Summer is here and with it the call of the great outdoors. Winter seemed ever so long and dragged over, week after week. We really do look forward to the summer holidays and with every reason! This time, however, we are well aware how family budgets have taken a hammering due to the effects of the big economic recession. Now, it is a challenge to simply find the money to pay the mortgage or rent and to feed all the family, let alone to come up with funds to help pay for special trips during the summer.

Balancing a budget against family expectations can be difficult at the best of times, and professional coaching can take some of this strain away. Consult with your online coaching expert to find the best way to win this battle according to your particular circumstances. As you do this, we have called on our professional coaching expertise to look through the World Wide Web and find you ten excellent days out for you to think about this summer, each rather different from the other, but all for under a tenner.

Kids love models and grown-up kids do as well, so why not try Bekonskot Model Village in rural Buckinghamshire, where you can marvel at this “eccentric” recreation of a model Village, complete with mandatory model railway. www.bekonscot.com is your place to find out the details.

Everybody is a fan of Harry Potter and you can see where they got the inspiration for Hogwarts at Alnwick Castle. Children can interact and delve into the world of medieval knights and dragons. www.alnwickcastle.com/

Go way back in time by visiting Hadrian’s Wall, a place where you can view numerous artefacts from the Roman era and see some of the best preserved castles and forts. Numerous locations for a visit can be found for less than a tenner by visiting www.hadrians-wall.org/

You would never have thought that frightening dinosaurs could have roamed the countryside in such a pleasant place as rural Norfolk, would you? These beasts hold a fascination for kids and they are almost certain to love the Dinosaur Adventure Park, as they learn about how these ancient creatures interacted. www.dinosauradventure.co.uk

If you believe in Harry Potter, you have to believe in the legend of wizards and it is said that the caves at picturesque Alderley Edge were once a mystical hangout. There is something for all the family here though as well, at this national trust designated site. www.alderleyedge.org.

There was a time when the Welsh relied on coal as one of their primary economic drivers. While this may well have been a very long time ago, the Big Pit National Mining Museum can still elicit a sense of excitement amongst the children as they journey down into an old mine shaft, dressing up as one of the miners and seeing how they lived. www.museumwales.ac.uk

When it comes to music, we all speak the same language and during the summer, BBC Proms Plus is staging a number of free events for families. Take this opportunity to educate the kids about “real” music! BBC Proms Plus http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2010/whatson/plus.shtml

Kids love trains and even though today’s modern versions are not as evocative as the steam belching railway locomotives of old, just see how your kids are inspired when they see 100 or more of the old-timers at the National Railway Museum. www.NRM.org.uk

Take a journey down memory lane and indulge in your memories as well, as you give the children a glimpse of those far-off days. Admission is free at the Museum of Childhood. Find this East London location at the www.museumofchildhood.org.uk

It’s not often that you can find things to do in London for free, but at the Tower of London, you can even take part in a treasure hunt on the beach! www.hrp.org.uk.

We hope that some of these trips can be inspirational and if so, think how you could make your life as a working mum even more pleasurable throughout the year, not just during the summer, by looking at online coaching alternatives.

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

Lots of people nowadays are more than able in painting and decorating their own home or to repair a flawed roof tile. Nonetheless if you require to design the interior of a commercial building then that will take the expertise of expert Commercial Interior Designers who have had years of schooling and job experience. Anybody who is involved in Interior Design Services on a commercial standard will have had to endure years of formal learning and will have possibly had to grew up with a gift for interior design that was not understood until they were well into the early stages of their education.

There are so many aspects contained within commercial interior design that it can make it hard to pick a particular direction in which to go once you have chosen this particular industry as your chosen career. There are many basics that wanted to be learned that many Commercial Interior Designers have to comprehend and no matter which specific area of Interior Design Services that an individual picks they will be faced with some of the same challenges in every campaign that is undertaken.

Perhaps the most crucial of all tools for commercial Interior Design Firms is the computer software generally called Computer Aided Design or CAD and it is the tool that all commercial Interior Design Firms will use to develop their ideas and put them into a format that ultimately gets submitted to general contractors. With the aid of the CAD software program it will enable you to develop prototypes and interior design sketches that will facilitate a campaign from the plans and drawings into actual reality. You can try alternate layouts, furniture placement and flooring plans.

Commercial Interior Designers will never be educated enough to graduate without expert working facts of CAD. The face of architecture and interior design has changed immensely over the last twenty years or so that we now have computers that design and sketch architecture in preference to of people. To become a commercial interior design expert you will want to learn to successfully manipulate the CAD software to enable you to bring your commercial Interior Design Services into play.

A vocation in commercial interior design is a career in engineering too and any engineering skills that you have attained are going to be brought into play with every new campaign that you start. You will want to be able to ascertain the relationship between the room available on an office floor and the need for cubicles together with how to add even more room to a specific building that does not already have it. You will want to know how to match furniture with the decoration and even the flooring.

If you have not realized it already and that is that commercial interior design is all about moving things around efficiently and utilizing what room you have available and that does not essentially mean working with the existing room. There will be times when you will be called upon to develop space and that will want the skills in engineering that you have attained.

The industry of commercial interior design at any level can be a challenging one as it will want facts from a variety of aspects in order to be productive. You will want to prepare to spend a lot of time studying, nevertherless once you have accomplished your course you can look forward to a very rewarding career working for respectable Interior Design Firms or as an independent commercial interior design expert.

All right, so you’re wanting to propose, but you need to figure out whether you want to go the create engagement ring route, or the pre-set engagement ring route. Well, I think that a lot of people go through this stage, so I’m going to outline the pros and cons for each side of the argument. Why don’t we start with the create engagement ring side of things: The first and most obvious benefit of creating your own engagement ring is that you get the best level of control out there. This allows for an incredibly personalized proposal experience. Second, you can often get the ring for cheaper.

You have control over what you’re buying, so you can set yourself a budget and adhere to it. Third, you can look at exactly what you’re buying. You have the ability to inspect your diamond with magnified precision. Well, that about sums up the create engagement ring side of things, obviously there are other benefits, but those are the main ones. Now let’s go over the pre-set engagement rings side of things. With a pre-set ring you can point and choose at a ring that looks good to you, can be easier, even if it’s not as personalized. You can get extremely cheap engagement rings. While the higher end rings are actually more expensive than if you built them yourself, you can get a cheap ring for under $300.

Channel setting for pre-set diamond rings is done by cutting the ring metal in such way that a channel is created on its surface. Then, many smaller diamonds are set into it for a more stunning appearance. This is also a good way to protect the gems. But pave-set diamond engagement rings are able to create a greater dazzling effect on the onlookers. Many diamonds of small sizes are set on to the rings surface. This gives the impression as if the ring is made entirely of diamonds and not of the metal. You can choose to pave the ring up to half of the circle for a mix of metal and gems. Or, you can cover the entire metal surface with diamonds, if your budget allows for it. Whichever setting you choose, make sure that it is perfect for securing the precious stone on the ring. Any loose setting is likely to result in the diamond falling out from the hands of a working woman. You should also prepare a budget for a particular setting of the ring.

In so many ways the world is becoming a much smaller place with diverse cultures interacting nearly as much as people do who live side by side. Radio, television, and now the internet have all worked increasingly toward bringing people together, blending nations and people groups as never before. Some of the customs practiced by these disparate groups are also getting noticed, including the engagement habits of their peoples. In the US, it is customary for the man to get down on one knee to ask his beloved for her hand in marriage, presenting a diamond solitaire ring as a sign to her of his love and faithfulness. In some cases the woman will reciprocate by giving him a “promise ring” but this trend is still very uncommon. How will you propose marriage? Will you be upholding time-honored traditions or will you seek to blend in modern methods or even your own personal twist? For fun, let’s take a look at some of the engagement practices of people all across the world. When a man proposes to a woman in Spain, he does what many American men do: provide a pre-set diamond engagement ring to his heart throb. But, it doesn’t stop there: she’ll go out and find an engagement wristwatch and present that gift to him. In Japan, it used to be customary for a matchmaker to bring young Japanese couples together. Today, that has changed as young people are finding each other, getting engaged, and a pre-set ring is presented. However, it is still customary to have the families of the engaged couple get together to exchange nine gifts, including dried bonito and abalone, in witness of their engagement. The groom then presents a generous betrothal gift (averaging more than $7300) to the bride’s family. Brazilian couples will generally come together for a large engagement reception where the man gives to the woman a simple gold band which she wears on her right hand prior to marriage. During the wedding ceremony, the ring is moved to the left hand to signify that she is now married.

Preparing your new daughter’s christening can be a splendid moment, no matter how formal or casual the special occasion will likely be. Although the days have changed, many ceremonies and traditions of the baby christening haven’t noticed significantly change. One particular thing that has remained would be the need of the christening outfits. If you’re fortuitous enough to have an heirloom gown inside of your family, accessories and shoes may well be all you need. On the other hand, if you are going to must search for christening gowns for girls, you are going to find that they are widely readily available - and you can find so many styles to decide on from, it may make you wish you did have a go-to heirloom gown stored inside of your residence.

A christening can be a special celebration for both the mother and father - as they take the first step in sharing their faith with their kid and guaranteeing to continue to do so all through that youngster’s life - as well as for your youngster, who’s being welcomed into the church body and receiving this guarantee, quite possibly together with others. Your infant girl’s gown, whilst an essential aspect in the event, must not bring about you a large amount of pressure. These tips for finding christening gowns for girls will make your search for that ideal gown an quick task.

Acquiring Christening Gowns for Girls
Whether you’re in search of christening gowns for girls due to the fact you opted away from using an heirloom christening gown inside of your family (personal taste can result inyou to do so) and you simply wish to commence a family tradition of your own with your infant girl’s gown, or else you lack a christening gown for her entirely, you will need to know exactly where to search for gowns.

Just like the ceremonial areas of some baptisms have changed, the styles of gowns have noticed excellent change. The choice is yours as well as your spouse what sort of gown your infant will put on, although you are going to wish to make careful consideration of the denomination’s traditions.

Below are a few fantastic resources for finding christening gowns for girls:

Ask Around
Your family and loved ones will want to play a element in the planning of the baby’s christening. If there isn’t any family heirloom gown accessible, ask them exactly where they bought their baby’s christening clothes. If you happen to be fortunate, they may wish to lend you theirs, make one for your infant or offer to obtain one for her. In a few cultures, it can be a custom for somebody other than the mom and dad to supply a christening gown for your youngster. Typically, it’s the Godparents.

Shop Around
Several bridal and formal wear retailers carry christening outfits. A few children’s clothing retailers also have gowns readily available. If there are couple of shops within your area or else you merely aren’t the shop ’till you drop kind, the world wide web may become your best bet. A fantastic range of contemporary and traditional christening gowns for girls are immediately there at your fingers.

Auction Store
Don’t skip on on-line auction sites. Some persons design christening gowns and others do not keep theirs; you may have luck getting yours there at inexpensive price.

Your infant is certain to look lovely in any gown on the day of her christening and she won’t be too concerned about the design of that gown either; so have fun seeking christening gowns for girls!

Buying a ring takes careful consideration. Whatever the occasion, there are significant factors to consider when buying tungsten platinum rings. Style, lifestyle, and budget need to be considered when buying any piece of jewelry. Decide if the wearer is a traditionalist or innovative. Is this a person who works with their hands such as an artist, or someone whose job demands constant washing and disinfecting like a healthcare professional? These factors are important when choosing a style of ring. Will the ring you pick withstand harsh treatment? If you pick tungsten carbide rings, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Tungsten carbide rings are engineered to last a lifetime, bringing you years of beauty.

Used for industrial applications for decades, tungsten carbide is four time more durable than titanium and nearly impossible to scratch. Your tungsten wedding rings will not wear down and will continue to look as good as the day you bought it years from now. No more having to send your ring to a jeweler to have it built up after it has become misshapen over time as with traditional ring metals. Customers are returning again and again because of the satisfaction of ownership. Tungsten carbide rings are highly stylized and distinctive in their appearance. These beautiful rings will capture attention and bring pride for the owner. Tungsten rings are of extraordinary quality and value. The most discriminating buyers are discovering the beauty and distinct quality of tungsten carbide rings.

Purchasing tungsten gold rings online can be simple and safe if you know where to shop. If you are looking for the best place to buy tungsten rings, look online. You will find an incredible selection of rings; one will suit your preferences. The Alpha wedding ring, for example, is a timeless design and ideal to symbolize your lifetime commitment to one another. There are matched his and her sets with gold toned, red, black, or white colored resins inlays. Simplicity has never been so elegant. The Aquila is described as sharp, innovative, and rugged, perfect for the man who has everything. The tungsten ring collection is exclusively designed here, and the unique styles reflect the beauty, luxury, and pride they take in their product..

The world of business usually has the same high standards on fashion as your private world. If your hair is messy and your cloths tattered and torn you will surely have trouble bringing in new clients or closing the deal. The worlds most successful business people dress with an eye on what is fashionable for their business. If you work in high finance you’ll mostly likely be wearing a costly high-end suit. If you are working in the fashion industry you’ll likely be more on the eccentric side and you’ll accessories nicely with those tungsten rings mentioned earlier. Even if you’re counter culture and you avoid all things fashionable you’ll likely find yourself subscribing to the fashion of the counter culture in which you identify yourself. It may seem like a vicious circle but it’s a fact of life that everyone identifies with a specific group of people and usually you’ll work to fit in and fashion plays a big part of comfortably fitting in. As you get older your fashion will change but if you take note you’ll notice that your circle of relationships has changed and you are not working to comply with their fashion needs.

Hunting for the boy christening outfit? It’s possible you did not know these were available; it is most likely your older close relatives hadn’t heard of them. Today, a lot of parents are deciding to not use the standard christening gown for their baby boys. Dependant upon your religious denomination, a boy christening outfit might not be frequently seen. Many churches hold towards the use from the old fashioned christening gowns for babies of both sexes, and the option of christening attire is also really personalized. If the idea of seeing your baby boy inside a “dress” gets you a bit bugged out, be aware that there are lots of a lot more masculine choices obtainable these days.

Symbolism and Modernization of Child Christenings and Outfits
Via recent years, a lot of sects have kept to particular christening traditions but have accepted and even made welcome the changes in mode for baby christening clothing. Regardless of what your kid is wearing, although you’ll want them to look rather regal, this really exceptional event is related to much more than their christening outfit.

Although the actual reason for and thinking guiding a baby christening are different among sects, all are about introducing your kid to a life of religious beliefs. Some christenings are much more formalized, while others - for instance blessings and dedications - are less of an event, but hold the same purpose as a their much more ceremonial alternatives.

The modern clothing selections involved with baby christenings basically throw open a lot more choices for moms and dads, specially those of boys. They do not alter the meaningfulness from the celebration itself.

Shopping For The Boy Christening Outfit
You shouldn’t have a tough time purchasing for the boy christening outfit. They are as simple to discover these days as the standard gowns. In reality, they can frequently be found within the same shops. Bridal and formal attire shops, baby clothing shops and on the internet boutiques are wonderful places to commence your hunt.

Boy christening outfits are obtainable in a range of styles, shades and are manufactured from the same delicate fabrics as classic christening wear. You’ll discover cotton, satin and silk options among the differing styles. It is possible to discover a boy christening outfit that fits your personalized taste and is cozy and suitable for the occasion.

Between the designs obtainable are:

- Suits

- Tiny tuxes

- Rompers

- Robes (these may be tailored with initials or faith based emblems)

- Covert-a-gowns (ideal for any formal look throughout the ceremony and much more everyday appearance immediately after)

- Knickers

- Coveralls

- Hues ranging from classic white to really modern soft blues

If your baby’s christening will be much more casual, you might be able to buy a pants and sweater set, suit or romper of any color at a typical retailer.

Adding Accessories Using A Boy Christening Outfit
Accessories aren’t just for girls! Your baby boy will look extra special|unique|specific|exclusive|exceptional} whenever you add these standard accessories to any christening outfits:

- Silk boutonni

It is in the Antarctic where two scientists hope to get uranium. Negative effects on international cooperation are attributed to such a controversial project. During 1961 was when international scientific research efforts caused the setting aside of Antarctica.From icy weather to a dangerous cover of snow, these guards can surely add strain in the fabric of cooperation among nations as people continue to pursue increasing interest over such resources.

In Antarctica the summers are short and the scientists have decided to take helicopter rides with their West German colleagues going over valleys free of snow allowing them to see the grandest sights from the continent. For the gentlemen, the helicopter rides were rather daunting. They brought a radioactivity detector which needed to be close to the cliffs. It is recommended that you visit this site for resources on Antarctic Cruise.

Also available from the continent are valuable resources other than uranium. For these resources there are a lot of difficulties to overcome but there is a lot of optimism that in the years to come these will be very practical.

It is a large Polish fleet that is now studying about techniques for krill harvesting, it comes from the Weddell Sea and looks like a shrimp and is a cheap source for protein.A mountain was discovered by the Soviets containing high grade iron ore. A research vessel from America found ethane and methane in the Ross Sea in 1973. As well as natural gas deposits, these could be signals for oil sources too.

According to the US Geological Survey Antarctica’s continental shelf can well hold up to 45 billion barrels of oil and 115 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Respectively, this is eight times the US consumption of oil and six times for natural gas annually. For the National Science Foundation, they will be supporting geologists this year for surveys on the Dufec Intrusive. Just like the mineral rich areas in South Africa and the bush veld too, deposits of chromium and platinum may be obtained here. If you’re looking to learn about Antarctic Cruise Reviews, visit their site for more details.

During the International Geophysical Year celebration, America prompted for an Antarctic treaty that a number of nations present then agreed upon. Other than conducting open scientific research and not pursuing any territorial claims, part of the agreement included using the continent for peaceful purposes and preserving its environment and wildlife. For the National Science Foundation American bases needed to be administered.

It was during the Oslo treaty nations meeting when the major topic was about the resource exploitation issue. Any changes need a unanimous decision from nations. When it comes to valuable resources, searches from other countries are also serious issues. As said by the scientists, the continent’s resources should be used to attain as much knowledge as possible. Resource development in the Antarctic proves to be a pressing issue for everyone especially when it comes to the cooperation among nations.

Gold, platinum and titanium rings are traditional and fine choices for wedding rings but their current prices makes them impractical during tough times. You would normally settle for the next best thing but the alternative to those metals is really superior and cheaper than them. Palladium rings are made of the chemical element palladium and display the same characteristics as platinum and other precious metals. Palladium rings are a better alternative to gold rings because mens palladium wedding rings are naturally white so that it does not need any electroplated coatings of rhodium, which is the protective coating used for white gold wedding rings.

It be as white as possible without gray or yellow overtone. It must be rare and precious. It must have the right mechanical properties making it suitable for stone setting and high polish. It must be hypoallergenic and scratch resistant. I have been designing and making fine jewellery for many years, working with different precious metals. First it was gold (yellow, white and rose) in 9, 14 and 18k, then platinum and recently palladium. My hands on experience with most of the metals in the jewellery industry give me the capacity to compare and professionally assess them. Here is my view of 18k white gold, Platinum and Palladium based on the four characteristics above: Color - While men’s palladium wedding bands and platinum are undistinguishable by color, gold is easy to single out. The higher the gold content (karat) the more difficult is to “bleach” the rich yellowness.

Gold possesses unique precious metal qualities and if the gold content is decreased in order to achieve whiter color the resulted alloy ceases to resemble the initial precious metal properties. High purities white gold are impossible (there is no 22k white gold) with 75% (18k) being the highest. Even the best white gold alloy is not white enough and has to be rhodium plated. Rhodium plating is a surface treatment and it wears off. Purity - Platinum and men’s palladium wedding ring have naturally the best clean of overtone white color and thus they are used in almost pure form (95%). The alloying 5% are usually also metals from the PGM’s (Platinum Group Metals) Ruthenium and Iridium being the first choice. This leaves us with 100% noble metal content in the ready item. The highest purity white gold alloy has 75 % gold and often this is the only precious metal involved. Palladium gold alloys bring this percentage to about 87.5, but still very far from 100% noble metal content. Jewelry with 100% noble metal content possesses some very important qualities: It never tarnishes, changes color and it is totally hypoallergenic.

Many white gold alloys content nickel, a metal known to cause allergy reactions. Rare and precious - Any one of the three metals compared in this article is rare and precious. Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium are the only metals with ISO (International Organization of Standardization) currency code. The price of any of these metals is determined by many factors connected mainly to their availability and demand and is subject of daily change. At the time of the writing their price order is: Platinum, Gold, Palladium and Silver. This order was different just few years ago. In the beginning of 2001 Palladium was right at the top preceding gold and platinum. Platinum is statistically 15 times rarer than gold. Palladium is even rarer. Mechanical Properties - I have to take the risk of infusing my article with technical information, but I will try to keep it at the possible minimum. Besides the achieving of desired color as in the case of karat gold the precious metals are alloyed with other metals in order to achieve some mechanical properties that make them suitable for jewelry manufacturing. The ideal jewelry metal should be tough, abrasion resistant and suitable for high polish.

You should consider applying for a Japan internship. Japan is home to a rich cultural heritage, a booming economy and a technologically advanced society. There is therefore no doubt that an internship there can give you more than your money’s worth of hands on education. Of course, the experience will also have its share of challenges. You’d be better able to face them if you possessed certain traits.

Deference

Most people know that the Japanese put a premium on respect. As an intern, you will also be expected to be respectful of every person you encounter. There are a number of honorific titles that you can use to attach to the names of co-workers, clients and employers. Aside from this, you also need to use honorific language as indicated in the Keigo categories of kenjogo, teineigo and sonkeigo.

Your actions are also expected to match your words. Instead of handshaking, participants of Japan internship programs are expected to bow in respect when greeting someone. Also, when giving an item, it is considered more respectful to do so using two hands while bowing.

Fidelity

Another common quality of the Japanese is loyalty to the workplace. The most usual way to show this is to protect company trade secrets. Employees are also expected to stay employed with the same employer for most of their career lives. For interns, loyalty can be illustrated by not speaking badly of their place of work, bosses, co-workers and organizational procedures. This does not necessarily imply though that there is a requirement to brag. On the contrary, the principle behind kenjogo prohibits this.

Order

In general, you can show that you are disciplined by reigning in playful behavior while completing a Japanese internship program. Aside from taking your job seriously though, you will also be expected to follow strict systems. The concept of 5S for example, which stands for seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke, is a common system for keeping everything in the workplace clean, organized and in its proper place.

Reserve

Local co-workers are typically shy and will not call attention to themselves. You are expected to do the same by keeping your voice low and avoiding loud behavior. This quality will be highly appreciated in work areas, communal dorms and mess halls.

Be mindful though that there will be some aspects of Japanese cultural that may not seem to correspond to western ideas of being reserved. Bathing as a community for instance is acceptable. This is therefore an experience you might have to go through if your primary accommodations are provided by your employer.

Punctuality

It is considered extremely rude to be late. It is best to arrive a few minutes early to your work station. Also, while being late is frowned upon, it is often commendable to stay for extra hours to complete your duties. In some cases, you may even have to report to your station during the weekends.

Don’t skip the chance to go for an internship Japan plan. All you need to make sure of is that you are well equipped with the right traits before you start. This is the best way to ensure that you will have a completely enriching experience.

When you are searching for techniques to improve your memory, a clear and very enjoyable solution is to play brain training games. These are created not only to assist with improving memory , but also to develop your other mental abilities, such as problem-solving. Every time you play, you certainly get quicker and more accurate and get better scores in the games. The question that is not generally asked is whether or not these game-playing skills are consequently applicable to other fields in your everyday life.

You might be forgiven for thinking that all the brain training games have been designed taking the ever-increasing body of brain science into account. Indeed, a lot is already known about the neurological underpinnings of how memory is laid down in the first place, and then improved. Maybe they have been designed this way, but where is the evidence of how successful you can be using these exercises?

So BBC television in the UK decided to undertake a large-scale study. They teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Society and the British Medical Research Council, and together they came up with a scientific study of the effects of playing brain training games on people’s ability to remember things and other mental skills. The published results were quite surprising.

The researchers wanted to discover whether playing a variety of computer-based games, including memory exercises, over a six week period, each created to exercise different parts of the brain, would result in participants in the research to be better able to utilize their mental skills in other areas not connected to playing brain training games. The trial included a good cross-section of thirteen thousand of the adult British public.

In accordance with proper experimental design practice, there were two groups of participants in the experiment. Volunteers were randomly assigned either to the experimental or the control group.

The experimental group spent ten minutes a day for six weeks playing a set of brain training games designed to exercise a large spectrum of mental skills including improving memory . When retested at the end of the study, their ability to perform the brain games they had trained on had improved by a third, against their initial performance in them. The control group spent the same amount of time as the others surfing the internet.

The purpose of the research was to discover if becoming competent at brain training activities would produce improvement in the same skills when utilized in a different framework. So both groups of subjects were tested prior to and after the experiment in their ability to perform activities such as problem-solving and reproducing number sequences.

Upon retesting at the end of the trial, the control group’s score had improved by 4.35 per cent. Surprisingly however, the score for the experimental group was almost identical. It represented only a 6.52 per cent increase over its original score. So, statistically there was no difference between the two groups. Of course, what they could not conclude was whether the small improvement was just the effect of working online. Perhaps there could have been another group that did nothing online.

So if you have been playing these brain training games with the intention of improving your memory, is it time to give them up and put them out to pasture? Well, that is entirely up to you, but do bear in mind that studies, no matter what their size, can be flawed and that what does not work for some people could work for you. If you really care about improving memory , then there are many other memory strategies you can explore, such as playing sports, taking a look at improving your diet and even going to the odd concert.