The Colloid Base

There was a time when mankind did not sleep on beds. When we
were still cavemen, we would sleep on treetops or even on the
floor. Since then, we have evolved into quite sophisticated
creatures and therefore require a more comfortable way of
resting. Throughout the years, the bed became one of the most
useful pieces of furniture in the house. Beds can be used for
sleeping, resting, reading, sewing, and even eating!

The First Beds

Ten thousand years ago, in the Neolithic period, the first
“beds” were made. They were probably straw or hay on large
stones. In 3400 BC, the Egyptian pharaoh King Tut had a bed of
ebony and gold, while the common people slept on palm bows
stashed in the corner of their rooms. The first true luxury beds
came along with the Roman Empire.

The Emperors, with all their wealth acquired beds decorated with
gold, silver or bronze with mattresses stuffed with feathers,
hay, wool, or reeds. The Romans were also the discoverers of the
most-famous waterbed. They would lay back on a cradle of warm
water until almost falling asleep to then be lifted onto another
cradle with a mattress next to it, where they would be rocked
asleep.

Modern Beds

The Dark Ages came and mattresses pretty much followed suit. But
then the Renaissance came along and made bed making a bit more
sophisticated. They would stuff mattresses of coarse tick with
pea shucks, straw, or feathers to then be covered by rich
velvet, brocades and silk. In the 16th and 17th centuries,
mattresses were placed upon a latticework of rope. That is how
the expression “sleep tight” came around, for the tighter the
rope, the more comfortable the bed would be.

In the 18th century the iron bed structure was invented along
with the use of cotton for stuffing mattresses. These two
inventions together provided an almost bug-free sleeping
environment. At that time, bed bugs were seen as completely
normal even in the most luxurious beds. In 1865 the first coil
spring bed structure was patented.

Beds in the 20th Century

In the 1930’s innerspring mattresses were introduced to the
North American market along with upholstered foundations. Since
then they have become contenders for the dominant position in
North America.

In the ’40s, the Japanese couch-bed named a futon was introduced
into the American market. It was a tremendous hit due to its
practical utility.

In the ’50s foam rubber mattresses and pillows entered the bed
and by the ’60s the modern waterbed was introduced.

Adjustable beds were also a big hit amongst consumers. The 1980s
were ultimately modernity-obsessed as the airbed exploded into
the market. This practical item is greatly used while camping or
traveling.

In the 1990s space became a big issue once again, as it was in
the 16th and 17th centuries. Twin size beds were outsold by
queen size beds.

Now in the 2000s we have a brilliant mattress-making future
ahead of us. With all the technology in our hands, beds can
become just another extension of the human body. There are now
beds that have built-in TVs, computers, videogames, trays,
adjustable inclinations, “memory foam” that reads the shape of
your body to fully attend to your orthopaedic needs. The top
luxury choice nowadays is the pillow top mattress, which has an
extra-soft layer of cushioning.

Everything just for the best bed!

Currently circulating the Internet is “Man’s Rules”. The sender requests you send it on to all females, so that women will “finally understand men.” It’s a list of things men want women to understand, and like all humor, it makes a point. Then again to men it might not be so humorous.

And here we go on communication …

Point number 6 is: “Ask for what you want. Let us be perfectly clear on this one. Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Hints DO NOT WORK!

So I could end the article here, except this isn’t about male and female communication, it’s about hints. It’s about communication:

Communication is much harder than it appears to be. Assume you’re being misunderstood, and also assume you are misunderstanding are two good basic assumptions to make.
The more you care about the person and the relationship the harder it is to be direct, because the stakes of the turndown are higher.
Men aren’t the only sex that doesn’t get “hints”
Hints DO NOT WORK.

Now let me elaborate.

HARD & HARDER

We need to get something straight from the beginning. All the coaching, all the psychology, all the Charm School, all the Emotional Intelligence, all the seminars, lessons and eBooks in the world will not get your what you want all the time.

That’s a sad fact of life. So the more you want it, and the more you want it from a certain person, the more the risk.

There are many situations where we feel we MUST have something. A compliment, a reassurance or a word of comfort from our partner. A project deadline met at work. A contract signed. A larger part of the pie. For our child to wear the pink dress instead of the dirty blue jeans. A date. A marriage.

Never is it guaranteed. The more vague and “hinty” you are about it, the less likely you are to get it however. Here’s one reason why. If the person has it to give, and wants to give it, they’ll give it. If not, they won’t. Any ‘vagueness’ leaves you in that territory where they can pretend to give you something you pretend you want. And ah, the resentment.

It’s easier in the long run. Take your “nos” upfront and move on. Either into a more convincing argument, or on to another source, or downgrading the “need” to a “preference.”

MEN & HINTS

I don’t see this as particular to the male of the species. It can exist between the sexes, that’s for sure, but I’m afraid to break the news that I think it happens between all people.

I’ve had male bosses tell me things that were completely incomprehensible to me. They might as well have been “hints” for all the sense they made. I consider, “Produce a pleading,” when I don’t know what a “pleading” is to be “hint.”

Just because women are traditionally ahead in empathy and in the area of personal relationships, we consider asking for nurturing or comfort to be hints, but it doesn’t remain just with females.

I think men ask also “hint” for things. They ask for something else when they don’t know how to ask for what they want, or what it’s called, and in that sense, it’s a “hint.”

Take kids for instance - always a safer topic, right? When your three year scoops his plate off the table and on to the floor he’s “hinting” that he doesn’t like something. I almost wrote “doesn’t like what’s being served,” but it could be anything with a three year old, and that’s the trouble with “hints.” Maybe it wasn’t the carrots but the plate or his little sister.

When your partner complains about the way the house looks, or the way the dinner tastes, it may be a “hint” that he’d like more affection. Ya know?

When you tell your administrative assistant, “Go run this off and collate it for me,” you are “hinting.” There are two ways to collate. (Yes there are. Did you know that? See how hard it is?) And what happens after that?

My doctor told me the other day, “Take this PRN.” That’s a hint. What does “PRN” mean?

Does being direct and not hinting insure you’ll get what you want? No. But neither does being indirect and hinting, and the chances are higher if you’re direct. And being clear about what you want is a lot better for your sense of personal power.

Come on and hawk it up like a hairball. You’ve probably discovered in intimate relationship communication by now, you’re a lot better off to go ahead and say it. If you don’t because you fear it will harm the relationship, it might. But not saying something that important will definitely harm the relationship. Somewhere down the line not saying “Don’t kiss me like that, kiss me like this,” becomes “I want a divorce.” Who ever meant for it to go that far?

Clear up your communication as best you can, and work on your tone of voice. We’re all in this together!

TONE OF VOICE

Sometimes people think being “direct,” means being loud, demanding, or forceful. Maybe you think it should be accompanied by pointing fingers and pounding fists. Not at all! It often works well to soften your voice when you’re preparing to be direct. After all when we hear something loud and threatening (always a personal perception and personal threshold), we’re geared to fight or flight and we don’t receive or process information well.

Don’t know about you, but I tend to stumble into all my greatest learning experiences. I remember the first time I got a sore throat when I had a child in the house and couldn’t talk above a whisper. He did everything I asked, like a little lamb. I’ve also tried it at work. I find I have exceptionally peaceful days when I have a cold and can’t talk loud. hmmm

HINTS DON’T WORK

It is the hardest thing in the world to come out and say what you want, clearly and distinctly, in a way that can be answered “yes” or “no.” It’s particularly important when it matters most - when it’s emotional, and involves someone you love.

Asking for something you want emotionally puts you in a vulnerable position. It’s high-risk. If the answer is “no,” all hope has been removed. However, it defines you as a person with choices who makes demands and has boundaries. It frees you to go and get what you want elsewhere, or to redefine what you want. It gives you knowledge and information. It takes you out of the fantasy world of wishing and hoping, and puts you clearly on the path to being an agent in your own life and getting what you want that can be gotten!

GO FOR IT!

©Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . I offer coaching, distance learning courses, and ebooks around emotional intelligence for your continued personal and professional development. For free ezine, mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc.

If you needed to review a few web hosting sites, then you would search on the Internet for a Review Internet site directories. Any type of home building material could be found on construction or warehouse Internet site directories. No matter what you need, the item will be found by a name or type of product, and that company will have their on website. The information contained on that website is listed in Internet site directories.

On a building contractor website, you might find Internet site directories that specialize in baths, decks, or bedroom remodeling. The information under those structural links would tell you what type of materials you could choose to construct a wall, or pick wall color paint.

Internet site directories are businesses that have made their online presence through the internet E-commerce website, and the Internet site directories within its site, could be their entire product line including product descriptions, and photographs.

If you were consulting Car Parts - Racing, in Internet site directories, you might have links in the internal web pages, to find car parts that are further broken down into EBC brakes, steering wheels, motor oil, or car covers for racing cars, the more detail the directory the better, as more and more users demand to have fast and quality results. These directories have changed the Internet, and our lives, forever.

Most Americans have the same problem when it comes to losing
weight and staying well. The foods we like in our culture are,
for the most part, terrible for us.

* Chocolate milkshake * Chicken fried steak with steak fries *
Grilled hamburger with the works * Mom’s favorite pie

I hope I’m not making you too hungry. You may not LOVE the items
I just listed, but it’s a sure bet 90 percent of those reading
this article could easily down at least one of those items RIGHT
NOW!

The problem is, these items are sky high in fat and other
not-so-good-for-you ingredients, plus low in fiber. It seems
like EVERYTHING that tastes good isn’t good for us.

If you don’t believe me, read the ingredient tables on all the
“low-fat” foods at the supermarket. Almost all of them have much
higher levels of fat than you would guess. Keep reading tables
and you’ll likely get a little depressed. When I tried this
exercise, I left thinking that carrots were the only truly low
fat item in the store.

One way to get the right idea about healthy food is to think
about what we would eat if we didn’t have a supermarket up the
street. Think about what great, great grandma ate on the farm
100 years ago before all today’s convenience foods took over.

Chances are you would eat vegetables you grew in your backyard.
You might occasionally dine on chicken you had raised yourself.
Cows were very expensive in most areas, so it’s unlikely you
would eat beef more than a few times a year. If you could catch
a fish, you might eat that, and it wouldn’t be deep fried!

Get the picture? That’s how almost all peoples of the world ate
until very recently. Humans were designed to eat vegetables and
fruits mostly, with very little preparation and no additives.

Steer your diet toward that kind of old fashioned thinking and
you’ll be surprised how your weight goes down and your health
improves.

And while you’re at it, remember that it’s been only fairly
recently that people had automobiles. I’ll bet when your city
was founded, most people walked everywhere they went. And that’s
the other part of the equation. Get regular exercise to lose
weight and improve your health. You don’t have to be an athlete,
just get out and walk for a while several times per week.

Try these common sense methods and you’ll be surprised how well
they work.

NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PC’s security. If you are not in the mood, just save it or print it out for later reference.

A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users not aware of it. (Your computer could fall into this lot too.) The most dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus software is running, these software can even inactivate them and take over your PC.

Have you experienced any of the following?

• Awsome popups comes out of nowhere, when browsing the web

• Home page reset to some other site

How can this happen?

- The components installed when viewing certain sites, starts up and running as soon as it’s finished installing (or after the page is completely loaded) and with every windows startup since then. Their job is to collect information and report (or transfer) it to an external computer.

What is deceptive software? (Reference: www.microsoft.com)

Spyware and unauthorized adware are two examples of “deceptive” software. Deceptive software includes programs which take over your home page or search page without first getting your permission. There are a number of ways deceptive software can get on your system. A common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program.

Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of adware in a given software installation is documented, but it may appear at the end of a license agreement or privacy statement.

Sometimes deceptive software gets silently installed on your system without any warning at all. If you use Internet Explorer as your Web browser, this can happen if your Internet Explorer security setting is set to its lowest value. Make sure to keep this setting at the medium level or higher. Doing so will help you control what is being installed on your computer.

Have you ever had an experience where you were repeatedly asked to accept a download even after you said “no”? Creators of deceptive software often use such tricks to get you to load their software. If this happens to you, do not click “yes”. Instead, try to close the Web page that first asked you to accept the download by hitting the “X” in the corner of the window. Alternatively, quit Internet Explorer and restart it to begin browsing the Internet again. If you visit a Web page that continually displays these tricky pop-up windows, that Web site may not be worthy of your trust.

Your computer may be infected by now, but you may not know. Just have a checkup with a software specifically designed for it, to know the status of your computer. You must clean infections once you find it and the game is not over yet. The spyware might reinfect your PC. So it’s highly recommended that you run a firewall on your system after the clean up. This will allow you to monitor every single communication occurs with your computer and block the ones which you feel unnecessary. The firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and the external world (Internet / Network).

A good spyware detector recommended by most people is, http://noadware.cjb.net and it shows you all the infections and potential dangers in great detail. It’s free to scan but not to clean. It’s a good idea to have a scan even you have no idea of cleaning, since you know the status of your PC in great detail. This gives two advantages.

Firstly, if there are minor infections and if you have a fair knowledge on registry settings and how to edit them, you may have a try to clean them up. Secondly, if it shows that there are major infections, you can avoid using credit cards and doing other confidential stuff, until you clean it up later.

You must run a firewall. In many new operating systems (eg. Windows XP), there is a built-in firewall. Google search on how to activate it. Others may try one at http://www.download.com.

You may have a question by now. What is the purpose of these spyware? Even though we cannot give an explicit and clear cut answer, we can safely state that every thing boils down to the urge of more profits. How? The spyware collects all your personal information and transfer it to an external computer. The information is reviewed by a software in the receiving computer and then deleivered targeted popup ads to your PC. There are many things that spyware does in addition to this. The most dangerous of those is that collecting the credit card numbers.

If you have some technical knowledge on your PC, here’s a technical explanation on what trouble does the spyware cause.

1. An extra process is running to monitor and log your activities in your PC.

2. Constant transfer is taking place between your PC and the spyware writer’s computer.

The first process in it self is an unneeded process and it contributes to slow down your PC. Second is the most harmful. It transfers logged info to the external PC (spyware writer’s PC). Then the external PC transfers targeted popups to the infected PC. This, in addition to slowing down your PC because of these extra processes, it also slows down the internet connection, as the bandwidth is shared. In short, PC with a spyware is like a dumping ground for snakes. Once its there and up and running, it can do almost anything with your PC.

Please pass this on to all you know. The most risk is for people who use Internet Explorer, as it is the most popular web browser and that very fact has drawn more attention of many malicious software developers.

About The Author

Fazly Mohamed - fazlymohamed@yahoo.com