May 21st, 2008
Fibromyalgia is a chronic and painful condition that is extremely hard to diagnose. The main symptoms are constant pain and stiffness in the musculoskeletal parts of the body, soft tissue tenderness and sleep disturbances leading to extreme tiredness. The pain is mostly felt in the neck, back, pelvic girdle and hands, though any other parts of the body may be affected.
This disease is very hard to diagnose because so many of the symptoms are similar to other problems like chronic fatigue, rheumatism and arthritis. Doctors must rely a great deal on their patients’ description of symptoms. There is a manual standardized test that can be given to discover if there is pain at specified points of the body. If 11 out of 18 of these specified points are tender, and the patient has had pain in all four quadrants of the body for at least three months then Fibromyalgia is certainly suspected.
A compounding problem is that these symptoms can come and go from week to week. Numbness, tingling and burning may also be present and the pain can be affected by emotional stress, trauma and also by weather conditions such as humidity and cold. Too little or too much activity can also play a part in the amount of pain experienced.
Sometimes FM can be triggered by an illness or injury, but it is also thought to be genetic. New research has shown that it may be caused by an interpretive defect of the central nervous system that causes abnormal pain perception.
Once the condition has been diagnosed, there is much the patient can do to relieve the symptoms. Certainly the advice of a medical health-care provider should be sought and followed, but there are many alternative treatments that offer relief from the symptoms and most doctors agree that sufferers of FM should put into place a multi-faceted treatment regimen that includes nutrition, exercise, dietary supplements, acupuncture, aroma-therapy, relaxation techniques and even the use of hot-cold therapies and humor to aid in pain relief.
Over the counter pain relief medication such as ibuprofen can be used, while low doses of anti-depressants from the doctor can certainly help the sufferer to get better sleep. Lidocaine injections into tender pain points may also be needed for relief. Gentle exercise and stretching will prevent the muscles from wasting away and is also beneficial in reducing pain and stiffness
Because living with a chronic illness such as FM can be so debilitating, sufferers need emotional support as well as physical. Joining an FM support group can provide helpful insights into the disease, while counseling sessions with a trained professional can open communication with friends and family who often cannot understand the extensive disabilities caused by FM. If you are an FM sufferer, it is important to keep a hopeful attitude even in the face of debilitating pain, because this disease does tend to improve over time and there are always new and different treatments being discovered.
Brennan Howe is owner of www.freeinfosites.com. Where you will find free information on a variety of topics including back pain relief.
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May 21st, 2008
The average woman will own hundreds of items of clothing in her
lifetime, but none have the importance, the emotional impact and
the beauty of the wedding dress.
A wedding dress is much more than just another garment; it is a
symbol of everlasting love and commitment.
==Places To Buy A Wedding Dress==
Choosing the perfect wedding dress, therefore, is one of the
most important decisions any woman will ever make. There are
many places to buy a wedding dress, from the high end department
store to specialty dress makers to even the internet.
Where you get your dress can have a profound impact on the
biggest day of your life, so it just makes sense to shop around
carefully and take the time you need to find the perfect dress.
==Choosing A Dress That Reflect Your Style And Taste==
It is of course important to choose a wedding dress which most
reflects your personal taste and style.
It is also important to choose a wedding dress that is
reflective of the theme of your wedding. You would not want to
choose a plain wedding dress for a big formal wedding, just as
an overly formal wedding dress would be out of place at a more
casual wedding.
==Find The Right Person To Make Your Dress==
Perhaps no decision is more important, however, than finding the
right person to make your wedding dress. There are many
seamstresses and dressmakers out there, but it is important to
choose one who can make a dress to your specifications.
When choosing a wedding dress maker, be sure to ask for
references, and check those references. Find out what former
customers liked, and did not like, about their dress. Ask lots
of questions; after all you are dealing with the most important
dress you will ever wear.
==Off The Shelf Wedding Dresses==
Of course there are lots of places that sell off the shelf
wedding dresses as well, and this can be a cost effective
alternative to ordering a custom made wedding dress.
There are specialty stores that sell only wedding dresses, prom
gowns, and other special occasion dresses, and these stores can
have an excellent selection and some great prices as well.
In addition, there are wedding dresses for sale on the internet
as well. There are a number of excellent internet retailers who
sell good dresses at great prices, so be sure to check online
and see what the internet has to offer you.
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May 20th, 2008
Holding a successful corporate event can have many benefits, from the obvious, such as team building and problem solving, to the not so obvious, such as increased productivity and morale. But what is the best way to go about this sometimes daunting task?
Define your goals, e.g. team building.
Before you think about the event itself, you need to identify what you want to achieve from it. You may want to reward your employees for a job well done, or perhaps have a fun day to increase staff motivation. Many events are designed to enhance skills such as team building, problem solving or leadership, and most events can be a combination of fun and learning. Compile a list of goals in order of importance so you can stay focussed on the aims of the day when deciding which event to run.
Organise internally or out-source to an event management company?
The next decision to make is whether to organise the event internally or to out-source the event to an event management or training company. Organising a corporate event internally is time consuming and costly, but it could be given as a development task to suitable staff. One of the pitfalls of organising corporate events yourself, is using an inexperienced facilitator, as they may not be capable of keeping the event on track or preventing things getting out of hand. Not only could an event management company provide an experienced facilitator, there is also the advantage of having an independent presence (or referee in some instances).
Many companies have been shocked at the amount of time organising an event actually takes, from designing the event, sourcing the venue, booking the venue, sourcing and organising the equipment, preparing the venue, sorting out transport, organising the food and refreshments and obtaining public liability insurance, to paying the bills to various companies. An event management company will quote you one price covering everything, which leaves you free to enjoy the event, rather than worry about it.
Choose your event
So you know what you want from an event, and you know who will be organising it, but what exactly will you be doing on the day? The event needs to be chosen carefully to ensure you meet your desired goals whilst getting the most from the participants. Consider your audience. If one of your goals is to give people new experiences then you may want to run a very creative event for IT people or a chaotic event for auditors, but otherwise you may not get the best out of the staff if they are feeling way out of their depth and uncomfortable. Event management companies will offer a list of events to suit your goals and people, leaving you to choose the most appropriate one. They will also tailor events to your requirements, and will have run these events many times before, so you can be sure of the outcome.
If you are organising the event yourself, you need to ensure it does actually give you the required benefits. It is all too easy to get carried away with an idea, and later realise it changed so much that the event did not achieve many of the original goals. If you are organising it internally, you will also need a practice run, preferably at the actual venue, to iron out any practical problems before the big day.
Analyse the outcome
Particularly if the event had goals other than just having fun, it is important to analyse the outcome. You, or the event management company, can obtain feedback from the participants in the form of questionnaires. You also need to consider the less tangible benefits from the event, for example, are the team now gelling better together, is productivity up due to a better team morale, or has sickness reduced? Think about what you can learn from the feedback, such as understanding your staff better, making changes to the workplace/procedures, or shaping future events. An event management company will often help with this analysis if required, and even facilitate follow-on sessions if necessary.
Good luck with your event!
Four Seasons Event Management is a Hampshire based Event Management and Event Planning team. Offerring a range of extensive corporate events across the UK. For more information visit the company website http://www.fs-em.co.uk/corporate_hospitality_n.html or email info@fs-em.co.uk
Four Seasons - Greencroft, Manchester Road, Sway, Lymington, New Forest, Hampshire, SO41 6AS
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May 19th, 2008
Basketball jerseys are the more preferred sports apparel among school and college going crowd. Jerseys are part of the official sports apparel of NBA and other basketball teams. However, players are not the only ones who you can spot wearing NBA jerseys. Conversely, players are a very minute section of the sports apparel business. Most of the buyers are sports lovers and NBA fans. They wear NBA jerseys to support and cheer for their favorite NBA teams.
Reasons for Popularity of NBA Jersey
NBA has the majority share of the basketball fanfare; therefore, NBA jerseys are very popular among basketball fans. When you wear a team jersey for a NBA game, you automatically indicate your preference and team following. However, trendy NBA jerseys are not restricted to the sports arena. Replica jerseys have become an acceptable piece of normal attire by many places and you will find many guys donning a Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson or Bill Russell jersey on the streets, pubs, discos, schools and colleges.
Music videos, fashion and advertising industries have largely contributed to the growing demand for sports apparel in general and NBA jerseys in particular. Many music videos and advertisements feature persons wearing replica jerseys, which has contributed to the popularity of NBA jerseys. Now even people who have no die-hard fanfare or even love for this sport would be seen wearing a NBA jersey just as a style or fashion statement.
Introduction of throwback NBA jerseys, which are the replica jerseys of the teams and players of the past, has further expanded the demand for sports apparel. Sports apparel manufacturers, basketball equipment stores and sports equipment stores are finding hard to cope with increasing demand for custom jerseys, authentic jerseys and replica jerseys. For some brands like Nike Basketball and NBA, you may have to source your favorite team jersey at least 2 months before start of the sporting season to get a good pick.
Football Jerseys, Hockey Jerseys, Basketball Jerseys, Baseball Jerseys, Soccer Jerseys and Throwback jerseys. Visit http://www.a1-jerseys.com, your online resource for sports jerseys.
Related Articles
Throwback Jerseys- Treading Down the Memory Lane
Football Jerseys- the Great Transformation
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May 19th, 2008
Your grandma just left you an oil painting and you need a few copies; one for appraisal purposes and two for your siblings who would love to have a copy, too. A trip to the professional photographer involves a set up fee, print cost, and a negative that is unavailable for sale. The painting is too big for a flat bed scanner so digital copies are not feasible. One solution is to copy it yourself.
A good 35mm SLR camera with a normal lens will probably focus to two and one half feet. Even better is a six or eight megapixel DSLR or EVF camera. Use an ISO setting of 100 or slower. Critical is the correct use of lighting. Allowing the surface texture to show in your copies prevents displaying the true color and values of the picture. Ideally, two identical incandescent lamps in reflectors angled at forty-five degrees will minimize surface reflections. Place the painting vertically and line up the camera on a tripod exactly perpendicular to the painting. An alternative is to use the sun at a forty to fifty degree angle. Any other unbalanced source (single) is to be avoided.
Fill the view finder to about 80% of the viewfinder and check to see that all edges are parallel. The circle of light cast by the lamps determines the distance from the lights to the picture. Make sure all of the painting surface is evenly lit. Use an 80B filter with outdoor film or set your digital white balance at incandescent. A filter is not needed if electronic flash is the source of light. Electronic flash must be metered with a flash meter or calculated using the guide on the back of the flash. Equalize the distance from each flash to the center of the painting and aim the center of the cone of light at the furthest edge of the painting. Bracket your exposure one stop over and under the recommended F stop. F8 or F11 are the sharpest F stops.
The resulting proofs are NOT a good guide to choosing the negative with the best quality. If a digital camera was used then print a small test picture before making the enlargement. When viewed over a well lit white surface, it is not too difficult to choose the negative with the best color and contrast. A slight increase in contrast is generally considered a plus. When done properly, it is difficult for the average person to tell the difference between the copy and the original when viewed from a normal distance.
The digital world changed only the tools.
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May 19th, 2008
How to lower your gasoline cost by 50%, thru a step-by-step method, starting today by spending only 1 hour a month.
Introduction
As gasoline prices continue to climb higher and higher, many people are beginning to look for ways to slash their fuel bills. While there have been many different ideas put forth; some are not suitable for all consumers due to the fact that they must commute to work; are financially unable to trade in their existing vehicle for a smaller automobile or various other reasons.
Therefore, it is important to understand that there are; in fact, ways that you can actually lower your gasoline costs without taking any drastic measures.
You can quite easily begin to lower the amount of money that you must spend on gasoline by learning how to maneuver your car in such a way that it actually uses less gasoline.
Throughout this book, I will discuss many different ways that you can begin to see real differences in the amount of money you spend on gasoline by maneuvering your car differently.
Before we begin to delve into the many different ways that you can begin to improve your vehicle’s fuel economy, it’s important to first discuss understand the basics of fuel economy.
This won’t be a long, complicated discourse on the detailed nature of vehicle engines, but it will give you a simple and clear way to understand how your vehicle achieves fuel economy and most importantly; how you can accurately calculate your vehicle’s fuel economy.
When working on increasing your vehicle’s fuel economy, it’s important to keep a running log of your car’s mileage per gallon so that you will immediately notice if there have been any changes. These changes can signal the fact that you car may need maintenance, which as we will discuss later on; can make a great difference in your fuel economy.
Most vehicles, at least the newer models, come with a handy little sticker when you make your purchase that will tell you what kind of fuel economy you can expect to receive on that vehicle. While this can be a handy gauge, it won’t tell you exactly what kind of fuel economy your vehicle is receiving five years down the road; even six months down the road.
Once getting into the habit of recording their fuel economy based on actual facts, many people are often surprised at the difference between the fuel economy they’re supposed to get with their chosen vehicle and the fuel economy they’re actually receiving.
Fortunately, with a little knowledge; you can change that.
It’s a good idea to keep a notebook or journal of some type in your vehicle, along with a pen or pencil, so that you can quickly jot down information about your fuel economy when you fill up your vehicle. Waiting until you get back to the office or home, and writing it down haphazardly on scraps of paper, doesn’t work well.
Get in the habit of doing it when you fill up and keeping the information in the same place and you’ll find that it’s much easier and quicker to handle.
Take a look at the below legend to understand how to quickly and easily calculate and record your fuel mileage.
Date: This is the date you buy gas. This will help you budget for gas by showing you how often you fill up the tank.
Odometer: In this column, record the car’s odometer reading when you purchase gas.
Trip: One way to easily and quickly determine your fuel economy is to reset your trip meter to 0 each time you fill up your tank. This can help you to determine how far you travel between tanks of gas.
Gallons: This is the amount of gas required to refill the tank. When filling up your gas tank, always be sure to lock the gas pump handle and then allow it to shut off automatically. Never push it further by topping off the tank. This will help to ensure that you have a full tank of gas each time
MPG: This is the miles per gallon you get for a tank of gas.
Notes: This column is handy for making any notes about factors that might affect your vehicle’s fuel economy. If you needed to drive with snow tires this week; for example or if you took a trip onto particularly rough terrain. Make a note of anything that would explain any significant deviations in your vehicle’s fuel economy.
Here’s a quick way to determine your gas mileage. Simply divide the number of miles you have traveled since your last fill-up by the number of gallons recently purchased. In order to keep track of how many miles you’ve traveled since your last fill up, you may use one of two methods.
Either reset the trip meter to 0 after each fill-up or make a note of the odometer readings and calculate it that way.
When recording your vehicle’s fuel economy, it’s important to begin with a full tank of gas. Go about your normal driving (keeping in mind the tips you’ll read later on!) and then fill up again when the tank is down to full. When it hits this mark, it’s time to find out exactly what kind of mileage you’re actually getting.
To calculate your gas mileage, divide the number of miles you drove by the gallons of gas used. Most often, you’re not going to come up with nice, even round numbers. You’ll normally have fractions; such as 265.3 miles and 14 gallons of gas.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to also keep a small calculator with your journal (unless you’re just really good at long division) so that you can make accurate calculations. Always make sure that you calculate correctly and don’t estimate or guesstimate.
Keep in mind that you can’t expect to receive the same gas mileage each and every time. Sometimes there will be factors you cannot control that will cause your gas mileage to fluctuate; but the point is that you should begin to see a definable pattern.
After you’ve been calculating your fuel economy for awhile, you’ll begin to see that pattern. The important thing here to understand is your average fuel economy. This, too, is very easy to calculate. Let’s suppose that your calculations for the past few weeks look something like this: 21, 19, 23, 27, 17, 26.
To find out the average fuel economy of your vehicle, simply total these numbers and then divide by the number of figures you are averaging. So, in this example; our average fuel economy would be 133 divided by 6; which would be 22.16 mpg.
Ted Ljungqvist
www.optimaldriving.com
I’m a resident of Sweden and a founder of the optimal driving concept.
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May 18th, 2008
Why are so many more people frightened of riding in an aeroplane than driving in their car? The risk of being injured in a car is far greater than being injured in an aeroplane. I can offer this theory: it’s because aeroplane crashes are so rare and auto crashes are so commonplace. This may sound a little like strange logic, but it’s simple really. Does every car crash get reported on the news? Of course not! There are too many of them. It’s the same when a dog bites a man. Some dogs can turn on people - yet most of us take them in their stride. Don’t get me wrong - most dogs are great but just a few of them can turn round and bite with little provocation. This doesn’t happen very often, but it certainly beats aeroplane crashes in the statistics league.
OK, so unless you catch rabies, dog bites are nowhere near as serious as car crashes. The carnage and misery from auto crashes is so common that it is rarely reported. Yet, a rare aeroplane incident, even a minor one, can reach the headlines.
This is because news is reported by exception. Usually, only out-of-the-ordinary events are reported. In a generally good world (well I think so, anyway) we are fed mainly bad news stories. Understandable, as bad news is the exception. Trouble is, this gives us an upside-down of the world. Some of the greatest killers in our world, such as cigarettes, automobiles, AIDS and cancer continue to cause such mass misery, virtually unnoticed, except by those directly affected.
Just take this litmus test: how many people do you know that have been involved in an aeroplane crash, or even near miss? Now think how many people you know that have been involved in road traffic accidents. Come to think of it, how many people do you know that have won a lottery jackpot? And that’s the thing. Your odds of perishing in an aeroplane accident or nearer to the odds of winning a major jackpot.
A similar thing could be said of crime. Murders are high up the news agenda. Why? Because they are the exception and not the rule. I think that most of us should at least appreciate that we don’t live in a society where murders are so common that the news media give up reporting them.
One very common problem, and another hidden killer, is food poisoning or food infection. Now, back to the litmus test: how many times have you had an upset tummy, brought about, so you suspect, by eating infected food? Was it reported on the news? No, nor were the other millions of cases around us. This may shock you, but the average annual deaths from aeroplane accidents in the U.S. stands at 234 compared with 5,000 deaths from food poisoning. The chances of us getting ill from some kind of food poisoning is 1 in 10 and this figure may be conservative because food poisoning is often not reported.
But who, or what has causes food poisoning? Well, many things cause food infection, such as poor personal hygiene or mixing cooked and raw meats. And, of course a very common cause can be found flying in the air. But these are not aeroplanes; these are disease carrying house flies - a very common source of food poisoning.
Eliminating this risk requires some simple precautions such as personal hygiene and sealing open food when not in use. Oh, and what could be simpler and more obvious than buying a fly killer machine?
I know that food infections, fly killer machines and the rest will not make front page news, but I would be happy to walk down any street at night or to ride in any aeroplane, than risk being poisoned by fly infected food.
You can buy fly killers here
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May 17th, 2008
Few things about raising my children scare me more than
balancing the need for security in today’s world and teaching
them to grow up to be independent women. Independence is a vital
and exciting part of growing up. Allowing them to develop pride
in their competence, experiencing challenges and surviving,
experimenting with risks and their own way of doing things all
help them gain more control over what happens to them. These are
all essential if our children are to grow up to become
independent responsible adults. It is critical that our children
have new freedoms and responsibilities, as and when they are
ready to cope with them.
The problem is the outside world has become a very dangerous
place. We, as parents are naturally concerned about giving our
children greater freedom to play and travel without adult
supervision. Because of these very real dangers, instead of
encouraging our children to go off on their own and experiment,
giving out responsibility and freedom gradually, we supervise,
chaperone, contain, and watch them like hawks. Fear of things
like traffic accidents and molestation mean we drive our kids to
school and friends’ houses. We sometimes discourage them from
playing in the front yard never mind the street or the park down
the block.
When our children are safely indoors, it frees us from worry and
gives us a wonderful feeling of relief. To add virtue to our
self-interest, we tell ourselves it is in the best interest of
our children. When that child has diabetes, it’s just one less
time that our child, and their condition, is out of our direct
control. But we have to ask ourselves, is it really in the best
interest of our children? Might we be losing a proper sense of
balance between security and independence? When we issue
constant reminders of the “dangers of strangers” we get in the
way of our children’s willingness and ability to go places by
themselves, even when it’s a place we are willing to let them go.
We often give our children mixed messages about how capable they
are or should be. We sometimes do it backwards. When they are
little we give them lots of independence and choices about
things that may give them too much control over what they would
like to do. This gives them a fair amount of power before they
really know how to manage it. Now I’m sure this doesn’t pertain
to your household so take a look at some of your friends. You
watch how their toddlers act and wonder who’s running the
asylum. Now when our children approach and reach adolescence, a
time when they need to feel confident and be taking back some of
that control, we tell them it’s a mean cruel world out there.
This in effect tells them that they can’t be trusted at a time
in their lives when that’s just what we should be doing.
The single best way to acquire the skills needed for
independence and coping is through experience. Experience also
builds common sense and lessens fear. For example, if we walked
more with our children when they were young by the time they
reached adolescence they would have developed “road sense” and a
healthy attitude toward traffic. If we are out and about more
with our children when they are young they would develop a
better sense of what is normal and what is strange behavior and
be able to react more confidently and sensibly. Allowing
ourselves and our children to confront these situations in a
controlled manner keeps them in proportion. Not confronting them
only makes them scarier. Staying indoors and riding in a car are
not the best way to acquire life skills.
Balancing Rights and Responsibilities Independence is all about
gaining self-reliance and responsibility. When we give our
children more responsibility, we should also add more rights to
go along with it so they learn that both are part of growing up
and can be proud that it’s happening. Any time we give our
children more rights, we should also add more responsibility to
balance everything out. It will help them from becoming
self-centered. A good time to add these might be birthdays or
other events that acknowledge their increasing maturity. This
way, responsibilities are not resented, but accepted with pride
as signs of growing up. Getting started doing this is fairly
easy. Make a list of tasks you think they can be responsible
for. Feeding the dog, doing the dishes, or whatever you think is
appropriate for their age. Balance these new responsibilities
with new rights. A later bedtime, more allowance, whatever you
think is fair. Then step back and give them the opportunity to
accomplish their task. Don’t make approval conditional on
success especially early on. The old college try is often a
great teacher. Don’t hover over them while they are doing it.
Leave them to their task as a sign of trust. Don’t have too high
expectations. And finally, let go! Gradually step back and allow
them to increase their independence.
This whole concept may take a little while for everyone to
master, our children and us. However, Independence is a critical
life skill for our children. It is our responsibility to teach
it to them. Our right for accepting this responsibility is to
spoil our grandchildren.
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May 17th, 2008
Once a young priest asked his honest grandmother how she found
his first sermon. She answered:” I noticed only three flaws in
it. First, you were reading. Second, you were not reading very
well. And third, that sermon was not worth reading at all!” We
can only imagine how the priest reacted to such words. But I
don’t think he was pleased. In some colleges and universities
after submitting your term papers you have to
present them orally. You are expected to make public speeches
and to capture the attention of your exacting professors. How to
avoid such comment from their side? And instead impress them
with your speaking and be proud of yourself? They say, that if
you steal one idea it is plagiarism and if a lot of then it is
education. Why can’t we learn from the most prominent orators
and their secrets of success? Let’s do it right now. No long
speeches!!! You can make a speech longer than 20 minutes, but
remember you are not paid for it. Never say “In conclusion”,
“And the last thing I would like to tell you” if you have more
than a minute before the actual end. Your listeners will be
bored to death, when after these words you continue speaking for
another 15 minutes. Maneuvering! Without some maneuvers your
speech will be insipid like meat without salt. Expression Your
speech is your way of giving a part of you to people. Expression
may be considered as inner speech. Be emotional and people will
listen to you with interest. Humor (not at colleges/
universities) If you are not making your speech on your colle
ge term paper, say something funny and something humorous at
the beginning of the speech. If people smile at you, they are
yours. Humor is some kind of emotional argument, which people
accept with pleasure. Practice makes perfect. If you are at the
football ground for the first time, you are hardly to become a
leading player. Don’t miss a single opportunity to make speeches
in public.Pausing.Maugham said, that if you took a pause, make
it a long one. Scientists determined that being silent (not
shouting) serves as an attention grabber. Your pauses will give
a listener ability to think about your words. Don’t panic. You
must not make excuses like: * You had too little time for
preparation * See the microphone for the first time * You are
worried and so on. It has a negative effect on the emotional
atmosphere among the audience. And then it will be more
difficult and confusing for you to go on speaking. It is better
to joke and if you stumbled, that is all right. Make a pause and
then go ahead. Let your silence be thoughtful: You will impress
everyone, if after a reflecting pause; you will continue your
speech with more energy. Contrasts always capture attention.
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May 16th, 2008
Telecommunications contracts can be much like a marriage and as
we all know there are good and bad marriages. The fact is, when
you enter into a telecommunications contract with a DS3
Bandwidth provider for reasonable amount of bandwidth or voice
service you will have to enter into a long term contract.
Telecommunications contracts for T1’s and DS’3s/T3’s typically
range from 1 years to 3 years. Anything longer than a 3 year
contract is usually only seen in very large applicatons like OC3
and OC12 or complex frame relay connections with many nodes.
While the term of the contract will not be a problem if you have
the right provider, the contract could prove extrememly
burdomsome with the wrong provider.
We suggest using a broker to walk you through your options and
show you the providers and services available. A broker or
independent agent can help reduce the time it takes you to shop
around for a DS3 provider by asking you the questions once and
searching through multiple providers to get the service that is
right for you. The agent helps steer clear of the bias you will
receive when speaking with one vendor as the agent will be paid
no matter which service you choose. As the agent doesn’t work
with a specific provider like AT&T or Sprint, he or she will not
push you in that direction if they are not right for you.
Remember that the DS3 Bandwidth provider you select will be your
partner for quite some time so take caution in your decision.
The worst part of being with a bad provider is the fact that it
will affect your business. Dropped calls or an internet
connection that goes down can be disastrous to a business. We
found that the larger companies like AT&T and Sprint will
release companies from long term contracts it if is shown that
the voice or data DS3 service was faulty on a regular basis,
however the release from such a contract will not help recoup
the damages of the lost calls and e-mails from the poor service.
When shopping for a DS3 provider we suggest using a broker and
asking for referals from current customers to give you an
indication of what you can expect.
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