Staying in touch with clan members can be one of the hardest tasks for starting and experienced gaming clans alike. People have different schedules, maybe they live half-way across the world, maybe they are just busy. I have found that a simple forum can prove to be an invaluable tool. Below are a few ideas to consider.
- Make sure you get your clan excited about your board and ready to post. No one likes a empty massage board. Spark some conversations about past matches, etc.
- Get your members in a habit of checking your message board often for news and updates. This will increase overall activity and keep the board active and fun.
- Create a recruitment thread to help keep newcomers organized.
Post pictures/stats of past battles, make other clans jealous!
- Create polls to see what people thought or think of certain events.
- So much more can be done as well.
If you are looking to get started with a free message board for your clan then I recommend trying www.FreePowerBoards.com I have used them in the past for my gaming message boards and love their fast loading times and customization options.
Well, that’s about it. I hope you find this article useful and fuel your clan with your own message board!
Chris Davis is a proud supporter of “Building Online Communities” and enjoys writing short guides to helping people get started on their own online community.
You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth.
In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we’ll focus on the role that pre-exhaustion has to play in intensifying the training effect.
When an exercise employs two or more muscles it will be impossible to achieve failure for the primary muscle as the weakest muscle will give out first. This is perhaps best explained by giving an example. When targeting the chest, most exercises involve use of the triceps which is a relatively small and weak muscle. When performing the incline bench press for example, the triceps will fail before the pectorals have the opportunity to work to failure thus limiting the value of the exercise.
How do you get around this? By first performing an exercise that isolates and tires the pectorals before immediately moving on to the main exercise. For maximum benefits there should be no rest between the pre-exhaust exercise and the main compound exercise.
Beginners don’t need to worry about pre-exhaust routines but when they advance to intermediate level they can be introduced once a week for each body part.
Examples of pre-exhaust routines commonly performed by bodybuilders are listed below:
Biceps - barbell curls and close-grip, palms-up pulldowns.
Triceps - pressdowns and dips.
Pectorals - flyes and bench presses.
Lats - dumbbell pullovers and barbell rows.
Deltoids - dumbbell laterals and presses behind neck.
Traps - shrugs and upright rows.
Thighs - leg extensions and squats.
About the Author
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.
There are quite a few issues to consider when selecting a lamp
shade. After 27 years of helping dealers, designers and retail
customers match their lamps and shades we have developed some
defining points which will allow you to answer this sometimes
daunting question for yourself.
Beauty is not the only thing in the eye of the beholder.
Individuals may already have preconceived ideas of the right
size, shape, color, material, etc. for a particular lamp shade.
Further, after one has looked upon and lived with a certain lamp
and shade combination for years any deviation from that can very
likely be perceived as “wrong”. So, how can you be sure that a
particular lamp shade is right or that it “goes” with the lamp?
Keep three basic considerations foremost in your mind: portrayal
style, shade size and shade vertical location.
PORTRAYAL STYLE: First and foremost, what do you wish to portray
with the lamp? Look at your lamp and decide what style it is
such as contemporary, traditional, antique, funky, etc. If you
really cannot discern a specific style then you must decide what
is the style or look that you wish to portray with this lamp.
You will want the basic look or style of your lamp shade to
compliment, not clash with the lamp style itself. You generally
do not want a very ornate and detailed shade if you wish to
portray the clean lines of a very contemporary lamp. Likewise,
you do not want a clean cut Chinese coolee (wide bottom compared
to top) type shade for a lamp that you want to portray as a
traditional style. Think in terms of like styles for the lamp
and shade. This does not mean like colors, textures, size etc.
but general style. Once you have decided the general lamp style
that you wish to portray, then you can begin concentrating on
other details.
SHADE SIZE: This characteristic of your lamp shade like all the
others will of course be subjective and will vary with the
observer. But there are some guidelines that will help you
determine the boundaries within which you must consider. You are
basically looking for a balance in lamp and shade sizes that
will make the lamp look neither top heavy or bottom heavy when
viewed from a distance of about 20 feet away. There are four (4)
measurements to consider when selecting a shade: top diameter
(across), bottom diameter (across), side length (slope), and
drop. The drop is the vertical distance the shade washer is from
the top edge of the shade. Do not be too concerned with the
drop. The drop and the harp size will determine the shade
vertical location which we will cover later. You just need to be
aware that different shades do have different drops. Small
changes in the bottom diameter (1″-2″) will have a dramatic
effect on the look of your lamp. The same applies to the side
length and top diameter. The numerous combinations of these
various measurements can be mind boggling. Below are some
specific guidelines that you can carry with you to the store
when selecting a lamp shade.
Medium - small size traditional or antique style lamps that are
20″ - 27″ tall to the top of the shade will likely require
shades about 9″ - 11″ side length and 16″ - 19″ bottom diameter.
Medium size traditional or antique style lamps that are 27″ -
30″ tall to the top of the shade will likely require shades
about 11″ - 13″ side length and 16″ - 19″ bottom diameter.
Large size traditional or antique style lamps that are 30″ - 36″
tall to the top of the shade will likely require shades about
12″ - 15″ side length and 18″ - 20″ bottom diameter.
For each of the above examples, contemporary lamp shades will
generally have larger bottom diameters and possibly side length
as well. Larger diameter lamps require larger diameter shades
and more slender lamps require smaller diameter shades.
Multiple socket lamps are a special consideration that should be
addressed by an experienced lighting professional that you will
find in most reputable lamp and lighting showrooms.
SHADE VERTICAL LOCATION: This characteristic of your lamp shade
is fairly simple to judge. It is the vertical location of the
bottom edge of your lamp shade. On a single socket lamp this
will almost always be about 2″ below the bottom of the socket
assembly. To determine the correct vertical location, first look
straight across the bottom edge of the lamp shade and visually
line up the near edge of the shade with the far edge of the
shade. This line should then intersect about 2″ below the bottom
of the socket assembly for most single socket lamps. The way
that you adjust this vertical location of the lamp shade is with
the HARP. This is the “U” shaped wire that attaches the lamp to
the shade and it comes in different lengths from about 4″ on up.
Shorter shades will require shorter harps and longer shades will
require longer harps. Multiple socket lamps are a special
consideration and I strongly recommend professional guidance for
these instances, especially for safety concerns as well as
aesthetic values.
SUMMARY: Use the above ideas as a general guideline and it
should get you started in the right direction. For further
assistance I strongly recommend a reputable lamp and lighting
showroom as this type store will likely have knowledgeable
experienced staff who are well equipped to help you with the
many subtle intricacies of lamp shade selection.
- Jim Hoyle
