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Shah Rukh Khan, Traveling Through United States And US immigration

2009-08-16T04:28:00.000-07:00

On August 14/15, 2009, one of the famous Indian Stars was detained and humiliated on his arrival in the United States by the US immigration authorities. Shah Rukh Khan is a world famous Bollywood star. If US immigration cannot spare him, there can be no hope for common folks like me.

I happened to go to India in 2007. I purchased a cheaper Continental Airline ticket from Canada.. Unfortunately this airline flies to India via Newark US and not directly. Route did not matter to me. What mattered was the cost of the ticket and my final destination. I had no intention of traveling through the US.

My problems started right from Canada with repeated, senseless and absurd questioning by US authorities. I was repeatedly asked why I was flying through the US. What could I say? I was going to India and the airline was flying through the US!!.

On my return journey the questioning was more severe and humiliating. Not only that US authorities were harsh, continental airlines staff were equally rude and uncivil. Their behavior was inexplicable.

During both my onward and return journey, US immigration personnel were arrogant, disdainful and disrespectful. I don’t mind questioning or frisking, but the way they were doing it was quite humiliating and uncivilized.

It looks like they feel that they have a right to mistreat others and get away with it. I continue to believe that US immigration authorities are unduly rude and drunk with power. They give scant respect to other travelers and still claim to represent the most civilized nation on earth. Nothing can be far from truth.

After 2007, I never dared to go through US. I again flew to India during July 2009. This time also I was offered a cheaper ticket but then again the airline was to fly through he US. I did not want to spoil my holidays as was the case in 2007, thanks to US authorities. This time I preferred to pay extra $50 and escape from flying through the US.

Happily when I am back now, I had a pleasant flight. The airport staff at Brussels and Delhi were very friendly. polite and civilized. I wish US immigration and airport staff learn something from them. There were no hassles and I had a nice onward and return journey.

After learning the story of Shah Rukh Khan, I will be shunning as far as possible to fly to or via the US. It is hard to see their rude, angry, sullen, ugly and imposing faces at the airport. I hear stories like this everyday. I am simply scared.

The question is how long US airport personnel will treat others with disdain? How long can they continue with their arrogance and a sense of power? At present I consider them to be the most uncivilized and unprofessional staff.

Impact Of US Presidential Elections On Capital Markets

2008-01-21T16:25:00.001-08:00

Whenever there are US presidential elections, there are bound to be consequences in the capital markets. These may not be real or permanent. But for a while we see changing sentiments. This also throws many opportunities to savvy investors in the short run. 2008 is going to be another interesting year for all the Americans and the world because of the US presidential elections. These will have impact on many things. Affect on stock markets can be one of them.

In order to understand the above, close attention needs to be paid to policy statements of each political party and their candidates. Generally speaking the usual sectors that draw attention are the health, energy, financial, education, entertainment, defense and international policy sectors.

Health Care

This is obviously one of the biggest and most important sectors. Every party has something to say regarding the health care plan. This has implications for private hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies. Their stock prices may vary depending on the direction of policies. For example if there is a universal state sponsored health care plan, this can affect the share prices of a larger number of companies negatively.

Energy Sector

In order to reduce dependence on expensive oil prices and tackle global warming, alternative sources of energy and environment friendly programs may attract more attention and investments. Financial Sector

Financial

More state control on this sector and increased regulation will affect share prices adversely of the companies falling in this sector. Any greater role given to public sector companies can also dampen the prices of a large number of private financial firms.

Education

College and University education are sensitive to any policy changes relating to financing, loans, grants etc.

Defense

Government policies on spending on defense will have substantial impact on the earnings of defense related companies. Reducing or increasing government spending will directly affect these earnings.

For the industrial sector as a whole corporate taxation, direct and indirect taxation policies affects the share prices accordingly. It also needs to be seen as to how the parties propose to deal with budgetary deficits, falling dollar, credit problems, housing prices etc.

Playing it safe

Generally affects on stock prices of most of the presidential elections is transitory as the victory of any candidate is not going to substantially affect the earnings of companies overnight. There is always a good time lag. This throws possibilities of making money in both falling and rising markets. Certain stocks may move for some time but ultimately these may return back to their original levels. So it might be advisable to invest in those stocks which fall in post election period as these are likely to come back after some time.

Recession In The US Economy

2008-01-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

An economy is officially in recession when Gross Domestic Production of a country is negative for two quarters or more. The stress here is on negative growth. However, it is likely that an economy may not experience any negative growth but a prolonged growth of reduced or very low growth, though not negative. Because of this, we may still feel like recessionary conditions though not declared officially as yet.

Even though US economy has not officially been declared to be in recession, there are supposed to be a large number of recessionary conditions which may finally lead to a recession. These are a larger jump in unemployment numbers, inflationary conditions, credit crunch, housing meltdown, falling consumer sentiments, huge trade deficits, falling dollar values, weakening stocks etc. It is believed that US economy is facing all of these conditions at present.

Since US economy has extensive involvement with many major world economies, any recession here may in turn lead to global recession. That is why any slowing down of US economy immediately attracts worldwide attention.

US government does not admit that there is a recession as yet. US president has been sending positive statements and he has been denying that the US economy is in any danger of recessionary conditions.

US unemployment data has suggested an unemployment rate of 5% during December 2007 after jumping from 4.7%. 5% rate of unemployment should not be that alarming as this has hovered around 6% historically. But this is considered to be a big jump and there was immediate negative reaction in the stock markets.

Slowing growth in the US economy has been causing worries amongst many experts and institutions.

Other factors affecting the US economy at present are falling housing prices, tightening credit markets, tumbling value of US dollar, ballooning national credit or budgetary deficits, rising energy prices etc.

Business sentiment also appears to be on the decline. Many people do not seem to be having much faith in the US economy at present. International proxy wars have also done a great damage to the US economy.

US Government is considering many measures to combat recessionary conditions. These include tax packages, interest rate relief, liquidity injection, energy conservation and the like. However, it may not be easy to tackle wider issues like reduced business spending, spiraling energy prices, huge budgetary deficits etc.

US presidential elections are due in 2008. We may witness continuing uncertainty till these are over and there is a clear policy direction from the US Government.

One particular area to remain vigilant about is continuing downward pressure on housing prices. If this trend continues there may be further mortgage defaults. This may then spread over to other sectors like the consumer discretionary sector. That may add fuel to recessionary conditions.

To Rent or To Buy – That Is The Question

2008-01-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

There seems to be no end to this debate. There are critics on both sides of this question. Most of the debate revolves round the financial aspects of purchasing a house. The usual factors affecting a decision are the price, the carrying costs, availability of loan, affordability of mortgage and prospects of appreciation.

In addition to the monetary side of a housing project, there is a personal thing involved as well in a private decision. Many a times people purchase houses not because of the financial considerations, but due to aesthetic reasons. It is understandable that any house which is not purchased primarily for investment purposes has to come up to the expectations of the buyers. This should meet their requirements as regards space, tastes, features, location and of course the affordability.

If someone is buying a house for investment purposes only, monetary criteria are important and the overall benefit-cost analysis has to be positive in order to justify this type of investment. However, when a house is bought essentially for living purposes, one cannot put a dollar value of each aspect of a house. It may not only be hard but also improper to measure every feature associated with house in monetary terms.

Many other considerations matter in the purchase of a house. This includes the convenience and location of a house, the comforts, the psychological factor, the pride of ownership, a feeling of belonging, privacy and security, environmental aspects, private swimming and sauna facilities, gardening possibilities, friendly neighborhood and the like. Most of these are non-monetary factors.

However, the negative factors are need for time to look after the maintenance of the house, recurring repairs, hassles of dealing with so many utility companies, arrangements for private security or security alarms, basement leakages, increasing carrying costs and property taxes, changing neighborhoods etc.

On the monetary side, one big aspect is the building of equity in the house. As the time goes by, people tend to accumulate equity in houses which ultimately becomes a retirement nest for many people. If a house has many positive features, a house may bring him a large fortune to any owner over time due to appreciation etc.

One thing is there. Historically over a long period of time very rarely can any one lose money on a house. There are cycles over which the prices of housing properties vary. There may be periods of high prices as we are seeing now or slumps. However, a history of the housing prices over the past century or half a century has shown a constant price increase. There is just an upward trend in housing prices. So if one wants to buy a house at any time and is hoping to keep it for a long time, it is very likely that that house would appreciate, speaking historically.

On the other hand while renting, one is free from a large number of hassles associated with the ownership f a house.

There has also been a debate between the votaries of equity investment and real estate investment. Many equity analysts show that over a longer period of time investments in stock markets have realized greater returns than any investment in housing. Stocks are also highly liquid than property.

Ultimately any decision in buying a house is an individual decision. It has to match the tastes, circumstances and situations of each individual separately. What may be good for one person any not at all be suitable for another?

Understanding Credit Report Scores

2008-01-02T16:50:00.000-08:00

A large number of individuals are oblivious of their credit scores and how they are calculated. A credit score is now increasingly used by employers, lenders, landlords and car loan vendors. Unfortunately most consumers are not aware of it and how it is calculated.

The calculation of a credit score is based on a credit report. A special type of software from Fair Issac Corporation Company or FICO is used for this. That is why it is also called a FICO credit score.

A credit report is a detailed account of an individual’s credit history, debts, loans, repayments and credit enquiries. It shows if a person has been paying his monthly bills in time and whether there have been any defaults. If also indicates if a person has fulfilled the terms of contract with lenders, the types of credit he is having and his complete credit history.

The three main credit bureaus which maintain an individual’s credit record are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Banks, utility companies and other lenders have direct links with these companies. All financial details with individuals tend to be reported to them after every loan and every repayment. Any non-fulfillment of credit obligations gets immediately reported and included in a credit report.

The first step in improving credit score is to understand a credit report. It is composed of the following components:

Payment History

This accounts for 35% of the credit score. It indicates if monthly bills have been paid in time and if there are have been any overdue amounts.

Extent of Indebtedness

Many individuals may are ignorant that their volume of credit constitutes about 30 percent of the credit score. Thus if a person has been maximizing his credit limits, that will affect a credit score negatively. Therefore, it is prudent to keep utilization of credit below your borrowings limits, preferably below 40%.

Length of Credit History

The longer a person has been having credit, the better it is. The length of time over which a person has been having credit weighs about 15% of the credit score.

Types of credit

Composition of one’s credit accounts for 10% of the credit score. It could be a mix of loans, credit lines, student lines, credit cards, car loans, student loans, retails credit etc. Some of these like student loans are on softer terms while as some like credit card debts carry very high rates of interest. While the former may not be viewed as negatively, the latter is quite repugnant.

New Credit

It may be surprising to know that even credit enquiries on one’s file makes up about 10% of the credit score. So try to limit the number of credit enquiries.

A credit score varies between 350 and 850. The average score is about 650 to 700. Any score above 680 is considered to be good for any type of credit and below 560 poor. While 850 indicates an excellent score, 350 is a very bad score.

Credit history of up to 7 years is used for the calculation of a credit score. In order to fix credit scores, it is important that credit card debt is completely eliminated, all monthly bills are paid in time and credit is used judiciously. If one credit has gone bad due to some reason, one should rebuild it as fast as possible. How to raise your credit score starts undoubtedly first with understanding credit rate score.

Choosing Between Fixed Mortgages or Adjustable Rate Mortgages

2008-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Perhaps buying a house is the single most important investment during the lifetime of a person. Unfortunately it is not easy to make an informed decision. All potential buyers do not fully understand the various issues involved in the whole buying process. One of the issues involves a decision to consider adjustable versus fixed rate mortgages.

There is no simple answer which of the two will be better for a person. Any decision depends upon individual circumstances and preferences. Though a fixed rate mortgage is a little expensive, many first time home buyers go for the same.

Fixed Rate Mortgages

A fixed rate mortgage is easy to understand and is characterized with a stable rate of interest. So it is more certain and one will not lose peace of mind during periods of fluctuating interest rates. Other benefits are that this involves low down payment and few calculations.

Fixed mortgages are linked more with bond markets. Because of the elements of certainty and easy understandability, these are more popular especially with first time home purchasers.

On the other hand, fixed mortgages are generally offered at high rates of interest. Since these involve fixed rates, one will not be able to benefit from falling rates of interest.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages

There are many types of variable mortgages like standard variable rate mortgages, discounted, cash back and tracker mortgages.

Many buyers have been immensely benefited from variable interest rate mortgages. Professionals generally opt for variable rate mortgages. Many studies have shown greater savings with variable than fixed mortgages. These carry low rates of interest and falling interest rates get immediately reflected in them.

However, Variable interest rate mortgages require a higher down payment and are uncertain and are not easy to administer. This may not be suitable for many buyers with weak hearts as one is apt to be worried from fluctuating rates of interest.

The Choice

During these times, it appears that interest rates have fallen to very low levels and that these may not fall any further or too much. In view of this, fixed rate mortgages may be preferable for the time being. An informed decision can be made in consultation with experts.

Know How Mortgage Lenders Assess Your Mortgage

2008-01-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

Home buying is not an easy decision, though attractive. It involves money and effort. Banks also don’t lend money to everyone. Mortgage lenders have certain criteria which they apply to every loan application that they receive.

Before lending, lenders try to find out if you have the capacity and the will to pay back mortgage loans.

A banker follows following criteria to assess an application for a mortgage:

Employment History

Things like how long a borrower has been working, whether permanent or temporary, full time or part time are crucial. This indicates his sustainability in the job market. This should indicate that a borrower has been regularly on the job. It is natural that one might have changed jobs over time ad that is acceptable.

Gross Income

A long employment history also shows that an applicant has a consistent flow of money. Gross income includes overtime work, income from second and part time jobs, social security and welfare benefits, alimony, child support, disability benefits etc.

Net Worth

While assessing the net worth of a borrower, a banker considers all of his assets and debts. Assets consist of liquid cash in the bank, GICs, investments, insurance policies, investments in stocks and mutual funds, properties and equities in them. Debts will include all loans, credit card debt, mortgage loans, car loans, retail debt. etc.

Monthly Expenses

A banker will also take into account all the monthly expenses that a borrower will have to incur. In this, recurring expenses like monthly rent, school fees, living expenses etc. are important. This should not be more than 28% of gross salary. Expenses will also include monthly repayment of loans and interest, property taxes, mortgage rates and mortgage payments, homeowner’s fees, mortgage insurance, payments on student and car loans etc. All monthly expenses and payments should not exceed 36 per cent of your monthly earnings.

Credit Score

A credit score is derived from a credit report. A credit report shows whether a person has been paying his monthly bills and debts in time, composition of credit and credit history. A credit score is calculated by a special type of software. Any credit score above 680 means good credit. While 850 means a excellent credit, 350 means worst credit.

An average person may not understand all the factors involved while applying for a mortgage. There are also certain special assistance programs that are available but which may not be known to every home buyer. Therefore, it may be advisable to take the help of experts.

Competitive Analysis For Business Success

2008-01-02T16:43:00.000-08:00

Any comprehensive competitive analysis involves understanding and analyzing competitor businesses, strategies, clients, market share and marketing, niche area, competitor strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats etc.

Success in any online business or Ebusiness or Ecommerce is the objective of many businesses. However, it is not that easy. More than 92% of online businesses fail. One of the main reasons for this is that they are ignorant of competitive environment.

Why some online businesses are successful and others are not? Why some customers have preference for one business than the other? In order to understand these questions it is important that a proper competitor intelligence is done.

With wide spread Internet, world has become a huge market place. No business on the net is now restricted to any particular geographical area. Internet has provided a leveling field equally to the big and small businesses. Establishing a business online has become so cheap and easy that there are hundreds of thousands of suppliers in any particular line of business.

Competitive intelligence is necessary in order to be successful in a competitive market and to stand out of the crowd. Any competitive analysis should throw light on the following:

Nature of Competition

Any online business must have the information about the number of competitors, their volume of business, product mix etc. It also needs to be seen how they produce and market their goods and services.

Market Analysis

This involves target market, pricing and marketing strategy, overall product information and presentation. Some competitors have more offline business than online business. Their online business only marginally supplements their offline business by publicity and sales. It might be also useful to study this and to understand its implications for overall competitive advantage.

SWOT

This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis will bring out the strengths and weaknesses of any business and outside opportunities and threats objectively.

Competitive Websites

Competitive research under this will involve a study of competitor websites, their layout, design, theme, links, content and the ease of navigation.

The test of any ultimate business success is to demonstrate in what respects a product or service is different and better than the one provided by competitive competition.

Only after understanding competitors and their businesses, you will be able to formulate your own competitive strategy. This necessitates that a thorough competitive analysis is conducted not only at the start of a business but even at other times during ongoing business.

Any competitive analysis requires detailed competitive intelligence. All established and aspiring online businesses need to do a competitive analysis. Fortunately there are many professionals doing this job to establish your competitive edge.

The author has also long research experience and can do any type of competitive analysis in consultation with the clients. It can be quite to get an independent opinion regarding the competitive market for certainty and final success.

Online Business - Why I shun Ebay?

2007-11-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else I was thinking of using EBay for a little business. In all, my sales must have been less than $2000.

I got a jolt some time back from EBay. At a time when I was almost inactive on EBay, I got an email from them that my EBay seller experience has been poor and so I was being suspended.

I was obviously surprised and pointed out that I am no more active on EBay and that my feedback score is in tact. I really could not understand what they were talking about. I got a reply from EBay that my account will not now be suspended but will remain under observation. After about a month I got another email from EBay like the earlier one.

I again responded and again received the same reply. This time I was not only not selling anything on EBay, I was not even logging on to my account. Then it happened one more time.

Each time I tried to reason out with EBay customer service, I was surprised to receive the same reply. I got fed up and stopped thinking of EBay altogether. I don’t even log into my account now, not to mention of doing any transactions.

I believe that they have stereotyped replies and hardly bother to address real issues.

What are the lessons? Don’t rely too much on EBay. They may shut down your account at any time without any reason. I know now that this has happened with many others and they also left EBay. EBay will not only not listen but make one more frustrated by raking in irrelevant issues.

If one is serious about online business, one should always have options and not to depend heavily on EBay. This should be used as an aid rather than as the main platform for doing business.

The best place to do business is from one’s own web site. It is dirt cheap now to set up a web site and to display one’s products. The only thing one has to do is to drive traffic to the same. This may not be that difficult if one follows right strategies.

Another important measure to consider is to also try other online sites. There are so many now like Amazon, Yahoo Auction, OnlineAuction, overstock, Ubid, BySellTrade, Eepier etc.

Online business is now expanding. One should never put all eggs in one basket. My best advice will be to use EBay as one of the promotional tools rather than the main platform for doing business, lest one is frustrated at some point of time because of the weird EBay customer service.

Global Warming And Arctic Sea

2007-10-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

One of the major effects of global warming is the melting of ice in the arctic region. This has resulted in the opening of a navigable route between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), melting of sea ice in the Arctic region has led to the opening of a new route linking Europe with Asia, hitherto seen impossible. According to scientists, all ice in Arctic may melt as early as 2040.

Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic is considered to be a possible cheaper route as compared to the Panama Canal. This may also lead to the blocked Northwest Passage through the Russian Arctic.

The above suggests that climatic change is affecting international routes favorably. Melting of ice in the Arctic may not only lead to finding of more routes, but also more oil and gas. Whole of Arctic region is considered to be resource rich with immeasurable quantities of oil and gas which Scandinavian countries, Canada, Russia and USA would like to control and exploit.

Because of richness of natural resources many countries like Canada and Russia are likely to make increased claims on the Arctic region. Other countries involved are US, Norway and Denmark. Russia alone is claiming 45% of the Arctic. Canada is in the process establishing a Canadian force as part of Canada First Defense Strategy to patrol Arctic.

At present Arctic region represents a no man’s land. Increased claims by various countries on this will have to be based on geographic connectivity and proximity. These claims will eventually have to be settled by an international agency.

While global warming is considered to be generally harmful, in some cases it also has beneficial effects like the above. However, in the longer run, it is feared that increased sea traffic and exploitation of natural resources may result in oil spills and destruction of regional wildlife.

Thought Of The Day - Move On

2007-10-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

Do not look back, my friend.

No one knows how the world ever began.

Do not fear the future. Nothing lasts for ever.

If you dwell on the past or the future, you will miss the moment.

Rumi

I Am Back

2007-09-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

After availing holidays for more than a month, I am back on the table. During this period, I could not write any new posts. I had hoped to write something while still on vacations, but that could not be possible. Though I had some free time sometimes, I felt lazy and did not want to write. But now I am back and will continue new posts.

Vacations are always rejuvenating. It was a carefree month for me and I liked to be lazy, eating, relaxing and gossiping around.

It is always difficult to start right away after returning from holidays. Though it is a few days that I returned, I am still feeling sleepy and slow.

I feel that everyone should take vacations of about a month at least once a year. Life is too short and we need lighter moments of life. One should travel, see new places, meet new people and see how the world is changing.

Of course, it is not easy to travel abroad these days given too many security restrictions. International travel has become difficult and sometimes unpleasant. If one can withstand the pressures of international travel of these times, it is definitely rewarding.

Prospects Of A World Government

2007-08-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

World is beset with so many problems. Political and geographical problems are two most important of them. Can the presence of a world government be the answer to the solution of all the ills afflicting this world?

United Nations Organization is not a world government but it has many functions that a government does. It could very well be a substitute for a world government, but it has failed in so many respects.

Given the myriad of differences amongst the countries, it is simple naive to think that we can have one world government. At best it will be prudent to strengthen the United Nations itself rather than to create any new world body.

World is too diverse for a world government. That is the ideal that any one will cherish. A world government based on the principles of freedom, democracy, non-discrimination, economic well being of all etc. can just be a dream.

There is no such thing as one world government prophecy. That may a doomsday come true. Only a prophet like a Jesus can usher in such a body.

We know how United Nations has failed in so many respects. It is merely a discussion platform. In fact even that is an achievement. Governments do have a place where they can share their views and hold discussions. Though it has not been able to eliminate war and misery, it has succeeded in so many other respects.

If at all there is any effort being made towards a world government, it should start with strengthening the United Nations. Only that has the prospects of becoming a world government, if at all possible.

We have to recognize the differences across the globe in terms of endowment of resources, cultural traits, politics, levels of development, economic systems, technological developments, skills etc. These play an important part in any world body.

Given the looming conditions of energy crisis, global warming, global trading, migration etc., it is quite essential that world societies work together. The presence of a strong global entity is necessary for taking measures towards the solution of these issues.

International countries may not support or strength a world body of their own will, but many issues that may unfold in future may force them towards increased international cooperation and a stronger body than the United nations.

Career Of a Police Officer

2007-08-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

A police officer is there to protect ordinary people. That is what is his duty and what he is trained for. This is not an ordinary responsibility. He instills trust and confidence amongst people.

However, a police officer is subject to certain risks as has been demonstrated time and again. He is always in the harm's way. Wearing a distinctive uniform he is always noticeable.

Police officers often times lose their lives unexpectedly. They constantly face dangers. One never knows that even while carrying normal duties one can face unexpected violence or happenings.

Recently one police officer got killed while searching a car. The driver reversed the car and dragged the officer underneath. In another instance, while making a routine round, police spotted a normal looking house used as a narcotics lab.

Given the preset day technology, underground mafia, gun culture, terrorist attacks, lure of riches etc., anything can happen anywhere. Police are already seized of these and they are provided sufficient training to deal with all such situations.

But nothing can be secured totally. There is always element of risk. People always find new ways of doing crimes.

Any one who wants to take police as his career, has to be prepared for all the situations and even death. It is not an easy job.

Besides being liable to risk, a police officer is also required to work at odd times. On occasions, he is expected to be present for prolonged hours. He has also to work on shifts.

Though salaries and perks of police are better than many others but they are not the best. One will not become rich by being a police officer. One has to accept usual pay and a commitment to serve the public.

A police officer caries respect and prestige. He has to be address with proper salutations and obeyed. He can also be a friend and a guide. Many times public members approach them even for directions.

Police carries huge powers. With this also comes responsibility. They have to use their powers judiciously and carefully. They are liable for immediate media attention and complaints. While police are liable to easy criticism, they may not get an equal appreciation for their achievements.

Pursuing a police career can not be right for everybody. This needs commitment, hard work, agility, a motto to serve, readiness to face danger etc. If all of these traits are there, a career with police department can be truly satisfying.

Are Governments Mediocre?

2007-08-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

The primary duties of any government are the protection of lives, properties, preservation of basic human rights, freedom from fear, poverty, non discrimination etc. People always have great expectations from their governments.

How far are governments living up to the standards and aspirations of people? Of course, no government can satisfy all its citizens. However, each government need to be judged by its performance against its primary duties.

If we look around the world, we can see that almost in all countries there are some shortcomings. Many a times the lives and properties get destroyed at the hands of underworld dons and mafia. In numerous cases, governments have been spectators and have been unable to protect their citizens.

The situation in poor and less developed countries is rather grim. Whenever, hoodlums want to strike, they seem to do it with impunity. People do not have full faith in government capabilities and many times have been let down.

In worst cases, governments themselves are repressive. They are not only incompetent but also often side with criminals.

Take the cases of Afghanistan and Iraq, the two black spots on the surface of this earth. Despite a large international military presence and support, ruling governments have shown their mediocrity time and again.

Are these governments in control? There is no safety for populace there at large. Despite all the force in their command, they are not able to rein the wicked. Hoodlums seem to be operating freely.

A handful of anti social elements are kidnapping large number of innocent persons and governments are unable to nab them despite the backing of world armies and all kinds of amazing technology.

In many cases around the world, governments themselves are hand in glow with undesirable persons. Although eventually they get caught and punished, this does not deter more thugs to replace them.

The struggle between ruffians, governments and innocent people has been going on for ages and this trend is likely to continue. We see that even in major cities in advanced countries like New York or Toronto, underworld gangs strike whenever they want to and it is hard for governments to control or catch them.

The best thing that general people can do is to remain themselves vigilant and not to look all the time at their governments to come forward and get them out of their miseries. After all no government has a magical wand to come to the rescue of everyone all the time.

Tom DiCillo’s “Delirious” – Reality in Fun

2007-08-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about “Delirious”? True to its name, it could be one of the funniest and exciting movies of this summer. This light romantic comedy is going on the screen in the theaters of New York City starting August 15, 2007, followed by Chicago and Los Angels. That is what I can glean from the preview and background of this film.

Want to see a movie full of satire, friendship, love and delirium, all in one? Yes, that is what “Delirious” is all about. I wish I could be in New York on the date of launch of this film and witness unfolding of great romance and thrill in an atmosphere filled with celebrities, paparazzi, fame, glamor, art and fashion.

This film is not just about celebrities or glamor. These have been used as a background to an amazing story of helplessness, desire, adventure and fulfillment.

With prominent stars like Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Alison Lohman, Gina Gershon, and Elvis Costello, one can feel the depth and richness of this movie. They are prominent actors, writers, models, musicians and singers.

All of them have numerous films to their credit with some of best performances. No wonder they received various awards at several international film festivals for their respective roles.

Tom DiCillo, writer and director, won Grand Prize at the 1992 Locarno International Film Festival for his very first feature film “Johnny Suede” (1991). There was no looking back for him after that, winning award after award. Some of the most prominent films to his credit are “Living in Oblivion”, “Box of Moonlight”, “The Real Blonde”, “Double Whammy” etc.

Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman play the three main characters of the “Delirious”. Les Galantine (Steve) is the lower rung ambitious paparazzi. He is always on the lookout for a unique picture of a celebrity. Toby (Michael Pitt), wants to become an actor. Both want fame and fortune but in different areas.

It will be exciting to see how Steve and Pitt become friends with different ambitions and how the two go ahead towards the achievement of their goals. It will also be interesting to see how Pitt reaches stardom with the help of K’Harma Leeds (Alison).

Nothing will be more entertaining than watching the trio in action.

The film is a story of desires, aspirations, struggles, tragedy, failures and achievements in an atmosphere of pomp and show. I am sure that everyone will see a shade of themselves in this film amidst a plethora of fun, entertainment and laughter.

Want To learn More About This Movie, Then Click Here

Caribana Festival - Toronto Caribbean Carnival

2007-08-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

This festival of music, dance, food and costumes of Jamaica, Guyana, the Bahamas, Brazil and other cultures of Toronto, was created in 1967, as a tribute to Canada's Centennial Year. It is marking its 40th anniversary in 2007.

The festival has its origin in Trinidad and Tobago carnival. Toronto festival is now an international event showcasing numerous activities like Jamaican reggae, Brazilian Samba and African djemba rhythm.

Caribana or Toronto Caribbean Carnival is North America's largest street festival. This is celebrated every year in Toronto during July and August. Carnival Parade is the major highlight of this festival, comprising of thousands of amazing costumed masqueraders and scores of trucks carrying live soca, calypso, steel pan, reggae and salsa artists.

More than a million people from all over North America attend this festival, marked with month long celebrations. The festival features different cultures of all the Caribbean people, hence the name Caribana.

In addition, one also gets a taste of Caribbean and international cuisine, dramas, story telling, Caribbean art and the best and biggest cemadia calypsonians battle for the crown. This takes place between all kings and queens of bands the night before the caribana Parade Day.

This Parade is the major element of the whole festival which takes place along the 3.6 kilometer route on Lakeshore west Boulevard, featuring stunning display of colors and pageantry in the first week of August. 2007 Caribana Parade is being held on Saturday, August 4.

The festival is very important for the economy of Toronto as well, bringing in more than $100 million in revenue every year.

Whole city of Toronto is jam packed with foreign visitors and dignitaries from all over North America and Caribbean.

It is not only a matter of pleasure bur also that of honor to be a part of this spectacular event at least once in the lifetime of a person.

Malthusian Theory Revisited- Do We See It?

2007-07-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

Thomas Malthus or Robert Thomas Malthus (1766-1834), was an English demographer and political economist. He is popular for his views on population growth in his "an essay on the principle of population". His theory of population growth has been very controversial since its publication.

Essentially what Malthus prophesied was that while as population was going to grow geometrically, food supply was to increase mathematically. What this means is that population growth was to outstrip food supply.

With more population than food, natural forces were bound to keep population in check by a war of extermination, diseases, epidemics, pesticides, plagues and famines. He opined that as population outstrips supply of food, the above factors would come into play and eliminate surplus population.

His predictions largely became false as increased agricultural productivity led to unprecedented growth in food production and abundant supplies. Diseases and plagues have taken a heavy toll of human lives throughout history, but they cannot be attributed to the same causes as Malthus foresaw.

Post 1950 period witnessed green revolution and phenomenal increase in agricultural production. It was only a question of disbursal from pockets or countries of plenty to those of paucity.

Malthusian theory has largely been irrelevant and his predictions did not come true the way he had opined. There have been periods of diseases and natural disasters, but food supply has been plenty in most parts of the world.

There are still critics who think that Malthus predictions are bound to come true at some stage, One opinion is that food supply will take a toll of humanity following 2020, accelerating after 2050.

One important view of Thomas Malthus was that his theory was directly associated with poor people. If we have a look on poor countries of the world, Malthusian theory seems to be quite relevant.

Everyday we see images of starved and impoverished people in African and Asian countries, most populated continents. Constant wars, diseases, floods and famines in Middle East, Africa, Afghanistan and other Asian countries have been eliminating hundreds of thousands of people everyday. I wonder if it is not the Malthusian principle of population that is working behind the scenes.

We can see that there is less accommodation, less food and shortage of medical facilities because of excessive population. There is insufficient infrastructure sustaining large populations of these countries.

Everyday wars in Middle East and Asia, attributed to terrorism and other political factors may be the result of shortages of food and other essentials of life. These might continue till there is a perceptible decrease in populations of those countries and this may take a long time.

There has been constant pressure on land resources in African and Asian countries and this is expected to only accelerate. The net result may be more conflicts, diseases, famines and plagues. Malthus theory seems to be already working in those countries.

Another dimension of Malthusian theory can be seen in increased global warming. This phenomena is a result of increased population, deforestation, increased carbon dioxide, industrialization, international transport, modernization etc.

Experts are already predicting dire consequences of global warming, if unchecked. We are seeing changes in climates, floods, shortages of water etc. This may also lead to a decrease in agricultural and food production on a large scale in the decades to come.

Malthus theory might materialize in a different way in the decades to come. Policy makers in rich and poor countries need to take all the factors into consideration and deal with looming Malthusian predictions. On their part, people especially in poor countries will also have to work for their future as their governments may not be able to sustain them adequately.

Jobs, Internet And Outsourcing - Trend Is Only Up

2007-07-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

One of the major offshoots of Internet has been outsourcing withing a country or to overseas. This is mostly practiced by multinational companies as a way of reducing costs and maximizing revenue. Major beneficiaries of outsourcing are less developed countries like India and China.

Essentially a company can have virtual staff anywhere all over the world. Even small companies have now started reaping the benefits of outsourcing. They have been hiring human resources, accounting or IT staff from outside. With outsourcing, these are now able to do without big establishments, local staff, infrastructure, office furniture, buildings, facilities etc.

Outsourcing appears to have started with call center outsourcing to countries like India. Now companies outsource anything. Usual projects of outsourcing besides call center outsourcing are business process outsourcing, IT outsourcing, payroll outsourcing, HR outsourcing, software outsourcing etc.

Companies hire virtual staff by global outsourcing and assign jobs worldwide. So far, they appear to have been quite satisfied with this trend. They are reported to be getting excellent worldwide staff, better service, timely completion of projects, reliable sources of getting work done and above all huge savings in costs.

In addition to selecting virtual staff on an ongoing basis, there are numerous websites which accept projects from companies and their members bid for them and then the persons being awarded the projects complete them. In this case, hiring of workers is strictly on project to project basis and the recruiting websites do the intermediary role.

There have been instances when some companies have been started from one's home with virtual staff all over a country. Though outsourcing started as offshore outsourcing, now any work being done outside the premises of a company can be termed as outsourcing. So outsourcing can be within the same country or offshore.

There has been a lot of criticism in developed countries against overseas outsourcing as it has been alleged that jobs are being diverted to other countries at the cost of local workers and wages.

Outsourcing basically saves a company big bucks. A job which an Indian worker can happily do in $100-$200, the same will cost many times more in developed countries. Therefore, it makes sense for big companies to get thousands of work done from outside.

Despite adverse reaction from job seekers in developed nations, outsourcing is getting additional attention. More and more companies are looking to the outside to get their works done. Networking, Internet and more efficient means of transportation have made it easy for companies to outsource their projects.

Quite a large number of workers are glued to numerous websites for independent work. There are thousands of works online which are available to professionals to choose from all over the world.

Outsourcing has two elements. One, it is easy for outsourcing companies to get their jobs done all around the world. Second, outsourcing facilitates individual workers to get freelancing work in their fields of expertise.

As Internet progresses and there are more advancements in technology, outsourcing will only go further.

Link for freelance jobs

Secrets Of Logevity - Living A Fuller Life

2007-07-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Every one would like to live a longer and fulfilling life. Everybody also knows how hard it is. A human being is full of sentiments, feelings, desires, different stages of life and social interaction.

All of the above affect health of a person differently. Pain, sorrow and happiness are part and parcel of human beings. Given all these things how can one stay fit and live a longer life?

A good portion of staying healthy relates to the way one feels towards life and how sensitive one is towards different aspects of life. Family relations, money problems, social tensions etc. can take a heavy toll of one's health.

With constant grief, sorrow and troubles over the life span of a person, one definitely becomes week in heart and body. One cannot live a healthier and fuller life. These are surely going to shorten the life span of a person.

In our society, emphasis is being laid on diet and exercise. Of course these cannot be undermined, but a greater part is also played by one's feelings and thoughts.

A person passes through various stages of depression, happiness, setbacks, personal troubles etc. One key factor for effective health lies in controlling these sentiments.

One can have a very good diet and exercise, but still remain unhealthy, sick and may live a short life, if one s not having good feelings. In order to have proper health and a long prosperous life, it is important that one controls one's sentiments and feelings.

The truth is that one can have no control over so many things like death of near and dear ones, social conflicts, crimes, diseases, wars etc. These are extraneous to a human being and these will have to happen.

I have seen many happy families in one moment and getting ruined in the very next. There are countless such situations which happen within no time and leave one shattered.

The best thing is to understand that one can have no control over a large number of things in one's life. To feel for them is but natural. If one realizes that there is nothing that one can do with those happenings, the pressure of pain will get reduced.

One should always try to control whatever is within one's control. These can be family issues, job related problems, relations with the society, personal behaviour and above all personal thoughts. One main factor of reducing tensions is to develop a habit of thinking positively.

One can experience a healthy and long life with right ideas, control over one's thoughts and sentiments and being more practical with life. Remember "nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so".

Of course diet and exercise are quite important. In the diet category, simple food like green vegetables, dairy products, fruit, fish etc. are more important. Walking briskly is one simple exercise which can keep one fit. One should take long and brisk walks everyday in order to stay healthy.

Passion - The Ultimate Factor Between Success or Failure

2007-07-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Passion is an emotional state of mind. It is natural and it exhorts a person to great and persistent action. In this one loves ones' work and is always preoccupied. Passion is a mystical and powerful force that brings one success and happiness.

Passion enables one to remain focused on what he is doing. One is clear about one's objectives and goals. It is to that direction that passion pushes him along. There is less wastage of time and resources and less aimlessness.

With passion one is clear about one's aims and aspirations. One gets inspired and energetic in doing things of one's choice. One feels fearless and devoted. Passion simplifies the complexities and hardships of one's work.

With passion no work is boring or uninspiring. One feels courageous and propelled to move forward. Passion makes the achievement of results very easy. It enables one to fulfill one's dreams.

Passion can be about anything. Whatever the field one chooses, one has to be passionate about the same. It could be to become a player, a professional, to cross the Atlantic, to make a discovery, about writing etc.

Can passion be used in negative sense also? Unfortunately some people have used passion for the promotion of particular ideologies, religion and terrorist activities. This way passion has been used negatively as well.

Can passion be acquired? It is possible to discover passion within oneself and be successful. The first step towards passion is to analyze one's likes and dislikes. One should consider one's interests and goals. Once one is clear about what one wants to do, it is easy to be passionate about the same.

One may drift apart at certain times. By taking a few precautions one can remain passionate. One should always keep one's objectives in view. One should take a break in between and refresh oneself. Once certain goals have been achieved, one should set new goals.

Great things of life have happened only because of passion. Scientists and other inventors discovered all the good things of life only when they were passionate. Let us cultivate and preserve passion.

Politics And Religion - Drawing Of A Boundary?

2007-07-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

This debate has been going on for centuries. The thing is that it is difficult to compartmentalize a life. Every aspect of life is interconnected and one action has an affect upon the other.

With separation of the two, a person is supposed to play a dual role. I wonder if it is possible for him to keep them really separate without affecting each other. But there is no choice. They need to be kept apart because of so many valid reasons.

A religion should be a private affair. Every human being should have a choice to be free in his private life. Anybody can have any beliefs. So long as these are confined to him and are not detrimental to the society at large, there should be no interference in the private affairs of a human being.

In order to serve the tenets of individual freedom, polity should be bereft of religion. We are living in a pluralistic society where there are hundreds of different beliefs and religions. Even within the same religion, there are so many variations.

In fact, in the modern age there is no uniformity even within the same religion. There are too many conflicts and sentiments attached with beliefs and personal practices. Any state cannot control them.

Times keep on changing with the onset of new discoveries, needs and challenges. Any religion cannot take care of all the situations. Religion may even slow down reforms.

There are so many hardliners who would like to see their religion to dictate every aspect of life. They would drag religion into polity regardless of its suitability or its affect upon people of different faiths and religions.

History has shown that whenever religion and politics were mixed up, the results were disastrous.

I think world has recognized the harm that politics and religion can do if mixed together. That is why most of the countries in the world are secular. Wherever, we see the stamp of religion on politics there are conflicts and disturbances. Societies which take them separately are more prosperous, tolerant and peaceful.

Some religious fanatics are playing havoc with the world. They are trying to force other people to follow their thinking and path up to total destruction. There is no place for peaceful living in their lives and the principle of live and let live.

I don't think it is also in the scheme of God to force people to follow a certain mode of life. At best I believe God has given human beings a choice.

The basic thing is that whatever one's beliefs and preferences, they should contribute to the ultimate welfare of people and not to harm them.

Vacationing In India - Most Diverse Tourist Destination On Earth

2007-07-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have traveled throughout the length and breadth of India. It is such a amazing country that you will find differences in cultures, peoples, topography, climate, living standards, historical interests etc. after every few hundred miles of travel.

India is one of the oldest civilizations with its history going as far back as c5000 B.C. It has seen huge ups and downs in its entire history with centuries of foreign rule.

It has been one of the most tolerant and absorbing society. The mark of different historical structures can be seen all over the country. Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of this historical country before 1947. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh together constitute Indian subcontinent.

Every travel lover should travel India at least once in his life time. There is something for everyone in this country. All of its major cities are fully accessible by air from any quarter of the world.

Places along the Himalayas are have a particular charm. Darjeeling, Dharamsala, Simla etc. fall in the cream of tourist attractions.

Kashmir in the north constituted the darling of tourists till 1990. However, unfortunately with the onset of violence by some mad people after 1990, this place lost a large number of tourists. From the top most place for tourists in India, it suddenly became a dream. The situation has improved a little and the tourists have started coming back.

For a foreign tourist, most of the places in India will offer something interesting. If one wants to see historical places, they are all over India. Most promising of them are Rajasthan, Uttar Paradeh, Delhi, central India etc. Taj Mahal is now one of the seven wonders. That is a living love story and a mark of lasting beauty and glory.

One can go to the south and see entirely different culture, nature and communities. It is a repository of some of the finest temples and architecture of the world.

One can see the elements of modernity and traditional society existing side by side. One can find primitive things and the most modern facilities around. One can also see poorest and rich people living side by side. There are high risers and low residences.

India travel can be extremely economical. One can live from a small budget to a luxury stay. Whatever, one wants to live with, one can find it.

There are a few pockets of north and north east India which one should avoid. Kashmir is now experiencing a lot of tourist traffic with control over violence. It is rightly termed as the Switzerland of Asia. While visiting India, a visit to Kashmir will be in order. There are so many flights every day from New Delhi to Srinagar.

A visit of India will surely be rewarding for anyone in the world.

What Is Harry Potter?

2007-07-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter is a series of seven novels, popularly referred to as 7 Harry Potter. The seventh book in this series is "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" which got released on July 21, 2007.

The first novel of this seven series book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, was issued in July 1997. It took 10 years to complete the whole series.

These seven books are essentially children's books and were authored by J.K.Rowling, a woman. This name was chosen so as to sound it muscular.

Harry Potter series books have become immensely popular since their release. The six books released before 21st July 2007, recorded sales of 325 million copies in more than 63 languages.

The seventh book was released on July 21,2007 in Britain and other cities. Eager readers had lined up in front of the book stores for hours together.

More than 12 million copies of "Deathly Hallows" have been published in US alone. All major cities in the world notably Sydney, Canberra, London, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, Rome, New Delhi, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, New York, Mexico, Paris etc. were buzzing with excitement and passion about the release.

Popularity of Harry Potter series of novels has been unprecedented in the history of publication. It has earned record revenue for the author and the publisher.

Harry Potter is an adolescent boy in these books. The story is about his fight against the evil wizard namely Lord Voldemort who killed his parents in his plan to capture and rule the wizarding world.

The story underlying Harry Potter has been staged at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school for young wizards and witches. Harry Potter is also a wizard in the novel.

The English author J.K.Rowling conceived the plot of these books during her rail journey from Manchester to London in 1990. Her real name is Joanne Rowling. In order to camouflage this name and to give it a male tinge, she adopted the name J.K.Rowling for greater acceptability among readers.

Harry Potter books are undoubtedly a classic series and these have earned worldwide acclaim and superb reviews.

Coping With Depression

2007-07-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

Every one in this world experiences depression at some stage of life or the other. It is a mental condition and its causes can be identified in most of the cases.

The most important factors causing depression are unemployment, difficult life conditions, family feuds, breakdown of relations, social and political issues, communal tensions, health problems etc.

Depression is a national problem afflicting all societies. It is severe in poor countries. Depression is a drag on national resources and reduces the well being of many societies. It is a curse and the society should collectively fight it. Depressed persons deserve all the support.

Depression treatment should be easy if the causes behind depression are identified properly. If depression is money or job related, obviously an individual will find it difficult to cure depression. Since in this case the depression is a result of monetary problems, it will be difficult to overcome depression unless the basic problem is resolved.

Similar is the case with other types of depression. A situation of depression arises because an individual is unable to cope up with the problem. Therefore it is important that an affected person gets all the depression help from the society at large without any further financial implications.

It is necessary that cases of depression are identified quite early by conducting a proper depression test. This should be followed by depression medication.

All societies should strive to have physically and mentally healthy people. Depression conditions should be recognized at the national level and depression treatment provided right at the start of depression conditions.

At an individual level, one can take certain simple steps to cope up with depression. These could comprise of making changes to one's diet, taking exercises, discussing with family members and friends, participating in cultural activities, going on picnics, listening to music and indulging in other entertainment etc.

Many a times, depression is purely a mental state without any apparent causes. This can be temporary in nature and can easily be tackled by some simple steps.

Depression no doubt can take a heavy toll of a society's mental and physical well being. One should always be on the lookout to even small depression signs and take appropriate steps to overcome depression at quite an early stage.

More Women Than Men In Canada - 2006 Census

2007-07-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

According to 2006 Census of Canada, the sex ratio has turned against men. 56 per cent of the population consists of women now.

This sex ratio varies across the country. Nova Scotia has the maximum number of women. As against 100 females, there are only 93 males. Alberta is the only province in Canada with more men than women under the age of 60 because of oil boom. For every 100 women, there are 100.2 men in this province as compared to 95.9 men for every 100 women at the national level. During 2001, there were 96.1 women for every 100 men.

The sex ratio is almost even only in Edmonton and Calgary.

There is a male shortage in the country. The male female ratio is mostly one to one in most of the country till the age of 25. It is only after that the ratio turns against women. Older women outnumber males. Toronto seems to be one of the few places where women exceed men in all age groups above 20.

The main factors for increased number of women population is the increase in life expectancy. Women live longer than men. As against an average life expectancy of 82.5 years for women, it is 77.7 years. As a result we also have more women centenarians than men.

Aging Population In Canada And Decreasing Labor Force

2007-07-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

According to 2006 Census of Canada, Canadian population has been aging due to the nation's low fertility rate and increasing life expectancy. As a result, the number of seniors with ages more than 65 years increased from 13.0% in 2001 to 13.7% in 2006 or to more than 4 million. This is expected to increase further beyond 2011. The increase has been recorded all over the country. Now one person in every seven in Canada is a senior.

Not only that population of aged has increased considerably, people reaching the retirement age has also gone up to record levels. The number of workers in 55-64 year age group has substantially gone up.

Because of changing population structure, Canadian society and employers could face labor shortage. This is more so as the number of children aged 14 years and less is on the decrease.

Though Canada is the youngest country in the G8 group of industrialized countries, it is the oldest in Americas.

Along with the increase in the proportion of seniors, longevity for Canadian women has gone up to 82.5 years as against 77.7 years for men.

Immigrants are believed to have pushed up diversity and population growth. But since their average age on their arrival in Canada is 33 years, they also start aging along with the rest of the population. Their affect on minimizing the proportion of an aged population is minor.

Census 2006 has also revealed that the number of centenarians with ages more than 100 years increased markedly over 5 year period from 2001 to 2006. The number of people over 80 years of age has increased to 21 million. Eighty percent of centenarians are women.

Seven Deadly Sins

2007-07-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

There is general agreement regarding 7 deadly sins. These are lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. There are references to the above in holy scriptures like bible and in other literary works like Dante's Divine Comedy.

Lust is usually associated with sexual desires and addiction. Manifest forms of this are homosexuality, adultery, bestiality, rape and excessive sex.

As the name suggests, gluttony means overindulgence in food and drink. Some people relate it to excessiveness of everything.

Greed can take many forms like bribery, hoarding, usurping, theft, robbery etc. This can also manifest itself in treachery, betrayal, manipulation and violence. This refers to a desire of acquiring more and more wealth. It is largely related to material goods.

Sloth is synonymous with behaviors like laziness, sadness or depression and apathy. This condition also indicates absence and shortfall of love. In this state, a person is not using natural talents the way they should be used. With this, a person shirks work and transforms himself as a parasite.

Wrath implies anger or rage, impatience, hatred, violence, prejudice, discrimination and assault. In this state, a person is bent upon harming others. It may lead to assaults and murders.

Envy leads to jealousy and malice. In this, one cannot tolerate the happiness and well being of others. When others face some misfortune, envious people become happy.

Pride hath a fall. It signifies arrogance, vanity and narcissism. This is considered to be the most serious of all the 7 deadly sins. This is because it is the source of all other evils. Pride leads one to deride others, to treat them unfairly and to belittle their achievements. At the same time, proud people consider themselves superior and assign themselves an unparalleled importance.

There are many other sins listed, but the above are the more broad manifestations of those seven.

Tackling Global Violence

2007-07-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

Why There Is So Much Of Bloodshed? Are There Any Limits Of Insanity?

Every day newspapers are full of headlines of hundreds of deaths relating to violence. Unfortunately this has become the rule rather than the exception. When I go through the headlines each morning, I usually find at least two reporting mass murders.

I wonder who are these people dying each day. Are these human beings or they are some other creatures. Are human beings so insensitive. Human lives have become unimaginatively cheap and free to play with.

Many people give scant respect to human and their own lives. They are bent upon killing and getting killed. They know the consequences and do it purposely. This is a special form of insanity. They are sane but insane. They kill with planning and with full senses.

Who is behind all this madness? May be there are so many groups, each having different motives. Whatever their objectives, they are evil geniuses. Behind all these individual or mass murders there is articulate planning, strategy and determination.

Many times we also see that while societies sympathize individual deaths in greater numbers, they are not that sensitive to mass murders. Killings in some parts are considered to be a normal thing.

Is there any stop to this frenzy? I believe that somehow the perpetrators of these heinous crimes should at best be left to their own fate. The more they are eliminated, they get reinforcements. They find a common enemy somewhere.

Action gets reaction. If actions against these people are avoided or at least minimized, they will have no other agenda. Given their mentality, they are bound to fight with each other. Since their only purpose of life is to kill and get killed, they should be left alone. It is highly probable that they will eventually start killing each other.

So I would suggest to leave them to their fate and let their own societies deal with them. Just don't go near them and don't interfere in their affairs. I strongly feel that these are incorrigible people and so better not to waste time and resources in their pursuit. Left to themselves, they may come to a halt at some point of time.

World should just ignore these hardliners. By going after them, they get undue publicity and importance. They need to be tackled more psychologically and not by force, while fully trying to understand their psyche and culture.

13th Day Of Any Month Is A Black Friday

2007-07-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

Today is Back Friday, the 13th of July 2007. In fact any Friday which is on 13th of any month is called the "Black Friday". It refers to a number of shocking and devastating events that took place on Friday, the 13th.

Though popularly believed to have started on Friday, Oct.13,1307 when a large number of Knights Templars were arrested and tortured into "admitting" heresy by the king of France, now any Friday falling on 13th is associated with "Black Friday". It is considered to be a day of bad luck mainly in English speaking societies around the world.

In fact, many countries have different episodes associated with Friday, the 13th. For example, in Greece, it signifies the fall of Byzantium era on Turkish victory. Number 13th is generally feared in Greece and Spain.

Any date of 13th on a Friday is supposed to be unlucky in a number of countries. People are generally afraid that something really bad will happen on this day, like an accident, a death, a natural disaster etc.

Because of the fear of "Black Friday", many people avoid doing activities like going out to work, traveling, shopping, eating out, wedding etc. As a result, it is estimated that in North Carolina, US alone, business worth $800 to $900 million is lost on any Friday, the 13th. Similar estimates can be made regarding other places.

Many events are organized on this day and people take precautions to ward off any mis happenings on this day. For example, in Port Dover, Ontario Canada, motorcycle (biker) community meet on this day and participate in music, biker, vendor etc. shows.

"Black Friday" is considered to be the most superstitious day in the United States and in other English speaking countries. It is feared as a day of misfortune and bad luck.

Vacationing Abroad - Is The Fun Over?

2007-07-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

These seem to be the worst of times. Just a few years ago going abroad and seeing the world was considered to be so exciting and fun. One could go anywhere in the world fearlessly and without any hassles.

Alas all this changed drastically over a short span of a few years. Right from thinking of going abroad on vacations, one is confronted with ideas of prohibited baggage. Rules regarding what one can or cannot carry aboard a plane or a public carrier change everyday.

Security has become tight all over the world. One cannot carry even a simple thing like a toothpaste with oneself. One is never sure of making it to one's destination on schedule. There are delays and disruptions galore. Even small suspicions are enough to create panic like conditions amongst people, the security and officials.

One has to be careful about what to carry in one's hand baggage and even in check in baggage. Even a slight mistake can land one to great hardships and even detentions.

It appears there is lot of confusion around. Things are blown out of proportion. Lives of many innocent persons have been turned upside down. There is a lot of hype and suspicion especially at border points. If someone doesn't like some one's face, even that can cause problems.

Many of our precautions seem to be closer to being ridiculous. There are complaints and there are criticisms. A genuine and average traveler is caught up in all this maze and does not see an escape.

Traveling has really become difficult. It is not surprising that many persons have cut their traveling and to confine their holidays to their own neighborhood places.

There does not seem to be any relief in near future. Nobody knows when the conditions will improve. Till that time people have to take all the precautions, travel light and minimize any chances of misunderstandings.

Tah Mahal - Living Symbol Of Romance

2007-07-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Taj Mahal was voted one of the seven wonders of the world on July 7,2007. I love this historical monument because this is a living symbol of love, dedication and romance.

About 4 centuries ago Shah Jehan (1592-1666) was the emperor of India from 1628 to 1658. He married his beloved Mumtaz Mahal in 1612. She dies in 1630 during childbirth.

The emperor had extreme love for Mumtaz. He was so devoted to his wife that it is said that his beard and his hair on the head turned white just in a few months. Her death devastated him to an unimaginable degree.

During his living days, Shah Jehan told her that he will build an everlasting memorial as a mark of their love after her death. True to his word, when she died, he spent all of his energy in raising this monument. It is said that as many as 20,000 craftsmen participated in building it over a period of 17 years.

Millions of people all over the world visit this epitome of love every year. This is an artistic structure of marvelous and exquisite beauty. Made of marble, this monument dazzles especially in moonlight. Scores of people make it a point to visit it during full moonlight.

Shah Jehan was latter dethroned by his son and was put into Jail in Agra fort right across Taj Mahal. He lived in a room whose windows opened towards the Taj. It is said that he survived 8 more years just by looking at the tomb. He was buried besides his wife in the Taj after his death.

We have endless love stories in the world. But nothing as prominent as Taj Mahal. It is a story of unparalleled devotion, sacrifice and true love. As one walks through this monument, one smells and breaths romance and love.

I strongly suggest all great lovers to visit this wonderful symbol at least once in their life time. It is about 5-6 hours of train journey from New Delhi, India to Agra. One should especially try to visit Taj during full moon and to be a witness to snow white marble and its four minarets in the moonlight.

Sauna For A Healthy Body

2007-07-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

I had never enjoyed sauna just before three days. Luckily the place where I am living now has an attached gym, swimming pool and a sauna. Though I knew swimming before, I forgot. So I have to learn it afresh.

I was in fact more curios to experience sauna. Now I have been visiting sauna for the last three days. I see a few people around as I generally prefer to go late in the evening.

Sauna has Finnish origin. It is a piece of Finnish culture and it has spread all over the world. Saunas are now available in most of the public places and they are kept as part of swimming pools.

They are very hot inside and one really feels the intensity of heat. The idea behind this is perspiration. As perspiration increases, pores open and throw out waste from inner side of a body. That is why a sauna is supposed to cleanse the pores.

It is generally believed that a sauna bath is good for the health of skin, mind, and overall body. Sauna is believed to refresh and produce a scintillating effect upon a body. Many people recommend sauna bath on a regular basis.

Though sauna is beneficial to health, it is not believed to be good for some people, especially those suffering from heart diseases, strokes etc. If one is not feeling comfortable with a sauna, it is advisable to consult a doctor before visiting a sauna.

Then one has to maintain a certain degree of etiquette while using a sauna. Sauna door should not unnecessarily be kept open. In some places, no costumes are allowed inside a sauna as this is considered unethical. In some places swimsuits may not be allowed at all inside a sauna.

Sauna rules vary from country to country. Before using a sauna, it is essential that one is familiar with them. Otherwise it is likely that a person may not be allowed or welcome.

Some saunas have now become a part of homes. People have been owning and establishing saunas in their residences. In most of the places, there are separate saunas for males and females. But in others there is no gender consideration.

Saunas were once considered to be sacred, second only to a church. A sauna is considered to be immune from sexual presence or any other vulgarity.

Sauna is like a luxury which everyone cannot afford. But if one can find one at some public place or at cheap rates, one should definitely try it out.

Swimming - Burn Calories and Lose Weight

2007-07-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Exercise is very important for the overall health and fitness of a person. Sedentary habits make limbs dull, muscles inactive, promote obesity, lead to poor digestion and produce many other undesirable effects. Exercise is necessary not only for the overall health of a person but also for increased longevity.

There are so many exercises. Some exercises can be done in a gym while as others can be done in the open. There is usually a price for the use of a gym while as one need not to pay for some popular exercises in the open. These include walking, running, jumping, breathing and doing other exercises in a public park.

One very attractive and highly beneficial exercise is swimming. There are public swimming pools available in many places. Generally these have limited timings and are crowded. Therefore, one has to depend on private commercial swimming pools.

The benefit of commercial swimming pools is the quality of service, convenient hours of operation, less crowding and ease of use. Of course, these could be expensive.

One should seriously consider swimming as an attractive fitness exercise. It is not only an interesting sport but also complete in many respects. In swimming almost all the parts of a body get exercised.

Swimming involves hands and arms, legs, bum, head and neck, shoulders and overall body. One can go under water with deep breath and thus help exercise overall respiratory system. It builds endurance and muscles.

It is not that hard to learn swimming. If one does not know how to swim, it is easy to learn. Many clubs hold training classes and sessions for new members. One can learn after a few sessions of exercise. One can also learn on one's own. For this there are free guides available both online and off line.

If anyone is serious in burning calories, reducing weight, keeping one's belly in check, there can be no better exercise than swimming. Swimming for less than an hour is enough to change a person's health for better.

Canada Day Celebrations - Overwhelming Immigrants

2007-07-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

It is a great sight to see colorful Canada Day every year. This day is being celebrated with great fanfare. Celebration are held all over the country with the main event taking place at Ottawa which hosts the federal government.

One important feature of Canada Day festivities is the presence of a large number of immigrants. The enthusiasm and spirit of immigrants in Canada Activities is remarkable.

It is amazing to see that in some cases immigrants seem to be more active on Canada Day than the natives. They come out in large numbers and join celebrations in different parts of the country.

The involvement of immigrants seems to be spontaneous. They show their attachment and love for the new land of their choosing with great fanfare. They can be seen everywhere in all major cities of Canada with flags, banners, fireworks etc.

Fireworks is a special feature of Canada Day. These add light to this day and also work as a great source of entertainment.

Canada is still in the making. It will take decades and centuries to transform into a populous country like the US. Immigrants will constitute a major factor in the formation of New Canada. It has been well recognized that Canada will have to allow an increasing flow of immigrants in order to make it possible to continue on the path of success.

A few centuries back USA was more or less in a similar situation. Constant flow of immigrants to that country from all over the world, especially Europe exalted that country to great heights.

Now is the turn of Canada. A day will come in the history of Canada when it will boast to equal any great power in this world.

Canada is bestowed with unlimited resources. They are in need of proper utilization by adequate manpower. Immigrants have to fill this void and to ensure that Canada marches ahead.

Every year Canada Day shows that immigrants are a vibrant community from all over the world. They have actively started participating in all national activities like elections, census, new businesses, innovations, education, cultural activities etc.

Because of increasing flow of immigrants, Canada is fast becoming the most
multi-cultural country on this earth, in harmony and peace.

Are Hybrid Cars Big Savers?

2007-07-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

There is a general notion among many people that hybrid cars save a lot of money, that they are fuel efficient and that they are the right answer to the current spiraling energy prices.

Hybrid cars became the focus of attention over the last few years due to rising oil prices. Automobile manufactures and others are constantly trying to evolve new technologies and new automobiles in order to overcome the energy scarcity.

Development of hybrid cars is one of the several strategies which auto manufactures have been experimenting with.

Market also seems to have responded well to the concept of hybrid cars. The demand for such cars has been growing over the years.

What differentiates hybrid vehicles is that they have a rechargeable energy storage system for increasing fuel efficiency than what is available in conventional vehicles.

Most important hybrid vehicle manufacturers at present are Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault and Toyota. In fact, Toyota has been the highest producer of these types of vehicles recently.

The general belief is that these cars save energy and money for an owner. Several critics have opined that they may be energy efficient, but at current prices they will not save money for their owners.

Cost benefit analysis reveals that the prices of hybrid cars are more than the savings that they may generate over their lives. However, in case, oil prices go sufficiently high, then hybrid cars can have a positive cost benefit ratio.

At present there are two scenarios. First, hybrid cars are energy efficient and these help conserve energy at national level. However, at the current prices, they are not economical for an individual in the long run.

Hybrid vehicles have nonetheless caught up with the public, with the result that their production and sales have zoomed over the last few years. With increased stress on energy conservation and rising prices, the future of hybrids seems to be only upwards.

An Overview of Gmail - A Comparison With Other Email Services

2007-06-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

Google Gmail is a great service. With about 2.7 GB of storage and 20 MB of transmission at a time, I think this is the best facility available at this time.

Earlier, one could open an account by invitation only. Now it is open and anyone can have a Gmail account.

Gmail is free and loaded with many other features. Most important of these are the accessibility of Google Adsense and Google Adwords from the same account.

Greater storage and ad free interface make it superior to many other free email services.

However, I have noticed a few problems with Google Gmail.

At present I am using Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail. I have been the longest user of Hotmail. I think I never had any problems with Hotmail.

As compared to Hotmail, Gmail remained inaccessible to me many a times. I got the message that there were technical difficulties. Of course the service was restored after a few hours or overnight, but when I needed to see email, it was not accessible. I really felt bad at those times.

One major problem with Gmail is that it bundles all emails from the same email address together. Many times it becomes hard to find the latest email or to find some particular email. One has to go through all the emails and many times it is confusing.

I also lost my emails many times. When having emailed something, the other party reportedly did not receive it. I tested it by sending email from my Hotmail. I found out that at times it did not receive my email. I don't know who is at fault. I suspect Gmail.

I am not sure how long I can use this service, but the jumbling of emails is one major problem with me at present. Hope Google modifies and makes it easier.

Secrets of Long Life - Good Health

2007-06-29T05:22:00.000-07:00

Life expectancy seems to have increased globally in different countries at varying rates. In many countries it is past 80 now.

It looks like that life expectancy is directly linked with the level of income. More the per capita income of a country, more the life expectancy.

Most important factors that affect the average length of life are diet and food habits, medical facilities, personal hygiene, culture, emotional well being, marital relations, family issues etc. Living standards constitute a prominent factor in the life span of a person.

Some simple food habits and caution can go a long way in promoting the life span of a person. Eating a lot of vegetables, avoiding artificially prepared food, avoiding too much of sugar and sweets, stopping drinking and smoking, exercising etc. are some of these simple steps. These don't cost much.

An important key to good health is eating a lot of food in its raw state. These include green vegetables, salad, fruits, natural juices, natural water, dairy products, fish etc.

One should take plenty of drinks like water and juice. This is a sure way of keeping a body healthy.

Another major factor that I have found useful is to give stomach some rest after every few days. By this I mean to do fasting or very minimal eating for one full day after intervals. This will help in cleaning the inner system.

If I remember correctly there is a fable from Aesop on eating. According to it, one should never eat unless one is hungry. And one should not eat to one's full. One should always eat a little less than full stomach.

Exercise is good. This refreshes and strengthens body muscles. This also improves digestive system. If one is short of time, one can do a little bit of exercise even during one's normal activities. It is only a question of will power and change of life habits. On need not to join a health club.

By following some simple steps, one can maintain enviable health and beauty. I am sure one can maintain a youthful look and energy till sixties. I know people in fifties easily looking 10-20 years younger because they cared for their life and have been living a simple and worry free life. One should also pay special attention to mental health as well.

A Review of DayTipper.com

2007-06-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

Formerly known as Vitamin T, DayTipper.com is a site which pays for sharing tips with others. If you have got a great tip, you can share it with others. Anyone who has a tip, can submit it to daytipper.com. If they approve and publish it, they promise to pay $3 for each tip.

The business model under this site seems quite attractive. This can not only get bright original ideas to light, thereby benefiting the community at large, but it can also earn cash for its contributors.

One can see hundreds of tips on different subjects on this site anytime.

The policy of daytipper.com is that once it accepts a post or tip and publishes it on its website, the tip becomes its property or copyright. In other words, they are buying each tip for $3.

Not many people have shared their experiences on this site. Whatever little information is available, it appears they have been rejecting a lot of tips. Secondly, one person is reported not to have been paid for his tips that were accepted.

So at present, there is not much to say about the payment record of daytipper.com. But judging from the number of available tips on this site, it seems people have been contributing.

If one is writing one's own ideas just for sharing with others, then there is no payment problem involved. However, if one is contributing purely for making money, then one has to be cautious. One can always give it a try for some time and find out.

How I Fixed My Used Car

2007-06-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

I recently bought a used car. It had many problems. The three major problems were i) the driver side door lock was not working, ii) the speedometer was out of order, and iii) break was not working properly.

I know many mechanics. The first mechanic took 2 days to fix the break. I asked him to fix the other things. But he seemed to be taking his own time. In fact he could not understand how to fix other problems especially the speedometer and the door lock.

I was told that fixing the above two problems is hard. The door may not be fixed at all without replacing the entire locking system for all the doors. That was scary.

I went to an electric mechanic to talk to him about the speedometer. He refused to be of any help. While driving around, my wife saw one sign board of a Honda mechanic. And we made a dash to him. He immediately agreed to fix the speedometer.

We were lucky that he had just got a used sensor from somewhere. He replaced the sensor and lo the speedometer got working at $70. Had I believed the first mechanic, I would have been in trouble.

Impressed by his work, I asked this Honda mechanic to fix my other problems. He changed one pipe which was easy. He expressed his inability to fix the door lock. He suggested to change all cylinders or put on a remote access system on the door. Both were expensive and disheartening. The door lock itself was irreparable, he reported.

Without any hope I asked some other mechanics. Everyone was of the same opinion. Finally I landed up with one mechanic whom I knew for long and I was avoiding him as he was a little expensive.

I called this mechanic on phone and asked him if he could fix my door lock, but with least hope. He suggested to take the car to him. Anyway I went to him. On arrival, he told me that he will fix the lock at $80. Finally he agreed at $60. I did not believe he will be able to repair it. I was really surprised when after 20 minutes of work, my lock was working.

Then I had to change the tires. This mechanic was not having used tires of my size. So I went to another place and got two tires changed. I was surprised that I had 2 different tire sizes on my car. He put on 2 used tires.

When I went to my earlier mechanic, He asked me why I had put on winter tires? Oh gosh how I missed to see that? I called the tire guy. He refused and said that I was at fault and he can do nothing except to charge me extra.

The moral of the story is that if you got a problem with your car, do not rely on the opinion of just one mechanic. Visit as many of them as possible. Some one will fix your problem. Also be careful while changing the parts like tires. Put on all season tires.

How To Sort Out Issues With A Used Car

2007-06-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

Past two weeks have been very tough for me because of a used car that I happened to buy. My ordeal started when I got rid of my old Carola. It served me well and faithfully.

After Carola I bought Chrysler Intrepid. I do not know much about cars. When my mechanic saw my new car, he just got angry. His outright remark was that Intrepid is the worst car in North America.

I shortly found it out. My steering was not working properly and with a 3.5 L engine, it was drinking expensive gas. Just after three weeks I sold it at a loss.

Not having much money and having remained without a car for about 2 weeks, I decided to buy a very inexpensive car for the time being and then go far a newer one when my finances improved.

The lady who sold me this inexpensive car (Honda Accord), told me all good stories about it. My troubles started when I brought it home.

First, the door key on the driver side did not work. So I had to use the other door. Battery was dead. Engine and some other lights were blinking. Exhaust started making noise. I found lot of dirt underneath seats. Breaks were loose. Front tires were almost dead. Engine rubber pipe had thinned out.

Radio was not working. Air conditioning was dead. I trusted the lady and I had to pay for it. Now for the last two weeks I have been trying to fix one thing or the other at great cost and expense of time. What I believed to be an inexpensive car has become quite the opposite.

I accept my fault. My ignorance about cars and credulousness put me in great trouble. Moral. Don't trust others easily. Take time to examine in detail if you are buying a used car. Take the help of a mechanic. Be prepared for surprises.

Freedom of Speech

2007-06-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

I love all types of freedoms. Freedom of speech is the foremost of them. I want the same type of freedom for everyone.

If someone criticizes me, I will feel upset with myself. I feel disappointed because of my own shortcomings. While I try to avoid criticizing others, I feel if other people criticize, they have some reason.

I will take any type of criticism positively and try to improve.

If I think I am good, I should demonstrate it. How can I or my culture or my beliefs be good, if I am least tolerant, am ready to fight out any type of least criticism and have no respect for debate, discussion and accommodation.

I expect others to vouch for my good nature. I wish people listen to others. We should encourage others to express their views freely. If people are gagged, how can we know how they feel?

May be others have to say something good. May be they are right. May be they are not right. By knowing their views, one can get a chance of removing any misunderstandings.

If we believe that a flower is good, it will be good no matter what ever somebody says against it. Why to fight?

The main thing is that there should be freedom of speech and expression. We should welcome others' point of view. This is the only way we can know about the feelings of others.

There should be free and open debate and discussion on anything. Any sort of misconceptions should be removed by proper arguments. If one is wrong, one should accept it and correct oneself.

In this world we see numerous instances of intolerance and muzzling of open talk and speech. The best thing will be to avoid and shun these elements. The more we try to force reason on them, the more obstinate they are likely to be.

Can Oriental And Occidental Meet?

2007-06-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

My best advice will be not to force it. How do I maintain relations. If I find I cannot change the nature of anyone, I leave him alone. I would prefer not to insist on maintaining relations with him.

What can one do if the other party harps on its own views and has no respect for tolerance and accommodation? It is best to leave him alone. If we still insist on continuing relations with that party, we will be harming our cause only.

Is there a meeting place between eastern and western cultures. The best thing is that if one does not like any other culture, it is alright. Let everyone follow one's own practices and believes so long as they are within the confines of that person. One should not cross the limits and invade the privacy of others.

If two cultures do not see eye to eye each other, why it should be a cause of conflict? Live and let live.

Many times, eastern and western cultures do not seem to be in harmony. It is alright. Why it should be a cause of trouble? Let people follow their own way of life.

It is hard to tackle obstinacy, lack of logic, superstition, blind beliefs, intolerance and the like. There are vast numbers of people who do not want to see reason and seem to be quite irrational. Let us not waste time in molding them as there are remote chances of their correction.

Is Canada Really A Mediocre Country?

2007-06-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

According to a recent report of Conference Board of Canada, Canada's recent performance has been miserable in innovation and environment. Its ranking has come out to be 14th out of a total of 17 industrialized countries in the category of innovation.

Amongst a total of six factors, Canada has got an "A" only in the field of Education. However, even here the country has been protecting its highly educated professionals. Otherwise, its low levels of literacy are shocking.

Its performance has been lacking in economy, environmental protection, health care and poverty eradication.

There has been low foreign direct investment. There is reported to be little value to growth and shortage of skilled labor.

Some areas where it has been doing well are inflation, growth, labor productivity and unemployment.

Because of less progress in creative thinking, Canada's scientists don't keep up. Canada is known for large natural resources. But there is shortage of skilled labor and graduates in science, engineering and technological fields. In a way Canada is not able to take advantage of high technology.

In order to grow in future, it is essential that it improves its position in innovation, science and technology. The country has to be creative and grow in this age of technology based development.

Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox - A Comparison

2007-06-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

I have been experimenting with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox for a long time now. I find certain benefits with the latter as compared to the former.

One main benefit of Firefox is that it remembers my login information for many websites and I don’t have to type them again and again. The only problem with this is that one is apt to forget this information over time. And if sometimes, one is required to submit this afresh, one will have to dig it from other places. However, this may happen once a while.

The other major benefit of using Firefox is that one need not to open several windows. It opens several tabs within the same window which makes it easy to manage many websites from one place.

One more positive factor about it is that if there is some problem on the internet and the window gets unexpectedly closed, the sessions one had been previously working with are restored when restarting Firefox.

The above are the three main benefits of Firefox which cannot be found on Internet Explorer. I don’t find any better feature of IE over Firefox. With this and with new constant upgrades, Firefox has emerged as a clear winner as compared to IE.

I have been using both of these internet tools. Though Firefox is my major web browser now, I use IE as well. Sometimes Firefox gets stalled while loading a website. At that time I immediately turn to IE and open the website.

Moreover, many websites still use only IE. Where a site cannot be loaded in Firefox, the same can be opened with IE. Therefore, one should keep both of them handy.

Buying a Used Car -II

2007-06-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

One has to be careful while buying an old car. One should know a little bit of mechanics also. The usual things that one should check are the type of transmission, the engine size, mileage, condition of the body, tires, exhaust system, alignment, condition of seats, availability of air conditioning, air bags, power locks, power seats etc.

It is hard to find a vehicle that matches all the desired features. And when there is a tight budget as well, there is usually a chance of give and take.

Obviously, price is one of the main factors. One has to compare prices of the same vehicle at different places. Generally cars offered for sale by owners will be cheaper than those being sold by car dealers.

The sources of used autos are newspapers, auto magazines, EBay, other online websites, posters, used car dealers, friends and colleagues, TV, radio, liquidators, car mechanics etc.

While buying, one should also be careful because this is an unregulated market, with no warranties, lack of full details about a car, blind spots etc. One may find a gem some time and may also get a junk.

Many times it may be better to buy a car through a used auto dealer because the dealer may take the responsibility, may be more open and professional, may reveal more, may be more cautious, and provide complete service. All this depends upon the level of comfort that one will have while buying an older vehicle.

Buying a Used Car - I

2007-06-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

It can be a nightmare, especially if one has a budget.

Why one should buy a used car? Obviously because one cannot afford to buy a new car. Buying either a used or a new car is complicated because of the wide variety of automobiles and models in the market. If one has a fixed budget, it may be hard to get a car of one’s choice.

Generally the factors that should be considered while buying a car are the price, the make and model of the car, the condition, the mileage, repairs required, safety and emission testing etc. There could be many other factors that one has to consider while purchasing a car.

A used car can be purchased from a used car dealer, directly from car owners, from brokers or from government sources. There are many seized cars available from public agencies as well.

There are some varieties of cars which are in high demand. This is especially so with some Japanese cars. These cars are in high demand and have a good resale value.

In fact resale value should have a higher weight age while buying a second car. This is because if one does not like a previously owned car, one should be able to resell it without much loss of value.

How to Stop Laptop Crash and Prolong Laptop Life

2007-06-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Leaving a notebook PC running endlessly can be an invitation to trouble. Hard disk crashes result from many reasons. Individuals, small and big companies are equally vulnerable. After about three years, hard disk failures in laptops is almost common.

No one would like a full HD replacement. By following some simple steps one can save one’s expensive computing equipment.

One simple strategy is to close the cover of the laptop when not in use. This will put the notebook to hibernate, sleep or shutdown mode depending on how one has set up those options on one’s computer. Closing the cover will stop the disk from spinning continuously.

This activity if done even for a few hours a day can prolong the life of a notebook at least by one to two years if not more. If the laptop is inactive and the hard drive is not spinning, the life of a hard disk can go up by several years.

Basic point behind a prolonged and efficient life of a PC is that if not active for a few hours, and then shut it down.

Another simple rule is to set a hard drive to turn off mode after a certain amount of time if the computer is idle. One can customize the time out of our hard drives and display, saving both from burn out. The good thing about shutting down the hard drives is that they wake up as soon as one hits any key.

How to Increase The Life Of a Laptop’s Battery

2007-06-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

The following computer components consume a lot of power when in use.

Hard Drive
CD/DVD Drive
Floppy Drive
Modem
Network Interface
The Display

When the computer is not being used, there is obviously scope for reducing power usage by partially turning them off.

We can do the above by choosing appropriate time outs in the power options properties dialog box. For this, we open the Control Panel and then the power options. We can also disable certain laptop features.

After the power options dialog box opens, we can select “Turn Off” option for the monitor and hard disk, so as to send them into the desired mode. This will stop the spinning of Hard drive after a few minutes and also put off the monitor.

This action will result in constant savings of laptop battery. The devices will go in sleep mode and can easily be brought back to life simply by pressing any key or moving the mouse.

We can also choose other hibernation or sleep options from the dialog box. Whatever scheme one chooses, it can be saved under an appropriate name which can be applied again latter on if the scheme somehow gets disturbed.

Laughter – The Best Medicine

2007-06-08T17:25:00.000-07:00

Is it easy to laugh? It seems. We have to distinguish between true laughter and forced one. It is only when one laughs spontaneously that one feels the joy of laughter. There is no price that can be fixed for genuine laughter.

World seems to be slowly awakening to the bounties and joys of laughter. We see concerted efforts being made to make people laugh. In many countries laughter is held as part of regular exercise. Laughter sessions are being organized and people made to laugh purposely.

People have realized that laughter has so many physical and psychological benefits. It is believed that people should laugh in order to provide exercise to lungs, jaws, facial muscles and open the valves of heart. Laughter strengthens and gives shape to those muscles which otherwise would not have been exercised.

It is not certain how far this type of forced laughter has the beneficial affects as desired. When laughter is abrupt and spontaneous, one can feel the relaxation of muscles. Purposeful laughter may not be as effective as natural laughter.

There are certain programs run by many voluntary and community bodies aimed at making people laugh. When people see or hear some real pleasing activities or conversation, they tend to burst in laughter.

For example, there is a TV program in Canada by the name of “Just for Laughs”. In this, the actors do certain unusual and absurd acts. Since these bizarre acts are done without the knowledge of people, the ultimate result is sudden laughter and joy. People have been watching this TV series and have really been enjoying. This is a real program which does a real job of making people to laugh.

In this age of high tensions, busy schedules and reduced leisure, any amount of free time is welcome. This has to be accompanied by lighter things of life like laughter. Let everyone make this life lighter and tune do genuine joy and laughter. That is the real medicine for a good and healthy life.

Friend in Auto Mechanic

2007-06-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

I think auto mechanics have not got the level of recognition that they deserve. If we think about it closely, we can see how vital they are for our comforts and safety. A little attention from them can save one a lot of trouble.

We suspect auto mechanics more than respecting them. Although they are indispensable, many people do not have positive feelings about them. Reason being a sort of doubt and suspicion about their work.

So may people have the notion that a car mechanic inflates repair charges in various ways and is not truthful. Car mechanics are believed to unnecessarily replace auto parts and do not take pains to repair damaged parts. Mechanics are said mostly to insist on replacing broken parts rather than repairing them.

Some of them are not supposed to be sufficiently qualified to repair most types of cars. Many times different mechanics have varying points of view on the same problem. Of course there are mechanical aids now available, even then human judgment cannot be altogether ruled away.

Despite the above, we cannot afford without an auto mechanic. He takes the role of a friend, an adviser and a person of the last resort. He makes our travel safe and easy. Whenever we have a car problem, we think of him. If we want to buy a new automobile, we take his advice.

Many times we are caught up in very complicated situations. A car mechanic comes to our rescue at that time. Being a specialist in his field, he provides us with so many tips which help us to escape from many troubles. He educates about the condition of our autos and so we are forewarned.

I think one should always find a good mechanic and stick with him. In my case I had to try many mechanics till finally I reached the one I have now. It was not easy. There was a lot of heartburn. But now I have developed some sort of understanding with my mechanic and this gives me some mental peace.

How to Save On Rising Gasoline Prices

2007-06-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Gasoline is going up and up. Just over the last two years, they have risen by about 50 percent. It is taking out a bigger portion out of a person’s pocket now. People have no choice but to buy whatever the price. After all they have to go on their jobs, for shopping, picnics, functions and running around for other necessities of life.

While one can manage without a vehicle in a big city like Toronto or New York because of easy transport facilities, the availability of one’s own transport in other places is necessary. Possession of a vehicle has become a necessity for a large number of people.

Whatever the reason, people have to keep on buying gasoline prices. However, while maintaining driving habits, one can follow certain practices in order to mitigate the harmful affects of pinching gasoline prices.

One major factor can be the car engine. The size of a car engine can affect the gasoline bill more than 50 percent either way. For example, till recently I had been driving Toyota Corolla with an engine of less than 2 L. When I replaced it by a Chrysler Intrepid, my gasoline consumption almost doubled. The reason – my new car engine was 3.5 L.

So one should pay close attention to the engine size of a car. Toyota cars have smaller engine sizes and so they consume less gas.

The weight of the car also matters. Less the weight that a car has to carry, less the gas consumption. Less weight can also be the result of smaller and well inflated tires, removal of all unnecessary things from the car and also by removing heavy seats.

Other factors for consideration are controlling the speed, less application of breaks, using more of neutral, avoiding rapid pushing of gas pedal, reducing idling time and putting the vehicle off etc. There are also times like Sunday and Thursday nights when gas prices are cheap. Some gas stations, like no brand ones, also sell at less prices. One should look out for these.

Recreation Camping

2007-06-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Very few things can refresh and rejuvenate a person than camping outdoors. It is fun to go on camping with family and friends. In fact one should make a rule of going on camping at least twice a year.

Camping affords an opportunity to people to be one with nature, to enjoy greenery, to breathe fresh air, to enjoy extra bright light, exercise, become carefree and do a host of other activities.

One major benefit of camping is that it can be the least form of entertainment. All one needs is a little bit of camping gear, a little car and some camping site admission fees. One need go a long distance for camping; In fact, one can locate very attractive camping grounds nearer to one’s own place. Generally, traveling 100-200 km for camping is highly possible and easy to manage.

There are hundreds of places where one can go for camping. In almost all the countries, there are camping sites and resorts. One can select a site according to one’s preferences and circumstances.

Whatever the venue of camping, one can enjoy considerably if accompanying a like minded group of people. Though there are agencies also which organize camping, but it is preferable to organize and execute one’s own camping.

Another big advantage of camping is that camping involves least amount of time amongst other forms of vacationing. One can go on camping just overnight, although at least two night’s camping is advisable.

One will always feel a refreshed and newer self after each camping.

Towards Becoming An Interested Reader

2007-06-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Is oral education stressful? One effective approach to learning is believed to be following a graduated approach. Under this a teacher adopts certain strategies to the achievement of a predetermined objective.

Main objective of education is to learn and to develop reading and writing skills in a way that one is attracted to self study and self motivation. Learning should be as interesting as possible. It should be fun and attractive to everyone.

Education teaching basically starts from a young age. Basic skills of learning and independent studies are effective when started at about 8-12 years of age. That is the perfect age for molding the thinking and motivation of a student.

Basic purpose of education is to enrich the lives of a person intellectually, physically and spiritually. It has to transform a person into effective human beings. Literature refines a human being, makes him a better person and to live an enriched life.

Therefore, it is very important that the habit of reading good books and first class literature is inculcated in every human being. Reading has to be made fun and interesting. Educators, policy makers and teachers have been striving for a long time to evolve ways of effective teaching and to make students interested readers.

New approach to developing an atmosphere of effective reading involves modeled reading, shared reading, guided reading and finally independent reading. This approach is more relevant at a very young age. If a reading habit is developed in the early stages of a person’s life, ultimately he can develop a love of reading which can be beneficial not only for him but for the entire society as well.

Books are the best friend of a person. One should love great books and literature. They teach a person every aspect of a life. A person learns more from great books. So it is important that teachers, parents, educators and policy makers generate interest in reading from an early age and develop in them a love of learning

To Own or To Rent – What is The Dilemma?

2007-05-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a property also needs some major renovations, like installing new windows and doors, remodeling of the kitchen, replacement of furnace and boiler etc. One has to be prepared.

It may also happen that one faces no problems except taking care of routine matters. There are certain properties which have been well maintained and they just need a little bit of attention and periodic checking.

The pride of ownership of a home is in itself something very satisfying. One is in control of one’s living standards and follows one’s own style. In a rented apartment building, one has to follow the dos and don’ts of a landlord. One losses independence in doing so many things. Renting prevents one to introduce any innovations and implementing fantasies.

Many home owners deal with mortgage costs by renting out a portion of a house like a basement. If one is short of cash or wants to be on the safer side, this appears to be an effective strategy. May be the people who are just starting out, it may be prudent for them to rent out a portion of a house till one feels comfortable with living on one's own.

Of course there could be tensions at times, but in the long run most of real estate appreciates and this compensates the owners for their diligence. If one takes precautions, is a little daring and withstands some temporary pressures, owning a home can turn out to be a very rewarding experience.

To Own or To Rent – What is The Dilemma? - Part I

2007-05-31T05:49:00.000-07:00

In my two earlier posts, I discussed the pros and cons of owning or renting a home. That is a constant question facing everyone. Those who are renting are doubtful about so many things.

They are doubtful whether they can afford the mortgage and maintenance. They wonder whether they can have time to look after their property. Also they think about moving: the prospects of movement are too painful for them.

In this age of frequent job switching, one may need to move from place to place and so the thought of acquiring and disposing of a property may be mind boggling.

It has to be recognized that, real estate is not that liquid. It takes time to dispose of a property unless it is extremely attractive from various angles. There are ups and downs in the real estate values over years. Sometimes markets are down and sometimes they are up.

One may not get the best of times to sell a property or the best value.

One has to have patience in real estate. One thing is certain. That is if a property has been acquired with due diligence initially, that can save one a lot of headache later on. So real process of disposing a property starts while buying it.

There is no doubt that one has to give some time, take precautions and maintain a property. At times one has also to be prepared for certain major expenses like the replacement of a roof, the repairing of a driveway, dealing with flooding of a basement and dealing with other plumbing and electrical problems.

Please see my next post for the remainder of this article.

Renting an Apartment – Sleeping in Peace

2007-05-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

That is a major benefit of renting an apartment. One need not to worry about washroom leaks, broken cupboards, stove fuses, electricity breakdowns, other plumbing headaches, wall paintings, outside cleanliness, lawn moving, snow shoveling and the like.

Whenever there is any problem, one calls the management and, thus, shifts the responsibility. That is a great psychological satisfaction and freedom from worries that comes with house ownership.

Owning a house or renting an apartment works in accordance with the universal rule of give and take. We give something for something in return. While renting an apartment, one gains mental peace but gives away a chance to own a personal piece of property in the long run.

With house ownership, though one has to care for house maintenance, but in the longer run, that effort pays for itself and may bring in proportionately more than positive results. In this case one gives up a little bit of comfort, but may get much better returns ultimately.

Everything has both positive and negative sides. The same general rule of give and take seems to prevail. This may be called by many names. In science we talk about action and reaction. We possibly can draw some similarities here. Renting an apartment is an action. Its reaction is the lost equity that one could have attained in the longer run.

Well, life is short. Many people are right to enjoy it carefree and worry free. People who own apartments and apartment buildings take the risk of keeping and maintaining them. Renters compensate them for this risk taking.

We need both types of people. Those who like to create comforts and others who enjoy them. Both these groups of people benefit in their own ways. We require all types of people. That is the beauty of this world. After all can this world be wonderful in any other way?

Owning a Home – What Lies Ahead

2007-05-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

After living in both a rental house and also in own house, I can write a small review of their pros and cons from my own experience.

When we first bought a house, we felt very elevated. The joy of living alone and having our own independence was a great gratifying factor. We could go around the house, fix things, and renovate according to our own tastes.

One big relief was parking facilities. We could park the cars of our guests freely, go to the lawn in the breeze, and listen to music, do a little gardening, grow our own vegetables, barbecue etc. It was a great psychological satisfaction.

This we did for about 6 years. We enjoyed lawn moving in the first one or two years. But then because of the shortage of time, we could not keep pace and it got slow. Clearing of snow was good in the beginning, but latter on it became a burden. This was especially so after heavy snowfall.

At times it was painful. For example, when there was a water leak in the basement, it was hard to fix it. If you don’t know any handyman or any other reliable skilled person, it could turn out to be quite ugly. There are many companies and independent professionals who do home repairs. But our experience is that very few of them are honest and straightforward.

We found that many home professionals can really take one on a ride. One has to be careful. Emergency help is mostly needed in case of plumbing and electricity work. That is when these professionals exploit home owners the most.

Over time I developed a list of plumbing professionals, handymen, electricians, glass repairers and the like. I then used to call for quotes, if it was not an emergency work. That is how I saved myself many a times.

Over time, I also learned a little bit of work. That was another relief.

What is True Religion?

2007-05-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how the same religion which is supposed to make one compassionate, good human beings and kind hearted, brutalizes a person. I have never understood why people kill on the name of religion. I don’t think any religion asks its members to shed human blood unnecessarily.

A religion should lead people to protect humanity and not to destroy it. If it is not so, then I don’t think that to be a true religion at all and its followers with any humanity.

For me true religion does not make one a fascist, a bigot and a wild animal. I do not want to recognize any such religion as a genuine religion. A religion has to be human.

For me the basic principles of every human being are to respect others’ life and freedom, to allow everyone to live freely so long as it does not affect the rights of others, not to discriminate between human beings and not to destroy life.

Materialistic interests may be one factor of dehumanizing a human being, but most of the times, the reasons emanate from mental bigotry and aberrations. Those are deranged persons and don’t deserve to be a part of any civilized society.

The best way of dealing with them is to ignore them, not to have any dealings with them and not to reason out with them as they are not rational human beings.

Are We Feeling Global Warming?

2007-05-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

I remember big heaps of snow living till May and cool weather and breeze till June. All that has changed now. Of course the change has been slow, but comparing the position about 30 years back and now, I really feel and see the difference.

Well, I think most of the people with ages more than 30 years will confirm what I say.

What has contributed to the warmth in weather. The known factors are more burning of fuel, emission of toxic, economic development efforts, richer life style, increase in global population, increased pollution and the like.

We are now facing warmer temperatures, less trees, less greenery, more pollution, changes in life styles etc. Despite all these factors, people do not seem to be concerned much.

How much is global warming a matter of concern? Can we live with it? How much will it affect our way of life.

With global warming, it is expected that there will be more melting of snow and this may cause floods in some parts of the world. Some areas may completely merge under water. With increasing melting of glaciers, sea water level is expected to increase and people living close to those areas may be in danger.

On the other hand, there are certain areas which will see a decrease in water table because of increased deforestation. This occurs because of the desirability of economic development. Trees are cut in order to provide fuel for economic growth. This is especially true in case of the developing countries.

Increased cutting of trees means less retention of water and less rains. So the countries with this scenario will face shortage of essential water over time and less and less fresh air. Paucity of water may lead to scarcity of drinking water and water for irrigation purposes. This may affect agricultural and industrial production in some areas.

Because of increased stress on growth, there will be continuing burning of fuel, release of smoke, spread of pollution etc., besides the removal of trees. Though this way some countries may experience increased incomes, but overall there is an increasing danger of reduction in the quality of life.

Many personalities like Al Gore are seized of the matter. Concerted efforts are being made to contain the effects of global warming. In order that the efforts aimed at global warming succeed, it is important that all the countries pool their knowledge, technologies and resources together to reduce the threat of global warming on human lives.

ScotiaBank - A Review in Customer Relations

2007-05-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

I have been banking with Scotia Bank Canada for the last eight years. I opened my first account with this bank when I came to Canada in 1999. Why only this bank? Because primarily it was closer to my home and so more convenient and also I did not know about Canadian banks at that time.

If someone asks me now how I will go along this bank now. My answer will definitely be big NO. I have steadily reduced my dealings with this bank as I got more experience with other banks. I will rank this bank at the bottom in their customer friendliness.

I have never been happy with Scotia dealings. Now I realize that this is a very conservative bank and cares damn for the interests of its customers. At least this is my experience.

I had more than $20,000 in fixed deposits when I started. Despite that I had to earmark with them $1500 for one year for getting a Credit Card with a credit limit of $1500. I have not raised this limit since then. I will be dumping this card sometime.

When I had close to $30,000 deposits with this bank, they turned down my mortgage application for a meager $150,000. Then Royal Bank came to my aid and approved my application quick and without any fuss.

I applied for a Scotia McLeod application. They lost it and I had to apply second time. After several years I applied for Options trading, I sent them application twice and did not get a reply. I had to call and remind them. The height of the matter was the person at the Customer Service at my branch did not even know how to find the address of McLeod. I wonder if she forwarded my application at all. Then I just ignored it and got an account in days with Royal Bank.

Recently I went to my branch to get a piece of paper signed for my landlord. They had just to verify my account balance and if there were any returned checks. I was told to book an appointment with a so called advisor and then pay a fee of $15 and so on and so forth. I told them to forget it and headed straight to Royal Bank. The receptionist there barely took a minute in completing my paper and that too free.

I got so much to say about Scotia Bank’s lousy service as compared to that of other banks.

This bank will ditch you at the right time, besides being expensive and unfriendly. It will charge you for very petty services. Can you imagine getting a certified check free of charges at Scotia Bank? I got it free at Royal Bank so many times.

Moral of the story: Scotia bank is too conservative, cheap and full of red tape. I really wonder how this bank is continuing in business; may be because of sheer strength. My best advice, shun this bank.

Canada Post - Misdelivery of Mail

2007-05-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

I had never imagined that Canada Post will misdirect my mail. I had all along been wondering what happened to my mail. I did not have any significant experience of misdelivery of my mail in 7 years I lived in Canada.

For two months I was failing to receive very important mail. I called my credit card and telephone companies and asked them if they have been sending me mail. I always got the reply that they have been sending me bills etc. as usual.

Then what was the reason. I was just thinking of calling Canada Post. Occasionally, I used to receive some letters, but I was not getting most of them. This continued for two months.

Today I got the answer. My mail actually had been redirected to some other address on the other street. The guy was kind enough to bring himself some important mail of mine from Canada Revenue Agency. Immediately I realized what had happened.

I called Canada Post from home and from another post office. They are now looking into the matter.

But I must have lost many important documents in the meanwhile. I wonder how Canada Post did this to me. I checked out that there was no mistaking of names as my name is totally different than the redirected address.

It is not only documents that I might have lost. My personal information is also at risk. Any one could steal my identity. I am in danger of great loss in future.

I think I will have to document everything properly in case I need it in future. I am still contemplating as to what further I should do.

Role of a Real Estate Agent

2007-05-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

A real estate agent is to provide services to buyers and sellers. Generally he represents either a buyer or a seller at a time. He has to truthfully protect the interests of the party he is representing.

In this age of great competition, one should be careful with some eager real estate agents. My experience has been that many of them are more anxious to get a deal stuck as soon as possible.

Once when I was looking at an investment property, the broker who was to represent me was trying more to push up the sale rather than judging the proposal on its own merits. Many times these agents will be blind to the interests of a buyer or a seller and will be more looking at their own.

After all real estate brokers are also human beings. I have nothing against them. But I want to emphasize that any buyer or seller should not surrender to their views without understanding investing by himself.

Every buyer or seller of a property should be in complete control of the situation. It is important for a buyer to understand the condition of the property, the prevailing real estate market, the financial implications and one's own strengths and weaknesses.

I have also found from my experience that some real estate agents are not qualified enough. It is possible that a buyer or seller will have more real estate knowledge. This especially happens when a real estate agent is new to the profession, is working only part time, is not committed enough and is not painstaking.

One has to be careful while selecting a real estate agent. One should ensure that he is fairly experienced, has been long in the real estate market and is working full time in this business.

Another strategy that I would follow is to take the services of more than one real estate broker or agent. This way, one is sure to get better services.

In any case, a real estate agent performs an important role in the society. He has the responsibility of fulfilling an indispensable need of people. This makes it doubly important that a real estate agent is as thorough and above board in his dealings as possible.

Kodak Digital Camera EasyShare LS443 - Review

2007-05-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

I was very happy with this camera till recently. Great pictures. I bought it used form EBay. It has many functionalities for close up subjects, landscape for distant scenery, for night time pictures, sport and auto. Besides, it has other usual functionalities like menu for adjusting so many things, delete and purview.

After using for about a year, problems started. First, shutter won't open by itself and I had to force it open. I lived with that because I was more concerned with the job and my job was being done.

Now I don't get any picture on the LCD. Though it powers on, LCD is blank. So no photos. I visited Kodak site. No good. They don't provide any useful guideline for troubleshooting. Since my camera is out of warranty period, their customer support won't help me. I wish they provide some detailed technical guide for troubleshooting. The user manual they provide is too basic and is of no help.

Don't know if it can be fixed. I am forced to abandon this camera. That is how the sales of companies like Kodak get a push. I wonder if they design the system purposely like that.

Any ideas? Will appreciate. Thanks all.

For Sale Signs as a Form of Advertising

2007-05-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

I have seen many people hanging in “For Sale” signs in their cars, houses, furniture and almost anything. I wonder how effective it is than classified advertising like newspaper advertising, online advertising and advertising through an advertising agency.

So far I have not come across any research study which compares “For Sale” signs with other forms of advertising. But I feel that it may not be such a great form of advertising. Because I have also tried this way myself and I did not get much positive results.

In fact I could never sell anything by hanging “For Sale” signs. I tried many times. I placed these signs in front of my houses, on sidewalks etc. I also hanged “For Sale” posters at malls, polls, bill boards etc. I got very little results.

After indulging in this form of direct selling for about one year, I switched over to printed and online advertising. This way I got much better results.

When I was doing direct advertising, I was of the impression that I was not spending any money except my efforts, time and a little gas. But when I tried printed advertising for the first time at about $29, I got much better results. I got sales.

Immediately I realized how foolishly I was wasting so much of time going to malls, coin laundries, billboards etc. and vying for a little spot for my “For Sale” sheet.

After I switched to printed advertising, I got so much of relief. I just had to call the advertising agency and my ads immediately started getting response on publishing. I never went back to “for sale” advertising afterwards. I saved a lot of my time, headache, stress and money.

But now I have gone to online advertising. I have found out that if you provide a deal, you will immediately get responses. I only do online advertising now and I spend no money. World has come a long way and is moving to new directions. Bon voyage.

Chrysler Interpid

2007-05-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have no experience with Chrysler cars. All along I have been driving Toyota Corolla car. Two days back I bought a used Chrysler Intriped car. My mechanic is not happy with American Cars. I can see that in the market also that while Japanese cars are in high demand and sell like hot cakes, the same is not true about American cars.

My mechanic told me that I did a great mistake in buying Chrysler Intirped. He is of the opinion that of all the Chrysler cars, Interpid is the worst. According to him Intirpeds are most expensive to maintain, need a lot of work, cannot be serviced easily and above all they consume a lot of gas.

I do not have any experience with these cars as yet. I will have to drive to find out the truth. However, After driving this car for the last two days, I found that it is really consuming a lot of gas. Consumption is almost double than what was with my little Corolla car.

I also found that steering is a little slow to respond. It does not turn the wheels fast enough and takes a second longer. My mechanic mentioned this problem also.

I read a few reviews of this car online and it seems that there is not any great rating about the same. I might have to sell it soon enough. I don't want to take any risk in view of this. I will be back with my review latter on with this car.

Toyota Corolla Car 1988 - Review

2007-05-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

I used two 988 Toyota Corolla cars one after the other since 2002 till May 2007. Both the used Toyota Corolla cars had mileage of less than 200,000 KM when I started using them.

True to their name, it was a lovely experience to have driven them. They were not any hi-fi cars. They were simple automatic 4-door cars. My experience with them was very satisfactory. They were remarkable in every way.

They saved me on gas; they were reliable and never left me on the road. Their transmission was superb and they drove very nice.

Of course, I took good care of them. As soon as I sensed any little problem, I used to run to the mechanic and get it examined.

Before, buying my first Toyota car, I was told that Japanese cars are expensive to maintain. I did not find anything like that. Of course I used to shop at different places. Over time, I got hang of some cheap places and I had no difficulty.

I mostly bought used parts including tires, oil pan, radiator etc. to replace the worn ones. This way it was not very difficult to maintain these two cars. I think there are a lot of dealers and mechanics who specialize only in Toyota cars. Over time I tested them and knew the ones with best prices and service. This way, I got a good deal at most of the times.

They are not maintenance free. Sine their engines and transmission are quite reliable, they make such great cars.

So basically, if you take care of these cars, they will prove to be very reliable and worry free for a long time. I will not say that I did not have any problems, but I could have them with any car.

Freelance Jobs at About.com and Chacha.com

2007-05-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

Freelance employment can be a great source of satisfaction, financial freedom and work from anywhere opportunity. Following are two important sources providing freelance work from home.

Of the many freelance jobs on the web, one can make money in excess of $725 a month, working from home as a part time worker by becoming an about.com or chacha.com guide.

Both the above have a guide program. Persons who are experts or have specific knowledge relating to certain subjects can become guides in those fields. They can join about.com or chacha.com where they will be building their content and position.

Membership is offered to anyone who has a specialty in any particular field. He must be able to provide practical solutions to everyday problems in his field. Guides often advice and provide tutorials on hundreds of topics, ranging from small medical problems to big entertainment projects, from little picnics to long vacations.Topics like Acne, Action Figure Collecting, Bowling, Buddhism, Business Insurance, College Life, Business Insurance, Commodities, Politics etc. are available where one can take the role of a guide or advisor.

Compensation is determined by the growth in year over year page view and the quality of content. A guide can make at least $725 per month and even more than $100,000 per year on about.com site. Chacha.com also offers comparable compensation.

Both the above companies offer online training to their guides, followed by a test. In order to be accepted as guides, applicants have to meet certain criteria.

About.com or chacha.com guide is a great freelance job and offers the opportunity to many aspirants to have freelance work from home. One can work part time or full time. The more one puts, the more money one makes.

In order to learn more and register, please visit about.com or chacha.com.

Paid Blogging Companies

2007-05-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

Paid blog reviews are increasingly becoming popular. Pay Per Post companies connect businesses and advertisers with bloggers. Businesses pay to bloggers for writing reviews about their businesses and services in their blogs.

There are many good companies which are out to bring advertisers and bloggers together. The three most important websites associated with paid blogging are ReviewMe, PayPerPost and SponsoredReviews.

Services offered by these three companies are unique. At ReviewMe site, advertisers themselves choose bloggers for writing reviews for them. They judge bloggers who are members of ReviewMe and make their own selection. In this case, bloggers have to do nothing but wait for offers to come from advertisers.

With PayPerPost, advertisers post their needs on that website. Bloggers see these opportunities and apply for the same. If they meet advertiser's conditions they are awarded blogging reviews.

Thus, while in the case of ReviewMe, advertisers select and contact bloggers, in case of PayPerPost, bloggers themselves make their offers to advertisers after selecting from the posted blogging opportunities on PayPerPost website.

SponsoredReviews is the third most important website in pay per post blogging. Unlike either of the first two, it does both the activities. It lists blogging opportunities for bloggers and also allows advertisers to make their own selection. Thus, it covers both methods of paid blogging.

Profiting from paid blogging is rewarding not only for bloggers, but for advertisers as well. All the above mentioned companies stress upon their bloggers to write honest and original reviews. A single post from a blogger can get him as much as $300. But mostly the norm is $20-$200 and payment is made through PayPal.

Find more details about PayPerPost through this link .

Pay Per Post Blogging at PayPerPost

2007-05-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

PayPerPost appears to have had a substantial impact on Pay Per Post blogging. It is a platform for bloggers, wanting to profit from blogs, and advertisers, using blogs for advertising their products. This is popularly known as blogvertising.

PayPerPost has a large following of both the advertisers and bloggers. Blogvertisers are known to have been substantially benefited and so have been many bloggers. One blogger in Vancouver is known to be charging as much as $300 in his blog for a single review and he is making about $2,500 alone from blogvertising.

Advertisers use bloggers for raising their popularity and credibility with search engines by increased traffic, reviews and links.

PayPerPost.com has an excellent program in blogvertsing. The company has succeeded to a large extent in matching preferences of advertisers and bloggers and benefited them greatly.

PayPerPost has the danger of undesired blogging and not so genuine reviews. This is because many advertisers look for only positive reviews. On the other hand, a review has to be unbiased and based on actual merits of a product or service.

Blogvertisers may influence these reviews. If so, bloggers may lose their loyal readers if their reviews are not unbiased and trustworthy.

E-Bullion

2007-05-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Like, E-Gold, E-Bullion is another company providing international electronic currency and is 100% backed by gold and silver and other precious metals. It offers instant and non-clearing transactions. e-Bullion is considered to be the true global currency for a global world economy.

eBullion is also said to be the currency of future. Like eGold, main benefit of eBullion lies in this that it is also fully backed by precious metals. That way, it is secure. eBullion is accepted as a form of payment throughout the world. This makes it very important for the growth of international commerce.

e-Bullion is a registered legal corporate entity of the Republic of Panama in Central America. It is governed by GOLDFINGER BULLION RESERVE CORPORATION (GBRC), Delaware USA.

One can use either E-Gold or E-Bullion for international commerce. Both offer various features for facilitating electronic gold or electronic bullion related transactions. Main features of both these systems are international online payments, real time transfers and low fees. E-Bullion looks like to be having a more easy interface.

E-Bullion can also be used for investing purposes at Please-invest. Please-invest accepts at least one of the two accounts of E-Gold and E-Bullion. One can start with small investments and then build up from there.

For more information on Please-invest, please follow this link.

For more details about E-Gold, please follow this link.

Reviewing Please-invest

2007-05-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

Please-invest is a small web site, specializing in investing E-Gold and E-Bullion. It does not have any big membership at present. They have a simple objective of investing and profiting from investment. They accept even small amounts of money and allow members to withdraw their money at any time. They provide variable daily rates with compounding.

The amount of profits that Please-invest makes, is amazing. Returns are calculated and reported on daily basis. May 7, 2007 appears to have been an amazing day with a return of 5.4%. Even otherwise, the returns on most of the days have been more than 2%. Negative or zero returns have been very minimal. These returns seem to be phenomenal.

It is not clear as to how Please-invest invests and makes money. Some members seem to be quite happy with the returns. There have been problems previously, especially because of E-Gold. US Govt. seems to have seized some E-Gold accounts in the past.

Please-invest is a free investment web site. In order to join this web-site, one should have an E-Gold or an E-Bullion account.

One can try Please-invest with very small amounts in order to be on the safer side and recoup initial investment. Then one can play with profits only.

I will be discussing about E-Bullion in my next post.

For more information on Please-invest, please follow this link.

For more details about E-Gold, please follow this link.

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that all HYIPs investments are highly risky. We do not recommend you to invest more than you can afford to lose.

E-Gold Currency

2007-05-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

Can we compare E-Gold mode of Internet exchange transactions with PayPal based ones? E-Gold currency is completely backed by gold and provides the facilities of global transactions. On the other hand, PayPal is an e-mail based currency, linked with credit cards.

So while E-Gold has 100 per cent backing of gold, PayPal uses plastic money like credit cards / debit cards. Which one is better?

PayPal provides the convenience of use, is used by over 100 million users and has full confidence of its members. On the other hand, E-Gold has a small international membership of about 3 million. One has to make outside trips to the bank etc. for enabling transactions in E-Gold.

E-Gold has the major benefit of global acceptability which is not the case with PaPal. PayPal fees are much higher than E-Gold. E-Gold currency has many benefits from the point of view of international investment. For example, with an E-Gold account one can invest with Please-invest.

Please see my next post about Please-invest.

Basically, E-Gold provides the facility of international availability and increased investment. One can buy and sell E-Gold in any part of the world, thus increasing the opportunities of investment.

E-Gold has also low transaction fees. For smaller amounts, E-Gold is the best. For example, on a transaction of $1, while PayPal fees will be about 33 cents, the same will be 5 cents with E-Gold. Which service to use, depends upon individual requirements and preferences.

For more details, click here to visit E-Gold Web Site.

A Critique of MyLot

2007-05-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

By now, MyLot has a membership of more than 90,000 and it is growing. Though I am also a member of this site, money making is not my primary objective there. It is more to read other's stuff and to socialize. I have not been that long on MyLot site. But my experience is that most of the members there want to make money. Why not?

While making money on MyLot, many people make friends with others as well. As on date, I have also about 6 friends. Can friends help you in any way over there. I think so. But not directly. I will explain it shortly. How does this site work?

First, let me tell you that this site is a social site and is open for membership internationally. Membership is free and very fast. What do the members do on this site. They post questions, respond to discussions and answer other's questions. The length of postings can be anything from one word to hundreds of words. What can they discuss? They can discuss anything under the sun. One can start discussions or one can reply to discussions.

What are the benefits? First, you get answers to your questions and you also know what others are saying. One can develop knowledge of different things, develop writing skills, develop friends etc. But the best part is to make money. MyLot earns money with advertisers and then shares part of the revenue with its members. It pays members money for doing anything on this site. Yes, you heard right, for doing anything. You can discuss, you can upload photos, etc. I have seen members writing 2 word posts, like "May Be". "I don't know", "What do you think", "How do you do", "How do you squat" and the like. There are a lot of long posts as well.

Now how much MyLot pays per post? Only MyLot knows it.

Join MyLot for Fun, Money and Frienship Today

I tried to find out as to how much members earn per post. I saw from the discussions that members generally make under 2 cents per post. I have made close to 3 cents so far. It is possible that many members might have made more, but I have not seen it so far. Though the earnings are low, it is very easy and comfortable money. That is why members continue to stick there.

If one can build a team of referrals, one can make more. It has a good referral program. When earnings reach $10, one gets paid through PayPal. How can one make more money. From my experience one can follow following simple steps to maximize earnings: Write good content. Whatever one is writing, it should have good ideas and good material.

In short, there should be quality content. The posted content should not have any spelling mistakes and should be grammatically correct. It should be easily understood by others. Keep writing every day. Write on good topics. Provide facts and figures and your honest opinion. Be polite and straight forward. Do not spam. Be clear.

One big mistake that many members are doing is that they want to write as many responses as possible. This reduces the quality of posts and also affects earnings. It is better to write a few posts less than too many. One can make as much money with 10 posts as with 30 if the quality is good.

Also avoid responding to your own discussions. Keep your comments on responses to your discussions to the minimum. I feel your comment on others' responses does not get paid.

Build your referrals. The more referrals one has, the more money. How to increase referrals, I will be discussing that in an another post.

Make friends. How friends can be of benefit? Probably, you may be having some other web sites or blogs elsewhere. You can ask your friends to have a look on those on reciprocal basis, offer comments, join your other programs etc. Did I miss something? I might have. I will carry on next time with more stuff.

Join MyLot Now And Start Making Money in 2 Minutes

Guru.com

2007-05-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

Guru.com is a great freelancing web site. Launched in 2000, it provides a platform to connect and perform transactions with freelance professionals locally, nationally and globally. This service provides employers an opportunity to find the best professionals for completing their projects. Professionals get an outlet to sell their services for good reward and recognition.

I found Guru service much better than Elance. While Elance is purely a subscription service, Guru is partially free. One can create a free basic account with Guru, search for any open projects and proceed to submit bids.On Guru web site, work is allotted after bidding.

Employers post their projects on this web site and then professionals send their bids in the form of proposals. Employers review these bids and proposals and select a professional who they think is best suited to perform the job.

Compensation is very good and some projects may earn you in thousands. If you have good skills, you can virtually make thousands in a month.

Guru has different membership plans. In their free version, only 10 bids per month are allowed. Moreover, only a select group of projects are open to them The paid members get more projects and exposure. If anyone wants to test the waters first, then he should try their basic free membership.

Guru definitely deserves a try if one is serious in making money online. It is one of the finest freelance programs on the Internet and is open internationally.

Adbux Review

2007-05-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

Adbux offers one of the simplest pay per click programs. I tested it today. It was easy and I made 10 cents in about 8 minutes, sipping coffee. Very Little, but not bad, because, I would not have done anything else during this time. Just Free money.

This site offers a good and easy to use interface. There is no clutter at the site. It offers 1 cent for reading one advertisement for 30 seconds. If you have referrals, you earn 1 cent per ad they read. So you make money two ways, directly and through referrals.

With the help of a few referrals, one may be able to make a small extra cash to pay for a web hosting account, or $10 cellphone bill, laundry, partial Internet connection and such small expenses. Remember if you do such little jobs, you may be able to pay most of your small expenses like cable, cell phone, Internet, newspapers, hair cutting etc. (try MyLot also - another easy money making program).

There are so many different ways of making money on the Internet. One should follow a strategy and one can easily take care of many expenses. I hope to come out latter with a step by step strategy which will show how to make up to $500 a month with simple programs.

I don't know how many advertisements may be available at Adbux every day. There were only 10 ads for me to click today. That could be a limitation. Whether there will be newer ads every day and how many, I will have to see. I will report it in this blog.

I came across certain complaints previously regarding their payment schedule. At present, Adbux payout is set at $10. It was much less earlier. Many people are not happy with this change. But that should not be a big issue. Members have no complaints regarding their payment. They do actually pay. But they pay only through PayPal at this time. Check out if PayPal covers your country before joining.

There is no harm in joining Adbux for spare cash in spare time. After all every extra penny should be welcome.

Join Adbux For Free Today

Make Both Money And Friends At MyLot

EBay - Online Auction Site

2007-05-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

The topmost Online Auction Sites are EBay, Yahoo Auction, Amazon, OnlineAuction, Overstock, UBid, WeBidz, Bid-A lot, Auction, BySellTrades, EePier etc.

There are many more, but the above mentioned are some of the top most sites. Of all these, EBay is by far the largest and most comprehensive. Others are trying to be serious contenders and there is a chance that they will provide a matching alternative to EBay at some future point of time.

At present, it is advisable to continue to do business through EBay, as it has most of the required features and global reach, though EBay fees are generally higher than others. At the same time, one should seriously consider looking for an alternative auction place other than EBay. One may try any one of the sites, mentioned above.

The above caution is because there is no guarantee of continuing excellent relations with EBay. EBay is reported to have terminated accounts of its members without proper explanation or rationale.

There is no way one can reason out with EBay customer Service in the event of bad relations. At that time, it will be hard to get right explanation or response from EBay. They have standard and predetermined replies which they send out to clients and these could be far from the issues under dispute.

The point is that one should not solely depend on EBay. It is an excellent place for buying or selling anything on earth, but one should have an alternative to EBay in place, in case of any sour relations. EBay many a times is reported to be arrogant, unrealistic and unnecessarily strict. Many power sellers are said to have already moved their stuff to other sites. But Ebay is such a huge place, that it does not make much difference.

Here is an important source explaining in detail the art of article writing from start to finish for a beginner to an advanced article writer.

Use Article Submitter for Submitting to Hundreds of Article Directories - Explode Your Profits

Please Help Me To Help

2007-05-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

Presently I am writing this blog on reviews. My intention is to review anything useful and post reviews in this blog. I am trying to find ideas for inclusion in this blog. This blog is for reviewing anything and writing honest and thorough reviews.

I want to cover all the topics that are useful to anyone. I started this blog with the consciousness that there is a lot of misinformation regarding so many things around us. I genuinely want to help people by undertaking research and writing reviews on anything.

Many people don't have the time, the resources or the expertise to obtain all the information. And I want to help in my humble way.

First, I will welcome all the suggestions in this respect. Moreover, if you want me to review anything, please let me know. I will just be too happy to do the job.

Elance and Helium - Freelancing

2007-05-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

What is lacking in Associated Content is somewhat made up by Elance network. Elance is an online marketplace for professionals. Customers from all over the world constantly look for online professionals to complete projects ranging from brochure design to programming, web site design, writing, accounting, management, training and a lot more. It is a perfect place for freelancing and ghostwriting.

At Elance one can buy services or sell services. If you want some project to be done, then you will be a buyer of the services. Sellers are called providers of services. Each project is subject to bidding and a service provider with the best bid, is awarded the project. Lot of professional all over the world are reported to be making decent earnings at Elance.

Unlike Associate Content and Helium, professional service providers have to pay a monthly membership fee to Elance for participating in its projects. There are three types of memberships to choose from – select, professional and limited. Apart from that, Elance is reported to be a very good place for freelancing.

Helium is a free place for article writing and is open world wide. Payment is made through PayPal. This is a great site not only for enhancing ones skills but also for making money. Members submit articles to Helium which become available for use all over the world. Helium shares its revenue with its members.

Payment to each article writer depends on the quantity and quality of articles. One may not make any big money in the initial stages, but as one increases the number of articles over time, income also increases. This is a very user friendly site and it has also earned lot of praise from online community.

Here is an important source explaining in detail the art of article writing from start to finish for a beginner to an advanced article writer.

Use Article Submitter for Submitting to Hundreds of Article Directories - Explode Your Profits

Associated Content - Freelancing website

2007-05-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Content (AC) is a great site for publishing and earning. This site has earned a lot of nice reviews from its members. This site is free to join. One can publish articles, images, video and audio on this site. This site pays cash and incentives for writing good content. The place has a large data base and new content is added every minute. This content is available to readers through the world.

How much one can make by contributing content, depends upon the its quality. Apart from getting paid, a writer can test his writing skills and determine which content gets paid most. So over time, it is possible to produce the most in demand content in the market. Any writer can write with different types of content and styles from the viewpoint of earnings. If you are looking for a freelancing job, AC is the answer.

However, there is a great limitation with AC. This is a paid site only for USA citizens. It does not pay to non-citizens because of Tax implications. AC does not use the services of PayPal. Therefore, residents of other parts of the world cannot profit from AC. They can, however, publish through AC without payment.

Here is an important source explaining in detail the art of article writing from start to finish for a beginner to an advanced article writer.

Use Article Submitter for Submitting to Hundreds of Article Directories - Explode Your Profits

Earn $3000 per week, working from home.

2007-04-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is what GoFreelance web site claims. It promises its Gold Members to make $3000 per week. GoFreelance connects freelancers and employers. It claims to be the world's fastest growing freelance marketplace, with thousands of freelance and work at home jobs.

One can become a gold member of GoFreelance for just $2.95. The membership can be canceled at any time, without any obligation or further commitment.

There is no harm in joining GoFreelance. One can join for a week, test their services and if their claim proves to be false, one can cancel membership immediately.

Earn $3000 per week, working from home. Get instant access to thousands of freelance and work-at-home jobs. $2.95. Click here to start.

Write for Discussion Boards: $1200 per week...

Administer a Web Business from Home: $4000 per month...

Transcribe Authors' Notes: $80 per hour...

Find thousands of freelance jobs like these:
Click here

Article Writing

2007-04-29T12:18:00.001-07:00

There is a lot of study material relating to the writing of articles and making money from them. Many Internet marketers are believed to have been benefited from article writing. Experts have been recommending article writing for increased popularity and monetary benefits.

There can be many reasons for wring articles like love of writing, education, publicity, hobby, developing one's writing skills, advertising and also for making money.

If one's intention is to make money, there are various ways. These could be by promoting a web site, selling products or promoting affiliate programs.

First requirement is that one should have a product to write about. One can also join different affiliate programs and promote their products. One can sell products through one's own Internet site or directly from the seller's web site.

After one has selected products, either one's own or affiliate products, one can start writing articles on each product. These can describe different products and provide useful information about them. Towards the end, the author must provide a link to the sales page of the product which is on one's own web site or somewhere else. The idea is that when readers read about any product, they might follow the link that has been provided at the end and convert them into sales.

Many writers have reported increased traffic to their web site or in sales with this method. However, it has to be ensured that articles have good content and pertain to a product which is in high demand. There is a lot of competition in the market in article writing as many people have realized its importance. Therefore, it is all the more important that articles should be of high quality.

After articles have been written, these should be submitted to free article directories. These article directories will be more than willing to publish free articles. A few of them are: goarticles.com, ezinearticles.com, articlecity.com, isnare.com, ideamarketers.com, articlecentral.com, articlebase.com etc.

In order to benefit from article writing, it is very important to have one's own web site. Many article directories do not accept articles from third party web sites.

Evaluating the of performace of article writing will be the subject of another post.

Commission Junction

2007-04-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Commission Junction (CJ) is another great affiliate platform. A lot of marketers have joined hands with CJ for providing a platform to the affiliates to market their products for a commission. Unlike ClickBank, but just like PayDotCom, they have affiliate programs for all types of products, be they digital or physical.

Like ClickBank, it also penalizes the members who cannot generate a sale over a period of three months. Their accounts become dormant and they are fined on per day basis.

The other problem with CJ is that, the look of the site is not that impressive and the background colors and fonts make it difficult for a newbie to navigate the site comfortably. On the other hand, there is no comparison with ClickBank. ClickBank web site is very easy to navigate, easily understood, easy to work with. CJ web site is not that smooth. One has to do some digging to understand the programs and to get links.

Lot of marketers called advertisers on CJ site, do not have very good sales pages. The destination or sales pages look dreary and short of details. This is not the case with ClickBank or PayDotCom site. Sales letters for each product on ClickBank and PayDotCom are well laid out, detailed, clear and some of them are superb. There are chances of better sales with excellent sales pages.

The great advantage with CJ is that this site is well known around the world, has plenty of fortune and other reputed companies on its affiliate list and has lot of very great programs. Once one is familiar with the site and its features, one can do better.

There are a scores of ways to promote CJ products. These are true for ClickBank and PayDotCom sites as well. It is very important to have one's own web site in order to promote their products as an affiliate. One can select products on these sites and promote through one's web site or through advertising. One just has to obtain links, place them on web pages and finally drive traffic to them.

If one is serious about promoting affiliate programs, I would recommend PayDotCom. It has advantages of all the other affiliate platforms like the ClickBank, CJ etc., while at the same time avoiding their negative features. One can join PayDotCom through my following link:

http://paydotcom.net/?affiliate=108301

Money Making Books from Amazon

2007-04-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a bunch of my collection on Money Making from Amazon.com. It has many pages. Please feel free to browse:

Amazon's aStore

2007-04-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Promoting Amazon aStore is another way of making money online as an Amazon affiliate. It is amazing how Amazon builds an aStore in minutes and makes it running. With this, one can have an independent and standalone Amazon aStore or embedded in one's own web site.

One beauty of Amazon aStore is that Amazon does not charge anything for the site. It sets up the store for any interested person and he/she can start promoting within minutes. Commission is mostly up to 10 per cent of the sales price.

Amazon aStore can be on any subject. One can group related items together, focusing on one theme. For example, my Amazon aStore is on Money Making Books. I have selected a bunch of best seller Money Making Books and have embedded in my blog. At other place, I have set it up as a stand alone store.

If you are interested you can see my Amazon aStore.

One big problem with Amazon affiliate program is that it is too saturated in the USA now as too many affiliates are promoting Amazon products. Therefore, it is important to look at other markets, like the UK, Australia and Europe.

If one is a member of EBay.com, he/she can access any market with the same log in. But this is not so with Amazon. In order to promote Amazon UK products, one has to become Amazon UK member. Same is the case with other Amazon markets.

In any case Amazon has a great variety of products, has world wide reach, has unbeatable market acceptability and is trustworthy. One has to be ingenious in promoting Amazon products.

ClickBank and PayDotCom.com

2007-04-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Most of the people have heard about ClickBank. Briefly stating, it is a platform for affiliate programs. But it is only restricted to Digital Products. If someone wants to promote non-digital products, then ClickBank is not the right place.

I personally would prefer an affiliate place which gives me options to promote both physical and digital products. I don't want to be restricted to just one type of products. But with ClickBank, you have no choice.

The other problem with ClickBank which has not been much talked about is their penalty system. They say if there is no activity within an account, then the account will become dormant. Well, the problem does not lie there. In addition to making the account dormant, they are also going to fine one at the rate of $1 per day and after a certain period of time $10 per day. This is not much talked about.

There can be times when one is sick, or one is holidaying or one is too busy elsewhere and one may not be able to do much with ClickBank. But it is more concerned with how to get more revenue for itself, left and right.

Another major problem with ClickBank is that their fee structure is quite heavy both for the advertisers and publishers. They are trying to take a bigger cut of your earnings which may not be justified.

Moreover, they only list items with a maximum value of $100.

PayDotCom is another place which takes care of all these problems. It has both the physical and digital products in its market place, it does not penalize one, it does not have any restrictions on the value of items and above all, its fee structure is quite reasonable. The site itself is so easy and friendly.

So if anyone is interested in promoting affiliate programs, I would suggest to have a look at PayDotCom.

This site is great both for advertisers and publishers. Both the product owners and affiliates can benefit from market friendly interface of PayDotCom.com. Give it a shot. Another very popular place for affiliates is Commission Junction. I will be discussing CJ in another post.

Revver.com

2007-04-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

This is an ad sharing revenue site. If you can produce some videos, then this is a great site to make money with these videos. In order to share videos one has to become a member of Revver. Then the process of uploading and sharing is simple.

Anyone wanting to share videos will have to follow simple instructions at Revver site. After the videos are uploaded, Revver attaches matching ads with those videos and then posts them on the internet. Videos become part of a viral video network.

Revenue that is made on these is split half and half between the maker and the revver. More the videos get shown on the internet, more the revenue. These videos can be used and shown by third parties as well.

With the video industry spreading fast, there are immense possibilities of making some decent money. These videos can be made once and can earn passive income for the maker for a long time. The videos have to be original. YouTube users have found a great use for these videos with the popularity of LonelyGirl15 site.

Video has a very bright future. Revver is the first site to share content based revenue. Its user interface is very good and it has the potential of generating more revenue in future. This will be beneficial not only for Revver but for video makers as well.

ChaCha Web Site

2007-04-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

I had a very bad experience with ChaCha.com web site recently. I happened to work on one of the MTURK HITs. This HIT related to ChaCha search engine and searches on it. One of the tasks in this HIT was to set ChaCha.com as my Home Page. I never had any trouble with setting or deselecting a Home Page. For this, I simply go to the Tools menu of the Internet Explorer and change the Home Page, as desired.

But this time, it was different. As per the requirements of the HIT, I changed my Home Page to ChaCha.com. Now after three days, I tried to change My Home page to something else.

No way. I tried and tried through Tools Menu and through Control Panel. My home Page did not change and it reverted back to ChaCha.com. I felt disgusted. How could this happen with a new search engine which now seems to be getting some respectability.

Obviously my computer had been attacked with some irremovable vicious software. The clear intention was to keep me stuck with Cha-Cha search engine permanently.

I tried MSCONFIG and disabled all the startup programs. No luck. Then I uninstalled Internet Explorer 7 from the computer and reverted back to an older version of the IE. I ran anti virus programs. Same problem. It was frustrating and I wasted many hours.

After constant trial, I could change the Home Page. This I did through a clean boot of my computer, using System Configuration Utility.

SlashMySearch

2007-04-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Make Money From New Search Engine

Using Internet is getting monetized day by day. It is getting to a stage where all actions on Internet whether it be browsing, searching, enjoying etc. is going to get paid. What a wonderful world!

Imagine a search engine paying a user for the time spent in using it for surfing and searching. Not only that, one also gets paid through referrals.

SlashMySearch.com is relatively a new search engine which filters search results from all the other major search engines. What is significant is that it pays about $0.25 for searching.

It does not seem to be a lot of money, but this is absolutely free money. Payout is at $20 through Pay Pal, E-Gold or check. For many people who spend a lot of time on the Internet every day, making $20 a month and more should not be that difficult. If one can build referrals, so much the better.

So join early. I have provided my referral link as follows. If desired, you can join through this link.

Introducing the SlashMySearch.com Search N Earn Program. Get paid to use our search engine. Join now for free!

Paid or Fake Surveys

2007-04-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

I tried a few so called paid surveys. In fact, I was not convinced to start with. I joined more to test them rather than from any commitment. My idea confirmed my suspicions that they are a waste of time.

First, they ask you a lot of personal information. The idea behind that is said to make the surveys relevant to ones profile. But there are certain details which don't seem to be right. For example, I can't understand why they should ask about one's exact date of birth.

Many of them are marketing agents for other companies rather than surveys. In fact, all of them gather personal information so that they and their sponsors can send you offers.

Some of them like Survey Club act as front runners for other survey companies. They will urge you to join certain paid companies. I think they must be getting a commission for that. Some of them will ask you to fill up a survey for inclusion in sweepstakes.

Sometimes you will be told that you do not qualify for a survey after answering a series of questions. At other times a survey will not be allowed because they already reached a quota.

Some companies will pay you a cent or two for reading e-mails. These emails are just marketing gimmicks. With 1 or 2 cents, one will need you to read 50-100 emails to earn one dollar, may be over a month's time.

Many people must have different experiences with survey companies. From my experience and what I have learned from others, I can only say they that they are a waste of time and scams.

Helium - The Writer's Hub

2007-04-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

Helium is another good site which can earn anyone long term income. It is essentially one paid site where one can contribute by writing one's thoughts on anything and get paid.

The site has a very simple model. Writers on this site can write on any topic of one's choice. The article gets submitted and published on the net and is viewable to any web surfer.

Writer gets paid by the quality and volume of traffic to the article. The larger the number of viewers, the larger the payout. So basically earnings for any article depend upon its quality, number of showings and readers. If one can produce high quality articles, he can expect better earnings.

The beauty of this program is that it is not a one time payment. The articles one writes keep on earning money for any writer so long as they are read and rated. Over time if a writer can contribute a large number of articles, he can make a steady passive income for a long time to come.

I tried to gauge an idea about the amount of earnings. Earnings are not so great to start with. It looks like a long term project. If over a period of time one is able to contribute more than 1000 articles, he can easily expect $100-$200 a month. This is my assessment based on reports of many writers on this site. Writing of 2-5 articles a day is not that difficult. Even if one contributes at the rate of three articles of 200-500 words a day, one can easily accumulate more than a 1000 articles overa year. I have seen writers to have done this on Helium site.

Though payment for writing is low and uncertain, one need not to worry about submitting to various publishers on the net or to bother about advertising. All these are taken care of by Helium. Helium interface is friendly and growing. It is possible that Helium may become a large Internet entity over time and its payment structure becomes more attractive.

WWW.Helium.com

Amazon Mechanical Turk

2007-04-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

People have different opinions regarding Amazon Mechanical Turk. On this site, organizations and individuals offer certain tasks which any Turk member can do for a predetermined compensation. Compensation varies from one cent to several dollars.

The offered tasks are called HITs which stands for "Human Intelligence Tasks". The philosophy behind these tasks is that these are the tasks which human beings cannot do and are doable only by human beings.The MTurk interface is quite simple and friendly. It takes about a minute to join and in the next minute, one can start accepting and working on tasks (HITs). So one can start making money virtually right away as there are always thousands of HITs waiting to be performed.

People have different motives in joining MTurk from earning money to utilizing idle time and killing boredom. I have heard some people making good money while sitting at home. At present the compensation is too low from USA standards. This site is not subject to any fair or minimum payment. It is considered more to fall within the purview of self employment. Payment is credited to one's Amazon account from where it can be redeemed by Gift Certificates or transferred to a US bank account.

Although MTurk is open to anyone internationally, payment system is more favorable to US residents. Persons from other countries can only redeem their earnings by way of gift certificates. It is possible that shipping from US Amazon may result in heavy custom duties in other countries. So one has to be careful.

MTurk earnings are also available in Indian currency. If one is an Indian resident, he/she can get a check from Amazon in rupees.It is understood that MTurk requesters (who assign tasks) used to pay more to start with. But now tasks mostly pay pennies. Some tasks pay as low as one cent. If one is good in transcribing audios, one can earn in dollars for each podcast.

Lot of tasks are repetitive also. For example, I did several repetitive tasks one after the other at $0.10 a task (more like data entry) and I could do about 40 HITs in one hour. Not that bad while sitting at home, sipping drinks and listening music.

Sometimes a few good tasks become available. But they go away fast. When I opened my computer today (April 19, 2007), the MTurk window showed a task carrying a reward of $4 + Bonus. The job was to write an article on real estate investing up to 500 words. I figured to do it in about 30 minutes. By the time I hit accept button, the task had meanwhile been claimed by someone else and assigned.

The major drawbacks with Mechanical Turk are that compensation is too low and that it does not pay cash to non-US and non-Indian residents. Otherwise, the site is quite reliable as it has Amazon at its back and the site interface is quite easy to work with. Moreover, there is always work available.

If you want to have a peep on this program, you can go to http://www.mturk.com/. Best of luck.