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Sarnath — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:01:42 CST

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National:

Manmohan unveils contours of reforms
Says fiscal stimulus will be phased out next year

WORLD:

Germany celebrates the fall of Berlin wall
Dalai Lama donates Rs 20 lakh to Tawang hospital

Southern States

CHENNAI: The new Assembly complex coming up in the city will aim for a lower green rating than what was decided earlier.

.Business and Finance:

BSE: 16358
NSE: 4857 at 13.30 hrs
Mumbai and Delhi are likely to witness a significant jump in economic growth along with other emerging markets and make it to the league of the world’s wealthiest cities by 2025, according to a report.
The auto guru Dilip Chhabria is set to re-do the world's cheapest car — Nano

SPORTS:

CRICKET
Thumping win gives Australia series
Indian batting comes a cropper against the deadly duo of Bollinger and Johnson
HOCKEY

India win silver at Asia Cup
Indian women hockey team won silver medal after they went down 3-5 to China in the Asia Cup finals.

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Monsoons shower a bounty on Silent Valley
The national park records one of the highest rainfall levels in Western Ghats
Heavy rain continues in Coastal Tamilnadu

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17th October Deepavali

Tips on working on Your Computers

sara_00 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:11:52 CST

Ergonomic Tips for Computer Users

Ergonomics:
Study of how people physically interact with their work – fitting the job, the equipment and the work environment to the worker.
Office of Horrors
Ideal Office
Additional Setup Steps
Eliminate any reflection on your monitor
Position any additional equipment in accessible places.
Exercises for the office
One of the biggest injury risk factors is static posture.
Try to spend at least 5 minutes every hour away from your computer.
Remember to ONLY stretch to the point of mild tension.
Try to incorporate the stretches into your daily routine.
This slide provides some illustrations of simple active stretches to perform at the office.

Hand Exercises
Tightly clench your hand into a fist and release, fanning out the fingers. Repeat 3 times
Back and Shoulder Exercises
Stand up straight, place your right hand on your left shoulder and move your head back gently. Do the same thing for the right shoulder
Head and Neck Exercises
Move head sideways from left to right and back to left
Move head backwards and then forward

Guide to a Naturally Healthy Pregnancy and Baby

sara_narasimhan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:37:19 CST

What You Need to Know for a Happy and Stress-Free Pregnancy

Making sure that your baby gets a healthy start in life is one of your biggest priorities. That means ensuring that your nutritional intake is at optimal levels.
The purpose of this article is to give you the absolute best and most current recommendations that I have culled from over three decades of being involved in health care. I know it is a major challenge to sort through all the confusion, so I am going to do the hard work for you and provide some simple, practical, and solid tips for helping you to bring the healthiest child possible into this world.
Some of the main things I will be discussing with you include the importance of:

Healthy daily doses of omega-3s
Optimizing your vitamin D levels
Regular exercise
Eating for vitality and health
Just saying no to vaccinations
Removing your mercury amalgams
Treating severe gum disease
Minimizing pesticide exposure
Using the safest cosmetics
Avoiding exposure to phthalates

The Importance of Omega-3 Fats During Pregnancy

After reviewing many tens of thousands of articles on nutrition, I am convinced that the single most important dietary influence on your prenatal health is adequate omega-3 fats.1 Most women have major deficiencies of this fat, and given the statistics, it’s very possible you do too.
A study in March 1991 at the Mayo Clinic of 19 “normal” pregnant women consuming normal diets showed that all were deficient in omega-3 fats. Another study of Inuit (Eskimo) women, compared to Canadian women, revealed omega-3 deficiency in the milk of the Canadian nursing mothers.2
Omega-3 fat and its derivative, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), is so essential to a child's development that if a mother and infant are deficient in it, the child's nervous system and immune system may never fully develop, and it can cause a lifetime of unexplained emotional, learning, and immune system disorders.
While most people are seriously lacking in omega-3s, they are overdoing another type of fat: omega-6. The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats is 1:1. Today, though, most Americans’ ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 averages from 20:1 to 50:1! 3
It’s very important to get your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio closer to the ideal 1:1. To do this, simply cut back on all vegetable oils (this includes those in processed foods, like cookies, chips, and crackers) and get a regular supply of high-quality omega-3 fat, which I’ll be telling you how to do, later on.
In the next few sections you’ll learn even more reasons why omega-3s are so critical to you and your baby’s health, and why I recommend that every pregnant woman maintain an optimal daily dose of omega-3s.

Omega-3s Provide Phenomenal Protection Against Prematurity

Optimizing your omega-3 intake will virtually guarantee that your baby will be full term. Prematurity is the leading cause of death during a baby's first month of life, and serious complications can occur later in life for preemies who survive.4 Studies show that the earlier a child is born, the higher the risk of complications, including:

Respiratory distress syndrome
Bleeding in the brain
Less ability to fight off infection due to immature immune system
Mental retardation
Cerebral palsy
Lung problems
Gastrointestinal problems
Vision and hearing loss.
The good news is that the DHA in animal-based omega-3 fats will prevent the vast majority of premature deliveries, 5 as well as the other complications listed above.

More Omega-3 Benefits for Mom And Baby

Omega-3s contain a powerhouse of nutrients to ensure that your baby will develop properly and reach its highest potential. These nutrients help to maximize the intelligence7 of your child, and protect your baby from brain injuries such as autism, pervasive developmental delay, and ADHD.
Studies have shown that sufficient levels of omega-3 fats optimize brain growth in children, especially during the third trimester.8
And in addition, omega-3 fats have been found to be highly effective in combating cardiovascular disease and depression. With hormones fluctuating so wildly during this time, you might find yourself dealing with some depression. It is a very common occurrence in pregnancy.
Research has now shown that low plasma concentrations of DHA, one of the main fats in omega-3 oil, are associated with low concentrations of brain serotonin. Serotonin has a calming effect on your brain and nervous system, so it is no surprise that a lack of it caused study participants to feel depressed and suicidal.9
However, in a British study, researchers found that women who consumed greater amounts of omega-3 fatty acids during the third trimester were less likely to show signs of major depression during pregnancy, and for up to eight months after the birth.10
Dietary supplementation with omega-3 oil concentrates has also been shown to reduce both the progression of cardiovascular disease and related mortality, including sudden cardiac death,11 so make sure you get plenty of this critical nutrient to protect you and your baby during this important time.
Another great benefit of adding omega-3 oils to your diet is that they will help prevent your child from developing diabetes later in life.18 This goes back to the role of omega-3 fats in helping you carry your baby to term. Studies show that premature babies have a greater risk of developing diabetes. Let me also add that studies link this tendency towards diabetes to a lack of sufficient vitamin D prior to birth.
Hopefully all this has convinced you how important it is to have plenty of omega-3s in your diet so you can be amply protected against these risk factors during pregnancy.

Finding the Best Sources of Omega-3s

In past years, I have recommended that the best way to obtain your essential omega-3 fats was to consume fish, but because of the ever-increasing danger of ingesting too much mercury, my current belief is that fish should generally be avoided. The mercury contained in fish has been well documented to cause a variety of neurological birth defects.12,13
Even the conservative FDA has warned that women should avoid most fish during pregnancy.14
Because of this issue, I recommend that you supplement your diet with a high-quality krill oil instead.15 Krill are small, shrimp-like crustaceans that inhabit the Earth’s oceans. The purest oil is made from krill that are harvested in the deep, clean waters of the Antarctic.16
The reason I prefer krill oil to fish oil is that krill oil contains potent antioxidants, whereas fish oil is weaker in antioxidant content.
The major drawback to taking fish oil is that, as you increase your intake of omega-3 fats, you actually increase your need for more antioxidants.
Why it this?
Because fish oil is quite perishable, and oxidation leads to the formation of those unhealthy free radicals. Therefore, you need to take antioxidants to ensure that the fish oil doesn't oxidize and become rancid inside your body. But krill oil makes life simpler because you don’t need to pop extra antioxidants every time you take your omega-3s.
And the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA are also present in krill oil. At one time, fatty fish like salmon was an excellent source of these acids, but because of the mercury contamination mentioned previously, as well as PCB contamination17 and even more, it is no longer a safe choice.
All these contaminants outweigh the benefits you could get from their omega-3 content (particularly since you can get them from krill oil, which is purified of contaminants). And please note that your prenatal vitamins do not contain one microgram of DHA!
Another healthy source for obtaining omega-3 is beef fed exclusively on grass. If you can find a local producer, it would be wise to seek out this food source.

Are Plant Sources of Omega-3 Acceptable?

It is important to note that plant-based omega 3 fats do not provide the same benefits as animal-based, because most of us can’t convert the ALA in plant-based fats to the appropriate amount of DHA that is required.6
Flax seeds, walnuts, and other plant sources of omega-3 should not be substituted for animal omega-3s, as you will simply not receive the same benefits because they are not metabolized as efficiently. For more information and precautions about nuts during pregnancy, please see the section titled Limit Nuts.

Add Sunshine for Optimally Healthy Baby

Without question one of the single most important strategies you can have for a healthy baby is to make sure you have optimal vitamin D levels. There is about a 90 percent chance that you do NOT have healthy vitamin D levels for a variety of reasons.
If you work indoors a lot, it’s likely you don’t have sufficient levels of vitamin D, because sunlight is where most or all of our vitamin D comes from. Also, if you live in a northern latitudes where you don’t spend much time outdoors even when you aren’t working, there’s an extra good chance you may be D-deficient as well.
Your windows also screen out the vast majority of UVB rays from the sun shining through, so you will NOT generate significant levels of vitamin D by sitting in front of a sunny window. There are other benefits to doing that, but generating healthy vitamin D levels is not one of them.19
A recent study has shown that even in you live in more southern areas and spend more time outdoors, you may still be deficient in vitamin D. The study showed that adults in southern Arizona were found to be deficient in vitamin D, particularly those with darker skin which produces less vitamin D in response to sunlight.
More than a quarter of Arizona adults who were tested had dangerously low blood levels of the vitamin.
On top of that, most people don’t eat much vitamin-D rich fish, which these days is actually a good thing. While missing the vitamin D, you and your baby are also happily missing the high mercury levels that most fish contain,20 due to the ongoing pollution of our waters.
I believe the very best way to optimize your vitamin D level is with regular exposure of large portions of your skin to the sun. However, I realize that may be difficult if it’s snowing outside, so that’s why I recommend you get your vitamin D from an oral form of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
Vitamin D3 comes from fish oil, and is the best and most effective form of oral vitamin D. Vitamin D3 is also found in eggs, organ meats, animal fat, cod liver oil, and fish. It is the equivalent to the vitamin D3 formed on your skin from UV-B.
However, you must have your blood levels checked before you begin any supplementation program. This is best done by a nutritionally oriented physician. The advantage of having your medical doctor perform the test is that it will usually be covered by your medical insurance.
It is also very important that you order the correct test.21 There are two tests with very similar names, so don’t be confused. They are 1,25(OH)D and 25(OH)D. The correct test is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

Make Sure Your Doctor Uses the Correct Testing Lab

Recent developments in 2008 also made it clear that there are irregularities in the values obtained from different testing methods. So while you may get results from any of the three assays that are analytically accurate, they might not be clinically accurate, which is, ultimately, what matters.
Therefore, in order for the test to offer you clinically relevant results, I recommend using LabCorp. Their radioimmunoassay (RIA) method for measuring total vitamin D levels has become the gold standard, not because it’s more accurate than others, but because it’s the one used in almost every major vitamin D study, on which the blood levels for clinical efficacy are based. 22
It also recently came to my attention that the test done by Quest labs, a frequently used lab, gives vitamin D values that are consistently about 25-40 percent higher than the DiaSorin assay.
What does this mean?
While the test Quest uses is analytically accurate, you may be FALSELY reassured that your levels are in the optimal range, which might cause you to stop or discontinue treatment, when you really need more vitamin D. This is why it is so important for you to use the right lab and the right test.
As far as test results, you should strive for levels of 60 ng/ml. This is currently considered the optimal level for vitamin D.

Add Exercise to Your Daily Schedule

Exercise should be an important part of your health routine while you’re pregnant, as long as your doctor has not indicated otherwise. In fact, vigorous exercise has been shown to decrease the possibility of premature birth.23
In a study conducted between 1995 and 1998, close to 1,700 pregnant women were questioned about their leisure activity during the three months before pregnancy, as well as during the first and second trimesters. Of the women questioned, 22 percent exercised vigorously before pregnancy -- 14 percent during the first trimester, and eight percent during the second. Vigorous activity included jogging or bicycling at a moderate to fast pace, swimming, or aerobic, fast-paced dancing.
Women who exercised vigorously during the first trimester were 20 percent less likely to deliver prematurely, compared with those who did not. Those who reported vigorous activity during their second trimester reduced their risk of premature, or pre-term birth, by 48 percent.
A later study indicated that women who exercised at the same rate throughout their pregnancies had larger placentas than their more sedentary peers. The volume of the placenta is a general marker of its ability to transport oxygen and nutrients to your baby. The study also indicated that a more intense exercise regimen may result in babies who weigh less at birth.24 However, none of the babies born to women who exercised moderately or intensely through the ninth month were considered unhealthy.
These findings indicate that regular weight-bearing exercise is beneficial for both you and your baby, and that the amount of benefit varies with the timing and amount of exercise.

Eating for Two

I’m sure you have heard the term “eating for two.” For many years, mothers-to-be were told that because they were pregnant, they must eat for two. But this is a very misleading statement. Some women gain far too much weight in the misguided belief that they must provide additional nutrition for their growing child.
Others may simply use this statement as an excuse to eat whatever they want. In either case, surveys now show that roughly half of all pregnant women are overweight or obese.25
The truth is, obesity can wreak havoc on your health, and that havoc will extend throughout your pregnancy and affect your unborn child. The side-effects of obesity include birth defects,26 infertility,27 heart disease,28 and much more. Studies also show that overweight or obese women have a greater tendency than normal-weight women to produce children who will also become overweight.29
So it’s important to your health and to your baby’s to keep your weight within reasonable parameters, so you can both avoid problems down the road.

Eating the Right Foods for Baby

While it is true that we should always strive to eat properly, remember that a precious cargo – your baby -- is now sharing your food supply. His little body has no choice but to try to make good nutrition from whatever you eat, so it is more important than ever to choose the right foods so that he can be assured of a strong, healthy adulthood.
In general, choose fresh, organic foods whenever possible. And eat a well-balanced diet consisting of adequate protein, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables.
Be sure to include plenty of leafy green vegetables, because they are loaded with folic acid, a B vitamin that studies have shown reduces the chance of your child being born with neural tube defects. Neural tube defects are a type of birth defect that affects the brain and spinal cord, and includes spina bifida.30
You can find many good sources of locally grown organic vegetables and fruits at your neighborhood farmer’s market.31 A good way to make sure you are eating properly is to eat according to your Nutritional Type.™
There are basically three Nutritional Types™:

Protein
Carb
Mixed. 32
Protein types do better on low-carbohydrate, high-protein, and high-fat diets. Carb types normally feel best when the majority of their food is carbohydrate. However, I do not mean refined carbs, such as from commercial cakes, pies, cookies, and the like. They will only create more health problems. Getting most of your carbohydrates from vegetables is very important.
And, if your Nutritional Type™ is mixed, your requirements are between the carb and protein types.
Ascertaining whether you are a Protein, Carb, or Mixed Type will assure that you get the right balance of foods to nourish your particular metabolism. You can find out more about all of these Nutritional Types™ at Mercola.com.

Eggs -- Powerful Pregnancy Allies

A very important food for pregnancy are raw eggs.33 Raw eggs are a rich source of protein, carotenoids, and choline. Eggs contain yellow or orange carotenoids called lutein and zeaxanthin. Studies have shown that high dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin is associated with a significant reduction in the risk for:

Cataracts (up to a 20-percent reduction)
Age-related macular degeneration (up to a 40-percent reduction).34
Other good sources of lutein and zeaxanthin are green vegetables, such as spinach and broccoli.
Choline, another important nutrient in eggs, has been shown to improve learning and memory in animals. Researchers say this data could mean that choline can boost human cognitive function, diminish age-related memory decline, and decrease toxic “insults” to the brain.35
Also, despite what you may have heard, the risk of salmonella from raw eggs is extremely low when you buy healthy, organic eggs. Salmonella infections are usually present only in traditionally raised commercial hens. If you are purchasing your eggs from healthy chickens, the infection risk reduces dramatically. Remember, only sick chickens lay salmonella-contaminated eggs. If you are obtaining high quality, cage-free, organically fed, omega-3-enhanced chicken eggs, the risk virtually disappears.
Other egg myths that should be debunked are that eggs increase cholesterol levels or are a causative factor in heart disease. The most recent research has clearly shown that eggs do not cause a worsening of cholesterol, nor do they increase the risk of heart disease.36
What researchers in previous studies never took into account, when studying the link between bad cholesterol and eggs, are the specific subclasses of LDL cholesterol. The smaller fractions of LDL are more dangerous and are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, while the larger ones are not dangerous. So rest assured, if you choose free-range, organic eggs, they are one of the healthiest, and safest, foods you can eat.

A few notes about breastfeeding. After you deliver your baby, you should keep the following points in mind when deciding about breastfeeding your infant. I strongly recommend breastfeeding because it strengthens your child’s immune system, protecting him against many physiological assaults later in life.
One of the reasons for this is that a healthy mother's milk is high in essential fats, GLA, and other precursors to prostaglandins (potent, hormone-like substances that control a wide range of physiological functions such as blood pressure, contraction of smooth muscle, and modulation of inflammation).
However, cow's milk is low in essential fats and other prostaglandin precursors, and high in saturated fats. For this reason, cow's milk is not an adequate substitute for mother's milk. Neither is baby formula.
At a recent international symposium on Dietary Omega-3 and -6 Fatty Acids, Dr. Neuringer, an authority on infant milk, stated that the low omega-3, high omega-6 content in infant formulas was of great concern because of the imbalance it causes among the prostaglandins.37 These imbalances can impair your baby’s immune system and predispose your infant to cancer and heart trouble later in life.
However, should you decide not to breastfeed, feeding your baby a few drops of flax seed oil daily will help to make up the deficiency of omega-3 essential fatty acids .

Are Vaccinations Really Necessary?

Many mothers may feel that vaccinations are beneficial, and without them, they or their baby might suffer harm. Nothing could be further from the truth.
First and foremost, vaccines contain mercury, which has been shown, even in low concentrations, to impair energy production, impair neurotubule stability (neurotubules are essential to normal brain cell function), and activate brain free radical production, among many other destructive things.38
To avoid these potentially grave effects, you should avoid all vaccinations while you are pregnant, as well as avoid having your baby get any vaccinations after birth.
The brain has one of the highest metabolic rates of any organ, and impairment of its energy supply, especially during your baby’s development, can have devastating consequences.
A study undertaken by Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, representing the CDC at that time, looked at data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink and found a significant correlation between thimerosal (49.6% mercury by weight) exposure in vaccines and several neuro-developmental disorders including tics, speech delays, and possibly even ADD.39
Despite the damning evidence that vaccines contained a potent neurotoxin, and despite recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and others that thimerosal be removed, five years after the Verstraeten study, in 2004, the CDC still insisted that there was no scientific evidence of harm from exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines.40
Currently, California, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York, and Washington ban thimerosal in vaccines.41
Furthermore, children are getting mandated to have more and more vaccines at younger and younger ages. It has gotten so ridiculous, not to mention dangerous, for children whose immune systems are delicate and still developing, to have this many vaccinations.
Under the conventional schedule of immunizations, before a child reaches the age of two, he or she will have received 32 vaccinations, including four doses each of vaccines for Hemophilus influenzae type b infections, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis -- all of them given during the first 12 months of life. Seven vaccines injected into a 13-pound, two-month old infant are equivalent to 70 doses in a 130-pound adult!
In the wake of this, Dr. Donald Miller, a medical doctor and instructor of cardiac surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine, has suggested a better approach, what he calls a “user friendly vaccination schedule.”
Dr. Miller states that the most rapid period of brain development begins in the third trimester, and continues over the first two years of extra uterine life.42 He believes that until randomized controlled trials demonstrate the safety of giving vaccines during this time of life, it would be prudent not to give any vaccinations to children until they are 2 years old.
Also, his user-friendly vaccination schedule requires that vaccinations, after the age of two, be given no more than once every six months, one at a time, in order to allow the child’s immune system sufficient time to recover and stabilize between shots.
For more details on Dr. Miller’s vaccination plan and other suggestions on how you can protect yourself and your baby from unnecessary vaccinations, please go to Mercola.com.

ambuja04

Sarnath — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:59:18 CST

|| Shree Ganesha Sharada Gurubyo Namaha ||

Shree Adi Shankaracharya
The Greatest Seer of all Times

Maatrupanchakam", is one of the greatest literary treasures, expounding the greatness of Mother advocated by Jagadguru Shree Adi Shankaracharya based on the philosophy of The Sanathana Dharma which proclaims the first and foremost God to be one's own Mother. Matrupanchakam is a set of five philosophical hymns composed by Shree Sacchidananda Swamigal, more popularly known as Shree Bhashya Swamigal, under the divine orders of His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya Anantha Shree Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahaswamigal, the 34th Acharya of Dakshinamnaya Shree Sringeri Sharada Peetham, established foremost by Shree Adi Shankaracharya himself. This was presented at the lotus feet of His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya Shree Abhinava Vidya Thirtha Mahaswamigal, the 35th pontiff of the Dakshinamnaya Shree Sringeri Sharada Peetham. Matrupanchakam was first published in 1973, by Shree K. K. Sankaran, one of the staunch and ardent devotees of the Acharyas of Sringeri Sharada Peetham. This publication was graced by the divine Shreemukham of His Holiness Anantha Shree Abhinava Vidya Thirtha Mahaswamigal, the then presiding pontiff of the Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham. The second revised publication which was graced by the divine Shreemukham of His Holiness Anantha Shree Bharathi Thirtha Mahaswamigal, the 36th (and present) pontiff of the Dakshinamnaya Shree Sringeri Sharada Peetham, was brought out in 1999. This Website has been designed for, and dedicated to this great gem, that each one of us ought to know, as it is indeed because of our mother that we are present in this world.

ஜவ்வரிசி போண்டா

Sarnath — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:51:56 CST

உடலுக்கு ஆரோக்கியமான போண்டா, விருந்துகளுக்கு ஏற்ற வித்தியாசமான போண்டா. வயிறு உப்புசம் ஆகிவிடும் என்ற பேச்சை தவிடு பொடியாக்கும் அருமையான மாலை நேரச் சிற்றுண்டி.

தேவையானவை

ஜவ்வரிசி - 1 கப்
நன்கு புளித்த தயிர் -1 கப்
கடலை மாவு -1 தே‌க்கர‌ண்டி
அரிசி மாவு -1 தே‌க்கர‌ண்டி
துருவிய இஞ்சி -1 தே‌க்கர‌ண்டி
கறிவேப்பிலை, மல்லித்தழை -சிறிதளவு
உப்பு -ருசிக்கேற்ப
எண்ணெய் - தேவையான அளவு

செய்முறை:

ஜவ்வரிசியுடன் உப்பு, தயிர் சேர்த்து ஊறவையுங்கள். 4 முதல் 5 மணி நேரம் வரை ஊறவேண்டும்.

பின்னர் அதனுடன் பெருங்காயம், கடலை மாவு, அரிசி மாவு, இஞ்சி, பச்சை மிளகாய், கறிவேப்பிலை, வெங்காயம், உப்பு, மல்லித்தழை சேர்த்து (இட்லி மாவை விட சற்று) கெட்டியாகக் கலந்து கொள்ளுங்கள்.

எண்ணெயைக் காயவைத்து ஜவ்வரிசி கலவையை சிறு சிறு போண்டாக்களாகக் கிள்ளிப் போட்டு பொன்னிறமாக சிவந்ததும் எடுங்கள்.

God is great

mallika_00 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:02:33 CST

Tiny tech sparks cell signal find

mallika_00 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:45:15 CST

The study used fibroblast cells to illuminate the cell signalling

Tiny metal particles have been shown to cause changes to DNA across a cellular barrier - without having to cross it. The nanometre and micrometre scale particles resulted in an increase of damage to DNA across the barrier via a never-before-seen cell signal process.
Reporting in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers say the mechanism could be both a risk and an opportunity.
They say the preliminary result is relevant as more medical therapies rely on small-scale particles.
For instance, nanoparticle-based approaches are being considered for use to improve MRI images or direct the delivery of cancer drugs.
However, they concede their model system is far simpler than the human body, where the effects will be harder to unpick.
As yet, the researchers are not even certain of the mechanism by which the signalling molecules cause damage to DNA.
Communication skills
The team studied the effects of particles made from cobalt and chromium, either 30 billionths of a metre or four millionths of a metre across.
These metals are used in implants such as artificial hips or knees.
They grew a thin, artificial membrane from human cells and placed the particles on the membrane. Beneath it, they placed fibroblast cells, which in the body help to form connective tissue.
Although the team showed that the particles had not crossed the membrane, the fibroblast cells beneath were shown to have about 10 times as many damage sites in their DNA than the case in which no particles were used.
Gevdeep Bhabra, lead author on the research from the Bristol Implant Research Centre, explained that cells in close contact are known to exhibit cell-to-cell communication through structures known as gap junctions and hemichannels.

The signalling may well effect much more than just DNA changes

"We used a variety of chemicals to block this cell-to-cell signalling and found that in the presence of these blockers, the damage we were seeing was completely prevented," he said.
The team stressed that the concentrations of the particles were thousands of times higher than would be found in the human body, for instance from wear and tear on implants.
As a result, there is no reason to believe that implants pose a risk via the signalling mechanism.
However, its discovery suggests that there is much work to be done to establish if the mechanism that appears to be responsible for the DNA damage is limited to those materials, or can occur in the presence of other materials of a similar size.
That issue is of particular importance as more therapeutic and imaging approaches begin to make use of nano-scale materials.
Ashley Blom, head of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Bristol, explained that although the signalling could pose a future risk, once understood it could be put to good therapeutic use.
"If the barriers in the human body do work in this way, the first exciting thing is: can we deliver novel therapies across barriers without having to cross them?
"For example, if you have a condition that affects the brain, maybe we could treat you with something that doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, that does not come in contact with the brain."

Tibet

mallika_00 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:02:42 CST

Tibet, one of the extra-ordinary destinations where indeed adventure lurks around every corner. Its name the "Roof of the World" is not a mere statement. The valley bottoms of Tibet are higher than the highest mountains elsewhere.

Adventure on the road is never short on the beautiful Trans Himalayan drive of over 970 km, through four mountain passes, promising a panorama of a cultural and scenic diversity unsurpassable anywhere. The Buddhist monasteries of Drepung, once the largest; the Jokhang - a spirtual centre, and the awesome palaces of the Dalai Lama - Norbulingka (the summer Palace) and the Potala the traditional seat) are some of the highlights of visit to Tibet.

Place

Altitude

Zhangmu

Xegar

Xigatse

Lhasa

7000 ft.

13800 ft.

12600 ft.

13050 ft.

Season : April to November
Flights : Every Tuesday & Saturday

Unity is strength

sara_00 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:30:04 CST

Once upon a time, there was a flock of doves that flew in search of food led by their king. One day, they had flown a long distance and were very tired. The dove king encouraged them to fly a little further. The smallest dove picked up speed and found some rice scattered beneath a banyan tree. So all the doves landed and began to eat. Suddenly a net fell over them and they were all trapped. They saw a hunter approaching carrying a huge club. The doves desperately fluttered their wings trying to get out, but to no avail. The king had an idea. He advised all the doves to fly up together carrying the net with them. He said that there was strength in unity. Each dove picked up a portion of the net and together they flew off carrying the net with them. The hunter looked up in astonishment. He tried to follow them, but they were flying high over hills and valleys. They flew to a hill near a city of temples where there lived a mouse who could help them. He was a faithful friend of the dove king. When the mouse heard the loud noise of their approach, he went into hiding. The dove king gently called out to him and then the mouse was happy to see him. The dove king explained that they had been caught in a trap and needed the mouse's help to gnaw at the net with his teeth and set them free. The mouse agreed saying that he would set the king free first. The king insisted that he first free his subjects and the king last. The mouse understood the king's feelings and compled with his wishes. He began to cut the net and one by one all the doves were freed including the dove king. They all thanked the mouse and flew away together, united in their strength.

Major quakes could be aftershocks

sara_narasimhan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:41:01 CST

The May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China, surprised scientists

Many recent earthquakes may have been the aftershocks of large quakes that occurred hundreds of years ago, according to scientists. In the journal Nature, researchers described a new pattern in the frequency of aftershocks that could explain some major quakes.
They found that, away from plate boundaries, echoes of past earthquakes can continue for several hundred years.
Here, in the middle of a continent, the earth takes longer to recover.
It's something we had never spotted before," said Seth Stein from Northwestern University in Illinois, US.
"Most big earthquakes happen at [plate] boundaries - like the San Andreas fault. There is a lot of movement there and aftershocks go on for about ten years after a big quake."
When the aftershocks have dissipated, scientists monitor regular movement of the earth to gauge the likelihood of a future quake.

The researchers gathered data from faults in the US

But small earthquakes also occur where there is none of this regular movement, he explained. "So if the ground has not been storing up energy for future earthquakes, these must be aftershocks."
This, the scientists say, could explain the disastrous earthquake in 2008 in China's Sichuan province. The event shocked many scientists as this was an area where there had been hardly any earthquakes in the past few centuries.
But these "aftershock quakes", the scientists say, get smaller over time.
"It even looks like we see small earthquakes today in the area along Canada's Saint Lawrence valley where a large earthquake occurred in 1663," Professor Stein said.
"If you look at where they are - they're on the fault plane of the big earthquake."
He and his colleague, Mian Liu from the University of Missouri, found the same pattern repeated in seismic data from faults around the world.
Forecasting tremors
This discovery could help scientists to foresee the location of big earthquakes.
"Predicting big quakes based on small quakes is like the 'whack-a-mole' game," Professor Stein explained. "You wait for the mole to come up where it went down.
"But we now know the big earthquakes can pop up somewhere else."
He recommended that, instead of just focusing on the regions where small, regular earthquakes happen, scientists should use methods like GPS satellites and computer modelling to look for places where the earth is "storing up energy for a large future earthquake".
Tom Parsons, a scientist from the US Geological Survey (USGS) in California was not involved in this study, but wrote an accompanying article in the same issue of Nature, explaining its significance.
He said that with a more comprehensive approach to studying earthquakes, researchers would eventually be able to "arrive at a practical solution" - balancing the available resources with the need to protect areas that were at risk.

Success- Quotes

sara_narasimhan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:28:24 CST

happiness, this is success."
Orison Swett Marden

Pity the man who inherits a million and isn't a millionaire.Here's what would be pitiful,if your income grew and you didn't.
Jim Rohn
"The great successful men of the world have used their imagination…they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building - steadily building."
Robert Collier

"Success doesn't come to you…you go to it."Marva Collins

"Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure." Earl Nightingale

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." Vincent T. Lombardi

"Success is a journey, not a destination." Ben Sweetland

If you care at all,you'll get some results.If you care enough, you'll get incredible results.
Jim Rohn
"The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing a thing exactly right." Edward Simmons

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek." Mario Andretti - race car driver

"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction." Charles Kendall Adams

"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes."
Benjamin Disraeli

The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won't work - if you won't.
Zig Ziglar

mallik1962

mallika_00 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:11:26 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Happy Diwali

mallika_00 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:09:38 CST

Tamil jokes

Sarnath — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:43:37 CST

ஏங்க உங்க நண்பர்கிட்ட பொண்ணு நல்லாருக்குன்னு பொய் சொன்னீங்க?
கணவன்: எனக்கு பொண்ணுபார்க்கும்போது மட்டும் உண்மையாச் சொன்னான்!!
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மனைவி: ஏங்க என்கிட்ட உங்களுக்கு பிடிச்சது என் சிரிப்பா,கூந்தலா, என் கண்களா?? எதுங்க?
கணவன்: இப்படி சிரிக்காமலேயே சூப்பரா காமெடி பண்ணுறியே அதான் புடிச்சுருக்கு

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மனைவி: நம்ம பையன் வளர்ந்து என்னவாக ஆசைப்படுறீங்க?
கணவன்: அவன் என்ன வேணும்னாலும் ஆகட்டும்...ஆனா யாருக்கும் புருஷனா மட்டும் ஆகக்கூடாது...
நான் பட்ட கஷ்டம் என்னோட போகட்டும்...

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மனைவி: ஏங்க.. சமையல்காரியை நிறுத்திட்டு இனி நானே சமைக்கிறேன்...எனக்கு மாச எவ்வளவு
சம்பளம் கொடுப்பீங்க?
கணவன்: உனக்கு எதுக்குடா சம்பளம்... நீ சமைக்க ஆரம்பிச்சுட்டேனா என் இன்சுரன்ஸ் பணம் மொத்தமும்
உனக்குத்தானே...!
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மனைவி: என்னங்க அதோ அங்க உக்காந்து தண்ணியடிக்கிறாரே அவரு என்னை பொண்ணு பார்க்க வந்தாரு,
நான் அவரை கல்யாணம் பண்ணமாட்டேன்ன சொல்லிட்டேன். அதை நினைச்சே அவரு இத்தனை வருஷமா
தண்ணியடிக்கிறாரு.

கணவன்: அவன் கொடுத்து வச்சவன்... அந்த சந்தோஷத்தை இத்தனை வருஷமா
கொண்டாடிட்டிருக்கானேன்னு தான் ஆச்சர்யமா இருக்கு.
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மனைவி: என்னங்க நான் செத்துப்போயிட்டா... என்ன பண்ணுவீங்க?
கணவன்: எனக்கு பைத்தியமே புடிச்சுரும்.
மனைவி: நான் செத்தா இன்னொரு கல்யாணம் பண்ணுவீங்களா?
கணவன்: பைத்தியம் என்ன வேணும்னாலும் பண்ணும்.

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கணவன் மனைவிக்கு கார் கதவை திறந்து கொடுத்தால் அதற்கு மூன்று காரணங்களே இருக்க முடியும்.

1. புது மனைவியாக இருக்கும்
2. புது காராக இருக்கும்
3. அந்த பெண் மனைவியாக இருக்க முடியாது.
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டாக்டர் : உங்க கணவருக்கு இப்ப ஓய்வு ரொம்ப முக்கியம்... இந்தாங்க தூக்க மாத்திரை
மனைவி: இதை எத்தனை தடவை கொடுக்கனும் அவருக்கு
டாக்டர்: இது அவருக்கு இல்லை...உங்களுக்கு
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புயல் மழையில் ஒருவன் பிஸ்ஸா வாங்க கடைக்கு செல்கிறான்

கடைக்காரர் : சார் உங்களுக்கு கல்யாணம் ஆயிடுச்சா...
வந்தவர்: பின்ன இந்த புயல் மழைல எங்க அம்மாவா என்னை பிஸ்ஸா வாங்க அனுப்புவாங்க...!??
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லாஸ்ட் பட் நாட் லீஸ்ட்:

கடவுள்: மனிதா உனக்கு என்ன வரம் வேண்டும் கேள்?
மனிதன்: இந்தியாவுலேர்ந்து அமெரிக்காவிற்கு ரோடு போட்டு கொடுங்க சாமி!!
கடவுள்: அது கஷ்டமாச்சே...வேறு ஏதாவது கேள்.
மனிதன்: அப்ப என் மனைவி பேச்சை குறைக்கணும், நான் சொல்றதை கேட்கனும், எதையும்
வாங்கிக்கேட்ககூடாது...
கடவுள்: அமெரிக்காவுக்கு ரோடு சிங்கிளா, டபுளா...?

Surprise Rock

mallika_00 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:16:07 CST

A huge rock in a village of Al-Hassa region, SAUDI ARABIA raises 11 cms from the ground level once in a year during the month of April and stays elevated for about 30 minutes !!!

They say that 17 years ago, one terrorist was shot dead behind this rock as he was hidden there. This encounter happened in the month of April 1989. You can see the fresh blood stains on the rock. Most surprisingly, when the rock raises from the ground, these stains become darker, fresher and wet. Local residents tried to wipe off the stains several times, but after some time it appears again on the rock automatically.....
isn't it astounding ?

Inspiring quotes

mallika_00 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:04:26 CST

You can't change the past,
but you can ruin the present
By worrying over the future
*********
If you fill your heart with regrets
of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow,
you have no today to be thankful for.
*********
To get out of a difficulty,
one usually must go through it.
*********
The choice you make today
will usually affect tomorrow.
*********
All people smile in the same language.
*********
Laughter is God's sunshine
*********
Take time to laugh, for it is
the music of the soul.
*********
Love is strengthened by working
through conflicts together.
*********
Love is the only thing that can be
divided without being diminished.
*********
Everyone has beauty
but not everyone sees it.
*********
Man looks at outward appearance
but the Lord looks within.
*********
We take for granted the things
that we should be giving thanks for.
*********
Happiness is enhanced by others
but does not depend upon others.
*********
Thank God for what you have,
TRUST GOD for what you need.
*********
Do what you can, for who you can,
with what you have, and where you are.
*********
The real measure of a man's wealth
is what he has invested in eternity.

Michael Pollan's Favorite Dietary Dos and Don'ts

sara_00 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:47:45 CST

Earlier this year, Michael Pollan posted a request for reader’s rules about eating. Within days, he had received more than 2,500 responses. Here are some of Pollan’s 20 favorites:

1. Don’t eat egg salad from a vending machine.
2. Don’t eat anything that took more energy to ship than to grow.
3. If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you’re not hungry.
4. Eat foods in inverse proportion to how much its lobby spends to push it.
5. Avoid snack foods with the “oh” sound in their names: Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Ho Hos, etc.
6. No second helpings, no matter how scrumptious.
7. It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor.
8. You may not leave the table until you finish your fruit.
9. You don’t get fat on food you pray over. (Meals prepared at home, served at the table and given thanks for are more appreciated and more healthful than food eaten on the run.)
10. Breakfast you should eat alone. Lunch you should share with a friend. Dinner, give to your enemy.
11. Never eat something that is pretending to be something else (artificial sweeteners, margarine, etc.)
12. Don’t yuck someone’s yum. There is someone out there who likes deep-fried sheep eyeballs and, well, more power to them.
13. Make and take your own lunch to work.
14. Eat until you are seven-tenths full and save the other three-tenths for hunger.
15. I am living in Japan and following these simple rules in preparing each meal: GO HO – incorporate five different cooking methods, GO SHIKI – incorporate five colors, GO MI – incorporate five flavors.
16. One of my top rules for eating comes from economics. The law of diminishing marginal utility reminds me that each additional bite is generally less satisfying than the previous bite. This helps me slow down, savor the first bites, stop eating sooner.
17. Don’t eat anything you aren’t willing to kill yourself.
18. When drinking tea, just drink tea. I find this Zen teaching useful, given my inclination toward information absorption in the morning, when I’m also trying to eat breakfast, get the dog out, start the fire and organize my day.
19. When you’re eating, don’t talk about other past meals, whether better or worse. Focus on what’s in front of you.
20. After spending some time working with people with eating disorders, I came up with this rule: Don’t create arbitrary rules for eating if their only purpose is to help you feel in control.

Sources:

New York Times October 11, 2009

SEYCHELLES ,SRI NAVASAKTHI VINAYAGAR ALAYAM

charu_01 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:10:07 CST

The Seychelles Hindu Kovil Sangam SHKS was founded in May 1984 with an executive committee and a group of members. It was later in May 1990, the Sangam with the support of all the Hindus, laid the foundation
for the first Hindu Temple in Seychelles.

On Wednesday the 6th May 1992, the MAHAKUMBABISHEKAM or the consercration of the beautiful temple built in the traditional architecture took place, which was a memorable day for the Hinus in Seychelles. Since then, regular pooja and abishegams are being held and all other religious days like Thai Poosam festival, Vinayagar Chadurthi are celebrated with great enthusiasm.Since 1998, the Thai poosam day has been declared as a public holiday for the Hindus in Seychelles.

The temple stands a religious base to cater for the spiritual and cultural needs of the Hindus in Seychelles.

Sri Navasakthi Vinayagar

Lord Vinayagar is also called as Ganesha or Pillayaar. He is considered as the first god of Hindus. It is a tradition of Hindus to worship Vinayagar before beginning any religious activity. The 'Vinayagar Chadurthi' is considered as the most important festival of Lord Vinayagar.

Sri Durga

Goddess Durga, the goddess of power and the sister of Lord Vishnu emerged from the combined powers of Shiva and Vishnu. She fought against demon Mahisasura for nine days and nights and her victory is celebrated every year as the navaratri festival.

Utsava Murthigal

Gods and Goddess in Bronze statues.

Sri Vishnu

Lord Vishnu is known as the Sustainer of life among the three major gods, the other two being Lord Brahma (Creator) and Lord Shiva (Destroyer). He symbolizes the qualities of permanence and continuity in life. It is said that till date Lord Vishnu has appeared on earth nine times in various avatars (forms) for the demolition of evil and restoration of peace and justice.

Sri Subramanyar

Lord Subramanyar is the brother of Lord Vinayagar and has several names. Murgan, Velan Kandan are the common ones. He is also called as Aarumugan, which means 'Six faces'. The word 'Murugan' means beauty. It is believed that just by saying his name one can overcome any difficulty in life. Of the various festivals celebrated for Lord Muruga, Kavadi festival is the most important one. 'Kiruthigai' is another important occasion for him, which comes once every month.

Sri Sandikeswarar

Lord Sandikeswarar is said to be always in a meditation worshipping the other gods. It is believed that he serves as a mediator between the god and the worshipper. Make a sound by your hand three times to bring his attention and worship him.

Sri Natarajar

Lord Shiva, the Destroyer is also known as 'Lord Natarajar'. Lord Shiva is also whorshipped in the form of 'Lingam', which is cylindrical in shape. The statue depicts Lord Shiva in his Ananda Tandavam pose. (Cosmic Dance of bliss) The Cosmic dance of bliss, or the Ananda Tandavam o Shiva is said to symbolize the five divine acts (pancha krityas) of creation, sustenance, dissolution, concealment and bestowment of grace.

Sri Bairavar

Lord Bairavar is another avatar (form) of Lord Shiva to destroy evil and to be as a sentinel of evil.

POOJA TIMINGS

KAALASANTHI - 8 AM

UCHIKAALAM - 12 NOON

SAAYARATCHAI - 6.30 PM

ARTHASAAMAM - 8 PM
(FRIDAYS 9 PM)

RAAGUKAALA POOJAI
SUNDAYS 4.30 PM TO 6 PM

KAALASANTHI - 8 AM

Expensive saree

Sarnath — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:16:13 CST

............ ...\\.... ......... ......... ......... \\Silksari

How often have you come across a Rs. 40 lakh ($100,000) silk saree? Chennai Silks, a textile unit has come up with one
of its kind and it is seeking an unmistakable entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most unique and expensive saree.

The exceptionally stunning saree is meticulously woven with 12 precious stones and metals to depict 11 of Raja Ravi Verma's popular paintings. Explicitly projected is 'Lady Musicians', one of the painter's very famous works that displays women belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds.

Besides, the border of the saree pictures 10 other paintings of the artist that pays tribute to 20th century artist.
The best part of the saree being that the women in the paintings are intricately hand-woven and beautified with jewels of gold, diamond, platinum, silver, ruby, emerald, yellow sapphire, sapphire, cat's eye, topaz, pearl and corals.

Already in the Limca Book of Records, this 40 lakh saree will be the first silk saree that required the use of 7,440 jacquard hooks and 66,794 cards during the weaving process. Moreover, a group of consummate workers took nearly 4,680 hours ............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .

20 Great Ways to Find More Free Time

Sarnath — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:17:59 CDT

The real problem of leisure time is how to keep others from using yours.

- Arthur Lacey

Are there a hundred different things you wish you could do with your life someday — anything from exercising to meditation or yoga to writing that novel you always wished you could write to reading more to relaxing and watching the sunrise? But perhaps you never have the time, like most people.

The truth is, we all have the same amount of time, and its finite and in great demand. But some of us have made the time for doing the things we love doing, and others have allowed the constant demands and pressures and responsibilities of life to dictate their days.

Its time to move from the second group back into the first. Reclaim your time. Create the life you want and make the most of the free time you lay claim to. Its not hard, though it does take a little bit of effort and diligence.

Not all of these will be applicable to your life choose the ones you can apply and give them a try:

1. Take a time out. Freeing up your time starts with taking a step back to take a good look at your life. You need to block off at least an hour. Several hours or half a day is better. A whole day would be awesome. A weekend would be even more ideal, though not necessary practical for many folks. With this block of time, take a look at your life with some perspective. Is it what youve always wanted? How would you get to where youve always wanted to be? What do you enjoy doing, but dont have enough time to do? What things actually fill up your day? Are there things you could drop or minimize to make more time? Well look at some of these things in the following items, but it starts with taking a time out to think and plan.

2. Find your essentials. What is it that you love to do? Make a short list of 4-5 things. These are the things you want to make room for.

3. Find your time-wasters. What do you spend a lot of your time on that isnt on your essential list? Take a close look at these things and really think about whether theyre necessary, or if there are ways to reduce, minimize or eliminate these things. Sometimes you do things because you assume theyre necessary, but if you give it some thought you can find ways to drop them from your life. Figure out what you do simply to waste time maybe surfing certain sites, watching TV, talking a lot at the water cooler, etc. Youre going to want to minimize these time-wasters to make room for the more important stuff, the stuff that makes you happy and that you love to do.

4. Schedule the time. As you sit down and think about your life and what you want to do, versus what you actually do, you will be looking at ways to free up time. Its crucial that you take a blank weekly schedule (you can just write it out on a piece of paper, or use your calendar) and assign blocks for the things you love the stuff on your essentials list. If you want to exercise, for example, when will you do it? Put the blocks of time on your schedule, and make these blocks the most important appointments of your week. Schedule the rest of your life around these blocks.

5. Consolidate. There are many things you do, scattered throughout your day or your week, that you might be able to consolidate in order to save time. A good example is errands instead of running one or two a day, do them all in one day to save time and gas. Another example is email, or any kind of communication batch process your email instead of checking and reading and responding throughout the day. Same thing with meetings, paperwork, anything that you do regularly.

6. Cut out meetings. This isnt possible for everyone, but in my experience meetings take up a lot of time to get across a little information, or to make easy decisions that could be made via email or phone. As much as you can, minimize the number of meetings you hold and attend. In some cases this might mean talking to your boss and telling her that you have other priorities, and asking to be excused. In other cases this might mean asking the people holding the meeting if you can get the info in other ways. If so, youve saved yourself an hour or so per meeting (sometimes more).

7. De clutter your schedule. If you have a heavily packed schedule, full of meetings and errands and tasks and projects and appointments, youre going to want to weed it out so that its not so jam-packed. Find the stuff thats not so essential and cancel them. Postpone other stuff. Leave big blank spaces in your schedule.

8. Re-think your routine. Often we get stuck in a routine thats anything but what we really want our days to be like. Is there a better way of doing things? Youre the creator of your life make a new routine thats more pleasant, more optimal, more filled with things you love.

9. Cut back on email. I mentioned email in an earlier point above, regarding consolidating, but its such a major part of most peoples lives that it deserves special attention. How often do you check email? How much time do you spend composing emails? If you spend a major part of your work day on email, as many people do (and as I once did), you can free up a lot of time by reducing the time you spend in email. Now, this wont work for everyone, but it can work for many people: choose 2-3 key times during the day to process your inbox to empty, and keep your responses to 5 sentences.

10. Learn to say "NO". If you say yes to every request, you will never have any free time. Get super protective about your time, and say no to everything but the essential requests.

11. Keep your list to 3. When you make out your daily to-do list, just list the three Most Important Tasks you want to accomplish today. Dont make a laundry list of tasks, or youll fill up all your free time. By keeping your task list small, but populated only by important tasks, you ensure that you are getting the important stuff done but not overloading yourself.

12. Do your Biggest Rock first. Of the three Most Important Tasks you choose for the day, pick the biggest one, or the one youre dreading most, and do that first. Otherwise youll put that off as much as possible and fill your day with less important things. Dont allow yourself to check email until that Big Rock is taken care of. It starts your day with a sense of major accomplishment, and leaves you with a lot of free time the rest of the day, because the most important thing is already done.

13. Delegate. If you have subordinates or coworkers who can do a task or project, try to delegate it. Dont feel like you need to do everything yourself. If necessary, spend a little time training the person to whom youre delegating the task, but that little time spent training will pay off in a lot of time saved later. Delegating allows you to focus on the core tasks and projects you should be focusing on.

14. Cut out distractions. What is there around your workspace that distracts you from the task at hand? Sometimes its visual clutter, or papers lying around that call for your attention and action, or email or IM notifiers on your computer that pop up at the wrong time, or the phone, or coworkers. See if you can eliminate as many of these as possible the more you can focus, the more effective youll be and the less time youll waste. That equals time saved for the good stuff.

15. Disconnect. The biggest of distractions, for most people, is the Internet. My most productive times are when Im disconnected from the grid. Now, Im not saying you need to be disconnected all the time, but if you really want to be able to effectively complete tasks, disconnect your Internet so you can really focus. Set certain times of the day for connectivity, and only connect during those periods.

16. Outsource. If you cant delegate, see if you can outsource. With the Internet, we can connect with people from all over the world. Ive outsourced many things, from small tasks to checking email to legal work to design and editing work and more. That allows me to focus on the things Im best at, the things I love doing, and saves me a lot of time.

17. Make use of your mornings. I find that mornings are the absolute best times to schedule the things I really want to do. I run, read and write in the mornings — three of the four things on my Essentials List (spending time with family is the other thing on the list). Mornings are great because your day hasnt been filled with a bunch of unscheduled, demanding, last-minute tasks that will push back those Essentials. For example, if you schedule something for late afternoon, by the time late afternoon rolls around, you might have a dozen other things newly added to your to-do list, and youll put off that late-afternoon Essential. Instead, schedule it for the morning, and itll rarely (if ever) get pushed back.

18. The Golden Right-after-work Time. Other than mornings, I find the time just after work to be an incredible time for doing Essential things. Exercise, for example, is great in the 5-oclock hour, as is spending time with family, or doing anything else relaxing.

19. Your evenings. The time before you go to bed is also golden, as it exists every single day, and its usually completely yours to schedule. What do you want to do with this time? Read? Spend time with your kids? Work on a hobby youre passionate about? Take advantage of this time.

20. Lunch breaks. If the three golden times mentioned above dont work for you, lunch breaks are another good opportunity to schedule things. Some people like to exercise, or to take quiet times, during their lunch breaks. Others use this time to work on an important personal goal or project.