Great Abs defining workout

Pilates, yoga, fitball and gyrotonics are the key exercises to do to develop strong core muscles.

“Core exercises are essential for post-natal women as they suffer from poor truncal stability and weak pelvises. The core exercises mentioned here emphasize the core muscles of the body so as to provide a stable linkage between the upper and lower limbs and truncal stability,” notes Dr Tan Jee Lim, consultant orthopaedic sports surgeon.

Think of your body as a tall structure. If the foundation is not strong, the building will be structurally unsound. Core muscles are the all-important foundation. Located deep within your torso, these muscles stabilise the spine, pelvis and shoulders and create a solid base of support, enabling you to generate powerful movements.

Pilates
“Pilates is known for its ability to redefine body shapes. It works so deep that you develop a natural corset, allowing you to look taller and more svelte.” Pearlin Siow, Pilates instructor

Two exercises to do:
1. Roll ups- Lie with legs hip distance apart and bring arms up. Inhale and exhale as you “peel” your back off the floor.- Stretch on top. Inhale and exhale as you lower your back down to the floor. Remember to draw your navel against your spine all the way down. Do eight reps.

2. Criss-cross- Bring knees up to 90 degrees and lock fingers behind head. Bring head and shoulder off the floor.- Inhale and exhale as you twist and point left elbow to right knee and vice versa. Remember to stretch opposite leg out long and keep lower back on the floor. Do six reps.

Yoga
“The slow, focused movements in yoga require a strong mid-section to maintain the poses.” Adeline Tien, yoga instructor

1. Plank pose- Kneel and place hands directly under shoulders and knees under hips. Inhale and exhale as you lift knees from the floor, tucking toes under and pressing heels back. Keep torso parallel to the floor and maintain a straight line. Draw your lower abdomen into the spine to engage the core muscles and protect your lower back. Stay for 30 seconds to one minute.

2. Full boat pose- Sit on floor with knees bent, feet flat and hip distance apart. Place hands behind knees from the outside.- Inhale and exhale as you lift your feet off the floor. Stretch your arms alongside the legs, parallel to the floor. Try to keep the lower belly relatively flat. Lift through the chest and breathe easily. Stay in the pose 10 to 20 seconds. Gradually increase the time to one minute.

Fitball
“Fitball not only gives you defined abs, it also enhances your posture and reduces possible spine injuries.” Sebastain Varguese, fitball instructor

1. Squat- Place fitball on lower back against a wall. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.- Inhale and exhale as you bend your legs till they are 90 degrees on the side. Maintain knees behind feet. Inhale and exhale as you slowly roll yourself up to a standing position. Do six sets.

2. Supine lumbar tilt- Lie down and place feet on fitball. Contract abs to keep torso light.- Inhale and exhale as you lift your torso off the floor. Keep arms relaxed and hold for 10 counts, breathing slowly. Do five sets.

Gyrotonics
“Gyrotonic develops strong, lean muscles and greatly improves the mobility of the joints. The movement of gyrotonic is generally circular. It starts from the core and involves the whole body.” Ivana Daniell, gyrotonic instructor

1. Side bend- Sit on a chair with feet hip distance apart, keep a lengthened spine and arms relaxed on the side.- Inhale and exhale as you stretch to the right. Inhale to come back to starting position and repeat for left side. Hold tummy tight as you do the gyrotonic stretches. Do six sets.

2. Twist- Sit on a chair with feet hip distance apart and keep a lengthened spine. Place hands lightly on knees.- Inhale and exhale as you slowly twist your body to the right. Inhale to come back to starting position and repeat for left side. Do six sets.

Bush whacked!

An incident in Baghdad when President George Bush gave a visit a few days ago gave a new meaning to be "shooed away."

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush in a supreme insult has suddenly become the talk of Iraq. “This is a farewell kiss! you dog! ” "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." he yelled in Arabic. The crowd descended on al-Zeidi, who works for Al-Baghdadiya television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.

President George W. Bush ducked a pair of shoes hurled at his head — one shoe after the other — in the middle of a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. When U.S. Marines toppled Saddam Hussein's statue on Firdos Square in 2003, the assembled crowd whacked it with their shoes.

When Bush met with reporters later aboard Air Force One, he had a joke prepared: "I didn't know what the guy said but I saw his `sole.'" Later, he said: "I'm going to be thinking of shoe jokes for a long time. I haven't heard any good ones yet."

Bush got some pretty good reflexes to ducked at the right moment twice.

The Dream Match turns into nightmare for De La Hoya

So this is it. This is how it ends for Oscar De La Hoya. An eight-round beating at the hands of a man who to the naked eye looks to be half his size.

Oscar's wife watches her husband getting beat up on the 7th round and her face says it all.

Filipino ring hero Manny Pacquiao continued to validate his status as the world's top pound-for-pound boxer when he defied the odds in knocking out boxing icon Oscar "Golden Boy" De La Hoya in their welterweight Dream Match at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

There was no knockdown but a relentless Pacquiao gave De La Hoya all he could handle, before the "Golden Boy" called it quits at the end of the eighth round, prompting referee Tony Weeks to declare the Filipino the winner by technical knockout.

In facing boxing's acknowledged icon, Pacquiao had to move up two weight divisions -- from lightweight to welterweight. He gave up four inches in height and six inches in reach, massive numbers for even the most skilled boxer to overcome.

We believed De La Hoya's rhetoric. All of it.

We believed him when he said dropping back to welterweight actually improved his speed. It didn't. De La Hoya fought like a man with weights inside his eight-ounce Reyes gloves. He was sluggish. He couldn't put together combinations. Freddie Roach was right: De La Hoya can no longer pull the trigger.

Roach's game plan was flawless. Manny Pacquiao's stick-and-move strategy in the early rounds befuddled De La Hoya. Pacquiao would come in with one or two-punch combinations then deftly sidestep any De La Hoya flurries. As the fight wore on-and as De La Hoya began to fatigue-Pacquaio rained blows on him, fearlessly. There was no power advantage. If anything, it was Pacquiao that proved to be the more potent puncher.

We believed De La Hoya when he told us he felt in "the best shape of my life." Best shape? By round three the Golden Boy looked gassed. Despite a four-inch height advantage, De La Hoya was the one backing up and fighting defensively. When Pacquiao charged, De La Hoya backed off as the Pac-Man used Oscar's left eye for target practice. Punch after punch slipped through the Golden Boy's defenses, smoothly, as though they were on a rope running towards his face.

In the days and weeks before the fight De La Hoya insisted to anyone carrying a notebook that he would press on after this fight. He can't. There's nowhere for him to go. The ease with which Pacquiao's punches penetrated De La Hoya's defense must have had the top welterweights like Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto and Paul Williams licking their chops, salivating over a potentially huge payday against a clearly inferior opponent.

No, Oscar's next move is retirement. It's sad that it had to end like this. It's sad that many will remember De La Hoya for this loss or the one to Floyd Mayweather last year instead of his epic victories against Ike Quartey and Julio Cesar Chavez. That De La Hoya was truly great; this one is something else entirely.

He has to retire. Sure, De La Hoya could rehabilitate himself against a Carlos Quintana or Zab Judah. But to what end? Time is not on the 35-year old De La Hoya's side. In his heyday, De La Hoya's two best attributes were his speed and his power. The speed is gone and the power, what's left of it, anyway, isn't far behind.

He doesn't need this. He doesn't need any further humiliations. He has become a one-man promotional juggernaut, with Golden Boy Promotions quickly becoming the dominant company in the sport. Fighters will still flock to him. That side of his star power will never fade

Internet fax and paperless office

Internet fax uses the internet to receive and send faxes.

Internet faxing (or "online faxing") is a general term which refers to sending a document facsimile using the Internet, rather than using only phone networks (traditional faxing).

Depending on the specific method/implementation (see below), advantages of using the internet can include

1. No extra telephone line required for the fax
2. Paperless communication, integrated with email
3. Send and receive multiple faxes simultaneously
4. Reduction in phone costs

Note that depending on which method is used, suitable equipment and/or the use of a gateway is required.

Internet Fax achieves a dramatic reduction in communication costs especially when long faxes are frequently exchanged with overseas or distant offices. Since there is no telephone connection charge when sending a fax over the Internet, the cost of sending faxes is covered entirely by the fixed line Internet connection fee. The recipient machine must also be compatible with Internet Fax.

Hardcopy is converted to TIFF or PDF data and attached to an e-mail in MIME format. Then, taking advantage of a connection to the office LAN, data is sent via TCP/IP directly to any Internet Fax on the intranet or Internet. Because they make use of TCP/IP, Internet Faxes do not incur long-distance transmission costs and reception is verifiable.

On a business side, it may not be entirely possible to run a completely paperless office. After all, sometimes it’s necessary to generate hard copies; many of your customers will want a hard copy for their own records. But you can make every exerted effort to “go paperless” by reviewing ways your company generates paper copies of documents you don’t really need to print out, when such documents can be stored digitally. And eliminating the hoards of paper waste generated by traditional faxing methods, and replacing such inefficient practices with a digital answer just makes good sense not to mention mother earth will like it.

The Internet has enabled development of several other methods of sending and receiving a fax.

The more common method is an extension of computer-based faxing, and involves using a fax server/gateway to the Internet to convert between faxes and emails. It is often referred to as "fax to mail" or "mail to fax". This technology is more and more replacing the traditional fax machine because it offers the advantage of dispensing with the machine as well as the additional telephone line.

Reception:
Fax machine → Phone line → Fax gateway → email message (over Internet) → computer email account

A fax is sent via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) on the fax server, which receives the fax and converts it into PDF or TIFF format, according to the instructions of the user. The fax is then transmitted to the Web server which posts it in the Web interface on the account of the subscriber, who is alerted of the reception by an email containing the fax as an attached file and sometimes by a message on their mobile phone.

Sending:
Computer → Internet → Fax gateway → Phone line → Fax machine
From his/her computer, in the supplier Web site, the user chooses the document s/he wants to send and the fax number of the recipient. When sending, the document is usually converted to PDF format and sent by the Web server to the fax server, which then transmits it to the recipient fax machine via the Standard Telephone Network. Then the user receives a confirmation that the sending was carried out, in his/her web interface and/or by email.
An Internet fax service allows one to send faxes from a computer via an Internet connection, thanks to a Web interface usually available on the supplier's Web site.

This technology has many advantages:

No fax machine → no maintenance, no paper, toner expenditure, possible repairs, etc.
Mobility → All actions are done on the Web interface; the service is thus available from any computer connected to Internet, everywhere in the world.
Confidentiality → The faxes are received directly on the account of the user; he is the only one who can access it. The received faxes are then less likely to be lost or read by the wrong people.
No installation of software or hardware → All actions are done on the Web interface of the supplier, on the account of the user.
No telephone subscription for an additional line dedicated to the fax.

Many faxes can be sent or received simultaneously, and faxes can be received while the computer is switched off.

Early email to fax services such as The Phone Company and Digital Chicken were developed in the mid-1990s. Now there are dozens and dozens of companies that offers internet faxing or fax to email services. Onesuite.com which a primary prepaid phone card company also has a fax to email feature. Unlimited receiving for only $1 a month, just think how many pieces of paper you will save in a month by getting your fax digitally.