Monday, May 12, 2008

CAUTION: Dangerous secret in the colored straws Posted Feb 16, 2008 by Hannie

Horrible story of mine goes back to year 2005 March.

I ordered a Club Sandwich and a Sprite in a restaurant somewhere in Manila

When I finished half of the sandwich I sipped a sprite.

But it didn¡¯t taste like an ordinary sprite I used to drink.

So I sipped once more, but it still tasted the same.

It tasted like a sprite mixed with some kind of oil.

I called the clerk and asked him if the sprite was expired. He said it was just delivered today. So
I asked him to taste it. Then he also found that something was wrong with it..

Both of us were wondering for a while. Then I got to look inside the straw.

There were a lot of tiny black round things that looked like eggs.

So I cut the middle of the straw lengthwise to have a better look.

Yuck. There were a lot of tiny black round things in it.

I suppose they were eggs of cockroach. About 1000 eggs were there.

Then I began to check all the other straws in the straws case one by one.

Almost all of them contained black eggs that seemed to be either the cockroach eggs or excretions.

After the incident I began to check all the straws in the restaurants and fast food chains that I had gone to.

Almost of all the straws contained the same black eggs.

Especially the darker the colors of straws, the more black eggs were found.

In black straws, extreme amount of black eggs were found.

It was found out that it¡¯s because the cockroaches live (hatch eggs and excrete) in the dark places.



Stores
Straws
Amount of germs and cockroach excretion/eggs found

Jolli***
RED straws
88.89%

Chowk***
RED straws
Almost the same as above
Local Restaurants
BLACK straws
225% above

McD******
WHITE straws
0.5%

Starbu***
Straws covered
with white wrappers

0%* 80% or more restaurants in the malls use red or black colored straws

WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS HACKERS

Black Hat Crackers

The Internet abounds with hackers, known as crackers or "black hats," who work to exploit computer systems. They are the ones you've seen on the news being hauled away for cybercrimes. Some of them do it for fun and curiosity, while others are looking for personal gain. In this section we profile five of the most famous and interesting "black hat" hackers.

1. Jonathan James: James gained notoriety when he became the first juvenile to be sent to prison for hacking. He was sentenced at 16 years old. In an anonymous PBS interview, he professes, "I was just looking around, playing around. What was fun for me was a challenge to see what I could pull off."

James' major intrusions targeted high-profile organizations. He installed a backdoor into a Defense Threat Reduction Agency server. The DTRA is an agency of the Department of Defense charged with reducing the threat to the U.S. and its allies from nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional and special weapons. The backdoor he created enabled him to view sensitive e-mails and capture employee usernames and passwords.

James also cracked into NASA computers, stealing software worth approximately $1.7 million. According to the Department of Justice, "The software supported the International Space Station's physical environment, including control of the temperature and humidity within the living space." NASA was forced to shut down its computer systems, ultimately racking up a $41,000 cost. James explained that he downloaded the code to supplement his studies on C programming, but contended, "The code itself was crappy . . .certainly not worth $1.7 million like they claimed."
Given the extent of his intrusions, if James, also known as "c0mrade," had been an adult he likely would have served at least ten years. Instead, he was banned from recreational computer use and was slated to serve a six-month sentence under house arrest with probation. However, he served six months in prison for violation of parole. Today, James asserts that he's learned his lesson and might start a computer security company.

2. Adrian Lamo: Lamo's claim to fame is his break-ins at major organizations like The New York Times and Microsoft. Dubbed the "homeless hacker," he used Internet connections at Kinko's, coffee shops and libraries to do his intrusions. In a profile article, "He Hacks by Day, Squats by Night," Lamo reflects, "I have a laptop in Pittsburgh, a change of clothes in D.C. It kind of redefines the term multi-jurisdictional."

Lamo's intrusions consisted mainly of penetration testing, in which he found flaws in security, exploited them and then informed companies of their shortcomings. His hits include Yahoo!, Bank of America, Citigroup and Cingular. When white hat hackers are hired by companies to do penetration testing, it's legal. What Lamo did is not.

When he broke into The New York Times' intranet, things got serious. He added himself to a list of experts and viewed personal information on contributors, including Social Security numbers. Lamo also hacked into The Times' LexisNexis account to research high-profile subject matter.
For his intrusion at The New York Times, Lamo was ordered to pay approximately $65,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation, which expired January 16, 2007. Lamo is currently working as an award-winning journalist and public speaker.

3. Kevin Mitnick: A self-proclaimed "hacker poster boy," Mitnick went through a highly publicized pursuit by authorities. His mischief was hyped by the media but his actual offenses may be less notable than his notoriety suggests. The Department of Justice describes him as "the most wanted computer criminal in United States history." His exploits were detailed in two movies: Freedom Downtime and Takedown.

Mitnick had a bit of hacking experience before committing the offenses that made him famous. He started out exploiting the Los Angeles bus punch card system to get free rides. Then, like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, dabbled in phone phreaking. Although there were numerous offenses, Mitnick was ultimately convicted for breaking into the Digital Equipment Corporation's computer network and stealing software.

Mitnick's mischief got serious when he went on a two and a half year "coast-to-coast hacking spree." The CNN article, "Legendary computer hacker released from prison," explains that "he hacked into computers, stole corporate secrets, scrambled phone networks and broke into the national defense warning system." He then hacked into computer expert and fellow hacker Tsutomu Shimomura's home computer, which led to his undoing.

Today, Mitnick has been able to move past his role as a black hat hacker and become a productive member of society. He served five years, about 8 months of it in solitary confinement, and is now a computer security consultant, author and speaker.

4. Kevin Poulsen: Also known as Dark Dante, Poulsen gained recognition for his hack of LA radio's KIIS-FM phone lines, which earned him a brand new Porsche, among other items. Law enforcement dubbed him "the Hannibal Lecter of computer crime."

Authorities began to pursue Poulsen after he hacked into a federal investigation database. During this pursuit, he further drew the ire of the FBI by hacking into federal computers for wiretap information.

His hacking specialty, however, revolved around telephones. Poulsen's most famous hack, KIIS-FM, was accomplished by taking over all of the station's phone lines. In a related feat, Poulsen also "reactivated old Yellow Page escort telephone numbers for an acquaintance who then ran a virtual escort agency." Later, when his photo came up on the show Unsolved Mysteries, 1-800 phone lines for the program crashed. Ultimately, Poulsen was captured in a supermarket and served a sentence of five years.

Since serving time, Poulsen has worked as a journalist. He is now a senior editor for Wired News. His most prominent article details his work on identifying 744 sex offenders with MySpace profiles.

5. Robert Tappan Morris: Morris, son of former National Security Agency scientist Robert Morris, is known as the creator of the Morris Worm, the first computer worm to be unleashed on the Internet. As a result of this crime, he was the first person prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Morris wrote the code for the worm while he was a student at Cornell. He asserts that he intended to use it to see how large the Internet was. The worm, however, replicated itself excessively, slowing computers down so that they were no longer usable. It is not possible to know exactly how many computers were affected, but experts estimate an impact of 6,000 machines. He was sentenced to three years' probation, 400 hours of community service and a fined $10,500.

Morris is currently working as a tenured professor at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He principally researches computer network architectures including distributed hash tables such as Chord and wireless mesh networks such as Roofnet.

White Hat Hackers

Hackers that use their skills for good are classified as "white hat." These white hats often work as certified "Ethical Hackers," hired by companies to test the integrity of their systems. Others, operate without company permission by bending but not breaking laws and in the process have created some really cool stuff. In this section we profile five white hat hackers and the technologies they have developed.

1. Stephen Wozniak: "Woz" is famous for being the "other Steve" of Apple. Wozniak, along with current Apple CEO Steve Jobs, co-founded Apple Computer. He has been awarded with the National Medal of Technology as well as honorary doctorates from Kettering University and Nova Southeastern University. Additionally, Woz was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in September 2000.

Woz got his start in hacking making blue boxes, devices that bypass telephone-switching mechanisms to make free long-distance calls. After reading an article about phone phreaking in Esquire, Wozniak called up his buddy Jobs. The pair did research on frequencies, then built and sold blue boxes to their classmates in college. Wozniak even used a blue box to call the Pope while pretending to be Henry Kissinger.

Wozniak dropped out of college and came up with the computer that eventually made him famous. Jobs had the bright idea to sell the computer as a fully assembled PC board. The Steves sold Wozniak's cherished scientific calculator and Jobs' VW van for capital and got to work assembling prototypes in Jobs' garage. Wozniak designed the hardware and most of the software. In the Letters section of Woz.org, he recalls doing "what Ed Roberts and Bill Gates and Paul Allen did and tons more, with no help." Wozniak and Jobs sold the first 100 of the Apple I to a local dealer for $666.66 each.

Woz no longer works full time for Apple, focusing primarily on philanthropy instead. Most notable is his function as fairy godfather to the Los Gatos School District. "Wozniak 'adopted' the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment."

2. Tim Berners-Lee: Berners-Lee is famed as the inventor of the World Wide Web, the system that we use to access sites, documents and files on the Internet. He has received numerous recognitions, most notably the Millennium Technology Prize.

While a student at Oxford University, Berners-Lee was caught hacking access with a friend and subsequently banned from University computers. w3.org reports, "Whilst [at Oxford], he built his first computer with a soldering iron, TTL gates, an M6800 processor and an old television." Technological innovation seems to have run in his genes, as Berners-Lee's parents were mathematicians who worked on the Manchester Mark1, one of the earliest electronic computers.

While working with CERN, a European nuclear research organization, Berners-Lee created a hypertext prototype system that helped researchers share and update information easily. He later realized that hypertext could be joined with the Internet. Berners-Lee recounts how he put them together: "I just had to take the hypertext idea and connect it to the TCP and DNS ideas and – ta-da! – the World Wide Web."

Since his creation of the World Wide Web, Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT. The W3C describes itself as "an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff and the public work together to develop Web standards." Berners-Lee's World Wide Web idea, as well as standards from the W3C, is distributed freely with no patent or royalties due.

3. Linus Torvalds: Torvalds fathered Linux, the very popular Unix-based operating system. He calls himself "an engineer," and has said that his aspirations are simple, "I just want to have fun making the best damn operating system I can."

Torvalds got his start in computers with a Commodore VIC-20, an 8-bit home computer. He then moved on to a Sinclair QL. Wikipedia reports that he modified the Sinclair "extensively, especially its operating system." Specifically, Torvalds hacks included "an assembler and a text editor…as well as a few games."

Torvalds created the Linux kernel in 1991, using the Minix operating system as inspiration. He started with a task switcher in Intel 80386 assembly and a terminal driver. After that, he put out a call for others to contribute code, which they did. Currently, only about 2 percent of the current Linux kernel is written by Torvalds himself. The success of this public invitation to contribute code for Linux is touted as one of the most prominent examples of free/open source software.

Currently, Torvalds serves as the Linux ringleader, coordinating the code that volunteer programmers contribute to the kernel. He has had an asteroid named after him and received honorary doctorates from Stockholm University and University of Helsinki. He was also featured in Time Magazine's "60 Years of Heroes."

4. Richard Stallman: Stallman's fame derives from the GNU Project, which he founded to develop a free operating system. For this, he's known as the father of free software. His "Serious Bio" asserts, "Non-free software keeps users divided and helpless, forbidden to share it and unable to change it. A free operating system is essential for people to be able to use computers in freedom."

Stallman, who prefers to be called rms, got his start hacking at MIT. He worked as a "staff hacker" on the Emacs project and others. He was a critic of restricted computer access in the lab. When a password system was installed, Stallman broke it down, resetting passwords to null strings, then sent users messages informing them of the removal of the password system.

Stallman's crusade for free software started with a printer. At the MIT lab, he and other hackers were allowed to modify code on printers so that they sent convenient alert messages. However, a new printer came along – one that they were not allowed to modify. It was located away from the lab and the absence of the alerts presented an inconvenience. It was at this point that he was "convinced…of the ethical need to require free software."

With this inspiration, he began work on GNU. Stallman wrote an essay, "The GNU Project," in which he recalls choosing to work on an operating system because it's a foundation, "the crucial software to use a computer." At this time, the GNU/Linux version of the operating system uses the Linux kernel started by Torvalds. GNU is distributed under "copyleft," a method that employs copyright law to allow users to use, modify, copy and distribute the software.

Stallman's life continues to revolve around the promotion of free software. He works against movements like Digital Rights Management (or as he prefers, Digital Restrictions Management) through organizations like Free Software Foundation and League for Programming Freedom. He has received extensive recognition for his work, including awards, fellowships and four honorary doctorates.

5. Tsutomu Shimomura: Shimomura reached fame in an unfortunate manner: he was hacked by Kevin Mitnick. Following this personal attack, he made it his cause to help the FBI capture him.

Shimomura's work to catch Mitnick is commendable, but he is not without his own dark side. Author Bruce Sterling recalls: "He pulls out this AT&T cellphone, pulls it out of the shrinkwrap, finger-hacks it, and starts monitoring phone calls going up and down Capitol Hill while an FBI agent is standing at his shoulder, listening to him."

Shimomura out-hacked Mitnick to bring him down. Shortly after finding out about the intrusion, he rallied a team and got to work finding Mitnick. Using Mitnick's cell phone, they tracked him near Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The article, "SDSC Computer Experts Help FBI Capture Computer Terrorist" recounts how Shimomura pinpointed Mitnick's location. Armed with a technician from the phone company, Shimomura "used a cellular frequency direction-finding antenna hooked up to a laptop to narrow the search to an apartment complex." Mitnick was arrested shortly thereafter. Following the pursuit, Shimomura wrote a book about the incident with journalist John Markoff, which was later turned into a movie.

[What IS True Love]

A girl asked a guy if he thought she was pretty,
He said...no. She asked him if he would want to be with her forever...and he said no.
She then asked him if she were to leave would he cry,
and once again he replied with a no.
She had heard enough. As she walked away,
tears streaming down her face the boy grabbed her arm and said... You're not pretty you're beautiful.
I don't want to be with you forever,
I NEED to be! with you forever. And I wouldn't cry if you walked away...I'd die...

SO NOW I WILL SAY:

I like you because of who you are to me..
.A true friend. And if I don't get this back I'll take the hint.
Tonight at midnight your true love will realize they like you. Something good will happen to you1:00-4:00 PM tomorrow.
It could be anywhere -- AOL, Yahoo, outside of school, anywhere. Get ready for the biggest shock of your life.

Remember:

"A good friend will come bail you out of jail.... But a true friend will be sitting next to you saying WE screwed up! "

Proud to be your Friend!

Make sure you read all the way down to the last sentence, and don't skip ahead.
I've learned...that life is like a roll of toilet paper.
The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes. I've learned...that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
I've learned...that money doesn't buy class.
I've learned...that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
I've learned...that under every! one's hard shell is
someone who wants to be appreciated and loved. I've learned...that the Lord didn't do it all in one day.
What makes me think I can? I've learned...that to ignore the facts does not change the facts.

I've learned.

I've learned...that the less time I have to work, the more things I get done. To all of you...make sure you read all the way down to the last sentence.

Show your friends how much you care.

jokes 6

Leader: Pare balita ko bading ka daw, totoo ba?!
Ambo: Pare, Mga chismax lang yun galing sa mga chuvanes na walang magawa sa mga chenilyn nila... chura nila! hmpf!

Juan: San ka galing?
Pedro: sementeryo, libing ng byenan ko.
Juan: E bakit puro kamot ang mukha at braso mo?
Pedro: Mahirap ilibing eh... Lumalaban!!

Maid: Sir sinong mas yummy? si mam ba o ako?
Sir: Syempre naman ikaw day! bakit?
Maid: Naguguluhan lang po kasi ako eh... sabi kasi ng driver, eh mas yummy daw talaga si mam!

A Husband came home 4AM and saw his wife in bed with another man
His wife shouted at him, "Where have you been?"
Husband: "Who is that man?!?"
Wife: "Grabe ka! Dont change the topic!!"

Holdaper: re-reypin ko lahat ng babae dito!
Prosti: ako na lang po, maawa kayo sa iba..
Lola: Whoaa! Epal! Sinabi na ngang LAHAT eh! sasagot pa!

Mister: Di ko na kaya problema ko!
Misis: Hon, problema natin ito, tayo ang magkasama sa buhay, lahat ng problema mo problema ko... ano problema natin?
Mister: nabuntis natin si Inday, tayo ang ama!

Pedro: Pare bakit malungkot ka?
Juan: Asawa ko nag hire ng driver, Gwapo, Bata, Macho!
Pedro: Nagseselos ka?
Juan: Nagtataka lang ako kasi wala kaming sasakyan

Bakla at Macho nagkasabay sa CR...
Bakla: Ang laki naman nyan sayo...
Macho: Wala na tong silbi kasi iniwan na ako ng GF ko... puputulin ko na lang at ipapakain sa aso! Bakla: aw! aw! aw!

MADRE: Ano ang apelyido mo, iho?
SAKRISTAN: Alam nyo na ho yun sister, lagi nyo po yun hinahawakan.
MADRE: Susme! Bayag ang apelyido mo?!
SAKRISTAN: Sister naman, Rosario po.

PUPIL: Mam, bumubukol po ba ang utot?
TEACHER: No! Definitely not! Kasi hangin lang yun! Remember class, hindi
bumubukol ang utot...
PUPIL: Naku patay! Tae na to!

Mag-asawa having sex...
HUSBAND: Honey, mag dirty talk ka naman para ganahan ako!
WIFE: Ahhh...Shit! Basuraaa... Kanal... Taeee... Oooh... Patay na dagaaaa!

PARROT: Psst! Baho! Baho! Baho!
IKAW: Pag sinabi mo pa uli sa kin yan, papatayin kita!
> >D next day...
PARROT: Psst! Psst!
IKAW: O, Bakit?!
PARROT: Lam mo na yun!

Girl 1 : Halata na tiyan mo, bakit di pa kayo magpakasal ng BF mo?
Girl 2 : Ayaw ng pamilya niya eh !
Girl 1 : Sino may ayaw, tatay o nanay niya ?
Girl 2 : yung misis niya !

Amo: 'Day, gamitin mo ang chalk na ito para mamatay ang ipis. Ilagay mo sa pader.
Maid : Opo, ati.
Next day ...... Nagulat ang amo, nakasulat sa pader...
"Epes mamatay kayong lahat!"

Doctor: Lolo, I need your urine, stool and semen sample.
Lolo: Ano daw??
Lola: Ibigay mo nalang ang brief mo, andun na lahat yun.

GF: I'm warning you!!! Parating na daddy ko in one Hour!
BF: Wala naman akong ginagawang masama ah?
GF: Kaya nga!!! Kung may balak ka...Gawin mo na!!!

Friend: Wow Pare...ganda ng sapatos mo ah.
Husband: Oo...Surprise gift ng Kumare mo yan.
Friend: Surprise??? Bakit...Ano okasyon?
Husband: Wala...Nakita ko na lang sa ilalim ng kama namin yan kagabi.

Pasahe Sa Isang Jeep
Pasahero: Mama, Magkano Po Yung Pasahe?
Driver: 7.50 Yung Minimum
Pasahero: (Dumukot Ito Sa Bulsa Para Kunin Yung Pera Niya, Ngunit sa Di Sinasadyang Dahilan Kulang Yung Pamasahe Niya.) Patay, Kulang Yung Pera Ko. Paano Kaya Ito? (Nag Isip Ito At Lumingon Sa Driver. Napansin Niya Na Duling Ito. Sabi Niya Sa Kanyang Sarili, Tama Duling Yung Driver Sigurado Pag Nagbigay Ako Ng 3.75 di Niya Mapapansin Na Kulang Yung Pera Ko. Kasi Doble Yung Paningin Nito. Inabot Niya Sa Driver Yung Pera.
Ngunit Laking Gulat Niya Nung May Sinabi Yung Driver Sa Kanya.
Driver: Kulang Ito!
Pasahero: Anong Kulang? Di Ba Sabi Mo 7.50 Yung Minimum?
Driver: Oo Nga 7.50 eh Dalawa Kaya Kayo.

LOLO: Apo, buhatin mo nga ako
APO: Bket po LoLo? San ko po kau dadalhin sa CR po ba ?
LOLO: Hindi! ipatong mo'ko sa LOLA mo ...

HOSPITAL DIRECTOR: MAY REKLAMO KB SA DOKTOR NMIN ?
BABAE: OPO. BIGLA KCNG PINASOK ANG DALIRI NIA SA ARI KO E !
DIRECTOR: TLAGANG GANUN PAG EXAMINE.
BABAE: DBA DAPAT DILAAN MUNA ?

Mam: Inday, ipaghanda mo si Sir mo ng paborito niyang pagkain.
Inday: Mam, naghugas na po ako !!!

Caloi : Tay, bakit yung "bird" ng classmate ko parang champoy . . ?!?!
Tatay : Hahahaha, bakit, maliit ba?
Caloi : Hindi tay eh . . . maalat eh !!!

Atty : OK lang ba? Medyo maliit lang itong sa akin eh
GRO : Sus ginoo Sir, marami na akong nakitang ganyan kaliit !!!
Atty : Talaga ?!?!
GRO : Oo Sir !!! Yaya kasi ako dati eh !!!

HARI: ano gusto mong parusa sa kasalanan mo? ipakain sa leOn O pasukan ng bubuyog sa pwet?
PEDRO: mas gugustuhin ko pang pasukan ng bubuyog sa pwet !
HARI: mga kawal, ilabas c JOLLIBEE !

A guy stops to visit his friend, who is paralyzed from the waist down. His friend says, “My feet are cold. Would you get my sneakers for me?”
The guy goes upstairs, and there are his friend’s two gorgeous daughters. He says, “Hi, girls. Your dad sent me up here to have sex with you.”
The first daughter says, “That’s not true.”
He says, “I’ll prove it.”
He yells down the stairs, “Both of them?”
His friend yells back, “Of course, both of them.”

NUN: mother! I was raped. What shall I do?
Mother SUPERIOR: here, take this calamansi.
NUN: will this ease the pain?
Mother SUPERIOR: sipsipin mo! Nang mawala ngiti sa mukha mo, g**a!

GF: magaling! At sino tong baby na nagtext sayo?
BF: ah eh kumpare ko yun! Lalake yun! Baby lang palayaw.
GF: oh eto replyan mo. Hindi daw kayo tuloy at may mens daw ang t**an*ad*!

PATIENT : Doc, ayos yung wonder drug na nireseta mo ah!! Nakaka apat na round na ako sa sex ngayon !!!
DOCTOR : Ano naman ang sabi ng Mrs. mo?
PATIENT : Wala pa !!! Hindi pa ako umuuwi eh !!!

GIRL:mag-69 tayo dear !
BOY:pano yun?
GIRL:ganito lang...
(pmwesto n cla at bglang nautot ang girl ng 4 times):
BOY:ayoko na!DI KO N KYA UNG NATITIRANG 65

Two nurses on duty...
Nurse 1: Hoy! Gaga, bakit may thermometer sa tenga mo!
Nurse 2: Ha? susmaryosep! kaninong pwet ko kaya naiwan yung ballpen ko!!

butterfly

According to an American Indian Legend,
if anyone desires a wish to come true
they must first capture a butterfly
and whisper that wish to it.
Since a butterfly can make no sound,
the butterfly can not reveal
the wish to anyone but the
Great Spirit who hears and sees all.
In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom,
the Great Spirit always grants the wish.
So, according to legend, by making a wish
and giving the butterfly its freedom,
the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted

What bird are you?

21 Jan - 17 Feb
Robin
A cool exterior disguises a fiery temper and is very opinionated - although those opinions are not always shared by everyone. They are proud and particularly home-loving, although have a tendency to be quarrelsome.

18 Feb - 17 March
Goldfinch
Goldfinch people are colorful characters who are sensitive and always alert. They are gregarious by nature and love being in groups of people, which offers them security. They need to find an outlet for their imaginative abilities or they are sometimes be in danger of becoming nervous and irritable.

18 March - 14 April
Hawk
A powerful individual which displays courage and a sometimes ruthless determination. Avoids problematical obstacles with skill, although must be fully targeted so as not to waste energy in fruitless chases for the impossible.

15 April - 12 May
Albatross
Has a tendency to have a mind that wanders, but when in search of a particular goal, will travel great lengths to achieve it. Occasionally, the albatross may become caught up in things it shouldn't when not seeing clearly enough.

13 May - 9 June
Dove
Peace-loving by nature, doves will bill and coo about things close to their heart. They enjoy a fulfilling love-life and rarely fail to satisfy. They are also patient, adaptable and personable. Their lack of aggression sometimes makes them the victim of more predatory characters.

10 June- 7 July
Eagle
A well-respected figure which has excellent visionary qualities. Eagles will truck no nonsense and will fix opponents with a powerful stare. They have the power to rise above the trivial aspects of humanity, and are highly tal e nted.

8 July- 4 August
Nightingale
More often heard before being seen, nightingales always have something to say for themselves. They are however very much in tune with their partners. Their unimpressive exterior hides a personality that is just waiting to burst out.

5 August - 1 Sept
Kingfisher
Another flamboyant and colorful character that is always exciting to encounter. They rush around at great speed and have a close spiritual affinity with water. They have a sharp and perceptive head on them, but can make them impetuous enough to dive in where others would fear to go.

2 Sept - 29 Sept
Swan
The swan is a complex character. While appearing on the surface as a calm and relaxed individual, underneath they are working hard to keep up with the pace of modern life. If provoked their natural graceful demeanor can give way to a violent temper which puts them in a flap. They are definitely someone to have on your side.

30 Sept - 27 Oct
Woodpecker
A tough, hard-working character with plenty of stamina. Has no problem drumming up support for their ideas, no matter how wacky they seem. With a lateral-thinking mind they are skilled at dissecting problems and seeing the wood for the trees. However, with their noisy and exuberant lifestyle, you might not want to have one as a neighbor.

28 Oct - 24 Nov
Kestrel
A sharp brain helps kestrel people hover from one subject to another without losing concentration. They focus on their life's goal with a single-minded focus, not flustered by what is going on around them. A confidence in their own ability helps them to soar to heights others may only dream of.

25 Nov - 23 Dec
Raven
Always impressive, raven people are a tower of strength. They are more intelligent than their peers and are adept problem-solvers. They enjoy challenges are stimulated by wild and exposed places.

24 Dec - 20 Jan
Heron
Heron people are deceptive. Although they may be solitary individuals for much of the time, they nevertheless have a need to settle in busy communities where they know everyone else. They may get bogged down as they wade the course of life, but have broad enough shoulders to cope with weighty issues. But their insecure nature often leads them to fish for compliments...
[amazing what your students could make you read]