How to Locate a Decedent's Hidden Assets

4 of 7 in Series:
The Essentials of Marshalling Estate Assets

Going through a decedent’s personal papers and hiding places may seem invasive, but it is necessary for an estate’s executor to conduct a search for all of the decedent’s assets, including hidden assets, when preparing an estate inventory. If you uncover any debts owed to the decedent, they count as assets and it is the executor’s job to pursue collection. Search the decedent’s residence(s) for any lost or hidden items.

Examine the decedent's personal papers carefully

You may discover, in the decedent’s personal papers, a number of assets you didn’t know existed or couldn’t locate. Common finds include safe-deposit box keys, jewelry appraisals, insurance policies, references to real estate, and even stock certificates and registered bonds that the decedent didn’t put away for safekeeping. Go through personal papers methodically and carefully. Never throw out any piece of paper without reviewing it for clues to estate assets.

Your search through the paperwork and records may turn up information regarding loans, notes, or other debts owed to the decedent. These are assets of the estate, and your duty as executor is to include them on the inventory, along with interest accrued through the date of death. You must then pursue the collection of the note or debt.

If you find loan documents (a promissory note, perhaps, or even a mortgage), they remain in force even after the decedent’s death unless otherwise specified in the documents or in the decedent’s will. If the documents don’t forgive these loans upon the decedent’s death, then they are assets of the estate, and the estate administrator must enforce the terms.

Find the decedent’s hiding places

People stash what they perceive as valuable in different ways and places. Your job, as the executor, is to attempt to find all these hiding places. You have to find everything applicable for the estate, and your search needs to include the following:

• House safes: A house safe is usually a locked, fireproof box that’s hidden somewhere inconspicuous, with an eye to protecting certain documents and valuables. Check closets, drawers, under beds and dressers, in the attic, and in the basement. Even check the freezer.

  
  

  After locating the safe, you may need to have the lock professionally opened. The locksmith will need to see a copy of your appointment as executor. You may want an additional witness with you to note what is in the box. Make an inventory of the contents as soon as you open it, sign the inventory, and have the second person sign it as a witness to the contents.

  
  



• Other unusual spots: Make a reasonable search for anything that may be either intentionally or unintentionally hidden. Maybe the decedent didn’t trust banks to keep money safe so they stashed cash at home. Or maybe through accidental circumstances the decedent lost a valuable asset somewhere in his or her house. You may find hidden or misplaced assets under the floorboards, in the backyard, under a mattress, etc.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-locate-a-decedents-hidden-assets.html

Using Color, Pattern, and Texture in Home Decorating

Color, pattern, and texture are the stylistic building blocks of your home decorating palette. You use these three elements to create the style, mood, and feel of each room in your home.

Creating with color

• 
  

  Paint small spaces in whispers of a cool, light color.

  
  


• 
  

  Cover big spaces in a cozy, warm, confident color.

  
  


• 
  

  Light, cool colors make walls seem to fade away into the distance, making rooms seem spacious.

  
  


• 
  

  Dark, warm colors make walls seem to come closer.

  
  


• 
  

  For the best color schemes, pick neutral colors that you'll never grow tired of.

  
  


• 
  

  Distribute colors naturally, with dark colors on the floor, medium colors on the walls, and light colors on the ceiling. Use the law of chromatic distribution:

  
  

  1. Put neutral colors on large surfaces or objects, such as the floor and sofa.

  
  

  2. Use stronger shades in a smaller amount on smaller spaces or items, such as a short wall or a chair.

  
  

  3. Employ the strongest accent color in the smallest spaces and places.

  
  

  4. Scatter accent color around the room to make an impact.

  
  

Playing with pattern

• 
  

  Mix patterns such as checks with florals or large-scaled patterns with small-scaled patterns.

  
  


• 
  

  Not sure when enough is enough? Play it safe! Use three different patterns that contrast in scale but relate in color.

  
  


• 
  

  More is more when you confidently mix up to five patterns. To do so, let one large-scaled pattern dominate over one medium-scaled floral and another geometric, and toss in two small-scaled accent patterns (your choice of floral or geometric). Make sure the colors in the large-scaled pattern are repeated in all the others.

  
  


• 
  

  Place pattern everywhere! Put the same pattern on the walls, windows, and furnishings.

  
  

Toying with texture

• 
  

  Traditional rooms look best in refined, smooth textures.

  
  


• 
  

  Contemporary spaces need more textural interest.

  
  


• 
  

  Feminine rooms need elegant and subtle textures.

  
  


• 
  

  Masculine decor calls for nubby, tweedy, and rugged texture.

  
  


• 
  

  The more neutrally colored the room, the more important texture becomes.

  
  


• 
  

  Heavy textures "eat" space, so use them only in large or cozy rooms.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/using-color-pattern-and-texture-in-home-decorating.html

Healthcare Reconciliation Bill Goes Back to House

6 of 8 in Series:
The Essentials of Healthcare Reform

March 25, 2010. Acting within his powers, the Senate Parliamentarian decided early this morning that two provisions in the healthcare fixes bill must be removed because they violate reconciliation’s strict budgetary rules.

The decision to remove the two provisions means the bill will go back to the House for another vote, a move that delays enactment of the healthcare reforms President Obama signed into law.

The two sticking points, which Democrats describe as minor, deal with funding for Pell grants. Pell grants are government-issued funds that help low-income students pay for college.

Because 20 hours of debate on the bill are required, there’s still time for Senators to make additional changes. A final Senate vote is expected this afternoon and a House vote is expected Friday, just before Congress leaves for a two-week recess.

We’re following the reconciliation bill closely, so check in often for updates.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/healthcare-reconciliation-bill-goes-back-to-house.html

Journey of Your Romance Novel, from Sale to Bound Book

The fun isn't over after you've written and submitted manuscript for your romance novel. After you or your agent finds a publisher for your book, you still have a number of steps to go through before your book reaches your readers:

1. Contract negotiation

   
   



2. Revisions

   
   



3. Copy edit and deflag (where flagged queries are addressed)

   
   



4. Galley and author alterations

   
   



5. Dedication and acknowledgments

   
   



6. Cover — art, copy, and quotes

   
   



7. Personal public relations

   
   

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/journey-of-your-romance-novel-from-sale-to-bound-b.html

Identifying the Beginning of a Bull Market in Canada

Boost your stock trading skills (and returns) up a notch by learning to recognize the signs of a bull market before your neighbours do. How will you know whether the Canadian economy is entering a bull market? Read on to find out.

• Bull markets begin before the economy starts to recover.

  
  



• Interest rates are low.

  
  



• Industrial production statistics are inching higher.

  
  



• Technology and cyclical stocks are starting to rise

  
  



• Weekly chart of S&P/TSX shows higher highs and higher lows; the MACD line is above the trigger line and rising.

  
  



• Bullish percent index indicator shows bull alert or bull confirmation pattern.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/identifying-the-beginning-of-a-bull-market-in-cana.html

Illustrator CS4 Selecting and Moving Shortcuts

You can speed up your productivity when working in Adobe Illustrator CS4 by using keyboard shortcuts. Study this list of commands and their keystroke combinations for selecting and moving objects:

To Do This	Mac Shortcut Key	Windows Shortcut Key
Activate Selection tool last used (Select, Direct Select, or Group Select)	Ô+any tool (except Selection tools)	Ctrl+any tool (except Selection tools)
Toggle between Select and Direct Select (or between Select and Group Select)	None	Ctrl+Tab
Add to or subtract from selection	Shift+click with any Selection tool	Shift+click with any Selection tool
Select All	Ô+A	Ctrl+A
Deselect All	Shift+Ô+A	Shift+Ctrl+A
Move selection in 1 pt increments	Any arrow key	Any arrow key
Move selection in 10 pt increments	Shift+press any arrow key	Shift+press any arrow key
Constrain movement to 45° angles	Shift+drag with any Selection tool	Shift+drag with any Selection tool

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/illustrator-cs4-selecting-and-moving-shortcuts.html

Using an Audio Interface in GarageBand in iLife ’11

To record instruments or microphones, try an audio interface as your input device with GarageBand in iLife '11. An audio interface is an adapter or a device that enables you to connect audio sources to your Mac. Setting up an audio interface in GarageBand in iLife '11 can be quick and painless.

1. Connect your instruments, microphones, and sound sources to the audio interface.

   
   

   Follow the connection instructions provided with your audio interface.

   
   



2. Choose GarageBand→Preferences; in the Preferences dialog, click the Audio/MIDI Interfaces button.

   
   

   The Audio/MIDI Interfaces pane appear.

   
   



3. Choose the audio interface from the Audio Input pop-up menu, and then close the Preferences dialog. (Click the red button in the upper left corner of the window.)

   
   

Many audio interfaces offer both MIDI and connections for other types of audio devices.They can come in several formats as well, including FireWire, PC card, PCI, and USB.

The Emagic Multichannel Interface 2|6 (www.emagic.com), for example, connects to your Mac’s USB port and offers six audio inputs (for line-in music, electric instruments, or microphones), as well as MIDI connections. The M-Audio FastTrack guitar and microphone interface (www.m-audio.com), which is small and portable — it draws its power from the USB connection.

You can configure the audio interface with more specific controls. The Apple utility Audio MIDI Setup works with audio devices to connect via FireWire, PCI, PCMCIA, or USB.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/using-an-audio-interface-in-garageband-in-ilife-11.html

Dragon NaturallySpeaking For Dummies

Dragon NaturallySpeaking puts you in control of your computer with the sound of your voice. You can dictate messages, browse the Web, and control popular applications. Here's the straight scoop to take charge of your system with Dragon NaturallySpeaking:

>

>

Starting to Dictate with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

After you have installed NaturallySpeaking on a computer with all the necessary system requirements and performed the initial training, you're on the road to a beautiful friendship with your assistant. Take the following steps.

1. Launch NaturallySpeaking by Choosing Start→Programs→Dragon NaturallySpeaking11.

   
   

   You can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking with a large number of applications. If you intend to use NaturallySpeaking with another application, launch that application at this point, too.

   
   



2. Put on your headset, and make sure the microphone is positioned as it was during initial training.

   
   

   The microphone should be positioned about a half-inch away from one corner of your mouth, off to the side. It should never be directly in front of your mouth.

   
   



3. Turn the microphone on.

   
   

   The microphone icon in the system tray needs to be pointing up at attention, not lying down relaxing, in order for you to dictate. If the icon is lying down, click it or press the + key on your keyboard's numeric keypad. You can also click it on the upper-left corner in the DragonBar.

   
   

   The microphone icon in the toolbar of the NaturallySpeaking DragonBar works exactly the same way as the icon in the system tray. Make sure one of these is open and ready for you to dictate.

   
   



4. Click where you want the text to go if the cursor isn't already there.

   
   

   Or select (highlight) text that you want to replace with dictated text.

   
   



5. Speak carefully, just as you did when you read the text aloud to NaturallySpeaking during the initial training. Don't rush, and don't speak the words with . . . spaces . . . between . . . them.

   
   

   As you speak, NaturallySpeaking shows you your dictation.

   
   

>

>

>

Punctuating with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

If you can train yourself to do it, you can add punctuation with Dragon NaturallySpeaking as you dictate. Here's what you say to insert common punctuation marks as you speak when you're using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Punctuation Mark	Spoken Form
.	Period (or Dot, or Point)
!	Exclamation Mark (or Exclamation Point)
?	Question Mark
,	Comma
'	Apostrophe
's	Apostrophe Ess
&	Ampersand
:	Colon
;	Semicolon
“	Begin Quote
”	End Quote
‘	Open Single Quote
’	Close Single Quote
. . .	Ellipsis
$	Dollar Sign

>

>

>

Quickly Correcting with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

When you dictate, make sure to correct the mistakes that Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes so that your accuracy improves over time. Making quick corrections to your dictation will save you lots of time and help you avoid confusion. Here are some commands you can use to quickly correct your mistakes.

Say This	Do This
Correct <xyz>	Select the text you want to correct
Scratch that	Delete what you just dictated
Delete that	Delete what you just dictated
Spell that	Open the Spell Window to spell the word you just dictated

>

>

>

Getting Help with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

If you need help, it's never far away in Dragon NaturallySpeaking with the DragonBar open. Here are some of the ways that you can find the help you need directly from the DragonBar on your desktop:

• Help menu: To reach Help files from the DragonBar, go to Help→Help Topics and type or say what you are looking for. For example, you can say, "Search Dragon help for <topic>."

  
  



• Dragon Sidebar: The Sidebar is a specific help device that is available on the right side of the screen whenever you say, "What can I say?"

  
  



• Tutorial: The tutorial can be accessed from the install files when you are setting up, or from Help→Tutorial.

  
  



• Accuracy Center: This is where you can be guided to improve the performance of your software and your total experience. You can access it from the DragonBar by going to Help→Improve my accuracy.

  
  



• Performance Assistant: The Performance Assistant guides you to improve the speed at which NaturallySpeaking can understand your speech. To access it from the DragonBar, go to Help→Performance Assistant

  
  



• Tip of the Day: These tips pop up each time you launch the NaturallySpeaking software. When you are first getting started, they are especially helpful.

  
  

>

>

>

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking with Another Application

The first step in controlling other applications with Dragon NaturallySpeaking is to make the words you say appear in a window controlled by the other application. To get those first words to show up in the correct window, follow these steps:

1. Open NaturallySpeaking and another application.

   
   

   It doesn't matter whether you open NaturallySpeaking or the other application first.

   
   



2. Click the microphone icon in the DragonBar to turn the microphone on.

   
   

   If the icon is elevated, the microphone is on; if the icon is lying flat, the microphone is off. Change from one state to the other by clicking the microphone icon. By default, the microphone is off at startup.

   
   



3. Activate the window of the other application.

   
   
   
   

   • If the application is already opened but not visible, you can say, "List open applications."

     
     

     A numbered list of open applications pops up. Choose the application you want.

     
     
   
   

   • If the application has not been opened, say, "Open <application name>."

     
     
   
   
   
   

   The application should open and the cursor should be blinking in the text-editing window. If not, click in the text-editing window.

   
   

>

>
dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/dragon-naturallyspeaking-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

Handy Conversion Tables for New Cooks

Want to create simple meals on a budget that taste great? With these conversion tables (which are British measurements), you can ensure you get the temperature and amount of ingredients just right.

Oven Temperature Conversions

Fahrenheit	Celsius	Gas Mark
225	110	¼
250	130	½
275	140	1
300	150	2
325	170	3
350	180	4
375	190	5
400	200	6
425	220	7
450	230	8
475	240	9

Weight Conversions

Imperial Ounces (oz)	Metric Grams (g)
½	10
¾	20
1	25
1 ½	40
2	50
2 ½	60
3	75
4	110
4 ½	125
5	150
6	175
7	200
8	225
9	250
10	275
12	350
1 pound (16 ounces)	450
1 ½ pounds	700
2 pounds	900
2 ¼ pounds	1 kilogram
3 pounds	1.35 kilograms

Volume Conversions

Imperial Fluid Ounces (fl oz)	Metric Millilitres (ml)
1	30
2	55
3	75
5 (¼ pint)	150
10 (½ pint)	275
15 (¾ pint)	425
1 pint	570
1 ¼ pints	725
1 ¾ pints	1 litre
2 pints	1.2
2 ½ pints	1.5
4 pints	2.25

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/handy-conversion-tables-for-new-cooks.html

Avoiding Vulnerable Massage Areas

Some vulnerable areas of the body are exposed during a massage. Highly trained massage therapists can actually work in these areas, but if you’re not a massage professional yourself, you should stay away from these areas.

Avoid the following spots of vulnerability:

• Front of the neck/throat: You’ve heard of the expression, “Go for the jugular,” right? Well, this spot is where you find it. Steer clear of this area that also contains the carotid artery and major nerves.

  
  



• Side of the neck: It’s not quite as sensitive as the front of the neck, but you should still treat it gingerly.

  
  



• The ear notch: The little notch just behind your jawbone and beneath your ear contains a sensitive facial nerve, so don’t go shoving a finger into it.

  
  



• The eyeball: This one seems like common sense, but don’t poke your fingers directly into your massage partner’s eyes.

  
  



• The axilla: The axilla is the armpit, which is ticklish for many people. This sensitive area is full of nerves, arteries, and lymph glands.

  
  



• The upper inner arm: Just down from the armpit, along the inside of the upper arm, is a sensitive, nerve-filled area along the length of the arm bone. Pressing too firmly here creates that yucky-nervy feeling.

  
  



• The ulnar notch of the elbow: Otherwise known as the funny bone, this spot contains the ulnar nerve; if you touch it too hard, your partner may curse at you in several languages.

  
  



• The abdomen: This area is filled with many squishy important bits known as organs. Be especially gentle around the upper abdomen along the ribs, the area home to the liver, gallbladder, and spleen.

  
  



• The lower back: Don’t press too hard on the kidneys, found just to both sides of the spine and below the ribs.

  
  



• The femoral triangle: This area is often referred to as the groin. It’s the inner part of the line in front where your leg meets your body. Pressing too hard here can actually cut off circulation to the leg.

  
  



• Popliteal area: Popularly known as the back of the knee, this spot is sensitive to pressure.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/avoiding-vulnerable-massage-areas.html

Why Exercise Is Key to Weight Loss

Consuming fewer calories and including less fat in your diet is necessary to shed pounds. Adding exercise increases the number of calories you burn so that you speed up your weight loss. Plus, you build muscle, which keeps your metabolism in high gear to burn calories more readily.

If you have any medical conditions, see your doctor, especially if you’re over 40 years old. Your physician can perform an exertion test, evaluate your overall health, and suggest forms of exercise that are safe for you.

Exercise is important for everyone. The fitter you are, the less your risk of having a heart attack or stroke or developing diabetes or some other crippling and deadly disease. Here are some of the tangible benefits exercising offers:

• Curbing your appetite: True hunger has little to do with why or how much people eat. Many people eat out of boredom or habit.

  
  

  Some people say that exercise increases their hunger. But exercise pulls stored calories in the forms of glucose and fat out of tissues so that blood glucose levels stay even and you don’t feel hungry.

  
  

  When you first start becoming more active, after a long stretch without any exercise, you may feel hungry. After a day or so, sensations of hunger will be replaced with feelings of well-being.

  
  



• Increasing calorie burn: The more calories you burn over the amount that your body needs to maintain its current weight, the greater your weight loss. That’s why adding exercise to your reduced calorie plan speeds up your weight-loss efforts.

  
  

  Another way that exercise burns calories is by increasing your metabolic rate. And exercise helps you to lose fat but not muscle, which determines how fast or slow your body burns calories. Fat is relatively inert, but muscle is active and needs energy to maintain itself. So the more muscle you have, the more calories your body needs.

  
  



• Protecting against muscle loss: Many studies demonstrate that when a person diets, they loose 75 percent fat and 25 percent muscle. As muscle is lost, your body’s ability to burn and use calories efficiently decreases. To build muscle, add resistance training, such as lifting weights, to your exercise program.

  
  



• Improving self-esteem: Some psychologists prescribe daily exercise for depressed patients and see mood improvements equal to those of prescription antidepressant drug therapy.

  
  

  So much of the weight-loss process involves giving up, limiting, and cutting out. But exercise is a positive addition. When you feel good about yourself, staying with your weight-loss commitment is easy.

  
  



• Losing weight more easily and keeping it off: The National Weight Control Registry maintained at the University of Colorado includes more than 3,000 individuals who have lost more than 30 pounds and have kept it off for more than a year. But amazingly, the average loss is 60 pounds, and the average maintenance is six years.

  
  

  Successful losers expended about 2,800 calories in physical activity per week — about 60 minutes of activity a day. Typically, they combined walking with medium-to-heavy exercise, such as cycling, running, stair climbing, aerobic exercising, and weight lifting.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/why-exercise-is-key-to-weight-loss.html

Getting Started Using Chorusing

If reverb is like garlic, chorus is like cayenne pepper. You may get away with adding a little too much garlic in your food, but if you add too much cayenne, you run the risk of making your food inedible.

Such is the case with the chorus effect. Used sparingly, chorus can add a lot to your music, but if it’s overdone, it can wreak havoc on a good song. Here are some tips for using this effect:

• To fill out a vocal track, try setting the rate at 2 Hz, the depth at about 20 to 30, and the predelay at 10 to 20 ms. Keep the feedback level low.

  
  



• Use a chorus on backup vocals to make them fuller and allow you to use fewer tracks.

  
  



• Pan the chorus to one side of the mix and the dry (unaffected) signal to the other. This can be especially interesting on guitars and synthesizer patches.

  
  

Along with chorus, your system may have other modulating effects, such as flange and phase shifting. These two effects work much like chorus, except they alter the original signal in time (flange) and in sound-wave position (phase shifting) rather than pitch.

The parameters you have for such effects are similar to those that you find for chorus effects. You can use the flange and phase shifters in many of the same applications as the chorus if you’re going for a different effect.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/getting-started-using-chorusing.html

Medically Supervised Weight Loss Plans Moderate Health Risks

5 of 10 in Series:
The Essentials of Considering Different Diet and Weight Loss Plans

Some diet plans require medical supervision because they involve rapid weight loss that can stress your body. For example, a complication of some of the very low calorie diet (VLCD) programs is gallbladder stones. The condition is caused by the very lowfat nature of the diets and the fact that the individuals who go on these programs tend to be obese and are predisposed to developing stones.

Be aware that long-term weight loss maintenance on VLCDs is disappointing. Although participants initially achieve impress losses, after five years, the majority of patients regain all their weight.

Health Management Resources (HMR)

This is a medically supervised rapid weight loss program for moderate or high-risk weight loss patients. It’s administered in hospitals and healthcare settings.

Participants who use a very low calorie diet (VLCD) of about 500 to 800 calories a day must be under the care of medical personnel. A second option of a 1, 200-calorie-a-day diet is also offered. Both plans require meal replacement shakes, entrees, and bars. Weekly 90-minute classes are mandatory. Expected weight loss is 1 to 5 pounds per week. Medical screening is required for all participants.

Staff: Physicians, registered dietitians, registered nurses, and psychologists developed the program. Programs offering the VLCD have an MD, RN, and health educator on staff.

Comments: The side effects of a very low calorie diet may include intolerance to cold, constipation, dizziness, dry skin, and headaches.

Availability: The program is available at more than 200 hospitals and medical settings in the United States.

Contact: 59 Temple Place, Suite 704 Boston, MA 02111 800-418-1367 http://www.yourbetterhealth.com.

Optifast

This medically supervised rapid weight loss program is administered in hospitals and clinics. The plan requires liquid meal replacements and/or fortified food bars. As weight loss progresses, more regular foods are added.

Dieters are assigned to an 800-, 950-, or 1,200-calorie plan. Participation is limited to individuals who must lose at least 50 pounds. The weight loss portion of the program lasts about three months and transition takes six weeks; participants are transitioned to maintenance after five months. Emphasis is on behavior modification, problem-solving skills, physical activity, and individual counseling.

Staff: Group meeting leaders and one-on-one counselors are psychologists or dietitians. Physicians, registered nurses, registered dietitians, and psychologists regularly see each dieter at most locations.

Availability: The program is available in numerous hospitals and clinics in the United States and Canada. Residents in the U.S. can find a clinic on the Optifast Web site by typing in their area codes and zip codes. Residents of Canada can call (800) 986-3855 ext. 4067 for clinic locations. No information on Optifast is available outside the United States or Canada.

Contact: Novartis Nutrition 1441 Park Place Blvd. Minneapolis, MN 55416 800-662-2540 http://www.optifast.com.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/medically-supervised-weight-loss-plans-moderate-he.html

Basic Causes of Male Infertility

13 of 14 in Series:
The Essentials of Men’s Sexual Health

If a couple tries to conceive but can’t seem to do it, one of the first things that doctors look for is a problem with the man’s sperm. Sperm compose about 5 to 10 percent of semen, and are the only part of the semen that can cause pregnancy. If a man is infertile, there is a problem with his sperm — often a low sperm count or low motility. Sometimes, male infertility can be treated.

Just because your testicles look normal doesn’t mean that they are fully functioning. The most common problems of male infertility are

• 
  

  Low sperm count, which means that the man isn’t producing enough sperm

  
  


• 
  

  Low motility, where the sperm he is producing lack sufficient ability to swim to the egg

  
  

The basis for the problems may be abnormal sperm production, which can be difficult to treat, or that the testicles are too warm. Heat is known to decrease sperm count, so the solution could be as simple as changing the style of underwear from tighty whities (briefs) to boxers. Another cause can be a blockage somewhere along the line, which may be corrected through surgery.

Interestingly enough, most semen analysis is done by gynecologists, specialists in the female reproductive system. A gynecologist is usually the first person a woman consults when she has problems getting pregnant. Commonly, the gynecologist asks that the man’s sperm be analyzed. If the tests reveal a problem with the sperm, the man is sent to a urologist for further evaluation.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-deal-with-male-infertility.navId-323518.html

How to Decide on a Method of Employee Training

You may need to train your new employees (and current employees) in a particular business area. Choose a training method that's appropriate for your employees, as well as the area in which you're training them.

Some of the more common training options include

• In-house training. You may be able to offer or arrange training on given topics, such as sales techniques or time management, or workshops on particular software applications. Not only is in-house training cost-effective, but you may be able to arrange several short training sessions to accommodate schedules, as well.

  
  



• Outside seminars and conferences. Seminars and conferences are a great way to provide training when no one in your business has the particular expertise. Held at a public site, such as a hotel or conference center, most seminars require that you preregister.

  
  

  The cost can range from less than $100 per person to as much as $500 or more for a one-day session, depending on the topic. Typically, the more people you register, the bigger discount you receive.

  
  



• Tuition reimbursement programs. Tuition reimbursement programs address long-term training needs of career development, such as leadership or advanced certification in a given area. Typically, a business reimburses employees for a percentage (or all) of the expenses related to courses that the employee takes.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-decide-on-a-method-of-employee-training.html

Does an Estate Need a Guardian?

In some cases the probate court appoints a guardian for an estate’s heir to take care of the heir’s affairs and manage his or her assets. A common case is one where the decedent has died and the heir is a minor child or an otherwise legally incapacitated person who stands to inherit from the estate.

When the parent of a minor dies, if the parent had a will, typically he or she names the child’s other parent as guardian. If there is no other parent, the decedent typically names some other person or persons to act as guardian.

Occasionally a parent will designate one person or couple as guardian(s) of the person of his or her minor child, and another person as guardian of the property. This is likely to happen if the decedent feels one person or couple is ideal to raise the children, but not the best person(s) to manage the child’s assets.

If no guardian is named in the will, or if there is no will, the court will choose the guardian, taking into account the best interests of the child. It is always best for all involved if the decedent names a guardian in a will, as the probate judge will try to honor the decedent’s wishes if at all possible.

In many states, judges must follow the stated wishes in the will. In others, the judge makes the final determination based on a number of factors, of which the stated wishes of the decedent are only one.

If the decedent didn’t name a guardian and there is no surviving spouse, it is common for several relatives to come forward requesting to be appointed guardian, all claiming that they are the best person to take care of the minor child or children. In that case, the judge will take input from all sides and make a decision based on the child’s best interests, and, if possible, taking into account the preference of the child.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/does-an-estate-need-a-guardian.html

Choosing the Right Lawn for Your Space

Your climate zone is not the only factor that determines what kind of grass you should plant in your lawn. Your yard space might have its very own microclimate. Say you live in North America — the Midwest. Now even more specifically, say you live on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. (Go Tigers!) You may have a pretty good idea of what your overall climate is like — cold winters and warm, humid summers with frequent rain. Cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass, the fescues, and ryes are probably best for you.

Microclimates differ in some way from the overall climate of your area because of the presence of some large object — usually your house, but the object also can be trees, large areas of pavement, or a body of water.

Try taking a walk around your house at various times of the day, and you’ll understand the concept. In the morning, the east side of your house is sunny and warm. After noon, the east side gets shadier as the west side of your house gets sunnier and hotter. The north side of your house may be shady and cool all day. The south side may be sunny and warm all day. Each side of your house has its own little microclimate that changes, not only as the sun moves from east to west during the day, but also as the sun moves from south to north from winter to summer.

Different types or varieties of lawn grasses adapt, or don’t adapt, to the different microclimates around your home. A microclimate is one reason why it’s a good idea to use blends of different grass varieties or mixtures of different grass types when you plant a lawn. If you use several different grasses you have a better chance of having a healthy lawn over your entire property. For example, if your yard has some sunny spots and some shady spots, you may choose to plant a mixture of Kentucky bluegrasses and fescues. The Kentucky bluegrasses do great in the sunnier areas, but can thin out in the shade. The more shade-tolerant fescues can fill in the thin spots. A lawn is a cooperative situation.

You can find grass types and varieties adapted to all different kinds of conditions Check out the following list of some microclimates you may find around your home and how they may affect the grass you plant and how you care for it.

• Shade: Not getting enough sunlight (less than 4 hours a day) really wreaks havoc with lawn grasses. The lawn starts to thin out, is prone to insects and disease, and just doesn’t grow well. Your house, other buildings, trees, or even fences can create shade. Certain grasses, including the fescues (particularly fine fescue) among the cool-season grasses and St. Augustine grass among the warm-season grasses, are more tolerant of shade than others. You can even find some varieties of specific grasses that are more shade-tolerant than others.

  
  



• Some cultural techniques enable grasses to survive in shade. You can mow higher; water deeply but less often (making sure to let the grass dry out between waterings); water in the morning so that the grass dries by night; fertilize less; and keep people from walking on it. Reducing the amount of seed lets each seedling have less competition for light.

  
  



• Oh, yes, and don’t forget, you can always prune the trees to let in more light underneath. Better yet, plant shade-loving ground covers instead.

  
  



• Sun: Intense sunlight reflected from the side of a light-colored wall can cause a nearby lawn to dry out faster. If you don’t compensate and apply more water to those areas, the grass gradually declines and is vulnerable to weeds and insect invasion.

  
  



• Heat: Warmth stored in pavement, such as driveways, patios, and walkways, radiates out into nearby lawn areas. These parts of the lawn are quick to dry out and are subject to various pest problems. You have to water these areas more often.

  
  



• Slope: Sloping or hilly ground dries out faster than other areas of a lawn, especially if it’s south-facing. The water just drains away faster. These areas need more frequent watering than others.

  
  



• Soil: Types of soil also may vary around the house and landscape. Subsoil can be more hostile to grasses than native topsoils. soils

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/choosing-the-right-lawn-for-your-space.html

How to Use Social Networks to Build Your Online Community

You’re going to find that when it comes to bringing in new members for your online community you’ll have to rely on the fine art of conversation. “Hey y’all come join my awesome community” is never going to fly. Like blogging, social networking is about building relationships and seeing where they take you:

• Follow or friend the people and brands you feel will benefit to your community.

  
  



• See what they’re saying and respond in kind.

  
  



• As folks begin to follow you ask questions and interact.

  
  



• Share some links — not only to your content, but other interesting topics relating to your niche.

  
  



• Make sure that your content (tweets, status updates, and so on) is more conversation than links.

  
  



• Take part in hashtag chats on Twitter where you may even be encouraged to talk about your community.

  
  



• Join Facebook fan pages and discussion groups to take part in the conversation and hopefully drive traffic to your community.

  
  



• Every now and then, invite folks from your community and the social networks to participate in a comment thread, contest, promotion, or debate that’s taking place in your community.

  
  

Notice how there’s no real pitching going on? Working the social networks and building relationships is one of the favorite community management tasks because you’re spending time chatting up some truly terrific people.

Most of the people who join your community aren’t going to join your community because you asked them, but they may follow you there from somewhere else. Be sure your bio or profile says a bit about you or the brand and links to your community.

New members like to think they discovered a great new spot, even if they don’t want to admit you guided them there in the first place.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-use-social-networks-to-build-your-online-co.navId-323004.html

How Much Vitamin D Does Your Body Need?

4 of 12 in Series:
The Essentials of Vitamin D Basics and Dosage

If you want to optimize your vitamin D levels, you'll need to know how much vitamin D you need in your diet to get there. You can get vitamin D from your diet and also after the sun stimulates your skin to make vitamin D. The best way to know for certain whether you have enough vitamin D in your body is to get a specific blood test that measures 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

Unfortunately, tests that measure this form of vitamin D can vary in accuracy and are expensive. You want to make sure that you use the best test available so that you get the most accurate results.

The question of how much vitamin D your body needs can be asked in several ways:

• What level of the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ in the body avoids any of the problems associated with vitamin D₃ deficiency?

  
  



• How much time in the sun will help you reach the necessary blood level of vitamin D₃?

  
  



• How many international units (IU) of vitamin D do you need to get in food or from supplements to reach the necessary blood level of vitamin D₃?

  
  

Of course, the answer to the last two questions depends on the answer to the first question.

Looking at recommended vitamin D levels

Scientists believe that the serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D is critical for protecting health. Because of this, when you go to your doctor to figure out whether you have enough vitamin D in your system, they do a blood test for this form of vitamin D.

The idea is that when you have enough 25-hydroxyvitamin D in your blood, you will be able to make all the calcitriol that you need, and as a result you will have the strongest bones, and you may also have a healthy immune system, protection against several cancers, reduced rates of diabetes, and lower risk of heart disease.

In late November 2010, an expert panel of scientists published a detailed report that explains how much 25-hydroxyvitamin D you need in your blood and provides recommendations for how much vitamin D you need in your diet to get to those serum levels. The following table shows critical levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D based on this report.

Landmark Serum Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D for Human Health

ng/ml (nmol/L)	Health Status
Less than 10 (25)	Vitamin D deficient. Leads to rickets in infants and children, and osteomalacia in adults.
10 to 20 (25 to 50)	Inadequate for normal bone mineralization and overall health.
Greater than 20 (50)	Generally considered adequate for normal bone growth and mineralization.
Greater than 50 (125)	Considered potentially toxic; leads to hypercalcemia and hyperphoshatemia (also called “vitamin D toxicity”)

Whereas the clinical labs in the United States report your blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D as nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), Canada and many other countries express serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in nanomoles per liter (nmol/L). Don’t get confused by this — just be certain what units your test result were measured in. To turn nmol/L into ng/ml, all you need to do is divide the nmol/L value by 2.5.

You may notice in the table that the levels are associated with bone health. That’s because the expert panel felt that only the evidence to link dietary vitamin D or serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D to protection from rickets, osteomalacia, low bone mass, and osteoporosis was strong enough.

Computing the correct IU level of vitamin D

So, if you should have a blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of at least 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L), how much vitamin D do you need in your diet to get there?

Most of the information that is available about the relationship between dietary vitamin D and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D comes from studies on adults. These studies show that there’s not a simple linear relationship between the two factors. They find that if you have low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, you need very little dietary vitamin D to get to 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L) — just 600 international units (also called IU) are needed to get and keep you there.

If you don’t get any vitamin D from exposing your skin to the sun, you’ll need to get all of it from diet or supplements.

You can calculate that every 30 IU of vitamin D you consume will raise your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D by 1 ng/ml (600 IU divided by 20 ng/ml) or 2.5 nmol/L. Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as that. After you have 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L) of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in your blood, your body changes the way you use the vitamin D from the diet.

At that point, it takes a lot more vitamin D to raise your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels — to raise your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D from 20 to 30 ng/ml (50 to 75 nmol/L) you would need an additional 900 IU per day or more! (That’s 600 IU + 900 IU or 1,500 IU per day total to get your serum levels to 30 ng/ml [75 nmol/L].)

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-much-vitamin-d-does-your-body-need.html

ETFs: Performance of Socially Responsible Investments

Whereas investing in a socially responsible mutual fund or ETF may do the world some good, the question remains whether it will do your portfolio any good.

Proponents believe that nice companies, like nice salespeople, will naturally be more successful over time. Skeptics of investing with a social screen not only scoff at the notion of good karma but also say that limiting a fund manager’s investment choices could lead to lower performance.

So far, no solid evidence exists that either side is right — or wrong. Over the past decade or so, the collective performance of socially responsible mutual funds has been very similar to that of all other mutual funds.

It could be argued that a tie should be resolved in favor of socially responsible investing. If one can achieve market returns while at the same time prodding companies to improve their behavior, why not do that?

What about the specific performance of the socially responsible ETFs? To be blunt, they haven’t been around long enough for their collective performance record to count for much. And, of course, performance is only one factor to look at when deciding whether to recommend an ETF.

But if it matters to you, consider the performance of the oldest socially responsible ETF, the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select Index (KLD), founded in January 2005. KLD has a five-year annualized return of about 3.5 percent — pretty much on a par with the average large cap blend fund.

And (perhaps ironically) this performance is also on a par with USA Mutuals’ VICE mutual fund (VICEX), which seeks to invest in socially irresponsible companies!

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/etfs-performance-of-socially-responsible-investmen.html

Network Performance: Bottleneck Basics

The term bottleneck does not in any way refer to the physique of your typical computer geek. Rather, computer geeks coined the phrase when they discovered that the tapered shape of a bottle of Jolt Cola limited the rate at which they could consume the beverage.

The term stuck and is used to this day to draw attention to the simple fact that a computer system is only as fast as its slowest component. It’s the computer equivalent of the old truism that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

For a simple demonstration of this concept, consider what happens when you print a word processing document on a slow printer. Your word processing program reads the data from disk and sends it to the printer. Then you sit and wait while the printer prints the document.

Would buying a faster CPU or adding more memory make the document print faster? No. The CPU is already much faster than the printer, and your computer already has more than enough memory to print the document. The printer itself is the bottleneck, so the only way to print the document faster is to replace the slow printer with a faster one.

Here are some other random thoughts about bottlenecks:

• A computer system always has a bottleneck. For example, suppose that you decided that the bottleneck on your file server is a slow IDE hard drive, so you replace it with the fastest SCSI drive money can buy. Now, the hard drive is no longer the bottleneck: The drive can process information faster than the controller card to which the disk is connected.

  
  

  You haven’t really eliminated the bottleneck: You just moved it from the hard drive to the disk controller. No matter what you do, the computer will always have some component that limits the overall performance of the system.

  
  



• One way to limit the effect of a bottleneck is to avoid waiting for the bottleneck. For example, print spooling lets you avoid waiting for a slow printer. Spooling doesn’t speed up the printer, but it does free you to do other work while the printer chugs along. Similarly, disk caching lets you avoid waiting for a slow hard drive.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/network-performance-bottleneck-basics.html

Cool Free Apps for Your iPad

You'd be amazed at the apps available for your iPad. You can download any of these fun, free apps through the App Store to get you going with your iPad:

• Reading/Drawing

  
  
  
  

  • Stickyboard

    
    
  
  

  • Kindle e-Reader

    
    
  
  

  • iBooks

    
    
  
  

  • Stanza

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Music

  
  
  
  

  • Just Radio CB

    
    
  
  

  • Pandora

    
    
  
  

  • Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Games

  
  
  
  

  • Blocks Free

    
    
  
  

  • Solitaire Classic

    
    
  
  

  • Hit Tennis 2

    
    
  
  

  • Poker Free HD

    
    
  
  

  • Sudoku

    
    
  
  

  • Ping Pong

    
    
  
  

  • Just Guess It! Lite

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Reference

  
  
  
  

  • IMDb (movie listings)

    
    
  
  

  • Dictionary.com

    
    
  
  

  • Yellow Pages

    
    
  
  
  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/cool-free-apps-for-your-ipad.html

How to Protect Your Car from Rust

If you find some rust spots on your car, don’t panic. If the rust is underneath the vehicle, on the underside of the body or bumpers where it doesn’t show, or confined to very small areas that can be touched up easily, you can probably take care of the matter yourself.

The paint on your vehicle is there not only for beauty but for protection as well. As long as your paint job is unmarred, metal body surfaces are safe. But something as seemingly innocuous as a small scratch can spell the beginning of trouble. Check the following trouble spots:

• Small scratches, nicks, and spots where the paint may have flaked off: Touch up the paint in those areas before rust or corrosion can form on the bare metal.

  
  



• Dark spots in the paint: These may indicate that the metal is rusting underneath.

  
  



• Pitted places in the paint and on the chrome and metal trim: Treat these spots with rust remover, following the directions on the package.

  
  

Another prime breeding ground for rust is any place on a vehicle where grime, dirt, or salt can accumulate. These areas are usually around fenders, under trim, and so on. Pay special attention to the following when you look for rust:

• Each time you wash the car, take a flashlight and check around the fenders, in the wheel wells, and behind metal bumpers.

  
  



• Shine a light into the little crevices between the car body and all the trim and moldings that are affixed to it. Look all around the lights, windows, side mirrors, sunroof, and antenna, too.

  
  



• If you live in a damp area, check the metal surfaces inside the vehicle.

  
  



• One of the most insidious places rust forms is under your vehicle, where you can’t see it. The next time you bring your car in for service, have the shop put it up on the hoist and check its underbody thoroughly.

  
  

If you find rust, here’s what to do:

1. Gently scrape away the rust with a single-edged razor blade or fine-grain sandpaper.

   
   

   For slightly larger painted areas, use a brush with stiff (but not metal) bristles. Use coarse sandpaper to grind the rust off large areas that are out of sight and not surrounded by paint. Rust remover can make this job easier if you apply it after you get the crusty stuff off the surface.

   
   

   Always work inward from the edges to avoid extending the area by damaging the paint. Don’t turn a small job into a large one by carelessly damaging the surrounding paint!

   
   



2. After you’ve removed all the rust, apply some rust arrestor to keep the rust from spreading further.

   
   



3. As soon as the area is dry, prime and paint it to protect the surface and restore it to its former beauty.

   
   

If you see large rust holes in the body of the vehicle, or if the frame has been badly weakened by rust, get a couple of estimates from reliable body shops on what repairing the damage would cost. Then check those estimates against what your vehicle is worth by looking up the blue book value by make, model, and year at the Kelley Blue Book site or Edmunds’ site. If your vehicle seems worth the effort and money and is mechanically sound, bite the bullet and get it fixed professionally. Otherwise, it’s time to get yourself another set of wheels.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-protect-your-car-from-rust.html

Food Photography Equipment Checklist

Taking great food images requires a good bit of quality photographic equipment. Unfortunately, this equipment can be somewhat expensive. A hand-held point-and-shoot camera or smart-phone camera simply won't do. The following list can help get you started in food photography:

• A DSLR camera: If you're serious about food photography and hope to make money off your images, spring for a DSLR with a full-frame 35mm sensor ($2,000 and up). If photography is more of a hobby, you'll be happy with a crop-sensor DSLR ($500 and up). Forget about even high-end point-and-shoot cameras. They may offer a lot of megapixels, but the physical size of the image sensors in these cameras simply isn't large enough to capture the image detail you need.

  
  



• Lenses: Look for high-quality lenses in the 40mm to 85mm range with a lower f value (such as f/2.8 or lower) to get yourself started. These lenses will allow you to take a wide variety of shots. As your budget grows, you can add a wider lens and a telephoto lens to expand your shooting options.

  
  



• Camera stabilizers: Keeping your camera stable in low-light situations can really make a shot. Quality tripods and monopods can help you capture some really beautiful, clear images that would otherwise would not be possible if you were supporting the camera by hand. Avoid the flimsy $20 tripods found at low-price retailers. They aren't stable enough to use with a DSLR.

  
  



• Lighting: Unless you plan to only photograph in natural light, you'll need a main light, filler light, and back light. These lights need to be good and diffused to create a soft lighting environment to best show off your food subjects. You should also consider investing in a soft box light, reflectors, and C-stands.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/food-photography-equipment-checklist.html

Times Interest Earned Ratio in QuickBooks 2012

Several leverage ratios can be used in QuickBooks 2012. The times interest earned ratio indicates how easily a firm pays interest expenses incurred on its debt. To calculate the times interest earned ratio, you need an income statement that shows both operating income and interest expense.

A Simple Income Statement

Sales revenue	$150,000
Less: Cost of goods sold	30,000
Gross margin	$120,000
Rent	5,000
Wages	50,000
Supplies	5,000
Total operating expenses	60,000
Operating income	60,000
Interest expense	(10,000)
Net income	$50,000

The following formula is used for calculating the times interest earned ratio:

operating income/interest expense

If you look at the income statement shown, you see that operating income, which is the income that a firm has before paying its interest expense, equals $60,000. Interest expense shows up as $10,000. Therefore, you calculate the times interest earned ratio by using this formula:

$60,000/$10,000

This formula returns the times interest earned ratio of 6. Therefore, the firm’s operating profits pay the interest expense six times over.

No standard guideline exists for the times interest earned ratio. Obviously, however, the times interest earned ratio should indicate that a firm can easily pay its interest expense. It would be sort of scary, if you think about it, for the operating income to only be a little bit greater than the firm’s interest expense.

Such a situation would indicate that a modest drop in operating income would make paying interest expense impossible.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/times-interest-earned-ratio-in-quickbooks-2012.html

Network Administration: Subnetting Overview

Subnetting is a technique that lets network administrators use the 32 bits available in an IP address more efficiently by creating networks that aren’t limited to the scales provided by Class A, B, and C IP addresses. With subnetting, you can create networks with more realistic host limits.

Subnetting provides a more flexible way to designate which portion of an IP address represents the network ID and which portion represents the host ID. With standard IP address classes, only three possible network ID sizes exist: 8 bits for Class A, 16 bits for Class B, and 24 bits for Class C. Subnetting lets you select an arbitrary number of bits to use for the network ID.

Two reasons compel people to use subnetting. The first is to allocate the limited IP address space more efficiently. If the Internet were limited to Class A, B, or C addresses, every network would be allocated 254, 64 thousand, or 16 million IP addresses for host devices.

Although many networks with more than 254 devices exist, few (if any) exist with 64 thousand, let alone 16 million. Unfortunately, any network with more than 254 devices would need a Class B allocation and probably waste tens of thousands of IP addresses.

The second reason for subnetting is that even if a single organization has thousands of network devices, operating all those devices with the same network ID would slow the network to a crawl. The way TCP/IP works dictates that all the computers with the same network ID must be on the same physical network.

The physical network comprises a single broadcast domain, which means that a single network medium must carry all the traffic for the network. For performance reasons, networks are usually segmented into broadcast domains that are smaller than even Class C addresses provide.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/network-administration-subnetting-overview.html

Correcting Slipcover Problems

Whether your slipcover is too long or too short, too tight or too loose, there are ways to improve your slipcovers so they add charm to the room. Here, the biggest slipcover problems are solved:

• 
  

  Your slipcover is too tight: What if you’ve done your best to get a perfect, snug fit, but your slipcover ended up being too tight (you barely got it on, and you risk popping the seams if you sit on it)? If you planned a 1-inch seam allowance, get out your seam ripper, open up your seams, and resew them with a smaller seam allowance.

  
  

  If you didn’t start with a 1-inch seam allowance, don’t despair. Just add some strips of fabric (one with stretch, such as Lycra) in hidden areas of your slipcover to give it more wiggle room. By seeing where the fabric puckers — usually around the area where two seams meet — when you place it on your furniture, you can figure out where you need to add some give and how much you need.

  
  


• 
  

  Your slipcover has a crooked hem: After you fit your slipcover on your furniture, you may notice that your hem isn’t completely straight. Instead of starting over, consider adding a decorative trim to disguise a crooked hem. Choose a trim that will give you adequate coverage — a fringe trim (that has a decorative heading and a skirt) does the trick — so your mistake is fully covered.

  
  
  

  Pin your trim onto your slipcover while it’s still on the furniture, making sure that the trim is parallel with the floor, not aligned with the slipcover hem (which is crooked!). Try not to stretch the trim too tightly. Then remove it and sew or hot glue your trim in place

  
  


• 
  

  Your slipcover is too short: Ruffles can extend a too-short slipcover hem, giving added length to a slipcover while providing a softening, feminine touch.

  
  

  You can choose from a few ways when treating the bottom of a slipcover with ruffles:

  
  
  
  
  • 
    

    The easiest way to attach a ruffle is to sew it on to the hem’s underside with a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    You can also attach the ruffle to the topside of the slipcover — the right side of the slipcover facing the wrong side of the ruffle and then add a decorative trim (one without a skirt) over the area where the slipcover fabric and ruffle meet.

    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  

  Your slipcover slips and slides: Is your slipcover acting just a bit unruly? Elastic can help keep a sewn slipcover in its place. Attaching a few sections of elastic along the underside areas of your slipcover can go a long way toward preventing slippage.

  
  

  Your goal is to sew your elastic on so that it stretches along an area that hugs the furniture. Think of the way elastic sheet corners keep fitted sheets on your bed, or the elastic in a shower cap keeps it from slipping off your head.

  
  


• 
  

  Your slipcover has crooked seams: You may find that after you’ve finished making your slipcover and put it on your furniture, the seams are a bit crooked, or your slipcover lacks any oomph. You can add a trim over the seams to give your slipcover a great look and cover up any errors.

  
  

  Flat trims work best because they’re easy to apply; they also frame a slipcover nicely and provide contrast. However, fringe trims that hang down don’t work as well on vertical seams because the skirts go in the wrong direction, giving your slipcover a fuzzy or furry look instead of a chic one! Consider using a 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch-wide ribbon; attach it with a zigzag stitch.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/correcting-slipcover-problems.html

The Flash Toolbar and Its Keyboard Shortcuts

Using Flash not only jazzes up your Web site, it has handy tools to help you do it — and a shortcut for each tool. The Flash toolbar, shown in following figure, shows the shortcut keys in parentheses next to each tool. Note that not every tool has a shortcut key.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-flash-toolbar-and-its-keyboard-shortcuts.html

Using an Engine Heater in a Diesel Engine for Cold-Weather Starts

Because diesel engines require much higher temperatures to fire the fuel, they’ve always been harder to start in cold weather than gasoline-powered vehicles. To warm things up before the engine can run, a variety of heaters have been developed that keep various parts of the vehicle warm and snuggly even when it isn’t being driven. Some of these gadgets may be on the vehicle when you buy it; others you can buy and install later on if the need for them arises.

If you’re planning to buy a diesel, be sure to ask which heating devices are included in the purchase price. If you live in a cold climate or do much traveling, consider having several devices available for extreme weather conditions. The following sections describe some of your options.

• Block heaters: Many diesels come equipped with built-in electric-powered block heaters to keep the engine block warm overnight. You just park the vehicle, plug the heater cord into a heavy-duty three-pronged extension cord, and then plug the extension cord into a 110-volt electrical socket that can handle a three-pronged plug. When shopping, don’t skimp on the length of the extension cord — it can be 50 feet to a socket from a motel parking lot! In Alaska, where a block heater is vital, electrical outlets are built right into some parking meters.

  
  

  When buying a heater, consult the charts at an auto parts store or dealership to match the wattage of the heater to the size of your engine and the range of weather you expect to encounter. When plugged in, a high-wattage heater will run up your electric bills unnecessarily if you have a small engine or don’t expect the temperature to go below zero very often.

  
  



• Battery warmers: If your diesel doesn’t start in cold weather and you remembered to plug in the block heater, your battery may be the culprit. Batteries can lose 35 percent of their power at 32 degrees F and as much as 60 percent at 0 degrees F.

  
  

  This problem has two remedies: You can buy a battery with greater capacity (providing that there’s room for one under the hood), or you can buy a battery warmer. The two most popular models, both of which simply plug into a nearby 110-volt socket, are

  
  
  
  

  • The “hot plate” warmer, which simply slides under the battery like a cookie sheet and warms its little toesies.

    
    
  
  

  • The “electric blanket” warmer, which wraps around the battery and uses more current than the hot plate version to deal with really frigid situations.

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Oil warmers: You can buy a heated dipstick to heat the oil in the engine crankcase — you just trade it for your normal dipstick and plug it into an electrical outlet.

  
  

If your heater isn’t able to combat the cold effectively, if you have an electric hair dryer and a long enough extension cord to get it to the vehicle, try turning the dryer on and putting the nozzle into the car’s air inlet duct. The warm air should help your engine warm up faster.

Never use engine-starting fluids to start your engine — no matter how eager you are to get underway. The ether in these fluids can ignite at such low temperatures that you risk a fire or an explosion. Although the containers carry instructions, measuring the “safe” proportions required is just too hard. If you feel that you must use this stuff, have a starting-fluid injection kit installed instead.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/using-an-engine-heater-in-a-diesel-engine-for-cold.html

Discovering More about the Koran

The Islamic tradition describes the Koran as a vast ocean of knowledge that never ceases in its wisdom, no matter how much you study it. You may want to continue investigating the Koran, looking for new perspectives, challenges, and insights.

Comparing "translations"

You can find several "translations" of the Koran at any major bookstore.

Don't rely on a single translation of the Koran, but rather get two or three that you can compare and contrast.

Of course, the Arabic never changes, but the translation of it into English is based as much on interpretation as it is on "translation" — because no one word can fully reflect the depth of many concepts found in the Arabic language.

Translators often vary in how they choose to translate or interpret these Koranic concepts. Comparing and contrasting two or three "translations" helps you gain a broader depth of the Koran's meaning.

Here are some "translations" that reflect the Koran's Arabic and original meaning:

• The Holy Qur'an: English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary, by Abdullah Yusuf Ali; published by King Fahd Holy Qur'an Printing Press. This famous translation was endorsed for a long time by the Saudi royal family.

Ali, a British convert to Islam, does a good job of reflecting the Koran's eloquence, and his footnotes are for the most part brilliant.

The translator uses old-style English, which makes it a bit difficult to read for the modern reader. But, if you can read old-English literature, such as Shakespeare, then you may feel comfortable reading Ali's translation as well.

Finally, Ali's work has a fairly good index that can aid you in your research on the Koran.

• The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, an explanatory translation by Mohammed Marmoduke Pickthall; published by Maktaba Jawahar al Uloom. This translation is usually sold in pocket-size editions, which makes it a good travel companion.

Pickthall, a British convert to Islam, mixes simplicity of language with eloquence. His work has almost no footnotes, and the index is not very comprehensive.

However, his lack of commentary and excellent translation prove a great combination if you want to read and understand the Koran for yourself before venturing into the interpretation of the interpreters.

• The Majestic Quran, by Abdal Hakim Murad, Mostafa al-Badawi, and Uthman Hutchinson; published by the Nawawi Foundation: This book offers a unique combination of simple, easy-to-understand English with great elegance to reflect the rhythm of the Koran. It contains over 800 footnotes that draw from the classical tradition of Koranic interpretation.

Before you begin reading a translation (or interpretation) of the Koran, you should check into the qualifications of the translator. Most good translations are done by those who have an expert command of the Arabic and English language. Also, translators who are thoroughly familiar with Western culture are usually more reliable.

Most early translations of the Koran into English (and other European languages) were done by Christian missionaries, who introduced several alien — and often derogatory — concepts into the Koran. As such, you may want to avoid these translations if you want to discover the authentic message and teachings of the Koran.

Listening to the Koran

The message of the Koran can be understood by its reading, but the best way to experience the powerful soul of the Koran is by listening to its beautiful recitation.

Non-Arab speaking Muslims are as awed by the Koran voice as are Arab-speaking Muslims who can understand the meaning as it is being recited. Many non-Muslims, such as authors Michael Sells and Karen Armstrong, also speak fondly of the almost therapeutic affect of Koranic recitation on its listeners. As such, your experience of the Koran cannot be complete without listening to its magnificent voice.

Check out these recitations on the Web:

• Islam Web. You'll find over 130 reciters to choose from on this site. The names are listed in English, so it's easier to choose a reciter.

• Islam Way. This site features the most famous reciters known in the Muslim world.tabmark

Studying Arabic

Arabic is the language of the Koran. With the enormous depth that this beautiful language carries, you can't fully grasp the teachings of the Koran without understanding the Arabic language.

Here's some advice if you want to study the Koran's language:

• If you live near a university, most schools offer introductory Arabic courses. These classes provide a good way to familiarize yourself with the alphabets and basic grammar.

• Pick up a copy of The Dictionary of the Holy Qur'an, by Abdul Mannan Omar, published by Noor Foundation International, Inc. Omar accurately translates and fully explains the meaning of Arabic words found in the Koran. Also, the appendix gives a nice introduction to the Arabic language and its grammatical structure.

Taking Classes

Islamic Studies courses, which many universities and colleges now offer, can help you discover more about the Koran and Islam in general.

Understand, though, that academic study of religion is different than studying Muslim life. If you are more interested in knowing how Islam is lived and in discovering traditional understandings of Islam, your time may be better spent talking to Muslims or reading books about the Koran and Islam.

Also, if you live in or near a major city, you can usually find a center of knowledge where Muslims and non-Muslims gather to study the Koran and Islam. For example, if you live in the Bay Area in California, you can look into attending classes at the Zaytuna Institute, which offers courses on Koranic sciences and Islam in general.

Talking to Muslims

Conversing with Muslims about the Koran provides a great way to find out more about how traditional Muslims understand and interpret the Book.

Most, but not all, Muslims are quite comfortable in discussing their faith with non-Muslims. However, you should remember that not every Muslim has a good level of knowledge about the Koran. You may have to talk to a few before you can gain insight into the Scripture from a Muslim's perspective.

If you don't know Muslims personally, you can find your local mosque through Islamic Finder. Contact the people at your local mosque, who are often quite open to putting you in touch with a Muslim or a few Muslims.

If you live on or near a college campus, you can contact Muslims through their respective campus organization, usually known as the Muslim Students Association.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/discovering-more-about-the-koran.html

Set Up a New Ad in the WordPress Advertising Manager Plugin

The Advertising Manager by Scott Switzer is built to work automatically with more than ten common ad networks and lets you manage all your ad placements in one place, with simple settings that allow you to dictate how and where ads appear on your blog.

You can place ads in your blog template as well as in individual blog posts or pages. It also lets you rotate several ads in one ad unit, allowing you to assign a weight to each ad so it automatically shows your higher paying ads more frequently than the lower paying ones. It also integrates with OpenX, an even more powerful ad management tool.

Follow these steps to set up a new ad in the WordPress Advertising Manager plugin:

1. Download, install, and activate the Advertising Manager plugin.

   
   



2. From your WordPress Dashboard, choose Ads→Create New.

   
   



3. Paste your ad code into the text field and click Import.

   
   



4. In the Name text box, enter a name according to where the ad unit appears on your blog, such as Leaderboard or Under Post Medium Rectangle.

   
   

   If you want to be able to rotate ads in the same ad unit, you need to name all the ads that will appear in the same position with the same name. So all ads named “Sidebar” will rotate in the spot where you place your Sidebar ad tags as shown later in Steps 11 and 12. The name you choose won’t be publicly displayed.

   
   

   The Name field may auto-populate for you. You can still name it however you see fit.

   
   



5. The Account Details fields will be automatically populated for you. If not, you can leave them blank.

   
   



6. Under Ad Format, choose the ad size, or enter your own if the ad has nonstandard dimensions.

   
   



7. Under Website Display Options, select where you want the ads to appear.

   
   

   You still need to place the ads into your blog posts or blog template. But if you have specific pages or sections of your site where you don’t want ads to appear, these options allow you to block ads by criteria such as categories or author.

   
   

   Select the check boxes for where you want the ads to appear and deselect the check boxes for where you don’t want the ads to appear.

   
   



8. Under Advanced Options, give your ad a weight if you’re rotating more than one ad in an ad unit.

   
   

   A weight of 1 is the lowest, and a weight of 2 means that the ad will appear twice as much as a weight of 1. A weight of 0 will stop the ad from running altogether.

   
   



9. On the right sidebar in the Notes section, be sure to enter identifying information such as Molly’s Etsy Shop Ad.

   
   

   That will be the only way you’ll be able to tell ads apart in the Advertising Manager Dashboard.

   
   



10. Click Save.

    
    

    The rest of the settings can be safely left at their defaults.

    
    



11. To place the ad unit into a blog post, switch to HTML view and place your cursor where you want the ad to appear. Then select the appropriate ad unit name from the Insert Ad drop-down list.

    
    



12. To place the ad unit into your blog sidebar, go to the WordPress Widgets page by clicking on the Widgets link under the Appearance menu.

    
    

    A new widget appears as an option for you to place on your sidebar labeled Advertisement.

    
    



13. Click and drag that widget onto your sidebar where you want your ad to appear.

    
    

    The widget immediately expands and offers easy configuration options. You can give the ad a title in the Title text box (such as Our Sponsors) or leave the title blank.

    
    



14. Select the ad you want to appear from the drop-down list.

    
    



15. (Optional) If you want your ad to appear with no widget formatting, select the Hide Widget Formatting check box.

    
    

    Some themes have a separator or special header for each widget, and selecting this will hide your theme-specific formatting. You can test the appearance with and without the formatting to see which one you prefer.

    
    



16. Click the Save button to apply the advertisement widget changes.

    
    

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/set-up-a-new-ad-in-the-wordpress-advertising-manag.html