Classic tv and the commercials that entertained generations

The 1950s were arguably the golden age of television and many people of a certain age look back fondly at some of the shows of the time – “The Lone Ranger”, “I Love Lucy” and “Gunsmoke”. These shows were in black and white and were watched on a set that got its signal from a huge antenna on the roof, but they were loved just the same. Almost as compelling as the TV shows themselves, were some of the commercials of the time. TV was still a novelty during the 1950s and companies were anxious to cash in on the new craze. Particularly popular were commercials for cigarettes, cars and state of the art kitchen appliances. And the average length of TV advertisements was around a minute – compared to the 30 seconds or less today. Beer was also one of the products widely advertised on TV during the 1950s. At first, it was only late at night and never on a Sunday, so as not to offend anyone. During the early part of the decade, Blatz Beer became one of the beer industry’s biggest advertisers, partly due to the company’s sponsorship of the popular “Amos ‘n’ Andy” show. One of the most instantly recognizable characters in television advertising at the time was Mabel. Mabel was a chirpy blond waitress who appeared on screen with a tray of Carling Black Label beer. Almost every Carling commercial featured the phrase that became famous – “Hey, Mabel, Black Label!” Cigarette advertisements were commonplace during the 1950s – a big change from television today. Some of the biggest tobacco manufacturers of the time spent a lot of money trying to convince us that smoking was sophisticated and fun, including Lucky Strike, Tareyton and Winston. One famous Lucky Strike ad featured a clever combination of cartoon and live action, featuring the singer Gisele McKenzie. Tareytown had an ad that featured what appeared to be two children dancing around a giant pack of cigarettes. And who can possibly forget the Fontane Sisters singing the praises of Chesterfield cigarettes? Car manufacturers went to great lengths to advertise the latest models on television during the 1950s despite the loss of aesthetic effect on a black and white screen. The Ford Edsel was advertised at great length as the most beautiful convertible in the world, complete with such wonderful and innovative features as “teletouch” driving and air suspension. It wasn’t all just cars, beer and tobacco. Some healthier products were advertised as well. One of the most well known ads of the era was for Pepsodent toothpaste. The TV ad featured a cute cartoon couple kissing after having brushed their teeth, and the catchy and unforgettable slogan – “You’ll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!” TV advertisements for kitchen appliances pointed out features that we now take for granted. A General Electric ad from the time for a new refrigerator consisted of a proud couple explaining the features of their sleek new fridge which included shelves that slid out, storage space behind the door and a separate freezer compartment. And some things don’t seem to have changed much over the years. Tupperware ran a series of TV ads during the 1950s which featured an exciting Tupperware evening at a typical suburban home, organized by a “hostess”. Almost as much emphasis was placed on the social aspect, as on the actual features of the product. One of the most prolific TV advertisers during the 1950s and subsequent decades was Pepsi. Their advertisements captured the feeling of the times like few others. One of the company’s earliest featured the actress and singer Polly Bergen enjoying a barn dance and a refreshing glass of Pepsi-Cola. Not to be outdone, Coca-Cola was just as prolific with their ads and came up with several memorable slogans, such as “There’s nothing like a Coke”. Coca-Cola also went after the young crowd, with an ad featuring people at diners and drive-in movie theaters and a jingle that claimed “Zing! What a feeling!” Many television viewers firmly maintain that the advertisements are just as good as the actual shows themselves! It seems as though that was especially true back in the 1950s. And if you just can’t get enough of those old commercials, you can enjoy some of them on DVD or online. ~ Ben Anton, 2008

Is there really a magic formula for investing

One question almost every investor asks at some point is whether it is possible to achieve above market returns by selecting a diversified group of stocks according to some formula, rather than having to evaluate each stock from every angle. There are obvious advantages to such a formulaic approach. For the individual, the amount of time and effort spent caring for his investments would be reduced, leaving more time for him to spend on more enjoyable and fulfilling tasks. For the institution, large sums of money could be deployed without having to rely upon the investing acumen of a single talented stock picker. Many of the proposed systems also offer the advantage of matching the inflow of investable funds with investment opportunities. An investor who follows no formula, and evaluates each stock from every angle, may often find himself holding cash. Historically, this has been a problem for some excellent stock pickers. So, there are real advantages to favoring a formulaic approach to investing if such an approach would yield returns similar to the returns a complete stock by stock analysis would yield. Many investment writers have proposed at least one such formulaic approach during their lifetime. The most promising formulaic approaches have been articulated by three men: Benjamin Graham, David Dreman, and Joel Greenblatt. As each of these approaches appeals to logic and common sense, they are not unique to these three men. But, these are the three names with which these approaches are usually most closely associated; so, there is little need to draw upon sources beyond theirs. Benjamin Graham wrote three books of consequence: “Security Analysis”, “The Intelligent Investor”, and “The Interpretation of Financial Statements”. Within each book, he hints at various workable approaches both in stocks and bonds; however, he is most explicit in his best known work, “The Intelligent Investor”. There, Graham discusses the purchase of shares for less than two – thirds of their net current asset value. The belief that this method would yield above market returns is supported on both empirical and logical grounds. In fact, it currently enjoys far too much support to be practicable. Public companies rarely trade below their net current asset values. This is unlikely to change in the future. Buyout firms, unconventional money managers, and vulture investors now check such excessive bouts of public pessimism by taking large or controlling stakes in troubled companies. As a result, the investing public is less likely to indulge its pessimism as feverishly as it once did; for, many cheap stocks now have the silver lining of being takeover targets. As Graham’s net current asset value method is neither workable at present, nor is likely to prove workable in the future, we must set it aside. David Dreman is known as a contrarian investor. In his case, it is an appropriate label, because of his keen interest in behavioral finance. However, in most cases the line separating the value investor from the contrarian investor is fuzzy at best. Dreman’s contrarian investing strategies are derived from three measures: price to earnings, price to cash flow, and price to book value. Of these measures, the price to earnings ratio is by far the most conspicuous. It is quoted nearly everywhere the share price is quoted. When inverted, the price to earnings ratio becomes the earnings yield. To put this another way, a stock’s earnings yield is “e” over “p”. Dreman describes the strategy of buying stocks trading at low prices relative to their earnings as the low P/E approach; but, he could have just as easily called it the high earnings yield approach. Whatever you call it, this approach has proved effective in the past. A diversified group of low P/E stocks has usually outperformed both a diversified group of high P/E stocks and the market as a whole. This fact suggests that investors have a very hard time quantifying the future prospects of most public companies. While they may be able to make correct qualitative comparisons between businesses, they have trouble assigning a price to these qualitative differences. This does not come as a surprise to anyone with much knowledge of human judgment (and misjudgment). I am sure there is some technical term for this deficiency, but I know it only as “checklist syndrome”. Within any mental model, one must both describe the variables and assign weights to these variables. Humans tend to have little difficulty describing the variables – that is, creating the checklist. However, they rarely have any clue as to the weight that ought to be given to each variable. This is why you will sometimes hear analysts say something like: the factor that tipped the balance in favor of online sales this holiday season was high gas prices (yes, this is an actual paraphrase; but, I won’t attribute it, because publicly attaching such an inane argument to anyone’s name is just cruel). It is true that avoiding paying high prices at the pump is a possible motivating factor in a shopper’s decision to make online Christmas purchases. However, it is an immaterial factor. It is a mere pebble on the scales. This is the same kind of thinking that places far too much value on a stock’s future earnings growth and far too little value on a stock’s current earnings. The other two contrarian methods: the low price to cash flow approach and the low price to book value approach work for the same reasons. They exploit the natural human tendency to see a false equality in the factors, and to run down a checklist. For instance, a stock that has a triple digit price to cash flow ratio, but is in all other respects an extraordinary business, will be judged favorably by a checklist approach. However, if great weight is assigned to present cash flows relative to the stock price, the stock will be judged unfavorably. This also illustrates the second strength of the three contrarian methods. They heavily weight the known factors. Of course, they do not heavily weight all known factors. They only consider three easily quantifiable known factors. An excellent brand, a growing industry, a superb management team, etc. may also be known factors. However, they are not precisely quantifiable. I would argue that while these factors may not be quantifiable they are calculable; that is to say, while no exact value may be assigned to them, they are useful data that ought to be considered when evaluating an investment. There is the possibility of a middle ground here. These three contrarian methods may be used as a screen. Then, the investor may apply his own active judgment to winnow the qualifying stocks down to a final portfolio. Personally, I do not believe this is an acceptable compromise. These three methods do not adequately model the diversity of great investments. Therefore, they must either exclude some of the best stocks or include too many of the worst stocks. It is wise to place great weight upon each of these measures; however, it is foolish disqualify any stock because of a single criterion (which is exactly what such a screen does). Finally, there is Joel Greenblatt’s “magic formula”. This is the most interesting formulaic approach to investing, both because it does not subject stocks to any true/false tests and because it is a composite of the two most important readily quantifiable measures a stock has: earnings yield and return on capital. As you will recall, earnings yield is simply the inverse of the P/E ratio; so, a stock with a high earnings yield is simply a low P/E stock. Return on capital may be thought of as the number of pennies earned for each dollar invested in the business. The exact formula that Greenblatt uses is described in “The Little Book That Beats the Market”. However, the formula used is rather unimportant. Over large groups of stocks (which is what Greenblatt suggests the magic formula be used on) any differences between the various return on capital formulae will not have much affect on the performance of the portfolios constructed. Greenblatt claims his magic formula may be used in two different ways: as an automated portfolio generation tool or as a screen. For an investor like you (that is, one with sufficient curiosity and commitment to frequent a site such as this) the latter use is the more appropriate one. The magic formula will serve you well as a screen. I would argue, however, that you needn’t limit yourself to stocks screened by the magic formula, if you have full confidence in your judgment regarding some other stock. These four formulaic approaches (the three from Dreman and the one from Greenblatt) will likely yield returns greater than or equal to the returns you would obtain from an index fund. Therefore, you would do better to invest in your own basket of qualifying stocks than in the prefabricated market basket. If you want to be a passive investor, or believe yourself incapable of being an active investor, these formulaic approaches are your best bet. In fact, if I were approached by an institution making long – term investments and using only a very small percentage of the fund for operating expenses, I would recommend an automated process derived from these four approaches. I would also recommend that 100% of the fund’s investable assets be put into equities, but that is a discussion for another day (in fact, it’s a discussion for Tuesday; my next podcast is devoted to the dangers of diversification). If, however, you believe you have what it takes to be an active investor, and that is truly what you wish to be, then, I would suggest you do not use these approaches for anything more than helping you generate some useful ideas. If you choose this path, you need to be clear about what being an active investor entails. Read this next part very carefully (it is correct even though it may not appear to be): I have never found a screen that generates more than one buy order per hundred stocks returned. Even after I have narrowed the list of possible stocks down by a cursory review of the industry and the business itself, I have never found a method that can consistently generate more than one buy order per twenty – five annual reports read. Here, I am citing my best past experiences. In my experience, most screens result in less than one buy order per three hundred stocks returned, and I usually read more like fifty to a hundred annual reports per buy order at a minimum. You may choose to invest in far more stocks than I do. Perhaps instead of limiting yourself to your five to twelve best ideas as I do, you might want to put money into your best twenty – five to thirty ideas. Do the math, and you’ll see that is still quite a bit of homework. That’s why remaining a passive investor is the best bet for most people. The time and effort demanded of the active investor is simply too taxing. They have more important, more enjoyable things to do. If that’s true for you, the four formulaic approaches outlined above should guide you to above market returns.

Golda s stories of the holocaust

The True Stories of a Holocaust Survivor who Survived Six Years in the Concentration Camps. Golda Sandman was born in the small city of Strachovitsa in south Poland. At the beginning of World War II she was a girl age eighteen. After the occupation by the Germans she was sent from the ghetto to a work camp in the city. Later she was sent to Auschwitz Birkenau and from there to Bergen-Belzen. She spent totally six years in concentration camps. After the war ended she went to Sweden, and from there immigrated to the Land of Israel in illegal immigrants' ship. After hard years of absorption she established a family. Golda's Stories has a plot which sounds unbelievable. She decided not to surrender to evil and survived under the harshest terms. She dealt with illegal commerce and smuggling, endangered her life many times to save people, and acted intuitively opposite death many times. Her physical and mental sufferings were unprecedented. She survived the death camps barely alive and gained her health again. She triumphed to bestow her memoirs to the next generations, in memory of the heroism of the Jews that perished in the holocaust. The book defines new borders of humanity, femininity and heroism, which reach in it heights that were considered impossible up to here. Although it's a personal memory, the book can serve as an accurate, comprehensive presentation of the whole era, because the stories extend from the 1930th to the 1950th. The son of Golda, Avinoam, recorded her memoirs in 1978, during several months in which she told him every day one story or two. Although very plain, the stories were incomprehensible in their intensity. Over the years he tried strenuously to reach a perspective which will enable him to edit and publish them. Avinoam described his spiritual journey in his book: The Little Prince Lands. Golda's Stories is written as his mother told, in first body. From reading the book, it seems at times that the flow of the stories is easy. A mother tells her child some stories. The content cancels the easy impression. This is just as in fairy tales, where the naпve style is confronted with the amazing plot and we are forced to think of a meaning above and behind the simple story. Some chapters are available for reading in the Internet.

Type one diabetes

Type one diabetes is far less common than type two diabetes and it will affect younger individuals. It is most found in people under the age of 40 and mostly under the age of fourteen. There are people who have been diagnosed with it after forty but it is very rare. Diabetes is a serious issues and type one is the worst. It is associated with the lack of insulin. It is a dysfunction of the pancreas where it will just stop making insulin in the amount the body needs to maintain a normal level of glucose in the blood. Many people who have type one diabetes will have symptoms of hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia is where your glucose is too high in the blood. Meaning your blood sugar is too high. The common symptoms of hyperglycemia or diabetes type one is frequent hunger, frequent urinating, and frequent thirst. You will also experience blurred vision, fatigue, weight loss, your healing power will be low (meaning it will take you a long time to heal a wound or cut), dry mouth, dry or itchy skin, and you could have impotence for males. Your immune system will become weak and you will be able to pick up infection easily. The reason why you are always hungry is because your body can not use glucose as an energy source. It is also, why you tire out easily. Since the body can not absorb sugar or glucose into the blood cells you will release it through frequent trips to the bathroom. Since you make many trips a day to the bathroom, your body realizes that it is losing excess water and that’s why you will become thirsty. When it comes to the symptoms, you may experience them all together or it may take some time for your body to go through the process. Most likely though it will be gradual. The changes of developing type one diabetes is 3.7 to 20 per 100, 000. Over 700,000 Americans have type one diabetes, which adds up to be about ten percent of the total population that has the disorder. It is more common to have type two diabetes. The reason why people develop the disorder is because an autoimmune disorder. The body will start to see it’s own tissue as a foreign object and then it destroys the body’s ability to make insulin. It has been rumored to be a cause from the mumps, rubella, measles, influenza, polio, or other viruses. That’s why it is very common in young children because those epidemics affect younger children more often than older adults. Diabetes is also genetic. You may simply have the disorder because an immediate family member has it. As for treatment, type one involves injections of insulin. It is absorbed in the blood stream and absorbed by the cells that need insulin and it will then control the levels of sugar in the blood. You can find more information on all-about-diabetes-symptom/

Butea superba works normal male well most erectile dysfunction male

Like a child who has discovered a new toy, this information will open up a whole new world of awe and wonder for you. Butea Superba is Thailand's common species and was worn as traditional medicine for boost and rejuvenile for a long time in Thailand. It is a big creeper grown in association with the trees. The long underground tuberous root accumulate many phyto chemicals that are very benefit to being health. Chemical properties; the fallout from the lessons of researchers and academics confirmed that these chemicals are non-mutagenic and could induce vasodilatation especially at the penis with very similar answer as did by Viagra but smoothly and therefore elevate its erectile performance. Before we go an further, lets take a moment to review what we have learned so far about this amazing subject. Works in normal male as well as most of the Erectile Dysfunction male. While the commercial Erectile Dysfunction-treated drug is a great interested upshot despite its sober adverse prompt which some are connected to death, a herbal upshot such as Butea superba with soft but protected action should be an alternative. Researchers and academics had found that Butea superba goods could be in both forms, consume upshot such as a strength food upshot and a topical application upshot such as a gel makeup product. Specific skin tending for Men, available in the form of gel for exclusive area application. Vitro Butea Gel is made from Butea Superba. This upshot is ultimate for enlarging the testis artery, enhances better penis erection and prolongs its firmness. All Skin Type Ingredients: Butea Superbe and other herb extracts Direction: Use once in the morning and in the night. utilize onto the penis area track by 3-5 gentle massage. Precaution: pause applying immediately it rash occur, suffusion out with plenty of water. If you have found our database of information on this subject useful, read some of our other topics as well. butea-superba. net/

Let s take a look back in time to see how the computer has evolved

In many ways, man has been using computers for millennia: an abacus is, after all, simply a very basic form of computer. The first mechanical calculator (the ‘calculating clock’) was built in the 17th century. Programming with punch-cards has been around for about 200 years now. It was in the 1940s, however, that the first electronic, digital computers started to appear – that is, computers as we know them today. These computers were massive machines, filling a large room (in some cases, a whole building) and yet having less computing power than a simple calculator does today. Reprogramming them often required extensive amounts of physical rewiring, as the only way the computer knew what to do was by how it was connected together. Still, these computers were helpful in the war effort – most famously, the British code-breaking computers at Bletchley Park that broke the Germans’ code is widely thought to have shortened the war by years. Fast forward to the ‘60s. This was when wires and tubes were replaced with the transistor – an overnight leap forward in technology that reduced computers’ size to an amazing degree, replacing the hefty vacuum tubes that somewhat like those still used in CRT TVs and microwavesbined with the invention of semiconductor integration circuits, by the ‘70s, it was possible to make personal computers small enough for people to have in their homes. This is generally regarded as being the beginning of the ‘computer age’, as the popularity of home computers quickly drove prices down and made them very affordableputer companies sprung up left, right and centre, hoping to carve themselves a piece of this exploding market. The result was chaos and buyer confusion, and few of them survive today. However, the stage was set for a huge computer battle that led to the machines we know and love today.

Medical tests. info

If you have teenage children, or young friends, or vulnerable partners, you may worry about them being exposed to illicit drug taking. Drug testing serves two purposes: it allows interested and legally allowed parties to perform tests on certain people who might have used drug of abuse, and it allows those under suspicion to clear their names. Alcohol tests Whether we like it, or not, alcohol is part of human lives. There are many false statements about the benefits, or otherwise of alcohol in many countries and societies. Monitoring devices Time has become one of the more precious commodities in modern world. We want to use this time conveniently and comfortably, and if possible, in the relaxed surroundings of our homes. Forensic tests The Forensic testing devices uses the most advanced methods for analyzing specimens. DNA Identification, Explosives Detection, or Surface Drug Test Kits will be helpful for all your forensic needs. Ovulation tests There is a hormone called LH (Luteinizing hormone), which is always present in the body in small quantity but surges around the middle of the menstrual cycle when it is released by the pituary gland in a bigger quantity than at any other time in the menstrual cycle.

Weight training for golf in your own home

Weight training for golf is viewed by golfers as a lot of work, time-consuming, boring and you need a gym membership to do it. None of the above is true, and if you read this article, I’ll explain why. You see…weight training for golf isn’t on machines anyways…so that eliminates the requirement of a gym. It’s not a lot of work, if you pick and choose the area you want to focus on. It’s not time-consuming if you do it in the convenience of your home, and have a plan of action. And lastly, it can be a lot of fun, when you use bands, exercise balls and training equipment specific to golf. There many “so-called” weight training for golf programs, but when you take a look at them, you’ll see pictures of golfers sitting on their butts in a machine. I don’t know about you, but I think golf is done “on your feet”, right? Weight training for golf is close to becoming “mainstream” with the golfing community. We see and hear all the pros doing it and playing their best golf; so why wouldn’t we amateurs do it also? There are so many reasons why to participate in a weight training for golf program, that you can’t overlook it and say you don’t need it. Lacking power in your swing? It’s because your body can’t produce any stored energy from a full backswing with torque in your core. That’s a ‘physical’ issue, not mechanical. Is your golf swing inconsistent from one swing to the next? Swing faults originate from some deeper physical limitation that’s not allowing you to make a mechanically sound and repeatable swing. How many times have you taken a lesson and heard your pro say, “you need to make a full backswing”, but you just can’t physically do it? That’s a ‘physical’ issue, not mechanical. How about injuries? Do you have one at the moment? The golf swing is physically damaging to the body if you don’t have enough strength and flexibility to withstand the force the golf swing puts on it. Swinging a 3 foot long lever (club) at up to 90 mph is unbelievably stressful on the joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles of the body. That’s a ‘physical’ issue, not mechanical. I could go on and on, but I think you might get the idea by now. Weight training for golf may be your “missing link” to your best game ever! If you’ve tried all the ‘other’ methods, this is the ONLY one left. Why wouldn’t you explore the possibilities a little more? If you’re looking to add power to your golf swing; improve your consistency; and prevent golf injuries, then you’ve got to consider weight training for golf.

Finding custom horse equipment

There are many different types of horse supplies and equipment that can be purchased for a number of reasons and uses. When you go to make your purchased, you will be faced with a wide variety of options, so knowing what you need before hand is very important. This can be especially relevant if you are planning to spend a lot of money on your horse equipment, and it can definitely turn quite costly. Still, even with all the options available to you, you may find yourself wishing to purchase horse supplies and equipment that will meet your vast equine needs, and this is where custom horse equipment can serve you well. Whether you are planning to ride your horse on your own property, on frequent trail rides, or enter the beautiful creature in horse shows, you will need many different supplies. There are a variety of companies that will customize this equipment just to fit your needs. They may also be good resources from which to seek advice if you are unsure of your exact equipment needs. For example, if you are planning to ride your horse often, you will want to be sure you have the right saddle. Your saddle should be comfortable for both you and the horse, and there are many different types from which to choose. If you are a new horse owner, it would probably be a good idea to read as much information as you can about owning a caring for a horse, as well as riding it. You may also consider joining a local trail riders' organization if you plan to mingle with other horse lovers. There, you will find beginners as well as advanced riders, along with people who have raised horses for a good number of years. If you are seeking customized horse equipment, the first place you should check in your particular area. It may be better to do this, especially at first, so that your needs can be more easily met without having to keep sending equipment back if it doesn't meet your specifications. This also gives you an opportunity to get advice right there on the spot, and can also help those customizing your equipment to get to know you and your horse better. Once you have become a more experienced rider, and know what you need in terms of equipment, there are many online companies who specialize in customized horse equipment. There, you will find an array of bits, saddles, bridals and so much more, and can easily prepare you and your horse for a horse show. You will find everything you need right at your fingertips.

Aids to quit smoking

As a fact, there are quite a number of ways available to help you quit smoking. Each method has a different effect on everybody. While one method works for one person, it may not work on another. Here are a few popular methods to help you: Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) Nicotine is a very addictive drug and for a person who has had developed a dependence to it, it really is very difficult for one to withdraw this very familiar drug from his system. To somehow control the physical withdrawal symptoms, there is a need for a steady dose of nicotine for the body. NRT includes lozenges, patches, gums and inhalers that take the form of a cigarette. False Cigarettes Your body may be anxious on the fact of not being able to hold on to a cigarette anymore when you started to quit smoking. This "therapy" substitutes the action or the physical sensation of having to hold onto a cigarette without having to take in all the chemicals involved in smoking. Eye Openers These may involve events that could cause a smoker to decide to be a non-smoker. For some people a certain form of shock will open their eyes on the odds of smoking and would cause them to finally quit smoking. These eye openers could be the information he may have gained about some smoking related illness such as cancer or it may be the loss of a close friend or a family member. Either way it allows the smoker to think of his own mortality and fragility and be conscious about his lifestyle. He may then decide to live a healthier life. But these eye openers could work for a while. There is a possibility that the fears he once had on smoking would eventually subside and the once non-smoker would once again feel comfortable with smoking. Zyban (or Bupropion) This is a prescribed antidepressant drug that helps the brain fight those nicotine-craving chemicals in the body. There may be also side effects to the body so it is important that one should consult a general physician before taking in the drug. Acupuncture This is an ancient Chinese form of medication which involves inserting thin needles into various yet specific acupuncture points of the body. This kind of quit smoking program should result to reduced urges and controlled levels of withdrawal symptoms. Meditation This involves deep breathing exercises and guided imagery to calm the senses and promote a sense of inner serenity and well-being. One form of meditation would involve a repetition of a chant or mantra while another would just involve emptying one's thoughts. This method is useful as it could help you relax and calm yourself especially when one is experiencing certain withdrawal symptoms. Hypnotherapy One not only has to convince his conscious mind to quit smoking. He/she also has to work with the subconscious, which is also believed to be the stronger part of the mind. This method of using suggestions can be learned or self-taught. One could use relaxation tapes or techniques to help calm your mind and free it from any worries. Though there may be numerous methods available, the most important asset one could have is the will power to quit and stay quit.

Taking a new look at annuities

A growing number of individuals looking for new sources of retirement income are considering annuities. An annuity is a type of contract between a private individual and a financial services or life insurance company. The individual pays a sum of money that is invested and in return the company makes periodic payments to the individual as specified in the contract. Annuity earnings are tax deferred, which means federal income taxes on gains are not payed until funds are withdrawn. Most annuities allow you to contribute additional money at any time. The Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA) suggests you consider some key questions if you are thinking of purchasing an annuity: Is the annuity I'm considering the right one for me? Be sure you understand what you're buying. Review the product and consider whether it is the most appropriate for your age, personal financial needs and objectives and risk tolerance. Will you need the money you're spending on this annuity in the next few years? Annuities are designed for the long term. If you decide to withdraw the money in the next few years, you may be subject to fees or penalties. What will I gain-or lose-by exchanging one annuity for another? Carefully compare your old product with the new one. Are the benefits the same? Is there a surrender charge for the switch? Will there be new surrender periods? When choosing an insurance company, make sure the company is reputable. A good place to start is to look for the IMSA logo. Only insurance companies that have proven through extensive independent review that they adhere to IMSA's stringent Principles and Code of Ethical Market Conduct may display this logo.

Project management winning the project

The big day has arrived, the day on which your customer decides which of the competing bidders has won his new project. As the Project Manager, you may or may not be the first to hear the news. Customers work differently. Sometimes a member of the customer’s staff, or more than one, will “whisper” the news to his opposite number in the bidding company and sometimes full protocol will be observed, with a formal communication being sent from the customer’s Contracts Manager to your Commercial Manager. Either way, the Project Manager will be one of the first to hear the good news that your bid was considered to be the best and that the job now starts in earnest. Bearing in mind that a large part of the Project Manager’s job is man management, one of your first duties should be to arrange a celebration for all the people who worked on the bid. This sign of appreciation will do wonders for staff morale and will ensure that you have a willing team. Depending on the value of the project, this celebration might be a beer in the pub or a full blown lunch. Don’t forget to include everyone or this will have the opposite to the desired effect. When having your celebration, use the opportunity to praise past efforts and lay out future expectations. At this early stage, your other major task will be to ensure that someone is arranging your office accommodation. If you work for a large company which likes to co-locate its project personnel, you will need to make sure that someone is taking care of space, storage and communications so that your staff can quickly settle down and devote themselves to making the project a success. After the celebration (the same day might not be such a good idea), call your first project meeting for your senior team members. At this stage, it is unlikely that your company will actually have signed the contract for this project so before that happens, more work is necessary. Your team will need to again review the customer’s documentation to ensure that they still say the same as they did when you responded to the bid. It’s not unheard of for a customer to try and sneak in a few extra requirements when they think you’re not looking. You will also need to make sure that your responses to both the Invitation to Tender and any subsequent questions have been included in the new documentation and that the price, payment plan, technical solution and everything else, have been acknowledged. As long as all the documentation is in order, it is normal practice to go ahead with the project, even without the benefit of a signed contract. Often, the customer will have sent a formal Instruction to Proceed agreeing basics such as the price. You will probably need this to get project funding signed off by the senior financial people in your organisation, enabling you to get on with the job…. and that’s where the next article will take us.

Things to do in orange county

Orange County, California is a great place to visit. There may be no better place in the country to go than Orange County. If you will be lucky enough to be visiting Orange County you should read this short article which will give you some great attractions to visit in this area. There are numerous attractions to visit in the Orange County area. Too many to list in any one article because it would literally take a book. I can however give you some of the highlights. Attractions that you should seriously consider adding to your must see list. The first such attraction is Legoland California. This theme park has over fifty different rides along with shows and attractions. It is a great attraction for kids and adults. For more information call 760-918-LEGO. Another great place to go is the Pirate's Dinner Adventure. Here you can have a swashbuckling good time. You will be treated to a show of swordplay, aerial art, cannons, comedy and even a pyrotechnic show. All of this will be yours aboard a replica of a Spanish Galleon ship. For more information on this attraction call 866-439-2469. Yet another attraction that is a must see is Knott's Berry Farm. This is a famous attraction with over one hundred rides and different attractions. Some of the attractions include the Silver Bullet Coaster and Ghost Rider. For information on visiting Knott's Berry Farm call 714-220-5200. This just scratches the surface of what is available. You could also visit Captain Dave's Dolphin Safari (949-488-2828), the Orange County Zoo (714-973-6847, Sea World (800-25-SHAMU) or one of over dozens of other attractions. As you can see, there is much to do in Orange County, California. So much in fact that you should plan your trip out in advance to make the most of it. So take some time, make some plans and have a great time visiting the Orange County area.

Curing cyber sex infidelity

Studies show that about 60% of married men cheat at least once in their marriage and about 40% of women are unfaithful, too. Both men and women are very capable of being unfaithful in marriage even though society perceives men to be the sex that cheats; this stereotype is not true, though - both men and women are unfaithful in marriage. Some psychologists even predict that the number of women who are unfaithful in marriage is far higher. Reasons given are that women are not as prone to being caught and men are more honest about it when confronted. So, what really causes a spouse to become unfaithful? Although unknown for sure, it is safe to say that ever since we have had marriage, we have also had adultery. It is not a likely thing to want to admit but adultery dates back to biblical times. For example, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and spoke about a woman who had sex without marriage. Adultery was then punishable by stoning to death. Jesus told the accusers, "Let the person without sin throw the first stone." Since the discovery of social networking sites, dating sites and chat rooms, being unfaithful in marriage - especially through the Internet - has skyrocketed despite Biblical admonitions against it. Such websites as The Ashley Madison Agency have even turned to making a profit from those who become unfaithful in their marriage. The website is solely designed for those married spouses who are seeking to become unfaithful in their marriage. Consider this fact reported last year at a convention of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers: Two-thirds of attorneys surveyed said the Internet played a significant role in the termination of marriage in the prior 12 months with excessive interest in online porn contributing to more than half of such cases. As discussed below, many of these instances were uncovered through spy software. Interestingly enough, this subject has also spawned a new type of software - spy software. Spy software is not spyware! Since it is becoming increasingly difficult to find out whether your spouse has been, or is being, unfaithful, especially through the secrecy of the web, "significant others" use spy software more and more to uncover the truth about their relationships. Marriage partners are employing spy software to check on the spouse they are suspicious about through the computer. Studies show most of the time a spouse will begin unfaithfulness on the family computer and that is why spy software is so potent! The difficulty arises when a spouse starts using a business computer or laptop to abandon their marriage. There is plenty of software on the market for this though, but one brand of spy software that surpasses all of the competition is that of Awareness Technologies of Marina del Rey, California. The key to spy software is to choose one that monitor's everything your spouse does. The Awareness spy software uniquely monitors Instant Messages, email, desktop activity, websites, and even logs all keystrokes. Spy software is easy to install and in the case of WebWatcher or SONAR, easy to monitor. Suspecting that your spouse is cheating is a feeling that you do not want to admit, but it is also something that you do not want to disregard, either. Marriage is based on trust and loyalty and while you may only suspect that your spouse is being unfaithful, you have to trust your instincts and verify it with products such as Awareness Technologies' spy software - if for no other reason than to maintain your sanity.