We certainly do not need to look back at the controversial issues to understand the scopes of the problem; we have got a lot of them now. Nevertheless, it might be useful sometimes, to recall how these issues can be resolved in clear and transparent way.

Consider, for example the fight for the rights of the animals. In 1992 in Michigan there were attacks on the animal laboratory at Michigan State University. Another laboratory at the Washington State University suffered from the attacks as well. Some research offices were seriously damaged in the acts of arson in Utah. There were controversies, and these controversies exist now- despite the fact that more than fifteen years have passed, there is still a huge disagreement between those animals rights activists who claim that computer simulations are as good as animal research, and those scientists who insist that the researches on the animals are indispensable for the furtherance of their scientific work.

Undoubtedly, according to many scientists the animals are really indispensable for their research. After all they are used to help humans in their grapple against mortal and incurable diseases. For example pigs are used in the researches on diabetes and vascular diseases, dogs are used s, as steadfast and ones of the most reliable companions for people with disabilities; they play crucial, and sometimes vital role in the law enforcement agencies, other examples can be easily provided to support the assertions of scientists that animals can be used to assist people. Yet, nevertheless, these facts can hardly convince animal activists.

Lorraine Hough office in 1992 took the role of leader in the fighting against growing public antipathy to the scientists who conducted the research on the animals. According to Gallup Poll 2 of 3 American teenagers supported the rights of the animals. Hough was the director of The Texas Society for Biomedical Research.

Thus the society decided to launch bold and interesting experiment- it announced the essay contest for school children ” Why animals are important to Biomedical research.” Yet, despite the fact that the company provided financial incentive -more than $250 and $500 dollars in prizes, it was nevertheless difficult to find the participants.

Today this is an annual content in the Texas Society of Biomedical Research. Certainly, it is not easy to answer the question whether the experiments on the animals are really painful and intolerable for them. What is certain, that unless the scientists have found the cure to the innumerable human diseases-the experiments on the animals will continue and the controversies that surround them will not abate.

How can the society resolve this strange and controversial problem? Clearly the arsons and vandalism are not the best options. Certainly, the information and discussion are the best steps that should be taken. Essays and research papers that can highlight this problem can answer impartially and objectively to the question that concerns so many activists and scientists all over the world.

The essays designed exclusively by highly skilled and professional writers who have gained vast experience in the research of the experiments on the animals and their consequences. The outstanding highly argumentative research provides you with incredible and unique highlight of the existing problem, allow you to understand more clearly the issue that has already become irresolvable for so many people.

Elisabeth Grainstone is a senior writer at RushEssay.com. RushEssay.com is a reputable leader in providing custom essay writing services for college and University students in many countries of the world.

Landscaping: The Concept of Foundation Planting

The special planting set close to the house is called foundation
planting and has great importance since it improves and enhances
the proportions of your house as well as relates the house to
the grounds. Evergreens are widely used for foundation planting
not only because they can thrive in the shade of the house, but
because of their year-round good looks. If you have not used
evergreens elsewhere, though, it can be a mistake to suddenly
use them at the foundation. The contrast will be too sharp; the
evergreens are apt to look forbidding.

There remains a wide choice of flowering shrubs, dwarf fruit
trees, roses and cushion chrysanthemums that will lend color to
your foundation design in spring, summer and fall. Japanese
redleaf barberry, floribunda roses, flowering quince and
forsythia are among the bushes and plants that can be used.
While it is tempting to try one of each of the nursery’s
evergreen specimens in your foundation planting, this should, of
course, be avoided. On the other hand, contrast tall and
low-growing types: use stiff-needled pines with feathery juniper
with broad-leafed laurel and rhododendron.

In your preliminary planning, draw to scale the relationship
between your house elevation and the foundation shrubs and trees
as they will look at mature height. Perhaps some of those you’ve
selected will be too tall for your house, obscuring your windows
and making the house gloomy inside. In that case, you don’t want
them. In general, because your entrance is the most important
feature of your house facade, you start your planning with it in
mind, using shrubs that direct the eye toward the door. The
planting in front of the house is usually bowl-shaped in its
overall outline. This gives the impression of a broad base to
the house. In some places, let the wall show to the foundation.
Put the tallest shrubbery at the corners of your house.

In summary, begin with the end in mind. What looks great now may
not look so great once everything is grown to maturity. To
accent with garden decor and garden accessories, visit
www.merchantspassage.com

Elizabeth Passage

Please visit www.merchantspassage.com for a large selection of
garden
decor and garden
accessories.

Some lines from a movie never leave your mind; I don’t remember the context always, but I do recall the dialog. “The Big Chill” is one of the few movies I own (VHS). At dinner, William Hurt, Jeff Goldbloom, and Tom Berenger argue about their past like dogs growling for a turkey leg at Thanksgiving. JoBeth Williams brings calm by chastising the men, and to that Hurt replies with a smirk, “Just trying to keep the conversation lively.” It’s one of those “had to be there” moments.

Bond traders “keep the conversation lively” . Have you noticed that long-term rates have fallen while short-term rates have risen? Low long-term rates keep the housing market active (a positive, maybe), with the implicit suggestion of a slowing economy (a drop in long-term borrowing by corporations suggests a slow down in the economy). All of this is happening as the Federal Reserve torques rates higher!

An interest rate anomaly occurs when short-term rates get close to exceeding long-term rates. This is known as an “inverted yield curve”. Inverted yield curves preceded the past five recessions. “Something strange has been going on in the bond market”, writes E.S. Browning (Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2005). Markets get long-term trends right, usually.

Low interest rates recommend positive stock returns; however, market volatility seems to defy such optimism. One day stocks are up, and the next down. Someone said, “When interest rates are low equities grow.” Many stock analysts get slap-happy moments with low interest rates. Optimism does not move markets; pessimism does. Browning wisely observes “…the prevailing view in the stock market is one of celebration…” when it ought to be fear. (WSJ, May 31, 2005)

Some economists do expect worsening economic conditions. “Over the past 35 years, the skeptics say, Fed rate increases have tended to end with trouble.” (WSJ, May 31, 2005) Most recently, the bubble gum stock market popped during 2000 left stocks looking like pink bubble gum on a child’s cheeks.

No simple resolution keeps investors from the dangers of an inverted yield curve. Every analyst, economist, and pundit has an opinion. What matters is the reaction of the bond market, and the current short and long-term yields are “keeping it interesting”.

My point? There is no way to predict every asset class move (up or down). Broad diversification within the bond universe provides aggregate benefit to your portfolio. This does not mean owning every conceivable bond; it does mean integrating bond management consistent to reach your goals within the context of your risk tolerance.

* These are the major bond (fixed income)asset classes U.S. Government

* International Fixed Income

* Municipals (tax efficient accounts)

* High Yield

* Emerging Market Debt

“When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.” - William Hazlitt, English essayist (1778 - 1830)

Ray Randall serves clients as a registered investment advisor with his firm, Ethos Advisory Services, Essex, Massachusetts http://www.ethosadvisory.com. He has wide experience within the financial services industry, writes a weekly newsletter for Ethos Advisory Services, and coordinates the developments at Echievements http://www.echievements.com. Ray holds a Masters Degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Hamilton, MA. You may email him or call (877-895-3756).

Do you move through life feeling everyday is the same? Like some repeated pattern that goes on and on? For some people, there’s nothing new to do under the sun, and nowhere to go. Everything is just boring, boring, boring. They work so hard to earn enough money to play, but yet their playtime passes so fast. Suffer five days, enjoy two days. Sometimes, to break the monotony, they seek thrill through intoxicants (alcohol, smoke), sex, and even drugs. For these temporary pleasures, it feels exciting while it’s happening, but once it’s over, the same pattern of meaninglessness sets in, and they’re left thinking, “When can I get the next high?”

Perhaps you will recognize this scene… Two old men are sitting on a bus. As the bus passes by the red-light district, one old man says to the other, “Hey… aren’t you going to see the chickens (prostitute) today?” The other man raises an eyebrow… a spark in his wrinkled eyes, “Yes, yes, I will be going this afternoon!” The first old man smirks, and says, “You didn’t even bring your medicine, how can you DO IT?”

For some people, their lust is so strong, that they borrow money from family and friends, just to visit brothels. You will see this pattern in addicts. Drug addicts, sex addicts, alcohol addicts. They’re always looking for the greater thrill and the next high, and that’s what sets their life on a downward spiral. They waste their time, energy, and money, instead of using it to build success.

For life to have zest, everyone needs that natural feeling of drive, anticipation, and excitement. When one does not know how to get it naturally, one may resort to vices to stimulate that sense of being fully alive, desperately trying to bring some meaning into life. But you see, happiness is within you… If you can’t satisfy your wants, then the other way to happiness is to release them. Let go of that which you must have. Shakyamuni Buddha said that, “All desire leads to suffering…” Suffering because you crave what you do not have. And let me ask you this: Is this yearning self-created? Or something imposed on you by the outside world? Perhaps it’s the outside world’s fault because other people keep flaunting their luxuries and exotic experiences. But surely, we create this yearning within ourselves. It is within our power to control it, or release it altogether.

Lord Richard Layard, Professor from the London School of Economics, a leading happiness researcher, says, “Happiness is a balance between your expectations and your attainments. One way is to get what you want. The other, is liking what you get.”

Many of our desires are misplaced. We think getting them will bring us happiness, but that is an illusion. These misplaced desires are nothing more than temporary pleasures. You don’t need to satisfy your desires to be happy; you need only release them. Do you need the attention of the opposite sex? No, as you get older, your body parts will sag, and the opposite sex will pay less attention to you. Must you get laid to be happy? No, as you age, your sex hormones will lessen, and so will your desire to mate. Must you wait till you have a million bucks? Nope. Historical and worldwide research shows that above US$15,000 a year, higher income is no guarantee of greater happiness.

The people who feel good everyday, without resorting to vices, have one mental characteristic in common. They have a dream, and they know what they want to achieve in life. This sense of purpose drives them; gives meaning to their existence. They have discovered their soul’s calling, and are living life to the fullest by following it. This is different from those who are ‘party animals’, “living life to the fullest” by drowning in deafening music, and shaking till the sun rises… That’s not living, that’s dying.

If you want to find true meaning and happiness in life, then you’ve got to uncover your life’s purpose. For each of us has a unique destiny. A path made specially for you to walk on this journey through life. Follow it, and you arrive in paradise. Ignore it, and you continue to wander… wasting time, and life itself.

1. You need to know what you’re made of. Your talents, strengths, and abilities.
2. Craft a vision for yourself, and visualize that dream in your mind.
3. Work out a plan that sets your goals and decides what actions you must take to achieve them.
4. Tell your closest friends about it, and commit yourself to taking five of the planned actions everyday to build your dream.

When you see that your actions are creating results, it will be a natural source of excitement and inspiration. Instead of spending time, energy, and money on vices, you invest it in creating an upward spiral of success. By releasing your desire for temporary pleasures, you kick your bad habit out the door. By choosing to live your purpose and answer your soul’s calling, you break free from the chains of monotony, and find truth, meaning, and happiness in life.

Lance Ong is a certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Master Practitioner of Hypnotherapy and Timeline Therapy. He does life coaching to help clients gain clarity of purpose, while removing mental blocks to success. Learn Lance’s philosophy for better living at his Internet Blog Site - “Wisdom to Create a Beautiful World” - www.Lancism.com. If you have any questions, you can e-mail Lance at: truth@lancism.com

A major part of a horse’s diet is hay or pasture. A horse weighing 1000 pounds will eat about 500 pounds each month. A horse needs roughly 28 acres of non-irrigated, dryland pasture a year if that is the only source of forage. However, a pasture that is irrigated will grow more forage than dryland pasture, requiring less acreage. The amount of irrigated pasture needed for one horse is roughly 1 to 2 acres.

Two acres of pasture for each horse are recommended. One acre of pasture will provide adequate grazing, but requires more pasture management. Manage your pasture as you would with any crop with soil testing, fertilizing, and managing manure. Horses will not eat trampled grass or grass with manure on it. Horses will also overgraze smaller areas very quickly. Therefore, a combination of pasture and small lot or barn is needed to help minimize overgrazing.

Do not let horses overgraze the pasture as this can cause grass to no longer grow. Keep pasture grass healthy–overgrazed pasture may never recover. To allow for re-growth, leave about 1/3 of the grass uneaten at any given time. The horse can be confined to the lot or barn and only allowed to graze for a few hours a day, reducing damage to a small pasture. Rotational pasture lots are one key to using small acreage pasture space to the fullest potential. Portable electric fencing provides an efficient and economic way to partition you pasture. Over-supplementing your horse with hay and grain will not prevent your horse from overgrazing.

Pasture grazing is not absolutely necessary for a horse. A nice green pasture is not always a reality. Horses can be properly fed without pasture. However, pasture has several advantages as it is the natural feed for horses, reduces the cost of feeding, provides your horse with exercise, and generally speaking, horses are usually healthier when kept outside on pasture.

Establishing and maintaining a productive pasture is not too difficult. A few dollars spent on soil nutrients for your pasture is a good investment. Fertilizer will help your pasture to become more productive and produce more forage. Fertilizer costs will generally be offset from good pasture rotating and from savings in feed costs for hay and grain supplements.

Mowing is also important of pasture management. It minimizes the spread of weeds to help maintain higher quality forage. Mowing weeds before seed heads are produced limits the spread of weeds. Grass should be mowed to 3-4 inches.

No matter how well you manage your pasture, it will most likely thin. To help ensure pasture continues to produce good grass, new forage seed should be spread every year. It is recommended re-seeding be done in the spring or fall. In the spring, wet conditions will allow for germination and growth, but only if it is not too wet or muddy. In the fall, there will be less competition from weeds. Grazing should not be allowed on new grass seedlings for approximately 6 to 8 weeks after emerging from the ground to allow for proper root growth.

Caution! Turning your horse out on green lush pasture before conditioning him to a change in diet is dangerous and can result in sickness or possibly death. Start your horse out slowly by letting him graze for few minutes each day and gradually increase to a few hours each day.

About the Author

Randall Holman, site owner of Front Range Frenzy and horse enthusiast, is the author of this article. You will find other easy and practical basic horse care information on his website: http://www.FrontRangeFrenzy.com.

Diabetes occurs when the body does not produce insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy for daily life requirements. It is still a mystery the cause of diabetes although genetically and environmentally influence such as not enough exercise and obesity play a role.

To understand diabetes, it is good to learn something about pancreas, the long and thin situated behind our stomach. Pancreas is responsible for regulating the body’s use of glucose. It has two main functions: firstly to produce pancreatic endocrine hormones which assist in regulating our metabolism and secondly to produce pancreatic digestive enzymes. When the blood glucose levels begin to rise, it is insulin’s job to push muscle and fat cells to absorb whatever glucose they need for future activities whereas any surplus will store by the liver. There are some individuals either do not produce enough insulin (Type 1 diabetes) or their body resists whatever insulin is produced (Type 2 diabetes), thus an outside source production is necessary. Either way, the result is the same. Type 1 or also know as juvenile-onset diabetes, typically affects children and young adults and is genetically-linked. Type 2 which also known as adult-onset diabetes occurs in adults and is linked to obesity. Symptoms of both types include blurred vision, fatigue, frequent, bladder infections, increased appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, nausea, skin infections, vaginitis and vomiting. If not treated, diabetes type 1 and 2, can cause blood vessel damage, gangrene, heart attack, kidney damage, nerve damage, stork and vision problems.

How Glucosium Can Help: Glucosium is a popular diabetes treatment of natural ingredients which can help control blood sugar, stimulate your body’s insulin production, limit nerve damage and much more. This revolutionary supplement has shown amazing benefits for people with diabetes, as well as preventative properties for those who are exposed to a higher risk for diabetes. Last advice: do exercise, eat right and supplement your body with the proper nutrients that help your body to produce the insulin it was supposed to have.

Rian is a health conscious guy who always update himself with the latest health news and love sharing with others.To learn more on Glucosium visit www.magicapsule.com

Domain names are site names that provide rememberable names to
stand in for numeric IP addresses. Before getting a web site on
line you need to have a domain name. These are the familiar web
addresses such as yahoo.com that most browsers use to find a
particular web site. Domain names, in fact, are pointers to a
particular IP address and we use them because they are easier to
remember than a series of numbers. The Domain Name System (DNS)
is a system that stores information associated with domain names
in a distributed database on networks, such as the Internet. The
DNS is what makes it possible to attach hard-to-remember IP
addresses (such as 193.456.28.8.) to easy-to-remember domain
names (such as “web-hosting-guide.org”)

All websites have an IP address in the form 193.456.28.8. The
domain name system translates these numbers into names such as
google.com. All domain names are registered in a central
registry maintained by InterNIC, a subsidiary of ICANN - the
organization which certifies domain name registrars. Domain
names are filtered through Domain Name Servers (DNS) which link
IP addresses with domain names. Each web site usually has a
primary and a secondary DNS - duplicates that increase
reliability.

The first step in registering a domain name is to choose it. The
name can be almost anything you want, but to be most effective
it should reflect the nature of your website. If you are selling
scented candles, for example, it helps to have a domain name
that has some reference to candles - scented-candles.org.uk for
example.

The rules for domain names are simple - only letters, numbers or
hyphens are allowed. Other than that, a domain name is limited
to 70 characters, but you are advised to keep it as short as
possible. Domain names can be upper or lower case - case is
ignored by DNS but you can use a combination to make the name
more recognizable. Since DNS is case-insensitive, yahoo.com can
be advertised as YAHOO.COM.

Every domain name ends in a top-level domain (TLD) name, which
is always either one of a small list of generic names (three or
more characters), or a two characters territory code. There are
several extensions available. The most common is .com - it has
even entered common vocabulary as a way to express Internet
activity - (I own a dot com business). Other extensions include
.biz (for commercial sites), .org (for non-commercial
organisations), .net (for organisations involved in Internet
infrastructure) and .name (for personal names). There are also
extensions with more specialized uses such as .museum, .aero,
and .coop and are used exclusively by members of certain
organizations. In addition to these common extensions, there can
also be a country code extension such as .us (United States) or
.uk (United Kingdom). The rules for using country extensions
vary, so you need to check with your registrar to see if they
are available to you.

All domains must be registered with a registrar that has been
certified by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers). There are hundreds of registrars and their prices vary
considerably. Although registrars are closely regulated, they
are permitted to offer their services through third parties; so
many web hosts offer a domain name registration service even if
they are not a registrar. The price of a domain name will
usually be higher when dealing with these third-party services.

Domain names are usually registered for a minimum of one year,
although you are permitted to buy up to a 10-year registration
contract. Usually the longer the registration contract, the
lower the price, so if you are sure you will be on the web for a
considerable length of time you can benefit from a longer
registration period. Most registrars also offer a discount on
bulk purchases. If you own a number of domain names you can save
money by transferring them all to the same registrar.

As the owner/operator of a full service boat detailing-yacht maintenance business I can’t help but chuckle sometimes at seeing the extremes that otherwise bright, intelligent, successful, people will go to in a misguided attempt to save a few dollars.

One of the biggest mistakes that we see is that people will decide to sell their boat without first having her completely detailed.

According to Rob Scanlan, a well known and respected Master Marine Surveyor;

“Detailing a boat is the single most important investment of time, energy and money a seller can make because a clean and shiny boat sells faster and for a lot more money. I strongly recommended that a seller enlist professional assistance to do a quality job.”

yacht1ship@aol.com (Email)

www.mastermarinesurveyor.com (Web site)

We at BoatDocs1, do a lot of work here on the Emerald Coast with local yacht brokers and know what the standards are for a “ready to show” boat. These professionals know that the cosmetic appearance says everything to the prospective buyer as to the overall care and maintenance that the previous owner has given the yacht. Add to that the universal wisdom about first impressions and it’s not hard to see the importance of this vital first step.

Even if you intend to do most of the work yourself we can offer the expertise to assure that your time and money are spent wisely. Our trained eyes will often pick up the little details that only a prospective buyer would notice and likely balk at.

Here is an outline of the standard procedures we use when preparing a yacht to be put up for sale:

1. Thoroughly Wash and Dry the Boat

Note: For this part, pay attention to everything you see and unless your memory is a lot better than mine, make notes on a piece of paper for later.

• Wash and chamois-dry your boat top to bottom including transom.

• clean Isenglass and other ports/windows

• wipe down and dress all aluminum/stainless

• clean and dress vinyl seats

• wipe down fly bridge and cockpit

• vacuum exterior carpet

• clean and dress nonskid

2. Stand Back and Survey the Boat

Note: Bring your list and organize it with the following outline

* Put yourself in the buyers shoes, be critical, the buyer will.

1. Is it shiny? It’s the first thing most people notice.

2. What about the smell? People have a way of getting used to almost anything. Get a second opinion and see the hint below.

3. Is all hardware intact and presentable? Just because you’ve used that broken table for years and are rather fond of it, to anyone else, it’s just a broken table.

4. What about dings, any damage to the fiberglass? Aside from the fact that broken gelcoat can let water into the core of the lay-up and delaminate the fiberglass, it just plain looks BAD.

5. What about rust? You are probably thinking right now; (what’s a little rust on a boat?) Let me tell you. A little rust on a boat is a sure sign that the owner let’s little things go by unnoticed and if there is one thing there are always more. What about oil changes? I wonder if he flushed out the outboard after use? The object of this little exercise is to make the boat look like you are conscientious and a stickler for having everything perfectly “SHIP SHAPE.”

6. One more little tip that you have probably already thought of. Take a look around the boat and remove EVERYTHING that isn’t part of the boat.

   EXAMPLE:

   Engine controls, compass, life jackets, flare kit, and a first aid kit ARE part of the boat. Knick-knacks, fishing tackle, cutesy wall plaques, and half full paint cans are NOT part of the boat-and look tacky. A few cleaning supplies, in their own locker is probably all right as long as they’re kept neat and clean.

7. Make a list of things that need attention, and get it taken care of. A few dollars spent now will pay back in spades when the time comes to show your boat. Anything that isn’t right will stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, be noticed and start the price spiraling down. (if it doesn’t just send them scurrying off shaking their heads)

   Hint: If you are not a woman reading this and don’t have a wife of your own, ask your mother or sister, or see if a friend will loan you his for a few minutes. For some reason women can smell things that a man would never notice. You may think that men buy boats but in my experience they buy the boats their women like. Along this same line, pay particular attention to the cabin and heads.

3. Prioritize the Job

With your list you are in good shape to decide what needs to be done and whether or not you want to do the work yourself or have it done by a professional.

Most of the professional yacht maintenance companies we are familiar with, would be happy to take a look and give you an estimate of what it will cost to have the work done right. We can do part of the job, for example the compounding/polishing and will gladly help you choose the best wax to finish the job yourself.

What about those little chips and dings in the gelcoat?

Many books have been written on fiberglass repair and it isn’t the intent of this article to cover the subject in any depth but many small repairs are well within the reach of a fairly skilled do-it-yourselfer. Like anything else though, if you have never done it before, “consult an expert.”

I’ve been building and repairing in fiberglass since I was 14 and while the first wooden boat I glassed was water tight and lasted a good many years, it was far from pretty. The small investment you lay out for expert repair now will pay big dividends when your boat sells at the price you want.

In the Emerald Coast region the standard fees for compound/waxing run between $15.00/ft. and $18.00/ft. for the topside (rub-rail up) which includes a thorough cleaning and treatment of the vinyl, windows, isenglass, and metal. In other words, for the price of doing the “hard” part we’ll detail the entire topsides and leave it in “ready-to-show” condition. Hulls (rub-rail down) run about $8.00/ft. but, of course, the boat must be out of the water in order to do it. (This walking on water with a hi-speed electric buffer in hand is still beyond me, but I’ll let you know;-)

Fiberglass repair runs from $45.00 to $65.00 per hour and in general as with most everything else, one gets what one pays for. The up side to this is that when approached in a professional manner the dents and dings of ten years hard use can be repaired and made to look like new in an amazingly short time.

All too often we have seen people save $300.00 or $400.00 on a detail only to loose $Thousands$ on what their boat could have sold for. Then too, our local marinas are clogged with many examples of boats with “For Sale” signs which were never given the least bit of attention to make the passer by want to stop and think, “Hey, I wonder what it would be like to call that boat mine.” Some of these boats have sat for years when all they ever really needed was a little T.L.C.

I remember, years ago, someone saying something about being penny wise and pound foolish? Let’s not let them be saying that about us.

About The Author

Doc Lewis has been “messin about in boats” for as long as he can remember. He is owner/operator of BoatDocs1, a full-service boat detailing-yacht maintenance business serving the Emerald Coast region of Florida. To learn more about boats and keeping them looking their best visit his website at: http://www.boatdocs1.com/

For those of you out there who have tried driving traffic to your website using AdWords and for those of you out there who plan on trying AdWords in the future, this article is for you. Google AdWords is a great way to get people coming by your site. Anyone can create an AdWords ad, but very few ads actually sizzle. Why do I care if your ads sizzle? Well to be honest with you, the better ads that you write the more of those ads that get clicked on my site. So I guess it is for selfish reasons that I am offering this advice.

I like to keep things simple and give you the information in a quick, easy, and clean format so I will just lay the AdWords optimization tips out there for you in a list and you can take it from there. Enjoy and good luck.

AdWords Optimization Tips
- Put your targeted keywords in the title. These will be bolded in your ad when a search is done on your particular key word.
- Capitalize the first letter of every word. Your Headline Should Look Like This!
- Capitalize the first letter of your website. For example www.ChildInsure.com. It helps your URL stand out.
- If you need more space for your URL, then drop the “www.”. For example, KansasCitySEO.com.
- State the benefits of your offer. Why would I want to click on your ad?
- Use words that will move people to action. For example, easy, fast, free, cheap, quick, etc.
- Do not waste space with the name of your website. Your website does not sell. It is your website’s benefits that sell.

Jason D. Barrett is currently focused on writing search engine optimization articles for KansasCitySEO.com, writing a search engine optimization blog for KansasCitySEO.com, and writing technology articles for ScoutTechnology.com.

After over 100 years of practice, telephone companies still cannot seem to get it right. In a study of clients over a five-year period, TelCon Associates found that 77.4% were incorrectly charged on one or more of their telecom bills. The bulk of these errors were uncovered primarily for local and intralata services.

While the percentage of errors is high, billing errors usually account for only a small portion of total savings during telecommunications audits.

Nevertheless, it is a good idea to be familiar with the most common errors that will appear on your local telephone bills. Keep in mind that errors may take the form of “overbilling” and/or “underbilling”.

Routine examination of your local phone bills will, sooner or later, turn up the one or more of the following most common types of errors:

#1 - Intermittent Errors

Intermittent errors are just as the name implies - they appear on a non-regular basis. This type of error is usually associated with the “Other Charges and Credits” pages of the phone bill. Examples of intermittent errors may include:

Other charges and credits for installation or changes are often found to be incorrect, especially for services provided under many negotiated deals or contracts.

Incorrect applications for refunds or credit adjustments is another typical intermittent error. Surprisingly, you may find this error soon after your carrier representative has agreed to the refund or credit!

Charges for uncompleted calls are sometimes found on billings from two types of vendors-resellers using feature group A connections to carrier central offices, and vendors that are reselling service from a virtual private network.

Facility malfunctions can result in you being charged for lines that are not working resulting in higher charges for usage forced onto other lines or services.

#2 - Recurring Errors

Recurring errors are the result of incorrect information and data in the vendors’ customer service records. These types of errors can be very costly simply because they appear each and every month until they are corrected.

Examples may include: inventory discrepancies, contract discrepancies, differences in tariff or rating regarding grade of service, mileage charges, enhancements, etc.

Recurring errors are not as easily uncovered as are intermittent errors. This type of error can only be corrected through a thorough audit of customer service records. A routine examination of phone bills will not reveal all recurring errors.

#3 - Tax Errors

Tax errors are most commonly associated with exemptions or incorrect taxing districts. When facilities are taxed incorrectly, the associated usage charges may also be taxed incorrectly. Examples of tax errors may include:

-Taxes being collected after exemption has been filed (a copy of the applicable exemption certificate or earlier exempt billing will verify the overbilling)
-Exempt account without authorization
-Taxes applied for wrong jurisdiction
-Taxes applied despite statutes or rulings exempting them

#4 - Metering and Database Errors

These types of errors are commonly associated with local and long-distance calling charges. They can occur through metering malfunctions or clerical transcription errors. Examples include:

-Double metering (easy to identify since each call is shown twice and in complete detail)
-Charges for incomplete calls .
-Usage from a different subscriber (another easily identifiable error-charge for another individual’s line number will appear on carrier bill)

#5 - Telecom Agent Errors

Agent errors continue to be a problem as more and more agents are accepting either partial or end-to-end responsibility for service segments provided by vendors.

Agent misfeasance occurs when a supplier orders or assumes responsibility for service segments provided by several different carriers or vendors, then fails to exercise responsibility for those services. Examples may include:

-Local lines ordered and installed by equipment vendor or IXC. (In the event those lines are no longer needed, the agent is nowhere to be found to cancel the unused lines and services!)
-Excessive or sub-optimum facilities installed
-Promises of credits or changes that fail to materialize

Telecom billing errors will never disappear. However, even a little knowledge in what kinds of errors to look for can go a long way in reducing telecom expenses.

About the Author

Karen Thatcher is President of TelCon Associates, a 32 year old telecom consulting and management firm. TelCon Associates helps companies gain control and reduce telecom/IT spending through a guaranteed cost-reduction consulting process. For more information and free resources to help you reduce telecom spending visit: http://www.telconassociates.com