downlock

Sometimes Typhoons Come

downlock — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:26:49 +0000

Tonight half of southern Japan is hunched down awaiting the arrival of the typhoon. This is #15 for the Pacific region this year, and the third one in about six weeks to come our way.
By the way, if you’re not quite sure what a typhoon is, it’s the Asian name for tropical storms or hurricanes.
Our little town of about 18,000 has only one industry — its white beach — and it waits all year for the two hottest summer months when hundreds of thousands of vacationers come from all over Japan to lie in the sun and play in the peaceful little bay.
And this particular night, the town had planned its annual fireworks display. They have something called “Message Fireworks” where a visitor pays up to a hundred dollars for somebody to read an announcement of his undying love just before a volley of fireworks are fired off. This one event raises many thousands of dollars for the town.
In addition, the local merchants make a sizeable part of their yearly profit during the summer months.
But tonight the beach is dark. No fireworks will dazzle the crowds tonight. No concession booths will sell snacks, and no families will congregate to enjoy the summertime display.
All those plans. All the money invested in food, in merchandise, in giant fireworks that shoot two hundred meters into the air.
So when a typhoon comes — and no amount of “positive thinking” will stop it happening from time to time — the merchants here just sigh, suck it up, and go to Plan B, which is to try again tomorrow night. And if that doesn’t work, then next weekend.
You see, they’ve seen it all before. They know that sometimes things WILL get in the way of their plans. So they stay flexible. They have contingencies, Plan B’s and even Plan C’s.
Now, the point I’m making is not that weather is a doggone nuisance.
Instead, I invite you to consider one question: how flexible are you prepared to be? (The operative word is “prepared”.)
When stuff happens — and it will — what’s your Plan B and your Plan C? Don’t have one? Then shouldn’t you think about getting one?
Because stuff WILL happen. That’s just the way life brings you special opportunities you never expected, never imagined, and never wanted. But once life brings it on, you need to be prepared to deal with it.
Like a boy scout, you need to be prepared with backup plans.
But to have a backup plan, you first need a main plan. And of course you’ve got one of those… right?

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Adding A Forum To Your Web Site Is Easy

downlock — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:22:22 +0000

A forum, or community section, is an easy way to add useful content to your web site with very little effort. First of all, let’s define what a forum is. A forum is a place for users to hold discussions on various topics. It is interactive, in other words users can both read postings and post items themselves. Let me give you a half fictional example of a forum in action.
Forum Thread, Subject UFC in Canada on a Mixed Martial Arts site.
[USER1] Has anyone heard that the UFC might be holding an event in Canada?
[USER2] Yes, I heard that. In fact, I heard that George St Pierre will be on the card and it will be at the Bell Center.
[USER1] Thank you USER2, I can’t wait to get my tickets.
[USER3] Actually, I heard that it’s been canceled and George St Pierre is out with a knee injury.
So, you can see that the web master has gotten some valuable content with no work on his/her part. The users are able to ask questions and respond to them. Once the forum is set up initially and you’ve found a way to get traffic to your forum, it becomes a perpetual content machine, generating useful content for your web site and hopefully in the process some revenue based on some sort of ad or affiliate program, like Google Adsense or ClickBank.
Lets try out one more example Thread, this time from a software forum
[USER1] I’m trying to find a link to the phpBB web site and can’t find it anywhere, does anyone here know what the URL is?
[USER2] You could try doing a Google search on phpBB. It should be near the top of the search results.
[USER1] Thanks, USER2, how about a guide on how to install phpBB?
[USER2] Do a search on “Installing PhpBB On GoDaddy”, or there is also a guide included in the package.
[USER1] Thanks again for the help! Once I get my forum up and running, I’ll post the URL here for you to take a look at.
You can see how the interaction works. It’s not always question and answer, a lot of the time, somebody will post some new information they discovered, or expereinces they’ve had (like on a travel forum).
There are two driving factors which make forums popular. The first is what drives the posters/question answerers, this is either fame or promotion. They either like seeing their name in lights, or they have a link to their web site in their signature (I allow this on my forums as long as they are posting useful information).
The driving force for the people reading the forums is the need for information. Computer forums are extremely popular in this area. People need help finding drivers, installing software, diagnosing problems. People want reviews of products one on one, by other users who don’t have a vested interest in what they end up buying. Forums are an invaluable research tool for these people, and by the way, the ad links on these pages also turn into information sources for the same people.
Adding a forum to your web site is also not expensive or difficult. You have several options in the forum software arena, some of the most popular are vBulletin an excellent choice where licenses go for $150US and my personal favorite phpBB which is a free open source product.
When making the decision of paid vs free software, it’s always important to figure out what kind of user you are (experienced vs novice), how much hand holding you require and of course if the paid version really any better than the open source alternative.
Support can also be an issue to be considered, with some smaller open source projects it can be difficult to find help and/or expertise. I haven’t personally used vBulletin, but I have read several reviews and looked through their support offerings they offer 1 month, 6 months and 12 months of phone support for $60, $180 and $300 respectively. vBulletin also offers professional installation at $135 per license.
Most forum software, including phpBB and vBulletin, require you to have PHP and MySQL available on your host. This isn’t an issue with most web hosts such as godaddy, or hostgator.
If you have a little experience in installations and setup, I would recommend at least giving phpBB a try. Set up a sub directory on your web site, install it and see how it goes. The installation instructions are excellent and if you find yourself installing on GoDaddy, do a search on “Installing PhpBB On GoDaddy”, don’t forget the quotes. If you’re installing on hostgator, or most others the install instructions included with phpBB will do just fine. If you still find yourself having problems, the folks at the phpBB web site (on their forum) are quite helpful.
There are currently two version of phpBB, 2.0.x which is a stable, production ready release, and phpBB 3.0 which is still in the beta stage and is looking good. For now, I would recommend installing 2.x and look to 3.0 in the near future.

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Are We Speaking The Same Language?

downlock — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:16:25 +0000

When I was a child, I was told more than once to watch my language; but adults should watch what they say too. For example, it annoys me when someone says they gave 110%. Then my 100% effort doesn’t seem good enough.
How many times have you heard someone say a picture’s worth a thousand words? Have you ever seen a picture worth a thousand words? “That’s a good one”, “That’s a beautiful picture”, “Did you take that?”, “Please delete that” - I’ve never seen a picture worth more than four words in any language.
I’ve seen lots of politicians, however, who get high on hyperbole. When they’re running for office, their opponents are know-nothings who do nothing except take money from special interests. After the primaries it’s amazing how much theses politicians suddenly have in common - like how awful they think the candidates from the other parties are. In politics it’s always high time for hyperbole.
Then there’s advertising. It raises hyperbole higher. Advertising fills our language with “est” - newest, biggest, fastest, prettiest. If it doesn’t end in est, it’s not good enough.
Every cowboy movie has a character who says he’s the fastest gun in the West - until he’s proved dead wrong. Ringling Bros. Circus was known as the greatest show on earth. With lions jumping through fiery hoops in one ring, elephants standing on stools in another ring and tightrope walkers performing overhead, maybe it was. For me the greatest show on earth was seeing a man walk on the moon.
What building is the world’s tallest depends on whether the antenna on top is included in the measurement. The man who claims he’s the world’s oldest person might be wrong, but he wants his claim to live on.
When my husband and I were in Alaska, we tried scones advertised as the world’s best. Actually, the doughy, tasteless lumps were the worst scones we’d ever tasted. In New York City we saw a sign for the world’s best Italian food. We didn’t try it because we thought the world’s best Italian food was probably somewhere in Italy.
The fastest growing city in the world is supposedly Dubai, but is it the fastest growing city because more people are moving there or because more people are born there? If it’s because more people are being born there, maybe Dubaians should get out and see more of the world.

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5 Detailing Secrets

downlock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:59:36 +0000

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{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 When detailing a car the pros rely of many little tricks. Most of these tricks are aquired knowledge after years of detailing. I’m going to share a few of these secrets with you. But you have to promise you won’t tell them where you learned them.\par
\par
\b Five secrets the detailing pros don’t want you to know.\b0\par
\par \b 1. \b0 Laquer Thinner: Laquer thinner will remove the most stuborn grease, or ever paint from minor accidents. Be careful not to rub to hard. You could damage existing paint. Apply laquer thinner with a soft rag and wipe off with a micro fiber towel. This helps prevent rubbing off the cars original paint.\par \par
\b 2. \b0 Armorall Engine: When detailing under the hood it can be hard to make your engine look new. A secret of the pros is to put armorall in a cup gun or small auto body paint gun and shoot a light spray on the engine.\par
\par \b 3. \b0 Amazing Razor: Razors are one of the most versatile tools for car detailing. They are great for removing stuck on stickers from windows. Razors can even be used to remove stick on gunk on the body(if you have a steady hand). You can also wrap a paper towel around a razor and use the razor to clean tough grease or paint directly off the body.\par
\par \b 4. \b0 Tooth Brush: One of the best tools for detailing the inside on your car is simple tooth brush. It’s especially good for those hard to reach places, like between seats or corners. You could add some cleaner or de greaser to the toothbrush for an extra clean crack.\par
\par \b 5. \b0 Home Touch-Up: So many people think they have to pay a professional for touch-up. The truth is, basic touch-up is surprisingly easy. First locate your car’s paint code(this might be in the door jamb, or under the hood, or the owners manual). Next have your local auto paint store mix you up the smallest quantity they sell. And the best tool for applying the paint is a simple tooth-pick. You can also use a coffee stir stick. Then when the paint has hardened up a little you can wipe off excess with a paper towel wrapped around a razor.\par
\par
I hope these car detailing tips are useful. Remember that much of the techniques the pros use are just small tricks picked up over the years.\par
Many of these tricks can be found on line so search good and you will be surprised how easy it will be to get a professional looking detail without the professional cost. More car detailing tips and tricks will follow in the next article.\par
}

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How Beading Software Can Help You Promote Your Jewelry Industry

downlock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:28:24 +0000

You must definitely be aware of how great advertising and promotion prices can spell doom for small starting out business. But, if you don’t advertise, you will not be able to make even as well as a scratch in heavily monopolized markets. And let’s face it: every market in the globe today be it for socks or helicopters is heavily monopolized. So what is the way out of this vicious circle for entrepreneurs having smalltime businesses?
Talking about the jewelry designing business specifically, we can very well appreciate the difficulties. First of all, the gem designing business is a very difficult one to break into. The raw materials needed are much too expensive, and you need machines before you can roll out even a single little finger ring. You will also need people to work with you. However you will have the designs up in your soul, you need people to bring them to reality. And, you will need a workshop. The list doesn’t end here, but this much is enough for you to give an idea of how encumbering the situation is for a newbie. The fact that the jewelry designing market is heavily monopolized by giants doesn’t help either.
But, even if the situation seems so bleak outwardly, there is hope. There is a very important place from where an amateur can make a beginning foray into the market. Of course, it will be their talent that will take them ahead, but we are talking about making an entry here. The Internet has opened up this world of possibility. As with every other business, the Internet has acted like a messiah for smalltime strugglers who are struggling to enter into the jewelry market.
The most significant thing to attract people to buy your products is to make a good catalog. Your catalog should be of designs you have made (or, at least, designs you can make), and they should be very interesting to the eye. Today, beading management software can help you in making your own catalogs. With beading management software, you can make your sketches look like complete professional catalogs that are on par with those of leading jewelry manufacturers. The software will also help you to print your catalogs in hard copy, apart from allowing you to retain your soft copy.
Then, you must add this catalog to your business website. That’s the first draw, of course. Bringing people to your website is another issue altogether. But even that can be solved through methods like article marketing and even direct email marketing. Learn about how these techniques work, or better still, hire professionals to do the work for you. Trusts me, such Internet marketing techniques work immensely and you will find them value every cent you spend.
Once people check out your catalog made with the beading management software, you can anticipate the offers pouring in. Yet again, the software will help you to manage your accounts, keep inventory lists and even to decide the proper pricing for your product, right from the breakeven point till the highest limit you can keep.
By employing such tactics effectively, the best can be made out of the jewelry business on the Internet. The main idea is to reach out to a niche audience, and there is no better device to do that than the Internet in modern times.

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How Did MySpace Layouts Become Popular?

downlock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:39:23 +0000

MySpace has many users and it is the largest networking community on the Internet. Because many users are joining every day, the interests of people will vary. They will prefer to look at various MySpace layouts. Many groups have been formed in this community all based on themes. They could be music related or science related.
Some users will mention their interests in a way that visitors will be attracted to their profiles. Their main goal will be to form groups with people who have similar interests. So to make their profile more interesting they will access free MySpace layouts when they want. They will apply these to the profile and they will make it more interesting.
MySpace layouts became very popular because of the number of users. Although there are millions there are thousands joining every day. Thus the default settings are becoming boring for everybody. The features are also very different from other networking sites. Thus using various layouts became a kind of a norm among users.
MySpace layouts also became popular because it offers various themes. The themes are of various categories and they are arranged accordingly. The layouts are extremely popular because they are free of cost. Besides being free of cost they are available on hundreds of sites. All they have is one simple code, and users just have to copy and paste onto their homepage.
Because of these features, MySpace layouts became highly popular. They can also be changed often and can be chosen according to the interest of the users. There are no technical complexities with the use of these layouts. The use is very simple and also exciting at the same time. It is exciting because users can find almost any theme they are looking for.
If anyone is a movie fan they will find movie-based layouts, and if they are music fans they will find themes of music bands. So because members can find any theme with various looks MySpace layouts became popular. They are also being updated every day and designers are coming up with new designs almost every day.
Members will never get bored as they have a variety to choose from. So every week they may also change the layouts as they please. Since the community is huge all members will use various layouts. So very few may be repeated and this will make it more interesting for people who are reading more profiles.
The popularity of MySpace layouts grew because you can relate any kind of theme to the content of the profile. If you want to promote your interests you can accordingly choose the layout. The layouts are also easy when it comes to navigation while picking them. They may just scroll down to a category and pick one that is appealing.

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ADVICE Using Hand Held Dictionaries

downlock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:51:37 +0000

Hand held are dictionaries are very popular these days. There are many different types and many different ways that you can benefit from them. I mean, when have you ever been out and thought “I could use a dictionary” but you don’t have a book with you? We can’t always carry a dictionary in our back pocket? Or, can we?
With a hand held electronic dictionary, you can have a dictionary in your back pocket at all times. Whether you are in medical school and it is a medical dictionary, or if you are in a foreign country and it is a language dictionary, you can use a hand held dictionary to your benefit.
What Are Hand Held Dictionaries?
Hand held electronic dictionaries come in many different types and forms and are great because they are portable. You can have your dictionary with you at any time. Whatever type that you have, you can benefit from having it with you. Whether it is a pocket PC or cell phone technology, you can have instant information at your fingertips.
How They Can Benefit You
You might be able to benefit from a hand held dictionary in the same way that Tom did. Tom was Executive Coordinator for his business and he was often asked to make speeches and give live reports of what was happening in his business. Well, Tom had been public speaking for a long time and he felt pretty confident in front of his colleagues but writing was not his strong point.
He sometimes went through stress while writing his speeches and reports and sometimes spent hours with a dictionary, a thesaurus and a word processing program to get it all right. But once, while at a business conference in Atlanta , he was asked to fill in for someone who fell sick and give a speech in front of the entire convention. While being in front of people did not bother him, the actual speech writing was a bit of a problem.
So while stuck in his hotel room preparing at the last minute, he got a great idea partly out of desperation. He ran out to the store and purchased a hand held dictionary which helped him write his speech in less than 45 minutes. The next morning he gave a fantastic and intelligent speech and shortly after was offered a promotion. Now his hand held electronic dictionary goes everywhere with him. How can a hand held electronic dictionary help you?

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How to Find the Perfect Womens Apparel

downlock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:36:36 +0000

Buying womens apparel can range from womens active wear to business suits to the intimate lingerie. There are thousands of different styles, prices, sizes and brands to choose from for each of the categories listed above. Not to mention the thousands of places to purchase the womens apparel. So how do you select from the overwhelming amount of options.
The easiest way to do so is to narrow down your options. When you take a first glance, it can certainly be intimidating shopping for womens apparel. Once you begin to narrow down what you are specifically looking for, it creates a realistic list of options.
The first part to the process is deciding on what kind of womens apparel you are hopping for. If you want to get clothes to wear around the house or go workout in, then you will want to look in stores that offer womens active wear. The same goes for womens business suits and womens intimate lingerie. Obviously you do not want to look for a business suit at Victoria Secret or an intimate nightgown at the Nike outlet.
The next phase is deciding on a price range. If you go into a store without setting a budget, you will find yourself spending way more than you had first anticipated. It can be easy to go into Victoria Secret or JC Pennys and spend over a thousand dollars on a few items if you do not prioritize and set a limit.
The easiest part of the process that will narrow down your selection the most is finding your size. Although brands and what type of womens apparel you are searching for can vary in size, generally the size remains the same for all products. Then when you go to a store, it either has your size or it does not. If it does not, you can either wait for it to come in your size, go to a different store or select a different item.
Another phase that has made way just within the past couple of decades is Internet shopping. With the Internet continuously expanding and more stores opening up an online shopping website, it is becoming increasing popular to shop online. When you shop online, you have a much wider selection to choose from and an endless amount of stores to choose from. There are the downsides and risks of having the wrong item delivered, having to pay for shipping and having to wait for your item to be shipped. However, it opens the door to a much larger selection of womens apparel than ever before.
With all this said, it is now up to you to decide on what brand appeals to you most and what style you are looking for. Whether you want basketball or tennis womens active wear is a decision to make. Do you want a black or brown or white womens business suit? Are you looking for a comfortable nightgown or sexy womens intimate lingerie? These are all questions you will have to ask yourself when shopping for womens apparel, but the sky is the limit for what the retail stores have to offer you.

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Is Your Poker Game Missing These Nuggets of Gold?

downlock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:03:33 +0000

Misconceptions will always be present no matter what you do. Poker is not an exception. Many think poker is about a poker face or making big bluffs.
This is true if you think pigs can fly. If on the other hand pigs travel by walking where you live then you know where I’m getting at. Time, dedication and fun will make you a great poker player.
Time is a huge part of learning anything. As you know! There are no quick fixes when it comes to becoming an expert poker player.
It can sound un-doable if you try to see all the steps you need to take. But focus on one step at a time. Think about what you can do right now. Buy a book, join a forum or get a coach? Remember to keep it fun and you’ll learn faster and won’t get frustrated. When you become serious you take the fun out of it.
I’ve compiled a small list for you which is very concise and goes through the most important concepts you need to focus on while learning poker. Here it is!
1. Strategy - You might say that strategy is the most important thing in poker. How to play hands and be able to do things like bluff, value-bet and fold in proper spots. Although I think strategy is crucial, I do not think it can stand on its own. The next point illustrates why.
2. Emotional Control - If you do not use discipline in your poker game then you are missing out. This concept will make or break your success as a poker player. You can be the best hand reader in the world but if you play bad when you are running bad then you will never win.
3. Money Management - Strict poker money management rules are needed for success. If you’re consistently playing something like $1,000 NL with a $2,000 bankroll then you are destined to go broke. You need at least 20-30 buy-ins to survive and that is if you are prepared to move down in limits if things go really bad. Also remember that these rules are for winning poker players. If you’re just starting out you want A LOT more so you can afford to learn!
4. Finding The Edge - You have to play where you have an edge. That means where you can play and make a profit. If you’re playing at a table filled with poker players better than you then you will have a hard time winning. The money in poker is made from bad players, not good ones!
That’s it! Pretty simple when you look at it like that, isn’t it? Now all you have to do is start learning and having fun. You can also read my poker website for more elaborate explanations on these concepts.
Good luck at the poker tables!

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What to Look for From Fashion Designer Schools

downlock — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:45:33 +0000

There are lots of people who can tell you a thing or two about fashion designer schools. They may be right- fashion schools may not add up to your talent at the end of the day but you see, the other face of the coin might also be true. That is, fashion schools would not only keep you informed, you will also get to enhance your talents and special interests.
The truth is, having the talents is not enough. You need to be properly trained to get this talent on the right track. One good way of doing this is to attend fashion designer schools.
Like with everything, you need to find a school that can provide you with all the stuffs you need while justifying the bill of their curriculum.
There are a number of things you should be considering in your choice of school. Among them are: cost, services and curriculum.
The cost, both the initial and the extra charges, is probably the major consideration among aspiring talents. Fashion designer schools are few and they can’t be simply accessed in every city. That would mean extra baggage on your part.
How much it costs to attend a fashion designer school, you ask. Well, this cant be answered concretely with figures since these vary from one school to another. Also, this issue is largely dependent on many factors including the popularity of the fashion designer school, the spectrum of services it offers and the facilities it has.
It’s good if you are not bothered with the cost of the school. Sadly, most of us tend to be practical when dealing with things. However, this does not suggest that one should dive fast on the least expensive school you can get your hands on. There are also dangers in this. Remember that with lower price, the quality and the services of the institution suffers.
Now, that leaves you only to choosing between a well-performing school with high tuition fee or a mediocre fashion designer school with much lower price.
Whatever your choice is, you have to spot on the balance. Find the one which can give you the best of both worlds. Surely, there are those fashion designer schools that chose to put income as secondary and exchange this for the main aim of fostering passion in fashion designing among their budding artists.
The services a fashion designer school should also be taken into thought. These factors cover the job placement services to graduate students, a number of scholarships, a well-performing teaching staff and the general competence of the institution.
Last on your list of consideration is the curriculum the school offers. Keep in mind that you went to a fashion designer school to learn. If a specific school can only provide you with the things that you can learn by other means then the purpose of entering would be spoiled. Secure to it that you are well supplemented with the ideals of the program.
Formal training must be the real aim of any curriculum. This then should be combined with a good mixture of theoretical approach plus the application of the learning earned from classroom setting.
The basic offers among fashion designer schools are fashion basics, modeling, sales marketing and fashion merchandising.
These are just some of the many factors that you can first consider reflect on so that you would arrive to a final choice of school that you will be contented with.

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