Saturday, April 30, 2011

How to Build Muscle: The Definitive Guide to Building Muscle

The biggest muscle building mistake you can make is doing routines from muscle magazines. Most of those guys don’t train naturally, are genetically gifted and never started training that way. Doing their routines won’t make you build muscle fast.
The average person needs a different approach. One that builds muscle fast and prevents physical & mental overtraining from doing too much, too soon. Here’s how to build muscle: the definitive guide to building muscle.

1. Get Stronger
. More strength is more muscle. Get into strength training. I recommend weight training because it allows you to start light and add weight endlessly. Body-weight exercises work too. Start with an empty bar. Learn proper technique. Add weight each workout to keep pushing your body out of comfort zone.

2. Use Free Weights.
You can lift the heaviest weights using barbells. More weight is more stress, thus more muscle. Dumbbells are great for assistance exercises, but not for your main lifts. Stay away from machines.
  • Safe. Machines force you into fixed, unnatural movement patterns which can cause injuries. Free weights replicate natural motions.
  • Efficient. Free weights force you to control and balance the weight. This builds more muscle than machines, which balance the weight for you.
  • Functional. Strength built on machines doesn’t transfer to free weights or real life. No machine balances the weight for you in real life.
  • Versatile. You can do hundreds of exercises with just 1 barbell. Saves a lot of money and space, especially if you want to build a home gym.

3. Do Compound Exercises.
Isolation exercises are ok once you’ve built base strength & muscle mass. But if you’re starting to build muscle, exercises that hit several muscles at the same time are better.

4. Train Your Legs.
Squats work your whole body, they’re the most important exercise. You’ll look totally different once you can Squat 300lbs. That’s a free weight Squat with hips coming lower than knees.
All your muscles tense when doing Squats & Deadlifts. They work your body as 1 piece and let you lift heavy weights. Don’t lose time with Biceps Curls. When you can Squat & Deadlift heavy weights, you’ll have bigger arms.

5. Do Full Body Workouts
. Don’t do those muscle magazine workouts. Body part splits with isolation exercises is fine once you’ve built a foundation. That’s once you can Squat 300lbs.
You can’t Squat that much or never did Squats? Check StrongLifts 5×5. It takes 3 workouts per week of about 1hour each and includes compound exercises like Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Barbell Rows, Overhead Press, Pull-ups, Dips, etc.

6 Get Recovery
. Pro athletes workout 5-6 times per week. But they didn’t start that way. They added workouts as they got stronger & bigger. You’ll overtrain if you jump into their routines. As a beginner you need more recovery.
  • Rest. Muscles grow when you rest, not when you workout. Start with 3 full body workouts per week and focus on intensity, not gym time.
  • Sleep. Growth hormone releases when you sleep, building muscle. Aim for 8 hours sleep. Nap post workout if your lifestyle allows.
  • Drink Water. Avoids dehydration and helps muscle recovery. Drink 2 cups water with each meal, and sip water during your workout.
  • Eat. “Eat like a horse. Sleep like a baby. Grow like a weed”. Your training is useless if you don’t eat enough calories for recovery.

7. Eat Whole Foods.
You’ll achieve a lower body fat, so the muscles you’ve built show better. And the vitamin & mineral content helps recovery. Stop eating food coming from a box. Eat whole foods 90% of the time. Check my StrongLifts Diet.
  • Proteins. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, …
  • Carbs. Brown rice, oats, whole grain pasta, quinoa, …
  • Veggies. Spinach, broccoli, tomato, salad, carrot, …
  • Fruits. Banana, orange, apple, pineapple, peers, …
  • Fats. Olive oil, fish oil, real butter, nuts, flax seeds, …

8. Eat More.
Training is more important than diet for muscle building. But you do need to give your body the food it needs for optimal recovery. Most guys don’t eat enough, you got to eat more to build muscle.
  • Eat Breakfast. Get calories from the first hour. Read how to build the habit of eating breakfast. Try these 7 breakfast recipes.
  • Eat Post Workout. Get proteins and carbs post workout to help muscle recovery and replenish your energy stores.
  • Eat Every 3 Hours. 6 meals/day. Gives your muscles a steady intake of protein, speeds up muscle repair & recovery, boosts your metabolism.
  • Eat BW in lbs x 18kcal. Track your daily calorie intake using FitDay. You need at least your body-weight in lbs x 18kcal to maintain weight.

9. Gain Weight.
You’ll never look muscular weighing 140lbs at 6″. No matter how much training you do. Check the guide on how to gain weight for skinny guys. Here’s the most important part.
  • Eat Calorie Dense Foods. 100g raw spinach is 25kcals. But 100g raw rice is 380kcals. Eat pasta, oats, olive oil, mixed nuts, etc.
  • Get Stronger. Increase your Squat to at least 300lbs. Muscle size is directly related with strength gains. You got to get stronger to build muscle.
  • Drink Whole Milk. If you don’t bother gaining some fat, drink 1 gallon whole milk daily on top of your current food intake. You can gain 25lbs in 1 month if you combine this with 3 weekly Squat sessions.

10. Get Protein.
Proteins have the highest thermic effect. You need 1g protein per pound of body-weight daily to build & maintain muscle. That’s 160g of daily protein if you weigh 160lbs/72kg. Eat whole proteins with each meal.
  • Red Meat. Ground round, steaks, deer, buffalo, …
  • Poultry. Chicken breast, whole chicken, turkey, duck, …
  • Fish. Tuna, salmon, sardines, mackerel, …
  • Eggs. Eat the yolk, it’s full of vitamins.
  • Dairy. Milk, cottage cheese, quark cheese, yogurt, whey, …
If you weigh 160lbs: 1 can of tuna at lunch, 300g quark as snack, 300g meat at dinner and 500ml milk through the day gets you 160g protein. Read also how to get your daily protein when you’re a vegeterian/vegan.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Myths about the female brain


In her book, “Delusions of Gender” writer Cordelia Fine questions the theory that women are “naturally and cerebrally” made for housework and child rearing. One of the biggest and antifeminist myths that today still lay on the foundations of our culture.
myths <b>female</b> brain
Here you have some of the most interesting Fine’s arguments.

1.Myth: Women are good at “multi-tasking”.

This is perhaps one of the most popular myths about the functioning and powers of the female brain and it is that women are better at doing different things at once, compared with men. Therefore, one of the topics on women is that they can talk on the phone, make lasagna and watch their child at a time. For many, a clear evidence that women are made to deal with housework, raising children, and, in turn, be the perfect wife. According to Fine, however, scientific studies which see this idea, from his perspective, were not valid for small sample size.

2. Myth: Women like to empathize.

People have always spoken about emotional intelligence of women and their ability to empathize with others. However, recent studies show that men have the same power to take the place of another person, just like women. False!

3. Myth: women are bad at math.

It is one of the most persistent legends, which allegedly can explain why there are so few women working in the field of exact sciences. However, Fine found an interesting investigation, which was evidence that boys are not necessarily better at calculating, adding and subtracting, but they classified always their math skills better than women. Interesting, isn’t it?

Why Use Linux?

The other day I got into a somewhat heated discussion about why Linux is a viable alternative desktop OS. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to move the other side past the rhetoric and myths that seem to surround Linux. It is because of this discussion that I am writing this…as a way to give accurate information. Let’s start by looking at some of the most common myths.

Myth 1: “Linux is hard to install”

This could not be further from the truth. Many Linux distributions are as easy, if not easier. to install as Windows. Ubuntu, Linux Mint and PCLinuxOS are but three of the most popular. The install is nothing more than a few mouse clicks and basic options like timezone, language and name. All these are explained well and you need to provide the same information when installing ANY operating system.

Linux Penguin

Myth 2: “Linux does not recognize my hardware”

Like all Operating Systems, Linux requires “drivers” in order to use a piece of hardware like a sound card or modem, etc. Also like other OSs, if your system is cutting edge with the latest and greatest, there may be challenges at first. This doesn’t happen with Microsoft Windows? A year after it’s release, Windows VISTA is still suffering from poor driver support! The fact is, if your system is 6 months old, hardware support is usually a non-issue.

Myth 3: “Linux is too complicated to use”

In what way? It has a graphical interface with a mouse and windows. It has an auto-updater to keep things current. It has software add/remove capabilities that allow you to install programs with a couple mouse clicks. It even has many apps found in Windows and Mac OS X like Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, Audacity, etc. It’s as easy as Windows…just different. Let’s put it this way, if all you ever knew was Linux and you decided to try Windows for the first time, I’m sure you would find Windows complicated and hard to use too.

Myth 4: “There are no applications available”

One of the points thrown at me during my discussion went something like, “Walk into a computer store and try to find a single Linux app on the shelf…you won’t find any”. Until now I’m not sure what that had to do with anything. There are many thousands of applications available, for free, and are readily available for download. Many Linux distros even come with a point and click interface to download and install these apps without effort. To say there are no applications available is not only a myth but a flat out lie.

Some reasons to use Linux

There are many more “myths” hanging over Linux, but those were some of the more common ones. Let’s now look at a few reasons why one should consider Linux.

Reason 1: Security

Viruses are less of a threat on Linux. The very way a Linux system is designed makes it very difficult for a virus to function as it does in Windows. This also applies to spyware, malware, etc. The fact that almost no viruses are written for Linux also adds a nicer sense of warmth. Wouldn’t be nice to read the almost endless stream of security holes in Windows and know it does not apply to you?

Reason 2: Updatability

Linux is in a constant state of development and improvement by professional and semi-professional developers who donate their time and skills to the various projects. In addition, the majority of the system and available applications are Open source, so if you wish and you had the ability, you could add any feature you needed. Linux also has the ability to expand the life of many systems as it’s reduced overhead and need for system resources means that it will run great on older machines.

Reason 3: Support

Yes, support. As hard as it is to accept, you can easily get support when you do run into difficulties. In addition to the plethora of online forms, both independant and those provided by the distro supplier, there are also more and more 3rd party service providers that offer service contracts for Linux systems. Good to have in a corporate/business environment. There is also support offered by more and more traditional Technology names such as Dell, IBM, Novell, Sun and others. And finally, for support a little closer to home, most major cities have Linux User Groups that can and do offer help and advice. Help and Support IS available and does not usually mean spending hours on hold to speak to someone in a call center on the other side of the planet.

Reason 4: Self-improvement

Personally, this is one of the most important reasons why I switched. Linux gave me the chance to learn new skills, gain deeper insights into how computers work and provided an excellent platform to develop on. Some people may be satisfied with going through life with blinders on and living the “status-quo”. For those that enjoy the how/what/why of life, Linux is an excellent choice.

Reason 5: Cost

Most people would put this at the top of the list. For me, cost is one of the least important reasons to switch to Linux. However, the cost advantage of Linux is huge. In a nutshell, you get the complete OS, thousands upon thousands of applications AND support for the grand total price of….$0! We’re not talking a watered down, feature deprived OS either…we’re talking a full-blown, complete, enterprise ready OS…for free. “But my time is worth something and the extra effort needed with Linux cost me money.”, alright…and how much does it cost you when Windows bluescreens in the middle of editing a large report that hasn’t been saved? Or how about when a virus or spyware prevents you from even using your system…probably costs you a lot.
So you see, you are going to hear a lot about why you should not use Linux, and they are going to give you many reasons why you shouldn’t…just very few good reasons.
If you are interested in trying Linux, I would recommend Ubuntu, Linux Mint or PCLinuxOS. Download their LiveCDs. Booting to a LiveCD allows you to try and use a complete Linux environment without making any changes to your hard drive. Once down, just reboot and go back into windows as normal.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Microsoft Takes Legal Action Against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec for Patent Infringement by Android Devices

REDMOND, Wash. — March 21, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today filed legal actions in the International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington against Barnes & Noble, Inc. and its device manufacturers, Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. and Inventec Corporation, for patent infringement by their Android-based e-reader and tablet devices that are marketed under the Barnes & Noble brand.
“The Android platform infringes a number of Microsoft’s patents, and companies manufacturing and shipping Android devices must respect our intellectual property rights. To facilitate that we have established an industry-wide patent licensing program for Android device manufacturers,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property & Licensing. “HTC, a market leader in Android smartphones, has taken a license under this program. We have tried for over a year to reach licensing agreements with Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec. Their refusals to take licenses leave us no choice but to bring legal action to defend our innovations and fulfill our responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year to bring great software products and services to market,” he added.
The patents at issue cover a range of functionality embodied in Android devices that are essential to the user experience, including: natural ways of interacting with devices by tabbing through various screens to find the information they need; surfing the Web more quickly, and interacting with documents and e-books.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Arabic Dictionary For Linux

- open Applications Menu -> Accessories OR Office -> Dictionary.
- the Dictionary application is opened. now click edit menu and select Preferences.
- in the source tab click Add button.
- A new window opened, in the Description field write: Arabic Dictionary. or whatever you want to name it.
- let Transport select box as Transport.
- Hostname : dict.arabeyes.org
- Port: 2628
now enjoy using the desktop dictionary.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Android devices can be managed remotely with new app


Rsupport this week launched a new application that will let IT departments remotely support and manage their users' Android-based devices.
The RemoteCall application can come preloaded onto Android phones or it can be downloaded from the Android Market. Once it has been installed, IT departments can use their desktop computers to remotely view the users' Android home screens in real time and to remotely control the devices.

Android, Windows Phone will top smartphone OS sales in 2015, Gartner says

Android will dominate global smartphone operating system sales over the next four years, while Windows Phone-based Nokia devices will displace other platforms to surge to second place in 2015, Gartner said in a forecast issued Thursday.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

How to Remove Facebook Advertisements


This Greasemonkey script – Facebook: Cleaner removes many of the annoying ads and updates that unavoidably appear on your Facebook pages.
ads 20 Facebook Tips/Tricks You Might Not Know

How to Create a Photo Collage Using Pictures of Your Facebook Friends

Click on Friends tab. Proceed to More tab. From "Choose an option" dropdown, choose any of the dashes "" . Your Facebook friends collage is right on your computer screen.
photo collage 20 Facebook Tips/Tricks You Might Not Know

Hoc Wireless Network Connection Between Two Computers In Windows 7/Vista

Do you want to create a quick network connection between two computers or laptops to share some files? Or maybe you want to share an internet connection? Windows 7 and Vista have a build-in feature to create a quick ad hoc wireless network connection, this means you can connect directly with another computer or laptop without the need of a router.

To begin, click Start and select Network.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Facebook Profile Pic

Make Your New 'Windowed Profile Pic'

see some examples below

Profile Pic Maker Profile Pic Maker Profile Pic Maker
click to enlarge examples

Making It Is Easy and Free.

  • 1. First, pick your new profile pic.
  • 2. Second, just use our Make page to create everything you need.
  • 3. Last, follow our simple directions to post it on Facebook!

They will never spam your Facebook or put watermarks on your photos

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Linux Advantages

  1. Low cost: You don’t need to spend time and money to obtain licenses since Linux and much of its software come with the GNU General Public License. You can start to work immediately without worrying that your software may stop working anytime because the free trial version expires. Additionally, there are large repositories from which you can freely download high quality software for almost any task you can think of.
  2. Stability: Linux doesn’t need to be rebooted periodically to maintain performance levels. It doesn’t freeze up or slow down over time due to memory leaks and such. Continuous up-times of hundreds of days (up to a year or more) are not uncommon.
  3. Performance: Linux provides persistent high performance on workstations and on networks. It can handle unusually large numbers of users simultaneously, and can make old computers sufficiently responsive to be useful again.
  4. Network friendliness: Linux was developed by a group of programmers over the Internet and has therefore strong support for network functionality; client and server systems can be easily set up on any computer running Linux. It can perform tasks such as network backups faster and more reliably than alternative systems.
  5. Flexibility: Linux can be used for high performance server applications, desktop applications, and embedded systems. You can save disk space by only installing the components needed for a particular use. You can restrict the use of specific computers by installing for example only selected office applications instead of the whole suite.
  6. Compatibility: It runs all common Unix software packages and can process all common file formats.
  7. Choice: The large number of Linux distributions gives you a choice. Each distribution is developed and supported by a different organization. You can pick the one you like best; the core functionalities are the same; most software runs on most distributions.
  8. Fast and easy installation: Most Linux distributions come with user-friendly installation and setup programs. Popular Linux distributions come with tools that make installation of additional software very user friendly as well.
  9. Full use of hard disk: Linux continues work well even when the hard disk is almost full.
  10. Multitasking: Linux is designed to do many things at the same time; e.g., a large printing job in the background won’t slow down your other work.
  11. Security: Linux is one of the most secure operating systems. “Walls” and flexible file access permission systems prevent access by unwanted visitors or viruses. Linux users have to option to select and safely download software, free of charge, from online repositories containing thousands of high quality packages. No purchase transactions requiring credit card numbers or other sensitive personal information are necessary.
  12. Open Source: If you develop software that requires knowledge or modification of the operating system code, Linux’s source code is at your fingertips. Most Linux applications are Open Source as well.