Archive for July, 2009

Aggressive and Non-Aggressive Juvenile Fire Setters

Friday, July 31st, 2009

A study by Stickle and Blechman (Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 2002) found that fire setting was associated with early onset severe and varied antisocial behaviors among juveniles. A new study by Seifert examined the characteristics of a group of 153 fire setters. Fire setters were defined as youth who set fires that are not of a utilitarian nature and may have a risk of harm to others.
There appear to be two groups of fire setters: aggressive and non-aggressive. Aggressive youth are those who have hit, pushed or shoved another person that is not in self defense and causes some level of distress to the victim. Non-aggressive fire setters do not have a history of hitting others. The non-aggressive group appear to have more psychiatric problems, while the aggressive group are similar to the severe behavior problem group with multiple problems and childhood trauma. The aggressive fire setters ranged in age from 6 to 19 (average age was 14), while the non-aggressive fire setters ranged in age from 8 to 16 (average age was 13).
Among the aggressive fire setters, all had a history of moderate to severe behavior problems and assaultive behaviors, 97% had behavior problems that began before the age of 13, 87% had one or more parents not involved in the childÂ’s life, 86% had poor social skills, 83% had a history of family violence, 82% had a history of childhood trauma, and 76% were delinquent. For the non-aggressive fore setter group 94% had a history of moderate to severe behavior problems, 89% had poor social skills, 89% had anger management problems, 83% were impulsive, 74% had moderate to severe behavior problems before the age of 13, 72% had average or better IQ, and 72% had psychosis or self harm.
Looking at the characteristics of these two groups, it becomes clear that the intervention strategies may be different for youth in aggressive vs non-aggressive patterns. The aggressive group has more trauma and histories of family violence. Therefore therapy would need to address any ongoing home violence or trauma and use techniques to help the youth heal from past trauma, including domestic violence. Both groups have some social skill deficits and cognitive behavioral treatment for skill building would be appropriate. The non-aggressive fire setter may have more psychiatric problems and will need a psychiatric evaluation, especially for psychosis, self harm and impulsivity. The majority of both groups had average or better intellectual functioning, but examination of how they are doing in school is always appropriate.
In conclusion, as in most groups of behaviorally disordered youth, comorbidity, family, and trauma issues need to be examined in order to provide the most effective therapy. An effective assessment on the front end can save time and trouble later on. Early intervention (before the age of 12) is of primary importance.

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Wii Accidents and Injuries

Friday, July 31st, 2009

The Wii is a revolutionary new games console utilizing state-of-the-art technology to enhance the game playing experience. It enables the players to really feel and experience the game using its remote controllers. However, it appears people are getting a little too carried away and accidents are happening.
It would appear that the Wii has two very good uses. You can play great games and totally immerse yourself in the action, but also clear your house of unwanted breakable items if placed in the vicinity of the game player.
The cause of all this mayhem seems to revolve around the rather loose fitting strap supplied by Nintendo, which does not appear to be up to the task of stopping the remote flying off your wrist and heading for the nearest breakable object during game play, or if you are extremely unlucky, straight into your television screen. Nintendo has recognized the problem and are delivering stronger wrist straps to outlets where people can exchange their old ones for the much stronger and safer version.
However, even with the new strap people will do the silliest things and forget themselves in the heat of the moment.
It seems the majority of problems are related to sports games. Imagine getting caught up in a really intense game of bowling. You need a strike to beat your opponent and you lunge forward with the remote giving it all you got. Unfortunately, the controller has other ideas and the strap snaps and off hurtles the controller straight into your new high definition TV. Very sad.
There are of course some counter-measures that can be applied. The launch of controller sleeves to aid with the grip would seem to be a step in the right direction. However, a sweaty sleeve is also a loose one, and after an intense bout of bowling the sleeve could easily fly off and head for all that fine china in your mothersÂ’ best cabinet.
Baseball is also proving itself to be a very dangerous sport to play in the house as well. Imagine going for that home run, swinging the controller as hard as you can, foolishly carrying this out on a freshly polished wooden floor, the momentum spinning the player round like a mini tornado and twisting your ankle in the process. That’s just the batting, imagine the damage that can be carried out by the pitcher. Wild pitches have sent controllers heading for the nearest window, TV, lamp and practically any breakable glass object the Wii remote can home in on.
But by far the most damage is caused by tennis. People just seem to forget how tall they are in their own living rooms. Many a ceiling fan, chandelier and light fixture has fallen foul of the over-zealous serve in tennis. Even worse, some players have completely forgotten there surroundings and smacked friends a family members right on the face during backswings and smashes. Not pretty, and not the best way to make friends.
There’s no doubt that the Wii is tremendous fun, and leads to intense game play on many occasions. It’s new style of play has caught the imagination of the world leading to every single Wii made available for retail purchase over the holiday period being sold. Careful use of the Wii controller is a must if you are to avoid accidents and events like the one above from happening in your own home.

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Your eBay Lifeblood: Customer Service

Friday, July 31st, 2009

So, you’ve put up your eBay listings and now it’s time to sit back and let the cash flow grow. Sorry, being a successful seller on eBay isn’t that easy. Selling merchandise on eBay is a business. While your choice of product is fundamental to the success of that business, customer service can be the make or break factor. eBay is an open, easily accessed community based website, sellers who don’t attend to their customer base may find that they quickly no longer have a customer base.
Any buyer can immediately leave feedback concerning his/her transaction with you. In many ways this makes customer service rendered by an eBay merchant even more important than customer service in a bricks and mortar establishment. Therefore, customer service should weigh heavily on all of the decisions you make regarding your eBay business beginning with ad design and right on through the actual delivery of the product. Notice the sentence doesn’t read “ending” with the actual delivery. Customer service is ongoing; it never ends.
Composing accurate and easily understood eBay ad copy is the first step to good customer service; including pictures to assist your potential customer with his/her buying decision is another way to be a good merchant. Providing reasonable shipping rates and multiple forms of payment can also go a long way in building your client list. Adding the eBay shipping calculator to your ad is a no cost tool many clients appreciate. Crafting and posting a clearly written return policy is imperative.
Without a doubt, however, the bottom line in customer service is response. Well written ads, informative pictures, shipping tools, established policies and frequently asked question (FAQ) lists can all make life easier for buyer and seller alike; they all cut down on the need for personal interaction. Still, a quick, pleasant personal reply from the merchant does more to build positive feedback than any other action an eBay seller can make. Even when a customer doesn’t like the answer just getting an answer in a timely fashion can leave a good feeling with the buyer. A wise seller will also know that while it is important to have and enforce buying/selling policies; it is equally important to know when to be flexible with those policies. While compromising on an issue with a buyer may cost a seller a few cents in the short run, it can lead to increased profits in the long run. Don’t allow yourself to be run over by an unreasonable customer but be open to negotiation with a buyer who may have a legitimate complaint.
All in all, as with any company, an eBay merchant must pay attention to every aspects of his/her business. Choosing the perfect product and advertising it in just the right way are essential components of any successful eBay auction. It will be difficult to maintain your success though without attentive, intelligently administered customer service.

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The Dangers Of Mold, What You Should Know About Mold

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

A lot of people, including insurance companies, would like you to think that mold isn’t as dangerous to your health as all the media hype would have you believe, but actually mold is just as harmful as people say that it is.
Mold has been around longer than human beings have, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t cause us problems both medically and financially. If anyone tries to tell you that mold isn’t going to cause any damage to your health, you might want to tell them some of the things that mold has been known to do.
Mold has been known to cause an excess amount of fatigue, sinusitis, allergy symptoms, and damaged vision. The allergy symptoms are one of the most common results and it can occur either in the form of a runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, or even skin rashes that are unsightly and tend to be very itchy.
If you do not experience any of these symptoms while you are outside of your home, it might be mold or something else in your living environment that is causing you to have these reactions. Either way, you should probably see a doctor as soon as you are able to determine that something in your home is causing you to have these symptoms.
It has been known to kill our pets and cause lung bleeding, especially in infants. Elderly people, particularly those in poor health or with any respiratory problems, are at risk for the health effects of mold. Anyone who is HIV-positive, have AIDS, or those who are in the process of recovering from surgery are also at a high risk for mold-related infections and health complications.
Some of the most dangerous infections in the world are caused by mold and in the region of Southeast Asia, this includes a condition that affects mostly HIV-positive and AIDS patients called penicilliosis.
It is caused by a mold in the genus penicillium, a genus which is most famous for including the species of mold responsible for the miracle drug penicillin that was invented back in the 1940’s.
There are actually a lot of things that you can do to make your home and workplace mold-free. Taping a do-it-yourself home mold test to the grill of one of your air conditioning vents is a good idea; it will test to see if your air conditioner is responsible for spreading the mold around your house.
Putting tests in other rooms after you’ve stirred up the air for a few minutes with a house fan is also a good way to test for mold. If you see mold growing visibly on your wall, use rubber gloves and scrape a small bit off onto the test and send it to a mold laboratory.

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The Power Of Performance Feedback

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

We all receive some sort of feedback in our lives, on or off the job, everyday. How we receive it, however is an extremely important adaptive skill; our success at this skill seems to be linked to our past experiences. If such an experience was painful or humiliating for us in the past, we are likely to resent receiving feedback. In contrast, if we felt a certain amount of acceptance along with criticism in the past, we will tend to be less anxious and defensive about the process. It’s through feedback that we can “see ourselves as others see us.”
Feedback is the lifeblood of performance in the workplace. According to research, providing feedback is an effective way to motivate employees to learn in training and increase the effectiveness of goal setting. With some tasks feedback occurs naturally. For example, in baseball, a batter receives feedback on his swing by seeing how hard and far the ball travels. For other tasks, however, judging the correctness of a behavior without feedback is difficult. For example, you complete a project for you boss and he grunts at you or worse yet, never comments on the quality of the project, leaving you to wonder if you are meeting the company’s expectations. Feedback is so important that it can have a profound positive effect on job satisfaction and reduce turnover.
A final consideration for feedback concerns what type to give. Research and common sense agree that positive feedback should be given when tasks are performed correctly. Praise provides an incentive to continue correct behavior. To be most effective, negative feedback should be delivered by focusing on the behavior and should be accompanied by specific suggestions for how the individual can improve performance.
Because of the importance of feedback in the workplace, the process is likely to have some psychological and emotional effects on the person receiving the feedback. A balance must be maintained between giving too little and too much feedback. An individual will not learn if too little feedback is given. However, too much or overly detailed feedback causes frustration, slowing down the learning process.
Feedback is constructive when it is given with the goal of encouraging and reinforcing positive behavior. For feedback to be effective, it must be given when individuals do things properly, not just when they make mistakes. Here are some tips for effective feedback.
- Identify the behavior and focus on it rather than the person’s personality. For example, if someone is often late for work, you might say, “In the past two weeks you have been late 6 times” rather than “We are tired of your lack of responsibility and commitment to your job.”
- Explain how the behavior is impacting others. For example, “When you arrive 10 minutes late, customers get angry because there is no one to help them. When other employees cover for you, it causes them to get behind on their work, resulting in them missing part of their lunch break or being forced to work overtime.”
- Ask the individual for suggestions on how the behavior can be changed.
- After arriving at a solution, together you should set a specific goal. For example, they could agree that the employee be on time everyday for the next week.
- After an agreed upon time, the two of you should meet to see if the goal has been met and to set new goals.
The basic question is what to do with the feedback we receive. Some people deflect it, deny it, explain it away, or in some other way try to protect themselves from the potential impact of the feedback they receive. One’s personal goal ought to be focused on developing the capacity to stay open to feedback especially, during those moments when you are feeling defensive about the feedback. The defensiveness is a clue that you are about to learn something very important about yourself.
A person who is highly practiced in this skill will frequently solicit feedback from supervisors and work colleagues as a way to learn from mistakes and to make changes.

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Compare Cash Back Credit Cards Before You Decide

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

If you are considering applying for a cash back credit card, you need to be sure to take a close look at all of the options available to you. You might think all cash back credit cards are the same. After all, all of them result in money in your pocket, right? Well, not exactly. Yes, you will earn money with any cash back credit card you select. But, just how much money you earn and how you earn the money in the first place may vary.
When It All Began
Cash back credit cards made their first splash when AT&T Universal offered its card, which was free of annual fees. This fact alone was fairly new to the credit card world. To top it off, they offered cash back on all purchases made with the card, with the earned rewards going toward paying off the cardholder’s phone bill.
Soon after AT&T’s revolutionary cash back credit card, the Discover Card started offering a special cash back credit card that provided cardholders with cash back at the end of the year. From here, credit cards evolved to offering outstanding cash back incentives of up to 5% of the purchases made with the card. Although Discover Card is still considered to be one of the best cash back credit cards by many people, Visa and MasterCard also have several cash back credit cards of their own to offer. In today’s market, which is very competitive, credit card companies view the money they give to their customers as a business expenditure necessary to get clients and to maintain them.
Analyze Spending Habits
When it comes to choosing a cash back credit card, you should first analyze your spending habits. First of all, you should never use a cash back credit card if you are unable to pay off the balance in full at the end of each billing cycle. Cash back credit cards have a higher interest rate than credit cards without special rewards and incentives. Therefore, carrying a balance on your cash back credit card will result in high finance charges, which will negate the money you earn.
Decide What You Want to Earn
When selecting a cash back credit card, you also need to consider what type of reward you want to receive. If you would rather earn points, which can be exchanged later for goods or services, and airline miles, you need to get a reward credit card. If, however, you are interested in receiving cold, hard cash, then a cash back credit card is right for you.
At the same time, not all cash back credit cards operate the same. If you want a no hassles check to be automatically mailed to you, then be sure to choose a card that does just that. Some cash back credit cards require you to keep an eye on your own rewards and to request a check when the balance reaches a certain threshold. Or, you might want to consider a cash back credit card that simply uses the money you earn to help pay off your credit card balance. This type of credit card does not require any work on your part and can be a much simpler option and a better choice for those that don’t have time to spend monitoring the rewards from their credit card.
Fees
You also need to consider any fees that might be associated with the cash back credit cards you are looking at. If there are annual fees or monthly fees, chances are that you will not earn enough cash back to make the card worthwhile. The best cash back credit cards have no hidden fees and offer a high percentage of return.

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Can I Eat More and Weigh Less

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

It depends what you are eating more of. If you are eating more fresh vegetables and less chocolate brownies and nachos, then yes; you certainly can eat more and weigh less.
You may have seen article titles such as “Have More Food and Lose Weight,” or Eat More and Weigh Less” and thought, “Yeah, sure.” I’ve thought that because I never thought I could eat more and lose weight. But that’s because I always thought in terms of calories rather than in terms of volume of food.
A diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables along with whole grains, lean protein (think seafood, poultry, beef, and pork that is not processed), and low fat dairy will allow you eat much larger amounts of food the calories than a diet that’s primarily fast food or processed foods. For example, a super sized fast food meal can easily take up nearly your entire daily allotment of calories. I’m not trying to pick on McDonalds, but my favorite meal there is a Big Mac, large French fries, and a large Coke. That meal is over 1,400 calories. Most people who are dieting and trying to lose weight don’t eat more than 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day so that meal at McDonalds would mean some pretty skimpy eating for the rest of the day if a person wanted to not go over their calorie limit for the day.
On the other hand, a person could have a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and reduced calorie yogurt for breakfast; an apple for a mid-morning snack; a lunch of salad greens with vinaigrette and a non cream based soup; some air-popped popcorn for a mid-afternoon snack; a supper of broiled fish; steamed veggies, and a small baked potato; and still have an evening snack of frozen yogurt without going over 1,500-1,800 calories. And if you are hungry at any time during the day, crunchy raw veggies are filling without being fattening.
I’m not trying to oversimplify things; but the idea of eating more and weighing less is to eat more naturally low calorie foods and to eat much less of the high calorie foods. And I’m putting the emphasis on naturally low calorie foods because processed diet foods that are low in calories aren’t necessarily nutritious or filling. Incorporating lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet is not only helpful for weight loss efforts but also healthy and good for a person’s body.

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Why Every Copywriter Needs Great Testimonials… And How To Get Them Quickly

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

A beginning copywriter recently asked the question, “How can my client quickly generate testimonials?”
The answer is the same for her client as it is for us: You must develop them!
I must confess that in my own copywriting business I was lazy in this department and had to scramble once I decided to correct my negligence. It’s a fact that every couple of months about 10 percent of your business contacts change jobs, get promoted, quit work, or otherwise leave their positions. When that happens, your chance for getting a glowing testimonial from a happy client is gone forever!
So listen up…here are the secrets to painlessly growing your testimonial list:
KEEP A TUNED EAR
Whenever a client compliments your work, ask immediately if you can use the statement as a testimonial. If it’s verbal, write it down and send it to the client right away for changes or approval.
Oftentimes a client will compliment you in an email. That’s even better. All you do is reply, and ask if you can use the written statement as a testimonial.
CULTIVATE TESTIMONIALS
If you did a great job for a client, they know it and you know it, ask for a testimonial. If you’re on the phone, listen for a slight hesitation. If you discern some reluctance, it’s probably not that your client doesn’t want to write you a testimonial, but that there’s something in the way.
I suspect the number one reason for reluctance is that you’ve just given your client a “job” to do. Now he has to think and spend time on your behalf, and it doesn’t benefit him in any way.
Another “objection” is that he may be intimidated. Many people are poor spellers or insecure about their writing ability in general. And now they’re being asked to write something for a professional writer!
You can blast past both barriers by offering to write the testimonial yourself.
My approach is always something like this: “If you’d rather I write it and you edit, I can do that. I’ll write it as close as possible to what you just said. All you have to do is approve it or make any changes.”
I’ve never had a client say no to this suggestion. And often I’ve been able to tell that they were relieved that I assumed the burden.
REACH INTO THE PAST
If you’re just starting out in your freelance life and you don’t have any testimonials, don’t despair. Unless you were born yesterday, you DO have testimonials… they just haven’t been written yet.
Clients value more than a successful job. They value
professionalism. They care very much about deadlines. They want to know they’re working with a human being who’s easy to work with, not some stuffed shirt with a big ego.
Undoubtedly you’ve found favor in the eyes of those you’ve worked with in the past. Ask these people for testimonials! They can be past employers, friends you’ve done work for, even relatives (although it doesn’t look so good if they have the same last name).
So think. Who have you helped in the past? Ask them for a testimonial…and if they hesitate, offer to write it for them.
THE LEGAL SIDE
Whenever you get a testimonial, you should also get a signed and dated Testimonial Release. You’ll easily find forms on the Internet.
What you want is permission to use the testimonial in any or all of your marketing, and protection against lawsuit for using the testimonial.
You might wonder if a client’s permission, recorded in an email thread, will suffice. My guess is that the law would be on your side, but why take the chance? Although I’ve never heard of a copywriter being sued for testimonial use, copywriters are at risk for lawsuits.
A FINAL NOTE:
Testimonials are worthless unless they carry a full name (no initials!), a company name, and a location. You also want to publish your client’s title as well. Testimonials are about credibility. If you don’t supply the details, what’s the point?

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Monetizing Your Article Directory

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

This article is written for article directory owners looking to earn revenue from their sites. Before entering into any online business, it makes sense to develop some kind of revenue model for your business. Article directory owners are offering a service for website promoters who can submit articles to increase backlinks to their sites and establish credibility. They are also providing a service for information-seekers who read the articles in the directory.
Article directories are typically free for authors to submit to, and free for visitors to browse and print/download articles. In order to earn money from your site, you can incorporate advertising, affiliate marketing, or sponsorship.
One of the easiest and most profitable ways of monetizing your directory is to display Google Adsense ads within the articles themselves. The ads are contextual and should complement the article content rather than just distract the reader. They are highly targeted and can provide excellent click-through rates. Once you are approved as an Adsense publisher, you can customize your ads and easily insert dynamic text into your html or php code.
A second way to earn from your directory is to put affiliate links into targeted areas of your site. If you have a general article directory, you can put affiliate text or banner links on category pages to match the content. For example, you could put webhosting affiliate links on a category page for Internet or web hosting articles. If this is done carefully, while tracking the success/failure of each ad, you can make a reasonable amount of money. If you have a niche article directory, you can target even smaller demographics and secure higher click-through and conversion rates.
Article directories with a Google PageRank of 5+ can also earn yearly or monthly fees by displaying sponsor links. A one-line text link can be displayed on the homepage or as a sitewide link on all pages. The higher the PageRank, the more you can charge for the link. But resist the temptation to place just any link on your pages. The sponsor’s link should be relevant to the content of your site, for seo purposes.
There are, of course, several other ways to earn money from your free article directory. Develop a marketing campaign with clear and measurable goals so you can evaluate the success of each campaign. Give your promotional efforts a reasonable amount of time to meet your expectations.
Don’t fall the way of the spam-filled, content-lacking “Made for Adsense” sites. Develop your directory with your authors and visitors in mind. Content is still king, and a quality directory will be visited repeatedly by human visitors as well as search engine spiders. A polished, trusted website will make it much easier to lure sponsors and increase click-throughs on your advertising links.

Avoiding Digital Camera Shakes

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

If ever you have seen a picture that is blurred, it is most probably because the camera was shaken while the picture was taken. With traditional photographic film cameras, it was evident only after the negatives and positives were made. However, with digital camera, the captured image can be seen immediately on the LCD screen, and if the image has shaken, then it can be discarded for a new shot.
Digital camera shakes are common with new users. This is primarily because, new users have not fully understood that the shutter-release button must not be pressed twice, but pressed two steps down. The first step locks the focus and exposure while the second step takes the photo. This pressing of the button has to be smooth, otherwise the digital camera shakes and a blurred picture is the result.
The shutter speed also plays an important role in blurring the picture. The shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter remains open to allow light to reach the digital camera sensor. It is measured in seconds or fractions of a second. An image is exposed by the combination of the lens aperture and the shutter speed. A slow shutter speed needs a small aperture (large F-stop number) to avoid over exposure. With a slow shutter speed below 1/60th of a second, over exposure is adequately controlled, but the digital camera is likely to vibrate more, giving a shaky picture.
A tripod is extremely useful to eliminate digital camera shakes. It is generally used by sports photographers who use long telephoto lens, as it helps in close-ups, landscape and panning shots, for timed exposures, for shooting at slow shutter speeds, and for taking photographs in low or dim light conditions. Shooting a fast moving subject, like athletes, or wildlife, tests the photographer`s skill and the equipment. In such cases, camera shakes are most likely to happen, and thus a monopod or a tripod is always used. Digital cameras mounted on tripods always tend to eliminate camera shakes and give sharp results.
A great feature in most high-end digital cameras available nowadays is image stabilization (IS). IS is an anti-shake and vibration reduction technology and is common in digital cameras with long telephoto zooms of 10X and 12X. With IS, sharp images can be obtained even if the camera shakes a little, a slow shutter speed is used, shooting is done in low light conditions, or a tripod is not used. IS was originally developed for video cameras. It is now available in interchangeable lens, consumer and professional digital cameras, which use optical image stabilization. Sports and wildlife photographers use a tripod and IS technology together to get the maximum sharpness of their photographs; however, many other photographers turn the IS feature off while using a tripod.
Digital camera shakes can be eliminated or minimized by the utilization of the above techniques. However, the fundamentals of taking a good shot prove to be most effective in avoiding camera shakes, in the absence of tripods, or IS technology.
The basics of good photography should be followed. You should hold the digital camera with both your hands. You should keep the legs apart with the knees slightly bent forward. Your elbows should be braced with your body and your body braced with some support, if possible. You should generally frame and compose the picture with the viewfinder and not the LCD screen. You should not jab but lightly press the shutter release button two steps down, and during that time, it would be beneficial to hold your breath to prevent any movement of the chest and hands. With this basic technique of good photography, you can be sure that your digital camera will not shake and no picture will be blurred.

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