Hei dear XT readers and welcome to all our new subscribers that joined us this month.

Have you ever wondered why it is that time flies when you're having fun?  Most people recognize the phrase but tend to laugh it off as a myth.

Einstein thought about time and came up with some incredible theories.  My brain gets stuck on the first page of a physics book about quantum mechanics so we won't even go there! 

However, when you're in the garden and you see tiny flies at work, doesn't it cross your mind - "How do vinegar flies perceive the passage of time when their life span is a mere 10 days?" Perhaps to them it seems like quite a reasonable deal and they simply keep busy to avoid the question.

When I was a child, one year seemed to be an eon and distant adulthood was hardly conceivable.

So the perception of the passage of time seems  to be arbitrary, depending on your species and possibly your age.  Education and awareness may be the reason why older people say things like  "Is it my birthday again already?" or "It seems like only yesterday when you were a baby!" or "I just don't have enough time these days!" 

Times have really changed. In the leisurely days of old, living in a remote country village, the sunrise and sunset was your only clock, speed was limited by how fast a horse could gallop and daily activities would have been relatively few and unvaried. Days must have drifted by in slow motion and just as well because life expectancy was 39 years or less.

In direct contrast, today's hectic lifestyle in big cities, time is governed by the millisecond demands of our electronic clocks. Speed is of the essence in every activity we attempt. Even though life expectancy has increased dramatically, we have an impossible list of duties that we're obliged to fulfill every short waking hour and time seems to tick by at an alarming rate.

Assuming advanced aliens exist, they may live a thousand years or more and view our life span as paltry as that of the drosophila.

If old aliens are similar to humans, my bet is that on Alpha Centuri 237 they too say:
"I just don't have enough time these days!" 

Unspoiled Finland is our timeless country of the month!

Näkemiin until next time.

Dr John K. Flynn B.D.Sc.
The Xerostar Times Editor 
Caring for Creative People
..

Thanks to composers Ari Kokkonen & Patrick Aalto 
Find out how to set up your computer for maximum
enjoyment of MIDI music. Click Here
.

Many Finnish names seem quite long and contain strange letters which doesn't make figuring out how to pronounce them very easy. But now this huge problem which has bothered the greatest minds of the world for years has been finally solved :-) Just select one of the nine categories and click on the name you want to hear and you'll soon pronounce Finnish names perfectly!  Click Here
             ..

I've chosen to make this Forum 'public' so anyone can participate, so feel free to tell your friends!

To view the Forum:   Click Here
...

Many of the prices on Pillstore.com have been 
lowered significantly! Here are a few examples:

90 Phentermine 37.5mg lowered $69!!
60 Phentermine 37.5mg lowered $46!!
30 Phentermine 37.5 mg lowered $30!!
90 Didrex 50mg lowered $40!!
90 Meridia 10mg lowered $100!

- Lowered pricing is here! As much as $100 off!
- Phendimetrazine and Tramadol have been added!

Check out NewPillstore.com Click Here
.

When the nights are long in Finland (and they can be very, very long) there's much more to do than huddle inside with a vodka or two. You can ski across vast frozen lakes or relax in a sauna, beating yourself ever so gently with a fragrant branch of birch leaves to loosen the travel grime. During the months of the midnight sun, coastal regions, including the Turku archipelago and Åland Islands, are a sailing and fishing paradise. Inland, the largest unspoilt wilderness in Europe attracts thousands of trekkers every year. (An oxymoron? - editor)

In the south the capital Helsinki has over 30 art galleries and museums, while in the north Santa Claus kicks back 364 days a year. Where else in the world can you take a reindeer tour or an icebreaker cruise then hit the green for some midnight golf?

Area: 338,000 sq km 
Population: 5,158,000
Capital city: Helsinki (pop: 560,000)
People: 98% Finns, Gypsies, Samis
Language: Finnish & Swedish (English is widely spoken in tourist establishments)
Religion: Lutheran & Orthodox 
Government: Democratic republic 
President: Tarja Halonen
Prime Minister: Paavo Lipponen

GDP: US$118.3 billion
GDP per head: US$22,900
Annual growth: 5%
Inflation: 2.6%
Major industries: Metals and engineering equipment, telecommunications, timber and paper products
Major trading partners: EU (Germany, Sweden, UK), Russia, USA, 
Member of EU: yes
Euro zone participant: yes

To find out more please Click Here
.

The Finnish flag features a blue cross on a white background. It takes two forms, the national (civil) flag and the state flag.

The flag with "the blue of the lakes and the white snow of our winters", as a poet described these symbolic colours in 1870, was made official in a law enacted on 29th May, 1918, less than six months after Finland had achieved independence. A new law entered into force in 1978.
..

To find out more Click Here
...

Q. Do you enjoy playing Pub Quizzes? 
A. If 'Yes', then this site is for you! 
You can download free pub quiz machine software to play at home. It comes with four complete quizzes for you to start with and you can download additional quizzes from this website when they appear - all for FREE!!  No annoying registration forms to fill in and no personal details required whatsoever. 
Makes a change, doesn't it! 
 

Download the trial version for free!  Click Here
..

When you want to feel the wind at your back, your arms trembling before you, and to watch a Symphony in the sky, these kites are the answer. Made from ripstop nylon and virtually unbreakable, these easy launch kites scythe through the sky like a dream. 

They come with tough Power Kite Class lines, straps and some neat flying tips in a comprehensive leaflet. Whether you're flying the zippy 1.4m or the mighty 2.2m, they'll cut through cloud, spin on a dime, blister across the blue, and when your arms are spent, they fold up into a tiny pouch that fits on your belt. 

Note: Do not give to small and lightweight children, unless they're being very irritating and you feel like going for a drive.       Click Here
...

A web site where you will find a huge choice of ezines covering every interest.

Please rate the XT at Cumuli.com  Click Here
It will help XT to become a greater ezine!

This magic program produces realistic 3D images of Books, Boxes, CDs  and DVDs. There is no other 3D cover program that comes close to this one
You can get a sneak preview of the results at our  web site. www.ebook3dwizard.com

You can download the free trial version and take it for a test run. Have a look at the examples, we think you'll be impressed with what this program can do.

To go to the web site, please  Click Here
..

Finland's greatest composer, Jean Sibelius, was born in 1865. His Kullervo Symphony, completed in 1892, started the period when much Finnish music was based on the legends of the national epic, The Kalevala. As a composer Sibelius gradually turned to more international themes and greater internalisation. The core of his musical output, which was diverse and stylistically original, were his orchestral works, notably his seven symphonies written between 1899 and 1924, and symphonic poems such as the four-part Lemminkäinen series, Pohjola's Daughter and Tapiola. His violin concerto of 1904 is one of the most demanding and one of the most popular of its genre. The pearl of his small output of chamber music is the profound Voces Intimae, written for string quartet in 1909. 

His symphonic poem, Finlandia, completed in 1899, became a symbol of Finland's bid for independence. Other national treasures left by the great composer include the music Sibelius based on well known works of the theatre, such as King Kristian II, Death, Pelleas and Melisande and The Tempest as well as his numerous works for the piano and violin, his musical settings of poetry, his choral works and songs. Sibelius died in 1957. The house where he was born, in the southern Finnish town of Hämeenlinna, is now a museum as is his former home, named Ainola, in the town of Järvenpää. 
...

This is the very first in-depth critique of George Harrison's solo career since the break-up of 
The Beatles. 

To order your copy please see the directions
at the web site.  Click Here
.

When you say "oo" or "ee," you produce different patterns of overtones (harmonics), each in a different strength. Throat-singers screen out all but a few overtones, making them audible as distinct notes, by tightening their throats so much that only a tiny slit allows the sound through. This narrow slit also allows notes to be sung for a long time. 

Tuvan throat-singing can be divided into several styles—there is debate as to how many there are. 

Sygyt — a two-note style with the mouth shaped to say "er." It is Ondar's specialty, and the style in which he was world champion from 1992-1995. 

Höömei — a three- (sometimes four-) note style with the mouth shaped to say "oo." This word is used in Tuva to denote both the three-note style, as well as the entire range of throat-singing styles — a situation no more confusing than saying letters that people send to each other are made of letters that form words!

Kargyraa — a two- (sometimes three- or four-) note style with the mouth usually shaped to say "uh." Most remarkable is its "sub-harmonic" quality, by which the voice emits "undertones" an octave (sometimes other intervals) below the fundamental tone. This is Pena's specialty, the style in which he is reigning world champion (1995), and the source of his name "Earthquake." 

Ezenggileer — this "saddle" technique evokes riding on horseback, and involves a rhythmic pulse—you could think of it as a Tuvan verson of ska. 

Chylandyk — a combination of sygyt and kargyraa, this style is rarely heard in Tuva. 
 

To find out more please Click Here
 

Your source for 21st century Learning and Earning tools. Carefully explore this Website and you will discover the information and the tools you can use to transform your ideals of success and affluence into an abundant and prosperous reality.

Selftech offers exclusive digital success education products, in the form of eBooks, combined with an exceptional business opportunity.

Please invest the time to investigate everything that is available here for you. Check out the products and the business opportunity.

Download the free eBooks too!

To find out more, please  Click Here
..

Do you enjoy word puzzles or playing with words?
Are you a Scrabble®  fan?
This fascinating program will help you solve the
most difficult word puzzles. The manipulation of English words is taken to a new level. 
To read all about it. Click  Here
...

Finland's traces of human settlement date back to the thaw of the last Ice Age some 10,000 years ago. The Finns' ancestors seem to have dominated half of northern Russia before arriving on the north of the Baltic coast well before the Christian era. By the end of the Viking Age, Swedish traders and chieftains had extended their interests throughout the Baltic region. Over the centuries, Finland has sat precariously between the Protestant Swedish empire and Eastern Orthodox Russia. For seven centuries, from the 12th century until 1809, it was part of Sweden.

Finland was blighted by constant battles with Russia, and severe famines. From 1696-97, famine killed a third of all Finns. The 1700s were punctuated by bitter wars against Russia, culminating in the eventual loss of Finland to Russia in 1809. With nationalism beginning to surge during the latter half of the 19th century, Finland gained greater autonomy as a Grand Duchy, though new oppression and Russification followed, making Finns emotionally ripe for independence.

The downfall of the tsar of Russia, and the Communist revolution in 1917, made it possible for the Finnish senate to declare independence on 6 December 1917. Demoralising internal violence flared up, with Russian-supported 'Reds' clashing with nationalist 'Whites' who took the German state as their model. During 108 days of a bloody civil war, approximately 30,000 Finns were killed by their fellow citizens. Although the Whites were victorious, Germany's weakened position after WWI discredited it as a political model and relations with the Soviet Union were soon normalised. Political salves did little to heal the wounds of civil war, however, and stories of 'peacetime' massacres are still emerging from these dark days of Finnish history.

Further anticommunist violence broke out early in the 1930s and, despite the signing of a nonaggression pact in 1932, Soviet relations remained uneasy. The Soviet Union's security concerns in the Finnish Karelian territory led to the Winter War in 1939. After months of courageous fighting, Finland lost part of Karelia and some nearby islands. Isolated from Western allies, Finland turned to Germany for help and slowly began to resettle Karelia, including some areas that had been in Russian possession since the 18th century. When Soviet forces staged a huge comeback in the summer of 1944, the Finns sued for peace. Finland pursued a bitter war to oust German forces from Lapland until the general peace in the spring of 1945. Finland's war experience was not only an enormous military defeat, it was an economic disaster because of the burden of reparations imposed by the Soviets.

A weakened Finland took a new line in its Soviet relations, ceding the Karelian Isthmus and agreeing to recognise Soviet security concerns in defending its frontiers. The 25 years of Urho Kekkonen's presidency (1956-81) were a clever balancing act: Kekkonen kept a tight grip on domestic power, and managed to strengthen ties with Scandinavian siblings without alienating the big huggy bear to the east.

The collapse of the Soviet Union came at a difficult time for Finland. Its right foot - bogged in the free market - had to endure the late-1980s slump, and its left foot - tied up by Soviet borrowings - encountered the dissolution of its debtor. Due to Finland's generous social security payments, sudden rises in unemployment put intolerable pressure on government finances. In the 1990s Finland's overheated economy went through a cooling off period marked by the floating of the Finn markka. The currency devalued by around 25%. Finland voted to join the European Union in late 1994 and became a full member in 1995. In the 1995 elections a Social Democrat-dominated coalition ousted the right-wing coalition. In February 2000, Finns elected their first ever female president - left-leaning Tarja Halonen.

..

Have you visited www.midi-ebooks.com?
We have a variety of unique eBooks and paperbacks for sale and some free eBooks as well.
To see a list of available titles Click Here
 

Delve into the rich content of Encyclopædia Britannica using a selection of browse features.

Browse Alphabetically
Browse Britannica's World Atlas
Browse Timelines
Browse by Subject
Browse Year in Review

One man, one boat and 3100 miles ..
Simon Chalk has set off from Kalbari, Western Australia with one target in mind: Reunion Island. Read his Diary from the middle of a lonely ocean. 

He's been battling treacherous weather and a leak in his boat, but is determined to complete the 3,100 mile voyage. Use the Interactive map to find out his latest position.

To visit his web site please Click Here
..