Archive for May, 2008
May 23, 2008 at 2:51 am · Filed under Online Home Improvement
When most homeowners are considering a home improvement project, many times it is to add additional living space to the home. Many homeowners also have financial constraints when planning a remodeling project. A good solution is to consider a basement renovation.
Utilize Existing Space
By utilizing a well-planned basement home improvement, space that is already available can be optimized without the enormous expense of constructing a new addition to the home.
Every successful basement remodeling project begins with a detailed plan. It is advisable to enlist the services of either an architect or remodeling design specialist. It is important to measure the basement and come up with a set of drawings for the project; both designer and homeowner should have input to the design.
Special Considerations
Basements come with special considerations for incorporating them into the available living space offered by the home. Basements are prone to water and humidity problems. If there is a history of such problems they must be addressed in the renovation design.
If mold has been a problem, it must be treated with a microbial agent
and then be removed. There are special mold inhibitor paints available that yield excellent results in preventing a re-occurrence, with a single application. Adding adequate basement ventilation in the renovation design plans will help control excess humidity.
Basements also commonly contain the heating, plumbing, electrical and load bearing systems for the entire home. A successful renovation plan will usually hide components such as plumbing or furnace ducts, but will provide access to them, should it become necessary.
If the design includes adding plumbing for a new bathroom, existing concrete slabs sometimes pose a problem. If any concrete must be broken to add plumbing, be sure to include that aspect of the project in the plans.
When planning the basement renovation project, it is important to be thorough and to make sure it is exactly the way you want it before work begins. Desired or necessary changes should be made on paper, not in mid-construction. Plans should include specific details about materials, fixtures, exact cost, and project completion timelines.
Selecting a Contractor
Once you have the final detailed plans, it is time to start the selection process for a contractor. Exact duplicates of the plan should be furnished to all potential candidates to insure an accurate bid from each.
Ask each candidate for licensing and insurance credentials, as well as references from projects similar to yours. Take the time to ask other homeowners about the contractor’s performance on their projects.
Canadians seeking a suitable contractor for their project can visit www.HandyCanadian.com to help with the screening and selection process. This convenient on-line resource lists only reputable, licensed contractors and their references.
Max Sheppard is Co-Owner of HandyCanadian.com: where homeowners locate professional landscaping contractors, and qualifying contractors acquire new leads.
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May 22, 2008 at 11:56 am · Filed under Great Health Tips
An article by Jennifer Washburn in the April 12, 2006 issue of the Los Angeles Times entitled “The legal lock on stem cells;
Two patents that cover key research areas are setting back science,” discusses patent royalty issues surrounding California’s Proposition 71/CIRM previously discussed in this ezine (”Future Bumps In The Road For State-Funding Of Stem Cell Research,” http://ezinearticles.com/?id=171034.) However, unlike the theme in the ezine, which suggested that patent royalty issues were bumps in the road which could be worked out, the Washburn article suggested that stem cell patents were themselves problematic.
Washburn wrote: “The foundation’s [WARF’s] patents are based on the work of James Thompson, a University of Wisconsin professor who was the first scientist to isolate embryonic stem cells, in 1998. But the patents are so broad — unreasonably broad — that they cover all human embryonic stem cell lines in the U.S., not just the specific lines developed by Thompson.”
Obliquely, Washburn suggests that California’s CIRM should challenge the validity of WARF’s patents: “The Foundation
for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, based in Santa Monica, has urged California’s stem cell agency to challenge the Wisconsin patents.”
The basic WARF patent is US 5,843,780 (issued 1 Dec 1998 to James A. Thomson, based on application 591246 filed 18 Jan 1996; the application was a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/376,327 filed Jan. 20, 1995. This invention was made with United States government support awarded by NIH NCRR Grant No. RR00167. Thus, if California’s CIRM were to challenge the ‘780 patent, one would have state taxpayer money of California used to challenge a patent held by a Wisconsin agency (WARF), based on research paid by for by the federal National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is doubtful that state taxpayers in California or in Wisconsin, or federal taxpayers, would find this a useful expenditutre of money.
The previous ezine article stated: An important message to appreciate is that money from state-funding of stem cell research intended to create new horizons in medical treatment may be directed to paying off holders of already-created rights. It may well happen that there are valid patent rights in the stem cell area, and states working in the area must negotiate with the holders of those rights. Separately, the Hatch-Waxman Act created in 35 USC 271(e)(1) a safe harbor for research used to furnish information to federal agencies (such as the FDA). The Supreme Court gave this safe harbor great breadth in the case Merck v. Integra.
Separately, it is ironic for Washburn to complain that WARF is asserting its patent rights while, at the same time, CIRM will be seeking to obtain patent rights to enforce against others. Although the patent royalty distribution under Proposition 71 is muddied by federal tax issues associated with the planned use of tax exempt bonds, California voters were told that there would be income from patent royalties.
As a minor aside to the Washburn article, the two patents discussed therein, U.S. 5,843,780 and 6,200,806, were respectively a continuation-in-part and a divisional; because neither was a continuation, the remark about the applicant can file a “continuation” with another until it gets approved was inappropriate to these facts. The USPTO is currently studying changes to the “continuation” process, but even the changes, as currently proposed, would not have impacted these two applications. Discussions about the effect of repeated continuations on patent grant rate have been discussed in 4 CHI.-KENT J. INTELL. PROP. 186 (available at http://jip.kentlaw.edu); ironically, misunderstanding of the patent grant rate underlies some of the arguments about the lack of patent quality relied upon in the Washburn article.
Lawrence B. Ebert is a registered patent attorney located in central New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford, a J.D. from the University of Chicago, maintains a blog at IPBiz.blogspot.com, and is the author of LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE HWANG MATTER: ANALYZING INNOVATION THE RIGHT WAY, published in the Journal of the Patent & Trademark Office Society [88 JPTOS 239 (March 2006)]. Ezine draft submitted April 12, 2006.
May 21, 2008 at 10:31 pm · Filed under Marketing + Selling
Your customers don’t know what they want. And to assume otherwise is folly. When you begin relying totally on customers to be your product development department, you are asking for serious trouble.
I am not saying that you should discount customer input. However, asking customers what they want is a marketing question and requires experienced marketers to answer.
Marketers have the objectivity to look at the marketplace, see through the consumer’s self-deception and discern the answer to a tough question that requires some serious analysis.
It is behavior that you need to be learning about from your consumers. Ask them questions that will get to the heart of how they use your products and services. This is where their experience is crucial.
Let’s take an example to illustrate the difference between a “what do you want” and “what do you do” question. Krispy Kreme, the world’s best donut-maker, did some customer research in the 1980s to learn more about the customer experience.
They didn’t ask, “what do you want in a donut?” They asked questions like, “what do you like about Krispy Kreme?” and “when do you buy donuts?”
Answers to those questions helped them redesign the Krispy Kreme experience. They learned that people were happiest when the donuts were hot. Additionally, they heard loud and clear that consumers had no idea when the hot donuts were coming down the conveyor belt. Voila! The “Hot Now” sign was born.
Consumers said they often were in a hurry, heading to a morning meeting when they stopped for donuts. Customers did not like having to stand in line to wait for the sweet treats. From this, marketers decided to install drive-in windows.
If they had asked customers “what do you want in a donut,” they may have produced some low carb abomination that would have crashed to the floor like a heavy Dunkin Donut. Friends, when you want a donut, the last thing you are thinking about is carbs.
So, ask the right questions of your consumer, then let the right people review the research and everyone benefits.
Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, Verbatim and Wicked Choppers.
May 21, 2008 at 6:54 pm · Filed under Technology Center
Why Text?
Text messaging is a quick way to stay in touch with people for personal or business purposes. With text messaging, you can chat with a partner by typing on the keyboard and reading what they write to you on the screen. Many text messaging products can work with cell phone text messaging (aka SMS or Short Messaging Service) so you can chat with people who aren’t in front of their computer. So, why not just pick up the phone and talk?
It’s faster than e-mail and phone calls. And you don’t have to pay anything to text. If you need to chat with someone briefly or ask a quick question, it’s much less intrusive than calling someone. As with most developing technologies, several types of text messaging are available and each one is incompatible with the others. But don’t let that keep you from trying it out. The main text messaging products are ICQ (www.icq.com), MSN Messenger (www.msn.com), AIM (www.aim.com), and Yahoo Messenger (www.yahoo.com).
btw (By the Way…)
Each one is free and simple to download, install, and sign up. You can locate your “buddies” by searching in an online directory by their screen name, e-mail address, name, or telephone number. Once you get the hang of it, text messaging can be extremely addictive. As you continue to use text messaging, you will find yourself learning to abbreviate words and sentences. When you leave an online chat, you might say BRB (Be Right Back), I’m afk (away from the keyboard), or TTYL (Talk to You Later). See glossary below.
Some text messaging products are beginning to offer voice and video chat. The future of digital communication is an integrated product, since voice, video, interactive text messaging, and e-mail are all effective means of communication. In the future, you will be able to switch between text, voice, and video with ease. Until then, we will continue to use different methods for different communication needs 
Glossary
Smiley face. Means that someone is happy
Smiley face with wink.
If someone sends you this in an e-mail, they’re probably not having a good day
BTW - By the Way
FYI - For Your Information
FWIW - For What It’s Worth
IMHO - In My Humble Opinion (or IMO)
TIA - Thanks in Advance
WRT - With Respect To
LOL - Laughing Out Loud
ROTFL - Rolling on the Floor Laughing
AFK - Away From Keyboard
TTYL - Talk To You Later
CYA - See You Later
Deryck Richards is the founder and managing partner of Desktronix. With an extensive educational background in computer information systems, Deryck currently manages hosting and data center operations for Desktronix. He also provides system administration and technical support directly to small businesses as he has since 2000. His areas of expertise include networking, Windows, Linux, and Macintosh systems and he is the author of The Guide to Technology for Small Business. For more information on Desktronix, visit www.desktronix.com.
May 21, 2008 at 4:50 pm · Filed under Travel Tips
In our global economy, everyone from the businessperson to the neighbor who traveled abroad on holiday is facing the same dilemma: how to send gifts to business associates and new friends who live overseas. Increasingly, gift givers are choosing the convenience of international gourmet deliveries over the hassle of shipping gifts overseas through conventional methods.
Utilizing the availability of gourmet gifts worldwide, many gift givers are sending hampers to Britain and other nations. Of the hamper baskets worldwide, the most popular gourmet baskets to Britain include fruits, cheeses, and meats. Companies known for their outstanding gourmet baskets to Britain, such as www.gourmetgiftuk.com, have established local shipping posts in nations around the world. Therefore, gourmet gift baskets can be shipped from a location close to the recipient, ensuring the utmost in freshness and quality.
International gourmet deliveries are especially appropriate for business associates and personal acquaintances, for whom gifts are traditionally difficult to choose. A basket containing a bottle of Australian wine and a bottle of South African wine, combined with English cheddar cheese and table biscuits, conveys a sense of adventure to an already thoughtful gift. For those who have a sweet tooth, an international gourmet delivery of chocolate wafers, biscotti, flavored coffee, truffles, and cocoa will be delightfully received. If the gift recipient’s tastes run to the savory, a hamper containing corned beef, new potatoes, liver pate, ham, and baked beans will be welcomed.
Distance doesn’t have to mean that favorite edibles are lost forever. When friends and family move overseas, international gourmet deliveries are the perfect way to send comfort foods from home. The recipient’s pleasure at seeing a basket full of favorites from her country of origin is sure to help keep homesickness at bay. Plus, the satisfaction of giving a loved one a taste of home is unmatched.
International gourmet deliveries are the perfect way to convey appreciation to overseas customers and employees. Personalized wines, cakes, and chocolates are innovative gifts that can be used for corporate entertaining, as incentives, and to announce and celebrate promotions. Virtually every occasion can be commemorated through the personalization of foods and beverages.
Whether it’s a wine and champagne basket, a fruit and candy basket, a floral bouquet, or a cheese and meat hamper, an international gourmet delivery is certain to delight business associates, friends, and family members. Such a gift is also easy on the giver, who doesn’t have to bother with postal regulations and the high costs associated with shipping overseas.
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
Visit this Food Website and Majon’s Food directory.
May 20, 2008 at 11:40 pm · Filed under Marketing + Selling
What Is A Joint Venture?
A joint venture is an agreement in which two or more
businesses work on a project for a set period of time.
Joint ventures can be long-term, like promoting a
product together, or some can be short-term, like
bartering (trading) products and services. Joint
venture ideas are virtually endless.
The Benefits Of Joint Venture Marketing
- You can build long lasting business relationships.
- You can increase your credibility by teaming up with other reputable, branded businesses.
- You can get free products and services.
- You can construct most joint venture deals with little or no money.
- You can gain new leads and customers.
- You can get discounts on products and services.
- You can save money on business operating costs.
- You can beat your competition.
- You can gain referrals from other businesses.
- You can solve your business problems.
- You can save valuable time.
- You can get free and low cost advertising.
- You can offer your customers new products and services.
- You can survive a depression, recession or a slow economy.
- You can save money by sharing advertising and marketing costs.
- You can target other potential markets.
- You can expand and grow your business quickly.
- You can gain valuable information or skills.
- You can increase and protect your cash flow.
- You can find new profit outlets.
- You can become rich and wealthy.
- You can start almost any business at little or no costs.
- You can get rid of your extra inventory.
- You can reduce and eliminate your debts and avoid bankruptcy.
- You can afford to sell your products at a lower price.
- You can increase your opt in or ezine subscribers for free.
- You can get your web hosting and design for free.
- You can save money outsourcing your workload for free.
- You can find hidden income streams.
- You can exchange useless products for profitable ones.
- You can create new business funding and credit lines.
- You can reduce your taxes.
- You can find and create new distribution channels for your products.
- You can give your employees more raises, bonuses and benefits.
- You can even trade non business stuff to improve your personal life.
- You can increase your sales and profits.
- You can send your ad to huge, targeted email lists at no cost.
- You can eliminate employee hiring costs creating barter outsourcing deals.
- You can build your customer or opt-in list for free.
- You can build profitable alliances with other businesses.
- You can learn insider information from other experts at no cost.
- You can test your product for free.
- You can out-sell other affiliates much easier.
- You can increase the number of affiliates that sign up to your reseller program.
- You can offer more bonus products and incentives to buy.
- You can get highly credible endorsements and testimonials from other experts.
- You can quickly increase your ezine subscribers.
- You can offer your products at lower prices than your competition.
- You can easily find new up sell and backend products to sell.
- You can create products faster and with less effort.
These are only some of the benefits. They’re endless!
About the author:
Rojo Sunsen is a specialized bounty hunter who prefers to work quietly/confidentially for the benefit of her clients.
May 20, 2008 at 12:47 pm · Filed under Eating
It is quite easy to set up and start up your own bar. There are a few basic elements that a good bartender must keep in mind to run a bar with as little effort as possible. All bars must contain the most basic and important spirits and liquors as well as equipment. Also, there are essential techniques a bartender must learn about mixing cocktails and long drinks.
First and foremost is the physical set up of the bar. Location is the key. It will be to your advantage if your bar is in an easily accessible place in the room and make sure that you have enough space behind the bar. This is a good tip because you can store extra liquor and glasses. In the space, install a small sink with running water, which is important to keep hygienic, a small refrigerator and a chair or two for you to rest in your free time. The bartender must know his way in, out and around his bar to avoid confusion and to save time and energy especially when he is catering to a party of a thousand people. The rush hour, which is from one to two in the early morning, the mixing stations can serve up to 180 drinks per hour. In these situations, four to six mixing stations are set up all around the place. Inventories must be made before the bar opens.
The next step is to know your menu and learn how to mix the drinks by heart. But with the wide variety of drinks, a “Mixing List” can be posted discretely under the bar. Since you may not have a lot of time in mixing, you will not have time to read the labels of each bottle of liquor. To help in this dilemma, you can set up your spirits and liquors in a certain order. You may have whiskey to Swedish punch arranged from left to right according to the decrease in alcohol content of the different liquors. You may end with grenadine and sugar. In the refrigerator, there should be a supply of fresh fruit juices, sodas, cream, milk, lemons and other ingredients that are perishable.
Each mixing station should contain the base spirits which are Vodka, Tequila, Gin and Rum. Also, the stations should have available sets of fruit juices and extracts such as Orange juice, Pineapple juice, Lemon and Lime. These are present in a lot of cocktail drinks. Below the bar of each station, there should be available cooled soft drinks like Schweppes, Russian Water, tonic water and the usual Coca Cola, Sprite and others.
Some drinks require the use of special gadgets. All stations must have them handy at all times. A Shaker, a measuring cup, a rinsing bowl and straws should be present and ready to use. Each station must have sets of glasses in three sizes, 32cl, 25cl and 8cl. They should also have the ever-needed cloth that is placed over the mixing area to wipe off spills and deal with other incidences.
Lastly, hygiene and sanitation is very important for all bartenders. Your nails must be trimmed short and make sure to wash your hands and gadgets in between drinks as much as possible. Wash glasses when they become empty so that you will always have spare glasses. Always serve napkins to the customers so they too will keep clean.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Bartending
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May 20, 2008 at 6:15 am · Filed under Sports Info
“Stun Strokes” Once your fundamentals are correct and you are
shooting with a straight and level cue, you need to master the
stun stroke. This shot is the most important shot because it
gives you a reference for cue ball positioning.
Straight-In Stun Stroke When you hit a stun stroke on a straight
in shot, it will produce a “stop shot.” In other words, the ball
stops as soon as it makes contact with the object ball. Factors
that influence this are a blend of the following; cue tip
location, force, follow through, and quickness (the amount of
time it takes the cue tip to accelerate through the ball). There
are an infinite number of blends of these variables that produce
a stop shot. For example, you can use 4″of follow through with a
small force OR only 1″of follow through with a large force to
produce a stop shot. Play with these variables until you can
manipulate each one and still get the same cue ball position.
Measure your follow through by placing a ruler beside your cue
tip. Then, vary the distance between the balls. Once you’ve
mastered a stop shot with 1 diamond or 12″ of distance, keep
increasing it by another 12″. The more distance you have, the
more forward rotation or “high english” the ball picks up before
it strikes the object ball. So the greater the distance, the
lower you must hit the cue ball to produce a stun/stop shot.
Stun Stroke at an Angle Once again, place the object ball 12″
away from the cue ball. But this time, put the cue ball at a 30
degree angle, so that you are aiming at half the ball to pocket
it. Use the same stun stroke, and the cue ball will travel
straight down the “tangent line.” This is the line that is
perpendicular to the object ball at 90 degrees. The harder or
quicker you hit the ball, the further it will travel down the
line.
This is the first step in predicting cue ball position. DO NOT
move on to the next article until you are comfortable shooting
Straight-In Stun Shots and Stun Strokes at an Angle at different
distances. Be able to alter the variables (cue tip location,
force and quickness) and get the same cue ball position.
(Jackie “The Angel” Broadhurst, National 8-Ball and Trick Shot
Champion, invites everyone, of any gender or background, to play
and learn about this great game together. Visit her website at
www.TheAngelofBilliards.com.)
May 19, 2008 at 1:05 pm · Filed under Commercial Markets
Homebuyers are an interesting study. Watching people make their home buying decisions has brought me to the conclusion that every decision that every one of us makes is based in emotion. You heard me, it’s all about the emotion. Before you deny what I am describing to you, let me begin with me.
Painful as the revelation is for me, even I as a Naval Academy graduate, retired Navy pilot, and home inspector extraordinaire, make decisions based on emotion. It took some bridging for me to get there, but I am there.
Have you ever had a feeling in your gut about a decision? A hunch? That’s emotion. We make decisions that reflect how we feel about the event or expect to feel when the outcome is completed. People, especially those that are highly educated and technically trained, rarely realize and usually never concede that their decisions are based in emotion.
Before discussing the particulars of the emotional responses, I will admit that logic does play a role. What ends up happening is, after the near immediate emotional response and decision, the backfilling of logic begins. Logic is used to make the emotion seem reasonable.
Emotional responses as I see them fall into two broad categories. The first is the desire for pleasure and the second is the avoidance of pain. When we are contemplating a decision, we weigh the balance of the desire for and probability of a pleasurable outcome with the fear of and distain for pain.
What real estate agents are faced with is responding to issues presented as logic that are truly emotions. It takes a tremendous talent to listen to the logic, but hear the emotion. What are people really saying? That is the challenge.
Find and understand the emotional issue and you can keep any deal together. This thought applies no matter if your role is buyer, seller, agent, or inspector. Ultimately, you must seek to understand why people feel as they feel in order to fully comprehend what they really mean in what they are saying.
Not long ago, I inspected a home for an electrical engineer, a very bright and successful individual. The home had a beautiful swimming pool in the backyard. Our intrepid engineer had out his digital tape measure and was measuring the distance between each electrical receptacle along the rear exterior of the home. He would measure, then ponder, measure more, and then ponder more.
Finally, he approached the real estate agent and me announcing that there was an unsafe condition relating to the unequal distance between the electrical outlets. He then spouted large quantities of electrical engineer babble and finished with, “I’d be shocked if this were not a code violation”. I wanted to respond with “No sir, the code is intended to prevent you from being shocked”, but decided that “hmmmm” was a better response.
After much debate and some real listening, the man’s issue had nothing to do with electrical engineering or the National Electric Code. In his mind, he had the perfect place for his lounge chair, but there was not a receptacle adjacent to that location for him to plug his radio into! He was laying logic, however flawed, on us in order to justify his demand that a new receptacle be added.
Listen to the logic, hear the emotion!
Wally Conway is President of Florida HomePro Inspections, and has been featured regularly on HGTV’s “House Detective”. Wally has recently written a book entitled “Secrets of the Happy Home Inspector”, available at GoHomePro.com or Amazon.com. As a speaker, writer, instructor, and host of The Happy Home Inspector radio show every Saturday at 3 PM on WOKV 690, Wally blends the right amount of up-to-date information with just the right amount of humor, insight, motivation, and real-world application. Visit WallyConway.com for more information!
May 19, 2008 at 10:19 am · Filed under Baker's Dozen
Although the exact date remains a mystery, it is commonly thought that cuckoo clocks first made their appearance around 1730 in the Black Forest area of Germany. To this day, even with all that has come along with modern experience, skill and technology, no other clock or timepiece has made the lasting impression that the Cuckoo clock made at the time of its introduction. Although there are a number of conflicting stories about who actually made the first cuckoo clock, the invention is generally attributed to a gentleman by the name of Franz Anton Ketterer, from the town of Triberg.
The first cuckoo clocks were entirely made out of wood, including the internal plates and gears. As time went on, the inner workings and decorations of the clocks became more sophisticated and ornate. The birds’ wings and beaks became animated, and some were even decorated with feathers. The inner workings of the clocks were improved with the introduction of metal gears and metal plates. Soon family scenes, hunting scenarios and military motifs gained in popularity, all accentuated with the “cuckoo” call on the half hour and on the hour.
All of the early cuckoo clocks were handmade including the inner timing mechanisms as well as the ornate decorations. The farmers in the Black Forest would spend the winter months making hand crafted cuckoo clocks from the local resources in their surrounding environs which gave the clocks their distinctive, rural look. The clocks were then sold during the warmer months both as timepieces and as works of art.
As the world became more industrialized in the late 1800’s, the cuckoo clock industry was no exception. Cuckoo clock manufacturing houses dotted Germany and various other countries in Europe. It was still partially a cottage industry, with work being done in people’s homes and barns, but there were also a growing number of factories. The work was split between the decorators and the masters of the inner workings, with technological advances in each area in order to offer clocks increasingly complicated and ornate and keep up with the growing competition. In the relatively small village of Triberg, it is estimated that by 1850 there were some 13,500 people engaged in some part of the manufacture of cuckoo clocks, working for over 600 different manufacturers, and all because Mr. Ketterer managed to duplicate the sound of a cuckoo bird!
About the Author
Cuckoo Clocks Info provides detailed information on Black Forest, antique, and quartz cuckoo clocks, as well as parts, repair, movement, kits, manufacturer reviews, and advice on where to purchase discount clocks. Cuckoo Clocks Info is the sister site of Grandfather Clocks Web.
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