C O L U M N S

Forex Trading Solutions Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:23:00 +0000

Forex Trading Solutions
Forex trading solutions are sold in many forms, such as forex classes, books, and ready-made systems.In fact, there are an increasing number of sellers willing to sell you a complete system, with the trading rules completely, partially on not at all revealed.
If the rules of the system are not revealed, the system is called a “black box” system, where you have to rely on the signals the system gives without knowing how they are generated.Constructing a profitable system is not cheap and thus you’ll find many of the systems sold for $3,000+. However, despite the system being profitable in the past, nothing guarantees that any buyer will make any money with it in the future.
Forex Trading Solutions - Strategies
When purchasing a solution for forex trading, one of the first things you have to think about is the strategy that you want the system to use.The major strategies in forex trading have to do with fundamental analysis and technical analysis.With fundamental analysis, you make your own view as to where the markets are headed based on economic and other indicators. Or, you rely on fundamental analysis of a third party. Based on this view, you then make your trading calls.As for technical analysis, you make your trading decisions on historical data (price, volatility etc.) of the forex currency pair. Technical analysis gives you signals whether you should be short or long of the currency pair or stay in the sidelines.Fundamental analysis is much harder to teach of these two because it can place extraordinary weight on appearances and interpretation of situations. To assist in the analysis, many use a variety of econometric tools.Some traders use a mix of the two, with fundamental analysis sometimes overruling the signals given by technical analysis.You can purchase solutions for both of these approaches. There are many technical analysis solutions sold as PC software, books and taught in seminars and classes. As for fundamental analysis, possibilities are to look for good books on the subject or enroll in a mentoring program that teaches you to analyze the fundamental information.
Forex Trading Solutions - Techniques
Once you have a trading strategy in place, learning about trading techniques will show you how to place actual intraday trading calls, how to use market stops and other orders and how to choose the best forex dealer.What techniques you use in placing trades can make a difference in your trading results. This is particularly true for day trading, where slippage (difference between intended trade price and actual price) can easily make otherwise feasible system useless.You can learn techniques from trading books, seminars, and mentoring. In fact, mentoring is probably the best way to learn how to effectively make trades. However, mentoring is also the most expensive of the trading solutions to learn techniques.
Forex Trading Solutions - Systems
Forex trading systems are turnkey forex trading solutions. The system gives signals for the selected currency pairs and the profits and losses are made by following these signals.There are many ways to purchase or subscribe to systems. Some companies offer subscriptions to trading signals via emails based on their system. Others let you buy their software, which is used with selected currency pair’s data to get the trading signals.Some systems are sold with all of the trading rules revealed. Others will be sold as black box systems, where you just get trading signals, but no detailed information what triggers the signals.

The Best Web Hosting

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:21:00 +0000

The internet business is one that is quite interesting because of the various dynamics going on in the business simultaneously with each other. There are so many people interested in so many things when it comes to the best web hosting that quite often so many people really don’t focus on any one aspect in order to achieve the results that they want. A very good example of this is in the case of web hosting. Words like top, best, great, good and other descriptive terms are the words that tend to be used in terms of discussing web hosting, rather than very objective statistics that actually show the worthiness of a particular web hosting website.

In other words, when a person tells you that something is the best web hosting you are likely to find, what exactly do they mean by best? If you two were talking about any other part of life such as cars or computers, would you really be in agreement on exactly what best means? To them, best might mean a car that gets extremely good fuel mileage while to you best might mean the most amenities within the car itself. To them, best might mean a computer that is ultra-fast on the internet, while to you best might mean a computer that can play a lot of games. Best is a very subjective term, so why is it then when somebody says that a particular website is the top web hosting or the best web hosting, people tend to take it way past face value?

It is not an easy question to answer, but the most logical answer seems to be that a lot of the blame for that mentality lies squarely on the shoulders of the websites that subsist by doing web hosting reviews. A lot of these websites right off the bat are only going to do promotional reviews. While promotional reviews are not deceitful in any way, they are somewhat disingenuous because they specifically highlight good portions and for the most part do not discuss bad ones. And in these promotional reviews, you are likely to see words like top, good, great and best. When a website that is responsible for reviewing web hosting options says that a particular option is the best web hosting out there, who are we as normal non-expert people to disagree?
In this way, these subjective terms get used again and again to discuss different web hosting websites to the point where people are only using those terms to discuss web hosting and not at all talking about any of the real and objective things that make a particular web hosting option good or bad. It is certainly interesting that this has happened and now that you realize it, you can take steps to avoid it. Make sure that you are aware of exactly what you are getting from a particular web hosting plan. There is nothing wrong with thinking something is good or the best or even using reviews that say that as part of your decision, but ultimately your decision should be based on sound information about the statistics of a particular web hosting plan

Frequently Asked Questions Automobile Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:18:00 +0000

Question:Is the consumers auto insurance primary or secondary?

Answer:There is no such thing as secondary and primary - insurance works as such: Most carriers hold One Million dollars combined single limit & Two hundred fifty thousand dollars per incident. This insurance covers damage done to your vehicle in transit - there is no other insurance. The auto transport carrier is the main and only coverage. (exception: Automobile personal contents are not covered by any carrier insurance and in most cases if lost, stolen or otherwise will not be covered.)

Question:How long should an auto transport take on average?

Answer:Shipping time all depends on the transporter - listed below are some very basic ideas to help you along the way. Make sure however you contact your shipper for their actual scheduled times. East Coast to West Coast - approx. 7 to 14 days Midwest to East Coast - approx. 5 to 8 days South to the North - approx. 5 to 8 days All shipping times are estimated do not base your transport on these examples without first contacting your shipper for assistance. Too many variable go into the time it takes to deliver any vehicle, thus all times are estimates only!

Question:Why does a truck (SUV) shipment cost more than a regular sedan?

Answer:Shipments are based on weight that a truck can legally carry - this is why there is a small price difference between $50.00 and $100.00 for a regular truck or S.U.V.. Size of the vehicle also dictates how many vehicles a particular carrier can haul at any one time. The larger the vehicles, the less amount can be hauled, thus smaller vehicles are cheaper to ship.

Question:How is a transport supposed to work?

Answer:Auto Transport is made very simple with Hilton Transport. Once your order is placed you will be contacted by our Customer Support department, where your order information will be confirmed and payment is processed. At that point your vehicle is placed into the system and our Dispatch department proactively finds a Carrier capable of delivering your vehicle. Upon dispatching a Carrier, Hilton Transport will send you an email with all of the Carrier's contact information. You should contact your Carrier immediately and open the lines of communication. The Carrier will pickup your vehicle and deliver it as fast as possible. At the point of delivery the customer pays the remainder of the Order (Order Total minus deposit) in Cash, Cashier's Check or Money Order to the Carrier directly.

Question:What should a consumer do if their vehicle arrives with damage?

Answer:First thing you should do is make sure the driver understands that the damage is new and was not on the original bill of lading. The damage should clearly be marked and noted, then signed for by the driver. Upon completion of delivery a call should placed to your carrier or broker to inform them of the damage. In most cases the carrier will ask for an estimate and send you payment in a couple weeks. If the carrier is not responsive and unwilling to work with you to resolve the issue make sure you contact their insurance company and make a claim. Be sure however you have all the documentation to back up your claim - false claims can result in legal action by the carrier or agent.

Question:How does a pick up window work?

Answer:When a transporter mentions pick up window they are referring to the time surronding your pick up date. For instance some shippers may have a 14 day window - that way they can pick your vehicle up anywhere between 7 days before and 7 days after your pick up date. Beware of lower priced carriers who do not specify their pick up dates, you may recieve an outstanding price. However you may not see your vehicle for 4 or 5 weeks. It is very important to make sure the transporter you use can get your vehicle within a reasoable time frame.

Strategic exhaustion

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:59:00 +0000

Pakistan is currently faced with multifarious problems: the political problem of evolving a political system which corresponds to the genius of its people and their democratic aspirations, the problem of economic development and raising the standard of living of its people, the problem of good governance to provide essential services like basic nutrition, health, education, shelter, justice, and rule of law and to build up the physical infrastructure of the country, and the problem of ensuring internal and external security. A cursory glance at our history shows that the successive governments in Pakistan have failed to overcome these problems. There are several factors which are responsible for this sad state of affairs. They include lack of maturity and integrity of our politicians, the adventurism and corruption of our army generals whose lack of comprehension of national issues is matched by their disregard of the constitution and rule of law, and an inefficient bureaucracy made growingly ineffective by politicisation and repeated instances of military rule. However, if there is one underlying factor which is responsible for most of our national ills, it is the problem of strategic exhaustion.
It was Pakistan’s misfortune that soon after independence its political elite failed to provide the leadership that the country needed. The vacuum thus created due to the sheer incapacity of the political leadership to deliver was filled up initially by the civilian bureaucracy but ultimately by the senior generals of the Pakistan Army starting with Ayub Khan. The precedent set by him was followed by other military usurpers including Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf. In the process, Pakistan remained under the military rule for 33 years out of the 62 years of its existence. Even when the army generals were not directly ruling the country, they were busy pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The net result was that the political evolution of the country on democratic lines was stunted and the army gradually entrenched itself in the corridors of power so as to dominate and control the governmental decision making processes. The military claimed the lion’s share of the budget. Not only that, the military budget also became off limit for the Parliament. The army generals virtually dictated the country’s security and foreign policies. The army also came to dominate the economic scene by establishing a vast business empire covering the industrial, banking, real estate, and transportation sectors with obvious adverse implications for professionalism in the army.

By Javid Husain

US jobless rate hits 10.2pc

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:57:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US unemployment rate shot up to 10.2 percent in October as another 190,000 jobs were shed, the Labor Department said Friday.
The report highlighted ongoing woes in the labor market in an economy struggling to emerge from recession: the jobless rate, up from 9.8 percent in September, was the highest since 1983 but the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in over a year.
Overall, the Labor Department monthly report, one of the best indicators of economic momentum, was worse than expectations for a 10 percent jobless rate and 175,000 job losses. But the improving trend continued, and the latest report revised down the number of job losses in August and September.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 219,000 in August (instead of the prior estimate of 263,000) and by 154,000 in August (revised from 201,000).
The number of unemployed persons increased to 15.7 million. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed has risen by 8.2 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percentage points, the Labor Department said.
The largest job losses over the month were in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade, the report showed.
The goods-producing sectors shed 129,000 jobs in the month including 61,000 in manufacturing and 62,000 in construction. Services lost 61,000 in the month, with 40,000 in retail. The report showed modest employment gains in professional and business services of 18,000 and 45,000 jobs added in education.
Government employment was flat.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said Friday’s new unemployment figure of 10.2 percent was “a sobering number” that warns of the economic challenges facing the world’s largest economy.
“Although we lost fewer jobs than we did last month, our unemployment rate climbed to over 10 percent — a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead,” Obama said in an address at the White House.

US Consulate starts issuing visas to businessmen

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:56:00 +0000

KARACHI - The US Consulate Friday started issuing visa after a gap of 13 years and in this regard a Pakistani businessman was issued the first visa following the resumption of visa section in the city.
On this occasion, US Consul General Stephen G Fakan held a reception for prominent businessmen at his residence to mark the re-opening of visa section.
On this occasion, US Consul General said that opening of visa section was the indication that the United States was here to stay as a partner, friend and an ally of Pakistan.
He said that it was important that visas for other segments will also begin in summer when the new compound of under-construction US Consulate will be opened.
Fakan said that it takes lots of time and efforts for applying for visas in Islamabad and businessmen have to take away valuable time from their companies.
He suggested businessmen to apply with American Express Karachi for visas to get early response.
Speaking on the occasion, the businessmen termed it a great day for Karachi and said that it means that US still has its interest in Pakistan.
Head of consular section in Karachi Tracy Brown said that it was a very smooth day and eight visa applications were received on Thursday. Head of Visa Section US Embassy Christopher Richard said that visa application can take 4 to 6 weeks for processing and said that the Embassy was looking at ways to further facilitate visa seekers.

China outlook upgraded to 'positive': Moody’s

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:49:00 +0000

BEIJING (AFP) - Moody’s on Monday upgraded its ratings outlook for China to “positive” from “stable”, giving policymakers in Beijing the thumbs-up for how they have navigated the worst financial crisis in decades.
Moody’s Investors Service said it had based its decision on the “resilient, robust and relatively stable macroeconomic performance during the turbulence of the past year”. “The Chinese authorities are successfully steering the economy through the turbulence of the global financial crisis and recession, and furthermore, they seem likely to remain vigilant to protect systemic stability from future threats and challenges,” senior vice president Tom Byrne said in a statement. Policymakers and analysts have expressed confidence in China’s recovery after the economy grew 8.9pc in the third quarter — the fastest pace in a year.
That compares with 7.9 percent growth in the second quarter and 6.1 percent in the first three months, the slowest pace in more than a decade.
The World Bank last week raised its 2009 growth forecast to 8.4 percent, following similar moves by the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank.
China’s recovery has been driven by a four-trillion-yuan (586-billion-dollar) stimulus package unveiled a year ago and a record 8.67 trillion yuan in bank lending in the first nine months of 2009.
But Moody’s sounded a cautionary note, saying that while China’s recovery seemed well-established, underlying risks to its long-term outlook remained. “Further positive rating actions ... will hinge on continued macroeconomic and financial sector stability and on an assessment that China’s state-sector-centric stimulus programme had not distorted long-term growth prospects or given rise to destabilising asset bubbles,” the statement said.

Sandra doesn't chase film roles

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:46:00 +0000

SANDRA Bullock puts her family before film roles. The Hollywood superstar says she enjoys being a wife and step-mom more than being an actress.
“I realise it when I’m staring at a stack of scripts and I can’t bear to open them,” she said. “I don’t want to step in that world right now, I want to enjoy where I am. I want to enjoy the ride instead of blasting forward and trying to fill a void that doesn’t exist.” – SS
Sandra, 45, recently revealed that the immoral scenes in her summer movie The Proposal helped the flick succeed. “We had all the right people, the right elements in the right place,” she said of the movie’s success. – SS

Children with 'tough love' parents do better in life

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:43:00 +0000

CHILDREN who grow up with parents who take a ‘tough love’ approach to their upbringing are better prepared to do well in life.
Experiencing a combination of warmth and discipline means children are more likely to develop skills such as application, self-regulation and empathy than those with disengaged or authoritarian parents. Those characteristics boosted children’s life chances, social mobility and opportunity and were profoundly shaped in pre-school years.
Jen Lexmond, principal author of the report, said: ‘Far from a “soft” skill, character is integral to our future success and well-being. ‘The foundations for our character are laid before the age of five. ‘This puts a huge emphasis on parenting, but whatever the parental background, it is confidence, warmth and consistent discipline that matter most.’
According to the study, by think tank Demos, children with ‘tough love’ parents were twice as likely to develop good character traits by the age of five than children with disengaged parents.
The Building Character report, which analysed data from more than 9,000 households in the UK from the Millennium Cohort Study, also found that family structure and income affected children’s development. Children from the richest backgrounds were more than twice as likely to develop crucial characteristics than the poorest. Children with married parents were twice as likely to show the traits than children from single parent or step-parented families.
However, when parental style and confidence were factored in, the difference between children from richer and poorer families disappeared, indicating parenting was the most important influence.
The gap between children from married and single parent families also disappeared when the quality of parenting was taken into consideration.

Cough into your mobile phone for instant diagnosis

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:42:00 +0000

YOUR mobile phone may soon be able to diagnose respiratory illnesses in seconds when you cough into it.
Software being developed by American and Australian scientists will hopefully allow patients simply to cough into their phone, and it will tell them whether they have cold, flu, pneumonia or other respiratory diseases.
Whether a cough is dry or wet, or “productive” or “non-productive” (referring to the presence of mucus on the lungs), can give a doctor information about what is causing that cough, for example whether it is caused by a bacterial or a viral infection.
Health workers can distinguish the different kinds of cough by sound. Now, it is claimed, the new software will do the same, and will save patients a trip to the surgery - or tell them when they are at risk of serious illness.
Suzanne Smith of STAR Analytical Services, the firm behind the research, says: “Why haven’t we been measuring coughs?
“It’s the most common symptom when a patient presents, and we are relying on doctors and nurses with good old technology from the 19th century.”
Coughs typically last around one-quarter of a second, comprising a sharp intake of breath, a silent exhalation and then the complex burst of sounds that makes the cough noise.
Healthy, voluntary coughs tend to be slightly louder than the involuntary coughs of an ill person. And after the initial explosive sound, there are subtleties like vibrating vocal cords and mucus that reveal information about what is happening in the patient’s respiratory system. The software would compare the patient’s cough to a pre-recorded database of coughs, containing the sounds of all respiratory diseases from people of both sexes and various ages, weights and other variables.

Rihanna to launch her own perfume

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:29:00 +0000

RIHANNA is all set to become the latest celeb to launch her own fragrance.
The Umbrella singer has even tested her perfume. “I’ve been right there with a chemist mixing the formulas,” the Sun quoted Rihanna, as saying. “I wanted this to be the fragrance no man can resist - and it is!”
Rihanna, who parted ways with Chris brown earlier this year, has no plans to date anyone anytime soon. “I’m not dating right now. I don’t wanna date right now. It’s too much,” Contactmusic quoted her as telling Us Weekly mag. – ANI

Oil’s Well

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:27:00 +0000

Welcome to the oil slick! It helps your skin look great. Let’s look into the benefits of anti-ageing facial oils.

So how high would you jump if you were told that there is yet another category of a beauty product that works to keep your face smooth and taut-skinned? The category is anti-ageing oils for the face.
Yes, these oils are a fantastic find. Not only do they help prevent the formation of wrinkles, but the slippery oils will deter unnecessary tugging and pulling on your skin, which is thought to be a contributing factor to the formation of wrinkles.
Most facialists would probably recommend isometric exercises to strengthen facial muscles. That is because the weakening of the facial and neck muscles leads to sagging skin. If massaged properly with the help of a good facial oil, the same sagging skin will become toned and you will notice a reduction in the fine lines and wrinkles.
Facial oils not only effectively lock the natural oils into skin, they also encourage skin to regenerate its own oils. This gives skin a renewed freshness. You will not need to use much make-up and the wrinkling process can be dramatically slowed.
Serums and moisturisers containing natural oils are preferred to regular oils which are high on the grease factor. But though oils are greasy, they are more effective beauty treatments. They leave the skin smooth and glowing. And oil can easily be removed from the face with a soap-free cleanser or a non-drying soap product.
The most common facial oils are made of rose oil, calendula, sandalwood oil, lavender and geranium. Other ingredients used in facial oils to delay wrinkling are wheatgerm, apricot, soyabean, olive almond and avocado oils. Some oils also contain extracts of primrose flower, borage seed, jojoba and carrot. These provide the purest, most natural and effective way of delivering essential nutrients into your skin’s upper layers. The result is a more youthful appearance.
If you feel there is a specific area of your body which is more wrinkled than others, you may apply these oils there as well. Work facial oils into your routine. Every night, before you turn in, cleanse your face thoroughly, pat it dry and apply in the facial oil. Using your finger pads, lightly and steadily, tap-massage the oil all over your face and neck. Don’t wash off or tissue away the oil. Leave it on overnight for best results.
For maximum benefit, cleanse, tone, moisturise and then massage the facial oil as the last topical application.
Top 10 Oils To Make You Look Younger
1. Calendula oil rebuilds cells and works wonders for dry skin.
2. Soy oil is rich in Omega 3, 6 and 9 (the fats the body and skin needs) and it helps skin regain elasticity. However, some people are allergic to it so please do take a patch test before trying it out.
3. Sandalwood oil triggers hormones in the brain which signal the skin to release collagen and elastin.
4. Rose oil gives bloom, warmth and helps repair broken veins. But make sure that you have a good tolerance for it as it may cause headaches in some people.
5. Geranium oil gives warmth to the skin, repairs it and even helps broken veins. This oil, however, can be sensitive on most skins.
6. Frankincense oil preserves and revitalises skin.
7. Mandarin oil releases collagen, exfoliated dead skin and firms. Sensitive skin may not tolerate this oil well.
8. Grape Seed oil is a powerful antioxidant for the skin.
9. Neroli oil refreshes cells gently. It can smell a bit strange but when mixed with a base or a carrier oil, the smell vanishes!
10. Coconut oil is an antioxidant and is wonderful for most skin types.

HEALTH

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:27:00 +0000

Caring For Aching Muscles

Our muscles bend and straighten our joints thousands of times a day, so it’s important to keep them in good working order.

Muscles have an excellent blood supply, and usually work aerobically, fuelled by blood oxygen and glucose. But when they need to work hard, for example, during sport, they switch to anaerobic exercise. This provides a rapid supply of energy by burning glucose (glycogen) stored in the muscles themselves, but also creates lactic acid, which makes muscles ache afterwards.

Muscle Strains And Cramps
A “pulled” muscle is caused by using it wrongly or by overuse - excessive force can stretch or tear tiny muscle fibres, producing pain each time the muscle contracts. If there’s a lot of damage, the muscle may be weakened, contain a large bruise (haematoma) or tear completely and stop working altogether. Most muscle strains can be treated at home (see “Ways to protect your muscles,” above), but if you have severe pain or weakness, you may need physiotherapy or even surgery to repair the damage.
Muscle cramps aren’t generally serious, but poor circulation can give you calf pain when walking. Night-time cramps are occasionally due to diuretics (water pills), other medication or illness, so consult your GP.

Fibromyalgia
This rheumatic condition causes widespread muscle pain, stiffness and tender points, and may be due to neurological differences in the way we feel pain. It’s more common in women than men, and is often linked to poor sleep, daytime fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and low mood. There’s no test, so it’s normally diagnosed from the symptoms, and treatment is aimed at relieving these. Despite the tiredness, exercise can help.

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)
Polymyalgia means pain in many muscles, and in this condition, inflamed muscles can be stiff for a couple of hours after waking. Your shoulder and hip muscles will feel weak, as well as stiff, making it difficult to brush hair or get out of a chair, for example. It usually starts suddenly but rarely affects people under 50; signs of inflammation will show in blood tests. It mostly lasts for atleast two years and is treated with steroid tablets to suppress the inflammation until it disappears.

Statins
Statin drugs, used to lower blood cholesterol levels, can sometimes cause muscle inflammation and pain; it’s usually mild, but can occasionally be severe.

6 Ways To Protect Your Muscles
1. Avoid action that can cause muscle strain, such as heavy lifting, or working at an awkward angle.
2. Gently stretch muscles during and especially after exercise to prevent strains and tears.
3. Drink plenty of water to reduce muscle cramps during the time that you’re exercising.
4. Treat muscle sprains by applying ice cubes or frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel for 20 minutes, every four hours.
5. Rest a strained muscle, but stretch it very gently several times a day to avoid it stiffening up.
6. If you suffer from muscle cramps at night, stretch calf muscles during the day and before you go to sleep. Your GP may prescribe medication if you get them regularly.

Wellbeing

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Try this:
Light therapy
Spending half an hour to an hour under a 10,000-lux daylight lamp every day has been shown to really help lift your mood if you’re affected by the shorter days of winter or suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder). If you’re a “lark” use the light in the morning. “Owls” will find light therapy more helpful in the evening.

Exercise
Regular exercise boosts serotonin levels, so you feel more positive. Aim to get outdoors each day, even if it’s just for a short walk. And if you can manage 30 minutes’ exercise, three times a week, so much the better.

Good nutrition
Porridge is an ideal way to start the day giving you plenty of slow-release energy. Have home-made vegetable soup for lunch with a chunk of wholemeal bread to make sure you have enough complex carbohydrates to reduce stress and anxiety. To lift depression, eat foods rich in tryptophan (an amino acid that’s converted to mood-enhancing serotonin in the brain). Tryptophan-rich foods include chicken, sunflower seeds and spirulina (an algae).

Food

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:22:00 +0000

FoodJust like the rest of your body, your brain benefits from the right diet and exercise. Here are some tricks to keep you sharp.

Scientists can’t say for sure whether certain foods can definitely ward off problems such as Alzheimer’s, but research play a role in our mood, our memory, and concentration. Try these top “brain foods” – they’re worth tucking into.

Lecithin
Lecithin is a super-nutrient which converts into a vitamin-like substance known as choline that’s crucial for making a chemical that plays a big role in memory. Experiments have revealed that if people are deprived of choline over long periods of time, their memory suffers.
Where: Found in soya, beans, peanuts, wheatgerm and egg yolks. Cholesterol in eggs doesn’t affect cholesterol in our blood. So if you fancy an egg a day, it won’t do you any harm, and may well be good news for your brain.

Iron
Lack of iron doesn’t just make us feel tired; research has also shown that a long-term deficiency can affect our ability to concentrate. Exam results, for example, have been shown to improve by a full grade when the amount of iron eaten is raised from low to recommended levels.
Where? The iron found in lean red meat and oily fish, such as mackerel, salmon, sardines and pilchards, is particularly easily absorbed by our bodies. It is also found in peas, baked beans, cashew nuts and dark green vegetables.

Folic Acid
Anyone who’s experienced “the blues” will know that feeling down affects everything you do, and stops you from thinking straight. Folic acid, which is a B vitamin, may help-people who are down often have low intakes of this nutrient. Upping amounts may help take the edge off blues, as well as restoring some of your brainpower.
Where? Orange juice, beans, whole grains and asparagus all give us good amounts of folic acid.

Omega-3
It’s well known that omega-3 is thought to be important for allowing our brains to work well. They are promising and, giving the proven benefits of fatty fish and omega-3s to general health, it makes sense to try to have one or two servings of oily fish a week.
Where? Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, eel and anchovies are rich in omega-3 essential oils. Non-fish eaters can get omega-3 from flax seeds and dark green vegetables.

Camomile Tea
Sleep deprivation is a killer for memory and concentration. Camomile contains super-nutrients that act on the same parts of the brain and nervous system as those affected by anti-anxiety drugs, helping to improve relaxation and reduce stress. Drinking chamomile tea before bed has a mildly sedative effect, and may improve your chances of a good, brain-restoring night’s sleep.

Flavonoids
Flavonoids are super-nutrients which have been linked with slowing the loss of brain function.
Where? In berries, onions, aubergines, red peppers and citrus fruits such as oranges. So remember to add them into your diet.

Coffee
Although not usually recommended for its health-boosting credentials, it’s thought that drinking coffee may reduce the risk of dementia. Just one cup a day may help keep the blood-brain barrier (which helps maintain a constant environment for the brain, protecting it from the damaging effects of toxins, infections and raised cholesterol) intact. The barrier is known to work less efficiently just before the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Water
Being even slightly dehydrated can affect your clarity of thought and judgment, and raise stress levels. If you find yourself getting snappy and irritable for no reason, a long, cool drink of water may calm you down. Having drink as soon as you feel even slightly thirsty will top up your fluids and helps your brain to work at full capacity.

Jessica Loves Men

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Jessica Simpson has revealed that she loves spiritual, artistic and intellectual men.
The singer who parted ways with the football player Tony Romo in July, apparently wants her partner to inspire her in many ways.
"I definitely love a spiritual man – somebody who is going to always inspire me."
She added: "I don’t want to get bored. I can bore out pretty easily, so I love intellectual men... people who will always keep me intrigued.
“I love artistic men – somebody who really understands their art. I like a confident man."

Lindsay’s Burglar ‘Was A Friend’

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:18:00 +0000

According to sources, the teenager who was arrested on suspicion of burglarising Lindsay Lohan, was a friend of hers who often hung out with her on movie sets!
Eighteen-year-old Nick Prugo, who was arrested after allegedly being caught on CCTV breaking into and robbing Lindsay’s house, regularly visited Lilo on the sets of her recent flick, Labour Pains, according to set sources. Lindsay herself has blamed an “old friend” for the theft.
“I know it was not a robbery,” insisted Linds. “Electronics weren’t taken… just things that a certain old friend knew meant a lot to me.”

NASA Bombing The Moon In Search Of Hidden Water

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Just weeks after the Indian Space Research Organisation and National Aeronautics and Space Agency announced discovery of evidence of water on the lunar surface, the US Space agency is all set to 'bomb' the moon in search for hidden water in a controversial mission.
Amateur astronomers in parts of the world may be able to view the impact through a telescope; for everyone else, the crash will be broadcast live on the NASA website along with early pictures of the lunar dust cloud during the dramatic mission. Within an hour of the impact, scientists will know whether water was hiding there or not. The mission itself continues to be controversial. Questions have been raised as to whether the crash-landing on the moon was necessary for science or will it be worth the damage done to the moon. Critics say the bombing mission interferes with natural forces.
But NASA says the bombing isn't an act of hostility and it's all part of our search for water in space. According to reports, the spacecraft will hit that part of the moon where scientists believe billions of tonnes of trapped ice may be held.
The two spaceships will smash into the moon at 9,000 km per hour, more than seven times the speed of sound. The explosion will have the force of 1.5 tonnes of TNT and throw 350,000 kgs of lunar dirt out of the crater. It will create a new crater inside an old one about half the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Pain, Pain Go Away

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:11:00 +0000

HealthHeadaches, leg and back pain, all have us reaching for the painkillers. But before you crack open that bottle, try a more natural way to tackle chronic pain.

If you’re plagued by a constant nagging pain or illness, it drains the spirit. Sympathy from others quickly wanes, but the problem is, the pain doesn’t. Your only option seems to be to grin, bear it and take a painkiller. One in seven people live with long-term, persistent pain hence we have turned into a nation of pill-poppers.
However, overuse can lead to serious health problems, like liver damage, intestinal bleeding and increased risk of heart disease, particularly as some physicians say one in five of us exceed the recommended dose. So why not look for some less damaging ways to relieve that pain?
Pain is a vital warning system to prevent further damage to the body. People born without the ability to feel pain often don’t survive past childhood because they’re oblivious to dangerous situations, so pain helps us protect ourselves. In the same way we pick out our name in a stream of otherwise incomprehensible babble, the brain prioritises pain signals over millions of other messages it receives.
It’s a very complex system located in many places in the brain, including the centres controlling attention, memory and fear, so when pain is triggered, these other negative emotions arise too. This is why you feel panicky if you hurt yourself. Even if someone else steps on a nail, your brain and nervous system make your own feet super-sensitised for a while to ensure you don’t do the same thing.
The problem with this is if the pain becomes persistent and the physical symptoms aren’t relieved, you’re still left with feelings of anxiety and fear. Chronic pain has a huge psychological effect. One becomes very depressed, isolated and irritable. Understand your pain and find ways to cope with it more easily so that it doesn’t dominate your life. Here’s how you can relieve pain without using any medication.

Try Meditation

1. Awareness
HealthWhen you’re in pain, the thoughts in your head can seem like a cramped room, but try to open them out by focusing on the world around you. What colours can you see? Enjoy the various shades and textures. Notice the sensations on your skin. What body parts move when you breathe?

2. Grasp The Nettle
Instead of trying to block out pain, turn your attention towards it. Seems scary? But imagine the pain as a crying child. Your natural impulse would be to hold the child in your arms tenderly. In the same way, adopting a kindly, non-judgmental attitude to your pain eases it and removes the excessive discomfort. This is better than trying to resist the pain, which only causes tension and anxiety.

3. Enjoy The Moment
Hardening yourself against the pain can end up hardening you to the world. But seeking something pleasant in a grim situation helps you become more receptive to the beautiful aspects of your experience. Focus on them - maybe there’s a shaft of sunlight streaming into your room, or your feet feel comfortable on the carpet. Through such sensitivity, the present moment becomes richer and more alive.

4. Respond, Don’t React
With your new perspective, you have the freedom to choose how you respond to life, especially difficult areas. Rather than feeling trapped in a battle with your pain, honestly recognise your emotions. If you feel irritable, say so, and let that emotion drift by naturally. Giving your emotions space will help you encourage more productive states of mind.

Eat Yourself Fitter

We all know that eating junk food can make you feel lethargic. Serious illnesses such as arthritis can be blamed on our unhealthy diets.
Inflammation, characterized by pain, redness and swelling, is how the body lets you know you’re doing the wrong thing. Certain foods, including meat, milk, coffee and sugar, increase inflammation, while other foods, such as oily fish, seeds and nuts, olives, ginger, turmeric and red onions reduce pain. Boosting your intake of these foodie power stations can work just as well as painkilling drugs, but without the harmful side effects.

Attract Healing

Magnetic energy isn’t limited to the trinkets you stick on the fridge - we’re actually surrounded by it, because of the force of the earth’s magnetic field. Magnet therapists believe that applying them to the body can speed up healing as the electromagnetic field penetrates inflamed cells, improving blood supply and providing pain relief.
It has been found that electromagnetic therapy is particularly helpful in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Stretch The Pain Away

Many people with acute pain tend to avoid exercise, but researchers have discovered that it can relieve severe lower back pain. The key is finding the right kind of exercise.
Our bodies are mechanical, so pain responds well to movement. Pilates helps manage pain. It rehabilitates the body.

Cherry and Coconut Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:10:00 +0000

INGREDIENTS
* 100g unsalted butter
* 250g caster sugar
* 75g golden syrup
* 275g dark chocolate,
broken into pieces
* 4 medium eggs
* 70g plain flour
* 50g unsweetened
desiccated coconut
* 100g dried cherries
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 160oC gas mark 3. In a large saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and syrup until smooth. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and mix well. Whisk the eggs and beat into the chocolate mixture. Add the flour and coconut and mix thoroughly. Pour into a baking tray (15cm x 20cm x 2.5cm deep) lined with parchment paper, and smooth out well. Throw the cherries evenly across the top. Then bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then refrigerate overnight.
Turn out of the tin, remove the paper and trim off the brownie's edges. Using a wet knife, cut the brownie into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Wedding Dates Finalised For Shilpa & Raj

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Shilpa Shetty says that her wedding date has been finalised, but she will announce it only when her sister Shamita is by her side. "I know everyone's eager to know about the wedding date. All I can say is, yes it's been finalised and I will make an official announcement as soon as I know when Shamita's coming out," said Shilpa, who got engaged to London-based Raj Kundra recently after a courtship of about two years. Shamita is currently participating in the Colours' reality show Bigg Boss 3. She is locked in the house with 10 more inmates and has no connection with the world outside.
Shilpa says that she missed her sister. The buzz goes that the 'big' sis is in talks with the Big Boss producers to get Shamita out of the show before her D-day. "The date was decided a week ago and we all came to the consensus that we should go ahead because another good mahurat (auspicious time) was a long way off. And considering Raj's parents and relatives were down from London for a week, so it seemed convenient," she said.
"I wanted to have Shamita there during this special moment, but I had to be considerate towards Raj's family too. I know Shamita will be shocked... she'll kill me. Missed her more than words can describe but I'm sure she'll understand! Can't wait to show her my ring," she concluded.

Younis May Return To Twenty20 Cricket

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Pakistan skipper Younus Khan is ready to come out of retirement from Twenty20 cricket and play the two Twenty20 Internationals in Dubai.
“If the team needs me and since the matches are to be held in Dubai, it will be nice to play,” Younus remarked.
Younus, 31, retired from Twenty20 cricket after leading Pakistan to victory in the World Twenty20 in June in England. He is not the part of the Twenty20 squad for Dubai, being led by all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
Asked what prompted him to return to Twenty20, Younus said: “A lot of people especially many youngsters told me it is important that I continue playing Twenty20 cricket too. If they still want and if my country still needs my service for this form of the game, then I am ready. I’ll do anything for my country and for my team-mates. So you may see me in Twenty20 cricket again.”
He had quit as captain over match-fixing allegations after Pakistan’s defeat in the Champions Trophy but the Pakistan Cricket Board refused to accept his resignation.
“I have just come out of a huge controversy. My nation was behind me. I am happy each and every one in Pakistan backed me in the incident. Today, my mind is free and I can concentrate on my captaincy and on my form as well as the team,” Younus, who has accumulated 432 runs in 22 Twenty20 Internationals at an average of 25.41, stated.
He feels New Zealand will not be an easy team to beat despite absence of many of their top players due to injury. It was New Zealand that upset Pakistan’s chances of reaching the Champions Trophy final by beating them in the semi-final.

‘Women deprived of health care’

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:56:00 +0000

GENEVA: Women are often deprived of health care in the crucial years of adolescence and old age due to social inequalities and neglect in male dominated decision-making, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.

“It’s time to pay girls and women back, to make sure that they get the care and support they need to enjoy a fundamental human right at every moment of their lives, that is their right to health,” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan.

In its first ever cradle-to-grave report on “Women and Health”, the UN health agency underlined that women were particularly vulnerable to a lack of adequate care in old age — when they often outlive men — and in their teens.

It also underlined that the lack of responsiveness to women’s inherent health needs can be lethal, such as with complications in pregnancy and child birth or cervical cancer. “This points to another problem, the failure of health services to meet women’s needs,” Chan told WHO member states.

As a result, women provide the bulk of care — about 80 per cent —- as health staff or household careers, yet the system fails to address their own needs adequately, the WHO said.

Top five spending priorities for hard times

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:54:00 +0000

By Tom Sullivan

No company is immune from the economy's ebb and flow. So it's no surprise that, in the face of a fearsome downturn, IT shops are scrambling to figure out where they should cut.

The big three analyst firms; Forrester, Gartner, and IDC are busily slashing their IT spending projections. Just last week IDC predicted that in the United States, IT spending will decline to 0.9 percent, down sharply from a pre-crisis forecast of 4.2 percent growth.

With numbers like those, IT might feel inclined to panic. But now is the time to stand tough, advises Andrew Reichman, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research.

At brokerage and investment banking firm Morgan Keegan, for example, CIO John Threadgill acknowledges that he has to come up with better reasons for the technologies to which he allocates IT resources. But after he eliminates or delays costs where feasible, Threadgill and his CIO colleagues must continue investing in certain areas, no matter how crazily the economy bounces up or down. "We'll continue to spend where we need to," says Threadgill.

So which technologies get funded rain or shine? The five technologies IT shops must continue to invest in despite the recession. "The common theme," says Frank Gens, IDC chief analyst and senior vice president, "any technologies that can save companies money or reduce expenses will continue to thrive."

1. Storage: Disks and management software

"There are some things that just won't go back in the bottle," says Mark Raskino, Gartner fellow and Vice President, emerging trends and technologies. "Storage is one of those."

2. Business intelligence: Niche analytics

As data continues to accrue, the need to glean insights from it grows, agree analysts from Forrester, Gartner, and IDC.

CIOs will keep spending on general business intelligence, but more resources will go toward much focused analytics, explains Andrew Bartels, Principal Analyst, Forrester. The "analytics that help companies identify and retain their most profitable customers will be key," he added.

Fenn adds that companies always need behaviour analytics. In the supply chain, for instance, analytics that trigger alerts when suppliers are running into problems, such as delaying supply or payment, can deliver real value to companies.

The broader range of data sources will lead to greater need for analytics," he further added. "There are many different masters, as companies tap analytics to cut costs, avoid errors, predict behaviour of customers before they lose them and grow market opportunities."

3. Virtualisation: Optimising resources

Virtualisation is the data-centre version of getting the most out of what you already have. Up-front investment in virtualisation tends to be fairly low, but can deliver quick and substantial returns. "Virtualisation will continue to be popular because it allows companies to defer other costs - in this case, that's mostly hardware," IDC's Gens says.

Spec-savers began tapping virtualisation before the downturn. "Virtualisation is a key tactic we've been doing for some time to minimise hardware acquisition costs," Khan says, "and that will continue."

Virtualisation has advantages beyond hardware cost reduction. "Everybody's moving to virtualisation," Forrester's Reichman says. "You're likely to be more efficient with server and storage resources in the long run, and if you have expertise, that return is likely to come fast. A down economy might be the right time to throw down and do it, especially if you can time it with hardware refreshes."

"Converting from a physical to a virtual infrastructure is particularly beneficial during tough economic conditions," Biddlecombe says. "Virtualisation has allowed us to save on power and cooling costs as well as the amount of time our IT staff spends on server admin. It provides us with more efficient use of capital as well as increased flexibility during challenging times."

4. Security: Data and end points

No surprises here. IDC's Gens, in fact, says that security is "always the number one concern of IT. As you see more resources out there on the Internet, there's concern that they're secure."

Companies will have a particular focus on securing network end points, devices, and those applications that serve them, according to IDC's Minton. "Whether you're in a recession or not, no company wants to be on the front page of bad lists because their data was breached," he adds.

Threadgill lists security as the second of Morgan Keegan's top two spending priorities, behind only storage. And Spec-savers' Khan adds that his budget will include security technologies, namely firewalls, tools for securing end points, and data encryption for mobile devices and remote PCs. "There's no reduction in security expenses," Khan says. "If anything we're increasing our security spending."

Gartner and Forrester agree that companies will continue to ratchet up security. Raskino adds that layoffs and, in turn, new hires will be yet another driver. "An economic downturn and recovery create massive churn," he says. "The processes and tools for managing and disabling access are going to be critical."

5. Cloud computing: Business solutions

Analysts from Forrester, Gartner, and IDC say that certain pieces of cloud computing will continue to expand and perhaps even accelerate due to the downturn.

Gens sees many companies moving to the cloud for the applications and services most often sought by business types, who are actually circumventing the IT department to get what they need. These include such business solutions as sales-force automation, productivity, and marketing campaign software. "The more pure IT stuff-infrastructure, infrastructure software and application development; those are tech buyers, so there are fewer potential customers," Gens says.

"Cloud-based data backup and file storage services are a really good idea that can be much more cost-effective than going it the old-fashioned, in-house way," Reichman says.

Gartner's Raskino adds to the list of cloud resources CIOs will find valuable during a recession such services as e-mail, storage, and lightweight productivity apps. "This is a good time to have a cost-centric argument, so IT might even take a risk to get a payoff with cloud technologies, if they're mature enough," he says.

Looking toward recovery

IT spending will make a full recovery and enjoy growth rates nearing six percent by 2012, according to IDC.

Whether such projections hold or not, Reichman argues that IT shops must trim their sails and stay the course. "You cannot stop growing," he explains. "Most companies are already fire-fighting, but you've got keep the lights on, keep things going forward, because the data-centre is always in a recession anyway. So keep moving."

www.infoworld.com

Compulsive gamers 'not addicts'

noreply@blogger.com (Miley Cyrus) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:52:00 +0000

By Paddy Maguire

Ninety percent of the young people who seek treatment for compulsive computer gaming are not addicted, research says.

The Smith and Jones Centre in Amsterdam, has treated hundreds of young gamers since 2006. But the clinic is changing its treatment as it realises that compulsive gaming is a social rather than a psychological problem.

The clinic has had very high success rate of treating people who also show other addictive behaviours such as drug taking and excessive drinking, said Bakker, a psychologist. But this kind of cross-addiction affects only 10 percent of gamers. For the other 90 percent who may spend four hours a day or more playing games, the clinic doctors no longer think addiction counselling is the way to treat these patients. These patients, especially kids come in showing some kind of symptoms that are similar to other addictions and chemical dependencies.

"But the more we work with these kids the less I believe we can call this an addiction. What many of these kids need is their parents and their school teachers - this is a social problem," he further added.

In response to this realisation the clinic has changed its treatment programme for gamers to focus more on developing activity-based social and communications skills to help them rejoin society.

"This gaming problem is a result of the society we live in today," told Bakker. "Eighty percent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication."

By offering compulsive gamers a place where they feel accepted and where their voice will be heard, the clinic has found that the vast majority have been able to leave gaming behind and rebuild their lives.

For Bakker, the root cause of the huge growth in excessive gaming lies with parents who have failed in their duty of care.

But he is quick to point out that 87 percent of online gamers are over the age of 18 and once they cross that line, help is something they need to seek for themselves because they get beyond the parents' control.

For younger gamers, intervention may be the only way to break the cycle. That means stepping in and sometimes literally taking a child away from a computer, removing them from the game for a period of time until they become aware of their habits and begin to see there are other choices.

"It's a choice," he says, "these kids know exactly what they are doing and they just don't want to change. If no one is there to help them, then nothing will ever happen."

One patient, who is 18-year old gamer, being treated at the clinic, he was spending at least 10 hours a day playing until he sought help at the centre.

"I was never helped by my parents or my school. At the clinic I also feel accepted and have come out of myself," says patient.

He kept his gaming problem a secret as much as he could but when he did tell people, he says that no one offered him help.

"I liked gaming because people couldn't see me, they accepted me as my online character - I could be good at something and feel part of a group."

"I was aware that I played too much but I didn't know what to do. But it helped me because I could be aggressive and get my anger and frustration out online," he further added.

This kind of aggression is not uncommon in young gamers who feel frustrated with their real lives. Besides addiction, aggression and violence form part of the ongoing debate about the influence of gaming on impressionable minds.

Bakker believes that if there was more commitment from parents and other care givers to listen to what their children are saying then these issues of isolation and frustration could be dealt with at source and bring many young people out of the virtual world and back into real life.

www.bbc.uk