Ginger Speeds up Metabolism

Ginger speeds up your metabolism.

Drink 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger dissolved in a cup of hot water and over the next 6 hours you will burn 43 more calories, feel less hungry and eat less through the day.

Keep Finances Under Control

• Keep a closer eye on spending. Write down regular payments and highlight those where you might be able to get a better deal (e.g. insurance, telecomms, gas, electricity). Be realistic and tackle one each month.
• Keep a spending diary - write down everything (from groceries to impulse buys, coffees and lunches). Having to record it will help you resist spending.
• Overspent at Christmas? Don't worry over the past - do something about getting back on track. Put a plan in place, working out how you pay off the credit card debt or get your current account in the black.
• Try a month of only spending on essentials - will do wonders for your bank balance.
• Try a month without using cards. Withdraw what cash you will need for seven days and budget to stick within this. Opt for self-scanning at the supermarket or take a calculator round with you.
• Comfort spending seems good at the time - but the pleasure is soon gone.
• Compulsive spender? When the voice in your head says 'let's go shopping' try diversion and delaying tactics - make a cup of tea, read a few pages of a book.
• Track down old savings accounts at mylostaccount.org and lost pensions via the Pensions Advisory Service.
• Check direct debits and standing orders and cancel any you no longer need.
• Plan any big spends (home improvements, holidays, big occasions) and start budgeting and saving for them well beforehand.
• Gym or health club membership can be expensive and are too often under-used. try cycling or walking to work each day - get fit and get a better bank balance at the same time.

Feature in Good Housekeeping, January 2014

All About Cats

Understanding your cat is key to giving it a happy life and training it. So here are some facts from current research.

Unlike dogs, cats are part-way between a domestic and a wild animal. Their evolutionary past is as a lone hunter. Cats are territorial animals and find it difficult to live closely with other cats. Two of the major reasons they are taken to vets are dermatitis and cystitis, with growing evidence that these are brought on by living with another cat that is terrifying it.

While farm cats will live in a big social group, they still hunt individually, sometimes covering quite a distance. Town cats go from their home in one direction and return and the journeys are quite short. Sometimes cats will 'timeshare' territory in streets with many cats. They need to be able to control their environment, so need easy access to the outside. Lots of houses are now open plan, which is a cat's nightmare so they also access to vertical space within the home - the tops of bookshelves and wardrobes make ideal 'resting places' where they feel secure by being off the ground.

Cat vision is best for detecting and following movement and at dusk and night, which is when they hunt. They need a meat diet as there are certain vitamins / minerals / other nutrients which their bodies cannot make and are not present in vegetation. Hunting provides them with these nutrients if their cat food is lacking anything (though cat foods are now better formulated for optimum nutrition). Kittens are taught how to hunt by their mothers. The hunting sequence is to locate prey, pounce and kill, then manipulate prey before eating. If not taught, cats will locate prey, then pounce and manipulate it ('toying' with) before eating (or not eating as not hungry). A mother cat will bring home dead prey to the kittens, then live ones for them to practice killing skills; the cat may treat the owner as a kitten and bring home dead or live prey.

We urgently need to reduce the urban cat population in order to alleviate the stress provoked by so many animals competing for the same territory. Early neutering is important but owners also need to learn that as animal lovers, there should only be one cat per household.

• Have only one cat. This is kinder to the cat, they really don't want another cat around.
• Get your cat neutered as early as possible (about 16 weeks of age).
• Do install a cat flap but make sure it only lets your cat in, so get one that can read its microchip or magnetic collar.
• The first year of a cat's life is important. Although cat's temperaments vary widely, it is partly down to nurture. Give it a lot of handling and attention.
• It's not cruel to keep them in. It's common in continental Europe to have an indoors cat. There is no evidence that such a cat has any more problems or stresses than a cat with outside access. Cats are flexible on space but do get bored. Make the environment interesting with toys, tunnels, etc. Don't shut it in one room. Play with it when you are at home.
• Pay attention to miaowing. Cats don't miaow to each other, only to humans when they want something - food, water, access to the outside.

It may be possible in the future to breed a cat that is more docile, less inclined to hunt and more open to training. Cats can be trained, but less easily than dogs. Cats are naturally less attentive to people and most don't find human attention rewarding in its own right, so you can't rely on affection and approval to train a cat.

• Yelling doesn't work but you will lose its affection. Never shout at it because it will just dislike you.
• Instant telling off. You need to catch your cat in the act - show it displeasure ten minutes after clawing the sofa, it will associate your reaction with the event immediately before - e.g. you walking through the door. If you're clever you can deter your cat by using a water pistol - but it must never see you use it. It has to associate getting wet with clawing the sofa.
• Take it for a drive. You may need to take your cat to the vet or a cattery at times, so you have to train it to be comfortable with both your carrier and the car. As soon as you take it out of its territory and comfort zone, it gets stressed. Gentle words won't help; dogs are reassured by the nearness of their owners but cats are the opposite. Training will take time. Leave an opened carrier around so the cat can explore it. Once it goes in of its own accord, half close the door; let it get used to this. Finally close the carrier but don't pick it up (as this would make it feel unsteady and anxious). Once it is happy to be enclosed, you can continue to move on in stages - picking up the carrier, taking it short distances, then to the car, then in car with engine on but not moving, then drive short distances to various places so cat does not only associate this with a vet's visit.
• Teach it not to hunt - not guaranteed but try the following. If you know when it is likely to hunt, you can train it to come indoors at that time. If you play hunting games with it before it goes out, it may be less likely to hunt when it goes out.
• Expecting a baby? If it's been just adults and a cat, this will be stressful. Find a recording of a baby crying and play it to the cat to get it accustomed to the noise. Rub a cloth over the scent glands on the cats face cheeks and then rub it on the legs of the cot, baby bouncer, push chair, etc. The cat will recognise its own scent and not be put out by the new objects. Once the baby is mobile, make sure the cat has 'safe' areas it can retreat to - on bookshelves, on top of cupboards,e tc.

Features in Radio Times, 20-26 September 2014 and 4-10 October 2014

Blekko Search Engine

Blekko (http://blekko.com/) is part search engine and part search engine creation resource and uses a concept it calls slashtags. You create a tag, give it a memorable name, then associate appropriate websites to it. This tells the search engine that it should only search those websites that are included as part of the tag. So if you have a number of websites that you think are of good quality in a particular subject area, it's really easy to create what is essentially your own search engine which will simply search those websites.

You can share your tags with friends or colleagues, and you can use some of the pre-populated tags that Blekko offers. So, for example, you could do a search for global warming/conservative or Congress/humor. You can also get access to recent material with the /date tag. In addition, you can get direct access to third-party websites such as YouTube or Twitter using the appropriate tag.

You don't have to register to use Blekko since it provides users with a number of built-in slashtags which you can see at http://blekko.com/tag/show and try them out. If you want to create your own tags, you do need to log in and create an account but this is a simple matter. The results page is clear and easy to read and I particularly liked the option to explore a website in more detail by clicking on the SEO option. Another option allows you check quickly to see how many links are pointing to a particular result.

Phil Bradley in CILIP Update

Smarter Driver Tips

Drive smoothly. Stop-go driving burns fuel. Watch the cars ahead to avoid sharp acceleration and heavy braking.

Stay in gear. Don't coast downhill or towards lights in neutral as this uses more fuel. Stay in gear and ease off the gas gentlyto reduce fuel flow to the engine to virtually zero.

Watch the revs. Chnage up smoothly and change gear before 2,000 rpm. Drive in the right gear for the speed and road conditions.

Drive off from cold. Modern cars don't need to be warmed up. Switch on and go and you won't be wasting fuel.

Don't idle. Switch off if you are stationary for more than a minute or two. Restarting the egine uses virtually no fuel until you press the accelerator.

Lighten the load. Dump extra weight - take off the roof rack when you are not using it and cllear out the boot.

Plan ahead. Check the route and roadworks before leaving. Stop and ask for directiosn if you are lost. Use satnav if you have it.

Take it easy. Slow down. You'll get to your destination safer and more relaxed. And take the first parking spot you find.

Energy Saving Trust leaflet September 2011