Through their visits, MPCS students are intentionally developing relationships with the children at FML.

After more than a decade of partnership with FML during the Christmas season, Mount Paran has come alongside this ministry to give greater support to them through servant-leadership.

As part of the ‘“Action in Truth” initiative through the Christian Life department, MPCS is intentionally partnering with several local schools and ministries on a weekly or monthly basis.

“Getting our kids to spend valuable time in service is what changes hearts and minds,” said Director of Christian Life, Aaron Farrant. “Until a young person puts themselves in someone else’s shoes, they can¹t relate to the needs of others on a personal level.”

Birthed from 1 John 3:18:

Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

The initiative has been a success within several grade levels that have put this on-going service into practice.

Mount Paran students also serve almost every week at MUST Ministries, Calvary Children’s Home, Walton Adventure Centers, Hayes Elementary, and Gaines Park Senior Living.

At Feed My Lambs, MPCS students work with the preschool children academically and also spend quality time doing one-on-one crafts and games.

They pray for each child by name to help foster a mentoring dynamic. Students get on the floor to play and engage with each small child. Bible stories are shared and each preschooler feels cherished by the “big kids” that come to visit them often.

Leaders and students also pray over the class and their teachers. Many times the sentiment has been reciprocated as the FML teachers pray for their fifth-grade visitors.

While not on an official visit, both school’s classes are writing letters and sending handmade cards and pictures back-and-forth.

The ultimate goal is to not only show love to these young children, but to prepare students for a lifestyle of service both by modeling and by experience.
The mission of preparing servant-leaders to honor God, love others, and walk in Truth is lived out everyday in the halls of the school. But it is also taken beyond the familiar walls of the classroom to impact hearts for Jesus.

Both the servant and the ones being served benefit from the initiatives engaged by action and truth.

Angie Wilson, fifth grade parapro, said she feels this has been such a success for our kids and the Feed My Lambs children.

“I know that I certainly have been blessed,” she said.

When is a football field not a football field?

When it becomes a house of worship.

Such was the case Wednesday, October 12 on the William A. Cooper Memorial Field of Mount Paran Christian School (MPCS).

Middle and high school students from across Cobb County, joined with students from MPCS for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes evening of worship and inspiration. Students and families sat and heard from coaches, other students, community leaders, and motivational speakers.

C.L. “Shep” Shepherd, the keynote speaker, delivered an impactful message to our student athletes. As a former football player, Shep has participated on every level of competition. Today he is founder and CEO of Keep the Change, Inc., an organization dedicated to investing in the lives of student athletes.

Joining Shepherd was Blake Goss-who led worship-the Harrison FCA Band, and Jamie Goodwin who shared her special testimony.

Teisha Venable Ault, an MPCS parent and attendee at the event, commented on the touching event and the impact it made on her family.

“It was such a magical night,” she said. “This has blessed us all. This has increased the faith of my children, also. They even mentioned to me that night that this is my vision.”

Ault was so moved that she shared the following message with other involved at MPCS about the stadium’s numerous possibilities.

“My vision I shared with Dr. David Tilley, Headmaster, and Tawanna Rusk, Head of High School, was that our school stadium was built for more opportunities, more than just sports or political figures using it. Our stadium was built to be the beacon of light in our community to bring families together to praise and worship our Lord.

God is going to use our school to heal our community. There are so many issues with drugs and other unfortunate circumstances happening. I believe that we can share hope and make a difference for our young people and our parents in Cobb County.

I ended up not going down on the field as I just wanted to see the beautiful vision from the stadium looking down at the amazing site of these young people praying. While standing in the stadium I saw young man, and in my excitement, I shared with him the vision I had about this gathering, not knowing it would be a “Fields of Faith.” My family attended Fields of Faith in Cherokee County five years ago, so we were familiar with the impact of this event. This young gentleman turned out to be Cameron Tidwell, who is not only in charge of our West Cobb FCA, but would be in charge of the 2017 Fields of Faith event.

Cameron shared with me that the Fields of Faith event was originally scheduled for North Cobb High School, but wound up being moved to Mount Paran Christian School. Well, this increased my faith even more! As a result of our meeting, I now plan to help him with implementing FCA groups within the school and help advertise for Fields of Faith. Cameron and I agreed we can fill our entire stadium and including having people on the field in our end zones!

God is always at work in our lives if we can just be sensitive to the Holy Spirit God can make huge changes in our world!”

Five candidates will take the stage of the Kristi Lynn Theater Friday, October 14 at 1:45 p.m. as they give their speeches outlining their platform for the middle school student body.

The idea of a middle school student forum began in 1972 when Dr. David Tilley was the assistant principal at Griffin Middle School in Smyrna.

“I have always been a political junkie, and wanted to share the political process with my students,” Tilley said. “The best way was to have the students experience the craziness and energy that defines an American political convention.”

The middle school conventions continued when Dr. Tilley came to Mount Paran Christian School. First it was in the mid-1980s and then again in 2004. The conventions have grown in presentations and excitement from the students each year.

This year five eighth grade students have thrown their hat in the ring to run for president. Raphael Parent, Zachary Fors, Sydnee Brothers, Noah Roberts, and Caroline Roberts have each appointed a campaign manager as well.

Every year the convention opened with a prayer from the outgoing president. Anton Oswald, who served as president last year, will open this year’s convention.

When asked about his greatest accomplishment this past year as president, Oswald responded without hesitation.

“Uniting the student body of our middle school in fellowship, was something that needed to be accomplished,” he said. “We had been divided for too long by grade affiliation. Now we identify ourselves as middle schoolers united!”

The roll call of states comes next. Middle school students -grades six through eighth- are divided into “states” a few weeks in advance and allowed to name their states.

These names range from State of Confusion, to State of Hippies, State of Commercials, State of Disney, and more. They dress like their state and campaign for the candidate of their choice. The demonstrations on the convention floor can be very high charged.

The candidates speak and then the first votes are cast. Sometimes it takes several rounds of voting to reach a final decision. But the decision is eventually reached and a new president is elected.

This is Paul Montaperto’s first year as the middle school’s head at Mount Paran Christian School, and his first student forum. He spoke about what he was looking forward to at this event.

“I’m looking forward to hearing the students demonstrate the voice of their peers in an enthusiastic and positive way, “he said. “It is an opportunity for our students to learn the importance of civility and how to demonstrate love and respect for one another in a political forum.”

A new report published by the Guttmacher Institute states that research using fetal tissue may be endangered by last summer’s smear campaign against Planned Parenthood, according to a recent article by thenation.com.

Fetal tissue is often used in traumatic brain injury research, according to an article by Marek Molcanyi, MD PhD, Clinic of Neurosurgery; University of Cologne.

“Stem cell transplantation has been proposed for various indications like Parkinson and Huntington disease, … spinal cord injury … and traumatic brain injury (TBI),” Molcanyi explained in the article.

Scientists like Dr. Lawrence Goldstein at the University of California, San Diego, use fetal tissue for research on the brain and on spinal cord injury. The article on thenation.com says such scientific inquiry is increasingly threatened – often literally.

“We are cautious,” Goldstein says in the article. “We’ve raised physical security in our laboratory building.”

After an anti-abortion organization released videos portraying Planned Parenthood as callously haggling the price of aborted fetuses, thenation.com reports legislators have attempted to restrict research using such material, while scientists have found their work limited and riskier.

“Beyond the attacks on Planned Parenthood,” the report says, “the use of fetal tissue in research also is under direct attack.”

Fetal tissue has been used for scientific research since the 1930s. The tissue is derived from abortion because tissue from miscarriage is often not suitable for research,” according to the article.

Traumatic brain injury is just one of the many issues scientist might use fetal tissue to conduct further research on.

“Cell cultures from fetal tissue have been used to develop vaccines for measles, polio and tetanus, among other diseases. Scientists at Colorado State have been conducting HIV research using fetal tissue, while at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, cell culture derived from fetal tissue has been central to work on Hepatitis B and C,” the article reads. “The National Institutes of Health awarded grants for 164 research projects using fetal tissue in 2014, according to a survey byNature. Today, fetal tissue is being used in the development of vaccines against Ebola and HIV, the study of human development, and efforts to treat and cure conditions and diseases that afflict millions of Americans.”

Theresa Naluai-Cecchini, a scientist at the University of Washington told Mother Jones last October that the number of tissue donations had dropped dramatically. She worried that if the trend continued, “promising research would stop until a commercial alternative is found. The cost of research would increase dramatically, and new findings would take considerably longer.”

Some scientists have avoided talking to the media all-together, for fear of attacks.

Bills introduced on both the state and federal level would make it more difficult to donate tissue or use fetal tissue in research, according to the report. Some would ban fetal tissue research outright.

For more information, read the full article here.

A Madison woman called the fire department Thursday, Feb. 11, after she became ill while using a wood-burning stove.

An article by the Wisconsin State Journal reported the North Side woman, who lives at a residence on Bonner Lane, feared carbon monoxide poison and wanted the fire department to check her home following the incident.

“She started the stove in the basement for the first time this winter,” said Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster. “She noticed the smoke wasn’t exiting through the flue very well, and was starting to come back into the house.”

The woman began to experience symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning such as nausea and a headache. After she put the fire out, she drove herself to the hospital and called the fire department.

Firefighters investigated the incident, using air monitors to test the levels of carbon monoxide in the home, but didn’t detect elevated levels, according to Schuster.

“Because the fire was out for awhile and could have been the cause of her symptoms, the resident was advised not to use the stove until it could be inspected,” the article reads.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas that causes thousands of deaths each year in North America. Breathing in carbon monoxide is very dangerous and is the leading cause of poisoning death in the United States.

Carbon monoxide poison can also lead to irreversible brain damage.

When you breathe in carbon monoxide, the poison replaces the oxygen in your bloodstream. Your heart, brain and body become starved of oxygen.

Carbon monoxide can be found in anything that burns gasoline, kerosene oil, wood or coal. Some possible culprits include automobile engines, propane heaters, water heaters that use natural gas, stoves and charcoal grills.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning may include (but are not limited to):

• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Coma
• Confusion
• Convulsions
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Fainting
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Impaired judgment
• Irritability
• Low blood pressure
• Muscle weakness
• Rapid or abnormal heartbeat
• Shock
• Nausea and vomiting
• Unconsciousness

Read the full list of symptoms and other information here.

Animals can also be poisoned by carbon monoxide.

If you suspect a person or animal has breathed in carbon monoxide, immediately move him or her to fresh air and seek medical help.

A recent study released by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reveals male infants are more vulnerable to brain injury.

According to the study, each year, thousands of newborn babies suffer complications during pregnancy or birth that deprive their brains of oxygen and nutrient-rich blood and result in brain injury.

This deprivation results in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which can lead to long-term neurological issues such as learning disabilities, cerebral palsy or even death. The newborn’s body can compensate for brief periods of depleted oxygen, but if the asphyxia lasts too long, brain tissue is destroyed. The timing and severity of asphyxia can affect the area of the brain that sustains the injury.

Birth asphyxia causes 840,000 or 23 percent of all neonatal deaths worldwide. Researchers have known for some time that male infants are more vulnerable to HIE, but why has remained a mystery.

Pelin Cengiz, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison led the study, which was published this week in the journal eNeuro. Researchers discovered that a particular protein called estrogen receptor α, or ERα for short, found in the brains of both male and female mice is found in higher levels in females. The protein offers the female mice stronger protection against HIE.

When the researchers studied the brains of male and female mice that could make the ERα protein, they learned that levels of this protective protein were significantly higher in female compared to male brains following oxygen deprivation and reduced blood flow.

“Under normal circumstances the brains of male and female mice have similar amounts of ERα,” says Cengiz, who is now exploring why ERα levels increase in female but not male brains after HIE.

“Understanding the mechanism of how female brains are more resistant to damage from oxygen deprivation and reduced blood flow is a first step toward helping newborns of both sexes recover after suffering from HIE and live functional lives. It could also lead to more effective therapies and treatments for both genders,” Cengiz said.

For the full article and more information on this topic, click here.

Signs and symptoms (click here for more information):

Mild hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

• Muscle tone may be slightly increased and deep tendon reflexes may be brisk during the first few days
• Transient behavioral abnormalities, such as poor feeding, irritability, or excessive crying or sleepiness (typically in an alternating pattern), may be observed
• Typically resolves in 24 hours

Moderately severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

• The infant is lethargic, with significant hypotonia and diminished deep tendon reflexes
• The grasping, Moro, and sucking reflexes may be sluggish or absent
• The infant may experience occasional periods of apnea
• Seizures typically occur early within the first 24 hours after birth
• Full recovery within 1-2 weeks is possible and is associated with a better long-term outcome

Severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

Seizures can be delayed and severe and may be initially resistant to conventional treatments. The seizures are usually generalized, and their frequency may increase during the 24-48 hours after onset, correlating with the phase of reperfusion injury.

As the injury progresses, seizures subside and the electroencephalogram becomes isoelectric or shows a burst suppression pattern. At that time, wakefulness may deteriorate further, and the fontanelle may bulge, suggesting increasing cerebral edema.

Other symptoms include the following:

• Stupor or coma is typical; the infant may not respond to any physical stimulus except the most noxious.
• Breathing may be irregular, and the infant often requires ventilatory support.
• Generalized hypotonia and depressed deep tendon reflexes are common.
• Neonatal reflexes (eg, sucking, swallowing, grasping, Moro) are absent.
• Disturbances of ocular motion, such as a skewed deviation of the eyes, nystagmus, bobbing, and loss of “doll’s eye” (ie, conjugate) movements may be revealed by cranial nerve examination.
• Pupils may be dilated, fixed, or poorly reactive to light.
• Irregularities of heart rate and blood pressure are common during the period of reperfusion injury, as is death from cardiorespiratory failure.

More than 30 million vehicles spanning 12 automakers have been recalled because of faulty airbags supplied by Takata, a company that supplies airbag inflators to car manufacturers such as Ford, Honda, and Acura.

The faulty inflators have been found to randomly explode, sending particles toward the driver and other passengers. In November 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration required car manufacturers to recall any vehicles made with these faulty airbags. And today, that recall continues to expand with Honda Motors adding another 2.23 million of its late model U.S. vehicles to the list. Although many of the Honda models affected date back to 2005, there are some 2015 and 2016 models contained in the recent list (see below).

In order for an airbag to inflate, ammonium nitrate is required to create a minor explosion. If the compound is exposed to heat and moisture, it will break down over time and become corrupted. Corrupted ammonium nitrate can cause a more forceful explosion that can bursts the metal container that’s designed to keep the explosion in check.

Although approximately 140 injuries and 11 fatalities have been connected with the airbag defect, Honda stated that the company is not aware of any inflator malfunctions of this kind in its vehicles.

Back in November, Honda recalled more than 5 million vehicles in the United States that contained the defective airbags.

Honda has said it will replace the airbag inflators at no cost to the owner of the affected vehicles, but stated the replacement components will not be available for several months. Regions of the U.S. that are more humid will receive the replacement parts before other areas of the country.

Honda Vehicle Models that are subject to the new recall include:

• 2005-2012 Acura RL
• 2007-2011 Honda CR-V
• 2007-2016 Acura RDX (early production model year 2016 vehicles only)
• 2007-2014 Honda Ridgeline
• 2009-2014 Honda Fit
• 2009-2014 Acura TL
• 2010-2014 Honda FCX Clarity
• 2010-2014 Honda Insight
• 2010-2013 Acura ZDX
• 2011-2015 Honda CR-Z
• 2013-2016 Acura ILX (early production model year 2016 vehicles only)

Honda said the most up-to-date consumer information about the recalls can be obtained at www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com, or by calling 888-234-2138.

Driving a car with this type of defect can be extremely dangerous. Pieces of metal can spray out into the car, penetrating the body and causing severe head injury or even death. Honda dealers have been asked to stop selling any vehicles that were affected by the recall. Many dealers are offering rental cars to customers who are waiting for their airbags to be repaired. If a dealer fails to repair one of the affected cars, the dealer will be responsible for any lawsuits arising from injury due to the defective airbags.

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Why Anti-aging Is Not a Myth Anymore

Whether it’s a mischievous boy who can fly and will never grow old, a telepathic vampire who falls in love with a young woman, or an elderly man who ages in reverse – there’s no denying that Americans are obsessed with finding the cure for old age.

Tales of a Fountain of Youth may seem like a story derived from ancient legends, but advanced medicine is proving that anti-aging isn’t just a myth in books and Hollywood movies. Scientific advancements have shown that aging is no longer inevitable.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), 15.6 million cosmetic procedures were performed in America in 2014. That’s a 3 percent increase since 2013. And while many people choose to go under the knife to reverse the signs of aging, many are opting for minimally-invasive procedures to achieve similar results. In fact, 13.9 million people underwent such a procedure in 2014, a 4 percent increase since 2013.

One such procedure is Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy (PRP).

PRP therapy is a revolutionary repair system that uses the body’s own healing powers to slow or even reverse the aging process. The therapy involves harvesting platelets from the patient’s own blood and injecting them into problem areas. The process uses minimal blood, which is then separated. The red blood cells are taken out and what is left is platelet-rich plasma, which contains high contents of growth-factor proteins.

Growth factor proteins can help to heal injured tissues or damaged skin. Because of its ability to stimulate repair and rejuvenate skin, PRP is not only beneficial in anti-aging, but is often used for regenerative repair, pain management in muscle and tendon injuries, and in damaged tissues for burn victims.

An article released by RBell Medical, LLC, tells the story of Delivery My Grub Executive VP Jeannie Heinz, who suffered severe burns to 30 percent of her body when a disgruntled former employee attempted to torch the company’s office. Heinz underwent a combination of therapies to minimize her tissue damage, including PRP.

“And it’s working,” said Heinz.

PRP is also used in cases of acute and chronic pain. PRP injections have been shown to reduce pain in patients who have suffered muscle, ligament or tendon injuries. Patients at Jersey Rehab Pain Management have reported considerable, if not total, pain relief following PRP injections.

This relatively new treatment is not only giving a biological boost to the healing process, but its reversing the clock for patients who prefer a minimally-invasive procedure to restore their youth.

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The Atlanta real estate market appears to be in transition, as is the greater U.S. economy.  Back in 2007 when the real estate market collapsed, Atlanta was no exception to the rest of the economy.  Droves of housing developments and single family homes went bankrupt, and the foreclosure rate sky rocketed in metro Atlanta.  Along with the real estate market collapse, the unemployment rate spiked and the economy in Atlanta went the way of the greater US economy.

The economic collapse translated into the need for most of metro Atlanta to “recover and rebuild”.  That is with one exception, Berkshire Hathaway and its founder Warren Buffet.  Whenever there’s a collapse in a particular market, you can expect Berkshire and Mr. Buffet will soon be coming in with investment dollars to capitalize on the wreckage.  This is not the case for every market, but Buffet has the gift of finding a company or two that shows signs of life amongst the ruin.

One recent example is found in the drop in oil prices and the negative impact it’s having on companies, as many small oil refiners are going out of business or being acquired.  Yet Berkshire Hathaway can’t seem to get enough of Phillips 66, one of the world’s biggest independent oil refiners.  Back in August, Berkshire announced its ownership stake in Phillips 66 was up to 10%.  And according to recent SEC filing, Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake by purchasing 2.54 million shares of Phillips 66, spending about $198 million in the transaction.

Atlanta Real Estate & Home Services Market

It now looks like Berkshire Hathaway is now turning to the Atlanta real estate market as they have recently increased their activity in partnering with metro Atlanta real estate companies.  A couple recent examples is Realtor Marsha Sell and the Sell Team who have joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties, along with The Lund Group, who is among the top 1 percent of agents in the U.S. with over 950 homes sold and more than $532 million in real estate transactions.  The Lund Group will join the Alpharetta and North Fulton County Office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties.

All of this points to the notion of a turn around in the metro Atlanta real estate market.  And as the real estate market strengthens, so will the entire home services industry.  All of which points to a turn around in the overall economy in metro Atlanta.  From homebuilders to carpet cleaners, to roofers, plumbers, and electricians, the turn around in the real estate market can mean a strong comeback for the entire Atlanta economy.

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With the iPhone 5 making its debut today, you’ll definitely be wanting to keep your eye out for some great iPhone 5 case deals.  Well… I found these great Otterbox deals on brand new iPhone 5 cases.  You’ll want to browse through the product lines on each of these pages at Amazon because they are offering full lineups of different colors, designs, flavors, etc… making these the best selection of iPhone 5 cases that I’ve seen so far.  The higher end custom designs are all priced less than $60, and the standard design cases are all priced under $50.  So if you were one of the millions of crazed iPhone 5 fans that have a new iPhone showing up today, check out these Otterbox cases.  And let us know in the comments what you think.

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OtterBox Defender Realtree for iPhone 5

Price:  $59.95

• Port protection with complete access to all functions through case – blocks dust and debris from ports which lengthens the life of the device
• Compatible with iPhone 5 the case is a natural extension of the refined technical beauty of the device
• Robust, 3-layer protection, Easy installation, polycarbonate pieces lock together, silicone installs easily over polycarbonate and stays in place
• Screen protector fits flush and flat on the screen – protects from scratches and is barely noticeable
• Included belt clip holster – provides added protection when phone is face-in. Clips on a belt or pocket or in a bag for handy carrying.

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OtterBox Commuter Series for iPhone 5

Price:  $34.95

• Port protection with complete access to all functions through case – blocks dust and debris from ports which lengthens the life of the device
• Compatible with iPhone 5 the case is a natural extension of the refined technical beauty of the device
• Robust, 3-layer protection, Easy installation, polycarbonate pieces lock together, silicone installs easily over polycarbonate and stays in place
• Screen protector fits flush and flat on the screen – protects from scratches and is barely noticeable
• Sleek – slim form factor fits in pockets

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OtterBox Defender Series for iPhone 5

Price:  $49.95

• Port protection with complete access to all functions through case – blocks dust and debris from ports which lengthens the life of the device
• Compatible with iPhone 5 the case is a natural extension of the refined technical beauty of the device
• Robust, 3-layer protection, Easy installation, polycarbonate pieces lock together, silicone installs easily over polycarbonate and stays in place
• Screen protector fits flush and flat on the screen protects from scratches and is barely noticeable
• Included belt clip holster provides added protection when phone is face-in. Clips on a belt or pocket or in a bag for handy carrying.

Having a Facebook Fan Page is a great thing for any business regardless of their size. A Facebook Fan Page is a great way for brands to connect with their most loyal fan base, and also through their fans, connect to new fans who are interested in their brand’s products and services.

But sometimes it seems like, no matter what you do, you just can’t get any of your fans to interact with you on your page.  You know that fan interaction is the best way to generate exposure and rise to the top of fan’s news feeds, but just how do you get your fans to actually interact with your updates?

Below you’ll learn one simple tip that has helped both our own Facebook Fan Page, and the Facebook fan page of our clients.

If your fans are dormant on Facebook, then the Facebook ranking algorithm isn’t going to look very highly upon your fan page updates.  And without higher rankings for your fan page updates, fewer people will see your Facebook page updates in their news stream.

How to generate more activity from your Facebook Fan Page fans

I wanted to write this post to share with you one technique that has resulted in a huge increase in fan engagement on both our own (Bipper Media’s) Facebook page and also our client’s Facebook Fan Page.  And when I say “more active” what I mean is, the fans are “like’ing”, commenting, and sharing more on the updates we post – again, for both our own and our client’s Facebook fan pages.

Posting full size images

The technique we’ve been using is posting full size images onto our news updates.  Sure, you can post Facebook page updates that have a thumbnail of an image – that’s the small littler square image – that’s attached to the page update.  But what I’m talking about there is a full 400px width image that’s being shared in your news stream.

Here’s a comparison of what I’ve talking about which should help you understand better the type of image sharing I’m referring to:

Here’s a Facebook Fan Page update of a link that generates just a thumbnail image:

And now here’s a Facebook page update with a full image shared in the news stream:

These two posts were shared on the same Facebook Page, but notice the difference in interaction.  On the page with only a thumbnail image, there were a total of 2 people who liked the post update, which resulted in a only 1,132 people reached or 14%.

Now on the second page update you’ll see a full image shared, and notice the difference in total interactions and percentage of people reached.  Right off the bat you can see that the total number of people reached nearly doubled going from 14% to 26%.  But this is also a result of the number of people that interacted with the post – only 2 interactions vs. 11 total interactions.

As you can see, the full image update in the news stream made a big difference in the amount of interaction the post updates received.  And as a result, the updates were seen by more of the total fan base as well.

Why images work

Images work better at generating more of a buzz among Facebook fans because people tend to be more responsive to things that are visual, versus simple text updates.

When it comes to wall updates on Facebook, it’s hard to stand out when all you’re posting is text updates.

But with images, your update will stand out to your fans and catch their eyes as they browse down through their news stream.

Sharing a little bit of text with the image update isn’t a bad idea either.

Notice in the full image clip above.

You’ll see two or three sentences that lead up to the image  Some text can actually help support the image you are sharing on your Facebook fan page.

How to share full sized images

Alright, so we now know that sharing full sized images is definitely the way to go, but how exactly do you share images in your Facebook page wall stream?  Below is a quick and easy tutorial to show you how.

1)  Click “Photo / Video” in the wall update text editor

2)  Once you click the “Photo / Video” link, you’ll then be presented with several different options for adding media to your Facebook page update.  For the purposes of this tutorial, you’ll want to select the “Upload Photo / Video” option:

3)  Finally, after you’ve selected the “Upload Photo / Video” link, you’ll be presented with the “Choose file” button that allows you to locate your desired image on your computer, add it to your post update, and then proceed with adding any additional text before sharing your image.

And that’s it, once you’ve added your image and any supporting text, you can go ahead and “Post” your update.  The image will now go out to the fans on your Facebook Fan Page.  And because you are sharing an image instead of just plain ol’ text, then you are much more likely to get fans interacting with your page.

So do you find that images help increase fan interaction on your Facebook page?

Are you going to start trying to add more images and other media to your Facebook page?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Luckily for us, there is a lot of great solutions out there now where you can purchase a bluetooth keyboard for your iPad that acts simultaneously as a cover and case.  And best of all, these keyboards that are now coming out for the iPad are actually making the experience on your iPad more similar to what you’d find on a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.

So do you own an iPad 2 or the New iPad (iPad 3), and wishing you could type and browse the web just like you would on a laptop?

If so, then you might be very interested in checking out the Logitech Keyboard Cover for the iPad 2 & The New iPad (iPad 3).

There’s been a lot of debate brewing up lately about whether or not the iPad will become the demise of the traditional laptop.  Let me just make this prediction right now, in front of everyone.  I’m predicting that within 5 years, the laptop be heading down the same path as the cassette tape or the VHS movie.  It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when this process will start to escalate on a large scale.

One of the things that are perpetuating the fall of the laptop is iPad covers & cases that also have built in bluetooth keyboards.  For example, the Logitech Keyboard Cover.  This particular accessory makes it super easy to snap your iPad into place and instantly have a nice, small form factor laptop for you to type away on.  Best of all, when you open the iPad case, your iPad turns on – and when you close the case, your iPad turns off.  It’s super easy to use and allows for fast, easy typing, just like you’d expect from your laptop.

The one huge advantages that iPad has over traditional laptops is the long lasting battery life.  With an iPad, you can easily work non-stop for up to 10 hours or more without having to charge your battery.  This is something that’s just not possible with your traditional laptop.

And with cases like the Logitech Keyboard Cover, you are able to preserve that battery length even longer because of the on / off feature of simply closing and opening the iPad case.

Some of the great features of the Logitech Keyboard Cover for the iPad 2 & The New iPad (iPad 3)