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1) The way one commonly gets a cold is by touching a "hot" surface - one with cold viruses on it - then touching a mucous membrane, such as eyes, nose or mouth. If you find yourself touching your face a lot, it could be that. I had a phase in college when I was in the "cold of the month" club, which got me considering what was causing it. Avoiding touching my face, eyes, nose or mouth unless I'd washed my hands resulted in a significant reduction in colds. Also - try Coldeeze. It does seem to help: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12424502 2) Top hospital in the world, Johns Hopkins: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ - it can take a few months to get in for a call-in appointment, but if you find a department that might be helpful, might be worth it. They take insurance. It is in/around Baltimore so you shouldn't go wandering the city. If the adjustments in item 1 don't help, this option exists. 3) Sleep hygiene. Many don't like going to sleep. It takes discipline. But getting 8 hours is pretty important for overall health. Yes, there are some who can get by regularly with less but it's not true for most. And getting enough can be difficult to do. But it's important for overall health.

QuoteSo I bought a laptop that has Windows 7 installed on it. But I would like to get Ubuntu Linux because I want to learn bioinformatics and they often use Linux. Should I make a partition on my harddrive & install Ubuntu on it? Someone also told me that I don't need to do that, that there is a way to install Linux within Windows.Quote My recommendation would be to download the free VMware player: http://www.vmware.com/products/player/faqs.html Then download a prebuilt Linux virtual machine: http://www.turnkeylinux.org/ Note: These are multi-gigabyte downloads, if I recall correctly. Run the player on your Windows desktop, navigate to the Virtual Machine, open it and experiment away. It's just like a Linux box in essentially every way. Be patient, it requires a lot of computing power. I have a router, and it gets an IP address from that. I just ssh to it. NOTE: If you click in the VMware player window, your mouse will disappear and the console gets full control. To get your mouse pointer back, hold down the ctrl-alt keys simultaneously. A great book on Linux is "Running Linux" by Dalheimer and Welsh (O'Reilly publishing). Download Putty so you can ssh into your new Linux box: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html There's typically no graphical interface in these virtual machines. However, Linux does offer a rich graphical desktop type interface. Red Hat usually comes with a good one. CentOS does too.

Title: "Amazing video of 747 lifting in place in extreme wind conditions - 1080P HD" Link (SFW, duration: 02:38 min): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHhZwvdRR5c

You might want to contact your local SPCA for pointers to pet crematoriums. I used a local one some years ago, run by the local SPCA, and was very satisfied.

Equifax is one of the big three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Transunion, Experian). They have a service for screening residents. No idea how much it costs. ... and edited to include one more data point: Equifax identity report: From the link: "Anyone who might be engaging in a person-to-person transaction with someone that they don't know can benefit from Equifax Identity Report. For example, if you are a landlord, if you're buying or selling a car, listing an item for sale in the Classifieds section, even if you're looking for a nanny or contractor, requesting to review someone's Identity Report can be a good first step towards a successful transaction."

I recommend McAfee Stinger for a first go-round: http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/how-to-use-stinger.aspx It should at least cripple the malware. I've used it to good effect. You could download it another PC, burn it on a CD and run it off that. Next, after the malware is crippled/removed, I hate to say it because I have a love/hate affair with Norton, but get Norton Internet Security (50 bucks). A friend with questionable internet tastes was routinely getting virii with the free antivirus he was running. I recommended Norton - a resource hog - but he recently commented that his computer has been virus free for over a year.

I'm not a doctor, of course, but that doesn't keep me from giving advice. I've found pain killers are only addictive if you're not taking them for pain. I and others I've known have taken them for extended periods for pain. When the pain lessened, so did the dosage. When the pain was gone, we quit taking them. No problem.

I blew up my ankle back in August 06. I kept a detailed timeline of my injury recovery because a) I'm that kind of guy and b) I thought it would benefit someone in the future. The timeline is here. Re: leg aching: I was on Percocets for about six weeks. They were marvelous for reducing the post operative pain. They are very dangerous in terms of addiction. So as soon as I could, I weaned myself off of them. I wasn't a happy camper, but after the Percs, I did understand what painkiller addiction was all about. I wasn't keen to live the experience. Keeping the leg elevated is important. The leg will have problems pumping out for a variety of reasons. Keeping it elevated is important and helps reduce the swelling. I'd sleep with it elevated. Re: the depending on others - I think the best thing I did was to accept the situation and make the best of it. Make the best of it. I could have had a "woe is me" attitude, or lamented my misfortune, but that would have just caused me more discomfort. I actively tried to make the best of it in order to reduce my discomfort. I'm hardly a chirpily cheery fellow. But several people complimented me on being so positive about it all. Ultimately it benefited me. Finally, do what the doc says. When he says, "Don't put weight on it", he really means it. Don't eff around with that. Think of a very slow-setting epoxy that is healing your bones. You cannot move it around. It must stay still and unstressed. Some discipline now will pay off later. I had a spectacularly complex break, literally blew up the ankle. It's healed pretty well. Five years later, I still have all my hardware (9 screws and a plate). It doesn't bother me. It's an interesting memento of my experience.

I'm very sorry for your loss. My sincerest condolences. Cancer is the scourge of our age. I know a lady whose husband died in 2000, after a five year battle. A week or so after that, her son took ill. Within 18 months, he too was gone. Two terrible blows. After some time, she started seeing other people again. I last talked to her in person in 2007, and she looked vibrant.

Don't let him suffer. Regarding euthanasia at the vet's, it's a calm process. I bought my friend a thick cushion from a fabric store. On it I put some puppy absorbent pads. On that I put a plush towel. He couldn't walk so that's where I put him. He was quite comfortable. I was petting him and making silly talk, like we always did. The vet got the syringe with the anaesthetic primed. He looked at me, and I told him to go ahead. He gently administered the surgical anaesthetic in a front leg. My friend's eyes slowly closed. There was a moment of tenseness, then he completely relaxed. He looked like he had smile on his face. I made sure he didn't see me upset. I kept petting him. After a few minutes, the vet took his stethescope, took a few listens, and indicated he was gone. Our local SPCA has a cremation facility. The vet and his assistant helped me put the cushion with my friend on it, in the back seat. It was a 30-40 minute drive. I felt a sense of relief that the storm had passed. At the SPCA, the attendant took the body. The next day, I got his ashes. They hold a place of honor. I have one regret - I wish I would have clipped a lock of his hair. Over the next days as we cleaned the house and put his stuff in a storage steamer trunk, I'd find a few hairs. I saved them. Now, years later, it's nice to have them. Even though they were nothing but an annoyance when he was on the planet. Get some powerful pain medications for him. Make sure he isn't suffering. Let him go a bit sooner rather than later, IMHO. Don't let him see you upset. The transition is something all beings must go through. Make his as pleasant as possible. The best we can do for our companion animals is to give them the best life we can, and give them the best death we can. Later, when the storm has passed, you can think of his life and smile, and you can think think of his death as being the best one you could give him. This essay on the loss of a cherished companion, "The Journey", by Crystal Ward Kent, is worth a read.

I saw this in Newsweek some time ago and have been meaning to post it here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/184156/page/1 "The science that explains why elite military forces bounce back faster than the rest of us. ... NPY is an abundant amino acid in our bodies that helps regulate our blood pressure, appetite, learning and memory. It also works as a natural tranquilizer, controlling anxiety and buffering the effects of stress hormones like norepenephrine, one of the chemicals that most of us simply call adrenaline. In essence, NPY is one of the fire hoses that your brain uses to extinguish your alarm and fear responses by keeping the frontal-lobe parts of your brain working longer under stress. ... With so much more NPY in their systems, the Special Forces soldiers were much more clearheaded under interrogation stress and performed better according to the trainers. Special Forces soldiers really are special and different from the rest of the Army. They stay more focused and engaged in a crisis and bounce back faster afterward because their bodies produce massive amounts of natural anti-anxiety chemicals. In the fog of war—and everyday life for that matter—that's a major advantage. ... At POW camp and dive school, Morgan has discovered a simple and accurate way of predicting who will survive and perform the best under extreme stress. You might call it the telltale heart. It starts with something called heart-rate variability, or HRV, the variations between beats. Healthy people have a lot of variability in the intervals between their beats, with their tickers speeding up and slowing down all the time. It turns out that the best survivors don't have a lot of heart-rate variability. Instead, they've got "metronomic heartbeats"—their hearts thump steadily like metronomes—with almost no variability between beats."

My condolences. Losing a good friend like that is always difficult. The river of Time eventually turns the jagged rock of loss into a smooth pebble. Here's an epitaph from Lord Byron, upon the loss of his companion, a Newfoundland, in 1808. This is on the Newfoundland's stone monument on the estate grounds: Epitaph To A Dog "Near this Spot are deposited the Remains of One who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the virtues of Man without his Vices. This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human Ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of BOATSWAIN, a DOG, who was born in Newfoundland May 1803 and died at Newstead Abbey Nov. 18, 1808. "

Wow, great pictures

I'm very sorry for your loss. I, and many others, have experienced it too, from time immemorial. Lord Byron said it very well, on the loss of his companion, a Newfoundland, in his Epitaph To A Dog, etched on the dog's stone monument: "Near this Spot are deposited the Remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the virtues of Man without his Vices. This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human Ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of BOATSWAIN, a DOG, who was born in Newfoundland May 1803 and died at Newstead Abbey Nov. 18, 1808. "

1) I put the drop-down box into Zarkon's workbook, in the Calc sheet. 2) Zarkon's Vlookup function was looking at cell B3 (Social Security number) in order to find the correct row in the Data worksheet, and copy the value from specified column in that row, into the Calc worksheet. 3) The drop-down box now updates the cell B3 with the Social Security number. 4) Thus, all the vlookup functions Zarkon set up, now change, based on the social security number that is listed in cell B3. =============================== References: The VLookup function: http://www.techonthenet.com/excel/formulas/vlookup.php The drop-down box: http://www.techonthenet.com/excel/questions/create_combo.php =============================== Notes: 1) Regarding the gray fields under the drop-down box: the top one is the position number in the list. 2) The bottom field looks at that position number, goes to the data sheet, and displays the social security at the corresponding position in the first column. So, if Sally is the third item in the list, the index function pulls out the third item in the first column, which is social security number. 3) I said the drop down box updates the Social Security number. Specifically, the drop down box puts the list-position-number of the item selected into a cell; the INDEX function finds the social security number by going down the column of social security numbers, and picking the number in the same position in that range (list); and a formula in cell B3 just displays that value. 4) IMPORTANT: As you add rows (employees) to the Data sheet, you must 1) edit the drop-down box control (right-click->Format Control) and increase the range to include the new row; and 2) update the index function's first parameter to also include the new row. 5) No macros were used by the drop down box. There is one VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) function (i.e., a macro) in the workbook, but I don't think it's being used for anything. 6) If you are trying to display a date, make sure you format the cell to display a date. Otherwise, it will display a large number. To interpret that number as a date, the cell must be formatted to display a date.