The Helpful Pointer

E-mail is a wonderful and inexpensive way of sending a postcard that anyone in the entire world can potentially read! Just about anyone with technical savvy could intercept it along its route over multiple servers. They could be nosey, officially spying, downright malicious, or just doing their jobs as managers.

- Rest assured there is only a small guarantee of privacy to e-mail, whether at home or at work. Unless you have permission from someone to encrypt an e-mail, and the tools to do it, a hacker can read anything you write. E-mail can be intercepted by government officials, and most certainly, it can be monitored and read by your company’s IT department.

- Most of us who are computer-literate could not live without our e-mail now. Everything of importance in our lives is linked through it, from family and friends to our professional networks. Most of us also know that e-mail at the office has additional rules and restrictions that the prudent employee will adhere to without whining: no jokes, no love notes, no spam, no personal anything may seem harsh, but their absence cuts the incidence of virus attacks to the minimum.

- Employers make back-up copies of everything every night, either locally, or on remote data storage servers, or both. The process is an absolute must; it is critical to a business’s survival in the event of a disaster. Everything is backed up, including databases, documents, customer records, e-mails, and instant messaging systems. So be careful what you write, and where you send it. The results can be worse than being caught sailing paper airplanes across the room in school.

- One feature of e-mail that many users are not familiar with is the bcc - blind carbon copy (left over from typewriter days). bcc is not as innocuous as it seems. The sender selects bcc when he or she wants to surreptitiously send a copy of an e-mail message to someone, without any of the other recipients knowing about it.

- If you select Reply All, bcc recipients will usually show up, depending on the e-mail system you are using, and any Reply All monitoring plug-in you might have installed. That is, unless the sender was savvy enough to lock down the e-mail. If it is thoroughly locked down, you won’t be able to reply to the sender. In fact, you won’t even be able to print out the e-mail for your own records.

- Locking down e-mail is an act of absolute control/confidentiality from someone who is typically quite angry, yet fears consequences. It means that no one can respond, short of creating a separate e-mail, and even then, you won’t easily be able to defend yourself to everyone (cc and bcc) that the sender notified.

- Not that all is lost. There are ways of capturing the contents, which I will not list here. Heaven forbid that certain people should find out you’re not as dumb as they think you are. (You can always check out a few technical sites.) If you can’t get the e-mail through simple means, an attorney can go after it for you later on, if you can provide the date, and who sent it at which company.

- In any event, make notes and keep them at home. Even truculent managers aren’t allowed to destroy employee records, so the e-mail itself will be there in the future, if you need it down the road. Of course, your attorney will have to get past the whole issue of confidential company records not being released to anyone, but if your case is serious enough, pursue it. In the meantime, even quiet people can betray you, so watch your back with bcc.

© 2006 Shirley Ann Parker

Shirley Ann Parker is a full-time technical writer. She is also the author of Discoveries: A Journey Through Life, a delightful collection of short stories about the joys and frustrations of family life and friendships. Discoveries is available from http://www.bbotw.com and other online bookstores. Read more about Discoveries at http://www.shirleyannparker.com, and see more of Shirley’s creative work at http://www.cafeshops.com/topazcoveplus

Acne is, perhaps, the single treated skin disorder and has been addressed in a wide variety of ways. Often the wisest step is to develop a program in consultation with a dermatologist or medical practitioner. Even with help, there may be a trial-and-error process in finding the right solution. There are also some solutions advised by alternative medicine practitioners of various sorts and we will also touch on them.

Some mild washing of the face may be useful. But vigorous and frequent washing is discouraged by dermatologists. Topical creams may be helpful but overuse can lead to side effects and problems. One popular home treatment is salicylic acid, found in face washes and medicated facial pads. It curtails the hair follicles from shedding excess skin, which leads to the clogging of pores. Another home treatment is benzoyl peroxide, found in certain soap and face wash products, but also in topical creams. It can produce excessive drying and redness- so it is often recommended that one begin by trying it once a day and, then, if that works, try it twice. Results should be apparent after a few weeks.

In the world of orthodox medicine, there are various types of prescription medications and face washes. If you go to your local drugstore or supermarket, you can find lots of different products whose objective is to treat acne. None of these products produce instantaneous results and one part of a sensible prescription for treatment is patience. Since some of these products may have side effects, you should know their contents and possible effects. Over-use of the wrong product can actually exaggerate the condition.

Experts generally think that acne is caused when an excess of oil, secreted by tiny glands surrounding the hair follicles combine with dead skins to clog the pores of the skin. Bacteria, chiefly Propionibacterium acnes or P. acnes develops in these pore pockets which leads to the blackheads, white heads and more common pimples that we associate with this unpleasant form.

Some of the prescription topical solutions include antibiotics. Antibiotics, along with azelaic acid can impede the development of the bacteria, reducing the ugly inflammation that characterizes acne.

Comedones, which are the compromised hair follicles, plugged with dead cells and sebum, that cause blackheads, which penetrate the surface of the skin, and whiteheads, which operate at semi-surface levels. They can actually be treated by retinoids, which are Vitamin-A like biochemical formulations, which actually help to unplug comedones, paving the way for topicals, including antibiotics, to enter into the follicles and do their damage. Dermatologists sometimes use the newer retinoids to curtail further comedone development.

In the case of severer forms of acne, dermatologists may prescribe the less physically invasive route of oral medicine. Some common antibiotics, used to curb the development of the P. acnes bacteria and reduce inflammation are doxycycline, tetracycline and minocyclyine. The common topical, benzoyl peroxide, may be used with antibiotics such as sulfur, erythromycin or clindamycin. There can be disturbing side affects to antibiotics, depending on the drug and the individual’s sensitivity. Changes in skin color, an increased propensity for sunburns, dizziness, stomach problems can occur. Tetracycline is contra- indicated in children and pregnant women. The antibiotic route must be taken with caution and with awareness of problems. Substances such as minocycline and tetracycline can even affect the potency of oral birth control methods.

In very serious cases of nodular or cystic acne that seems resistant to treatment, a dermatologist may prescribe isotretinoin or “Accutane,” a retinoid that might be taken once or twice a day for up to twenty weeks. Oil glands actually can be shrunk by Accutane and there is a marked effect on the growth of bacteria. Its great advantage is that it can prevent scarring and markedly disappears the acne in something like 90 per cent of patients.

The downside of isotretinoin is that it can cause birth defects in an unborn child if it imbibed by a pregnant woman. So woman undergoing this treatment often have two take several forms of birth control to make sure they don’t get pregnant while undergoing therapy.

Are there natural treatments for acne? Alternative medical practitioners recommend such substances as pantothenic acid, a B vitamin, said to combat stress, a factor that aggravates acne, grapeseed extracts and grapefruit seed extracts; various essential fatty acids like primrose or flax seed oil which can allegedly clear the pores of the skin, colloidal silver, said to be a powerful natural antibiotic; tea tree oil soap- whose main active constituent is tea tree oil, said to be made from a natural antibiotic.

Copyright 2005 George ForganSmith

Learn more about the treatment of acne at http://www.acne-sucks.com

Like our farm, Highland Hill Farm, Horsham Pa. is located in an
eara with lots of clay. We therefore like plants that grow well
in clay. Arborvitae, in particular the American Arborvitae is
one of our favorites. Here is why. The hardiness zone for the
American Arborvitae is from zones 5 to 8. Its evergreen with
rapid growth rates that in ideal conditions can be up to 1.5
feet per year. Site requirements for the American Arborvitae is
sun to partial shade, moist well drained soil but does well in
clay, and needs protection from wind . Its texture is fine with
its form conical being narrow to broadly pyramidal, reaching
from 30 to 40′ in height to 6 to 12 feet in width. The leaf is
green graceful foliage. It keeps its foliage color in the winter
but can tend to bronze alittle in the winter. The American
Arborvitae flowers/fruit are .5″ erect female cones. The
American Arborvitae has strong wood, casts dense shade, and has
red bark when young. Arborvitae do not tolerate salt spray.
These arborvitae should outlive even your children.

The American laws are great fun to play with if you know how to
handle them, but better be sure you know the rules, or else you
fall into trouble.

The federal income tax deduction is a statutory requirement
under the American laws. All American citizens who fall under
this category have to pay this. Taxable income is calculated by
removing (a) excluded income, (b) exemptions, and (c)
permissible deductions from the individual’s gross income.

The following are the heads under which you can avail the tax
deduction:

1. Exemptions: Some common exclusion from gross incomes is: I)
Earnings made from life insurance contracts ii) Earnings made
from gifts and inheritances iii) Proceeds granted for personal
injuries iv) Interest received from state and municipal bonds

certain conditions have to be kept in mind before availing these
deductions. 2. Deductions: In addition to the standard
deduction, some common “above-the-line” deductions include: i)
Trade/ Business expenses ii) Alimony iii) IRA contributions iv)
Net capital losses v) Expenses incurred due to property used for
income generation

income tax laws are not everybody’s cup of tea and so should be
handled with care.

3. The Standard Deduction: When individuals have minimal
“below-the-line” deductions, they are directly granted a
standard deduction. The standard deduction under different heads
in 2004 was as follows: i) Single $4,850 ii) Head of
household $7,150 iii) Married filing a joint return
$9,700 iv) Qualifying widow(er) with dependent child $9,500 v)
Married filing a separate return $4,850

4. Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions: These usually include: i)
Interest paid ii) Taxes paid iii) Losses incurred iv) Charitable
contributions v) Medical costs borne

Such miscellaneous deductions are permissible if and only if
they surpass 2% of adjusted gross income.

5. Alternative Minimum Tax: applicable when minimum tax revenue
is less than the predetermined amount. the individual would now
be paying a very negligible tax and helps him in saving some
money.

6. Itemized Deductions: The alternative to the standard
deduction is itemized deductions. For the year 2004, the major
items included in itemized deductions were:

i) State and local income and property taxes ii) Donations made
to charitable organizations iii) Employee transference expenses
iv) Medical expenses incurred v) Casualty losses vi) Interest
paid on mortgage

However, the individual can either avail standard deduction or
itemized deduction.

the best alternative in understanding such a complex structure
is to catch a person who knows the tax structure better and let
him do all the work, but keep your eyes and ears open.