Rapid Network

Many of us have wanted to lose weight and burn fat for a very long time. Many of us have also wanted to lose weight fast. Many of us have also used crash and fad diets, but only to gain more weight afterwards. Weight loss has been a trending topic for long now. I agree that we need to live healthy and look good. Everybody has a need to look good. Over and above that, feel great. To an overweight person, the promise of a slimmer and a healthier body means a lot. Overweight people just know how hard it is to get a pair of jeans from normal clothing department stores. They are also aware of how it is uncomfortable to eat in front of people, sitting there thinking of how everybody is talking about them and discussing how they are eating.

I have come across a lot of people who want to drop all of 15 pounds in a week. But is losing weight fast safe? Is it healthy? Is it even wise? Lets deal with these questions intently. Losing weight is just about what every overweight person dreams about. They talk about it and think about it all the time. Losing weight fast achieves one thing. A secondary effect. One may be able to drop those extra pounds fast and also feel energized and have more endurance. Lets pose more questions:

Would you want more long term results or short term results. Would you want results that make you happy now or later? Do you want to wow your friends, family and spouse now or later? I bet each one of you answered these questions with NOW. But that will produce short term weight loss. This is why - when you drop a lot of weight at once, you also lose your muscle. In fact, in addition to losing muscle, you lose a lot of water. Now your goal is to lose fat and develop muscle, right. Losing muscle is not what you want, you want to develop it so that you can use it to burn more calories, in turn burning fat. Neither do you also don't want to lose a lot of water because that will cause you to gain all the weight lost quickly. I have tried crash and fad diets and this is entirely true.

Weight loss should be enjoyable. You should be in love with yourself when you are eating healthy and working out. Most of weight loss successes, actually, have come from portion control of our food. This is through eating what you are used to but controlling the portions so that the calorie intake is less than your maintenance level while also working out at intervals. In conclusion, though rapid weight loss works, it is only short term. My advice to you is focus on long term results. With such, you will have a toned body in good shape, a vibrant smile, a feel good aura and improved self confidence. Device a weight loss program that will challenge you to follow consistently and work your way through a healthy life.

Have you ever seen people in fashion magazines or television and wondered why these people are so skinny? Today's generation has an obsession with being skinny. However, they only look goon in the digitally processed photographs or videos. In real life these celebrities look like they are sick. Therefore, if you are thinking of shedding your weight the way they did, please reconsider your options. It is best to make your body go through any change in a natural way. Defying nature will only make things worse. Below I have noted some real beneficial and aggressive techniques of losing weight.

We all know that a person who wishes to lose weight rapidly should stay away from fats and calories. A lot of you probably even follow a calorie calculator but there is an addition to these facts. You must become calorie obsessed. You must stupendously be after reducing the calorie intake and make sure there is no cheating in your daily target.

Another thing you must do is have patience. To gain results you must have a great sense of uniformity in whatever you do. It is not about how much you do but about how long you continue and how religiously. Losing weight can't be done overnight and takes a few months so be patient.

You must reward yourself with every step accomplished. You should treat yourself with a forbidden food item but in a limited quantity after every milestone. This will keep you going for long.

Loosing weight naturally is the safest way to go about it. Therefore, if you are one of those who have a dream of looking like the page 3 models you must make sure your approach is a natural one as it is the only way to lose weight for better health and not ill health.

Some say that Facebook might possibly become the ultimate in corporate bubbles, others like me believe that if the social networking venue can't adapt rapidly moving forward that it in and of itself will be the largest industry bubbles to ever pop - and we know what will happen if that occurs - complete and utter chaos online. Well, interestingly enough, Facebook's IPO debut may be one last burst of air to that big balloon bubble. Okay so, let's talk shall we?

Facebook's growth curve has been truly remarkable, not in the money it makes, that's still coming, but in the number of participants online, as it is busy cataloging everyone's life and recording all of their friends, likes, needs, and wants for advertisers, corporations, and government all in the name of a new industry called; Big Data. Some say this nonsensical social media craze has gone a bridge too far, and to that I'd agree. Still, it still begs the question; how will Facebook keep growing to keep its new found valuation on Wall Street after its IPO?

Well, one thing they can do when they run out of humans on the planet to put into their data base is that they can start allowing non-humans to set up profiles, aka; allowing anonymous profiles. This will allow everyone to put up three or four profiles (albeit fake ones) each, on top of their current profile. Facebook's founder originally was against this, but perhaps now things have changed as he'll be more concerned with holding onto this giant mirage that's been built.

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on April 24, 2012 titled; "Facebook to Shake Off Winter Blues," by Rolfe Winkler which basically told of the excuse Facebook might claim for lackluster earnings just prior to their IPO, as the company was still trying to ditch criticism from the Instagram $1 Billion purchase. If the social media space is seasonal, which I believe it is, at least the data I am looking at appears to show this, then that's one way to look at it.

Still, obviously investors or speculators in the stock will want consistency, which will become increasingly more difficult to maintain. Yes, I could use the word "sustainability" here, although I don't like the word myself, one could say that Facebook and this whole social media craze may not be sustainable at the current trajectory of this new industry cycle. Would it be wrong for me to predict that this could very well be the biggest bubble burst in corporate history? Time will tell, so, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it even if you do get caught up in the IPO road show hype.

If you are feeling low and drained in your level of energy, there are great ways to radically make a shift into super energy, and sculpt some serious muscle in the process. The biggest reason why most people are low on energy, is due to the acidity of their blood. Acid kills energy, burns muscle, stores fat and is very harmful to the body.

1. The first way to radically increase your energy and put your body in a muscle building state is to alkalise your blood. You can buy pH test strips at most pharmacies and test your saliva for its pH level. If it is below 7.14 then you are acidic. To alkaize drink plenty of water each day, at least 2Lm and consume primarily water rich alkalytic foods including green vegetables, plant foods and a greens drink is fantastic.

2. Supplements like ALC (acetyl-l-carnitine), NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine), CoQ10 (coenzyme q10) and glutathione all serve to boost energy production and will supercharge your body.

3. Learn how to effectively breath for energy and optimal function. Breathing is a critical component to getting the most out of your energy stores. 5 Vigorous and rapid inhalations through you nose followed by 5 vigorous and rapid exhalations through the mouth for 5-10 minutes or until desired will put you into an optimal energy state. Improved digestion, urination, fat burning, motivation, alertness are all benefits of this easy-to-do practice.

4. Cardio for 30-60 minutes, 4-5 times per week will increase your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and give you more resting energy. You don't have to make it intense, just try to be consistent and have much greater energy over time.

5. Increasing your energy will enable you to burn fat and build muscle faster. A simple 20-30 minute workout 2-3 times/week is enough to build significant amounts of muscle.

You can slice it however you like but if you are taking it easy in the gym, results will be slow or worse, nonexistent. The shortcut to seeing rapid fat loss and increased muscular definition is intensity.

Let's look at some of the ways you can same time in the gym and start seeing quicker results by going over a few intensity techniques that I love to use with my personal training clients. After that, I will show you how you can fit them into a simple schedule that will still give you a life outside the gym.

Failure - Lifting the weight until no more full repetitions can be carried on in good form.

Drop sets - Hitting failure and then dropping the pin in the stack to a lighter weight to continue on working.

Strip sets - The same as drop sets but usually used for free weight exercises where the "strip" refers to taking a plate off in order to continue.

Super sets - Combining two exercises to increase intensity, usually a compound movement followed immediately with an isolation movement for the same muscle group or vice versa. An example would be hitting failure on the bench press and then continuing on with a flye movement. Super set can refer to two separate body parts like combining bench press for chest with chins for back.

Running the rack - Can be done up or down the rack (dumbbell holder) but usually down. This is almost the same as a drop set where you use a set of dumbbells to failure and then select a lighter pair to continue on. You can continue on down the rack as far as you want but three drops is most common.

Forced reps - Having reached failure, your partner will add just enough assistance to allow you to carry on for one or two more reps.

21's - Dividing the movement into three parts. The top, bottom and whole movement. Most commonly done on curls where 7 tops are done then 7 bottoms and then 7 full reps. Any combination of tops and bottoms can be used however. I prefer to do the seven full first that way the partials are only done when the full movement has already been trained to failure.

10 to 1 - Several different variations on this one. You can start heavy and do one rep, strip some weight and then do two reps and carry on this way until you hit 10. Another is to start at 10 take a couple seconds rest and then do 9 and carry on till you get to one using the same weight. The last is to keep the same weight on all sets but hold the contracted position for 10 seconds, lower and then hold 9 seconds and so on till your done.

Rest/pause - Performing a rep then taking a couple seconds rest and then doing another rep thus delaying the build up of waste products allowing you to use heavier weight and extend the set past the reps that you would usually hit failure at.

Now that is a lot of stuff to remember! So how do you fit all these different systems and ways of working out with intensity techniques into your regular lifestyle and still have a life?

Lets look at a couple days in the life of a personal trainer, me!

Saturday Leg Workout:

8 x 8 Squats, 30 seconds rest between sets, same weight on all sets. This is intense because of the volume of weight moved in such a short period of time. You don't need cardio on a day like this.

3 x Triple drop (strip set with three drops) leg press calf raises.

Sunday: Nothing

Monday AM:

5 x 5 chins 55LBS (intensity through weight).

Triple drop Seated cables rows (intensity through volume moved over time).

Hand Stand Pushups - Triple drop sets moving to dumbbell shoulder presses on failure (intensity through a compound movement and multiple stimulation paths when we go to dumbbells as well as the strip.)

Monday PM: Commando Cardio (This could even be bumped to Tuesday)

The Bear: 35LBS Dumbbells (DB) DB Deadlifts DB Cleans DB Push press DB Squats then 15 pushups for a "rest".

Each exercise for 5 reps and do seven non-stop circuits. (It even sounds intense doesn't it?)

Finish it off with 8 x 8 Burpees. After each set of Burpees, your active rest is to do 8 jumping knee tucks and then right back into the Burpees. No separate cardio needed on this day either! This IS cardio, just with the benefit of resistance.

Tuesday: snowboarding for the afternoon.

None of these workouts take over 45 minutes and they are intense enough that you will KNOW you are causing changes to your body. Routines like this burn lots of calories leading to fat loss but the intensity of the routines actually build muscle at the same time! Why would you waste time doing sub personal best performance workouts when you can just go as intense as your personal level will allow and then go do other things?

With the example above you can see that the body is worked with heavy weights and cardio through small rest times. Muscular endurance is worked also and we even have time to go snowboarding which is a "hidden" workout in itself.

This is how you fit fitness into your life and see results. Short, quick intense workouts with extra healthy activities on the side that you enjoy. Take your body to the next level and give some of these ideas a try. The pay off will be faster results and less time spent in the gym.

The means of deepening hypnosis that I am writing about here today is referred to as refractionation by many and also goes by other names. It is particularly useful within a hypnotherapy session as we hypnotherapists tend to work with people whose presenting issues can detrimentally effect their ability to concentrate or focus well; this process enhances concentration and focuses attention very well.

This type of deepening process is virtually the same as the induction process often referred to as fractionation, the kind cited in a Dave Elman style of induction, as you'll see as I explain it.

The process of refractionation is whereby the hypnotherapist or hypnotist delivers a suggestion to the client who is already hypnotised, to suggest that they can be hypnotised quicker and deeper. That individual is then brought out of hypnosis, fully emerged, and following a brief chat is hypnotised again. The ideal response is that they are now hypnotised quicker than before and have a perception of it being deeper. This process is then repeated a number of times with each occasion being hypnotised lasting slightly longer than the previous one.

So each period spent in hypnosis teaches and demonstrates to the client how easy it is to be hypnotised, and it trains them to get better and more effective at it.

On occasion, some stage hypnotists have used similar notions as a means of being able to click their fingers whilst directly suggesting the person "sleep!" as they immediately respond and go into hypnosis, giving an impressive display for the audience to be wowed by; sometimes not knowing that the process has been practicing and re-induced to reach this speed prior to the show beginning in earnest.

Many hypnotherapists set up and use what is referred to in NLP as an "anchor" and is also referred to as a "cue word" by others. This kind of a cue is associated with the rapid entering of hypnosis and applied over and over so that upon being used in future sessions, the client can immediately go to that level of hypnosis attained previously. The hypnotherapist then has a posthypnotic suggestion that can be used in future sessions and can spend a lot less time inducing hypnosis and more time engaging in the hypnotherapy.

I would hasten to add that many cues actually exist inherently anyhow... I find many of my clients simply react a certain way to sitting in the chair in my consulting room. Or if I change my voice or dim the lights in a way that indicates the hypnosis part of the session is going to occur, in line with words used that have been used before when the client was hypnotised.

This really is basic stuff as far as hypnotherapy goes, but as with so many things in life, the simple tends to get overlooked and not appreciated enough when so much time is spent being in awe of the complex alternatives.

Do you keep losing control of your weight loss efforts? Give in to cravings then feel guilty and depressed afterwards? Is lose weight hard problem for you? If your answer "Yes", you are not alone. Many people have feel the same as you. They try many solutions for this problem - pill, supplement or extreme diet. But sometimes doesn't really work.

Here are 4 rapid weight loss tips for you and tips for lose fat in stomach:

1. Exercise. It doesn't have to be expensive and exhausting. Example: walking. Walking is the best form of exercise and it's free. Don't overdo it at first, then gradually speed up and walk further. And always keep on your mind to do active activities every day. Just walk a few blocks at your home or office can be the natural fat burners.

2. Drink lots of water. At least 2 litres every day. Beware of soft drinks, such as cola. It contains high calorie.

3. Don't skip meals, especially at breakfast. That is will help you decrease your appetite. So you will eat less at lunch or dinner. That is also give you more power to do your daily activity.

4. Nutrition in your foods are the most important thing to lose the belly fat. Therefore, watching what you eat to help you stay focus. Some foods are better for your health and good diet: Blueberries and cranberries. Those are rich in antioxidants, low in calories, and can add a natural sweetness to any dish.

Losing belly fat can be fun. Just follow the tips above and you are on your way to looking healthier. Create a happy life to avoid stress. Stress can lead to weight gain. Why? When you're stressed your body makes more of a hormone that actually stores fat.

Beside that, tell your friends or family to get strong motivation.

There is a large amount of people out there who want to lose weight. In this article I will go over a few tips to help you boost your fat loss.

So let's get started:

1) Drinking more water is vital for weight loss. Drinking more water will keep you r body refresh while flushing out bad toxins. You will also be drinking less sugar and caffeine which are very bad for weight loss as sugar is hard to break down.

Taking in sugar will harm your weight loss efforts just as much as carbohydrates if not more so you want to stay away from sugar as much as you can.

2) Exercising more can boost your weight loss dramatically. There are weight loss programs on the market that just focus on exercise that's how powerful exercise can be if done correctly. Ideally you will want to be working out 3-4 times a week minimum.

Working out regularly will help you burn off hundreds of calories weekly boosting your fat loss tremendously. You do not need any equipment to get a good workout. You can lose weight with nothing but your own body weight.

3) To boost your calories burnt a great way to do this is increasing your metabolism. Your metabolic rate is how fast your body burns calories the higher this the more calories you burn throughout the day. There are a few ways to boost your metabolism however the best and easiest is to increase the amount of meals you have each day.

Now you may be thinking eating more surely will help you put on weight, however you will need to make your meals smaller and less spaced out eating around every 2-3 hours.

4) Junk food is a common reason why people are putting on weight. Snacking in between meals and generally not eating healthy. In my different junk foods there will be a huge amount of sugars and sugar is bad for weight loss. You body will get a lot of energy from sugar however this will be hard to burn off and can lead to putting weight back on.

So when wanting to lose weight stay away from sugar.

5) This may come as a surprise to many people but another tips which I tell people to use all the time is to keep a journal. Keeping a journal will help you keep track of your results and what you've had to eat on a specific day. If you are falling off track you will see where and how you can counteract that.

So I hope you enjoyed my 5 biggest tips on how to boost your weight loss however if you want more information on rapid weight loss such as free diet plans and workout plans please visit my website.

Are you frustrated simply because you cannot seem to create your content pieces quickly enough? Naturally, you will find merely so many working hours in the day.

I once suffered from the identical difficulty but managed to defeat it. This is how I did it:

1. I always post about what I know most. I understand a lot about wellness because I'm a medical doctor. I likewise write articles with regards to my interests of article marketing and social media. Like this, most content articles will stream out of my imagination without a lot of exploration having to be carried out (however I DO explore articles in depth any time I am commissioned by publishers, for example).

2. I usually write what I'm pondering while not stressing about the appearance or context of the article. I will just get it down. I will be able to revise it afterwards when I analyze the reports however if you wait around for the ideal content then you'll be numb by analysis. Get on and write a something - you will discover from the knowledge you accrue what is the best way to do this.

3. I went on a touch typing study course. I am nonetheless a slowish typist but I can certainly manage 40 words per minute. This has halved my written content development duration and demonstrated that I have invested wisely.

4. I don't create War and Peace. My own articles are normally short and fluff-free. Less than 1000 words is a great objective however several reports might be a tad longer particularly when composing for bigger editors or in business or technical journals. Listen to what your audience are expecting - that will determine the length of your articles (and therefore the speed you can write them).

5. I usually continue to keep to one theme. This specific posting, for example, is simply concerning creating content rapidly. I haven't talked about the other factors of article composing. Those can be preserved for forthcoming articles! Now there will, naturally, be predicaments when you may desire to spend more time on article planning. This may be especially so for larger periodicals, industry and influential specialist internet sites. The previously mentioned tips don't count in those predicaments.

Writing quickly is not something that everyone should do. Sometimes it is best to take your time and think about things before you write. But if you want to be more productive (and still maintain quality) I hope the above tips were of help.

It's unfortunate that still most people go about how to get a six pack the wrong way. It's still widely believed that ab exercises like crunches, low fat dieting, and hours of cardio is the answer. These lies have been perpetrated to market products in the multi billion dollar fat loss industry. The truth about abs is quite the opposite from the current beliefs out there. Here are a few tips to see results and rapid fat loss fast.

Full Body Routines

Use full body training routines. This will burn more calories creating a huge metabolic load through the increased oxygen consumption by working so many muscles at once. The lactic acid buildup can help increase natural growth hormone release in the body which is the most potent fat burner your body has.

HIIT or High Intensity Cardio

This is a favorite of mine because a simple 15 minute HIIT workout can replace a 45 minute cardio workout by saving time and burning more calories. How does a 15 minute workout burn more calories than a 45 minute workout? HIIT also increases the oxygen load to a high degree causing a much greater "afterburn" effect, meaning for several hours post workout your metabolism will be increased and you will be burning fat for hours post workout. Sprints and Jumping Rope are great HIIT plans.

Proper Nutrition

It's not necessary to go on an ultra strict calorie counting diet to lose belly fat. A better choice is simply proper food selection and doing the most of your grocery shopping in the outer aisles where you will find the lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats like nuts. Stay away from highly processed foods and especially sugar. Lifestyle changes are what really promote long term permanent fat loss.

Finding a rapid weight loss program that suits you is not as hard as it seems. There are only a limited number of things you need to get right with it.

First you must ensure you are getting adequate nutrition.

If you go on a rapid weight loss program consisting of just eating cabbage soup, or a pineapple diet, or a pure protein diet, or any diet that restricts the range of foods you are eating, then you are likely going to have nutritional problems when you've been on it for a week or two.

Recently there have been newspaper reports of people on restrictive diets suffering from Scurvy!! I thought the experience of the sailors middle ages taught us the lesson that a restrictive diet can cause problems like scurvy and even worse issues. There were a lot of them who died from poor nutrition until we learnt the lesson.

If I sound a little dramatic here it is because I am meaning to be dramatic. If we do not get enough nutrition in our rapid weight loss program we will suffer health consequences that are bad in the short term and can be fatal in the long term.

Good nutrition from a rapid weight loss program is the first criteria you need to get right.

Second you need to restrict the fats, sugars and the calories you eat.

Every day you burn calories just keeping your body running: breathing, your heart pumping, keeping body temperature.

There is a measure called your Basal Metabolic Rate that tells you how many calories you will burn if you lay still in a dark room and did nothing all day.

A man with a bit of muscle is likely to be burning 2,000 a day and many ladies who are looking to lose just a little weight are likely to burning 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day, just to stay alive. With a Basal Metabolic rate is around 2,000 calories a day. That means that if I consume 2,000 calories with good nutrition then everything I do in the day will burn additional calories and can reduce body fat, walking, gym, just moving about in normal life.

If you establish a rapid weight loss program that gives you a little less calories a day than your Basal Metabolic Rate requires, without cutting your calories so much that your metabolism drops, then losing weight safely and quickly is achievable.

The point here is that you can eat a decent amount of good food every day and still lose weight. You do not need to starve yourself, or even to go hungry, as long as the food that you do eat has enough nutrition then you can even enjoy losing weight!

For a really rapid weight loss program you can strengthen the need to burn calories from stored body fat by pulling most saturated fats, processed sugars and other poor food choices out of my diet. If you can replace the poor food choices with fruit, raw or lightly cook vegetables and then also add vitamin supplements and protein supplements to get the nutrition your cells then need then you set up with a rapid weight loss program that will work quickly and give results that will stay with you longer term.

If you can pull your calorie intake to 1,000 calories less than what you are burning each day, then your rapid weight loss program that will give strong results.

Third you need to be able to live with the rapid weight loss program you choose.

Always remember that "food is social". It is part of the very fabric of our society.

If you are going to put yourself on a diet that stops you eating a meal with your family, or getting together with friends, or attending social functions, then the odds stacked against you succeeding with your rapid weight loss program.

If you chose something that is simple and sustainable, but that still lets you eat the foods you love, then there is a much higher chance of long term success.

For weight loss most people do need to reduce the calories they consume every day.

The knack is getting everything you need to keep your body healthy, and still enjoy what you eat. To get the nutrition to keep your vital organs health and your blood profiles strong, while cutting out unnecessary fats, sugars, salts and all the "hollow calories" that so many of us eat, takes a little attention.

The easiest way to do this is to replace a couple of meals with high quality nutrition shakes and the supplementary vitamin and mineral tablets that you find in a good quality commercial rapid weight loss program.

If you are looking down the path of meal replacement shakes it is critical that you get high quality products. A quality shake will be based on soy protein and not on milk powder. If you read up on a product and find it is based on milk powder then you would be wise to keep well away from it.

The right program of meal replacement will give you all the nutrition you need and leave you enough calories in your day to be able to have a main meal of pretty much any style of food you like. Just keep the portion size sensible.

If you keep these things in mind when you are choosing a rapid weight loss program your odds of success, quickly and safely are very high.

You know the drill-the project is going swimmingly and is right on schedule, when ... the big
cheese pops into your office with an "opportunity." Apparently the marketing guys were at a
trade show in Vegas and they saw that the competition was going to introduce their version of
your design in five months. Problem is that your product is not going to be ready for six. So, the
obvious solution is to simply take two months out of the schedule. It's just like a Dilbert cartoon.
In the midst of the hurry-up offense, it is not unusual for even the best designers to begin to think
not at the product level, but at the component level. That is to say, they focus more on their aspectof the design cycle and less about the project as a whole. Collaborative effort tends to break downwhen time lines must suddenly be compressed and, unfortunately, it is at these times thatcollaboration and communication between project members (both internal and external) is most
crucial.

In terms of plastic component design where rapid bridge tooling is to be used as a means to help
compress the design cycle, part designs are often hurried to release. The result is often multiple
engineering changes in which the design is validated on the run. Additionally, many rapid tooling
vendors do not offer high-level engineering or design optimization services and will usually build
a tool that will produce the design submitted-regardless of how complicated or production
unfriendly it may have to be.

Methods used by rapid tool vendors, while appropriate for quickly producing parts, often do not
translate well into the full-production world. In some situations, parts can be produced with a
rapid tool, but are not suitable for a production mold expected to run thousands or millions of
pieces. The main reason for this is that rapid tools tend to be very manual and simplistic in the
interest of saving time, while production tools are built for the long haul, meant to produce lowcost
volumes. For example, it is possible to create a plastic component with "trapped" plastic in a
rapid tool using interlocking hand-loads or pick-outs, but in a production situation this would
possibly be deemed unmoldable.

Accelerating the development process is an interesting challenge. When considering rapid or
bridge tooling to save time, the last thing you need to worry about is overcoming avoidable
obstacles. When choosing a rapid tooling supplier, consider the following important items.

Ask the Right Questions:

Simply inquiring about lead-time may not produce the optimum results. Some good questions to
ask are:

· Can the supplier assist with the development of your design to help ensure your tooling is
cost-effective and easily made? One of the most frustrating moments in an engineering
project is realizing the design cannot be manufactured cost- effectively, or that it could
have been easier to run with only a few simple changes. Your supplier should understand
the goals you are trying to achieve with rapid tooling and the manufacturing details
associated with it well enough to ensure getting it right the first time-as cost-effectively
as possible. Every penny you spend reworking a design or that is wasted in an ineffective
manufacturing process is a penny stolen from your project budget and your company's
bottom line, not to mention the loss of valuable time!

· Is the supplier able to produce parts in the material you plan to use for production or do
they understand plastic resin specs well enough to assist in material selection? With the
progress of technology, there are multitudes of processes that will produce prototype
parts very quickly and inexpensively. Unfortunately, many of these prototyping processes
do not produce parts in the material that will be specified for production. This usually
means that these components work well for verifying form and fit, but may not work for
functional or destructive testing. Look for a supplier that can cost-effectively provide
your design in the material you specify and offer material options if there might be a
better material available for your project. This will ultimately save you time and money
because you will be able to use the same part for fit, finish, product testing, and executive
sign off. With today's technology, there is no reason to create an inexpensive rapid
prototype only to make a working prototype before tooling. What you see in your
prototype should reflect what you will get in manufacturing.

· Can the supplier produce parts based on your original design or will they require you to
change it in order to utilize their processes? This is a very important question to ask
potential suppliers before you send your design out for a quote. In the zeal to save time, it
is often assumed that all rapid tooling methods are the same and will produce an "as
designed" component. However, some suppliers have very specific guidelines when
quoting rapid tooling. Although the quote you receive may be cost-effective, you may
have to invest valuable time redesigning your part and resending the data files in order to
utilize a specific tooling process. Many design engineers have very specific reasons for
the geometry of their parts and should not settle for compromises when sourcing rapid
tooling. If the part design is important, make sure the supplier you choose can produce
your parts "as designed" the first time.

· How is quality control managed internally? Quality control is essential in this fast paced,
competitive world. Make sure the supplier you choose has a quality process in place from
receiving the project to sending it out the door. Each step of the process should be
documented; checks and balances should be in place so you get the parts that are not only
cost-effective but are of the highest quality. Sacrificing quality in the interest of saving
lead time is never a good idea.

Optimize Your Design for Tooling:
Once you have chosen the best supplier, make sure you work together to optimize your design for
tooling. Simple changes can often be made in the design that can save thousands of dollars and
numerous headaches in production. For example, if the original design makes it difficult to
remove the part from the tool, it will slow production, robbing valuable time and driving up part
prices. Making a slight change to an angle or undercut could easily solve the problem without
risking the integrity of the design.

· Think ahead to manufacturing. At every step in the project, you and your supplier should
work together to determine how the design will be manufactured. Some rapid tooling
vendors not only offer rapid tooling services but full-service design and development as
well. Many times, these suppliers deal with different designs and materials from a wide
cross section of industries. Use this knowledge base to your advantage by discussing your
design and its potential applications. Consider processes, material selection, design
parameters, testing, assembly criteria, environmental issues, application, etc. Your
supplier may be able to offer valuable recommendations, especially when it comes to
material type and availability.

· Consider short-run molding and manufacturing. As you think ahead to manufacturing,
you may realize that some projects do not have the required volume to justify an
investment in hard (production) tooling. Make sure your rapid tooling partner not only
understands how to build the tool, but how it should be processed, molded, tested, and
possibly assembled. If your project requires quick turn around, has low volume, and the
need to reduce manufacturing lead time, consider utilizing short-run molding and
manufacturing.

Rapid tooling should not only be about getting parts quickly, but about learning as much as
possible about how the part can be quickly tooled and produced cost-effectively when it is time
for mass production. When sourcing a rapid tooling partner, the best situation is to find a vendor
that not only understands rapid tooling, but part design, material selection, optimization for
production, and molding/manufacturing. Make sure to include your rapid tooling vendor as a
member of your project team, especially if they understand the entire design and development
cycle. It may not only save time and money getting ready for production, but in actual production,
as well.

One need only glance at the numbers associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to realize the necessity of HIV testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1.2 million Americans currently host HIV and 50,000 Americans become infected per year. Of these, one-fifth don't even realize what they're carrying! It quickly becomes obvious that HIV testing is imperative to correctly judge and react to this expanding problem. Informed citizens can proactively address HIV if it affects their lives, and-equally important-they can take preventative measures to protect the rest of the populace.

That brings us to the enterprise of testing itself. At present, the CDC recommends routine testing for everyone aged 13 to 64. Eventually, they'd like to see HIV testing become part-and-parcel of any screening or health care encounter. Until then, it's up to you to voluntarily contribute to their growing knowledge base and your own peace of mind. For that, you need facts; specifically, you need facts about it, a groundbreaking alternative to traditional testing methodology. In what ways, you ask? Let's find out:

How does it work?

Most procedures, including rapid HIV testing, rely on antibody detection to determine results. A sample (blood, plasma, oral fluid, and sometimes urine) is collected and exposed to a prepared solution. If there are any HIV-specific antibodies in the sample, the test will display a positive result. Both traditional and rapid HIV tests consistently perform with 99% accuracy, and a positive result from either requires additional verification, usually an alternate test such as the Western Blot test.

Rapid? As opposed to what?

Traditional HIV testing involves the Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA), a lengthy technique requiring a vein-derived blood sample and specialized laboratory equipment. These tests require two visits: one to administer pretest counseling and draw blood, and the second to deliver results and provide further counseling or referrals. The period between the two visits can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks depending on various delays in shipping, laboratory protocol, or retesting.

In contrast, rapid HIV testing is vastly more convenient. The entire procedure takes less than half an hour and requires only one visit, including counseling.

What are the other benefits?

Because most clients at STD clinics receive negative test results, millions of them can eliminate the need for a second visit if they opt for rapid HIV testing. This saves both the client and the practitioner time and money. It's also an unfortunate reality that many traditional HIV testing clients don't return for their test results at all. Rapid HIV testing neatly solves this problem with same-day, on-site results. Furthermore, those persons who test HIV-positive through rapid testing can receive immediate counseling to avoid possible transmission while they wait for confirmed results.

What does this mean for clinics?

Rapid HIV testing is considerably cheaper, faster, and easier for STD clinics to perform, meaning they can treat regional patients more effectively and in greater numbers. As medical technology advances, this contributes to an improved public perception of testing and furthers awareness of HIV infection and the need to combat it. It also provides a wider variety of secondary testing options to vet positive reactions and ensure maximum reliability and precision.

As a final note, it should be remembered that the human body takes time to develop HIV antibodies-around 25 days, on average. An HIV-positive patient may thus end up with a false negative result if tested too early. Counseling can help determine the best course of action for patients with new intimate relationships or other complicating factors.