Cara Menghilangkan Stress Tanpa Obat

Stress karena pekerjaan

Setelah tadi saya berbagi tips mengenai cara lebih bahagia di tempat kerja, kali ini saya akan kembali memberikan tips tentang cara menghilangkan stres tanpa obat.

Stress merupakan penyakit yang paling banyak diderita oleh orang-orang yang super sibuk dengan kehidupannya. Baik dalam dunia kerja, percintaan, keluarga maupun kehidupan sosial bermasyarakat secara umum. Kalau Anda termasuk salah satu dari mereka, silahkan baca tips menghilangkan stress berikut ini.

1. Membaca buku

Ini merupakan kegiatan yang bukan saja membuat kita sejenak berhenti memikirkan segunung masalah, tapi juga membuat kita seolah masuk ke dunia baru yang sedang dibaca. Membaca di malam hari adalah kegiatan yang dianjurkan. Kamar tidur adalah tempat yang hangat, nyaman, dan damai. Kombinasikan dengan buku bagus, maka Anda akan merasa kembali fokus pada diri sendiri.

2. Duduk di taman

Bila Anda jeli, sebenarnya cukup banyak "oase" kecil di sekitar kita. Selain di area kompleks perumahan, taman kecil yang hijau kini sudah lumayan banyak bertebaran di sekitar perkantoran. Luangkan waktu sekitar 5 menit untuk duduk menikmati udara segar dan hijaunya taman.

3. Melihat foto

Melihat-lihat kembali album foto dari peristiwa menyenangkan adalah salah satu pelepas stres yang murah dan efektif. Bayangkan kembali diri Anda pada peristiwa bahagia tersebut dan rasakan sensasinya.

4. Berjalan kaki atau olahraga

Aktivitas fisik adalah cara yang sehat untuk melepas stres karena bisa memicu hormon-hormon antistres. Luangkan waktu beberapa menit setiap pagi atau setelah makan siang.

5. Meditasi

Setiap aktivitas yang bisa membuat perhatian kita tetap tenang dan fokus sudah bisa disebut sebagai meditasi. Itu berarti bisa kegiatan menyulam, menulis, menjahit, atau duduk diam. Lakukan 5-10 menit setiap hari dan rasakan kadar stres yang menurun.

6. Ambil jeda

Bila emosi sudah tidak bisa dibendung, alihkan perhatian Anda untuk sejenak fokus pada sesuatu yang baru. Misalnya melihat ke jendela, menyeruput teh hangat, atau memperhatikan pohon yang tertiup angin. Biarkan imajinasi Anda bebas untuk sesaat.

Semoga setelah menerapkan beberapa poin dari dari artikel cara menghilangkan stress di atas, kehidupan anda kembali normal dan menyenangkan. Rating: 4.5

Manfaat Meditasi Bagi Kesehatan

Gambar Orang sedang Meditasi

Manfaat Meditasi Bagi Kesehatan - Sebelum melangkah lebih jauh membahas manfaat dari meditasi, ada baiknya kita pahami dulu apa itu meditasi?

Menurut wikipedia, Semedi atau Meditasi adalah praktik relaksasi yang melibatkan pelepasan pikiran dari semua hal yang menarik, membebani, maupun mencemaskan dalam hidup kita sehari-hari. Makna harfiah meditasi adalah kegiatan mengunyah-unyah atau membolak-balik dalam pikiran, memikirkan, merenungkan. Arti definisinya, meditasi adalah kegiatan mental terstruktur, dilakukan selama jangka waktu tertentu, untuk menganalisis, menarik kesimpulan, dan mengambil langkah-langkah lebih lanjut untuk menyikapi, menentukan tindakan atau penyelesaian masalah pribadi, hidup, dan perilaku. (sumber: Meditasi - Wikipedia)

Nah, setelah mengetahui apa itu meditasi, mari kita lanjut ke bahasan utama kita tentang manfaat meditasi bagi kesehatan.

1. Mengurangi sakit

Rasa sakit yang kita rasakan di bagian tubuh sebenarnya berasal dari pikiran. Karena itulah meditasi selama 80 menit diketahui bisa mengurangi persepsi sakit sampai setengahnya. Memusatkan pikiran saat bermeditasi diketahui akan membantu kita mengelola dampak emosional dari rasa nyeri fisik.

2. Meningkatkan kepuasan seksual

Penelitian yang dipublikasikan dalam jurnal Psychosomatic Medicine tahun 2011 menemukan berlatih meditasi secara teratur akan meningkatkan kepuasan seksual pada wanita. Selain itu mereka yang rutin bermeditasi juga mengaku gairahnya lebih mudah dibangkitkan oleh pasangannya.

3. Menjernihkan pikiran

Tujuan utama melakukan meditasi pada dasarnya adalah melatih kesadaran. Mereka yang rutin melakukan meditasi lebih berhati-hati terhadap apa yang dilakukan atau keputusan yang akan diambil. Meditasi juga membantu kita melihat setiap persoalan dengan lebih jernih. Karenanya, orang-orang yang memiliki jabatan strategis sebagai pengambil keputusan akan mendapat banyak manfaat dengan melakukan meditasi.

4. Menguatkan mental

Meditasi bisa melindungi seseorang dari peristiwa yang menimbulkan trauma psikologis, seperti peperangan atau perceraian. Dalam penelitian di tahun 2010 terhadap tentara AS yang bersiap perang, mereka yang berlatih meditasi selama 8 minggu diketahui memiliki kesadaran lebih tinggi dan lebih tenang.

5. Meningkatan empati

Kesadaran diri, pemusatan perhatian pada hubungan yang dalam antara batin dan tubuh yang ditemukan dengan berlatih meditasi bisa menjadi modal untuk meningkatkan rasa empati kita pada sesama.

6. Meningkatkan fokus

Keseharian kita yang tak pernah lepas dari ponsel, laptop, iPad, dan gadget lainnya tanpa disadari membuat kita sulit untuk berada dalam kekinian. Latihan pernapasan yang kita lakukan serta keheningan meditasi akan mengembalikan fokus, membantu mengendalikan pikiran, serta mengembangkan pikiran yang sehat.

Oke, selamat bermeditasi dan semoga bermanfaat

Penyebab Bau Mulut dan Cara Mengatasinya

Bau mulut tak sedap

Penyebab bau mulut dan cara mengatasi bau mulut tak sedap - Memiliki bau mulut tak sedap jelas membuat seseorang minder dalam pergaulan. Bagaimana tidak, kalau semua lawan bicara menutup hidup dan memalingkan muka. Rasanya itu kayak, tidak dianggap.

Nah, saya akan memberikan penjelasan singkat seputar bau mulut. Bau mulut atau istilah kedokteran giginya adalah halitosis merupakan bau yang timbul akibat proses bakteri di dalam mulut. Komponen utama bakteri yang menyebabkan bau mulut adalah hidrogen sulfida dan merkaptan.

Penyebab bau mulut

1. Adanya penyakit jaringan pendukung gigi

2. Aliran air ludahnya kurang

3. Tambalan yang tidak tepat

4. Kumpulan bakteri yang berlebihan di lidah

5. Gigi tiruan yang tidak bersih

6. Sisa makanan yang terdapat di saku gusi

7. Adanya penyakit sistemik

8. Konsumsi obat tertentu

9. Gangguan pencernaan

Cara Mencegah Bau Mulut

1. Melakukan penyikatan gigi dengan teknik yang tepat dan optimal dengan pasta gigi ber-fluor, serta melakukan penyikatan lidah.

2. Menggunakan agen antibakteri untuk rongga mulut, yaitu obat kumur klorheksidin (namun tidak boleh digunakan dalam waktu yang panjang secara terus-menerus).

3. Merangsang aliran air ludah dengan cara banyak makan buah yang berserat dan sayuran hijau, banyak mengkonsumsi air mineral, atau dapat menggunakan obat kumur baking soda.

4. Mengurangi konsumsi makanan dan minuman yang manis diantara waktu makan utama, untuk mencegah terjadinya gigi berlubang yang dapat menimbulkan bau mulut.

5. Rutin melakukan pemeriksaan dan pembersihan karang gigi di Dokter Gigi.

6. Memperbaiki tambalan gigi yang tidak baik di Dokter Gigi.

7. Mengurangi kebiasaan buruk, misalnya merokok.

8. Jika anda memiliki penyakit sistemik tertentu atau penyakit gangguan pencernaan, sebaiknya segera konsultasikan ke Dokter Spesialis yang berkompeten, untuk segera dilakukan perawatan. Rating: 4.5

Cara Menurunkan Tekanan Darah Tinggi (Hipertensi)

Cara menurunkan tekanan darah tinggi atau hipertensi secara alami. Matthew Burg, PhD, profesor kedokteran di Columbia University Medical Center di New York pernah berkata "Siapapun dengan hipertensi harus didorong melakukan beberapa hal untuk menurunkan tekanan darah tanpa bantuan agen farmakologis."

Dan berikut ini merupakan beberapa cara untuk menurunkan tekanan darah tinggi (hipertensi) yang dilansir oleh Health News.

Berhenti Merokok
Perokok berisiko tinggi hipertensi. Nikotin membuat tekanan darah melonjak penyebab hipertensi kronis. Berhenti merokok membantu menurunkan tekanan darah, plus ada manfaat kesehatan lain.

Olahraga Teratur
Berolahraga atau aktivitas fisik selama 30 menit setiap hari selama seminggu, telah cukup menurunkan tekanan darah.

Gerald Fletcher, MD, seorang ahli jantung di Mayo Clinic mengatakan, bergerak aktif mengurangi tekanan darah 3-5 poin, dan perlahan dapat mengurangi penggunaan obat hipertensi mereka. Pilih sesuatu yang Anda sukai: berjalan, jogging, berenang hingga bersepeda.

Kurangi Alkohol
Alkohol tidak lebih dari segelas bagi wanita dan dua gelas bagi pria memang memiliki manfaat kesehatan. Namun, terlalu banyak minum juga akan meningkatkan tekanan darah.

Makan Pisang
Kebanyakan garam dapat meningkatkan tekanan darah, namun kalium mampu mengurangi efek buruk natrium. Sebagian besar penderita hipertensi kekurangan mineral ini.

Meningkatkan asupan kalium hingga 4.700 mg per hari bermanfaat bagi para penderita hipertensi. Pisang, kentang panggang dengan kulit, jus jeruk, yogurt tanpa lemak adalah sumber utama kalium.

Kurangi Garam
Mereka dengan tekanan darah normal, cukup tinggi maupun hipertensi dapat mengurangi tekanan darah dengan memotong asupan garam. Batasi asupan garam 1.500 mg sehari. Cara yang mudah adalah menghindari makanan olahan karena banyak mengandung natrium. Pastikan juga memeriksa kadar sodium dalam label makanan.

Menurunkan Berat Badan
Mengikis berat badan beberapa kilogram berdampak besar pada tekanan darah. Kelebihan berat badan membuat jantung bekerja lebih keras, yang menyebabkan hipertensi. Sementara kehilangan berat badan mengurangi beban kerja jantung.

Berbagai studi menyebut, konsumsi lebih dari dua gelas alkohol meningkatkan risiko hipertensi bagi pria dan wanita.

Atasi stres
Mengelola stres membantu mengurangi tekanan darah. Namun, langkah menangani stres bisa berbeda-beda bagi setiap orang. Relaksasi dan manajemen stres diperlukan bagi penderita hipertensi untuk mengendalikan tekanan darah.

Yoga dan Meditasi
Yoga adalah metode pelepas stres, yang efektif mengurangi tekanan darah pada penderita hipertensi, dan berkaitan dengan sistem saraf otonom, denyut jantung, pencernaan, dan fungsi sebagian besar organ lainnya.

Meditasi antara lain pengaturan pernapasan, visualisasi, kombinasinya menjadi alat manajemen efektif mengatasi stres, ujar Burg.

Kurangi Kafein
Kopi mempunyai beberapa manfaat kesehatan, tetapi menurunkan tekanan darah bukan salah satunya. Kafein dapat menyebabkan lonjakan tekanan darah dalam jangka pendek, bahkan pada mereka yang tak memiliki hipertensi.

Bila Anda penderita hipertensi, kurangi asupan kafein hanya dua cangkir kopi per hari. Untuk memeriksa efek kafein, cek tekanan darah setengah setelah konsumsi kafein. Bila tekanan darah naik 5-10 poin, Anda termasuk sensitif kafein. (

Cara Memilih Makanan Sehat Di Restoran Cepat Saji

Makanan di Restoran cepat saji memang terkenal enak. Tapi di balik itu banyak penelitian yang menyebutkan bahwa makanan tersebut berbahaya bagi kesehatan jika dikonsumsi berlebihan dan sesuai aturan. Memilih makanan yang sehat di restoran cepat saji juga sangat penting.

1. Mc Donald’s Egg Mc Muffin atau Egg and Cheese Biscuit?
Sandwich memang menjadi menu yang banyak dipilih untuk sarapan, bahkan sejak restoran ini mengenalkannya 40 tahun, sandwich juga banyak dibeli tidak hanya untuk sarapan tapi juga makan siang dan malam. Perbedaan kedua makanan ini, muffin dibuat dengan ukuran Kanada yang rotinya lebih kecil dan irisan daging juga lebih tipis. Sedangkan egg and chees biscuit dibuat ala Inggris dengan roti yang lebih tebal dengan isi telur dan keju yang besar.

Pilihan: Egg Muffin
Meskipun lebih kecil, kandungan kalorinya lebih tinggi. Demikian juga dengan lemak yang hanya setengan dari egg and cheese biscuit, demikian dituliskan Marissa Lippert dalam bukunya Diet Cheater.

2. Burger King Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit atau French Toast Sticks?
Burger membuat Anda kenyang lebih lama, tapi memiliki banyak kalori dan lemak jika dibandingkan dengan French toast stick. Roti ini berasa manis karena tambahan gula dengan ukuran 2 sendok makan.

Pilihan: French toast stick
Dilihat dari ukuran lemak dan kalori Anda disarankan untuk tetap memilih biskuit ini. French toast stick memang bukan pilihan yang terbaik untuk sarapan, tetapi seorang ahli gizi menyarankan ini dibanding burger karena dapat menjaga kesehatan jantung Anda. Tapi ingat, menu ini hanya sedikit porsinya, jadi jika Anda merasa lapar lagi, siapkan buah yang tinggi serat sebagai makanan lanjutan.

3. Starbucks Apple Bran Muffin atau Banana Nut Loaf?
Banana nut loaf memiliki protein yang lebih sedikit dari apple bran muffin, yakni 7 dibanding 6 gram. Memang hanya selisih sedikit, tapi apple bran muffin memiliki kandungan serat yang lebih tinggi.

Pilihan: Apple bran muffin
Serat yang ada pada apple bran muffin mencapai angka 7 gram. "Serat tidak hanya bermanfaat untuk kesehatan jantung tetapi juga dapat mencegah kanker usus besar," papar Angela Ginn, ahli diet dan juru bicara di American Dietetic Association.

"Semakin banyak serat yang anda konsumsi semakin baik," tambahnya. Pada roti kacang memiliki 500 kaoiri, sedangkan muffin hanya 350 kalori saja.

4. Dunkin Donuts Plain Bagel with Cream atau Glazed Donut?
Kandungan gula yang terdapat pada menu sarapan memang dapat memberikan energi untuk memulai aktifitas. Tapi roti bagel dengan ukuran besar juga lebih dapat menghilangkan rasa lapar, dan dapat bertahan hingga siang hari.

Pilihan: Glazed donut
Pada bagel, kalori yang dimiliki lebih tinggi, demikian juga dengan lemak jenuh, lemak kolesterol, lemak trans, dan natriumnya. Sedangkan sebuah donat tidak mempunyai lemak trans dengan kalori hanya 220, dibandingkan bagel yang mengandung 470 kalori.

Demikian tips memilih makanan sehat di restoran cepat saji, semoga bermanfaat. ( Rating: 4.5 )

12 Jenis Makanan Sumber Kalsium Tinggi

Kalsium merupakan zat yang sangat penting bagi kesehatan tubuh terutama tulang. Susu merupakan sumber kalsium yang sangat tinggi. Akan tetapi sumber kalsium bukan hanya terdapat pada susu saja. Makanan lain pun banyak yang mengandung kalsium sangat tinggi.

Berikut ini sumber-sumber makanan dengan kalsium tinggi yang patut Anda ketahui, seperti dilansir oleh Huffington Post:

1.Kale
Sayuran dari keluarga Brassica ini bersepupu dengan brokoli. Secangkir kale memiliki 90 mg kalsium, yang artinya 3,5 cangkir kale akan lebih bermanfaat ketimbang satu gelas susu.

2. Jeruk
Buah ini tak hanya memiliki vitamin C tetapi juga menyediakan 60 mg klasium.

3. Susu Kedelai
Jenis susu ini memiliki sekitar 300 mg kalsium jika dihidangkan tanpa apapun.

4. Oatmeal
Oatmeal mungkin bisa dijuluki sebagai pahlawan sarapan. Makanan serat ini juga baik untuk jantung dan sistem pencernaan. Satu bungkus otmeal instan memiliki kandungan sebanyak 105 mg.

5. Biji Wijen
Satu ons biji wijen diperkaya dengan 280 mg kalsium, jumlah yang hampir setara dengan satu gelas susu.

6. Keju Swiss
Keju dari jenis Swiss dan Gruyere memiliki kandungan kalsium tertinggi—satu ons porsi menyediakan sebanyak 270 mg kalsium. Mozzarella memiliki kandungan 200mg, sama dengan keju keras seperti cheddar dan jack.

7. Kacang Kedelai
Satu cangkir kacang kedelai yang direbus tanpa garam menghasilkan 261 mg kalsium.

8. Almond
Satu ons kacang ini menyediakan 80 mg kalsium. Tak hanya itu, almond mampu membantu menjinakkan gula darah tinggi, menaikkan berat badan dan memotong kadar kolestorel.

9. Salmon
Ikan bergizi ini sarat dengan lemak sehat dan protein. Dan ternyata, tiga ons salmon kalengan dengan tulang memiliki kandungan kalsium sebanyak 181 mg.

10. Yogurt
Porsi delapan ons yogurt rendah lemak memiliki 415 mg kalsium, serta menyerap lebih banyak kalsium ke tubuh dibandingkan susu dengan jumlah yang sama.

11. Lobak
Satu cangkir lobak rebus sarat dengan sekitar 200 mg kalsium.

12. Brokoli
Manfaat kesehatan dari brokoli tidak ada tandingannya. Raja dari dunia sayur ini kaya akan 180 mg kalsium untuk satu cangkir penyajian saja.

Nah, jadi Anda tidak perlu khawatir jika tidak bisa menemukan susu. Anda masih dapat asupan kalsium dengan mengkonsumsi beberapa jenis makanan di atas. ( Rating: 4.5 )

Pocket-size pup could set record in Britain

 

Queen Elizabeth may have her Corgis, but the puppy stealing hearts and breaking records in Britain is a Yorkshire terrier chihuahua mix no bigger than an iPhone.

The dog, appropriately named Mini, weighed just 1.3 oz at birth; Mini's believed to be Britain's smallest dog, according to the Daily Mail.

Mini was born one week ago in a litter of seven puppies who all easily tripled her in size. The pint-size pooch has been nursed by hand by her owner, 29-year-old Emma Williams, every two hours since she was born, in addition to being fed by her mom.

The result? Mini now weighs 1.9 oz, big enough to rejoin her siblings but still nowhere near the 4.5 oz weight typical of puppies her age and breed, the Daily Mail reports.

"Mini was the second puppy to be born so at first I thought she was a normal size and the other was big and chunky," Williams, from Sandbanks, Dorset, England told the paper. "But as the others came out it became apparent she was so dinky, I couldn't believe it when I saw just how small she was, the others were at least three times her size."

Neither Williams nor her veterinarian could document any other dog born in Britain being so small.

Williams plans to put Mini, who is expected to weigh only one-and-a-half pounds at full size, and the rest of the litter up for sale once they are all healthy.

What to expect from the iPhone 5

While no one outside of Apple's inner circles know what it will be called — iPhone 5, new iPhone or something else altogether — all signs point to a new device on the market by the third week of September.

Between leaked photos out of Asia, patent filings, Foxconn CEO comments (the Chinese manufacturer responsible for building Apple's products), cellular carriers clearing stock of the iPhone 4S (and telling employees not to take a vacation between Sept. 21 through 30), it's pretty certain the iPhone 5 — let's just call it that for the time being — will be available in a month's time.

The new phone is expected to be officially announced on September 12, when preorders would also start, and available about a week later.

And let's face it: there's a lot riding on this release for Apple — now the most valuable company in history at more than $619 billion — to keep its momentum going in the right direction. By some analysts' predictions, Apple could be the world's first "trillion-dollar baby" if the new iPhone, a possible iPad mini and an iTV product all succeed.

, so what's the iPhone 5 going to have, you ask? A lot, by all accounts -- and we're not even referring to what's confirmed to be in the upcoming iOS 6 operating system. Let's take a look at what we know and what we think we know.

Bigger screen
It's not likely to be as big as the Samsung Galaxy S III's 4.8-inch display, but iPhone 5 will likely have a bigger screen than the 3.5-incher we've been staring at on the iPhone since it launched in 2007. According to photos leaked to MacRumors.com a few days ago, the new iPhone might be about 14 percent bigger, up to 4 inches in diameter. That's not a significant bump up in size, mind you, but certainly better for web browsing, messaging, ebooks, GPS navigation, games and video (in fact, the increase will likely change the aspect ratio from 3:2 to a widescreen 16:9). Apple will also pack more pixels on the taller screen, to ensure it's still a "Retina" display -- meaning its pixel density is so high the human eye is unable to distinguish individual dots.

Thinner body, bigger battery & new connector
The new screen — likely to be one of the biggest features in the iPhone 5 — will also be thinner, contributing to an even svelter smartphone. Apple was recently awarded a patent related to integrating touch sensors with the actual display circuits, opposed to placing the touch sensors on top of the LCD screen (currently, the way it's done). This will result in a thinner display, expected to trim the entire iPhone's depth by about 1.2mm.

On a related note, rumor has it the iPhone will have an all-new housing with a full metal back, replacing the breakable glass on the iPhone 4S.

As for the connectors, it seems the headphone jack has been moved from the top left of the phone to the bottom left, beside a small connector — 8- to 19-pin, allegedly — compared to the wide-mouth 30-pin connector in the current suite of iOS devices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad) and the Apple nano, too. Unless there's an adaptor in the box to support the many thousands of accessories on the market, such as speaker docks, this change might frustrate current Apple customers. Apple is changing to this smaller dock connector on all future iOS products, various sources say.

On the subject of hardware, it's no secret the iPhone 4S battery is less than ideal for all of the phone's power-draining abilities. A leaked photo acquired by 9to5Mac points to a bigger battery in the iPhone 5 — but not by much. The current iPhone 4S sports a 1,430mAh battery (up from 1,420 mAh on the iPhone 4), and this photo shows a slightly better 1,440mAh battery, and upping to 3.8 volts from 3.7.
Let's just hope the new battery doesn't get as hot as the new iPad -- or take as long to charge it up.

New wireless tech
Speaking of smaller, there's talk (and photos) of a new nano SIM under the hood of iPhone 5 to give the iPhone cellular connectivity. Apple has been pushing for this as a standard for some time, so we'll soon see if iPhone 5 is the first to house this new SIM card.

Other changes to its wireless capabilities include 4G/LTE data speeds which take full advantage of the faster wireless networks available in select markets. For the uninitiated, "Long Term Evolution" cellular speeds rival if not exceed broadband Internet connections at home thanks to download speeds that top 72 Megabits per second -- though this number is "theoretical" opposed to slower "real world" performance. In areas without LTE support, the iPhone 5 would revert to HSPA+ (up to 21 Megabits per second downloads) or depending on the carrier, dual-carrier HSDPA for download speeds of up to 42 Megabits per second.
Already in the new iPad, LTE support in the iPhone 5 is extremely likely. That, and the Korea Times says Apple has been in discussions with two Korean mobile carriers (SK Telecom and KT) to include iPhone 5 on their LTE networks.

While not as likely as LTE, the iPhone 5 might also include near-field communication (NFC), a small wireless radio that essentially turns the smartphone into a digital wallet. This would allow iPhone users to tap-and-pay at supporting retailers and vending machines. Similar to Google Wallet, an iWallet app would be linked to your credit card or bank account. There are other applications for NFC-based smartphones, too, such as easily exchanging information with another smartphone, swiping to access information or media (such as poster of a movie to download a trailer) and to get on a bus or in your condo.

Apple recently acquired AuthenTec, a digital security company that makes, among other things, fingerprint sensors used in laptops. MacDailyNews suggests the fingerprint reader could be embedded in the Home button. Cool.

With all of these unknowns, here's one think you can bank on: whatever the new iPhone will be called, whenever it'll be available and regardless of what it can do, this will be the biggest tech event of the year -- and perhaps propel Apple towards being the first thirteen digit company. iOutstanding.

source

Slow and painful recovery for Gulf Coast

As the remnants of Hurricane Isaac pushed their way up the Mississippi valley on Saturday, spinning off severe thunderstorms and at least four tornadoes, some on the Gulf Coast were impatient with the pace of restoring power days after the storm dragged through the region.

While New Orleans streets were bustling again and workers were returning to offshore oil rigs, thousands of evacuees couldn't return home to flooded low-lying areas of Louisiana and more than 400,000 sweltering electricity customers in the state remained without power.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service said two tornadoes touched down in rural areas of north-central Illinois and at least two touched down in rural southeast Missouri. There were no reports of damage in Illinois, and Missouri officials said some power lines caught on fire.

The weather service said the storm would bring some drought relief to parts of the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys. By midday Saturday, it had dumped up to 5 inches of rain in parts of Illinois and between 4 and 6 inches in parts of Missouri.

In Louisiana, the number without power was down from more than 900,000. However, in heavily populated Jefferson Parish near New Orleans, parish president John Young said Entergy Corp. was too slow in restoring electricity.

"I don't see boots on the ground," said Young, who complained that he has seen repair trucks sitting idle in a staging area and fielded calls from residents and business owners complaining about a lack of progress.

"We've restored about 45 percent of our customers in about a day and a half, Entergy spokesman Chanel Lagarde said Saturday. He added that crews have come in from 24 states. "In many situations, crews have driven all day and have worked their 16-hour day and have to rest for the day."

As of Saturday night, the company was reporting about 270,000 outages, most in Jefferson and Orleans parishes.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said he too was eager to get power back on. "Like everybody else, my patience is wearing thin," he said.

On Saturday afternoon, St. Tammany Parish officials ordered a mandatory evacuation of areas south of the Pearl River diversion canal, for fear a lock on a canal will fail. Parish authorities said the order could affect anywhere from several hundred to 2,000 residents in the rural area north of Slidell, which is across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the lock. Parish spokeswoman Suzanne Parsons Stymiest said the parish got permission from the corps to relieve pressure on the structure by opening a valve that will allow a controlled flow of water through it.

Parts of coastal Plaquemines Parish, where thousands were evacuated, remained under water. The National Weather Service has said Isaac dumped anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of rain on south Louisiana and south Mississippi.

In the water-logged town of Lafitte, Mayor Tim Kerner was allowing property owners and residents to return and begin cleaning up.

Meanwhile, Gulf of Mexico oil platforms were being repopulated after Isaac forced shutdown of most Gulf oil production.

People stuck inside stuffy, powerless homes were comparatively lucky. The Louisiana governor's office said more than 4,000 were in state, local or Red Cross shelters as of Saturday morning and that doesn't count others who took refuge with friends, family or in hotels.

LaPlace resident Roshonda Girrad was staying in a state-run shelter in Alexandria, 200 miles from her home. She was waiting for the chest-deep waters in her neighborhood to recede.

"The showers are horrible. The food is horrible," Girrad said. "I'm not from around here. I don't know what's going on. We're in the dark."

Isaac dumped as much as 16 inches of rain in some spots, and about 500 people had to be rescued by boat or high-water vehicles.

In New Orleans, most of the downtown area and the French Quarter had power again Saturday. The annual Southern Decadence festival, a celebration of gay culture, was underway. And the Superdome, which sustained minor damage, hosted a Saturday night football game between Tulane and Rutgers.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney visited flood-ravaged communities on Friday, and President Barack Obama said he would arrive Monday — appearances this part of the country is all too familiar with after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

To the east, officials pumped and released water from a reservoir, easing the pressure behind an Isaac-stressed dam in Mississippi on the Louisiana border. The threat for the earthen dam on Lake Tangipahoa prompted evacuations in small towns and rural areas. Authorities later said they were allowing residents to return to their homes in those areas where the flood waters have since receded.

Crews intentionally breached a levee that was strained by Isaac's floodwaters in southeast Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish, which is outside the federal levee system. Parish President Billy Nungesser said the work was slow-going.

Philippines 7,6 quake pictures

Thousands of villagers who fled their coastal homes during a powerful earthquake in the central Philippines returned home Saturday, but hundreds more still jittery from the temblor remained in evacuation centers, officials said.

The magnitude-7.6 quake struck off the Philippines' east coast late Friday, killing one person in a house collapse, knocking out power in several towns and spurring panic about a tsunami that ended up generating only tiny waves.

The quake hit at a depth of 34.9 kilometers (21.7 miles) and was centered 106 kilometers (66 miles) east of Samar Island, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

No large tsunami was generated by the quake and it caused only minor damage, including cracks in buildings and several bridges, Civil Defense chief Benito Ramos said.

Rep. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar province said the approaches to one bridge had collapsed, and only one lane was usable on another bridge because of cracks.

Some cracks also appeared on roads in the provincial capital, Borongan city, and several other towns were still without electricity, he said.

About 140 aftershocks had been recorded by early Saturday, including two with a magnitude of 6.4, said Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Panicked residents in Samar's coastal towns headed for high ground, Ramos said. "Some rested under tall trees they planned to climb if tsunami waves reached them," he said.

He said hundreds of nervous villagers remained in evacuation centers in Eastern Samar but were expected to return home later Saturday.

A house collapsed in southern Cagayan de Oro city, on the main southern island of Mindanao, killing a 54-year-old woman and injuring her 5-year-old grandson, said the city's mayor, Vicente Emano.

Solidum said the biggest tsunami that came ashore on Siargao Island was less than half a meter (20 inches) high. The island is a popular surfing spot about 750 kilometers (465 miles) southeast of Manila.

The quake snapped some power lines in Tandag city in Surigao del Sur province on the east coast of Mindanao.

More than 6,000 city residents who headed for the provincial capitol grounds on a hill were back home Saturday, disaster officials said.

The quake set off car alarms, shook items off shelves and sent many coastal residents fleeing before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center lifted all tsunami alerts it had issued for the Philippines and other countries from Indonesia to Japan, and for Pacific islands as far away as the Northern Marianas.

"It was very strong. My house was making sounds," Bem Noel, a member of the Philippine House of Representatives, said in a telephone interview from Tacloban city, located on the east coast of Leyte island near Samar.

"You talk to God with an earthquake that strong," he said.

The Philippine archipelago is located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A magnitude-7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people on northern Luzon Island in 1990.

The oyster: NY's environmental hero?

On a summer morning, marine biologist Ray Grizzle reaches into the waters of the Bronx River estuary and pulls up an oyster. The 2-year-old female is "good and healthy."

He grabs another handful and gets more good news. "This is a really dynamic area: Live oysters, reproducing!" the University of New Hampshire scientist says.

Grizzle holds up a glistening mollusk. He is standing waist-deep in the murky estuary littered with old tires, bottles, shopping carts and rank debris. A gun was once found.

Marine scientists like him, planners and government officials say millions of mollusks planted in waters off New York and other cities could go a long way toward cleaning up America's polluted urban environment. The oyster and other shellfish can slurp up toxins and eliminate decades of dirt.

Landscape architect Kate Orff has a name for the work she does at her Scape firm: Oyster-tecture. Orff is designing a park and a living reef for the mouth of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, where oysters could take hold and help filter one of the nation's most polluted waterways.

"My new hero is the oyster, with its biological power," Orff says.

Oyster-tecture is a 21st-century approach to creating new waterfront infrastructures where long-gone shellfish can be brought back.

Construction has begun on a new pier area that is to host Orff's reef. In her Manhattan office, she holds up a tangle of fuzzy black ropes that will be attached to the Brooklyn pier and filled with shellfish, which need to latch onto something to survive — whether a rock, dead shell or synthetic object.

The Oyster Restoration Research Project, a New York-based nonprofit umbrella group, partners with the NY/NJ Baykeeper ecology advocate working at the Bronx site, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that built an oyster reef on Governors Island off Manhattan.

While oysters are cultivated around the world, the United States has some of the best regeneration programs, says Bill Goldsborough, director of fisheries program at Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis, Md. The bay is a center of natural oyster growth, and regeneration is thriving just outside urban Annapolis and in Baltimore harbor.

Scientists also are trying to rejuvenate the oyster population in the Hudson River near Yonkers, north of New York, where explorer Henry Hudson spotted oysters in 1609.

"Having oysters improves the whole aquatic habitat, attracting fish and other marine life to the area," says Dennis Suszkowski, the science director of the nonprofit Hudson River Foundation.

The story of the black bivalve in New York is key to the history of America's biggest city.

When the Dutch arrived in Manhattan in the 1600s, the island was surrounded by mammoth oyster beds that fed the Lenape Indians. They covered hundreds of square miles underwater — so important as a major export that today's Ellis and Liberty islands were called Little Oyster Island and Great Oyster Island in colonial times.

Rich and poor New Yorkers and visitors dined on them in a maritime metropolis filled with vessels and street vendors hawking roasted oysters, long before hot dogs. But they slowly died out by the turn of the 19th century, overwhelmed by industrial waste, sewage, diseases and the dredging of the harbor to make room for shipping and development.

Now, new beds of oysters for New York's broken-down ecosystem are budding in more than a half dozen locations in the area. If the water temperature, currents, chemistry and other conditions are right, the bivalve can break down the pollution and thrive. But while suitable for cleanup work, they should not be eaten and poachers should not harvest polluted oysters and sell them for profit.

Under Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey banned oyster restoration in 2010 in waters classified as contaminated for shellfish, citing public health.

In New York City, oyster restoration projects were started about seven years ago, with the city Department of Parks initiating the one in the Bronx — a 30-foot-long artificial reef made of rubble, old shells and hundreds of mollusks.

"It's so shocking that we're out there in the South Bronx and oysters are thriving — shocking to people who wouldn't put their little toe in the water for fear of how polluted it is," says Marit Larson, a water management expert at the department's Natural Resources Group.

Larson says the aim of what she calls "ecological engineering" is to create hundreds of acres of reefs in the next decades, populated with mollusks that form naturally spawning colonies. Funding for the projects comes from private and government sources. A 1-acre bed with up to 1 million oysters costs at least $50,000 to plant and manage.

Some new plantings in New York Harbor failed because the oysters were swept away by currents and boat wakes. So close attention must be paid to the beds that have succeeded.

"The question is 'how can we use the natural processes of organisms that were once here in abundance,'" she says. If oyster regeneration can be sustained and expanded, "it's the ultimate success story for one of the most urban and heavily used harbors in the world."

Grizzle says the oyster is the perfect aquatic engineer for the job. It pumps water to feed, retains any polluted particles and releases the rest — purified. Each one filters about 50 gallons of water a day.

"There's no human engineering substitute for these living things that clean the water," he says as he wades hundreds of feet back to the South Bronx shore.

Behind him, a plane takes off from LaGuardia Airport, low over Rikers Island jail.

Grilling mistakes that amateurs make

"A lot of people marinate raw food in barbecue sauce, because they're thinking, Oh, I want barbecued chicken," says grilling expert Elizabeth Karmel. The problem is that sauce often contains sugar, which burns quickly, resulting in a lackluster version of the classic dish. Here, the Hill Country Barbecue chef identifies more ways to ruin a cookout, and how to avoid those mistakes.




1. COOKING WITHOUT HEATING THE GRILL Just like you'd heat a sauté pan before you put food in it, it's very important to preheat the grill to cook any foods properly. Preheating also sterilizes the grill by burning off any residue.

2. LEAVING THE LID OPEN You would never bake a cake with the oven door open, right? Just like preheating is essential to proper cooking, so is temperature control while grilling.

3. IGNORING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIRECT AND INDIRECT HEAT I've got a couple of good rules of thumb: If something takes 20 minutes or less to cook, use direct heat. If it takes more than 20 minutes, use indirect. And if you don't know how long something takes to cook: The bigger it is, the denser it is, the heavier it is, the longer it takes.

4. INCINERATING YOUR FOOD The hotter the fire does not mean the better you'll cook your food. Most food is delicate and needs a gentle heat after you sear it. You're going to get a better result and coax the love out of the food by treating it gently and with respect.

5. SLATHERING FOOD EARLY AND OFTEN WITH SAUCE A lot of people marinate raw food in barbecue sauce, because they're thinking, "Oh, I want barbecued chicken." Sugar burns quickly. You want to make sure that the inside of your food is done and juicy at the same time that the outside is browned. It takes 45 to 60 minutes to grill bone-in chicken pieces and only 5 to 10 minutes for sweet barbecue sauce to set and caramelize. So brush your food with sauce at the end of the cooking time.

6. OILING THE GRILL GRATES This is one of my mottos: "Oil the food, not the grates." A thin layer of oil on the food holds in moisture. Many grilling authors tell people to take a rag or a paper towel, dip it in oil and coat the cooking grates of your lit grill with it. Number one, that is literally a torch waiting to be lit; that's a big fire hazard. Number two, oil has a very low smoking point; you only have to oil the grates once to know that the oil will burn instantly.

7. USING SUPER LONG TONGS People think the longer the tongs are the better, but the truth is the longer the tongs, the less control you have. Our wrists aren't that strong. If the tongs splay open too much (and a lot of them open to 12 inches or more), you can get a cramp from having to hold them closed. I use tongs like an extension of my hand. The best are 12-inch locking chef's tongs that don't open more than six inches.

8. PLACING FISH DIRECTLY ON THE GRILL When fish skin scorches on the grill it can give the fish that awful fishy flavor (just think if you opened a capsule of cod liver oil and burned it). One my favorite ways to make salmon is to take a deboned, skin-on side of salmon and cook it at 325°F indirectly on a wet, water-soaked cedar plank. I like that temperature because it's really important to me to get a nice crispiness-- good color on the outside, still juicy and perfectly cooked on the inside. Because it's sitting on the wood, you can very easily slide your spatula between the flesh and the skin, and it'll easily come off, leaving the skin on the board.

9. COOKING RIBS UNTIL THEY FALL APART Pick up the ribs and give it a bend: If it's nice and flexible but not springy or rubbery, then it's generally done. If it falls apart immediately, then it's probably overcooked.

10. BUYING THE WRONG CUT FOR BRISKET A lot of people cook only the flat or the lean part of brisket, which often comes out tough and dry. You always want to cook the whole muscle. A cross-section of a brisket would reveal three parts: Two pieces of muscle (one called the flat or lean, and one called the deckle or point) and a fat cap. People should go to their butcher or their grocery store and say, "I want a whole, untrimmed brisket." The butcher will say, "Oh, no you don't! Here, you want this nice trimmed brisket." You tell the butcher you know what you're talking about, and that you want the whole fat cap on it, because that will keep the meat moist and protected during the long, slow cooking time.

Scuba diver's scary encounter with shark Pictures)

Scuba diver's scary encounter with shark (Video and Pictures). A scuba diver is glad he had his camera with him. Scott MacNichol, 30, used the camera to fend off a porbeagle shark, and he has the scary video to prove it.

The coldwater shark bared its teeth as it apparently mistook the camera for food, MacNichol says. The incident happened off the eastern tip of Maine, near Eastport.

A commercial diver, MacNichol estimates the shark was 8 feet long and weighed about 300 pounds.

MacNichol was filming the ocean floor as part of an environmental assessment for Cooke Aquaculture. He says he saw the shark swimming above him as he shot footage of empty salmon pens, and then the animal came at him.



In the video, teeth fill the frame before the creature swims away.

"He took a couple of bites at the camera. When he did that I was pretty much petrified," MacNichol says. "If you watch the video, you can hear me screaming underwater."




Porbeagle sharks look like mako or great white sharks, and typically dine on herring and mackerel. Shark attacks are rare in New England, though sightings of great whites off Cape Cod this summer caused officials to temporarily close some beaches.

Hines Ward selling home for $7.5 million (Full Pictures)

Hines Ward selling home for $7.5 million (Full Pictures). Hines Ward has been a football player. And a dancer. Back in August of last year when Curbed Atlanta was in its infancy and keeping a decidedly low profile, we ran a profile of the NFL Pro Bowler / Dancing With the Stars Winner / architecture buff's mansion, which he has now listed for sale for $7,500,000.

Reports of the home's location were understandably vague then; we now know it sits among the many other enormous houses on Sandy Springs' picturesque Riverside Drive. We'd agree that Ward achieved the "W Hotel" look he was striving for. And as far as size and scope, the house is standard-issue professional athlete: 12,000+ square feet, eight bedrooms, 13 baths, and two car garages (one with an apartment above, where Ward's mom currently lives).

According to the listing, Ward has been in the house for less than four years. Given his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday, one wonders if this isn't the beginning of a career in real estate for one of Georgia's favorite Bulldogs. If Vanilla Ice can do it, why can't Hines Ward?

World's easiest jobs with tons of perks

World's easiest jobs with tons of perks. Shhh. She's working. Sleeping on the job is a requirement for the handful of writers hired by a travel website to test room amenities at China's leading hotels. Believe it or not, snooze button-hitting isn't even the easiest job out there. Imagine if your couch potato tendencies could earn you a living. How about your unique passion for luxury vacations. Most of us consider ourselves pros at napping and looking at cute pictures of kittens, but we don't expect to get paid for it . Maybe we should...By Piper Weiss, Shine staff

Pro sleeper 

Qunar, a Chinese travel review site, has hired three secret reviewers this year to assess the thread count, wi-fi strength, slipper softness, and room service at top hotels throughout the country. Meanwhile, Travelodge employs a full-time bed guru to nap in all of the national hotel chain's rooms, testing the quality of each mattress. In 2006, that guy earned close to six figures. Generally, expect to earn $1,500 a month.

Chocolate eater

 

 

At Godiva, chocolate testers are trained like sommeliers for the job, learning to inspect for sheen and cracks, taking "bunny sniffs" for aroma notes, and savoring the texture of up to 50 bonbons a day. Food testers can earn anywhere from $24,000 up to $70,000, depending on the company. It may sound easy to do, but it's a hard job to get. Godiva tasters go to "chocolate school" to qualify, while other companies require "super-tasters," those born with uniquely potent taste-buds.

Cute pet aggregator

 

 

For most of us, kitten ogling is for break-time. But if you're a web editor for Cute Overload or a casting agent at True Entertainment, the production company behind Animal Planet's "Too Cute" you have to comb through adorable footage and photos of sloths, kittens, and puppies for a living. The average salary of an entry level staffer for a cute-animal site can range from $10 an hour to $40,000 a year depending on location, company and responsibilities.

Mansion sitter

 

 

It's actually possible to live like a millionaire on $10,000 a year. One couple spent winter in the Pyranees and summer in Antibes, skimming leaves from their private pool, walking dogs, and chasing away burglars by simply occupying one mansion or another. Veteran house-sitters with killer reputations can charge around $200 a week to mind the mansion, that's in addition to room and board. For newbies, there's Luxuryhousesitting.com, a site that connects wanderers with high-end property owners in Florida, California, even Malta and the Virgin Islands. 

TV watcher

There's a solid market for this gig. Fast-typing fingers can earn you a starting salary of $25,000 to caption TV shows for the hearing impaired as you watch them. Production assistants for clip shows like "Talk Soup" spend their days flipping channels in search of potential segments to pass along to producers, earning a few hundred a week. At Nielson, a team of media researchers stay glued to the tube, 8 hours a day, $10 an hour, watching out for any product placements across networks.

Professional know-it-all

 

 

YouTube's partner program has turned self-made DIY videos into cash-money. The trick is to anticipate the things people want to know but afraid to ask. Can you draw a decent smokey eye? How well can you fold a paper airplane? Can you whistle? Super 'clicky' web tutorials on absurdly simple tasks can bank their makers up to $100k. "It's nice to get paid for doing absolutely nothing," the guy behind the popular "how to tie a tie" video told NPR.

Spa critic

 

 

If you're going to have strong opinions, why not use them to get massages? Susie Ellis, C.E.O of Spafinder, has gotten thousands in her 20-year career. She's traveled the world as an intrepid reporter, testing back rubs and aromatherapy rituals for her online spa directory. Freelance writers and editors for spa sites and magazines can get all the same massage perks without any of those C.E.O. headaches, and earn between $20,000 and $90,000 a year. 

Resort consultant

 

 

According to one branding website, a popular mommy blogger was hired by a family resort to spend four days as a V.I.P. guest and offer feedback on how to improve their kid-friendly features. In addition to an all-expense paid vacation, she earned $1,200 for her time. Nice work if you can get it. Too bad the easiest jobs are the hardest to find.

Ladies of the 2012 Geneva Motor Show (Full Pictures)

Booth models at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

A picture is worth a thousand words