Archive for October, 2008

Antica Toscana B&B in Calci

October 31st, 2008 filed under Travel Center

The B&B Antica Toscana is situated in a wonderful building of the 8th century in the pittoresque Montemagno - a small medieval village in a green country. Il B&B has an indipendent entrance, 2/3 double rooms with wooden floor, 2 bathrooms and the possiblility to use the kitchen. There is a car parking near a green area with a playground for children. Near the B&B you can find a food shop and an excellent typical tuscan restaurant.
B&B Antica Toscana is in front of the Valley Valgraziosa there is a beautiful view on Pisa and its surroundings. You can reach Pisa in about 10 minutes. The famous “Charterhouse of Calci” where you can visit the Museum of Natural History is situtated at a distance of 2 km. In the neighbourhood you can find a riding-ground, a swimming-pool, a tennis court and a shop which hires out bicycles and it is possible to do trecking in our beautifull hills. It’s the ideal place for whom wants to live a relaxing holiday but also for whom wants to be near the most important tuscan towns as Lucca, Florence and Siena and the seaside resorts like Tirrenia, Marina di Pisa, Viareggio, Forte dei Marmi ecc.

If you think that Antica Toscana B&B is not exactly what you are looking for, click here to visit our catalogue for Hotels in Italy, and make a search for another hotel in Calci: we are pretty sure that you can easy find the Calci accommodation that can best fit your need for a perfect stay in Italy.


Why Antor from Rwanda Visits Chamonix Haute Savoie France

October 31st, 2008 filed under Best Recreation Resources, Travel Center

Chamonix Haute Savoie France is a beautiful holiday destination with the towering Mont Blanc as well as tumbling glaciers. We enjoy going skiing or even visiting the Aiguille du Midi. I sometimes travel from Pikeville and stay at a Chamonix chalet for the duration of my holiday.

I used to went to Inn at Silver Creek but it sometimes didn’t meet the standards of its its advert: Inn at Silver Creek is located in an alpine meadow, one mile from SolVista Basin, and approximately 90 miles from Denver International Airport. This location is also across the street from the Grand Elk Ranch & Club, three miles from Snow Mountain Ranch, 15 miles from Hot Sulphur Springs, 17 miles from Winter Park Ski Resort and Grand Lake Village, and 20 miles from Rocky Mountain National Park. The property’s amenities include the year-round outdoor pool, indoor and outdoor hot tubs, fitness facility, game room, gift shop, Silver Creek Bar and Grill. Parking is complimentary and high-speed Internet access is available in public areas (fee applies). The hotel also offers valet laundry service, a video library, and 24-hour front desk service. Small pets are welcome (fee may apply).

However in Chamonix town the lodge is nearly always brilliant. Even dining in our number one French restaurant, Chapel Hill Farms, enjoying brown rice dressing is a delight. Chamonix France is a big enough town to insure that there is lots of things for the tourist to do. Including a husky sledding centre and a number of restaurants, Chamonix provides a mix of snowboarding, old town charm and shopping which barely any resorts can hope to rival.


Getting Started with Visual Studio.Net

October 31st, 2008 filed under Tech

Getting Started with Visual Studio.Net

Visual Studio.Net is a comprehensive Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is extensively used to develop ASP.Net web applications. In addition, it allows you to create standalone applications, mobile applications and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Web Services. Visual Studio.Net provides a common platform to build, compile, and run an application. Visual Studio.Net comes with .Net Framework that allows you to install Common Language Runtime (CLR), class libraries, and ASP.NET. Visual Studio.Net has drag-and-drop capabilities for all the controls that make it user-friendly.

Visual Studio.Net comes in three editions: Professional, Enterprise Developer, and Enterprise Architect. The Professional edition helps you to easily build and deploy Windows, Web, and Mobile applications. The Professional edition, that has built-in ADO.NET and Visual Database Tools, provide support for the creation of professional data-driven software. The Enterprise Developer allows you to use the .NET Framework and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 to develop distributed applications with improved deployment capabilities, security, reliability, and performance.

As Visual Studio.Net includes Common Language Runtime engine, the applications in Visual Studio.Net are language independent and platform independent. You can program the applications with languages such as Visual Basic.Net, Visual C#.Net, Visual C++.Net, and Visual J#.Net. In addition you can use languages such as COBOL, FORTRAN, Java, Eiffel, and Mercury in your applications. You can also use scripting languages such as VBScript and JavaScript.

Visual Studio.Net 2003 now has some of the advanced features such as integration with .Net Compact Framework, support for latest web services, and integration with Enterprise Instrumentation Framework. The integration with .Net Compact Framework allows you to develop and deploy applications for smart devices. Visual Studio.Net 2003 supports some of the most advanced web services such as WS-Routing, WS-Security, WS-Attachments, and Direct Internet Message Encapsulation. Similarly, the integration of Enterprise Instrumentation Framework with Visual Studio.Net 2003 allows you to monitor the application while you run it.

All the features mentioned above are available in all the editions of Visual Studio.Net. For the integration of Enterprise Instrumentation Framework, you have to download it from MSDN.

To access online version of the above article, go to http://www.dotnet-guide.com/visualstudio.html


The Hidden Power of Online Manual

October 30th, 2008 filed under Tech

Writing software manuals is boring, isn’t it? We often think: “My software is easy to use. The user interface is intuitive. Why should I waste so much time for writing the document which nobody reads anyway?” Sometimes it’s true - I’ve never read the WinZip or Internet Explorer manuals - everything seems clear without explanations. Nevertheless, even if your manual doesn’t help to your software users, it may help to you. Publish it online and turn its hidden power into the real benefits for your business.

Online Manual Makes Your Web Site Visible

User manual is a huge bunch of words, the highly targeted words, which are specific for your software market. For instance, if you develop a database management system, its user guide will certainly contain such words as “database”, “query”, “transaction”, “table”, “record”, and etc. On the other hand, people use these words in their queries when they are looking for a database management solution on the Google, Yahoo, or other search engine. Let the interested people to find your web site and your product. Upload your manual on your web server and make it available for indexing by search engine spiders. This area specific content will make your web site and your software more visible to potential customers. Making the user guide available online will increase your web site rank in relevant search results and will bring highly targeted traffic to web your site. Let the manual to work not only for your users, but for you as well.

Online Manual Saves Your Time

A picture worth a hundred words. Those who are engaged in user support know this for sure. When replying to user concerns, very often we have to write sentences like this “Open the Document settings dialog. Choose the External modules tab. Select the ‘ABC Spell Checker’ in the module list. Enter your registration key and verification code in the corresponding text fields which will appear at the bottom of the window. Then, press Activate”. If your application is simple the user will likely understand you right and will do everything as you have explained. However, if your application is a complex system with lots of setting windows which behave differently in various modes, the user may be puzzled which window and which fields do you mean. In this case you risk getting into a long conversation by repeatedly explaining the same things again and again.

The screenshot could be a very helpful illustration of your explanations. You may run your application, go to the certain window, open that tab page, activate the corresponding item in the list. Then make the screenshot of the window by using Alt+PrtSc key combination or another screen capture tool, save the picture in a file, and finally attach it to your message. Sometimes it’s also necessary to add callouts, annotations and other enlightenments to the screenshot picture. Thus, you have to launch your image editor and to manually draw all the elements required. As you see, it may takes up to a half hour to reply to a single message only. And how many messages are yet in the queue?

Having the screenshots prepared is a good approach which may save your time. But having screenshots already prepared together with callouts, explanations, and annotations is a great approach which will save you much more time. Most likely, you have all that stuff prepared in your software manual but it’s not very polite to reply to the user: “Read that fantastic manual”. User may have no idea where the manual is on the PC and on what page is the looked-for solution located. On the other hand, you may also have no time to manually cut particular pages with screenshots and related instructions from the manual and to attach them to each support message.

The solution is easy. Put your manual on your web site in the form of HTML pages. Make all the pictures, screenshots with callouts, descriptions, and instructions accessible for every user. When you are processing another support request, simply insert an URL link to the appropriate page of your online manual and add just a few clarification words - more words and pictures are already on that page. You will save much time and nerves because you will be sure that the user is looking at the same thing which you are describing. At the same time, the user will get a fast solution which is supported by clear pictures and neat instructions.

Online Manual Makes Your Products Trustworthy

Besides the users get the faster and more helpful support, they also see that you did this tedious job - writing the handy and well structured manual with great screenshots and clear explanations. They know that this job is boring and developers don’t like to do it. Therefore, if you did it and if you did it perfectly, it means that you respect your customers, not only their money. Good manual means that you consider your business and product seriously yourself. This helps your business to look more credible and serious. So, make your manual available online and prove your respect to your existing and prospective users. Make them trusting in you and in your product before they even download a demo copy of it.

Online Manual Brings Sales

As we see, the software manual which is a part of your web site generates a targeted traffic. The people may easily find your product because online help makes your web site more visible in relevant search results on the search engines. Those new visitors get more loyal when they see a well done help system. Also, if a prospect experiences difficulties with your software and asks for technical support, you may easily resolve the issue by referring the user to a certain page of your online help. With just a one click the user will see screenshots and explanations which will help them to settle the case. So, you have a motivated and targeted visitor, who feels loyal to your company and products, and whom you can easily help in case of a technical problem. The probability of such visitor ordering a license is several times higher than of the average one.

Don’t miss these prospects. Don’t lose the sales. Make your software manual a part of your web site and start receiving new sales that you have not ever dream about.


Options Available to People with Debt Problems

October 30th, 2008 filed under Credit

“I’m having debt problems. What are my options? It’s a common question these days. Whatever debt problems a person is facing, they’re likely to have at least one solution suitable for their situation.

Let’s consider just a few debt options: debt management; debt consolidation loans; Individual Voluntary Arrangements and Protected Trust Deeds. To some, they’re just names - but to other people, they’re a path back to financial independence. So how do these debt solutions work? What’s the difference between them? Perhaps most important: which option could be right for me?

Option one, debt management programme. Basically, debt management programmes involves negotiating with creditors, asking them to accept a few changes to the original repayment terms.

However it happened, it’s in your creditors’ interest (as well as your own) to figure out a realistic way for you to repay your debts, and a professional debt management programme company can help make that happen. They can contact your creditors on your behalf, asking them to consider things like accepting lower payments, freezing interest and waiving charges. So a debt management programme might mean your creditors take longer to repay (because you’re repaying it more slowly), but it can keep the debt from escalating further.

Next: Debt consolidation loans. Rather than struggling to keep up multiple payments to multiple debts, some debtors choose to consolidate their debts - repaying their smaller debts with one large debt consolidation loan. This means they’ll only have one payment to make per month, reducing the risk of missing a payment (and the charges and damage to their credit rating that can result).

Plus, a consolidation loan can come with a lower interest rate than many other forms of unsecured credit. It can also give the person the chance to think about their finances and arrange to repay the loan at a rate they can afford - again, repaying a debt more slowly will mean it takes longer to pay off and can end up costing more, so it’s vital to weigh up the pros and cons before proceeding.

3rd: IVAs. A form of insolvency, an IVA is a legally binding agreement between a debtor and their creditors. If you owe around £15,000 or more to more than two unsecured creditors, an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) can tell you whether an IVA might be the best way for you to get out of debt.

If the right percentage of your creditors agree, the IVA can start. You agree to make those monthly repayments (and possibly free up some equity in your home, if you’re a homeowner), and the creditors will agree to freeze your debt, hold off on any legal action (such as trying to make you bankrupt) and write off any outstanding debt once the IVA has successfully concluded.

Fourth: Trust Deeds. A Trust Deed is similar to an IVA, but only available to residents of Scotland. In most cases, a Trust Deed will last for three years.


Evaluating Bandwidth Choices….Fractional DS3 vs DS3

October 29th, 2008 filed under Tech

Looking for bandwidth? That can be a daunting and frustrating task even in the best of situations. There’s lots to consider in order to make the right decision for your needs. Below you’ll find some help when evaluating Fractional DS3 vs DS3. Factors covered include Technology, Speed, Description, Application, Pros, Cons, and Cost.

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Technology: Fractional DS3

Speed: 3 Mbps - 44.736 Mbps

Description: A fraction of a full DS-3, which is comprised of 28 T-1s or 672 channels.

Application: Provides access from a location into the Internet for a large business or ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Pros: Provides very high speed access directly into the carrier’s backbone. Bandwidth guaranteed by SLA (Service Level Agreement). Very reliable.

Cons: Setup and monthly costs can be prohibitive.

Costs: A Fractional DS3 will likely start at around $2,000 for a stable, reliable system (e.g. from a Tier 1 provider)….not including the local loop. A required router is additional unless provided as a “freebie” incentive by the vendor. Price climbs as distance from the providers Central Office (CO) increases. However….the pricing for these connections can vary widely depending on the carrier, location of service and the application for which the connection is being used. For example…Tier 1 providers will probably cost more than local/regional Tier 2 and Tier 3 providers but are much more stable and reliable. A Tier 1 provider should be the provider of choice for any business serious about the quality of their network. Also, expect to pay more if you are in a rural area or need integrated (voice and data combined) DS3 service.

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Technology: DS3

Speed: 44.736 Mbps

Description: dedicated connection made up of the equivalent of 28 T-1s.

Application: Provides access from a location into the Internet for a large business or ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Pros: Circuit runs directly into the carrier’s backbone. Bandwidth guaranteed by SLA (Service Level Agreement). Very reliable.

Cons: Setup and monthly costs can be prohibitive.

Costs: A full DS3 obviously will cost more than a Fractional DS3. Expect cost to start at around a $3-5,000 for a stable, reliable system (e.g. from a Tier 1 provider)…..not including the local loop. A required router is additional unless provided as a “freebie” incentive by the vendor. Price climbs as distance from the providers Central Office (CO) increases. However….the pricing for these connections varies widely depending on the carrier, location of service and the application for which the connection is being used. For example…Tier 1 providers may cost more than local/regional Tier2 and Tier 3 providers but are much more stable and reliable. A Tier 1 provider should be the provider of choice for any business serious about the quality of their network. Also, expect to pay more if you are in a rural area or need integrated (voice and data combined) or bonded (multiple DS3s bound in 1 network….option vs full OC3) DS3 service.

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Technology: E3 (Europe)

Speed: 34.368 Mbps

Description: European equivalent of T-3. Made up of the equivalent of 28 T-1s.

Application: Provides access from a location into the Internet for a large business or ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Pros: Circuit runs directly into the carrier’s backbone. Bandwidth guaranteed by SLA (Service Level Agreement). Very reliable.

Cons: Setup and monthly costs can be prohibitive.

Costs: A full E3 usually costs more than it’s North American counterpart. Expect cost to start at around a $6-8,000 for a stable, reliable 45 Mbps system (e.g. from an equivalent Tier 1 provider). A required router is additional unless provided as a “freebie” incentive by the vendor (not common in Europe). Local loops range from $1,000 - $3,000/month. Price climbs as distance from the providers Central Office (CO) increases. However….just as with the North American version the pricing for these connections varies widely depending on the carrier, location of service and the application for which the connection is being used.


Options for setting up (building) an intranet or extranet

October 29th, 2008 filed under Tech

Setting up an intranet or extranet can be as easy as purchasing access through an application service provider (ASP), purchasing and installing third-party software, or building an extranet or intranet internally.

Here is a quick summary of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach:

1. Building it yourself Advantages: Complete control of user interface design; ability to customize level of functionality for each client; integration into internal systems, and direct access to user activity.

Disadvantages: High up-front development cost; requires staff expertise in the development of intranets and extranets, commitment of internal staff for 6 months to a year for planning, execution, review and implementation; and an ongoing commitment of internal staff for internal and client support, hosting, maintenance and upgrades.

2. Purchasing/installing third-party software Advantages: Proven track-record of packaged solution; ability to choose functions and to customize user interface, more rapid implementation compared to building it yourself.

Disadvantages: High up-front purchase cost; commitment of internal staff for customization and implementation; on-going commitment of internal staff for internal and client support, hosting, maintenance and upgrades; and extensive internal and client training.

3. Using a Service Provider (ASP) Advantages: Proven track-record, often with expertise in the application of intranets and extranets in particular industries; low cost of entry and predictable cost over time; virtually immediate implementation; no commitment of internal staff for internal and client support, hosting, or maintenance; and upgrades at no cost by extranet experts, and savings on internal server use.

Disadvantages: Less freedom in user interface design, and fixed functionality.

In the final analysis… The approach you choose depends on how you work, the technical and financial resources at your disposal, and how rapidly you need to move forward.


See How to Acquire Designer Tops That Provides Back Your Money’s Worth

October 28th, 2008 filed under Rags

Buying and carrying off designer tops is not vey easy. Nonetheless, thanks to incredible ready made designer fashion and higher disposable incomes, the majority of us fashion shoppers might afford to get an item of wonderful high fashion clothing every now and then. Nevertheless, there can be found certain issues associated with designer dresses that are also not there with your basic high street clothing, with the very most prominent ones being the design and the price of such blouses.

High fashion clothing costs somewhat more than even the very best brands for sale in the market; and the reason why designer dresses cost so much is because high fashion clothing not only offer fashion junkies magnificent quality and marvellous styles, but because they are exclusive. Even budget ranges in high fashion skirts carry only limited editions, so there are wonderfully small chances that you can often notice your neighbor wearing the same phenomenal skirt that folk recently bought.

To select the greatest kind of designer clothes for yourself, keep a close eye to a number of things. If fashionistas are not a regular trendy designer clothes buyer, then chances are that budget is a clincher with you. In such a case, it is even more prominent that you select awesome designer shorts that might well actually give you back your money’s worth.

To do this, the 1st thing to follow is to get beautiful trendy designer clothes that compliments your body and weight, If you don’t do this, then even the very best designs can end up making glamourous shoppers look a horrible mess. Do follow the basic fashion rules of not buying loose trousers that will make you look fat or stumpy and not wearing vertical patterns and extraordinarily dark colours if you are exceedingly thin etcetera to buy tops that match your physique, colouring and facial features.

The other crucial thing to think about is if you want your incredible designer clothing to last you are to acquire pieces or designs that are classic and timeless in nature. Take a sneak peak at the latest fashion from Stella McCartney at Matches Fashion.


Give Them a KISS Ad, or Traffic Exchange Programs - Ideas, T

October 25th, 2008 filed under Tech


I like traffic exchange programs! But you probably already knew that if you read my first article about this theme: Traffic Exchange Programs - Are they worth your time?.

Why do you like them?”, you might ask. They are not the most effective way of advertising, they are not all quite cheat proof and they sure are not very targeted; 3 mayor flaws they share with most other types of free advertising. And yes, that’s all very true, BUT traffic exchange programs are free (mostly), you can do things to make them more effective and what if your target group is prone to use traffic exchange programs as well and it fits your business strategy? What if you are a beginner and you just need to start somewhere? What if you have a new site that just needs some initial traffic?


Of course your strategy should not be entirely build upon the use of traffic exchange programs, but if you have the time, why not take some advantage of them? Use a multi page browser, take heed of the following advise and if you enjoy surfing, these programs are right for you!



Strategic considerations


Questions you should ask yourself are: What is your business strategy? What is your target group?


A good strategy for beginners is to try to sell high ticket products in a niche market. The efforts and costs of selling a high ticket product are quite the same as trying to sell a low ticket, cheap product, so why not start with high ticket products? If this is your strategy, you would be wasting your time with traffic exchange programs.


I believe that most people that are surfing these programs are not interested in this kind of products. They are more likely interested in low ticket products and free offers. They are most likely interested in marketing tools (auto responders and such), free traffic, downline builders, new opportunities and programs.


My business strategy is largely build around getting downlines and targeted at people with lots of time but who are not willing to invest a lot of money. This is a very slow and long term strategy and does not involve a lot of actual selling. Traffic exchange programs are a good place to start recruiting. People who surf these programs expect to see ads for new opportunities and programs, downline builders, free ebooks, tools etc.


Normally I do not promote the idea of using your home page for traffic exchange programs or to use auto surf programs, but there are exceptions. When you have a new site and want some initial traffic, sign up for a few programs and benefit from the start bonuses. When you have a new page (offer) or site and you are not interested in Page Rank, you could use auto surf programs to get your ticker starting and get some traffic (but never do this with your main site!).



How long do you need to surf?

How much do you need to surf for credits? Well, there are people saying that you need to surf at least one hour per day! That would be the people who are in your upline I suppose. Actually, I do not have a recommendation for the time you should spend, that’s totally up to you, but can I tell you how I do it? At this very moment, writing this article, I have 4 programs running and I am playing a bit of solitaire. Point is that I am running a special offer at this moment and I need some extra credits, so when I stop writing for a while, I continue surfing for credits.

Mostly I surf when I feel like it and have no other urgent matters at hand. Or when I am doing something and need something else to distract me for a little while or when I need some fresh ideas. I surf in bursts, only with a few programs at the time and try to get the credit ticker running to get some of the bigger bonuses. surfing too many programs at the same time isn’t that effective and seems a lot like working, and I try to avoid that. Typically I surf traffic exchange programs when I feel like it and that is about 2 or 3 times a week for about 1 to 3 hours. And I get a lot of bonuses this way (extra free traffic).

What kind of Traffic Exchange Programs?


There are so many of them, so which should you join? Well, I would be inclined to say that you should just join those that appeal to you (as those are likely to appeal to others as well). But there are a few thing you could or should take into consideration.


First of all they should have a good anti cheat system. Most manual traffic exchanges have rather good anti cheat systems nowadays.


The timer, or the time to show the sites before you can go to the next site should not be too short. People should have the time to see your ad.


The bonus system should really benefit the heavy surfers with lavish bonuses.


I like traffic exchanges with lots of extra features (for playing a game while surfing, to change banner credits for site credits, a site rotator, free ebooks or other offers, chat room, bribes and that sort of things).


You will need to be able to pause your sites from being shown or there should be a mechanism to assign only a certain percentage of your credits for displaying your pages.. Sometimes you will need extra bursts of advertising and you should be able to build up a reserve amount of credits.


A strong pro would be if they have the ability to specify your target group or market a little more and provide an option to display your pages to certain categories of visitors.


The sites they show should appeal to you and should be changing a lot. Sometimes I am surfing programs and I keep seeing the same sites over and over again. Not a good sign!



Give Them a KISS Ad

The design of your page or ad should be as simple as possible. No jokes, no pictures, no music etc., just plain text html. I am a firm believer of the KISS principle (Keep It Short and Simple) and dealing with traffic exchange programs, that is just a MUST. My most successful ads are just simple sign up forms (with little more) or a plain text page where I invite people to push the button (that opens in a new window) “to learn more about ..”. They load super fast, are short and to the point. People can actually see what the page is about while they are looking for the “next” button.


Rotate your pages


Rotate your pages and ads in time and space! Use the program site rotator to rotate your offers or sites. In your hosting statistics you can see which rotator actually sends you traffic and which don’t. Try out different offers on the different program rotators and see which work where and which don’t. Rotate the offers and rotate the rotators and keep track of them. Don’t let the same offer run too long on the same exchange program, because it will become less and less effective. If you promote an opportunity or program, let the ad run for about two weeks, take it away and rerun it after a month or so!



Long term campaigns


Suppose you are a member of a MLM or multi-tier affiliate program and you want to build up your downline. You could of course just keep sending your affiliate page to the traffic exchanges (and there are a lot of people who do just that!) but that way, you will probably not be very successful.


Build your own site featuring your opportunity and send teasers to the traffic exchange programs to lure them into visiting your site. Prominently on your home page (or using a pop up, although I hate those) you should place your opt-in form and your personal recommendation for that program. You will have all the time of the world (so to speak) to try out different offers, teasers, wording and formatting of your ads. You should find enough material for those with your affiliate program, if not, you are probably in the wrong one.



Short term campaigns


Sometimes you will be send an offer that seems to be to good to be true (or something like that) and you will want to fire from all ports to advertise it. Hopefully you have build up some reserve credits so you can take the internet by storm!


Well, it happens to us all and it is good to be prepared for such an event. Being fast and being the first are always good tactics in these. Pause all the other pages in your rotators and feature the new offer and bombard the programs for a few days. If it is a good offer for the kind of people who surf the traffic exchange programs, it should actually work quite nicely! You could even consider joining a few other exchange programs, if only for taking advantage of the initial free credits you will be allotted.

Pro or Contra

Actually, there is a lot more to say about traffic exchange programs and you will always see people fervently in favor or in contra. When you start reading about them or even investigating the theme, you will soon see why. Take a look at their background and their site. That will tell you enough. Somebody who is interested in downlines and cheap tools might favor them, someone selling advertising or mainly concerned with search engine optimization will generally not favor them. I just plainly like them, and as they fit my general strategy, I frequently use them.. And maybe you will permit me a last word about free advertising.

FFA, or free for all pages are definitely out of the question. They are not effective and even can be harmful to your site. Safelist were quite an alternative until recently, but since the appearance of automatic submitters, they have gone down considerately in effectiveness (although there still remain some opportunities out there). And probably the best way of free advertising is “targeted free advertising”, but I will leave that subject for another article!


I am not saying here that traffic exchange programs are the answer to all your prayers or even the most effective way of advertising, but they sure can give a starting marketer a break. Any questions or comments? Drop me a line!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martin Thomassen is an economist and system analyst who took to the internet to apply his knowledge in this area. His aim is to provide useful information and help to ebiz starters to setup their business for free. Visit his site, Ebiz Setup Tutorial, Starting a homebased business for beginners


The Search for God’s Intention

October 24th, 2008 filed under Tech

The Search for God’s Intention - Joseph Ghabi

I believe in the source we refer to as ‘God’. This is the powerful Universal Energy from which all that is manifests. This energy is always there and is available to all. My God is the same as your God and everybody else’s God.

However, we still try to categorize and define that energy in different ways, depending upon our belief system and religious orientation.

God is love and so are you.
God is compassion and so are you.
God is perfection and so are you.
God is forgiveness and so are you.

You are created in the image of your God but what happened to you? Have you forgotten your essence? What was it that went wrong in your life that changed your love into fear, your compassion into anger, your unconditional love into jealousy and envy, and your forgiveness into hatred?

When you are angry God has nothing to do with your state of mind.
When you hate people God has nothing to do with it either.
Whether you are rich or poor in this lifetime is not a reflection of God’s favoritism for there is no such thing.

If you are sick or in a condition of ill-health it does not mean God is punishing you; God does not punish.

It is time to take a good look at yourself, your life and identify with what is in you that keeps you far from your own God of love, compassion, forgiveness and perfection.

Throughout the centuries, humanity has assumed the image of God in any which way we please; we even gave God a sex. Then, according to our own set of beliefs, life values and religion we manipulate people, animals, plants and the planet in God’s name. God becomes the excuse we use to justify our actions. I find this rather confusing because if God was really the one inflicting the rules upon us of how we should live together as ONE world, and since we all give our life and power away to that God, wouldn’t we all be acting and living in the same way?

Deep inside every one of us, we know very well that God has nothing to do with the problems that exist on earth and in each one of our lives at the moment. God has nothing to do with the natural events which take place. God has nothing to do with it when someone kills another person in God’s name. Many people in the world have been driven to exist in a state of fear when it comes to God. There are people who are aware of, and abuse that fear by tapping into it and using it to their own advantage.

Over the centuries the three main religions have drummed the fear of God into us, and for a simple reason, to keep masses of people under control by taking away our own individual sense of power and our free will. We verbally define God in one way, yet act another way in the name of God. Does nobody else see the contradiction here?

Most of us would agree that God is the nurturing, loving, super-consciousness that creates all life which exists in this plane and all the others. We were given the gift of free will which is one of the Universal laws which govern the whole Universe. God trusted us with free will and left the gift of his/her creation, the earth, in our hands and trusted us to honor the gift of our life. What have we accomplished so far in that aspect? So far we are doing a great job of destroying the planet, the animal and plant kingdom, destroying nature, polluting the oceans and the atmosphere and don’t forget the fact that we rape, kill and hate each other!
It seems that there are very few of us who are actually able to see the natural beauty and the miracle of life that exists around us. This will be there until the very last shred of life exists in the earth plane. It will always be there, no matter how much fear and despair prevails. For those of you who recognize miracles everyday just by being alive, why don’t you do something to help others see too? Are you feeling too powerless, too fearful or maybe even too lazy to do something to change our world? Is it worth that little to you that you’d give-up so soon?

We have been led to believe that God is an entity which exists outside of us, beyond our reach. Is that belief the result of a lack of understanding, or was it created as a means that better suits us when we need to use the name of God in a manner that works to our advantage?

We live in a world mainly characterized by war, murder, hate, fear, greed, envy, jealousy, rape, the struggle for external power and control over others and the environment. Every one of us is characterized by one or more of those categories in one way or another, and we know it. Yet, we keep praying to God for help and mercy and where did it really bring us? So far it seems that after many years of praying, nothing is really changing, in fact things are getting worse!
Why on earth should God listen to our prayers when we never pay attention to the answers that always are and always have been there? I am sure if God had any input on the situation; He/She would probably look at us and saying “Will, you never learn? So far you missed the point! Was my design of humanity so bad that even after thousands of years, you still do not understand the essence of your life, your reason for being here and laws which govern the Universe and all of creation?”

Here are some points about life of which I have grown to understand. They are very simple and you can choose to accept these points or not, you have your own free will to choose in the end.

Your Soul was created in the image of its creator, God.

Your Soul is the one who seeks to evolve back into being that energy from where it came, its creator, God.

The Soul is immortal, a human being is not.
Your Soul decided to incarnate into the earth plane right now as part of its evolutionary progression and that is why you exist.

Your Soul gave you a spirit which is the manifestation of specific energies, characteristic of the experiences it planned to encounter in its chosen life path.

Your spirit is created in the image of your soul.
Your Soul evolves according to the level of growth attained during its human incarnation.

The growth of a human being depends upon the choices he/she makes during the life experience.

I mentioned the law of free will above. Free will of choice supports the evolutionary progression of the Soul. Choices equal growth, growth equals evolution; evolution brings the Soul closer to its creator (God).

You can pray as much as you want because God will not intervene and for a simple reason, your free will is respected by God. In order for God to listen to you, you must act to bring the things you want into your life. We almost always take things in life for granted, and then wait for God to help us when times get tough. When nothing changes we start to get angry and ask “Where are you God when we need you?” The problem there is, we forgot one major thing, what was your true intention in what you were trying to accomplish? How can you move forward in your life in the will of God, or any other, when deep inside you don’t want to move in the first place? God, your angels or guides or whatever other force you believe in can and will help you wherever possible, but only when you express real interest in moving forward, changing and then accepting and acting upon any form of help that comes your way. God or anyone else cannot override your free will.

Help does not manifest itself by you sitting doing nothing, you must act with a pure intention first, without contradiction and then help will come. If we all received help by sitting twiddling our thumbs then of course, typical of the human nature, we would take it all for granted again and learn nothing. This does not support our soul purpose of evolution; in fact it is counter productive. Growth and evolution do not come by taking things for granted, that is why we must take the initiative and start acting instead of waiting, or else nothing will change in your life.

Stop praying and start acting on what you would like to see manifest in your life and you will see how things will change drastically. In the end it is a matter of choice, your choice. You can choose to move forward in your life just as you can choose to hate and feel jealousy toward your neighbor or not, to control people around you or not and to fear everything about other people, including yourself. We ALL have a choice in everything in life.

We are using God in a wrong way, abusing and misusing the name of God to our own advantage. One day when you pass to the other side you will be able to see this, if you don’t already. You can count on God NOT coming to you, tapping you on the shoulder and saying “Well son, I am proud of your accomplishment in killing all of those people down there for my sake; you really helped me out there! I also liked the way you managed to control and walk over all those people to satisfy your own need to feel external power.

Come on lad, you have won your place in Heaven!”
It is time for us to WAKE UP before it is too late for humanity and the earth! This is not a threat to make you feel afraid; it is an unfortunate reality, one that are already on the way to creating for ourselves. If we keep going like this, we will eventually destroy everything. We are slowly but surely killing the planet and ourselves and each other. Our Souls all had a good intention in coming here, but somehow we lost touch with our soul and lost all intention of trying to understand the miracle of life for what it really is.

God does not promote killing.
God does not promote crusades in His/Her name.
God does not make distinction in His/Her creation.

It is only our human thoughts, ideology and lack of conviction and confidence of who we really are that brings forth the need to rationalize, define, judge and categorize the many aspects of life that exist within our physical world.

You may not be able to save the whole world right now, but you can begin to change your own life as an individual. That would be a great contribution toward helping humanity and the earth right now. Try to fix your own life before even trying to fix someone else’s. Take your own advice and apply it on yourself before you pass it to other people around you. Set a good example of responsibility and people will follow on their own, and if they don’t, well that is their choice.

Stop contradicting yourself because contradiction brings stagnation. Swallow your pride and admit that you are not perfect, that you have flaws which require some attention and work and try to let go of your ego to allow for the change to manifest. What is all that worth holding onto when in the silence of your own life and being, everything is still a mass of confusion, nothing makes sense, your life is still a mess and you are filled with inner conflict and torment? Isn’t it time to let go of old nonsense and try something new?
We all keep wondering what God’s intention is with the earth and humanity and we still feel hopeless. God’s intention remains as it always will be. God loves you and wants you to experience your life, understand the essence of your life understanding from the perspective of your Soul, as was intended in the first place.

It is not difficult; it is just that we choose to make life so complicated. It was intended that you grow to understand the Universal Laws that govern the Universe and realize that it is you and you alone who is responsible for your life. You are the only one who can make changes in your life. Your existence is your own experience, not God’s. If God were to step in every time we needed some help then He/She would be cheating you out of your experiences and lessons in life.

God/Love/Source/Light/Creator, whatever term you like to define that energy, it is always in you, as you. It is always there even during the worst times on your life path. However, never forget that you are the Master of your own destiny in life and from now on, try to change the direction of your life into something which helps you progress into more harmony and peace, instead of stagnating in your problems and existing with a constant inner void.

You have a choice…God bless you!

Copyright © Joseph Ghabi
http://www.freespiritcentre.info

About the Author

Joseph Ghabi is an author, lecturer, and healer. Joseph provides Intuitive Numerology Consultation, Healing Childhood Experiences Consultation.
At the age of eight Joseph discovered his clairvoyance. Joseph is natural medium. His website is http://www.freespiritcentre.info.
Joseph task is in bringing Souls back to realization of their own personal power and into alignment with their own soul purpose and path of evolution.