Top 5 Value for Money Investments

"An ideal investment is the one which reaps infinite returns for the generations to come !!"

Whenever the idea of ​​investment comes, one of the first questions that pop in our mind is whether it would reap good returns or not. Then we proceed on to probe on the risks involved, investment tenure and other prerequisites before actually investing.

In this short piece, we explore interesting, easy to plan achieve investments that would make you feel content with the returns and have lesser risks in the market with the returns touching the sky and getting more and more with the time.

1. Investing for a Skill / Education: Education is one of the most expensive investment avenues these days. Acquiring a skill, implementing it, getting well versed in it consumes a lot of time, money and concentration. When worked hard and completed, the returns can be infinite. This means that you can find work and continue on it for as long as you want to. The gains are not only in terms of monetary returns, which are consistent and are usually on a rise, but also in terms of respect, experience and chance to invest more in your family and assets.

2. Real Estate / House: A lot of old and experienced people regarding real estate as a pinnacle of investment or asset creation. Once someone starts transacting in terms of real estate, his outlook towards money is totally changed. An increase in the price of stocks, mutual funds is not as stable as that of a land or a house. Moreover, the emotional value of an asset created in real estate is remarkable.

Yes, undoably, you need to have some net worth and status before venturing into this investment class, but the returns would make sure that the hard work you have put in to create wealth through real estate is all worth it.

3. People: For any manager or a business owner, the people working under him are his prime assets. Investing wise and well in the people will pay him off illegally, irrespective of the amount invested and time consumed over that investment.

Further, versatility makes it easier to find what kind of investment can suit your people. Compropriate insurance, perks, bonuses, trips, education, skill trainings, assets, cheaper loans etc., there are numerous ways in which you can decide how do you want to invest. Investment is people earns you more loyalty (which can never have a price tag), better results, higher efficiency and several such fruits that would enhance your business or get you a promotion.

4. Creating a second income source: When you have multiple uses of the money earned, why can not there be multiple income sources. Often, a second income source seeks some amount of investment, which does annoy people as they fail to realize its need. It is quite simple to analyze it though. The current job or business you are doing has come to you at a cost, which has typically paid off via income and other tangible / intelible returns. You can create a source such as part time intuitions, blogging, baby sitting, product research etc., which give you a stable income and keep on giving more and more returns once you gain good experience. Second income source gets a further boost when you invest in acquiring a skill that in turn gets you another income source.

5. Planting Trees: Promoting Greenery in your vicinity is again an invaluable investment. A seed that nurtures into a plant, and further to a tree has a lot to give for the sunlight, water and care it receives. Interestingly, apart from sowing a seed and occasionally placing a fence around it, you do not have to spend anything at all. The sunlight is free and water requirement, even though being initially crucial, is later managed by the plant itself. Multiple returns that a single fully fledged tree gives include fresh air, fruits, wood, temperature control, shade,

Taking Online Surveys for Money

So you want to make money online but do not know where to get started. That is understandable since there are so many different ways to make money online. You can get paralleled by the different offers coming at you. One of the quickest and easiest ways to make money online is by taking surveys online. A lot of surveys pay money and others offer prizes like electronic devices that are nice to have (or sell). This idea sounds too good to be true to a lot of people because you do not understand why companies would pay you for your opinions.

Even if you do not really understand it your opinions are important and very valuable to many companies. In trying to appeal to a specific demographic they may ask you about your age, and spending habits. They may want to know what TV shows you watch and what type of music you prefer. All of this is very important to a company trying to reach and appeal to other people just like you.

Taking surveys online for money is easy once you locate a group that can provide you with surveys that are a good fit for you to take. There is no sense in you taking a survey about cross bows if you have never fired a cross bow in your life. However, if you are really into cross bows then they would love to hear from you and get your opinions about cross bow products. So make sure you are qualified to take the survey.

What sort of surveys should I take? That's a question many people ask. Again, it comes down to what you have experience with. Are you a car nut? Do you like motorcycles? If you are an enthusiast in some area that is a good place to start. Always try to take surveys about things that really interest you. It will make the survey taking job seem easier and it will probably help your income as well.

Taking surveys online is not something that most people can make a living at. However, you can make some good supplemental income if you work at it. As you gain experience you will learn how to qualify for the larger paying surveys and get yourself invited to focus groups etc. where you can earn a few hundred dollars for a few hours of your time talking. So look at this as any job or skill and start out slow but continuously work your way up.

7 Powerful Ways To Make Money From Adsense Using Only Free Tools

There is really no doubt that there are amazing incomes currently being made on Google AdSense and the really interesting thing is that even relatively small sites and blogs are finding new ways to make money from their AdSense sites every day.

Actually there are a lot of increasingly creative ways to make money and maximize on AdSense earnings that are being discovered and also being put to use every day. And what's even more fascinating is the fact that most of these tools being used do not cost anything. They are actually free. Here are 7 of the most effective currently being used.

a) Ways to make money from AdSense by distributing articles through ezine and article announcement lists

Some of the most effective methods ways to make money from AdSense clicks involve the simple step of just increasing the volume of targeted traffic to a site. One of the ways of doing this is by distributing interesting content to ezine lists and article announcement lists. It is not too difficult to quickly build a list that reaches a million or so email boxes and can so give a lot of visibility and drive tons of highly targetd traffic to your AdSense site or sites. Probably the most popular place for doing this is at Yahoo groups, but there are a few others that you can find easily by using your favorite search engine.

Success here depends on three main factors. Firstly you should be careful to join article announcement lists and ezine lists that are as relevant as possible to your subject matter and offering. Secondly your headline has to be a killer headline that will grab readers by the scruffs of their necks and force them to open your email message among the dozens or even hundreds of others they receive daily. It goes without saying that the content must meet the promise of your sensational headline. Anything less will cause annoyance and leave all those potential visitors to your AdSense site feeling cheated. And believe me, you do not want to cause this sort of reaction because it is definitely not one of the ways o make money from AdSense or any other program for that matter. Thirdly, you will need the sort of resource box in all your articles that will leave most of your readers with no option but to visit your AdSense site.

Within a very short of consistently applying this technique, my daily AdSense earnings increased seven-fold.

b) Ways to make money from AdSense by distributing free articles to high traffic article sites
Some people find the recent trends that have seen an increase in article sites surprising. I do not. The net is primarily an information-seeking tool. Anything that will help improve the search and quality of information will greatly benefit the people making that effort.

Some of the older article directories receive very high traffic, mainly from web masters and site owners seeking quality free content for their sites. So apart from the immediate exposure these sites also guarantee plenty of future targeted traffic to your site, when individuals find your articles useful enough to re-post at their sites.

The more new articles you release to these sites every week, the more targeted traffic your AdSense sites will receive. This is in fact one of the most effective ways of making money consistently from AdSense clicks. One of the reasons for this is that targeted traffic will tend to spend more time at your site or sites, and the more time they spend, the higher the chances that they will click one of the adsense ads posted there.

c) Ways to make money from AdSense by Using Articles And A Viral Marketing Website

Any online marketing technique that involves the use of referral marketing or viral marketing automatically has a huge chance of being a success. The net is ideal for viral marketing and in fact gives any viral marketer huge leverage. Viral marketing or referral marketing is one of the most effective ways to make money online. Just ask Bill Gates.

When Gates was trying to play catch up on the Internet after an earlier mistake of underestimating the future importance of the net, he launched his Hotmail free email service when rivals like Yahoo already had millions of users. He decided to use a simple referral marketing technique. Every Hotmail message that went out had a brief signature at the end requesting the recipient to sign up for their free Hotmail account. Within a few short months, Hotmail had millions of users. And there are many other amazing stories which viral marketing boasts of on the net.

There is one of the very simple ways to make money from AdSense by going viral. Sign up at a leading viral marketing site. You will automatically get your own viral site. You can then use some of your articles to point people to your viral site. The way these sites work is that anyone who signs up at your site will have to visit your AdSense site if you register it at the site. So within a very short time you will be driving thousands of visitors to your AdSense site.

Find more details on this at my blog which address you'll find in the resource box below.

Admittedly this traffic is less targeted. Still the huge potential and possible numbers you are able to receive using this tool more than makes up for this.

d) Ways to make money from AdSense with Your Email signature

People greatly underestimate the power and potential effectiveness of a simple email signature as one of the ways to make money online. Actually this is a viral marketing method because emails get forward all the time and are even copied to several other people sometimes.

Do not waste another minute. Go to all your email accounts right now and create a signature that points to your AdSense site or sites.

Writing effective email signatures is a skill that you will have to develop, but I have found that using famous quotes is more effective than a straight advertising message. Always remember that people hate to be advertised to online.

e) Ways to make money from AdSense By Asking Questions At Discussion groups

I recently had an interesting conversation with a young Internet and computer techie. He asked me if there were quick ways to make money online by answering technical questions and helping people to solve their computer and web-related problems. My answer was that there were many discussion groups where participants would get these answers for free. I advised him that he had a better chance of making money by making use of this free advice available online rather than trying to sell his own advice.

There are tons of online discussion groups where leading world experts will answer your questions and give you valuable insight for free. It is amazing why most people do not think of using these online forums to learn as much as they can about the most effective ways of making money from Adsense.

These forums can easily be found through you favorite search engine.

f) Ways to make money from AdSense By Bartering your online skills for valuable AdSense keywords

In the old days, before the invention of money, if somebody needed something, the first question they asked themselves was; "What is it that I already have that I can exchange for what I need? Barter trade seems to have been forgotten but it is a very powerful method of trading. to send them money for an item they need.

You can barter whatever it is you have, your skills, products or services, and exchange them for genuine valuable AdSense keywords. Valuable AdSense keywords are the most effective way for a small site with low traffic to earn big cash from Adsense. And you can do this barter trade on an ongoing basis so that you always have a constant supply of valuable AdSense keywords which you can use at your site or blog as one of the ways to make more money from Adsense.

g) Ways to make money from AdSense By Sending Teaser Emails

To Everybody In Your Inbox And Also To Your Opt-in Email List
Most of us receive tons of email in our inbox every day. You'll be surprised at the huge number of people you know by simply going through your email inbox. No matter how good your spam filters are, you are also bound to be receiving more than your share share of SPAM or unsolicited email. All this is "gold" lying in your email inbox and there are ways to make money using these emails. All you need to do to process the emails into pure gold is to send out "teaser emails about the most interesting aspects of content at your site. to send out teaser email on this content here is how I would construct it;

Subject: Free Tools Currently Being Used To Increase AdSense Earnings

Hello,

Just thought you might be interested in this subject, since so many people online use AdSense these days. If not please accept my sincere apologies. Details are at my site.

www. your site's address .com

Regards,
Chris.

I am sure you can write an even more effective teaser email. It would be a better idea to have a different message for your close friends, a different one for your business contacts and yet another one for those nasty guys SPAMMING you.

These are just some of the many creative ways to make money from Adsense.

The Best Ways to Make Money Online For Beginners

Are you poking around the internet looking for the best ways to make money online? Are you slowly coming to the conclusion that only other people make money online? Not to worry. You are not the only person to think so! There are thousands of perfectly capable people like you who want to make money online but have no idea how to go about it. You need no experience or skill. All you need is a reliable internet connection and a few hours a day to make a tidy profit at the end of each month. Wondering how? Read on to find out best ways of making money online.

Selling products: This is a great way of making easy money. First you need to get a wholesaler who has products to sell. Next you start your own website where you sell the products. Once your website starts expanding and more and more people start visiting and buying from it, you can get more wholesalers who would be willing to sell their products and share the profit.

Selling domain names: This is also a very easy way of making money online. All you need to do is to buy attractive domain names which will cost you about $ 10 and selling them to other people. If you create a website under an attractive domain name, the better it will be. A few years ago when the internet was still terribly unknown, a few clever people bought all the single-word domain names. Selling them a few years later saw them becoming quite rich.

Creating websites: This is a fun way of making money online. If you are creative and love tinkering around the internet, why not create a website? Once the website becomes popular and traffic starts poring in, you will find quite a few people lining up to buy it. This is called website flipping and you can actually earn hundreds of thousands of dollars doing this. The fun thing is that you can do it over and over again.

Forex trading: If the workings of the global economic markets fascinate you, you can go for Forex trading. This is a highly profitable place where you can earn a lot of money online. But it is not easy. Making money through trading requires a lot of study of the market, ability to deal with risks and foresight.

Writing: If writing is your hobby, you could make a living online being a freelancer. You can start your own blog, write an e-book or write for websites. A lot of people do it and they are making a tidy income through it. The only thing you need to have is good writing ability and patience.

Participate in websites: There are some websites that pay people who are active members. They even share their ad revenue if you help in the promotion of their website. It is a great way of making money online as all you have to do is spread the word about their website.

Go ahead and find out the best way you can make money online. Who knows, you may start liking it enough to quit your regular job and start doing it full-time!

5 Basic Skills For Driving Lessons

These are 5 very basic skills that everyone owns and when used help hugely on your driving lessons. Although some pupils may be better at using these skills than others, everyone is capable of using them, and how well you use these skills will depend on how quickly you learn.

1. Listening skills - This is the first one, and as said earlier everyone owns the ability to listen, but how well you use this skill will depend on how quickly you pick up learning how to drive. Been a better listener helps as you can listen to what your driving instructor is saying and implemented this into your driving. You may think you do this, though the more consciously you think about doing this the more you will do it and your driving will improve.


2. Communication Skills - It's not always about listening on your driving lessons, you have to communicate with your instructor and let them know what you are having difficulty with and they will explain further. Communication is vital and if you waste the time with your instructor by not communicating it it will take you longer to pass your driving test.


3. Planning skills - everyone can plan, some just are better at it than others. Planning and scanning is a vital part of driving, but the skill improves as you go on. You can improve this process and learn quicker by continuing to do hazard perception tests even after passing your theory test! As crazy as it sounds, these tests improve your planning and it's vital for you to be planning ahead on your driving lessons.


4. Hand-eye co-regulation skills - You do not need to be a table top tennis champion to be able to drive, however it does take some hand-eye co-ordination skills. You need to look at the road and tell the rest of your body what to do based on the situation ahead. There are the odd pups which struggle with this, but with practice they ever get it, to most however it is second nature and it makes your driving lessons a lot easier.


5. Organization skills - You do not need to hire a personal assistant if you have not gotten great organizational skills as it does not take much organization, even for an unorganized person. However there is a degree of organizational skills involved as far as booking your driving theory test and instructor is concerned.

These are the 5 basic skills which you have to hone in on to make your driving lessons successful. Be more conscious about the above skills and your driving tuition will go a lot smoother.

The True Definition of Conditioning in Sports and Fitness

Conditioning is a word that is used a lot in the fitness industry but what does it really mean to have conditioning? There are those that are ripped from strength conditioning, marathon runners have to go through a type of stamina conditioning and then there is the condition that is necessary for fighters and martial artists.

Conditioning can come off as this hard core concept of hard work and training to build your body up so it can perform or end what the sport demands of it.

And it's true.

However, that is not the whole picture of what it means to be a conditioned athlete. Building your body and it's performance potentials is only the income associated to having "great conditioning".

The other half of the definition of conditioning is more about the discipline, the standard and the values ​​that you adopt.

"Great condition" is the result of adopting and integrating habits, standards and values ​​that slowly, over time changes and transforms the conditions of the body.

Conditioning is not so much about building yourself up but rather more about adopting a specific way of being that will serve you in the long run which is beneficial for the performance and execution of the skills in a given sport or physical activity.

So, how do you integrate a great conditioning ritual? One that will meet your athletic needs based on the sport or physical activity of your choice?

A good place to start is by looking at where your values ​​are placed in your sport. By looking at the components that you already have a natural inclining to merit and value, then you have a platform where you can design for yourself a discipline that you are more than likely to commit to.

If for example you typically benefit cardio, then use that as a base to develop a discipline to condition, not only great cardio but also as a way to condition better form, more strength and greater endurance doing the activity that is the source of cardio. It's also a great way to develop secondary attributes. If, for instance you typically rely on jogging for cardio but you would like to develop another physical skill or work on some upper body, than you might consider cardio boxing. Or you might want to develop better foot co-ordination and do some skip rope.
By focusing on what you already prefer, you are much more likely to build on it and develop a discipline and from a place of discipline is where condition can flow from the best.

Also, using discipline is a powerful way to predispose yourself to growth and improvement in a specific skill or attribute. Once you have established a discipline on a particular practice, then it's only a matter of pushing yourself and upping the ante in order to improve and refine that conditioning.

Let me leave with one final thought, and that is, when thinking in terms of the type of conditioning you feel you may need for whatever fitness goal that you have, think about what habits you need to adopt and how you need to be in the process of the training rather than what you need to do to reach and achieve a goal to finally arrive at. Chances are that when you arrive at that goal, in order to maintain it, you will need to sustain the condition by maintaining the practice that got you there in the first place.

Conditioning is a process.

Leather Repair - How To Repair Torn Leather Seat

There are so many different types of automatic leather seat repair, all with different situations and applications. There are holes, scratches, gouges, cuts, scrapes, worn or cracked, and just down right grungy looking leather seats. I think I got them all covered, well in this article we're going to talk about how to repair a small hole in a leather seat lean back, for those of you who do not know what a lean back is well it's the upper part of the seat.

Now when I say small this can apply for a tear up to 1 1/2 "to 2", probably might go a little bigger, but lets not push it, if it needs to go to the upholstery shop for an insert then that would be better then a crappy looking leather repair on something that probably would not hold anyways. When in doubt, insert it.

Prepping a seat is the key to success in any leather repair, and a lasting leather dye job. So, prep the whole lean back, and while at your it just clean the whole seat, why not, but you do not have to, with your prepping solution removing all grease, dirt, and grime. You need a clean surface and a well prepped area to work with. When I prep, I use a solution of rubbing alcohol, acetone, ammonia, and a small amount of TSP substitute, with water in a spray bottle. Spray the seat with the solution and scrub with a scotch brite pad to scuff the leather seat for leather dye adhesion and remove any grime that's on the seat, then wipe clean with a clean lint free towel. Once your clean, apply a grip base primer to the seat, I usually in most cases will dye the entire lean back when I do a repair or the entire seat, but sometimes it's not necessary, so you may not need to prime the whole seat , but do clean the seat good this cuts down on the amount of leather dye used and the ending result will be a premium leather repair.

Now to the hole. Lets say it's in a V shape, just for example. Like where you've gott'n out of the seat with something in your back pocket, ouch! I know the feeling, back in college I had a 1986 Mustang SVO, very rare and nice car (I miss that car) and I got out to go to class with a pen in my back pocket and ripped about a 2 "V shape in the seat, I about puked right there, and of course at the time I did not know anything about leather repair.

Sand the area around the tear with a 240 grit wallpaper, this gives a little more for the low heat compound to grip to. Take a piece of underpatch material and slide the under patch under the tear with a pair of tweezers, allowing about a 1/2 "on the inside all the way around. easier to slide under. You can use different types of under patches, I like the kind that is covered on one side with a heat activated glue.

Now take a drop of leather glue and spread a thin coat on the patch on the underside of the leather repair area. If the leather will lay down smoothly and match up then great, but sometimes it just will not. In this case we will use combo of the glue and your low cure leather repair compound and smooth a small amount over the patch then lay the leather down. Spread a small amount of low heat compound over the area and smooth it out with your pallet knife, remembering to keeping your area as small as possible, the smaller the better. Now heat the area with your heat gun, hold the heat gun out away from the leather repair and slowly move it into the repair area, this will give you just a little more control of the heat, you do not want to burn and shrink the leather. The idea is to cure the compound and get it to adhere before you cook the leather, it's a skill thing, practice makes perfect. Once the compound is cured immediately press the grain pad in your palm onto the repair, do not press to hard, but firm.

At this time using a wet paper towel apply a small amount of grip base to the repair area and dye with your color matched water based leather dye. Dry thin coats of dye, not wet. Then reapply and smooth out another thin coat of compound. Heat again and grain then dye, get the idea, what you are doing is building the repair up. Thin coats of compound applied and cured then reapplied, are much better then one thick coat. Once you have it built up and looking nice, blend the repair into the rest of the seat if needed, by applying thin coats of leather dye to finish it off. Drying between coats of dye with a hairdryer, and one great tip is rubbing the leather dye with your hands to force the dye into the creases of the leather helps a ton, do not be afraid to get your hands dirty. I say that but I'm allergic to rubber gloves, it bites, so I come home every day with dye all over my hands, it's a pain, but I love the work and the job looks better with a little bit of love rubbed on those leather seat repairs. After the dye is cured, apply a top coat of satin or dull leather clear top coat mixed with a bit of slip additive added for the soft feel. Dry the seat thoroughly, then apply your leather conditioner to finish and give the seat the juice it needs and a great feel and look for you.

Now there are so many other variations to this fix, sometimes I will have to use an air dry leather repair compound over the top of the low heat compound to smooth out the leather repair. Sanding it with a 400 grit wallpaper until it looks right. You can also turn your air down on your paint gun until little droplets are coming out to give it a textured look, drying between coats. Texture coatings, can be used, but if you do it right the gun effect works great. When I do a leather repair I will not give up until it looks perfect. Patience is a value, right. Do not get in a hurry, this will only frustrate you more and then you really got issues.

Leather repair is a craft and profession. The dyes and compounds I use are top quality and are made to last. Giving you a lasting leather seat repair, and comfort knowing you have a leather repair that will last and look great for years to come.

I hope this was some help to you, in the coming months there will be more articles like this one but on different situations on leather repair, liked I talked about in the first. There are so many different ways that a leather seat can be damaged, we spend a lot of time in our cars and well "sh $$ happens", right. So check back to see my next article on automatic leather seat repairs. If you have anything you would like to ask feel free to shoot me some comments on Leather Repair - How To Repair Torn Leather Seat.

Big Companies Pay You to Advertise For Them

How great would it be if you could make all of the businesses in the world work for you? Whenever they made money, you would make money, even better you would do it sitting at your home, working from your personal computer. Let me tell you from personal experience that I know it can happen. No matter what size the business is, or what service or product that they provide the public, they all have one thing in common.

Every business has to advertise. Without advertisements the company would fail. Now you are asking what this could possible have to do with you, right? That is simple, companies especially the larger ones pay people to advertise for them. These companies do not have the time to put into thinking of new ways to advertise their business, in fact they are more than happy to let someone else do it for them. Why not step up to the plate and be their freelance advertiser? Generating sales is always a valuable skill to have where ever you are and whatever you do!

As a freelance advertiser, the companies would rely on you to think of new ways to bring their businesses into the public's eye. To succeed at this, all you need is to be able to think outside the box, and to stay ahead of the game. If you are a self motivated person, with an unique eye for advertising, than this is just what you are looking for. Having a freelance advertising company gives you the freedom to live your life.

Trying To Make Money With No Money Does not Have To Be Difficult

All to often people give up on the initial idea of ​​trying to make money with no money online. There are a lot of people pulling profit from the internet and many that will share their knowledge if you have the true desire to get ahead.

Running a business online is not so much different to that of an offline business. It is a lot more technical but since you online anyway the answers to all your questions you have along the way are right at your fingertips. To get those answers your best friend is going to be Google. Or whichever search engine you use. Just pop your question in there and you're good to go.

There are sites that pay you for your services online. So if you have a particular skill you can simply freelance your work and get paid for your services. Sites get "elance" and "get a freelancer" are places you can register.

If that is not up your street you can start your referral business. A referral business is what is known as affiliated business models. Some of the commission can be quite high and it is relatively easy to set the process up.

Affiliate business owners often get the sense that they need to sell a product. Honestly if you are looking to sell someone else's product, let them do the selling. An affiliate will refer customers to a good deal. If the product owner can not sell it, it's a waste of time and probably your customers money as well.

If you are good at writing you can get paid for that through revenue sharing and if you can learn the art of writing good copy, ten you could stand to make a lot, either from freelance work or getting involved with search engine marketing using pay- per-click.

When it comes to pay-per-click there is a lot of cash being pulled from the search engines but this is for further along in your business. To make money with no money online, the AdSense program through Google can work wonders. Also some publisher sites share the revenue they get with you. Other advertising networks provide the same sort of service and let you publish ads on your web space. That does not mean you need to shell out for a website. You can make money with no money on free to use services. Try Blogger for a fresh new website and an online address of your choosing. Need an easier platform. Try Squidoo.

There are a couple of big names that are great at teaching free to use sites. Try Potpiegirl, or "bum marketing method". (Travis Sago)

These two folks are true gold mines when it comes to business start-ups for free. They started me up before I moved to the other side of the fence and started using PPC marketing. That was starting out trying to make money with no money. It does get easier. I started my business only months ago and went leaps and bounds from having no direction to owning my own site.

Math Activity For Fun And Learning

Math activity like drill and practice help a child gaining good mental number skills. Moreover, if the practice is done everyday through fun and games, children easily get familiar with numbers. Nowadays, we have a number of online math activities intended for children and the grown-ups alike. Teachers, parents and children have a number of games and number drill activities at hand. The online math exercises help a child practice computing skills, number and logic, geometric and money exchange skills. The number skill in a child grows along with daily shopping skills- how they can get an object in exchange of money.

In online math activity like Dinner Time, a child can practice and grow its skill in measuring time. We have task cards, through which a child prepares a meal for dinner in a fixed time frame. He or she is assigned a specific time frame in which the food item is to be prepared. This number game is played between a small group of children and a clock pattern is maintained in playing the game. Games like Body Parts help a child know how to measure length with the help of a string and mark them in a data sheet.

Want to make your child familiar with Perimeter and Area? Now you have online math activity to help your child. Your child can measure and co-relate between area and perimeter of a particular figure. In this game, a child uses specific design shapes and blocks. These blocks are used according to the instructions on a task card. The numbers are changed and so the area and perimeter of the given figures are also changed.
This game can be enjoyed more than two or three children in a small group. Not only solid blocks, we have number games in form of mold figures.

Play Dough is another mold figure game that children enjoy as a part of their online math activity. This game builds up number reflex in a small child easily. Through Play Dough, a child gathers number skills in measuring length, getting the volume of a particular object, area and perimeter of particular figures. Children use the playing dough to estimate and measure volume. An easy to follow task card is given to guide the children effectively. The child molds the dough to measure the lengths and areas of given figures and estimate the total circumference. The game is meant for classroom math activities and it can be played by one or more children.

Comparing Cylinders and Estimating Length are popular classroom math activity for children. Comparing Cylinders is played by children to estimate the surface area and determine the volume of given figures. Here students have to find the change in capacity of said containers made of the same size of papers. In Estimating Length, children have to find the length by calculating the units of measurement. Children can estimate the measuring units to use while measuring the given objects. The game is played in a group and children have to maintain an activity data sheet.

Free Online Blackjack Games - The Truth

It is common practice for online casinos offering blackjack games to also offer you blackjack bonuses. Blackjack bonuses are essentially free money in exchange for signing up or blackjack that has been played already. Free money comes in the form of welcome bonuses, deposit bonuses, sign up bonus, refer a friend and loyalty points. Another way that casinos offer you free online blackjack games is by offering you practice play sessions, 1 hour of free play as well as just for fun games. Of course you can not win real money from these games.

Blackjack bonuses are a way of enticing you to play blackjack online for real money at their casino. However online casinos are not charities they are running a business and all businesses want to make money. By giving you free money you may well continue to play just at their casino but they are aware that there are other casinos offering similar or the same free blackjack play online and you may play at their casino. More importantly though you may be a blackjack bonus abuser, that's someone who plays the minimum amount to cash in the bonus hoping to make a profit. Obviously casinos do not like these players and have rules to try to prevent this happening.

Next whilst most casino games are a game of chance now there is no possible way that you can win, blackjack is just a little bit different. Blackjack is a not a game of chance but a game of skill and there before it is absolutely possible to win. Using correct blackjack strategy means that a player can reduce the casino's edge and sometimes get an advantage.

For these reasons any free blackjack money offered as an enticement to join the online casino has a wagering obligation attached and why this wager requirement generally has to be sent on games other than blackjack. Any free money offered has a wagering requirement attached. Generally the more generous the bonus, or if it's too good to be true it's likely that they will have imposed a larger wagering requirement for the bonus. Again blackjack is a game of skill and can be won and for this reason blackjack games either or not count at all or count as a very low percentage towards meeting the requirement. These requirements are structured and in place to offset the risk that a casino takes by offering bonuses to its players. The casinos are simply protecting themselves by ensuring that you spend some money on other games within the casino before you run away with your winnings.

Of course it's not guaranteed that you will win, you still need to learn basic strategy and learn how to manage your bankroll. But the casinos still need to protect themselves. They do not want players who are excellent at blackjack strategy, unemotionally attached to any losses made and counting cards at the same time. The online casino would lose the free money they had given you plus whatever you won. Whether you can card count online is debatable because the deck is shuffled after every hand in non live games and half way through live games, meaning that a count can not be kept. It is extremely illegally that using this card counting method in live or non live games you will gain an edge over the house.

In summary free online blackjack games do not really exist in the form of a blackjack bonus due to bonus seekers, bonus abusers and the ability to beat the house with basic strategy. It is possible to find a free game look out for offers such as "Win Real Money - NO Deposit Required" of course these are hard to come by and you often need to e-mail them instead of just signing up, so it makes it a little bit more difficult to acquire and there are still certain restrictions placed upon these bonuses before you could cash out any winnings. Make sure you read the terms.

Time To Change Jobs? How Will I Know?

Almost everyone experiences times when his or her job, workplace environment, co-workers, or managers could be much better. But how long do you end negative surroundings before it's time to "test the waters" and see what other jobs might be better fit for you?

While the stigma of job-hopper is not what it used to be even a short time ago, it is still critical for you to demonstrate to a prospective new employee that you gained experience and new skills, in any job you have held. It is projected that Generation X will hold 10-15 jobs over their careers and Gen Y (or Millennials) as many as 25. Keep in mind these are projections based on limited historical data since the oldest Millennials are still under 30 years old and you typically change jobs more often in your early years in the work. But if the projection holds, it means Millennials will change jobs every two years.

The questions you should ask yourself are: Am I learning and progressing from a developmental standpoint towards my longer-term career goals? Is there an opportunity for upward movement, as a reward for hard work, or is my job stagnant? Do I have supportive managers and co-workers or is it a stressful environment impacting my personal life and health? Am I paid fairly for my position and what I contribute? If you are answering a negative response to one or more of these questions, then it might be time to check out what's going on in the job market.

Do not do anything impulsive. New jobs are still not that plentiful - so use your current job to fund your search. Make a change on your own timing. Use your personal email and cell phone, and do not tell anyone in your company. It does not matter how much you trust your co-workers, word will get out and it may take away your timeframe options.

Before you begin looking in earnest, you should do an assessment of your skills. A good start in this process is to update your resume (although you should always keep it current). What jobs are you really qualified for? Do you have the education and mastery of skills to progress up the ranks of another organization? If you determine the longer-term position you want requires a specific degree or more experience, you may want to stay put until you reach that new plateau. But it's always good to test the waters through your network to see how friends and colleagues jobs are going and what companies are hiring and for what positions.

Prior to making any decision, you need to include wherever you are "running away" from a job or moving forward in your career. If you have not given your "all" in a job, there is no reason to make a change and end up in the exact position only in a different company. If you decide to leave, leave on a good note - perhaps just after completing a project or mastering a new skill set. This will give you a good story to relay to a prospective employer - that you finish what you start and are ready for more challenge and responsibility.

Making Money Online With a Forex Trading System

In this article I will discuss making money online, Forex trading, and software related to Forex trading. Both good and bad. As well as cover some other things. Although there are a lot of systems out there, more importantly scams, there's not quite as many as there are online get rich quick schemes and ponzi schemes in general. There are still hundreds if not thousands of scams that directly refer to Forex Currency Trading. These scams come in various formats but often get the record set straight on them quickly, however a few others somehow escape the negative publicity and go for years and hit unsuspecting profit seekers where it hurts the most daily. The problem with Forex is that so much seems too good to be true, and a lot of stuff is, but it's also true that many people have made millions and some are not really all that smart at it. You can profit from the right robot.

The first thing I would like to discuss is the topic of sales pages, that common pitch page that a lot of products use and you often think it's gone too far or it must be a scam just by looking at it. But when you think real hard about it, over half the time this is not actually the case ... These sales pages are so long and packed with information since they are commonly advertised on the web and it is more or less business strategy, as opposed to anything reflecting the product. Certain sellers force you to use pitch pages, they need a specific landing page and it makes things much easier for sales transactions.

So rather than guide you through a structured web site with more details through various sections; they often use this pitch page and they generally pack it with information and a ton of hard selling. This has proven to be the trend and it's gotten harder and harder for some EAs to market their software without these types of pitch pages. It is often the case with digital products and or / stuff you can order online. When it comes to these make-money-online and Forex sites they often have a lot of flash to them and obviously many things to draw customers in. In reality it's not much different from any other form of advertising, most certainly not the likes of gambling, and so forth. They need to have some sort of appeal and be competitive. My conclusion is that even if it looks like it could be a scam, do your homework anyway and it may not be. It just depends. Some things are signs, but in my opinion web design and hard selling are not direct signs of a scam. Although in the Forex Market something to hope for would be charts and proof.

With regards to the surveys and other things, it amounts to filling out spam for pennies pretty much, data entry is the same and much more annoying than even the most desperate realize. It also makes you look bad if you tell your friends. You still have to spend time to make any real money, not prizes, and some also require a credit card number on file, and they text you and stuff too. Let's be honest, it sucks. It's bottom of the barrel work that just is not worth it. It's for the ultra-lazy. The kind of human being who for example might get scammed by a Forex system. Not a serious adult who is looking to profit from investment and extend their savings, along with make more money in general.

I once tried a clicking service just to see if I actually could make money, on the popular moneytec forum it was this highly recommended thing by a bunch of lazy work at home users, but I bought into it at the time, and, no joke I signed up and they told me it would be easy and they would make it easy to visit 1000 sites or whatever they have you visit for 15 cents. So I clicked a link and it just starting loading every 2 seconds, it was awfully slow, I waited 15 minutes and that was only like 25 sites, i got a virus after, and i closed it fast. I abandoned the 15 cents for it and thought instantly that these poor souls who do this are a whole helluva lot more desperate than I am. I do not belong in these sort of slums of the internet. This is the first time I have ever written about it. During that several years ago before I started trading Forex I also wrote a few surveys and never got paid once. I have marketed online to some success but mainly my success has been through Forex Trading. That's why I do not need to work a real job and can sit around doing stuff like this all day. Publishing is very important to me. Once something you write online get indexed by a major search engine like Google, chances are that it will be there for a very long time. I find that important anyway ...

There are other ways you can make money online without Forex Trading, though sadly it is often below the barrel work; boring data entry, filling out surveys for pennies, to name a couple of the more common ones. If you're into making web sites you may also advertise on one of your sites or a network of sites, and for that you need fresh content and you need to get traffic, which is way harder than one might think. You can sell products as an affiliate, although you need to find your niche and work very hard at it, it becomes a time consuming job for some people and no matter what you're likely to going to need to invest in something no matter what you do. Whether it's Forex, Web Design, Advertising or whatever it is or a combination of things, most importantly it takes time and ability to adapt your passion. Although you still have much more freedom, affiliate marketing online is very crowded and has been for years. You can also use a revenue-share article and / or video submission service in hopes of being one of the few who can actually earn a living at it. Though that is not for everyone. If you've got four young children and only have an extra hour or two a day to pull in some extra income you most likely do not have time to play a Martha Stewart like figure. Most people do not.

Forex Trading on the other hand is more convenient in the sense that it is an extremely profitable investment opportunity given the right expert adviser, to advise your trade and supply signals, generally to guide you. That is option one. You need a broker. It's way easier than you think and in the Forex industry not as big of a word as you might think, easy to get and you do not gotta meet them in person or anything. It's an online thing.

There are many options to trade Forex, one of the most common would be the use of automated Forex platforms and Forex robots, all automated Forex trading in general. There is nothing wrong with it. This is where expert advisers come in, EAs for short. These are the Forex experts as I mentioned above who supply your trades and information to you. They pretty much tell you what to do. Some are much better than others. Some are not out to supply signals at all and simply selling their software to make profit from that end. Proper automated Forex software oftens runs on the metatrader 4 Forex trading platform, or at least the more popular ones do. Your EA software is like plug-in software for it. I'd actually be wrong to say all EAs use it, but many of the ones I have experience with use the Metatrader 4 Platform and I prefer it.

The other way to trade Forex is to study the market, find all the relevant information you need, take a very long time of a few months to several years to learn something, only to have it blow up as you were still too inexperienced to do something with your strategy when the market changed. Strategy is a very important element of online Forex trading but not just having a strategy, it's about having enough strategies and being able to adapt properly with the market. This is why a lot of people fail without popular EAs, because the EA is usually a well-trained trader and your common trader can not provide himself with signals even half as good and a lot less consistently. The well known EAs are usually like 15 year traders and so forth who studied the market like a school subject and make extra money on the side by selling there signals too you, or software which grants them.

A lot of Forex EAs today simply do not have that sort strategy or ability to adapt with the market ... So not making them scams, but just not prepared for the long haul in general. I have a lot of experience with failed systems and systems that worked for just a little while. I have others that work to this day but I am always seeking new ones. I can review several including one I use now however that has already been done a few times over.

If you're looking for the cross between really learning Forex and just really having to learn complicated signals and software I'd suggest Forex Fap Turbo. The downside of this is you often need to buy extra stuff to learn it and some of it is useless. All of this for pretty decent software but it takes way more time and skill and not something I was happy with. I requested and received my refund for the software and some other software related to it, as it was just not for me and the only people i heard reviewing and bragging about it were a lot more educated before they tried it than I was. I was not ready then, am not ready now. Although it's a well reviewed Forex system and not a scam, I've provided a lot of help, but there are too many of the same, some are forex advertisements so that's not a lot of help. It also brings up a lot of the Fap Turbo related software that is not even the direct software and you gotta buy it separately. So it's a lot of hassle even more than some typical investments that are not related to Forex.

I have also tried automoney and several other Forex robots and automated Forex platforms. I have found that many of these automated Forex systems are a dime a dozen and send you through far too many loops to get the desired results. If they do not eat your entire investment ... Some systems do not have stops and you have to do too much often, others are slow, and sometimes the EA is simply just not your sort of teacher and you get lost sometimes. ..Some EAs will simply sniff you out and then screw you over in the end. This is why it's important to watch for signs of proof either by service trial or physical proof before making your purchase of expensive Forex software.

I have also used Forex Assassin, the eToro Forex trading platform and Forex Harvester but nothing really significant has come up from any of those systems for me.

Some Forex marketers, EAs and employees in general and so forth are so wicked that they monitor new "Forex" related domain registration and somehow get your email address and solicit you ... So you have to be aware that in the Forex market as far as Forex expert advisers go, there is a lot of them competing to get your money. You are sincerely seeking the ones who are also looking to have a solid reputation and actually provide you with profitable trades, your EAs # 1 objective should be successfully trading Forex and not selling their software. This is another thing that makes the simple "pitch page" easy for EAs with very little maintenance, on that end of things. The software should be and often is a side venture for Forex experts who can actually profit from their knowledge of the market and have the means to market themselves ... Can anyone create automated software and sell it? Probably not, I think it's a bit of a stretch but then again it depends if you even get software, or whatever, most systems that are fully developed and have good features but do not work - were more than likely meant to work at some point.

I have read up on quite a few of the most popular Forex review sites like Forex Peace Army and many other well known ones, and to me they all pretty much point towards the same complicated software and their voters are already experts investing 10s of thousands already and they barely feel some of their losses. They switch around a lot; nothing turns out to be solid in the end. The reviews on sites like that most likely got started through advertising. Too many people get to review their own systems on Forex sites like that, etc. You never know who the reviewer is. Searching for automated Forex software reviews is almost impossible nowdays since they all say pretty much the same thing and are mostly positive ...

I have read up on many "free Forex signal" reports on the web and I also participate actively on various Forex forums and other Forex related sites. I often find with these particular Forex signals at least my impression is that you get someone looking to be a mentor of some sort for you, they are usually shady and turn out to be lacking when you need them the most. These guys are usually empty handed. They are trying to freelance or whatever so that they can supply systems and build a name for themselves, but the problem is that these are the guys who after so many followers do create a commercial system and then extremely end up failing, their the failed EA newbies to some extent and you want an EA who is an accomplished Forex expert.

One should consider it much better and safer to use an established system that is known to work, and not the work of an aspiring EA, or even worse, somebody who does not have those credentials at all and are just trying to stuff their ego . I have not enjoyed the free Forex signals and find it more like looting through them then finding anything that productive, not much is there or else all the Forex signals would have to be free and would be for everyone, all the best Forex signals would be free. At least that is my concept. I do not want a rookie EA telling me what to do, since the trend in the Forex market nowdays is most definitely for more popular and well established EAs to sell systems, mostly automated software. That is one thing I do not understand, who these people are that clog up the forums with nonsense and think they can compete in the market with actual successful Forex EAs who really know how to trade.

How much you want to trade really depends on you. If you're a Forex starter you need to have a good EA for starters, and while I can not hand pick one for you, I can provide at least one review since I have spent time on the subject, in this article off- site to an excellent EA which i have tried and complies with several of my standards. I feel it is an excellent resource for people like me at least who gets lost on the big stuff. There are many fish in the sea.

Basic Bakery Operation

Everybody loves bread. It is simple and easy to eat even while you are walking on the street or on the way to your office. Loves eating it does not mean that you know how to make it. We usually get our bread and pastry at bakery or supermarket and it is already baked and ready to eat. But do you know how the bakers made it and what is the basic bakery operation took place?

Bakery operation can be divided into four main section. This section including mixing, shaping, dressing and baking. There are certain tools and machinery needed although there are sometimes it just need experience and skill obtained by long years in this fields. Different with other type of food and beverage business, bakery business need more than one staff that work in production kitchen to be more efficient.

Mixing is the most important section in bakery operation. This section will determine how long your production will run each day including washing and cleaning process. The one who is responsible in mixing dough for bread, topping and cake mixed need to be accurate, consistent, discipline with high level of concentration to avoid mistake and waste. Not to mention using a lot of energy. Just imagine if someone who work with 20kg to 25kg of sweet dough each session, need to transfer the dough from the mixer to the kneed table to cut and weighed before dividing it to smaller pieces. These tiring process will easily make people forget and made a mistake on following the right recipe.

Transforming a dough into an interesting bread design will require skill and experience. The knowledge in culinary art will help greatly in this artistic process. Imagine a baker with a skillful hand can make more than 30 bread design each day and he need to make it all in a hurry to avoid the earlier made dough get proofed. However, for much easier bread design that does not require additional tools except for roller, a staff with good training can make sure it done. For beginner or rookie baker, task like shaping tart dough or preparing the mold for baking is most likely the best choice.

Dressing a proofed bread does not need much skill or effort. What they need is good memories and faster hand. The one who up for this task need to memorize each shape and names of the bread that are ready to dress with specific ingredients, topping and quantity. For samples, if production order require Tuna bread, so he need to make sure what shape or bread design that use with tuna flakes. This goes for every type of bread that need to be baked. If daily production require more than 30 different bread design and shape, there is nothing more than good memory needed.

The last and finishing section is nothing more than baking. The one who is responsible for this task usually known as oven man. Good knowledge and high concentration needed while handling an oven to ovoid over baked or much worst disaster. Every type of bread has a different setting of temperature and time needed to get the best result. Oven man need to concentrate on his job because handling this dangerous machinery can be much trickier when it involves electric or gas. Some small mistakes can lead to profit loss and not to mention life at stakes.

Van Parts - How Do You Replace a Torque Converter?

If you're faced with the decision on whether or not to fit your own torque converter and are unsure how to do this, then do not fret. We'll take you through how, in our step by step guide.

Depending on your speed and levels of skill, this job will take around three hours to complete. It is a fairly tricky job to undertake so please take the time to read through the instructions and ensure that you feel competent and confident in your ability to complete this work.

The first thing to note is that you will need to have the car jacked up completely, at both ends and of course ensure that it remains level. Jacking the car involves raising one side at a time and ensuring that both sides are jacked adequately.

The first step of the process to replace a torque converter is to locate the driveshaft. The rear axle will connect to this and at that location the driveshaft will be held in place by bolts- four in total. You will need to remove these bolts before continuing. The next steps will instruct you on what to do in order to remove the drive shaft from the rear axle.

Ensure that the van (or car) is in the neutral position. This is very important to enable you to turn the driveshaft. Carefully move the driveshaft so that it becomes loose, enabling you to free it up from the rear axle. Once you have moved the driveshaft, pull it away from the axle and once you feel you have done this enough, pull the driveshaft away at the other end too- from the transmission.

The next step in this process is to open the bonnet and locate the transmission filler tube. You will need to remove this tube and you can do this by following the tube all the way through to the transmission and loosing the bolt that holds it in place at this area. Once loosened, pull out the tube. It is important at this point that you ensure the car is back in park.

The next step in the process is to locate the torque converter attached to the transmission. You will need to go back underneath the vehicle for this. There are bolts holding these together which will need to be removed before you will be able to remove the converter. In order to remove the bolts effectively, you will need to jack up the transmission slowly. The reason for this is to take any pressure off the cross member, enabling you to disconnect the parts. Only once the pressure is taken off the cross member, should you try to remove the bolts holding these two parts together. The bolts connecting the cross member to the frame of the van or car should also be removed. Once this is complete, remove the cross member itself.

After this, disconnect the transmission from the engine and this is firstly done by freeing up the bolts connecting these two parts. You will most probably need a socket set for this. Once the bolts are gone, lower the transmission on to the jack and then on to the floor.

Next, pull the old torque converter from the input shaft. Congratulations- you're now ready to fit the new converter!

Firstly, top up the new part with transmission fluid in order for it to function correctly, and slide into place, into the input shaft. Gently push the converter side to side until it fits correctly, this may take a little manipulation to get it snug.

To secure the new parts, follow the sequence you took to remove the bolts in reverse order. You must make sure that everything is fitted correctly and connected together with bolts as was the condition found.

Once complete, you can now lower the vehicle ready for use. Check the transmission fluid and top up with some more new fluid if required.

Lastly, you will need to turn the engine on and let it run idle for a period of time- usually and few minutes in order that you can check levels when the engine is running and warm. If you need to top up again after this then so, it is perfectly normal for the vehicle to require another top up.

Internet Connections Go to Work - Turning Your Time Online Into Money Earning Profit

More than an instrument of personal convenience, home computers now provide a source of income for many people.

The internet becomes a bigger part of our lives every day. Moving beyond an instrument of personal convenience, the home computer is actually a source of income for many people in our current culture.

How do people make a living online? There are assorted avenues for profit. Many companies that hire data entry workers offer work from home opportunities. In many cases these workers are independent, but in some instances they may be on staff with the option to carry out their duties from a remote (residential) location.

Freelance writing and editing can also generate a paycheck for some writers. Writing and editing projects often pay either by the word or per project. Most assignments offer approximately $15, on average, for an article that ranges from 400 - 500 words (plus title, short description and keywords) and blogs pay in the range of $4 each. Getting steady work can be a challenge.

Proof reading is another freelance project that may provide a nice second income or even regular paychecks once you've proven your skill for the job. Highly proficient bilingual writers/ readers are in increasing demand. Translation is another related area that may allow work at home possibilities.

Medical coding and transcription are skills that have provided a very reliable source of employment for at-home workers for many years. For those with the required training and education, this can be a very dependable career path.

For enterprising folks who want to start an at-home business and can put together their own simple, user-friendly website, you may be able to sell products online. Specializing in something that you have thorough knowledge of is the way to go, whether it be jewelry, art, collectibles or any other easy-to-ship merchandise. These endeavors require a little more leg work, as you'll be providing customer service and taking care of shipping duties, but once you're established they can turn into a rather lucrative endeavor if well managed.

In all online jobs, you want to do your research and make sure the terms of your payment are clear and dependable. If selling product online, it's especially important to be certain that you're working with a legitimate buyer and that funds are secure before you send away any of your products. Trust your instincts; if you feel uncertain about a buyer or employer your intuition could likely be telling you something. Beware scam calls that come to you via TTY (hearing impaired) phone operators! These are common and costly.

Savvy entrepreneurs can find, and create, opportunities to generate income at home with the aid of the internet.

How Can Instructional Technology Make Teaching and Learning More Effective in the Schools?

In the past few years of research on instructional technology has been resolved in a clear vision of how technology can affect teaching and learning. Today, almost every school in the United States of America uses technology as a part of teaching and learning and with each state having its own customized technology program. In most of those schools, teachers use the technology through integrated activities that are a part of their daily school curriculum. For instance, instructional technology creates an active environment in which students not only inquire, but also define problems of interest to them. Such an activity would integrate the subjects of technology, social studies, math, science, and language arts with the opportunity to create student-centered activity. Most educational technology experts agree, however, that technology should be integrated, not as a separate subject or as a once-in-a-while project, but as a tool to promote and extend student learning on a daily basis.

Today, classroom teachers may lack personal experience with technology and present an additional challenge. In order to incorporate technology-based activities and projects into their curriculum, those teachers first must find the time to learn to use the tools and understand the terminology necessary for participation in projects or activities. They must have the ability to employ technology to improve student learning as well as to further personal professional development.

Instructional technology empowers students by improving skills and concepts through multiple representations and enhanced visualization. Its benefits include increased accuracy and speed in data collection and graphing, real-time visualization, the ability to collect and analyze large volumes of data and collaboration of data collection and interpretation, and more varied presentation of results. Technology also engages students in higher-order thinking, builds strong problem-solving skills, and develops deep understanding of concepts and procedures when used appropriately.

Technology should play a critical role in academic content standards and their successful implementation. Expectations reflecting the appropriate use of technology should be woven into the standards, benchmarks and grade-level indicators. For example, the standards should include expectations for students to compute fluently using paper and pencil, technology-supported and mental methods and to use graphing calculators or computers to graph and analyze mathematical relationships. These expectations should be intended to support a curriculum rich in the use of technology rather than limit the use of technology to specific skills or grade levels. Technology makes subjects accessible to all students, including those with special needs. Options for assisting students to maximize their strengths and progress in a standards-based curriculum are expanded through the use of technology-based support and interventions. For example, specialized technologies enhance opportunities for students with physical challenges to develop and demonstrate mathematics concepts and skills. Technology influences how we work, how we play and how we live our lives. The influence technology in the classroom should have on math and science teachers' efforts to provide every student with "the opportunity and resources to develop the language skills that they need to pursue life's goals and to participate fully as informed, productive members of society," can not be overestimated.

Technology provides teachers with the instructional technology tools that need to operate more efficiently and to be more responsive to the individual needs of their students. Selecting appropriate technology tools give teachers an opportunity to build students' conceptual knowledge and connect their learning to problem found in the world. The technology tools such as Inspiration® technology, Starry Night, A WebQuest and Portaportal allow students to employ a variety of strategies such as inquiry, problem-solving, creative thinking, visual imagery, critical thinking, and hands-on activity.

Benefits of the use of these technology tools include increased accuracy and speed in data collection and graphing, real-time visualization, interactive modeling of invisible science processes and structures, the ability to collect and analyze large volumes of data, collaboration for data collection and interpretation , and more varied presentations of results.

Technology integration strategies for content instructions. Beginning in kindergarten and extending through grade 12, various technologies can be made a part of everyday teaching and learning, where, for example, the use of meter sticks, hand lenses, temperature probes and computers becomes a seamless part of what teachers and students are learning and doing. Contents teachers should use technology in ways that enable students to conduct inquiries and engage in collaborative activities. In traditional or teacher-centered approaches, computer technology is used more for drill, practice and mastery of basic skills.

The instructional strategies employed in such classrooms are teacher centered because of the way they supplement teacher-controlled activities and because the software used to provide the drill and practice is teacher selected and teacher assigned. The relevancy of technology in the lives of young learners and the capacity of technology to enhance teachers 'efficiency are helping to raise students' achievement in new and exciting ways.

As students move through grade levels, they can engage in increasingly sophisticated hands-on, inquiry-based, personally relevant activities where they investigate, research, measure, compile and analyze information to reach conclusions, solve problems, make predictions and / or seek alternatives . They can explain how science often advances with the introduction of new technologies and how solving technological problems often results in new scientific knowledge. They should describe how new technologies often extend the current levels of scientific understanding and introduce new areas of research. They should explain why basic concepts and principles of science and technology should be a part of active debate about the economics, policies, policies and ethics of various science-related and technology-related challenges.

Students need grade-level appropriate classroom experiences, enabling them to learn and to be able to do science in an active, inquiry-based fashion where technological tools, resources, methods and processes are readily available and extensively used. As students integrate technology into learning about and doing science, emphasis should be placed on how to think through problems and projects, not just what to think.

Technological tools and resources may range from hand lenses and pendulums, to electronic balances and up-to-date online computers (with software), to methods and processes for planning and doing a project. Students can learn by observing, designing, communicating, calculating, researching, building, testing, assessing risks and benefits, and modifying structures, devices and processes - while applying their developing knowledge of science and technology.
Most students in the schools, at all age levels, may have some expertise in the use of technology, however K-12 they should recognize that science and technology are interconnected and that using technology involves assessment of the benefits, risks and costs. Students should build scientific and technological knowledge, as well as the skill required to design and construct devices. In addition, they should develop the processes to solve problems and understand that problems may be solved in several ways.

Rapid developments in the design and uses of technology, particularly in electronic tools, will change how students learn. For example, graphing calculators and computer-based tools provide powerful mechanisms for communicating, applying, and learning mathematics in the workplace, in everyday tasks, and in school mathematics. Technology, such as calculators and computers, help students learn mathematics and support effective mathematics teaching. Rather than replacing the learning of basic concepts and skills, technology can connect skills and procedures to deeper mathematical understanding. For example, geometry software allows experimentation with families of geometric objects, and graphing utilities facilitation learning about the characteristics of classes of functions.

Learning and applying mathematics requires students to become adept in using a variety of techniques and tools for computing, measuring, analyzing data and solving problems. Computers, calculators, physical models, and measuring devices are examples of the wide variety of technologies, or tools, used to teach, learn, and do mathematics. These tools complement, rather than replace, more traditional ways of doing mathematics, such as using symbols and hand-drawn diagrams.

Technology, used appropriately, helps students learn mathematics. Electronic tools, such as spreadsheets and dynamic geometry software, extend the range of problems and develop understanding of key mathematical relationships. A strong foundation in number and operation concepts and skills is required to use calculators effectively as a tool for solving problems involving computations. Appropriate uses of those and other technologies in the mathematics classroom enhance learning, support effective instruction, and affect the levels of emphasis and ways certain mathematics concepts and skills are learned. For instance, graphing calculators allow students to quickly and easily produce multiple graphs for a set of data, determine appropriate methods to display and interpret the data, and test conjectures about the impact of changes in the data.

Technology is a tool for learning and doing mathematics rather than an end in itself. As with any instructional tool or aid, it is only effective when used well. Teachers must make critical decisions about when and how to use technology to focus instruction on learning mathematics.

The Different Styles of Wedding Photography

Your wedding day is one of the major milestones of your life. With all the money you spend on that perfect dress, your beautiful flowers, your romantic venue and the many other things that go together to create your perfect day, you want your memories recorded to reflect your personality and style.

Different photographers shoot in different styles and it is important to cut through the sales pitch and the fancy jargon to find one that can help you match the vision for your wedding photographs.

I have outlined the 3 main styles of wedding photography available today, although in many cases it is possible for a photographer to shoot in more than one style.

Traditional wedding photography

Traditional or sometimes sometimes called classical wedding photography captures the traditional wedding day pictures including the unforgivable moments of your wedding day including the exchange of rings, signing the marriage register, walking down the aisle as husband and wife, family groups and the cutting of the cake to name a few.

Weddings are still considered formal occasions and this type of wedding photography has stood the test of time. With careful lighting and expert posing traditional wedding photography creates a perfect record of your family gathering. A good photographer will be able to work quickly and be able to put people at ease to ensure the placing does not look uncomfortable.

These are the type of shots Mum and Granny expect to see from the wedding photos and can often be found on display in homes on the wall or mantelpiece.

Traditional wedding photography has sometimes had a bad reputation caused by bossy or grumpy photographers or photographers taking ages to complete endless group shots with the bride and groom ending up spending more time in front of a camera and less time with their guests enjoying their wedding day.

Reportage wedding photography

Reportage, sometimes called Photojournalistic wedding photography, means literally "to report". The photographer blends into the background and photographs events as they happen and you often do not even realize photographs are being taken.

This style of photography really is the hardest to perfect. It takes many years of experience and lighting fast reactions to expertly capture a wedding in this style.

This style is not to be confused with well executed traditional photography where the skill of the photographer makes the photograph look natural and not posed.

The growth of Reportage wedding photography appears to have coincided with the growth of digital photography due to the low expenses per photograph that reportage style of photograph motives on. Unfortunately, many new or inexperienced wedding photographers use the "shot gun" approach shooting thousands of pictures during the wedding day in the hope that they capture a few good shots.

A word of warning: If you choose a photographer who shoots exclusively in this style many couples regret not having some traditional photographs in their album. With reportage wedding photography you are relying on the photographers interpretation of your day. The couples parents are usually the first to complain about the lack of traditional images in your album.

Contemporary wedding photography

Contemporary, sometimes called Avant Garde wedding photography can mean many different things to different people. By definition, to be contemporary the style is constantly changing which could mean the images date very quickly.

Contemporary wedding photography can involve unusual or "off the wall" ideas and use strange camera angles. This style of photography brings more of the photographers personality into the photograph together with the artistic vision or individual style of the photographer. Although this style of photography may be less popular, when properly made the results can be fantastic and your wedding album will be unique.

Many wedding photographers use contemporary style images in professional photography awards and you will often see this style featured in glossy wedding magazines.

The downside of this style of wedding photography is that it does not really provide a true record of your wedding day. You might be disappointed if your albums end up like an art exhibition.

Conclusion

Once you have set the date and booked your venue start visiting photographers and have a look at their work. Be sure to ask to see completed wedding albums as presented to their past clients as this will give you a better idea of ​​their overall style. Does their style fit your requirements?

I hope this little article helps you find the photographer who will record your special day exactly as you wish.

Recognizing Navigational Tools For the Future of Education

I have to laugh when I think of the times I watched the television program, "Flash Gordon," as he putted through outer space in his make-believe space ship, talking on his make-believe wireless radio, and dressed in his make-believe space suit. Well, I'm not laughing anymore. Today we have shuttled astronauts into outer space, have men living in a Space Station, have space suites that take your temperature and gauge your heart rate, and wireless communication devices that send pictures to Planet Earth. Far fetched from reality? Not anymore. As we speak, the future is starring us in the face, waiting to see how we will promote her in the next 5-10 years.

How did science-fiction become reality over the past 50 years? Let's consider one aspect of innovation: the learning environment - post secondary education. Why post secondary education, you may ask? As post secondary education population increases, programs to accommodate students will develop into curriculum that affords students the freedom to create and design systems they toy with on a daily basis. Are there risks involved in this adaptation process? There are risks involved when change occurs, and leadership should be aware of how to diplomatically confront the risk areas that could slow down progress. Some of the risks that could be encountered due to change are:

o Systems risks

o Subsystem risks

o People

o Financial/economic risks

o Societal/Cultural risks

If communication between systems, subsystems, people, and cultures within the organizational environment has established a strong communication system, risks factors will be at a minimum as long as the creative teams are honest and upfront about their reservations to change.

Let's look into the future through 'futureoculers' and see how the universe of learning can be brought into the present. I want to introduce to you five (5) key trends that I believe affect the current learning environment, can create change, and renovate the perspective of learners and educators for students of the future. These trends could be the key in creating a new perspective in post secondary education for an institution. The key trends are:

o Competitive classroom learning environments - campus on-site/online/distant

o Increase in technological tools

o Teaching/learning environments-more hands on

o Global expansion capability-internal and external

o Student input in the creative learning process

Navigational Systems

Before the five (5) key trends are defined, there needs to be an acknowledgement of how the trends will be supported and regulated through a changing environment. According to de Kluyver, and Pearce, II, having the right systems and processes/subsystems enhances organizational effectiveness and facilitates coping with change. Misaligned systems and processes can be a powerful drag on an organization's ability to adapt. Therefore, check what effect, if any, current systems and processes are likely to have on a company's ability to implement a particular strategy is well advised. Support systems such as a company's planning, budgeting, accounting, information and reward and incentive systems can be critical to successful strategy implementation. Although they do not by themselves define a sustainable competitive advantage, superior support systems help a company adapt more quickly and effectively to changing requirements. A well-designed planning system ensures that planning is an orderly process, gets the right amount of attention by the right executives, and has a balanced external and internal focus. Budgeting and accounting systems are valuable in providing accurate historical data, setting benchmarks and targets, and defining measures of performance. A state-of-the-art information system supports all other corporate systems, and it facilitates analysis as well as internal and external communications. Finally, a properly designed reward and incentive system is key to creating energy through motivation and commitment. A process (or subsystem) is a systematic way of doing things. Processes can be formal or informal; they define organization roles and relationships, and they can facilitate or obstruct change. Some processes or subsystems look beyond immediate issues of implementation to an explicit focus on developing a stronger capacity for adapting to change. Processes/subsystems aimed at creating a learning organization and at fostering continuous improvement are good examples. As an example, processes or subsystems are functional and maintain the operation of the system; the system may be Student Services and the subsystem may be the Financial Aid office or Admissions. Subsystems can be more in depth in relation to office operations, which involves employee positions and their culture; financial advisors, academic advisors, guidance counselors. These operations are functions performed on the human level and could have a positive or negative impact in the development of key trends. If employees are valued and rewarded for their dedication and service, the outcome will be responsible, committed employees for the success of their subsystem.

The Navigator

Every navigator needs a map, a plan, a driver to give direction to for a successful trip. In this case, the driver is several elements:

o Service integrity, reputation

o Affordability with an open door concept

Hughes and Beatty relate drivers as Strategic drivers; those relatively few determinants of sustainable competitive advantage for a particular organization in a particular industry or competitive environment (also called factors of competitive success, key success factors, key value propositions). The reason for identifying a relatively small number of strategic drivers for an organization is primarily to ensure that people become focused about what pattern of inherently limited investments will give the greatest strategic leverage and competitive advantage. Drivers can change over time, or the relative emphasis on those drivers can change, as an organization satisfies its key driver. In the case of post secondary education, drivers help measure success rates in the area of course completion ratio, student retention, and transfer acceptance into a university and/or the successful employment of students. Because change is so rampant in education, it is wise for leadership to anticipate change and develop a spirit of foresight to keep up with global trends.

Drivers can help identify the integrity of internal and external functions of systems and subsystems, as mentioned previously, by identifying entity types that feed the drivers' success. They are:

o Clientele Industry - external Market - feeder high schools, cultural and socio-economic demographic and geographic populations

- Competitors - local and online educational systems

- Nature of Industry - promote a learning community

- Governmental influences - licensed curriculum programs supported by local, state, and federal funds

- Economic and social influences - job market, employers, outreach programs

o College Planning and Environment - internal

- Capacity - Open door environment

- Products and services - high demand curriculum programs that meet, local, state, and federal high demand employment needs

- Market position - Promote on and off-campus activities that attract clientele

- Customers - traditional and non-traditional credit and non-credit students

- Systems, processes, and structures - trained staff and state-of-the art technical systems

- Leadership - integrity-driven, compassionate leadership teams

- Organizational culture - promote on-campus activities promoting a proactive environment for students

According to Hughes and Beatty, these functions can assimilate into the Vision, Mission, and Values statements to define the key strategic drivers for developing successful environments.

Navigating Towards a Destination

With the recognition of systems, subsystems, and drivers, we can see our destination in the distance and their value in building a foundation to support the five key trends. The five (5) key trends will help define strategic thinking in a global perspective; the understanding of futuristic thinking that encompasses: risk taking, imagination, creativity, communication among leadership, and a perspective of how the future can fit into today's agenda. The five (5) key trends are:

1. Competitive Classroom Learning Environments - campus on-site/online/distant

One of the major attractions in education today is to accommodate a student at every level: academically, financially, and socially. These three environments are the mainstream of why one school is selected over another school. Today there is a change in tide. Students who once competed for seats in post secondary schools are becoming a valued asset as post secondary schools compete between each other for students. High schools are no longer the only feeder into colleges. Today, students are coming from home schools, career schools, charter schools, high risk schools, private schools, religious schools, work environments, and ATB tested environments. So, how can the educational system attract students and keep them motivated in an interactive learning environment they can grow in? Wacker and Taylor writes that the story of every great enterprise begins with the delivery of a promise, and every product a great enterprise makes is nothing but an artifact of the truth of that promise. So what great enterprise can be created to attract new students? By creating learning/teaching environments, post secondary schools can prepare students to meet the demands of everyday life and their life in the community. Schools can consider incorporating a learning model to enable professors and/or community leaders/entrepreneurs to team teach in the classroom/online environment. Team Teaching will contribute valuable views into the learning environment, as well as, give students the working community's real-time perspective. In an excerpt from "The University at the Millennium: The Glion Declaration" (1998) quoted by Frank H.T. Rhodes, President Emeritus of Cornell University, for the Louisiana State Board of Regents report, Dr. Rhodes wrote that universities are learning communities, created and supported because of the need of students to learn, the benefit to scholars of intellectual community, and the importance to society of new knowledge, educated leaders, informed citizens, expert professional skills and training, and individual certification and accreditation. Those functions remain distinctive, essential contributions to society; they form the basis of an unwritten social compact, by which, in exchange for the effective and responsible provision of those services, the public supports the university, contributes to its finance, accepts its professional judgment and scholarly certification, and grants it a unique degree of institutional autonomy and scholarly freedom. To experience education is learning, to exercise knowledge is freedom, and to combine them is wisdom.

2. Teaching/learning environments-more hands on

As post secondary educators relinquish hands-on-chalk-board teaching styles and establish group teaching models, students will develop a greater understanding of the theme of the class environment as well as the professor in developing an understanding of the class cultures' stance in learning. Educators are discovering that inclusive learning styles are revamping the teaching model and becoming a positive influence in retention, better grades, camaraderie among students, and a greater respect for the professor. As professors learn to develop relationships with students, interaction will transpire, lecturing will be condensed into a time frame and interactive learning between students and professor will enhance the classroom environment.

3. Global expansion capability-internal and external

Students are surrounded by virtual global environments or are impacted by global elements: the clothes they wear are made overseas, the games they play on their electronic toys are created overseas, the war games they play are created to identify with global war games, etc. The only draw back to this scenario is a truly global learning experience. What they are seeing is not what they are getting; a real time global experience. James Morrison writes that in order to meet unprecedented demand for access, colleges and universities need to expand their use of IT tools via online learning, which will enable them to teach more students without building more classrooms. Moreover, in order for professors to prepare their pupils for success in the global economy, they need to ensure that students can access, analyze, process, and communicate information; use information technology tools; work with people from different cultural backgrounds; and engage in continuous, self-directed learning. Christopher Hayter writes that post secondary schools need to be 'Globally Focused' for the 21st century that includes a global marketplace and be internationally focused. This means ensuring that skills needed to compete in a global marketplace are taught and that the mastery of such skills by students is internationally benchmarked. It may also mean a new emphasis on learning languages and understanding other cultures and the business practices of other countries.

More and more businesses are expanding into the global marketplace, opening corporate offices in foreign countries and hiring and training employees from those countries. Are our college graduates being trained to assimilate into cultures and work side-by-side with employees who may not be able to relate to them? Developing curriculums accommodating social and cultural entities will propel a student into higher realms of learning and create change in the individual student as well as support their career for their future.

4. Student input in the creative learning process

Professors are the gatekeepers in education. However, as Baby Boomer Professors begin to exit the educational workforce and head down the path of retirement, younger generation professors will take their place bringing with them innovative teaching methods that can expand the learning process. Are post secondary educators equipped to prepare for the onslaught of younger generation educators needed to be trained for this mega shift in the workforce? Most important, will those professors caught between Boomers and Xer's be willing to adapt to change in the education industry to accommodate incoming generations? I believe younger generations will impact even the technological industry and challenge change that will equip them for their future. Previous generation students slowly adapted to technological advances. The good news is change can occur, and educators can utilize life experiences from students familiar with technology tools and create fascinating learning environments.

5. Increase in Technological tools

In an Executive Summary written for the National Governors Association in a report called "Innovation America - A Compact for Post Secondary Education," the report reads that while post secondary education in the United States has already achieved key successes in the innovation economy, the public post secondary education system overall risks falling behind its counterparts in many other nations around the world-places where there have been massive efforts to link post secondary education to the specific innovation needs of industries and regions. According to this report, American post secondary education is losing ground in the race to produce innovative and imaginative realms in education. Can this trend be counteracted? With the cooperation of post secondary educational institutions within each community, leadership can create co-op learning environments that can be supported through e-learning and online teaching that can provide virtual reality technology to enhance real-time learning environments. Through Business Development operations currently established in post secondary institutions, a shared technology program can be created that will afford students access to ongoing virtual business environment settings and prepare students with knowledge and insight into a specific industry. As students prepare to transfer, graduate, or seek employment after completing a certification program, virtual experience in the job market can help a student assimilate education and work experience to their advantage. This concept could challenge Human Resource departments to create new mandates in accepting virtual-experienced college graduates as they enter the workforce.

Reaching the Destination

As Flash Gordan lands his Spacecraft on unclaimed territory, you imagine yourself slowly turning the handle to the spaceship with your spaceship gloves, opening the door with explosive anticipation. Your heart racing, sweat running down your brow, and your eyes at half mask waiting to see a new world; a world filled with beauty and potential when suddenly, the television shuts off and your Mom is standing in front of you telling you to get up and go clean your room and stop daydreaming! Ah, Mom, you say to yourself, you just destroyed my imaginary planet! Oh, by the way, did I mention that this was you as a child growing up and using your imagination?

Now that I've created a visual world of potential for you can you see the power within to see the future from the present and help others visualize the potential benefits of change in their lives and the lives of others in an organization? T. Irene Sanders states that thinking in pictures helps us link our intuitive sense of events in the world with our intellectual understanding. Now, more than ever, we need to integrate the techniques of imagination and the skill of intuition with our analytic competencies to help us see and understand the complexities that vex us daily. Visualization is the key to insight and foresight-and the next revolution in strategic thinking and planning.

Can you SEE the systems, subsystems, drivers, and the five (5) trends with a visual perspective in a post secondary educational environment? This is the nature of Strategic Thinking, which can or is taking place in your organization; a cognitive process required for the collection, interpretation, generation, and evaluation of information and ideas that shape an organization's sustainable competitive advantage. The need to stay abreast of progress, technology, and global opportunities will be the change in drivers that will validate the creative elements needed to stay attuned in a global perspective. The author's intention of introducing Flash Gordan into the paper was to create a visual image and demonstrate imagination fulfillment to a present day reality. Is there anything out there that cannot be done if it is fine tuned and prepared for a service of excellence? What are the risks involved by not exercising strategic thinking in the elements mentioned in this article?

Education is not about the present it's about the future. The five (5) trends are only a beginning adventure into an unknown space. Do you remember when you were in college and wished things were done differently, be more exciting, more adventurous? Consider the age groups becoming proficient in technology. Will post secondary educators be prepared to teach/instruct future students? Educators must invite strategic thinking into the system and take the risks needed to build post secondary education back into the global futuristic race of achievement. In an article written by Arthur Hauptman entitled "Strategies for Improving Student Success in Post secondary Education" (07), he concluded his report listing four elements:

1. While there is a growing rhetorical commitment to student success, the reality is that policies often do not mirror the rhetoric. Whether intentional or not, policies in many states are at best benign and often antithetical to improving student success.

2. Policy focus in most states has been to lower tuitions or the provision of student financial aid. This ignores the importance of ensuring adequate supply of seats to accommodate all students as well as providing a proper set of incentives that encourage institutions to recruit, enroll, and graduate the students who are most at-risk.

3. Some progress has been made in developing contemporary practices that have great potential for providing the right incentives in place of redress this traditional imbalance. But much more needs to be done in this regard.

4. Efforts to create incentives for students to be better prepared and for institutions to enroll and graduate more at-risk students have the potential for greatly improving rates of retention and degree completion.

Can the five trends be a stepping stone in rebuilding or strengthening the weakest link in the system? The evidence of deficiency is public, and that's a good start. Educators have the choice to rebuild and prepare for the advancement of our future; our students. I encourage you to take the five (5) trends and see how they can accommodate your institute of higher learning.