With everyone getting into shape for swim suits, why not choose things that are good for you too!

Berries. These are a cheap and in season right now: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries. Not only are these low in sugar but they are full of antioxidants.
Fish. High in protein, low in fat, full of DHA and Omega-3. Salmon is a great treat, easy to cook out on the grill for those BBQ nights.

Citrus fruits. Normally thought of as winter fruits, citrus is now in season all year long. Lemon and lime add a crispness to any meal.
Vegetables. Many vegetables are in season during the summer. They make for big, cool salads excellent for hot evenings.

Whole Grains. Whole grains keep you filled longer and helps lower cholesterol.

The 1980’s we a fun time in music. There was hair bands, heavy metal, romantic ballads, and those oh-so-good guitar solos. Come on, air guitar with me as we go down the list.

1. Livin’ On a Prayer - Bon Jovi
2. The Final Countdown - Europe
3. Every Rose Has It’s Thorn - Poison
4. When the Children Cry - White Lion
5. We’re Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
6. Cum on Feel the Noize - Quiet Riot
7. Round and Round - Ratt
8. Once Bitten, Twice Shy - Great White
9. Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
10. Talk Dirty To Me - Poison

Do you agree with these choices, if not let us know! What is your 10 for the 1980’s?

When we talk about the best, what can is greater and better than the wonders of the world? In ancient times we had the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Unfortunately of those seven only the Great Pyramid of Giza of survives to present day.

Following that tradition Seven New Wonders of the World were selected recently with participation of the people across the Earth.

And they are,

Chichen Itza
This archeological site situated in Mexico was built and added to over a long period by Mayan civilization.

Christ the Redeemer
This 39.6m high iconic statue estimated to weigh 700 tons overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. It was completed in 1931 after nine years of construction. Designed by Heitor da Silva Costa it was sculpted by Paul Landowski.

Colosseum
This large amphitheatre was built at Rome during the time of Flavian dynasty and was called Flavain amphitheatre. It was finished in 80 AD after 8 years of construction.

Great Wall of China
This was originally a series of walls constructed during fifth century BC. They were unified by the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang in third century BC. It has been added to, reconstructed, and repaired throughout its history. Most of currently remaining structures were built by Ming dynasty

Machu Picchu
This Inca civilization mountain city is situated in Peru. It was built about 1450 AD but was abandoned after 100 years.

Petra
Situated in present Jordan, this city is distinguished by the architecture cut in to the rocks of mountains. Exact history and time of its creation are disputed.

Taj Mahal
This mausoleum situated in Agra, India was built by Mogul emperor Shah Jahan in commemoration of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal in about 1648 AD

In the modern world of globalization and commercialization brands are some of most valuable things the world. Best Brands are valued in billions of dollars and may constitute their respective companies’ greatest assets. That is why corporation are so very protective and aggressive when it comes to protecting and investing in their brands.

Valuation of brands is a difficult task because the criteria on which they are a valued are intangible. We can only guess and estimate amount of goodwill and influence that any particular brand can have on population of the world at large.

Millward Brown, a consultancy owned by ad giant WPP annually releases a list of world’s top brands under the title BrandZ top 100. This year’s list was published recently. According to that list World’s best brand is “Google”. They value the Internet search engine’s brand at $86 billion.

In second spot is GE. American conglomerate’s name is valued at 71.4 billion dollars. Software giant Microsoft comes next at $70.8 billion. Coca Cola is fourth at $58.2 billion. Chinese mobile phone company China Mobile at $57.2 billion is placed at fifth place. It is only Asian company in top ten.

Others in top then include IBM ($55.3 billion), Apple ($55.2 billion), McDonald’s ($49.5 billion), Nokia ($43.9 billion) and Marlboro ($37.3 billion). Nokia is the only Europe based brand.

This list once again confirms the power of American brands and the dominance of tech companies.

I love reading novels. Taste in novels and the enjoyment they offer will of course change from person to person. I am going to list what I consider the best novels of the last century based on my enjoyment. Why don’t you list yours?

Ulysses by James Joyce
This novel first published in 1918 partial form and in complete form in 1922, details the main protagonist Leopold Bloom’s journey through Dublin, Ireland on 16th June 1904. The work has many deliberate parallels with Greek epic poem Odyssey by Homer. It generated lot of controversy early on due to alleged obscenity as well as for its experimental prose and techniques such as stream of consciousness. It is now considered the best novel of the “modernist” literature. I just enjoy it.

Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
This novel was published in 1925 and chronicles the so called “Jazz Age” of early Twenties. Novel’s narrator describes certain events that take place when he comes in to contact with a man called Gatsby. To avoid spoilers I will not say anything more. While initially popular it was then forgotten but started to revive in popularity in 1940s. Now it is considered one of the best American novels ever.

Wings of the Dove by Henry James
This novel published at the very beginning of Twentieth Century in 1902 is a tale about an American heiress dying of a disease, the effect created by her and her death on those she comes into contact, and motives that drive those people. While some people cannot stand James, I think they are missing a great deal by not reading this great book.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Published in 1927 plot of this novel concerns the Ramsay family’s plans to visit a lighthouse. Family drama and tensions as well as several other themes such as creative process and effect of people left behind by war are explored using “modernist” prose techniques.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
This was published in 1932 but plot takes place 500 years in the future. It ironically describes a sort of a utopia achieved through getting rid of humanity’s essence. Title refers to Mirada’s exclamation when she sees other people in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.

Industrial Age was a time great technological and social change. Though there were some adverse effects, on the whole it was beneficial to the mankind. World and civilization we live in were made possible by the transformations that took place during that age.

Great inventions of that age changed the way people live in fundamental way. Though what I consider the best invention of the age, the Steam Engines, is no longer in much use, its influence should not be underestimated.

Improvements in the production methods of iron and textiles demanded power to run bellows, machines, and mines as well as to transport goods and raw material. Answer came in the form of steam engine.

Basic Idea of Steam Engine
Boiled water produce steam, which confined to a limited area, creates pressure, which in turn can be used to move various things, including in most engines a cylinder in a piston.

Evolution of Steam Engine can be better studied as a series of inventions, each contributing significantly to the final product. There is no one inventor, but several people contributed, only the most prominent will be mentioned here.

The basic idea of harnessing the power of steam to accomplish tasks has been around since the time of Ancient Egypt. However, until Industrial Age it was never used with much effect.

Edward Somerset first sketched an engine in 1665. Denis Papin created a low powered cylinder and piston based engine in 1690. Thomas Savery got a patent in 1698 using an improved version of Somerset design. Thomas Newcomen created a new engine improving the ideas of both Savery and Papin in 1705.

James Watt improved design by adding the condensing chamber to cylinder thus generating more power. He got a patent for that in 1669. John Wilkinson’s precision iron boring tool improved the cylinder manufacture and improved power generation further.

What in your opinion are the best movies? I thought I should answer that question before asking others. So here goes.

No 1
The Godfather (1972)
This Oscar winning movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola, tells the story of the Corleone family, kingpins in organized crime in America. The psychological complexity of the characters, great plot, and the superb acting by Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and others, make this the best film ever in my opinion.

No 2
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Directed by Milos Forman, this tale of power games inside a metal asylum won all 5 major Academy awards (best movie, director, actor, actress, and screenplay) in 1975. Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and brilliant supporting cast perform flawlessly

No 3
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
This so called spaghetti Western epic staring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach, directed by Sergio Leone, with an unforgettable musical score by Ennio Morricone is in my opinion the best of the genre.

No 4
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
In my opinion this film is the best sequel ever made. It extends the story of Corleone family from the first Godfather film, both forward and backwards. As before the cast led by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro perform excellently under the direction of Francis Ford Coppola.

No 5
Citizen Kane (1941)
This 1941 film directed by legendary Orson Welles chronicles the life of fictional publisher and politician Charles Foster Kane supposedly based on real life William Randolph Hearst. It made use of several then innovative cinematic techniques, so contributed immensely to development of cinema.

There are many other great movies I like, but these are my top five. What are yours?

Sometimes best things in life are free. Free software is one such boon. In my experience best free software is comparable to, or even better, in quality than similar commercial or proprietary software.

Here is a list of what I consider the best of free software.

Best Free Web Browser – Mozilla Firefox
This open source browser is safer, feature rich, and standard complaint. No safety breach has been reported with Firefox and any vulnerability discovered is quickly patched. It has implemented many new features before other browsers, such as tabbed browsing. In addition, users can install some of the literally hundreds of add-ons developed by the community to extend functionality.

Best Free Office Software Suite – Open Office
This suite of open source office software can perform all of the functions performed by the proprietary and expensive office suites and is compatible with them. It has a word processor, a spread sheet application, a HTML editor, a presentation creator, a database application, and a drawing application.

Best Free E-mail Application – Mozilla Thunderbird
This sister application of Mozilla Firefox is not as feature rich as Outlook, but lot of features as needed can be added through add-on extensions .

Best Free Anti Virus – AVG Free
This free antivirus program is effective and sparing in demanding computer resources. Its virus definitions and detection mechanism are continually updated. It can also handle email scanning seamlessly.

Best Free Spyware/Adware Detector – Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware does an excellent job of detecting spy-ware and ad-ware. It can perform scans of ongoing processes and internet browsing history, as well as total scans of the computer.

Best Free Anonymous Browsing –Tor
In addition to allowing you to surf anonymously, this service allows anonymous emailing, peer to peer connections, chat, and instant messaging, as well.

Above list is by no mean exhaustive.