The Refresh Orlando Heirs

Whether you are an experienced web programmer or a complete novice attempting to provide data interactivity with your web site, MyQSL is an easy to use and free database solution that can allow you to store and configure data to be displayed on your web site.

The best way to create and manage a MySQL database is to download an open source (free) program called PhpMyAdmin. PHPMyAdmin allows you to manage all aspects of both your database structure and data from one easy to use interface. This tool is intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web.

This tool provides an interface that allows you to create and drop databases, create, drop, or alter tables, delete, edit, or add fields, execute any SQL statement, manage keys on fields, manage privileges, and import and export data into various formats. That sounds like a complicated set of activities, but the easy to use graphical tools make things quite simple and easy to understand. If you make a mistake, the software even provides instructions on where you made your error.

For a complete demo see: http://www.phpmyadmin.net/phpMyAdmin/
For documentation visit: http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/docs.php

Most Linux based web hosting companies provide PhpMyAdmin as a standard feature with their packages. It is also available in a “Windows” IIS version. If your hosting provider does not already have this product installed they will often install it for you, or even allow you to install it yourself. Setup is quick and easy if you follow the step-by-step installation documentation.

Step One: Creating your new database

When you log in to your PhpMyAdmin welcome page, the first step is to enter a name for your new database in a text box provided. You can name your database anything that you wish, however if you are creating the database to use with a script or software package that you purchased somewhere, the script provider will often suggest a “preferred” database name.
You should always create your database using the following format:

username_ databasename
Example: myusername_mydatabase

Your complete database name should always begin with your username followed by an underscore, then followed by the database name. This allows the server to know which user is in control of the new database, and it will also provide permission to access the database to only specific users. This also allows different users on the same server to use the same name for their own database, as you did, without interfering with your data – that is helpful if more than one user on your server bought similar software for their own site. They can then also use the software providers “preferred” database name.

Step Two: Creating a table for your new database

After you have created a database, the next step is to create a table, or even multiple tables, for you to store data. A table is the part of your new database that actually stores data.

You create a table by selecting the database that you created from the drop box list of databases. Once a database is selected a new form appears and asks for you to create a new table.

You must decide what you want to name your table and enter that name into the name box. Try to choose a name that reflects the type of data that will be stored in the table, such as orders, users, or inventory.

You then must decide how many “fields” or columns of data that you want to store for each record. If you need for the table to store five (5) different items, such as username, users email address, users telephone number, users account number, and the users age, than you would need five (5) fields. Simply enter the number 5 in the appropriate box. Once you hit create, the system will create a table and will add those fields into the table for you. Don’t worry about the number of fields you might need right now, as you can always add or delete fields later.

Step Three: Defining Fields

Once you have created your table you will be prompted to tell the database what features that you want each field to have. This looks complicated, but it’s not if you select your data type from the information below. You basically have to decide between three common data types and select the best choice for storing your data. If you make a mistake you can go back and edit the field.

If the field is to be used to store numbers, here are some choices:

TINYINT – A very small integer. The signed range is -128 to 127.
SMALLINT - A small integer. The signed range is -32768 to 32767.
MEDIUMINT - A medium-size integer. The signed range is -8388608 to 8388607.
INT - A normal-size integer. The signed range is -2147483648 to 2147483647.
BIGINT – A very large integer.

Some other less common number options include:

FLOAT- A floating-point number.
DOUBLE – A double-precision floating-point number.
DECIMAL - A packed exact fixed-point number.

If the field is to be used to store text or both text and numbers combined, here are some choices:

VARCHAR is for varying characters and can be up to 255 characters in length.
TEXT is a column with a maximum length of 65,535 characters – easy to search.
BLOB is a column with a maximum length of 65,535 characters – case-sensitive.

If the field is to be used to store dates, here are some choices:

DATE - A date.
DATETIME - date and time combination.
TIMESTAMP - useful for recording the date and time of an INSERT or UPDATE operation.
TIME - A time.

Once you have selected the data type for your fileds you will need to let the system know how many characters that you will need to store in the field.

Example: if you are storing a username, you might want to select VARCHAR as your data type and allow up to 100 characters for that field. If you are creating a User Identification number you might want to select INT and allow up to six characters – that would allow you to have up to 999,999 users.

The last step to creating your data fields is to select any special attributes that you may find helpful.
Some examples are:

Auto Increment: Auto-Increment fields are useful for assigning unique identification numbers for users, products, and customers, etc. By default, fields are incremented using number characters (like “1″, “2″).

Primary Key: The primary key is a data column that uniquely identifies a specific instance of that data. At least one of your fields must be a Primary Key. Username is an example of a good primary key. You do not want to have more than one individual having the same username.

Index Key: Allows you to speed up searches by designating a field as a preferred data source, especially when combining data from multiple tables.

Congratulations, once you have completed these steps you are ready to import data into your new database.

Don Beavers lives in Bryan/College Station, Texas and is an enterprise level PHP-MySQL programmer at both the Shopping Elf Shopping Guide and the Datavor Web Directory.

Limit Physical Access

All laptops and most desktops have built-in slots that will allow you to tie your computer down with a cable and lock. If your computer doesn’t have slots, there are some security kits available that come with anchoring plates, cables and a lock. If your computer is physically locked down, it will certainly deter a thief who wants to sneak away unnoticed. But, remember, anyone ambitious enough can slice through even the thickest cable. For added safety, make sure that the rooms where PCs are left have strong doors, working locks and security alarms. Appoint someone to run a nighttime safeguard check, to be sure everything is secure before employees leave for the day. Remember to be on guard even during the daytime: password-protect screen savers to deter walk up access to every computer.

Limit Data Access

Aside from physically protecting computers, remember to protect your data, too. A thief can plant snoopware on a computer, allowing him to steal personal information. An easily undetectable device called a key logger can be maliciously planted on the keyboard cable or even in a special keyboard that is switched for the original. The key logger allows a thief copy data from the machine, without leaving a trace. Prevent this by locking computer cables into sockets and preventing access to any disk drives. There are hard drive encryption utilities available, which make stealing data from a hard drive impossible.

A sensible way of protecting data is to make computers as useless as possible to the thief. Password-protecting the BIOS configurations and hard drives will certainly help in this effort. Also, turn off the ability to boot from the CD-ROM and floppy disk drives by locating the boot-order menu in your CMOS setup and disabling the appropriate selections. You can place ownership information on the computer’s initial splash screen, to make it difficult for the thief to pawn the machine later.

It’s a surprising fact, but the biggest threat of sabotage comes from current and former employees, not from strangers. You can guard against employee theft by setting security policies, changing passwords often, and canceling the logins and passwords of terminated employees as soon as possible.

How to Reduce Your Security Risks

So how can you determine if all of these preventive measures are really necessary for your company?

First, you should perform a risk analysis on the equipment in your company. The most common risks are theft, flood, fire and sabotage. Next, you should select solutions to help you prevent those risks. Or, after identifying which risks may be impossible to prevent, you can choose to accept them. Then, you need to implement the solutions you have identified, and consider purchasing insurance to cover any remaining risks.

About Ralph Dandrea:

Ralph Dandrea is the President of ITX Corp., and leads its Business Performance practice. He is experienced in business and information technology management and holds graduate degrees in business and law.

About ITX:

ITX Corp is a business consulting and technology solutions firm focused in eight practice areas including Business Performance, Internet Marketing, IT Staffing, IT Solution Strategies, IT Solutions Implementation, Technical Services, Internet Services, and Technology Research. To learn more about what ITX can do for you visit our website at http://www.itx.net or contact us at (800) 600-7785.

An Ordinance on Patents (Third) Amendment was promulgated by the Government on December 26, 2004 to make the Indian patents law WTO compliant and to fulfill India’s commitment under TRIPS to introduce product patent protection for Drugs, Food and Chemicals with effect from January 1, 2005.

An overview of Indian pharmaceutical industry
The Indian pharmaceutical industry, with US$4 billion in domestic sales and over US$3
billion in exports, is showing satisfactory progress in terms of infrastructure development, technology base and product use. The industry now produces bulk drugs belonging to all major therapeutic groups requiring complicated manufacturing processes and has also developed excellent ‘good manufacturing practices’ (GMP) compliant facilities for the production of different dosage forms. The strength of the industry is in developing cost-effective technologies in the shortest possible time for drug intermediates and bulk actives without compromising on quality. This is realized through the country’s strengths in organic synthesis and process engineering.
The focus under the R&D effort is to encourage development of new molecules. A provision of Rs. 150 crore has been made under the Pharmaceutical Research & Development Support Fund. A Drug Development Promotion Board under the Department of Science & Technology has also been set up for the utilisation of this fund. Feasibility of setting up a Mega Chemical Industrial Estate in the country with world class infrastructure facilities is also being studied. For the first time in many years, the international pharmaceutical industry is finding great opportunities in India. The process of consolidation, which has become a generalised phenomenon in the world pharmaceutical industry, has started taking place in India. The pharmaceutical industry, with its rich scientific talent and research capabilities, supported by Intellectual Property Protection regime, is well set to take a great leap forward. As regards product patents for
drugs, an amendment to the Indian Patents Act has been carried out through the Patent (Amendments) Ordinance, 2004 on December 26, 2004. The Ordinance amends the Indian Patents Act, 1970 for the third time with a view to introducing product patents for drugs, food and chemicals. Apart from manufacture of drugs, the product patent regime will help the pharmaceutical industry to tap outsourcing of clinical research. By participating in the international system of IPR protection, India, with its vast pool of scientific and technical personnel, and well-established expertise in medical treatment and health care, has unlocked vast opportunities in both exports and outsourcing and has the potential to become a global hub in the area of R&D based clinical research. The Patent Ordinance also provides adequate safeguards to protect the interest of the domestic industry, and the citizen from any increase in prices of drugs.

Impact of product patent on Indian Pharma industry
With a regulatory system focused only on process patents, helped to establish the foundation of a strong and highly competitive domestic pharmaceutical industry which in the grip of a rigid price control framework transformed into a world supplier of bulk drugs and medicines at affordable prices to common man in India and the developing world. Introduction of product patents will, however, mark the end of a golden age for IPI (Indian Pharmaceutical Industry). The new regulations will reshape the landscape of IPI forcing significant changes and divide within the industry.

A look into organization of pharmaceutical producers of India (OPPI) directory shows only 300 units out of 10,000 registered companies are in the organized sector. While process patent helped to flourish IPI into a world-class generics industry, product patent regime will filter the best from the pack and would be favorable to players with built-in scientific and technical resources. The impact of the new regulations will not deter the Indian pharma majors as they are already doing roaring business in the very countries where these patent laws are strictly in force.
Export markets increasingly drive IPI: in a turnover of US$5 billion, exports constitute $3.2 billion and the industry is poised to grow to $25 billion by 2010. The share of IPI in world pharmaceutical market is 1.0% (ranks 13th) in value and 8% (ranks 4th) in volume terms. The global market for generic drugs is estimated at $27 billion (2001) and the expiry of patents on drugs will be worth $80 billion (2005) offers a huge opportunity to IPI. India today has the largest number of US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug manufacturing facilities outside the US. In addition, Drug Master Files (DMFs) filed by Indian companies with the FDA is 126 higher than Spain, Italy, China and Israel put together. DMF has to be approved by FDA for a drug to enter the US market.
Research & Development (R&D) is a key to the strength of pharmaceutical industry especially in the product patent period. The global pharmaceutical industry spent $30.4 billion (2001) on R&D. The R&D expenditure (as a percentage of turnover) by the IPI is low (1.9%) when compared global giants (1016%). With transition into the new regime many Indian companies are mobilizing their resources war chest with an increase in their R&D budget. Government of India (GOI) encouraged the R&D in pharmaceutical companies by extending 10 year tax holiday to this sector. Besides, planning commission has earmarked $34 million towards drug industry R&D promotion fund for the tenth plan.

FDI in India was low in prior Product Patent era. Why ?

Bringing a new drug into the market costs a company an average of about $800 to $900 million. Some estimates show that patient recruitment and medical personnel account for nearly 70 per cent of the clinical costs that are required to bring a drug to market. The less expensive means to raise research productivity is outsourcing research to low cost havens such as India and China. The global pharmaceutical outsourcing market stands at $10 billion (2004). Pharma multinationals have maintained a low-key presence in Indian market due to absence of product patents and rigid price controls. Pharmaceutical industry did not receive significant foreign direct investment (FDI). From August 1991 to December 1998 this industry accounted for a meager 0.44% of the total FDI. Introduction of product patents will see multinationals strengthening their presence in the country. The second largest population in the world, a growing economy and rising income levels makes Indian market difficult to ignore. Global companies would be reluctant to invest in a country where there is no IPR protection. Eli Lilly (world’s 7th Largest Pharma Firm) has its clinical research focus in the country and had spent considerable amounts over the last 2-3 years. But we would be only maintaining the quantum and will not expand even though there is huge potential. Global companies face the same frustration. So the main activity of the company in the country would be to introduce products from the parent pipeline.In the domestic market, the share of Indian companies has steadily increased from around 20 per cent in 1970 to 70 percent now. Ranbaxy Laboratories is the market leader in terms of revenues followed by Cipla and Dr Reddys Laboratories. Glaxo is the only multinational to figure among the top ten pharma companies in India. In India, 97 per cent of drugs are off patent and are manufactured by a vast number of companies. The key therapeutic segments include anti-infectives, cardio vascular and central nervous system drugs. Anti-infective comprise the largest therapeutic segment in India, accounting for about 26 per cent of the market.

Globally, pharmaceutical industry grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 9.1 per cent in the last 23 years to $491 billion propelled by a string of innovative blockbusters. Multinationals were reshaped by mergers and acquisitions as a way of fattening their research pipelines. This at best represents a short-term solution. With a slew of brand name drugs losing patent protection in the next few years and the pressure building for pharmaceuticals to cut price, these giants find themselves under immense strain to find new drugs and reduce price.

So, from the above discussion it’s very evident that before any proper IPR regime specially in the absence of “Product patent” in India it was not a judicious decision for the international Pharma companies to invest here in India. FDI cap was raised from 74% to 100% in 2001 only but we didn’t find any change in the pattern of FDI in Pharma Sector.

Impact after 2005 ?
India a signatory to the WTO resolution on TRIPS Agreement India was thus committed to recognising product patents by amending The Indian Patents Act 1970. As per the minimum standards mentioned in the TRIPS agreement, patent shall be granted for any inventions, whether products or processes, in all fields of technology provided they are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application without any discrimination to the place of invention or to the fact that products are locally produced or imported. Accordingly, now patents will have to be granted in all areas including pharmaceuticals and the effective period of protection is for twenty years from the date of filing the application. With the implementation of TRIPS agreement by most of the developing countries by 2005, a stronger patent regime or product patents will be uniformly applicable on the pharmaceutical innovations among the member countries of the World Trade Organisation.

The implications of TRIPS for the pharmaceutical sector are that: patents will be granted both for products and processes for all the inventions in all fields of technology; the patent term will be twenty years from the date of the application (compared to the seven years under the 1970 Act), which is applicable to all the member countries and thus rules out all the differences in the protection terms prevailed in different countries; patents will be granted irrespective of the fact whether the drugs were produced locally or imported from another country; though the grant of the patent excludes unauthorized use, sale or manufacture of the patented item, yet there are clauses which provide manufacturing or other such rights of the patented item to a person other than the patent holder. In the case of a dispute on infringement the responsibility (to prove that a process other than the one used in the patented product has actually been used in the disputed product) lies with the accused rather than with the patent holder (in the 1970 Act, the responsibility is with the patent holder). This is the broad framework, which will guide the pharmaceutical industry of India in the WTO regime ( i.e. post 2005 period).

In order to increase the global prospects of the pharmaceutical industry in the post 2005 period, the Central Government has fixed the deadline of December 2003, to comply with the Good Manufacturing Practices set by World Health Organisation. Since this is mandatory for all the units, it means incurring expenditures that could range from Rs. 15 lakhs to 1 crore per unit. In some cases, it would involve shifting to new premises altogether. A few units might exit from business because of this. As contract manufacturers it is essential that both the parent unit and the loan licensee meet these requirements in cases where the production is meant for exports. While these standards improve the quality on par with international standards, it will also act as potential entry barriers for new firms to enter.

The strength of the Indian pharmaceutical industry is in reverse engineering. Such units by utilising the provisions under compulsory licensing, exceptions to exclusive rights and the Bolar exception should aim at producing the generic version of the patented product and those that are nearing patent expiry. Such firms should also be engaged in research leading to new drug delivery mechanisms and in identifying new uses of existing drugs. In this context, it is also essential to protect the innovations that have been introduced by the technology spillovers. It is suggested that in order to develop domestic innovations, developing countries require utility models or petty patents. These petty patents can be available for a shorter period of time for process innovations made over an existing product. The TRIPS agreement leaves members to introduce such legislation, as there are no specific rules on this subject. Such patents will encourage the small firms.

One of the concerns regarding product patents is the access to patented products. Some of the provisions within the TRIPS agreement clearly indicate that price controls could be imposed on the patented products. However, exemptions from price controls has been suggested by the government for the products that are produced domestically using the domestic R&D and resources and are patented in India. Such exemptions will keep the prices high and make access to the drugs difficult. It appears that `who patents the product’ matters more for the government than what is patented. In the recently concluded Doha meeting, a separate declaration on the TRIPS agreement has clarified that members have the right to grant compulsory licence in the area of pharmaceuticals and that they have the freedom to determine the ground upon which such licenses are granted, which can have a considerable impact on the availability as well as on their prices. However, the amendments made by the Government of India, make the procedures very cumbersome which needs to be revised in the third amendment to the Patents Act. While parallel trade in pharmaceutical may facilitate access to medicine, yet compulsory licence will be the only course of option to facilitate flow of technology and R&D. Scherer and Watal (2001) suggest that tax concessions should be provided to the pharmaceutical manufacturers to encourage them to donate the high technology drugs to the less developed and developing countries which is a viable option.

A majority of the population does not have access to the essential medicines (most of which are off patent) either in the government or private health care systems because they are not within their capacity to reach. Now that the percentage of drugs under price control has been reduced drastically it is essential to keep the prices of the essential drugs under check, especially those concerning the common diseases.

Currently only a handful of pharmaceutical firms in India invest in R&D which needs to be improved. The Pharmaceutical Research and Development Committee (1999) has suggested that a mandatory collection and contribution of 1 per cent of MRP of all formulations sold within the country to a fund called pharmaceutical R&D support fund for attracting R&D towards high cost-low-return areas and be administered by the Drug Development Promotion Foundation. The domestic universities and other academic institutions can play the role of research boutiques or contract research organisations (CRO), which can supply the technical know-how and manpower. Units that already have such facilities can also function as a CRO for other firms.

In the post TRIPS era, the government will have to probe in to factors that contribute to the widening gap between the proposed FDI and the actual FDI and rectify these bottlenecks. Similarly the difference between the number of patents filed and the patents granted calls for a detailed analysis to figure out where the Indian firms are lacking.
Governments at various levels should take active part in disseminating knowledge about the IPRs and the possible strategies that can be adopted by the industry. This will remove some of the impediments. Lessons should be drawn from the Chinese experiences where systematic efforts were taken to educate the bureaucrats, policy makers and the industry about the WTO and product patents in the pharmaceutical industry. India will have to strengthen the patent examination process and speed up the processing procedures. This will help in checking the products that may enter the country utilising the import monopoly route provided by the EMR. Besides a strong institutional and judicial framework will have to be set up for monitoring the prices, to prevent infringement and trade dress cases of patented products respectively.

As far as India’s pharmaceutical industry is concerned, various options are possible in the WTO regime. These are to: (a) manufacture off patented generic drugs, (b) produce patented drugs under compulsory licensing or cross licensing, (c) invest in R&D to engage in new product development, (d) produce patented and other drugs on contract basis, (e) explore the possibilities of new drug delivery mechanisms and alternative use of existing drugs, and (f) collaborate with multinationals to engage in R&D, clinical trials, product development or marketing the patented product on a contract basis and so on. Besides these strategies, India’s strength lies in process development skills. This expertise utilised within the WTO framework with emphasis on quality standards will provide India a competitive advantage over other Asian countries.

To conclude we can anticipate more FDI nature of investment in India in the field of Pharma Sector?
It’s a question which requires more time to be answered, but we can draw inferences from the facts & data discussed above. As from the above discussion it is obvious that Pharma industry is high investment seeking industry, & the other most important fact about it is that it require enormous R&D. The new Patent regime brings both opportunities and challenges to the domestic pharma industry. Even larger Indian companies lack the financial muscle to be major international player in basic R&D, that involves discovery of new chemical entities (NCEs). They would be helped by the government’s decision not to restrict patenting to NCEs. The Patent Ordinance issued recently defines the term patentability as per the TRIPS guidelines but does not exclude patenting of incremental inventions like new drug delivery systems, polymorphs etc, brightening the chances of Indian companies to benefit from the patent regime, but it may act as a disincentive for the international Pharma firms to invest in India.

Again if we look at the patent amendment act there are certain provisions of this Act which are discouraging the FDI in Pharma sector like
1. Deletion of the provisions relating to Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMRs) (which would now become redundant), and introduction of a transitional provision for safeguarding EMRs already granted.
2. a) Conditional grant of patent (Section 47) : Empowers the Government to import, make or use any patent for its own purpose. For drugs, it also empowers import for public health distribution.

3. Revocation of patent in public interest (Section 66): Empowers the Government to revoke a patent where it is found to be mischievous to the State or prejudicial to the public.
4. Grant of compulsory licence (Sections 82 to 94): Chapter XVI deals with the general principles and circumstances for grant of compulsory licences in order to protect public interest particularly public health and nutrition. These provisions check the abuse of patent rights. They can be invoked if the reasonable requirements of the public with respect to patented inventions have not been satisfied, and the patented invention is not available for public at a reasonably affordable price, and if the patented invention is not worked in the territory of India. Section 92 of this law provides for action in case of national emergency, extreme urgency and public non-commercial use, and can be invoked without the grace period of 3 years from grant of patent.
5. Use of invention for the purpose of Government [Sections 100 & 101]: Compliments Section 47.
6. Acquisition of invention and patent for public purpose [Section 102]: Empowers the Government to acquire a patent to meet national requirements.
7. Bolar provision [Section 107 (A) (a)]: Facilitates production and marketing of patented products immediately after expiry of the term of patent protection by permitting preparatory action by non patentees during the life of the patent.
8. Parallel import [Section 107 (A) (b)]: Provides for import so that patented product can become available at the lowest international price.

These provisions are basically public interest provisions but these are anti FDI in nature because in a sector of high investment & high uncertainty every investing firm need complete protection & patronage but here it is not guaranteed.

So we can anticipate that product patent is going to have a very little impact on the FDI scenario in a country like India.

Arvind Singhatiya
Currently in III Semester, pursuing Masters in Business Administration with major as Finance & Business Laws from National Law University, Jodhpur.(MBA, MBL).

Holidays or not, online shopping is fast becoming the main
shopping choice for many people. People prefer online stores for
their shopping needs over the brick-and-mortar stores for a
variety of reasons - discounted price, quick price comparisons,
unavailability of desired items in the retail stores, 24 hours
shopping convenience, etc. Whatever the reason is, before you
jump into the online shopping bandwagon, you must consider a few
things to avoid frustration and monetary loss.

Before you pull out your credit card to buy an item at an
unbelievably reduced price, think about the reasons why the
merchant is throwing out his profits. Maybe it is a total scam
and they want your credit card number to rip you off. Stay with
the big online shopping sites. Sites that are publicly traded or
reputable private companies do not spam your email inbox with
unsolicited advertisements. If you find a shopping site,
advertised in a spam e-mail, that sells $100 software for $10,
you can bet that it is a scammer’s site.

Ask your friends about their experiences with online shopping
sites to select sites that are worthy of your hard earned money.
Another approach is to use a search engine like Google to search
for items you plan to purchase. When you use Google to search
for an item, you will get advertised and non-advertised sites
offering your items at different prices. Check out a few sites
before you decide to make a purchase.

Many sites like bizrate.com or nexttag.com offers price
comparisons, reviews, and shopping site ratings. Use these sites
to read reviews and to do a price comparisons. Sites like
techbargains.com publishes information on latest bargains,
coupons, and discounts offered by various online shopping sites.
Monitoring this type of sites provides opportunities to get
great bargains. One comparison shopping site,
buysafeshopping.com, provides information on qualified shopping
sites that have gone through a screening process for merchant’s
identity, online sales experience, and the ability to deliver
purchased items.

If you have to shop with an unknown online merchant, check for
their telephone number at their Web site. Contact someone at the
merchant’s physical location and talk to them. Ask them about
their privacy and refund policy. If you cannot find a phone
number or the phone number goes to a voice mail, instead to a
live person, go shopping somewhere else. There are dozens, if
not hundreds, good online merchants for any items you want to
buy.

At the online checkout counter, you have to use a credit card to
pay. When you use your credit card, make sure that your credit
card and personal information are sent using encryption to avoid
someone intercepting your information for unauthorized use. To
check for encryption, look for https in the URL. It is perfectly
safe if the site has http in its URL for all pages except the
order page - the page where you enter your credit card and other
personal information like address, etc. Even if a site is
encrypted, it can still be a scammer’s site. Look out for
tale-tell signs like numbers at the beginning of the URL. Avoid
public computers at cafes, airports, etc. for your purchases.
The danger is that hackers can install key-loggers to log your
key presses before they are encrypted.

Always use a credit card to pay for your online purchases. Most
credit cards have online purchase protection. If something goes
wrong, you can always call your credit card company and dispute
the charge. You do not have to pay for your disputed charges
till the dispute is resolved. Federal laws limit your liability
to $50 in charges should someone uses your card fraudulently.
Never use a debit card. Debit cards pull money from your bank
account as soon as the transaction is made. If you are ripped
off, it may take months before you get your money back, if you
ever see it again.

Despite all the cautionary warnings, online shopping is safer
than shopping offline. You do not have to take a shower, dress
up, drive and mingle with other shoppers and touch anything in
the store for online shopping. How safe can it be? If you are
careful, you can guard yourself against identity and credit card
thefts by following safety tips discussed above. When you are
using a credit card in an offline venue, there is a person, such
as the sales person, who processes the transaction and this
person can also see your private information. In online
transactions, the middle man is eliminated. If you do your
research, watch for signs of fraud and only use credit cards for
your purchases, online shopping provides more benefits over
offline shopping.

The term “internet marketing” was virtually non-existent a short 8 years ago, now it is a growing phenomenon that is raking millions every year. Because of this expanding industry, the internet landscape it changing. Where are the changes going to be? I fully expect a growth in interactive end-user experiences - an online environment catering to the individual preferences of a singular visitor. I also foresee a massive change in the way we market online. A change could include “personalized” advertisements embedded so deeply into the product that the user does not realize it as an ad.

Where is this marketing going? Where will it be in 2010? Here are some ideas:

Personal Ads:

Not “Single white male seeks….”. Advertisements displaying personalized data to the end user. This trend has started with products like Google’s AdWords, where visitors are greeted with ads specific to the content on the page. With the free flow of personal information on the internet, it is feasible that in a few years, the advertisements could be as specific as, “Bob, the Buick is over due for an oil change, here are the 3 closest Quick Lubes”

Advertisement Channels:

Cable channels are expanding so quickly it is hard to keep up, soon, we could be surfing over to channel 1430 for the “2010 Chevrolet Series”, where we actually sit down and watch a one hour special on Chevy’s – this mode of advertisement would work for a couple of reasons:

- It is highly targeted

Current television advertising (commercials) often get the MUTE button treatment or we get up to get more popcorn, leaving an unknown number of viewers watching the 30 second ad.

- Accepting market

When viewer tune in specifically for a product, your message effectiveness grows exponentially. For example, if you the viewer are not interested in the “Home Depot Shed Products” advertisement channel, don’t watch. For those of you who are interested in home and garden and Do It Yourself, this channel would serve as your personal how-to expert. Home Depot reaches only those interested in their product while maintaining their orange apron image.

Customized Webpages:

On some webpages now, a visitor can change the color and theme of the webpage. This makes for a more enjoyable destination – leading to more recurring visitors. Once a user has spent the time to build their own portal, they will return and use that as their primary resource of information (think MSN).

Webpages of the future must be able to support a “no two alike” mentality. End users must have the option of customizing their content, color, theme, and functionality.

The changes are on the horizon, prepare your business to capture visitors and give them the “one-on-one” feeling.

Jacob Madison is an internet marketing professional specializing in high-return growth and advanced marketing tactics. Find out more about him at http://www.jacobmadison.com

Hiring a consultant is the surest way to know whether your business is operating as efficiently as possible, and ensure that you are accessing your maximum market penetration. Use a consultant to discover the strengths and weaknesses within your business and put that new information to work.

The top 5 advantages of using a consultant:

1. Consultants see situations that have gone unnoticed by regular staff.

2. Consultants upgrade the education and experience of your staff.

3. A consultant is specifically oriented toward producing results.

4. You pay only for the time you use them.

5. Gives you extra staff without permanent obligations.

A consultant could help your business in ways you never imagined.
Shifts in industries or economics often prove challenging to companies that aren’t ahead of the curve. Perhaps you’re a start-up about to pitch a new account, but have no idea how you’d handle the volume if you landed it. Here are a few other examples of companies that have benefited by the help of a consultant:

• A radio station, overshadowed by ever-growing conglomerates, helped its sales department develop new short and long-term sales strategies.

• A real-estate firm secured anonymous representation to an outside party, which proved advantageous in their negotiations for investment capital and acquisitions.

• An independent restaurant owner discovered a fresh approach to a problem she couldn’t solve internally.

• A staffing firm obtained an outside appraisal of their business and how it was operating.

• A small catering company used a consultant to help prepare a proposal for a large-scale, long-term project that would take its operations to a new level.

• A start-up pet supply chain was able to project the effects of possible expansion or diversification.

What can a consulting service do for you?

Go back to Part 1 of this RK Auto Group series: Does Your Business Need a Consultant?

© 2006 RK Auto Group

Tom Kline is Controller of RKAutoGroup.net (RK Buick, RK Chevrolet, RK Subaru, RK Scion and RK Toyota).

During his 15-year tenure Kline has worked in the Sales Department of RK Auto Group, Parts, Service and Body Shop, Leasing, Collections, and Management Information Services.

RK Auto Group, located in Southeast Virginia, has been recognized as one of the top 100 Chevrolet dealerships in the nation. Founded in 1964, this award-winning dealership sells approximately 9,000 vehicles per year.

RK Chevrolet is the recipient of Chevrolet Motor Division’s coveted Service Supremacy Award four years in a row. This is an award which less than 8% of the nation’s Chevrolet dealers have won. In 1998, RK received the prestigious “Genuine Leaders Award” for excellence in sales, service, and customer satisfaction.

Dear Friend,
We have A HOME BASED BUSINESS we would like to share with you. Our business will give you the time and ability to build the more important things in life, such as relationships, family, character and childhood dreams. We will therefore do all in our power to help you achieve each of the below. I really do hope that we will have the privilege to benefit you and better your life in some good way. We offer you:

A business that is 100% RISK FREE and listed with the BBB (check out the web site for more info).

A realm of friends you can trust who will support you in your wildest dreams.
Help Setting and achieving goals, to build self-esteem and your business.

Rid your home of toxins and poisons that are endangering your health each and every day.

Help achieve financial freedom for you making it possible to fulfill your dreams.

If you are interested in this possibility please check out one of our web sites below
http://www.stayinhomeandlovinit.com/cgi-bin eam.cgi?id=li2850&action=show or

http://winners.themomteam.com/
Or please feel free to call us at
989-665-2694(Summer)
or740-323-1349 (Licia)
or you can E-mail us at youwinto@yahoo.com or liciap@adelphia.net.
It is our privilege, duty, and desire to do all in our power to help you achieve your goals, have the support and assistance that you need to do so, get the chemicals out of your homes, and achieve financial freedom.

Sincerely your friends and partners,
Summer White and Licia Palmer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

43 year old mother of one. Looking to help people start their own home business.

You’re looking around to join your first online program or just looking to diversify your existing revenue streams.

There are many programs on the net, all claiming to be the best. Some will take you forward and some will take your money. How do you decide which is the best online program for you?

Here are 12 tips to finding the right one:

1. Longevity. Just like the offline world, programs come and go. You will invest a lot to promote your new online program. You need to be sure they will be still be in business in the years to come. Some of the best have been around 20 years or more. There is a reason why they are still there. Look for a program, which has been in business for at least 2 years.

2. Safety in numbers. If many other people have joined of this program, it means a good cross section of the community feels there is something there for them. The larger the member base, the better the chance that you too will be successful.

3. Product Line: A broad product line is very important. Partly because the larger the product range the more people you will be able to sell something to. Secondly, because you will want to grow the number of products you sell over time. Having a broad product range means you don’t have to join another program to add a product to your line.

4. Pricing: The pricing of the program’s products must be in line with its competitors. It is easy to check pricing on the net. Potential customers will do the same before buying your product.

5. Training. The Internet is constantly evolving and we must all constantly retrain to survive. A program with a comprehensive training program will ensure you keep up with the play with a minimum of effort.

6. Induction program. When starting with a new program you have lots of questions about the products, the compensation plan and marketing support. Its important the program has a good induction system to get you up to speed as quickly as possible. It’s also very important that the people you introduce to the organisation are trained quickly and with minimal effort from you. This allows you to focus on growing your downline.

7. Marketing tools. If the program provides you with tools like web pages, auto responders, hit tracking counters, banners, sample promotional copy, downline management systems etc you obviously don’t need to provide your own. This means two things. Firstly it minimises your costs and secondly saves you a lot of time setting them up.

8. Reputation. It’s more profitable to promote a program with a good reputation. Make sure the program is viewed as reputable in the marketplace. One way to do this is to conduct a search using the program’s name and the word “scam”. Do the same for a number of programs and you’ll soon get a feel for their reputation.

9. Profitability. The best online programs make money for their owners and for the people who work in them. Satisfy yourself that the program provides a profit for all.

10. Sales commission. Beware programs that pay very high affiliate commissions. If a program pays very high commissions the product may be over priced (a problem) or the program may not have a viable business model (also a problem)

11. Compensation plan. Ensure there is provision in the compensation plan for you to benefit from your direct sales and from the efforts of those you introduce to the business. Also look for a program, which pays residual income (sell it once, get paid forever) as well some up front payment.

12. Free look. The best online programs will allow you to join for free before signing up. These programs have nothing to hide.

With these 12 tips you can now determine the best online program for you.

Good hunting and here’s to your success!

About the Author

Brian Pratt is a 46 year old New Zealander with over 10 years internet experience. He owns and operates a Plug-In Profit Site at http://www.bestrealincome.com. You can contact Brian at brian@sfigold.com

Human nature always seems to have this predilection with beauty and what society believes is beautiful. When we are fat, we want to be slim or thin. When we have the so-called “love handles”, we decide we do not love them anymore, so we go to the gym and exercise until our tongues fall out from fatigue. We are blessed with dark colored skin, so we try all the new bleaching products available in the market to lighten our color. We have white skin so we go to tanning salons to get olive skin, and the out-in-the-sun color to your skin. We are naturally brunette but we go to the nearest salon to get our hair done and died to blonde because they said “blondes always have such fun”.

And digital technology is also banking on the partiality of people to not have fun with what the Lord has blessed them with originally.

I have been in the digital business for quite some time now, and what I regularly encounter are numerous questions on how to remove blemishes from photos so that their faces would look great and give that “fashion-magazine look” that the media is glamorizing so much nowadays. Here are a few suggestions then from a photographer on beauty retouching.

(Now, if I could just do it in real life, I would be a millionaire by now.)

Beauty Retouching with Photoshop

1 – Try to improve the colors on the face in your photo as far as you can go. To edit, it is better to do it in RGB rather than CMYK. With RGB, editing is more flexible and easy. And explore all the selections in the various feathers. Do not be afraid to experiment. After all, being creative is all about using all the choices available.

2 – After editing your color, it’s now time to create a new layer. This is also a tool for you to be able to control your work. Begin your retouch using a heeling brush and cloning stamp to remove the things you want removed. Start with the bigger imperfections and move your way to the littlest blemish. You could also use the heeling brush to remove the lines under the eyes to create that young look to the face.

3 - To adjust the size of any part of the face (e.g. big nose), adjust to your liking with the Liquify filter. Click the Filters menu and choose Liquify. This tool allows you to smudge, move, squish, and even distort your image according to your satisfaction. For best results and easy navigation, turn the grid on. This will let you view the changes you’ve made.

For increasing or reducing the size of the area, you can also use the Warp, although the Pucker and Bloat are most effective with this type of retouch. Remember to be careful and again, do not be afraid to experiment. Use the appropriate brush size and go slowly, moving bits at a time.

4 –To smoothen the skin, use the cloning stamp and carefully apply to the skin. The best would be to use multiple clicks rather than strokes to even out the skin tone. This is the part where you need to be patient. Be careful with your patterns and do not repeat. Also, try to be creative. Don’t worry if you make mistakes along the way. Just go back to the history palette everytime you create something you don’t like and start again.

5 – For overdoing the smoothing process, just use the history palette to restore the specific area. If this does not work, try to select and add the noise filter to simulate the texture of the skin.

Finally, after a little adjustments and a little nip and tuck here and there, you are ready to view your final image.

According to the photographer, beauty retouching needs patience and a lot of perseverance. Many methods are available, but there are only a few tricks to help others retouch their photos. Even for professionals, this job takes time to finish. However, with time, one can get faster.

About The Author

Granny’s Mettle is a 30-something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.

Her thoughts on writing: “Writing gives me pleasure… pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine.”

On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.losangelesprintingservice.com

acapili@losangelesprintingservice.com

Satellite phones today are of great use if you are already getting rid of your obsolete telephones at home or your miserable cellular phones due to signal failures.

It was in the early 1960 to 1990’s that the satellite phone was introduced to the market. But before its arrival let us first trace its origin by glancing at its brief history.

The pioneering satellite phone that offer the first ever planetary coverage is known as the Iridium Satellite Phone, which until now still exists. The name Iridium was derived from the chemical element in your periodic table, Iridium with an atomic number of 77. In the beginning it consists of 72 active constellations but at present it has only 66 active satellites.

Unlike other satellite phones, Iridium is the only constellation that allows the planetary coverage. This is because of its inter-satellite links that the other satellite phones do not possess. But this is not global because there are some countries that do not have the network yet.

The original design of the Iridium came out as early as 1960’s with control and time-triggered messages over its orbit and it will be uploaded each time the satellites pass through the pole. But it was found out that this design did not offer the sufficient bandwidth so it was turn down in the market.

Since it is considered to be the pioneer of the satellite phones, it paves the way of other companies to discover new models of mobile phones. There starts the development of the Motorola.

It was on November 1, 1998 that the Iridium Communications service was launched and due to insufficient demand for the service and poor management, a tremendous bankruptcy took place on August 13, 1999. The worse thing that happened was, since there was the bankruptcy that is why whether big or small investors nobody receive a return of their investment. It was a gamble of money.

Numerous unqualified inquires came in for the purchase of Iridium until 2001 when a group of private investors founded Iridium Satellite LLC and re-established service. Due to necessary effort that was made by the Iridium companies, gradually it recovered from its collapse.

From that point, there are other several satellite telephone communications that came into market. One is the Globalstar, but it is of a lower earth orbit satellite constellation because it only consists of 48 satellites. As compared to Iridium, it has no inter-satellite that is why it has no capacity to have the entire planetary coverage.

The first satellite of the Globalstar was launched in February 1998. It repeated the same failures like of the Iridium which also cause to its bankruptcy. But in order to regain the trust of their investors they also make several moves to settle the matter. And it was in the year 2001 when they even had a meeting with their creditors.

Aside from the Iridium and the Globalstar, other satellite telephone communications companies are also starting to make a name in the market. They all have the credibility that must be presented to the investors so that they will not be repeating the failures that have committed by the pioneering constellations.

The history of the Satellite phone is boosting towards the development of the technological innovations in the world. Who knows, places that are excluded from the network will be placed in the list few years from now?

Nicola Kennedy publishes articles and reports and provides news, views and information about communications and Satellite Telephones at Satellite Telephones Information.

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright Satellite-Telephones.info