The DC-5 lottery game is offered by DC Lottery and is played throughout the District of Columbia in the United States. It is a pretty cool game because it is played twice every day, with mid-day and evening draws, and is customizable in that you can choose to pay either 50 cents or one dollar. The payouts on the $1 game are twice as high as the payouts on the 50 cent game. However, this article will only analyze the odds and payouts info on the $1 game.

To play the DC-5 lottery game, you must choose 5 digits, from 0 to 9. So, for example, you could choose the numbers 00000, 00001, 00002, all the way up to number 99999. From that, you could see that there are exactly 100,000 different numbers that you could choose. That would make the odds of matching all 5 numbers exactly 1-in-100,000. If you match all 5, you win the game’s top prize payout of $50,000.

There are many other ways in which you could win money in the DC-5 lottery game. The following is a list of the rest of the odds for the smaller payouts:

• First 4 digits or last 4 digits in exact order wins $5,000; odds are 1-in-10,000, either way.
• First 3 digits or last 3 digits in exact order wins $500; odds are 1-in-1,000, either way.
• First 2 digits or last 2 digits in exact order wins $50; odds are 1-in-100, either way.

There are also five additional ways that you could win money with various boxed numbers, with prize payouts for boxed numbers ranging from $425 to $10,000.

As you can see, there are many different ways that you could win on DC-5 and your chances of winning are pretty good too.

Perhaps this is an unusual introduction to an article on personal development or self improvement but, I would like to start by quoting 50 Cent – yeah, the rapper 50 Cent – who said “Most people can’t handle boredom. That means they can’t stay on one thing until they get good at it. And they wonder why they’re unhappy.”

Unfortunately, we have a big problem with patience and perseverance because we live in a world where we expect instant results. If we’re hungry, we want fast food! If we’re feeling down we want instant gratification – hence the proliferation of so-called anti social behaviour brought on by (and I’m quoting a couple of teenagers on this one) going out at night with the sole intention of getting drunk! Again, our desire for instant kicks is exemplified by the fact that pornography is one of the biggest online businesses. And again, there’s an ongoing spiralling rise in drug abuse, soft and hard. In exactly the same way, television is teaching us that anyone can be an overnight success – whether it’s American Idol, Britain’s Got Talent or the X-Factor, we’ve a whole new breed of people who think that you don’t have to work, persevere at and stick with something to become a success. Little wonder that Usher recently said that such shows were slowly killing the music industry.

But enough! This article is not about the music industry, TV or, indeed, sex, drugs and rock and roll – this article is about success and how to achieve it.

The first thing that we need to deal with is the concept of “hard work”. You do not have to work hard to be a success. Hard work is only a state of mind (normal people think that their work is hard so it ends up being hard – they prove themselves correct!) There is a world of difference between hard work and a labour of love – doing something, not necessarily because you enjoy it but because it is an important piece of a jigsaw, a means to an end. As Muhammad Ali, who hated running on the road, said “I run on a Wednesday, so I can dance on a Saturday!” However, if you’re like all the other normal people whose lives will never amount to anything great, if you’re easily bored or quickly disillusioned, then almost anything that you turn your hand to will become hard work. And once anything becomes hard work, it’s the easiest thing in the world to lose interest and to turn to something else that will give you the instant kick that you’re looking for or have come to expect out of modern life.

And that’s why so few people truly succeed. To succeed you have to be single-minded and ruthless. You have to be ruthless with yourself, with working on and maintaining your focus and state of mind. You have to be ruthless in terms of sticking to your objective. A good friend and colleague who is a visiting lecturer at the University of Madrid Business School’s MBA Program recently told me that they had collated data that strongly suggests that highly successful business people are those who have failed many times but who have tried again and again and again. This data also suggests that only one in ten thousand people will, having failed three or four times, try again.

But, of course, even in the course of our everyday ordinary lives, we fall on our face again and again. We may be trying to commit to a level of personal mental discipline that will give us the kind of clarity of mind that will enable us create the success that we want. However, always lurking in the shadows, our default state of “I’m bored” mind kicks in and we somehow believe that our best efforts are going to end up coming to nothing. Then again, our best efforts will always come to nothing if we don’t pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start over – therein lies the secret of success.

I started by quoting 50 Cent – let’s finish by quoting Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States who said: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”.

This perseverance must permeate your life – in particular, in your ongoing efforts to develop the clear and present mindset that creates the foundation for effortless success. But, then, what if you fail or feel that you’re failing? Well, failure is just another opportunity to persevere.

Copyright (c) 2010 Willie Horton

Watch any of the major movie, television, and music award shows on television today and one of the first things you'll notice about the celebrities on the red carpet, aside from their extravagant (and sometimes outlandish) attire, are the amount and size of the jewelry they are wearing. Hip-hop jewelry, more commonly known as bling-bling, is definitely not understated fashion. The bigger and the flashier it is, the better. Preferred by many of today's celebrities, hip-hop jewelry adorns the fingers, necks, arms, even the teeth of many stars.

Oversized studs and chains are the trademarks of hip-hop jewelry and are preferred by celebrities such as Sean Combs, or P. Diddy. At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, he sported a diamond ring, bracelet, and watch from Jacob and Company. Rapper 50 Cent is another celebrity who is hardly ever seen without his hip-hop jewelry. On his web site, 50 Cent offers more affordable, though just as flashy, bling-bling for those of us who do not earn the megabucks that he and his fellow celebrities rake in. There are also many other web sites that offer low-priced hip-hop jewelry inspired by popular rap artists.

Hip-hop jewelry comes in many shapes and sizes, all of them meant to catch the eye and attract attention. Heavy chains of silver or gold (or both) can oftentimes be seen on celebrities such as LL Cool J and Ja Rule in their music videos. Hip-hop jewelry web sites offer fully 'iced-out' bling-bling, or watches, rings, bracelets and earrings that are heavily decorated with real or faux diamonds. So-called 'spinner' watches and rings are big best sellers in the hip-hop jewelry category. Also available are customized, removable gold, silver and platinum teeth which may be studded with jewels and gemstones, so even the pearly whites can have their share of hip-hop jewelry.

Women celebrities are keeping pace with their male counterparts when it comes to wearing hip-hop jewelry. Stars such as Beyonce, Lil 'Kim, Ashanti and Missy Elliott are regularly seen in pictures wearing large diamond jewelry items of various colors. Even young female celebrities are getting on the bling-bling bandwagon. Teen stars like Jo Jo and Hilary Duff are said to be avid hip-hop jewelry enthusiasts and count themselves among the large number of bejeweled stars today.

Large, ostentatious pieces of jewelry did not start becoming popular only because of the hip-hop cultural phenomenon (think Elvis Presley and Tom Jones), but hip-hop has altered the jewelry market in a big way. Fans see what their favorite celebrities are wearing, and there are numerous options for them to emulate their idols – at least in terms of fashion. Jewelry has always been a part of popular culture, and today's hip-hop jewelry and the celebrities who wear them are even more so in this age of instant information.

Most people would like to have sexy six pack abs like most of the celebrities they see on their TV. I know you must have seen 50CENT, LL COOL J, USHER and so many more I can’t mention here and you would observe that those six packs didn’t come magically. Well, if it would please you to know those so called celebrities dedicate most of their time to keeping a good physique. I would like to tell celebrities workout at least 3-4 times a week and they also make it a priority to watch what they put in their mouths.

Six pack abs that makes you feel like a celebrity does not come by using “fat burner pills”, “ab rollers”, or meaningless diets. basically, building your abdominal muscle requires dedication on your part. The proper mixing of high intensity resistance workouts and a healthy eating habit will definitely draw you closer to getting that abs you desire.

So many people have wasted much of their time in believing every gimmick product that comes onto their TV screen promising them a 6 pack in only 2 minutes a day while sitting on their couch. In fact, ab-specific exercises are the LEAST important training aspect in getting a celebrity six pack abs.

The real solution to seeing a visible six-pack is simply bringing your body fat % down to a low enough level to where the abs become visible. most people already have six pack abs hiding under their belly fat without knowing it. instead of getting involved in a short time gimmick diet, the most important thing to do is to have a properly designed full body training workout and clean eating that can be maintained for life.

In a sequel to his first book, the 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene joins forces with the rap star and mogul 50 Cent. Consider this a text book for the School of Hard Knocks. From a young age, Curtis Jackson, the boy who would later become 50 Cent, was forced to see the world for what it was: brutish, dangerous, and too often for those who operated in the world of narcotics, short. Growing up in Southside Queens, a rough borough of New York City, he realized that he had two options in life, get rich or die trying. He lacked the very things that most take for granted. He had no education to fall back on. The only family he had was his grandparents after his mother was murdered. However, what he did have was a fearless attitude and the desire to better his circumstances.

While he was a hustler (read drug dealer) for much of his young life, that was really the only option for him to get ahead. However, the education that the streets provided would serve him well after he went from the corner to the boardrooms of Columbia Records. On the eve of his first record debut, an assassin put 9 bullets into him, including one in his jaw with pieces that remain to this day. Columbia quickly dropped him. One of the things that 50 Cent learned from the hustle was how to face down his fears, quickly understand his failures, and try again. From that point, after he recovered from his injuries, he used his handicap of not being able to perform in public, (as the killers might want to finish the job on him) to a strength by launching one of the largest mix tape campaigns in underground rap history. One that would eventually have a tape cross the desk of Eminem himself, securing 50 Cent as a fixture on the hip hop scene. While other rappers and celebrities would rest on their laurels and million dollar contracts, 50 Cent used the money to fund various business and entertainment ventures. Drink a Vitamin Water, lately? Anyway, the central theme to The 50th Law is to understand, acknowledge, and move through one’s fear to achieve great things.

Why you need this: Love him or hate him, 50 Cent has had a larger effect on the entertainment industry and business in general for whom others give him little credit. All of this stemmed from the idea that it is necessary to conquer one’s fears. Namely, these include fears failure, vulnerability, and even death. What this book does is outlines each of those fears that an artist and pretty much anybody will certainly encounter and gives practical means to move through them and even relish in them. One of the more philosophical points of the book is its discussion of mortality, quite a poignant theme in 50 Cent’s life. The book portends that one’s mortality is really the only true possession that any person has. It should be seen more as an internal companion than an extraneous event. If one were to remove all doubt and clouding uncertainty of one’s eventual return to the ether, then that allows one to truly take best advantage of the present. Not many books on this list are overtly stated as must reads, but the 50th Law is a MUST READ.

The urban style of Latino music known as Reggaeton, a lively mix of traditional Latin styles and R&B, Hip Hop and Electronica, is really taking off in the United States. It makes sense, then, that numerous popular American rappers and R&B artists are recording collaborations with these up-and-coming Reggaeton artists.

Here is a short playlist featuring some of the best songs. This list can be useful for those interested in musical fusion as well as an entry point for rap fans to become familiar with a new genre of music that is becoming increasingly popular.

1. Daddy Yankee featuring Snoop Dogg – Gangsta Zone Daddy Yankee is a Latin Grammy Award winner and is both one of reggeaton’s pioneers as well as one of the hottest artists today. This song gives off a hard, street vibe and features a great verse by West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg.

2. Wisin y Yandel featuring 50 Cent – Mujeres en el Club Reggaeton duo Wisin and Yandel are one of the most active collaborators with artists in other genres, as they have recorded songs with numerous big names in Hip Hop, R&B as well as Pop. The beat has the feel of a 50 Cent song and the controversial rapper from South Jamaica, Queens delivers a characteristic verse.

3. Don Omar featuring Juelz Santana – Conteo The “Don” of Puerto Rican Reggaeton music is immensely popular and this song features a verse by Harlem native Juelz Santana. Juelz Santana’s father was Dominican, and he uses a few Spanish sentences in the song.

4. Daddy Yankee featuring Young Buck and Lloyd Banks – Rompe (Remix) Rompe is one of Daddy Yankee’s most popular singles, and he recorded a remix featuring the two G-Unit members. It is an upbeat, high energy song and has been used as the walk-up music of several Latino MLB players.

5. Wisin y Yandel featuring T-Pain – Imaginate This song represents the slower, more R&B influenced style of Wisin y Yandel, and it features T-Pain, complete with his characteristic Auto-Tune audio pitch adjuster.

This list will only get you started in the exciting world of Reggaeton, so be on the lookout for more collaborations, and expect many more in the near future.

Are you trying to be physically fit like 50 cent? It would be great to have physical abs that are top-notch, and you can get them today! You can get the abs and every other muscle in the body fit as well.

Here are some workouts without expensive personal training

To get the abs, you want to make sure that you are training your cardiovascular, eating great, and burning fat – otherwise your abs will not show for it.

Now if you are dieting and exercising cardiovascular, you ultimately want to do these following exercises.

Weight Overhead Plate Sit-ups

Find a place to put your feet so you can do sit-ups, usually under a bench or have someone stand on your feet. Now get a plate weight, that you rack on the bench press. 45 pounds is preferred if you want ripped abs, but if you can do that much then just go 25 lbs.

You can even consider trying to go and use a dumb-bell if that’s your only option. Now lie flat on your back and hold the plate straight up as if you are trying to make it tough the ceiling. Now do a regular sit-up keeping your arms, extended.

It’s a tough workout but you will get abs in no time.

Ab-Wheel

The ab-wheel is a great workout, but it’s only as effective as you want it to be. Try exploding up, get ripped abs by exploding. You want to make sure you are on a padded surface when you do them so you can get that 6 even 8 pack core.

Jump Roping

Jump Roping is a great thing and can work your cardiovascular, help your abs, and improve your core.

Bonus Tip

There are thousands of work outs out there, including sit-ups, crunches, medicine ball crunches (a great one), and tons of other exercises. Just be sure not to suffer under information overload. It also helps to eat fat burning foods, frequently and drink tons of water to prevent water weight and excess fat!

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, undergone a 9-week stern diet and successfully shed 54 pounds off his body to play the role of a cancer patient on his upcoming movie “Things Fall Apart”. The diet consists only of pure liquids -well known as liquid diet- as well as a three-hour walk on the treadmill every day.

The reveal of his photos put people over the globe in complete shock and disbelief. Some of them began popping questions about whether such prompt yet drastic dietis healthy and rational.

However, Dr. Douglas Husbands, a nutritionist from California revealed to the press that this is an unhealthy way to diet due to several reasons: it cannot be applied for a long term diet, can cause the loss of muscle tissues and does not remove toxins that are stored in fat. He claimed that a sensible weight loss program that takes longer time may be in anyway safer. He also added that such methods used to grab acting opportunities in the entertainment world could fetch dire consequences if not managed properly.

50 Cent made a claim that he has began eating like normal and should gain back his weight in no time. Dr. Douglas also commented that gaining weight too promptly can be very dangerous. All in all, anything done is a split second will never do you good. Some ordinary people have also thrown remarks saying such diet is seriously insane and this should not even be done by educated and submissive professional trainers. No doubt 50 Cent is an enthusiast with no unachievable goals.

Marion Nestle, a food studies professor from New York University said that the level of risk depends on how fast and how much weight is lost. Most people are able to handle a few pounds but rapid weight loss could be fatal. However if the diet is done carefully then they are unlikely to suffer from any health problems.

Such absurd way of dieting used by 50 Cent is just a fraction of what most celebrities are doing. Other famous stars such as Victoria Beckham, Kardashians’ sisters, Beyonce, Renee Zellweger, and Tom Hanks have also been involved in diet plans, although some may not be as extreme as Curtis Jackson’s. The spreading of the diet news could be a negative influence to the public and professionals are delivering advice to ordinary people not to imitate any diet programs used by Hollywood stars.