Sunday, October 25, 2009

Keeping Your Feet Happy

Tye Lee Tze, a Singapore podiatrist, cautions woman against wearing spiked high heels. "The shoes you wear now can cause pain and deformities into the future." he says.

The wrong shoes can create back problems. leg paints, knee problems and toe deformities. Buy the right ones instead.

1. Active? Sports, such as tennis, that see you running in different directions use one type of shoe, while activities such as jogging need another.
2. Footwear should have plenty of room for the toes. Women should avoid wearing pointy-toed shoes.
3. There should be one thumbnail-width from the end of the shoe to the longest toe while standing. "some sales people will say the shoes will stretch to fit" says Tye. "That shouldn't be necessary."
4. Your feet tens to swell during the day, so it's best to try to buy shoes in the evening.

Do Try These At Home...

We all need to tackle home-maintenance jobs at some point. But we don't always have the tools or know-how. Here's a list of handy hints sent in by readers of The Family Handyman magazine.

1. When using a ladder inside, tape a pair of old running shoes over the top of each rail. The soles will grip the walls and prevent scratches and dents appearing.
2. Drilling holes in brick can be messy, so switch on the vacuum cleaner and place the nozzle under your work.
3. Need a mallet? Slip a rubber doorstep over the head of your hammer.
4. Keep a packet of disposable nappies in your toolbox. They are ideal for mopping up spills quickly - paint, oil, turpentine - in the workshop or home.
5. Avoid holding tiny nails (and hammering your fingertips!) by applying a couple of layers of masking tape to the surface you're hammering into. Press the nail into the tape to start the job.
6. To stop paint flickering onto nearby surfaces, cover those odd-shaped objects - lights, phone, doorknobs - with plastic wrap.
7. If you don't want to remove a door for painting, you can still brush the bottom edge by using a scrap of carpet as a paintbrush.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Slow Down for Strength

The latest fitness craze is slow-motion weight training. Recent hype claims that it's all you need to stay strong and fit. While strength training is important, and less time-consuming than aerobics, you need to combine it with some cardio, says Richard Cotton from the American Council on Exercise. We list the health benefits of each ty

CARDIO
1. Burns more kilojoules Thirty minutes of aerobics can slash twice as many kilojoules as half an hour of weightlifting.
2. Strengthens your heart Aerobic exercise cuts your heart disease risk.
3. Reduces cholesterol Cardio actually changes the size of cholesterol-carrying proteins, so they do less damage.

STRENGTH TRAINING
1. Prevents osteoporosis Weightlifting puts stress on your bones, aiding calcium retention.
2. Improves athleticism Lifting weights enhances performance in everyday activities, such as grocery shopping and heavy lifting.
3. Increases muscle s we age, we lose muscle, making us more susceptible to weight gain and injury.
4. Burns more fat The more muscle mass you have, the more kilojoules you burn.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Should you Starve a Fever?

"A fever is the body's normal reaction to certain illnesses, usually a bacterial or viral infection," says Dr Lorna Lavin-Simangan, a paediatrician at St Luke's Medical Centre in Manila.

A fever is a symptom of an another problem. Low-grade fevers don't need special attention, but high-grade fevers - above 38.4 degrees - should be treated.

Acetaminophen or paracetamol will usually ease a fever. A cool, moist cloth can be applied directly to the skin, but don't use ice.

As for starving a fever, Lavin-Simangan says it's bad advice. Good nutrition helps the body fight off the virus or infection.

Calling on the Cards

Prepaid calling cards are increasingly popular. In Singapore alone, more than 30 companies provide over 100 types of prepaid international calling cards. The cards' appeal is that they usually offer much less expensive rates than other types of services. But they aren't perfect. Here are some things to keep in mind when using prepaid calling cards.

1. Though call rates are often low, some cards have hidden charges like connection fees. Read the fine print before buying.

2. Beware if you need a log of your calls for business or personal reasons - calling cards don't provide any records.

3. Before you buy, check for hidden charges, such as connection fees.

4. Some cards only reach certain areas.

5. Many cards expire 90 days after they are first activated.

6. Make sure you can use the card where you want. Some cards can't be used in hotel rooms. Others are blocked in private residences.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Speeding Up a Sluggish Computer

Steps to take before spending money on costly upgrades.

Empty the trash.
Files dragged to the icon may be out of sight, but they still eat up valuable space. Only when the trash is emptied is space freed up.

Restart your computer.
Even when you quit a program, large ones may continue to siphon off memory. Restarting (or "rebooting") adjusts this problem.

Fix fragmented files.
Over time, files on your hard drive may become fragmented, producing error messages or crashes, Most PCs come with a defragment program. E-mail Microsoft for finding and running.

Purge old-email files.

Many e-mail programs save copies of every message you send. Empty or reduce this backup file to free up hard-drive space. Call your e-mail service for help locating the files.

Switch off start-ups.

Programs that support instant messaging and calendars kick in as soon as you start your computer and use up its resources. You're better off turning them on as needed. Call your computer's tech-support line for help locating these "extensions".

Grow It, Then Eat It

Your child doesn't like green beans? Have him grow his own. In a recent study, preschool-age children who planted, weeded, watered and harvested a plot showed increases in their willingness to eat vegetables, especially green beans. "Gardening lets children make a connection between their food and where it comes from," says study author and dietitian Suandra Lorenz. And this may make the kids less likely to think vegetables are icky.

Straighten Out Your Cyberkids

A study at Australia's Curtin University of Technology found 60 percent of kids using computers at school showed signs of repetitive strain injury. Here are some desk exercises.

1. Stretch your arms above your head and spread your fingers. Then lower your arms so they're straight out in front. Hold for a few seconds.

2. Push the bottom of your right palm against the top of your left palm, so you feel a stretch along the underside of your left forearm.

3. Sit with your back straight, look over your right shoulder, then your left. From the centre, nod slowly three times. Turn your head in a "no" motion three times, then stretch as if laying your hed on each shoulder.

4. Keep your hips forward and turn to look behind on each side, with your arm across the back of the chair, stretching your back.

5. Push your chin forward to stretch the jaw and neck.

6. Sit and roll each shoulder forwards and around then back and around. Lift each shoulder to your ear and down.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Nikon D70 Good enough GDigital SLR camera



Compared to some other digital SLRs--such as the bulky Fujifilm Finepix S2 Pro or its heavy cousin--the Nikon D2x--the Nikon D70 fits comfortably in the hand, measuring just 5.5 by 4.4 by 3.1 inches, and weighs only one pound, nine ounces without the lens. Although the camera offers a profusion of buttons, the most commonly used ones fall under the fingers, such as the buttons to change metering modes, exposure, and focus lock. The two control dials--one on the front and one on the rear --fall naturally under your index finger and thumb. Having two dials makes controlling the camera in full manual mode much easier than with cameras that have only one dial. On the D70s, one dial controls the shutter and the other changes the aperture. In contrast, the Digital Rebel XT, which has just one dial, makes you hold down a button so tha dial changers the aperture instead of the shutter speed.

Canion PIXMA iP1200 Unique and Compact



The Canion PIXMA iP1200 is the PIXMA family addition that has a compact and slant design. Having an optimized resolution of 4800 dots per inch, this Canon printer can print on a 4 x 6-inch borderless photo paper. The good thing about this printer is that it uses one photo ink cartridge that only costs P945. The CL-41 photo ink cartridge supplies both black and colored ink. For users who are more interested in printing out black text documemts, Canon supples the black, or the PG-40 ink as reffered by the vendor. Should you opt for the black, the PG-40 cartridge costs P330 more than the photo ink.

Let's get straight to the point. This SOHO inkjet printer comes with a standars USB port. You can load up to 100 sheets of plain paper or 20 sheets of 4 x 6-inch photo paper. Aside from this, you could also print using photo stickers, matte photo paper, T-shirt transfer, envelopes, transparency films and other photo paper types.

As always, the PC World Philippines Test Lab ran a series of speed and quality tests. In draft mode setting, the PIXMA iP1200 managed to print 6.53 pages in one minute. While in test and graphics file, it took 3.46 and 2.73 pages in one minute, respectively.