E-learning in the corporate world

E-Learning has progressed through the years from VHS video tapes, to elaborate synchronous online meeting tools through the internet. E-learning is not only being used in schools and universities but also in the corporate world.

Corporations are using e-learning as a means of communicating, training and enhancing employee value across organizations and across countries.

Corporate Advantage

The corporate world is constantly on the look to increase efficiency and effectiveness in their workforce. There is a constant need to upgrade existing employees in new trends or products.

Holding seminars, workshops or conventions detract employees from their work and results of such practices are at best weak. Being able to instruct employees while on the job through e-learning, can prove to be extremely valuable to any business.

E-learning solutions provide workers with important skills, making them more valuable as employees. A well-structured e-learning solution is the answer to the overall goal of efficiency and effectiveness.

E-Learning means using technology for learning, and with technology evolving at its current pace, the bounds of e-learning are virtually limitless whether synchronously or asynchronously. Laptops, desktops, mobiles, i-pods etc, can all be used for e-learning.

The impact of e-learning can be tremendous, especially in corporations. E-learning for corporations addresses the precise requirements of business. E -learning provides business-specific concept, training of various departments across the country simultaneously, introducing a new product into the company or just upgrading employees.

Since e-learning can be done in any geographic spot, there are no travel expenses. There is also no cost of conventions or hotels. E-learning is less expensive than learning in a traditional method.

Facilitating employee's growth and training on the job also increases job satisfaction. This heightens worker motivation and results in increased work performance.

Worker Advantage

Flexibility is a major advantage of e-learning. E-learning has the advantage of taking class anytime anywhere. It is available when and where it is needed. E-learning can be done at the office, home, or while traveling, 24 X 7 X 365.

E-learning accommodates different types of learning styles. Workers have the advantage of learning at their own speed. Workers can also learn through a variety of activities that apply to many different learning styles.

E-learning allows the workers to select learning materials that meet their level of knowledge, interest and what they need to know to perform more effectively in their field. This way learning can be customized to the workers need.

Workers can use the advances in mobile technology by e-learning on various handheld devices and PDAs during long tedious commutes. This cuts back on time wasted in traveling while advancing career growth.

Through e- learning workers can review information as often as they like, move forward and backward through the instruction at the pace they are comfortable with.

Corporate E-learning Softwares

Corporate E-learning Softwares are specially designed keeping in mind the companies necessitates and employee requirements. Theyre are various packages that make a successful corporate e-learning software-

Communication package: facilitates all categories of users with discussion forums, announcements, surveys, news articles, and FAQs.

Designation package: can define, access, and manage roles, responsibilities, groups, user accounts, job profiles, and different clients.

Content Bank: Content Bank allows you to create content categories and define content types to be used in the system. It has powerful features to upload and store content in reusable format and in different versions. With easy-to-use search feature, the authors can quickly look for content to be used in their courses.

Syllabus Planner: This is a portal that aids instructors to plan the learning pattern and workflow. To efficiently deliver training to a workforce that has diverse needs, it is critical that your platform provides flexible course delivery options. WIZDOM provides you complete control over the learning plan (LP). You can create a hierarchal LP and attach any kind of content PDF, DOC, PPT, Images, ZIP files, SCORM courses, or attach any item like Chat, Whiteboard, Offline Course, Discussion, Assessment, and Reference to the LP nodes.

Reports: This tool allows you to generate and analyze Site Usage Report; Course Usage Report, and Learners' Activity Report.

The Bottom-Line

The bottom-line for any corporate is profit and success, with e-learning you accomplish this goal swiftly and easily.

Vishwanath Shankar has been managing and maintaining various e-learning softwares for the past decade and a half. A storehouse of knowledge about LMS (Learning Management Systems), He has been working in close co-ordination with web development experts to develop user friendly distance learning programs. It takes a professional like him to declare the big time arrival of e learning as a worthy substitute to conventional learning techniques. Alena Blog78488
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Why You Need IOVC -Internet, Office, VOIP and CRM Technologies to Succed in Business

If you are looking for success through the use of the internet and the current voice technologies, then as a business owner you owe it to yourself to make yourself profitable with the many readily available, emerging technology tools. Years ago, these tools were only available to large business and in some case were shrunk or made t fit for medium business, but seldom for small business and definitely not for a single person business.

If you work your way through the marketing and industry hype and really focus on the basics, there are four key capabilities or technologies that drive your day to day business operation. They are the internet, office, voice and CRM technologies. f you can get a lock on these four capabilities then you must exploit them for maximum profitability to service your customer better. The goal is that IOVC technologies must not be anti-productive to the way your business works today. IOVC technologies should be complimentary and enhance the business processes you manage daily.

Examining IOVC technologies in a little more depth, we can start to understand the real impact upon your business and personal life.

The Internet - The internet is bigger then a website, it is a community just as large if not larger then your neighborhood or city you live in. Because you can not touch and feel the internet, most small business owners become bewildered because of the sheer size of the internet. We should not fear it because at one time the world seem flat until that thought process was changed. Now with the internet, there are many marketers who believe they can conquer the internet. They now use terms like VRE for virtual real estate and they understand the simple definition of the internet; its a group of people walking down a digital avenue looking for your products ad service. The group that wants your product is the group you need to capture to buy your services. With this definition you can not afford to ignore it anymore.

Office Operations - When it comes to your office operations, your business is driven by your current systems and applications. Regardless of the business size, large business or a small business, your office operations are usually driven by standalone software driven applications. These applications have communications technology that coordinate well with their own vendor and support technologies but rarely, do they communicate across vendor, product lines. This means you the business owner have many office tools assaulting your senses for attention each and every day. This mania for attention spills down into your people who become forced to work in silos, become addicted to working overtime based on the way your standalone applications and computer systems have been installed and evolved over time.

Telephone Services - With voice service, many people are beginning to at least hear a lot about VOIP (Voice over IP), or internet phone service. Some call it Internet Telephony. This is a testament to how fast it is growing. Just a few years ago VOIP was still a very unreliable unknown. It is now a term that has invaded many businesses and households. While it is a better replacement for traditional phone service, most folks are still not fully aware of all the unique qualities that separate it from traditional phone service. We will go into this more in part two but for now, understand it is much more then a service that lets people talk. Voice is a voice to data transformation technology, and this data is very powerful when it follows you around. A small business cannot afford to ignore the benefits of this expense reducing and business enhancing service.

Customer Relationship Management - Finally, most business owners understand that the key to creating an excellent customer relationship is the management of the interface between the customer and their point of contact within the organization. Too often processes which suit the business are not customer-friendly, however much they suit the internal needs of the office operations of years gone by. Your customers want service; your team wants to service your customer in the best way possible. You as the business owner grew the business interacting with your customers, so you know continued business success requires a very flexible and profit producing customer relationship strategy. This is the point where sales and service take place. Your customer relations ship strategy and service alone drives the current business and all future interactions with in your company. This has to become a very organized and a very timely service.

To gain the benefit of these technologies, a business owner needs an integrated solution that takes these capabilities and makes sure they meet your needs. With an integrated IOVC technology solution, your business processes are synchronized from initial point of customer contact all the way through your day to day operations right up to product delivery.

The overall result is your days become easier, your team becomes more productive, your customer becomes happier and your business becomes more profitable

Greg Burrus provides small business solutions as an internet and offce technlogy consultant. Greg helps people succeed through the use of internet, office, voice and CRM (IOVC) solutions. visit http://www.techoss.com.Brigid Blog27601
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The Food Guide Pyramid

All types of foods contain nutritional substances that our body needs to grow , be fit, move, think, read, correct any cell damage and in other words, live! These nutritional materials, which actually compose our body, are proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, salts, and of course water. In order to receive all the things our organism needs, we have to maintain a balanced diet so as to ensure that we are receiving all the nutritional substances we need to survive.

Food provides us with the necessary amount of "fuel" our body requires in order to perform all the necessary activities, like the beating of our heart, breathing, walking, exercising, etc. As the "fuels" are reduced, our body signals this lower levels of necessary substances and we feel hungry. By eating we again manage to balance the nutrients (fuels) we need in order to keep going and perform all the tasks we want with those we lost. This "fuel" quantity we need is measure with what it is known as calorie.

One should keep in mind though that the amount of food each person needs to consume every day is different from individual to individual. It depends on a number of factors, like a person's age, sex, his/her volume, the type and level of exercise performed, even the climate of the area the person lives in. Apart from these factors, aging, pregnancy, sickness or development can affect the amount of calories one needs to take so as to keep the level of energy on the necessary levels.

The success of a sound diet plan is directly related to the quantities a person receives from each group of the nutritional substances. Specifically, a balanced diet is the one that is composed by 50-55 percent of carbohydrates, 25-30 percent of fats and 15-20 percent of proteins. One should not consider some foods healthier than others. What is the issue here is maintaining a balanced and healthy diet plan by consuming the right quantities, for the specific body structure and exercise level, out of all the different food varieties existing today.

The general rules one has to follow, in order to keep his body and mind healthy, are simple. The amount of food consumed, which is measured by the calories one receives, should not exceed the amount required to maintain a balanced weight. The diet plan followed has to offer all the necessary food ingredients according to the quantities suggested by the Food Guide Pyramid. The total amount of fat consumed should not exceed the 30 percent limit. Reducing the amount of salt and alcohol beverages one consumes would be considered wise. The balance diet does not include more than three cups of coffee on a daily basis. Of course, 55 percent of the total amount of calories consumed has to come from carbohydrates, such as bread, rise, fruits, vegetables, pulse, pasta and potatoes.

Eat well and stay healthy. Follow the Food Guide Pyramid and watch your body change!

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://foodandourlives.com/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://theoutdoorslifestyle.com/ and http://everythingaboutgames.net/Britta Blog57300
Calypso Blog8733

Three Treatment Options For Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are a type of skin scar, often caused by rapid pulling of the skin, such as occurs in pregnancy, or with sudden weight gain. Stretch marks can also appear after fast weight loss.

They arise due to breakdown of the dermis, the middle layer of skin which is responsible for maintaining the skins structure and tone. When the dermis breaks down, the surface of the skin will show stretch marks. These normally start out a reddish-purplish color and then gradually fade to a glossy white or silver.

The best way to manage stretch marks is to do your best to prevent them. Drinking plenty of water will keep your skin soft and well hydrated, allowing it to have more give before it breaks. Minimizing caffeine intake, and eating foods high in zinc, protein, and the A, C, and D vitamins can also give your skin a bit more elasticity, thereby reducing the likelihood of stretch marks.

You can also boost your skins hydration and stretch-ability from the outside, by keeping your skin well moisturized. Using an oil rich lotion, such as one made from cocoa butter or shea butter, will reduce your chances of developing stretch marks.

Sometimes, though, total prevention is not possible, and you develop stretch marks anyway. When this happens, what are your treatment options?

Treatment Option #1: Surgical methods

Dermabrasion or chemical peels may be your best surgical options for addressing stretch marks. New advances in laser surgery also make this another possibility. The best treatment for you will depend on your age, skin tone, severity of stretch marks, and level of health.

Laser stretch mark treatment works by building new collagen and repairing the stretch mark from the inside out.

Surgical options can be expensive and may not be covered by your medical insurance.

Treatment Option #2: Lotions or Creams

There are many stretch mark treatments on the market, many of which promise amazing results. Unfortunately, its difficult to determine which creams really work. Your best plan would be to get direct referrals from your doctor, or from trusted family or friends who have successfully treated their stretch marks. Be sure to select lotions or creams which have research and proven results. If youre not totally certain that a cream will work for you, consider asking for a sample or trial size container so you can try it out before committing to a full size container.

Treatment Option #3: Patience

This option refers to being patient, as your stretch marks will fade naturally over time. (Not the fastest treatment option, thats for sure!)

Again, remember that its better to prevent stretch marks than it is to have to treat them. Maintain a healthy diet, keep your skin well moisturized, and avoid excess caffeine. If you do all this, but still have a stretch mark or two, consider a lotion or cream to treat them. If your stretch marks are severe, talk to your doctor about the best surgical treatment options for you, based on your age, skin tone, and stretch mark severity.

Ally McNeal enjoys learning and teaching about skin care. To learn more about the best skin treatments for you, please visit: http://skintreatments.skincaresmarts.com.Astrix Blog9691
Alida Blog9030

Restructure Your Debts with Personal Debt Consolidation Loan

Today debts are the common problem among the people, which is growing at a faster rate day by day. Everyone is seeking the ways to overcome the problem of debts. Almost everyday we see the advertisement which offers different packages and schemes that promises to eliminate debts of a person.

One of such promise is also made by debt consolidation loan. But, have you ever thought of the funda behind this. The fact is that the company promising to consolidate your debts, merges all your debts, and let you pay a single monthly installment rather than paying number of bills. In other words, the person will deal with single lender rather than dealing with number of creditors.

One aspect of personal debt consolidation loan is the single monthly payment and another aspect is lower monthly payment. The second aspect can better illustrate through an example. In personal debt consolidation loan, the lender negotiates with the creditors and appeals them to reduce the amount of debt payment. Remember, that the principal amount of debt is not reduced, the basic reduction lies in the interest rate or the other cost such as penalties on early repayments (if any)etc.

There are various other ways to eliminate personal debts such as, through mortgage, remortgage, bankruptcy, individual voluntary agreement etc. But, the bankruptcy and IVAs are not recommended as they are considered as bad credit for a person. On the other hand consolidating debts through a loan or mortgage, add up to the credit score of a person if timely repayments are made. And good credit score always help the person to avail loan in future.

Most of the people have misconception that once they get relieve from the burden of debts they will never get in to it again. But, this is absolutely wrong. Generally, the people are burdened with debts again just of the unplanned expenses. So, in order to avoid such situation the person should plan his budget and make minimum use of credit cards for making payments.

Before entering in the agreement with lender, one must be thorough with each and every aspect of the loan. Even a single unfavorable clause in the agreement can affect the borrower credit status. He must understand each cost involve in the loan. And, the person must prefer a loan deal which is cheaper till the last repayment.

Shopping around is the best way to ensure the best deal. And before availing, it is also recommended to consult with the credit advisor. He will evaluate credit situation and he will suggest you the mode which has a perfect match with your needs.

After having herself gone through the ordeal of loan borrowing, Natasha Anderson understands the need for good quality loan advice. Her articles endeavor to provide you the wise counsel in the most elementary way for the benefit of the readers. She works for the UK Debt Consolidations. To find personal debt consolidation loans, business debt management, loans, unsecured debt consolidation loans, secured loans that best suits your needs visit http://www.ukdebtconsolidations.co.ukCaye Blog96435
Cahra Blog75298

Learning More About Notebook Computers

A notebook computer is a portable personal computer that can be carried along and used almost anywhere, much like a notebook. The notebook computer typically weighs about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) and is small enough to fit into a briefcase. The notebook computer usually has all the functionality of a desktop, but is less powerful, more expensive, and greater portability.

The first notebook computer available commercially was introduced to the public in 1981 and was named the Osborne 1. This notebook computer was understandably bulkier than the ones we get to see these days. Nevertheless, this revolutionary notebook computer -- which did not run on battery power and had to be plugged in for AC power -- took the business world by storm because of its portability, a feature that is notably absent in the heftier desktops.

Then came the Compaq Portable first made public in 1983 and also ran on AC power rather than batteries. This first-ever IBM-compatible notebook computer proved to better than the IBM's own Portable Computer that was introduced a year later.

The GRiD Compass 1101, released in 1982, was a notebook computer in the true sense of the term. The brainchild of William Moggridge, this notebook computer had the typical clamshell design -- where the screen folds and shuts against the keyboard -- that is now practically the industry standard. This notebook computer was not IBM-compatible, ran on batteries and had a prohibitively high price tag. As one may guess, it was used by the specific few -- mainly the military and astronauts.

The Sharp PC-5000 and the Gavilan notebook computer, appearing in 1984, are also worthy of special mention. As a matter of fact, the Gavilan was the first notebook computer that was promoted as a laptop and had a cursor control device resembling a touch pad. Both had LCD screens and clamshell cases.

The notebook computer called Kyocera Kyotronic, first introduced in 1983, powered by AA batteries, was a huge commercial success largely because of its portability, battery life and low price.

The first true IBM-compatible notebook computer was the IBM PC Convertible, introduced in 1986 -- followed by Toshiba T1000 and T1200 in the following year. In 1989, Apple introduced the Macintosh Portable notebook computer.

From 1991 on, innovations initiated by the PowerBook series of Apple became standard features in the modern notebook computer. These include built-in features like touch pad, palm rest, Ethernet networking, trackball, and 256-color displays. Then followed the Thinkpad series of IBM, which was a very popular notebook computer.

Now almost an essential gadget in the business world, the notebook computer is here to stay.

Susan Miller writes for several web sites, including http://club-product.com and http://reviewssource.com.Alexine Blog48269
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Target Marketing Your Internet E-Commerce

It is one of the supreme ironies of the Internet that the computer, so long derided as impersonal, is now being used to create highly personal experiences for Web site visitors. Because a computer can sift through vast amounts of existing information according to preprogrammed rules, computers can now take company information (or special interest information) and combine it with information supplied by prospective customers and digest it in a way that is meaningful to each individual.

What are the best ways for businesses to personalize selling and customize products in order to build business. Although many of these methods are still in their infancy, a great deal can be gleaned as to current strategies and technologies and techniques and strategies can be implemented.

To attract new customers, companies can now establish Web sites that provide highly individualized recommendations based on information provided by the customer. In this way, it's possible to tell a prospective customer exactly which product, among a plethora of possibilities, is just right for that individual or that business. The strategic idea behind these efforts is clear: By empowering the customer with information about how a specific offering meets his or her needs, the company positions itself as a knowledgeable place to buy and also demonstrates how its products are just right for that individual customer.

This information, properly used, gives an existing supplier or retailer a clear leg up on the competition: The Company is able to use its information to establish itself as the supplier of choice and to suggest services to existing customers before they request them. Companies can maintain effectively private Web sites for individual clients so that they can both provide extraordinary service and recommend new products that will be of value to these customers.

In the past, this type of personalized communication was virtually impossible: Retailers and suppliers lacked the detailed information necessary to provide these recommendations and the ability to cost-effectively communicate it to individual customers.

However, today we have moved into an era where technology allows firms to cater to the individual needs of customers in a way that have not been possible before. The value of these initiatives, both in tightening the bonds with existing customers and in attracting new customers, is high. Another business tool made possible by the Internet is something that previously was available only to the wealthy: product customization, done quickly and inexpensively.

How are companies making use of several levels of "personal" recommendations ?

In adopting any strategy based on personalization, privacy is a central issue. The ability to make the customer feel comfortable enough to give you the information you need to create a tailored product or solution is among the primary challenges companies must overcome.

1) The Web's ability to help companies establish marketing intimacy is possible because a Web site combines five elements:

2) An opportunity to present information in an interactive format, permitting customers to express their preferences to the owner of the Web site

3) Virtually costless online communications between the potential buyer and seller

4) A visual component that lets potential buyers see prospective purchases and how they would appear if personalized The ability to store tremendous amounts of personal information about their customers

5) An unprecedented ability to create systems that configure products so that costly errors are eliminated, thus reducing the expense of creating custom products

Presently, one-to-one selling can be viewed in two general categories, recommending and customization.

Brick-and-mortar companies have long known that for the most part, either a motivated buyer has done a great deal of research on a particular product, or a product has been enthusiastically recommended by a friend or business associate. This knowledge leads to two keys to establishing a Web site that motivates buying:

Ample information (so that the buyer needn't do any more researchand, in the process, possibly depart your Web site for another)

A positive recommendation.In the past effective recommendations were generally person to person, there are several reasons why these technology-based recommendations are valued now. One has to do with the dizzying array of choices that now faces consumers. A cosmetics firm may offer hundreds of shades of lipstick or eye shadow; financial services companies have become true supermarkets filled with choices; well-known cold remedies now have multiple versions that end with words such as "plus" and "sinus" and "cough."

A generation ago, the dilemma posed by the array of choices was generally solved through one-on-one interaction (selling, if you will). Someone with a cold would have stopped by his or her local pharmacy and chatted with the pharmacist about which of the three or four cold remedies carried by the pharmacy would be best.

Depending on your product and customer, several types of recommending functions may work best. But first, let's take a moment to consider how to judge effectiveness..

Personalization, like any business initiative, should be used judiciously. There are real costs that accompany developing personalized applications: They range from the hard cost of development dollars to the cost of disappointing customers or prospects who expected a better experience. It's important to assess whether a personalization effort will be effective and contribute meaningfully to new sales or customer retention before investing the time and money in bringing it to market.

The criteria for establishing an effective recommendation system are different for every product. The system chosen is dependent upon a balance of the following: (1) the nature of the product, (2) the amount of information needed from the potential buyer to make an effective recommendation, and (3) the likely willingness of the prospective buyer to share this needed information with you.

Will consumers will trust the information they receive from companies on the Web as much as (or more than) they trust sales representatives? All evidence to date suggests the answer is yes. People believe that no trusted brand will risk its good name by posting misleading information on the Web.

As you go about creating an online recommendation system, your overriding goal should be to make the online shopping experience better than what a customer might encounter in the physical world. Therefore, you need to ask yourself: "What can my company accomplish using this medium that can't be accomplished in the physical world?"

Payment issues online seemed to have been taken care of by the credit card companies as a matter of routine.

What about issues of privacy? Consider gathering data anonymously. Recommendation systems that provide advice to consumers anonymously are likely to be far more popular and, therefore, more effective. In these cases, you are able to provide the prospective buyer with value without needing to jump the hurdle of "you can trust me with this information."

If you'd prefer to record the identities of site visitors, you are one step ahead if you are a recognized brand. Consumers are already predisposed to believe in your company name. In this case, address the privacy issue head-on with a statement that precedes your online registration form: "The information gathered here is to help us better serve you; we will not share or sell this information to anyone."

Finally, if you plan to share customer data with others, then you need to be explicit about it and receive the customer's permission. The worst thing you can do is fail to inform the customer that some piece of information you determine about him or her may be used in some way the customer does not expect.

Product customization is possible because of a convergence of two elements: the Web as a one-to-one communications technology and manufacturing processes that allow for the development and delivery of custom products.

Designing your own custom desktop computer at Web sites such as Dell has become "commonplace," but what about designing your own swimsuit or, perhaps, golf clubs? These customized services provide several valuable benefits for companies: (1) They help to drive new business, and (2) customers are willing to pay a premium price for an individually designed product, which means these products and services sometimes have higher profit margins than standard offerings.

The ability to interact with customers and say, "I can create the product that is just right for you," is one of the most powerful features of the Web. Expansion of this Internet capability will be the inevitable result of the combination of (1) manufacturers creating products that permit increasing customization, (2) further advances in computing power at ever decreasing costs, and (3) new software that is continuously enhancing the options available to businesses to personalize.

Smart companies realize that the more involved the relationship becomes with the customer, the better their rate of retention. They are implementing this strategy in a wide variety of creative ways, involving both personalization and customization, and will certainly enhance their applications significantly over time:

1). Companies are creating extraordinary convenience for customers and establishing systems to speed the fulfillment of custom orders.

2). E-mail communications and reminder systems are going to be used increasingly.

The ultimate goal of every business is to have a customer who wants to hear from the business about new products that he or she might want to buy. E-mail, for the first time, provides this type of powerful tool, since it's an almost costless communications vehicle.

3). In business-to-business selling, smart companies are also linking tightly to their customers.

Leading-edge technology companies are offering custom password-protected Web sites for their corporate accounts and high-volume small business accounts. These sites are typically designed to simplify the buying process, and they offer

(1) customer online malls offering products preselected by the company to be bought by employees at volume discount prices,

(2) electronic mail links to account managers responsible for serving that customer,

(3) the ability to track the status of orders, and

(4) dramatic increases in the speed of order fulfillment through the elimination of paper forms and a reduction in errors.

This is a clear way of providing customers with additional value and of tying the customer more closely to your company. Most companies will also see an increase in revenues from these accounts.

What was called for, of course, was a new category of employee: "e-mail respondents"; yet no one wanted to add staff at an additional expense to a project that was in its infancy.

Enter "response software."

Several intelligent software systems, are able to routinely handle and route questions, so there is no excuse for underserving your customers with the first and most basic customer serviceanswering their questions.

Companies who are successfully managing their e-mail via electronic means are also taking the opportunity to benefit from the Knowledge they glean.Companies are finally transforming their Web sites from marketing brochures to vehicles that turn visits into sales leads. Those who develop a Web presence and fail to respond to electronic inquiries in a timely manner run the risk of losing existing and new customers.

Industry research also shows that only 30 percent of Fortune 500 companies respond to questions directed to these companies through their Web sites, which means a large number of customers aren't getting the personal attention winning companies need to provide.

As you consider the possibilities offered by personalization and customization, I suggest that these initiatives be weighed against these criteria: Will the initiative enhance relationships with my customers by adding convenience or a better ability to meet their needs?Will the initiative result in potentially high cost-savings for my organization Will intelligent product configuration eliminate and reduce costly order errors and help to target vital marketing efforts directed at the customer base entity?

Mr. William Z. PikerAmelita Blog81166
Ainslee Blog64960

How to Launch Your "Boomerang Kidult"

Now that Labor Day has come and gone, all the kids should be out of the house and back at school. But wait! What about your emerging adult child who is still living with you, his or her college degree neatly tucked away? Are you in the midst of a replay of the big screen comedy Failure to Launch and not finding it quite so funny? You're not alone.

Millions of fledgling adults, often called kidults, have graduated from college but are not living independently of their parents. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 25% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 still lived with their parents. Young people are studying longer or marrying later, postponing adulthood until around age 30. Here's how this extended period of dependency can affect relationships.

Steve remembers how he longed for those empty-nester days once his son had moved home from college. He reflected on the irony. The guidelines our son wanted to discuss were not the ones my wife and I had set down. He told us we were not to tie up the computer or play with his dog. He also wanted us to leave the bathroom fan off when we showered, so the noise wouldnt wake him up. We hardly got a chance to talk about what we wanted.

It's called triangulation, when your relationship as a couple has to accommodate your emerging adult child. What it often means is less privacy and spontaneity for you, and a need to establish new patterns of interaction and parenting.

As Beth realized: We cant treat her as if shes a teenager but we also dont intend to lose sleep worrying about whether shes o.k. Unless we can agree on some reasonable curfew, this living arrangement just isnt going to work.

Jill had been a single mom since her three children were young teens. Once her last child went to college she felt free to move in with her partner. When my middle daughter lost her job and could no longer afford to live alone, I didnt have the heart to say no to her. But with the chaos that ensued, I soon regretted my decision. As I recognized that my growing resentment was affecting all of us, I took a stand. We defined the house rules, split up the chores and set a deadline for her moving out. Now we try to openly air the issues and our feelings.

Like Jill, you can take a stand. Here are some more ideas:

1. Establish areas of accountability and appropriate boundaries. This can smooth day-to-day living; it encourages some emotional detachment and the freedom to reclaim your own lives.

2. Insist that your kidults face their own challenges. At times tough love is the most effective support parents can give. Janes son chose to move back home after his divorce and expected his mother to handle his laundry, shopping and cleaning the way his wife had. She knew he had to learn to take care of himself, once again. I insisted that we set some things straight and that he take responsibility for himself. We created a chart like the one when the kids were in grade school. I have not backed down and so far we are all still here, trying to make our complicated situation work.

3. Create a timetable for financial independence. Financial assistance comes with a price for all - with potential conflict around issues of co- dependency, control and unsolicited advice. Jack commented, Our daughter wants to live rent free but wont listen to our advice about how to get back on her feet. Our plan is that she will be on her own within six months, and we will stick to that.

4. Commit to a concrete plan to move the family toward common goals. This requires the willingness to work as a team, with frequent discussions as well as some compromise. When you put limits and deadlines into place, the result is less conflict. According to a 2006 Money/ICR poll, 60% of Americans believe that college graduates should be allowed to move back home, but only for up to a year, and 57% state that parents should charge them rent.

5. Find the right balance between offering support to your offspring and taking care of yourselves. Sally and Garry were enjoying spending time together when the last of their children left home. These pleasures were short lived. When their daughter separated and wanted to move back, they initially felt that they couldnt turn her away. It wasnt long before their patience wore thin, and they knew they had no choice. Our daughter got lazy. She wouldnt look for work and made little effort to help out. We eventually insisted that she find other arrangements. We felt guilty and spent a lot of time discussing our decision. But we have waited forever for this period in our lives and we dont plan to miss it.

6. Let go. Once you have done all you can to prepare your boomerang kidults to be on their own, let go of your resistance and act. Launching them is an opportunity for all of you. Tap into your own passions and begin to imagine the adventures that lie ahead.

© http://www.HerMentorCenter.com - 2006

Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. are co-founders of http://www.HerMentorCenter.com, a website dedicated to the issues of mid-life women, and co-authors of a forthcoming book about Baby Boomer women and family relationships. They are psychotherapists with 40 years of collective experience in private practice.Ardra Blog47280
Allis Blog35154

Finally, The Truth About Paid Surveys

One of the easiest ways to earn money online, as discussed on my website, is to use paid surveys. While not nearly as lucrative as affiliate marketing or auctioning on eBay, you can still make a nice sum of money with paid surveys.

The first thing I will say is that surveys will not make you an overnight celebrity or millionaire; it is simply a great way to put some extra money in your pocket without doing much work. One thing that irks me is when companies want you to believe that you can fill out a 5-minute survey and make 25 dollars. Let me tell you, I wish that were the case. Most surveys will take at least 20-30 minutes to complete and pay anywhere from $1-10 dollars. Yes, there are some $25-50 surveys, but they are not common.

But what if you were only to take the surveys that pay top dollar and forget about the lower paying ones? The problem with that is after you register with the survey company, you will need an invitation before you can take the surveyyou cant just choose any survey you want to take before you receive an invitation (if that were the case, everyone would only fill out $50 surveys).

Remember, you receive invitations according to your profile. And this goes for most of the survey companies.

As I mentioned earlier, the surveys you get invited to usually pay you anywhere from 1-$10 dollars. So common sense tells anyone that they will have to be registered with many survey companies to even make a decent amount of money. You dont have to register with all the survey companies all at oncea few registrations a day will suffice. With that being said, the more surveys you sign up for, the more chances you will get to make money.

Side note

Please dont feel disappointed in the beginning because of all the $1 surveys in your mailbox; keep on registering with quality survey companies until you start to see those $6-$10 (even $25) offers. After a while, if you keep filling out the low paying surveys, you will see more and more of the much higher paying surveys. Patience is very important in the beginning.

Why would companies compensate me for taking a survey?

The purpose of a survey is to gather peoples opinions on different products and ideas that companies continually come up with; this can be anything from item design to movie scripts. These companies need opinions from real everyday people like you and me to get insight on their products before they hit store shelves. And they are willing to pay us for our opinions.

Have a good time

Taking surveys, to me, is actually fun. It is not stressful and you can get make several hundred dollars a month doing itassuming that you do things the right way.

Not only is it fun, you get to see products, movies, and services before they are presented to the public. I actually completed a movie survey on Snakes On a Plane 5 months before its theatrical release.

Register with the best research companies

As fun as surveys can be, one problem that I found with taking these surveys is that not all of them are worth taking. This is why it is important for you to register only with quality research companies.

You can find some good paid surveys manually and it wont cost you anything.

On the other hand, you can join a paid database, like SurveyScout, that has all the quality paid surveys in one place. While some of the research companies in SurveyScout can be found individually for free, the simple setup, cohesiveness, and registration bonuses that SurveyScout gives you are more than worth the one-time fee they charge. I review SurveyScout on my site.

Here is your reward

Lets talk about what some companies actually give you when you successfully complete a survey. Many companies give you gift certificates, free music downloads, DVDs, and electronics; some will enter you into a cash sweepstakes upon completion of a survey (where you can win a portion of the prize money). You will usually know what you will get for completing a survey before you start (check your survey invitation for details).

Some people tend to decline these kinds of survey invitations because they dont pay in cash; but do not dismiss the non-cash prizes. At times, they are just as good as cash rewards. Say you get a free DVD player or another type of electronic device (MP3 player) as a prize; most likely you were going to buy one anyway, so why disregard prizes such as these? When a survey says you get a gift card or prize once its completed, dont dismiss it.

I think we are about ready to start

Now that we got some of the basics out of the way, you now know that paid surveys are a great way to supplement your income.

Lets move forward to the first rule

Rule #1: Create a separate email account for your survey registrations and monitor it everyday

Set up an email account with Yahoo so you can use it only for your survey registrations and invitations. Please do not use your main/primary email address when signing up for surveys. Often times, people are spammed if they are not careful when registering for surveys. This is the best way to protect yourself against spam.

Rule #2: Dont entertain any bonus offers when registering for surveys.

When registering for surveys, sometimes you will see all sorts of bonus offers from other products/companies; my advice to you is to hit the no, thanks button and continue on with registration. If you dont, you will most likely be subjected to spamthat is another reason why I recommend you open up a free email account with Yahoo or Hotmail: just incase you accidentally agree to one of these offers.

I have been a victim of this, where my name and email address were sold to a third party and I actually had to change my email address to stop the spam. No matter how legit some survey companies seem, some will still sell your information to third parties.

Rule #3: Dont join a paid database until you read this

You can find a good amount of paid surveys by doing simple searches for them for free. So the question is: why should anyone pay for something that they can get for free? In the beginning, I found several good paid surveys by doing some simple searches.

Being the lazy person that I am though, I still decided to join a paid database and have all the best paid surveys in one place. I felt more at ease selecting paid surveys from a paid database like SurveyScout because I knew every research company listed was a quality company that protected my information. The one-time price was very reasonable anyway so I didnt find it much of a burden. Some of my visitors use paid databases and love it because it makes everything a little bit easier.

Nonetheless, you can go either way when deciding between a free database and a paid database. Just be sure to know the difference between the two before you decide.

Rule #4: Dont lie about your contact information

If planning on receiving payment, you have to use your genuine contact information. At first you may feel a bit strange giving out some of your personal details, but in most cases your information is well protected. If you are not honest when you register, you cant expect to receive your payment. Dont waste your own timesign up with your real contact information. But be sure to register with a legit research/survey company.

Rule#5: Protect yourself; protect your information

This is really an extension of rule #1 on day one. But now we are going to focus on other security protocols. Always look for privacy policies and seals of approval to ensure your information is kept secret. When you see seals of approval such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) on a survey website, you know you are protected and are dealing with a company that values privacy.

Rule #6: Dont fall for the promises of wealth

In my experiences, it is difficult to make a full-time income with surveys (thousands a week for example). But you can still make a good stream of additional income to help with your bills and expenses.

The amount of money you make can, and will, fluctuate because the amounts of surveys you receive are very inconsistent. For example, I had one month where I pulled in over $400 dollars and another where I pulled in $88. It all depends on how many surveys you fill out, your profile, time of the year, the research companies you register with, and much more.

While you can make hundreds of dollars a month taking surveys, it will not make you a wealthy man or woman. I use surveys strictly as a supplemental income to help with some of my expenses: car payments, DirecTv bill, DVD rentals, and clothing. For me, it really helps to have an extra several hundred dollars pouring into my bank account every month.

You can easily make a couple thousand dollars a year just by filling out surveys. But once again, if this is your goal, you must fill out as much surveys as possible. While you won't be a wealthy person just by filling out surveys, you can make a substantial amount of money if you constantly fill them out.

Bonus Tip #1: Fill out your profiles after you register. This will make your survey invitations more targeted and less general. This also increases your chance of be selected to participate in the next survey.

Bonus Tip #2: Use focus groups and product testing to your advantage.

Focus groups can be very lucrative. You can actually earn several hundred dollars to complete one project. While paid surveys are short, focus groups will definitely take up more of your time. Focus groups may require you to actually visit a location or talk on the phone in a group discussion. This may take more work, but the reward is much higher, as you will get high cash prizes for your participation.

My best friend in college makes a killing with focus groups and this is how he pays for his books. So look for focus groups that are in your area.

Product testing is something else you might want to look in to. What happens here is a research company sends you a product and wants you to review/survey it. The good news is after you send in the complete review forms, you get to keep the product. These products, at times, are pretty neat.

Chris Walker is the owner of: http://www.ultimate-home-business-advice.com. Get all the best advice on great home businesses that really work. Gain access to essential tips and resources. He is the owner of all said material in this article. You can distribute his material on a non-exclusive, royalty-free basis, while he retains full rights to his work. You can use his article as long as you do not change any of the content without his permission.Brook Blog18372
Aridatha Blog74567

Why You Need IOVC -Internet, Office, VOIP and CRM Technologies to Succed in Business

If you are looking for success through the use of the internet and the current voice technologies, then as a business owner you owe it to yourself to make yourself profitable with the many readily available, emerging technology tools. Years ago, these tools were only available to large business and in some case were shrunk or made t fit for medium business, but seldom for small business and definitely not for a single person business.

If you work your way through the marketing and industry hype and really focus on the basics, there are four key capabilities or technologies that drive your day to day business operation. They are the internet, office, voice and CRM technologies. f you can get a lock on these four capabilities then you must exploit them for maximum profitability to service your customer better. The goal is that IOVC technologies must not be anti-productive to the way your business works today. IOVC technologies should be complimentary and enhance the business processes you manage daily.

Examining IOVC technologies in a little more depth, we can start to understand the real impact upon your business and personal life.

The Internet - The internet is bigger then a website, it is a community just as large if not larger then your neighborhood or city you live in. Because you can not touch and feel the internet, most small business owners become bewildered because of the sheer size of the internet. We should not fear it because at one time the world seem flat until that thought process was changed. Now with the internet, there are many marketers who believe they can conquer the internet. They now use terms like VRE for virtual real estate and they understand the simple definition of the internet; its a group of people walking down a digital avenue looking for your products ad service. The group that wants your product is the group you need to capture to buy your services. With this definition you can not afford to ignore it anymore.

Office Operations - When it comes to your office operations, your business is driven by your current systems and applications. Regardless of the business size, large business or a small business, your office operations are usually driven by standalone software driven applications. These applications have communications technology that coordinate well with their own vendor and support technologies but rarely, do they communicate across vendor, product lines. This means you the business owner have many office tools assaulting your senses for attention each and every day. This mania for attention spills down into your people who become forced to work in silos, become addicted to working overtime based on the way your standalone applications and computer systems have been installed and evolved over time.

Telephone Services - With voice service, many people are beginning to at least hear a lot about VOIP (Voice over IP), or internet phone service. Some call it Internet Telephony. This is a testament to how fast it is growing. Just a few years ago VOIP was still a very unreliable unknown. It is now a term that has invaded many businesses and households. While it is a better replacement for traditional phone service, most folks are still not fully aware of all the unique qualities that separate it from traditional phone service. We will go into this more in part two but for now, understand it is much more then a service that lets people talk. Voice is a voice to data transformation technology, and this data is very powerful when it follows you around. A small business cannot afford to ignore the benefits of this expense reducing and business enhancing service.

Customer Relationship Management - Finally, most business owners understand that the key to creating an excellent customer relationship is the management of the interface between the customer and their point of contact within the organization. Too often processes which suit the business are not customer-friendly, however much they suit the internal needs of the office operations of years gone by. Your customers want service; your team wants to service your customer in the best way possible. You as the business owner grew the business interacting with your customers, so you know continued business success requires a very flexible and profit producing customer relationship strategy. This is the point where sales and service take place. Your customer relations ship strategy and service alone drives the current business and all future interactions with in your company. This has to become a very organized and a very timely service.

To gain the benefit of these technologies, a business owner needs an integrated solution that takes these capabilities and makes sure they meet your needs. With an integrated IOVC technology solution, your business processes are synchronized from initial point of customer contact all the way through your day to day operations right up to product delivery.

The overall result is your days become easier, your team becomes more productive, your customer becomes happier and your business becomes more profitable

Greg Burrus provides small business solutions as an internet and offce technlogy consultant. Greg helps people succeed through the use of internet, office, voice and CRM (IOVC) solutions. visit http://www.techoss.com.Allene Blog60789
Alfie Blog61321

Amalgamate Your Debts!!! Personal Bad Debt Consolidation Loans

Consolidation of your debts

Most of the people these days are having more than one debt with them. These debts can be combination of loans, unpaid credit cards bills, electricity or gas or other utility bills and other forms of credit. Repaying all this debt is a difficult task full of trouble and hefty calculations while maintaining your budget. Consolidation of debts can help you out here by reducing all your monthly debt payments. This can be done through the help of a personal bad debt consolidation loans.

Personal bad debt consolidation loans

Personal bad debt consolidation loans are the perfect partner for an individual facing trouble in repaying his debts and need respite in form of consolidating his debts. With the help of a personal bad debt consolidation loan amount you can repay all your debts at once. The benefit here is that you will only have to make a single monthly repayment which will easily fit into your pocket at low interest rates.

Form of personal bad debt consolidation loans

If you are a homeowner or having any asset offer as collateral to the lender, you can easily get a secured personal bad debt consolidation loan, else an unsecured loan will suit you with slightly higher rates but faster approvals.

Bad debt or bad credit holders

Personal bad debt consolidation loans are specially meant for the people with a bad credit score i.e. CCJs and IVAs, defaulters and arrears etc. These loans helps them recover from there bad credit simultaneously clearing their debts.

Things you need to ask the lender for while selecting a personal bad debt consolidation loan

1. What fees will apply to the loan?
2. What is the interest rate on the loan?
3. What are the payments on the loan?
4. Will the loan adversely affect my credit rating?

Search to apply

You can get the free quotes for personal bad debt consolidation loans through online website. You can compare these quotes and select the best one among them. The best here means a loan quote which not only suits your requirements but also is easy to handle while making repayments. Afterwards you can fill an online application for with personal details, loan amount, residential status and other requisite details.

After debt consolidation through personal bad debt consolidation loans

Once you get the hold of your debts through a personal bad debt consolidation loan, you should take measures to avoid further debts and manage loan repayments easily. You can take the help of credit counseling, debt management programs or debt management plans etc to stop the debts from arising further and letting you enjoy a stress-less life.

Eva Baldwyn aims to inform common men and women of the several issues involved in personal loans and mortgages through her articles. An MSc in Economics & Finance from the Warwick Business School is proof enough of the knowledge that she possesses in the field of finance. To find Personal bad debt consolidation loan, Bad debt consolidation, Bad credit debt consolidation loan,Credit card debt consolidation loan visit http://www.baddebtconsolidation.co.ukAlly Blog5222
Allyn Blog84473

New Ideas For Our Intelligent House

Hes calling within the house!- This thrilling warning resounds in the recent movie When the stranger calls that threatens most of our audiences. You surely still remember most scenes of the film take place within a very modern house that is nowadays called intelligent house. After 2-hour watching this thrilling film, Ive just flashed some new ideas of an intelligent house for myself even though I dont know when I can carry out my dream as Im not a millionaire.

The model intelligent house appeared in the world long time ago. It has been developed as a computer-based house or we can understand that this kind of house is fulfilled with computerized gadgets such as audiovisual system, security sensors, automatic talking servant, etc.

If I can build up my intelligent house someday, you can imagine it as my following description. When somebody presses my door bell, they can hear the greeting Hello Tom, Hi Jenny, Morning Babe or Good afternoon, Sir upon exactly their name. This performance is run due to the memory system of a computer. I can ask for help of a Voice Changer Software to create many cool greeting voices to surprise my friends and guests every special occasion such as ghost voice for Halloween, sweet voice for Valentine, holly voice for Christmas, etc.

Then, coming to the house, you are guided by automatic talking servants. This voice shows you where to have some drink, where to find a book, how to play a film or even where the toilet is. This house can be considered as a relaxed place for all of my friends and family on weekend. There will be also a children room where my kids can listen many legends with various storytellers voices. All of those teller and servant voices are also created only with voice changer software.

If somebody is in stress, my house is also an ideal place to balance their bodies, soul and spirit. You can find a convenient gymnasium to exercise. You can have nourishing cuisine to top up your energy. When you soak into a spa bathtub, the peaceful melody of spa music will play to make your mind at ease. You can refresh and update your spa music library by using music editor software to create your own music collection. If there is a party, my house can make a quick change for everybody to enjoy the most joyful moments compared to wherever else. The party will be very enjoyable with delicious music festivals. I also can apply music editor software to satisfy my needs such as AV Music Morpher Gold or DJ program.

After a hard working day or a noisy party, all I have to do is freely hitting the bed and all the lights of my bedroom will be automatically switched off. The next morning will begin with my favorite songs and the sweet alarm voice.

Jenny Le is a freelance specialized in music and recording categories. Contact her at: media@audio4fun.comCelia Blog67398
Alex Blog66221

Remotely Accessing Your Home Computer

Windows XP operating system contains the software needed to remotely access your home computer from any Internet connection. This is a powerful tool when you are traveling and need to have full access to your home computer to keep your business running efficiently

If you are going to be an online entrepreneur, you always need to have access to your computer when you are away from home. Some people use laptops for home and travel, but many prefer to have use a desktop or tower model PC.

When we retire and are using the Internet for our retirement job, it is very important that we can access the Internet since working on the Internet is our life blood. There are several software packages on the market that will enable you to access your computer as though you were sitting in front of your own monitor. Some of the better known ones are www.GoToMyPC.com and LogMeIn.com. GoToMyPC.com costs $49.95 for the initial setup and between $18.95 and $24.95 per month depending on the plan you choose. LogMeIn.com has a limited feature free version which you might investigate. The full version costs $12.95 per month for a single PC.

The great news is that Microsoft has created a package that is included in the XP Windows operating system. It can also be downloaded from the XP System CD to other operating systems. This will allow the computer to access the remote computer. This software uses the Terminal Server package which only transmits mouse, keyboard, and display information so it is fairly effective over a slow bandwidth connection.

You can install this on your home computer and access the home computer from a laptop that you might carry or from any Internet connection when you are on the road.

My road laptop is running Windows 2000 Professional so I loaded the software on it from my Windows XP system disk and it works very well. When you are traveling, you will be able to use any computer running Windows XP if the Remote Desktop software is installed on it. Most of the hotel business centers and Internet cafes have this set up. All you will need is the IP address of your home computer.

If you want to set this up, click the Start button and select Help and Support. Search on "remote desktop". You will get the information that you need to set up the connection. NOTE: You need a fixed IP address to which to connect. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) do not assign a fixed IP, but rather give you a variable IP address. Most will issue you a fixed IP address for a one time fee or for an additional monthly fee. My fixed IP address cost a one time fee of $25. You need the fixed IP so you can always connect to the same address when the connection is configured. Check with your IP to see what your situation is.

If you have a firewall/router on your system and have a home network, you will also need to make your own computer IP address fixed within your network. This is done by clicking Start/Control Panel/Network Connections. Right click on the icon of the connection that takes you to the Internet and select Properties. In the scroll down window, highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click the properties button below the scroll down window. Click the radio button. "Use the Following IP Address". Enter the IP address to be assigned to the computer. Most computers on Windows are in the 192.168.1.NNN number range. Usually, the lower numbers are assigned first by the software so skip to 101 for the rightmost address in the IP string (192.168.1.101). The subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. The default gateway is usually 192.168.1.1. Leave the DNS server information alone. Click OK twice. Now try to access the Internet to make certain that nothing has been changed that will prevent you from operating your computer. If you cannot access the Internet, go back through the process above and turn on the radio button that says "Obtain an IP Address Automatically" and it will reset back to your old processes. At that point, I suggest you use your software support guru to help you do the job.

If you have a router, you will need to direct the input from port 3389 to your fixed IP address (192.168.1.101). This is done by logging onto your router and setting up the port routing settings. This is not as difficult as it sounds. Read the router instructions and you can do it. As a precaution, write down the router settings before you change them so you can reset to the original values if something does not work properly.

To log on, go to Start/Programs/Accessories/Communications/Remote Desktop Connection. Enter your Internet IP address in the box and click Connect. If all is well, you should see the logon box for your user and password. Caution: If you have someone sharing your computer at home, warn them that the display may suddenly show the login screen. When you are on the remote connection, no one can use the home computer until you finish.

Sometimes we are careless about passwords on our home computers. Since you will be accessing your computer over the Internet, create a strong password for your login. Make it at least eight characters long and make it a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.

When you log in, your job will be a window on the computer you are using for the access. There is a job bar at the top of the screen of the remote software. It has the IP address of the computer being accessed and the standard Windows Minimize, Reduce, and Close. While you are working on the computer, you can minimize the remote window and work locally and the connection will remain active. This will allow you to look up data on your home computer, copy it to the clipboard, minimize the remote window, and paste the information into an application running on the local computer.

I have used this feature for over six months now and it has worked very well for me.

One other consideration is to make certain that your home computer does not shut down while you are away. If a family member is there to restart it if you call and ask for help, this is not a problem, but if you are on vacation and no one is there to help, you have a problem.

Purchase a UPS (not the brown truck) but an uninterruptible power supply and install it on your computer. This will keep your computer running if there is a short power outage. There are bargains on good refurbished UPS units on the Internet. Buy one large enough to keep your computer running for twenty to thirty minutes if your power fails. Most of the time the power will be restored in less time than that.

Try it and see how it works. Good computing.

John V. W. Howe is an entrepreneur, author, inventor, patent holder, husband, father, and grandfather. He has been involved in entrepreneurial activities for over 40 years. Brianna Blog76166
Celia Blog54655

Good Design Practices and Important Rules in Website Design

When it comes to your website, extra attention should be paid to every minute detail to make sure it performs optimally to serve its purpose. Here are seven important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your website performs well.

1) Do not use splash pages

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements

Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valueable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.

4) Have a clear indication of where the user is

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!

5) Avoid using audio on your site

If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.

Your website is where your business resides it's like the headquarter of an offline company. Hence, it is important to practise good design principles to make sure your site reaches out to the maximum number of visitors and sells to as many people as possible.

Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors know how to navigate around your website without confusion.

Reduce the number of images on your website. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size.

Keep your text paragraphs at a reasonable length. If a paragraph is too long, you should split it into seperate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content.

Make sure your website complies to web standards at www.w3.org and make sure they are cross-browser compatible. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose out on a lot of prospective visitors.

Avoid using scripting languages on your site unless it is absolutely necessary. Use scripting languages to handle or manipulate data, not to create visual effects on your website. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information because of that.

Use CSS to style your page content because they save alot of work by styling all elements on your website in one go.

Kanicen Nichathavan is the owner of Shoppers Journey, At Shoppers Journey, we provide quality Web Marketing & Web Design solutions for your needs. Be it dazzling websites and portals or customized software solutions, our team is trained and ready to fulfill your every need. Visit my site at http://www.shoppersjourney.comAlison Blog24197
Barbabra Blog49206

Notebook Battery Life - 3 Easy steps to extend the life of your notebook battery

Notebook computers. At this point in the 21st century, they have become an indispenable part of many people's everyday lives. From the commuting business executive and the busy college student, we all want to be mobile with our computers. The big drawback of that is the fact that there is not always a plug around when you need one. A notebook computer's battery is its life-blood. Without proper care, your notebook battery could fail much earlier than anticipated. By following a few simple steps, you can expect to get the greatest amount of usage possible out of your notebook battery before a replacement is needed.

1. Upon purchase, charge the battery to full capacity. Whether you have purchased a new computer have purchased a new battery for your laptop, charging it fully as soon as you open the box is the best recommendation. This allows the battery to reach a full capacity before you begin to use it "unplugged". Most batteries come with a partial charge, enough to get you going if you absolutely had to. Giving that battery a full charge when it is brand new will help set the charge capacity for the battery at its highest possible level.

2. Once you reach a full charge, leave the computer plugged in for at least 2 hours. This action lets the battery "rest" at a full charge for a fairly lengthy period of time. At this point, the battery is not drawing power from your wall socket to charge, and it is also not supplying any power to your system. Letting your battery rest for a time after a full charge helps to "lock-in" that full charge capacity.

3. Unplug the computer and drain the battery. It might sound silly, but now that you have gotten that battery to a full charge, you need to drain the power almost completely. Again, this will help determine the charge capacity of the battery. Leave your computer unplugged and use it until you get a warning telling you that the battery is almost completely discharge. Then save whatever you are working on and power the computer down. Plug back into the wall socket for a fresh charge. Then use the computer at your leisure.

If you follow these steps about once a month, your notebook battery should last a nice long while. Not to say that you will never have to replace it, but at least it will be a long time before you need to.

Michael Paul is the host/producer of the TechCast Weekly podcast, a popular weekly show dedicated to providing computer help, tips, and tutorials for the average computer user. Visit http://www.techcastweekly.com to hear the latest shows and get more great tips to make your computing life easier and easier to understand.Aubrie Blog23503
Arlen Blog59317

Preventing False Burglar Alarms

A false alarm is caused by human error or equipment problems in your burglar alarm system. These problems trigger an alarm requiring a police response even though no crime has been committed or even attempted.

Burglar alarms were originally designed to protect lives and property. Properly installed, used, and maintained, alarms are a real asset. However, when misused, they become a liability.

Police departments as well as security monitoring companies must spend a significant amount of time and money reacting to false alarms. False alarms can delay police officers from responding to real emergencies, thus endangering the whole community. System users also experience the inconvenience of false alarms and the assessment of fines. Further, a system that continually has false alarms can be rendered useless as neighbours may ignore your alarm when it goes off for a valid reason. Finally, one of my biggest concerns about false alarms is that the user becomes reluctant to arm the system, exposing their home or business to undetected theft or damage.

Preventing false alarms can be as simple as making sure that all doors and windows are locked before arming your premises. Here are some other easy tips for preventing false alarms:

If you have pets, be sure they are in an area not covered by motion sensors when the system is armed.

Stop all drafts that may move plants or curtains, both of which may cause an alarm to sound.

Insist that the alarm keypad be easily accessible from the entry door and that the arming delay is set for a reasonable period.

Ensure that everyone with a key to your home or business knows how to manually operate the system and knows what to do if it is accidentally set off. These authorized people should also know the 24-hour service number and pass code for the monitoring company.

Remember that user error is the single largest cause of false alarms, so have your user's manual accessible to all users.

Make sure that you replace the backup battery every three to five years.

Insist that your system have a simple method for testing that will not result in a false dispatch and then perform a monthly test.

Make sure that your burglar alarm system has a cancel code that can be entered after a false alarm has sounded.

Remember, the most common reasons for false alarms are: poor-quality equipment, equipment used in the wrong application, improperly-installed equipment, poorly-trained users, and a lack of dispatch verification from the monitoring station.

Frank Fourchalk is widely recognized for his sustained commitment to education in Home and Business security throughout North America as a result of his syndicated newspaper columns. Mr. Fourchalk has written for The Toronto Star, The Vancouver Province, and several other daily newspapsers including the New York Post.Brittan Blog90059
Bernita Blog69684

Lisk CMS is a Perfect CMS Sollution

Lisk CMS is a comprehensive user friendly Content Management System developed by Createch Group. The first version was launched in October 2001 and now we present Lisk CMS v.4.3 which incorporates five years of extensive experience of our company in providing the top level content management solutions.

Lisk CMS meets all requirements of todays demanding market, among which are user friendliness, the use of the latest web technologies, search engines friendliness, ability to seamlessly integrate with third party software, high security, support and more.

All content is editable
The main purpose of any Content Management System is to provide the ability of editing content. However a lot of CMS solutions do not allow managing indeed everything or do it not in the best way.

To provide our customers with the ability to manage really all website content and to do this in the most user friendly and effective form, Lisk CMS incorporates 3 approaches to content management.

Editing content using Site Structure module

The main website content is usually editable via Site Structure module of the Control Panel, for example About Company section pages. With the help of Site Structure you can manage the content of each page using HTML Editor as well as create new pages and sections.

Managing structured data

Using HTML Editor it is easy to edit the content of a simple page, such as About Us, however if you need to manage hundreds of products in products catalogue or news section the use of HTML editor will take too much time and effort. To make this process easy and convenient Lisk CMS is powered with a number of built-in modules for managing structured data (tree, list, cross list, etc.). You can learn more about this concept in Working with structured data article.

Editing block-type content

There is a lot of content on your website that does not belong to a particular page (i.e. site copyright) or is being a part of site functionality (i.e. site registration confirmation). For managing such content while working with Lisk CMS you will never be referred to site templates, it will be available for editing in a separate section of the Control Panel.

Lisk Modules

Lisk CMS includes many ready-to-go website modules that are fully integrated into the CMS and offer powerful and flexible solutions for managing corresponding areas of the website.

Among the modules are such as:

Newsletter
Feedback forms
News
Media Gallery
Downloads
Products Catalogue
Site Structure
Poll
Metatags manager
Links Directory
Visits Statistics
Action Statistics
Guest book
FAQ
Events
Lisk Cache

Each Lisk CMS edition comes with a predefined set of modules which may be needed for the purposes of a certain type of website; however upon request we can provide a custom Lisk CMS edition or just add the required modules to the standard edition set.

Also, following our company policy, we constantly perfect existing and develop new modules to meet the needs of our customers.

Lisk CMS is a perfect solution for a wide range of web sites such as corporate, e-commerce, community and intranet/extranet systems. However, due to the capabilities of Lisk CMS Architecture and Lisk Framework, it should not be considered just an out-of-the-box solution. Lisk CMS allows to consider all aspects and requirements of the project and at the final stage to provide a custom made solution that ideally suits customers needs and business objectives.

In this section you will find information on the general features and advantages of Lisk CMS, however we strongly recommend trying Lisk CMS in action by creating an online demo site to learn about all its features and capabilities on your own.

Built-in editors
HTML WYSIWYG Editor

To help you work with pages content, Lisk CMS is powered with a powerful and easy-to-master web-based HTML Editor that incorporates all the major text-processing operations which you may ever need, including inserting tables and images, using various fonts of different sizes and colors and creating hyper references. It is very similar to working with standard text-processing software, so if you know the basics of Microsoft Word you will not encounter any problems working with our HTML editor.

Image Editor

Working with images is very important and quite often poses a problem for site administrators. To help you with this, Lisk CMS includes Image Editor. It is web a based java application that allows you to do all the editing you may need before publishing images on the site. Resizing, cropping, image rotating, flipping, adjusting brightness, contrast and many other necessary operations are available.

Functionality and User friendliness
The possibility to manage the website and its content in the most flexible, convenient and time-saving way - this is Lisk CMS credo. We never spare time and effort to create the best possible solutions.

Do you need to set a date? - Use a handy drop-down calendar. Do you need to add many files? - Upload them through FTP and then just select the one you need with the web-based FTP browser. Would you like to change the email notification content? - Use the Email Template module. The list goes on, once you test and see the demo for yourself, you will discover many other useful and necessary features.

Your time and comfort while working with Lisk CMS have always been our primary objectives and criteria.

Search Engines Friendly

Web sites in today's competitive business market that are not optimized for search don't have much of a chance of being found by potential customers; and that goes for non-business sites as well. That is why we put much effort to make Lisk CMS Search Engines friendly.

Search engines friendly URLs

With Lisk CMS you will never meet an URL like "http://yourwebsite.com/index.php?pageid=3&sort=
ascending&language=english&rvisitor=y"

All pages addresses are search engines friendly. By default they look like a folder structure, i.e. "www.yourwebsite.com/company/about/" However site administrator can change it to "www.yourwebsite.com/about.htm" if it is needed for any reason - for example, for setting up Lisk CMS on existing web site to save current pages names.

Meta-Data Management

For some websites that grow very fast the ability to categorize data and ensure that users and search engines can find relevant information is now more important than ever. In addition, many government organizations require mandatory standards based meta-data management for web pages to be met.
To ensure that meta-data structures (such as the Dublin Core) can be enforced on any page of a web site we have developed the Metatags Manager module. This module provides the ability to manage site meta information in the most convenient and effective way.

To learn more about Metatags Manager please visit Lisk CMS > Modules > Metatags Manager section.

Links Directory

Additionally, we have developed Links Directory module that provides all necessary functionality and a lot of very useful features for organizing site links directory, that is required for search engines optimization and site promotion.

To learn more about Links Directory module please visit Lisk CMS > Modules > Links Directory section.

Working with structured data
It is easy to fill your site with content and update the content using Lisk CMS HTML editor. However, managing large quantity of data may become a problem. Sometimes you may find it difficult to make sense out of hundreds of news entries, or to arrange all your employees' profiles as you like. You may - somewhere else, but not with Lisk CMS. We have developed convenient and flexible modules that will eliminate problems while working with long lists of entries or tree-like catalogues and others.

For the past years, we have studied our customers' needs and their experience with our CMS; we have added many features that can be useful to our clients during content management and save their time.

Protected & Secure

Site protection and security are very important problems and their solving should not be only a development issue but rather a well-elaborated question on architecture level. While developing Lisk CMS a lot of attention has been paid to such security aspects as:

SQL Injection

SQL Injection is one of the most common weak spots of web applications. To solve this problem we have developed anti SQL Injection module that has been realized on a database layer of the architecture to prevent any chance of SQL injection.

Authorization protection

The site authorization is often an object of hacker attention. To ensure that Lisk Authorization is secured we paid much attention to this issue. In Lisk CMS the confidential information is never stored in sessions or cookies to prevent the possibility of data interception and usage by unauthorized parties.

File access level

In Lisk CMS file access is granted on the level of operation system to prevent unauthorized access. Also, access to the files that should not be executed or read directly (i.e. templates, engine, site files) is forbidden.

Multilevel, role play administration

Website content can be managed by several people. Providing them with access to managing of the whole site could be a considerable risk. To solve this problem Lisk CMS has a multilevel, role play site administration architecture which allows multiple administrators to manage only the areas assigned to them by the main administrator.

Flexibility & Integration

Flexibility & Integration are Lisk properties which our developers are proud of the most. Lisk CMS credo is to never adjust the customer's needs to CMS abilities but to be able to adjust CMS to the requirements of any project.

Lisk originated from more than 5 years experience in development of more than 100 custom web projects. Based on this experience we have identified the most common functionality requests and the most effective and user friendly solutions which did not limit the expandability of the developed applications.

Lisk CMS architecture allows implementing any specific functionally which can be developed and integrated with Lisk by any developer. Having an option of developing based on Lisk Framework API or following his own programming approach, the developer can implement any required functionality.

Expand & Restructure

Being a significant part of your business, your website should be expandable and adaptable to business and market demands. That is why Lisk CMS has a built-in Site Structure module which is probably the main tool for managing website content and structure.

Site Structure module allows reorganizing your website structure, manage existing content, add new pages and sections, install new modules, manage page templates, set access levels and more.

Working with Lisk CMS Site Structure module you can be sure that your website is ready to meet market challenges and rising requirements; you can quickly and conveniently update the website or adapt it to the changing business environment.

Organizing Site Files

The ability to effectively organize site files is an important part of successful corporate website. Lisk CMS provides fully integrated and convenient tool for this purpose. Using Site Files section you will be able to store and organize all types of files (images, documents, media etc.) used on your website in one place. You will be able to manage them either through FTP or web interface. Available actions include preview, organize in folders, add/edit/delete.

While working with Lisk CMS (for example with the HTML editor or adding an item that contains an image field) you can directly use all files from Site Files.

Site Files consists of 5 areas to sort your files by type:

Images
Here, the images and photos that you use on the website are stored. Also, you can edit the images using Image Editor from here.

Documents
This section stores all kinds of documents such as MS Word, Excel, PDF, TXT documents etc.

Media
Contains all kinds of media files such as .avi, .mpeg, .mp3, .wav, .mov, etc.

Flash
Should be used for storing and organizing macromedia flash presentations and movies.

Files
For storing all kind of files, which do not fall under either of the above described categories.

Help & Support

Help Center

If at any moment you have a problem or a question regarding Lisk CMS features, our Help Center that covers all aspects of working with Lisk CMS is always ready to help you. It consists of 3 areas: General help - describing the basics of Lisk CMS operation, Modules section that provides help on managing Lisk modules, and Tutorials section with step by step tutorials.

Support

Our support center is always ready to help you. If a question which is not covered by our Help Center arises you can be sure that you will receive support in a timely and friendly manner.

Lifetime warranty

Lisk CMS has an inherent lifetime bug fixing and security patch warranty.

Multilevel Administration

Lisk CMS has a powerful roles-based permissions architecture enabling inherited permissions to be applied to any area of Control Panel. It is based on user-groups authorization model, where any user is a part of his group and Administrator gives access to different areas of Control Panel to a certain group. This way if you want one of your staff to update site news and events calendar only, you can grant access to News & Events sections only to Editors Group. The Administrators group is a system group, with full access rights to the control Panel.

Also the Control Panel indicates the logged in online administrators, and tracks user logins and their IP addresses.

Backup & Restore

Being an important part of your business, your web site and its data are very important and there should not be even a chance that they might be lost or damaged by mistake or due to server corruption. This is why we have developed our own Backup System. It will allow you to create website backups and restore the data in emergency situations, or if your site has been damaged.

Lisk Backup System allows creating backup files, with several options for data parts to be backed up. Among them are site Database structure and data, site files and source codes, and site dynamic file content such as images, files, and documents.

The backup archives can be moved to a backup server or downloaded to your local machine. Also, backup process can be automated by setting up a cron/scheduled job, which will automatically backup the site and its data on a regular basis.

With Lisk Backup System you can be sure that in any unfortunate event occurring on your website/server you will never lose any data.

Technical Advantages

Multi-Server Website Publication

For large, enterprise level websites with very big number of visitors the only solution is a multi-server site publication. Lisk CMS supports publication of the website to multiple servers. Also, its architecture allows setting up hardware configuration the way where http, database and file servers are installed on different machines under the local network.

Multi Platform support

Since Lisk CMS is written in PHP it can be run both on Windows and Unix based web servers. As an HTTP server, Apache or Zeus can be used. Work with database, implemented using the abstract layer, allows working with either MySQL, MsSQL or Oracle databases.

Low Server Load

With a big number of website visitors server load can become a problem. For such situations, we have developed Lisk Cache module. This module creates HTML cache pages and this allows to render server load to the minimum.

Statistics Solutions

Visits Statistics

Your website visits statistics is the most important information that will allow you to learn about your site performance, its audience, their interests, preferences and needs. This information helps you to improve your website work, choose an effective promotion strategy and much more. To gather and process this information we have developed Lisk Visits Statistics module. With the help of this module you can see the number of visitors, time they spent on the site, the number of website visits, visitors details such as browser, screen resolution, IP, clickstream. You can see where they come to your web site from, what pages are the most popular, etc.

To learn more about Visits Statistics please visit Lisk CMS > Modules > Visits Statistics section.

Action Statistics

Action Statistics is a unique Lisk CMS module designed to give you the ability to receive statistical information about any actions that users perform on the website. Being adapted to the needs of your website, the module allows you to keep track of any actions performed by a user that can be interesting to monitor. For example, Action Statistics can be indispensable for E-commerce websites, where you might need to monitor such actions as putting an item into the cart, viewing item details, actually purchasing an item, etc.

You can browse this statistics for any time range or create a report using Report Generator tool. Action statistics gives you accurate answers to the questions you may have about your website performance.
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