Solar eclipse of 2008

August 6, 2008 11:21 AM

On August 1st, 2008, starting in the morning, over northern Canada, observers on Earth could watch this years only total solar eclipse. While a partial eclipse could be seen over a larger area, the shadow of totality passed over Greenland, Norway and Russia, then evaporated into the night sky over China. Here you will find a collection of photographs of this eclipse, and people here on Earth, taking it all in. (18 photos total) (Also, for more Boston Globe Photography - be sure to check out our new Globe Photography page)

A camel is silhouetted against the sun partly blocked by the moon during a solar eclipse in Gaotai, Gansu province August 1, 2008. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

A bride watches the total solar eclipse through smoky glass in the western Siberian city of Tyumen on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, with Troitsky (Trinity) Orthodox Monastery in the background. An enormous swathe of western Siberian was submerged in darkness Friday afternoon as the moon completely blocked out the sun. (AP Photo/Marat Gubaidullin)

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A bird flies in the sky as a solar eclipse is seen in Xiangfan in central China's Hubei province Friday Aug. 1, 2008. Millions of Chinese along the ancient Silk Road gathered Friday to gaze at a total solar eclipse, an event traditionally fraught with superstitious meaning coming one week before the start of the Beijing Olympics. (AP Photo)

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Local residents wait for the total solar eclipse in the mountainous Siberian Altai region, about 3,000 kilometers (1,850 miles) east of Moscow, on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Oleg Romanov)

A diamond ring effect is seen during a solar eclipse above River Ob in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, August 1, 2008. A solar prominence can be seen erupting on the right side. Thousands flocked to Novosibirsk to observe day turned into night. They watched as an eerie silence descended on the Siberian city and gusts of unusually strong wind tore through the crowd. Birds stopped chirping and the temperature suddenly dropped. (REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin)

People watch the sun being blocked by the moon during a solar eclipse in Gaotai, Gansu province, China on August 1, 2008. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

A woman uses "eclipse glasses" to watch the solar eclipse, which the Chinese word for is "Rishi" meaning "eaten sun", at the Jiayuguan Fort on the Great Wall of China in the town of Jiayuguan, Gansu province, August 1, 2008. (REUTERS/David Gray)

The partial solar eclipse is seen against a crescent of Islamabad's grand Faisal mosque in Pakistan on Aug 1, 2008. (AP Photo/B.K.Bangash)

People watch an eclipse of the sun in the Altai region, some 300 km (186.4 miles) from Barnaul, Russia on August 1, 2008. A dark shadow swept across Russia on Friday as thousands of skywatchers from all over the world flocked to Siberia to see this years eclipse. (REUTERS/Andrei Kasprishin)

An airplane flies past during a partial solar eclipse in Almaty, Kazakhstan on August 1, 2008. (REUTERS/Zturgan Aldauyev)

Children take a look at a partial solar eclipse through special solar glasses at a planetarium in Gauhati, India, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, the total solar eclipse is observed at 7:15 pm (1115 GMT) on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008 in Jinta County of Jiuquan City, northwest China's Gansu Province. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Han Chuanhao)

Maria Shciskina, wearing solar glasses, watches the partial eclipse of the sun visible in Kaivopuisto Park, Helsinki, Finland on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Martti Kainulainen/ Lehtikuva)

People sit, silhouetted as they watch the sun being blocked by the moon during a solar eclipse in Gaotai, Gansu province, China on August 1,2008. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

Two men watch a partial solar eclipse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on August 1, 2008.

A woman attempts to take photos of a solar eclipse through exposed x-ray film in Xian, China Friday Aug. 1, 2008. Told that it would be safe to watch Friday evening's solar eclipse through exposed X-ray film, many Chinese on Xi'an's city wall tried to take photos through it as well. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

A woman reaches out while looking at the moon partly eclipsing the sun, in St.Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008.

A solar eclipse can be seen above the Jiayuguan Fort on the Great Wall of China in the town of Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, China on August 1, 2008.

How are the Beijing Olympics Medals Made?

Beijing Olympics medal reverse side

Obverse side

Selecting stones

Jade cutting

Jade polishing

Checkup details

Medal mould

Bronze medal

Medal machine tool

Medal a! fter punching

Groove making machine

Groove checking-up

Putting jade into the medal

Finishing

About Bananas

This is interesting. After Reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas . Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression : According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS : Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia : High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure : This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect to beat blood pressure.
So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke

Brain Power : 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation : High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help
restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers : One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels,while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn : Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness : Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites : Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves : Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two
hours to keep levels steady

Ulcers : The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal
disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal = Affective Disorder (SAD) : Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6,B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress : Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the
heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be balanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes : According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine,"eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

Chiranjeevi's Party Office.

Superstar Chiranjeevi' s Party Office - Praja Rajyam

When Chiranjeevi made his entry into politics, everyone expected something grand. People close to him say Chiranjeevi is extremely particular about detailing and wants everything to be state of the art. One look at Chiranjeevi' s party office situated at Hyderabad's best area Jubilee Hills says it all.

Although no activity has commenced in this office, there are people around who show you around proudly. The 15-room state-of-the- art office leaves one wondering whether he/she has entered a political party or a corporate office.

Entry into the office is not easy. Apart from the two close circuit cameras monitoring every move of yours, you need to get through three security guards at the gate who ask a million questions before granting you entry. Even the press card does not work easily over here.

Inside the office, above the receptionist' s desk, is a photograph of the star himself standing with folded hands. You won't fail to notice former President A P J Abdul Kalam's words framed on the wall, reading: "We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people, dream dream dream."

The conference room is breathtaking. The large hall has a state-of-the- art sound system and a multimedia presentation unit. The chairs, the LCD monitors and mikes all reflect the black theme overall.

The office will become fully functional in a week. People from across the state have been coming to have a look at the office, but due to security reasons, everyone can't be allowed inside. The star's chamber too is great inside. However, there are strict instructions to keep it locked. It is open only when the boss is here.

Chiranjeevi' s managers have also taken great care in ensuring that the people who come to the office have a comfortable wait. There are two waiting rooms, one near the stars chambers, which they call as the VIP waiting lounge and the other near the conference hall. Each of these rooms is fitted with a gigantic LCD television to ensure that the wait is not boring.

A walk through the office gives the impression that Chiranjeevi has drawn a lot of inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B R Ambedkar, APJ Abdul Kalam and Mother Teresa. Photographs of these great personalities is done in every possible wall in the office.

Phook an Review

eevi rating: 3.25/5
Punchline: less scary and more sensible
Banner: One More Thought Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Genre: Horror
Cast: Sudeep, Amruta Khanvilkar, Ahsaas Channa, Kenny Desai, Ashwini Kalsekar, Ganesh Yadav & Zakir Hussain
Cinematography: Savita Singh
Action: Allan Amin
writer - screenplay : Milind Gadagkar
Direction: Ram Gopal Varma
Producer: Azam Khan & Parvez Damania
Release date: 22 August 2008

Review

Story
Rajeev (Sudeep) is a young and successful construction engineer with ambitious plans. He is an atheist. He has a religious wife and two kids. He fires a woman called Madhu (Aswini Kalsekar) and her husband for indulging in fraud. In turn she uses black magic on the little daughter of Rajeev. The rest of the story is all about how an atheist like Sudeep believes in Black magic and saves his daughter.
Actors:
Sudeep is very good as an atheist. Amrutha Khanvilkar is pretty as housewife. Aswini Kalsekar is excellent as the eccentric black magic woman. Ahsaas Channa steals the show as the girl who is possessed. Zakir Hussain is superb with a scary get-up as the blind black magic specialist.

Technical departments:

Story -
Screenplay - direction: Story of the film does deal with black magic. By balancing the story between the scientific aspect and supernatural aspect of the black magic, the director could sustain the interest among the audiences. Ram Gopal Varma never ventured out of way to create scariness by doing unnecessary scenes except for a couple of dream sequences (hero and the maid). The screenplay of the film is interesting. Direction of the film is good. And the characterizations are good.
Technical departments: Ram Gopal Varma extracted the best out of his technicians. Background music is very good. Cinematography is excellent. I liked the slow camera movements and the positioning of camera in most of the scenes. Dialogues are good. Art work is fine. He made sure that the soft toys chosen for the kids are weird so that it would help in creating scary ambiance. Most of the film is shot in two locations (house and construction site).
Analysis: In the beginning of his career, Ram Gopal Varma used to make horror thrillers just for the sake of scaring the audiences. He used to concentrate more on fear factor than the emotional quotient. But contrary to his earlier horror films, Ram Gopal Varma narrated this film more sensibly by not depending on unnecessary scenes in order the scare the people. Hence he mixed the thrill elements into the emotional aspect. Those people who expect lot of scariness in the film would find it little disappointing. The plus points of the film are technical aspects and sensible story telling. The negative point is the slow-paced narration. On a whole, Ram Gopal Varma's Phoonk is worth a watch if you like films of this genre.

Home Remedies for NARCOLEPSY Daytime Sleeping

Definition
Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep.

People with narcolepsy often find it difficult to stay awake for long periods of time, regardless of the circumstances. Narcolepsy can cause serious disruptions in your daily routine.

Some people mistakenly attribute symptoms of narcolepsy to depression, seizure disorders, fainting, simple lack of sleep, or other conditions that may cause abnormal sleep patterns.

Narcolepsy is a chronic condition that doesn't go away completely. Although there's no cure for narcolepsy, medications and lifestyle changes can help you manage the symptoms. And talking to others — family, friends, employer, teachers — can help you cope better with narcolepsy.


Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of narcolepsy include:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness. The primary characteristic of narcolepsy is overwhelming drowsiness and an uncontrollable need to sleep during the day. People with narcolepsy fall asleep without warning, anywhere and at any time. For example, you may suddenly nod off while at work or talking with friends. You may sleep for just a few minutes or up to a half-hour before awakening and feeling refreshed, but then you fall asleep again.
  In addition to sleeping at inappropriate times and places, you may also experience decreased alertness throughout the day. Excessive daytime sleepiness usually is the first symptom to appear and is often the most troublesome, making it difficult for you to concentrate and function fully.
• Sudden loss of muscle tone. This condition, called cataplexy, can cause a range of physical changes, from slurred speech to complete weakness of most muscles, and may last for a few seconds to a few minutes. Cataplexy is uncontrollable and is often triggered by intense emotions, usually positive ones such as laughter or excitement, but sometimes fear, surprise or anger. For example, your head may droop uncontrollably or your knees may suddenly buckle when you laugh.
  Some people with narcolepsy experience only one or two episodes of cataplexy a year, while others have numerous episodes each day. About 70 percent of people with narcolepsy experience cataplexy.
• Sleep paralysis. People with narcolepsy often experience a temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or upon waking. These episodes are usually brief — lasting one or two minutes — but they can be frightening. You may be aware of the condition and have no difficulty recalling it afterward, even if you had no control over what was happening to you.
  This sleep paralysis mimics the type of temporary paralysis that normally occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the period of sleep during which most dreaming occurs. This temporary immobility during REM sleep may prevent your body from acting out dream activity. Not everyone with sleep paralysis has narcolepsy, however. Many people experience a few attacks of sleep paralysis, especially in young adulthood.
• Hallucinations. These hallucinations, called hypnagogic hallucinations, may take place when a person with narcolepsy falls quickly into REM sleep, as he or she does at sleep onset at night and periodically during the day, or upon waking. Because you may be semiawake when you begin dreaming, you experience your dreams as reality, and they may be particularly vivid and frightening.

 

Other characteristics
Other signs and symptoms of narcolepsy include restless nighttime sleep and occasional automatic behavior. During episodes of automatic behavior, you continue to function during sleep episodes — even talking and putting things away, for example — but you awaken with no memory of performing such activities, and you generally don't perform these tasks well. As many as 40 percent of people with narcolepsy experience automatic behavior. People with narcolepsy may also act out their dreams at night by flailing their arms or kicking and screaming.

The signs and symptoms of narcolepsy can begin anytime up to your 50s, but they most commonly begin between the ages of 10 and 25. Narcolepsy is chronic, which means signs and symptoms may vary in severity, but they never go away entirely.

 

Causes
The exact cause of narcolepsy isn't known. It's believed that genetics may play a role. But the larger influence may be a trigger, such as an infection, that leads to damage to certain brain cells important to sleep.

 

Normal sleep pattern vs. narcolepsy
The normal process of falling asleep begins with a phase called non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. During this phase, your brain waves slow down considerably. After an hour or two of NREM sleep, your brain activity picks up again, and REM sleep begins. Most dreaming occurs during REM sleep.

In narcolepsy, however, you suddenly fall into REM sleep without first experiencing NREM sleep and at abnormal times, such as during the day. Also, some of the aspects of sleep that normally occur only during REM sleep, such as sudden lack of muscle tone, sleep paralysis and vivid dreams, occur at other times during sleep in people with narcolepsy.

The role of brain chemicals
Hypocretin is an important chemical in your brain that helps regulate staying awake and keeps REM sleep stable and occurring at the appropriate time during sleep. The cells that make hypocretin are severely damaged in narcolepsy. Because the cells are damaged, hypocretin is found in low levels in people with narcolepsy — lowest of all in those who experience cataplexy.

 Exactly what causes the damage to hypocretin cells is not known. But it's thought that there's probably some factor such as an infection and an abnormal immune response that leads to the damage. Certain genetic markers are also more common in people who develop narcolepsy. If another family member has narcolepsy, it is slightly more likely you could develop it.

Research continues to focus on whether an abnormal gene may be responsible for narcolepsy or if the body's immune system may be involved in mistakenly attacking hypocretin-producin g cells in the brain.

 

The low levels of hypocretin may even lead to the development of a diagnostic test for narcolepsy. Hypocretin is normally present in spinal fluid of people without the disorder, but is present in only very low levels in the spinal fluid of people with narcolepsy.

Risk factors

Narcolepsy may be more common in men than women and occurs in all racial and ethnic groups. However, rates do seem to vary by country.

In the United States, about one in 2,000 people is affected by narcolepsy, while in Israel only one in 500,000 people has the disorder. Japan has the highest rate, affecting about one in 600 people.

The condition may run in families. A small percentage of people with narcolepsy have a close relative with the disease.

 

When to seek medical advice
See your doctor if you experience excessive daytime sleepiness that seriously disrupts your personal or professional life.

 

Tests and diagnosis
Your doctor may make a preliminary diagnosis of narcolepsy based on your experience of both excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden loss of muscle tone (cataplexy). After an initial diagnosis, your doctor may refer you to a sleep specialist for more evaluation.

Formal diagnosis may require staying overnight at a sleep center where you undergo an in-depth analysis of your sleep by a team of specialists. Methods of diagnosing narcolepsy and determining its severity include:

• Sleep history. Your doctor will want to obtain from you a detailed history so that the onset of your illness, and any other factors that could help explain your symptoms, are fully considered. A part of the history involves filling out the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, which uses a series of short questions to gauge your degree of sleepiness. You'll rank on a numbered scale how likely it is that you would doze off in certain situations, such as sitting down after lunch.
   
• Actigraphy. You may be asked to keep a detailed diary of your sleep pattern for a week or two, so that your doctor can compare how your sleep pattern and alertness are related. Often, in addition to this "sleep log," the doctor will ask you to wear an actigraph. This device has the look and feel of a wrist watch and measures how and when you sleep. 
• Polysomnogram. This test measures a variety of signals during sleep using electrodes placed on your scalp before you fall asleep. For this test, you must stay overnight for observation at a medical facility. The test measures the electrical activity of your brain (electroencephalogr am) and heart (electrocardiogram) , the movement of your muscles (electromyogram) and eyes (electro-oculogram) , and monitors your breathing.
• Multiple sleep latency test. This examination measures how long it takes for you to fall asleep during the day. You'll be asked to fall asleep for a series of four or five naps, each nap two hours apart. Specialists will observe your sleep patterns. People who have narcolepsy fall asleep easily and enter into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep quickly.

These tests can also help doctors rule out other possible causes of your signs and symptoms. Other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, can cause excessive daytime sleepiness.

Complications

Public misunderstanding of the condition
Narcolepsy may cause you to experience serious problems in both your professional and personal life. Others may perceive your condition as lazy, lethargic or rude. Your performance may suffer at school or work.

Interference with intimate relationships
Narcolepsy can affect intimate relationships. Extreme sleepiness may cause low sex drive or impotence, and people with narcolepsy may even fall asleep while making love. The problems caused by sexual dysfunction may be further complicated by emotional difficulties. Intense feelings, such as anger or joy, can trigger some signs of narcolepsy, causing affected people to withdraw from emotional interactions.

Physical harm
Sleep attacks may result in physical harm to people with narcolepsy. You're at increased risk of a car accident if you have an attack while driving. Your risk of cuts and burns is higher if you fall asleep while preparing food.

Treatments and drugs
There is no cure for narcolepsy, but medications and lifestyle modifications can help you manage the symptoms. Medications include:

Stimulants. Drugs that stimulate the central nervous system are the primary treatment to help people with narcolepsy stay awake during the day. Modafinil (Provigil), a newer stimulant, isn't as addictive and doesn't produce the highs and lows often associated with older stimulants. Some people need treatment with methylphenidate (Ritalin) or various amphetamines. Although these medications are effective, they may cause side effects, such as nervousness and heart palpitations, and can be addictive.
Antidepressants. Doctors often prescribe antidepressant medications, which suppress REM sleep, to help alleviate the symptoms of cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis. These medications include tricyclic antidepressants such as protriptyline (Vivactil) and imipramine (Tofranil) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem) and sertraline (Zoloft).
Sodium oxybate (Xyrem). This medication controls cataplexy in people with narcolepsy. Sodium oxybate helps to improve nighttime sleep, which is often poor in narcolepsy. In high doses it may also help control daytime sleepiness, even though you take it only at night. However, because the use of this drug has been associated with serious side effects, such as trouble breathing during sleep, sleepwalking and bed-wetting, it's strictly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

If you have other health problems, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, ask your doctor how medications for existing conditions may interact with those taken for narcolepsy.

Certain over-the-counter drugs, such as allergy and cold medications, can cause drowsiness as a side effect. If you have narcolepsy, your doctor will likely recommend that you avoid taking these medications.

Medications to treat narcolepsy can help reduce your signs and symptoms, but they can't alleviate them entirely. Lifestyle changes also are an integral part of treating narcolepsy.

Lifestyle and home remedies
Lifestyle modifications are important in managing the symptoms of narcolepsy. You may benefit from these steps:

• Stick to a schedule. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends.
• Take naps. Schedule short naps at regular intervals during the day. Short naps of 20 minutes at strategic times during the day may be refreshing and reduce sleepiness for one to three hours.
• Avoid nicotine and alcohol. Using these substances, especially at night, can worsen your signs and symptoms.
• Get regular exercise. Moderate, regular exercise at least four to five hours before bedtime may help you feel more awake during the day and sleep better at night.

Coping and support
Dealing with narcolepsy can be challenging. Making adjustments in your daily schedule may help. Consider these tips:

• Talk about it. Tell your employer or teachers about your condition and work together to find ways to accommodate your needs. This may include taking naps during the day, breaking up monotonous tasks, recording meetings or classes, standing during meetings or lectures, and taking brisk walks at various times throughout the day. The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against workers with narcolepsy and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees.
• Be safe. If you must drive a long distance, work with your doctor to establish a medication schedule that ensures the greatest likelihood of wakefulness during your drive. Stop for naps and exercise breaks whenever you feel drowsy. Don't drive if you feel your sleepiness is not well controlled.
  Support groups and counseling can help you and your loved ones cope with narcolepsy. Ask your doctor to help you locate a group or qualified counselor in your area.

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.
The service is provided as general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor.

Some Useful Tips

Almonds: To remove the skin of almonds easily, soak them in hot water for 15-20 minutes.

Ants: Putting 3-4 cloves in the sugar container will keep the ants at bay.

Biscuits: If you keep a piece of blotting paper at the bottom of the container, it will keep biscuits fresh for a longer time.

 Butter: Avoid the use of butter. If it is essential to use, use a butter containing low saturated fat or with plant stanols (which avoid absorption of cholesterol by our body) or similar substitutes.

Apples: Apply some lemon juice on the cut surface of the apple to avoid browning. They will look fresh for a longer time.

Banana: Apply mashed banana over a burn on your body to have a cooling effect.

Bee and Scorpion Sting Relief: Apply a mixture of 1 pinch of chewing tobacco and 1 drop of water. Mix and apply directly and immediately to the sting; cover with band aid to hold in place. Pain will go away in just a few short minutes

Bitter Gourd (Karela): Slit Karelas at the middle and apply a mixture of salt, wheat flour and curd all round. Keep aside for 1/2 an hour and then cook.
Stuffed Karela

Celery: To keep celery fresh for long time, wrap it in aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator.

Burnt Food: Place some chopped onion in the vessel having burnt food, pour boiling water in it, keep for 5 minutes and then clean.

Chilli Powder: Keeping a small piece of hing (asafoetida) in the same container will store chilli powder for long time.

Chopping: Use a wooden board to chop. It will not blunt the knife. Don't use a plastic board, small plastic pieces may go with the vegetables.

 Coriander/Mint: You can use dried coriander and mint leaves in coarse powder form in vegetable curry or chutney, if fresh ones are not available.
To keep them fresh for a longer time, wrap them in a muslin cloth and keep in a fridge.

ï‚· Cockroaches: Put some boric powder in kitchen in corners and other places. Cockroaches will leave your house.

Coconut: Immerse coconut in water for 1/2 an hour to remove its hust.

Dry Fruits: To chop dry fruits, place them in fridge for half an hour before cutting. Take the fruits out and cut them with a hot knife (dip it in hot water before cutting).

Dough/Rolling pin: If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, place it in freezer for a few minutes.

Egg peeling off: Make a small hole in the egg by piercing a pin before boiling it. You will be able to remove its skin very easily.

Egg fresh: Immerse the egg in a pan of cool salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh; if it rises to the surface, it is certainly quite old.

Garlic: Garlic skin comes off easily if the garlic cloves are slightly warmed before peeling.

Ghee: Avoid the use of ghee. If it is necessary, substitute it with canola oil. Even for making halwa, you can partly substitute it with oil.

Green Chillies: To keep the chillies fresh for a longer time, remove the stems before storing.

Green Peas: To preserve green peas, keep them in a polythene bag in the freezer.

Idlies: Place a betel (paan) leaf over the leftover idli and dosa batter to prevent them sour.
Do not beat idli batter too much, the air which has been incorporated during fermentation will escape.
If you add half a tsp of fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking, dosas will be more crisp.

Fruits: To ripen fruits, wrap them in newspaper and put in a warm place for 2-3 days. The ethylene gas they emit will make them ripe.

Frying: Avoid deep frying. Substitute deep frying with stir frying or oven bake. Don't pour the oil, but make a habit of spraying the oil in the utensil for cooking. Heat the utensil first, then add oil. This way oil spreads well. You will use less oil this way.

Left Over: Don't throw away the foods left over. Store them in Fridge. Use them in making tasty dishes.

Lemon/Lime: If the lemon or lime is hard, put it in warm water for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to squeeze.

Lizards: Hang a peacock feather, lizards will leave your house.

Milk: Moisten the base of the vessel with water to reduce the chances of milk to stick at the bottom.
Keep a spoon in the vessel while boiling milk at medium heat. It will avoid sticking the milk at the bottom of the vessel.
Adding half a tsp of sodium bicarbonate in the milk while boiling will not spoil the milk even if you don't put it in the fridge.

Mixer/Grinder: Grind some common salt in your mixer/grinder fro some time every month. This will keep your mixer blades sharp.

 Mosquitoes: Put a few camphor tablets in a cup of water and keep it in the bed room near your bed, or in any place with mosquitoes.

Noodles: When the noodles are boiled, drain all the hot water and add cold water. This way all the noodles will get separated.

Onions: To avoid crying, cut the onions into two parts and place them in water for 15 minutes before chopping them.
Wrap the onions individually in a newspaper and store in a cool and dark place to keep them fresh for long time.

Oven: Watch from the oven window to conserve energy because the oven temperature drops by 25 degrees every time its door is opened,
To clean the oven, apply a paste of sodium bicarbonate and water on the walls and floor of the oven and keep the oven on low heat for about half an hour. Dried food can easily be removed.

Paneer: To keep paneer fresh for several days, wrap it in a blotting paper while storing in the refrigerator.
Do not fry paneer, immerse it in boiling water to make it soft and spongy.

Papad: Bake in microwave oven.
Wrap the papads in polythene sheet and place with dal or rice will prevent them from drying and breaking.

Pickles: To prevent the growth of fungus in pickles, burn a small grain of asafoetida over a burning coal and invert the empty pickle jar for some time before putting pickles in the jar.

Popcorn: Keep the maize/corn seeds in the freezer and pop while still frozen to get better pops.

Potato: To bake potatoes quickly, place them in salt water for 15 minutes before baking.
Use the skin of boiled potatoes to wipe mirrors to sparkling clean.
Don't store potatoes and onions together. Potatoes will rot quickly if stored with onions.

Refrigerator: To prevent formation of ice, rub table salt to the insides of your freeze.

Rice: Add a few drops of lemon juice in the water before boiling the rice to make rice whiter.
Add a tsp of canola oil in the water before boiling the rice to separate each grain after cooking.
Don't throw away the rice water after cooking. Use it to make soup or add it in making dal (lentils).
Add 5g of dried powdered mint leaves to 1kg of rice. It will keep insects at bay.
Put a small paper packet of boric powder in the container of rice to keep insects at bay. Put a few leaves of mint in the container of rice to keep insects at bay.

 Samosa: Bake them instead of deep frying to make them fat free. Don't fry the filling potato masala.
Preserve the samosas in freezer. For eating, take out of the freezer two hours in advance and bake them over low temp.

Sugar: Put 2-3 cloves in the sugar to keep ants at bay.

Tadka: Use sprouted mustard seeds (rayee) and fenugreek (methi) seeds for your tadkas. Both of them when sprouted have more nutritional values. Also this add flavour to the dish and can be more beneficial, besides giving decorative look to the dish. Submitted by MS Itisha Madhav

 Tomato: To remove the skin of tomatoes, place them in warm water for 5-10 minutes. The skin can then be easily peeled off.
When tomatoes are not available or too costly, substitute with tomato puree or tomato ketchup/sauce.
Place overripe tomatoes in cold water and add some salt. Overnight they will become firm and fresh.

Tamarind: Tamarind is an excellent polish for brass and copper items. Rub a slab of wet tamarind with some salt sprinkled on it on the object to be polished.
Gargles with tamarind water is recommended for a sore throat.

Utensils: Use nonsticking utensils. Use thick bottom utensils, they get uniformly heated. For electric stoves, use flat bottom utensils.
Add a little bit of common salt to the washing powder for better cleaning of utensils.

 Vegetables: Don't discard the water in which the vegetables are soaked or cooked. Use it in making soup or gravy.
To keep the vegetables fresh for a longer time, wrap them in newspaper before putting them in freeze.
Chop the vegetables only when you are ready to use them. Don't cut them in too advance. It would spoil their food value.

Sink (Blocked): To clear the blocked drain pipe of your kitchen sink, mix 1/2 cup sodium bicarbonate in 1 cup vinegar and pour it into the sink, and pour about 1 cup water. In an hour the drain pipe will open.

Soup Salty: Place a raw peeled potato in the bowl, it will absorb the extra salt.

Yoghurt (Home Made): To set yogurt in winter, place the container in a warm place like oven or over the voltage stabliser.
Yogurt: If the yogurt has become sour, put it in a muslin cloth and drain all the water. Then add milk to make it as good as fresh in taste. Use the drained water in making tasty gravy for vegetables or for basen curry.
To keep the yogurt fresh for many days, fill the vessel containing yogurt with water to the brim and refrigerate. Change the water daily..

109 romantic messages

Romantic SMS Collection - Containing SMS that is romantic. The perfect messages for your special person. We keep adding new romantic sms frequently so be sure you keep checking the Blog for the latest romantic SMS. Have fun sending these Romantic SMS to your friends and Love ones.

1. Lives are for living I live for you
Dreams are for dreaming I dream for you
Hearts are for beating mine beats for you
Angels are for keeping. Can I keep you?

2. You are like the sunshine so warm, you are like sugar, so sweet.... you are like you... and that's the reason why I love you!

3. You must be a good runner because you are always running in my mind, you must be a good thief because you have stolen my heart, and i am always a bad shooter because I Miss You Always...

4. If I had a penny for everytime I thought of you, I'd still miss you, but at least I would be rich enough to come and see you..!!

5. If I die and go to heaven, I'll put your name on a golden star. So that all the angels can see, how much you mean to me.

6. I miss you so, here around me, so many people, but yet so alone. I miss your lips, your lovely smile, I miss you each day more and more!

7. Love is hard and will always be, but remember somebody loves you and that one is ME !

8. I wanted to send you all my love but the postman said it was too big !

9. If you live to be a hundred , I want to be a hundred minus one day , so I don't have to live a day without you.

10. There are a lot of birds wispering only about you, you should once listen to them, then you would know how much I love you.

11. When the night comes, look at the sky. If you see a falling star, don't wonder why, just make a wish. Trust me, it will come true, 'cause I did it and I found you!

12. I hope that you finally understand, that I will love you untill the end, because your not just my girl, you are also my best friend!

13. Kiss me and you will see stars ....Love me and I will give them to you.

14. My love, words however special ... could never even start, to tell you all the love I have for you within my heart!

15. The day that I'll die, when death replaces birth, I'll recognize angels' faces, 'cus I live with one on earth.

16. Loving you could take my life, but when I look into your eyes, I know you're worth that sacrafice!

17. If you were a tear I would never dare to cry. I might lose you!

18. If your heart was a prison, I would like to be sentenced for life.

19. If a big fat man creeps into your bedroom one night and stuffs you into a bag, Then do not worry 'cause I told Santa I wanted you for christmas!

20. If you are mad at me, you might just as well give me all my kisses back!

21. One day you will ask me: What is more important to you, me or your life? I will say: my life You will walk away from me without knowing that YOU ARE MY LIFE!

22. I have seen angels in the sky, I have seen snowfall in july, I have seen things u only imAgine to see, But I haven't seen anything sweeter than you.

23.True love is hard to find. Special 1-1 of a kind. But the love inside of me is true. It appeared the day I met you!

24. I believe that God above created you for me to love. He picked you out from all the rest cause He knew i'd love you the best!

25. If I died or went somewhere far, I'd write your name on every star so everyone could look up and see you mean the world to me.

26.I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.

27. Who cares whether this is a poem or rhyme, I will love you until the end of time.

28. Last night I looked up at the stars and matched each one with a reason why I love you I was doing great, but then I ran out of stars.

29. If you live for 100 more days, then I want to live for 100 more days minus one so that I'd never have to live without you.

30. They say you only fall in love once, it can't be true. Everytime I look at you, I fall in love all over again.

31. I get the best feeling in the world when you say hi or even smile at me because I know, even if its just for a second, that I've crossed your mind.

32.Loved you yesterday, love you still, always have, always will.

33. If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, just know that you are in my heart. You'll be in there forever!

34.Do you believe in love at first sight? Or should I walk by again?

35.You can fall from the sky, you can fall from a tree, but the best way to fall is in love with me.

36. If I had a rose for everytime I thought about you Id be walking in a garden forever.

37.I wrote your name in the sand but the waves washed it away. I wrote your name on my hand but I washed it the next day. I wrote your name on a paper but I accidentally threw it away. I wrote your name in my heart and forever it will stay.

38.If I can only be with you in my dreams then I'll sleep for ever.

39.Sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for. So wait for me, I'll be right back.

40. Why is it that I have to climb 1000 mountains to get to you and all you have to do is smile to get to me?

41. If I got a penny every time I thought of you I'd be a millionaire by tomorrow.

42. If you stood in front of a mirror and held up a dozen roses you would see the 13 most beautiful things in the world.

43.A day without you is like a day without light because you light up my life.

44. Is it true? Can it be? Are you the only one for me?

45. Tonight I ask the stars above. How I'll ever win your love. What do I do.What do I say. To turn your angel eyes my way?

46.The shortest word for me is "I"
The sweetest word for me is "love"
The only word for me is "you!"

47. The way you look into my eyes, It scares me
The way you say "I love you", It scares me
The way you know just what to say, It scares me
The ways you scare me, I love it

48. Good days come often, Bad days do too, But the best days only come when I'm with you.

49. You tripped me, so I fell for you.

50. I will love you until my heart stops beating.

OLD CURRENCY OF INDIA & PAKISTAN