Posts filed under ‘shopping’
The new food plate
The Atlantic reports that the food industry took issue with the original foodpyramid because it established food hierarchies, while many nutritionists complained that it encouraged people to eat too many grains.
The 2005 pyramid, which was meant to address those issues, also received its fair share of criticism. The Atlantic says it was just too difficult for people to understand, describing it as “hopelessly complicated” and “impossible to teach.”
But thus far, the buzz for the new plate image has been far more positive.
“With the old pyramids, it was very hard to translate the recommendations into what you should eat,” said Dr. Margo Wootan of the Center for Science In The Public Interest. “This is very straightforward. It takes a lot of the guesswork out.”
Toby Smithson, R.D., a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association agrees.
“It’s such a recognizable image,” she said. “Everybody has seen a plate, used a plate. It’s much easier to visualize when it’s something we use on a daily basis.”
Smithson added that the plate is an improvement because it’s easy for non-readers to understand, which means young kids can learn the message early on and carry it with them throughout their lives. She also likes that the new image and accompanying Choose My Plate campaign put an emphasis on the positive.
“I like that message and that word choice,” she said. “It’s about choosing the right things, not so much about avoiding.”
The new food plate image reflects the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which promote measures like switching to fat-free or low-fat milk and opting for water over sugary drinks. The guidelines also recommend making sure that half your plate is filled with fruits and veggies — a recommendation that Wootan said is one of the major points highlighted by the new graphic.
She cautioned, however, that people should be aware of the size of their plates when trying to model their meals after the image.
“You can’t fill up a platter,” she said. “People should be paying attention to the different food groups, but they should also be watching their serving sizes. They should eat off an eight or nine-inch plate, like people did in the old days, before we had such an obesity problem.”
Africa domain attracts interest
By Edris Kisambira
Even though ICANN has not yet issued the license that will allow for the creation of the .Africa domain name registry, there seems to be a lot of interest at the pan-African level.
Even though ICANN has not yet issued the license that will allow for the creation of the .Africa domain name registry, there seems to be a lot of interest at the pan-African level.
“If I can grade the level of interest on a scale of zero to five, I would say it is at five,” said Sophia Bekele, founder and executive director of DotConnectAfrica (DCA), the nonprofit umbrella organization for the .Africa domain initiative.
Bekele was in Kampala, the Uganda capital, to attend the East Africa Internet Governance Forum, which ended Friday.
“I have seen interest at the pan-African level, and a lot of companies that have pan-African operations like mobile-phone operator Zain, continental banks and even multinationals with African operations are excited about it,” Bekele said.
Bekele said that aside from the policy bodies like the African Union and the African Development Bank (ADB), prospective users of the .Africa name include pan-African companies like MTN, ECOBank, United Bank for Africa and foreign companies doing business in Africa like Microsoft, Goggle and Coca-Cola.
The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) board in February next year is set to expand the generic top-level domain space from four — “.com,” “.org,” “.net” and “.biz” — to 21.
Bekele, a policy adviser to ICANN between 2005 and 2007, said the idea for an .Africa domain came up at the time she advised ICANN on existing top-level domains like .com and .org, and geographical names like .EU and .Asia.
“I asked why not .Africa? I initially went to the existing African grouping and African persons serving on the board, and I was told it was a very difficult task getting the African governments to agree,” she said.
Bekele said she has spent the past two years working with the African Union’s (AU) infrastructure commission to get the endorsements required for the application to ICANN.
In November last year, the Council of African Internet Communication Technology ministers meeting in South Africa adopted a resolution to “establish Dot Africa as a continental top-level domain for use by organizations, businesses and individuals with guidance from African Internet agencies.”
In February this year, the AU heads of state meeting in Addis Ababa endorsed the DotAfrica initiative.
The DCA proposal has been endorsed by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which coordinates African ministries of economic affairs.
DotConnectAfrica, if it receives a license, will operate the .Africa top-level domain registry with help from sponsor organizations and business people. Money generated will go directly to an African organization to build capacity in Africa, Bekele said.
The .Africa initiative will also work with the country code top-level domains of Africa. Most ccTLDs are run by technical people who could use help on the business and marketing side of operations.
Bekele said she will engage in a continental marketing campaign, working with pan-African institutions to encourage development of content to popularize the .Africa name.
The push for the .Africa domain has not been smooth sailing for the DCA, however.
“So far the challenges we have faced are from existing African groupings that had resisted our applications to do the .Africa name,” Bekele said.
The DCA is often mistakenly seen as representing U.S. interests and being led by the private sector, Bekele noted.
Appealing for support at the conference in Kampala, Bekele said, “A continental project is complex and requires many stakeholders to make it a success, so we call upon everyone to join us and make it happen, instead of detracting from the process.”
Source: Computer World
ATM rip-off by US Bank
By Getachew Teklu
I don’t know how you feel about it, but I really hate the idea of paying fees to use an ATM to get my own money from my bank. In fact, I have never paid any because faithfully using only my own bank’s ATM machines. However, on August 4, 2010 using US. Bank ATM machine to get $20.00 and charged $3.00 ATM Fee. My own bank Wells Fargo charge me another $2.50 to get my own money. The total cost to get $20.00 is $5.50. Last year ATM users paid fees that poured an estimated over $5 billion into financial institution coffers.
ATM are a cash cow for banks, and the fees are rising. The cost of using another bank’s ATM machine is now $3.00 per transaction, up from $1.00 just five years ago. You pay two fees when you stray from your own institution’s ATM. The first hit, charged by your own bank, is called the foreign, or “off-us,” fee; it currently averages $2.00 per transaction. (At big banks, the average is $2.50 to $3.00.) About 30 to 70 cents of this fee is known as the interchange fee and goes to the bank whose ATM you used as compensation for handling the transaction. Even if your bank does not charge you when you use another institution’s ATM, it pays this fee. The second fee, a surcharge imposed on you by the other bank for using its ATM, is now $2.00 ($3.00 for big banks like US Bank) These fees show up right on your ATM receipt. My advice to you minimizes the pain whenever possible; use your own bank’s or credit union’s ATM to avoid fees. Also try some of these tactics: Switch to a bank or credit union that doesn’t impose ATM surcharges. Generally, the larger the bank, the higher the fees. There is no stimulus package for consumer to recover ATM fees that is imposed by large banks like US Bank. No body can protect us from bank rip off at the moment.
Taking organic farming to Ethiopia
He started out as an Ethiopian refugee and is now a successful small-scale farmer in Canada. But Berhanu Wassihun still has much he wants to achieve. He speaks of his plans to take subsistence farming back to Ethiopia, where he hopes to teach others the trick of growing chemical-free, nutrient-rich crops – armed with just a few animals, pumps and generators
Wassihun at his stall in Montreal. Photograph: Nachammai Raman
When I left Ethiopia it was a communist country controlled mostly by an uneducated junta that would use bullets, guns and power to push us around. As an educated person, it was not safe for me. I had gone to what was then Yugoslavia for higher studies in agriculture and I decided not to go back to live in Ethiopia any more. Instead I went to Italy and became a refugee. From there, I made an application to Canada and they accepted me. I came here in 1990 after two years in Europe.
I didn’t like the taste of the food when I arrived. I couldn’t get a decent job either. Looking at my CV, prospective employers said that I was overqualified. Finally, I lied and said that I had finished only high school and they hired me for odd jobs in factories and such. I didn’t really like it. My mind couldn’t accept it. I asked myself: “How can I establish myself?”
Eventually, I went back to school. I studied agriculture again, at McGill University in Montreal. In the meantime, I had started gardening. I found the best crops that I could grow and continued doing this on the side. Many farmers wanted me to start organic farms for them. One farmer took me to Ontario and I worked with him for about eight years. When I started my family I found that the hours were too long and the pay too little. So I was a bit down when I had my first child. I was unemployed for a while before I became a tenant farmer in Ontario. Independent farming is not easy, but at least I can pay my bills.
I have very diverse produce on my farm. I have my own beef, butter, eggs, milk, chickens, strawberries, raspberries and several types of vegetables in the 50 acres of land that I’m now renting. A couple of years ago the agriculture students at McGill approached me for organic produce and I started working with them. I now bring my produce to sell at the campus once a week. I also offer a few wraps, biscuits, breads and cakes based on Ethiopian cultural traditions.
My farm is basically a family effort, but two of my teenagers have already left for university. So that leaves me, my wife and three young children under nine at home. My wife and I have a knack for handling a heavy workload. We sometimes have students who come in to help us, and we’re doing well. I sell my produce at various grocers and farmers’ markets, which are very popular in the summer.
My farming life doesn’t come to a halt in winter. I have a cold room in the basement where I store some of the produce. In addition to this, I use a special technique of burying vegetables, such as carrots and potatoes, in the ground. They come out looking as fresh as if they were picked yesterday. When they’ve just been in the cold room, the taste isn’t the same. It’s something I discovered by trial and error, which is mostly how I function.
I love my work. It’s clean and blessed. I love being outside, winter or summer. I don’t need an alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. I would say that I’m a workaholic – I work more than 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and I take naps whenever my body needs rest.
People really like the things I grow, and it’s a good example of how small-scale farming can feed communities. Large-scale farmers in Canada are finding it increasingly difficult to cope because they have thousands of hectares they need to treat with expensive pesticides and fertilizers, and a lot of machinery worth half a million dollars on average. As a result, they end up just paying the interest on their loans.
In small-scale farming, you’re self-sufficient and you don’t have much debt. That’s the best way forward, in my opinion. Instead of having a small percentage of big farmers, countries are better off with a large number of farmers with small farms that produce a variety of crops.
The advantages of organic farming are that the soil will always be rich in nutrition and micro-organisms, and the crops tastier and healthier. It’s simple. At the most, you’ll need an irrigation system; but not here in Canada, where there’s a lot of rain and snow and the land is fertile.
It’s my dream to help people. I want to use my expertise to give something back to Ethiopia. The people there are willing to work hard on their land. If somebody could lead them and give them a boost, they would be able to do a lot. Ethiopia has a reputation for drought, aridity and disease. If you give a little bit of hope to people by training them and giving them models to duplicate, there will be a change. Giving them grains and flour when they’re starving doesn’t bring any change. Their problems will just come back.
I’d like to start a farming model in my village in Ethiopia. I’d train young people, who, when they became independent, would go to other parts of the country and share their know-how. I’d ensure that they commit to being responsible for the education of other people before I took them in. Another requisite is that they be on a par with the local people – that means no car, no frills, no perks. We’d farm with animals and a few pumps and generators.
People are encouraging me on this path and a fund-raising dinner is on the agenda. With some start-up capital – CDN$5,000-10,000 – I’ll be ready to launch the project.
• Berhanu Wassihun was intervewed by Nachammai Raman.
What You Should Know Before Buying Furniture
How to Choose the Best Furniture
BY Getachew Teklu
What you should know before buying furniture, any furniture, is how to find the best fit for your own needs. Every piece of furniture has certain features that determine whether it is a good buy for you or not. Some general rules apply to all furniture purchases, but today there plenty of choices. Since buying furniture is such an investment, understand your choices and how to choose the best furniture for you.
A sofa is one of the most important furniture purchases for your home, so before you buy a sofa make sure you are getting one that fits your needs.
A sofa that is perfect for your living room could be a terrible idea for your family room. First figure out how you want to use your sofa and who will be using it. Determine whether your sofa is a good fit for your space, and since there are sofas to fit any style of room, look for one that satisfies your own personal sense of style. The fabric you select for your sofa contributes immensely to its usability and beauty.
Just as when you buy any furniture, you should be confident that you are buying the best quality sofa for your budget, and that it offers you the comfort you need from it.
A sleeper sofa is a great multifunctional piece of furniture with the potential to turn any room into a bedroom. You can fit a sleeper sofa in so many places – a child’s room, an office or even an appropriately sized alcove.
Almost any sofa can be bought as a sleeper sofa, and sleeper sofas come in all sizes. If you only have room for a twin bed, find one in a chair. A slightly bigger room might be able to accommodate a full-size sleeper sofa, which could function as loveseat when not in use for sleeping. A sofa that seats three people easily can be transformed into a queen-sized bed.
Buy furniture that functions both as comfortable seating and a comfortable bed in any size, and what’s more many sleeper sofas come with hidden storage.
Before you buy a bed, you should know that a comfortable bed is a piece of furniture that is essential to getting a good night’s sleep. But beds also go beyond that function by providing a focal point for your bed room. So look beyond comfort alone to find a bed that is in a style that you like.
Beds are available in all styles, sizes and heights. You can go for a simple uncluttered look, or buy an elaborately carved bed.
In addition to buying a bed for yourself, you may also want to buy a suitable bed for a child or a guest. Sometimes, you may be short on space. But there are plenty of choices for all kinds of beds, such as bunk beds, toddler beds, daybeds, or even regular beds in twin, full, queen or king sizes depending on your needs.
What should you look for before you buy an office chair? An office chair is a piece of furniture that is a sound investment for anyone who spends long hours at a desk.
, seat, and armrests are adjustable. You should be able to adjust the seat height and tilt of your office chair to your own preferences, and ideally the seat should be comfortable enough to support you comfortably, while letting your body breathe. The most important feature to look for is good lumbar support, as an office chair with a good lumbar support lets your back stay in a position that is good for its spine health.backrestsBefore you buy an office chair, check to see if the
5. Before You Buy a Home Entertainment Center
Home entertainment centers come in all different shapes and sizes. With the changing look of today’s televisions, entertainment centers have evolved, too.
You have the choice of buying an entertainment center that completely conceals your equipment or buying one that displays it. If you need a place to organize all your media as well as equipment, you can find entertainment centers that offer plenty of efficient built-in storage.
You should always judge for quality because you are storing expensive and fragile equipment in it. Additionally make sure you are buying an entertainment center that complies with tip-over rules, and lets your equipment breathe to prevent heat buildup.
6. Before You Buy a Table Lamp 
Before you buy a table lamp, determine what kind you need. A table lamp is a furniture accessory that can add so much to a room besides light.
Since table lamps come in all shapes, sizes and styles, they can enable you to dress up a room in style. You can choose a table lamp for its decorative value, as much as for the light it provides. A tall table can be a major source of light in a room, as the taller a lamp the greater its area of illumination. Smaller table lamps can be used accent lighting.
Another wonderful thing about table lamps is that you can change the look of a lamp by the style of shade you choose. And remember, the bulb and wattage you pick should be appropriate for the function and type of your table lamp. For all your furniture needs visit Chicago Furniture Warehouse, inc. www.chicagofurniturewarehouse.com
Save on Gas
Gasoline prices are up 29 percent from a year ago, so finding ways to stretch your personal petro dollars could be a welcome holiday treat as we head toward Thanksgiving, traditionally a big driving week. Putting fewer tigers in your tank will also reduce foreign oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions, so that’s, well, gravy. With the help of two experts — John Henry, a driver-training veteran who works with gas-saving groups EcoDriveSmart and FuelClinic, and Michael Scott, who created the fuel-saver site Moblu — I’ve put together nine lesser-known mpg-boosting (or “hypermiling”) tips.
Of course, you know the familiar hypermiling advice: Avoid jackrabbit starts and sudden stops, drive slower (since every 5 mph over 60 is like paying an extra 20 cents a gallon for gas) and keep your tires inflated (the EPA says doing so can reduce fuel use by 3.3 percent). And MoneyWatch has steered you away from some other common myths about gas mileage. You can also skip those nutty liquid additives and air-hose attachments claiming to slash gas costs: After Consumer Reports tested the Fuel Genie, Platinum Gas Saver and Tornado Gas Saver last year, it concluded, “Don’t waste your money. They don’t work.”
Instead, try these effective methods to boost your gas mileage:
1. Go Cold Turkey on Warm-Ups
- Many people mistakenly believe it’s harmful to your engine to simply start up and drive away, particularly in winter. But modern engines don’t need much of a warm-up. Auto authority J.D. Power and Associates says even on the coldest mornings, 30 seconds is all the warm-up you need. Your best bet is to start the car and gently drive off.
2. Tailgate Less
- Not only does tailgating lead to the fuel-wasting cycle of applying brakes and hitting the gas to catch up, it can lead to sudden and unexpected road hazards. The Federal Trade Commission says that anticipating traffic conditions and avoiding tailgating can save 5 to 10 percent on your fuel bills. Scott confesses that controlling his lead foot was the hardest habit for him to break.
3. Get the Junk Out of Your Trunk
- Those toolboxes and old golf clubs cluttering your cargo space can cost you. According to EcoDriving USA, 100 pounds of extra weight translates to a 2 percent reduction in fuel economy. Scott says when he emptied the clubs and other nonessential stuff from his 1999 VW Passat, he saw an immediate improvement in his mileage.
4. Buy an E-Z Pass
- Professional drivers on the clock would never be without their electronic, windshield-mounted transponders, because E-Z Passes (and similar autopayment devices, like California’s FasTrak and Florida’s SunPass) let them zip through toll lanes, saving time and gas. A New Jersey Turnpike Authority study found that E-Z Pass reduced fuel consumption by 1.2 million gallons in its first year.
5. Obey the “Check Engine” Light
An unscientific survey I conducted for the New York Times in 2003 found that most people don’t have a clue what this light means. Often, the light is saying that the car’s emissions system is malfunctioning. If your oxygen sensor has failed, replacing it could improve fuel economy by as much as 40 percent and end your car’s status as a gross polluter. So take the Check Engine light seriously, even if your car appears to be running fine.
6. Get Rid of What’s On The Roof
- A roof rack interferes with your car’s aerodynamics and can cost you 5 percent in fuel economy, according to Scott. Bret Sarnquist, a blogger for the carbon-offset company Terrapass, upped his gas mileage more than 10 percent (going from 24 mpg to 27) by removing his Audi’s roof rack, along with its two bicycles and box. The useful EcoModder site offers a whole page of modifications to make your car more aerodynamic.
7. Tighten Your Gas Cap
- The problem is gasoline evaporation. A loose or missing cap (which can also cause starting problems) can result in up to 30 gallons of evaporation annually. And that’s gas you already paid for.
8. Buy a Mileage-Meter
- Hybrids such as the Toyota Prius have in-car fuel-use gauges that let drivers see their consumption drop as their behavior evolves, and this has turned ordinary folks into hypermilers. But you don’t need a Prius; you can buy an aftermarket product, such as ScanGauge II ($170) or PLX Device’s Kiwi MPG ($90), to track mileage for virtually any car. A $2.99 iPhone application called MyMPG can display and track mpg for up to four vehicles, beeping when you’re wasting gas with bad driving.
To test out one of these gizmos, I hooked a Fuel Efficiency Adviser ($160) onto my 2007 Honda Fit (already economical at 31 mpg combined). It calculates mpg, gallons used per hour and the cost of a driving trip. The manufacturer says the device can save 33 percent in fuel costs, which sounded a bit far-fetched. Messing with the car’s electronics seemed scary, but turned out to be no big deal — just one plug, then attaching the device with Velcro. I was immediately able to tell the advantage of a light foot, briefly recording a stunning 99 mpg when I was driving carefully.
9. Take an Eco-Driving Workshop
- Don’t confuse this type of training with a standard driving school. Many driving schools are headed by former race drivers, so getting you to slow down may not be high on their priority list. Workshops such as the upcoming eight-hour program from EcoDriveSmart teach you fuel-saving habits that also help you drive more safely. EcoDriveSmart’s courses use an in-car video and an “eco pod” that records data on braking times and acceleration. “The student and instructor go out on a driving route, then come back and look at the video and analyze the data,” says Henry. Then they go back out for several cycles until the student morphs into an eco-driver. The courses cost $355 (including the eco-pod you keep to track your progress) and will be offered initially in California, Florida and Texas starting in January.
Source: Consumer World
Holiday shopping Tips
By Getachew Teklu
With Christmas only 3 weeks away, it’s time to start getting our act ready for holiday shopping! Below are a collection of shopping tips so we can enjoy a happy, sensible and responsible Christmas! 
Make a Shopping List – Write down everyone that you plan to buy a gift for and how much you plan to spend. It’s not just to save money, it’s so you don’t miss anyone too!
- Be Patient and Look for Deals – The bad economy means that all retailers are marking down their merchandise in a huge way. Shop around at different stores and chances are you will find what you are looking for at a lower price!
- Plan Ahead – Make sure you call the store to see if the item you want to buy is in stock. Otherwise, you would’ve wasted your time and gas!
- Organize Your Trip – Group your gift list into different categories and plan your route. Trust me; it will save you so much time!
- Buy Online – If you still haven’t bought anything online before, you are missing out because online retailers like www.ibexmarket.com often give huge discounts! Remember to also calculate shipping into the total price before committing (better yet, find one that offers free shipping).
- Don’t Buy More than You Need – Never fall for those offers that seem like a bargain but need you to buy additional products. If you need only one, never go for the “buy one get one free” offers!
- Clip Coupons – Go out of your way to find coupons. It might be a hassle but it is time well spent!
- Find Alternatives – When a similar product goes on sale, try to see if the savings is worth the trade-off. Sometimes, the product on sale might be selling for less and be even better than the one you were going to get!
- Gift Receipts – Always ask for one just in case!
- Get the Items Shipped ASAP – It’s the holiday season so shipping may take longer than usual. Remember to get everything shipped to you in ample time or you might not have a gift to give during Christmas!
- Beware of Your Belongings – Holiday shopping usually means long lineups and crowded malls. Watch your belongings and be careful!
- Try Using Only Cash – If you know that you are those people who can’t control yourself, use cash! Having a limited supply of funds will surely help tone down the spending!
- Credit Cards Might Be Good Also – If you use your credit card, find one that has the best reward program for retail goods!
- Reward Points – Remember your reward points? Maybe you can use some of it to get some gift cards this year to buy gifts!
- An Activity Could Be Worth Even More – Gifts are not just tied to an item! It could be a favor, an event or an experience so use your imagination!
- Taking the Experience a Step Further – Perhaps it makes more sense for you and your friend to go out on a dinner or trip together instead of buying each other a gift! It could be more fun and more financially sensible at the same time!
- Don’t Buy Extended Warranty – Instead, buy the product with a credit card that offers double the warranty period.
Enter Promo Code PW1104A at checkout to receive your discount. Click below:
