When was the last time you really moved your body to the point where you broke a sweat? For some people, the answer may be this morning or yesterday afternoon, but for many, a sedentary lifestyle has become the norm. Unfortunately, being inactive and getting little to no exercise now, can spell out big problems for you later. Heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure are all symptoms of not getting enough exercise. Exercise is an important part of maintaining our health, and it needs to be factored into our daily routines. Whether it is twice a week or more frequently, getting enough exercise is critical.

Our bodies were not created to remain inactive. In fact, everything from our muscles to our internal body systems benefit from regular exercise. There are primarily two types of exercise—aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic exercise is any activity that increases your heart and respiratory rates. It is the kind of exercise that is strenuous and makes you break a sweat!

While aerobic exercise includes actually doing aerobics, such as in many of the classes held at gyms across the country, it is not limited to these types of exercise classes. In other words, you do not have to take a class to get aerobic exercise. Running, brisk walking that increases your heart rate, cycling, swimming, jumping rope, dancing, and climbing stairs are all forms of aerobic exercise.
Anaerobic exercise does not necessarily cause your heart rate to go up, but it is another important form of conditioning. Weight training, for example, is an excellent anaerobic exercise that helps you build and tone your muscles as well as strengthen your bones. Yoga and other forms of static exercises that still utilize muscle strength are also anaerobic.

Why is aerobic exercise so important? It conditions the most important muscle in the body—the heart. It also has the same conditioning effect on our arteries and respiratory systems. The stronger our heart is, the more efficient it will be at pumping oxygen-rich blood to all our vital organs. Aerobic exercise also increases stamina and improves our overall fitness levels. It also promotes cleansing of the blood by stimulating circulation and perspiration.

Anyone who has had a great aerobic workout can testify of the sense of euphoria, strength, and overall well-being that follows a heart-pumping exercise session. This is because aerobic exercise actually releases endorphins (the feel-good molecules that give us a sense of happiness) to the brain. Aerobic exercise not only burns calories, but it increases the flow of oxygen to our organs, enabling them to work more efficiently. Among its other benefits are lowering stress, strengthening the immune system, and lowering cholesterol.

With all these great benefits, why not make a commitment to get your body moving? You don’t have to start off with an hour a day, but maybe begin with a decision to walk briskly for 15 minutes a day. Or take the stairs rather than the elevator. It is often the little changes that spark the bigger ones. By making aerobic and anaerobic exercise a part of a weekly workout regimen, you will be taking an important step in improving your health and quality of life.

by Jeffery Melton

U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information, according to an internal Justice Department document that offers a tantalizing glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime-fighting.

Think you know who’s behind that “friend” request? Think again. Your new “friend” just might be the FBI. The document, obtained in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, makes clear that U.S. agents are already logging on surreptitously to exchange messages with suspects, identify a target’s friends or relatives and browse private information such as postings, personal photographs and video clips.

Among other purpose: Investigators can check suspects’ alibis by comparing stories told to police with Tweets sent at the same time about their whereabouts. Online photos from suspicious spending spree – people posing with jewerly, guns or fancy cars – can links suspects or their friends to robberies or burglaries.

The Justice Department document, part of a presentation given in August by top cybercrime officials, describes the value of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and other services to government investigators. It does not describe in detail the boundaries for using them. Covert investigations on social-networking services are legal and governed by internal rules, according to Justice Department officials. But they would not say what those rules are. In the face-to-face world, agents can’t impersonate a suspect’s spouse, child, parent or best friend. But online, behind the guise of social-networking account, they can.

SOME supects reckless and undercover operations aren’t necessary if the suspect is reckless. Federal authorities nabbed a man wanted on bank fraud charges after he started posting Facebook updates about the fun he was having in Mexico. The agents initially could not find no trace of this person on social media sites, and they were unable to pin down his location in Mexico. But they kept checking and eventually found the person Facebook.

By Richard Lardner – The Associated Press – 3/17/2010

Caution to parents, educate your children about appropriate internet‐based behaviors. Explain to them the problems that can be created when technology is misused (e.g., damaging their reputation, getting in trouble at school or with the police).