HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 ~ GOODBYE 2011!!!

Happy New Year to All, Have a Great 2012!

Goodbye to 2011 & hello 2012! This past year was an interesting one, let's hope that 2012 is much better & all our wishes & dreams come true! Happy 2012 to everyone!

WELCOME 2012!!!

Michael J. Fox Parkinson's $10,000 Challenge!

Last chance to “like” us on Facebook in 2011!

Help us get 100,000 fans before the New Year to meet Ryan Reynolds' $10,000 challenge.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation Facebook Page currently has 98,665 fans, they need to reach 100,000 by the end of 2011 to get a donation of $10,000 from Ryan Reynolds for their research on finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease. 

Please go to their fan page at http://www.facebook.com/michaeljfoxfoundation?sk=wall

and "like" their page before midnight tonight to help win the Ryan Reynolds $10,000 challenge.

Spread the word!

Veteran's Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255 & Press 1!

The holidays can be especially difficult for our

Veterans & their families!

Veterans returning home this time of year will be overwhelmed by just the transition from being active military to being a Veteran. Trying to adjust to being back in the US and home takes time and usually it can make the Veteran want to be alone so they do not have to face the task of readjustment. There are many reasons a Veteran may withdraw from family members, as a family member you can be supportive and help the Veteran stay in the social setting by just being there to help and ensure them in time things will get back to normal. Remember to always be very patient, understanding, caring & loving. For more information on how to help your Veteran come home to peace of mind go to this link... 

http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ForFamilyAndFriends.aspx

Veterans who suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) may have difficulty during the holidays as well. The holidays are full of gatherings from all over to going to many functions and having to be in a large group of people. PTSD sufferers usually have problems dealing with large groups of people, loud noises and socializing in general.

The new year can bring on extra stress in the way of it being the traditional time to change something in your life, New Years Resolutions - can cause anyone with social anxiety and PTSD to feel obligated to make a resolution while feeling they can never change how they feel or what they want to change the most being and that is to not suffer from the stresses that come with PTSD in the coming new year. As a family member of a Veteran with PTSD you can be of help during this time by just listening, understanding, caring and loving as you  have been all along, just remember that now is harder than usual for the sufferer. For more information on how to support your Veteran with PTSD go to this link... 

http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ForFamilyAndFriends.aspx

Vietnam Veterans are more vulnerable to a setback in the progress they have made since being diagnosed with PTSD during this time due to the fact that it has been 50 years since the war and more information has been published along with more Veterans realizing symptoms and are just now being diagnosed. Below is information for Vietnam Veterans with PTSD.

VIETNAM VETERANS WITH PTSD...

-- 15.2 percent of all male veterans (479,000 out of 3,140,000 who served in Vietnam) and 8.1 percent of women (610 out of 7,200) were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in a 1986-1988 study by the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey (NVVRS).

-- Almost half of all male Vietnam veterans suffering from PTSD had been arrested or in jail at least once, 34.2 percent more than once and 11.5 percent had been convicted of a felony, according to the same survey.

-- VA statistics in 2004 showed that 161,000 veterans were still receiving disability compensation for PTSD.

-- A major VA study found that about 31 percent of men and 27 percent of women had suffered from PTSD at some point after their return from Vietnam.

http://usmcvietnam.net/PTSD.html 

Regardless of what era your Veteran is from there is always the chance of PTSD becoming a part of their life and yours here are some of the signs & symptoms of PTSD....

If you think your Veteran may be suffering from PTSD or any kind of emotional crisis please get help today by calling the Veteran's Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1 to speak to someone for any reason at all anytime, day or night, seven days a week, 24 hours a day! Do not wait or hesitate, call now if you or someone you know is in crisis!

http://www.veteranscrisisline.net

World’s most popular web sites!

Most popular web sites in the world – a favicon collage.

Favicons of The Top 300,000 Websites in the world was used to create this huge collage.

This size of the favicons in this collage is determined by the Alexa rankings meaning: the most used web sites have the largest favicons. Notable websites are Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Craigslist, Wikipedia, Youtube and others.

If you want to search for a specific icon in this collage you can do that at this link..  http://nmap.org/favicon/

To break this down to an amount of websites that is a little easier to comprehend, here is a link to see a list of the Top 1000 Websites...  http://www.google.com/adplanner/static/top1000/#

Just for fun I have added a picture of the Top 500 Website's favicons.

So there you have it, the most popular website in the world from The Top 300,000 to The Top 1000 and The Top 500 as well as their favicon. I thought this was a great way to show just how many websites there really is and the importance of the "favicon" when it comes to identifying websites.