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When I was a kid, my grandfather bought me a bicycle. I was the envy of all of my friends. You see, it was no ordinary bicycle. I was the proud owner of a Renegade. I was the only kid I knew that had a gearshift with 3 speeds on the handlebars and hand brakes. (In those days the only variance in speed depended on your pedaling ability and you back pedaled to stop.)

What was best about my bike was that I had a royal purple sparkle banana seat with a sissy bar. I was hot stuff! Nowhere in my high tech package of thrills, chills and spills was the hint of elbow pads, kneepads or a helmet. There were more than a few times, as I was sailing through the handlebars, that I could have used a little extra padding.

Don’t get me wrong. The advent of safety gear for children on bicycles has prevented many deaths and severe head injuries. But, I just have to chuckle when I see a gang of kids looking like the Michelin Man on his way to a hockey game. Times have changed. The world is a dangerous place and it always has been. The difference is that we spend more resources and effort in an attempt to deconstruct the environment instead of being a part of it.

At the turn of the century, the most common cause of death was infection. A small inconsequential cut or scrape could morph into a life threatening staph infection. We no longer have to concern ourselves with the staphylococcus that stalked our progenitors. It doesn’t hang out with us anymore because we developed technology to eradicate it. There is a cost for our success.

In our zeal to eradicate the not so nice things in our lives, we have created “super” not so nice things. It appears not to be enough for us to manage our challenges. It seems that if we cannot be the all powerful conquering heroes, we are not satisfied. As a result, that turn of the century staph infection is gone. It has been replaced by a resistant strain of staph infection that scares the life out of every medical professional that has seen it. Like all wars, it is an ever-escalating situation.

As I sit here at the computer, I am not arguing anti-technology. I am advocating moderation, management and forward thinking. Before we just kill, perhaps it would be better to create a situation that does not force a mutation. “Better” could be redefined as significantly diminishes the threat to human lives.

Recent studies indicate that the use of antibacterial detergents being used in so many household products is having two unanticipated effects:

1.Children, because of less exposure to pathogens, are not developing potent immune systems.

2. We are forcing the evolution of “super germs.”

In short (I know it’s a little late for that), maybe it is better to accept ourselves as an integral part of the natural world and learn to manage its challenges.

Dawn Worthy, owner of Fresh From the Farm, is devoted to integrating human health and comfort with the natural world through 2 product lines, Aunt Ann’s Garden Soap and Grandma’s Love Afghans. “We think poisoning our customers is bad and we have taken a strong stand against it.” http://www.FreshFromtheFarm.Us

Many people wonder if leaders are born or made. Those that believe that leaders are born state that you can find leadership traits at a young age, by observing their relationships with other children. An example of this would be a child that the others gravitate to or the one that has the most friends. Although, this is true I believe that leadership can be develop. I believe this because as humans I do not think that anyone is perfect. Some people are smart in school; others seem to be cleverer outside of school (street wise) while, there are those that prefer engaging in creative activities such as arts and crafts etc.

I also know by experience that we have the ability to change who we are. Do not get me wrong this is not about changing your entire personality. It is more about being able to recognize your faults and flaws in order to start working on becoming a better person. An example of this would be having low self esteem. Leaders need to be confident in order to be able to take new risks and walk thru unknown territory.

Take a good look at yourself but most importantly be honest. Dare to see and admit your flaws. Not so that you can dwell on them. It is so that you can work on becoming a better or successful person. Only then, you will break barriers standing in the way of your success and ultimately become a leader in your own special way.

Best wishes,

Kenia Morales

Kenia Morales is the publisher of online magazine http://kpatra.com “For Every Aspect of Today’s Woman. Visit her site to find a variety of women related issues and topics.” Click on the link below to sign up for her self improvement tips by mail for free:
http://formmail.hotplugins.com/cgi-bin/showformmail.cgi?fmid=5070

The first t-shirts were originally worn as undershirts. This still happens, but t-shirts nowadays typically are the only piece of clothing on the top half of the body. T-shirts have also become a medium for personalized viewpoints and advertizing, with any conceivable combination of words, art and even photos on exhibit. In the early 50s several business concern began to embellish t-shirts with different resort names and a number of fictional character. In the 60s, the ringer tee shirt came out and became a staple for young rock n rollers. The decade also watched the outgrowth of tie-dyeing and printing on the plain white t shirt. In 1959, plastisol, a more lasting and pliable ink, was manufactured, allowing for a lot more assortment in t shirt prints. In the 70s the black concert tee shirt brought forth a fashion trend of rock and roll devotees round the land. The early 2000s utilized the internet to uphold the personal branding for companies. They made it comfortable for people to make their own designs. These internet shirt business organizations framed communities through the distribution of the t-shirts. At present in today’s world business organizations look at custom t shirts as a way to make a walking billboard. T shirts deliver many square inches of advertising area on the front and the back and are the perfect medium personalized advertizement. Remember this: the ordinary custom tee shirt is on somebodies back once a week. Likened to most other promotional items, this can give a business a good deal more promotional message for the dollars spent!

The most successful companies place great value on developing
lifetime relationships with their customers. In today’s
competitive marketplace, they’re aware that their customers are
aggressively prospected and their loyalty cannot be taken for
granted. Customer focused companies recognize that relationship
building and follow on service are critical components for
promoting both customer retention and revenue growth. First
Build a Relationship Today we have access to innovative tools
such as the Internet, cell phones, faxes and voice mail all
designed to enhance our ability to communicate. Nevertheless,
even with all of these technological tools at our disposal, the
alarming number of dissatisfied customers, lost sales and failed
relationships all reflect the fact that none of us are as
effective at communicating as we would like to believe.

Temperament understanding helps to foster effective
communication. Research in the field of human psychology
indicates people are born into one of four primary behavioral
styles: aggressive, expressive, passive or analytical. Each of
these four temperament styles requires a unique approach and
communication strategy. For example, if you are working with the
impatient, aggressive style, they want a quick fix and a bottom
line solution. Under pressure they can be ill tempered and quick
to anger. Give them options so you don’t threaten his or her
need for control. Don’t waste time with chitchat - stick to
business.

While at the other extreme, the stress-prone analytical style
requires more information and is interested in every detail.
Their cautious and analytical nature makes them susceptible to
buyer’s remorse. Be sensitive to their need for reassurance and
guarantees. Once you learn how to identify each of the four
primary behavioral styles you will be able to work more
effectively with all of your customers.

Communicate Effectively Recognize the importance of nonverbal
communication and learn to “listen with your eyes.” It might
surprise you to know that research indicates over 70 percent of
our communication is perceived nonverbally. In fact, studies
show that body language has a much greater impact and
reliability than the spoken word.

Create a favorable first impression and build rapport quickly by
using open body language. In addition to smiling and making good
eye contact, you should show the palms of your hands, keep your
arms unfolded and your legs uncrossed. You can develop harmony
by “matching and mirroring” your customer’s body language
gestures. Matching and mirroring is unconscious mimicry. It’s a
way of subconsciously telling another that you like them and
agree with them.

Improve your active listening skills. To develop and encourage
conversation, use open-ended questions to probe the meaning
behind your prospect’s statements. Occasionally repeat your
prospect’s words verbatim. By restating his or her key words or
phrases you not only clarify communication, but also build
rapport. Keep your attention focused on what your customer is
saying and avoid the temptation to interrupt, argue or dominate
the conversation. Little Things Make a Big Difference Rendering
quality customer service is both a responsibility and an
opportunity. Often salespeople view customer service as an
administrative burden that takes them away from making a sale.
The truth is that customer service provides opportunities for
cross-selling, up selling and generating quality referrals.

Customers describe quality customer service in terms of
attention to detail and responsiveness. Customer satisfaction
surveys consistently point to the fact that the little things
make a big difference. Not surprisingly, the top two customer
complaints with regards to customer service are unreturned phone
calls and a failure to keep promises and commitments. Make an
effort to see yourself through your customers’ eyes. True
customer service is meeting and surpassing your customers’
expectations.

Successful salespeople “go the extra mile” when providing
service and turn the customers they serve into advocates to help
them promote their business. Your referrals and follow on
business are in direct proportion to the quality and quantity of
service you render on a daily basis. Want more referrals?
Improve your service!

Here are five powerful customer service tips.

1. Under-promise and over-deliver. Develop a reputation for
reliability; never make a promise that you can’t keep. Your word
is your bond.

2. Pay attention to the small things. Get in the habit of
returning phone calls, e-mails and other correspondence quickly.
Follow up, follow up, follow up.

3. Stay in contact and keep good records. Take the time to jot
down notes from meetings and phone calls making certain to
record all relevant information. Maintain a written record of
service. This is especially helpful when clients are reassigned
to new agents. Setup a suspense system to track important
contact dates such as client review calls and birthdays.
Consider sending a personal note or an article of interest every
six months.

4. Give your customers a promotional gift. Consider sending them
a letter opener, coffee mug, or a calendar with your picture and
contact information.

5. Establish a feedback system to monitor how your customers
perceive the quality and quantity of the service you provide.
Service is not defined by what you think it is, but rather how
your customers perceive its value. When it comes to customer
service, perception is reality.

Progressive companies emphasize commitment to customer service
from the top down by establishing training standards and
continuously monitoring customer satisfaction. Companies that
fail to implement an effective customer service program actually
do a disservice to their customers and unknowingly, leave the
backdoor open to their competitors. If you do it right, sales
and service blend seamlessly and you will exceed your customers’
expectations!

When Anderson wrote “The Ugly Duckling”, he was imagining a natural transformation from awkward youth to mature beauty. His vision did not include a meat cleaver. The new network show, “The Swan” is a travesty on so many levels that it is difficult to know where to begin. There is nothing wrong with using cosmetic surgery to correct a definitive flaw but to turn yourself over to megalomaniacs with scalpels is cause for more therapy than these women are receiving.

It is unconscionable that television should even consider anything so potentially damaging. However, the women who allow themselves to be the golden goose (to mix metaphors) are equally to blame. What sane women would with good conscience turn herself over to strangers without having any input into what is being done.

The Swan reflects society’s superficial attitude towards cosmetic surgery as a cure all for everything from natural aging to an unhealthy lifestyle. It is not enough that millions of baby boomers are already flocking to cosmetic surgeons to graft an artificial spring over a natural winter, now they are fiercely promoting the idea to much younger women even in those in their 20s who admittedly should look far better than they do but could substitute restraint for butchery to improve themselves without outside help. Taking individual responsibility is a far healthier solution to the problem

A healthy person always looks 10 to 20 years younger than her peers. While many women would give anything for beauty, there is one thing that should never be sacrificed –health. Health and beauty are connected vessels: if you steal from one, you steal from the other.

Your inner and outer body are two sides of the same coin. If the colors and forms of your body are changing outwardly, do not be mistaken, for they are also changing inwardly. If surgery is needed on the outside, it might be an indication that surgery will soon be needed on the organs inside as well. Often, the exterior flaws that can be corrected by cosmetic surgery are the result of much more serious internal problems. If the cause is not addressed, the problem will recur.

Cosmetic surgery will not make you younger. Any surgery drastically ages your body. In fact, biologically, you will get older. Facelifts and associated procedures do take years off your face temporarily but add years to your body permanently. Is it worth undergoing 10 to 12 hours of consecutive procedures, exhausting your body, and endangering your life for superficial changes that can largely be obtained through a healthy, disciplined lifestyle?

Think about the images of how the skin was separated from the underlying tissue; how it was lifted back and tightened; how excess skin was trimmed away; and the ear-to-ear incision was closed with surgical staples. Once seen, it is impossible to forget the sight of how the skin was torn or burned, how fat was sucked up, and how foreign materials were implanted.

Since beauty in its natural state requires no force or coercion, the procedures are so gross that it’s difficult to perceive the final result as artistic. Beauty is incompatible with pain and horror. No matter how widely accepted cosmetic surgery is, it will never be separated from the terrible ordeal the subject endured.

Facelifts do not last forever and the negative effects cannot be completely undone. I am asking you to give a new lifestyle a try. You might be surprised how few faults you see in yourself that you are willing to allow someone else to correct. The results will be so astonishing, you just might like yourself the way you are about to become. Beauty, health, and youthfulness are all connected. Your guide for deciding if you are doing the right thing should be–when you gain one, are the others victims?

There is no natural beauty without 100% natural food. The lack of beauty, especially in people over forty, is the result of the consumption of devitalized and denatured foods. Cooked food depletes the body’s enzyme reserves and damages its rejuvenating power. On the hand, the Rawsome Diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds in their raw state will help your body to make the most of its revitalizing abilities. By restoring the integrity of every cell and by facilitating the operation of every organ, it will bring your weight to its ideal mark, refine your features and add delicacy to your face.

© 2004 Tonya Zavasta

About The Author

Tonya Zavasta is the author of the book “Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You” and of the soon to be published its sequel “Beautiful on Raw”. In these books Tonya comes across as an ambassador for plain looking women in their quest for physical beauty. Tonya knows firsthand what it is to be humiliated, face adversity and meet the complex obstacles of daily living with a congenital disability. In her forties facing several reconstructive hip surgeries to enable her to walk, she sought a way to offset the devastating effects of anesthetics on her health and appearance. She became convinced that the solution to her quest for health and beauty was to be found in the raw food lifestyle or the Rawsome Diet as she calls it.

To learn more about how you can uncover your Rawsome beauty, visit: www.beautifulonraw.com

Tonyazavasta@hotmail.com

The first arcade games were made on clear logic and were restricted to competition between the players. Therefore there wasn’t any A.I. system.

Peculiar methods have been used in the arcade games. A [popular method of controlling an NPC in the game was by scripting.

Path finding is a commonly used A.I. system in the real time strategy games. Path finding determines how to get an NPC from one place to another after considering the terrain and obstacles.

Games like Quake and Pursuit based all the opponent moves on particular stored patterns. The space invaders further refined this movement by adding in-game events which were triggered by the hash functions.

This resulted in a variety of complex enemy movements.

Pac-Man incorporated this technology at the same time jazzing it up by providing different personalities for each ghosts.

Although the ghost movements in Pac-Man felt random, in reality it was a scripted and disguised action.

1990s saw the arrival of finite state machines. The arcade racing games were powered by a ‘rubber banding’ A.I. system.

If the computer determined the opponents “fall behind”, they received a superb boost allowing them to catch up.

The system too, works the other way around, enabling the human players to catch up if they fall behind. A good arcade shooting game must have a large rule base - list of NPC options like attack long range, call for help, flee etc.

The trick lies in applying a random factor to choose from this base factor. This has provided an increased feeling of intellect and developed the fun quotient. Find out more - arcade free games pac man and free web arcade games.

Hardens restaurant guide all began in the early 90’s it was seen that London as a tourist city had no Hungarian restaurant guides at all. The idea was to come up with something that was small and pocket sized that food loving customers could use to help them to decide where is a good Lebanese restaurant to eat. Well over fourteen years ago the 1st London Irish restaurant guide was printed by hardens and has been a complete success ever since.

What makes Hardens so fantastic is that the London Places to eat are scored by the patrons, when the first ever guide was published the restaurant enterprises was just starting to grow and with marvellous effort Hardens managed to ask a hundred restaurant customers to take part in the first London wide restaurant survey. Over six hundred restaurant meals over a 9 month period were consumed to make the Hardens Restaurant review guide what it is now.

Hardens have the published books and now have a brilliant website. The incredible website. is effortless to navigate in and around and will tell one everything you need to know about pretty much any South American restaurant in London and give you recommendations split into pieces so it makes it easier for you to narrow down what it is that you are exactly looking for.

The brilliant website itself has lots of bits recommended on it, it is trouble free to read and work your way through and this is thanks to the guides excellent clear layout you can check out all the hottest up and coming afro Caribbean restaurants and of course reviews on them. This section is named Latest Reviews and is clearly situated on the first page of the restaurant review site where you can view the extended list of Lebanese restaurants which changes every few day depending on what restaurant guides have been published. There is also a bit down the right side of the home page where you can browse for perhaps a specific indian south restaurant or if you’re looking for a restaurant to go to in a specific area such as Glasgow and people want to separate the great ones for the dreadful one this will do the job brilliantly for you. Hardens online guide hold the best Restaurant Reviews and Guides.

In August of 2005, myself and 16 other Americans embarked on one of the greatest vacations of all time. We arrived at Munich’s Strauss Airport on a Monday morning.We took the U-Bahn to the Munich Train Station and from there we went on foot to see Karl’s Tor the original gate of the old city.

Later that afternoon,we boarded the train, buying the Bayern Pass with which 5 persons may travel at the price of 1. Our destination was Passau the gateway to the Bavarian Forest. We arrived in Passau and rented several mini-vans. We drove to
Bischofsreut,Bavaria admiring the beauty of the Bavarian Forest along the way. One kilometer north of Bischofsreut we arrived at Langreut and the Maercherenwald Hotel. Imagine our surprise to find a 5-Star Hotel in a hamlet of 20 people.

Officially it is only a 3 Star Hotel,but whoever made that rating was wrong.

Our rooms were spacious and included a kitchenette,a shower,
and a King size bed. Our hosts the Berger Family were very gracious,Frau Berger was the cook and a most excellent cook. From the hotel, (with the help of Herr Berger and family).

We were able to take Bus trips to Prague, Vienna, and
Salzburg, the Bus would arrive at 5 am, take us to these beautiful cities, and return us just in time for supper. Some
people say Europe is too expensive, well, we paid only 30 Euros
per person, and that included Breakfast, and Supper. Compare this to staying at a 5 star hotel south of Munich, where we
were crammed into a small room, had to share a bathroom, and
paid over 200 Euros per nite. By using our rooms at the
Maerchenwald as our base, we spent 14 days exploring Eastern
and Southern Europe. We also spent several days traveling on
the Danube River, it was a 40 minute drive to Passau,and the
Tour boats. If someone wanted to see Europe at a reasonable
price, and stay safe in the process, nothing could beat our
experience.

Charles Nigl, is a History major,graduating from the University of Wisconsin System.

Crude oil and unleaded gas exploded to the upside today as we thought, but can Natural gas follow? Not only can it follow it has massive upside potential in its own right! Let’s examine why and how you could get in on this exciting opportunity.

We have been bullish of this contract for some time and entered a while ago, below the breakout point but where do new traders get into the action? Look for support and strength

While prices are finding support and have double bottomed at the mid point of the Bollinger band, short term momentum has NOT turned to the upside. The key here if you are not long, is to look for the stochastic indicator to cross with bullish divergence and enter on strength.

The long term picture

Gas has massive long term potential (there covered in our previous articles) but here is a quick round up of the major reasons:

1.Crude oil is expensive and subject to geo political concerns, natural gas is not and is produced domestically.

2.High prices of crude are seeing users change to gas.

3.Gas demand is exceeding long term supply, as old fields run out and new fields are not able to pick up the slack.

4.The hurricane season is forecast to be one of the most active of recent years and could drop in demand from rigs.

5.Summers are getting hotter and increasing demand.

Traders are focusing on these future trends and starting to buy gas, take a look at the charts and see how cheap gas is in historical terms.

With crude oil prices firm, the solution is a switch to gas and this increasing demand and speculative interest could drive prices to far higher levels.

Timing the trade.

We have had a correction after the recent breakout and prices are finding support and could go higher.

Keep an eye on short term momentum to enter the long side, don’t jump too early wait for confirmation.

Caution

Natural gas is extremely volatile and needs to be traded with caution. Options are the preferred method in that they give unlimited profits linked to limited risk.Buy at or in the money options with plenty of time to expiry to ride out any short term volatility.

A major bull market is forming don’t be left out!

If you have not looked at the potential for natural gas, check it out. This contract could post huge gains and for savvy traders that means big profits.

Of course, cats meow. And the type of meow they use gives you a good idea of what they’re trying to communicate with you. This is especially true if your pet is a Siamese cat. This breed of cat is very vocal. One Siamese owner had a cat that meowed loudly – and persistently – whenever it wanted to play a game of hide and seek. Every time the cat used his “special meow”, which the owner recognized, she knew that he was “hiding” and needed to be “found.” She dutifully played.

In fact, Siamese cats have a voice that’s often mistaken for a human voice. When a Siamese cat in heat, he sounds very human-like. Don’t be surprised if your cat almost seems to be saying “hello.”

[Keywords: cats, cat training, cat chat, cat behavior ]