Mention Egypt and one thinks of pyramids and Pharaohs. Egyptian deities, however, were the base of the religion that gave rise to the great Egyptian empires.

Of all of the pantheons in the world, Egypt has one of the most populous. With hundreds of deities being worshiped at one time, Egyptian religion tended to vary depending on the area of the country that one lived in, and even depending on which pharaoh was in power. To truly understand Egyptian deities, you need to look at why they were worshiped.

It is estimated that there were around 2000 different deities worshiped during the time of ancient Egypt, but some of these were “repeats”, deities with similar characteristics and descriptions that appeared with different names in different parts of the country. This phenomenon is seen because at the time there were around 40 different ruling tribes and areas (later known as provinces), and each of the areas had their own deities. The only common traits among these were that they all manifested themselves on Earth as animals, and each of the deities had both male and female counterparts.

Male and female deities were always portrayed in similar fashions. Males were shown with their legs apart as if they were walking, and females were shown with their legs together. Of course, this assumes that they were shown in human form. Often, Egyptian deities were shown in their animal guises, which could be as a combination of more than one animal or insect. When drawn or painted as humans, they all wore similar forms of dress and these costumes corresponded to their human counterparts in higher society. As for headgear (such as crowns), the deities wore whatever was in fashion for the pharaohs or priests of the area they were worshiped in – this gave more credence to the pharaohs assertion that they were godlike.

Of course, some of the most well known Egyptian deities are still known today. They include Osiris and Isis (deities of the dead, as well as the mythical originators of Egypt) who are still very much talked about in historical and mythical contexts. The idea of being judged by your deeds in the afterlife led many pharaohs and other upper class Egyptians to create large pyramids and become mummified, which is a large part of ancient Egypt's history. While most modern Egyptians do not subscribe to the polytheistic ways of ancient Egypt, these deities are still a very important part of the culture of Egypt.

Unlike the United States which is 200 plus years old, China is an ancient country and civilization. This has led to long standing rules of conduct in society that are of great interest.

China is an ancient country, with thousands of years of history which lay a rich basis for the lives of its inhabitants today. While some of the ancient Chinese myths and cultural traditions have been forgotten or are no longer observed, many of them are still remembered and incorporated into everyday life. Taking a look into the cultural traditions of China can reveal a lot about the way that the people live.

One of the most interesting bits of Chinese lore can be found in what is known as the Jade Culture. Jade is a stone that was first identified in the first Chinese dictionary, known as Shuo Wen Jie Zi, in around 100 AD. There are two types of jade: soft jade, known as nephrite, which is native to China, and hard jade (jadeite) which was imported from Burma starting in the 1200's. Jade is important in China not only because of its beauty, but also for its virtue and cultural significance. Confucius said that jade had 11 virtues, some of which include the fact that it stands for beauty, purity and grace. The Chinese character for jade, Yu, is often used in names and sayings to connote beauty.

Another of the many Chinese cultural traditions is the bamboo culture. Bamboo is one of four favorite plants seen in China – they are bamboo, Chinese plum, chrysanthemum and orchid. The characters of these plants are highly prized, so much so that Chinese people want to be like the plants in character. Bamboo is grown pretty much everywhere in China, with most people having gardens in which they grow bamboo. Bamboo chopsticks are the most common form of tableware in China, and bamboo is also the material out of which the Chinese flute is made. People often use bamboo paintbrushes, and bamboo culture festivals are even held throughout the year.

A final cultural tradition can be seen in the dragon culture. Dragons are an important part of Chinese tradition, so much so that people from China often consider themselves to be “the descendants of the dragon”. China's emperors believed that they truly were dragons, calling the beds they slept on dragon beds, and even their robes dragon robes. Dragons are also seen all over the imperial palaces, and dragon screens are seen as a symbol of the emperor's power.

Music as a cultural form can be examined in terms of the meanings encoded and decoded by different producers and audiences. Specifically, producers of music operate within the context of certain political, social and economic conditions and with the particular intentions. These could be to perpetuate an ideology through the exercise of ideological hegemony or to express resistance. On the other hand, music is used by people in structurally subordinate positions to comment on social problems, express their dissatisfaction with the state of society and resistance to hegemony and the ruling order. We can argue that music has always been a channel for expressing ideas that oppose and inflame hegemonic powers. We shouldn’t censor music just because of violent, vulgar and abusive messages it promotes to the world. Like movies and TV, music is also seen as influencing the behaviour of its audience, particularly the teenagers. This is clearly true, given that music audiences divide themselves into “Tribes” (creating different subcultures), where their hair is grown longer, clothes becomes more unconventional and drug use becomes central activity. Therefore a Self-fulfilling prophecy is created.

Many Theories were trying to explain the influence music has upon the teenagers, such as The Frankfurt School. The Frankfurt School envisioned the media as a hypodermic syringe, arguing that the contents of the media were injected into the thoughts of the audience, who accepted the attitudes, opinions and beliefs expressed by the medium without question.

Many artists and teenagers deny that violent music is seen to influence teenagers. Commentators on the current furor over rap music should bare in mind that we have already been there done that, back in 1950s, when the likes of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis were horrifying politicians and parents because of the lyrics that contained violent, drug and sexual references. It can be argued that the marketing strategy of music companies changes the way music spreads. In order to generate more sales and profit, music agencies launch a lot of large-scale promotion. Posters, videos and advertisement of singers can be seen everywhere in order to persuade its audience to buy the products. Certain steps have been taken to make parents aware of the type of music their children listen to. One would be “The Parental Advisory Sticker” that has been enforced upon records that have foul language and mature content. Originally, this sticker was intended to indicate that anyone under the age of eighteen could not purchase the labelled album. It has not only been argued that the rap and hip hop music influences teenagers, but the metal music has also faced sever censorship, especially because of its allusions to sex, drugs, and booze, not to mention its indecipherable lyrics. Rock and roll has largely been seen as a form of rebellious music for just about as long as it has existed. Because of the implications and hidden meanings associated with rock, some old-fashioned beliefs continue to cause a discrepancy amongst the population of the time.

Many musicians have jumped in on the fight against censorship. They believe censorship violates the first amendment which talks about “Freedom of Speech”.

A rock artist such as Marilyn Manson who is one of the most controversial artists in the world today, one who chooses to express himself in a way that provokes in the most extreme methods possible. It has been argued that Marilyn Manson is protected by the First Amendment who guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association (assembly). It also protects the rights of citizens to worship as they please and the right not to be forced to support someone else’s religion. Manson uses this freedom fully, getting his message across by any means possible, mainly to the younger generation.

Producing music and making beats is something that can be very fun. Music has a big impact on the way people think, feel and act. Being able to create your own beats and music is something that can be not only very fun, but also very addictive.

There are so many different kinds of sounds that you can put together when making beats. The possibilities are basically endless.

The notion that many people have is that you need to have thousands of dollars in equipment and hours and hours of classes and tutoring. This is totally untrue.

There are plenty of programs and tools offered online very cheap that you can produce beats with. Most of these tools and programs offer extensive help guides and tutorials. You can get one of these programs for as little as $30.

I believe these tools are a great place to start with making your own beats and producing your own music. I say this because you can basically test the water before you go full blown into producing music. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars on equipment and then later down the road figure out that producing music is not for you. More essentially, it is a safe road.

Not only is acquiring an online tool for making beats and producing music the safe way to go, but it is also a great place to start. You will learn a lot about making beats and producing music through help guides and tutorials. You will figure out if you want to take the next step. This would be actually spending thousands of dollars on equipment and even advanced music production classes and schooling.

As digital cameras replace film, more and more users are turning to web based photo storage services to manage their photo archives. There are a dizzying array of sites, all offering different services at different prices. Choosing a storage service can be a confusing process, particularly when you are choosing a company to entrust with your precious family photos. Here are some things to look for when you're choosing a photo storage service.

First, take a look at the interface. How easy or difficult is it to upload photos to the site? Most of the major photo storage sites offer the ability to download software that will let you upload batches of photos, but some sites still rely on web interfaces that are slower and more clumsy.

Once you've checked out the interface, investigate the pricing structure of the site. Compare costs carefully using a standard print size, such as 4x6 for comparison. The difference in printing costs can vary wildly from one site to another, from as little as 12 cents at one site to as much as 29 cents at another. Don't forget to consider traditional sources of photo-processing like drug stores. These companies are making it easier to place photo orders over the web by offering storage and customization of photos and frequently cost less than dedicated photo storage services.

Continue to investigate pricing. For example, is there a cap on the number of photos you can upload for free? How much does it cost beyond that? Compare priced for specialty items like calendars, greeting cards and enlargements. Finally, compare shipping and handling costs, which are often a hidden source of profit for many companies.

Of less importance than cost, but still an important consideration, is whether a photo storage service allows you to create custom items. Almost all sites allow the user to customize items like greeting cards, but some offer a wider array of products than others. If this is important to you, compare the number of products offered and the interface used to create custom items.

Finally, be sure you completely understand how long a photo storage service will host your photos. Some have a set time limit, tied to the last time a user logged in to their system. Never completely rely on an online photo storage system to store your photos. Always keep a backup copy of your photos on external media in case of problems.

When it comes to photography, the digital wave is very much in evidence and yet, both operate on the same principles. Both have a lens, an aperture and a shutter. The difference lies in how the image is formed. Classic or traditional photography uses film on which the image is captured and then developed in a darkroom with chemicals to give you negatives. These need to be printed before you can see the picture in its final form. In a digital camera, you bypass all these processes because the image is captured by an electronic sensor. You aim, click and almost immediately, you can see the picture you took in the viewfinder. There is no developing, no negatives, no printing. Just the sensor which is actually millions of pixels or megapixels where light gets converted into a number.

The pixels in a particular camera are constant. So if you were to print out a picture that is larger than the usual size you print, you would find that it is not as sharp as the smaller size. So you should keep this in mind when you are buying your camera. If you feel that you will probably want to print larger pictures, go in for one with a greater number of pixels. If you are not terribly particular, it does not really matter. Apart from a slight difference in sharpness, the picture quality does not suffer. You could find out from your photography store just how big a print it would be all right to print from your camera.

The greater the number of pixels or picture elements the sensor has, the better the picture quality and of course, the higher the price. In fact most cameras have a greater number of pixels, also referred to as ‘resolution’ than a regular computer screen. The resolution is expressed in megapixels. The number of pixels for black and white photographs can be a smaller number as it only involves the two colors and the many shades of gray in between. The number of pixels needed for color photography, however, is much more. The greater the number of pixels, the better the color quality. Digital cameras usually come with the capacity to produce 16 million colors expressed as 24 bits a pixel. Professional cameras have been known to go up to 48 bits a pixel which translates to nearly 300 billion shades!

Well, it's that time of year again. For the seventh year running, this fall season we'll see a new season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation hit our screens.

Since its debut in the fall season of 2000, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been a major draw for the CBS Network. It became the most watched program on television in the 2002-2003 season, and has since remained in the top 3 most popular shows ever since. As of the sixth season each episode attracted an average of 30 million viewers, and 90 million people have seen the show in the past year.

The sixth season closed with a spectacular two-parter in which Detective Jim Brass was left fighting for life after a hostage negotiation went wrong. When murderer Willie Cutler took a woman hostage in a Vegas hotel room, Brass volunteered to negotiate. However, when things went awry Cutler fired three shots at Brass - and one of the shots breached his bulletproof vest, a bullet lodging in his heart.

After Brass was rushed to hospital in critical condition, CSI Gil Grissom was informed that Brass had nominated him as his medical proxy, which meant that Grissom had to decide whether to allow doctors to perform risky surgery to remove the bullet or - equally dangerous - leave the bullet where it was and risk a stroke. Grissom, believing that Brass would have wanted it, ordered the surgery.

Meanwhile, Brass' estranged daughter Ellie arrived, more interested in how much she'd get from her father's pension scheme than in his well being. Grissom tried to make Ellie understand how much Brass cares for her, but Ellie seemed unwilling to listen. By the time Brass regained consciousness she had left, but Brass' CSI family were still by his side.

The season closed on a surprising note with Grissom finally getting together with Sara Sidle - a story arc that has been several years in the making.

So what does the next season have in store for CSI fans? Well, while the show will no doubt continue with the format that has seen it become one of the most successful shows on TV the main story in the coming season must revolve around the CSIs relationships. With a new romance blooming between Grissom and Sidle it will be interesting to see how these two loners will adapt to the new situation.

On that count, at least, even the stars of the show don't know how it will turn out. Jorja Fox, the actor who plays Sidle, didn't know that she and Grissom were getting together until just a few days before filming, but she believes that this one is for keeps: "These two people, they have a lot in common. They're both really not great with people in many respects, and they're emotionally detached in many respects. If two people like that can kind of find each other, there's something really beautiful in that."

But it won't just be the relationship between Grissom and Sidle hogging the limelight. As we saw in the penultimate episode of season six Warwick Brown's marriage is on the rocks. After spotting his wife Tina with another man in the Lucky Dragon Casino Warwick confronted her, not realizing that she was planning a surprise party for Warwick's birthday. If Tina walks out on him, will Catherine offer Warwick a shoulder to cry on.

For those who came of age in the 1980s during a time of sleek consumerism and homogenous globalization, Indiana Jones was something of an idol. Harking back to a time when the jungles of South America and the Pyramids of Egypt were truly a world away, the Indiana Jones trilogy excited in us a feeling of adventure that has been rarely seen before or since.

The popularity of the Indiana Jones movies stems not just from the fact that they were directed and acted by some of the greatest Hollywood talent of the day, but also from the fact that the movies were classic adventures. They were swashbuckling epics that found an ideal mix of adventure, intrigue and mystery, steeped in myth and mysticism.

This formula was clearly successful. The first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was the highest grossing movie of 1981 and was nominated for eight Academy Awards (of which it won four). The following two instalments, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade, fared almost as well, each winning an Academy Award and grossing hundreds of millions of dollars.

Since 1989, though, all has been quiet on the Indy front. Despite regular calls for a fourth movie there were no developments for years. Rumor and hearsay surrounded plans for the fourth Indiana Jones movie since 1995, when Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam was asked to write a script.

Since then, several screenwriters and directors have attempted to take on the project -- including Chris Columbus (Home Alone), M Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) -- without success.

Finally, though, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford have accepted a script written by David Koepp (Spiderman, War of the Worlds). As of July 2006 Spielberg and Koepp were fine-tuning the screenplay in advance of pre-production, expected to begin in early 2007.

The question that will be repeatedly posed by fans of the series over the next couple of years is this: will it be possible to recreate the magic of the original trilogy? Hollywood has moved on since the 1980s, and audiences have come to demand big budget CGI and dazzling visual effects. Despite winning the Academy Award for Visual Effects with Temple of Doom, the appeal of the Indiana Jones movies was never in their special effects. In fact, Temple of Doom -- admitted by Lucas and Spielberg as the most visual effects-heavy of the trilogy -- saw the most disappointing box office performance of the three.

The main concern, though, is Harrison Ford's age. Already in his 40s in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ford will be at least 65 when filming begins on the fourth movie. Even with the use of makeup, camera trickery and stuntmen, how can it be possible to remain faithful to the original trilogy when the star is old enough to draw a pension?

Despite these worries, however, one thing is certain. Come the release date a couple of years from now we'll see a sudden surge in the sales of fedoras and bullwhips. He may be old enough to qualify for a buss pass, but there's something about Indiana Jones that brings out the child in us all.

I read the other day that astronomers have spotted a huge nebula in our galaxy in the shape of a double helix.

I couldn’t believe it so I googled 'double helix in outer space' and sure enough there is a picture of it.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

As you recall a double helix is the design or configuration that our DNA shapes itself into within us; the genetic stuff that gives us blue or green eyes, blonde or brown hair.

And there is a big one of these double helixes, some 80 light years long, floating around in space in our galaxy 300 light years away from a black hole which is also located in our galaxy, which is about 25,000 light years away from earth.

Now that made me think, or start imagining things that may or may not be true.

A nebula is defined as being a vast mass of interstellar gas, so someone might say that just because it looks like a double helix doesn’t mean it’s cosmic DNA. After all some clouds look like elephants or Napoleon, but that doesn’t mean that clouds are the things they appear to be.

But still the idea is intriguing.

Why shouldn’t the universe be a growing expanding organism?

I can’t prove it is anymore than I can prove it isn’t.

And the concept does upset a few preconceived notions I have. For example, let’s take religion. Maybe God is not a guy with a long white beard sitting on a throne in heaven who has omnipotent powers, but instead the nucleus of a cell, a nucleus that is omnipotent and all seeing while at the same time interacting with all of its components, kind of like, a God.

And if we live in a living organism is it then possible that other organisms live within us, that we are supporting universes, galaxies and planets at a sub atomic level, much in the same way the universe is supporting us, creating a continuum of life with all of us being connected?

‘The superultramodern doubt’ is the first and the most basic principle of my 'Superultramodern science / philosophy'.

Theorem: Anything may be possible.

1. That which could otherwise be believed to be absolutely (or 100%) certainly impossible at present could be possible as the intellectual capacities of the believer may be limited. That is, the proposition/s, for example, that are otherwise thought to be absolutely certainly true could be false.

Controversy:

1. Cartesian doubt vs. Superultramodern doubt

The Cartesian doubt is the doubt raised by Rene Descartes on everything except his own existence as he is a thinking, specifically doubting, substance. Thus, the Cartesian doubt is the principle that ‘anything may be possible, except the impossibility of one’s own existence as one is a thinking, specifically doubting, substance’. The Cartesian doubt thus contradicts the superultramodern doubt.

Let’s for a moment agree with the Cartesian inference that ‘I think (specifically doubt) therefore I am’. But still it could be that it is a wrong way of thinking. I naturally think that as there is a doubt there has to be someone who doubts. But it could be a wrong inference. My language, for example, always refers to ‘I’ because I cannot think otherwise. But I can very well think that I could be wrong. The basic thought involved in the justification of the theorem of the superultramodern doubt appears to be more fundamental than the thought mainly involved in the Cartesian doubt.

The Cartesian doubt is also referred to as ‘Universal Doubt’. However, Cartesian doubt is not really universal as it is not applicable to itself or one’s own existence. The superultramodern doubt is universal as it is even applicable to itself or one’s own existence.

2. Certain universal doubt vs. Uncertain universal doubt

‘Certain universal doubt’ would be the principle that ‘anything is possible’. In contrast to it, the principle of superultramodern doubt that ‘anything may be possible’ would be ‘uncertain universal doubt’. Now, quite apparently, as a universal doubt is all-inclusive, it applies to itself (or is self-referential), and thus should be uncertain.

Philosophical Implications of the Superultramodern Doubt:

1. All axioms as 99.99…% certainly true

All of the propositions which otherwise appear to be 100% (or absolutely) certainly true should now be supposed to be 99.99…% certainly true. In other words, it should be believed that it is 0.00…1% likely that those axiomatic propositions are false. An example of such propositions would be ‘if p implies q, and q implies r, then p implies r’. This 0.00…1% slightest margin in the belief system should be reserved/retained for the sake of the superultramodern doubt.

2. No belief in a proof

Implication 1 implies that there should be no belief in a (mathematical) proof. Something may actually have been proved, but it would be irrational for one to believe that it has been proved. (Here the term ‘proof’ means definite, absolute, or certain resolution of a problem.)

3. All mathematics as philosophy

Implication 2 implies that all mathematics is hypothetical and thus philosophical.

Disassociation of mind and body, the spiritual and the physical: is it impossible? They are two totally different things, held together simply by the fact that they exist mutually within a single entity. To be human one has to be both in the world and in the spiritual realm. I, and all beings, am a spirit. I have been placed, by who knows what, in a certain human form, on a certain place on this earth, to fill a particular niche. Perhaps randomly. Perhaps not. It is sad, and strange, how bogged down our spirits are by the world, the physicality of our beings, all that is obvious and impossible to miss. Our physicality is everything that is tangible, and does not have to be guessed at, pondered upon, or assumed. It is everything that we touch, taste, feel, see, hear, smell.

It is how we move around and find our way in this corporeal world. This which we are so overly concerned with pervades our thinking, so much so that we often pay no mind to, in fact even fail to notice or appreciate, the existence of what is beyond that; what is farther than the flesh. I guess that tends to happen when two totally separate worlds (body and spirit) are forced to collide into one being that is both. It is bizarre how we rely so heavily and so totally on that one half (the physical) which is actually the weaker half. It is the half that is restricted immensely - by gravity, size, mass, the laws of nature, entropy, and the space-time continuum. Yet our other half, for all we know, is limitless. It stretches beyond what we know and is virtually impervious to destruction. Why do we continue to deny the part of us that is so limitless and so free.

The problem of evil has been and remains one of the central problems of philosophy. Thinkers of all times and epochs were extremely interested not interested in this problem and many of them were quite puzzled even by the defining of the notion of evil. Not surprisingly this problem has a great influence on other aspects of philosophy, it is also related to many other philosophical problems which are quite difficult to solve. For some thinkers, even for those who seemed to have quite fundamental religious views the problem of evil made them doubt whether the God exist or not. But at the beginning I would like to dwell upon the problem of evil itself and then analyze it in the context of evil-God relation, particularly in the context of argument from design.

So, it is necessary to underline that we should define to regards on one and the same problem. On the one hand, there is evil that exists that is brought about by natural events and that is not within the human control. In other words we may say that this evil does not depend on humans but either on nature or the God. On the other hand, there is human evil which is brought about by human actions and for which human beings may be held responsible. Judging from this a bit controversial perception of evil we can realize that, for instance, if we analyze them in the context of the argument from design then we’ll find out that they make it quite doubtful the reasoning of the argument. I’ll try to explain my point of view.

First of all, when we admit the argument from design we believe that the God is all-knowing creator of the universe and human beings, moreover, the God is all-good. But we can naturally presuppose that, being so good, the God would not allow evil to exist than evil could hardly exist at all even among humans only. However, the evil exists and this is undeniable fact. Consequently, the natural conclusion that we can make is that the God does not exist or we have to reevaluate our perception either of evil or both evil and God. For instance, we may admit that the God is not all-knowing or probably he is not all-good, but in such a case we ignore the argument from design. On the other hand, we may estimate that evil is a necessary part of our life and it is vitally important as a counterpart in the world or we may regard at evil as a mean to realize what is really good. Furthermore, standing on the religious ground we may simply estimate that the God is a great mystery and we cannot define something as good or evil because only God knows what is what.

Thus, it is obvious that the problem of evil is quite a complicated phenomenon that relates to many other problem, including the problem of the existence of God. The latter may lead to two controversial conclusions, namely they are: we believe in the God or we not. We can hardly solve this controversy because, depending on our personal views and beliefs, we would stick to that point that would be closer to our own. Consequently, it is up to the individual what to define as evil and its relation to the God.