Easy Life Tips

October 21, 2006

Your Work and Body Fitness

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.

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.

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.

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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How to Stay Focussed in your quest for Body beautiful?

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.

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.

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.

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.
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Some Diet Tips for Office-goers Part-1

1. Eat a balanced, varied diet

Monotonous diets invariably lead to imbalances and deficiencies. It is important for office workers to select foods from all the following food groups on a daily basis:
Fruit and vegetables
Whole, unsifted, high-fibre grains and cereals
Legumes (dry beans, peas and lentils)
Fat-free milk and dairy products
Lean meat, fish or eggs
Mono or polyunsaturated margarine and oils
Remember that variety is the spice of life!

2. Avoid overweight

Sitting for hours on end in the office and eating fat-loaded snacks from the canteen and the tea trolley, will pile on the kilos. Before you know it, you will be battling with overweight. Do something positive and sensible about your everincreasing girth.

3. Eat a low-fat, high-fibre diet to lose weight

Choose such a diet to reduce your energy intake without leading to deficiencies and endless cravings. You should lose about 0.5 to 1 kg per week on this diet, which is ideal for sustained weight loss.

4. Avoid fad diets and slimming pills

All of us love quick fixes and are eternally seeking a ‘magic potion’ to lose weight. Fad diets, which are either lacking in one or more macronutrients (eg. carbohydrates) or food groups, or are so low in energy that they make you feel weak and wobbly, should be avoided. Yes, you will lose weight, but once you stop eating two lettuce leaves and 12 eggs a day, you will regain all the weight you lost, and more, in record time. Keep in mind that the purpose of weight reduction is not only to lose weight, but to keep it off.

Diet pills and potions promise you the earth, but they are expensive and most of these products can cause harmful side effects (insomnia, diarrhoea, dehydration, palpitations, anxiety, depression etc).

To lose weight successfully you need to change your entire lifestyle.

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October 20, 2006

How to stop sex crime victims turning hostile?

Though a victim’s testimony in court is the best piece of evidence, not much attention has been paid towards the rights of the victim, he said unveiling his sevenpoint strategy to nail the perpetrators of crime against women.

Anonymity of the victim, in-camera trial, use of screen while recording of a victim’s statement, recording of evidence through video-conferencing were some of the important aspects of his suggestions to allow the victim not being coerced in one way or the other to turn hostile.

Springing a surprise, Rao in his speech, read out by Law Commission member K N Chaturvedi, said the lawmakers could even think of cross-examination through written questions handed over by the trial judge, which could be answered in writing by the victim.

“Victims often feel embarrasment due to the questions put by the defence counsel in cross-examination,” he said. This procedure for answering defence questions in writing could make the victim to meet the questions head on.

Rao’s suggestions touched a important chord among social activists, media personnel and related field personnel who discussed a host of issues during’National Consultation on the Protection of Victims of Trafficking and Other Forms of Violence’ organised by NGO — South Asian Regional Initiative/Equity Support Program (Sarieq).

Sarieq’s Helga Klein revealed that with Nepal ratifying the Anti-trafficking Convention of Saarc just before the Dhaka meet, it is expected that the south Asian countries would soon implement the stringent provisions in their domestic laws.

She laid stress on providing a friendly environ to victims of trafficking and their training in useful vocations for repatriation and re-integration in their countries.
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Ideas for Effective Meetings

Ideas for Effective MeetingsDon’t Meet

Avoid a meeting if the same information could be covered in a memo, e-mail or brief report. One of the keys to having more effective meetings is differentiating between the need for one-way information dissemination and two-way information sharing. To disseminate information you can use a variety of other communication media, such as sending an email or posting the information on your company’s intranet.

Set Objectives for the Meeting

Set objectives before the meeting!One benefit of setting objectives for the meeting is to help you plan the meeting. The more concrete your meeting objectives, the more focused your agenda will be.

Provide an Agenda Beforehand

Provide all participants with an agenda before the meeting starts. Your agenda needs to include a brief description of the meeting objectives, a list of the topics to be covered and a list stating who will address each topic and for how long. When you send the agenda, you should include the time, date and location of the meeting and any background information participants will need to know to hold an informed discussion on the meeting topic.

Assign Meeting Preparation

Give all participants something to prepare for the meeting, and that meeting will take on a new significance to each group member.

Assign Action Items

Don’t finish any discussion in the meeting without deciding how to act on it. Listen for key comments that flag potential action items and don’t let them pass by without addressing them during your meeting.

Examine Your Meeting Process

Assign the last few minutes of every meeting as time to review the following questions: What worked well in this meeting? What can we do to improve our next meeting? Every participant should briefly provide a point-form answer to these questions. Answers to the second question should be phrased in the form of a suggested action.
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How to get the Best out of Search Engine?

How to get the Best out of Search Engine?Coming back to search engines, use operators to your advantage. Say, you're looking for information on the nutritional properties of an apple. Type Apple into any engine though and you'll be inundated with information on the makers of the Macintosh and the iPod. Instead, try this. Type, apple -mac -macintosh -steve - jobs +fruit

The minus sign tells the search engine to exclude pages that contain information on the mac, macintosh, and Steve Jobs, Apple's charimastic CEO. The plus sign indicates you are looking for information on a fruit, not a company. And if it's a phrase you want, try typing it in quotes. So, "Where the head is held high" will take you right to Tagore's immortal poem. Without that, you'll go on a wild goose chase.

Be precise. For instance, if you're trying to figure out what does RAM mean, simply type define:RAM into Google. Or for that matter, if you're looking for a DVD player that costs anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, tell Google that by punching in DVD player Rs 5000..10000 The two dots between the numbers indicates to Google this is the price range you are looking for. Or maybe, you're looking for information on sex education, but all that you get in response to your search is porn. Simple. Type safesearch:sex education. For more information on precise searches, try www.googleguide.-com

Spend a few hours on www.searchlores.org. Authored by Fravia, a legendary hacker, this site tells you everything you need to know about how to search right. And perhaps a little more. For instance, did you know that Google updates its databases every Monday? So, the outcome of every search is changes every week. It’s what hacks like to call Google Dancing. Interesting, eh? All this site will demand is your patience.
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October 19, 2006

5 Tips to keep flu away

How avian influenza spreads to humans?
People need to have close contact with infected birds or poultry manure to get avian influenza. The virus is found in bird faeces and respiratory secretions. There is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of the virus at this time.

Is it safe to eat cooked chicken meat?
Yes. Chicken meat should be cooked properly. If the virus was present in chicken meat it would be killed in the cooking process. All uncooked chicken meat, including frozen meat should always be handled hygienically. Wash hands and surfaces after contact with raw meat and separate raw meat from other raw foods. However, the person that is cutting up (processing) the raw chicken would need to take proper sanitation and safety precautions.

Is it safe to eat eggs?
Yes. Egg shells may have been contaminated with bird faeces. All eggs should be washed before sale but it is prudent to apply careful hygiene when handling an egg such as: washing the outside of eggs or washing hands after handling an egg. Eggs should not be separated into yolk and white by bare hands. Proper cooking of eggs is recommended. Particular care needs to be taken with foods that contain eggs that are not cooked such as mayonnaise and mousse.

How can the virus be killed?
Heat over 70 degrees celsius for 30 minutes will kill the virus. At 80 degrees the virus is killed in one minute. Good hygiene by hand washing and cleaning of surfaces will remove the virus.

Can a flu vaccine provide immunity?
Vaccines effective against a pandemic virus are not yet available. Vaccines are produced each year for seasonal influenza but will not protect against pandemic influenza. Although a vaccine against the H5N1 virus is under development in several countries, no vaccine is ready for commercial production and no vaccines are expected to be widely available until several months after the start of a pandemic.

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Tips For Couples Seeking INFERTILITY TREATMENT

Choose your doctor carefully. Consult a gynecologist who is trained in infertility management and is a registered medical practitioner.

If you plan to go to a hospital select one which runs an exclusive infertility / assisted reproduction unit.

Educate yourself. Knowledge is empowerment. Gather information. If you are computer-savvy, internet is the best.

Ask and clarify queries. Talk to your doctor.

Though it is necessary to trust your doctor, there is no harm in seeking a second opinion. But remember, opinion of a well qualified person is of value.

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Tips for a Good Sleep Routine While Preganant

Quit worrying: We know — easier said than done. But it’s important not to worry about sleep. Don’t think about fulfiling a required number of hours; just assess how you feel. Don’t lie awake worrying that you’re not sleeping enough for your baby. Let your body do its natural work. If you smoke, it’s time you quit! Smoking and pregnancy don’t go well together.

Exercise: A pregnancy aerobics workout, prenatal yoga, a walk, whatever it is you want to do — get up and move! Try to keep from exercising late in the day, because the increased adrenaline of an ‘exercise high’ can linger and make it harder for you to fall asleep.

Change your eating habits: Eat your meals, especially later ones, at a leisurely pace. Spend your dinnertime unwinding a bit. Avoid caffeine and alcohol with meals — both are detrimental to the sleep cycle. If frequent trips to the bathroom keep you up at night, limit your fluid intake late in the day.

Establish an evening routine: Engage in some light reading. Listen to some quiet music, or take a warm (not hot) bath. Do some gentle stretching. Have a light bedtime snack such as whole grain crackers, milk, and cheese. But whatever you do, make it into a nightly routine — and stick to it.

Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary: If you’re having bouts of insomnia, this may not be the best time to set up the home office in the bedroom. Check out your equipment — your pillows should be supportive, the mattress not too soft or firm. If you’ve always slept on your back or stomach, you may need to make some adjustments during pregnancy.

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October 18, 2006

Tips and tricks experts use to navigate on the web

Do not trust any single search engine. This is because most responses that appear first on every engine is either paid for or has been doctored shrewdly by online marketing folks using fairly complex algorithms. Cast a skeptical eye on the results and move to the next couple of pages instead. What you're really looking for lies beyond Page 1. And while you're at it, don't stick to a single engine. Use a combination of the popular like Google and not so popular like Teoma (www.teoma.com) and Alltheweb (www.alltheweb.com).

Think of the Internet as an ocean and search engines as fishing boats in it. In much the same way that these boats and the nets it is equipped with cannot capture anything that lies really deep, search engines cannot find information embedded far below the surface. Most searches, therefore, are restricted to one billion documents that lie on the surface of the Internet. That's loose change compared to the 550 billion that actually exist.

To get to a significant part of this information, try www.completeplanet.com, www.invisibleweb.net and www.profusion.com. Searching apart, these sites offer tools and tutorials to search smarter.

Anything that has been posted online stays online. If somebody tells you a piece of information has been yanked off, it's a lie. Head instead to www.waybackmachine.org. This site archives every webpage that appeared online since 1996. Chances are you'll find it there.

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How to Improve your Spell Ability?

Take time out to play spelling-based games like scrabble or literati (on the Internet)

Try the Look-Say-Cover-Write method. Here you first look at the word, then say it out loud with its spelling, next cover the word and write it on your own. Such repetitions make a big difference with words you simply cannot get right Say the word as it is written (like 'knight' or 'wrist'), pronouncing the silent letters as well.

Find a word that rhymes with it and see if both have similar spelling structure Practise the word by writing with a finger of your other hand on your writing hand

Find words within the word (there's a 'hen' in 'when') Break the word into smaller parts (Wed + nes + day = Wednesday) Break the word up into sounds (th-a-nk)

Have good reading/ writing posture - sit upright with your eyes about 12 to 18 inches away from the reading matter Ensure that a dictionary is always around for homework or practice Think about the meaning of the word.

Don't drop the final 'e' when you add 'ly' (comely), but do drop it to add 'ing' (coming)

Silent 'e' helps a vowel say its name. When a word ends with a vowel followed by a consonant and then silent 'e', the vowel has a long sound. That's the difference between 'rate' and 'rat', 'hide' and 'hid', and 'cube' and 'cub'

When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.This means when there are two vowels in a row, the first has a long sound and the second is silent. That's why it's 'team', not 'taem'; 'coat', not 'caot'; and 'wait', not 'wiat'. Remembering this rule will help you put vowels in the right order.
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Tips to Pack Vegetables and Fruits

Roll the vegetable in a chapatti.Apply some ketchup, butter or a slice of cheese to enhance its taste and presentation.

Cut the same roll in small pieces and present it like spring roll.

Use a mix of mashed vegetables in a burger patty than just a potato.

Use green peas, carrots, French beans as well as cabbage in noodles instead of just onion and tomatoes. Use a range of mashed vegetables in pav bhaji.

Use vegetables like cauliflower, green peas, beetroot (all mashed) as a thickener in soups.

Use mix of mashed vegetables in grilled sandwiches.

Children like fruit salad and fruit shakes. Encourage the child to eat whole fruit than juices.

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October 17, 2006

EzeePDF - Easily create Portable Document Format (PDF) documents


EzeePDF is a specialized application for fast and easy creating Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. Adobe Acrobat is not required. Simply open the text or RTF file, select the line feed, page properties, font, and other options, then save it as a PDF.

The program’s features are:

  • Import RTF (Rich Text Format) and text files
  • Support russian, turkish, baltic, east europe, greek CJK charset
  • Document security
  • Document compression (Flate compression)
  • Page numbering
  • Page orientation (Portrait, Landscape)
  • Page size (Letter, A4, A3, Legal, B5, C5, 8x11, B4, A5, Folio, Executive, EnvB4, EnvB5, EnvC6, EnvDL, EnvMonarch, Env9, Env10, Env11)
  • Multi columns
  • Page header and footer
Download Link
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October 16, 2006

Tips for IT Managers Career Development

Soft Skills

Most technical professionals have a tendency to neglect their soft skills.With sufficient time and effort given to the development of their soft skills, you can give a boost to your interpersonal, presentation and communication skills, people management skills and in the handling of difficult tasks or issues.This goes a long way in enhancing your market value and career options.


Being Happy

Love the work you do and you never have to work at all. Many times, we think of our job as a chore, something you must do to pay the bills.Your lack of enthusiasm reflects in the way you contribute to the organization. If you show enthusiasm in any tasks that you set out to do, you will do it better.You will be more creative and innovative.You will enjoy the time at work and find it more fulfilling.When others can see the enthusiasm, you come across as a dedicated worker that would be an asset to any organization.

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October 15, 2006

Some tips to help you get pregnant

CUT DOWN ON CAFFEINE

Research shows that too much caffeine can reduce your ability to absorb iron and increase your risk for stillbirth. Avoid coffee, tea, and colas or switch to decaf to increase your chances of getting pregnant. If you are a complete caffeine junkie, then the safe limit would be a cup a day. Try switching to a milkshakes that will boost your calcium as well as assist in conception.

GET YOUR WEIGHT IN CHECK

Healthy weight women have an easier time getting pregnant than overweight or underweight women. Studies show that women whose body mass index (BMI) is below 20 or above 30 have a harder time getting pregnant, so it's a good idea to try to get yourself into the 20 to 30 range before you start trying.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

You will have little chance of getting pregnant if you had sex on the wrong days and missed the most fertile ones. Figure out your ovulation days to increase your chances of conception.

MIND CONTROL

Women who suffer from depression are twice as likely to have problems with fertility as women who don't. Get a mental health check if you notice signs of depression. Also, try stress management techniques, such as yoga and meditation.

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Tips to help IT managers to be valuable in the industry

• Track Record

Most of us associate track record with the number of years one needs to stay in an organization. It goes beyond that. Staying a long time in a job is no guarantee of a greater market value.Today’s economy is more dynamic and ever changing. Organizations are constantly re-inventing themselves to stay ahead and be competitive. Being an old timer does not ensure that you will have a job when you leave. In today’s business environment, having a credible record means having a combination of achievements, fulfilling commitments to your employer and staying abreast of current and emerging technologies and trends.

• Be Business Savvy

In today’s competitive market environment, organizations cannot afford to have their IT personnel isolated from the day-to-day business operations and strategies. IT managers need to develop their business acumen and be more savvy in their overall contribution to the organization, be able to propose meaningful technology solutions or deploy technology as a strategic tool to bolster business potential and growth. The IT Manager’s role as a strategic business contributor cannot be underestimated.

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Handling Your Field Job and Personal Life

Partying till late with the heavy rich dinners eaten at odd hours are the key to heartburn and gastric problems. Keep regular meal timings, peck at parties and stay away from rich stuff. Reach for the grilled and steamed foods rather than fried.

Drink healthy. Maintain your water intake. Keep a water bottle on your desk as a reminder. Carry a bottle when on the run. When flying around the globe, adequate water intake helps to combat jet lag.

Physical appearance is part of the job. Style counts but comfort in clothes and footwear is important. During summers, loose fitting pastel colored cottons are advisable. Combine style and comfort in footwear. Those who need to walk around should prefer flats. Keep your heels handy at your work place if you must wear them. Regular use of high heels causes low back problems in the long run.

If you work outdoors, wear a wide-brimmed hat and a shirt or jacket with long sleeves. Exposed skin should be protected with a broad spectrum sunscreen of at least SPF 15. Reapply every two hours or according to the label. Wear sunglasses with UV protection (especially UVB). Perfumes and cosmetics can increase sensitivity to sunlight in some people.

Practice deep breathing exercises you can do even when sitting in traffic on the freeway or sitting at your desk at work.

Keep a positive mental attitude. Look in the mirror every morning and tell yourself,“I look good, feel good and am going to have a great day!”

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Tips to avoid Loneliness

DON’T BE TOO DISTANT
Get a healthy balance between being too available and being stand-offish. Get out as much as possible Sitting around in front of the TV or moping in your flat night after night is not going to get you meeting any new people.

DON’T IGNORE THE OBVIOUS

The neighbour, your siblings’ friends, people at work, the attractive person you see in the supermarket every now and then.

BECOME A REGULAR

If you go to the same coffee shop every morning before work, you will eventually be on greeting terms and later on speaking terms with other people who also follow this routine. It is probably less traumatic than going to singles’ bars.

SOMETIMES SINGLE IS GREAT

Remember that it is healthy to be single between relationships. If you rush straight from one relationship into another, chances are that you have dependency issues and are scared of being alone and experiencing personal growth and change.

BETTER SINGLE THAN HITCHED AND UNHAPPY

And lastly, it is better to be single and happy, than desperately unhappy in a relationship. You can never be as lonely by yourself as you can be in a relationship that is clearly not working. So don’t rush into a relationship.

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