3 Ways Your Environment Increases Your Risk of Pneumonia

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With the winter months quickly approaching and the atmosphere varying from state to state, pneumonia is an issue that plagues the minds of many different people. A lot of individuals have no idea what it is, how they get it, or how they can fix it.

Even more don’t know just how easy it is to succumb to pneumonia-associated mortality. If you get down the nitty-gritty, even fewer people have knowledge that there are several key factors within their environment that can cause them to fall ill to the lung-wrenching ailment. Here are a few things that contribute to your higher risk of pneumonia within your environment.

Bacteria

When bacteria contaminates the lungs by infiltrating the sinus cavities and finding its way down the esophagus and into the bronchioles, they can cause massive amounts of swelling and discomfort. Because the body is responding to a foreign invader, it creates a substance we know as puss to try and force the bacteria out of the afflicted area. However, when this puss is inside of the bronchioles, it can cause a major problem with hardening. That hardening of the bronchioles is known as pneumonia and there’s a number of bacterium that can get inside of the lungs and cause a serious complication like strep.

You may be wondering how you could get strep. If you have a child that’s of school-going age, or you work in a heavily populated environment, the chances of you contracting strep is very easy. It’s a bacterial infection that can be spread through saliva, or by that person simply coughing and/or sneezing on you. Stay away from infected people to minimize your chance of getting it.

Allergies

Yes, your sneezing, coughing, sniffling, runny nose, and redness are all due to your allergies. Your body is simply looking for a way to expel randomly roaming agents that are far from dangerous. However, your body’s way of trying to expel them can cause you more trouble than it’s worth.

By simply inhaling dust particles, pollen or other things that cause problems for many allergy sufferers, you can trigger your body’s response system, resulting in the swelling of the tiny nodes within your lungs. By the swelling of these entities, your body can cause you to have allergic pneumonia. This type of pneumonia comes in three different categories: acute, subacute, and chronic.

If you’re having an acute attack, chances are you’re too close to the aggravating agent. If you’re having an acute attack, you’ll start to feel like you are getting the flu in the worst type of way. The best way to help stop this type of attack is to move away from the allergen.

Perhaps you’re suffering from a subacute attack; chances are you’re going to feel like you have the flu and then some. You’ll start coughing up mucus and other wonderful juices from deep within your lung cavity. This is an issue that needs to be addressed by your doctor to keep yourself from sliding into the chronic category.

If you’re chronic, you’ll find yourself with myriad other symptoms including weight loss. If this stage has been reached, you need to completely remove yourself from the allergens and talk to your doctor on a regular basis to monitor your lung health.

The best way to avoid this is to minimize your exposure to any allergens that you might see or think of. You can also purchase an antihistamine to keep your body from attacking itself over something presumably harmless.

Smog

Most of us live in big urban areas, so we’re no strangers to the endless black mass of cloudy pollution called “smog.” However, this cloud can invade your home and infect you and your loved ones. If you have an issue with the quality of air in your home, you should immediately assess the easiest thing to change: your air filter. Breathing in contaminants from the outside can cause you to have a serious upper respiratory reaction.

If these contaminants have somehow managed to find their way into your home via the air intake filter, open doors, open windows, etc. then you need to find a way to cleanse your homes air immediately. Constant exposure to smog can act as an irritant within the lungs and cause the bronchioles to inflame and the body to start the production of puss. Look into getting a new air filter or investing in an air purifier in order to keep you and your family safe from these invisible attackers.

 

10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits

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Emilia FoxIf you have ever had your portrait taken and wondered at how the photographer created such amazing images of little ol’ you, then you’ll be surprised to hear that people are actually the easiest subjects to photograph. Unlike the natural world, people are actually willing and interested in having their picture taken and that puts you the photographer, in control. All of the elements of good photography are in your hands. You choose the subject, the light, potential themes, colours, etc. Technical details are not so important, the key here is imagination. SmugMug knows a thing or two about good photography and have compiled 10 tips to help you enhance your portrait skills. Watch out David Bailey!

1. Alter Your Perspective – Some of the best portraits are the ones that break the rules. So instead of shooting your subject at eye level, try changing the angle, either get up high and shoot down on your subject or get as close to the ground as you can and shoot up. Either way you will see your subject from a different perspective which will instantly add interest.

2. Play with Eye Contact – A strong gaze will give a powerful impact to your photograph and will also create a real sense of connection between the subject and those viewing. The direction of your subject’s eyes can also give character to your image. For example, you can create a little intrigue by making your subject look off camera, at something hidden from the viewer. Alternatively, you can give your subject something to look at that is inside the frame, creating a second point of interest and a relationship between it and your primary subject. This will also help create a ‘story’ within the image.

3. Look for a Full Range of Emotions – This is a particularly good advice when taking family portraits. Do not just take pictures when a scene seems sweet. Every emotion a parent, sibling, or child display is worth capturing—fascination, tears, passion, even boredom. Interaction between family members will prompt these emotions.

4. Experiment with Lighting – The power of lighting is sometimes overlooked and there are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to using light in portraits. For instance, side-lighting can create mood, whilst backlighting and silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful. Window light is also very beautiful for taking photos indoors, but you will need a reflector to put light back onto the shadowed side of your subject’s face. You can buy a reflector or even try making your own from a large piece of white card or a white sheet.

5. Move Your Subject Out of their Comfort Zone – Head and shoulder shots and other standard pose images can be nice but will they really make your picture stand out from the crowd? Agree with your subjects to create something special and out of the box, make them jump for instance or do something with their body that might sound silly at first but might turn out to be surprising and create a unique portrait.

6. Shoot Candidly – Posed portraits can sometimes limit your creativity and also block your subject to standard expressions. Adopting a candid approach is particularly good when photographing children or really any active subject that is changing their position or pose in quick succession.

Photograph your subject in a familiar space or doing something that they enjoy. This will put them more at ease, reacting naturally to the situation that they are in. Get them to have some fun and be spontaneous. The resulting photos will be full of life.

7. Use Accessories – Your subject still need to be the main point of interest but by adding accessories to your shot such as a piece of jewellery, a hat or simply a beautiful textured fabric you will instantly create another point of interest that will help enhance your subject and add an extra layer of depth.

8. Play with Background – Once again, the person in your portrait should be the main point of interest. However, you can dramatically alter the mood in a shot when you place your subject in different contexts. For example, choose a dramatic or colourful background, or be as minimalistic as possible and make you subject stand out. Experimenting is the key.

9. Go with a Wide Angle – Shooting with a wide angle lens can help produce creative and memorable portrait shots. Often overlooked as just a landscape lens, a wide focal length can open up a whole new world of opportunities and, contrary to popular belief, you can still get a flattering portrait of your subject – you just need to shoot in a slightly different way. If you are planning to take a distorted style wide angle portrait it is crucial to make the effect look as deliberate as possible, otherwise it will simply seem as if you have used the wrong lens.

10. Share Your Photos with the Right Tools – Finally, what’s the point of taking stunning portraits if nobody sees them? You can share your portraits with your friends and family by using SmugMug. With secure photo sharing you can create an online photo album where you can store and share all of your photographs in a simple, safe and secure place.

Visit www.smugmug.com for a free 14-day trial. Membership starts at $5/month.

Chelsea Named as Britain’s No 1 Mistress Hotspot

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If you are a newly wed then don’t move to Chelsea, it is where single women prowl for married men to have affairs with.

And ‘staid’ Tunbridge Wells comes second

Chelsea is the no 1 hotspot for single women seeking affairs with married men, according to new research from AshleyMadison.com.  The world’s leading dating site for extra-marital affairs has found that 43.96% of its women members who are seeking affairs with married men in Chelsea are actually single.

UK.mistress.hotspots

Noel Biderman, AshleyMadison.com founder and CEO says: “Chelsea is part of London’s richest borough and home to some of the capital’s wealthiest men. Single women are drawn to status, to men who have made something of themselves, even if that includes having a wife and family. As Oscar Wilde said and James Goldsmith famously paraphrased, “When a man marries his mistress he creates a vacancy.” It’s no accident that so many mistresses live in Chelsea and our female members such as Lady Catherine and Rosetti Lover are looking for their own Jimmy Goldsmith.’

At Mistress Hotspot no 2, Tunbridge Wells has a more conservative image with its prep schools, Georgian architecture and spa heritage. Yet 42.04% of the women there are single and actively seeking an affair with a married man.

Noel Biderman says: ‘Does ‘Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells’ have an alter ego as Ashley Madison’s HardAsRock or RugbyJunky? There are a lot of well heeled, successful men there, however staid they may or may not be. A Tunbridge Wells man obviously holds promise as a lover, even if he is married.’

St Albans is 3rd on the list for would-be mistresses and Loughborough comes 4th.

With Oxford bottom of the list, it seems that while the single women of the city are inclined to stick to their studies, the academic world is not immune to passion.

Mistress Hotspots: % of female members who are single:

Chelsea, London          42.04%

Tunbridge Wells           42.04%

St Albans                      41.01%

Loughborough              39.17%

Dartford                        38.91%

Hemel Hempstead       38.36%

Chester                         36.94%

Newcastle upon Tyne  36.55%

Bristol                           35.70%

Oxford                          35.45%

Are you going to avoid these areas?

The Buckley Poppy Now Available in Support of The Royal British Legion

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In support of the Royal British Legion, QVC has introduced the beautiful Buckley Poppy to mark Remembrance Day on 11th of November. These great accessories are available as cufflinks, key-rings, bracelets and brooches. QVC has raised £378,000 so far, help them to raise more by splashing out.

300167 Buckley Crystal Poppy Brooch £21.00 B1077 BT747 KR007Available from QVC.co.uk

 

Have Your Moment Of Calm This Christmas With Goldie Hawn And Max Benjamin

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Goldie Hawn, Max Benjamin, candle, relax, calm, Christmas is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation, but for many it can be a massive source of stress and anxiety. Make sure you take some time out of your hectic Christmas schedule to indulge in a moment of calm with the help of this gorgeous candle from Max Benjamin.

The “Calm” candle in collaboration with Goldie Hawn and The Hawn Foundation features a blend of soothing Lavender oils with natural wax and three wicks. The Lavender fragrance was chosen by Goldie and Max Benjamin because Lavender aromatherapy is great for reducing stress and is widely used in aromatherapy treatment for its calming and relaxing properties. In clinical trials Cortisol, a stress hormone produced by the body, was shown to have a great reduction in the measured levels within 5 minutes of the patient smelling real Lavender.

The Hawn Foundation is a charitable organisation that aims to reduce stress and anxiety in children, allowing them to thrive and lead healthier, more resilient lives. It was set up nearly a decade ago by Goldie after she was appalled by the alarming increase in stress, anxiety and depression in young people.

Goldie says… “I created this candle to give something beautiful to people. I chose the name ‘Calm’ because a calm environment means less stress and anxiety. Knowing that scents have powerful effects on the brain, I chose Lavender for the sense of well-being it engenders. Together the name and the scent of this wonderful candle convey our essential message to children and parents alike; that their well-being, their sense of calm and confidence is of the utmost importance!”

Available from www.maxbenjamin.co.uk for £30

Get Trashed At Car Boot Disco: Swapping And Customisation Party at Ministry of Sound

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What:                   vInspired presents Car Boot Disco
A clothes-swapping and customisation party for young people, launching the Get Trashed campaign to save 10,000 clothing items from landfill
Where:          Ministry of Sound, 103 Gaunt St., London, SE1 6DP
When:         Sunday 24th November, 2013 3pm-7pm
Who:                  The event will feature DJ sets from the best in UK dance music talent, and customisation from the most cutting edge young people in London’s fashion communities
Tickets:         Free – Register at vInspired.com/gettrashed

Campaign Image Small

London’s iconic Ministry of Sound will play host to the first ever Car Boot Disco on 24th November. The Sunday afternoon Ministry party combines music, fashion and swapping to encourage young people to update their wardrobe by exchanging and customising clothes instead of spending on fast fashion.

The event launches vInspired’s Get Trashed campaign to save over 10,000 clothes from landfill before the end of the year. It will create a tribe of young people dedicated to re-using, recycling and having fun – whilst looking good at the same time. Young people will feel part of a movement, putting the issue of waste front of mind – empowering them to run their own events and spread the message via the Do Something channels, social media and word-of-mouth.

This free party is aimed at young people in London who are bored with their wardrobes and want a fresh update, but without the cost. vInspired is inviting anyone with swap-able clothes to come along to the event and take home something that is new to them but unwanted by someone else.

Rising fashion designers will be on hand, hosting special areas of the super-club to provide unique professional customisation like studding, badging and ripping – ‘pimping’ up tired looking items. Fashion scouts will be attending the Ministry of Sound event, looking for potential models who can rock any outfit – old or new – making this the perfect chance to showcase individual style.

Spinning the perfect soundtrack to for a Sunday afternoon session will be some of the very best DJs from the UK’s dance music scene who will be hitting the decks for the duration of the event. Remixing music alongside the remixed fashion.

Tickets to the event are free; for more information please visit www.vinspired.com/gettrashed <http://www.vinspired.com/gettrashed>   

Psychologies Reveals The New Year Resolutions We’re Already Planning To Break

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Anti Gravity yoga , Anti-Gravity Yoga and Ballet Barre Conditioning at The London Dance Academy, barrel ballet, conditioning. fitness, sport… And why the New Year is the worst time to make them

I have given up making New Year Resolutions. Instead I reevaluate my life when I have a birthday, making lists of goals and plans. It seems that other people are not good with resolutions either. In fact, my resolution last year was not to make a resolution.

Nationwide research by UK lifestyle magazine, Psychologies, has revealed that a surprising 70% of us will already be thinking about the opportunity that the New Year presents to make changes in our lives, by the first week of November. The findings indicate that we’re holding out for January 1st, despite the fact that one in five of us admit that we’re currently ‘desperate’ to make a change – and that we’re also almost certainly doomed to fail.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of the UK makes New Year resolutions, but the majority of us admit that we’ve failed to succeed in the past, with a staggering 68% giving up within the month of January itself. It’s not surprising, then, that only a depressing 11% of us believe that we’re very likely to stick to the changes that we’re already planning for 2014.

Life coach and editor of Psychologies, Suzy Greaves, believes that the problem lies with the New Year tradition itself and is urging her readers to boycott January resolutions and just start right now, instead, “It’s not just the post-festivity blues, empty wallets and grim weather that make January a bad time to make positive changes. The January 1st tradition focuses us on one huge goal, like ‘being healthy’ and we feel that we should be able to magically transform our behaviour overnight, rather than implementing smaller changes that work towards the bigger goal, over a realistic time period.

“When we fail to meet this inflated demand, feelings of ‘failure’ negatively reinforce our behaviour to the extent that, as our research has found, over a third of us (39%) don’t try again for another year. Simply put, January 1st creates a vicious loop when it comes to making important – and often vital – changes in our lives. My advice as a life coach is simply to forget January and start now – our current issue has a special report to help readers ditch bad habits and take up good ones by making tiny changes that deliver huge results.”

The Psychologies research found personal finance to be the most common area for desired change, with over half of us citing this as something we were resolving to change. But whilst a third (33%) wish to save more, only 10% want to resolve to spend less. 49% want to find a way to earn more.

Despite the focus on our finances and perhaps suggesting an over reliance on hopes for a lottery win, only a quarter of us are considering making a change within our careers. Of these people, 39% are hoping to initiate promotion, 26% are wishing to change career paths entirely and 23% want to start a business.

The orthodox resolution to ‘lose weight’ was the second most popular desired change and on the minds of over half of Brits surveyed. Weight loss features again amongst those who want to improve their health with 28% acknowledging that it’s the change that’s required.  20% more women prioritised weight loss as a desired change, than men.

The Psychologies research found that when it comes to those wishing to make changes to social and family relationships, 43% want to prioritise improving the relationship and sex life that they share with their partner. Whilst that may sound gloomy at first glance, these statistics can be viewed more positively when compared to the fact that only 7% want to leave a relationship with a partner. Looking at sex lives specifically, 16% more men want to improve their sex life, than women, but an equal percentage of men and women (27%) want to improve the relationship with their partner.

 

What is your New Year Resolution?

PR or Advertising: So What’s The Difference?

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What's the difference between PR and advertising?Jane Ellison-Bates of Manifest Marketing outlines the difference between PR and advertising – and why that matters

We all make assumptions that certain aspects of our businesses are as clear to others as they are to us.   Whatever trade you are in it’s probably the same; there are some areas of knowledge which are so fundamental that you may assume other people, especially your customers, know what you know. But maybe they don’t.

I have been amazed on a few occasions when business owners have confessed to me that they don’t really understand the difference between advertising and PR.  After more years than I care to reveal in the business, to me it was obvious, but I have come to realise that it’s always worth highlighting with a new client the differences between the two.

My favourite way to explain it is the ‘earned versus owned’ principle.

When you decide to book and pay a publication for space or airtime you therefore ‘own’ it.  Quite simply, this is advertising.  Its principal advantage is that because you are paying for it, within reason you can say what you like.  You get to choose how it looks, where it appears and when it appears.  You are completely in control.  If anything goes wrong or contravenes the T&Cs of your booking then you have the right to complain and seek some form of recompense.  You are essentially blowing your own trumpet, and if you do it well you will convince some, if not all, of the people who see, hear or watch your advert that they should buy your product or service.

PR is a whole different ball game.  This time you need to ‘earn’ your space or fifteen minutes of fame.  You can’t pay a TV station to be featured on the news, or a magazine to run a feature; you have to be offering something that an editor wants to share with the audience.  It’s much, much harder and as such commands a greater value.  This time someone else thinks you’re interesting and is prepared to publicise it over and above other contenders. As a result, as a basic rule of thumb in the marketing industry, PR coverage is valued at three times its advertising equivalent, so, for example, a full page valued at £1000 in the advertising media pack is worth £3000 as editorial.  And you don’t actually pay them for it.  Weird but true.

Editorial coverage for your product, service or story wins you kudos in your field and sets you apart. The downside might be that your story isn’t deemed interesting and doesn’t appear, or that it gets edited in a way you don’t like; possibly even erroneously.  It happens.  Unless it’s actually libellous you are likely to have no comeback.  Alternatively, you may not like the position of the piece; but don’t even think about complaining if you want to have any hope of getting future coverage from them.

And that’s where a PR company comes in handy. Let them get to know your business and they will winkle out the interesting stories, present them well to minimise editing and ‘earn’ you that coverage that you covet.