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Money Tips: Investment tips for every age

2009-02-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

There are sensible investing strategies for any age, as Peter Freeman reports.

The Twenties
These are the early years when many people are relatively new to the workforce and are still renters. While some have formed a permanent relationship, many don't have children. Home ownership and family are still in the future.

For this group the main financial focus is usually on saving a deposit for a home, an investment that has particular appeal due to its lifestyle benefits and capital gains tax-free status.

The first step for many will be to get their credit card debt under control and then eliminate it. Only then will they be in a position to start building wealth rather than simply paying for past consumption.

With interest rates having stabilised at relatively low levels and property prices still slipping, this age group stands to gain by saving for a deposit for a home so as to be able to buy when the market is weak.

Their main challenge will be to decide whether or not to try to supercharge their savings growth by diverting funds into a regular savings plan that invests in equity funds.

Callinan says building a deposit through investing in equity funds is a good strategy, but only if you can accept the risk that there could be a few years of flat returns.

"You also have to have a time horizon of at least five years, to give the investments time to perform," she adds.

The Thirties
By their 30s, most people are in a permanent relationship, many have children and most have bought a home. The focus is usually on reducing their mortgage, possibly renovating and, where possible, attempting to upgrade to a better property.

Nash of Tynan Mackenzie says people in this situation should consider taking out income insurance, especially given the increased tendency of companies to respond to setbacks by downsizing.

At the very least they should be careful not to over-extend themselves financially, instead keeping money available for emergencies.

This may well involve delaying renovations. Alternatively, they should ensure their mortgage facility allows them to draw down more money quickly if they need funds in a hurry.

Of course, some people in their 30s will still be both mortgage and family free. This group may decide to try to catch up for lost time by aggressive investing, such as using geared share funds or by taking out a margin loan to finance a portfolio of direct share investments.

A small group will go so far as to use even more aggressive investments such as futures contracts, trading warrants and contracts for difference.

Nash stresses, however, that these should be approached with a great deal of care since, if handled badly, they can generate heavy losses.

The Forties
Your financial comfort in your 40s largely depends on how much spending restraint you showed during the previous decade. If you were reasonably disciplined, there is a good chance you will be able to upgrade to a bigger home or, alternatively, carry out the renovations you deferred in order to finance investments.

However, the 40s is sometimes a financially difficult time for people who have children since they are now costing more than ever, especially if they are at private schools. This group needs to budget carefully. In contrast, those with relatively high incomes, or with few or no family responsibilities, should have the capacity to continue to use gearing to expand their investment portfolio.

The alternative will be to divert more money into superannuation. Unfortunately, while very tax-effective, money invested in super is locked up until you satisfy the various preservation rules.

These mean you can't get your super before you are at least 55 and also retired. Super savings really only equate to financial freedom for people who are already in their early 50s.

The Fifties
This is a time for more sustained wealth creation due to higher salaries and fewer family costs (many children by now will be financially independent). Nash argues that the tax breaks offered by superannuation, plus the fact super savings will be more accessible, make this the preferred investment vehicle.

The other opportunity that often arises in your 50s is the chance to take more control over your life by establishing your own business, perhaps by getting a significant redundancy payment.

Even if the redundancy wasn't voluntary, it can provide a valuable chance to build a new, financially viable life outside the 9 to 5 standard working day. But Nash warns it is particularly important to think very carefully before you use your family home as security for a business loan. "A debt-free home is usually crucial for any sort of financial freedom and should not be put at risk without a lot of thought," he says.

The Sixties and later
For many people in their 60s the main financial challenge is to invest their savings to generate a retirement income, and maximise their age pension. In most cases investments are built around some form of allocated or complying pension, in the process maximising tax and social security efficiency.

James of Investec says that, while there is a tendency for older investors to be extremely conservative, especially when the economic outlook is uncertain, higher life expectancy means a very defensive approach probably will result in your money running out.

This means investors should usually opt for an allocated pension that includes a reasonable exposure to both local and offshore shares, rather than a pension with a very high level of capital security.

While a conservative allocated pension carries less risk of suffering a sudden setback, it can also result in a low annual income and so increasing dependence on the aged pension.

Rules for us all
But whether you are in this, the fifth age of investing, or any of the other ages, all of us have to deal with the same economic and investment climate. We have to make the same range of crucial financial decisions, based on our assessment of the risks and opportunities that exist.

James says all investors need to guard against assuming the next five years will generate the same sort of returns as the last. "Expecting the second half of the decade to be just as good as the first half would be naive," she says. "It may be, but there are plenty of reasons to think overall returns won't be as strong."

Among these facts are:

Returns over the previous five years or so from Australian shares have been so strong that, as has already happened with real estate, some correction at some stage is virtually inevitable.
There is no guarantee that one of the main drivers of local sharemarket confidence — the strong Chinese economy — won't hit some adjustment problems, in the process dragging down local stocks.
The surge in oil prices could continue, squeezing consumers and slowing economic growth.
The $A could well remain at around current levels, rather than the much lower exchange rate that applied at the start of the decade, in the process maintaining the pressure on exporters.

As noted, the main implications of the shift to an era of lower investment returns is the way that making quick gains from the sharemarket or property is likely to be more difficult than in the previous five years.

One thing that won't change, however, is the need for most people to adopt a suitable investment strategy and then resist the temptation to chop and change when a particular investment sector generates disappointing returns.

As already stressed, it is also crucial to avoid thinking you will be able to make big gains quickly. "Everyone wants to be rich tomorrow, but the risks aren't worth it," says Thornhill of Motivated Money. Impatience is our biggest barrier to serous and sustainable wealth creation."

Stick with a strategy
Callinan of Tandem stresses that, while a few investors make a lot of money by timing markets, they are the exception. She points out that even the professional managers who handle the investments for Australia's huge superannuation funds often struggle to add value through timing.

Instead, they develop strict investment strategies and stick with them. "If you give yourself plenty of time and patiently stick with a well-designed investment strategy, you will almost certainly be a lot better off in 10 years time than those who don't," she says.

5 Things Your Boyfriend Won't Tell You

2009-01-23T00:21:00.000-08:00

We like being “the boyfriend.”
Girls often think that guys are players-at-heart who love the single life and only settle down because society tells them that they have to, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sure there are some guys who get a serious case of the GIGS (Grass Is Greener Syndrome) every time they make a commitment to a girl but these guys are the exception not the rule. We other guys have a word to describe our flakey won’t settle down counterparts – immature. For the most part guys love being in love just as much as girls do.

We don’t like when you pull away from us.
Guys are competitive beasts so you’d think that the hard to get game would make us give chase, and in the beginning stages of a relationship it does, but once we’ve settled in and made a commitment to you we want the chase to stop. If you keep it up, if you keep pushing us away with your right hand while pulling us closer with your left, you’ll quickly find that we start pulling away altogether. Once we open our hearts the game totally changes for us. We don’t want to chase you forever so when you pull away from us, we pull away from you in what amounts to a psychological tug-o-war. The more you pull away the more we respond in kind. Keep it up and everyone just gets tired and calls it quits. So once you’ve landed your guy don’t keep playing hard to get, instead let him know that you’re happy you were caught.

We want our friends to like you… but not love you.
In guy world the approval of our friends is very important so it makes sense that we want our friends to like you. But what we don’t want is for them to covet you. When we hook up with a very hot girl and our buddies ogle her it is a real turn off. This is why so many really pretty girls find themselves single. We just can’t handle the thought of losing you to one of our friends because if that happens we lose our girl, one of our boys and a big chunk of our egos. So if our friends like you and think you're cool that’s great but if they wish they could have you that’s bad. Unfortunately this is totally out of your control. Rest assured that as guys get older we get more secure and this one matters less but in the meantime know this - if you’ve ever been dumped by a guy who you thought really liked you shortly after meeting his friends take comfort in the fact that you were probably just too hot for him to handle.

We want you to like, but not love, our friends.
This one goes along with the other one for obvious reasons but there is a little more to it. Obviously we don’t want you ditching us to be with one of our buddies but we also don’t want you to work overtime trying to win our friends over. Sometimes no matter how great you are our friends will only act luke-warm toward you. This is most likely not your fault and usually has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them but as long as our friends and you can hang out without incident the boyfriend in us is happy. We don’t want you to go out of your way to get our friends to like you because we want your energy focused on us and only us. We don’t want you to care what other guys think about you. We want your efforts and attentions to rest firmly on us. Is that immature? Probably. But hey, we’re guys!

We worry that YOU will dump US.
If there is one thing I see over and over in the girl magazines it’s question after question about how to keep a guy interested but that’s not really very hard. When we like you, we like you and that’s all there is to it. In reality we probably spend more time worrying that you’ll dump us than we would ever spend thinking about dumping you. So relax and stop fixating on how or when our relationship will end and just be our girlfriend. That’s all it really takes to keep a guy happy.

5 Things Your Girlfriend Won't Tell You

2009-01-22T22:33:00.000-08:00

1. We like the chase – you chasing us.
Yep, it’s sad but true that when a guy is too eager to catch us we wonder why. What is wrong with this guy? Why is he so clingy? Is he a control freak? Is he a serial dater? A player with many girlfriends on the go? Is he insane? It’s not that we don’t want to be caught, we do, we just don’t want to feel trapped and when things happen too fast trapped is how we feel. We need to be sure of our feelings and of our attraction before we can step off the racetrack and give up the chase. You need to woo us to make us yours. Some guys lay out traps, saying all the right things and meaning none of them, in an attempt to woo us and this gives way to our biggest fear; falling prey to an insincere guy who is more about the game than being in a relationship. For this reason even once we’re yours, even once we are sure of your feelings and you are sure of ours, we need to still feel a little bit of the chase. When you chase us we feel like you want us and are willing to do some work to be with us and we don’t want that feeling to go away just because you’ve caught us.

2. When we say we’re “OK” or that things are “fine” the opposite is probably true.
Girls are communicators. It is hardwired in to our psyches to talk and talk and talk some more whenever there is discord or conflict. So if you sense there’s a problem and gather the courage to ask us and we respond with a “fine” or “it’s ok” or some other sentence with less than 7 (short) words chances are good that we really want to talk. So, you think, what’s a guy to do? You ask a question, you get an answer, and you plan based on that answer. Who wants to read between the lines or guess what is really going on? What a waste of time, right? Wrong! When girls pull the short answers out during a conversation it is because we want you to put the effort in to getting us to open up. It comes from a place of feeling like you don’t usually care what we have to say so we want you to put some effort in to getting us to talk so we can be sure we will be listened to. Now those perceptive guys among you may have your hands up right now waiting to ask the obvious question… if a girl feels like she’s not usually heard isn’t that the REAL problem? Yes, yes it is, and one little talk won’t stop that feeling of being marginalized. In psychology we call this a learned response, a behavior that does not come naturally but rather has been developed through a process called social conditioning. You may very well be the most attentive boyfriend since the dawn of time but if her previous guys made her feel insignificant or unheard you’ll have to help her carry that baggage. Heck, you’ll have to help her unpack it and put it away! So when your girl replies with a curt little answer to your questions don’t take her at face value. Calmly and gently ask her a few more times. Once she feels like you will hear her nature will take over and, voila! You’ll be communicating.

3. We want you to have your guy time.
It is such a myth that girls don’t like to let their guy just hang with the boys. It's a terrible lie perpetrated by relationship-phobes throughout the ages. It is totally untrue that we want you to give up your life to be with us. Think of it this way… when we met you and fell for you, you were (hopefully) single and your friends were a big part of your life. Take your friends away and a big piece of the guy we fell for goes with them. So we want you to keep your guy time. We know you need your friends and truth be told we need our friends too. That being said, obviously when you are single you have lots of spare time to spend with friends but when you are in a relationship some of that time is going to be taken up by your significant other (A.K.A. us). That is only normal. It is normal for you to need your guy time and it is normal for you to want to spend time with us. If you find the right balance the guy-time issue quickly becomes a non-issue. It is when we feel like you don’t make as much time for us as you do for them or that you resent being away from your friends when you are with us that the stereotypical “girlfriend verses the friends” scenario takes the stage. It’s all about balance. Spending time with your friends or with us will never be an issue as long as there is a balance and as long as we never feel that they mean more to you than we do or that they come always first.

4. We want to know your friends but aren’t so sure you need to know ours.
I’m not going to lie; this is hypocrisy in its most raw form. We want you to bring us around your friends, we want to know them and we want them to like us, but we aren’t quite as crazy about you knowing our friends. The why of this is as simple as it is irrational and here it is… we want to know your boys so we can understand the kinds of things they may get you to do when we’re not around. In short, will they encourage you to cheat on us, will they get you doing reckless and dangerous things, and will they help you engage in self-destructive activities? What we want to know is if they will be good or bad influences on you. We also want to create a buffer; we want your friends to like us so that they won’t want you to lose us. If there is no tension between your friends and us then we don’t need to fear them asking you to choose between love and friendship. Now on the flip side, we don’t really want you getting all chummy with our friends because we don’t want them to fill you in on all of our dirty little secrets. As previously noted girls are talkers by nature and we don’t want them to let something slip that may make you raise an eyebrow in our direction. We also fear, but will never admit fearing, you wanting one of our friends more than you want us. It’s bad enough to lose your guy to another girl but when that girl was once a friend, well, the sting is even sharper. So allow us this hypocrisy. It’s irrational, that's true, but it’s also quite harmless.

5. We worry that other girls look better now that you are in a relationship.
Mike nailed the core of every girlfriend's relationship insecurity on the head when he brought up the GIGS (Grass Is Greener Syndrome). The idea that life is better on the other side is one of the most destructive forces in relationship world and girls feel that guys fall for it way too often. It is a great fear of ours that once you can’t have other girls you will suddenly want them all. It leads to a lot of unfounded jealousy brought on by innocent comments on your part or casual non-flirtatious conversations with other girls. So what’s a guy to do? In a perfect world you’d stop interacting with other girls altogether but our rational super-ego knows that’s not realistic. What you need to do is follow these three simple rules; 1) never pay more attention to another girl than you do to your girlfriend, 2) never comment over and over how hot/cool/nice/fun another girl is, and 3) if you meet a great girl while you’re in a relationship hook her up with one of your buddies (also known as taking her off the market and getting her out of our face). And should you ever really get the itch to jump the fence and live life on the other side... just do it! Don’t lead us on, don’t cheat on us, don’t sneak around, just end the relationship. If it ends up being a GIGS fueled mistake… oh well, consider it a hard lesson learned and leave us alone... we won't want you back anyway!

How to Get Your Pre-pregnancy Body Back

2009-01-22T00:48:00.001-08:00

The second biggest question you will ask yourself as a new mom is, “Will I be able to get back into shape after I give birth?” (The first, of course, is, “Will I be a good mother?”) The truth is, yes, you can get back into pre-pregnancy shape and, if you desire, you can get yourself into even better shape than you were in before your pregnancy.

One of the biggest myths you must get past is the classic, “The doctor said I have to wait six weeks before I do any kind of exercise.” Under certain circumstances this is a valid rule. For instance, your pregnancy may have occurred later in life or you experienced complications during your pregnancy and/or the actual birth of your baby.

If you fall into this category you should communicate with you doctor regarding your desire to exercise and abide by her recommendations.

But, if you had an uncomplicated, normal pregnancy there should be no reason why you can’t start working out twenty four hours after you give birth. So as not to mislead you, let’s define working out as it applies to you at this stage of the game.

You are clearly not ready to jump into a full scale fitness program one day after giving birth. But you can and should begin doing gentle isometrics (contract a muscle, hold it for a few seconds & then release it) and Kegels. Of course, you should consult with your doctor before starting just so she is aware of what you are doing. She may also have some valuable input.

Before you leave the hospital ask the doctor about the condition of your rectus abdominus. These are the two muscles that run parallel to each other from the pubic area up to the diaphragm. During some pregnancies the connective tissue between these two muscles tears and separates. If this is your case ask your doctor how you can help them reconnect and heal faster. This will be necessary in order for you to add the next few exercises to your routine.

You should be able to start a walking program several weeks, if not sooner, after you give birth

If your abdominal muscles did not separate, which should be confirmed by your doctor, then you can add the tried and true pelvic tilt to your new exercise program. This is one of the most basic exercises for the “core muscles”. At this time it should also be safe to add a modified abdominal crunch. This is best achieved by starting with a pelvic tilt and then lifting the head and top of the shoulder blades by curling forward slightly as you breathe out. Then return to neutral as you breathe in.

It is generally safe to add several modified leg exercises at this point. Of course, you will want to run these by your doctor before trying them out.

Lying on your back, on any comfortable surface, keep one leg bent with your foot on the floor while the other leg is flat on the ground. Bring the knee of the leg that is flat toward you by bending it and then proceed to lift that same foot off the ground and toward the ceiling. Then bring it back down by retracing the moves in reverse.

Your second leg exercise is known as “the square”. Starting in the same position as the first leg exercise, lift the straight leg off the ground by about a foot or so. Then slowly draw a square in the air with your big toe. Keep the square small at first. With time, as you get stronger, you can increase the size of the square.

You should be able to start a walking program several weeks, if not sooner, after you give birth. There is usually no good reason (unless you had a complicated pregnancy) to wait six weeks after birth to start a consistent walking program. Of course, you should discuss this with your doctor before getting started.

At six weeks post delivery you can start to push your fitness program to a higher level by incorporating cardiovascular work, such as light jogging, and some strength training with a combination of body weight exercises and dumbbell exercises. Also, remember to include stretching exercises for optimal flexibility.

The point of this article is to help you understand that most doctors are conservative when it comes to answering a new mom’s questions about exercise. It is easy for the doctor to “play it safe”, and advise you to wait six weeks before starting your fitness program. However, if you show your doctor the exact exercises that you wish to do, she will most likely realize that you have done your homework and should give you the green light regarding the start of your “new mom” exercise program.

Exercising after you give birth will automatically make you a better mother

And about the first question you asked your self, “Will I be a good mother?” Exercising after you give birth will automatically make you a better mother for two significant reasons:

1) You will be setting a priceless example for your baby that is highly likely to rub off on him and have a powerful impact on how he chooses to live his life.

2) You will be stronger, healthier and more energetic. These are three valuable elements for any new mother.

New mom and former physical fitness coordinator for the US NAVY, Jeri-Jo Gennusa, advises, “Avoid using your new baby as an excuse for not exercising. Allow your baby to help motivate you to take better care of yourself by following a simple and progressive post-pregnancy fitness program.”

What is a healthy eating plan for pregnancy?

2009-01-21T05:28:00.000-08:00

A healthy eating plan contains a wide variety of foods from the five basic food groups.* Every day, you should try to eat:

6 or more servings of bread, cereal, rice, or pasta.
3 to 5 servings of vegetables.
- One serving equals 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables such as spinach or lettuce, or 1/2 cup of chopped vegetables, cooked or raw.
2 to 4 servings of fruit.
2 servings of milk, yogurt, or cheese
2 to 3 servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, or nuts.
- One serving equals 2 to 3 ounces of cooked meat, poultry, or fish-about the size of a deck of cards. Choose lean cuts and eat no more than 5 to 7 ounces of meat, poultry, or fish a day. One cup of cooked beans such as kidney beans or 2 eggs count as a serving.
- Four tablespoons of peanut butter or 2/3 cup of nuts also equals a serving.
At least 8 glasses of water.

* Adapted from the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Department of Health and Human Services Food Guide Pyramid.

Credit: http://www.mamashealth.com/pregnancy/

Secure your Job - Making a Powerful Impression

2009-01-09T08:36:00.001-08:00

Career Tips by Serena C | jobsdb.com.my

Dressed to impress Dress in any appropriate outfit that mirrors their professionalism. Just remember to keep it simple, but elegant--Men in business suits, or shirt and slacks; women in pant suit or blouse and knee-length skirts or long pants.

Mind the time

Avoid planning for an interview during your lunch breaks or during any short breaks in between in order not to rush over things. You may get all panicky and lose your focus should you need to dash here and there for the interview.

Be careful of what your body language speaks

Greet the interviewer with a strong, firm handshake as a start. Don't hunch and remember to look at the interviewer in the eyes. These small gestures leave a lot of obvious clues to the interviewer about you and your confidence.

Give me some energy!

Leave your monotonous speech behind and insert some energy and life into your words and expressions. Speak clearly and loud enough while answering all questions enthusiastically.

Behave professionally

You may find yourself striking up the right cords with the interviewer but always remember to keep your conversation professional. Just be pleasant throughout the interview.

Good riddance to all negativity

Keep your grudges with your ex-boss at bay and be careful with your answers. Do not condemn anything related to your current or previous management or company. Your answer will reflect your maturity and as someone who keeps hatred in mind.

Do your research

Run a search through the Internet on the company hiring to get some basic company background knowledge. Never pretend to know the answer to some questions posed if in fact you really don't.

Send a thank you note.

Send your interviewers a short thank you note to carve a lasting impression of yourself. The thank you note may just prove to be your entry ticket to a second interview or even a job offer.

Top 10: Interview Mistakes

2009-01-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

Most of the time, potential job candidates are not aware of the mistakes they make before and during the interview. These small mistakes that might cost them a job.

Number 10

Running Late Without Notice.

Turning up late for the interview and never calling to say you are running late will not give a good impression to your potential employer. If you are running late, do inform your interviewer and apologize that you are running late and ask if it is possible for you to attend the interview a little bit late or just request for the interview to be rescheduled if that is not possible.

Of course, the worst that could happen which could quash your employment chances is your attitude when you do not even bother to turn up at an interview without calling.

Number 9

Lack of Preparation

Preparation for an interview includes:

Research on the background of the company
Bring along an extra copy of your resumé and relevant supporting documents, just in case
Be prepared with the answers for possible common interview questions
Rehearse on your speech, clarity, confidence, etc. prior to the interview

In the event that you are required to attend an interview at short notice and you applied for a job with no company description stated in the ad, keep your cool and ask questions during the interview to know more about the company.

It is recommended that you carry an extra copy of your resumé in your working bag just in case you are called for a job interview during your lunch/tea break at short notice.

Number 8

Lack of Confidence/Over Confidence

Lack of confidence could be perceived by potential employers as your lack of preparation; being nervous could also be giving the impression that you are trying to cover something or is lying. Being over confident may turn interviewers off as you may be viewed as being too big-headed or you may be viewed as a braggart who talks more than you deliver.

Number 7

Talking Too Much

It is not wise to talk too much and fail to listen and understand the questions asked. Listen carefully to answer the questions asked, be clear and concise in your answers to show that you understood the question and are not just rambling for the sake of talking. Be specific and respond directly to the questions asked. Be careful with your selection of words and think before you say anything to decide if what you are going to say is necessary or appropriate.

Number 6

Inappropriate Dressing

Avoid revealing clothes or being underdressed - stick to conventional dressing, i.e. mono colours and minimal accessories.

Number 5

Body Language

Avoid weak or too strong handshakes, minimal or almost no eye contact with the interviewer and slouching when seated. Keep a straight back when seated and refrain from fidgeting or shaking your legs, twitching your nose, biting your nails or other signs that showed your nervousness. Take a deep breath to remain calm and be aware of your body language. Your body language tells your interviewers more about you than your speech.

Number 4

Criticising or Slating Your Previous Employers/Company/Colleagues or Complaining About Your Day

No one likes a person who complains, keep in mind that it is not a recommended icebreaker. You are being interviewed to promote yourself as the best possible candidate for the post, not to criticise others or complain about the train/car that broke down on your way to the interview.

Number 3

Lying or Concealing Information

Never attempt to lie or cover up any vital information, no matter how important you thought it was for you to conceal the information. You may land the job but how long it will be before you are found out?

Number 2

Failing to Ask Questions

Ask questions to show that you are interested in the job, lack of enthusiasm is a killer of your chances of employment.

Number 1

Money Talk

Never bring up talk on salary at the beginning of the interview. Only talk about salary or your employment package, i.e. remuneration, benefits, etc. when the interviewer asks you or the matter has not been brought up and the interview is near its end.

NETWORKING TUTORIALS

2008-12-24T23:22:00.000-08:00

What is Network?

A network or communication network is a system of interconnected communication devices that can communicate with one another and share information. Therefore computer network can be defined as:

A system in which more than one computers or large number of computers are interconnected together, communicate freely with one another and share information is called computer network.

A network can be internal to an organization or span the world by connecting itself to the internet. In computer network, network operating system is used that controls and co-ordinates the activities of computers that are connected to the network. The example of these operating systems are: windows NT, UNIX, and Novell etc.

Types of Network

Networks are of three types. These are:

Local Area Network (LAN)
Wide Area Network (WAN)
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Local Area Network

A local area network is a network system in which computers are interconnected in a limited geographical area, such as network of computers in college computer laboratory or network of computers in office building etc.

Wide Area Network

A wide area network is a network system that covers a large geographical area such as different cities of country or different countries of the world. In WAN telephone lines, satellites, microwave, fiber optic etc. are used as transmission media.

Metropolitan Area Network

A Metropolitan area Network is a network system that covers area of a single city. Usually, MAN connects more than one LANS in a city or town and covers a smaller geographical area than a WAN. The cable television, telephone companies or local corporations use MAN.

Suggested Reading

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How to get a girl you like most?

2008-12-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

So, You like to get a girl, who is your class mate, colleague, girl at next door, a party chick or some one? You are a shy guy to start with girls? Keep this in your mind always "Girls aren't aliens to fear about". Kick your foolish shyness and fear at first.

Be a Man:
Do not degrade yourself with your inferior things. Look at the couples you see at beach, park & every where else.. If he can get a girl then why not you?

First Meet/Date/Conversation?
Buddy, You need to make her get relaxed. So, Do not stand in front of her like an escaped prisoner with rolling eyes. First relax yourself and understand the environment then start, Just say good day wishes, smile and move forward the conversation with interesting topics. There is a magic lie which always attracts a girl. Tell her that "You looks really nice. This dress perfectly suits you" end this line with a nice smile. This is your first trap.

What is your personality?
Do you able to describe about yourself with couple of lines? Do not try to makeup some fake characters into your personality. Just "Be Yourself"

Are you a Jerk or Nice guy?
Most of the girls feel nice guys are such boring personalities. Don't be a 100% funny guy always. It will create a joker impression about you instead of attractiveness.

Your conversations with a girl:
when a girl talk about something she like, an incident, a sad moment, her last summer trip, her pets or anything else, You need to follow "Shut Up and Listen" rule. Stop commenting, Stop giving suggestions, Stop giving advices, Stop arguments when she talk. Just shut up your bad mouth and listen what she says. She don't need a world's greatest idea from you when she talk something emotional. All she need is a caring person who respects what she is saying.

Be REAL:
Help an old lady cross the street. Be a role model for kids to look up to. Be kind to animals. Being considerate to others, no matter the age, gender, or species, is sure to make any girl's heart melt.

Be Talkative:
Girls like such an interesting guys who talk funny, naughty (sometimes), caring & polite. Just be social.

Know more about her:
You have to know about her most happiest/sad moments. Close friends, Family, Co-Workers, Her favorite food, her hobbies. Do not ask all of these to her like a survey guy. Just know it in different moments.

Your Thoughts:
If she say "Eminem is the only one who can rap very well. all others are pure crap!" Don't say "yes yes.. emimen is BEST.. I like him". Just say what you think really in polite way, This would be better, "Yes Eminem is nice.. But 50cent & Dr.Dre too perform nice, You must listen <50-c> look how great all are they.. these three guys rap nice.".

How to be an interested guy?
If she like something, then ask about her thoughts & comments about it. Let her to talk much about her favorite things. Do not let it to be a questioner session.

Learn to play at least a single musical instrument,
Learn to dance,
Have some interesting hobbies like boat riding, rock climbing,

Do not Hurt or Kid her friends:
Do not try lame jokes to kid her friends. As you are a new person to her, You need to be friendly to all of her friends too.

TRUST Yourself

First of all trust yourself, You can do it even millions of successful guys do. You lose nothing if she denies you. Just have a try learn the lesson "How to attract".

Post your doubts at http://lovetrace.com/forums
Get Hot Chicks at http://lovetrace.com/date

Attitudes of women

2008-12-24T06:26:00.000-08:00

When I first started out learning how to meet women, I remember that I had a feeling inside like, “I’m afraid to just walk up to a strange woman and start talking.” I thought of all kinds of things that could go wrong. “What if she has a boyfriend nearby who easily gets jealous and wants to beat me up?” “What if she says something that puts me down and makes me feel bad?” “What if she says something to someone else about me being a loser because I tried to talk to her?”

All of these different ideas combined inside of me to give me a general fear of meeting women. I’ve since learned that none of my worst fears would come true when meeting a new woman. I’ve met hundreds and hundreds of women over the last few years – and none (NONE!) have reacted or caused anything to happen that I couldn’t handle in the moment.

In the process I realized something very important: No tactic works on every woman. Some women are not interested in meeting someone right now. Some women are lesbians and have no interest in men.

Some women are happily married or in a relationship and don’t want to meet someone new right now. Some women are angry. Some are cold. My guess is that in a random group of 100 women, only about 30 of them might be open to meeting someone new right now (in a romantic sense). What this means is that 70 AREN’T interested in meeting someone new. And of the 30 who are interested in meeting someone new, maybe only 15 are nice, friendly, happy people. Do you see where I’m going? If you want to be successful at meeting women, you have to understand that many of the women you talk to aren’t interested. Most people take things like this PERSONALLY. Instead of just moving on to the next woman, they get all uptight and feel bad about it. I’ve now learned a better way. I also learned something else that helped me dramatically.

Walking up
I learned that women are used to being approached, flirted with, and picked up on in general by men. Even women who are what you might call ‘average’ are approached by men on a pretty regular basis. So when you’re about to approach a woman, keep in mind that it’s not like you’re going to try something that she’s never heard of before and shock her. You may not be totally comfortable yet just walking up to any woman, but she’ll be relatively OK with it.

And remember, if she’s not interested, it’s most likely that she’s not interested in anyone right now. Of course it’s true that she might not be interested in your ‘type’ or you may have acted in a way that she didn’t like, but the fact is that no matter what happens, you’ll find that it’s no big deal.

When I first started my journey, I realized that some of the greatest memories that my friends and I have are when something bad happened to one of us. Looking back, we usually laugh about these things and make fun of each other and ourselves. So I thought about it, and I realized that getting rejected really harshly by a woman would actually be a funny thing. I imagined my best friend and I saying, “Hey, remember that time when I walked up to that girl in the mall and said “Hi”, but she told me that she doesn’t date men who look like Pee Wee Herman? Ha ha ha ha...”

Think of it this way:
If you get shut down really hard, just tell a couple of friends. They may not let you live it down, but at least you can laugh about it! (And if you have friends that won’t help you laugh about it, then you need some new ones.) Another part of the attitude equation that I realized is that different women respond to different looks, personalities, etc. One woman might only like men who dress in suits and ties, while another might only like women who dress like bad boy rockers. Whatever style you develop, DON’T CHANGE IT JUST BECAUSE SOME WOMEN DON’T LIKE IT.

The price of big success is having some people dislike you. So once you find a style that works for you, stick with it, and only change it because YOU choose to do so!

Credit : http://lovetrace.com/attitudes_of_women.html

Ten tips for new Ubuntu users

2008-12-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu has become the most popular Linux distribution for new Linux users. It's easy to install, easy to use, and usually "just works." But moving to a different operating system can be confusing, no matter how well-designed it is. Here's a list of tips that might save you some time while you're getting used to Ubuntu.

1. Getting multimedia to work

The default Ubuntu install contains free software only, which means that it doesn't support some popular multimedia formats straight out of the box. This is inconvenient, but the Ubuntu folks have good reasons for not shipping with support for MP3, DVDs, and so forth -- including that software could cause them some legal headaches, or incur some serious fees.

Fortunately, as a user, you don't need to worry about fees (though some of the packages may not be legal due to patent restrictions or restrictions on circumventing copy protection, depending on where you live). The Ubuntu wiki has a page on restricted formats that explains how to get the packages you need. However, if you run Ubuntu on AMD64 or PowerPC hardware, you'll still be out in the cold for some of the packages, since some multimedia formats depend on proprietary software that's not available for those hardware platforms.

2. Changing the defaults

Ubuntu comes with a number of defaults that may or may not be to your liking. For example, the default editor is set to Nano, which isn't optimal if you're used to Vim.

The easy way to change this is to use the update-alternatives program, which maintains the symbolic links under /etc/alternatives that determine the default programs for FTP, system editor, rsh, Telnet, window manager, and so forth. Look under the /etc/alternatives directory to see what programs are managed.

To change the default editor, run sudo update-alternatives --config editor. You'll see a dialog like this:

There are 3 alternatives which provide `editor'.

 Selection    Alternative
 -----------------------------------------------
       1        /usr/bin/vim
 2        /bin/ed
 *+    3        /bin/nano

Press enter to keep the default[*], or type selection number:

Just type 1 to switch to Vim. Note that on my system, I don't have Emacs or many other editors installed; if I did, the utility would offer the other editors as choices.

3. How to install packages

Most of the application software you'll want to add to your system will be available through the Ubuntu repositories using Synaptic, Adept, or another package management tool. What if you want to install something like Opera that is available as a package for Ubuntu, but isn't in the repositories?

In that case, download the application's Debian package (.deb) and right-click on the file. At the top of the context menu, you should see an option to open the package with the GDebi package installer. GDebi will provide a description of the package, what files are included, and other details about the package. The package installer also has a Install Package button; just click that and it will install the package. Note that the package installer also checks to verify whether it can install the package -- if it has dependencies that can't be satisfied, GDebi will give an error and refuse to install it.

If you prefer to install packages at the command line, just use sudo dpkg -i packagename.deb.

4. Sudo and gksudo

If you've used Linux for any amount of time, you might be used to running programs as root directly whenever you need to install packages, modify your system's configuration, and so on. Ubuntu employs a different model, however. The Ubuntu installer doesn't set up a root user -- a root account still exists, but it's set with a random password. Users are meant to do administration tasks using sudo and gksudo.

You probably already know how to use sudo -- just run sudo commandname . But what about running GUI apps that you want to run as root (or another user)? Simple -- use gksudo instead of sudo. For instance, if you'd like to run Ethereal as root, just pop open a run dialog box (Alt-F2) and use gksudo ethereal.

By the way, if you really must do work as root, you can use sudo su -, which will log you in as root. If you really, really want to have a root password that you know, so that you can log in as root directly (i.e., without using sudo), then run passwd when logged in as root, and set the password to whatever you want. I'd recommend using the pwgen package to create a secure password not only for root but for all your user accounts.

5. Add users to sudo

When you set up Ubuntu, it automatically adds the first user to the sudo group, allowing that user to make changes as the super user (root) by typing in their password. However, it doesn't automatically add additional users to the sudo group. If you want to give someone else superuser privileges on your shared system, you'll have to give them sudo access.

To add new users to sudo, the easiest way is to use the usermod command. Run sudo usermod -G admin username . That's all there is to it. However, if the user is already a member of other groups, you'll want to add the -a option, like so: sudo usermod -a -G admin username .

If you prefer the GUI way of doing things, go to System -> Administration -> Users and Groups. Select the user you want to add to sudo, and click Properties. Under the User privileges tab, check the box that says "Executing system administration tasks" and you'll be all set.

6. Adding a new desktop

Many users aren't sure what packages to add in order to run KDE or Xfce window managers on a stock Ubuntu system -- or what packages to add to run GNOME on Kubuntu or Xubuntu. You could add all of the necessary packages one at a time, but there's a much easier way to go about it.

To install all of the packages that come with one of the flavors of Ubuntu, such as Kubuntu, run apt-get install kubuntu-desktop (or edubuntu-desktop, xubuntu-desktop, or xubuntu-desktop).

If the GUI is more your style, the *desktop packages can be installed using Adept, Synaptic, or another package manager.

7. How to reconfigure X.org

Most of the time, X.org -- that's the software that drives your video card and provides the foundation for the GUI, whether you're running GNOME, KDE, Xfce, or another window manager -- "just works" when you install Ubuntu. In fact, I'd wager that most Ubuntu users never even have to think about their video settings.

But, sometimes you need to reconfigure X.org because Ubuntu hasn't detected your video card and monitor properly, or maybe you've just purchased a shiny new video card and need to get it working with Ubuntu. Whatever the reason, it's good to know how to reconfigure X without having to edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf by hand.

To run through the configuration, use dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg at the console or in a terminal window. Then you'll have a chance to specify your monitor and video card, the resolutions and color depths you want to run the server at, and so forth.

Since every setup is different, it's hard to give concrete advice for configuring X, but it's generally OK to accept the configuration defaults. Also, you'll be given a choice between Advanced, Medium, and Simple methods for giving your monitor's specifications. As a rule, it's probably best to go with Simple unless you really know what you're doing, or the Simple method doesn't work for you.

8. Log in automagically

By default, when you boot up the computer, Ubuntu will give you a login screen before you get to your X session. From a security perspective, this is a good idea, particularly in multi-user environments or in any situation where other people have physical access to your computer. Still, many users are used to just being logged in automatically, and don't want to fuss with logging in each time they reboot their desktop.

To set this in Ubuntu, go to System -> Administration -> Login Window. You'll need to provide your password, then you'll get the Login Window Preferences window with five tabs. Choose the Security tab and click Enable Automatic Login. If you have more than one regular user, make sure to specify which user should be logged in automatically.

Again, and I can't stress this enough, this is only a good idea for home computers where only one person has access to the computer. I don't recommend this for work computers or laptop/notebook computers, when someone else might have access to the machine.

9. Compiling from source

Ubuntu's package repository is huge, particularly when you factor in packages in the Universe and Multiverse repositories. However, many users find themselves needing to install packages from source, either because they want to use a newer package than is available in the repository, or they want to try something that's not in the Ubuntu repository at all.

If you want to install packages from source, you can use a few shortcuts to make life easier. First, you'll probably want to get the build-essential meta-package if you haven't installed any developer tools. Run sudo apt-get install build-essential; it will grab GCC, the Linux kernel headers, GNU Make, and some other packages that you'll probably need.

Next, if you're going to compile a package such as Gaim because a new version is out, you might be able to satisfy the new version's dependencies with the old version's dependencies. To do this, grab the package's build dependencies with sudo apt-get build-dep packagename . That will grab all of the development packages you need to build the package that's currently available in Ubuntu, and will probably satisfy dependencies for the new version you're compiling.

Finally, don't make install when you compile from source -- use CheckInstall instead. CheckInstall will create a Debian package and install it for you, so you can remove or upgrade the software more easily later on.

Grab CheckInstall with apt-get install checkinstall. After you've run ./configure ; make, just run sudo checkinstall and answer a few simple questions. Note that if you compile packages on AMD64, CheckInstall will select X86_64 as the architecture rather than amd64 -- which will cause the package install to fail, since Ubuntu expects amd64 as the architecture rather than X86_64.

By the way, the packages created by CheckInstall also make it easier to deploy the same package on several machines, if you happen to have several systems running Ubuntu. See Joe Barr's excellent CLI Magic feature on CheckInstall too.

10. A new kernel

Ubuntu will install a 386 kernel for x86 machines, which probably isn't what you'd want if you've got a Pentium II or better CPU. The 386 kernel is compiled to work with just about any x86 CPU, but extensions that appear in later CPUs can give your system a boost, if they're taken advantage of. To replace the kernel, open Synaptic or Adept and search for linux-image. You'll see several choices. Pick the one that best suits your CPU -- probably the linux-image-686 package for Pentium II and later CPUs, and linux-image-k7 for later AMD processors. Note that if you're using the AMD64 line (or Intel's x86-64 CPUs) you should be using the amd64 images.

Of course, once you install the new kernel, you'll need to reboot. Another benefit to the 686 kernels is that they have SMP support, which is a bonus for multi-core and Intel HyperThread CPUs.

If none of the tips cover questions that you have about Ubuntu, try checking out the Ubuntu wiki, forums, and mailing lists. As a rule, the Ubuntu users are a helpful lot, and you'll usually be able to find someone who's run into the same situation that you have questions about.

Source & Credit: http://www.linux.com/feature/54945

Sex Tips: How to satisfied your wife by exploring her G-Spot

2008-12-17T06:44:00.001-08:00

Best & Simple Tips To Help You Stop Smoking

2008-12-12T05:51:00.000-08:00

Stopping smoking is not easy. Below are some tips which may help you to quit smoking. At the end of the leaflet there are details of some further resources that may help.
Write a list of the reasons why you want to stop, and keep them with you. Refer to them when tempted to light up. You may wish to read a separate leaflet in this series called 'Smoking - The Facts'. This gives the reasons why smoking is so harmful and lists the benefits of stopping.

Set a date for stopping, and stop completely. (Some people prefer the idea of cutting down gradually. However, research has shown that if you smoke less cigarettes than usual, you are likely to smoke more of each cigarette, and nicotine levels remain nearly the same. Therefore, it is usually best to stop once and for all from a set date.)

Tell everyone that you are giving up smoking. Friends and family often give support and may help you. Smoking by others in the household makes giving up harder. If appropriate, try to get other household members who smoke, or friends who smoke, to stop smoking at the same time. A 'team' effort may be easier than going it alone.

Get rid of ashtrays, lighters, and all cigarettes.

Be prepared for some withdrawal symptoms. When you stop smoking, you are likely to get symptoms which may include: nausea (feeling sick), headaches, anxiety, irritability, craving, and just feeling awful. These symptoms are caused by the lack of nicotine that your body has been used to. They tend to peak after 12-24 hours, and then gradually ease over 2-4 weeks.

Anticipate a cough. It is normal for a 'smokers cough' to get worse when you stop smoking (as the airways 'come back to life'). Many people say that this makes them feel worse for a while after stopping smoking and makes them tempted to restart smoking. Resist this temptation! The cough usually gradually eases.

Be aware of situations in which you are most likely to want to smoke. In particular, drinking alcohol is often associated with failing in an attempt to stop smoking. You should consider not drinking much alcohol in the first few weeks after stopping smoking. Try changing your routine for the first few weeks. For example, don't go to the pub for a while if that is a tempting place to smoke and drink alcohol. Also, if drinking tea and coffee are difficult times, try drinking mainly fruit juice and plenty of water instead.

Take one day at a time. Mark off each successful day on a calendar. Look at it when you feel tempted to smoke, and tell yourself that you don't want to start all over again.

Be positive. You can tell people that you don't smoke. You will smell better. After a few weeks you should feel better, taste your food more, and cough less. You will have more money. Perhaps put away the money you would have spent on cigarettes for treats.

Food. Some people worry about gaining weight when they give up smoking as the appetite may improve. Anticipate an increase in appetite, and try not to increase fatty or sugary foods as snacks. Try sugar-free gum and fruit instead.

Don't despair if you fail. Examine the reasons why you felt it was more difficult at that particular time. It will make you stronger next time. On average, people who eventually stop smoking have made 3 or 4 previous attempts.

Stop Smoking Clinics are available on the NHS. They have a good success in helping people to stop smoking. Your doctor may refer you to one if you are keen to stop smoking but are finding it difficult to do so.

Various medicines can increase your chance of quitting. These include Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) which comes as gums, sprays, patches, tablets, lozenges, and inhalers. You can buy NRT without a prescription. Also, medicines called bupropion (trade name 'Zyban') and varenicline (trade name 'Champix) can help. These are available on prescription. See separate leaflets called 'Smoking - Nicotine Replacement Therapy', 'Smoking - Helping to Stop with Bupropion' and 'Smoking - Helping to Stop with Varenicline'.

Further help and information

Quit - a charity that helps people to stop smoking.
Quitline: 0800 00 22 00 Web: www.quit.org.uk

NHS 'Go Smokefree' Services
NHS smoking helpline 0800 169 0 169 Web: www.gosmokefree.nhs.uk
For help and advice on stopping smoking, and for details of your local NHS Stop Smoking Service.

References

Smoking cessation, Clinical Knowledge Summaries (April 2008)
Smoking cessation, NICE (2006)
Various factsheets and guidelines on smoking and smoking cessation, Action on Smoking and Health (various dates)

Bypass Blocked Websites

2008-12-09T03:51:00.000-08:00

// Oops you can’t access Youtube, Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, among others at school or work. Sound familiar ?? Social networking sites are often blocked because users are subject to unwanted spyware that can compromise their computers, track your online activity, degrade PC performance and for security reasons. I think teens used these websites more than adults but why do we need to block them at school ?? Maybe to protect the children from adult predators or from adult oriented adware.
Anyway, there are ways to get stuff done and this article will help you to unblock access to restricted websites.

1. Use of translation tools

There are tons of translation tools on the web but i would suggest to use Google Translate or Babelfish. It’s a bit like using a web proxy. Just go to one of these tools Google Translate or Babelfish and then entered the website you want to view and leave the language as it is and click Translate (the default language of the website you want to visit).

2. Use of IP Address

Use of the IP address of the website you want to access. e.g the IP address of Google is http://216.239.51.99/. But it does not work in all the case especially if the blocking software filtered IP address too.

3. Use of proxy server

What is a proxy server?

A proxy server is a server (a computer system or an application program) which services the requests of its clients by forwarding requests to other servers.~ From Wikipedia

There are many free proxy server available, just googled it “free proxy server“. Or you could just used HideMyAss and this one.

4. Use of Google Mobile

Google Mobile is a search engine mainly for mobile phones as its name suggested. Google Mobile will remove the JavaScript from the website and display. It is not a good method, the page becomes longer and difficult to read but you

can use it in the worst case.

5. Use of TorPark

Torpark is a program which allows you to browse the internet anonymously. It was developed by the group Hacktivismo. TorPark is a fully configured combination of Tor (The Onion Router) and Mozilla’s browser technologies. Both programs are in the zip files, fully configured. In other words, it offers the security of a proxy. You can download the software from here.

Learn a few tips for taking special care during pregnancy

2008-12-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

Tips for special care during pregnancy

Regular exercise during pregnancy can have special benefits. It can lessen the discomfort and fatigue.

For morning sickness, nibble on a few plain crackers when you wake up. Rest in bed for 20 to 30 minutes before getting up.

Taking a warm shower during labour may help you to relax or just feel better. Avoid hot water, it can raise your body temperature.

Eat several small meals each day. Avoid rich, spicy, acidic and fried foods. Keep healthy snacks available.

To prevent dehydration during labour, on the hour have something to drink and on the half hour go to the bathroom.

During labour a gentle backrub will feel good and help you to relax making contractions more effective.

When in labour relax as much as possible during contractions. Labour with your body, not against it. The more you can relax, the more effective the contractions will be.

Never change a cat's litter box when pregnant. It can contain toxoplasmosis that can cause birth defects.

Low lighting and soft music may help you relax during labour.

Walk around between contractions to help your labour move along.

Take your prenatal vitamin with dinner, or the biggest meal of your day, to minimize nausea.

Towards the end of your pregnancy you may need to buy a pair of shoes in a larger size.

Fat and cholesterol are important for absorbing the fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E, and K), for stretchable skin, and is also necessary for the developing baby brain. Two tablespoons of fat a day is recommended for pregnant women.

Keep track of situations that trigger nausea so that you can avoid those things. Odors, sudden motion, etc.

Listen to your body. Your body will let you know when it is time to relax and rest.

A healthy diet and exercise program during pregnancy can help a woman maintain her self-esteem. Women, who stayed active throughout their pregnancy, have an easier time regaining muscle tone and losing weight after childbirth.

To help avoid high blood pressure during pregnancy you should lay on your left side, drink lots of water and avoid salt.

Are your feet and legs swelling? Walk often and sit with your feet up. Also sleep on your left side.

Take naps during the day or after work to help fight fatigue.

Childbirth classes are a great way to learn more about what is happening to your body and the birth process.

Keep a diary of what you are eating to ensure that you are keeping up with your daily requirements.

If you exercise when pregnant (within limits of course), you could have a shorter labour and recover faster.

In late pregnancy, swimming is a great way to exercise. It makes you feel weightless and it can help relieve a lot of aches and pains.

To reduce cramping while you are sleeping, place pillows under your knees and feet.

Be sure to drink 8 - 10 glasses of water each day. Be especially careful on hot summer days, you may need to increase your water intake.

When traveling by car, be sure to wear your seat belt. The bottom strap should go across your hips, not over your abdomen.

When having nausea and vomiting, if it lasts longer than 24 hours and you have the inability to keep any food or fluids down, call your doctor. Also call your doctor about severe pain in any part of your body.

Increase your calorie intake while pregnant, normally 300 calories per day. While exercising - increase even more.

Credit: http://www.seasonsindia.com/pregnancy/specialcare_sea.htm

25 greats tips for relationship success

2008-12-08T04:36:00.000-08:00

What's the key to successful relationships? Here, Susan Quilliam reveals the simple things you need to know to deepen your partnership and make your relationship work

1. Without quality time, your relationship will not survive. Carve out at least half an hour a night, and at least one day a month when you the two of you spend time exclusively together.

2. You will both need security, comfort. A good relationship is built on compromise and a great deal of give and take on both sides.

3. Keep your dependence and independence in balance. Tell and show your partner how much you need him, but don't cling, as that can make your partner feel trapped.

4. Encourage him to listen to you, by showing appreciation when he does. By the same token, show interest when he talks to you. Be aware that most men aren't mentally programmed for conversation in the way women are. They need more silence and internal time.

5. Make him appreciate you. Don't wait for a spontaneous compliment, but say something good about yourself and ask for his agreement.

6. Teach him, preferably early in your relationship, exactly how to give you a failsafe orgasm because it's unlikely he'll find out alone. If you don't yet know yourself, find out.

7. Learn to do the one thing that is most likely to restore good feeling in your relationship - giving your partner a genuine, loving and approving smile.

8.Often those subtle quirks that first attracted you to your partner can, with time, turn around and become toe-curlingly annoying habits. Learn to love him, warts and all.

9. Hidden resentments poison a relationship; so if something bothers you, say it. Remember that while men are wary of emotional conversations, they love to find solutions. Express your problem and then ask him to help you find the answer.

10. Learn that punishing your partner won't work. It may make you feel better to give him a hard time, but it will actually make him dig his heels in more. A better tactic is to reward the things you like and ignore what you don't like.

11. Money is the number one cause of couple conflict. For a relationship to work, you need to address your finances and work out a budget.

12. If the domestic work is not divided fairly between you, it will cause friction in your relationship. Make a list of the domestic tasks, talk it through with your partner and mobilise the whole family, your partner included, to share the work.

13. If you have children, involve your partner as much as possible with the childcare - even if you feel he's not as good as it at you are. It's important to present a united front to your children.

14. Sort out your sex life. The sex may ebb and flow over the years, but if sex starts going downhill, don't just accept it. As soon as you notice a slide, question why and then work at bringing the passion back.

15. Don't assume you won't be tempted to have an affair as almost everyone is. You need to learn to resist. If you do stray, don't feel it spells the end of your relationship. Most couples recover, particularly from a one-night-stand, and often find that unrooting the cause of the affair helps them to get even closer. So, you need to learn to resist. But don't think that an affair is the end of everything.

16. Remember that boredom typically covers up anger. If you feel bored with him, ask yourself what you're angry about.

17. Be aware that men generally feel overwhelmed by emotion more than women do. If he's angry or tearful, half an hour's 'unflooding' time to himself will help get his balance back and make him more able to interact positively with you.

18. Learn how to argue well. The trick is to never say anything that you wouldn't want to hear said to you.

19. Research suggests you need five positive experiences to erase the memory of one negative experience. So give five kind words for each bitchy comment. Give five hugs for each cold shoulder.

20. Learn how to negotiate. Each of you states what you want, then both of you work together to find a way forward.

21. Accept the things that won't change. Some characteristics about your partner are there for life - and you have to face that.

22. Learn to forgive. If you know you will never forgive your partner over something important, then give him - and yourself - a break and start again, with someone else.

23. Realise that the two of you will shift and change over the years. So, even if you think you understand him, or believe you have agreements sorted, check regularly - at least once a year - to make sure that neither of you has changed your mind.

24. Know when to leave. If your life aims are incompatible, there are heavy drugs or violence around, or if there is consistently more pain than pleasure, then walk before the relationship destroys you.

25. Don't think that going to counselling equals failure. It can turn a bad relationship around. It can turn an average relationship into a brilliant one. Contact Relate on 0845 456 1310 for more information.

How to Get Six Pack Abs

2008-12-08T03:08:00.000-08:00

To get six pack abs you need to do two things: Build muscle and lose fat. Details on ways to accomplish each of these goals follows:

Build Muscle

Do Crunches. Lie on the floor (with or without a mat) and cross your arms in front of your chest. Bend your knees up as far as they go. (Do not place both hands behind your head. Placing both hands behind your head can cause lower back problems in the long run as it places unnecessary stress on that part of your body from pulling on your head and neck.) Another alternative is to cross your arms in front of your chest and lightly place your finger tips behind your ears, without pulling on your neck or ears to help raise you off the floor. Draw in your abdomen towards your spine while inhaling through your nose. Now raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles. It is very important not to lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain, and the extended movement does not help you develop six pack abs any faster. The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs as you lift your shoulders off of the floor. As soon as you begin lifting off the floor exhale through your mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor. Then pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while flexing your abs. The proper breathing and flexing make all the difference. Now lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the ground and repeat.
Do Sit Ups. Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and fingers placed behind your ears or hands crossed on your chest. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades.Lower yourself down. Repeat. Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges. Find an incline bench or do these on an exercise ball. Once you "graduate" from that, do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest while you do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights. You might also try lifting your feet off the ground while doing the sit ups or alternating the leg in the air, like pretending to pedal while sitting up. If your hands are behind your head, bring your left knee up to touch your right elbow and then your right knee to the left elbow.
Do Leg Lifts. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all) until they're at a 90 degree angle (or close). Lower your legs and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor. For more challenge there is equipment at most gyms that will allow you to raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle your legs. You can perform leg lifts there too. If you're using this piece of equipment, you can make it easier by just raising your knees to your chest. It's more difficult to raise your legs to a horizontal position with your legs straight. This helps firm up the lower abdomen. If you're truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar. Still too easy?...
Do Jackknife Sit Ups. Lie down flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold bringing your feet towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. "spread out") and repeat. Place a weight between your feet when you think you can handle it. What's that? More?
Do V-ups. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands on the floor but this time extended out over your head. Simultaneously raise legs and torso. Don't bend your knees! What kind of V would it be if you bend your knees? Reach with your hands toward the raised feet. Touch your feet if possible (will require some flexibility). Relax, return to starting position and repeat. Add weight between feet to match your taste.
Static Hold and Side Statics. Put your body into the push-up position but with your elbows on the floor, and your whole body flat. This position is known as the static hold position and it trains your core (including your abs) to hold the body in place which is the real purpose of your abs. Hold this position for as long as possible, but you should be aiming to start off with at least 45 seconds, while seasoned ab workers known to achieve over 20 minute static holds. To perform the side static hold roll onto one side of your body and lift into the same position as before, but this time only one arm will be on the ground with the other arm pointed straight up the air and your non-weight bearing leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, hold this for as long as possible
Train Your Oblique Muscles. It's not as important to work on your oblique muscles at first, but eventually you'll want to start working these too. These are the muscles to either side of your stomach. There are multiple ways to do this and anything that includes twisting your torso against a resistance counts. There are twisting machines at gyms, you can twist while you do sit-ups, you can do side bends, you can twist side to side with a medicine ball in hand, etc. Be aware though, that many beginners tend to have weak obliques compared to their abs (it simply isn't used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides at first.
Know that since it is, literally, the center of your body there are many other tricks you can use to train your abs, and some of the other movements will more or less involve your abs. Including every abdominal exercise in existence would make this article painfully long and new methods are being developed constantly. Now that you've made up your mind about a washboard mid-section, get creative! Find new ways to crunch, bend and twist in your daily life. Some possibilities include:
- Use a stability ball. Do your crunches on the ball to introduce instability to your workout, which will improve your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises that can be done with a stability ball.You can also use a small bubble used for physical therapy.
- Duck and twist during your daily routine. Reach with your left hand to things on your right and vice versa. If you feel like turning around to face something, see if you can do it with keeping your hips in place and twisting at the waist (warning: awkward when talking to other people, use only against inanimate objects). While walking or standing, pretend that something is coming toward you and you have to duck to get out of the way. Do this as often as you are comfortable or at times when it won't look weird. You can bend forward from the hips or, if you're really into it, bend at the knees too and really "sink" out of the way. Caution: If you have lower back problems, you could injure yourself.
Do the Scientific Best Abs Exercise Researchers at the San Diego State University, found that there are certain abs exercises that triggers most muscular activity. The winner was the "bicycle maneuver":
- Lie on the floor; make sure your lower back is pressed on the ground.
- Take your hands behind your ears. Then bring up your knees at a 45 degree angle.
- Start doing a bicycle pedaling motion. Touch your elbow with the opposite knee (right elbow with left knee and so on, alternating)
- Breathe relaxed and evenly throughout the whole exercise.

Lose Fat

Lift Weights. The more muscle your body has, the more calories your body burns, even at rest. Many people are afraid of getting huge due to weight lifting but the fact is you won't!, Many huge body-builders out there have been body-building for years to get huge. If you just do cardiovascular exercises without lifting weights then you will lose the muscle mass, you will also feel weak and it will take longer to lose that fat. So, to get rid of that fat quickly lift weights combined with cardiovascular exercises. Running, biking, swimming, stair climbing, jumping rope, tennis, volleyball, dancing, squash or any other activity that gets you moving and keeps you moving is a great way to burn fat. However, a cardiovascular workout should be performed for at least 20 to 30 minutes to burn fat. Prior to this your body will simply run on its stored energy, which results in minimal fat loss. Cardiovascular training should always be done after your weight lifting workout. While lifting weights, you use stored, (carbohydrate) energy, thus, by performing cardiovascular exercises after weight training your body will have less stored energy to use and go straight into the fat storage for its energy use. The overall best way to shed fat fast is to do cardiovascular exercises right when you wake up. Your body will search for energy to use, and when it finds nothing in your stomach, it will go directly to your fat reserves for energy.
Keep Metabolism Steady. Eating one small meal (such as a potato, a salad, etc.) every three hours that you are awake will not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going. Your metabolism goes and slows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep that metabolism burning calories and will help you lose weight. A jar of nuts in the office will do just fine, grab a handful when you feel like it. Most fruits can last for a couple days without refrigeration, and if you have a refrigerator at the office, make use of it.
Eat Smaller Dinners. Cut down on the size of your dinner. If you're hungry, snack on fruits or other healthy, low calorie snacks. Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most people aren't very active after dinner. This is the basis for advice along the lines of "don't eat anything within N hours before going to bed". The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat isn't entirely true (the process is more complicated than that) but the fact you don't move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause. You can offset this by eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits. A handful of nuts might do the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.
Eat More Fiber. Most people don't get enough fiber. The recommended amount is actually not that much if you eat a healthy diet. "Fiber foods" include whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Other options are fiber supplements.
Eat Breakfast. Many people skip breakfast because they don't have time for it. Keep this in mind: You don't have time to skip breakfast, it's simply too valuable to skip. The fact that skipping breakfast messes up your concentration and other mental functions is beyond the scope of this article. The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch since your body hasn't had anything in the past 12 (or more) hours. When you eat a huge lunch you get that after meal drowsiness so now you're both unproductive and inactive. Cereals don't take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthy nowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast bars or a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Some breakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fiber.
Drink More Water Every Day. Many places suggest 8 cups (2L) of water a day. It also depends on your weight (1L/20kg would be good, more if it's hot or you're ill). It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but actually, you can drink tea without sugar to make up some of the quota. In fact tea, especially green tea, rev up your "metabolism" (actually cause a temporary increase in calories burned).
For fat loss purposes, it is important to remind yourself that thirst is a much weaker stimuli than hunger. If you consistently feel hungry after meals, don't immediately think that you need to eat more. You may simply be thirsty!
Needless to say there are many benefits of water. The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on body size.

Shape Your Body : How Can I Lose Weight Safely?

2008-12-07T04:06:00.000-08:00

Weight loss is a tricky topic. Lots of people are unhappy with their present weight, but most aren't sure how to change it — and many would be better off staying where they are. You may want to look like the models or actors in magazines and on TV, but those goals might not be healthy or realistic for you. Besides, no magical diet or pill will make you look like someone else.

So what should you do about weight control?

Being healthy is really about being at a weight that is right for you. The best way to find out if you are at a healthy weight or if you need to lose or gain weight is to talk to a doctor or dietitian, who can compare your weight with healthy norms to help you set realistic goals. If it turns out that you can benefit from weight loss, then you can follow a few of the simple suggestions listed below to get started.

Weight management is about long-term success. People who lose weight quickly by crash dieting or other extreme measures usually gain back all (and often more) of the pounds they lost because they haven't permanently changed their habits. Therefore, the best weight-management strategies are those that you can maintain for a lifetime. That's a long time, so we'll try to keep these suggestions as easy as possible!

Make it a family affair. Ask your mom or dad to lend help and support and to make dietary or lifestyle changes that will benefit the whole family, if possible. Teens who have the support of their families tend to have better results with their weight-management programs. But remember, you should all work together in a friendly and helpful way — making weight loss into a competition is a recipe for disaster!

Watch your drinks. It's amazing how many extra calories can be lurking in the sodas, juices, and other drinks that you take in every day. Simply cutting out a can of soda or one sports drink can save you 150 calories or more each day. Drink water or other sugar-free drinks to quench your thirst and stay away from sugary juices and sodas. Switching from whole to nonfat or low-fat milk is also a good idea.

Start small. Small changes are a lot easier to stick with than drastic ones. Try reducing the size of the portions you eat and giving up regular soda for a week. Once you have that down, start gradually introducing healthier foods and exercise into your life.

Stop eating when you're full. Lots of people eat when they're bored, lonely, or stressed, or keep eating long after they're full out of habit. Try to pay attention as you eat and stop when you're full. Slowing down can help because it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to recognize how much is in your stomach. Sometimes taking a break before going for seconds can keep you from eating another serving.

Avoid eating when you feel upset or bored — try to find something else to do instead (a walk around the block or a trip to the gym are good alternatives). Many people find it's helpful to keep a diary of what they eat and when. Reviewing the diary later can help them identify the emotions they have when they overeat or whether they have unhealthy habits. A registered dietitian can give you pointers on how to do this.

Eat less more often. Many people find that eating a couple of small snacks throughout the day helps them to make healthy choices at meals. Stick a couple of healthy snacks (carrot sticks, whole-grain pretzels, or a piece of fruit) in your backpack so that you can have one or two snacks during the day. Adding healthy snacks to your three squares and eating smaller portions when you sit down to dinner can help you to cut calories without feeling deprived.

Five a day keep the pounds away. Ditch the junk food and dig out the fruits and veggies! Five servings of fruits and veggies aren't just a good idea to help you lose weight — they'll help keep your heart and the rest of your body healthy. Other suggestions for eating well: replace white bread with whole wheat, trade your sugary sodas for water and low-fat milk, and make sure you eat a healthy breakfast. Having low-sugar, whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk with a piece of fruit is a much better idea than inhaling a donut as you run to the bus stop or eating no breakfast at all! A registered dietitian can give you lots of other snack and menu ideas.

Avoid fad diets. It's never a good idea to trade meals for shakes or to give up a food group in the hope that you'll lose weight — we all need a variety of foods to stay healthy. Stay away from fad diets because you're still growing and need to make sure you get proper nutrients. Avoid diet pills (even the over-the-counter or herbal variety). They can be dangerous to your health; besides, there's no evidence that they help keep weight off over the long term.

Don't banish certain foods. Don't tell yourself you'll never again eat your absolutely favorite peanut butter chocolate ice cream or a bag of chips from the vending machine at school. Making these foods forbidden is sure to make you want them even more. Also, don't go fat free: You need to have some fat in your diet to stay healthy, so giving up all fatty foods all the time isn't a good idea. The key to long-term success is making healthy choices most of the time. If you want a piece of cake at a party, go for it! But munch on the carrots rather than the chips to balance it out.

Get moving. You may find that you don't need to cut calories as much as you need to get off your behind. Don't get stuck in the rut of thinking you have to play a team sport or take an aerobics class to get exercise. Try a variety of activities from hiking to cycling to dancing until you find ones you like.

Not a jock? Find other ways to fit activity into your day: walk to school, jog up and down the stairs a couple of times before your morning shower, turn off the tube and help your parents in the garden, or take a stroll past your crush's house — anything that gets you moving. Your goal should be to work up to 60 minutes of exercise every day. But everyone has to begin somewhere. It's fine to start out by simply taking a few turns around the block before bed and building up your levels of fitness gradually.

Build muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat. So adding strength training to your exercise routine can help you reach your weight loss goals as well as give you a toned bod. And weights are not the only way to go: Try resistance bands, pilates, or push-ups to get strong. A good, well-balanced fitness routine includes aerobic workouts, strength training, and flexibility exercises.

Forgive yourself. So you were going to have one cracker with spray cheese on it and the next thing you know the can's pumping air and the box is empty? Drink some water, brush your teeth, and move on. Everyone who's ever tried to lose weight has found it challenging. When you slip up, the best idea is to get right back on track and don't look back. Avoid telling yourself that you'll get back on track tomorrow or next week or after New Year's. Start now.

Try to remember that losing weight isn't going to make you a better person — and it won't magically change your life. It's a good idea to maintain a healthy weight because it's just that: healthy.

How To: Recover deleted files

2008-12-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

If you have deleted files from your hard drive, don't panic! Using the right unerase software deleted files can be recovered very easily. Success is more or less guaranteed as long as you act as soon as you realize that the files are missing.

Even if your files have been overwritten or corrupted, if the disk they were stored on has been formatted or repartitioned, or if you don't know how they were lost, it's still likely that you can recover them. To find out more about data recovery read How To: Data Recovery. If you have lost files from CD or DVD, see How To: CD Data Recovery. But if you only want to know how to recover deleted files, just read on!

Recommended undelete software

For Windows users:

Use Uneraser.

For Apple Mac users:

Use Data Rescue II.

When a file is deleted from your computer, it is not really deleted. It is simply removed from the directory of files in the folder.

If you're using Windows and you deleted the file using Windows Explorer, the file will not have been erased from the disk. It will have been moved to the Recycle Bin. If you're a Mac user, it's moved to the Trash. If you use Linux KDE, it's the Wastebin. Whatever the bucket shaped object is called, as long as a file remains there it can easily be restored in its entirety, with no problem at all. So the first thing to do when you want to recover a deleted file is look in the Recycle Bin / Trash / Wastebin.

If the file you need isn't there - if you emptied the bin, used Shift Delete to get rid of the file, deleted it from within an application or used some other method of removing it that bypassed the bin - then don't despair. It's almost certainly recoverable. When you empty the Recycle Bin or delete a file using another method, the file is still not really deleted. The file no longer exists as far as the operating system is concerned, and the space it occupied becomes available for re-use by other files. But the disk space does not get re-used straight away, so the data contained in the deleted file will stay on your hard drive for some time to come.

A frequent misconception is that the System Restore feature of Windows Millennium, Windows XP and Windows Vista can be used to recover deleted files. However, it is no help at all. System Restore was developed specifically to restore system files back to an earlier state. Its purpose is to enable easy recovery when a software update, installation or removal has an adverse effect on the system. It provides a simple way to roll things back to a point in time when everything worked.

Think about it. It would be very annoying if, when you used System Restore to get your computer back to the state it was in a few days ago, it removed all the letters, emails and other documents you'd received or created since then as well. So System Restore ignores file types associated with office documents, photo images, music files and other things that are of interest to you. It doesn't back them up in a Restore Point, so it can't restore them.

Chances of recovery

Because the operating system doesn't immediately re-use space from deleted files, a file can be recovered or undeleted right after it has gone, and for a fair while afterwards. But the chances of a perfect undelete decrease the longer you leave it, because eventually some or all of that space will be re-used.

The chances of recovery also depend on how full your computer's hard drive is. Windows tries to avoid re-using disk space that has recently been freed, to give deleted file recovery software a better chance of working. But the fuller a drive is is, the sooner the freed-up space is going to be used by other files.

If you have defragmented the hard drive since the file was deleted, then this has severely harmed the chances of a successful recovery. Current files will have been moved into the free space left by deleted files in order to reduce fragmentation, making it much less likely that undelete software will be able to find anything useful.

Recover deleted files

Tools that can help you undelete files are not provided as standard in any operating system. So you will need to use undelete software.

Undelete software understands the internals of the system used to store files on a disk (the file system), and uses this knowledge to locate the disk space that was occupied by a deleted file. As we've already said, because another file may have used some or all of this disk space, there is no guarantee that a deleted file can be recovered. But usually it is successful. In fact, Uneraser users have often been amazed to find that it recovers files that were deleted months or even years ago. The best undelete programs give you an indication of the chances of recovering a file intact, and even provide file viewers so you can check the contents before recovery.

If you're running Microsoft Windows we consider that DiskInternals Uneraser is one of the best undelete software products available. Uneraser has powerful tools to help locate lost data among the thousands of files on a hard drive. It also has the widest range of built-in viewers to let you examine the files it finds before recovery. There is a free trial version so you can see for yourself whether it can recover the files you lost. If a file looks perfect in the viewer then recovery is pretty well 100% guaranteed. See a tutorial showing how to recover deleted files using Uneraser.

For Apple Mac users we recommend Data Rescue II. The standard version is installed on your Mac, but if you need to you can obtain an .dmg file to create a boot CD that allows you to run the software from that. Again, there's a free demo, so you can see if it will get your files back before paying for it.

Recovering files from your main drive

One of the cardinal rules of data recovery is that you must stop using the disk that contains the files you want to recover as soon as you realize they are lost. This is because anything that gets written to the drive could potentially be written to the space that was holding the data you hope to recover. If the files you lost are on your computer's main or only drive (normally the C: drive in Windows) then using the computer at all is inadvisable, because even if you avoid writing to that drive, Windows will still be doing so.

You can avoid this potential problem by running data recovery software from a boot CD. The DiskInternals data recovery boot CD builds a Windows based recovery CD using the Windows installation files found on most PCs (for the benefit of technical types, it uses BartPE.) This allows you to run Uneraser and other DiskInternals data recovery tools under a familiar Windows interface. Alternatively, you can use Data Rescue PC, which comes ready to burn to CD (you can also order a ready to use CD through the post at extra cost.)

If it seems like too much work to create a bootable data recovery CD then of course you can always take a chance on installing software such as Uneraser on your main hard drive. If you have a large drive and most of it is unused then there may be only a small possibility that the software installation will overwrite your data. It's your data, so the decision is up to you, but don't say we didn't warn you!

Saving the recovered data

Because it is bad practise to write to the drive that contains the deleted data, you should save the files that have been recovered to a different drive to the one they were recovered from. This could be an external drive or a network share, even a USB memory stick. The Uneraser product recommended here has the ability to burn files direct to writeable CD or DVD without creating any temporary files on the hard drive. It even allows you to save the files to an FTP server.

Basic Ways to Protect Your Computer From Hackers

2008-12-07T03:49:00.001-08:00

Your computer have important information that don't want other person to see it? Do you feel there always have someone looking at the data in your computer?

Nowadays, There have more than 70% of people in the world using computers. People don't save their data on paper anymore, they use their computer to save all the data, like company documents, photos, files, chatting history...etc... But do you know the data in your computer are watching by someone else? Your information may be already in someone's hand.. I am going to introduce some basic ways to protect your computer from the Hackers.

1. Using Anti virus software Remember to use Anti virus software to search your computer every week, and turn on the Anti virus software every time you turn on your computer. That can helps stop unauthorized access on your computer, prevents virus infection, and "cloaks" your data ports against a hacker scanning for openings.

2. Be careful Email Attachment Never open or download the attachment in your Email, unless you know what is it for , or you know the person that sent to you. There have chance that virus is hiding inside the attachment.

3. Be careful what you download in the internet You have to be careful what you download in the internet. There have a lot of program can spy on your computer after you download. Those program can get the information from your computer, the information when you searching on the internet back to the creator of the program. It is a big deal actually, why? Because when you and searching on the internet, there have some important information will pass out (Like your Credit card number, or your social security number). You do not want to give out those information. There have some ways that you can protect your computer from those spy, one of them are the anti-spyware Program, it can protect your personal information from being taken without your permission.

4. Make sure your computer OS and softwares are up to date Hackers are always looking for the security Gaps to hack into someone's computer. The first things they look for are the operating system, web browser and software that install in your computer. So make sure everything in your computer are up to date.

5. set up a password for your Wireless Network Make sure you set up a password on your wireless router. A lot of wireless router are set to no password require when you first install it. Be sure you do that, at least set up a basic security on your wireless network, or else everyone can access to the computers in that Wireless Network.

Those are the basic tips to protect your computer from the hackers. There also have many others advance ways to stop the hackers, but at least do the things that I mention above first. Then you can get into more advance ways to protect your computer. Hope this information will help some of you.

Money Tips : Money saving ideas 50 ways to save money

2008-12-05T00:14:00.000-08:00

1. Change your attitude to your mortgage
The most expensive item you are ever likely to buy is your home. If you're not in the privileged position to pay cash, make sure the loan you use to finance it is the best available. For example, if you are paying your lender's full standard variable rate (SVR) you are probably paying hundreds of pounds a year more than you need to.

There are thousands of deals to choose from and while it is vital to check the small print for hidden catches, this is a relatively easy way to save a lot of money. Remember: loyalty to your bank benefits your bank, not you. Even better, if you can afford to make overpayments on your mortgage, you'll clear your debt several years early and make massive savings. For example, if you borrow £100,000 at 6% over 25 years, you'll pay it back at £643 a month. The total charge for credit will be £93,000. But if you can overpay by £100 a month you'll clear the loan in less than 19 years, giving you 6 years of mortgage-free living and saving a staggering £25,000 in interest.
Saving: £1,000s
Links: This is Money mortgage finder; mortgage calculators; mortgage guides

2. Clear your credit card debt
One of the golden rules of financial planning is to clear your most expensive debts first, in other words your credit cards. OK, credit cards offer a convenient way to pay for goods and services but if you can't clear the balance every month, consider a low-cost loan as an alternative. Do the sums: a credit card debt (APR 15%) of £2,200 over three years will cost £545 in interest. A loan at 6% will cost £209. A saving of £336.
Saving: £100s
Link: This is Money credit card finder

3. Cut the cost of your fuel bills
As the global demand for power threatens to outstrip supply, prices are rising. But that doesn't mean you need to be ripped off. The domestic market for fuel is a competitive one and you can change supplier with a few clicks of the mouse. Your new supplier will take care of the formalities - you just pay less every month.
Saving: £100
Link: Slash your fuel bills with This is Money

4. Consider installing a water meter
We take our tap water for granted. And why not? The companies behind the supply exist to make a profit, we pay them to supply water and have every right to expect it to flow from our taps. But if it doesn't rain, supply runs dry and the price goes up. So you may want to consider the possibility of installing a meter. If you have a big home with few occupants you may be surprised to learn you could halve your annual bill.
Saving: £100s
Link: water calculator

5. Cut your home phone bills
BT may seem to behave like a monopoly but it most definitely is not one. If you must use your phone there are scores of cheaper alternatives from cable companies that package your telephone, television and even broadband internet access to low-cost dial-up services that give you access to cheaper calls using your existing BT line.
Saving: £100
Link: Cut your phone bills with This is Money

6. Consider a pay-as-you go mobile
Ask yourself this: is your mobile phone absolutely necessary? If the answer is yes, then ask yourself whether you really need all those minutes and texts that come as part of your package. If you hand over £50 a month to your mobile phone company, that's £600 a year – or around £1,000 of your gross salary. But you can buy a pay-as-you-go phone for as little as £30 and only pay for the odd call as and when you need to.
Saving: £100s
Links: mobile phone deal finder

7. Make a shopping list
Food shopping forms a significant part of our monthly outgoings and the supermarket is where the bulk of the money is spent. Tesco takes £1 in every £8 spent by UK shoppers. But be warned, stores spend a small fortune studying ways of making us part with more of our money than we would otherwise intend to. Have you ever wondered why your favourite song is playing in the background as you navigate the aisles? Have you even noticed the background music? Possibly not, but you will have noticed at the checkout that the bill is often more than expected. To circumvent this, simply make a shopping list. Dig out the cookery books, plan a few meals and only buy what you need.
Saving: £10 a week = £520 a year
Link: Mysupermarket for price comparisons

8. When was the last time you went to the market?
One way to beat the supermarkets - that is, to eat healthily for less - is to use your local market stall. Lower overheads should mean lower prices. At the time of writing, cherries were on sale in Asda for £2.99 for 400g, the equivalent at the local market was going for just over £1.
Saving: £100+

9. Consider own-brand goods
You can buy a tin of Asda own-brand baked beans for 14p and a loaf bread at Asda, Tesco or Sainsbury's for 19p. Enough said.
Saving: £100
Link: Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's

10. Don't buy designer labels
Celebrities are given expensive clothes to wear. You're not. At the end of the day, and let's face it you may only wear the outfit once, can you justify paying hundreds of pounds over the odds because a top designer has had his or her name sewn on the label? And can you honestly say you can tell the difference at a distance between a £600 designer bag and a £9.99 one from the market? Think about it.
Saving: £100s
Link: Prada - note the total lack of prices
ASOS.com offers discounted brands

11. Sell your clutter on eBay
Take this quick test: You're at home. Open a cupboard. Look inside. If it's full of clothes you haven't worn, or 'good ideas a the time' you haven't used, for, let's say, three years - you don't need them. So why not sell them to someone else who does? Ebay, the online auction house, has opened individual sellers to a world of buyers. And you can flog anything for the cost of a small commission. Tip: you may want to buy a few items first to build up your rating as a respectable eBayer before you start selling.
Income: Will depend on what's in your cupboard
Links: www.ebay.co.uk; 'I'm making money from eBay'

12. Use your talent to earn extra cash
Let's face it, if you're not a pop star by the time you reach your 20s you're never going to be. But you may be able to use your talent as a guitarist to teach other wannabes the rudiments of the 12-bar blues.
Income: It's not unreasonable to charge £20 an hour

13. Do DIY
We're a nation of obsessive DIYers and for around £100 you can take a course at your local adult education college to improve the skills needed to tackle most household repairs. If the college runs plumbing courses you could soon be on track to wiping out costly call-out charges and extra insurance policies once and for all.
Saving: £100+

14. Shop around for the cheapest household insurance
Unless you drive – car insurance is mandatory - you don't need insurance. But it's strongly advisable. Can you afford to foot the bill if your house burns down? Probably not. Similarly, can you afford to pay over the odds for the same policy available elsewhere because you can't be bothered to shop around? Possibly, but it's not advisable. The internet has made finding cheaper insurance easy and you can compare hundreds of policies in minutes.
Saving: £100s
Link: This is Money's insurance finder

15. Don't automatically renew annual travel insurance
If your annual holiday insurance policy is about to expire and you don't have a holiday booked, DON'T renew the policy. You're handing your money over to cover an eventuality that won't happen. You wouldn't have car insurance if you didn't own a car. Simply restart the cover again the next time you book a trip.
Saving: £50
Link: This is Money's travel insurance finder

16. Choose cheaper breakdown insurance
The breakdown sector is dominated by big names such as the AA and RAC. But being towed home if your car breaks down is just another form of insurance like any other and there are scores of cheaper alternatives.
Saving: Up to £100 a year
Link: This is Money's breakdown insurance finder

17. Are you paying too much for your life insurance?
We're living longer. As a result the cost of insuring the unthinkable is getting cheaper all the time. If you were sold a policy when you took out or mortgage you may have been under too much stress to shop around. You could be missing a trick.
Saving: £100
Link: This is Money's life insurance finder

18. Book early
Low-cost airlines have created a market in holidays for people prepared to fly to any destination provided it's cheap. You can benefit from this too. Just remember, only a few seats on each flight are sold at bargain-basement prices and once they're sold, the prices rise. So book early.
Saving: £100
Link: Skyscanner - the air fares comparison site

19. Book your own 'package' holiday online
The popularity of High Street travel agents is waning as more and more people warm to the benefits of researching and putting together their own holidays on the internet. If your holiday consists of flights, accommodation, transfers and possibly car hire, then take this test. Order a brochure from a leading holiday company and work out the price of your holiday including all the complicated supplements. Now go online and, starting with the flights, try to put the same package together.
Saving: £100+
Links: This is flights, HotelClub.co.uk, Shuttle Direct, Holiday Autos

20. Learn to say 'no'
It's easy to capitulate to the demands of a screaming child in a packed Woolworths on a Saturday afternoon. But don't do it. Similarly, how often does a 'swift half' after work turn into a £40 drinking session? Saying 'no' a few times a year will do wonders for your bank account.
Saving: £100

23. Don't pay full price for theatre or theme park tickets
If you are prepared to tolerate the unwieldy website and hit-and-miss customer service, lastminute.com regularly boasts some amazing deals for London's theatres and the nation's theme parks. At the time of writing you can see top West End show The Producers plus a two-course meal for less than £20 a head, a saving of £60 per person, and tickets for Chessington World of Adventures cost from £12, a saving of nearly £50 for a day out for a family of four.
Saving: £100s
Link: www.lastminute.com

24. Beat the ticket touts
Ticket touts earn their living by getting hold of tickets that are 'otherwise unavailable'. Well, here's the news: they are available to everyone when they first go on sale. You just need to know when they go on sale. Simply sign up to for the free ticket alert newsletters from the main agents to ensure that you're first in the queue.
Saving: £100s
Links: Ticketline; Ticketmaster

25. Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses
Trying to keep up appearances is little more than a costly illness. Remember, you cannot judge someone by what they have because you don't know how they got it. Chances are they're in more debt than you are.
Saving: £1,000s
Link: This is Money's guide to getting out of debt

26. Trade down your car
So, you bought an American sports utility vehicle (SUV) that nets 15 miles to the gallon on a whim. Obviously we're all very impressed – especially by the personalised number plate. But can you honestly justify the ongoing expense? If not, get rid of it. Then visit a car supermarket, where you can choose from thousands of cars at knock-down prices. If you're a true money saver, consider an ex-rental model which you can pick up for a fraction of the cost of a new one.
Saving: £1,000s
Links: Daily Mail find a car service; Cargiant

27. Ask yourself: do I really need this?
Imagine the scenario. It's lunchtime and you've got an hour to kill. You find yourself in a department store and there's a sale on. You pick up a beautifully packaged selection of barbecue tools and associated garden paraphernalia. And it's half price. Now, stop! Ask yourself: Do I really need this? Exactly. Now, put it down and walk away.
Saving: £100
Link: This is Money's money savers' guides

28. Walk/cycle to the station/work
It maybe a bit of hippie notion to many people but it's free.
Saving: £100
Link: Cycle Campaign Network

29. Get off the station before your usual stop and walk
We may be creatures of habit but isn't it worth tinkering with the routine if it's costing more than £50 a month in unnecessary fares?
Saving: £100
Link: Living Streets

30. Cut down your drinking
A few beers after work a few nights a week is a financially debilitating state of affairs. Set limits and stick to them.
Saving: £100s
Link: Calculator: Pleasures v treasures

31. Pack up smoking
Never mind the health implications, the guilt and the smell, your 20-a-day habit is costing you nearly £2,000 a year. Pack it in.
Saving: Nearly £2,000
Link: Givingupsmoking.co.uk

32. Cancel your gym membership
If you pay your £40 a month by direct debit and you use the gym three times a week, great. If not, cancel your membership immediately. You'll soon save enough to buy your own bike and, if you're so inclined, a rowing machine. Consider running home from work three times a week. It's free.
Saving: £100s
Link: Compare prices for rowing machines on Kelkoo

33. Use your library
The local library is a mecca for the money saver. You'll never need to buy another cookbook, guidebook or lifestyle manual again and if you can bear to wait a few weeks in the queue for the latest blockbuster, you never need to buy books again. CDs and videos are great value too.
Saving: £100
Link: www.whichbook.net - find a book and check if it's available at your local library

34. The three-for-two trick
Now, there's a lot to be said for buy-one-get-one-free deals, especially if they pass the 'Do I really need this?' test. Then there's three-for-twos; a particularly cynical way of stores to entice shoppers to buy an extra item they would not otherwise buy. The 'offer' is always priced into the deal so do your sums and shop around.
Saving: It's a principle at stake here
Link: Discuss deals and scams with other readers

35. Buy clothes and presents in the sales
So you need a new suit and the one you like comes in at a cool £300. Wait! The chances are that you can pick it up in the sale – and there's always a sale just around the corner – for £150. The same applies for birthday and Christmas presents. Buy in bulk in the sales and you not only save money, but you enjoy stress-free pre-Christmases and no last-minute birthday worries.
Saving: £100s

37. The Christmas lottery
Instead of trying to buy a present for every relative in your family, consider getting together beforehand and picking one name from the hat. You then buy one thoughtful gift for that one person rather than attempting to please everyone at considerable cost. Everyone gets a present, everyone saves money.
Saving: £100

38. The National Lottery – it won't be you!
The odds of winning the Lotto jackpot are stacked 14m to 1 against each ticket. Some highly organised syndicates buy 14,000 tickets a week, which reduces the odds to 1,000 to 1 - but that's no guarantee of a win. For the rest of us, the difference to the odds between buying, say, 10 tickets and one is so insignificant that you should limit yourself to the one and save the extra money in a Cash mini Isa.
Saving: £100
Link: Are you sitting on a winning ticket?

39. Use your Isa allowances
If you're not already aware, you can save up to £3,000 a year in a tax-free savings account called an Isa (for the more financially savvy there's also a stocks and shares Isa). It means you don't pay any tax on the interest accrued so, if you have spare cash in your current account, this is the difference between earning next to no interest and up to £150 a year.
Saving: £100+
Link: Best Isa rates

40. Claim your benefits and tax credits
There was once a certain stigma in Britain attached to claiming benefits. Well, not any more. The Government has put benefits at the heart of the family budget and it's your money so make sure you're claiming it. That includes Child Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and other employee-related tax benefits.
Saving: £100s
Link: Confused? Ask a This is Money Expert

41. How saving £50 a month now can save you £120 next year
Do you pay your insurance premiums by monthly instalments? If you do, then consider this: you are probably being charged a premium of between 15% and 20% for the privilege. In other words, if your home and car insurance bill for the year is £600, you're paying up to £120 a year in interest by paying monthly. If you are in a position this year to save up for next year's premiums in advance, you can save money by paying the whole lot in one go.
Saving: £100+
Link: This is Money's best savings rates

42. Do you need all those TV channels?
Britain is switching to digital-only television and time is running out for you to choose your new digital TV provider. The choice is already bewildering and with telephone-based services now being launched it's going to get more complicated. Packages range from full the monty, including every sports and movie channel costing around £50 a month, down to Freeview, which is free. Choose wisely.
Saving: £100+

43. Bin the ready meals
If TV chefs such as Ainsley Harriott can knock up a meal from a bag of random groceries including an aubergine and a packet of sultanas – so can you. Ready meals may be convenient, but preparing your own food saves money. A visit to your library will reveal scores of books dedicated to cooking proper meals in minutes.
Saving: £100+

44. Take up a money-saving hobby
Hobbies not only open your mind to new experiences but they also take up your time – important if you would otherwise spend it in the pub drinking away your hard-earned money. If a painting takes 20 hours to complete, and you normally get through a pint an hour. That's a saving of a least 40 quid a picture. Think about it. Get painting. Go fishing.
Saving: £100+

45. Avoid the payment protection racket
Banks and other lenders are selling expensive insurance policies to cover loan repayments to people who don't need it. Don't be a victim of the hard-sell.
Saving: £100

46. Avoid extended warranties
Electrical goods are more reliable than ever. If your new radio won't last three years perhaps it's not worth buying in the first place. Think about it: how many times has your fridge broken down in the last five years? And do you really need the hassle of claiming for repairs to a £15 toaster?
Saving: £100
Link: Read our guide to extended warranties

47. Shop online
The internet is gradually taking over. Online grocery shopping is getting better all the time and there are plenty of comparison websites to help find the best prices for bigger items. Give it a try, unless of course you like fighting your way through supermarket crowds.
Saving: Your sanity
Links: Online grocery service rated; PriceRunner - price comparison site

48. The Citizen's Advice Bureau is your friend
If your debts are out of control please seek help immediately from your local CAB – their advisers can help you work out a sensible strategy to get you back on your feet.
Saving: It could save your life
Link: Find your local CAB

49. Have I missed any money-saving ideas?
You can now add your comments to the Money Saving Overflow
Link: Find out more at 50 more ways to save money

50. Save this article or send it to a friend
Use the links at the bottom of the page to send these money-saving tips to a friend or save it for yourself for later.

Computer Tips : How to clear all windows history files with a single click?

2008-12-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today tip will help you to manage the all types of user history in windows operating system. This is a built-in feature of all windows keeps track the user's history, for example the websites you have visited, the documents you have opened and the keywords or files for which you've searched. However this tip is very useful for you, if you are sharing your computer with others or you do not want that the other persons know about your last visited documents history. You can clear these kinds of user's history with a single click on desktop icon named Cleanmru.reg. There is no need to clear each history file one by one. This trick will work in nearly all of the windows versions like windows 2000, XP and 2003.

Follow the given steps for configuration to clear recently opened documents automatically:

To edit the computer registry, first you should log onto your computer with administrative rights.

Here copy the following 6 lines and paste in notepad then save with the name Cleanmru.reg on your desktop.

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RecentDocs]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\

LastVisitedMRU]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru]

When you double-click Cleanmru.reg icon to remove the windows history, a small dialog box will appear with the information "Are you sure you want to add the information in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\desktop\Clearmru.reg to the registry?"

At the end, you will get the message "Information in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\desktop\Clearmru.reg has been successfully entered into the registry." Click on Ok button and verify that your all history will have been clear.

Antioxidants and Your Immune System: Super Foods for Optimal Health

2008-12-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

One of the best ways to keep your immune system strong and prevent colds and flu might surprise you: Shop your supermarket’s produce aisle.

Experts say a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help you ward off infections like colds and flu. That’s because these super foods contain immune-boosting antioxidants.

What are antioxidants? They are vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that protect and repair cells from damage caused by free radicals. Many experts believe this damage plays a part in a number of chronic diseases, including hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), cancer, and arthritis. Free radicals can also interfere with your immune system. So fighting off damage with antioxidants helps keep your immune system strong, making you better able to ward off colds, flu, and other infections.

Antioxidants for Immunity: Where to Find Them

Adding more fruit and vegetables of any kind to your diet will improve your health. But some foods are higher in antioxidants than others. The three major antioxidant vitamins are beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E. You’ll find them in colorful fruits and vegetables – especially those with purple, blue, red, orange, and yellow hues. To get the biggest benefits of antioxidants, eat these foods raw or lightly steamed; don’t overcook or boil.

Beta-carotene and other carotenoids: Apricots, asparagus, beets, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, corn, green peppers, kale, mangoes, turnip and collard greens, nectarines, peaches, pink grapefruit, pumpkin, squash, spinach, sweet potato, tangerines, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Vitamin C: Berries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, cauliflower, grapefruit, honeydew, kale, kiwi, mangoes, nectarines, orange, papaya, red, green or yellow peppers, snow peas, sweet potato, strawberries, and tomatoes.

Vitamin E: Broccoli, carrots, chard, mustard and turnip greens, mangoes, nuts, papaya, pumpkin, red peppers, spinach, and sunflower seeds.

Other super foods that are rich in antioxidants include:

Prunes
Apples
Raisins
All berries
Plums
Red grapes
Alfalfa sprouts
Onions
Eggplant
Beans

Vitamins aren’t the only antioxidants in food. Other antioxidants that may help boost immunity include

Zinc: Found in oysters, red meat, poultry, beans, nuts, seafood, whole grains, fortified cereals, and dairy products
Selenium: Found in Brazil nuts, tuna, beef, poultry and fortified breads, and other grain products

Antioxidant Super Foods: How Much Do You Need?

For optimal health and immune functioning, you should eat the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of the antioxidant vitamins and minerals. That’s the amount of a vitamin or nutrient that you need to stay healthy and avoid a deficiency.

Here are the RDAs for some antioxidants:

Zinc: 11 milligrams for men, 8 milligrams for women.

Selenium: 55 micrograms for men or women. If you are vegetarian, you may need to eat as much as 50% more. That’s because your body absorbs less zinc from plant foods.

Beta-carotene: There is no RDA for beta-carotene. But the Institute of Medicine says that if you get 3 milligrams to 6 milligrams of beta-carotene daily, your body will have the levels that may lower risk of chronic diseases.

Vitamin C: 90 milligrams for men, 75 milligrams for women. Smokers should get extra vitamin C: 125 milligrams for men and 110 milligrams for women.

Vitamin E: 15 milligrams for men and women.

How Foods Boost Immunity

Can’t you get antioxidants from taking a vitamin or a supplement? Yes, but you may be missing out on other nutrients that could strengthen the immune system. Foods contain many different nutrients that work together to promote health. For example, researchers delving into the mysteries of fruits and vegetables and the complex antioxidants they contain have discovered benefits of:

Quercetin: a plant-based chemical (phytochemical) found in apples, onions, teas, red wines, and other foods. It fights inflammation and may help reduce allergies.
Luteolin: a flavonoid found in abundance in celery and green peppers. It also fights inflammation and one study showed it may help protect against inflammatory brain conditions like Alzheimer’s.
Catechins: a type of flavonoid found in tea. Catechins in tea may help reduce risk of heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

If you can’t get enough antioxidants in your diet by eating fresh produce, some experts recommend taking a multivitamin that contains minerals, too. But be cautious about taking individual immune system supplements to boost immunity. With antioxidants, as with most anything, moderation is key. Vitamins A and E, for example, are stored in the body and eliminated slowly. Getting too much can be toxic.

Health Care : 9 Tips to Treat Colds and Flu the 'Natural' Way

2008-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

With no cure in sight for the cold or the flu, current treatments can at best bring symptom relief or shorten the duration of those symptoms. You can take one of a variety of medications that may help relieve your symptoms. Or you can take the natural approach. WebMD went to Charles B. Inlander, president of The People's
Medical Society, for some home remedies that may help you feel better along the way.

No. 1: Blow Your Nose Often -- and the Right Way

It's important to blow your nose regularly when you have a cold rather than sniffling mucus back into your head. But when you blow hard, pressure can cause an earache. The best way to blow your nose: Press a finger over one nostril while you blow gently to clear the other. Wash your hands after blowing your nose.

No. 2: Stay Rested

Resting when you first come down with a cold or the flu helps your body direct its energy toward the immune battle. This battle taxes the body. So give it a little help by lying down under a blanket.

No. 3: Gargle

Gargling can moisten a sore throat and bring temporary relief. Try a teaspoon of salt dissolved in warm water, four times daily. To reduce the tickle in your throat, try an astringent gargle -- such as tea that contains tannin -- to tighten the membranes. Or use a thick, viscous gargle made with honey, popular in folk medicine. Steep one tablespoon of raspberry leaves or lemon juice in two cups of hot water; mix with one teaspoon of honey. Let the mixture cool to room temperature before gargling. Honey should never be given to children less than 1 year old.

No. 4: Drink Hot Liquids

Hot liquids relieve nasal congestion, help prevent dehydration, and can soothe the uncomfortably inflamed membranes that line your nose and throat.

No. 5: Take a Steamy Shower

Steamy showers moisturize your nasal passages and relax you. If you're dizzy from the flu, run a steamy shower while you sit on a chair nearby and take a sponge bath.

No. 6: Use a Salve Under Your Nose

A small dab of mentholated salve under your nose can open breathing passages and help soothe the irritated skin at the base of the nose. Menthol, eucalyptus and camphor all have mild numbing ingredients that may help relieve the pain of a nose rubbed raw.

No. 7: Apply Hot or Cold Packs Around Your Congested Sinuses

Either temperature may help you feel more comfortable. You can buy reusable hot or cold packs at a drugstore. Or make your own. Take a damp washcloth and heat it for 55 seconds in a microwave (test the temperature first to make sure it's right for you.) Or take a small bag of frozen peas to use as a cold pack.

No. 8: Sleep With an Extra Pillow Under Your Head

This will help with the drainage of nasal passages. If the angle is too awkward, try placing the pillows between the mattress and the box springs to create a more gradual slope.

No. 9: Don't Fly Unless Necessary

There's no point adding stress to your already stressed-out upper respiratory system, and that's what the change in air pressure will do. Flying with cold or flu congestion can hurt your eardrums as a result of pressure changes during takeoff and landing. If you must fly, use a decongestant and carry a nasal spray with you to use just before takeoff and landing. Chewing gum and swallowing frequently can also help relieve pressure.

Remember, serious conditions can masquerade as the common cold and a mild infection can evolve into something more serious. If you have severe symptoms or are feeling sicker with each passing day, see a doctor.

6 Warning Signs of Problem Eating

2008-12-02T04:32:00.000-08:00

We are bombarded with information 24/7 on eating. How can you figure out what to eat? How much to eat? When to eat without a lot of confusion? Couple this with the challenge of figuring out how much to weigh, what is "extra" weight, and how thin is too thin, and you can often wind up with what I call "problem eating."

While the incidence of true eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia is very low, numerous milder symptoms of these disorders are making their way into the lives of many people, often with health-damaging consequences. That's the topic of my Today show segment with my fellow iVillage expert, Leslie Goldman.

Click to watch the segment

We all have friends (and maybe ourselves) who we think are "going overboard" when it comes to healthy eating and weight control. I'd like to share some warning signs that you might find helpful in deciding if you're maintaining a healthy focus on eating and weight, or when a red flag should come up that health-promoting behaviors cross the line into health-damaging ones that require professional mental health care.

6 Warning Signs of Problem Eating:

Pre-occupation with food

Self-imposed rules on food and eating

Excessive meal planning

Rigidity of food choice

Eliminating whole food groups in the name of health

Extreme guilt when straying from the "diet plan"

When eating behaviors become intense and excessive—known as obsessive behaviors—it's not about the food. The psychological underpinnings of these behaviors (like control issues, depressive symptoms and anxiety) have to be addressed for long-term success in changing food intake behavior. Often "food issues" are really unresolved "mind issues." It's a win-win when they're tackled together!

Has problem eating affected you or a friend? How did you manage this? Leave a comment.

Health Tips: Top 10 Hypertension Treatment Guidelines

2008-12-01T04:16:00.000-08:00

It is easy to get the best and practical treatments for hypertension. But who gets to know which one is effective, or which is advisable by doctors, which one’s safe, which is cheaper, which is easily available. Questions like these cannot be answered entirely by your doctors, even the smartest there in health. But a few words on hypertension treatment guidelines will help.

The following hypertension treatment guidelines arranged in no significant order.

No. 1

Listen to your doctor. They know the best for you. So whether it’s about your diet or your weight management, try to bear in mind what they say. Because if there is someone better who can help you out, your doctor is the first who can give you reliable hypertension treatment guidelines.

No. 2

Medicate on time. You might not like the taste of all those pills and supplements, but you have to take them at the right time and of course at the right amount. Hypertension treatment guidelines will not be complete without leaving your prescription behind.

No. 3

Keep it down. Despite your strict observation of these hypertension treatment guidelines, your blood pressure device maybe your only lifeline. For systolic patients, keep the pressure below 140. For diastolic patients, maintain diastolic pressure of 90 or below. A desirable BP is less than 120/80.

In addition to hypertension treatment guidelines, diabetic patients must reduce blood pressure to 130/80 to get rid of cardiac arrest. Those with kidney problems must have BP of 125/75 or less. This will help slow down the advancement of kidney disease.

No. 4

Make a difference. They say hypertension is life changing. Yes it is, in fact, starting from No. 4 to No. 8, these hypertension treatment guidelines will tackle on lifestyle changes. Eat more fruits, vegetables, low fat meals and less salty dishes.

No. 5

Lose weight. It is another important lifestyle change for your hypertension treatment guidelines. You don’t have to be thin but if you’re obese, it is a must. See your doctor and find out the appropriate weight for your age and height.

No. 6

Get rid of cigarettes. They never did you right since your first stuck one in your mouth.

No. 7

Walk More. 30 minutes of walking everyday will help you keep your weight down.

No. 8

Drink less. Your doctor might probably have told you about this. But if invitations to parties are making it hard for you, it would be better to start telling your friends you have hypertension. In this way, they will know that men will limit alcohol intake to two glasses a week, and one for women.

No. 9

Diuretics must don’t disagree. For most people with hypertension, diuretic is the first line of treatment. But part of these hypertension treatment guidelines will have to remind you that not all may agree with your body. So if one doesn’t work, ask your doctor. Diabetics are often prescribe of ACE inhibitors.

No. 10

Have a regular check up. This caps off this list of hypertension treatment guidelines. Seeing a doctor at least once month will help you reach your goal of getting low blood pressure. He will check your potassium level, your cholesterol and other important factors that you may have missed.

Then if you have reached your goal of required blood pressure, continue to see your doctor three to six months to update you of your progress.

Tips: AIDS prevention tips for teens

2008-12-01T03:56:00.000-08:00

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

AIDS is a condition caused by a virus called HIV that attacks a person's immune system, making it defenseless against diseases and infections. The full medical name for AIDS is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and the virus is called the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is transmitted through all forms of unprotected sexual intercourse, i.e., vaginal, anal or oral sex without the proper use of a latex condom, and through sharing needles or syringes with someone who is infected with HIV. Because HIV can "hide" in the body for 10 years or more before it shows up as AIDS, you must never assume that just because you cannot "see" it in a person, it is not there!

Alcohol and other drugs can alter the immune system and make a person more susceptible to acquiring HIV infection.

Adolescents and AIDS
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV/AIDS has been the sixth leading cause of death among 15-?to 24-year olds in the United States since 1991. One in five people newly diagnosed with AIDS is in the 20 to 29 year age group. This means that HIV transmission occurred while they were in their teens, or that they were HIV-positive while they were in their teens. More than half of the new cases of HIV infection in 1994 were related to drug use, either through direct use or through sexual contact with someone who injects drugs.

Research has shown that while most teen-agers understand how HIV is transmitted and how they can avoid infection, they need to understand that it can happen to them. According to recent CDC studies conducted every two years in high schools (grades nine to 12), many teen-agers are engaging in high-risk behaviors which not only make them vulnerable to acquiring HIV/AIDS, but also to acquiring other sexually transmitted diseases associated with drug use.

How Can You Prevent Getting HIV/AIDS?

Educate yourself. Know the facts. Act smart.

Do not use alcohol or any kind of drugs.

Do not use any needles that have been used by other people for tattooing or piercing or for injecting drugs or other substances such as steroids, vitamins, hormones or insulin.

Know that it is OK not to have sex. But if you do, protect yourself and use a latex condom.

Avoid contact with a person's blood, semen or vaginal fluid.

Sex and Drug Use Are Linked Among Teen-agers
Like driving under the influence, sex under the influence can be deadly. Because alcohol and other drugs negatively affect good judgment in regard to sexual behavior, people under the influence are more likely to have sex, practice unprotected sex or engage in "risky" sexual acts.

Many students report using alcohol or drugs when they have sex.

One in 62 high school students reports having injected an illegal drug.

HIV transmission is occurring among people who trade sex for non-injected drugs such as crack.

Peer pressure can lead to sex, drugs and AIDS.

People infected with HIV may look and feel healthy for a long time.

Facts for Girls/Women
Young women are the fastest growing group contracting HIV/AIDS through unprotected sex.

As of December 1994, 58,428 adolescent and young adult women have been diagnosed with AIDS. The cumulative number of reported cases of HIV infected women for the same period was 15,241.

About 75 percent of the AIDS cases in women were associated with the use of injected drugs, either through direct use or through sexual contact with a man who injected drugs.

African American and Hispanic women make up 21 percent of all U.S. women, yet they represent more than 75 percent of all the AIDS cases reported among women.

AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death among women between the ages of 25 and 44 in the United States. It is the number one cause of death among African American women in the same age group. Many of these women were infected while still in their teens.

While HIV can be transmitted during vaginal, oral or anal sex, the transmission occurs most often during vaginal intercourse.

A pregnant woman infected with HIV/AIDS can transmit the virus to her unborn baby.

Windows: how to boost windows vista ram with pen drive

2008-11-29T17:31:00.000-08:00

Use your pen drive as a temporary ram in vista

Till this date, Microsoft’s windows had Page File (A virtual memory file, stored on hard disk) options for the memory requirement of the computer, so that the computing can be done at cheaper rates and that too without installing the physical memory (RAM).

The page file is used by the Windows OS to cater the needs of various applications when the physical memory is fully used up. The reason for that is, that Virtual memory is slower as compared to the physical memory and thus Phyical memory takes the first priority.

However, with the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has introduced a new technology called ReadyBoost. With the help of this technology one can use any Flash drive, SD Cards, CF Cards as the third memory option for the computer.

Now, the benefits of Flash Drive or Cards as a source of Memory :

1. It is faster than the virtual memory which is accessed through the hard disk drive.
2. It is cheaper as compared to the actually Physical Memory.

How can it be activated ?

In order to activate the ReadyBoost technology on your FlashDrive or Memory Cards, you have to follow these steps…

1. Open My Computer.
2. Right Click on the Removable Disk Drive and select Properties.
3. Click on ReadyBoost Tab.
4. Enable the feature by selecting the option and allocate the amount of space you want to use as memory.

Things to be noted….
1. Regardless of the fact that you use Readyboost or not, you need at least 512 Mb of memory to run Windows Vista decently.
2. If your device is not giving the option of ReadyBoost then it means that it doesn’t clear up the minimum data trasfer rate required by ReadBoost technology.

Hope this is useful..

credits:D@nGeR™

Healthy Juice For You

2008-11-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

Carrot + Ginger + Apple - Boost and cleanse our system.

Apple + Cucumber + Celery - Prevent cancer, reduce cholestrol, and improve stomach upset and headache.
Tomato + Carrot + Apple - Improve skin complexion and bad breath.
Bitter gourd + Apple + Milk - Avoid bad breath and reduce internal body heat.
Orange + Ginger + Cucumber - Improve Skin texture and moisture and reduce bodu heat.
Pineapple + Apple + Watermelon - To dispel excess salts, nourishes the bladder and kidney.
Apple + Cucumber + Kiwi - To improve skin complexion.
Pear & Banana - To regulates sugar content.
Carrot + Apple + Pear + Mango - Clear body heat, counteracts toxicity, decreased blood pressure and fight oxidization.
Honeydew + Grape + Watermelon + Milk - Rich in vitamin C + Vitamin B2 that increase cell activity and strengthen body immunity.
Papaya + Pineapple + Milk - Rich in vitamin C, E, Iron. Improve skin complexion and metabolism.
Banana + Pineapple + Milk - Rich in vitamin with nutritious and prevent constipation.

Breast Cancer Information and Early Detection Tips For Ages 18 to 27

2008-11-27T04:24:00.000-08:00

WHAT IS BREAST CANCER?

Cancers are a group of diseases that cause cells in the body to change and grow out of control. Most types of cancer cells form a lump or mass called a tumor and are named after the part of the body where the tumor orignates. Therefore, breast cancer begins in the breast, which consists of glands for milk production called lobules, and the ducts that connect the lobules to the nipple. The remainder of the breast is made up of fatty, connective, and lymphatic tissue.

*Illustration from Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book

THE FACTS

An estimated 212,920 new cases of invasive (cancer that has spread beyond the point of origination) breast cancer, as well as an additional 61,980 cases of in situ (cancer that has not yet spread) breast cancer were diagnosed in 2006.
An estimated 41,430 women died from breast cancer in 2006.
Incidence rates for breast cancer in the United States increased 4 percent each year during the 1980s, due to the greater use of mammography, which can detect tumors much earlier than manual exams. The number of new breast cancer cases leveled off in the 1990s.
Mortality rates declined by 2.3 percent annually between 1990 and 2000 thanks to early detection and better treatment.
The five-year survival rate for breast cancer diagnosed in early-localized stage is 98 percent.

WHAT IS YOUR RISK?

Eighty percent of women who develop breast cancer have no family history of the disease. Women in the 18 to 27 age group who are at a higher-than-average risk for developing breast cancer include those:

who began menstruating before the age of 12;
who are obese and/or physically inactive;
who have a personal history of breast cancer or of biopsy-confirmed atypical hyperplasia;
who drink moderate to high amounts of alcohol daily;
who have a first-degree relative (mother, sister or daughter) diagnosed with breast cancer;
who have a genetic predisposition (genes BRCA 1 and BRCA2).

HOW TO REDUCE YOUR RISK

According to the National Cancer Institute, doctors cannot always explain why one person develops breast cancer and another doesn't. However, scientists have studied general patterns of cancer in the population to learn what things around us and what things we do in our lives may increase our chance of developing cancer. Some of these so-called risk factors can be controlled (such as our eating and exercise habits), while others cannot (such as our family history and genetic makeup). So although there is no guaranteed way to prevent breast cancer there are some things you can do now that may help reduce your risk:

Reduce fat in your diet. Fat should not exceed 30 percent of the total calories you eat daily. Transfatty acids found in some margarine, snack foods and bakery goods may be especially harmful.
Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.
Eat plant-based oils such as those found in olive oils and soybean oils. Soybeans also contain isoflavones (weak estrogens) that may help block estrogen receptors and lower estrogen levels and cell growth that may lead to breast cancer.
If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation. One glass of beer a day can increase your risk by 10 percent because estrogen levels increase in response to alcohol.
Exercise at least four hours a week. Physical activity can also lower estrogen levels.
Tamoxifen and rolaxifen are drugs that have been shown to reduce risk of breast cancer by blocking estrogen cell receptors and studies of both drugs are currently underway. These drugs may be appropriate for high-risk women with a personal history of lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) or atypical dysplasia or those with a strong family history of breast cancer.

EARLY DETECTION

Early detection of breast cancer saves lives. When breast cancer is found and treated early (while in stage 1 or 2 in which it has not spread beyond the breast), the five-year survival rate is approximately 98 percent. If you are between the ages of 18 and 27, a combination of monthly breast self exams and a clinical breast exam every three years is the best way to detect breast cancer in its earliest and most treatable stages.

Breast Self Exam (BSE):
You should examine your breasts once a month to check for physical changes. Make it a habit. Monthly exams will allow you to become familiar with your breasts and learn what feels normal. The best time to conduct a breast self-exam is right after your period. Here are simple instructions for performing a monthly breast self-exam.

Clinical Breast Exam (CBE):
Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam performed by a health care professional every three years. During the exam, your health care provider will check your breasts for any changes, lumps or other warning signs of breast cancer.

Mammography:
Mammography is generally not recommended until age 40. However, if you have a family history of breast cancer or a personal history of benign breast lumps, talk to your health care provider. It may be appropriate to begin mammography before age 40 in certain circumstances.

THE SYMPTOMS

Breast cancer is often detected in its earliest stage as an abnormality on a mammogram, well before it can be felt by the woman or by her health care provider. If a cancer has grown to the point where physical signs and symptoms are present, you may notice the following:

Breast lump or thickening
Swelling, redness or tenderness
Skin or nipple changes in color or texture
Dimpling or puckering of the skin
Nipple pain, discharge, scaliness or retraction (nipple sinks inward)
Lump in the armpit area

Breast pain is very commonly due to benign conditions and usually is not a symptom of breast cancer.

Regardless of your age, if you experience any of the above symptoms, see your health care provider immediately.

Information courtesy of the American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Facts & Figures, 2005-2006

Using htaccess to stop Bad Bots from stealing bandwidth and crashing your server

2008-11-26T05:49:00.001-08:00

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Alexibot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^asterias [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BackDoorBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Black.Hole [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlackWidow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlowFish [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BotALot [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bullseye [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Cegbfeieh [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^CheeseBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^CherryPicker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ChinaClaw [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Express\ WebPictures [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline.Explorer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Explorer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Navigator [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PageGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Papa\ Foto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pavuk [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pcBrowser [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SiteSnagger [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Szukacz/1.4 [OR]
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RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport\ Pro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Telesoft [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^The.Intraformant [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^TheNomad [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^TightTwatBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Titan [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^toCrawl/UrlDispatcher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^toCrawl/UrlDispatcher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^True_Robot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^turingos [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^TurnitinBot/1.5 [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^URLy.Warning [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VCI [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VoidEYE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebAuto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebBandit [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebCopier [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebEMailExtrac.* [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebEnhancer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebFetch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebGo\ IS [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web.Image.Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Image\ Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebLeacher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebmasterWorldForumBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebReaper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebSauger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ eXtractor [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website.Quester [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ Quester [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Webster.Pro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebStripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebWhacker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebZip [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Wget [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Widow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^[Ww]eb[Bb]andit [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWW-Collector-E [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWWOFFLE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xenu's [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.robotstxt.org/

This will prevent a badly written http crawler bot from accessing your website, thus saves you from wasting those precious bandwidth and your server's CPU resources.

Cholesterol Control Tips!

2008-11-25T05:50:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that beef and eggs have become four-letter words. It's all because of cholesterol, a substance that's gotten a reputation for breaking more hearts than a high school prom queen.

But cholesterol isn't entirely bad. The human body actually needs it--and produces it--to help protect nerves and build new cells and hormones. In fact, our bodies get all the cholesterol they need by making it on their own. The trouble starts when we add to the cholesterol our bodies produce, which can happen when we eat the all-American diet of cheeseburgers, steaks, pizza, ice cream or any food that is or includes an animal product.

Excess cholesterol settles along arterial walls, and that excess can clog arteries and restrict blood flow, leading to angina pain, heart attack or stroke. (Cholesterol is also a leading cause of gallstones.)

If your doctor has determined that you have high levels of cholesterol in your blood, you probably have been told the importance of limiting or eliminating it--which means reducing or avoiding its only dietary sources: meat, eggs, dairy products and the foods that contain them. But here are some other ways to control your cholesterol with diet.

Stock up on vitamin E. Scientists have discovered that we have both good (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL) and bad (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL) cholesterol running through our bloodstream. Consuming 400 international units of vitamin E each day may help keep the bad cholesterol from oxidizing-an internal "rusting" process that causes the cholesterol to harden into arterial plaque, which in turn causes heart disease. Vitamin E also raises the level of good cholesterol.

"Taking vitamin E supplements helps prevent the cholesterol in your body from plaquing, so it does less damage," says Karen E. Burke, M.D., Ph.D., a dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon in New York City who has studied the various effects of vitamin E. Vitamin E is found in vegetable oils, nuts and grains, but it would be very difficult to obtain 400 international units daily from diet alone. Be sure to check with your doctor, though, before beginning a supplement program.

Eat breakfast every morning. Breakfast skippers tend to have higher cholesterol levels than those who start off their mornings with a bellyful, according to studies. One reason may be that breakfast skippers make up for missing the morning feast by munching on unhealthy snacks later on, suggests John L. Stanton, Ph.D., professor of food marketing at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

Research also shows that those who eat ready-to-eat cereal for breakfast have lower cholesterol levels than those choosing other morning entrées.

Nibble throughout the day. One way to lower your cholesterol is simply to change how often you eat. Research has shown that large meals trigger the release of large amounts of insulin, according to David Jenkins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center at St. Michael's Hospital at the University of Toronto. Insulin release in turn stimulates the production of an enzyme that increases cholesterol production by the liver.

Having smaller, more frequent meals (but not increasing overall calories) may limit insulin release and play a role in cholesterol control and heart disease prevention, speculates Dr. Jenkins.

Add vitamin C to your menu. Other vitamins and minerals also have a beneficial effect on cholesterol. Research by Paul Jacques, Sc.D., an epidemiologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, shows that people with diets high in vitamin C tend to have higher HDL levels. Vitamin C is especially beneficial when you get it from fruits and vegetables that also have a cholesterol-lowering fiber called pectin. Pectin surrounds cholesterol and helps transport it out of your digestive system before it gets into your blood. Vitamin C-rich, pectin-rich foods include citrus fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, apples and spinach.

Go heavy on garlic. Vampires aren't the only thing garlic keeps away. In large doses--at least seven cloves daily--this food can significantly reduce cholesterol. Of course, that's probably more garlic than most people eat in a month. To get a similar benefit, try odorless garlic pills. When people with moderately high cholesterol took four capsules a day of an odorless liquid garlic extract called Kyolic, their cholesterol levels initially rose but then fell an average of 44 points after six months, according to a research study headed by Benjamin Lau, M.D., Ph.D., at Loma Linda University School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California. You can find garlic pills at most health food stores.

Don't depend on decaf. Decaffeinated coffee actually raises LDL levels more than regular brew, so its the worst beverage selection if you have high cholesterol, according to Dr. Jenkins. It may be because the beans used for decaf are stronger than "regular" beans. Frequent coffee drinkers (those who drink it daily) typically have a 7 percent cholesterol increase, as shown in a study at Stanford University in Stanford, California.

Gravitate toward grapes. There's a cholesterol-lowering compound in virtually all products containing grape skin, including wine, according to pomologist Leroy Creasy, Ph.D., of Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Ithaca, New York. You can take advantage of these cholesterol-clobbering qualities by drinking grape juice or simply eating grapes.

Reach for grapefruit. In a study conducted by James Cerda, M.D., a gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at the University of Florida Health Science Center in Gainesville, people who ate at least 1 1/2 cups of grapefruit sections every day lowered their cholesterol over 7 percent in two months. Grapefruit is among the fruits that contain cholesterol-lowering pectin.

Cook up some beans. Lima beans, kidney beans, navy beans, soybeans and other legumes can all help lower your cholesterol, according to James W. Anderson, M.D., an expert in cholesterol research who is professor of medicine and clinical nutrition at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington. The reason these high-fiber legumes are so effective is because they, too, contain pectin. The more of these beans you can eat, the greater the benefits.

In one study, Dr. Anderson asked men to eat 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans a day. The result? Their cholesterol plummeted 20 percent in just three weeks. You probably won't go for much, but the more beans, the better--and high-fiber diets have many other benefits besides. Look for a cookbook or two that have great recipes with beans, and try to get more in your diet.

Munch a couple of carrots. Bugs Bunny's favorite entrée is a boon to arteries, because carrots have plenty of cholesterol-lowering pectin. "It may be possible for people with high cholesterol to lower it 10 to 20 percent just by eating two carrots a day," says Peter D. Hoagland, Ph.D., a researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Eastern Regional Research Center in Philadelphia.

Understanding Cholesterol Lingo
If all this talk about good and bad cholesterol is confusing, take heart. Here's how to understand it.

Serum cholesterol is the amount of this fatty substance in your bloodstream. Your serum cholesterol is what your doctor measures in a cholesterol test. A reading under 200 is desirable; a reading over 240 may be dangerous and is cause for concern.

Dietary cholesterol is what you eat. For instance, an egg has 213 milligrams; an apple has none. The American Heart Association recommends that you eat no more than 300 milligrams a day.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the bad cholesterol that clogs arteries. The lower your LDL, the better.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the good cholesterol that scours artery walls and helps remove harmful LDL. The higher your HDL, the better.

Home remedies for cholesterol #1: Mix 1 tsp. of roasted chicory root.
1 tsp. of lime flowers.
½ tsp. of fenugreek seeds.
½ tsp. of ginger rhizome.
1 quart of water.
Boil all ingredients, let it cool, strain. Drink 2 cups a day.

Home remedies for cholesterol #2: Eat Garlic or take 1 capsule twice a day. It lowers LDL cholesterol level in 12% and increases HDLs.

Home remedies for cholesterol #3: Niacin is particularly helpful in lowering cholesterol. However, inositol hexaniacinate is an even better and safer form of niacin. Inositol hexaniacinate is composed of one molecule of inositol and six molecules of niacin. Inositol hexaniacinate has been used in Europe for over thirty years to lower cholesterol levels. Inositol hexaniacinate yields slightly better results than standard niacin and is better tolerated because it is flush free and doesn't have any long-term side effects on the liver or blood sugar control.

Home remedies for cholesterol #4:Chromium is vital in the synthesis of cholesterol, fats and protein. Chromium maintains stable blood sugar levels through proper insulin utilization and can be helpful for people with diabetes and/or hypoglycemia. Studies have shown that low plasma chromium levels can be an indication of coronary artery disease. Take 400 mcg. a day of chromium picolinate to improve HDL to LDL ratio.

Home remedies for cholesterol #5:Taking Vitamin C with bioflavonoids 4000 mg. a day lowers cholesterol.

Home remedies for cholesterol #6:Ginger reduces cholesterol and thins the blood improving circulation

Home remedies for cholesterol #7:Guggul reduces LDL by 35% increases HDL by 20 % in 12 weeks, prevents arteriosclerosis. It performs better then many drugs in several studies.

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.

Breast Cancer: Dealing Day to Day

2008-11-25T04:57:00.000-08:00

If you've been diagnosed with breast cancer, you likely will face a number of physical and emotional challenges. Though everyone has different coping strategies, knowing and accessing the resources available to you and changing your perspective may allow you to better handle the everyday difficulties you'll encounter when living with breast cancer.

Educate yourself about all aspects of the disease

It is important for you to learn as much about breast cancer as possible. If you have a solid knowledge base, you will have a better understanding of information about your diagnosis, treatment and related factors. Don't be afraid to ask your physicians to explain information that is not clear. There are many books, journals and Internet sites devoted to breast cancer. By increasing your knowledge, you and your family can make decisions with confidence.
Use your available resources

Dealing with breast cancer can be overwhelming for both you and your family. Your cancer care team plays a vital role before, during and after treatment. These health-care professionals are specially trained in cancer and can provide support for all aspects of your disease. Be sure to consult with your team if you have questions or concerns. In many instances, a member of the team can help you. If not, they will be able to refer you to someone who can provide the support you need.

In addition to the healthcare professionals involved in your treatment, don't be afraid to accept help from your family, friends and peers. Many of these people sincerely want to help you through this difficult time. Accept their offers, especially when you are not feeling strong or may be experiencing side effects of your treatment. You should never feel that accepting someone's help is giving in to the disease.
Stay focused on your own well-being

After you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, you will begin to feel that you are part of an exclusive group. This has its good points and bad points. On the good side, you will meet an amazing group of women who can offer you words of wisdom and unending support. The bad side, however, is that you will begin to hear stories of women who have not survived. You may begin to think, That could be me. She had the same treatment I did, and she's no longer living.

You need to remember that every breast cancer is different and every woman is different. You must stay focused on your own well-being and believe that you are a survivor.

Maintaining this mindset may be even harder while you are in treatment. You will see other cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation who may not look well. Again, when you are receiving therapy, focus on yourself. If you are bothered by the sights and sounds surrounding you during treatment, listen to music through headphones or bring a good book to occupy your mind. Many women choose to bring a friend who can keep them positive and can serve as a distraction to the therapy.
Keep the lines of communication open with those in your life

Most people in your life will not be able to relate to your situation. They also cannot read your mind. For these reasons, it is important for you to share your feelings with those who love and support you. Share your concerns, whether they are about the current treatment or your future. Let your family and friends know your hopes and fears so they can help you deal with them.

It is very easy to become isolated, which can lead to depression. If you feel you are separating yourself from those who love you, find ways to keep them a part of your life. Pick those members who understand you the best and use them to keep you involved in life. It is natural to feel low at times, but you don't want negative feelings to overtake your life.
Be patient and learn to take one day at a time

When you are diagnosed with breast cancer, it's common to want everything to be "fixed" immediately. It is frustrating to have to wait for test results, schedule doctors' appointments and delay your therapy. But you want as much accurate information as possible before you decide on your treatment plan. In many cases, women are able to seek a second opinion about their breast cancer. Once you have the opinions, you can discuss your options with your doctors and choose the treatment that is best for you.

It can be frustrating when you receive differing opinions from the doctors you consult. One may suggest a mastectomy, while another may recommend a lumpectomy followed by radiation. You must weigh all of the information and make a decision with your physicians about your treatment plan. As the patient, your preferences are an important factor in the treatment of your breast cancer.
Learn to live for the future

After your treatments are finished, you will begin to think more about your future. Every day you may think about if and when your breast cancer will return or if the cancer will appear somewhere else in your body. As time passes, you will become less fearful about a cancer recurrence and start thinking of yourself as a breast cancer survivor. You'll be surrounded by millions of other women who have the same label. They can become your family and, in many instances, your support.

When you talk to a woman who tells you that she's a 5-year or 10-year survivor, it may help to remind yourself that you can be like that woman. Breast cancer survival has improved every year, and with ongoing research, it is hoped that this trend will continue. Breast cancer is no longer a death sentence. A woman who has been diagnosed with this cancer in its earliest stage has a 98 percent survival rate. Don't forget that you can be a part of that high percentage.

How to Double Firefox Speed : Tips & Tricks

2008-11-24T03:41:00.000-08:00

1. Type about:config in the address bar and then press Enter.

2. In the filter search bar type network.http.pipelining. Be sure the value field is set true,if not double-click to set true.

3. Go back to the filter search bar and type network.http.pipelining.maxrequests. Double-click this option and set its value to 8.

4. In the filter search bar and type network.http.proxy.pipelining. Once opened double-click on it and set it to true.

5. In IPv6-capable DNS servers

, an IPv4 address may be returned when an IPv6 address is requested. It is possible for Mozilla to recover from this misinformation, but a significant delay is introduced.
Type network.dns.disableIPv6 in the filter search bar and set this option to true by double clicking on it.

6. CONTENT INTERRUPT PARSING
This preference controls if the application will interrupt parsing a page to respond to UI events. It does not exist by default.
Right-click (Apple users ctrl-click) anywhere in the about:config window, select New and then Boolean from the pop-up menu. Then:

A. Enter content.interrupt.parsing in the New boolean value pop-up window and click OK

B. When prompted to choose the value for the new boolean, select true and click OK.

Save even more fuel with these 10 simple steps!

2008-11-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

1. Avoid High Speeds

As your speed increases, your aerodynamic drag increases in an exponential fashion. Driving 62 mph (100 km/h) vs 75 mph (120 km/h) will reduce fuel consumption by about 15%.

2. Do Not Accelerate or Brake Hard

By anticipating the traffic and applying slow steady acceleration and braking, fuel economy may increase by as much as 20%.

3. Keep Tires Properly Inflated

Keep tire air pressure at the level recommended by your vehicle manufacturer. A single tire under inflated by 2 PSI, increases fuel consumption by 1%.

4. Use Air-Conditioner Sparingly

When the air conditioner is turned on, it puts extra load on the engine forcing more fuel to be used (by about 20%).

5. Keep Windows Closed

Windows open, especially at highway speeds, increase drag and result in decreased fuel economy of up to 10%.

6. Service Vehicle Regularly

Works for both. Proper maintenance avoids poor fuel economy related to dirty air filters, old spark plugs or low fluid levels.

7. Maintaining a constant speed

Maintaining a constant speed over long distances often saves gas.

8. Avoid Heavy Loads

Remove the sand bags from your trunk in the spring and pack lightly for long trips.

9. Avoid Long Idles

If you anticipate being stopped for more than 1 minute, shut off the car. Restarting the car uses less fuel than letting it idle for this time.

10. Do not Warm Up your Engine

Drive off immediately at a low speed after starting your car. This way, the engine will warm up faster and lubricate better.

Tips to Safeguard Yourself from Fraudulent Email / Phishing Attempts

2008-11-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

1) Identifying phishing/fraudulent attempts:

Legitimate online businesses will never ask you for sensitive personal information such as passwords, bank account or credit card numbers, PIN numbers, or Social Security numbers via e-mail. So, if you were asked to reveal this information online, this may be a fraudulent attempt.

Phishers normally use convincing messages to ask users to go to their websites and enter personal/sensitive information on the phishing website. It would be advisable to scan the types of messages contained in the email prior to visiting the websites.

Among messages to be cautious of are as follows:

Security or server updates, maintenance upgrades, online banking problems
Billing information requests or billing issues
Official or urgent notices
Account updates, e-mail or account verification requests
Consumer alerts, customer warnings
Your account has been, or may be, suspended or needs to be reactivated
Problems with your account, errors found
Suspicious transactions, fraud investigation, unusual activity
Someone sent you money, payment acknowledgments, order confirmations, lottery wins, jackpot wins, competition wins
Requests for assistance with fund transfers (the infamous 'Nigerian' scam)
Offers of advice on how to protect yourself from fraudulent transactions, identity theft solutions

The phishing email does not address a user by his/her name.

No confirmation of the company that does business with you, such as referencing a partial account number.

The email warns that your account will be shut down unless you reconfirm your financial information.

Spelling or grammatical errors in the phishing emails.

2) Avoiding phishing attempts

Do not respond to e-mails requesting for your personal information. Legitimate companies do not ask their customers for confidential information, such as passwords and account numbers, though e -mail.

Do not open attachments or download files. Phishers can use these files to infect your computer with a virus or spyware.

Do not click on links provided in e-mails. If you are uncertain about a website address that appears in an e-mail, go to your browser and enter the legitimate address manually. Phishers can use links to point recipients to a "spoofed" site, using an address similar to a real bank's URL. If in doubt, phone the business in question. Use a phone number that you have obtained from a reliable source, and not from the suspected e -mail.

Do secure your computer. Use updated anti-virus software, personal firewalls and apply latest security patches for your operating system and browser to secure your system from unwanted incidents. Anti-spam software can also help stop phishing e-mails from getting into your inbox. Some phishing e-mail may try to release a virus onto your computer.

Internet Explorer (IE) users can download a special patch to protect against certain phishing schemes.

The download is available at:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/

Do report suspicious e-mails to the legitimate company, to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or to your Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Do review your credit card and bank statements regularly to check for errors or unauthorized transactions. If anything looks suspicious, do contact your bank and all card issuers.

Do install a Web browser tool bar to help protect you from known phishing fraud websites.

EarthLink ScamBlocker is part of a free browser toolbar that alerts you before you visit a page that's on Earthlink's list of known fraudulent phisher Web sites.

Free download is available at:
http://www.earthlink.net/earthlinktoolbar

Do consider protecting yourself from dangerous scripts and spammers and phishers. Software such as the latest version of Outlook Express does make it much easier to do this.

3) Reporting a phishing case

Upon receipt of a report from user, Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) will perform below:

Verify the existence of the reported phishing site and check if the phishing site is still online or offline.
Find out the administrator/location of the Internet Protocol (IP) address where the phishing site is hosted by using 'whois' search tools. 'Whois' is an Internet database that provides information on a person or an organization.
Communicate with the administrator of the IP to shutdown the phishing site immediately, within 3 hours if the phishing site is hosted locally and within 24 hours if the phishing site is hosted overseas. For phishing sites hosted overseas, a copy of the notification will be carbon copied to the respective CERT of the country.
Monitor the phising sites from time to time if it is still online after notifying the relevant parties, locally and overseas. If it is still online, we shall send reminders to the respective parties.
Phishing sites that are not shutdown within 24 hours of notification, particularly the ones hosted on foreign servers, will be referred to the Law Enforcement Agency, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC), for further action.

Speedup Windows XP in Minutes!

2008-11-22T12:19:00.000-08:00

It's not always wise to upgrade your hardware every time you feel your computer is getting slow. In fact, Microsoft's operating systems slow down a PC when you have lots of programs installed. In this tutorial I will tell you some easy tricks to get most out of your hardware.

1. Disable extra startup programs

Several items add up to the start up list when you install different software. Such programs are loaded when your system boots and remain in memory (RAM), they also continuously use processor. Here are is what you have to do to make them go away:

Goto Start>Run
Type "msconfig", without quotations
Hit enter key or click the OK button
A window will show up, you have to click the startup tab, as shown in the figure
In the Startup tab you will see several boxes and some of them will selected (checked). All you have to do is to uncheck extra items that are of no use. If you run an antivirus program it is not recommended to uncheck it.
After making you choices press the OK button, you will be prompted to restart computer to apply changes.
After restarting your computer a dialogue will be displayed. You can check the option for not showing this dialogue every time your PC reboots.

2. Disable Extra Services

On menu opened by msconfig command, there is also another tab for Services. Click it and check "Hide All Microsoft Services" option. This option will display you list of third party services. Uncheck the services that are undesirable. As usual you have to reboot to apply the changes.

3. Adjust Display Settings

XP has a very cool looking user interface, but it consumes a certain amount of memory. To make it a little lightweight you have to:

Right click My Computer and select Properties
Click the Advanced tab
Go to Performance>Settings (have to click settings button in the performance section)
Uncheck all except:
Use visual styles on windows and buttons
Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
Show translucent selection rectangle
Show shadows under mouse pointer
Show shadows under menus
Finally click Apply and OK

4. Remove Widgets and Background

Different third party widgets and visual styles like for Vista like look and feel make your system slow. If you remove such packages you system will perform better on CPU and memory intensive tasks. Selecting default and no wallpaper as background also gives better performance than that of "high quality" wallpapers.

5. Folder Browsing

When you try to browse folder, Windows automatically searches for printer and network files. This is a performance overhead. To fix this you have to follow following steps:

Open My Computer
Click Tools>Folder Options
Select the View tab and unselect the check box for Automatically search for network folders and printers
Click Apply then OK and finally reboot to apply the change.

6. Indexing Service

Windows XP comes with a very heavy and not so good "Indexing Service". The service "claims" to makes indexes of different files on your computer so that they can be retrieved easily. The service consumes a large amount of memory, and it has no major advantage either. To disable it you have to:

Go to Start>Control Panel
Double click Add or Remove programs.
Select Add/Remove Windows Components, a new dialogue, as shown in the figure, will appear.
Uncheck the Indexing Service, if not already unchecked
Click Next to finalize

7. Size of Page File

Page file size is not constant by default. Due to this operating system has to resize the file each time when more space is required, this is a performance overhead. All you have to do is to set the file size to a reasonable limit. Follow the steps:

Right click My Computer, Select Properties then Advanced tab
Click the settings button under the performance section
Click the Advanced tab
Click Change button under the Virtual memory section
"Virtual Memory" dialogue will appear (also shown in the figure below)
Highlight the drive containing page file, which is C: by default
Select the Custom size radio button and give same values in Initial size and Maximum size fields.
Click Set and OK buttons to apply the changes

If your system has a sufficiently large memory (1 or 2 GB) then you can even disable paging.

8. Enable Direct Memory Access (DMA)

Go to:

Right Click My Computer, select properties
Select the Hardware tab
Click the Device Manager button
Double click IDE/ATAPI controllers
Keep on checking if DMA is enabled for each, you have to double click each option click Advanced Settings tab (as shown in figure) The tab may or may not be available for each option. It is only available in Primary and Secondary Channels.
Set the transfer mode to "DMA if Available" both for Device 1 and 0
Perform the same operation for other items in the list, if applicable.

Note: All of these techniques may not be available to you depending on you access rights on the system. Contact your system administrator in this regard.

How to run windows XP applications using Run Box?

2008-11-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

In this tip I will tell you a quick way to open a built-in Windows XP Applications by using “Run box”. The run option of Start menu is used to run a program or to open a document directly. If you do not know the exact location of the program or document then click on Start button to open Run and type the programs shortcut name to open it directly, For Example when you will open “Notepad” application and type “notepad” at the “Run box” then press “Enter” to run it. In this way you can run a lot of Windows XP Applications and Utilities.

Executable Filename Function

Access.cpl Used to run Add/Remove wizard

Accwiz.exe Runs the Accessibility Wizard

appwiz.cpl Runs the new add or remove programs wizard

wab.exe Runs the Windows Address Book

ntbackup.exe Runs the Windows backup program

charmap.exe Runs the Windows Character Map

Control.exe Runs the Control Panel

Timedate.cpl Launches the computer’s date and time panel

Devmgmt.msc Runs the Device Manager settings

Cleanmgr.exe Lets you play the Disk Cleanup utility

netstat.exe View information about network settings

hdwwiz.cpl Run the new hardware search wizard

Chkdsk.exe Runs the utility that checks your hard disk problems

cmd.exe or command.exe Both use to run MSDOS commands

Defrag.exe Run the Disk Defragmenter, which organizing files on your hard disk

Desk.cpl Launches the Display properties dialog box

fxsclnt.exe Use to Runs the Fax Console panel

control.exe folders Display the Folder option dialog box

control.exe fonts Display the Fonts Folder option dialog box

freecell.exe Runs the FreeCell game

joy.cpl Runs the Game Controllers dialog box

mshearts.exe Launches the Hearts game

helpctr.exe Display the windows Help and Support Center

hypertrm.exe Runs the HyperTerminal application

bckgzm.exe Run the Internet Backgammon game

chkrzm.exe Run the Internet Checkers game

iexplore.exe Run the Internet Explorer

inetcpl.cpl Run the Internet Properties dialog box

main.cpl Help you to manage the Keyboard Properties

logoff.exe Shortcut to Logoff Windows XP

magnify.exe Launches a program to magnify windows applications

conf.exe Runs the Microsoft NetMeeting conferencing program.

Tips To Help You Stop Smoking

2008-11-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

Stopping smoking is not easy. Below are some tips which may help you to quit smoking. At the end of the leaflet there are details of some further resources that may help.

Write a list of the reasons why you want to stop, and keep them with you. Refer to them when tempted to light up. You may wish to read a separate leaflet in this series called 'Smoking - The Facts'. This gives the reasons why smoking is so harmful and lists the benefits of stopping.

Set a date for stopping, and stop completely. (Some people prefer the idea of cutting down gradually. However, research has shown that if you smoke less cigarettes than usual, you are likely to smoke more of each cigarette, and nicotine levels remain nearly the same. Therefore, it is usually best to stop once and for all from a set date.)

Tell everyone that you are giving up smoking. Friends and family often give support and may help you. Smoking by others in the household makes giving up harder. If appropriate, try to get other household members who smoke, or friends who smoke, to stop smoking at the same time. A 'team' effort may be easier than going it alone.

Get rid of ashtrays, lighters, and all cigarettes.

Be prepared for some withdrawal symptoms. When you stop smoking, you are likely to get symptoms which may include: nausea (feeling sick), headaches, anxiety, irritability, craving, and just feeling awful. These symptoms are caused by the lack of nicotine that your body has been used to. They tend to peak after 12-24 hours, and then gradually ease over 2-4 weeks.

Anticipate a cough. It is normal for a 'smokers cough' to get worse when you stop smoking (as the airways 'come back to life'). Many people say that this makes them feel worse for a while after stopping smoking and makes them tempted to restart smoking. Resist this temptation! The cough usually gradually eases.

Be aware of situations in which you are most likely to want to smoke. In particular, drinking alcohol is often associated with failing in an attempt to stop smoking. You should consider not drinking much alcohol in the first few weeks after stopping smoking. Try changing your routine for the first few weeks. For example, don't go to the pub for a while if that is a tempting place to smoke and drink alcohol. Also, if drinking tea and coffee are difficult times, try drinking mainly fruit juice and plenty of water instead.

Take one day at a time. Mark off each successful day on a calendar. Look at it when you feel tempted to smoke, and tell yourself that you don't want to start all over again.

Be positive. You can tell people that you don't smoke. You will smell better. After a few weeks you should feel better, taste your food more, and cough less. You will have more money. Perhaps put away the money you would have spent on cigarettes for treats.

Food. Some people worry about gaining weight when they give up smoking as the appetite may improve. Anticipate an increase in appetite, and try not to increase fatty or sugary foods as snacks. Try sugar-free gum and fruit instead.

Don't despair if you fail. Examine the reasons why you felt it was more difficult at that particular time. It will make you stronger next time. On average, people who eventually stop smoking have made 3 or 4 previous attempts.

Stop Smoking Clinics are available on the NHS. They have a good success in helping people to stop smoking. Your doctor may refer you to one if you are keen to stop smoking but are finding it difficult to do so.

Various medicines can increase your chance of quitting. These include Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) which comes as gums, sprays, patches, tablets, lozenges, and inhalers. You can buy NRT without a prescription. Also, medicines called bupropion (trade name 'Zyban') and varenicline (trade name 'Champix) can help. These are available on prescription. See separate leaflets called 'Smoking - Nicotine Replacement Therapy', 'Smoking - Helping to Stop with Bupropion' and 'Smoking - Helping to Stop with Varenicline'.

Further help and information

Quit - a charity that helps people to stop smoking.
Quitline: 0800 00 22 00 Web: www.quit.org.uk

NHS 'Go Smokefree' Services
NHS smoking helpline 0800 169 0 169 Web: www.gosmokefree.nhs.uk
For help and advice on stopping smoking, and for details of your local NHS Stop Smoking Service.

References

Smoking cessation, Clinical Knowledge Summaries (April 2008)
Smoking cessation, NICE (2006)
Various factsheets and guidelines on smoking and smoking cessation, Action on Smoking and Health (various dates)

37 Stress Management Tips

2008-11-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Stress is a fact of life, but being stressed out is not. We don't always have control over what happens to us, says Allen Elkin, Ph.D., director of the Stress Management Counseling Center in New York City, and yet, that doesn't mean we have to react to a difficult, challenging situation by becoming frazzled or feeling overwhelmed or distraught. Being overly anxious is not just a mental hazard; it's a physical one too. The more stressed out we are the more vulnerable we are to colds, flu, and a host of chronic or life-threatening illnesses. And the less open we are to the beauty and pleasure of life. For your emotional and bodily benefit, we've consulted experts and come up with 37 easy, natural alternatives to anxiety. Enjoy!

1. Breathe Easily
"Breathing from your diaphragm oxygenates your blood, which helps you relax almost instantly," says Robert Cooper, Ph.D., the San Francisco coauthor of The Power of 5 (Rodale Press, 1996), a book of five-second and five-minute health tips. Shallow chest breathing, by contrast, can cause your heart to beat faster and your muscles to tense up, exacerbating feelings of stress. To breathe deeply, begin by putting your hand on your abdomen just below the navel. Inhale slowly through your nose and watch your hand move out as your belly expands. Hold the breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly. Repeat several times.

2. Visualize Calm
It sounds New Age-y, but at least one study, done at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, has found that it's highly effective in reducing stress. Dr. Cooper recommends imagining you're in a hot shower and a wave of relaxation is washing your stress down the drain. Gerald Epstein, M.D., the New York City author of Healing Visualizations (Bantam Doubleday Dell Press, 1989), suggests the following routine: Close your eyes, take three long, slow breaths, and spend a few seconds picturing a relaxing scene, such as walking in a meadow, kneeling by a brook, or lying on the beach. Focus on the details -- the sights, the sounds, the smells.

3. Make Time for a Mini Self-Massage
Maria Hernandez-Reif, Ph.D., of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, recommends simply massaging the palm of one hand by making a circular motion with the thumb of the other. Or use a massage gadget. The SelfCare catalog offers several, such as the S-shaped Tamm unit, that allow you to massage hard-to-reach spots on your back. For a free catalog, call 800-345-3371 or go to www.selfcare.com.

4. Try a Tonic
A study at Duke University in Durham, NC, found homeopathy effective in quelling anxiety disorders. Look for stress formulas such as Nerve Tonic (from Hyland) or Sedalia (from Boiron) in your health food store, or consult a licensed homeopath. To find one near you, contact the National Center for Homeopathy, 801 North Fairfax St., Suite 306, Alexandria, VA 22314; 703-548-7790 or go to www.healthy.net/nch/.

5. Say Cheese
Smiling is a two-way mechanism. We do it when we're relaxed and happy, but doing it can also make us feel relaxed and happy. "Smiling transmits nerve impulses from the facial muscles to the limbic system, a key emotional center in the brain, tilting the neurochemical balance toward calm," Dr. Cooper explains. Go ahead and grin. Don't you feel better already?

6. Do Some Math
Using a scale of one to 10, with one being the equivalent of a minor hassle and 10 being a true catastrophe, assign a number to whatever it is that's making you feel anxious. "You'll find that most problems we encounter rate somewhere in the two to five range -- in other words, they're really not such a big deal," says Dr. Elkin.

7. Stop Gritting Your Teeth
Stress tends to settle in certain parts of our bodies, the jaw being one of them. When things get hectic, try this tip from Dr. Cooper: Place your index fingertips on your jaw joints, just in front of your ears; clench your teeth and inhale deeply. Hold the breath for a moment, and as you exhale say, "Ah-h-h-h," then unclench your teeth. Repeat a few times.

8. Compose a Mantra
Devise an affirmation -- a short, clear, positive statement that focuses on your coping abilities. "Affirmations are a good way to silence the self-critical voice we all carry with us that only adds to our stress," Dr. Elkin says. The next time you feel as if your life is one disaster after another, repeat 10 times, "I feel calm. I can handle this."

9. Check Your Chi
Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is a 5,000-year-old Chinese practice designed to promote the flow of chi, the vital life force that flows throughout the body, regulating its functions. Qigong master Ching-Tse Lee, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Brooklyn College in New York, recommends this calming exercise: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and parallel. Bend your knees to a quarter-squat position (about 45 degrees) while keeping your upper body straight. Observe your breathing for a couple of breaths. Inhale and bring your arms slowly up in front of you to shoulder height with your elbows slightly bent. Exhale, stretching your arms straight out. Inhale again, bend your elbows slightly and drop your arms down slowly until your thumbs touch the sides of your legs. Exhale one more time, then stand up straight.

10. Be a Fighter
"At the first sign of stress, you often hear people complain, 'What did I do to deserve this?'" says Dr. Cooper. The trouble is, feeling like a victim only increases feelings of stress and helplessness. Instead, focus on being proactive. If your flight gets canceled, don't wallow in self-pity. Find another one. If your office is too hot or too cold, don't suffer in silence. Call the building manager and ask what can be done to make things more comfortable.

11. Put It on Paper
Writing provides perspective, says Paul J. Rosch, M.D., president of the American Institute of Stress in Yonkers, NY. Divide a piece of paper into two parts. On the left side, list the stressors you may be able to change, and on the right, list the ones you can't. "Change what you can," Dr. Rosch suggests, "and stop fretting over what you can't."

12. Count to 10
Before you say or do something you'll regret, step away from the stressor and collect yourself, advises Dr. Cooper. You can also look away for a moment or put the caller on hold. Use your time-out to take a few deep breaths, stretch, or recite an affirmation.

13. Switch to Decaf
Wean yourself slowly, or you might get a caffeine-withdrawal headache that could last for several days, cautions James Duke, Ph.D., the Fulton, MD, author of The Green Pharmacy (Rodale Press, 1997). Subtract a little regular coffee and add some decaf to your morning cup. Over the next couple of weeks, gradually increase the proportion of decaf to regular until you're drinking all decaf. You should also consider switching from regular soft drinks to caffeine-free ones or sparkling mineral water.

14. Just Say No
Trying to do everything is a one-way ticket to serious stress. Be clear about your limits, and stop trying to please everyone all the time.

15. Take a Whiff
Oils of anise, basil, bay, chamomile, eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, rose, and thyme are all soothing, say Kathy Keville and Mindy Green, coauthors of Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art (Crossing Press, 1995). Place a few pieces of rock salt in a small vial, then add a couple of drops of the oil of your choice (the rock salt absorbs the oil and is much less risky to carry around in your purse than a bottle of oil). Open the vial and breathe in the scent whenever you need a quick stress release. Look for the oils in your local health food store, or try one of the following mail-order companies: Aroma-Vera, 5901 Rodeo Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90016, 800-669-9514; or Leydet Aromatics, P.O. Box 2354, Fair Oaks, CA 95628, 916-965-7546.

16. Warm Up
Try this tip from David Sobel, M.D., in San Jose, CA, author of The Healthy Mind, Healthy Body Handbook (I S H K Book Service, 1997) : Rub your hands together vigorously until they feel warm. Then cup them over your closed eyes for five seconds while you breathe deeply. The warmth and darkness are comforting.

17. Say Yes to Pressure
Acupressure stimulates the same points as acupuncture, but with fingers instead of needles. Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., director of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, CA, recommends pressing on the following three points:

The Third Eye, located between the eyebrows, in the indentation where the bridge of the nose meets the forehead.

The Heavenly Pillar, on the back of the neck slightly below the base of the skull, about half an inch to the left or right of the spine.

The Heavenly Rejuvenation, half an inch below the top of each shoulder, midway between the base of the neck and the outside of the shoulder blade.

Breathe deeply and apply firm, steady pressure on each point for two to three minutes. The pressure should cause a mild aching sensation, but not pain.

18. Schedule Worry Time
Some stressors demand immediate attention -- a smoke alarm siren or a police car's whirling red light. But many low-grade stressors can be dealt with at a later time, when it's more convenient. "File them away in a little mental compartment, or make a note," Dr. Elkin says, "then deal with them when the time is right. Don't let them control you."

19. Shake It Up
This quick exercise helps loosen the muscles in your neck and upper back, says Dr. Sobel: Stand or sit, stretch your arms out from your sides and shake your hands vigorously for about 10 seconds. Combine this with a little deep breathing, Dr. Sobel says, and you'll do yourself twice as much good.

20. Munch Some Snacks
Foods that are high in carbohydrates stimulate the release of serotonin, feel-good brain chemicals that help induce calm, says Dr. Cooper. Crackers, pretzels, or a bagel should do the trick.

21. Boost Your Vitamin Intake
Elizabeth Somer, R.D., author of Food and Mood (Owl Books, 1999), in Salem, OR, recommends that women take a daily multivitamin and mineral formula that contains between 100% and 300% of the recommended dietary allowances of vitamin B, as well as the minerals calcium, magnesium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc. Avoid stress formulas, which often contain large amounts of randomly formulated nutrients, such as the B vitamins, but little or nothing else, Somer says.

22. Get Horizontal
If sex has been on the bottom of your to-do list for too long, move it to the top. Sex increases levels of endorphins, those mood-boosting chemicals in the brain, and it's one of the best total-body relaxers around, says Louanne Cole Weston, Ph.D., a sex therapist in Sacramento, CA. Make a date with your mate, and don't let anything get in the way.

23. Admit It
Each of us has uniquely individual stress signals -- neck or shoulder pain, shallow breathing, stammering, teeth gritting, queasiness, loss of temper. Learn to identify yours, then say out loud, "I'm feeling stressed," when they crop up, recommends Dr. Rosch. Recognizing your personal stress signals helps slow the buildup of negativity and anxiety.

24. Space Out
Look out the window and find something natural that captures your imagination, advises Dr. Sobel. Notice the clouds rolling by or the wind in the trees.

25. Try Tea
By now most of us know about the calming properties of chamomile tea. But a steaming cup of catnip, passionflower, skullcap or kava kava also work, according to Dr. Duke. Whether you use tea bags or loose tea (one teaspoon of tea per cup of boiling water), steep for about 10 minutes to get the full benefits of the herbs.

26. Take a Walk
It forces you to breathe more deeply and improves circulation, says Dr. Cooper. Step outside if you can; if that's not possible, you can gain many of the same benefits simply by walking to the bathroom or water cooler, or by pacing back and forth. "The key is to get up and move," Dr. Cooper says.

27. Soak it Up
"When I have the time, nothing is more stress relieving for me than a hot bath," Dr. Weston says. "But when I don't have time, I do the next-best thing: I wash my face or even just my hands and arms with hot water. The key is to imagine that I'm taking a hot bath. It's basically a visualization exercise, but the hot water makes it feel real."

28. Play a Few Bars
A number of recent studies have shown that music can do everything from slow heart rate to increase endorphins. Good bets: Bach's "Air on the G-String," Beethoven's Pastorale symphony, Chopin's Nocturne in G, Handel's Water Music, or pianist George Winston's CDs Autumn or December..

29. Fall for Puppy Love
In a study of 100 women conducted last year at the State University of New York at Buffalo, researchers found that those who owned a dog had lower blood pressure than those who didn't. If you don't have a pooch, visit a friend's: Petting an animal for just a couple of minutes helps relieve stress, researchers have found.

30. Practice Mindfulness
Heighten your awareness of the moment by focusing intently on an object. Notice a pencil's shape, color, weight and feel. Or slowly savor a raisin or a piece of chocolate. Mindfulness leads to relaxation.

31. Dial a Friend
Sharing your troubles can give you perspective, help you feel cared for and relieve your burden.

32. Stretch
Muscles tighten during the course of the day, and when we feel stressed out, the process accelerates. Stretching loosens muscles and encourages deep breathing. Molly Fox, creative fitness director at the Equinox Fitness Center in New York City, says one of the greatest stress-relieving stretches is a yoga position called the child pose, which stretches the back muscles. On a rug or mat, kneel, sit back on your heels, then lean forward and put your forehead on the floor and your arms alongside your legs, palms up. Hold for one to three minutes.

33. Say a Little Prayer
Studies show that compared with those who profess no faith, religious and spiritual people are calmer and healthier.

34. Make Plans
"Looking forward to something provides calming perspective," Dr. Elkin says. Buy concert tickets, schedule a weekend getaway, or make an appointment for a massage.

35. Goof Off
It temporarily removes you from a potentially stressful situations. Esther Orioli, president of Essi Systems, a San Francisco consultant company that organizes stress-management programs, keeps a harmonica in the drawer for when she's feeling stressed out. Bonus: Playing it promotes deep breathing.

36. Straighten Up
When people are under stress, they slump over as if they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. "Slumping restricts breathing and reduces blood and oxygen flow to the brain, adding to muscle tension and magnifying feelings of panic and helplessness," Dr. Cooper explains. Straightening your spine has just the opposite effect. It promotes circulation, increases oxygen levels in your blood and helps lessen muscle tension, all of which promote relaxation.

37. Tiptoe Through the Tulips
Tending your garden helps get you out of your head and lets you commune with nature, a known stress reliever. If you're not a gardener, tend to a houseplant. Plants = growth = cycle of life, a nice reminder that stress, too, will pass.

Health writer Michael Castleman of San Francisco wrote a home medical guide that combines mainstream and alternative therapies for 100 common complaints, including stress.

10 Essential Health Tips (The Basics to Practice Every Day)

2008-11-21T04:41:00.000-08:00

"He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything." -Arabian Proverb

1. Move More
Make it a daily challenge to find ways to move your body. Climb stairs if given a choice between that and escalators or elevators. Walk your dog; chase your kids; toss balls with friends, mow the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it's a stress buster. Think 'move' in small increments of time. It doesn't have to be an hour in the gym or a 45-minute aerobic dance class or tai chi or kickboxing. But that's great when you're up to it. Meanwhile, move more. Thought for the day: Cha, Cha, Cha…. Then do it!

2. Cut Fat
Avoid the obvious such as fried foods, burgers and other fatty meats (i.e. pork, bacon, ham, salami, ribs and sausage). Dairy products such as cheese, cottage cheese, milk and cream should be eaten in low fat versions. Nuts and sandwich meats, mayonnaise, margarine, butter and sauces should be eaten in limited amounts. Most are available in lower fat versions such as substitute butter, fat free cheeses and mayonnaise. Thought for the day: Lean, mean, fat-burning machine…. Then be one!

3. Quit Smoking
The jury is definitely in on this verdict. Ever since 1960 when the Surgeon General announced that smoking was harmful to your health, Americans have been reducing their use of tobacco products that kill. Just recently, we've seen a surge in smoking in adolescents and teens. Could it be the Hollywood influence? It seems the stars in every movie of late smoke cigarettes. Beware. Warn your children of the false romance or 'tough guy' stance of Hollywood smokers. Thought for the day: Give up just one cigarette…. the next one.

4. Reduce Stress
Easier said than done, stress busters come in many forms. Some techniques recommended by experts are to think positive thoughts. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like. (i.e.,Soak in a hot tub; walk on the beach or in a park; read a good book; visit a friend; play with your dog; listen to soothing music; watch a funny movie. Get a massage, a facial or a haircut. Meditate. Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated. Avoid difficult people when possible. Thought for the day: When seeing red, think pink clouds….then float on them.

5. Protect Yourself from Pollution
If you can't live in a smog-free environment, at least avoid smoke-filled rooms, high traffic areas, breathing in highway fumes and exercising near busy thoroughfares. Exercise outside when the smog rating is low. Exercise indoors in air conditioning when air quality is good. Plant lots of shrubbery in your yard. It's a good pollution and dirt from the street deterrent. Thought for the day: 'Smoke gets in your eyes'…and your mouth, and your nose and your lungs as do pollutants….hum the tune daily.

6. Wear Your Seat Belt
Statistics show that seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes. Thought for the day: Buckle down and buckle up.

7. Floss Your Teeth
Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and teeth flossing. Nobody knows exactly why. Perhaps it's because people who floss tend to be more health conscious than people who don't? Thought for the day: Floss and be your body's boss.

8. Avoid Excessive Drinking
While recent studies show a glass of wine or one drink a day (two for men) can help protect against heart disease, more than that can cause other health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer. Thought for the day: A jug of wine should last a long time.

9. Keep a Positive Mental Outlook
There's a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life. Thought for the day: You can't be unhappy when you're smiling or singing.

10. Choose Your Parents Well
The link between genetics and health is a powerful one. But just because one or both of your parents died young in ill health doesn't mean you cannot counteract the genetic pool handed you. Thought for the day: Follow these basic tips for healthy living and you can better control your own destiny.