What Acupressure and Reflexology Can Do for You

Many healing arts, including acupressure and reflexology, are based on the beliefs of Chinese energy medicine — which people first practiced more than 5,000 years ago. The ancient Chinese believed that spiritual imbalances caused many illnesses and physical ailments. In order to effectively address the pain, you needed to resolve your spiritual imbalance and get your energies and life force in a balanced state.

Here are a few specific ways in which acupressure and reflexology may make a healthy difference in your life:

• Immune support: Bodywork therapies can have a major positive impact on your immune system. The ancient Chinese believed that too much (or too little) energy in a certain meridian or zone could cause undue stress, which would weaken the immune system.

Although specific acupoints are often cited as being specific "immune booster" targets, addressing any energy imbalances you may have will certainly have a positive impact on the state of your immune system.

For maximum benefit to your immune system, use healing arts in conjunction with related techniques, such as meditation and deep breathing. In addition, avoid stress whenever possible.

• Circulatory stimulation: One of the basic goals of bodywork techniques is to stimulate the proper circulation of energy. But here's a little secret: blood flow follows energy. So, in essence, by opening pathways for energy, you simultaneously stimulate blood to flow better.

Acupressure and reflexology are excellent ways to stimulate your circulatory system, which is essential to good health. Poor circulation can cause all sorts of undesirable problems, from cramps and swelling (especially in the legs and feet) to more serious conditions like blood clots and strokes.

• Relieving aches, pains, and muscle strains: Bodywork is perhaps most commonly employed as an effective way to treat aches and pains. Although any type of massage or muscle stimulation (if done properly) can help alleviate aches and pains, the techniques used in acupressure and reflexology can allow you to pinpoint the root of the pain, thus treating it much more quickly and efficiently.

Plus, by using these techniques correctly, you can often treat pain in several different parts of the body at once (or in rapid succession), thus providing a healing option that can save you considerable time and effort.

• Rehabilitation and support for injury recovery: Bodywork is also commonly used to help the body heal more quickly following an injury. By encouraging the optimal flow of energy to the affected area (and stimulating its corresponding acupoints), you can often speed up the healing and recovery process. In addition, eliminating or reducing pain in that area makes it much easier to perform physical therapy exercises or other routines involved in the rehabilitation process.

• Optimal wellness and performance: Improving your energy flow not only helps the specific areas involved, but also boosts your overall well-being and puts you in a more positive frame of mind. This combination allows you to perform at your peak level, while also sustaining proper energy flow necessary for endurance.

• Stress reduction: Stress reduction is an important benefit of acupressure and reflexology. Restoring balance to the system reduces muscle tension and promotes relaxation. When you begin to change the patterns of imbalance, stress automatically reduces in your life.

• Emotional growth and transformation: During a pressure point session, you may experience deep relaxation. This type of relaxation allows you to access deeper places within. Here you may find some of the patterns that keep you from being fully satisfied in life. You may find that you're able to see things with a new perspective and that issues that have always bothered you don't anymore.

• Making you aware that your body is your temple: Universal qi, or vital force, is a pretty special substance. You store it in your body, so increasing internal qi sort of makes your body a temple. When this increase of internal qi happens, you may find that you develop a new appreciation for your body, for being alive, and for the special and unique place you have on this planet.

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Bunting in Baseball

Bunting occurs when a batter holds the bat in the hitting zone and, without swinging, lets the ball make contact with it. The idea is to deaden the ball so that the baserunners can advance (or the hitter can get to first base) while the opposing fielders run in to make a play.

Anyone may be called upon to bunt at anytime during the season. For example, say you come to bat with the winning run on first and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth inning; in this case, a sacrifice bunt would get the runner into scoring position. Bunts can help win ball games, so everyone who swings a bat should know how to lay down a bunt.

Pitchers need to know how to bunt, even if they play in a league that allows designated hitters.

Choosing your bunting stance

The most commonly used bunting stance is the pivot. Take your normal stance at the plate while waiting for the pitch. As the ball comes to the plate, pivot your upper body toward the pitch while keeping your feet in their stance position (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: An ideal bunting stance.

The pivot has several advantages:

• You can flow into a pivot quickly so you maintain an element of surprise.

• In the event of a fake bunt — where you "show" bunt to pull in the infielders and then swing away to drive the ball past them — the pivot allows you to easily resume a standard batting stance.

• With a pivot stance, getting out of the path of errant pitches is easier.

The squared stance is your other bunting option — and perhaps the best option for players just starting out. Bring your feet parallel to home plate and each other while keeping them shoulder-width apart (see Figure 2). This stance gives you better plate coverage and a longer look at the ball than the pivot, but it also has its drawbacks.

Figure 2: The squared-stance bunt.

You become more vulnerable to being hit by a pitch, you risk stepping out of the batter's box (in which case the umpire may call you out), and, because you have to get set in this position early, you decrease your chances of surprising the opposition.

Whether you pivot or square around to bunt, make sure you drop into a slight crouch and square your shoulders toward the pitcher. Shift your weight forward as you stand on the balls of your feet. Hold the bat handle firmly with your bottom hand so that you can control it, but don't squeeze the handle or you may hit the ball too hard.

Slide your top hand up near the bat label. Pinch the barrel with your fingers and thumb, your thumb on top. This action shapes the hand into a U that absorbs any impact when the ball strikes your bat. It also protects your fingers (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Holding the bat for the bunt.

Many bunters hold their bats parallel to the ground while waiting for the pitch. Some think it is better to hold the top of the bat barrel slightly higher than the handle. This strategy keeps you on top of the ball, which is where the bunter has to be. If you come up underneath the pitch, you pop it up. If you hit the ball dead center, you produce a soft line drive that can be converted into a double play.

Hold the bat near the top of your strike zone so that you know that any pitch over your bat is a ball. This prevents you from offering at high pitches, which are the hardest to bunt.

Try to bunt a low pitch. Watch the ball make contact with the bat in front of you and the plate. Give with the ball, don't push it. You should experience the sensation of "catching" the ball with your bat and guiding it to its destination. Let your bottom hand direct the bat's angle.

Bunting into a sacrifice

With the sacrifice bunt, the bunter advances the base runners while giving up a chance for a base hit. With a runner on first, bunt toward the area between the mound and the first baseman. With a runner on second or runners on first and second, bunt toward the third baseman to bring him off the bag (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Where to place the sacrifice bunt.

• Running the squeeze play: The squeeze play is a sacrifice bunt with a runner on third base. If a manager calls for a squeeze play, it's usually during the later innings of a close game with less than two outs.

Running the safety squeeze: On a safety squeeze, the runner breaks for home only after you drop your bunt on the infield. If the bunt isn't good, the runner stays at third. As the bunter, your job is to push the ball away from the pitcher and towards first or third base.

• Running the suicide squeeze: The suicide squeeze is a riskier play. It requires the runner to dash toward home plate as the ball leaves the pitcher's hand — he is coming home no matter what kind of bunt you drop! So you can't take the pitch even if it is out of the strike zone. You must bunt the ball somewhere.

Don't be too finicky about placement. With the runner bearing down on home, just bunt the ball to the ground in fair territory, and you drive in a run. Even if you bunt it foul with less than two strikes on you, the worst that can happen is the runner gets sent back to third. If you don't make contact with the ball, the catcher has the runner dead at the plate (which is why it's called the suicide squeeze).

Bunting for hits

To successfully bunt for a hit, you must catch the opposition unaware. This is where the pivot gives you an advantage: It enables you to deceive the infielders longer than the squared-around stance. To bunt for a hit, you should be in motion as the bat makes contact with the ball. You should also grip the bat a little more firmly than you did for the sacrifice.

Left-handed hitters use drag bunts, so named because the bunter appears to drag the ball along the first baseline as he runs toward first.

To execute the drag bunt, shift your weight onto your right foot as you pivot and step toward first base. Hold the bat solidly with its head pointed toward third. Don't pull back the bat or the ball will go foul. You should be moving into your second stride as you make contact with the ball. With your running start, you should beat out the bunt, if it stays fair.

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How to Promote Your Online Community at Trade Shows and Conferences

The terrific thing about exhibiting at a trade show is that you’re not being spammy if you talk about your online community or your brand. People expect to hear more at your booth, so it’s not unsolicited information.

Many conferences have trade-show areas where businesses can purchase booths and use those booths as platforms to discuss their products or services and even their communities. In addition to having your salespeople promoting the brand’s products and services, you can set up a computer screen to show potential members what the brand’s community has to offer.

Trade shows can host thousands of people, many of whom will walk by your booth to familiarize themselves with your brand or request more information. A trade-show booth is a perfect place to recruit new members because visitors are voluntarily requesting information from you and have time to discuss the benefits of your online community in depth.

Because trade shows target specific markets, you can pick the shows that best fit with your brand and community. Potentially, everyone in attendance may have an interest in your community.

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Treating Depression or Anxiety to Improve Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Dealing with the painful symptoms of fibromyalgia can be so distressing it drives people into depression or anxiety and may actually worsen your symptoms. Talk with your doctor about the emotional difficulties you’re dealing with and the use of medications for these disorders which may also improve your fibromyalgia symptoms.

• Antidepressants may help you sleep better, which will improve your fibromyalgia symptoms.

  
  



• Anti-anxiety medications may help you to relax, decreasing your muscle tension and pain.

  
  



• Progressive relaxation exercises can improve fibromyalgia symptoms, as well as your symptoms of anxiety.

  
  

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How to Pick Paint Colors

1 of 12 in Series:
The Essentials of Painting a Room

Picking paint colors can get confusing, but you don’t need to hire a decorator. Use these professional tips for choosing paint colors to turn your home into a haven.

• Use the color wheel.

  
  

  Being familiar with the standard color wheel can help you pick the best paint and decorations for your home. Discover how primary, secondary, and tertiary colors work together at artSparx.

  
  



• Assess intensity and value

  
  

  The brightness of a color is its intensity, such as fire engine red. Sky blue and beige are low-intensity colors. Every color has a range of values from light to dark.

  
  



• Paint strips show a color, such as blue, and several hues ranging from lightest to darkest in intensity and value. The safest color selection is one of the two colors in the middle of the strip.

  
  



• Know your color scheme

  
  

  Color schemes fall into three categories: complementary, analogous, and neutral. Complementary schemes combine a primary and secondary color from opposite sides of the color wheel (red and green). Analogous colors are either warm (reds, oranges, and yellows) and cool (greens, blues, and violets). Neutrals are colors not included in a color wheel, such as browns, whites, and blacks.

  
  



• Visualize the undertones in colors

  
  

  The look of a paint color can change dramatically, depending on what’s next to it. Except for red, blue, and yellow, all colors are mixed. That white wall might take on pink undertones next to a red Oriental rug.

  
  

  Undertones are hard to spot until it’s too late. If you take a focal piece, such as a pillow or photo, to a paint store, the clerk will be able to help you avoid these problems.

  
  



• Evaluate natural and artificial light

  
  

  Look at your paint chips under the kind of light in room: direct, indirect, or artificial light. Look at the paint chips against furniture and rugs. Pick your favorites and get a small jar to brush on a piece of white poster board. Tape the dried poster board to the wall and evaluate again. Assessing a larger color samples ensures that you’re making the right choice.

  
  



• Create a mood with color

  
  

  Color affects mood and the way you perceive the ambience of a space. Cool colors are calming and warm colors energize a room. Pair a warm color with a cooler complement to create energy.

  
  



• Change a room’s size with color

  
  

  To make a small room appear larger, paint it a pale, cool color. To make a large room feel more cozy, use warm colors or darker, more intense hues.

  
  



• Consider colors in adjacent rooms

  
  

  You want one room to flow naturally into the next although you don’t have to use the same color. Select complementary color schemes, or vary the intensity of one hue.

  
  



• Coordinate paint with furniture and flooring

  
  

  Highlight a favorite painting or rug by letting it inspire your color scheme. The trick is to choose a paint color that blends with the piece instead of matching it exactly.

  
  



• Play it safe with neutrals

  
  

  Neutrals blend in with other colors. They are considered “safe” wall treatments. If you’re selling your home, most potential buyers have an easier time visualizing their furnishings when looking at neutral walls.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-pick-paint-colors.html

Show Your Personality in Your Video Résumé

Hiring managers actually place great value on video résumés because video demonstrates a candidate’s professional presentation skills and demeanor. Your personality goes a long way in helping you stand out in today’s job market. You know the old saying: Someone else will always be more experienced, more educated, or more qualified than you are, but there’s never going to be another you.

Don’t fall victim to the common notion that in order to be professional, you have to whitewash your personality. Bringing your personality to the table simply means being yourself.

Here are some tricks to help you bring more personality into your video:

• Collect video testimonials from co-workers, managers, or customers — past or present. Make sure you get their permission to use this footage in any way you want. Later, when you edit your video résumé and prepare to post it, you can simply splice in these testimonials to double the film’s impact and demonstrate that other people have a positive opinion of you.

  
  



• Express your passions. Talk about what work you love to do and why you love it. If possible, demonstrate this passion on-screen. Remember that video allows you to show off your presentation skills. Speaking faster and becoming more animated during this portion can show the viewer how much you care about the subject.

  
  



• Use your sense of humor. You can always edit out a bad joke later, but the overall feeling that you’re having fun with the process can still come across indirectly. Remember those old Jackie Chan movies where, at the end, you see outtakes of Jackie being a total goofball? The fun that he has during filming comes across in the final edited film even without those deleted scenes.

  
  



• Interact with others. You may feel more comfortable with another person on the camera. Try setting up a mock TV interview with a friend or co-worker. Alternatively, have someone off-camera ask you questions and just film your replies. You can edit out the questions later, leaving behind your naturally delivered answers.

  
  



• Be yourself. Unlike scripted theater, the main point of storytelling is to appear natural and spontaneous, yet still prepared, skilled, and professional. Writing out a script is fine, but you don’t need to stick to it rigidly.

  
  



• Be confident. The most confident people are relaxed. Keep your arms and legs uncrossed. Smile, but don’t force it. Make eye contact but don’t stare. Vary your rate of speech. Use your hands to emphasize a point but keep in mind that too much hand movement can be distracting.

  
  

Always get a second opinion from a professional in your field about your final product before you publish it. Ask your reviewer whether the video captures your personality while still portraying you as professional. You want your reviewer to say, “Yeah! That’s exactly what working with you is like.”

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/show-your-personality-in-your-video-resume.html

Things Not to Do Online to Protect Your MacBook

One powerful weapon that you can use to make sure that your MacBook stays safe from unlawful intrusion is this: Practicing common sense on the Internet is just as important as adding a firewall and an antivirus application to your laptop.

With this in mind, here’s a checklist of things that you should never do while you’re online:

• Never download a file from a site you don’t trust. And make sure that your antivirus software is configured to check downloaded files before you open them.

  
  



• Never open an e-mail attachment until it has been checked. Don’t give in to temptation, even if the person who sent the message is someone you trust. (Many of today’s macro viruses actually replicate themselves by sending copies to the addresses found through the victim’s e-mail program. Of course, this problem crops up regularly in the Windows world, but it has been known to happen in the Macintosh community.)

  
  



• Never enter any personal information in an e-mail message unless you know the recipient. In fact, even e-mail can be intercepted by a determined hacker, so if you’re sending something truly important like personal data, use an encryption application, such as PGP Personal Desktop.

  
  



• Never enter any personal information on a web site provided as a link in an e-mail message. Don’t fall prey to phishing expeditions. Some of these e-mail-message/website combinations look authentic enough to fool anyone!

  
  

  No reputable online company or store will demand or solicit your personal information through e-mail or through a linked website. In fact, feel free to contact the company through its real website and report the phishing attempt!

  
  



• Never include any personal information in an Internet newsgroup post. (In case you’re not familiar with the term, newsgroups are public Internet message bases, often called Usenet groups. Some ISPs offer a selection of newsgroups that you can access.) Newsgroup posts can be viewed by anyone, so there’s no such thing as privacy in a newsgroup.

  
  



• Never buy from an online store that doesn’t offer a secure, encrypted connection when you’re prompted for your personal information and credit card number. If you’re using Apple’s Safari browser, the padlock icon appears next to the site name in the title bar. When the padlock icon appears in the title bar, the connection is encrypted and secure. You’ll also note that the web address begins with https: rather than http:.

  
  



• Never divulge personal information to others over an iChat connection.

  
  



• Never use the same password for all your electronic business. Use different passwords that include both letters and numbers, change them often, and never divulge them to anyone else.

  
  



• Never give anyone else administrative access to your web server.

  
  



• Never allow any type of remote access (such as sharing screens) to your MacBook or your network without testing that access first. It’s very important to restrict remote access to visitors whom you trust.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/things-not-to-do-online-to-protect-your-macbook.html

How to Use a Scanner

Save the image to disk.

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An alternative to saving the image to disk is to open the image in a photo- or image-editing application, where the image can be further refined or edited.

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Photoshop Elements 8 For Dummies

Photoshop Elements 8 enables you to create cool effects with your photos and create unique digital images. This Photoshop Elements 8 Cheat Sheet helps you get started with a quick tutorial on how to navigate the workspace. You also find a quick reference to the Toolbox (or Tools panel) keyboard shortcuts. As you become more familiar with Photoshop Elements 8, keep the handy table of selection techniques by your computer.

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How to Navigate the Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 Workspace

When you first start up Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, whether you’re new to Photoshop Elements or have upgraded to the latest version, you need to know how to get around the workspace. The following figure introduces you to the key features; check out the bullets for tips on how to use these features.

• Open an image in the Photoshop Elements 8 Edit Full mode by choosing File → Open.

  
  



• Get information about your image by looking at the Photoshop Elements status bar. Click the right-pointing arrow to get more details regarding your document.

  
  



• Need to see detail in your image? In Photoshop Elements, you zoom into your image by pressing Ctrl+spacebar and clicking. Zoom back out by pressing Alt+spacebar and clicking.

  
  



• Easily switch between open documents by clicking images in the Project Bin.

  
  



• More recent versions of Photoshop Elements use panels. Access panels as needed by choosing them from the Window menu or the Panels Bin. You use panels in Photoshop Elements to create effects, work with layers, and much more.

  
  



• In Photoshop Elements for Windows, show files from the Organizer by selecting options in the Show Open Files drop-down menu in the Project Bin. In Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac OS you can view your photos in Adobe Bridge. Select the photos you want to edit and right-click (or Control-click) and choose Open With. From the submenu, choose Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0.

  
  

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 Toolbox Shortcuts

In Photoshop Elements, you use the Toolbox, or Tools panel, to apply effects and techniques, such as masks, selections, brushstrokes, and more. The following figure shows you at a glance what keyboard shortcuts enable you to access tools in the Photoshop Elements 8 toolbox.

The last tool used requires pressing the Shift key and then the keystroke. For example, if the Elliptical Marquee was the last tool used, press Shift+M to return to the Marquee tool.

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Discover Selection Tricks in Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

Many of the cool Photoshop Elements effects begin with a good selection. The following table offers handy how-to's for the most common Photoshop Elements selection tricks (whether you use Windows or Mac OS X).

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Cause Marketing Prospect First Interaction

Your first interaction with a cause marketing prospect probably won’t be in person. It will be over the phone or e-mail. There’s a schism about the best way to initially connect with prospects: phone or e-mail.

Dialers, as they are sometimes called, argue that the phone is more personal, builds a relationship sooner, and is overall more effective. Technologists counter that e-mail is instant, preferred, detailed, and actionable. Both have been used with success

Regardless of which channel you use, keep the following in mind:

• A sale is not your goal. You’re not an inside sales position that has to close cause marketing pacts over the phone or through e-mail. Your No. 1 goal is face time — a meeting. A meeting allows you to present your pitch in person.

  
  



• Make them beg for more. Ideally, you want to give them just enough info on all the great things you can do so that they’ll meet with you and take the meeting serious enough to include the right decision makers.

  
  

  Okay, maybe you'll never have a prospect begging for more. But hopefully you'll be able to hang up the phone with a prospect knowing that she was eager to hear more and was looking forward to the meeting.

  
  

  The best way to excite a prospect about working with you is to address their needs and to relate to their interests, concerns, and goals.

  
  



• Get them talking — a lot. You should be listening for clues on what their needs might be and how you can best address them. (For more on getting them talking, see the nearby sidebar.)

  
  



• Get the lay of the land. Whether it’s by phone or e-mail, use the time to find out the decision-making process. Can the vice president of marketing really make the decision, or does he have to run everything by the CEO?

  
  

  Will you have to meet with three people at once to get a decision? Or meet with one person three times? It’s never too early to make sure that you’re talking to the right person and begin counting the steps to success.

  
  



• Know when to shut up. Your goal is to speak strategically so that you land a meeting with the right decision maker. If you drone on, you risk giving the prospect too much information, and he can make a decision without ever meeting you! That’s why you should never talk for too long. E-mails should be short and never, ever include attachments. People say they open them, but they rarely do.

  
  

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Crystal Reports 10: Understanding Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)

The primary purpose for a report is to present database data to users in a form that's easy to understand. Crystal Reports gives you all the tools you need to do that. Sometimes, however, you want a report that does more than just present database data. You might want to include text from a word processing file, or data that resides in a spreadsheet, or a graphical image stored as a bitmapped image file. To allow the sharing of various kinds of information in different kinds of files, Microsoft developed the OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) architecture.

Reports that you create with Crystal Reports can serve as OLE container applications. That is, they can contain OLE objects that were created by other applications called OLE server applications. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are examples of OLE server applications. You can take text from a Microsoft Word file as an OLE object — or take an Excel spreadsheet as an OLE object — and place it in a Crystal report.

Crystal Reports can also function as an OLE server application. You can define a report as an OLE object and place it into a Word text file, an Excel spreadsheet, or any other OLE-compatible container application.

OLE offers an unusual advantage: When you bring an OLE object into Crystal Reports and place it in a report, the object maintains a relationship with the application that created it. The nature of that relationship depends on whether the OLE object is static, embedded, or linked.

Static OLE objects

A static OLE object is a snapshot of an object that has been copied from the original application to the container application. You can place a static OLE object in a Crystal report, but after you put it there, you can't edit it or change it in any way (except to delete it). A static OLE object doesn't maintain any connection to the application that created it.

Embedded objects and linked objects

As with a static OLE object, an embedded OLE object is downloaded entirely to the container application, with an important difference: An embedded object is no snapshot. It has an "awareness" of which server application it comes from, and you can edit it within the container application. When you double-click an embedded OLE object, it becomes editable. The server application takes over the menus and toolbars to allow editing. For example, if you embed an Excel spreadsheet into a report, you can edit the spreadsheet from within Crystal Reports — using Excel menus and toolbars.

Any modifications you make to an embedded OLE object don't show up in the original file in the OLE server application. If you want to change the original, you have to do that separately.

Linked objects are like visitors; they don't actually move to the container application. What the container application contains is a pointer to the linked object (which remains in the server application). This link means that whenever the original object in the server application is updated, the linked object in the container application is updated too. Suppose, for example, that your server application is Excel, and you update the data in the linked spreadsheet. The next time you run your report in Crystal Reports, it pulls the latest data from the Excel file to display in the report.

Linking is best if your report must always reflect the latest data — and if you want the data in multiple applications to remain synchronized. The pointer also takes up less space than embedding a large spreadsheet or Word document, which makes the report faster to load. Reports containing linked objects are, however, less portable than reports containing embedded objects. For the link to work, the original server application must be present on the machine that's running Crystal Reports. By contrast, an embedded object is completely self-contained, needing no link to its source file or application.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/crystal-reports-10-understanding-object-linking-an.html

Use iOS-Specific Meta Tags in HTML5

In HTML5, you can include meta tags specific to iOS (Apple’s operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad). These tags enable you to control how your site appears or how your users interact with it via the touchscreen on an iPhone or iPad.

If a visitor arrives at your site using a device that doesn’t support these features, the browser simply ignores them. Here’s a quick introduction to the iOS-specific tags:

• viewport — When you visit most web pages on an iPhone or iPad, you can pan around the page and zoom by using pinch and stretch finger gestures to shrink or enlarge the page and its contents. This feature helps make websites that were designed for desktop computer screens possible to read on the smaller screen on an iPhone.

  
  

  However, if you’ve optimized your design for these devices in the first place, you may want to prevent users from panning and zooming because it’s unnecessary and may confuse them.

  
  

  To block the pan and zoom features on a page that you’ve designed to perfectly fit the iPhone or iPad screen, use the meta viewport tag, which sets the window to the width of itself and prevents scaling:

  
  

  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;" /> 

  
  

  This viewport meta tag setting is best used if your site is designed to fit perfectly on the small iPhone screen. If your site isn’t optimized for small screens, it’s best not to use this meta tag because you’ll want to allow visitors to enlarge sections of the page and scroll around as necessary to read your content.

  
  



• apple-mobile-web-app-capable — This meta tag tells the Safari browser that it doesn’t need to have the navigation options at the top and bottom of the screen on the iPhone or iPod touch. It also removes the navigation options at the top of the iPad screen.

  
  

  This feature doesn’t work the first time someone visits a website. It works only if a visitor to your site has bookmarked the page by saving a Web Clip icon. When someone uses the link from the Web Clip icon to visit your site, this meta tag hides the navigation.

  
  

  <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />

  
  

  If you choose to use this tag, you must ensure that your site doesn’t need the typical navigation options that the browser provides. When you remove the bars at the top and bottom of the iPhone and iPad, you gain some valuable real estate for your designs, but you lose the back and forward arrows and other navigation features built into these devices.

  
  

  If you use this option, make sure your website includes navigation elements to help visitors move through your website.

  
  



• apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style — The default style of the toolbar on an iPhone or iPad is opaque black. If you want to change the style of the status bar to a translucent black, you can use yet another iOS-specific meta tag. This meta tag also works only if the user visits a website via the link from a Web Clip icon.

  
  

<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent" />

If you remove both of the interface bars and set the status bar to translucent, you have an extra 124 horizontal pixel lines of screen real estate in Safari on the iPhone and iPod touch. That’s over 25 percent more room on the small screen! A translucent black status bar also allows content of the page to flow underneath the status bar.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/use-iosspecific-meta-tags-in-html5.html

Remote Control Features to Watch For

Remote controls aren't clunky any more. New remote controls have all sorts of features and options for your home theater: tiny, large, color, touch-sensitive, voice-controlled, time-controlled, and on and on.

You can spend $19 on a great remote or $5,000 on a “gold-plated” touch-screen, whole-home remote control that not only controls all the devices in your home theater but also runs all the electronics in your home.

Here are some remote control features to watch for:

• Radio frequency (RF) versus infrared (IR): It used to be that all remotes were infrared-based. Now, many are touting RF connectivity, which is in many ways better than IR. First, RF signals tend to travel farther than IR. Second, you don’t need to point the remote at the TV set; RF can go in all directions, even through walls and cabinet doors.

  
  

  A downside of RF remotes is the possibility that you could unintentionally control devices in other rooms. In the vast majority of cases, you won’t run into this issue, because those other devices won’t be using the same remote codes as the ones in your home theater room.

  
  

  Most home theater equipment uses an IR remote control system, so if you use an RF system, you need some equipment to convert the RF signals to IR to control these IR-only devices.

  
  



• Touch-screen displays: Color and grayscale displays are replacing hard buttons on remotes, enabling them to be far more programmable and customizable for your system. It’s not unusual that your remote would connect to your PC to customize the “soft buttons” on your remote’s screen. Standalone touch screens are even starting to replace remotes.

  
  



• New control options: Two-way operation and voice control are innovations that should grow in popularity. With two-way operation, higher-end remotes can interact with the controlled unit to determine its state. So, for instance, if a unit is already on, your programmed macro won’t turn it off at the start of its session. And with two-way operation, you can check your actions to make sure they were carried out.

  
  

  Voice control lets you bark orders to your remote control (and even to other microphones in your home theater). Want the volume turned up? No problem: “Higher volume please.” Voice-control functionality is making its way into a lot of devices, including standalone Web tablets, making voice control a key future item in your home theater.

  
  

  Another interesting innovation is the docking cradle. A cradle might enable your remote to charge, to access the Internet for revised programming schedules, or to update its internal code databases.

  
  



• IR (infrared) emitters/blasters: When one IR device wants to control another device, it often sends signals to the other device’s IR port through an IR blaster — a small device that sits some distance from (or in the instance of very small versions called emitters, is taped to) the IR port. Many PC applications interface with your home theater system through an IR blaster, to do things such as change the channel on your satellite receiver to start recording a program. You might find you have several IR blasters for different devices in your system.

  
  

  Within specific brands of A/V gear, you will find IR ports for interconnecting and sharing IR data directly into the motherboard — bypassing the IR port. This is one of the benefits of using a single manufacturer for your gear. Examples include systems such as Sony’s S-Link, which uses a special cable to connect Sony devices to each other.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/remote-control-features-to-watch-for.html

Contrasting Single and Double Quotes in Perl

To summarize the main difference between single and double quotation marks: Single quotation marks do not interpret, and double quotation marks do. That is, if you put something in single quotation marks, Perl assumes that you want the exact characters you place between the marks — except for the slash-single quote (\') combination and double-slash (\\) combination. If you place text inside double quotation marks, however, Perl interprets variable names. Perl also interprets special characters inside double-quoted literal strings.

Take a look at the following short program, which uses single quotes in its print statement:

$Book = 'Perl For Dummies';
print 'The title is $Book.';

When you run the program, Perl displays

The title is $Book.

Now change the single quotes to double quotes in the print statement:

$Book = 'Perl For Dummies';
print "The title is $Book.";

When you run the program now, Perl displays

The title is Perl For Dummies.

In the first program, the single quotes tell Perl not to interpret anything inside the quotation marks. In the second program, Perl sees the double quotes, interprets the variable $Book, and then inserts that into the text.

Note that the period at the end of the print statement appears immediately after the value of $Book. After interpreting the variable $Book, Perl starts looking for text again, finds the period, and prints it.

You can have as many variables as you want inside double-quoted strings. For example:

$Word1 = "thank";
$Word2 = "you";
$Sentence = "I just wanted to say $Word1 $Word2.";
print $Sentence;

These lines print

I just wanted to say thank you.

Perl interprets each variable and places it directly in the variable $Sentence. Notice that when the print statement displays the contents of $Sentence, it inserts a space between the two quoted words, just as it should, and the period at the end. Perl picks out just the variables and substitutes for them but leaves other characters, such as spaces, exactly as you enter them.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/contrasting-single-and-double-quotes-in-perl.html

Excel 2003 for Dummies

Running Excel 2003 is easier when you know the shortcut keys to manage your worksheets and cell entries. The Speech Recognition feature in Excel 2003 lets you enter data, like symbols and punctuation, by dictating specific words and phrases.

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Shortcut Keys for Manipulating Worksheets in Excel 2003

Learning keyboard shortcuts will make operating your worksheets easier in Excel 2003. Here are some shortcut keys to basic commands in your Excel worksheets:

Press	To
Ctrl+Page Down	Activate next sheet in the workbook
Ctrl+Page Up	Activate previous sheet in the workbook
Shift+Ctrl+Page Down	Select current and next sheet in workbook
Shift+Ctrl+Page Up	Select current and previous sheet in workbook
Shift+F11 or Alt+Shift+F1	Insert new sheet in workbook
Alt+OHR	Rename current sheet (Format→Sheet→Rename
Alt+OHH	Hide current sheet (Format→Sheet→Hide)
Alt+OHU	Unhide current sheet (Format→Sheet→Unhide)
Alt+OHT	Select new color for sheet tab (Format→Sheet→Tab Color)
Alt+EM	Move or copy current sheet in workbook or to new workbook (Edit→Move or Copy Sheet)
Alt+ED	Delete current sheet (Edit→Delete)

>

>

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Shortcut Keys for Editing and Formatting Cell Entries in Excel 2003

Each one of those little squares on a worksheet in Excel 2003 is called a cell and it holds important information. Here are some keyboard shortcut keys that help you organize and correct your cell entries:

Press	To
Ctrl+1	Display Format Cells dialog box
Alt+’ (apostrophe)	Display Style dialog box
Ctrl+Shift+~ (tilde)	Apply General number format
Ctrl+Shift+$	Apply Currency number format with two decimal places and negative numbers in parentheses
Ctrl+Shift+%	Apply Percent number format with no decimal places
Ctrl+Shift+#	Apply Date number format with day, month, and year as in 15-Feb-05
Ctrl+Shift+@	Apply Time number format with hour and minute and AM/PM as in 12:05 PM
Ctrl+Shift+!	Apply Comma number format with two decimal places
Ctrl+B	Add or remove bold
Ctrl+I	Add or remove italics
Ctrl+U	Add or remove underlining
Ctrl+5	Add or remove strikethrough
Ctrl+Shift+&	Apply outline border to current range
Ctrl+Shift+_ (underline)	Remove outline border from current range
Ctrl+F1	Open and close the Task pane at the right side of the workbook document window
F2	Edit current cell entry and position insertion point at the end of cell contents
Shift+F2	Edit comment attached to current cell and position insertion point in comment box
Backspace	Delete character to left of insertion point when editing cell entry
Delete	Delete character to right of insertion point when editing cell entry: otherwise, clear cell entries in current range
Esc	Cancel editing in current cell entry
Enter	Complete editing in current cell entry
Ctrl+CC	Open Clipboard Task pane
Ctrl+C	Copy cell selection to Clipboard
Ctrl+X	Cut cell selection to Clipboard
Ctrl+V	Paste last copied or cut cells from Clipboard
Ctrl+hyphen (-)	Open Delete dialog box to delete cell selection and shift remaining cells left or up
Ctrl+Shift+plus (+)	Open Insert dialog box to insert new cells and shift existing cells right or down
Ctrl+Z	Undo last action
Ctrl+Y	Redo last action

>

>

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Dictating to Excel: What to Say for Common Punctuation

The Speech Recognition feature in Excel 2003 dictates a word or phrase you speak into your PC's microphone for common punctuation and symbols. Here are the words to say and what Speech Recognition executes:

Word(s) You Say	What Speech Recognition Enters
Ampersand	&
Asterisk	*
At sign	@
Backslash	\
Close paren	)
Close quote	’
Colon	:
Comma	,
Dash	-
Dollar sign	$
Dot	.
Ellipsis	. . .
End quote	”
Equals	=
Exclamation point	!
Greater than	>
Hyphen	-
Less than	<
Open paren	(
Open quote	“
Percent sign	%
Period	.
Plus sign	+
Question mark	?
Quote	“
Semi-colon	;
Single quote
Slash	/

>

>
dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/excel-2003-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

Update Manually Installed, Enhanced Drupal Software

If you have added modules or themes to your Drupal site or manually installed the original software, you'll have to manage your software updates manually. To update Drupal, follow these steps:

1. Back up your database.

   
   



2. Copy your entire Drupal site to another location.

   
   

   Don't make a copy of your Drupal site and store it inside your Drupal site. Make sure your backup copy is outside of your entire Drupal directory — preferably not even on the same web server. You can always upload the copy back to the web server later if you need to.

   
   



3. Choose Configuration→Development→Maintenance mode and select the Put Site into Maintenance Mode check box.

   
   



4. Click Save Configuration.

   
   



5. Click Modules and deselect any contributed modules. Leave the Core module settings as they are.

   
   



6. Click Appearance and choose one of the themes that was installed with Drupal originally, such as Garland.

   
   



7. Get the new version of Drupal from drupal.org.

   
   



8. Use a file manager or FTP program to copy the new files to your Drupal directory, with the exception of the sites folder.

   
   

   Do not overwrite or copy over this folder with the new files.

   
   

   If you browse to your site right now, you’ll see the original installation when you install Drupal. Do not run this program. You’re updating, not installing — and running an installation can destroy information stored in your database.

   
   



9. Browse to the update.php on your website and click through the installation screens.

   
   



10. Choose Appearance, and then choose your desired theme.

    
    



11. Choose Modules and enable any contributed modules you want to use. Leave the Core module settings as they are.

    
    



12. Browse to the update.php on your website and click through the installation screens again.

    
    

    It's important to run update.php every time you install a contributed module. Because this is the first time this new Drupal codebase is using the modules, it treats them like a new installation.

    
    



13. Choose Configuration→Development→Maintenance mode and deselect the Put Site into Maintenance Mode check box.

    
    



14. Click Save Configuration.

    
    

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/update-manually-installed-enhanced-drupal-software.html

Using a Security Trading System

The term trading system has different meanings to different people in the realm of securities trading. Systematic trading can be as simple as a single indicator and a stop-loss rule. In fact, most folks in the technical analysis field now refer to any trading regime as a system, even when it doesn’t meet the strict requirement of full automation. But a trading system, in the strictest sense, involves every decision being dictated in advance by the indicators and trading rules that you set down.

A trading system is built, block by block, by accumulating trading rules to convert indicators or other data inputs into buy/sell signals. A trading system becomes a robot when it executes the trades, as well as determines them. These decisions include position size and other aspects of the trading plan.

A trading system is a mechanical trading system when it dictates every single decision, leaving no latitude for the operator to inject a subjective decision. Definitions for a mechanical trading system vary, but most systems designers would agree on the bare minimum:

• You backtested every indicator and combination of indicators over a large set of historical data and have determined that the indicator set generates a favorable gain-loss ratio.

  
  



• The system contains enough trading rules so that whatever the contingency, you never need to make a judgment call. You have already provided directions ahead of time.

  
  

  You really can’t establish this feature in full because of highly improbable events. Programming every contingency into trading rules is a vast and probably impossible task.

  
  



• You follow the system without fail and without overriding the signals by using judgment. You take every trade that the system gives you, if only because you never know which signal is the one that’ll generate the juicy profit. And in most systems, the successful backtest track record depends on those big profits to offset many small losses.

  
  

Building a mechanical trading system is a major undertaking that requires knowledge of statistics, computing, and risk management, as well as technical trading methods. You could spend years developing a comprehensive mechanical trading system, and many people do.

Start small. Review various indicators and their associated trading rules. You can develop a buy/sell system fairly easily, choosing indicators that seem logical and workable to you, and then adjust the trading rules until you get a satisfactory hypothetical gain-and-loss profile. Hypothetical is the right word because the chief reason to combine techniques in a trading system is to backtest indicators and trading rules to see how they would have worked in the past. For all its faults, backtesting is the only way to know whether an indicator works on your security. After you find good indicators and rules, you can take them out for a trial run in real time.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/using-a-security-trading-system.html

Counting Cholesterol

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) issued this data about adult guidelines for total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (the bad stuff), and HDL cholesterol (the good stuff). These cholesterol numbers apply to people ages 20 to 74:

Total Cholesterol (mg/dL)	Status
<200	Excellent
200-239	Borderline high
>240	High
LDL Cholesterol (mg/dL)	Status
<100	Excellent
100-129	Pretty good
130-159	Borderline high
160-189	High
>190	Very high
HDL Cholesterol (mg/dL)	Status
<40	Low
>60	High

Source: National Cholesterol Education Program

Counting Kids' Cholesterol

Counting cholesterol in kids is different than in adults. The American Heart Association (AHA) suggests only testing children older than age 2 and who have a family history of coronary artery disease — a parent or a grandparent with high cholesterol or a history of heart disease. The AHA-recommended cholesterol levels for children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 19 are:

Total Cholesterol (mg/dL)	LDLs (mg/dL)	Status
<170	<110	Acceptable
171-199	111-129	Borderline
200 or higher	130 or higher	High

Source: The American Heart Association

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/counting-cholesterol.html

Taking a Pregnant Pause at the Pool

If you're thinking of trying water workouts, but you aren't sure where the nearest pool is, consider the following locations that may have a pool that you can use:

• YWCA or YMCA: Many Ys built pools in the '70s and '80s, so if you have a Y in your area, it probably has a pool. YWCA and YMCA pools are often open very early in the morning (5:30 or 6:00) and remain open throughout the evenings and weekends, but the pool may also be quite busy during those times. Ys with pools also generally offer a wide variety of swimming and water aerobics classes and may even offer prenatal water-aerobics classes. To find the Y nearest you, log on to YMCA.net and enter your Zip code on the home page.

• Fitness center or gym: Although smaller, nonchain gyms usually don't offer a pool, the bigger chains often do. Call all the gyms in your area to see whether any offers a pool. When you find one that does, ask whether you can get a free pass to try it out — most gyms do nearly anything to get potential members in the door and will gladly grant your request. Anywhere from one-day to two-week free memberships are common. Also get a schedule of classes — a fitness center or gym with a pool is likely to offer water aerobics classes several times a day.

• Local community center or parks and recreation building: The trend in community centers is to become more sophisticated and try to provide one-stop fitness shopping for the public, so some are adding pools in addition to their indoor tracks and fitness equipment, and they offer plenty of classes at those pools.

• Boys' or girls' club: Boys' and girls' clubs often have full gyms at which kids can play basketball, take gymnastics lessons, and so on. Once in a while, you can find one that has a pool, but because the boys' and girls' clubs are supposed to serve children, adults may have limited pool hours. If you have a boys' or girls' club in your area, give it a ring and see what pool amenities it offers you.

• Local high school: This is the most common location for a community pool, but because of daytime use by physical education students and swim practices before and after school, the pool may not offer a lot of opportunities for you to work out.

• Local college or university: If you're fortunate enough to have a college or university in your area, find out whether the school has a pool and, if so, whether you're eligible to use it. Many small, liberal arts colleges don't have their own pools, but community colleges and large universities often do, and they make them available to the local public.

• Local hospital: Because water therapy (also called hydrotherapy) is an excellent way to return injured and/or older patients to their full capacity, some hospitals have pools for this purpose. Although most aren't open to the public, if your hospital has a pool and an excellent prenatal program, you can bet that they'll let you use their pool for a fee.

• Hotels in your area: Most hotels offer pools to their guests because people expect this amenity, yet few hotel guests ever use those pools. If that's the case at a hotel in your area, you may be able to convince the hotel manager to let you pay to use its pool during nonpeak hours. Peak hours vary: A business-class hotel gets the most use before and after the workday; a family-oriented hotel pool is usually brimming with kids from about 10 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. Few people tend to use hotel pools between check out and check in (usually noon to 3 p.m.), so if you're available during that time, you may be able to convince the hotel manager to let you use the pool then, unless, of course, that's when the pool is cleaned. Oh, and be prepared to sign a densely worded legal waiver, because a lifeguard will almost assuredly not be on duty.

In some areas, hotels even offer low-cost membership programs to encourage the local community to spend time at the hotel. A hotel in your area may even allow more than one person to sign up on an account, which means that you can split the cost with a friend, or you and your partner can pay just one fee.

• A friend's house: If you live in a warm area (or, if you have a friend with an indoor pool), you may be able to borrow your buddy's pool for one hour, a few days per week. If your kind friend agrees to this arrangement, consider drawing up some paperwork that eliminates her liability if anything happens to you while you're in the pool.

After you find a pool that allows you to work out at times that fit your schedule, consider signing up for adult swimming classes, if offered (these are pretty rare) or a water aerobics class. Because water aerobics is very popular among pregnant women (and, incidentally, among the elderly — it's definitely not the hippest sport in the world), you may even find a prenatal water aerobics class in your area.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/taking-a-pregnant-pause-at-the-pool.html

Mastering Gym Etiquette

Even at a health club — a place where tank tops, profuse sweating, and mild grunting are perfectly acceptable — rules of etiquette should be followed. Sure, the social graces expected in a weight room are a bit different from those expected at the symphony or the Louvre, but manners are important just the same. Here are the rituals and customs unique to gyms.

If you witness a flagrant etiquette violation, don't be afraid to inform the club staff. You're not being a snitch. The rules are for everyone, whether you're the Queen of England or one of her loyal subjects.

Sharing equipment

In a gym, weight equipment is considered communal property, so don't sit on a machine while you rest between sets. Especially don't sit there reading a magazine, talking on your cellphone, or rehearsing an opera. Instead, stand up and let a fellow gym member work in — let the member alternate sets with you. The same rule applies if you're using a pair of dumbbells. When you complete a set, place the weights on the floor so someone else can sneak in a set while you rest.

The only time you should retain possession of weight equipment while you rest is when you're using a barbell stacked with weight plates. Suppose that you're bench-pressing 75 pounds and someone else wants to bench-press 225 pounds, you can see what a hassle it would be for the two of you to work in with each other; between each set, you'd need to slide eight plates on and off the bar. So you're under no obligation to let the other person work in with you. (However, if people are waiting for the equipment, have the courtesy not to perform 15 sets.)

Unloading your weight bar

After you finish using a bar, leave it completely empty. Don't assume that everyone can lift the same amount of weight you can. Removing weight plates from a bar takes a fair amount of strength as well as good technique. Don't assume that the next person who comes along has the ability (or desire) to clean up after you.

This clear-the-bar rule doesn't just apply to heavy lifters. Even if you're using only a 10-pound plate, you still need to clear your bar. If the next person who comes along wants to use 45s, he shouldn't be bothered with removing your 10-pounders.

Putting weights back where you found them

When you've removed a weight plate from a bar or when you finish using a pair of dumbbells, return the weights to their designated spot on the rack.

Never leave dumbbells or barbells on the floor when you're finished using them. Someone may trip on the weights. If you leave dumbbells on the floor between sets, criss-cross them or butt them up against the wall or the bench so that they can't roll away.

Keeping your sweat to yourself

Carry a towel and wipe off any bench or machine you use. Nothing is quite as gross as picking up a slippery weight or lying down in a stranger's pool of sweat. If you forget to bring a towel, use your sweatshirt or the paper towels provided by the club.

Helping the flow of traffic

Don't block the traffic flow. While you shouldn't camp out on the equipment while you're resting between sets, neither should you clog the pathways between machines or congregate with a dozen of your buddies in the free weight area. Not only is this inconsiderate, but also it can create a hazardous condition. In general, weight rooms are crowded with little room between machines. If you block space, someone may walk around you and inadvertently bump someone who's working out on a machine, causing the person to lose control and to drop a weight. This has happened before with serious consequences. The weight room is for training. If you want to visit with friends, go out into the hallway.

Hogging the drinking fountain

Don't stand at the drinking fountain trying to catch your breath when the line behind you is longer than the line for World Series tickets. Take a drink, and get back in line. Better yet, carry a water bottle in the weight room. For some reason, many people who use a water bottle on the stationary bikes and stairclimbers don't think of carrying one around the strength training area. When you do fill up your bottle, let everyone else in line get a drink first; don't hold up the entire gym membership while you fill a gallon-sized water jug.

Don't spit your gum into the drinking fountain — this tip should be obvious, but club staffers report otherwise.

Toting around your gym bag

Some people carry their bag from machine to machine. You know those large hollowed-out cubes called lockers? That's where you store your gym bag.

Treating the locker room like your own bathroom

Even more so than the weight room, the locker room is the place where your true colors emerge. Women are on equal standing with men in this arena: Men may be more likely to hog dumbbells in the weight room, but women can stand for hours in the only available shower stall with the best of 'em.

Follow these suggestions for locker room etiquette to maintain good relations with your fellow gym mates:

• Don't take a marathon shower if people are waiting. With the exception of sweat, what you take into the shower should come out with you when you leave. Make sure that you remove all your shower supplies and that little pile of your hair from the drain. (Carry a latex glove or two in your shower supplies if picking up your own hair freaks you out.)

• Don't hog the mirror or the hair blow dryer. If you brush your hair and 200 strands of hair fall on the counter, wipe them off with a paper towel (wipe them into the towel or in the trash, not on the floor).

• Don't take up three lockers and spread your clothing over the entire bench. Share with others. Shut your locker when you leave.

Don't leave your belongings in lockers overnight unless you have permission from your gym to do so. Most gyms empty out unsanctioned lockers at the end of every day and won't guarantee the safe return of your personal items.

If the lockers at your gym require a key, return the key at the end of your workout. Keyed lockers are a convenience to members so they don't have to carry a lock of their own.

• Limit yourself to one or two towels. After you finish using your towels and other paraphernalia, place them in the laundry or trash bin instead of dropping them on the floor.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/mastering-gym-etiquette.html

For Seniors: How to Use Shortcuts in Your eBay Searches

In addition to choosing clear descriptive keywords, you can use special tactics to conduct searches with the eBay search engine so that you can find just what you want on eBay. The following table highlights shortcuts that you can take advantage of during your eBay searches.

Shortcuts for Use on the eBay Search Engine

Symbol	Effect on Search	Example
Quotes “”	Limits the search to items with the exact phrase inside the quotes.	“Wonder Woman” returns items about the comic book/TV heroine.
Asterisk *	Serves as a wild card (find-everything-like-this) when you’re not sure of spelling.	alumin* returns items that start with alumin, such as aluminum (when you’re searching for the perfect vintage Christmas tree).
Minus sign –	Excludes results with the word after the –.	Search with box –lunch, and you’d better not be hungry because you may find the box, but lunch won’t be included.
Minus sign and parentheses	Searches for items with words before the parentheses but excludes words inside the parentheses.	midge –(skipper,barbie) means that auctions you find with the Midge doll will not have the other dolls (Skipper and Barbie) offered.
Parentheses	Searches for both versions of the word in parentheses.	political (pin,pins) searches for both political pin and political pins.

Here are additional tips to help you streamline any eBay search:

• Don’t use and, a, an, or, or the: Called noise words in search lingo, these words are interpreted as part of your search but don’t help it. So if you want to find something from The Sound of Music and you type the sound of music, you may not get any results. Many sellers drop noise words from the beginning of an item title when they list it, just as libraries drop noise words when they alphabetize books. So, instead, type sound music — and to be even more precise, type “sound of music” (in quotes) to search for that exact phrase.

  
  



• Use the asterisk symbol often to locate misspellings. You can snag some great deals by finding items incorrectly posted by the sellers. Here are a few examples:

  
  
  
  

  • Alumi* tree: Remember the old aluminum Christmas trees from the’60s? They’ve had quite a resurgence in popularity these days. You can buy these “antiques” in stores for hundreds of dollars . . . or you can buy one on eBay for half the price. You can find them even cheaper if the seller can’t spell aluminum or uses the British spelling (aluminium).

    
    
  
  

  • Cemet* plot: If you’re looking for that final place to retire, eBay has some great deals. Unfortunately, sellers haven’t narrowed down whether they want to spell it cemetery or cemetary. This search will find both.

    
    
  
  
  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/for-seniors-how-to-use-shortcuts-in-your-ebay-sear.html

The Best Grasses to Plant in Canada

Growing and maintaining a lush green lawn in Canada can be a challenge. It starts with choosing the best type of grass. The best types of grasses to grow in Canada are cool-season grasses because our summers are short and our winters are cold – and usually snowy. Cool-season grasses grow actively in spring and fall, slow down in summer, and go dormant in the winter. They do best at temperatures between 16°C and 27°C (60°F and 80°F) and can survive freezing winter temperatures. The following cool-season grasses thrive in Canada’s cooler climate.

Cool-Season, Northern Grasses

Type of Grass	Appearance	Ideal Mow-to Height	Description and Care
Kentucky bluegrass	Fine to medium texture Canoe-shaped Dark blue-green	6 to 8 cm	Hardy but not drought-tolerant so water generously Disease resistant Needs more fertilizer Shallow roots make it a good showpiece lawn but unsuitable for heavy foot traffic
Fescues, fine and tall	Fine texture Bristle-leaved Medium green	6 to 8 cm	Water deeply and infrequently (do not soak or make soggy) Shade-tolerant Tolerates foot traffic very well Can perform well in poor soil Is often mixed with other grasses
Bent grass	Fine texture Blades begin to bends at a couple of centimeters tall (hence the name)	3 to 4 cm	Needs generous watering (weekly during the height of the growing season) Cut regularly to avoid stems from forming thick mats and thatching Popular for golf and tennis courses Use a mower with very sharp blades
Perennial ryegrass	Fine texture Glossy Dark green	6 to 8 cm	Has shallow roots, likes consistent water Disease resistant Tolerates foot traffic well Nice in full sun or shade (but not reliably hardy) Germinates and grows quickly and is often used in blends

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How to Set Achievable Goals for Your Business

Goal setting is vital to the success of every team, and thus to the success of every leader and business manager. If you know how to make goals that work, you’ll help your team — and thus the organization itself — perform at its best.

The brain sees a goal as an extension of itself; it takes ownership of the goal and the accomplishment. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin are released in the brain as goals are set and worked toward. If the brain truly desires the goal, it is rewarded along the way to the achievement by the release of these chemicals. However, if the goal is not achieved, these chemicals are withheld and the individual feels bad. The brain therefore makes every effort to reach its goals.

The goal-setting process is simplified by the often-used process of writing SMART goals. The SMART approach is linear, logical, and very left-brain oriented. Those teams that think in a left-brained format appreciate this type of goal setting. It's easy to track and measure goals that are created by this approach.

The following characteristics make up this acronym:

• Specific: Each goal specifies your target exactly. For instance, increasing sales may be your goal, but it’s not specific enough. Increasing sales by 10 percent is much more specific.

  
  



• Measurable: One of the big problems with setting goals is knowing when you have met them. In other words, you must be able to evaluate your success. Increasing sales by 10 percent is measurable if you have the data on present sales.

  
  



• Achievable: A goal that is within your reach increases motivation and those brain chemicals that keep you and your team motivated. If you wanted to increase sales by 50 percent, your sales staff may see that goal as impossible to achieve and give up before they begin. The 10-percent mark, however, may be very possible for the sales team if they have a reasonable amount of time to achieve it.

  
  



• Realistic: A realistic goal is one that your team has the resources to realize. If the team has the skills it needs to increase sales, you have enough of the product to sell, you have plenty of customers in your sales area, and you have time to get the job done, the goal is realistic.

  
  



• Time: SMART goals are written with an end in mind. Increasing sales by 10 percent by the end of the next fiscal year provides a deadline. If you don’t have a deadline, the goal is too vague and the target is unclear. Time is a motivational factor in achieving goals. (I want to lose ten pounds is a goal. But I want to lose ten pounds by Christmas provides a deadline.)

  
  

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Emerging Markets For Dummies

In today's global economy, investors are looking more and more toward investment opportunities in emerging-market nations around the world in order to grow their portfolios. Understanding currency movements, teasing out corporate governance issues, choosing among mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other investments, and considering what you can do to support further economic development are essential for your success when investing in emerging markets.

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Emerging Markets: What Makes Exchange Rates Move

Changes in the value of currency affect the value of your overall investment in emerging markets. The prices go up and down, appreciate and depreciate, but what's good and what's bad? It all depends. Here are some guidelines to help you figure out what's happening when exchange rates move. Keep in mind that some effects may be stronger than others.

• If interest rates go up, then foreign investors will want to invest, and the currency will increase in value.

  
  



• If inflation goes up, then consumers will look for cheaper imported goods, and the currency will decrease in value.

  
  



• If the risk in a country increases, then investors will want to put their money in less risky places, and the currency will decrease in value.

  
  



• If a country produces popular goods for export, then customers in other countries will need money to buy the products, and the currency will increase in value.

  
  



• If a country imports more goods, then people in the country will need to buy foreign currency to pay for them, and the currency will decrease in value.

  
  

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Corporate Governance Pitfalls in Emerging Markets

When you invest in another country, the laws of your home country don't apply. The accounting systems may be different, and it may seem as though all the company executives are related to one another. When investing in emerging markets, here are a few of the differences to watch for:

• Different accounting standards: In many emerging markets, the financial statements aren't detailed. Companies may be allowed to use reserves to manage income, and they may be allowed to book revenues before they're certain that they'll receive them.

  
  



• Nepotism: In some places, hiring relatives is viewed as a good thing because they're known to other employees and are loyal to the business. In other places, the practice is considered to be bad because you end up with mopes who can't get jobs elsewhere and who can't be fired for incompetence. You're likely to run into a lot of nepotism in emerging markets, and it isn't always good.

  
  



• Family ownership and control: Many companies in emerging markets were started and are controlled by prominent families. They may control the board of directors and have most of the votes on shareholder issues. In these situations, the family's concerns are always more important than those of other shareholders.

  
  



• Cross-ownership: In many countries, public companies are owned in part by the shareholders and in part by other public companies. This arrangement can make business complicated; as with family ownership, the concerns of the smaller shareholders aren't considered.

  
  



• Corruption: Corruption is common in some emerging markets, often because the government and other institutions haven't always worked, and people have had to find ways to work around them. Corruption can interfere with free markets and add to expenses, making business more difficult.

  
  

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Putting Your Foreign Investment in ETFs versus Mutual Funds

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds are popular ways for people to invest in emerging markets because they offer diversification and professional management. The two have some differences between them, though, such as:

• Mutual funds are usually actively managed, with the portfolio managers buying and selling securities as they find better opportunities. ETFs are usually managed against an index, with the fund managers buying the securities in the index in the same proportion.

  
  



• You can often purchase mutual funds directly from a fund company. You purchase ETFs through a brokerage account.

  
  



• Some mutual funds have very high fees. Fees on ETFs tend to be low.

  
  



• Mutual funds are designed for long-term investors. ETFs are a better choice for investors who want to be active traders.

  
  

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Emerging Markets: Harnessing the Power of Social Activism

In many emerging markets, economic development often is held back by a government where the officials enrich themselves rather than help their citizens. Investors' power can bring change in such emerging markets — changes that can counteract moves that prevent economic development.

One of the simplest tools of social activism is a boycott, in which you refuse to buy certain types of products that may be financing bad behavior: diamonds used to finance unnecessary wars; clothing made under sweatshop conditions; oil extracted without any regard for the environment. If these boycotts are well-organized so that they catch on with people, they can be effective in using market power to bring change.

Another trick up an investor’s sleeve is the use of shareholder resolutions and proxy voting to help convince multinational corporations to act responsibly no matter where they operate. These resolutions have been used to address environmental and working conditions in places where the laws are lax. Basic instructions for filing a shareholder resolution can be found on the AFL-CIO Web site.

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