Pets for Kids

Best Pet Picks for Kids by: Mark Haakonsen
Pets are great for kids and every child should have a pet at some point in their childhood. Not only do they make great friends but they also teach a child life lessons of care and responsibility.
A child’s first pet will depend a lot on their age and level of maturity, so as a parent, you will need to decide what level of responsibility your child can handle, unless you want to end up doing all the work. In order to help make that decision easier, we have compiled a list of the 6 best pets for kids, with the list starting from the easiest pet to care from and going through to more advanced.
Fish
One of the lower maintenance and cheaper pets can be fish. In particular, the guppy is a great starter for kids. Guppies are a very attractive fish and are not only cheap but easy to maintain. Upto 5 guppies can be kept in a 10 gallon tank with the ideal temperature ranging from 72 – 80 degrees fahrenheit. Guppies also breed quite easily (if the temperature is nice and warm) and they give birth to live young. It can be quite exciting for a child to find new fish in their tank. The complete setup including: 2 guppies, tank, filter and food could be achieved for under $100.
Hermit Crabs
The Hermit Crab is another great low maintenance pet that can be fun for kids. While the Hermit Crab is an introvert by nature, it is a step up from fish as there is more interaction with your child and Hermit Crabs can be tamed and handled.
Caring for Hermit Crabs is pretty simple but they do require daily watering and feeding. Hermit Crabs must be watered daily so that they don’t dry out and the gravel in their tank should be changed about once a month. Aside from that, just make sure that larger shells are kept in the tank, because as Hermit Crabs grow, they need to move house. The complete setup for a Hermit Crab would be somewhere in the range of $60 - $80.
Rats
Most people may be apprehensive when the word “rat” is mentioned, but domestic rats are truly great pets. Rats are very smart, they are friendly and they also have a lot of character and affection. Rats are easy to handle, and children can take them out of their cage and play with them pretty much anytime. Just be careful when letting a pet rat run loose in the house, as they have been known to chew through couches and other items of furniture. Don’t overlook rats because of the bad rep their street counterparts may have. A rat, cage, water bottle and toys can be purchased for under $100.
Budgies
If your child wants a bird as a first pet then one of the best options to consider is the Budgie. Budgies are great companions, they are a talkative and social bird. If properly taught, they will perch on their owners hand and they can learn many different words (patience is required)
Budgies do require more maintenance than the pets mentioned thus far. It is important that their cage is kept clean at all times or they can get sick. Getting setup with a budgie will set you back somewhere between $100 - $200.
Cats
Cats get into the more high maintenance pet category, but they are one of the best pets for children. While they are somewhat solitary and self sufficient animals, they will still socialise and can be very affectionate at times. As a kitten however, they are extremely playful and your child will enjoy it tremendously. If you feel your child is ready to handle the responsibility of changing kitty litter and daily feeding, then a cat will be worth considering. They are much more costly than the pets previously mentioned and will require a long term commitment.
Dogs
A dog is probably the single best pet that your child could own. They are great companions but do require a lot more care than any of the previously mentioned pets. Dogs require much more attention than cats and in particular they require: exercise, feeding, washing, discipline and cleaning up after. Buying a dog as a pet should not be taken lightly and should only be done if you think your child is ready and the family is ready as responsibility for the dog will generally end up with the parents and the child.
Some of the breeds known to be good with children include the following: Mastiff Boxer, Newfoundland, Boston Terriers, Bichon Frise, Beagles, standard Poodles, Pugs, Labrador Retrievers, Samoyed, Springer Spaniel, Irish Setter, Foxhound, English Setter, Siberian Husky, Keeshond, Gordon Setter, Bulldogs http://www.pethandbook.com
About The Author
Mark Haakonsen
We hope you enjoyed this article. You can find more great pet and pet care articles at Pet Handbook http://www.pethandbook.com.

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Science of DLP Television

The Science Behind DLP Television by: Mitchell Medford
DLP televisions are based on a technology invented by Texas Instruments back in 1987 called Digital Light Processing. The technology is based on an optical semiconductor called DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) chip. It is a highly reliable, all-digital display chip that delivers the best picture across a broad range of products, including large screen digital TVs, and projectors for business, home, professional venue and digital cinema.
The chip consists of over one million mirrors to process light. They come in either single chip or 3 chip configurations. One-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to pass white light through a color wheel that sends red-green-blue colors to the DMD chip in a sequential order to create an image on-screen. Only one DMD chip is used to process the primary RGB colors. Three-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to send white light through a prism, which creates separate red, green, and blue light beams. Each beam is sent to their respective red, green, and blue DMD chip to process the image for display on-screen. One-chip models are said to produce a display of over 16-million colors. Three-chip models can produce a display of over 35-trillion colors. The result is maximum fidelity: a picture whose clarity, brilliance and color must be seen to be believed.
When a DLP chip is coordinated with a digital video or graphic signal, a light source, and a projection lens, its mirrors can reflect an all-digital image onto a screen or other surface. The DLP chip and the sophisticated electronics that surround it are what we call Digital Light Processing™ technology.
Benefits of Single chip DLP:
1. Fantastic color accuracy.
2. The best contrast ratios and shadow detail.
3. Generally very quiet.
4. Very little space between each pixel creates a very smooth image, even when using lower resolution projectors.
5. Light engine failures are very rare so repairs are less costly than other technologies.
6. Technology doesn't degrade over time. With proper routine maintenance, DLP™ projectors consistently provide just-out-of-the-box performance. (DLP™ is the only technology that makes this claim).
Benefits of Three chip DLP:
1. Good contrast; much greater than film theaters.
2. Good shadow detail.
3. Can provide high brightness compared to the limited brightness of single chip versions.
4. Overall image quality deemed as the best of any type of micro display technology.
5. Same technology as projectors installed in digital theaters.
6. Pure digital technology.
The bit-streamed image code entering the semiconductor directs each mirror to switch on and off up to several thousand times per second. When a mirror is switched on more frequently than off, it reflects a light gray pixel; a mirror that's switched off more frequently reflects a darker gray pixel. In this way, the mirrors in a DLP projection system can reflect pixels in up to 1,024 shades of gray to convert the video or graphic signal entering the DLP chip into a highly detailed grayscale image.
The white light generated by the lamp in a DLP projection system passes through a color wheel as it travels to the surface of the DLP chip. The color wheel filters the light into red, green, and blue, from which a single-chip DLP projection system can create at least 16.7 million colors. And the 3-chip system found in DLP Cinema™ projection systems is capable of producing no fewer than 35 trillion colors. The on and off states of each micromirror are coordinated with these three basic building blocks of color. For example, a mirror responsible for projecting a purple pixel will only reflect red and blue light to the projection surface; our eyes then blend these rapidly alternating flashes to see the intended hue in a projected image.
About The Author
Mitchell Medford is an author and product consultant for several consumer electronics manufacturers. Visit his website for more information on home theater, LCD TVs, and plasma televisions: http://www.newtechnologytv.com

Most of the time I shop online for electronics such as audio, tvs, cell phones, digital cameras, wireless and pdas.

Which Suppliments are Safe?

3 Steps to Identify Supplements that Lack Scientific Evidence for their Reported Benefits by: Mark Worthen, Psy.D.
This article shows you a simple but reliable method to identify supplements that do not have scientific support for their alleged benefits.
Step 1: Go to
http://www.pubmed.org
which is a National Library of Medicine (United States) web site where you can search for articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Why check PubMed? Because the National Library of Medicine carefully selects only high-quality journals that offer value to medical scientists around the world. Selection criteria are detailed on this web page:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/jsel.html
Step 2: Once on the PubMed web site, search for the generic (scientific) name of the supplement in question. Supplement manufacturers must list the scientific name for their supplement's ingredients on the label and in advertisements. Supplements often contain many ingredients but usually only a few provide the purported benefits. Those are the ingredients you want to evaluate--they are often the same ones the manufacturer highlights in advertisements.
Step 3: This is the step some supplement companies don't want you to know. Before you click on the "Search" button at PubMed.org, limit your search to studies that utilize the right research methodology with the right population.
The right research methodology is a randomized controlled trial (the double-blind, placebo control group design fits under this category) and the right population is human beings.
Specifying human subjects is important because you want to know if the ingredients in a supplement have been shown to produce the advertised benefits in real live human beings--not just in rats pressing levers for food pellets or in a "case study" with one person.
This is not to say that basic science research, which is often conducted initially with animals, is unimportant. On the contrary, such research usually serves as a crucial building block for subsequent clinical research with humans. But basic science research does not provide scientific evidence for a supplement's beneficial health effects on human beings. Only research with human subjects, using randomized controlled trials, can offer such evidence.
On the PubMed.org search page, click on the "Limits" tab located under the "Search" box. You will see a number of drop-down menus. First click on the Publication Type menu and then select Randomized Controlled Trial. Next click on the drop-down menu labeled, Humans or Animals and click on Humans.
An Example
Morinda citrifolia is the scientific name for a popular ingredient in a nutritional supplement. First search on PubMed for Morinda citrifolia, without placing Limits on your search.
How many results did you receive?
The count was 69 at the time I wrote this article. Looks impressive, huh?
But now search for Morinda citrifolia after first placing Limits on the search as described above, so that you receive only those studies which provide more definitive scientific evidence for the positive effects of Morinda citrifolia.
How many journal articles did you find searching with the specified limits? I found 1.
Thus, out of 69 articles found on PubMed.org, only one provides some evidence for Morinda citrifolia's beneficial effects. In addition, those results were obtained with a very specific patient population. Thus, in order to conclude that scientific evidence exists for Morinda citrifolia's efficacy, scientists would need to conduct additional randomized controlled trials with diverse patient populations.
Conclusion
The simple research method described in this article will help you determine if a given supplement possesses sufficient scientific evidence for its purported benefits.
About The Author
Mark Worthen is a Phi Betta Kappa graduate of the University of Maryland's Honors Psychology program. He was a Clinical Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and earned his Doctor of Psychology degree from Baylor University in 1990. Communicate with Dr. Worthen on the Contact page of http://www.Omega-3-Report.com.

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Science Articles

I found several articles on various science subjects for you:
The Science of Mother Loveby: Cori Young Click Here

Adaptogens for Life - The Science Behind the Discovery of Adaptogensby: Mair Gauthier Click Here

Taking photographs of trains is relatively simple if you follow just a few rules Click Here

Children and Science

Science Toys are Educational Toys by: Ted Moryto
My son Jack had been quietly playing with his Meccano set when we heard him scream, sweet!
What a cool toy, my friend Dave said, it's a ferris wheel. It's a solar powered ferris wheel, said Jack.
Dave asked me, How did you get him to play with educational toys, my son only wants to play video games. I asked Dave whether he had ever played educational games or built rockets or space toys with his son. I'm not really a hands on guy was his answer. So I proceeded to demonstrate to Dave that educational toys teach skills that all successful adults use in everyday life. I told him that construction toys require imagination and planning. Robots require the use of logic. Strategy games require competitiveness and forethought. And of course crafts require creativity.
I think that's a bit too technical for my son, said Dave. Well, why don't you start with some magic. Most tricks are scientific illusions that require planning and practice. Or how about simply building a plane,train or automobile with him, a real mechanical toy. This way he can see how all the pieces interconnect to achieve a common goal, like a team of components.
My son likes to collect baseball cards, said Dave. Well how about starting a bug collection or rock collection. It just might inspire him to be a geologist or entomologist. Of course you could always get him some anatomy models, so he can be a surgeon like his dad.
About The Author
Ted Moryto is a professional engineer and proprietor of Brain Waves Toys.
http://www.brainwavestoys.com


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Coin Collecting

Rare and Beautiful World Coins by: Charles Roman
Ideas for Collecting Coins from Around the World
Collecting world coins is a fun hobby that gives you the feeling of travelling the globe vicariously through your coins. A collection of world coins offers a unique insight into the culture and history of other countries, and encourages you to learn at least a few words of a variety of different languages. World coins can also be an interesting step into the world of coin collecting, because it is a relatively inexpensive pastime. Many of the coins are still in circulation, making them easy to find and light on the pocketbook to buy. Oftentimes, children start their coin collections with world coins for this reason.
Ideas for Collections of World Coins
While some people may enjoy collecting world coins haphazardly, simply enjoying whatever coins they happen to come across, others prefer more of a challenge. While it may be impossible to collect every coin from around the world, you can create a lovely coin collection that is challenging and fun to complete by selecting a particular theme to pursue.
The most obvious theme for a collection of world coins is a concentration on a specific country. If that idea seems a little bit stale, you can also broaden your collection by concentrating on a region or aspect of a country. For example, you could start a world coins collection from South American countries, nations where English is a national language, or from island nations.
Another interesting possibility is to combine two interests by concentrating on a favorite thing or hobby outside of coin collecting. For example, a coffee lover might collect world coins from countries that produce coffee beans, or an auto enthusiast might collect coins from countries that produce his or her favorite automobiles.
You don’t have to use countries as a central point of your world coins collection, however; you can also build a collection around a specific motif on the coins themselves. Some people have collections of coins featuring a particular animal, such as an eagle or a panda bear. Others concentrate on flowers, trees, or birds. Someone interested in military history might enjoy a world coins collection featuring famous fighters, for example.
Another idea for starting a collection of world coins is to concentrate your efforts on coins from a particular year. Some people really enjoy collecting world coins that were minted in their birth year, or which commemorate another date that is important to them.
If none of those ideas appeal to you, perhaps you’d like to concentrate on a specific metal used to make the world coins. While precious metals like gold and platinum are obvious choices, some people enjoy putting together collections of world coins minted from common nickel or copper.
If any of these ideas have inspired you to start a collection of world coins, you might want to pause a moment before you start building a collection, and check out the prices and availability of coins matching your desired theme. It won’t be much fun to start a collection of gold bullion coins, only to realize that you can’t afford more than one or two pieces. A few minutes with a world coins catalog will help you decide if your ideal theme for a collection is also feasible with your budget.
About The Author
Charles Roman
Coins and Coin Collecting http://www.coinsandcoincollecting.com : your guide to getting the very best from your coin collection.

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Trains

Taking photographs of trains is relatively simple if you follow just a few rules.The type of camera used is up to the photographer, I have used cameras ranging from $20to $900 and many of the same rules apply to all. The main thing is to make sure that the sunis shining on the train from the same side as you are photographing. If the sunis on the opposite side, you will get a blacked out train with no readable logosand basically a wasted shot. Getting used to the horn and noises while you shoot picturesis just a mind of matter thing. Be extra careful in railyards and around crossings wherecars pass through. Most of the cars don’t even notice the train, so don’t expect themto watch out for you, that is your job. To get a larger than life looking shot, justsquat down and let the front of the train fill the viewer from one end to the other.Night shots can be done with lower f stops or shutter speeds. On the old cameras youcan use a tripod and the B setting as you count to 1, 2, or 3 full seconds. The B settingor a low shutter speed will either give a full nightime view of a stopped train orthe moving streak effect on a moving train. You could also get nothing, but it’s fun to try.
The final rule is patience, the minute you leave the tracks and give up on the arrivalof a train is one minute too soon.