Archive for February, 2010

I just finished watching a B grade movie in which rollerskating, lacrosse playing teenagers save the world by busting up a dam, which the evil villains have built so that they could control the world by controlling water. This reminded me about a book I had read some time back called Conspiracy of Fools and written by Kurt Eichenwald. The book told the story of the people who built Enron, the American company which tried to monopolize things which are essential in our world. They got away with monopolizing natural gas, oil, electricity, and then they made a mistake and tried to monopolize water round the world causing riots and ultimately the company combusted. That got me to wondering how they could succeed with some of those things and not with water.

Although those of us who live in northern climates might not agree natural gas, oil and electricity are not essential to life. I don’t know about you, but I’d have a hard time getting by without some form of heat and light during the winter months. Getting to the purpose of this little essay, let’s look at the need for water. To refresh your memory, the human body is composed of approximately 70% water. Water is in the blood vessels, the arteries and veins and in the cells of the body itself. It is needed to distribute nutrients, electrolytes, hormones and other chemical processes throughout the body as well as to remove waste products. Water maintains our body temperature and is an important structural component of skin, cartilage and other tissues.

Without water, our body is unable to get rid of the waste products, which we create when we eat, breathe and use their muscles. The waste products that we don’t get rid of have to be stored somewhere in the body and this contribute to or even help to cause a long list of things, which afflict us. Such things as lower back pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, headaches/migraines, asthma, allergies, colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and neck pain are all water related. Water acts as a solvent for vitamins and minerals we need every day for cells to do their jobs. Water also helps to reduce sodium buildup in the body relieve constipation and maintain proper muscle tone.

You get water from three sources: drink – 60%, food – 30% and cellular metabolism – 10%. In a temperate zone, a sedentary person loses about 2 quarts of fluid a day through urine, sweat and respiration. That amount can rise to 4-6 quarts per day in hot and/or humid weather and 1-3 quarts per hour during physical activity. Studies show 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated and in 37% of them the thirst mechanism is so weak that it’s often mistaken for hunger. I’m sure it does statistics are roughly the same in Canada. One glass of water can shut down midnight hunger pains for almost 100% of the dieters studied by the University of Washington.

While the body can survive without food for about five weeks, it can’t survive without water longer than five days. Repeated surveys have found a number of things which affect our health. Even mild dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 5%. Lack of water is the number one trigger of daytime fatigue. To ease back and joint pain for up to 87% of sufferers 8 to 10 glasses of water a day would do the trick. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math and difficulty focusing on a computer screen or a printed page.

Some nutritionists believe drinking five glasses of water a day decreases the risk of colon cancer 45%, can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and make you 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Why do we think of water more often.

In a drought the body switches to water conservation. It holds onto sodium and that causes a rise in fluid levels called abnormal blood pressure. More severe dehydration makes your body reduce fluid volume. So some capillaries in your system do not get washed out and become bogged down with cellular waste. The first areas affected are cartilage and synovial fluid, and the result is discomfort in the joints. The other thing the body does is release water conserving chemicals like histamine, which reduces water loss but at the same time triggers respiratory problems.

How do you know, if your body isn’t getting enough water? That’s easy, check your urine. If it’s dark, more water is needed. By the way, if you want to reduce the size of your belly drink more water. No, not beer, some other type of water.

Water is free. Water can’t be patented by a company and that’s why we don’t hear a lot about the good things that it does. Most people don’t have to buy bottled water to have clean water to drink every day. Next time you have a headache instead of taking an aspirin have a drink of water. See if that makes a difference. If the headache comes on after exercise or crying, the water you drink to take the pill may be doing as much to relieve the pain as the medicine is.

As a rule of thumb you should drink a half ounce of water for every pound of body weight, unless you’re very active in which case you need two thirds of an ounce per pound of body weight. That means if you weigh 120 pounds you need to take 60 ounces of water or a little less than 2 quarts per day. If you’re 210 pounds you need to take 105 ounces of water, which is about 7 quarts or 13 glasses of water a day.

The thirst mechanism kicks in after we’ve lost about 6% of water weight, which is pretty late to prevent dehydration. As we get older the problem gets worse. In late adulthood, the need for water actually increases. Kidneys function less efficiently and our skin and mucous membranes become thinner and lose more water. Older people don’t feel thirst in the same way as a younger person does. So if you’re older, you have to get in the habit of drinking water even if you’re not thirsty.

So now you know how and why your body needs water. Make a point of hydrating yourself before grabbing the pill bottle or rushing off to the doctor to complain about your aches and pains. Here’s a toast to your good health! Bottoms up!

Well, who knew? Since 1999 the University of Guelph has been breeding a new type of pig strictly for scientific study. Environment Canada will soon announce that the University has satisfy requirements of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act allowing the new pig to be produced using approved containment procedures.Sounds pretty technical doesn’t it?

Now, for those of you who are squeamish, you may want to stop reading here as I’m going to talk about pigshit. Feel free to head off to the book review or check out this Amazing World and the special Recycleme feature.

The Enviropig is the first transgenic animal created to solve an environmental problem. Too much phosphorus in surface and groundwater is very bad for growing crops. Pigs naturally produce manure which is high in phosphorus content. That’s the reason many people object to large pig farms near where they live. It is absolutely vital that we preserve the quality of our water, which is a necessity of life. The goal has always been to explore practical options for use of the technology to allow the animals to have a positive impact on both the environment and industry.

The University of Guelph works very closely with the government to breed animals under strict confinement and control measures. This very special breed of pig has been confirmed to produce maneuver with 30-65% lower phosphorus levels than the natural breed.

How did they do that, you ask? Scientists started with good, old Yorkshire pigs, then spliced in genes from mice to decrease the amount of phosphorus produced in pig dung, which has been problematic in large livestock operations. Steven Liss is the Associate VP for research, who has been conducting this research at U of G.

Other federal agencies in both the US and Canada are assessing the safety of Enviropig for human food and animal feed, but there is no set date when or if these reviews will conclude. I’m sure this will reopen the debate about natural vs. man-made animal-based foods. Where you stand on that debate? I find it amazing think of something mostly porcine and partly rodent. In truth, though, it’s no stranger than mostly bovine with a touch of fish, as in omega-3 milk or mostly poultry with a touch of fish as in omega-3 eggs.

Europe has been having a bitter debate for many years about how safe these new foods are and whether we are all changing the characteristics of the human race by consuming such products and if we are killing ourselves off. The other side of the debate is of course, whether humankind will be healthier and live longer because we are consuming better products.

Guelph has always been at the forefront of producing new and specialized products. Starting with Dr. Gary Johnson and his Yukon Gold potato produced in 1980 they have produced a string of rice and corn products which are more disease resistant and able to grow for longer periods of the year. To my mind, they are great boon for the human race. I would never want to have to choose which segment of the human race should star because we want to withhold available modern crops and food stuffs from them.

I hope that you will take some time to think about the implications of the very fascinating research, which goes on right here in Guelph Ontario. Do you think we were more in danger from the original pigs who pollute our environment or from the Enviropig who does not? If you have comments or thoughts. I would love to hear them.

Looking back to when I first started with computers, I’m amazed to see the changes that have happened. When I first began studying for a computer programmer designation there where approximately 7 mainframe computer languages which were in common use. They were nothing like common day speech, and you had to enjoy deciphering codes to feel comfortable. The early Internet was actually called ARPANET, and was only used by military personnel and higher learning institutions. So much has changed in so many ways which we thought even 30 years ago were science-fiction but are very capable of happening today.

Most people didn’t believe in the 1970s that everyone and anyone could have a computer in their home. Way too expensive! Now we walk around with them in our purses and pockets, and some of us are so attached that we cannot seem to put them down for any length of time. When I decided in 1989 to open my computer store the first machine we used as a cash register had a hard drive built into it. This was a fairly recent happening, because until then, most computers had two separate drives one of which contained the program you wanted to use and the second drive contained a blank disc to save your data.

Another surprising thing was that computers, hardware and software, could be sold with an average of about 26% profit. By the time my life in retail sales ended nearly a decade later, profit margins were down to about 13% profit per sale and computers contained internal hard drives in the 630 MB range. One GB drives were just beginning to be installed into very expensive machines and we were using CDs to store data. Mainframe computers had used discs with paper covers and where 12 or 15 inches wide. Or they used tapes running on reels which looped across the front and sides of big machines which took up at least half a room size. Just before the turn-of-the-century data discs shrunk to 5 inch and then 3 1/2 inch sizes. Your wristwatch had more power than the original home computers of the 70s and 80s had ever possessed.

Through serendipity, or just plain good luck, I’d moved on before the Y2K crisis occurred. Do you remember that? The time when everybody from business to home, paniced, because when the year 2000 arrived all computers were going to stop working and the business world, would grind to a halt. So corporations hired untold numbers of consultants, who changed their computer calendar functions. Most homeowners panicked and went out and bought new computers which were Y2K ready. Along with all the rest everyone bought new software, and then of course, the computer bubble occurred in the stock markets. Why? The usual cycle of buying in the computer market for both software and hardware was about 3 to 4 years. Since everyone bought in 1999 or 2000 they didn’t need to buy replacement computers or replacement software for some years to come. An awful lot of hardware and software providers disappeared completely. Fortunes were lost and lives changed.

Some few of those businesses managed to keep their heads, reduce their overheads and survive to create a much wider variety of electronic gear than ever before. The most famous companies out there today found small niches and exploited them. The ones I’m thinking of are Steve Job’s and Apple computers who remade themselves with the iPhone and the iPod Apple music device, which we all know today. The company now is more renowned for selling music and movies and helping the movie industry to create amazing special effects through Pixar, which make films so much more believable today.

Another company that comes to mind which didn’t really exist when Y2K occurred is Jeff Bezo’s Amazoncom. Because of his innovation of selling books and many other items without having a storefront or the need to buy huge amounts of real property, a new type of retail reality took hold. Software programs were created in order to do e-commerce, and today thousands upon thousands of businesses are using this model. He also made another leap in faith and is now putting a library of books in place, which have no paper, kill no trees, requires no creation of ink and still enable us all to enjoy our favorite books, magazines, newspapers etc.

A third company, which has changed the face of computing and communication is our very own Canadian Research In Motion with continuously evolving versions of the Blackberry computing device. Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis worked hard to shave expenses when their stock value took a steep dive in the early 2000s. They concentrated on creating a secure, safe, portable network for governments and businesses to communicate with one another from anywhere to anywhere. Through perseverance and continuous improvement they have become the best-known maker of handheld communications in the world.

One other company, which has really struck me as being truly imaginative and innovative is Google.com. Google has used a model of gathering information and getting it for free to anyone who wants it. That information includes the written word, and pictures and maps from everywhere possible. It’s free, completely free! Then how are they making any money, and why has their stock gone up almost 3000%? Well, when you go to their site to get that information there are advertisements along the side of the screen, which are paid for by all sorts of companies big and small who see the value in eyeballs. That’s what Google is really selling today, eyeballs, people reading the written word.

Some of my clients have been asking lately if it’s time to be putting money back into technology funds. My advice has never been to get out of the market completely, but to be sure that their investments are spread into many different fields. Over my 13 years in financial advising I cannot promise you what the future will be except that what goes up, goes down and vice versa. When you make your choice of the type of investments which suit you the only part that should change is perhaps the percentage invested in each type.

Any of you who know me well are aware that I love new techno-gadgets. I got addicted to them when I had the computer stores. Yes, I do have a Kindle for my e-books. Yes, I do have a Blackberry to keep my daily calendar, my phone and contact list, and all the notes I want to make when attending seminars to learn about new products in my field. Yes, I have a GPS in my car. Then there is a marvellous little hand-held camcorder, which I can carry in my purse and use to record all sorts of interesting happenings and testimonials from my clients and friends. My next computer will be able to operate by touch screen, will have a built-in camera, wireless keyboard and mouse, a wireless network and be an all in one unit taking up far less space on the desk. No, I’m not going to a Mac, but the PC world has adopted one of the most innovative things which Apple has been doing for many years. I cannot wait to see what’s coming in the next few years. How about you?