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By Beverly Clarke

Hybrid vehicles are the kind of automobiles that cause less or no environment pollution. In practicality, it is absolutely impossible to run an automobile without some kind of pollutant emission. At least, the technological developments so far cannot guarantee such a vehicle, but there are several methods to reduce the level of pollutant that is emitted.

Currently, the worst culprits of environmental pollution among vehicles are automobiles that run on fossil fuels such as petrol, diesel, and gas. That means more than 90% of these at present, are serious offenders of environmental protection. Among the environmental problems, air pollution and damaging effects of the Ozone Layer are the most serious. There have been concerted efforts from various sectors – such as automobile manufacturers, scientists, and governmental regulators – to reduce the green house gas emission from vehicles that run on fossil fuels.

The efforts have been producing good results. Newer models invariably have better emission controls. However, the overall level of green house gas emission has been increasing. The major reason for this is the exponential increase in the number of these cars in use. Over the last decade, the sale of automobiles has considerably increased – not just in the developed countries like the United States and Japan, but also in developing nations like China and India.

Read more information about Decorated Vehicles click here. Therefore, just reducing the green house gas emission of cars that run on fossil fuels is not sufficient for reducing the level of environmental damage. This realization paved the way for the creation of several types of green vehicles. Examples of such environmentally friendly cars are electric, solar-powered, and those that use hydrogen fuel. Despite the obvious advantages to environmental protection, there are some negative aspects for them. The performance of hybrid cars at present does not compare well to that of cars powered by conventional fuels such as petrol, diesel, or gas. As a result, a kind of hybrid was born. This type of car can run on both conventional fuels and the non-conventional fuel types. Most of the major automobile companies in the world produce the hybrid type green vehicle.

The most commonly used non-conventional fuel is electricity. The market share of battery-powered cars has been expanding steadily. The level of green house gas emission is substantially lower for electric cars. However, in terms of performance, such as acceleration in high speed, these green vehicles pale in comparison with those that use fossil fuels. Therefore, the hybrids that run both on electricity and conventional fuels provide a compromise option between environmental considerations and the desire for better performance.

By Rajesh Mohan

Co – education is the recent system of education where girls sit and study along with boys in same classes and in a common college. This system was not popular in ancient schools and colleges. At that time, it was not considered appropriate to allow boys and girls study together in same institutions. Rather, boys and girls were sent to separate schools and colleges. Social mixing of boys and girls was not allowed. This was considered essential to maintain the purity of character in them.

Actually the elders of each family consider many disadvantages in co – education and that’s why they are against sending their children or grand – children to such schools and colleges. They think that co – education makes their children absent – minded. The children become indisciplined and the whole atmosphere of the schools and colleges gets polluted.

The boys try all sorts of motions, gestures and songs to attract the attention of the girls. Even the girls tempt the boys for all sorts of indiscipline. Boys do not come for the teachers in the class. They keep combing their hair off and on and waster their time. The boys and girls all try to show themselves as heroes and heroines respectively and are mostly running to cinemas to see latest movies. The educational institutions start presenting a look of fashion parades. All sorts of unsocial and undesireable habits are developed and students forget to listen to their elders or teachers. In such an atmosphere, one cannot expect a good quality character.

Co – education is considered better from social point of view in spite of its various defects as explained above. Such a system of education gives an opportunity to understand each other’s problems and, therefore, can co-operate better in achievement of respective goals. A healthy spirit of working and competing is created by co – education. The boys try to keep a polite and gentle character so as to give a good impression to their girls class – fellows. During their long period of education, they can better understand each other’s psychology and even can choose their life partners from among their class – fellows. In this way, problem of parents to select a suitable match for their children is also solved. The boy and girl educated together make the best match due to their broad attitude towards life and closer understanding of each other’s habits and manners of living, likes and dislikes.

Co – education provides economical and advanced education to girl students. This is because same amount of money is invested to upgrade or provide better equipments and infrastructure in schools and colleges. Otherwise, funds would get diverted for constructing separate schools and colleges for girls. Further, in a free democratic country like India, we cannot deny education to girls along with boys, the girls must also be equally educated. However, where girls students take interest in greater numbers towards studies, there, special separate institutions can be established to impart education of each level and in various professions. Read more here about university and college girls.

Digital PhotographyWhether you are a seasoned photographer or a novice, or just someone who want to do photography as a hobby, the first thing you need to be clear on is, what exactly is digital photography?

Digital photography is the use of a digital camera to capture; take an image that can be viewed on a computer screen. The main benefits of digital photography are:

You can see the result of your work right away
You can delete unwanted photographs instantly
You can easily and cheaply edit your photographs by improving the tone, retouching some areas, adding background etc.
Digital photographs can be send instantly via email
Except for batteries you do not need to constantly buy items to use in digital photography such as films.

Next you will need to decide on the type of digital camera to buy. This will of course depend on the following factors:

How much money you can spend
What is your goal, that is, why do you need to take digital pictures: business, hobby, personal
What functionality do you want with your camera

There are two basic types of digital camera, the DSLR-Digital Single Lens Reflex- and automatic. If you are really serious about digital photography you will want to get yourself a DSLR since this type of camera gives you more control.

In making a decision on type of digital camera also explore the types of storage media available and see which one may be best for you. The two most popular storage media for digital camera are flashcards -digital film- and microdrives. The storage media in a digital camera is really important; it is what holds the pictures. It is important to read reviews and talk to other users of digital cameras to determine the type of memory, and the capacity of the memory -how much images can it hold- you will need. I recommend flash cards since they have no moving parts and are more reliable.

After you have decided on the type of digital camera to purchase, you must now look at the other types of equipment you need to make a success of digital photography. A good personal computer and printer is needed, especially if you do not wish to pay to have your pictures printed elsewhere.

Your computer is important because this is where you will download, store, edit, review and any number of other things to your photographs. If you are using an older computer, make sure your operating system is compatible with the camera and software you will be using.

If you plan to do this professionally, you will also need to invest in software to help you get the most out of your digital photographs. Software used by professional digital photographers include Adobe Photoshop and ImageReady.

The Ilichi Lee Blog Network is having a review-writing contest

Ichi Lee is the founder and president, University of Brain Education, Mok-Cheon, Korea, established in 2002. He is also the founder and president, Korea Institute of Brain Science, Seoul, an international research organization that develops and investigates brain methods of health maintenance and peace education.

The latest result of Ilchi Lee’s fruitful research was BEST, Brain Education System Training, aimed to help people to become the masters of their own brains and ultimately, of their lives.

The teachings of Ilchi  do emphasize the fact that the children are to be trained in yoga, martial arts, meditation in order to unleash their productivity from their childhood.Lee teaches that while the brain is the primary focus of his training methods, the health of the physical body as a whole is of primary concern in the initial phase of training (Brain Sensitizing). Exercises and practices followed during this phase are heavily influenced by the notion of ki energy as it is understood in Traditional Korean medicine. This typically includes a variety of exercises that are said to be designed to open up the energy meridian system of the body. and work to open up the body’s seven major energy centers, known as chakras.

The design of IlchiLee.net is elegant, easy on the eyes and provides a refreshing experience. The design is very calming with a beautiful sea view to greet visitors to the blog.

The information and articles you’ll find at IlchiLee.net are thought-provoking and interesting.

Digital PhotographyIf you haven’t taken your first digital photograph, or even heard of digital photography, then I really must congratulate you. You are truly a contradiction. Since your reading this article, you must be browsing the web, yet you still haven’t heard of digital cameras. Apart from the computer itself, and perhaps the cell phone, photography has been more revitalized than practically any other industry in the digital universe. During it’s early introduction, it was reviled by professional photographers, as being a sub par and mediocre technology. In other words, the picture quality was pathetic. However, Like any high tech toy these days, it has matured at an alarming rate, and the cries of mediocrity have been gagged and silenced. Everyone, even a multitude of pros engage in the sinful passion that is digital photography.

Digital Delights vs Digital Dystopia

Not to say that aren’t a cornucopia of complications to overcome in this new digital wonderland. And hardly the least of these is the managing of the overflow of new pictures you now own copyrights to. It seems that being cheap little buggers, is a genetic trait of most human beings. Way back in the old days, when taking pictures actually meant buying real film with real cash, we were very judicious in what pictures we took. Now that digital photography allows us to endlessly reuse those overworked little bits on our memory sticks, we click, snap and shoot every cute, furry, adorable thing that comes into range. Once are hard drives are crammed with a gazillion of these images ranging from dubious to heirloom quality we really start to worry. What happens if our hard drive makes that klunk-grind-klunk-kratch sound that next time we boot up our pc? Or . . . however will we find that one really priceless picture we’re looking for, in that wasteland of hopefully-forgotten digital visions? Gotta have backups folks. And really you must get more organized. It’s that simple. And hey, while your at it, dump that crappy and boring old screen saver of flying toasters, and crappy windows logos, for your own maniacal barge sized load of digital pictures on your hard drive. Why not at least view your images on your own pc periodically before your hard drive commits digital Hari-Kari.

Revenge is the Ultimate Panacea

Of course there are many more creatively satisfying tactics for dealing with all this digital photography abundance. All those free picture sharing sites that allow us to inflict our photographic genius on other unsuspecting travelers of the net. You upload your pictures in varying sizes, and mediums of presentation. Yes, the already tortured world really needs to see a slideshow of my 4 year olds magnificently produced, directed and choreographed version of the Teddy Bear Picnic. As harmless as this strategy may seem, it’s effectiveness is not ruthlessly devoid of passion. Of course why just settle for a inner feeling of joy, when you can turn all those pictures into hard cash. Start a picture blog, and surround your beautiful works of sublime art with greed driven capitalistic advertisements. Nothing like that oh so moving picture of junior playing with his very first barf, and a caption of “Ads by Gaaaaaaagle” eloquently underneath. I’m sure once you put a little thought into it, you can come up with your own wonderful form of digital dysentery. Best of luck, I’ll be watching for you.

Digital PhotographyDigital photography has a lot of advantages over film photography in many areas, but one of the most useful is the final output of the image itself. With film cameras you had to rely on the processing lab to make any general adjustments needed to your photos to make them appear their best, but with digital photos you as the photographer have all the tools you need to enhance and edit your own photos right at home.

Of course, how much editing you do to your photos before printing is entirely up to you and there are all kinds of preferences on photo editing from those that do almost no editing at all, to those who like to make major adjustments to almost every photo that they take. And there is plenty of middle ground in between those two extremes as well.

Quite often, many basic editing tasks can be done in the camera itself after the picture is taken including some simple cropping, removing red eye from flash photos, and rotation from landscape to portrait and vice versa. For many people, this is about all that they require anyway before printing out their snapshots, and this keeps things very easy and simple.

But to start to realize the potential that digital photography puts in the hands of the average person, a photo editing software program will be needed where you upload your photos from the camera to your computer and then open them in the program. You can then begin to perform all kinds of editing tasks including more advanced cropping, change the file size or format, adjust color saturation, contrast and brightness, and apply special effects.

There are several good free digital photo editing software programs available for download that can fit the bill for most common photo editing needs. All you have to do is perform a search for “free photo editing software” and you should have plenty of results to choose from.

But there are two programs for sale that seem to meet the needs of most average photographers whether novices or even serious hobbyists, and they are Adobe Photoshop Elements and Corel Paint Shop Pro 9. Both of these programs are very highly rated in most independent and consumer reviews as being very easy to learn and use, while also handling most any editing task that the average photographer could need.

For even more high end photo editing the full Adobe PhotoShop program will provide enough editing power to meet the needs and expectations of even the most discriminating photographers, but expect to pay quite a bit more for the added power and capability.

Digital PhotographyDigital photography brings with it a whole new set of terms and abbreviations that requires getting used to if you’ve been using film cameras in the past. Many of the terms are totally unique to digital cameras and photography, and if you don’t understand them there is a good chance that you won’t be able to get the equipment that you really need for taking digital photographs. So let’s review some of the most important digital photography terms to help you understand them.

* Pixel – everything in digital photography actually begins with the pixel. Simply put, it is the very smallest part of a digitized image. You can think of it as a.dot that when combined with lots of other dots around it, makes up an entire photo image

* Resolution – this usually has to do with the total number of pixels in a photograph, and the higher the resolution, generally the sharper and better quality the picture is.

* Megapixel – this simply stands for one million pixels. The more pixels that make up a photograph, the higher the resolution and better quality the image will be. So a digital camera that takes a one megapixel image will usually not have anywhere near the image quality of a camera that takes a four or five megapixel image. And the differences become even greater when the photograph is enlarged.

* DPI – this stands for dots per inch and often applies to printers or monitors. For instance, most laser printers have a resolution of around 300 dpi, whereas most monitors display only 72 dpi. Photo quality inkjet printers usually come in at least 1200 dpi.

* Megabyte – this stands for an amount of computer memory that is somewhere around one million bytes of file storage.

* JPEG – this acronym stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is now a recognized format for the storage of images is in most digital cameras.The JPEG format allows for quite a bit of image and file compression, making files that are in this format much easier to display on the internet and send to others by e-mail. However, the kind of image compression that is used by the JPEG format can also cause some loss of image quality and so is not suitable for high quality prints.

* Memory card – all digital cameras have to store the digital files on some kind of removable media, and most often it involves the use of a small memory card. These cards come in various sizes depending on how much storage space they have available. A few digital cameras are also able to store files directly on CDs instead.

* LCD – this stands for Liquid Crystal Display, and these are usually found on most digital cameras to help the photographer preview the scene before taking the photograph, and then review that image later on after the photo was taken.

Digital PhotographyYou do not know when you would like to revisit those places where you have been some time ago or you don’t know when you might want to recall some beautiful moments of your life. In these cases what you want is those places and moments in safe condition in your camera. Now keeping memories safe is not a difficult proposition if you are a photographer. These days quite a huge varieties of cameras have been launched in the market and among them digital cameras are highly popular. A digital camera ensures that you take really stunning photographs and it may last long. Since these images can remain in safe condition for a long period in your PCs and also they are easy to print, so they have become very popular.

A digital camera is also known as Digicam. The specialty of this camera is that it can take video or still photographs, or both, digitally. It can do this because it records images on a light-sensitive sensor. Many people want to capture special moving moments also and in those cases a digital camera is serving this purpose also. Many compact digital still cameras can record sound and moving video along with still photograph.

You can guess their popularity by the fact that in the Western market, digital cameras outsell their 35 and 160 mm film counterparts. This is because any such camera can do things a film camera cannot. It displays images on a screen immediately after they are recorded. It stores thousands of images on a single small memory device.

These days a digital camera is seen in many forms. These are incorporated into devices like PDAs and mobile phones and sometimes to vehicles also. A good variety of such camera is available in the market. If you want to choose the best one among a lot of others then the right place to shop for them is online shops. On these shops you can compare a lot of items and choose what you want. Some websites offer great deals also.

Digital PhotographyOne thing I discovered during my experience with digital photography after 20 years of shooting film, and I teach this point in all the many seminars that I’ve put on to hundreds of other full-time pros, is that digital photography is very well suited for the portrait photographer. So why are we the last to jump on the band wagon? Many commercial shooters have known about and mastered the use of digital in their business’s for far longer than the portrait photographer.

My guess is that we’re afraid. Afraid of the learning curve and afraid that the quality just isn’t there unless we spend an ungodly amount of our hard earned cash on some scary looking gigantic array of confusing and awkward, let alone “how am I going to learn how to use this stuff” equipment.

Truth is, you can easily get away with as little as a 3.5 megapixel camera. I know, I used my Canon D30 for the first eight months of my digital journey. That camera created more memories, more sales and more wall portraits that I ever thought imaginable.

Whoa, wait a minute you say, wall hangings? Can’t be!! When I put on my seminars I routinely display many large wall samples for all to see, with some of the older samples I created with the 3.5 megapixel camera; and the reaction I get is usually disbelief.

Listen. The quality is there. I’ve proven it over and over and I know anyone can replicate the same results. Yes, even with a 3.5 megapixel camera.

You’ve just got be careful, that’s all. We have a collection of images at our studio, even large wall hangings captured with our dinky little D30, and they are “jaw-dropping” stunning. I know other photographers who have had amazing results as well. I know that it works and file size is secondary.

There are many reasons, but I’ll work with the main list. Here they are:

*Quality. The quality of images captured with a high quality lens, properly exposed and well posed is more than enough, even if you shoot JPEGS. Yes, JPEGS. Over 90% of the more than 30-40,000 exposures I put through my camera every year is shot in JPEG mode. Why? Why would anyone in their right mind shoot in such a “low quality” mode? The answer is simple: It works.

I like to compare JPEG’s to shooting with portrait film. It is slightly softer (although not even noticeable to the human eye) and muted, ideal for skin tones, right? Besides, we slap on “softar” filters in front of these outrageously expensive lenses and degrade the image even more. Don’t bother. Shoot with a good lens, in JPEG mode, expose properly, pose and create as usual, and it will all come together. Add any effects later.

Look at what else portrait photographers have been doing to their finished images besides purposely degrading the image with “softars”. We retouch the surface of the print, sometimes extensively. We canvas mount. Add texture sprays.Oils. Linen laminates…on and on.

My point is simple. Portrait photographers do not need to create the very sharpest, highest resolution images available. If they have in the past, they’ve always degraded the image through these other means. It’s kind of ironic don’t you think? You can still shoot in RAW mode if you wish, but it isn’t really needed.

If we needed the absolute highest quality image at capture we would have all been shooting with Kodachrome 64 or Velvia on a 4″x5 camera. But we don’t. JPEGs work. I have many 30″ prints, and even a 70″ print, that was captured in JPEG. And they look amazing. Your can too.

*Control. People want their photos fast. We live in a drive-through world and minutes count. In our studio we create a slide presentation for our sessions and we show them to the clients within 20 minutes of every shoot. Clients love it. They get to see the results instantly. If you fight this you’re fighting basic human nature. We want, want, want, and want to see it sooner than later. Sales go up, the client is already in the studio ready to see the images, and ready to spend. Their is ample evidence that when you show the images sooner, and you create large projected images, which is a cinch with digital, sales go up. Digital gives the portrait photographer more control over the sales process, and ultimately it means more profits.

*Retouching. Let’s face it, people want to look good. What used to take hours and whole lot of aggravation with spray booths, smelly and dangerous lacquers, is now possible with absolute ease. Even when I decided to farm out all my retouching because I had had enough, it still took weeks or months, and huge retouching bills.

Not to mention the loss of control I had over the retouching aspects. It was up to the subjective interpretation of the retouching artist to enhance the images the way I wanted them retouched. Now, with a few basic skills, and all those years of retouching experience all transferred over to the new darkroom, my computer, I can easily retouch to any degree I like. In mere minutes. With absolute astounding results. This ultimately translates to satisfying a basic need that needs to satisfied in our clients, their vanity. They want to look good, and they want it fast.

*Innovation. I could go on for days when it comes to what new products, ideas, services, sales processes, packages, etc, etc…I have been able to create because of digital photography.

Suffice it to say for now that I am excited and alive again with passion about my photography and about the possibilities. When you apply the power of digital, and get a handle on it in your workflow, you can create new and exciting products like never before.

I’ve seen it and experience it every week in our busy little small-city studio. The proof ultimately boils down to net profits, doesn’t it?

After all, we are in business first, and creative artists second, right? Right? Are you with me on this one? We are in business to make money and survive. We need new and exciting angles, ways to stay afloat, so we can pay our bills, keep the bankers happy and provide for our families. No one can predict will total accuracy how digital photography will ultimately evolve, but my betting dollar is with it all the way. I’m not taking any chances.

Anyone remember when colour film and paper was introduced as a mainstream commodity? I don’t, I was just a wee lad, but I heard stories about the many studio owners closing their doors and packing it in because they didn’t want to keep up with the demand and latest craze that colour film and colour paper had created. Dinosaurs. Every last one of them. Their loss, all because of a thick head and mis-guided egos. Don’t be a dinosaur.

My biggest discovery: Who the true expert is!

Standing near a path, hedge, fence or wall which stretches away into the distance will carry the eye from the foreground through to the distance, giving the picture the extra dimension of depth.

Digital Photography tips
Rivers and streams, stretching into the distance, can be used to serve the same function with the added advantage of sparkling with light and reflecting a blue sky. Whether the photograph is framed to give a vertical picture (portrait format) or horizontal picture (landscape format) will always be dictated by purely visual considerations.

Just what is visually most effective in any particular situation will determine whether we should take a landscape or portrait format photograph. Street scenes are another popular subject in this category. Streets in villages, old market towns or the endless variety of town scenes in other countries provide a continuous source of interest.

Looking down a street automatically gives the picture a certain depth. Finding a suitable item for the foreground can help this along.

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