The Top 10 Web Sites You've Never Heard Of

By Chris Dannen and April Joyner, FastCompany.com

FastCompany.com has culled the most useful and entertaining sites from the far reaches of the Web so that when these sites go mainstream, you'll be one step ahead of the crowd.

The Internet is even more useful than you think. As more and more programmers and developers race to create the next killer app, some end up gaining momentum while others haven't quite caught on yet. We've slogged through the undiscovered masses to bring you 10 Web sites that are informative, handy or simply downright cool -- before they enter the zeitgeist.

CrazyBlindDate
There are plenty of dating sites out there, but they all focus on finding compatibility based on users' profiles -- not necessarily on personalities. This site offers blind dates at public places in your neighborhood in New York; Austin, Texas; Boston; and San Francisco (with more cities coming soon). The dates can be arranged on short notice -- even as soon as tonight -- without viewing a profile or image for your date. It's the closest thing to a matchmaking friend you'll ever find online.

Better than: Pining over profile pictures on Facebook.

DailyLit
Being well-read might not be your biggest priority, but it comes in handy during dinner conversations. Luckily, there's DailyLit. The site offers both classic and contemporary titles, all provided in quick-reading installments that can be sent to you either via e-mail or RSS. Since most of the classics are in the public domain, they're free; newer titles are available for purchase. So, the next time the conversation turns to the genius of Herman Melville, you can join in.

Better than: Lugging around real books.

IWantSandy
While a glut of applications help you organize appointments on a calendar, there's a lot of activity in your daily life that doesn't fit neatly into your calendar's time slots. Not good at remembering to print out your flight confirmation code? Send a message to Sandy, and she'll remind you in a daily digest, in a text message or as an event on your calendar. Using e-mail, SMS, Twitter or Jott, you can set up and receive reminders for appointments, contacts, lists and random information. And, true to her humanlike presence on the site, Sandy speaks and understands plain English -- just like a real personal assistant.

Better than: Paying a real Sandy who needs sick days.

Cocktail Party Physics
Physics probably doesn't come to mind as a conversation starter, let alone an icebreaker in a room full of unacquainted guests. But in this elegantly written blog, stories about science and technology come to life as effortlessly as everyday chatter about politics, celebrities and vacations. Blogger Jennifer Ouelette makes science and technology engaging enough for 2,000-word posts. Now, that's a feat.

Better than: Trying to impress the in-laws with your martini capacity.

Newsmap
Newsmap is an amazing graphical representation of the constantly changing headlines on Google News. By relying on something called a "treemap algorithm" to aggregate news, Newsmap uses space to translate the importance of a story; in other words, more popular and important stories appear larger, while less important ones appear smaller. It also connects news stories by theme, using a variety of colors to represent categories.

Better than: Sorting through RSS feeds.

Run.com
You have no excuse for not keeping your New Year's resolution now that you can take that jog almost everywhere you go. Run.com, a user-generated database of running routes all over the world, uses Google Maps mashups, allowing runners to look up routes in their area and choose them by length, difficulty, scenery and other user-rated criteria. Business travelers who want to keep in shape on the road will be glad to find routes in all 50 states, as well as in dozens of foreign countries. The site is still in beta, so look for more routes to come.

Better than: Getting purposely lost just to mix up your running routine.

MakeUseOf
MakeUseOf is a tech blog that even laymen can understand. While early adopters delve into the tiniest details about Web technologies, most Web surfers want only the highlights of the latest developments. MakeUseOf offers just that, in considerably de-geeked language. The tech-savvy aren't left out, though: In the "Geeky Fun" section, the initiated will find plenty of fodder for hearty laughs.

Better than: Trawling through techno-babble blogs for something free, cool and useful.

5min
Try this: Write directions for tying your shoes, or making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's not as easy as it seems; some things are best demonstrated, not written. That's what makes the 5min "videopedia" invaluable. It's a site featuring short videos that provide solutions or instructions for common and practical issues, like how to insulate your house or how to teach your dog to sit. None of the videos is longer than five minutes, and they're all user-generated, making 5min a kind of instructional video version of Wikipedia.

Better than: Reading About.com.

TryPhone
With so many mobile phones on the market, it's hard to keep up and know which one is right for you. That's the logic behind TryPhone, a fully functioning interactive phone-testing site where you walk through all the common features of the phone you're considering buying in glorious, high-resolution interactivity. The site also contains user reviews, specifications, product photos and links for purchasing.

Better than: The dummy devices at cell phone stores.

Damn Interesting
If you ever find yourself sucked in by the occasional History Channel special, you'll quickly get lost in Damn Interesting, a blog that writes long-form historical summaries of just about anything that's, well ... damn interesting. Read about the bizarre saga of the Trans-Siberian Railway, or the story of the failed invention of wireless electricity. If you're in need of an engaging academic time-waster, you've found it.

Better than: The "Random Article" link on Wikipedia

Source: MSN

Know the Fitting of your Clothes

The Right Fit
How jackets and trousers should break, fall, sit, fit, and look their best.

The Trouser Bottom
Only a little cloth should ever drape on your shoes; ask your tailor for a one-inch break in your front crease.

The Shoulder
No outline of your own shoulder should appear in the sleeve, and the sleeve's head should never sag.

The Buttons
There should be no creases or ripples radiating from the single fastened button. If there are, switch up a size (or, even better, lose some weight).

The Shirt Cuff
A quarter to a half an inch of shirt cuff should always be visible. Maintaining this is one of life's greatest challenges.

The Collar
The collar of your jacket should not stand away from or conceal your shirt collar.

The Jacket Length
The bottom hem should be level with your knuckles. (Or, alternatively, it should be just long enough to cover your ass.)

Source: MSN

Weight Loss - Mental Preparation

By Robertas Domarkas

There are so many information on how to lose weight easily and quickly. You have to be very careful which source information you should trust, because 80% of people don't want to help you at all. In this article I will go through the weight loss mental preparation which is required for every successful weight loss program.

If you are a person, who wants to lose weight you should first of all start from a goal. Every person who wants to achieve something should start from a specific goal, where he will describe what results he wants to achieve and how long will it take. In your case its weight loss and you should make yourself a goal, which would sound like "By the 23rd of June I will weigh seventy kilograms". Once you will set yourself a goal, you will lose the wanted amount of weight more easily, because you will how many kilograms you have to lose in a certain amount of time.

I personally think that this is the foundation of everything and once you have set yourself a goal you can move on. The second tip is to burn way more calories than you consume. If everyone could do this properly, everyone would have a perfect body, but the reality is that we can't burn more than we consume so successful weight loss experts try find their "perfect contrast" between how many calories they consume and how many calories they burn. Remember that effective weight loss workout starts from a goal and a plan.

In my opinion, person who has good mindset for weight loss, will lose weight quicker than a person who only goes to gym and does nothing more about his weight.

This is what I think about weight loss mental preparation. Readers don't have to agree with me, but I personally think this is the beginning of every successful weight loss program.

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How to Optimize Your Workout So You Fall Asleep Fast

By Phil Tsang

Have you heard the regular exercise will help you fall asleep? There's no question that regular exercise is good for you, and maintaining your health in general does help you sleep well at night. But in order for exercise to have the maximum beneficial effect on your sleep, it's important to do the right exercises at the right time.

First of all, exercise is good for you. It improves your heart health and helps your blood pressure to stay in the optimum range. Exercising also helps you combat stress. It's great for easing muscle tension and improving your mood. Exercise can also play a role in helping you to sleep soundly at night. However, when it comes to making you sleep better, some exercises and some exercise schedules are preferable to others.

If you want to exercise to improve your sleep, then it's best to do it at certain times of the day. Exercising right before bedtime actually makes sleep more difficult. That's because physical activity tends to stimulate your body. It also raises your body temperature. This is an important point, because falling body temperature helps you fall asleep.

Exercising in the morning is especially good for improving your mood during the day. If you combine morning exercise with exposure to light, you can look forward to an energetic and positive day. But the best time to exercise if you want to sleep better is in the late afternoon or early evening. That's because exercise at this time of the day raises your body temperature early enough to allow it to fall back to normal levels before bedtime. In fact, your falling temperature will help you feel sleepy.

The type of exercise you do also makes a difference. Strength training, yoga and stretching are all good exercises for your health. But the best exercise for sleep is cardio. Perform vigorous cardiovascular exercises three to four times a week, at least 20 minutes at a time. As with any exercise program, you should start slowly and check with your doctor if you have any health issues.

Regular exercise is definitely an activity that will benefit your body. But if you specifically want your workout to help you fall asleep, then you need to schedule time in the late afternoon for cardiovascular exercises.

Fall Asleep with ease every night with this highly effective Sleep Program. Sign up for our free newsletter at http://www.howtobeatinsomnia.com/fall_asleep.html

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5 Surefire Ways to Make Money From Your Web Site!

By Ryan Matthews

A profiting website is a great business model with the internet changing every single second and more and more opportunities jumping up everyday for us to take advantage of and profit from.
Below you'll find 5 fundamental ways of making your site profit.

1. Selling Your Own Product or Service
Setup your own e-Commerce web site, where you'll promote and sell your own products, services or those of others. Like eBay or amazon but yours need not be that big. Setting up a e-Commerce site takes a lot of effort and hard work and many of these sites fail in the process.

2. Selling Advertising Space
One of the classic ways of profiting is to sell advertising space on your website to relevant and interested merchants, though not easy if your sites not strong enough but then simply integrate it with PPC (pay per click) by adding the advertising script to your page and there you go...

3. Paid Content Offering
By creating unique and useful content, you will be able to charge someone to view it, whether your whole site consists of pay per view or just a part of it is entirely up to you. An example of paid content is setting up a membership site.

4. Email Marketing
Email marketing has become ever popular where you start with optimizing a page with a opt in form and use the email addresses from that form to contact and let possible clients know about what your selling, make sure to stay away from spamming and that your customer truly wants your email before sending it.

5. Affiliate Marketing - "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING OUT"
Probably one of the best ways to profit online as well as being hassle free with you not having to physically own, purchase or dispatch any of the products you advertise, rate and review. It basically works as follows you put a review of some product on your site providing it with your affiliate link which then sends the customer to the merchant site where if he makes a purchase you as the affiliate makes a commission.

So you want to start making money online?

I have a solution for you (scam free of course) that will enable you to learn Affiliate Marketing and become a BIG online earner like many others are doing right now. Affiliate marketing can be really profitable. You just need the right experts to guide you.

Click here to get 5 Star affiliate training and start living royalty.
Best regards,Ryan

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Matthews

5 Things You Must Know About Business Plans

By Chuck Markham

First, if you're only reading this article because you want to find a good format for writing a business plan, then you will find some good formats, templates and software at Intuit's website - you know, the same people who make QuickBooks, Quicken and TurboTax. Well, if you go to the Intuit website, then you will find its new business plan service under the name of "JumpUp."

And even better, some of the templates and software are free. But, I have a feeling you might have a few more questions about business plans, so here are a few more pointers.

Second, something is more important, however, than just the writing a of business plan. The most important thing is that you decide WHERE you want your business to go and HOW you want to get there. Your decision about the where and how of your business goal is more important than the writing of it.

Third, the next most important thing is your specific use of the plan itself. If your business plan's purpose is to serve as a guiding light to you and your key people, then it will be in that type of format. If its purpose is to create measurable goals, help evaluate progress towards those goals, and guide decision-making, then the plan might take a different shape. And, if your business plan's purpose is to attract investors or to obtain a loan, then it might be in a different format altogether.

Fourth, and a special note for start-ups, if the business plan is for a start-up business and is for the last 2 purposes (measurable-goals/decision-making or investors/lenders), then I recommend a specialized process. First, write a business plan as if you were writing it to be your guiding light. I have worked with many clients with a new business who should not be writing an investor/loan business plan just when they are starting up the company.

Why? Because a business plan should not be a something that you create just so that it sounds good to other people (or yourself). The plan should really be an actual reflection of the desired destination and the means anticipated to get there. So, for the new business owner, these insights and realizations need some time to evolve. Sure, a new business owner starts out with goals, dreams and ambitions. But, it takes time for these goals, dreams and ambitions to mature in the marketplace. That is why it is important early on to write the business plan, but do it with the "guiding light" purpose.

When DO you take the next step and write the business plan with the potential investor or lender in mind?

When the heart and mind agree on the destination and the means of getting there. Then, and only then, is it the right time to transform the "guiding light" plan to a business plan for measurable-goals/decision-making or investors/lenders.

Fifth, once the mind and heart agree, then it is essential to commit the business plan to paper because without a clear destination, there is no basis upon which to make decisions. Decisions should be made with the destination in mind. Writing down how to reach the destination establishes mile-markers that will measure progress. Without some way to measure progress, we are only left with our feelings - and feelings change from day to day or moment to moment.
Milestones help us to make needed adjustments while the vision of our destinations keeps us on track.

To sum up, a business plan is important. The pre-work, however, is even more important. The follow-up, which measures our success against the plan, is what gives the plan its purpose.
Copyright 2007, Chuck Markham, MA, LAC ("Business Coach Chuck")

Chuck Markham, MA, LAC, aka Business Coach Chuck, creates creates strategies for his clients that leverage their strengths - so they can spend more time doing what they love. Learn more at BusinessCoachChuck.com, or call him for a free 30-minute "test-drive" consultation at 973-670-7215.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Markham

How A Golden Treasure of Fruits Benefit Healthy Living

By Carole-anne Stanway

Golden colored fruits are a treasure trove of tasty benefits to healthy living. These fruits are packed full of vitamins and fiber, and notably, are low in fat and calories.

Eating papaya is like "having your cake and eating it too." Papaya is the tropical fruit which has a soft buttery like consistency when ripe. Eat healthy ripe papaya as you would melon, cutting lengthwise, scooping out the seeds, then eating with a spoon. Just half a papaya contains twice the RDI requirements of vitamin C we need and is very rich in beta carotene.

Nectarines are ready to eat when they have a deep yellow golden skin with lots of red on it. Nectarines should be slightly soft at the seam. This little gem, when ripe, should have a sweet aroma. These treasures can be eaten with the skin on and have a zingy, fresh taste. Nectarine's can be chopped and added to salad, served with meats, or eaten on their own. Nectarines healthy bonus is fiber and Vitamin C. A favorite fruit because of its portability, nectarines can be used as a healthy snack several times a day.

Cantaloupe is known for its refreshing flavor, and juicy texture. It is a melon that has an earthy aroma. Cantaloupe should be picked by heaviness for its size, and there should be no soft spots on it. Note: cantaloupes should be washed on the outside with a vegetable & fruit washer to fully cleanse the outside before cutting up, as they can carry bacteria on them. Once cleaned, scoop the seeds and middle out of the fruit. Healthy cantaloupes are wonderful with any meal and can be cut up into balls with a special cantaloupe scoop, or cut in halves and sliced into neat pieces, or peel the outside and just chop into smaller squares. Cantaloupe can be pureed and made into a summer drink by adding soda water topped with mint. Cantaloupe has many healthy benefits; vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium, plus fiber content is high.

Oranges are a favorite for almost everyone. This little treasure comes in many varieties, mandarin, Chinese, and of course, naval oranges, full of intense citrus tasty flavor. There is nothing more refreshing and healthy than eating an orange, or having a fresh glass of orange juice in the morning, which is like a little bit of "heaven".

Orange juice is used in many alcoholic drinks, such as vodka and orange, champagne and orange juice, often for brunch. Use oranges for healthy recipes; the rind puts zest in flavoring muffins, loaves, cookies, blender beverages and a host of main dish baking, such as chicken recipes, and salads.

Our treasure box is now full of golden fruits; why not use these little treasures to tantalize your taste buds, and reap the healthy benefits as well? Papayas, nectarines, cantaloupe and oranges are our natural treasures that give us a wealth of vitamins, fiber, and refreshing flavors for benefits of healthy living.

Carole-Anne Stanway enjoys her creative healthy recipe cooking by eliminating salts, trans fats, and incorporating healthy fruit choices and vegetables, with herbs as flavor. Expand your knowledge in using new fruits, invaluable herbs, create simple, quick, inexpensive healthy recipes at Carole-Anne's exciting recipe site at

healthyrecipes

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Defend Yourself With 8 Easy Moves

By Andrew Thomas

Due to the many threats to women today it makes sense for any girl to learn women's self defense tactics. You are all aware of the threats like mugging, theft, assault or even rape. So pickling up some techniques that can make a real difference just makes sense.

1. Use Your Nails. If you are getting attacked, good women self defense tactics that you can learn involve using your nails to slash at the person who is attacking you. If you are getting assaulted, just use your finger nails to slash at their face. Not only does this hurt them, but law enforcement can also use the DNA as evidence.

2. The palm strike. If you want to learn one of the most effective of the women self defense techniques, learn how to use the palm strike. This is where you use the palm of your dominant hand to break an assailant's nose. Thrust your palm upward as you hit the portion of the nose near the nostril as hard as you can. This will cause bleeding and a broken nose, and their eyes will start to water. Once the eyes water, you can run away.

3. Learn to kick. Your legs can be powerful. That's why another great tactic amongst the women self defense techniques is to use them to kick various places on your attacker's body such as the shin, knee, and groin. The idea is to kick with as much force as you can so they are too injured to fight back.

4. Defend against choking. This is just one of the women self defense techniques you can use if you are getting choked from the front. If your arms are free, use your dominant hand to reach for the soft spot underneath their Adam's apple and above their sternum. Using your strongest hand you can press your pointer finger and middle finger in the soft part of their neck underneath the Adam's apple. Once they realize that they're getting choked as well, they may loosen their grip on you. They'll be surprised and may let go of you. Use this opportunity to kick them so you can flee.

5. Use your environment. When it comes to women self defense techniques, think about the objects that are around you that you can use. An example of this is if you are being attacked and see a rock, grab it and punch at the attacker. This is not always a good idea, however. Sometimes you're better off to simply flee.

6. The elbow strike. The elbow is pretty strong and can be used for some women self defense techniques. If you're close enough to your assailant and your elbow is free, you can use it to strike. Your best bet is to aim for spots on their neck, face, or you can use the elbow to break their ribs.

7. Disable and run. Remember, the goal of any of the women self defense techniques is to disable your assailant so you can run away. It is important to keep in mind that the goal of any of the women self defense techniques is that you need to be able to run away. So, if a groin kick leaves them rolling on the ground, use that opportunity to run for safety instead of stick around and kick them more.

8. Weapons defense. Some of the potential situations you may get in will be with an attacker who has a gun, knife, or other weapon. Learn some women self defense techniques that will help you defend yourself or disarm your opponent. It is a good idea to take a course in this case.

Learning about women self defense techniques can save your life and keep you safe. Awareness is the first step. The next thing you need to do after awareness is to know the tactics required to defend against a potential attack.

Easy and effective ladies self defense for you

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Thomas

Liar, Liar - What Not To Do On A Date!

By Steve Kanooka

Just like the film wouldn't it be great if every internet dater was cast with a spell that meant they could not lie. For the most the online vibe is a scary place but we are driven there on the search to fulfil the most basic human desire either love or sex. Most people are very wary and rightly so. With very little information people meet random strangers, with advice from dating sites like... "make sure you tell a friend you're going on the date, and make sure you meet in a public place, day time if possible". Good advise yes of course, but is it enough?

You could have blown me down with a feather

Dan came out a divorce six months earlier. "I was an internet dater and yes I'm a real person, what the hell I thought I'd give it a try. Was I just after sex or a relationship I didn't know it was too soon to tell. Being a man I was less scared about my safety when meeting women but I could see it from their point of view. Online was cold scary place a bit like tesco's online but for people.
What's fun about that? I was still driven to meet that special one... maybe!

The process of going on a date meant that one party had to give a phone number am I comfortable? No certainly not! But what else could we do, a conversation tells a lot about someone and could be a deal breaker if the chemistry was not there.

One date was going well after a few cocktails in a trendy London hotel bar, I noticed my date, attractive tall and slim just staring at me. It was an odd stare I felt uneasy. She had told me she wanted a committed relationship on our recent phone chats. She slowly stood up, held out her hand and smiled. Confused I took her hand and she walked me over to the hotel reception and asked for a room! I was so shocked... Then she asked the receptionist if they sold condoms you could have blown me down with a feather.

Was this the girl of my dreams no, the moment most men dream of or is it? I felt her intentions were less than honest! I left!

He had a secret!

Samantha, 26, and looking for her knight in shining armour. I really warmed to this one man we chatted both on email and phoned for a few weeks before I had the courage to meet him in person. On the way to the date he called me from his mobile he said he was sorry but he was running late and when I arrived at the bar would I mind calling him back. I was already a bag of nerves and this made me even worse why would he want this? In my less that normal state I agreed. I arrived at the bar saw he was not there and sank a large vodka fast. I then called him.

"Hi I'm here, where are you" I asked "I'm not far away, thanks for calling back" he then paused... "I just wondered" he paused "does the bar have a ramp?" I stayed silent mainly through shock. He nervously filled the silence "It's just that I'm in a wheel chair" Critical information he did not share in all those weeks.

I wanted to be angry, I was angry but how could I be angry with a disabled man. We had the date which was awkward and needless to say we did not meet again he kept the truth from me. With other dates it became a joke "before we meet you're not in a wheel chair are you? It just made me more wary.

To ugly to date!

Mary, 34, met a man who looked nothing like his photo. The main reason was his photo was of his good looking mate. He felt that if he put up his own photo he would not get dates. What on earth did he think women's reaction would be?

Internet sites get the message!

So what's the solution... Many dating sites today are aware of these kind of issues and have included video chat to over come these type of problems. Sites have also included games that help to break the ice and virtual cities to walk around and meet new people. These sites offer a more fun and safer element to the online dating scene.

The stories are true the peoples names have been changed.If you have a dating story you would like to share send it to support@kanooka.com

Research from http://www.kanooka.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Kanooka