Company Affair

Everyone is going green and it’s not a bad idea. So what if the government suspended the cash for clunkers program. There are still ways that you can save on your energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint this summer.  Here are some easy steps you can take to reduce your electricity bill. And we all know how high that can be in the summer if you run the air conditioning constantly.

Here are some home renovations you can make:

Insulate your house: You can save yourself about 20 to 30 percent on your heating bills and reduce your Carbon dioxide emissions. If you live somewhere colder you can even consider super insulation.

New windows: If you have old windows in your home they could have invisible cracks in them that you can’t see. That means that the air you are using to either cool or heat your home could be escaping. Inevitably, you are letting the bought air out!

New blinds: Having window coverings replaces or put on can also help with your electricity bills. If the sun does not beat through your house via your windows you won’t have to use as much energy to cool it. Consider going to Next Day Blinds, they have a great assortment of styles.  Next Day Blinds also has showrooms available in certain states so you can go check out the shades, covers and array of everything else in person.

Other stuff you can do:

Wash your clothes in cold water: It will use less energy because your washer will not have to heat up to warm up the water.

Only run your dishwasher when it’s full: If you wait until you have a full load of dirty dishes, you will use the dishwasher less often, resulting in less electricity use.

What really could be better than a vacation right about now? Not much right? A vacation where the only thing you really have to pack is a bikini and a cover up. Something where you lounge all day and eat and drink all night.

I just love those vacations where you get up in the morning, put on your swim suit and then lay your day away drinking boat drinks. Only to shower in the night, just in time to make it for dinner. Hoping that you don’t get too sunburned during the day. That is what Hawaii can offer you. And now is the time to think about going, because it is really more affordable than you could ever even dream of right now.

Because the economy is slow, vacations are more affordable than ever. The plane seats still need to be filled, and those cruise ships still need to cruise. But because everyone is cutting back on their budget, there are more seats available than ever for that Hawaii holiday. And I’m talking top destinations at Kauai hotels and other great places to stay on the islands.

If you want to get a really amazing deal, try booking far in advance, or making it an impromptu trip. Sites like Expedia do all the work for you and help you find vacation packages, so that your flight and hotel are booked together for one great stress free vacation.

There is still a need to shop around though. Try calling places you want to stay directly. Sometimes they will give you a better rate over the phone and you won’t have to pay your entire total until you check out, just a simple deposit. Deposits are usually about half of the overall total.

So, if you need to get away, think about going somewhere more exotic than you thought you could afford, because you just might be able to now!

A Dubai beach resort can really be all things to all people, and the guests here will know the taste of first-class luxury in a first-class setting.  Dubai city, with its stunning natural surroundings and fascinating urban energy, is growing into a city that has a special place in the heart of locals, and also among the growing community of internationals here.  There is a wealth of culinary delights, glorious shopping malls, and cultural events to keep the whole family fascinated and entertained.  There is a strong multi-cultural character to the city, with pockets of communities that are becoming a rich part of the local scene.

The Filipino community has long held a presence here, and so it should be no surprise that a world-class magazine like Illustrado would make a home here.  Founded with the intention of uplifting the morale and public image of Filipino women in the gulf, this glossy combines high production values with a grass roots sensibility that appeals to its reader base.  The result is a magazine that is not only empowering but also refreshingly free of the usual gossip and materialism that define similar enterprises.  The editorial staff here is uncompromising in its vision to presenting real issues to real women.  Its staff is composed of writers and visual artists based in the UAE, the Phillipines, Southeast Asia, ant the United States.

Every year Illustrado holds an event to honor some of the most accomplished women in the Filipino community in the UAE.  Called the Illustrado Women of Substance Awards, this event typicially honors a half-dozen women who have achieved prominence in their fields over the past year.  Last year’s event was stunning, and attracted local and international press.  Lalaine Chu-Benitez, Illustrado’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, is quick to point out that this is an award that goes to real women who have made real contributions to society, and is not simply an award for popularity.  Awards went to Filipina chemist Engr. Mary Jane Alvero Al Mahdi, Lilian Vargas, senior manager of Dubai City Duty-Free, Gulf Today Senior Reporter and UAE Filipino Pres Club President Mariecar Jara-Puyod, entrepreneur and creator of Filipino snack company Nanay Tuneng, Isabelita Sabado-Warren, nurse Juliet Solas, and the pianist-singer-writer and model Clarita de Quiroz Craig.  All of these women were honored for their exceptional contributions and on-going commitment to raising the profile of Flilipino women here.

Carbonite , the data backup client offering data protection with a 15 Petabyte storage capacity, provides an indispensable service, at a winning rate of only pennies a day.

It’s a fact that 43% of computer users and 66% of internet users interesting and important distinction I think) lose irreplaceable data, such as photos, crucial documents, emails and other files.

In 1996, during a fire at the headquarters of Credit Lyonnais, a major bank in Paris, system administrators ran into the burning building to rescue backup tapes because they didn’t have offsite copies. Crucial bank archives and computer data were lost.

Also, on January 3, 2008, an email server crashed at TeliaSonera, a major Nordic telecom company and internet service provider. It was subsequently discovered that the last serviceable backup set was from December 15, 2007. 300,000 customer email accounts were affected.

If they’d only had Carbonite backing them up.

Have you really considered just how much of your life is stored on your computer? Treasured photos, emails, music, financial records, documents, and much more. How devastating would that be if you woke up tomorrow and these irreplaceable files were just…gone?

Recognize a very real danger

The statistics are sobering: each year 43% of computer users lose invaluable files. Hazards lurk around every corner – hard drive crashes, theft, power surges, natural disasters, or accidental deletion of your own files. Being prepared for the possibility that you could lose your most valuable files is the beginning of smart computer usage.

Carbonite’s patented data backup solution works by placing colored dots on your files and folders. Different colors represent different “file states”:  If the file has been backed up, will be backed up or will not be backed up. Once Carbonite is setup, it requires little ongoing work on behalf of the user.

Don’t become a data loss casualty. Backup your irreplaceable files with secure, offsite protection, with Carbonite.

There are too, too many data backup horror stories. Too many who had precious information which may have included such irreplaceable data such as financial spreadsheets, payment records, photo files and much more. The following is a story about one Harald Anderson:

The “worst case scenario” happened to Harald a few years ago. He’d received a call from a friend informing him that his home had been broken into and the burglars had not only stolen the electronics in the living room but had also taken all the PCs in the house. Harald learned the hard way that data backup is something that every computer user who has important data on their hard drive cannot live without. Whether you simply purchase an external drive that you can connect via USB or ****wire, or sign up for offsite secure data backup, make sure you take steps to guarantee that your data is safe and sound, even if the worst happens to your computer hardware.

It doesn’t quite hit you right away when you no longer have access to your files. The first things that come to mind are the expensive hardware that went into building your machine. Maybe you had a nice flat panel monitor or a state of the art video card for playing the latest games.

While it can be very disappointing to lose expensive tech goodies like these it is still no comparison to losing those zeros and ones etched into every user’s hard drive. Hardware can nearly always be replaced, even at no cost to you if you have insurance, but lost data is gone forever. There is no way to recover data that you have not backed up – should you lose the original media it was stored on.

In Harald’s case, he was not using offsite secure data backup, or any kind of backup for that matter. His backup was about six months old and sitting on a tape drive in his closet. When  thieves walked off with his machine they left with not only an excellent gaming platform but also his entire web design portfolio, numerous customized versions of my resume, thousands of MP3 files that he had ripped from CDs (many of which he’d lost the original CD for), Microsoft Money files, and thousands of digital photographs that were impossible to replace.

Another recent blog poster recounted her data loss horror story, and it’s paraphrased as follows:

When she and her husband finally met after a long distance love affair, they were together for seven days. They went to every tourist attraction they could possibly see. They took a lot of pictures with them of the places they went. Then, loaded them to computer and saved. They did the same thing with their wedding photos. One day, their computer got infected by a virus and they couldn’t fix it. They lost all the pictures and felt very bad, realizing — it’s all gone! They learned a hard lesson that day and promised themselves that they will make sure to make Online Backups in all their important stuff.

Don’t end up like these people. Carbonite’s online data backup will be sure to keep your invaluable information safe and secure. Check out our profile and free trial offer.

Carbonite, the data backup company with the incredible 1.5 Petabyte storage capacity, is on several social networking sites, in hopes of reaching out to more potential clients. This makes perfect sense, since most of their potential clientele are web-savvy internet users with more sensitive data to protect than ever. That’s not to say, however, that a less web savvy person wouldn’t benefit from their services. Quite the contrary. It’s just that social networking media allows a business entity to reach out with much more web presence to those who utilize the web most.

The truth is, anyone with a  PC can benefit from Carbonite’s data backup system.Though it’s especially true for businesses, data loss prevention affects 43% of PC users, and can be just as devastating. Backing up your personal or business files and database is of paramount importance. These days, all it takes is one strong worm or virus and your data could be forever lost.

Carbonite offers data protection with a 1.5 Petabyte, or 1,572,864 Gigabytes storage capacity, providing internet and computer users an indispensable service, at the bargain rate of only mere pennies a day. They also offer a 15-day free trial, which will give you a nice introduction to their services.

Once Carbonite data backup is setup on your computer, it requires little ongoing work on behalf of the user. It reads and stores your data as long as you’re on the internet, and users can also log on to the Carbonite site and access their files.

This is especially welcome news for time-strapped web users who can utilize Carbonite as a kind of offsite server AND file backup system.

You can follow Carbonite on Twitter to get updates and communiques on important data storage issues.

Using a combination of encryption techniques, similar to those used by banks, to safeguard your data. Files are encrypted twice before they leave your computer and remain encrypted on our servers, making it virtually impossible for anyone to access your files without your secret password. Users are also given the option to manage their own encryption key.

Should your computer get stolen or crash, you can recover lost files to another computer by visiting Carbonite’s website. Recovering small amounts of data – a few files here or there – will probably take only seconds or minutes. Restoring all of your data will take longer and depends not only on how much data you have, but also the speed of your Internet connection. Most DSL services will allow you to download about 600-800 MB per hour, or roughly 14-18GB per day. For the average user, complete data restoration is likely to take at most a day or two.

The Carbonite client always looks for new data on your PC once you’re online. When you add or modify files, Carbonite starts backing them up immediately. It backs up about 2GB per day over broadband. Carbonite’s backup solution works by placing colored dots on your files and folders. Different colors represent different “file states”:  1) If the file has been backed up, 2) will be backed up, or 3) will not be backed up.

Phobias are what people are afraid. There are common ones like spiders, snakes, death. And one of the most common phobias is the fear of public speaking . Why is our society so afraid of being tongue-tied in public?

Phobias grow from a normal fear based on reality and logic to an overwhelmingly irrational avoidance of a harmless situation.

Perhaps you are now afraid of public speaking because in 7th grade you flubbed on a speech you were giving to the class about Animal Farm. And that experience or something like it could very well be the reason a person fears public speaking as an adult. Perhaps they just require more leadership training.

People generally fear they will be judged when they step out into the public eye, and if a person fumbles over their words they may be seen as uneducated on the topic they are presenting on. This in turn, causes anxiety and then a fear of public speaking.

Public speaking is one of the nine most common phobias. Others include: bugs, mice, snakes , rats, bats, heights, water, public transportation, storms, closed spaces, tunnels, bridges and death.

Looking at the list, that’s some pretty scary stuff, it’s interesting that public speaking is also one of them. It seems relatively harmless compared to heights and snakes.

Unfortunately the only way to get rid of a phobia for good is to confront it, because public speaking really is an irrational fear. Practicing speaking in public may be easier said than done. For those who are in occupations where public speaking is a daily task, it most likely comes more natural to them. Start by speaking in front of groups of friends and neighbors, you will gradually work up to strangers. Practice will make perfect if public speaking haunts you. All it takes is a little preparation and a lot of bravery! And perhaps even some born with it leadership skills.

Misspellings can often yield great search results and the reason is because companies always pursue the correct spelling and a lot of people on the Internet are not the world’s greatest spellers.

Take the word “tattoo” for instance. Many people will do searches for “tatoo equipment” instead of “tattoo equipment.” The results change and the misspelled word is sought after less often so it’s easier for businesses that realize this to get high rankings. The same holds true with “tatto kits” instead of “tattoo kits.” Most places that sell wholesale tattoo supply will know some of the variations but not all this is an important opportunity for those that get it.

Our office finally emerged out of the dark ages to embrace the new Office 2007, and with it we all had to switch our e-mail from Thunderbird to Outlook .  Now, I have to admit, I thought the process would be a nightmare. All those e-mails and addresses would be lost or take hours to transfer. Surprisingly, the switch happened really quickly with the Address Magic Enterprise program they used.

The whole process got me thinking about how ISPs and E-Mail providers treat our e-mail messages and address books like they belong to them and not us. If we decide to drop their service or switch providers, they spite us by deleting the data we’ve stored with them over time.

My father stayed with AOL over the years, just because he didn’t want to lose his contacts or e-mails. It was painful enough for me to lose all my messages when I left years ago, but I was so fed up I rashly quit the service without thinking about the data that would be lost. So, I can’t say I didn’t understand the ol’ man’s sentiments or hesitation to leave. 

But after looking into the software that’s available now through Connected Software, it was very useful in convincing Dad to finally leave AOL . The whole process really seemed like a miracle, because the program was easy enough for him to understand on his own and I didn’t have to do much of anything (always a plus).

I’m all for freedom. Being able to easily transfer e-mail from one client to another does for e-mail what SIM cards did for cell phones; it gives us more freedom to choose the services we want.

If you are involved in the field of search engine marketing (SEM) or search engine optimization (SEO) you will be aware of the fact that there is lots and lots of information relating to the fields floating around the Internet.

I’ve found a site offering search engine optimization tips that has lots of information relating to the world of SEM and SEO. It includes lots of articles, information and related SEM and SEO tips. One advantage of the site is that everything is organized, well structured and easy to find. In the future if I am looking for information relating to search engine marketing I will go to Top SEM Tips to find the information.

I have been in the market for software to track sales leads that come into my business.  I have looked around at the different options and I must say that prices and services vary quite a bit.  However after a lot of investigation I have made my mind up to go with this lead management and tracking software.

It includes an array of specializations including lead tracking and management, marketing automation, and sales force automation. This makes it an ideal online CRM software package for a small to medium business.

I got a new laptop last week. It was exciting as its a few years since I got a new computer. Anyway I got most of my files transfered. Most – but I had trouble figuring out how to export address book.

I found a site where I could convert outlook to gmail. I was also able to work on my Blackberry pop3 which was a great help.

Other things that I was able to do included figuring out how to import AOL favorite places. All this information came from the website of a company called Connected Software. This is a great resource if you want to manage your email and address book migration.

Ask.com CEO, Jim Lanzone is quitting to join a venture capital company. He will be entering an already competitive industry featuring the likes of Arthur Trueger of BerkeleyVC.

Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone is quitting after six years with the company, to join a venture capital firm. His replacement, Jim Safka, currently heads Primal Ventures, the venture capital division of Ask.com’s parent company IAC. The moves are intended to streamline the operating structure of IAC as it prepares to spin off some of its operations, said Barry Diller, CEO of IAC.

To read more about the story, click here.