“We’re gonna win the game, I guarantee it.”
Do you recognize that quote? If you don’t, you should. This is probably the greatest prediction ever made by a player, in a time when player predictions actually meant something. Who is the player, you ask? None other than Joe Namath, predicting the outcome of Super Bowl III. The New York Jets were facing off against the Baltimore Colts and were 10-point underdogs. The brash young QB would follow through on his prediction, winning 1969’s big game 16-7. His boldness was innovative and would be copied time and again throughout sports history by some of the game’s greatest athletes. Recently, however, this trend has gotten a little out of hand.
“I know we goin’ win. I know we goin’ bust they ass. Tomorrow night is the last game here in this building this year. Y’all can quote me, put it back page, front page, whatever.”
Now I know most of you know who this is. It’s Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace giving his usual playoff prediction. This prediction came after a Game Three loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lebron James. Rasheed was pretty much explaining, in his own crazy language, that the Pistons would defeat the Cavs in Game Four and wrap up the series back home in Game Five. Wallace’s predictions have become so common that writers have coined the phrase ‘guaransheed’ to explain his constant predictions. This is Wallace’s fourth such prediction and there is one problem. The Pistons lost Game Four. This forces me to bring forth the ultimate question; do player predictions mean anything anymore?
I have thought long and hard about this topic and came up with a checklist of sorts to see if this ‘guaransheed’ actually constitutes a meaningful prediction.
First off, if you are trying to be bold and make a prediction, you or your team must be the underdog in the contest.
Nope. Sorry Rasheed, but your team is the heavy favorite to win the NBA Championship. This in no way constitutes the Detroit Pistons as the underdog against the fourth seed Cleveland Cavaliers. No one on this Pistons team should be making any guarantees, unless they find themselves down in a playoff series, and that is very unlikely to happen now.
Second, what does a guarantee mean if the game that is being predicted is not the championship? My answer: absolutely nothing.
You have come up short once again Rasheed. This is the second round of the playoffs, not even the Conference Finals. Save your predictions for that round, or even better, the NBA Finals. A second round prediction, especially when your team is up 2-1 games, means absolutely nothing to me.
Finally, make sure you come through with solid play in the game you made a prediction about. There is nothing more embarrassing than predicting a victory and then having a less than stellar performance. Ask Seahawks TE Jeremy Stevens, he’ll tell you.
Would you believe it that Rasheed falls short once again? I would hardly call 7 points and 3 turnovers a stellar performance. Simply said, Wallace talked the talk but did not walk the walk in Game Four.
So let’s sum up what we have learned today. The Pistons are heavy favorites to win this series, Wallace’s prediction did not come true during an all-important game, and Rasheed had a pretty poor performance in Game Four. To add further insult to injury, the Pistons actually lost the game. Rasheed’s predictions have come to mean absolutely nothing and these types of player predictions have become a real problem. If you can think all the way back to the first round of the playoffs, Ron Artest made a similar bogus prediction, but for different reasons. He predicted the Kings would win the championship; only the Kings were the eighth seed and no one took them seriously. Especially after they lost in round one to the Spurs. Some other athletes actually make predictions just to pump themselves up. A classic example is Joey Porter, the linebacker from the Pittsburg Steelers. Before the 2006 Super Bowl, Porter made all kinds of predictions for the sole purpose of giving his team reasons to win the game. If these predictions and trash talking are the only way to get pumped up for the SuperBowl, you have a serious problem.
I am going to close with one important message to all athletes such as these. Leave the prediction making to the experts and the media. We, like you, might not know what we are talking about, but at least we get paid for it. All your bogus predictions about games that aren’t very significant are just diluting your importance and turning you into a circus act. The next time I hear a player prediction, I’ll know it’s more valuable as entertainment than actual information.
Get your latest 2012 predictions news and update.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Data Center Colocation
Complete control over your web hosting provision!
Each data center has full power backup in case of an outage. Generators, in combination with UPS systems, guarantee maximum availability. Industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLA) define the level of guaranteed availability, ranging from 99.9% to 99.999%. The configuration of the electrical connection for a client’s equipment depends on his specific requirements.
Data centre collocation industry offers comprehensive approach to information technology, enables businesses to focus on increasing revenue and profit, not managing technology. One can benefit from this experience and gain direct access to the most reliable, widely deployed networks in the world.
A client’s server will be in good hands with collocation services. Take benefit of such services from our years of experience and quality non stop support. Gain direct access to the most reliable, widely deployed networks in the world. Such data centre eliminates the need for expensive equipment such as generators and UPS's as these are all included in the standard service charge. For the highest availability colocation services you can compare online and choose the right place. Data centre team of professionals offers you fully managed support services including OS installation and configuration to something as simple as a server reboot. With a round the clock on site staff of highly trained engineers and support staff, client’s servers will be backed by the best in server collocation professional services.
Colocation services are available via some web hosts through the use of their private cages, or you can pay a data centre directly to have your server located in a cage which is run by the data centre itself. Other equipment such as networking equipment and storage equipment can also be colocated within server racks. Colocation hosting has many advantages above ordinary dedicated server hosting, such as the fact that most data centres provide a ‘remote hands’ service if your server needs a task doing such as an OS reinstall which can only be done from the console; also, the connectivity that your equipment receives will probably be better than that you would receive on a dedicated server, the reason being that your equipment is surrounded by your own equipment meaning that you don’t have any other customers around you that could be a burden on your connection speed.
Data Colocation network is wired in a redundant, meshed configuration for maximum uptime. In the event of a failure in any one device the redundant hot-spare takes over automatically within seconds. Not that our equipment is liable to failure in the first place, with redundant PSU's, processing engines and blades.
In practice, this means your own server is installed in a rack in one of the data collocation centre, taking advantage of our bandwidth and network resilience to connect to the Internet.
Data Center Migration
Data center migration services
Each data center has full power backup in case of an outage. Generators, in combination with UPS systems, guarantee maximum availability. Industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLA) define the level of guaranteed availability, ranging from 99.9% to 99.999%. The configuration of the electrical connection for a client’s equipment depends on his specific requirements.
Data centre collocation industry offers comprehensive approach to information technology, enables businesses to focus on increasing revenue and profit, not managing technology. One can benefit from this experience and gain direct access to the most reliable, widely deployed networks in the world.
A client’s server will be in good hands with collocation services. Take benefit of such services from our years of experience and quality non stop support. Gain direct access to the most reliable, widely deployed networks in the world. Such data centre eliminates the need for expensive equipment such as generators and UPS's as these are all included in the standard service charge. For the highest availability colocation services you can compare online and choose the right place. Data centre team of professionals offers you fully managed support services including OS installation and configuration to something as simple as a server reboot. With a round the clock on site staff of highly trained engineers and support staff, client’s servers will be backed by the best in server collocation professional services.
Colocation services are available via some web hosts through the use of their private cages, or you can pay a data centre directly to have your server located in a cage which is run by the data centre itself. Other equipment such as networking equipment and storage equipment can also be colocated within server racks. Colocation hosting has many advantages above ordinary dedicated server hosting, such as the fact that most data centres provide a ‘remote hands’ service if your server needs a task doing such as an OS reinstall which can only be done from the console; also, the connectivity that your equipment receives will probably be better than that you would receive on a dedicated server, the reason being that your equipment is surrounded by your own equipment meaning that you don’t have any other customers around you that could be a burden on your connection speed.
Data Colocation network is wired in a redundant, meshed configuration for maximum uptime. In the event of a failure in any one device the redundant hot-spare takes over automatically within seconds. Not that our equipment is liable to failure in the first place, with redundant PSU's, processing engines and blades.
In practice, this means your own server is installed in a rack in one of the data collocation centre, taking advantage of our bandwidth and network resilience to connect to the Internet.
Data Center Migration
Data center migration services
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
10 Reasons Why People Fail At Internet Marketing
Internet marketing is one of the fastest-growing and profitable businesses today. It is an excellent way for anyone to start a small business with little investment, no overhead, and high profit margins. Anyone can get up and running with an online
business in hours. Sounds like an easy way to make money, doesn’t it? Compared to other offline small business ventures, it is.
Yet internet marketing failures still vastly outnumber those who have succeeded in internet marketing. For every story you hear of someone making $10,000 a month at internet marketing there are hundreds of untold stories of those who failed to
make a profit or only made a few dollars and then quit. Why do so many fail when the potential to succeed is high?
1. Failure to plan – No matter what type of business you are running you need a business plan with well-defined goals. What are your short-term and long-term goals? What steps do you need to take to meet those goals? Write out your plan and review it frequently. You are running a small business. Treat it as one.
2. Failure to work the plan – So you already have a business plan? Are the following it? A plan means nothing if you don’t follow it. Work the plan every single day. Revise it if necessary but don’t detract from it.
3. Making goals too big early on – Many internet marketing failures try to do too much too fast. You are not going to create the ultimate web site for dog lovers overnight. Start small with dog training tips and add content daily. Those 1,000+ page web sites took months or years to build, so will yours.
4. Lack of knowledge – Would you be a successful plumber without knowing anything about plumbing? No. Then to be a successful internet marketer you need to learn internet marketing. Find a successful mentor willing to help you and you will be way ahead of the crowd.
5. Not investing in your business – You won’t get any support or very much web traffic on with a free web host. Many times, the best ebooks, scripts, and tools are the ones that cost money. You can run an online business for next to nothing but
you’ll achieve faster and more profitable results by investing in the right tools.
6. "If I build it, they will come" – You can have the most comprehensive and informative website on natural healing in the world but if you don’t promote your site and work to drive traffic to it no one will know about it. There are many ways to drive traffic to your website. You should be using several of them.
7. Lack of patience – You will not be making $10,000 a month when you start. Internet marketing is not a get rich quick scheme. It takes time and testing to build your web traffic and increase your conversion rate. In the beginning you might actually lose money and this is when too many people give up without giving their business time to grow.
8. Wrong niche – So you wrote that ebook on underwater basket weaving and you’re wondering why nobody is buying it? Find a niche but make sure it’s profitable first. Too many times people create the product first then try to figure out how to sell it. Find out what the people want then give or sell it to them.
9. No Uniqueness – There are a million low carb diet books out there, what makes yours so unique? Why should I buy your widget when Bob’s widgets are just as good and he’s been selling widgets a lot longer than you? Stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Know your competition and do what they do better or do something totally different.
10. Lack of commitment – To be successful, you must be committed to success. Behind every success story there are many hours of work and dedication. You’ll need drive and determination if you want to be the next internet success story everyone is talking about.
Print out these ten reasons for failure and post it next to your computer monitor or tape them to your bathroom mirror.
Everyday review your online business and make sure you are not making any of these mistakes. Do this and you are well on your way to being an internet marketing success.
Master Resale Products $1 Trial
Make Money with MRR Products $1 Trial
business in hours. Sounds like an easy way to make money, doesn’t it? Compared to other offline small business ventures, it is.
Yet internet marketing failures still vastly outnumber those who have succeeded in internet marketing. For every story you hear of someone making $10,000 a month at internet marketing there are hundreds of untold stories of those who failed to
make a profit or only made a few dollars and then quit. Why do so many fail when the potential to succeed is high?
1. Failure to plan – No matter what type of business you are running you need a business plan with well-defined goals. What are your short-term and long-term goals? What steps do you need to take to meet those goals? Write out your plan and review it frequently. You are running a small business. Treat it as one.
2. Failure to work the plan – So you already have a business plan? Are the following it? A plan means nothing if you don’t follow it. Work the plan every single day. Revise it if necessary but don’t detract from it.
3. Making goals too big early on – Many internet marketing failures try to do too much too fast. You are not going to create the ultimate web site for dog lovers overnight. Start small with dog training tips and add content daily. Those 1,000+ page web sites took months or years to build, so will yours.
4. Lack of knowledge – Would you be a successful plumber without knowing anything about plumbing? No. Then to be a successful internet marketer you need to learn internet marketing. Find a successful mentor willing to help you and you will be way ahead of the crowd.
5. Not investing in your business – You won’t get any support or very much web traffic on with a free web host. Many times, the best ebooks, scripts, and tools are the ones that cost money. You can run an online business for next to nothing but
you’ll achieve faster and more profitable results by investing in the right tools.
6. "If I build it, they will come" – You can have the most comprehensive and informative website on natural healing in the world but if you don’t promote your site and work to drive traffic to it no one will know about it. There are many ways to drive traffic to your website. You should be using several of them.
7. Lack of patience – You will not be making $10,000 a month when you start. Internet marketing is not a get rich quick scheme. It takes time and testing to build your web traffic and increase your conversion rate. In the beginning you might actually lose money and this is when too many people give up without giving their business time to grow.
8. Wrong niche – So you wrote that ebook on underwater basket weaving and you’re wondering why nobody is buying it? Find a niche but make sure it’s profitable first. Too many times people create the product first then try to figure out how to sell it. Find out what the people want then give or sell it to them.
9. No Uniqueness – There are a million low carb diet books out there, what makes yours so unique? Why should I buy your widget when Bob’s widgets are just as good and he’s been selling widgets a lot longer than you? Stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Know your competition and do what they do better or do something totally different.
10. Lack of commitment – To be successful, you must be committed to success. Behind every success story there are many hours of work and dedication. You’ll need drive and determination if you want to be the next internet success story everyone is talking about.
Print out these ten reasons for failure and post it next to your computer monitor or tape them to your bathroom mirror.
Everyday review your online business and make sure you are not making any of these mistakes. Do this and you are well on your way to being an internet marketing success.
Master Resale Products $1 Trial
Make Money with MRR Products $1 Trial
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Golf Tips – Tips To Improve Your Putting
If you are seriously considering lowering your scores, then you must take your putting seriously, as roughly half the strokes you play in a round of golf are likely to be on the putting green. However good you are at driving, pitching and chipping, if your putting is not up to standard, you will never make the next level. My Dad told me the famous quote when I was probably about 12 or 13, ‘Drive for show putt for dough’, this says it all! That is why it is quite incredible that putting is not often concentrated on.
Tips for setup:
First of all I’d just like to say that there is no one correct putting grip/posture/stroke, there are wide variations, so if your technique is different, don’t worry, some of the top golfers have very different putting actions e.g. Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson all have very different techniques. These are basic tips that can be applied to most techniques to help improve your game.
An ideal putting stroke should strike the ball on the up, to do this the ball should be placed opposite the inside of the left heal (for a right hander), this results in the ball being hit on the up and top spin is generated.
In relation to setup, the hands should be either inline with the ball or ahead of the ball, if the hands are behind the ball, then a clean consistent strike of the ball is not likely, and the common result is the ball popping up in the air.
Tension on the green is one the most destructive things that can happen to your putting, especially with the short putts, this is known as getting the ‘yips’, this is caused by moving during the stroke. This causes you to ‘fluff’ your shot and miss your putt. To avoid this happening, concentrate on the spot where the ball was after impact rather than following the ball. This ensures that you do not move your head during impact and will help give you the clean smooth impact you require.
A simple technique to reduce the tension in the body and the stroke is simply to let your arms dangle in front of you before you putt and gently shake them. This should relax your muscles enabling an enhanced sensation of feel and touch, both vital for reliable consistent putting.
Tips for the swing
Your grip should not be too tight, and your arms should be relaxed. Gently and smoothly in a one piece action, sweep the putter backwards. It is important to keep the triangle formed between your arms and the line joining your shoulders consistent through the whole shot and the shape should not change. The move backwards should be like a pendulum movement with your arms, while your wrists remain stiff. A good tip for making sure that this is correct is by starting the action by dropping your left shoulder; this will get the pendulum motion started.
Keeping the triangle mentioned before in tact, in a pendulum motion, accelerate the putter smoothly through the ball; the ball should be hit on the up. Throughout this whole period, keep your eyes fixed on the ball to avoid fluffing the putt and keep the eyes fixed on that spot after impact.
It is vital after impact that the left wrist remains firm and does not break; the follow-through should go inline with the direction you were aiming and should be the same length as the backswing.
Key points
Try and relax before playing the stroke, this will help enhance your feel and touch and help avoid the yips due to excess tension
The stroke should be a pendulum action swinging with your shoulders and arms while the wrists remain stiff.
Don’t move your head during the swing.
Swing in a relaxed smooth fashion with a smooth and constant rhythm.
Keep the wrists firm throughout the stroke.
Play the ball from underneath the eyes.
Have the ball in the front of the stance to ensure that the ball is hit on the up.
Get more Golf tips for Beginners.
Tips for setup:
First of all I’d just like to say that there is no one correct putting grip/posture/stroke, there are wide variations, so if your technique is different, don’t worry, some of the top golfers have very different putting actions e.g. Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson all have very different techniques. These are basic tips that can be applied to most techniques to help improve your game.
An ideal putting stroke should strike the ball on the up, to do this the ball should be placed opposite the inside of the left heal (for a right hander), this results in the ball being hit on the up and top spin is generated.
In relation to setup, the hands should be either inline with the ball or ahead of the ball, if the hands are behind the ball, then a clean consistent strike of the ball is not likely, and the common result is the ball popping up in the air.
Tension on the green is one the most destructive things that can happen to your putting, especially with the short putts, this is known as getting the ‘yips’, this is caused by moving during the stroke. This causes you to ‘fluff’ your shot and miss your putt. To avoid this happening, concentrate on the spot where the ball was after impact rather than following the ball. This ensures that you do not move your head during impact and will help give you the clean smooth impact you require.
A simple technique to reduce the tension in the body and the stroke is simply to let your arms dangle in front of you before you putt and gently shake them. This should relax your muscles enabling an enhanced sensation of feel and touch, both vital for reliable consistent putting.
Tips for the swing
Your grip should not be too tight, and your arms should be relaxed. Gently and smoothly in a one piece action, sweep the putter backwards. It is important to keep the triangle formed between your arms and the line joining your shoulders consistent through the whole shot and the shape should not change. The move backwards should be like a pendulum movement with your arms, while your wrists remain stiff. A good tip for making sure that this is correct is by starting the action by dropping your left shoulder; this will get the pendulum motion started.
Keeping the triangle mentioned before in tact, in a pendulum motion, accelerate the putter smoothly through the ball; the ball should be hit on the up. Throughout this whole period, keep your eyes fixed on the ball to avoid fluffing the putt and keep the eyes fixed on that spot after impact.
It is vital after impact that the left wrist remains firm and does not break; the follow-through should go inline with the direction you were aiming and should be the same length as the backswing.
Key points
Try and relax before playing the stroke, this will help enhance your feel and touch and help avoid the yips due to excess tension
The stroke should be a pendulum action swinging with your shoulders and arms while the wrists remain stiff.
Don’t move your head during the swing.
Swing in a relaxed smooth fashion with a smooth and constant rhythm.
Keep the wrists firm throughout the stroke.
Play the ball from underneath the eyes.
Have the ball in the front of the stance to ensure that the ball is hit on the up.
Get more Golf tips for Beginners.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Love can make you lose weight
Most people make promises to lose weight but never seem to attain their goals. Perhaps it is because of lack of motivation. Well, one thing can help with increasing the enthusiasm for self-improvement through weight loss. That thing is love.
One of the many reasons why several people gain weight in the first place from excessive eating and lack of exercise may be due to an intense loneliness and the need to compensate for this. “No one wants me anyway”, they’d say or think to themselves in self-pity “so it shouldn’t matter what I look like, so let me enjoy something at least!”
This emotion is quite understandable; however, it is not the right approach to handling the situation. Instead of resorting to unhealthy binges as a resort to compensate for being alone, why not make the efforts to find that special someone who would motivate you to being a better person.
It is a known fact that the first thing people judge others on is quite simply their appearance. If you don’t look as appealing or at least come off as being concerned about your appearance to some degree, this could be an instant turn-off to most people.
So instead of giving up on yourself, it will be a much better and healthier idea to make yourself presentable and appealing just in case that special someone comes around.
In addition, when you make the efforts to be healthier and fitter, you automatically create the foundation for increased self-confidence, happiness and a positive outlook on life.
Now, admittedly, it may seem hard at times to find that person to share our feelings with, however, there are still plenty of options to finding someone and it’s safe to say the energy spent on binging and consequently gaining excess weight could be expended in such endeavors.
The choices are really limitless: places of worship, online options (the ‘myspace’ site seems very popular for meeting people), work, the gym etc. Friends, with all these choices at hand, you really don’t have to be alone and use this as an excuse for not caring about yourself.
Even in the worst case scenario: “How about being in love with you?”
That’s a start. Christ’s wisdom and subtlety comes to mind here when he says : “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” When you love yourself (not being vain or overly superficial now), you will make the efforts to always look and be your best naturally. As a result that motivation could and should serve as the spur to action to lose excess weight if needed.
Now, if you are in a relationship already, this should serve as a motivation to want to look and be your best. To simply let things get out of hand with your health and appearance can make you appear less attractive to your partner, in spite of whatever people say about “it’s not what’s on the outside that matters…”
Moreover, need I mention that excess weight and poor fitness levels can obstruct what may have been a healthy and happy sex life for two people in love? (Oh and on that subject, sex is a great exercise so that’s another way love, at least making it, could come in handy to lose weight…)
Now Al Green once said “Love can make you do wrong, can make you do right”
I say it can make you lose weight!
Here’s to a healthy and happier you.
Get more weight loss tips
One of the many reasons why several people gain weight in the first place from excessive eating and lack of exercise may be due to an intense loneliness and the need to compensate for this. “No one wants me anyway”, they’d say or think to themselves in self-pity “so it shouldn’t matter what I look like, so let me enjoy something at least!”
This emotion is quite understandable; however, it is not the right approach to handling the situation. Instead of resorting to unhealthy binges as a resort to compensate for being alone, why not make the efforts to find that special someone who would motivate you to being a better person.
It is a known fact that the first thing people judge others on is quite simply their appearance. If you don’t look as appealing or at least come off as being concerned about your appearance to some degree, this could be an instant turn-off to most people.
So instead of giving up on yourself, it will be a much better and healthier idea to make yourself presentable and appealing just in case that special someone comes around.
In addition, when you make the efforts to be healthier and fitter, you automatically create the foundation for increased self-confidence, happiness and a positive outlook on life.
Now, admittedly, it may seem hard at times to find that person to share our feelings with, however, there are still plenty of options to finding someone and it’s safe to say the energy spent on binging and consequently gaining excess weight could be expended in such endeavors.
The choices are really limitless: places of worship, online options (the ‘myspace’ site seems very popular for meeting people), work, the gym etc. Friends, with all these choices at hand, you really don’t have to be alone and use this as an excuse for not caring about yourself.
Even in the worst case scenario: “How about being in love with you?”
That’s a start. Christ’s wisdom and subtlety comes to mind here when he says : “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” When you love yourself (not being vain or overly superficial now), you will make the efforts to always look and be your best naturally. As a result that motivation could and should serve as the spur to action to lose excess weight if needed.
Now, if you are in a relationship already, this should serve as a motivation to want to look and be your best. To simply let things get out of hand with your health and appearance can make you appear less attractive to your partner, in spite of whatever people say about “it’s not what’s on the outside that matters…”
Moreover, need I mention that excess weight and poor fitness levels can obstruct what may have been a healthy and happy sex life for two people in love? (Oh and on that subject, sex is a great exercise so that’s another way love, at least making it, could come in handy to lose weight…)
Now Al Green once said “Love can make you do wrong, can make you do right”
I say it can make you lose weight!
Here’s to a healthy and happier you.
Get more weight loss tips
Current Estimate of Economic Impact of Options Backdating
I had a discussion with Erik Lie about the experiences with Stock Options Backdating (SOBD) and the economic impact of his work. According to Erik, at least 15% of the stock options grants between 1996 to August, 2002,were backdated. Some were within 30 days of the grant date, others more egregious. The number of companies though he said that were going to come clean would be far less than 15%. Here is what we came up with.
First the assumptions:
1. # of companies that actually are investigated or asked by the SEC (currenty June 03 is 42) by June 2006 = 100
2. # of companies that will complete the 3 step process of preliminary investigation, comprehensive audit and finally restatement of results (approximately at 30-50%) = 40
3. Approximate amount of time spent performing the initial investigation = 4-6 weeks.
4. Approximate time spent doing comprehensive audit = 20-32 weeks
5. Costs in back taxes, delisting, restatement, defending lawsuits & fines = 30% of cumulative value of option grants
6. Size of company assumed on average: $500M in revenues, 2500 employees, 25+ grants under inquiry
7. Grant value net = $15M per incident
If you want to do your own analysis (how much will this cost my company), feel free to use some of these estimations.
# Expense Item Description Cost
1 Initial Investigation Typically done by Board & Audit team $1.5 M 2 Communication expenses Economic impact of communication loss to company $4M 3 Audit fees Formal investigation fees for auditors $30M 4 Restatement costs Includes delisting, cost of documentation, $9 M 5 Taxes and fines Back taxes owed to IRS, Fines by SEC $15 M 6 Legal fees Defending lawsuits on backdating $20M Subtotal For each company, $500M revenue $79.5M Assuming 50 companies Completely go over the end to end process $3.975B
Assuming remaining companies Remaining companies only go over steps 1 & 3 $1.75 B
The other part of the economic impact stems from losses in market capitalization. If you estimate currently (42 companies) lost over $63 Billion in Market capitalization (United Healthcare itself accounted for over 30% of this number) over the last 9 months. Assume that will be 50% less (since the bad news is out) for the remaining 50+ companies. The impact is another $31B. We also did a detailed analysis on this portion of the impact. Total Impact of Stock Option Backdating ~ $100 Billion.For each company approximately = $50 to $100 Million in expenses.
options backdating | stock option backdating
Using Solar Power Energy To Help The Environment
Using solar power energy around the house is a good way to help the environment. There are huge benefits in doing this, as it will help the environment as well as reducing your utility bills.
It is quite easy to start on your own solar project at home and make a difference to the amount of energy that you use. The price of fossil fuel energy is always on the increase so many people are considering using alternative sources of energy at home. This initiative is supported in many countries by their governments. This support is given in the form of tax rebates and incentives to use solar energy.
The aim is to reduce carbon emissions into our environment thus reduce polluting the air. This can be significantly helped if more people try to use alternative methods to power their homes. The biggest energy usage goes towards warming up the house. Making a change to power the central heating using solar energy can make a huge difference.
Switching to a successful alternative energy source takes a little research. Firstly, you have to make sure that your home has sufficient sunlight during the day; most homes in the States qualify to switch to using the sun as a source of energy. The solar panel has to be placed where it will get the most sun over a year. To know this, you will need to seek the advice of a professional who will conduct a site obstacle survey.
To help use reduce the cost of your utility bills and be environmentally friendly, you can consider making other changes too alongside your solar power project. Installing better installation for your home will reduce the amount of energy you use daily to keep it warm. You can also buy energy saving light bulbs for the home.
Many people start by making their own power generator. You should be able get all the information to do this on the Internet or your local green store. It is simpler than you think as you can buy all the parts that you need. It will come with instructions and will only take a few hours to set up. Remember to start with a small solar panel and you can move up later on.
A small solar panel can gather enough energy from the sun to power many little appliances at home such as a camera, hair dryer etc. If you are looking to do this and make a change there is a lot of information on solar power energy on the Internet.
Follow the link and read more about solar power energy. Sign up for my newsletter at http://solarpowersystemsforhomesinfo.com/solar-power-signup/ and receive a report on "solar power energy". In my newsletter receive gems like "Home Solar Power System - Kiss Those Energy Bills Goodbye" and lots more.
It is quite easy to start on your own solar project at home and make a difference to the amount of energy that you use. The price of fossil fuel energy is always on the increase so many people are considering using alternative sources of energy at home. This initiative is supported in many countries by their governments. This support is given in the form of tax rebates and incentives to use solar energy.
The aim is to reduce carbon emissions into our environment thus reduce polluting the air. This can be significantly helped if more people try to use alternative methods to power their homes. The biggest energy usage goes towards warming up the house. Making a change to power the central heating using solar energy can make a huge difference.
Switching to a successful alternative energy source takes a little research. Firstly, you have to make sure that your home has sufficient sunlight during the day; most homes in the States qualify to switch to using the sun as a source of energy. The solar panel has to be placed where it will get the most sun over a year. To know this, you will need to seek the advice of a professional who will conduct a site obstacle survey.
To help use reduce the cost of your utility bills and be environmentally friendly, you can consider making other changes too alongside your solar power project. Installing better installation for your home will reduce the amount of energy you use daily to keep it warm. You can also buy energy saving light bulbs for the home.
Many people start by making their own power generator. You should be able get all the information to do this on the Internet or your local green store. It is simpler than you think as you can buy all the parts that you need. It will come with instructions and will only take a few hours to set up. Remember to start with a small solar panel and you can move up later on.
A small solar panel can gather enough energy from the sun to power many little appliances at home such as a camera, hair dryer etc. If you are looking to do this and make a change there is a lot of information on solar power energy on the Internet.
Follow the link and read more about solar power energy. Sign up for my newsletter at http://solarpowersystemsforhomesinfo.com/solar-power-signup/ and receive a report on "solar power energy". In my newsletter receive gems like "Home Solar Power System - Kiss Those Energy Bills Goodbye" and lots more.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Electric Shavers Vs Razors
Have you battled between the 2? If you are like most other men out there I am sure you have! I know I have bounced back and forth. I just wanted to take a moment and share with you some of the pros and cons of each so that you can maybe make an educated decision on which one would work best for you!
First we will look at Electric Shavers!
Pros:
There are several advantages electric shavers have over the good ole razor. It is definitely more convenient to have an electric shaver. It takes much less time to shave your face. It is also mobile! Which means you are running late to work you can always have one stashed in the car so you can shave on the way to work or the safer method just shave in the bath real quick when you get there. Shaving and driving don't always mix well. Another advantage of electric shavers is that you aren't always having to replace blades and what not. If these advantages look good to maybe an electric shaver is what you need.
Cons:
There are also several disadvantages to electric shavers. Some say they don't shave close enough! Some peoples skin is more sensitive and they irritate it. It is an electrical device which means that it can have problems if not properly maintained. And replacement parts can be kind of pricey.
Nest we will take a look at the good ole razor blade!
Pros:
Many people prefer razors over electric shavers because they get you a much closer smoother shave. They are also very simple to use no electronics or anything that could go wrong or break. Some people have sensitive skin that an electric shaver will irritate real bad.
Cons:
Razors are very sharp! You may cut yourself if you are not careful with what you are doing. Razors are not as mobile as electric shavers therefore it is not as convenient you can't just whip at a razor anywhere and give yourself a quick shave! You also have to constantly replace the razor heads with new ones because they dull quickly.
So if you are busy on the go professional I feel electric shavers will meet your needs better, however if you are someone who is quite detail oriented and wants things done precisely you may like using the good ole razor better! But its your decision! I recommend trying both and seeing which one fits you better!
Source for the best mens shavers [http://www.electricshavers4less.com/index.php?cPath=1].
Mens Electric Shavers | Men's Electric Shaver
Cleaning Up Your Windows Registry
Windows registry is a file that is used by your Windows Operating System to store a huge amount of information about your computer. It is an essential file for your system as it is the main storage about everything on your computer.
It keeps such information as where your programs are stored, the pointers for all of your shortcuts and so on. Everything you do in your Windows environment is probably stored in the registry somewhere. The problem being that windows does not effectively clean up after itself where an entry is no longer needed.
This is also caused by applications that do not remove their entries when uninstalled or even upgraded. The installer may even create a temporary entry to point to a location for the install and then not remove that entry, further making your registry bloated and slowing down your system.
You can do the work manually but why risk corrupting your registry and completely losing your system. If you delete or edit the wrong entry you can do just that. So you really should use a tool of some sort to accomplish this task for you.
A registry cleaner may or may not speed up your system. The current shape of your registry will be more of a factor in that than the fact of cleaning it. The more bloated it is and the more unneeded programs and other applications you have the slower your system will run. Obviously, the fewer the better it will run.
If you want to accomplish this yourself, it is a simple process to go to Start, Run, type regedit.exe and then enter. This built in editor will allow you to modify any information in the registry, but again you must be careful or you can make the system unusable.
A better solution is to use a third party application to do a registry cleanup. They automate the process. Checking for unused entries or questionable entries and if you want it can even request your input on any changes.
One thing you should always do before you make any changes to the registry, whether you accomplish it manually or automatically is to make a backup of the registry. If you really want to be safe of the whole system but some would consider that over kill.
You will be hard pressed to find a really good free registry cleaner. You best bet is to pay for one and look at the reviews before making your choice. What you choose will do the job but may have different options based on your computer experience level and the level of control you want to have in using the product.
Most cleaners will cover some basics of the registry. They will check for its integrity, the com/activex entries, font entries, the shared DLL's, the application paths, the help file information, the Windows startup items, and the file/path locations. Checking all for anything missing and removing that information.
Before allowing the program to make any changes you should double check that it is something you do not want or need, especially if you are more familiar with a computer. You can use a simple web search to determine what the registry entry or key is by using its key, name or value.
Once you are sure that your system has been backed up you will want to make sure you make another backup of your cleaned registry, allowing you to restore to it if anything happens in the near future.
Cleaning your registry is not easy but with the right tools and some basic research you can accomplish it on a regular basis to keep your Windows Operating System running smoothly.
| Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mahfuza_Ferdausi_Urpa | |
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Monday, January 11, 2010
6 Steps to an Effective Online Business
Creating and running an effective online business is realistically comprised of several hundred, rather than 6, but this will serve as a guide for the direction of your efforts. Contrary to what you may hear rampantly on the Internet, there is no cookie-cutter, get-rich quick scheme on the web. Not only is every online business different, what works for one person or in one month may not work for another person or in the next month.
The Internet is constantly changing, and the online market is inherently different this year than it was last year. New technological improvements occur monthly, and impact the online business environment. What works for one individual when he is the first to sell a certain product a certain way may not work just six months later when he has sold his idea to 40,000 other marketers, and they all begin to promote it. Traffic generation tactics are significantly different than they were just a year ago, and hardly resemble profitable strategies three years ago.
These 6 Steps are simply the bare-bones skeleton of what has to happen for your online business to be successful. They are foundational, and although the implementation strategies are different today than several years ago, the basic steps remain the same.
1. Develop or discover a product. You must find a product that meets today’s needs. A 5 year old product whose resell rights you can buy for a dollar or get for free probably won’t meet the needs of today’s consumers. You must be willing to pay for the rights to sell a current , useful product, or become an affiliate marketer, where you promote a popular product, and in exchange are paid a percentage of the income from the sale.
2. Determine how the potential customers can view your product and see a sales presentation. If you develop your own product or purchase the rights to sell someone else’s, you will need a website. A few tips here: Rather than accept free web hosting, purchase your own domain name and pay to have your domain name and web site hosted by a professional web hosting company with a reputable history. If your free web hosting company goes bankrupt, they generally take your fledgling business with them.
3. Once you have your web site up and running, unless you are using an affiliate program that supplies a sales page, you must develop a sales script and web copy. Aside from your web hosting decision, this is probably the most important thing you can do. You may be tempted at first to write a sales pitch on your own, but unless you already have a lot of experience in the offline market writing effective sales letters, you need to, absolutely must, invest in a few courses on web copywriting. Be willing to spend some money upfront on learning this skill. Too many marketers try to wing it in this area and after a few months of losing money online, finally break down and purchase the knowledge to write a good sales pitch. Do it the other way around—buy the knowledge first, and start making sales from the beginning. Customers will not buy just because you have a web site---they buy from the web site that does the best job of convincing them it has the best product for their need.
4. You must develop a traffic source that works. When you first begin, you may be on a shoestring, and that is OK. Assuming you have been willing to spend some money on sales letter writing and a decent web host, you may be able to skimp in the traffic arena for awhile, if you have plenty of time. If you do not have money to advertise, nor time to seek out low cost advertising, you probably shouldn’t be attempting an online business. If you do choose to go the low-cost route—know two things up front—the returns are really low and you will spend vast amounts of time on traffic generation. Once you begin to make sales, you must invest your income in paid forms of traffic generation. If you do not, you will run out of enthusiasm for generating the free traffic, and without reinvesting the income from your first sales into advertising, you are sure to fail. Good sources of low-cost, but time consuming traffic are: writing articles and posting them to article directories, low cost classified ads, and ezine ads. You may see hyped-up ads for thousands or visitors for a low cost or millions of banner ads for another reasonable price—both of these methods may have worked 2 years ago, but they are a sure waste today.
5. Once you begin to get traffic to your online business site, you must keep detailed records of where the traffic comes from, and what percentage of visitors from each source are purchasing your product. If you have visitors that cost you $50 per hundred to come to your web site, but on average they only purchase $25 per hundred visitors, the income may feel good, but you are not profitable, and are losing money. By tracking your expenses on each type of visitor and by tracking your revenue on the same sources of visitors, you can determine which campaigns need changes or need to be eliminated and which need to be increased in intensity.
6. By following this pattern of steps, and by keeping diligent records (there is plenty of good web site tracking software on the market that can help you do that), you can develop a profitable online business. Again, it will not happen overnight, and you will not get rich quick. However, if you build a solid online business with a solid foundation, and are willing to spend some money learning how to do it right, you really can become successful in business online.
Online Business Opportunities
Affiliate Marketing Program
The Internet is constantly changing, and the online market is inherently different this year than it was last year. New technological improvements occur monthly, and impact the online business environment. What works for one individual when he is the first to sell a certain product a certain way may not work just six months later when he has sold his idea to 40,000 other marketers, and they all begin to promote it. Traffic generation tactics are significantly different than they were just a year ago, and hardly resemble profitable strategies three years ago.
These 6 Steps are simply the bare-bones skeleton of what has to happen for your online business to be successful. They are foundational, and although the implementation strategies are different today than several years ago, the basic steps remain the same.
1. Develop or discover a product. You must find a product that meets today’s needs. A 5 year old product whose resell rights you can buy for a dollar or get for free probably won’t meet the needs of today’s consumers. You must be willing to pay for the rights to sell a current , useful product, or become an affiliate marketer, where you promote a popular product, and in exchange are paid a percentage of the income from the sale.
2. Determine how the potential customers can view your product and see a sales presentation. If you develop your own product or purchase the rights to sell someone else’s, you will need a website. A few tips here: Rather than accept free web hosting, purchase your own domain name and pay to have your domain name and web site hosted by a professional web hosting company with a reputable history. If your free web hosting company goes bankrupt, they generally take your fledgling business with them.
3. Once you have your web site up and running, unless you are using an affiliate program that supplies a sales page, you must develop a sales script and web copy. Aside from your web hosting decision, this is probably the most important thing you can do. You may be tempted at first to write a sales pitch on your own, but unless you already have a lot of experience in the offline market writing effective sales letters, you need to, absolutely must, invest in a few courses on web copywriting. Be willing to spend some money upfront on learning this skill. Too many marketers try to wing it in this area and after a few months of losing money online, finally break down and purchase the knowledge to write a good sales pitch. Do it the other way around—buy the knowledge first, and start making sales from the beginning. Customers will not buy just because you have a web site---they buy from the web site that does the best job of convincing them it has the best product for their need.
4. You must develop a traffic source that works. When you first begin, you may be on a shoestring, and that is OK. Assuming you have been willing to spend some money on sales letter writing and a decent web host, you may be able to skimp in the traffic arena for awhile, if you have plenty of time. If you do not have money to advertise, nor time to seek out low cost advertising, you probably shouldn’t be attempting an online business. If you do choose to go the low-cost route—know two things up front—the returns are really low and you will spend vast amounts of time on traffic generation. Once you begin to make sales, you must invest your income in paid forms of traffic generation. If you do not, you will run out of enthusiasm for generating the free traffic, and without reinvesting the income from your first sales into advertising, you are sure to fail. Good sources of low-cost, but time consuming traffic are: writing articles and posting them to article directories, low cost classified ads, and ezine ads. You may see hyped-up ads for thousands or visitors for a low cost or millions of banner ads for another reasonable price—both of these methods may have worked 2 years ago, but they are a sure waste today.
5. Once you begin to get traffic to your online business site, you must keep detailed records of where the traffic comes from, and what percentage of visitors from each source are purchasing your product. If you have visitors that cost you $50 per hundred to come to your web site, but on average they only purchase $25 per hundred visitors, the income may feel good, but you are not profitable, and are losing money. By tracking your expenses on each type of visitor and by tracking your revenue on the same sources of visitors, you can determine which campaigns need changes or need to be eliminated and which need to be increased in intensity.
6. By following this pattern of steps, and by keeping diligent records (there is plenty of good web site tracking software on the market that can help you do that), you can develop a profitable online business. Again, it will not happen overnight, and you will not get rich quick. However, if you build a solid online business with a solid foundation, and are willing to spend some money learning how to do it right, you really can become successful in business online.
Online Business Opportunities
Affiliate Marketing Program
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
So Why Hypnosis
So how can hypnotherapy help you with your problem?
People can find themselves looking for hypnosis therapy for a number of reasons. Perhaps you have a bad habit such as smoking that you are trying to break. Or maybe you want to loose weight, tried all the diets and nothing has helped.
Another reason may be because of a relationship breakdown, or jealousy in a relationship.
All these are common reasons as to why someone may be looking for a hypnotherapist to help them with their everyday issues.
Hypnotherapy is not a new concept, infact; it has been around since the beginning of time. Some animals put themselves in a trance like state when they go into hibernation and are able to go without nourishment for long periods of time.
Hypnotherapy became more understood by physicians around the 19th century.
It is true to say that not everyone can be hypnotised. Research shows that people with the ability to perceive what is going on around them and recognise changes in their own awareness may block themselves from being helped through therapy.
Others can find that they are easily hypnotised. This is because they are more able to enter a trance like state and respond better to suggestions through their subconciousness.
Hypnotherapy has also been tested along with modern medicines to analyse people’s different responses to treatment.
On a number of occasions, groups of people who are receiving the same medical treatment have been separated and hypnosis therapy has been given to one section of the group to see what affects may occur.
More often than not, those who received hypnosis therapy felt less pain and anxiety and made a speedier recovery, which in turn, saved costs on medical treatment.
It is unfortunate that most people’s first introduction to hypnotherapy is stage hypnosis which gives the idea that hypnotherapy is where someone puts you under a spell and controls your movements causing you to perform in front of an audience some kind of bizarre act.
This is not what hypnotherapy is all about.
When a person looks to a hypnotherapist to help them with their problem, although they will put in a very relaxed state, they are always going to be aware of what is happening around them.
Hypnotherapy has helped lots of people with various different conditions, psychological as well as having a positive effect on their behaviour and has been effectively demonstrated through medical research.
Hypnosis has helped people overcome common and uncommon issues that people are faced with in their everyday lives, offering a release from pressures and conditions that seem to have a hold over them either by bad habits such as smoking or psychological issues such as jealousy.
Whatever the issue is that you may be facing, hypnosis can have a positive effect and help you overcome these issues.
hypnosis
lose weight with hypnosis
People can find themselves looking for hypnosis therapy for a number of reasons. Perhaps you have a bad habit such as smoking that you are trying to break. Or maybe you want to loose weight, tried all the diets and nothing has helped.
Another reason may be because of a relationship breakdown, or jealousy in a relationship.
All these are common reasons as to why someone may be looking for a hypnotherapist to help them with their everyday issues.
Hypnotherapy is not a new concept, infact; it has been around since the beginning of time. Some animals put themselves in a trance like state when they go into hibernation and are able to go without nourishment for long periods of time.
Hypnotherapy became more understood by physicians around the 19th century.
It is true to say that not everyone can be hypnotised. Research shows that people with the ability to perceive what is going on around them and recognise changes in their own awareness may block themselves from being helped through therapy.
Others can find that they are easily hypnotised. This is because they are more able to enter a trance like state and respond better to suggestions through their subconciousness.
Hypnotherapy has also been tested along with modern medicines to analyse people’s different responses to treatment.
On a number of occasions, groups of people who are receiving the same medical treatment have been separated and hypnosis therapy has been given to one section of the group to see what affects may occur.
More often than not, those who received hypnosis therapy felt less pain and anxiety and made a speedier recovery, which in turn, saved costs on medical treatment.
It is unfortunate that most people’s first introduction to hypnotherapy is stage hypnosis which gives the idea that hypnotherapy is where someone puts you under a spell and controls your movements causing you to perform in front of an audience some kind of bizarre act.
This is not what hypnotherapy is all about.
When a person looks to a hypnotherapist to help them with their problem, although they will put in a very relaxed state, they are always going to be aware of what is happening around them.
Hypnotherapy has helped lots of people with various different conditions, psychological as well as having a positive effect on their behaviour and has been effectively demonstrated through medical research.
Hypnosis has helped people overcome common and uncommon issues that people are faced with in their everyday lives, offering a release from pressures and conditions that seem to have a hold over them either by bad habits such as smoking or psychological issues such as jealousy.
Whatever the issue is that you may be facing, hypnosis can have a positive effect and help you overcome these issues.
hypnosis
lose weight with hypnosis
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