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Oops! I meant “web content management system for windows.” Do search engines understand consumer search engine typos? Typing something so close to what you are looking for, like typing “web content management system fr window” instead of “web content management system for windows” may not seem like a big deal, but search engine bloopers alter consumer searches more than we know.

The phrase used in the title, “web content management system fr window” is a real-life example of a common search engine typo. In fact, within that phrase, the “o” and the “s” are missed so often that search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN have recorded the phrase “web content management system fr window” as searched about 481 times on a monthly average.

You might ask how this affects your search engine searches. Well, let us use the same phrase for an example. Typing the phrase you are looking for, “web content management system for windows,” yields about 29.6 million indexed pages in Google, 14.7 million in Yahoo, and 2.3 million in MSN. However, the typo “web content management system fr window,” only slightly different from what you really meant to type, yields drastically different results: 654 thousand indexed pages in Google, 131 thousand in Yahoo, and 56.5 thousand in MSN.

That doesn’t seem so bad. Who doesn’t want to narrow down the search? The problem is that the number of indexed pages is not the only difference with search engine typos; the poor search engines are trying to find the most relevant pages they can to the misspelled search, but it may not find what you need. On the one hand, you have tens of millions of relevant pages with a correct search; on the other hand, you have hundreds of thousands of semi-relevant pages. Which would you rather have?

Search engine typos are very common, but they do alter the relevance of your results.

Joe Miller is an author of informational articles and online advertisements on business, technology, and health. ‘Web content management system fr window’ is actually ‘web content management system for windows’.

I hate work. But, in this type of world that we belong to, money can be useful. For the past ten years of my life, I had been completely banished from the world of finance. My first credit card was cancelled after four days. With my first checking account, I withdrew $200 from an ATM and never paid it back. I did the same thing with my second checking account at another bank. These few incidents have made it impossible for me to every have a bank account or credit card for a very long time. So, yes, I burned all the bridges and covered all the paths. I am completely expelled from the world of banking and credit. This was no problem for me, since I was already living without much income to begin with.

The memories of my first job have faded so much that I now doubt whether I’ve ever been employed. How to live without an income is a question of urban survival, especially for those of us who have special needs (i.e. alcoholism). The first time, I slept in the park, but some street kids showed me an abandoned mill they had held up in. “The cops always check the park,” one of them told me, “Stay in a dark place when you sleep at night.” From those humble beginnings, I’ve changed and evolved so much. Instead of defining myself as a human being based on what I have been through, I’ve based it on what I can and will do. I drank Bacardi in a Pasadena restaurant and smashed a window with a chair. When I passed through Las Vegas, I somehow gained $10,000 in four hours and lost it over the next six days. There’s a warrant for my arrest in Austin, Texas for Riotous and Destructive Behavior, but every cop so far has been too lazy to fill out the extradition papers. I stopped a rape in Nashville and was rewarded enough alcohol to require a hospitalization. I was the man with a blank future. My name is Daniel. If you ask my friends, they’d say I was the Beatnik drifter. Homeless, alive, and free.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

My eyes burst open to the light. I’ll never get used to that sound. I swat the alarm clock and roll over. My eyes slowly open again. It’s 8:30. I have to get to work in a hour half. I’m already dressed. And, making the bed was as easy as getting out of a sleeping bag. Surveying the scene, I discover three more bodies on the ground. There was Z, a twenty four year old, who had a friend tattoo a Z on his forehead when he was sixteen. The tragedy left him scarred and with a name he’d never lose. Donny slept in the corner, his head propped up against the wall. He had no shirt on and there was an empty beer bottle sticking out of his fly — someone was making mischief last night. And, our third contender, Rochelle, remained curled up in a ball on a chair. She had a small enough figure that she could make it a comfortable position. Small clips of metal pierced her face. Two rings were connected with a chain; and there was enough of a draft in the squat that you could hear the links make their clinking noise.

I headed down the stairs, discovering several empty beer bottles along the way. Turning to the main exit of our squat, I discover my friend Buck. Somehow, he managed to fall asleep sitting up in a chair. There was a half filled whiskey bottle held against his belly, and behind that there was hard-chunked vomit on his leather jacket. I take one second to light a cigarette. With the click of the Zippo, his mouth opens and I hear, “You’re not a punk any more.”

“Would a punk put a cigarette out on your face?”

“Yeah, but you’re not a punk, so I have nothing to worry about,” he smiled, shwilling from his whiskey bottle, then putting it on the ground.

We had this debate last night. “You lose the grit and pain of being a true street kid when you start waking up in the morning to shuffle !@#$ for some !@#$!@#$ing capitalist pig-”

“It’s a !@#$in’ family owned store,” I said, shwilling my malt liquor extra hard.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, as his face emerges from a shot of hard alcohol, “You’re working for the man.”

“He’s right,” Donny said, “You’re not a punk any more.” This god of squatters stood there, clad in the armaments of a punk: spikes and chains. For some reason, he had a polka-dotted scarf around his neck. He found it on the ground earlier that day, and has developed the ill habit of wearing it.

“!@#$ you both,” I notice Z spray painting the wall with an anarchy symbol, “Having a job doesn’t change me. I sleep in a squat, like everyone else.”

Now I’m rubbing my head in the morning, thinking about an eight hour shift, and this prick sitting in my squat just said that I wasn’t a punk in his sleep. I don’t care about names and phrases any more. Gutter punk, street urchin, runaway kid, I don’t care. I’m homeless. There’s a weird smell in this abandoned building. Coil springs pierce the one mattress I have. The wallpaper is melting. Both floors are covered in garbage: wrappers, newspapers, vomit, beer cans, abandoned clothing. Home sweet home. And this is the place that we’ve decided to live. No, this is the only place we could live. I have to make excuses to no one.

I forgot again this morning. The front door does not latch shut. That was probably the constant beating I heard last night. It didn’t keep me up — enough alcohol kills all consciousness. I walk out of the abandoned/reclaimed home, only to notice a mailman walking by. He gives me an odd look, almost unsure that anyone would have any legitimate excuse for walking out of an empty building at eight AM. There’s no need for anyone to be so naive. Being homeless doesn’t make you inhuman, but many people would believe that.

It’s early. Very early. Seven AM. The birds just started their first round of mating calls. The true alcoholics are just getting to bed now. Somewhere in this state, a group of high schoolers are just coming down from their psilocybin mushroom trip. I can feel all the working class, single moms just arriving at work, an hour and a half after waking up — I’m watching their soft exhale of stress and hope. On my way to work, there was a particularly unhealthy smell rising from the concrete. It could be a hallucination caused by a night of heavy drinking and only five hours of sleep. Regardless, I can just shrug it off.

Kleineman’s Restaurant. I arrive five minutes early for my shift. “Hey, my boy, Danny…” Mr. Kleineman greets me, “Didn’t you get my message?”

“What message?” I asked, and then with a cracked smile, “And on what phone, answering machine, or e-mail?”

“I told all my other employees to tell you that we don’t need you today,” he said, shrugging, “You got the day off.”

“But, but…. I got up early and came here, like I was scheduled, and I never heard from anyone else,” I said. The struggle was more painful due to the sleep-deprivation and hangover.

“I know, but we already have a dishwasher,” he said, “Come back tomorrow. I’ll have work for you, then.”

“Can I at least get two fifty for the bus fair of getting here?” I asked. My anxiety and agitation had made me more aggressive and assertive. He certainly gave me the money. There was no other choice. When he handed the money to me, it was almost as though he was giving it to a homeless bum who was panhandling on the side of the highway. I am homeless, but it’s not quite my identifying factor in my relationship with my boss.

Two blocks south, seven blocks east, cut through the park, and you’re in the best place to get your alcohol supplies. I’ve got two fifty. Just about enough for a forty.

“Can I help you find anything?” the manager asks, pretending not to be watching me — or maybe that’s just my unfounded suspicion that all old people distrust the young.

“You don’t have any Old English?” I asked.

“No, but we have Steel Reserve and Colt 49, if you drink malt liquor,” he said.

“I wish you had some OE,” I respond, looking through the racks, and discovering, to my surprise, a bottle of “Blue Mad Dog, the best fruit flavored alcoholic beverage you’ll find, clearly the envy of wine and champagne everywhere,” her hair was being whipped by the midnight air coming off the waterfront, “This !@#$ is chemically perfected for that sweet taste of cirrhosis.”

Irene. A beautiful girl that I used to know… a girl I used to love. We’d bark at the moon together, and giggle when everyone pointed and laughed.

My hands caress her stomach as I close my eyes, nearing her face, “Booze is booze. What’s the difference between flavorings?”

“Because this represents our culture, the culture of the wino!” she triumphantly holds bottle in the air. I fall on her shoulder, slowly drifting in to sleep.

“So, you be getting the Mad Dog?” the manager asks me with his broken Indian accent. I’m softly awakened from daydream to my present reality: the scene right before I make an !@#$ out of myself due to alcohol excess. I nod my head in response to his question.

Walking down the street with the bottle of Mad Dog, I start to think that I’m not representing the culture of the wino; I am simply living a memory. This one’s for her.

“What happened?” a slightly animating Buck opens his eyes to the day, “Did the Capitalist system fall apart and they sent you home?”

He struggled to obtain a bare grasp of reality. I walked passed him, heading on up the stairs. “Alcohol in the morning?” he references my Mad Dog with a smile, “I guess maybe you really are punk.”

“Would you please cut the !@#$ with the high school routine?” I replied cheerfully, “I’ve had my fair share of being ostracized for being different. I imagine all you –”

“Is that what you think we were doing?” Buck asked, “You’re my brother no matter what, but that means I have to give you !@#$ no matter what. Why did you take this job any way? We were enough money spanging.”

I shwilled, and passed him the bottle. “Maybe it’s not about the money,” I said, “For my entire life on the streets, I haven’t advanced one bit. I aged quickly and built memories fast, but everything I got I’ve lost. Photographs of squatmates, letters from dead friends, all of the tickets I got in LA for marijuana… Everything, I lost it all. I just wanted to do something good for myself for once.”

He passed the bottle back to me. I let the alcohol sting treat this horrible misery. “If I was a businessman making three hundred thousand a year, I’d still only want to get tanked with you,” his words are poetry.

“And that’s probably the reason that I will always be a squatter,” I replied, “Money can’t buy you a community and a culture.”

Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has been writing essays and poetry on social issues which have caught his attention for several years. His website http://www.punkerslut.com provides a complete list of all of these writings. His life experience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, dropping out of high school, getting expelled from college for “subversive activities,” and a myriad of other revolutionary actions.

Hair transplant is one way that many are gaining their
self-esteem back. Self-Image is a very important thing to have.
To an extent, it dictates where you are going in life. Your
self-image is made up of more than just your physical
appearance, but that is a major component. If it takes hair
transplant to get you back on a positive attitude in that
regard, then you should do it. Some men are perfectly content
with less hair than they once had. Some are even lucky enough to
look good bald. Unfortunately, these are the few. The rest of
the many people who are losing their hair are losing their looks
and confidence too. When you have plenty of confidence, you show
it. People know that you mean business and that you expect to
get what you want and need. And you usually do. However, when
you walk into a place worrying how you look, or doubting
yourself, you aren’t likely to project a strong image. And you
are much less likely to get what you need, want, and deserve.
This is why many people turn to hair transplant options. If
having a full head of hair again will give you that confidence
you need to get around in life, then you should pursue it. Not
for anyone else, but for you. Before you decide to do hair
transplant, you should look at your options. If a wig is all you
need, more power to you. However, many wigs look way to obvious
to do a lot of good in this area. You can also talk to your
doctor about treatments for natural hair re-growth. However,
make sure that you understand all possible side-effects before
you start taking it. When all else fails, there are hair
transplant options. And thanks to modern technology, it is
actually possible without scarring. But before you commit, make
sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. Find out
what can go wrong, and what your chances are. Also ask about how
long the procedures will take and any recovery times. Be
informed. Next, you should find out who you want to do it. Look
at people who do hair transplant options and find out about
them. You can even go visit with them and ask to see previous
work that they have done if they have it available. If you know
anyone who has had it done, see who they would or wouldn’t
recommend. After you have all the information that you can get,
go and retrieve your self-confidence with hair transplant
technology.

One of the most fulfilling activities for many people is spring crappie fishing. This is the time of year that my son has a huge interest in going fishing with Dad. Cabin fever has been prevalent for several months and as the ice lifts off the local waters and temperatures start to rise, the ever-so-active crappie nears spawning time. As spring draws near crappie move toward their spawning areas. If you are a fisherman who enjoys crappie fishing and has chased them before, you know that springtime offers up the hottest crappie fishing of the year.

Most anglers enjoy spring crappie because they tend to migrate to shallower water and this alone cuts down on your search time. Instead of holding on hidden cover, crappie will tend to move to shallow treetops and stump fields, riprap banks and docks, many of which are visible, often in the backs of creeks or coves and usually fairly close to a lake’s banks. Besides the fact that they are shallow, spring crappie tend to stack up, so where you hook into one big fish, the chances are extremely good that you are going to catch a bunch of them. Overall, finding crappie and catching a big bag of slabs are at their best this time of year.

One thing you need to remember. You must present what the crappie wants to eat. Don’t be fooled into thinking that catching springtime crappie is like pulling fish from a bucket. The shallower flats and shoreline areas of most lakes still constitute a lot of water. Even if you find the right bank to work, it is necessary to observe the surrounding environment and make the most educated pattern presentation possible. Crappie are still a bit lethargic this time of year, so your bait must be presented at the proper depth and as close to the fish as possible, since they are not in the mood to go chasing anything around as of yet.

The spring migration to the spawning areas is gradual and the crappie will tend to migrate gradually into the shallows and back out over the course of a few months. The exact timing of their moves varies from lake to lake and even from year to year within the same lake, depending on winter and spring weather conditions. In other words, if we have an early spring with nice warm days in March, you can expect to catch crappie in the conditions described above. Crappie will begin moving from their deep main lake winter holding areas sometime very early in the spring. They use structures like channel ledges, humps and long points as staging areas, keying on any brush or stumps. Bass tend to have the same behavior during the pre-spawn period when they are starting to line up around cover that is usually adjacent to their spawning areas. They gradually move shallower and shallower and typically work toward the backs of creeks, coves and narrow lake arms.Throughout this migration pattern, both to and from their spawning grounds, crappie will move extra shallow with a string of sunny days and move deeper with each late season cold front. Regardless of water depth they almost always find rocks, brush or some kind of cover to hold around. That cover provides protection, and it attracts the minnows which a crappie likes to eat. Usually you need to have a few nice warm days strung together for the shallow water action to fully take place, but the air temperature does not have to actually warm up as much as you might think. As long as the sun shines brightly it will warm shallow areas, especially those that are surrounded by riprap or natural rocks. Water that is slightly stained and filled with wood and rocks to soak up the suns rays will heat up much quicker. When those first warm days occur, the crappie will still be holding on fairly deep structure and they will not move far just to feed. At this point, if the water temperature continues to increase, they will start chasing down their food within a few more weeks.

Typically, shallow hotspots that lie quite close to deep water will draw fish. Bridges or structures that run across major channels and the shallow ends of long points provide easy travel routes for the crappie from the depths to good shallow cover. Because areas that offer the necessary range of depth, along with good cover, and the required quality for the water to warm slightly are obviously limited in numbers, those spots can be golden in early spring. At this time crappie tend to feed more on minnows than on jigs and they won’t chase anything. Most of the best spots during this part of the season are limited in number and size, so the majority of the searching will be through different depths. A basic cork rig, with a float, split shot, No. 4 or 6 hook and live minnow, is tough to beat. Just flip the bait out and let it settle, and then experiment with different depths until you start getting bites. If you purchase a second rod stamp, you might want to try two poles at the same time at various depths. This method will tend to cut your search time down a bit.

As spring progresses and temperatures continue to warm, crappie will move to the tops of ledges and begin pushing into the creeks. They move shallow to feed more frequently, and the shallow areas they use on the warm spring days become much more widespread. Finding at least a few fish becomes somewhat less of a challenge, but they often aren’t quite as concentrated as those first wonderful days of spring. The best cover is still fairly close to deep water. Flats that are dissected by major channels and banks near the mouths of creeks will always hold a lot of crappie, especially on warm days when the fish have just begun their migration toward the spawning grounds. Warmer weather and sunrise are still the keys to finding crappie in the shallows, but such days are quickly becoming the norm instead of the exception.Floats or bobbers still come into play for finding crappie at this time of the year, but some of the best angling approaches are a little more active. The fish can be spread out, calling for searching type tactics. By now the water will have warmed enough so that the fish will chase a minnow or jig, as long as it is not moving too quickly. When I speak of a jig, I am talking about small 1 ½ to 2” plastic tube or small plastic curly tail on a jighead that is weighted. A float offers two major advantages at this time of year, whether you are fishing with jigs or minnows. It allows you to control and track depths, making it easy to identify the productive zone and keep baits in it, and allows you to move the lure or bait slowly, even stopping it along the way, which can be essential for getting crappie to strike early in the year. When the crappie are spread across shallow flats and could be holding on any of hundreds of stumps or brushpiles, provided you have a water vessel of some type, trolling comes into play.

For shallow flats, corks remain part of the equation, and setting different lines at different depths will again help identify patterns much more quickly. Keep a marker buoy handy any time you troll and toss it out any time you get more than one strike in a small area. If you find a real hotspot don’t anchor right over it especially if the water is shallow. Try to anchor a good cast away from the area so the fish won’t feel invaded or spooked.

As spring warms even more, crappie will move farther up the creeks. Now is when they will spend most of their time close to the banks or on cover along shallow flats. This would be a great time to try a lure like the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap in the 1/4oz and 1/8oz sizes. Because all fish don’t move at the same time, crappie will be widespread by mid-spring. The creeks will hold the most fish, by far, with concentrations well up them, but some crappie will show up around any shoreline tree, dock or riprap.

Eventually the crappie will spawn and then they will start to move back toward deeper water. The journey out is gradual and some of the early season’s patterns and hotspots will turn on once again as spring gives way to summer. Fish are much more aggressive throughout late spring as their body temperatures have risen. They are much more willing to take a bait as it is moving, and they will typically grab a jig as readily as a minnow or small baitfish imitation.

Throughout the crappie run a few things will help you catch more fish. First, the best spring spots are much more distinguishable on a map than on the water. If you can find a good topographical map, spend time studying it before your first trip and identify some potentially good areas to hit as spring progresses. Next, pay attention to the water color, as crappie will hold much shallower when the water is stained than when the water is clear. Also as I have mentioned in previous articles, stained water warms faster than clear water.

Finally, crappies of the same size tend to hang out together. If the fish that keep taking your baits are smaller than the legal limit size, move on. If you catch a nice large crappie, pay close attention to the conditions and work this pattern over and over again. This should produce great results. Springtime, with its constantly changing temperatures, brings the best opportunity for most fishermen to catch a limit of slab crappie. Using these patterns will hopefully help you catch your limit. One important item to remember is that a crappie’s mouth is paper thin and a hard hookset could severely damage the fish, and disturb their eating habits, if you are practicing catch and release. Have fun guys and gals and I truly hope you catch a bunch of crappies this season!

Wayne Byrd is a warmwater specialist and bass tournament professional who lives in Colorado. He is an active contributor to Fishin’ Secrets.

http://www.fishinsecrets.com

Just for a moment I want you to imagine that you are coming out of a very deep sleep. If you have ever had surgery try to remember the way you felt as you were trying to make sense of things as you awoke. As you imagine or remember this sensation do you find yourself wondering if it is morning or night? Are you trying to remember where you are? Do you have a startle reaction and think for a moment that you are late for work or forgot to pick up your children at school? I have had that upsetting feeling if I wake up in the middle of the night or even after a nap.
Now imagine that same fog every moment of your life…….

So many care givers find themselves frustrated with an Alzheimer’s sufferer. They may say things like “He just doesn’t seem to care if I am with him or not” or “He doesn’t enjoy doing anything any more.” I know that it is so hard to accept the changes in your loved one and know that this is going to be your reality. If you can remind yourself that the behaviors are organic it will help. The plaque is building up and spreading over the surface of the brain just as a grassfire moves across a dry field. As it covers more areas your loved falls deeper into that fog.
Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t show up like a broken one or a surgical scar but the effects are just as real.

When the things they say or do cause you to feel angry or sad do you best to remember that it is the disease…not your loved one.
That’s when it is time for some care giver TLC.

Care giver burnout is a very real occurrence. If you are caring for someone you must include your own needs each day. Your health may decline at a faster rate than the person you are caring for if your dietary, emotional and physical needs are not met. Skipping your checkups with Dr.s is not an option.

You may be asking “How am I supposed to do all of this all by myself?” The answer is simple. You can’t do it all alone. The first step to healthy care giving is accepting the fact that you have limitations. Every human being does. You can only stay awake, maintain your health and keep up with the demands for a limited amount of time. When you reach your limit you may find yourself suffering from care giver burnout. You may have trouble concentrating, experience nervous tension, and you may find it difficult to fight off resentment toward your loved one or others in your family that you feel should be assisting you.

Reach out. Call upon your family, friends, church and community organizations. Your local hospitals will have information regarding community resources. This information can usually be found by contacting the Social Services Department. Another good resource is the Alzheimer’s Association. By taking care of your health you will, in turn be a better care giver.

Deborah Uetz

Author of Into the Mist, When Someone You Love Has Alzheimer’s Disease

Deborah Uetz
Author of Into the Mist, When Someone You Love Has Alzheimer’s Disease
website http://www.intothemist.us

My worst roommate (and I’ve had some bad ones) was on my semester at Tel-Aviv University. It started on the group flight there, with this obnoxious surfer looking guy who was seated next to me (I was on an aisle, he was in the middle). On the ten hour flight, he had me put something in or take something out of the overhead for him at least fifteen or twenty times. He just wouldn’t leave me alone, and was constantly begging me to change seats with him, and grab a pen, and put this card in his bag… When we got to the dorms and had our orientation meeting, it turned out that I was in the same apartment as him, though thank god not the same room (each apt was 2 double rooms with a common kitchen and bath).

This guy was unreal. He was a bleach-blond surfer, rowed crew, was well over 6′ and very muscular (I’m 5′7″ and thin), and just a total jerk. He constantly ate the food belonging to the rest of us, claiming that he had no money, nevermind the $100 packages full of crap he’d send back to his girlfriend in CA. After two weeks or so of his constantly disrespecting the other three of us, things got a bit tense. The first turning point was when he used an entire pack of my roommate’s razors to shave part of his head, and from then on he seemed to be in ever-lessening contact with reality.

About a month into his stay, he decided to adopt a stray dog that he found near the beach while surfing. This, of course, couldn’t happen, because you can’t have dogs in the dorms, and the rest of us weren’t too keen on having a stray dog around. Jason, the psycho, completely lost it when he was told he couldn’t keep the dog (”if he goes, I go, because he’s the only one who understands me”). He got right in my face and threatened to kill me if I turned him in (remember our size and strength disparities…), since I was the only one who was home when he came charging in with this poor mutt. Later that day, after the security guards and the program people told him the dog had to go, he took off, and wasn’t heard from for a couple of days.

A few days later, he showed up and was hanging out in a room down the hall, when someone called security, as we had been instructed to do should he return. From what I’m told of the incident, he went out onto the balcony (4th floor) and threatened to jump when the police arrived on the scene. After a tense confrontation, they charged him and were able to subdue him after he punched at least one officer. He was then carried - literally kicking and screaming - off the University’s property and was taken into custody. He spent about a month or so in a mental facility in Israel before he was deported back to America.

When my roommate got back to the apartment, he discovered that Jason had left us a final message. Using a razor, he had cut open his finger and painted a message in his own blood on our bathroom mirror (”you all lied to me, blah, blah, blah”), then tied the bloody razor to a rose and left it on the kitchen table.

Now that is a roommate from hell.

About the Author: Since 1989 i have helped 1000’s of people find rooms or roommates. Need help? contact me at www.roommateexpress.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Fitness and exercise is on everyone’s minds now with New Year’s resolutions in full swing. In the northern hemisphere, New Year resolutions just happen to coincide with winter – a time when almost everybody seems to have the sniffles. Naturally exercise is associated with good health and well being, but is it possible that your workout or training program may actually increase your chance of getting sick? This article briefly explains the immune system, its response to exercise and offers some helpful tips on how to avoid getting sick if you exercise regularly.

What is the immune system?

Unlike our cardio-respiratory or digestive systems which are made up of specific body parts physically linked together, the immune system is a diverse collection of cells in the blood and other tissues linked together with ingenious biochemical messengers.

The workhorses of the immune system are cells known as leukocytes or white blood cells. When the immune system is working effectively, the leukocytes identify viruses and bacteria that enter the body and destroy them before they can cause damage and make you sick.

How does exercise affect the immune system?

Moderate exercise – that is most recreational exercise and fitness improvement programs may actually boost immune levels and increase leukocyte activity. So if you exercise say 3 –5 days a week and allow for sufficient rest and recovery between sessions, you will have increased immune levels over your “couch potato” counterparts.

When exercise becomes habitual and training workloads become heavier however, there is an increased risk for what is called exercise induced immunosuppression (EII) or a decrease in immunity levels. Repeated bouts of sickness such as colds and flu may be a symptom of overreaching or overtraining where the volume (amount) and/or intensity of the exercise is too high.

It is thought that intense exercise and high volumes of training that do not allow for enough recovery and rest add cumulative “stress” on the body and the immune system. Just as not getting enough sleep at night negatively affects your immunity, so does excess exercise stress and fatigue.

How can I avoid getting sick if I exercise regularly?

The best way to ensure the integrity of your immune system is to make sure you get enough rest and recover sufficiently from each of your exercise sessions. If you are a competitive athlete or if you are training for an event you may want to ensure that your training program is periodized – that is the exercise intensity and volume are carefully matched to ensure performance success.

Additional ways of ensuring your immune levels stay high is to use the following tips:

1.) Supplement with Glutamine

Glutamine is an amino acid (building blocks of protein) that is known to be a primary energy source for leukocytes. Studies show that blood glutamine levels drop during exercise and during the post exercise recovery process. During exercise glutamine is used as an energy source (leukocytes, kidney cells) and during recovery it is needed to repair damaged tissue and restore blood glucose levels.

By supplementing your diet with additional glutamine right after an exercise session you will help to maintain blood glutamine levels, ensuring muscle and connective tissue repair, adequate recovery and most importantly, immune system integrity.

2.) Supplement with a multi-vitamin

A multi-vitamin that provides 100% of the RDA for antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin A, C and E will also help to maintain your immune levels. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals generated during exercise. Free radicals are products of energy metabolism that tax the immune system and cause oxidation of tissue and conditions such as cancer and heart disease. Oxidative stress is particularly high among athletes and avid exercisers because of the increased use of the aerobic metabolism system.

Multi-vitamin supplementation has been shown to increase the activity of certain leukocytes - especially a certain type called neutrophils.

3.) Make sure you get enough carbohydrates

Ingesting carbohydrate both during and after exercise will also help maintain your immune levels and allows you to recover faster too.

The effect of carbohydrates on immunity is indirect as they have a “protein sparing” effect, which ensures that glutamine levels do not drop, leaving leukocytes starved for energy.

Carbohydrate taken during exercise helps maintain blood glucose levels, reducing the need to use glutamine and other amino acids (from valuable skeletal muscle) to make “new’ glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. During the recovery process carbohydrates will help to replenish liver and muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrate) without having to rely on your blood glutamine and other amino acid stores for new glucose.

Carbohydrates taken during exercise itself (e.g. energy drinks) also stimulate saliva flow, which helps flush airborne bacteria and viruses from your mouth and respiratory tract that may enter during exercise and cause infection.

In closing, this article has shown that even though moderate exercise may have an immune system boosting effect, if you are an avid exerciser there may be an increased risk of becoming ill. It is hoped that this article has provided some helpful pointers to help you avoid allowing your exercise to make you sick and allow you to train more effectively not only during winter but all year ‘round,

David Petersen is a Personal Trainer/Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and the owner and founder of B.O.S.S. Fitness Inc. based in Oldsmar, Florida. More articles, exercise video clips and information can be found at http://www.bossfitness.com

NOTE: You’re free to republish this article on your website, in your newsletter, in your e-book or in other publications provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this note, author information and all LIVE website links as above.

When movie studios wanted to control the time and place of video release around the world, they came up with the region codes for the world. This was because their theater releases are not simultaneous throughout the world. The movie studios also sell “rights to distribuite” to various foreign distributors for their movies and would like to ensure the market is exclusive for a certain period of time. The easy availability of movies on DVDs along with their high quality were major reasons the DVD and DVD player coding was considered essential. This way it was possible to ensure that the DVD players in one particular region would not be able to play back discs from another country.

The whole world has been divided into six area codes, with Region 1 being U.S., Canada, and U.S. Territories, Region 2 having Europe, South Africa, Japan and theMiddle East. Greece is also part of this region. Region 3 composes Southeast Asia and East Asia, while Region 4 has Australia, Central America, South America and Mexico. Region 5 encompasses Eastern Europe, India, North Korea, and Africa, while Region 6 has China.

DVD Standards in Greece

In Greece (Region 2), the DVDs and DVD players sold locally would have the code “two” or number “2″ on them. The region code is usually marked on the back of the individual DVD packages as a regional coding logo of a globe with the region number superimposed over it. Or, it can also be specifically spelled out, as in “Region 2,” meaning that the disc will play only in the Region 2 DVD players and not any other region player.

Greece has the PAL standard for DVDs and televisions manufactured locally. The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was released during the 1960s and was put into affect in most of the European countries. The PAL standard uses a more broad channel bandwidth than NTSC, allowing for better quality of picture. PAL runs with 625 lines/frame. If a DVD player from another region, formatted in NTSC mode, was to be used with a PAL format disc, it would not play back, since the PAL and NTSC formats are mutually incompatible.

DVD Compatibility Made Possible for Greece and Other Regions

The regionfree DVD players are designed to play any DVD irrespective of its region code. The codefree DVD players were also equipped to convert the NTSC to PAL and PAL to NTSC formats for incompatible DVDs. The DVD players are modified with a chip set to override the code restriction, or else it is designed to be able to switch region codes to match that of the DVD’s. The PAL and NTSC standards on the DVD player can be switched with a mere flick of the remote to the required mode.

Voltage Barriers for Greece and other Countries

In Greece, the electric current is supplied at 220 volts AC and at 50 Hz. frequency. If a DVD player from Region 1, for example the U.S., having a 110 volt specification had to be used in Greece, it would get damaged by the voltage surge. However, the new age region free DVD players are equipped to handle these voltage disparirtes by an in-built dual voltage system.

The region coded DVD players are available in the electronic shops and supermarkets in Greece, but the players might have to be specially ordered. The Internet provides a wide range of Web sites that offer attractive price ranges and a whole variety of features to choose from.

There are several leading brands in the markets of Greece, that sell both region-coded and region free DVD players. The PAL only and PAL – NTSC standard DVD players are also available in well known brands like Toshiba, Pioneer, Samsung, Philips, Denon, and many others. The pricing for these DVD players varies widely between $80 to $800, based on the type of features available, brands, and utility.

With a regionfree DVD player, travelers can now watch their favorite movies while vacationing in Greece or any country around the world!

Where to get REGION FREE DVD players/recorders. To prevent the latest movies from reaching countries where a film has not reached theaters yet, Hollywood studios imposed a block. This regional coding is a digital flag on the disc that tells the DVD player where a particular DVD comes from. This is supposed to prevent the disc from being used by an incompatible player in another country. A normal DVD player can only play discs designated for the player’s own particular region. However, a codefree DVD player is a capable of playing DVD discs from anywhere around the world. A codefree DVD player can play DVD discs from all 6 regions and both standards, PAL and NTSC. That’s every DVD movie on earth! PAL-NTSC 110-220 volts DVD/VCR Combos for use worldwide. CODEFREE DVD / PAL-NTSC VCR combos and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH DVDs. You can buy region free and region free converting DVD players and region free DVD recorders from http://www.mindlogic.com in California. They give you a LIFETIME Warranty and ship worldwide. Tel.800-514-2984 or tel. 925-686-9945

Face it. There are tons of websites out there but very few that
actually pull their weight and get results. Effective website
design is not easy. If it was, every business that put up a
website would realize enormous success. It takes many different
skill sets to pull together a killer website.

That being said, here is a list of website design sins for your
edification. Consider these deeply and I highly recommend you
make sure your website doesn’t commit them.

Website Sin # 1 - Website does not have a crystal clear
objective. Why do you have or want to have a website in the
first place? What do you want it to do for your business?

Website Sin #2 - No clear call to action. This sin dovetails on
the previous one. Once you are clear on your website’s
objective, make it real clear to your visitor what action you
want them to take. Clearly spell it out. Trust me, leave no room
for interpretation.

Website Sin #3 - Website does not have a means to capture
visitor’s contact information. You are missing a tremendous
opportunity to gather prospects who are clearly interested in
what you have to offer - hence qualified prospects to market to
going forward. Do whatever it takes here. Offer what we call an
“ethical bribe” in exchange for their contact information.

Website Sin #4 - Website doesn’t give visitors a reason to come
back. Unless your website is a one-time sales website, you must
keep it chock full of new and great content to keep it producing
for you.

Website Sin #5 - Website has no substance, all style.
Dovetailing on the previous sin, focus should be more on adding
valuable content as opposed to having flashy animations. Flashy
animations may wow your visitors once (if you’re lucky), but
great content starts building a relationship or dare I say a
dependency on you. Bottom line you’re adding value to your
prospects.

Website Sin #6 - Website has an “it’s all about me” mentality.
Keep the copy conversational in tone and focus clearly on what’s
in it for your visitor. Make them feel that it’s all about them
- make them feel special.

Website Sin #7 - Website is inconsistent with your “Brand”. Your
website does not have to be the best looking site out there. It
is far more critical to be consistent (same overall look, feel
and design as your other marketing materials).

These next three sins are absolutely inexcusable and should not
require much explanation. Nothing will frustrate your visitor
more and detract from your credibility faster.

Website Sin #8 - Poor or inconsistent navigation. Don’t make
people think. Make it real easy for visitors to find what they
are looking for.

Website Sin #9 - Dead links. This is a credibility killer.
Always do what you say you’re going to do. It is amazing what
people can read into a dead link - the worst being that you
simply don’t care enough about you visitor.

Website Sin #10 - Slow website. I know, it’s hard to believe but
not everyone is using high speed broadband Internet connections
yet. A little compassion here goes a long way.

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