Pokemon today is composed of four main sectors: digital games, playing cards, animation, and stuffed animals. Demographically, roughly speaking, gamers tend to be a little older as they have more resources, card playing is very popular among the elementary school crowd as it is accessible, social, and cheap, animation would seem to be popular among the younger crowd though it is a wild card, and surprisingly, Pokemon stuffed toys have become a hot collector’s item as well as a snuggly toy.

While one vendor can and does sell all sorts of Pokemon goods (there are dedicated Pokemon shops) often a vendor will tend to specialize in a certain line, and right now the Pokemon figure (also known as the plush toy or pokedoll) is probably the most lucrative item. Vendors can be found on the Internet as well. Pokemon Cards can actually be very valuable if they are rare or very new and hard to get. My guess is that they will never receive baseball card status in price though. For the most part, kids buy cards in standard batches with their spare change and vendors who want to make money with cards must do so on volume and good outlet connections.

While Pokemon stuffed toys and Pokemon cards may be considered ‘collectibles,’ the computer game and animation occupy altogether different niches. The game, ported to Game Boy, is what first launched the Pokemon phenomena and is undoubtedly at the heart of what keeps the Pokemon spinoffs going. Like all other games, the graphics continue to get better and the story more interesting over time. Interest in Pokemon games shows no signs of abating, and it is new games like Pokemon Black and White and spread through all the other products. It is also in the games that the new ‘monsters’ evolve.

The Pokemon animation, in my mind, is controversial but market statistics belie my opinion. There have been a couple of popular Pokemon movies in facts, and loads of video translated into many languages. Undoubtedly Pokemon animation has made a lot of money and sales of DVD’s continue to do well but for me they lack plot and character development, and like most Japanese animation, fall flat on their face in the dramatic sense. I also don’t understand why Pokemon has not been produced into a non-animated version with SFX monsters and real actors. I’m sure they have the budget. Finally, what I have never understood about any of the spinoffs (the game an exception) is the sugary ‘cuteness’ of the Pokemon themselves. I would give them more ferocity in the animations.

Lactose Intolerant Individuals may prove a bonus in Space Missions. Lactose intolerant individuals have huge problems with gas from the inability to process certain dairy products and foods. Therefore such an individual after eating will create gas, methane, which could be used as fuel. There are methane based fuel cell units available and a few companies, which have such portable devices now. And some will be online soon;

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/MSD-fuel-cells.html

[http://www.mtpc.org/2004dev/cleanenergy/cells.htm]

Hydrogen can be generated from methane. That lactose intolerant individual maybe much more valuable than once thought. By using this gas as a source needed to run a fuel cell we may also help keep batteries charged in space craft for explorers, army communications personal and for survival situations. The human body has the ability to generate waste and if properly monitored, stored and re-used it may just be enought to keep them alive and powered up.

As NASA explores ways to power up space colonies and allow ways for explorers to survive the deep of space, all options must be left open and maybe some body orfices too? Currently scientists and researchers are trying to figure out ways to recycle and reuse body fluids, human waste and water for long-term space travel? Some day you may wish you were lactose intolerant, but for now keep the hot air coming. Just sit next to the other members of the crew.

Love has no boundaries and as it often happens a person who lives in one country may easily fall in love with a person who lives in another country. The question is: can a long distance relationship work?

Geography can be a big obstacle that lovers need to overcome. There is no doubts that it is much easier to develop a relationship with a person who lives next door. You can ask that person out and spend some quality time with them to see if the two of you are compatible. Things are a bit different when that person lives in another country, or worse yet, on another continent.

Long distance relationship can be very powerful and emotional. Most of the time you keep in contact with the other person by means of writing emails or talking on the phone. That way you can fantasize about how you think the person you are in love with is or what they think about you. Chances are you might be making things up in your mind by simply misinterpreting the other person’s words. Eventually, if you move in together there is a chance that the person with whom you have been in a long distance relationship with might turn out to be a completely different person, the opposite of what you imagined them to be. It can be very disappointing.

Nevertheless, if you are both willing enough to make the long distance relationship work then it will work. It takes a lot of trust, dedication, communication, love and commitment. It also depends on the possibility of the distance being eventually overcomed. Sooner or later one of you will have to leave their friends, family and job just to cut that distance away and it is a huge step that needs to be done to make the relationship work.

It is important to remember that no quality relationship is easy. All of them are hard work in their own way. But if you have found a person of your dreams, even if he or she lives on another continent, will the distance really be an obstacle for you? You are to decide.

The internet is the source for almost all of the current decade’s trends. Making money online, downloading music from a computer, and online dating are three of today’s most popular trends. Of these three trends, the popularity of online dating is the biggest surprise to most people. Nearly one billion dollars in revenue is being generated every year from internet dating services in the United States alone. The sites that started as a place for everyone to join have now changed into sites with more of a niche to advertise to certain target markets. These niche sites are more comfortable for people in that niche to join and are one of the main reasons for the increase in use of dating websites.

Websites like Match.com and eHarmony.com are two of the most known websites in existence that deal with finding a partner online. These sites are large, have millions of customers, and have no specific requirements to join. Sites like these started online dating services but it is sites like JDate.com and Amigos.com that have popularized this niche market. JDate is a site for Jewish singles and Amigos is a site for Latino singles.

There are also sites that are designed specifically for use by a certain race, religion, or both race and religion. Some of these dating websites are even made for people who generate a certain income to keep people with people in their own class. Niche websites like these are often the first dating websites used by minorities or people with faith in a certain religion. Joining an online dating service can be nerve-racking so these websites make it easier for their customers.

For example, a Christian, African-American adult may not be comfortable and feel overwhelmed joining a large site like Match.com. They may feel safer and more comfortable joining a site specifically for African-Americans who follow the Christian religion.

Another reason for the increase of users for online dating sites is the use of email and internet on cellular devices. Most working adults today have their email accounts synced to their cell phone and can easily access the internet from their phone. This makes it easy to communicate with people no matter where you are without even speaking to the person. Working individuals do not have time to constantly be browsing websites and sending messages to people.

The use of electronic communication devices makes it so that a person can join an online date service and find a date all on their cell phone in literally just a few minutes. The current ease of internet dating and the marketing techniques used by online dating services have created one of the biggest trends of the decade in online dating. The future of dating may just be beginning.

The tough question is – how can you restore a broken relationship?

Some people say that they have some ways to restore a broken relationship while attending the couple therapy sessions and learn how to resolve their conflicts; some people are not able to heal a broken relationship for some variety of reasons. Nevertheless, have you tried to find some ways to restore your broken relationship? Are you willing to change yourself before healing your broken relationship? If you answer yes to these questions, then you may need to know how to choose seven things to restore your broken relationship and work out with your significant one or spouse.

1) Effective communication is required. You and your significant one (or spouse) needs to figure out how to communicate with each other – without interrupting, fighting, yelling, and jumping any wrong conclusions. Learn to listen to each other and talk honestly.

2) Interpersonal attraction is supposed to be lead to friendship and romantic relationship. You and your significant one (or spouse) may start over by creating a friendship first, it can help you two to get to know each other more and build the trust in each other. It takes some time to restore a broken relationship. When you two restore a broken relationship, make sure that interpersonal attraction between you and your significant one (or spouse) would not be faded.

3) Physical and emotional intimacy are an important parts of the relationship; you and your significant one (or spouse) may love each other, but you two need to work out together through love, sexual activity, physical touch, and attraction.

4) Understanding and open-minded are parts of an individual’s attitudes in the relationship. You and your significant one (or spouse) needs to develop understanding and to be open-minded while conversing with each other. You two need to respect each other personally and maturely.

5) Setting boundaries is very important part of the relationship and of an individual’s personal self. You and your significant one (or spouse) needs to protect each other and your relationship as a result of avoiding any misunderstanding issues from others. You two are not supposed to allow other person interrupting your relationship and make certain that your relationship stands strong. You have the right to set your own boundary individually and make sure that you two value and honor each other.

6) Apology is needed. You and your significant one (or spouse) can apologize to each other before moving on and forget the past argument (or mistakes). You two learn mistakes and do not have to think about the past, you two know your mistakes and would not let this happen again in the future.

7) Confronting the problem is what you need to do before working on a broken relationship. You are not supposed to face your significant one (or spouse) for her/his problem; you need to focus the problem, not the person. When your problem is resolved individually, you and your significant one (or spouse) can build a broken relationship.

At last, you and your significant one (or spouse) work out through the process of restoring a broken relationship and you both take some time to heal for a while. In addition, you both make sure that you two stand strong for each other and for your relationship. You love each other and find a lasting happiness.

Be healthy; be happy.

It’s a serious undertaking when you restore a car, the biggest part of it is to be prepared for anything, if your doing it yourself then make sure that you have a good system for cataloging the parts that come off of the car that your doing, and be prepared for the un foreseen, it’s a lot of work and a lot more time, it never a quick venture.

Make sure that you really love the car that your restoring, because if you don’t it will probably get boring and monotonous, and that is the last thing you want to happen, this is how people end up with half done projects, and cars that they hate, be prepared with the money that you’ll need to do the project, and it won’t be just a little bit either, it will be a considerable investment of time and money.

Don’t fall in to the old trap of thinking that the car is in good condition because of what it looks like on the outside, this can be very deceiving, be sure to look at everything from the inside out, most cars have a lot of hidden work that’s not seeable from the outside, so be sure to open the trunk and look at the floor of it, pull up the front carpet just a bit and look at the main floor board of the car.

On the out side look for bubbles in the paint on the car, this usually indicates that the paint has rust underneath it, look real hard at the rocker panels of the car, and around the rear wheel wells, and always look under the wheel wells at the rear outer wheel well, open the hood and look at the engine compartment for rust, and bad wiring, these are tell tail signs that the car will need a considerable amount of work to make it drivable.

Id your planning on having a shop do your restoration for you, then be prepared to give them what they need to restore your car, as I have said earlier, you will be spending a lot of money to restore your car, so be prepared, a shop will need parts on a regular basis until your car is done, and they will need paint supplies, and a lot of other things, and most shops don’t have the space to store your car if no work is being done, so give them what they need to build your car.

A restoration of a car that’s in good shape will usually take about 900 hours of work, and if the car is in bad shape it can take a lot more, but remember that you get what you pay for, if you want the car done really fast they will need more then one person working on it, and this will mean that you’ll be charged at the shop’s labor rate for each person working on your car, if you can wait and you have some time to complete the project, then you will more then likely save some cash.

Most shops will try do restore your car for the best price that they possibly can right at the first, so bargaining with them to lower their prices probably won’t work with most shops, the shops don’t make a high profit margin on their work and usually can’t afford to be cutting their prices, and in most cases shops don’t do estimates, due to the fact that it’s pretty much impossible to estimate a restoration project because there are so many variables that enter in to it, it’s a lot different from a collision repair shop.

In a restoration there is no standard for the time that it takes to perform a certain task, and it is impossible to know what’s rusted or damaged in the car until you start the project, the shop has to tear in to the car to find all of the defective areas of it, and this can’t be done without bringing the car in to the shop and putting a man on it, it’s never just a matter of a simple looking at the car, it a matter of locating everything that has to be done, and it is never an easy job.

If you want to take some high quality food photographs for your business, or you just want some pics for your blog, here are some tips to help you get better food photos.

Style the food

This may seem like a bit much, but arranging your food carefully can make a dramatic difference to your food photographs. On professional food photography shoots a food stylist will often be employed just to get the food looking at its best. And many parts of the food may not even be real!

Thankfully you don’t need to go this far. Just make sure your food looks nice with the important features showing, e.g. for a burger photo make sure the lettuce isn’t covering up the burger. Use a plain plate so as not to distract from the food.

A garnish related to the subject will also enhance the photo. For example, for a cheese sandwich, crumble some cheese on the side of the plate.

Lighting

When lighting food we want to avoid harsh shadows and highlights. To do this use a soft, diffused light source. A shaded area with reflected natural light can work well. For artificial light, try lights reflected from large umbrellas, or large softboxes.

Don’t light your subject directly from the front, as the light will fill in all the shadows, giving a flat image with no texture. Instead light from the side to bring out the texture and details in the food.

Angle

Food can be shot both straight down from the top, straight across from the side, and from virtually any other angle. The angle you choose should depend on the food you are photographing.

Where most of the detail is on the top of the food, such as a bowl of soup, it is normally best photographed from above. Food with the detail on the side, such as a burger or sandwich, meanwhile, is better photographed from the side.

For food with detail in both the top and side, you can use a 45° angle. Of course, there’s no reason not take a few shots of the food from a variety of different angles. Also trying getting some close-up detail shots.

Depth of field

All things in photography are subjective, but depth of field (the amount of the photo in focus) is probably one of the more subjective food photography ‘rules’. Some photographers prefer to use a very shallow depth of field, with just the leading edge of the food in focus.

However, other photographers prefer all of the food in focus. If you want all of the food in focus but the background out of focus, you may need to use a tilt-shift lens, particularly if you are shooting the food at an angle. A tilt shift lens allows you to change the plane of focus so that rather than being parallel with the camera’s sensor, it is at an angle.

Tilt shift lenses are quite expensive, so if you are on a budget you can try and recreate the effect in Photoshop. It won’t look as good a real tilt-shift photo, but you can use Photoshop plugins such as Topaz Lens Effects or OnOne FocalPoint to blur certain areas of the photo (the background) while keeping the rest in focus.

We all know the Internet is a great tool for finding out information and sharing knowledge. But as a human sometimes sitting at a computer all day can get quite tedious, especially if it is your job 5 days a week. This feeling can be compounded by other problems in one’s personal life, and the result can mean little productivity because of a sour mood. Well humanity does have a lighter side, and this too can be explored on the Internet. Sometimes a little humor or interesting trivia can really take the edge off a bad moment. You’d be surprised at how much comedy and insight is expressed on the Net. I’ve been exploring what’s out there and I just can’t stop laughing. Laughter of course is the ultimate medicine and some believe it to be the highest form of life. My only warning is don’t get hooked on this stuff as your work ethic will probably become worse than ever!

Now, there’s a lot of stuff on the Net and not all of it is positive humor, but you can surf around the undesirable stuff with ease. To give you an idea of some funny sites I discovered, here is a short list but I’m sure there are thousands of others you can find by doing simple word searches: www.bored.com, www.linkydinky.com, www.chickenjoke.com, www.crazyfads.com, www.crazythoughts.com, www.dancingbush.com, and www.stupidvideos.com. I really advise checking out the last site and watching the video entitled ‘Evil penguin2′. This nearly brought tears to my eyes as I already have a soft spot for penguins.

So, you’ve got jokes, funny videos, kooky trivia, strange thoughts and perspectives on different aspects of life, and even the most ‘powerful’ man on Earth-George Bush doing an animated dance imitating John Travolta in ‘Saturday Night Fever’. You’ve really got no reason anymore to sit in front of your computer worrying and wallowing in self-pity. I’ve always thought that humans have put too much emphasis on technological development as opposed to the spiritual side of things. This comedic aspect to the Internet has shown me that people can also be quite clever in more lighthearted endeavors. Some of the ideas on these sites really flip the world upside down and make you question why we do the things the way we do. This could be considered a step forward in our evolution as we see the underlying truths in our cultural systems.

Laughter is the key to humanity reaching a higher level of consciousness. Imagine if everyone on our planet could all be happy enough in one moment to laugh at the same time. The Earth would shake, the seas would rise, and all the animals would stop what they’re doing to join in. The vibration would probably cause a ripple to flow out into space affecting other planetary systems. Then, imagine all the beings of the Universe laughing at one time. We’re talking serious celebrations! We’re talking about black holes folding in on themselves in result of the positive energy wave forces demolishing all negative forces in their path! It’s called the Laughter Revolution, and it might just be the next step for you to take to reach that long awaited goal of happiness. Come on, take a look around, there’s a whole world of funniness just under the surface of our perceived ‘normal’ reality. We have to wake up and smell the cheese…Oh the sweet cheese.

In the late twentieth century a revolution began to take place in mainstream music incited by the innovation of the mp3 file format for listening to and recording audio tracks, which quickly became the standard for ripping audio CDs. The technology got rid of the excess audio information that could not be discerned by the human ear. It worked using a lossy compression algorithm, which was acceptable to all except for the most hardcore audiophiles.

Prior to this innovation came changes to the form of physical media, including records, cassettes, and later the compact disc, the most resilient of them all. I refer to the compact disc as being the most resilient media, because it was at this point, at the turn of the century, that the Record Companies entered into a vain and futile struggle to maintain the status quo. Their profits grew fat with compact discs. Arguably the easiest of the above mentioned media to manufacture, yielding for them the highest volume at the lowest cost as well as ensuring the tightest control over their distribution.

Michael Robertson, who was the pioneer of the eponymous mp3.com, was among the first to see the potential. What Robertson realized, that so escaped the Record Industry, was that there was a growing interest in mp3 downloads. He even had developed a streaming model similar to Apple’s iTunes match service. This seemingly simple innovation and approach to content distribution was well ahead of it’s time and quite literally caught the Record Labels by surprise.

They responded not by embracing this new found technology but by suing, and later acquiring, mp3.com.

A few years later services like Napster and Kazaa, managed to completely undermine the power of the record labels over music distribution. The scale of these services was such that an entire generation adopted them as their primary music consumption platform. It was Apple, which eventually came to rescue the music labels. Now Apple has the most influence and has become the largest music retailer.

The easiest solution, at the time, was to sue to protect their intellectual property, but in dealing with other companies currently following in mp3.com’s footsteps, such as Amazon or Google, things will no longer be as simple for the Record Labels. The irony being that the landscape of digital music has been so largely altered by Apple’s iTunes that the labels may find their best ally among these competitors to defend against Apple’s influence and control.

When the mp3 was introduced, the Record Companies failed to see the potential in the technology. It was not that the mp3 would make their business better, or help to increase their profit margins, although this would have been possible, if implemented correctly. The issue at hand was that if they failed to adapt to the changes in consumer preference, and spending, they would quickly become obsolete and would lose their status and influence in the music industry. This is eventually what happened. Instead of leading the revolution in the music space, these companies lagged far behind. The consumer, for the first time, was leading a revolt against the music industry as a whole. It’s not that consumers became unwilling to pay for music. It was simply that their preferred means of distribution, was ignored by the industry. The demand was for music to be downloaded over the internet and installed on personal media players. Because there was no legitimate way to do this, music was stolen. It was this that played into the Record Companies’ downfall. The mp3 revolution created a generation which is not accustomed to paying for music. The concept is alien and foreign to a fairly large and important demographic. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard, “Who pays for music?”.

The purpose of this discussion is to serve as a warning and as a lesson. This is not something that happens once and will be forgotten. It is this story in different forms which is at the heart of any revolution and can be beneficial for investors and companies to learn from. There was money to be made during this time. Any company which was witness to this dissonance in media distribution, and with the guts to change the status quo, would have made billions. The key was to discover a way to make money by taking the illegal system which was already in place as a model.

I, alone, am accountable to God,

All others – and their actions – I must accept,

Are not the road with which I trod;

This is an outlook making my life adept.

***

Living the Spirit’s Power

Neither by days nor hours,

Is our existence to be counted;

Better by the scent of the flowers,

Upon which our senses have recounted.

Neither by possessions nor toys,

Is our happiness to be secured;

Better by the significance of the joys,

That our lives have procured.

Neither by plans nor dreams,

Is our hope to be fastened;

Better by what the Spirit deems,

Than by what the enemy’s darkened.

Neither by envy nor boasting,

Are our achievements to be mounted;

Better by obedience to the LORD’s posting,

By which our lives will be accounted.

***

Father, Forgive Me

Father, forgive me for my sins of yesterday,

Times when my mind and heart went partly astray,

Help me today to care for those in my den,

I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus, AMEN.

***

Change: we can do it. First comes awareness, in the form of knowledge; then comes action-a discipline. Knowledge always runs incomplete without committed action. We act now, and every ‘now’ for the foreseeable future. Then a new habit is formed.

***

The ‘Infilling’ Gift of the Holy Spirit

The topography of my spirit is the same as yours,

Hypocrisy and recrimination are intruders of daily intent,

The kind that – really – my spirit abhors,

The kind that only the Holy Spirit can fragment.

Hypocrisy: yes, the sin of the flesh,

Recrimination: when Satan talks to me,

Holy Spirit, help me rise – only You can refresh,

Silence the voice – so it’s only with You I agree.

The gift of the infilling of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing reality for those continually turning back to God. We’re filled to the level at which we want. God imposes no limit.

Salvation is not a one-time thing so far as salvation living is concerned.

We must continue to draw near to God so God will draw near to us (James 4:8).

God asks today: “Do you really want the infilling of my Holy Spirit? It is my daily gift for those seeking me.”

***

The Best Friend of Action

The best friend of action,

Is the finalised decision,

It’s resolve beyond distraction,

And power beyond derision.

***

Many are the enemies of the soul that subsist in boredom. Beyond plain busyness – a ‘modern’ trend – stay quietly, diligently active.

***

Let Us Not Forget

No matter how bad things get,

And in temptation to fret;

Let us not forget,

Who we have met: Jesus.

In this Lord, we are set.

He has paid our debt,

So there is no more regret,

Or desirous sweat.

Love is no longer a threat.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.