Take Your Webmaster to Lunch...

Today is "Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day." For anyone who's not sure of what a webmaster/webmistress is, according to the World Organization of Webmasters, webmaster is a term that can be used to describe almost any web professional. A webmaster can be: one person interfacing with Net-based communication, back-end technology, and business management; a general contractor/team leader for the creation and management of websites; a person who authors and creates HTML, CGI, XML, Graphics and more; a web project manager; and/or an individual who markets and promotes web sites.

I am fortunate enough to personally know a couple of webmasters - my husband Al (who does some webmastery as a sideline), and my oldest son, Mike, who has his own web design company! I can appreciate the time and efforts of webmasters/mistresses everywhere - there is so much that goes into designing a website that is visually appealing, efficient and well organized, and laid out in a manner that makes navigating it easy for all users. Many of these professionals are on call 24/7 handling server issues, programming bugs, and any of a number of issues that can cause problems for website visitors.

So today, the next time you land on a really great website, take a minute to e-mail the webmaster/webmistress and tell him/her what a great website they have! Or, if you're fortunate to have your own personal webmaster/mistress, take them out to lunch, buy them their favorite drink, or do something special to let them know how much you appreciate their work!

Here's a bit of webmaster humor that I ran across that I thought was appropriate for the day! Enjoy!

You Know You’re a Webmaster If...
(Emory Rowland, November 22nd, 2007)

- You use keyword tools to name your children.
- You buy birthday gifts for your relatives through your affiliate links.
- You get physically exhausted doing the Google Dance.
- You check your server stats more than your blood pressure and you think there may be a correlation.
- You write keyword rich poetry.
- You regularly check the availability of the domain name, “Yahoo.com” just in case they’ve forgotten to renew.
- Your wife informs you that you’re hosting dinner. You tell her you are sure that dinner.com, .net, .org, etc. domains are already taken.
- Customer service asks you to verify your address. You give them your IP.
- You rate and review your own website listing.

With Rights Come Responsibility...

Happy 4th of July to all of my fellow Americans...

As you enjoy the holiday in whatever way you've chosen - be it with family and friends at picnics, community celebrations, or backyard barbecues... or quietly at home alone doing whatever "floats your boat", take a moment to say a silent thank you for the freedoms that give you the right to make that choice. And never, not for a single moment, forget that with all of the freedoms and rights that you enjoy as an American - comes responsibility.

Freedom does not come without a cost, nor does the achievement of any goal, large or small. Our Declaration of Independence clearly states... "WE THE PEOPLE of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America". Not the government, but WE THE PEOPLE. Whether through naivete, ignorance, or simple apathy, why do so many of us feel like we can now just sit back and enjoy what so many people fought so hard to attain for us?

Throughout our nation's history, our elected leaders have had the duty to lead a government "of the people, by the people, for the people..." Sometimes I get the sense that many Americans have forgotten that. We have been blessed with infinite possibilities and freedoms that are coveted by so many less free, less fortunate nations around the world, yet somehow it seems that many Americans feel entitled to so much more without having to give anything in return. We need to quit putting all the blame on the shoulders of those men and women who hold the public offices to which we have elected them, and start assigning the responsibility to the people who are ultimately responsible... WE, THE PEOPLE...and start doing whatever we can to achieve those goals that our founding fathers set forth so long ago.

Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday to the United States of America! I hope you enjoy this video - it's a favorite of mine :)

Is the Truth Out There?

My husband gave me one of his looks when I mentioned that it was World UFO Day today and that I was going to blog about it. You see, we have had many, many interesting discussions on the subject.

Yes, I am a believer. Of course there are UFOs. I've seen hundreds of objects flying around that I couldn't identify - which would make them unidentified flying objects, UFO's for short. Oh, you want to know if I believe in flying saucers... yep, sure do. I've seen one or two of them too. In fact the saucer that went flying across my kitchen 25+ years ago in a fit of my exasperation over my ex-husband quitting yet another job resulted in my having to deal with being one saucer short in my kitchenware set for years!

Seriously, I do believe in extraterrestrials and that there have been mysterious other worldly vehicles invading our space probably since the dawn of recorded history. I grew up during the period of time that Project Blue Book was in full swing, couldn't wait for the next of Professor J. Allen Hynek's books to come out, and have probably watched every UFO documentary that's ever been shown on TV, as well as every "close encounter" movie that's ever been made. I've read a number of books on the subject, from pure absurd conjecture by some pretty wacky people to more authoritative works by scientists, theologians, and researchers in the field.(By the way, the photo at the beginning of this article is a photo of Pleiades, a star cluster in the constellation of Taurus which some people believe may be our original "home.")

Considering the immensity of the universe and what little we know about the way it works, I honestly feel that all bets are off when it comes to saying we're all alone on this little piece of interplanetary real estate that we call Earth. It just doesn't seem realistic that the entire universe is here for the sole purpose of giving us something to look at when the sun goes down.

There's a couple of points that people who don't necessarily believe or those who need proof of EVERYTHING - oh, hi honey - (my hubby will start laughing when he reads this part!) always want to dispute! One is why on earth (pun intended) any lifeform that could travel to anywhere in the universe that they wanted to - would want to come here. The other is the argument that, based on what we know about space and time, there is no conceivable way that the journey could be made in a reasonable amount of time. So... my thoughts on those two arguments...

Why would they want to come here? Why not? We're curious as a species... why would we assume they wouldn't be? We've spent thousands of years learning about ourselves and our world - and within the past 60 or so years, we've begun to venture beyond our own planet, to explore the vast reaches of our solar system, our galaxy and yes, our universe. Assuming that we are a relatively "young" species of sentient life, I can only imagine why a much older species might find interest in us... although, I do have another theory. Hold on to your hat!

Pretty much everyone knows the story of creationism and is familiar with Darwin's theory of evolution, right? What I consider a possibility allows for both to be true, to a degree.

Creationism says that mankind came to be on this planet as the result of God creating man in His own image and giving him the Garden of Eden as a starting point to go forth and multiply. Science has pretty much proven that this wasn't exactly the case, given the evidence of evolutionary findings, but what if it was partially true? In no way am I arguing the existence of a Supreme Being, because I feel that there is something out there that is greater than all of us - I'm just wondering if part of His/Her/Its plan was actually played out through another one of His/Her/Its creations. Could we conceivably have been "transplanted" here by a dying race from some other galaxy? Or perhaps are we the result of a science experiment of sorts in "seeding" other planets?

Darwinism indicates that man descended from the ape... but scientists have never been able to find the "missing link" between man and monkey. The possibility that we were transplanted here to inhabit an already developed world would also explain why. Perhaps there just isn't a link. Perhaps it was known that a planet that could sustain apes could also sustain mankind and that was why this planet was chosen.

The stuff that scifi movies are made of? Maybe... but then much of what was science fiction back in the 1800's when Jules Verne was writing From the Earth to the Moon and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea became reality less than a century later. I grew up with the Jetsons cartoons - for those of you who are familiar with that show - think of how many of those incredibly futuristic (at the time) gadgets have become a reality today. If we are perhaps the star children of another race, transplanted here to keep the genes alive, wouldn't it make sense that we might still be being observed? After all, we observe our "experiments" and tag our endangered species to keep track of their movements - again, why is it absurd to consider the possibility that another species might want to observe us?

The second argument is that of time and space. When Newton developed his laws of motion and Einstein developed his laws of relativity, both of these brilliant men were limited by the age in which they lived...and the methods available to prove their theories. In the same way, we are limited by what we have been taught to believe are the "laws" of physics and the acceptance by the scientific community of anything that they would not consider madness. I, on the other hand, like to think of the "laws" of physics as the "suggestions" of science.

I can remember learning as a child that the smallest thing in the universe was the atom...even tho by the time I learned that tidbit of information, mankind had been toying with nuclear fission for nearly 20 years, and the existence of protons and neutrons was accepted knowledge in the field of physics. To this day, if you ask most people what the smallest thing in the universe is, they'll still say an atom. But science has disclosed that atoms are made up of electrons collected around a nucleus - and that the nucleus is made of protons and neutrons - and that the protons are made of up of fundamental particles called quarks. Makes you wonder what the quarks are made of. My point is that we are limited by our current knowledge.

Current day theoretical physicists like Stephen Hawking and Michio Kaku have devoted a good part of their careers into expanding on our current knowledge of physics, space and time. Terms like wormhole, string theory, and multiverse are finding themselves at the center of research and debate. Is it possible that we are now just beginning to explore the possibilities of travel thru space and even time that other species have had at their disposal for eons? Is the idea of folding space to hop from one galaxy to the next in the blink of an eye completely ridiculous - even insane? Perhaps as ridiculous or insane as people thought Jules Verne was to believe that we could travel to the moon. Or maybe it's even more ridiculous to believe that perhaps we are being assisted in discovering these things by the very beings that observe us - that are not limited by their knowledge like we are.

UFOs?? ET's?? Yeah, I'm open to the possibility... but then, I'm one of those people who believes that pretty much anything is possible... if your mind is open to exploring those possibilities! Do I believe the truth is out there? I will leave it at believing there is much to be disclosed and I think that, based on most people's abilities to handle what could conceivably be the truth, that maybe we're just not ready to know. Is the possibility of ETs in conflict with our concept of God? I don't see why it should take anything away from the concept of God creating the universe - it merely means that his creative ability was not as limited as we would like to believe it to be. Of course, if there is extraterrestrial life, I would hope that they would be more along the lines of the aliens in Cocoon, The Abyss, Contact, or even the silly aliens from Men in Black - as opposed to those who came to conquer in Independence Day or War of the Worlds. Chances are pretty good tho, just like there are nice and not-so-nice earthlings, we can probably expect the same from interplanetary travelers as well!

Still wondering why my husband gave me that "look" this morning when I mentioned blogging about World UFO Day? Whatever you believe, I hope you've found my article interesting and thought-provoking (and not entirely crazy - I really don't want to lose any followers...lol). I'd love to hear your comments, thoughts and opinions on the whole issue as well! I'd also love to say a special "live long and prosper" as a thank you to these great Etsy shops whose wonderful items grace my article!

The Pleiades Nebula - celestialwonders (amazing photos taken through a telescope!)
AWESOME ALIEN - WayFarOut (Far out, funky and fun items with an out-of-this-world theme!)
Shayla, Adopt an Alien, OOAK Creature Toy with Birth Certificate -AdoptanAlien (probably the only shop on the planet where you can adopt an adorable alien of your very own!)
Hangin' Out There 16x20 Fantasy Graphic Print - ArtByResolution (Amazing computer generated art in a variety of fantasy and surreal themes!)
The Littlest Centurion Robot with Laser Trident Wood Figure Sculpture -buildersstudio (one of my favorite shops - amazing collection of unique and fun items in a variety of themes!)
Tsa Zen Hacker. Acrylic Original Painting for Battle Lords Game - SusanVanCamp (incredible artwork including Battle Lords Game originals and some adorable doggies among other things!)
Night Encounter - EdsArt (One of the best in original SciFi Pop art on Etsy!)

Cool Eats for Hot Summer Days

Summer heat can definitely make the thought of a hot appetizer or snack unappealing. I love cool and crisp recipes during the summer months and this recipe for shrimp ceviche (seviche) is one of my favorites.

Traditionally made with a combination of fish and shellfish, this recipe uses shrimp exclusively. It tastes equally scrumptious with lobster, scallops, white fish, sea bass, yellow fin tuna, or swordfish or any combination of these. For those of you who may not know what ceviche is, it is a seafood dish which originated in South America (probably Peru or Ecuador) where the seafood is "cooked" through marinading it in citrus juice. This process changes the chemistry of the fish and shellfish, producing similar results to that of cooking under heat. For those of you who are a bit more cautious about shellfish and bacteria, pre-cooking the shrimp (or other seafood) is acceptable, but you don't want to overcook it to the point that it becomes tough.

This makes a wonderful appetizer when served in margarita or martini glasses (similar to a shrimp cocktail), or can even be served as a main dish. Avocado wedges make the perfect garnish and add a wonderful contrast of color!

Shrimp Ceviche

Ingredients:
3 lbs small raw shrimp, cleaned
4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
6 limes, juiced
4 lemons, juiced
1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped (I'm not a huge fan of cilantro, so I usually halve this)
1 serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 of a cucumber, peeled and diced
1 red onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons tomato sauce

Preparation: Lay out shrimp in the bottom of glass baking dish. Pour lemon and lime juice over them and refrigerate for 3 hours. The juice will "cook" the shrimp. Toss with remaining ingredients and refrigerate for one more hour or longer.

If you're serving this as an appetizer, tortilla chips are the accompaniment of choice. Or you can serve it as a main dish or even a relish over your favorite grilled, broiled, or baked fish entree.

Enjoy!