Archive for June, 2009

30
Jun

Where to find free web content

   Posted by: bobbo    in Uncategorized

Here’s an idea to generate unlimited free blog content articles in just 13 minutes. Locate a free blog content directory like Find-an-Article. You’ll notice these sites break down the content into niche categories. Select the category that most nearly matches your niche. As an example, select xbox articles when the web site you are wanting to promote is in this area.

Because the articles are in English, copy & paste them into Google’s translator, convert them to Arabic, copy & paste the text again and convert this to Russian, then convert this back to English. Be sure to correct any words for readability and confirm that the keywords and phrases you want to promote stay intact.

Particularly when you know nothing about the niche when you start, another great tip is to find an article wizard program that rewrites content for blog such as Instant Article Wizard. I’ve purchased and used many such programs. For the money and ease of use, IAW is one of the best I’ve found. You can crank out multiple unique articles on the same topic keywords in a few minutes. This offers you the ability to post to as many web pages as you want, submit to article directories as many times as you want and receive as much content about a topic as you want. The benefit to you is more content, more pages indexed by MSN and more backlinks to your websites.

With the capability to crank out high quality content, several opportunities open for you. You can create several niche web pages and continually add fresh content to them. Or, generate articles to post to free article sites and get hundreds of back links to your own web sites. Another benefit is to get into the business of writing articles for other webmasters on any keyword phrase they desire. The future is unlimited and up to you.

One of the easiest ways to get paid to write today is to get paid to write online. The Internet has a voracious apetite for unique written copy. This creates opportunities to make money writing online.

Looking for extra money? Would you like to get paid to write? Internet growth and thousands of new websites going online each week are generating tremendous demand for unique written text. This continues to create a great freelance writing business opportunity.

To be able to sell things on the Internet you will need to position yourself so that when someone searches on words related to your product or service, your website comes up on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). To get this to happen, your website must be perceived by the search engines to be relevant to those key words being used.

Vendors improve their relevancy, their rankings in the search engines by publishing articles about their key words, with links going back to their websites, by publishing articles on their websites and by writing blogs. All this must be unique text.

The Net is computer based; millions of pages can be checked for duplicates in seconds. Unique text is easy to verify. Duplicates count much less or not at all. To get credit, to get noticed, you must have and post unique text

The only way to get coherent, unique, readable text is for someone to write it. That is how and why someone in the freelance writing business gets to make money writing this unique text.

It’s possible to make money writing books, make money writing all kinds of text and selling the PLR (private label rights)… there are numerous ways to make money writing for this lucrative market!

If you think you might be interested in joining in, to make money writing for the web, you can get started anytime; the Net is open 24/7/365! Come on and join us, the water’s fine! There is plenty of money for all!

The Internet marketplace for written text is unique, fast-growing and has its own peculiar and specific rules. If you want to participate it would be best to follow some of the links above and avail yourself of some of the guidebooks that have been written by successful writers already there.

by Carlton Smith

Source code escrow offers a kind of guarantee to companies who purchase bespoke software solutions from software developers. The functioning of custom software is often mission critical to companies, and if the vendor were unable to continue supporting and maintaining the software, for instance due to bankruptcy, this could present a severe problem to the licensee.

One possible solution would be for the licensee to have access to the up-to-date source code. However most software development companies will not agree to this - the source code is their intellectual property and they will be extremely unwilling to release it to the licensee.

This is where software escrow comes in. It is an elegant solution to a fundamental conflict of interest: the source code is deposited with a third party escrow agent, and is released to the licensee only if the vendor is unable to continue to provide support and maintenance, under conditions defined in a contractual source code escrow agreement.

The software escrow agent is typically a company specialising in this service, and should be completely independent of both the licensor and licensee.

Typical provisions of a source code escrow agreement will include:

1) A definition of the scope and subject of the escrow (usually this will include the source code of a specific software solution, and anything that would be required to independently maintain the software, including documentation and software tools.)

2) The conditions that must be met for the source code escrow agent to release the source code to the licensee (ie bankruptcy of the software vendor or cancellation of the development project.)

3) Specifics of what rights the licensee has with regard to the source code after the software is released (ie the right to modify the code to fix bugs.)

4) A specification of services the escrow agent provides beyond simple custody of the software (the agent may, for instance, build the software and check that the binary matches the version supplied to the licensee.)

5) Any fees due to the agent for providing escrow services.

In the event of bankruptcy on the part of the software developer, the developer’s creditors may be legally entitled to seize all assets, including source code in escrow, and this could prevent (or delay) the release of the software to the licensee.

For more information about software escrow services, visit software escrow services

29
Jun

Creative Art Toys and Early Development for Kids

   Posted by: bobbo    in Uncategorized

Art and Craft toys give children a sense of achievement and satisfaction in that they have constructed something on their own .You can’t teach creativity but this type of toy can give a positive reaction and allow them to use their creative side and develop their personality at that important early stage of their life.

Creative toys allow kids to form something that has not been created before which gives them a sense of achievement. The sense of accomplishment gained from exercising their creative side can help them in their future creative endeavours.

What about modern electronic toys and developing creativity?

Simpler creative toys, such as paint sets and crayons can open the creative floodgates of children’s minds but creative toys don’t always have to be in this form. They can teach kids about more than just the visual side. Some electronic toys supply kids with in-depth interaction, allowing them to control the lives of digital pets or digital societies or families. Some electronic toys are becoming very advanced in that they emulate real life situations like a family that you can control the lives of different stick characters within a pretend society. Kids can shake the blocks to affect the characters or simply connect the boxes, allowing the characters to interact. With so many options available, kids’ creativeness is also given the opportunity to thrive in a digital world. So these toys also have their place in child development and learning.

Children just love to be extremely imaginative and creative! But nevertheless, they may often get confused with their ideas because most of them are not focused and their thoughts can stray off; it’s more likely that your child may move from one activity to the other as they can get bored quite easily.

Nurturing and developing imagination and creativity in your children is very critical, because it promotes and enhances problem-solving skills and acumen, so much needed to reach success in their life. Just like us, kids also tend to commit lot of errors and blunders but your children can easily learn from a process of trial and error by acting on their own senses.
There are some great suitable toys on the market that combine familiar TV characters and creative play.

Shaker Maker is one of them; where kids can show their artistic flair and paint kids character models by shaking, making and painting popular cartoon characters. It uses moulds which are filled with a shaker maker mix of powder and water. Once set, the paint can be applied carefully.

Clay and mud-dough based creative toys can also will help your children develop cognitive skills, imagination and designer creativity.

Arts and Crafts at Work

Children enjoy anything that helps them to draw and write. Markers, pencils, pens, clay, color boxes, crayons, papers, models are some of the most loved things and tools by your children! In reality, art and craft can help your children in many ways and means. Art helps you children to create and design something that is very pleasing and nice to look at. However, there is more to ordinary craft and art creation; mind you, just underneath those simple looking art work, a number of things will be going on inside your children’s brain!

Art teaches your children to believe in themselves, to attempt working on new things and adhere to their own beliefs and values. Art can teach your children bring a number of surprises, possibilities, and wonderful things in imagination that are so special and rare in their lives!

Colour Splitz 3D coloured drawing pens can create amazing dimension drawings and writing. There are two different ways to use a Color Splitz pen, and both give you a completely different effect;1. Holding the pen fairly flat will give you a single coloured, wide line, like an ordinary felt tip pen. 2. If you left the end of the pen upwards, the second colour comes into effect, giving you an amazingly wild second colour in the middle, which makes the pen write in what looks like 3D.

Aqua Beads are also a great art and craft toy for girls. Coloured beads are joined together with a spray of water and create fabulous bead designs that can actually be used! There are various aqua bead sets available;Aquabeads Flower Tower Set, 3D Secret Garden,3D Superset and there’s even a compact portable carry me aqua bead set.

For children 2 to 5 years old: Buy boxes of crayons, water colors, brushes, art paper, eraser, color pencils and other materials that are safe to work on.
For children 5 to 10 years old: Pencils of many shades, hardness and colors, oil paints, brushes, color papers, boards and other tools. Arm them with drawing tools like color papers, books, non toxic crayons, washable markers, colored pencils and color brushes.

All children are different and no two children think and act in similar manner! When choosing toys, you must think on the imaginative and creative part of them. Some children learn by singing, while others may master skills by working on their toys. Ensure that you are exposing your children to every type of toys that provide them an opportunity to learn the skills of imagination and creativity. Any type of toys and play tools that make them creative and imaginative should be perfect. In some cases, even the simplest of all toys could be very creative.

Building blocks and materials like Mega Blocks and Mechanical engineering toys like Meccano can also help your children to be imaginative and creative.

This is an abstract from a dissertation by Hjalti Sölvason MBA student at the University of Edinburgh on developing market entry strategies as one of the main challanges facing companies wishing to expand into new market segments.

Managers are always under pressure to maximise shareholder value, and when they face a saturated market at home, they begin to search for new markets outside their home country. In other words they seek geographic diversification.

It makes a foreign market even more attractive if it is growing faster than the home market itself, and as improved communications might be considered a supportive reason for opening up new markets overseas.

Improving productivity is one reason for going abroad in order to obtain greater profits and revenue. Greater profits on overseas investments can be a strong motive for going abroad. Service companies frequently follow customers overseas to prevent competitors from gaining access to their clients.

By using foreign production to lower cost the company can move part or all of its production facilities to the country from which its competition is coming, and enjoy such advantages as less costly labour, raw materials, or energy. Protecting foreign markets is often necessary, which can lead to a change from exporting to overseas investment.

Another reason why a company should be interested in entering new markets is by following the competitor. Once a competitor has set up a production plant in a country, management must decide rapidly whether to follow suit or risk losing the market forever.

„In many cases it is a forced move by the company to enter into new markets because if not, the company would stagnate and be left behind by its competitors.“ – Hjalti Sölvason, August 1996.

Being able to claim that the firm is a “multinational” creates the impression of importance, which can influence its customers. Stockholders and financial analysts expect firms to continue to grow, and those companies operating only in the domestic market have found it increasingly difficult to sustain that expectation. The faster growth of a company, helps also satisfy the management’s desire for expansion.

A company should ask itself the reasons for entering the market and assess the internal forces and capabilities of the company itself. There are also various ways to enter new markets: Exporting, wholly owned subsidiary, joint venture, licensing agreement, franchising, contract manufacturing, management contract and strategic alliances.

The importance of screening markets, analysing market indicators and factors are also factors to address when entering new markets. What does market research say about trends in the industry and other factors like financial risk, have been discussed.

Identifying and analysing competitors in order to bring to the surface their strengths and weaknesses, and the field trip should be made in order to smell and taste the market, and collect primary data. Segment the market into those areas where the company can position its services or products by gathering information about the customers.

Entry strategies and entry modes do vary between competitors. Two companies may perceive different risk as they evaluate the same market and therefore choose different entry modes.

Hjalti Sölvason graduated as a Systems Analyst from the Copenhagen Business School in Copenhagen and is now studying for an MBA at the University of Edinburgh. Hjalti has experience in the IT industry and has worked as a software system designer and programmer.

29
Jun

Learn To Trade Forex

   Posted by: bobbo    in Uncategorized

Learning to trade Forex is an advantage for investors who are associated with financial business and economic background. FOREX trading is a world wide business done by the front line people. Learning to trade FOREX is different than the stock market because there are different factors. Everyone has the same data to predict those fluctuations and there is no insider information. Learning to trade Forex is not mastered overnight but Forex Mentor claims that anybody who has an average level of intelligence can learn a system and be successful.

Investors make money from pip movement. In learning to trade forex you may have noticed that forex currencies are quoted to four decimal places. Investors can react to news when it breaks, rather than waiting for the market to open, as is the case with most other markets. This enables traders to take positions anticipating the impact on the exchange rate of important news items

Traders in the foreign exchange market make thousands of trades daily by buying and selling currencies while exchanging market information. The forex market is a very volatile and risky investment option if you do not have enough knowledge and an appropriate trading strategy; you must have a sound management strategy, know why you enter into a trade, determine a stop loss point (which means deciding when to sell in order to cut losses), and it is frugal to also have a profit taking level.

A good system that will do all of this for you is FreedomRocks. Check It out

28
Jun

Important Information for Home Workers

   Posted by: bobbo    in Uncategorized

An Introduction to Home Working

Ask anyone to describe their ideal job and home working would come high on their wish list. Whether home working is an option provided by your employer or a decision you have taken yourself in starting your own business, the thought of just getting out of bed, walk over to a workstation and just start work is very appealing. No commuting to and from the office and working hours to suit yourself.

But is home or flexible working right for you as an individual, or good for your business as an employer? Well there are many advantages and disadvantages. Home or flexible working brings new responsibilities for both the employer and employee. Equally with advances in mobile technology it has never been easier to set up your own business to work from home.

An Increasing Trend

From a business point of view, allowing staff to work at home on either a full or part-time basis can bring a range of business benefits, from increased productivity, greater staff motivation to effective use of your premises. Advancements in mobile technology has contributed enormously to the increase in opportunities for working from home.

The spread of home working using the internet or telephone opens up a new range of possibilities with regards to the way a business works and structures itself. Computers, mobile phones, broadband and mobile broadband all play a role. For the individual, becoming self employed and working from home has also never been easier. If you have a laptop and mobile phone the opportunity is there, it’s just deciding what you want to do. So home working is becoming a way of life for many individuals and businesses, but what is home working?

Some employers will offer selected employees the opportunity to become a teleworker, whereby an employee can undertake their role from home utilising various types of technology, which is provided at the employees home by the employer. The employee will remain in touch with the business and other teleworkers. Some businesses, for example the utility companies who require gas, electric and meter readers, will class employees undertaking this type of work as teleworkers or outworkers.

Some individuals opt for the self-employed work life. The self-employed will operate their business from home, offering a product or service such as web development or business consultancy from home. In these types of roles, the individual can often plan their day to suit their own needs. I know one web developer who often works well into the early hours of the morning as this is when he feels most productive.

Others such as a painter and decorator, plumber or gardener, whilst providing their services away from the home, use home as the office for paperwork such as pricing future jobs and preparing invoices. I know of several painters and decorators who work Monday to Thursday, but use Friday’s to go out and price up future potential work. That is one thing to bear in mind when setting up as self employed, you need to allow time to find or prospect for future work.

Some types of work are more suitable for home working than others, the following list is not exhaustive, but will give some guidance:

  • Telesales and Marketing
  • Customer Services
  • Professional services & consultancy i.e. HR Administration & Accountancy
  • Certain types of administration work
  • Data input
  • Creative/Graphics
  • Writing, editing, translation and research.
  • I.T. Support & Programming

Many of the above have a common theme and that is that as long as you have access to a computer and a phone, you can undertake almost all of these tasks from home.

The shift towards flexible working does not mean employees only work from home. Splitting time between the workplace and home is the most productive solution, as you want employees to attend meetings, therefore keeping them informed and involved. Continued face to face interaction within the business remains a key requirement.

With the introduction of flexible working regulations, employers now have to seriously consider employee requests to work flexibly from home, especially if they have parental responsibility for children under 16 years old, disabled children or they are carers for other adults with disabilities.

Employers and individuals also need to consider what equipment will be required to ensure that an efficient business operation and working environment is set up.

Desks, chairs and filing cabinets are just part of the office furniture selection available for the home working environment.

The Pros and Cons

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of an employer allowing employees to work from home or use their home as a base for at least part of the working week? It’s clear there are a number of benefits to the employer:

  • Staff Retention is increased
  • Wider pool of applicants to recruit from e.g. disabled people who prefer to work from home.
  • Productivity gains through having fewer interruptions and less commuting time.
  • Reduced stress and sickness increasing staff motivation.
  • Savings on office space and facilities.
  • Sales staff closer to clients, rather than being based at the office which could be miles away.
  • As with life if there are advantages then there are also disadvantages to home/flexible working:
  • Management of staff and monitoring performance
  • Possible deterioration of key skills and quality of work.
  • Capital costs - training and providing suitable equipment, this could include adaptations to meet Health & Safety standards or meet the needs of disabled workers.
  • Difficulties maintaining staff development and upgrading of skills.
  • Information security risks
  • Increased telecommunication and I.T. costs
  • Sense of isolation and communication problems amongst home workers.
  • Staff morale and difficulties in maintaining team spirit.
  • Home working may not be suitable for certain types of jobs.

One thing I particularly miss is the Monday morning office banter about what you did at the weekend of how your football team has fared compared to others. Often the camaraderie that is unique to an office where you get to know people well over many years is also lost where home working becomes an option.

Are You Suited o Working at Home?

Having identified the types of work that is suitable for home working, the employer must satisfy themselves that employees are suited to this type of work. It’s likely they will need a number of skills in key areas to allow them to work away from base.

  • Time management and self discipline
  • Motivation
  • Communication
  • Technology

We must make it clear that home working is not suitable for everyone and care should be taken, because allowing one person to work from home will set a precedent that others will want to follow. Others will see an attraction to working at home particularly on a lovely summer’s day, rather than being stuck in an office. I must confess that as I write this article, I am sitting in our summer house at the bottom of the garden with the laptop on a glorious summer’s day in June.

An employer you must have a clear idea of how home/flexible working could fit in with the needs of the business. A set of house rules need to be established and maintained, i.e. priority is given to requests from parents of young or disabled children. My wife for example, plans her day around the hours of taking the children to school and collecting them later. She maintains that she is extremely focused on what she needs to achieve within those six hours in between. No distractions or idle chit-chat that will occur in an office environment.

In some cases the employer is legally obliged to seriously consider requests for home/flexible workers. Employee with parental responsibility for children aged 16 or under, or disabled children who are under 18 and receive disability living allowances can request a range of flexible working patterns from their employers, this includes the right to work from home. There are similar rights for employees who are carers of adults.

The introduction of flexible working can also lead to an changes to employment contract terms and conditions. In a majority of cases an employee’s place of work is listed in the written schedules of their employment contract. It’s important that when an employee starts to work from home it may be necessary to review and amend their employment contract.

The following is a list of contractual aspects an employer should consider when implementing a home/flexible work policy:

  • Stated hours of work
  • Identify core times when employees undertake to work and/or are contactable.
  • Extra duties or responsibilities that may need to be assigned in addition to those already agreed
  • Identify the terms regarding the supply and insurance of any equipment that may be required, these should clearly state ownership and use, especially that its not to be used for personal use.
  • Clearly identify what the employer will reimburse to cover additional expenses the employee may incur, its especially important to identify the calculation method when costs are shared i.e. utility bills and telecommunications
  • Procedures to be put in place if either the employee or employer wishes to terminate the home/flexible working arrangement.

Allowing flexible working the employer should remember that they still have health and safety responsibilities for people who work at or from home; and you are likely to have to provide and maintain equipment for employees to use, these include:

  • Workstation complete with suitable task chair
  • Filing cabinet, shelves or storage
  • PC/Laptop with office software, email and broadband internet connection
  • Dedicated business telephone line
  • Printer & fax machine
  • Stationery and Office Supplies

The health and safety of any employee, either in the work place or at home should encourage employers to recommend an ergonomic office chair for a comfortable seated position.

IT equipment and software can be expensive so it’s important to ensure it meets your genuine business need and is compatible with your existing systems. Technology changes almost daily and with today’s advances the establishment of virtual teams where employees work together despite working at home can be set up easily and at reasonable expense. These teams could be two employees talking over the phone or you could use more hi-tech solutions like high speed internet, instant messaging, webinar and video conferencing. Many laptops now have web cam and this also offers the chance to see the person you are speaking with.

Providing all this kit and equipment it is important to ensure your business insurance cover is extended to cover home workers, as their home insurance is unlikely to cover this, however they should check with their insurer and extend their policy to include working from home.

Workers who undertake home working should check with their local council and mortgage company the position regarding using their home as a work base, and whether they may have to pay business rates for the portion of their home they use as an office. Some self employed businesses will involve use of a vehicle which will need to be parked up at certain times of the day. For example painters and decorators and builders are likely to utilise a transit van or pick up truck in the work. You should therefore ensure that neighbours will not be offended by having the vehicle parked in the street or to block light out of their homes. If you are to park a vehicle at home, let the neighbours know, it may save a lot of hassle later.

The employer needs to ensure that employees take care of business equipment and information in their possession, it’s important to establish procedures to be followed if any item is damaged or lost, especially data and intellectual rights.

We all agree that flexible working offers a wide range of benefits to both the business and employees, but it needs to be carefully managed to be successful. Procedures should be put in place for managers to monitor and assess home workers, this is the most significant managerial challenge an employer will face. It can be helpful to measure their effectiveness in terms of output rather than the hours of work. Agree set goals and deadlines for particular tasks, and ensure these are being met, give feedback promptly and sensitively if things go wrong.

Ensuring home workers have access to training can prepare and help employees develop the necessary skills they need.For staff who work alone a sense of isolation is one of the main factors most likely to make home working fail, therefore it’s important to ensure procedures are put into place to make people feel part of the team, these should include:

  • Frequent two-way feedback sessions about work and work related issues
  • Regular visits to the workplace
  • Inclusion in social activities for home based workers.
  • Clear procedures that can be followed and contact lists if things go wrong.

When the employees job is entirely home-based from the start, make sure their induction is undertaken at your premises, this helps the home worker focus and be productive if they have a chance to establish a clear idea of the people they will be working for. The most successful home workers are those who have worked from the business premises previsouly.

To effectively maximise office space, employing office fit out contractors is a wise choice, to advise on effective space usage, use of lighting and health and safety regulations in the office environment.

A Brief Health & Safety Obligations Check List for Home Workers

If you use your home as your main business workplace, you must carry out a health and safety risk assessment to identify any possible hazards to yourself, workers, visitors and other members of your household.

Possible hazards include:

  • Using work equipment at home, including electrical appliances
  • Your workstation set-up
  • Handling loads
  • Hazardous substances and materials
  • Psychological hazards, such as stress or loneliness
  • Fire
  • Slips, trips and falls
  • Excessive noise or vibration

Slips, trips and falls are one of the most common causes of injury in the work place. Even something we take for granted on a daily basis, such as walking up and down the stairs, should be regarded as a risk to safety. Evaluate whether a hazard is significant and if it is, whether you have taken enough precautions to make the risk as low as you reasonably can.

You need to consider:

  • Your home and those who live there - including vulnerable persons, e.g. children, the elderly, and new and expectant mothers
  • The work done in your home
  • The equipment in your home
  • Emergency procedures
  • First aid provision

Five steps to a health and safety risk assessment

  1. Identify any hazards.
  2. Decide who might be harmed and how.
  3. Assess the risks and remove them or, otherwise, reduce them as far as is reasonably possible.
  4. Record your findings.
  5. Check the risks regularly and take further steps if needed.

Conclusion

With advancements in mobile technology, working at home has become far easier to do. It can offer a very balanced way of life and the rewards can be significant. In the current economic climate, many who have been unfortunate to suffer redundancy or reduced hours are considering setting up their own business to work at home. Having worked in the corporate world for over twenty years and just suffered redundancy, it is certainly something to consider.

But home working needs to be considered carefully. Is it right for you? Is it right for your employer? What impact will it have on my homelife? Many advantages, but also many disadvantages and bear in mind the health and safety requirements and risks. Your health is important so choosing the correct office furniture to meet your needs is a must for any home worker to ensure you have the proper facilities for home working.

For years a friend of mine worked from home with his desk in his living room and eventually he realised that he could never get away from work, which is as important as doing the work in the first place because we all need time away from work.

If you are lucky enough to really love your work the temptation can be to do it all day long. Eventually this can lead to burn out and can also take away some of the pleasure of working, even if it is something you really love. Therefore it is important to have balance in your life, even more so when you work from home. Some suggestions to help to achieve this are to make sure that when you have lunch, for example, remove yourself from the work space and don’t eat at your desk, get some separation from the work when you are not doing it.

Remember that just because you work from home it doesn’t mean that work has to take over your life either.

28
Jun

Our Dog Park Adventure

   Posted by: bobbo    in Uncategorized

Near my house is a neighborhood where just about everyone has a dog. Some of them even have two or three dogs. As a result, not only is the neighborhood very noisy, but it is also very dog friendly.

Most of my neighbors are getting on in age. The dogs around here seem to fall into two categories - lap dogs or barely old enough to climb up and down their front steps. My dog, I can tell, is rather lonely.

Awhile ago, as I was walking my dog through the next neighborhood, I started thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice if I could introduce my dog to some of these dogs?” I turned a corner and right before me was this brand new dog park roped off in the middle of a popular park.

On the inside of the fence surrounding this dog park, there were about a dozen dogs running free from their dog leashes with one another. They were jumping and dancing and having a great time.

I took my dog to the gate and he just couldn’t contain his excitement. I let him off his leash and he ran to the middle of the pack. I huddled around the fence with the other doggy parents as we watched our pups play with their dog toys.

After about a week of going to the dog park, I began to make friends with the other dog owners who took their dogs there regularly. Friendships were struck, and we started planning “people activities”, like coffee and shopping, where we could include our dog pals..

Now our activities regularly include gathering at the dog park and then walking to the local coffee shops. We take outings with the dogs, like to the river, and spend time with other dogs in the park. Dog walking in my neighborhood has truly helped me form a network of close friends that I feel comfortable spending a solid 1-2 hours with several times a week.

My dog now always looks for and expects his new people friends to join us when we’re walking alone. Whenever I take him off the leash he always runs as quick as he can to the doggy park! We are lucky to have so many dog friends and like-minded families living near us.

28
Jun

Roots, Rock ‘n Blues - American Roots Music

   Posted by: bobbo    in Uncategorized

I fell in love with American roots music while I was in college in the late 1960s. The irony of that is that I was born and grew up in the Washington, DC area and had to move to Minnesota to hear the blues for the first time!

I should say that it was in college that I first heard the blues played by the original artists. I’d been a big fan of the Rolling Stones and numerous other British Invasion groups who were all playing their versions of the blues, or derivatives thereof. I just had no idea at the time that they’d been so heavily influenced by a whole generation of musicians that I’d never heard of.

In the meantime, there were American musicians playing blues and blues-influenced rock to small, but devoted audiences. Three of my favorites (discovered for the most part years later) were Lonnie Mack, Albert Collins and Roy Buchanan. Lonnie Mack is best known for his radio hits, but is a killer blues player as I discovered much to my surprise when Alligator Records put out a video of a concert with Lonnie, Albert and Roy at Carnegie Hall in New York City from the early 1990s. The concert was called “Further On Down The Road” and was a real eye-opener for me when I first saw it. It’s still one of my favorite videos.

With the explosion of videos on the Internet, there is a wealth of blues video footage from the 1950s through today. It’s a blessing that so much still survives from the early days. Watching some of these legends perform helps make it clear just why they are legendary.

www.imreviewlab.com

28
Jun

Have a wonderful Monday morning!

   Posted by: bobbo    in Uncategorized

Monday mornings, don’t you just love them? The alarm goes off. You slowly open your eyes and you groan. Just 15 minutes more sleep you think as your head hits the pillow and then you remember it is Monday morning. Why am I so tired? Then you pull your tired body out of bed and think “I should feel better than this after a night’s sleep”.

It used to be for me but now I actually like Monday mornings. It took a while before I got to the point where I could say that. I tried a number of different things because I knew there had to be an answer out there somewhere. First was exercise which did in fact help some although I woke up sore many mornings. Then I tried eating a bigger breakfast which helped more throughout the morning but still didn’t launch me out of bed. Supplements! That had to be the answer. After trying vitamins and minerals and other substances I did land on one that really made a difference. It came in a really unique green glass bottle with a picture of a man on a beach blowing a conch. It is called TAHITIAN NONI® Juice and made from a funny looking fruit called Noni fruit from Tahiti.

The first thing I discovered was I wasn’t dragging through the day. After the first week I actually had energy to spare! Then I stopped drinking it to see if it was TAHITIAN NONI® Juice making me feel this way or my imagination. Sure enough my energy started running out again.

The next thing I found was that I wasn’t getting sick as often. While those around me were getting sick, it just passed me by. I found out later it’s because TAHITIAN NONI® Juice boosts the immune system. Needless to say it’s a keeper for me.

As indicated at the bottom of all our web pages, these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please visit our website for details.