Blog archives for November, 2009

November 30th, 2009

Home Security Tips

Here’s a few tips for making your home more secure.

1) Lighting is your best and cheapest defence against burglaries. If a burglar can be seen it’s much more risky for them to target your house. Neighbours and passerbys could potentially see them and notify the police. Use an energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb in your front and rear porch light and leave them on all nite. You can automate this by connecting them to a timer or photocell.

2) Make sure your house is not hidden from view. At least make sure that your front door can be seen from the street. Clear away overgrown shrubbery from the front of your house. Don’t give potential burglars anything that they can use to conceal their activities.

3) Install motion sensors to light up the dark areas of your property. There’s nothing more startling to someone approaching your home to be suddenly bathed in light. Motion sensors are very cheap and can be installed easily in existing or new light outlets. They can be set to stay on for a set period of time when triggered by motion.

4) When you go on vacation, connect some lamps in your home to plugin timers. Some timers allow you to set multiple on/off events every 24 hours. Do this with 2 or 3 lamps to give the impression that someone is home in the evenings. This is especially important if someone is watching your house to determine if anybody is home. Ask your neighbour to pickup mail and newspapers every day. There’s nothing like a pile of newspapers on your front porch to tip off a burglar that you’re away.

5) Install dead bolt locks on all your doors. This is a fairly inexpensive way to secure your home. Deadbolts cannot be picked as easily as regular door locks. This is something the average homeowner can install with a minimum of tools.

Your best defence is to make sure that it appears that someone is always home, even when you’re not. For even more security consider installing a burglar alarm in your home.

November 29th, 2009

Radio Controlled Tanks - Be A Kid Again

When you were a kid you loved playing with toy soldiers right? Me too! I spent so many hours setting up battles around my house and in my back yard that I usually lost track of time and had to be dragged in for dinner. There were battles fought that involved trenches and tunnels to full scale ground battles. For all the toy soldiers I owned I had very few tanks and I always, always wanted one of those cool radio controlled tanks to include in my back yard wars. The tanks I had weren’t really as cool as I wished they were.

So now many years have passed and I’m a bit older (ok a lot older) but I still remember that feeling of wanting a toy tank that could move around and even shoot the way I wanted it to. years later I came across a whole range of radio controlled tanks that had all these features and more - some of them even create smoke and have realistic cannon and machine gun noises. For me it was like being a kid all over again. Even better most of these tanks were World War II models with all my favourites included like the M4 Sherman, Tiger, King Tiger, Panther and KV1 tanks.

These remote controlled tanks have reached a whole new level and are way ahead of what I dreamed about as a kid. They move and shoot in ways I could never have imagined. So now if you want to relive those toy soldier battles from when you were a kid you can do it now with full blown replica tanks included - and the best part…. you can say you’re buying one of those cool little electronic tanks for your own kids or nephews… nobody is going to ask any questions.

November 29th, 2009

Spray Booths For Cars

 

When you are spray painting, don’t be timid. You can bet you are going to get some runs and if you don’t wet the panel adequately then its going to show like a dry look with a lot of pitting pattern.

Will I be able to get as much speed with the HVLP? 
Standard guns efficiency for transfer is about 25-30% whereas with the HVLP it’s about 65%. So needless to say, the gun excels in this department. You have to remember though that the closer you are spraying to the target surface the faster your stroke. As you extend your distance, you can reduce your stroke. With the HVLP, your target distance is 2-4 inches.

If the run happens to be during the clear coat application you can usually repair that once it cures. You will be able to sand out the run and recoat the panel. Don’t fall into the trap of cover-up. Meaning you load on more material to try to cover up the mistake. It just does not work.

If you follow the instructions, at least your application problems won’t be as a result of not enough flash time. What happens in this case is as the application is curing the solvents in the material evaporate. If you add another coat before this has fully taken place then the material is going to flow. Do yourself a favor and always add for a little extra curing time. You can save yourself a lot of work and headaches by doing this. If the car isn’t exposed to, even drying time such as what happens in cross flow spray booths then the colder side tends to run.

Finally, you get the perfect application and then a fly comes along and lands in your material. Don’t panic. Use a pair of tweezers carefully to remove it. Hopefully there will just be a slight imperfection that you will able to sand then polish. Worst comes to worst you will end up respraying the panel.

If you are using the clear materials, you can use the wide patter, but pay attention to what you are doing. You could end up with some really obvious bad patterns. The perfect spray pattern has to be perfectly even from top to bottom. The other thing you need to consider and will have to contend with is the over spray that occurs when the gun is wide open.

You cannot use a regular technique with this spray gun because its give out 10 psi at the cap as opposed to the 50psi in the conventional guns. This means the distance will not be as great with the HVLP gun that means you must be closer to the paint surface. For the convention guns, the standard distance is 8inches whereas with the HVLP it should be between two to four inches.

You can get spray boothscar spray booths and filters from Haltec.

November 29th, 2009

The economy

Almost all reports you hear or see today is about the downward economy. Folk are losing jobs, the price of gasoline is skyrocketing ; and then there is the feared’R’ word, Recession. As a leader, you should be upbeat and optimistic about the prevailing economy. Irrespective of where you go someone will ask you how business is actually because it can be one of the barometers for the economy. You try and explain that you have no crystal ball and you haven’t any concept how the market is relative to your community, and you do this all with a cheerful face. In fact , they may be a potential purchaser. You then casually ask how their business is and they may say, reluctantly, they needed to get a widget today but the economy feels slow and, they’re just undecided about anything. Perhaps they can just save their money. They have got a look on their face like they went and did you a favor by not buying a widget today! As they walk away they say thanks for your understanding of the economy, you’ll have saved them from investing in a widget, of all things. No sale today, perhaps after the elections, inauguration or the New Year. Small Luxury Hotels Florence

With the result of the bad economy we’re enduring, I saw on the news last night a story about a person who had been making close to $1 million a year, but’due to the bad economy’ he was now delivering pizza and penniless. He lost his home and almost all of his possessions. Similar scenarios of lost jobs, houses foreclosed and lives ruined seem to be taking place everywhere at this time. But one has to ask, WHY ARE folks NOT BEING influenced by THIS BAD ECONOMY?

It has to do with something which has been a part of humankind’s survival since the beginning of man’s existence. And it must do with a more fresh ( the past 100 years or so ) generally held belief that has attempted to remove this empowering approach to living by indoctrinating us that ‘man must learn to adjust to his environment. Fast Cash Loan Today

this will be the most important, most insidious lie ever told, though it is simply exposed : did mankind invent the wheel or did the environment? As one of gazillions of effective approaches to overcoming the problems of the environment, we at some particular point thought we need to come up with a better way of moving large things. And so we did just that, just like we’ve done so many times before and some of us continue to do today ; regardless of the big lie we’ve been fed.

In that very moment you wish that conversation had not come up and long for the good old days when the news was lighter - when people felt assured enough to need and purchase a new widget. How are you able to not talk about the economy? How can you keep a positive angle when the economy stinks?

Sound familiar and painful? You know you need a positive spin to rev up your marketing team who are wondering the easy way to meet their goals in such a gloomy economy. After all , they had the same conversations with one another on your showroom floor. You may also have a little doubt in your own mind. If only you might just avoid the whole situation, maybe it will all be different tomorrow.

STOP IT NOW! Stop talking about the economy! Stop telling folks that business is slow. Stop all of the negative whining about the economy. JUST STOP IT! The more you dwell on your perceived observation of the economy the more you look for explanation you are right. STOP IT NOW!

So how will we get over this bad economy? We all know that giving in to this environment ( adjusting to it ) would mean we would need to allow for a foreclosure on our houses, lose most of our possessions, and finish up in the poor house or even homeless ; maybe back to renting a loft at best. Because this is what this current economy is producing all on it’s own, untended, left to its own devices. And like an indignant tiger desiring to devour some luscious human meat, the one facing you will have its way unless YOU do something about it. Gold Buyers Houston

notice that although there is a widespread commercial condition, each person has their own private economy nevertheless. And in a poor commercial state one could analogize that each person had their own hungry, vicious tiger standing, ready to pounce, in front of each and every Yankee. And dependent on what one does responding to this threat sets the result of each individual’s economy.

Below are four keys to making a positive and prospering market around you.

1. Concentrate on what you want. If you target the potholes while you are driving, you’re going to hit the potholes. Instead, focus on a way around the potholes. When you’re speaking to your staff or buyers, indicate business is great and now may be the perfect time to buy . Never talk about how tight money is for you ( or anyone else, for what it’s worth ). Words trigger pictures that create emotions. How does one think people will feel if they hear the boss talking about how terrible things are? You, as the leader or a team member, should talk about success and how great it is to work in a winning business.

2. Create a feeling of price. Would you trade me an one-dollar bill for my twenty-dollar bill? It could be a fair deal for you, but is it a good deal for me? It is if I understand the worth of an one-dollar bill is worth much more than the twenty. Let’s imagine I am dying of thirst and the bottle of water requires an one-dollar bill. Then yes, it’s a great trade. Your job is to create worth now that helps customers feel better about their purchase.

3. Make a positive environment. The only place you talk about the slow economy is with the competition. Let them believe the market is bad if they so select. [**] you want folk to feel good when they’re in your house. So, take charge and a build strong belief in your folk and you that you can flourish in any economy because you have the best team, the best product, and the best location.

Four. Plant encouraging and positive ideas, drop negative ideas. Read positive material or listen to inspirational CD’s - in other words, work on putting positive thoughts in your head. And, if you have to watch the news, the second it is over say to oneself ( aloud is even better ), I am grateful that business is great at my place.

you may disagree that I am not sure how difficult it is for you or what its like where you live. You’re right . However I have traveled all over these great united states and I have seen masses of people just like you, and they are winning. Each day I see people who know that no matter what is occurring in the marketplace, there are numerous paths to win in this economy. You have got a choice every day as to how you will face that day. Your choice is any one of grief or prosperity. Folks who commence the day with a prosperity perspective automatically think about creative paths to defeat the market. People with a prosperity perspective look for paths to provoke folk to go where they did not think they could go. Leaders with a wealth perspective see the difficulties as an opportunity to win when others might see only doom and gloom.

how do you need to feel when you go to bed each night? You can believe you may not survive this economy, or you can believe you can beat the economy. Dread or excitement. The choice is yours every day. Use it wisely, it is a present.

November 29th, 2009

Candida Diet

Though many people dont consider it a serious disease, candida can still disrupt your plans and life. Fatigue, nausea, itching, a burning sensation and a lack of focus are some of the well known effects of a candida infection.

There can be many causes of a candida infection. These can range from antibiotics to unhealthy eating habits, oral contraceptives and even stress. The over the counter medications dont really work since they are full of side effects and can even cause the reoccurrence of the infection. Hence, the only way to fight candida is to make a few lifestyle changes, follow some home remedies and follow the candida diet.

Here is what the candida diet is all about:
Vegetables: Just take care to steer clear of starchy and sweet veggies like potato and carrots. You can have everything else. Its better if you eat them raw since you will be able to get all the nutrients, vitamins and the roughage you need. A juicer would be a wise investment and you can get some good salad ideas from books or the net. Vegetables are one of the best ways to stay away from candida since they have complex nutrients which dont let the yeast survive.

Meat: Most people, researchers and studies are still unable to come to a consensus if meat should be eaten are avoided. However, what is known is that at least in the initial phases of the diet, you should avoid meat completely for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of four weeks. Once this phase is over, you can opt for organic chicken and beef and wild fish and turkey. Remember to make sure that any meat product you eat is completely organic. The additives and hormones in the other kinds of meat and chicken can help candida to grow.

Grains: Processed grains and wheat are a major cause of candida infections; hence avoid them as much as possible. Eat whole grains which are gluten free like amaranth, buckwheat, millet and quinoa. You can also eat sprouted wheat or oats and even brown rice. Again, take care that you only eat organic grains since other others are loaded with chemicals and pesticides.

While the above mentioned foods inhabit or arrest the growth of candida, there are some foods which act as friends of candida. Obviously, these foods are the result of modern day food processing and additives. Here are some of the foods which need to be avoided:

1. Sugar: We all love ice creams, jellies, and all kinds of sweet foods loaded with sugar like fruits and cookies. However, these foods have simple sugars which candida thrives on. Foods which have high sugar content like fruits, corn, soy and even dairy products are banned in this diet.

2. Refined grains and wheat: Wheat has loads of gluten which cans stick in your intestines and feed candida. Refined grains are again not a good idea since they are loaded with sugar.

These are some of the important aspects of a candida diet. If candida is something that keeps troubling you, you can also try some colon cleanse diets as well to completely detoxify your body.

November 28th, 2009

Simple tips to Increase Profits

It doesn’t matter what the majority of people think, corporate team building really does work.  While it sounds somewhat cliche, and maybe even a bit corny, it does work.  It is not by accident that lots of the best companies in the world make use of these useful techniques and strategies.

The team building concept is not normally a simple process for people to adapt to.  You can expect that there will be communication challenges and personality issues.  But when the team learns how to quickly and successfully manage these predictable conflicts and challenges, productivity and creativity can skyrocket.

One of the vital elements of team building is trust.  Without it, a team will struggle in a big way.  Good communication skills and techniques are also essential in a team setting.

For example.  Let’s say you have a team that is accountable for improving sales and profits and productivity for a sales department.  If someone suggests that a smart way to increase profits and sales production is to purchase and invest in auto dialing software, the idea and suggestion may not readily be acknowledged by the team without trust being in place with the other team members.  And therefore a possible first-rate idea might end up falling by the wayside.

There are lots of companies and consultants available nowadays to help educate, implement and monitor corporate team building strategies and techniques.  A bit of online research should help you find whatever amount of support your company may need.  Whether your team travels to a team building event or seminar, or whether you pay to have someone come to your town for in-house coaching, learning effective team building skills will be money well spent.

To learn more about increasing sales and profits by using auto dialing software, go to www.AutoDialingSoftware.net

November 27th, 2009

Christmas Toys For My Daughter

The shopping season is drawing closer and it’s time to buckle down and get my list straight. Each year becomes all the more difficult when you’ve got a daughter that’s getting gifts from multiple grandparents and then her immediate family too.

I used to be able to quickly and easily find items that weren’t just upgraded versions of what she already has. Who needs more dolls? I’m tempted to let her look at Liv Dolls, since they are a little different.

They have a couple of wigs and have an online world that she’s really interested in. Hopefully there aren’t too many weirdos lurking on the online part.

There’s also the Zhu Zhu Hamster that has caught my eye recently. Of course the issue there is that there are a bunch of them, not to mention all of the accessories! Just the habitat alone makes me wonder where in the world I’m going to put something like that.

I guess I could get rid of all of her furniture and just let the dolls and pet hamsters rule the roost. Seems like it will be a bit nicer in a couple of years when I just have to buy clothes. Of course, the main issue there is finding clothes that won’t just be returned the next day. Or worse, buying clothes that have her burst into tears (in a bad way) the moment she sees that I bought the wrong color or something.

Any ideas for gifts? Seems like it’s all just around the corner.

November 27th, 2009

Social Networks & Privacy

The Internet has for a long period been the acid test of ‘freedom of speech.’ But at what cost to many innocent individuals? Sometimes famous personalities are the targets of Internet video leaks that are rapidly spread across the world through sites like YouTube, whose hyperlinks are easily promoted on social network profiles such as MySpace and Facebook. But just as frequently, famous public figures are made by the uploading of private videos of common people, which are then electronically disseminated and blogged and thus transmitted like wildfire to the four corners of the world. The infamy which results from many of these videos or photos being spread so effortlessly can be mortifying to the personalities who are exploited by their being spread. But who is to be held responsible? an individual can’t be held to the responsible merely for forwarding an email or posting a public link to their Facebook profile.

The Internet and social networking sites are merely a more modern medium by means of which the diffusion of information has been made more accessible. Unfortunately, or fortunately, making every person with access to a computer a qualified journalist with the ability to reach large numbers of people the world over. So it is not the social networks that are responsible for this betrayal of privacy, but the community at large itself. Social tradition thrives on the spread of tattle and information sharing. As long as you are not the subject, you have no objections forwarding that humiliating video of a poor boy dancing around his home making believe to be a resistance fighter from Star Wars (The young man is at present under psychiatric care and has given up on his education, in case you were wondering). Websites such as TMZ.com are in business only because of human longing for tabloid garbage and celebrity scandal.

Similarly, we must understand the Internet’s limitlessness, and the lack of exercising power over its material. In today’s times, one must be aware that one’s actions could be broadcast within seconds. With digital cameras, phones with video capability and instant availability of YouTube and Facebook, your actions could be passed around to your buddies and strangers equally well as it is happening. We must revisit what is private and what is public, as it is no more prudent to assume that everything we do will remain in our hands. Modern methods have a trajectory of their own, and the Internet is a typical of an invention that can quietly slip away from its original use and find many more purposes as long as the multitudes demand it.

November 27th, 2009

Put the Finishing Touch On Your Ride with Wheel Center Caps

Wheel Centre Caps - A Groovy Finishing Touch For Your Automobile

Car makers have a lot of branding choices when it comes to getting cars look like they’re part of a specific manufacturing line; the car’s logo or the company’s logo appears on a lot of places. One of them is on the centre of the rim. This is named a wheel center cap, and sadly, they tend to be a small casualty of the various knocks and scrapes that cars get into as a regular course of operation.

When a car is lacking a centre rim cap it can look a little strange, as it destroys the solid look of matching wheels and uncovers the lugnuts; it can as well cause an automobile to look slightly unfinished. If this has happened to you you’re in luck, as there are nowadays places where you can go to get replacement center caps. Your options range from rim center caps with stock finishes to customised caps. The little details make all the difference when it comes to how you car appears, and a simple way to add to the value of you automobile - if you’re trying to sell it - is to replace damaged or tired caps with new ones.

Some individuals will do some digging and discover that various different sizes of wheels have common cap mounting points. There’s something of a sense of humor necessary to set Toyota center caps on the wheels of a GEO, but it’s perfectly possible. Most factory-made wheel caps are constructed from chrome moly alloy, but you are not limited to only chrome as some are created from extruded aluminum or stamped stainless steel.

Buying factory replacements isn’t even the only choice. There are many companies out there that sell custom-made wheel caps, many of which are imaginative and ornamental. Some of these have approved logos, such as your preferred sports team or college campus. Others are more artistic, musical, or even inspirational in nature. Since wheel center caps can be individualized, almost any kind of artwork you like is possible, such as your initials or message with significance to you.

Before ordering that custom look, however, you must know not only the diameter of your car rims but where and how the caps attach before you spend your money. With the internet you’re able to look up the model of automobile, the make of tires, and determine if they come with four, five, or six attachment nuts, if they simply screw on or have an applique system for the centre cap.

Wheel centre caps aren’t merely ornamental, they’re also necessary to the safety of your car. They protect the nuts that keep your rim on the car from corroding. It’s also a lot simpler to change a tire this way, since prying off rusty lugnuts in the rain if you have to change a flat isn’t the most enjoyable thing in the world, so that’s another essential function of wheel center caps.

November 27th, 2009

Find Michelle MacPhearson

Michelle MacPhearson is an internet marketer who integrates social media and Web 2.0 technologies and innovations into her marketing, and helps others do the same.

You can find tons of resources at her blog, MichelleMacPhearson.com. You may be particurally interested in the “Steal This Niche” series of posts, which is a set of videos walking you through the keyword research process. What’s even funner is that when you’re done watching the videos, you walk away with a high traffic and low competition keyword that you can target and build a site around. Yes, you really can steal Michelle MacPhearson’s niche!

She’s also active on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you’re using any of those services, you can connect with Michelle MacPhearson there and get up-to-date and innovative online marketing tips she sends out regularly.

One of her most acclaimed free reports, Social Media Daily, has been touted as better than paid products on the topic. Within Social Media Daily, Michelle MacPhearson walks you through the process of using Web 2.0 and social media sites to build the link popularity of your own site. It’s link building on the cheap, and this resource is the most comprehensive out there.

Another free resource you might enjoy is the Social Media Myth, where Michelle MacPhearson explains the reason most marketers aren’t having success with their social media marketing and devises a simple plan for you to follow. Unfortunately, we try to do too much with too little, the Social Media Myth is the answer.