Hotel Choices in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Vacations allow visitors to explore one of Nevada's most populated cities. Tucked into the beautiful scenery of Clark County, the city is filled with gorgeous nature surroundings. This city is in the middle of the arid Mojave Desert.

It is commonly called The Entertainment Capital of the World. This title refers to two important features of this location. Here is where vacationers can find a wide array of entertainment choices. Anything from boxing matches, to concerts take place in the great city.

Another of the popular entertainment activities is gaming. In fact, this city is known around the world for being the home of the best casinos in the world. People from every country travel here each year, to participate in the gaming choices here. Black Jack, Roulette, and coin machines are some of the most popular casino attractions.

One of the helpful things about this city makes it unique. When planning vacations it is important to note, that most hotels here have on site casinos. There are a large number of luxury hotels and resorts located here. Staying in any of these is an adventure in itself. They provide world-class accommodations.

Many of these hotels and resorts have shopping, dining, and gaming opportunities, all under one roof. They understand the importance of providing their guests with a fantastic vacation. For this reason, customer service is this town is splendid.

A wonderful hotel choice is the Bellagio. This location is known around the world for its elegant style and quality offerings. The Bellagio has been featured in the movies, as well as, on television. Most people recognize this hotel because of its amazing fountain display. The Fountains at Bellagio stretch the length of a quarter mile, in front of its immense lake.

These fountains are best viewed at the nightly music and light show. Tourists from around the world come to witness this great sight. The Bellagio is also known for providing one of the world's most famous casino experiences. Hotels like this one goes beyond guests' expectations in supply awesome vacations.

The Las Vegas Hilton is another fine hotel choice for vacationers. This chain is recognized around the world for providing guests with excellent service. The hotel has both rooms and suites to choose from. There are standard and grand hotel rooms. And there are standard and executive suites at this location.

The amenities here also make your stay special. You will find fitness services, a spa, tennis courts, a pool, and an on site salon. Everything guests may need or want can be found right here. There are also diverse restaurants to choose from at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Guests have a choice of fine or casual dining restaurants. They may even sample many of the choices from the hotel's Quick Eats program. For vacationers who love to shop, they will find some great shops in this location, as well.

Choosing the right hotel is paramount when it comes to planning your vacation. Finding those along the Vegas Strip is a good way to be near the action. Some visitors will prefer to be in accommodations which display better views of the mountains near the city. It doesn't matter where you lodge in Las Vegas. You trip here will be outstanding.

Let's Tear Down the Hollywood Sign and Put Up Wind Generators!

"Mr. Hollywood - Tear Down This Sign!" It's amazing how much Hollywood goes out of their way to promote environmental causes and alternative energy. They have even jumped on that Global Warming Alarmist Bandwagon, and yet, I find it fascinating that I don't see any large wind generators next to the Hollywood sign out there in Los Angeles.

Is this just more; "do as I say not as I do." Now then, I believe in free speech, and I believe anyone should be allowed to support any cause they wish. I support the causes that I believe in, and they should too, as that's what America is all about.

However, I also believe that you should put your money where your mouth is and if you believe in alternative energy then you should have solar panels on your house, and before you tell another group of people to go put up wind generators, then go ahead and put them in your own backyard first. In other words, don't drive a Hummer or a turbo BMW and then tell all of us to go out and drive electric street legal golf carts and smart cars.

So, I have a proposition; let's tear down the Hollywood Sign and put up wind generators. You know the kind of the wind generators that are 150 feet tall with blades that are nearly 60 feet long, the kind that make a humming sound all night so you can't sleep. The kind which kill the birds that hit them, and the bats that pass by. Why not?

If it's okay for the rest of the world and it is okay for every citizen in America to pay additional tax dollars to force other people to put wind generators in their backyards, then why don't we start in Hollywood, and why do we let them pay for it? Please consider all this, and by the way I am not accepting e-mails from Hollywood movie stars about this article. If you have a rebuttal twitter your 30,000 followers, but I'm busy.

PlayStation Accessories - 4 Must Have Items For PlayStation Gamers

Playstation accessories help take your gaming experience to a whole new level. While the PlayStation 3 gaming console is already packed with features, the accessories help enhance the gaming experience and let you experience the true power of the system. Here are 4 must have items for your gaming console.

PlayStation 3 Wireless Keypad: This is a great device, which allows you to easily surf the internet or chat with friends. It snaps on quickly, the set up is simple and it works just as described. It is perfectly integrated with the PlayStation console and doesn't interfere with game play. The device is well constructed and well designed for gamers. It's much better, and faster, than typing with the controller, which is why it's one of the first things that PS3 users add to their system.

Logitech Cordless Vantage Headset for PlayStation 3: Consistently viewed as the best product for online gaming, this headset provides freedom, flexibility and fantastic sound quality. It features a patented behind the head design that fits comfortably with either ear. Its cordless range goes up to 30 feet and the set is easily adjusted to the height you need. The noise canceling microphone reduces background noise and the head set features an amazingly long battery life. Most importantly, the sound quality for the device is top notch. The headset gives crystal clear clarity to your conversations, and has a mute button and volume control that can easily be adjusted during game play.

PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Remote: If you have a PlayStation and you watch movies on it, then this remote is an absolute necessity. Since PS3 uses bluetooth rather than infrared, other remotes are not capable of controlling this console. The system must have a blu-ray remote, and this one was built specifically for that purpose. It will quickly become the accessory you use the most. The remote has an intuitive, user friendly design, and is very solidly built. Most users also find that they use the device for navigating through the PSN store, XMB and even for web browsing.

DualShock 3 Wireless Controller: This controller is one of the top rated controllers of all the different gaming systems on the market - which is saying a lot. The device is comfortable to use, even after hours of intense game play, and is small and smooth to the touch. The controller is also extremely well built, and the buttons are easy to push and have split second reaction time. The D-pad on the device allows for accuracy and precision in every genre of gaming. The pressure sensors on the controller create a rumbling sensation with each action, which takes the immersive gaming experience to a whole new level. As one reviewer put it, "Dualshock rocks, literally!"

PlayStation 3 is considered by many to be the best gaming system on the market. It has a stellar catalogue of exciting games and the console is packed with special features. But you'll never fully experience the true power of the system until you add a few PlayStation accessories to the mix.

Save Money With the Best Espresso Maker Type For You and Your Needs

Finding the best espresso maker can really save you a ton of money. After all, have you really thought about how much you're spending at Starbucks? If you add all those $4 lattes and such up, in a month or two you could have bought yourself a very nice express machine. You would rather just drive through and get your shot, you say? Don't be so quick to dismiss espresso machines. They're tons of fun, can be the life of the party, and who knows might help you unwind from that over stressful job you have.

There's just one questions, though. What's the best espresso maker on the market?

And just like what's the best movie, what's the best exercise, and what's the best vacation spot, this question doesn't really have an answer, either. You can come close to choosing the right espresso maker for your needs and budget, though. To do this, you need to know a little more about espresso machines in general.

There are basically four types of espresso machine, steam driven, pump and piston driven, and also an automatic type machine. Each has their pros and cons.

There's probably no way we're going to get away with calling any steam driven machine "the best espresso". These are your lower end machines. Made more for gifts and occasional fun. Having said that, the first espresso machine I ever owned was a steam machine and was given to me by my wife. That one present created a lot of fun and joy for us. So, who can argue with that?

In general, though, most candidates for the best espresso maker would be piston, pump, and automatic machines.

Piston and pump espresso machines are very similar. They're more the old style machine, with a lever handle that pressures the water through the machine. Both types are finicky, though. You have the grind your beans just right, for instance, or the machine's not going to work.

A lot of purists might easily consider piston or pump machines the best espresso machine.

If you're really going to be all inclusive about this, however, you really need to think about automatic machines. They're just as good as pump or piston machines, but not nearly so picky.

Either way, the goal is to enjoy your espresso, so decide what you think is the best espresso maker, then get one and start having fun.

Exploring the Reasons Behind the Failure of Diets

Nothing could be more saddening to accept that after a long period of time spent on dieting, you would find that the huge number of pounds you just lost would just all come back for you to gain. Today, weight loss has been becoming a rich and growing industry.

A lot of programs nowadays are concentrated in improving healthy lifestyles, which also involve some exercise sets, healthy meals plan and even some trendy and miraculous pills and diets. However, it all boils down to one formula: Weight loss results when the intake of calories is lessened by some exercise. One way to know if a certain diet is right for you is if you can live with that diet plan for the rest of your life. Hence, what can one do to achieve a successful weight loss program?

It is fairly important that you eat well-balanced meals each day. It is not advisable to derive yourself of the foods that you want. Add up to your routine some helpful cardio exercises that can help you build muscles, burn calories, and enhance moods. Unfortunately, what most do not realize is that the process of losing weight is not the real problem - it is in how to maintain it.

It is said that to create a new habit, it takes three weeks for you to do it over and over. However, it could only take you a few seconds to make it all come down to waste. Usually, it all starts all over again when you associate food with feelings. As long as you try to be in control of your emotions and steer away from relating it to food, you will discover of new ways to be in control of your food intake as well.

Try out other activities for your self to enjoy like walking around the neighborhood for a couple of minutes, taking a warm and relaxing bath, or maybe even watching a movie with a friend. Always remember that handling and managing your emotions well can be not as easy but the answer would not always have to be food. So instead of getting sad over anything, try to divert yourself to doing activities that affect you positively. Stop your hand from taking that chocolate bar to munch on just because you had an argument with your boyfriend since you can just invite your girlfriends out for dinner and have someone to talk things over.

Two Personality Traits That Kill Your Success With Women

Ever wonder why some guys seem to attract women effortlessly? Perhaps its the good looks or the big muscles. Those qualities do help but physical appearance isn't as important as you think. The greatest obstacle to your success with women is yourself. If you have average looks, then it's not your physical self that's the problem, it's what's going on or not going on in your head.

Your two greatest enemies in this regard are:

1.) Passivity - If your love life is nonexistent and always has been, don't count on fate to do you any favors. Thinking that your perfect mate is out there somewhere and that it's just a matter of time before the two of you meet is a lot of romantic nonsense. Leave that scenario to the movies. It's not likely to ever happen in real life if you're a guy. This is also a feminine point of view. It can work for women if they're attractive and they're reasonably social. They mostly need to be around men socially and it's up to the men to make the first move.

Nothing will change if you do nothing about your problem. If you're starving without a roof over your head, do you think that fate will just magically give food and shelter to you? Even winning the lottery requires that you buy a ticket. So if your love life has always been dead, you need to do something about it. You will need to expend a lot of energy to make it happen. Most of the guys that seem to be good with the ladies have been actively working at the skill. With enough experience it becomes intuitive for them.

2.) Lack of confidence or poor self esteem - Not having confidence will defeat you in two ways. First, you'll find it too difficult to even approach a woman. If you do, you'll most likely be paralyzed or say the wrong things. You will find it impossible to deal with the inevitable rejections that are a fact of life in the dating scene.

Second, women are attracted to confident men. Without it you're missing one of the most important and necessary ingredients to being attractive. If you don't have it, you can only hope for someone who's attracted to your shyness. This will only happen if you have some other extraordinary quality or strength that is very unusual. However, the odds won't be working in your favor.

This article so far has had a negative tone, but I'm not trying to discourage you. The good news here is that you have the power to change both of the above points. Passivity may be built into your personality or it's the result of a false belief that everything will work out on its own in the end. Taking action has a way of feeding off itself and of gaining momentum. Once you're in the habit of actively doing the right things, you will find your life changing for the better.

Confidence can be learned. It won't be easy and will require that you get in there and gain experience. The best way to start is to not think of winning over a woman as a do or die thing where your entire feelings of self worth are wrapped up in the outcome. You're better off treating it as a kind of exercise where you learn from your mistakes and get better with each try. Don't place women on a pedestal, it will only make it more difficult to approach them. They're just people. On the other hand, never regard or treat them as objects.

Celebrate the Season With Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival

Residents of the Smokies and visitors alike are flocking to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for Dollywood's annual Christmas festival, Smoky Mountain Christmas. With over four million lights, wonderful exhibitions, and fantastic shows that are sure to be a hit with both kids and adults, Dollywood is the perfect place to celebrate the joy of Christmas.

All these attractions have earned the festival Amusement Today's Best Christmas Event Award twice in recent years. Smoky Mountain Christmas runs from November 7th-January 2nd, more than enough time to see everything on display. Here are just a few of the events featured at Dollywood's Christmas festival.

Christmas in the Smokies

The heart of the festival, Christmas in the Smokies presents a twelve member cast backed up by a seven piece band, playing all of your holiday favorites. The show is staged in the Showstreet Palace, lasts a bit less than an hour, and covers all of the classics you've come to know and love. Make this wonderful Christmas tradition a part of your family's holiday this year.

Babes in Toyland

Featured in DP's Celebrity Theatre, Babes in Toyland is the most extravagant performance in the history of Dollywood. With 20 talented performers and a full orchestra to back them up, guests are escorted through a magical landscape complete with fantastic puppets, high-flying acrobatics, and other-worldly scenery. This show is sure to thrill the whole family.

Brunch with Santa

Everyone's favorite Christmas character hosts brunch each Saturday in November and December. Adults will love the scrumptious holiday brunch served at Aunt Granny's while the kids hang with Santa. The buffet is $15.99 for adults and $7.99 for children ages 4-11; gifts promised by Santa are not included. There's no need for reservations, as seating is first-come, first-served. Brunch with Santa is a great way to start the holiday season. Just bring an appetite, a camera, and your timeless sense of wonder to Rivertown Junction from 10:30AM-11:30AM.

Santa's Workshop

A step into Santa's Workshop is a step through a secret tunnel to the North Pole. Held indoors (and perfect for the colder days at the Dollywood Christmas Festival), this enormous toy store is filled with tons of activities for the entire family, with fanciful larger-than-life-toys behind every corner.

The Polar Express 4-D Experience

Join a little boy on an incredible journey with the Polar Express 4-D Experience. More than just a holiday movie, this is truly an adventure that will thrill your kids. To enjoy all this film has to offer, head to Adventures in Imagination once you're inside the park. Keep in mind that the minimum height requirement for this ride is 42 inches.

Attending the Smoky Mountain Christmas is a fabulous way to spend quality time with your loved ones during this special time of year. With enchanting scenes featuring all of your favorite Christmas characters along with some fresh new faces to spice things up, a trip to see all of the attractions above is sure to become a charming annual family tradition.

Network Marketing - 5 Reasons Why You Should Be a Network Marketer

Network Marketing has been called a lot of things over the years. The term is almost as divisive as calling someone a conservative or a liberal. Many people hear those two words and before you can tell them any more about your great opportunity they are shutting you down. Being associated with 'pyramid schemes' and 'sales' have caused the general populous to become wary of the industry. However, with the downturn of the economy and the uncertainty of the job market, I would like to share five reasons why you should become a network marketer.

Reason 1: You Have A Chance To Build A Business

How many days have you gotten up for work and wished you had come up with a great idea like 'Netflix' or 'Wal-Mart' or some other successful business? While it is possible to come up with your own great idea for a business, bringing it to fruition is often a long and difficult process. There are so many factors that can cause a business to fail even if the initial idea is outstanding. The beauty of network marketing is you have a chance to build your own business. Marketing a known commodity is one of the best ways to build a successful business. While it may not be your idea/product you can still develop your business with regard to the people you work with, the amount of time you spend doing it, and the way you market it.

Reason 2: Selling Stuff Is For The Birds

One of the first objections people have to Networking Marketing is the selling aspect. Many people do not have the time or the drive to market a product full time with their hectic schedules. However, the days of door to door sales is yesterdays news. With the plethora of free marketing tools that the internet provides there are many simple, cost effective ways to get your product in front of potential customers or distributors.

Reason 3: Time Flies No Matter What

Another objection people have when it comes to Network Marketing is the time factor. People are busy with their regular jobs, families, and other obligations. People often say they do not want to commit any extra time to something because they are barely getting by doing what they are doing. Blah, Blah, Blah...

And that is the point of Network Marketing. You are investing the time now so that you can use build a legacy and a foundation for you and your family. You can either spend the time making ends meet for the rest of your life or you can spend time working on the means to an end.

Reason 4: You Can Dream Again

Too many days you are on the drive to or from work or maybe spending a late night at the office and you wonder: 'Is This All There Is?' The daily grind of 9 to 5 can be a dream killer. Remember when you were a kid and you thought you could be a doctor, lawyer, or a movie star? With Network Marketing you can start dreaming again. While there is no such thing as overnight success in business, excluding lottery winners, there is a proven way to achieve success in most Network Marketing companies. Network Marketing Companies top earners often have books, publications, and seminars which show you how to duplicate their success. These materials will help inspire you and put you on a path to begin your success story. By surrounding yourself with successful people and positive interactions your dreams will start to come alive again.

Reason 5: You Can't Win If You Don't Play

You have often heard the saying: 'Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained'. I would say that if you have not tried Network Marketing and are curious about trying it go ahead and take the plunge. What's the worst that could happen? If you do not have enough time to pursue it you can always go back to your 9 to 5. Conversely, if you have tried Network Marketing before and it hasn't worked out, the next time could be the charm.

Besides is there a really a price (time or money) you can put on being financially independent?

The industry of Network Marketing is not going away anytime soon. Unless you have a great idea for a business or product in your back pocket Network Marketing is the one industry that can give you the financial security and time freedom you deserve.

A Surefire Way to Turbocharge Your Passion For Life - Laughter

Live well, Learn plenty, Laugh often, Love much. - Ralph Waldo Emerson. The one thing I always get asked about passion is how to be more passionate about life. I'll do better than one. I'll share 3 surefire ways that you can use right away to turbocharge your passion for life.

My favourite definition of passion is a boundless enthusiasm, for example a passion for good food! You may be a passionate person already, but perhaps you find it hard to maintain your level of passion from time to time. You need that extra dose of passion and enthusiasm that you can get just by doing these 3 simple things:

1. Laughing

2. Learning

3. Loving

Laughing

A secret weapon that I use to inject myself with more passion for life when I am down is laughing. You may have been preoccupied with work, family issues or just been stressed out in general. Maybe you can't even remember the last time you really laughed and enjoyed yourself.

If that's you, here are 5 simple tips to reintroduce the laughter and fun back into your life:

o Watch a funny movie

o Catch up with some good friends and share funny stories

o Read jokes on the internet

o Watch some funny clips on YouTube (there are some hilarious ones out there)

And finally, if all else fails...

o Just laugh.

Whether you're by yourself, with your spouse or your good friends, just laugh. Laugh for a good few minutes, and revel in how silly you look while you're doing it. Not only will you begin to feel genuinely humoured, chances are anyone who is with you will have a pretty good time laughing at you as well.

The Hottest Christmas Toys For This Year's Christmas Toy List

It's that season again where we start to get out and shop looking for the hottest Christmas toys for our children. Sometimes the hottest toys aren't on the shelves in the local stores so you'll need to do some online shopping within a couple weeks of Christmas to ensure you'll get exactly what your little ones are asking for. Every year it's a whole new market but some themes stay the same and always end up in the hot toys list.

Star Wars Toys

When I was kid back in the late 70's the hottest Christmas toys were Star Wars figures and I wanted every single one of them. Now 30 years later I find I'm now buying Star Wars toys for my own son which is pretty cool since I still like to play with them. If you're a parent that grew up during the first Star Wars Trilogy you will find some of the hot toys this year are ones you might also enjoy playing with. The Lego Star Wars kits are truly awesome as you can recreate scenes from the Battle of Endor as well as the Battle at Hoth. The Lego figurines included in these kits become collectables very quickly as soon as those versions of Lego kits are no longer available.

If your kids aren't into Lego's but love Star Wars the Clone Wars there is the Turbo Tank and just about every ship and vehicle imaginable to go along with the traditional figures. These hot Christmas toys by Star Wars stand the test of time and can be passed on as your kids grow out of them or even resold on eBay for more than you actually paid for them if you wait a couple years.

Another great thing about Star Wars toys is that every time you pop in one of the movies your kids will once again regain interest in those old toys and want to recreate scenes that they just watched. Their imaginations sometimes just need a little spark and they will sometimes pull those older toys out and spend days with them again.

7 in 1 Maxus Drago Bakugan

If your kids are asking for Bakugan's and you don't know what they are you aren't alone. Bakugans started gaining massive popularity not too long ago in America. It's a card game with figures that are disguised into different shapes like spheres, squares, and pyramids. When you roll them onto the cards they are activated by a magnet in the card and pop open revealing a different creature. They are almost like little Transformers that transform automatically. If your kids are asking for Bakugans for Christmas toys you can purchase the 7 in 1 Maxus Drago Bakugan which includes 7 Bakugans in 1 box and they actually can be formed together into 1 figure. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors individually or you can just get the 7 in 1 and you'll have your Bakugan shopping completed.

The hottest Christmas toys for this year will be selling off of the shelves quick so if you want to secure your chances go online now and put your orders in. This saves a lot of time you may have spent driving from store to store only to be disappointed when the shelves didn't have what you wanted.

Working For Legitimate Online Survey Sites

Many families today are struggling to make ends meet. So many people have lost their jobs or lost much of the value of their house, that many people are having to take on extra work in order to pay the bills, let alone have any extra for fun things like going to the movies or getting ice cream. One way that many people have discovered is that if you are careful about which ones you sign up for, you can make extra money right from home by answering surveys on the internet.

It is a mutually beneficial situation: people get extra money they need and manufacturers and retailers obtain the demographic data they need. It helps them from pouring money into something that's going to be a losing proposition. If you are interested in doing surveys for pay, you need to watch out for websites that promise huge monetary rewards for a very small investment of time. Most probably they are scams. Be careful also of sites that charge you a membership fee, particularly if it is a substantial one, and be wary of those that only pay you in merchandise: your "prizes" are likely to be worth little or nothing.

Once you've separated the good from the dishonest ones, try to sign up with several of them. One site won't send you enough surveys to make some steady income from, but if you're signed up with several, you can get enough work to keep a steady stream of income flowing.

Obesity and Sleep

Research has shown that someone that suffers from a sleeping disorder is more likely to suffer from obesity as well. People that are obese my have more difficulties sleeping because their air passage way can be blocked (due to having large necks) causing them to be awoken suddenly of a good nights rest. People that suffer from this sort of sleep apnea can also suffer from things like strokes, high blood pressure and even heart attacks. When the body also awoken at night it tells itself that it needs more food, therefore these people become even more overweight. The trick is to not be counter productive by eating only small snacks at night time; make sure that if you are eating at night it is to eat at least five hours before you sleep; try to stay away from activities that work as stimulants, like things with sugar or exciting movies.

Some people also believe that sleeping pills work with people that suffer from obesity, but it actually makes their situation worse. I know several people that take sleeping pills just to receive at least seven hours of sleep each night. When I asked these people how many hours of sleep did they receive prior to taking the sleeping pills, they always responded by saying, "I get a couple more hours of sleep each night as a result." So, then I am left to ask myself, "is this really a proper substitute for not receiving sleep?" I have done my research on the different over the counter sleeping pills and I can safely say that all of them do more damage then they help. Out of the many sleeping pills that I have taken, all of them say, "if you have taken this pill for more than seven to ten days and still have problems sleeping, then talk to a physician." But I say, why not talk to a physician before deciding to take sleeping pills to begin with. Simply by taking the pill ten days consecutively, does not help you receive a sufficient amount of rest on the eleventh day. These pills only help to suppress the problem momentarily, while creating liver and kidney problems along with future addicts in the process.

Sleeping pills can also cause many problems with people who suffer from cardiovascular problems, asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, glaucoma and trouble urinating due to an enlarged prostate gland. Oftentimes people who obese suffer from cardiovascular problems, asthma and emphysema; therefore, pills might not be the best solution for someone who is suffering from sleep deprivation.

If you are obese try exerting your body several times throughout the day, while eating lighter meals that have less fatty acids in them. And remember that when you sleep make sure your body has the right amount of food so that you will not wake up suddenly during the night.

Do You Recognize What a Paid Survey Is?

Do you recognise what a paid survey is?

In a paid survey persons partake in a analytical survey and are rewarded through reward programs. Based on their demography, sex, age, income and location, quantitative details about the participants is gathered. Business organisations are increasingly using the web for market research because the internet connects millions of persons across the world and is cost effective. There are market research enterprises which hold databases of survey programs looking for viewpoint from people.

There are many unique kinds of survey programs. Information is compiled on areas including issues such as consumer products, service types and political issues through a survey.There are examples when persons use phones to give answers or they may enter into certain topical discussions in a focus group as may be established by the survey. You may be expected to inspect new product samples or watch and assess movie trailers or play and valuate games.

The good thing about paid survey programs is that there is no liability involved at all and you get paid as you do them. Making extra cash on the web without pressure at all is good, especially for persons like jobseekers, students, stay-at-home moms and those who have retired.

If a paid survey strategy requires a fee upfront or recurrent fees or credit card details, then chances are it is not legal. Anyone must be free to sign up, but it may restrict individuals from particular geographic areas for relevancy. Since legitimate paid survey schemes net their dollars from business organisations, all they require is your point of view and not your dollars. The sad thing is there are lots of scams on paid survey schemes on the web. You will get many adverts after signing up and you are normally required to provide upfront payment, and may not pay you anything when you do the survey programs.

So how do you get cracking with paid survey schemes?

You need to set up an email address particularly for this. A dedicated email address will separate personal from business matters, since you will be participating in as numerous survey schemes as possible.

Although there are various payment ways used by many survey strategies PayPal or a cheque are on top of the list. It would be reasonable to subscribe for a PayPal account because you will be paid virtually straightaway. You can redeem points or prizes for hard currency when a survey system presents them as reward. Gift certificates may be provided and you can use them in a number of internet and high street stores.

To facilitate you fill out everyday fields like addresses, names and telephone numbers on a survey form you want some tools to perform some of the monotonous and exhausting tasks. Apart from managing your passwords for you, software like RoboForm is a vital time saver because it can populate those commonly occurring fields automatically.

Depending on how many of surveys you can get weekly and the amount of your effort, you can earn a lot of dollars from survey schemes. It is possible to net a continual income from a number of enterprises by referring persons. Each time a referred client takes a survey a fee is paid. It is quite possible for persons to earn large sums of a number of month after month.

Now the more paid survey companies you sign up with, the higher the number of survey programs you acquire. Since some organisations can pay you for just signing up it is possible to commence making money in no time at all. You may have to wait for dollars for a somewhat prolonged period if you are participating in a focus group. A lot of hard currency making opportunities are created when you subscribe with many paid survey strategies!.

Why Do People Have More Incidents of Lower Back Pain-Injury After Periods of Sitting Vs Standing?

When you sit for a long period of time, even sitting just 30 minutes or longer you are typically putting your lower back into a flexed position. This is typically the slouched way or collapsed way of sitting in in a chair vs sitting in a way that supports your body and helps align your structure. The after math of sitting in a position with your lower back in flexion is that the thorocalumbar fascia (the thoracolumbar fascia provides about 80% of the stability for the lower back compared to 20% of the muscles according to leading experts in Low Back Pain.) this layer of tissue ends up stretching or elongating over time in this position, much like if you were to slowly stretch a rubber band.

What happens next?

Eventually you will get up and begin moving in gravity. A common scenario is that you get up head out into another room, see something on the bathroom floor and bend over to pick it up and........ your back hurts, your back gets injured.

What caused the injury in this case?

Your back gets injured (read carefully as this is the important part) because the normal stability for the lumbar fascia comes back a bit later. By stability, I mean 'stiffness', strength the ability to resist stretch. I used the above example of slowly stretching a rubber band, so stiffness would be perhaps trying to stretch a bungy cord vs a elastic band (ie much harder). Research tells us that after around 30 minutes of being out of this position (lumbar flexion) that the tissue begins to 'swell' (re-hydrate) and become more stable and more able to support your back in forward bending and after 1 hour it is even more stable than 30 minutes earlier and the curve goes up. (there is a point where it does begin to trend down, meaning that the lumbar fascia is not going to just continue to get stiffer). So we need this period of time for our fascia to recover it strength and stabiity before putting it into movements or positions that will place it at risk.

So what to take home from this? So now we know that studies shown that people who bend forward after sitting for a long period of time (ie. 30 minutes and greater) have more back injuries than if they had been standing for the same time. So with this knowledge and the information from above. Here are some quick tips.

1. Get up and move from your desk frequently! Help your lumbar fascia out!! Set a timer to go off every 30 minutes or sooner, when it goes off get up and move. Better yet break periods of sitting at your desk and work from a standing position. Let me be clear do not sit for hour upon hour at your desk and think you will have a happy, healthy back this is called denial!!!

2. Change how you are sitting, meaning sit up on your sit bones and tilt your pelvis slightly forward to take your lower back out of flexion. I often educated clients on using a 5 point neuro-somatic standing awareness exercise (to read more about it click here). You can take the same principles and use it while sitting this will help you stay more mindful and less apt to fall into old patterns while sitting at your desk, in your car or on your coach.

3. Also, If you have been sitting all day, then jumping into your car and driving (yes sitting again) to the golf course or any other activity for that matter and heading right out to play is putting you at greater risk for injury. So instead, make sure you move around for a period of time before swinging the club, the softball bat, or twisting your body in a yoga class. Work with your body not against it!

4. Lastly if your slumped on the couch all day or weekend long catching up on your movies, just remember that if you see something on the floor that you want to bend over to pick up, do yourself a favor and bend downk from the knees to get it, because if you bend forward to pick it up well lets just say you may be in for a not so enjoyable surprise.

Optimize Your System - How to Efficiently Use RAM

For a computer user, it is well-known that the RAM is related with all devices in the computer. Without RAM, the computer can not work. If the RAM is used properly, your computer will run fast.

What will happen if the RAM is insufficient?

It will slow the computer performance quietly. It will take us a lot of time to wait for the computer starts up. I am so annoying that my computer keeps alarming me that I need to add extra RAM. In fact, my RAM is enough for my computer running. But it is always in a high level usage rate. This makes me spend more money on adding the RAM to enhance the computer performance. However, the problem still exists in my computer which frequently pops-up the alarm to notify me to add more RAM. I am frustrated about that.

Due to the RAM is not enough, the computer can not support loading a lot of mission. I can't download some favorite items at the same time on my computer. The RAM is too insufficient to overload the downloading mission. At this moment, I can do nothing except waiting.

As a matter of fact, if the RAM is not enough, the programs are always frozen on the computer while I am watching movie or listening music online. This will cause me to reload the browser again and again. However, I can not buy the extra RAM to boost my computer performance all the time. I am so confused about these problems.

Fortunately, I download the superior software to help me solve the annoying RAM problem. It can help me easily and thoroughly optimize the RAM to make my computer run faster. Now, the RAM can be used properly. It is not necessary to add the RAM all the time if you meet the problem above.

Homeschool High School - Community College Questions

This article focuses on dual-enrollment in Washington State (called "Running Start".) I think you will find some useful information here regardless of where you are homeschooling.

Running Start is relatively easy to access as a homeschooler, even at a young age. 1) take the COMPASS test at the community college 2) take your transcript and COMPASS test results to the local high school and talk to the Running Start counselor there 3) they will sign a paper allowing you to access Running Start 4) take the paper into the community college admission department. It's pretty easy (more time consuming when kids are under 16, but still do-able.)Advantages: Dual enrollment can provide college credit, which can save many thousands of dollars on a college degree. It can provide external documentation of a student's academic achievement, especially in difficult subjects like lab science and foreign language.

Drawbacks: Community colleges will often have lower academic standards than regular universities. Classes will be a mix of academically capable and academically struggling teens and adults. Teens are usually in the minority. "Public school" environment with former drop-outs and students of questionable character. "Adult learning environment" that is sometimes akin to watching an R-rated movie. Community colleges have told me to warn homeschoolers that their student population may include "adjudicated individuals" who have been through the court and prison systems.

If you are thinking about Running Start, I recommend using the "buddy system." One friend had great success by using just evening programs, rather than daytime classes and using the buddy system.

What is a Psychic? 2 Unusual Facts About Psychic Powers You Shouldn't Overlook!

What is a psychic anyway? Is it a gift? And do you need to be born with it to have it? Do psychics need to practice...or does it all come natural? And what about psychic readings? Can you really trust the information that comes through...or should you take it ALL with a big grain of salt? In this article we are going to take a quick and insightful look at the facts "behind" psychic abilities, and reveal a few unusual morsels of information I think you're really going to love! Curious to know more? Great...continue reading as we take a closer look below!

Filed Under: Psychic Abilities CAN be learned! (and the US Government Proved This Themselves..

Yes, psychic abilities can be developed. And yes....some people are more naturally "gifted" than others. But in the famous, underground and clandestine "Operation Stargate" experiments (the basis for the current movie the "Men Who Stare at Goats") the C.I.A. trained "ordinary" soldiers to become psychic spies, many of whom have now gone onto careers TEACHING psychic abilities and "remote viewing" to ordinary people like you and me.

(interestingly....the "star" pupil of these experiments, Indigo Swann, was a well known psychic BEFORE he began participating in the program, and the things he was able to do, with training....were truly mind blowing spectacular and still to this day....are impossible to explain as sheer luck or coincidence)

Filed Under: Psychic Mediums Have Been "Talking to the Dead" for Centuries

It's true...and while many of us are ONLY recently familiar with the work of people like John Edwards (Crossing Over) and George Anderson and other TV style psychics, many mediums have been doing AMAZING and inexplicable work with the "other side" for centuries.

Even some of the greatest minds in the history of science have been STUMPED by the information revealed by some of these psychic mediums, with famous intellectuals like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the author of Sherlock Holmes), Sir Alfred Wallace (cofounder of the theory of evolution) William James (considered the greatest philosopher of the last 125 years) and others have been thoroughly convinced, after starting of skeptical....in the authentic abilities of SOME of the mediums they tested. (including the famous Leonora Piper.....whose readings to this day CANNOT be explained by skeptics, cynics and de bunkers who TRY to discredit all psychic phenomena they see)

The bottom line?

Psychic abilities are REAL. Plain and simple...and once you have an exceptional experience with a real psychic, clairvoyant or intuitive, you'll never look at the world quite the same way, ever again!

Mom's Can Have it All, They Just Can't Do it All

Supermom anyone! The only job a man cannot do in this world is that of a mom. No one is casting aspersions on the abilities of a man... but fact is fact right? Although there are many men who are house husbands but then again mom is mom right?

It is true to a large extent that moms do have it all but along with this "all" they have also taken on stress, tension, worry and at times despair. Work-at-home moms are particularly at the receiving end of "having to do it all" and in the process they become expert jugglers, efficient planners and problem solvers.

Moms that work from home will always have clothes waiting to be washed, emails waiting to be answered and of course the next meal that needs to be cooked. But you will find that most work from home moms have an efficient system in place which helps them take care of all the tasks at hand. They plan their meals, their shopping, their chauffeuring requirements (kids pick up and drop) and their housework to fit in their job. Of course they will still have those clothes waiting to be washed and emails awaiting replies etc... But that goes without saying.

There are times in a mom's life when she wishes for an extra pair of hands or a spare head when she gets a headache or even a spare set of feet for when she is run off her feet trying to get everything done. Then there are days when everything does get done and there is nothing that can beat that sense of satisfaction.

So having enumerated all of that (no breaking news but...) how can a work from home mom help herself "do it all" or at least "do most of it". Well some tried and tested methods do exist like which can help get the maximum work done.

Make a list. Give it three heads... Work, Family, Me. Every morning take 5 minutes to make a list of all the most important things to do and allot time to them. Then factor in a little time for the unexpected. Remember it is the unexpected which throws most schedules out of the window.

Once done you can allot some jobs to different members of the family depending on their capability. Responsibility begins at a young age and the sooner they understand that mom has to work the better. Plus you can tell them that working from home means a little extra in the kitty for a fun day at the beach, the movies, the mall or amusement park... big motivator that... to help mom work from home.

Contrary to opinion that work from home have it all, work from home moms have to work harder to do it all. Don't sympathize with them, empathize with them and remember at the end of the day/week/month there will come a time when they "have it all".

My Favourite 3 Tips For Song Writing That Will Make Writing Songs Easier and Faster!

Have you ever struggled to write a song even if you had a few musical ideas in our head already? Or maybe you are able to write good songs, but only sometimes, when you feel inspired? You should know that creating music is not necessarily a supernatural gift. It's more of a skill, which you can practise. So if you want to start the training, here are some tips for songwriting.

Tips For Songwriting Part 1: Work As Much As Possible

The more you write, the better you get. The better you get, the more material you write is good, and the more great tunes you've got to show the world. That's how it works. Try writing new material or working on the existing one even when you don't really feel like doing it. I know that you want to be a songwriter to avoid having a boring job you don't care about, but the truth is that if you want to master your skills you have to work hard, and songwriting is no exception.

Tips For Songwriting Part 2: Get Inspired!

Sounds easier than it really is, right? Which doesn't mean you can't create yourself a friendly environment for getting inspired. If you love music like I do (and I believe that is the case) you can be inspired by almost anything. Read a book, see a movie, meet a friend you haven't seen for a while. Any intellectual or emotional input can be translated into inspiration and therefore into music or lyrics. You will be surprised how creative you can be not focusing on the actual songwriting!

Tips For Songwriting Part 3: Use All The Tools Available.

Inspiration can disappear as quickly as it starts, or even quicker, that is why you should always be able to get the most out of the moment. Carry a notepad and a pencil with you and write down any lyrics ideas that cross your mind. I don't want to know many ideas I've lost because I thought they will always be somewhere in my mind (and of course I was wrong). A portable sound recorder should be useful as well for recording you playing or just humming a new song idea. Even a voice recorder in your mobile or mp3 player will do. The most important thing for you is to have your idea stored somewhere.

Improving Holiday Season Delays With Wimax

Part of holiday travel, or any travel in general, is the chance for a delay. After all, peak travel times means more opportunities for flights to be running late, and that means more chances for long waits in airports while the chance of making a connecting flight ticks away minute by minute. For more relaxed people, this is no sweat, but the average traveling family is going to notice a lot of complaining from children once all the books are read and video games are played.

Having a laptop has often meant that some of these travel delays can be worked through with the help of DVDs and video games, but sometimes it's just not enough. While many airports have wireless internet, many others don't, or their coverage is spotty or expensive. So what's a traveler to do, whether solo or with the family, when there's no entertainment left, or it's crucial to have the chance to write email on something larger than a BlackBerry?

This is where the latest version of the internet, WiMax, comes in handy. Unlike wireless, which requires proximity to some sort of router, this wireless internet bounces from tower to tower, not unlike the signal you receive on your cell phone. And just like cell phones have fewer and fewer dead spots around the country, it's possible for you to sit in just about any airport or train station in the whole country, whether in the heart of New York City or on some snowy lonesome Montana railway, and be able to connect to the internet.

Even better, the type of content that it's now easy to download from just about anywhere is greatly improved over what you can get through wireless internet. The premise of sitting still and trying to watch an episode of your favorite television show on an iPhone might be a little grating, but thanks to the fastest network in existence, certain providers of this great new internet offer the chance to stream high-quality video content from just about anywhere in no time at all.

This means that, with 4G, travelers can do it all: they can sit in Grand Central and Skype themselves into an important business conference; they can find a great movie that the kids love and give them the laptop for a couple of hours, or as long as the battery can last. And they can do their own important fact-finding, like watching local news online to see if there's any chance that the flight is actually going to land anytime soon.

The helpfulness of WiMax doesn't have to stop when the seasonal rush ends, either. For car trips anytime, business jaunts, or even your regular daily commute, it's a whole lot more helpful to have access to the whole internet, in all of its high-speed glory, than the abbreviated version that phone companies can offer up. And not just on the road, but at home, making this sort of switch will work wonders. Instead of worrying about your proximity to the router, take the laptop wherever you need to work. Want to sit in the front yard? You're not limited by your signal anymore. Whether it's near or far, the signal will go with you wherever you are.

How to Get Rid of the Slow PC

Free Up Your Disk Space

Maybe you have downloaded a great amount of "free" music or movie in your disk and forget to manage them at regular time. Beware of these files because they may have clogged up the space of your disk drivers and secretly download themselves with spyware or Adware. These malicious files will attack your system on purpose to capture your personal information like Web activity passwords of email addresses, ID codes and credit card numbers, sites that have been visited.

Remove Dreaded Registry Errors

The dreaded registry error usually results in the downfall of Windows operating systems. It comprises of invalid, obsolete, malicious entries, extra gaps, embedded keys, empty registry keys and some other obsolete and redundant files which can play a key role in the frequently system sluggish, deteriorated system performance, annoying system errors, slow connection speeds, Windows shutdown problem and the notorious blue screen of death.

Drivers Upgrades

Incompatible hardware drivers, faulty or unsupported hardware, and conflicts between system resources can result in system performance. Microsoft has provided you with absolutely helpful solution to check and solve your driver and hardware problems. That is the Device Manager. The Device Manager serves as a Control Panel applet integrated in Microsoft Windows operating systems which allows users to view and control the hardware attached to the computer. When a piece of hardware is encountering a critical error and stops working, the offending hardware is highlighted for the user to deal with.

To run Device Manager:

1. Click Start, and then go to Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then select System.
3. Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.

Star Bulletin Board Ideas

Primary bulletin boards can be cumbersome for some teachers to keep up with on a regular basis. We have so many other responsibilities that adding a currently changing bulletin board can sometimes be the straw that broke the camel's back. In an effort to find easy ways to rotate out this daunting task, I have created four simple bulletin board ideas for you to use:

• Math teachers will find this extremely easy! First, place a math-themed border around your bulletin board. Covering the cork is not necessary. Then, split your class into several teams. Teams will be assigned a specific month and will be in charge of creating the bulletin board. Hand over a non-expensive digital camera and assign that group a math theme (number sense and operations or geometry, for example). Explain to the students that they will receive a participation grade, but the most unique board that shows content and creativity will win the team McDonald's gift certificates (or movie passes, or chance tickets, etc.) In this way, you always have a fresh new board with no time or planning from you and the competitiveness will encourage the teams to do their best.

• Science teachers will breathe easier knowing that their simple bulletin board idea will be no stress for them! Each month, put up a border and a theme title on the board. For homework, assign students to take pictures, write a story, draw a picture, or create a song or poem to express their understanding of the topic. As the assignments come in, staple them as a collage on the board. Not only will your board be filled, but students will be interested in seeing what the others have brought in. Simple, easy, and yet effective.

• Social Studies teachers have not been left out! At the beginning of the year, create a timeline of your specialty (American History, World History, etc) and tack it in the middle of your board. Now, as the studies begin, encourage students to bring in family heritage pictures, mementos, or memorabilia that signifies the date from which you are studying. For example, a student might have gone to a museum and taken pictures of a new Ancient Egyptian exhibit. Now the student can add to your bulletin board, while also marking the date on the timeline, which creates a visual that aides in retention. Reward students by offering a small token prize for those who participate. It's about time(line) you don't have to keep track of your bulletin board each month!

• Reading teachers will be pleased to hand over rights to the bulletin board when they assign small teams of students to a specific month and book genre. The team will be graded on creating a bulletin board that shows their genre, several book cover examples, examples of well-known authors, trivia and tidbits, as well as any other relevant information. The team can also conduct an optional book talk for the class to encourage them to read more of their genre. Students will love the opportunity to get their hands on this typical teacher tool and create something for all to share.

Whether it's an open house bulletin board or a monthly hallway or classroom board that needs to be changed, encourage your students to take the reigns and showcase what they can do. Even the little ones can get involved in creating a board with a little help from a parent volunteer. Set parameters (and maybe include a grading rubric) to allow your students the freedom to show what they know. Easy as can be, you are now bulletin board free!

Discover Some Desert Adventure in Dubai

Ski Dubai Snow Park

Here's one of the Dubai's tourism, The Ski Dubai Snow Park, which has an area of 3000 square meters filled with snow. This is one of a kind amid the desert and its temperature is below zero degrees Celsius. At the snow park you can climb at their so called tobogganing hills, a bobsled ride or just enjoy around with other people throwing snowballs. Outside the park is 45-50 degrees Celsius. You may wonder how this was built and what made them build something like this. As people evolve, so does their technology. They start using it to convert places into something they are the opposite of, because having something impossible like that is like a dream come true. Kids or even adults from this tropical country can now experience the life of the western country and can no longer imagine but actually feel how it feels touching snowflakes. They can experience the joy of forming them into snowballs, or just simply form a snow man, just like in the movies.

The snow park

Provides also a wide variety of ski and snowboard lesson. You can enroll a class for a quickest yet safest way to start skiing on the snow. Being part of the group helps you learn quite easily. They have different lessons depending on the level of expertise required. A group lesson is essentially having a group of 8 -10 people which makes it easier for the skier and snowboarder. For children below 6 years old the session lasts for 60 minutes and for 6 above it is 90 minutes.

After each lesson at the Polar Bear each progress are recorded using a passport. Each level has corresponding wears, like the Polar Bear badge; once you have this it means you have completed all the level of expertise. This makes Dubai vacation most appealing. You should definitely go for next couple of months on a Dubai adventure.

Retiring Overseas? A Few Things to Think About First

Your fast approaching retirement age, but your retirement nest egg just isn't what it used to be. Neither the stock market, nor the real estate market has been kind to you, and now you are starting to wonder if you can retire at all. You've heard some of your friends and neighbors talk about retiring overseas and you are starting to become intrigued. Retirement overseas has a strong appeal, in most cases it can mean the difference in retiring now in a foreign country, or working several more years to retire in the United States. Before you get too caught up envisioning yourself on a beautiful white beach enjoying umbrella drinks, make sure you think it through and really do your research. Here are some questions to get you started.

First off, it is common knowledge that the cost of living overseas is cheaper than in the United States. Your money will go much farther in Mexico, The Philippines, Costa Rica and Ecuador, to name a few, than it will in the US. Panama is especially kind to retirees, offering 50% discounts on entertainment and movie tickets, 30% to 50% discounts on hotels, 15% off dental care and 10% off prescriptions to name just a few. But what type of living will you do? Do you speak the local language? Are you willing to invest the time learning to speak it fluently? If not, this can seriously limit your ability to truly become part of your new community. It may limit you to only the expatriate community for friends and social activities. While this isn't bad, you may not feel comfortable taking advantage of entertainment options (even at 50% discounts) nor feel entirely comfortable not being able to communicate fully with your doctor. In that case, the savings doesn't really help you at all.

You really can't stand the weather where you live now. The cold is just too much for you to take. You need the warmth of the tropics. With the tropics comes humidity. Many retirees who moved to Mexico or Panama for the beautiful beaches find themselves spending a few of the hottest months, not to mention hurricane season, back in the United States. Since a majority sold their property here, to pay for that new beach house, they are at the mercy of family and friends for a place to stay or end up renting a short term apartment. That doesn't mean you have to give up your dream completely. It could be as simple as retiring in the mountains instead of on the beach. Either way, before you commit, be realistic about what type of weather you and your spouse can accept and enjoy.

How close emotionally are you to your family? Many seniors move to retirement communities, or to warmer parts of the United States, or out of the country, never exactly realizing what that will mean as far as their friends and families. Do you have grandchildren you will miss? It's one thing to miss a school play; it's another to miss your grandchildren's birthdays. What about the holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas? Can your children come to you or do you need to go to them? At first the travel sounds easy, who wouldn't want to come lie on a beach in Mexico in December? But in reality, your son or daughter may not be enthused about taking their small children on a long plane ride outside the United States. You may end up going to them. If so, be sure to include the costs of international flights, possibly a few times a year, into your retirement budget. Also, look for a country that is close to the US and a city that has several international flights each day.

Finally, look further into your retirement, way down the road, when you or your spouse's health starts to fail. Your children are back in the US, and outside the expatriate community, you really haven't developed a good support system. Who will you trust to look after your financial affairs? Who will you trust to look after you if you become ill or incapacitated? Will you have to move back to the US? If so, where will you go?

These questions are meant to scare you, or even talk you out of retiring to your dream destination. They are simply meant to remind you that there are more things to think about than white beaches, cheaper beer, and lower doctor bills. Retirement isn't all about saving money, it's also about living your life, with your family and friends enjoying the good times.

Celebrity Worship - The Best Selling Brands Are Humans

What drives our endless fascination with celebrities and how does it affect the brand driven retail business?

Celebrity worship has probably existed as long as there have been famous people. But it has probably only become as intense as it is given the technological advances that allow us to create societies, market them to a worldwide audience, and share information about them.

With thousands of brands trying to compete for customer's attention, celebrities have a clear advantage to make their message heard. Celebrity-licensed products accounted for over $3 billion in retail sales already 6 years ago. Best selling brands in recent years have been Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and David Beckham, to name a few.

During recent years, the line between person and brand has blurred, and celebrities have begun applying techniques from the corporate world to their careers: marketing and protecting a brand identity, trade marking and licensing their names, launching their own product lines and embracing product endorsements to boost their perceived value to consumers.

The question remains; What drives our endless fascination with celebrity worship in the time where celebrities are no longer people who have special talents and attributes and are simply marketing products?

There are three well-documented reasons for an increasingly growing cult of celebrity.

1. DNA - the very need to find an idol and follow him is programmed into our bodies...
2. Entertainment industry - A technology designed to defeat the locks that safeguard our pleasure buttons and press the buttons in various combinations...
3. Beauty - Even three-month-old infants prefer to look at pretty face...

1. DNA

The very need to find an idol and follow him is programmed into our DNA. What's in our DNA, as a social animal, is the interest in looking at alpha males and females; the ones who are important in the pack. We are sociologically preprogrammed to follow the leader and we are biochemical sitting ducks for the Hollywood star system. We were selected not only to rank successful individuals highly and to prefer them as models, but also to kiss up to them in order to make them prefer us as interactional partners.

2. Entertainment industry

The technology of fiction delivers a simulation of life that an audience can enter in the comfort of their cave, couch, or theater seat. It tricks us with illusions that duplicate the experience of seeing and hearing real events. The illusions include costumes, makeup, sets, sound effects and animation. When the illusions work, there is no mystery to the question "why do people enjoy fiction?" It is identical to the question "Why people enjoy life?" When we are absorbed in a movie, we get to see breathtaking landscapes, important people, falling in love with ravishing men and women, protect loved ones, attain impossible goals, and defeat wicked enemies. Not a bad deal for a few bucks!

The entertainment media is at least partly to blame for creating the "monster" known as the celebrity super-fan. The whole Hollywood-spin machine works together to create images that are impossible for any of us to live up to. They purposefully set us up to admire and even covet something we can never have. Then, when we are completely vulnerable, they sell us the image even harder - from headlines that titillate us with "celebrity secrets," to the books, diets, cosmetics, foods, jewelry, and clothes that promise we'll be closer to the ones we adore. There are fortunes being made by turning fans into victims, and all it starts by creating that frenzy known as celebrity worship.

3. Beauty

Could we really be equipped with an innate eye for beauty? What about the natives in National Geographic who file their teeth, stretch their necks, burn scars into their cheeks? Don't they show that standards of beauty are arbitrary and vary capriciously? They do not. That is the tacit assumption behind the National Geographic argument, but it's obviously false. People alter their bodies for many reasons: to look rich, to look well connected, to look tough, to look "in," to earn membership in an elite group by enduring a painful initiation. Sexual attractiveness is different. People outside a culture usually agree with people inside about who is beautiful and who is not, and people everywhere want good-looking partners. Even three-month-old infants prefer to look at a pretty face.

The psychologist D. Singh has shown photographs of female bodies of different sizes and shapes to hundreds of people of various ages, sexes and cultures. Everyone finds a ratio of.70 or lower the most attractive. Singh also measured the ratio of Playboy winners from 7 decades. Their weight went down, but their waist-to-hip ratio has stayed the same. Even the ancient Venus figurines, carved tens of thousands of years ago, have the right proportions. Beauty is not, as some feminists have claimed, a conspiracy by men to objectify and oppress women. The really sexist societies drape women in chardos from head to foot. Women in open societies want to look good because it gives them an edge in competing for husbands, status, and the attention of powerful people. Men in closed societies hate beauty because it makes their wives and daughters attractive to other men, giving the woman a measure of control. Similar economics make man want to look good, too, but the market forces are weaker or different because men's looks matter less to women than woman's looks matter to men.

Though the beauty industry is not a conspiracy against women,. We calibrate our eye for beauty against people we see, including our illusory neighbors in the mass media. A daily diet of freakishly beautiful people may recalibrate the scales and make the real ones, including ourselves, look ugly.

Living a Passionate Life - Take a Break

Designing a passionate life requires that you take a break and relax. Part of living passionately means that you create space in your life to relax and enjoy life. In your very busy life and schedule it is easy to fall into the mode of, I'll take a break after I finish this report, phone call, or email. Before you know it, time has gone by and you've made no room for yourself to relax and replenish your energy.

How to Recognize When to Take a Break
When you feel as if you don't have time to take a break, is exactly the time when you need one. It's time to replenish your body, mind, and spirit. Does your body need exercise or rest? Are you feeding it healthy food? Does your mind need to space out, do nothing, or engage in something you absolutely love? Do your feel connected to the core of who you are? If not, what can you do to bring that connection back? How connected do you feel to your family and friends?

If you don't stop and take a break, eventually you'll stress out and your body will rebel and you will become ill. That is not the break that you need. Take a break when you are healthy and can truly enjoy it.

Take inventory right now. How does your body feel? How does your mind feel? How does your spirit feel? Even the smallest of breaks can help keep you functioning at your full capacity. Are you honoring a passion that may include rest, relaxation, and recreation?

Ways to Take a Break
The first thing to do in order to figure out what kind of break you need is to look at your passions. If one of them is to read a good book for hours on end, when is the last time you have done that? If you love nature, when is the last time you've been out in nature? If you love to spend creative time with your hobby, when is the last time you've done that? Start by asking yourself "What would replenish my body, mind, and spirit right now? Here are some ideas for replenishing your energy:

  • Take a walk
  • Go biking
  • Play golf
  • Spend time with your pet
  • Spend time in nature
  • Get lots of sleep
  • Read a good book
  • Watch your favorite movie
  • Go to an event that supports your hobby
  • Spend time with your children
  • Spend time with your spouse/partner
  • Sit quietly
  • Write in your journal
  • Read to your children
  • Cooking

The ways to replenish your energy are endless. It's up to you to be aware of when you need to take a break, know what replenishes you and commit to yourself to do so. A passionate life includes every aspect of your life functioning at capacity. In order to follow your passions, you must take care of yourself.

Indoor Exercise Ideas For the Winter

During the warm weather months, a lot of people enjoy getting their exercise outside. They like to participate in various sports, or just go running. However, once it gets cold and snowy this becomes harder to do. No more tennis or soccer, so you have to find something else to do. Some people turn to winter sports like sledding with the kids, skiing, ice skating, or snowboarding, but others prefer to stay indoors during the bad weather. It is important to keep up with your exercise routine, so the indoor exercise ideas below might be helpful.

The one option most people are familiar with is the idea of joining a health club or gym for the winter months. There you can use the weights, as well as the cardio machines such as the exercise bike or the treadmill. You can also take a wide variety of fitness classes to try different things. However, not everyone wants to or can afford to pay for the necessary membership. Others simply might prefer not to have to go out and drive somewhere else when the weather isn't all that great. Not to worry, there are other things that you can do.

You can always purchase an exercise machine that you like for your home, so you don't have to pay for the fees to a gym but can still use similar equipment. You can find everything from exercise bikes to elliptical machines to rowing machines for sale for home use. If you make use of it regularly it will end up costing you less than the health club membership while allowing you to get some great aerobic exercise. You can put it near a TV so you can watch your favorite shows or movies while you exercise, or you can put on your favorite music to get you going. Whatever works best for you?

Your home offers some wonderful opportunities for indoor exercise. Stairs are a great form of exercise, so you can spend some time running up and down them. If this doesn't appeal, you can try turning on the exercise shows on TV, or getting some exercise videos that sound fun and interesting. These can be a real challenge, especially if you try something new, such as pilates. Of course with the new video game options you can also get some exercise playing video games like Dance Revolution, or many of the games made for the Wii. You can pretend to be playing your favorite summertime sports while indoors, or just play some fun games. There are even games the whole family can enjoy together to keep everyone fit and active.

With a little bit of thought and effort it is possible to come up with a number of different ways to stay active while staying indoors during the winter. This way you can keep up with your exercise and stay fit, rather than just sitting around and gaining weight from all the wonderful holiday food you are probably consuming. If you don't like any of the ideas above, at least they might start you thinking about the many different possibilities that are available.