Sunday, May 8, 2011

The New Bend Mobile Concept

The New Bend Mobile Concept
Designer Andy Kurovets presents his “Bend Mobile” concept. He thinks turning on a device and having it grow to nearly double its size will really be attractive to some people. He may be right but where is the proof? Oh right, he is also including a high capacity digital camera that also pops out to larger than expected proportions. All that and it’s curved, for easy sliding in and out of your pants.
The New Bend Mobile Concept

The New Bend Mobile Concept

The New Bend Mobile Concept

Next Step Moving Photography

Have you ever seen a photo move? Artists develop amazing cinemagraphs that take 'stills' to the next level

It is, in their own words, ‘something more than a photo but less than a video’.

Two artists have created a new way to to record your special moments - pictures with movement.

The ‘cinemagraphs’ look like still photos but actually feature a subtle area of movement designed to grab your eye and keep you looking. The effect is slightly eerie - but utterly captivating.
Next Step Moving Photography
Hair-raising: Cinemagraphs may look like stills, but they feature a subtle area of movement designed to grab your eye. These animated photos are the work of Jamie Beck (pictured) and her fellow artist Kevin Burg
Next Step Moving Photography
Turning a page: The cinemagraphs work by using GIFs, a type of picture format similar to a JPEG which has been around since the invention of home computers but has come into its own with broadband internet

In one shot of a crowded square, bodies are frozen in time, but one man quietly turns the pages of his newspaper.

Another photo of a restaurant terrace is brought to life by the reflection of a taxi going past in the window.

And a picture of photographer Jamie Beck, one of the two behind the project, leaps off the screen when her hair starts to blow in a breeze.

Miss Beck has worked with motion graphics artist Kevin Burg to make the cinemagraphs by using GIFs, a type of picture format similar to a JPEG which has been around since the invention of home computers.

Only now with broadband internet are they bringing it to life with a startling effect.

‘Our cinemagraphs are a way of adding motion to a still image,’ Miss Beck said.
Next Step Moving Photography
Not as simple as they look: The more complex animated photos take the artists an entire day to pull together

In most cases she shoots the photos and Mr Burg adds on motion-graphics over several hours of painstaking editing.

The more complex ones take an entire day to pull together.

New York-based Miss Beck told The Atlantic magazine: ‘There's something magical about a still photograph - a captured moment in time - that can simultaneously exist outside the fraction of a second the shutter captures.

‘We feel there are many exciting applications for this type of moving image.

‘There's movement in everything and by capturing that plus the great things about a still photograph you get to experience what a video has to offer without the time commitment a video requires.’

She added that sharing websites such as Tumblr have been essential for helping them publish their work and getting them an audience.
Next Step Moving Photography
Eerie effect: Cinemagraphs are calming to watch as only one area moves - and they are silent

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Weird Fashion Around The World

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Losing weight is not just about reducing food intake and cutting things out of your diet,there are a few additions that you can make to your daily diet that can indeed help you lose weight. We've found 10 foods stuffs that incorporated with a healthy eating approach can help you shift those extra pounds and speed up weight loss.
Grapefruit

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
We've all heard of the grapefruit diet but you don't have to live on a diet of grapefruit alone to lose weight. It's been found that that eating half a grapefruit before each meal or drinking a serving of the juice three times a day can help you drop the pounds. The magic ingredient is the fruit's phytochemicals and their effect of reducing insulin levels which stimulates your body to convert calories into energy rather than storing as flabby fat.
Cinnamon

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Cinnamon is a super spice when it comes to boosting your wellbeing as it has many health-giving properties. In terms of weight loss, it's all to do with controlling those post-meal insulin spikes, which is what make you feel hungry. And you don't need to get much of the stuff to get the benefits; studies have shown just a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon a day can lower the blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. To up your cinnamon intake either sprinkle it on to your breakfast cereal, or maybe mix it into your morning latte.
Chili peppers

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Adding a bit of heat to your diet can give you a weight-loss boost. Studies show that having a spicy start to your morning, i.e. eating chilies as a part of your breakfast can make you opt for a smaller lunch. Apparently it's down to capsaicin which is found in chilies and red peppers that has appetite suppressing properties. Granted - chilies aren't the easiest of items to face as your morning meal but how about as a part of a spicy egg-white omelette or stirred into scrambled eggs for a spicy weight loss kick.
Fennel tea

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Again fennel tea is a food stuff that boasts a list of health giving benefits; it's packed with good levels of potassium, magnesium and calcium as well as the vitamins B and C. But when it comes to the weight-loss stakes fennel had a double benefit: working both as an appetite suppressant and a metabolism booster which really are both useful if you're trying to lose weight. Fennel tea is widely available in supermarkets so add it to your daily diet to stave off cravings and boost your fuel burn.
Salad

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Eating a low-calorie salad before your main meals can help you to lose weight and ensure you get recommended daily intake of veggies. And it's not rocket science as to how it works for weight loss, the key is the sheer volume of a salad, which makes you feel too full to pig out when it comes to your main meal. You need to make sure you don't drown it in a fatty dressing though - a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar makes the perfect healthy accompaniment to a fresh salad.
Green tea

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Another powerful brew - green tea really has a multitude of health and wellbeing benefits. And if you are a keen into fitness it makes the perfect pre-workout drink; it's been found to increase endurance by as much as 24%, allowing you to exercise longer and burn more calories. But in terms boosting your weight loss power, a study carried out by the Journal of Nutrition, drinking five cups of green tea per day can help you lose twice as much weight, most of it where we want to lose it most - around the middle.
Celery

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Celery rates well as a weight-loss food as you can actually end up burning more calories eating it than your body will take on consuming it. But by no means does that make celery low in nutritional value; it's super-packed with fibre (great for digestion) and foliate (the essential nutrient for the care and production of new cells within the body). Get your celery fix by making sure it's featured in your pre-meal salad, as an accompaniment to your lunch or as a healthy snack when you want to satisfy that 'munch' craving.
Lentils

Lentils are great weight-loss food as they have the power to really satisfy your hunger without packing your body with loads of calories and fat - that's often why lentils feature heavily as a meat substitute - they can make you feel like you've had a meaty dish minus the calories and saturated fat that come with eating meat. Again like celery, lentils are full of fibre and foliate so as well as giving you the full feeling, they are great for digestion and healthy cell growth.
Dark chocolate

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Granted chocolate is not low in calories nor in fat, but dark chocolate has two major dietary positives that can lead to long term weight loss. First, it's quite difficult to scoff massive quantities of high-quality dark chocolate as compared to the milk stuff. Secondly, dark chocolate is very high in health-promoting antioxidants. In terms of a weapon in your weight-loss armoury you can use dark chocolate as a way to curb any sweet cravings, just a few small squares to quell a full on chocolate pig out is well worth the modest calorie intake.
Quinoa

Top 10 Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
Pronounced 'Keen-wah' quinoa is known as the 'mother grain' by the ancient Peruvians. Quinoa is good for weight loss as it has the power to keep you feeling fuller for longer due to its high protein content. Also the carbs that are present in the grain are released slowly into the body so you won't get that rush of energy after eating quinoa as you would with other foods like white rice or pasta. You can eat quinoa raw but we reckon it's best when it's cooked in a similar way to rice or couscous.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Why Eggs Are Back On The Menu

Eggs

Why Eggs Are Back On The Menu

Why Eggs Are Back On The Menu

Low in calories and packed with nutrients,
they should be part of a balanced diet
As the latest superfood hits the headlines
(when was the last time you ate broccoli sprouts?),
it's easy to forget the humble egg.
Packed with nutrients, relatively low in calories and easy to obtain,
here are some reasons why eggs should be part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Protein

Eggs are a rich source of high quality protein. A medium sized egg has more than 6g of protein,

and contains all eight of the essential amino acids which can only be obtained from your diet.

Virtually free of carbohydrates, the high protein content of eggs may also help with satiety, i.e.

they help you feel full for longer than other foods.

At around 80 calories per medium sized egg, they are also low in calories.

Fats

Eggs are often thought of being high in fat. But a medium sized egg contains around 6g of fat,

and only 1.7g of this is saturated fat, the type associated with high cholesterol levels,

heart disease and stroke. Most of the fats in eggs are the healthier monosaturated or polysaturated kinds.

Cholesterol

When it comes to cholesterol, eggs get something of a bad press.

High blood cholesterol levels are a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke,

and egg yolks are rich in cholesterol.

However, it's now known that saturated fats play a major role in blood cholesterol levels,

whereas cholesterol-containing foods such as eggs and prawns have little overall effect.

If you want to lower your cholesterol levels, especially bad LDL-cholesterol,

cut back on foods containing saturated fats such as fatty meats, sausages, pastries, cakes,

butter and lard.

Vitamin D

Many of us are deficient in this vital vitamin.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, important for healthy bones and teeth.

Our bodies produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight,

but eggs are one of the few foods which are also rich in this vitamin.

Adults deficient in vitamin D are at greater risk of osteoporosis.

Other studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to serious health problems

including cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis.

B vitamins

Eggs are a great source of vitamin B12, needed for making red blood cells,

maintaining the nervous system and for general growth.

Too little vitamin B12 can lead to anaemia.

Eggs are also a good source of vitamin B2 (riboflavin), which helps the body

absorb iron and is important for healthy skin, nails and hair.

Choline
Eggs are a brain food, as they are one of the richest sources of choline,

needed for healthy brain development and function.

The yolk from a medium sized egg contains around 300mg of choline.

Most of the choline we need comes from our diet.

It is used by the body to form the neurotransmitter acetylcholine,

involved in memory function.

Low levels of choline can lead to a deficiency in folic acid,

also important for a healthy brain.

Choline plays an important role in the brain development of the unbo

rn child and also helps prevent birth defects.

Carotenoids
Egg yolks contain lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids which may help lower

the risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of sight loss in the UK.

Research also suggests that the lutein from eggs is more readily taken up by the

body than from other types of food.

Obama: Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead

AP Photo

Barack Obama AP – President Barack Obama reads his statement to photographers after making a televised statement on the …
WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was slain in his luxury hideout in Pakistan early Monday in a firefight with U.S. forces, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade.
"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama said in a dramatic announcement at the White House.
A jubilant crowd of thousands gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden's death. Hundreds more sang and waved American flags at Ground Zero in New York — where the twin towers that once stood as symbols of American economic power were brought down by bin Laden's hijackers 10 years ago.
Another hijacked plane slammed into the Pentagon on that cloudless day, and a fourth was commandeered by passengers who forced it to the ground — at cost of their own lives — before it could reach its intended target in Washington.
The United States attacked Afghanistan within months, pursuing al-Qaida, and an invasion of Iraq followed as part of the Bush administration's global war on terror.
U.S. officials said the CIA tracked bin Laden to his location, then elite troops from Navy SEAL Team Six, a top military counter-terrorism unit, flew to the hideout in four helicopters. Bin Laden was shot in the head in an ensuing firefight, these officials said, adding that he and his guards had resisted his attackers. U.S. personnel identified him by facial recognition, the official said, declining to say whether DNA analysis had also been used.
The U.S. team took custody of bin Laden's remains, which American officials said were being handled in accordance with Islamic tradition. Obama said no Americans were harmed in the operation.
Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of bin Laden's sons, whom officials did not name. One of bin Laden's sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.
The operation occurred in pre-dawn darkness on Monday in Pakistan — Sunday afternoon in Washington. Obama went on television late Sunday night to make the announcement.
Bin Laden's death marks a psychological triumph in a long struggle that began with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and seems certain to give Obama a political lift. But its ultimate impact on al-Qaida is less clear.
The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.
Obama provided few details of the operation beyond to say that he had personally ordered it be carried out. Other officials said it was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the administration was aware of what was unfolding half a world away.
But within hours of the announcement, Pakistani officials and a witness said bin Laden's guards had opened fire from the roof of the building, and one of the choppers crashed. The sound of at least two explosions rocked the small northwestern town of Abbottabad, where the al-Qaida chief made his last stand.
Flames were visible after the attack on the building, which was located about 100 yards from the gates of a Pakistani military academy — certain to raise questions about al-Qaida's ability to build a custom-made hideout in such close proximity.
Abbottabad, surrounded by hills and with mountains in the distance, is less than half a day's drive from the border region with Afghanistan, where most intelligence assessments believed bin Laden was holed up.
The White House said Obama convened at least nine meetings with top national security officials in the lead-up to Sunday's raid.
The president spent part of the day on the golf course, but cut his round short to return to the White House for a meeting where he and top national security aides reviewed final preparations for the raid.
Two hours later, Obama was told that bin Laden had been tentatively identified.
CIA director Leon Panetta was directly in charge of the military team during the operation, according to one official, and when he and his aides received word at agency headquarters that bin Laden had been killed, cheers broke out around the conference room table.
Halfway around the world, in Abbotabad, one witness described a military raid carried out under darkness.
"I heard a thundering sound, followed by heavy firing. Then firing suddenly stopped. Then more thundering, then a big blast," said Mohammad Haroon Rasheed. "In the morning when we went out to see what happened, some helicopter wreckage was lying in an open field."
A Pakistani official in the town said fighters on the roof opened fire on the choppers with rocket-propelled grenades. Another official said the four helicopters took off from the Ghazi air base in northwest Pakistan.
The U.S. and Pakistani officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Obama said he gave the order for the operation after receiving intelligence information that he did not further describe.
Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden's death as a momentous achievement. "The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," he said.
Senior administration officials said the terrorist mastermind was found inside a custom-built compound with two security gates. They said it appeared to have been constructed to harbor one high-value target and that for undisclosed reasons, officials believed the hideout was bin Laden's.
The stunning end to the world's most widely-watched manhunt came just months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by al-Qaida, that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The attacks a decade ago seemed to come out of nowhere, even though al-Qaida had previously struck American targets overseas.
The terrorists hijacked planes, flew one of them into one of Manhattan's Twin Towers — and, moments later, into the other one. Both buildings collapsed, trapping thousands inside and also claiming the lives of firefighters and others who had rushed to help them.
A third plane slammed into the Pentagon, defacing the symbol of America's military night. Officials have speculated that the fourth plane had been heading for the U.S. Capitol or perhaps even the White House when it crashed in Pennsylvania.
Based on statements given by U.S. detainees, intelligence officials have known for years that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular, and they believed he might be living with him in hiding. In November, intelligence officials found out where he was living, a huge fortified compound in an affluent suburb of Islamabad. It was surrounded by walls as high as 18 feet high, topped with barbed wire. There were two security gates and no phone or Internet running into the house.
Intelligence officials believed the $1 million home was custom-built to harbor a major terrorist. CIA experts analyzed whether it could be anyone else, but time and again, they decided it was almost certainly bin Laden.
Obama spoke with Bush and former President Bill Clinton Sunday night to inform them of the developments.
The president struck a less than boastful tone in his brief announcement, although he said the death of bin Laden was "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaida.
"His death does not mark the end of our effort. There's no doubt that al-Qaida will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must and we will remain vigilant," he added.
Moments after Obama spoke, the State Department put U.S. embassies on alert and warned of the heightened possibility for anti-American violence. In a worldwide travel alert, the department said there was an "enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counterterrorism activity in Pakistan."