A Specialist Solution to Buy-to-Let Financing for up to 20 Million.

Copyright 2006 Geoff Morris

Looking to consolidate or even improve the efficiency of your portfolio financially?? Geoff Morris, of Property Horizons, discusses some interesting ways in which to finance your investment property portfolio with Suzanna Grey, an Independent Financial Advisor at Beacon Financial Limited.

As a property professional, are you looking for a different approach to your borrowing requirements? There is a company specialising in professional landlords that many are unaware of. They are unique in the market place and approach buy-to-let in a very different way to high street lenders. They are from a commercial background and approach the property investment market from that perspective.

They are one of the UKs leading providers of residential buy-to-let mortgages, winning the Buy-to-Let Lender of the Year award at the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Business Finance Awards. They made their first specifically targeted buy-to-let mortgage in 1995 and are unique in being the only UK lender to offer a service totally dedicated to the professional residential property investor.

They provide a bespoke professional service, competitive interest rates and a wide range of products designed specifically with the professional property investor in mind. As a centralised lender a good intermediary is vital to ensure the most appropriate product is selected.

As buy-to-let specialists they have a comprehensive understanding of the market and are able to create mortgage solutions to meet your needs. They are an ARLA affiliated lender and carry out regular research into the buy-to-let market.

Many landlords approach me to help tidy the borrowing they have on their portfolios. Often they have loans with several different lenders, on a range of different products, devised by mortgage brokers who did not view the portfolio holistically – but from a best rate for that property view point.

For those of you who are used to paying high valuation fees, redemption penalties when you remortgage to raise they deposit for the next property, or who are simply frustrated with the onerous administration, I have the solution.

This specialist lender offers a maximum of 20 million to professional landlords. They can pre-underwrite you on the basis of your existing portfolio so your income separate to the portfolio is not considered. This means it is possible to have an offer very quickly without pages of forms to complete. The only item they require will be the valuation, which at a maximum of 125 per property, and with in-house surveyors who understand the investment market, is very competitive.

You no longer need to re-broke your loans if you need to raise capital, simply apply for a further advance. Should your property require updating when you purchase it they are able to pre-underwrite the completed value and will release the additional funds once works have been completed.

The rates are competitive and they understand the professional landlord as this is the market in which they exclusively deal. They will run suitability checks on new areas to ensure they are appropriate for the rental market, free of charge, to help diversify the portfolio geographically to spread the risk. This ensures that you can invest in new areas with confidence.

This type of lender can help you gear your portfolio effectively in order to maximise the available capital and expand your properties. They can also assist you to access the auction deals and special offer properties where fast exchange is crucial.

It makes a refreshing change for a lender to be supportive in your investment strategy, rather than prohibitive.

Suzie Grey is an Independent Financial Advisor at Beacon Financial Limited and can be reached by phone (01480 869466). Beacon Financial Limited is authorised and regulated by The Financial Services Authority. She will be a regular guest on the Property Horizons Teleseminars, and mini-conferences.

Forbes Magazine, The History

Its interesting to look back at the origins of Cosmopolitan Magazine, seeing their first subscription numbers (in the 25,000) range, into what it has become now. Its almost amazing how the content has evolved over the years–from a one-time family magazine back in the late 19th century–to what is now; a demographic exclusive to females.
Before cosmopolitan magazine experienced world wide success, the initial founders and editors (Schlicht & Field) went out of business only 2 years after the companys launch. Only after E.D. Walker, an ex editor for Harpers Monthly purchased the rights to Cosmopolitan magazine did the business really take off. He didnt settle for the old way of doing things, with an innovative sense he introduced book reviews, serial fiction, and color illustrations to the magazine.
Only 1 year later after Cosmopolitans booming popularity, E.D. Walker sold the company to John Brisben Walker, who quickly employed some of the nations top writers. He went on to open a free correspondence school, which he had to retract almost immediately after only 2 weeks more then 20,000 people signed up.
Cosmopolitan magazine was later sold to William Randolph Hearst in 1905. He began to expand the magazine by employing top writers, and investigative journalists. Some of the best articles written came from the recruiting sense of William Hearst, he employed Alfred Henry Lewis, David Graham Philips, Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis and George Bernard Shaw, all who went on to write some of the most famous articles for their time.
As decades past, the magazine changed from strictly articles to short novels and stories, sales soared (1.7 Million copies in circulation) and over 5 million in advertising revenues in 1930. Cosmopolitan magazine proved to be an unbelievable success, after the Second World War magazine sales topped the 2 million mark. Unfortunately demand for the magazines content decreased in the 50s, circulation numbers crippled to just over a million, despite the reduced revenue cosmopolitan magazine subscriptions were still a profitable venture, even today Cosmopolitan is one of the most subscribed to magazines in the world.

Are Made For Adsense Sites Ruining Search Results?

It’s happened to you. You’ve searched for something on Google and several promising results appear. You click on a link, but when you get to the site all you see are a few ads and nothing even remotely close to what you searched for. So you go back to the search results and try again, only it happens again and again until you finally find a page with some decent content…or frustration sets in and you give up all together.

Why does this happen? How come in this day and age Google can’t give you the results you’re looking for? A large part of the answer is the growing number of made for AdSense (MFA) sites on the web today. MFA sites are designed for the sole purpose of getting you to click on a Google AdSense advertisement.

Define Made for AdSense

A site is made for AdSense if its sole purpose is to get users to click on AdSense ads. Its owners don’t intend that users will learn from its content or participate in a community. All that they want is for them to click on an ad. A site is NOT made for AdSense if its primary purpose is to provide unique content and the site owner decides to keep their content free by displaying advertisements, AdSense or other. This has been going on for years television, newspapers, and magazines all generate revenue with advertisements. The difference is that the advertisements SUPPLEMENT the content of the show or article. The same applies for the web. If you have a news site or a forum, placing ads on your site does not make it a made for AdSense site.

Why Do People Make MFA Sites?

The thing with MFA sites is that they work. The overwhelming majority of the population has no clue what Google AdSense is and doesn’t understand that Google and the site owner make money when they click on an ad. By placing these ads in locations that people tend to focus on (Google gives you examples of locations that result in the highest click through), it’s inevitable that a certain percentage of visitors will click on the ads either intentionally or unintentionally.

Site owners make anywhere from a five cents to several dollars per click (revenue is split between them and Google) depending on the industry. Big deal right? If you convert 5% of users into clicks and you make 10 cents a click, you’re only making 50 cents for every hundred visitors to your site. Well if you make a thousand MFA sites and each gets two hundred visitors a day, you are making a cool $1,000/day.

Smart MFA site owners design sites with keywords that advertisers pay more than the standard 20 cents or 30 cents. They design sites with content about lawyers and car companies that purchase AdWords advertisements that cost several dollars a click. Re-do that calculation with five dollars a click instead of 10 cents and your jaw will drop.

How do they get their traffic? In addition to using conventional white hat SEO methods (like unique content and link building), many of these sites shamelessly also take advantage of keyword stuffing and cloaking tactics that are considered unethical and are against Google’s terms of service. Many also get their clicks in unethical ways either by clicking on ads themselves or by employing bots to automatically click. This is called click fraud and is also against Google’s terms of service.

Who Gets Hurt?

Some would argue that no one is getting hurt by tricking people into clicking. Hey they’re not getting charged anything. No, but some advertiser is. Some business that’s pouring their hard earned money into Google AdWords to attract TARGETED visitors to their site. Instead they end up paying for accidental clicks. You (the searcher) also get hurt by getting less than optimal results. Imagine an internet where these sites didn’t exist. You might actually have a chance at finding what you’re looking for on the first try. That would save you some time that I’m sure you’d be glad to have.

Should Google Do Something About It?

Everyone’s first thought is Google could stop it if they tried. In reality, probably not. Regardless of the talent they recruit, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people trying to figure out a work around. As Seth Jayson recently said in his article about the same topic entitled How Google is Killing the Internet I think when you pit a few hundred Google Smarty Pantses — who are getting fat on stock options and gourmet meals at the Big Goo campus — against many thousand enterprising schemers on the Internet, the battle will go to those hungry schemers every time.

Google does have a system in place to reduce click fraud and are always improving their algorithm to rid their results of sites that practice cloaking, keyword stuffing, and other black hat SEO techniques. Unfortunately, it’s probably not enough.

The larger (and much scarier) question is whether or not Google wants to do something about it. For the time being, they stand to make a ton of money off of MFA sites. Until Google starts to see a negative impact from MFA sites there’s really no reason for them to rush to do anything about it. Say Yahoo! all of a sudden came up with a way to identify and block MFA sites and provided better search results because of it, Google may be threatened by the potential (or actual) loss of search percentage. But until that happens I wouldn’t expect Google to do much more than they are right now.

What Can You Do?

There’s no doubt that MFA sites have clogged up the web with thousands of worthless pages. The best way to reduce the number of made for AdSense sites is probably to do something about it yourself. If you advertise on Google AdWords, don’t allow Google to display your ads on their content network (AdSense sites). As an internet user, you can educate others about MFA sites and encourage them not to click on ads. It may not seem like much, but all of those clicks add up just ask someone who owns a made for AdSense site.

How To Replace Front Wheel Bearings – You Can Do That

Copyright 2006 Dennis Watson

Recently the right front wheel bearing went bad on my 2002 Mazda 626. Apparently my oldest daughter hit a large pot hole bending the wheel and damaging the wheel bearing. I noticed a slight hum in the front end with a slight shutter as well, I thought that the tires needed to be balances and rotated, so I took it into the shop to be checked out. Well to my surprise I was told the bad news and what was worse was the amount they wanted to charge – over $500 to fix bearing and to replace the wheel. That is when I decided to do it myself.

Below I will help you by listing the tools you will need and steps on how to get it done.

Things you will need:

Large adjustable wrench, Channelocks, Bearing race driver tool, Various size punches, Socket and ratchet set, Assorted wrenches, A rags or two, New wheel bearings, Wheel bearing grease, New cotter pin, New grease seals, Wheel blocks, Safety glasses, A jack and a pair of jack stands.

Even if the bearings are not making a noise it is always a good idea to have them inspected every 30,000 miles. I have it done when my breaks are replaced.

Okay let’s get started.

Get all of your tools and supplies together before you begin and allow plenty of time to do the job.

Please take note that these are general instructions and consult the appropriate repair manual for your vehicle.

Always think safety first whenever you’re working around machinery. Wear safety classes to protect your eyes and beware of hot objects, sharp items and hazardous materials. It is very, very important to never work on a car that is only supported by a jack, always place a sturdy foundation under the vehicle to prevent it from falling on you.

From this point on cleanliness is important. You do not want any dirt, sand or metal chips inside the hub.

1. Remove your disc brake calipers and caliper bridge to remove the rotor.

2. Remove the bearing cap. This is a press fit and to remove it grab it with your channelocks and work it back and forth until it pops off. Be careful not to crush it.

3. Once the cap is off you will see a cotter pin, remove the cotter pin and remove the retainer ring. If your vehicle has a castellated nut, you will not have a retaining ring.

4. Using your channelocks or adjustable wrench, remove the nut from the spindle.

5. Next remove the outer wheel bearing and washer.

6. Slide the rotor or drum off the spindle.

7. Remove the grease seal and take out the inner wheel bearing.

8. Wipe all the old grease from inside the hub.

9. Remove the bearing races from the hub.

10. Take a punch with a flat narrow tip and place it on the back of the race.

11. Tap the race out, alternating from side to side so it comes out evenly and doesn’t get cocked in the hub.

12. Once it’s out, flip the rotor or drum over and do the same for the other race.

13. Clean the inside of the hub with some rags.

14. Make sure the spindle is clean as well.

That’s all there is to it. Like I mentioned earlier take your time and you will not get frustrated, good luck with your project.

Watching Movies Privately Today

People are looking for ways to download full length movies from home, it seems. From the number of online search counts for the words like download movies online for free, how to download DVD movies cheaply and so on, it suggests that many people want to increase their DVD movie collection but do not wish to spend tons of money while doing so. If you belong to this group of folks, perhaps it is time for you to consider some of the affordable membership sites online that let you download full length movies as many as you wish for a low one-time fee, not pay per download.

Romantic Meals On A Budget

Food and romance go hand in hand. But, if youre on a budget, you dont need to spend a lot of money to show your sweetie that you love him. You can have a romantic meal at home for the cost of a regular meal. The food you choose is not nearly as important as the atmosphere you create. You could easily make a very romantic meal from pizza or sandwiches if you take the time to create the perfect ambiance in the room.

Choose your main dish according to your partner’s favorite dishes. There’s no point in feeding him something he dislikes. Plus, an upset stomach is not very romantic, so take his food preferences into account when planning.

Appetizers are a great way to dress up any meal. Some favorite romantic additions include asparagus, artichokes, oysters, black beans, strawberries, and chocolate.

The presentation of your meal is more important than the foods you serve. Keep things simple and mix flavors and textures, giving the meal contrast and different shapes. Plan ahead and prepare everything you can in advance so that your final meal preparation goes quickly. Romantic foods can include almost anything if you serve the meal with soft candlelight and music.

Here are some additional tips to plan that perfect romantic meal:

Decorate your table with tall candles and inexpensive flowers placed in a glass vase.

Add a pretty tablecloth and cloth napkins to add elegance to your romantic meal.

Fold your napkins into decorative shapes and use napkin holders made from colorful paper with romantic massages or poetry written on the paper.

Use your best dishes or simply purchase 2 plates in a discount or thrift store.

Strawberries dipped in chocolate are not only yummy, but they are very romantic.

Purchase inexpensive fortune cookies with romantic fortunes inside for a little excitement if you desire.

Use your imagination instead of your credit cards to create a romantic meal that neither of you will soon forget. Youll be able to relax and enjoy your romantic meal, knowing that you arent going into debt enjoying it.

Why Radio Won’t Play Indie Music

One Reason Why Radio Won’t Play Indie Music
And What You Can Do About It

by Jeronimo Black

As I clicked on a popular music business forum, I was greeted with a question. “Why won’t commercial radio play music by Indie Artists?”

My reply to this person was as follows:

“As a former Operations Manager and Music Director on both the Comm and Non-Comm sides, Let me break the reason down for you.

Commercial Radio needs ratings to get paid from advertisers. Most advertiser’s, on radio, are ad agencies. Ad agencies base their “buys” (sponsorships) on a Cost per point (“CPP”) basis. CPP is based on how many thousands of listeners a radio station can capture in a 15 minute period (or cume).

Many commercial radio [Program and Music] don’t want to put thier ratings at risk, by airing an ‘untested song’ on the air. So what these commercial radio directors do, is, air music based on the national charts provided by Radio and Records, Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) and Billboard.

These charts are mainly influenced by the major labels via promotions and strategic alliances.

Your best best is to do like Knarles Barkley. Knarles Barkleys’ single “Crazy” went #1 on the internet and radio couldn’t help but to get them the single on the air.

Get your music on music submission sites, make some noise on the net, and get a CDBaby.com account so you can get your music on iTunes and start promoting.”

I suggested this because the music business is going digital. Clear Channel has a partnership with GarageBand.com where they will feature a certain amount of new artists every week in on their website. Since Clear Channel is the biggest and most innovative broadcaster in the music business, it’s just a matter of time before the other cowardly copy-cat broadcasters will follow suit.

The world is going digital, while radio continutes to operate using an analog business model. You can be successful in the music business if you change your marketing model from analog to digital.

Making the Best Use of Disney Timeshares

Timeshare resorts are a good choice for people who would like to enjoy a luxurious vacation for a very lower price. Disney.timeshares are for the people who would like to go to Disney World on a consistent basis. There are many a number of member discounts offered to the people who have invested in the Disney timeshares to souvenirs, restaurants, discounts on park fees and lot more. Disney timeshares can be passed on to the children or make them avail the points while the owner is alive. It all depends on how to use it. There are a number of Disney vacation timeshare re sales available at a much lower cost, but there is no guarantee as they are not connected with Disney. It is good to do a thorough research online.

Publish Your Own Community Magazine

It is not surprising that for almost every subject or topic you can think of today, somewhere online you will be able to find a source of information to guide you.

Think of a promising business opportunity and there is no doubt that someone will have already cornered the market somewhere.

Coming up with an original idea, something a little different from the rest, is not easy, and if you do eventually make a start, the competition is guaranteed to be tough.

So why not take a look closer to home, at your home town itself.

Depending on the size of your home town you may possibly have thousands of potential customers eager for a product that you could place in front of them – something guranteed to make them want to purchase it, and with no competition to be concerned about. I have discovered such a product, something that few people associated with my home town can resist. The best thing is that they are willing to come back month after month for the same product. In fact, when I think about it, those people, my potential customers, actually give me something that they are willing to purchase back from me!

So what’s all this about? What is it that local people find so irresistable? A community magazine of course.

Now before you head off to the next offer, stop for a minute and give it a little thought. What exactly are we talking about? What exactly is a community magazine?

Do not mistake what I am telling you with some of the other community magazine ideas available on the internet, which entail you publish a free booklet full of local business advertisements to be distributed freely around your local neighbourhood. The magazines I am talking about here, have served me well for over two and a half years and provide factual information and interest that are not available in such format anywhere else. This is not a plan that is going to cost you thousands of pounds simply to purchase the idea or franchise – in fact if you follow what I did to the letter, you could establish your own community magazine without any investment whatsoever. I did it without any capital or previous experience and I now distribute almost 3,000 commercially printed magazines around my home town every single month. I give people what they want. There is no hard selling involved because the magazines, by their very nature, sell themself.

Take a look on the internet and search for something connected with publishing a community magazine and I believe you will discover that this opportunity is one of the few that is yet to be exploited. That will change no doubt, but by that time you will have already taken control of your own area – won’t you?

Athletics Are the Right Track to Scholastic Success

This year, the nation’s largest amateur track series begins its 31st season as young female athletes compete in the Colgate Women’s Games.

More than 11,000 girls and women, from first grade to post-college age, will compete in the weekly events at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the chance to qualify for the finals at Madison Square Garden in February. Track competitors across the nation can measure their performances against some of the best talent in their age and grade divisions.

Seventeen former Olympians and hundreds of national record-holders have competed in the games, which aim to give girls and women an outlet where they can develop self-esteem and learn sportsmanship.

The Colgate Women’s Games also instill the importance of educational achievement. All participants are required to submit their school attendance records along with an essay on a peer-related topic.

Each week, participants have the opportunity to win numerous ribbons and medals. In addition, finalists are awarded trophies and educational grants-in-aid.

“Thousands of former participants have continued on through college and successful careers,” said meet director Fred Thompson. “They inevitably return to tell us that the games had such a significant impact on their lives.”

The Colgate Women’s Games, which officially open the women’s indoor track season, have become a national proving ground, annually setting the pace for the season. Participants, primarily from the East Coast, travel to New York from as far as Boston and Virginia.

“Our girls are among the most heavily recruited female athletes by colleges and universities across the country,” Thompson said. “Thousands have received college scholarships from their schools and earned financial help with tuition and supplies from their Colgate grants.”

Hernia signs and symptoms

Hernia symptoms are usually related to the bulge that hernia causes. In The early phases you only notice that small lump that does not hurt when it is touched. As the illness advances the bulge, or herniation as some specialists call it becomes painful and keeps swallowing. The lump becomes more visible when you cough or sneeze and in most cases it can be pushed back with your hand, but it will come out again in a couple of minutes. If it cannot be pushed back then it is possible that you are suffering from a strangulated hernia.

When you have strangulated hernia the tissue or organ that pushes out has had its blood supply cut. In this case you need to visit a doctor in short time because the situation can get worse as time passes.

Also, if you are suffering from asymptomatic reducible hernia, the signs and symptoms are a little different.
First of all, pain can appear before the affected area begins to swallow and the lump is discovered. Besides the original lump you may discover another lump in the groin or in the abdominal wall. The herniation’s size may vary depending on your position – It is bigger when you stand and smaller when you lie down.

Irreducible hernia, just as its name suggests, can not be pushed back. This usually means that an old hernia is transforming, and complications can appear. It can easily lead to strangulation of the tissue. It also has some other different symptoms like vomiting.

Strangulated hernia, a form that is more dangerous, as mentioned before strangulates an organ or tissue and it cuts its blood supply. This type of hernia can also present vomiting symptoms and the strangulated area is always painful.
Strangulated hernia quickly needs surgery, but hernia surgery is an easy operation that succeeds in almost all cases so there’s no need to fear and delay it.

When Passion For Fashion Is A Health Menace

You will never understand up to what extent women are willing to do for the sake of beauty. They will brave undergoing through the knife for the purpose of cosmetic surgery. The risk-taking involved is a case of the end justifying the means. However, a new concept of suffering for passion does not follow the same argument. Suffering for fashion is not just about the perils that being eternally stylish can pose to your bank accounts, but about the damage that your passion for fashion could be doing to your health.

LASIK – Is It Right For You?

What is LASIK and, is right for you? Let’s take a look at this very popular method of eye surgery which is allowing hundreds of thousands of Americans to get rid of their glasses and contact lenses for good.

LASIK stands for Laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis, a common type of refractive eye surgery. In short, LASIK changes the way your eye refracts light. As light rays enter your eye, your cornea refracts — bends back — the rays to focus them on your retina, which is the back part of the eye.

During LASIK surgery your cornea is cut and reshaped. A special device is utilized which will cut a hinged flap of thin corneal tissue off the cornea and the flap is lifted out of the way. The laser reshapes the corneal tissue, and the surgeon replaces the flap, which immediately sticks to the eyeball. Because laser is used, there are no stitches. A perforated metal or plastic shield is placed over the eye to protect the flap.

Surgery typically lasts just 10-15 minutes per eye. Most of the time the doctor will perform surgery on both eyes consecutively. On occasion, he or she will have you wait a few days to see how the surgery turned out on the first eye before proceeding to the second eye. Generally, healing is rapid with most people experiencing complete recovery within a few days.

While mostly everyone achieves 20/20 vision after surgery, 20/20 does not guarantee perfect vision. If you have LASIK to correct your distance vision, you’ll still need reading glasses around the age of 45.

Since the surgery is new, there is no conclusive information on long term effects. Some short term problems include: problems with night driving which would necessitate you wearing glasses; corneal scarring; permanent warping of the cornea; and flap problems which can effect your vision.

Insurance companies consider the surgery to be elective, therefore be prepared to pay for the procedure out of your own pocket.

Check out the American Academy of Opthalmology’s website [www.eyenet.org] for an accredited LASIK eye surgeon in your area. Query people who have already had this procedure done before you decide whether LASIK is right for you.

The Advantages of Earning an Online Practical Nursing Degree

If you are interested in a career in health care and are unsure of how to best obtain a degree, you should know some of the advantages of earning an online practical nursing degree. Many good schools offer nursing programs online that are accredited by the top nursing associations, The National League of Nursing Accreditation Commission and The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Learn Online

Some of the advantages of earning an online practical nursing degree are that you can learn on your own schedule and often at your own pace. Many online learning programs allow you to attend class when it is convenient for you, even if it’s in the middle of the night! This kind of flexibility allows you to work or fulfill other obligations. This type of learning environment also allows you to attend a school that is thousands of miles away. The quality and flexibility of online programs are some of the greatest advantages to this type of learning method.

Enter a Top Profession

The advantages of earning an online practical nursing degree allow you to enter a growing profession. Careers in the medical field are expected to grow as the “baby boomer” generation ages. Additionally, advances in medical care mean that more and more people will be able to take advantage of health care options. Further, as life expectancies increase, people will need more access to health care options.

Depending on the type and level of nursing degree and position you obtain, your salary can vary from the mid $30,000 range to $60,000 or more. Additional workplace opportunities can include training and education, management, and specialties such as nutrition or geriatrics.

Provide a Valuable Service

It takes a special kind of person to be a nurse. If you are one of those, the advantages of earning an online practical nursing degree will not only serve you, but those you help as well. For some people, earning a nursing degree is a goal, but practical considerations such as geography or employment get in the way. Online programs remove those barriers.

IT Audits: Documenting Licensing Issues

One of the biggest issues you will run across during IT Audits is software licensing. If you find any such issues during IT audits, note them in your report. You might want to say something like: These are deficiencies that I have found. Do you have the documents around to prove you own it?

Its that simple, and any small business that is dealing on the up and up recognizes that. The burden of proof is on them. They need to go dig out the license agreements, the invoices, the end-user license agreements and original CDs to prove ownership.

Licenses Aren’t Negotiable

If they cant, then you need to address it with them after IT audits. Tell them that the deficiency is going to cause a lot of headaches sooner or later and you need to figure out a remediation plan now. Most businesses will ask you what they should do about it.

With most small businesses, you may need to give them a couple months after the IT audits to let it work through the cycle–but no more. In an ideal world, youd love to fix it immediately to get rid of the liability and the problem right away. Licensing compliance is definitely something that should be in your service contract.

Protect Yourself

There should be a paragraph that talks about how the clients responsible for having properly licensed software, that if you identify that theres any deficiencies in IT audits, its your responsibility to develop a remediation plan and present them with the options and theyre obligated to either remove the software or purchase it. Its that simple.

You shouldnt be working for anyone that has a problem with buying software legally because it exposes you to direct legal consequences as well as reputational consequences.

IT Audits: What are some remediation plans?

Sometimes businesses so underutilize software, some programs on a PC can be safely removed because theyre not being used anymore. Or someone two years ago thought they might want to use it, so they picked up a pirated copy. If you find out in the course of talking with users that theyre not actually using the program, the safest thing is to go to Add/Remove Programs and take it off for them.

If the PCs are nearing the end of their lifecycle, a cost effective way of remediating the software problem is upgrading the PC and helping them to install the OEM version.

Another option is for them to keep their existing equipment and buy the two-year site license with the maintenance, providing unlimited upgrades.

The Bottom Line on IT Audits

Figuring out what your clients’ licensing needs are during IT audits. Just be sure you address the problem.

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Its a Little Known Secret that a Steel Building Can Save Your Business Money

Location is always important for doing business the smart way. Paying for a low-cost place to do business is even smarter. When you find that desired location, a steel building will help save your company money? with overall maintenance and low-cost construction. Pre-fabricated steel buildings are pre-drilled, pre-punched, and pre-welded at the warehouse before shipment to the work site. Once delivered, the only step left is the assembly of the building. Pre-engineered steel buildings are relatively easy to erect as they simply bolt together. The assembly of the building goes rather quickly and requires a minimum of professional construction experience. Some smaller structures could actually require no professional aid at all.

A steel building can be designed in such a manner so to more easily adapt to the floor-plan you require. Today’s state-of-the-art feature clear-span framing that need no load-bearing walls and interior support columns. This can make an interior environment that’s obstacle free, up to three hundred. While the breadth of the building cannot be changed, once established, the building’s length could be elongated when additional space to run your business is needed in the future.

A steel building will lower your maintenance costs over the life of your building. For example, steel is more resistant to the damage caused by termites, water, mildew, and mold. Also, they may be designed to endure the particular weather conditions of your area (such as high winds, flooding, heavy snow loads, and even seismic activity). A steel building is highly fire resistant,-thereby giving extra safety for your equipment, merchandise, and personnel and (likely a significant discount on your insurance premium costs).

Specific information about what your options are could be given to you by any professional steel building manufacturer before you purchase the building. Selecting steel to put together your business’s new building (or using an existing one made with steel) is the wisest decision–no matter what type of business you’re in. Why take any chances with your money? Invest in the best! Thanks to all of these amazing features, a great number of businesses are choosing to work out of a steel building.

Photographing Fish: 5 Tips For Frustrated Beginners

Photographing pets can often be a difficult proposition. Add water, glass reflections and the low lighting of an aquarium environment, and you’ve got the recipe for one extremely difficult photo shoot.

But it doesn’t have to be that hard. Armed with the following tips, you can get great photos of your fish in just about any situation.

1: Get a tripod.

Tripods are usually used for non-moving subjects. But they can be immensely helpful when photographing fish, even ones that are constantly moving. Low light levels lead to slow shutter speeds. So anything you can do to stabilize the camera will be of tremendous help. The best way to photograph moving fish with your camera on a tripod is to loosen the levers on the tripod so you can move the camera freely left, right, up and down but the camera will remain in position if left alone.

2: Get your fish acquainted with the camera.

Now that you have a tripod (since you faithfully followed the first tip), set it up in front of your aquarium with the camera mounted on the tripod. Now leave it. For as long as possible… several days would be ideal. The purpose of this exercise is to get the fish used to seeing the “thing” you’re constantly moving around, pointing it at them and making noises. When they’re comfortable with the sight of the camera, they’ll be more relaxed and less prone to dart around the tank or hide.

3: Use a digital camera.

Digital cameras allow us to “just take the picture” without worrying about whether we’re wasting the film and processing money on a shot that won’t be good. When you can focus on getting the best shot possible, no matter how many tries it takes, you’re on the right track to get the shot you want.

4: Turn off the lights in the room.

Ambient light causes reflections on the tank glass that may ruin a perfectly good fish photograph. Eliminate all sources of ambient light that you can, and be very aware of any reflections as you shoot. If there are some reflections you can’t get rid of, try putting your body between the light source and the glass to shield the tank from the light.

5: Clean the glass, cut the pumps.

Turning off the aquarium pumps before you shoot is an excellent way to clean up your shots of particles and bubbles in the water column. and if you happen to have a planted freshwater tank or reef aquarium, this will also prevent the plants or corals from swaying in your picture, turning into a blurry mess.

Cleaning the glass is probably the most overlooked step to aquarium photography, and quite possible is responsible for more ruined photos than any other issue. Remember, just because you don’t see it now, doesn’t mean you won’t see it in the picture. Amazing how that happens. So clean the glass well, every time, before you pick up the camera.

6: A Bonus!

Have fun. Aquarium photography can become an interesting and challenging hobby all its own. Have fun with it, experiment freely, and be sure to share your pictures online!

Self Identity: Who Are You?

Self-identity? Who are you really? We identify with many things, but this is just a process in our minds. In fact, this identification causes us to suffer.

Your favorite basketball team loses, and you suffer as though YOU lost. Your car is damaged and it feels like YOU are hurt. Somebody attacks who they think you are, and it is as though they could actually reach inside and poke at your true self. Is there a way to escape this unecessary drama and pain?

Perhaps, if you can see what you are not. Seeing this clearly can free you from much of the suffering that comes from identification. Try this simple meditation.

A Meditation On Self Identity

Get comfortable in a quiet place. Close your eyes, relax and take several deep breaths, breathing through your nose. Let your breathing fall into a natural pattern. Allow tension to drain from your body.

Now begin by asking: Where am I?? What am I? Who am I? Let these questions sit for a moment in your mind.

Be aware of your body. Think of your leg. If you lost it, would you cease to exist? Are you your leg? Go through the parts of your body, asking “Am I here?” “Is this my self?”

Open your eyes and look around you. Are you those things? Maybe it you feel pain when your favorite chair breaks, as though it were you. But you’re not that chair. Ask yourself which of these things you own are you. “Am I this?”

Close your eyes and say your name. Do you feel a sense of identity? What if you had no name? Ask “Am I really…” and say your name again. What’s the honest answer? If this one is tough, say “I am…” and insert any other name. Notice how when you call yourself by another name, you feel differently. Your name-identity is a collection of ideas, something seen differently by you and others.

As feelings arise, ask “Am I this fear?… this pain, desire, sadness, pleasure, anger? Your feelings are not you – they just pass through you. Your clothes, your body, your reputation – none of it is your true self-identity.

Do this meditation for twenty minutes, then take a deep breath and get up. Notice if you feel different – less worried or less attached to things, feelings and thoughts. Do the meditation as often as necessary, to remind you of what you are not.

COPD: Respiratory Ailment Explained

Cigarette smoking has been strongly linked to health conditions like heart disease and lung cancer. Other than these two dreaded disease, heavy smoking may also cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This condition causes inflammation and damages the small airways of the lung tissue and may cause breathing difficulties. COPD is usually a combination of two similar conditions: chronic bronchitis and chronic emphysema. Because cigarette smoking is the major cause of these two conditions, they often occur together in the same person. COPD damage is progressive and permanent and has become one of the fastest-growing health problems. It has become the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and is responsible for more than 96,000 deaths annually. Because of these health conditions the need to quit smoking has become more important than ever. Understanding COPD is essential in encouraging smokers to quit this dreaded and potentially fatal habit.

What Everybody Should Know… About The History & Development Of Communication

Have you ever stop to realize just how important communication is to you. Without being able to connect with other people it not only stops you from achieving your goals and desires, it could also threaten your mental and physical health.

Yet, many people just leave their communication skills to happenstance and live in a world of misunderstandings, hurt feelings, loss of relationships and business disasters. Quite often they look for outside reasons for challenges or failures. Yet, they can overcome the challenges.

History has shown just how vital communication is in order to grow, succeed and to become more than we are. When you look at the development of humankind and of our brains, you can understand the importance.

In a study on the development of humankind, it was stated that many versions of humans started out, but due to a variety of reasons, they didnt survive and became extinct. The last two types stated to survive were the Neanderthals and the Homo sapiens. There has been much debate as to whether they were two subsets of one species or two distinct species.

The one thing agreed upon was that other than the difference in the brow bone and chin that the two were more similar than any other versions and that they both had a larger brain than the previous. They could tell that the Neanderthals could think out problems, as they had created tools and buried their dead. Therefore, they couldnt understand why they became extinct.

A scientist recently discovered one difference between the two. He noticed that when he turned the skull upside down and looked at the base of the brain area that the Neanderthals had a flat base, where as Homo sapiens have a bulge downward.

This effects where are larynx is located. The Neanderthal’s would be higher up and unable to make many of the sounds that Homo sapiens do. They wouldnt be able to make the vowel sounds. In other words, they werent able to communicate and connect with others on a higher level in the same manner as Homo sapiens. It is believed that this inability to communicate as well is what eventually lead to their extinction.

The conclusion was that intelligence on its own, is not a guarantee to be able to succeed in life. Your ability to communicate well, and connect with others will enable you to survive and excel business and life. All the knowledge in the world won’t help if you can’t releate or explain any of it to others.

However, our communication abilities dont end there. Much of our primary motor cortex in out brain is related to communication. In other words, a big chuck of our higher advanced brain in the motor cortex, was designed to enable us to communicate more efficiently. This relates to our hands, face tongue and larynx.

When we communicate, our message that we give has more meaning than just the words. Our message is sent in part by body language, tone and emphasis.

Body language includes, use of our hands and facial expressions as well as our stance and posturing. Our tongue and larynx give tone, pitch and emphasis. It is these fine details that has enabled us to more clearly define our motives, beliefs, understanding, intentions and desires that we want. It has enabled us to advance in ways that we would never have been able to without our ability to communicate our thoughts, feeling and ideas.

To understand and see just how much our motor cortex is related to our communication skills go to: