Considering the motorola i580 phone? If you want a bulletproof cellphone that's tough enough for a construction worker and still jam-packed with all the latest features that will make you look really cool...This is the phone you want!

It withstands drops, dust and even rain, and it even packs an impressive 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and a music player to play your favorite songs.

Here's the motorola i580 phone review...

How does it Look and Feel?...Tell me about the features...

The Motorola i580 Phone (clamshell) is built like no other gadget of it's kind. A model of extreme versatility--the rugged design , military-grade rubber over mold and pleasantly bright, color internal display that is also waterproof... gives users a phone that is tough and gritty enough for work outdoors...when you need to answer calls in the rain...and still maintain a sleek and fashionable look for working around the office.

When accidents happen (which we all know they do) You can rest easy that the i580 phone can handle being dropped, stepped on, submerged in water or left in direct sunlight in your car or truck --sturdy enough to take along to the beach, by the pool or if you get caught out in a storm.

Even with its army tank like qualities...the i580 is surprisingly lightweight (less than 6oz.). You'll love being able to take surprisingly sharp images and video with the 1.3-megapixel camera and view them on a nice clear screen.

How does it perform?...what's the call quality and reception like?

First the good news...you get excellent call quality... your caller comes through crystal clear with i580 phone. However, depending on where your located, the reception at times may come up a little short...leaving those on the other end of your call somewhat frustrated. But all in all the benefits of the i580 phone more than make up. Superb features are at a premium.

Including...

* Nextel's push-to-talk , Bluetooth and a very loud speaker phone that can be heard over noisy traffic.
* Enhanced support for the visually impaired -- The i580's Voice Playback functionality has a simulated voice to guide users through phone menus and through placing and receiving phone calls.
* A very easy to use Handset-- for three-way calling
* Group walkie-talkie--Great for tele-conferencing
* Push-to-Smart Replies - Discretely send a text message using PTT, even in the most difficult to communicate times.


What's the bottom line?...the good, bad and the ugly...

Pros: Overall the i580 is really a joy...a microSD card slot with a 64mb card included so you can listen to music or record pictures or video, push to talk (of course), a crisp screen... finally get a nice flip with Bluetooth devices not as common with other providers,as they are with Nextel.

Cons: If having a calculator on your phone is important, sorry... Old SIM cards do not work with i580 and the Nextel SIM card copy device has a hard time duplicating numbers onto new card be prepared to devote some time transferring your list of contacts...Low Battery Life (like all the 500 series phones)

By Jesse Miller

Most current cell phones have the ability to send and receive text messages. Some cell phones and PDAs also offer the ability to connect to the internet. But cell phones typically do not work well in long tunnels. Whether you're searching for cell phones or accessories, or if you're simply browsing for the best deals on cell phones, You can find them in many outlets, including carrier stores, independent wireless retailers, electronics stores, and Web sites.

If two or more family members use cell phones, consider a family plan that lets up to four people share a large monthly pool of minutes for a smaller additional monthly charge. Three out of four homes have cell phones, keeping parents and children connected across town and across the country. Now parents can use their cell phones to keep a better eye on their children by monitoring who they can and can't call.

Safety

The convenience of cell phones is moving into public safety, and so are the tolerance levels. Cell phones are fine for emergencies but some people just can't part with them. A bill introduced in the state Legislature states that teenage drivers would have to put down their cell phones when behind the wheel. Some states have also past laws that no driver can be on the phone while behind the wheel unless they are using a hands free device. So when traveling check out the state law before talking and driving.

Abroad

You can also use your cell phone in other countries. You may have read that the cheapest way to use cell phones abroad is to buy local SIM cards so you can pay local call rates, but don't over looked the actual cost to buy a cell phone and local SIM cards in the first place. So before doing this, check with your carrier to see if you can use yours and how to set it up.

By David Woodford

Who hasn't experienced the gut-wrenching sensation of seeing their cell phone fall in to the pool; or the sharp intake of breath when a cup of coffee is spilled over the phone!

What do you do (other than panic) when that happens?

Look at the 10 suggested steps below - and maybe not all is lost after all.

1. First - and most important - get it out of the water!

2. Also urgent - remove the battery. Prevent any interactions FAST!

3. Remove your SIM card. All your vital information is here. Even if you don't rescue your phone, at least rescue your SIM card. For now, just put it to one side to dry out naturally.

4. Remove as much water as possible as quickly as possible. Just use an absorbent material (toweling or paper tissues)

5. An alternate drying technique is to seal the phone (with everything removed) in a plastic bag with a few of silica packs that you get with electronic goods etc. Leave the phone in the bag for a day or two, and it may be that the silica will absorb the moisture

6. Give time for the phone to dry. Don't experiment with putting the battery back on to see if it works as this would risk damaging the phone with a short circuit.

7. Be patient and wait. Yes - be patient! Let nature have its way; just leave it in a warm place and let the water evaporate.

8. Try replacing the battery if all else fails. They are not expensive and it may solve the problem

9. See if there is a loan phone available. That will also make the waiting process easier.

10. Test it out. After being patient for 3 days, make sure everything is clean and dry and re-attach the battery to the phone and see if it works. If your phone does not work, wait another few days. If it still won't work, try taking your cell phone to an authorized dealer. Sometimes they can fix it.

Other ideas

* Place it on top of the vent of a cable box, monitor or TV for at least 24 hours (up to 3 days). The low heat emitted is enough to gently dry out the phone.

* If your phone falls in to salt water (like the ocean for instance), remove the battery and rinse with fresh water before crystals can form.

* Consider soaking your phone in distilled water to wash away any minerals it picked up from the original water.

Be careful

* Do not under any circumstances heat the battery - it could leak or explode. Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive. If you use an oven or hairdryer, remove the battery first.

* If you use alcohol for the drying process, only do so to the outside, and do not apply heat in any way shape or form, not even the gentlest of heat. Do not connect the battery until the alcohol smell goes away

* And, if it's not stating the obvious, do not put the phone into the microwave. You will fry the components and probably ruin the microwave!

By Arshad H Abbasi

Third world governments plan and make strategies and show their commitment to efficient and sustainable use of water. But, while implementing these strategies into action, executing agencies always make mistakes, mostly due to organizational inefficiency and incompetence.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is the Civic Authority of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, responsible to provide save drinking water to city dwellers. Currently, the CDA gets 75 million gallons of water daily from different sources for the population of 6,350,000 but massive leakage in water supply system means city dwellers receive contaminated and short supply of water owing to lethal combination of bad water governance and incompetence.

Instead of improving water governance, CDA made a plan of massive investments to augment the water supply from Ghazi Barotha, Indus River, by spending Rs 30 Billions[ 0.5 billion dollars] instead concentrating Institutional reform to improve weak water governance that encourage overexploitation and use of water. The project would be proving disastrous to public exchequer in the scenario of country facing serious energy crises. In fact, according to the project details, water would be lifted from a site that is 915 feet below the level of Islamabad. Thus instead of trying to find out and build the new ones CDA ought to focus on efficient use of exciting water resources and rectify the situation simultaneously whereas the prescription for today is the management of "each drop of water is vital".

Rawalpindi is a old, low laying ancient city just located near Capital of Pakistan and in monsoon rainfall season face the problem of flood. The sad and brutal truth is that in the situation, where water from heights of Islamabad is wreaking havoc in Rawalpindi almost every year in the form of flood by swelling Lai River [Nullah]. Past records of the last 35 years is the witness of 23 severe floods in Rawalpindi including an historical flood occurring in July 2001 (considered as a national disaster). The fundamental cause of flood in Rawalpindi is lack of storage of rainwater coming from Margalla hills by CDA management as 80% catchment of Lai falls in Islamabad. Margalla hills were declared as National Park [reserved forest] by the effort of WWF in the year 1980 and now forest at Margalla hills converted in to thick natural vegetative cover. Analysis of rainfall data of Islamabad from 1980 to 2006 reveals due to thick forest canopy provides an excellent model' that monsoon rainfall trend is increasing. CDA management is totally ignorant to this climatic feature of Margalla hills which result in flood in Rawalpindi. Original town planner of Islamabad Constantinos A. Doxiadis and subsequently other international agencies like JICA recommend CDA time and again for an integrate approach by augmenting water of Margalla hills for drinking purpose due to its purity and mitigating flood in Rawalpindi.

Residents of the model city are the worst victims of erratic water supply. The existing drinking water supply system of old sectors was executed almost 40 years ago. The authorities concerned failed to upgrade the system in accordance with the growing sectors and population therewith despite the fact that original master plan of model city modified many times.

The mega project of water supply was justified with the hypotheses that the city is getting 60-70 million gallons daily against its requirement of about 147 million gallons. This is against the factual position as 60 to 70% of water goes unaccounted for which figure is the highest in the world.
The highest percentage of losses speaks of itself the efficiency and competence of CDA. Though Capital Development Authority engaged number of consultants, including JICA ( 1988), Nespak( 1992), MM Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd (1998) and a special study conducted with the help of Govt of Japan in 2000, for the improvement of supply system to make it model. All the consultants recommended that first 60 % leakage must be addressed before exploring new water resource. Lately in November 2005, Government of France conducted a study on "strategy for the control and management of unaccounted for water" through world reputed experts in this basic and chronic problem of water supply system. The study substantiates the previous findings as well.

According to the statistic per capita availability of water in Islamabad is more than 440 liters per person as compared to other highly consuming cities of Asia like Shinghai and Seoul, which consume 250 and 210 liter per person respectively. Besides, receiving highest per capita water residents of Islamabad get water only for one hour throughout the day. In other words it means that despite existence of sufficient water residents of the city get far less quantity which is even less than minimum right of a citizen according to charter of United Nation, i.e. 100 liters of water per person per day. CDA management, being model civic authority, neither acknowledged this right nor recognized water as an economic commodity. Otherwise conserving water and to fulfill need thereof is the best tool to eradicate the poverty.

Another gloomy aspect that illustrates gross negligence and mismanagement of CDA is none-metering and intermittent water supply operation philosophy, causing water wastage at the consumer end. This devastating policy forced dwellers to install electric pumps on water connections due to low pressure. Inadequate and irregular supply of water is also one of the fundamental causes of contamination and leakage in secondary water supply network. In the original water supply plan, meters were planned to be installed but later declared obsolete, visibly an attempt to hide massive leakage. An interesting fact that may arouse curiosity of the readers that water meters were installed in Murree in June 1887 which system is working. Effective water-metering system makes water administration accountable on water losses. Islamabad is the only capital where flat rates are charged from consumers irrespective of water consumption. Just imagine the discriminatory policy of CDA that a house in posh sectors mostly having big swimming pools installed additional illegal connections charged with same flat rates as small house in other sectors. This apartheid policy forced dwellers to store more water than needed. Not only this, inadequate and irregular supply of water due to low pressure also forced dwellers to Install electric pumps on water connections, bore holes, and dug wells to increase the supply of water; thus causing inequitable distribution and water feuds. Metering system increases the awareness of water being consumed in a household and, therefore, reduces wastage and leakages. This in turn helps to conserve precious water resources and benefits the environment.

The track record of CDA on the management of water resources is an example of its own kind. For instance in February, March 2005, more than 29000 million gallon of water from Khanpur and Simly dam spilled over and escaped to sea resulting in another artificial crises in the following month for the residents. Khanpur Dam can alone cater the water need of Capital till 2050, firstly if its conveyance root is adopted according to recommendation of JICA, WAPDA and other international experts. The same will also save more then Rs 95 Million annually on account of electricity bill alone for pumping water. Secondly, the address the chronic problem of seepage in Khanpur dam that is 35 million gallon monthly.

There is a water crisis to meet water need of Islamabad. Surely it is a crisis of management that is threatening water resources with bad governance. The need is bridging the gap between higher management sitting in the offices and ground realities pertaining to potential existing water resources. The need is to utilizing additional storage capacity of Simly after construction of Auxiliary Spillway, tapping water from seasonal water of streams of Margalla Hills, optimum use of Khanpur water resource, in addition to digital water meters, is cost effective solution of drinking water for Islamabad city. Water conservation and rain harvesting techniques is part of the building by-laws 2005 but never enforced. The immediate example for CDA authorities is in our neighbor country where rain harvesting is mandatory in many Indian cities. Even, the annual requirement of the Indian President's Palace is met from its rooftop rainwater

Foregoing paras, with legitimate facts are enough to explain that spending of 30 billion rupees on bringing water from Indus River would not only be economic disaster but also prove a catastrophy in term of operating cost. Managing efficiently existing water resources is the call of the day making Islamabad as Modal of water governance for other cities of the Pakistan as proposed and planned by the Federal Capital Commission in October 1959, while shifting capital from Karachi.

By Alden Jerry

With the comprehensive rise in the number of mobile phone users, it has become very obvious that everyone does not go by the same sort of frequency of the use. Quite naturally, there are some individuals who cannot do without making consistent calls the through out the day, on the contrary there are some people who do not need to make many calls. A few need to send a large of number texts whereas the some are constrained to send emails incessantly. This prevailing scenario made the mobile phone deals come into picture. These deals are designed and formed with the different talk plans with different tariffs to cater to the needs of different individuals. There are mainly three kinds of deals namely contracts, PAYG and SIM free deals which are available in the market these days. Every one of them has their own pool of users.

The contracts deals are the most popular ones among all the available deals and this is so because of the wide of array of advantages they are associated with. A contract user does not need to pay at the time of making calls nor does he or she need to pay in advance, on the contrary they pay once the usage is made. This unique facility gives the users the freedom to express themselves in a very hassle free manner. Moreover, there are a good number of lucrative gifts and offers which are given out to the owners of these deals. The comparatively long list of the gifts include LCD TVs, Xboxes, PlayStations, Nintendo DS, laptops and loads more. The free number of calls, free number of texts, reduced line rental for a stipulated span of time and the cash backs are the other forms of the gifts given away. So much so that, even the most expansive sort of mobile phones come free of cost with the contract mobile phone deals which finally make the affordability factor count considerably. Interestingly, to take the benefits of all these, one does not need to strain much, it just requires signing an agreement with the particular network operator for a certain period.

Then, the other kind of available mobile phone deals are Pay As You Go deals. It works on a very unique concept, where one pays in advance to use the benefits of making calls, sending texts or using any other related services. As the payment is taken in advance, it proves immensely helpful in keeping a check on the expenses. The SIM free deals are the deals which come with the handsets without the SIMs inserted. The main advantage of this deal is that one has the freedom to use the service provider of one's choice. Today, there are a great number of websites which facilitate not only the comparisons of these deals but also the buying them As a result, the users can opt for the best suitable mobile phone deals even online.

By Andrew D L

The Bukit is the place you go to surf those waves you've always heard about. There are surfers everywhere yet it still feels laidback and peaceful around this part of Bali. The waves can be crowded but there are plenty of them, you'll get your share! The beaches outdo the ones in Kuta, you can snorkel the reefs or relax at Dreamlands. The accommodations cater to all budgets and there are good restaurants. If the hustle of Kuta isn't your scene, and you won't miss the nightclubs and shopping, catch a taxi straight out here from the airport. It's about 40 minutes from Kuta to the Bukit and getting a van big enough for boards will cost about 70,00 -100,000 rupiah if you find a good driver. Prepare to be charged 200,000 though!

Accommodation
The main areas to stay out here are Dreamlands, Bingin, and Uluwatu, which all have hotels and huts overlooking the ocean. My favorite is Bingin, it's a bit more chilled out than Uluwatu and you have 3 surfing spots within walking distance. You can stay at the top of the cliff or down on the beach. The beach accommodations are basic, some are a bit rundown but they all have perfect views of the surf and cost around 50,000 rupiah per room. If you want a little more comfort and don't want to lug your bags down the cliff, stay up the top, it's still pretty cheap but the surroundings are far more comfortable.

Leggie's Bungalow (100,000 approx) offers large bungalows with private bathrooms and huge beds! There is a nice garden and relaxation area with DVD players and they are soon adding a pool.

Pondok Indah - Lynnie's Place (150-200,000 approx) has a similar setup to its neighbor Leggies. Some of the rooms are a bit newer and the garden is primo with good hammocks!

There are a few other similar places nearby called Alamanda's bungalow and secret garden. None of these offer ocean views. If you want the best of both worlds, views and comfort, it costs a bit more. Check out Mick's Place or Mario's if you feel like lounging in the infinity pools! These places all charge in dollars and can be booked at baliretreats.com.au.

Other than Bingin, there are many places to stay on the cliffs at Uluwatu, the beach at Dreamlands or the main road that runs along the peninsula.

Food
Nearly every accommodation offers basic food, nasi-goreng, curries, toasted sandwiches, pancakes and burgers etc. If you feel like something different or healthier there are some good places in the area:

Stickie's Sandbar is on the cliff at Bingin. They offer exotic, organic food in a chilled out spot with lots of cushions to relax on. They also have real espresso coffee and internet access.

3D's Warung is found on the main road near the Bingin turnoff. This is where the locals eat, local food at local prices. The food is so good, large meals cost about 10,000 rupiah and beers are cheap too. This is the best option after a day of hard surfing.

Jiwa Juice is just after 3D's on the main road. It's an internet cafe that has a good menu with healthy options. The brownies, smoothies and croissants are the highlights here.

There is also a Mexican place, I don't know its name but the place is cool. There are old photos and surfboards all over the walls and it's pretty popular. Find it on the main road heading towards Padang.

Waves
It's basically all left-handers along this coast, although some rights can be found at Uluwatu, Dreamlands beach, and inside Padang, which has a friendly right-hander on smaller days.

Uluwatu gets the most swell, attracts a crowd, but with several peaks it's not hard to get waves. Impossibles offers long rides and has plenty of room to move, Bingin is a short wave, has a much tighter takeoff and if 15 people are out its pretty crowded. If you want to get barreled easily though, this is the place. Dreamlands is a beach-break, it usually has a soft outside peak and a fast inside shore-break. Around the corner is Balangan, a peaceful spot which can offer really nice, racy long lefts on its day. If a huge swell hits and you're experienced enough, Padang has the best barrels in the area.

Other Stuff
Renting a car or motorbike makes your stay so much better, you can surf wherever is best each day and you can get up early and go, no waiting to organize a ride. A small 4WD will cost around 100,000 rupiah a day, a bike 25-50,000 a day. You can organize them at most accommodations. With a car you can also find better restaurants and it's good to pick up a gallon of water from a convenience store. The bottles can be overpriced at hotels and it means less plastic for mother earth to deal with. Internet is available at Jiwa Juice and Wartel on the main road, Stickys at Bingin, and a few accommodations are starting to get wireless. Phone calls can be made at Wartel but I recommend taking an old prepay mobile from home. Buy an Indonesian SIM card and you can text drivers for pickups, organize flights and even make international calls from anywhere. XL SIM cards cost about 35,000rupiah and calls are 2500 a minute to anywhere, even international! There are Yoga and Tai Chi classes in the area, keep an eye out for flyers at cafes like Jiwa Juice.

By Edward Remy Smith

The Lost Paradise is a recreational water park located next to the Al Areen Wildlife Park in the southern region of Bahrain. Set in 77,000 square metres of what was previously arid desert land, this impressive playground is created and landscaped in the style of Bahrain's historic Dilmun era.

The pristine open areas are split into six zones with speed slides and tube slides, raft rides, winding rivers, fountains, waterfalls, a beach with automated waves, a spa, toddlers' paddling pools and a swimming pool. There's something for everyone with all ages catered for.

The park has been a huge success from the beginning, attracting visitors from Bahrain and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Daily attendance figures ranges between 500 and 2,300, depending on the day and the time of year; school holidays and weekends are naturally the most popular. The park's management are hoping for 300,000 visitors this year.

The park recently introduced Ladies Nights for women only and their children less than 10 years of age. These evenings proved so successful they now stay open until midnight and even then it's difficult to encourage the ladies to go home!

Public feedback is positive and surveys are encouraging, many visitors come again and again. Corporate packages are possible: local clubs, schools, hotels and airlines can arrange tailor-made packages, which are popular. It's even possible to book the park for private use, at a cost of just BD 50,000 per day.

The Lost Paradise employs 170 members of staff, including 23 different nationalities, of which 35 per cent are Bahraini. Training in all areas is stringent, it's on-going, carried out on site and is in strict accordance with international health and safety regulations. Staff uses two-way radios to summon extra help when necessary.

"Our medics usually only have to treat people who have fainted though" Paul said. "Some guests don't drink enough water and then suffer from over-exposure to the sun." There are, however, ample shaded areas around the Lost Paradise plus eight food and drink outlets strategically placed offering popular choices including burgers and chips, sandwiches, shawarmas, salads, fresh fruit, water and juices. Visitors are not permitted to bring their own refreshments, no glass is allowed and smoking is only possible in three designated spaces.

There were some unexpected water problems (for swimming etc) in the early days, due to the park's supply and purification plant not being ready on time. Now rectified, their reservoir currently stores an estimated 1 million litres of water and the Lost Paradise uses a staggering 10 million litres of desalinated water. The park's water is tested 24 hours a day; treated with chemicals and balanced, it flows on for safe, healthy public use.

Paul Blunt came to Bahrain three years ago, initially to oversee the theme park's team of architects, engineers, designers and builders engaged in the construction. The Lost Paradise opened under Paul's supervision in September 2007; it closed to the public during the cool winter months and re-opened in March this year. The 2008 season will extend to December, weather permitting.

I asked Paul if the Lost Paradise looks as he had envisaged. "Yes, it does actually, though I'd say the conceptual designs looked greener on paper!

"This is a harsh environment for a $1.3billion investment. It was a risk to create something like this here but it's actually a good location. It's unique, very different and after five years our surroundings will be spectacular too." He said all the clusters of land in the Al Areen Holding Company's 2 million sq. m. master plan have now been sold. The development will eventually include three major hotels, conference facilities, a medical centre, a shopping mall, commercial, retail and residential areas. Extensive building is already underway around the park's perimeter where the Italian Domina Hotel is expected to open next year.

As well as being general manager at the Lost Paradise, Paul is also a director of Sim Leisure Consultants, the leading design, development and operational specialists of theme parks around the world. A British-born Australian, Paul has been in the business for 20 years and he's worked in or helped open similar water-parks in Australia, Cyprus, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bulgaria and now the Middle East.

Paul Blunt lives in Bahrain with his wife Nicole and son Zac. "We enjoy Bahrain and like the region. Sim Leisure is looking at opening more parks in the Middle East, so I expect we'll remain in this part of the world for years to come. I love my job. The Lost Paradise was a challenge; location wise, logistically, hiring the right people for our staff and then training them. The staff seems happy enough and that's important. If the staff is content, it reflects well and that's what we want."

I then toured the water-park. It's spectacular: well presented, well staffed and spotlessly clean. At 11am on a Monday business was already brisk, everyone smiling, enjoying the thrill of the rides. The Lost Paradise is supposed to reflect Bahrain in the Dilmun era - but I don't suppose they had such excitement in those days - this is Paradise Found.

The Lost Paradise of Dilmun Water Park is located at Al Areen, near the Bahrain International Circuit, Kingdom of Bahrain o Tel: +973 17845100

By Asaf Atiya

It can happen to anyone: You walk into the pool or sea with the cell phone in your pocket, wash it with your clothes, or just drop it into the sink or bathroom...

But it doesn't have to be the end of your mobile buddy. Follow these steps as quickly as possible, and you might be using it to tell your friends about the whole thing in a few days. Here's what to do:

1. Turn the phone off.
2. Remove the Battery and SIM card. The quicker you do this, the better. Even if the phone isn't salvaged, your SIM card might survive. As for the battery, it's less likely to keep working. If the phone was in salty sea water, carefully rinse it with fresh water before drying.
3. Dry it. First, use a towel to dry the phone. Then use toilet paper and an ear pick to reach the places a towel can't.
4. Let it Rest. If the inner circuits of the phone are wet, it can cause more harm to turn it on before they're dry. Follow these drying guidelines:
1. Let the phone dry for at least 3 days.
2. Keep it uncovered in a warm, dry place.
3. Don't try drying it in the sun, the oven, the microwave or with any appliance that can possibly melt it.
4. Try using any absorbing substance that will not harm the phone, such as Rice, Ungrounded salt or Silica packs that come with Vitamin packs, Clothes and Electronics.
5. If the screen is still foggy after 3 days, wait a few days more.

Try turning it on. If it seems dry and ready, re-attach the battery and SIM card and turn it on. If it doesn't work, you can either attempt to dry it more or take it to the manufacturer. Note that it's possible for them to know if the phone has been dropped in water due to special stickers that respond to water. Warranties, unlike insurance, don't cover water damage.

By Dennis Siluk Ed.D.

The Short Awkward life of
Mac Remora
((1974...) (Europe))

Chapter One
Just Acquaintances

It was now after work hours for most of the military personnel on the Babenhausen (West German) Military Base, and Staff Sergeant Lee Erwin Wright went to the little grocery store on the base to buy some groceries, pretending not to notice Mac Remora, the manager of the small military PX, he was in a hurry.

"I've seen you around a lot," said Mac, "can I help you with anything, such as pointing out where the squash is-it's over there, over there by the potatoes (and he pointed), and other fresh vegetables (Lee had been looking about for some tomatoes and green peppers, mumbling aloud 'where the heck are they')"

"I see them now," Lee Wright told him.

"I think I'll take some of those big green peppers home with me also," said Mac Remora, "now that I look at them, they really look big and green and hard, they're real choice ones."

"I suppose it's the thing to do if you don't want them to vanish," Wright agreed, "I use them for spaghetti sauce."

The young woman nearby started selecting a variety of fresh vegetables, putting them into a carry cart, lifting two of the green peppers out of the wooden basket, sweating in the hot little grocery store, trying to absorb the wind coming through the back opened door to the store, that blew through the back section, the outside of the store shaded by trees.

"I should have ordered more fresh vegetables and fruit on hot days like this," remarked Mac to Lee.

"The bushels you have would appear to be plenty," Lee told him, "most of the soldiers go to Darmstadt for their big shopping sprees, stocking up for a month, that is; you don't want to spoil us customers (?)"

"Well, the distributor will bring what I want!"

"No matter what?"

"Sure," remarked Mac.

Sergeant Lee Erwin Wright, had half an hour before he'd have to go back on duty, he had CQ (the overseer for the Company Headquarters for the evening). He had his uniform on, and he rushed to get out of the store, shaking Mac's hand. He did not speak to him much as he prepared to pay, and leave (knowing he had to get back to his apartment, wash his face and hands, and go over to the Company Headquarters, sit the night away in an uncomfortable chair, answer phones, make the rounds of the military base, write reports, and hope he could leave the window open for the breeze without getting any insects into his CQ Room, and he didn't want to be late).

This was the first time he and Mac spoke, to the first time they saw each other eye to eye, not just passing by. Matter-of-fact, he had seen him a few times in the Education Center as well, and he was seemingly always with a girl or a white soldier, as if they were pals.

He was an extremely handsome and well-kept Blackman; and appeared to have a decent civilian social position on the base, which he had for some five-years, making at the time far above a Sergeant's pay.

Chapter Two
Night CQ

"He seems to be a good manager, isn't he," he asked Corporal Sims, who knew him better than he, now on CQ Duty, Sims being his runner incase he needed something quickly. Sims looked at him now. He looked at the Sergeant, and out the window towards the PX, as if he knew something, he had never mentioned before.

"One thing, I've heard, but I can't say for sure, I don't know for sure, he truly makes more money than that small store provides, he lives high off the hog, and his inventory is always off when the inspectors come."

Mac was about six-foot-four inches tall, with a styled haircut, clean shaven, and with extremely sharp dark eyes with a faint impression of wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, slightly noticeable when he smiled, he was thirty-two years old, Lee, twenty-seven.

"Well, here's to the snake in the grass!" Sergeant Lee Wright said. He smiled at Corporal Sims when he said that, and not smiling, the Corporal looked curiously back at the sergeant.

Mac was very tall, slim waist, very fit, and built well, if you didn't mind that distance end to end, he had a fast stride, stretch and reach. Regular-lipped, for a Blackman, and was considered quite desirable by German women, housewives and even female teenagers at the civilian military schools.

He dressed in the same sort of way, beyond the style of the day, and was known very publicly to be a fancy talker.

"Here's to the snake in the grass," said the Sergeant for the second time-in jest, "I can't ever thank you for your information, I get the sense we will be meeting again, because something is on his mind."

"Let's not talk about Mr. Remora," said the Corporal, "I've heard too many rumors about him."

Sergeant Wright looked over in his office at the Corporal without smiling and now he smiled at him.

"It's been a very strange night, and afternoon," said the Sergeant "ought you not to put your hat on so you can go make the rounds, check out the motor pool, I'll watch the telephones!"

"I might not put it on; it's so hot out there!" said the Corporal.

"You might have a very hard time telling the MP's why you're out of uniform then, Corporal."

"I could use a drink?" said the Corporal.

"I don't think so, not on my shift anyhow."

"But you drink a great deal?" remarked the Corporal to the Sergeant.

"No, not on duty I don't."

"But let me be radical, okay?" said the Corporal.

"Go check out the base," said the Sergeant.

"I'd rather stay here and have a conversation," said the Corporal.

"Don't be thoughtless, Corporal, I need to write something to report, and if Captain Sharp comes by, and we haven't made a round, he's going to have our heads for dinner."

"No trouble, I'll just go do what I got to do, it's a damn fine night to get drunk though."

Sergeant Wright had seen it coming, but the Corporal made no noise, he noticed his shoulders and head were shaking as if to say: it's going to be a long night.

"Are you upset Sergeant?" asked Sims.

"It doesn't matter, it accounts to nothing. My nerves are like steel, just get going and do your job."

"Yes," said Sims, "I suppose I rate that for the rest of the night now (meaning to make his hourly rounds throughout the military base which took normally twenty-minutes)."

"Nonsense," said the Sergeant, "you know I'll do some rounds."

"Forget what I said, nothing to this anyhow. I'll not forget you sticking up for me the one night when I was drunk on duty; I won't forget what you did for me then."

"It wasn't anything, nothing at all; it's all gobbledygook anyway, just don't get thirsty for booze tonight, all right?"

He didn't answer; he just left the orderly room, and Headquarters, and did his rounds as the Sergeant demanded.

Continue...

By Peter Ville

The latest innovation from Apple is the iPod Touch. Released on September 2007, it promises to provide maximum entertainment to anyone using it. Aside from letting you view your favorite videos and listen to your favorite songs, the iPod Touch will also enable you to browse the internet thanks to its WiFi capability.

However, you have to consider that these applications are often not enough for people using the iPod Touch. If you want more applications, you will see that the iPod Touch will have quite a lot of downloading applications that can make your iPod Touch more powerful and do more things for you.

The iPod Touch is not just your regular music and video player. It is also a device from which you will be able to play different kinds of games, you will see that you will be able to have more fun with it other than just watching your favorite videos and listening to your favorite music. This device will provide you with great entertainment. You will also see that there are a lot more games available for it. To get these games, all you need to do is to surf the games for iPod touch, download it from the internet to your computer, synchronize your iPod with your computer and install the games for your iPod Touch.

Although it may cost you some money to download the game, you will see that you will definitely have a lot of fun playing with the great games available for you iPod. Just a little review on few games for ipod touch.

- iQUIZ -

This is a slick game show with several trivia modes with stock movie, music, and TV questions, but the Music Quiz 2 component is the easy favorite. Players identify songs based on audio clips, name an artist based on album art, pick the year a track was released, and more. Difficulty varies randomly with each question, the game does not know if it is playing a title lyric or an obscure instrumental lull, but it generally hits the sweet spot between too easy and too hard. If your tracks are fairly well tagged, this game is all hook.

- LOST -

In an angled, top-down adventure game, you lead Jack through several short events based on the TV show. The interface works surprisingly well. Players lightly press on the scroll wheel to move, and tap the center button to get special abilities. However, the game is rarely interesting, even with show staples like the smoke monster and the mysterious hatch making appearances. Most of the action feels like you are running errands, many of which are unrelated to the show.

- MUSIKA -

Musika artistically pushes colors and patterns across the screen, slowly presenting a letter. If the letter is in the title of the song playing, hit the center button to score. If not, pass with the forward or back button. Several consecutive answers catapult your points higher. This simple concept suits the iPod touch and almost works for a game but ultimately grows stale without more rules. Smooth, bold graphics are the biggest draw. You might have the most fun just watching animated leaves blow into letters with the Visualizer mode.

- ROYAL SOLITAIRE -

Sharp design and great art make this solitaire bundle excel. Even the menu screens show an animated character pointing at options instead of plain-text highlights. Once you deal the deck, 10 games (including Klondike, Free Cell, and Yukon) hold any solitaire fan interest. The scroll wheel moves between cards, while the center button makes selections. This interface is sufficient, but it is sometimes hard to move through long stacks and quickly make a selection. Bonus: You can listen to your iPod music as you play.

- SUDOKU -

The sudoku craze has subsided, but this iPod game nails almost everything we could want in sudoku. Crisp menus and graphics elegantly present thousands of these number-placement time-killers. Beyond the traditional game, which is available in several difficulty modes, you can manually enter puzzles from a newspaper, book, or magazine. Using the wheel to scroll across the 81 squares can annoy, but this complete puzzler even lets you place possible solutions in a square corners. The game can also solve puzzles for you when you are totally stumped.

- THE SIMS BOWLING -

The Sims tie-in adds little depth to this simple but fun bowling game. Players earn money to buy a few small prizes a Sim might enjoy, but the focus is on bowling. At the lanes, time the center button with a few consecutive swinging meters to take a shot. The right touch sets power, angle, and spin. After a few warm-up rounds, we were hitting strikes fairly often, but not easily enough to bore us. As a quick diversion, the bowling is fun even if you do not care about The Sims.

- THE SIMS POOL -

Loosely tied to The Sims, the game has you create a basic character to play pool. Set up shots in 8-Ball and 9-Ball games by using the scroll wheel to move your cue to different angles. A separate aim gauge adds spin, and you time the power with an on screen meter. The controls work, except we wanted to stroke the cue stick with a back-and-forth wheel gesture. There are a few upgrades to earn and buy for your Sims characters, but the engaging game play will satisfy pool fans.

There are more available games for iPod Touch. All you need to do is choose the game that appeals to you most and install it. With all the available games for iPod Touch, you can be sure that you will never run out of choices.

So, if you are getting a little bored, why not integrate some games in your iPod Touch. That is also one great function of this device because we all know that we have to maximize the features of it. This also connotes that iPod Touch is not only for adults but it can also be for your children.

By Samuel Herrick

When it comes to Nokia then one should not think about the quality and reliability because Nokia is reliable for providing quality handsets. Nokia has been providing mobile industry with so many mobile phones since years that are well accepted by users. Nokia charges the most apt rates for the cellphones it provides and this is a reason why users prefer Nokia handsets. Recently Nokia has revealed the latest N-Series cellphone that has raised the bars of competition among the different competitors in the mobile industry. Although, Nokia N-Series handsets are slightly expensive but it is still worth buying them. With the revealing of Nokia N85 N-Series model it is seen that new standards have been set for other competitors as well.

Nokia N85 is rich of so many features that attract the users. Some of the features that will soon be seen in Nokia N85 handset includes N-Gage gaming, 5 megapixel camera, in-built FM transmitter, speedy Internet connectivity etc. Nokia N85 has several other features because of which this cellphone will become well known among users. The above features distinguish this handset from other mobile phones and this is a reason why this particular phone is in demand. This cellphone has a big memory pool that enables a user to build a personal music collection according to his/her choice.

Nokia N85 provides a strong battery backup and this set weighs approximately 128g. Copper color adds all the more to the looks of this mobile phone. People are waiting for Nokia N85 to be released at the earliest so that they can buy this handset.

All those who are still waiting for the reviews of Nokia N85 performance might lose the chance of buying this handset. The demand for this cellphone shows that people will buy this handset the day it is released in the markets and several outlets. So, don't lose the chance of buying this phone rather grab the opportunity.