The Helpful Pointer

There are several things to consider at the time of choosing which camcorder to buy and which one best suits your needs. Many of these things or factors depend on each person’s preferences and requirements, although some of them, due to their importance, should be considered by every buyer.

Some of the first things a camcorder buyer should pay attention to are the ones related to comfort. Although comfort in the camcorder use might seem not to have great importance, it could actually become a big headache. This way, it is important that the camcorder buyer feels comfortable handling the camcorder he chooses by being able to easily use and operate its controls, screen and any other main aspect.

One of the most important aspects of camcorders is the video quality they provide and the facility by which its users can handle the main features related to it. Among the features related to the video which the camcorder user would receive through the device, it is important to pay special attention to the lens quality and the zoom range since there are several different types.

Another important factor to check at the time of looking for the right camcorder is which audio functions it has. It is important that the camcorder audio is not only of good quality but also you should make sure you are able to easily adjust the audio level manually as well as switch it to auto adjust mode.

One very relevant aspect to consider before buying a camcorder is the after sales support it offers. Often overlooked, this aspect might b the difference between easily solving a problem or not. In case your camcorder got broken or if you just needed to ask for advice, you would wish to be able to count on a reliable and good quality after sales support and service. If you intend to travel with the camcorder, you should make sure that it offers world wide support, or, in case it brakes while you are traveling you could find yourself unable to use it when you need it the most.

In the 1998 movie, “Enemy of the State”, actor Will Smith’s personal privacy is invaded by his own government using high technology devices planted in his home, office and even on his person. Sounds far fetched? The technology does exist to do everything portrayed in the movie and much more. The only difference between the movie and real life is that unlike the movie where government agents physically entered the home and office of Smith, this is not necessary to breach the privacy of any citizen.

If you are like most individuals, you have unknowingly permitted yourself to be tracked, documented and your privacy breached in exchange for living a life of convenience. When you sign applications and agreements for your credit cards, bank accounts, vehicle leases and mortgages have you really read the fine print? The fine print in most cases states that you give your permission to have your personal information collected by, “exchanged” with, and even sold to third parties throughout the course of your business dealings. Do you belong to a reward points or discount program? The fine print of the agreement may allow program operators to track your spending habits (where and what you buy), allow them to share and even sell this information to third parties and put you on mailing and telephone solicitation lists of companies you’ve never heard of.

While this may seem more of an inconvenience than an invasion of privacy consider the case of Mr. X. Mr. X had signed up for a reward points program linked to his credit card. This meant everywhere and every time he used his credit card he would get points for all of his transactions to be used towards vacations, gasoline and a new car. Mr. X was in line for a promotion with his firm, a major multi-national corporation. As part of the selection process he would have to submit to a background check and security clearance. The firm conducting the check performed what is known as a character lifestyle check and through their sources were able to obtain a record of Mr. X’s spending habits over a two year period as documented by the reward points program he had enrolled in. It was noted by an entry on his spending record that he had on one occasion frequented a small retail establishment whose operator had been convicted of child pornography. As a result, Mr. X was not given a clearance for the promotion and was later released from the firm’s employ. Further investigation found that the establishment in question was a convenience store chain where Mr. X purchased a box of chocolates for his wife’s birthday. This was the one and only documented time he had entered this establishment.

Similar tracking of individuals is also done via their personal computers. In this case, most individuals are all too quick to breeze through the Terms of Service posted on websites and in software and as a result surrender their privacy all too easily. People who do any form of online commerce from ordering merchandise off of a website, to online banking and stock trading are often tracked by having small files placed on their computers without their knowledge, known as cookies to gather and track personal and personal preference information. By accepting the Terms of Service users agree to have the cookies placed on their computer. Although the word “cookie” may not be specifically used in the text of the document. Cookies, also known in the computer security world as Spyware may provide information about the computer owners name, address, telephone number and e-mail address all culled from information provided by the users themselves when they first registered their computer operating system and software. Additional information may be obtained on the type of software and computer used, websites visited, Internet searches performed and total time spent at the computer.

As well, Internet Service Providers and e-mail providers may also keep tabs on users by monitoring account activity. Account activity of this nature would include received and sent e-mail addresses, websites visited and an inventory of all of the software installed on the computer. Information obtained from the use of Spyware and the monitoring of account activity are routinely justified in the corporate world as processes designed to selectively send specific advertising offers that users may be interested in based on their “tracked” previous purchases or activity and to ensure the quality of services delivered to users by monitoring user access activity.

However, information accessed by or sold to the wrong hands could be devastating to an individual. An example of this occurred when Ms. Y, a grade school teacher had her name come up on an e-mail mailing list associated with a contraband prescription drugs operation that had been seized during a raid. Although it had been later found that Ms. Y, like many others on the list were simply targeted victims of a mass e-mail solicitation list, the fact that information from her e-mail account provider indicated the receipt of a message from the operation and a sent reply message that could have raised further suspicion. However, given that the e-mail activity log did not store the body of the message and Ms. Y’s explanation of the reply simply being a request to be removed from the mailing list seemed credible given no other communiqués were logged. More importantly, Ms. Y would have never been placed on the list if the health related website she registered with as a user had not sold her information to an e-mail marketing firm who later re-sold it to the contraband drugs operator.

While most may find comfort in privacy laws directed towards protecting personal information collected by firms in the course of doing business with and servicing their customers, there is little refuge or comfort when an individual is confronted with accepting the terms of the fine print in their user agreements or to be forever without service.

So you say you can’t imagine your life without your cellular telephone. If you are like most people, you keep your cellular on as you go about your business every day. Did you know that using just the signal from your cellular telephone and its unique electronic identification number that your whereabouts within a 4 city block radius can be easily time stamped to the second, dated and determined. This capability of passively tracking and recording the whereabouts of individuals has been effectively used as supporting evidence to place or not to place suspects at or near the scenes of crimes. Call records of cellular telephones have also been instrumental in keeping people in and out of jail as well when it comes to alibis. The same holds true for the detailed billing feature of monthly cellular bills, you know . . . that listing of date, time and telephone number called or received. The detailed billing feature has been the demise of many an unfaithful spouse. As one U.S. intelligence official once said, “… cellular telephones are one of the greatest surveillance advancements of our time. They enable unobtrusive surveillance of practically anyone at anytime.”

So perhaps you’re thinking you should just turn your cellular telephone off and maybe spend some time just taking a walk to the mall and having a quiet cup of coffee in the food court. Look up, way up! Do you see those shiny black domes in the ceiling, or those boxes with black glass or the obvious camera in a white or grey box hanging off of a post? You see them on street corners, in malls, office buildings, transit stations and highways. You are under surveillance and your presence is being recorded, dated and time stamped. Security video camera surveillance is more widespread in major cities than the public thinks. If you live or work in downtown Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto or Vancouver a typical one way trip will cause your image to be recorded an average of 9 times by 7 independent video surveillance systems. 85% of video surveillance systems are owned and operated by corporations for use on their property such as malls and office buildings, with no legislated guidelines on what they can do with this recorded surveillance data. Security video recordings are kept an average of 3 months before they are erased or purged.

To get away from it all you may consider a quiet drive in the country, far removed from the hustle, the bustle and those privacy invaders but . . . you can run but you can’t hide. Most new vehicles come equipped with a safety option that allows you to be in instant live two-way communication with a dispatch centre should you have an accident or just get lost. This service will not only talk you through your emergency but also unlock your doors if you are locked out and will even pinpoint the exact location of your vehicle using GPS satellite tracking if it is stolen. GPS satellite tracking is the same technology used by the military and just like military targets; your vehicle’s location can be determined within 3 metres. Similar in-vehicle security only systems also use GPS to track and locate stolen vehicles. This technology is not only available as an option when you purchase your new or used vehicle but is now standard equipment on most vehicles you may rent for that weekend getaway.

Although the safety and security benefits of these devices are numerous, so are the privacy risks. One area of concern is that the in-vehicle two-way communication feature can be activated by the dispatch centre without the vehicle occupants being aware that every word they say can be monitored and recorded. Moving vehicles and their parked locations can also be determined without any occupant knowledge. During the past few years there have been documented cases where law enforcement agencies have utilized such means as an aid to conventional surveillance methods.

The real ability to put an average citizen under surveillance, collect personal information and invade privacy used to be the sole domain of governments about 25 years ago. However, with the accessibility to, and affordability of technology, the ability albeit in a limited way to track and create dossiers on individuals by corporate snoops and even private individuals is an easy task. Bearing in mind that unlike governments, private corporations and individuals acting alone or on behalf of someone else are not bound by such stringent controls to protect the democratic rights and freedoms of citizens. While privacy and personal information laws do dictate how businesses must store and disseminate information pertaining to their customers, loopholes are easily created by fine print user agreements and the acceptance by the potential customer of the user agreement is demanded in order to obtain service from the business in question.

Unlike governments, private corporations and individuals are able to operate in grey or open areas of the law in collecting and comparing information from other private corporations and individuals with minimal checks and balances. Furthermore, when one considers that despite legislation and codes of conduct, the bottom line is that there will always be someone who knows someone, who knows someone else who can obtain the required information through a low level contact with access to the requested information. If this sounds funny, don’t laugh because any street savvy privateer will reluctantly admit that this is how things really get done.

Personal privacy must start and stop with the individual. You must carefully review service agreements before accepting them. Is the service, product or convenience you are interested in really worth giving up some of your privacy? Do you really want to give someone the potential ability to track your movements on a daily basis?

Just a final thought . . . don’t be surprised if a total stranger comes up to you one day and can tell you what colour you prefer in underwear, where you shop, that you take the long way home and that you would be able to call your mother more often if you didn’t stay so long on your computer. Only you have the power to not let this happen.

Hi Everyone,

This weekend thousands around the world are enjoying the premiere of the sensational new feature film, Indigo. Following in the footsteps of films like What the Bleep, Indigo is already creating an excitement that’s spreading like wildfire.

It’s not often I recommend to you anything not directly related to my work with Chief Joseph. And then only if I believe what I’m recommending is of the highest quality and integrity. The Spiritual Cinema Circle fits that requirement perfectly.

I heartily endorse The Spiritual Cinema Circle, as I know it will make a huge difference in your life. It already has in mine.

Membership in The Spiritual Cinema Circle is growing at an incredible rate. You’ll see why when you take a peek at it.

Please read on for a special message from Stephen Simon, producer of the films Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come. Stephen is also the producer and director of Indigo, and co-founder of The Spiritual Cinema Circle.

In Joy,
John

***********

Greetings,

Before now, hardly anyone got to see the best movies made each year. Now, by joining The Spiritual Cinema Circle, you’ll see movies that will warm your heart, expand your mind, and stir your soul — without leaving home.

I invite you to join me, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Neale Donald Walsch, James Tywman, Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks, Sylvia Browne, and others in a very special program: The Spiritual Cinema Circle.

The program is very simple!

Here’s how it works:

Each month you receive 3 to 5 features and shorts on DVD. The movies are personally selected by me and my team. These movies represent the best of spiritual cinema and art.

The movies are new films you’re unlikely to see anywhere else.

The DVDs are yours to keep. You don’t have to return them. In fact, you’re encouraged to share them with friends and family, to help broaden the worldwide Spiritual Cinema community.

The cost of the service is kept deliberately low, so the maximum number of people can participate. If you join now, instead of the regular $29 fee, you pay the new member rate of only $21 per month (plus $2.95 shipping, and a bit more outside the USA).

There’s no risk — you may cancel your membership any time. And remember, you never have to return any of your DVDs, even if you cancel your membership.

If, like me, you love movies, but you find it harder and harder to go to theaters because of the violence, emptiness, and overall lack of quality and imagination that most of the current crop represents, The CIRCLE is a wonderful opportunity.

http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com?af=23458

Did You Enjoy WHALERIDER or WHAT THE BLEEP?

I loved these films, and felt grateful that so many people got to enjoy them. There are many films as beautiful as WHALERIDER and as thought-provoking as WHAT THE BLEEP made each year, but almost nobody gets to see them.

Remember how you felt when you saw FIELD OF DREAMS, GHOST or TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY? I want you to see the hidden treasures, the films that are just as moving as those classics of spiritual cinema.

As a result of my connections in the film industry and my talks at film festivals and venues around the world, every year I get to see wonderful movies that hardly anybody else gets to enjoy. I’m not exaggerating when I say that some of the best movies made every year go virtually unseen.

The major distributors won’t touch the most heartfelt, soul-satisfying movies because they don’t think there’s enough money in it for them. Even independent distributors often overlook quality films.

Remember, the mainstream movie business literally runs as much on popcorn sales as ticket sales. Big, violent action movies bring in audiences that eat those huge $7 boxes of popcorn and those 32-ounce $4 cups of soft drinks. That’s why theater owners want these movies, and that’s why Hollywood makes them.

The movies you’ll see as a member of The CIRCLE are made with love and passion. They’re not made to sell popcorn.

Here’s how you can give yourself hours of wonderful entertainment every month, make a statement about what kind of a world you want to live in, and make a real difference in how spiritually empowering entertainment is distributed by demonstrating how big the worldwide spiritual cinema community really is.

http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com?af=23458

You may be asking “What movies will I get to see?”

Joining The Spiritual Cinema Circle opens the door to a new world. You’ll see movies with all the great themes of spiritual cinema:

Life after life

Enhanced powers and sensibilities

Reality and time

Visionary romance and adventures

The power of love

Movies with heart and soul

You’ll get to see award-winning movies that you would probably never see otherwise. In fact, your subscription will give you access to films each month that only attendees of film festivals around the world get to see — and you never have to leave home!

You’ll also get to see wonderful shorter films.

Many of the best movies made every year are under an hour long, and almost nobody gets to see them. If you think Hollywood ’s prejudiced against spiritual cinema, it’s nothing compared with its prejudice against shorter movies. That’s unfortunate, because many great movies are made each year that are never seen because they’re only an hour or a half-hour long.

There are lots of evenings when I don’t have time to watch a feature-length movie. That’s when I really feel blessed, because I have access to wonderful, deeply moving films I can see in under an hour.

Movies that inspire, heal and transform our lives.

Each movie you receive is selected for its spiritual and psychological depth and its value in enriching your life.

In addition to movies, you’ll get my newsletter, full of reviews and useful information about the new world of spiritual cinema.

Play it forward, plant it forward.

The CIRCLE is a wonderful new way to advance the cause of spiritual cinema. When you receive your DVDs each month, you’re encouraged to “Play it forward” by inviting friends and family into The CIRCLE to watch the movies with you.

As a special bonus, and to offset any environmental impact of sending your DVDs each month, The CIRCLE will plant a tree in your honor when you become a member of the community. Your membership becomes a way to “Plant it forward” as well as “Play it forward.”

With your eyes and ears you are helping us start a revolution — and an evolution.

It’s a special kind of evolution, one you can enjoy right at home in your living room.

I hope you will join me in showing Hollywood how big the worldwide spiritual cinema community really is.

I hope you’ll join me in saying NO to endless recycled, unimaginative films and YES to inspiring, moving spiritual cinema.

That’s it!

For less than the cost of three tickets to the latest Nightmare on Elm Street, sequel #18 or Die Hard, version 37, you get at least 3 entertaining and heartwarming Spiritual Cinema experiences every month — and never have to send anything back.

PLUS, you are contributing to the growth of spiritual cinema in the world. By encouraging film makers to make more of the kind of movies you and I want to see, you have a direct influence on the future of the industry.

http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com?af=23458

Here’s what one of our subscribers has to say about The Spiritual Cinema Circle:

“These movies really have been fantastic. It is an incredible deal for $21 a month, and it can make a change in the world by promoting something different than the usual fare of violence and special effects.

“These movies have real depth, real meaning, real people in them, and can touch something spiritual and awaken it, where special effects movies leave one numb.

“I am showing them to groups of people, holding a Spiritual Cinema Night once a month on the third Friday. Response has been great!

“I encourage you to join.”

Join the Circle today, and you’ll start receiving your DVDs within the next 30 days. You’ll be so glad you did!

Warmest thoughts,

Stephen Simon

P.S. from John:

You can also become a Spiritual Cinema affiliate (it’s free). You’ll be able to promote The Spiritual Cinema Circle and earn commissions. Go to:

http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com?af=23458

If you have any questions, please write me at:
john@greatwesternpublishing.org

Or call me at:
307-899-0569 (in the USA’s mountain time zone)

Copyright © 2005 by Great Western Publishing

About the Author

Since 1992, John Cali has been communicating with a spirit called Joseph. In one of his many physical lifetimes, this spirit was incarnated as the legendary Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe in what is now Oregon.

Email john@greatwesternpublishing.org
Website www.greatwesternpublishing.org
Free newsletter at chiefjoseph-on@mail-list.com
Private readings with Chief Joseph at readings@greatwesternpublishing.org

Performance coaching is a therapy that has become increasingly popular over the last 7 years. The term coaching first became famous in the United States of America where, together with NLP, it became part of a redesigned marvellous wave of highly proactive therapy techniques.

In many ways both Personal Coaching and NLP are a reaction against certain factors of the Humanistic movement, in particular Human-Centred Counselling. A criticism of the humanistic approach is that it is greatly reactive and not extraordinarily proactive. Although all this works great with some customers, with other people long periods of no exit in sight or low return for time and effort occur. Life coaching and NLP are both person-centred therapy in stance, focusing on improving a customers well-being rather than delving into the depths of childhood, like traditional therapy. Life coachings emphasis is, however, deliberately proactive and their to resolve your problems. Find out how to boost self esteem with a life coach.

Personal coaching is not about telling the coaching client what to do. This is a common misconception. Some life coaches are fairly successful in their business careers and then make the change to success coaching, assuming that they will merely be required to divulge their pearls of brilliant business wisdom with the lifestyle coaching client. This is more like mentoring a person in a specific environment. Personal coaching is instead about life as a holistic view.

Most of the microscopes used today are compound. A compound microscope features two or more lenses. A hollow cylinder called the tube connects the two lenses. The top lens, the one people look through, is called the eyepiece. The bottom lens is known as the objective lens. Below the two lenses is the stage, with the illuminator below that.

Compound microscopes were among the first magnifying instruments invented. Two Dutch eyeglass makers named Zaccharias and Hans Janssen are credited with making the first compound microscope in 1590 by putting one lens at the top of a tube and another at the bottom of the tube. Their idea was fleshed out by others scientists over the next several centuries, but the basic design remained very similar.

The eyepiece, also known as the ocular lens, is at the top of the compound microscope. It is not adjustable, that is, it only has one strength. Most ocular lenses are 10x, meaning that they magnify objects to ten times their normal size. People look in through the eyepiece through the tube and out through the objective lens.

A compound microscope normally contains several objective lenses. The objective lenses are different lengths, with the longer ones being the strongest. The lenses are situated on a round disk below the tube. Viewers choose which strength lens they want and place it below the tube by turning the disk until the desired lens is in place.

The stage and illuminator are below the objective lens. Specimens are placed over a translucent part of the stage. Light provided by the illuminator shines through the clear part of the stage, making it easier for the viewer to see the magnified details of the specimen. Two adjustment knobs help focus the object on the stage by bringing the lenses and the stage closer together.

Compound microscopes have been around for hundreds of years and are still very useful. A number of scientific disciplines use compound microscopes to discover the wonders of the microscopic world.

Unless you are paid attention during science class or are mainstay of science fairs, the term electrode will seem fairly faraway to you. Some people even think that electrodes belong only in science fiction as some sort of name for a weapon or an engine.

But in reality, electrodes are an everyday reality. It is so common that when you hold anything with a battery, you are in effect holding electrodes too.

The term electrode was coined by the great English scientist Michael Faraday. Faraday conducted early experiments on electricity and conductivity. His discoveries opened the path for the study of this branch of science.

Faraday called the positively charged electrode the anode and the negatively charged electrode the cathode.

Electrodes are components in an electrical circuitry that connects that circuitry to a conducting material. That material could be liquid chemical, gas or any other conductive medium.

You will find electrodes in the most common electronic devices - batteries, television, and even lamps.

Batteries have carbon anodes and zinc cathodes. These electrodes connect to a chemical solution that produces electricity.

Televisions, radios and radars make use of electron tubes. Electron tubes have electrodes within a glass tube that usually contains mercury gas. These tubes are used to manipulate electric current and electric signals.

In televisions, electrodes are present in the CRT, or cathode ray tube. CRT’s have a cathode that is heated to release electrons.

An electron gun shoots these electrons into phosphor dots that line the television screen. These dots glow as they come in contact with the electrons therefore creating an image.

Electrodes prove to be very useful in medical applications.

Diathermy, for example, makes use of electrodes. Diathermy is the generation of heat in the tissues of a body through the use of electrode that conduct electrical currents to the skin.

This treatment is used to treat pain due to arthritis. Diathermy is also used in surgery to cut tissues, coagulate, or kill cells without inducing much bleeding.

Pacemakers also make use of electrodes. These electrodes are connected to heart muscles to deliver electrical pulses when the heart rate falls below a specified value. This forces the heart muscles to contract and maintain the proper heart rate.

EEGs or Electroencephalograms, and EKGs or Electrocardiograms make use of electrodes connected to a patient’s body to monitor their respective vital signs.

EEGs record a patient’s brain activity. It represents it using wave patterns on a roll of paper. In EEGs, the electrodes are connected to skin over the skull. The information it records is used to diagnose neurological disorders and determine whether a person is already brain dead.

EKGs on the other hand have electrodes that are attached to various parts of the body. It records the heart activity and is instrumental in diagnosing heart ailments.

Electrodes even find their place in the welding industry. Arc welding involves the use of electrodes to generate intense heat to weld metals together. This type of welding is very effective due to the high concentration of heat generated between the electrodes of the welding machines.

In every industry, there is a use for electrodes. It is one of the earliest yet most used inventions in the history of mankind. Man is forever looking for way to take advantage of it, and will continue to do so for a long time to come.