Are E-Cigarettes a Safe Alternative To Tobacco?

E-Cigarettes can look like regular tobacco cigarettes.

Many people in the United States smoke, but those numbers are dropping. Quite a few people are researching whether e-cigarettes are a safe alternative to tobacco smoke. There’s no doubt that craving the nicotine-filled tobacco rolls is hard to overcome, but is there an alternative?

So what are e-cigarettes? They are electronic cigarettes that vaporize nicotine instead of actual smoke. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, too. Some are shaped like cigarettes, some like cigars, and some like pipes. Electronic cigarettes can also be disguised as pens, pencils, or other every day items. They all are built using a rechargeable battery, a battery operated heating element, a replaceable cartridge that contains nicotine and other chemicals, and an atomizer that converts the chemicals into an inhalable vapor.

Should you worry about e-cigarettes? There are a few concerns about them, even though they haven’t become widely popular yet. First, the dose of nicotine delivered from each inhale can vary. An FDA analysis recorded nicotine doses between 26.8 and 43.2 micrograms per puff. The FDA also found that there was nicotine in the “nicotine-free” products made by Blu and other companies. Electronic cigarettes deliver some toxic chemicals, such as diethylene glycol, some nitrosamines, and at least four other toxic chemicals. It’s also important to remember that e-cigarettes from any brand have not been approved from the FDA yet, which means scientific testing on these products is limited.

My personal opinion on these is a negative one. Basically, cigarette companies are exchanging fire and tobacco for batteries and “refillable cartridges”. It can still lead to health problems and it still has tons of toxic chemicals inside. Nothing is an alternative to smoking, except quitting. My father used to smoke and I would always worry which day it would be that he drops down. I was always afraid he’d develop some kind of cancer inside his lungs; just from a habit he developed in high school. Smoking is nasty and there is no alternative. Simple as that.

80 Percent of Hospital Complaints Involve The Bathroom Sanitation

This is disgusting! Hospitals are places where patients can heal, recover, and receive treatments. They are supposed to be sanitary! According to the latest studies, 80% of hospital complaints in Texas are about the sanitation of bathrooms.

One woman that was staying in a Texas hospital sued the facility on December 28, 2007 for slipping in the bathroom. She claimed that the floor conditions were “wet and dirty,” which was the cause of the slip. Dana Harmon needed to use the ladies room, so she “didn’t have a choice but to walk on the [bathroom] floor,” causing her to slip and damage her legs and her body generally. I feel that when hospital floors are this bad, something should be done.

Measures need to be done to floor tile cleaning tips austin and sanitize the bathroom completely. If a patient is suffering from a life-threatening disease, they shouldn’t have to come face to face with more diseases in the restroom. Officials should defiantly be aware of this unsanitary environment and do something to fix the problem. Not only is it unsanitary, but if these facilities are that bad, they probably smell bad which can turn patients off.

If 80% of complaints are about the bathrooms, the other 20% probably includes customer support, nurse friendliness, prices, or quality service. To me, those two groups should be reversed, but it’s sad when they aren’t. I guess more hospitals shoud usea local steam company like http://www.thesteamteam.com

New Study Shows That Video Games Are Healthy

You’ve heard people say “If you keep playing that video game, your brain is going to turn to mush,” right? A new study from the Waiariki Institute of Technology shows that video games (when played for reasonable intervals) actually stimulate the brain. It improves visual skills, hand-eye coordination, and deep psychological needs of achievement. Some online video games encourage teamwork and social skills.

Video Games healthy for you?

As young as two or three years old, American children are playing electronic games. Companies like Vtech and LeapFrog are introducing educational globes, interactive books, and games to learn counting, shapes, and spelling. More and more toddlers and children are playing with their parents’ iPads and smartphones. The Android and iOS markets have tons of applications that teach kids how to read, write, and spell in a fun manor.

As kids age, they won’t want to play Clifford and Dora games anymore. Kids in elementary school tend to play Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and other strategy games. Strategy games teach kids how to think differently and how to conquer in different situations.

Teens and adults enjoy online games like World of Warcraft and RuneScape, which encourage teamwork, business, and devotion. A former RuneScape player myself, I know what all I’ve learned from that game. It’s based in the medieval era, and you must complete quests, train to become more skillful, find a job to earn gold, work together with other players to defeat monsters, and trade with other players to get the items you need. Not only did I learn those life skills, but also I learned about the medieval times and what all went on during that era.

Another popular genre of online gaming is console-based. Many people (teenagers and adults) have subscriptions to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network to play games like Call of Duty online. Call of Duty appears to be pure shooting, blood, and gore, but it’s not. Military games teach teens how to work with other online players, how to complete military operations, and help relieve stress.

Video games can be more stimulating than school, but this doesn’t mean that children should substitute homework with gaming. Video games should be limited to two hours (at most) per day. They are a great way for kids to transition from school to homework. Video games should be treated as a privilege, not a right. If school grades start slipping, game time should be reduced to one hour per day.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhumphrey/2011/08/26/portal-2-proposal-new-study-shows-how-games-will-marry-with-our-lives/

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1108/S00077/new-study-shows-computer-games-improve-student-learning.htm

Planning ahead for my study abroad experience

Guest post written by Derek Brown

I’ve been thinking about where I would want to go studying abroad for several years now. I’ve been studying Spanish now since I was in elementary school so I thought that it was only right that I would go to Spain for my study abroad
experience. Now it took a really long time to come around for my parents to let me do this and give me the money to do it, but I think they realized how much I really wanted to do this and was counting on it.

I’ve been using my wireless internet Austin to look up all types of things that I can do while I’ll be in Spain. But I’m also going to go to other parts of Europe. I’ve never been overseas before and I think that it’s going to be really amazing getting
to see and experience all of that history.

I think that my study abroad semester will help me remember that my country is still very young and
there are lots of things to learn about history in other places because that’s helped form our own history.