While You Weren't Here

While you weren't here
I cried every night
A million tears fell
Still my heart wasn't right

While you weren't here
I did what I could
Hoping against hope
My decisions were good

While you weren't here
I gained some in age
Things just went on
And life turned a page

While you weren't here
I just tried to go on
Knowing what didn't kill me
Would only make me strong

While you weren't here
A whole lot got changed
My life became different
My world rearranged

While you weren't here
I had to learn to be alone
To stand on my two feet
To make my own home

So that's where I am now
At this stage of my life
Still scared and alone
Still coping with strife

And oh how I wish that
Things could be different
That I could go back
To a time in the past

To a time before
You weren't here

Source: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/while-you-werent-here#ixzz3eWXkaaNr
Family Friend Poems 

Windows 10 Will Be Sold on a Flash Drive

According to information allegedly obtained by German news site WinFuture, some retail versions of Windows 10 will be sold on preloaded USB flash drives.

A Microsoft spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the news, citing the company’s policy to not comment on rumors or speculation.  

The much-anticipated multi-platform version of Microsoft’s flagship OS is built to operate not only on full PCs, but also tablets and ultrabook laptops, most of which don’t typically pack a CD or DVD drive. A USB thumb drive version would allow smaller, next-gen machines to also install Windows 10 Home or Professionial versions from scratch without a lengthy download.

The full-install version of Windows 10, set to be released on July 29, will start at $119.

Of course, since Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will come as a free, downloadable update for current Windows 7 and Windows 8 customers, most PCers will never need to see a Windows 10 disc or flash drive.

But hey, by slowly eschewing plastic discs and finally giving us a version of Windows that’s better than Windows XP, Microsoft is already well on its way toward embracing 21st century technology. Way to go, Redmond!

Father's Day

my father moved through dooms of love 
through sames of am through haves of give, 
singing each morning out of each night 
my father moved through depths of height

this motionless forgetful where 
turned at his glance to shining here; 
that if (so timid air is firm) 
under his eyes would stir and squirm

newly as from unburied which 
floats the first who, his april touch 
drove sleeping selves to swarm their fates 
woke dreamers to their ghostly roots

and should some why completely weep 
my father’s fingers brought her sleep:
vainly no smallest voice might cry 
for he could feel the mountains grow.

Lifting the valleys of the sea 
my father moved through griefs of joy; 
praising a forehead called the moon 
singing desire into begin

joy was his song and joy so pure 
a heart of star by him could steer 
and pure so now and now so yes 
the wrists of twilight would rejoice

keen as midsummer’s keen beyond
conceiving mind of sun will stand,
so strictly (over utmost him
so hugely) stood my father’s dream

his flesh was flesh his blood was blood:
no hungry man but wished him food;
no cripple wouldn’t creep one mile
uphill to only see him smile.

Scorning the Pomp of must and shall
my father moved through dooms of feel;
his anger was as right as rain
his pity was as green as grain

septembering arms of year extend 
less humbly wealth to foe and friend 
than he to foolish and to wise  
offered immeasurable is

proudly and (by octobering flame 
beckoned) as earth will downward climb, 
so naked for immortal work 
his shoulders marched against the dark

his sorrow was as true as bread:
no liar looked him in the head; 
if every friend became his foe 
he’d laugh and build a world with snow.

My father moved through theys of we, 
singing each new leaf out of each tree 
(and every child was sure that spring 
danced when she heard my father sing)

then let men kill which cannot share, 
let blood and flesh be mud and mire, 
scheming imagine, passion willed, 
freedom a drug that’s bought and sold

giving to steal and cruel kind, 
a heart to fear, to doubt a mind, 
to differ a disease of same,
conform the pinnacle of am

though dull were all we taste as bright, 
bitter all utterly things sweet,
maggoty minus and dumb death 
all we inherit, all bequeath

and nothing quite so least as truth
—i say though hate were why men breathe—
because my Father lived his soul 
love is the whole and more than all

World's Thinnest Light Bulb Created from Graphene

Scientists have long wanted to create a teensy "light bulb" to place on a chip, enabling what is called photonic circuits, which run on light rather than electric current. The problem has been one of size and temperature — incandescent filaments must get extremely hot before they can produce visible light. This new graphene device, however, is so efficient and tiny, the resulting technology could offer new ways to make displays or study high-temperature phenomena at small scales, the researchers said.

Making light

When electric current is passed through an incandescent light bulb's — usually made of tungsten— the filament heats up and glows. Electrons moving through the material knock against electrons in the filament's atoms, giving them energy. Those electrons return to their former energy levels and emit photons (light) in the process. Crank up the current and voltage enough and the filament in the light bulb hits temperatures of about 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit (3,000 degrees Celsius) for an incandescent. This is one reason light bulbs either have no air in them or are filled with an inert gas like argon: At those temperatures tungsten would react with the oxygen in air and simply burn.

In the new study, the scientists used strips of graphene a few microns across and from 6.5 to 14 microns in length, each spanning a trench of silicon like a bridge. (A micron is one-millionth of a meter, where a hair is about 90 microns thick.) An electrode was attached to the ends of each graphene strip. Just like tungsten, run a current through graphene and the material will light up. But there is an added twist, as graphene conducts heat less efficiently as temperature increases, which means the heat stays in a spot in the center, rather than being relatively evenly distributed as in a tungsten filament. 

Myung-Ho Bae, one of the study's authors, told Live Science trapping the heat in one region makes the lighting more efficient. "The temperature of hot electrons at the center of the graphene is about 3,000 K [4,940 F], while the graphene lattice temperature is still about 2,000 K [3,140 F]," he said. "It results in a hotspot at the center and the light emission region is focused at the center of the graphene, which also makes for better efficiency." It's also the reason the electrodes at either end of the graphene don't melt.

As for why this is the first time light has been made from graphene, study co-leader Yun Daniel Park, a professor of physics at Seoul National University, noted that graphene is usually embedded in or in contact with a substrate.

"Physically suspending graphene essentially eliminates pathways in which heat can escape," Park said. "If the graphene is on a substrate, much of the heat will be dissipated to the substrate. Before us, other groups had only reported inefficient radiation emission in the infrared from graphene."

The light emitted from the graphene also reflected off the silicon that each piece was suspended in front of. The reflected light interferes with the emitted light, producing a pattern of emission with peaks at different wavelengths. That opened up another possibility: tuning the light by varying the distance to the silicon.

The principle of the graphene is simple, Park said, but it took a long time to discover.

Why Emoji May Be in Your Next Password

Say goodbye to a string of numbers and hello to kissy face, dancing lady, diamond ring, soccer ball.

Intelligent Environments, a mobile and online banking technologies company, has come up with a platform allowing users to ditch a traditional numerical pin code in favor of emoji.

While the system hasn't been implemented yet by any banks, Intelligent Environments shared their plan to use the fun characters in a new video and underscored how the system could potentially be more secure than a numerical pin.

With 44 emoji to choose from, there are a possible 3,498,308 permutations, according to the company. By comparison, Intelligent Environments said a pin comprised of numbers 0-9 has 7,290 non-repeating digit possibilities.

Robert Siciliano, an online safety expert to Intel Security, said the idea is a step in the right direction for password security.

"Photos as passwords are a strong alternative to simple username and password," he said. "But we can't stop there. New developments in facial recognition will inevitably replace all current methods."

Here Are 10 Fun and Useful Digital Marketing Stats From the Last Week

There's been extra buzz about sports—from soccer to horse racing—over the last week. So, we studied a bevy of sports data and other research numbers to bring marketers the 10 stats they need to know. 

1. Following FC Barcelona's 3-1 win over Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final, Facebook dug into what millions of fans around the world were talking about after the match. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, more commonly known as Neymar, was the most buzzed about player, with Brazilians posting more often than people from other countries. All told, 28 million people drove 76 million interactions around the league final. 

2. Burger King's mascot appeared next to America Pharoah's management team during the thoroughbred's Triple Crown victory Saturday. And in the four hours after the race, there were 11,817 tweets around the fast-food brand, per Amobee Brand Intelligence. The Foster City, Calif.-based researcher said BK's Twitter mentions represented a 1,445 percent increase over the previous 4 hours.

3. Also, Amobee found that there were 694,197 total tweets around American Pharaoh on June 6. 

4. Instagram posts using the words "food porn" have jumped 371 percent, according to Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners' social media shop, Attention, which reviewed more than 8 million food posts over the past 18 months.

5. Mobile video ads will attract $2.6 billion in the U.S. this year, 70 percent more than a year ago, according to eMarketer. But that figure still only represents about 10 percent of all mobile advertising.

6. Sick of going on dates with people who don't look like their online pics? Zoosk last year created a photo-verification feature allowing users to upload a time-stamped video that the online dating site uses to verify photos in profiles. That way, people can't get away with luring romantic prospects out for drinks or dinner with pictures from 10 years ago. The San Francisco-based company said 3.8 million photos have been verified so far via the feature.

7. Criteo and travel-market research firm Phocuswright conducted a global survey of more than 8,000 leisure travelers and found that hospitality shoppers on mobile devices were 47 percent more likely to book three or more trips than desktop users. 

8. Tipping Point surveyed 7,228 small to medium-sized businesses, and the agency found that 72 percent are currently spending cash on digital advertising and marketing services.

9. Eighty-three percent of mothers visit YouTube during the course of a month, according to new research from Millward Brown Digital. They spend time on the site about every other day and watch roughly five videos per visit. That means there are approximately 70 opportunities a month for brands to reach moms on YouTube.

10. Back to sports: Nike Soccer has created a stirring video called "American Woman" for the U.S. women's team currently competing in the FIFA Women's World Cup. The sneaker brand uploaded the 1-minute spot to YouTube on June 5, drawing 191,000 views to date. Interestingly, the ad—created by a small shop called Thousands Creative in Portland, Ore.—has gotten 118,000 views on Facebook since it was posted yesterday.

Apple finally found a way to boost iPad sales — and it's going to make a lot of people angry

There’s good news and bad news for the millions of iPad owners around the world.

The good news is that the iPad is getting a bunch of great new features that finally allow you to multitask.

So if you want to use two different apps at the same time, like taking notes while looking at photos, or watching a video while responding to a text message, you don't have to switch between apps.

But the bad news is that the new features may not work on your iPad unless it's one of the newest models.

And Split View, which allows you to use two apps at the same time, and is one of the best new features, only works on the iPad Air 2, Apple's latest iPad, which starts at $499 and was released last fall.

Craig Federighi, the executive in charge of software at Apple, unveiled the new features on stage at the company's annual developer's conference on Monday.

The cynic would say the fact that the new features, which are part of a software update coming later this year, only working on the latest and greatest iPads is a ploy to get you to upgrade your iPad. Apple has struggled with relatively sluggish iPad sales — the company still sells millions each quarter, more tablets than any other single company — but sales continue to fall.

iPad sales were down 23% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year.

It's a stark contrast to the incredible iPhone sales the company has reported over the past year.

And one of the reasons iPad sales are down is that people don’t upgrade their tablets as frequently as they update their phones, because they simply don't need to.

A four-year-old iPad, which you may keep at home and use occasionally to watch Netflix or read news at home, is a lot more useful than a four-year-old iPhone, which would feel sluggish and outdated for everyday use.