The good news is that iPODs are a great product, theyre cool, and they bring a lot of joy. People can be pretty fanatic about their iPOD. They say it opens up a whole new world of sound to them. Its not just kids either. I have friends in their 40s and 50s who cant part with it and have unabashedly declared their addiction to their iPOD. I even have one older friend who swears he can suddenly hear better out of his impaired left ear when wearing his iPOD with earbuds.

Now we all know the bad news too. Experts are warning us that using MP3 Players in general, and iPODs in particular, can potentially cause significant hearing loss over time. Noise induced hearing loss is not isolated to music of course. Sudden loud noise such as a gun firing or an explosion at close range can wreak havoc on the auditory system. In this situation, the exposure to noise is brief but the ear does not have time to sense the sudden trauma and protect itself; thus damage occurs. This is evident when ringing in the ears is present after the event. Another common noise induced hearing loss is the result of exposure to significant noise levels over an extended period of time. The loudness that creates the damage may not seem excessive to some people; perhaps the sound of a loud truck, a vacuum cleaner, or machines in a factory. When exposed to these sounds the ear will to some extent attempt to protect itself, but over a prolonged period of time, it fatigues and damage occurs. The damage occurs gradually and is generally not noticeable until it is too late. So, basically hearing loss can result from exposure to loud sounds (sounds over 120 decibels for instance) or exposure to less intense noise over a period of time (85 decibels for more than an hour).

A couple of additional features of our glorious iPOD create concerns for those involved in caring for our hearing. One is the earbud style headphones which move the source of sound closer to the structures which allow us to hear. These earbuds actually increase the sound by 6-9 decibels over the traditional over-the-ear headphones. Thus, they give us louder listening and greater risk of damage. In addition, the fact that the iPOD can hold and play thousands of songs and hours of music ensures that we are listening for prolonged periods of time. So, you guessed it, even if we turn the volume down a bit, we can still have damage due to the prolonged listening.

So, are you ready to give up your iPOD? No, I didnt think so. Most of us have figured out that just about everything potentially causes damage to our fragile bodies and the goal is to act responsibly while still enjoying ourselves. So here are just a few common sense things to help you listen responsibly:

?Dial the volume down to 6 or lower
?Use over-the-ear headphones versus earbuds
?Limit listening to no more than 1 hour at a time (less if listening level is at a 110 dB or higher)
?Listen to your iPOD via an external device without earphones when possible (at home with an iHome device)
?Avoid using your iPOD to drown out other loud noises

Apple blessed us with these wonderful little devices, but dont lose your hearing for the love of iPOD.

Christine Peppler provides information and other resources on cell phones, iPODs, cameras, TVs, other home electronics, and home entertainment such as movie downloads, DVD rental, and satellite TV on her website at http://www.homemedias.info

Oh, my GOD ! That must have been a bit scary.

I was up in Genting Highlands, Malaysia, for a conference on 24th June 2006. Over the breakfast table, my friend showed me a piece of news that really shocked me. It was reported that the daughter-in-law was killed by the father-in-law using a shot-gun over some small matter in the kitchen. Accordingly, the father-in-law brought back a piece of wild boar meat and he kept it inside the fridge. Due to his carelessness, there were a few drops of blood on the floor. This made the daughter-in-law grumble over the dirty floor. Without saying anything, the father-in-law went back to his room and came out with his shot-gun. He fired at the head of the daughter-in-law, a house wife, who at that point of time was washing the dishes in the basin. The father-in law killed himself after killing the daughter-in-law. This incident is a bit scary.

Well, according to the law of cause and effect, there must be some cause that triggered off the incident resulting in the tragedy. For feng shui practitioners, the kitchen is one of the six important sections of the house that controls, wealth, health , prosperity and harmony. The oven has to be located correctly at the place where it should be located otherwise, catastrophe and bad luck will befall and the family will be in a chaotic condition. There were many precedents before the above incident. During my practice, my grandmaster always cautions me to be careful when doing reading for kitchen because kitchen is the place where the mouth takes in food which contains chi, The chi might be good or it might be bad depending on the direction of the stove. According to a Chinese saying, all trouble in life comes from the mouth and all sickness enter through the mouth too.

To place the stove in the correct direction and the proper place where it should be, you need to seek the advice of a feng shui master. Of course, the real feng shui master, not the half-past six type. This is because, the effect of kitchen alone is not enough to counteract the evil effect. Reading should be done for the whole house and alignment must be fine-tuned so that it harnesses the good chi for all those staying in the same house. The personal kua of the occupants and the kua of the house have to be scrutinized and adjusted so as to reap the greatest benefits of the house as well as to prevent unforeseen incidents from happening.

Master Lim of www.getting-pregnant-naturally.com

Master Lim started his practice in Feng-Shui since the mid eighties. He is well known for his unique cosmos therapy , which combines the implementation of electromagnetic field and energy forces with Feng-Shui. An expert in helping you to improve on your health and wealth by teaching you how to align yourself to your own home and office for smooth sailing in life. To him, Feng Shui is all about how to live in harmony with the environment based on scientific perspective,such as the effect of sunlights, colours and electromagnetic fields. He applies the knowledge of Feng-Shui in his everyday life. As a high school principal, he also incorporates the principles of Feng-Shui in his administrative work. He has travelled widely to do readings for those in needs. He was also invited as guest speaker in various parts of Malaysia and overseas.

http://www.getting-pregnant-naturally.com