A card that celebrates giving all year long

A greeting card that does a world of good for children around the world will now be available year-round.

For the first time ever, greeting cards carrying the logo of UNICEF-The United Nations Children's Fund-will be available all through the year at participating Hallmark Gold Crown® stores. UNICEF has been raising money for its programs from the sale of greeting cards since 1949. To date, over 4 billion cards have been sold.

The new collection will feature 20 different varieties of boxed cards packaged in keepsake boxes with an African Kuba-cloth-patterned bottom. Birthday cards, thank-you cards, thinking-of-you cards and blank cards will be included in the collection-the first produced for UNICEF by Hallmark. Most boxes have four designs per box. The cards will be priced between $10 and $20 and come in groups of eight cards with nine envelopes or groups of 20 cards with 21 envelopes.

Since 1947, the U. S. Fund for UNICEF has supported the work of the United Nations Children's Fund by raising support for its programs and increasing public awareness of the challenges facing the world's children.

UNICEF's programs are funded entirely by voluntary contributions and have made a tangible difference in the lives of children in 155 countries and territories. For example:

• $10 can provide a box of 200 disposable syringes for use during immunization campaigns.

• $12 can provide two long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets, protecting families from malaria, which kills one African child every 30 seconds.

• $12 can provide 20 packets of high-energy biscuits, specially developed for malnourished children in emergency situations.

• $17 can immunize one child for life against the six major childhood diseases: diphtheria, measles, polio, tetanus, tuberculosis and whooping cough.

• $20 can buy blankets to protect five small children from the cold.

Kansas City-based Hallmark is known throughout the world for its greeting cards, related personal expression products, and one of television's most honored and enduring dramatic series, "Hallmark Hall of Fame." The company publishes products in more than 30 languages and distributes them in more than 100 countries.

Photography from hobby to your very own business

That’s right. Who could say that there’s no chance that your hobby could also be the foundation of your first business venture? There are a lot of people out there who are in need of a good photographer to capture images of their son’s wedding, their daughter’s graduation or their very own wedding. Why couldn’t you be the one to supply your photography services to their needs?

For the transition of photography from hobby to your very own business, there are several tasks that you have to accomplish first.

Market Your Photography Skills – Sell yourself, in other words! Let people know about what you can do in the field of photography, why they need your skills and why they should hire you. Make sure, however, that you charge them reasonable rates since you’re still more or less an amateur in the field of photography.

To effectively market your photography skills, don’t be afraid of spending a little money on posting ads in the classified sections. Don’t stop there but post about your photography business in as many places as you can.

Join Interest Groups – This could be the local photography club in your community or the association of young photographers in your school. It could also be a Yahoo Group that you could easily join.

Usually, these groups are able to hold regular or annual exhibits of their works and it wouldn’t hurt to expose to the world the beauty of your works in photography.

Join Photo Competitions – Two things that you could enjoy when joining photography competitions: fame and fortune. Both are equally important. Fame would do wonders to your career in photography because it would let the world know about your skills and winning a photography competition may also offer the prize of having an apprenticeship under a world famous photographer. And when it comes to wealth – well, when did extra money ever hurt?

Offer Your Skills For Free to Government Projects – The government is always on the lookout for professionals who are willing to work for free and you should take advantage of this. Offer your photography skills for free because this would give you the opportunity to show them what you got.

Offer Samples of Your Work to Newspapers and Magazines – This is just like joining a photography competition. When you offer samples of your work to newspapers and magazines, you’re improving the chances that you’ll get noticed by the people who matters.

Although we can’t say that the road to victory is easy, never give up, never stop taking pictures and you’re sure to go far!

How to get free annual credit reports from major credit bureaus

If you plan to apply for a mortgage, car loan, credit card or consolidation loan, then you will need to know what is in your credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus. These include TransUnion, Equifax and Experian and each keeps a detailed record of your current and past debts, payment history, along with any information on public record, which may include foreclosures, bankruptcies or judgements.

Each of your credit reports from the aforementioned bureaus will also feature a numeric score, which is what many lenders refer to when determining your interest rate on a new loan. This number, known as a FICO score, is calculated based on a number of factors that will help potential lenders determine your credit worthiness. Your debt to income ratio, balance to credit limit ratio and the number of revolving credit accounts are all taken into consideration when tallying your FICO score. In addition, any bankruptcy or other negative presence will cause your score to be lowered.

Every 12 months, an individual is permitted to request a free copy of their credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus as listed above. There are a number of websites that promise to give consumers free credit reports, but there is almost always some type of a catch to the offer. Among them, enrolling in a trial program or purchasing a product. However, there is one website that is dedicated to offering free credit reports with no cost or obligation to the consumer. Once each year, individuals can visit AnnualCreditReport. com and gain instant online access to one or all of their credit reports at no cost. The basic credit report is free, but the FICO score will not be included unless an additional fee is paid to access that information.

In addition to requesting free credit reports on an annual basis, individuals are eligible to receive a free copy of their file if they have recently been denied credit. This process can be completed by either writing or calling the credit reporting agency after receiving a denial of credit from the lender. Typically, a copy of the credit report will arrive by mail within 7-10 days.

Not every consumer realizes how important it is to keep a close eye on their credit reports, but it is one of the most critical parts of maintaining a healthy credit file and preventing identity theft. It is recommended that individuals check their credit reports every six months and dispute anything that is listed incorrectly, such as addresses, inaccurate reporting of payment histories, account status, etc. After receiving a dispute, the credit bureau will begin an investigation in order to resolve the matter amicably. It is very important that everyone make sure their credit reports are accurate as, quite often, they are the largest determining factor of any loan request.

On microsoft

Microsoft is a difficult situation for me to evaluate. I think the company still has a lot of growth ahead in some areas. But, that depends on where management wants to take it.

There are three core businesses that are already well developed: Windows, Office, and Servers.

The moat in the first two are wide. The Windows moat is huge.

The business model in operating systems is great. You keep upgrading every few years; the hardware needn't progress for you to find things to tweak and get people to buy the next step up. It's insanely profitable.

I think the new launch (Vista) will be bigger than people expect (eventually) in how it allows for cross selling other Microsoft products (but we'll see about that). I expect the press to be very negative at least until well after the launch, because there will always be some bugs and delays.

Games

Eventually, video games will be a big business for Microsoft. I hate the economics of the console business, but love the economics of the publishing (and development) side of things.

I'm sorry to see that Microsoft didn't use its cash pile to buy up an established business here (publishers were cheap in the market a few years ago; an all cash deal would have worked well. Now, everyone thinks video games will be the next big thing).

The console wars are going well for Microsoft. The two keys to establishing a dominant console are launching first and getting good games on your platform. We'll see how Sony (SNE) does this round, but I expect them to be the big loser.

Nintendo may surprise here. I think the Xbox 360 and Nintendo's new console (Wii) will do very well. It'll be interesting to see the breakdown of the consoles in both the domestic and foreign markets. I think Sony may still be strong overseas, but could be in a much poorer position at the end of this round than they were with the PS2.

Search

Long-term I am optimistic about search. I think Google's position is much weaker than most people think. I don't think Microsoft will be the only one to benefit here.

Search is a very natural cross sell with Windows. That's the direction everything seems to be headed in (combining online and desktop search). For future growth in terms of market share I think Microsoft is in a better position than either Yahoo (YHOO) or Google (GOOG).

I also think we might see a couple other (largely unknown) search engines gain some share.

I think Google's strength is its brand. Its dominance helps with advertisers more than users. I don't think it has a lock on users. Also, I think Google has been poorly positioned for doing much of anything outside of keyword search.

I expect to see a lot more in the way of intelligent, social search inspired stuff. Years from now, much of search will have to be helping you find what you didn't know you wanted to find.

Google is dominant in a different business: helping you find what you know you want to find (but don't know the name / location). The two types of search are very different. Both will be important, but the growth in other forms of search will be coming off a smaller base and will likely integrate with keyword search. Google has the most to lose here.

Other Devices

Microsoft wants to perform well on mobile devices and on your TV. Compared to competitors it is very strong in these respects.

The strategy seems to be the one I would favor - to control the point of initial contact wherever software is used and then to only venture into the actual application or content side of the business where it is highly profitable to do so. In video games it will be highly profitable. In other areas it is less likely to be very profitable.

I expect to see more generic, web-based applications. These will be less profitable for everyone. Office should hold up well, but not as well as Windows. Basically, Microsoft needs to take what it has in PCs and import that to TVs, Handheld Devices, Consoles, and the Web.

That should be the strategy. I think that is the strategy. These aren't unrelated businesses that need to be broken up to unlock creativity (as some have suggested). Rather, the profit potential for each is greatly enhanced by being part of Microsoft. If you take these pieces apart they are worth very little. There would only be the three businesses I started off talking about and the console / games business.

Internationally, there is going to be natural growth for Microsoft's dominant businesses. It won't be a tremendous growth rate, but it will be strong and will require virtually no additional investment to secure.

Obsolescence Issues

Overall, I like the future for software a lot more than hardware, because the marginal gains in the quality of hardware will slow greatly in the years ahead.

The question isn't what can be done mathematically in terms of increasing specs; it's what that translates to for the user. We are reaching a point where the individual user will not directly see the benefits of increased hardware performance as clearly as he did in the past.

Much of the research that goes in to this area will only serve to bring down prices and benefit memory intensive businesses - it will not provide as much of a "wow" factor for the user anymore.

This is especially true in games. The situation in desktop applications is already such that improving the software design is where most gains will come from.

Computing power is simply not a scarce resource for most individuals sitting at home or in a cubicle. Advances will benefit some users a lot and will trickle down to the end user (often via the web) through fast responses and cheap services. But, that's a barely noticeable change.

You'll see something here akin to the kind of thing you see in the brokerage business. It won't be obvious, because price competition will never be as great in software.

Generally, you'll just see the prices for doing anything electronically come down. That's very different from what we've seen over the last few decades, where you also had advancements that attracted new users, because they allowed developers to do something differently, not just more cheaply.

This is a very long-term trend I'm worried about. It could weigh heavily on a business like Dell (DELL), because PCs are actually quite durable; once the rate of obsolescence slows, sales will have to slow as the cycle lengthens.

Management

I think Microsoft's management is absolutely the best in the business. In fact, I think it's one of the best in any business.

It would be hard for me to find more than a handful of people I'd rather have managing a business I was part owner of. I also think the current arrangement is a good one.

There is enough of a line between current operations and future investments in the Chairman / CEO split that investors will probably get the greatest benefit from the brilliance of the Chairman this way.

Everyone underestimates Bill Gates. It's easy, because his great triumph came some time ago now. But, he's interested in building something lasting. I trust him more than anyone in tech without a question. He always impresses me whether he's talking about his own industry or some other topic. He has exactly the right kind of mind for someone running a business where the long-run is such a concern.

Qualitatively, I think Microsoft scores close to perfectly. I could cite the profitability stats, but I won't, because you know they're better than almost any other business on the planet – and that's with a huge siphoning off of resources to investments in the future that aren't required to maintain the cash cow, wide-moat Windows franchise.

Valuation

Valuation is a bit more troubling. Microsoft is not at the point on an EV/EBIT basis where I'd be buying the stock if there was a risk of no extraordinarily profitable growth in the future. In other words, at the current price, it clearly makes for a bad bond.

The key is earnings growth. I think you have to believe MSFT will have a real future in search, games, and non-PC devices that will fuel future, highly profitable growth.

I think that future is there. As far as a truly large cap stock (say $10 billion or more) it's about as attractive as anything on the planet right now - and certainly it's the most attractive stock of any very large U. S. business. Even though Intel (INTC) and Dell are cheap looking, I don't like them nearly as much. Dell is an interesting situation, but I don't understand the business well enough.

I have a better idea of where MSFT is headed – and I like it.

Conclusion

I don't own shares of MSFT. I won't be buying any either. I don't normally own such large stocks. I prefer much smaller businesses, because the mispricings tend to get more out of whack. You aren't going to see MSFT trade at an EV/EBIT of 7.5 or something like that, but you do sometimes get those chances in small (high quality) businesses.

There are a lot of chances to find wild mispricings without much of the future being a concern. Those are the situations I prefer to invest in, because businesses like MSFT have an awfully large anchor with the amount of capital they've got – plus, they tend to be less likely to be wildly mispriced.

However, if I had to own one business with a market cap of more than $10 billion and hold it for a lifetime I would buy Microsoft here without hesitation.

The reason i got rid of the toxins in my body

My name is Ralph Morton, I live in God’s Country Beautiful British Columbia.

I arrived here,1964 from England, at the age of 35.

I left school at the age of 14, grade equivalent to grade 6, my work experience consisted of working at the Coal Mines, then I became a Farmer, not exactly the grounding for the rigors of North America, I think you’ll agree.

I came to Canada without any job security to search for a new life. After a while of looking and attending interviews for employment I came across an advertisement where the people were looking for salesmen to sell this fantastic machine. This machine according to the newspaper, had been developed by a Space Research Company.

Off I went, saying myself they’re never going to hire a Grade 6 man. When I got there and saw it was a vacuum cleaner it was quite a shock. I asked myself, how can a Farmer sell door to door. Impossible…

There was however, a feeling in that office, there were salesmen running around, the Manager seemed to project some sort of aura I had never felt before. Something here was entirely different than I had ever experienced before.

Well, the outcome was I tried out as a Vacuum Salesman.

Imagine what my wife said when I phoned her as she was still in England.

The next day, I went to the office and met the whole staff. When I entered I was astonished by the greeting I received from the receptionist, it seem she had known me all of her life, and that she liked me very much. I had never in my life experienced anything like this before. I remembered this, because any receptionist who worked for me in later years always had to become that receptionist of my very first day in vacuum sales.

I was only around these people for just a short time when I realized something was different. I had never been in an atmosphere as this in the whole of my life.

At work we always spent the first hour complaining about something or other, well, I will tell you, even though I was at this office for a number of months I never heard anyone who was successful complain one little bit. Everyone talked the same way positive. Believe me if you mix with positive people, it is impossible to be any other way.

Everyone had a positive attitude, should I say that again. Everyone had a positive attitude. I found for the first time in my life that if you mixed with that type of person you could not help but to change your whole way of thinking.

Here I was, an ex coal miner/farmer who for the first time in his life was mixing with people I should have given half my commission to them just to be called one of their friends.

A few days later the manager gave me Napolean Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. He said I was ready. My friends that book has been my bible for last lot of years. I would mention here, I am now doing a refresher with Simpleology 101.This is reminding me of the right path to take.

Just for the record, I went on to become the Top Salesman in Canada for quite a few months in a row.

Also for the record, I went into Land Development, became a millionaire 3 times broke 4.

I still have the same positive attitude I have always had since those days and it always has stood me in good stead.

My whole point of this is, over the years I have always retreated from those people who live their lives complaining about this and that, I just wish they would grow up and see life as it should be, for to me if you don’t have a smile on your face you appear to everyone else as a sour individual.

Don’t you agree with me, aren’t those complainers miserable looking?

I am now on a crusade, I now have found a nitch in life I want make people aware of. People are truly aware of it but have not investigated as they should.

I am talking about Toxins, many things have been written, but we still have a huge percentage of the population obese. How can the organs of our bodies work as they should when they are covered with huge lumps of fat caused by the Toxins.

We clean out our cars, homes, brush our teeth, why, because they need it, however, our organs are in the same state yet 95% of people do nothing about it.

I am here to tell you, once you do a cleanse, the feeling you get after it, is something to behold. It is so long ago our organs functioned as they should, we have forgotten how we felt when we were clean.

To learn from the experts visit http://theteam. isagenix. com on the loaded page on the left, click on ISAVIDEOS click on the one Dr Becky Natrajan and listen.

Next to that video you will find two News Casts, view them and see what the FOX and ABC news thought of Isagenix as a natural body cleanse.

For further information Call Ralph Morton 604-536-6813 or email at noviorbis@telus. net

The jewelry market never goes out of style even in a bad economy

In the post 9/11 economy, things for merchants and retailers have been a little shaky—but not for the many lucky entrepreneurs and businesspersons who earn their livings dealing in the jewelry industry. It seems that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, after all; and it seems that pricy, token gems might never see the day when they are declared: “officially out of style.”

One of the main secret ingredients to the longevity of the jewelry market is that jewelry, unlike many other things on the market, is not a fickle new consumer product and likewise not a passing fad. Styles over centuries change; this much we know is true. But one coveted centerpiece for the wrist and neckline of virtually every temptress from Helen of Troy and Cleopatra to today’s most popular fashion queens is the precious gem, one of natures finest own creations that have been even further perfected by the modern technologies of man. While clothing styles changed and evolved dramatically over time, from the loincloths and togas of our distant past to the poodle skirts and bellbottom jeans of much more recent decades, jewelry is the one and only ornamental element that has survived the weathering, changing times.

A symbol of wealth, beauty, power, and lust; jewelry, in all of its various forms, represents the human psyche, the human will, and even the human spirit. It is as rich as it is luxurious, and it holds a value entirely of its own, a value above the value of money. Of course, every gem does have its price; but remember, jewelry was traded long before the days of proper common monetary exchange—a striking green light to investors and buyers everywhere indicating that jewelry is one of the only goods on the market today that would still have worth, should the economy, as we know it, cease to exist.

In his research, Leon Lazaroff of the Chicago Tribune found that the economic sector devoted to luxury goods, one major category being jewelry, has remained relatively stable and unaffected by recent cutbacks in consumer spending. In today’s ever-tightening economy, studies show that people are beginning to buy less and spend less. But in looking at luxury goods retailers such as New York’s popularly pricy Tiffany & Co., statistics show that jewelry stores are typically not as economically sensitive as other retail stores.

Such findings might be attributed to the fact that, on the whole, those who are the most active jewelry purchasing customers are also those least likely to feel economic strain. The jewelry industry most often caters to the wealthy, a set of customers who are undeniably less prone to cut back on their jewelry spending just to make up for the rise in gas prices and things of that sort. They can afford to maintain their expensive tastes and habits, without much cause for worry on the status of inflation.

Because the government knows that jewelry spending is still on the rise, they continue to invest in it. The Pak Tribune tells us of Pakistan’s recent pledge to achieve $500 million in gem exports to the U. S. by 2010 is yet another a surefire sign that investing experts do not expect the worth of jewelry or the success of the industry to decline at all this decade. The United States’ Agency for International Development (USAID) is working on a new initiative to help increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized Pakistani enterprises. As a result, Pakistan’s Gems and Jewelry sector is now ready to claim its rightful place in the US’s high-level-export international market loop, and the U. S. is guaranteed a steady supply of quality foreign gems to keep quenching the world’s thirst for fine jewelry.

The jewelry industry remains on top, relatively untouched by the unpredictable twists, turns and flux’s of the world economy. This is somewhat due to the fact that the lure of our earth’s most prized and precious stones seems to not vary with the changes of time and circumstance. It is also due to the fact that jewelry is so often relied upon to uphold so many meaningful cultural traditions that have transcended the ages. Jewelry will always be a part of our social fabric, because it has been so deeply interwoven into our customs and traditions. Marriage proposals are met with diamond rings and bands of gold; a tradition so common to most of human history that it is highly unlikely that it will ever change. In an economy where the influx in gas prices means a decrease in sales for types of larger-model cars, it is at lest reassuring that the jewelry industry won’t suffer the same decrease in popularity.

Why some people do not want to have hair transplant surgery

Why Some People Do Not Want To Have Hair Transplant Surgery

Hair transplant surgery is not for everyone. In fact, some people have been so disappointed and even angered about their results that they have filed class action lawsuits against hair transplant surgeons and clinics. There are several reasons they give for their dissatisfaction.

1. Underestimating Procedures. Certain surgeons and clinics underestimate the number of procedures necessary to achieve the desired effect. This leads people to have a false hope of having a full head of hair in a very short time. When this does not happen, they are understandably angry. They did not get what they were promised.

2. Underestimating Price. Surgeons usually do give some sort of estimate of the cost of the entire procedure of a hair transplant. A reputable surgeon will emphasize that it is only an estimate and that things may change once the procedures are started. Also, she will give an honest accounting of what she expects the procedure to cost.

An unscrupulous surgeon, on the other hand, will distort the facts about his hair transplant procedures. He will try to get the patient started by stating that the price will be very low. He will know all along that the procedures will cost much more, but he will lowball the price anyway just to get the patient started so that they have to finish.

3. Creating Scars. All hair transplant surgery will create small scars. Some people find them unacceptable. They want to wear their hair short, and they see the scar peeking out from under their hair, even if no one else does. Of course, there are also physicians with poor skills who create large scars and people who are prone to scarring. Hair transplant scars are a sore subject for man people.

4. Uneven hairlines. Some people who have hair transplant surgery end up with uneven hairlines. This is caused by the oversight of negligent doctors. If a person gets to work with a reputable surgeon, things like this just do not happen. However, if someone has seen a person with this problem, it will likely turn them off to hair transplant surgery for good.

5. Old-Fashioned Plugs. People with the large plugs that look like doll's hair or toothbrush bristles are still around. While this type of hair transplant is rarely done anymore, the effects are still evident among people of a certain age. If someone who knows one of these people has a balding problem, they are not likely to think of hair transplants. The only way they would is if they have some other, good, experience with them.

6. Doctors Who Put Money above the Patients' Interest. Any doctors who make decisions that are not based on the welfare of his patient are following their Hippocratic Oath in its intentions. Doctors are held to a high standard and when a surgeon tries to convince a patient to get hair transplant surgery when it is not best for him, he is not really acting as a doctor should. The horror stories are out there and many people are aware of them.

There is a higher rate of suicide following hair transplant and other cosmetic surgeries. This is partly because the patients are disappointed that their lives do not miraculously change overnight. However, other reasons for their despair are poor results and unscrupulous doctors. People who are afraid of this misery are likely to bow out.

The advantages of taking an online nursing course

With so many quality nursing programs available online, the advantages of taking an online nursing course are many. If you are considering this type of program and are curious to know more of the benefits, read on.

Any Type of Nursing Degree is Available Online

No matter what type of nursing degree you are interested in obtaining, you can find it online. From an entry-level Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to a Registered Nurse (RN) degree, or even a master's or PhD program, you can find it online.

Online Nursing Programs are High Quality

You need to do a little research on this, but many online nursing programs are accredited. The accreditations you want to look for are through either The National League of Nursing Accreditation Commission or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). These professional nursing organizations review each program before giving it their approval. Also, before you enroll, verify that the program will count toward your state's licensing requirements. Most accredited programs will.

Learn at Your Convenience

One of the advantages of taking an online nursing course is that you can learn from the convenience of your home and often on your own schedule. Many programs offer courses asynchronously, which means that you study materials on your own time and submit assignments by the due dates. This means that if you want to attend class at midnight, for example, you can.

More Options

The advantages of taking an online nursing course are many, and another good example is the wide range of programs available. When attending traditional schools, you are limited to the degree programs offered. However, with online learning, you can choose from a wide range of programs. This allows you to tailor your learning to your interests and career goals.

Expand Your Network

When you learn online, you meet people from all over the globe. From a networking perspective, this is great news. Additionally, you can develop friendships with people from different cultures and perspectives, which can greatly enhance your ability to relate to others—a necessary nursing skill.

Cotton-house-beach-vacation

Cotton House Beach Vacation

The only hotel on the exotic island of Mustique, the

cotton house offers luxurious service, privacy, and

plenty of secluded beaches. You can spend your

days exploring the marine life, relaxing by the

pool, or getting pampered by the enticing spa.

The spa at the Cotton House offers an amazing array

of services, such as massages, facials, reflexology,

wraps, and fully body treatments. You can catch a

spa in one of the four treatment rooms, just steps

from the beach, or even in the privacy of your

own room.

Situated between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic

Ocean, the 1,400 acre Mustique Island offers a

tennis club, nine secluded and beautiful beaches,

which are perfect for scuba diving, windsurfing,

and even snorkeling.

Rooms and suites

The Cotton House offers just 19 luxurious guest

rooms, cottages, and suites, most offering private

patios and panoramic views of the ocean. The

amentities offered by the Cotton House include soft

French cotton linens, a pillow menu, air, flat

screen televisions, and maid service twice a day.

If you are planning a honeymoon twist to your beach

vacation, you can splurge on one of the cottages

with a private plunge pool, or even book the two

bedroom Cotton Hill Residence which offers a

private swimming pool and its own staff that are

dedicated to you.

Eating

From dining in your cottage, ordering a picnic

basket and going to an empty beach, or just having

a romantic candlelit dinner, Mustique leaves the

choices up to you. A traditional afternoon tea

is served each day in the Great Room, while there

are weekly cocktail parties held by the Cotton

House as well.

Getting there

There are three ways that you can fly to Mustique.

You can go via Barbados, via Martinique, or via

Saint Vincent. From Barbados, you can take a

Grenadines Airways flight to Mustique for around

$400 per person - round trip flight.

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PPPPP

Protective fishing gears from cold

Fishing during a sunny day calls for a great experience in the water. This includes getting wet and making that entire ruckus with your rod when something starts to touch your line. Yes, it does look like a good day out for a swim with your rod, but getting your entire body wet for fishing isn’t really the idea here. Contrary to the beliefs of others, fly fishing can be as dry as you want it to be. Just bring the right gears with you.

Since the feet are the very first part of your body that will likely get wet upon stepping in to the water, it’s best to use waterproof footwear. And for that, wearing rubber boots is your best option. Grab a pair of good rubber boots that are water tight because it will really seal your feet from getting soaked. These types of boots are great for waters that are not waist deep.

Wading deep in to the water is also necessary sometimes or even when the time, occasion or your mood calls for it. Naturally, this calls for an even better protection against the cold. Before you thread in your way to deeper waters, be sure that you don’t allow for any water to get in your clothes because this will cause discomfort and lack of focus to what you should really do.

A wader is the perfect apparel for waters that are too deep for rubber boots. It will also help you maintain your balance if the current of the water is tough, which usually are in rivers. Waders are usually up to chest high which are also made of rubber with straps that are worn over the shoulders. Waders can also be worn over rubber boots. It’s more like an added protection for the strong waters.

A raincoat is also an additional protection that is important for you to wear during fishing. If you have proper protective gears, you can go out fishing without worrying even if it’s raining out.

Online reservation software - up up away

Online Reservation Software can make the difference in travel agency growth or decline. Travel companies work on small margins and efficient online reservation software is the lifeblood of travel companies. While tourists have visions of up, up and away, travel agencies have their eyes on the bottom line and how online reservation software can increase profits.

Improved Productivity - Online Reservation Software

Improved productivity is the key benefit online reservation software offers travel agencies. The airlines, hotels and tour operators set prices and the agency commission is fixed. How can a travel agency earn more money? By streamlining the booking process to increase sales per agent per day with industry leading online reservation software

Enhanced Client Management - Online Reservation Software Online

Reservation software cuts operating costs by automating the travel booking process. A key feature of online reservation software is the creation of a unique passenger record that ties the passenger the travel agency. When an agent knows the client's travel history, preferences, spending habits and more, it's a powerful incentive for the client to book future travel with his or her agent.

Online Availability - Online Reservation Software

A sharp agent using online reservation software which offers online availability can close a client's travel bookings in minutes. Referrals are the life blood of the travel industry. Travel agents using online reservation software offering immediate confirmation have become the standard by which all travel agents are judged. Combined with the growing travel destinations and packages, an agency's online reservation software provides agents every possible travel service that might interest the customer at a glance.

Back Office Issues - Online Reservation Software

Do you know anyone that enjoys paper work? The client, on the other hand, is keenly interested in a convenient record of travel outlays for tax purposes. An agency’s online reservation software automates the tedious process of creating receipts, invoices, confirmations, vouchers and more. The same goes for tracking the many wholesalers, airlines, and tour operators a travel agency deals with each year.

Travel Agency Expansion - Online Reservation Software

While generating more revenue is the goal of expansion - online reservation software is the vehicle. Today, every travel agency owner asks "How can I survive today and grow in the future?" While the answer varies from agency to agency, those without fast, efficient and cost cutting online reservation software won't have to worry for long, they will be "Up, up and Away" and out of the travel business for good.

Atkins-bars-03

Welcome to the age of supplements! If you're not currently on some sort of diet plan, then I'd be surprised. It just seems like everyone is trying something. Whether or not we're all trying the rights plans remains to be seen. As for me, I guess I wouldn't say I'm on a diet exactly. My eating regime has more to do with protein and calories. I want a lot of both. Now, who says I want to run back and forth to the refrigerator every two hours for more food? This is annoying and completely interrupts my day. What I need is something more along the lines of quick and convenient health food supplements. Take Atkins bars, Pure Protein, and GNC supplement meals for example. These are simple and don't interrupt my day.

The world of supplements and protein/energy bars is vast. There is no doubt that it can be difficult to find exactly what you're looking for. Sure, you can easily find a product; but is it the right one? It's not just about running to a health food store and snagging a few Atkins bars. It's about narrowing down the supplements that offer the nutrients and benefits you're searching for. And that's not all! Then there's the taste issue. Believe me when I inform you that many health food supplements taste BAD. Whether or not you feel this way about Atkins bars or Cliff bars is up to you and your taste buds. It certainly varies from person to person. I recall the first time I tried Pure Protein bars. This is a supplement food that's quick and easy on the go, and offers about 20 grams of protein per serving, but without a load of carbs. Sounds ideal, right? Well, in my opinion the taste is far from ideal. Even though I've heard raving reviews about these bars and their phenomenal good taste, I don't agree. I think they taste pasty and dense. Nothing like what I expected.

So what's on your agenda? Are you in need of a few Pure Protein or Atkins bars for high protein and low carb intake? Or, are you looking more for an all-round meal supplement bar like Met-RX has to offer in their Colossal 100? Either way, you definitely won't have trouble finding either one. Nutrition stores provide everything from Atkins bars to whey protein shakes. Take advantage of the supplements, folks!

Decorating tips for area rugs

Instead of replacing your flooring, consider decorating with area rugs. There are plenty of options out there when it comes to these rugs. You can dress up a hallway or add color to a bedroom. They are easy to find, affordable to purchase and they offer you the ability to move them around as you see fit. With so many benefits of area rugs, you can easily add these to your home for a beautiful, dramatic look change.

Benefits Of Area Rugs

There are many benefits to area rugs including these.

• Affordable solution to your decorating dilemma. Replacing flooring for the room is costly and the labor is even more costly. Selecting an area rug is easy to do and there is no labor to laying it down.

• Offers a dynamic change instantly. When you add an area rug to a room, the colors of the room come out. The rug can be an accent to your current flooring. It can add character, texture and elegance to virtually any area of the home.

• There are a wide range of choices for you to select from. Many of the most common color pairings are available. There are also many different patterns to select from. You can even have them custom made if you would like.

When it comes to purchasing area rugs for your decorating needs, you need to keep several things in mind. You should not go out and just pick any rug that you find. Instead, you should consider all the things that have the ability to add value, comfort and style to the room. The bottom line is to find a rug that you love, but you can also find a rug that is perfect in these ways as well.

Determine The Area’s Needs

The first thing to do is to determine the needs that you have for this area of your home. Let’s say that you would like to add an area rug to your dining room. Take the time to measure out the size of the room or the section that you would like the rug to cover. Don’t guess! More people make mistakes with guessing the wrong size than anything else.

Consider your current flooring. What color is it? You can easily benefit from purchasing an area rug that is an accent to your flooring’s color. You may even be able to select the same type of pattern that your flooring has into the carpet. If the two do not match (the current flooring that will be exposed and your area rug) you will not have a good overall look to the room. But, if they do accent each other, the possibilities are endless.

Consider your room’s atmosphere. If you are placing the area rug into an area of your home that has a specific theme or look, you should insure that you honor that with your addition of an area rug. You may find that the area rug is one that offers a lot of colors and patterns. In some cases, people will design the entire room of their home around the look of a perfect area rug that they find. If you are looking for an elegant finish, consider an area rug that offers rich tones and a gorgeous, intricate pattern.

Finally, you need to consider the traffic that will be in the room. If you will be placing an area rug under a table that your small children eat off of, you may want to look for less of a quality product or purchase something that can be cleaned easily. If near a door, consider the amount of traffic coming in here as well.

Determine The Right Area Rug

The next thing on your list is to select the right area rug based on its qualifications for being in your home. There are several things that you should consider when it comes to the rug that you are purchasing. Taking the time to look at these details will insure that the product you are purchasing is well worth the cost.

• Color. This is probably the first thing that you will look at. If the color and pattern of the rug is not going to fit into your room’s scheme, then there is no need to go any farther. You need it to work well with the colors in the room.

• Material. The material of the area rug should be well fitting into the room. There are plenty of options here. Many enjoy the beauty of the oriental rugs. Some enjoy a gorgeous Persian rug. Still others are looking for a wool rug. No matter what your needs are, selection of the right material will offer you the comfort that you are looking for. It adds the right texture to the room as well.

• Quality. It goes without saying that an investment in an area rug should take the quality of the product in mind. You will pay a good deal for a quality rug. Yet, it will last longer, offer a better dynamic and look, and it will add more value to your home than a poor quality choice.

• Price. When considering all of these elements, you will need to consider the cost of them as well. There is no doubt that a high quality product is going to cost you more than one that is less quality. But, in the long run, the cost difference can be made up by the fact that it lasts longer and you love it. Determine what your budget is, then consider the best quality options in that budget.

Decorating with area rugs is easy to do when you consider these aspects. If you are in the market for a beautiful rug, go for the look that is the most amazing and perfect for your room and your tastes. Follow these tips to insure that the end result is well worth it.

How to light up a garden fountain

You are able to make a fountain shine, light up an entire pond from inside, highlighting an attractive statue, or raise the expression of a particularly gorgeous tree.

You can install garden fountain lights inside or outside lighting. You need to know that all should be connected to a GFI for your own protection,

Before you start shopping for garden fountain lights, try out different effects with a strong flashlight or a spotlight on an extension cord. Focus for simplicity and nuance. Do not let yourself get carried away and chance your garden fountain into a amusement park , but keep your eye on elegance.

There are numerous types of in garden fountain lights, and each one produces its own special effect, depending upon how you position it almost all designs demand lights that have dark, subdued cases. Chromium steel or white casings can be obtrusive, particularly during daylight.

Garden fountain lights, either in white or colorations, add drama to a sprayer. A few garden fountain lights also come equip with transparent rolls of various colors. Colorful light, nevertheless, should be used sparingly-it can easily become tacky.

A lot of garden fountain lights have installed timers that let you to automatically turn the lights off and on. You are also able to put in an independent timer in the lighting setup. Timers not only save you the hazel of regularizing the light, they also save on your electricity bill.

How to place your garden fountain lights

The first rule in setting up your fountain lights is to never them shine straight on the water since they'll produce a harsh glare. In-ponds, lights need reasonably clean water to be efficient. Muddy water obstructs too much light and decreases the light's effectiveness substantially. If you've fish in your water garden, allow dark areas where they can back away from the light. Fish need a great deal of crevices for safety. And never brighten the entire pond, particularly all night. If possible, place out-of-water lights to hide their casings and cord underneath a deck, behind a stone, or tucked into the leafage of a shrub. Any type of lighting you prefer, be sensitive to its effect on the neighbors. Do not let the lights beam in their windows.

Installation of Low Power Garden Fountain Lights

Contrary to normal 120-volt lights, installation of low-power landscape lights is a breeze, even for novices. And they are fairly safe because of their low voltage. Numerous low-voltage lighting schemes are sold as kits, complete with instruction manuals.

Installing a low-voltage system begins with installing a transformer, which cuts down the regular home current from one hundred twenty volts to twelve volts. Set up the transformer just about the GFI receptacle closest to the water feature, using the manufacturers directions. Even 12-volt systems should utilize a GFI unit to prevent shocks. Most transformers are plainly mounted next to an electric outlet and plugged into it.

Matchmaking services that are available

When going bar-hopping looking for a date has lost its zest and finding dates elsewhere has gone nowhere then you may want to consider one of the various matchmaking services that are available. Below are a few examples of services that you can use to find a date of your choice. Of course they all have their pros and cons but above all they do work.

Dating phone lines: Calling 900 numbers in order to listen to dating ads or even have your personal ad recorded is a very popular way to find a date. It is very direct and everyone that participates are typically very up front and clear as to what they are looking for. The downside of this type of matchmaking service is that you do not have any physical attributes to go on and of course many people falsify their information which could make for a very awkward situation should you meet them and nothing is as it was advertised.

Personal Ads: Personal ads are also another very popular way to meet that special man or lady. You can find personal ads in just about any publication, especially local newspapers. These ads tend to be more serious and dependable than phone dating lines but the downside is that it generally takes a while to respond and get responses.

Singles clubs: If you are comfortable with joining meeting scenes where the entire group of men and women are all single and looking for a match, then this type of matching making service may be right up your ally. You know what they look like, get a chance to actually have a personal conversation with people, and of course it can be a relaxing way of finding a date without the pressure of traditional dating.

Online dating: Most people today have pc and Internet so this is the fastest growing Match maker services of them all. There is a lot of sites available, but there is the big ones like Match, gmcMatch etc that people use. More and more of todays couples have find each other online.

By Global Match Corp

http://www. gmcMatch. com

http://www. gmcBiz. com

http://www. gmcBiz. com/blog

10 tips for using instant messaging for business

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Here's the scene: A couple dozen professionals at a big advertising agency quietly type away at computer screens near each other, in an open room devoid of office walls and partitions.

An occasional laugh punctuates the silence. But no one is talking. They are communicating with one another almost exclusively through instant messaging (IM).

"When I'm visiting this firm, I can't help but notice this [lack of people talking]. Seems odd to an outsider, but this is now pretty much their corporate culture," says Helen Chan, analyst for The Yankee Group, a US-based technology research group, who has friends at the agency.

A technology designed initially for one-on-one personal chats has reached the workplace. Many business people are choosing text-based Instant Messaging over phone calls and email. They prefer its immediacy and efficiency in getting real-time information from partners, suppliers and colleagues working remotely.

Instant messaging is essentially the text version of a phone call. At businesses large and small, more and more people are using it to communicate. For many, it serves as a backstop for e-mail problems and other emergencies — witness the spikes in usage after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Wall Street Journal notes that more than 100 million people are now sending instant messages. In a report, "IM: The Sleeping Giant," technology consultant Gartner Group predicts that by 2005, instant messaging will surpass email as the primary online communications tool.

That said, IM will benefit businesses that work in teams or on projects more than it will many retailers, independent professionals and others. That's because IM enhances collaboration, but does not lend itself to opening new relationships. However, aside from the opportunities for time and cost savings, there are risks and downsides to its use.

Whether you're a business owner or an avid IM user, or both, here are 10 instant messaging do's and don'ts.

1. Do adopt a user policy for instant messaging. If you're an owner, your employees need to know whether you view instant messaging as an appropriate vehicle to communicate with, say, customers or business partners. Any policy should contain at least general guidelines for its use. You may not think this is important — unless you know the story about the hedge fund manager who caused a major commotion by allegedly using IM to spread inaccurate rumours about a publicly traded software company. (Word got out, the software company's stock plunged, and the hedge fund manager and his company got into some serious trouble.)

2. Don't use instant messaging to communicate confidential or sensitive information. Take a lesson from the above example. If your company is in the business of providing professional advice regarding stocks, finances, medicine or law, chances are it's not smart to do so through instant messaging. IM is better suited to quick information about project status, meeting times, or a person's whereabouts.

3. Do organise your contact lists to separate business contacts from family and friends. Make sure your employees do the same. Eliminate even the remote possibility that a social contact could be included in a business chat with a partner or customer — or vice versa. MSN Messenger[link] lets you organise your contacts carefully.

4. Don't allow excessive personal messaging at work. Yes, you make personal phone calls at work, send personal emails, and allow your employees to do the same. But you encourage them to keep it to a minimum and (hopefully) do the same yourself. For instant messaging go even further. Urge that personal chats be done during breaks or the lunch hour — or that the chats generate new customers or revenue to the business.

5. Do be aware that instant messages can be saved. You may think IM is great because you can let your guard down, make bold statements, chastise a boss, employee or co-worker, and have it all wiped away from the record when you are done. What you aren't realising is that one of the parties to your conversation can copy and paste the entire chat onto a notepad or Word document. Some IM services allow you to archive entire messages. Be careful what you say, just like you would in an email.

6. Don't compromise your company's liability, or your own reputation. The courts may still be figuring out where instant messages stand in terms of libel, defamation and other legal considerations. It's likely that any statements you make about other people, your company or other companies probably aren't going to land you in court. But they could damage your reputation or credibility. Be careful what you say.

7. Do be aware of virus infections and related security risks. Most IM services allow you to transfer files with your messages. Alexis D. Gutzman, an author and eBusiness consultant, says her recent research for a book found that IM file attachments carrying viruses penetrate firewalls more easily than email attachments. "Instant messages [carrying viruses] will run and dip into a firewall until they find an opening," she says. You'd be wise to learn more about the quality of your own firewall protection, to decide whether or not to restrict transferring files through IM.

8. Don't share personal data or information through IM. Even if you have the utmost trust in the person or people you are messaging, including personal information you'd rather keep confidential (like a phone number) is not a good idea. That's because the text of your chat is relayed through a server en route to your contact. "If anyone is on the connection and can see that traffic, they can see the personal information," says Chris Mitchell, lead program manager with MSN Messenger. Not likely, perhaps. But it's better to send such info through an encrypted email, or not at all.

9. Do keep your instant messages simple and to the point, and know when to say goodbye. How you should use IM is hard to stipulate. Kneko Burney, director of eBusiness research at Cahners In-Stat Group, prefers it simply for seeing if a colleague is at his or her desk, available for an in-person or telephone call. "It's like peeking into someone's office." Gutzman, on the other hand, sees IM as a way to do quick research and get fast information from consultants and even lawyers. She recently used IM in researching a book, saving entire messages in her personal archives. Both agree, however, that you must limit your inquiry, get to the point right away, and avoid unnecessary blather. "With instant messaging, you don't need a lot of pleasantries," Gutzman says. "I pretty much can say, 'How's it going?' and then get on with my question."

10. Don't confuse your contacts with a misleading user name or status. IM user names, like email user names, should be consistent throughout your company. And users should do the courtesy of updating their status throughout the day, so contacts know whether they are available for messages.

Is it painful getting your body pierced

As the old saying goes, “no pain, no gain.” The same is true when it comes to body piercing, as many parts of the body are a little more than uncomfortable when the needle penetrates the skin. As distasteful as it may be, a piercing is nothing more than a puncture wound with a piece of jewelry inserted into the hole. Many individuals would seriously consider body piercing, but the potential for pain is too much for the weak of heart. In most instances, the pain associated with the actual piercing is not nearly as extreme as believed.

The best way to determine the amount of pain associated with a specific type of body piercing is to ask someone who has experienced the pain firsthand. This is also an excellent way to determine if you really want to have that specific part of your body pierced, since a pierced individual will be able to inform you of any complications, infection, or problems he or she has experienced with the body piercing.

Another way to determine the amount of pain associated with a body piercing is to speak with a piercer. These individuals who pierce a variety of body parts for a living are usually able to walk you through the entire process from cleaning the needle to the healing process.

Generally, tongue piercings are generally thought to be the most painful, but in actuality, many believe the belly button to be the most painful area to be pierced. The tongue has a tremendous healing capacity, allowing it to quickly bounce back from any sort of trauma. Generally, tongue piercing is most associated with swelling, but little bleeding or pain. Belly buttons tend to have the greatest problems associated with piercing since the belly button takes an extremely long time to heal. Often, the belly button can take up to one year to heal completely, and is often prolonged due to the position on the body. Jewelry is likely to become snagged on clothing, therefore irritating the wound further.

Most piercers use a type of cooling spray or numbing lotion that will temporarily freeze the area and prevent pain. Ask the piercing parlor where you intend to have your piercing done to see if this is an option. Also, many piercers use well practiced techniques to lessen the pain as much as possible.

If you are concerned about the pain, bring a friend or companion to accompany you on your piercing adventure. Be sure to avoid taking any medications or alcohol before you visit a piercer, since piercers will not allow you into their salon if they believe you to be under the influence of any potential medications.

How to create residual income for free

First of all, what is residual income?

Residual income is income earned on an ongoing basis for effort done once in the past.

That sounds good!

There are quite a lot of companies on the internet offering to help you create a residual income & the prices for their ‘help’ can vary from about $40 to $100+.

These companies employ various methods to create this income but my personal favourite is affiliate marketing.

But you don’t have to pay!

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is selling products for companies, to earn a commission which can be as high as 75%.

If you’ve already heard of affiliate marketing you might be thinking ‘No Thanks, too much competition out there’.

Yes, there are a lot of affiliates worldwide, but 75-80% of them join an affiliate program and then wait for the money to roll in - but it doesn’t!

To be a successful affiliate requires some hard work to begin with – then you can sit back and reap the benefits.

1,245,000,000 internet users worldwide!!

Yes, one and a quarter billion potential customers! Even the best high street stores don’t have that kind of traffic passing their doors every single day.

But, of course, it’s no good if this traffic passes the door. You need then to come in and look. And then you need then to BUY.

This is where you have to market the product.

This is the ‘work’ bit but don’t panic, it’s not too difficult. Some of the affiliate-friendly affiliate companies provide FREE, ready-made web pages, which they host on their site, with your affiliate link already in place.

Apart from taking care of the ‘technical stuff’ for you it also means you don’t need your own website.

The main work required by you at this point is to write an article or blog.

Good affiliate sites will contain hints, tips and strategies to help with this & other kinds of marketing. One free site I know of, even provides classified ads to copy &paste.

But I digress – back to articles – there are a lot of article sites on the internet which provide free articles to use.

18,000 articles on one site

7,000 articles on another

Etc… etc…

These articles may not be suitable or of good enough quality to use but they can provide ideas of where to start.

There are step by step guides to writing articles which help with the structure and there are sites which will write the article for you.

Now you can watch the money rolling in! You have now created a stream of residual income – all free. Several other streams can be created now and as your confidence grows you can continue growing. In fact, I know you will because you will have been bitten by the bug. As your knowledge grows you can go back and improve your articles and other forms of marketing to create even more income.

How much you earn will depend on how much time you spend on it but you can start small with no experience and receive expert help and guidance for free.

What are you waiting for?

The ins and outs of eminem s relationships

In addition to Eminem's rather introverted, serious, or self-contained side, he has a wild streak and urge for emotional freedom that breaks through erratically. Eminem craves both stability and excitement, and the conflict between these two impulses can make Mathers rather tense and irritable. However, they can also balance one another. His more free and unpredictable side will now be described.

He is uninhibited and spontaneous and will often do something unexpected or humorous in order to loosen people up and get them out of their ruts. Eminem craves emotional stimulation, excitement, surprises, and anything new. Mathers also loves to feel free and unfettered.

His emotional tension could be quite strong and the pressure may seem unbearable at times. He may have a sudden desire to liberate himself from the stress and may release his tension towards women. Eminem could also feel lonely and depressed at times.

On the other hand, Eminem is quietly devoted and faithful to his loved ones, and often becomes a kind of servant to his love partner. Eminem is more comfortable showing love for someone by doing something for them, making something for them, or simply being there for them - rather than telling them so in a romantic, soul-stirring sort of way. He is timid about expressing too much sentiment or emotion. Eminem also underestimates his attractiveness and lovability and doubts his own worthiness to receive love and appreciation.

Eminem is attracted to foreigners, exotic places, traveling, and to people who can expand his horizons, teach him something, or show Mathers places and worlds he has never experienced before. Sharing a philosophy or ideal with his love partner is important to him. Also, Eminem feels love and kinship for people everywhere, not only with his own family, nationality, or group. Finding similarities and making links between people from differing backgrounds or with different perspectives is a gift of his.

Business web directories

An important tool in organizing and presenting the plethora of websites available on the internet is the use of Directories – an alternative to Search Engines that links and categorizes sites on the web. The main advantage to Directories as opposed to Search Engines is that directories are edited by humans, whereas search engines simply return automated results based on keywords which may not always be the most effective way to quickly find a website that is apropos to the topic being searched for. Websites are submitted to directories by the webmaster, where they are reviewed by neutral editors, evaluated, sorted into categories, and ranked within category according to relevance. They are then listed in a directory form that is simple to read and navigate for the average browser. For a website to create and maintain high web visibility – and therefore attract a high number of visitors – it is essential to be listed in a number of quality Directories.

The best known directories are Yahoo, Dmoz and Google, but it is worth being aware of the quality of the directory before submitting a site. The average browser will not explore beyond the second or, at most, third page of directory results for their searched for topic, but if the Directory is not of quality some websites listed in those all-important first few pages may not deserve to be there. The usefulness of Directories to return appropriate search results to be valuable to a site is under debate.

If links are being sold across the entire site, that may be indication of a lower quality Directory. Google is one of the worst culprits for targeting sites that sell links, and sites that appear to promote the Google page rank of their pages. This may not be indicative of how relevant a site is to the topic searched for – it is all too easy for crafty webmasters to manipulate keyword SEO to gain a higher Google page rank than their site deserves. This is time-wasting and frustrating for browsers, and may result in them losing patience with the Directory all together. Another common problem with Directories to be avoided is that pages within the site may be linked only internally and not to other, relevant, quality, external pages. Search Engines will not find such pages if they are low on keyword content and they will be skipped over entirely.

Dmoz, the Open Directory Project (ODP,) editors are volunteers – they are naturally third-party neutral and will review and consider each submitted website on its own merits. Each editor applicant is screened for any conflict of interest, so any search results returned by Dmoz Directories can generally be trusted. The main downside to submitting a website to Dmoz is that the submission process can be interminable – although ultimately worth it in terms of relevant traffic directed to any website included in their directory. The Yahoo! Directory rivals Dmoz for size and comprehensiveness, and was in fact Yahoo’s initial reason for existence. It has since evolved away from the fundamental classic human edited format of Directories, by instituting crawler-based listings in 2002, but remains a quality Directory that can be trusted. The Yahoo! Directory is very clearly displayed on its homepage. LookSmart, and Zeal – LookSmart’s non commercial arm – are other famous examples of quality directories.

For a website to be listed in a trustworthy Directory such as Dmoz or Yahoo! can be one of the most important quality-assurance seals of approval and can be the essential difference between focused and relevant traffic to the site and random hits by frustrated browsers.

9 packaging trends that will connect you with consumers

Today’s consumer is a moving target. Choosing the right consumer and the right demographic to target is an important decision. Monitoring what is hot and what’s not can dramatically influence a package design’s success or failure. Package design is an integral way to connect with your customer. But do you clearly understand the needs and wants of these elusive markets?

Understand the customer is critical. The problem today is that one package may not satisfy the needs and requirements of all buyers.

There are many niche markets out there and each one requires specialized packaging. So if you are targeting one of those, do your research first. What works for one target market may not work for another. So....

1) Find out what package attributes appeal to the customer you are targeting. If it is a harried homemaker shopping for your product then convenience of use had better be at the top of the list. Those over 50 are seeking convenience too but issues like the size of print on the package and ease of use top their priority list. Make sure your package employs the characteristics that appeal to your target market.

2) Understand how the package will be used. Families no longer sit and eat a meal with everyone at the same time. There are special diet requirements or dieting in general in most households. It’s not uncommon to serve different meals to different individuals. Package sizes will vary accordingly. EX: People who travel a lot buy sample or trial size packages because they are small and easy to deal with

3) Know your customers current buying trends. Several years ago, we went through the supersized phase. There are still a lot of supersized packages; however, buying trends are changing to smaller sizes in general. To package smaller does not mean less profit, in many cases it means more. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for convenience, ease of use and a smaller quantity. Remember the three premium baking potatoes in a package cost almost the price of a 5 lb bag. If you live with just one other person, do you really need 5 lbs of potatoes?

4) Keep abreast of new packaging technologies. Creative, new products have the advantage in the marketing world even if their technology is not new. Several years ago, Metedent took the world by storm with the duel aperture dispensing mechanism. Recently hosts of new cleaning products have revived interest in this type of dispensing. Look for innovate ways to combine two products into one package.

5) Watch where people shop. There is a shift from traditional retailers to new and innovative store formats. The convenience store, once considered a low-end marketer, has now transitioned into store that provides premium products at a premium price. This evolved from the hurry up and go mindset demonstrated in today's shopping habits. Recent studies are showing that consumers no longer make one big trip and stock up but make several trips a week and get just what is needed at the moment at the most easily accessible retail outlet. EX: The grab and go cups of snack foods convenience stores are now offering. This category did not exist a couple of years ago.

6) Keep pace with "hot button" packaging issues. This includes legislation too. People do really care about the environment and the amount of excess packaging. There is a move afoot to expand the number of vegetable-based plastic materials used in food packaging. If packaging consumers give these products their endorsement, look for other new products to surface. Legislation can change packaging mandates overnight. There have been "bottle bills," surcharges and bans that prohibit the use of certain packages. EX: Several fast food companies are test marketing corn-based plastic packaging materials. Ex: Ban on juice boxes in Maine and aerosol cans in Chicago.

7) Security in packaging is becoming increasingly important. This will continue to come into focus as more people become concerned about product integrity. One major security scare could force everyone to change their packaging methods immediately. Look for new tamper evident and security devices that can be incorporated into your packaging. Cost efficiencies are now making many of these devices more affordable and will soon become mainstream.

8) Competition of various packaging materials is increasing. From the imports that are readily available to the merger and acquisition mania that is taking place, keep current on your chain of supply globalization. Certain products such as plastic bags that used to be the mainstay of American manufacturing have now gone offshore. Ethic diversity both her and abroad is demanding that all packaging be multi-lingual and people really don’t care where the product packaging is manufactured.

9) External influence of power players. The big box retailers are driving packaging procedures and policies at retail. Mandates from these companies such as RFID tracking are in their infancy. This type of requirement could become mandatory overnight. If you want to do business with companies such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart, you will need to include the design and selection of your packaging materials as per their demands and others will follow suit.

Remember, the customer depends upon you, the designer, as a resource. They expect you to keep up with packaging trends and technologies and provide the latest and greatest innovations the industry has to offer. If you cannot connect with the consumer through package design, do not expect your products to fly off the shelf.

Anti aging cosmetics remove years from skin

It may take many years for age lines to form on the face, but they can be removed in a matter of minutes with the help of anti-aging cosmetics. There are other things that people can do to make them disappear for a longer period of time, like using injections that paralyze the nerves in the face. These procedures are quite expensive to use and require that a person receive injections several times a year.

A cheaper method for hiding wrinkles is to cosmetics that are commonly used as base make-up applications. These wrinkle reducers can be found in creams, or liquid base make-up applications and can be applied to the face every day. Since small amounts of these wrinkle-reducing formulas are used, it is generally the most cost effective ways of hiding the effects of age in the facial region.

Most wrinkles are reduced in appearance because the products have more moisturizing properties in them. Other skin maladies can be hidden through the use of these products too. Skin discolorations can be camouflaged with an application of a colored make-up base. These cosmetics make the skin appear softer, smoother and younger. Some cosmetics have nutrients added that reduce the amount that skin ages even further.

Vitamin E will help repair any scarring that occurs to the skin's surface from blemishes or rips to the skin. Cosmetics that have this vitamin in them are centered on making the skin seem more youthful, and it is to a point. To maintain healthy skin, a woman should eat a well-balanced diet, drink plenty of water and get a full night's sleep. Then she can use cosmetics as a beauty product and not as a beauty maintenance product.

The anti-oxidant chemicals that are in all types of health and beauty products can neutralize the number of bacteria that form on the skin. These radicals cause skin to age at a faster rate and this feature has made anti-oxidant cosmetics very popular. People add these cosmetics to their daily regimen of make-up applications and are thrilled to see the noticeable differences in their skin tone in approximately two weeks.

Most make-up applications serve as a barrier against environmental elements. These cosmetics must be physical removed from the facial region on a daily basis through some sort of scrubbing process that is not too hard. This is because the cosmetics with anti-oxidant properties cause cells to regenerate and leave dead cells behind. If these cosmetics are not removed everyday, they could cause aging to accelerate and any anti-aging treatments would be termed as useless.

Learning how to overcome your obsessive and fearful thoughts

It can be tough for people with OCD to have to experience obsessive thoughts that are intrusive, scary, and difficult to manage. As a result, here is a short list of techniques that a person can use to help manage their obsessive and fearful thoughts.

The first thing a person must do is not to dwell or focus on the fear provoking thought when it comes. The more a person tries to reason out the thought or focus on the fear behind the thought, the stronger the thought becomes. The next time you encounter an obsessive thought, get into the practice of not dwelling on it.

From my interviews with various professionals, I’ve learned that usually it is the fear behind the thoughts that gets us worked up. Ignore the fear behind these obsessive thoughts, regardless how the strong the fear may be. If you ignore the fear behind these thoughts, then the thoughts become easier to manage.

A person should visualize a red stop sign in their mind when they encounter a fear provoking thought. When the negative thought comes, a person should think of a red stop sign that serves as a reminder to stop focusing on that thought and to think of something else. A person can then try to think of something positive to replace the negative thought.

Sometimes, a person may encounter a lot of scary thoughts coming at them all at once. Instead of getting upset, remember that these thoughts are exaggerated and are not based on reality. Even if your fearful thoughts tell you otherwise, the fact is that there are circumstances and factors in every situation that can not be anticipated. We may be ninety-nine percent in predicting the future but all it takes is for that one percent to make the biggest difference.

Although I am a Layman and not a professional, I have interviewed many counselors and I learned that there are many ways to deal with these kinds of thoughts. There are ways to deal with your obsessive thoughts and with the proper treatment, you can live a productive life.

Driving school - learn how to drive

Driving schools are becoming more popular by the day. Everybody wants to know more and more about them. This includes young people who can't wait for the opportunity to take the wheel in their hands, and also the concerned parents looking for a good school to send their kids. Gone are the days when fathers used to take their kids out of the city to teach them how to drive. Blame it on the constraint of time and their working hours which do not permit them to do it. Now though, thanks to the number of driving schools around, their worries can be put to rest. Driving schools can help young drivers become more aware of proper driving techniques and etiquette.

Driving schools are very reliable:

Driving schools take care of almost everything that has to deal with driving; from teaching the students about driving different cars, to teaching about the engines and also about defensive driving. The good thing about joining a driving school is that by attending at a qualified driving school you can actually reduce the tickets and fines you get, and you may even lower your auto insurance premiums. But the question is how to find a qualified or a good driving school? Keep in mind that the best driving school can be the one that has been recommended to you by a friend or relative. You can also rely on your local auto insurance dealer or contact the public safety office in your state.

Know your school well:

Even after choosing a driving school, there are certain things that you should enquire about, which may help you decide if this driving school is for you. The driving instructor should be your first concern. Ask how long your instructor has been a driving instructor. The instructor should be able to offer you combined and integrated tuition providing both theoretical and practical training. Ask about the cars they use, how old they are and if you will have an individual pick up service. You should also find out about their rates or if they have discounts for block booking.

Defensive driving:

In this course you would learn how to determine fitness of yourself and your vehicle for safe driving. This is for all driving; a motor vehicle for personal, or commercial use. They would teach you how to drive defensively, and the importance of using safety belts and air bags. You would also be taught about how to look out for pedestrians and other vehicles etc which are using the road along with you, as many people tend to ignore or miss them resulting in unwanted accidents.

If you are attending a driving school for a certain purpose, you may be required to attend certain driving schools designated by the agency for which you wish to receive credit.

Online course:

There are also many online schools now on the internet that you can easily enroll. You just have to browse through and look out for the school that suits you best. These driving schools provide quality courses for safe driving in both content and user interface. Many people join these courses which are well prepared, and may include text, videos, and animations to help you become a better driver in an interesting and interactive way. They cover everything from the traditional driving safety information to specific rules and regulations like the speed limits and so on.

Driving school on the internet is a very convenient way to do it!

Water garden mosquitoes problems

Water garden is one of the nicest things you can have in your garden or backyard, anyone that has planned adding a water garden to a house knows that this is not a simple task, there is a lot of thinking and planning to be done when considering this wonderful addition to the house.

As summer nears many water garden owners realize that there is a significant problem with some water gardens, this is a problem that is not evident and sometimes doesn’t even show itself before the early days of the summer.

One major thing with any large body of water that is physically located in the vicinity of any house is the mosquitoes and diseases potential problems. Mosquitoes need water to live and breed, and this makes it very clear that as a water garden owner you will need to find solutions for this problem, mosquitoes can not only cause you real discomfort, they have the potential ability to transmit diseases, some of those diseases are extremely dangerous to humans.

The good thing is that by implementing a few, relatively simple tips you can prevent mosquitoes from breeding in your water garden and decrease the risk of disease significantly. One simple fact is that mosquitoes will only use a passive body of water to lay eggs and avoid laying eggs in running water, if you create a situation in which the water garden has constantly moving water the female mosquitoes will not be able to lay the eggs and you have stopped the problem before it has even begun.

Using a device that will move the water around your water garden will not only help you fight the potential danger of mosquitoes, it is also recommended for general water quality and the overall performance of your water garden. Another thing you can use to fight mosquitoes is getting fish that eat these flying problem makers, in fact there are a few kinds of fish that are enemies of the mosquitoes, and therefore your friends.

Most water garden owners love having fish in their ponds and water, it is one very special aspect of having a water garden and if you have not tried having fish in your water garden yet this may be a good time to try and enjoy this aspect of water gardens, not only you will have a fish helping you fight mosquitoes you can also discover the joy of keeping fish pets.

Another, much more serious solution to the mosquitoes problem is B. t.i. Briquettes, these floating small floating two-inch rings contain bacillus thuringiensis, which is consumed by mosquito larvae and kills them, this is the professional and most efficient way to eliminate the risk of mosquitoes, and B. t.i has been used successfully in many cities in the world already, so this is the best scientific solution for a water garden risk of mosquitoes. The B. t.i. will not cause harm to fish or plants in your water garden so you have no reason to worry about the health of your water garden.

If nothing of the above advice is to your liking, you can always try and find a toad that will rule your water garden and feast on the mosquitoes, whatever you decide you should be aware of the danger in having mosquitoes breed in your backyard and you would do good to research as much as you on preventing this potential danger to you, your family members and neighbors.

Why facebook is worth over 10 billion

Yahoo! have been in talks with Facebook for over a year now and apparently recently got shy at Facebook’s $1 billion asking price but as I will explain here Yahoo! have missed out on an absolute bargain.

Facebook have 18 million users, plenty. However MySpace has 100 million + and sold for a mere $580 million to News Corp’s in 2005. YouTube sold to Google for a reported $1.65 billion in 2006 but it serves over 100 million video’s a day and has over 25 million visitors a month. So what makes Facebook so valuable? It gets relatively huge traffic levels but not on par with YouTube or MySpace. Despite now being available to anyone it began life as an exclusive network for students (you needed an educational email to register) and this is still its primary user group.

So where’s the money?

Currently Facebook displays conventional banner advertising on users’ homepages and selected pages through the site. Adverts are unobtrusive and random in so much as they’re not targeted at any particular user - they’re just served to the entire site on a random basis. Facebook are doing ok out of this arrangement on the basis of the number of page impressions they receive, although in reality they’re keeping advertising at a minimum in order to build up the value of the site for its eventual sale which will almost certainly happen in 2007/8. Smart guys!

The power of information

Register with Facebook and quickly you can find yourself giving away huge volumes of valuable personal information. Think about it… Facebook know your name, they know how old you are (actually your D. O.B which is infinitely more valuable as I’ll go on to explain), they know if you’re male or female, they know your hometown, your postcode if you choose to give it away (although I doubt many users choose this), they know if you’re single, in a relationship (and who with), married, divorced etc, they know your sexual orientation. Ok so you can answer all these questions as honestly, dishonestly or vaguely as you like but from what I’ve seen people happily give accurate information about themselves as it’s their friends and potential friends who are going to see it - and no one else right?

But what else do Facebook know? Well they know where you went to school, where you work, more sinisterly your religious and political views. From this we can start to build up a pretty valuable market profile. As I’m telling Facebook I may as well tell you I’m Male, 22 (born in August), Straight, in a relationship, conservative, atheist from Brighton, England. Went to school at Blatchington Mill Secondary, college at a place called BHASVIC, University at Bournemouth. From this information we can draw further assumptions - I live in Brighton and based on the location of my schools catchment area we could pretty accurately map places in Brighton I know about, visit, and live in (think Google maps API). I’m a straight; conservative from a reasonably wealthy area in full time employment therefore I’m probably white, middle class with a decent disposable income.

So what else? Facebook know what you look like, they probably know what you used to look like a few years ago as well. Probably most significantly they know who your friends are, they know how you know them, they know when you talk to them, what they look like and ultimately they know exactly the same information about them as they know about you - you’re interests, likes and dislikes and your friends tastes as well.

They know your email address, so they know if you use Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail etc. They know your phone number so they could pretty easily work out your phone provider. They have your IP address so they could work out your ISP. They know where you’ve arrived at the site from so they know what search engine you use (enter Yahoo! And Google to the bidding war), what browser you’re on, they know if you’re visually impaired or have learning disabilities from the settings on your browser.

Facebook know when I’m logging in and from where so they know the hours I work, if I’m using the internet at work, the pages I leave Facebook to go to or the pages I come from so they know what other sites I look at. I can set my current status and tell Facebook exactly what I’m doing or feeling right this second.

Ok so you get the picture by now, one last thing though, is your Facebook password the same as your email account password, your internet and telephone banking password, every other password you use in your daily life (because until I wrote this post mine was!) how much more information do you want to give away?

What’s the risk here?

Realistically it’s pretty slim. Facebook are a nice bunch of guys and a great site, I love using it and despite knowing what I know about information security and the like I choose to give away a big chunk of the information I’ve talked about here.

Yahoo! And Facebook

So if Yahoo!, Google or god forbid Microsoft successfully purchase Facebook (as I say I’m reasonably confident this will happen this year) the Orwellian lucid dream proposed by this post becomes a perpetual nightmare. Imagine a company who have made billions and dominated the fastest growing market in the world by developing algorithms which crawl hundreds of millions of pages of random information (the internet) and categorize that information with the ultimate goal of matching it to businesses and selling advertising.

The search algorithm let loose on Facebook

Imagine the search engines let loose on Facebook. An algorithm tuned to pick out profile information (John, born 13.08.84). Map it to keywords in personal interests i. e. football, Manchester United. Plot your location on a map i. e. Brighton, England. Follow links to your closest friends with similar interests i. e. Bob and Dave who live round the corner and serve me an advert something like:

Happy birthday for next week John.

Did you know its Dave’s birthday the week after?

Why not book tickets for Brighton and Hove Albion vs. Manchester united on 12.08.07

Click here to book now and get 3 tickets for the price of 2 (why not ask bob to come along - he supports Brighton and you haven’t spoken in a while).

Book today and we’ll give you a half price limo from your house to the game with trashy-limo’s. com.

Now that’s powerful advertising and it’s just around the corner. If Facebook has 25 million registered users by the time it’s sold, half of whom visit every day that’s a minimum 12.5 million page impressions a day. Serve the advert above at $1 a click (which is far less than its worth based on the current AdWords CPC model) expect a click through rate of up to 10% based on the precise nature of the advertising and that’s $1.2 million minimum a day - almost $Ѕ a billion a year. Grow that user group to 50 million (realistic if Google or Yahoo! can tap into their existing user database) and sell ad space on an affiliate basis say the football tickets at $300 with a 10% affiliate kickback and a 10% conversion rate =$3 per user x 25 million users =$75 million a day or $2737500000 in year 1! OK lets not get carried away people aren’t going to spend $300 every other day but the logics there and so the cash.

Will the audience except it?

Better quality advertising means less advertising - less websites rammed with banners so you can’t find what you’re looking for, less popups, less low quality products. This is the main driving force behind the success of search marketing programs and profile based advertising is already in place with Google’s personalized search returning more targeted AdWords ads than previously possible. If it falls into the hands of Microsoft then people may be more wary but with the image of Google or Yahoo! and Facebook profile information is seen as soft information as the company doesn’t sell you products directly and he service is free. It’s the way the internet is going and I believe it’s where we’ll be in 5 years.

Identity theft

The point I’ve been making tediously through this post is that we should be more careful about what information we give up and to whom. If the internet was a county it would be Nazi Germany and Facebook would be the Gestapo! Social utilities like Facebook are afforded the sort of privileged information fascist governments the world over would and have killed for. We moan about identity cards being introduced in the UK (ironically there’s several Facebook groups dedicated to the cause) but we happily give up personal details to a bunch of college geeks in the states who are ultimately planning on selling our details to the highest bidder (the value of any site is based on the volume, quality and amount of information they have about their traffic - but best of luck to them) possibly to the company who already control the majority of world business systems through the windows platform.

This post is not meant to scare - it’s simply a recognition of the power of new internet technologies, their possibly applications and to pose the question - if your Facebook friends are your real friends shouldn’t they know your birthday? Are Facebook really going to buy you a present?!