When you’re buying holiday gifts for children this year, we hope they all won’t be Barbies, action figures and video games. Although they do have their place, there’s always room for eco-spirited complements as well. To better ensure the children of today will have a prettier world tomorrow, we rounded up our Top 11 picks for the prettiest toys, games and kits that encourage the spirit of preserving and prettifying our planet.

TOP PICK: Paradice – The Game of Give and Take – Our favorite this year nurtures the most important thing of all: a prettier spirit. Perhaps the most provocative game in the new millennium, Paradice – The Game of Give and Take is a strategy game like no other, equally esoteric and artful. It’s truly a game that you have to play before you understand the beautiful philosophy behind it. If our attempt at explanation still leaves you baffled, we hope your curiosity will lead you to learn more about this piece of playable art.

In a Universe of four forests, each with a Forest Spirit, players compete to become the Giver, who gives trees, and to bring Human Beings eye-to-eye to form the Blue Pyramid — before the Taker, who takes trees and draws Human Beings apart, stops them, that is. Of course, on any roll of the die the Circumstance Changer can cause the Opportunity for Givers to become Takers, and vice versa. Thus, each player experiences both points of view in a single game. The beautiful challenge is that only the Giver can win the game. Meditate on this powerful goal, you shall.

See the full Top 11 list and photos at Pretty Patrol

18-wheelers and large commercial vehicles pose a significant hazard to most other vehicles on the road due their massive weight and size. A jackknifed trailer can become an impenetrable wall and result in a multiple vehicle collision and lost lives. An overwhelming majority of truck accidents that result in a fatality involve a passenger vehicle. This is the inevitable result of a truck weighing 60-80 tons colliding with a passenger vehicle weighing a little over one ton.

Trucks require proper maintenance. Mechanical failure of a truck, particularly the brakes, can create a great danger to other drivers. Brakes, truck lights and other safety equipment must be properly maintained and regularly checked. Truckers should always perform a pre-trip inspection of their truck, regardless of the length of the trip.

Maintenance Checklist

Truckers and their mechanics should do a chassis inspection daily (if possible). Any identified problems should be scheduled for repairs as soon as possible. Also, the following must be checked for each trip:

· Check the engine, transmission, rear differential, power steering, and wheel seals for lubricant or coolant leaks.

· Check your air pressure and make sure your truck is building up air to the proper level.

· Check the condition of all belts, hoses, and lines (engine belts, fuel lines, radiator hoses, water and air lines, automatic transmission lines, and power steering lines).

· Check tire tread and wear of all tires.

· Check the brake shoes and drums for cracks and wear.

· Drain your air tanks daily and check for excessive moisture.

· Make sure all lights work.

· Make sure horns and wipers work.

· Check windshield and mirrors for visibility and/or cracks.

· Keep flares and a fire extinguisher in the truck at all times.

It is very important that truck drivers watch all gauges while driving for signs of trouble.

There are inexpensive items that you can put on your truck to extend the life of the components. For instance, you can add oil coolers to the hydraulic system, power steering system and the automatic transmission. These simple additions can double, if not triple, the life of those components.

Also, preventative care is something that is typically much lower than repairs. Investing some money in the upkeep of your truck may just prevent you from investing thousands after a part breaks.

The 2009 X Games offered plenty of excitement for both those athletes involved in it and the spectators. It seems that the followers of the X Games continue to grow annually, making each year more spectacular than the next. This year though celebrated the 15th anniversary of the event, so there were plenty of special events offered because of that in addition to the other regular lineup.

More than 200 athletes have been involved with the X Games since they started in 1994. One of the highlights of the 2009 event was to honor them for their contributions to the success and the continually growth of this type of sporting event. Some of the biggest names out there have been a part of the X Games and they deserve to be recognized. You may not realize it but many of them don’t just participate. They also take part in the planning and hard work that goes on behind the scenes as well.

One of the most watched athletes in the 2009 X Games was Jake Brown. It was highly speculated that he was going to be able to complete the 900 which has been made famous by Tony Hawk. While he didn’t quite complete the 900’s – in spite of some almost completions – he was able to beat out rival Bob Burnquist for a gold medal.

If you missed Anthony Napolitan perform his double back flip, then you definitely want to check it out online. In fact, you can see lots of videos online about different elements of the highlights of the 2009 X Games. Even if you did see some spectacular moves on TV or life, it is fun to watch them again and again.

Two new events were introduced at the 2009 X Games and the reception for them was a very welcoming one. These events are Big Air Rail Jam which is offers two rails, one at 50 feet and one at 20 feet, that can be used to perform various tricks with. They will be used to help score the participants in their distance as well as the level of difficulty in their movements.

Danny Way was one of the top competitors in this category. Even though he had injured his knee prior to the event, he was able to offer a remarkable performance. Even so he was still able to get a switch 50/50 on the bent rail. His performance definitely set the bar for other athletes in this new category.

The Skateboarding Park Legends is the second one and very interesting. It is a fast paced procession down a course that resembles many of the great skate parks out there around the world. This is definitely a competition area that you will see more and more competitors in for future X Games.

Even though the 2009 X Games were just a couple of months ago, plans are already starting to fall into place for next years event. You can bet there will be plenty going on to make it a magnificent event that people will remember. In fact, since 2008 this has been tracked as the fastest growing sporting event. The summer 2010 event will be held in Sydney, Australia with the 2010 winter X Games being held in Aspen, Colorado.

If you aren’t able to participate in the X Games or see them live, there is plenty of coverage from ESPN. As the popularity of the X Games continues to grow there are more of the events being covered. There are also spectacular interviews with the participants that you don’t want to miss either.

The BMX is an adventure sport bike range. The bicycles that are used in this sport are specially designed and so that they are not damaged by doing these stunts. This sport has become very popular in the USA and many other countries as well.

The ‘BMX’ first became popular in the California state of the United States. It was in the year 1970s. By this time the especially the teenagers mainly had a great influence of it, on their mind. However, similar sports were being played in some of the parts of Europe since 1958. In the countries as the Netherlands, the children used to have races similar to this, on their bikes.

The sport mainly consists of a race as the other races, and in this too the racers have to win the race. However, here the difference is that they do not get the regular smooth roads as in the other bike races. The roads in the BMX races are earthen and they have the ups and downs as, any off road area may have. In addition to this the soil too is not stable and therefore there is always a danger that the racers bike may skid off the track. Thus, it is a dangerous game.

This sport can be divided into two types, the one is the BMX racing and the other is the freestyle racing. In the BMX racing the track is comparatively regular. The freestyle can be divided in to five types as the Street, Park, Vert, Dert, and Flatland. All these types include their own distinctive movements and stunts in the race.

In addition to this there are also other types as, the High Jump, Leap of Faith and Drag. However, these are not linked to any organization or sports association.

Similar to the normal races in this sport too, the sportsman who reaches first will win the race. However, in this case, he will have to pass the irregularities in the way. Therefore he has to jump with his bicycle as the irregularities come in the way.

The bicycles that are used in this sport are of special type. They have very broad tires than the normal bicycles. These may be around 20 inches. In addition to this, they bicycle also bears special features as lightweight and strength for bearing the shocks because of the regular jumping and falling on the ground.

As the BMX is an adventurous sport the people really enjoy watching it. Therefore, whenever these races take place, many people go and watch them. As the racers ride with the best of their speeds and because of the hurdles in the way, many of them fall, or collide with the things on the side of the track or with the other racers. This provides adventure to the spectators. However, this may be dangerous to the racers themselves. However, generally because of the various protective pads and the earthen nature of the track not many fatalities occur.

One of the most common questions I get from clients is on the subject of buying or leasing their next car. The simple answer is “it depends”.

From an income tax perspective, if you are eligible to deduct automobile expenses from either your business or employment income the deductions available over time are the same.

What you spend on the cost of your car is deducted at a rate decided upon by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The deduction is called Capital Cost Allowance or you may know it better as depreciation. So long as you purchase a car, new or used, for $30,000 or less before PST and GST, you can deduct 15% of the cost in the year you buy the car and 30% of the declining balance for every year after that. Based on this formula, eventually, you will claim 100% of the cost of your car. If you purchase a car for more than $30,000 you will not be able to make a claim on any excess amount paid. However, if you have a loan on the car purchased, you will be eligible to deduct the interest paid on the loan to a maximum of $300 per month of interest charges.

If you lease your car, you are able to deduct the monthly lease payments so long as they do not exceed $800 per month plus PST and GST. In rare cases it may be lower but in general, CRA sets the limits ensure that the level of deductions for leased automobiles is similar to that for purchased ones. The detriment in a lease is that the initial down payment many people make, or are required to make, is not deductible at all for this calculation.

The above being the case, the benefit of one over the other hinges on the timing of your purchase, the type of car owner you are or would like to be, and your overall financial circumstances.

The timing of the purchase is important, as a purchase on December 31 of a year will result in the same deduction available as a purchase on January 1 of the same year. On the other hand, a lease entered into earlier in the year will result in more months of payments and thus a higher deduction for the year versus a lease entered into in December will result in no deduction as no payments have been made on the lease for the year.

The type of car owner that you are is important because you may be a person who drives few kilometres in a year and enjoys driving a new car. Why not then lease a car and in effect rent a new car all the time! However, if you drive a car until it’s dead, you should always buy your car as your cost of leasing will far outweigh your borrowing costs in the long run. Let’s take the example of a car that costs you $500 per month on a lease, no down payment and a buy out after 3 years of $10,000. If you can buy this same car for $25,000 with 0% financing, you would save yourself $3,000 and that is assuming, you don’t drive over the allowable kilometres in the year and have the $10,000 sitting in the bank in 3 years!

Finally, you’re over all financial circumstances may dictate what you should do. Using the above example, if your 0% financing is only for 3 years, your monthly payments would be $694 per month. If you do not have the extra $194 to spend on a car payment, then your only option is to lease.

Now that you know if you should buy or lease your car and what portion of those costs you can use for your deduction calculation, keep in mind that the final tax write off will be limited to the business use of the vehicle versus the personal use. If you use your car 80% of the time for business, only 80% of your monthly lease payments or your annual depreciation plus interest is deductible for tax purposes

Spain’s Fernando Alonso and Britain’s Lewis Hamilton achieved first and second for McLaren in the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix.

Alonso started from pole position and achieved the fastest lap time, and for most of the 78 lap race kept a three or four second lead over team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Monaco was Alonso’s 17th Formula 1 victory.

With five races in this year’s F1 Championship now gone, Spaniard Alonso and Brit Lewis Hamilton share the lead in the drivers’ championship with 38 points each, with the next two races scheduled for Canada and the US.

In his first F1 season, Lewis Hamilton has now achieved five podium finishes from five races, extending his record winning run. And although tipped by some commentators to win this year’s Monaco GP, Alonso’s fluent driving kept him at bay throughout the race.

Fellow Brits – and Monte Carlo residents – Jensen Button and David Coulthard finished the race outside of the points and well down the field, a disappointing result particularly for previous winner Coulthard, who was on the podium to receive his third place trophy in last year’s Monaco GP.

David Coulthard is part owner of the Columbus Hotel, in the Fontvieille district of Monaco.

Robert Kubica in a BMW, who like Hamilton was making his debut at Monaco, achieved an impressive fifth position, ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfield.

Appropriately named American Scott Speed was another driver who will leave Monaco happy, having climbed from 18th on the grid to finish 9th.

The final positions were:

1. Alonso (McLaren)

2. Hamilton (McLaren)

3. Massa (Ferrari)

4. Fisichella (Renault)

5. Kubica (BMW Sauber)

6. Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)

7. Wurz (Williams)

Speaking after the race Alonso said ‘It has been a fantastic weekend, no doubt, and to score this hat trick of pole, fastest lap and win is something very special and even more here in Monaco. I enjoyed very much today’s race, with a perfect car all through the race. It was so good to drive such a nice car for 78 laps and win at the end.’

Lewis Hamilton commented, ‘I knew we were both extremely quick, so I could only apply pressure, but he’s a two-time world champion and he doesn’t really make mistakes.’

The Grand Prix is 77 laps around the narrow, winding streets of Monte Carlo, making the Monaco Grand Prix the most exciting in the world, with little room for driver error.

Since the first Grand Prix on April 14 1929, organised by Monte Carlo resident and founding president of the Automobile Club de Monaco Antony Noghes, the average fastest speed has risen from 50mph (80 kph) to 88mph (143 kph).

The 2008 Monaco Grand Prix will be held on Sunday 25 May.

Like any piece of machinery, a car needs an extra amount of maintenance and protection during seasons where the temperature spikes or falls drastically. On such occasions, regularly checking your car for damage and necessary replacements such as car seat covers, windshields, engine oil status, and car floor mats, not only lengthens the service life of your car, but also maintains comfort and cleanliness.

Winter / Extreme Cold

Driving through blizzards, iced roads, and chilly air is way different than driving through the bliss of a summer breeze. While safe driving is imperative all year long, driving during winter requires a lot of precaution and necessary steps to ensure optimum car control, safety and comfort.

Speaking of comfort, changing the interior of a car to suit the cold weather is a must. Ditching those old sets of cotton jeep seat covers and switching to sheepskin car seat covers is one of the best ways to keep warm inside a car while a snowstorm is brewing outside. A great addition to provide some warmth inside a vehicle is a car warmer to complement those thick sheepskin jeep seat covers. Apart from generating heat to the car’s interior, car warmers also prevent vehicles from icing up and becoming brittle. Placing thick car floor mats can also help insulate your car and create warmth.

Replacing regular tires with winter tires is also a good option to maintain maneuverability of the vehicle whendriving on snow and ice-covered roads. Winter tires offer better grip and road traction because special treads enable the snow to slide off as the tire rolls.

To keep the car engine in tip-top shape throughout the winter, make sure that you put an antifreeze solution in your radiator every day to keep your engine from frosting. A 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze solution at full level every single day will keep your engine running and protected from the biting cold. Keeping a daily track of the engine oil and other motor fluids, such as steering and brake fluids, is also a must to ensure the optimum performance of the car and your safety as well.

You must also stock on windshield washer fluid in conjunction to replacing the wiper blades as you need to keep the windshield clean when driving out. Battery state must also be checked frequently because extreme cold strips the battery of its charge. Washing and waxing the car on a regular basis not only gives the car a boost in terms of looks during the winter, but also protects the body, the chassis, and the tires from salt corrosion.

Extreme Heat

When driving though extremely hot regions, such as deserts, or areas affected by heat waves, it is best that you prep your vehicle and yourself for the significant rise in temperature. Unchecked vehicles cruising through a heat wave may end up with blown tires or melted rubber accessories under the hood. Hoses, engine belts, and tires are made of rubber. Under extreme heat, they can easily cause a total breakdown of your vehicle.

Checking the pressure of your tires not only prevents them from blowing up, but allows you to see if they need to be replaced. Worn-out tires are very vulnerable of blowing up under tremendous heat. Aside from tires, checking the engine for clogged air filters, corroded battery posts and the coolant level of your car before heading out to the road or desert trail is pretty much an imperative.

You can leave air-conditioning out in the equation, as it is the one that provides interior cooling. Checking the status of the air-conditioning system’s refrigerant is one way to keep the cooling system running smooth.

Searching for the top 10 Christmas gifts for men? While there might be a dazzling array of super gift ideas out there you are probably faced with the same challenge that all holiday shoppers face this season.

Too much to do and too little time! Where do you go for the top gift ideas?

You don’t need to go any further than right here! I’ve sifted and sorted through gift options available at a host of retailers to bring you the most unique gifts for men that have been consistently popular over the whole year. So say goodbye to giving the men in your life variations of boring gifts this year. The ten gift ideas you’ll find below will have him whooping with joy and sheer delight!

1) The Uber-Cool 15″ Gigantor Digital Photo Frame

The sumo-sized 15” Gigantor digital photo frame will make his jaw drop, literally, since he’ll be able to view his favorite pictures from across the room without even squinting! Delivering ultra-sharp picture quality, this baby can play Mpeg video and mp3 files with ease.

2) Thumb Stadium Electronic Game Kit

If you’ve been wishing for the chance to best him in a fight, you’ll get it with this little electronic thumb stadium game kit. With 4 in-built games that are a blast to play, this kit will have him competing frantically in thumb duels with just about everyone.

3) Duct Tape Wallet

For sheer coolness nothing beats the duct tape wallet! This next generation wallet not only looks amazingly fashionable but is also soft, and extremely durable.

4) Gerber Artifact Pocket Keychain Tool

The ingenious Gerber Artifact keychain is actually eight little tools masquerading as one single device. It consistently gets voted as one of the top 10 Christmas gifts for men in 2009 at most websites. Your man will be prepared for anything wherever he goes with this multi-tool in his pocket.

5) My Fitness Coach

If he is a fitness enthusiast then why not gift him his very own virtual fitness coach? Let virtual Maya be his guide as she helps him improve his fitness levels. ‘My Fitness Coach’ is one of the latest releases by Nintendo for the Wii Fit.

6) Philips Norelco T980 Turbo Vacuum Trimmer

Does your man like experimenting with new looks? Then this neat little trimmer will make the perfect gift allowing him to be perfectly groomed at the touch of a button without a mess.

7) The FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio

This multifunctional device makes a fantastic gift since he can use this portable gadget as a flashlight, radio, weather tuner while powering it up with solar power!

Aeropress Coffee Maker

If he loves coffee, then help him make the best cup of coffee in the world with this coffee maker. This inexpensive coffee maker can whip out a cup of the most flavorful coffee he’s ever had real fast. In fact coffee snobs compare it to the brew made by $6000 Clover coffee machines.

9) Whiskey Stones

These re-usable whiskey stones will help his whiskey stay cold for a long time! These stones don’t melt away like ice and just need to be chilled in the freezer before they are used. He’s sure to adore them!

10) American Innovative Neverlate 7-Day Alarm Clock

The final selection in my top 10 Christmas gifts for men in 2009 just has to be the Neverlate 7-Day Alarm Clock. The world’s first clock to offer seven independent daily alarms for each day of the week this amazing device is sure to blow him away!

Ever since 3D games came into existence, gamers have been able to treat themselves to a whole new experience. They became immersed in a virtual world, where fantasy became the new reality. Yet, what does a person do if they can’t afford to play 3D games on a higher-end PC or a next-generation gaming system? Will they be restricted to older 3D games that don’t have the same appeal as those currently out on the market? Fortunately, the answer to this question is no. With the Internet, those with lower budgets can easily find 3D games online.

One of the best types of online 3D games is free MMORPGs, (also known as Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games). These games are usually designed after action role-playing games, where players must hack and slash their way through a rich fantasy world. There is also the option to use magic, if a player wants a more powerful attack. In the meantime, players get an opportunity to chat with other people in real-time as they are resting up in towns.

If you prefer arcade-style 3D games, you could try your hand at the numerous Flash games available. And, since many of these games are designed by hobbyists, you can find quite a few that are completely free-of-charge. Just be aware that you may have to sift through some of the selections, since it can be harder trying to find these types of 3D games, (mainly because Flash is often used to promote 2D perspectives). But they are out there, if you’re willing to play 3D games that use cell shading or other non-CGI techniques.

Another option for finding 3D games could entail using an online gaming service. GameTap is one of the most popular. With these services, you are usually given a free trial, to see if you like what the company has to offer. Or, you may be restricted to a certain type of game, (usually ones that always remain free). Either way, such services offer a great way to entertain yourself with 3D games, especially if you’re low on cash.

Finally, you can get 3D games through downloading. This is one of the most controversial alternatives, because it’s very tempted to download pirated 3D games. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons people join file-sharing networks… they want to get commercial 3D games without the worries of having to pay for them.

However, file-sharing services also offer legal games, such as homebrews or abandonware. How do these games work? Homebrew 3D games are designed by programmers who create games simply for the fun of it, while abandonware encompasses 3D games whose copyrights have expired. Both options can make for excellent gaming, though homebrews tend to offer more up-to-date graphics. Abandonware only does this if it was designed in the 90s, when 3D gaming started to take shape. Betrayal at Krondor is an example, though its graphics are considered somewhat dated by today’s standards. Still, it gave an impressive 3D view, despite the year it was made. It also provided one of the best storylines in the history of role-playing games.

In conclusion, just because you don’t have $200 or $300 for an Xbox or a Wii doesn’t mean you have to miss out playing worthwhile 3D games. With the Internet, your ability to play 3D games becomes limited only by your hard drive space.

For more information on 3D games, visit http://www.3-dgames.com.

The talk about finding new alternative energy sources for our cars is not new. In fact, scientists and car engineers had begun finding ways to either use energy sources, or to optimize existing engine solutions back in the 1970’s.

People saw that big engines were very inefficient and they started looking for new solutions. The answer to the large gasoline engines were rather small, turbo powered diesel engines.

Until then diesel engines have been used mainly on heavy-duty machinery and large trucks, but scientists began to install them on small cars for their fuel efficiency and cost savings.

Diesels are still considered by some people as noisy, unreliable and expensive to maintain, but things have evolved greatly since the early days of the diesel engine. General Motors was among the first companies to fit diesel engines to cars like Chevrolet Caprice and the Oldsmobile, but these engines were shaky and very unreliable. GM soon admitted they had been doing things wrong and re-fitted those cars with normal gasoline engines. It was a large image hit and that is why consumers are still very reluctant to buying a diesel-powered car today.

Diesel engines also cause a bit more pollutant than comparative gasoline engines and with the taxes on polluting cars growing every year, no body wants to pay more taxes for their car if they can buy a gasoline engine car and pay less from the start.

Car companies also have looked at how they can optimize power output of modern diesels and how these engines can be made greener and they have came out with modern solutions.

European carmakers have been putting diesel engines in their cars for many years now and in Europe more then half of the cars sold are diesel powered. Manufacturers like Volkswagen, Mercedes or BMW are selling their large limousines mostly with diesel engines, for their power efficiency and cost savings when it comes to mileage. However, not only large cars have been fitted with diesel engines in Europe, but also sports cars. Audi, for example, is producing a 500-horse power sports car fitted with a V12 diesel engine. In addition, they claim this engine to be more powerful, greener and more efficient than its gasoline counterpart does.

Car manufacturers, especially in Europe and Japan, have been fitting large SUVs and 4×4 with diesel engines mostly for decades now. Fitting a gasoline engine on a large 4×4 would mean that its mileage would be extremely bad and its taxes would overcome its owner.

However, modern diesel engines are very powerful and a lot more reliable than they have been 20 or 30 years ago. Car manufacturers all over the world offer the same warranty for its diesel-powered cars like they do on their gasoline cars and this proves that modern diesel engines have the same reliability as gasoline engines have.

In most countries, the cost of the diesel fuel is lower than the price for gasoline and this combined with the better mileage of diesel-powered cars means significant money savings.

American car manufacturers are looking into installing diesel engines in their cars and it is only a matter of time until you will be able to buy your favorite car with a diesel engine.