An Unromantic way to put Romance back in your Marriage

Wow!

Who’d a-thunk it, eh?

How to be romantic without being romantic?

So… what’s up with that?

Read on!

Water, water everywhere… Audio Post

While recording this entry, I couldn’t think of T. Boone Pickens name. Now – obviously – I have.

The audio post follows…

Why hate on Wikipedia? Here’s why.

It’s easy to hate Wikipedia.

There are too many reasons not to hate it.

But let me be more precise, and explain what’s wrong with Wikipedia.

To be certain, what you’re about to read is in no way a defense of Wikipedia.

Instead, I will bash it unashamedly, and will explain why it is unreliable, and supply reasons for others to look askance at it. This critique is no casually jaundiced glace, but rather scathing.

It can be difficult to know exactly where to begin, but I think it possible to start with reliability, and move tangentially to toward other areas.

Wikipedia calls itself

Ending Obamacare

Among conservatives, there’s little argument that Obamacare should be abolished. ‘It’s time to get government out of our lives,’ they say.

They make many very valid points. Those same folks have expressed concerns that instead,

Sex Secrets of Happy Couples

Sometimes, we don’t think enough of our marital relationship, while at others, we think too much. Somewhere in the middle, there’s a happy land.

Ten Sex Secrets of Really Happy Couples

They don’t do it every day (whew!). They believe in quickies (yay!). Read on for other reassuring truths about what a sexually healthy marriage looks like.

Here’s Encouragement

Have you ever wanted to read someone’s email, letters, text messages or eavesdrop on telephone calls or conversations?

If you’re honest, there has to be at least one time in your life in which the above has been true for you. However, as we mature, we realize that eavesdropping is nothing more than an effort to control, and that in many cases, we have little or no control over many – if not most – events and people in our lives. Certainly, we have no control over others’ thoughts or actions.

Eavesdropping on communication is and remains a hallmark of international espionage, and constitutes the basis and bulk of many international relationships. Eavesdropping on communications is not done among friends. It only accompanies enemies.

Acknowledging that fact is but one reason why love is so good. It is mutually reciprocated and wholly voluntary. Relationships of all type in life – business and personal – are made better by voluntary cooperation and the mutual respect and honesty that naturally accompanies it.

Unfortunately however, not all are so empowered by love. And unfortunately, that spills over into other areas of their lives – most notably even in business. For example, how can one perform at maximal efficiency and capacity if their personal life is in disarray or turmoil? For the healthy person, it’s not possible.

Recently, a dear friend of mine lost a job. We became friends during our tenure with each other as professional colleagues. After it had occurred to me that things probably weren’t as they seemed, I wrote a letter as a source of encouragement. It is my hope that this note may be a source of encouragement for you dear reader, as well.

It occurred to me that the “rationale” given for

The Practical Side to Commitment for Husbands & Wives

Periodically, in this blog I have shared tips for spouses – husbands & wives – to improve the quality of their marriage. Typically, those entries have been from other reputable sources, not merely my opinion, nor something from a popular consumer magazine that presents the relationship “flavor of the day.”

Love, it has been said, is a commitment – it is neither exclusively, nor merely a good feeling based upon a mutual attraction, sexual or otherwise. Because love is a commitment, there are certain things that one should do to honor and demonstrate the commitment. Oftentimes as well, those commitments have been unspoken – although they may occupy significant real estate silently in our imaginations. It is precisely those times that the unspoken should be spoken.

With an eye toward speaking the unspoken, I share with you the following.

List of 20 Absolute Face-to-Face Commitments

 By Paul D. Refior

Copyright 1994, 1998 and 2005

You will certainly agree that marriage is infinitely more than a list of do’s and don’ts.

Yet one of the problems these days is that so many couples fail or refuse to acknowledge important do’s and don’ts, and these couples do not make or fulfill important commitments and promises.

Google’s Gmail new look has problems

(Teaser: Be sure to share your thoughts in the poll following this entry.)

Google, the undisputed Internet search engine leader and online giant, has embarked upon a new adventure.

No, it’s not a new social media, mapping service, business document service, or cloud computing service.

And no, it’s not a new email service.

Well, not a “new” new one, per se.

Shortly after it was introduced, Google’s Gmail customer/user base quickly eclipsed Microsoft’s purchase of Hotmail Internet-based email service. And for the past 13 years, Gmail’s layout and design – their online interface – has not significantly changed. No matter in what

iPhone Photography Tips & Tricks III

Perhaps you’re read the two preceding entries in this series.

That would be “iPhone Photography Tips & Tricks,” and “iPhone Photography Tips & Tricks II.” (Had to clear that up, you know. It never hurts to be certain, right?)

Apple continues to improve the camera application on their iPhone, and in the 4S, the resolution of the camera has reached 8MP, and sports all-new optics. Not only does it shoot 1080p HD video, but it boasts a  f/2.4 aperture, improved backside illumination sensor, excellent auto white balance, advanced color accuracy, face detection, and reduced motion blur.

As well, the 4S model iPhone has 60 percent more pixels than the camera on iPhone 4.

While the improved camera sensors in the iPhone 4S have increased its sensitivity, it is ultimately the glass that makes any camera’s pictures worthwhile. And the appearance of a five element lens in conjunction with a larger aperture allows better quality light, and more light to reach the camera’s sensors, which results in a clearer focus and significantly improved pictures, overall.

However, those hardware improvement don’t say much about other really cool integrated camera features in iOS 5. And just so you’ll know, iOS 5 will work on the iPhone 3GS,  iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPad 2, iPod touch 3d & 4th generations.

One useful feature available on all iOS devices is

Could malaria be eliminated in our lifetime?

We in the USA – and other developed nations – think nothing of malaria, because we are not directly affected by that dreaded disease.

It is a disease that is entirely preventable and treatable.

However, we are indirectly affected by it.

How, and why?

Malaria remains the single greatest worldwide killer of human beings, and – as the article states – “was responsible for 655,000 deaths in 2010.“

Those figures are according to research by