1. Don't be offended.

First, resist the temptation to be offended. Don’t pout or take your ball and go home. That’s what you may feel like. They wanted to talk, and here they are throwing my suggestions back in my face with a dismissive attitude. Don’t leave. Not yet. “Love suffers long” (1 Corinthians 13:4, NKJV).

2. Listen.

Second, listen to their responses. Part of your power is not only what you say, but how they feel about the way you listen. If your truth produces empathetic ears, it will feel more compelling. This listening will be a witness. In 2 Timothy 2:24-26, Paul describes the kind of engagement that may set people free from sin and error. One feature is “patiently enduring evil.”

3. End with hope.

Third, when you have spoken all the experiential counsel you can think of, and they seem to have demeaned it all, don’t let them have the last word of despair. You leave the last word of hope.

Read the whole thing.

When it comes to e-mail etiquette, there may be many who aren't aware that not everyone wishes to have their addresses forwarded along with the latest funny joke or picture that's being passed along. Perhaps it may be due to the fact that the senders (or forwarders) are unaware of what the "CC," "BCC" and "Reply" buttons or commands do.

The "CC" field stands for "Carbon Copy," which in this day and age may have next to no meaning for most e-mail users. Carbon copy refers to the old days of typing when an actual carbon page was placed between two pages when typing to insure that one page would be carboned (or copied) to the other. Thus, the idea is that putting an address — or addresses —  in the CC field copies that message to that (or those) addresses. The recipient(s) will see those addresses when they receive the e-mail.

The "BCC" field stands for "Blind Carbon Copy." Understanding what CC does, you can see how BCC works. Basically it allows the sender to copy a message to another address or addresses without the recipient seeing those addresses. You can send an e-mail with the "To" field empty and addresses in either the "CC" or "BCC" fields and the message will still be sent.

So, why is this important? Well, consider the fact that sending a forwarded e-mail that is filled with addresses is a) rude to the recipient and b) possibly opening those recipients up to spammers. After all, did the people in your address book actually ask you to send their address all over the Internet? Even on a basic level, how much will your recipient enjoy your message when they have to scroll through a long list of addresses before they get to it?

That being said, it would probably be better to learn how to use the CC and BCC fields if you absolutely must forward that joke or picture. This is how it would work: Uncle Larry sends you a hilarious joke and you want to share it with your entire address book. When you hit forward and the message field opens up, you can leave the "To" and "CC" fields blank and then put your addresses in the "BCC" field and then hit send.

On a somewhat related note, suppose you're replying to a message. Again, the same principles hold. Don't clutter the message by filling up the "To" and "CC" fields unless you want to document to the group who saw the message and reply. Also, if you want to reply to just the sender and not the entire group, don't hit reply all but rather just reply.

This might seem like a lot of work for something that works pretty easy already. But, like saying "please" and "thank you," a little politeness can go a long way.

Autoclose. Closing a file when it is not in use sounds like a prudent thing to do. Yet I see files opening and closing all the time in the error log in SQL Server, even though I know that I never use the database except for viewing in Enterprise Manager. Does viewing a list of databases in Enterprise Manager make the files open? It makes sense to me to use autoclose on databases that I use only occasionally as import staging areas, and which I access for only a fraction of the time my online transaction processing (OLTP) database is in use. SQL Server Books Online says that the autoclose option is automatically set to YES for the SQL Server Personal Edition and to NO for all other editions. Has this option been included only for the Personal Edition?

Autoshrink. The autoshrink option also sounds helpful. However, would using autoshrink on my import staging areas, where I bring in quantities of data for short periods of time, keep these areas small for backups?

A
Autoclose is available in all editions of SQL Server 2000. The amount of memory you save by using this option is relatively small but might be important on memory-constrained systems running the Personal Edition. However, enabling autoclose for the other editions isn't a good idea, because every time you try to access the database, the query will be slowed by the amount of load time it takes to mount the database. As for the question about your files opening and closing, yes, when you enumerate a database in Enterprise Manager, you access the database, which opens the files.

Leaving autoshrink on for production systems also isn't a good practice (unless you really need to), because autoshrink might start when your system is otherwise busy with production work, and slow down the system. However, enabling this option is a good idea for desktop or remote systems that don't get a lot of DBA attention and whose databases could grow out of control before you detect the problem.

It does not cost you anything.

در این پست چندین سایت مفید و کاربردی وب به خصوص برای طراحان  را معرفی میکنیم . از امکاناتی که این سایت ها به ما عرضه میکنند میتوان به تغییر اندازه آنلاین تصاویر و اعمال تغییرات گرافیکی در آنها را نام برد .

Splashup یک ابزار قوی برای اعمال ویرایش روی عکس های شما می باشد . این سایت امکاناتی نظیر اعمال فیلتر های متنوع ، انتخاب کردن(Select) قسمتی از عکس و اضافه کردن نوشته بر روی آن و غیره را به ما می دهد . به قولی میتوان Splashup را یک فتوشاپ آنلاین دانست برای اینکه واقعاً امکانات کافی را در اختیار کاربر قرار میدهد . امکان مفید دیگر این ابزار به اشتراک گذاشتن آسان عکس ویرایش شده در سایت هایی مثل فیس بوک ، فلیکر  و پیکاسا است .

با کمک این سایت به راحتی میتوانید اندازه عکس های خود را تغییر دهید . با انجام دو مرحله یعنی فراخوانی عکس مورد نظر از طریق دکمه ی Browse و سپس تنظیم عرض عکس . البته می توانیدتصاویری را که روی اینترنت هستند را هم ریسایز کنید برای این کار باید آدرس تصویر مورد نظر رو وارد کرده و عرض عکس را تنظیم کنید .

به وسیله سایت CSS Creator می توانید با تعیین اندازه و مشخصات لازم ستون های استاندارد CSS را درست کنید .

PatternCooler یک بانک پترن با حدود 20 هزار طرح گوناگون است . شما در گالری این سایت میتوانید طرحی را انتخاب کنید و اگر از رنگش خوشتان نیامد آن را به هر رنگی که مایل بودید در آورید و سپس آن را دانلود و ذخیره نمائید .

net2ftp یک ابزار آنلاین جهت مدیریت بر FTP می باشد . این سایت از عهده اکثر کارهایی که نرم افزارهای FTP انجام میدهند برمی آید مثل آپلود/ جابه جایی / حذف / تغییر نام  فایل ها روی هاست و ... .

Picreflect یک ابزار بسیار مفید است که البته هنوز در فاز بتا قرار دارد . به وسیله این سایت شما میتوانید از تصویر موردنظرتان  بازتاب ( رفلکشن ) تهیه کنید که عکس حالت قرار گرفتن روی شیشه پیدا کند .[ نوشته هایی که حالت رفلکشن دارند بسیار محبوب هستند و این روزها در بنرهای سایت ها و وبلاگ های مختلف به چشم میخورند مخصوصاً سایت های مرتبط با وب 2 ]

Colors On the Web همانطور که از نامش پیداست مربوط به رنگ ها است . در این سایت میتوانید اطلاعات متنوع و مفیدی از رنگ ها و هر آن چیزی که مربوط به رنگ می شود پیدا کنید .

منبع : {اینجا}

And if it's too basic for you, I'm sure you have a friend, parent or relative who could benefit from learning that double clicking a word will select it (no dragging required), hitting Alt+Tab will allow you to swtich from one program to the next, etc.

Highlights from Pogue's Posts:

* You generally can’t send someone more than a couple of full-size digital photos as an e-mail attachment; those files are too big, and they’ll bounce back to you. (Instead, use iPhoto or Picasa–photo-organizing programs that can automatically scale down photos in the process of e-mailing them.)

* Whatever technology you buy today will be obsolete soon, but you can avoid heartache by learning the cycles. New iPods come out every September. New digital cameras come out in February and October.

* Just putting something into the Trash or the Recycle Bin doesn’t actually delete it. You then have to *empty* the Trash or Recycle Bin. (Once a year, I hear about somebody whose hard drive is full, despite having practically no files. It’s because over the years, they’ve put 79 gigabytes’ worth of stuff in the Recycle Bin and never emptied it.)

GO TO HIS BLOG>>

Happy Sacks: great for sandwiches and snacks. Finally, I have kicked the plastic sandwich bag habit- thanks to these!

Wrap-N-Mat:great for sandwhichs-especially if you use yo ur lap as a table while eating. :)

Environsax: I have one of these that I keep in my purse (they roll up pretty small). This works great for me, because I am forever forgetting to bring my other reusable bags into the store!

I'll post more when I find them! :D

But never fear (not that you're at all worried, I'm sure)! Even now, I'm not exactly sure I'm going to organize all of those idea's in my 'ol noggin, but I'm going to start as soon as possible. I will attempt to categorize a general theme for my blogs with sub-categories and sub-points, and other things having to do with the nature of sub-ing.

I look forward to hearing back from all of you! Remember, your life has meaning, and don't let anyone or anything bring you down.

-Gareth

Also, here is a sneak peek of the upcoming Holloween Costumes on Friday!!

Hello Penguins!

It’s that time of year again–Halloween is on its way to Club Penguin! Can you believe it? On Friday, NEW Halloween costumes will be released in the Penguin Style catalog in the Gift Shop. A few favorites will be returning, so if there’s one you missed last year it might be back again on Friday. We can’t wait to hear what you think and what you’d like to see in the future!

Wigs will be included in this year’s Halloween catalog.  Here’s one you’re going to see:

What do you think? Does it get you thinking Halloween? Any ideas about how you might use this for a costume?

In Other News: I wanted to give you an update on the next mission! The team is working hard on it and it will be ready as early as next week! If you’re already a Secret Agent be sure to check out the newspaper–I heard there’s something special for agents — and catch up on any missions you haven’t played yet in the HQ!

Until then…waddle on!

-Club Penguin Team

thats all for now!

~28maybloom00~

When a customer asks us a question with resistance built into it, how do we respond? Do we start defending our prices, our business or ourself? The successful business leader today learns how to respond to customer questions by building functional responses that come naturally and convincingly.

People are conditioned to expect a certain response in a given environment. For example, when we go through a fast food drive through and order a sandwich, we can count on hearing, “Do you want fries with that?” The same thing applies in the sale of value product or services. Sooner or later most customers are going to ask, “Why are your prices so high?” Our choice is to determine how we will respond. The right responses will bring the savvy business owner more “Yes!”

If the customer says, “Your prices are high!” we can choose to start defending our price, blaming the industry or the high cost of advertising. In that case, the focus will remain on price and we stand to lose our customer to our competition. On the other hand we could use a functional response that would encourage the customer to respond much more positively. With the proper functional response we might be able to say, “Yes, I understand our prices are a bit higher than others, but we offer only the finest brands with the best selection and choices. We guarantee your satisfaction. That is what our customers pay for - and they get it.” It is important to immediately follow up with, “Please, tell me, what are you specifically looking for?”

In any business, whether we are selling to the retail consumer, or business to business, the challenge is to know what to say, when we need to say it, and in a manner that creates a connection between our customer, ourselves and our product or service. Since we ourselves have trained consumers to shop price it may seem awkward and foreign to respond to a price question with something other than, “Well, let me check with the boss and see if we can come down on that boat.” Another functional response to price might be, “I appreciate you bringing that up, Mr. Adams. You see, we customize our approach to our fine items. We want to know your specific objectives in purchasing to ensure you get the results you want. Our customers are willing to invest a little more of their dollars to get these kinds of results. Aren’t you?” A functional response is something we have predetermined to say in response or in reply to a specific question or resistance.

Creating A Functional Response
Have we ever taken the time to analyze the types of questions and resistance we most often get from your customers? There is valuable information in this research. If we do the work we will likely find several common areas of concern. By being aware of the types of objections we may get and we can be more prepared for them!

The second step is to create a response to use in those very situations. Practice responses until they become natural. Our responses need to be functional in our system, not in our delivery of them. Sincerity is critical and will be very evident to our customers.

In addition, we should be aware of several important “Sell Easy Rules” to follow when building functional responses.

Building Functional Responses Make Our Presentation More Spontaneous
When a customer asks a question or raises an objection, having a functional response prepared will keep us alert and reactive. We won’t have to stumble around, trying to figure out how to respond. You will have several options planned.

Practice Will Improve Confidence
The longer we work in specific industry the more we will recognize the similarity in objections. We will have the opportunity to practice if we anticipate what might come up during a presentation. The more often we use our functional responses, the smoother and more confident we will sound.

Ask Questions To Maintain Momentum
By asking carefully guided questions, we can alleviate concerns or doubts. We must talk with customers to analyze what it is they need to make a decision about before moving ahead. Asking a question like, “Would you please share with me some of the things you still have questions about?” will generate information and can prevent us from getting “stuck” on one issue or concern.

Put Functional Responses On Cards
It may sound silly, but the best way to achieve a level of comfort with functional responses requires practice. Just as in school we learned multiplication tables through practice, practice, practice, the same goes for sales. By practicing our responses and by writing them down on cards, we will make them second nature. Also, in writing them out we can discover how they actually sound to our customers.

By following these tips we can build functional responses around the most common situations we encounter in our particular industry. When customers bring up an issue that’s important to them, we will know how to respond so much more effectively.

Thomas J. Winninger, CSP, CPAE, and member of the Speaker Hall of Fame is the president of Winninger Institute for Brand Strategy and over 70 major companies in North America depend on him to assist them in maintaining their market dominance. Thom is the author of best selling “Price Wars”, “Sell Easy”, and new in 2000, “Full Price!” Contact the Winninger Institute at (612) 896-1900
E-mail: thomas@winninger.com; or visit our website

Eid is an Arabic term meaning "festivity" or "celebration" while fitr means "to break the fast" and can also mean "nature" from the word "fitra." Eid falls on the first day of Shawwal, the month which follows Ramadan on the Islamic calendar. It is a time to give in charity to those in need and celebrate with family and friends the completion of a month of blessings and joy.

On the first day of eid, Muslims wake up very early and pray the morning prayer. Afterwards, they eat a small meal, a symbolic act that reminds them that Ramadan is over. They then gather in mosques to perform the eid prayer -- congregational prayers held for the occasion of eid. The prayer is made up of two cycles and is followed by a sermon. Worshippers greet and hug one another in a spirit of peace and love after the congregational prayer in celebration of one another’s eid. They later scatter to visit their families and friends, give gifts to one another and make phone calls to distant relatives to convey good wishes for the holiday. The eid lasts for three days and is generally an official holiday in Muslim countries.

Muslims around the world share in the great blessing of the tranquil and spiritual eid morning. It is a joyous occasion
with important religious significance, celebrating the increase in piety with which Allah blesses the world during the month of Ramadan. It is a day of forgiveness and moral victory as well as of brotherhood and unity. Muslims celebrate not only the end of fasting, but also thank Allah for the help and strength that he bestowed upon them throughout the month of fasting, during which they endured their fast with not only a physical but also a spiritual asceticism -- that is, they have controlled their stomachs, their tongues and their hearts, so they have successfully passed the test of servanthood. It is a time of giving and sharing.

Common greetings during this holiday are the Arabic greeting “Eid Mubarak,” (May your eid be blessed). Turks and Muslims living in areas where the Ottoman presence heavily influenced local customs say “Bayramın Mübarek Olsun” during eid, also meaning “May your eid be blessed.”

Muslims put on their best clothes, called “bayramlık” in Turkey, often purchased just for the occasion. They visit loved ones and pay their respects to the deceased in cemeteries.

Young ones kiss the right hand of the elderly and press it to their forehead as a gesture of respect. Children go around their neighborhood to wish everyone a happy eid and collect candy and chocolate. Guests are offered eau de cologne and traditional sweets such as baklava and lokum (Turkish delight). Young visitors are generally offered a small amount of money.

Television and radio stations broadcast a variety of special eid programs, which include movie specials, musical programs and celebratory addresses from celebrities and politicians.

Candy store owners and patisseries wait for eid with great expectations as the festivity brings with it an increase in sales and, therefore, rising profits. They begin preparing months before the occasion and try to attract customers with colorful and delicious delicacies.

The exact day on which eid falls depends on the sighting of the new moon -- the hilal, which is only visible just after sunset. Muslims look for the hilal to determine the beginning and end of Islamic months.

Many Muslim countries around the world have hilal-sighting committees that declare the beginning and end of the months. Hilal sighting was recommended by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). The following are some sayings (hadith) of the Prophet on the subject of sighting the new moon: “Do not fast until you see the new moon and do not break the fast until you see it.” “Whenever you see the new moon [of Ramadan], observe the fast. And when you see the new moon of Shawwal, break it. If [due to clouds] the actual position of the moon is concealed from you, you should then observe the fast for 30 days.”

Sweet competition between candy, chocolate

Though candy used to top the list of delicacies offered to visitors during Eid al-Fitr, chocolate seems to have dethroned it in the last couple of years.

Şebnem Nasi, the general manager of the Ülker Chocolate marketing department, stated that there is stiff competition between candy and chocolate in Turkey during eid. “A person consumes around one-and-a-half to two kilograms of chocolate a year. The consumption of candy is more or less the same. Though chocolate consumption was not very common in Turkey in the past due to its high price, it has seen an increase in recent years and is now able to compete with candy consumption,” she said.

Dentists have, however, warned people not to eat too many sweets during Eid al-Fitr as it may lead to tooth decay.

Duran Tekin, a dentist in Kayseri, said consumption of sweets increases considerably during eid. “Sweets may stick to the surface of teeth and easily be turned into acid by bacteria. Frequent consumption of sweets may lead to decay if one does not brush one’s teeth after eating them,” he said.

He noted that if one cannot brush one’s teeth after eating sweets, he should eat a carrot, an apple or a cucumber to reduce the production of acid in the mouth to a minimum. “Hosts should therefore offer one of these to their guests after candy or chocolate,” he said.

Tekin also added even a glass of water helps prevent tooth decay after consuming sweets. “Acidic beverages also contribute to tooth decay. Choose ayran or fruit juice instead of acidic beverages,” he said.

Officials warn drivers to be extra cautious on the road

Officials have warned drivers to be more careful when driving during the eid vacation, saying roads and highways will be more crowded than usual. They noted that the number of casualties in traffic accidents significantly rises during these vacations, calling for greater attention and full compliance with traffic regulations. Drivers are particularly being cautioned to avoid drinking and driving as well as speeding.

Interior Minister Beşir Atalay on Sunday called on everyone to respect traffic rules and not turn the eid into a day of mourning. “All precautions will be taken not to pave the way for accidents. For a more peaceful eid, traffic rules should be abided by,” he said.

Drivers’ chambers released similar warnings, as well. Representatives of drivers’ chambers from various Turkish cities warned drivers to be extra cautious when driving during the eid.

“Drivers should be calm and refrain from speeding and violating traffic rules. If they intend to drive to more distant cities, they should sleep well before getting behind the wheel and fasten their seatbelts. They should absolutely abstain from alcohol before driving and rest at regular intervals,” they said.

30 September 2008, Tuesday

BETÜL AKKAYA

Today, my friends and I got onto the conversation about the male of the couple seeing me as always being a "good" person.  Basically a "touchy-feely" sort, and that being the one dimension to my character.  He sees me as the kind of person that sits around holding hands with others wanting to sing kumbya.  Doesn't that make you want to laugh?  Those of you who read my blog surely know me way better than that by now.

He went onto say, that there is no conflict to my character or to my being "good".  I was astonished by his words.  Honestly, I couldn't believe he actually thought that was the truth about me, or anyone else that chooses to live as I do. Of course there is great conflict in being good and making the moral choices in life.  

Why do I say this?  Because more often than not, people don't appreciate your "goodness".  In fact, they resent you for it, and often end up hating you for it.  You save them from drowning only for them to turn and stab you because suddenly they feel somehow belittled that they couldn't save themselves.  It is a very odd thing indeed.  Somehow your goodness gets turned into your "superiority over them".  Remember the old the path to good intentions?  Well it definitely does lead to hell if you let it.

Sometimes being good and doing the right thing means depriving yourself of happiness and self satisfaction.  Sometimes it means taking responsibility for other people's mistakes or problems.  It is not a cakewalk or for the faint of heart.  You get no thanks for it in the end.  Often in being good, you even resent yourself for the deed you are doing along with those you are doing it for.  So what exactly is the point?

The point is that someone in this world HAS to stand up and do the work.  Someone has to put their own needs aside for what is best for the world around them and others.  Someone has to show the way through their actions that this world is made up of more than individuals and that we are all connected and that goodness gets passed on, even when it doesn't feel like it ever will or that anyone other than the person doing the good will ever know.  God knows.  And that good energy that is put out there, saves us all.

That is Ubuntu.  It's doing what is good and right anyway, even if its hard....  and it doesn't make you a hero or popular.  No one really wants a hero after all ....

This is a huge help for online browsing/puchasing - so many times web site users find something they want on a web site only to discover, a few clicks later, that it isn't available in the size they want.  Just don't show them (tease!) a product if it isn't available in their size.  Of course, Zappo's also has the helpful option to "email me when my size is in stock," but Zappo's (and many other online retailers) only let you search by one size at a time.

Many people fall between sizes or sometimes buy one size up or down from their "regular" size.  It's about time an online retailer recognized this with their browse/search/filter tools.

Kudos to Boden's web site team for a super useful search/filter option!

Here's how I managed to get a FileBrowse dialog in an Installshield MSI project:

1. Download & Import "brwsdlg.h" and "brwsdlg.rul" from here.
2. Add #include "brwsdlg.h" to Setup.Rul.
3. Copy the SdAskDestPath code into Setup.Rul.  We're using SdAskDestPath as a template.

The code for AdAskDestPath is in C:\Program Files\InstallShield\2009\Script\isrt\src\SdAskDestPathDlg.rul.

4. Edit the line that reads
   
   SelectDirNoLog("","",svDirLoc,!INSTTALLSCRIPTMSIEEUI);
   
   to read
   FileBrowseDlg(svDirLoc,512,"All Files(*.*)*.txt","Select File", "C:\\", FALSE,ListCreate(STRINGLIST),FALSE);

Now when SdAskDestPath is called it should run the modified code and the File Browse dialog should be presented when "Browse..." is clicked. From this point, you could change the name of the function if you happen to be using the original SdAskDestPath or just want a different name for it.

I hope this helps. I take no responsibility for the code above, I just stuck it together as an easy reference for others. If there is a better way to do this, please don't hesitate to let me know.

And the mission 9 is coming out too!!!here is a sneak peak:

what do you think of this sketch??? I think that there are two penguins who stick with each other and we have to help them with something.and i also think that we need to complete the previous missions to complete this one.

that's it for now!

bye!

~28maybloom00~

• OpenSUSE 11 on the laptop
• Windows XP and 2000 on the Dell
• Windows NT 4 Server on the other Dell which is a glorified NAS (Network Attached Storage) box
• Mac OS X 10.4 on the eMac
• Mac OS 9.2 on the iMac

A balanced lot I think. The top two get the most use in general. The time has come however to take the jump and start plugging away with Windows Vista.

I have never bought a new computer in my life. Unless you count the Commodore 64 in 1990 which technically wasn't bought by me but my parents. But it was new. Since then I have had a hotch potch of second hand stuff, not that this has bothered me. I have also built plenty of new PCs all faster than what I had at the time (Pentium IIs, then IIIs, then Athlon XPs, Pentium D's etc.) but never a new computer for myself.

That has now changed as I have bought an Acer M1640 Core 2 Duo system that worked out somewhat cheaper than building it myself, brand new. I'm actually quite looking forward to it and the Dell will get retired and probably sold in the Friday Ad or eBay when I have got the new Acer up and running fully.

It comes with Vista.

Now, universally it has been in-vogue to bash Vista, particularly from people who haven't used it. Some people have used it and got their fingers burnt but others have used it and liked it so much that their satisfaction as with anything in life wasn't even mentioned. I personally have never had any issue with Vista, but then I don't currently run it. This is partly deliberate because I did consider just buying Vista Home Premium for the Dell. It would have run fine-ish once the memory was upgraded but it would have been a bit sub-par so it wasn't worth it. Potentially my laptop would work with it but again, why muck up something running fine with something that may well slow it down?

Why have I done this.

Not out of masochism that's for sure. I'm a web developer but I do have roots in traditional desktop applications too and there are some things I want to blend together; mostly for work. I wrote a sidebar and gadgets system that emulates the functionality that Facebook first debuted with, followed by the BBC and London Borough of Redbridge. Now despite blowing my own trumpet, I'm reasonably proud of this as I know lots of people are finding it useful, but secondly because I programmed it all myself, it works well and it didn't cost anything other than my basic wage to implement.

One of the features I want though and have done for a long time is to be able to 'download' these gadgets onto a Vista sidebar gadget or an OS X Dashboard Widget. I mean, it'd be cool seeing when your bins are collected after a bank holiday on your sidebar/dashboard without needing to go to the council website itself. One could argue: but that would negate people coming to the website! Well, maybe so, but if it makes things easier for people I'm all for that. (Despite possible suggestions on occasion, I don't spend my day plotting how to make things a nightmare!)

However to do this I have an OS X box to start with, but just lack the Vista box. So primarily this is being used to develop sidebar gadgets. It's an expensive proposition but it will also get some good use.

Otherwise, the box will spend a good deal of time putting it's pair of 2.4GHz cores to use by running Notepad... It should at least be the last PC I need to buy for some years! I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes.

Student loans can be really helpful, and if you have more than one student loan, consolidation may be a good idea for you. With student loan consolidation, what happens is that all your student loans are basically combined into a single loan. Read More Best Student Loan Consolidation

I would like to share 5 goals for this next year:

• Get a customized page/website.
• See if I need to focus on the direction of the blog a little more.?.?.?
• Learn more about the technical side of blogging
• Discover ways to advertise on my blog
• Finally, have as much fun as I am but keep a budget of time on it

So, if you have any words of wisdom in any of these areas, I would appreciate your comment as a blogiversary present.  Now, you wouldn't withhold a present on my anniversary would you?  :)

Two more things I have to add:

- Happy Fall, for those fortunate enough to actually have a fall.  Last night, during the weather, the weather person said, and I quote, "We are continuing to cool off.  The change of season is upon us.  Today the high for Phoenix was 101.  Currently it's 93 degrees (at 9:55 pm)."  Also in the forecast was temps 102 and 103..yippee!!!  And to top it off they had the little fall leaves on today for the 7 day forecast.  I think I will get my jacket out.  It is feeling a bit nippy outside.

- As some of you are aware we are doing some work on our house.  In the process, we have a rocking chair that I am waiting to put elsewhere.  So it's just kind of hanging around, in a very ackward place, in our family room.  My oldest has been enjoying it there so I asked him if he realized it is not going to be there for long.    In his interior design mode he said "WHAT?"  Given the fact that I think it's very obvious it doesn't belong I thought everyone was on the same page.  Guess not.

Have a "Helpful" Day!

Debbie aka The Real World Martha(S)

here is the cover of the furniture catalog:

now lets move on to the cheats.

Click on the wall Chalkboard for the Chalkboard:

Click twice on the fire in the Pizza oven for getting the Stainless Steel Fridge:

Click on the Green music note for the Guitar stand:

Click the Umbrella table for the Blender:

These are all the cheats in the furniture catalog.

And.....there is a new post card for all the penguins who like the play "Ruby and the Ruby" and want your buddy come with you to join you.Here is a picture of it:

And....there is only one week left for fall fair!!!Here is a picture:

thats all for now!!!and i wish u good luck on winning pc's over here.bye.

-28maybloom00

Back at NERS - Ed Yong explains implications of a study that showed capuchin monkeys showed interest in making sure that other monkeys got the same rewards as themselve, when in a social environment.

The researchers did lots of test modifications to try and rule out any source of bias in the tests.

The main test was the test monkey picking one of two tokens. One would let the test monkey receive a piece of food. The other would not only let the test monkey receive a piece of food but also another monkey would too.

Rather than being self-absorbed and just picking any old token to get itself some chow - the test monekys showed bias for picking the "pro-social" token that lets both monkeys get food. No factors appeared to significantly affect this - except hiding the other monkey from the test monkey. This sort of reinforces the social basis for the behaviour. The monkey is hardly going to try and give food to a monkey it doesn't know is there.

Monkeys also had some sense of stranger danger too - they weren't likely to be socially helpful to a complete stranger monkey. Showing a similar "circle" style of relationships (family>friends>others) that is used to describe human social networks.

Go read Ed's post for further analysis on the greater impact on animal and human behavioural sciences

(yes I'm being a little lazy, I just unpacked into my new flat and am trying to offload numerous web item thingys)

One of the greatest ways for a business to impact and increase sales is to stop selling! Selling is nothing more than giving people a few techniques, and then sending them out on the floor to pitch various products and services and then hoping that the training pays off and some sales are closed. I have witnessed this over and over in many different environments – generic sales training with minimal results.

My philosophy is to forget “selling” and to give your people the training to enable them to help a customer buy from you. The challenge is not to sell products but to educate potential customers about the value they will receive from purchasing your products and services.If your staff or associates can’t explain and validate to your customers why they should buy from you, then why should they? Customers can go to a multitude of businesses to purchase cars, boats, copiers, clothing, appliances, even medical services, but where can they go to receive personalized service from specialists in the industry?

The first step in learning how to help a customer buy from you is to determine the makeup of your customer base. We have mentioned this numerous times before but it is such an important element that it bears review. Being able to identify your customer base is the foundation on which you will build the rest of your strategies. Studies have shown that the majority of customers don’t really know why they shop at a particular store, business or dealership. Hence the lack of customer loyalty in today’s competitive environment. It is our job to identify their characteristics and then appeal to them. There are three basic types of customers:

• Premium
• Low-Price
• Uninformed

Approximately seventeen percent of your customers are premium or “gold level”. They are loyal to you, you have had several sales experiences with them and they trust you. They typically don’t shop around because they know you are the industry specialist. Twenty-seven percent of your customers make up the low-price category. They don’t care about having a long-term relationship with you; their only concern is to find the lowest price. The remaining fifty-six percent is the majority that is basically uninformed. They simply do not know how to buy. They’re not sure what they want and don’t know what to expect from a premium value driven business because they have not been taught how to recognize one or the value provided. They shop around a lot and become confused with the proliferation of advertising.

I say the challenge is to reach the uninformed majority. By educating this group about why they need your products and services and the accompanying benefits, the more your business will grow and experience stronger success. So how do you reach this uninformed majority? Develop a buying model based on the benefits of your products and services that attract and keep your premium customers coming back to you. In addition, by defining your uniqueness to this market segment you will give them knowledge that will stimulate their interest in you. A key technique is to almost give them the right questions to ask – by finding out their level of need and then appealing to it.

To create a buying model you must be able to answer the following questions about your primary customers.

• Who are your best customers?
• What are your best customers’ highest needs?
• What is the most important value you bring to your best customers?
• How frequently do your best customers buy?

Who are your best customers? Use discretion here because the ones who spend the most money are not always your most premium customers. Often, the one who purchases the greatest amount has driven owners out of business by leveraging you to death on price. The “best” customer can be defined in a number of ways; frequency, total number of units, or their value in terms of profit margin.

What are your best customers’ highest needs? Define them and you can design a program that will generate more premium customers. The logic stands to reason – similar customers may have similar needs – design your program to them and to the uninformed majority. Remember:uninformed customers may not know they have a need for you until you educate them!

What is the most important value you bring to your best customers?  Hopefully, it is more than just providing them with a product or service. Ideally, you should be able to define in twenty-four words or less what it is and how they benefit most from what you sell them. For example: Hertz brings to its customers a way to get out of the airport and to their final destinations faster than any other rental car agency. Its not cars they provide – its fast, dependable and convenient destination service! Remember that service-based value usually lasts far longer than product value. If customers remember your service – they will be buying more from you than just a suit, camera or a home comfort system. They will be building a long-term relationship with you.

How frequently do your best customers buy? A fatal mistake for independent business owners is to assume that frequency of contact should equal frequency of purchase. Just because customers don’t normally buy a new snowmobile every six weeks doesn’t mean your contact with them should diminish. You should be mailing your best customers several times a year on a regular basis. They should receive pre-season personal phone calls to remind them about service check ups, new models, etc. If you fail to contact your premium customer because you’re too busy meeting the demands of price shoppers, you will regret it.

By answering these and more questions unique to your business you can develop a buying model that will maintain your premium customers and educate the uninformed so that they will know why they need to purchase from you.

Thomas J. Winninger, CSP, CPAE, and member of the Speaker Hall of Fame is the president of Winninger Institute for Brand Strategy and over 70 major companies in North America depend on him to assist them in maintaining their market dominance. Thom is the author of best selling “Price Wars”, “Sell Easy”, and new in 2000, “Full Price!” Contact the Winninger Institute at (612) 896-1900; E-mail: thomas@winninger.com; or visit our webite!

One of the greatest ways for a business to impact and increase sales is to stop selling! Selling is nothing more than giving people a few techniques, and then sending them out on the floor to pitch various products and services and then hoping that the training pays off and some sales are closed. I have witnessed this over and over in many different environments – generic sales training with minimal results.

My philosophy is to forget “selling” and to give your people the training to enable them to help a customer buy from you. The challenge is not to sell products but to educate potential customers about the value they will receive from purchasing your products and services.If your staff or associates can’t explain and validate to your customers why they should buy from you, then why should they? Customers can go to a multitude of businesses to purchase cars, boats, copiers, clothing, appliances, even medical services, but where can they go to receive personalized service from specialists in the industry?

The first step in learning how to help a customer buy from you is to determine the makeup of your customer base. We have mentioned this numerous times before but it is such an important element that it bears review. Being able to identify your customer base is the foundation on which you will build the rest of your strategies. Studies have shown that the majority of customers don’t really know why they shop at a particular store, business or dealership. Hence the lack of customer loyalty in today’s competitive environment. It is our job to identify their characteristics and then appeal to them. There are three basic types of customers:

• Premium
• Low-Price
• Uninformed

Approximately seventeen percent of your customers are premium or “gold level". They are loyal to you, you have had several sales experiences with them and they trust you. They typically don’t shop around because they know you are the industry specialist. Twenty-seven percent of your customers make up the low-price category. They don’t care about having a long-term relationship with you; their only concern is to find the lowest price. The remaining fifty-six percent is the majority that is basically uninformed. They simply do not know how to buy. They're not sure what they want and don’t know what to expect from a premium value driven business because they have not been taught how to recognize one or the value provided. They shop around a lot and become confused with the proliferation of advertising.

I say the challenge is to reach the uninformed majority. By educating this group about why they need your products and services and the accompanying benefits, the more your business will grow and experience stronger success. So how do you reach this uninformed majority? Develop a buying model based on the benefits of your products and services that attract and keep your premium customers coming back to you. In addition, by defining your uniqueness to this market segment you will give them knowledge that will stimulate their interest in you. A key technique is to almost give them the right questions to ask – by finding out their level of need and then appealing to it.

To create a buying model you must be able to answer the following questions about your primary customers.

• Who are your best customers?
• What are your best customers' highest needs?
• What is the most important value you bring to your best customers?
• How frequently do your best customers buy?

Who are your best customers? Use discretion here because the ones who spend the most money are not always your most premium customers. Often, the one who purchases the greatest amount has driven owners out of business by leveraging you to death on price. The “best” customer can be defined in a number of ways; frequency, total number of units, or their value in terms of profit margin.

What are your best customers' highest needs? Define them and you can design a program that will generate more premium customers. The logic stands to reason – similar customers may have similar needs – design your program to them and to the uninformed majority. Remember:uninformed customers may not know they have a need for you until you educate them!

What is the most important value you bring to your best customers?  Hopefully, it is more than just providing them with a product or service. Ideally, you should be able to define in twenty-four words or less what it is and how they benefit most from what you sell them. For example: Hertz brings to its customers a way to get out of the airport and to their final destinations faster than any other rental car agency. Its not cars they provide – its fast, dependable and convenient destination service! Remember that service-based value usually lasts far longer than product value. If customers remember your service – they will be buying more from you than just a suit, camera or a home comfort system. They will be building a long-term relationship with you.

How frequently do your best customers buy? A fatal mistake for independent business owners is to assume that frequency of contact should equal frequency of purchase. Just because customers don’t normally buy a new snowmobile every six weeks doesn’t mean your contact with them should diminish. You should be mailing your best customers several times a year on a regular basis. They should receive pre-season personal phone calls to remind them about service check ups, new models, etc. If you fail to contact your premium customer because you’re too busy meeting the demands of price shoppers, you will regret it.

By answering these and more questions unique to your business you can develop a buying model that will maintain your premium customers and educate the uninformed so that they will know why they need to purchase from you.

Thomas J. Winninger, CSP, CPAE, and member of the Speaker Hall of Fame is the president of Winninger Institute for Brand Strategy and over 70 major companies in North America depend on him to assist them in maintaining their market dominance. Thom is the author of best selling “Price Wars”, “Sell Easy”, and new in 2000, “Full Price!” Contact the Winninger Institute at (612) 896-1900; E-mail: thomas@winninger.com; or visit our webite!