Ebook Sample Content Preview:

While the Mayan calendar attracts the most attention, other native groups exist who have a body of predictive work that indicates the significance of the year 2012. The best known of these groups is the Hopi.

WHO ARE THE HOPI?

The Hopi are a group or tribe of indigenous peoples who live in the Southwestern United States. There are approximately 7,400 members in the Hopi Nation spread across 1,561,213 acres of land in the northeast corner of Arizona. Their Reservation came into existence at the government’s orders in 1882. Then and now, it is in the center of a much larger reservation – the Navajo Reservation.

The major source of income for the Hopi is land-based. While agriculture has always been important, the money currently comes from the natural resources within the land. This does create some problems for those who follow the old philosophy of the land as sacred. Another basis for financial stability is tourism. Visitors to Hopi land, however, must understand and adhere to the established policies based on culture. No cameras or videos are allowed to take pictures of specific ceremonies, rituals, or events.

The oldest Hopi village is Oraibi. It dates back to around 1150 CE. This village is of central importance in the cultural and historical development of the Hopi tribe. Oraibi was the site of the initial major split in the Hopi between the 2 distinct branches – still existing today. These are the “hostiles” and the “friendlies.” The former fought against the acceptance of the vision of an assimilated native population. These are the traditionalists. The latter were, as the name indicates, accepting of the entire process.

The entire matter came to a head in 1906. Rather than to continue to live in disharmony – something that is loathsome to the Hopi culture, the two groups agreed to a contest. Whoever lost the tug-of-war would leave Oraibi. The Friendlies won. The hostiles left to form their own center – Hotevilla. The Friendlies remained in control of Oraibi.

Even after much persecution of the Hostiles by the representatives of the United States Government – including prison terms for the dissenters, the group remains true to its basic ideology. Although education is no longer considered undesirable by the former Hostiles, the two groups still maintain a major difference in their philosophy regarding certain aspects of “modernity.” While the names “Hostiles” and “Friendlies” come into usage on occasion, the more common terms applied to the members are traditionalists (or conservatives) and progressives (or liberals). The Hopi also have specific names for them within the context of the prophecies. These, “one-hearted” and “two-hearted,” are discussed in the section defining and describing the Hopi Prophecy.

While the primary guiding principles of the Hopi continue to be harmony and balance, there are also vestiges of hostility between the two groups, even after this length of time. Largely, it rests on the requirements implicit in tradition and the fulfilling of the requests made by Maasau (or Masa’aw) regarding the Hopi Prophecy.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

Ideally, you should probably have at least an idea of how to market your game from the moment you come up with the core concept. Everything, not just character and level design, but even things like marketing and how to sell your game should flow from that core idea.

These days, there's a big debate raging about “Casual” games and “Hardcore” games. A casual game would be something like “Diner Dash” or “Bejeweled,” while hardcore would be something built for seasoned gamers like, say, “Gears of War” or “Halo.”

But you really shouldn't bother getting caught up in that silly argument.

This whole casual versus hardcore gaming thing is really just a sign of old-fashioned game developers who are lost in the new market.

Thanks to cell phone games and those puzzle games you can play on your Web browser at work, the gaming market has expanded. Ten years ago, the only people playing games were “gamers.” Now, just about everyone plays games in some form or other, and the people who started developing games back when it was just “gamers” playing are having a hard time grasping this new development.

The thing is, they're so used to developing games for gamers that they've forgotten how to develop games for PEOPLE.

We discussed “Super Mario Brothers” in an earlier chapter, but it serves as a perfect example of how there's really no difference between casual and hardcore gaming. The reason “casual” gamers are put off by a game like “Halo 3” isn't because it's too hard. “Super Mario Brothers” was tough, and in fact, most of us who played it never beat it, but we enjoyed playing it all the same. “Casual” gamers want challenge too.

“Halo 3” and its ilk are simply so wrapped up in the old school of game design that you can't even begin to get into the game unless you've already played a long list of shooters. So much is taken for granted, and none of the game's world, story, or level design makes sense to a non-gamer or a casual gamer.

If you simply approach your game design from a perspective of common sense, of basing your game more in reality than in other games, then anyone will be able to play it. Don't worry about whether or not your game is too hard for casual gamers or too easy for hardcore gamers, because no matter what your game is about, no matter how it plays, your core demographic is going to be the same...

Sample Content Preview

user
[Type the company name]
Personal Financial Review
Be sure to have the following
resources available:
? Tax Return
? Notice of Assessment
? Employee Benefit Statement
? Insurance Policies
? Bank Statements
? Income Statements
Personal Informa-on
Spouse’s Informa-on
Last Name First Name SIN/SSN #
Address City Prov/State
Postal/ZIP Code Phone ( H) Other #
Email Address Birth Date( YYYY/MM/DD)
Dependent Children and Elderly Parents
Name RelaGonship Birth Date
(YYYY/MM/DD)
M/F
Last Name First Name SIN/SSN #
Address City Prov/State
Postal/ZIP Code Phone ( H) Other #
Email Address Birth Date( YYYY/MM/DD)
Employment Informa-on
Self
Employer Title
[ ] Yrs.
Address
Phone Fax
Previous Employer [ ]
Yrs.
Spouse
Employer Title
[ ] Yrs.
Address
Phone Fax
Previous Employer [ ]
Yrs.
Professional Advisors
Name Phone Address Email Fax
Lawyer
Accountant
Tax Preparer
Power /A)orney

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

And this brings us to the final category- debt. We all go into debt at some point in our lives for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s from the purchase a house, unforeseen emergencies or simple over spending, credit and debt has become an unfortunate commonality in our world today. Some may go as far as saying it has become a necessity for most people. No matter how you look at it, it would be irresponsible not to address it as a major concern in your budgeting.

This section is not going to go into the pros and cons of credit and debt, that’s coming up later. For the time being we will simply be outlining a list of the different types of credit and debt most people will likely have to handle in their budget. The following table separates them into 2 categories – Fixed Debt Payments and Variable Debt Payments.

As you can see, for the purposes of establishing a budget, fixed debt payments are pretty straight forward and simple to recognize. Any debts for which you make regular payments on that are the same amount each month, would fall into this category.

As mentioned earlier, you will be taking a more in depth look at your debts and determining if there may be opportunities for improvement. For now, the purpose of this table is simply to get all your payments listed for your budget.

Now that we have completed listing all sources of income and expenses, we have a much better idea of what your financial situation looks like. Our next step is going to be putting all these numbers into a budget based on your current situation. Once we have completed that process, the discussion will move towards learning how to find new solutions based on a greater understanding about what cash management is.

As important as this process has been so to this point, it’s not going to be what really help you. The only accomplishment so far has been writing down your numbers and getting an organized list together. The fundamental principles of cash management haven’t begun to be applied yet. When you get to that stage in the process, you will begin to make some changes in your finances and in your decisions. More importantly you will come out with a new view how to handle your money and how to avoid the traps and pitfalls that surround you.

Usually immediately following the previous task of itemizing debts, people tend to get a little down and discouraged. Do not let this happen to you. There are reasons beyond your control that have ensured you would be in debt at this stage in life. We have an education system, in both Canada and the United States, that has completely failed at educated its citizens on personal finance and money. The average consumer is also pinned up against thousands of companies who are cleverly enticing you to believe you need to separate yourself with your hard earned money in exchange for their latest and greatest gizmo.

So the reality is, it’s not your fault. That doesn’t excuse from taking responsibility to end the pattern of going further into debt and get out of debt completely. It does, however allow you to not beat yourself up over it.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

Everyone has an opinion about what is wrong with the publishing business model. A number of potential solutions have been proposed. However, most require a significant cut in content-creation costs, especially in the case of investigative journalism. Yet, everyone values the journalistic dirt digging and fact-checking that keep business leaders, governments, and all types of organizations in check.

Music bands do it. Independent filmmakers do it. In fact, the current President has made an art form out of it. The question, however, is whether crowd funding will work on a larger scale in order to help finance traditional journalism, which is facing a decline in both ad revenue and in readership due to the recent economic recession.

Fundamentally, crowd-funding campaigns to support journalism work by allowing members of the general public to provide tips and suggestions for stories. Once a journalist accepts someone’s suggestion, a pitch is created. This is then funded by interested parties, in a disjointed fashion. Once the story is written, it is then published or sold to a conventional media outlet.

As far as whether crowd funding is the future of journalism, it certainly may play a part. It shows promise of working predominantly well for special-interest groups and crusaders, who rally support to finance stories that are in their best interests.

THE LIMITATIONS OF COMMUNITY-FUNDED JOURNALISM

Crowd funding is not necessarily a silver bullet that can support an entire news organization. However, it does show promise of aiding a news organization, allowing them to go beyond their usual means. Through crowd funding, a news organization can strive for excellence; however, it will not support daily reporting.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

Your ability to get to where you want to be, to live a life of purpose is in direct proportion to your ability to exercise mind control. The ideas and activities in this report help your mind lock in the purpose you are heading to. It helps you to place your goals inside your subconscious, and then the process becomes a lot easier.

The ability to harness your mind and control your thought processes is one that successful people through the ages have used. It’s the common denominator of all successful people whether they are business owners or world class athletes. Research in the ability to drive past our own concept of limiting belief has shown that if we get the mind on track, the rest will follow.

One study by Australian psychologist Allen Richardson showed that when basketball players were asked to not practice but to just mentally rehearse a successful shooting practice for twenty minutes a day they were as successful as the control group who had actually physically practiced their shooting every day for twenty minutes.

Other research has shown creative visualization and other mind control techniques such as using mantras and positive thinking have been able to being healing to the body, pushing back the effects of even terminal illnesses such as cancer. These patients still would use medicine but found the image of them coming out as victorious in their battle with the illness proved to be a turning point in their victory.

Many people believe that when we being to take control of our own minds and focus on our goals we affect the environment we live in. Exciting things being to happen with doors that seemed so heavily wedged shut opening, or new opportunities springing out of nowhere. These are situations that begin to work in your favour once you get your focus right.

Research from both Princeton and Stanford universities showed there was evidence that people can influence other’s thoughts using creative visualization. Though this has only shown to work with the effects of random statistical experimentation such as effecting random number generation and the rolling of dice to a particular number, it does indicate there is a scientific basis in the belief that you can alter the course around you by your thoughts.

While there is no proven research, the plethora of anecdotal evidence does show that your thoughts affect your outcome. Even at the very worst, a more positive attitude is likely to help you become more open to opportunity and be more on the look out for new ideas and opening doors.

Turn your life into the life you want by discovering the purpose you were born to live and then change the way you think of yourself living that life to get there. Remember the place you are now is the place you got to by the thoughts you’ve already had- even if it was not a conscious decision.

Start to take your future place in this world into both your conscious and subconscious mind, learning to turn around and more ahead to reach your purpose. It won’t take long to enjoy the fruits of your endeavors.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

To make sure the recipe is going to work you need to get things ready. It's like making sure the oven is switched on, the mixing bowl is on the bench and all the muffin tins are ready for the batter. Without this the recipe is not going to work.

Remember how our body is a set of delicate energy systems. To set up our meridians to get them ready for EFT, we need to make sure we are ready for the process.

We can prevent it working by powering up our energy flow the wrong way. If you've ever gone to find a torch, and discovered the batteries are flat, put new ones in and discovered it's still not working then you may have discovered the problem of powering up electrical circuits wrong.

The torch is probably not working because you've slipped the new batteries in the wrong way, and the polarity of + or – is off. Sometimes our polarity is off too. It doesn't mean that we won't work completely but it does mean that we can't fully work to our best capacity.

It's one reason why sometimes conventional medicine doesn't work even when it is supposed to. Losing weight, struggling with addictions all come from this polarity switch. It's the basis for any self sabotage or ruining of plans and preparation. It wars against our will and makes change difficult if at all.

It's caused by a wide and diverse range of negative self talk that wears the body down and destructs our ability to function at full's capacity. It tends to hinder EFT's effectiveness in about two in every five cases. It doesn't necessarily create feelings along with it so many people are not aware it is even present.