INPUT ARTICLE: Article: When you’ve collected the pods, group them into bunches of five to 10. Tie the bunches together by wrapping string or elastic around the stems. Hang the bunches from a clothesline or door handle in a cool, dry place. Use hooks, string, or clothespins to fasten the bunches to the clothesline or handle.  Leave the pods to dry for several days to a week, until the pods start splitting open.  A good place to dry the pods is a garage or dry basement. Leave the seeds on the towel to dry for another few days in the same cool, dry place where you dried the pods. You want to make sure that all the moisture has evaporated, otherwise the seeds will spoil during storage.

SUMMARY: Hang the pods to dry. Dry the seeds for another day or two if necessary.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: It's in the pop-up menu. Paint automatically ships with most versions of Windows. It's a tab near the top of the window. This will open the "Resize and Skew" dialog box.  To do so:  Click on Percentage to enter a percentage in either the "Vertical" or "Horizontal" field and reduce the image size by a certain proportion. Click on Pixels to enter specific dimensions in the "Vertical" or "Horizontal" field.   " field. The image will be saved with the dimensions you specified.

SUMMARY: Right-click on an image and click on Open with…. Click on Paint. Click on Home. Click on Resize. Check Maintain aspect ratio. Set a new size for the image. Click on OK. Click on File in the menu bar, then click on Save as…. Type a name for the image in the "File name: Click on Save.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Some people will go into video poker without being familiar with the strategy behind the game. If you guess while playing, you may win money, but you'll have a better chance at winning the game if you understand the rules and components of the game. Different video poker games have different strategies, and it can be difficult to memorize all of the strategies. The best thing to do is pick a game you like and learn that strategy well. If you get bored with that game or don't like it then move onto another game, but try to stick to one or two types of games instead of learning strategies for all the games. Trying to learn all of the games will make it difficult when playing one game because you may confuse some of the strategies. A strategy list is like a cheat sheet, that has all of the different ways you can win in a poker game in a list ranked from best hands to worse hands. Using a cheat sheet will help you determine which cards to keep and which cards to exchange for new cards. For example, if you have the opportunity to go for a straight with an outside straight, or you have the opportunity to go for three to four of a kind with a pair, a low pair is ranked higher on the list so that is what you should choose.  If you choose not to play 9/6 Jacks or Better, strategy cards for virtually every game are available online. This strategy list is specifically for a 9/6 Jacks or Better game, which is one of the better games to play:  1. Full house or better 2. 4 to a royal flush (you have four cards and just need one more for a royal flush) 3. Straight, three of a kind, or flush 4. 4 to a straight flush (you have four cards and just need one more for a straight flush) 5. Two pair 6. High pair 7. 3 to a royal flush 8. 4 to a flush 9. Low pair 10. 4 to an outside straight (you have five--cards 6, 7, 8, 9, 2--and need one more on the outside--either a 5 or 10, to complete the straight) 11. 2 suited high cards (face cards) 12. 3 to a straight flush 13. 2 unsuited high cards (if more than 2 pick then pick lowest 2) 14. Suited 10/J, 10/Q, or 10/K 15. One high card 16. Discard everything When playing poker it is a good idea to have in mind the possibilities of winning. Some things to keep in mind when playing the game are:  The odds of hitting a royal flush are about 1 in 40,000. A four of a kind happens about once an hour. The probability of getting a four of a kind is .24% When you hold four cards and throw away one, there is a good chance you will receive a card with the same value. As well as understanding possibilities in a game of poker, it's good to keep in mind what your average loss during a session of video poker will be, so you go in with realistic expectations. To determine your average loss multiply the house end(the return the casino makes) by the bet size by the number of rounds per hour.  In a 9/6 Jacks or Better game you would multiply .5% by $1.25 (this is a five coin, max bet game) by 400 (hands per hour). This would bring you to $2.50 an hour on a long term game. If you are playing a short term game, you are more likely to lose $6.50 an hour, because the house end for the casino will be higher (you'll have less chance of hitting the royal). An average slot machine brings you to a loss of about $40 an hour, so playing video poker is a much better way to earn money with limited loss. Before you begin playing video poker with your own money, try practicing it on your computer with fake money so you can become familiar with the format of the game and better your chances of doing well at an actual casino. There are several websites you can visit to play video poker online to practice.  Practicing online with fake money is the best way to familiarize yourself with the strategy for a specific game and give you practice in using the strategy sheet. It could be helpful to watch a few tutorials on video poker so you have a better grasp of how the game works. There are also software programs available online that warn you when you're making a strategic error.

SUMMARY: Learn the basic strategy. Stick to one or two types of games. Use a strategy list. Understand poker probabilities. Understand your average loss. Practice with fake money first.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Circular eyes seem to make the most sense being placed evenly apart from each other, as opposed to side-by-side.  How high or low the eyes sit on the face could help convey an emotion, so take that into consideration as you begin to draw. You will also need to decide how big you want the eyes to be. How much space of the face they take up determines what other features you can add to it. Circles are a great shape for cartoon eyes because humans do not have circular eyes.  Use your compass to make these circles. Be sure to adjust the angle of your compass in order to make smaller circles. Make the circles large enough to leave room for pupils inside. Remember that you may need to hold both legs of the compass to avoid your angle widening as you draw the circles. Circular eyes are great for conveying a few different emotions, and the placement and size of the pupils lend showing to these emotions.  Surprise Fear Shock Worry Delight Keep in mind the emotion that you are trying to convey with your cartoon character's eyes.  The thickness of the iris helps your audience better understand how your cartoon character feels. The color that you choose for the iris can also help to convey an emotion. Or, the color can simply demonstrate your unique creativity and the embodiment of what you envision your cartoon to look like. It is up to you how you shade in these characteristics, as it will depend on whether your character is male or female.  You might want to simply thicken the top line of the eye, with tapers at either end, to indicate eyelashes without drawing wispy lashes. Alternatively, you might want to add a number of eyelashes. Fewer numbers of eyelashes, or even no eyelashes, are common with circular cartoon eyes.  Remember to draw your eyebrows in a shape that helps convey your character's emotion, as well as to indicate male or female. High arching eyebrows indicate surprise or fright, while lower, less arched eyebrows might indicate boredom or sadness.

SUMMARY:
Decide where to place the eyes on the face. Draw a pair of circles in your face at an equal distance from the vertical line of the cross. Shade dark pupils somewhere into the circles. Color the iris around the pupil with your preferred hue. Add eyelashes and eyebrows to the eyes and forehead.