25 tips for relationship success

What's the key to successful relationships? Here, Susan Quilliam reveals the simple things you need to know to deepen your partnership and make your relationship work

1. Without quality time, your relationship will not survive. Carve out at least half an hour a night, and at least one day a month when you the two of you spend time exclusively together.

2. You will both need security, comfort. A good relationship is built on compromise and a great deal of give and take on both sides.

3. Keep your dependence and independence in balance. Tell and show your partner how much you need him, but don't cling, as that can make your partner feel trapped.

4. Encourage him to listen to you, by showing appreciation when he does. By the same token, show interest when he talks to you. Be aware that most men aren't mentally programmed for conversation in the way women are. They need more silence and internal time.

5. Make him appreciate you. Don't wait for a spontaneous compliment, but say something good about yourself and ask for his agreement.

6. Teach him, preferably early in your relationship, exactly how to give you a fail-safe orgasm because it's unlikely he'll find out alone. If you don't yet know yourself, find out.

7. Learn to do the one thing that is most likely to restore good feeling in your relationship - giving your partner a genuine, loving and approving smile.

8.Often those subtle quirks that first attracted you to your partner can, with time, turn around and become toe-curlingly annoying habits. Learn to love him, warts and all.

9. Hidden resentments poison a relationship; so if something bothers you, say it. Remember that while men are wary of emotional conversations, they love to find solutions. Express your problem and then ask him to help you find the answer.

10. Learn that punishing your partner won't work. It may make you feel better to give him a hard time, but it will actually make him dig his heels in more. A better tactic is to reward the things you like and ignore what you don't like.

11. Money is the number one cause of couple conflict. For a relationship to work, you need to address your finances and work out a budget. You could also read Stop Fighting About Money by Corinne Sweet (Hodder & Stoughton,£6.99)

12. If the domestic work is not divided fairly between you, it will cause friction in your relationship. Make a list of the domestic tasks, talk it through with your partner and mobilise the whole family, your partner included, to share the work.

13. If you have children, involve your partner as much as possible with the childcare - even if you feel he's not as good as it at you are. It's important to present a united front to your children.

14. Sort out your sex life. The sex may ebb and flow over the years, but if sex starts going downhill, don't just accept it. As soon as you notice a slide, question why and then work at bringing the passion back.

15. Don't assume you won't be tempted to have an affair as almost everyone is. You need to learn to resist. If you do stray, don't feel it spells the end of your relationship. Most couples recover, particularly from a one-night-stand, and often find that unrooting the cause of the affair helps them to get even closer. So, you need to learn to resist. But don't think that an affair is the end of everything.

16. Remember that boredom typically covers up anger. If you feel bored with him, ask yourself what you're angry about.

17. Be aware that men generally feel overwhelmed by emotion more than women do. If he's angry or tearful, half an hour's 'unflooding' time to himself will help get his balance back and make him more able to interact positively with you.

18. Learn how to argue well. The trick is to never say anything that you wouldn't want to hear said to you. For extra help, read my book, Stop Arguing Start Talking (Vermilion, £6.99).

19. Research suggests you need five positive experiences to erase the memory of one negative experience. So give five kind words for each bitchy comment. Give five hugs for each cold shoulder.

20. Learn how to negotiate. Each of you states what you want, then both of you work together to find a way forward. Read, Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher (Arrow, £8.99).

21. Accept the things that won't change. Some characteristics about your partner are there for life - and you have to face that.

22. Learn to forgive. If you know you will never forgive your partner over something important, then give him - and yourself - a break and start again, with someone else.

23. Realise that the two of you will shift and change over the years. So, even if you think you understand him, or believe you have agreements sorted, check regularly - at least once a year - to make sure that neither of you has changed your mind.

24. Know when to leave. If your life aims are incompatible, there are heavy drugs or violence around, or if there is consistently more pain than pleasure, then walk before the relationship destroys you.

25. Don't think that going to counselling equals failure. It can turn a bad relationship around. It can turn an average relationship into a brilliant one. Contact Relate on 0845 456 1310 for more information.

Free Paid Surveys Online

Free Paid Surveys Online

Welcome to Yellowsurveys.com, a totally dedicated and 100% free directory of over 900 websites offering paid surveys in The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and most other countries around the world. Let’s face it everyone could use some extra cash, and filling in online surveys is a simple way to get paid for your valuable opinions. Paid surveys are easy to fill in, over the Internet at any time of the day or night. Even the busiest of people can fill in a paid market research survey in a few moments and get paid for it. At Yellowsurveys.com we direct you to the most reputable organisations willing to pay you for your opinions. You’ll play a valuable role in improving products and having your say, just by participating in paid surveys over the web.
Get Paid for Participating in Paid Surveys

Many companies whether they are located in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or internationally look for consumer opinions on their products and services and rely on the unbiased opinions given in online surveys. Join some of the many paid surveys and focus groups listed on Yellowsurveys.com, and submit your personal preferences to a wide range of global companies.
Rewards, Get Paid to Fill in Online Surveys

When you participate in a paid survey, you’ll be carefully screened, to see whether you match the needs of the company conducting the research. It’s important to be honest and provide comprehensive information about yourself and your life style so that you can be reimbursed for your participation. Filling in paid surveys is not about making up answers – it’s about your honest response to a product or service. Companies look for honest feedback, so be considerate and honest as you fill in these surveys.
Valuable Customer Opinion

With companies spending more and more of their budgets on advertising, your opinion is becoming extremely valuable. Participating in paid surveys means that companies can gauge your immediate response to their new products or marketing initiatives. Paid surveys can be filled in online over the Internet in the comfort of your own home or work place, so that you can register and participate at a time convenient to you.
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Home Business Ideas

What can YOU do working from home

We'll take it you've already tried the various work from home ads, considered envelope stuffing, telephone answering services etc., and have had your baptism of fire sending off cheques for £15, or £50, to some millionaire who's promised to share his secrets with you.

And you've figured that none of that works. Well, you've come to the one place on the net that won't ask you for a penny to explain how you can make a million.

If you belong to the generation that does not believe that the world owes you a living, and you're willing to work for your daily bread, why work for somebody else? Here's a collection of ideas of what you can do at home working for YOU - start your own business!

1. Running a website or a web based business. No! You do not need to be an expert in anything web related. You don't even need to know a lot about computers or how to build/manage websites. The trick is to identify what exactly you are good at, what you like doing, and open your mind to ways you can make money out of it. Or find someone who's already done it and buy him out. Buying a website.

2. Writing articles for other websites. Again, no special skills required. You don't need to be a published author, you don't even need to be good at writing! You can be stumped by spelling, perplexed by punctuations, and absolutely grim at Grammar but you can still make a living by writing (Yes, it's not all articles. There's demand for things like putting together useful resources, browsing through various websites in a particular niche and compiling a list of the best ones, collecting phone numbers off various sites in a particular industry and building a directory, and various other opportunities that don't require a PhD in English Lit).

3. Buying and selling products you are familiar with on auction websites like eBay and QXL - from doll houses to motorcycle spares.

4. Converting your hobbies or skills into a business from home (which may or may not use the internet). Some examples:

- Genealogy

- Pet Grooming/Minding

- Pottery/Painting/Other Craft Work/Teaching Craft Classes

- Knitting, Needlework, Alteration Services

- Baking/Cooking/Teaching Cooking

- Recording/Editing/Archiving of Photos/Music/Video

- Child Care, Teaching/Tutoring

- Reading (proofreading)

- Languages (translating)

Put your hobby/skill to work for you....

Business Opportunities5. Other local opportunities: Apart from hobbies and skills there may be openings in your local area for a particular type of service that is not currently being met. And, the laws of supply and demand dictate that if there's no competition people are likely to be willing to pay you a high price for your services. Some ideas:

- House/Office Cleaning

- House Minding

- Door to door leaflet/local paper/coupon distribution

- Window Cleaning

6. Virtual Assistant opportunities: A VA is described as an independent entrepreneur providing administrative,
creative and/or technical services from the comfort of their own homes/home-offices. There are several organisations on the web catering for and advising VAs. Like this one. And work seems to be plentiful.

COMPUTER RANDOM ACCESS MEMRORY(RAM)

The amount of RAM you use is dependent on the purpose that you want to use it for. Olderversions of Windows and Linux will run comfortably, though slowly at times, on 128 MB.Some newer operating systems such as Windows XP require 256MB of RAM to runcomfortably. Many people now have 512 MB or more for better performance. Users of moderngames and graphics software, or people who may wish to host Internet services such as a Website, may want 1 GB or more.Another thing to consider when choosing the amount of RAM for your system is your graphicscard. Most motherboard-integrated graphics chips and PCI Express graphics cards marketedwith the "Turbo Cache" feature will use system memory to store information related torendering graphics; this system memory is generally not available at all to the operating system.On average, these graphics processors will use between 16MB and 128MB of system memoryfor rendering purposes.The actual type of RAM you will need will depend on the motherboard and chipset you get.Most current motherboards use DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM. The Intel 915/925 chipsets useDDR2 RAM. Chipsets that use dual-channel memory require you to use two identical (in termsof size and speed) sticks of RAM. Your RAM should usually operate at the same clock speedas the CPU's Front Side Bus (FSB). Your motherboard may not be able to run RAM slowerthan the FSB, and using RAM faster than the FSB will simply have it run at the same speed asyour FSB. Buying low-latency RAM will help with overclocking your FSB, which can be ofuse to people who want to get more speed from their system.If you are upgrading from an existing computer, it is best to check with a user group to see ifyour machine requires specific kinds of RAM. Many computer OEMs, such as Gateway andHP, require custom RAM, and generic RAM available from most computer stores may causecompatibility problems in such systems.RAM have different bandwidths, ie 400, 533, 600, 733, 800, the current trend is moving fromDDR2-400 RAM to DDR2-533 RAM as it is more efficient. Higher end models are veryexpensive unless you find it worth the investment.Labeling of RAMRAM are labelled by its Memory Size (In MB) and clockspeed (or bandwidth).•SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM) is labeled by its clock speed in megahertz (MHz). Forexample, PC133 RAM runs at 133MHz. SDRAM is nearly obsolete as nearly all motherboardshave withdrawn support for SDRAM. It is now superceded by the more efficient DDR RAM.•128MB SD-133 = 128MB PC133 RAM•DDR RAM can be labeled in two different ways. It can be labeled by approximate bandwidth;as an example, 400MHz-effective DDR RAM has approximately 3.2GB/s of bandwidth, so it iscommonly labeled as PC3200. It can also be labeled by its effective clock speed; 400MHzeffective DDR RAM is also known as DDR-400. There is also DDR and DDR2 labelled as PCand PC2.•256MB DDR-400 = 256MB PC 3200 RAM•256MB DDR2-400 = 256MB PC2 3200 RAMDDR RAM has two versions DDR (also DDRI) and DDR2 (or DDRII)•DDR supports DDR-100, DDR-200, DDR-300, DDR-400 (mainstream) and DDR-533 (rare)•DDR2 supports DDR-400, DDR-533 (mainstream) and rare/expensive DDR-600, DDR-733,DDR-800, DDR-933, DDR-1066

ALL COMPUTER NEWS TOP 10 REASONS TO MAJOR IN COMPUTING

Top 10 Reasons to Major in Computing
1. Computing is part of everything we do!
Computing and computer technology are part of just about everything that touches our lives from the cars we drive, to the movies we watch, to the ways businesses and governments deal with us. Understanding different dimensions of computing is part of the necessary skill set for an educated person in the 21st century. Whether you want to be a scientist, develop the latest killer application, or just know what it really means when someone says “the computer made a mistake”, studying computing will provide you with valuable knowledge.
2. Expertise in computing enables you to solve complex, challenging problems.
Computing is a discipline that offers rewarding and challenging possibilities for a wide range of people regardless of their range of interests. Computing requires and develops capabilities in solving deep, multidimensional problems requiring imagination and sensitivity to a variety of concerns.
3. Computing enables you to make a positive difference in the world.
Computing drives innovation in the sciences (human genome project, AIDS vaccine research, environmental monitoring and protection just to mention a few), and also in engineering, business, entertainment and education. If you want to make a positive difference in the world, study computing.
4. Computing offers many types of lucrative careers.
Computing jobs are among the highest paid and have the highest job satisfaction. Computing is very often associated with innovation, and developments in computing tend to drive it. This, in turn, is the key to national competitiveness. The possibilities for future developments are expected to be even greater than they have been in the past.
5. Computing jobs are here to stay, regardless of where you are located.
There actually are more computing jobs than qualified people to fill them in the United States. U.S. IT employment was 17% higher in 2004 than in 1999. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says computing has the greatest potential for new jobs through 2014. Yes, some IT jobs have gone overseas. If you consider the expected growth in computing, it’s easy to see that companies simply need more talent. Don’t miss out on pursuing the large number of open positions available right now, here in the United States.
6. Expertise in computing helps you even if your primary career choice is something else.
Having a computing major will provide you with a foundation of knowledge, problem solving and logical thinking that will serve as a competitive advantage to you in your career, in whatever field you choose.
7. Computing offers great opportunities for true creativity and innovativeness.
Creating high-quality computing solutions is a highly creative activity, and computing supports creative work in many other fields. The best solutions in computing exhibit high levels of elegance and beauty.
8. Computing has space for both collaborative work and individual effort.
Computing is often about being part of a team that requires people with many different kinds of skills. Yet there is also plenty of space for individual flair and imagination.
9. Computing is an essential part of well-rounded academic preparation.
An increasing number of universities and employers see successful completion of a computer science course as a sign of academic well-roundedness.
10. Future opportunities in computing are without boundaries.
Computing is one of those fields where it is almost impossible to predict what will happen next. This is why we cannot even begin to imagine all the ways that you can make a contribution to it and it can make your life’s work exciting and real.

COMPUTER SCIENCe

Computer Science
Computer science (CS) spans the range from theory through programming to cutting-edge development of computing solutions. Computer science offers a foundation that permits graduates to adapt to new technologies and new ideas. The work of computer scientists falls into three categories: a) designing and building software; b) developing effective ways to solve computing problems, such as storing information in databases, sending data over networks or providing new approaches to security problems; and c) devising new and better ways of using computers and addressing particular challenges in areas such as robotics, computer vision, or digital forensics (although these specializations are not available in all computer science programs). Most computer science programs require some mathematical background.
Let us consider what is involved in a career path in each area.
Career Path 1: Designing and implementing software. This refers to the work of software development which has grown to include aspects of web development, interface design, security issues, mobile computing, and so on. This is the career path that the majority of computer science graduates follow. While a bachelor’s degree is generally sufficient for entry into this kind of career, many software professionals return to school to obtain a terminal master’s degree. (Rarely is a doctorate involved.) Career opportunities occur in a wide variety of settings including large or small software companies, large or small computer services companies, and large organizations of all kinds (industry, government, banking, healthcare, etc.). Degree programs in software engineering also educate students for this career path.
Career Path 2: Devising new ways to use computers. This refers to innovation in the application of computer technology. A career path in this area can involve advanced graduate work, followed by a position in a research university or industrial research and development laboratory; it can involve entrepreneurial activity such as was evident during the dot-com boom of the 1990s; or it can involve a combination of the two.
Career Path 3: Developing effective ways to solve computing problems. This refers to the application or development of computer science theory and knowledge of algorithms to ensure the best possible solutions for computationally intensive problems. As a practical matter, a career path in the development of new computer science theory typically requires graduate work to the Ph.D. level, followed by a position in a research university or an industrial research and development laboratory.
Career Path 4: Planning and managing organizational technology infrastructure. This is the type of work for which the new information technology (IT) programs explicitly aim to educate students.
Career paths 2 and 3 are undenably in the domain of computer science graduates. Career paths 1 and 4 have spawned the new majors in software engineering and information technology, respectively, and information systems graduates often follow Career path 1, too. Computer scientists continue to fill these positions, but programs in software engineering, information technology, and information systems offer alternative paths to these careers