With Christmas fast approaching this is the time that many men are having to venture outside their comfort zone to buy suitable gifts for their wives or girlfriends. Buying suitable gifts really can be a minefield for the unprepared. If she is unwrapping an iron-board cover or a socket set then you can be pretty sure that you will be sleeping in the spare room until Easter.

Buying gifts for women is not rocket science, you just have to stop thinking like a bloke and think like they do. Lets not get stereotypical, but a lot of women (and yes, guys too) like fashion, and a hand-picked item of clothing in the right size can be a really thoughtful gift.

If you are going to be buying dresses, you are going to need to know what is what in terms of the terminology.

Micro Dress

This is a very, very short dress. Not especially practical, and very difficult to look good wearing without incredible legs. For the average woman these are unlikely to be in the least bit flattering. Even with good legs, these can tend to be a bit tacky – and its mostly a look best reserved for Vegas strippers.

Mini Dress

Still short, but more conservative than the micro-dress. Do you think the lady for has nice legs> Would you like to see a bit more of them? A mini dress is an acceptable gift to give in a way that a micro-dress rarely would be.

Maxi Dress

A Maxi Dress is a long, to-the-floor number. This is an incredibly popular style at the moment as it is quite versatile. Because a maxi dress can be suitable for occasions as well as day to day wear they are an important part of many women’s wardrobe.

Fitting

The hardest,but also one of the most important , things to get right when buying clothing as a gift is the sizing. Don’t leave this part to guesswork. Women’s dresses are sold by ‘dress size’ rather than by any kind of actual measurement that the uninitiated can take a tape measure to. Just straight out asking can be an indelicate thing to do, and besides may ruin the surprise. Just have a peek at some of the labels in the things that she wears.

One thing to be wary of regarding sizes is that they vary drastically from retailer to retailer. Many outlets can be guilty of offering ‘vanity sizing’ – with the garments being larger than advertised on the label. If the sizing is accurate then the size at which garments are classed as ‘plus size clothing‘ is quite low. It’s not like the ‘big and tall’ shops that you get for men, which are basically for freaks. So called ‘plus size dresses’ are actually a pretty average size.

The returns policy really is you best friend. Make sure to keep all receipts, then if it is not right for any reason you will be able to swap it or get your money back. It can be a good plan (especially considering the variations in sizing that exist) to buy the same garment in two or even three size, and then to keep the one that is the best fit.

One of the greatest challenges surrounding global climate change is in predicting the kind of extreme weather incidents that cause the most havoc. Even a few hours extra warning can make the difference between life and death for those in the firing line.

The trouble with weather and climate is that they are the result of incredibly complex systems interacting with each other in an incredibly complex ways. Climate models are becoming ever more advanced as the various interactions become better understood. Scientists can predict weather patterns no with an accuracy that would have been pure science fiction even as little as a decade ago. That is, they can if they have the raw processing power necessary to crunch the numbers.

There are a number of ‘super-computers’ in the world. Time running programs on these is expensive, and very much at a premium. Fortunately there is another way to get this work done, and it all hinges on using the idle capacity of the Internet with its millions of ordinary desktop PCs around the world.

For the average user the majority of their system resources are idle a lot of the time. Distributed computing projects work by scheduling tasks across the available capacity, typically by the user installing a ‘screen-saver’ type program. Portions of tasks are run when the system is not being placed under high demand by the user – which is actually quite a lot of the time. If the computer has a 3D graphics card this is particularly useful in performing large numbers of complex mathematical operations quickly.

The latest project to use the power of donated computer time is climateprediction.net. Unlike early projects such as climate@home this one uses regional climate models including factors such as winds, temperature, and precipitation. You can get involved yourself today – its good to feel like you are part of the solution every once in a while!

Sleep is vital for health and well being, without a good nights sleep it is hard to do anything. Unfortunately

for many Britons a good night sleep seems to be something that eludes them. According to a recent survey 19% of the population are affected by sleeplessness. Interestingly the problem seems to be worse for women than for men, with 22% of the fairer sex suffering from the problem, compared to just 16% of men

So what is it that is keeping Britain awake at night?

Worry

If you are worried about things your mind can find it hard to switch off. A lot of people worry about money and financial issues. The best thing to do to combat that is to try and have things a bit sorted out before you go to bed, so you are not thinking about them. Given the atmosphere of financial dread that seems pervasive today it is hardly surprising that it is keeping people up, though.

Caffeine

Britain seems to love its caffeinated beverages. 45% of the population drink coffee during the day and 47% drink tea. Our reputation as a nation of tea lovers is confirmed by the fact that for 33% tea is the drink consumed most often on any given day. Cutting back on the caffeine could be a good way to catch a few more ‘zeds’.

Bedroom

How relaxing is your bedroom? The bedroom should be about sleep, and other relaxation. Televisions, computers and other distractions from sleep are probably not things that should feature. Consider your bed as well. Is it as comfortable as it could be? Investing in some better furniture for the bedroom could transform the rest that you get.

Hey, or you could just say to yourself “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”. There are only 24 hours in a day, why waste them snoozing? Margret Thatcher famously said she slept for only 3 hours per night, less during time of war – and she is widely regarded as the greatest Prime Minister this country has had since Churchill.