If you're smart, you recognize that good communication goes way beyond your computer screen. When it comes to exchanging ideas and really being understood in the workplace, e-mail and instant messages are only the tip of the iceberg. After all, there are real conversations that happen countless times on any given day in any office. While any of the tools using computers can be effective, none is as powerful as the old-fashioned, face-to-face conversation. This is because engaging someone face-to-face allows you to gain their trust and boost their motivation. Moreover, it is the only way to guarantee that you have the person's complete attention.

Technology affects all aspects of our lives, including art. New technologies are rapidly changing the way digital art is bought, sold and distributed. The distribution of digital art is likely to follow the lead of software and music where content is simply paid for online and downloaded onto personal computers. Like traditional art, limited numbers of digital pieces can be produced and distributed. To protect their originality and value, each piece of art can be equipped with its own secret serial number, and for those who want a hard copy, CD-ROMs will remain available. Thanks to advancements in technology, digital art can now be circulated quickly and conveniently.

Intelligence is usually measured using an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test that is based on logic and problem-solving skills. Those who have higher IQs are thought to have a better chance at being successful in life. Why, though, do some people with very high IQs fail in life while those with just average IQs become very successful? Why, when faced with failure, do some people fall apart while others learn and become stronger? The reason is that the latter people have high emotional intelligence. These people handle themselves very well in social situations. They are good at self-motivation and managing relationships, and, instead of becoming discontented, they improve themselves after making mistakes.

While most believe that hard work is the key to success, a new study has found that taking a break for a self-massage reduces work stress and increases productivity. Subjects in the study were given math problems before and after the massage break, and they were found to complete the problems quicker and more accurately after the break. Fortunately, say the researchers, it is easy to act as your own massage therapist. Most people, in fact, perform self-massages without even being cognizant of it. For example, when experiencing a bad headache, people often rub their temples or, after a hard day, rub their own feet. These techniques may not be as pleasurable as a professional massage, but they do help to relieve overall body tension.

Homeschooling can provide many benefits for people who choose not to participate in traditional forms of education. Children can, however, develop serious social problems if certain precautions are not taken. Social interaction, for example, is thought to be as important in primary school education as the knowledge that students go to school to acquire. The biggest problem children face when home-schooled is that they lose important opportunities to interact with their peers, so parents must take on the extra responsibility of creating these opportunities. You can start by getting to know neighborhood the where you live. Find out where the other children in the area live and make a point of getting to know them and their parents. Once these relationships have been established, organize events that will give your child opportunities to play with the other local children who are of similar age. Weekend fishing trips or barbecues are welcomed by other parents and enjoyed by children, and field trips that are related to school projects are a great way to allow social interaction and provide education. Joining local sports teams is often the best way to ensure the proper social development of your child. While playing sports, children spend a lot of time together practicing as a team in order to accomplish shared goals. Driven by their desire to succeed, kids form deep bonds with each other during this time. In addition, playing sports provides a good setting for children to learn how to become gracious winners and to accept and overcome the disappointment of defeat.

Wildfires that burn through forests every five to 25 years have always been a natural occurrence. Without these occasional small fires, dead branches, leaves and bushes accumulate and can fuel much larger and more destructive fires. These naturally occurring fires also convert dead leaves and branches into nutrient-rich soil that maintains the health of the overall forest. In addition, the heat from these fires is essential for the germination of certain seeds that could not grow without it. Both the seeds and certain grasses which grow rapidly after a fire provide much needed food for wild animals. Due to these factors, forest managers regularly set small fires.

Because all mammals, including humans, share the same ancestors, we also share very similar biological structures. In fact, all mammals have the same internal organs, and we all use the same systems to control them. We all have hearts, kidneys, lungs and livers, and we all use a bloodstream and a nervous system to control these organs. There are, of course, many differences between different mammals' bodies, but there are so many similarities that researching other mammals continues to be worthwhile. Understanding why mice, for example, are more resistant to certain forms of cancer than humans are can help us develop cures for our variation of the disease.

Antibiotics are strong medicines that can cure many bacterial illnesses. But it is a worry that many doctors prescribe powerful antibiotics before knowing if an illness is caused by a bacteria or a virus. If the illness is caused by a virus, the antibiotics will not help, and the prescribing of unneeded antibiotics is causing harmful bacteria to become resistant to medication. One bio-tech company is developing a test that may help put an end to this problem. The method uses safe types of viruses that actually attack harmful bacteria. The virus is simply mixed in a test tube with the patient's blood, and doctors can easily detect a reaction. The test only takes 2 to 4 hours and it is very accurate because the viruses only attack certain types of bacteria.

Jane has been a part of our international communications team for over six years, and during that time she has performed her duties with the highest standards. Jane's ability to negotiate successful deals with international clients in more than four languages has benefited this company greatly. Jane is an innovative self-starter with the drive and motivation to excel in her work with little or no supervision. We will be truly sorry to see Jane go, but we understand and support her decision to advance her career. If you would like to talk more about Jane's qualifications and the reasons why I think she would be a good employee for your company, please do not hesitate to call me.

One of the basic principles of freedom and democracy is having a media that is uncensored by the government. However, doesn't the government actually need to take more action? Today in America almost 100% of the mass media is owned by just six corporations, and they are not so much media companies as major conglomerates. They have business interests in everything from arms dealing to oil production. Is it likely that a company making millions from energy consumption will accurately report the negative effects of burning fossil fuels? It is highly unlikely, and because there are so few companies that own all of the media outlets, it is doubtful that we are getting any true political criticism at all.

My heart ached as I dropped my daughter off for her first day back at school after the accident. As I know how cruel kids can be to others who are different, and with the permanent brace on her foot and her noticeable limp, I feared the worst for her. When she came home she said that today was race day and that she had competed. Tears started coming to my eyes as I thought about my poor girl struggling just to finish the race. Seeing the tears in my eyes, she smiled and said, It's OK, Daddy, I won. I had an advantage. I immediately thought that I should call the principal to thank her for helping my daughter by giving her an advantage. Before I could finish that thought, though, she said, Daddy, it was a fair race. My advantage was that I had to try harder!

In the search for ways to keep in touch over long distances, many cultures around the world developed the same ideas. These often involved reducing messages to a visual code that the sender and the receiver could recognize. But people in places like mountains or jungles, where visibility can be very low, came up with some unusual ways of keeping in touch - using musical instruments. The alphorn, a curved wooden horn that can be up to 20 feet long, has been used for hundreds of years to communicate between Alpine peaks. The Maya also used horns, made from conch shells, to send signals over long distances.

Parkinson's disease is a fatal brain disorder that develops when the brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine start to die. Dopamine acts as a chemical messenger to help control muscle activities, so when the brain stops producing it there is a progressive loss of muscular control. First, those who are afflicted by the disease start to feel stiffness in the limbs and joints. Then, as the disease progresses further, the patients suffer from tremors and experience great difficulty when trying to walk. In the later stages, they have difficulty speaking and have severe memory loss.

Look at the label on any product package and you will see a nutrition information section that gives a serving size for that food. Most people believe this serving size is telling you the amount you should be eating. However, it is simply a guide to help you see how many calories and nutrients you get from eating a specific quantity of that food. Sometimes the serving size on a package will be a lot less than you are used to eating. In some cases, it is perfectly OK to eat more than the serving size. For example, it is no problem to eat more frozen vegetables than the serving size because most vegetables are low in calories and fat yet high in nutrition.

In our attempts to express ideas and feelings, human beings have created complex sets of sounds that form spoken languages. Researchers suggest, however, that 80% of all human communication is transmitted through other means. Our true feelings and beliefs are often exposed by the unconscious use of gestures, facial expressions and postures, all of which have specific connotations within a particular context. For example, someone who stands with hands on hips is often angry or upset. People who are in lower social positions often make little eye contact with their superiors. People who lack confidence tend to have slouching postures, while those who are confident tend to display a posture that is more upright.

Many people believe that telecommuters, due to a lack of supervision, are less productive than workers who sit in an office every day. In fact, though, telecommuters have been found to outperform their in-office counterparts in employee efficiency and productivity reports. Telecommuters work with no direct supervision, so they feel an added sense of responsibility, which drives them to work harder and perform better. In addition, working from home means that they are not bothered by the various distractions that often occur in office settings. Lastly, when working at home, people are free to make schedules that fit their particular lifestyles, working and resting when they think appropriate.

You are going to quit working for your company and are ready to give a notice two weeks in advance to your employer. What's the best way to say good-bye? Regardless of the circumstances of your leaving, your first responsibility is to let your employer know that you are resigning. You need to part on good terms and you don't want your boss to hear rumors of your departure. The next step is to say farewell to co-workers and to let them know that you are moving on to a new position, retiring, or doing something else. It's appropriate to send a farewell by email. You can include contact information, so that you can stay in touch.

Many improved technologies are being used to build homes today. One new product is a water heater that attaches to the plumbing system and heats water only as you need it, reducing your monthly usage of gas. Photovoltaic panels are also being installed, and they allow you to generate your own power from the sun. Walls and roofs that are specially designed to keep warm air from escaping in the winter and cool air from escaping in the summer are gaining in popularity as well. These walls have a hard foam core that reduces electricity consumption for heating and air conditioning. In addition to appliances that use less water, these new technologies are helping to save vital resources.

Physician Bernie S. Siegel wrote in Peace, Love, and Healing, Everybody dies — lovers, joggers, vegetarians, and even nonsmokers. I'm telling you this so that some of you will occasionally sleep late and have an ice cream cone. We should never take life or ourselves too seriously. This applies equally to all aspects of life. Each of us has our own unique issues that can cause us to despair or to laugh. When it comes to anything related to tools or technology, I'm clueless. But I don't let that bring me down. I just laugh, which prevents stress from building up.

People generally think that playing too many video games is not healthy for kids. In some hospital situations, however, it can actually be very helpful. When kids bring their portable video games to the hospital, they feel less nervous about what will happen to them. When concentrating on the battle between the game's heroes and villains, patients experience less pain during difficult treatments. In addition, kids who keep active by playing their games after operations spend less time thinking about their health problem, and they seem to heal quicker. Doctors and researchers see so much promise in this that they are now connecting young patients to the Internet, so that they can play interactive games with kids at other hospitals.

Dolphins have a rare ability to be unaffected by sleeplessness during a special period of their lives. Baby dolphins stay awake for a month immediately following birth. No other mammals can stay awake that long without suffering serious consequences. Almost all infant mammals require much more sleep than adults in order to develop their brains and bodies properly. In contrast, baby dolphins need less sleep than their mothers. So, it is possible that dolphins simply do not need sleep to develop and learn. Otherwise, we have to assume that they spend a lot of time swimming in their sleep, just like sleepwalkers who can walk, eat food and sometimes drive while in a deep sleep!

I had always wanted to teach children, but when I was in university I took another path because the salaries offered to teachers were not enough to raise a family on. After many years in the corporate world, though, I was financially secure, so I decided to follow my dreams and take a job as an elementary school teacher. However, it did not take long until I found out just how difficult teaching could be. My class was comprised of 8-year-old autistic students, and the difficulty I faced trying to teach them was something I was not prepared for. On the first day of school, a boy slapped me on the cheek because he felt frightened of his new teacher. Another boy, Jimmy, knew fewer than 15 words and was not able to write any letters or numbers. I soon realized that I should not run my classroom like a corporation where I always had to get things done quickly and perfectly. I gave up my old attitude about what constituted an achievement. I set up realistic goals and praised my students when they did their best, even if they failed at a task. As a result, I started to see real progress with my students. When Jimmy began to learn letters and numbers, his parents and I celebrated with a big hug. Towards the end of the term, Jimmy could recite his ABCs and count to 20. His mother was so happy and proud of his accomplishments, and she told me how much she appreciated my efforts. For the first time in my life, I felt a real sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, and I no longer missed the glory of the corporate world.

Because home prices have increased rapidly in the past 20 years, most people can no longer afford to live close to the center of a major city. Therefore , those people are spreading out to the edges of cities where land is cheaper and homes more affordable. But the move to the suburbs has at least one major drawback: the long commute. When parents have to spend hours every day just to get to work and back, it can place a lot of strain on the family. Recent research indicates that for every 10 minutes spent commuting, 10% less time is spent with family or being active in the community. Parents with long daily commutes have little involvement in their children's after-school activities, and these families cannot spend time eating dinner together or taking part in other activities that are important for family bonding. What also makes family life more difficult is that long daily commutes can be dangerous for people's health: drivers will often attend to other matters while on the road, such as eating or making phone calls. This, of course, causes people to pay less attention to the road and, in turn, causes many traffic accidents. As a result , the risk of becoming obese increases by three percent for every 30 minutes spent commuting. Finally, long daily commutes home add extra stress to people who have already put in a hard day at work. All of these major health problems can be terrible burdens for families not only financially but also emotionally.