Archive for October 30th, 2007

Acne Rosacea - The Whole Truth

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

Acne rosacea is characterized by a red rash-like appearance on the face that never goes away. It is accompanied by acne-like bumps or rashes. A normal acne treatment usually won’t affect it because it is much different than normal acne. It is most common in white women but it can happen to other people as well.

The unproven cause of acne rosacea is inflammation. A few doctors believe that an increase in the blood flow through the small blood vessels that produce the redness causes it. It has also been discussed that acne rosacea could be caused by lifestyle factors such as diet, heavy drinking, or abstinence of the intake of certain liquids (such as tea or coffee)that promote flushing. Spicy foods have been said to possibly cause inflammation and flare-ups. Because of such an unsure stream of causes, there is no cure for acne rosacea yet. The good news is that there are ways to control the signs that you have it.

Acne rosacea can be detrimental to the sufferers ego and self-confidence. Women may wear excessive make up and men hide in shame with no way to cover it up. It can disrupt the action of daily life. They may miss work or school constantly and their performance will suffer even though it is only an appearance insecurity. Many people with rosacea are prescribed an anti-depressant to try to help them cope with their unhappiness connected with acne rosacea. It is important to keep in mind that it is a common problem and it probably appears to be much worse than it looks to other people. You don’t have to hide because of it because there are ways to reduce the appearance of it and put your best face forward.

A visit to the dermatologist can provide you with options to help your problem with acne rosacea. Oral antibiotics work from the inside out to reduce the appearance of redness. Using something like this should keep flare-ups under control as long as there is continued usage. Remember that it will not cure acne rosacea but it will improve the visibility. AcnEase is a mild treatment medicine that most doctors recommend. It is an oral antibiotic that is accompanied with a topical gel that will also aid with keeping the symptoms under control.

Even though rosacea can be different from patient to patient, there are also over-the-counter remedies that have worked for some people. Cetaphil is available as a mild cleanser that is often recommended by dermatologists. It does not contain any alkaline and it is non drying to your skin. It is available as a soap bar or an antibacterial bar for sensitive skin. Another common medication for rosacea symptoms is Rosacure. It is an anti-redness cream designed specifically for those with rosacea. Rosacure is safe and a non-irritant because it is hypo-allergenic. The results do not show up immediately after usage but continual use twice a day for 4-6 weeks has been shown to reduce visible redness of the face.

John Wellington is from AcneHelpZone.com which provides people who are suffering from acne with quick, relevant and free acne resources that they can download and take away with them for easy reference.

6 Signs You’re A High Maintenance Parent

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

The children of Baby Boomers, the Echo Generation, are entering college in increasing numbers. Getting into the best schools is increasingly competitive. Having good grades, a great SAT score and participating in extracurricular activities is no assurance that your student will get into the school of their choice.

Because of that phenomenon, parents are taking a much more active role in their children’s college admission process. But for some parents, participation in their child’s college search has led to a troubling development that college admissions officers are seeing more frequently.

It is the High Maintenance Parent (HMP). And college admissions officers are reporting it more and more. If you answer yes to any of these six questions, you may be a High Maintenance Parent.

1. Does your child barely know what’s on their college application but you can quote every word in their personal essay (because you wrote it)?

Students who don’t take an active role in their college planning and admission process tend not to be successful in college. Students need to take ownership of the process because it’s their future on the line. It’s time to cut the umbilical cord and let little Johnny fail or succeed. In the end it’s a disservice to your child if you do the work for him.

2. Is the admissions officer at the school of your choice on your speed dial and recognizes your voice or phone number when you call?

You want your child to be memorable, not you. Don’t be a pest. It can count against your child.

3. Are you asking (or telling) your child to apply to schools that they are not interested in just so YOU can brag that they got into Harvard, Stanford, etc?

It’s hard enough for your child to do everything necessary to apply to college without the added stress of completing applications for schools they don’t want to go to. This is not the time to relive your past or try to out-Jones the Joneses’.

4. Is your “back-up” strategy for financial aid to tell the financial aid officer that your child is so smart, talented, etc that they should pay you to LET your child attend XYZ University?

By knowing your expected family contribution before applying, you save yourself from the potential surprise of getting an award letter with less aid then you were expecting. And make sure you research the college’s financial aid policy to know if you have a circumstance that would cause the school to revisit your award letter.

5. Have you talked to your attorney about suing your child’s high school because she did not get the special attention she needed in high school, and thus, will not be able to attend the university of her choice?

Be an active parent throughout your child’s education, don’t start in her senior year as she applies to colleges. The reality is, at that point it’s too late. If she needs special attention in high school make sure she gets it.

6. Have you asked the guidance counselor at the high school to purge evidence of cheating, truancy or other discipline problems from your child’s record in order to increase their chance of getting into the college of their choice? If so, you are DEFINITELY a High Maintenance Parent!

You put your child and all other students applying from that high school at risk by asking guidance counselors to lie by omission. If admissions personnel find that student records are being sanitized, they can refuse to admit anyone from a particular high school.

College admissions is a competitive process with each party looking to get the best result. Admissions officers are responsible for admitting a diverse student body. They want students that will reflect the values of the institution and who will be a positive contribution to the student body. Now, while they are still in your house, is the time to impart those values and position your child to be an asset to the student body.

Balanced against the school’s needs is the student’s desire to be admitted. The best way for you to help your child is by being an advocate and mentor, but realize, ultimately the decision and experience of college will be up to your child.

Copyright © 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Felicia Caldwell Gopaul, CFP, CCPS specializes in late-stage college funding planning utilizing unique tax, financial and academic strategies that can dramatically lower college costs and still enable parents to save for retirement and other financial priorities.

If you are confused or overwhelmed by the college planning process and want more information on how to get started, call (201) 453-9875 or visit www.CollegeFundingResource.com

Introduction to 30 Days of Incredible Awareness

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

“The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” Albert Einstein

We allow our thinking to get in the way. For most of our dreams and goals, it is our self-limiting belief that can be our greatest obstacle to overcome. If we could get out of our own way, our satisfaction in life could certainly be greater than how we see it at this moment.

It’s not a simple thing to do, to just step aside and let our strengths and gifts, natural abilities and uniqueness shine through. It is easy to say that learning to love oneself is necessary in order to fully accept the love of another, or to truly understand how to love another. It’s a harder thing to do. I know.

It doesn’t have to be difficult. It starts with a decision, a conscious choice to expand our own awareness and challenge the way we think, see, feel, believe and ultimately behave.

Actually, that’s not that new of a concept either. In fact, professionals in the fields of psychology, counselling and coaching for example, have been working with clients on that very thing for decades. So why don’t we get it?

There are far too many reasons to list. In fact for every person alive there’s a uniquely different set of reasons or even excuses. But there are trends we can briefly look at for us to begin our intensive journey toward greater awareness.

The first of these trends is that we’ve been taught how to think and what to believe. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle designed fundamental thinking technologies and strategies 2500 years ago, and have formed the way Western civilisation would think up until now. Once someone claims to have proven they have found the “truth” of something, then it becomes very difficult for anyone else to disprove that truth and offer a new perspective without getting a lot of resistance.

Socrates invented the interrogatory style of argument involving strings of questions seeking either a YES or NO response. Plato continued from there, with his original idea that there IS such a thing as absolute truth. Our thinking since has been closely bound by these ideals, and to our detriment.

Take Galileo for example. In the early 1600’s he designed a telescope to prove that the Earth revolved around the sun. This disproved the “truth” of Copernicus hypothesis that it was the other way around. This created so much controversy that people were actually afraid to look into Galileo’s telescope for fear of what they might actually discover.

This is called cognitive dissonance. It refers to what happens in your brain when information is presented to it which doesn’t seem to fit. Sometimes information may seem so obviously different from what we’ve already been taught to be the truth and we struggle to know how to respond to this new information. And we can find it even more difficult to accept it simply as another perspective to explore versus having to adopt it as a truth, because we’re also taught to only accept well-established truths.

This way of trained thinking can cause serious consequences. In 1633, when Galileo was 70 years old, sick and completely blind, he was forced by Pope Urban VIII to make the arduous journey to Rome to stand trial for heresy. The pope accused Galileo of causing “the greatest scandal in Christendom” for contradicting the scriptures. On June 21, after a long trial, he was found guilty of heresy by the Inquisition and forced into covering up his own evidence. Weary and broken, the old man knelt before the pope and made his confession, “I, Galileo, son of the late Vincent Galilea, Florentine, aged 70 years… must altogether abandon the false opinion that the sun is the centre of the world and immobile.”

The second trend follows from the above. 2500 years after Plato, much of Western society still behaves as though there actually is such a thing as absolute truth and clear cut black and white answers to everything. How bound are we now by words and discussions around “truth”, “right”, “wrong”, “good” and “evil”?

We’re taught by our family, religions, governments, business and society in general what to believe. We’re handed down our values and belief systems, instructed what behaviours are appropriate or not, and provided strict examples to follow in terms of our own development.

And it doesn’t matter how much information is available to us today through a variety of mediums, by the time we have learned how to read and write, the foundations of our belief systems are already set.

For example, by the time we’re seven, we’ve already learned 90 percent of our adult responses in life. This makes a lot of sense as by this age, we’ve already understood quite well the meanings of words like “no”, “you can’t”, “you shouldn’t” and “that’s wrong.”

Combine this with the fact that by age ten we’ve developed the majority of our language skills, so we’re very aware of how language forms communication and is used to say what we want or don’t want. We also have learnt by this age when we’re allowed to speak and when we’re not, all based on someone else’s rules.

It’s no wonder then that by puberty and all the hormonal changes we go through, that our self image and esteem is in such a delicate place that we’re that much more susceptible to conforming with what our society states we must become.

And finally, we’re instructed by society, the church and even our friends and family about what’s possible (and not) and how limited our potential is. We are generally not encouraged to dream, or examine perspectives beyond our current view. We are seldom invited to look inward and become more aware of our own strengths and celebrate them.

What seems most extraordinary is that we’re taught at some levels to love ourselves, but not instructed how or supported to do that. Most personal development material today comments on the importance of truly loving oneself in order to fully accept and experience the love of another, or to have the resourcefulness to fully love another. Yet this premise, as easy as it may sound, is incredibly difficult for us because our society, in general, doesn’t support it.

For example, nearly every religion and philosophy has some form of the Golden Rule, which equates basically to treat others the same as you wish to be treated. However, it doesn’t matter how many times it’s written about or preached, we still don’t seem to be able to get it. We’re back to cognitive dissonance again. The idea of being good to others, or of loving ourselves fully, doesn’t match with what we see around us.

Some cultures seem to make a point of knocking down anyone who either thinks highly of themselves or is achieving remarkable things. The reasons for this all come down to one emotion, Fear.

There is so much we’re afraid of, and all of it is based in our thoughts, and what we think is the “truth.”

I firmly believe that if I can you become more aware of yourself, starting with the way you think, then this will have a dynamic effect on what you believe. Once you have a stronger grasp of your own values and belief systems, then you will be in a better place to review your own emotions and behaviours. You may choose to let go of the fear you’re holding on to.

We have to start somewhere, and the best place it would seem to start is to simply focus on ourselves in a very selfish manner. And by the way, being incredibly selfish is a good thing.

How can being selfish be a good thing?

If you are willing to suspend what you’ve been taught about that word for a moment, I’ll explain. To be honest, you spend more time thinking about you than anyone else will ever think about you. It’s just natural. Your conscious and subconscious mind is devoted to you, not someone else. If we accept this as a reasonable position, then wouldn’t it make sense to put some structure around that? This is a selfish or self-focused position.

Also, being selfish doesn’t mean that someone else’s needs aren’t also important. Consider how much more resourceful we can be to others, if we are first fully resourceful within ourselves? Take care of the self in order to take care of others.

The above is an excerpt from “30 Days of Incredible Awareness”. In its entirety, this inspiring and challenging e-book works as a personal, daily programme to assist you on your own journey of self discovery and awareness. To receive your own copy in full, visit http://www.incredibleawareness.com/ . For more information, contact Noel directly by email on noel@noelposus.com, or visit his website http://www.noelposus.com/

Noel Posus (Master Coach, BFA, MH (Edu), FALCS, AFAIM, MAHRI). Author, instructor, trainer and master coach with a highly successful personal, small business, executive and mentoring practice, Noel is one of the global coaching industry’s great resources. He is the Master Coach at the Life Coaching Institute of Australia and the Principal Coach and Head of Human Resources, Training and Coaching Services with Masters Le Mesurier, Noel is also the host of CoachRadio, Vice President of the Australian Life Coaching Society and NSW Leader of the Australian Life Coaching Association. Personal development is his lifelong passion, and his vision of coaching is quite simply, “Eliciting your Greatness!”

Why Do We Need To Invest?

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

It is vitally important in this current day and age for all of us to begin taking control of our financial situation and start planning for our future, and the futures of our children.

We can no longer rely on the government to hand out an aged pension once we retire. We cannot take for granted that at the end of our working life we will be taken care of financially.

The world population is ageing, due to the baby boomer generation, and within 30 years there will be so many retired people, compared to the number of working age people, that it will be economically impossible for the government to afford to provide any reasonable source of monetary assistance for the elderly.

The government has realised this, and that is why they introduced the compulsory employer paid superannuation scheme and are even now beginning to give financial incentives to Self-Funded retirees.

Most of us have never sat down and even considered the ramifications of why the compulsory super was introduced and for many of us it is a matter of too little too late. Even for the young women in our society – who have a full working life ahead of them, they still cannot rest assured of a comfortable retirement.

Why is this? It is because that unfortunately even with contributions at the current level of less than 10%, someone on an average wage who works continually for 30 years, is still going to find themselves trying to survive on an income equivalent to less than $20,000,00 per annum in today’s dollars.

You will notice that I said continually working for 30 years. This is another reason why women are particularly disadvantaged. Firstly because they often have to take up to ten years leave from the workforce to raise children, secondly because women in general earn less than their male counterparts and thirdly because an enormous proportion of the women in Australia, for example, will never have received any superannuation contributions, prior to the compulsory superannuation being introduced, and will therefore not have had contributions made over their entire working life so far, giving them even less to fall back on by the time they retire.

Many women may previously not have thought of lack of superannuation contributions as being a problem, as their husbands may have been contributing to super since they first began work. Unfortunately though with the high number of divorces in this country, it is unwise to rely on the fact that your partner’s superannuation will be there for you in your retirement years and even if a large proportion is awarded in a settlement – that it will be sufficient to sustain a comfortable retirement for any length of time.

All of these factors are why women now more than ever, need to begin taking action to build up a source of ongoing income, that will grow to such an extent, as to be able to provide a secure and happy future for themselves and their children.

It needs to be a source of income that is unrelated to physical work…that is an income that is generated from income producing assets – and not from our personal efforts.
One of the best sources of creating this ongoing income stream is to begin building an investment property portfolio, also aptly paraphrased as bricks and mortar.

We need to start investing in income producing assets now, so that they will have time to grow and develop so that we will be financially independent for our retirement years.

The most important concept to grasp in relation to building wealth for retirement and for creating finances that can be directed toward charities, or helping out your family is that of Compound interest.

In mathematical terms 72 divided by Compound Interest Rate of Return = Years for Money to Double in Value.

Therefore if you have $1,000.00 invested at 10% interest, then the number of years that it will take for your money to double to $2,000.00 is 7.2. It will quadruple in 14.4 years and be worth 8 times as much in just over 21 years.

If your money is invested at 7% interest, then it will take approximately ten years to double in value. If it is invested at 5% it will double in just over fourteen years.

The two most important aspects of compounding are one: rate and two: time. The higher the rate and the longer the time something is left to compound, the greater the final result will be. This is why the sooner we start investing, the better.

Debra Lohrere is an author of several books on property investment and how to create financial security. Please visit. http://www.debra.lohrere.com/home.shtml

Debra Lohrere - EzineArticles Expert Author

Debra Lohrere works as a Commodity Trading Logistics Administrator. She previously spent over ten years working in an Accounts Administration position with her primary roles being collections and financial forecasting. She also ran her own computer retailing business for many years.
Knowing the vital importance of cash flow in business led her to begin investigating the benefits of personal investments. She decided six years ago that it was time to start taking control of her personal finances and begin building a wealth base for her future.
She began researching the powerful medium of property investment as a means of bringing financial independence into a reach and began to build her own property portfolio.
Within the space of four years she was able to go from renting a house, to owning her own home and three investment properties, while having contributed very little of her own money to secure these.
She built up a large base of contacts with fellow property investors, which has proved to be an invaluable source of information.

The Cottage Garden

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

Cottages are a retreat for our soul. Places where we can both unwind and regenerate our families and ourselves.

Generally our cottages are nestled in areas of raw bush and craggy rock. The mistake many people make with their cottage garden is to ignore their rugged landscape and attempt to create a structured or “city style” garden.

The best cottage gardens are those that take advantage of and enhance the stark beauty of the wild. As the saying goes, “you can’t improve on Mother Nature”.

Rather than “affecting” a design, plant a mixture of indigenous and hardy shrubs, perennials and wild flowers that will thrive in your local. Not only will this save you needless heartache and hours of maintenance, it will save you money from continually replacing your “ill-suited” plants.

Begin by selecting a variety of shrubs that will give your garden a sense of structure, such as “Blue Rug” Junipers, Cotoneaster horizontalis and for those especially difficult area’s, Juniper Sabina. The Sabina will actually thrive in extremely rocky, poor soil areas; just remember to plant in full sun locations only.

Perennial Geraniums, also known as cranesbills, are the perfect cottage perennial. The cransebill is a hardy, adaptable perennial that is disease and pest resistant. Whether your garden is a full sun or predominantly shady location, there are a variety of cranesbills all in a marvelous array of colours (white, mauve, purple, magenta, blue, and pink).
For complete shade locations try G. macrorhizum, a strong spreader with delicate mauve blossoms. In semi-shade areas try G. maculatum, particularly in a rock garden location. In full sun gardens try G. cinerum (ballerina). All of these species are drought tolerant, aromatic and will spread evenly in your garden but not invasively.

Another “perfect fit” for a cottage garden are Sedums (also known as stonecrop and orpines). This family of plants is extremely varied with species that will thrive from full sun to semi-shade. They are incredibly durable, well suited to poor soil conditions and come in a veritable rainbow of colours. Try S. spurium, a dwarf variety stonecrop best suited for billing in gaps in rock gardens and S. album and S. kamtschaticum for “clumping” or featured plants in your garden.

Mix in with these a variety of hardy grown daylilies, irises, Martagon lilies and ornamental grasses. All of which are hardy, adaptable and beautiful. The Martagon lily is especially well suited to the cottage landscape due to its ability to thrive from southern locals to the Yukon and in nearly every soil type.

Don’t forget to carefully consider and plan your hardscape elements before installation, such as retaining walls, terraces, decks and steps. You will need to examine the drainage pattern on your property and take into consideration the effects of fall frost and spring thaw. Consider speaking to a professional landscaper for these hardscape elements, as you will want them to last for years to come.

Try to naturalize your seating (patio) areas by using local “flatstone” or flagstone. Using a natural medium will both soften the appearance of your cottage and make it your seating area more inviting. Natural stone also makes the perfect stair material, as it won’t rot, is perfectly suited to the landscape and will give your cottage a sense of “permanence”.

The “golden rule” of cottage landscaping is to create an oasis of peace, beauty and relaxation. “…A cottage is a friend you can visit anytime…” This saying conveys how we feel toward our cottages and our beliefs in their restorative powers. Our cottages are a place of hope, of exploring not only nature but also ourselves and for nurturing and deepening our relationships with our families. All of this occurs in our little parcel of rural landscape, or as many passionate cottagers refer to their cottage; their “Garden of Eden”.

Great Design in essence is about the creation of an exquisite stage for the beauty and quality of life we all desire. From ultra urban to ornate opulence, Robin and his team have passionately and successfully designed it all. Robin’s interiors have graced the pages of magazines Worldwide. Robin has designed interiors for feature films, major retailers such as Home Depot (Style Ideas Magazine) and the Designer Showhouse. From smaller scale interior projects to full scale restorations and developments, Robin’s passionate and creative eye overseas all aspects. While fluent in all design trends and philosophies, Robin is most passionate about historic preservation and the creation of elegant, functional and memorable spaces that convey the best attributes of each owner while respecting and celebrating the architecture that encompasses them. Visit http://www.robindegroot.ca

Positive psychology

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

Human psychology is always painted negative and as a study of
negative human behavior; basically we perceive psychology as a
sign of trouble, and thus attempt to correlate it to such
destructive issues like depression, psychosis, unhappiness,
mental disorders and mania. Sadly most of the clinical
examinations also tend to look at psychology, as something that
is a malady and most of the treatment attempts are aimed at
treating the disease than stopping them from happening. Thus
there is a pressing need for a new, revived way of looking at
the old concept of psychology. Also called “Positive
Psychology”, this area is more concerned with the sunnier side
of psychology, which is the area of those people, who are happy
and move with confidence, wherever they go and whatever they do.
Positive psychology may shed more light on why some people
behave in such a pleasing manner and how they have developed
that trait. Ultimately, this intense study may help us to find a
lasting cure for many of our negative psychological conditions
and other eccentric behaviors.

Positive Psychology is a new attempt to redefine and readjust
the existing disparity or imbalance, to encourage and support
psychologists to try and attempt to contribute to positive
aspects of human life, not only just perform something about
negative things. Being a new branch of psychology, this field is
still in its infant stage and is hotly contested for its
veracity and advantages, by both detractors and supporters. Some
of them tend to neglect this new theory, while others vouch for
its authenticity. Many of them never believe in the concept of
joy, love, positive talk, optimism and love, while others see a
broad daylight in professing the techniques of all good human
behavior to cure any psychological malady.

New theories of positive psychology condemns the traditional
practice of treating psychological patients as mere numbers or
objects, and also the supporters of the new theory disapprove
the current methods of approaching a sensitive issue as
important as psychology. Many experts who support the positive
psychology theory have varied ideas about what actual psychology
is and how it can best be researched to solve many perennial
problems. However, these experts are united by a view that,
normal human beings possess excellent qualities, and that we can
still be capable enough to make better choices about what we
believe and do, in spite of all those unfortunate events,
occurred due to reasons beyond our control or by factors of our
genetic disposition.

Positive psychology often relies heavily on the principle of
optimism, which is a cherished positive parameter of human
excellence. There is remarkable evidence that optimistic people
are usually happier and highly productive than ultra pessimists.
Optimism can also be taught and learned by human beings.
According to the new theory, there tends to be a positive flow
of things in those people who are highly optimistic and
cheerful. This flow is usually not checked in them, in any
manner, at any time and thus this set of positive flow causes a
person to be tougher mentally and psychologically. Positive
psychology and its application may take a while to be
universally accepted for clinical practice.

Getting Started With High Level Architecture (HLA)

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

HLA is a framework to integrate distributed software entities running in heterogeneous environment (both hardware and software wise) and communicating with each other over a network to achieve the overall goal ; following certain specifications while doing so.

The High Level Architecture (HLA) is a software architecture for creating computer simulations out of component simulations. It was proposed by US DoD and later standardized by IEEE as an open standard IEEE 1516.

The main aim of HLA is re-usability and interoperability of complex distributed software entities. So, an HLA-compliant Air Traffic Controller simulation can be used by many other HLA-compliant applications, no matter in which computing environment they are developed and running.

This architecture is just a specification and not an implementation. It is essentially a service-oriented architecture. Any HLA-compliant simulation is called a FEDERATE. A federate can provide some service (data) to other federates or it may receive required data from other federates. This data exchange intent is maintained in a repository called FEDERATION OBJECT MODEL (FOM) implemented in accordance with OBJECT MODEL TEMPLATE (OMT).

A federate may be a PRODUCER or a CONSUMER or both. A producer publishes its services and consumer subscribes to these services. The repository acts a service directory and uses standard data exchange format XML. To communicate with each other, federates need a supporting communication software called RUN-TIME INFRASTRUCTURE (RTI) which is an implementation of six groups of services as specified in HLA framework and caters to the requirements of distributed simulations. These six groups of services are Federation Management, Data Management, Object Management, Ownership Management, Distributed Data Management and Time Management. Federates together with RTI constitute a FEDERATION. The RTI allows creation/destruction of federation, join/resign of federates and data exchanges among federates. It optionally provides filtered data delivery and may handle errors in order of receiving data due to network delays and other speed mismatches. These functionalities are according to 10 rules (5 rules for federation & 5 for federates) of HLA standard.

Although HLA was developed for military simulations but it is a general purpose architecture and can be used building simple to complex applications. Some of the simple applications are chat and multi-user games like Tic-Tac-Toe. Complex applications may include distributed war-gaming applications with intense data exchanges among participating entities.

With this brief introduction, its time to develop HLA-compliant applications. You can start simply by downloading RTI software. It comes with sample federates and their source code to start with. Suggested websites and books are mentioned below.

* Suggested Website for HLA specification
US Defense Modeling and Simulation Office official website
(http://www.dmso.mil)

* Suggested Book
Frederick Kuhl, Richard Weatherly, Judith Dahmann, Creating Computer Simulation Systems - An Introduction to the High Level Architecture., PHI, 2002.

* Website for RTI software
Free Limited Edition of RTI software, pRTI1516 is available for download from Pitch Inc, Sweden website http://www.pitch.se

Wish you a happy encounter with HLA…

Syed Feroz Zainvi has obtained M.Tech. (Comp Sc & Engg) degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (INDIA). His areas of interests are distributed computing, computer graphics and Internet Technologies. Currently, he is involved in Software Project Planning, Development and Management. His other interests include writing for magazines and contributing utility softwares on Magazine’s CDs. He also have flair for teaching computer science with new teaching methodologies.

His web-page URL is http://www.zainvi.tophonors.com.