Good ways to give bad news

Saying something someone doesn't want to hear is never easy, but these tips from The Mind Gym (Time Warner Books) will help.

• Set aside enough time and make sure you won't be interrupted--turn off your mobile at the least.
• Rehearse your opening line, but get to the point.
• Consider how you frame the news: "For a man of your age, apart from high blood pressure, you're in good shape," sounds better than, "you have hypertension, which can lead to hear disease."
• Know your facts and be prepared for questions.
• Show you care but don't mind-read or say how uncomfortable you feel. Focus on them.

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Flying long distance with kids

If you're flying with the whole family including young children, here are some tips:

Choose your in-flight entertainment. Check websites and consult a travel agent for airlines with diversionary activites such as video games. Even better, seek out those with individual in-seat audio and videeo systems with dedicated children's channels. Try Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Or take your own portable DVD or CD player and headphones with a slection of your kids' favourite shows, movies and music.

Chosse flight times carefully. If you're spending most of the time airborne at night, there's more chance your kids will sleep and less need to entertain them. If bedtime is usually 9pm, choose a flight that leaves in the late afternoon.

Don't rely on airline food, particularly for fussy eaters. Pack sandwiches, bottled water and snacks. Be careful of quarantine regulations.

Jet lag affects everyone, including toddlers, Encourage your kids to drink more water than usual. Take a stopover if you can to slowly adjust to changing time zones. » Continue reading

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Hands-free, not risk-free

It's hazardous to use a hand-held cell phone while driving, so many people turn to hands-free models. But they're also dangerous say researchers at Israel's Assaf Harofe Medical Centre. They had 41 people sit in front of a bowl, stare at the center and hit a button when they saw a light twinkle. First they took the test without distractions. Then they did it while using a speaker phone--and, on average, missed twice as many lights, "Missing one point may be important while driving," says the study's author. "That could be a car braking." To be safe, park, then chat. » Continue reading

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Find your roots, online!

If you fancy constructing your own family tree, TribalPages is a free online service that automatically creates a picturesque website from the data you provide. Features include an events page for birthdays and anniversaries, ancestor and descendant charts, and a "relationship tool" that calculates the relationship between any two names. You can edit information whenever you want or add photographs and notes. Of course, you still have to do the research yourself, but TribalPages lets you post questions for other members and access some of the genealogies already on the site-over 130,000 Family Tree Genealogy sites with over 30 million names and 1.5 million photographs. » Continue reading

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Planning to buy a laptop? Here are some tips to buy a laptop...

• Don't be seduced by super-fast processor speeds unless you're running graphics-intensive applications such as games or design programs.
  
• If you want to watch DVDs on the move, buy a laptop with an internal DVD drive. An external drive could be a nuisance if you travel a lot.
  
• Buy a spare or higher-capacity battery for when you're not near a plug socket.
  
• Be prepared to pay extra for software. Even Microsoft Office is absent from many packages, or rely on free open source software.
  
• Due to their rough life, laptops are more prone to failure making it vital to back up data: a second, external hard drive, pen-drive or flash drive makes this easier.
  
• An extended warranty for a fraction of the cost of the laptop will make sure that you don't have to spend as much as the cost of the laptop on major breakdowns.
  
• An insurance policy for your laptop will save you from loss or damage of your laptop. Even traveling on a flight with your laptop is not safe from theft.
  
• Up-loading pictures from your mobile phone or digital camera? An in-built memory card reader slot will make the task easier.
  
• Most laptops come along with a carry bag, but if it doesn't then buy a decent bag to protect your laptop.
  

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What to look for while buying a Digital Scanner

New Digital Scanners on the market are sleek, compact and often cost less than older, bulkier models. But will they satisfy your needs?

How they work

All scanners convert paper photos, negatives, slides, books, magazines and documents into digital files that can be transferred onto your computer. Most models feature a flatbed screen on which you place items for scanning. A sensor under the screen travels from one end to the other, capturing the document digitally. You can save the resulting file to your computer for editing, e-mailing or storing.

What's hot

Some new scanners are less that 5 centimeters thick because they scan using a small Contact Image Sensor (CIS). This compact device requires less energy, so the scanner can be powered just by plugging it into your computer via a USB cable. Larger scanners that are 8 centimeters thick or more employ an older technology called a Charge Coupled Device (CCD). This mechanism uses mirrors and lenses, and means the scanner has to be plugged into a wall socket.

Key features

Consider scanners with at least a 21 x 28 centimeters flatbed screen and a resolution of 1200 dots per inch (dpi). If you want to scan slides and negatives, be sure the model can handle them or accepts film and slide adapters. They cost more. Scanners with these features can be found for under $100.

Pros and cons

Many CIS scanners are thin and are powered by your computer. So they tend to be lighter and won't require a spot on your over crowded power strip. But CIS technology is relatively new and can't yet capture the subtle color details as accurately as CCD models.

Bottom line

If you want a scanner to store magazine articles, recipes and lower resolution photos on your computer, a CIS model is sufficient. But if you want to edit or restore family snap-shots, a CCD scanner produces more vibrant results. » Continue reading

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Shooting that perfect picture on a holiday

You may be proud of your vacation photos, but they may seem to fall short of the quality you see in travel magazines. To improve your photos, the Society of American Travel Writers offers these tips:

Shoot in early morning and late afternoon. It'll add more color and shadows to your photos, giving more definition to your subject.

Put locals in your photos. Ask permission first and don't make them pose.

Pay attention to background detail. Often, a tree or a telephone pole seems to be growing right out of your subject's head. Change your viewpoint or move the subject so as to avoid that.

Before you click, wait. for the clouds to clear, the truck to move away from the front of the cathedral or other distractions to pass.

For detailed shots, get closest to your subject so as to fill the frame with your subject

Show a sense of location. In the tropics, frame the photo with palm trees; in the mountains, frame it with pine trees.

Look for a new angle on the familiar: Shoot the beach on a foggy day instead of in the sun, or shoot bright colors on an overcast day.

Avoid facing the sun, especially when shooting people. If your camera supports force-flash, use it even under daylight, so as to eliminate shadows on faces. Also avoid wearing hats, which causes shadows on the face. » Continue reading

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