even if you have no intentions of doing these tasks yourself, you may want to learn how to do some tasks yourself in the future. You should make sure that if and when you do, your support staff will be willing to provide you with the information you need should you require it. If you are determined to succeed in the online marketplace, you'll save yourself a lot of time and trouble if you start out right. Before you leap on that free website, free hosting offer, do your research. Read the fine print and see if the deal they are offering will meet your needs now and calculate the cost that you could incur if you have to exceed the allotment of services they provide for free in the future. If you want your own domain, then add the cost of the provider's membership too. Talley the costs of "free provider's services", then set it aside and shop around a bit. Visit a web design company offering professionally designed websites for less than a hundred dollars and see what they have to offer. Take a look at the hosting plans available with all the features you need. Now, compare the costs of both options. Keep in mind that, as with any business, you will eventually have to invest a little money if you truly want to succeed. While we're on the subject of money, please be very, very careful when it comes to investing your hard earned dollars. Sadly, many of the businesses deals you'll find offering your own website and free hosting are at best affiliate sites or multi-level marketing schemes. Most major search engines and directories will not index these sites. If their sales pitch includes claims that you can make hundreds or even thousands of dollars within a very short time with no effort you've found yourself a full fledged scam. You can make money on the internet, but just as with any business venture, you are going to have to invest some time and money in order to achieve your goals. The secret to being a successful entrepreneur is investing your time and money wisely. Loretta Wright is the CEO of http://www.topcat-web-design.com and also serves as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for http://www.Topcat-Hosting.com She also oversees the operations for seven other websites she currently owns. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Loretta_Wright

Family Tree - Starting Your Family History

If you have ever sat and wondered about your family and where you come from your not alone, you can have an emotional roller coaster ride of an adventure seeking your kindred dead as many do. Doing your Family History is something that comes to each of us at sometime in our life, it appears as a deep-seated desire to know more about our ancestors, what they were like, and where you come from. Many remember the made for TV minnie series called "Roots" written by Alex Halley, which seemed to start a nation wide interest in something people have been doing for centuries... Genealogy, or also know today simply as Family History. I'm here to tell you some things that can be useful to you as you think about getting started doing your own personal Family History research. First start with yourself... after choosing one of the many Family History or Genealogy software's on the market today open it up and put in your personal information. Mainly you're full name, birth date, where you were born, and whatever else is asked for in the software. Then do your mediate family, wife or husband, children, or if your not married start with your parents and siblings. If you use the Pedigree Chart you can see how this looks like a tree and the farther you go back the more branches you have. That's why people often ask "who's in your family tree"? After that keep putting in your parents and their siblings, their parents and their siblings, for as far back as you know or can remember. Then when you look at it, you start to see how very quickly your ancestors add up. Don't let the shear magnitude of the numbers discourage you from continuing. You see in the digital age we live, the second most researched topic on the Internet is Genealogy, so even though you don't know all the people from your past chances are someone has done some work that you can find by doing some simple research on the world wide web. Second, remember all the stories you have heard about your parents and grand parents, write them down as best you can. They take a recording device and interview your parents or grand parents, or anyone that may have information about your family. Keep these recording and use them as reference material. Most of all the software out there will allow you to input these stories as a part of your record, and pictures. Last of all; set aside a regular time to work on this weekly, monthly, or whatever works best for you. The key here is to find time to spend doing this work on a regular basis. I can promise you that if you do this you will find yourself excited, and it wont be work at all, you'll look forward more and more to the time you spend with your kindred dead. They will become alive for you as you come to know who they are; this leads to a better understanding of yourself too. Remember this last tip, share your findings with others, and they will share with you. We are all connected at some point if you go back far enough. So just remember most likely others are doing research on your family line somewhere in the world. They will share as you share with them. Because of the times we live in today this work is linking the family of man on a worldwide bases, mainly because of the information super highway, and the advance in technology over the past 15 years. Embrace your Family History with passion, which for many used to be just a hobby, but now has become an addiction. Copyright 2005 Jessica Deets has been researching the internet for over 4 years and finds valuable information to help people. The website at http://www.genealogyworkbook.com has information, news and a current blog regarding genealogy and family history. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jessica_Deets

Family Tree - Feed The Tree - The Genealogy of The Pixies, Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly

One of my very favourite sub-scenes of music is the interweaving family tree that includes The Pixies, Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly. I could write endlessly about any of these bands, even about individual songs, so I am going to try to strictly limit myself to a very potted history and include a few example videos by each band, as well as a diagram that explains a great deal more (well, that's if you can read it...it's sharp as a pin on my computer, but the quality doesn't seem to be so great in Blogger). The diagram, too, could be endless, and there is much that is not incuded...but that should inform a healthy comments debate of additions eh? Recording during the late 1980s and the 1990s, I believe that these artists, and in particular The Pixies, really added something new to the musical landscape; and they have certainly been very influential on other musicians. I shall start with The Pixies, as they are probably the best known of the bunch, and are really the 'daddy' of this scene (although Throwing Muses were around before The Pixies formed). Headed by Charles Michael Kitridge Thompson IV (!) under the pseudonym Black Francis, they were formed in Boston in 1986. Their full-length debut, Surfer Rosa, recorded by Steve Albini, was released in 1988 (following the release of EP Come On Pilgrim), and was quietly successful, particularly in the UK (more so than in their native US), and won both Melody Maker and Sounds' Album Of The Year title. They supported fellow Bostonians Throwing Muses on tour early on in their career, which introduced them to industry professionals and the wider public. I would describe their sound as alternative, guitar-based surf punk. Their albums displayed a wide range of song styles and The Pixies seemed to have a really novel, original and unique way of doing things. Strange sound collages crash against surreal imagery on subjects as diverse as UFOs, Mose Allison, incest and biblical references, and the albums are peppered by lyrics in Spanish as well as in English. These lyrics are often 'spacey' or violent, yet it is clear that their author is eloquent and articulate. Their use of volume and dynamics is also of note, with quiet, lazy, restrained sections contrasting with loud hell-for-leather, beat-the-crap-out-of-your-guitar choruses, and gutteral growlings interspersed with sweet, almost falsetto, tunefulness. They were of particular influence on the grunge music scene of the early 1990s (Nirvana claimed, in interview, to have been trying to emulate their sound with Smells Like Teen Spirit), and have been cited by many, including David Bowie, U2 and Radiohead, as one of their favourite bands. Black Francis, now rechristened Frank Black, has since been prolific, both solo and with his band Frank Black And The Catholics. And so, before we move on, here are a couple of interesting tidbits for you... The song Debaser (from the album Doolittle - which was provisionally titled Whore) was inspired by the film Un Chien Andalou, by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali...anyone that has seen this film will remember the eyeball-slicing scene vividly! The song Ana (from Bossanova) is an acrostic - the first letters of each of its six lines spelling out S-U-R-F-E-R. Divinyl's tip for best introductory album = Doolittle. Throwing Muses were formed in 1983 by Kristin Hersh and her step-sister Tanya Donelly. They self-released a set of demos (The Doghouse Cassette) in 1984, also releasing a self-titled EP later that year. Their debut album proper (again eponymous) was released in 1986. Muses were the first American act to be signed to British record label 4AD, which has housed all of these key bands, as well as lots of other great artists. 4AD is also responsible for one of my favourite compilation albums, which came free with the magazine Uncut in 1998 and features Lush, His Name Is Alive, Dead Can Dance, Lisa Germano, Mojave 3, Red House Painters and others. (Check out their website for a fuller overview of their artists/releases.) Hersh has an extremely distinctive vocal style and the lyrics are quirky, sung over tempo shifts and catchy guitar hooks. This is still somewhat anguished 'alternative rock' (e.g. lots of references to mental illness in their lyrics - Hersh suffers from bipolar disorder and is compelled to write by auditory hallucinations which 'force' songs upon her), but it is tuneful, poppy and accessible. Hersh continues to record solo today - a more acoustic sound and stunning songwriting - and also, in 2003, formed the power rock trio 50 Foot Wave. She has been kind enough to share free-to-download mp3s from her solo career, as well as songs from Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave at her website Throwing Music. Divinyl's tip for best introductory album = Limbo. Best introductory Kristin Hersh album = Hips And Makers (which was co-produced by Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye). Kim Deal of The Pixies formed The Breeders (taking the name from the teenage band of she and twin sister Kelley, also in this incarnation - the word being one which homosexuals use to refer to heterosexual people) with Throwing Muses' (with whom they had been on tour) guitarist Tanya Donelly and bassist Josephine Wiggs of Perfect Disaster. Formed in 1989 and releasing their first full album, Pod, in 1990, this was a much more girl-based sound, where angular guitar-playing and feedback are complemented by the melodic singing voices of both Deal and Donelly (don't get me wrong, these women can howl too!). They were signed to 4AD after Ivo Watts-Russell heard their demo, and their debut was recorded (again by Steve Albini, with whom Deal had worked when she was in The Pixies) in only one week. And so to a fact, before we leave The Breeders - with their album Title TK (2002), they heralded the "all wave" philosophy of recording analogue instruments and vocals and eschewing computer technology and digital recording techniques. Divinyl's tip for best introductory album = Last Splash. Whilst The Breeders are still going (or at least haven't officially split - the last album they released was Title TK), Tanya Donelly (the most 'capped' in this pantheon) left in 1991 to form... Belly. Who were a much more chart- and MTV-friendly band who fit nicely into the division of early 90s indie rock that also included groups such as Lush, Echobelly and Dubstar. Belly are, in my opinion, under-appreciated. Their first EP, Slow Dust, was released in 1992 and reached number one on the British indie chart. There followed two albums - Star in 1993 and King in 1995. And that was it (but it was enough to garner Grammy nominations)...unless you count a (great) album mixing 'best of'/B-sides and rareties not released until 2002. Their sound was much more 'pop' than their sibling bands, at times dreamy, at times thrashy, the lyrics still replete with weird, haunting and surreal imagery. They had their biggest success with the single Feed The Tree. Donelly continues to work as a solo artist and has made some lovely songs; however, in my opinion, her solo efforts have varied widely in quality - it's all a bit hit-and-miss. You can visit her website, where there are free downloadable demos from Belly's album Star and also from her solo catalogue. Divinyl's tip for best introductory album - Star. And by Tanya Donelly as a solo artist - Whiskey Tango Ghosts. N.B. All still images original by Divinyl. http://divinylblogs.blogspot.com Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kiri_Little

Family Tree - Is Homo Erectus in Our Family Tree?

Homo erectus lived from an estimated 2,000,000 down to 100,000 years ago. Java and Peking man are included among Homo erectus. Locations: Europe, India, China, Southeastern Asia, and Africa. Height: 5 feet 2 inches to 6 feet; Weight: 100 to 150 pounds. Fossils: Jaws, teeth, and an occasional skull cap and thighbone have been uncovered. In 1984, a well-preserved almost complete erectus was discovered in Kenya. Remarkably similar erectus bones and tools have surfaced in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Brain Capacity: Donald Johanson says 850 cubic centimeters to 900 c.c. Richard Leakey claims 900 c.c. to 1100 c.c.. compared to 350 - 400 c.c. for australopithecines, 650 c.c. for Homo habilis and 1400 c.c for humans. It is thought that erectus' brain weighed around seven ounces at birth. It would mature at thirty-two ounces compared to forty-five ounces for an adult human. Johanson describes Homo erectus as "tall, thin, and barrel-chested." Their weight and height would place them in the top 17 percent of modern human males. Based on reconstructed skeleton of a twelve-year-old male, Johanson believes erectus had a body shaped like many African groups today. But there were differences. Their bones were considerably heavier and more massive than those of modern man. And their facial features included low sloping foreheads and heavy curved brow ridges. Like the australopithecines, erectus displays noticeably large thigh bones and a small pelvis. Those qualities combined to make this species more athletic than we are today. They were designed for mobility. Walking and running came naturally for them; however, such dexterity came at a price. Erectus' narrow pelvis severely limited the size of its brain at birth. And the brain remained proportionally smaller than sapiens'. In contrast to Johanson's view, Richard Leakey believes Homo erectus was a little stockier than the average human today. The head and face were "primitive" with the forehead sloping backwards and prominent brow ridges. His face protrudes less than Homo habilis, but hot as flat as Homo sapiens. The chin was present but poorly developed. Erectus made and used tools. Large potato-shaped hand axes, along with picks, and long-edged cleavers are the basic utensils of Old Stone Age technology, otherwise known as the Acheulian tool industry. These stone tools were probably used for chopping, cutting, piercing, and pounding meat. Meat was evidently an important part of erectus' diet. We find evidence that they were using their hand axes for cutting and carving wood and meat. Richard Leakey tells us that twenty thousand stone tools have been found associated with erectus. That's a lot of tools. But hunting weapons are not among them. No spear, dart, or arrowhead has surfaced. How they got their meat remains a mystery. Possibly they were scavengers. The Acheulian technology was a stagnate technology. It didn't improve over time. It didn't even adapt to local conditions. Incredibly enough, we find the same hand axes, picks, and cleavers in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Leakey believes their tool craft may have actually declined, during the erectus period. He comments, "Some of the later examples of the technology appear simple and crude compared with some earlier material." From Africa and China, we find solid evidence that erectus was using fire. Whether they could make it is still questionable. One million years ago at Swartkran, erectus was probably cooking food and/or using fire to keep predators away. At Zhoukoudian, a Peking site in China around 500,000 years ago, a series of ash layers leads anthropologists to believe erectus was responsible for these ancient hearths. Did Homo erectus talk? Probably not, concludes anthropologist Ann MacLarnon. There's a major difference between erectus and sapiens in the thoracic region. The vertebral canal in Homo sapiens is twice as wide as it is in erectus. In this respect, Homo erectus is physically closer to an ape than it is to modern humans. And that is a distinction of considerable importance. According to Ms. MacLarnon, erectus probably lacked the number of cell bodies which we have in our spinal chord. That means erectus had less muscle control in his rib section. Those muscles along with their supporting nerves control breathing. Finely controlled breathing is an essential requirement for speech. Apparently, erectus could not talk. Apart from this anatomical evidence, we have another common sense reason for doubting erectus' ability to speak. If they were discussing and comparing their stone techniques, that should be enough to spark an occasional improvement over a million years or so. But we don't find any. In many ways erectus seems almost like us. But something is missing. The cultural traits of language, funerary rites, and art are all absent. And as Johanson points out, "There is the troubling matter of a tool industry that didn't change for a million years. That's a long, long time without improvement. Contrast that to the accomplishments humans have made in the last two hundred years. Where should we place Homo erectus in the scheme of things? The experts disagree. The same argument that arose earlier with Australopithecus afarensis and Homo habilis surfaces again with Homo erectus. Paleontologists question whether erectus is one or more species. Those early fossils from Africa may need to be reclassified in a separate category from the later ones from Asia. Others believe erectus is an early form of sapiens. They say he is human. Did Homo erectus evolve into modern humans? Or were they a breed apart? Scientists disagree; there's no clear proof either way. Again, where evidence is thin, speculation abounds. Jerry Boone, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, United States webmaster@merechristianity.us Mr. Boone is a sailor, author, and webmaster of http://merechristianity.us with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Georgia State University. His works include: Mere Christianity.us and SAFETY LINE - EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN, an apologetic study published 1998. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerry_Richard_Boone

Family Tree - DNA Testing Improves Identification Of Survivors

We human beings are born to be unique. Although twins of similar features and sexes are hard to be differentiated, there is still one big difference if you look enough underneath all the layers of organs. The answer lies in the genetic markers in our DNA. In this case, we can even reconstruct genetic profile of someone distant in your family tree or missing family member as gene inheritance happens in family like from grandparents to parents and so forth. This identification method that is now being used for situations that, due to decomposition and the loss of medical records, have exhausted all other available identification methods. For example, the World Trade Center 2001 destruction, Hurricane Katrina 2005 and South East Asia tsunami chaos 2004 which resulted in thousands of death which may need few days or weeks to retrieve the bodies and to be brought back to the morgue as weather, lack of humanitarian volunteers, badly affected location and also lack of technology could improve situation. Forensic and postmortem protocols could check on features like dental, fingerprint, sex, hair color and others. In addition, with further implementation like DNA matching, it is necessary for identification of children who were lacking little antemortem dental or fingerprint data. With standardized procedures, it would be likely for months to correctly match the corpse using genetic markers. In addition, roughly only 50 to 60% of the 3025 persons who died in 9-11 chaos were managed to be identify in 18 months. Certain DNA markers that are shared among a deceased individual's DNA profile and several survivors' reference sample profiles indicate that a relative has been found and can now be identified. Of course the high cost of DNA testing and lack of morgue with the expertise in those destructive places may lead to slow identification. In 2006, the DNA Shoah Project was set to achieve its goal to give the departed Holocausts victims the last respect they deserved and to create a DNA database that can serve as both a genetic family tree and a memorial to those who perished. The hope was to match these remains with DNA samples gathered from Holocaust survivors and from descendants of the departed. The project's second aim: to unite those orphaned by the Holocaust with a close relative who survived. With a large database of living survivors, internal matches among them could also turn up. DNA typing has often been portrayed in the media and the courtroom as a controversial technology but in a way, it certainly acts as a helping tool in identification tool in survivors or dead bodies. People say dead bodies don't talk, but if you study deep to their bones, they tell stories untold. Nevertheless, the basic premise of the argument is valid and has been incorporated into recommendations about how forensic DNA testing be conducted and interpreted. J.J. Yong, a DNA blogger with wide interest in DNA testing, genealogy, phylogenetics - as long they are related to DNA. He truly believes that amazement of DNA is like bringing us closer to humanity or humility of mankind. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J.J._Yong

Family Tree - Online Guide to Public Records

Are you interested in whether your business colleague contributed to the presidential campaign? Wondering who owns the abandoned lot on the other side of town? Or on a more persona note, are you trying to trace your family tree and can't remember Great-Aunt Susie's third husband? You might find your answers through an online public records search. Due diligence applies, as the data at some sites can be outdated or inaccurate. The sites below are good bets, but the list is by no means inclusive. PACER Public Access to Court Electronic Records is a government site that provides electronic access to case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts, and from the U.S. PartyCase Index. Most of PACER's records are available on the Internet, but a few must be dialed directly via communication software and a modem. Most jurisdictions offer toll-free numbers for modem dialing. PACER provides an array of information, including a listing of all parties involved in a case, compilations of case related information, dates of events recorded in a case record, a claims registry and more. Criminal court records are not available through PACER. PACER registration is free, but a service fee applies. Effective 2005, Web searches are levied at a rate of eight cents per search page, including pages telling you there are no results. Dial up PACER systems charge sixty cents per minute. You pay nothing until you accrue over $10 in a calendar year. Accumulated fees of under $10 are erased at years end. U.S. Search This highly rated search site uses patented technology to access billions of public records. Search categories include private investigative services, criminal records searches, background searches, financial services, home and family, real estate reports, business searches and court records. To expand upon just a few of the uses you might make of this site, you could find out if a home contractor has liens, judgments and bankruptcies before contracting with him or her. You could do a background check on a child care provider before trusting your children to his or her care. You could find your old military buddies, locate your lost sweetheart, find out if Cousin Bruno is out of prison yet, look up the status of a civil lawsuit filed against your former boss -- and various other tidbits of information. Additionally, you can search your own public records to help protect yourself against identity theft. To protect individuals from identify theft, U.S. Search does not provide social security numbers, date of birth, credit history, and employment records, nor to they offer bank account information or other private financial information. U.S. Search is a fee-based site. Searches range from about $3 to $300, depending on the complexity of the search that you choose. Search Systems Search Systems aims to be the Internet's primary source for free public records. Site access is free, although some of the linked sites may charge a user fee. Yahoo Internet Life and PCWorld magazines rated this site as among the most useful on the Web. Search Systems categorizes its links by nation, state, and international databases. You can search for adoption records, birth, death and marriage records, campaign contributions, copyright and trademark information, foreclosures, and a seemingly endless list of other documents. Public Record Finder.com Public Record Finder is another directory with multiple links to web sites offering public record searches. Since no fees apply, the site is financed through advertising revenues. The owners do not guarantee the accuracy of records found at the linked sites and do not provide assistance to those who cannot find the information they want. Nevertheless, their link selection is worth checking out. Yahoo Real Estate In addition to the usual searches for listings, real estate agents, etc., you can also run a search of thousands of real estate documents to learn the prices that buyers are paying in your neighborhood. According to site information, this sales data lets you analyze the value of your home or other homes. The results include price, square footage, bedrooms and the year built (if available). The School Search tool gives you information about schools in a specified neighborhood. GPO Access "The U.S. Government Printing Office disseminates official information from all three branches of the Federal Government," says the Web site, adding that their mission is to keep America informed. The site provides electronic access to documents from a number of government branches, agencies and databanks. For example, you can access Congressional reports and records, public and private laws, Federal laws, Presidential documents, and other related materials. Additionally, the GPO makes publications from three levels of government available for free public use in Federal depository libraries throughout the United States. The Access site contains links to the libraries and in some cases, to their collections. EDGAR Operated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system (EDGAR) is an online database containing registration statements, periodic reports and other forms filed by foreign and domestic companies. Companies are required by law to submit these records, which you can access and download free of charge. If you're considering buying shares in a company, you might want to check out the compulsory annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB, which contains much of the same information as the annual report issued to shareholders. Electronic Reading Room Courtesy of the IRS, the Electronic Reading Room makes an array of public records available for download. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires the IRS (and other government agencies) to make certain documents publicly available. The IRS records include final opinions made in case adjudication, statements of policy and interpretation not published in the Public Register, administrative manuals, copies of records previously released under the FOIA and others. Local Public Sites Lastly, check your local public web sites if you're looking for information specific to your city, county or state. How to Write Business Plans, Business Proposals, JV Contracts, More! No-cost ebook "Beginners Guide to Ecommerce". Business Writing by Nightcats Multimedia Productions http://www.nightcats.com Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=June_Campbell

Family Tree - Create Your Own Family Tree (Genealogy) Website

Are you researching your family history? A great way of generating interest that may lead to further information is to create a web site of your family tree and family history information. Many of the better Genealogy Software programs provide the opportunity to do this. Alternatively, submitting your GEDCOM file to the numerous (and free) genealogy sites gives your name and history a presence on the World Wide Web. Another alternative is to use a free hosting service, eg Yahoo GeoCities where you can create your own web site. However these free hosting sites often have restrictions on how much you can display and are often difficult for the first time user. The best way to design, develop and publish your own personalized family tree website is to use a HTML Editor like FrontPage or one of the many (sometimes free) HTML editors available on the internet. You will need to purchase a domain name and web hosting. The following tips will help you create a family tree web site: Title. The correct title to your web page is critical. It helps search engines identify your page, and searchers to find your page. Something like "The History of the Jones Family in Alabama" or "The Ancestors and Family History of Robert Jones in Alabama" is far better than "My Family Tree"!. Header. The first paragraph, or header, should contain the surnames of the principal families researched and displayed in your family tree. Again, not just a list of names, but proper sentences which include key words such as family, family tree, ancestors, genealogy and family history. Content. Visitors and search engines are looking for quality content, particularly on the home page of your web site. Just a list of names being researched is not enough. Compose a few paragraphs briefly describing your family history, with links to your other pages for more detailed family information. Limit your images on the home page to perhaps to one family photograph, again with links to your other photographs. Navigation. Good websites have good navigation which allows visitors and search engines to find there way around the web site. Navigation buttons or text links must be on all pages. Particularly important is a Home link on each page. Meta Tags. Meta Tags are essential on all web sites. Without Meta Tags web sites will be hard for searchers to find and will rank very lowly in many search engine listings. There is no point in having a web site that cannot be found. Do it soon to improve your 'findability' and search engine ranking. A later article on Meta tags will help further. The Importance of Links. If you have a family tree web site, having other genealogy web sites linking to you is a proven way of generating traffic and improving your page rank in search engines. 'Link Popularity' is measured by the number if inward links you have to your sites. Inward links should be from quality genealogy sites. A links page on your web site is essential. Links can be obtained by inviting webmasters from similar sites to exchange links with you, or by joining a link exchange site. Do not exchange links with inappropriate sites eg gaming and porn! On your links page invite other web masters to contact you for an exchange. So that the search engines and visitors can find your links page, ensure that there is a link on your home page to the links page. Contact Details. So that visitors can contact you it is important that you display your email address prominently. To avoid email harvesters show your email address as an image or use a free email account, eg hotmail. Observing the above tips will help you build a web site that proudly represents your family tree. Later articles will cover other issues relating to family tree web site design. Jim Hammond is a Family History Researcher who has created the free Genealogy Search Australia search engine and directory to assist new and experienced genealogists and family historians.Please visit Jim.s family tree website: The Hammond Genealogy - From Ireland and Scotland to Australia Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Hammond

Family Tree - Wedding Gift Ideas

A marriage is a joyous moment in the life of two individuals. A couple shares this beautiful personal moment with their near and dear ones, who rejoice in their happiness. A wedding gift is a tangible depiction of the feelings of the giver for the couple. A gift has to be carefully chosen, keeping the couple's individual tastes, likes and dislikes in mind, if it is intended to serve its purpose. Nothing is more distasteful and insulting than an inconsiderately given gift. A gift's value is not determined by its monetary value, but it must communicate the giver's thought appropriately and adequately. While the market abounds in numerous gift options and alternatives, selecting the right gift for the couple can be a challenge sometimes. While one can overhaul the market, surf the net and burn a hole in the purse, choosing the perfect gift requires some thinking and a little homework. A giver should always strive to give something unique and different. Personalized gifts always stand out and make a personal statement on behalf of the giver. A special memento, decorative crystal, or a paired watch with the couple's names engraved in it along with the wedding date is something memorable for the wedding couple. For very close relatives, a hand-made scrapbook complete with family pictures, or a family tree platter with hand-painted pictures of family members along with their names, signature photo quilts, or customized ceramic plates with the couples pictures and wedding dates etched on it are a few ideal gift options. In case of a hard-core golf fan, one can give a golf set with the couple's names engraved on it. A Bible with the couple's names and wedding dates engraved on it is an ideal gift for a spiritually inclined couple. It is necessary to be aware and informed about a couple's interests, hobbies, tastes and the like. A gift can be given based on this kind of information. Romantic gifts like photo pillows with the couple's portraits on it can also be given. One can also give gift certificates, home d'cor items, classic gift items like crystal and silverware, or various wedding mementos like a polymer clay image or metal candles, just right for the mantel and keepsakes. The choice of exchanging gifts for each other rests on the bride and the groom. Couples can exchange framed love poems, engraved jewelry or even unconventional items like a vintage car, for those who can afford it. A thoughtful gift certificate to a relaxing spa or a recreational resort is just the right way for the bride or bridegroom to express their gratitude and love for their parents. It is the thought that matters, and mere framed poetry or a handwritten letter to the parent is also as valuable, if not more. Parents can give bridal showers, a party to acquaint the couple to the family, or some personalized gift items, including gift certificates. Thank-you gifts need not be expensive, but should cater to individual taste. It should be given according to the kind of relationship one shares with the guests. Wedding Gifts provides detailed information on Wedding Gifts, Wedding Anniversary Gifts, Wedding Gift Ideas, Personalized Wedding Gifts and more. Wedding Gifts is affiliated with Groomsmen Gift Ideas. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Bailey

Family Tree - All In The Family Genes

What is in YOUR genes? What disease do you have a greater chance in getting, compared to the person standing next to you? If you take a look at your family's medical history, you may find some answers. Your findings could save your life! So many diseases travel along the genial lines, such as heart disease, diabetes, mental disorders, and seizures to name a few. Of course it is impossible to predict your medical future. However, it is possible to intervene early so that the disease doesn't get the best of you. Here's a scenario: Your mother died from colon cancer at 65 years of age. Your father is a diabetic with high BP (blood pressure) at the age of 70. You are 50 years old with no medical conditions. What is your parents' history telling you? Knowing about your mom and dad's conditions can clue you in on which screenings to get. Now that you are 50, you should begin having colonoscopies. This procedure may provide early intervention for colon cancer. Also, you should get your blood pressure checked at the doctor's office at least once per year or as recommended by your health care provider. Checking your BP every few months on an automated cuff (usually at the pharmacy) wouldn't hurt, either. In addition, you should get a fasting blood glucose level drawn with your yearly blood work since your dad has diabetes. All these tests are rather simple, yet effective. Let's get back to reality - most of our doctors are very busy during office hours and do not have the time to ask you about your entire family history. Be your own health advocate and start the ball rolling! Design a family tree as completely and correctly as possible. Then list the disease or condition under each corresponding person. You want to know WHO (person with the disease), WHAT (which disease), and WHEN (at what age were they diagnosed). You may have to contact some members of your family or your family doctor for this. Don't stop at just your parents or grandparents. You should include your siblings, your aunts and uncles, half-siblings, cousins, and great-grandparents. This process will take some work - but remember - you are not only doing this for yourself, you are doing this for your immediate family and future generations! Once you have your completed medical family tree, take it to your doctor. You and your doctor may be able to see family trends in regards to disease. In addition, a plan of action can be drawn out for future tests and screenings. Early diagnosis + early intervention = Better chance of survival The family genes are here to stay. Do your part to ensure family wellness! http://www.booklocker.com/books/3014.html _________________________________________________ Thanks for reading and remember, "Knowledge is power!" QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS - www.caringinnovations.net All in the Family Genes was prepared on July 3, 2006 References for All in the Family Genes : Black, J. M., Hokanson Hawks, J., & Keene, A. M. (2001). Medical-Surgical Nursing Clinical Management for Positive Outcomes (6th ed). W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA. Gaff, C. L. (2005). Identifying clients who might benefit from genetic services and Information. Nursing Standard 20(1), 49-53. Wattendorf, D. J. & Hadley, D. W. (2005) Family History: the three-generation Pedigree. American Family Physician 72(3) 441-8, 375-7, 528. Rebecca Walton, RN has been an agency nurse for most of her career. Working at 15 different hospitals, she has had the ultimate experience to gain the most out her profession. Rebecca became inspired to help her patients become more active in their healthcare. She promoted advocacy and empowered her patients to ask questions about why, what, when, where and how in regards to their healthcare. With so many doctors and nurses not having the time to explain "why" to the patient, Rebecca felt that someone needs to step up and demand answers. That someone is the patient. Teaching her patients on a day-to-day basis was not enough for Rebecca. In 2004, she decided to develop a user-friendly guide so that both the patient and the doctor would be well informed. It became HealthNote, a project she is incredibly passionate about. Rebecca is anxiously awaiting the premiere of HealthNote, which is in the process of being published. It is the single most important resource for anyone concerned about their health. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rebecca_Walton

Family Tree - Family Tree Makers

Family tree maker software lets you find your relatives and ancestors, contact them and share information with no trouble at all. Read on to find out more about this impressive program and learn how to advantage of it. How to use family tree makers With family tree maker software, you can instantly and accurately create various trees, charts and organizational diagrams based on the data that you encode. Its connectivity is superb - you can very easily 'copy and paste' individuals, family tree sections or entire trees from one file to another without any hassle. Best of all, you can merge identical persons in the combined file for greater accuracy. Most family tree makers can store an unlimited amount of information for everyone you put in your file. You have the freedom to create 'fact sheets' to include important data like birthdates, deaths, marriages, etc. With Tree Maker, each person can have their own digital scrapbook. You can even create a digital scrapbook for each person - putting in images, video and text files and access them to share easily. Important features Family tree software can typically allow you to view more than one family file simultaneously, so that you can put side them by side and edit more effectively. This makes checking correspondences and disparities between the two files very easy as well. Most family tree maker software is completely customizable. You can tweak preferences functions to make it easier for you to find useful tools. It also lets you access online databases of other family trees, so that you can find related lineage and possibly make a connection. What's more, most family tree maker software can do auto backups, so that you never lose your hard work. You can also protect your files from harmful intruders such as viruses and data corruption floppy disks. Family Tree provides detailed information on Family Tree, Free Family Tree, Family Tree Makers, Family Tree Charts and more. Family Tree is affiliated with Family Reunion Ideas. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy