Archive for March, 2004

Pork Ribs

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

Recipe by: Richard Thead
Yesterday I smoked some ribs. I got an 8 lb pack of spareribs, and a 6
lb pack of baby backs (cryovac packages from Price Club). Here’s roughly
how I prepared them:

After rinsing and drying them, I removed the membrane from the underside
of each rack. I know some people debate the necessity of this, but I
always do it. BTW, use a paper towel to get a good grip. I rubbed them liberally with the Galena Street rub from Penzey’s. This is a pretty
decent rub mixture. I’m not sure if I’ll buy more, since I have a recipe
that I like, but hey, I got a two cup shaker bottle out of the deal.

I smoked them for 4 hours (~220F) using whole pecan logs. I then wrapped
each rack individually in heavy-duty foil and tossed them back in the
smoker for another hour. I suppose you could just keep them in the oven,
since they don’t get any smokier, but the oven was being used for something
else. During smoking, I sprayed them regularly with water from a spray
bottle that I use just for this. You could use a mop, but I find that, for
my tastes, really liberal application of rub and the light spritzing of
water give them plenty of flavor. BTW, don’t wash off the rub, you just
want to keep the surface meat from getting too dry. I also placed a pan of
water right where the heat from the firebox enters the smoking chamber. It
held 4 cups of water and about 1 was left, so it’s not a lot of steam
generated.
I separated them before serving and put sauce on half and left the other half dry.

How Real Dermatologists And Plastic Surgeons Cure And Treat Fine Lines, Wrinkles, And Acne

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

Fine lines and wrinkles are a fact of aging. They make everyone look older as the skin loses its elasticity and starts to sag. Frowning and facial expressions over time can also result in the same loss of elasticity. There are thousands of various products we see hawked on TV by leading actresses and assorted hollywood stars from Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Anniston, etc… We even see them on Oprah as some of her recent Oprah’s favorite things giveaways. The problem is that 99.9% of them do not work at all or minimally at best! We asked thousands of dermatologists and surgeons what the best remedies were other than plastic surgery. The answer was unanimous – a routine of TCA skin peels, mild cleansers – no harsh soaps, stay out of the sun, use sunscreen, and take vitamin E and fish oil pills. Not one of them mentioned any of the thousands of products we see on TV and in magazines that claim to cure or ease these fine lines and wrinkles.

TCA stands for trichloroacetic acid. TCA peels have long been used in doctors offices and medispas for treatment of many skin problems like sun damage, liver spots, acne, acne scarring, wrinkles, fine lines, freckles, pregnancy mask, etc… TCA peels are not cheap, but they are the most effective product or treatment available for fine line and wrinkles. They increase your skins rate of repair and they also increase collagen production. They are the most prescribed chemical peel and are, hands down, the most effective treatment for fine lines and wrinkles – and also acne! They can now be purchased for home use.

Mild cleansers are inportant as they will clean, but not overdry or aggravate your face. Cetaphil and the Target generic brand are great. They will gently emulsify dirt and oil and remove it with out overdrying your face. Products with benzoyl peroxide, like Proactive, should be avoided as they will overdry and aggravate oily skin and acne. Harsh soaps will have the same effect as benzoyl peroxide products.

The sun is your enemy. It will age your skin and does result in wrinkles and other skin problems like melanoma – the worst type of skin cancer. Use sunscreens with high SPF’s like 30 – 40. You need to cover up when going out in the sun. And I can’t stress it enough wear sunscreen – If youdon’t think you will get cancer from being out in the sun, goto your local hospital oncology department. Most of those people didn’t think they could get it either.

Vitamin E and fish oil pills will increase the hydration of your skin. They will increase the elasticity of your skin and reduce wrinkles and fine lines. It can take a few months to see the results and they won’t be as dramatic as with the TCA peels mentioned earlier, but they have been clinically proven to be effective.

There you have it – how to treat and cure fine line and wrinkles from real dermatologists and plastic surgeons. Real treatments that really work. For more information on TCA peels please see the link below.

An Introduction to Hydro Energy.

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

What is hydro energy?

Fossil fuel reserves have become seriously depleted but conversely our energy use is increasing year on year, our fossil fuel use is now far from being sustainable. Fossil fuels are also responsible for global warming because of the carbon dioxide that is produced with the use of coal power stations and other fossil fuel power stations. In order to stop a further decline in the environment and to replace non-renewable energy many different alternative power sources are being researched and implemented. One such renewable energy source is hydro energy and involves using water to turn turbines, which in turn generates electricity creating hydro energy. The theory is very similar to that of wind energy but instead of the wind turning the sails we use flowing water.

A brief history of hydropower.

The first ever water power station was in Godalming, England in 1881 introducing hydropower as a source of electricity. Previously water turbines had only been used for pumping and irrigation but that has changed significantly now. While some countries have yet to hydro power stations that are efficient and make any significant difference to their energy usage, New Zealand among other countries produce over 70% of its energy from hydro power stations.

Dams.

Dams are built in order to create a man made waterfall; as the water falls it rotates a turbine thus converting the kinetic energy into a usable mechanical energy. This is then turned into electrical energy through the use of a generator. The amount of electricity is determined by how far the water falls and the average water flow; some dams provide enough power for up to 10,000 people so it really is an effective form of creating energy for our homes.

It’s highly unlikely that you have a good enough source of running water running through your land that you could feasibly build a dam and add a generator and a turbine but even a small dam in a reasonable river can provide a good amount of energy for local residents. A dam with a 10 foot drop and average water flow of 500 cubic feet per second produces enough power to give approximately 3,000,000kwh per annum; almost enough power for 1000 residents.

The downfall of dams.

Like many sources of green energy, hydro energy has its downfalls; although there is only really one downfall for hydro energy. The major obstacle to building dams and creating hydropower is people. Local residents don’t want dams erected in the middle of their local beauty spot so unless the opinions of these people can be turned hydropower won’t be as popular as wind energy or solar energy.

Guitar Practicing Tips for Newbies

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

It is often the case that individuals just learning to play the guitar want to sound like a professional when they really need to focus on guitar playing/practicing tips for newbies. Guitar playing/practicing tips for newbies may sound like fundamental information that is not fun, but that all depends on how serious you are about learning to play the guitar. The best advice for you at this stage of your learning is to take it slow and learn as much as you possibly can. This short tutorial, which features guitar playing/practicing tips for newbies will present you with the basics for honing your skills. By following the steps below you will be playing like a pro in no time at all.

Step 1: Warm Up Your Hands and Fingers

Your hands will get a good workout when you play and practice the guitar. Just as a typist whose hands perform repetitive motion for a significant number of hours can develop carpel tunnel syndrome, so can you too injure the delicate tendons in your hand. You can experience very painful cramps and in extreme cases could lead to loss of ability to play the guitar at all. You should spend at least 5 minutes warming up your fingers and hands before you perform either of these activities. One of the most important guitar playing/practicing tips for newbies is to take a break if you play or practice for longer than an hour. The following exercises are ideal for warming up your hands and fingers:

* Use each hand to gently massage the other one; concentrate on the base of the area located at the base of the thumb
* Place your hands against one another, pressing your fingertips together
* Stretch your fingers out as far as you can and then curl them inward; repeat twice

Step 2: Practice Chromatic Scale

While playing either major or minor chords is a traditional method that guitarists use when they start practicing, this feature of guitar playing/practicing tips for newbies would be remiss if it did not recommend that students of the guitar practice the chromatic as often as they can. The chromatic scale is among the guitar playing/practicing tips for newbies because you play all 12 notes on the guitar in half steps. This scale is contrary to a whole note scale, which consists of playing the notes in whole steps.

Step 3: Get Down to Playing

You have looked forward to another opportunity to play your guitar and here you are. If you haven’t prepared for your practice session by choosing your lesson beforehand, the guitar playing/practicing tips for newbies for this step include suggestions for what you could practice/play during your session.

* Learn a new chord
* Choose to learn one section of a new song
* Practice picking, strumming, plucking, or all three

Step 4: Cooling Down

The cooling down phase is a time to bring your session to a close. Instead of abruptly stopping and putting your guitar away, this is the time to sort of reward yourself by leaving the session on a positive “note.” Whether you are practicing or playing the guitar, you are probably challenging your skills. In the cool down you ease out of the challenging phase.

The following are the best guitar practicing/playing tips for newbies for cooling down:

* Play a short, familiar piece that is comfortable for you
* Don’t focus on playing your finale piece with perfection; just play it
* Closing your eyes while you play the finale can help to calm you if the practice session was difficult or frustrating

Asbestos Related Diseases

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

Asbestos is used in over 3000 modern products and most people have suffered at least some degree of exposure to it at one point or another. Most asbestos exposure is limited to minute portions of well maintained building materials such as concrete, insulation and siding.

Regular maintenance of these materials is important for preventing asbestos from degenerating into airborne fibers. Unfortunately, because asbestos is so widespread, it is impossible to compute the damage that even a small quantity can cause.

The lightweight nature of the asbestos particle facilitates airborne spreading of these deadly carcinogens. This is why most asbestos-related diseases affect the respiratory system.

These are incurable diseases. Even tiny amounts of asbestos can inflict irreversible damage as symptoms usually only emerge 20 to 30 years down the road.

Mesothelioma, Asbestosis and lung cancer are consequences of prolonged asbestos exposure. Any contact with asbestos merits immediate medical consultation because treatment options and survival rates are greatly improved the earlier they’re detected.

Unfortunately most asbestos-related conditions don’t show symptoms until the disease is terminally advanced. Most patients diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition rarely survive more than 18 months after diagnosis.

A Beginner’s Guide to Affiliate Marketing

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

The dawning of the cyberspace era is at hand. The genesis of artificial intelligence is upon this particular moment in history as everyone in the industrialized world goes about utilizing one of the most sophisticated tools mankind has ever created.Who, in this day and age, does not know about computers? They are machines capable of controlling operations expressible both in numerical and logical terms. The complex components used by these devices are the ones which enable them to carry out functions that even the geniuses of centuries past would not have imagined possible.The existence of computers has spawned similar technology that is equally great. Who among those who live in the industrialized world does not know about the internet? It is the technology which enables people to publicly access a worldwide system of interconnected computer networks. It is also this technology which provides them diverse types of services responsible for making their lives unbelievably convenient.These services include online chat which ignores distance and connects one person to another even across oceans and continents.

There is also electronic mail which keeps people in touch in about the same manner. Still, the amazing technology called the internet offers other services like interlinked web pages and other documents of the world wide web. These services allow just about everyone to have access over large amounts of information usually not found in libraries and other like sources.Consequently, the internet has gained an unbelievable amount of fame as a result of everything that it is able to offer society. Everyone is astonished by how it makes life convenient for those who rely on its utilization day in and day out. This fame has extended itself to those who are enterprising enough to be able to turn a dollar to two in one single day.

As a result, the internet has become a complex abode for commercialism that spans everything concerning commerce and marketing.And so it is through the vast and complex regions of the internet that affiliate marketing came to be. Affiliate marketing is an online marketing strategy that involves the promotion of a website. In this scheme, a person who is technically called an affiliate is able to make money online by simply listing other people’s websites on his own.These websites are owned by people called merchants, the ones who technically operate the affiliate program. The affiliate promotes these merchants and their wares by merely displaying their link in his website, and whenever a customer clicks on a link and a purchase is made, a sale is generated as a result of that promotion. The merchant then pays the affiliate a commission, the amount of which has been decided on even before the transaction occurred.It is important for the affiliate to remember that the website he uses as medium in the affiliate program which he is part of should only contain links that have something to do with himself or his product.

Consistency is important if he wants to have a strong, solid market that he can count on to be able to generate the amount of sales that he wants to make. Then again, to be able to know and understand what would further interest those who visit his website, the affiliate should take extra effort in scrutinizing his market through and through. Studying the tricks of the trade is a must for anyone who wants to know a business step by careful step.In getting an online business such as this underway, one is also required to have all the proper tools needed for a successful start. These include tracking software, websites, follow-up manager and a lot more. In addition to this is the fact that some online businesses train people for free, the reason why more and more are succumbing to this business and the wondrous opportunities it offers for financial growth.

Here affiliates get paid and are able to realize goals and dreams that would have been impossible for them to achieve under normal circumstances.The simple scheme called affiliate marketing is more than enough for someone to be able to make a lot of money online. This comes as a result of continual marketing efforts that are sure to bear fruit at the right possible time. The A to Z of affiliate marketing is as easy as it looks, but it also takes a lot of diligence and perseverance to be able to succeed in a business such as this..

The Importance of Clean Water

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

Consider the importance of water. Did you know that water accounts for over 70% of your body? We are comprised mostly of water. And further more, our blood mineral content is strikingly similar to salt water.

A healthy water intake can help us in many ways.

- You can think better. A fully hydrated brain actually works better.

- Strength increases. Did you know that your muscles work better when your body is fully hydrated?

- Immunity – even your immune system can function better.

- Flush junk out of your system. A fully hydrated body is better at getting rid of the things it DOESN’T need.

- You’d be amazed at how much more energy you can have when you drink adequate amounts of water.

There are just so many good reasons to take in a good and adequate supply of water. Needless to say, you can probably see why it is important to have clean water.

Advice from experts vary but it is generally agreed that the average person probably needs to take in 2 liters of water per day. Check with your physician before changing your intake though.

Once I worked for a company that sold water filters. One of their products was a ‘whole house filter’. The interesting thing about this filter was that it had a clear area where you could see what was trapped in the filter.

Um, I hope you are ready for this. Municipal water supplies rely on recycled water. Many people know this but don’t want to think about it.

What this means is that all of your waste water, i.e., when you flush the toilet, goes back into the system. It is ‘filtered’ and ‘treated’ and may just come right back at you in the form of a glass of water out of your tap. Not to be too gross here, but this is a fact of life. And you should be aware of it.

What was found in that ‘see through’ filter mentioned above was little flaky white particles that looked suspiciously like toilet paper.

Now, no chemical analysis was done to validate this and who knows what I was really seeing there. But, nevertheless it made me think about my drinking water.

I use a filter for the water I drink now and I love it. I cook with filtered water too. Drinking clean filtered water is really great. The taste, or actually the lack of taste, because clean water doesn’t have taste or odor, can be quite a dramatic contrast to what you might be used to.

Not all filters are created equal. Some take out lead and heavy metals, some just filter for taste. So you really have to do a little research and make sure you are getting a filter that is right for you, one that will fulfill your needs.

Kickoff Barbeque Sauce

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

2 c Ketchup 1 tb Liquid smoke
1 c Table mustard 1 ts Cumin powder
1/3 c Worcestershire sauce 1 ts Tabasco sauce
1 tb Curry powder 1/2 c Honey

Mix all ingredients well (DO NOT COOK). Taste test with tip of index
finger. For additional “kick” add one tablespoon tabasco. Paint sauce
generously on ribs, pork, beef or chicken. (Makes Sauce for 20 servings)

Develop Your Business Web Site for Profits

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

Looking into developing your business web site? Whether creating a business web site to sell your business products online or just to give the public valuable information, creating a business web site can be an important first step to creating an important presence on the web. Here are some tips on creating a business web site as well as what is involved in getting your business web site off the ground.

Creating a business web site is an important first step in creating an online business presence on the web. Many businesses choose to use the web for informational purposes by explaining their products, their businesses mission, and as a public relations vehicle to spread the word on the good that they contribute to the community. Some business web sites also include sections which directly sell their products to online consumers. No matter what your businesses goals, a business web site can be an extremely advantageous tool.

If you have a business and want to create a business web site, there are a few options; create your business web site quickly and easily with the help of a complete web site building solution, contract out an expensive web development firm, or have your own in house IT department create a business web site from scratch. Many people think that they can create a home page, throw up some contact info and buy some web hosting space and it’s done. While this strategy does get you on the web, don’t expect anything spectacular. Many businesses make the mistake that they can operate online the same way as they do in the real world. The truth of the matter is that you need to understand the web and have plenty of web experience to create successful business web sites.

In order to make a meaningful business web site, you have to make sure that you have an appealing home page that is easy to navigate; fresh and relevant content that will keep your visitors interested and answer frequently asked questions, offer something unique that will keep your visitors coming back to your business web site for more, and optimize the site for the search engines so the search engines rank it high on their index listings. As you can see, creating a business web site with a proper online presence can be much more in depth than anticipated.

Using a complete web site building solution can help you make the right business web site quickly, easily and at a reasonable price. There are many great web development services that offer solutions that will add value to your customers as well as a healthy return on your businesses investment.

Creating a business web site doesn’t have to be overly complicated, just choose a web development solution that makes sense for your business goals, resources, and customers. Count on their experience to help create a successful business web site and let their solutions catapult you ahead of your competition.

Helping Someone With Cancer

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

Do you know someone with cancer? A cancer diagnosis can be crippling in itself, inciting fear and anxiety over an unknown or perhaps dreaded future. Victims worry about their health, their looks, and their families when a doctor pronounces this terrible sentence. If a friend or family member is struggling with one of the many forms of cancer, your support and encouragement are likely to be most welcome.

But how do you help someone who has cancer? There are several things you can do to make your friend or loved one feel more at ease.

1. Treat the person the same as always. Don’t approach her gingerly, as though she might break or fade away. Nor should you overdo it, however, by talking too much or roughhousing with children who may be physically fragile. Just treat the person the same as you would if he had not been diagnosed with this condition. Of course, if the diagnosis is grim, you need adapt your attitude accordingly and not gloss over serious implications.

2. Offer practical assistance. As you have time, run errands or bring in a home-cooked meal. Grocery shopping, letter mailing, and kid drop-offs at sporting events can save the sick person’s time and energy. Depending on how well you are acquainted with the victim, you might want to come over a few hours each week to clean house, baby-sit, or cook meals for freezing.

3. Be an encouragement. Send a funny get-well card or an inspiring note. Drop off a humorous video or suggest praying together before you leave. Using discretion, you might want to let others know about the ill person’s indisposition so they can possibly help out, too.

4. Be willing to listen. Sometimes those facing a serious problem like cancer, especially when a terminal diagnosis has been given, may simply want to reminisce about the past, discuss future plans, or share difficult emotions. Just being available to listen in person, by telephone, or via the Internet can provide a beautiful source of support. Don’t push or pry, however. Wait until the person is ready to talk.

5. If the situation warrants, consider donating financial support. A single mother with two fatherless children may need to get connected to social service agencies. Or she may have some general support already, but lack a little extra money for holidays or birthdays. You may want to send a card with a $20 check that could help pay for special occasions or real needs, needs, like medication, above and beyond any insurance coverage.

6. Provide transportation. If the person grows weak or is unable to drive and family members work at jobs that keep them from driving the sufferer to appointments, ask if you can take the person when you are available. Getting around is one of the greatest challenges facing people who become immobile with serious illnesses.

Whatever your circumstances, chances are you can offer some kind of help to a person who is struggling with cancer. It will certainly be appreciated!