Friday, November 30, 2012

Bloomberg first to deliver China Interbank FX rates globally | FX-MM

Publication date: 29 November 2012

Tagged with: Bloomberg, BNP Paribas, Renminbi

Bloomberg today announced the first global, real-time data service that provides investors access to live interbank pricing for China?s onshore renminbi (CNY) market. This service captures currency trading activity among banks and financial institutions in China, and is provided through the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), the official interbank trading and foreign exchange (FX) division of China?s central bank.

Bloomberg logo?The addition of the CFETS data gives investors insights into real-time tick-by-tick movement, volumes and market participant information in China?s onshore interbank market,? said Tod Van Name, Bloomberg?s Global Head of FX, Economics and Commodities. ?Given the rapid internationalisation of the Chinese Yuan, this data is imperative to global markets as it provides our clients greater transparency for smarter and more timely trading, hedging and investment decisions.?

Global currency traders, corporate treasurers and institutional investors can now view executable quotes and trades on the interbank dollar-yuan spot, swap and forward markets. The CFETS data service also features the best renminbi spot prices from participating banks, historical trade sizes, and eight other renminbi currency pairs. Combined with Bloomberg?s FX suite, market participants can connect to global counterparties and liquidity, and access Bloomberg?s global FX trading community.

?The provision of real-time China interbank FX rates to international investors is yet another step in the right direction,? said Sam Phoen, head of global markets, ANZ bank (China). ?Onshore corporations and investors will benefit from real-time executable rates, while offshore players who are invested in China will have better visibility when hedging against movements of the renminbi.?

According to CFETS? publication ChinaMoney, with renminbi cross-border inflows and outflows intensifying in 2012, development of the offshore renminbi market will drive domestic financial market reform, and aid in a fair and transparent price discovery process for renminbi foreign exchange rates.

?BNP Paribas is one of the first international banks to access Bloomberg?s CFETS service,? said Julien Martin, Deputy Head of Fixed Income, BNP Paribas China. ?Offshore players can now access accurate interbank dollar-yuan rates that better reflect market conditions, providing investors with a critical edge in foreign exchange transactions amidst today?s volatile trading environment.?

This announcement follows Bloomberg?s leadership in the evolution of the offshore renminbi (CNH) market, which includes the development and adoption of the CNH code, provision of its price history and introduction of the offshore renminbi bond listing and index.

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Source: http://www.fx-mm.com/20947/news/bloomberg-first-to-deliver-china-interbank-fx-rates-globally/

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Tax increment financing district (TIF) resources ? State Politics ...

Resources on tax increment financing (TIF) districts.

Wichita should reject Bowllagio TIF district. Wichita should reject the formation of a harmful tax increment financing (TIF) district.

Wichita TIF: Taxpayer-funded benefits to political players. It is now confirmed: In Wichita, tax increment financing (TIF) leads to taxpayer-funded waste that benefits those with political connections at city hall.

Tax increment financing (TIF) and economic growth. There is clear and consistent evidence that municipalities that adopt tax increment financing, or TIF, grow more slowly after adoption than those that do not.

Does tax increment financing (TIF) deliver on its promise of jobs? When looking at the entire picture, the effect on employment of tax increment financing, or TIF districts, used for retail development is negative.

Crony Capitalism and Social Engineering: The Case against Tax-Increment Financing. Randal O?Toole, Cato Institute. While cities often claim that TIF is ?free money? because it represents the taxes collected from developments that might not have taken place without the subsidy, there is plenty of evidence that this is not true. First, several studies have found that the developments subsidized by TIF would have happened anyway in the same urban area, though not necessarily the same location. Second, new developments impose costs on schools, fire departments, and other urban services, so other taxpayers must either pay more to cover those costs or accept a lower level of services as services are spread to developments that are not paying for them. Moreover, rather than promoting economic development, many if not most TIF subsidies are used for entirely different purposes. First, many states give cities enormous discretion for how they use TIF funds, turning TIF into a way for cities to capture taxes that would otherwise go to rival tax entities such as school or library districts. Second, no matter how well-intentioned, city officials will always be tempted to use TIF as a vehicle for crony capitalism, providing subsidies to developers who in turn provide campaign funds to politicians.

Tax Increment Financing: A Tool for Local Economic Development. Richard F. Dye and David F. Merriman. Tax increment financing (TIF) is an alluring tool that allows municipalities to promote economic development by earmarking property tax revenue from increases in assessed values within a designated TIF district. Proponents point to evidence that assessed property value within TIF districts generally grows much faster than in the rest of the municipality and infer that TIF benefits the entire municipality. Our own empirical analysis, using data from Illinois, suggests to the contrary that the non-TIF areas of municipalities that use TIF grow no more rapidly, and perhaps more slowly, than similar municipalities that do not use TIF.

The effects of tax increment financing on economic development. Richard F. Dye and David F. Merriman. Local governments attempt to influence business location decisions and economic development through use of the property tax. Tax increment financing (TIF) sequesters property tax revenues that result from growth in assessed valuation. The TIF revenues are to be used for economic development projects but may also be diverted for other purposes. We have constructed an extensive data set for the Chicago metropolitan area that includes information on property value growth before and after TIF adoption. In contrast to the conventional wisdom, we find evidence that cities that adopt TIF grow more slowly than those that do not. We test for and reject sample selection bias as an explanation of this finding. We argue that our empirical finding is plausible and present a theoretical argument explaining why TIF might reduce municipal growth.

TIF is not Free Money. Randal O?Toole. Originally created with good intentions, tax-increment financing (TIF) has become a way for city officials to enhance their power by taking money from schools and other essential urban services and giving it to politically connected developers. It is also often used to promote the social engineering goals of urban planners. ? Legislators should recognize that TIF no longer has a reason to exist, and it didn?t even work when it did. They should repeal the laws allowing cities to use TIF and encourage cities to instead rely on developers who build things that people want, not things that planners think they should have.

Does Tax Increment Financing Deliver on Its Promise of Jobs? The Impact of Tax Increment Financing on Municipal Employment Growth. Paul F. Byrne. Increasingly, municipal leaders justify their use of tax increment financing (TIF) by touting its role in improving municipal employment. However, empirical studies on TIF have primarily examined TIF?s impact on property values, ignoring the claim that serves as the primary justification for its use. This article addresses the claim by examining the impact of TIF adoption on municipal employment growth in Illinois, looking for both general impact and impact specific to the type of development supported. Results find no general impact of TIF use on employment. However, findings suggest that TIF districts supporting industrial development may have a positive effect on municipal employment, whereas TIF districts supporting retail development have a negative effect on municipal employment. These results are consistent with industrial TIF districts capturing employment that would have otherwise occurred outside of the adopting municipality and retail TIF districts shifting employment within the municipality to more labor-efficient retailers within the TIF district.

Tax Increment Financing and Missouri: An Overview Of How TIF Impacts Local Jurisdictions. Paul F. Byrne. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) has become a common economic development tool throughout the United States. TIF takes the new taxes that a development generates and directs a portion of them to repay the costs of the project itself. ? Supporters of TIF argue that it is a necessary tool for redevelopment in older communities. Detractors contend that it is used to simply subsidize development, and that variances in tax systems allow some governments to implement and benefit from TIF even if its use harms other levels of government. This study provides an overview of the history and basic structure of TIF. It then analyzes the basic tax components of a TIF plan and compares how various aspects, such as tax capture and tax competition, play out in the standard system of TIF. The study then reviews the economic literature on TIF, and ends with a direct application of how TIF operates within Missouri.

The Right Tool for the Job? An analysis of Tax Increment Financing. Heartland Institute. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is an economic development tool that uses the expected growth (or increment) in property tax revenues from a designated geographic area of a municipality to finance bonds used to pay for goods and services calculated to spur growth in the TIF district. The analysis performed for this study found TIF does not tend to produce a net increase in economic activity; favors large businesses over small businesses; often excludes local businesses and residents from the planning process; and operates in a manner that contradicts conventional notions of justice and fairness. We recommend seeking alternatives to TIF and reforms to TIF that make the process more democratic and the distribution of benefits more fair to residents of TIF districts.

Giving Away the Store to Get a Store. Daniel McGraw, Reason. Largely because it promises something for nothing ? an economic stimulus in exchange for tax revenue that otherwise would not materialize ? this tool is becoming increasingly popular across the country. Originally used to help revive blighted or depressed areas, TIFs now appear in affluent neighborhoods, subsidizing high-end housing developments, big-box retailers, and shopping malls. And since most cities are using TIFs, businesses such as Cabela?s can play them off against each other to boost the handouts they receive simply to operate profit-making enterprises. ? At a time when local governments? efforts to foster development, from direct subsidies to the use of eminent domain to seize property for private development, are already out of control, TIFs only add to the problem: Although politicians portray TIFs as a great way to boost the local economy, there are hidden costs they don?t want taxpayers to know about. Cities generally assume they are not really giving anything up because the forgone tax revenue would not have been available in the absence of the development generated by the TIF. That assumption is often wrong.

Do Tax Increment Finance Districts in Iowa Spur Regional Economic and Demographic Growth? David Swenson and Liesl Eathington. We found virtually no statistically meaningful economic, fiscal, and social correlates with this practice in our assessment; consequently, the evidence that we analyzed suggests that net positions are not being enhanced ? that the overall expected benefits do not exceed the public?s costs.

Source: http://www.state-politics.com/states/kansas/tax-increment-financing-district-tif-resources/

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Source: http://normandel58.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/tax-increment-financing-district-tif-resources-state-politics.html

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PFT: Kaepernick?s parents irked by tattoo criticism

KaepGetty Images

Before Thursday, I hadn?t heard of David Whitley.? I now have.? And my first impression of his work isn?t good.

In a possible attempt by a pair of dying brands to regain relevance in a world with more digital options than eyeballs to consume them, Whitley has penned a so-stodgy-it?s-edgy column for the AOL/Sporting News joint venture that criticizes Colin Kaepernick?s ink.

Crafted carefully (for the most part) to avoid legitimate complaints of racism, Whitley?s implicit message arguably could be boiled down thusly:? He prefers NFL quarterbacks to be white, or to at least act white.

In the interests of clarity and fairness, Whitley didn?t say that.? But that?s the sense I got while reading his words, including:

1.? ?He is the CEO of a high-profile organization, and you don?t want your CEO to look like he just got paroled.?

2.? ?For dinosaurs like me, NFL quarterbacks were our little Dutch boys.?

3.? ?It?s not just a white thing, I hope.?

I?m not even sure what the last sentence means.? Reading the full column in one continuous chunk of words, it feels like he?s lamenting the disappearance of the good old days, when quarterbacks were not only tattoo-free but also pigment-free.

Regardless of Whitley?s conscious or subconscious motivations, Kaepernick?s parents aren?t happy that their adopted son has been compared to prison inmates.

?It annoyed me,? Teresa Kaepernick told USA Today.? ?You are categorizing this kid on something like tattoos?? Really?? Saying other guys are role models because they don?t have them?? Really?? Some of these other guys don?t have crystal clear reputations.? That?s how you?re going to define this kid?? It?s pretty irritating, but it is what it is.?

?This guy has probably never talked to Colin,? Rick Kaepernick said.? ?Instead of saying that Colin does all these great things and donates his time to children, this guy is going to make him out like a gangster.? Really??

I?m no stranger to the criticism that flows in response to opinions that reflect old-school attitudes that come, for example, from the days when the husbands smoked cigarettes and read Life magazine while watching Walter Cronkite in the waiting room as their kids were being born.? But the idea that quarterbacks shouldn?t have tattooed arms has no relevance to anything that would be remotely relevant to playing the sport of football, at any level.

Except for folks who prefer their quarterbacks to be fair-haired and fair-skinned, or at a minimum to behave as if they are.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/30/kaepernicks-parents-bothered-by-criticism-of-tattoos/related

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What truly exists? Structure as a route to the real

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Stock futures off as investors worry about "fiscal cliff"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures fell on Wednesday as investors grew more concerned about the lack of progress in U.S. budget talks to avoid looming spending cuts and tax hikes, setting the S&P 500 up for a third consecutive day of decline this week.

* Chief executives from top U.S. corporations, including Goldman Sachs , Deloitte LLP, and Caterpillar Inc , will meet with President Barack Obama on Wednesday to discuss U.S. fiscal problems, the White House said.

* Obama's meeting with influential leaders from the corporate world is part of his push for Congress to extend tax cuts for middle income Americans, one flashpoint in a standoff with Congress over a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that will go into effect next year if lawmakers and the president cannot come up with a deal to stop them.

* U.S. stocks slid on Tuesday in a choppy session, losing ground in the last hour before the close after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed disappointment that there has been "little progress" in dealing with the "fiscal cliff."

* S&P 500 futures were down 4.2 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 30 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 6.25 points.

* Deep divisions at the Federal Reserve were on display on Tuesday, just two weeks before the U.S. central bank's next policy-setting meeting, with one top Fed official pushing for more easing, and another advocating limits. [ID:nL1E8MS0ZC] The Fed will release its Beige Book summary of regional economic conditions at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT).

* New home sales data is due at 10 a.m. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a reading of 390,000 for October versus the previous reading of 389,000.

* U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale Corp is to pay a special dividend of $7.00, worth a total $3.0 billion to investors, it said when posting monthly same-store sales that beat forecasts.

* Microsoft Corp has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses in the month since the launch, according to one of the new co-heads of the Windows unit, setting a faster pace than Windows 7 three years ago.

* Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc forecast quarterly and full year earnings well above analysts' expectations, helped by an expanded lineup of single-serve coffee makers and drinks, sending its shares up 22 percent in after-hours trade.

* Advanced Micro Devices Inc plans to sell and lease back its campus in Austin, Texas, to raise cash and fund its chipmaking business as it diversifies beyond the struggling PC industry into new markets.

* Nokia said on Wednesday that an arbitrator has ruled in its favor in a patent dispute with BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion over use of Nokia's patents related to wireless local access network technology.

* The European Commission gave the go ahead for Spain to overhaul its stricken nationalized banks on Wednesday and opened the door for nearly 40 billion euros in euro zone aid to be disbursed, offering hope for an end to Spain's banking crisis.

(Reporting By Angela Moon; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-signal-flat-lower-open-092827816--finance.html

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Kerry stays quiet as Cabinet speculation swirls (The Arizona Republic)

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A Few Inexpensive Techniques To Make Your Mobile Mobile Phone ...

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There are quite a few other essential attributes of intelligent phones that are present in it. In this there is a Mapping and GPS technique available. This is made readily available for those who really like to journey. The GPS which suggests the Floor Positioning System is used to check what transpires on the earth and other planets with the assist of some satellites in the orbit. Primarily the US troopers use these images and movies that they consider from diverse sections of world. This grow to be extra simple with the aid of good cellular phone and now you can obtain the spot of anywhere in the world.

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Source: http://delmasalas.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/a-few-inexpensive-techniques-to-make-your-mobile-mobile-phone-appearance-like-new.html

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Google integrates Drive and Gmail, enables 10GB 'attachments'

Google has brought its cloud mail and cloud storage services closer together, with Google Drive now functioning to share files that would normally be sent as email attachments. Gmail users are now able to directly attach files stored in their Google Drive to emails, with recipients able to access the files through Drive rather than downloading them in the traditional manner.

On a Gmail blog post, Gmail product manager Phil Sharp described the integration as "a new way to send files". When sending an email, the Google Drive logo can be found under the attachment icon in the newly-restructured Compose screen.

This inter-linking is largely achieved by prompting the email's sender on the permissions of their Google Drive files. When sending a file that is not already shared with the email recipient, Gmail presents a prompt with two options -- to share that file with anyone who accesses the link (allowing sharing beyond the initial sender and recipients), or to share that file with only the recipients of the email. If the second option is selected, recipients must have a Google account.

This provides attachment-like access within emails for files of up to 10GB in size, which is the maximum size of any one file on Google Drive. Google Drive users are given 5GB of storage when they initially sign up for the service, although it is possible to purchase additional storage -- 25GB for $2.49 per month, and 100GB for $4.99 per month. Gmail accounts have 10GB of storage as standard, and a maximum file size of 40MB for traditional email attachments.

Google Drive and its predecessor Google Docs have had sharing and collaboration features for some time, but this move into the mainstream with Gmail gives both services more visibility.

This most recent move follows another integration between two other Google services -- Google+ and the Play store, where users' reviews of apps, books, magazines, movies and Google Nexus devices like the Nexus 10 tablet and Nexus 4 smartphone now appear with their Google+ user name and picture.

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Greenfield: Why Abe Lincoln was lucky

By Jeff Greenfield
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It?s no wonder audiences are flocking to ?Lincoln,? the new film about the 16th president. It?s a clear-eyed, dramatic, and ultimately inspiring tale that portrays Lincoln not as a saint, but as a hard-nosed, determined political leader who uses all the tools of politics, high and low, to push a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery through a reluctant House of Representatives. From uplifting rhetoric to political threats to temporizing on the issue of equality to patronage to bribery, Lincoln and his allies deploy every weapon at their command to win the battle.

But as the words of Lincoln?s second inaugural still echoed in the theater, I found myself thinking that in one sense, Lincoln was lucky. All he had to contend with was ingrained racism, a war-weary nation and daunting political arithmetic. What he didn?t have to deal with was?modern media.

He didn?t have to wage this fight in a time when every backroom deal, every casual remark, every public assertion or private behavior of an ally was the focus of constant, intense scrutiny--when the often messy sausage-making at the heart of political progress was on 24-hour display.

Suppose the tools of modern political communication were around back in Lincoln?s day. What would he have been up against? Well, consider:

?Tonight! New scandals as a desperate President Lincoln finds himself accused of moral degeneracy as his attempt to rewrite the Constitution is on life support?AND new details about the public and private hypocrisy of his radical allies. THIS?.is the Vallandigham Report!

?We begin tonight with a shocking revelation of President Lincoln?s true moral character. In a just-obtained video shot during what he thought was a private conversation among cronies, the president was captured telling a joke involving a portrait of our beloved Founding Father George Washington hanging in the bathroom of a British aristocrat. We can?t broadcast the full audio, but in this coarse attempt at humor, the president of the United States employs a common barnyard obscenity?and then laughs at his own crudity! Bernie, as our media analyst what?s your reaction??

?Clement, like every decent American, I?m appalled. I?m outraged. For our Head of State to resort to such language?well, it?s just unthinkable that such language could emerge from a president.?

?Thank you, Bernard. This latest stain on the president?s moral standing comes as we learn that the president has employed what can only be called blatantly dishonest language to conceal the fact that he is willing to prolong this Civil War in pursuit of his political goals. As we?ve been reporting, Francis Preston Blair, founder of Lincoln?s own Republican Party, has reached out to Confederate officials in search of a negotiated peace. When he was asked if such a group was in Washington?which would doom the 13th Amendment?s passage, the president said there is no such group in the capital and 'is not likely' to be here. What he didn?t say is that?s because he?s forbidden them to come here, according to our sources. Mary, your reaction??

?That?s what we?ve come to call ?typically Lincolnian language?, Clement. Just what you?d expect from a political narcissistic sociopath.?

?Fair and balanced as always, Mary. And Lincoln?s own dishonesty applies to his closest cronies. We?ve also learned that Secretary of State William Seward has employed the services of disreputable but highly efficient fixers to win the votes of lame-duck Democrats by offering patronage jobs and in at least one depicted case, handfuls of cash. Congressman Fernando Wood?your reaction??

?Apparently the only way the president and his Radical Republican buddies can win is with ?Postmaster Payoffs? and other cheap tricks. To think his media team calls him ?Honest Abe.? ?

?And speaking of his allies, the president?s been telling some of those Radicals, like Pennsylvania?s Thaddeus Stevens, to soft-pedal their outrageous beliefs about full voting rights for blacks. Well, later tonight, we?re going to air a special hour broadcast featuring years of speeches where Stevens actually argues that blacks and whites?are equal!? And as if that?s not enough,--Ann, tell us the shocking news you?ve learned about Stevens? private life.?

?Well, Clement, it turns out that for years, Congressman Stevens has been living in sin with his so-called ?housekeeper? who happens to be?a mulatto! His neighbors actually call her, ?Mrs. Stevens!'"

??In other words, Ann, the real goal of these radicals may in fact be ?"

? "? Exactly: not one nation, but miscegenation."

?Truly shocking, Ann. When we come back, a look behind the real purpose of The Homestead Act. It gives 160 acres of land to anyone who wants it! Was it a scheme to buy votes with gifts to slackers? We report?you decide.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-abe-lincoln-was-lucky-27424562-165922294.html

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'Sneaker waves' blamed for deaths of Calif. family

Flowers are rest on a large drift log yards from the breaking surf of the Big Lagoon beach near Trinidad, Calif. on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. A family that tried to rescue their dog from powerful surf at the beach in Northern California were swept out to sea, leaving the parents dead and their 16-year-old son missing, authorities said. (AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Jose Quezada)

Flowers are rest on a large drift log yards from the breaking surf of the Big Lagoon beach near Trinidad, Calif. on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. A family that tried to rescue their dog from powerful surf at the beach in Northern California were swept out to sea, leaving the parents dead and their 16-year-old son missing, authorities said. (AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Jose Quezada)

The surf at Big Lagoon beach creates a moderate undertow on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012 near Trinidad, Calif. A family that tried to rescue their dog from powerful surf at the beach in Northern California were swept out to sea, leaving the parents dead and their 16-year-old son missing, authorities said. (AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Jose Quezada)

Kaylee Steiner-Olson, 17, Kira Burnett, 16, and Hanna Burnett, 14, wear green colors after the end of the school day in Arcata, Calif., Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. More than 1000 students from Arcata High School and friends from throughout the world donned the color green today in honor of "Geddie" Howard Gregory Kuljian, presumed lost in the ocean off of Big Lagoon beach from a tragic accident that also claimed his parents last weekend. (AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Jose Quezada)

A sign a few yards from breaking waves on Big Lagoon beach near Trinidad, Calif. warn of dangerous undertows, Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. A family that tried to rescue their dog from powerful surf at the beach in Northern California were swept out to sea, leaving the parents dead and their 16-year-old son missing, authorities said. (AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Jose Quezada)

In this photo provided by the Arcata High School Pepperbox, Arcata High School student Blaire Floyd writes on a poster memorial for fellow student Gregory Kulijan Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, at Arcata High School in Arcata, Calif. The Kuljian family were out for a walk Saturday, Nov. 24 at Big Lagoon beach, playing fetch with their dog when Gregory Kuljian tossed a stick that took their dog down to the water's edge. Kuljian's son ran to save the dog, and struggled as he was captured by the surging surf. Howard Kuljian followed, and later his wife. Both parents' bodies were later recovered, but the boy, presumed dead, is still missing. (AP Photo/Courtesy Forrest Lewis, Arcata High School Pepperbox)

(AP) ? Howard Kuljian and his family were out for a walk on a damp, overcast morning at Big Lagoon beach, playing fetch with their dog Fran as 10-foot surf churned the water just feet away like a washing machine.

Signs near the beach warned of "sneaker waves," the kind that suddenly roar ashore.

Kuljian tossed a stick that took the dog down to the water's edge, and in an instant, authorities said, a wave swallowed it, setting off a nightmarish scramble.

"Everything kind of snowballed from there," said Coast Guard Lt. Bernie Garrigan.

Kuljian's 16-year-old son, Gregory, ran to save the dog, only to be captured by the surging surf himself. Kuljian, 54, followed, and then his wife, Mary Scott, 57. On shore, their 18-year-old daughter, Olivia, and Gregory's girlfriend could only watch.

Both parents' bodies were later recovered, but the boy ? presumed dead ? is still missing.

The dog eventually made it back to shore.

News of Saturday's tragedy shocked many in the small college town of Arcata on the rough Northern California coastline about 280 miles north of San Francisco.

Students at Gregory's high school wore green in his memory Monday.

By late afternoon, more than 1,300 people "liked" a Facebook page set up by the teenager's friends called "Wear Green for Geddie" ? using his nickname. Dozens tweeted tributes with the hashtag (hash)WearGreenForGeddie.

"I will always remember him no matter how long," wrote Emmalaya Owen on the Facebook page. "Especially how he was such an upbeat happy person or how he tried to put up 'Be Happy' propaganda posters he drew around school."

Others were trying to come to terms with the deaths. His sister graduated last year.

"He was just a friendly guy, and everyone who knew him liked him, and his family was very close," said Day Robins, a high school senior. She said Gregory and his family were active in school athletics and sailing.

At Big Lagoon beach, a short drive from Arcata, signs posted near the parking lot warned beachgoers not to turn their back to the surf and to pay special attention to sneaker waves.

"Because the beach is designed that way, when that 10-foot wall breaks, it surges up on the beach and surges back really fast," said Garrigan, the Coast Guard officer. "It's like a cyclical washing machine."

As the family walked along the beach, Howard Kuljian threw the stick and the dog gave chase, said Dana Jones, a state parks district superintendent.

Seeing his son in the water, Kuljian leapt to action, and disappeared into the frigid water.

Gregory managed to pull himself back onto the sand, but after realizing his father was drowning, both he and his mother went in to save him.

As Olivia and the girlfriend watched in horror, a nearby bystander called police. By the time help arrived, it was too late. Jones said the officer wasn't able to get to the family members because of the high surf.

Garrigan said the search for the teenager was stopped because a person without a wetsuit could not survive for long in the cold surf.

The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter and two motorized life boats to find the teenager, but thick coastal fog made the search difficult. The parks department also called off its search.

"When there is shorebreak like that, you don't even have to go into the water to be pulled into the sea," Jones said. "It's a reminder to be real careful around the ocean."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-27-Swept%20Away/id-fe96a6aee6494e53a75b3429882e0c0c

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

2751 - | Fairfax VA Personal Trainer - As Seen On TV!

What would you say if I told you I was ?The Fat Kid? growing up?

I would guess you would think I was?

a) Going crazy like an old sailor

b) Trying to make up cool stories to entertain you

c) possibly telling the truth

The answer is ?C?, I was ?The Fat Kid? between the ages of 7 and 21

Here?s the cold hard proof from my younger years (where I had my finest hair cut as well)

?

The bottom line is, I?m far from perfect.

In fact, the problem that caused me to be overweight ALL those years is something I still struggle with today. Yes, personal trainers have their imperfections when it comes to fitness and nutrition too!

It was my horrible, horrible habits that kept the body fat up all those years.

These habits included:

1) Poor choices in nutrition

2) Massive amounts of calories being consumed (easily 2500-4000 per day)

3) The insane speed I would ?scarf? my food down at

?

Guess which one of these still ?haunts? me today? All 3

I?ll be honest when I say that I HAVE made massive improvements, which is what keeps my weight down, heart healthy and my body in top shape.

Here?s the habits I have INGRAINED to combat those that dragged me down for years:

There isn?t a day where I wake up that I was planning to exercise and don?t make it a priority. The second I put my workouts on the back burner, it turns into a slippery slope of terrible weight gain. Friends and family may think I?m crazy when they see how relentless I am on getting my pre-planned workout down, but I KNOW that if I miss one, I miss many.

This happened to me back in early 2010 when I was studying abroad in Australia.

Ironically enough, I had no job and 4 hours of actual commitments to class (I typically missed 2 of these).

I kept semi-active playing basketball with my buddies, but my lifting workout slipped and my nutrition went with it.

I felt like a slug and looked like a worm!

The ?pain? drove me to make a turn-around after several months, but it was twice as hard getting started again AND following through. I?ll never let that happen again!

I used to be a picky eater (when it came to the healthy stuff) but learning to turn off my taste buds and eat some bland because of the benefits made a massive difference to my health, life, and body.

Pre-planning nutrient dense foods and your protein intake is the ONLY way to see success with this.

You have to convince yourself that you NEED to eat certain over others simply because they?re healthier, won?t cause weight gain and because you want to feel GOOD (mixed veggies vs. french fries at a restaurant)

My trick is to attach those fries in front of me or on the menu to the ?pain? I felt when overweight, OR focus on what I?m working TOWARDS with my workouts.

This gives? a quick wake up call and adds some strength to the wall I put up around tempting foods.

I?m far from perfect, but I win a majority of the time.

Personal Trainer Mclean VA Habit #3 Taking Control Of The Booze (NOT Eliminating It!)

I absolutely love beer (Belgian whites in particular) and it?s something that I do NOT want to give up.

However, I know one or five too many will completely destroy my efforts.

Taking control of what days I drink and making it a weekly habit to place them strategically has helped me be successful in the long run.

Let?s be honest with ourselves, when are we typically put in situations where we will more than likely be consuming an alcoholic beverage? Simple answer ? the weekend!

This is the easiest habit to change?..

Make it a POINT to eliminate alcohol Sunday through Thursday and you will automatically set yourself up for long term success. More importantly when Friday and Saturday do hit, make the best possible choices with what beverages you consume and DON?T overdo it.

There?s nothing worse than breaking evening for a week of working hard in the gym, right?

That?s it ? 3 of my top secrets to long term weight loss and maintenance.

I?ve basically limited the first three BAD habits to a minimum (remember, I?m not perfect!) and ingrained the 3 GOOD habits in my life.

Life is about balancing things out, and this is one strategy that has worked for me. I hope this gives you some ideas on how you can be successful too!

Dedicated to your health and fitness,

John Casto

Personal Trainer Mclean VA

Tags: mclean va personal trainer, personal trainer mclean va

Source: http://actionfitnessinc.com/blog/2751/

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Time Management ? goodinformations

There is no one secret to time management. In fact, there are three time management secrets. They are easy to learn and remember. The hard part is making yourself use them consistently. Do that, however, and you will master the time management secrets and you will get more done ? in your business and in your life.

The Three Secrets of Time Management

There are three key elements of time management. You have to focus first on using your limited amount of time on the most important things. You have to use that time efficiently. And you have to actually do those things instead of just talking or thinking about them.

Do The Right Things First

Perhaps the most important of the time management secrets is to do the right things first. It?s easy to lose focus and spend a lot of time on things that are urgent, but not important. The trick is to stay focused on the important things and not waste your limited amount of time on anything else.

  • The 80/20 Rule, also known as Pareto?s Principle, says that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results. For example, twenty percent of the products will have eighty percent of the flaws. This article explains the rule in more detail and tells how you can use it to more effectively manage time and many different aspects of your life.
  • You can save time by knowing when to step in and when to hang back if an employee has a problem. Managers need to let employees make their own mistakes so they can learn from them. We can train them and advise them, but actual experience is often the best teacher. A good manager, therefore, will hang back and resist the impulse to jump in every time an employee encounters difficulty.
  • One time you can?t hang back is the difficult employee. Many managers struggle with managing difficult employees. You may be tempted to not deal with them and hope the situation will get better on its own. It won?t. These types of tasks will take less time if you address them immediately instead of waiting and then having to spend more time on them later.

Use Time Efficiently

Even when you master the time management secret of only working on the important tasks, you still need to be efficient with your time if you want to get everything done.

  • You Can?t Really Multi-task. I used to be a major fan of multi-tasking, but I?ve become a convert to ?chunking?. The name isn?t as exciting, but the results are impressive. Use Chunking Instead of Multi-tasking and you will get more done in less time.
  • Many people try using to do lists to help them with time management. Still there somehow never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. You have to use a to do list that helps you stick with your priorities. Here is the system that has worked for me. It can work for you too.
  • One final key to using your time efficiently is to not take on more than you can handle. Many times, that means knowing when to say no to your boss.

Get Things Done

You know the importance of doing the right things first and you are good at using your time efficiently. But neither of those will do you any good without the third time management secret ? you have to actually get things done. It is not enough to know what to do, to think about doing something, or to talk about doing it. You have to actually get things done.

  • Don?t let ?analysis paralysis? keep you from getting things done. Planning is an important part of the job we do, but it is not an end goal. Don?t let process get in the way of results. Do your planning, but don?t lose sight of the need to get the job done.

Bottom Line

There are three time management secrets. Focus first on the most important things. Use time efficiently. And actually get things done. The more you use these, the more you will get done of what really matters.

Source:management.about.com

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Source: http://goodinformations.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/time-management/

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Cyber Monday likely to be busiest online sales day

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 29, 2008, file photo, carts full of merchandise ordered online are rolled to the main packing area for shipping at the Overstock.com warehouse, in Salt Lake City. Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed a spike in online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people returned to their work computers, is the next in a line of days that stores are counting on to jumpstart the holiday shopping season. This year it is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year for the third year in a row. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 29, 2008, file photo, carts full of merchandise ordered online are rolled to the main packing area for shipping at the Overstock.com warehouse, in Salt Lake City. Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed a spike in online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people returned to their work computers, is the next in a line of days that stores are counting on to jumpstart the holiday shopping season. This year it is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year for the third year in a row. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

FILE - In this Monday, Dec., 1, 2008, file photo, an Amazon.com employee grabs boxes off the conveyor belt to load in a truck at their Fernley, Nev., warehouse. Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed a spike in online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people returned to their work computers, is the next in a line of days that stores are counting on to jumpstart the holiday shopping season. This year it is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year for the third year in a row. (AP Photo/Scott Sady)

FILE - In this photo taken Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 13, 2012, file photo, Daniel Holmquist raises his forklift to the top shelf of the Sierra Trading Post Fulfillment Center's racks to a pick a product off the shelves at the facility in Cheyenne, Wyo. Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed a spike in online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people returned to their work computers, is the next in a line of days that stores are counting on to jumpstart the holiday shopping season. This year it is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year for the third year in a row. (AP Photo/Star-Tribune, Kyle Grantham)

Workers pack a shipping truck on "Cyber Monday" at the Amazon.com 1.2 million square foot fulfillment center Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Phoenix. Americans clicked away on their computers and smartphones for deals on Cyber Monday, which is expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history. Shoppers are expected to spend $1.5 billion on Cyber Monday, up 20 percent from last year, according to research firm comScore. That would not only make it the biggest online shopping day of the year, but the biggest since comScore started tracking shoppers' online buying habits in 2001. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Workers pack a shipping truck on "Cyber Monday" at the Amazon.com 1.2 million square foot fulfillment center Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Phoenix. Americans clicked away on their computers and smartphones for deals on Cyber Monday, which is expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history. Shoppers are expected to spend $1.5 billion on Cyber Monday, up 20 percent from last year, according to research firm comScore. That would not only make it the biggest online shopping day of the year, but the biggest since comScore started tracking shoppers' online buying habits in 2001. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP) ? Americans clicked away on their computers and smartphones for deals on Cyber Monday, which is expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history.

Shoppers are expected to spend $1.5 billion on Cyber Monday, up 20 percent from last year, according to research firm comScore. That would not only make it the biggest online shopping day of the year, but the biggest since comScore started tracking shoppers' online buying habits in 2001.

Online shopping was up 26.6 percent on Cyber Monday compared with the same time period a year ago, according to figures released Monday evening by IBM Benchmark, which tracks online sales. Sales from mobile devices, which include tablets, rose 10.2 percent. The group does not track dollar amount sales.

The strong start to Cyber Monday, a term coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed people were doing a lot of shopping on their work computers on the Monday following Thanksgiving, comes after overall online sales rose significantly during the four-day holiday shopping weekend that began on Thanksgiving.

"Online's piece of the holiday pie is growing every day, and all the key dates are growing with it," said Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru. "The Web is becoming a more significant part of the traditional brick-and-mortar holiday shopping season."

It's the latest sign that Americans are becoming addicted to the convenience of the Web. With the growth in smartphones and tablet computers, shoppers can buy what they want, whenever they want, wherever they want. As a result, retailers have ramped up the deals they're offering on their websites during the holiday shopping season, a time when stores can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue.

Amazon.com, which started its Cyber Monday deals at 12:01 a.m. Monday, is offering as much as 60 percent off a Panasonic VIERA 55-inch TV that's usually priced higher than $1,000. Sears is offering $430 off a Maytag washer and dryer, each on sale for $399. And Kmart is offering 75 percent off all of its diamond earrings and $60 off a 12-in-1 multigame table on sale for $89.99.

Delisa O'Brien, 24, took advantage of some of the deals on Monday. O'Brien, who said she would rather shop online than deal with the crowds in stores, bought an H-P Notebook for $399 on Hewlett Packard's website for her mother. The company threw in a free Nook e-book reader with her purchase.

"When it comes to Black Friday, I'm a tiny, 5'1" woman and the thought of having to push and shove my way through hoards of people just to get cheap merchandise is kind of a nightmare to me," said O'Brien, a Brooklyn, N.Y. resident. "My mom gets a new laptop, I get an e-reader, and all without spending too much money ... Everybody wins."

Chas Rowland, 34, a pastor in Vicksburg, Miss., agrees. He said that he prefers shopping online on his iPad. On Cyber Monday, he bought clothes at several online retailers, toys at Toys R Us and electronics and phone accessories from Best Buy. He got at least 40 percent off everything and free shipping on some items.

"The best part was that I got to sleep while everyone else was standing in lines all night long on Black Friday," he said.

How well retailers fare on Cyber Monday will offer insight into Americans' evolving shopping habits during the holiday shopping season. With the growth in high speed Internet access and the wide use of smartphones and tablets, people are relying less on their work computers to shop than they did when Shop.org, the digital division of trade group The National Retail Federation, introduced the term "Cyber Monday."

As a result, the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday has become busy for online shopping as well. Indeed, online sales on Thanksgiving Day, traditionally not a popular day for online shopping, rose 32 percent over last year to $633 million, according to comScore. And online sales on Black Friday were up 26 percent from the same day last year, to $1.042 billion. It was the first time online sales on Black Friday surpassed $1 billion.

For the holiday season-to-date, comScore found that $13.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 16 percent increase over last year. The research firm predicts that online sales will surpass 10 percent of total retail spending this holiday season. The National Retail Federation estimates that overall retail sales in November and December will be up 4.1 percent this year to $586.1 billion.

But as other days become popular for online shopping, Cyber Monday may lose some of its cache. To be sure, Cyber Monday hasn't always been the biggest online shopping day. In fact, up until three years ago, that title was historically earned by the last day shoppers could order items with standard shipping rates and get them delivered before Christmas. That day changes every year, but usually falls in late December.

Even though Cyber Monday is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year, industry watchers say it could just be a matter of time before other days take that ranking.

"Of all the benchmark spending days, Thanksgiving is growing at the fastest rate, up 128 percent over the last five years," said Andrew Lipsman, a spokesman with comScore.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-26-Cyber%20Monday/id-855dc3652ccf4d0a9ddbb3d0181fd3f5

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Monday, November 26, 2012

Sales rules to be tightened - The Nation

Bancassurance

THE NATION November 26, 2012 1:00 am

The central bank met with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of the Insurance Commission last week to beef up supervision of sales of securities and insurance products through commercial banks. The regulations will take effect next year for all commercial banks authorised to sell securities and insurance products.

The complaints included offers of life insurance policies bundled with safe deposit boxes and credit extensions together with a sales pitch for securities and insurance products without clear information of the risks.

The regulations enforce basic consumer rights, including the right to be informed, right to choose, right to be heard and right to redress.

Commercial banks also have to follow the rules, procedures and conditions for consumer rights' protection. They are required to show the difference between securities and insurance products and bank deposits, and their risks. Information on returns must be disclosed.

The report said the regulations prohibit commercial banks from forcing purchases of securities and insurance products tied with bank products or setting conditions for sales or services or main products. Commercial banks must let consumers decide on whether to purchase products or refuse to make purchases. Under the regulations, commercial banks are prohibited from promoting sales with rewards.

"Commercial banks must have measures to ensure customers have product knowledge and understanding. They have to provide product information on risks, returns, consumer protection, past performance and taxes," the report said.

Commercial banks are also required to separate the counter for sales of securities and insurance products and the counter for cash deposits and withdrawals with clear signs. Connected transactions for such products like money transfer after securities purchases can be made at the counter for sales of securities and insurance products.

Commercial banks, under the new regulations, have to set up after-sales procedures and a complaint system to facilitate customers. If commercial banks are proven to have breached the regulations with intent or through carelessness and caused consumers any damage, the banks are liable for proper compensation. Consumers' confidentiality must be maintained.

Weidt Nuchjalearn, a senior executive vice president of Krungthai Bank, said the regulations would make it harder for banks to cross-sell products. In cross-selling, the banks do not force customers to buy other products but just recommend them other products besides the main ones they intend to buy. However, if these recommendations make consumers feel annoyed, this might risk being deemed as violating the regulations.

Some banks might sell products in a manner that is in the blurred line between cross-selling and forced-selling of products, he added.

Regulations for sale of commercial bank products

- Must clearly identify the different characters of the products to consumers

- Must fully disclose product details

- Must not force consumers to buy securities and insurance products tied

with bank products or set sales conditions

- Must not promote product sales by giving buyers a chance to enter a lucky

draw for other items

- Must not promote products in a manner that annoys consumers or

infringes on their privacy

- Must not use misleading advertisement messages

Latest stories in this category


Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Sales-rules-to-be-tightened-30195017.html

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Exercise to Fight Childhood Obesity | Childhood Obesity Prevention

Raise a Smarter, Healthier Child
America?s fight against childhood obesity starts in your own home

EXERCISE MAKES YOUR CHILD SMARTER

The fitter children are, the better their brains work. That?s hard science from researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who tested elementary-school students.

Physically fit kids had greater P3 amplitude, a measurement of brain activity related to memory and focus, and faster P3 latency, meaning they were able to process information faster. ?Parts of your brain don?t develop until the late teenage years,? says Charles H. Hillman, Ph.D., the study?s lead author. ?These data show that those who are fit are better able to use what they have.?

The number of students taking phys ed fell 30 percent in the past 10 years. Read the Men?s Health special report on The 7 Ways to Reform America?s Physcial Education

Elementary-school students may have the most to gain from physical education. In a review of 44 studies examining the relation-ship between physical activity and cognition in children of varying ages, researchers at Arizona State University found that the youngest kids (grades one through five) improved cognitive development the most, followed by middle-school students.

The California Department of Education found that the fittest students in the state scored best on academic tests. For instance, the average reading score of students who achieved one of six goals on the statewide fitness evaluation was 38; students who achieved all six fitness goals averaged a reading score of 52.

At Arrowhead High School, organized exercise helped Corey Wise organize his schoolwork. ?I started taking as much time with my homework as I did with my workout,? he says. Class became fun, and it showed in his grades. Your child may benefit from planned activity, too.

3 WAYS TO HELP YOUR KIDS EAT BETTER

Promise Academy, a charter school in Harlem, New York, closed its doors to vending machines and food brought in from outside. It serves only healthy food. Until your school does the same, it?s up to you to take control. Use these simple strategies to help your kids eat healthfully.

1. Enroll in a cooking class

And involve the kids. Children who learn about cooking learn about food. ?Cooking classes open your mind to a variety of different ways to prepare healthy food,? says Andrew Benson, head chef at Promise Academy. Benson offers a cooking class for parents and students; the children aren?t the only ones who develop healthy habits. ?Parents become interested in learning how to change their diets and their lives,? he says. Go to cookingschools.com to find a class near you.

2. Make friends with a farmer

?If you go to a farmers? market, they?ll usually give advice on how to prepare the foods,? says Benson. Fresher food is more nutritious food. And the closer a child is to the source of food (visit a farm if you can), the more interested he or she will be in nutrition. That?s crucial ? because even children who consume excess calories have nutrient deficiencies. Canadian researchers found that 87 percent of kids don?t get enough vitamin E, 28 percent lack magnesium, and 45 percent miss out on vitamin D. And a study in Pediatrics found that more than 60 percent of kids are calcium deficient, which, along with a lack of exercise, may have caused a rise in bone fractures.

3. No more soda

Stock up on milk and bottled water (if your tap water doesn?t taste good). Kids get more than 50 percent of their beverages at home. When researchers at Children?s Hospital Boston sent bottled water to families to replace their sugary drinks, kids lost about a pound a month. And a study in the journal Pediatrics found that overweight preschool children are twice as likely to remain overweight if they drink sugar-sweetened beverages. Note that 100 percent juice is okay ? it supplies fiber and key nutrients.

BY THE NUMBERS

29: Percentage of kids who take no physical-education class at all

8: Percentage of schools that meet nationally recommended exercise requirements

45: Percentage of kids who are overweight or obese

Source: http://www.childhoodobesitydeerpark.com/?p=472

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Sunday, November 25, 2012

My fish is such a poser! #fish #fishtagram #pets | Flickr - Photo ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kattykinns/8216710839/

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Give the gift of premium Web services

10 hrs.

As you're trying to come up with great gifts for the holidays, software likely isn't the first thing that comes to mind. It can make a great gift for the right person, though, especially when they're not willing to shell out the cash themselves (as so few people are). Here are some of our favorite (and your favorite) premium Web services that not only boost productivity, but dish out a little holiday cheer too.

Note: Most of these are monthly subscriptions, so you can gift them however you like. Giving someone a few months or a year of a service is a great gift that you can tweak for your budget, and leave yourself room for the same gift next year if they really like it.

If a service doesn't offer a gift option, you can always use a prepaid credit card and give it to them for use with the service you're gifting.

SUBSCRIPTIONS?UNDER $5 A MONTH?

A personalized domain name
It?may sound silly for the No.?1 item on our list, but it's the cheapest subscription you can give, costing only $3.99 a year (that's 33 cents a month), and it's something everyone should have. They may not know it, but a personalized domain name can come in extremely handy, and will only get more important as time goes on. They can post their online CV or resume there, redirect it to their Twitter or Facebook page, and further control how the Internet sees you. The quicker you snatch it up before someone else with the same name, the better. We've linked to Namecheap below, since that's your favorite domain registrar, but check out our Hive Five for a few other options.

Crashplan+
If you have a friend who still isn't backing up their data, it's the perfect time to give them the gift of bulletproof backup thanks to Crashplan. Even if they're backing up to an external drive, that isn't good enough???they need something in the cloud so no matter what happens, their backups are always accessible and they don't become another sad story of lost data. Crashplan is our favorite option, being cheap and easy to set up, so get them in the habit now. If you're particularly cheap, RobotTaco notes that you can get a free subscription right now from this page.

LastPass and Xmarks Premium
I
f you know someone with multiple computers, the gift of synchronization can be a wonderful thing. Give them a combined subscription to LastPass and Xmarks for their passwords, bookmarks, history, open tabs, and everything else so they're able to browse easily from any computer.?

Xmarks is convenient, but LastPass is the most important app here, as it gives you the enhanced security everyone should have???make sure they create good passwords and turn on two-factor authentication, while you're at it, so they don't fall prey to the ever-increasing number of hacks happening nowadays.?

The pro versions give you access to the mobile apps for each service, more secure two-factor authentication with a thumb drive or YubiKey, plus an ad-free experience and priority support. You can buy each service separately, but buying them both together gets you a pretty sweet discount.

Pandora One
Everyone loves Pandora, but no one likes ads interrupting their music. Reader jrod3737recommended a subscription to Pandora One as a gift for just about anyone: it not only ditches the ads, but lets you use the Pandora desktop client, customize your experience with skins, and listen to higher quality audio all day long. You can either buy a month-to-month subscription or grab an entire year for a discounted price.

Evernote Premium
Evernote is still your favorite note-taking application, and it's only gotten better lately. If you know someone that isn't using Evernote yet???particularly if they need some extra organization in their life??a subscription to Evernote Premium is a great way to get them started. A premium subscription gets you more space per month, offline notebooks, collaborative notes, better speed, PDF search, priority support, an ad-free experience, and more. It's the perfect way to take someone's organization from good to awesome with one simple download.

SUBSCRIPTIONS UNDER $10 A MONTH

Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime's combination of two-day shipping and sizable library of streaming TV shows and movies makes a fantastic gift for?...?well, anyone who ever uses Amazon. And if they don't use Amazon, they will once they can buy anything with free two-day shipping. Of course, you could always share your two-day shipping benefits with them, but getting them their own subscription lets them stream movies too, which is always nice???especially if they have a home theater PC or streaming set-top box in their living room.

Netflix and Hulu Plus
For the true TV addict, grab them a subscription to Netflix and/or Hulu Plus so they can watch all their favorite movies and TV shows on demand. Netflix is great for movies and TV shows alike, while Hulu Plus is particularly good for watching current seasons of shows as they air. Both subscriptions let you stream to a set-top box, too, and are the perfect companions for ditching an expensive cable subscription. Grab one or both for your friends and help set them free from the shackles of cable TV.

Spotify Premium
If your friend has truly embraced streaming and switched to Spotify for their music-listening needs, they need a premium subscription.?

Not only will it get rid of the ads (which the cheaper "Unlimited" subscription will also do), but it gives them higher-quality audio and lets them listen on their iPhone or Android phone, truly completing the Spotify experience.

?It may not be ready to replace most people's libraries, but if you know someone whose fallen in love with it, you should help them go all-out with a Premium subscription.?

Alternatively, if you don't like Spotify, you can grab them a subscription to one of the other great music services out there, like Grooveshark or Rdio.

FOR THE BIG SPENDERS: SUBSCRIPTIONS $10 A MONTH AND UP

A VPN for privacy and international browsing
A VPN (virtual private network)?may seem like an ultra geeky gift, but it's something not everyone knows they need, and nobody wants to pay for. However, it can be useful for all sorts of people, but especially good for users looking for an extra bit of privacy (like bittorrent users) or, as reader JeshuaSanmentions, those living internationally (who?want to watch Hulu or listen to Spotify when it isn't available in their country). Every user is different, so hit the link below to see some of the VPNs we recommend.

  • Choose a VPN (Subscriptions range from $7.99/month to $38/month)

Extra Dropbox space
Dropbox is one of our all-time favorite Web services, and while you can grab a lot of space for free, sometimes you just need to pony up for a premium subscription. A subscription to expanded space can be great for students, video editors with large files, or people that just want to sync their large musicor photo libraries across computers. Alternatively, you can also grab someone one of the cheaper options, like Google Drive, Skydrive, or Box.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who provided suggestions last week! It made putting together these guides a lot easier, and a better fit for you.

More?from Lifehacker:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/give-gift-premium-web-services-1C7209890

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Small Business Owners: Go Online-Go Offline Or Both

Offline business owners are trying to take their business online. Online business owners are trying to take their business offline. Maybe everyone should do a little more of both.

Until recently small business owners were primarily thought of as off line businesses. They could be a micro-businesses like a one or two man shop. They might have a handful of employees or even up to 100 or so.

Today's small-business owners can find themselves both working out in the real world and on the World Wide Web. Many businesses are realizing the advantage of doing both.

For example Internet business owners have the benefit of not needing a lot of employees. However to make their business grow faster they are outsourcing day to day tasks. Some of them are even finding real cost savings in countries such as the Philippines or India.

Off line business owners have often relied on a specialist to do their advertising for them. This could include the yellow page rep for advertising in a local yellow page book. It could also include a sales rep for newspaper, radio, television or direct mail.

Many Internet businesses are promoting in local newspapers. Some savvy Internet business owners are actually doing Internet advertising for local offline businesses.

Small business owners are looking to these type of individuals to help them establish an online presence. As off-line advertising such as Yellow Pages continues to dwindle having a strong local Internet presence is really beginning to pay off.

One thing that both off line and online businesses can benefit from his email marketing. Every off-line business should have a website with a sign-up form on it. Internet businesses that are promoting off line find themselves promoting landing pages that directly build their list.

All advertising continues to be expensive. There is a very big advantage to building an email marketing last that can be accessed at any time.

Off-line small business owners can run a sale and let their email list know about it. This can bring customers into a store or help make the phone ring for a seasonal business such as landscaping or air conditioning.

Internet business owners can promote their website directly in a newspaper ad. Unlike a static yellow page ad they can make changes to their website to match the type of ad they just ran in the newspaper. As you can see there are many benefits for small business owners to be both offline and online at the same time.

If you find yourself doing more of one than the other you may want to re-evaluate how you are currently promoting your business. Having more of both off-line and online advertising can mean a huge impact on your bottom line!

Source: http://canuckclicks.blogspot.com/2012/11/small-business-owners-go-online-go.html

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