How to Buy a Laptop

Choosing your perfect laptop

There are hundreds of laptops available to buy, so how do you start narrowing down the options? From the cheap and cheerful to the sleek and expensive, we'll tell you how to go about finding the perfect model for you. A good starting point to thinking about what type of laptop you need is to consider the following:

• What do you want to use your laptop for? Are you looking for a model that can cope with day-to-day tasks such as browsing the web, word processing and basic picture editing? Or do you want a more powerful laptop that can whiz through more demanding tasks such as editing film or playing advanced games?
• Where do you want to use your laptop? Are you planning to get a model that will stay at home as a desktop computer replacement, or a more portable device to take out and about?

In the rest of this guide we take a closer look at the different types of laptops and what makes a good one, including which features to look out for, and which you can compromise on.
We test laptops in every category so you can find the perfect one for you. Take a look at our latest laptop reviews to see the most recent models rated and reviewed by the Which? experts.

What type of laptop do I need?

Cheap laptop A budget or cheap laptop is perfect for those who want to complete everyday tasks but won't need the power you'd expect from a desktop replacement model. It could be a great starting point for those using a computer for the first time. Design is often one of the compromises so, while they are still portable, budget laptops can be a little bulky.
Would suit: students, novices, those on a budget or with basic computing needs
Find out more about how to buy the best cheap laptop, where we'll explain what features you need and the ones you can save on.

Family laptop As the name suggests, these laptops can cater for the whole family and, though they aren't the most powerful models you can buy, they would be perfect for going online, doing homework, emailing, sharing photos and even playing the odd basic game. The medium-sized screen means you should be able to transport this laptop to different  rooms fairly easily, though they are not likely to be portable enough to take out of the house for extended periods.
Would suit: families, those looking for a mid-priced all-rounder
Find out more about how to buy the best family laptop, where we'll explain what features you need and the ones you can save on.

Desktop replacement laptop The least portable of all laptops, these computers should be comparable to desktop PCs in terms of power and features, but in a much more flexible format. They should be able to cope with basic and advanced computing work and will have a larger screen for those who want to edit photos, or watch the odd film, as well as perform office tasks.
Would suit: those looking for a big, powerful laptop to use at home
Find out more about how to buy the best desktop replacement laptop, where we'll explain what features you need and the ones you can save on.
Ultraportable laptop Just like it says on the tin, portability is the priority with these models, so they are both thin and light. It also includes the more recent sub category of ultrabooks - a relatively new Intel-christened name for super slim and portable laptops that meet its specifications - which are powerful and responsive to boot. Ultraportable laptops may not be your main computer or laptop, but an additional laptop you use when out and about or for work on the go. 
Would suit: those who work on the go, those who need proper power in a portable size
Find out more about how to buy the best ultraportable laptop, where we'll explain what features you need and the ones you can save on.
Multimedia laptop If you want to use your laptop as a one-stop shop for entertainment as well as straight out computing - playing games, watching films, listening to music or editing video - then a multimedia laptop could be right for you. These laptops are generally not so portable as you'll want a good size 15-inch plus screen. It's different to desktop replacement laptops, which may be powerful but still not handle graphically demanding tasks well.
Would suit: gaming or film fans who are looking for a model to use mainly at home.

How to Encourage a Child to Sleep in Their Own Bed

If you've got a young child who wanders into your bedroom at night and are wondering what to do about it, you're not alone. Plenty of toddlers, preschoolers, even school-aged children nationwide are sleeping with their parents at least some of the time. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), as many as 24% of parents have their children sleep in their beds for at least part of the night.

When Karen Higdon converted her 4-year-old twins' nursery into a "big girl room" this summer, complete with toddler beds and colorful new bedding, Kaylee and Gracie Higdon were excited, up to a point. They were eager to explore their room during the daytime. But after the sun set, the pair would nervously chatter about monsters.

When the twins were 3, Karen and Richard Higdon had snuggled up under the covers with them to make bedtime less frightening -- one girl in the nursery, one in the parents' room. A year later, the Higdons felt trapped by their routine, so they redesigned the nursery with hopes that an inviting new sleep venue would give Kaylee and Gracie confidence to sleep by themselves.

"At first, we felt like bedtime was our 'alone' time with the girls. But they were starting to get too dependent," Karen says. "We needed to wean them off of us."

Changing Habits

"There are two reasons for co-sleeping," NSF spokeswoman Jodi Mindell, author of Sleeping Through the Night, says. "One is a family lifestyle decision; it's important to the parents. Reason two is reactive co-sleeping. You don't really want them there, but it's easier than having to solve a problem at 2 a.m. No matter which you do, at some point, you'll want to make a change."

Switching a nighttime routine can be difficult because biology isn't on your side. Child sleep expert James McKenna, PhD, professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, says, "There's nothing wrong with parents, or children, if they can't get their kids to sleep all night. Sleep is a flexible behavior. People needed to be able to wake up back when we had predators and nighttime was dangerous. And children who wake seek out their parents."

At the Higdon household, after three nights of a new bedtime routine -- involving nightlights, bedtime stories, music, and talking about the bedroom as a safe place filled with love -- Kaylee and Gracie were falling asleep in their own beds and sleeping in their own room all night. "Gracie told me I was right," Karen says. "There are no monsters in the room, and she loves sleeping there."

Here's how to transition your child to sleep in his own bed all night:

Start Early

It's easier to train a toddler to sleep in his room when he's in a crib since he won't be able to get out of bed and look for you. "If a child in a bed thinks he can visit you at bedtime," child sleep consultant Dana Obleman, author of The Sleep Sense Program, says, "it can turn into a game, and that's usually when problems occur.

Use Positive Language

Be encouraging and you can make your child eager to make the switch. "Say, 'Guess what? You're three! Three-year-olds get to sleep in their beds all night! Isn't this great?" Mindell says. "It's a positive spin, like 'You get to wear underwear!' instead of 'You shouldn't be wearing diapers.'"

Reconfigure Bedtime

If your child can't fall asleep without your presence, slowly withdraw yourself from the equation, Obleman says. Instead of lying in your bed together, sit on your child's bed until she falls asleep. After a few days, switch to a chair. Then gradually move the chair closer to her doorway and into the hallway.

Take Small Steps

It may not be reasonable to demand that a child who's accustomed to sleeping in your bed suddenly stay in her own room all night. So try making the separation more gradual. McKenna says, "Some parents have told me that they've had their children sleep alongside their bed in a sleeping bag. Or decide that they can have 15 minutes in your bed and then they go back."

Shannon Choe has an air mattress in her room in case her 2-, 4- or 7-year-old visits at night. "They get to be closer to us but not disrupt our sleep. And it's not so comfortable that they'll choose this option long-term," she says.

Be Consistent

It may be hard to walk your son back to his room at 3 a.m. when you have work in the morning, but be firm every night. "Think about the long term," Mindell says. "You'll have a few difficult nights, but soon, you'll all be sleeping all night."

Make it Worth Their While

Some parents offer sticker charts; others give rewards like extra playtime. Janine Bush created a toy-ticket program to stop her 6-year-old son from sneaking into her bed at 2 a.m. When her son slept consecutive nights in his own bed, he won tickets to trade in for new toys.

Outsmart Quiet Footsteps

Hang a bell on your bedroom doorknob and you'll notice when your child enters. "Say, 'When I hear that bell, it's a reminder that I get to put you back to bed," Mindell says.

Introduce a Clock

Place an inexpensive digital clock by your preschooler's bedside. "Put duct tape over the minutes and talk about the number she'll see in the dark," Obleman says. "Say, 'In our house, nobody gets up before 7. If it's not showing a 7, go back to sleep.'"

Create a Plan of Action

Instead of simply telling your child not to get out of bed, teach her how to fall back asleep. "I tell them to stay in bed, close their eyes, and think about something fun, like what they want to do on their birthdays," says Tracey Weil, whose 6-, 8-, and 9-year-olds sleep through the night. "Giving them something to think about is a great tool to help them fall back asleep."

How to Take Care of Cows

Okay, you’ve got your place, the pastures are green, the fence is built, and your REAL farmer friend just delivered your first cow. NOW WHAT?? How can I ever deal with this?

It’s really much easier than you think. A cow that has been treated well is a gentle, docile and intelligent animal that wants to please you. As a cow ages, her milk gets creamier, and she knows you better, and you her. One of my friends had a cow that died peacefully in the pasture last summer at the age of twenty-one. For the last eight years, she didn’t have any more calves, and her milk – two to four quarts a day – was for the family table. I asked my friend if she sent her cow to the butcher once she died. “No,” my friend said. “I buried her in the field. We had an understanding.”

Our cows are “house-trained.” That is, they don’t dump or urinate in the milk parlor while we’re milking them (see sidebar). I tell you this as an example of how very nice it can be to have a cow. Also: I just milk once a day, at a reasonable hour in the morning. No five a.m. business. No evening milking. Cows adjust nicely to one milking a day, and while you get less volume of milk, what you do get is cherce – creamier.

The most important consideration
is keeping your cow, and her (your) milk, healthy. And you want her to have easy births, healthy calves. Here’s the formula: keep her out on pasture 24/7 until the cold winter months. Then give her all the quality hay she wants. Period. Grass is her natural diet. We don’t give our girls any grain, except a half-pound or so while milking. We mix in a probiotic and a vitamin-mineral supplement, just as insurance. They have a salt block to lick on, and plenty of water. In three years, we’ve never had to call a vet, and every calf has been born easily and healthy (usually overnight, while we’re asleep).

Feeding grain, even just a few pounds a day, makes for a lot more milk. Since we don’t feed grain, and milk just once a day, our milk volume is quite low by most standards. I believe the milk quality is best and the cows are healthiest on all grass and hay. Our girls give us anywhere from three quarts to three gallons a day, depending on the age of the cow and where she is in her lactation cycle.
But as far as the “milking chore” itself is concerned, well, it’s really a piece of cake. Here’s my routine.

In the summer, it gets light earlier, so I get up at maybe 6, maybe 7. Although cows are creatures of habit, you don’t have to milk at the same time every day. I call in Dear, our boss cow and main milker. She comes in because she knows there’s a treat for her, and because she’s ready to be milked. I put a rope halter on her and tie her to a post in the yard between our barns, then brush her and hose down her teats, scrubbing off any mud or manure. I dry her off and then let her be for a few minutes. She knows that’s her time to “do her thing” out there in the yard, (BEFORE we go into the barn for milking), for which she is richly congratulated upon execution. Then I bring her in to the milk parlor. In winter, the cleaning takes place in there.

Each morning, my partner Elly goes to a local market where the workers give her a couple of bushels of aging produce – lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and various other vegetables and fruits – for our animals. Once I settle Dear in her stanchion, we give her a bushel of greens to munch on while I milk her.

I milk her by hand into a pail. We never have more than two cows lactating at a time, and using a milk machine for just one or two cows and then cleaning it is more trouble than it’s worth. Besides, milking by hand is a joy in itself, very “zen.” You’re really tuned in with your cow. If you’ve cleaned her well, the milk is perfectly clean. I milk eight or ten ounces right into a cup to drink on the spot. This milk is appreciably sweeter than milk that is even ten or twenty minutes out of the cow, and I believe that as such it has nutrients and qualities that are lost soon after milking. This milk is like a hot latte, sweet and creamy and altogether delightful.

Once you have the technique down (and it ain’t higher math), milking takes only ten or twenty minutes. And your back gets used to it (and stronger from all the great raw dairy foods). You get a workout for your hands and arms. Even in cold winter weather, it’s warm under Dear – eight or nine hundred pounds radiating 102 degrees F from two or three inches away is a pretty good heater. And as I’ve used more and more raw dairy (and meat, but that’s another story) since we’ve had the farm, I’ve found that I’ve become increasingly resistant to cold weather, to the point where it really doesn’t bother me.

The milking done, I turn Dear loose in one of the pastures, then filter the milk and divide it into three lots. One is to drink today, and another goes into the “hot box,” our improvised clabbered-milk maker. The rest is saved to make butter and buttermilk.

Then I check the cows’ water, and that’s it for the day. The whole business takes maybe thirty minutes. In the winter, the barn needs cleaning, and hay needs to be put out in the fields in decent weather, or in the barn if it’s inclement. That’s another thirty minutes. But at a cost of thirty to sixty minutes a day, we have all the milk and clabbered milk and butter we could want, plus beef in the pasture (male calves) and a full freezer.

Your Health and Your Cow

Raw milk from a healthy, grassfed animal can, for most people, form the most important part of a marvelously healthy diet. I’m talking the kind of health that can pretty much eliminate doctors and insurance premiums. The raw butter, clabbered milk, yogurt, and kefir you can make can provide a majority of a family’s caloric intake. Not to mention the calf you can raise up every year for meat. Many frontier families literally lived off their family cow, and your family can too. Your homemade dairy foods can be complemented with meat, eggs from your chickens and vegetables to make a vital, life-sustaining diet. If you choose to make it that simple, that’s all you need. Raw animal fat and protein is a crucial part of such a diet, and raw milk is a perfect source.

Security is a very important reason you should have a cow. Secure your own food supply, and your own health. Will raw milk be outlawed where you live (if it hasn’t been already)? Will the farmer you get raw milk from now continue to have it next week? Next year? Five years from now? We asked ourselves those questions – and came up with a lot of maybes.

We decided that the most important thing we could do for ourselves was to take those “maybes” out of our lives. Having a cow requires a decision, two or more acres of pasture, and a fence. By far the hardest part is the decision. Once the decision is made, the rest tends to fall into place.

My decision to have a cow was heavily influenced by my belief that top quality raw milk and raw meat and organs are the most important health-building foods. Raw milk is also the ultimate fast food; I mentioned above enjoying a glass or two fresh from the udder as I milk my cow every morning. Both Joann Grohman, in Keeping a Family Cow, and Bernard Jensen, in Goat Milk Magic, have written of a freshness factor in milk just out of the cow. Dr. Jensen kept goats at his ranch and healing center in California for many years, and wrote that there was a healing quality in the fresh milk that was lost within three hours of milking. This is consistent with my understanding of some of Francis Pottenger’s experiments with animals that involved comparative effects of live grass and weeds with grass cut a few hours ago; animals on live greens had clearly better health.

How to Send An Anonymous Email

Sending an email without using your real name is useful when you want to protect your identity, in instances like providing information about a crime, sending a secret admirer note, or expressing your opinion without drawing attention to yourself. Here are three safe options on how to send an anonymous email.

Method 1 : Create an Anonymous Account

1. Find a free e-mail service. Google's Gmail is the most popular, and it's also known for its high-level security and user-friendliness, but there are other strong options, like Outlook, Yahoo!, and GMX. 
   • Some services, like Lycos, allow you to create aliases within your email account. Others, like Gmail, do not.
     
     
   • Zoho accounts are ad-free.
     
     
   • AOL and Mail.com allow you to choose your own domain name for your email address.
     
     
   • Hide My Ass has a disposable email account option that allows you to set an expiration date, and your personal information isn't required to sign up. 
     
     
2. Click on the "sign up" option. Most email services will have a "sign up" or "create a new account" option on their mail page. If you're on the site's homepage, like Yahoo.com or Google.com, click on the "Mail" tab.
3. Create a screen-name that has no connection to you. Create one that can't possibly be linked back to you.
   • Think about your defining characteristics: your occupation, where you live, your hometown, your hobbies. Avoid using any words that can be linked to those characteristics.
   • Think about numbers that are associated with you: your birth-date, your address, your zip code or area code. Avoid using those number combinations.
   • If you're having trouble creating a screen-name, check out the user name generator spinxo.com. Enter random words and numbers instead of ones associated with you.
4. Use an alias instead of your real name. Don't use your real name when you're completing the sign-up form. Think of a fake name to use.
   • Don't use your middle name or your mother's maiden name or any name that can easily be linked back to you.
   • Look around at objects in the room for inspiration.
   • Mix and match first and last names of book or movie characters.
   • Use a random name generator like fakenamegenerator.com or fake.name-generator.co.
5. Complete the sign-up process. Sign any terms and policies agreements. Remember not to provide any personal information like your address or phone number.
6. Type and send your email. Double-check to make sure you're not including any clues as to your true identity, like accidentally signing your real name.
   • Write a concise subject line; this will lessen the risk of the recipient sending it to the trash without reading it. 
     
     
   • Make sure you are sending it to the correct email address.

How to Improve Your Chess Game

I've been in the chess software/publishing business for more than fifteen years and I think I've learned quite a bit about chess and its practitioners, both amateur and professional. But if I've learned one thing above all, it's this: dang near everybody's looking for a shortcut. If I had a buck for every time I've been asked "Will this program/book make me a Grandmaster?" I'd be lying on a sandy beach somewhere drinking a cold Shiner Bock with Reckless Kelly as my permanent "house band" and a bevy of Southern belles and Texas cowgirls rubbing suntan oil all over me. Nice thought, but it ain't gonna happen. Neither will "insta-improvement" occur simply by the purchase of a computer program or a particular book. In fact, "insta-improvement" doesn't happen at all.

Let's just face the fact: if becoming a Grandmaster was easy, we'd all be one. The sad truth is that fewer than 1% of the world's chessplayers earn the GM title, and fewer than 5% achieve any kind of title.

But it's not all gloom and doom. Every chess player has the potential to improve, even if we don't get good enough to earn the right to place some coveted abbreviation in front of our names. Best of all, it's not all that tough to get better at this game; even though chess' learning curve does become steeper the farther we progress, there's always a way to add a few more skills to our arsenal and a few more points to our ratings. It's really pretty easy, and that's what we're going to discuss here: five easy ways to improve your chess.

Note that I said "five easy ways". Not "the only five easy ways", nor "the five easiest ways". Just five easy tips - and if an idiot like me can figure them out and make them work, they'll work for anybody. Trust me on this.

So let's get started, huh?

1. Tactics, Tactics, Tactics

I spent a lot of years knocking around chess clubs and I've seen my share of upsets happen. You might have seen a few yourself; in the midst of a tournament game, suddenly the word starts going around that Jim, rated 13xx, is taking apart one of the 1900-rated or Expert-titled "top guns". Despite the normally quiet atmosphere, the "buzz" starts and you see players getting up on their opponents' turn and walking over to see what's happening in Jim's game. Sure enough, Jim's laying a whuppin' on one of the club's top players.

If you've seen this happen (as I have) and you take the time to find out what kind of chess reading material Jim's been carrying around in his tournament gig bag (as I've done), you're not likely to see "Winning with the Najdorf" or "Be a Killer with the Ruy Lopez". These books have their uses, of course, but what you're more likely to see in Jim's equipment bag is a battered, dogeared copy of "One Zillion and One Tactics Puzzles".

Yup, friends, it's true. Studying tactics is going to improve your chess game a whole lot faster than rote memorization of boatloads of opening variations. In fact, studying and practicing tactics will improve your chess a whole lot quicker than any other kind of chess study (although studying endgames runs a really close second). If you learn to recognize tactical opportunities as they present themselves, you're going to start racking up more wins. The next step, of course, is learning how to create those opportunites. But neither of these happy circumstances will occur if you don't even begin a program of tactical study.

It doesn't even have to be anything elaborate or terrifically well-organized. Just solve five or so tactics problems every day. That's it. It's just like an "easy weight loss program" except that this actually works. Don't spend two hours every day solving dozens or scores of tactics problems - that just turns your brain to mud. Simply solve five (or ten, if you're feeling ambitious) tactics puzzles each day and, most important of all, take the time to understand the problems. Look at them and figure out why they work as they do.

There are a truckload of tactics books available. The better ones offer text explanations of each type of chess tactic, along with examples and lots of problems to solve. Start with one of these; after you finish it grab one of the "Bazillion and One Tactics Puzzles" books and work your way through that.

A higher-tech, but no less effective, solution involves working your way through the numerous software programs which offer tactics training (descriptions and puzzles) in an organized manner. While not as portable as a print book, these programs often have the advantage of allowing you to finish the game - in other words, after you've solved the problem and won the material, you keep playing the game out to a conclusion. You cop off your opponent's Rook, then play the game out to try to use that overwhelming material advantage to polish off your opponent. (You don't often win a piece at the chess club and see your opponent fold up and resign on the spot; at least that never happened at the clubs I played at, so you may as well get used to the idea early that you're gonna have to finish out the game).

Either way, solving tactics problems is easy and it's fun. You're not going to see "insta-improvement", but if you solve just a few problems a day (and understand why the problem works the way it does), you're going to start seeing and exploiting these opportunites in your own games. And that equals "better chess" in my book.

2. Replay the Games of Better Players

Chess history is full of great games which can be played and enjoyed over and over again. That's why chess notation was invented - so that games wouldn't be "lost to posterity". The act of playing over such games is easy (there's that word again), fun, and contains an immeasurable amount of instructional value. You can learn a lot about chess (by "osmosis" if nothing else) just by replaying the games of better players.

This is one reason why chess database programs are so popular. With a few mouse clicks you can find thousands of games to replay, searching for just what interests you: by opening, player name, tournament, board position, position fragment, material balance, and on and on. Even the makers of "mass market" chessplaying programs (the kind you can buy at Wal-Mart or a mall store) recognize the value of such a feature, which is why just about every chessplaying program offered in the last decade or so has contained a hefty database of thousands of searchable games as part of the software package.

It's best to try to find annotated (i.e. "commented") games to replay, but even if everything in your database is just a raw, uncommented gamescore, you should still use the games for enjoyment and improvement. Play through a game slowly and try to figure out why each player made those particular moves. Good chess players will play with a plan and a purpose, not just make aimless moves. Try to figure out the overall plan, even if you don't understand every last detail of each individual move.

If you prefer the "low tech" route, there are scores of game collections in print. Many of these books are all the games of a single tournament or the collected complete games of a particular player, but there are also lots of books of the "300 Great Chess Games" variety available. All are useful, and books containing games with commentary areespecially so. Playing through tournament collections can be especially fun if you follow it like a sporting event, playing the games in order, round by round, and cheering on your favorite player(s). This approach was recommended for years by my friend (the late) Ken Smith, and I had a great deal of fun following Ken's advice as I played through many games contained in tournament books.

You don't even have to replay the games of top-level chessplayers to benefit from the act of reviewing games. Many state chess federations (and some local chess clubs) publish newsletters (and even magazines) containing games from regional and local tournaments. I have a good-sized collection of these periodicals and have spent many an enjoyable hour replaying the games of "average joes" I've found therein. I've learned quite a lot from these games, even if it's a "negative example" lesson ("How to lose a chess game - don't do this!"). Replaying the games of other chess players is another easy way to improve your own game.

3. Play Chess as Often as You Can

Don't give up time with your family or lose you job over it, but do play as much chess as you have time for (or can stand). You can study chess for hours and hours, but none of that study time will do you a lick of good if you don't ever try applying that knowledge by playing the game.

We live in interesting times in which there's no excuse for not playing chess if you've a mind to do so. When I was a teenager in the 1970's, the only ways to get a game were to sit down physically face to face with anoOher person or by playing a postal chess game. The very few chess computers available were hideously expensive (and, truth be known, most were pretty poor players), and the Internet hadn't been developed yet. These days you can play chess any time of the day or night against a software program, a handheld or tabletop machine, or against other human players online. The opportunites for playing chess are myriad and varied. Take advantage of those opportunites!

Even if you choose not to study the game at all, you're bound to improve your chess just by playing the game. The more you play, the better you get. It's that -- ahem -- easy.

Chess is a pretty portable game, too. Handheld LCD chess games can be purchased for just a few dollars. Several chess software programs are available for Palm or Pocket units. I own several touch-sensitive "peg" chess computers which also double nicely as "analysis" chess sets for playing over games from books and magazines. In fact, if you just want a portable non-computerized chess set for "on the go", you can often find several cheap sets at toy/"dollar" stores. I seldom travel without one and I've enjoyed playing hundreds of games of "pocket set" chess with people in restaurants/taverns across several U.S. states and in two countries.

4. Record and Review Your Games

Write down your moves! If you don't know how, you'll find a tutorial about algebraic chess notation on this very Web site.

Write down the moves to every game you play. Record them later in a chess database program or, if you don't have one, a paper scorebook (you can even use a cheap steno pad or composition book for this purpose). Replay your own games and try to figure out what you did right and wrong. Very often you'll find that the answer isn't even anything mysterious or profound. In my pre-computer days I used to write all of my games down in a scorebook and replay them as I was transcribing them; you wouldn't believe the number of times I smacked myself in the forehead (while having an "Oh, #$%&$!" moment) as I saw something I'd done wrong - something perfectly obvious in retrospect but which had somehow eluded me during the actual game.

It's even better if you can get help in reviewing your games. See if a stronger player at the chess club is willing to sit down with you and review a few of your games. It doesn't even have to be a super-strong titled player; a player who's just better will do in a pinch. In fact, a lot of club players really love the "post mortem" activity of reviewing a just-finished game. I've learned an awful lot of chess simply by reviewing my latest thrashing with the guy or gal who'd just clobbered me.

These "post mortems" are also a strength of chessplaying software programs. Any chess program worth its salt over the last decade has included a game analysis feature: you can take literally any game and feed it to the computer, receiving information (usually provided in numerical format) on better moves which could have been played. Quite a few programs even offer a selection of different chess "brains" for playing and analysis; you often can have more than one chess program analyze your game and get slightly different information from each.

5. Take Chess Seriously, But Don't Treat it Like Work

Hey, it's certainly possible to play chess for years and never treat it as anything more than an interesting way to pass your free time or idle moments; in fact, the majority of people who know how the horsie moves treat chess exactly in this manner. Conversely, you can live like a "chess monk" and spend every moment (even in your dreams) thinking of nothing but chess, never enjoying a conversation unless it deals with the intricacies of the Richter-Rouser Variation and always greeting a new acquaintance with "What's your rating?" instead of "Pleased to meet you".

The majority of us fall somewhere in-between these extremes (at least I think you do - if you were a very casual chessplayer I doubt you'd have read this far, and if you were uber-serious you'd still be scratching your head over my first one-liner). But a mistake too many of us make is to look at time spent in chess improvement as some kind of drudgery. If you look upon your chess study time (or even playing time) as a grind, it's time to take a step back. Put chess aside for a week or two. Watch some movies. Play some Halo. Go to a ball game. Have a lemonade or a beer. Think about something besides chess.

You'll be surprised at how positively it'll affect your approach and attitude about the game. You'll come back fresh and suddenly the good moves come more easily, the chess problems are easier to solve, the instructional materials are easier to understand. Are you spotting the key word here? It's "easy". Sometimes the easiest way to tackle something is to start by putting it aside for awhile.

As for the "chess monk" angle I previously mentioned, chess is actually a social activity at its core. Other people are just that: people, not obstacles to be overcome or enemies to be trounced. Some of the most fun I've had as a chessplayer has occurred while just talking about the game with other players.

Back in the old days, I was part of a small "study group" of players. We were tired of some of our mutual opponents who treated each game as some kind of "life and death" struggle, the kinds of guys who seldom smiled or laughed, who often said something snottily sarcastic if they chose to speak at all, the kins of guys who play the same three openings over and over and over until their play became dry as dust. My friends and I started examining and discussing gambits and sacrifices, experimenting with ideas, and calling ourselves "The Kamikazes". We learned a lot of chess together and forged some good friendships (and years later I expanded the idea until it became an international online club called "Chess Kamikazes"). We all came together to "stick it in the eye" of stodgy unpleasant over-dogmatic players, and wound up having a whale of a good time and a ton of laughs along the way. And all of us became better players as a result.

I've been a chess writer for more than a decade; the vast majority of my work ends with the injunction "Have fun". That's been entirely deliberate; chess is fun when it's at its best. And when something is fun, engaging in it and improving at it becomes easy. The inimitable Yogi Berra once said of baseball that "Ninety percent of this game is half mental"; mangled thought the sentiment may be, it also applies to chess.

How to Plan a Party

Figure out what kind of party you're having

This seems obvious, but it's an important first step. I talked with Jorj Morgan, author of At Home Entertaining: The Art of Hosting a Party With Style and Panache, who told me that the kind of party you're having will determine how many people you invite, and when you invite them. The first question you should ask yourself: "How can I party in this space?" If you're having a sit-down dinner party, you're limited by the number of seats at your table. If you're having a buffet, you obviously have more leeway, but you still have to consider how much food you can make/buy and how much space you have for people to comfortably sit and eat. If you're not serving a meal at all, then you just need to make sure you don't pack your place so full that people start a) running out of alcohol or b) crushing each other to death. I tend to subscribe to the invite-everyone-you-know school of party-giving, which usually results in fun and sometimes in property damage. Just keep in mind that if you invite more people than you can easily keep track of, somebody is probably going to break a plate or get footprints on your wall (I still don't know how this happened).

a-textannotation-id="ba8e3d9a95e684ef3d28a06999ae9a9a"> Defining your party is also a matter of figuring out its level of formality. Morgan says the more formal the party, the farther in advance you should send invitations. You also want to allow a lot of lead time if there are guests you absolutely need to be there — if you're throwing a surprise party for a friend, for instance, and you want all his other best friends in attendance. She notes that there is no universal correct amount of time for any of this — I generally go with a week for your average fun-time bash, two for anything more official.

Let the invitation fit the party

Says Morgan,

The more informal the party, the more informal the invitation. Your invitation is almost like the poster to a movie, it's describing what kind of party you're going to have, it's setting the mood, it's telling them what to wear, and it's putting them at ease, so when they accept this party invitation, they know exactly what they're getting into. So if it's a formal sit-down party for eight people, it should be more of a printed invitation or a handwritten note, something mailed to them. If it's an informal party [...] it can be an email or an e-vite.

I'm always excited to get an actual paper invitation, but I'm aware that outside of weddings, it's become pretty rare. I think that for most events, a classy e-vite is fine — but obviously don't be like "hey guysss, 9 pm til late byob" if you're celebrating your mom's eightieth birthday. I tend to invite via both Facebook and e-mail — some people really want to have the Facebook invitation, while others studiously ignore everything that comes through that channel. There's always going to be a third group who are annoyed about getting too many messages, but if they really like you they will put that aside and come to your party anyway.

Start early.

One year I started preparing for my birthday party at 6 PM the night it was happening. I was so frazzled and confused that in my first foray out into the world I went to three stores and came back with: one six-pack of normal beer, one six-pack of weird beer, three limes, a bag of arugula, and a bottle of strawberry juice. Obviously I had to go out again, and the party ended up going fine, but I would've been a lot more relaxed if I'd started prepping a couple days ahead.

Pace yourself. DO NOT try to do the shopping, food prep, clean the house and have everyone over the same day. You will be too tired to enjoy your party and you run a much larger risk of being way behind schedule. Instead:

• Shop 1-2 days before your party.
• Prepare as much of the food the day before or morning of your party as possible.
• Choose recipes that you can make in advance.
• Feel free to fill in your menu with some fantastic purchased food such as a dessert from your fave bakery.

Obviously you might not have time for one or two days of prep work. If that's the case, just keep things simple. Don't make fancy hors d'oeuvres — buy chips or ask your friends to bring things. Don't worry about making fascinating cocktails — just get enough booze to get the party started and make sure your friends bring more. Whatever you do, try to leave yourself some time before the party to chill out. Says Mendez, "Two hours before guests arrive, take time to get dressed and get yourself ready. Turn on the music, light candles." Morgan also suggests a couple hours' downtime before the party, wherein you get dressed or take a bath. This will ensure that you're relaxed and in a good mood when your friends start showing up, and prepare to have fun rather than stress.

Make your guests walk around

When your
friends do start to come, you want to encourage them to mingle. Morgan has an ingenious strategy for this: set up your bar/cocktail area/keg/what-have-you at the furthest possible point from the door. If you're putting out food, set that up along a square, where the door is north, the bar is south, and food is at east and west. Basically, you want to spread out the stuff that people want so they'll have to move around and talk to each other. This is especially important if your party is getting off to a slow start or if there aren't very many people — rather than letting your guests all huddle in one area, you want them to circulate and pump up the room's energy level a bit. If, on the other hand, things are getting too crazy, Morgan suggests sedating your guests with more food. And when it's time for them to leave but some are still stubbornly hanging on, start offering coffee — Morgan advocates a coffee station set up by the door to really drive the message home.

Help out shy people

Parties are daunting for the shy, especially if they don't know very many people there. Help them out by introducing them to a couple of other people they may have something in common with. Says Mendez,

As the host, be sure to introduce guests who may not know one another. It can be awkward to be the new person at a gathering when everyone else knows each other well. You can encourage conversation when making introductions by trying to offer something your guests have in common. For instance, you could say, "Mary, I would like you to meet John." "John, Mary was born and raised in your birthplace, New York City." Or offer a conversation starter with something interesting from your guest's life, such as "Mary works as a nurse at Memorial Hospital" or "Mary has run the L. A. Marathon two times." You get the picture. These attempts can encourage the start of a conversation for guests who are unfamiliar with each other.

Another tactic: "Privately ask a more outgoing guest (close friend) if they can befriend the shy guest and help bring them into the conversations." But don't be like, "so-and-so is a loser and needs a babysitter." Instead, say something like, "you should really meet so-and-so, she is really interesting but needs a little drawing out." Nobody wants to be a charity case.

Get help

Says Morgan, "if something takes a little bit longer in the kitchen than you planned, pull in two of your buddies, and get them involved. People love to help." In my experience, this is true. So don't feel like you have to do everything yourself — especially if you run into a snag. There's no shame in asking somebody to stir the sauce or open the wine or get the rabbits out of the sink and back in the moon-bounce where they belong.

And don't panic. Says Mendez,

Even the most seasoned hosts can sometimes run into unexpected problems when hosting. The ice-maker breaks, the smoke alarm goes off, a dish you are going to serve takes a turn for the worse. Don't let these challenges ruin your evening. Simply solve the problem and move on. It would be a shame if everyone enjoyed the party but you!

One of the best parties I ever threw was a Fourth of July barbecue where we ran out of propane. I sent someone out for more, but we couldn't figure out how to attach it to the grill (I'm not the world's best grill-master under the best of circumstances). So I moved the whole operation inside and made burgers one by one on a George Foreman. I'm not sure if they were any good — I also don't eat meat — but everyone was happy and then we all went out and sang karaoke. The point is: no one is expecting you to be perfect. They just want to hang out and have a good time, and that will be a lot easier if everyone is relaxed. Also, vomit is totally fine for houseplants. Just don't let anybody pee on them.

How to Make a Smoke Bomb

The smoke bomb you would purchase from a fireworks store usually is made from potassium chlorate (KClO₃ - oxidizer), sugar (sucrose or dextrin - fuel), sodium bicarbonate (otherwise known as baking soda - to moderate the rate of the reaction and keep it from getting too hot), and a powdered organic dye (for colored smoke). When a commercial smoke bomb is burned, the reaction makes white smoke and the heat evaporates the organic dye. Commercial smoke bombs have small holes through which the smoke and dye are ejected, to create a jet of finely dispersed particles. Crafting this type of smoke bomb is beyond most of us, but you can make an effective smoke bomb quite easily. There are even colorants you can add if you want to make colored smoke. In fact, this type of smoke bomb was used to craft the worldest biggest smoke bomb! Let's start out with instructions for the easiest/safest type of smoke bomb you can make:
Smoke Bomb Materials

• sugar (sucrose or table sugar)
• potassium nitrate, KNO₃, also known as saltpeter (buy it online or you can find this at some garden supply stores in the fertilizer section, some pharmacies carry it too)
• skillet or pan
• aluminum foil

Once you've gathered your smoke bomb materials, it's easy to make the smoke bomb

How to Meditate

Believe it or not, daily meditation can have a great impact on your sense of calm. Learning how to meditate for only 20 minutes a day can have significant health changes. Whether or not you have a daily meditation in mind or not, regular meditation can create sense out of our hectic lives. This meditation article addresses how to meditate, and how to choose your own daily meditation practices.

Meditation: Practice the Art of Peace

"Calmness is the ideal state in which we should receive all life's experiences," writes Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship, in the book Inner Peace. Yogananda is regarded as one of the great spiritual teachers melding East and West. Through meditation, he writes, one can cultivate a wonderful inner quiet that will melt away stress and nervousness.
But to
meditate, one must break away, however briefly, from the world. Turn off your cell phone and pager, disconnect the fax machine, shut down the computer and turn on the answering machine...allow no interruptions during this special time.
Meditation is the perfect antidote for the constant intrusion of technology in our lives. In fact, recent research has shown that meditating twice per day for about 20 minutes can actually reduce blockages in your blood vessels, significantly lowering the risk of sudden death by heart attack or stroke.

Tips for Meditation

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Where Should I Meditate? You may wish to set aside a special corner of one room, your own private sanctuary, a calm, quiet and peaceful place. You might furnish the area with objects or icons that have spiritual meaning for you, developing a little altar or shrine. Use what will put you into a contemplative frame of mind. You may want to enlist the help of Mother Nature. Spend time at the ocean listening to the surf crashing upon the rocks...walk through a shaded forest trail with a cathedral of trees overhead...stand near a stream with water playing over the rocks or a waterfall...or watch the moon rise or birds fly overhead.
• How Should I Sit When I Meditate?Although the classic posture is to sit with legs folded and hands resting quietly on the lap or the knees, the key is to find a way of sitting that is comfortable for you. And remember, you can meditate anytime, anywhere...even driving in your car.
\
• Should My Eyes Be Open or Closed? Keep your eyes open if possible, to keep all of senses open. The goal is not to fall asleep, but to find yourself in a state of "relaxed alertness." Nor are you seeking a trancelike experience, or an altered state of consciousness. Keep your eyes "soft" — that is, do not focus on anything in particular — and your mouth slightly open.
• How Long Should I Meditate? Many texts recommend 20 minutes, twice daily, but it's not how long you meditate; it's whether the practice "brings you to a certain state of mindfulness and presence, where you are a little open and able to connect with your heart essence," writes Sogyal Rinpoche in the "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying."

To begin, try short sessions of four to five minutes; then break for one minute. "It's often during the break that meditation actually happens!" writes Rinpoche. It may also be useful to get into the habit of setting aside the same times every day, be they for prayer or meditation. David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B., a Benedictine monk and author, recommends rising 15 minutes earlier than usual to give your day a "contemplative dimension." Without these precious moments, he says, "your whole day can slip away into a mad chase," but with them your entire day can be imbued with meaning and joy.

Basics Meditation

Four Basic Ways to Practice Meditation

• Follow your breath This is the most universal of all mindfulness techniques. First, exhale strongly a few times to clear the base of the lungs of carbon dioxide. It is helpful to review the technique for following the deep breathing method of imagining a lotus blossom residing in your lower abdomen; as the breath fills the belly, the petals of the blossom expand; as you exhale, the petals close back up.
• Observe an icon or object Allow your mind to rest lightly on an object. If you come from the Christian tradition, this might be an image of Christ, the Virgin Mary or the Holy Spirit.

If you are inspired by Eastern spiritual traditions, you might reflect upon an image or icon of the Buddha. You can also use a flower, crystal, or other object that has meaning for you. Lightly allow your attention to sit there, quietly and peacefully.

• Recite a mantra A mantra literally means "that which protects the mind." So reciting a mantra protects you with spiritual power. It is also said that when you chant a mantra, you are charging your breath and energy with the energy of the mantra. Again, choose something with meaning for you within your spiritual tradition: recite the Rosary, for example. Tibetan Buddhists use a mantra for peace, healing, transformation and healing. "Recite the mantra quietly, with deep attention, and let your breath, the mantra and your awareness become slowly one," writes Rinpoche.
• Do a Guided Meditation. Guided meditation is akin to guided imagery, a powerful technique that focuses and directs the imagination toward a conscious goal. (Think of a diver imagining a "perfect dive" before he leaves the platform.) Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk who is a scholar, poet, peace activist and author. He suggests trying a very simple — yet profound — guided meditation that you can learn by yourself.

Seek Inspiration

Is It Really Meditation?

The techniques described here are meditation practices rather than meditation itself, which is often described by experienced practitioners as "a state of being — a state of receptivity without expectation, a merging with the Divine." All of the techniques are practice to get to this final merged state.
Therefore, meditation practice is not meditation. One might practice meditation for years to achieve a meditative state of being. An experienced meditator might meditate for an hour to achieve a few moments of meditative consciousness.

The Benefits of Meditation Are Subtle

While you may not feel flashes of insight when practicing meditation, its effects will become apparent to you later, when you may notice that you responded to a crisis with uncharacteristic calmness, or failed to get "triggered" in a situation that would normally disturb you. Trust in the process, let go of your expectations of achieving "results" (after all, meditation is not a contest), and you will reap the results.
The real miracle of meditation, says Rinpoche, is a subtle transformation that happens not only in your mind and your emotions but also in your body. And, this transformation is a healing one. "Even your cells are more joyful."

Get Started With This Guided Meditation

• Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. (In) Breathing out, I know I am breathing out. (Out)
• Breathing in, my breath grows deep. (Deep) Breathing out, my breath goes slowly. (Slow)
• Aware of my body, I breathe in. (Aware of body) Relaxing my body, I breathe out. (Relaxing body)
• Calming my body, I breathe in. (Calming body) Caring for my body, I breathe out. (Caring for body)
• Smiling to my body, I breathe in. (Smiling to my body) Easing my body, I breathe out. (Easing body)
• Smiling to my body, I breathe in. (Smiling to body) Releasing the tensions in my body, I breathe out. (Releasing tensions)
• Feeling joy (to be alive), I breathe in. (Feeling joy) Feeling happy, I breathe out. (Feeling happy)
• Dwelling in the present moment, I breathe in. (Being present) Enjoying the present moment, I breathe out. (Enjoying)
• Aware of my stable posture, I breathe in. (Stable posture) Enjoying the stability, I breathe out. (Enjoying)

How to Drive a Bus

Have you ever wondered how to drive a bus? Just read the following steps, and you'll be a pro bus driver.

Get used to driving a long car first. An example would be to drive a limo. Driving a double-decker bus is the least of your worries in some countries. Most buses are 9.5 m to 18 m long, so it is very different from driving a tiny little "VW Beetle" in terms for parking and turning.  

Take a few bus rides to different makes of buses and get used to the controls before even getting driving lessons for a bus.
Cockpit drills like adjusting the mirrors, opening and closing the doors automatically and manually, and controls to help you change the destination panel. 

Think of where you want to work.By now, you should have the type of bus that you want to drive (e.g. a Dennis Dragon 11 m air-conditioned with semi-auto gearbox). You should think about which bus or touring coach company you want to work for. Go through their driving training. 

Even after you have passed the license, you will have to go through the 'restricted' stage, where you will be on 'assisted reconnaissance' mode , following other buses just to get used to your routes. You must learn your "Route A" thoroughly. Over time, your route may be modified, but then you have to adjust accordingly. Always be a kind person to the license giver, they will know if you are nice.

Understand why the particular fleet of buses are used. It could be that the fleet of buses has more seats to cope with large passenger load, or they are more suited for steep roads.

Attention to details could be the key to getting more than a bare pass on theory tests. Pop quizzes during your study may involve this type of questions.

When it is time to go for your bus license, your theory and driving skills will be assessed.

How to Prevent Mosquito Bites

The perpetually wet and warm climate in Southeast Asia ensures that there is never a shortage of mosquitoes. Ranging from covert ankle-biters to ridiculously sized creatures fit for a horror movie, mozzies - as the Australians affectionately call them - are always looking for a free meal.
Aside from being a nuisance while traveling in Southeast Asia, mosquitoes pose two real threats: disease and infection. Scratching mosquito bites with dirty fingernails in a tropical environment can quickly turn a tiny problem into a fever-causing infection. Oozing mosquito bites on legs are a common site found on backpackers in Southeast Asia.
While mosquitoes will probably prove to be only a slight nuisance during your trip to Southeast Asia, the tiny insects are far more nefarious than snakes or any other creature encountered in the wild. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 20,000 people die per year due to snakebite, but malaria - delivered by mosquitoes - kills more than fifty times that number of people annually. Add other mosquito-borne illnesses to the threat and suddenly humans appear to be losing the battle. Special care should be given to preventing mosquito bites on your trip to Southeast Asia.

• More useful pre-trip tips here: Preparing for Your Trip to Southeast Asia
• Keep your wits about while traveling: Staying Safe in Southeast Asia

Why do Mosquitoes Bite?

Despite their size, mosquitoes are actually the deadliest creatures on Earth; scores of studies have taken place for determining how to prevent mosquito bites. Both male and female mosquitoes prefer to feed on flower nectar; however, females switch to an all-protein diet of blood when they are ready to reproduce. Strangely, studies show that mosquitoes prefer to bite men over women; overweight people are at greater risk.
Mosquitoes can hone in on carbon dioxide emitted from breath and skin from over 75 feet away. While hiding or holding your breath is not practical, taking proper measures can decrease your risk for bites.

How to Prevent Mosquito Bites

1. You are most at risk for mosquito bites - particularly in the islands - as the sun lowers; use extra caution at dusk.
2. Pay attention under the tables when eating in Southeast Asia. Mosquitoes would love to enjoy you as a meal while you eat your own.
3. Wear earth tones, khaki, or neutral clothing while trekking. Studies show that mosquitoes are more attracted to bright clothing.
4. If staying in a place with a mosquito net, use it! Check for holes and apply DEET to any breeches. Do the same for any broken window screens around your accommodation.
5. Mosquitoes are attracted to body odor and sweat; stay clean to avoid attracting unnecessary attention from mosquitoes and clean travel mates.
6. Female mosquitoes normally feed on flower nectar when not trying to reproduce - avoid smelling like one! Sweet-smelling fragrances in soap, shampoo, and lotion will attract more biters.
7. Unfortunately, DEET remains the most effective known way to prevent mosquito bites. Reapply smaller concentrations of DEET every three hours to exposed skin.
8. Although the hot climate usually dictates otherwise, the most natural way to prevent mosquito bites is to expose as little skin as possible.
9. Gecko lizards, considered lucky in Southeast Asia, eat several mosquitoes a minute. If you are lucky enough to have one of these little friends in your room, let her stay!
10. Make a habit of closing your bathroom door after checking in to your accommodation; even small amounts of standing water give mosquitoes a better chance.

DEET - Safe or Toxic?

Developed by the U.S. Army, DEET is the most popular way to control mosquitoes despite the ill effects on skin and health. Concentrations up to 100% DEET can be purchased in the U.S., however Canada barred sales of any repellent containing more than 30% DEET due to its high toxicity.
Contrary to folklore, higher concentrations of DEET are no more effective for preventing mosquito bites than lower concentrations. The difference is that higher DEET concentrations are effective longer between applications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that a solution of 30 - 50% DEET be reapplied every three hours for maximum safety.
When used in conjunction with sunscreen, DEET should always be applied to skin first before sun protection. DEET lowers the effectiveness of sunscreen; avoid products that combine both. Read more about how to avoid sunburn in Southeast Asia.
Do not apply DEET under your clothes or on your hands, inevitably you will forget and end up rubbing your eyes or mouth!

• Make sure your luggage contains only useful stuff: What to Pack for your Trip to Southeast Asia.

DEET Alternatives for Preventing Mosquito Bites

• Icaridin: Also called Picaridin, the World Health Organization promotes the use of icaridin as a DEET alternative. The repellent is odorless and causes less skin irritations than DEET. Even the Australian army has adopted its use in the field.
• Lemon Eucalyptus Oil: Oil from the lemon eucalyptus is considered a safe, natural alternative to DEET, although it is less effective and liberal doses must be used.
• Skin-So-Soft: Avon Skin-So-Soft (compare prices) contains an agent known as IR3535 which is effective for repelling mosquitoes for short durations.

Mosquito Coils

A cheap, popular way to prevent mosquito bites in Southeast Asia is to burn mosquito coils under your table or while sitting outside. Coils are made from pyrethrum, a powder derived from chrysanthemum plants, and burn slowly to provide protection for hours; never burn mosquito coils inside!

Mosquitoes and Electric Fans

Electric fans are a low-tech anti-mosquito solution, found practically everywhere. Former Garages guide Jeff Beneke explains that fans disrupt mosquito attacks in two ways: first, the weak-winged mosquitoes find it very difficult to navigate in the wake of a fan running even at low power; second, the winds disperse the carbon dioxide trail we emit that mosquitoes zero in on when looking for a meal.
So when not on the road, find a resting spot in the direct line of fire of a working electric fan. Feel free to sleep with an electric fan pointed straight at you (no matter what your Korean friends might say - read more about the interesting Korean cultural myth of "fan deaths".)

Mosquitoes and Dengue Fever

While malaria receives most of the spotlight, the World Health Organization estimates that mosquitoes cause at least 50 million cases of dengue fever each year. Before 1970 only an estimated nine countries held a risk for Dengue Fever. Now dengue fever is endemic in 100 countries; Southeast Asia is considered the region with the highest risk.
Unfortunately there is no vaccination or preventative for dengue fever other than to avoid being bitten in the first place.
The spotted mosquitoes that carry dengue fever typically bite during the day, while the species that carries malaria prefers to bite at night. Chances are high that you would survive an infection, but dengue fever will certainly ruin an otherwise fantastic trip!
Mosquitoes are not the only pest in Southeast Asia: Read about how to avoid bedbugs and preventing against monkey bites.

Staying Safe in Southeast Asia

• Sunburn & Sun Protection Tips
• Avoid Monkey Bites
• Avoiding Bedbugs While Traveling

Before You Travel

• What to Pack for your Trip to Southeast Asia
• Travel Insurance in Southeast Asia
• GSM Phone Roaming Throughout Southeast Asia

Dos and Don't's

• Do's and Don'ts in Thailand
• Dos and Don't's in Vietnam
• Dos and Don't's in Cambodia

Related Articles

• How to Prevent Getting Bitten by Mosquitos
• Top 5 Common Health Issues for Travel to India
• How to Get Rid of Dark Spots From Mosquito Bites
• Keep Mosquitoes Away
• DEET Chemistry - dimethyltoluamide or DEET

How to Make a Bump Key

A bump key is a modified key that can be used to gain entry to locks. The key has all of the cuts to the maximum depth (999). This works by hitting the modified key causing the pointed and deep valleys to shoot the pins (also known as the billiard ball effect) above the sheer line causing the lock to open.

Lay out your key which you will make the bump key out of and the triangle file on a flat working surface.

File down the key in between the pointed parts so that they create a sharp "V" shape.

Make sure that the valleys between the points do not go below the indented line.

Be sure you file down in between each of the points on they key or else your bump key may not work correctly.   

How to Make Cocktails

Mojito
Serve in a tall glass.
50ml rum
25ml gomme syrup or 2tsp brown sugar
Half a lime
4 mint sprigs
Soda water
Crushed ice
Cut a lime into quarters and place two quarters into the glass. Add the gomme syrup (or sugar) and rum and muddle together, making sure you squeeze the juice out of the limes. Fill with crushed ice and top up with soda (or apple juice for an apple mojito). Add the sprigs of mint and tease to the bottom of the glass with a spoon, at the same time as gently lifting the lime, sugar and rum upwards.
Dark and stormy
Serve in tall glass.
50ml Gosling's Black Seal rum
25ml lime juice
Ginger beer
Ice cubes
Add rum and lime juice to the glass. Rub lime around the rim. Fill with ice cubes. Top up with ginger beer. Simple and tasty!

Martini
Serve in cocktail glass.
50ml good-quality gin (or vodka, depending on martini preference)
25ml dry vermouth
Crushed ice
Ice cubes
Fill a cocktail glass with ice and leave to one side. Fill a large glass with crushed ice and water/soda water. This is to help make the glass as cold as possible. Once the glass is very cold to the touch, discard the ice and water. Pour the gin (or vodka) and vermouth into the glass and fill with ice cubes. Slowly stir until the ice dilutes the drink to your taste. Discard the ice from the cocktail glass and strain in the drink, adding your choice of garnish: fruit zest, cherry, caper berry, olive ... Martinis taste best when cold, so should be polished off within 7-10 minutes.
Mint julep
Serve in tall glass or tumbler.
50ml rum (or whisky, depending on preference)
2 teaspoons of caster sugar (other sugar or gomme syrup is also fine)
4 mint sprigs
Crushed ice
Soda water (optional)
Add the mint sprigs, caster sugar and a couple of tablespoons of crushed ice. Begin 'massaging' the mix together with a spoon. The caster sugar helps to bring out the flavour of the mint. Breaking or crushing the mint makes the taste sour, hence the need to gently fold and stir. Add 25ml of rum, more crushed ice and continue 'massaging'. Fill with ice, pour in the second 25ml shot of rum and add a dash of soda, if desired.
Margarita
Serve in a tumbler with ice or in cocktail glass, straight up with a salt rim.
Simple (Tommy's) margarita
50ml tequila
25ml lime juice
2 tsp agave syrup
Ice cubes
Classic margarita*

37.5ml tequila
25ml cointreau or triple sec
12.5ml lime juice
Ice cubes
Salt (optional)
Fill a glass with ice and leave to one side. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake vigorously for 45 seconds to a minute. If using a tumbler, leave the ice in the glass. If using a cocktail glass, discard the ice. If you intend to salt the rim, pour either table salt or sea salt onto a small plate, rub the rim with lime and roll into the salt. Strain the drink into the glass.
*Most aficionados would use the ratio 3:2:1, as above, but you should vary it to your own taste. 3:1:1 and 2:1:1 both make a nice drink, and you can always add agave syrup to sweeten if it's too sour.