Websites as graphs
Would you like to see a visual representation of your website's structure? Someone else's? Check out Websites_as_graphs and you'll see some of the best known sites on the web graphed using a Java applet on the page, created by Sala at his Aharef blog.

If you're a Flickr fan, you can check the websitesasgraphs tag to see graphs that people have created. Each one different, and beautiful.
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Loving your pets to death

Australia is a nation of pet lovers but it may be loving its animals to death with pet owners passing on rising levels of obesity by overfeeding their cats and dogs, the country's main animal welfare body says.
Lawrie told Reuters surveys had found that between 40 and 44 percent of dogs and more than one in three household cats were now overweight, due to poor diet and a lack of exercise.

Fat cats and dogs were more vulnerable to diabetes, arthritis, heart problems and liver disease.

Dogs most at risk were Labradors, Beagles and cross-breeds such as Labradoodles -- a mixture of a Labrador and a Poodle -- with household moggies more at risk than other types of cats.
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Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

The King who Cares
Born into a family of medical professionals, health and medicine had always been prominent in His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s childhood. His father, HRH Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, was a pioneering doctor who dedicated his life to the plight of the rural poor. He initiated numerous healthcare programmes that brought medical care to the far reaches of the provinces, where modern medicine had previously been unheard of.His mother, the late Princess Mother, was a trained nurse who tenaciously supported her husband’s causes. After the death of Prince Mahidol, she continued to carry out his work and started numerous public health programmes.Growing up against a backdrop of dedication and service to public health, it comes as no surprise that His Majesty the King has followed in the footsteps of his parents and is an ardent advocate of health and medical concerns. While His Majesty, in recent years, is seen as being more active in areas such as rural development, water conservation and the environment, he has remained a compassionate champion of issues related to health and medicine since the end of World War II.At that time, state-run medical facilities in the provinces were scarce and under-developed. “During His Majesty’s frequent visits to rural areas, he would come across sick, malnourished people or those suffering from malaria who were desperate for medical attention and did not know where to get help,” says Magsaysay Award recipient Dr Prawase Wasi.“Since then His Majesty has traveled with a team of doctors and nurses to treat those who come to him with their illness. When he meets someone with a serious disease, he will write down their names before sending them off to the hospital. He’s been doing this for years. It gives people great hope to see him. It’s a cause that has stayed close to the King’s heart,” says Dr Prawase.His Majesty’s actions prompted a fundamental change in the attitude of healthcare authorities, says Dr Prawase. In the past the attitude and practice was that the ill had to go to hospital for treatment. By taking mobile medical teams with him wherever he went, His Majesty changed this attitude. “Medical professionals saw that they had to go out to the sick and not wait for them to come to the hospital. This led directly to changes in the structure of the healthcare delivery structure by the Public Health Ministry.”“[Doctors and health care officials] began to realise that medical treatment and public health care had to be distributed because that was the only way it could reach the people. They realised volunteers, health workers and nurses should play a role in this. This was the groundwork for what is now called ‘basic healthcare work’. I think that the King played a great role here in changing attitudes. And he did it without giving orders but by setting an example.”Apart from the official attitude to healthcare, His Majesty was also instrumental in encouraging villagers to care for themselves, first by adopting basic preventive healthcare measures rather than waiting until they fell ill. Wherever he went, His Majesty would advise rural residents on how they could take care of themselves.Apart from being instrumental in changing attitudes and actively assisting national health programmes, His Majesty has played a direct role in assisting the eradication of several diseases that were widespread in the country. After the Second World War, former public health minister Dr Sem Pringpuangkaew explains, the country’s most dreaded disease was tuberculosis.“The state did not know how to contain the disease because at that time there weren’t any sanitoriums to house those infected. The King, however, took a personal interest and set up the Anti-Tuberculosis Society to help prevent the disease from spreading,” he recalls.With a personal donation to the Red Cross Science Division, the Mahidol Wongsanusorn building was constructed in 1950 to produce BCG vaccines. UNICEF later bought the vaccines for use in other Asian countries.His Majesty was also instrumental in eradicating leprosy. Dr Sawasdi Daengsawang, then the director general of Public Health, was one of the first to turn to His Majesty when the disease became rampant in the mid-1950s. “I asked the King for help because at the time leprosy was spreading so quickly that in some cases in the Northeast, entire villages were becoming infected.”“In 1955 leprosy was everywhere in the streets,” says Khwankeo Vajarodaya, Grand Chamberlain of the Royal Household Bureau. “The Public Health Ministry had a plan to bring it under control in 12 years, but the King wanted it tackled much faster. A doctor told him that it could be done in eight years if there was an institution to train more professionals. So His Majesty set up the Rajaprajasamasai Foundation which also served as a research and development centre.“His foundation is directly responsible for dramatically bringing down the incidence of leprosy,” says Mr Khwankeo.Dr Vichai Chokevivat, Deputy Director-General of the Communicable Disease Control Department, agrees that His Majesty played a significant role in eliminating polio from Thailand. Apart from private donations to set up the Polio Welfare Fund and building the Vajiralongkorn Tarabambat building at the King Mongkut Hospital, he spearheaded the drive to raise funds for vaccines. His Majesty used his volunteer radio to call on Thais for donations to buy equipment to help those stricken with polio.The country responded. Mr Khwankeo notes that it was His Majesty who initiated the use of Jacuzzis to treat the disease and donated equipment to Siriraj Hospital.Polio was later eliminated from Thailand. It reappeared in the 1990s following the influx of Cambodian refugees 10 years earlier. Dr Vichai says that a campaign launched to inoculate all Thai children against polio proved highly effective: Only one child was reported to have contracted the disease. The campaign continued for three years until polio was eliminated from the country once again. “We have to recognise that we have reached this stage because His Majesty the King took an interest in the well-being of his subjects,” the doctor says.Since 1946, His Majesty has injected millions of baht of personal funds to assist numerous national healthcare programmes. The Thai Red Cross has been a primary bene- ficiary of HM’s support, especially in its work producing vaccines and serums. In 1952 His Majesty set up a blood service centre which developed into the National Blood Service Centre in 1969.At present the centre has branches throughout the country, saving thousands of lives each year. It produces saline drip for sale, while blood is distributed free of charge.His Majesty has expanded the work of the Red Cross to cover the whole country. His Majesty has assisted in providing funding for research on diseases relating to hormones, bones and joints, the nervous system and the blood. He has set up a fund for medical research, a foundation to promote cleanliness and health among schoolchildren, and a vocational centre for soldiers and border patrol policemen who have been disabled while protecting the country.In addition to His Majesty the King’s commitment to addressing current and future healthcare needs is his belief in funding the future development of Thai medical professionals.“There must be continuous training of people who are skilled and experienced in public health care”, says Dr Prawase.The late Princess Mother saw the importance of this and used personal funds to send many Thais to study medicine overseas. Dr Klum Vacharobol, Dr Sri Sirising, Dr Sawadi Sadaengsawang, Dr Luang Nit Vechavisit, and many other doctors who have become teachers of the medical profession were among recipients of the Princess Mother’s support. These people went on to play a crucial role in laying the foundation of medical and public health work in Thailand.His Majesty continued to support his mother’s work by establishing the Ananda Mahidol Fund to send doctors to further their education overseas. Dr Charas Suwanvela, former president of Chulalongkorn University, was the first recipient. Later the fund became a foundation and is now open to public donations.His Majesty allocates a considerable amount of time to the foundation, acting as its honorary chairman and paying great attention to its financing. Students under this foundation would be granted an audience with HM the King, during which they would be given invaluable advice before going overseas. On their return they would be granted another audience in which His Majesty would ask about what they had learnt. His Majesty would on occasion spend hours talking with them.As a healthcare advocate, His Majesty the King’s contributions remain immeasurable, and build upon the pioneering work of his late father and mother. Perhaps the best way to describe His Majesty’s attitude towards health care would be to use his own words. During a visit to a tuberculosis treatment centre on April 6, 1950, HM said to then Health Minister Luang Payung Vejchasart, “Is there a medicine that can cure this disease? If you lack any medicine I will find it for you. I want to see Thai medicine progress.”

The king who cares
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It's Not Just Tissue...It's A Tiny Human Being!


It's Not Just Tissue...It's A Tiny Human Being!
By 5 weeks, the child's brain has human proportions, pituitary gland is forming and mouth, ears and nose are taking shape


By 8 weeks, every organ is present, heart is beating sturdily, kidneys function, taste buds are forming. By 10 weeks, the baby will squint, swallow, frown and smile and is sensitive to touch.

By 3 months, child is able to kick, make a fist, curl toes, turn head, bend his wrists and open his mouth.

By 4 months, the child can grasp with hands, turn somersaults and swim. Mother begins to sense movements.


By 5 months, sleeping habits appear and child responds to sound. A loud noise may startle the child into jumping in reaction.

By 6 months, fine hair grows on eyebrows and head. Eye lash fringe appears on lids.

900 GRAMS
By 7 months, eye teeth are now present; baby uses all four sense of hearing, vision, taste and touch. Hand grip is strong. Baby is able to recognize his mother's voice.

By 8 months, hair covers the baby's head. Skin begins to thicken and is healthy in color. Fingernails grow beyond baby's finger tips and the living quarters are getting crowded.

Mary Said "Yes" To God's Precious Gift....Won't You?
Say "YES" To Life!

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Tattoo Removal
No one knows when the practice of tattooing the skin began, but Egyptian mummies dating back to 1300 B.C. have shown evidence of blue tattoo marks. Tattooing is accomplished by injecting colored pigment into small deep holes made in the skin. Regardless of who injects the pigment - a tattoo artist or an untrained person the marks or designs are relatively permanent. For various personal reasons, people turn to physicians to have tattoos removed.

Fortunately, there are several methods for tattoo removal which have proven successful. In most cases, however, some scarring or color variations remain. The conspicuousness of these blemishes depends upon several factors including size, location, the individual's healing pro-cess, how the tattoo was applied, and length of time it has been on the skin. A tattoo performed by a more experienced tattoo artist, for example, may be easier to remove since the pigment is evenly injected in the same level of the skin. A tattoo that has been on the skin for a considerable length of time may be more difficult to remove than a new one.

Methods of Tattoo Removal

There are several excellent methods of tattoo removal available today. The method that the physician chooses will depend upon the size of the tattoo and its location as well as the length of time it has been on the skin. How the patient heals may also be a factor in the decision.

Excision

Another popular method of tattoo removal especially when the dyed area is small is by excision. The advantage of this method is that the entire tattoo can be removed. With larger tattoos, however, it may be necessary to excise in stages, removing the center of it initially and the sides at a later date.

Excision involves an injection of a local anesthetic to numb the area after which the tattoo is removed surgically. The edges are then brought together and sutured. With this procedure, there is minimal bleeding which is easily controlled with electrocautery. In some cases involving large tattoos, a skin graft taken from another part of the body may be necessary.
Dermabrasion

Another method of tattoo removal is called dermabrasion in which a small portion of the tattoo is sprayed with a solution that freezes the area. The tattoo is then "sanded" with a rotary abrasive instrument causing the skin to peel. Because some bleeding is likely to occur, a dressing is immediately applied to the area.

Laser

In recent times, many physicians consider laser surgery one of the best methods of tattoo removal . Today, the Q-switched Nd:Yag, Q-switched Alexandrite and the Q-switched Ruby are among the most frequently used lasers today for the removal of unwanted tattoos. They are all employed in a similar manner. If necessary, a cream to numb the skin can be applied prior to the treatment. Pulses of light from the laser are directed onto the tattoo breaking up the tattoo pigment. Over the next several weeks the body's scavenger cells remove the treated pigmented areas. More then one treatment is usually necessary to remove all of the tattoo.

Salabrasion

Salabrasion, a procedure which is centuries old, is a method still sometimes used today to remove tattoos. As with the other methods, a local anesthetic is used on and around the tattooed area after which a solution of ordinary tap water dipped in table salt is applied. An abrading apparatus such as the one used with dermabrasion, or an even simpler device such as a wooden block wrapped in gauze, is used to vigorously abrade the area. When the area becomes deep red in color, a dressing is applied.
What Results Can Be Expected?

Regardless of which method of tattoo removal is used, some scarring or color variations are likely to remain. Healing time varies depending upon the size and depth of the tattoo, the proce-dure used and the patient's healing process. It is important for the patient to discuss with the physician the various procedures, how they are performed, and the probable results. Care of the treated area must also be discussed.


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Love me love my elephant!!!!!

If you love elephants then The Elephant Conservation Centre between Lampang and Chiang Mai is the place for you, as they love and care for elephants here too.You can come and see a show demonstrating the incredible abilities of the elephant and the many skills they have acquired through years of training and companionship with a mahout, or you could as we did come for a three-day mahout training course and really get to know your elephant.
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