I want to share 4 simple steps to quit smoking because the The Great American Smokeout day is approaching and it is time to stop smoking America! Instead of quitting for just a day, make it a lifetime commitment. I did it 15 years ago and you can too! Begin with these 4 simple steps.
Step 1.
Pick a quit day. You will have lots of support if you choose the Great American Smokeout day as your quit day. If that does not work for you, pick another day. Do not wait for the perfect day because that will never come. Just get a date in your head and circle it on the calendar!
Step 2.
Tell you friends, family and coworkers that you are planning to stop smoking. Tell them the quit day you have chosen and ask for their support and understanding while you wage your battle against nicotine. Sharing the fact that you are going to quit makes it more of a reality.
Step 3.
Find and join a support group for people trying to quit. It has been proven that joining one of these groups can raise the success rate of quitting for good. Nothing beats knowing you can turn to people who understand exactly what you are going through. In addition to the live group, enroll in an online stop smoking forum. The internet is a great place to escape to when cravings to light up hit!
Step 4.
Select a nicotine replacement aid. This is also another proven safe and effective way to quit. The aids can lessen your withdrawal symptoms making it easier to fight them. Remember, the withdrawal phase is a short one but it can be tough. A great aid on the market today is . Check it out and have it handy to support you during your first smokeless weeks.
As you can tell from the 4 listed steps, support is the key factor. You may have been smoking alone for years but in order to quit successfully you will need help. Battling an addiction is not something you should attempt alone. Join a support group, let your friends and family do what they can to help and find a nicotine replacement aid that will work for you.
Stay focused and determined. It is a great life when you are no longer dependant on those little cellophane packages of tobacco. It truly is time to stop smoking America and these 4 steps to quit smoking will help you reach your goal of a smokeless life!
It is time to Take advantage of this exciting free trial offer for a stop smoking aid that will help ease your withdrawal symptoms
Do you know how to quit smoking once and for all? We’re not talking about cutting back a little bit, occasionally sneaking a smoke here and there. We’re talking about absolutely never, ever picking up a lighter again unless you’re about to light the grill for a cookout. There’s a completely effortless way to get the Marlboro monkey off your back once and for all.
Die.
It’ll kill you and you’ll never have the urge to light up again.
It may seem like a drastic approach, but it does have a 100% success rate.
Seriously, we can assume that you’d like to find out how to quit smoking in a way that doesn’t involve an early grave. That is the smarter alternative. Unfortunately, it’s also going to be a little more difficult. While some people find giving up tobacco easier than they expected, most smokers will struggle like mad against their addiction. For some, it will be the toughest thing they’ve ever accomplished.
That’s why it’s important for you to do more than listen to well-meaning people who want to tell you how to quit smoking. While those folks have your best interests at heart, they don’t understand your relationship to tobacco or the nature of your addiction. Both are extremely individual and personal.
You need to do your homework. You need to evaluate a variety of “how to quit smoking” plans and find the one that resonates with you. It may involve tapering consumption and supplementing with a nicotine substitute. It may involve hypnosis. You might feel like having a sponsor or a support group can help you get over the hump. There are many different approaches available and it’s incumbent upon you to find the one that will meet your personal needs.
After you find that approach, you need to follow it. Seriously. Get yourself pumped up for the positive change and make a wholehearted commitment to seeing things through. You’re going to be challenged and there will be a moment where making a 3:00 a.m. drive to convenience store for a pack of your favorites and a lighter seems like a good decision. You need to follow through while using an approach that fits you like a glove.
You’re reading this. That’s proof positive that you want to find out how to stop smoking. Get started right now.
If you’re not willing to do that, there’s always the alternative. No one smokes at his or her own funeral, after all.
Tobacco use by minors often results in grave consequences, even though underage alcohol abuse constitutes the highest number of headlines. If the current pattern of smoking continues, almost 6 million of today’s teenagers can be expected to die a premature death from smoking-related diseases itself. Tobacco use by the under-aged is costing many families and communities dearly. The blame has been directed at retailers accused of their laid-back age-enforcement and sales policies. Nowadays, a group of retailers are ensuring that every customer purchasing tobacco, regardless of appearance, does meet the age requirements. They’re doing this with the help of a new biometric fingerprint ID technology that assures to change the way tobacco is sold. And these biometric systems can automatically identify a person based on the different physical characteristics such as fingerprints.
Biometric systems find use in a range of applications including the prevention of benefit fraud, protection of financial transactions, access control and network security enhancement. A fingerprint ID system for retailers who need fast and accurate age and identity verification to protect the humanity from underage alcohol and tobacco use has been developed. In a one-minute process, customers register, and volunteer their driving license number and a finger for digital scanning. The relevant information is read off the magnetic strip of the license card. While the machine does a scan of the person’s fingerprint, it never stores or uses the actual print. It creates 27 points of reference from the print image with which the information related to the details taken from a valid ID is matched. For increased privacy, print images are deleted at the end of every transaction.
After that, registered customers need to press a finger on a scanning device to verify they are above the age of 18 and are legally eligible to purchase tobacco. Any person not in the unique system is ‘carded’ at each purchase.
Customers as well as the community find that the new system is worth it, and it has been drawing a lot of support. Just by pressing a finger against a pad, customers can prove whether they are above the legal age in less than a second. This process has increased the efficiency by two-fold during the normal hours and up to six-fold during peak hours.
Various organizations have expressed their appreciation for the biometric system since it limits employee-discretion, error, and dishonesty related to tobacco purchase. Every customer needs to offer his or her finger or a valid ID to prove that he is of the legal age to buy it. The system verifies the age of the person automatically, thus freeing the salesman from making errors. Apart from this, in order to ensure honesty, the system asks employees to identify themselves by touching the soft pad and entering their respective codes, just before checking with the customers. Latest technology when combined with biometrics has proved that it can better protect both the society and retailers from the different dangers of under-age tobacco use.
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The European Union has framed rules for what it believes are reasonable quantities of tobacco that can be carried, to distinguish from commercial quantities. A traveller with amounts over the stipulated quantity could be allowed through only if he can prove it is for personal consumption, for example at a private birthday bash. Volumes below the guidelines could lead to legal action if, for instance, the same guy was coming through several times a month in an attempt to increase commercial levels of tobacco stock.
It has been reported that 80% of smuggled cigarettes come sealed in containers. The detection rate for the stuff brought in by foot or by car is only about 3% of the remaining percentage of smuggled cigarettes. Smuggling of tobacco and cigarettes costs the United Kingdom billions of pounds every year in taxes. The stipulated guidelines are just that, and there are no hard and fast rules with respect to the amount. However, there exists a mechanism to prevent people from importing excessive amounts of tobacco and tobacco products in order to gain a monetary advantage.
The main problem lies upon the current method of distinguishing cigarettes for personal use from cigarettes for commercial purposes. It has to be made clear whether importing low quantities of cigarettes and tobacco for commercial gain should be made a criminal offence. In the UK, rate charged as duty on tobacco is considerably higher than that in most of the countries in Europe. This, eventually, leads to many smokers in the United Kingdom going to the European mainland and making purchase of cigarettes there. This practice has also impelled smuggling for commercial purposes, as the rewards are high.
The UK government immediately issued rules stating that only 800 cigarettes and 1 kilo of tobacco should be imported into the United Kingdom. There were protests from different sources. Then, the United Kingdom reviewed its policy following many cases, and now, the guidelines state that 3200 cigarettes and 3 kilos of tobacco will be allowed. The officials were still given the authority to nab individuals if they were convinced that the cigarettes and tobacco were bought for commercial uses. However, the problem persists in distinguishing cigarettes for personal use from cigarettes for commercial gain.
But, it is a fact that the aggressive system employed by the Customs and Excise are saving the government millions of pounds in tax. The question remains at large as to whether this is being done in a legal manner. The Court has ruled that that those who bring in large quantities of tobacco must be ready to provide a satisfactory explanation, the absence of which may cause the officials to conclude that the stuff is not for personal use, but for some commercial purpose.
The policy of defining this cause of action as civil has been viewed as contemptuous. People view it as a perverted and vicious action. The Customs and Excise officials, who people would normally relate with the Ambulance service and the Police force, now are viewed with open contempt. More than that, many people now feel intimidated to travel freely through the country. The only way to regain the image would be to reclassify this specific action as criminal, and in the process including all of the required safeguards afforded to society, in the new system.
The author is an SEO copy writer and internet marketing specialist. To know more about and visit epuffer.eu
The addiction to nicotine is the world’s single most dangerous epidemic, and also, the most preventable. Billions worldwide are addicted to nicotine, and many will try to quit dozens of times without success. In this article, I hope to shed some light on the facts about your addiction, and also some ways of coping with the uncomfortable side effects of cessation.
Making the decision to quit is the easiest part, but actually putting down the cigarette and lighter can be a seemingly impossible undertaking. It is understandable however, for smoking has been there when you needed it most. When you are bored and waiting around in public, or stuck in traffic, or even getting off a long flight, the cigarettes are always there for you, easing the tension of daily life. The first question I would like to present you with is this: “Does the actual act of cigarette smoking remove any stress from your life permanently?” Permanently is the operative word there, because although cigarettes may distract you, they only serve to delay feelings of stress and anxiety.
Many people fear quitting for various reasons, and I will now address some of the more common concerns that those quitting are faced with, while laying out the facts for you.
1. “I’m afraid if I quit, I will gain a tremendous amount of weight!”
Weight gain is generally caused by your body trying to counter balance the loss of one addiction by replacing it with another. When you smoke, the nicotine releases the blood suger from your pancreas into your blood stream, so when you quit smoking, you will begin to eat more regularly. Keeping an eye on your diet and maintaining an exercise program can counter balance this symptom.
2.”The anxiety is simply too great, I need cigarettes because the withdrawal is unbearable!”
While the withdrawal can be very uncomfortable, bear in mind that these physical symptoms are very short term, and will only last for 3-7 days. You have tricked your body into thinking it required something which it does not, so the discomfort is your body readjusting to a non chemical dependent status.
3.”How will I deal with stressful situations without cigarettes?”
Naturally, you have tricked yourself into believing that cigarettes help you deal with stress, but think back to before you were a smoker(if you can.) How did you deal with stress? Are you now, as a smoker, less stressed than you were before overall? I can make a bet that most of you dealt with the same amount of stress before you were a smoker as you do now.
After addressing these concerns, the only way to quit smoking is to simply stop doing it. As simple as it sounds, that is the truth. There are many options and aids to help you quit smoking, but in my experience, the all natural method (no patches/gum) made me feel healthier, and actually helped me to stay quit much more effectively than common anti-smoking products. Good luck to you in your life changing decision to quit, and look to your local department of health for further information.
For more information on how to quit smoking for good, visit my blog by !
With these new laws and regulations going into effect it is probably the right time to quit smoking tobacco for good. American Lung Association Report Shows 2007 Shaping Up to be a Banner Year for Tobacco Control Policies. Mid-Year Update Details Progress to Date in 2007; 7 States Significantly Strengthened Smoke free Air Laws, 8 Raised Tobacco Taxes New York, NY (July 24, 2007).
In 2007, many states have taken strong action to protect their citizens from tobacco by making public places and workplaces , raising tobacco taxes, and passing laws to protect citizens from cigarette-caused fires, according to a report released today by the American Lung Association. In the 2007 Mid-Term Update to its publication State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues or SLATI, the Lung Association summarizes state tobacco control laws enacted in 2007 on smoke free air, tobacco taxes, smoking prevention spending and fire-safety standards for cigarettes among other issues. “In January 2006, the American Lung Association issued its Smoke free Air 2010 Challenge, urging all states to adopt strong smoke free air laws. The 2007 SLATI Mid-Term Report shows significant progress continues to be made. 22 states and the District of Columbia have laws fully protecting their citizens from secondhand smoke. We challenge policymakers in the remaining states to do the same,” said Bernadette A. Toomey, President and CEO of the American Lung Association.
Also in 2007, eight states have increased their cigarette taxes, already matching the total for all of 2006. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia have increased their cigarette tax at least once since 2002. “We are encouraged that states continue to increase tobacco taxes, which makes cigarettes more costly. Higher cigarette prices deter young people from starting to smoke and help motivate adult smokers to quit,” said Toomey.
An increasing number of states have approved legislation setting fire-safety standards for cigarettes. Twelve states have approved this legislation in 2007, and three more states have legislation awaiting action by the governor. “This legislation is vital in the fight to reduce the 700 to 900 deaths annually from fires caused by cigarettes and other smoking materials,” she added.
A PDF copy of 2007 SLATI Mid-Term Report is available online. This website is also the home of the online version of SLATI, which is updated on a regular basis to reflect changes in state tobacco control laws throughout the year. The American Lung Association is the leading organization and promote lung health. Lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined. The American Lung Association funds vital research on the causes of and treatments for lung disease. With the generous support of the public, the American Lung Association is “Improving life, one breath at a time.”
For more articles tips and information ways to quit smoking tobacco visit:
Wendell and Charmayne Vannatter
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WCV Marketing is dedicated to helping people create their own home based online marketing business. The ideas presented here will help the average person to create a profitable online in-home business. Using the ideas and tips in these articles anyone can create a successful home based business even in these times of recession.
One of the insidious things about smoking cigarettes is that it takes a long time for the serious health effects to be noticed by the smoker even though damage occurs with each cigarette smoked. By the time the smoker notices health issues, serious health damage has occurred; damage that could have been avoided if they had stopped smoking years earlier.
Fortunately, there are obvious external effects of smoking cigarettes that warn the smoker years in advance of the damage that is happening to them internally. The problem is the smoker doesn’t realize that cigarettes are causing these external changes. This article will alert the smoker to an external effect of smoking: accelerated aging. This is something the smoker can see every time they look in the mirror. The change the smoker sees on the outside is a reflection of what is going on inside their body!
The False Sense of Security with Smoking
When you look at young smokers, you see people that don’t believe smoking cigarettes is a serious health threat to themselves. These young smokers think that because they go to the gym, play sports and go about their daily routine without any obvious negative effects, they are somehow spared the health consequences of smoking. Sadly this isn’t so.
It usually takes about 30 plus years of smoking to develop the really serious diseases that are associated with smoking cigarettes. For a 25 year old that has been smoking for 10 years, twenty years in the future is a long time.
Yet, that 10 years of smoking has already taken its toll. If the young smoker stopped ignoring the changes that cigarettes produce in their body, they would see that they are affected. If they realized what they were looking at, they would see the effects of cigarette smoking every time they looked in the mirror!
Do You Look Older than Your Years?
It’s ironic that one of the reasons a 12-15 year old starts smoking is to look older. When they start smoking at this early age, they don’t realize that smoking cigarettes will actually make them look older and BE older because of accelerated aging!
As a student of history and a photographer, I have always been fascinated by images from the past. I am grateful to all the photographers before me that took the time to preserve memories of day to day places and people that no longer exist; the everyday life that most of us take for granted. This preservation allows us to visually experience another time.
One of the things I have noticed when studying images from the 1920′s through the 1970′s is that the people look really old. When you look at a picture of a man and guess 55 years of age, it’s shocking to find that person is only 23 years old!
What accounts for this great difference in appearance versus age? Cigarette smoking! Research shows it accelerates aging. The images from the era when 44% of the population smoked cigarettes clearly shows this phenomena.
Smoking Cigarettes Causes Accelerated Aging
Our skin is the canvas that displays the picture of our health status. Smoking makes a person look much older. The longer a person smokes, the faster they show signs of aging. Research finds that not only does smoking contribute to premature facial wrinkles but also wrinkling of skin in other areas such as the inner arm. Look at your arms smoking ladies!
Another effect smoking has on the skin is developing psoriasis, a very unsightly and unpleasant skin ailment. The higher the number of cigarettes smoked over a pack per day, the greater the risk of developing this miserable skin condition, e.g. itching and burning. You can always tell a smoker, other than by the odor which is another article, because their skin has an unhealthy tone to it as well as wrinkles.
If you want to see a clear example of the aging effects of smoking, look at pictures of famous people who smoked. One of the clearest examples is President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was noted for his cigarette holder and there are numerous photographs of him smoking! He died of a stroke, a health condition associated with long term smoking, in 1945 at the age of 63. Look at the pictures of him in the last few years of his life. Rather than 63, he looks more like 93.
You can find many, many other examples in old photographs from the era when 44% of the population smoked. Look at the picture, guess the age and then see how old the person really was when the photograph was taken. Smoking does age you!
Is it Male Pattern Baldness or Cigarettes?
Even your hair dresser won’t know for sure! People are surprised to find that smoking affects their hair but research shows it does in several ways.
As a smoker of 10 or more years, do you find some gray hair beginning to show up? Most smokers do because research has shown that smokers are three to six times more likely to go prematurely gray than non-smokers. Another effect on the hair is that men who smoke are twice as likely to become bald as men who don’t smoke. Does this just apply to men? Or is this a reason why older women who smoke have thinning hair?
Although the smoker can ignore their skin changes because it’s gradual, they cannot ignore gray hair. However, the smoker just attributes this to getting older. They don’t realize that it’s not normal for people to start getting gray hair in their 20′s and 30′s. This is not a sign of getting older, it’s a sign of smoking!
How Does Smoking Affect Your Mouth?
Obviously, that harsh, polluted cigarette smoke passes into the lungs through the mouth. Smoking can’t help but stain your teeth which also adds to the appearance of being older than you are.
Of course, there is the awful “cigarette” breath as well. In addition to the bad breath, smoking also puts you at great risk for all sorts of dental problems, including oral cancer and gum disease.
Teeth and gum problems are another symptom associated with old age. Yet, this is happening to smokers early in their life.
Does Smoking Really Shorten Your Life?
In a word, YES! In addition to making the smoker look older, research shows that the smoker actually IS older.
A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that men who never smoked lived an average of 10 years longer than their peers who smoked. YES, smoking really does shorten your life! Also, the non-smokers enjoyed a higher quality of life throughout those extra years.
Conclusion
You do not have to wait for 30 plus years to see the impact that cigarettes are having on your body. If you’ve smoked for 10 years or more, you can look in the mirror and see the effects today!
Facial wrinkles, gray hair and even baldness at a young age are the outwards signs of the internal damage caused by cigarettes. If you think the external body changes are simply the result of aging, you need to think again. These outward signs are more than cosmetic issues. They are a visible warning alerting you to the internal damage that smoking cigarettes is causing to your body. The sooner cigarettes are removed from your life, the sooner your body can begin to repair itself. Don’t wait until it’s too late, pay attention to these important signs today!
(c) Copyright 2009, R. Michael Stone
R. Michael Stone, M.S. – Counselor
Creator of The Unlearn Smoking Success System(tm) – Become not an ex-smoker but a NON-smoker in only 28 days.
The addiction to nicotine is the world’s single most dangerous epidemic, and also, the most preventable. Billions worldwide are addicted to nicotine, and many will try to quit dozens of times without success. In this article, I hope to shed some light on the facts about your addiction, and also some ways of coping with the uncomfortable side effects of cessation.
Making the decision to quit is the easiest part, but actually putting down the cigarette and lighter can be a seemingly impossible undertaking. It is understandable however, for smoking has been there when you needed it most. When you are bored and waiting around in public, or stuck in traffic, or even getting off a long flight, the cigarettes are always there for you, easing the tension of daily life. The first question I would like to present you with is this: “Does the actual act of cigarette smoking remove any stress from your life permanently?” Permanently is the operative word there, because although cigarettes may distract you, they only serve to delay feelings of stress and anxiety.
Many people fear quitting for various reasons, and I will now address some of the more common concerns that those quitting are faced with, while laying out the facts for you.
1. “I’m afraid if I quit, I will gain a tremendous amount of weight!”
Weight gain is generally caused by your body trying to counter balance the loss of one addiction by replacing it with another. When you smoke, the nicotine releases the blood suger from your pancreas into your blood stream, so when you quit smoking, you will begin to eat more regularly. Keeping an eye on your diet and maintaining an exercise program can counter balance this symptom.
2.”The anxiety is simply too great, I need cigarettes because the withdrawal is unbearable!”
While the withdrawal can be very uncomfortable, bear in mind that these physical symptoms are very short term, and will only last for 3-7 days. You have tricked your body into thinking it required something which it does not, so the discomfort is your body readjusting to a non chemical dependent status.
3.”How will I deal with stressful situations without cigarettes?”
Naturally, you have tricked yourself into believing that cigarettes help you deal with stress, but think back to before you were a smoker(if you can.) How did you deal with stress? Are you now, as a smoker, less stressed than you were before overall? I can make a bet that most of you dealt with the same amount of stress before you were a smoker as you do now.
After addressing these concerns, the only way to quit smoking is to simply stop doing it. As simple as it sounds, that is the truth. There are many options and aids to help you quit smoking, but in my experience, the all natural method (no patches/gum) made me feel healthier, and actually helped me to stay quit much more effectively than common anti-smoking products. Good luck to you in your life changing decision to quit, and look to your local department of health for further information.
For more information on how to quit smoking for good, visit my blog by !
Trying to remove cigarette odor from your home or car? It can be hard! The hardest thing in permanently getting rid of smoke smell is, obviously, the fact that the source of cigarette odor is still there – you still smoke. Read this article to learn how you can remove cigarette odor without having ot quit smoking.
If you smoke then an attempt to remove cigarette odor might be quite futile. Even if you manage to do it, all it takes is a few days of you smoking and the smoke smell will come back. Until now that is, let me ask you – Have you herd about electronic cigarettes? You might’ve as they’ve been rising in popularity for a bit now. But in case you haven’t here’s an explanation of what is electronic cigarette and how it works.
E cigarette looks like a normal cigarette and consists of a few part: Nicotine cartridge is located where the filter is in a normal cigarette. Next is an atomization chamber – a device that when puffed on crates vapor like smoke that looks like a real smoke. A lithium battery rounds up this micro device. It even has a light at the tip of the cigarette that will light up when you use it, making it seem like the real thing!
Not only is there no smoke smell with electronic cigarettes but they are also much better for your health than normal ones. There is no smoke, tar or ash so your lungs won’t end up looking like a dirty vacuum filter after a few years of smoking.
If you smoke then electronic cigarette is the ultimate, if unconventional method to and get rid of cigarette smell. No smoke = no smell = no odor! All the while you still satisfy your body’s nicotine craving, it even looks like smoking a normal cigarette.
To learn more about e cigarette and to watch a video demonstration click here:
A number of factors contribute to making a smoking mix palatable. First and formost is the way you cure the herbs. If you take fresh tobacco and dry it like any medicinal herb, it becomes an unpalatable obnoxious smoke that the most hardcore smoker couldn’t stomach (or lung, as the case may be). Tobacco is semi-dried slowly, allowing for chemical changes, and is never dried to a crisp. It is packaged slightly moist in air tight containers. If it dries out, the smoker adds an apple slice or sprays it with water. Dried out tobacco is harsh.
Herbal smoking blends like or the are similar. In most cases you do not want the herbs to be dried crispy. It’s OK for some of the ingredients, but as a whole the mixture should be ever so slightly moist. Try spraying your mixtures, or adding an apple slice. Experiment with it. Some of the most flavorful smoking ingredients need to actually dry slow, and cure, but the majority are best picked fresh and just not dried completely. Package in an airtight container.
Next is the consistancy of the mixture. The herbs should be well mixed like in mixes. Finely shredded barks can help. By far the best physical base for a spice smoking mixture is mullein, Verbascum thapsus. It is a fine medicinal for the lungs, even smoked. It soothes imflammed or infected lungs, and prevents coughing until infection or inflammation is broken. Then it aids in expectoration, helping to break up congestion and promote “effective” coughing. It was smoked to stop the coughing of tuberculosis years ago. It is wonderful for any kind of lung cleansing. It has no physical psychological effect. It also has almost no flavor and is a very light smoke. The average smoker would feel like they’re smoking air.
Crispy dried crushed mullein is a lousy smoke. Mostly dried mullein should be rubbed for the best results. Roll the leaves in your hands for a while, it will become very fluffy and puffy. This fuzzy rubbed mullein will evenly burn when smoked in papers or pipe. It will hold other herbs that are in the form of small pieces and powder, and keep them evenly distributed. And it has no flavor! Ideal for a smoking base. I like the light green baby leaves found in the center of the first year basal rossette, but its a matter of personal choice. Any leaf will work.
Sometimes I put the mullein in a blender before mixing. It becomes very fluffy, but it lacks the “personal” touch hand rubbing gives. Finally, the amounts and kinds of flavoring herbs you use will change the palatability. You need to just play with it until you get it right.
Willie James is a of Nebraska auto insurance agency and his profession is to print monthly. Ask him how to obtain on his blog.