Saturday, October 19, 2013

Hitting


Hitting & Bunting for a Home Run


Playing the best game also means taking the best swings at the ball. If you want to make sure that you hit the ball exactly like you envision every time, then you can begin by understanding some basic techniques about how to use the bat properly. By putting techniques into full swing, you will have the ability to hit a home run every time.


When you go up to swing, you will want to make sure that your preparation is in place and exactly how you want it to give you the best abilities to hit the ball. You will want to move up to the batting area and stand with one foot in front of the plate, and the other slightly back. This will give you leverage when you are moving in to swing the ball. You can also stand with your feet hip width apart in order to make it more comfortable. You will also want to slightly bend your knees in order to help with the leverage that you need to hit the ball.


From here, you will want to align the bat with your hands in order to give you the control that you need. One hand should be directly above the other towards the end of the bat. Your knuckles will need to be aligned in order to hit the ball more directly. When you are holding the bat, you should make sure that you don't hold it too tightly, or too loose, as this will make you loose control of what you are hitting. When you are holding the bat, it should be easy for you to roll both of your wrists in preparation to hit the ball.


After you have adjusted everything in order to hit the ball, you can work on the different techniques for hitting and controlling the ball. The first step to this is the stride. When you stride, your front foot should go forward about six inches and your hands will move away from the foot. You can also stride by stepping up or down in the same place, which will allow you to pivot exactly like you want to.


The next step is for the batter to swing. At a basic level, there are about four different ways to swing the bat. These will vary according to the height that you use to hit the ball. The bat will end up either at knee level, waist level, a move up or a move down. Over time, you will be able to prepare which type of swing you use according to how the ball is being pitched. No matter what type of swing you are using, you want to make sure that your arms are strong and sturdy and that you bat all the way through, meaning the bat goes all the way around, even after you have hit the ball. Of course, if you are bunting the ball, you won't have to swing the bat all the way around, but will instead pivot in order to keep the ball in the area that you want it.


By understanding how to prepare and maneuver yourself, you will have the ability to hit a home run every time. You can begin to learn to hit and bunt balls by practicing various swings and making sure that you are positioned exactly like you want. This will give you the ability to position for every swing.


 



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Hold the caddy


Hold the Caddy!


In the course of your career as a golfer, whether professional, semi-professional or even on the amateur level you are sure to encounter other players who have a caddy and want one for yourself. But do you really need a caddy, or is this something that you can avoid? Many players choose to forgo a caddy, but others always insist upon having a caddy available whenever they play. The choice is ultimately yours, but in order to make the best decision possible you need to have as much information available as possible to help you decide effectively.


While playing on a normal basis it is typically unnecessary to employ a caddy, however if you are playing on a professional or even a semi-professional basis you are going to need a caddy. In addition, there are times when you may decide to enter a competition and it is at these times when a caddy is necessary as well. If you are looking at the duties that a caddy should perform there are quite a few typically. The simplest are easy for a golfer to handle themselves if necessary while some of the tasks are much harder to do and require a much greater amount of skill.


Some of the basic duties that a caddy should perform including cleaning the golf balls that are used as well as the clubs, obtaining the yardage, fixing and replacing divots, taking care to carefully remove the flagstick, and even raking the bunkers as well as sand traps. If you have a highly skilled caddy, you should also look to them to handle reading the greens for you, helping you choose the appropriate club, and also trying to keep track of any salts so that you can play the best game possible.


There are typically four levels of caddys with each level having different skill levels. The lowest level is the B level caddys these are typically the highly inexperienced caddies, however they are much cheaper price wise and are not as expensive to employ. They are only allowed to carry a single bag and are generally what you will find on most golf courses. The next level up is the A level caddy. This is the caddy that is allowed to carry two bags, however while they have more skills they are still not the ultimate caddy to use. You may find A level caddies when there are tournaments or competitions going on at a local golf course.


Professionals are only going to use an Honor or a Pro caddy. Both of these levels are permitted to carry two bags and they are considered the top caddies. A Pro caddy is the top of the line and is typically, what most professionals will employ. On occasions, there will be times when an honor caddy is used instead. The primary reason that professional golfers use Pro and Honor caddies is simply because they tend to have a much better understanding of all of the rules for the game.


As you can imagine the job of a caddy is not always considered easy. There are so many things that must be done, as well as circumstances that should be taken into consideration in order to make the best decision possible in terms of club selection and appropriate knowledge of the rules. In many professional circumstances, a golf player can be penalized if their caddy makes a mistake. This means it is very important to ensure that you are working with a caddy who has the knowledge to ensure that you are following all of the rules, as well as they are following all of the rules.


If you are just starting out playing golf there is no reason to insist upon using a caddy. However, if you are considering playing a competition or even at a high-end golf course you can expect to have a caddy for the game. The pay that you are required to pay for the caddy will vary based upon the level of the caddy as well as the golf course that you are playing at. Checking with the staff at the course will allow you to make appropriate pay decisions in the event that you do decide to hire a caddy.


PPPPP (word count 709)


 



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Hold onto your hats wagerweb.com posts odds on


Hold Onto Your Hats - WagerWeb.com Posts Odds on Tropical Storms and Hurricanes


San Jose, Costa Rica May 3, 2006 WagerWeb.com, one of the Internets largest betting sites known for its offering of odds for the hottest issues surrounding the news media (especially sports), posted odds today on the likelihood that tropical storms and hurricanes will blow into the country with the same, less or greater force than last year. Predictions by experts call for storms hitting landfall in the U.S. to be almost 50 percent greater than previous years. High winds and torrential rainfall took a heavy toll in 2005.
     
Last years hurricanes and storms hit the country with a one two punch that crippled the Eastern half of the country, says Dave Johnson, CEO of WagerWeb.com. This year could be worse, so we figured that posting odds would get people out of their chairs into the home stores buying water, lumber and flashlights.


The odds ask bettors to predict wind speed and numbers of storms as follows (110 means 11 bet wins 10):


Total Number of Atlantic Tropical StormsHurricanes
Over 21.5      ..-110
Under 21.5      ..-110

Total Number of Hurricanes (Wind Speed at least 74 mph)
Over 10.5      ..-110
Under 10.5      ..-110

Will there be a Category 5 Hurricane (155+ mph winds)?
Yes           ..-110
No           ..-110


Note: National Weather Service statisticsclassification for 2006 will be used for grading purposes. Post-season re-analysis will not be counted towards wagers made on this release.


 


 



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History photoshop


History - Photoshop


Adobe Photoshop is the market leader in photo editing software. Originally designed by John and Thomas Knoll in 1987 for the Macintosh, the program has grown into the industry standard for computer graphics today. Many of the most well-known features of graphics programs in use today were originally pioneered by the Photoshop system.


The first full release of Photoshop was under the Knoll Software name, before they completed their partnership with Adobe. The first edition of Photoshop, including the manual, fit on an 800k floppy disk with room left over. The Macintosh computer was the only place you could run Photoshop, from the first release in 1990 until version 2.5 was finally released for the PC world in 1992.


One of the real power features of Photoshop has been modular design. The programmers wanted to be able to make changes without altering the core engine, and along the way, they opened the ability to create filters and add-on modu0les that greatly expanded the power of the program.


Photoshop continued to add new features and power over the years. Layers were added to the program in 1994. Macros and adjustment layers arrived in 1996. 1998 saw the invention of the Magnetic Lasso and the addition of the History palette, which allowed for undoing several actions, not just one. The Healing Brush, a powerful cloning tool, was added to the lineup in 2002, as well as the first support for the RAW format.


Version CS2, released in 2005, has a variety of new feature, including red-eye correction, lens correction, HDR support, and the latest revision of support for the RAW format.


Photoshop is so well known that it's name became a verb, much like Google has done. However, since Adobe would like to protect the copyright on Photoshop, many websites have slightly changed the phrase to "photochop" instead.


 



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History of headphones


History of Headphones


Headphones have changed a lot over the years. One hundred years ago they were just single earpiece that was held tight against one ear and was the only way to listen to transmitted sound.


This was before the great invention of the amplifier. Headphones were used in radio stations and not for sale to the public.


Things have changed and there is just about no one out there that has not heard of headphones. They have increased in popularity along with mobile phones, MP3 players and Ipods.


The most popular used wires to connect the headpiece to the equipment and then did not let the consumer move around with a limited range. Meaning that you could only go as far as the wire would reach.


The invention of the wireless headphones was a great way for people to do what they need to do while listening to what they wanted.


The Blue tooth invention has also given the consumer great freedom. The headset hooks on to the sound by being transmitted from up to ten meters away.


Most people carry the transmitter, known as a mobile phone with radio or MP3 player; the distance is not a real problem.


Think about being able to move around and do what you want in your house or office plus listening to your favorite music without interrupting others.


The best part about the headsets of today is that you will get great sound. You will not have outside noise bothering you at all.


You are in a great world of technology because you can listen to music while running or just sitting around your bedroom.


 


 



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History of photo faking


History of Photo Faking


Almost as soon as the first photographs came out of cameras, people were using them to manipulate images.


Take, for example, the very famous portrait of Abraham Lincoln, standing with one hand on his desk. Analysis in the 20th century showed that his mole was on the wrong side of his face, and further research turned up a picture of North Carolina Congressman John Calhoun in exactly the same pose. Someone in the 1860s had taken Lincoln's face and pasted it onto Calhoun's body, and the resulting fake photo was spread all across the Union.


Through the Civil War, photo staging was much more common than photo editing. It was very difficult to get an "action" shot because of the long exposure times, so war photographers would pose their shots.


Later, through the early twentieth century, photo postcards showing monstrous fish, grasshoppers, and crops were very famous, and nearly all of them were made by merging two shots into the same frame. As the Dust Bowl ruined crops, the postcards of apples the size of watermelons and corn cobs as big as fireplace logs showed a very dark humor--almost a sick joke.


Josef Stalin made photo editing famous, as those who fell out of favor simply "ceased to exist." There are numerous examples of pictures where people standing beside him have simply been painted out and forgotten.


Even magazines and newspapers today are not immune. One magazine over-darkened OJ Simpson's mug shot for it's cover, making him appear much darker and more menacing than he was in real life. And a number of photojournalists were caught using Photoshop tools on their photos to either merge two scenes into one or increase the smoke and battle damage far beyond what was really there.


Photo faking goes beyond simply posing a scene, because it's a blatant attempt to lie to the viewer.


 



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History of solar energy


History Of Solar Energy


When people talk about solar energy, a lot of people think of certain solar energy sources that are pretty common to them, such as wood, and even dried animal droppings. Aside from these possible sources of solar energy, people also associate the concept of solar energy as one of the possible causes for global warming.


However, there are still a lot of things that people do not know or fully understand about solar energy just yet, like what it is exactly, and how to use it to its utmost potential. In order for you to fully understand more about solar and sustainable energy, and what the future holds for it, you need to learn more about the history of solar energy. This article will give you a chance to delve in deeper into solar energys fascinating history.


Historical Role Of Solar Energy


One of the more common and more popular roles that the sun, or solar energy, played during those ancient times is that of a force that is able to sustain life based on its ability to give off renewable energy. This is probably the main reason as to why the people during those times, especially in native South and North America, as well as in other parts of the world, worshipped the Sun.


Ancient Greece built temples devoted to worshipping their sun deities, namely, Helio and Apollo. Also, the Greeks use of solar energy were not limited to religious purposes, as they even used the solar energy system to incorporate passive solar design in the construction of their houses.


The Romans simply improved the Greeks design and also incorporated windows into their structures, allowing them to be able to trap more solar heat. This actually played a role in their ability to produce a good growing condition for plants.


Solar Hot Water Heater Prototype


Unknown to a lot of people, but the original prototype for solar hot water heaters is actually a result of do-it-yourself projects of people in their hopes to be able to boil water, and keeping the water hot for a longer period of time. Scientists during the 18th century were able to discover that covering a box with a glass top while heating it would actually get the water to reach boiling temperature. But it wasnt until someone tried to separate the solar heat collector with the water tank that the first prototype for solar hot water heaters was created.


Discovery Of Solar Energy Cells


Solar energy cells, also known as PV cells, are actually created when three Americans discovered that building transistors with silicon. This was during the 1950s. PV cells werent actually an affordable solar energy source back then, however, due to its practical use in the satellite industry, the solar energy cell industry became sustainable. PV cells serve as the main fuel source for satellites out in space.


Solar Energy Today


Nowadays, in our more technologically advanced times, solar energy has now garnered a lot of renewed interest and focus, especially since solar energy has now become more affordable, and offers more use and application in our modern day needs. Solar energy cells are actually being used in a lot of businesses and homes today, and are even responsible for powering most household appliances, office equipments, and are even used to power cars.


 



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History of racing pigeons


History of Racing Pigeons


Today's generation is fortunate enough to experience the wonders of modern communications. Letters are electronically sent in a matter of seconds via the Internet, and real time conversation with colleagues from far away is now possible through Instant Messaging.


Ah, thanks to technology. Did you ever wonder what was it like a thousand years ago, when ancient man was still one with nature and empires were just about to be built? Tribes communicated with each other through pigeons, and the racing pigeons were animals that were revered by many because of their speed and agility.


The great civilizations from East to West made full use of the racing pigeons as messengers that deliver important messages coming from the emperors out to the most remote areas of their lands. As empires expand, more and more racing pigeons were sent out to the sky.


Because of their intelligence and swiftness, racing pigeons were regarded as prized possessions during the ancient times. Just imagine empires having only horses and caravans as their message-carrying tools. It would take weeks before messages can be exchanged from one area to another. Animals that travel by land are also more prone to danger, especially during warfare.


One famous incident in history where racing pigeons proved their worth was when Napoleon was defeated in Waterloo. No other person knew about this event right away, except for Count Rothschild, who got this first-hand information through a racing pigeon. This knowledge enabled Rothschild to make decisions way before other persons had a chance to meddle. He was able to collect a large amount of money to start up a banking dynasty.


Racing pigeons were not only used as an important military weapon. During the Industrial Revolution when people started to revolutionize their way of thinking, racing pigeons were used as news-carriers not to aid a war, but to keep people informed about the society. Julius Reuter, the founder of the world-renowned Reuter News Service, was actually established as a line of pigeon posts. Up to this day, the symbol for many European postal systems is a racing pigeon.


As years go by, a lot more people have taken to raising pigeons. Gone are the days when only the nobles can have them. Most of the time, these birds are seen with racing enthusiasts, with the birds as the main attraction.


The most successful modern racing pigeons were developed in Belgium. They were a result of a cross between the Cumulet and the Smerle. The Cumulet is often described as a pigeon that has the ability to fly high and can be gone out of sight from the sky. The Smerle, on the other hand, doesn't fly as high as the Cumulet, but is much faster and hastier.


It's no surprise that the Belgians were the ones who first enjoyed the hobby of pigeon racing. The first long distance pigeon race was in Belgium in 1818. After 1875, the hobby of pigeon racing gained popularity in England. In the 19th century, the popularity of the hobby reached the United States.


Today, the world continues to be enthralled with the speed, endurance and the intelligence of racing pigeons. Amidst the technology that we have today, these pigeons still surely know how to get our fancy.


 



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Monday, October 7, 2013

5 Easy Steps To Lower Your Auto Insurance Quote

It was not too long ago when contracts were made on a handshake and a promise. Individuals were not particularly concerned with things like insurance because they relied upon the goodwill of their neighbor to compensate them for wrongful damage. For a variety of reasons, including an increase in the speed and cost of auto wrecks, auto insurance soon became an important purchase for responsible individuals. Not long after, the federal government mandated that auto insurance be carried, at least minimally, by all car owners. The increase in the need for auto insurance over the last 10 years has led to increases in the complexity of insurance, while at the same time, amplifying the need to be more cost conscious in auto insurance purchases.


 Buying auto insurance today requires as much dexterity as buying the automobile itself. It is important to know the factors that an auto insurance company considers when offering quotes. This will allow you, as the consumer, to know what steps you need to take in order to qualify for a lower quote. The five easy steps to a lower insurance quote are:

 1. Portray yourself as a 'safe' candidate: Insurance companies are interested in managing risk. Consequently they offer drivers who are less likely to get into wrecks or at a minimum into wrecks of less severity, a lower insurance quote.


 -Maintain a clean driving record, free of traffic violations or accident claims.

 -Install anti-theft devices in your vehicle.

 -Attend a Drivers Safety Training program.

 -Buy a 'safe' vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety together collect information on safety related aspects of different vehicles. Buy an automobile that is officially designated as 'safe'.

 -Park your vehicle in a garage.


 2. Show your Credit worthiness: As a risk management entity, insurance companies are also worried about getting paid on time. If you can show yourself to be credit worthy, there is less risk of you not making your payments on time, thus warranting a lower rate.

 -Maintain a good credit score and clear up any errors on your credit.

 -Cut down on the total number of outstanding credit cards to 2 or 3.


 3. Practice Financial Wisdom: The way in which you structure and pay for your policy can lower the risk that an insurance company faces with respect to you as a customer. By taking steps to lower their risk, you receive a lower insurance quote and policy.


 -Buy an annual policy instead of a six monthly coverage to get you a lower rate that remains the same for a year.

 -Opt for automatic payment deductions from your bank account or your credit card to avoid getting charged for mail payments.

 -Increase your deductibles on comprehensive and collision policies to reduce on the rates.

 -Get loyalty discounts by buying your home and auto insurance from the same company.


 4. Assess your Insurance Needs accurately: This is obvious, the more coverage you get the more it will cost you. Add-ons are killers in the insurance business, strip your policy down to just the minimum of what you need.


 -If your vehicle is not used much or you have an old car with little market value, opt for minimum liability alone. It will cost you less.

 -After fulfilling the legal mandate on auto insurance, insure according to your needs alone.


 5. Other wise things that you can do: There are a number of other considerations that go into your insurance quote. Some of them are not reasonable steps to take, while others you can do with little effort which can translate into substantial savings.

 -If your car is used only for a particular purpose, make your agent aware of it, as this will limit the cost.

 -Students that make good grades are often eligible for a discount.

 -Give up smoking; it can help you get better quotes.

 -Change your occupation if you can help. A delivery boy carries a higher risk than a storekeeper.