5 RELATIONSHIP RESOLUTION TIPS

Tip 1: Make your resolutions in July

The problem with making resolutions on New Year’s Eve is that we’re focused on the wrong thing. We’re focused on the day, rather than on what we want to accomplish. We turn our resolution into an all-or-nothing proposition. We set unreasonable standards, make it an event and set ourselves up to fail before we even get started. If you’re serious about keeping your resolution, begin on December 17, or January 8, or any ordinary day of the year. DON’T MAKE IT A SPECIAL DAY! If you break your resolution on a Wednesday then start over on Thursday. Don’t wait for THE RIGHT TIME, or until January 1.

Tip 2: Think of your resolution as an ATM, but instead of instant cash, you want instant results

These days, most of us are programmed to be instantgratification-oriented. We give up if we don’t see immediate progress or if things don’t improve right away. Since the best way to improve your relationship is one minute at a time, one hour at a time and one day at a time, it’s okay if you mess up one minute or one day, you just have to start again. Improving your relationship is not like losing weight; you don’t have to wait for weeks or months to see the results. A hug, a kiss, a kind act can start improving it immediately. Start with an action in which you’re likely to get a positive reaction. It’ll give you confidence and motivation to continue.

Tip 3: Think small — even smaller

Have you ever walked 100 miles? Would you believe it if someone told you that you could effortlessly walk 100 miles without breaking into a sweat or losing your breath? Probably not, but it’s true, you can. In fact, you already have. You just didn’t do it at the same time. According to studies, over the course of your life, an average person walks over 100 miles. The average, overweight, sedentary person walks over 75 miles. You’ve probably already walked thousands of miles and you even ran part of the way. The point is, when making a resolution, promise yourself not to focus your attention on the end result you want to achieve but instead, focus on the steps along the way. Divide up your goal into tiny, manageable steps. Then break those steps into even smaller steps and you’ll make giant strides towards keeping your resolution.

Tip 4: Make a list and check it twice a day

It can be fun to share your resolutions with friends or your partner at a party on New Year’s Eve, but if you don’t write them down they just become so much confetti that gets swept away the next morning. This year, make a resolution ‘check-list’ and don’t stick it in a drawer. Place it somewhere where you can check it at least twice a day and chart your progress or lack of progress often. This will help you stay or get back on course.

Tip 5: Make your list specific and concrete

Once again, think small and break each resolution into very specific, concrete activities that you can check off as you accomplish them. Most of us make resolutions to be more romantic or more affectionate or to improve the way we communicate. But these are vague wishes that might just as well be tossed in a well. If you want to improve the way you communicate with your partner, be specific. Which area of ‘communication’ skills do you want to tackle? Agreements, apologies, arguing, expectations, fairness, listening, sharing? Choose one then list specific activities you want to work on. Then list the specific goal, so you know when you’ve achieved them.

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How to make your hair silky?

Give hair the run-through. One you’ve dried and styled your hair, operate your hands over your locks to fracture upward any sections left heavily by styling products.

Moisturise. If hair is frizzy and wiry-feeling when arid, so scratch a tiny sum of hand lotion into the ends to have them touchable

Get a trim. Dead ends move tender hair into blurry, deep-fried hair. Even the tiniest thin will reestablish hair’s gentleness.

Watch alcohol. Styling and finishing products containing alcohol can depart hair brittle and gummy-feeling.

Go soft on bleach. Highlights and hair colours taxi exhaust the moisture from hair. Colours as infrequently as you can, and get it done by a professional.

Skip gel as most gels are made with strong-hold ingredients that depart hair crunchy and brittle. If you must take gel, mixture it with a piece of hair, so scratch a tiny sum of hand lotion into the ends to have th ointment before applying.

Brush gently. Harsh brushing can induce hair to fracture and divide, which leaves it bumpy to the contact.

Use shine serum. It coats the hair, smoothening bumpy and destroyed spots. Apply to soaking-wet hair before styling.

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Beware of ‘Sober’ computer worm

COMPUTER experts are warning users to beware of a dangerous virus capable of disrupting internet traffic which is set to worm its way to their systems early in the new year disguised as e-mails containing Nazi propaganda.

The virus “Sober worm” has been around for seven years now. But a new variety is set to hit terminals on January 5th, prompting a flood of warnings. This version is especially hazardous and has enough power to disrupt the internet traffic, reports say. The FBI has already warned of threats that the virus will be released again on January 5th, 2006.

Technology experts say the bug is already in thousands of machines. It’s scheduled to activate on January 5th, which coincides with the 87th anniversary of the Nazi party foundation.

The worm is expected to flood e-mail inboxes with pro-Nazi propaganda in English and in German.

According to recent reports, all major anti-virus programmes can protect computers against the worm, but because so many people fail to keep their computers inoculated, internet security firms are bracing for what could be a serious online problem.

Experts warn computer users to ensure they have antivirus software installed and updated regularly.

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How to Protect your eyes when you work on a computer?

Many take eyes and eyesight for granted. If the body is functioning, it’s taken that the eyes would also be up and about. Over 90 percent of the country’s rural population has never visited clinicians for eye care, therefore grossly neglecting eye disorders that can even cause blindness.Even the urban dwellers,say eye-care experts,are not so aware of the need for eye-care and eye-hygiene.

“Today, city dwellers are increasingly becoming health-conscious. They are willing to invest time and money in health.But the irony is that, even under a whole-body examination the eyes are left out, without being checked”, says Dr Ram Chandran, an eye specialist.

The advent of computing has introduced a new breed of eye-disorders. It's called the computer vision syndrome. A large number of professionals who work on computers today suffer from tiredness of the eye, eye-pain, burning sensation in the eyes, eye-strain, dryness, headache and shoulder pain, says Dr Vinay Murthy, Prabha Eye Clinic and Research Center. Around 60 percent of computer professionals in India are suffering with these eye problems while the rate is over 80 percent in the US.

Eyes are designed to blink around 20 times a minute. But computer users blink very less and this causes a breakup in the tear-film in front of the cornea, resulting in acute dry eyes. Such recurrent drying causes burning sensations, irritation, pain and redness in the eye and stress on the shoulders and back”, he adds. Dr Murthy says computer professionals should rule out all refractive errors. The lighting arrangement at work place should be eye-friendly. No undue glares or rays of light should be allowed on the screen while working.

Also, it's important for computer users to take five to 10-minute breaks in every hour of working and look at far off objects. Then the eye muscles will be relaxed. Also, when you feel tired at work,keep the eyes shut for a minute and that will help the tear film to spread evenly once again, therefore relaxing the eye. People with severe cases of dry-eye should go in for artificial tear supplements and anti-glare glasses - for their eyes and for the computer screen.

Keep eye strain away…

• Blink your eyes around 20 times a minute

• Consult an eye specialist if you have problems such as dry eyes, burning or redness of the eyes at the end of the day

• The lighting arrangement at work should be easy on the eye. No undue glares or rays of light should be allowed on the monitor screen while working

• Take five to 10-minute breaks in every hour of working and look at far off objects.This relaxes eye muscles

• When you feel tired at work, keep the eyes shut for a minute and that will help the tear film to spread evenly once again

• Use anti-glare glasses for your eyes and monitor screen

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How to make your guests feel at home

While on a visit to a model flat, a realtor explained what he called 'guest accommodation'. The smallest of three bedrooms, the room had a table, an attached half-bath, and a dressing table. No cupboard space, but enough space on the carpeted floor to leave a huge suitcase fully opened out. He queries, "guests come for a short time, and usually live out of a suitcase. So why bother with a full-fledged cupboard?"

David Jonathan, a teacher who entertains houseguests regularly feels differently. "Guests need to be comfortable. It's painful living out of a suitcase, and whenever possible, hosts must provide enough temporary storage for them. I have a roomy wardrobe in my guest bedroom, that has only a few shelves," she says.

Porches, even tents that can be easily assembled at a moment's notice, may be great for visiting children, but in general, having a dedicated guest room can be quite useful. However, for those of us lucky enough to have a dedicated guest room, maintaining the room is a chore. Since it is used only occasionally, it tends to get musty and unlived.

Here are tips on how one can maintain guest rooms so that guests feel the warmth of your care and are also comfortable:

Take special care to see that the room reflects your true taste and sensibilities - guests form an opinion about you and your family while in the privacy of this room. Keep it clean, clutter-free and pleasant at all times. Avoid using it as dumping ground for fresh laundry, used work clothes and other temporary irritants.

To make the guest room lived-in during all times, make sure the furniture in that room does double duty. For instance, a home office easily converts to a guest room with the addition of a pullout sofa. An accompanying storage ottoman, that by day is extra seating, can open up to store sheets, blankets and pillows.

Look for pullout couches that provide a comfortable mattress for guests, yet fold away easily into a home-office sofa, or consider a daybed. Two single cots instead of a double cot allow you to move them easily when you need to clean the place. This also allows more variations in terms of bedding arrangements too.

Consider cabinets that can serve as a dresser for your guests but can hold your own 'holiday' things - family albums, board games, camping gear, hobby stuff, like paints and clay. The room will thus be used even when there are no guests at home.

Guests on holiday generally put in more bedtime reading. Be sure to get a wellstocked bookshelf, good lighting and a comfortable chair to tuck into a cosy corner. It will provide a quiet reading area for you and your guests.

How is the bathroom access from your guest room? Do guests have to walk down a long hall to get to the bathroom? A torch by the guest's bed is comforting for a person sleeping in a strange bed. And of course, do remember to take out the batteries after the guest has left.

If you have such a large house that you don't have to use the guest room at all, do spend a couple of hours there once a week to see things that your guests would see - cobwebs on the ceiling, dusty AC tops, precariously unhinged light fixtures - and take appropriate action.

Add family pictures and personal items. It will make your out-of-town guests feel even more welcome

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All your software can be FREE!

You can quickly and easily spend thousands of rupees buying software for your computer. However, before you start shelling out your hard earned money, there are several things you should consider:
1. Why do I need this software?
2. Is there a free version that works as well? 3. What’s the difference among freeware, shareware, free trials, open source, etc?
Freeware is simply software that you can get for free. The downside of using freeware is that it might not be stable, or it contains advertising.

Shareware is where you get a full version of the software, and you get to try all of the features for a certain period of time. Then, if you want to keep it, you have to pay the fee.

Free trials allow you to try the software, but not all of the features are enabled, so you will have to upgrade to get everything to work.

Open Source is free software that has been developed by volunteer programmers and is freely available. The downside is that not all open source software is stable, and it can cause problems on your computer.

There are also other types of software, like donationware, or lite versions. With lite versions, you get a working version of the software, but some of the features are disabled. Unlike a free trial, you can continue to use the lite version forever.

Below are a few sites where you can get some great software for your computer.

FREEWARE HOME

This is absolutely one of the best Web sites on the Internet. It contains over 7,000 programs that are all free. The programs are all full versions of the software, and there are tons of categories. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, you’ll be hard pressed to find it anywhere else.


DOUG KNOX

This site is actually more of a site for scripts you can run on your computer. All of the scripts are designed to fix various computer problems you may be having. You’ll also find information on different operating systems as well, so this is a good all around computer resource to help you solve your computer problems.


WEBMASTER FREE

If you are a Web master, or you’re considering building a Web site, this site is absolutely invaluable. You’ll find every possible tool you can imagine to help you build, upload, and promote your Web site. Although there are plenty of free trials and shareware located here, there’s enough free software on this site to keep you browsing for days.


JUMBO

This is one of the oldest software sites on the Internet and contains thousands of programs. You can find all kinds of freeware, shareware, free trials, and other computer software to download. This site also offers software for just about any operating system. Part of the internet.com network.


WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR!

There are tons of places online to find free software. However, it’s important that you use a reliable site to find it. Otherwise, you can end up with all kinds of spyware, adware, and malware on your PC and it will cause you all kinds of problems.

Avoid all of that by surfing on reliable sites. These sites will keep you surfing for days, and you’ll find tons of great software for your computer.

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Heel Pain? How to get the right footwear?

You need to be careful about the kind of footwear you purchase. Here are some tips

Our feet are among the most n e g l e c t e d parts of our bodies. We cram them in shoes with shapes that seem alien, then stand on them, for hours on end.

And just about any foot condition can be made worse by poorly fitted shoes. When shoe shopping, here are some helpful hints from specialists:

Purchase shoes at the end of the day (when your feet are larger) to be sure they won't be too tight.

If you can't wiggle your toes, the shoes are too tight. Narrow or pointed-toed shoes have the least amount of room and can aggravate conditions such as bunions and hammertoes.

Try on shoes with socks.

Walk around the store in the shoes before purchasing. Do not expect shoes to stretch to fit your foot.

Shoes should have good arch support. Those that bend in the mid-sole area can lead to arch pain.

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Better keep personal info away from computers

EVERY month seems to bring another episode of sensitive personal information escaping into the wild because a corporate or government laptop computer is lost or stolen. A common response is a lot of hand-wringing over how the data should have been encrypted. But some key questions usually go unanswered. Why is so much private data allowed to be on laptops to begin with? What do people do all day that compels them to tote around records on, say, 26 million Americans, the staggering number seen in the recent Veterans Affairs case? “It’s pure laziness. There’s actually no excuse for it,” said Avivah Litan, a security analyst for Gartner.

“There’s no good business reason for it.” Litan advocates a few simple steps — Organisations should keep sensitive information only on secure, centralised servers. Workers can access the data from PCs in the office or over private internet connections, but can’t store the records on their own machines to fiddle with them offline. If they absolutely need to analyse data out of the office, the employees should run programs that replace live credit card or Social Security numbers with random “dummy” figures whenever possible, since the actual numbers aren’t always relevant. Following such rules would have prevented the scare that resulted when a laptop with veterans’ data was burgled from an analyst’s home May 3 (it was later recovered with the information apparently unaccessed). The VA inspector general told Congress that the staffer had been bringing data home for policy analysis since 2003. It’s true that encrypting data — scrambling them with private codes — can make whatever is found on a laptop almost impossible to read. But encryption often isn’t turned on by users who think it degrades computer performance. Consider the case of the ING Financial Services adviser who had Social Security numbers and other personal data for 13,000 District of Columbia employees on his laptop — until the computer was stolen from his home last month. ING administers pensions for the district. The adviser had broken ING rules by not having the data encrypted. But the fact that the information was out of the office was not itself a violation. Officials said the adviser had the records because they corresponded to older pension plan participants who were more likely to call him for assistance. The adviser wanted the data on hand for marketing efforts, such as to help decide whom to invite to a seminar.

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8 SIMPLE FITNESS SECRETS

These eight tips can help you stay focussed when the going gets a little rough in your quest for body beautiful, say fitness experts

1 TUMMY TONER: In addition to your workout regime, eat smaller portions. Your stomach is only about as large as your fist. So no need to stuff yourself with a large plate full of food.

2 TRY A TRAINER: Get advice or help from a trainer from time to time. Or search your favourite online engine for free fitness forums and chat away.

3 PRACTICE YOUR POSTURE: Practice improving your posture daily, no matter whether you are sitting at your work desk, sitting at home in the family room or at the table, or standing and walking. Stand up straight! Chest out and up. Shoulders back. Keep good posture.

4 VARIETY: Vary your routine during the week. Alternate days that you do cardio work on days when you don’t do your other workouts. Also vary your routine. Research shows that a body can adapt to the same routine over a four to six week time frame. When you vary the routine, the body works harder, trying to adapt once again. At least increase the intensity or amount of sets you do.

5 WARMING UP AND COOLING DOWN: Don’t forget to warm up with some stretches before diving into your exercises in both cardio and strength training. You only need about five to eight minutes. And target the muscle groups that you’ll be using. A warm-up period helps your body by passing along lots of blood, full of nutrients, to areas that are about to be exercised, resulting in the warming up of the muscles and the lubrication of the joints. No matter whether you are working out at home, in a fitness centre or outdoors, regardless of weather, you need to warm up before beginning all exercise activities in order to prepare your body for your workout. So improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury with a warm-up period. The period of five to ten minutes at the end of your workout is the cool-down period. It allows time to lower your heart rate before you dash back off to work or other activities after your workout sessions, and reduces your risk of muscle soreness and injury that could come from your workout. This cool-down period should include five minutes of cardio exercise like stationary biking or walking, and should proceed at a reduced pace from your previous exercise activities. At the end, you should focus on about five minutes of slow, focused stretching, when your breathing goes back to where it was before your workout.

6 FOCUS: From Aesop to the old Kung-Fu movie, here’s a tip: Focus on the muscle group you are working on during your workout, Grasshopper. Look at a wall if necessary, to maintain your concentration and proceed slow and steady.

7 KEEP A JOURNAL: Keep a diary, journal or some type of record of your progress. Note which exercises you’re using for which muscle groups, the number of repetitions and intensity. Track your diet here, too, if you'd like. Then set goals for yourself and update them regularly.

8 R AND R: Don’t forget that “All work and no play…” saying. Rest and relax. Work different muscle groups on alternate days.

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Seniors! 7 walking tips for you

Walking is the most popular form of exercise and podiatrists tout walking as one of the best exercises for your feet because it contributes to circulation, maintains weight control, and promotes overall good health.

But, seniors who walk for exercise need to take these precautions:

Warm up and cool down. Stretching improves circulation and decreases build-up of lactic acid - the chemical byproduct that causes muscles to ache.

Choose proper footgear. Buying shoes is virtually the only necessary expense for walking, so don't cut corners on your shoe budget.

Pay attention to your feet. Changes and/or pain in the feet and ankles are not normal and could indicate a serious foot ailment or circulatory problem.

Walk on soft ground. With age, the natural shock absorbers (or "fat padding") in your feet deteriorate, as does bone density.

Avoid walking in cold weather. Cold weather can cause numbness, limiting your ability to detect trauma or wounds to the feet.

If you have diabetes, use extra care. Diabetics are prone to infection from even minor injuries.

Exercise smart. Knowing your limits and exercising with caution can avoid injuries and frustration.

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Tips on how to avoid taking a loan

LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS

In most cases, one tends to think about a loan when there is a cash crunch in the family. But, this situation can be avoided with some plain financial planning on your part. You can start with making a monthly budget, followed by an annual budget, detailing everything from your toothpaste to your weekly outings.

Has the pretty girl in that TV advertisement influenced you to buy the expensive colourful toothpaste, which is no different from its white but cheaper counterpart? Are you too sentimental about visiting the same restaurant every weekend where you first confessed your love to your wife? If yes, then you need to urgently get your act together.

You don’t need to take a loan for your holidays. Spend some time in researching and finding out your destination and you can find similar, or even better, facilities at a lower price. Consider this example: You take a Rs 50,000 loan for a week-long holiday at a 5-star luxurious resort in a hill station and end up paying interest to the tune of Rs 10,000 in one year. But you can enjoy this
holiday for just Rs 10,000 at the same hill station, but in some low-cost but comfortable hotel room. After all, you go on holidays not for luxuries of a room but for the scenic beauty and to get away from the daily routine life?

Don’t buy the latest electronic gadget just on impulse. Before buying that latest iPod ask yourself, “Do I really need and can I afford this $400 music player.” Also consider the cost of song downloads for an iPod that will burn a hole in your pockets.

COST SAVINGS ARE NOT FOR COMPANIES ALONE

People say it is much more fun spending money than saving it. But some simple adjustments to your spending habits can lead to a significant boost to your cash balance. Small savings made by cutting back on nonessential things could add up to a large amount at the end of a year. This money can be used to fund your needs and even luxuries. You need to just wait a bit, as compared to funding through loans. But the wait will be worth it, as you also happen to save a lot in terms of interest costs and other charges.

While you can do nothing about the spiralling petrol prices, you can certainly cut back on your travelling costs by using public transports, at least sometimes, and by arranging car-pools on your way to work. In place of buying expensive music CDs, browse the internet and you will come across a slew of less expensive or even free downloads.

DID YOU FORGOT YOUR PF ACCOUNT

Every salaried person makes a monthly contribution to his provident fund account and the employer makes a similar contribution. However, in today’s world when jobhopping has become the norm, one often forgets about this hidden treasure. One has two options with this fund, either it can be encashed or can be transferred to a new account opened by the present employer. The money accumulated in these accounts, compounded with a good interest, can come out to be nice surprise in time of need.

owever, one needs to be careful while encashing his provident fund. It is advisable to compare the overall return from the fund with the loan costs.

HIT YOUR FIXED DEPOSITS AND BANK SAVINGS

It is always better to cash your fixed deposits or money lying in savings accounts, rather than opting for a new loan. It makes even more sense in view of the low interest rate earned on the bank fixed-deposit holdings, as compared to an interest rate of more than 20 per cent that you might forego on a personal loan. However, fixed deposits must be broken in case of emergencies and one should eye only short-term deposits. The long-term deposits, despite being low interest generating, might add up to a large sum at the end of the tenure and might be of great help in retirement age and for other long-term financial needs.

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10 HEALTHY DIET TIPS

1 Don’t ever skip breakfast. Eat something: a piece of toast, fruit, etc. Your body’s metabolism rate slows down at night and does not speed up again until you eat something.If you wait until lunch to eat, that is 4 or more hours that your body is burning calories at a lower rate. Eat something soon after you get out of bed and your body will burn calories at a higher rate until lunch. Also, don’t go more than about 5 hours during the day without eating. That causes you to eat more at meal time. Eat healthy, low-fat snacks in between meals if you are going to go more than 5 hours without a meal.

2 Right after eating a meal, especially dinner, go straight to the bathroom to brush, floss, and mouthwash so that your mouth is feeling nice and clean this makes it less
appealing to eat more (especially before bedtime).

3 If you get hungry you should chew gum. Some people just like to chew things. Chew gum while preparing meals or making lunch for the next day, to prevent you from nibbling food while it is right in front of you.

4 Eating your meals away from the T.V. and other distracting places, ensure that you will enjoy your meal better and you will take a little longer to eat the meal. Also drink at least 2 glasses of water or one glass of milk during your meal and you will feel fuller causing you to not go back for seconds.

5 Your weight in pounds multiplied by 15 will equal the number of calories needed per day to maintain that weight. 500 calories less per day will result in approx 1 lb weight loss per week; 750 calories = 1 1/2 lbs per week; 1000 calories = 2 lbs per week. Keep a daily
diary of calorie intake. Fat, carbohydrates and protein will automatically adjust themselves to stay within allotted calories per day.

6 Keep healthy foods handy like fruit or vegetables in the fridge. Eat only if hungry.

7 Keep a diary of your eating and your feelings, far away from the kitchen. Document everything that you eat before you eat it. Describe how you feel
health wise
as you progress. Describe how you feel when you cheat yourself.

8 Soups are a great meal, they are filling, tasty, and healthy. Soups may be a good and filling meal, but healthy is debatable. Just look at the amount of sodium in the most popular brands. Even the low sodium brands have more in them than most other types of meals (with half the taste).

9 Never starve yourself, especially before going out to eat (or you will binge). Never skip meals, you must have some kind of nourishment regularly or your body’s starvation defenses will kick in,lower your metabolism, and store fat. Use nutritional meal replacements instead of skipping or eating very low calorie meals.

10 Don’t think that just because you are eating low fat/low calorie foods that you can eat all that you want. The calories still add up and must be burned off regardless of what kind of food you eat. Balance is key.

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Break free during office breaks!

There is more you can do during office breaks than playing Solitaire on your computer or bitching about bosses. Here are some effective utilisation of freetime while you are in office...

Ever wondered how you can utilise breaks during office hours to work for you and not against you? You can make the most of your office breaks if you plan to do something more meaningful than playing games on your computer or just going for a fag or a tea break. Listening to music, eyeing beautiful company or touching make-up in rest rooms are other options, how about looking for a match online or hunting for a good gym?

Breaks during office hours are necessary to beat stress and deal with work pressure. Some organisations provide recreation facilities for employees that include indoor games, meditation, gymnasium, cultural fests, inter-department competitions etc. If you don’t have these facilities for effective utilisation of office breaks try any of these:

Use office breaks to increase productivity:

Get organised: Clean up your desk, plan ahead, put on your thinking cap - be a poet or just jot down tasks on your to-do list. Clean up the inbox on your mobile phone; organise e-mails in specific folders. Make important telephone calls before it’s too late. Plan your weekend. Your free-time can work for you when you are actually not working.

Exercise: At work, if you are glued to your seat for hours either you are over possessive about your ‘wheel-chair’ or you prefer to be called a lazy bum. Regular breaks to stand and walk are important. To relieve muscular tension, try doing a new dance step (in rest rooms if not your boss’ cabin) or share a joke to laugh till your sides ache, it may help in toning down your abdominal muscles. Meditation is another good thing to do while you are at work. If you don’t meditate atleast you can pretend to. Stretch, bend, stroll, jog or go for a ball!

Be in touch with the world:
Spare 10 minutes from your lunch time to visit news website. Be in touch with the latest events and happenings, this helps in raising your intelligence quotient. You can also start a conversation with your associates about the new additions to the city – be it a new lifestyle stores, new flyover, new hair salon, a forthcoming flick or the new colleague with killer looks. Know what’s happening around you, it helps.

Use the net to increase your net worth:
Check e-mails, chat, build contacts, search for important information; how else can you put the internet to use in your free time? Well, look for the recipe for ‘Mushroom Sphagetti’, search for exercise positions for back ache, shop from the e-stores, look for dressing tips, meditation tips, etc. What else? You can download your favourite song, pay your electricity or mobile bills online, hunt for a bank branch near you or know about the unique features of the Nokia phone you always wanted to buy!

If none of these interests you and you are still looking for options to utilise office breaks, better get on with the job that needs to be done. There’s no hope for you! It’s time to get back to work. What say?

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Catch the spies who hijack your computer - Adaware Helps PCs Get Rid Of Virus

SPYWARE is everywhere these days, and many people don’t even know that they have it on their computers! That’s because the most widespread spyware — and in some cases most pernicious — can integrate its way into your personal computers (PC) in subtle ways that you may not be aware of.

But if you know what to look for, you can identify some of the most common types of spyware and know how to get rid of it. Two of the most common types of spyware today — ISTbar and KaZaA — have also been identified as among the most threatening to your privacy, according to the Computer Associates Spyware Information Center, a USbased organisation that tracks spyware threats worldwide.

ISTbar is what’s known as a browser hijacker. It reconfigures your start page, toolbars, and search page in internet explorer. Worst of all, it delivers pop-up advertisements wherever you go on the internet, and some of these will contain pornography. This nuisance has also been known to drop other spyware on to your PC. Like many other types of spyware, you contract ISTbar by stumbling on to one of its affiliated sites. If you ever visit porn or adult sites, you are at risk of catching it.

Most anti-spyware utilities, including the free ones such as Adaware, can rid your PC of ISTbar. Simply start the anti-spyware tool, click Scan, and let the tool search your PC. When it’s finished, locate and select any spyware-related items related to ISTbar, and follow the directions to remove them.

KaZaA is a peer-to-peer filesharing programme that allows users to share digital files over the internet. The software has frequently been employed illegally to swap copyrighted digital audio and video files.

Although not spyware in the strictest sense, the free version of KaZaA has been known to bundle plenty of adware software that delivers targeted banner advertisements to your desktop, among other unsavoury things. To suffer the ill effects of KaZaA, you or someone with access to your computer will have to have downloaded it from kazaa.com.

To get rid of KaZaA, first uninstall it. Then use an anti-spyware utility like Ad-aware, Microsoft Antispyware, or Spybot S&D to scan your system. It may be necessary to reboot the computer to remove all spyware deposited by installatiing KaZaA.

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Apple Computer backs Blu-ray format

Apple Computer Inc. is supporting the Blu-ray format for next-generation DVDs, giving it a boost in its battle with a rival format, HD-DVD, to set a new standard for recording high-definition video and other digital information.

Apple, which makes Macintosh computers and iPod portable music players, will become a member of the board of directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association, the consortium that supports and promotes the Blu-ray format, it said in a statement.

Other members of the Blu-ray alliance include Japanese electronics makers Sony Corp and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Dell Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and The Walt Disney Co. The rival HD-DVD format is backed by Japan’s Toshiba Corp., NEC Corp. and others.

Both technologies promise more storage capacity and enhanced video quality over current DVDs, including the ability to record high-definition video. Both can be used to store movies, games, photos and other digital information.

Backers of Blu-ray say it is superior because it has a higher storage capacity, while supporters of HD-DVD say it is more compatible with current DVD technology and is less costly to make. The winner of the standards battle stands to gain from patent royalties.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, recently introduced high-definition editing capability in its iMovie HD software.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said consumers who are already creating their own high-definition content want to be able to record it on high-definition DVDs.

“Apple is pleased to join the Blu-ray Disc Association board as part of our efforts to drive consumer adoption of HD,” Jobs said in a statement.

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A software to beat computer viruses

The irritating computer viruses could be beaten in their own game by immunity software that spreads faster than the virus itself, says a team of Israeli computer experts.

Their proposal relies on setting up a network of shortcuts through the internet that only antiviral programmes can use, allowing them to immunise computers before a virus arrives, according to a paper .Currently available anti-virus software aims to stop attacks on healthy computers and to clean up those already infected. Teams work around the clock to look for new viruses and build software ‘patches’.

These patches are distributed to computer users to install on their machines, hopefully before the virus arrives. But the strategy means that some viruses stay one step ahead for days, wreaking havoc as they spread. “The software companies just regard the internet as a sophisticated FedEx service,” said Eran Shir of Tel Aviv University, the lead author of the paper.

“Our focus is to immunise the whole network, not to clean individual computers or fix what is already broken,” he said. The strategy, in other words, intends to use the malicious code’s own techniques to distribute immunity.

In the paper, titled ‘Distributive immunisation of networks against viruses using the ‘honey-pot’ architecture’, the authors have made a proposal “to propagate the immunisation agent as an epidemic.”

“The main problem with epidemic vaccine propagation is that it is bound to lag behind the virus. We suggest giving the vaccine an advantage over the virus by allowing it to leapfrog through a separate, overlapping and partially correlated network. This enables the anti-virus to contain the epidemic efficiently.”

Shir and his colleagues have proposed a system in which a few “honeypot” computers lie in wait for viruses. These computers run automated software that first identifies the virus and then sends out its “signature” across the internet. This enables a sentinel programme on all other computers in the network to identify the virus and bar it before it can attack them.

The real trick is to make sure that the antiviral signature travels faster through the Internet than the virus itself, so that whenever a malicious programme arrives it finds a sentinel blocking the way. “You need to build extra links into the network that only the immune agent can use,” says Shir. These extra links would form a parallel network connecting the honeypot computers.

Assuming that the shortcuts can be set up and made secure, the anti-viral signature should be able to stay one step ahead. Shir did not have any plans to commercialise the idea and hoped that the scheme would be realised in an open-source project.

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A regular dose of exercise reduces stress and also ensures longetivity

EVERYDAY we find an excuse for not exercising. But no excuse is a valid one, if it compromises your health and can lead to a debilitating sickness in the long run . So here we give you 20 solid reasons to exercise, and show you how they affect every aspect of your health and your life. There is a definite link between high p re - m a - t u re death rates and chronic inactivity. Exercise promotes longevity by reducing the risk of premature mortality. Exercise retards the process of aging, thus preserving vitality and youth. Exercise helps prevent or control coronary artery disease and most cardiovascular diseases, as lack of exercise is the number 1 risk factor for developing these diseases. Regular aerobic exercise helps control/prevent hypertension, and helps combat anxiety and
depression

Exercise helps improve/maintain bone density, reducing the risk of developing osteoporosis (hollowing of bones).

Exercise boosts immunity, helping the body to combat infectious disease.

Exercise helps reduce the risk of developing cancer
.
Endurance training helps burn large amounts of fat calories, thus promoting efficient weight loss and improved body composition.

Exercise enhances digestion and enhances optimal absorption of nutrients.

Exercise helps increase pain threshold, thus helping cope better with pain, and increasing maximal work capacity
.
Exercise improves sexual health and performance.
Overall respiratory tract and lung health can be enhanced by regular ex
ercise.

Mental function and memory can be significantly improved by regular exercise.

Hormonal imbalances in postmenopausal women can be stabilised by exercising.

Regular exercise (especially abdomen/low-back exercise) is a sure shot way to prevent backaches, and the best form of lower back-pain management.

Exercise helps regulate the body’s waste system, helping your body get rid of harmful toxins.

Exercise helps you sleep well by releasing a hormone called seratonin, which induces sleep.

Exercise releases muscular tension; so helps you be more relaxed at all times.

Exercise is an excellent form of therapy for fighting various kinds of substance abuse.

Regular exercise energises you and makes you more active, promotes overall Good Health and Well-being.

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Worried About Black Circles Under Your Eyes?

For some of you, however, blac dark circles uunder your eyes are a near-constant bother. The usual cause is allergies, tiredness or heredity. No matter what the cause, you can still reduce the dark circles, and in some cases, you may be able to get rid of them altogether.

Here are few Tips that Helps you.

Get enough of sleep at night. Because inadequate sleep results in dark circles under the eyes, For one thing, lack of sleep tends to cause the skin to become paler so the appearance of darkness under the eyes will increase and it reduces circulation. It’s also believed that too little time lying down is could be another reason in itself. Decide how much sleep you need. It’ should be usually 7-9 hours per night and try to get that amount regularly. Remember that you should avoid alcohol and drugs which adversely affect the quality of your sleep.

Remeber to Wash your face with cold water in the morning and also when puffiness occurs. When you apply the cold water, it cause blood vessels to constrict, and will reduces swelling.

Eat a balanced healthy diet and you should drink plenty of water. Most of cosmetic problems can be attributed to vitamin deficiencies. Dark circles and puffiness are often attributed to lack of vitamin K or inadequate antioxidants. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables—especially cabbage, spinach, and also other leafy green vegetables. Taking a daily vitamin supplement will be good if necessary.

You must avoid rubbing your eyes very often. Usually rubbing of the eyes is may be a cause of allergies, but not always. Whatever the reason it is, stop doing it. The rubbing casn irritates the skin and can break tiny capillaries beneath the skin, causing both puffiness and discoloration.

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Easy Way to Remove a Virus and Repair Your Windows XP

Yes, you can repair your Windows XP Computer make it Virus Free by Paying nothing. A Do it Yourself easy method.

Here is How it work:

In Order to Perform the Virus removal Task, you need to download the following Programms from the Internet. Some of these Programms are free and others a Trial.

Here is the List of Programme:
Anti-Virus at http://free.grisoft.com
Ewido (trial) at http://www.ewido.net
Nod32 (trial) at http://www.eset.com
AdAware at http://www.lavasoft.de

Create a New Folder and save all your above download in it.


Install the Downloaded Programms: If you have any doubt on installing any of the above Programme, you can refer to their installation manual or Documentation. Make sure you sucessfully install each of the above Programme.

It is very important to check whether downloaded Programme is up-to-date. Make sure that you have updated the Programmes.

Now, Run Full System Scan with all of the Above Programmes. You can do it one by one. It may take significant time, depending upon the number of files you have in your computer. These Programmes should remove most of the virus in your computer.

In case if you find any virus, after the scan, you can follow the instruction to remove it. Some of the above Programms do this task automatically.

After that you can uninstall all the Trail Programms, as it may not work in your Computer for long period.

By this time your computer should be free of Virus. Incase if your Windows is Corrupted due to these Virus effect, you can do a Repair Installation by following this link: Click Here

Now you have removed your Virus from your Windows XP for Free of Cost

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How to Optimize Your Blog for High Search Engine Rank

Blogging software is truly an easy Content Management System (CMS) that well adds original pages and integrates them into your place's navigational system and linkage.

Blogs and blog posts are naturally hunt locomotive cordial because they are text-rich, link-rich, frequently-updated webpages that take stylesheets or CSS, and have really less irrelevant HTML

Optimizing a blog is really related to optimizing a website, and optimizing a blog position related to optimizing a network page. But depending on the blogging service or software you take, the results may seem slightly distinct.

If you come some easy rules for hunt locomotive optimization, your blog can rate often high than static website pages in the hunt locomotive results pages.

Here are the almost significant rules to come to have your posts listed for keywords of your selection.

Use your main keyword in your blog sphere

Whether you buy a distinct sphere (recommended) for your blog, or host it on a blogging service or a subdomain of your own place, attempt to guarantee that your URL contains the main keyword you seek to optimize for.

Getting a sphere figure with your own figure might have for better branding, particularly if yours is a private blog.

But if you're doing it for job and need the targeted traffic to flood your manner, keywords in the sphere or subdomain are a change in the correct instruction

Use your main important idiom in your blog header tags and the championship of your posts

If your main important idiom is "job blogging" have certain that the language job, or blogging, or both, seem in your blog headers (the H1 or H2 tags) as easily as the championship of each of your posts.

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Have a Good Sex with Your Wife

GET COMFY WITH YOUR BODY
This used to apply mainly to women, but it also affects men. Poor body image is a major source of anxiety. We're often unaware of how anxiety inhibits us. It can cripple who you are. You have to be comfortable in your own skin.

STAY HEALTHY
Our libido is a barometer of our overall sense of wellness. Very often we see couples who aren't having relationship as much as they used to. They don't experience desire and arousal regularly. Oftentimes, they're also overweight. They smoke, drink or take some kind of prescription medicine. They've stopped exercising. These factors all impact desire and libido.

COMMUNICATE Your Wishes
One thing many couples don't talk about is sex. They talk about other aspects of their relationship -- children, money, future plans, in-laws . Dissatisfaction is one of the leading causes of divorce in this country. We can't deal with this statistic unless we start talking more openly about our lives with each other. One of the greatest things about a therapist is that this person gets couples comfortable with talking about their wishes. Once you break the ice and start doing it, the floodgates open. When couples get in synch with each other, this really helps boost their desire.

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Dating Tips for Men

hmmmmm It Doesn't work out? Tired? Cheer up... These Tips can help your Dating Experience

1. Men judge women according to whether they can picture having sex with them; women judge men by whether they can imagine kissing them. White teeth, fresh breath and unchapped lips make her more apt to pucker up.

2. Do not ask her, "So, what kind of music do you like?" The last 25 guys asked that. Be original.

3. If she touches your arm, she's interested; if she touches your leg, she's interested tonight.

4. Very small protective gestures go a long way and show her you're a gentleman: offer your arm as she's stepping from a curb, direct her away from shards of broken glass à la Say Anything. She'll notice if you wait until she's safely in her car or house before you leave. Wait the extra 90 seconds, and next time you might be going in with her.

5. Women need momentum — without it, they lose interest or wonder if you have. Momentum = a minimum of one date a week, plus a couple of phone calls in between.

6. She knows that when you invite her over for a homemade meal or to watch a movie, it's code for "tonight is hook-up night". Don't play this card any earlier than date three.

7. Don't say, "I'll call you," if you have no intention to. She'd prefer that you say nothing at all.

8. A Friday or Saturday night is required by date four. Otherwise, she'll wonder who else you're seeing.

9. If anything happens that couldn't be shown on prime-time TV, call her the next day. Otherwise, she'll feel cheap and used.

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Work Smart on Your Art

If you want to paint your own home, a good place to start is the child’s room

Paint can give a whole new look to an old house. It is an inexpensive way to refurbish a room, and get rid of the boredom of looking at the same walls. The most logical place to start would be the children’s room. Any mistakes would not be crucial, and children will enjoy the end result.

• Prepare the surface to be painted with a thorough cleaning, wash with soap and water if needed. Unpainted plaster will need a coat of primer.
• Sandpaper the wall so that any abrasions and bumps are smoothed down. Use graded sandpaper, moving from coarse to fine grade.
• A base coat in the colour you want is a good idea. A neutral colour would be best, as any further detailing will show up well. A quick sandpapering, with very fine grade sandpaper, after this coat of paint is dry, will remove any brush marks.
• Visualising the actual end result comes now. Most children will choose their favourite cartoon character. If drawing freehand, try it out on sheets of paper to achieve desired likeness.
• Preferably take on a simple repetitive pattern, with a minimum of colours. A floral or geometrical border is easy for the first-timer.
• If unsure about your drawing capabilities, enlarge the required design by means of a Xerox, and then make a stencil out of a stiff sheet of paper or plastic.
• Place the stencil precisely where it is required and attach firmly to the wall with masking tape, so that it cannot shift during the paint application. The easiest paints to use on a wall are water- based wall paints available at all paint shops. Using oil-based paints calls for a higher level of proficiency.
• Now using a paintbrush or even a sponge, apply paint. After application, wait for it to dry before removing the stencil.
• For paint to dry completely it takes between one to two days, given the airflow in the space.
• After the whole pattern is complete, touch ups may be required with a fine paintbrush. One could even cheat a little and use a felt tip marker in matching colours for greater accuracy and neatness.

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You Can Save Money Easily

Get a piece of paper to record how much money is in the box, and a target: This is probably a first hand work if you are ever intended to save money. This helps you to track your financial situation and know where you are at present.

Spend money on a savings box that you can't get into: Yes, if something always reachable, you are likely to get more from it. Put some amount of Money into a saving account that you can't always reach. Keep the ATM or Debit Card of this Account in Home. Never take it with you.

Work out how much money you can earn a week or month or however often you get paid: This will help you to get an over all estimate on your future expenses. If you know your actual earning and the amount you will have to spend in future, you will be never put into trouble.

Work out how much you need to spend: Analyze your past expense detail and your future estimate. Set Priority on your Expense List. Reserve money for Top List. Facilitate your Spending Task.

Monitor Your Bank Account and Credit Statement: Consistently watch your activity on bank account. This will help you to avoid accidental mistake or over charge or any other type of miss leading.

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Save Desired Flash File from a Website

Sometimes when you watch a Flash file or flash animation on a website, you wished to save it on your computer right?, In this article I'll explain that how to save a Flash Animation from a website using a Freeware Plug-In for Internet Explorer.

To do So,

1.You need to download Flash Catcher and Install it on your Computer. Don't worry it is Free.
Here is the download link http://www.justdosoft.com/flashCatcher/Download/FlashCatcher.exe

2. After successful installation, a page will open automatically explaining you that how to use this Plug-In. But Let me Explain you how to use it.

3. When you open the Internet Explorer, you will notice a button with a Logog of 'Sun' On it.

4. Now you can open a website that display Flash Animation. For example you can open http://www.miniclip.com/

5. Once the website is Fully Loaded ( when you see "Done" on status bar ) Click on Flash Catcher, with Sun Logo on it.

6. A Pop up will appear. It will display all the Flash animations present at the time on the page. When you click on any of it, you wil see its preview on the right side of the window.

7. Click on the Animation you want to Save. and Press Save Button.

8. The Flash animation file will be saved on the directory folder which would have been shown after the Sub-Heading 'Current Folder'. You can always change this folder. Check your folder and you will find the flash file there.

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5 Easy Steps to Run Your Personal Computer at FULL Speed

Many guys always wonder why their computer seems to be running very very slow. They forget the fact, that like a motor vehicle, a computer also needs regular maintainance. There are few essential steps you can do, to make sure a faster running and more efficient computor function. This article assumes you are running Microsoft Windows.

1. Update your Operating System regularly to ensure that the operating system (OS) is updated with the latest security updates and patches.To do this, click on the Start Menu->All Programs and select the Windows Update icon.

2. Do a complete maintainance on your computer, at least once a month. Regilar maintainance task includes a Disk Defragamentation, Disk Clean up, browser cache clean up. Click on start,accessories,system tools in Windows,disk cleanup, disk defrag, Also Click Start > Run> Type prefetch > Ctrl + A and Press delete button.

3. Cleanup your tool bar, by removing unnecessary software from running all the time. More Programms on your taskbar runs constantly, slowing down the computer.

4. Cleanup your Startup Programme List. Less Programme in Startup list speed up your computer. As you install new Programmes, some of those programme are likley to be listed in Startup list. So you should do a regual check up on Startup. For information on Startup Clean Read this Information: How to Increase your Computer Startup Speed?

5. Regularly update anti-virus software running on your system. Eventhough you enable "Auto Update" it is wise to check very often. Make sure that the anti-virus software is updated with fixes to the actual engine and to the database files that contain the latest cures against new viruses, worms and Trojans. Run a Full System Scan atleast once in a week.

Also Read: How to Increase Your Computer Speed Fast

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How to get a Good Sleep?

1 Sleep primarily at night: Daytime naps steal hours from night-time slumber. Limit daytime sleep to less than one hour, no later than 3 pm. If you work nights, keep your window coverings closed so that sunlight, which interferes with the body’s internal clock, doesn’t interrupt your sleep.

2 Keep it quiet: Silence is more conducive to sleep. Turn off the radio and TV. Use earplugs to mask sounds you can’t control, such as a busy street, trains, airplanes or even a snoring partner.

3 Make your bed: “A good bed is subjective and different for each person. Make sure you have a bed that is comfortable and offers orthopedic comfort,” says Dr Shepard. Children and pets are often disruptive, so you may need to set limits on how often they sleep in your bed with you. Use your bed only for sleep and sex. If you don’t fall asleep in 30 minutes, get up and do something else. Go back to bed when you’re tired. Don’t agonise over falling asleep.

4 Soak and sack out: Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax tense muscles. It also helps to destress your mind to a great extent. You can also add a few drops of your favourite aromatic oil to your bath.

5 Don’t rely on sleeping pills: Check with your doctor before using sleeping pills. Doctors generally recommend using sleeping pills for up to four weeks. If you take sleep medication, reduce the dosage gradually. Use the lowest dosage, and never mix alcohol and sleeping pills.

Determine the quality of your sleep

Insomnia — the inability to get enough sleep — may only last a night or it can last for months, years or even a lifetime. If you have any of the following symptoms, you may not be getting enough sleep:

You routinely ignore your alarm clock or snatch a few extra minutes to snooze before getting up. You look forward to catching up on your sleep on the weekends.
You have to fight to stay awake during long meetings, in overheated rooms or after a heavy meal.
You’re irritable with co-workers, family and friends.
You have difficulty concentrating or remembering.
It takes you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep at night.
You wake repeatedly throughout the night.
You wake up groggy and not well-rested.
Your spouse or partner complains about your snoring or fitful sleeping.

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How to Act on Acne?

Whether you have severe acne or just a few pimples, here are tips to help you prevent blemishes and keep your skin clear and beautiful

Acne Don’ts
Never go to bed without washing your face. Your skin will heal itself most while you are sleeping. If you have leftover makeup and dirt from that day on your face, you could wake up with some nasty acne. Do not use soap on your face as this can irritate your skin. Use a gentle but effective, quailty facial cleanser. In addition, never sleep with your face directly on the pillow. The oil and dirt from your hair gets on the pillow and then resting your face on the pillow may make you breakout. Do not pick the pimples on your face or try to squeeze them. This usually causes you to push the pimple into your skin, making healing time even slower.
Avoid This Combination

Applying make-up over blemishes will only make the condition worse. This clogs the pores even more. Also, the ingredients in make-up can cause irritation leading to more blemishes. Save the make-up for a very special occasion and remove it as soon as possible.

Acne Do’s
Definitely use a benzoyl peroxide or salicyic acid cleanser to fight pimples. A very good product for washing your face is a proactive solution. It gets rid of that acne within a week, in most cases!
Tips for Getting Rid Of Existing Acne
Here are some great tips and home remedies for getting rid of acne you already have:

• Cleanse the skin with a benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid cleanser, apply an alpha hydroxy, and then use a toner. Then use an acne fighting medication to the skin along with a moisturiser.
• To dry out a pimple overnight, try using toothpaste (not gel) directly on the zit. This should help dry it out overnight.
• A great face mask is to use the white part of an egg and apply it to your face for about 15 minutes. The Vitamin A in the whites is also good for your skin.
• Egg white is also a great overnight remedy, but just use an ear-bud to dab on the egg-white directly to the pimple.
• To rid redness from an inflamed zit, use visine eyedrops and apply to the red spots.
• Another way to get rid of redness: try hydrocortisone cream.

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How to Add Sparkle and Shine to your House?

Little housekeeping tips, done the right way will go a long way in keeping your house dust and stain free

Tiled surfaces require careful cleaning. While harsh chemicals and cleaning material can ruin the look, softer options will help the interior stay longer.
Clean and sweep your tiles regularly.
To remove stubborn spots, scrub with a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water Use just a few drops or soap-less detergent - do not use abrasive cleaners.
Vacuuming is a great way to clean tiles.
Vinegar mixed with warm water is a proven and natural cleaning agent.
If you ever need to use a stronger cleaner make sure it is neutral i.e. non acidic and non-alkaline.
For soiled areas, you can use an all-purpose household cleaner or a cleaner made specifically for ceramic tiles.
Remove soot from kitchen tiles with a mixture of lemon juice and salt, then wash.
Before cleaning bathroom tiles, run the shower on hot for five minutes to steam the dirt loose. For stubborn stains, apply a paste of scouring powder and water and let sit for five minutes. Scrub with a nylon scrub pad, rinse and wipe dry.
To keep the grout joints on tile countertops clean longer, wash with a solution of 1-2 tablespoons chlorine bleach in one quart of water. Dry thoroughly, then apply an acrylic sealer or three coats of lemon oil. Let dry for one hour between coats.
Remove mildew and make tiles sparkle by sponging with a solution of ammonia and water. Do not use soap on tile because it leaves a film, which dulls the surface.
Do not use steel wool pads or similar abrasive cleaning pads. Loose particles of steel can cause rust stains in grout.
Do not use acid based cleaners. They can affect the colour of the grout and can cause tiles to dull. You should not use pure vinegar, which is an acid.
Do not drop heavy objects on tiles - they are not indestructible.
Do not wear spiked shoes if you have high gloss floors.
Use good mats at doorways to keep out sand, which may scratch tiles. Use buffers under any furniture that may damage the surface of the tile.
Before fixing tiles, ensure that the wall is structurally sound, smooth and flat. It should be free of waxy/oil films, curing compounds, wall covering, paints etc.
To fit up against a curved surface like the edge of a washbasin, make a cardboard template of the curve, transfer it to the tile surface and cut along the curve.
While fixing accessory tiles leave space in the run of tiles where the accessory tile will fit and scrape out the adhesive left exposed. With surrounding tiles set in place, spread adhesive on the back of accessory and push it firmly into the space.

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How to Send Larger Sized File Via Email?

GSPACE Firefox Estension: This extension allows you to use your Gmail Space (2 GB) for file storage. It acts as a remote machine. You can transfer files between your hard drive and gmail. This is similar to "Gmail Drive" on windows platform. Your gmail account looks like a FTP host and you can upload and download your files. After you install, you get an option called "GSpace" in your "tools" menu clicking on which opens the window for transfer of files/folders

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1593/ ( You need to open this Firefox Browser.)

Another two free services that come in handy when you want to transfer files that are:

SendFile: Simply select the file you wish to send, include the delivery details* and click the send button.When you use "Send File" the data will be uploaded to their servers where it is stored for 30 days or 100 downloads, whichever comes first. Storage will be in a secure folder under a randomly generated alias preventing unauthorised access.

DropLoad: is a place for you to drop your files off and have them picked up by someone else at a later time. Recipients you specify are sent an email with instructions on how to download the file. Files are removed from the system after 7 days, regardless if they have been picked up or not. You can upload any type of file, mp3, movies, docs, pdfs, up to 100MB each! Recipients can be anyone with an email address

This is a great service for people who have trouble emailing large attachments.

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How to Get Quality Links for your Website?

Getting quality links to your place from related websites can be really hard. It is a moment consuming procedure and requires cautious investigation. There are two ways to Build your link popularity;

1 Make your place appealing to webmasters or
2 Get away and search them downward your ego.

Getting webmasters to go to you:

Having oodles of helpful substance on your network place such as enlightening articles, online tools, studies, etc will have another webmasters what to connect to your network place knowing that you will not simply assist their place's traffic and Link popularity, but adding substance to their own network place.

Sometimes you may still have webmasters that like your place then often that they will connect to your homepage or to sure network pages that they believe their visitors will discover helpful because this adds to the usefulness of their own place by providing helpful links.

Hunting connection partners down your ego:

Type your keyword phrases into a hunt locomotive and look for the results. The network sites you view on the best few network pages of the hunt locomotive results should be your principal targets and should be looked at. Visit their place to view if you can discover the place owners appoint and email them asking to exchange links, recall to email them at the right email speech, wear't email the email speech that's for backing.

Type your keywords or phrases into the hunt locomotive and view who links to the sites that go upward first. After finding a few sites that connect to the sites that rate higher on your keyword phrases email them and request if they would be involved in a connection change. This is good if you can have both the best sites that rate for your keyword phrases and the sites that connect to the best sites because not simply make you get the best sites linking to you, but too the place sites that made them have there in the best spot.

Click here to download the freeLink Popularity Check Tool

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Track the Details of AdSense Activity on Your Pages in Real-Time

asRep is a tool for tracking the details of Google AdSense activity on your web pages in real-time. It tracks the impressions of the pages and the ad units, the clicks to the ad units, and the searches performed through the search boxes. asRep also reports related information about your websites, the referring websites, the visitors, and the AdSense elements on your pages.

Increase your income: asRep is a great helper application that provides lots of information connected to the AdSense activity on your pages that Google does not provide. Backed with such detailed extra information, you can take the necessary actions to increase your revenue from AdSense.

Real-time reports: Unlike the near-real-time reporting of Google which could lag several hours, asRep reports are in real-real-time. You can see the events as they are happening.

Reports that Google does not offer: asRep provides the breakdown of the stats for :
The domains, directories, and pages of your web sites
The referrer domains, pages, and search terms
The visitor IPs and countries
The AdSense ad unit colors and formats
The URLs of the clicked ads
The topics of the clicked ad links
The search terms submitted through AdSense search boxes

Download the free trial version of asRep AdSense tracker now!

In order to increase your payouts from AdSense, you have to increase your total number of clicks and/or target higher paying ads. asRep provides you with some valuable information, that Google does not, to help you discover the different aspects of the AdSense activity happening on your sites. Once you know how different parts of your web sites perform, you can easily take necessary steps to increase the number of clicks. asRep tells you what works and what not.

Read: Top 5 Secret to double your Adsense Income

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Hints for Addressing Business Letters

Writing business letters correctly can often be a ticklish issue, what with more and more women moving into business and professions. Some tips on how to tackle this situation

How do you address a business letter to someone whose marital status as a woman you don't know? Or, worse still, you aren't even sure whether the person being addressed to is a man or woman. Nowadays, there are quite a few names where gender isn't easy to decipher, such as Roop Gupta or Lakshmi Narayan or Madhu Misra.

Certainly many of us have at time been confronted by a letter sent by someone whose sex we had to guess - and guessed wrongly. The matter is not helped because many women in the business and official world make it a point not to disclose their gender in correspondence,which is understandable. With more and more women moving into business and professions, addressing of business letters correctly can be ticklish.

One suggestion to use the full forename-surname salutation without mentioning Mr or Mrs or Ms could begin with `Dear Roop Gupta'. Of course, the forename-surname salutation is reserved for correspondence at more intimate levels than with perfect strangers. But, this seems a sensible way out. The Katherine Gibbs Handbook of Business English permits it. `If it's not possible to determine the gender of the addressee, omit a courtesy title in the inside address and in the salutation.''

What about the situation where you know that the person to be addressed is a female but you aren't sure about her marital status? Faced with the difficulty between the use of Miss' and `Mrs' back in the 1960s, the feminists took up the word `Ms' pronounced as Miz (plural Mses). Unlike Mr and Mrs which are abbreviations, Mr has no spelled-out form.

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