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Living in style with a well furnished home

Who wouldn't want to live in a posh, well furnished mansion? If you live in the US and are looking forward to furnish your home, you would want to consider checking out FurnitureFromHome.com, an exclusively online furniture store who claim that their prices are generally better than the brick and mortar stores. They have been into business since September, 2003.

They have a neat website with stylish design and great pictures of bedroom sets, living room sets, dining room sets, home office furniture and leather furniture. Items worth a look on their website are the pop up tv cart, bar stools, storage beds and the dining room furniture. All of their products come with at least 1 year guarantee.

Once you get your brand new furniture, you might want to know the kind of finish that has been used on your furniture. To find out you will have to do a solvent test. Dip cotton in some nail polish remover or acetone and rub over an area that is not easily visible. If the finish softens then the finish is nitrocellulose lacquer, which is the most popular finish in the furniture industry. If the finish softens with alcohol then the finish is shellac. If it does not soften with either acetone or alcohol then the finish is varnish, polyurethane, catalyzed lacquer etc. that cannot be dissolved by its original solvent.
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Midair Yoga

Passengers on JetBlue, a low-fare US domestic airline, are getting a free lesson in stress management. The airline has introduced instruction cards produced by Crunch Fitness that depict four different yoga postures to unkink muscles and increase circulation. The yoga exercises include Bidalasana, which entails hunching over in your seat (sort of like you need the barf bag), and Uttita Hastasana, where you interlace your fingers and stretch up towards the air duct while relaxing your face, jaw and eyes. "We want passengers to feel better, be relaxed and take a little stress off for a while," says JetBlue's marketing vice-president, Amy Curtis. "If you don't feel like watching TV, have a little stretch and chill out."

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Managing your core business

Small and medium sized business owners have to take care of a lot of nitty-grittys of their business, taking away their precious time from the crucial aspects of the business or the core business activities. It is also impractical to outsource such not-so-important activities due to the size and nature of the business. Hiring employees to handle such tasks could be a little expensive and sometimes create more responsibilities than reducing it.

In such a scenario business owners have to take complete advantage of information technology to help reduce the burden. In this age of Web 2.0 the web browser has almost replaced most of the desktop applications. Most applications are now available as hosted services. This reduces the start-up costs for businesses.

Blue Box Intranet Software UK from the UK based Blue Box Software Ltd is one such hosted service that provides features like secure file sharing , on-line project collaboration, centralised list of contacts, simple day to day management, connecting multiple office locations, remote and home access, organising information in a way that suits you, controlled user access and a reliable support and backup. The look and feel of the intranet solution can also be customised to your organisation.

You can get a five user licence for just £39 per month. If your business is financially good enough and you are willing to make the software all your's for a one time payment, you can get the intranet solution "Out of the box" for £2195.
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Ordering up a healthy diet

It's festival time, and restaurants dish out specialties. But that shouldn't mean blowing out your diet. Here are some ideas for staying healthy while dining out:

Skip the buffet. Before going out choose a restaurant that offers healthy menu options. All-you-can-eat buffets and fast-food joints are diet-killers.

Choose steamed, not fried. Look for dishes described as fresh, roasted, grilled or steamed. Avoid items with the words fried, creamy or extra-crispy.

Put it on the side. For an appetizer, look for broth-based soups, rather than cream. Apply any salad dressing very lightly.

Go ahead and ask. Don't be shy -- ask the waiter if the restaurant offers low-fat items, or if regular menu options can be cooked for you with less oil.

Split the difference. Fresh fruit is the healthiest dessert. If you can't resist something sweet, share it with a friend.

Move it out of sight. Stop eating when you're full. Ask the waiter to clear your plate so you aren't tempted to keep on nibbling.

Pace yourself. Not eating all day so you can eat more at night is a bad idea -- it encourages extravagant ordering and fast eating.

Watch the booze. Alcohol is high in calories. Avoid liqueurs and cream with coffee.

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The evolution of the garage

The garage has evolved from just being a space to park and fix cars to your personal abode to craft home improvement projects, make wine, flex your muscles or even start up a business. In such a scenario, your garage deserves to look its finest.

Cracks in the concrete floor and paint/oil stains are the most common problems with all garage floors. Such floors are sometimes easier just covered with tile. New concrete floors are best treated with a garage floor coating like epoxy which is not only easy to clean but also gives your garage a complete face lift.
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Great Group Photos in a Snap

Use this portrait checklist from Ron Nichols, author of Picture - Taking for Mums and Dads, to ensure that this year's family photo is red-eye free and doesn't lop half of Uncle Sam out of the shot:
  1. Try tiers. Arrange people at different heights, some on the sofa and some standing, for a more dynamic picture.
  2. Ask "How's the view?" If someone can't see the camera, his face may be blocked.
  3. Leave wiggle room. Keep a head's width of space between your subjects and the frame's edge in the viewfinder.
  4. See the light. To banish red eyes, turn up room lights or, better yet, shoot in indirect sunlight. For consistent lighting, keep front and back rows less than 1.5 metres apart.
  5. Watch your background. Avoid walls and mirrors, which can cast shadows and glare.
  6. Click, click, click. Your subjects will relax without the pressure of just one "say cheese" moment. So snap at least five frames, and you're sure to get a winner.


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Finding best deals on Printer Cartridges

When you are out to purchase a printer cartridge, do you check out every store in your locality for the best price? If not, you might be giving a lot more bucks than you should; and if yes, you know how tiring it is. Another option would be to check out the prices on different stores online. But that again would be time consuming to visit each store's website and comparing their prices. Wouldn't it be great if you could compare the prices of a particular model of a printer cartridge from across the brick & mortar stores in your locality along with those of online stores, with just a few clicks?

Cartridge Finder will let you do just that. It has an easy to use interface that makes it simple to first figure out which cartridges are required for more than 10,000 different models of printer, copier, and fax machines across 35 brands. Then it lets you find and compare prices for each cartridge along with the taxes applicable in your state and shipping costs. Currently they offer brick and mortar store prices from across the US. Hope they would add more countries soon.
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