The Recipe for Successful 2013 Resolutions ? Swim Well and Live ...

Some interesting analysis of New Year?s Resolutions from statisticbrain.com:

The Top 10 Resolutions for 2012 were:

1. Lose Weight
2. Get Organized
3. Spend Less . . . Save More
4. Enjoy Life More Fully
5. Stay Fit and Healthy (not always the same thing)
6. Learn Something Exciting
7. Quit Smoking
8. Help Others Reach Their Dreams
9. Fall in Love
10. Spend More Time with Family

And some revelatory statistics about who makes resolutions and their success rate:

• 62% of Americans make resolutions
• 38% never do.
• 8% of all resolutions made are achieved.
• 39% of 20-something resolvers report success, while ? ouch ? only 14% of 50+ resolvers do.
• However people who explicitly make a New Year?s Resolution are 10x more likely to achieve a goal than those who explicitly do not. (Huh?)
• Self-improvement or learning resolutions are the most frequently achieved. Relationship resolutions rank lowest in success.

Takeaways.

1. It?s better to resolve than not.
2. Resolving to improve yourself or learn something improves your odds.
3. Those who are 50+ (I?ve never taken a poll, but suspect the median age of those who follow this blog is probably around 50) probably need a more examined, strategic approach.

So for my final blog of 2012, some suggestions for making?and achieving?2013 resolutions. Naturally my advice will focus on improving your swimming?which can not only contribute to #s 1-4-5-6 in the list above, but also aid any self-improvement project.

Small is beautiful. ??The keystone of the TI Method is Kaizen, the philosophy of Continuous Improvement. Kaizen is rooted in the Taoist proverb: ?The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.? Kaizen is explicitly about incremental change?often so subtle you can?t sense it, yet never doubt it?pursued daily.

• Some psychologists believe willpower is a limited resource: The more of it you require to make one change, the less you?ll have left over to make others. Or to sustain the first.

• Researchers Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer asked hundreds of resolvers to keep diaries. After reviewing their entries, they concluded: ?Small wins, achieved regularly, contribute much more to happiness than occasional ambitious accomplishments. The satisfaction produced by a greater achievement isn?t proportionately larger nor longer-lasting.?

• Ambitious goals often lead to procrastination, while small ones are less daunting.

Make modest resolutions, and renew them throughout the year, rather than set ambitious goals now.

Focus on process. This is a central precept in work by George Leonard on Mastery, Mihalyi Csikszentmihaly on Flow, Anders Ericsson and colleagues on Excellence and Daniel Coyle in The Talent Code. In the simplest of swimming terms, it means stop focusing on getting to the other end and focus instead on being conscious of each stroke along the way. Before long you?ll become aware of ?consequential nanoseconds? within each stroke.

Or if you?d like to improve your 1500m time by 10 percent?say from 30 to 27 minutes, do you understand how you ?construct? your current pace? Have you sought answers to questions like these?

• How do you pace your 1500 now ? how do the middle and final 500s compare to the first? If you slow down, why? Do you add strokes (lose Stroke Length) or lose tempo? What is the ideal way to ?construct? your goal time? What SPL and Tempo combination will produce your goal pace (per 100) . . . with the least effort?
• Is your SPL within the range of 2 to 3 counts that are appropriate for your height or wingspan?
• If your SPL is above that range, how much of that is due to poor balance and streamlining vs ineffective propulsion? Have you examined your stroke on video, or had it analyzed by a TI Coach?
• Are you practicing with a Tempo Trainer? Do you know your Tempo ?Sweet Spot? ? the tempo at which you can most easily maintain an SPL that?s efficient for your height? At what Stroke Rates do your ease and efficiency break down?both when you slow or increase tempo?

With this info, you can plan 100% personalized practices that target your primary improvement opportunities in your skill makeup and in combinations of SPL and Tempo.

Embrace the imperfect.

Don?t wait for any particular condition to be fulfilled or to feel strongly motivated. Emotional states, like motivation, are too often transitory. And the supposition that you require motivation undermines action. ?The belief that you need to feel motivated, or need the perfect situation, before taking action is the biggest barrier to actually getting things done.

Imperfection is indeed, the natural state of the Human Swimmer and means we have limitless Kaizen potential.

Japanese psychologist Shomo Morita writes: ?Begin taking action now, while being neurotic or imperfect or a procrastinator or unhealthy or lazy or any other label by which you inaccurately describe yourself.?

Be happier today.

New York Times health writer Jane Brody wrote in her article Changing our Tune on Exercise? ?For decades, [we?ve been] bombarded with messages that regular exercise is necessary to lose weight, prevent serious disease and foster healthy aging. And most people say they value these goals. Yet a vast majority of Americans ? two-thirds of whom are overweight or obese ? have thus far failed to swallow the ?exercise pill.? She described new research that says people are far more likely to exercise when they anticipate it will make today a better day, than for some possible future benefit.??People who exercise for quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who value exercise for its health benefits.???

I ride a bike for every feasible errand between April and November, neither to be green, nor to be fit. I do it because it makes me feel 15 again (I?m 61) and because, on a bike, I can feel a breeze on my face, smell the flowers and hear birdsong?none of which happens in a car. My swimming motivation is essentially the same. While I do swim in meets and and open water races?and am a very competitive person at heart?and I hope to be mobile, agile and graceful at 85?my main reason for swimming is I feel fantastic, physically and mentally, during and after.

Final Word

Any of these precepts could be resolutions themselves. Next week I?ll share my resolutions for 2012 and how they worked out, and those I?ve set for 2013 and how I?ve been guided by these precepts in setiing ? and re-setting ? them.

Until then, what will your swimming goals be for 2013? If you?d like to share, I?ve set up a special thread on the TI Discussion Forum. ?Look for ?What are your 2013 Swim Resolutions?? in the Links and References conference.

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Source: http://www.swimwellblog.com/archives/1830/

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Schumer still confident fiscal cliff deal possible

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, gestures to show how close he says the Speaker and the President are to a deal on the fiscal cliff, during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, gestures to show how close he says the Speaker and the President are to a deal on the fiscal cliff, during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Senate Democrat says he believes "odds are better than people think" that a deal can be reached to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts next week.

New York's Chuck Schumer tells NBC's "Today" show he's encouraged that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is getting "actively engaged" in talks to resolve the problem.

Appearing on the same show Friday, Republican Sen. John Thune noted a meeting later Friday among President Barack Obama and congressional leaders, saying, "It's encouraging that people are talking."

The South Dakota senator said, "I think in the end we will get a deal, but the question is the timing of that."

He also said the two sides are at stalemate because, quote, "Democrats haven't been willing to discuss the issue of spending."

I

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-28-Fiscal%20Cliff-Schumer-Thune/id-d8cd94406f5a41c9a80179379e0a9ee0

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Happy Holidays, from my tank to yours!

By Christie Wilcox?| December 25, 2012 |??

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Stumpy (devil scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis diabolus) and Ginny (Hawaiian green lionfish, Dendrochirus barberi) wishing you the best this holiday season!

About the Author: Christie Wilcox is a science writer and blogger who moonlights as a PhD student in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Hawaii. Follow on Google+. Follow on Twitter @NerdyChristie.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=ff14251df77b5c6b9870116b8e654af4

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Jack Klugman dies at age 90

Jack Klugman, one of television's most-loved actors, died today at the age of 90. He died peacefully at his home in Northridge, Calif., with his wife, Peggy, by his side, according to an announcement by his attorney.

In a career that spanned more than 60 years, Klugman epitomized the "everyman," and was best known for two popular television series of the 1970s and early 1980s: "The Odd Couple" and "Quincy, M.E."

In "The Odd Couple," about two divorced men living together -- a neat freak and a slob -- Klugman played Oscar Madison, the slob sportswriter to Tony Randall's overly fussy Felix Unger.

"The Odd Couple," which was based on Neil Simon's play of the same name, brought Klugman two Emmys, not bad for a man whose first drama teacher told him he was better suited to be a truck driver. The show ran for five years, and has lived on for decades in syndication.

PHOTOS: In Memoriam -- People We Lost in 2012

In "Quincy, M.E.," a precursor to "CSI," Klugman became just as iconic playing the relentless Los Angeles medical examiner with a talent for forensics. "We had some wonderful writers," Klugman said in a 1987 Associated Press interview. "Quincy was a muckraker, like Upton Sinclair, who wrote about injustices."

A heavy smoker, Klugman fought throat cancer, and subsequent surgery left him with a raspy voice, which was worked into later movie and TV roles, including "The Odd Couple: Together Again" in 1993 and "Dear God" in 1996.

A year after his "Odd Couple" co-star, Tony Randall, died in 2004, Klugman published "Tony and Me," and told CNN: "A world without Tony Randall is a world that I cannot recognize."

Klugman began his career in 1954 on the soap opera "The Greatest Gift." In the same year he made several appearances on the NBC legal drama "Justice," whose episodes drew from actual cases of the Legal Aid Society of New York.

His major movies included "12 Angry Men" (1957), playing juror No. 5; "Days of Wine and Roses" (1962), starring opposite Jack Lemmon; and "Goodbye Columbus" (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth, starring Ali MacGraw and Richard Benjamin.

Born Jacob Joachim Klugman on April 22, 1922, in Philadelphia to Russian Jewish immigrants, Klugman studied acting at Carnegie Insitute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, and moved on to summer stock and off-Broadway, rooming with actor Charles Bronson, according to The Associated Press. He made his Broadway debut in 1952 in a revival of "Golden Boy." An early TV high point was appearing with Humphrey Bogart and Henry Fonda in a production of "The Petrified Forest." He also had roles in several "Twilight Zone" episodes.

He was married to actress-comedian Brett Somers, who played his ex-wife Blanche in "The Odd Couple," from 1953 until her death in 2007. His survivors include their two sons, Adam Klugman and David Klugman, and two grandchildren.

He married Peggy Crosby, the ex-wife of Bing Crosby's son, Phillip Crosby, in 2008.

A memorial service has not yet been scheduled.

The Associated Press and ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jack-klugman-dies-age-90-233645463--abc-news-tv.html

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Christmastime is tamale time across the USA

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Christmastime is tamale time in South Texas, and Valerie Gonzalez is in the middle of another busy day at Delicious Tamales, the business she has owned for 30 years on San Antonio's largely Latino west side.

Moving quickly between answering the phone and greeting customers in English and in Spanish, she says that December is her busiest month when it comes to the steamed Mexican delicacy that is a holiday tradition among Hispanic families.

Customer Jesse Villanueva, 54, of San Antonio, came to buy some for his family.

"As far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't be Christmas without tamales," he said.

Gonzalez said she is seeing something new this holiday season: She's shipping tamales all over the United States.

"We have a lot of people who have moved across the United States and there are sorts of people, all classes of people, who are finding out about tamales for Christmas," she said.

At a time when the U.S. Census Bureau reports a surging Hispanic population - one in six U.S. residents is Hispanic, a number that's expected to grow to nearly one in three by 2060 - is the tamale becoming the new fruitcake?

"I think that's true," says Margaret Zuniga-Healy of the Progresso Tamale Parlor in Hollister, California, which has been owned by her family since 1939. "As people become more familiar with Mexican American cuisine, they're willing to try more things."

The tamale - called a "tamal" in Spanish - takes its name from the Aztec word meaning "wrapped food." It is believed to be among the oldest continuously eaten foods in the Western Hemisphere, with roots dating back more than 2,500 years, according to Jeffrey Pilcher, a historian at the University of Minnesota and the author of "Planet Taco, a Global History of Mexican Food."

Tamales began to be associated with holidays in the Pre-Columbian era, Pilcher says, when several families would gather to make the labor-intensive food. The delicacy often features beef, chicken or pork and masa (corn dough) steamed in a corn husk, though there are many variations throughout Latin America.

Zuniga-Healy said Americans are embracing Mexican food the same way they embraced Italian food in the 1920s, and the tradition of Christmas tamales is part of that discovery of new food.

The tamale is like the fruitcake in another way, Pilcher said: It is easily given as a holiday gift.

Gonzalez says it's not surprising that tamales are becoming popular in parts of the United States where Christmastime is a lot colder than it is in the traditional Mexican American areas of the Southwest.

"Tamales keep you warm, the more tamales that you eat," she said. "Especially the ones with the jalapenos in them."

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christmastime-tamale-time-across-usa-014655969.html

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Dealing with Back Pain | Natural Holistic Health Blog

Many people experience back pain in one form or another ? long or short term. With around 90% of the population suffering with debilitating pain it is a relief to realise that other people are going through a similar experience to us. This high number of back pain sufferers also means that there are a number of treatment and pain relief options that can be successfully used.

Back pain can occur for many reasons and in varying degrees ? sudden onset back pain, after an accident for example, may need urgent medical treatment and should certainly be investigated in order to reduce the risk of long-term damage developing.

Many people are not aware of the onset of problems in their spinal area ? the pain may develop slowly over a long period or may only appear to be relatively minor. Minor back pain may develop because of bad posture whilst sitting or sleeping, it may be due to incorrect lifting or even referred pain due to another underlying medical problem. Persistent or worsening pain should be investigated by a professional medical practitioner.

Generalized back pain may be treated in a number of ways. It is possible to improve back health by making changes to posture, exercising, and implementing various simple lifestyle changes.

Sometimes back pain may require urgent medical attention ? if it is accompanied by any of the following symptoms the advice of your medical practitioner should be sought as soon as possible -

• muscle weakness
• sensory loss
• numbness
• loss of bladder or bowel control
• severe radiating pain

Rest and relaxation

More and more of us lead extremely busy lives and find little time for proper rest and relaxation. However, niggling back pain needs to be rested in order to prevent the condition worsening ? a little rest when the pain is mild may well prevent compulsory bed rest later on.

Back pain sufferers should take care to rest their back several times during the day, if possible lying down and stretching ? this will alleviate the pressure from the spine and muscles as well as relieving the weight from the area. If possible, take at least four breaks of at least ten minutes each day. Of course at work it may be necessary to lie on the floor ? taking a yoga mat may be a good idea. Once you have rested your back do some slow stretches before going straight back to work. It is important not to sit or stand in the same position for long periods in order to avoid stiffening of joints and muscles.

It is essential to combine any rest periods with moderate exercise in order to avoid muscle atrophy. Gentle walking or swimming will contribute to overall general fitness as well as contribute to muscle strengthening.

When sitting make sure to choose a firm chair ? avoid sitting on soft sofas, if necessary choose the floor. Also ensure that your mattress is firm enough ? replacing if necessary.

Natural and alternative remedies

The body produces its own natural painkillers called endorphins. Exercise and treatments such as physiotherapy, manipulation, and acupuncture may all boost the levels of endorphins in your body.

Enjoy a guilt free massage

Therapeutic massage is an excellent therapy for back pain of all kinds ? done correctly a medically based massage may resolve the problem rather than simply masking the symptoms as so many painkillers do.

Therapeutic massages have a number of health benefits including improving circulation, increasing flexibility and strengthening of spinal muscles ? all f which will improve the alignment of the spine. Your medical practitioner will probably be able to recommend a therapist, it is important that your chosen therapist is qualified and accredited.

Use medication

Over the counter medications can help reduce inflammation and niggling back pain ? it is important not to over medicate, discuss any pain therapy with your medical practitioner.

Your doctor may prescribe medication to relax muscles and/or reduce inflammation ? it is essential to follow dosage instructions exactly and only use painkillers when necessary.

Hot and cold therapy

Immediately after any injury it is often useful to apply cold therapy ? this may reduce inflammation and ease any muscle spasm or pain. Cold therapy may be applied in a number of ways ?

• Pre-packed cold packs
• Ice cubes wrapped in a towel
• An ice bath

Heat therapy is frequently used in order to relieve muscle tension, reduce spasm, and improve mobility. As with cold therapy, it is essential not to apply hot therapies directly to the skin but rather to wrap the therapy tool ?

• Heating pads
• Hot stone massage
• Hot bath

Talk to your medical practitioner

Persistent pain that recurs despite treatment attempts should always be investigated by a qualified doctor. A number of serious underlying medical conditions involving vital organs such as the prostate or uterus can, on occasion, cause referred pain in the back ? it is essential that this type of illness is ruled out as soon as possible.

Pain that interferes with daily activity should also be investigated ? particularly if the home remedies suggested above do not appear to be improving or lessening the discomfort. Even severe pain can be successfully treated using physical therapy or chiropractic adjustment.

Don?t just live with it

No one has to just live with back pain ? for all but the most extreme cases there are a number of treatments that can provide relief and enable a normal routine to be maintained.

Related Natural Product

InflammaGo is a safe, non-addictive, FDA-registered natural remedy containing 100% homeopathic ingredients selected to relieve pain and stiffness in joints and muscles associated with arthritis. InflammaGo can safely maintain joint health and support healthy tissues in the body, without harmful side effects. This remedy contains a selection of homeopathic ingredients known to address muscle and joint inflammation and fatigue. It also helps provide relief for sports injuries, plus healing after over-exertion and physical stress.

About the author:

Natalia Z. is a one of the specialists on Webctor.com ? a new health center which is responsible for bringing free and accurate medical information to the Internet.

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? ? Simply right click the ebook title above, and choose Save As to save to your desktop!? You can find more FREE Natural Health, Wellness and Pet Ebooks at Remedies4.com!

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Source: http://www.natural-holistic-health.com/dealing-with-back-pain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dealing-with-back-pain

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Gaiam TV: Streaming Health And Wellness 24/7 | Hip As I Wanna Be

I?ve quite accidentally stumbled across a gold mine of health, wellness, fitness and inspiration. It is called Gaiam TV.

GaiamTV.com is an online video streaming service which operates similarly to Netflix. Fitness and health junkies of the world, get ready to swoon?

For a $9.95 a month subscription, one can get ?unlimited access to thousands of streaming videos straight to your computer or mobile device.

Among the topics to chose from:

• spirituality
• personal development
• health
• fitness
• nutrition
• weight loss
• stress reduction and much more?

?

I first came at this site from a purely fitness mentality (Yoga! Pilates! Jillian Michaels! The Firm!) but soon found out that it had so much more to offer me.?As a woman in transition, many of the shows speak to where I am in my own life journey. What a happy surprise! (Where has it been all of my life?)

As for the health and wellness portion of this site? I just can?t say enough about the selection. I don?t know about you, but I don?t connect with every instructor which (truth be told) has lead me to drop the pursuit of a discipline fairly quickly. I also am not a huge fan of group?exercise?in a fitness club. I have zero coordination and hate the humiliation. This service is a great tool for finding the perfect fit for your goals and personality in your own private environment. It literally gives you zero excuse for not working out. One less reason for not taking care of yourself, if you know what I mean.

If this seems like something you would be interested in trying out,?Gaiam TV offers a free 10-day trial to prospective subscribers. The ?subscription fee contains no contract commitment, allowing you to cancel at anytime. So very easy to try out for yourself!

Disclosure: FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

Source: http://www.hipasiwannabe.com/2012/16/fitness/gaiam-tv-streaming-health-and-wellness-247/

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Switched On: The roads to home automation

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

At a dinner event several years ago, a former editor-in-chief of a major computing trade magazine told attendees that his first published article was about home automation. That article ran back in 1979 -- just two years after the debut of the Apple II and two years before the introduction of the IBM PC.

Indeed, in its early days, home automation, like the PC, was confined to hobbyists more concerned with being able to do things rather than their practical value. However, the PC proved itself first in business and then with games, word processing and the consumer web as the internet grew. Meanwhile, home automation has largely remained the province of the very wealthy and corporations. Indeed, we're still likely many years away from all of us having smart homes, but there are signs of that future approaching and putting the squeeze on today's high-end installations both from above and below.

DIY

One reason why home automation has been so challenging for the non-technical has been the confusing array of different wired and wireless standards. Take lighting. At least three major wireless protocols -- INSTEON, ZigBee and Z-Wave -- vie for adoption in wall switches for lighting. And even if you pick one, it's not every consumer who is comfortable working behind the wall plate.

But recently we've seen encroachments from two of the most popular wireless networks: WiFi and Bluetooth. In lighting, for instance, we've seen the development of light bulbs that can not only be turned on and off (and dimmed) via WiFi, but also change color -- from companies as diverse as lighting giant Philips and Kickstarter campaigner LIFX. WiFi has been the first radio standard supported by connected thermostat startup Nest. And now door locks such as Lockitron and remote doorbells like DoorBot are planning to work together to enable unmanaged remote monitoring and unlocking of homes.

WiFi makes sense for products that have access to a permanent power source. For sensors expected to last months or a year on batteries, though, such as those used in security applications like window openings and motion detection, Bluetooth Smart is developing into a competitor to other low-power radios. It has the advantage of already being built into virtually every smartphone, a device that will invariably be used to control homes, particularly remotely.

Another way around the longstanding standards morass has been to simply support multiple ones. Home improvement chain Lowe's, for example, now offers two home automation sets under the Iris brand. The Safe and Secure kit focuses on security monitoring while the Comfort and Control Kit centers on energy management. Both cost $179 (or are bundled together in a Smart kit for $299) and both mix and match ZigBee and Z-Wave components.

Installed

First, home automation is rapidly becoming tied into wireless data and broadband.

But while the DIY model might be getting simpler, the real push in home automation in 2013 and beyond is coming from service providers looking past the "triple play" of voice, video and (mobile) broadband. Security companies such as Vivint and ADT have been pushing home automation as an outgrowth of their security businesses with the panels acting as hubs for Z-Wave components.

The market is also attracting the attention of service provider heavyweights such as Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and others. First, home automation is rapidly becoming tied into wireless data and broadband. Got an alert on your phone that someone is at the door? Perhaps you want to peek in via remote camera for a quick chat with whoever is there?

Second, it is one of an emerging breed of consumer subscription-based services like health monitoring and payments that may not be universal for some time, but which are supplementing today's slow-growth or declining markets such as pay TV and VoIP. These services may not be adopted as widely as, say, cellular service, but rather they represent a new tier of services built on top of broadband.

Beyond the House

"Home automation" has always been, at best, an incomplete description of what are sometimes now called smart buildings. Indeed, a lot of so-called home automation installations have taken place in small businesses and a lot of the actions are done manually and not really automatically. In addition, many people's homes are apartments -- too small to justify the kinds of elaborate, multi-room systems facilitated by advanced, low-power mesh networks.

One opportunity to increase the adoption of home automation is to offer more basic capabilities to people who live in smaller dwellings. An option on the market today comes from SimpliSafe, an inexpensive, but monitored system that costs only $15 per month. If companies with tens of millions of customers such as telcos or cable companies could tack even that small premium on to their monthly fees, it would represent a substantial revenue boost.

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Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a research and advisory firm focusing on consumer technology adoption. He shares commentary at Techspressive and on Twitter at @rossrubin.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/16/the-roads-to-home-automation/

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Car Loan Quote: Comparing Loan Quotes | Personal Business Ideas

December 14th, 2012 by admin Leave a reply ?

Don?t settle for the first auto loan quote that crosses your path. There are various methods now-a-days in which individuals can acquire an auto loan. Be sure to compare all the pros and cons of each method to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck. There are four main ways to acquire an auto loan quote: dealer loans, credit unions, home equity, or with online quotes.

Dealership Auto Loan

Dealership loans are fairly common. In the past, a dealership loan was the only way to finance a vehicle. Times have certainly changed! One thing is certain, dealership loans are convenient. While you sit and fill out papers for the vehicle you will purchase, you might as well fill out papers for a loan to finance that car. Yes, dealership loans are quite simple, however, sometimes they are not in your best interest. Convenience doesn?t come free. Many times, these loans have higher interest rates than if you were to find a loan by yourself.

Credit Unions

Credit unions are a great option for auto financing. They can quote much larger loan amounts for a lower interest rate that an auto dealership. Also, the extra time you will spend with a credit union is not overwhelming. Many times credit unions can approve you for a loan in mere minutes. Although one extra phone call needs to be made, there is not much effort on your end.

Home Equity

A home equity loan is another option for car financing. Using a home equity loan allows you to purchase your vehicle while using your home as collateral. On paper, home equity loans may appear to have a higher interest rate than standard car loans. However, the fact that the interest you will pay is tax deductible may present significant advantages.

Online quote

One of the quickest growing industries online is the financing industry. Now, you can simply go to a credit website and compare quotes and loan terms. There are even websites where banks and lenders will compete for your business. This is beneficial to you because it means lower interest rates and shorter auto loan terms.

The moral of the story is: be sure to check all options before signing an auto loan. There are many different methods to get auto financing quotes. Depending on your situation, each auto loan method can present certain advantages and disadvantages.

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Source: http://www.liquidelectric.org/2012/12/car-loan-quote-comparing-loan-quotes.html

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How Much Marketing is Too Much for Your Small Business or ...

I was talking to a nonprofit client the other day about the end of the year rush for fundraising. Like most nonprofits, this organization has several specifically targeted year end campaigns, which in this case are closely tied to the holidays because of the nature of the organization. On top of that, they participated in a 24-hour online county wide fundraising competition called the Extraordinary Give. And then of course they had the chance to participate in the post-Black Friday, post-Small Business Saturday, post-Cyber Monday event called Giving Tuesday.

All of this in the final month and a half of the year. My client?s question was,

?How much is too much??

They didn?t participate in Giving Tuesday this year, and I think that was a wise idea. Donors are already overloaded with requests to give at this time of year, and too much from one source might be both confusing and counterproductive. Consumers are being sold to at an alarming rate. Buy, buy, buy; give, give, give, seems to be the mantra of many businesses and organizations these days.

It is possible to market too much. It is possible to ask for money too often. And it is possible for businesses to be a little (or a lot) ?too present.? By various accounts, the average American is confronted with upwards of 3,000 ad impressions a day. That includes those coming from small businesses and nonprofits as well.

If you?re using social media as part of your marketing plan, particularly Facebook or Twitter, you need to watch very carefully. The only way to know how much is too much is to pay attention. Paying attention is a matter of listening to what people are saying about you. And while some of what they are saying is ?loud and clear,? some of it might not be so obvious. You sometimes have to dig a little as you monitor your brand and find out what they are thinking about you, without actually telling you to your face.

Yes, some folks will call you out and tell you to your face. But they are the minority.

When it comes to how much is too much, there is really only one way to know: listen. Open your ears and eyes. (which I guess is two things: listening and watching, but on the Internet, they are the same thing.

You need to regularly take the pulse of what you?re doing and measure your efforts. When people feel they are getting too much, or are being sold to too much, they will let you know in any number of ways. Here are a few things you should be checking out, just to see if perhaps you?re doing a bit too much, but remember, these things, in and of themselves could be signs of other serious problems, not just over-marketing:

1) Decrease in traffic ? This can be across the board, from your website to Facebook. If you see the amount of traffic decreasing, particularly visiting your website from your social properties, that?s a red flag. If you see fewer people visiting your brick and mortar business, you know something is wrong. Same applies to the online world.

2) Decrease in activity ? Similar to a decrease in traffic is a decrease in activity or engagement. Has the number of people commenting, liking, sharing, retweeting, and pinning decreased over time? Has it decreased drastically over a short period of time?

3) Decrease in fans/followers/subscribers ? If you?re noticing an attrition of fans on Facebook, that?s a problem. You should always be seeming some sort of net growth. Expect some losses, but look for larger than normal spikes in people unliking your page and try to figure out what you did that day to elicit that kind of reaction. If the losses are greater than the gains, something needs to be fixed.

4) Negative Feedback ? This isn?t always vocal and readily apparent. My friend Liz Jostes wrote a great post on this in regard to Facebook and negative feedback the other day. When people see your posts in their newsfeed, they have the option of hiding your posts. Or, they can go further and actually report them as spam. These now get reported back to you in your Facebook insights. This is useful information, and most likely happens more often if you are paying to promote posts. So while you?ll get greater reach and exposure, you may actually get penalized.

By looking at your analytics and insights, and noticing patterns of negative behavior, you might be discovering that you?re doing something wrong. It?s not just a matter of bad content, but might also be that you?re selling too much or flooding your audience with too much information over too short a period of time.

Whether you?re a non-profit or small business, there are numerous programs, special days, and opportunities that you have available to you to reach your audience. Don?t feel that you have to take advantage of all of them. Pick and choose the ones that are right for you. Try to roll your regular programs and appeals into these special programs and appeals, rather than? duplicating or doubling up. Integrate your efforts across platforms, online and offline. Mix it up across channels, but in a coordinated way. Use online to reinforce offline, and vice versa.

Keep your eyes and ears open to discover what your audience is saying about you, even when they aren?t actually saying anything.

Have you ever discovered that you are marketing too much? How did you find out, and were their negative results?

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Source: http://inklingmedia.net/2012/12/11/how-much-marketing-is-too-much-for-your-small-business-or-nonprofit/

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Ipeng for iPad Christmas version crashing

I'm sorry, but we seem to have a problem with the international version of this build. Will try to get it corrected as soon as possible.

As a workaround, it helps to set your iPad to English.
If you then open all the automatic help screens at least once (the ones under "Help->Quick Tutorials") you can then switch the iPad back to your native language as long as you don't open the Help screen.

I'll try to get an update to the store ASAP but this being a weekend it's probably going to be at least Tuesday for that.

Sorry!!!

Source: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?97500-Ipeng-for-iPad-Christmas-version-crashing&goto=newpost

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JournalStone Publishing Announces Forthcoming Publication of ...

JournalStone Publishing (JSP) President, Christopher C. Payne has announced the signing of a contract with award winning author, Weston Ochse (represented by literary agent Robert Fleck) for the publication of his new novel, Halfway House, tentatively set for release in Summer of 2014.

About the Book: Genre: Supernatural Thriller/Urban Fantasy. Sun and surf meets spirits , brujas and LA street gangs in an action-packed but thoughtful supernatural novel about family, history, legends, and the dangers of not letting go. For Bobby Dupree, an epileptic loner from a Memphis orphanage on a journey to find out if he really is the son of the King, Los Angeles holds more opportunities and more dangers than he imagines. Hooking up with an old surf bum nicknamed ?Kanga?, he finds himself embroiled in a 20 year long rivalry, a gang turf-war, and a spiritual mystery that only his ?handicap? can unravel.

About the Author: Weston Ochse (pronounced ?Oaks) lives in Southern Arizona. His work has won the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel in 2005, been a finalist in several categories for this same award, been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for Short Fiction in 2003 and won the Buffalo Screams International Film Festival Original Screenplay Competition in 2010. His work has also appeared in anthologies, magazines and professional writing guides. He thinks it?s damn cool that he?s had stories in comic books. His novels include Empire of Salt and Blood Ocean (Abaddon Books/Rebellion Entertainment), and SEAL Team 666 (just released from St. Martin?s Press in Nov 2012). Weston holds Bachelor?s Degrees in American Literature and Chinese Studies from Excelsior College. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from National University. Weston is a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer.

JournalStone Publishing is a small press publishing company, focusing in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror genres in both the adult and young adult markets. JSP also owns and operates the Hellnotes website, offering daily news and reviews of interest to genre readers and fans, and Dark Discoveries Magazine, a slick, full color, distinguished and internationally distributed quarterly magazine. JournalStone publishes in multiple book formats and markets their authors on a global level. They are also active with major writer?s groups, including the Horror Writers Association (HWA), and produce a monthly newsletter with exposure to thousands of people.

Source: http://hellnotes.com/journalstone-publishing-announces-forthcoming-publication-of-halfway-house?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=journalstone-publishing-announces-forthcoming-publication-of-halfway-house

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7 'Jedi' Hacks To Improve Search Engine Rankings of Your Websites

Discover How to Improve the Search Engine Rankings of your Websites even if you?re not a ?Jedi?.

Search Engine Optimization is important if you want to have a good source of leads coming from Google, Yahoo and Bing.

If you have a website for your small business, landscaping company or home improvement company, you can definitely benefit from a well-planned internet marketing strategy.

And a big part of that strategy is getting found in the search engines for your chosen terms and keywords.

These 7 ?Jedi? Tricks might be a bit technical for most people, but they are invaluable to your online success.

You can definitely start using some of the tricks I?ve mentioned but if you needed more professional help, all you need to do is ask.

1. Create Content that your target readers would love. (While focusing on Best SEO practices when writing content)

If you?re selling mulches or soil, talk about the benefits of using a specific type of soil or mulch.

Instead of writing about how many hours it took you to create the soil mix, tell them why this specific product would save them time and money.

But while writing content, you?ll also need to incorporate the ?most? common terms and phrases that are found in the Top 10 results.

This will help the search engines rank your website faster than most websites.

You can use tools like the Ultimate keyword tool to find these synonyms and sprinkle them when writing your article.

You can also use Google Keyword tool and it will show you related terms and phrases that you can use.

2. Use Video on your Website, Embed PDF files and Images

Youtube is currently the 2nd largest search engine. And there has been numerous case studies on how video improve site engagement.

You can also build embed PDF files using GoogleDocs or other sharing site like Slideshare.com and Docstoc.com

3. Build your Social Profiles

Google might be the 800lb Gorilla of traffic but it?s not the only source of traffic. ?And because of this, Google is starting to look at social signals for ranking websites.

Probably the most important social profile to start building right now would be your Google+ profile.

Connecting your Website and Google+ profile can increase the clicks to your site because a small profile image is shown in the search results.

It?s Google?s own social network. If you want to benefit from long-term, free search engine traffic, now?s the time to create your Personal Google+ profile.

Make sure you have also accounts created in the 3 biggest Social Networks:
http://www.twitter.com/
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/

If you are interested in registering your brand name/company name across all known social profiles you can visit knowem.com to check if your brand url is still available. (Highly recommended)

4. Spy on your Competitor?s SEO and PPC Strategy.

Do you want to know if a competitor is doing pretty well in SEO and PPC? Do you want to know what keywords they are ranking for? Do you want to know their most successful ads in PPC?

You can ?easily? spy on your competitor?s backlinks, keywords, ppc ads by using subscription tools like Keywordspy and Spyfu.

For checking backlinks and top 10 competitors, you can use Market Samurai.

5. Use Google Webmaster Tools.

If you?re not using Google webmaster tools, you should. It?s actually simple to implement and use.

All you need to do is have a working gmail (use the same gmail for analytics, adwords, etc), install Google analytics (asynchronous) tracking in your website, then verify your Google webmaster account by adding your site.

Here are some of the benefits of using it:

• Detect Malware issues on your site
• Set the Preferred URL (www or non www) for your website
• Discover all the links being created (useful for your link building plan)
• Find out which keywords are being found on your website?s content.

6. Promote your website.

After creating great content, you still need to promote it. The best way is to leverage your existing source of traffic.

• If you have an email list, send an email to everyone on your list that you have a new blog post.
• Usually, the best people to target when promoting your content are people who already know you or have expressed permission to receive information from you. Send them an email or tweet that you have new content that might be useful to their readers.
• Send a Press Release if your article is news worthy.
• Build a Viral Fanpage and offer incentives to share your content.
• Start driving traffic through PPC. Don?t forget to use Bing Adcenter as well. They might have lower traffic, but they have higher conversions.
• Identify the top referrals of traffic to your new blog post and simply thank them for sending traffic. This can become a great start of building stronger relationships with other leaders and webmasters in your niche.

7. Monitor your Website?s rankings.

You can?t improve what you can?t measure.

Fortunately, there are many ways to track if your rankings are improving or not. You can use the Rank tracker module of market samurai to track all the rankings for your websites.

Simply enter your domain and keywords then Market samurai will track the rankings in the ?cloud?.

Getting top rankings in the search results can provide you with a generous amount of leads ?just like what our client experienced in 2012.

Are you going to be our next Success story?

We?ll guide you step-by-step on how you can boost your business sales online. Simply click the button and download our ?Essential Guide? to start learning how you can capture better sales leads online.

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(Photo credit Jedi by PhillipWest)

About Ryan

Ryan is an Internet marketing specialist for WSI Milton. Team WSI Milton has been providing Internet Marketing Solutions that generates more leads and sales for dozens of their clients.

Source: http://blog.yourwsiadvantage.com/improve-search-engine-rankings/

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