Monday 30 January 2012

How to Save a Life: A great Free App from the British Heart Foundation on Guided CPR

Check out this application on the App Store:

Cover Art

BHF PocketCPR

Bio-Detek, Inc.

Category: Health & Fitness

Updated: 18 Jan 2012

7 Ratings

iTunes for Mac and Windows
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Copyright © 2012 iTunes S.à r.l. All rights reserved

Ryan
contra omnia discrimina

Posted via email from uselessdesires

Saturday 14 January 2012

Desiderata: Happiness "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world"

If you can take time to read this, please do...

Photo

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy. 

Posted via email from uselessdesires

Friday 13 January 2012

The Hospital Window: A Tale of Two Men

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Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in World War 2, where they had been on holiday. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital porters to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Posted via email from uselessdesires

Sunday 8 January 2012

Stephen Hawking on the future of Mankind

Stephen Hawking         

To mark his 70th birthday, physicist Professor Stephen Hawking answered a selection of questions from listeners to Radio 4's Today Programme.

Topics ranged from the origins of the universe to the prospects for extra terrestrial life and the impact on Einstein's theory of relativity should neutrinos be confirmed to travel faster than light.

It seems clear that Professor Hawking believes we we will have to colonise space if we are to avoid catastrophe, but he is upbeat about the prospects for self-sustaining colonies on Mars and believes the human race will eventually spread out across the far reaches of the universe.

Finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, he says, would be the greatest scientific discovery ever, but he is not optimistic about the likely outcome.

ORIGINS OF THE UNIVERSE

1. Was there a "time" when there was "nothing"? - Roland, Lagos

The origin of the universe can be explained by the laws of physics, without any need for miracles or Divine intervention.

These laws predict that the universe was spontaneously created out of nothing in a rapidly expanding state.

This is called inflation because it is like the way prices in the shops go up at an ever increasing rate.

Time is defined only with the universe, so it makes no sense to talk about time before the universe began, it would be like asking for a point south of the South Pole.

FASTER THAN LIGHT?

2. What will be the impact on Einstein's theory of relativity if the neutrino is confirmed to be able to travel faster than the speed of light? - David Pointon, Maidstone

Einstein's theory of relativity predicts that nothing can travel faster than light.

Thus if the Opera experiment is correct and neutrinos do travel faster than light, then relativity theory is wrong.

However, I don't believe the Opera results, because they disagree with the detection of neutrinos from supernova SN1987A.

MULTIPLE UNIVERSES?

3. Some people hypothesise that what we call the universe may only be one of many. Is there any conceivable way that we could ever detect and study other universes if they exist? Is it even falsifiable? - Toby North, Essex

Our best bet for a theory of everything is M-theory [an extension of string theory].

One prediction of M-theory is that there are many different universes, with different values for the physical constants.

This might explain why the physical constants we measure seem fine-tuned to the values required for life to exist.

It is no surprise that we observe the physical constants to be finely-tuned.

If they weren't, we wouldn't be here to observe them.

One way of testing this would be to look for features in the cosmic microwave background radiation which would indicate the collision of another universe with ours in the distant past.

COLONISING SPACE

4. Do you think the human race will survive all potential disasters and eventually colonise the stars?- Matt Dotchon, Cardiff

It is possible that the human race could become extinct, but it is not inevitable.

I think it is almost certain that a disaster such as nuclear war or global warming will befall the Earth within a thousand years.

It is essential that we colonize space.

I believe that we will eventually establish self-sustaining colonies on Mars and other bodies in the Solar System although probably not within the next 100 years.

I am optimistic that progress in science and technology will eventually enable humans to spread beyond the Solar System and out into the far reaches of the Universe.

ALIEN CONTACT

5. What do you think the impact will be on humankind if Kepler 22-b [Earth-like planet found by Nasa's Kepler Space Telescope] does indeed support life?- CazCarpSnail via Twitter

The discovery of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe would be the biggest scientific discovery ever.

But it would be very risky to attempt to communicate with an alien civilization.

If aliens decided to visit us then the outcome might be similar to when Europeans arrived in the Americas.

That did not turn out well for the Native Americans.

Posted via email from uselessdesires

Stephen Hawking on the future of Mankind

Stephen Hawking         

To mark his 70th birthday, physicist Professor Stephen Hawking answered a selection of questions from listeners to Radio 4's Today Programme.

Topics ranged from the origins of the universe to the prospects for extra terrestrial life and the impact on Einstein's theory of relativity should neutrinos be confirmed to travel faster than light.

It seems clear that Professor Hawking believes we we will have to colonise space if we are to avoid catastrophe, but he is upbeat about the prospects for self-sustaining colonies on Mars and believes the human race will eventually spread out across the far reaches of the universe.

Finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, he says, would be the greatest scientific discovery ever, but he is not optimistic about the likely outcome.

ORIGINS OF THE UNIVERSE

1. Was there a "time" when there was "nothing"? - Roland, Lagos

The origin of the universe can be explained by the laws of physics, without any need for miracles or Divine intervention.

These laws predict that the universe was spontaneously created out of nothing in a rapidly expanding state.

This is called inflation because it is like the way prices in the shops go up at an ever increasing rate.

Time is defined only with the universe, so it makes no sense to talk about time before the universe began, it would be like asking for a point south of the South Pole.

FASTER THAN LIGHT?

2. What will be the impact on Einstein's theory of relativity if the neutrino is confirmed to be able to travel faster than the speed of light? - David Pointon, Maidstone

Einstein's theory of relativity predicts that nothing can travel faster than light.

Thus if the Opera experiment is correct and neutrinos do travel faster than light, then relativity theory is wrong.

However, I don't believe the Opera results, because they disagree with the detection of neutrinos from supernova SN1987A.

MULTIPLE UNIVERSES?

3. Some people hypothesise that what we call the universe may only be one of many. Is there any conceivable way that we could ever detect and study other universes if they exist? Is it even falsifiable? - Toby North, Essex

Our best bet for a theory of everything is M-theory [an extension of string theory].

One prediction of M-theory is that there are many different universes, with different values for the physical constants.

This might explain why the physical constants we measure seem fine-tuned to the values required for life to exist.

It is no surprise that we observe the physical constants to be finely-tuned.

If they weren't, we wouldn't be here to observe them.

One way of testing this would be to look for features in the cosmic microwave background radiation which would indicate the collision of another universe with ours in the distant past.

COLONISING SPACE

4. Do you think the human race will survive all potential disasters and eventually colonise the stars?- Matt Dotchon, Cardiff

It is possible that the human race could become extinct, but it is not inevitable.

I think it is almost certain that a disaster such as nuclear war or global warming will befall the Earth within a thousand years.

It is essential that we colonize space.

I believe that we will eventually establish self-sustaining colonies on Mars and other bodies in the Solar System although probably not within the next 100 years.

I am optimistic that progress in science and technology will eventually enable humans to spread beyond the Solar System and out into the far reaches of the Universe.

ALIEN CONTACT

5. What do you think the impact will be on humankind if Kepler 22-b [Earth-like planet found by Nasa's Kepler Space Telescope] does indeed support life?- CazCarpSnail via Twitter

The discovery of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe would be the biggest scientific discovery ever.

But it would be very risky to attempt to communicate with an alien civilization.

If aliens decided to visit us then the outcome might be similar to when Europeans arrived in the Americas.

That did not turn out well for the Native Americans.

Posted via email from uselessdesires

Friday 6 January 2012

Comparisons are Odious: Accept, Embrace & Love Everything You Have Been Given

Someone will always be prettier. 
Someone will always be smarter. 
Someone's house will be bigger. 
Someone will drive a better car. 
Someone's children will do better in school.
And Someone's husband will fix more things around the house. 
So let it go, and love you and your circumstances. 
Think about it. 
The prettiest woman in the world can have hell in her heart. 
And the most highly favoured woman on your job may be unable to have children. 
And the richest woman you know, who's got the car, the house, the clothes....might be lonely. 
And the word says if "I have not Love, I am nothing." 
So, again, love you. 
Love who you are. 
Look in the mirror in the morning and smile and say: 
"I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed!" 
"Winners make things happen. Losers let things happen."

Ryan
contra omnia discrimina

Posted via email from uselessdesires

Sunday 1 January 2012

Music & Video: The Only Exception by Paramore



When I was younger, I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart and I watched
As he tried to reassemble it

And my momma swore that
She would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love if it does not exist

But darling, you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

Maybe I know, somewhere deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways to make it alone
Or keep a straight face

And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable distance
And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk

But you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

I've got a tight grip on reality
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof, it's not a dream, oh

You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing

Posted via email from uselessdesires

Music & Video: The Only Exception by Paramore ((tags, music, video, lyrics, song, YouTube, Paramore, Glee))

When I was younger, I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart and I watched
As he tried to reassemble it

And my momma swore that
She would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love if it does not exist

But darling, you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

Maybe I know, somewhere deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways to make it alone
Or keep a straight face

And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable distance
And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk

But you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

I've got a tight grip on reality
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof, it's not a dream, oh

You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing

Posted via email from uselessdesires