Archive for August, 2008
August 13, 2008 at 12:51 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
How can such a soft, snuggly, comfortable fabric like cotton be so hated among veterans of the high activity sports world? In this article, we’ll cover the basics of why cotton is a definite no-no when putting together your wardrobe for any outdoor or otherwise high intensity sports activity.
The first part of the dilemma with cotton doesn’t necessarily have to do with cotton. It has to do with you. Your body has a built in cooling system that tells itself to produce sweat when it gets hot. While sweat is great for cooling your body down, it can also cause extreme discomfort if it is able to remain against your skin through the duration of your activity and long after you have finished. And this is where cotton comes in. Cotton has the ability to absorb larger amounts of water than other fibers acting as a sponge when you sweat. This spongelike feature of cotton does not allow your sweat to dry very quickly. So, after just a short while of hiking up that steep mountain, playing a friendly game of tag football at the park, or even just rowing your canoe across the lake, your cotton clothing will begin to get wet with sweat, soggy and very uncomfortable. If your activity lasts for an extended period, then the problem doesn’t stop there. Remember when you were little and you would play around in the pool long after your mom told you to get out and your hands and feet would start looking like prunes? That very same thing happens within your cotton socks and clothing often causing chaffing and more discomfort.
Now, let’s say that you are finished with whatever sport it was that caused you to sweat so profusely. Let’s also suppose you don’t have a locker room to change in and going home is not an option either. Your cotton underwear, cotton shorts, cotton socks and cotton shirt are no longer the warm, cuddly garments they used to be. Cotton is not able to retain heat very well when wet. You’re now stuck in wet clothing with a drying out time ranging from hours to possibly days. For you, this might only mean a short period of discomfort. However, if you are going to be somewhere overnight or even for a few hours where the temperatures are around 50 degrees or lower, your wet clothing can become a killer. Many hypothermia deaths are caused by wet clothing in mild to cold temperatures. Your body just can’t warm itself quicker than your wet cotton clothing cools you in colder temperatures. That’s almost a tongue twister.
Until fabric companies really started digging into the whole science of fabrics, there really weren’t many options. So the outdoor sports participants, team sports players, joggers, and anyone else who sweats just had to suffer through all of the downsides that cotton has to offer.
Summary:
Cotton retains water, dries slowly, and does not keep you warm when wet so it is not ideal for high endurance activities that involve sweating.
Tips:
Take all of your 100% cotton clothing that is supposedly for outdoor sports or athletic activities and donate it to your local charity.
When you’re at the meeting for your first winter klondike receiving instructions on the dangers of such an activity, don’t raise your hand and ask how many pairs of COTTON thermals they would recommend you bring along.
If you have an annoying inlaw that is really into hiking, backpacking, outdoor sports, etc., make sure that the clothing you give them is 100% cotton and tell them it is for their next trip.
Darron Robbins
President of OuterSports, LLC
http://outersports.com
August 9, 2008 at 3:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Spending time in college means going to classes, writing papers, studying for exams, and enjoying the college experience of fun, food, and frolic. Oh, if it only were that easy! Chances are you are racking up some serious debt in the form of students loans. If you have already graduated, then you are probably in the process of paying your loans back. Are you happy yet? Maybe not, especially if your student loans are more of a burden than you originally had expected. Read on, please, for some ways you can ease the burden and live a life that goes beyond paying off debt.
For many students, it isn’t all that uncommon to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and find yourself owing 10, 30, even 60 thousand dollars or more in student loan debt. How did all of this happen? High tuition, that’s how. Likely your first job out of college isn’t paying you a mint just yet either. Car payments and credit cards bills coupled with everyday living expenses can find you digging a whole that only gets deeper. What should you do? Perhaps you should consider looking into a government student loan consolidation.
So, just what is a government student loan consolidation? For starters, it is a type of a loan that allows you to take multiple student loans, pay them off, and make monthly payments to just one lender. For example, if you have three loans due to three different lenders at three different times of the month, you can keep better track of all of it if you had just one simple payment to make every month to one lender.
In addition, a government student loan consolidation may lower your interest rates, permit you to postpone your repayment schedule, and allow for you to take out some additional extra money to pay back other creditors including credit card providers.
Some things to keep in mind before you select a student loan consolidation include:
Amount Borrowed. Will the loan consolidation pay off all of your student loans, or just a percentage of what you owe? Your consolidator may want to see pay stubs and other proofs of income before approving your loan.
Annual Percentage Rate. Will the loan rate be fixed or will it be adjustable? You may want to lock in your rate to make sure that your monthly payments remain constant.
Your Loan Term. Can you deal with paying back a your government student loan consolidation for as long as twenty years? Take into consideration you may want to purchase a home, get married, start a family, buy a new car, etc. It can be difficult to anticipate the future, but will the loan saddle you with debt longer than necessary?
A student loan consolidation is definitely not for everyone. Make certain that you understand the terms of your agreement with the loan consolidator and sign nothing until you can have the contract reviewed independently. It is your life; weigh all of your options carefully.
Copyright 2005 — Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Samples from his portfolio are available right online.
August 8, 2008 at 8:15 am · Filed under Uncategorized
In the ‘Age of Scepticism’ gaining media coverage is one way of cutting through the ever increasing noise to get your message across.
Research shows the average consumer receives between 1500 and 3000 marketing messages a day.
Editorial generated by media coverage is more credible than advertising and can help cut through the clutter.
It can also help build your reputation.
But how do you get media coverage?
Here are 10 tips for harnessing the marketing power of the media.
1. Know Your Strengths.
What are you an expert at? What is your specialized area of expertise? What unique services or information can you offer? Position yourself as the expert. Even in a crisis this can position you or your organisation as the ‘go to’ person. This builds credibility.
2. Clarify your communication objectives?
What do I want to achieve? To inform or entertain? To provide information? To build a profile? To influence public opinion? Personal marketing? Marketing or launching a new
product or service?
3. Define your target audience?
Who is my target audience? General public? Customers? Competitors? Suppliers? What age are they, what level of education, what beliefs and values, geographical location, how do they use the media? What influence do they have?
4. Identify the best channels of communication.
What is the best way to reach your target audience? TV, Radio, Internet, newspapers – local or Statewide, specialist or generalist, industry publications, community newsletters?
5. What is your key message?
Distil what you want to say into three key points. Remember less has more impact. Be disciplined and stay ‘on message’. How can this message resonate with, influence or tap into collective attitudes among relevant consumers?
6. Build your case?
What are the features, advantages and benefits of your message for your target audience? What evidence and proof do you have? This helps overcome what I call ‘the hump of cynicism’ entrenched in many journalists when they ask ‘why is this news?’.
7. What is the hook?
What will make your message or news release stand out from the rest. Be creative. Use a media release to control the information flow.
8. Develop long-term relationships with the media.
Visit and meet them face-to-face. Network and get to know them.
9. Use the Three Golden Rules to Perform at your Best = Know Your Topic, Be Prepared, Relax.
10. Seek Professional Help.
For maximum impact, effectiveness and value seek the advice of a media and communications professional.
Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.
You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com
August 6, 2008 at 6:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
In the same way that prayer is the flip side of worry (see my ezine article Dealing with Emotional Extremes) living by intention is the flip side of living up to expectations. And just as prayer nurtures and empowers while worry ennervates, living by intention strengthens and enlivens, while living up to expectations perpetuates cycles of hope, fear and stress and bewilderment.
A client recently complained of stress and feeling that there was nothing he cared about. I asked him what he would do if he was financially free. He immediately said, “Play golf all over the world.” When I asked him why he wasn’t pursuing this dream he said, “Too many expectations.” I asked, “Whose expectations of what?” He said, ” My own.” But it became clear that what he thought of as his own expectations were really fears of what others would think of him. When he realized that what he thought of as his internal standards were really fears of being judged by others, he began to release them. He was then able to begin planning a life that included golf trips instead of yearning for a ‘forbidden fruit’ unattainable because of required expectations.
Expectations that block us in this way always come from outside us, even those we think of as our own. This is why expectations create stress, struggle, fear and disappointment.
Set an intention (a daily intention, preferably when you first awaken) to notice something you feel grateful for, say, to appreciate your own health and your good qualities or to remember specific things you do that benefit yourself and others. This is a healing practice. Do it often, just for a moment, throughout your day.
If you take a few minutes first thing in the morning when you wake up, to set this intention and to visualize and sense yourself practicing it through the day, you’ll quickly find that living by intention nourishes your soul.
I often have helped clients in the midst of an experience of anxiety or despair identify and focus on something for which they feel grateful. To their astonishment, the seemingly intractable negative emotions dramatically and effortlessly disappear, replaced by an ease and lightness.
A true intention is an inspiration that comes from your True Self — a natural impulse to share life with all that lives. True intentions heighten your enthusiasm for the sheer joy of living, and free you from the fear of not measuring up to some standard(what others think).
You can think of the practice of intention as a simple mental shift, like the shift from worry to prayer. When you catch yourself living under the burden of an expectation, shift to a life-affirming intention that comes from your heart. Instead of saying to yourself, “I have to . . .” say, “I want to . . .” in order to affirm your genuine desire — your true intention. Doing this, you will quite naturally begin to recognize the difference between your genuine desires to live fully and your false desires to fulfill expectations. In this way, expectations will stop blocking you, and you will find ways to incorporate interests that enthuse you into your life.
May each day of your life flow from the True Intention of your Spirit! I hope you enjoy this holiday season and find ever more meaningful ways to connect with Peace, Joy, and Gratitude.
August 6, 2008 at 6:42 am · Filed under Uncategorized
There are numerous reasons that can make the styled hair on your scalp shed, the biggest issue is hereditary baldness. Male baldness might become a problem for as many as 40 per cent of men under the age of thirty eight years old. The general guy has well over ninety thousand hair follicles on their scalp and can easily shed fifty to 145 hair strands throughout the day through brushing, showering and sleeping. This could come across like too many but in fact it is pretty normal.
The abnormal rate of your hair falling out is when people are losing more hair follicles than what is growing back out. And you will soon realise guys and girls have abnormal hair follicle loss when guys and girls shockingly start to see your crown growing. It is always best to go check with a baldness professional to make sure people aren’t seeing the side effects from any medical disorders or under enormous illness. If you need help with hair loss please visit Advanced Hair Studio today.
The most common cause though is male pattern baldness. This occurs when the hormones in your scalp force the hair follicles to shrink. This shrinking effect makes the strand unable to grow.
If folk are concerned you may go and converse to a specialist and find out what type of hair strand loss you are seeing the side effects from and also identify what terrific hair strand loss treatments are available to customers.
August 6, 2008 at 3:51 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Trademark law gives companies the exclusive right to use a given name or design, called a “mark,” for the purpose of identifying the source the of that company’s goods or services. Trademark law is an incentive-based system. Because it gives companies the exclusive right to use a mark in connection with certain goods or services, the company can create a brand that is recognizable by the consuming public. That trademark would be associated with and incorporated into every advertisement the company runs for its goods or services. Repetition of those advertisements containing the trademark causes consumers to associate the mark with the goods and, with enough repetition, consumers buy the goods.
A brief, but related, digression. We all know that if you see a product advertised frequently enough, the product will sell. You might even be one of the people who buys the product. The thinking process by which you reached the decision to buy the product is not an intellectual, logical process. It’s a function of the way the human mind works. Continually hearing a repeated message makes the message more familiar, more real, and, eventually, more true. As the adage says, “even the boldest lie becomes the truth if you scream it loud enough and long enough.” I call this the “Lie = Truth” Adage. Sadly, I frequently encounter the “Lie = Truth” Adage in litigation. I also know of some politicians and terrorist masterminds who are experts at exploiting this fact of human nature.
Back to trademarks. The advertising departments at most companies know the “Lie = Truth” Adage can be very successful in advertising. The cynic would pump his fist in the air yell “Down with the corporations, and power to the people! All the corporations care about is taking our money at all costs!” While we can point to some recent examples that might make it challenging to argue against this viewpoint, as to the overwhelming, vast majority of companies, that view simply cannot be supported.
Trademark law creates very strong incentives for companies to make the highest quality product possible and to advertise their merits and attributes accurately. Aside from the fact that companies invest anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars into their trademark(s), all it takes is one bad product line to tarnish a companies image in the mind of the consumers who buy their products. Both of these factors hit companies where it hurts them most: in the pocketbook. So, while companies clearly have to perform a balancing act of creating a high quality product, keeping costs down, and pulling in as many purchasers as possible, they have very strong incentives to create a quality product that they will associate with their trademark.
To be eligible for any level of trademark protection, a mark must be “distinctive” and not merely “descriptive” of the goods or services. Whether a mark is distinctive and “how” distinctive or strong the mark is can be determined by a sliding scale. Marks can be (1) fanciful; (2) arbitrary; (3) suggestive; (4) descriptive; or (5) generic. Whether a particular mark is protected by trademark law depends on the strength category into which it falls.
A fanciful mark is one that is invented for the sole purpose of being a trademark. For example, EXXON is a fanciful mark. It is a word that does not exist in the English language and was created only for the purpose of identifying the oil and gas company.
An arbitrary mark is typically an existing word that is arbitrarily applied to a product or service that has nothing to do with the word. For example, the mark APPLE as applied to sales of computers.
A suggestive mark is a mark that suggests a quality or characteristic of the goods or services. Suggestive marks require some level of imagination to bridge the connection between the mark and the product. For example, the mark PENGUIN as applied to refrigerators.
A descriptive mark is a word that merely describes a quality or characteristic of a product. Descriptive marks are not entitled to trademark protection unless they have obtained “secondary meaning” under the trademark law. An example of a descriptive mark would be LIGHT to identify a lightweight notebook computer.
A generic mark simply identifies by name a particular product. Generic marks are never entitled to trademark protection. An example of a descriptive mark would be MODEM in connection with modem sales. If trademark protection were allowed in this instance, the company could essentially remove the word “modem” from the English language.
Henry J. Fasthoff, IV
Principal & General Counsel
HoustonBusiness.com
August 4, 2008 at 3:46 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Pets are just like people. Yes, they may have fur and a tail but they still need the quality of life that we all enjoy. If you can not provide the basic essentials to a pet’s life, you just shouldn’t have one. It is that simple. But, what are these? Pets need many things. We have compiled a few answers here to this question. Ask yourself if you can provide each of these key components to a pet’s life.
-Shelter. Shelter must be provided for animals. Even if you do want your pet to be an outside animal, you must provide a place for him to go in extreme weather conditions like very hot days or very cold days.
-Food. Not only does your pet need food but it needs to be healthy food. If you give your pet a bad quality food or do not feed your pet correctly, they can become ill. Or, they can become under or overweight.
-Water. Water must be clean, chemical free and provided often. Do not let your pet drink water that is full of germs and bacteria as they too will get sick!
-Health care. Just as you would take your child to the doctor for annual check ups, your pet needs these too. Pets get vaccinated in different amounts at different times. They need to see a doctor to check their ears, eyes, and teeth. They need to see the doctor also if they get sick or hurt.
-Pets need the right amount of space. If you purchase a large dog, you need a place for him to run and play. You need to provide for the animal a good outdoor environment as well.
More and more people want to have pets, but there are many people who can not provide the right environment and the right nutrients for the animal. For those who are considering the purchase of pets, insure that you realize the costs of all of the above as well. For those who are looking for more expensive or exotic pets, insure that you can provide the right situation for your pet as well. Large snakes shouldn’t be around small children who may free them. Certain dogs shouldn’t be around children as they can attack.
The most important thing to provide for all of your pets is love. Sure, it sounds silly but if you are purchasing an animal of any sort, you need to care for it and show it affection. All animals need to feel like part of the family in order to be emotionally stable. If you can provide all of these key ingredients to your pet, then by all means you should purchase them!
Tia Jackson
Pets Directory
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