Cool Beans SF

To understand how a digital camera really works in a digital photography system, you have to understand that there are three really basic steps involved in making and using digital pictures. They are input, processing and output. The input devices put pictures and other information into the computer system. One of the most familiar input devices is obviously a keyboard. There are other input devices out there though. Some of the other types are digital still cameras that take pictures in a digital format, or film cameras that provide slides, negatives or prints which you can scan and make them into digital pictures. Video cameras also make images into a video format. You can use a frame grabber to isolate the individual frames and make them as still images. Digital video cameras can take still images just like a digital still camera. A video-editing card can be used to extract the still images from the digital video.

The second basic step is to process the photograph. Once a picture is in digital form, you can put it onto your system and then later edit it with a photo-editing program. One of the most popular programs is Photoshop. There are tons of things you can do with a digital image. You can reduce or eliminate flaws, or you can adjust the size to send it through an email. A few ways to actually process the images are “cropping” the picture to make a key part show out more, reduce your number of pixels to make it smaller for web-posting or email sending, or even use a filter to sharpen the picture and make it look like a oil painting or watercolor. Another fun thing to do is merge two images to create a 3d stereo effect, or making it into an animated image to post on the Web. Changing brightness and contrast is probably the most popular thing for most people to do when processing their pictures.

The third and last basic step is to outputting the photograph. Once you get the image just the way you want it, people always like to get the output of the picture to share it with others. Some of the most popular ways of doing that are: printing out the image on a color printer, or putting the picture into a word processing or publishing type of document, or posting it on their favorite Website or photo network or sending it by email.

You can keep up with long distance relationships a little better by keeping updated pictures in the flow. Taking a picture into a specialty printing shop and having it put onto shirts, key rings, posters or even mouse pads is a lot of fun. Many families like to have their pictures converted into slides so that they can then later sit down with a projector and reminisce about the pictures they took, and what they were doing at that particular time.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Digital Video

You already know that getting at least 30 minutes of exercise each and every day is good for you, but putting that assertion into actual practice is an entirely different matter, right? Contrary to what you might think, making physical activity an everyday habit isn’t rocket science. There’s no secret code for success waiting to be cracked. In fact, it’s something that can be worked into your usual routine with minimal, sometimes no, interruption or adjustment.

The U.S. Surgeon General, the American Heart Association and many other reputable health organizations all agree that 30 minutes of moderate-intensity workout is optimal on most, if not all, days of the week. The good news is that they also all concur that this recommended prescription doesn’t have to be taken all in one large dose. While the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) once called for continuous exercise of 20 minutes’ duration or longer, new guidelines allow for bouts of physical activity (as few as 10 minutes at a time) intermittently spread throughout the day.

When viewed in this manner, 10 minutes of exercise three times a day becomes a much more manageable goal than 30 uninterrupted minutes. Even the busiest executive and the most stressed-out mom can carve out 360 seconds for the sake of improving his or her physical, mental and emotional well-being. In fact, regular physical activity can even be considered a lifesaving practice. That’s because it’s been proven to extend life by warding off many chronic and deadly conditions like heart attacks, diabetes and strokes.

Now that the logistics are out of the way, the question becomes: What constitutes “moderate-intensity” activity? In concrete terms, the 30-minute recommendation breaks down to two to three miles of walking a day at a rate of 3-4 miles per hour, or to burning 200 calories per day. This aim coincides with the popular 10,000 Steps program, which can easily be reached with the assistance of a RYP Sports pedometer. Simple things like parking your car farther away from your office or taking the stairs instead of the elevator can quickly add up to that target number.

For those who don’t enjoy walking or running, there are many other activities that constitute moderate-intensity exertion, many of which are necessary and/or fun tasks that fit right in with your normal routine. Gardening, raking leaves, mowing the lawn, mall strolling and dancing all fill the bill. In fact, 30 minutes spent playing tag with your kids in the yard burns the equivalent amount of calories as yoga, horseback riding and walking at a pace of four miles per hour on a level surface.

So, before you use the excuse that you’re too busy to schedule exercise into your daily grind, reconsider. Play Frisbee with the kids, take the dog for a jog around the block, even get some much-needed cleaning done around the house. In no time flat you’ll have reached your intended exercise goal, often without even realizing it!

By Matt Ream © 2005 RYP Sports Inc. All rights reserved.

RYP Sports is a leading retailer of heart rate monitors, pedometers, Timex watches and stopwatches. Unbeatable prices on the widest selection health related products, including yoga mats, yoga DVDs, exercise balls, and step counters on the Web. All items in stock for fast shipping at the BEST prices anywhere. Satisfaction guaranteed.

If you are planning to visit Disneyworld during your next vacation, you need to get to Orlando . Of course, you can opt for a package including the flight and a room in one of the hotels within the resort, or you can book those separately and you will most likely save a lot of money.

The first step is to find cheap airline tickets into Orlando. Search the different websites and options to find the best deal. Fly mid-week for the best airfare and try to avoid the weekends. Buy your tickets in advance if you plan to visit Orlando around holidays or during the kids’ vacations.

Then you need a place to stay and that’s when cheap hotels in Orlando come in handy. If you want to save some money don’t stay within the resort. Opt for a place further from the main attraction and you are bound to stay for a cheaper price.

Of course, the main attraction in the area is Disneyworld. You can spend an entire vacation here just checking out all the rides and activities. Pack some light snacks if you don’t want to eat the junk food at the many restaurants. Or look for some restaurants which serve sea-food.

There is a new show that came out not to recently called Summer Heights High. It is a show about high school. There are three main characters in the show. One teacher, one female student, and one male student make up the show. The teacher is really into drama class and takes it very seriously. He is about performing arts and putting on performances on stage in front of audiences. The female student is a girl who transferred from a private school to the public school Summer Heights High. Since she came from a private school she is more proper and knows what is cool, so the other girls like her. She organizes new events and pushes to make the public school a better place. The male student causes a lot of trouble. He is a year eight student and has issues with both his teachers and year seven students. He is a really good kid inside and after watching the show you end up really liking his character, he just gets in trouble a lot.

There is something really neat about this show and that is one actor plays all three characters. He does such a great job and getting into the characters that I ended up watching the whole show and did not realize that it was him until the very end. This is such a creative show and my hands applaud the creator and visionary of this show. I still watch the older episodes after I finish up my exercise after taking my Acceletrim capsules for weight loss. I am not sure as to whether or not there will be a second season, but I sure do hope so.

“If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.”

~ Marcus Aurelius

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.”

~ William James

The attitude that you adopt is a major factor in determining both the success and happiness you are able to attain. Since both your whole overall attitude toward life and your particular attitude in any given moment or circumstance is within your power to choose, your success and your happiness are, for the most part, a matter of choice…your choice.

Most people refuse to accept that responsibility. Instead, they allow their attitude to be determined by whatever passing circumstance they encounter. It rains. Their attitude is damp and dreary. Their boss reprimands them. Their attitude is resentment. Their lover leaves. Their attitude is misery. They are victims of circumstance and condition. Powerless creatures. Reactors.

The few who walk the path of self-mastery own their attitude. They choose how to feel in any circumstance or condition. As a result, they are more self-reliant, more successful and happier people. Enactors. Victors. They are also the ones who end up being creators of circumstance, leaders and contributors.

The single most important attitude that you can adopt is the attitude of gratitude. Once you have made the choice to simply be grateful for what your life has to offer, all other necessary winning attitudes become easy to adopt.

It is not necessary to be grateful to anyone or anything. Gratitude can be felt without it being directed toward any giver or cause. Grateful appreciation is the key that unlocks the doorways that lead to happiness and personal fulfillment.

Obstacles in your path become opportunities to hone your skills and strengthen your will. Setbacks become opportunities to reassess and improve your approach; roadblocks, a chance to take a new road. Endings become beginnings. It is all a matter of attitude. Yours.

Each of us has the option at each and every moment to choose what attitude we shall adopt. If we allow conditions or circumstances to determine how and what we feel and thinkwhat attitude we hold, we are making the choice to be mere creatures, more, to be victims.

As soon as we decide to take control of the attitudes we hold, no matter what the circumstances, events or conditions we encounter, we have made the choice to become victors.

Opt for victory. Choose your attitude. Do it carefully and purposefully. Do it now.

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”

~ George Bernard Shaw

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

~ Victor Frankl

© Leslie Fieger. All rights reserved worldwide.

Leslie is the author of The DELFIN Knowledge System Trilogy: The Initiation, The Journey and The Quest plus many more success publications. He also the co-author of The End of the World with Hugh Jeffries and Alexandra’s DragonFire with his daughter Ashley. Subscribe to his free and ad-free eZine at http://www.ProsperityParadigm.com or http://www.LeslieFieger.com.

Reprinting and republishing of this article is granted only with the above credit included. Permission to reprint or republish does not waive any copyright.

You never used to get leg cramps (until recently), you run regularly and exercise for two hours a day or more, you’re fit, you’ve got a ‘6 pack stomach’ - so you can eat anything you like, within reason, right?

It just doesn’t work like that - let me explain using the ‘elastic band theory of health and longevity’ to explain why you’re starting to get leg cramps, muscle cramps and other health problems that are sure to follow.

The body is just like a wonderful machine - so good in fact that for over 30 to 40 years, no matter how ‘low grade’ the ‘fuel’ you put in, your body just works and works and works.
In fact, some people find that as they hit their mid thirties, that they’re just as fast as in their early twenties. Sure, you’re putting on a little weight, that’s normal, but overall you find that you’re just as fast and don’t need to train as often or as hard.

That is until one day you start getting cramps that won’t go away, or you can’t put up with that joint pain like you used to or your blood pressure starts to rise, or you need glasses or your hair starts going grey - fast.

Just like a thick elastic band, from a health point of view, the body can just keep stretching and stretching and stretching until one day it just ’snaps’.

That’s when professional athletes just ‘drop dead’ from cardiovascular disease and that’s when you find out you have diabetes, cancer, or arthritis or you’re told by your doctor that you have a ‘problem heart’ and you’re professional sporting career is over.

It is really a ‘no-brainer’ that an unhealthy diet will contribute towards muscle cramps or other health problems and that these conditions are really just early warning signs or worse things to come.

Prevention of cramps and other health challenges from a nutrition point of view comes down to consuming a mostly fresh food diet that is high in minerals, avoiding ‘empty’ foods that are high in sugar and low in minerals and which also introduce toxins and antibiotics into our systems.

Fast foods of any type, fried food, processed or refined carbohydrates (such as cakes, biscuits and most types of bread), alcohol and excessive amounts of caffeine are all examples of foods to avoid.

In terms of cramping, eating the wrong food does the following:

1. Reduces our muscles’ energy reserves and makes cramping more likely

2. Deprives the muscles of minerals required to relax and contract the muscles.

3. Introduces toxins (preservatives, food colouring and flavour enhancers) that have a stimulatory effect on the muscles that induce cramping and tend to inhibit the relaxation response that prevents cramping.

And while muscle cramps, running cramps you suffer during exercise and leg cramps at night are the end result of these nutritional problems, it’s the other lifestyle-threatening and life-threatening conditions you should be worried about.

My advice - cramps are just indicators of potentially more serious health problems. Fix the cramps from a nutritional point of view and you’re taking positive action from a long term health and longevity perspective.

Copyright - www.Running-Cramp-Relief.com

Paul Newland is a health and nutrition consultant, trainer, martial arts instructor, commercial helicopter pilot and author. His Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide is one of the internet’s leading health information books and is the definitive guide to preventing, treating and curing cramps associated with exercise. In the Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide Newland speaks with 6 health, sports, nutrition, medical and complimentary health care professionals and explains why you get cramps, the best ways to treat them and how to prevent them from happening again.

I am going to write to you about a time-tested great way to start your New Year. You guessed it - making your list of monthly and yearly goals.

The business philosopher Jim Rohn said that, “The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.”

The process of reaching your goal changes you forever. It brings you the confidence and motivation to pursue further, loftier aspirations.

Writing down your goals is imperative. You will activate and create new cells in your brain by writing your goals on paper. These cells would otherwise remain dormant if you just type them on your computer or think about them.

After Andrew Carnegie passed away, they found a sheet of paper in his home. Carnegie had handwritten one of the major goals of his life - to spend the first half of his life accumulating money and to spend the last half of his life giving it all away. Guess what. He did!

Go write down your goals now. Challenge yourself to new heights while not making your goals unreachable. In the same way, if you set your goals too low, you won’t make much of yourself.

Look at your list often, every day. You can never tell what you can do when you get inspired by reading your goals. And, most importantly, you can never tell what will happen when you put them into action.

Inspiration leads to activation and equals triumphant success.

Yes, everybody has short-term obstacles to overcome. And, that is the very reason why we need a lot of powerful long-range goals. They keep us focused, on track. They provide us with a powerful target. They remind us about the life we want to live.

The critical reason for goal-setting is to lure and persuade you to become the person that it takes to reach them. By activating the process that leads to the accomplishment of your goals, you change your outlook, your brain cells, your thought process in such a way, that you feel like a different person. A much evolved person.

You can liken this activation process to that of a snake shedding its old skin. Or, a salamander. Did you know that one of the great symbols of the ancient schools of wisdom is a salamander. You can cut off its tail, and the salamander can grow a new one. A carnivorous animal can bite the salamander in half, separating its stomach from its intestines and its lower colon cutting off its stem cells, cutting off its spinal column, and guess what. The salamander crawls away on its arms. It knows how to change itself to look like sand and rocks - like a chameleon. While its lying there, it exudes no fragrance. It grows back from its spinal column a new intestine, a new spinal column, new legs and a new tail. Then it emerges again.

The next attack on a salamander may bite off its body right under its neck - only a head and one arm is left. It can lay in a catatonic state as it grows back a new body. But if its head is bitten off, the salamander is history.

The reason I am telling you this is to show you how incredibly powerful your mind is. It is the crowning glory of who you are and who you can become. Its creative power is simply limitless.

And setting goals is an incredible way to use your beautiful mind.

“We all have two choices: We can make a living or we can design a life.” -Jim Rohn

So design your new life. Allow every moment to renew your life anyway you want. Make this year one the one you want to remember forever.

Copyright 2006 Tania French

Tania Gabrielle French is a composer who has enjoyed performances and radio broadcasts of her music worldwide. Her new CD “Renewal” (released January, 2006) will feature a rejuvenating fusion of new age, classical, and world songs.
Subscribe to her popular newsletter at http://www.prosperousartist.com

© 2005 Tania French. All Rights Reserved.

I am writing you from the quaint sea town of New Bern, NC where my wife and I are catching some much needed R&R.

Lately many of our students have been telling us that their biggest goal is to leave their current 9 to 5 J-O-B and start investing in real estate full time. They no longer want to be tied down by corporate rules and structure.

While I was on this trip I realized that if my wife had not left her job last week, we could not be here right now. She simply would not have been able to take time off. So, how was she able to retire at 24? The answer is quite simple…

She took a few of the success principles Lou and I preach to our students daily and took action on them!

My wife was able to leave her job because she took decisive action!

When she realized she wanted to leave her current job, she sat down and analyzed the situation; made realistic goals for herself; and started taking action on those goals!

In other words, she developed a smart plan for success then took action each day to ensure success.

You must constantly move yourself forward even if it is only a small step each day!

Tiger Woods does it!

Donald Trump does it!

Developing a plan so you can clearly see your objectives and taking action daily towards those objectives is the key to any successful endeavor.

Very few people are successful by accident.

1. You must have a strategy for success!

2. You absolutely MUST take decisive action on a daily basis!

3. You must surround yourself by people who will support you

and/or help you on your road to success!

Using these 3 simple steps you can create huge progress toward your business and life goals!

My wife was able to retire from her job at 24 by applying these 3 simple yet powerful steps to her life!

Give them a try you won’t believe the results!

I hope this quick note will inspire you to make the necessary changes to create huge results!

Have a great weekend!

Josh Brown

President, Investor Wealth Academy, Inc.

Now, Easily find all the real estate funding you’ll ever need! This complete system will show you how to acquire unlimited real estate funding, even without using banks, hard money or your own credit! Learn more in this FREE Report!!

Real Estate Financing

A camera is like a baby. Or can be.

I treat my camera like a human sometimes. No, I don’t speak to it or feed it (unless you count memory cards) but I do care for it and nurture it.

My camera quite regularly gets a clean. This is not to keep it in tip top shape but more to make it, and me, feel good. A loved camera is a happy camera.

And, when I leave my camera out of its case, I am always watchful and vigilant. Sudden shouts of “watch the camera” issue forth when someone nears it or worst of all, tries to sit on it.

In fact, that aforementioned scenario is NOT the “worst of all”. The worst of all is when someone tries to pick it up and pretend that they have suddenly developed both a passion and a skill for the art.

Well they haven’t developed anything of the sort. They don’t possess the yearning for perfection, the drive and ambition and the fundamental skills for the fine business of photography.

And, if they think they want to start developing anything of the sort, they can darn well get their own practice camera to learn on. I’m all for giving instruction, and I will happily provide it free, but lending my camera out to a mere novice is taboo and will not be entertained.

And as my camera is my baby, so each night she is packed away in a safe place away from prying eyes and straying hands.

Oh, I know nothing short of a dunk in the bath or a fall from a great height is really going to harm my camera. And I know that pressing a few buttons here and turning a gfew knobs there is never going to hurt.

But, like a father and his child, there’s an instinctive protector within me.

Eric Hartwell is an experienced photographer and owner of the photography resource website ephotocentral.

Forgiveness is a critical element in becoming self actualized and fully loving. Forgiving is the process by which you let go of feeling victimized or having wronged others. It allows you to climb out of the dark well of anger, bitterness, or guilt into which you can easily fall.

In a busy life, you are frequently confronted with opportunities to forgive others as well as yourself. With others, you cope with mild frustrations like the delivery person who shows up late, or with more severe transgressions like the friend who tells your secrets. With these events, forgiving is hindered if the behavior violates your basic sense of what is “right” or fair, or how you think people “should” behave. When someone wrongs you, your anger can be empowering as you prepare to defend your principles and “fight the good fight.” Or, you may believe that forgiveness is possible only if the other person admits to the wrongdoing. All of these attitudes are unhealthy when rigidly maintaining your anger and sense of victimization.

It is also frequently necessary to forgive yourself, since you regularly evaluate your own behaviors, some of which may not meet your own standards Forgiving yourself is harder than forgiving others if you tend to judge yourself more harshly than others with a perfectionist style that doesn’t permit mistakes. You may pride yourself on high standards for your own conduct. Or, you may believe that only God has the right to forgive you. These beliefs encourage poor self-esteem and the corrosive effects of guilt.

In Stepping Stones: 10 Steps to Seizing Passion and Purpose, the process of forgiving is described as APEX healing. It begins with Acknowledging the reality of the situation without distortion or denial. Then, you give yourself Permission to feel whatever is real and congruent with your thoughts about the event and the person responsible. Label your specific feelings and their actual intensity; don’t label yourself as upset or irritated when you’re really angry. Whenever possible try to Empathize with the person who committed the transgression; put yourself in their position and imagine how you might have done something similar. If you are considering self-forgiveness, remember what was going on with you at the time of the incident, not merely in hindsight. Ultimately, you can explore strategies for forgiveness.

To forgive others, you might consider the behavior as a one-time aberration; focus on the behavior, not the outcome; minimize the importance of the consequences; or minimize how much you think about the event. To forgive yourself, you can give yourself permission to make mistakes; promise yourself not to repeat the behavior; or vow to learn from the event. In some cases, it can be helpful to write a letter of forgiveness.

The process of forgiveness can last anywhere from a few seconds to years. It is the ultimate stress management solution in a civilization with a rapidly accelerating pace and increasingly complex lifestyle. It allows you to choose your paths, your present, and your future.

About The Author

Dr. Tim Sams is the author of Stepping Stones: 10 Steps to Seizing Passion and Purpose; the book is available through his web site: http://www.mysacredjourney.com/bookstore.htm and at all online bookstores.

Dr. Sams is a University of Michigan graduate who interned at the Long Beach VA Medical Center. He is a diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management and the American College of Forensic Medicine. He originally trained as a medical and health psychologist with specialty training in behavioral medicine, the melding of medicine and psychology, mind and body. Though he had taken dozens of classes in biology, anatomy, and physiology, over time his clinical passion for alleviating physical pain blossomed and he obtained a Master’s of Science with emphasis on the medical basis of orthopedic, neurologic, and myofascial pain. He is a frequent lecturer on pain management throughout the United States. He authored the most comprehensive patient pain manual scheduled for release in June, 2005. He writes a free, biweekly newsletter called Advances in Medicine that you can sign up for on this website. Dr. Tim is a motivator and a teacher; a caring soul who believes that humor is one of the best weapons against pain; that and really good drugs.

Dr. Tim has multiple offices in Southern California, consulting to a few dozen pain physicians and hundreds of primary care physicians and orthopedic surgeons. He spends one day a week in his office educating patients at http://www.MyPainReliefDoc.com.

He lives and plays in Orange County, California with his wife Lari and his daughter, Leah. He spends most of his non-family free time jogging, swimming, reading, or writing.

Copyright 2004. Dr. Tim Sams. All rights reserved.

drtimsams@yahoo.com