From green coffee beans to aromatic powder

Coffee does not exist in the form that we are used to purchasing it in at the stores. Coffee comes in the form of green coffee beans that grow on the coffee plant. These green coffee beans are then collected from coffee plantations and are sent to places to be roasted, ground and finely crushed to make the coffee powder that you are use to purchasing at your local store.

The Processes that Green Coffee Beans Undergo

There is a process that these green coffee beans must go through before they actually become coffee powder. Firstly, the beans must be picked from the coffee plantations. This is usually done by hand by laborers who get paid for each basket that they pick. Then, since coffee beans have a fruity flesh that directly wraps around the coffee bean, once they are gathered this flesh has to be removed right away. This is done by soaking the beans, scouring them and then mechanically rubbing the bean.

Once the green coffee bean is free from its fruity flesh it is then cleaned with water. This is done in order to remove any of the fruity flesh that may still be sticking to it, as well as any additional sugars that are on it. The beans are then dried by spreading them over a large concrete or rock plane where they are dried by a combination of the air and direct sunlight.

After the beans have been dried it is time for the beans to be put into categories that are based upon the color and the size of the coffee bean. Any beans that are discolored, decayed or damaged are removed from the other beans at this point.

When the beans are finally dried, they are then roasted. This process is important if you want an aromatic cup of coffee. At this time, the coffee bean will actually expands to nearly twice that of what its initial size was. It will also change color and density as it takes in heat. The color turns to yellow and then to a light cinnamon brown. At this point the coffee beans will start to crack, just like popcorn does. As coffee is grown in different parts of the world, varying climate conditions and other factors also play a role in how the beans are processed. The final product is then crushed into the savory coffee powder which we are accustomed to seeing.

A guide to applying for college loan

College loans are the most affordable option to pay for school. The two biggest benefits of college loans are:

1. Lower interest rates than other student loans

2. Repayment is postponed until you are out of school.

Mainly there are two types of college loans.

1. Subsidized college loan: The government will pay the interest on the loan while you are in school and during deferment and grace periods. However, students must demonstrate their “financial need” to be eligible for a subsidized student loan.

2. Unsubsidized college loan: Student is responsible for all the interest, although payment is deferred until graduation. All students are eligible for the unsubsidized college Loan.

Some reasons why college loans are best :

1. At present, interest rates are at an all-time low, i. e. 3.37%. In school rates are lower, at 2.77%.

2. No credit check or collateral is required.

3. No co-signers or guarantee fee required.

4. Flexible repayment and tax deductions options are available.

5. You can qualify for even lower rates with an Automatic-debit discount of 0.25% plus an interest-rate reduction of 2.0% after 48 consecutive on-time payments.

6. College student loans are eligible for student loan consolidation.

7. You owe no payments while you are in school.

How to apply for a college loan?

Before applying for a college loan you should make a search on your own. For a perfect search you should go to financial institutions and all the student loan companies available in your area. Ask them about their terms and conditions. Consider a student loan with the least student loan consolidation rate. Local search for a college loan is not enough, you are recommended to see websites of student loan companies, which provide better options and then compare your research and choose the best option suitable to you.

Don’t postpone it anymore. Get yourself a college loan as early as possible. Most people are not making wise financial decisions. Be different...

Web hosting providers rule the web

It has been reported there are currently more than a staggering 50,000 web hosting providers all competing for the honour of hosting your website.

Every day dozens of new web hosting compaines are launching and struggling to get your attention and your web hosting business.

Even though the web hosting industry is really quite young, it is certainly one of the most competetive and cut-throat industries on the web today. Yet the growth of this marketplace is assured for the forseeable future.

Now each and every week it is estimated more than 50,000 websites are launched and need to be hosted somewhere online. This figure continues to grow and grow.

In fact the current monthly count for the number of searches at Yahoo for the term 'web hosting' is a whopping 2,149,851. That's right, over 2 million!

Also just recently it was reported that the popularity of blogs was seeing tens of thousands of new blogs launched each and every day. While many of these are hosted freely, the more serious bloggers each require an account with a reliable web hosting provider.

Of course every paid web hosting account usually requires at least one domain name registration. Here are some amazing domain name figures for you:

The registrar holding the largest number of domain names is said to be WildWestDomains. They may be better known to you as Godaddy. They currently hold over an estimated 5 million domain name registrations!

The registrar holding the second largest number of domain names is estimated to be Enom. The registrar holding the third largest number of domain names is estimated to be Networksolutions.

Domain Name Registration Growth:

By far the most popular top level domain is the. com There are currently over an estimated 40 million of these registered.

The. com top level domain currently holds over an estimated 70 percent of the domain name marketplace.

The. net top level domain currently holds just over an estimated 10 percent of the domain name marketplace.

The good news for web hosting and domain name customers is that incredible deals have become available as competition increases among web hosting providers.

In fact the price of web hosting has plumeted to just under $10 per month for a quality service. Domain names that cost up to $35 just a fews years ago can now be bought for as little as $4.99.

This is a winning situation for both the web hosting providers and their customers. The quality of service continues to grow. The new web hosting providers must impress their customers to compete with more established organisations.

There has never been a better time to find a web hosting provider and establish an internet presence of your own.

A crystal clear vision ensures success throughout your organization

With steadily increasing global competition, it is more important than ever that each employee in your organization have a clear understanding of the company’s overall vision, be in alignment with the organizational goals, and have identified how their day to day activities contribute to the accomplishment of these objectives.

No longer do people have the luxury of arriving at work, completing their assigned tasks, and going home, thinking, magically, that everything will continue to work out as before. We are experiencing a rapidly changing business climate, which demands shifts in attitudes and creative thinking in order to meet the challenges of the future.

How can your company accomplish this throughout your organization?

Beginning, as author Steven Covey, reminds us, “with the end in mind.” As an executive, you must ask yourself and your team what the “ideal” looks like in each key area. In sales, for example, what would be the ideal situation? How would it appear? What about manufacturing, administration, and distribution? If everything were operating perfectly, how would you describe it?

Bringing key management together for this type of strategic planing session will result in your having identified a crystal clear vision for the entire organization, with each and every segment of the business functioning at it’s optimal level.

This visioning exercise can then be adapted and used by each department to create a “mini” version for their own area of responsibility and, further, to the individual, enabling she or he to relate their job to the bigger picture as well as their personal goals.

Once you have a clear vision of what the ideal would be in each area of your organization, the next step is to identify several goals by which you can measure your progress. For the sake of this exercise, we’ll use a one year time frame, since this is a reasonable period to institute change, while allowing you to experience success early on.

Looking at each segment of your business, what would have to happen to accomplish your ideal vision? If, for example, in distribution, the ideal was to achieve 100% on time delivery and no more than a 72 hour turnaround, what are the measurable goals that would support it’s accomplishment?

When setting goals, it is important to use the S. M.A. R.T. method , whereby each goals is Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Timed. Specifically, what will you accomplish by when? Then, from your list of goals, you can develop 30–90 day milestones and further reduce those to identify the daily actions that must be taken in order to succeed.

For example, part of the vision for your sales department might be, “To be the best in our industry. To be the ‘gold standard’ by which our competition measures itself against.” This will likely translate to an increase in sales, improved customer retention, better referrals and so on.

From this, the sales woman in your New Jersey territory may, looking at her personal vision and goals, decide she wants to earn 50% more in commissions and calculates that this would require XX dollars in sales each quarter. From this, she has determined, based on past performance, how many sales per month she needs and, further, how many presentations she needs to make each week. This breaks down further into how many calls she needs to make each day in order to accomplish this, what additional systems she might implement to achieve better customer retention, and which networking functions would best support her vision.

With each and every individual, in each and every department, holding the same, clear vision and knowing their role in it’s accomplishment, you will experience a level of success beyond your wildest expectations.

Do women like alpha males

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In astronomy, it is the brightest star in a constellation. In common parlance, alpha means to be the first.

Alpha males are guys who seem to be leading the pack, the hunter, the ever-reliable male god. They are all around us, in the ranks burly blue collar workers to the impeccable corporate leaders. So why do women like alpha males; or do they?

Women do not only like alpha males; they adore them! Alpha males are the stuff that women's romantic imaginations are of. These are men who get women's attention wherever they go.

The attraction lies in the power seemingly possessed by alpha males. It's not really just about the money but it is about strength in character and the ability to be respected by his peers.

A woman defines an alpha male as someone who is vocal about what he wants and who does everything to get it. An alpha male is not just cocky our loud, but there is a semblance of authority in his voice that seems to attract others, male or female. An alpha male is filled with confidence about his looks though he may not be handsome and is confident about his intelligence though he may not be a Wharton graduate.

In the animal kingdom the alpha males are those who lead the pack with an aggressive behavior. The animals have their own social structure where the alpha or the dominant males get to mate with the females, with the principle that the alpha males will most probably produce better offsprings. Same goes for the alpha males in the society of humans.

Women describe alpha males as those with an innate superiority and who literally leads the pack. These are males who are aggressive and assertive despite their limitations.

To be able to understand an alpha male, one has to get to know his characteristics such as but not limited to being:

Born leaders

Alpha males are born to lead the pack. They are known to be the peacemakers and the ones responsible for stopping fights after and aggression usually started off by a bully. These men are usually dignified men who have leadership capabilities and they sometimes rule their world. An alpha male is a no nonsense leader who cannot be dictated upon and who stands by his principles.

Gandhi is an alpha male. He is a charismatic leader who refused to be pressured into giving up his cause. He was able to win his battle by espousing non-violence. Microsoft czar Bill Gates is an example of an alpha male who continues to change the world and its people. There are many alpha males in a variety of settings, all of whom have provided inspiration and great leadership to their sectors. Most alpha males are attracted and married to strong and outstanding women.

Confident

Alpha males are so sure of themselves but not to point of being cocky. They have high self esteem, believing that they have the power to do anything they want and to achieve their dreams. They know they have that special something within them but they do not boat nor talk about their strength.

Women are attracted to the alpha because of the confidence that emanates from them. This confidence manifests itself in the way he carries himself and the way he deals with others. This confidence is shown in the way he does things and treats other people. The alpha male's high self esteem makes him confident that he can get the best girl in town. The truth is, the girls usually flock around him.

Assertive

Being confident of himself and in what he can achieve, the alpha male is always assertive but not to the point of being pushy. He knows what he wants and how to get it. He asserts his rights and the rights of his friends. This may be the reason why alpha males are so popular with the pack. He leads them and gives them protection. Women love the alpha male for being assertive, of being able to know he can do it and doing something to achieve what he wants to do.

Born leaders, confident and assertive. These are the qualities that make women swoon over the alpha male. Need we say more?

Small businesses - jack be nimble jack be quick

I have been in business now for over twenty years and in that time I have made friends with many small business owners. What I have found has been one of the major reasons why some small businesses fail is that the owners are not willing to change direction.

Most small businesses have an office, premises, vehicles and maybe a couple of staff. If they are struggling to make money with their existing product lines why do some of them refuse to move to a new product range that might work better?

The major advantage of being a small business owner is that it is possible to move very fast. If you have products that are not profitable then why not ditch them now? If the niche you are operating is no longer as profitable as it used to then surely it is time to find a new niche?

Small businesses can be nimble. They can bend or even change direction at a drop of the hat. This ability to react quickly to market forces is our biggest weapon against the large companies we compete against.

By being the first to exploit a new niche brings with it the potential for large rewards. The slow footed large companies will eventually follow you but it will take them time to catch up.

We have an advantage in that if we stay alert to what is happening in the marketplace we can change our business model quickly when the old ways of doing business changes.

By thinking outside the box and looking for partnerships with non competing businesses it is possible to supply a larger range of products / services to your existing clients.

"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick" is the one of the best ways to stay one step ahead of the game. It's no longer just about "survival of the fittest". It is now "survival of the quickest".

Planning your business is the first step

One morning you might wake up and like a ton of bricks a great idea for creating and starting your online business comes to mind, and you hadn't a doubt in your mind that you could turn it into a huge success. Start with the end in mind. Are you planning to start a new business? If you find a viable business you like, document your intentions, intended deal structure and what exact information you need to start your purchase due diligence.

Many small businesses start with a business plan based on guesses. The idea for you business plan comes to mind, its time to start the new business and you are all ready to go but the only problem is that you need money, so it is time to find the investors, angel investors and you will need to show them your business plan.

If you plan to jump into the fray, however, the first step is to create a solid business plan. The business plan you create will be one of the most important documents in your new businesses. It doesn't matter if your business is just getting started or it is an existing business, creating a business plan helps you understand your business.

If so, have you started writing your business plan yet. In all honestly, when writing anything, even a business plan, it is the wording that makes all the difference in the world. Writing a plan for your project requires you to have an idea and vision of the whole project, the component parts of the project and the operating system behind your project.

The world is full of business-minded individuals, whether their goals are to lead a multi-million dollar company into the future, or simply start their own small business to provide services that are in demand and services they enjoy performing. You will need a brief outline of your business, your mission statement, goals, balance sheet, income statement, projected cash flow and plan for unforeseen hindrances.

Therefore, it is very important for the potential business owner to spend as much time and effort preparing and creating a business plan as they do finding the perfect location and the best restaurant ovens. Show why potential customers will award business to you, rather than your competition. One page of your business plan can have the following information: it can contain the potential partners, employees, board of directors, and you can show where the business will be in future years.

Angel investors want you to succeed and often they also like to give their input and if you end up taking their money for your startup, the need to realize that their input needs to be taken seriously. One of the great myths is that you only need a Business Plan if you are going to borrow money from a bank. A business plan of a start up business making no money -- for example -- is going to be bigger than the ones that are running and making money already. The angel and VC investors, are risking their capital money when they invest in your business, they hope in the long run they will receive returns that is worth many times what they put in.

Scooters and how to buy them easily

If you are obtaining something like a vespa it does not always mean buying from a scooter or motorcycling targeted site, lets imagine you are living in Montana for instance, a scooter directory ought to be able to give you relevant contact details of closely situated scooter supplier who should hopefully be able to help you to find the scooter you need.

The vast majority of the scooter related tips that you will locate online are all about assisting consumers to purchase particular scooter merchandise including mongoose scooters and petrol scooters, getting this variety of scooter info can often be very arduous indeed.

For good calibre scooter data a site that is managed by somebody like a scooter manufacturer will certainly be perfect, Some of the many motorcycling newsgroups and blogs might also be wonderful resources for discovering good quality scooter tips and info, these type of places might easily answer some thoroughly precise questions concerning items such as razor scooters or restored vespas.

For consumers searching for products such as electric scooters parts or gasoline scooters, you would be wise speaking to a mixture of motorcycling experts in advance of your search, you could be shopping for a special product like a scooter engine or even shoprider mobility scooter yet because of a lack of advice choose the wrong item.

If you couldn't obtain the motorcycling feedback you are needing from a scooter manufacturer then possibly you are researching in the incorrect place, for example, imagine your subject of interest was electric scooter parts, it would possibly be smarter for you to check out a specific motorcycling portal.

Now if you should seek data on electric powered scooters it may possibly be better to use the information in a scooter site in order to initiate contact with a scooter specialist, by doing this you will doubtless get access to a fair amount of scooter help for free.

Consider also when you search this region of motorcycling it is possible you may very well be overrun with a considerable number of truly varied search engine results, such gems as maxima scooters and nyc scooters might though be very relevant to your requirements.

A wide range of scooter related searches might possibly have led you to a scooter or motorcycling targeted directory, queries like "deals on itailian vespas" or "guides on 50cc scooter parts", the real trick with any motorcycling portal is to navigate directly to the website menu, if you take this advice you should hopefully not be side tracked by scooter reviews which are about an area of scooters that is not applicableIt is a fact that your town library can be an ideal place to obtain info on scooter items, advances like the web can cause us to neglect the many other motorcycling resources that are presently freely accessible to all of us, take advantage of such sources of free scooter data, good scooter product knowledge can very often be hard to locate.

For people getting merchandise such as extreme scooters or gasoline scooters, it is best advised to speak to a variety of motorcycling experts before you embark on your search, you may very well be searching for a special rascal scooter like a scooter part or a suzuki scooter but because of a lack of details take the wrong mobile scooter.

Xango-research

This is my favorite part of the XanGo phenomenon.

You see as a PhD in Clinical Biochemistry, I refuse to accept products without the research to back them up. I mean real hard core scientific studies and not some wishy washy test that has no relevance to the human condition. The XanGo mangosteen xanthones research is extensive and studied by PhD's, MD's and others from around the world.

But, don't take my word for it. Read the summaries of just a few XanGo mangosteen xanthones research articles below. You be the judge.

Xanthones Research from Around the World Demonstrate the Potent Antioxidant Power of the Mangosteen Fruit in XanGo!

I've reviewed these selections of mangosteen xanthones research articles for you and condensed the main conclusions in easy to read format without much technical jargon, yet keeping the integrity of the medical findings intact.

Bear in mind this is just a sampling of xanthones research. Natives of Asia used the mangosteen fruit for hundreds of years to heal a variety of medical sicknesses and ailments. They had no clue of the nature of the active ingredients in their concoctions of this miraculous fruit.

Now, with the extensive mangosteen xanthones research done worldwide, we now know why those poultices and potions were so effective in treating so many medical sicknesses and ailments and endured the test of centuries.

Narace D. Seudeal, Ph. D.

1) Antiproliferation, antioxidation and induction of apoptosis by Garcinia mangostana (mangosteen) on SKBR3 human breast cancer cell line. J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 Jan;90(1):161-6. Moongkarndi P, Kosem N, Kaslungka S, Luanratana O, Pongpan N, Neungton N. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Sri Ayudthaya Road, Rajdhevee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. pypmk@mahidol. ac. th

These investigators found that an extract from the pericarp of the mangosteen fruit (major component in XanGo) inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells. They also showed that the extract had potent antioxidant and cancer cell death properties. They concluded that the extract from the pericarp of the mangosteen fruit has potential for chemoprevention.

2) Induction of apoptosis by xanthones from mangosteen in human leukemia cell lines. Matsumoto K, Akao Y, Kobayashi E, Ohguchi K, Ito T, Tanaka T, Iinuma M, Nozawa Y. Gifu International Institute of Biotechnology, 1-1 Naka-Fudogaoka, Kakamigahara, Japan.

Domain name sales how to do it

Domain name – this is a word that seems to affect large number of people around the world. A word that becomes a mainstream name for everybody and a word that leads to the establishment of so many businesses today. Well, these are just common descriptions for domain names, and many people often react this way when they hear this thing.

Today, numerous studies have been conducted to show the situation of the domain name industry. And recently, there came a report about the domain name sales and usage that shows the domain name continues to rise.

Speaking of this report about the domain name sales and usage, it has actually been reported by the Network World ISP News Report Newsletter coming from the VeriSign that the domain name sales and usage continues to rise nowadays. It is considered that as a signal of the recovery of the internet industry, both of the domain name sales and usage gave certain idea about the solid growth of the domain name sales and usage during the first quarter of the year 2004.

In relation to such recent report about the domain name sales and usage, there comes a truth as the VeriSign’s Domain Name Industry Brief stated that the average number of domain name registrations reached an all time high of 64.5 million just during the second quarter of the year 2004. And according to numerous studies, such truth about the overall percentage domain name sales and usage is up to 2.4 percent over the first quarter of 2004 and is also up for 7 percent during the year-end for 2003.

Speaking of the domain name sales, there are still even more significant several statistics that shows how the domain name sales and usage soar. One of those statistics shows that the domain name sales and usage is much elevated today than it was at the zenith of the advent of the internet. In line with that, the report shows that on average, the VeriSign domain name company alone processes more than 14 billion for two top notch top level domain names, the. com and the. net queries each day. For these two top level domain names, the company processes for up to 8 billion last year and 2 billion in 2000.

Here came another support for that statistics which shows that 64 percent of all top level domain names such as. com and. net domain names are link to live web sites, which are up from 61 percent a year ago. Also considerable is the report showing the situation of the domain sales and usage which states that the percentage of parked web sites, which are said so because they are not actively being used but then are associated with a domain name, has in fact dwindled from 12 percent last year to 8 percent this year.

Finally, it is also explained in the report for the domain name sales and usage sake that the rates of renewal for top level domain names such as. com and. net have recoiled from a low of 45.7 percent in the first quarter of the year 2003 and then reach a new height of 72 percent in the second quarter of 2004.

From such reports alone, the domain name sales and usage really grow and will continue to grow for the next coming years.

Online dating safety make sure your safe

So you’ve decided to set up a uk dating profile online... (If you haven't, what are you waiting for?) What Happens now? Sit back and wait for the emails to flow in, or search for someone, the choice is yours. Whatever you choose to do, here are a few practical guidelines to think about.

Flirting and dating on-line is no different to doing it off-line, just a lot safer and easier if you do it right. Most of the 'rules' are common sense. Your mother was most probably right - you just don't have to admit it.

Creating The Right Impression

Make sure your profile is not misleading. Give the wrong idea and you'll be sure to get the wrong response or no responses at all.

Think About What You Say

So, you've spotted a singleton that you want to contact online. But what do you say? It's important to try and make the right impression when first making contact online, as you may only get once chance to get it right!

• Be Clear - Words and phrases can be interpreted in many different ways, so when drafting your message try and be as clear as you can to avoid any misinterpretation.

• Be Concise - Don't attempt to write a long winded message that needs its own chapters, a few well written sentences is enough to make an initial introduction.

• Ask Questions - A couple of questions before signing off gives the recipient more of an incentive to respond to you, and also gives them something to talk to you about in their response.

• Keep Momentum - Once initial contact has been made, its vital to keep momentum going, keep asking questions and find out things you have in common to keep conversation flowing.

• Be Friendly and Polite - Cracking bad jokes, excessive swearing, or voicing strong and possibly controversial opinions may not get you off onto the right foot.

• Be Positive - There is nothing worse than a singleton droning on about negative experiences, be it in relationships or other aspects of their life. You may risk sounding negative, depressive, or negative which isn't appealing.

Personal Details

The greatest thing about being online is the safety and privacy it affords you. Just be careful! When you start corresponding with people don't give out your personal details too early. Build up a sense of mutual trust first. Keep your last name, telephone number, email address, place of work and exact family details private until you are ready to share them.

Don't be Pushed

Watch out for people pressing you for your personal details too early and too often. Also, hang back on meeting off-line until you are ready.

Inconsistencies

keep an eye out for changes in content and style in the messages you receive. If Mr Loving Kindness suddenly starts sounding like Carlos the Jackal on testosterone it may be an idea to back off or move on.

Dating Scams what can I do to protect myself?

• only use a reputable online dating or chat service and follow the basic safety tips for online dating

• be sceptical and ask yourself simple questions like, 'why am I the only person who can help them but I have just met them?'

• test your date - ask them lots of questions, try to phone them or post them something or possibly suggest meeting them. If all attempts fail, you are probably dealing with a scammer.

Meeting Off-Line

This is the big one! You mailed each other, chatted and are ready to take the plunge and meet for real. Whilst taking your brother from the commandos with you may ensure your safety, chances are your date may get nervous, or prefer him to you!

Make your first few meetings in public places, ideally at lunchtime if you can. If you have a mobile phone takes it with you and possibly take a pre-arranged call. Tell someone where you are going and try to have plans for after your date - don't be caught out with "so what are you doing after dinner?". Have your answer ready. Don't give out your home or work address and don't give in to pressure.

One of the best places to meet someone for the first time is in a city or town centre coffee shop. Tell the person you are meeting at the outset that you only have half an hour to spare, and then if things are not going well or you feel uncomfortable with them, you can make your excuses without causing any offence. If you are both getting on fine, then you can just extend the "half hour" for as long as you wish.

And guys, all this applies to you too. The chances of being taken for a ride by women may be less, but don't discount it.

Most importantly, relax, have fun and keep things safe.

Project black mask - legit or scam

Ask most website owners "What's your biggest problem?" and a good deal will probably respond simply - "I need more traffic!"

If "Day Job Killer" and "Affiliate Project X" is anything to go by it is very likely that Project Black Mask is about exploiting some loophole in Google that may very well be closed pretty soon .... but not just yet.

It contains underground and black hat techniques which the authors are well known for - if their previous two offerings are anything to go by.

It explains in straight-forward terms the types of "Hats" for newbies in the marketing arena - just so those who read it are clear which side of the line these techniques fall into.

Extremely easy to read and concise this short eBook which can be read "cover-to-cover" in less than two hours contains easy to learn techniques you can apply immediately. You certainly don't need to be an online genius to even apply some of the effective methods shown.

Project Black Mask gives affiliates insight into how money is lost in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and how to avoid these pitfalls. The book shows how to easily put into action alternate methods without the excessive costs of buying expensive clicks.

Project Black Mask also covers how to make more from Adsense instead of the pocket change most people are making by exposing some myths whilst other more savvy marketeers are making millions.

There are little techniques in the book which show you that it takes only a little bit of money to apply the techniques shown - so you don't have to have mega-bucks to get started!

Project Black Mask includes a blueprint to generate the traffic so you don't even need to worry how you're going to get traffic to your site! You don't even need to know how SEO and traffic to start applying these methods!

If your Adsense efforts and PPC campaigns are driving you nowhere then you've got to take some action.

Do you want to make more than the pittance you're making now? Or will you be part of the next wave of millionaires?

Virginia wines go to london

What do Virginia wine and England have in common? Answer: history and today’s interest in pursuing quality wine. This year is the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Jamestown by the English settlers. Several events have been planned to commemorate the founding of Jamestown in 1607. One of the events planned will be the tasting of Virginia wines at Vinopolis in London. The theme is “Virginia, First in Wine.” “First in Wine” refers to the quality of Virginia wines and to the established fact that Virginia was the first place in the new world for the English to attempt the cultivation of grapes and winemaking. In February, a number of Virginia wines were judged at White Hall Vineyards in a wine tasting event. The purpose was to choose wines to go to England for a tasting. On April 30, Virginia will present wines at a VIP invitation only tasting at Hampden House (a historical house) in the middle of Chiltern, England. On May 2, the Virginia wines will be tasted at Vinopolis, a world wine center in London. Will the Mother Country be impressed?

Will Thomas Jefferson’s dream of producing fine wines in Virginia be met? After all, an attempt was made to grow grapevines very early in the 1600’s. When the first settlers arrived in Jamestown, native grapes grew in abundance. Wine produced with these native grapes in 1608 was unlike wine in Europe. Wine from Virginia was bitter and did not travel well. England was hoping the colonies could provide wine for the Mother Country. Laws requiring the growing of grapes were passed. Failure to grow grapes would result in severe penalties. By 1619 the House of Burgesses required each adult male to plant grapevines. However, at this time vineyards and vine growing requirements were not well understood. By the late 1700’s, Thomas Jefferson had visited grape growing areas of France and fully believed that Virginia could grow grapes and produce wine as good as any other country. Jefferson said, “We could, in the United States, make as great a variety of wines as are made in Europe, not exactly the same kinds, but doubtless as good.” Jefferson tried growing his own vineyards and participated in a venture with a vineyard planting next to Monticello. The vineyards did not survive. Despite Jefferson’s firm belief that Virginia could grow grapes and produce fine wine, he was unable to make a single bottle of wine before he died. George Washington also tried growing grapes but the vineyards were not productive and he replaced the vineyards with orchards.

During the 1800’s, Americans attempted to grow wine grapes throughout the country. Again, due to lack of knowledge about vineyard diseases, success was elusive. As time went on, an accidental hybrid began to grow successfully and after the Civil War, vineyards were beginning to flourish. Then came a manmade disaster in 1919. Congress approved the 18th Amendment and by 1920 the amendment was ratified. This decimated many of the existing vineyards and in combination with the Depression in later years most vineyards could not survive. By 1933 when the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition, much damage had occurred to the wine industry.

Today, after Prohibition, Virginia is making much progress towards becoming a well-known area for growing grapes and producing fine wine. To prove this point, 65 wines from 28 Virginia wineries were chosen to provide wine for the wine tasting at Vinopolis in London. Vinopolis is a wine museum, tasting facility and restaurant all rolled into one building. Wines from all around the world are available for tasting at Vinopolis. However, until now only wines from California have been represented of wines produced in the United States. If you have the opportunity to visit London on May 2, stop by Vinopolis and check out the Virginia wines.

How will Virginia wines fare at Vinopolis? On our recent visit to Vinopolis we shared a bottle of Pearmund Cellars Ameritage with Tom Forrest, the Tour Development Manager. He shared the bottle with other tasters and had the following comment, “I retasted the Pearmund Ameritage last night. It seemed to have really developed after opening. It was full of rich fruit cake aromas and flavours. Still smooth and soft, the spicyness of the Malbec element shone through the red and black forest fruit flavours. It impressed the members of the tasting team. So I look forward to tasting the wines in May.” Anyone who has visited wineries in Virginia and talked to the winemakers knows that Virginia wineries are intent upon making fine wine from the best grapes available. England, we hope you like Virginia wine.

Why you need a virtual safety deposit box

Advances in information technology, paired with recent weather-related disasters and a growing awareness of the need for access to vital documents has lead to the creation of a new solution designed to protect your most important documents: a virtual safety deposit box. Whether you are looking for a safe place to store vital records such as birth certificates or marriage licenses, or other important documents such as health records, insurance policies, living wills or financial data, a virtual safety deposit box can help keep your critical documents just a few keystrokes away from any computer in the world.

Considered a safe alternative to traditional archives in bank deposit boxes or in-home lockboxes, a virtual safety deposit box provides peace of mind paired with instant access in times of need. Gaining popularity during the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, this safe method of document storage has become a preferred method of protecting assets around the world. The news media is filled with stories of families who lost everything during the hurricanes, banks whose records were in shambles and law offices whose records perished in high water and storm-damaged conditions.

Elsewhere in the country and the world, stories are common about houses burning to the ground with vital records still inside, families denied access to important documents after a loved one’s death and important paperwork swept away by vicious tornados. Any asset that you have that is paper-based can easily be converted for storage in a virtual safety deposit box. For a small monthly or yearly fee – comparable to the price you would pay for a bank deposit box and less than the purchase price of an in-home safe – you can choose to upload copies of your documents on your own, fax or mail documents to secured processing sites, or have a technician visit your home or office to complete your archival work for you.

After your virtual safety deposit box is set up, you can access your information safely and securely 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year from any internet-connected computer on the planet. All archived data is guaranteed against breaches in security and fraud and virtual safety deposit box providers utilize many reliable, prove and trustworthy safeguards against any wrong-doing. Securing your family’s future and well-being is job one, and using a virtual safety deposit box only makes that job easier.

Low interest credit cards are considered by many the most popular credit cards

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you're fully informed about low Interest credit cards, keep reading. Imagine the next time you join a discussion about low Interest credit cards. Your friends will be amazed when you start to share your knowledge about low interest credit cards.

If you're not using a low interest credit card, ask yourself why? This credit card have numerous advantages such as the 0% Intro APR (annual percentage rate) that enables the consumer to save on interest expense. Several factors should be considered in choosing the right credit card. Depending on your situation a fixed low APR interest rate might be a better choice than the 0% intro APR if you are planning to carry a credit card balance each month. If the 0% intro APR changes to a low fixed rate after the promotional period ends then this will be an ideal situation. If the interest rate jumps up to over 20% then this might not be the best deal. This is why customers need to know what the interest rate will be at the end of the introductory period. For customers deciding on the 0% intro credit card offer will save money on interest expense which can be used to pay off the loan much sooner.

Low interest credit cards main benefit is to save money on interest expense. These credit cards are very essential in saving money on interest expense when used to transfer balance from a high interest credit card to a low interest credit card. They may also be beneficial to cardholders who make large purchases and carry a balance forward every month. Banks charge a fee for balance transfers. Since this fee varies from bank to bank, customers should compare offers to find out which banks charge the lowest fees. Individuals with excellent credit can request to have the balance transfer fee waived.

Customers may be pleasantly surprised to find that low interest cards offer many features similar to standard credit cards. Features can be similar to a standard credit card such as cash back, rewards, no annual fees, bonus miles etc. It’s important to compare features of low interest cards and to apply for the one that fulfils your needs and save you the most money. Individuals who are able to pay the balance off each billing cycle will save the most on interest expense. This is because credit card companies usually waive interest charges if the entire balance is paid on time each month. Unfortunately, many customers are unable to pay their credit card balance off each month because they are not making enough money or they may be having financial problems. However, using a low interest credit card could be the best alternative to save on interest expense if you are planning to make purchases and maintain a credit card balance from month to month.

Individuals with bad credit pay an astronomical amount of money for interest expense and fees to credit card companies. With this kind of financial problem it can be a daunting task to get out of debt. As you can see, having excellent credit is very important because it makes it possible to get approved for a low interest credit card which in turn will save you a vast amount of money on interest expense. Be aware that credit card companies are able to change the interest rate on your low interest credit card because of late payment or they can change the interest rate for no reason at all. Managing your credit wisely is extremely important for financial success. Make sure to report errors on your credit report to the three major credit bureaus which are: Equifax, Trans Union and Experian to correct the errors on your credit report promptly.

If you are overwhelmed with bills and credit card debts, why not consolidate your loans into one loan. This will save an enormous amount of money on interest expense. Consolidating your credit card debts into one loan can improve your financial situation by making your monthly payment more manageable. This is an excellent opportunity to start the process of improving your credit score. Consolidating simplifies your paperwork and saves time and energy by only keeping records for a single loan instead of several loans.

Card holders will need to know about grace period and the way it relates to their specific low interest credit card. The grace period is between 20 to 25 days. You have this free period to pay no interest if your payment is credited to your account during that time frame and your account carries no balance. Customer’s monthly payment must be received by the creditor during this time frame. Learning about grace period as it relates to your specific credit card is very important. Usually credit cards without a grace period are charged finance charges immediately on new purchases even if your previous month's bill was paid in full. The internet is best place to do credit card research and submit online credit card application. The credit card types are organized into categories making it easy to find the credit card you are looking for. Just by clicking on the low interest credit card category will bring up a vast amount of information. The best thing about applying for a credit card on the internet is the speed and convenience of processing your online credit card application. No need to travel from banks to banks trying to find the right credit card then having to wait weeks for banks to process your application. Individuals with good credit can receive instant online approval. This means that the credit card applicant can receive an online approval within minutes of filling out their online credit card application.

Some card holders may believe that that they can use their low interest credit cards to make new purchases and take cash advance with the 0% introductory offer. They will be surprised when they found out that they are charged different interest rates for balance transfer, new purchases and cash advance. Protect yourself from identify theft by shredding credit card offers and reporting stolen or lost credit card to your credit card issuer as soon as possible. Also, it is very important to read the credit card agreement to avoid surprises and unnecessary financial problems. Reading the credit card agreement will give you the knowledge and confidence in choosing and using the card correctly.

Seo - choosing blog fonts and colors

Part of having a cohesive blog design is to choose one or two fonts and two to four colors and stick with them on your site. The best looking sites are minimalist in design. A site that has too many different types of fonts and colors on it just looks unprofessional.

It is also helps to choose colors that suit your subject areas. Cooler colors such as blues and grays tend to suit blogs that are of a technical, political or authoritative nature. Warmer colors seem to suit more casual subjects. For instance a pink and yellow themed site is more suited to a blog about baby showers than it is to a rant about human rights abuses in Africa.

In general the smaller and more classic your font is, the more it implies authority and respect. An example is Times New Roman or Bookman. Arial, Verdana and Helvetica are middle of the road fonts that are offered with most blog templates as a standard font. The shorter, squatter and larger the font, the less professional your blog will look.

Additionally it is best to stick with fonts that most people would have on their computers. Keep in mind that if a computer cannot read a font it will put your site on a default font so it can be read. This can knock your layout out of alignment and give it an unattractive appearance on other people’s computers. Fonts that any computer can read include Arial, Verdana, Times Roman, Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino and Tahoma. Keep your layout as simple as possible to avoid distortion of it on other people’s computers as well.

One warning is to stay away from the black hat SEO technique of making your keywords the same color as a web page. The search engine spiders are on to this technique and will penalize your site for it.

Are you a victim of vagueness or a champion of clarity

It is estimated that our brains receive information through our senses that result in some four billion neuron impulses per second. Of these four billion pieces of information we are only consciously aware of about 2,000. That’s only 0.00005%.

It’s happening to you right now. I bet, until I mention it now, that you were not aware of the feel of your clothes on your skin. Or, be aware of the noises in the background. Or, be aware of the object just inside of your peripheral vision. Until I mentioned them you were paying your full attention to something else.

If you had to be fully aware of all the information that you receive all of the time you probably would be so overwhelmed that you wouldn’t be able to function. The unwanted information is filtered out through a process of Deletion, Distortion and Generalisation. This filtering process is driven largely by our Beliefs of how things are at that time.

Whilst this can be hugely helpful in avoiding our brains from exploding it can lead us into making assumptions about given situations that might not serve us well; we can easily become victims of the vagueness that we accept as fact.

To make matters worse when we communicate with others we pass on our assumptions, with the additional assumption that the recipient makes the same assumptions. Our assumptions create gaps in our communication that we expect the other person to fill with the SAME understanding. All too often because of our assumptions we do not deliver what was expected.

Here are some examples of vagueness. What assumptions are you making when you interpret them?

“Go and increase morale in the team”

“Make sure that they fully appreciate our efforts”

“Spend more time on customer relations”

Being a Champion of Clarity

First off, to be a Champion of Clarity you have to recognise that communication is full of assumption. A Champion of Clarity recognises the pitfalls of assumption both as a speaker and as a listener.

As a listener they are only too aware of the following phrase:

“The meaning of your communication is the response that you get”

As such a Champion of Clarity takes responsibility for ensuring that their communication is fully understood.

As a listener they recognise that they often interact with Victims of Vagueness and they take steps to avoid relegation from a Champion of Clarity by ensuring that they fully understand the intention of the communication behind the words that they hear.

Good ways of ensuring understanding is getting sensory cues that provide the evidence of the successful future desired outcome.

In response to the vague statements above a Champion of Clarity would ask something like:

“And when I have increased morale in the team, what will let you know that it has been done well?”

“What is it that will let them know that we put in effort in a way that should be recognised?”

“And when we are spending more time on customer relations, what will you see and hear?”

Do it yourself seo ten search engine optimization tips part 2

In the first article of this series I outlined five important steps in the optimization of any web page or website. Here are five more tips for those who want to make sure that their web pages are both user and search engine friendly.

6. Write copy that includes your keyword and search phrases at the beginning, middle and end.

If you want to write website copy that is search engine optimized, then you just have to follow good writing and presentation procedure. State clearly what you want to say in the opening paragraph, elaborate on your basic ideas in the middle section of your text and at the end summarize what you have said, reminding your readers with text that is similar to the opening paragraph. Be natural; don’t try to stuff your page with the keywords. If you read the page out loud and it sounds funny, then you have overdone the repetition of your search phrases and keywords. A density of 2% is considered to be OK. Thus in a 400 word page of text your keyword might be repeated eight times.

7. Place your keywords and phrases in the link text of your web pages

So far we have placed the keywords in the strategic places of the web page: the title, the description, the headlines and the body text. Now we have to see that the keywords are included in clickable link text on the page. Whenever you are linking to sub pages or other pages of your site, make sure that your keywords are included in the clickable portions of the links. Thus, instead of making a link that says “click here” for more information about bicycle accessories, it would be better to write: click here for more information about “bicycle accessories,” with the keywords “bicycle accessories” being the anchor (clickable) text.

8. Install a navigation system that can be easily followed by search engines

One of the most important steps in getting more traffic to your site is to ensure that all of the site’s web pages are included in the search engine indices. Normally a search engine robot will visit the main page of a site and follow links to the other pages. If your navigation system is based on java script, or on images, there is a possibility that some search engine robots will not be able to follow the links and thus they will not pick up the interior pages of your site. One simple remedy for this problem is to build an additional text-link navigation bar and place it at the bottom of the page. This additional navigation bar will serve multiple purposes:

a. Helping the search engines to reach the interior pages

b. Putting your keywords in link “anchor text”

c. Reminding the user to go deeper into the site by repeating the navigation options again

9. Build a site map page or use the Google sitemap option

Getting all of your pages indexed is so important, that it is also prudent to take another step that will ensure that all of your pages are visited by search engine robots. A site map is a page that has text links to all of the pages of your site. As with a text link navigation bar, a site map serves multiple purposes:

1. It helps users to find what they are looking for on the site by providing an outline summary of all of your pages

2. It helps search engine robots to land on the interior pages

After your build your site map page, be sure to make a link to it from your home page and the other important pages of your website.

In addition to a normal site map page, you can also make an XML site map, upload it to the server and then register it with the Google site map tool. You can use a free online utility to create your XML site map at: xml-sitemaps. com/ and visit google. com/webmasters/sitemaps for more information. This process is easy to accomplish, and it will supply you with important statistical information from Google as well as help get all of your pages indexed.

10. Once your website is up and running concentrate on off-site optimization

So far all the steps that I have outlined are concerned with on-page factors, the parts of your website that are under your control. But your ranking in Google and other search engines will also be heavily dependent on off-page factors such as how many high quality sites link to your site. Unless you obtain a good amount of high quality links to your site you will not be able to compete in highly competitive search categories.

By far the best way to get links to your site is to first build a site that has valuable content. You should endeavor to build a site that is so “cool” or so unique, that other people will link to you without even asking you. Of course this is easier said than done, but it should be what you are striving for.

The next best way to get high quality back links to a website is to write informative articles and get them published on other websites with a link back to your site. This process is known as article marketing and it not only helps to build incoming links, but it also builds your online reputation as an expert in your field.

Other common methods of increasing incoming links include submissions to important directories, participation in forums and careful trading of links with high quality websites.

If you follow the ten “do-it-yourself” search engine optimization tips that I have described in the two articles of this series then you will have taken a big step towards guaranteeing the success of your online enterprise.

Bad credit home loans - fast facts

Bad credit home loans work the same as regular home loans except they offer consumers with bad credit issues the opportunity to buy a new home. The demand for home loans for bad credit has increased dramatically in the last few years. This type of loan is ideal for those who have a had credit score. Bad credit home loans have become more available since they are now accessible on the internet and now you may be able to get a decision in minutes.

Issuers

There once was a time when a loan issuer only wanted to lend their money to people who had a top notch credit score. In today's market lenders are starting to work with individuals who have had credit problems in the past. Loan issuers that specialize in bad credit home loans are now competing for the business. The terms and conditions for these types of loans may be stricter because a bad credit history means a greater risk for the issuer.

Rate

The interest rate is usually a lot higher, but in the long run it may increase the chance for improvement of your credit score. There may also several hidden costs with bad credit home loans, so a clear understanding about the fees and the interest rates is a must. Sometimes these loans can be refinanced to a lower interest rate loan after a while, (check to see if there is any early payoff penalties). The consumers credit score and the amount of collateral used is what usually will determine rates, payments etc...

If you are in a high interest home loan, after you have made your payments on time for a while you will be able to negotiate for lower interest rates, most lenders don't want you to start shopping interest rates and will be willing to work with you.

Discover the light of japan

"We may simply have lost our appreciation for handmade goods." Igarashi san has been making chochin paper lanterns in his small shop for his whole life. His father too, and his grandfatherand great grandfather and even great, great grandfather. The tools & equipment that surround him today, in fact, have outlasted his ancestors, their wooden surfaces worn smooth with age. Since the start of the Meiji era (1868 - 1912) Kanazawa citizens have been buying Igarashi chochin from the store, in the heart of old Kanazawa's merchant district, near the back of the castle. The shelves are stacked high with beautifully decorated lanterns - vibrant bursts of colour peppering the dusty confines of the little workshop.

Chochin lanterns have a fairly long history in Japan - there is evidence of them being used in temples in the 10th century - and were used primarily as a portable means of lighting. Only occasionally used inside, they customarily hung outside a house, temple or business or else in the entrance, ready to be suspended on a pole and carried before anyone going out at night. Igarashi-san reckons that at one time they were so widely used there would have been around 40 or 50 chochin shops just in Kanazawa. Nowadays there remain only himself and one other local craftsman in the trade and the other fellow (Matsuda-san) has long since diversified, making traditional umbrellas his mainstay.

Making a chochin is a fiddly, fairly delicate procedure despite the attractively simple appearance of the end product. And, when asked what are the most important qualities in his profession Igarashi-san replies, his bright eyes dead serious, "patience and concentration." The average sized lantern according to Igarashi-san, at about 30 cm across, can be produced at a rate of about two a day by one man including most of the painting. However some truly huge ones have left the Igarashi shop over the years - his biggest was a matsuri monster measuring 5 shaku (1 shaku = 30.3cm in the old Japanese measuring system) in diameter with an intricate year of the rabbit design on it. The old lantern maker is realistic about the fact that people want cheaper, mass-produced, plastic covered lanterns these days - he even sells them himself - but he is confident in the knowledge that a well-made paper lantern is a lovely thing, superior in many ways to these garish modern impostors.

"You can repair a good chochin," he tells us, "you can replace one rib or fix a hole in the paper no problem." "Plastic lanterns have no internal frame and can't be patched." A paper lantern no matter how well made lasts only about a year (natural beauty is always fleeting) whereas a plastic one might last twice that and cost half as much. On top of that, we as a society may have simply lost our appreciation for handmade goods. Price has become our main motivation as customers. We do not care to know how things were made nowadays, or who made them, or else Igarashisan would be the prosperous head of a chain of shops.

The walls of the Igarashi Chochinya and his ready-to-hand scrapbook sport innumerable monochrome pictures and press clippings showing a proud, broad-shouldered young man with strong, thick arms and a fetching grin showing off elegant paper spheres with matsuri lights glimmering in the background. Humbly showing us them, his warm, friendly smile only slips slightly as he tells us that he will be the last of his family line making lanterns here.

High yield investing

What does High Yield Really Mean?

High yield investing has taken on a totally new dimension since the introduction of the internet and the basic personal computer. In the United States, a high yield account is considered to be anything over 5% monthly. Of curse as the old adage goes, the higher the yield the larger the risk. This is true. You can not expect to earn more than an average percentage rate with less risk. It just doesn’t make sense.

When discussing high yield interest accounts, are we talking about a savings account that produces a 5.4% annual percentage return? Well, yes. And no. It depends on who you are and what you consider to be possibilities and realistic.

By now most of us have heard about investment programs that claim to be able to produce ridiculously high returns. Traditional investors cringes when they hear terms like 25% per month for one year plus the return of principle, and they nearly quiver when they hear claims of 300% in eight weeks. Certainly these high yield investment programs must be scams. How can it be possible to produce such returns in such a short amount of time? And why isn’t everyone out there doing this if it can really happen? If these high yield investments hold any water then in just five short years we could wipe out poverty and homelessness and no child would ever go to bed hungry or sick again!

Are High Yield Investments Scams?

Believe it or not this question is not a simple yes or no response. It can’t be. The short and safe answer would be yes, they are scams. However, it is important to understand what they are and why they have not all been shut down by the government if they are nothing more than a way to steal your money.

High yield investment programs are not a place to try to earn an income. They are extremely volatile and unpredictable. People can and do make money from them, and sometimes it’s a significant amount of money. But don’t get excited and start rushing out to re-mortgage your house just yet.

Read every single disclaimer on a high yield investment program website and they will all say the exact same thing. High yield investing comes with the risk of losing money. Never invest more than you can stand to lose. Why? Because every high yield investment program will eventually crumble and those with money invested are going to lose.

High yield investment programs are based on principles similar to gambling. While most of do not, there are people in the world who make their living traveling around to casinos and gambling. Is it a scam? No. In fact most of us at least respect the fact that the individual is competent enough at playing casino games that they can earn a living at it regardless of how we feel about gambling ourselves. The same applies to earning a living from high yield investment programs. Most investors do not even consider them real investments and scoff at those who attempt to earn a living through high yield investing.

Most people who are able to fund their lifestyle and earn a living through high yield investment programs started in using one of two methods. They either jumped in with both feet at the first program that sounded good to them and lost everything they invested or they researched high yield investment programs until their fingers went numb before ever investing a dime. Either way, both parties came to the conclusion that to come out ahead in high yield investments programs they would have to do ample research and completely understand the system and principles before they were going to succeed.

Earning a living through high yield investment programs takes a system that is easy to implement and follow to prevent early closing and hefty losses. This system takes a lot of due diligence and of course, some very specialized knowledge about forex trading and even gambling.

Reading the website’s method of investment can tell the average high yield investor a lot about the security, or lack thereof, for any particular program. Most will admit to trading in forex, which any average investor can do with a little knowledge and research. Some will tell you that they are trading in commodities as well and some admit that they are also gambling with the investors’ money, literally. Any website that says they are gambling using fool proof methods of winning should absolutely be avoided at all costs. There is no fool proof method of gambling.

High yield investing is probably something to be avoided altogether, although that is an individual choice only an individual investor can make. However, if you choose to get involved with a high yield investment program and you loose your money, that was your choice as well. Just like it is possible to loose money in the stock market, you are likely to loose money in high yield investments. An investor that looses money in the stock market doesn’t typically file a lawsuit against the broker, so why are people so quick to file lawsuits and complaints when they loose money in high yield investment programs?

The answer is unpleasant but for the most part it is true. Greed. We can accept that there are poor investments out there and should we loose three or four thousand dollars in a bad investment we accept it as part of the potential outcome of investing. Yet because we got excited and our minds started spending the money we were hoping to see through a high yield investment now suddenly the people who run these programs are thieves. High yield investments are investments even if they do border on scams and you run the risk of losing your money. Remember the basic principle of any investment? The higher the return the more likely you are to lose your money.

High yield investments are incredibly risky and some of them are actually scams. Scam artists are everywhere and if there are people in the world who are willing to fork over thousands of dollars in the unrealistic hope that they can turn it into ten of thousands of dollars in a relatively short period of time then there will be people who are willing to steal that money from potential investors.

People are willing to donate their money to any valuable cause, so there are people who are willing to set up phony charities to steal donations from giving people. That certainly doesn’t make every charity a scam and people aren’t going to stop donating to charities of their choice. Just as there are individuals who will take advantage of people’s kindness and desire to give to charities, there are individuals who are interested in scamming money from people who are trying to improve their financial portfolio through high yield investment programs. That doesn’t mean every single high yield investment program is a scam.

The one thing all high yield investment programs do have in common is that sooner or later they will all fold, even those that start out being profitable. Just because a high yield investment program starts off producing the returns that it proposed in the beginning doesn’t mean that it will continue to do so over a long period of time. This is how the high yield investor gets dramatically burned. One or two programs that delivers for a period of time doesn’t mean it’s time to quit the job and devote all the available resources to high yield investing. It means that one or two programs are doing well. They will not do well forever and sooner or later they will crumble. That is the nature of high yield investing.

High Yield versus Conservative Investing

Which investment strategy is right for you? Only an individual investor can answer that question for their own interests. Some people can tolerate the significant risk factors while others prefer the stability of the more conservative and conventional methods of investing. Some people are more willing to take a gamble than others, and by all means high yield investing is a form of gambling.

There are dramatically fewer scams in conventional investing. Some people will always believe that high yield investing is a scam and there is nothing that will convince them otherwise. Just because some people are able to be successful doesn’t mean that a program is not a scam. And just because something is a scam doesn’t mean that some money can’t be made anyway. Does it make it right or real or worthwhile? Again this is something that each individual investor needs to determine for themselves.

For solid investment advice and a clearer path to investment success, independent advice and research is the best way to go. For all kinds of independent investment advice, stop by onlinetradingideas for comprehensive investment strategies, advice, and independent research. This site is particularly useful for making the most from conventional trading ideas and profiting from forex trades without having to enter the realm of high yield investment programs.

Signature loans a blank cheque to your name

For those first timers exploring the “Loan World,” Signature Loans seem to be unheard of; but their purpose is still the same as any other loan – financial assistance! With the increasing variety of loans available to us, considering newer options is always a risk and so we choose not to even step into the arena. But many a time, these novel propositions prove to be more beneficial than others. Newer loans cater to the latest demands of borrowers and are in the market simply because they make sense. Signature Loans fall into this category. You’ve got nothing to lose by simply reading through what Signature Loans have to offer… So let’s get started…

Signature Loans are unsecured loans – which means they do not require any collateral. Collateral is an asset that is pledged by the borrower, as security, when taking a secured loan. The value of collateral is what assures the lender of repayment. This obviously means that Signature Loans are slightly more expensive than regular secured loans. Though difficult to believe, they require nothing but a signature for acquisition. Signature Loans are also known as Character Loans because they depend on your apparent repaying ability, your credit history and your financial standing.

Signature Loans are ideal loans for students since they are excellent in providing educational assistance. They are also beneficial for tenants and non homeowners who have no collateral to offer. Signature Loans can also be applied for any other purpose like debt consolidation, funding a dream vacation, medical assistance, redecorating your home, etc.

Main features of Signature Loans:

•Signature Loans generally consent loan amounts of Ј10,000. However, if lenders find borrowers with exceptional credit history and repayment capabilities, they can even raise the amount to Ј15,000.

•The repayment term for Signature Loans is usually 60 months. A Bank Signature Loan however, generally has a one year repayment plan.

•Signature Loans do not require collateral – they are unsecured loans.

•Signature Loans solely require your signature.

•The loan term, loan amount, interest rate and other minutiae depend on your financial standing, the repayment capability portrayed and your credit history.

Although stress is laid on good credit history, those with bad credit are not barred from applying for Signature Loans. Those with bad credit can apply for Signature Loans in the form of Bad Credit Signature Loans. For example, Debt consolidation with Bad Credit Signature Loans is a way to start if you have many debts. These loans can be applied for at banks and many other financial institutions.

A Signature Loan indicates good credit. A lender puts himself in a very risky position when he approves such a loan because, as explained earlier, these loans are granted solely on your signature. Therefore, obviously if a Signature Loan gets approved, it speaks volumes of how good a credit report that particular borrower has built. In the future, your lenders, financial advisors and associates will be assured of repayment because they will infer your financial well being from the approval of your Signature Loan.

Although Signature Loans offer several benefits – do not forget that they still have to be repaid. Defaulting on your Signature Loan will get you a bad credit score no doubt. Make sure you survey your market well, study innumerable quotations from different lenders and make your repayments on time to benefit from the perfect experience of the best opportunities!

Hello from austria going back to my roots part ii

My brother and sister-in-law had taken the next day off and we were planning an excursion further afield: our destination was a mountain peak called Mangart in Slovenia, located about a three-hour drive from my home town. The beauty of Central Europe is its diversity of landscapes and its small distances, and in just a few hours of driving through the Austrian province of Carinthia we arrived in Val Canale, an area where Austria, Italy and Slovenia meet. Incidentally this is also the only area where the Germanic, Romance and Slavic language families come together right next to one another. We passed by the picturesque Predil Lake and continued our climb into the high mountains and crossed the Italian border into Slovenia.

But as it can be with the best laid plans of mice and men, our hiking trip to the Mangart Mountain was not to be: our car overheated and there was no way we were going to make it any further. We had to stop, let the car cool down and turn around to go back down the mountain. Fortunately, our disappointment did not last long since we came up with an alternate plan: we took the cable car up to Monte Lussari whose summit area features a tiny mountain village with a small pilgrimage church. An absolutely stunning 360 degree mountain vista opens up from the top of this mountain and we enjoyed a hearty lunch on the balcony of a rustic restaurant, taking in the phenomenal Alpine panorama.

On our way home we stopped in the town of Tarvisio, a border town that has benefited for a long time from the traffic between Austria, Slovenia and Italy. We stopped at the market, my brother picked up a few Italian delicatessen and we enjoyed our stroll through town. After our return in the late afternoon I embarked on a little local excursion and drove to the Teichalm – Sommeralm area close to my home town.

This region is now marketed as the “Almenland’, which literally means “Alpine meadow country”. The Tourism Region Sommeralm - Teichalm represents the largest contiguous high-altitude alpine meadow area in Europe. It features a lake, many hiking trails, ski lifts and phenomenal views into the surrounding countryside. In addition, the area is used as grazing pastures for hundreds of Alpine oxen, animals whose tender and tasty meat is prized highly by chefs and restaurant owners throughout the entire area.

Poor weather returned on Friday, so I spent a quiet day making visits to acquaintances and doing errands. The highlight of the day was a classical concert organized by the local Weiz Lions Club: a charity concert and fundraiser that featured musicians and an orchestra from AIMS, the American Institute of Musical Studies, a Graz-based organization that offers intense summer vocal, piano and music programs to international students, most of whom come from the United States.

We listened to pieces by Mozart, Strauss and Verdi and were thoroughly impressed by the young sopranos, tenors and musicians who put on an outstanding performance. The event even raised 15,000 Euros for the local charity. I interviewed several of the young music students after the concert and they were thoroughly enjoying their international exchange program and sure to return home with memories of a lifetime.

Finally, the sun had returned and my second last day in Austria was going to be gorgeous. My second photo safari through my home town resulted in several encounters with acquaintances whom I had not seen for more than 20 years. Old memories were stirred up even more when I connected with my school friends Klaudia and Doris. During our walk up to the local Weizberg we also had a celebrity connection: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mother, father and brother are buried in the Weiz cemetery. His parents lived in this town for many years, and his father was a local police officer.

Of course we reminisced about our high school adventures and after a scrumptious garden lunch we went to go hiking on the nearby Schцckel mountain. The Schцckel is the largest mountain in the region around Weiz and provides a phenomenal 360 degree panorama over the entire region. Southerly views extend into the Slovenian and Hungarian plains, and northerly vistas feature the high Alpine peaks of Northern Styria. To the east and to the west the scenic Styrian hill country opens up. The three of us climbed up the steepest portion of the mountain, securely equipped with our Nordic walking poles. Several restaurants offer refreshments and hearty Austrian food at the summit area, and high-speed excitement is provided by the summer tobogganing track that runs down the mountain, a nice adrenaline kick I just had to experience.

After our hike back down we stopped off at Doris’ house, a beautiful property in the countryside, that features a brand new pond and large garden. Doris even equipped us with delicious freshly picked peaches from her father’s orchards. Klaudia and I headed back to Weiz and an hour later we met up again for a backyard barbeque at my brother’s place. Klaudia’s entire family, her sister Andrea with daughters Nina and Katja as well as the two grandparents joined us for a delicious dinner that showcased my brother’s culinary skills in a multi-course feast.

My last full day in Austria had arrived and Ewald and Anneliese had planned a special outing: an excursion to one of Austria’s most famous fortresses – the Riegersburg. In existence for more than 850 years and located in the border region of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, this impressive fortification has withstood many attacks from the east and was never conquered. It has often been referred to as the “strongest fortification of Christianity”, having successfully defended repeated attacks by Turks and Magyars.

With its numerous fortified gates, its unique location on an extinct volcanic cone, its extensive defensive walls, wooden drawbridges and moats, the Riegersburg is an authentic medieval fortress that has seen architectural additions from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. An exhibition in the fortress explains the historic era of the 16th and 17th century and sheds light on feudalism as well as two fascinating female characters who inhabited this fortress more than four centuries ago: Baroness von Galler and the “flower witch” Katharina Paldauf.

Our East Styrian tour continued through volcano country with a drive to Schloss Kapfenstein, another medieval fortress that has been expanded into a castle and today holds an upscale restaurant and hotel. This castle is also located on the extinct cone of a former volcano. We enjoyed a tasty lunch in the outdoor patio of the castle, against the gorgeous backdrop of the distant Carinthian and Slovenian Mountains.

My last evening in Austria was capped off with a visit to our friends Luis and Isabella, and all five of us enjoyed the late evening sun in their beautiful backyard. Luis even took me on a little motor scooter adventure around town. Back at Ewald’s place we spent a few more hours reminiscing until I had to pack my bags for my departure to the airport in Vienna Monday morning.

These nine days have been one of the most wonderful travel experiences in my life. They were greatly enhanced by my connections with family and friends, but in addition, my eyes were truly opened to travel opportunities in my birth region of Austria.

Styria, with its medieval cities, imposing churches, monasteries and fortresses offers a great variety of destinations to history and architecture lovers. Music, visual and performing arts are ever present, even in small communities. Outdoor lovers will find a whole smorgasbord of activities, from hiking to mountain biking, skiing, horseback riding, mountaineering, hang-gliding, river rafting and many other varied pastimes.

The diverse landscapes featuring fertile plains, rolling hills full of orchards and vineyards, high Alpine peaks and meadows, pristine rivers and scenic lakes enchant at every corner. And food, wine and beer lovers will definitely enjoy the diverse culinary offerings. In addition, Styria offers affordable prices and great value to international travelers. I realized my birth region is right up there at the top of any destinations I have visited in the last few years.

This trip truly opened my eyes to the astounding beauty and variety of the area where I was born, and even though Styria might not be as well known as other regions of Austria, my nine days back home were far too short and I already have a whole list of things to do and see next time I am over in the old country.

Memory foam the perfect gift for your sweetheart

Memory Foam makes a perfect gift for anyone you know. Your wife, girlfriend or significant other would be thrilled beyond words with any of the many choices of gifts that are available in memory foam.

Memory foam sleep masks make a great, low cost, gift idea for someone who likes it dark in the room they're sleeping in.

They're also ideal for those who enjoy "sleeping in" but don't want the sun shining into their eyes and waking them up in the morning.

How about a memory foam sleep mask as a gift for a shift-worker or someone who likes an afternoon nap to catch up on sleep? They'd always be rested and ready for that big night out on the town.

The non-pressure feel of memory foam makes it a perfect material for sleep masks because the won't cut off circulation and they remain comfortable to the sleeper all night.

Expect to pay from $10 to $30 for a quality memory foam sleep mask.

Another low cost Valentines Day gift idea is a pair of memory foam slippers. These slippers work equally well for her indoors or outdoors.

They're ideal for someone wanting a quick, easy to slip on shoe to run out for the morning paper or to keep your feet cozy and warm while lounging around the house.

The memory foam cradles your feet in comfort by conforming to the exact shape and size of your feet. Warm, cozy and comfortable, these memory foam slippers will make her very happy.

Expect to pay $39 to $79 for this gift.

Memory foam pillows are especially welcome by her because she'll dream of you as she enjoys the cozy custom fitted and supportive feel of the memory foam around her neck and head.

It might even help stave off a "head ache".

Memory foam contour pillows are the ones, you see a lot on television, that have a "roll" on one side to put the proper curved support in your neck while you sleep.

There are normal pillows that are made from memory foam as well, and there are even memory foam body pillows.

The body pillows are especially wonderful for expectant mothers who need special support while sleeping.

There are smaller memory foam travel pillows, either contoured or u-shaped to surround your neck.

Memory foam pillows vary widely in price, but you can expect to pay $79 for the travel size to $165 for a good king size or body pillow.

If you are on a higher limit budget, you might consider a memory foam topper.

Toppers range, in quality, from the very low to the very high.

The low end toppers are made from less dense foam...usually, 2 lb. to 3.5 lb. density, and they don't give you the proper support that you would expect from memory foam.. You can count on the foam returning to it's shape for about 6 or 8 months on the cheaper toppers. After that, they will be pretty worthless.

The better toppers are made from 4 lb. to 5 lb. foam and will hold up for several years. They will give you better support and last much longer than the cheaper ones.

A high density memory foam topper will provide the most support you can expect from a memory foam topper, but they aren't in the same league as a full memory foam mattress set.

Cheaper toppers will, typically be in the $99 to $299 category.

You'll pay $299 to $499 for a middle grade topper and $500 to $900 for the best toppers.

Now matter how you slice it, a gift of memory foam will make you mighty popular with the girl of your dreams.

Alkalize to reduce your size

It is a fact that over 75% of people who lose weight put that weight back on within a year and of those who put it back on a further 50% will actually put on more weight than they started with in the first place!

How is that for a scary fact?

What I am about to tell you will help you to reduce your weight and help you to keep it at a level you are happy with. You will notice I have put the word help in bold text, this is because this is just the start to reducing your weight and it is without doubt the most important gift you could give to your body to help that weight reduction.

Do you know what a ph scale is?

A ph scale is a measurement guide to acidity and alkalinity. It is a sliding scale from 1 to 14 where 1 is completely acidic and 14 is completely alkaline. This means that 7 is completely neutral, neither acid nor alkali.

Why is this so important? Well our bodies are a fine balance between acid and alkali and the optimum level for our bodies to be at is 7.36 which is just slightly alkali. If you are over weight I guarantee that you body is acidic because that is basically what fat is, stored acid that your body has not been able to break down.

When you start to get your body back towards the optimum level of 7.36 your body will automatically react to get rid of some of the waste acid it is currently holding on to. But your body needs help to become more alkaline and to get rid of this waste.

Fortunately there is a product which is a solution to both of these areas and it is called ‘water’ that’s right – water.

I am sure that you have heard people say many times ‘you should drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day’, do you take any notice?

I am guessing that you are now in one of the 3 following categories:

1. You have heard people say this and you now do drink this amount of water per day.

2. You have heard people say this but you just can’t be bothered because it means you will go to the toilet more often.

3. You have heard people say this and you just don’t believe them.

I am here to tell you that you absolutely must drink at least 2 litres (3 would be better but do not exceed 3) of alkalizing water (bottled mineral water preferably) per day. This water will re-alkalize your body therefore giving your body chance to get rid of the excess acid it has been storing and it will help get rid of this waste through your natural systems (again I am not going to graphic on this).

I guarantee that if you start to drink at least 2 litres of water per day you will start to feel the effects within a fortnight. But before you rush off to get a glass right now…………. No actually go get yourself a nice big glass full I will wait for you…….

Are you back, excellent.

There is something else you can do to help your body’s alkali levels and that is to drink green drinks. You can either get these ready made or you can get powders to mix with your water to produce a green drink.

Green drinks are made from all natural ingredients that are high in alkali levels which is obviously superb for your body. Search the net for green drinks there are numerous ones out there.

I personally drink 2 Ѕ to 3 litres per day of green drinks and since I started I have found a massive difference to my life.

So there you have it, you now know the greatest gift you can give to your body to help you reduce your weight.

Graham Nicholls 2006

Jeep commander stuck in a sales rut

Just months after its much publicized release, the 7 passenger Jeep Commander is a major disappointment for DaimlerChrysler to the point where it has become an albatross around the automaker’s neck. Stung with bloated inventories in excess of 100 days – an industry killer – the Commander is now commanding discounts of over $5000 per vehicle. What went wrong? Plenty, especially if you read what the pundits and prognosticators have to say about the new Jeep.

No vehicle introduction should be problematic however, as for the Jeep Commander this model has fallen well short of sales goals. There are many reasons why the Commander may be failing to live up to expectations including:

High Fuel Prices – Gasoline pushing past $2.50 per gallon cannot help any SUV. With the Commander’s three thirsty engine choices, the price at the pump can be painful. Yet, the even bigger Chevrolet Tahoe is selling well despite high fuel prices.

Dated Styling – Jeep mentions the Commander’s “heritage exterior design” as one of the chief draws for the vehicle. Take one look at the Commander, and the styling cues of the 1984 Jeep Cherokee quickly come to mind. While some vehicles successfully incorporate “the look” of an earlier model without copying the style, the Commander looks awfully like the earlier Cherokee, only stretched out. Personally, I find the style to be dated and awkward.

Cramped Interior – Put the Commander up against the next biggest Jeep, the Gran Cherokee, and you will see that the interior space is just about the same. This is bad because the Commander comes equipped with a third row of seats so there should be more room. Many have complained that only two small children could fit in the last row which, incidentally, does not completely fold into the floor like the “stow ‘n go” feature on the DCX minivans.

Overpriced – Fully loaded Commanders are retailing for well over $40,000. While this price range can be expected for the likes of a Yukon, Tahoe, or Expedition, it can’t for the Commander. Of course, the Commander is bigger than the Gran Cherokee which is priced just under $40,000. However, if you put the two models side by side, many would say that the Gran Cherokee is the better of the two.

So, will DaimlerChrysler actually discontinue the Commander? That isn’t likely. Instead, look for big rebates to remain in place and production to be permanently cut back. For the long term, DCX will need to give some serious consideration as to whether the Commander will remain part of the Jeep line up. In my opinion, if it does, it needs to be seriously overhauled in order to compete in today’s marketplace.

In all, the Commander is a costly mistake for the automaker. During these times of strong and aggressive competition, the Commander is a misstep that cannot be ignored by DaimlerChrysler. Goodness knows the Commander is being ignored by Jeep faithful who are spurning the model altogether.

History of yoga

Yoga is a union of body, mind, and spirit. The history of yoga is long and steeped in tradition. Yoga is an ancient system of health and fitness which originated in India. The word yoga has its first mention in the Rig Veda, the oldest of the sacred texts. Those that study Yoga estimate it's age to be four thousand year.

The history of Yoga can be divided into four main periods which are the pre-classical period, classical period, post-classical period and modern period. In the history of yoga, the book is called the yoga sutras. The history of yoga would not have been completed in the classical stage of yoga.

The word Yoga literally meant the Yolk that joins something together, such as an ox to a cart. The idea is that yoga unites all aspects of being into one.

What most people envision to be Yoga, those contortionist postures, is really only one small aspect of a much larger field of practices. The methods of yoga includes ethical disciplines, physical postures, breathing control and as well as meditation.

The 20th century witnessed a renaissance of yoga that caused a globalization of this ancient tradition. Modern approaches to yoga have created a clear delineation between the Hindu religion and the practice of yoga. Through the practice of yoga, an individual can gain information about physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being.

Over the long history of yoga, different schools have emerged, and there are numerous examples branches and philosophies that have spawned. Ultimately, all agree on one common element the fundamental purpose of yoga is to foster harmony in the body, mind, and environment.

Today yoga is accepted as a comprehensive exercise to promote control of the body and mind. More than just a means of being fit and trim, yoga can help you live a healthy, whole, and empowered life. In recent decades, yoga has greatly and swiftly evolved. Yoga is the most diversified spiritual practice in the world. The living tradition of yoga now recognizes no borders as it continues to spread globally.