Want to be Green This Christmas?

1) Switch to LED (light emitting diode) lights : You can drop your energy bill and do not throw away your old incandescent light strands, recycle them.

2) Plant a tree: You can purchase a potted living tree and replant it in your house. Do you know that a single tree can absorb more than one ton of CO2 over its lifetime?

3)Rent a Christmas tree: Find a place where you can rent a Christmas. In some places sellers deliver a potted living tree to you, and then they pick it up and replant.

4) Create or buy recycled ornaments : Handmade Christmas ornaments can be made with pine cones, pieces of cloth, wood carvings, fruit and berries. Avoid purchasing plastic or glass ornaments from your retailer.

Daylight Savings Time Change

Daylight Savings Time 2008 ended today, November 2nd. It is now an hour earlier than it was at the same point in the day yesterday in most US and Canada. If you didn’t do it yet, adjust your clock one hour backward now, you have an extra hour to spend.

Purpose of Daylight Savings Time adjustment is that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in fall.

Discovering Interesting Blogs -1:

Blogosphere is a collective term encompassing all blogs and their interconnections. So how big is that?. As of this writing there are over 112 million blogs and still growing according to Technorati. But can we assume only the blogs which have great content are only popular. Of course not, there are truly hidden gems which are yet to be discovered. At Snugd we try to find one blog each week which has interesting content, a contribution for the community we all are part of. A word of caution - individual tastes may vary.Without further ado…we present…

Dismantle Civilisation -The only solution is a change of culture.

Bloggers at the endgames believes that the natural world is under attack. Our global economy & corporate capitalist system is destroying the planetary eco system at a pace that few of us can comprehend. Old growth forests are all but gone.
This blog hopes to pull together many diverging strands of information, to illustrate that the problem lies not with any one simple factor, but with the whole culture that we call civilization. The way we have been raised to view humans as superior and separate to nature, and hence how we behave in relation to our surroundings is ultimately the problem.

How To:

This week we could find the following links for articles and blog posts which simply explain how to do some thing.

• How to Pitch and Demo Your Cool Web App.
• How To Stop Being A Lazy Designer.
• How to Answer Your Kids’ Existential Questions.
• How to get a great massage.
• How to Deal With Compulsive Hoarding.
• How to cope on your child’s first day of nursery.
• How to Tint Your Car Windows.
• How to Create a See-through Information Graphic.
• How to Use Windows ScanDisk.
• How to Find a Mentor.

How To:

• How to find the best tire fit for your car.
• How to Grocery Shop in Lean Times.
• How to Get Any Job with Any Major.
• How to reveal blocked caller ID info.
• How to Build Your Dream Home.
• How-To: Installing a Flag Pole.
• How to Take Portraits.
• How to Jumpstart the Economy - Tax Free Small Businesses.
• How to boost traffic to your Web site.
• How to speed up Windows Vista on your laptop .
• How to Shoot Big Cities.

What is RSS?

If you are a regular user to Snugd,you may have noticed the small orange color icon on the top right hand corner of the blog.
This is called RSS icon. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a format used to deliver information from websites and pages that get updated regularly. An RSS feed contains either a summary or the full content from a website. The main benefit of RSS is that it enables people to stay connected with their favorite websites without having to visit them. Subscribing to a news site or blog is same like subscribing to a newspaper in the real world,instead of going out and buy the news paper everyday it comes to your home. By subscribing to a blog, you get the same benefit; you can get the updates without visiting the blog. I found this wonderful video tutorial on YouTube. I don’t think I can explain better than this. After watching the video,please subscribe to snugd to get more informative posts like this without visiting this blog.

How To:

• How to make other people like you.
• How to be an artist.
• How to handle a perfectionist boss.
• How to tell if bailout works.
• How to Update Firefox Extensions.
• How To Install VMware Server 2 On An Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop.
• How to be a lame leader.
• How to write a jokeHow to get over the gender gapHow to Make Friends Online.
• How to get cheap deals for that Las Vegas trip.

How To:

Helpful how to articles and blog posts.

• How to cope if a recession hits.
• How to handle a bully.
• How to Set the Right Ad-space Price for your Blog?.
• How to invest in a down market.
• How to Become a Writer - The Harsh Reality.
• Learning how to learn.

I have a Dream

Forty five years ago On 28 August, 1963, Martin Luther King delivered “I have a dream speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington which inspired millions around the world towards equality and tolerance. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 4th,1968 Dr King was shot dead in the southern US city of Memphis, Tennessee.

“…I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal”. Read the full speech here.

When Something In Your Eye

How to get dust, an eyelash or other particles out of your eye without hurting yourself:

• First wash your hand before examining your eyes.
• To examine the eye in a mirror to locate the particle, look up, down and side to side
• avoid rubbing your eyes
• if you can’t see the particle, pull the lower lid and lift the upper lid as well
• Rinse the eye or eyelid with fresh water
• If any damage occurred seek immediate medical attention.

Mother Is Responsible For Your Health

Researchers from Royal Veterinary College of London have concluded that women who are either pregnant or breastfeeding can change the health of their children by eating junk food. When mothers eat unhealthy food their children can start to develop  obesity or other health problems.  Therefore, instead of  saying “you are what you eat”, say “you are what your mother eats”. The mother’s diet not only alters the health of the child, but also has an impact that carries on into adolescence. Therefore, mothers who follow an unhealthy diet while breastfeeding or pregnant are putting the health of their children at long-term risk.

Happy People Live Longer

Although there are no evidence on happiness heals diseases, but it protects against falling ill. Because of this reason, happy people live longer. The size of the effect on longevity is comparable to that of smoking or not. It was concluded from an analysis of 30 follow-up studies published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.There have been more reports of happy people living longer. Happiness isn’t necessarily effective on seriously ill people, but it does help most healthy people. Chronic unhappiness causes stress, which reduces immune response. People who are happy seems to be adopting a healthy life style as well.

Get a Good Night Sleep

Here are few tips for good night sleep and sleep hygiene :

• Go to bed at the same time everyday.
• Set aside enough time to get the 7 hours of sleep.
• Aviod caffeine, heavy and spicy foods, and alcohol 4-6 hours before hitting the bed.
• Block any distracting lights and noises, computers or any other blinking devices.
• Only engage in sleep and sex in bed; don’t watch TV, or read or eat.
• Exercise regularly but not before bed-time.

Shade Your AC Save & 10% Energy

If you have an air conditioner, shading the outdoor compressor unit can increase its efficiency by as much as 10%. Its found that air temperatures directly under trees can be as much as 25°F (14°C) cooler than air temperatures above nearby blacktop. Using shade effectively requires you to know the size, shape, and location of the moving shadow that your shading device casts. Planting a native nut tree or shrub carefully positioned with respect to the air conditioner and mid-day sun will do the trick.

Beware Of The Summer: 5 Things About Skin Cancer

The presidential candidate John McCain had a skin spot, and removed from his face on July 28th, 2008. He wanted to share different message to Americans. Here are few important information that you need about skin cancer. Melanoma is deadly and more than 1 million people are diagnosed for skin cancer each year, and 8,000 U.S. residents die each year. But Melanoma is preventable. Exposure to the sun causes 90% of all skin cancers. Limiting mid-day exposure or covering up is the best way to avoid it.

Sunscreen is not a cure, since it only protects against UVB not against UVA. Men are more likely to work outside and have the highest exposure to the sun’s harmful rays than women. Tanning is not healthy, because UV rays fry inner layers of the skin, which causes the body to release melanin pigment to darken the outer layers as a protective measure.

Photo Source: www.funstuffonly.com

Risk Of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis occurs when the body cannot replace bone calcium as fast as it is lost and it is very common among women.
Common risk factors for osteoporosis are:
* Getting older.
* Less weight-bearing exercises.
* Low estrogen levels especially after menopause.
* Low calcium or vitamin D in diet.
* hormonal imbalances.
*Heredity(white or Asian).
*Alcohol consumption and smoking.
Photo Source: http://static.howstuffworks.com

Keep Your Teeth Clean

Daily brushing and flossing are very important to keep your teeth pearl white. Here are few steps that might be useful to you.

1. Don’t brush too hard ( it can damage sensitive gums)
2. Brush from gumline to the top of each tooth (short and gentle strokes)
3. Thoroughly brush the entire height of your teeth
4. Brush the insides of your teeth
5. Always brush the tongue and the roof of the mouth
6. Brushing should be two to three minutes at a time.
7. Floss between the teeth (first back and forth, and then gently down to the gumline)
8. Floss around each tooth (including the backs of teeth)

Tomato Can Cure Alzheimer’s Disease

According to HyunSoon Kim from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), the tomato could be  an oral vaccine against Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease progresses over a long period of time, and it is caused by the accumulation of human beta-amyloid. Beta-amyloid is a toxic insoluble fibrous protein in the brain that leads to the death of neurons. Reducing the accumulation of this compound can inhibit the degeneration of the nervous system. Although this research is still in the early stages, it is very useful information for further findings  involved in the vaccines against the neurodegenerative disease.

How To:

• How to find healthy food.
• How to prepare for a pet emergency.
• How to Compete and Win the War
for Talent.
• How to Travel Light With Web Working Gadgets.
• How to Let Your Blog Go.
• How to avoid a visa hassle on your trip.
• How to avoid Inheritance battles.

See Also:
How to Last week.

Amazing Power of Yoga

Yoga is being used as mental health tool by many psychotherapists. Some of the physical poses can lead to unexpected emotional breakthroughs such as urge to weep. The recognition of the body, mind and spirit are important in the cure of trauma victims. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center is now practicing Yoga to help soldiers to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yoga’s also been used for a wide range of situations, including sexual abuse, domestic and family violence, chronic pain, depression, relationship issues, anxiety, grief and eating disorders. It can help cure diseases ranging from asthma, insomnia, heart disease, stress and weight loss.

Photo Source: www.sfgate.com