P.S. I am rather involved in the community otherwise and have very good grades.

A weblog (or simply blog) is a website that ‘publishes’ or features articles (which are called ‘blog posts’, ‘posts’, or ‘entries’), written by an individual or a group that make use of any or a combination of the following; Straight texts, Photographs or images (photoblog), Video (videoblog), Audio files (audioblog) and Hyperlinks.

Usually presented and arranged in reverse chronological order, blogs are essentially used for the following purposes; Online journal or a web diary, Content managament system and Online publishing platform.

A typical blog has the following components; Post date, the date and time of the blog entry. Category, the category that the blog belongs to. Title, the title of the blog. Main body the main content of the blog. RSS and trackback, links the blog back from other sites. Comments, commentaries that are added by readers. Permalinks, the URL of the full article. Other optional items, calendar, archives, blogrolls, and add-ons or plug-ins.

A blog can also have a footer, usually found at the bottom of the blog, that shows the post date, the author, the category, and the ’stats’ (the nubmer of comments or trackbacks).

There are numerous types of blogs. Some of them are the following;

a) Political blog, on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).

b) Personal blog, also known as online diary that may include an individual’s day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.

c) Topical blog, with focus either on a particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in nature or a local information.

d) Health blog, on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.

e) Literary blog, also known as litblog.

f) Travel blog, with focus on a traveler’s stories on a particular journey.

g) Research blog, on academic issues such as research notes.

h) Legal blog, on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as ‘blawgs’.

i) Media blog, focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.

j) Religious blog, on religious topics

k) Educational blog, on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers.

l) Collaborative or collective blog, a specific topic written by a group of people.

m) Directory blog, contains a collection of numerous web sites.

n) Business blog, used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work.

o) Personification blog, focus on non-human being or objects (such as dogs).

p) Spam blogs, used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as ’splogs’.

Blogging is typically done on a regular (almost daily) basis. The term “blogging” refers to the act of authoring, maintaining, or adding an article to an existing blog, while the term “blogger” refers to a person or a group who keeps a blog.

Today, more than 3 million blogs can be found in the Internet. This figure is continuously growing, as the availability of various blog software, tools, and other applications make it easier for just about anyone to update or maintain the blog (even those with little or no technical background). Because of this trend, bloggers can now be categorized into 4 main types:

Personal bloggers, people who focus on a diary or on any topic that an individual feels strongly about.

Business bloggers, people who focus on promoting products and services.

Organizational bloggers, people who focus on internal or external communication in an organization or a community.

Professional bloggers, people who are hired or paid to do blogging.

Problogging (professional blogging) refers to blogging for a profit. Probloggers (professional bloggers) are people who make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired blogger).

Below are just some of the many money-making opportunities for probloggers; Advertising programs, RSS advertising, Sponsorship,

Affiliate Programs, Digital assets, Blog network writing gigs, Business blog writing gigs, Non blogging writing gigs, Donations, Flipping blogs, Merchandising, Consulting and speaking.

The following are a few things that you need to consider if you want to be successful in problogging;

a) Be patient. Problogging requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision.

b) Know your audience. Targeting a specific audience or group is a key to building a readership.

c) Be an ‘expert’. Focus on a specific niche topic and strive to be the “go-to” blogger on that topic.

d) Diversify. Experiment with various add and affiliate programs that enable you to make money online (aside from blogging).

e) Do not bore your readers. Focus on the layout. White spaces, line spacings, and bigger fonts make a blog welcoming to read.

Certainly, it is possible to earn money from blogs. One just needs to take risks, the passion, and the right attitude in order to be a successful problogger.

A new scientific research study conducted at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine provides further evidence that people with high blood pressure can find relief through meditation—but the study also found that not all forms of meditation are equally effective. The study compared findings from research on several well-known types of meditation and relaxation practices, and found that the only mind/body practice that produces significant changes in blood pressure is the Transcendental Meditation technique. 

According to a definitive new meta-analysis of 107 previous studies on stress reduction programs and high blood pressure, published in the American Journal of Hypertension (Vol. 21, 3: 310-316), the Transcendental Meditation technique was found to produce a statistically significant reduction in high blood pressure—an effect not found with other forms of relaxation, meditation, biofeedback or stress management. 

Significant Reductions in Blood Pressure

The new meta-analysis reviewed randomized, controlled trials published in peer-reviewed scientific journals over the past decades concerning stress reduction and relaxation methods used by participants with high blood pressure. Blood pressure changes through the Transcendental Meditation technique included average reductions of 5.0 points of systolic and 2.8 points of diastolic blood pressure, changes which were statistically significant, according to the review. These changes associated with Transcendental Meditation practice were consistent with other controlled studies showing reductions in cardiovascular risk factors, improved markers of heart disease, and reduced mortality rates among participants in the Transcendental Meditation program. 

Transcendental Meditation “equivalent to adding a second hypertensive agent”

“The magnitude of the changes in blood pressure with the Transcendental Meditation technique are at least as great as the changes found with major changes in diet or exercise that doctors often recommend,” said Dr. James Anderson, principal author of the study. “Yet the Transcendental Meditation technique does not require changes in lifestyle. Thus many patients with mild hypertension or prehypertension may be able to avoid the need to take blood pressure medications—all of which have adverse side effects. Individuals with more severe forms of hypertension may be able to reduce the number or dosages of their BP medications under the guidance of their doctor.”  

Dr. Anderson stated further: “Adding Transcendental Meditation is about equivalent to adding a second hypertensive agent to one’s current regiment, only safer and less troublesome.” 

Reduced Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

Anderson added that long-term changes in blood pressure of this magnitude are associated with at least a 15 percent reduction in rates of heart attack and stroke. “This is important to everyone because cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide,” Anderson said. The study’s biostatistician, Maxwell Rainforth, assistant professor of Physiology and Health Statistics at Maharishi University of Management, said the meta-analysis used state-of-the-art statistical methods to review 107 published studies in the field of stress reduction, relaxation and blood pressure. “The twenty-three separate studies included in the final analysis met well-known criteria for high scientific quality. That is, these studies used repeated blood pressure measurements and participants were randomized to either a stress reduction technique or placebo-type control for at least eight weeks. The data we used are all published in peer-reviewed scientific journals,” Rainforth said. 

Side Benefits of TM vs. side effects of drugs

According to Dr. Robert Schneider, director of the Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention and co-author, this rigorously conducted meta-analysis indicates that the Transcendental Meditation technique is distinctively effective compared to other scientifically studied techniques in lowering high blood pressure. “For those 100 million Americans with elevated blood pressure, here is a scientifically documented, yet simple and easy way to lower blood pressure without drugs and harmful side effects. In addition, related studies show an integrated set of positive ’side benefits,’ such as reduced stress, reduced heart disease levels and longer lifespan with this technique to restore balance in the cardiovascular system, mind and body,” Schneider said. 

Overturns a previous study on meditation

The new meta-analysis was co-authored by researchers at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, in Louisville, and at the NIH-funded Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management in Iowa. 

According to Dr. Anderson, the findings of this new study rebut a July 2007 report sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the NIH-National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which concluded that most research on meditation is low quality and found little evidence that any specific stress reduction effectively lowers blood pressure.  

The new meta-analysis identified all high quality meditation studies published through 2006 and rigorously analyzed their results, which the previous government report failed to do. Anderson said the new meta-analysis includes only high quality studies on all available stress reduction interventions. The studies on the Transcendental Meditation technique were conducted at five independent universities and medical institutions, and the majority of them were funded by competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health. 

I just wanted some tips on pre and post-surgery !

Oh and if anyone has had a closed surgery, how long would the recovery take?

Thanks everyone !!!

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Good bye hideous nose !

Are you sick and tired of using mediocre skin care products and looking for the best eye cream for dry scaly skin? If yes, then learn how to filter out the harmful products and the criteria to select the best eye cream for dry scaly skin. Let us find answers to both of them.

Harmful products contain harmful ingredients. Make yourself aware of the harmful ingredients used in most commercially available skin care products. Few harmful ingredients to avoid are Fragrance, Mineral Oil, Parabens, Petrolatum, Dioxanes, and Alcohol, etc. These ingredients nullify the effect of active ingredients if any.

In fact, these ingredients are so harmful that they can interfere with many systems of your body like the Nervous System, the Endocrine System, and the Reproductive System. Many ingredients are also potential carcinogens; long-term usage can have devastating effect on the health. If you are looking for best eye cream for dry scaly skin then make sure you stay clear of such harmful ingredients.

It is noteworthy here that the skin below the eyes is very sensitive, and you should treat the same with utmost care. You cannot use the mundane moisturizers to moisten the skin below eyes. Such moisturizers are too harsh for the skin below the eyes. There are few special ingredients to treat the dry-skin below the eyes.

These ingredients treat the area around the eyes as well as protect the same.

Babassu Wax – It is a wax extracted from the Babassu tree. It is extremely beneficial in moisturizing the skin, and it does not make the skin oily. It also helps in retaining the natural moisture of the skin. It is also used as a home remedy for itchy skin and inflamed skin.

Halyoxl – It attacks the root cause of the bags and dark circle below the eyes. It inhibits the accumulation of unused products under the eyes. It was concluded in the clinical studies that Halyoxl is 60% more effective in reducing the bags in comparison to its other counterparts.

Crodamol CAP – It works as an emollient and protects the area around eyes by creating a thin invisible film that keeps the dirt and grime at bay.

As you can see, the above ingredients find their base in natural sources. They do not have any side effects. They are miles away from the chemicals and synthetic preparations. Briefly, best eye cream for dry scaly skin needs to have these ingredients, or else it is nothing but a run of the mill moisturizer.