To get into software design and development, there are a few kill skills a person needs to know. As well as creating the concepts behind a computer program, those people with the skills in design will most likely create the graphics used in the software. In order to work correctly a piece of software requires a lot of code, for the person behind the keyboard writing this code, this can be tedious work indeed. The most in demand people in the world of software development are those that can create the conceptual models and graphics that make a piece of software work well but look bad to looking great, working well and flying off the shelves. Because these people generally have all the necessary skills, companies are more willing to get them in, they find it easier to work with and pay one person, than to integrate large development teams and have the hassle and cost that this will bring.

Before the completion of a software package is finalized, it will have gone through numerous development phases. The concept must first be realized. Then it will be thoroughly tested, ideally by a testing team that is separate from the developers. Once this phase is completed, the program, functionally at least, is complete. Now is the time the graphics designers get to work to make the software look great! This is often the part of the project that takes the most time, depending on the type of technology and graphics used, this can take as long as a year in some cases.

The program must now be tested again, to make sure the graphics implementation has not affected the functionality of the program, and to make sure all errors and problems are now resolved. People who can supervise this process are always in constant demand, because they are stressful positions that require a lot of time, energy and commitment. You will find many people willing to take up these positions however as it is an exciting career choice that will demand the brain, but be ultimately very rewarding.

James Woodley is the writer for the website http://software-development.webinfo-site.com. Please visit for information on all things concerned with The Skills Needed for Software Design and Development

Light therapy for acne is a new treatment which incorporates laser surgery. If you are seeking relief from acne, the desired course of treatment depends on the severity of the condition. Acne in the mild stage can be treated with over the counter drugs and prescription medications which may control your acne, but not completely cure it. If your condition has worsened, it would be necessary to see a dermatologist, who may opt to take a more aggressive approach in your treatment, such as laser surgery.

Laser surgery is very beneficial in treating acne. The process used encompasses removing the outermost layer of the skin, allowing new skin to grow. Widely used today, it is a course of treatment which attempts to remove acne and acne scars. It has also been approved by the American Academy of Dermatology.

Although you may experience some redness in the infected area, Laser surgery can be quite effective. You can avoid any further complication by staying out of the sun for a few months. Once healed, any indication a surgical procedure was performed has dissipated. While you may be a bit leery about having Laser surgery, it is important to talk to a professional who can answer all of your questions.

Research alternative treatments as well, and then decide the best course of treatment for you. More importantly, it is incumbent upon you to seek out a second and third opinion. You never know what advice others may give or treatments they may advise would be more suited to your condition.

Laser treatments are very effective and have become the method of choice for more advanced cases of acne. There were many other forms of treatment for severe acne that have been discontinued. Thus; researchers are trying to find a cure; however, as of today - none exist.

Keep in mind that although acne can be controlled, and methods to prevent it can be attained through conventional means, it is up to you to ensure that you maintain a healthy state of mind and body. While there may be treatments to alleviate the acne condition today, there may be cures tomorrow.

There are many ways in which you can help an acne condition from worsening. If you use the proper cosmetics, cosmetic use should not trigger a breakout of acne or any other skin problem. If this does occur, it is likely that you are reacting to an ingredient in the product. By using natural products, you reduce your risk of acne from occurring. Just remember that not all natural ingredients are safe, so there is still a risk; it is simply smaller one.

Light therapy for acne is the most effective way in which you can treat your acne condition using laser surgery. Check it out for yourself to determine if this is the method of treatment you wish to take.

Battling acne problems? Discover how you can STOP acne at the root of the problem (backed up by scientific evidence and case studies), and get a free, no obligation report “The Five Secrets To Clearing Your Skin”.

Visit ez-stop-acne.com and download it immediately.

While Mombasa’s Old town doesn’t quite have the medieval charm of Lamu or Zanzibar, it’s still an interesting area to wander around. The houses here are characteristic of coastal East African architecture, with ornately carved doors and window frames and fretwork balconies, designed to protect the modesty of the female inhabitants.

Sadly, many of these have been destroyed; there is now a preservation order on the Remaining doors and balconies, so further losses should hopefully be prevented. The Mombasa Old town conservation Society is encouraging the renovation of many dilapidated buildings.

From the outside there’s little evidence what any of these buildings were once used for. To flesh out their history, it’s worth picking a copy of the booklet ‘the old town of Mombasa; A historic guide (Kshs 200) from the tourist office or the Fort Jesus ticket office. This excellent guide features old photos, a good map and a building by building account of the various structures-as well as a description of the unusual trolley service that used to run through the city.

Early morning or late afternoon is the best time to walk around as there’s more activity, although most houses are residential these days and the streets are rather quiet, except for the honking of horns as the cars edge their way round blind corners. This tour can take anything from 30 minutes up to 1 ½ hours, depending on how many stops you make along the way.

We start our walk at Fort Jesus, the obvious gateway famous landmark for the Old Town. When you have had your fill of the ramparts and relics, head past the colonial Mombasa Club onto Sir Mbarak Hinawy Rd, once the main access road to the port and now a lively thoroughfare punctuated with shops and football graffiti.

On the left, Ani’s Arcade is a three storey building that dates back to 1900, when it was occupied by a British Shipping agency. Further along, Dalal House was once the National Bank of South Africa; the pleasant orange façade was restored in 2000.Another former financial institution, the Standard Bank, is just along from here, next to the Old town conservation office.

On the other side of the street you’ll see the minaret of the 16th century Mandhry Mosque, one of the oldest still in use in Mombasa. The decorative fresh water well for worshipper’s ablutions is on the other side of the conservation office.

Turn the corner at the end of the street and you’ll enter Government Square, the largest open space in the Old town, facing towards the harbour. The buildings lining the square used to hold some of the city’s key administrative offices, including the customs office, the Dhow Registrar’s office, the treasury on Thika St and the Italian consulate.

As you head northwest you’ll also the scent emporium, founded in 1850 and still trading today, and the rather less refined odours of the new fish market. An annex of the still-operational original market further north.

Uphill next to the market is the Bohra Mosque, a prominent modern structure with a tall minaret, built on the site of a previous mosque. Turn left down the winding streets here you reach Ndia Kuu Rd, where you’ll see the former public library in front of you, the first of its kind in Kenya. Heading north, a right turn takes you to the Leven by the water front, site of the former British colonial administration.

Returning to Ndia Kuu rd, turn left past the Ithna Asheri Mosque and head down Kitui Rd into an area known as Kitovuni. Just off this street is the pillar mosque, a three storey building with unusual wooden pillars. At the end of the street you’ll find Piggot Place, another colonial square. The building on the west side is Glen’s Building, which bears little resemblance to its original design and is chiefly noted for being named after a dog!

From here, mosque fans can detour down Wachangamwe St to catch the colourful, modern Memon Mosque and the more traditional Badala and Badri mosques, before heading back down Old Kilindini Rd past the 16th century Basheikh Mosque to rejoin Ndia Kuu Rd.

Once you are on this straight home stretch, the final stages of your route can be as direct or as tangential as you wish-diverting into Side Street to see the real life of the Old town is highly recommended, and it hard to get truly lost. The winding alleyways ways linking the Old town to Digo road are wonderfully lively, with market traders selling everything from Kangas (printed wraps worn by women) and mobile phones accessories to baobab seeds and fried taro roots.

If you do stick to Ndia Kuu Rd, there are a lot of nicely restored traditional buildings, most now occupied by souvenir shops. Heading south, you’ll pass Hansing & co the former German import/export office; the criterion, once a well known hotel; an Indian-style house known as the balcony house, for obvious reasons; Edward St rose, the former chemist, which retains its original engraved glass panel; and Ali’s Curio Market, one of the better preserved balcony houses and formerly Mombasa’s police headquarter. Pass the Muslims cemetery and you are back at fort Jesus, hopefully refreshed and enlivened by a glance into Mombasa’s recent past.

Robert is a travel expert with Landmarksafaris.com. Degreed in tourism management, he has authored more than 1000 articles on Kenya East Africa travel. Blah Blah Blah:
http://www.landmarksafaris.com/planner/?refferer=ezinearticles

Home treatment for acne can encompass many methods. The most obvious one is to cleanse your face twice daily, using soap and water. Using harsh chemicals will only aggravate the condition.

A proper diet is another home treatment for acne which entails restricting foods that are high in fat; oils; processed; contain sugar; and instead, opt for leafy green vegetables; fruits; water; omega 3 oils, and the like. Some even suggest limiting your caffeine intake will help as well.

While zinc and chromium as well as other vitamins are certainly good for you; there is an old treatment which still works today, and that is an oatmeal mask. In addition, some have suggested using cucumbers, when blended into a liquid, will also help acne conditions. Tea tree oil and other home remedies such as other antioxidants can have a positive effect in alleviate an acne condition.

Use an exfoliate twice a day; in the morning and at night, will reduce the chances of an acne condition because the exfoliate removes dead skin cells. Exfoliation should not be used if you have a mild acne condition. Try not to use make-up which includes harsh chemicals. In addition, multi-vitamins can afford you all of the supplements needed such as: vitamin A, which is an antioxidant and great for the skin.

If you find your condition does not clear up in a reasonable amount of time, you may want to consider using oral and topical antibiotics, if prescribed. The most common types of topical antibiotics used for the treatment of acne include salicylic acid, which cuts down the shedding of cells lining the follicles of the oil glands; tretinoin; adapalene; and tazarotene. You should see results within five to six weeks. If the condition worsens, your doctor will explain the more aggressive types of treatment available.

While there have been so many misconceptions about how to treat acne, one home treatment everyone does agree on is benzoyl peroxide. These are the most common topical medicines used to treat acne. Benzoyl peroxide is best at killing acne and may reduce oil production. Studies show, for some patients, over the counter medications may cause side effects. However, these side effects soon dissipate. Moreover, topical medications seem to help in treating acne when used on a regular basis. Most dermatologists agree it takes about 8 weeks or more before there is any noticeable improvement.

While acne can be a difficult condition to deal with, it can be treated and will eventually go away. Form babies to adults, acne conditions on harder to deal with for teens. However, if you follow some of these preventative measures, and include a healthy diet, chances are your acne will not progress any further.

Battling acne problems? Discover how you can STOP acne at the root of the problem (backed up by scientific evidence and case studies), and get a free, no obligation report “The Five Secrets To Clearing Your Skin”.

Visit ez-stop-acne.com and download it immediately.

Florida is using a civil seizure law in an effort to combat speeding sport motorcycle riders. As stated in an article that I have read; law enforcement is using an old law to combat speeding sport motorcycle riders. The gist of the law is that once a Florida law enforcement officer turns their lights on to pull someone over, and if they allegedly speed up, their motorcycles can then be seized because they were used in the commission of a felony, i.e. “aggravated fleeing and eluding.”

The article states that the officers do not have to identify the person riding the motorcycle; all they have to do is get the license plate information. The law allows them to then seize the motorcycle rather than chase it.

As a Biker and Motorcycle Lawyer and Bikers Rights advocate this method of cracking down on speeders is disturbing to me on many different levels.

Before I go into my opinion on this law enforcement method, I want to state and reiterate that the vast majority of sport motorcycle riders do not run away from the Police, nor do they ride at 170 miles per hour down city streets. There are a few idiots that do speed on city streets and on canyon roads on sport motorcycles and in cars too. They should get busted for speeding. They should take their antics to a race track instead of putting the public in danger on public roads.

However, the law enforcement method that Florida is now employing is disturbing to me on many different levels. First off, I have never supported nor condoned civil seizure laws because they have always seemed unconstitutional to me. They do not pass the smell test!

A basic civil seizure law allows a State to seize property, money, or assets of someone if it can be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, that the property, money, or assets we either used or obtained by the commission of a crime.

To prove that someone committed a crime, a state or the government has to prove “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” that the person so accused committed a crime. This is the highest standard of proof in our legal system.

To win in a civil case, the burden of proof is “Preponderance of Evidence.” Preponderance of Evidence is sometimes described as “more likely than not” or “more than a 50 percent chance,” etc.

The civil seizure laws allow States to take away your property without ever having to prove that you actually committed a crime pursuant to the Constitution.

The United States Constitution forbids the government from taking private property for a public purpose without compensation, and without due process of law.

The civil seizure laws that have been enacted and affirmed by the “Conservative” United States Supreme Court have upheld these laws as an exception to the Constitutional prohibition against the government taking private property for a public purpose without just compensation by carving out the criminal activity and criminal proceeds exception. The theory is that since the property was used or obtained from criminal activity that the property can be seized. There is no due process violation because the person whose property is being taken has notice of the taking and an opportunity to be heard. I disagree with the Supreme Court’s upholding of these laws because it goes against what our founding fathers intended when they drafted the constitution.

Another troubling issue with civil seizure of property under the criminal exception, is that people accused do not have the right to have an attorney appointed for them in a civil case; they only have this right in a criminal case.

So basically the State can seize your property without ever having proven that you committed a crime. What is worse that in many of these types of cases, criminal charges are never filed. These laws have resulted in huge windfalls for many local, state, and even the Federal government at the expense of a person who may have never even been charged with a crime.

Going back to the Florida situation, what is bothersome to me is that Florida law enforcement can seize your motorcycle without ever having to prove that it was you riding the motorcycle, or that you sped up when their lights were turned on. Furthermore, how do we know whether a Florida cop is not going to just say “the guy sped up when I put my lights on,” in order to start seizing motorcycles?

It’s basically your word against law enforcement and who do you think a Judge or Jury is going to believe?

It is my opinion that there is too much room for abuse of the system in Florida to justify taking someones motorcycle, without first proving beyond a reasonable doubt the person who owned the motorcycle was running from the police.

This new Florida tactic obviously panders to the general public who may already be biased against motorcyclist and bikers, but it goes beyond that. Do you honestly think that law enforcement is just going to use this tactic only against bikers? Hell no, they will start taking cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles as well. Once they get a taste of the revenues that will be created by this tactic they will promote it more.

What I am seeing here is government running amuck. So-called conservative anti-crime zealots are stealing our constitutional rights away by the bushel. I thought conservatives were supposed to be against big government intrusion into our personal lives and the taking away of our constitutional rights.

So far 10 motorcycles have been seized in Volusia County, Florida under the new seizure program according to the article that was published on March 11, 2007 I wonder if any of the owners have actually been convicted of anything.

I do not condone sport bike motorcyclist or sport car enthusiast from turning our public streets into raceways. However, I am more afraid of the potential for abuse of the civil seizure laws by the government. I wonder how many an innocent man will lose their property without having had done anything wrong?

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. © 2007

Norman Gregory Fernandez is a California lawyer who handles many types of legal matters. You can reach him through his website at http://www.norman-law.com

Cagle (2006) explains that “You can never eliminate complexity from a system, you can only move it from place to place”. The purpose of my research is to allow software developers to deal with complexity as far as possible in order to leave the end-user free to model their own problems. My research aims to adapt or create software systems to provide the visual editor for the source tree, and allow model builders to create a model by editing this. By doing so, model builders would create a generic model for a particular modelling subject.

Representing Complexity as Linked Trees

My research aims to adapt or create software systems to provide the visual editor for the source tree, and allow model builders to create a model by editing this. By doing so, the model builders would create a generic model for a particular modelling subject. Vanguard Studio is used to automatically convert the taxonomy into a decision support and modelling system. Vanguard have made their server available for collaborative model development (Vanguard Software, 2006). UK universities are already linking together to use Vanguard Studio on a network for aerospace and construction industry modelling. The model users can then use this decision support and modelling system to create their models. These models would be a more specific subset of the generic model, and could be applied for their own analysis. I have provided a translation mechanism to convert information or models into other representations (primarily web based), and to visualise this information. RDF (Resource Description Framework) allows for linking of peoples’ information sources with each other, the structure for this is more of interlinked graphs. “RDF is used to model knowledge, where tree-based representations are not enough” (Nilsson et al, 2002). I used and tested this methodology for linking models using Protege and then translating to Vanguard Studio which also allows interlinking of models. The translations I have then made to web standard languages such as RDF have been successful but I have found that the semantic web needs more interaction and modelling capability, while Web 2.0 technologies have good user interface and interaction capabilities but lack sufficient structure for complex calculations. Another issue of dealing with complexity is how much you use a top-down approach and how much a bottom-up approach in the collaboration necessary to define information sources.

I have found a clear relationship between my end-user programming techniques that involve meta-programming and Semantic Web techniques that involve use of meta-information. Combining these approaches involves a meta modelling management approach that manages complexity on behalf of end-users. This approach deals with linking and using (reusing) information as required in order to solve the problem the user is interested in. An implication of this research is that there is a strong need for user-friendly tools for non-programmers to edit meta-data and meta-programs that must be human understandable and machine understandable. The Web is evolving from being primarily a place to find things to being a place to do things as well (Uschold, 2003) citing (Smith, 2001). It is important to take advantage of this change to enable end-user programming. This allows model builders and users to seek agreement between individuals and between their models and the software representation by intervening in the model building process. This is a practical solution that can be used until machine processable semantics might in future make more automated solutions possible.

Representing Complexity in Other Ways

Sometimes it is difficult to construct an ontology to represent a model, such as when a potential new design is to be modelled and little is yet known about it, so alternatives must be investigated. This kind of problem is investigated by the Institute for People-Centred Computation IP-CC (2006) collaboration network, where representatives from different universities and manufacturers can collaborate to investigate ways of discovering the information required. Also, techniques of Aspect Oriented Programming (Elrad et al, 2001) and (Murphy et al, 2001) can be used to identify functions that can be used in calculating results without the requirement of a detailed underlying taxonomy. Aspect oriented programming could be used to capture and translate user requirements especially where software functions can not be neatly attached to particular objects or nodes in a hierarchy. These are known as cross-cutting concerns as they may affect several nodes. A diagrammatic representation of the cross-cutting concerns can then be translated into a computer language representation such as AspectJ for Java (Kiczales et al, 2001) and AspectXML for XML (eXtensible Markup Language) (Peterson, 2005). This allows for specification of a program as a model and translation to different languages, beginning with Java, and XML. This also makes use of XML as a programming language not just an information format. Collaborations involving Aspect Oriented Programming can be found at (Aosd.net, 2007) and (AspectXML, 2007).Techniques for representing and visualising uncertainty can also be used to help cope with the problem of a limited specification (Marsh et al, 2002), (Bru et al, 2004).

My Research - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/

References

Aosd.net, 2007. Welcome to aosd.net - http://aosd.net/

AspectXML 2007. Community open-source project - http://www.aspectxml.org/

Bru, C., Scanlan, J., Hale, P., 2004. Visualization of Cost Information, International Journal of Agile Manufacturing, 7(1), pp 53-59.

Cagle, K, 2006. Thoughts on Complexity -http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/03/thoughts_on_complexity.html.

Elrad,T., Filman, R. E., Bader, A., 2001. Aspect-oriented programming: Introduction. Communications of the ACM, 44(10), pp 28-32.

Institute for People-Centred Computation (IP-CC), 2006. Supporting Discovery in Design and Innovative Decision-making http://www.ip-cc.org.uk/.

Kiczales, G., Hilsdale, E., Hugunin, J., Kersten, M., Palm, J., Griswold, W. G., 2001. Getting Started with AspectJ. Communications of the ACM, 44(10) pp 59-65.

Marsh, R., Hill, T., Scanlan, J., Dunkley, M., Cleevely, P., 2002. Modelling manufacturing cost uncertainty with input distributions and exemplars. In: 9th ISPE International Conference on Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications, Cranfield University pp 881-890.

Murphy, G. C., Walker, R. J., Baniassad, E. L. A., Robillard, M. P., Lai, A., Kersten, M. A., 2001. Does aspect-oriented programming work?, Communications of the ACM, Vol 44(10) (October 2001) pp 75 - 77, ISSN:0001-0782.

Nilsson, M., Palmer, M., Naeve, A., 2002. Semantic Web Metadata for e-Learning - Some Architectural Guidelines WWW2002 Hawaii USA.

Peterson, M. D., 2005. O’Reilly XML.com - [Part 3] Assets, Atom Feeds, and AspectXML - The Triple Threat of Web Development?http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2005/09/part_3_assets_atom_feeds_and_a.html

Smith, R, 2001. What’s Required in Knowledge Technologies: A Practical Vie . In Proceedings of
Knowledge Technologies 2001.

Uschold, M., 2003. Where are the semantics in the semantic web? AI Magazine Vol 24 (3) pp 25-36.

Vanguard Software, 2006. Global Knowledge Portal http://wiki.vanguardsw.com/

Modelling - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/Modelling.htm

I am a Researcher in the final year of my PhD. I specialise in applying Semantic Web techniques. My current research is on a technique of ‘User Driven Modelling/Programming’. My intention is to enable non-programmers to create software from a user interface that allows them to model a particular problem or scenario. This involves a user entering information visually in the form of a tree diagram. I am attempting to develop ways of automatically translating this information into program code in a variety of computer languages. This is very important and useful for many employees that have insufficient time to learn programming languages. I am looking to research visualisation, and visualisation techniques to create a human computer interface that allows non experts to create software.

More information on end user programming can be found at http://www.ieuc.org/home.html

1. Fort Jesus

Mombasa’s biggest tourist attraction dominates the harbor entrance at the end of Nkurumah road. The metre thick coral walls make it an imposing edifice, despite being partially ruined. The fort was built by the Portuguese in 1593 to enforce their rule over the coastal Swahilis, but they rarely managed to hold onto it for long. It changed hands at least nine times in bloody sieges between 1631 and 1875, finally falling under British control.

The fort was the final project completed by Italian architect Joao Batista Cairato in his long career as chief architect for Portugal’s eastern colonies. There are some ingenious elements in its design, especially the angular configuration of the west walls, which makes it impossible to attack one wall without being a sitting duck for soldiers on the opposite battlements.

The fort houses a museum, built over the former barracks. The exhibits are mostly ceramics, reflecting the variety of cultures that traded along the coast, but include other interesting odds and ends donated from private collections or dug up from sites along the coast. Also displayed are finds from the Portuguese frigate Santo Antonio de Tanna which sank near the fort during the siege in 1698, and the far end of the hall is devoted to the fascinating culture and traditions o the nine coastal Mijikenda tribes, including a map of sacred forests

Exploring the battlements and ruined buildings within the compound is just as interesting, though the fort feels much smaller than it looks from the outside. The Omani House in the san Fellipe bastion, in the northwestern corner of the fort, was built in the late 18th century and houses a small exhibition of Omani jewellery and artifacts.

Nearby is a ruined church, a huge well and cistern, and an excavated grave complete with skeleton. The eastern wall of the fort includes the Omani audience hall and the passage of the Arches, a passage cut through the coral to give access to the sea.

Most coach tours arrive here late in the morning, so if you come early you may have the place to yourself. Many official and unofficial guides will offer their services, often for free, though a tip is always expected. Alternatively, you can buy the 1981 fort Jesus guide booklet (Kshs 60) from the ticket desk and go it alone. At 7pm there is a daily ’sound and light show’ illustrating the forts history, organised by Jahazi Marine. Tickets cost US$15.

2. Religious Buildings
Mombasa has some interesting mosques; non-Muslims are usually not permitted to enter, although you can look from the outside. The dozen or so mosques in the old town are the most traditional, while more modern examples in town include the Sheikh Nurein Islamic Centre opposite Uhuru gardens, and the Khonzi mosque on Digo Rd.

You’ll get a warm reception at the Hindu Lord Shiva Temple Mwinyi Ab Rd which has an interesting sculpture garden, and Swaminarayan Temple on Haile selassie, which has some wonderfully ornate painted doors and vivid paintings from Hindu mythology. For even more exotic design, there’s a Sikh temple, a Jain temple and a Hare Krishna Temple. Shoes should be removed before entering any of these buildings, and its worth asking about any other appropriate signs of respect.

The two main Christian churches are also worth seeing, for rather different reasons. The Holy Ghost cathedral is a very European hunk of neo-gothic buttressed architecture, with massive fans in the walls to cool its former colonial congregations. The Mombasa Memorial Cathedral, on the other hand, tries almost too hard to fit in, resembling a mosque with its white walls, arches and cupola dome.

3. Old Law courts
The old law courts on Nkrumah Rd have been converted into an informal gallery, with regularly changing of local at, Kenyan crafts, school competition pieces and votive objects from various tribal groups.

4. Golf
Drive, chip and putt to your heart are content at Mombasa Golf Club, perched on the southeastern edge of the island. Day membership is Kshs 1500, clubs cost Kshs 800 per day and caddies cost Kshs 100 per nine hole round.

5. Sailing

If you can sail, it may be worth joining Mombasa Yacht club. Temporary membership cost Ksh100/500 per day/week. Wednesday is club night, where qualified sailors may be able to talk themselves into some crewing, and there are usually races on Sunday. Those hoping to hitch a lift on a passing yacht will have a better (though remote) chance in Mtwapa or in Kilifi Boatyard.

Robert is a travel expert with Landmarksafaris.com. Degreed in tourism management, he has authored more than 1000 articles on Kenya East Africa travel. Select your Mombasa tour highlights here:
http://www.landmarksafaris.com/tours/wildlife.php/?refferer=ezinearticles

How to reduce and treat acne is a problem for people of all ages, especially children. To dispel any rumors, here are 8 common myths dispelled associated with acne.

#1. Acne is caused by oil in your skin, not by the dirt on your face. Therefore, the more you clean your skin, the better your acne will get is a false assumption. While it’s important to cleanse your skin twice a day, cleaning more than that can overly dry your skin. Many experts believe cleansing all the time will actually worsen the condition.

#2. Consuming fatty foods will worsen your acne. Specific food groups, such as fast food and chocolate, should not trigger breakouts; however, some people have breakouts due to reactions from certain foods. If you break out after eating a certain food, avoid it in the future. Your overall diet also contributes to skin health.

#3. The notion that stress causes breakouts is an erroneous one. Research has shown that breakouts are not triggered by stressful situations. If you experience acne problems before a big or stressful event, take note of what you do with your hands. Sometimes leaning your face on your hands can cause a breakout.

#4. While acne may clear up on its own, most people are under the false impression that acne only afflicts teenagers; however, anyone from babies to women in their 40’s can experience acne. If your method of treatment does not help, seek the advice of a dermatologist.

#5. While covering pimples with make-up may make them worse, as long as you use the right make-up, it should not cause breakouts. Buy make-up which has a chemical free base. If possible, avoid make-up until the acne dissipates. Just like food, different ingredients in make-up can cause a reaction and result in a breakout.

#6. Pimples go away after you pop them. Never, ever pop a zit. Contrary to popular belief, squeezing pimples can make them worse rather than better. Popping a zit can cause infection, increase the likelihood of scarring, and slow healing.

#7. The notion that if one type of medication or topical cream doesn’t work; you have to live with acne. There is more than one way to treat acne. If one method doesn’t work, keep trying. Also, it sometimes takes a while for any non-prescription medication or topical cream to work. Don’t worry if a treatment doesn’t work after a week.

#8. A tan can clear up acne. While a tan may make acne less visible, it will do nothing to clear up a breakout. Regular tanning can make your skin look old much faster as well as promotes skin cancers. The permanent damage you cause is not worth decreasing the appearance of pimples. It is advisable to stay out of the sun during an acne breakout.

How to reduce and treat acne can be accomplished once you learn to prevent breakouts, and find the appropriate methods to treat it.

Battling acne problems? Discover how you can STOP acne at the root of the problem (backed up by scientific evidence and case studies), and get a free, no obligation report “The Five Secrets To Clearing Your Skin”.

Visit ez-stop-acne.com and download it immediately.

The image of 1955, complete with the nuclear family as portrayed in the old television show, Leave it to Beaver, just doesn’t exist. Not even close. Don’t get me wrong, there are some of these nuclear families consisting of Mom, Dad and children born to the same Mom and Dad today, who are also Husband and Wife, it’s just that they are in diminishing supply.

Today the very definition of what constitutes a family is much broader. In fact sometimes I wonder if we even know how to describe the “family”. There are the “old fashioned nuclear families” originating from days gone by, and there are single parent families, step families, blended families, adopted families, and on and on.

Today children are raised in a variety of configurations, and the clinical tools available to formulate assessments, has not kept up with the change.

There is a shortage of treatment tools, and models, to explore the changing family. Speak to any marriage and family therapist, and they can tell you stories of men and women married 3, 4, 5,6, 7 times. Sometimes they aren’t married when they have children, they have children with a partner. Hence we now have words such as “my baby’s daddy”, or “my baby’s mommy”, as a part of mainstream culture. Each parent may have a child from a variety of partnerships; some husband and wife, some not. It’s not easy describing the multitude of constellations, even in this article. It’s even more difficult tracking it in a treatment session.

Monica McCormick has made some wonderful contributions in exploring the genogram in families. She has helped provide treatment providers with a model to explore the family, and to map out these relationships through symbols such as x’s and dashes and circles and squares, all adding to the ease in reading these relationships. Unfortunately the model is limited. It is one dimensional and flat. It is formulated on a piece of paper, and usually the 8 ½ x 11 standard sheet of paper just isn’t large enough to track the information. They are difficult relationships to remember for a therapist.

We are desperately in need of new models. Models that move beyond the flat, one dimensional model of the genogram. We need models that “bring to life” these relationships. We need models that can be shaped and moved, and remembered by clinicians. We need models that give depth to treatment, and are safe, effective, and appealing.

I can’t think of any object better to compose these models then the teddy bear.

I don’t claim to have all of the answers. It’s just that through a journey to create some personal answers, I originated a model applying teddy bears in sessions. Teddy Bears have demonstrated remarkable results with people suffering from a variety of mental health problems, in individual, family and group treatment sessions. It’s skill at revealing sexual abuse, and other secrets that lay dormant has been astounding.

I am not speaking about holding a teddy bear and talking with it for comfort. That works, and there is certainly nothing new about that. After all, teddy bears are known to provide comfort to people. They are natural for looking at attachment issues. They are a natural for helping with trauma.

I am speaking about a method that moves beyond providing comfort, and takes the clinical knowledge we have learned, and organizes it into a living, moving family system that generates fast results in sessions. I call the model the Teddy Bear Technique®. It’s called a technique, because that is what it is. It is a method that you can utilize to get fast results with people originating from a variety of family systems, and it applies teddy bears in it’s process.

Teddy bears are one of the first objects an infant attaches to, and as such, they can quickly reach the heart of the matter. It is such a shock to have a treatment provider introduce a teddy bear in a session, that that in and of itself creates an immediate shift in the session. Organize it into the family, and you will give it depth. You will also gain a powerful and dramatic assessment tool, that gives you fast results.

I invite you to learn more about this model, and its effectiveness with people of every age, race and socioeconomic group. I have organized the teachings into a total toolkit to provide you with rapid assessments and interventions. I invite you to visit my website at http://www.interactiveteddybears.com and purchase this toolkit for your group or practice.

About the Author
Tammy Stoner is a licensed clinical social worker and trained family therapist. She developed the Teddy Bear Technique® following the sudden and unexpected death of a spouse and discovered a very fast method of generating treatment results when exploring family systems. She has authored a book called The Seven Minute Social Worker, and has published many articles. She has been featured on television and radio, and in newspapers throughout the United States.

The best diet for acne is one that is rich in fruits and vegetables; omega-3 oils; vitamins and minerals, and low in fat.

Studies have shown that while there may not be a direct link between diet and acne, it doesn’t hurt to maintain a healthy diet to prevent the condition. Moreover, if you have acne, a diet rich in vegetables and fruit; no sugar or fried foods; no Trans fat or dairy products; can certainly increase the chances you will not develop acne.

Foods containing healthy omega-3 oils such as ground flaxseeds and sardines should be incorporated into your diet, while drinking 8 glasses of water a day and increasing fiber intake is beneficial.

While vitamin A may help to reduce sebum production, it is warned that high doses of vitamin A can carry a risk of decreased bone density, headache, and muscle and joint pain. If your diet consists of vitamin E, zinc, and beta-carotene to your diet, then vitamin A may not be necessary. Zinc, especially in the form of zinc gluconate or zinc sulfate, can help prevent acne. Zinc helps heal blemishes, reduces inflammation, and reduces hormonal effects on the skin.

According to two studies which compared zinc to tetracycline, it was found that zinc was as effective as tetracycline. The other study found zinc had a definite effect on acne. So too, vitamin B6 may help premenstrual acne. Because acne may appear during the menstrual cycle, vitamin B6 stabilizes the metabolism and you would be less likely to develop acne.

While the food we consume has an overall effect on our health, it seems likely then, that it would have an effect on our skin as well. Recent research suggests that high insulin levels due to excess sugar in the body led to a release of higher levels of androgens (male hormones) in the system. Androgen triggers excess sebum production which can lead to acne. Therefore reducing insulin levels can help acne and oily skin.

Sugar is found in processed carbohydrates such as white bread, crackers, and any white flour products. The best thing you can do is switch to whole grain carbohydrates as these do not effect the insulin levels in the same way the white flour products do. A diet including whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats will not only help your skin look better, but you will also be contributing to the healthy of your body as well.

A proper nutritional diet is the best diet for acne. While we all love chocolate, the rule of thumb is everything in moderation. Acne comes and goes. It is unpredictable. However, to decrease the chances of it occurring, the best form of action to take is a preventative one.

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