WHAT TREE DID YOU FALL FROM?

Find your birthday and then find your tree. This is really cool and somewhat accurate. Then send it to your friends, including the one that sent it to you, so they can find out what tree they fell from, but don't forget to change the subject line to your tree. Find your tree below and see what you are like...

Jan 01 to Jan 11 - Fir Tree
Jan 12 to Jan 24 - Elm Tree
Jan 25 to Feb 03 - Cypress Tree
Feb 04 to Feb 08 - Poplar Tree
Feb 09 to Feb 18 - Cedar Tree
Feb 19 to Feb 28 - Pine Tree
Mar 01 to Mar 10 - Weeping Willow Tree
Mar 11 to Mar 20 - Lime Tree
Mar 21 (only) - Oak Tree
Mar 22 to Mar 31 - Hazelnut Tree
Apr 01 to Apr 10 - Rowan Tree
Apr 11 to Apr 20 - Maple Tree
Apr 21 to Apr 30 - Walnut Tree
May 01 to May 14 - Poplar Tree
May 15 to May 24 - Chestnut Tree
May 25 to Jun 03 - Ash Tree
Jun 04 to Jun 13 - Hornbeam Tree
Jun 14 to Jun 23 - Fig Tree
Jun 24 (only) - Birch Tree
Jun 25 to Jul 04 - Apple Tree
Jul 05 to Jul 14 - Fir Tree
Jul 15 to Jul 25 - Elm Tree
Jul 26 to Aug 04 - Cypress Tree
Aug 05 to Aug 13 - Poplar Tree
Aug 14 to Aug 23 - Cedar Tree
Aug 24 to Sep 02 - Pine Tree
Sep 03 to Sep 12 - Weeping Willow Tree
Sep 13 to Sep 22 - Lime Tree
Sep 23 (only) - Olive Tree
Sep 24 to Oct 03 - Hazelnut Tree
Oct 04 to Oct 13 - Rowan Tree
Oct 14 to Oct 23 - Maple Tree
Oct 24 to Nov 11 - Walnut Tree
Nov 12 to Nov 21 - Chestnut Tree
Nov 22 to Dec 01 - Ash Tree
Dec 02 to Dec 11 - Hornbeam Tree
Dec 12 to Dec 21 - Fig Tree
Dec 22 (only) - Beech Tree
Dec 23 to Jan 01 - Apple Tree

TREES (in alphabetical order)

Apple Tree (Love)
quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal, and attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous, sensitive, loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, many talents, loves children, needs affectionate partner.

Ash Tree (Ambition)
extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive, demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, talented, likes to play with fate, can be very egotistic, reliable, restless lover, sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention, needs love and much emotional support.

Beech Tree (Creative)
has good taste, concerned about its looks, materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).

Birch Tree (Inspiration)
vivacious, attractive, elegant,friendly, unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.

Cedar Tree (Confidence)
of rare strength, knows how to adapt, likes unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious, healthy optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.

Chestnut Tree (Honesty)
of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.

Cypress Tree (Faithfulness)
strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give but doesn't necessarily like it, strives to be content, optimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to
gain knowledge, needs to be needed.

Elm Tree (Noble-mindedness)
pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others, noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.

Fig Tree (Sensibility)
very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, sexually oriented, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great intelligence.

Fir tree (Mysterious)
extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them, hard to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness after long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish, many friends, very reliable.

Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary)
charming, sense of humor, very demanding but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a lasting impression, active fighter for social causes and politics, popular, quite moody, sexually oriented, honest, a perfectionist, has a precise sense of judgment and expects complete fairness.

Hornbeam Tree (Good Taste)
of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition, good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.

Lime Tree (Doubt)
intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones, hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough, but is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices for family and friends, has many talents but not always enough time to
use them, great leadership qualities, is jealous at times but extremely loyal.

Maple Tree (Independence of Mind)
no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

Oak Tree (Brave)
robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground, person of action.

Olive Tree (Wisdom)
loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable, balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm, well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.

Pine Tree (Peacemaker)
loves agreeable company, craves peace and harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write poetry, not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls strongly in love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally soft, low self esteem, needs affection and reassurance.

Poplar Tree (Uncertainty)
looks very decorative, talented, not very self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership seriously.

Rowan Tree (Sensitivity)
full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.

Walnut Tree (Passion)
unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.

Weeping Willow (Melancholy)
likes to be stress free, loves family life, full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic places, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with when pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition, suffers in love until they find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves to make others laugh.

Facts About Human Hair..

On average, a man spends about five months of his life shaving.

On average, a hair strand's life span is five and a half years.

On average redheads have 90,000 hairs. People with black hair have about 110,000 hairs.

Next to bone marrow, hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body.

In a lifetime, an average man will shave 20,000 times.

Humans have about the same number of hair follicles as a chimpanzee has.

Hair will fall out faster on a person that is on a crash diet.

The average human head weighs about eight pounds.

The reason why some people get a cowlick is because the growth of their hair is in a spiral pattern, which causes the hair to either stand straight up, or goes to a certain angle.

The reason why hair turns gray as we age is because the pigment cells in the hair follicle start to die, which is responsible for producing "melanin" which gives the hair colour.

The big toe is the foot reflexology pressure point for the head.

The loss of eyelashes is referred to as madarosis.

The longest human beard on record is 17.5 feet, held by Hans N. Langseth who was born in Norway in 1846.

The fastest growing tissue in the human body is hair.

The average human scalp has 100,000 hairs.

Hair and fingernails are made from the same substance, keratin.

Hair is made from the same substance as fingernails.

Eyebrow hair lasts between 3-5 months before it sheds.

The first hair dryer was a vacuum cleaner that was used for drying hair.

A Russian man who wore a beard during the time of Peter the Great had to pay a special tax.

Everyday approximately 35 meters of hair fiber is produced on the scalp of an adult.

Brylcreem, which was created in 1929, was the first man's hair product.

Ancient Egyptians used to think having facial hair was an indication of personal neglect.

A survey done by Clairol 10 years ago came up with 46% of men stating that it was okay to color their hair. Now 66% of men admit to coloring their hair.

A lifespan of an eyelash is approximately 150 days.

What Happens To Human Body During Electric Shock?

When a human is shocked, the electricity is attempting to use his body to reach the ground. The reaction to these shocks can range from minor to very serious.

Muscle Contractions
When a person is first shocked by a surge of electricity, his muscles will contract temporarily until the connection with the source is broken. In the case of a serious, prolonged shock, the person may lose the ability to perform voluntarily actions. 

Burns
One of the most common reactions of the body to an electric shock is a burn on the point of contact, such as the hand, foot or lips. The area will be become charred or red in color.

Heart Attack
The surge of energy through the body during an electrical shock can alter the person's heart beat and possibly cause cardiac arrest.

Pain
An electrical shock can cause severe chest or abdominal pains in a person. There could be internal injuries that he is not aware of, which is why a doctor visit is important after a serious shock (500 volts or more).

Warning
Though electric tasers are commonly used by law-enforcement agents to simply subdue suspects, there have been cases of death. In one case, a man died after being tased because he had cocaine in his system. The reaction of his body to the cocaine caused an extreme reaction to the shock.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5597594_human-reaction-electrical-shocks.html

How Pensions Can Get Out of the Red

This summer’s revelation that New Jersey had misled the public about the health of its state pension funds is only the latest incident in a looming nationwide crisis. 

Public pensions at the state and local level are underfunded by more than $1 trillion; in many cities, pension obligations will soon consume a quarter or more of the annual budget — money that will be unavailable for parks, libraries, street maintenance and public safety.

Part of the problem is that pension funds need significant new financing to cover the growing number of retirees. But the real issue is the lack of incentive to improve pension performance. What we need, then, is a federal program that combines stimulus with serious fund reform.

The pension-fund crisis is rooted in the intersection of excessive optimism by fund managers and the funds’ influence on the political process. Funds regularly overestimate their future performance: Calpers, California’s giant state pension fund, assumed, and still assumes, it will earn 7.75 percent annually on its investments; in fact, its returns over the last decade were, on average, less than half of that.

But Calpers wasn’t left holding the bag. Instead, it was able to force the state to increase its contribution to the fund; indeed, the state’s 2010 share will be about five times what it was forecast to be in 1999.

The Calpers case is hardly unique; the same story has been repeated across the country. Often, though, pension funds — including, until recently, New Jersey’s — have been able to hide their liabilities behind clever, nonstandard accounting methods.

This charade can’t last. Eventually debt-heavy governments will begin to default, which will disrupt the municipal bond market by blocking access to new capital for even the most credit-worthy public institutions. Ultimately, Washington may have to add local governments to the list of institutions it must bail out, next to banks and car companies.

But given how poorly pension funds have managed themselves, the federal government can’t simply hand out checks. Instead, borrowing a page from the Education Department’s Race for the Top initiative, which provides money to states that propose significant reforms for their public school systems, it should strike a grand bargain with city and state pension funds: in exchange for capping their liabilities and adopting better management practices, they could cover their costs through tax-free, federally guaranteed securities.

Here’s how it would work. A city, county or state facing insurmountable pension costs would appeal to the Department of Treasury for relief. As a first step, it would have to adopt standard accounting practices to accurately portray its current and expected financial health, including realistic projections of its investment returns and the discount rates on its debt.

Second, the applicant would have to take action to assure it can meet the debt service on its bonds, including placing a permanent cap on its pension liabilities. This means raising the retirement age, increasing employee contributions and preventing employees from manipulating their salaries in the last years before retirement to increase their pensions; it would also mean restructuring the fund’s health-care spending, which has been a significant drain.

Finally, the fund would have to move all new employees to 401(k) retirement plans, which have fixed employer contributions and therefore reduce future taxpayer liabilities.

In exchange, the Treasury would authorize the fund to issue tax-free “pension protection” bonds which, for a fee, would be guaranteed by the federal government. Proceeds from the bond sales would cover its liabilities, providing a quick resolution to the underfunding crisis.

Today’s bond market is the perfect environment in which to introduce a new security like pension-protection bonds. With their tax-free status, a federal guarantee, accurate accounting and the promise of a permanent fix, these securities might even be priced lower than Treasury bills, which are yielding 3.8 percent for 30-year bonds.

A Race to the Top for public pensions would offer something for everyone. The federal government would get a voluntary, low-cost way to avoid paying trillions down the road. Cities and states could cap their pension liabilities and close their funding gaps with inexpensive long-term debt, allowing them to get back to the business of providing needed services. And public-employee unions would get a federal guarantee behind their increasingly uncertain pension benefits.

The Obama administration’s Race to the Top initiative has been a bold experiment in education reform. The White House and Congress now have the opportunity to apply the same idea to the public-pension crisis. Otherwise, chaos is just around the corner for our cities, counties and states.

Richard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles, was the California secretary of education from 2003 to 2005. Alexander Rubalcava is the president of an investment advisory firm.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/opinion/16riordan.html?ref=opinion

1 in 3 Adults Now Have Apps on Their Phones-Many Don't Use Them

Adult cell phone users who use apps are younger, more educated and more affluent than other adults. Over the last few weeks, the Pew Internet & American Life Project has been looking at how adults use technology, and a new report released today focuses on app usage among this age group. According to this report, apps are not indispensable for most adults. While about 35% of U.S. adults now have apps on their cell phones, only 24% of adults actually use them. About a tenth of all U.S. adults doesn't even know if their phones can run apps.

Looking at the total range of things adults use their phones for, app usage tends to be relatively unimportant. While a lot of adults use their phones to take pictures (76%), send or receive text messages (72%), access the Internet (38%) and play music (33%), only 29% use apps. Unsurprisingly, adults who are more comfortable with technology in general also tend to use more apps on their cell phones. Clearly, there is still a large untapped market out there among adults. After all, more than 80% of adults currently own a cell phone, yet only 24% of them use apps.

Sadly, the researchers did not ask those who didn't download apps why they weren't interested in them. Kristen Purcell, the associate director for research at the Pew Internet Project, speculates that "it is clear that this is the early stage of adoption when many cell owners do not know what their phone can do. The apps market seems somewhat ahead of a majority of adult cell phone users."

App Amnesia: People Don't Know How Many Apps They Have

Among those adults who have used apps, half have actually paid for for them and they typically have around 10 on their phones, though there is clearly a group of very heavy apps users out there as well. Interestingly, most cell phone users - and especially those over 50 - don't actually know how many apps they have.

Only about 60% of all app users actually organize their apps so that their favorites are easily accessible. While Apple's new folders in the iOS 4 are a nifty feature for heavy users - there is clearly also a large market of users who only use a small number of apps and see no need to actually organize them in tidy little folders.

Most Popular Apps

Games are the most popular apps among adults (60%), closely followed by news and weather (52%), navigation (51%) and social networking apps 47%).

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/09/14/14readwriteweb-1-in-3-adults-now-have-apps-on-their-phones-83207.html?ref=technology

How Do People Use Their Smartphones?

Advertisers take note: People who have phones with Android operating systems are more likely to open an advertisement inside an app than are iPhone users. That, at least, is what the Nielsen Company says in a new report that it released on Monday about how people use mobile apps.

The report is the result of the company’s Mobile Apps Playbook survey of 4,000 people, which Nielsen embarked upon last December. It opens with a dose of realism, saying that “most Americans can’t imagine leaving home without their mobile phones,” and pointing out that one in four of the respondents own a smartphone that is “more powerful than the computers initially used to send men to the moon.”

What did the respondents do with these phones? Download a lot of apps. As of June 2010, according to the report, 59 percent of the smartphone owners surveyed, and nearly 9 percent of the feature phone users, said they had downloaded a mobile app in the last month.

The respondents also are playing a lot of games. The report states that 61 percent of smartphone owners surveyed said they had bought and used a game within the past month.


They’re checking the weather, too. After games, the second most-used category of apps on the mobile phone were weather related, with 55 percent of phone owners surveyed using such applications, the report said. The smartphone owners surveyed also like mapping and navigation apps, social networking programs that access Facebook and Twitter, and music-related apps, according to Nielsen.

The respondents in the survey rarely download instant messenger apps and those used to make Internet voice over phone calls, the report found.

When comparing the different applications based on the type of phone used, the results were almost uniform across platforms.

Facebook, The Weather Channel, Google Maps and the music service Pandora were in the top five apps used on the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows Mobile platforms.

In a blog post on the company’s Web site, Nielsen said, “One of the main challenges facing apps publishers is making sure consumers discover their apps.” And so Nielsen asked the phone owners how they discover and find new apps.

According to the researchers, 40 percent of those surveyed said they found new programs directly on their phones, while 36 percent said they heard about new apps from friends and family.

In addition to the finding about how Android and iPhone users treated advertisements on their phones, the report found that teenagers were “much more receptive than their elders” in engaging with mobile advertising inside an app, with 58 percent of teenagers telling the Nielsen researchers that they look at mobile ads.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/report-looks-at-trends-with-mobile-apps/?ref=technology

Competitor Sues Google Over Location Software for Smartphones

Skyhook Wireless, which makes software that shows smartphone users where they are on their phone’s maps, filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming Google had persuaded Motorola and another phone manufacturer to break contracts with Skyhook and use Google’s competing service. 

In a separate suit, also filed Wednesday, Skyhook accused Google of infringing on Skyhook’s patented methods of determining location.

The two companies are fighting for the lead in the nascent but promising business of location-based data that uses GPS or Wi-Fi signals to locate phone users. These services not only direct people to businesses, but collect information about where people are. That is valuable information that lets marketers direct advertising to people where and when they are most likely to buy.

“People view it as the next frontier, the next place to get the attention of the consumer,” said Carl Howe, an analyst with Yankee Group, a technology research company. “It’s not big now, but we believe it to be the next consumer battleground.”

Skyhook’s interference suit against Google, filed in Massachusetts Superior Court in Suffolk County, accuses Google of intentionally disrupting Skyhook’s business relationships. It says Google has notified cellphone makers that they need to use Google’s location service as a condition of using Google’s Android smartphone operating system.

The complaint claims that Andy Rubin, Google’s vice president for engineering, gave Sanjay K. Jha, chief executive of Motorola’s mobile devices division, a “stop ship” order, preventing Motorola from shipping phones with the Android operating system using the Skyhook software, called XPS.

The complaint charges that the Skyhook software had already been tested by Motorola and had completed the Google approval process.

“It’s very hard to meet compliance when Google keeps moving the goal post,” said Ted Morgan, Skyhook’s chief executive, in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Google declined to comment. Motorola did not respond to requests for comment.

Skyhook, based in Boston, said that it had a nearly identical experience with a second company referred to only as “Company X” in the complaint. The suit said that Skyhook’s licensing agreement with Company X was announced July 2, the date Skyhook announced its agreement with Samsung Electronics. Samsung declined to comment.

In the patent suit, filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts, Skyhook claims that Google violated four of Skyhook’s patents that gave it an advantage over competitors.

Competition to control location data is escalating because of the potential size of the market. “Regardless of how you calculate the number, the size of the opportunity is enormous,” said Alistair Goodman, chief of Placecast, a San Francisco location-based mobile marketing company.

Early research also shows mobile marketing to be highly effective at reaching consumers, said Mr. Goodman, whose company lets people sign up for alerts that appear on their phones when they are near the store of a client company or a site that company thinks will interest its customers.

“In aggregate, 65 percent of people in the programs made purchases, and 79 percent say the service was valuable,” Mr. Goodman said. “They didn’t see it as advertising or marketing.”

The value of the data surpasses the placing of ads on phones. It also allows companies to make inferences about a phone owner’s wealth, lifestyle and shopping preferences, which is also sought by marketers.

“We learn pretty interesting things, for instance who prefers Wal-Mart over Target, or Walgreens over CVS, who is split, which stores they will travel to get to,” said Thaddeus Fulford-Jones, chief of Locately, a location analytics company.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/technology/16phone.html?ref=technology