Is Risk-Taking Good or Bad?

Taking risks has been part of our daily life since the early evolutionary times. Back than without risk there was no survival or reproduction. Risk-taking lead mankind to our sophisticated society we live now. These days behind risk taking besides survival and reproduction there is money, love and power.

Risk-taking is a very positive behavior if it's used properly. Without risk life would be very boring, everything would be predictable. When we talk about risk we always imply that there is a possibility of danger, tension and loss.

Each risk has two sides, an upside and downside. If the downside is much higher than the upside the risk is considered a "stupid" risk. Why would you spend your paycheck on lottery tickets? You could lose everything and win nothing.

Calculated risk or intelligent risk is when the downside or loss is limited and the reward far outweighs the downside. When you apply for a job there is risk, you might be rejected but on the upside you could land in a great carrier. When you try to date someone you could also be rejected but you could also find some who will be with you for the rest of your life. When you start a business there is risk, with unlimited potentials on the upside.

People, businesses, governments take risks all the time. We do things all the time where we are not sure about the outcome. Risk with a limited downside is always welcome but unlimited downside or "gambling" can turn against us. 

Why Did I Join the Gym?

I have been regularly exercising a few years now. I bought a couple of equipment years ago and I set up an area for exercise in the basement. I enjoyed it for some time especially when I saw the benefits of it. It was convenient because all I had to do is to go down in the basement and everything was right there. I think the reason I started to exercise is to boost my energy. Later on I realized that an hour or so "pain" translates into measurable benefits. My cardiologist and family doctor noticed the changes and my blood test results came out better too.

I have been trying to exercise twice a week. Trying means that most of the time I only do it once a week. Usually they recommend exercising almost every day but from my experience I can tell that even one day makes a big difference.

Over the years exercising in my basement became boring. The same equipment all the time, by myself. It wasn't really as pleasurable as it used to be. Sometimes I even stopped doing it for weeks.

Then My boys wanted to lift weights and they didn't want to settle with some cheap weight bench, they wanted to join the gym. Then we realized that the whole family should join so we did the beginning of this year.

It's amazing how much equipment they have to work for any muscle. Usually I go late Sunday morning when it's not that busy anymore but there are still some good looking young women and that definitely helps to go thru my exercise routine.

Usually I start my exercise walking around an indoor track a couple of times then I spend about 30 minutes on an elliptical keeping my heart rate in the upper cardiovascular range.Then I spend about 20 minutes on the weight lifting machines. I use about 20 different machines every time I go. I couldn't afford all that having at home. And the young ladies, I can tell you that really helps. My boys of course go 3-4 times a week and I know it's a very good place for young men like them.

Going thru the exercise routine is somewhat a pain but well worth it. And when I'm done it feels good to say, yes, I did it again.

What Am I Doing On the Cloud?

The "Cloud" is something I often hear about but I'm not exactly sure when do I really use it. Later on I found out that I use it all the time I just wasn't aware of it. These days everybody is on the cloud, I'll give you some examples below.

Cloud computing is computing as a service, you don't have to buy a physical product. Cloud computing can provide you with the necessary data storage, applications or even processing speed. You don't need a large hard drive anymore. In cloud computing you are connected to a large number of computers and servers which can be located anywhere in the world.

The idea of cloud computing was mentioned in the 1960's when John McCarthy mentioned that "computation may someday be organized as a public utility". In this sense it could be compared to the electricity grid. No, Al Gore didn't invent the cloud ;-).

Cloud computing connects computers and other devices such as tablets, cell phones and certain TV's to each other. Cloud computing makes it possible to easily share information between these devices.

When do we use cloud computing? Basically we use cloud computing when if our computer is damaged the services and data is still available (from another device). In other words cloud computing makes it possible that your applications and data are safe even if you have computer virus or your computer crashes. Here is a list of some examples:

• Online email services are connected to the cloud such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo mail. These are accessible from any device around the world.
• Your music, pictures and videos can be stored on the cloud.
• Social network sites are on the cloud connecting millions of members.
• Financial and tax preparing software are available on the cloud. Whenever you pay bills on your bank's website you are on the cloud.
• When you book a flight or make some reservations online you are on the cloud.
• When you make online purchase you are using these services.
• You can create and store documents on the cloud, you can even collaborate with others.

There are many advantages of cloud computing. You don't have to install all those programs, you don't need a large hard drive. You don't have worry about new versions or updates of these computing services. There are disadvantages too especially in the security and privacy area. Where is your private data stored such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and social security number and how safe is that storage?

What are Stem Cells – How Can We Benefit from Them?

I have to admit I didn’t know much about this subject until recently when I came across an article and I had problem understanding it. Biology has never been my favorite subject.

As I was reading more about stem cells I realized that this is something could be important in my lifetime too.  Cell-based therapies can prevent and cure many presently incurable illnesses hopefully in my lifetime. There won’t be any need for transplantable tissues and organs.

Stem cells are very unique cells. They have the potential to develop into many different cell types during early life and growth and later on they can repair damaged cells. When a stem cell divides it can remain stem cell or become a more specialized cell such as muscle cell, red blood, or brain cell.

There are basically two types of stem cells, embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are developed from embryos from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro, they don’t come from eggs fertilized in a woman’s body. Embryonic stem cells are grown in laboratory. A large number of cells can be grown this way and stay healthy for a relatively long period of time. These stem cells can divide in to any type of specialized cells. Adult stem cells are also undifferentiated cells found among regular cells. Their primary function is to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found. Adult stem cells can be found in many organs and tissues such as the brain, bone marrow, blood vessel, muscle, heart, teeth, liver and more. There are only a small number of stem cells in each tissue. It’s difficult to grow a large number of adult stem cells. 

Stem cells offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues. With stem cells there is a possibility to cure Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and many more.

Why Do We Need a Good Sleep – Every Night?

Sleep Stages

When people need extra time to keep up with the demands of everyday life the only answer seems to be cutting back on sleep. When you understand sleep you’ll find out that this answer could be very damaging to your health. You need a healthy sleep-wake cycle.

How much sleep do we need and how many hours we actually sleep? A lot of people sleep only about 6 hours a night. An adult needs about 7.5-9 hours to completely restore physical and mental energy.

There are two types of sleep, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep has 4 different stages going from transition sleep to deep sleep. Non-REM sleep restores your physical energy, REM sleep restores your mental energy. During the night your sleep goes back and forth between REM and non-REM sleep. One cycle last about 90 minutes. If you don’t get enough sleep you have to pay the price with REM sleep since the body wants to restore physical energy first.

What happens if we don’t get enough sleep? We don’t have enough energy throughout the day and we probably forget how it does feel to feel good. But there are other more serious effects too:

• Fatigue, lack of motivation
• Moodiness
• Inability to cope with stress
• Concentration, memory problems
• Weight gain
• Increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other health problems

With sleeping in on the weekends unfortunately you can’t solve your sleeping problem. You need at least eight hours quality sleep every night.