Flower Blossoms' Blog

Health Watch: Sit-ups alone don’t work. Your core matters, too

Francis Unson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:10:39 +0000

Many people set out to make healthy changes for themselves, especially as part of their New Year’s resolution. As a result, gymnasiums see a spike in memberships around New Year’s Day. However, it may have been years since someone has exercised to any extent, let along set foot inside a gym. Not only are these people out of shape, but they maybe rusty in technique, as well. Attempting their first sit-up in years, for instance, they will find it much harder to do than when they last did it. In fact, according to recent studies in biomechanics, what they learned about sit-ups and crunches years ago maybe flat out wrong.

Researchers have found out that the full motion of a sit-up puts an unhealthy strain on your back at its weakest point. The back of the spine contains the most nerves, which is the very part that bends and strains during a sit-up. Excessive flexing of the spine over time, doing just one type of sit-up or crunch repeatedly, could lead to disk herniation, resulting in back and leg pain, weakness, and tingling. Trainers working closely with new clients have observed that the excessive flexing of the client’s spine is due to their focus on just one muscle group, the rectus abdominus, with little regard to other abdominal muscle groups such as the transverse abdominus or obliques (internal and external), or other “core” muscles. People must understand that core strength training and abdominal exercises complement each other, and that the latter cannot be done instead of the former. The core muscles that are involved include:

Rectus Abdominus
Erector Spinae
Multifidus
External Obliques
Internal Obliques
Transverse Abdominis (TVA)
Hip Flexors, which include the psoas major, illiacus, rectus femoris, pectineus, and sartorius
Gluteus medius and minimus
Gluteus maximus, hamstring group, piriformis
Hip adductors

Why must we focus on these core muscles? The muscles of the core make it possible for us to stand upright and walk around by controlling movement, shift body weight, and move in any direction. The goal of core stability is to maintain a solid foundation and transfer of energy from the center of the body out to the limbs, thereby protecting the back. What are the exercises required to strengthen the core muscles? The following exercise equipment, as demonstrated in these YouTube videos, work very well towards developing your core strength:

Medicine Balls
Kettlebells
Stability Balls
Balance Products such as the Bosu Ball, balance boards, wobble boards, et al.
Dumbbells

Consider these pieces of equipment tools that can assist you in your core strength development. However, you can also develop your core strength without them, relying on your body weight alone. Body weight exercises involve abdominal bracing, or the contraction of the abdominal muscles, and focus primarily on the transverse abdominis. This, along with ten other equipment-less exercises, can be done to develop your core strength and include the following:

These exercises will ensure that you develop core strength in the transverse abdominis, the deepest muscle of the core, so that you can maintain trunk stability and keep your waist tight. It should not be surprising, then, that you would reap from the benefits of core conditioning when you work on abdominal conditioning concurrently. Conversely, you maybe disappointed at the results of your abdominal conditioning should you do little core conditioning alongside it.

Abdominal conditioning focuses on two muscle groups: the rectus abdominus, often referred to as the “six-pack” , and the obliques (internal and external), which are located on the front and side of the abdomen. These two muscle groups are on top of the aforementioned transverse abdominis, which is adjacent to your vital organs. The abdominal muscles are special because they provide postural support, which contributes to a healthy back. As long as you work on core conditioning, as well, you will be pleased with the results of your abdominal condition. The number of abdominal exercises to choose from, however, raises another concern: what are the most effective abdominal exercises? The Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University answered that question by measuring the muscle activity of a number of test subjects as they performed 13 12 different ab exercises. Using the traditional crunch as the baseline of muscle activity, this is what they discovered for the rectus abdominus:

Activity in Rectus Abdominus
Ranking	Exercise	Activity, mean %
1	Bicycle Maneuver	248
2	Captain’s Chair	212
3	Exercise Ball	139
4	Vertical Leg Crunch	129
5	Torso Track	127
6	Long Arm Crunch	119
7	Reverse Crunch	109
8	Crunch with Heel Push	107
9	Ab Roller	105
10	Hover	100
11	Traditional Crunch	100
12	Exercise Tubing Pull	92
13	~~Ab Rocker~~	21

as well as for the obliques:

Activity in Obliques
Ranking	Exercise	Activity, mean %
1	Captain’s Chair	310
2	Bicycle Maneuver	290
3	Reverse Crunch	240
4	Hover	230
5	Vertical Leg Crunch	216
6	Exercise Ball	147
7	Torso Track	145
8	Crunch with Heel Push	126
9	Long Arm Crunch	118
10	Ab Roller	101
11	Traditional Crunch	100
12	Exercise Tubing Pull	77
13	~~Ab Rocker~~	74

What does this mean for your workout? Think about your workout in three steps, in order:

Stretching (as always)
Core strength training (to maintain a solid foundation and transfer of energy from the center of the body out to the limbs)
Abdominal exercises (to strengthen your abdominal muscles)

When you go to the gym or work out in your garage, do not start with abdominal exercises. Always work on core strength training first so that your abdominal exercises thereafter produce the six-pack abs you have wanted in the first place.

Francis Unson

Facebook Twitter WordPress

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

Downloads for Your Computer: the Essentials

Francis Unson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:41:02 +0000

The majority of people, like me, just cannot wait to use their new computer once it is removed from its box, especially if that computer is replacing an older, slower computer. However, as a person trained in network administration, I would make a list of the applications and plug-ins I have been using on my old computer so that I can download the same items on the new computer, making the switch feel transparent. From our standpoint, while the switch to faster-performing hardware is welcomed, the case is not the same for software applications, where retraining may be required, an added cost that businesses and organizations are, more likely than not, do not welcome with open arms. Whether we are upgrading our own computer or the PCs in a computer room at a university, we feel much more comfortable using the same software we had always been using.

What applications should you install on your computer to maximize its usage? Whether you received a new computer for Christmas or own a four-year-old computer that is showing its age, you should download the following items.

Web browser

Mozilla Firefox (download from Mozilla | CNET), Google Chrome (Google | CNET), or both

Even though the latest versions of Internet Explorer (IE9 and IE10) are much more secure, earlier versions (IE7 and earlier) have been plagued by many security vulnerabilities and concerns: much of the spyware, adware, and computer viruses across the Internet were made possible by exploitable bugs and flaws in the web browser’s security architecture. Firefox and Chrome, meanwhile, deployed different security models seemingly in response to the vulnerabilities found in the older versions of IE, giving the perception of greater security, at least until IE was updated with a much improved security model. Unfortunately, the number of security vulnerabilities found in all versions of Firefox and Chrome combined pales in comparison to the large number of vulnerabilities found in IE, which is why I strongly recommend Firefox or Chrome as your default web browser.

Add-ons and extensions

Web of Trust (for Firefox, Chrome et al.)

I cannot begin to stress the importance of using an Internet website reputation rating tool such as Web of Trust (WOT), which shows you which websites you can trust for safe surfing, shopping and searching on the web. With the WOT add-on, you can see the website’s reputation based on other users’ experiences and carefully chosen trusted sources, such as phishing and spam blacklists. You can also rate websites yourself based on your own experiences. Whether you are looking at search engine results, links in your news feed on Facebook, or links in your timeline on Twitter, WOT indicates to you right away if the link posted is safe or not. WOT is indispensable if you have young web browsers in your house.

Adblock Plus (for Firefox | Chrome)

If you want to improve your web surfing experience, install Adblock Plus (ABP), a content-filtering extension that allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being downloaded and displayed. Once installed, you will notice right away how much faster websites load without the burden of extra images or flash files for animated ads. If you are still using a 56K modem, or if you live with a bunch of bandwidth hogs, you will be able to view your content more quickly with this extension installed on your web browser.

Anti-malware and virus protection

Malwarebytes (from Malwarebytes | CNET)

Highly effective at finding malware such as rogue security software, adware, and spyware, Malwarebytes is the software that people turn to as soon as their computer begins to show possible signs of malware infection. I find it unfortunate that people turn to anti-malware software only when an infection is discovered instead of installing it early on as a preventative measure. I am telling you right now: install Malwarebytes as soon as possible, and run it once a week. You may catch malware that was downloaded but, thankfully, wasn’t installed onto your computer yet. Best of all, the free version is fully functional and will delete any and all malware, should any be found.

Microsoft Security Essentials (from Microsoft)

Why do I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)? Like Malwarebytes, MSE is also highly effective at finding malware. However, features such as real-time malware prevention and automatic updates are not included with the free version of Malwarebytes, where they and other features are bundled with MSE. Indeed, MSC is freeware. From the school of thought that no single anti-malware product can find and remove all malware, MSE is a highly recommended complement to existing anti-malware and anti-virus software you have already installed.

Utilities

CCleaner (from Piriform | CNET)

I recommend CCleaner very highly for its simple task of cleaning potentially unwanted files and invalid Windows Registry entries from a computer. The applications we use daily generate lots of temporary files, especially web browsers, and CCleaner, when used weekly, will help your computer run smoothly without getting clogged and overburdened with files the computer no longer needs. When using the program with client computers, I was shocked at the amount of junk files that remained on the hard drive. It’s one thing when your computer is running slowing because you’re running out of free disk space, but quite another when the daily usage of that computer is the reason for that clutter. Use CCleaner regularly so that gigabytes (yes, GB) of junk files do not accumulate over time.

Defraggler (from Piriform | CNET)

The best you can do after running CCleaner is to run Piriform’s other product, Defraggler, which defragments individual files on a computer system. Why? Removing gigabytes of junk files creates a lot of gaps between legitimate files on your hard drive. Some files, especially large files, may be fragmented, or spread out all over the drive partition. Opening that one file may take longer than it should because your hard drive has to go to different parts of your hard drive just to read it. Running Defraggler effectively reunites all those parts of a file as best it can so that reading the same file after defragmentation will be much faster, since the majority of that large file is physically in the same location on the hard drive.

Readers

Adobe Reader (from Adobe)

If you work in an office, you probably work with an office suite, compiling documents in, say, MS Word or Excel and later converting them to a format that is generally read-only to most people, such as Portable Document Format, or PDF. Adobe Reader is part of the Adobe Acrobat family of application software developed to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in PDF, although Adobe Reader itself only allows you to view and print PDF files. For most people, that capability is all they need when coming across a PDF file on the Internet. When you install Adobe Reader, an Adobe Reader plug-in for your web browser is also installed so that the application itself does not need to be opened if, for example, a PDF file link is clicked in Firefox or Chrome.

Players

Adobe Flash Player (from Adobe)

If you watch streaming video and audio, play online games with animation, or go to graphics-intensive websites with GUIs embedded into the site, you will need to install Adobe Flash Player, which executes and displays content from a provided SWF file. Flash Player supports vector and raster graphics, 3D graphics, an embedded scripting language called ActionScript and streaming of video and audio. Like Reader, the installation of Adobe Flash Player also includes plug-in support for your web browsers. Despite HTML5 as a possible replacement, Adobe Flash Player, emerging as the de facto standard for online video publishing on the desktop, will be around for years to come.

Francis Unson

Facebook Twitter WordPress

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

18 Types of Residual Income

Francis Unson — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:32:45 +0000

When deciding how you would like to structure your personal finances with multiple streams of income and you are a full-time worker, you may wish to supplement your income with a second job. However, just like your first job, your salary will still be subjected to income tax. Moreover, the salaries from both of these jobs are considered linear income. What you would like to do for yourself instead is earn residual income.

What is linear income? It is the income you are earning from your full-time or part-time job. With this type of income, the amount you earn is tied to how much you work. The more you work, the more you earn; the less you work, the less you earn. Let’s face it. Sick time, vacation time and PTO can only cover so much of your off time before you start not getting paid for not working.

On the other hand, residual income (also known as “passive income” or “royalty income“) involves doing the work once and being paid for this work many times over, over a period of months or even years.

From the viewpoints of residual income, many types of professionals are not as wealthy as they appear. Doctors, dentists and chiropractors only see a fixed number of patients per day. Salesmen can only speak to so many potential customers per day. Attorneys can only meet with so many clients per day. Overall, these professionals are earning a linear income.

Because a linear income shows almost immediate results, people tend to get caught in the trap of viewing a linear income as being of little value to them. For those who would genuinely like to live off a linear income in the future, the hard work must be put in now. Once you’re working a steady job with a linear income, you can begin working on your plan to create a stream of residual income, setting aside two to four hours after work each day or part of your weekend to make this dream a reality.

If you do not know the types of residual income you can earn, here is a list to get you started:

Savers earn interest
Songwriters earn royalties on their songs
Authors earn royalties on their books, whether it is a traditional book, audio book, or e-book
Insurance agents get residual business
Securities agents get residual sales
Network marketers get residual commissions
Actors and actresses get a portion of box office receipts, DVD or Blu-ray sales, and fees from online downloads
Entrepreneurs get business profits
Franchisors get franchising fees
Investors get dividends, interest, and appreciation
Visual artists get royalties for their creations
Software creators, game designers, and inventors get royalties
Partners can get profits
Mailing list owners get rental fees
Real estate owners can gain from strong positive cash flow
Retired persons can get pensions
Celebrity endorsers, such as George Foreman, get a percentage of gross profits
Marketing consultants get a percentage of profit or gross revenue

Believe me, this is not an exhaustive list of the types of residual income you can earn. Nonetheless, if you ask yourself this question right now, “What percentage of my day did I spend creating residual income?” and your answer is zero, you may wish to spend this evening or the weekend examining how you can turn residual income into a second source of income for you. But as the saying goes, “Rome was not built in a day.” With careful, consistent, and persistent planning, the royalties, profits, fees, or revenue earned from your endeavor will earn you residual income for years to come.

Francis Unson

Facebook Twitter WordPress

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

Common Password Mistakes and How to Create Stronger Passwords

Francis Unson — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:48:27 +0000

A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication to prove identity or gain access to resources. We encounter passwords in our daily lives, at the ATM, when logging onto our home or office computers, or logging into our table TV decoder when purchasing a pay-per-view event. We use passwords several times per day when we are using our computers, such as retrieving e-mail from servers; accessing programs; databases; social networking websites; or even reading the morning newspaper online. Computer passwords are our first, last, and best line of defense against damaging intrusions. Companies rely on passwords to protect sensitive information from hackers. The use of poorly designed passwords could leave us vulnerable to: identity theft, financial loss, invasion of privacy, exposure of proprietary company data, and sharing sensitive or embarrassing information. Here are some common password mistakes that users make, including examples of bad passwords.

The password is easy to locate

Monitors are the last place anyone should find your password.

Whether the password is long or short, complex or simple, a password that is written down on a Post-it note and stuck on your monitor, beneath your keyboard, or in your desk drawer (that has no lock) offers as much protection as a system that has no password in the first place. Your best bet is to create a password that you can memorize easily or retrieve from your (password protected) mobile phone.

The password is too short and simple

“susan”

“12345”

“APPLES”

These passwords share two other things in common: they contain fewer than eight characters and they use a single character set, where the first password uses all lowercase letters, the second uses all numbers, and the third uses all uppercase letters. Most password policies require that a password be at least eight characters long, with even more restrictive policies requiring the use of at least two or more character sets.

The password is too common

If any of these look familiar to you, change your password RIGHT NOW

Many users create passwords out of common phrases, obvious patterns, or combinations of words. Part of the repertoire that hackers employ includes English and foreign language dictionary attacks. Ironically, correctly spelled passwords are the easiest to crack by dictionary attacks. Simply transposing a letter or number to its visual equivalent (swapping an “O” for “0” (zero) in “passw0rd”) is not enough.

Using the same password for all your accounts

If a hacker succeeds in cracking your password for one account, be it your e-mail account or your Facebook account, chances are, they will attempt to use that same password for every other online account that they determine is yours. It is in your best interest to create a unique password for each online account that you own.

The password contains personal information

Avoid creating passwords that contain your name, home address, phone number, birthday, driver’s license, Social Security number, passport number, or similar information.

The password is based on your kids’ or pets’ names, nicknames, the names of characters in books or movies, or celebrity names.

“Bobby”

“Jenny”

“Scruffy”

“MrFluffy”

“PrincessLeia”

“EdwardCullen”

“MattDamon”

If your Facebook profile can be viewed publicly, hackers can derive passwords based on the captions of your family photos or the books and movies that you “like”.

Reversing or capitalizing the last two types of bad passwords

Some words spelled backwards are other valid words. "Stressed" and "desserts" are two of them.

Reversing your home phone number or your granddaughter’s middle name may be more complex for you to remember, but not for hackers to decipher. After all, hackers can do a reverse dictionary attack (where they look up all the words in the dictionary spelled backwards) in an attempt to steal your password.

Network system administrators are not off the hook when it comes to creating password policies. Often times, companies try to use password policies to keep those mistakes from hampering security. However, these policies must be done correctly in order to have an effect. Here are some common password policy mistakes IT departments make.

Overdoing a good thing

If a network admin requires users to create new and extremely complex passwords every 30 days, the users may start to ignore the rules and keep the hard-to-remember passwords written down.

Applying password policies unevenly

Companies may require strong passwords for users during initial login, but at other levels of security, password policies may be much weaker. Hackers who toil at cracking the user’s tough login password would be pleased to discover that security throughout the rest of the system is much more lax.

Allowing password policies to become outdated

While making users update their passwords every 30 days may be difficult for some users, not updating password policies at all would allow a system to become just as susceptible to attacks by hackers, who can rely on old information to gain access.

In order for users to protect themselves from identity theft, financial loss, or loss of privacy, users should actively and regularly create strong passwords. Here are some guidelines to creating a strong password.

Keys to password length: length and complexity

An ideal password is long and has letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers (e.g. spanning four character sets: lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters). If possible, use a password that is at least 14 characters or more and spans all areas of your keyboard, using letters and symbols you use less frequently.

Create a strong password you can remember

Microsoft outlines a method to create a long, complex password:

Start with a sentence or two.

Complex passwords are safer and easier to remember.

Remove the spaces between the words in the sentence.

Complexpasswordsaresaferandeasiertoremember.

Turn words into symbols, numbers, or shorthand.

ComplexpasswordsRsafer&easier2remember.

Add length with numbers. Put numbers that are meaningful to you after the sentence.

ComplexpasswordsRsafer&easier2remember2011.

Another site has additional suggestions for how to create a stronger password that is difficult to crack, yet easy to remember:

Choose two short, unrelated words (like your favorite exercise, animal, flower, or weather, for example) and join them with an arbitrary number and/or symbol. Examples: “jump3$lily” or “dog+rain”.
Use first letters of a sequence. For example: your nephews (named Jeremy, Roger, and Allen) and their ages: “8Je9Rog12Alle”.
Make a really long password from a sentence. Examples: “IwentskydivinginApril87” or “0416istheBostonMarathon”.
Select a line or title of a song or poem, and use the first letter of each word. For example: “Who ya gonna call? Ghost Busters!” would produce “Wygc?GB!” or “You can’t always get what you want” yields “Ycagwyw.” Even better, throw in a number or punctuation mark in the middle: “Ycag$wyw”.
Alternate between one consonant and one or two vowels, up to eight characters. This creates nonsense words that are still usually pronounceable, and thus easily remembered. Examples: “routboo,” “quadpop,” and so on.
Consider treating your password as multiple parts: a central core and a prefix and/or suffix when needed that is specific to the service the password protects. For example: your core might be “gPw4” (that is, “generic Password for…”) and then if it’s a password for a newspaper website like the New York Times, you might choose to add “NYt” to the beginning or end of the password (“NYtgPw4”), while your password for eBay auctions might be “gPw4eBa” and your Yahoo! email password could be “gP4Y!e”.
Generate your own scheme very methodically. Start with a word, and then delete a character or two, or perhaps just the vowels. Throw in some numbers or punctuation. Continue making the rules for yourself. Choose something that would seem totally random to someone else but that makes sense to you. Use your imagination!

Tester password with the password checker

Always run a password checker to evaluate your password’s strength automatically. Your online accounts, computer files, and personal information are more secure when you use strong passwords to help protect them.

Protect your passwords from prying eyes

If these strong passwords are still too difficult to remember, go ahead and write it down, but keep the written password in a secure location. Once you’ve created a strong password, continue with the suggestions below to keep it even safer:

Never share your password with anyone. This includes family, friends, significant others, computer support people, and bosses. If you need someone to read your email, many email programs (for example, Outlook) allow you use a “delegates” feature to enable certain persons do so without using your password. Check with your email provider.
Never say “yes” when your browser asks you if you’d like to save your password. Although it’s convenient, it’s not a good idea—especially when the computer you are using is shared. Some computer viruses can even recover your passwords from your Internet browser and then e-mail them to random people or post them publicly on the Internet. Stop this from happening in the future and to remove passwords that are already stored.
If you absolutely must write down a new password the first time or two you use it and until you can remember it easily, be sure you keep it in a very safe, hidden place—not a sticky note stuck to your computer or your desk! Then, shred it—don’t just toss it in the trash—once you’re done.
Never send your password in email, even if the request looks official. If you receive e-mail from someone claiming to be your systems administrator, requesting your password because they supposedly need access to your files, ignore it. This is a popular phishing scam. Remember, your computer support people will never ask you for your password for any reason. If someone must ask you to change your password so that they can gain entry to your account, they do not have reason to be there!
Change your password often. This is important, particularly for passwords that protect highly sensitive data. And if you ever suspect your password has been compromised, change it immediately!

Google summarizes the above information in the following video:

Francis Unson

Facebook Twitter WordPress

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

How Groupon Works

Francis Unson — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:49:55 +0000

Groupon is a deal-of-the-day website that is localized to major markets in the United States and Canada. The website was launched in November 2008. It was first used in Chicago, later expanding to Boston, New York City, and Toronto. Soon it was used by many parts of the United States. Groupon serves more than 150 markets in North America. Now, for those who are not Internet savvy, here are steps on how to use the website:

Sign up at Groupon.com.
The site will send you e-mail updates on the daily deals in your city.
Purchase the deal at the discounted price. Most of the time, these deals will be at least 30% off the original price. If you are very lucky, you may find a deal as much as 90% off!
Once enough people purchase the deal, it is activated (tipped) and you will receive your discount. If the minimum number of deals is not purchased, however, the deal is cancelled and no one gets it. Fortunately, almost all deals on Groupon are claimed due to a large membership base and a low minimum number of users required to purchase the deal and trigger a tip.
Once you receive your deal you can claim it at the store you got it for, usually within a period of time before it expires. The website will also give you all the details about the Groupon you have purchased.

Saving money is a great thing to do nowadays, especially with the current state of the economy. Websites such as Groupon will help you to save time and money. Instead of shuffling through newspapers to cut out coupons, you can just print them at your convenience.

Taylor P.

Facebook Twitter WordPress

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

Holidays in August

Francis Unson — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:15:38 +0000

As we come to the end of July 2011, let’s take a look at what we have to look forward to in August 2011. I’m sure most of you have heard of weekly observances such as “American Indian Heritage Month” but, believe it or not, the list of weekly observances is pretty long. There is also a list of daily holidays that aren’t recognized on most yearly calendar.

Weekly Observances in August

Holidays in August

August 5 – National Chocolate Chip Day
August 6 – National Mustard Day
August 7 – Purple Heart Day
August 8 – Sneak Some Zucchini onto your Neighbor’s Porch Night
August 12 – International Youth Day
August 19 – Hug Your Boss Day
August 26 – Women’s Equality Day

So if you enjoy celebrating holidays, I hope this list has enlightened you on some new ones. Whether you feel they its appropriate or not, people came up with them for a reason. Let’s hope that this August is the best one yet! After all, it is “National Happiness Happens Month”.

Joie Montoya

Facebook Twitter WordPress

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

Rural Doctors Needed: The Road to Becoming a Doctor

Francis Unson — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:52:31 +0000

The University of Kansas, in Kansas City, hopes that young doctors will be more willing to practice in small towns if they go to school in a rural area. Eight students will be taking classes on a satellite campus in Salina, Kansas. The university decided to take a distance learning approach in response to the shortage of rural doctors in the United States. The idea is to show these students that life can be good outside of the big city and practice can still be stimulating as well.

Becoming a doctor is a long and difficult process, with many years devoted to schooling. Here is a summary of what it takes to become a doctor:

Volunteer or work in a medical setting.
Excel in high school. (Great grades and show responsibility.)
Commit to your goal.
Graduate from a four-year college or university.
Take the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT.
Complete medical school.
Enter your residency training period. This is typically three years long and begins in July after you graduate from medical school.

I certainly hope I did not scare you away from you or your child’s dream of becoming a doctor. On the contrary, I hope that knowing the road ahead will motivate you and your child to plan out what needs to be done so that you can create a bright future for you or your child in the field of medicine.

Taylor P.

Facebook Twitter WordPress

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

How to Get More Traffic (via WordPress.com News)

Francis Unson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:48:14 +0000

Unlike road traffic, traffic to your blog is always a good thing.

As soon as a blogger publishes their first post, their first question is: Where's all my traffic? Everyone assumes they're the only one seeking attention, when in truth nearly everyone is. It takes time to build an audience and no one gets much traffic without putting in the effort. Here at WordPress.com we want you to get more traffic, and we build features and services to help. It's been awhile since we've told you about them, so here are our t … Read More

via WordPress.com News

New Theme: Piano Black (via WordPress.com News)

Francis Unson — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:45:37 +0000

So simple, yet so effective.

Say hello to Piano Black, the newest theme to launch on WordPress.com. This dark and elegant theme showcases your content with a design that feels sophisticated yet techy and modern. Make it yours with a header image, background, and custom menu, and optional RSS and Search areas in the header. Piano Black also includes a full-width-t … Read More

via WordPress.com News

10 Reasons to Travel Solo (via Fabulous at Fifty)

Francis Unson — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:35:11 +0000

Unless you were traveling on a family-oriented cruise ship, you can travel much of the world solo.

Many people don’t feel comfortable traveling solo. Usually the fears of being lonely, unsafe, and vulnerable are factors. Some of the reasons to embark upon a solo trip are: You can go where you want. Sometimes it’s difficult to agree upon a destination. If your companion prefers all-inclusive beach resorts, and you yearn for an … Read More

via Fabulous at Fifty