Believe You Are Gorgeous

Unflattering photos that make us look old or overweight can steal our self-esteem, especially when they are all over social media. Here are some psychological tips to change the way they make us feel.

• Stop seeing yourself - and other women - purely in terms of shape and size. Instead of greating female friends with 'You look great, have you lost weight?' try 'It's great to see you, you look really happy'.
• Start treating your body with respect and value it for the amazing piece of machinery that it is. Focus on diet and exercise as a way of maintaining your health and youthful energy.
• Limit your demands for reassurance - confidence comes when we stop looking to other people for affirmation and accept that we, and our bodies, are good enough.

Good Housekeeping, February 2015

Antibiotics - When to say No

Antibiotics are very useful when needed. But now bacteria are becoming resistant and there are almost no new antibiotics being developed. Without them, operations will no longer be routine, success rates for leukaemia and other cancer treatments would plummet and an infected scratch or chest infection could be fatal. Even more worryingly, if bacteria run out of resistance weapons, they steal from or do swaps with other bacteria. This means that if you visit a country with a high level of resistant bacteria (Greece is a good example) even exposure to a few on food or surfaces will increase the chance of swaps going on with your own bacterial populations.

Several factors contribute to resistance build-up. The routine use of antobiotics on farm animals, antibacterial products at home, multiple courses of antibiotics, not taking a full course, and the way we use them too often - especially for trivial conditions.

We associate getting better with antibiotics, even though we would have got better without them. We no longer accept that it is normal for a sore throat to last for a few days - and be very sore sometimes.

If you are elderly or vulnerable in other ways, have a condition like COPD or cardivascular disease, or are pregnant or immune suppressed, antibiotics are very important. But for the conditions lissted below, visit your pharmacist, stay at home for a few days and take simple measures like painkillers. Avoid getting an infection in the first place by washing hands often with ordinary soap and water, and protect others by using tissues if you have a cold and disposing of them properly.

Colds: Usual length: 4 days. What's normal? Feel unwell, have a bit of a temperature, green or yellow mucus. Adults can expect 2 to 4 colds a year (6 to 8 for children). Antiobiotics: Never needed. Why: Caused by viruses not bacteria, colds resolve without them. Treatment: paracetamol and other over-the-counter remedies. Tip: Don't blow you nose too hard as it blasts bacteria filled pus into your sinuses.

Sinusitis: Usual length: Up to 18 days. What's normal? Horrible blocked-up feeling, pain, bit of a temperatre, headache. Antiobiotics: rarely needed, but consider them if you have recurrent bouts of smelly nasal discharge. Why: 80% of cases resolve in 14 days without them. For every 15 people treated with them, only one has a slight benefit a week later. Treatment: painkillers and steam inhalation.

Acute sore throat: Usual length: Up to 7 days. What's normal? Scratchy pain. Antiobiotics: No, unless you have 3 out of four symptoms - raised glands, pus at the back of the throat, fever, no cough. Why: 90% of sore throats resolve within a week withoutt them. If 4,000 people were treated with them, it would prevent only one case of quinsy (abscess on the tonsils). Treatment: Warm drinks are soothing, take paracetamol and suck sweets. Tip: If you have a cough, it's almost certainly not a bacterial infection, so you won't need antibiotics.

Middle ear infection: Usual length: Up to 3 days - 60% of cases resolve in 24 hours without antibiotics. What's normal? Throbbing pain. Antiobiotics: Not usually needed, except in under-twos with both ears affected. Or at any age isyou have an ear discharge. definitely yes if you have hgih fever and vomiting. Why: For every 15 people given antibiotics, only two have reduced pain and they do not prevent deafness. Treatment: X. Painkilles and distraction (try watching your favourite feel-good film).

Urinary tract infection: Usual length: a few days. What's normal? Burning sensation and needing to pee often. Antiobiotics: No, if mild and you have clear urine with no more than two of the following symptoms- burning when peeing, frequency, smelly pee. Yes, if severe, symptoms last more than seven days, urine is cloudy, or if you have side or back pain and high fever. Why: 50% of UTIs with a bacterial cause will resolve in 3 days. Serious complications are rare. Antibiotics use may disturb natural gut / vaginal flora. Treatment: Hot water bottle and lots of fluids. Drink cranberry juice (it stops bacteria sticking to the bladder wall). if it recurs, take avoidance measures: pee after sex, drink more water, avoid soap and bubble bath.

Vivienne Parry in Good Housekeeping, February 2015

Domain Name Availability

A useful resource to see if a domain name is available for registration, which includes European country versions as well, is 123 Domain Names http://123domainnames.co.uk/

Phil Bradley column in CILIP Update Jan/Feb 2007

Evening Primrose

The seeds of the evening primrose (a US wildflower that looks like a giant buttercup) are especially rich in the essential fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).

This has long been thought to help people with eczema who have trouble converting fats from foods into GLA. In 2014, a pilot study of people with eczema backed up this theory.

Between 500 and 1,000 mg daily is thought best for preventative health.

April 2015

25 Life Hacks

Life Hacks are just simple ways to save you time, hassle and money.

1. Rub the inside edges of new shoes with Vaseline - it stops them rubbing and prevents blisters.
2. Use the sticky part of a Post-It note to clean between the keys of your keyboard.
3. Cut the ends off flowers and dip into boiling water to make them last longer.
4. Use an empty plastic bottle to separate eggs. Crack the egg into a bowl, put an upside down empty plastic bottle over the yolk and watch it get sucked up inside.
5. A spritz of hairspray removes ink and permenent marker from hard surfaces.
6. Use toothpaste to clean hazy car headlights. It works on swimming goggles too.
7. No eggtimer? Get Google to do the job by typing 'set timer (XX) minutes/seconds' in the search bar.
8. Hang a tennis ball on a piece of string from the ceiling of your garage at the exact point you can drive without bumping into the wall.
9. Stretch a rubber band from top to bottom around an open paint tin to wipe your brush on and keep paint off the side of the tin.
10. Remove chewing gum from an item of clothing by putting it into the freezer for an hour, then pick off the gum.
11. Iron shirts from the inside to make pressing the button area easier.
12. Stack your folded clothes vertically in a drawer so you can see them all.
13. Fill a water bottle a quarter full and freeze on its side. Then fill with water and have it ice cold on the go.
14. Know the 9 times table trick? Hold out both hands, put down the digit you want to multiply 9 by, and count the total number of thumbs/fingers still up. For example, hold down 5th finger of left hand and there are 4 digits to the left and 5 to the right, so the answer is 45. (9x5 = 45).
15. To remove a cherry stone, use a straw to push it out.
16. A small dish of bicarbonate of soda in a wardrobe will absorb extra moisture and keep clothing fresh and dry.
17. If you want to conserve a phone battery, turn the screen brightness down, close any apps running in the background that you don't need, and turn off 3G/4G as these all sap power.
18. Kill weeds in paving by pouring boiling water on them.
19. Fill a bowl with water, pop in half a lemon and microwave for two to three minutes. The steam will loosen any dried food particles for easy microwave cleaning and the lemon makes the oven smell really fresh.
20. Use a clothes peg to hold a nail in place while hammering.
21. Use a strand of spaghetti as a taper for candles and avoid burned fingers.
22. Tangled jewellery? Keep thin chains knot-free by threading them through drinking straws, then fastening.
23. Use a slice of white bread to remove grimy marks from non-washable wallpaper.
24. To keep CDs from skipping, clean with car wax, dry and buff outwards from the centre.
25. Freeze grapes to chill white wine without watering it down.

Feature in Good Housekeeping September 2014

UK Fixed Term Parliaments

The Fixed term Parliaments Act of 2011 specified a 5 year term unless:

(a) there is a vote of no confidence
(b) 2/3 of total membership (including any vacant seats) vote to call an election sooner.

Ministers also increased the amount parties and candidates can spend by 23% (!!!!!), against Electoral Commission advice.

Various sources

Foot Care

The skin on feet can suffer from fungal infections, which thrive in warm, moist, airless environments; so many people are affected in winter, as they keep their feet cosy in warm socks.

• Fungal nail infections don't usually cause pain or other symptoms, but your toenails become thick and discoloured. They often start with on nail and spread to others. They can be hard to clear up as they require regular treatment and a cure can take up to six months with a medicated lacquer or tablets.
• If the skin between your toes is scaly, you may have athlete's foot. This can lead to cracking and soreness. Antifungal cream and/or powders usually work well.
•  If you have a fungal foot infection, keep a towel to yourself and don't walk barefoot, even in the bedroom or bathroom (and especially in communal changing rooms.
• Keep your feet cool and dry in votton socks and leather shoes. Dry really carefully between the toes to cut the chance of infections recurring.

Good Housekeeping, January 2015

Ten-minute Money Moves

Smart and speedy 10-minute tactics to help you take hold of your finances.

• Register for online banking. Make payments quickly, check you balance more regularly and stay on top of things. Simpley apply on your bank's website and fill in a few personal details.
• Change bank accounts. Switching current accounts takes up to seven days but it only takes 5 to 10 minutes to apply. Grab your address details, information on salary and other income sources, and current banking details. After that, thanks to simple switching rules, the banks will do the legwork for you.
• Check your council tax band. These were set in 1991 based on house values at the time (2003 in Wales), so there is room for error. Check what band you are in through the Valuation Office Agency in England and Wales, or the Scottish Assessors Association in Scotland, and then ask a neighbour in a similar property if they are in the same band. If their band is lower, you may be able to make a claim. Go to goodhousekeeping.co.uk/how-to-claim-council-tax
• Shred some paperwork. Ditch any bank statements and financial paperwork that is more than a year old. Shred or rip it up if it contains your name or any financial details. If you are self-employed, the tax man recommends that you keep records for five years, but this need not be hard copy. Back up the info digitally, then shred.
• Get into the eBay habit. Got bags of unwanted possessions still around that you want to sell on eBay? Pick the one item most likely to sell, and post it online. It's very easy - take some snaps, then use the (free) app on your smartphone or tablet to start selling.
• Money Dashboard app. Free to download from the Apple and iPlay stores, it synchs to your bank accounts so you can check you balance. The graphs showing spending types and trends are useful - if a little alarming if you've been on a spending spree.
• Tip N Split app. A simple, free tip calculator for iPhone and Android. You could use a calculator but this app is faster at working out amounts per person, and the total and per person tip. Great when abroad too - for example in the US, where tax is charged on the meal as well as service.
• Go through your purse. Have a rifle for credit and store cards you no longer use. It's a useful prompt to contact creditors of cards you want to close.
• Tot up your loyalty points. Around 24% of us lose these benefits because we let them expire. Check your points value online at boots.com, nectar.com and tesco.com/clubcard/ or ask in store next time you are in the shop.
• Write your will. Some 56% of UK adults do not have a will. Use the Law Society's online tool (solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk) to find a solicitor in your area or call 020 7320 5650. It only takes 10 minutes to get started.

Feature in Good Housekeeping October 2014

Wills, Inheritance and Last Wishes

Worst case scenarios

• Your partner dies suddenly, and you're faced with complex paperwork and rocketing legal costs.
• Despite being a long-term stepmum to your stepchildren, you are unable to make decisions about their care and have no legal say in their welfare.
• Your parents or an elderly relative lose the ability - either mentally or physiclly - to manage their money and you're left to unravel their finances.
• Your recent marriage fails and someone you knew for just a few years is entitled to half your assets.
• Your children don't inherit anything - the tax man takes it all instead.

True: Pre-nups are not legally binding agreements. While a pre-nup will be taken into account, a court has the discretion to go against it if it believes it to be unjust or in conflict with the current benchmark for deciding what is unfair in the division of marital assets. (Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973)
False: My partner will automatically inherit my estate when I die. Intestacy rules are the legal rules that apply if someone dies without a will. They divide up an estate without taking into account need or anything other than blood or legal relationships, such as being married. If you are not married, your partner won't automatically receive anything other than assets you already hold as joint beneficial owners.
False: I am liable for my parents' tax if I take on power of attorney. Fortunately, the attorney is not personally liable if the donor cannot pay. However, the person with power of attorney could be responsible for paying debts and taxes on behalf of the donor - but only from the donor's own funds.
True: I can't make any decisions about my stepchildren without my partner's permission. In the case of a separated couple, where Mum moves in with someone else who the kids treat to as a father figure. If anything happened to Mum, the biological dad could simply remove the children, regardless of their best interests or Mum's final wishes. Stepdad would need to go to court to prevent this hapening. This applies to married and unmarried couples.
False: Common law rights apply to unmarried couples after a certain period of time. There is no such thing as a 'common law wife'. An unmarried partner living in property soley owned by the other partner would have no automatic claim over it.

Make a Will. Whether married or unmarried, there are important reasons to make a will. (a) Those you leave behind face large legal bills and lengthy court procedures. (b) The State allocates your estate to your next of kin - an unmarried surviving partner would lose out, and potentially, estranged family members could have a claim to part of your estate. (c) Writing a will ensures than children are provided for, plus bequests to charities, friends and others, and you can also record details such as funeral arrangements. (d) As well as large financial decisions, include your last wishes - such as where you would like your ashes scattered and who receives which keepsake. (e) Don't forget to update your will if your circumstances change. Existing wills are revoked (made void) automatically when you remarry, so updating wills is essential.

Taking on Step-parental responsibility. You need this to have a legal (though not automatic) right to look after your partner's children. A solicitor will prepare forms for about £200. Everybody with parental responsibility (mothers and fathers named on birth certificate) has to give written consent, witnessed by a magistrate or justice of the peace. All parties need to sign the document.

Organising Your Parents' Affairs. To fully manage their financial affairs, you need to be named in a legal document called a lasting power of attorney (LPA). There are two types of LPA: financial & property and health & welfare. You cannot do this - your parents must apply while they still have the proven mental capacity to do so. Without a LPA, every time a decision is needed on their finances or welfare, you as next of kin would have to apply through a court of protection to be apppointed their deputy (£400 per application plus cost of potential legal advice).

Feature in Good Housekeeping November 2014

Windows Slow Loading

Windows runs great on a brand new PC, but over time, it gets slower and slower until it reaches the point where you might have to wait for a few minutes for it to load in the first place. Part of this delay is down to the accumulation of unwanted files and a defragmented hard disk, and Windows' Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter utilities are there to help you with those problems.If you’ve tried those and still have to twiddle your thumbs while Windows loads, here are two more things you can try to speed things up.

1. Hard Drive
Part of the problem with slow PC start-up times is the hard drive. Hard drive technology is inherently slow, but you can remedy this by replacing it with a solid-state drive, or SSD.
Since they have no moving parts and store data on chips much like a USB flash drive, SSDs are extremely fast and can give a new lease of life to an old PC that’s running slowly. It doesn’t make much sense to fit one to a PC that’s more than a few years old, though, since the processor and other components are also likely to be contributing to the general snail’s pace of the machine.
The only catch is that SSDs are much more expensive than hard drives of a similar size, but prices are coming down all the time.

2. Unwanted Applications
A new PC should run super smoothly fresh from the box, but some manufacturers have the unfortunate tendency to preinstall so many unwanted applications that using Windows can still feel like wading through treacle. The solution is a free application called PC Decrapifier.
Download and install PC Decrapifier from www.pcdecrapifier.com - there’s nothing to catch you out during the installation. Run it and click the big blue Analyze button to see what it finds on your PC. You can then choose from a list of recommended programs to remove, but look through the list carefully to check that there’s nothing there you actually want to keep.

From BT News on Email Login Page, 21 March 2015

To Die For: Is fashion wearing out the world?

To die for: is fashion wearing out the world? by Lucy Siegle
Fourth Estate, 2011

Every year around eighty billion garments are produced worldwide, but when we buy them we are able to learn very little about where it was made and assembled and in what conditions.Today's fast fashion has brought exploitation of people, the planet and in the end, the consumers. This book is intended to guide you to becoming an intelligent consumer who asks the right questions and buys more carefully. Here are just some of the facts Lucy Siegle has unearthed, and that big business doesn't want you to query.

• Where once we bought clothes within income and for changing seasons, and cared for and mended our clothes, since the mid-1980s we buy many more items, wear them on fewer occasions and readily discard them if damaged, and sometimes unworn. In the UK an estimated 2.4 billion garments have not been worn for 12 months, many of them possibly never worn.
• On average, 15% of fabric is discarded during the cutting process. Retailers are known to damage surplus stock so that it is unwearable when put out for rubbish collection.
• In order to have frequent changes of stock and prices that entice us to buy, the industry focuses on how little it can pay and how fast it can be achieved in every aspect of the production process.
• An estimated forty million garment workers toil away, in working conditions that are typically very poor and often dangerous. The use of child labour is common but often concealed. Forced overtime to meet shipment deadlines and impossible task targets keeps people at work for more than 12 hours a day. They are paid a local 'minimum wage' which in many cases is not enough to buy sufficient food to live on, even at a basic level. Many of these workers are women.
• The auditing process, which aims to check the above abuses, is often flawed. Visits are often scheduled leaving factories time to manipulate what is seen and workers cannot be interviewed individually.
• To get the eighty billion kilograms of fabric produced every year takes 1,074 billion kilowatt hours of electricity (for which we need 132 million tonnes of coal) and six to nine trillion litres of water.
• Synthetic fibres made from natural materials (e.g. viscose from wood pulp) are processed using a range of highly toxic chemicals. In poorly regulated places, these can affect workers' health directly and even seep or drain into watercourses. Scientists have calculated, however, that while making a viscose blouse needed eleven megajoules of energy, a cotton t-shirt required twenty-four.
• Dye-houses are typically dangerous places of work, using toxic chemicals and little or no protective clothing available. Again the chemicals leak into nearby water sources. Processes to distress denim can leave workers with respiratory problems.
• The American cotton belt receives large subsidies, allowing them to keep their prices low, and forcing other countries into a desperate plight. The Cotton 4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) are dependent on cotton, but are among the poorest on the planet. The world cotton crop is disturbingly dependent on pesticides, and is one of the thirstiest crops grown (ironically it is increasingly grown in some of the most water scarce areas on earth.
• Cashmere comes from the downy under-hair of a goat (hair from three to six goats is needed for a sweater). The fragile eco-sytems of Inner Mongolia are having to support an ever-increasing goat herd instead of camels which do far less damage.
• Autralian Merino flocks now number 107 million sheep; pasture land is one quarter of the land mass. These herds contribute (through belching and farting) to global methane emissions, a greenhouse gas.
• Leather tanning uses toxic chemicals which often contaminate local water sources. Solid waste containing chromium is dumped on soil tilled by subsistence farmers, and then eaten, with subsequent impact on health.
• Increasingly our discarded clothing ends up in Africa, in the process damaging their own textile industry. Clothes donated to charities are sorted by clothes recycling companies. First grade (just 10%) is good enough to sell in charity shops and another 52% is good enough to be sold on in bales. On arrival in Africa the bales are sold to local stallholders who sell the individual items.

What can we do to change things?

• Slow down the rate of buying and buy better quality. Plan ahead for your shopping trips and don't buy on impulse. Look after the garments you own.
• If donating for recycling deliver direct to charity shops. keep an eye out for bogus collectors who turn up an hour before official collectors arrive (they will have an official registration number.
• In 2011 some large companies were starting to be more ethical in all of their supply chain but will this continue.
• We need more information on labels as to where items were produced. In the absence of labelling and other information, we have to do more research before buying, which has the add-on effect of slowing down our purchasing rate.
• Support organisations that focus on labour rights abuses, for example: War on Want, Labour behind the Label, No Sweat and the Clean Clothes Campaign.
• Look for organic cotton items which do not rely on noxious pesticides and Fairtrade certified cotton which ensures farmers get a better price for their crop.
• Consider buying items made of hemp, cottonised hemp and hemp&cotton or hemp& silk mixtures.
• Buy better quality. The cheapest items are likely to have the most deleterious impact on human health and living standards, and effects on the planet.
• Buy from ethical producers. These come and go but People Tree (sustainable and fair trade fashion) has been trading since 1995. Others listed by Lucy Siegle are Anatomy and From Somewhere.
• Wash clothing at a lower temperature (in the UK we wash at a higher temperature than in other countries) to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Where and when you can air dry clothes outside.
• Use more progressive dry-cleaners who are replacing 'perc' (perchloroethylene) with alternatives such as liquid silicone.
• Keep items carefully, and mend when possible. Look out for local tailors who will do alterations and support local business at the same time.
• Consider clothes swapping events - but you will need to be prepared to donate good quality items as your contribution - and clothes customisation and reworking businesses.

Now it's over to us.

Walking Fitness Plan

All walking is good, but the benefits to your heart, lungs and bones - and weight - multiply as you step up the pace. Here's how to improve, whatever your fitness level. For more inspiration, see walkthewalk.org

Standing Start: Walk for 10 minutes three times a day, five days a week, fast enough to feel puffed but still able to talk. If every step is a challenge, take it slowly, and if you have a health problem, check with your GP before you begin.

Strolling Along. Once you can easily walk at 2 to 2.5 mph for 10 minutes, increase your speed to 3mph and double the time you spend walking. Walking for two miles at this speed without gasping for breath shows you are ready to move on.

Get Up to Speed. It takes 4 to 6 weeks for your body to adapt to fast walking, so don't rush it. Try the following gradual approach, where each walk takes place on a separate day, with a rest (or Pilates) day in between.

Week 1: Build Stamina.
3 two-mile walks and 1 three-mile walk at 20 min/mile.

Week 2: Pick up the Pace.
1 two-mile walk, and 2 three-mile walks at 18 min/mile.

Week 3: Go the Distance.
1 three-mile walk at at 18 min/mile and 1 four-mile walk and 1 five-mile walk, both at 20 mins/mile.

Week 4: Focus on Speed.
1 three-mile walk at at 18 min/mile and 2 three-mile walks at 17 mins/mile.

Week 5: Further and Faster.
1 six-mile walk at 17 min/mile, 1 three-mile walk at 16 min/mile, and 1 four-mile walk at 15-16 min/mile.

Week 6: Power Walking.
1 six-mile walk at 16 min/mile, and 2 four-mile walks at 15 min/mile.

Feature in Good Housekeeping October 2014

GooglePlus

Join up to GooglePlus (or G+ for short) at https://plus.google.com/ and click to create yourself an account. But what can it be used for?

• G+ Circles is like a distributed mailing list. You can add people to a circle and see everything they share publicly. If they choose to follow you, they'll also see what you are sharing in that circle.
• In G+ you can choose to follow a person and they don't have to follow you back, but all you will see from them is anything they post publicly.
• G+ has no character limit (unlike Twitter) and you can also broadcast to specific lists within G+.
• G+ has a 'hangout' feature which allows you to have a video chat with up to ten of your friends at once - you can inform a single circle that you are starting a hangout and people can join you. (Facebook video feature is just 1 to 1)
• G+ will check your Gmail account if you have one and will suggest names to you. You can invite people or view their profiles to see who they follow or who follows them. There is also a search engine at www.findpeopleonplus.com/ which you can use

It's unlikely to replace Facebook, Twitter, other social networks, or blogs but provides a further alternative to them. One option is to keep professional / work contacts in G+ and keep Facebook for friends and family.

Phil Bradley in CILIP Update August 2011