So what is Ning?

According to its founders, it's "a free online service (or, as we like to call it, a Playground) for building and using social applications. Social apps are Web applications that enable anyone to match, transact, and communicate with other people." Interesting idea, giving the public tools to create their own Friendster or Classmates.com.

Quintessence

The purest form of a perfume is sometimes called quintessence, as though the fragrance was five ('quinta') times distilled. Figuratively, quintessence means the most essential part of an idea. Ancient philosophers thought that all matter took one of four forms - earth, air, fire, water. Pythagoreans and medieval alchemists proposed a fifth element, or 'quinta essentia.' They believed it permeated all things and was the substance of the heavenly bodies. No alchemist succeeded in extracting this fifth element, however, so since 1570, 'quintessence' has meant the quality that most characterizes a substance or notion.

Home work, work at home

I remember when I spent countless hours doing school work on a table in a bedroom in my childhood home. I was in high school, and it was a time when I serious started thinking about careers. I remember the old chair and the old table. Then, I had a high opinion of my own abilities.

But what I remember most was that the bedroom window looked out on a beautiful green lawn, a variety of colorful flowers and, in the background, a stately eucalyptus tree. It was the exciting life of my childhood, and it was the most pleasant of atmospheres. I spent many hours working there.

If I wanted a break, I had only to go out the back door and walk about a mile along a stand of pine trees on a dirt lane to a playing field. It was nice duty. One wouldn't think it possible, but the atmosphere now is even better. I work in a home office overlooking a near-pristine park (a cricket club, no football pitch), surrounded by foliage of one sort or another and full of interesting creatures. It is a bliss-filled setting. For breaks I can walk around the park, which would take up most of the day, or any part thereof. Fifteen to 30 minutes of solitude does wonders for the muse. Nice duty. Nice way to work. That is the good news.

It comes at either end of 10 years of bad news, work atmosphere-wise. Offices, at least the half dozen I inhabited, are work-friendly places, but they don't do much for the soul. Generally, I worked at a desk surrounded by other desks stretching the four directions to the walls, which were inside walls, far from sunlight. Sometimes I had a cubicle. Not much difference. As I got more and more into managerial roles, my work space became a series of offices, all interior. There were windows, to be sure, but they faced the open-plan area so that I could watch, should I choose, people at work and, more importantly, they could watch me. One office that I occupied for years was just plain stuffy. I fussed with the building maintenance people constantly, hoping for an adequate supply of fresh air. They were sympathetic, even agreed, using their various instruments, that the room had a problem. But they were never able to fix it.

Now, it is fascinating work, and 90-plus percent of the time I'm unaware of my physical surroundings, intent on the tasks at hand and in dealing with the issues to complete work each day. This is hardly sweat-shop stuff, and it is probably as good as it gets. All the people who knew me when I worked long weeks in an office think I look "good" these days. "Relaxed," they say. I think it is the sunlight warming my left shoulder.

"Spanish flu" virus resurrected

Reuters has an article about how scientists resurrected the 1918 'Spanish flu' virus that killed as many as 50 million people. They are beginning to understand why it caused such a deadly pandemic and say it could happen again.

A Time To Love and Wonder

The first album from Motown marvel Stevie Wonder since 1995’s Conversation Piece, will be released on October 18th. Singles from the upcoming album, A Time 2 Love, came out in the spring, with “So What the Fuss” and “From the Bottom of My Heart” having airplay for several months. The album was first slated to come out in June but was repeatedly pushed back. “So What the Fuss” features Prince, but he’s not the only superstar to lend his talents to this record. Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, country superstar Bonnie Raitt, and R&B singer India.Arie are all lending their talents to the album.

The fifteen tracks on Wonder’s new record are:
"If Your Love Cannot Be Moved"
"Sweetest Somebody I Know"
"Moon Blue"
"From the Bottom of My Heart"
"Please Don't Hurt My Baby"
"How Will I Know" "My Love Is on Fire"
"Passionate Raindrops"
"Tell Your Heart I Love You"
"True Love" "Shelter in the Rain"
"So What the Fuss"
"Can't Imagine Love Without You"
"Positivity"
"A Time to Love"

Predict The weather

Unusual twinkling of stars: double horns to the moon:, halos around stars or moon: "wind dogs - increasing wind, or rain with a liability of wind
Wind shifting from west to east - increase of wind front the other direction
Rosy sky at sunset - fine weather
Sickly, greenish - colored sunset - Wind and rain
Dark red or crimson sunset - rain
Bright-yellow sky at sunset - wind
Pale-yellow, or saffron sunset - rain
Mixed red and yellow sunset - rain and squally weather
Remarkably clear atmosphere with distant objects standing above the water and seemingly in air - wind, usually from the northwest, and often rain
Heavy dews - Erie weather
Fogs - change in weather and little wind
Misty clouds on hills, remaining stationary, increasing or descending - rain and wind
Misty clouds on hills, rising or dispersing - fairer weather
Red morning sky - bad weather and wind
Gray morning sky - fine weather
High dawn (dawn seen above a bank of clouds) - wind
Low dawn (daylight breaking close to the horizon) - fair
Soft, delicate clouds - fair and light winds
Hard - edged, oily clouds-wind
Dark, gloomy sky - windy
Light, bright sky - fine weather
Small, inky clouds - rain
Light "scud,"' or small clouds moving across heavier clouds - Wind and rain
Light, scudding clouds by themselves - wind and dry weather
High, tipper clouds scudding past moon or stars in a different direction from the lower cloud masses - change of wind
Fine weather followed by light streaks, wisps, or mottled patches of distant clouds that increase and join - change
Haze that becomes murky and clouds the sky - change to bad weather
Light, delicate colors, with soft edged clouds - fine weather
Brilliant, or gaudy, colors and sharp, hard-edged clouds - rain and wind
Mackerel sky (small, separate, white clouds covering the sky) - wet weather
"Mares' tails" (long, wispy, curved, isolated clouds against a blue sky) - wind
Rainbow early in the morning - bad weather
Rainbow in afternoon - fair

Introducing Myself

I'd like to introduce myself..... one can take many approaches in describing oneself.

Here, I'll consider myself from the persective of my professional life and from the perspective of my more private life, though the two are inevitably intertwined--I believe there is usually a strong thread weaving its way between the two.

During the course of my postings I'll reveal a little about my background and intent.