As long as pearl jewelry have been known to people, they have been a highly sought commodity for their beauty. It's only in recent times however that the industry has taken the hunt for the perfect pearl to a whole different level. Today, the shiny orbs that we see on in display in jewelry stores have actually almost always been grown in farms. That's a far cry from the dangerous extraction and collection methods used before the invention of modern technology. In the past, not more than 100 years ago, the only way to retrieve pearls was by diving in lakes, floods and the ocean to pick them up, one at the time. The unfortunate divers who'se job it was to do this, were often poor and lured by the relative large sums they could get. The diver would sometimes have to dive as deep as 100 feet on one single breath of air. In order to preserve air and to stay submerged the longest, the divers would hold on to heavy stones on the way down. Naturally, this dangerous activity was reserved for the desperate or the powerless - in many cases slaves or extremely poor peasents. Today, this method is all but obsolete in most places of the world. The cheaper cultured pearls have become popular and are many times the only pearls available to the consumer. There are however still a few isolated areas that practice this old art of pearl diving. Some of the finest natural pearl speciments come from the gulf of Bahrain. Here, divers still risk their health to retrieve what are considered the top of the crop in the world. In fact, Bahrain wants no part of the sale of cultured pearls, banned from trade. Bahrain is one of the few places on earth that does an active job in trying to preserve the natural habitat and waters from pollution. It's an interesting story and one that continues to fascinate buyers around the world. Somehow, the beauty of the pearl grows when it's been retrieved from the depth of the ocean.

Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online. Pearls Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials. Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated. Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre. A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.

As long as pearl jewelry have been known to people, they have been a highly sought commodity for their beauty. It's only in recent times however that the industry has taken the hunt for the perfect pearl to a whole different level. Today, the shiny orbs that we see on in display in jewelry stores have actually almost always been grown in farms. That's a far cry from the dangerous extraction and collection methods used before the invention of modern technology. In the past, not more than 100 years ago, the only way to retrieve pearls was by diving in lakes, floods and the ocean to pick them up, one at the time. The unfortunate divers who'se job it was to do this, were often poor and lured by the relative large sums they could get. The diver would sometimes have to dive as deep as 100 feet on one single breath of air. In order to preserve air and to stay submerged the longest, the divers would hold on to heavy stones on the way down. Naturally, this dangerous activity was reserved for the desperate or the powerless - in many cases slaves or extremely poor peasents. Today, this method is all but obsolete in most places of the world. The cheaper cultured pearls have become popular and are many times the only pearls available to the consumer. There are however still a few isolated areas that practice this old art of pearl diving. Some of the finest natural pearl speciments come from the gulf of Bahrain. Here, divers still risk their health to retrieve what are considered the top of the crop in the world. In fact, Bahrain wants no part of the sale of cultured pearls, banned from trade. Bahrain is one of the few places on earth that does an active job in trying to preserve the natural habitat and waters from pollution. It's an interesting story and one that continues to fascinate buyers around the world. Somehow, the beauty of the pearl grows when it's been retrieved from the depth of the ocean.

Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online. Pearls Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials. Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated. Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre. A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.

The American economy flipped from recession to recovery over the summer, a bit of sunshine news just before the weekend that ends daylight saving time.

But even President Obama, who claims his stimulus spending has created or saved 650,000 jobs so far, isn't celebrating quite yet.

The news of a 3.5 percent rise in pearl jewelry economic growth was met with plenty of "Is this a trick or a treat?" comments by market watchers. And Mr. Obama himself warned that the US economy has "a long way to go" to being fully restored.

Indeed, coming back from the longest economic contraction since World War II will require a careful assessment of what has worked so far to avoid making policy mistakes. Economists are still debating what ended the Great Depression, which was triggered 80 years ago this month by the 1929 stock market crash.

With midterm elections for Congress a year away, politicians will be focused on job creation. More than 4 million jobs have been lost so far this year, a source of great suffering for many Americans. And the unemployment rate, now double what it was two years ago and at a 26-year high, could rise above 10 percent soon and stay high a while even as the economy itself recovers.

The job losses would have been higher if not for the $787 billion stimulus plan, the government's "cash for clunkers" boost in new-car sales, and the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

But such spending, which largely takes money out of the biwa pearl economy to spend it elsewhere, is temporary.

Real job creation comes from the more fundamental levers of government, such as actions by the Federal Reserve and US Treasury to stabilize banks and Wall Street and to keep interest rates low. Fresh capital invested in innovative, globally competitive enterprises is what really creates the best high-paying, long-lasting jobs.

While the Obama administration claims some $150 billion of $339 billion in stimulus money spent through Sept. 30 has created and saved jobs ¨C mainly in state and local governments ¨C this accounting is incomplete. Left unassessed is the impact of the Recovery Act's $288 billion in tax cuts, and how that incentive may be spurring business to restock shelves and hire innovative workers. (The average rate of productivity for American workers has jumped during this recession.)

Investments by venture capitalists so far this year are still about half of what they were compared with a year ago. And layoffs among the most important workers spurring innovation ¨C scientists and engineers ¨C has been greater than for most other types of workers.

While the stimulus package does provide incentives for innovation in energy and also boosts worker retraining for high-tech jobs, the money isn't coming quickly enough. Almost two-thirds of the impetus behind the rise in the gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2009 was because of higher consumer spending.

That was unusually high. And in fact, consumer spending plunged in September, in large part because of the end of the akoya pearl cash-for-clunkers program.

Instead, private investment needs to become a higher portion of what drives economic growth. Creating that investor confidence won't be easy, but it's essential.

A nice uptick in the economy over the summer is welcomed news. Now let's make sure that it lasts by putting more capital to work in order to get Americans back to work. 

Chuck Norris has more Facebook friends than you do. Chuck Norris wrestles with bears (see video below). Chuck Norris is a hunter. Chuck Norris is never taken by surprise. And Chuck Norris knows exactly where you are, every second of the day.

Don¡¯t believe us? Try this. Navigate over to pearl jewelry Google. In the search field, type the following phrase: ¡°Google Chuck Norris.¡±

But instead of hitting the search key, try the button that reads, ¡°I¡¯m feeling lucky.¡± Google will tell you that no standard web results were found. It will also tell you, in bright red font, that ¡°Google won¡¯t search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don¡¯t find Chuck Norris, he finds you.¡±

It¡¯s true, folks. Chuck Norris is a master of the 21st century digital landscape. No obstacle is too high. Chuck Norris, for biwa pearl instance, has over 5 million fans on Facebook. That puts him in the upper echelons of Facebook¡¯s superstar culture. How many Facebook friends do you have?

Chuck is also a master of akoya pearl modern politics. Last month, Chuck Norris told true American patriots that they should proudly fly the flag dip their flag in warm tea. Take down that regular old American flag, Chuck Norris said ¨C it¡¯s no longer bold enough for these troubled times.

Instead, ¡°post the 13-star Betsy Ross flag, Navy Jack or Gadsden flag (¡¯Don¡¯t Tread on Me¡¯) or any representation that tells the story of Old Glory and makes a stand for our Founders¡¯ vision of America,¡± Chuck Norris wrote.

Windows 7 enjoyed a warm reception this week. The fresh software won over many reviewers and users ¨C and seems to have successfully washed away the stain left on the company by Windows Vista.

However, as we wrote in our official Windows 7 review roundup last week, Vista received great initial reviews. Soon after the older operating system launched in 2007, opinions soured.

As Reuters reminded us:

    In a 2006 review, PC World said, ¡°All in all, Windows Vista is a great leap forward for the operating system.¡± While he stands by those words, writer Preston Gralla said he regretted not testing Vista on a pearl jewelry wider variety of hardware, because many issues arose after the event, when users had had time to play with the software ¡ª a requirement that he believes is diminished for Windows 7.

    ¡°I certainly have learned from the Vista experience to try as hard as I possibly can to try to get the kind of hardware people are using to review it on,¡± he said.

The wire service pointed out an important lesson that many tech sites seemed to follow this year.

So, one week in, how is Windows 7 doing? Pretty well, according to most indicators.

Reports still say that Windows 7 offers better battery life for PCs. Speed tests show that it¡¯s not actually quicker than XP or Vista in most situation (though it does shut down faster) but some how Windows 7 seems speedier in aesthetic, intangible ways. And many users are pleased with the biwa pearl reduced fluff-ware footprint, thanks to Microsoft scaling back the amount of extra software that comes pre-installed with Windows.

A helpful but very un-scientific sampling of Monitor readers also relayed mostly positive experiences with the new OS.

¡°One thing I love about this OS¡­ It¡¯s faster then XP, I haven¡¯t had one driver, software or speed problems,¡± wrote Monitor commenter Andrej. ¡°Everything is fully customizable, and from the start, your UI is clean, simple, and ready for the user. The OS is the people¡¯s again.¡±

Commenter rockon0921 was also pleased with Windows 7. ¡°Well the time I¡¯ve had with 7 it is by far better than vista,¡± he writes. ¡°Run like xp with some nice eye candy. Tons of options to personalize to akoya pearl your liking and not really alot of software compatibility problems and for those out there with mac I mean I don¡¯t have 1200-1500 to spend on a cpu.¡±

But not all of our commenters were happy. ¡°Having used every single version of Windows since its inception I can honestly say I had more problems with Windows 7 yesterday than all the rest of them combined!¡± wrote Jay after our review roundup. ¡°Simple routines would hang with the infamous (Not Responding) that I got so tired of in Windows Vista, but this time I had to shut down the computer manually in order to get rid of them.¡±

And Steve Farley commented on our site that Vista has scared him away from the new OS, at least for now. ¡°I paid $150 for Vista and installed it on my Dell laptop, nothing worked on my PC after that. I had to buy a new copy of XP and pay a guy to install it for me because like I said nothing worked, no C drive. All total, $300 for NOTHING. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll fall Microsoft hype about how great W7 is. I can¡¯t afford it.¡±

Now, after the New York Yankees beat them 8-5 in Game 3 of the World Series, they are.

Down two games to one is hardly backs-against-the-wall time. But the Phillies will possibly go with their No. 4 pitcher ¨C the capable but unspectacular Joe Blanton ¨C against Yankee's ace C.C. Sabathia Sunday. If they lose, they will be a game from elimination with only one game remaining in Philadelphia before the series shifts back to pearl jewelry Yankee Stadium.

None of this fazes Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel. "We'll come out tomorrow and try to even play better and harder," said Mr. Manuel in the post-game press conference. "We're that kind of team."

Nor are the Yankees planning the ticker tape parade yet. The Phillies are a team of sluggers, and Citizen's Bank Park breathed new life into the two teams' slumping offenses Saturday night, with six home runs flying out of the park.

"It seems like you could have a slugfest," said Yankee rightfielder Nick Swisher, who accounted for one of them.

But it was Alex Rodriguez's shot into right field in the fourth that ignited the Yankees. A-Rod's blast barely cleared the fence and was initially called a double. But, in the first utilization of the replay rule in postseason history, the umpires ruled it bounced off a camera on top of the biwa pearl wall and was a home run.

"It was a big hit, it really got us going," said Yankee manager Joe Girardi.

Yankee pitching, too, needed a few innings to get going. The Phils started quicker, putting three runs on the board in the second inning. Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte said the 1 hour, 20 minute rain delay affected his timing. "It was a grind," he said.

By contrast, Phillie lefty Cole Hamels executed his manager's strategy perfectly early on. Manager Manuel said the art of pitching was to "get ahead of the batter, then try to make the hitter hit what the pitcher wants to throw.

Hamels did. He pounded the strike zone with first pitch strikes. "I thought he did real good in the first three innings," said Manuel.

Then came Rodriguez's homer in the akoya pearl fourth. Hamels couldn't even get out of the fifth, retiring one before making way for a bullpen that conceded three more.

Former Yankee manager Joe Torre used to consider game three pivotal. However, Girardi is less emphatic, calling it only an important game. But there is clearly a sense of urgency in Philadelphia. "We better get going in Game 4," said Manuel.

Before the game began, the Philly fans partied outside the Park, many wearing Halloween costumes. There were beat-up Yankees (only in terms of makeup), Hulk Hogans, fans in gorilla suits, and one fan ¨C Justin Elanjian ¨C dressed as Rocky Balboa, the fictional Philadelphia boxing comeback kid.

After losing game three they may need him.

Google logo changes are nothing new. Sometimes they¡¯re just more unpredictable than others. Earlier this month, for example, the web went crazy trying to understand why Google replaced its logo with a pearl jewelry bar code.

Duh! They were celebrating the 57th anniversary of the first bar code patent. The web then went nuts when word spread that you could make your own bar code. We joined into the nuttiness by explaining how to do that.

In mid-September, Google saluted HG Wells¡¯ ¡°War of the Worlds¡± by swapping out its doodle with a UFO hovering over a bunch of biwa pearl crop circles which spelled the search engine¡¯s name. How is that 1898 novel related to crop circles? OK. We¡¯ll let you in on the secret. And it has nothing to do with that Halo cloud over Moscow that people thought was a UFO.

It doesn¡¯t always have to be something wacky in order for Google to give the event front page love. Earlier this month, Google celebrated the 140th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi by replacing the ¡°G¡± with a drawing of the akoya pearl Indian leader.

What¡¯s next? Who knows? Google is kinda wacky when it comes to what they want to acknowledge. What do you think?