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Archive for November, 2010

23 November
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Does Small Business Tax Really Count As A Tax

Mention anything at all remotely associated with a small business tax in case you want to get many an entrepreneur all riled up. It’s quite entertaining watching such people gesticulate wildly, sometimes foaming at the mouth, about how “government” places so many onerous restrictions on them, particularly in a monetary form. Businessmen and women, of course, are always crying poverty, so it is no surprise that they should complain about some small business tax or other.

But it’s still astonishing, amusing, and ultimately infuriating that some of them should so persist in indulging their bizarre persecution complex. After all, the United States government has been giving one tax break after another for the past forty some-odd years already, all with the intent of helping the small business person get his or her business up and running and employing people, creating jobs and taxpayers for the economy.

If anything, the government continues to be steadily pro-business, regardless of which political party is in charge. In fact, depending on how it is defined, there could possibly be no such thing as a small business tax at all!

You can find so many deductions that could be claimed that it is unlikely any small business should be singled out for taxes, as the phrase “small business tax” would suggest. Practically anything could be claimed as a business expense, and let us not forget all of the write-offs allowed!

Believe it or not, a business that loses money can claim the amount lost against its tax liability, with the effect that this becomes another way to appear poorer than one really is – and, of course, pocket the difference.

Yes, it’s hard work running a business, and entrepreneurs deserve all the success they achieve. But let us not kid ourselves here; the streets are filled with starving entrepreneurs, okay? Back in the Eisenhower years, a Republican administration that was unabashedly pro-business, corporate taxes were at well over ninety percent – well over ninety percent! What’s all this hue and cry over today’s thirty-six, thirty-seven, -eight or -nine, then??

22 November
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Submit To Your Cravings With Electronic Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes are all the rage among smokers in the 21st Century. For those who don’t smoke, the whole thing just adds another layer of bewilderment to it all, surely, but they may be surprised to know that many are using the devices to quit the habit, not simply to continue engaging in it.

In a lesser-of-two-evils kind of way, electronic cigarettes have been found to be safer than traditional cigarettes by none other than the Boston University School of Public Health. A study conducted in 2010 found that these devices were “much safer” than conventional means of nicotine delivery – and speaking of nicotine, the level of toxicity they contained was similar to those in existing nicotine replacements such as patches and chewing gum!

In fact, the amount of carcinogens associated with electronic cigarettes was found to be up to a thousand times lower than that in regular cigarettes. The study even noted that preliminary evidence so far demonstrates that such devices can actually help smokers quit smoking by simulating a real tobacco cigarette. And indeed, some people, ironically, doubt that any significant amount of nicotine is delivered at all! In fact, differing concentrations of nicotine exist, so that users can decide the amount of nicotine they wish to take in, from none whatsoever to levels even higher than otherwise available!

However, it is also important to note that while many manufacturers and resellers have marketed the products to be an easy and even effective method of kicking the habit, even the trade group recently formed to represent the industry requires its members to refrain from making such claims. On the other hand, surveys of users have found at least the perception of a reduction in health problems, such as less coughing, the increased ability to exercise, and an improvement in the senses of taste and smell!

22 November
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Fishing Taken To A Whole New Level With Kayak Fishing

If you absolutely adore fishing, the same as I do, in that case you need to try Kayak Fishing. It is a whole entire new encounter in sportfishing. In my experience I was fishing with a chum of mine when he inquired if I had ever gone Kayak Fishing, I said no and he swiftly pulled out the kayak which was stashed away on his fishing boat. I launched from right there and got the time of my life. I truly advise any and all fellow anglers give it a go. I believe that you will find it to be extremely exciting and will want to continue on telling your buddys about Kayak Fishing!

22 November
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Kinecting with the Virtual

The Microsoft Kinect promises to usher in the future of interactive entertainment unlike nothing else currently available on the market. Targeted at the Nintendo Wii videogaming console, the Kinect accessory for Microsoft’s own Xbox 360 platform outclasses its rival in technical excellence, deciding to do away with any hand-held controller altogether. In fact, the Kinect is in a class all by itself, and comparing it to the Wii would be like taking Zalman Silber’s New York Skyride literally, when it is no ride at all but just a half-hour educational-type movie located on the second floor of the Empire State Building.

Likewise, for all its brilliance upon its debut, the Nintendo Wii seems almost like an exercise in false advertising today when stacked up against the possibilities of Microsoft’s Kinect. Certainly, it was Nintendo’s Wii that first provided the impetus for Microsoft’s effort. Credit should be given where credit is due, and Nintendo has done all the world quite a favor in being so bold. But time, like technology, marches on, and for the foreseeable future it is Microsoft that will be dominant where multimedia interactivity in electronic entertainment is concerned.

Or, to use serial entrepreneur Zalman Silber as an example again, it’s like the difference between his New York Skyride and his Skywalk in Sydney, Australia. Whereas the Skyride purports to be a, well, sky ride and yet is neither, the Skywalk is actually as close to walking in the sky as anything available in our time. And so the Kinect is almost synonymous with multimedia interactivity and virtual reality, in the same way that the Wii is now no longer so, for all its historical significance.

All things considered, though the Wii revolutionized videogaming with its waveable wand-like controllers, the Kinect uses the hand itself as the controller – indeed, the whole human body, in its entirety, including its movements and even down to the facial gestures. Yes! Even facial cues will factor into videogames now, such as they already do in real life. Thus, in a role-playing game, for example, the player’s facial gestures can impact how non-player characters react and thus how subsequent events unfold!

Or one can expect a cleverly programmed poker game that uses the Kinect’s camera sensors to carefully scan the player’s face for clues that will help its artificial intelligence subroutines determine whether it should bluff or fold its hand, say. The possibilities are endless, with possibilities limited only by human imagination (and programming skills)!

At this point, however, barely more than a dozen simple titles have been announced to debut alongside the system, most if not all of which are not very different from anything currently offered by the Wii. This means that the initial library of software will involve dancing games, fitness games, and virtul pets games. But as the Kinect catches on, more sophisticated applications are expected – finally ushering the virtual into our reality!

21 November
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The Reason Why Particulate Respirators Can Help

Even though an innocuous sight from hospitals to construction zones, particulate respirators can be a prime example of technology honed by warfare and military applications, used for every day practical uses by civilians. Particulate respirators are easy face masks worn over the mouth and nose which use mechanical means to filter particulates – miniscule bits of matter or debris caught in the air, for example saw dust, but also biological air-borne pollutants – out of the air before it is inhaled. Yet another form of protective supplies to, of course, satisfy your desires.

In sterile environments like a hospital operating room, the contrary is intended: masks are worn to prevent liquid and aerosol particles from the wearer’s mouth from scattering infectious bacteria. In places like Japan, it isn’t even unusual for regular people to wear the mask while sick in order to prevent spreading the cold. Wool is a frequently used material, in addition to plastic, glass, or cellulose, though normally some combination of these materials is used. Particulate respirators are created to be disposable so the materials used are generally abundant and of very low cost.

Particulate respirators can trace their heritage as far back as World War One, when chemical warfare was employed for the first time on a massive scale. At the 2nd Battle of the Ypres, Germany became the first country to employ chemical weapons in this manner, dumping 168 tons of chlorine gas the allied front lines, killing thousands in a matter of minutes.

The British and French would later retaliate with gas attacks of their own, resulting in such appalling casualties on both sides that chemical warfare was subsequently restricted by the Geneva Convention and is still illegal under the rules of intercontinental warfare to this day. Canadian troops were the first to devise a primitive defense against chlorine gas, discovering that urine soaked rags prevented them from inhaling the gas. The ammonia from the urine worked to counteract the chlorine, protecting their lungs from the searing consequences of the gas.

This wasn’t the first time respirators had been created. Leonardo Da Vinci even devised a respiratory device to guard against another chemical weapon of his own invention. Other inventers and scientists had developed respiratory devices for usages in mining operations, but none were so simple as a piece of cloth treated to keep pollutants at bay. The use of chemically treated materials for protective face masks was fantastic for applications in construction or repair, where workers are usually confronted by dangerous gaseous substances.

Likewise, another common technique of air filtering was also designed in the course of wartime for military application. HEPA filters, a common fixture in almost any house hold air filter, were first developed as part of the Manhattan Project during World War Two. Because HEPA filters can filter 99.97% of all airborne particles .3 micrometers in diameter or larger, their use as a respirator to protect Manhattan Project researchers from inhaling harmful radioactive particles was highly effective. Today, HEPA filters are used for everything from air cleaners to vacuum cleaners.

21 November
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The Advantages Of Using Dog Food Coupons

You’ll find many expenses associated with dog ownership. From vet visits to dog food, they will all add up to a good percentage of what it would have cost to raise a human child! But luckily for us, in the case of food, there are numerous coupons available to help keep costs down a little.

Dog food coupons abound nowadays, thanks to the internet. You’ll find niche web sites devoted just to their dissimination, as well as their presence on “general-purpose” coupons sites elsewhere. Then of course there are the specialty magazines catering to dog-owners whose ads will invariably feature a coupon or two.

Finally, local newspapers, particularly the weekend editions, will usually contain sales circulars with them, too. Thus, of all the reasons to not own a dog, from having to walk it twice a day, every day, no matter what the weather is, to dealing with chewed-up furniture and apparel, food expenses is just not really one of them, not with the regular use of dog food coupons.

If nothing else, there is even the alternative of simply feeding your pooch whatever you’re eating! Just be sure to do your homework and carefully research just what human food dogs may eat. While they can safely ingest a lot of what we have, there does exist a few notable exceptions.

As an example, grapes and chocolates are toxic to dogs. Now maybe you would not think to feed a dog grapes or chocolates (or tomatoes or onions or beer, for that matter, which are also known to be harmful to varying degrees), but many people do!

With many commercially processed foods, it isn’t always clear precisely what goes into them, despite the ingredient list (for example, the food coloring additives of cochineal and carmine are made from ground bugs, which, incidentally, are not harmful to eat for dogs – or humans). Even when it comes to plain old meat, you can’t be too careful – chicken bones are brittle and may present a choking hazard.

Hmm…better stick to dog food coupons!

20 November
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MLM Marketing The Traditional Home Business

Every single day, by the thousands, online search engines like Google or Microsoft’s Bing receive queries associated with home business ideas from, evidently, would-be entrepreneurs in need of some inspiration. It is, in fact, among the most searched-for topics of all, right up there along with celebrity gossip and sports scores! But for all the interest, just a few will stand the test of time.

Multi-level marketing is one of them. It is quite possibly the original home business idea, and certainly a respected mainstay in the annals of American entrepreneurship. For what is the first order of business when it comes to business but sales? And multi-level marketing is nothing less than sales, sales, and more sales!

Many of the legendary authors of topical business-related bestsellers credit multi-level marketing with getting them their start in making money. Robert T. Kiyosaki of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” fame insists that his time spent as a sales person was one of the most instrumental experiences in helping him become wealthy. In fact, multi-level marketing has been traditional home business territory: consider Avon cosmetics and Tupperware parties; these have really helped generations of Americans supplement income and even achieve financial independence.

And now it is easier than ever to get started and succeed, with thanks to the power of the internet, its reach and depth in connecting buyers with sellers. The fact is that, those Avon and Tupperware parties are fast becoming a thing of the past as multi-level marketers increasingly take to the web to reach potential customers and, of course, recruits to their network.

Indeed, the strength of multi-level marketing often lies not in selling the product to customers per se but in recruiting and managing one’s own network of salespeople! With multi-level marketing, when it really works, it works big: a couple working for you, earning you a percentage of their sales, can become six, who then can become fourteen, thirty, and so forth!

20 November
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Dont Leave Home Without A Camping Tent

A camping tent is an important piece of equipment, even for mere day hikers, for there’s no telling when conditions change and shelter becomes imperative! Mother Nature is notorious for being quite temperamental, after all; any forest ranger can talk about stories of stranded hikers who expected to spend only a couple of hours in the woods getting lost for several days as a result of such surprises as unexpected inclement weather or misleading GPS routes.

But a camping tent that is carried along for “insurance purposes” need not be bulky, either. Today’s market features a wide selection of ultra-portable designs that are low on weight while still providing a respectable list of features. But of course, how can one argue over portability where safety’s concerned? Should it be noted that modern tents also come in a large assortment of styles?

Certainly there can be no compromise with regards to personal safety. So always carry a camping tent when heading into the woods! It’s a proven fact that many people overestimate their ability when it comes to orienteering. Our modern lifestyles have sheltered us from a lot of nature’s power, however in the wilds we are completely at her mercy.

At the very least take a sleeping bag. Yes, technically speaking, you do not need a tent if you have a sleeping bag, and a lot of people choose to just take along a sleeping bag instead because it somehow feels a lot more beneficial in comparison. In general, a tent will offer more protection, but it is better to have some than none at all so do take one or the other (or both, ideally) along with you when venturing forth into the wild. You really don’t want to wind up being a forest ranger’s latest story! Many lost hikers don’t end up a statistic, there’s no reason to take such a chance simply on account of laziness.

20 November
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Swarovski Rhinestones and Other Luxury Goods

Swarovski is a name which has been long related to luxury goods for example fine glass miniatures and crystal chandeliers. Such expertise provides them with an advantage with regards to making diamond stimulants like rhinestones, which are made of rock crystal, glass, or even acrylic but can almost rival the cost of real diamonds in some instances.

The best rhinestones can exhibit a lot of a real diamond’s characteristics, for example rainbow effects and also sparkling in the sunlight, because of special coatings and production processes. Still for all their diamond-like characteristics, most are more tell-tale than everything else, for example its intrinsic softness on account of the lead in its composition, rendering edges and also facets rather easily scratched and quickly rounded. Contemporary manufacturing methods may also give them away, because they involve molding rather than traditional cutting, thus creating fairly obvious seams. Nevertheless other tell-tale signs require but modest magnification to spot.

The global headquarters for Swarovski is Wattens, Austria, near world-famous Innsbruck within the Tyrol region. From here the company has made quite a reputation for itself as a premier provider of luxury goods over its more than a hundred years of existence. Named after its founder, Daniel Swarovski, the company also runs an indoor theme park in Wattens that revolves around its work. Born in 1862 to a glass-cutter who owned a small glass factory in a area of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Hapsburgs that now lies within the Czech Republic, Swarovski became quite skilled at the craft and even was able to patent an electric cutting machine that made lead crystal glass jewelry easier to produce just thirty years later. From 2004 through 2009, it had been his company that provided New York City with the star for its famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

19 November
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How Water Damage Restoration Works Normally

Although absolutely essential to all life as we know it, water may also be a catastrophically destructive force, and as much good as it does, water damage has simultaneously been one of the greatest risks to civilizations throughout history. Evidence of humanity’s collective fear of water damage come in the Deluge Myths, which were shared (in various iterations) by cultures across the world. What’s more baffling is that a number of these great flood myths came from in places that, at the time of their conception, had no interaction in any way and in some cases were entirely oblivious to each other’s existence. Another problem is mold damage restoration, perhaps just about the most unseen problems which is built mostly from water damage also.

Possibly the most well known demonstration of a deluge myth, detailing apocalyptic amounts of water damage, is the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, shared by all three major Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). The story goes that God, exhausted by the wickedness of mankind, decides to flood the earth to destroy all life – save for Noah and his family, whom God regarded as righteous enough to survive. He instructs Noah to build an Ark, and upon it he’ll house his family and two of every animal so that once the flood waters have receded, the earth may be repopulated. God then vows never again to destroy the earth by flood. Though still perceived literally by certain Christian fundamentalists, the story is seen today as allegorical, with next to zero scientific facts of water damage to support ever such a flood occurring. What’s interesting about the story is its similarities with legends and myths coming from other places.

On the opposite side of the world from Mesopotamia where the Abrahamic deluge myths came from, the Native American Hopi tribe of Arizona in the United States has its own edition of the deluge myth. Based on Hope mythology, humanity was ruined four times by the water damage of a great deluge for much the same reason as in the Abrahamic myths: Hopi Gods angered by the depravity of men decided to clean the slate, sparing only a select few who lived lives dubbed good enough to reboot yet another iteration of humanity.

Modern scientists have long thought over the origins for these kinds of myths, and their findings, interestingly enough, aren’t evidence of actual water damage, but rather facts that ocean born life existed in locations that have become far from any bodies of waters. Ancient peoples having identified seashells and the remains of sea creatures atop mountains and far inland were likely the inspiration powering these deluge myths. Obviously given the advantages of modern science, we now know that these shells and sea creatures are certainly the fossilized remains of life that once persisted in prehistoric oceans. Because millions of years ago, the earth was shaped very differently due to plate tectonics, oceans once existed in places where there have since dried up into deserts as well as plains, leaving evidence of the life they harbored behind.