Archive for February, 2010
What Are Pentecostal Beliefs?
February 28th, 2010 |What Are Pentecostal Beliefs?
Pentecostal Christianity is one of the least understood Christian denomination. Most of what people know about “Pentecostals” (as they are called) is surface — the women wear very modest clothing, never cut their hair, etc.
Pentecostals get a bad wrap probably because the faith started (and flourishes in) low income parts of the country. Besides that obvious obstacle, they have a very strict view of Christianity which requires them to dress and act a certain way.
Though there are half a billion Pentecostals around the world, this faith is basically looked over…
What Are Confucianism Beliefs?
February 27th, 2010 |What Are Confucianism Beliefs?
Unlike the other religions in our Beliefs series, Confucianism cannot be defined properly as a “religion”.
Confucianism is more of an ethical system of philosophy originating in China. Though Confucianism is practiced as a religion these days (in countries like Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and even the US) it wasn’t meant to be a religion when it was developed.
Most followers of Confucianism follow some semblance of traditional Chinese religion, which is a blend of old school Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and any number of localized traditions and ritual.
History of Confucianism
A Chinese writer named K’ung Fu…
What Are Muslim Beliefs?
February 26th, 2010 |What Are Muslim Beliefs?
The religion of Islam is still a mystery to much of the Western world. Though there are nearly 2 billion Muslims and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, it is mostly misunderstood by Americans as the religion that terrorists belong to.
Much like Judaism, there is no set of laws which a person must strictly adhere to in order to be a good Muslim. A recitation of something called the Shahada will do just fine — this recitation is “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet.”
Beyond this core…
What Are Jewish Beliefs?
February 25th, 2010 |What Are Jewish Beliefs?
Judaism is one of the most important religions in world history. Why? Christianity, the world’s largest religion, sprung directly out of Judaism. That means that you can credit Christianity’s 2 billion members to the existence of Judaism. In fact, Christianity and Judaism are so closely related it would be impossible to think of them distinctly.
Jewish Dogma
Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism does not really have an offiicial set of doctrines or political associations. In fact, all that is required for a person to be considered “Jewish” is their ethnicity. Because being Jewish means being a religion…
What Are Christian Beliefs?
February 24th, 2010 |What Are Christian Beliefs?
Christianity is the world’s largest religion, claiming between 1 and 2.2 billion believers depending on what count you believe. Anywhere from a quarter to a third of the world’s population identifies as Christian.
Christianity is a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (real name — Yeshua Ben Yosef or Joshua of Joseph) as laid out in the Bible, a collection of religious texts and teachings.
Though Christianity is a massive religion it is relatively young, having been “founded” by Jesus of Nazareth and his followers only two thousand years ago or…
What Are Catholic Beliefs?
February 23rd, 2010 |What Are Catholic Beliefs?
Catholicism is relatively simple to understand due to a large number of recited prayers, statements of belief, and a centralized structure built around the infallibility of their church leader, the Pope.
Whereas other spiritual traditions like Buddhism reject the kind of patriarchal order found in most Christian sects, Catholicism is a well-ordered system with very little variation from church to church or family to family.
The Basics
Catholicism is considered the first Christian denomination, since it was started by the apostle Peter who is considered the first Pope. When Jesus picked Peter to…
What Are Hinduism Beliefs?
February 22nd, 2010 |What Are Hinduism Beliefs?
Hinduism is the oldest known spiritual tradition. Thousands of years before anyone was talking about Christ or Buddha, people in India were worshipping a set of Hindu gods and practicing their spiritualism.
Many historians and followers of the religion claim that some form of Hinduism has been practiced on Earth since before recorded history. We know for sure that as long as 6,000 years ago the people of current-day India were practicing Hinduism.
For being the world’s oldest religion Hinduism is a mystery to most of the Western world. We have stereotypes (lots…
What Are Buddhism Beliefs?
February 21st, 2010 |What Are Buddhism Beliefs?
It is just as difficult to describe the “beliefs” of all Buddhists as it is to describe the same for all Christians. Religions often have different sects, belief systems, even different core philosophies while still sharing the same name. Think of a Baptist church in Mississippi compared to a Catholic mass in upstate New York just for one example.
Still there are some basic principles about Buddhism that are common to all people who call themselves Buddhist. In this article, we’ll take a look at rebirth and reincarnation, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and…
What Are the Best Places to Raise a Family?
February 20th, 2010 |What Are the Best Places to Raise a Family?
Before you had kids the main thing you worried about when selecting a place to live was the price of beer and gasoline. Now that you’ve started a family you might find there are a few more considerations.
You can select a place to raise your family based on educational opportunities for the children, economic opportunity (like getting a high-paying job), social factors or any number of other reasons. Here is a list of the ten best places to raise a family.
1. Sarasota County, Florida
Home to the city of…
How Do You Find the Best Pizza Places?
February 19th, 2010 |How Do You Find the Best Pizza Places?
I recently moved to a new town and discovered what millions of people already know — it is damn hard to “discover” the best pizza places in a new town. That first day, after you’ve unloaded the moving truck, met the neighbors, and struggled to setup your wireless connection, nothing goes down like a couple bottles of your favorite beer and a good pizza.
Finding out where the best pizza in a given town is does not have to be the struggle it once was. Here’s three easy steps to finding the…
What Are the Most Famous Places in the World?
February 18th, 2010 |What Are the Most Famous Places in the World?
Some spots on Earth are so beautiful or unique in a way that makes them stand out. From the canals of Venice to bright lights of Broadway, there are a few places on the map that are recognizable to any human anywhere on the planet.
Here are the top ten most famous places on Earth in no particular order.
1. The Kremlin
The Kremlin is really one of a series of fortified units within Russia, but the one in Moscow is the most famous. Kremlins are Russian-style citadels usually befit with…
Where Are the Most Beautiful Places in the World?
February 17th, 2010 |Where are the most beautiful places in the world?
Beauty is a subjective trait — what is beautiful to one person may be detestable to another.
I’ve picked five of the most beautiful spots on Earth to highlight. This list is a mix of man made and natural beauty and contains five sites that no one could argue with.
Looking for a vacation to a truly unforgettable location? Any one of these spots would be the trip of a lifetime.
The Grand Canyon
The only American site on our list is maybe the grandest of all the natural beauty in…
Where Are the Best Historical Places to Visit?
February 16th, 2010 |Where Are the Best Historical Places to Visit?
Even though our country is relatively young compared to the rest of the world, we have amazing historical places to visit right here in America. You probably don’t have to travel very far from your neighborhood to see these historic sites.
Here’s a short list of my favorite American historical places to visit.
North
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum — Springfield, Illinois
Lots of places lay claim to Lincoln, from the small town in Kentucky where he was born to several sites in southern Illinois looking…
Where Can You Find the Cheapest LCD TV?
February 15th, 2010 |Where Can You Find the Cheapest LCD TV?
LCD TVs have been around since the late 80s when Sharp introduced a relatively small LCD TV — a fourteen inch screen described as more of a “boutique” item rather than a TV for everyday use.
LCD technology used to be very expensive (hence the small size of the 1988 LCD TV screen) and with the rise of plasma screens in the late 90s and early 2000s most people thought LCD was dead in the water. Due to the high cost of plasma screens (a cost that never really went…
Where Can You Find the Cheapest Cars?
February 14th, 2010 |Where Can You Find the Cheapest Cars?
Believe it or not, the cheapest cars are not used cars on sale at your local discount lot.
The Internet is a beautiful thing, having already changed the way we work, bank, play, and buy just about everything else, now we can buy super discounted luxury items like houses and especially cars.
Here is a breakdown of a few sources for the cheapest cars on the web.
CarsForAGrand.com
This website is really special — they gather really cheap car deals from around the country into one location for your browsing pleasure. You can search…
Where Can You Find the Cheapest Hotels?
February 13th, 2010 |Where Can You Find the Cheapest Hotels?
Finding cheap hotels is easy using the Internet. There are plenty of websites advertising cheap hotel rates and package deals. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is poring over hundreds of hotel deals and gimmicky websites to find a good deal.
We’re going to talk about a few of the most popular discount hotel websites and test them by looking for the same hotel stay on different sites. For this article, we’re booking a weekend hotel in Boston in March.
Priceline
These guys are known for having goofy commercials and offering…
Where Can You Find the Cheapest Laptop?
February 12th, 2010 |Where Can You Find the Cheapest Laptop?
Shopped for a laptop computer lately? If you’ve visited all the computer retailers in your area pricing laptops, I’m sure you’d like to know how to find cheap laptops.
Laptops are great — convenient and cool — but if you are unable to drop thousands of dollars in one go, you may feel left out. Laptop prices have dropped a good bit in the past few years (like all new technology, it will eventually become more and more affordable) but finding a quality laptop computer at the cheapest price possible can be a…
Where Can You Find the Cheapest Flights and Airline Tickets?
February 11th, 2010 |Where Can You Find the Cheapest Flights and Airline Tickets?
Just a few years ago there were only a handful of websites offering cheap airline tickets. These days you have so many options it’s easy to get lost. Since you’ll be paying pretty much the same price at a lot of different websites, it becomes important to know how these services rate in terms of customer satisfaction.
Here’s a breakdown of three popular sources of cheap flights on the Internet.
Cheap Tickets
Deal we found — Round trip ticket from Dallas / Ft. Worth to Boston, $190
Everyone talks about…
How Does Unemployment Work?
February 10th, 2010 |How Does Unemployment Work?
These days plenty of people are dealing with unemployment. To wrap our heads around the concept of unemployment we need to define the word itself.
People think the word “unemployment” simply means being out of work. This is not totally true, at least not as far as the government is concerned.
Unemployment applies to people who are currently out of work but are looking for work and having trouble finding it. Usually unemployment is a direct result of being fired or laid off. People who simply have no job and weren’t laid off or fired are…
How Does Soap Work?
February 9th, 2010 |How Does Soap Work?
There’s a complex chemical in our homes that we use daily with little regard to what it is or how it works — soap. This substance seems simple. Just rub it on your hands or pour it into a washing machine and instantly make something clean. But using soap can be important, for example, if you want to prevent boils.
The Basics of Soap
Soap is the name we give any blend of sodium or potassium-based “salts” of fatty acids. When you think of the word “salt”, don’t think of the stuff on the kitchen table…
How Does E-mail Work?
February 8th, 2010 |How Does E-mail Work?
According to the nerds at Google, people on Earth send 183 billion e-mail messages a day.
As far as most of us are concerned e-mail is magic. You type into a box, click a button on a screen, and a message is immediately delivered anywhere in the world free of charge. More than a technological innovation, e-mail is a breakthrough in interpersonal communication. Imagine talking to your friends, family, and even business associates free of charge and lightning fast. Such a thing would have been impossible not even twenty years ago.
We know that e-mail…
How Does Wi-Fi Work?
February 7th, 2010 |Wi-Fi has become such a standard part of everyday life that most people accept its presence without thinking about it. We use our wireless smartphones, laptops, video game systems, even printers and other peripherals without understanding how the magic beams are zipping around the room from device to device. Ever wondered how Wi-Fi works?
What is “Wi-Fi”?
Wi-Fi is a trademark of something called the Wi-Fi Alliance, a group that (you guessed it) came up with the technology and controls the standards of Wi-Fi worldwide. Don’t give yourself a headache trying to figure out what “Wi-Fi” stands for — many…
How Does the Eye Work?
February 6th, 2010 |How Does the Eye Work?
We use our eyes everyday without really understanding how they work.
The human eye is a miracle. It adapts to different lighting conditions and uses light rays to focus itself. When all of the parts of the human eye work right, light is translated into nerve impulses and transmitted to the brain, where we think of those impulses as “images”. The whole thing takes place without any influence or human input. Our eyes are like extremely high-tech cameras stuck into our heads, and most of us have no idea how it is they actually work.…
How Does Rent to Own Work?
February 5th, 2010 |How Does Rent to Own Work?
Rent to own may sound like an exciting option for people who don’t have a ton of capital in the bank but still want to live a certain lifestyle.
Rent to own refers to one of any number of purchasing plans whereby you pay a monthly rate on an item for a certain period of time. At the end of that period of time you have the option of purchasing the item outright.
This option is popular with everything from computers and furniture to cars and even homes. Here’s a quick look at how…
How Does Gravity Work?
February 4th, 2010 |How Does Gravity Work?
We’ve all heard the schoolroom description of the discovery of gravity — that Sir Isaac Newton was hit on the head with an apple and instantly postulated the concept of gravity. If only this were true!
We know a few things about gravity — we know that it causes two objects to be drawn to one another, such as when you flip a coin and it hits the floor.
We also know that gravity had some hand in forming the planets, stars, and other bodies that make up the universe. We learn that gravity keeps the…
How Does Twitter Work?
February 3rd, 2010 |How Does Twitter Work?
Social networking sites have risen to a position of dominance on the Internet. Where once employees and students got “busted” for using their personal e-mail or reading The Onion, social networking has taken over top spot as Internet-based Time Waster.
The social networking site featuring the most meteoric rise to fame is Twitter. Unlike other popular social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, Twitter has very little in the way of “bells and whistles”. People on Facebook are encouraged to posts pictures, videos, links, and all kinds of gadgets like quizzes and “gifts” that attempt to…
How Does a GPS Work?
February 2nd, 2010 |How Does a GPS Work?
A GPS works by using satellites to send signals to devices here on the planet’s surface to indicate where we are. A compute with a database of driving directions usually provides directions based on the information that’s being received from the satellites.
The GPS system in my car is my lifeline. It gets me to lunch meetings, important dates, and around traffic when I’m traveling. I’ve never stopped to think how it works before, and the process by which GPS guides people around the world is fascinating.
What is GPS?
GPS, or Global Positioning System,…
How Does Electricity Work?
February 1st, 2010 |How Does Electricity Work?
Electricity works using three forces:
- Voltage
- Amps
- Resistance
These three forces work as a unit inside of a given electrical circuit to allow the free flow of electricity from one place to another.
Electricity and the process of transferring electricity begins when an atom’s electrons are excited into action and start to move in what we call a “current” or flow. Different items are better or worse at conducting an electrical force due to this atomic action. If an atom holds tight to its electrons (meaning the electrons are really close to the nucleus)…