June 2008 Archives

My father and mother both love their
coffee.  Since I was
little I remember them drinking
coffee all the time.  Now
with my brother
and I grown, they go out a lot more often than they used to and they
have now
discovered drinking Espresso and Cappuccino. 
I am not a big coffee person, I drink it occasionally but
I have never
even tried Espresso or Cappuccino. 
My
mother went to a friend’s house for lunch one afternoon and
came home raving
about how they had a machine right in their house that could make
Espresso and
Cappuccino.  She said it tasted even
better that the one’s that she has gotten in even the best
restaurants.  Well,
she is a really hard person to buy a
gift for so I decided to go online and buy her an espresso and
cappuccino maker
of her own.  I came
across a web site
that had just what I was looking for. 

The name of the machine is the Rancilio
silvia espresso and cappuccino
machine, and as soon as I saw it I knew this would be the perfect
machine to
buy for my parents.  As
far as I can tell
this company Rancilio
has made a machine that does it all, and with ease. 
The machine is heavy duty, modeled after the
machines that they have in restaurants, but geared more towards the
home, they
have made this model that literally does whatever you want it to do.

All the controls for this machine are located right on the
face including a small indicator light on the switch making you aware
when the
machine is on.  There
is a switch that
you just move back and forth to change the machine from brewing
espresso, hot
water (useful for making a regular cup of coffee or even tea), and
steam.  The steam
feature is probably the coolest of
all the features.  It
produces steam that
works beautifully for stretching milk for cappuccinos or for lattes.  Better yet, the steaming
wand is very simply
designed for easy wipe off and cleans up easily.

Well, on the day I gave this to my mother, she was so
thrilled that she hooked it up and made me drink my very first cup of
cappuccino and it was honestly quite good. 
It was a lot smoother than regular coffee and I really
enjoyed the
flavor of it.  I
will be sure to try an
espresso the next time I go over there. 

When starting your own website it is very important to
have someone
working for you to make sure that your site gets all the exposure
necessary to
succeed.  In the
past, you could put up a
website and bid it to the top, but those days are gone. 
You need a company working for you, who knows
the ins and outs of the internet and can help you maximize your
exposure
through key words, meta tags and links to help get your site noticed.  Anyone who tells you that
this is an
unnecessary part of building a web site is sadly mistaken.  Your competitors will use
a good SEO to out
do your site, and you will be left wondering why they are getting the
business
and you aren’t.

PPC management also known as pay per click management is
another way that a good SEO
will get your site noticed.  PPC management
services are much more
advanced today then they ever were before. 
When people first began frequenting the internet, you
could bid yourself
to the top of the results page on any keyword. 
Now things are not that simple, if you want to truly
maximize your
efforts then you need an in depth understanding of the paid search
algorithms
and how to maximize your exposure for minimal cost per click. For most
people,
what I just said went skyrocketing over your head, and this is exactly
why
these services are ever so important. 
Although you may be a person who has an in depth knowledge
of the online
world and the way that it works, most people who are seeking to start
up a
business on the web are not computer savvy, they are just regular
business
people.  They
understand their business,
and they understand what they want from their website, but it takes a
little
bit deeper understanding of the internet to get the results they are
seeking.

There are many SEO and PPC companies out there, and choosing
the right one for you may be a difficult task. 
Ask a lot of questions, and if you don’t
understand what they are
offering you.  If
you don’t get this
information explained to you in lay terms that you understand, then by
all
means ask for clarification.  If
you
still don’t understand, then find a different company.  These companies should be
able to break down
for you simply what you are paying them for, and if you can’t
communicate with
them now, then what are the chances that you will be able to understand
them
later when you have a problem or question?

My summer work is not
going as well as I would have hoped for at the start. 
Basically it's been a disaster.  I think the only reason they
are keeping me is because they legally have no reason to fire me and
since I am a student they would look really bad firing me for
nothing.  THough I personally would say that I wouldn't be
surprised if they'd be willing to take that risk because of recent
events.  

I have been working for this company all summer as an assistant to the head accountant.  My assignments include checking his e-mails and filtering out the bad ones, making an ocean's worth of coffee, and copying every single piece of paper that comes through the office.  The first assignment has proven to be the most difficult and the most dangerous so far.

Last week there was this huge outbreak of computer glitches within our network.  It was found quickly by the IT people and so it didn't spread any further than that, but it had done its damage. Everything was in shambles and people had no way of accessing their accounts.  We found out just yesterday that many people had their financial information stolen because their cards were coming up with lots of charges all around the world.  They also told us how it all started.

Basically there is a security scan program that I have to run every single e-mail through before I send it off to the boss to read. My computer is totally secure and so I can view anything and it will tell me if there is bad coding anywhere around it.  Apparently the shortcut I was using to speed up this extremely boring job was not a very good one and about half the messages missed the web application scanning.  There are no vulnerability scanner programs on the bosses end so when he opened a bad e-mail it was all over after that.  

Currently the entire network within our accounting division is being rebuilt and recoded.  They need to start everything from scratch and throw away the old software because cleaning it all up would take weeks and they only have days to spare.  For now I am the black sheep of the office, till the fall anyway. 

Even on most liposuction websites, it says that the procedure
should be done after a person has tried diet and exercise, which makes
sense, since if something can be achieved naturally, then there is no
need and sense to achieve those same results artificially. At the same
time, liposuction is remodeling of the body and not technically weight
loss (well, it will end up in bodily weight being lower). The surgery
(which it is) is done under local anesthesia, so the person usually
experiences minimal discomfort or pain. The procedure can last up to
five hours, but technically usually only lasts for a couple of hours.
When the liposuction is done under the ultrasound, then there is a
special solution that a healthcare professional puts into the fat
tissue and "dissolves" the fat. Then that liquid fat is sucked up
through a small tube that is put in through a small cut in the skin.
Obviously, Smartlipo
is done with laser, so the technique is a little bit different there.
After the procedure, the person is supposed to wear tight bandage, so
that is the reason that it takes so long for the person to heal after
the procedure. However, the healing process, as most liposuction
consulting websites put it, is best at home, since the person is not at
risk for any life-threatening conditions, and thus would not benefit
from the hospital setting during the time of recovery after the
procedure. Overall, any liposuction method allows to get rid of a lot
of fat for a rather long period of time. In addition, the procedure
mobilizes the remaining fat (the heat that is freed up during the
procedure, be that Smart
lipo or not, ameliorates the work of blood vessels in the
remaining fat). Thus, despite the high Smartlipo
cost or the cost of any other liposuction procedure, the
procedures are very helpful. Usually, Smart
lipo costs can range anywhere from two thousand dollars to
about six thousand dollars, so it is rather pricey. Despite that, a lot
of people still go through the procedure, since the benefits of it
overweigh the costs so much. With the constant push in the modern world
to look good, it seems that some people would kill, let alone
liposuction, to look the best they can.

Debt is such a funny thing. 
It’s like the opposite of money – you
could say the absence of
money.  Yet, it
holds a place of its
own.  It’s
almost tangible, occupying
many of the same spaces as money does, only in a starkly different
(i.e.
completely opposite) manner.  Your
wallet
could be filled with money or filled with debt.

            I guess the same goes for aggregating your money into a savings account, stock, mutual fund, or any other collective pool.  You could also use debt consolidation to pool together your various debts together.  Of course, like collecting money into one location, the whole becomes different from its constituent parts.  Debt consolidation makes each debt very different.  It can alter interest rates, repayment plans, and will change the overall amount of debt you have.  But hopefully, you’ll be better off in the long run.  Otherwise, I’m not sure why people would opt for debt consolidation.  There must be something valuable to it.

            What happens if your consolidated debt itself begins to add up and grow your overall debt?  Could you get debt consolidation for your debt consolidations?  I guess debt is debt, and the benefits of consolidation could apply to any sort of debt, even consolidated debts.  By collecting all your debts in one pool, you can tackle the big load in a more systematized way and can start chipping away at it efficiently.  Also, it’s so much easier logistically, since you don’t have to worry about a myriad of different interest rates and repayment plans.

            Maybe this is sort of the same mentality of bulk sellers and buyers.  You could sell a thousand dollar handbag once a week from an upscale store in the mall, or sell thousands of three dollar t-shirts through a chain of mainstream distributors.  Both may yield the same profit, or perhaps the bulk seller will actually profit more.  The same goes for bulk producers.  I would rather spend extra resources to raise fifty cows rather than pour lesser resources into caring for two cows and selling off any meat or milk bit by bit.  Consumers can also benefit from bulk producers and sellers and buyers.  The quality of the product is better and they can trust that they are more specialized in what they do.

            I guess my main point is that the rationale behind debt consolidation can apply to many other areas, and can definitely apply to consolidation of consolidated debts as well.

Recently I received some solicitation
from my credit
card
company on signing up for a new program. This was going to entitle me
to 1 free
credit report a quarter, and all I had to do was pay a small
fee. I thought it
was ridiculous to pay for my own credit report.
But the telemarketer said that
a lot of people are in need of credit repair

and do not even realize it. So of
course I wondered if I was one of those people. The only way to know
was to get
a credit report pulled. She said they used reputable companies like
Experian,
which I had heard of, I forget the names of the other ones, Transwest
or
something like that. Anyways, I do not think I am going to take her up
on that
offer. I am leary of people automatically billing me for things. Most
of the
time you sign up for something like that, you will continue to be
billed unless
you cancel in writing. They really get you here, because most of the
time if
you agree, it is just to get the person off the phone, which they know,
of
course, and you do not even realize that you have to cancel in writing.
I guess
businesses have nothing better to do than think up ways to scam
consumers, it
is a shame. I used to work in telemarketing and never understood why
people
were so rude to me. Now I do! I try not to be rude, but sometimes they
just
will not give up. I know they teach you to do two rebuttals before
allowing the
call to end. But come on, telemarketers are invading our homes, and we
have to
justify to them why we do not want what they are peddling. I have
actually had
them ask me specific reasons why I am not interested. I tell them it is
none of
their business, I do not have to justify anything to them. I said no.
like the
old saying where you yell- no means no! That is hilarious! I think I am
going
to use that one next time! In the end, I probably will give in to
having a
credit report pulled, but I will not go through my credit card company.
I may
even try to sneak a peek at a fairly recent report already pulled.

One of the big
advancements in the acceptance of the internet I think has been the
boom of online dating
services.  When I was young and the internet
was really developing we felt that it was this amazing thing that would
just change the way we lived and make everything we do so much
easier.  Now we have seen countless news reports and special
stories about internet fraud and identity theft.  We hear
stories about online predators and about abuse on the web.  So
after our initial dive in to the electronic sea we found that there
were sharks in the water.  Since then it has been this funny
balance between people trying to put faith in this thing while others
say it is essentially flawed and needs to be recreated to prevent such
problems.  I have grown up through the entire lifetime of the
internet and it has grown and changed as I have.  Puberty was
the time of rebellion and online we had napster which labeled all of us
pirates and criminals.  Now that we have reached and age of
searching for companionship the foundation has been laid both online
and in the breakneck style of our culture for dating to
function better mediated through an online dating service

rather that the traditional styles of seek and woo.  We have
now reached an age where things function as fast as the internet will
allow and I don't know a single person who is not plugged in to the
system in some way.  Maybe that is because I myself am so
plugged in that it would be hard for me top maintain any relationships
with all of this technology now.  This dependance on
technology to regulate and support our social lives has now become our
primary mode for finding the humanity that we all need, even though it
is all around us every day but we choose to ignore that fact. 
It will be interesting to see how far this retraction in to our homes
and away from the natural, tactile world actually goes and if people as
a species will realize that this is the way it was meant to be or not.
 

There are plenty of
things available online to keep our minds busy when things get a little
too stressful from classes and work schedules.  There are
endless chat rooms and book on file.  My personal favorite of
all the cool things online are the video games. 
I do some of the console networking games with friends around the
country and the world, but I think that for convenience and for the
mass population who can't afford these games there are plenty of
alternatives.  My favorites are online pool and online snooker.
There are a bunch of sites that offer various forms of these games that
can be accesses anywhere any time.  They also usually have a
place on the screen where you can chat with your opponent in real time
as you play.  This aspect makes it fun because when you are
playing an online
pool game and someone just sweeps the table with you there is
an urge to just vent or to say good game.  This is also one of
the cool aspects of the internet in general. As I play  an online snooker
game I have no idea who my opponent could be. They could tell
me one thing and be something else.  I have a theory that
because we find out so many times that thing this happen, we meet
someone online and later find out they are not who they say, that many
humans love the feeling of anonymity.  Many people are more
than willing to fill out an entire character for themselves in
cyberspace and make others believe in who they are talking
to.  I don't know much about psychology but I think there may
be something to study here.  Anyway, so there is this huge
resource out there for people to find any information the want and to
speak to anyone they want and what I find most often is that people
want to use it to have fun.  What would the internet be
without chat rooms or video games? I think it would just be another
shelf in the library but instead we have a living, breathing organism
that can give us any information we desire while we order pizza and
play video games.  

Why is it that debt consolidation
is seeming like such a bad
word lately? Is there really anything wrong with taking control of your
debt
and trying to get a handle on it before it is too late? No, absolutely
not.  It is
imperative as a country that
we begin taking responsibility for our mistakes. 
I think this is primarily the reason why
people are in debt up to their eyeballs to being with. 
I think that when they start having financial
issues come up and difficulty handling their finances, they avoid it as
opposed
to confronting it head on.  I
am not
really sure why as a society we have such difficulty facing our
responsibilities and our short comings. 
To err is human, so why do we tuck tail and hide when we
make a mistake?

Debt
consolidation is a really smart way to take control
when you fall behind on your payments and need help, or find that your
monthly
income is falling short for getting all the bills paid. 
In these difficult times, unemployment may be
the reason you need help, or it could just be that your necessary
expenses are
exceeding your income at the present time. 
In any event, don’t feel embarrassed, ashamed,
or frustrated; just use
this opportunity to get help. 

There are many debt
consolidation companies that will work
with you to get your monthly payments reduced and will stop interest
from
accruing on your credit cards.  They
can
also stop late fees from being charged on your accounts.  Debt consolidation will
put all your debts
into one monthly payment that will be within your budget.  They will figure out your
expenses and income
and help you come up with a budget that works for you. 

It is time to take responsibility for your debt and do
something about it before it is too late. 
The time to take your future into your own hands is right
now.  Don’t
put it off for one more minute.  Get
out there and find a debt consolidator
today either by looking online, on the TV or in your local yellow pages.  These companies are all
over the place and be
sure to collect your monthly income as well as all of your monthly
expenses
before you call them.  This
way they can
help you get some immediate relief. 

I was flipping
through the channels at my friend's house the other day and I came upon
a Nascar race.  I didn't stay on the channel because I was
actually looking for the news at the time, but as I kept flipping I
started to think back in my memory. When my grandparents were still
alive they were huge Nascar
fans. They were really general sports watchers, but Nascar was their
favorite sport.  It was the only one of the sports that they
would actually buy tickets
to. My memory quickly went straight to the Nascar
tickets they had bought em as a kid.  The race was
in Delaware and I am surprised at how well I still remember
it.  I was only twelve at a time and wasn't even super
interested in any sports, so watching a four hour race was not the most
enticing thing I could have been doing at that moment.  I
would have been a little more interested had it not been a million
degrees.  I went with only my grandparents an d neither of
them are big fans of the prices at sports stadiums. So I sat there in
the blazing sun for four hours or so without any water while my skull
was constantly rattled by the cars blasting past our very close
seats.  I had thought about that memory for a while before I
finally realized something that i just has to laugh about. My
grandparents had said when we left the race, because I was obviously a
little disappointed about the day's activities, that someday I would
love the sport because of them taking me to the race that
day.  Then I thought they were really crazy and wondered if
they might be right.  Now I realize that in my doubt I knew
who I would become all along. When I got home from my friend's house I
went online and bought a bunch of theater
tickets.  I don't think I will be tempted to buy any
other types of tickets any time soon, especially not sports tickets,
but that's just me.