Archive for June, 2008

BBC News | Magazine | UK Edition

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives. Also entertainment, business, science, technology and health news.

Backgammon has a long fascinating history of more than 5000 years, making it one of the oldest games in civilization. The earliest backgammon board, from an early version of the game, was found circa 3000 B.C. in the royal cemetery in Ur of the Chaldees in southern Mesopotamia(now called Iraq), the birthplace of Abraham.

The game has been played around the world and throughout recorded history. A form of the game was enjoyed by the Egyptian Pharoahs; boards dating from 1500 B.C. were found in King Tut’s tomb. Wall paintingsin many Egyptian tombs portray people playing the game, indicating that it was played by the common people as well as the Pharaohs. A thousand years later, the Greeks were playing a form of the game. Homer, Sophocles, and Plato mention the game in their works. In Rome, the game long remained one of the most popular among the patricians. Emperor Claudius reportedly wrote a book on backgammon.

The excavators of Pompeii found a backgammon table in the courtyard of almost every villa. Various early versions of the game were popular in Britain, dating from the Crusades. It has always been a favourite game of the English. It is believed that the current form of the game evolved in the tenth century. Backgammon has been played in the United States since the seventeenth century.

However, the doubling cube was only introduced to the game in the early 1920s by an anonymous genius. This greatly enhanced the quality of backgammon and increased its popularity in the United States. The game had another surge of interest in the 1970s, but has waned in popularity in recent years due primarily to the advent of video and computer games.

When backgammon is played with the right people and strategy, it can be a very fascinating and addictive game for everybody. Hopefully, interest in this ancient game will increase in the near future. Perhaps, if more people discover the real game of backgammon, it will regain the popularity that it deserves.

For more information on the playing backgammon online, learning backgammon rules or getting backgammon board, please visit the following website: Backgammon Guide

©Skyjoe. All rights reserved. This article may be freely distributed as long as it remains unaltered and the copyright notice is intact. No alteration is allowed without express written permission from the author.

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Italian director Dino Risi dies

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Italian film director Dino Risi, twice nominated for Oscars for Profumo di Donna (Scent of a Woman), dies aged 91.

This article provides an overview of several business finance factors that commercial borrowers should understand before attempting to obtain a Small Business Administration loan (SBA loan) to buy either commercial real estate or a business opportunity investment. There are many commercial mortgage and business loan misunderstandings involving the use of an SBA loan due to the complex nature of this approach to business financing.

Two of the most difficult business loan and commercial mortgage situations for a business owner involve obtaining a Small Business Administration loan and refinancing an SBA loan. There are practical business finance solutions for both of these common business investment problems.

Are SBA Loan and Business Finance Programs Difficult?

There are usually two schools of thought about getting a Small Business Administration loan to buy a business:

(1) Avoid this kind of commercial loan at all costs.
(2) Use such a business finance loan whenever possible.

These conflicting investment financing viewpoints are due to a commercial mortgage business loan process that is perceived as complex and difficult by many commercial borrowers.

In reality SBA loan programs are more practical than they often appear. It is critical to the success of a Small Business Administration loan program to be working with a business finance advisor and lender that is proficient at this difficult commercial mortgage and commercial loan process. There are many potential commercial financing problems to avoid when attempting to obtain a small business loans, and very few lenders are skilled in this business financing area.

Anticipating Business Investment Problems Before They Occur: Business Loan Refinancing

One of the major investment drawbacks of an SBA loan has historically been the difficulty of refinancing the Small Business Administration business financing later. Current options have revised the situation and it is more feasible to arrange refinancing. It is still accurate to say that refinancing is not routinely available, but more importantly it is much easier to obtain than it was in prior years.

Advance commercial real estate loan and commercial loan planning can avoid some of the SBA loan refinancing problems. First and foremost, if the original business financing is arranged without a small business loan, this will make later business refinancing easier than if a Small Business Administration loan is involved. This means that commercial borrowers should at least consider if the initial business loan requires this form of commercial financing before proceeding.

Finalizing Small Business Financing: Two Common Commercial Loan Misunderstandings

One of the most frequent criticisms of an SBA loan program is the amount of paperwork required to complete the business loan and commercial mortgage process. What many commercial borrowers fail to understand is that any business financing process is likely to involve substantial paperwork and formal documentation requirements. In the end the key is working with a business finance advisor that understands what is required and can facilitate the submission procedures.

Beyond the paperwork concerns, a more critical and real problem is working with an SBA lender that is not very good at successfully completing Small Business Administration loan requirements. Even though there are many commercial lenders that publicize their ability to process these complicated and specialized commercial loans, in reality there are very few lenders nationwide who are consistently successful at completing the complex loan process in a timely manner.

Alternatives to SBA Loan Financing - Conventional Real Estate Investment and Business Opportunity Loan Options

Conventional business finance options should always be considered simultaneously with the possibility of obtaining an SBA loan. As noted above, the feasibility of refinancing a business loan or commercial real estate loan in the future will depend heavily on the choices made by a commercial borrower when obtaining the initial commercial mortgage.

A conventional business loan or commercial mortgage might be more feasible than many borrowers realize. Refinancing is likely to be more successful if an experienced business finance lender and advisor are involved.

Stephen Bush is a

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How dangerous is a Komodo dragon?

Monday, June 9th, 2008

A group of divers stranded on a remote island had to fight off a Komodo dragon. How dangerous are they?

You feel like buying a rather expensive car this summer. But there is a problem. You are not a wealthy guy. Do not despair. You have a choice of a range of best deals on offer in the automotive market, popularly described as zero percent finance for cars. How does this work and are they really for you?

Scenario

Almost all car dealers who offer a zero percent finance, have a sales plan in place. They will have outlined a profile of the prospective customer. Quite obviously, a major criteria would be that the customer should have a good credit standing. SO, normally such offer will be made to existing customers. New customers would be judged for credit background on several parameters like, income, location of the customer, employment or business status, or even the assets that the customers own. For obvious reasons, credit term is usually shorter than the normal regular interest credit scheme, often below 2 years. It will result in higher EMIs (equated monthly instalments).

Terms

EMIs always change in inverse proportion to duration of the loan - shorter the term of credit, the higher the amounts payable per month and the longer credit period, the smaller amount to be paid per month. Ironically, if you opt for a longer duration you will end up paying more amount simply because interest rate is induced for a long period of time. You will find that you will have paid more than 20 times the retail price. Also, failure to pay the monthly payables of the zero percent credit term will result in higher interest after that as a penalty for not paying on time. In such eventuality, you will actually end up paying higher than the amount paid under zero percent because of the interest and other penalty charges.

Finally, the the car is priced higher than cash down value. For example in a zero percent scenario, the car is offered at say $100,000 on display for 2 years to pay having a monthly payable amount of $4,166. The $100,000 price is actually still higher than the actual value of the car. The car dealers usually know that the car value is only say $70,000 but if offered at zero percent credit, they would price it at $100,000.

Conclusion

From the foregoing you will wonder, and rightly so, what advantage does zero percent finance car give you the as the customer. On the other hand this is certainly a good marketing strategy for auto dealers. And it will definitely help those who can afford the terms because it always better than paying longer credit period. So, the zero percent finance car is a good marketing strategy for the car dealer. It is also beneficial for the customer who can afford it.

Author Laxmi Keshav is a finance professional. He gathers information about

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BBC News

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

In a tough job interview even the smoothest candidate can come unstuck. And the interview episode of The Apprentice showcases tactics to test the mettle of prospective employees. How to respond if you find yourself in a job interview from hell?

The freedom of breathing open air and having the soft wind blowing in your hair, it just never looked so good! With the smooth and elegant style of the Chrysler Sebring Convertible sparkles like some cars would in a movie, and the best part of it all is that the car hardly ever blends in with the rest of the scenario. If driving one of these, your car will permanently be the centre of attention and boy, will you have a lot of lifts to give! With the keys to a Chrysler Sebring Convertible in your hand, you won’t be able to say no! You have to understand, with this car you are going to have to enjoy the fact of people staring with gaping mouths and huge smiles….while your hair blows back in the wind and soothing music pumps into your ears.

There’s nothing better than having the option of a retractable hard top while behind the wheel of a Chrysler Sebring Convertible. With the simple click of a button you will be able to adjust the settings on the instrument panel for the hard top. This great feature is even available when you have the top down. You will probably be happy to know that the trunk of this vehicle is larger than many others, allowing you more space for your trips or when you go to the golf course! Even when the top of the roof is down, the trunk is still the same size. The soft top works much like the hard top; it can be controlled by the simple touch of a button. You can use the instrument panel to control this feature or you can use the key fab, which ever works best for you.

You will not find many cars that allow this feature; but with the Chrysler Sebring Convertible you have the option of having the top down and the wind blowing peacefully in your hair, without your hair being all messed up when you get to your destination. What makes this possible is the way the windscreen is designed; it allows the wind to flow over the windscreen and pass over you, and keeps on flowing, without roughly getting your hair into knots. (If you have enough hair to form knots that is!)

Within the interior of the vehicle, the instrument panel allows you to control features from the roof top, right to the cupholder where you can choose whether you want it to warm or cool the cup placed in the holder. Convenience has never been so….convenient!

When it comes to the Chrysler Sebring Convertible and entertainment, well let’s just say you won’t be bored! This car has a multimedia infotainment system with 20gigs of hard drive space, stereo radio system that is CD and DVD compatible, satellite radio, audio system controls for the steering wheel and booming speakers.

You are sure to enjoy this car!

Dennis runs Car Dealer Check which is a independent Car Dealer Review site written by the car dealerships customers and a Car Forum.

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Mars lander uncovers signs of ice

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Nasa’s Mars lander Phoenix may be resting on a large patch of ice, scientists believe.

The radios in VW cars (1998 model and onwards) use an amplified aerial for improved radio reception. This amplifier is built into the base of the aerial and is powered by a feed from the stereo. This power feed is sent down the center of the aerial cable.

Therefore, if the factory-fitted stereo is replaced with an aftermarket unit, the aerial will no longer get this power feed and the amplifier in the aerial will not be turned on. This will result in poor radio reception.

To solve this problem you will need a VW aerial adapter. This takes the electric aerial output of an aftermarket stereo and combines it with the aerial socket to supply power to the amplifier in the aerial.

The other difference that post 1998 Volkwagen car radios have is their power connection. . .

Stereos require 2 power feeds. One is a constant feed that is always live whether you have the key in the ignition or not (this keeps the memory settings, clock etc). The other is a switched live which gets a feed when the ignition key is turned.

Although VW car radios use an ISO connection block for their stereo wiring (the same as all aftermarket stereos) you cannot simply plug it straight in. On later Volkswagen car radios, the pin configuration of these two power wires is reversed. If you plug it straight in, the stereo will work fine. However, it will lose all of it’s memory settings once you switch it off.

To solve this problem, you will need a VW wiring adaptor. This will plug into your VW wiring harness at one end and the aftermarket stereo at the other end. In between these two points, the adaptor swaps over the location of the two power wires. This takes care of the problem.

This store specializes in car audio. I give them thumbs up — I work with them daily (so I know their business philosophy — customer satisfaction) . However, if your country is not served by them, you can still get other recommendations at car-audio-products-and-accessories.com

Chimezirim Odimba writes for CarAudioPlus.

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Mars lander uncovers signs of ice

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Nasa’s Mars lander Phoenix may be resting on a large patch of ice, scientists believe.

Great link building ideas requires a lot of creativity, original thinking and research and is a time consuming challenge faced by all the online marketers. So long as search engines continue to place a great deal of emphasis on incoming links there is no avoiding link building. Any successful businessman will testify that reaching the top in your field is difficult, while remaining there and maintain top rankings all the time is even tougher. However, for you to deal with this necessary evil here are some strategies that will get you the highest return for your time. Some of the ideas discussed are not new but you will surely find a few ones that you have not tried before.

Creating viral lists
Create unique and fresh content that people want to link to, this will not only increase traffic but will also diversify your traffic channels. The key is to create good quality content and publish it on your site. Syndicating as well as sharing it on networks such as Zimbio is also a good idea. Inviting people to blog about the content, bookmarking, and submitting on sites such as Digg after making suitable variations to avoid duplicate content issues is also worth it. Viral lists topics such as:
Top 100 list relating to your field of business.
Top 10 or 20 myths about your business or industry.
List of experts and opinion leaders in your business or industry
List of resources for the business you are in.
Top 10 pitfalls you can do well avoid in your industry.
Ten easy ways to get the desired outcome in your industry or business.

Ask for links in a straightforward manner and you will be surprised that people are far more receptive than we give them credit for. A few ways you can be straightforward are

Ask the Webmaster for a hyperlink if your name does not appear alongside your business or industry.

Ask visitors to do things and explain how that will be mutually beneficial to both of you.

If you have not been syndicating content then you are missing a great opportunity. As others subscribe and publish your content your links increase dramatically. Publish content at places from where Google gets its news such as AmericanChronical instead of syndicating it haphazardly.

You need to answer two questions. What do people want? And, what is the best way that can we give them what they want? Original thinking and research will enable you to find the best solutions and you will be amazed at the simplicity and ease of executing these strategies.

There are some things you could do well to avoid, such as purchasing text links to increase search engine traffic. In case you buy text links it should be with the sole purpose of getting traffic from the other site.

Also avoid swapping links with non-relevant websites as search engines recognize swaps. Swapping is recommended only if the website is highly relevant to your site. In fact too many link swapping actually hurts page ranking.

Peter Brittain is a director of Slinky Internet Marketing who have been leaders in the - Slinky Directory.

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