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Gourmet cooking schools are the high class educational centers focusing on imparting in-depth knowledge of not just history of the cooking techniques, but gives cultural and regional preferences and specialty learning info to all students besides ensuring that there is adequate personal interaction between teachers and taught. The highly qualified chefs and master-chefs, with a dedication to creating fine dining experiences the basis of all knowledge imparted to students enrolled herein, besides focusing on teaching in a customized format not available.

Most of these gourmet cooking schools are located in the metro cities in a nation and the top chefs, everyone knows, come from France! Earlier, cookery students keen to avail this highly specialized knowledge and base for continental cuisine styles and forms had to enroll in top cooking schools in France in order to understand and imbibe the finer nuances of French gourmand cooking; however, with technology and developments such as the internet and cooking shows on Television, this gap has bridged. Besides, many of the French chefs have opened training institutes in the heart of the United States along with setting up schools in other parts of the western world for those who love this artful cuisine.

Of course, the course fees don’t come cheap, but the top gourmet cooking schools do ensure quality training and comprehensive knowledge about all aspects about buying food, preparing and presenting it for varied occasions and people.

Knowledge you will gain at best gourmet cooking schools:

Some gourmet cooking schools focus on teaching regional cuisine, others on country cooking and still others on confectionery items; you need to decide your interest and aims before enrolling for a training here.

1. Among the 3 important things taught at gourmet cooking schools are in-depth knowledge of various kinds of foodstuff, the chemical composition of foods and their break-down in the cooking process besides choosing and planning healthy, balanced meals. Various techniques of chopping, dicing and cutting food are also taught here besides related methods of preparing food.

2. Different ways of preparing meats, veggies, seasonal fruits and fresh dairy produce besides methods of sauce and dessert making are taught too as are the uses of different types of cookware and cuisine techniques from provincial France, including the traditional methods.

3. Those signing up for the top gourmet cooking schools with the aim of becoming a professional cook need to also understand beyond the fundamentals of great cooking style, the need for kitchen safety and the skills for business development, management and customer service, useful for those planning to start their own restaurant.

In order to have a bright future as a professional chef or even a continental cuisine expert, this is the place to be!

About this Author

Abhishek is a cooking enthusiast! Visit his website http://www.cooking-guru.com and download his FREE Cooking Report “Master Chef Secrets” and learn some amazing Cooking tips and tricks for FREE! Learn how to create the perfect meal on a shoe-string budget. And yes, you get to keep all the accolades! But hurry, only limited Free copies available! http://www.cooking-guru.com

Article Source:
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In all my years of cooking, recipes most often specify quantities that serve 4-6 people. That’s great if you’re cooking for a dinner party, but most often we just want meals for ourselves, or meals for two.

There certainly seems to be a shortage of “cooking for one” recipes, or even “cooking for two” recipes. Cooking for singles seems to be low in demand but I think it is something that needs to be catered to.

When using and modifying a recipe, I have found that simply dividing the quantity of all the ingredients by 2 or 4 or whatever didn’t always result in a good meal. Sometimes it was overcooked, other times the liquid/sauce boiled away to almost nothing.

It was then I realised that although I had reduced the quantity of ingredients, I either kept the same cooking times or used the wrong sized equipment (or both). As well as that, I found that some ingredients don’t need to be reduced in quantity as much as others.

So here are some tips for cooking smaller portion sizes. I hope this will help you cook meals for yourself that taste just as nice as when you make them for 5 other people!

Cooking Equipment Size

The rule of thumb here is: smaller portion size = smaller pan size.

When cooking for 4-6 people, you obviously need larger saucepans and frypans.

Why? Firstly, the pans have to be big enough to hold all the ingredients, and secondly, they have to be the right size to allow even cooking without allowing the juices/liquids to evaporate away. I call this the quantity-of-ingredients: pan-size ratio

So, when cooking for one person, the smaller quantities mean you need to cook in a much smaller pan. That way, the quantity-of-ingredients: pan-size ratio remains more or less the same.

If you cooked in the same larger pan, the ingredients will be spread out through the pan much more thinly and will be more prone to boiling or evaporating away. The end result is you end up with dried out dinners.

Quantity Of Liquids

The rule of thumb here is: don’t reduce the liquid ingredients by the same percentage.

The thing about liquids is that they partly evaporate away during cooking. Since you’ll be cooking at the same temperatures, the less liquid you start with, the more (proportionally-speaking) will be boiled away during cooking, ultimately leaving you with food that’s either too dry or hasn’t enough sauce.

The kinds of liquids that are affected by this include:

- Evaporated milk / cream / regular milk

- Liquid stock (eg. Chicken stock, beef stock)

- Juices (such as orange juice, pineapple juice etc.)

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but gives you the idea that thinner liquids (as opposed to thicker sauces) are more prone to evaporation.

What I have found works best is that you should reduce the quantities of these liquids as half as much as you do the other ingredients.

For example, if you’re cooking a meal that the recipe says would serve 4 just for yourself, then you would divide the quantities of all ingredients by 4. For any liquid ingredients, you should divide the quantities by just 2.

If you find that there’s too much liquid left at the end of the cooking time, then either cook a little longer to boil it off, or use a slotted spoon to remove everything else from the pan leaving as much liquid behind as you want.

Cooking Time

The rule of thumb here is: reduce cooking times when cooking smaller quantities.

Similar to the above section about quantities of ingredients, I have found that cooking times can vary depending on the quantities being cooked. This is especially true for cooking in a frypan.

However, it’s difficult to come up with a hard-and-fast rule about this. With experience, I’ve learned to tell when food is cooked just by looking at it (OK, and occasionally cutting into a piece of chicken to double-check!).

The problem is that although you would be cooking smaller quantities in a smaller pan when cooking for one person, the heat levels remain more or less the same.

By the way I certainly don’t recommend reducing heat levels when cooking! Food needs to be cooked at certain temperatures to ensure it’s free from bacteria.

That leaves time as the only other variable that can be changed. Again, food needs a minimum amount of time to cook properly but overcooking isn’t good either.

I would suggest shaving about 10 to 20 percent of the cooking times off when cooking for one person or two. Of course, you should check first that the food is properly cooked (especially with items like chicken or fish) but by checking early you can avoid overcooking your food. If you think it needs a little longer then let it cook for another minute or so, and check again.

Finally, remember to enjoy your cooking. If at first you don’t succeed, just try again!

Nick Daval has been cooking simple and delicious meals for over 15 years. You can learn from his experience and pick up some great cooking tips and tricks by visiting his website’s Cooking Technique page at http://www.basic-cooking.com/cooking-technique.html.

Anyone who has seen the Lamborghini Reventón or the Aston Martin DBS knows that unmistakable feeling. It’s the thrill & the allure of the exotic sports car, overhauled & updated for the 21st century. Since their inception, sports cars have continually pushed the boundaries of both engineering & art. These are the cars that exemplify speed, power and beauty.

Alfa Romeo: The Grandfather of Exotic Sports Cars

Alfa Romeo first began producing racecars in Milan, Italy in 1910. Their first endeavor, the HP 24, turned some heads with its superior speed and handling. Chief Designer Giuseppe Merosi worked on all Alfa Romeo models from 1910 to 1923. When Merosi retired, racecar driver Enzo Ferrari persuaded Vittorio Jano to leave Fiat and take over Merosi’s work.

In 1925, Alfa Romeo unveiled the P2 Grand Prix Car, Jano’s first car with Romeo and widely considered the first “supercar.” The P2 was powered by a straight-8 cylinder supercharged engine, and placed first in 14 Grand Pix races between 1924 and 1930. Today, the P2 Grand Prix is considered one of the most rarified of the collectible antique cars, with less than a dozen still intact.

This year marks the return of Alfa Romeo to the United States. Their current sports car, the 8C Competizione, is stunning with its sleek lines, 4.7L 6-cylinder engine & a top speed of 181 mph. This car is destined to send ripples throughout the US market.

Ferrari: High Performance, Luxury Cars

After racing Alfa Romeos in the 1920′s & 30′s, Enzo Ferrari decided that he wanted to build his own racecars. He prototyped a few models in the 1940′s, but it wasn’t until after World War II that he found success. Notably, Ferrari’s exotic sports cars took first place in the Formula 1 World Championships, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World Sportscar Championships throughout the 1950′s.

Ferrari’s Gran Turismo series remains its most successful lines, with the 2007 599 GTB Fiorano bringing even more luxury and innovation to the table. Patrons of the Ferrari Club of America cite performance as the primary reason for purchasing a Ferrari over other collectible cars.

Lamborghini : Exotic Sports Cars for a New Generation

Ferruccio Lamborghini had a successful business building tractors in Italy before his eyes turned to the exotic sports car. And it wasn’t a love for performance that stirred his fire, but a disdain for Enzo Ferrari.

According to Lamborghini’s family, Ferruccio purchased a Ferrari 250 GT in the early 1960′s and was unhappy with the handling & response of the clutch. He brought it into Ferrari’s factory and met with Enzo Ferrari to voice his concerns. Ferrari was immediately upset with Lamborghini’s complaints so he mocked Lamborghini and sent him away. Lamborghini went home, dismantled the car and discovered that the clutches installed in Ferraris were from the same manufacturers he used for his tractors. He installed a new clutch and vowed to create a higher-quality, luxury sports car than Ferrari.

While Lamborghini has countless models that produce awe and wonder in car enthusiasts, it’s the 1974 Countach that remains their most iconic. Designer Marcello Gandini, then just beginning his career, placed his focus on style over aerodynamics. With its scissor doors, sharp lines and low, wide frame, the Countach raised the bar for Lamborghini. The Diablo, the Murciélago, and even the 2008 Reventón follow in its wake.

Aston Martin: Unforgettable Collectible Cars

Britain’s Aston Martin was founded by Lionel Martin & Robert Bamford in 1914. They designed exotic sports cars and drove in competitions, but it wasn’t until David Brown became managing director of the company in 1947 that they were able to establish themselves as a maker of high-quality, high-performance sports cars. They introduced the DB line (DB standing for David Brown) in 1950, and many of their models have become synonymous with antique and collectible cars.

Newer DB models include the luxurious DB-7, which was designed by Ian Callum and produced from 1994 to 2001. This model won the Jim Clark Award in 1995, and remains Aston Martin’s most successful car to-date.

Where to Find Collectible Cars for Sale

Buying and selling exotic sports cars is a specialized process that requires a credible and secure collector car trader. Some of the best experts are other exotic sports car owners. To find out more about buying and selling antique cars or classic collectible cars the first place to look are exotic sports car clubs such as http://www.lamborghiniclub.com or [http://www.exoticcarrental.com/FerrariClubs.com]

Interested in online car dealers that specialize in buying and selling exotic sports cars? Check out http://www.chooseyouritem.com/exotics/dealerpage.html, ebay classic cars and a new website called [http://www.HighEndCrazy.com] These sites will get you started on the road to driving the exotic sports car of your dreams.

John Green is an Electrical Engineer who has worked for prestigious companies, such as Kimberly-Clark Corporation and Union Switch and Signal Corporation where he oversaw completion of large commercial projects. John was frustrated with hard to use websites while selling some luxury merchandise online. So he teamed with his brother, Richard, to develop a website for buyers and sellers of luxury merchandise. Visit: [http://www.HighEndCrazy.com] or email highendcrazy@bellsouth.net for more information.

Celebrity clothing lines have become somewhat of a big hype these days. That’s because celebrities always look great in their clothes, and it would be nice to see what they’re endorsing next in the fashion industry. While celebrity clothing is a big hit, you’ll need to be more familiar with what goes around it and budget wisely!

There are now many famous stars who own celebrity clothing lines. Jessica Simpson herself had up to 3 ranges of clothing in 2005. Designs ranged from Juniors to wedges to cowboy boots. Milla Jovovich also had her celebrity line, which features vintage-inspired clothing. If you’re interested in swimwear, Elizabeth Hurley has a celebrity line selling beachwear. Jlo’s fashion company made millions from selling junior clothing, girls clothing, plus-size clothing, perfumes and accessories! One of the latest celebrity lines is one endorsed by Avril Lavigne. It is basically designed for the “junior lifestyle” and is said to reflect Lavigne’s personal style. Lavigne herself stated that she makes sure items have a good fit and great quality. Plus, the line is made to be affordable.

While stars look great, don’t always expect good quality because you are wearing their clothes. In fact, not all celebrities wear clothes from their own celebrity lines. Remember, celebrities will always look good because they have their own stylists and make-up artists. To get the best celebrity clothing for you, get to know the reason why they were created in the first place.

We are often psychologically drawn to celebrities because of their high status and reputation as being the beautiful people. Hence, we like the idea of buying from their celebrity fashion line so we could associate ourselves with their high status. The reality is some celebrities don’t even design their own clothes, and they are rather used for endorsement to make big bucks. The key things you should really be looking for in a celebrity fashion line are purpose and quality.

What was the purpose of that particular celebrity fashion line? Why was it created in the first place? There are actually some celebrities who genuinely want to design a line that could help people with specific concerns. Oftentimes these celebrities showcase clothing that are very much like the clothes they wear, for example Avril Lavigne. There are celebrity fashion lines that were designed mainly for a woman’s natural curves, for the classic look, or for a certain personality. So, don’t settle for just any piece of clothing because a celebrity designed it! Instead, look for creativity and quality, and avoid buying items that simply have the “stamp” of a celebrity’s name.

If you absolutely love the style of your favorite celebrity, why not get some celebrity-inspired clothing? You don’t always have to buy from celebrity clothing lines to emulate a celebrity’s style. Get a few items from a celebrity fashion line and simply throw in a number of celebrity-inspired clothing to enrich your new wardrobe. Buy a skeleton top from Lavigne’s fashion line and then buy some cheap, funky jewelry from Target or other department stores to complete the look all on your own. Completely copying your favorite celebrity will simply make you a copycat and boring in a fashion sense. Get inspired instead, and incorporate your own personal style to make the most out of your new celebrity wardrobe.

The author is launching a new clothing social site [http://clothshare.com] please come by and show off your style.

Blog, video, pictures, forum, classifieds and much more can be found at [http://clothshare.com]

It may be hard to believe but a fish tank will require a lot of care and management. If you have had problems in keeping your fish alive even for a few months, you will need to take a closer look at your fish tank. It may sound simple but it’s anything but simple. Taking care of the aquarium will require some effort on your part and you will need to plan in advance in order to get the techniques right. The normal life spans of the archetypal tanks are measured in years and not in months, but the life of the fishes vary from species to species. These fish have the potential to live anywhere between 3 to 7 years, and the goldfish can survive for almost 20 years.

If you are taking the care of your fish tank, the right way, the life span of your fish will increase dramatically and they will be able to live out their whole life span. One of the major requirements you will need to pay attention to are the food supplies. The food supply tends to vary with the change of season and guess what, so does the feed amount. Hence, you should try to serve your fish with less food during winter and more during summer. You may already be aware of the fact that small fishes are under constant threat of an attack from the bigger ones, so it may be a good idea to keep the small fishes separately in a tank all on their own. Usually the fish don’t become old and die, but get eaten by others when they grow weak. As macabre as that may seem, that’s a fact when it comes to fishes, of course, the tank could always do them in first especially if you haven’t taken care of it.

Fish tanks can become breeding grounds for various kinds of diseases, so you will need to sanitize the tank when cleaning it in order to protect your fishes from these diseases. The fish can get various types of illnesses, so you’ll need to do all you can to prevent them from becoming sick in the first place. If you’re a hands on sort of person and would prefer to treat the fish on your own, you would be better off hitting the books in the quest of getting information on fish diseases. You’ll need to learn about the various diseases and the effective methods of treatment for the same. In such cases, prevention is much better than cure, and you should clean the tank regularly to avoid these problems. The fish tank should have good-quality water and the fishes should be provided with a balanced diet. Poor quality water can stress out the fish so you’ll need to take care that the water is of good quality and aerated properly. Generally their immune systems are strong enough to protect them from a few disease-causing organisms, but if you prefer not to leave anything to chance, you’ll need to start cleaning the tank on a regular basis. You should check the tank regularly to ensure that the fishes are in good health, and do not end up falling prey to some disease. You can generally make this out form observing any changes in their physical appearance or in their activities. If you do notice the same, then it’s time to start cleaning the filter, the tank and change at least one third of the water in the aquarium.

Medication can be added to the water in the fish tank but it needs to be done carefully. If the fishes are sick then it is better to opt for treating the fish than just dunking them in medicated water. There are a few fish medications that are not effective and can actually cause more harm to the sick fishes. As the physical condition of fishes start to improve, you can start changing the tank water on a regular basis again. You will need to remember that fishes require constant care and you can do so by cleaning the aquarium first. The water in the tank is the main source of survival for the fishes, and carelessness here would result in loss of their lives.

Remember that certain kind of fish require special modifications to be carried out to the tank in order to ensure that they remain healthy. It could be the ambient water temperature, so you will need to check the water temp every now and then, to ensure that there are no accidents. Other than the temperature, you’ll need to ensure that the water is aerated; you will be able to get all you need at any of top of the line pet supply stores. Maintaining a fish tank can take quite a bit of effort on your part but once you have done it a couple of times, it will seem easy. The hard part lies in actually putting your thoughts to action and getting to clean up that tank.

There are some wonderful resources out there like this site on fish tanks [http://bubblyfishtanks.com]. Alternatively, for more information on setting up a fish tank or fish tank accessories in general have a look at this site full of great information regarding fish tank filters [http://bubblyfishtanks.com/11/fish-tank-filters/].

It is the augmentation in fashion trends in India that revolutionized the merchandising system in retail industry. Brands in apparel, textiles, jewelry, accessories, footwear, cosmetics and salons raised the business more than Rs 40,000 crore.

The Indian retail market is evolving rapidly. It is palpable that now Indian retail industry requires lots more of fashion. The organized retailing is developing at breakneck speed. It is amicable to all that fashion is a vital part of both the retail industry as well as the brands. Fashion has led the retail industry boom and it has sustained its dominance in every malls, markets and stores.

Since the spread-out of malls is increasing, the major issue will be how to organize fashion retails industry, has potential of making Rs 50,000cr business by the year 2007. Indian retail would cover-up 50mn sq ft by 2007 of sales space countrywide, and nearly 50 % of the total space would be assigned for fashion retailing. It is anticipated that about Rs 20,000cr retail sales would be coming-in from the fashion retailing. A population of over one billion, a massive consumer class, India is considered as the most preferred destinations for investments.

Apparel and textiles makes the biggest segment in retailing sectors, and if we accumulate all the other related segments such as jewelry, cosmetics, watches, health & beauty care etc at one single platform, then fashion would account nearly 60 % of the total retail sector.

With radically changing fashion and retail industry, the Indian consumers are facing considerable transformation. With an increase income levels and increasing attitude “LOOK GOOD – FEEL GOOD”, fashion is offering huge potential to penetrate deeper into the untouched Indian markets.

Fashions will account nearly 95% in total sales in the department stores, while in hypermarkets such as Big Bazaar the share could be about 70%. Fashion apparel has been the significant segment in the terms of evolution in Indian retail industry, not due to its size but the way it has influenced lifestyle of the Indian people. It was apparel that led multi-national brands to explore and invest in the Indian market, which led the ball rolling to rearrange the retail industry.

Few key factors that shaped the fashion retail industry are listed below:

. Massive spread-out of the malls, hyper markets and supermarkets throughout the country, even in non-metro cities.

. Mergers and acquisitions, which let huge brands to participate in the local market.

. The advantages by the elimination of global textile quotas in 2005.

. Expansion strategies of brands and retailers.

. Many international brands march into domestic markets.

. Many brands performed well in the mass segment.

. Boom in luxury retail segment.

. Indian fashion designers marked their names at International platforms.

. Considerable expenditure on ad and marketing by apparel brands.

. Enhanced merchandising let the companies to enhance consumer relations.

Few points on which retailers and brands should mull over:

. Collaborative tie-ups with non-competent services providers and brands.

. Offer value-added products, not cash discounts.

. Offer uniform sizing throughout the country.

. Offer personalized services.

. Concentrate on particular buyer or market segment. Take action to fulfill the demands.

. Try to become exclusive stores for specific brands and adopt shop-in-shop system.

. Place well behaved, polite and trained sales staff to manage counters.

. Go for organized merchandising format for your company.

. Avoid offering all at once. Introduce products assortments in a phase manner with latest trends.

. Try to get feedback from the consumer on “What they want?”

Review of some of the retail industry players on the attained targets and their wishes for the current year:

Benetton

Achieved Target:

. Successfully reestablished its place in the market, with opening 22 stores.

. Higher development – In fact the highest of all segments and categories.

. Enhanced brand image from small to huge format flagship.

Wishes

. People should enhance living standard, moving to mono-brand from multi-brand outlets.

. Excellent training and salaries to sales staff and be more mass-oriented.

. Expand in 5 lakh plus towns, providing similar buying experience.

. Looking for continues support from the consumers and to emerge as fastest evolving brand.

. To enhance team’s performance in coming years.

Blackberrys

Achieved targets:

. Take a lead in the dress-up segment that features dressing for occasion, success etc in trousers, and also in men’s suits.

. Concentrated on top around 70 MBOs and trying to deliver better.

. Enhancing perform of team – planning to establish systems to make them more productive and glad.

Wishes:

. To implement system for on-time deliveries.

. To put scissors on product assortment in terms of the number of styles – which will led company to serve better to fewer customers.

. Excellent outsourcing with making dedicated team to take care of it.

Forbes Gokak

Achieved Targets:

. In a span of less than two years, Daks brand has been successful to hit the Indian market despite of being a foreign brand.

. Managed tie-up arrangements for manufacturing Daks brand in India and Central Europe.

. Also signed agreements for Trussardi and Savile Row.

Wishes:

. To be a front runner in the Indian apparel market.

. To add 25 more stores.

. Allure entire high-end women class to wear Trussardi.

. Enhance sales staff performance.

Gini & Jony

Achieved Targets:

. Signed agreement with Reliance

. Signed license agreement for its kidswear brand ‘Levi’s Sykes’.

. Increased production capacities at Daman and Baddi.

Wishes:

. To get recognition as global brand in the international market.

. To create a different brand identity for all in related segments.

. Establish entire lifestyle stores for kids, under the brand Gini & Jony

. Pull down custom duties on accessories and fabrics etc.

Modelama Exports

Achieved Targets:

. Expanded product assortment mix and added knits, which was entirely woven product base before.

. Arranged tie-ups with some global brands, such as J Jill, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and Marks & Spencer.

. Increased capacity to attain a 40% growth rate comparing to the previous year.

Wishes:

. To train workers (sewing, inspection and finishing).

. To work close with fashion institutes like NIFT to revise and develop fashion trends.

. To introduce a brand, which is competitive, enduring and reliable product.

. To introduce specialized product assortment, featuring all-weather conditioner and change character consequently to match the consumer demands.

. To develop a stage where high-tech technology is available to small and medium scale producers so that they can enhance quality standards.

Pantaloons

Achieved Targets

. Started Asset Management Companies.

. Launched Big Bazaars in remote towns like Sangli.

Wishes:

. Reaching a target business of two and a half thousand crores in 2006-07 fiscal.

. Identify and present the consumers’ fashion requirement.

. Dominate the in all fashion segments like lifestyle, premium and value.

. Introduce or acquire new brands in fashion.

. To rope-in best fashion industry veterans.

Piramyd

Achieved Targets:

. Emerged steadily in the market – launched stores at Ahmedabad and Ludhiana, and planning three more in coming months.

. Introduced new brand “Trumart” with three stores in Mumbai and four in Pune.

. The IPO got oversubscribed by nearly 12 times that generated about Rs 108 crore.

Wishes:

. To Launch FDI for least lifestyle retail, this will lead Indian fashion designers to think globally.

. Create enhanced retail space for high-end retail.

. To make Fashion Alliance more practical and a reality to make sure that it gains momentum.

. To make fashion more affordable with a better ambience.

Raymond

Achieved Targets:

. Launched EBOs for all brands.

. Successfully introduced new product assortment such as non-iron shirt in Park Avenue and new suit ranges to uphold brand image.

. Also introduced the womenswear and kidswear collection.

Wishes:

. To launch a magazine on fashion.

. Begin a fashion week.

. Expand in US market.

. To launch a website that talks about lifestyle and fashion.

Sports Station

Achieved Targets:

. Successfully introduced two brands: H2O Plus and CPS Clothing.

. In a move to concentrate on expansion and new concepts for brands, the company has signed agreements with global brands such as Nike and Levi’s.

. Launched MBO for leather shoes “Shoe Tree.”

Wishes:

. To present new concept, where both international and local brands can be presented under single roof.

. Expand product assortment in luxury, premium and affordable segments.

. Duty validation, especially in footwear which is at a 12.5 % as compared to apparel which is at only 4 %.

. Validating countervailing duty (CVD) which is at of 60 %.

Fibre2fashion.com – Leading B2B Portal and Marketplace of Global Textile, Apparel and Fashion Industry offers Free Industry Articles, Textile Articles, Fashion Articles, Industry Reports, Technology Article, Case Studies, Textile Industry News Articles, Latest Fashion Trends, Textile Market Trends Reports and Global Industry Analysis.

To read more articles on Textile, Fashion, Apparel, Technology, Retail and General please visit http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article If you wish to download/republish the above article to your website or newsletters then please include the “Article Source”. Also, you have to make it hyperlinked to our site.

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Email resumes…Web resumes…HTML resumes…Scannable resumes… Keyword resumes…Text resumes…ASCII resumes…PDF resumes…Word resumes…Traditional resumes…

A resume is a resume, right? But then, what are all these different types of resumes you keep hearing about? If you are confused and not quite sure what is being referred to when you hear all these different names for resumes, you are certainly not alone!

Over the past decade, the most common resume-related questions asked by job hunters have progressively shifted. While still of major importance, the majority of queries are no longer about functional versus chronological resume styles, whether to keep or remove experience from twenty-five years ago, or whether to include dates of education. With the advent and subsequent explosive increase in the use of the Internet during the job search, questions have turned overwhelmingly to issues of electronic resume creation and transmission.

What are the different types of electronic resumes?

What are the differences between an e-mail resume, a scannable resume, and a web resume?

How do I know which resume format to use?

How do I format my electronic resume to ensure that the recipient can read it?

No wonder there is so much confusion! In just a few short years, there has been a complete revolution in the tools and techniques of job hunting. As applicant tracking technologies have come into common use among headhunter firms, large corporations, and even mid-size and small businesses, recommended resume formats and methods of transmission have rapidly evolved with the advancing technologies. Further complicating things, have been the increasing availability of personal web space for online resume portfolios and biographies.

What does this mean for today’s job hunter? While the Internet has opened unprecedented doors of opportunity in the job search process, for those who have not taken the time to learn and apply the rules it can mean disaster!

While few job hunters have time to spend months studying the most recent technologies and recommendations for the creation of electronic resumes, before venturing onto the Internet with your resume it is critical that you take the time to learn and understand a few simple concepts. Knowing your audience and the formats most acceptable by those audiences are essential pieces of knowledge for the Internet job hunter.

The human reader – The traditional, printed, hard copy resume (yes, it does still have a primary place in job hunting!) is created to attract the human eye and attention. With the advantages of word processing applications, sophisticated formatting is possible and should be applied strategically to create eye-appeal and draw the readers’ attention to key qualifications.

The computer reader – The electronic or computer-optimized resume is designed, first and foremost, to be readable by the computer. There are several types of electronic resumes, but the common element of all is the ability to be searched by keyword. Of course, once your resume has been tagged as matching a keyword search, it will be reviewed by a human. So compelling, easy-to-read content is just as important in the electronic resume as in the traditional resume.

Miss these points and the effects could be devastating…you might send out hundreds of resumes only to sit at home and wonder why nobody, not even one company or headhunter, has called you for an interview. There are fundamental formatting differences between traditional and electronic resumes. If you do not understand these differences, your resume will make it into very few – if any – resume databases.

RESUME FORMATS

What are the differences between keyword, scannable, web, traditional, and text resumes?

Traditional resumes are designed, as already noted, to compel the human reader, through persuasive language and design, to take further action and call you for an interview. Layout and page design are critical and should be planned strategically to draw the eye to areas of emphasis. The most effective traditional resumes are focused on achievements and written in powerful, active language that captures and holds the attention of the reader.

Scannable resumes — also a printed, hardcopy format — are designed primarily for accurate scanning into a computer. Captured as an image, scannable resumes are fed through OCR (optical character recognition) software that reads and extracts the text. The extracted text is databased for storage and later recalled by keyword from an applicant tracking system. Scannable resumes are very rarely requested any more. If you are asked for a scannable resume, the most efficient option is to email the requestor your plain ASCII text resume (described next).

Text resumes (also referred to as ASCII resumes) are just what the name implies, an ASCII-formatted version of either your traditional or scannable resume. Text resumes are universally readable on all computer systems and platforms and are the preferred format when you are emailing your resume. An ASCII resume received in email can be entered directly into an applicant tracking system without the added step of needing to scan it. Entry into the system is fast, easy, and accurate and so many employers and recruiters prefer this format.

The phrase “keyword resume,” as it was first used, referred most often to either a scannable or text resume that incorporated a focus on nouns and phrases that employers were likely to use when searching for an applicant. Sometimes the keyword resume had a section at the beginning or end that listed the keywords separated by commas or periods. Today, there is no need to maintain both a keyword and a non-keyword resume. Keywords have become such an essential element in resumes that you should ensure that every version of your resume, whether meant for the human or the computer reader, incorporates the keywords most important in your field or industry.

Still confused? My recommendation is to simply maintain two separate versions of your resume:

Traditional resume – If you wish to send a hardcopy, paper version of your resume you should send your traditional resume. Traditional resumes are most often stored on your computer as a computer file and printed on an as-needed basis. For example, you will want to print at least several copies of your resume to carry with you and hand out at interviews. You may also be asked to send your traditional resume via email to a recruiter or employer. In these cases, you should have your traditional resume saved in the two most commonly asked for file formats: MS Word and Adobe PDF. You can then attach the requested file or files to an email message and send it to the requestor to be printed on the receiving end.

By far, you’ll find that the most requested format for your traditional resume is MS Word. If you comply with the request, be aware that your formatting may be incompatible with the recipient’s system. While usually still readable, fonts and bullet sizes and styles may be different from what you intended. These problems can be minimized, although not always eliminated, by embedding the fonts into the document. This is a simple process, and the MS Word help files will guide you through it. You should also take care, while writing and designing your resume, to use design elements that are default and standard on most systems. For example, it is not wise to use a fancy, custom font on your resume that you know will be emailed. Default fonts such as Garamond, Helvetica, Book Antiqua, or Verdana are better choices.

To eliminate issues with compatibility, if the recipient has the free Adobe Reader installed, Adobe PDF is the best format in which to send your traditional resume. The PDF version of your resume will appear on the recipient’s system precisely the way it appeared on your system. For this reason, if given the choice of sending an MS Word file and Adobe PDF file, always opt for Adobe PDF. However, many recruiters and employers still prefer the MS Word file format, because this is the format they are most familiar with.

ASCII text resume – If you conduct any portion of your job search on the Internet, ASCII-formatted resumes are critically important tools. Always have an up-to-date ASCII text version of your resume on your computer. This is the fastest way to contact potential employers and to apply for jobs advertised online. You must also have a text version of your resume if you wish to post in online resume databanks.

As previously noted, employers rarely request scannable resumes anymore. If they utilize an applicant tracking system, they will likely request that your resume be e-mailed, either as ASCII text or as an attachment. E-mail allows the recipient to enter your resume directly into the database, eliminating the extra steps of scanning and OCR.

How do you use these file formats and transit them to recipients via email? My recommendation is to actually attach the MS Word or Adobe PDF file to the email in its native file format. Then, ALSO copy and paste the text of your ASCII text resume into the body of your email (where you would normally type a message), along with a letter of introduction or other note explaining why you are sending the resume.

A final type of electronic resume is the web resume, also known as the online resume. Created using HTML, your web resume may be uploaded to space provided by a web-hosting provider. Eliminating the compatibility problems associated with word-processed resumes sent as e-mail attachments, web resumes offer the advantage of maintaining layout and design on the systems of anyone with a web browser. Available for viewing around the clock, conveying a technology-savvy image, and allowing the ability to add supporting content to your resume (effectively creating an online portfolio promoting your qualifications), web resumes are becoming a progressively important tool in the job search. The creation of a web resume or resume portfolio is far beyond the scope of this article, but if web resumes are an electronic format that interest you, be aware that many service providers have begun offering web resume design and hosting at affordable prices.

Preparing Internet Resumes

What do I need to know about writing keyword resumes?

Remember – it is absolutely essential that you create resume content that is keyword rich regardless of the file format. It is not necessary that you maintain a separate keyword version of your resume. ALL resumes must include a heavy emphasis on keywords. Keywords are generally defined as nouns or phrases that an employer will use when searching for an applicant with your skill set. To maximize the recall of your resume in a search, you will want to use as many keywords in your resume as possible.

1. Keywords should focus on technical and professional areas of expertise, industry-related jargon, and your work history. Also, include the names of associations and organizations of which you are a member.

2. Whenever possible, use synonyms of keywords in different parts of your resume and if you use initials for a term in one section, spell the term out in another.

3. Always be specific. For example, while it may be fine to include the phrase “computer literate,” you will also want to list the specific software that you are proficient in using.

This is one of the most common areas of confusion, so I’ll state it once again…the content of a keyword resume does not need to differ from the content of your traditional resume. With careful attention to rhythm and flow, it is possible to prepare a resume that is keyword optimized, but that also includes the powerful, compelling, active language of a traditional resume. Not only will this simplify your resume preparation, but it will ensure that the content of all versions of your resume will be optimized for both the computer and the human reader. Furthermore, if you incorporate a professional summary and bulleted list of qualifications in the text of your resume, there is little if any need to prepare a separate keyword summary.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to recommend a specific list of the best keywords to use in your resume, as the “best” keywords are different for every individual and depend mainly on your unique career objective and background. What is certain, however, is that a well-prepared keyword resume is so critical to your success in a job market that largely relies on electronic applicant tracking systems, if you have any doubts at all you should consult with a professional resume writer.

How do I prepare an ASCII text version of my resume?

Preparing the all-important ASCII text version of your resume is not difficult, but it does require a learning curve. Once converted to ASCII format, you will be able to email your resume in response to an ad or paste it directly into web-based forms and submit it to Internet resume databanks. The specific directions will vary depending on the software you have installed on your computer. But, in general, to prepare your ASCII resumes properly, follow these simple steps:

1. Using your word processing program, open your word-processed resume and use the “Save As” function to save a copy as a “Text Only” or “ASCII (DOS)” document. Title your document with an easily distinguishable name; perhaps “resume_internet.txt”

2. Close your word processing program and re-open the ASCII file. You will not be able to see your changes until you have done this. Note that it has been stripped of virtually all original formatting.

3. Go through your new ASCII document line-by-line. Align all text flush to the left-hand margin.

4. Remove all “centering,” “right hand margin,” and “justification” alignments.

5. Although you should no longer see them, if visible, remove all graphics, artwork, and special character formatting.

6. Remove all tab characters.

7. Remove all columns.

8. Replace bullets with a simple ASCII asterisk (*).

9. Carefully check the spelling and the accuracy of your data.

10. If you wish, use ASCII characters to enhance the appearance of your resume. Asterisks, plus signs, or other keyboard characters can be used to create visual lines that separate sections of your resume and make it easier to read.

The above steps convert your resume to ASCII without line breaks. When pasted into a web-based form or email message, your resume will automatically wrap to the size of the window.

Your new ASCII resume will be universally readable, no matter what computer system the recipient uses. It will also be easy to manipulate for entry into applicant tracking databases, eliminating the inherent difficulties of scanning and converting your paper resume with OCR systems.

There is no denying that the Internet has caused what was once a straightforward process to become complex and confusing to many job hunters. Yet, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Like never before, as a job seeker you have immediate access to announcements and advertisements of openings around the globe. You have the ability to conduct detailed research on companies of interest. And you have unprecedented opportunity to cost effectively promote your qualifications to hundreds or even thousands of hiring authorities of just a tiny fraction of the cost of doing so through traditional methods. While the new skills you must learn may seem daunting at first, by understanding the concepts and creating your electronic resumes, you are well on your way to an efficient, effective Internet job search.

Want to Use this Article in Your Ezine or Website? You are welcome to as long as you use the following text with it:

Nationally certified resume writer, career marketing expert, and personal branding strategist, Michelle Dumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents

Distinctive Web and her Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com Michelle has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide with all the tools and resources necessary to conduct a fast, effective job search. Michelle is also the author of the popular e-book 101 Before-and-After Resume Examples found at http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com and Secrets of a Successful Job Search found at [http://www.distinctiveweb.com/jobsearchsecrets.html] To learn more about her job search products, resume writing services, and career marketing programs, and to sign up for many other free resources, visit her websites.

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

When preparing food for the grill, the greatest challenge for home cooks is that grilling is an intense form of direct heat cooking, and controlling the heat can be tricky. Although most people see it as easy, grilling is actually one of the most challenging of the basic cooking methods. If cooking is like driving a car, grilling is like being strapped to a rocket ship! Now more than ever, creative home cooks are looking for the best cooking tips for gas grills. As the weather starts to get nicer and the great outdoors beckons, attention starts to turn to outdoor cooking – and gas barbeque grills can’t be beat for simplicity and convenience. But grilling only becomes EASY when you know these important cooking tips for gas grills that are guaranteed to improve your results. Grilling, like any basic cooking method, can be mastered. These cooking tips for gas grills will get you started on the road to expert grilling any time of year.

Preparing Recipes for the Grill

Cooking all recipes for the grill starts with understanding how the grilling method acts differently on different types of foods. Because grilling is an intense heat form of cooking, careful product selection is extremely important. The grill will not tenderize meats so you must start with a tender product if you want to end with a tender product. Marinating meats when making recipes for the grill is the best way to apply some tenderizing properties before cooking. The product itself is also an important consideration because you want to make sure it will be able to withstand this form of direct high-heat cooking. Different products will handle this differently and some are just not the best choice for standard grilling. A very delicate fish, such as tilapia, will not perform very well on the grill because the high heat may burn the outside of the fish before the inside cooks at all. Another consideration is when grilling combinations of different foods, as in skewering vegetables. A mushroom will cook faster than a carrot or potato, for example. You will achieve far better results by par-cooking the “harder” items prior to skewering so that all vegetables are the correct done-ness at the same time. Once you have considered the differences in the types of foods you will be grilling and preparing them accordingly, the basic procedure for creating recipes for the grill is:

1. Heat the grill on HIGH with the lid closed to heat up the coals and grates to as hot a temperature as possible.
2. Brush the food item with the oil of your choice and place it on the hot grates – presentation side (“pretty side”) down.
3. For GRILLING, leave the grill cover OPEN.
4. After a few minutes inspect the item. You are looking for the item to start to brown around the edges and to see pink (almost clear) moisture bubbling up to the top. This will be your signal that the item is 75% cooked on one side and that is the time to flip it.
5. Do not use a fork to flip the item and do not puncture it in any way – because that will allow precious juices to escape.
6. Using an instant-read thermometer – because this is the only real way to know when something is done – remove the item 5-10 degrees BEFORE the desired final internal temperature.

A Gas Grill Cooking Twist

Although GRILLING is always done with the lid cover open, gas grill cooking can incorporate additional cooking methods that make it preferable to cook with the grill cover closed. With the grill lid closed, the grill changes from a CONDUCTIVE cooking vehicle to a CONVECTIVE cooking one – more like your oven. Of course you could just use your oven for using these cooking methods, but outdoor cooking does have some advantages over indoor cooking – particularly in warmer weather. So how do you turn your dry heat, direct source cooking vehicle (the grill) into one that can utilize a moist convective cooking process? It’s actually a pretty cool technique for gas grill cooking. This is a trick I use most often with delicate fish, such as tilapia. First, I turn the heat OFF on the side of the grill that my tilapia will cook. Then, I add a pan of water to the bottom of the other side of the grill – right on top of the heat elements. Keep in mind that this “water” can be any kind of liquid you like. I use shrimp stock sometimes with fish, but you can season it with chicken broth, wine – anything that is liquid and imparts nice, complimentary flavors to the product you are cooking. Then, the fish is placed either directly on the grill (if you have a flat grate option) or you can put it in a cast iron pan and put it on the grill grates. The rest of the procedure for this type of gas grill cooking follows the normal grilling process – cook with your eyes and observations, flip after 75% done, use a thermometer to determine final temperature and remove a bit “early” to allow for the carry-over cooking that occurs. And that’s it, now you can consider gas grill COOKING in addition to standard GRILLING for great outdoor cooking results.

Gas Barbeque Grills vs Charcoal Grills

You will hear from many self-proclaimed GRILLMASTERS that the traditional charcoal grill is far superior to the gas barbeque grill, but the gas grill has many advantages that make it a great choice for any outdoor cooking situation. I will admit that the charcoal grill provides opportunity for a deep, smoky flavor that is not fully achievable with the gas barbeque grill, but after that all of the “pros” go into the gas grill’s column. For starters, the gas grill is much easier and safer to start because it uses propane as fuel and starts at the press of a button. Charcoal grills can be easily started with lighter fluid, but this can be dangerous, and can impart an undesirable taste into the food. Plus, the gas grill turns OFF as easily as it turned on! No waiting for coals to cool so that you can empty and clean the grill and no messy coals to dispose of. The other nice thing about gas barbeque grills is that they allow for consistent heat throughout the cooking process. With the charcoal variety, the cook has to really control the heat by actually moving products closer and further and this takes some practice and experience.

These cooking tips for gas grills seem simple but they truly are the difference between great grilling results and disappointing meals. The next time you get ready to grill, remember that careful product selection and a basic understanding of cooking methods is all you need to master the barbeque grill, creating outdoor meals and memories for life.

Chef Todd Mohr is a classically trained chef, entrepreneur, cooking educator and founder of WebCookingClasses. You CAN learn to cook without written recipes by taking his FREE cooking class that will change the way you think about cooking forever!

Do you love cats? If so how many cats do you have? Is your cat well behaved?

How many times do you consider your cat’s safety? Does your cat return home safely at nights, without any rashes or bruises that are indeed created by other cats?

How certain are you that only your cat eats the food that you give them and they are not being joined by other cats when you are out? Most of the cat lovers would be finding it difficult to answer these questions.

Indeed these are the daily problems faced by cat lovers. These questions make the cat lovers feel worried about their dearest pets.

Most cat owners know how worrying it is when their cat goes missing for a day or more. Is there a remedy for all these hard moments? If at all there is a solution, will it guarantee on the safety and security of the pet? What can be done to stop these kind of problems for good?

Can your cat be safe from being bullied by other stray cats? Can your cat be safe in indoor without escaping, if the weather outside is very terrible and violent? The good news is that there is a very easy answer to all these questions. And of course that answer is Yes!

The antidote for all these physical and environmental threats that are literally experienced by the owner and the pet has now come to light. It comes in the form of a special cat flap called the Pet Porte Smart Flap.

The Pet Porte microchip cat flap is the first cat flap that effectively keeps other cats out. It provides an enhanced level of security that makes cats lives and the owners lives much better.

This is a Collarless technology, which indeed keeps the pet away from hard and rough collars which leaves a mark on the neck of the pet.

The Pet Porte microchip cat flap was invented and patented by David Chamberlain, one of Guernsey’s leading vets, which is the first in a series of inventions that will be coming onto the market intended to make your life, and your cat’s life, more enjoyable.

Pet Porte is the world’s first cat flap to stop other cats from entering your home and it recognises your cat without the need for electronic or magnetic cat collar attachments, heavy collar tags, restrictive collars or infra red.

The technology is completely safe and cats will not even notice that they are being scanned when they approach the door.

Cats love to use the Pet Porte microchip cat flap and it keeps them safe. The Pet Porte microchip cat flap is easy to use, and it’s simple to program your cats in, most probably the user of this Pet Porte product will not require you to constantly refer to the manual, because everything is operated from just two buttons, one red and one green.

One the cats that you program in are allowed entry. You can program in up to 32 cats. The door is extra strong and cannot be bashed open..

In the Pet Porte microchip cat flap there are two distinct modes worth mentioning.

Two of the most popular modes are the VET MODE and the NIGHT MODE:

You can use the VET MODE whenever you want to keep your cats indoors. When you activate the NIGHT MODE your cats can always come back inside but they will not be able to get out when it is dark, they will be kept in until it is light again in the morning. These two modes make the Pet Porte microchip cat flap unique to all other cat flaps on the market.

The Pet Porte Smart Flap is very easy to install and operate.

Programming the Pet Porte is again a very short and simple process, as there are no complex steps involved, indeed the whole installation is only a single step process.

Simply hold down the green button for ten seconds and release. The lights start to flash. Then hold your cat under the outside sensor. It beeps three times. That is all the owner has to do, in order to finish with the programming process, in this same method an average of 32 different cats (approx) can be programmed.

There may be a question arising among the users that what actually happens when the pet is made to pass through the Pet Porte. When the cat is approaches the Pet Porte the intelligent sensors present in the sensor porch of the cat flap recognizes the existing microchip ID implants, the door unlocks only for your cats. Stray cats or neighbours cats, even those with microchips, are not allowed access because they are not programmed in.

This adorable product uses an adapter that is fixed directly to the power supply, rather than using batteries which may run out frequently or unexpectedly. The current is safe because it is low voltage, and its not at all harmful for the cat by any means, so there is no chance of short circuits, even if the cat chews or pounces on the lead, as the voltage is very low. Even if the cat flap is disconnected from the power it will always remember your cat’s microchip numbers.

The major characteristics of the magic door that is used in the Pet Porte is that its highly tensile and strong as it has the capacity to withstand the pouncing/attacks,even if it is created by the toughest cat around on the streets.

Because the cat flap is powered by AC adaptor, the magic door unlocks at the blink of an eye, i.e. in just few microseconds, so that you’re lovable cat can enjoy its play with the Pet Porte, even if she/he loves to dash in and out at speed.

The Pet Porte is friendly device to your pet, and it is designed in such a way that, there will not be any possibilities in which the tail or the paws of the pet getting stuck. Eventually there are no possibilities for other stray cats to enter, thus making your cat feel free and relaxed at all times.

The Pet Porte microchip cat flap has many clever features which makes it unique and reliable when compared to all the other cat doors. In fact the other cat doors on the market such as traditional, magnetic and infrared flaps all have their own disadvantages at different situations.

With traditional cat doors the result is that within one night the owner can see his house ruined i.e. his curtains torn, urine all over the wall, the cat food missing from its tray, the pet left with the marks of being bullied-all these are the problems created by none others than the neighbours cats. Thus these are the adverse effects caused when traditional type flaps are used.

Secondly, comes the magnetic cat flaps, all the cats with magnetic collars can gain access through the door, this is a major drawback. And the other issue is that, magnetic collars are heavily and tight, that makes the pet feel uncomfortable.

Thirdly comes the infrared cat flaps, these have sensors both at the transmitting and receiving ends and the door opens only if the sensor in the collar points directly to the sensor on the door. These Infrared cat flaps are expensive too.

Finally all these disadvantages experienced when using other cat flaps are in turn changed into an merit when the Pet Porte microchip cat flap is installed.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PET PORTE MICROCHIP CAT FLAP

The Pet Porte microchip cat flap was designed to be the best cat flap in the world. The irritation caused by the collar on a cat can be avoided by the use of the cats existing microchip. With the help of the locking mechanism, stray cats can be kept out.

The pains of calling your cat in at night is no longer an issue because the cat flap can detect the light level automatically and help to keep your cats in at night.

With the presence of the Pet Porte microchip cat flap, you will be able to know, if your cat inside the house or elsewhere, the beeping system of the Pet Porte will make you aware of the presence of your cat inside the house. You can easily switch the beep off if it makes your cats nervous.

The presence of a magnetic latch in the Pet Porte keeps the flap intact when the wind blows therefore protecting the cats from getting hurt.

The simple two button operation mechanism gives a full control over your cats world.

The microchip cat flap allows you to program up to 32 cats of your liking and only the cats which are programmed in are allowed access.

The programmable memory within the Pet Porte prevents the loss of information about your cats if the power is disconnected.

All of this comes under low voltage intake with no batteries to replace so your cat will never get locked outside.

This product is cat friendly and makes it virtually impossible for your cat to get its paws stuck in the door. Hence the Pet Porte microchip cat flap is a divine product that has been launched to quench the thirst of concerned cat lovers, and it is now available to cat lovers worldwide.

Many customers say that it makes them feel comfortable and relaxed at nights rather than worrying about their pets, since there is a friend there at the door step providing the most sophisticated level of security to the lovable kitties.

You can order online from Microchip Cat Flaps – a website recommended by Cats Protection, leading vets and Your Cat magazine.

Ignition System Trouble Shooting.

Last time we discussed how magnetic fields cause current to flow in wires. The current flow is then harnessed to make the spark plugs work.

Now we will discuss how to trouble shoot this system.

First of all the system consists of:

-A flywheel with a magnet

-A magneto with a main coil and a switching coil

-An On/Off wire

-A spark plug and spark plug wire.

That’s it.

{In the olden days you had a switching circuit called points, but I will not bore you with that. I have several old motors that have points. (If you are really interested in points I will write an article about trouble shooting those…but not today.)}

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that I was riding my go kart… blew the chain… made a massive clunk…engine still ran right up until I shut it off. I replaced the chain and now it won’t start.

What do I do? Cry? Uh…No…

First off all look at the system. So the engine not running must be symptomatic of

-No Gas

-Flooded (too much gas)

-No compression

-No Spark

-Switch is off!

So yes, I checked.. there is gas. (check!)

The engine has nice resistance and compression (no thrown rods, no loose valves, everything is tight…) (check)

Yes I checked it was ON! Also I removed the off wire from the switch near the engine. Still nothing. (check)

Pulled the spark plug out and tested for spark:

No Spark:

The possible causes for no spark are:

Faulty Spark Plug (ie short circuiting because of ash contaiminents, broken insulator, too much gas on plug)

Or a faulty ignition mechanism

Well I cleaned the plug well. Used a different plug…

Note: But you know what I should have done first? I should have taken the plug wire and tried it against the engine. Well I tried that too: no spark.

Not looking good here… What do we do next?

This is where stuff starts coming apart.

Understand that the system involves the flywheel, so we need to access it and see if the flywheel is okay.

By “okay” I mean the following:

-Is there a magnet in it anymore?

-Did it get damaged? (very unlikely) Check with screwdriver: does it stick? (check, yes there is a magnet)

The next critical thing is to check the keyway. 8 times out of 10 the key gets sheared. This can occur from sudden stops of the engine. A sudden stop can occur from various reasons such as a broken chain grabbing hold of an activated clutch. An instantaneous shock load can be introduced into the system.

The other way an engine can be come jammed suddenly is if the rod blew inside, or the engine ran out of oil (seized up).

Next time…. What happened to the ignition system?

The Go Kart Guru is a Go Karting Design, Fabrication and Performance specialist. Topics ranging from Turbo Charged Go Karts to Wood Go Karts, the Go Kart Guru has something to say (that will help you!) about it. Visit Http://GoKartGuru.com for more details.

And for those with Vertical Lawnmower Engines, there is a special section just for you! Don’t throw away that vertical engine just yet!

How does it feel to work on a website or opening it when the pages are opened smoothly and without any substantial delay? I am a fan of the social networking sites and spend enough time there and I like tweeting and working on Facebook but, one thing makes the difference I have set these two sites as the default in my browser and as and when I open my browser the Facebook gets opened within seconds and the same is not with twitter. It takes some extra time. Usually there is no problem but at times it baffles me. The reason is obvious. It all depends on the interface of your website. Since Facebook is made in PHP it runs smoothly and that is not the case with twitter. The Facebook application developers kept this in mind and we are relatively easy while working in it.

The interface means a lot in the popularity of a website. Everyone likes its pages to be opened quickly. PHP provides this facility and that is why its use in web development has grown tremendously. And that is a reason we have a whole lot of freelance PHP developers in the market. These PHP programmers will work for your website and give you the website ready that functions smoothly. Since freelance programmers often work on their own and their reputation is associated with this work the output is generally very good.

Not only they create a whole new website for you, but if you are already having a website, thanks to WordPress, and then at sometimes you need to install some plugins that WordPress is not providing you then you can take the help of the WordPress plugin developers and they can also make custom WordPress templates and custom WordPress themes for you. That is the benefit of having freelance web developers. Because you can not go to a company just to add a plugin in your WordPress website and even if you do the expenses will be out of bound.

One more thing that can be achieved is the cloning. You have seen Facebook and you may have seen similar websites as well then you know what website cloning is. Site clone just gives you the pleasure of working in the same interface that your favorite website is in.

With the use of PHP the website clone seems an easy task and not a tough one. You can create the replica of the original website and apart from the names of websites no visible differences will be seen. PHP which was earlier called personal home page has really lived up to the expectations and can give you almost anything you need in this virtual world.

Hire a Professional Freelance PHP MySql Programmer, WordPress plugin developer, oscommerce developer, freelance php developer,

A Girl’s Tennis Clothing Is Fashioned By Her Mother’s Desires

The styles and scope of girls’ tennis clothing has recently blossomed to match the rapid growth of fashionable women’s tennis clothing, and seems to gain momentum year on year.

There’s a twin conflicting desire for women to both model their tennis outfits on the most successful and stylish players in the game, and yet at the same time look different, exclusive and unique.

There’s yet another desire to wear state-of-the-art apparel that maximizes protection and cooling on court, to gain a competitive advantage as the tennis match ‘heats up’. Most women’s tennis apparel now contains technology to protect against the sun’s rays, to ward off odor-causing bacteria growth, to cool the skin by efficiently channeling away moisture, and even to cushion and support muscles for optimum performance.

Naturally, mothers want their fledgling tennis stars to benefit from all these tennis clothing attributes, in style and textile technology. Tennis clothes manufacturers have catered to this demand with dresses. skirts, skorts, tops and shoes for girls that sport many or all of the features of their adult counterpart.

This is good business sense on the part of tennis apparel manufacturers like Adidas, Nike, Fila, Prince, Babolat etc. Once a young lady gets to liking a particular tennis brand, she’ll likely stay loyal throughout her tennis years.

The Tennis Apparel Dark Ages

Way back in the early 1970s, at about the time that Chris Evert was emerging as a world class tennis player, a woman called Marilyn Kosten was getting very frustrated at the lack of pretty tennis clothing available to buy for her two daughters, who were about to compete in junior tennis competitions. She channeled that frustration into forming her own tennis apparel business, designing the girls’ clothing herself.

Her business really took off in 1977, when a young rising star called Tracy Austin wore one of Marilyn’s dresses during her passage to victory at the US Open. Tracy also wore the dress at Wimbledon, and so introduced this innovative and stylish girl’s tennis clothing to a much wider audience.

Three and a half decades later, tennis apparel has changed out of all recognition. Fashion is even more to the fore, vying with sports clothing fabric technology to yield a fusion of style and function that shapes every new garment. 100% cotton is now a rarity, with subtle combinations of man-made fibres best able to offer the comfort and mobility demanded by today’s athletes.

Mary Kosten’s ‘Little Miss tennis’ business is still flourishing, and now caters to young boy’s tennis clothing needs as well, with the LMT range. Now, all the major tennis gear manufacturers have girl’s, boy’s or unisex kids tennis apparel lines alongside their adult clothing, so lack of choice is no longer an issue.

Girl’s And Women’s Tennis Fashion Merge

Women who look to the high-fashion, cutting-edge tennis apparel worn by the leading players for inspiration, can now encourage their daughters to do the same. For example, the identical Adidas adilibria tennis dress recently co-designed and worn by Ana Ivanovic was available in girls’ sizes with all the ‘Climacool’ technology and comfort meshing of the adult dress. Other familiar Adidas tennis lines like ‘Barricade’, ‘Edge’ and ‘Competition’ also have their girl-sized counterparts, so mother and daughter can wear complementary apparel at the tennis club.

Nike, as you might expect, have their own girls tennis clothing lines such as ‘Athlete’, that mirror the apparel worn by the women. Like Adidas, there’s plenty of variety in dresses, skirts, skorts, shirts, tennis shoes and accessories, with comfort features like Dri-FIT, to give the same cooling and moisture management as the adult version.

Fila, with two of the game’s big hitters, Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova on their books, is hot on the heels of the two largest tennis apparel manufacturers, Adidas and Nike, with it’s own girls’ selection. They produce junior varieties of familiar women’s tennis favorites like the ‘Essenza’ tennis dress. These dresses are made with sun protective material, to reduce UV damage to young ladies’ skins. This can be an important consideration in warmer climes where tennis is an outdoor activity.

Tennis Apparel For Those Rebellious Years

There will come a time when your young lady would rather wear distinctive (tennis) clothing than try to copy her mother as she moves into adulthood. There’s a tennis apparel manufacturer keen to cater to these more rebellious instincts – DUC. They’re happy that their clothing isn’t designed for people too far into their 20s or beyond. They draw a little from the history of women’s tennis dress with subtle pleating, but make it asymmetrical to keep abreast of the times.

Much of the clothing is labeled with assertive, slightly racy tags like ‘Dominate’ (dress), ‘Compete’ (skirt), ‘Rush’ (racer-back top) and 2-Timer (reversible top), and accentuates feminine contours. The 2-Timer top actually refers to it’s reversible two-tops-in-one feature, which when combined with the large choice of colors and reversible skirt, creates a wide range of styles – great for emphasizing your unique style. Reversing your apparel and changing your look during a match might also have beneficial unsettling effects on your opponent. Though cutting edge in design, DUC tennis clothing lacks none of the comfort features prerequisite in modern tennis clothing.

So, from youngster to young women, varied, vibrant, in vogue girl’s tennis clothing is in plentiful supply. Thanks to determined women like Marilyn Kosten, the ‘dark ages’ are over, and girls can revel in the choice of cutting-edge tennis apparel that was until recently the sole preserve of their parents.

Cheri Britton is the editor of ‘Women’s Tennis Apparel’ and ‘Ball Machine For Tennis’. In her tennis fashion and clothing website, she reviews and showcases the latest styles in tennis dresses, skirts and skorts, women’s tennis bags and shoes. She highlights in particular the tennis apparel worn by the top women players on the WTA tour, and has an special fondness for the designer tennis creations of Stella McCartney for Adidas.

Her new tennis ball machine website is devoted to comparing these mini mechanical devices with regard to price, portability, useability, features and suitability to the individual owner or buyer. Quality manufacturers such as Lobster, Tennis Tutor, SAM. Playmate and Wilson produce a range of models to engage the tennis game of beginners through to professional tennis players. The right ball machine will quickly take your tennis to a higher level, at a time place and frequency of your choosing. Oh, and tennis machines are great fun and fantastic for your fitness as well!

On the odd occasion she’s not working on her websites, Cheri watches more tennis than is good for her, reads, visits places of historical interest and beauty, and relaxes with a pint or two of real ale (or something stronger!)

Colorado fly fishing is an adventure that you won’t want to pass up on your next vacation. Colorado fly fishing offer something for every angler. Mountain streams, river basins, lakes, and reservoirs fill the need of any fly fisherman.

Where to Fly Fish in Colorado:

Colorado offers fly fisherman miles of world class fly fishing streams where the waters are managed by the Colorado Department of Wildlife to guarantee you the populations of large trout that you are looking for.

You may be a crackerjack fly fishing angler and know all the hot spots for fly fishing in Colorado or you may be new to the state and need some expert guidance. When you get your Colorado fishing license, be sure to pick up your free copy of Colorado Fishing Season Information & Wildlife Property Discovery booklet or go to any of the local Colorado Division Wildlife offices and pick up the Colorado fishing map.

Colorado fly fishing is divided into five regions: Northeast Region; Northwest Region; Southeast Region; Southwest Region; and the Denver Metro Region. You can choose many fine Colorado fly fishing spots in any of these prime fly fishing regions. Your Colorado fly fishing experience can be divided into fishing the roaring streams and majestic rivers to fly fishing the many mountain lakes and large reservoirs.

Fly Fish the Northwestern Region of Colorado

The Northwest region of Colorado offers fly anglers a variety of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs to choose from. From the Yampa River and its tributary, the Elk river in the north to the prime Colorado fly fishing rivers of the southern part of this region, the Northwest region of Colorado is noted for fly fishing.

Colorado fly fishing is at its finest from Meeker and the White River to the grand Colorado River running through central Colorado from the high mountains. Fly fisherman will delight in the trophies they find fishing this region’s rivers. Most notably, the Green river, Blue river, Roaring Fork River, and the Crystal River provide anglers with the fly fishing adventure they are looking for.

Colorado fly fishing is found on the lakes and reservoirs of the region too. Grand lake and Grandby Reservoir are found on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park and are both noted for their fishing. Steamboat Lake is in the north of this region and is a picturesque place for the fly fisherman to angle. Other reservoirs include Williams Fork Reservoir, Willow Creek Reservoir, Stagecoach Reservoir, and Wolford Reservoir to name just a few.

Wherever you are looking for a fly fishing adventure, Colorado offers excellent fly fishing conditions and opportunities. Colorado fly fishing is constantly improved by the efforts of the fifteen Colorado Division of Wildlife hatcheries. The Colorado Division of Wildlife stocks over 4.3 million 10-inch fish a year, in addition to 43 million warm-water species and 11 million cold-water species. Catch and release fishing is popular and if you don’t plan to eat the fish you’ve caught, please help conserve Colorado’s precious fly fishing resource by returning the fish to the water.

What to fly fish for in Colorado:

The natural beauty of the Colorado fly fishing spots is distracting even to the most seasoned angler. But distractions not withstanding, and the proper fly fishing equipment, fly fishing anglers and enthusiasts are more than able to hook trout species like browns, brookies, and the rainbow trout in the rivers and streams that fly fisherman prefer. Fly fisherman may also stumble upon grayling and cutthroats too.

The other species that can be found here in Colorado’s fly fishing lakes and reservoirs are Walleye, Wipers, Yellow Perch, Crappie Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Tiger Muskies, Bluegill, and Pumpkinseed. Colorado fly fishing provides any angler with an experience of a lifetime.

Various lures and worms work best during the spring runoff when the waters are high and streams running fast. Flies usually work best during late July, August and September. Watch for what’s hatching in the area where you’re fly fishing. This is the indication of which fly fishing flies will work best. Mayflies, caddis flies, midges, and stone flies predominate in this fly fishing area.

Colorado fly fishing is world class and you will find some of the best fly fishing in North America. There is no excuse not to pick up your fly fishing rod and tackle and set out on a leisurely Colorado fly fishing vacation of a lifetime.

Jim Bruce maintains a website on Colorado travel. Find out more about Colorado fly fishing and the fly fishing hotspots the state of Colorado has to offer by going to: http://www.coloradotravelexperience.com/Colorado_fly_fishing.html

With more and more companies wanting to integrate their products into the lives of

celebrities, now seems like a good time to take a closer look at Celebrity Product

Placement, describe three common approaches, and outline what steps can be taken

to guarantee results.

The term “Celebrity Product Placement” is used to describe several related

techniques, but its definition applies to each: free products are distributed to

celebrities in expectation of a promotional benefit. Unlike the more overt, paid-for

endorsement, it offers a distinct advantage. It can appear like a product choice

made on individual preference.

Most marketers are unaware of their options in this category (one form features

contracts with celebrities, guaranteeing performance and allowing marketers to

actively leverage celebrity patrons in the media) and therefore many overlook a very

powerful influencer-marketing technique.

In this article, I will describe each of the three main approaches and discuss their

relative merits by listing their pros and cons. I also hope to quash any

misconception that Celebrity Product Placement has to be a gamble, and show you

how best to secure a return on investment (R.O.I.).

But first, a little history…

Celebrity Product Placement (sometimes called “Celebrity Seeding”) has been with us

since the dawn of marketing. Centuries before Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped into

his first Hummer, an 18th century potter named Josiah Wedgwood began supplying

his wares to England’s Queen Charlotte. Being given the title “Potter to Her Majesty”

led to a huge amount of publicity for Wedgwood which he took advantage of using

the term “Queen’s Ware” wherever he could.

It wasn’t until the 20th century that marketers keyed-in on America’s “royalty”:

Hollywood. But more often than not they met with disappointing results. Some

companies responded only to occasional requests for products (“gifting”), while

others made half-hearted attempts to distribute them without first devising a means

to guarantee results (“seeding”). In the end, most companies seeded product “to the

wind” and failed to grow anything of value.

Those efforts that did succeed, however, were so successful that independent

specialists emerged to help companies achieve better results. But the services they

offer vary and so do the results.

What’s It All About?

Marketers have long known the power of celebrity to influence consumer-

purchasing decisions. The term “borrowed equity” has been used to describe how a

celebrity endorsement can bestow upon a product special attributes and cache it

might not otherwise have.

The same concept applies to Celebrity Product Placement. But unlike celebrity

endorsements, where a highly compensated personality appears in commercial

advertising, Celebrity Product Placement offers marketers a more subtle and highly

effective means of reaching the public – via the media they consume by choice.

Indeed, Celebrity Product Placement is as much about placing products with

celebrities as it is about getting stories about those relationships into the press.

Regardless of the approach, Celebrity Product Placement strategies have a common

aim: to tie celebrities (thought-leaders, influencers) with consumer products in the

public consciousness.

Three different techniques offer three different levels of control over that placement:

gifting-the-talent (this usually involves supplying products for gift bags at live

events); product seeding (products are distributed more widely in hopes of securing

a promotional benefit and kicking off a trend); and, barter relationships (individual

celebrities agree to participate in custom programs in exchange for valuable

products).

Let’s take a look at each one in greater detail.

GIFTING-THE-TALENT

“Everybody” knows that celebrities own all the coolest stuff, and well before

everybody else. Celebrities travel the world and every minute detail of their daily

lives pervades the media. As style-leaders, they are perhaps our most powerful

influencers. It’s no wonder then that companies are lining up to give them the latest

gifts and gadgets for free.

One method to do this is called “Gifting-The-Talent.” This generally involves

supplying free product for insertion into “goody bags” which are handed out as

‘thank you’ gifts to celebrity presenters and award nominees at the now-countless

awards shows and charity benefits that dot the entertainment landscape.

At last year’s Academy Awards, for example, one of two Best Actress gift-bags

featured Gucci sunglasses, a Sprint PCS phone, Christian Tse 18-carat gold Iris

earrings, and more. The Best Actor bag featured Gucci eyewear, a Maurice Lacroix

Swiss watch and assorted other goodies. According to news reports, the retail value

of one such group of bags at the Oscars exceeded $110,000 each!

But how effective is this practice? If the goal of Celebrity Product Placement is to get

press coverage, can we measure the value of gift-bag placements? What types of

products are suitable and which are not? And what level of control does this strategy

offer marketers both in terms of demographics and reach?

There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and by

extension, the celebrities who populate them. On the plus side, they offer a rare

opportunity to get close to the biggest stars in the world. On the minus side, the

marketer has no control in matching up celebrities who hold sway over their

particular demographic. They have to play the cards they are dealt.

Gifting-the-talent at award shows virtually guarantees mentions in the celebrity

press at the time of the event; but without permission to associate the celebrity’s

name and likeness with the product, marketers don’t have the leeway to truly

leverage those relationships in their own press activities.

Gifting-the-talent in this way has other limitations: first-movers snap-up desirable

categories and, of course, not all products are deemed appropriate. You won’t find

an energy drink in these bags.

PRODUCT SEEDING

Product Seeding offers marketers more control over whom to place products with

but, conversely, less control over how (or if) those products get used. And, while

virtually any product – from bottled water to consumer electronics – can be seeded

with celebrities, marketers are playing the odds here. But the payoff can be huge if

the seeding is supported by a creative strategy.

Product Seeding is the oldest form of Celebrity Product Placement. Products are

distributed more widely. They can be aimed at celebrities who are most compelling

to your demographic. And they can be delivered directly to the celebrity without the

filters imposed by events. Of course, working with a specialist who can get your

product directly to celebrities becomes paramount here. Film and television product

placement agencies are NOT set up for this practice.

Taken by itself, Product Seeding is a gamble. If you send enough freebies to

Hollywood but you don’t have a creative strategy, a celebrity might be photographed

using your product or evangelizing it on a talk show. But if one looks at Product

Seeding as one tactic in a larger Celebrity Product Placement effort, it can pay big

dividends – particularly in identifying celebrities who have a true affinity for your

product.

Energy Brands, makers of the Glaceau Vitamin Water line, discovered this in 2004.

As a result of its long-time strategy to “home deliver” the vitamin-enhanced drink

to celebrities (including Sean “Puffy” Combs and Tom Cruise), the company gained a

fan in 50 Cent. Having mentioned his preference for the product in a series of

interviews, the Hip Hop star – who is well known for his fitness-centered lifestyle –

became an obvious choice for brand spokesperson.

Speaking to Ad Age magazine, Energy Brands’ VP of marketing, Rohan Oza, said

“We’ve seen that when 50 Cent incorporates [Vitamin Water] into his daily routine …

the brand gets on the airwaves and we create a lot of trial.” Making vitamin water a

visible part of the rapper’s healthy lifestyle worked so well the company launched a

new “Formula 50″ variety named for the artist.

Such “organic” relationships can grow from Product Seeding. Not only can marketers

benefit from press mentions, but the process can be used to uncover promotional

opportunities and, in some cases, identify the most ideal product endorsers.

Product Seeding remains a gamble but, if executed properly, one well worth taking.

Relatively speaking, it is a very low-cost marketing program. And the return on

investment – though difficult to forecast compared to barter relationships discussed

below – can be big. But what if your goal is limited to getting press mentions? Can a

publicist hedge his or her bets in this category?

One of the great things about Product Seeding is how creative you can get. For

Trident White chewing gum, the company commissioned a Harris poll asking the

public to vote on the best “celebrity smiles.” My company, which specializes in

celebrity product placement, delivered gift baskets of the product to the Top 6

winners, allowing Trident to plug the celebrities in their press materials.

On another occasion, Electrolux – maker of a new high-end, super-quiet vacuum

cleaner – wanted to align their product with celebrities. We identified 6 celebrity

moms who had recently given birth and – touting the fact that these vacuums would

not wake a sleeping baby – made gifts of the product to each. Here again, the

company was able to use celebrities to draw press coverage for its product. And

they were able to reference these celebrities because they were stating facts (a gift

was made to…).

But what if you want tighter integration with celebrities? Suppose you need to

forecast a return on investment in order to get approval for a Celebrity Product

Placement campaign? And what if you want celebrities to provide feedback about

your product and authorize use of their names and likenesses as part of your press

campaign?

BARTER RELATIONSHIPS

Barter is, perhaps, the only way to guarantee performance on the part of the

celebrity. Unlike other forms of gifting, this is a quid pro quo relationship whereby

the celebrity agrees in advance to participate in the marketer’s promotional activities

- in exchange for valuable product.

Celebrity Product Placement campaigns of this type work best for big-ticket items

such as consumer electronics and (the loan of) cars. But with creative approaches,

special product questionnaires and generous “Right of Publicity” agreements,

marketers can use the celebrity’s name, likeness and opinion as part of their public

relations campaigns.

Celebrity Product Placement – via barter agreements – is also among the most

affordable ways to use celebrities. For the price of a few products, and sometimes a

token honorarium, companies can integrate testimonials into their PR materials and

create customized celebrity content for their websites.

They can involve numerous stars in a press campaign for less than the cost of a

single paid celebrity spokesperson. It is one of the most under-exploited tactics

available to marketers today.

A Case Study: Sony Electronics

The Sony CD Mavica – at the time, the only digital camera offering a built-in CD-

Rom – had failed to penetrate the increasingly crowded market for digital imaging

products. This was troubling for Sony because the CD Mavica offered clear

advantages over its competitors; namely, freedom from wires. But that message had

failed to reach the public.

Sony wanted to involve celebrities with their products and for that involvement to

influence the public in a meaningful way. They wanted a high-profile event –

preferably benefiting charity – upon which to launch a yearlong press campaign in

time for the Christmas shopping season. The focus: to promote the simplicity of

CD-based photography.

The budget was limited. But, having learned that the latest Sony products could be

made available to gift the talent, The Hollywood-Madison Group proposed a

Celebrity Product Placement campaign. Each celebrity would be asked to take a

picture of what “Freedom” means to them, and those photos would be auctioned off

for charity.

Such an artistic challenge, coupled with the prospect of receiving free Sony product,

not only served to induce celebrities to participate, but offered us an extraordinary

opportunity: to frame these pictures and mount an exhibition which raised money

for charity. Indeed, the charity component attracted higher-caliber celebrities and

provided the “hook” to draw media attention.

We successfully placed the Sony CD Mavica digital camera with fifteen top stars

including Eric McCormack, Alyssa Milano and Dennis Hopper. The photographs were

then offered for sale on eBay as part of Wired magazine’s annual charity auction,

and put on display at a star-studded event in Los Angeles.

Fifteen top celebrities demonstrated the practical use of Sony’s product and

authorized the use of their names, likenesses and opinions about the product for

press and marketing purposes (for one year). Sony received free advertising for its

product in print and online for three months (worth an estimated $100,000), as well

as 3.6 million webpage impressions (auction as a whole) and national press

coverage including Entertainment Tonight.

You can read more about this project on our website>celebrity_projects>influencer

campaigns.

Conclusion

Celebrity Product Placement offers marketers an exciting way to influence

consumer-purchasing decisions. Properly executed, it can be a low-cost, high-

return proposition. As such, it should be part of every consumer-marketing

program.

Three different approaches offer three different results: gifting-the-talent (narrow

focus); product seeding (broad focus) and, barter relationships (one-on-one focus).

But, as we have seen, a tightly integrated celebrity product placement campaign,

combining elements of each, can improve results and deliver an impressive return

on investment.

Jonathan Holiff is president and CEO of The Hollywood-Madison Group – the leading recruiter of celebrities for endorsements, appearances and press campaigns. Visit the website at http://www.Hollywood-Madison.com

When it comes to Internet marketing the

biggest question is always what is effective?

You need an effective Internet marketing

strategy but the last thing you want to do is

waste time on an Internet marketing strategy

that is ineffective. One of the hottest new

Internet marketing terms is search engine

result page or S.E.R.P. People are beginning

to realize that the most important factor in

Internet marketing in the all-important search

page result.

Someone is looking for something, they enter a

few words into a search engine and pages that

match the search words appear. Any intelligent

Internet marketing aficionado is focused on

where their website shows up on that list. The

more effective the company’s Internet

marketing strategy the higher up the list they

will appear. Internet marketing studies have

shown that the first page of results of an

Internet search engine is the Promised Land

for an effective Internet marketing scheme.

The first month your Internet marketing

strategy places your business on the first

page of search results can bring you an

increase in traffic to your site of more than

100 percent. The second month of effective

Internet marketing will increase it even more,

sometimes as much as 200 percent. There isn’t

a business out there that doesn’t wish for

those kinds of results from their Internet

marketing plan.

So what kind of Internet marketing plan will

get you onto that coveted search results first

page? The first Internet marketing tool you

will need is keywords. Keywords, the words

prospective clients enter into search engines

to find what they’re looking for are Internet

marketing gems. Creating keyword-rich content

on your website will greatly increase your

ranking on the search engine. Be smart about

it. Search engines can distinguish an Internet

marketing keyword rich approach from someone

who is just being stupid. But an Internet

marketing strategy that fills your site with

the right keywords will make your ranking rise.

Another great Internet marketing tool for

raising search engine ranking is the press

release. There are a great number of companies

now offering optimized press releases to bring

more awareness to your site. An effective

Internet marketing strategy will utilize this.

Choose wisely, but do not ignore this Internet

marketing asset. Check with anyone who is

having success with their Internet marketing

and you are sure to find that they use an

optimized press release service. A well-

crafted article that raises the aware ness of

your Internet marketing keywords will always

be a profitable Internet marketing tool, as

long as you find a service that gets good

exposure for their articles. Again, do your

homework.

Finally, remember that as much as 80% of all

internet traffic goes no further than the

first page of results for their internet

search. Use this to your Internet marketing

advantage. Use every Internet marketing tool

at your disposal to get yourself onto that

page and you will see Internet marketing

success. Everyone says they have an Internet

marketing strategy. Be smart about your

Internet marketing strategy and you will leave

most of them in the dust.

About the author:

To find the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: [http://www.MakeItBigForLife.com]

Do you want to buy a quality used car but are afraid of getting ripped off?

You’re not alone, and for good reason. Used car sales are far and away the most lucrative segment in the auto industry in terms of commissions that the sales people and dealership makes and therefore, the GREED factor comes in when selling cars is concerned. The potential for being taken advantage of increases for the unwary and uninformed car buyer.

Having said that, there are still quite a few honest, credible used car dealerships out there and if you are prepared with some of the tips in this article, then you can drive off with a nice, clean used car AND a good deal.

There are TWO basic types of Used Car Dealerships you need to know how to differentiate between the two.

1. Your garden variety of used car dealerships that most towns and cities have almost everywhere. These dealerships, generally sell cars bought at local auctions or were higher mileage cars bought form a local dealership, or taken as trade-ins on their lot. Generally speaking, you won’t find the latest models with the lowest miles and still under warranty. What you CAN find are clean reliable cars, maybe with higher miles that you wouldn’t find at a brand dealership, but often lower prices. The typical used car dealership has nowhere near the overhead of major dealerships so, their gross profit margin – the difference in costs they have in a car and what they can sell it for — can be lower, thus, ideally, saving you some money.

Most of the better used car dealerships offer financing and warranties for all their cars at an extra cost, of course. Some, but not most have a place to service their cars before putting the car on their lot. You need to make sure whatever car you are looking at has at least had an updated inspection.

Used car dealerships can be a great place to find a good car, BUT, be careful, some of the cars can be rough around the edges and you need to know what to look for and how to look at a used car.

2. Your automobile dealerships that sell new and used cars. Usually, these dealerships keep a selection of what they like to refer to as “pre owned” or even “certified pre-owned” vehicles and they usually spend more time on the prep of the car before it goes on the lot. They have a shop and certified technicians to go over these cars and make sure these cars are in good shape. Especially the Certified Pre Owned cars need to look and run close like new. All of this does, of course make the Brand Dealership Used cars priced on the higher end. Be ready to haggle!

Buying a used car or “pre-owned” car can make a lot of sense regardless of where you buy one.

Any new car will drop 25 – 40% once it drives off the lot. In this day and age of better cars and cars lasting over 100k miles, used cars, especially almost any Japanese car, can last to well over 200k miles and you get an even better price. Again, make sure the Car Fax checks out!

BIG MYTH: “When you buy a used car, you’re buying someone else’s problem”Not necessarily so. Many used cars are lease turn ins. Many used cars the owners simply out grew the car or, like so many people on the road, they just like to trade cars often and change cars like underwear!

Following are some tips on how to maneuver through the sometimes shark infested waters of used car dealerships.

1. Know what you want. Or at least, have an idea. Do you want an economy car? A luxury sedan? An SUV? You will find a good selection on some of the many Used Car lots that dot our landscapes. A good way to shop discreetly is to shop online. Compare similar models and makes.

Check Consumer Reports for Best Used Car deals or the Kelly Blue Book online.

2. What will it cost? Once you have an idea of what you want, get an idea of what it would cost. The most popular and the oldest service is Kelly Blue Book. At KBB, you can select practically any model, make and year of vehicle and get a “good-better-best” price, depending on the vehicle condition and various features. With KBB, you can get a general idea of pricing or even narrow it down to specific features. For instance, if that cool sports sedan you’ve spotted at a lot has leather upholstery and alloy rims vs. cloth seats and wheel covers, then you’ll pay more for the leather and rims. Also, you MUST know what the mileage on the car you are interested in. Cars with over 100,000 miles automatically drop in price compared to similar cars with under 100k miles.

3. Get a Car Fax report! A Car Fax report provides the detailed history of practically any vehicle on the road today.. To do this you need to accurately write down the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

A Car Fax report will tell you a LOT! It will tell you important stuff like: Has the car been wrecked? Total loss? Has the car been in a flood? Are there any recalls? Has the air bag ever been deployed? Has this car been “salvaged”? Has the car been inspected annually? How many owners and where? If the car you are interested in has been through several owners, that could be a red flag so pay attention to the number of owners in the past.

These are important things to know before even taking a test drive! You can get the Car Fax yourself, or ask the dealer to present you with a recent Car Fax Report.

NOTE: Any good used car dealer ship will likely have one on file and gladly show it to you.

IF this dealer Fancy Dances around this issue, then move on!

4. Visually Inspect the Car yourself! Walk around it and look at the fit and finish. Not all wrecked cars will be reported, but if you see uneven spaces between the doors, and hood and fender, then watch out! Check for “over spray”. If the car was repainted, it may not show up on a Car Fax either. Look around the black moldings, and exterior fittings like headlights, door handles, etc. If you see “over spray” it likely means the car has been repainted. Now, for a car older than 10 years it could be perfectly reasonable to have a re-paint. Just try and find out who and where the work was done.

5. Look Under the hood. Even if you are clueless at what you are looking at, do this anyway. Is the engine clean? Is there mud on the inner sides? What do the battery cables look like? Clean or corrosion built up? Not good if the engine area is not spotless and had a good steam cleaning.

6. Check the oil and all the other fluid levels. This seems obvious, but still, you want to know if the oil has been changed and the fluids – brake and transmission — are topped off. If any of these levels are low – RED FLAG!

7. Inspect the tire tread. A method for checking tread depth is to insert a penny in one of the grooves with Lincoln’s head upside down and facing you. If you can see the top of old Abe’s head, it is time to replace your tires and make sure the dealer knows this is a concern. At the bargaining table, you may get a new set of tires!

8. Inspect the wiper blades. Normal wear and tear on wiper blades are common, but if you are buying this car from a dealership of any kind, you should have fresh wiper blades.

Once you’re satisfied that the car you are looking at is worth of your attention, THEN and ONLY then take if for a test drive!

Next step Test Drive!9. The salesman may or may not give you some BS about him driving the car off the lot and down the street some distance to switch for “insurance” reasons. Not true! They want to keep as much control over the process as possible that’s all.

There are several things to look and listen for when starting out:

10. Start the engine with the window down so you can HEAR and SEE what its like.

Is the muffler quiet? Is there smoke blowing out?

11. Assuming you are in an automatic, move the transmission back and forth between the gears,

“P”, “D”, “R”, “N” etc… does if shift easily? What does it sound like when you put it into the drive gear? If there is a CLANK sound, look out, could be trouble!

12. If it’s a manual drive, make sure the gears shift easily from one gear to the next. Test the clutch.

Is there a lot of “play” when you press down before the clutch catches? If there is “play” then the clutch could be worn.

13. Driving. First, get into an open stretch and accelerate as fast as possible. Is the acceleration smooth? Does it hesitate or halt or stop? Not good!

14. BreakingNext, apply the brakes firmly but don’t slam on the brakes. Does the car swerve to the left or right? If so, could be alignment problems. Not good! How far does the brake pedal go before engaging? If a lot, then the car may need brake work. If it goes to the floor, then you have real brake problems.

15. Interior Controls.Does the Air Conditioning work and blow cold? Is the heater working? How’s the stereo?

Do the power windows roll up? Do the crank windows roll up easily?

Do the locks work? Make sure you take the time to learn about the interior aspects of your potential next car.

16. Take the car for a good drive! Have fun! Crank up the stereo! Bring along a CD to play!

Drive in traffic as well as on an Interstate Highway if possible. Listen for any unusual noises or loudness. Accelerate and brake frequently to test the car’s responsiveness.

Okay, you took the Test Drive, you think you love the car, now what?

Make sure you have paid attention to steps 1, 2 and 3. Demand a Car Fax report. Always seriously pour over the report as if you were preparing your Last Will and Testament.

NEVER let the sales person know you are totally thrilled with the car or in any way desperate for a car. This opens up an opportunity to be taken advantage of.

Also, if you want to trade your old ride for a new one, NEVER tell the dealership you intend to trade up front because this can skew the numbers you are being offered. You ALWAYS want to know what the car will cost BEFORE the trade!

It goes without saying you need to be ready to walk away from any deal you are offered. If it smells fishy, it probably is! DO NOT let your emotions get the best of you! There’s always as good or better car out there with your name on it!

In summary, be like the Boy Scouts whose motto is: “Be Prepared” and you will likely find a good car you can live with for several years or more.

J Gary Dean is an author and videographer in Greensboro NC. Also, a former used car salesman himself, Mr. Dean brings a unique perspective in the area of buying a used car.

Visit his website:

[http://www.NCInternetAdvertising.com]

or his blog:

[http://www.WhoIsGaryDean.com]

As a new owner of a vehicle, you must know about auto repair. This way, when your car breaks down, you what you have to do. Many automobile manufacturers and auto parts dealers provide their customers with tips on how to do basic auto repairs.

It is important that you familiarize yourself first with the parts and systems that make up your automobile. Knowledge about how these parts and systems work, and what their optimal performance levels help you master simple auto repair techniques. If you are aware of how your car functions, you will not have a hard time identifying where a strange sound is coming from and what part of your vehicle is affected.

By knowing the basics, you can perform simple troubleshooting procedures when your car breaks down, instead of sending it to a mechanic right away. You will not have to spend massive amounts of money just to hire a professional for a simple job you can do yourself, such as adjusting a few loose screws or cooling an overheating radiator.

As a beginner in auto repair, you must realize the importance of owning a basic service tool kit. This usually contains wrenches, screws and a jack. If your car stalls on the road, you will most likely need such tools to start it up again. Tools make auto repairs easier because they allow you to troubleshoot hard-to-reach areas.

If you want to learn more about auto repairs for beginners, you can try asking your favorite mechanic for some pointers. You can also try searching the World Wide Web for tips on auto repair. Through a search engine, you can access a wealth of information. Aside from research, you also have the option of signing up for short courses on auto repair.

Auto Repair provides detailed information on Auto Repair, Auto Glass Repair, Online Auto Repair, Auto Body Repair and more. Auto Repair is affiliated with Discount Auto Parts.

Runaway children are regarded as serious social problem. For runaway children, the main problem is family matters like neglecting children, physical or sexual abuse, family violence and family substance (drugs or alcohol) abuse. However, it is not always that children who runaway are from an abusive home, sometimes it is simply because they don’t like the life style and regulation of family or it becomes boring for them. These all problems lead children to depression, anxiety and at last hopelessness and forced to runaway from home. Runaway children are not bad but the decision they make is bad that they usually take quickly without thinking about the future consequences. Because runaway children are unable to face the pressure of the problem surrounding them and to escape from it, they run away from home.

It is also necessary to know that not a single child runs away from home without having contact with other person who has already had experience about running away from home. This kind of company influences more over the mind of child and when condition comes into the life that leads them to depression and anxiety, that time influence makes them to runaway from home.

Other reasons that can make a child to runaway from home are following:

Constant quarrels of parents causes child to feel insecure.

Sibling rivalry or arrival of new child.

Fear of physical danger for wrong doing.

Failure or fewer grades in examination or test paper.

To accompany a friend in distress.

All children are naturally insecure and immature emotionally as it is a part of growing process. Each day they become more secure when family is a close knit one with proper freedom for communication and to express their emotions. But if family fails to meet the love for children, children become unstable and try to escape from that atmosphere to get freedom. However, after running away from home, they feel completely lonely and without support of family. They feel guilt for running away from home and then decide to come back to home. Usually period of running away from home doesn’t remain for long time. But when it becomes habitual then it is advised to consult with psychiatrics for psychotherapy.

Runaway can be of four categories.

Running to children are those who are running from home in search of excitement of life like limitless pleasures, instant gratification and freedom. These children leaves home without any reason mentioned above.

Running from children are those who run away from home to escape from negative within home like physical and sexual abuse, financial hardship, neglect of alcoholic parents or stepparent. These children run away not to look for excitement of life but to look for a life that is tolerable. These children have no desire to return home to the same environment of neglecting parents.

Throw away children are not those who have run away from home because of their own desire or to escape from problem of family but they are forced to leave because of intense alienation with their family. These children are engaged more in antisocial works and criminal acts.

Forsaken children are those who are forced to leave the home because of inability of their family to support them financially and this kind is seen in the family with large number of members. These children have little or no emotional, social and economic support in family. These children feel themselves victimized and poor self-concepts.

Here we will be discussing causes, signs and symptoms related to psychological problems like depression, anxiety, drug addiction, etc. seen in runaway children. As we have already discussed above that children are emotionally immature and so they are sometime sad or depressed but it doesn’t mean that they have depression as disease. If symptoms persist two or more weeks and interfere with social life, school activities and family life, it can be said that a child may have depression. Usually, depression in children is diagnosed when there is evidence of change in behavior like anger or acting out. Depression in children has major symptoms like sadness, feeling of hopelessness and changes in mood. Sometime depression runs in family as genetical problem.

Signs and symptoms of depression can be as following:

Anger or irritability

Withdrawal of social life or activity

Persistent feeling of sadness and hopelessness or guilt

Feeling of rejection

Increased or decreased appetite

Insomnia (sleeplessness) or excessive sleep

Crying and or sudden outburst of inappropriate words

Fatigue or tiredness or low energy

Unable to concentrate in particular thing like study

Thoughts of death or suicide

Different complaints like stomachache, headache and these complaints are irresponsive to medicines.

Most children will manifest different symptoms at different time and mostly suffer from social life withdrawal, less interest in school activities or a change in appearance. Sometimes children suffering from depression may start alcohol, drugs or other things to get relief from stress especially when they are above 12 years. Children who have history of family violence, physical and sexual abuse and also suffer from depression are at risk for suicide. These children have unstable mood that makes them to runaway from home to be free from depressive thoughts and surroundings causing them to be depressed. When children runaway from home, they are not under the burden of certain regulations of the family and they are free to do anything especially drug addiction is the major problem in these children. They start to take drugs to calm their mind as treatment for anxiety and depression. After some period of time it turns into a habit that is drug addiction or abuse. At least half of children, who are drug addict, they are in depression, attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress and other psychological problems.

Signs that may indicate about a child who is drug addict are of following but these are not limited to: change in friends, lying, stealing, long periods of staying away from home, problem with family relationship, confused and unable to understand or unconscious, drastic change in behavior and decreased school performance.

But symptoms of drug addiction are different depending on the drug being abused. However, some common symptoms can be seen like anxiety, depression (on drug withdrawal), instability of mood, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramp or diarrhea, tremor and hallucination. Some of them are seen on withdrawal of drug and some are seen at prolong use of drug.

When you find your child using drugs and alcohol, it is advised to act soon; longer the child abuses, there are high chances of addiction. Individual should be careful while holding child with drug abuse otherwise it may hurt their feelings and may runaway from home. It is better to consult with psychiatrist or to rehabilitation consultant.

There are many other consequences related to runaway as they need to survive and away from home they will do anything to survive from panhandling (begging) to prostitution and some get involve in drug supplying or pornographic movies. Due to these kinds of activities there are high chances of HIV infection, malnutrition, heart infection like infective endocarditis (especially in drug addicts who use injection for drug into veins), other sexually transmitted diseases, robbery and sexual assaults.

Some steps that can prevent or decrease chances of runaway are following:

Though, these steps are not working for all as it depends on the level of trust and they are only suggestions, these measures are preferred than a cure.

Never challenge to a child for runaway.

Never use negative feelings or thoughts toward child that may indicate that you do not respect child.

Never raise your voice when your child is raising voice.

Stay calm and quite, have eye contact and give no response when child is angry or shouting until child is calm.

Never interrupt when your child is saying or expressing something even though you are not ready to agree with them until he or she is done.

Never use negative words like liar, selfish, immature, childish, cruel, stupid etc. as these words will hurt them and make them to think worse about themselves and about you.

Never neglect them or scold when they are wrong but explain them in what way they were wrong and help them to correct their mistakes.

Never use any kind of drugs or alcohol in front of children as it may attract their thoughts toward it and make them to follow you even though you may not have thought.

Give children equal chance to speak and to express their opinion and if you are not agree, simply explain them what can be consequences for that and if you are agree, do not let them do what they want.

Get professional’s advice if your child is demanding and threatening that they should be allowed to do whatever they want.

Help your children to learn to be responsible for their deeds.

Protect your children from feeling of loneliness and isolation.

Make the situation where children are able to learn to take positive decisions.

Encourage your children to try to succeed even they fail to perform some activity or examination or test papers.

Seek counseling or treatment for any instability of emotion or mood (depression, anxiety etc) or change in behavior that may interfere with the social life.

Running away solves nothing and so many teens learn that they are not safer on streets than they were with their parents or guardian .Runaway children usually turn home after one or two days as they felt lack of economic and residential support. When they return home, it advised not to scold them or to be angry on them but receive them with love and have sympathy for them. Returned runaway children already have emotional trauma and feeling of guilt of running away from home. Ask gently what make them to run away, where they went, and so on to find out the mistake and to correct them explaining them difficulties that may come into their lives after running away from home. For such children who return home, the best treatment modality is TLC (tender loving care) and after sometime that trauma will heal and there won’t be any serious consequences.

But when this becomes habitual to runaway from home even in small matter, it is better to consult with mental health professional and help to evaluate the conflict they have. Or if there is any psychological problem like depression, it is advised to start medication with loving care and helps to change the atmosphere that makes them depressed. If it is because of drug addiction, it is advised to join rehabilitation programs.

It is always better to take preventive measures that may help to avoid unpleasant reality of running away from home and then to face the difficulties of this brutal world.

One simple way to help children to prevent runaway is to communicate, listen, help, understand and try to solve the problem.

Though runaway has become a serious problem, we as adults are able to control it by understanding the heart of children and giving them loving care. It is possible to change the way of thinking and behavior and emotion status of children while they are growing.

If you are looking more information about Runaway Children then feel free to visit Runaway Child

Do you watch too much Television? Are you concerned about the effect Television watching may be having on your family? Here are some suggestions that may help you keep your Television watching under control.

1 FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOU WATCH

It is wise to analyze your Television watching habits to see if changes should be made. Keep a diary for a week or so, writing down how much time you spend on Television watching. You may also want to list the programs that you watched, what you learned, and how much you enjoyed these programs. The main thing, though, is to calculate how much time you spend on Television watching. You may be surprised at what you find. Just knowing how much your life is devoted to Television watching may move you to make charges.

2. REDUCE YOUR TELEVISION WATCHING TIME

Try to do without Television watching for one day a week, a whole week, or a month. Instead you may want to set limits on the time spend on Television viewing each day. If you cut Television watching by half hour each day, you will have an extra 15 hours every month. Use that time, in meaningful activities, such as; pursuing spiritual interest, reading a good book, or spending time with family and friends. Studies have shown that people who do little Television watching enjoy it more than people who watch a lot of it.

3. REDUCE CHILDREN’S TELEVISION WATCHING TIME.

One way to reduce Television watching is to move the Television out of the bedroom. Children who have Television in their room spend nearly one and half hour on Television watching than children who do not. Further, when a Television is in a youngster’s room, parents do not know what the child is viewing. Parents and couples will find out that they will have more time for each other if they move the television out of their bedroom too. Some, by choice, have decided not to have a television in the home at all.

4. REDUCE WHAT YOU WATCH

There are, of course, many good programs to see. Rather than surfing through the channels or watching whatever comes on, check the listings in advance to select, the programs you want to watch. Turn the television on when the program you have chosen begins and turn the television off when it is over. Or instead of watching a program when it is aired, you may wish to record it for later viewing. That will make it possible to watch at a more convenient time and to fast-forward through commercials.

5 BE SELECTIVE

You will probably agree with me that many television characters are just like “Lovers of themselves, Lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, unthankful, disobedient to parents, disloyal, having no natural affection, fierce, without self-control, puffed up with pride.

Being selective involves self-control. Have you ever watched the first few minutes of a drama or movie and, though you realized it was unacceptable, watched the entire film just to find out what would happen next? Many have however, if you have the will power to turn off the television so you can do something else, you will probably find that you don’t really care about what happened.

Television Watching is an exposé on the time an average person spends in front of the TV, addictive nature of too much Television watching,effects on the children etc. Family Matters provides interesting topics on family issues and parenting.

Distance learning opportunities used to exist through what was called correspondence courses, which were conducted over the mail, on the radio or on television. Today, the internet is the primary method of presenting educational materials. Online education affords students who little time or money, or who live in remote areas, to attend classes.

Classes Offered Through Distance Learning Online Education

Almost any curriculum can be pursued online. Students can seek programs that result in certification, advanced technical skills, associates degrees, bachelors degrees, graduate degrees and even doctorates. Even continuing education classes for licensed professionals and high school equivalence courses can be completed through virtual classrooms.

Methods for Distance Learning Online Education

Online education is usually web-based with a specific web site designated for the course. Supplemental materials, such as software, may also be part of certain online courses. Students visit the course web site to complete the posted assignments and take tests. Instructors and students communicate through email and chat rooms. Sometimes virtual lectures and discussions are part of online coursework. Students can attend virtual classrooms to complete their education and some colleges even have virtual graduation ceremonies.

Types of Students Who Pursue Distance Learning Online Education

Many different students from all over the world participate in distance learning online education opportunities. Some students work and attend classes online during their free time. Other students live in remote areas where local colleges do not exist. Still other students choose to combine online courses with traditional classes for what is known as a blended learning experience. Student who pursue distance education do not fit a particular mold, but should possess the following qualities:

self-motivation;

well-organized;

independent learner;

computer literate;

good time management skills; and

excellent communication skills.

Validity of Distance Learning Online Education: Research from the Sloan Consortium states that online learning is comparable to education obtained in a traditional setting, based upon a poll of academic leaders. Academic leader James Sherwood, Ph.D. and dean of University Extension, the continuing education branch of The University of California at Berkley states that, “Coming out of World War II and getting into the 60′s and 70′s there was a kind of stigma associated with distance education. That has certainly changed.” Because of technological advances and online resources, distance education has improved and offers an equivalent opportunity to traditional education.

Faculty Perspective of Distance Learning Online Education. Dr. Michael Otaigbe of Strayer University in Virginia has taught courses both in person and online at the same college. His opinion is that online classes generate an unexpected level of motivation, saying, “Online, I have the freedom to require contributions. Every week, my students have to submit essays and participate in group discussions. I get a better sense of the learning process.” He also finds that online students come from all over the world and have unique contributions that benefit the other students.

Online Education Distance Learning Association in the US. Several distance learning associations exist within the United States that offer additional information about taking classes online for prospective students.

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). The USDLA is a non-profit association that promotes the development and application of online distance learning for education and training purposes. The USDLA encourages distance learning for grades K-12, college and higher education, corporate training, continuing education, government training and military training. Further, the USDLA supported the implementation of the Snowe-Rockefeller Amendment to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, as well as other legislation in 1997 that was introduced by Kennedy and Snowe.

The Distance and Education Training Council (DETC). The DETC is a non-profit educational association that is a central hub of information about distance study and the correspondence learning field.

Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA). The FGDLA is also a non-profit association. The FGDLA was formed to promote development and application of distance learning programs. The Association also acts to foster understanding and collaboration among the people involved in education and training within the federal government.

Covering Costs for Distance Learning Online Education Programs

Financial aid is available to online students, just as it is for traditional students. Online students can apply for applicable state and government financial aid, Stafford loans, student loans, tuition reimbursement and scholarships to cover costs for cyber classes. Also, virtual students save money on transportation and housing. Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said, “The College Board continues to advocate for need-based aid, so that students can have the opportunity to benefit from college education.”

National and international strides are being made everyday in distance learning online education. Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers, R-Mich., introduced legislation to scientifically scrutinize online learning. The Independent Study of Distance Education Act of 2007 directs the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study that would compare classroom instruction with distance learning programs. Colleges such as the University of Wyoming are experimenting with gaming as a form of teaching online education. Consider that the dynamic nature and convenience of online education has attracted about 3.2 million people to take a distance learning course in the past year. Distance learning online education programs are an effective way to achieve higher education.

SummitLearners.com [http://www.summitlearners.com] is the leading website for people looking to learn online. We have resources for people looking to get an Distance Learning Online Education [http://www.summitlearners.com/online-education/online-distant-education]