Advertisements and the male image

If we look these days more and more men fitness training or lifting weights at health clubs. After work or Sunday morning, not seldom to be found men who seemed to burly 'flaunt' their muscle, especially on certain days, which held a mass aerobics activities in places - the gym.

This seems to indicate that men's attention more to her appearance. Indeed, according to some mental health experts, concerned with appearance was no longer the monopoly of women. This is evident from the increasing number of men who are obsessed with her body as well as women. Some psychologists say he wants to have a flat stomach plus boxes of thick hair and brown skin like sun-up to create new problems in men who used more often associated with women: eating disorders and obsession on the body.

A study in the United States, men including 10 percent from approximately 7 to 10 million people who suffer from eating disorders. There is also a manifest concern for appearance in the form of body-dismorfik disorders excessive obsession with certain body parts are considered imperfect. In men, this disorder is usually transformed into bigoreksia-obsession to be muscular and frightened her smaller than normal. Approximately 1 to 2 percent of American men suffer from that disorder and 25 percent are bigoreksia patients. Men with bigoreksia vulnerable to depression, using anabolic steroids and missed social events to go lifting weights at the gym.

Actually, what makes these men so obsessed with their bodies? According to the doctor many factors that play a role, ranging from chemicals in the brain until the influence of mass media. Bigoreksia including the type of obsessive compulsive disorder that drives a person to repeat a task or behavior. Bigoreksia men with their bodies often look in the mirror, following a strict diet and exercise until exhaustion. But the media seems to play a role no less. As we can see the commercials for male products in newspapers, magazines and television, the advertisers often fill us with the perfect guy image with flat stomach, broad shoulders, slim waist and white teeth.

Now, the advertising also uses his body as a commodity, as they have done to women. Boys today are bombarded with images as if they could not see if they lived 20 years ago. In the past, the man considered the most powerful of more natural and more like him most. However, recent decades are considered the body of a man who tends a very muscular ideal. Another factor that helped lead the men's obsession is its emphasis on the importance of looking young. The question now, what about you? Did you include that exercise training for health reasons, or just look? Whatever it is, I pray you achieve both. Who also did not want to have an athletic body and a healthy heart?

Would not be nice if you can work and play a little more? Does not sound very nice if you could spend more time doing things you enjoy rather than doing employment office?

Think about the hobbies you have. If you are really a hobby, then you should know two things. If you have been doing for years, then you have the experience and knowledge of the possibility of millions of people will be happy to hear it. You can take that knowledge and turn it into money.
First of all, you have to understand to what people use the internet. No, they did not come to buy something, they come to seek information. Now, many people looking for information on the Internet. If you own a business, you can promote it on the internet.

The possibility of the most important concept is pre-sold which means that visitors need to be convinced. Visitors must believe in you. They do not have to feel pressured to buy something. They must know that you are a trusted source. This can be done by introducing your product and offer as much useful information about the product. For example, if you use affiliate sales, you should always use or buy any goods you sell. You have to feel and experience the benefits. With do the promotion process will be much easier and visitors will be much more confident.
Successful websites attract visitors, usually told about the offer information to people who thirst for information, but does not stop there.

A good site would be more convincing one if you can pack as well. To increase profits, we can also use the business web directory on the Internet. Many options we can use. Yahoo! Directory is one of the most common. Web directory is widely used by online business owners. You can also visit other directory sites such as business sites. Benefits website directory has more than a search engine is their efficiency. They do not rely on deep linking, otherwise they will connect your home page of the website you want.

Oh ya, if you already have a business site and want your site indexed quickly in the directory, there are some things that need to be considered the easiest possible way keyword optimization. This is an SEO technique that can help you choose the right keywords and then use it to improve the ranking of websites or blogs on search engines

To get high rankings on search engines, anchor text is also very important. For example www.masterblog.com your blog address and who compose the anchor text of "master blog" and you've spread the link to various blogs, forums, and so forth. If you have this, your blog will generally get ranked well in the search for the word "master blog". In other words, each user who encari word "master blog" in the search engines, your blog will appear on the first page.
Well, if you really want to see your business growing quickly, you may be able to start from now. In addition to these tips above, persistence is the most important

In everyday life we are not apart from photography. Almost any time and anywhere we see the photos. Images can we see in magazines, newspapers, advertising on the roadside, banners, wall hangings, calendars, and so forth.

Basically photography means painting with light technique / beam. Learning the basic theory of photography can be done overnight. But it does not just stop there. In studying photography skills needed continuity for / ability to keep honed. For a short time we are required to determine the lighting, the angle of the image, image composition and so on.

Before taking a picture of an object, there are many things to be on notice. The main we must be able to quickly recognize the characteristics of the object. Is it still or moving object. The technique used for these two different objects.

To photograph a moving object requires a higher skill compared to the object photographed silent. For example: for fast moving objects such as motor racing or car. The right position to photograph the corner because drivers will reduce the rate of speed when turning. The speed of the object to be photographed too slow. While views of aesthetics, the branch's position more interesting action.
Meanwhile, when photographing an object, required more ability to set the lighting and composition. Another goal is certainly not to photograph the better produced, good and meaningful.

Many sites on the Internet that provide extra income alternatives. way by providing the spot on his blog as a place to deliver commercial messages from advertise on blogs.



Blogger provides a space as a medium for ads placed on each. blog advertising is one of the store site. Here's how it works,; Advertiser require publication. You as a Blogger need to post material (also a bit of money).

Income that may be produced is highly dependent with PAGERANK from your primary domain. Interested? Here are the steps that can be done:

1. Domain have a pagerank of 2 or more. How? :
o Purchase pagerank domain that already. Prices range from $ 20 upwards depending on the large Pagerank, the number of backlinks, domain age and so on. With the review of 2-3 times your capital will return.
o Purchase a new domain and "pet" used to have a pagerank. New domain prices range up to $ 10, you can have a domain (subdomain) if the new free to register a free blog service providers etc.

2. Create a blog on the domain to your pagerank. Fill with 10 to 20 posts, set the time to look blog posting you have been older than 3 months. Confused would post hell? Dirty and edit the e-book could also grab and edit or articles from article directories.

3. Wait until about 15-20 your posts indexed by Google and other search engines. Meanwhile build backlinks for the domain to your new pagerank. Useful addition to your still maintaining high pagerank, backlinks to your blog also help more quickly indexed by search engines ie google. There are many ways to build backlinks These include exchange with blogger another link-exhange term-term links, leave comments on dofollow blogs, links without nofollow attribute or links counted as backlinks-See here for how to build a complete backlink.

4. Register to broker paid review. For example: paid to blog

5. Once in the new add-approve the bid to the advertiser if you are registered on the sponsoredreviews, or take a job review in GBT (Grab Bag Task) if you are registered on the Blogsvertise.

6. Began working, review it. Still profitable when using their services because usually once reviewed we will pay approximately $ 5 - $ 10 more.

Searching MP3 files using search engine is no longer a hard thing to do especially when people have found various ways to search for the MP3 files. Why we choose the audio format is also another long topic to speak about, but the main reason is the mass availability of that type of file in the internet nowadays. Now, here are the simple guide on how to search for those music that you like, both in WMA and MP3 format:

You can try this :

1. Using altered Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search search string to find the files. This method will use the search engines to search for unprotected directory of the audio files.
How to: Click on the link below. Change the detail according to your liking (replace Band Singer with the actual artist name or just the song name). You can change the “wma/mp3″ tag to other format such as “ogg” only if you wish. For the search engines, it works similarly. You just need to change the band/singer or song again.
Google:
“parent directory” mp3 OR wma OR ogg OR wav Band/Singer -html -htm -download -links
Yahoo Search:
parent directory” AND (Band AND Singer) AND (mp3 OR wma OR ogg) AND NOT(”download”) AND NOT(”links”)
MSN Search:parent directory” AND (Band AND Singer) AND (mp3 OR wma OR ogg) AND NOT(”download”) AND NOT(”links”)


2. You can use multimedia search engines to find the audio files that you need. Several multimedia search engines that I highly recommend .

The following list includes some of the issues I get asked about regarding how best to cover family members — and my recommendations:

* Double-covering a spouse. The question of whether to cover a spouse under your health insurance plan as well as under your spouse’s comes up most often when each spouse has coverage paid entirely by their own employer and one of the two employers also pays all or most of the spouse’s and dependents’ coverage.
Covering children when both spouses have a group health insurance plan. Where to cover the children — under your plan or your spouse’s? In this situation, you weigh out-of-pocket costs in premiums, copayments, and deductibles against the coverage of each plan. These out-of-pocket costs can be dramatically different. But again, choose the plan that covers the five criteria best. Price should be the least important part of the decision. (Use the Health Insurance Comparison Form in the Forms Directory to compare your choices.)
Avoiding the single parent penalty. The most equitable group plans charge a price per head. So if you’re a single parent, you don’t pay for a nonexistent spouse. Or if you’re childless, you don’t pay for nonexistent children. But it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes group insurance offers only two choices — individual and family. Family includes husband, wife, and all children for one price. But family also includes single parent families and childless families. If your family is small, you pay the same amount as a person with a very large family.
To cover a person under your health insurance plan, that person must be considered a dependent. The definition of dependent is based on your plan’s legal requirements concerning financial support. (In an employer-sponsored plan, the employer may also have input into the definition of dependent.) Some plans consider a child a dependent only if the child meets all of the following very specific criteria:
- The child is your responsibility by birth or legal adoption, or the child is a stepchild or a foster child.
- The policyholder provides more than 50 percent of financial support and maintenance for this child.
- The policyholder can claim the child as an exemption on his or her federal income tax return.
A child is considered a dependent if a legal court order mandates that the policyholder must provide coverage for the child. Other individuals may be considered dependents if they satisfy IRS requirements.
health insurance plans’ regulations regarding coverage for children and/or other dependents may vary greatly, so check out the plans carefully. To make administration simple and consistent, some companies use some variation of the birthday rule, in which the primary coverage for eligible children is through the plan of the parent whose birthday falls in the earlier month of the year. For example, a parent born in May 1954 would assume coverage for the children, even though the spouse born in September 1950 is older.

BatchPhotoPro
	BatchPhoto is a powerful photo manipulation program that makes it easy to touch-up, annotate, transform, apply effects, and rename hundreds of photos in a single operation. Try it free!

Updated Dec 20, 2008 15:38:21 Size 5939 kb Licence Shareware Status Major Update Languages English Tags resize pictures, image resizer, image converter, graphic converter, watermark pictures, batch image OS Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista Homepage batchphoto.com

BatchPhotoPro
BatchPhotoHome

BatchPhoto Lite

Photo Gallery 3D Screensaver

Sci-Tek Gallery 3D Screensaver

Description: BatchPhoto is a powerful photo manipulation program that makes it easy to convert, touch-up, annotate, transform, apply effects, and rename hundreds of photos in a single operation. Instead of enhancing and adjusting pictures individually, BatchPhoto lets you select a group of images, define a series of edits, and apply them in a single operation! With BatchPhoto you can: Convert images (to JPEG, PDF, TIFF, GIF, PNG and 100 more); Resize pictures automatically and even adjust the DPI; Annotate photos with date/time information, comments and watermarks; Rename hundreds of images in one session; Apply special effects like: sepia, black & white, oil paint, charcoal sketch and more; Touch-up photos by adjust the brightness, sharpness, contrast, and more.

System Requirements: CPU 1 GHz, RAM 512 MB

Extra Software Inc.

Company Information:

Extra Corporation, founded on March 28, 2004, is a well-known and professional developer dedicating to digital video and DVD software developing. We develop multiple market channels based on the Internet to the people all over the world. At the present time, there are many senior tech members working for the company. Our team of senior tech members has designed a set of DVD transcoding technology and authoring technology that have outstanding performance and has licensed our SDK to many other studios and companys. Currently, we are trying to set up a special retail system and support network to give the best service to you. The company is constantly trying to expand into more forms of multimedia software for computers.

product :

Extra DVD to DVD Clone

Extra DVD Ripper Express

Extra DVD Ripper Professional

Extra DVD to iPod Ripper Express

Extra DVD to AVI Ripper

Extra DVD to 3GP Ripper

Extra DVD to FLV Ripper

Extra DVD to MPEG Ripper

Extra DVD to iPhone Ripper

Extra DVD to Zune Ripper

Extra DVD to WMV Ripper

Extra DVD to Sony PSP PS3 Ripper

Extra DVD to Pocket PC Ripper

Extra DVD to All MP4 Ripper

Extra DVD Creator

Extra DVD to Audio MP3 Ripper

Extra Video Converter

Extra Video Creator

Extra Video to iPod MP4 Converter

Extra FLV SWF Video Converter

DVD to AVI MPEG WMV iPod MP4 3GP Ripper

Extra DVD Copy

Extra DVD Ripper + DVD Copy

Extra DVD Ripper + Video Converter

Extra DVD Copy Creator

Extra DVD to iPod Ripper + Video to iPod Converter

Extra DVD to FLV Ripper + FLV Video Converter

Extra DVD Copy Ripper + Video Converter

Extra DVD to iPod Converter

Extra DVD to XviD DivX Converter

Extra Video to 3GP Converter

Extra Video to Zune Converter

Extra Video to PSP Converter

AVI MPEG FLV MOV RM WMV to AVI Converter

AVI MPEG FLV MOV RM WMV to MPEG Converter

AVI MPEG FLV MOV RM WMV to WMV Converter

AVI MPEG FLV MOV RM WMV to MOV Converter

		Render VRay scene automatically ! > What's the best render solution for vray scene,Manually or automatically? > Do you always waste time on rendering vray scenes in front of your computer? > Turn off your computer after a long time render jobs by yourself? > Do you want to render vray scenes automatically? > Do you have many vray scenes or many cameras in a scene need to be rendered? ... VRay Bacth Render PRO provides a best solution for that.

Super Material PRO

Manage your 3dsmax material much easier than before:

Super material is a useful material tool for 3dsmax.(especially for architectural design)
Lets you add more than 24 materials in the material editor,quick remove missing maps,quick assign materials to objects,quick manage your material libraries.(.mat)
It is more powerful than the material editor of 3dsmax.

* Quick remove missing maps.(Remove paths or materials of missing maps)
* Quick clean up your scene materials.
* Quick sort used materials to scene material list from your scene.
* Easy add more than 24 materials in the material editor.
* You can use Material Library Favorites to easy manage your material libraries.
* Define your useful materials to Quick Material that will assign to objects very easy next time.
* Quick locate objects which missing maps,and easy to view objects or edit their materials.
* Auto match Renderers when the current scene Renderer does not match selected materials in the material editor.
* Supports all types of materails.(Default,V-ray,FR,MR...)

3D Transformer screensaver description

3D Transformer screensaver is designed as a professional program that can allow you to save program.

Major Features:

1. Full transformers world
2. Cool animation
3. Over 50 cool transformers
4. Protects your screen from fading

Improvements of this version:

1. Adjust animation
2. Add more transformers

Requirements : Pentium III or higher

1. 64 MB Video Memory
2. DirectX 9.0 or higher
3. DirectX-compatible sound card
4. Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP

caisdata software

Caisdata Software is a company committed to meeting the needs of image professionals around the world. We continue to work with large and small corporates to provide both new solutions and tailoring one of our existing solutions to meet our clients? needs.

Foxonic is a powerful image to PDF converter and it's very easy-to-use. Using this image to PDF converter, you can batch convert image to PDF, supported image file type include: JPEG (JPEG2000), TIFF, BMP, GIF and PNG. With this software, you can totally control the security of destination PDF files, such as "40/128 bits RC4" and 128 bits AES PDF Encryption, disable PDF file content from copying, printing, extracting, assembling, modifying and so on, so you can password-protect PDF files you build to prevent unauthorized viewing and altering, while also enabling authorized reviewers to use intuitive commenting and editing tools. What can I do with this image to PDF converter? With Foxonic, you can convert digital photos, pictures and scanned images of documents and books to PDF document with password protection, make PDF presentation, PDF slide shows, PDF e-books and PDF photo albums with easy and pleasure, and share PDF files with others without worry about the security of the PDF files. Save your time when batch converting image files to PDF. When batch converting a large number of image files to PDF document, Foxonic can save you a lot of time. Just 5 minutes, Foxonic can batch converting 5000 JPEG files (2.5GB) to 1 PDF document. For batch converting huge volume image files to PDF document, Foxonic especially suit for this senario.

Foxonic Lite
Foxonic Standard
Foxonic Professional
Ultra Tiff2PDF Lite
Ultra Tiff2PDF Standard
Ultra Tiff2PDF Professional
Ultra PDF Tools Lite
Ultra Text2PDF Lite

WinWatermark - 2.3

Editor's rating Users' rating (0 votes) License Shareware / $79.00 Downloads this week 91 Publisher Guruperl.net Inc. File size 2K Date added 18-Jan-2009

Skype Messages Sender, SMS PRO!

Program Name: Fast YouTube Clone, FYC PRO

Published By: Guruperl.net Inc.

License Type: Shareware

Date Added: August 11, 2008

Myspace Increaser Package, MIP PRO

The amount of song plays are so important on an artists page because of the ranking that Myspace has. The Myspace charts ranks artists accordingly by the amount of plays an artist/band has daily. By having sufficient plays and views daily, you can compete with major label artists on Myspace. This is an important part of creating more exposure for yourself - being able to be seen on the charts ranked highly is one of the key components of being able to be successful as a Myspace artist. By having a good numbers on your Myspace music/video page you will see a bigger increase in your album sales, bigger fan-base and possibly even gigs and record contracts. Let Myspace Increaser Package create the exposure you deserve!

The fastest programs for increasing Myspace Profile, Video, Song view and plays.

Advertise With Pleasure! (AWP) Professional version is a banner rotation system.

This program the best for all websites owners, who would like to make money by selling advertising spaces on their websites. Accepts deposits from advertisers using PayPal, Authorize.net, iTransact.com, 2Checkout.com, ClickBank, AlertPay, WebMoney, E-Gold, PaySystems, StormPay.Payment methods: CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per impression) and CPD (cost per day). AWP PRO supporting following banner formats: GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, RPM, MOV, Java, Flash, Text and HTML.

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All My Movies™ v5.3 released!

Blu-ray & DVD collection software and Movie-Related Data Harvester
Keeps track of what movies you have as well as on what kind of media. (CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, VHS or ?) Is there a movie you have heard of but not a part of your collection yet? All My Movies allows you to keep a list! Ever wonder who played in a certain movie? All My Movies keeps track of the actors in each movie as well. And by the click of a button, you can find a list of all the movies that actor played in. So, that night you say, "Honey, I want to watch something with Johnny Depp!" and with a click of a button you have an entire list of the movies with Johnny Depp. You can EVEN keep track of which movies in your collection that you have already watched so you can find a movie that you haven't seen! So efficient, All My Movies connects to various internet movie databases and loads all the information of your movie including Name, Actors, Genre, Year, Description, and Screenshots, too, so that there is very little data entry! These are just a few of the wonderful benefits of the All My Movies software but check it out for yourself with a free trial and discover that there are so many other attractive qualities that make this program the best one on the market yet.



All My Books™ v1.4 released!

Book collection manager
Do you love to read? We hope you do. We made a special software for all book lovers and book collectors. With All My Books™ you will never forget where your favorite Harry Potter book is. It is easy to make your book catalog with All My Books™! Just enter the book title, author or ISBN. All the rest details will be downloaded automatically within seconds including the cover image. Try All My Books™ now for free! Organize your library with ease!


Image Comparer ™ v3.6 released!

Duplicate Image Finder and Remover
If you have a huge image collection you know how hard is to remember all images and remove duplicates manually. Now we introduce you the solution for your problem. Image Comparer automates the process of finding duplicates. Please note, Image Comparer looks not for only fully identical images but for images that looks alike too! Finally you get a list of image pairs with similarity percentage. 100% means images are fully identical and so on. Then you can to delete all duplicates with less quality with only two mouse clicks! In that way you got a collection with unique only images.


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Audio Comparer ™ v1.0 - just released!

Duplicate and Similar MP3 Finder
This is a very special tool that can identify even similar audio files. It does not read file tags, it just listens to your audio files to remember them. Audio Comparer will find similar audio files even if one of them is in MP3 format and the other is WMA. Our program works as a human ear but much faster and with unlimited sound memory!


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Hide Photos ™ v1.3

Personal photo album with strong encryption
Hide for-your-eyes-only photos in a password-protected secure container! Hide Photos stores protected images in an AES-encrypted secure container that is easily accessible with an Explorer-like interface.


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All My Software™

Home Software Inventory
You will never lose your license details again if you use our home software inventory product, All My Software™. With a flexible backup reminder, it will safely store your registration information for an unlimited number of products. All of your registration information, together with the developers' contact details, will always be within easy reach.

Burn and update data discs
Burn data to discs and update previously burned discs by adding and removing files and folders.

Rip and burn music
Rip music from CDs and burn music to audio CDs and MP3 discs on CD, DVD and Blu-ray in a variety of formats.

Burn movies to DVDs and data discs
In addition to the new slideshow DVDs you can burn video DVDs, Video CDs (VCD), Super

Video CDs (SVCD) and data video discs.

Copy CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs
Just insert a disc, select Copy to image/ Burn disc from image and you’re ready to copy.

Create and burn disc images
You can both create and burn ISO, CUE/BIN image formats.

Erase rewriteable discs
Quick and easy erase functions for reusing rewriteable discs.
And more!

The complete, compact and easy burning suite.

Cool Record Edit Deluxe helps you transfer tapes, LPs, live performances, Internet radio, TV, DVD, or any other sound source to your hard drive. The software helps protect your valuable recordings--just set the sound source, the recording quality, and volume, then start recording.

The Editor allows you to perform various operations with audio data such as displaying a waveform image of an audio file, filtering, applying various audio effects. It includes a click and crackle filter for cleaning vinyl records, a noise filter for cassette-tape recordings, and an equalizer to enhance the sound quality of all recordings. You can also use the build-in CD ripper to copy all or some of your music tracks from your personal CD collection.

Atlantis - a fabled city that is supposed to surpass all others in technology, beauty and government, until one day when after losing war with Athens falls victim to Mother Nature who sends her wrath in the form of earthquakes that surpass even the most powerful felt in Tokyo, volcanoes that cover the city with spewing lava and a tidal wave that completely engulfs the island burying it beneath the deep blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean for all time.

It takes only a few short hours for the city to become utterly devastated. It sits at the bottom of an ocean, lost for all time - almost. _Nine hundred years later the story reemerges with the infamous Greek philosopher Plato who recounts the fantastic tale in his books Timaeus and Critias, two books of a trilogy describing Atlantis and how the great continent was lost (Wong par. 5).

The story, carried down through history has been revived time and time again by new-age gurus who explain everything from the Nazca lines to the pyramids of Egypt and consequently those of the Inca and Mayan civilizations. It is more probable that Atlantis really was the result of the embellishments of imagination of a great philosopher than that of a lost civilization of great importance for its day. There is great likelihood that the early Grecian civilization of the Minoans and the lost city of Atlantis are one in the same (Friedrich 57). Based on the evidence which is scant at best, the similarities between what the archeological evidence of the Minoan civilization tell us and what Plato describes as Atlantis are striking.

Plato's description of a highly-advanced civilization would agree with the artifact records of this early Grecian colony who harnessed wind for boats and invented a toilet to stop the spread of disease (Nifty par. 3). The technology that the Minoans possessed surpassed much of what was in common at the time and their city planning was on par with Metropolises of today (Ancient par. 3). Atlantis was also described as an architecturally beautiful city with great buildings and towering statues (Atlantis). The Minoans too were known for their architectural genius creating magnificent palaces and sculptures of great beauty.

It is somehow uncanny to think that like Atlantis the Minoan Empire also suffered a similar fate of earthquakes ripping apart their city, and a volcano that could be felt miles away decimating what was left of the flourishing civilization (Friedrich 24). Even the geographic location that Plato describes would seem to fit in with the location of the Minoan civilization. The only great divide between these two civilizations lies in the chronological pathway between the two. But if one were to look past this one discrepancy there are unequivocal similarities left to discover, enough to possibly revive the theory that the Minoans and the Atlanteans are cut from the same cloth or rather are the same cloth.__There is truth in the fact that Minoans possessed technology that was unheard of for its day. Minoans were the first civilization to build a ship capable of travel by the power of the wind and it was by the use of this invention that the culture was able to maintain a city with no visible fortifications or any standing army to protect it (Kluth).

This well-know fact has often lead archeologists to believe that Minoans were a rather peaceful race of people. In fact, it was through their ability to thwart off foe by the use of their agile ships that could outrun and outmaneuver those that still used rowing as the primary form of propulsion that kept intruders and marauders at bay (Kluth). Minoans were also the true first inventors of the flush toilet for waste removal (Nifty par. 3). Because of this ingenious invention their city was relatively free from major diseases caused by excess fecal matter left in public areas where it could seep into drinking water or be carried by rats and other rodents and insects. The invention of the toilet and its use demonstrated that Minoans had an understanding about the need to contain bacteria growing waste products and its possible cause in the spread of disease and eventual death.

The Minoans also developed an intricate system of roadways for easily accessible travel. The road widths varied by population density and use and allowed for quick and easy movement from one area of the city to the next with multiple routes of entrance and escape (Ancient par. 3). If one road were used more than other roads it would be given priority when it came time to repair. This was unheard in this time where most roads were nothing more than muddy unmaintained trails.__Atlantis was a city completely surrounded by water and was assumed to have a strong naval fleet with a power unmatched (Atlantis). Plato stated that Atlantis had one of the strongest naval fleets in the world. It is also written that Atlantis traded with even the furthest reaches of the globe so a great naval ability would be paramount to their continued existence.

It is also rather coincidental that there was no mention in Plato's writings of any large-standing army as to do battle with the city marine warfare would be more important than armies and structural fortifications. This too was much like the Minoan civilization. It was common in writings of the time to mention the army sizes to show how great or how inept the city was militarily (i.e. Homer's The Odyssey and The Iliad where the armies of Troy are detailed) yet there is no mention of huge armies. Atlantis was supposedly a city that had conquered many areas in the surrounding regions (Atlantis). _How can one conquer without an army? This was achieved very simply with a navy blockading ports of the region so that food and supplies could not be delivered fast enough. _This great nation was also a city concerned with vanity.

The city of Atlantis has been described as a beautiful one (Atlantis). The city had no major outbursts of disease (examples of major disease outbreaks include Mesopotamia with the Bubonic plague (Bubonic par. 5)) and therefore likely that their ingenuity would be directed towards cleanliness and beautification. Atlantis was a civilization that has brought forth varying opinions from historians. But one thing that historians have little reason to disagree about are the intricate road systems that were to be found within the nation's walls. Even in Plato's descriptions we are left in awe of the intricacies of the engineering that had to have been studied, planned and implemented from the first road built (Stones par. 48). __The palace at Knossos and that of Phaistos and the palace at Mallia were all testaments to the Minoan architectural abilities.

Some encompassed more than twenty-two thousand square feet with more than 1,500 rooms contained within them. The walls and ceilings were frescoed and some reached heights of twelve meters (Matthews 1). The sculptures of the Minoan civilization were extremely detailed, more so than that of ancient Greece. What is truly astonishing is the fact that nearly all art, even the earliest forms showed more detail than later Grecian populations. It would then stand to reason that the techniques these groups used were far more advanced than anything of that time period. Even the materials that were used were far advanced in comparison to the rest of the region and the world. The Minoans were quick to adopt bronze and other metals and began working extensively with them before other settlers of the time.

Plato's description and later drawings of Atlantis have always shown it as a city that was architecturally inclined to be beautiful. The buildings Plato described were unimaginable in their design for that time. There were lavish temples and great government buildings (Jowett [Critias] par. 9). Their obvious technical achievements where structural construction was concerned were obviously far advanced to anything in the area (or the world for that matter). In Plato's writings there is also mention of great sculpture and artistic influence in the city (Jowett [Critias] par. 14). While no specifics are given about this topic, it could be extrapolated that it would be extremely grand considering the architectural abilities of the people.

The Atlanteans also wished to express their artistic side through their architecture. As was previously mentioned the Atlanteans took the time to build their city in concentric circles. While this served as a unique form of transport, it also added tremendously to the exterior appeal of the city.__The Minoans had a tremendous civilization whose time quickly came. One day during the late final millennium (after 1450 BCE) the end approached with fervor. A huge tsunami moved inland, wiping out their entire fleet of ships and many fo their buildings. Severe earthquakes struck the city ripping apart the cities, destroying their temples and palaces leaving thousands homeless. This weakened the city tremendously, and nature, as if entering the boxing ring for one last round dealt the final blow. With no buildings to hide behind, in, or under a volcano erupted and exploded lava with tremendous force.

The eruption was so violent that it could be felt and heard in cities for hundreds of miles in all directions - rivaling the eruption of Mount Saint Helen's (Kystek 16). This decimated any structures left standing and entirely wiped out the civilization (Walker 107). The majority of the island was swept away. After a few decades water encroached upon the area and began engulfing the land where the cities once stood. It would be likely that there were other Minoans who were off on trade routes, vacation trips or for other reasons that would take from their home, what would permit this civilization to share their technological and cultural advancements with other civilizations. _As Atlanteans awoke one day they had no idea that that day would be their last. As myth would explain Poseidon, Greek god of the sea became enraged at the city for their arrogance and called up the sea to swallow them alive. Since no primary evidence exists one cannot discount the validity of this story but the more probable explanation is similar to that of the Minoans.

First earthquakes devastated the city, then volcanoes reeked havoc on the architecture and finally, a tidal wave swallowed the sea dragging it to the bottom of the ocean (Collins 102). Of course, Plato was not alive at the time of this event and his sources are dubious at best. It would be assumed that a small number of expatriates were not on Atlantis when this occurred and that Plato could only receive this story from a person or group who were related to the lost city's inhabitants. It is also possible (although less plausible) that the story had been passed down by a trader or sailor who had once or frequently visited the continent.

This is of course is less plausible as it would seem strangely odd that the sailor would only reveal this to Plato. Since, from basic cultural values those of lesser social classes would not have mingled with those of the higher classes (such as a philosopher) it would make little sense that a sailor and a philosopher would have occasion to discussion these events.__The Minoan civilization was founded on the isle of Crete, located in the Aegean Sea. For thousands of years their Bronze Age civilization flourished and grew on the island. Plato writes in Timaeus:__"This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles...and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent.

Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia." (Jowett par. 40).__Plato describes the city of Atlantis as being near the Straits of Heracles, commonly known as the Straits of Gibraltar. Plato describes the water behind the Straits as being the harbour where the city of Atlantis dwelled. Plato also describes the island of Atlantis as a way to the rest of the continent, a transportation hub. This would fit with what is known of the Minoans since they often sailed to far off lands to trade and they likely would have ferried passengers as well.__The only great discrepancy between Atlantis and the great Minoan civilization is the time frame for which they existed.

While Atlantis was claimed to have existed in or around the year 9000 BCE, placing it well before any other civilization known to man, it does not agree with the fossil records of the ancient Minoan cities. These cities have been proven to exist from 900 BCE onward (Kyrstek par. 18). While the coincidence between the two cannot be ignored and the number 9000 could merely be a mistranslation for 900 or even a spelling error (after all Plato was a human), if we assume Plato was correct this would completely discount that the theory of Atlantis having any relation to Minoan civilization. Unfortunately, due to obvious limitations it is impossible to verify whether or not these are the actual numbers and as a result, the mystery deepens -- further. __Both Atlantis and the Minoan civilization share much in common, their geographical similarities and their technological and architectural abilities and similar stories of destruction. While there is little evidence around the city of Atlantis today, the similarities between what is described by archeologists and what Plato writes about are simply too coincidental to be a byproduct of chance. Even though there is a major discrepancy involving the date for both civilizations, it seems possible and even probable that these two civilizations are in fact one in the same._




Sources Cited__"Ancient Greek Civilisations" eMuseum. On-line. Internet. Date: unknown._ Available: http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/prehistory/aegean/pre-greece/minoan/minoan.html__"Atlantis" Atlantis n. pag. On-line. Internet. Date: unknown._ Available: http://www.angelfire.com/ri/allfantasy/atlantis.html__"Bubonic Plague" All Free Essays. On-line. Internet. Date: Unknown._ Available: http://allfreeessays.com/student/free/The_Bubonic_Plague.shtml__Collins, Andrew. Gateway to Atlantis : the search for the source of a lost civilization. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers: Distributed by Publishers Group West, 2000.__Friedrich, Walter L. Fire in the sea : the Santorini volcano : natural history and the legend of Atlantis. Cambridge [England]: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 2000__Jowett, Benjamin "Critias by Plato" Sacred-Texts. n. pag On-line. Internet. Date _Unknown._ Available: http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/critias.txt__Jowett, Benjamin "Timaeus by Plato" The Internet Classics Archive. n. pag. On-line. _Internet. Date Unknown. _Available: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.1b.txt__Kluth, Frederick John "Minoan Culture" The Role of Women in Ancient Greek Art _n. pag. On-line. Internet. 2003._Available: http://apk.net/~fjk/minoan.html__"Nifty History Tidbits" Gaelic's page of Goodies On-line. Internet. 2000_ Available: http://gaelic.freeservers.com/historytidbits.html__Wilson, Colin. The Atlantis blueprint : unlocking the ancient mysteries of a long-lost civilization. New York: Delacorte Press, 2000.__Wong, Barton. "Topic #D38 - Plato, Timaeus" Ancient Philosophy On-line. Internet._ 2001. Available: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~dhutchin/d5a.htm