Test-drive Vista from your current PC, free

A blog post at Tech Republic provides links to two ways to try Windows Vista for free. The simplest is to try a business version online at the Windows Vista Test Drive site. This runs in a browser window, after you install the (ActiveX) Virtual Server VRMC Advanced Control. Of course, it doesn't tell you anything about Vista's performance.

The better but more cumbersome alternative is to install Vista in a "virtual PC" on your hard drive, where it won't affect the rest of the stuff you do. As Greg Shultz points out: "Microsoft has created a 30-day evaluation VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) containing Windows Vista Enterprise Edition that you can download and load into either Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Virtual Server."

The drawbacks are disk space and time:

Besides a Microsoft Virtual product, both of which are free as well, you'll need to have at least 10 GB of free hard disk space and at least 2 GB of RAM. You also have to have a very fast Internet connection or a bit of time on your hands as the Vista Enterprise VHD is comprised of three very large files -- two 700MB files and one 160MB file.

The sizes make it easy to burn them to CD.

Once you've done the download, you have to do a real Vista installation, which generally takes half an hour.

The test drives are aimed at business users rather than home users, but anyone can have a go.

Source: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/category/windows/

Foods That Fight Colds

Whether you're walking around with a box of tissues or curled up in bed with aches and the shivers, what you feed your cold or flu can speed your recovery. Here's how to maximize your body's virus-busting powers.

1. TRUST YOUR BODY
If you instinctively sip cup after cup of tea with honey and lemon when you're under the weather, your body knows exactly what it's doing. While any hot liquid will help loosen clogged nasal passages and sooth sore throats, hot tea also doses you with virus-fighting, inflammation-relieving antioxidants. (In fact, people who drank five cups of black tea a day for two weeks produced 10 times more interferon--proteins that fight viruses--than those who drank instant coffee. For tea lovers, five cups is about three mugs full--not that much.)

As for the honey (the darker, the better), it's also thick with protective antioxidants. And a big squeeze of lemon in every mugful adds a little extra vitamin C to your virus-fighting kit, plus the tartness stimulates saliva, which makes swallowing easier.

2. TRUST YOUR GRANDMA
Cold researchers keep trying to figure out why chicken soup does a sick body good. One finding: cysteine, an amino acid that's released by cooked chicken. It's chemically similar to a bronchitis drug, acetylcysteine, and it works with other soup ingredients to reduce inflammation. Salty broth also helps thin mucus.

Chicken soup helps even more if you rev it up with spices: garlic, which has a well-earned reputation for squelching infection, and hot red pepper, which contains capsaicin, a powerful decongestant that intensifies the soup's sinus-clearing effects. Try this tried-and-true recipe.

3. TRUST YOUR TUMMY
Smooth, healthy, comforting--no wonder lots of sickies crave hot cereal or cool yogurt. Again, your body knows what it's doing. Oatmeal (like other whole-grain cereals) delivers three nutrients known to support your immune system: selenium, zinc, and beta-glucan. Yogurt with active cultures (aka probiotics or live healthy bacteria) helps fend off colds in the first place. One, Lactobacillus reuteri (found in Stonyfield Farm yogurt), seems to be especially protective.

Top your oatmeal or yogurt with strawberries, nuts, and seeds. You'll get a vitamin C boost from the berries and immunity-enhancement from the vitamin E, zinc, and selenium in the nuts and seeds. Extra selenium may be extra important if you have the flu since it seems to ward off lung inflammation.

Alternatively, stir lots of cinnamon into oatmeal or yogurt--it smells and tastes wonderful, and can help reduce fever, relieve pain, and kill germs. If nausea is adding to your misery, add a little ginger too, fresh or powdered. It's a proven tummy tamer and may take antibacterial action against any bad bugs in your respiratory tract.

Once your cold or flu is over (whew), try keeping up some of these habits, especially drinking plenty of antioxidant-packed tea. Not only could it help prevent another bout but getting the right amount of antioxidants through diet or supplements can make your RealAge 6 years younger.

Source: http://food.yahoo.com/blog/beautyeats/26354/foods-that-fight-colds

Bedtime Snacks that Help You Sleep

One of the best natural sedatives is tryptophan, an amino acid component of many plant and animal proteins.

Tryptophan is one of the ingredients necessary for the body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for creating feelings of calm, and for making you sleepy.

However, the trick is to combine foods that have some tryptophan with ample carbohydrate. That’s because in order for insomnia-busting tryptophan to work, it has to make its way to the brain.

Unfortunately, all amino acids compete for transport to the brain. When you add carbs, they cause the release of insulin, which takes the competing amino acids and incorporates them into muscle…but leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to the brain, be converted to serotonin, and cause sleepiness.

Serotonin-producing bedtime snacks should be no more than 200 calories and should be eaten at least 30 minutes prior to bed.

Here are a few great ideas:

Bedtime Snacks for Adults

--6-8 oz container of non-fat, flavored yogurt topped with 2 tablespoons low-fat granola cereal
--Sliced apple with 1-2 teaspoons natural peanut butter
--3 cups low-fat popcorn – sprinkled with optional 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Bedtime Snacks for Teens

--One cup healthy cereal with skim milk
--Low-fat granola bar
--Scoop of vanilla or strawberry low-fat ice cream

Bedtime Snacks for Children

--1/2 cup low-fat vanilla pudding

--1/2 banana with 1-2 teaspoons peanut butter

--One cup skim milk with a bunch of grapes (or other fruit)

Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/25128/bedtime-snacks-that-help-you-sleep/

TEA: The Elixir of Life

Delicious, low-calorie, and brimming with antioxidants, tea is quickly becoming the most commonly consumed beverage worldwide, after water. Even in the U.S., its popularity is rapidly growing. And why not? With the health benefits you stand to gain, you, too, will want to drink up.

Soak Up the Health Benefits
It is no wonder that tea is the beverage most commonly enjoyed by centenarians around the world. Tea is full of powerful antioxidants that improve concentration, gently boost energy, and make people happier. The free radical-inhibiting property of tea is more potent than that of vitamin E, and tea is a proven preventive and treatment for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The polyphenols in tea, especially the catechins, are powerful antioxidants that help ward off diabetes and cancer.

To get the most health from your tea, brew it fresh from tea bags or loose leaves and herbs, as instant and bottled teas contain less active compounds. Let the tea steep for three to five minutes to extract the most beneficial compounds. Drink to your health!

Cut the Morning Coffee
For many people, the first thing they reach for in the morning is coffee. Although it may initially give you a jolt, coffee actually depletes your vital essence, "borrowing" energy that you didn't have in the first place.

Caffeine acts as a central nervous system stimulant. It causes you to experience stress, anxiety, a racing mind, and even insomnia, working against your attempts to relax the body and calm the mind. A healthier alternative to coffee is herbal tea. On average, a cup of black tea contains about one third of the caffeine you would get from the same cup of coffee. Green tea contains about one sixth of that amount.

Of course, caffeine content will vary depending on the particular tea and the brewing time. One way to naturally decaffeinate your tea is to steep for 45 seconds, pour out the liquid but keep the tea leaves, then add fresh boiling water and let it steep for 3-5 minutes or longer to allow the beneficial polyphenols to be extracted from the tea.

Slim Down with Tea
As a weight loss tool, tea is a wonderfully cleansing way to flush the system, replace fluids - and pump the body full of powerful antioxidants at the same time. Aside from the health benefits, tea is a zero-calorie beverage, making it your best choice for weight loss. Pass on the diet soda, loaded with sugar and bone-weakening bubbles, and go for tea.

It is best to drink tea unsweetened and without milk, which can minimize some of the health benefits. To sweeten the tea without the extra calories, forgo the sugar and try instead honey, stevia products, or a stick of cinnamon.

The Healthy Varieties of Herbal Teas
Aromatic and chock full of amazing health benefits, herbal teas are made from various leaves, roots, bark, or flowers. Here are just a few:

• Ginger: Soothes the digestive system and keeps your energy fired up
• Chamomile: Settles the stomach and is calming and soothing for the nervous system
• Peppermint: Increases healthy gastric secretions, relaxes the intestines, and settles the stomach
• Dandelion: Detoxifies and supports healthy liver functions
• Valerian: A natural herbal substitute for sleeping pills

You can combine these herbs in any combination according to your taste and health preferences. Among my patients, an incredibly popular herbal tea is Internal Cleanse Tea, which is specially combined to detoxify, calm nerves, clear the mind, balance emotions, and ease digestion. This tea formula is available online at askdrmao.com.

I hope you reap the powerful health benefits of tea! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you stay healthy, live long, and live happy!

-Dr. Mao

Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/11599/tea-the-elixir-of-life/

Remove useless files from several applications with CCleaner

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.

Some cleaners just scrub off your browser cache temporary files folder but with CCleaner it goes further. It also cleans temporary files from common third-party applications. CCleaner cleans the following programs: Adobe products (Flash Player, Photoshop, and Reader to name a few), Ad-Aware SE, eMule, Firefox, Google Toolbar, Kazaa, Microsoft Office, Nero, Norton Antivirus, OpenOffice, Real Player, WinAce, Windows Media Player, WinRAR, WinZip, and Google, Windows Live, and Yahoo Toolbars.

It has an advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... also comes with a comprehensive backup feature and it is spyware free!!!




Download CCleaner Here:

Cool Doggy!

What a cute little basset doing some beat boxing. I really love dogs, and cats too! Enjoy the Video!

LOST: Via Domus -- Video Game

Lost: Via Domus is a video game based on the ABC television series Lost. It is to be released for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 26th February 2008. The game was officially unveiled at Comic-Con 2007.

A completely different Lost game was released for mobile phones on January 16, 2007 and fifth-generation iPods on May 23, 2007. It is not related to Via Domus, nor created by the same developer.

Gameplay

The player is cast as a previously unseen survivor, Elliott, a photojournalist with amnesia. Gameplay will involve Resident Evil-style fetch quests and puzzle solving. Flashbacks will be an integral part of the storyline. The story follows the first two seasons of the show. The player explores locations seen in the show, such as the caves, the beach camp, the territory belonging to The Others and the Swan Station. The player will also interact with some of the major characters of the television show; Sawyer, Jack, Kate, Sayid, Michael and Walt. Screen caps and images released so far to the media shows Elliot having to avoid the "Smoke Monster" and the Black Rock. Trading with other survivors and taking photos with a camera are also part of the gameplay.

The game will be split up into seven "episodes". Each episode was plotted by the show's executive producers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.^[5] The Third Season DVD bonus disk contains a feature about the game's development, and also reveals that Ben and Juliet will be in the game. It has been confirmed that the actors for Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), Mikhail Bakunin (Andrew Divoff), Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick), Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin), and Tom (M. C. Gainey) all provided voice work for the game, while the rest of the major characters are provided by stand-ins.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(video_game)