Playing to win - how to find the best gaming laptop

Finding the best gaming laptop can be very frustrating at times. In fact, finding the best of any computer related products can be frustrating because the technology field is so fast paced.

One thing is for sure that whatever is top of the line today most assuredly will not be in the top in a couple of months.

As I said, the pace of technology is simply astounding. And it can also get pretty frustrating if you just bought what you thought was the king of gaming notebooks, only to have a new king appear on the market a few weeks later.

This is why it may be better to consider looking for certain qualities in a gaming computer, rather than a specific brand or model.

Models get switched out every so often.

Brands get hyped by the reporters and computer magazines one issue, only to have their reputations bashed in the next.

Instead, what I recommend is to hunt for consistent quality across the board instead of just a flash in the pixilated pan.

No matter what brand or model your considering, the best gaming laptop must first and foremost come with Intel Centrino mobile technology.

First off, these new chipsets make sure that your notebook doesn't burn through its battery after only a few rounds of Doom III. And secondly, this mobile technology maximizes the graphic output, making images and movement appear smooth and crisp, not choppy and blurred.

Of course, to really appreciate these high-grade visuals, you need a large, potentially wide screen display. In the area of 14 or 15 inches, with wide angles and crystal clear imaging.

The extra display size may make your laptop a bit more unwieldy, but you're there to play the computer, not lug it around.

Finally, to maximize your web gaming, you should get a laptop with the finest in wireless technology, such as Bluetooth and Wi Fi connectivity. These will add the mobile to your mobile gaming, allowing you to challenge the competition in San Diego, California and San Juan, Costa Rica.

Now when your comparing prices and models, it goes with out saying that you should maximize your hard drive space, games and graphics need alot of space. Also remember to maximize RAM memory, and processor speed as well. For all of these components are literally the backbone of any computer system, let alone the best gaming laptop.

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The Hidden Costs Of Selling On Ebay

There is little doubt that given the potential audience advertising on eBay can be very cost effective. Compared to other forms of advertising it is relatively inexpensive. However, many eBay users rarely bother to work out exactly what it is costing them to make a sale.

There are the obvious costs such as the listing, enhancements and final value fees. Also you have to add the charges made by Paypal if that is the option of payment chosen by the buyer. But then you should really also consider what I call the invisible costs. Let me explain, if for instance you buy many of the items that you sell from Flea markets and garage sales what value do you place on your time going to such events and don't forget any travel expenses to get there.

Once you have got your items home you will need more time to research, photograph and list your purchases. Now add the time you spend packaging the items after sale and standing in line to post them. You could easily find that each sale you make on eBay could take an hour or more of your time.

If you really want to know how much time you spend on your eBay business you need to keep a detailed diary for a few weeks. Record the time when you leave your home on "eBay business" and when you return. Add any expenses other than the cost of any items you buy to sell on eBay. Once you are home log any time you spend listing, photographing and packing items.

Do this for a few weeks and this will give you a good idea of the non costed time you spend on your ebay business in an average week. Next decide what you think your time is worth $10, $20 or $50 an hour, this figure is entirely up to you and represents what you would expect to be paid for an hours work by someone else.

You can then work out how many items you sell a week on average. So your figures might look something like this. Average hours per week 6 at $20 an hour, average number of items sold per week 30. This would mean your time is worth $120 a week to you and if you sell 30 items it has cost you $4 of time per item.

So to work out your true profit on any item you need to add not only the cost of the item but also the other costs. eBay, the Paypal and shipping fees and your time costs. You will now be able to calculate what profit or lose you made on the sale. You should also include something to cover those "mistakes" that we all buy that disprove the theory that you can sell anything on eBay. After that you will be able to calculate the true profit that you are making from your ebay business.

I am not knocking eBay, quite the contrary; I think it is one of the best methods for anyone to build a successful online business. The point is that if you are to make real profits on eBay it is important to make sure that you use your time to best advantage. This can mean getting software to speed up some tasks and possibly reviewing how and where you buy the items you sell through eBay. 


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Morphology - The New Technology Jargon

I chanced upon this book titled "The Morphology of Modern Linguistics" at the recently concluded 2006 World Book Fair in Singapore. Intrigued, I browsed Wikipedia, my favorite people's encyclopedia, for "morphology" which is featured under linguistics, mathematics and even biology.

What about technology, especially in the current midst of trend changes, and especially in the case of information technology?

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is one obvious platform that experiences the technological morphology. No longer must VoIP users be confined to their own voices while talking to families, discussing business matters or conducting long-distance interviews. Voice changers could conveniently morph natural voices across many ranges, like age, gender, or both.

Another information front that epitomizes this new morphology concept is the personal absorption of multimedia clips. Forget the debate over Blu-ray DVD or HD-DVD; this is about the listeners and viewers being empowered to edit audio and video quality at will. More technically said, DVD morpher software offers an ability to morph music and movies, adding special audio and video effects to the tracks or removing unwanted scenes from favorite videos.

In addition to all the above, the latest I have heard of is that you could as well change your webcam image, without even a need for a webcam while live chatting. People are now able to add animated texts and pictures to the webcam image, or fake it with another face accompanied by real gestures and expressions, which is made possible by something that might be called webcam morpher.

The way computers are applied to the world has, since the vast construction of undersea fibre optic cables and the constant development of complementary software products, been transformed into more than just a routine work-study template, but an experience of networking and entertainment.

And, right in the heart of that phenomenal marvel lies the morphology of technology, which connotes the manipulation and modification of end-results by computer tasks.

About the Author:

Josh Nowell is a press correspondent for Media Morpher. He is an observer of technology trends and is keen on analyzing how technology could enrich the human life.

He could be contacted at media@audio4fun.com (Attention to Josh Nowell). 


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Are Frequent Trips To The Bathroom Interrupting Your Sleep? An Enlarged Prostate Could Be To Blame

As men age, it's not uncommon that they find they make more frequent trips to the bathroom-especially in the middle of the night. For most men, this inconvenience is often made worse by the need to push or strain while urinating. Some even encounter pain or burning while urinating.

While the majority of men over age 60 experience these symptoms, most are not aware of what causes them. Symptoms such as these may be signs of an enlarged prostate, one of the most common urological disorders affecting men over the age of 60. In fact, 60 percent of men over the age of 60 and up to 80 percent of men over the age of 80 have an enlarged prostate.

An enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), is not life threatening. It is not a form of prostate cancer, nor does it lead to prostate cancer. However, as many men know, it can cause significant discomfort, inconvenience and awkwardness. BPH symptoms differ depending on the severity of the condition. The most common symptoms include:

• Waking at night to urinate

• Frequent need to urinate (sometimes every two hours or less)

• Pain or burning during urination

• Repeated, sudden or uncontrollable urge to urinate

• Pushing or straining to begin urination

• Feeling like the bladder does not empty during urination

• Dribbling after urination

As a man ages, the chance of developing BPH increases. This is because of growth patterns associated with the prostate. After a male reaches the age of 40, a second round of prostate growth often occurs as a natural part of the aging process.

The prostate is a gland located just below the bladder whose main function is to produce fluid for semen. As it expands, it can squeeze and place pressure on the urethra, like a clamp on a garden hose, thus constricting urinary flow. As pressure builds and the "clamp" tightens, the result can be some of the commonly perceived BPH symptoms.

Although there is no known cure for BPH, there are medications and procedures available to reduce the symptoms. These range from prescription oral medications and surgical procedures to minimally invasive, office-based procedures that can provide rapid symptom relief.

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Acer Aspire 3004WLCi - A Quick Review

I recently found myself in need of a new laptop. With a tight budget and moderate needs, I knew it wasn't going to be easy to find a product that would do what I wanted and still be in my price range.

As a Network Technician and a Web Designer, I needed a machine that would have enough storage to store all my software, projects for my clients, and still be able to handle an occasional temporary operating system backup from a client's machine. The qualifying candidate also had to have a decent amount of RAM and a reasonably fast processor to keep up with the demands of multitasking and using Studio MX '04 on a daily basis.

At first, I checked the auction sites, the refurbished outlets, and the wholesale warehouses. I found a few good deals for under $500, but nothing that would handle the processing load that Studio MX 2004 would place on it. The average machine had 256MB of PC133 RAM, a 20GB HDD, and a 1.0GHz Pentium processor. Not too shabby for a student machine, but for daily service in the fields I work in, not nearly enough space or power to keep up with my demands.

I quickly realized that a new laptop would be needed in order to meet my needs. Realizing that most decent laptops are priced at over $1,000, I wasn't expecting a whole lot when I started shopping around. However, to my surprise, a local retail chain had a special running on the Acer Aspire 3004WLCi for $600 after a $150 rebate. This was the top end of my budget, but the specs were far more than what I thought I would find in this price range.

Quick Specs:
AMD Mobile Sempron 3100+ (1.8GHz) w/ 256K L2 cache
512MB DDR333 SODIM RAM (expandable to 2GB)
60GB 4200rpm Hard Disk Drive
15.4 Wide Screen WXGA Monitor
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive
3 USB 2.0 Ports (1 front / 2 side)
Front Audio / Microphone jacks
Integrated Microphone / Speakers
Integrated Audio Controller
Integrated Video Controller (up to 128MB shared)
Integrated 56Kbps Data/Fax Modem
Integrated 802.3 10/100 Ethernet NIC
Integrated 802.11b/g WiFi
Maximum screen resolution: 1280 x 800
External monitor maximum resolution: 2048 x 1536
One type II PCMCIA Slot
AC Power Adapter / 4-cell lithium-ion battery
1.5"Hx14.3"Wx11"D / 6.2lb. w/ Battery
Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2

OK, before I go into the Pros and Cons of this system, let me first say this... As a Network technician, I'm a bit of a stranger to Acer products. I've seen them before, but I've never used them. In an industry dominated by Dells and HPs, Acer seemed more of an "off-brand" to me. With that in mind, I wasn't expecting a whole lot for my money. Fortunately, I was not disappointed, but neither was I entirely wrong.

Also, it is worthy to note that before I used this machine, XP Home was trashed in favor of XP Professional SP2 and I went through the system and performed several minor software performance tweaks on the operating system; all of which can be performed using the native Windows XP Pro utilities.

Pros:
The Acer Aspire 3004 WLCi is a reasonably powerful system for $600. Even at the original $750, this system is hard to beat in the performance department. The Sempron 3100+ processor is surprisingly fast and capable. It handled running Dreamweaver MX 2004, Fireworks MX 2004, Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft OneNote 2003, Firefox 1.5, Internet Explorer 6.0, Opera 8.5, Resize Browser, CPick, Java JRE, NOD32 Anti-Virus, Hotmail Popper, and several system services and minor utilities running in the background simultaneously and didn't complain or produce any unacceptable sustained CPU usage spikes. This is partly due to the generous and fast 512MB of DDR333 RAM, but even so, the processor surprised this long-time AMD user.

The 60GB hard drive provides an ample amount of storage for average users. It is on the lower end of my requirements, but sufficiently large enough to handle all my installed software, over 12GB of service software needed for service calls, all my client projects, and it still has enough space left over to easily accommodate a 20GB client system backup.

In addition, this system has a very good Broadcom WiFi controller. In my 3 story townhouse, which has excellent insulation, this system can be used anywhere in my home with a signal strength of "Very Good" to "Excellent".

The system is ergonomically laid out. I have rather large hands, and most modern laptops are entirely too small for me to realistically use for any extended period of time. Usually, within 20 or 30 minutes, my wrists and hands begin to ache from trying to maintain a very unnatural position in order to type the documents I'm working on. Not so with the Aspire 3000 series. These laptops have a relatively large chassis with a keypad that is almost perfect for someone with large hands. I've actually found that I can type nearly as fast (roughly 35wpm) on this laptop as I can on my desktop system that has an ergonomic split keyboard (40wpm).

Cons:
If you're looking for a Multimedia system, or if you plan to do any graphics intensive gaming, keep on looking; this system is not for you. Even with the widescreen WXGA display, this machine is not well suited for watching DVDs. The integrated video controller is only acceptable and the monitor requires a lot of "fiddling" with in order to find the "just right" position for viewing. Furthermore, the glare on the screen of this unit is terrible. I've found that in most brightly lit rooms I'm spending more time straining my eyes to see past my own reflection. Also, the viewing angle is unimpressive. If you try to view the screen from anything greater than 15 degrees in any direction, you're either looking at a washed out or negative variation of the original. I've never been a big fan of LCD. I've always felt that a high quality CRT always looks better, but this screen is more reminiscent of a LCD of three years ago than a brand new product.

The integrated audio and video controllers are a definite sore spot as well. I've always preferred expansion controllers over integrated controllers, but in this price range, I knew I would be stuck with the so-so quality of an integrated controller. No surprise here. As usual, the quality and performance is sub-par with these controllers, but for my needs, they do the job. However, if you plan on listening to any audio playback on this machine, you had better pack a quality set of headphones. The tiny speakers on this machine are terrible sounding. Again, no big surprise.

Now, about battery life. I don't know who was in charge of defining this aspect of this machine, but they need a checkup from the neck up. Battery performance on this machine is absolutely unacceptable. Unless you tune the system down significantly, it is very difficult to squeeze more than an hour of real usable time out of this system's battery life. The manufacturer states that it will run for 1.5 hours on the battery. I've never been able to get more than an hour out of the unit. In this day and age, this is not acceptable. Fortunately, there are very few occasions when I need to use this system where I'm not close to a power outlet.

My only other major complaint is the lack of expandability of this system. You get two SODIM memory card slots (filled with 256MBx2 sticks from the factory), three USB 2.0 ports and a Type II PCMCIA slot on this machine, and that's it. No internal expansion capabilities, no firewire, no serial or parallel connections, and you cannot swap out the combo drive easily. Given the price range of this system, I'm really not surprised, but I am a bit disappointed. Fortunately, there are an abundance of USB adapters available that allow me to do whatever is needed.

Summary:
If you just need a basic system for work or school related tasks the Acer Aspire 3004WLCi is a solid performer that can handle average use with ease. I would definitely recommend this unit to college students or traveling professionals who need an inexpensive, user-friendly laptop, but who do not plan on using their laptop on batteries very often, or who do not intend on playing many games or movies. For the price conscious consumers out there, this system is definitely worth the money. In my humble opinion, you get more than what you pay for, but not by much. 


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Bodyguard Jobs

The Bodyguard industry is quite a large industry, making the Bodyguard industry an attractive industry in which to find a job. Being such a large industry, the Bodyguard industry is less competitive than other job industries and offers a range of jobs.

Although the Bodyguard industry is less competitive than other job industries, you are still required to meet certain job criteria, prior to working as a Bodyguard. Usually, you are required to attend a Bodyguard training course, prior to working as a Bodyguard.

Most Bodyguard Training courses are designed to provide you with basic first aid training, self-defence techniques and sometimes weapons training. Although not all Bodyguard jobs require that you carry a weapon, there are some Bodyguard jobs that do.

A person with Military training, or Martial arts training, is usually highly regarded in the Bodyguard industry, as their skills are often needed in certain Bodyguard positions. Although you are not likely to ever have to physically grapple with a person, there is the possibility that it can occur, so knowledge of self-defence techniques are important.

There are many situations in everyday society that require a Bodyguard. For example, many film and music stars often hire Bodyguards to protect them from the possibility of kidnapping, or from the possibility of being attacked by a crazy fan.

There are also less glamorous Bodyguard positions, such as protecting a bank, shopping mall, or private properties at night. Often these Bodyguard positions require you to be on your own, hence the need for self-defence skills.

As a Bodyguard, you also have the responsibility of protecting other people, which is why you will often be required to have a first aid certificate. In the event of a shooting incident, or other form of injury, you will need to know how to help an injured person, while ambulance officers arrive.

As you can see, being a Bodyguard is much more than just standing around in a uniform, it requires a level of skill, confidence and professionalism. However, being a Bodyguard also requires you to be fit.

Fitness plays an important role in being a Bodyguard, as you may be required to run after someone, or may need to apprehend someone who is dangerous. Being fit will ensure that you will be stronger than you opponent and thus will be capable of apprehending them.

Although Bodyguards do not have the same legal powers of the police force, they play an important role as a supportive partner in conjunction with the police force. Often, a Bodyguard is the first at a crime scene and is often the person who contacts the police.

Bodyguards play an important role in society, making sure that everyone can live in a safe and comfortable fashion. The often silent, role of a Bodyguard is essential in preventing, kidnappings, bank robberies, public brawls and many other types of incidents.




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How to Build A Successful Business?

Starting a business and becoming successful is often part of the American Dream. But there is a difference between starting a business and building a successful business. Many businesses fail within the first few years of existence due to the lack of planning for the long-term. There is not enough vision and there is not enough done to strengthen the business properly from the ground up.

If you want to start a business there is an easy way to get a better understanding of why some businesses fail and others don't. When starting a business think about it similar to building a house. If done right it is protecting you against any kind of storm or danger of the outside world and will last for a long time. It offers shelter and protection. For you and your business that could be translated to that you want to have a business that is able to weather economical ups and downs (=storm) and that will provide income to pay the bills (shelter and protection).

When building a house there are several different steps you need to follow to have the house build. You know you want a house, but you got to pick a location and get an architect to plan everything out. In the business world that would be: you know you want to start a business, but you have to come up with a business idea and work out a business plan. The next thing for the house would be to build the foundation (and eventually the basement) for the house. In the business world - you got to build the initial infrastructure (example: connecting with vendors, find a manufacturer for your product, create a sales team, rent office space, get a delivery truck, etc.). Once that is in place you able to actually do business and earn some money. But you are not completely done yet. You need to build a frame, put in windows and you also need a roof on house. For your business this means that you pay off debt, improve business processes and get professional help when needed (example: find a tax accountant, select a payroll service, etc.)

Once the house is build you probably want to fill it with furniture and make it livable for the future. Nobody wants to sleep on the floor, right. Again translating this to the business world it could mean that you invest money you earned back into your business. You buy machinery instead of leasing it. Eventually you buy a building, hire more staff, develop more products, move into new markets, build up a high cash reserve, and buy other businesses and so forth. This is often the step where winners and losers separate. Re-investing money into the business is a key factor for success. If you go and spend all the money on your own salary to buy things you have nothing to go back to when the economy slips into a recession or if disaster strikes.

The successful business owner has build up a cash reserve or can borrow money from bank – securing loans with the assets of the business. Going back to building a house this pretty much matches the same efforts. You pay off your mortgage and have equity available to eventually borrow against when emergency arises. Emergencies do not include paying off credit cards to use them again or to buy a car. Financially responsible you should be looking at the long term and not finance short-term goods with long-term debt. 

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Use Ezine Marketing To Boost Traffic Or Profits

You've probably seen them advertised or subscribed to a few. E-zines seem to be sweeping the Internet and filling mailboxes. Maybe you've thought about creating your own for your site, but decided against it for any number of reasons. Maybe you didn't see how e-zine marketing could help. Maybe you decided that maintaining an e-zine would be too much work. Maybe you didn't think anyone would pay to subscribe, and why go through all that work for free? Well, here are some responses to your excuses.

E-ZINE MARKETING WON'T BOOST SITE TRAFFIC.

You've probably got repeat users on your site; those dedicated few who check up on you everyday to read any new posts no matter what. Obviously an e-zine won't make them come back more frequently. They already visit every day! How much more do you want them to view your site?

Then you've probably got those people who check you out once in awhile when they think of it. Those people might only visit the site once a month. What if they had subscribed to your e-zine because they liked your site so much and received it in their mailbox once a week? Wouldn't that remind them to go visit the site more?

And what about that one time user who came to your site, loved it, and then suffered from a minor head injury and partial amnesia and forgot all about your site. No traffic from this person. But what if they had subscribed to your e-zine? The reminder would be sitting in their mailbox, which they had stored the username and password for in case they did succumb to partial amnesia, and they would once again be able to visit your site. And who knows? Maybe visiting your site could trigger all of their memories to return. You'd be seen as the hero you are, all thanks to an e-zine.

And if you simply mail out the password to subscribers and have the e-zine posted on your site, then every time a subscriber reads the e-zine, they add one more hit to the site.

E-zines are a regular reminder to Internet users that your site is still around and worth checking out.

AN E-ZINE WON'T MAKE ME ANY MONEY AND ISN'T WORTH MY TIME.

Oh contraire. E-zine marketing can and does produce revenue. Ignore the fact that in the last section I showed you how e-zines increase site traffic and thus revenue. Think for a moment about affiliate marketing. What if you place some of your affiliate marketing links within the e-zine? By doing that you are sending your revenue generators directly to mailboxes instead of being forced to wait for consumers to come to you!

Also, who said that the e-zine has to be free, or that you can't have an upgraded e-zine available for a small fee? The upgraded version could have extra articles, more frequency or other nifty features that people would be dying to pay for. If people like what you have to say, then they will be willing to pay for it.

AN E-ZINE WOULD BE TOO HARD TO PRODUCE

As with so many things on the Internet, you have to remember that you're not alone. There is an entire market out there of people whose job it is to help you market online, and e-zine marketing is no different. There are websites out there that you can buy articles from to post and sites devoted to writers trying to find freelance jobs just like writing for your e-zine. Programs can be downloaded to help you with your formatting, and contact lists in e-mail programs make mass mailing a cinch.

I am not saying that creating an e-zine will be as easy as eating a sandwich, but it can be done without an obscene amount of work. The benefits are absolutely worth the cost in time or money. In today's Internet, e-zine marketing is a tool that cannot be ignored.




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Steps in choosing the best health plans

Choosing a health plan which is the best could be a confusing experience. Although there is no one "best" plans, there are various plans accessible today in market that would be better than others for you and your family's health insurance needs. In simple terms, however, rather that mere giving you the answers, the best thing we could do is to make sure you are ready with the right questions. The following questions could help you and your family to take intellectual decisions on choosing the best from various options available regarding health care.

There are three major things to be considered, each with their own exclusive set of questions. By considering the questions thoroughly, you would arrive at the right plan for you and your family

1.How affordable is the cost of health care?

• How much would it cost me on a monthly basis?
• Should I try to insure only major medical expenses or cover most of my medical expenses?
• Can I afford a policy that at least cares for my children?
• Are there deductibles I should pay before the insurance begins to help cover my costs?
• After I have met the deductible, what part of my costs is actually paid by the plan?
• If I use doctors outside a plan's complex, how much more would I pay to get care?
• How frequently do I visit the doctor and how much do I have to pay at each visit?

2.Do the integrated services match my needs (access of care)?

• What doctors, hospitals, and additional medical providers are parts of the plan?
• Are there sufficient kinds of doctors I want to see?
• Where would I go for care? Are these places near where I work or live?
• Do I require getting permission before I see a medical specialist?
• Are there any limits to how much I should pay in case of a major illness?
• Does the plan cover up the expenses of delivering a baby?

3.Have people had good results when covered by a specific plan (quality of care)?

• How do self-governing government organizations rate the different plans?
• What do my friends say about their understanding with a specific plan?
• What does my doctor say about their knowledge with a specific plan?

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Tips for Organizing Your Monthly Bills and Paperwork

Do you get hit with late fees because you forget to pay your bills on time? Do you constantly waste time searching for that cable bill you left somewhere in the house? Spend an hour organizing your personal bills and papers now, and this will save you time and frustration in the future. Plus, this helps make tax time easier because you already have everything in one place.

First of all, have a place where you sort your mail every day. Junk mail gets trashed or recycled right away. Magazines and catalogs should go in a rack to read later. Open your bills, make a note of the due date and immediately put them on your desk in a small file until you write the check. A small letter file that sits on your desk works well- no need to buy any fancy tickler file unless you think that will work better for you.

It's best to start in January, but you can begin to set up your filing system at any time during the year. Use a filing cabinet or plastic storage box to store all your files. I prefer a plastic file box because at year end I can carry it to the basement to store with other old records.

If you have more than 10 bills a month, use a separate manila folder for each company you write a check to. I prefer to use the manila file jackets instead because they have closed sides that prevent small receipts from falling out and getting lost.

Create a folder for Miscellaneous for those people or companies you only pay once or twice each year, such as insurance or magazine subscriptions. You can also use this folder to keep those occasional letters you need to write during the year but don't know where to file them.

Make a folder for bank statements and another one labeled "For income taxes." As you pay a bill that can be deducted on your tax return (such as real property tax or medical bills), file it in this folder instead of your paid bills file. Name one folder "Investments" for any paperwork that comes regarding your 401(k) or IRA during the year

If you pay less than 10 checks a month, you don't need a separate folder for each company-you can manage with only one file folder for all of your bills for the whole year.

Keep all your paycheck or direct deposit stubs in an envelope or folder, newest one on top. I use a regular letter envelope for mine, and always keep them until I verify that my W-2 is correct when it arrives in January.

Pay your bills as you get paid- either weekly or bi-weekly. If you are paid monthly, chances are you will have to pay some of your bills during the month, so schedule time to pay bills every other week. Be sure to allow a week's mailing time if you pay by check. If you pay online, this chore will be easier, and in most instances you can set up your payment in advance of the due date.

After you write the check or pay online, be sure to mark the bill "Paid" with the date and check number before you file it in the folder you have set up.

At the end of December, create new files so you can be ready for the next year.

By organizing your bills and setting up a filing system, you will wind up spending less time on this chore every week. And, next tax season all you will need to do is pull the file "For income taxes" to begin preparing your tax returns.




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Free Movies? Legal? You've Got To Be Kidding!

Have you heard of the saying "you get what you pay for"? Have you also heard about all of the ruckus that went on over the sites that allowed people to share files for free? Well if so, or even if not, I don't blame you for being incredulous when you hear me claim that I can tell you that there are sites that give you unlimited access to free movies, and completely legally. Well let me tell you how these sites work in the next several paragraphs.

Free movies is actually a creative marketing ploy, because there are actually fees involved. They can say that though because if you are a member of their site than you get access to all of their "free" movies. Basically what it boils down to is a site that operates very much like a cable company and charges a monthly fee to come be able to come to their site and download movies. They do get to keep them which is the super cool thing about these sites and makes them totally worth the cost.

So how do they make any money? Well they are on the internet so their market has huge potential. They are not limited by geography like a movie rental store would be or a cable company for that matter. So volume is a huge thing they bank on. So won't people just get on the site for one month or so and download all of the movies that they want and then get out? Wouldn't they lose money on people like this? Well the answer is yes and no. You see for one thing there is such a huge volume of films is would be hard to download all of the movies that you want in one month. Besides people don't want their hard drives full of free movies. The other major thing is that good movies aren't just going to all of a sudden stop coming out. People are going to want to stay members so that they can get the new releases that come out periodically

Maybe now you are seeing the benefits that cause people to become members and then "give" them all the free movies that they could ever want. Maybe now you will go and check out one of these great sites. They are easy to find, trust me. All that you have to do is search for free movies and you will get more sites than you new existed for this new way to sell movies. 

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How to have lasting relationship with clients?

Clients are the most precious assets for a business. Without clients, there can be no business. With poor quality of clients, the business will be poor and if you manage to get very good clients and retain their loyalty, your business will only go up and up. This all sounds very exciting. But it is not easy to get very good clients and all the more difficult to retain them. After all, whatever you do, your competition is trying the same and may use better techniques to get business. Are there any innovative approaches to client relationships?

We are talking about direct sales in this discussion and not about selling merchandise to large consumer base. For example if you are a contractor maintaining air conditioners in clients work places. Or a direct seller of computer hardware to business buyers, and all such businesses where your sales to individual clients are large, and you are in direct contact with clients.
 

 

 
The first need is of course client satisfaction. If the client is satisfied with your response time, after sales service and can depend on you, pricing may become secondary. All clients do not buy from a supplier whose sales at the lowest price. If your product cost is a small percentage of clients total expense or if your product is essential for your clients, you are onto something good. How to retain such clients despite all the competition? What are the other factors than client satisfaction?

Relationship is one such other major factor. Do you relate with your clients only professionally, or are very good friends? Both these extremes can hurt. For a long-term business relationship, good friendship is not good for health of your business. Any problem in the personal friendship will directly affect your business. What if you relate to your clients mechanically in a professional style totally devoid of personal touch? You know the answer yourself.

What is needed is a relationship that does not border on personal friendships, but crosses mechanical approach. A fine balance between personal and professional.

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