Not My Talent.blogspot.com

Stocks!!!

2010-09-27T00:10:00.001+05:30

What Are Stocks?
Plain and simple, stock is a share in the ownership of a company. Stock represents a claim on the company's assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company becomes greater. Whether you say shares, equity, or stock, it all means the same thing.
It must be emphasized that there are no guarantees when it comes to individual stocks. Some companies pay out dividends, but many others do not. And there is no obligation to pay out dividends even for those firms that have traditionally given them. Without dividends, an investor can make money on a stock only through its appreciation in the open market. On the downside, any stock may go bankrupt, in which case your investment is worth nothing.
Different Types Of Stocks
There are two main types of stocks: common stock and preferred stock.
Common Stock
Common stock is, well, common. When people talk about stocks they are usually referring to this type. In fact, the majority of stock is issued is in this form
Preferred Stock
Preferred stock represents some degree of ownership in a company but usually doesn't come with the same voting rights. (This may vary depending on the company.) With preferred shares, investors are usually guaranteed a fixed dividend forever. This is different than common stock, which has variable dividends that are never guaranteed.
What Is Short Selling?
Short selling is the selling of a stock that the seller doesn't own. More specifically, a short sale is the sale of a security that isn't owned by the seller, but that is promised to be delivered. That may sound confusing, but it's actually a simple concept.
when you short sell a stock, your broker will lend it to you. The stock will come from the brokerage's own inventory, from another one of the firm's customers, or from another brokerage firm. The shares are sold and the proceeds are credited to your account. Sooner or later, you must "close" the short by buying back the same number of shares (called covering) and returning them to your broker. If the price drops, you can buy back the stock at the lower price and make a profit on the difference. If the price of the stock rises, you have to buy it back at the higher price, and you lose money.
In the game shorted stocks are automatically covered at market close.
What Causes Stock Prices To Change?
Stock prices change every day as a result of market forces. By this we mean that share prices change because of supply and demand. If more people want to buy a stock (demand) than sell it (supply), then the price moves up. Conversely, if more people wanted to sell a stock than buy it, there would be greater supply than demand, and the price would fall.
The Bulls, The Bears And The Farm
The Bulls
A bull market is when everything in the economy is great, people are finding jobs, gross domestic product (GDP) is growing, and stocks are rising. Things are just plain rosy! Picking stocks during a bull market is easier because everything is going up. Bull markets cannot last forever though, and sometimes they can lead to dangerous situations if stocks become overvalued. If a person is optimistic and believes that stocks will go up, he or she is called a "bull" and is said to have a "bullish outlook".
The Bears
A bear market is when the economy is bad, recession is looming and stock prices are falling. Bear markets make it tough for investors to pick profitable stocks. One solution to this is to make money when stocks are falling using a technique called short selling. Another strategy is to wait on the sidelines until you feel that the bear market is nearing its end, only starting to buy in anticipation of a bull market. If a person is pessimistic, believing that stocks are going to drop, he or she is called a "bear" and said to have a "bearish outlook".
The Other Animals on the Farm - Chickens and Pigs
Chickens are afraid to lose anything. Their fear overrides their need to make profits and so they turn only to money-market securities or get out of the markets entirely. While it's true that you should never invest in something over which you lose sleep, you are also guaranteed never to see any return if you avoid the market completely and never take any risk,
Pigs are high-risk investors looking for the one big score in a short period of time. Pigs buy on hot tips and invest in companies without doing their due diligence. They get impatient, greedy, and emotional about their investments, and they are drawn to high-risk securities without putting in the proper time or money to learn about these investment vehicles. Professional traders love the pigs, as it's often from their losses that the bulls and bears reap their profits.

Sweet Qira-ath

2010-09-05T01:31:00.000+05:30

Sweet Qiraat by a small boy

Qira-ath(Quran Recitation) by a small guy. It touched ma heart very much. After hearing this sweet voice i understood how Umer bin Khathab (R) got converted to Islam. It is such a beautiful qira-at. Surath yaseen is recited in this video. I am sorry 2 say that itz only upto the first mubeen. i cant find the full recitation. Please hear this video. It just cause u 2min. And feel free 2 comment.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8382061/Sweet%20Yaseen.3gp

Details
Name : Sweet Yaseen
Format : 3gp
Size : 2.55 MB
Duration : 02:31
Bitrate : 138kbps

Essentials Duas

2010-08-26T01:18:00.000+05:30

Essential Duas in the life of a Muslim

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8382061/Essential_Duas.pdf

Wordz of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W

2010-08-14T09:50:00.000+05:30

(1) Refrain from sleeping between Subah and Ishraq; Asr and Maghrib; Maghrib and Isha = സുബഹിക്കും സൂര്യോദയത്തിനുമിടയില് ഉറങ്ങരുത്. അസറിനും മഗ്രിബിനുമിടയിലും ഉറങ്ങരുത്. മഗ്രിബിനും ഇഷാക്കുമിടയിലും ഉറങ്ങരുത്.

(2) Avoid sitting with stingy people = പിശുക്കന്മാരായ ആളുകളുടെ കൂടെ ഇരിക്കുന്നത് ഒഴിവാക്കുക.

(3) Donot sleep between people who sit = ഇരിക്കുന്ന ആളുകളുടെ ഇടയില് ഉറങ്ങരുത്

(4) Donot eat and drink with your left hand = ഇടതു കൈ കൊണ്ട് തിന്നുകയും കുടിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യരുത്.

(5) Donot eat those food you have taken out between your teeth = പല്ലുകളുടെ ഇടയില് നിന്ന് പുറത്തെടുത്ത ഭക്ഷണം തിന്നരുത്.

(6) Donot break your knuckles = വിരലുകളുടെ കെനുപ്പുകള് പൊട്ടിക്കരുത്.

(7) Donot look at the mirror in the night = രാത്രിയില് കന്നാടിയില് നോക്കരുത്.

(8) Donot look at the sky while in salaath = നമസ്കരിക്കുമ്പോള് ആകാശത്തേക്ക് നോക്കരുത്.

(9) Donot spit in the toilet = വിസര്ജ്യ സ്ഥലത്ത് തുപ്പരുത്.

(10) Donot clean your teeth with charcoal = പല്ലുകള് കരി കൊണ്ട് വൃത്തിയാക്കരുത്.

(11) Sit and wear your trousers = ഇരിക്കുക പിന്നെ ട്രൗസറുകള് അണിയുക.

(12) Donot break tough things with your teeth = പല്ല് കൊണ്ട് ഉറപ്പുള്ള സാധനങ്ങള് കടിച്ചു പൊട്ടിക്കരുത്.

(13) Donot blow on your food when itâ€™s hot = ഭക്ഷണം ചൂടുണ്ടെങ്കില് അതിലേക്കു ഊതരുത്

(14) Donot look for faults of others = മറ്റുള്ളവരുടെ പാഴ്ച്ചകകളിലേക്ക് നോക്കരുത്.

(15) Donot talk between iqamath and azan = ബാങ്കിന്റെയും ഇകാമാത്തിന്റെയും ഇടയില് സംസാരിക്കരുത്.

(16) Donot speak in the toilet = വിസര്ജ്യ സ്ഥലത്ത് വെച്ച് സംസാരിക്കരുത്.

(17) Donot speak tales about your friends = നിന്റെ സുഹൃത്തുകളെ പറ്റി കഥകള് പറയരുത്.

(18) Donot antagonize your friends = നിന്റെ സുഹൃത്തുകളെ നീ ദേഷ്യപ്പെടുത്തരുത്.

(19) Donot look behind frequently while walking = നടക്കുമ്പോള് പിന്നിലേക്ക് തുടര്ച്ചയായി തിരിഞ്ഞു നോക്കരുത്.

(20) Donot stamp your feet while walking = നടക്കുമ്പോള് കാലുകളുടെ അടയാളം പതിക്കരുത്.

(21) Donot be suspicious about your friends = സുഹൃത്തുക്കളെ പറ്റി സംശയാലു ആകരുത്.

(22) Donot speak lies at anytime = ഒരിക്കലും കളവു പറയരുത്.

(23) Donot smell and eat = മണത്തു നോക്കി ഭക്ഷിക്കരുത്.

(24) Speak clearly so others can understand = മറ്റുള്ളവര്ക്ക് മനസ്സിലാവുന്ന വിധത്തില് വ്യക്തമായി സംസാരിക്കുക.

(25) Avoid travelling alone = ഒറ്റയ്ക്ക് യാത്ര ചെയ്യുന്നത് ഒഴിവാക്കുക.

(26) Donot decide on your own but consult others who know = സ്വയം തീരുമാനമെടുക്കരുത്, അറിവുള്ളവരോട് ചോദിക്കുക.

(27) Donot be proud of yourself = സ്വയം ആത്മാഭിമാനം കൊള്ളരുത്.

(28) Donot be sad about your food = നിന്റെ ഭക്ഷണത്തെ പറ്റി ഒരിക്കലും ദുഖിക്കരുത്.

(29) Donot boast = സ്വയം വീമ്പ് പറയരുത്.

(30) Donot chase the beggars = പിച്ചക്കാരെ പിന്തുടരരുത് / വിരട്ടരുത്.

(31) Treat your guests well with good heart = അധിധികളെ നന്നായി നല്ല മനസ്സോടെ സല്കരിക്കുക.

(32) Be patient when in poverty = ദാരിദ്യമായിരിക്കുമ്പോള് ക്ഷമയുള്ളവനായിരിക്കുക.

(33) Assist a good cause = നല്ല കാര്യങ്ങള്ക്ക് സഹായിക്കുക.

(34) Think of your faults and repent = നിന്റെ തെറ്റുകളെ പറ്റി ചിന്തിക്കുക, പശ്ചാത്തപിക്കുക.

(35) Do good to those who do bad to you = നിന്നോട് തെറ്റ് ചെയ്തവരോട് നീ നല്ലത് ചെയ്യുക.

(36) Be satisfied with what you have = നിനക്ക് ഉള്ളത് കൊണ്ട് ത്രിപ്ടിപ്പെടുക.

(37) Donot sleep too much- it will cause forgetfulness = അധികം ഉറങ്ങരുത്, അത് ഓര്മക്കേടിന് കാരണമാവും,

(38) Repent at least 100 times a day = ഒരു ദിവസം നൂറു പ്രവശ്യമെന്കിലും പാശ്ചതാപിക്കുക.

(39) Donot eat in darkness = ഇരുട്ടത്ത് ഭക്ഷണം കഴിക്കരുത്.

(40) Donot eat mouthful = വായ നിറയെ ഇട്ടു ഭക്ഷിക്കരുത്.

"ഒരു നന്മ അറിയിച്ചു കൊടുക്കുന്നവന് ആ നന്മ ചെയ്യുന്നവനെ പോലെയാണ്" ഈ സന്തെഷം തങ്ങളുടെ സുഹൃത്തുക്കള്ക്കും എത്തിക്കുമല്ലോ

Please Forward>>>

Know About Muhammad Rasulullah (S.A.W)

2010-07-12T17:56:00.001+05:30

http://muhammad.net

Why Should Facebook & Youtube Banned In Muslim World

2010-07-12T17:38:00.000+05:30

Checked the true terrorists who have tried to destroy the world peace through sketches of MUHAMMAD, MUHAMMAD said: Respect the religions and religious beliefs of others. lest they also respect yours.

the above quoted of MUHAMMAD reflects high values which ensured world peace after great Islamic revolution brought by MUHAMMAD in the shortest time. Lately in the book of “hundred great people” written by a Christian, the name MUHAMMAD manifests at the top most in ranking, as the most ever person who influenced the world at large scale in entire human history.

In contrast to the character of MUHAMMAD, few characterless people are trying to spit on sun that will surely fall their own faces.

MUHAMMAD ensured and confirmed the world peace to its perfection, among different religions by respecting other religions, but on the other hand, the flag holders of world peace are keeping quite on the attempt which leads to the destruction of peace.

The sketches of MUHAMMAD is criminal effort through which there may be disorder, destruction and even alarming for human life, sketch competition on facebook and youtube has surely hurt all the Muslims and few may stand with their lives and soul against it.

We demand that FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE must be permanently baned and the organizers of sketch competition punished for being the root cause of destruction of peace and human life, they are the terrorists in true sense. They are causing and producing terrorists.

Who would then be blamed if there is destruction of life and peace? if a terrorist plant a bomb somewhere, and is caught before the blast, will he not be a true terrorist? Surely he is. In the same way, sketch competition organizers must also be caught and Checked.

Trust me Or visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100

Last Breath

2010-06-23T02:16:00.006+05:30

From those around I hear a Cry,
A muffled sob, a Hopeless sigh,

I hear their footsteps leaving slow,
And then I know my soul must Fly!

A chilly wind begins to blow,
Within my soul, from Head to Toe,
And then, Last Breath escapes my lips,
It's Time to leave. And I must Go!

So, it is True (But it's too Late)
They said: Each soul has its Given Date,
When it must leave its body's core,
And meet with its Eternal Fate.

Oh mark the words that I do say,

Who knows? Tomorrow could be your Day,

At last, it comes to Heaven or Hell
Decide which now, Do NOT delay!
Come on my brothers let us pray
Decide which now, Do NOT delay!

Oh God! Oh God! I cannot see!
My eyes are Blind! Am I still Me
Or has my soul been led astray,
And forced to pay a Priceless Fee

Alas to Dust we all return,
Some shall rejoice, while others burn,
If only I knew that before
The line grew short, and came my Turn!

And now, as beneath the sod
They lay me (with my record flawed),
They cry, not knowing I cry worse,
For, they go home, I face my God!

Oh mark the words that I do say,

Who knows, Tomorrow could be your Day,
At last, it comes to Heaven or Hell
Decide which now, Do NOT delay !
Come on my brothers let's pray
Decide which now, do not delay ....

Last Breath is a heart touching song from Ahmed Bukhatir.It's saying about the death & life after death.Try to hear the song, I am sure u will like it.If u like it, pls add ur comment.
Do u wanna hear the song.Click d link below.
Download Last Breath(from 4shared.com)
Download LAST BREATH(from dropbox.com)[Recomented]

Details
Name : Last breath
Format : MP3
Size : 6.79MB
Duration : 04:56
Bitrate : 192kbps

Love Muhammad Musthafa (S A)

2010-06-22T22:52:00.000+05:30

Love for the Prophet is a Condition of Faith

by Dr. Ahmad Shafaat

Love for the Prophet Muhammad is a measure of one's iman (faith and inner conviction) and our iman is completed and perfected only when our love for the Prophet exceeds our love for everything else in this world, including our own lives. The Holy Qur'an says:

"The Prophet is preferable for the believers even to their own selves..." (33:6)

This is a definitional sentence which tells us what it takes to be a believer: preferring the Prophet even to one's own life. In confirmation of this the Prophet is reported in Hadith to have said:

"None of you becomes a believer until I am dearer to him than his children, his parents and all mankind." (as reported by Bukhari and Muslim) Some versions add: "his life, his wealth and his family".

The best of believers, the suhaba (companions of the Prophet), did show such love for the Prophet, especially the noblest of them. Hadhrat Ali, speaking on behalf of all the community ofsuhaba in Medina , is reported to have said:

"The Holy Prophet is dearer to us than our wealth, our children, our fathers, our forefathers, our mothers and cool water at the time of severe thirst."

The firmly established principle in Islam that our iman is as good as our love for the Prophet is fairly and accurately expressed by an Urdu poet when he says:

"Without love for the Prophet it is difficult to find God;

He who is not of the Prophet's cannot be of God.

Without love for Muhammad faith cannot be complete;

To be a Muslim it is not enough to believe in God.

Daily prayers, charity, fasting and hajj are fine;

But despite these I cannot be among the faithful.

Unless I am ready to be sacrificed for the honour of Muhammad;

God is witness - my faith cannot attain perfection."

Love of the Prophet breathes life into our practice of religion. Without it our religion reduces to an empty adherence to a set of dead rules and rituals.

("Soul of iman, essence of the Qur'an and life of religion - all these are love of Muhammad, the Mercy to All Creation.")

THE MEANING OF THIS LOVE FOR THE PROPHET

At one level it seems clear why the faithful should love the Prophet: he is their teacher, guide and leader and it is impossible for him to teach, guide and lead them if they don't love him. But there is a deeper meaning in the principle that love for the Prophet is essential for iman.

Love of the Prophet is love of all the beauty and nobility of character, truthfulness, justness, humility and inner strength of which man is capable and which the Prophet as al-insan al-kamil(the Perfect man) possessed in the utmost degree. Love for the Prophet means to acknowledge, cherish and glorify all the potential of goodness and greatness that God has created withinMan.

It also means love of humanity, not just in regard to its potential for perfection but also despite its general inability to realize that potential and despite all kind of imperfections and weaknesses from which it suffers. For the Prophet is not only the Perfect Man but also the Representative Man who on the day of judgment will represent mankind and plead on their behalf for their imperfections and weaknesses before the throne of God.

Thus love of the Prophet, on the one hand puts us on the road to perfection by making us cherish it dearly and on the other hand it helps us accept our imperfect humanity and in this way to live in peace with ourselves as repentant servants of God hopeful of His mercy. This is why love for the Prophet is a condition of iman, for what is iman if it is not to acknowledge and repent for one's imperfections and weaknesses and to cherish and strive for - even as an unachievable ideal - the perfection of which man is potentially capable?

There are two closely interconnected sides of iman. One is divine and consists of recognizing God and being at peace with Him. The other is recognizing one's own self and being at peace with oneself. The two sides are like two sides of a coin, none of which can exist without the other. This is shown by numerous verses in the Qur'an and ahadith of the Prophet. For example, the Prophet is reported to have said that he who recognized his own self recognized his Lord. Approaching the same principle from the other direction, the Qur'an says:

"that those who forget God are made to forget their own selves" (59:19).

The word Islam means being at peace with God and this is linked in the Qur'an with being a self at peace with itself.

The love of the Prophet represents the human side of faith. as man the Prophet represents a believers own true self. His love for the Prophet means that he has recognized his own true self and is at peace with himself which in turn means that he has recognized his Lord and made peace with Him by surrendering to Him.

THE PROPHET ALSO LOVED US

If the faithful love the prophet, they are not the first to do so. The Prophet loved the faithful first. The Qur'an testifies to this when it says:

"(The Prophet) is greatly grieved at your loss and extremely anxious for your good. For the believers he is full of kindness and rahmah (mercy, love)." (9:128)

The Prophet's love was not limited just to the believers. In a way he loved all of God's creation. God says in the Qur'an:

"We have not sent you (O Prophet) but as rahmah to all the worlds." (21:107)

It is true that the Prophet had to battle those who were bent on doing zulm (injustice) on their own selves and to remind them of the bitter reality of hell. But this too was out of rahmah (mercy and love), not out of enmity or hate. It is always an easy thing to do to leave alone those of one's fellow human beings who choose the path that leads to their destruction. In contrast, it takes a tremendous amount of love and courage to try to help them, which is exactly what the Prophet tried to do, successfully as it turned out towards the end of his life. That the Prophet was motivated by rahmah even for his opponents is shown by the ease with which he forgave them all at the time of Makkan conquest.

HOW THE PROPHET SUFFERED FOR MANKIND

Among the indications of the Prophet's love for mankind is the untold sufferings he endured at the hands of his opponents whom he forgave with such ease after his victory.

When the Holy Prophet started his work almost all the people of his city opposed him even though they had known him for all of his life as a man of exceptional integrity and intelligence. They at first subjected him to verbal attacks, jeers and insults. But later they started to combine verbal attacks with physical aggression. They would lay thorns in his way and throw garbage and dust on him. On one occasion he returned with dust still on his head. One of his daughters rose, with tears in her eyes, to wipe it off. The Prophet was more hurt to see tears in his daughter's eyes than the treatment he himself received from his fellow citizens. He comforted her, saying: "My daughter, weep not, for verily the Lord will be your father's helper."

Once the city populace tried to inflict a different type on injury on the Prophet. When one day he went out for an errand, not one of the people in the streets looked at him or spoke to him or jeered or insulted him. This, their silent way of saying to the Prophet, "You are not one of us because you speak against our traditional ways" hurt the Prophet more than the jeers and insults he was used to hearing before.

When the Prophet felt that he was not getting anywhere with the Makkans, he started to turn more and more to outsiders who came to Makkah for pilgrimage. But his efforts among the pilgrims were frustrated by men like Abu Lahab who would follow the Prophet and cry aloud: "Believe him not, he is a lying renegade". One day this especially grieved the Prophet. But all he did was to look upward and say, "O Lord if You will it would not be thus!".

In the year 620 C.E., the Prophet decided to travel outside Makkah, so that he could preach his message without being followed by his Makkan enemies. The city of Al-Tayf was the natural first choice. Situated about sixty miles east of Makkah, it was the nearest city of importance. Accompanied only by Zayd, the Prophet made a tiring journey through barren rocky defiles. He spent ten days in Al-Tayf preaching to the tribal chiefs as well as common people. But they all rejected him saying they did not want to spoil relations with the Makkans for the sake of a new religion. As the days passed, the people of Al-Tayf became more and more hostile, until the tenth day they began to hoot him through the streets and pelt him with stones. Even as he fled the city, a relentless mob pursued him and did not desist until they had chased him two or three miles across the sandy plain to the foot of the surrounding hills. There, tired and with blood flowing from both his legs, the Prophet took refuge in one of the orchards. Zayd who had endeavored to shield the Prophet against the stones thrown at him was wounded in the head.

After a couple of years the Prophet managed to get sufficient support in one Arabian city - Medina - and decided to move there. But his enemies in Makkah plotted to murder him before he could emigrate to Medina , a plot that came very close to being successful.

Even after his escape from hostile Makkah to the relatively friendlyMedina the suffering of the Prophet continued. The Quraysh and other Arab tribes under their influence frequently waged battles against him and his followers. In Medina itself the Jews vexed and frustrated the Prophet with their wily plots and at one time even tried to poison him. The hypocrites, the secret enemies of the Prophet who pretended to be Muslims, were also busy in intrigues and whisper campaigns against the Prophet, a particularly nasty example of which is provided by their accusations against the Prophet's wife Ayesha which were as painful for the Prophet as for Ayesha herself. Sometimes even the believers unintentionally caused pain to the Prophet. They would, for example, sometimes impolitely walk away from him leaving him alone standing by himself, as is witnessed by the following verse in the Qur'an:

"When they see some (opportunity of) trade or some amusement they rush headlong towards it and leave you standing alone..." (62:11)

These and many other things did the Holy Prophet suffer over a period of many years. He did not have to. Just before he started his mission he had everything that men generally hope for: health, a prosperous business, a loving wife, fine children, faithful relatives and friends as well as the trust and respect of his fellow citizens. If he wanted he could have led as comfortable a life as any in Makkah. But he chose the road of suffering and hardship. He did so for the love of the very people who ignorantly persecuted him and for the welfare of the whole of mankind.

THE MEANING OF THE PROPHET'S SUFFERING

Like all aspects of the Prophet's life, his suffering has profound lessons for us. It teaches us that this world is a battlefield between good and evil, truth and falsehood, justice and oppression and that although God has willed that in the long run goodness, truth and justice will always be victorious. He has also willed that this victory will not be made too easy.

The suffering of the Prophet is also a vivid reminder for us that whereas man has tremendous potential for goodness he also has an enormous potential for evil. The Prophet represents the ultimate in human potential for goodness while the opposition that his work inspired in his countrymen and which he gradually conquered by his love and wisdom represents the ultimate in human potential for evil. But we must not condemn those who persecuted the Prophet. For the Prophet's suffering was caused by that potential for ignorance and obstinacy that is found in all of us. Who knows that some of us would not have thrown garbage on the Prophet or persecuted him in some other way if we had been living in Makkah of his time? After all, men far greater than us, e.g. Hadhrat 'Umar and Hadhrat Khalid bin Walid at one time persecuted the Prophet. No, the Prophet did not suffer in order that we may condemn anyone. He suffered so that we may have hope and humility. He suffered so that we may find out how much potential there is within us for goodness and how much potential there is within us for ignorance and obstinacy - the root causes of all evil. We need to see both potentials within us. The first one gives us hope in our destiny and in the destiny of man generally and the second one gives us humility. And humility and hope is what we need in order to prosper.

Thus the Prophet's suffering should make us think of the potential of evil that we all have within us and make us determined to overcome that evil. The best way to overcome evil is to love the Prophet, for the more we love the Prophet the more we will strengthen the element of goodness in us and the more capable we will become to overcome evil.

GLORIFYING AND BLESSING THE PROPHET

Our love for the Prophet can be expressed by glorifying and blessing him. A verse in the Holy Qur'an mentions the three aspects under the single term salat `ala an-nabi.

The Arabic phrase salat `ala has three meanings:

1) Turning to someone with love and affection.

2) Glorifying or praising someone.

3) Blessing or favoring someone.

In the above verse all three meanings can be applied so that the verse can be translated as follows:

"Undoubtedly, God and His angels love, glorify and bless the Prophet. O believers! You (too) love, glorify and bless the Prophet and salute him with all due respect." (33:56)

How do God and His angels love, glorify and bless the Prophet and how can we do the same?

The least way in which God loves the Prophet is that He makes His beloved anyone who follows him, as it is said in the Qur'an:

"Say (to mankind O Muhammad), If you love God, follow me (and) God will love you..." (3:31)

God alone knows how else he loves the Prophet.

The way God glorifies the Prophet is that He has given him the name Ahmad or Muhammad, which means the Glorious, the Admirable, that He has been giving it to mankind the good news of his coming through earlier prophets (3:81, 7:157, 61:6) and that He raises his mention among those on earth and those in heaven, as He says: "We have raised your mention" (94:4)

God blesses the Prophet by continually raising his station. The least of God's blessing on the Prophet is that He has made him the leader and representative of all mankind.

Angels love the Prophet as the completely faithful servants of a king would love those whom the king loves. They glorify the Prophet by singing his praises in heaven and they bless him by asking God to bless him more and more.

The least of the ways the believers can love the Prophet is to love him the way all people love their leaders. The best way they can love him is by being willing to sacrifice all that they have for his name's sake.

The way the believers can glorify the Prophet is to praise him through poetic and prose expressions, in writings and in speeches, on radio and on television [and now on the Internet], in the gatherings of Muslims and in the gatherings of non-Muslims.

The way the believers can bless the Prophet is by reciting one of the several forms of durud that are traditional and that pray to God to keep blessing the Prophet more and more.

(Some fuqaha (Muslim jurists) say that the verse under consideration puts an obligation on the Muslims which is dispensed with if one recites a durud at least once in his lifetime. Others say that it obliges Muslims to recite durudeach time the name of the Prophet is mentioned. But such dry legalistic interpretations do not do justice to the spirit of the verse. If faith requires preferring the Prophet over our own lives and loving him more than our children, parents and all mankind, then what is the value of uttering now and then a ritual formula as an obligation?)

Salutations. The verse also tells the believer to salute the Prophet with all due respect. We can salute the Prophet by reciting durud, since all forms of durud contain salutations. This, however, is the least of the ways of saluting the Prophet. The best of the ways is to wholeheartedly accept him as our leader, teacher and guide and to obey him in the spirit.

HOW FAR CAN WE GO IN GLORIFYING THE PROPHET

All praises are fit for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) if they do not raise him beyond the level of a man and a creature of God. We can, for example, declare him to be the greatest of all the prophets and messengers of God and the crown of all creation. That this praise is applicable to the Prophet is shown by the way the Holy Qur'an presents him as a messenger and mercy of God to all mankind and for all times to come, in contrast to other prophets and messengers whose missions were limited to particular periods and regions. It is also clear from the Islamic belief that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) completed and perfected the work of earlier prophets who brought partial revelations. Hadith also supports the position that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the greatest of all Prophets (and therefore the crown of all creation, since man is God's best creation and the prophets are the best of men, so that the best of the prophets is the best of God's creation). Thus in almost all books of hadith we find the tradition that when during mi'raj the Prophet was taken from the mosque in Makkah to the mosque in Jerusalem he met all the earlier prophets and led them in prayer as their imam. Also, in Sahih Muslim, one chapter in entitled: "The Superiority of the Prophet over all creation" and contains the following hadith:

Abu Hurayra reported the Prophet as saying: "I will be the leader of all the children of Adam on the day of judgment. My grave will be the first to open. I will be the first to intercede and my intercession will be accepted first."

Some Muslims hesitate to declare the Prophet as the greatest of all the Prophets because the Qur'an says:

"(The believers) make no distinction between any of His messengers." (2:285)

But the Holy Qur'an also says:

"Some of these messengers have We favoured more than others..." (2:253)

If we do not concentrate on the first verse in disregard of the other, then it becomes clear that the Holy Qur'an is making a distinction between the nature of the prophets and their stature. The first verse is telling us that in nature there is no distinction between the various prophets: they were all sent by the same true God, they were all serving one and the same plan of God and they were all human beings and part of a single brotherhood of righteous servants of God. The second verse is telling us that in stature or rank some prophets were superior to others.

Let the Muslims therefore have not the slightest hesitation in declaring the Prophet Muhammad to be the greatest of all prophets and thus the noblest of men and the crown and pride of the whole of God's creation.

Some Muslims try to dampen love and admiration for the Prophet in other Muslims and in themselves on two other grounds. First, they fear that "too much" expression of love and admiration for the Prophet can lead to his deification and therefore to shirk. Second, they fear that expressing love and admiration for the Prophet somehow means ignoring his message and commandments of God.

The second fear is without any basis. For one thing expressing love and admiration for the Prophet is itself a commandment of God, as God says:

"Love, glorify and bless him and salute him with all due respect."

For another, love and admiration for the Prophet and their expression cannot by themselves lead to disobedience. Indeed, as we have seen earlier, they are necessary for iman, which in turn is necessary for true obedience.

The first fear does have some basis. In fact, the Prophet himself cautioned us against following the footsteps of the adherents of other religions who exaggerated in praise of their prophets, raising them to the level of God and thus falling into shirk, the most deadly sin of all. But it would be a mistake to fight shirk by putting cold water on the fire of our love and admiration for the Prophet. For that would be like destroying shirk by destroying iman, which is clearly a very unwise strategy.

On 'id milad an-nabi (birthdate of the Prophet) and other occasions let us therefore wholeheartedly and generously and without any bukhl (misery, what miser people do) express all the love and admiration for the Prophet that can be expressed for someone other than God.

What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam

Born To Win

2010-06-07T09:34:00.001+05:30

Most Important Steps to Planning Your Success

 Start at the End: Set a Goal

Once you have set your goal, you are ready to begin planning. Without a

goal there can be no success.

Ensure that the goal you have set is one you want to achieve because it is

likely that you will be required to put in hard work in order to succeed.

There will inevitably be distractions, however, a deep desire to achieve your

goal will help keep you focused.

 The Middle: Small Steps

Now that you have set your goal, you need to work out what steps you will

need to take in order to achieve it. Some people find it easiest to work

backwards, while others start from the beginning.

Write down each step you need to take, you will be able to refer back to

your plan in order to monitor your progress.

 The Beginning: Follow Your Plan

Once your plan works on paper, it is time to put it into action. With a plan

you will be able to monitor your progress.

Getting closer to the end goal will inspire you to keep going.

Without a plan it would be impossible to monitor your progress, therefore

you will not be able to see where your efforts have led you.

 Dynamic Editing: Revise Your Plan

The best route is not always from A to B, a slight detour via C could make

life easier.

If you were driving through an unfamiliar town from point A to point B and

there was a fallen tree in the road, you would use a map to find another

route. The same works with the plan. How does this relate to the story

above?

If you have no plan you may start off enthusiastic and full of energy, but in

time you will find that your efforts are not paying off.

Ultimately you will lose heart and may even stop trying.

With a plan, you will have a map which leads you directly to your goal...

You will be able to follow it until your goal is achieved.!

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Look around at the people you mix with - what does this say about you?

Ask yourself:

✔ How many of my friends/associates inspire me?

✔ How many of my friends/associates are like me?

✔ Do I spend too much time with people who are holding me back?

✔ Do my friends/associates share my goals?

We are heavily influenced by the people around us, they can either inspire

us or hold us back. In a bid to conform, we tend to emulate the people we

associate with.

It is therefore important to choose your friends wisely.

I am not saying cut these people out of your life, I am saying introduce

yourself to the people who will help you achieve your goals.

Take this example for instance:

If you wanted to travel the world with a backpack and none of your friends

had ever done it, what's the first thing you would expect them to say?

I tried this as an experiment and I got the following answers.

➢ "You wouldn't catch me living in a tent"

➢ "Nah, there's too many insects"

➢ "If you run out of money you're stuck"

➢ "What about your job"

➢ "What about that guy that was killed in..."

➢ "You're having a laugh"

If I was seriously considering backpacking around the world, I'm pretty

sure some of those comments would have taken the wind out of my sails.

This happens every day to millions of people.

They announce their goals to friends and family only to be met with well

meaning advice which de-motivates them. We value the opinions of our

friends and family and we do not aim to displease them.

Many of the top self-help books advise you to keep your goals and

aspirations to yourself.

I believe there is a better way.

You're programmed to conform to the group, why not introduce yourself to

the people who will help you achieve your goals?

You could sign up to a message board or forum on the internet, you could

even join a local club or sign up to a training course.

Chances are, you will meet somebody who has either done it already, or

somebody else who plans to do it.

What better way to surround yourself with new people who share the same

goals and aspirations?!?

✔ When we network with people with whom we have something in

common, we develop bonds and new friendships form.

✔ We enjoy spending time with people who are like us, and we are

inspired by them too.

If you need inspiration, go out and look for it. You will be more likely to

achieve your goals and you will make new friends at the same time.

The Glass IS Half Full if You Think It Is

✔ Do you find yourself burying your head under the pillow while your

alarm clock cheerfully sings a happy tune?

✔ Do you lack motivation after sliding an inquisitive foot out from under

the covers only to find it is cold?

STOP!

It is said that breakfast is the most important meal as it sets you up for the

day ahead. But, the frame of mind you wake up in is equally important.

Your frame of mind dictates how you react to outside influences, how many

times have you woken up in a bad mood only to have a bad day.

➔ It may surprise you to know that you choose your own frame of mind.

If it is cold, great! You get to wrap up warm - in your favourite sweater.

Cosy.

If you think you've woken up too early, fantastic! There's more of this

amazing day to enjoy.

So...

➔ Your frame of mind will invariably dictate the rest of your day.

How do you go about changing it?

The only thing to remember is...

"There are two sides to every coin."

For every negative there is always a positive, consciously seek out the good

in every situation. If you do this regularly your subconscious mind will

automatically seek out the good in a situation.

When you are happy, things seem to go your own way - and when they

don't, you are able to shrug them off with a smile.

➔ How much better would your life be if you "changed your mind"?

Well, it's your mind, you can do with it as you please. The glass IS half full

if you think it is.

Reward

A quick search on the internet brings up the following definitions of the

word reward:

➢ Payment made in return for a service rendered;

➢ An act performed to strengthen approved behaviour;

➢ Recompense in recognition of someone's behaviour or actions.

Do You Reward Yourself for Your Achievements?

Many people lack motivation when working for themselves or striving

towards their goals because they do not realise the importance of

rewarding themselves. ]

When we are in full time employment, we are rewarded with a salary for

work done. If our work is exceptional we sometimes receive bonuses,

another reward.

There are many types of reward given by employers, such as:

✔ Shares;

✔ Promotion;

✔ Recognition;

✔ Commission;

✔ Pay increase;

✔ Extra holiday;

✔ Extra training;

✔ Certificate of merit;

✔ Monthly/Annual bonus;

✔ Gifts, ie bottle of wine/champagne/flowers...

Employers know that rewards are a great tool for motivating employees.

An employee who receives a reward often feels good about themselves and

realises that it is their efforts which are being rewarded-

They are also more likely to want to put in more effort in future.

A reward often acts as a reminder that your hard work has paid off.

When you are working for yourself or towards a goal, it is absolutely

essential to reward your own hard work and achievements.

It is important to reward yourself when you reach any goal because:

➢ It feels good!

➢ It will motivate you further!

➢ It shows you are making progress!

➢ It helps you to measure your progress!

➢ It celebrates the achievement of a goal!

➢ It is a reminder that working hard pays off!

You should reward ALL your achievements, whether it is a long term or

short term goal.

If you have a long term goal you should break it down into smaller, more

achievable short term goals and reward yourself for achieving each of

them.

The reward does not necessarily have to be financial, it could simply be a

long hot bath, as long as it is something which will make you feel good

about your achievement.

Let's say for example that you are training to run a marathon. The long

term goal would be to finish the marathon.

In order to achieve the long term goal you would need to increase your

fitness and stamina, therefore it is essential to set specific short term goals

which will help you do so.

Perhaps you could target yourself to run a mile twice a week, increasing the

distance by half a mile each week. Many people stop here when setting

goals, not realising the benefits of rewarding their achievements.

It is easy to say "I'll skip it tonight"...

Or... "I'll do two miles next time."

Many people fall into this trap because the achievement of the goal is not

an incentive for all the hard work put into achieving it.

➔ A reward acts as an incentive. If your goal is to run a mile, maybe

you could reward yourself with a new pair of training shoes.

Once you are running five miles you may buy an MP3 player so you can

listen to music while you run.

As your fitness increases you will be able to run longer distances, reward

each milestone to stay motivated.

➔ You must also set an appropriate reward for your long term goal. For

finishing the marathon you could book a weekend away with your

partner in a nice hotel.

We all want to achieve our goals, however, we sometimes need a push in

the right direction...

By rewarding yourself for each goal reached, you will stay motivated and

increase your chances of success.

Hindsight Is Wonderful... Foresight Is Amazing!

When we are younger we rarely think about our own mortality, as we reach

the evening of our lives we tend to look back on what we have achieved.

Some people will look back and see years of wasted time and opportunities

missed, others will look back and see that they made the most of their time

and achieved their goals.

When a person suffers from a near death experience they often gain a new

lease on life, realising that life is short and that they should make the most

of their time.

When we are young and full of ambition, we tend to think about the future.

As we grow old we begin to think about what we will leave behind.

✔ What is your legacy?

✔ Do you aim to provide for your family or spouse?

✔ Do you aim to donate money to good causes?

✔ Do you want to be remembered for being great?

I am only 26 years old, and everybody I meet wonders why I think of life in

this way.

My answer...

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens- the story is about a miserly man

who is given the chance to see the error of his ways and acts upon it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but foresight is amazing.

So, take a moment to think about where your life is going...

If you continue to act in the same way, where will you be years from now?

➔ How will you be remembered?

➔ Will you be able to provide for your family?

If you don't like the answer to those questions, NOW is the time to do

something about it.

The important lesson here is that it is never too late to make a change.

We all have the potential to be great, it is up to us to choose whether we do

it or not.

One Wish, Right NOW:

If you were granted one wish, right NOW, what would you wish for?

Take a moment to think about that question. Of all the things you dream

of achieving, which is the most important thing for you right now?

I am not a genie, fairy-godmother or magician, but I do know of somebody

who can make every single wish you have come true...

An Experiment in Human Thinking

Write down your wish on a piece of paper and close your eyes, transport

yourself some time into the future and imagine that your wish has come

true. How does it make you feel?

Whenever I think about my goals and aspirations in this way it always gives

me a surge of energy, extra motivation to get things done.

Here are two reasons why people do not achieve their dreams:

➢ Picking the Wrong Dream

In order to achieve your dreams you must have a burning desire to do so.

When every single moment you waste eats you up inside because you're no

closer to achieving your greatest desire you know that you have chosen the

correct dream.

It is easy to know if you have chosen the wrong dream, if you are prepared

to sit back and relax - not working towards it.

Another indication of focusing on the wrong dream is the nagging feeling in

the back of your head that you would rather be doing something else.

Let's say your ultimate dream is to spend two weeks relaxing on a

Caribbean island, but you're spending all your time working towards buying

a new car.

You are never going to be fully focused on working towards buying your

new car because there will always be part of you which is longing for the

holiday.

If you were to work towards the holiday instead, you will find that you are

far more motivated and will work much harder instead of daydreaming

about it.

You may be thinking, but what if I actually NEEDED to replace my car. If

this were the case I can assure you that you would not be thinking about

the holiday.

When I began the article I asked "Which is the most important thing for you

right now?" when you spend time thinking about the the question in order

to answer it honestly, this is the thing which will always be on your mind.

➢ Too Many Dreams

The easiest way to illustrate this problem is with an example. There are

two naughty boys who keep stealing apples from the tree in your garden.

Every time you chase one, the other one sneaks into your garden and

steals the apples from the tree. When you notice, you turn around and

begin chasing him away, the first boy comes back and steals your apples

while you are preoccupied.

You will never catch either boy this way and you will lose more apples. The

solution, don't stop chasing the first boy until you catch him.

Then you can spend all your efforts catching the second boy. Once you've

caught both, you can concentrate on growing apples.

If you are constantly chasing different dreams, you will never achieve any

of them. You will spend all of your time, money and effort getting

nowhere.

You must choose your most important dream, the one which you desire

most and follow it through.

✔ Once you have achieved it, you will feel amazing for doing so. You

are then free to choose another dream to follow.

✔ Once you have achieved all of your dreams maybe you can sit back

and relax with a nice ripe juicy apple.

Like I said, I know somebody who can make every single wish you have

come true...

Now, chose wisely, and make a wish!

Overcoming Complacency

When is "good enough" not Good Enough?!?

When there is something better.

If you have fallen into this trap you'd better get out quickly.

Let's say you're the top sales-person in the office, you're aiming to become

sales manager in the next couple of months - you're outselling your

colleagues two to one. The promotion is in the bag.

You believe that you can take your foot off the pedal and cruise effortlessly

towards your goal.

WRONG!

Complacency Is Very Dangerous

You must recognise the signs early and combat it immediately.

✔ A complacent Country can lose a war before they even know it has

begun.

✔ A complacent company can lose market share to a minor competitor.

✔ A complacent husband can lose his wife before he realises there are

relationship problems.

✔ A complacent boxer can lose his title in the opening round to an

unranked competitor.

Ask Yourself:

➔ Do you feel self-satisfied?

➔ Do you find it hard to acknowledge your mistakes?

➔ Do you find it difficult to accept constructive criticism?

➔ Do you fail to see difficulties in your personal life?

➔ Do you believe that minimal effort "will do"?

These are some of the symptoms of becoming complacent.

Complacency is caused when you become too comfortable, lose motivation

and don't believe that you need to put in any extra effort.

If you recognise any of these symptoms in yourself it is important to rectify

the situation.

Becoming complacent will lead you further from your success.

What Can You Do to Overcome Complacency?

To overcome complacency, you must realise that “good enough” is NOT

going to lead to success. It is only when you do your absolute best that

you can say, "I gave it my best shot."

If we go back to the example of the boxer, we can see why it is important

not to become complacent. The champion boxer believed that he did not

have to put all of his effort into training before the fight.

He believed that he was good enough to beat his competitor.

His competitor on the other hand realised that HE was not good enough,

and that he had to put all of his effort into training...

That he must give everything he has got. He must put every single ounce

of energy into the fight because this could be his only chance to win the

title.

You must never assume that there is no room for improvement. If you

always strive to improve then you leave no room in your life for

complacency.

If you find your faults and deal with them, you will always aim to be a

better person. Do not make excuses if you fail.

Why Ask Yourself "Why”?

It is usually followed with an excuse.

Instead, ask yourself "how did it happen?" and "what can I do to rectify the

situation?"

By learning from your mistakes you will be able to grow.

When you eliminate complacency and make a positive effort to continually

improve yourself, you will find that success is far easier to achieve.

Seven Top Motivation Lessons

➢ The Mind Affects the Body, and Vice-Versa

The condition of our bodies will generally affect our motivation, our

motivation will have an effect on the way we treat our bodies.

If we are demotivated we are more likely to sit at home watching TV,

whereas if we are motivated we are more likely to get up and go for a run

or keep fit.

It works the other way around too.

If we are fit and healthy we are more likely to face challenges with

enthusiasm and energy. However, if we are unfit or sick, we may allow

challenges to overcome us.

➢ Be Accountable to Yourself

Who is your boss? You are.

The only person you have to answer to is yourself.

So, while you're sitting around doing nothing when you could be working

towards achieving your goals... tell yourself off, go and do it.

Who's goals are they?

➢ Inspire Yourself By Doing Something Unexpected

If at any time you feel like you are going nowhere, do something new and

exciting. There are millions of new experiences available to everyone.

Ever done a bungee or parachute jump? What about taking a last minute

holiday to a random destination? Surprise yourself, break out of your old

routine.

➢ Use Visualisation to Program Desired Behaviour

We learn through experience, nothing stops us from experiencing things in

our own imagination.

The human mind is a powerful tool, by harnessing the power of our own

imagination we are able to conjure up scenarios and play out our actions.

We can correct mistakes before they even happen.

By doing this, when a real life situation arises, we have already learned the

best course of action to take.

➢ Start with the End Result and Work Backwards

The achievement of a goal is a personal triumph, by knowing exactly what

you need to achieve you are able to focus on the exact steps which will lead

you to success.

➢ Aspire to Improve Every Day

Whether you have a weakness or would like to do something more

efficiently, there is always something which you can improve.

We grow through constant improvement.

➢ Ask Yourself the Right Questions

Your internal dialogue will either inspire you or limit your progress

depending on the questions you ask yourself.

Instead of asking "why?" ask "why not?"

For every question you ask yourself, decide if there is a more inspiring

question which could be asked.

The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

Success Is Not an Accident: Change Your Choices; Change Your Life

Outliers: The Story Of Success

Secrets of Success: The Science and Spirit of Real Prosperity

Gods Own Country - The great kerala

2010-04-21T15:48:00.000+05:30

Exercise Your Brain & Improve Your Memory

2010-04-21T13:34:00.002+05:30

Everyone can take steps to improve their memory, and with time and practice most people can gain the ability to memorize seemingly impossible amounts of information. Whether you want to win the World Memory Championships, ace your history test, or simply remember where you put your keys, this article can get you started. Scientists believe that exercising your brain can create a ‘cognitive reserve’ that will help you stay sharp as you age.

1. Convince yourself that you do have a good memory that will improve. Too many people get stuck here and convince themselves that their memory is bad, that they are just not good with names, that numbers just slip out of their minds for some reason. Erase those thoughts and vow to improve your memory. Commit yourself to the task and bask in your achievements — it’s hard to keep motivated if you beat yourself down every time you make a little bit of progress.

2. Keep your brain active. The brain is not a muscle, but regularly “exercising” the brain actually does keep it growing and spurs the development of new nerve connections that can help improve memory. By developing new mental skills—especially complex ones such as learning a new language or learning to play a new musical instrument—and challenging your brain with puzzles and games you can keep your brain active and improve its physiological functioning.

3. Exercise daily. Regular aerobic exercise improves circulation and efficiency throughout the body, including in the brain, and can help ward off the memory loss that comes with aging. Exercise also makes you more alert and relaxed, and can thereby improve your memory uptake, allowing you to take better mental “pictures.”

4. Reduce stress. Chronic stress, although it does not physically damage the brain, can make remembering much more difficult. Even temporary stresses can make it more difficult to effectively focus on concepts and observe things. Try to relax, regularly practice yoga or other stretching exercises, and see a doctor if you have severe chronic stress.

5. Eat well and eat right. There are a lot of herbal supplements on the market that claim to improve memory, but none have yet been shown to be effective in clinical tests (although small studies have shown some promising results for ginkgo biloba and phosphatidylserine). A healthy diet, however, contributes to a healthy brain, and foods containing antioxidants—broccoli, blueberries, spinach, and berries, for example—and Omega-3 fatty acids appear to promote healthy brain functioning. Feed your brain with such supplements as Thiamine, Vitamin E, Niacin and Vitamin B-6. Grazing, eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large meals, also seems to improve mental functioning (including memory) by limiting dips in blood sugar, which may negatively affect the brain.

Brainpower Game Plan: Sharpen Your Memory, Improve Your Concentration, and Age-Proof Your Mind in Just 4 Weeks

6. Take better pictures. Often we forget things not because our memory is bad, but rather because our observational skills need work. One common situation where this occurs (and which almost everyone can relate to) is meeting new people. Often we don’t really learn people’s names at first because we aren’t really concentrating on remembering them. You’ll find that if you make a conscious effort to remember such things, you’ll do much better. One way to train yourself to be more observant is to look at an unfamiliar photograph for a few seconds and then turn the photograph over and describe or write down as many details as you can about the photograph. Try closing your eyes and picturing the photo in your mind. Use a new photograph each time you try this exercise, and with regular practice you will find you’re able to remember more details with even shorter glimpses of the photos.

7. Give yourself time to form a memory. Memories are very fragile in the short-term, and distractions can make you quickly forget something as simple as a phone number. The key to avoid losing memories before you can even form them is to be able to focus on the thing to be remembered for a while without thinking about other things, so when you’re trying to remember something, avoid distractions and complicated tasks for a few minutes.

8. Create vivid, memorable images. You remember information more easily if you can visualize it. If you want to associate a child with a book, try not to visualize the child reading the book – that’s too simple and forgettable. Instead, come up with something more jarring, something that sticks, like the book chasing the child, or the child eating the book. It’s your mind – make the images as shocking and emotional as possible to keep the associations strong.

Improve Concentration Subliminal Learning CD

9. Repeat things you need to learn. The more times you hear, see, or think about something, the more surely you’ll remember it, right? It’s a no-brainer. When you want to remember something, be it your new coworker’s name or your best friend’s birthday, repeat it, either out loud or silently. Try writing it down; think about it.

10. Group things you need to remember. Random lists of things (a shopping list, for example) can be especially difficult to remember. To make it easier, try categorizing the individual things from the list. If you can remember that, among other things, you wanted to buy four different kinds of vegetables, you’ll find it easier to remember all four.

11. Organize your life. Keep items that you frequently need, such as keys and eyeglasses, in the same place every time. Use an electronic organizer or daily planner to keep track of appointments, due dates for bills, and other tasks. Keep phone numbers and addresses in an address book or enter them into your computer or cell phone. Improved organization can help free up your powers of concentration so that you can remember less routine things. Even if being organized doesn’t improve your memory, you’ll receive a lot of the same benefits (i.e. you won’t have to search for your keys anymore).

12. Try meditation. Research now suggests that people who regularly practice “mindfulness” meditation are able to focus better and may have better memories. Mindfulness (also known as awareness or insight meditation) is the type commonly practiced in Western countries and is easy to learn. Studies at Massachusetts General Hospital show that regular meditation thickens the cerebral cortex in the brain by increasing the blood flow to that region. Some researchers believe this can enhance attention span, focus, and memory.

13. Sleep well. The amount of sleep we get affects the brain’s ability to recall recently learned information. Getting a good night’s sleep – a minimum of seven hours a night – may improve your short-term memory and long-term relational memory, according to recent studies conducted at the Harvard Medical School.

14. Build your memorization arsenal. Learn pegs, memory palaces, and the Dominic System. These techniques form the foundation for mnemonic techniques, and will visibly improve your memory.

15. Venture out and learn from your mistakes. Go ahead and take a stab at memorizing the first one hundred digits of pi, or, if you’ve done that already, the first one thousand. Memorize the monarchs of England through your memory palaces, or your grocery list through visualization. Through diligent effort you will eventually master the art of memorization.

What is WiFi?

2010-04-21T01:02:00.000+05:30

WiFi is a wireless technology that can be used to connect to the Internet. Its popularity has allowed it to be used in large corporations, small businesses, universities, and even at home. There are various devices that can take full advantage of a WiFi Internet connection. Each one of them can belong to a single wireless network and communicate with one another for entertainment and business purposes.

What is the Difference Between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Most of us are well aware of the fact, that wi-fi and bluetooth are both wireless standards and use waves at radio frequency for transmission purposes. This is the reason why many of us are confused between the two technologies, and think that they solve the same purpose. There is however, a lot of difference between wi-fi and bluetooth. Here, in this article, I will try to explain these differences to you.

Both the wi-fi (wireless fidelity) and the bluetooth standards are based on separate protocols. This gives rise to the differences between wi-fi and bluetooth, which causes their fields of application to change drastically. Let's try to understand the difference between wi-fi and bluetooth technology, comparing and contrasting them, on the various aspects of their working.

Range
Wi-fi has been a favorite for making LANs (Local Area Networks) at homes and offices, right from the time of its introduction . It is very obvious that the process becomes easy at home, if you do not need to integrate LAN cables in your system to form a network, to share the Internet connection. In offices, the use of wireless LANs causes a reduction in the cost of the LAN installation. The range of wi-fi is hence quite high, around 300 feet from the wireless networking node. Bluetooth, on the other hand has a short range of around 30 feet.

Standard
As already mentioned, bluetooth and wi-fi work on different standards. The recent wi-fi installations are based on 802.11n standard. Bluetooth devices currently follow the bluetooth 2.0 standard.

Connection and Installation
Bluetooth devices do not need any installation or configuration. The working of bluetooth devices is very simple and hence they do not require to be configured. You can simply select the other bluetooth enabled device, to which you want to transfer the data. If you want to enable the bluetooth facility in your personal computer, then all you have to do is to just buy a bluetooth adapter. The bluetooth dongle comes along with a setup CD and you can simply install the setup, to get your bluetooth enabled. However, wi-fi requires some configuration. For a wi-fi enabled network, you will need to install routers and modems.

Type of Network
Wi-fi is used for the formation of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network). A large number of desktop computers and laptop computers can be connected using wi-fi, where as, you cannot form a Local Area Network (LAN), in the case of bluetooth. Bluetooth allows you to form a PAN (Personal Area Network).

Data Rate
Another difference between wi-fi and bluetooth is that, the data transfer rate for bluetooth is much higher than that of wi-fi. Using bluetooth, you can transfer data at the rate of 800 kbps, where as, wi-fi is susceptible to data losses and hence has lower speeds. If you are connected to the Internet using wi-fi, your downloading speed will be less than what you would get when you are connected using broadband internet.

Application of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Because of all the differences mentioned above, there is a difference between wi-fi and bluetooth, in their applications part too. Bluetooth is used for data and file transfers, from one device to the other. You can access a bluetooth enabled printer from your computer, using it. Using wi-fi, you can not only make small data transfers, but you can access databases and softwares located in some other machine in the network too. A wireless internet access can also be provided to all the computers in the wireless LAN. In case of bluetooth, this is not possible. However, you can connect a bluetooth enabled computer to the internet, if you can access the internet with the GPRS in your bluetooth enabled cell phone.

Wi-fi is a technology that has been in use for longer, as compared to bluetooth. Almost all computers that are manufactured today have the wireless LAN card installed in them. Bluetooth is a comparatively new technology. But the cell phone and laptop manufacturers have started integrating this facility in the devices that they manufacture. The main difference between wi-fi and bluetooth, because of which bluetooth is not used as widely as wi-fi, is its range. Otherwise, the bluetooth standard is known very well, because of its high data transfer rate and the data security that it provides.

Considerations
Although WiFi is one of the most useful ways of accessing the Internet, it's not available in each destination. There may be areas that are considered "dead zones" because there's no WiFi coverage. Some locations that have WiFi may also provide spotty coverage that will give you a weak Internet signal.

Warning
When using a WiFi connection, verify that it's a secure one. There are many identity thieves and hackers that will constantly try to break into your computer or mobile device. Stealing personal information and adding viruses or spyware are only a few examples of the harm they can cause. Place a password on sensitive files located on your computer and don't access a WiFi connection that is unprotected.

20 Great Google Secrets

2010-04-14T00:24:00.001+05:30

Google is clearly the best general-purpose search engine on the Web (see www.pcmag.com/searchengines)

But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number.

But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options.

Syntax Search Tricks

Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at

www.google.com/help/operators.html

. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.

Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.

Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as

www.mysite.com/index.html

, you can enter intext:html.

Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in

link:http://www.pcmag.com

Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.

Swiss Army Google

Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature

(www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator)

lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything."

Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary.

Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search

(www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml).

Extended Googling

Google offers several services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups

(http://groups.google.com)

indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on Usenet. Google even helps you with your shopping via two tools: Froogle
CODE
(http://froogle.google.com),

which indexes products from online stores, and Google Catalogs
CODE
(http://catalogs.google.com),

which features products from more 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only scratches the surface. You can get a complete list of Google's tools and services at

www.google.com/options/index.html

You're probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google outside your browser?

Google Alert

(www.googlealert.com)

monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web index. (Google Alert is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google's Web services API to perform its searches.) If you're more interested in news stories than general Web content, check out the beta version of Google News Alerts

(www.google.com/newsalerts).

This service (which is affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail address and send you information about news stories that match your query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.)

Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs

(http://labs.google.com),

a place for experimental Google ideas and features (which may come and go, so what's there at this writing might not be there when you decide to check it out). With Google Voice Search

(http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html),

you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then click on the indicated link. Every time you say a new search term, the results page will refresh with your new query (you must have JavaScript enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an experimental phase, so don't expect 100 percent success.

In 2002, Google released the Google API (application programming interface), a way for programmers to access Google's search engine results without violating the Google Terms of Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally not-so-useful but interesting) applications not available from Google itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you'll need an API key, which is available free from
CODE
www.google.com/apis

. See the figures for two more examples, and visit

www.pcmag.com/solutions

for more.

Thanks to its many different search properties, Google goes far beyond a regular search engine. Give the tricks in this article a try. You'll be amazed at how many different ways Google can improve your Internet searching.

Online Extra: More Google Tips

Here are a few more clever ways to tweak your Google searches.

Search Within a Timeframe

Daterange: (start date–end date). You can restrict your searches to pages that were indexed within a certain time period. Daterange: searches by when Google indexed a page, not when the page itself was created. This operator can help you ensure that results will have fresh content (by using recent dates), or you can use it to avoid a topic's current-news blizzard and concentrate only on older results. Daterange: is actually more useful if you go elsewhere to take advantage of it, because daterange: requires Julian dates, not standard Gregorian dates. You can find converters on the Web (such as

CODE
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif

), but an easier way is to do a Google daterange: search by filling in a form at

www.researchbuzz.com/toolbox/goofresh.shtml or www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml

. If one special syntax element is good, two must be better, right? Sometimes. Though some operators can't be mixed (you can't use the link: operator with anything else) many can be, quickly narrowing your results to a less overwhelming number.

More Google API Applications

Staggernation.com offers three tools based on the Google API. The Google API Web Search by Host (GAWSH) lists the Web hosts of the results for a given query

(www.staggernation.com/gawsh/).

When you click on the triangle next to each host, you get a list of results for that host. The Google API Relation Browsing Outliner (GARBO) is a little more complicated: You enter a URL and choose whether you want pages that related to the URL or linked to the URL

(www.staggernation.com/garbo/).

Click on the triangle next to an URL to get a list of pages linked or related to that particular URL. CapeMail is an e-mail search application that allows you to send an e-mail to google@capeclear.com with the text of your query in the subject line and get the first ten results for that query back. Maybe it's not something you'd do every day, but if your cell phone does e-mail and doesn't do Web browsing, this is a very handy address to know.

-Razi Kallayi

Benefits of Online Education

2010-04-06T14:17:00.000+05:30

There are practical reasons why people look into online education. The top two are: 1) Time. Between a job, a family, and life, there isn´t enough time to attend school; 2) Money. Times are tough, and more than ever before, saving money has become a priority.

These are not the only reasons. Here are some important factors to note when considering an online education.

1. Flexibility - Online education grants students much flexibility with class schedules and attendance. Students have the freedom to attend class at a time and place most convenient for them.
2. Accessibility - Course material is online and accessible to students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This allows students the ability to review lectures, notes, discussions and comments whenever needed.
3. Use of Technology - Use of the internet for class attendance, information research, and communication with other students and faculty provides valuable experience with technology skills critical to business in the digital age.
4. Communication - Other students, faculty, and professors are readily available via IM, chat rooms, and email. Not having to deal with office hours and school schedules makes approaching classmates and professors much easier.
5. Money - Save money. Students enrolled in online education do not have to commute to school nor do they pay for housing.
6. Time - The time it takes a student to achieve his or her degree is only limited by the student´s ability to fulfill the credit requirement. This may take as long as needed or as short as 18 months.

In the fall of 2007, nearly 4 million students were taking at least one online course; a 12 percent increase from the previous year (Sloan-C 2008)

The increasing number of enrollments in online education is no mystery when you consider the multiple benefits and solutions offered by an online education program. It allows the opportunity to further your education and better your career without jeopardizing the balance of your life.

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2010-03-13T19:17:00.001+05:30

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2010-02-19T23:44:00.000+05:30

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Top 20 Tips To Keep Your System Faster

2010-02-19T20:42:00.000+05:30

Follow these tips and you will definitely have a much faster and more reliable PC! Most of the below tips works for windows 98

1. Wallpapers: They slow your whole system down, so if you're willing to compromise, have a basic plain one instead!

2. Drivers: Update your hardware drivers as frequently as possible. New drivers tend to increase system speed especially in the case of graphics cards, their drivers are updated by the manufacturer very frequently!

3. Minimizing: If you want to use several programs at the same time then minimize those you are not using. This helps reduce the overload on RAM.

4. Boot Faster: The 'starting Windows 95/98' message on startup can delay your booting for a couple of seconds. To get rid of this message go to c:\ and find the file Msdos.sys. Remove the Read-Only option. Next, open it in Notepad or any other text editor. Finally, go to the text 'Options' within the file and make the following changes: Add BootDelay=0. To make your booting even faster, set add Logo=0 to remove the Windows logo at startup.

5. Restart only Windows: When restarting your PC, hold down Shift to only restart Windows rather than the whole system which will only take a fraction of the time.

6. Turn Off Animations: Go to Display Settings from the Control Panel and switch to the Effects Tab. Now turn off Show Windows Content While Dragging and Smooth Edges on Screen Fonts. This tip is also helpful with Windows XP because of the various fade/scroll effects.

7. Faster Start-Menu Access: Go to the Start menu and select Run. Now type Regedit and hit Enter. The Registry Editor will appear on the screen. Now, open the folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. You should see a MenuShowDelay value. If you don't then do the following: right click on a blank space in the right pane and select New\String. Change the name in the new value to MenuShowDelay. Now that we have the MenuShowDelay value, double click on it and enter 0 in the value data field. This sets the start menu delay to 0 milliseconds.

8. Resolutions: If you are willing to do anything for faster performance from your PC, then try lowering your display resolution. The lower it is, the faster your PC.

9. Turn off Active Desktop: Go to your Display Properties and switch to the Web tab. Uncheck View My Active Desktop As a Web Page. Since the Active Desktop option under Windows 98 uses a lot of system resources, this option can have a dramatic effect on the speed of the whole system.

10. Defragment Often: Windows 98's Defrag tool uses Application Acceleration from Intel which means that when you defragment your drive, data is physically arranged on the drive so that applications will load faster.

11. Take your PC to Bed: Using the Advanced Power Management feature under Windows 98 gives you the option to use the sleep command. That way, you can send your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down and then restarting it. It's as simple as pressing a button and then pressing the same button to wake it up. You can tell Windows after how many minutes/hours of inactivity to automatically sleep the machine in the Advanced Power Management section of the Control Panel.

12. Faster Internet Access: If you use the internet for reference and the sites you visit are rarely updated then try the following. In IE (the same can be done in Netscape) go to Tools, Internet Options. Next, click on Settings... in the Temporary Internet Files section. Finally, select Never for the first option and double the amount of storage space to use, click OK!

13. Benchmarking: Benchmarking can be very useful when run frequently. It can tell you how your PC's components are performing and then compare them to other machines like yours. For example, when you overclock your PC, you want to know how much more speed you have and whether it is stable. All this and more can be discovered using benchmarking. An excellent piece of software for doing this job is SiSoft Sandra which can be found in the Downloads File Archive!

14. Refresh the Taskbar without restarting: If you in some way change the taskbar, either in Regedit or elsewhere, you can refresh the task bar without restarting. Hold down Ctrl Alt Del, and double click on Explorer. Say Yes to close Explorer, but no to closing Windows. This will refresh the Taskbar and system tray.

15. Quick CD Eject: Instead of pushing the button on your drive, right-click your CD drive letter in My Computer and click on Eject. This will also remove any icons that have become associated with the CD drive.

16. Start Up Programs: Windows can be slowed down when programs run on start up. To eliminate this, check your Start up folder. You can access it from the start menu: Start, Programs, Start Up. Another way to eliminate programs from loading even before Windows actually starts is by doing the following: Click on Start, then Run. Type msconfig. It will take quite a long time for this program to load, but when you finally see it on your screen, explore the different tabs. They all have to do with how quickly your PC boots, so select what you want, and uncheck what you don't want!

17. Fonts: When Windows starts, it loads every single font in the Fonts folder. Therefore, the more fonts you have, the slower the booting process. To get rid of unwanted fonts, simply go to the Fonts folder under c:\windows and remove whatever you don't want. Fonts that have a red letter 'A' as their icon are system fonts, so don't delete them.

18. Stretching Wallpapers: Don't "stretch" your wallpaper in Windows 98 since it actually slows Windows down when you drag icons around on the desktop.

19. RAM Matters: If you have less than 32MB then you should seriously think of upgrading it to at least 64MB. Windows runs much more smoothly with 64MB or higher and tends to use less hard disk space for virtual memory.

20. Partitioning: A very nice little thing you can do to boost system performance. By partitioning your hard drive, splitting one physical drive into several logical ones, you can gain several advantages. 1. If you get a virus or you accidentally format a drive, not all will be lost. 2. By placing the swap file (Win386.swp) on a separate drive, The swap file will be less fragmented and thus, faster. 3. Place Windows on a separate drive and whenever you need to reinstall it, you rest assured that your data is safe on a separate drive. Partitioning can be done using a few programs such as FDisk which comes with DOS. However, FDisk formats everything on the hard disk before partitioning. Alternatively, you can use Partition Magic from Power Quest to partition your hard disk without losing your data.

Useful Laptop Tips And Tricks

2010-02-19T18:11:00.002+05:30

Upgrade with care: Support techs report that the most troublesome laptop components are the hard drive, screen, and keyboard. While you probably won't want to replace an expensive laptop screen, anyone with the right tools and even a slight mechanical inclination can replace the hard drive, keyboard, and other components, with some patient tinkering.

Opening your laptop case may void the warranty, so if your system is still under warranty, let the manufacturer deal with repairs. Notebooks are delicate, so never force anything. Vince Dougherty, who has repaired countless laptops for Wine Country Computers in Healdsburg, California, says the most common mistake is using the wrong-size screwdriver. One slip and your motherboard is ruined.

Before doing anything else, remove the notebook's battery and disconnect its power cord. Remember to ground yourself before you open the case, either with a grounding strap (the safest way), or by touching a piece of grounded metal (a lamp or water pipe will do), while touching a metal part on the case's exterior.

Replace your hard drive: Adding a new hard drive to a laptop is usually easier than doing the same thing on a desktop PC: You just remove a few screws from the bottom of the case, slide or lift the hard drive assembly out of the system, and swap a new drive into the assembly (always handle drives by the edges).

Most notebook PCs use a standard 2.5-inch hard drive, but ultralights and other diminutive systems may use a smaller 1.8-inch drive. Drives also come in different heights; the most common are 12.5 millimeters and 9.5 millimeters. Check your laptop's documentation, or visit the vendor's Web site to determine the drive size compatible with your machine.

A 2.5-inch, 100GB drive costs less than $200. Third-party vendors such as Drive Solutions and NewEgg.com often charge less than laptop manufacturers. Check with your notebook vendor to find out whether you need a SATA or parallel ATA model. Buy only from vendors that offer a money-back guarantee--any reliable seller will provide one lasting at least 30 days.

Boost your RAM: Most laptops come with only one or two memory sockets, which may leave no open slots for upgrades. Adding memory may require that you discard at least one existing memory module. The RAM on most laptops resides behind a removable panel. The modules slip into a slot and are secured at the ends by clips or retainers. Crucial offers an excellent tutorial on installing laptop RAM.

Crucial and Kingston will tell you the type of RAM your laptop needs. The high-quality modules they sell are well worth the small, additional expense over no-name RAM.

Change your keyboard: Installing a new keyboard usually requires disassembling the laptop's case, but in other respects it is straightforward: First snap the old keyboard out, and then snap the replacement keyboard in. You can expect to pay $50 to $100 for a new notebook keyboard. Appropriate replacement keyboards may be available only from the notebook's vendor.

Windows 7 : keyboard shortcut

2010-02-19T18:07:00.001+05:30

We love shortcuts! They make our lives easier and our computing more productive. For those of us whose hands ache from over using the mouse, shortcuts can add hours of pain-free computer time.
Along with the new window management features in Windows 7 comes shortcuts for those features to completely bypass the mouse. This makes the new features more user-friendly, and solidifies the hope that Microsoft really is listening to their customers. Well, at least the share our affection for shortcuts.
Windows Logo + Right Arrow: Sends the window to the right half of the screen. This is a new feature in Windows 7—usually, you must drag the window all the way to the very bottom right corner for Windows to recognize you want to dock this window on the right. This shortcut sends the window there with just a button click.
Windows Logo + Left Arrow: Sends the window the left half of the screen. When used with the shortcut above, you can see your windows side by side. This is great for comparing products online or fact checking with the internet in one window and a Word file in another.
Windows Logo + Home: Minimizes or restores everything but the current window. Windows 7 allows users to “shake” the current window to minimize all other windows. This shortcut takes the place of the awkward shaking.
Windows Logo + +: Hitting this shortcut will zoom in. Windows 7 has a magnifier that works with almost any window. This shortcut activates the magnifier.
Windows Logo + –: Conversely, this shortcut allows you to zoom out. It should be easy to remember—plus zooms in, minus zooms out.
Windows Logo + G: Displays gadgets in front of other windows. So, if you are making use of the gadgets and want to see what they are doing behind your current windows, just quickly hit this shortcut and the gadgets appear on top of your current windows.
Windows Logo + Up Arrow: Maximizes the current window.
Windows Logo + Down Arrow: Minimizes the current window.

Excellent Photography collection

2010-02-10T00:59:00.000+05:30

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