Monday, October 27, 2008

A few myths about the usefulness of beer :)

usefulness of beer
Two days ago I found interesting material about the beer. I very rarely drink alcohol, but these facts seemed interesting to me.

MYTH 1. Beer is a useful natural drink. Some people are sure that beer is a very useful drink, which must be added to our daily diet. Certainly, there is alcohol in beer, but it is used in small concentrations and, if consumed in reasonable doses, can be even necessary for everyone.
TRUTH. In real, beer must be considered more harmful than wine or vodka, because it contains a lot of harmful and dangerous composites that appeared as a result of fermentation. These poisonous composites (usually the wastes of fermentation) include aldehydes, fusel oils, methanol, ethers and so on. Besides, the content of alcohol in beer is not always low and sometimes there can be up to 14% of alcohol. Also, beer alcoholism is very fast to be developed.

MYTH 2. There is no such thing as beer alcoholism. There are millions of people who drink beer every day and do not develop any sort of alcoholism.
TRUTH. Beer alcoholism is a hard psychological disorder, which is frequently accompanied with anosognosia, or denial of own dependence and the absence of a drive to get rid of this bad habit. Usually, it doe not take a lot of time for developing a psychological dependence on drinking beer. This addiction is also boosted by availability of this drink, as well as by the absence of ethical limitations for drinking beer (people drink beer practically everywhere and at any time).

MYTH 3. Beer is useful from social point of view, because it helps people switch from drinking vodka, whisky or other alcoholic drinks. For many people, beer can substitute heavy alcoholic drinks and this way it fulfills an important social function.
TRUTH. From this perspective, beer contributes greatly to our self-deceit. If you drink 3-4 bottles of beer a day, you receive the same dose of alcohol as you could receive after drinking a bottle of vodka. However, you are psychologically protected, because the one who drinks a bottle of vodka per day is an alcoholic person, but the one who drinks 2-3 liters of beer a day is a normal guy! For example, in the nineteenth century the British decided to fight with increasing alcoholism by stimulating beer consumption, however, this law was abolished very soon since alcoholism went on blossoming.

МYTH 4. Beer is useful for our brains. Beer contains silica, which can prevent brain atrophy, speech impediments and other problems.
TRUTH. Actually, alcohol destroys our brain cells, and this process is especially fast in teenagers and youth. Regular beer consumption affects human intellect and learning abilities. People who suffer from hard forms of beer alcoholism usually have sheer mental problems and are inclined to oligophrenia.

МYTH 5. Beer is useful for our heart and vessels.
TRUTH. Beer causes very harmful changes in physical shape and work of human heart and whole cardio-vascular system. Beer contains great amounts of carbon dioxide, which goes into our blood very fast and causes problems with vessels, such as varicose, etc.

МYTH 6. Beer has a pleasant taste and is useful for our digestion. It contains natural composites of starch, which advantage digestion and producing gastric juice.
TRUTH. No matter how many useful properties are attributed to hops, it contains very dangerous tars, which are proven to have carcinogenic properties. Studies showed that drinking too much beer increases risks to have colon cancer. Besides, beer contains such element as cobalt, which is known for its properties to trigger inflammation in esophagus and stomach.

МYTH 7. Beer is useful because it has a lot of vitamins. Some beer lovers are convinced that by drinking 1 liter of beer a day you can obtain your daily norm of all necessary elements and vitamins.
TRUTH. Actually, beer has almost no vitamins at all. During the process of beer manufacturing all the vitamins that initially exist in natural ingredients are gone. As a result, 1 liter of beer contains only 0,005-0,15 mg of thiamine, 0,3-1,3 of riboflavin, etc.

MYTH 8. Beer can boost sexual function.
TRUTH. Alcohol is always bad for sexual function, both in men and women. Alcohol inhibits production of androgens in your body that can substantially lower your sex drive. In addition, beer contains a series of toxic elements, including the composites of heavy metals, which can cause harmful changes in endocrine system.

MYTH 9. Beer is useful for our nervous system as it has calming and relaxing effects, helps to relief stress and so on.
TRUTH. Beer affects our nervous system since it contains certain psychoactive elements, which make beer act as a dangerous intoxicant. Besides, beer has sedative properties, which affect memory and our sensorimotor activity.

MYTH 10. Beer is useful for kidneys due to its diuretic properties.
TRUTH. Beer washes out proteins, fats, carbs and useful elements form our body, especially potassium, magnesium and Vitamin C. A lack of potassium can cause changes in our heart rhythm, dry skin, pains in legs, etc. A lack of magnesium brings to sleep disorders, irritability and nervousness. A lack of Vitamin C in our body leads to problems with immunity, attention deficit and other mental imbalances.

So, are we still talking about useful properties of beer?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

How to reduce your roaming data costs

The easiest way to get 3G iPhone for freeWhile roaming, the granularity at which your data traffic is charged, is larger than usual. (I get rounded to 1Kb in my home network, and to 25 to 100 Kb while roaming).

Basically, every data “session” is rounded to the granularity amount.
What happens when you are roaming, is that your phone switches networks and bands (from 2G to 3G and backwards) a lot more often since it can connect to virtually any network available in that country. Now, if you have been on a network for an hour and your BB session transferred 5 Kb of data, and the phone switches over, you get billed for the entire 25 to 100 Kb granularity chunk.

You can easily figure out how this will drive up your costs. You end up paying 5-10 times more data traffic that you use, at a price which is 5-10 time more … basically, you can pay up to 100 times more!

What you can do?
Simple. Set your phone to manually select a network. Select the network manually and voila, things are better (also, don’t allow your phone to change from 2G to 3G automatically). Stick to non-3G and you will be fine, as it has wider coverage than 3G, anywhere in the world.

Some prove
To prove my theory, when I went in my vacation (abroad), I left the phone to automatically switch networks for 3 days. Then I put it to manual and when I got home, I requested a detailed invoice.

And boy … was I right. In the first 3 days, I had about 5-6 data sessions closed and rounded up, daily. In the last 4 days … I had 5 sessions in TOTAL. The cost difference was HUGE.
Keep in mind that I have spent most of my time in the vicinity of my hotel, and the swimming pool. The 5-6 sessions were when I went out for walks and the phone switched networks or switched to 3G and back to 2G.

Give it a try and feel the difference for yourself.

Friday, October 10, 2008

iPod battery replacement

battery replacement
iPod battery replacements with these easy steps. Please be forewarned that although replacing the battery is a breeze, it will void your warranty with Apple. I don't want to be held liable for the harm done to your iPod because of this article, so do this at your own risk.

Things you should understand before replacing your iPod battery:

1. Apple has an official out-of-warranty battery replacement program for $59 + $6.95 shipping in the United States(see Europe and Canada pricing). The policy requires that you send in your iPod (any model), and Apple will switch the battery and send it to you for $59 plus handling and shipping. Technically, Apple indeed replaces your whole unit with an equivalent new model or factory-refurbished model in a brand new case, with its own 90-day service warranty; if it was already engraved by Apple, it will be engraved over again.

2. The iPod warranty is one year but you can increase it for two years with AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod. Many merchants have low priced extended warranty coverage available and often these plans simply replace the product with a corresponding new unit.

3. Over time, the battery will not keep the same amount of charge as when it was newly purchased. This is natural, and exists to all lithium ion batteries. This continued degradation will not affect, or be found by, most users during the life of their iPod. %Nevertheless%, based on usage, environmental factors, and several other variables, some heavy users may realize a great degradation than others. It is important to understand that this is the exact same degradation that would happen with any lithium ion battery employed in any laptop, cell phone, portable music player, etc.

4. The iPod's case is not planned to be opened, so, in that respect, it's not what would broadly be referred to as "user-replaceable". Nevertheless, with the right set of tools you can replace the iPod battery yourself and avoid all the hassle by going through Apple.

Instructions:

Step 1 - Buy an iPod battery online or in a retail store closest you. iPod batteries sells for as low as $11. You have to be certain that the replacement battery you buy is for your iPod.

Step 2 - Turn out your iPod and set the hold button to the on position. Get a flathead screwdriver, as thin as possible but oftentimes the retail store that ships you the battery will supply you a tool. In any case, you must open up the unit by putting the tool or screwdriver between the plastic and the metal. Once you feel a clip, pry it ever so gently. Keep going around the iPod, opening up each latch.

Step 3 - You are going to have to apply that tool or screwdriver again to pull out the battery from the hard drive. Once taken out, disconnect it from the board.

Step 4 - Plug in the newly purchased battery to the board of the iPod (where you unplugged the old battery) and set it on the glue that stayed on the hard drive. Make sure that the battery and the wires are set properly so you can actually close the iPod. Snap the case back together, you'll hear it when it's finished!

Step 5 - Switch on and charge the device. That's it and your iPod battery is successfully replaced.