Visa Photos: The Rules

Here are tips to help you pose for a visa or passport photo:

• No cheesy grins, as mouths should be shut. Adopt a neutral expression and look straight at the camera, so face and both ears are seen properly.
  
• Hair must not obscure your face, so keep those fringes in check. Make sure facial hair does not hide the outline of your nose or mouth. No head coverings, unless religious.
  
• Embassies usually require plain-white backgrounds and each one has slightly different rules about photo sizes, so find out what's mandatory. Some embassies, or their visa agents, offer photo-booths, but they tend to charge you more than regular studios.

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Scratch Those Allergies

Does cuddling your kitty make you sneeze?
No need to get rid of her, says allergist Clifford Bassett, MD. Take steps to ease symptoms:

• Ban pets from your bedroom, and get an air purifier.
  
• No pet is completely hypoallergenic, but those that shed more trigger more symptoms, says Shirlee Kalstone, author of Allergic to Pets?.
  
• Vacuum and dust often to eliminate sneeze-inducing dander and fur.
  
• Bathe and brush your pet often, especially if he sheds. If your symptoms are sever, have someone else do it for you.
  
• Getting a new cat? Consider a light-coloured female. One study found that dark male cats create more allergic reactions.

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Wedlocked!

The big fat South Asian 'weddings' have managed to get under the skin of the liberal Brits. Reportedly, instances of forced weddings in Asian families settled in Britain are increasing. A Forced Marriages Unit (FMU) operated by the Home Office and Foreign Office has stepped in. In July, the British parliament enacted the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007.

If you or someone you know is being forced into a marriage, contact the FMU at 020-7008 -0151 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday or email fmu@fco.gov.uk. The FMU offers confidential support and information. If you would like to know more about the work of the Forced Marriage Unit, log on to www.fco.gov.uk/forcedmarriage.

Confidential advice is also available from a large network of support groups, including The Police, the National Domestic Violence Helpline, and women's refuges nationwide. » Continue reading

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Keep your breath sweet

Would you tell your best friend if she had halitosis -- or bad breath? Most people wouldn't, according to a survey by the British Dental Health Foundation. Bad breath is mostly caused by poor dental hygiene, but can be triggered by a pungent meal or bad nutrition, or it can indicate medical problems.

To test yourself, lick the inside of your wrist, wait ten seconds and then sniff! If the smell is unpleasant, it's likely that your breath is too. For a sweeter smell:

• Brush your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste.
  
• Floss daily -- brushing alone only cleans about 60 per cent of the surface of your teeth.
  
• Use a mouthwash: some kill the bacteria that cause halitosis.
  
• Drink more water -- a dry mouth can cause bad breath. Also, chewing sugar-free gum stimlates saliva (also relieves indigestion).
  
• The traditional remedy is to chew parsley, which has long been recognized as a breath freshener.

If you've tried everything -- and given up smoking! -- seek advice from your dentist. » Continue reading

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Awash in Wash

The average person generates hundreds of kilos of dirty clothes a year, but few of us wash them correctly. Simple steps for cleaner loads:

• If you use a top-loading washing machine, fill a few inches of water, add detergent and then the clothes. Few of us do it in this order, but it can make a difference to the cleaning.
  
• Wait five minutes to add chlorine bleach. Detergent and bleach fight each other when added together. You may get a poorer performance than if you'd just used detergent.
  
• Don't mix powder and liquid detergents. Powders and liquids are different chemically, and they may inhibit each other if used together.
  
• Use the heater sparingly. Heating consumes 25 times more power than a cold wash, which is quite efficient if you use a good detergent.

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Surf safe and anonymous with VPN

There are several reasons to consider browsing anonymously and through an encrypted Virtual Private Network (VPN), not just to access porn or log onto Second Life as the opposite gender. It's your financial information and career that could be at risk.

Consider what would happen if your boss came to know your home IP address and searched the Internet for your postings and online activities by IP address. Or worse yet, if your boss's competitor, or your competitor tapped into your confidential online business communications.

Owning your own business means you are a primary target for industrial espionage - and most small businesses never think twice about their communications security. The vast majority of espionage, worldwide, is for economic and business data, trade secrets, buying patterns, economic and financial patterns. One ill-advised email that can be traced back to you could sink your company.

With Christmas around the corner, last minute shopping online is inevitable. But are you sure that your credit card or paypal details are safe? It's highly possible that your credit card details land on a hacker's hard disk before it reaches the merchant's bank.

With the growing issue of government intrusion into private affairs, both personal and economic, VPN and anonymous surfing has become even more compelling. Google recently handed over the IP address of a user of its blogging software to an Israeli court after the author was accused of slandering Israeli politicians. Yahoo has been heavily criticized for handing over details about its users to the Chinese authorities that have led to the jailing of three people who criticised the Chinese government online.

The only solution to all these problems is anonymous browsing with Virtual Private Networking. VPN provides you a shield of encryption against spies and hackers; and an untraceable IP address for anonymous browsing.

Apart from the security aspect a Virtual Private Network also lets you access restricted websites in your country or company. And unlike web proxies Virtual Private Networks are much faster and reliable.

Blacklogic.com provides Anonymous Surfing with their 128 bit encrypted VPN Service for US$5 a month with a 150 MB daily traffic limit. You can get an unlimited VPN Service for US$15 a month. » Continue reading

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The Dirty Kitchen

In Europe they're called sculleries; in North America, dirty kitchens. Whatever the name, these rooms allow you to segregate the messy aspects of food prep from your eat-in kitchen -- a big selling point for people who entertain a lot.

Often connected to the main kitchen, a dirty kitchen is generally smaller. Inside you put the gear you don't want guests to see: a second oven for sauces that spatter and bubble, a counter for slicing, a king-size sink, garbage cans and a door so you can take garbage out easily. You can make all the mess you want -- and just close the door when the guests arrive.
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