Barcelona. the modern european city. cool tips from a travel juinkie

To date, I already visited the city of Barcelona on 2 occasion (both were 1 week stays), and I still believe that there are many attractions which are yet to be explored. I will definitely revisit soon, since I simply fell in love with the place. If you are planning to visit Barcelona (or thinking about it) here are some cool tips from a travel junkie. Highlights: Visiting the old part (Barri Gothic Area) of the city is a must-see, yet in my opinion, the best parts of Barcelona are its contributions to 20th Century architecture. One must definitely visit all monuments left by famous 20th-century architect Antonio Gaudi; Parc Guell, Casa Miro, Casa Batlo, and most of all, the famous, unfinished Sagrada Famiglia Cathedral. Other definite monuments to be seen are the Palau de la Musica, The Maritime Museum, Picasso Museum, The Olympic Complex, and for the best nightlife of all, the Olympic Village. Day Trip Suggestions: I would typically suggest a trip to Salou, where one finds the magical theme park of Port Aventura. We spent 2 nights in the resort which adjoins the park, and booked this directly via the Internet . When I tried booking via my agent it was going to cost me 15% more. Hence, simply book this yourself since its very easy to do so. Arriving to the destination, is very easy since the resort and the theme park has a station located only 100m away from it. Whilst, Port Aventura may not be as large as DisneyLand Paris in size, I personally feel that it has a certain atmosphere of adventure which the Parisian park lacks. Other day trips worth considering are a visit to the wonderful Montserrat Mountains, as well as a visit to beautiful seaside resort of Stiges. You may acquire very advantageous day trip packages which include transportation, museum entrances, and lunch at the Tourist Information Office. Obtaining Literature Besides buying a good guide book (DK has a very colorful and informative guide), I would suggest that you would log onto the Barcelona Tourist Information office website, and contact them asking for some literature. For a very small charge (probably less than 3 Euros), they will send you very useful maps and guides which will definitely help you in planning your trip.

Winning video poker hands

Video Poker combines both the luck of the draw and the skill of the player. Luck comes into play when the video poker machine randomly deals out the player’s cards. Skill on the part of the player is needed to know which cards to keep and which cards to discard. Although luck is a big factor in the game, the likelihood of winning increases based on the amount of skill the player possesses. No matter what the skill level the player has, it’s important to know what to keep and what to discard if you want to end up with a winning hand. It’s essential to know the types of winning hands that are available in video poker if the player is playing to win. The smart player knows the patterns to look for, which will make the difference between them winning big and losing it all. Here is a listing of the most common combination of video poker hands ranked from the highest possible to the lowest. Sequential Royal Flush: This is a hand which occurs when the cards fall in exact order and suit, like 10 Spades, J Spades, Q Spades, K Spades, and A Spades. Remember this is video poker, and that the Sequential Royal Flush is different from the Royal Flush. Royal Flush: This is when you get a same suit flush with the cards 10 Hearts, Q Hearts, J Hearts, A Hearts, and K Hearts in any order. As long as all the cards are there, the order is not an issue. Straight Flush: The Straight Flush occurs when all five cards are in sequence, and all five cards are of the same suit 4 Spades, 5 Spades, 6 Spades, 7 Spades, and 8 Spades. Four of a Kind: Four of a Kind is when there are four cards which all possess the same rank 5 Diamonds, 5 Spades, 5 Clubs, and 5 Hearts. Full House: The Full House is three of a kind plus a pair. Suit does not come into play with a Full House. A good example of a Full house would be 5 Diamonds, 5 Clubs, 5 Hearts, 7 Clubs, and 7 Spades. Flush: The Flush is when the player gets five cards with all having the same suit. Rank makes no difference with this hand. It’s the suit that is featured in the Flush. For an example; 2 Hearts, 4 Hearts, 5 Hearts, 7 Hearts, 10 Hearts. Straight: A player holds a Straight when all five cards held are in rank sequence. With the following hand, the player would have a Straight; 2 Hearts, 3 Clubs, 4 Spades, 5 Hearts, 6 Diamonds. Three of a Kind: When a player is dealt three cards all of which have the same rank, they have Three of a Kind. The remaining two cards do not count as anything in the hand. The suit of the cards does not matter with this hand. An example of this hand is 4 Hearts, 4 Clubs, and 4 Spades. Two Pair: Two Pair is when the player has two pairs of cards, each set of a different rank. An example of this hand is 3 Diamonds, 3 Clubs, 5 Hearts and 5 Spades. One Pair: One Pair is two cards of the same rank, regardless of the suit. An example of this hand is 7 Diamonds and 7 Hearts.

Submitting your website to directories for free

What is the one thing webmasters the world over wants for their websites? They want their websites to be visible on the net! And what better way to do this than to have their websites included in site listings and search engines. Most search engines only list websites depending on the key words or Meta tags you put on your site. But then there are sites that go further and categorize the listings that make it easy for most to find the sites they are looking for, if the site is list within the site listing or search engine. With a category listing, imagine how much easier it is to find what you want and other sites of similar categories. You could be looking for PDA (personal digital assistant) and click on the category PDA and instantly get a listing of websites that sell, review, or support personal digital assistants. Or how about when you want to have a few laughs? There are thousands upon thousands of joke and comedy sites out there but how do you find them? This is where site listings and search engines come in handy. Site listing is mostly a free service offered by many search engines. Most sites ask you to fill in a form, asks you for Meta tags for easy searching, and you will be required to wait for at least 24 hours for your site to appear in their search engine. However, there is also such a thing as a “premiere listing”. This means that the webmaster will be charged a fee (anywhere from $2 up) to have his website listed on the first page when the searcher inputs his keywords. One premiere feature is called “feature listing”. A featured site appears not only in the regular listing, but also in a special section, often at the top or the right margin of the screen. For example, you might type “spam blockers” and when you look at the listed results, you may see recipes for Spam luncheon meat in the feature boxes. This means SPAM paid for this feature listing. Oftentimes, these websites ask for a feature called a “link exchange”. As you submit your site to them for inclusion in their website, a script is provided to you for inclusion in your site. This often manifests as either a text link or a banner or button, which, upon clicking, will bring you to their website. This link exchange also helps them in monitoring the incoming traffic of your website. Some sites offer daily web statistics, while others only give them to you upon your request. Don’t just sit on your hands and hope someone finds your website. Submit the URL of your website to site listing and be seen. Key in the appropriate key words and Meta tags or categorize your website properly to increase your visibility on the net. Site listings and search engines work. Do a “web search” on anything, test their features, and be one of many who has submitted their websites for inclusion. I know I have.

5 Tips for successful bird watching

Can you name the number one spectator sport in North America? It’s not baseball, figure skating or racing. It’s bird watching. That’s right, more people are watching birds than football and hockey combined. With so many people hoping to see a bird they’ve never seen before, it’s not surprising to see a clamoring for the latest tips and tools to get the job done. Here are my top five tips for getting the most out of your birding experience. #1. Get to Where the Birds Are! This sounds obvious, but many birders spend the majority of their bird watching time and energy on poor locations. Some folk have the advantage of looking out of their windows into the back yard to observe nature’s best. The rest of us need to get moving. I would highly recommend visiting a National Wildlife Refuge. There are over 500 of them across the United States. To find one near you, visit refuges. fws. gov/ #2. Know What Species to Expect. There are approximately 900 species of birds in the United States and recognizing each of them is nearly impossible. So when you visit an area, do a little research first. You may find that perhaps only a few species actually inhabit that particular area. With a little preparation, you will be able to more readily identify bird species from each other. Keep a list of successfully viewed species – we’ll call this tip number two and a half. #3. Get a Great Pair of Binoculars. Spending time and money to get to the right place can be totally wasted when your binoculars are inadequate. If you have an inexpensive pair of binoculars you are not getting the most out of your viewing. Today’s technologies come at a price and they provide crucial benefits in wildlife viewing. For instance, image stabilization will keep your view from shaking-very important when watching from a long distance. Other cool features include anti-fogging, low-light viewing and wide-view characteristics. Additionally, binoculars with built-in digital cameras enable you to identify birds once you get home. These benefits will definitely enhance your bird watching. A great pair of binoculars will turn a mediocre experience into a great one. You can count on it! #4. Practice Before You Go. A key to viewing wildlife, and especially birds, is to have the ability to very quickly put your binoculars on target. Many people have difficulty finding a full moon in a pair of binoculars-but alas-learning to focus on a bird in a bush or track a bird in flight is easy for someone who has practiced prior to their outing. Try this before you go; lower your binoculars to your side and very quickly raise them to find and follow a jet airliner across the sky. After only a few attempts, you’ll get good at quickly acquiring your target. Quite often, birds are visible for only a few seconds, practice to become proficient. #5. Take Someone with You. Life is always better when shared. Not only do you get to spend time out of doors with someone you like, but they might alert you to the “Number One Sight of the Day.” Share your birding experiences with your friends and family. Pass the birding excitement to a child. The best part about wildlife viewing is that you the viewer, control almost every aspect of the experience. The more you are prepared, the more rewarding your time in our backcountry will be. Use this information and you’ll Get It Right The First Time. Get Outdoors!

Make perfect copies of all your disks

DVD and CD disks became a part of our lifestyle, most of us have a significant collection of movies, audio CDs, photos, games, office documents and other disks. And it's very often that you need to make a copy of that disks, for backup purposes or simply to make a couple of copies of your wedding video for your friends. There are many programs that can copy your DVD movies, but very few of those which can copy all your disks, both CD and DVD. Here we'll test a program called Clone My DVD, which claims copying any kind of DVD and CD disks. "Clone My DVD - a universal DVD and CD copier" is what we see on product's website, and we'd like to check is it really can copy any kind of disk? Installation takes several seconds, the program is designed as a classic step-by-step wizard, it looks slick and clear. Choose disk to copy, it's a DVD movie now, and press "Next" button to go further. We've got two DVD drives on our test computer so the program asks do we want to copy directly from drive to drive? Yes we do! Press "Next" again and it started to copy. By default it makes one copy, but you can set number of copies as you like. Come again, now with an audio CD. Clone My DVD does the job perfectly, we've got exactly the same CD, no quality loss at all! We did the same with a couple of game CDs, CD with photos, MP3 music DVD, another DVD movie, and one more DVD movie. All attempts were successfull, no hassles. Then we tested how it works with a single CD/DVD drive. First it copies from disk to computer, then asks to insert a blank disk and writes a copy. It takes additional time, but the result is also perfect. What we also noticed is Clone My DVD doesn't reduce the quality of DVD movies and audio CDs, which is good. In fact, you get a true copy, exactly the same as original. Clone My DVD is really able to copy any CDs and DVDs, and it doesn't matter what disk is in your drive, you get a proper copy with Clone My DVD anyway. We succesfully copied over ten disks, both CD and DVD, which contained video, MP3 music, CD audio tracks, photos, documents, free software and other stuff. It successfully recognizes various CDR/RW, DVD+/-R/RW disks and double-layer DVD movies. There is only one feature missed in Clone My DVD. Regrettably it cannot encode 9Gb double-layer DVD to the 4.7Gb single layer, so those who're looking for this feature will be frustrated. But anyway Clone My DVD is still one of the best copying software we ever seen. Free trial version allows you to copy up to three whole disks, the only limitation is copying protected DVD movies, which is available only in full version. Free download from clonemydvdmovies/clonemydvd11.exe Conclusion Clone My DVD is awesome, it can make a copy of all DVD and CD disks, even those are region-protected. You just insert a disk, press couple of buttons and get a carbon copy. It can copy to blank disk, make multiple copies if you want, and it allows to copy directly from drive to drive. All these functions are wrapped into a very clear and simple nterface, not overloaded with too many buttons and menus. If you're looking for all-in-one disk copier try Clone My DVD, which is like a swiss knife - easy to handle and universal at the same time. You can find more information on Clone My DVD and download free trial version at clonemydvdmovies Get full version without limitations at clonemydvdmovies/Order

Golf workouts can transform your game

I’m sure by now you’ve heard most of the professional players; both men and women actively participate in golf workouts. It’s no secret. But why then do most amateur golfers ignore this? Is it because it seems like work? Or, does the thought of actually breaking a sweat get you tired already? Either way…the proof is in the bag. The number one player in the world, Vijay Singh, does his golf workouts all the way through Sunday of each tournament. Does it look like it’s hurting his game? I don’t think so. Back in 1997, a young, very athletic golfer came on the professional scene and blew everyone away. I think you know who I’m talking about. Tiger took golf to another level. A real eye-opener for the veteran players who were hitting the 19th hole after every round…and the last thought on their mind was “exercise”. What a wake-up call to be totally dominated by a player who was only 20 years old at the time. How about the year Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 and totally dominated the LPGA? Do you know what she attributes it to? Golf workouts! She hired a trainer and got serious about her fitness. And look what happened? She hasn’t looked back since. She just recently came out with an instruction book and devoted a chapter to golf workouts. To my recollection, that’s the first women’s instruction book to include golf workouts. Working out to playing better golf isn’t just for the guys; Annika has proved that. Now more LPGA players are working out to try and catch her, just like the guys did with Tiger. How about the senior tour? Now players are realizing they can still make good money, even after they’ve turned 50 and can’t really compete with the young guys anymore. With the money at stake, they too are all working out. This group of players both amateur and pro is the biggest demographic that needs it the most. With age comes a decline in both flexibility and strength. When the body declines, the swing goes right along with it. The result is a big loss in yardage, more mishits, and ballooning scores. The end result…frustration! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played with and received phone calls from older golfers who are just about ready to quit the game. They are SO frustrated at this rapid decline, that golf’s not fun anymore. But there is hope. The answer? Get your body moving just a little better. How? By participating in golf workouts that focus on golf-specific strength AND flexibility. It’s amazing to see golfers in this age bracket dramatically improve their driving distance, accuracy and scores. You don’t have to accept that with age, your body declines. No way! You’ve got to fight it all the way! I’m dead serious. The ones who do, are the ones who are enjoying the game again and taking all the money in their foursome. What is a golf workout anyways? Is there such a thing? You bet there is. The golf swing is an awkward movement that puts a tremendous amount of stress on the body. To prevent injury and improve swing speed and distance requires your body to be both strong and flexible specific to the swing. I could spend dozens of pages describing what this entails, but for the sake of this concise article, let’s keep it simple. The golf swing is a rotational movement, with your body in golf posture. Slight flex of the knees and a bending forward at the hips. Since the golf swing is primarily rotational, wouldn’t it make sense to focus on rotational strength and flexibility? That is improving your turning ability related to range of motion and speed. So anything involving twisting with resistance such as a medicine ball, a dumbbell, or even a weighted club would work. You need to have a resistance to take your body beyond where it normally goes. For instance, if you took a club and placed it behind your neck, got in your golf posture and rotated back and forth; do you think that by itself would improve your range of motion or power? No, you need to add resistance to accomplish this. Take a weighted club and make golf swings. Now you’ll be making a bigger turn AND improving your power. Same thing with a medicine ball. Make turns back and through holding a 4 to 6 pound ball and you’ll see a BIG improvement. In fact, most of your abdominal work should be rotational. Doing straight crunches won’t improve your driving distance. Doing rotational movements with added weight will. This is where I could go on and on, but I won’t overload you. I hope I’ve convinced you to take a real serious look at what all the other successful professional players are doing to stay at the top of their game. Doing golf workouts can and will dramatically change your game forever. Now get out there and get it started. No procrastinating. Do it right now!

Nurse assistant training

Nurse Assistant Training Nurse Assistants play a vital role in our healthcare facilities. They provide patients with assistance in regard to their basic needs including bathing, feeding, and dressing them. The level of assistance depends on the individual needs of each patient. They also are an invaluable resource for the Nursing staff. Becoming a Nurse Assistant requires completion of a certificate program. Such programs are available at several medical facilities and college campuses. The programs can be completed in as little as four weeks. Others run as long as twelve weeks. It depends on the curriculum, the requirements of the state the program is taking place in, and how many hours per day the course is conducted. All Nurse Assistance courses will teach you the basic fundamentals of taking care of those under your care in a safe and professional manner. Your work will be supervised by licensed Nurses both during your training and regular employment. The training program will teach you to care for both the physical and psychological needs of each patient. Since you must successfully pass the Certified Nursing Assistant exam, the course will help you prepare for the information on that exam. During the Nurse Assistant course, you will be involved in learning textbook materials as well as hands on training. The textbook material cover all the terminology and information you need to lay a solid foundation to build on. This information will also cover items that are likely to be found on the Certified Nursing Assistant exam. You will also learn ways to improve your communication skillsmunication is key to being a great Nurse Assistant. You will need to be effective at communicating with patients, their family, and the other medical staff. The hands on portion of the training will give you the opportunity to practice the concepts you are learning in the classroom. Most training programs have special medical maniquins that you work with. You will practice proper bathing and lifting on them. You may also practice taking their vital signs as some are designed for that purpose. The majority of Nurse Assistant programs work with in conjunction with the medical facilities in the area. This often means a large portion of your hands on training will take place as such a facility. This portion of the curriculum is called clinicals. During this process, you will tend to real patients with the close supervision of licensed medical staff. You will begin applying your knowledge in this setting. Clinicals can be intimidating to some students. However, they are designed to give you the best opportunity to fully understand and learn your role as a Nurse Assistant. Generally, these clinicals are conducted with a very small group of students. Your class will be broke up into groups of at least two but no more than six. They take place in the actual medical facility. It is important to understand that you will not be paid for the work you do during these clinical hours of training. During clinicals, the Nursing staff is fully aware of your inexperience. They will attempt to explain what is taking place as it happens to improve your ability to look for key factors in a medical setting. It is very important that if you do not fully understand something, that you discuss it with those training you. They are there for that purpose during the training portions of the Nurse Assistant program. Completing your Nurse Assistant training at a medical facility not only gives you hands on experience, it may lead to a job offer at the end of your training program. Many medical facilities that host the clinical training are watching out for students who show potential. They are looking for punctuality, attendance, attention to detail, a willingness to learn, and a positive attitude. On advantage of accepting a job offer at the facility you completed your clinical training at is that you will know their policies and procedures. It is important to keep in mind that every facility has variations of how you were training. The basics will be the same, but you will need to be willing to adjust to what is expected at the particular facility you accept employment with. Keeping that in mind, you will want to ask questions of that nature during job interviews if a complete job description is not given to you. Word Count 730