The Refresh Orlando Heirs

In Homer’s Odyssey (a Greek Myth) sailors were lured to their death by Sirens, mythological temptresses who sang seductive songs. Sailors called Argonauts escaped the songs, because of the great musician Orpheus. He played his lyre so beautifully, that it drowned out the songs from the Sirens. His decisive deed saved the crew from total devastation.

Today’s version of this enticement is “ECheating” - a phrase I’ve coined. “ECheating” enchants new scalawags to an internet isle. Rather than sail, today’s Argonauts surf to this island. In great numbers surfers are defying danger and destruction for a chance encounter - a rendezvous.

Here’s one such tale:

Martin leaves mornings for work before rush hour. He hates the wasted time or so he’s been coached to tell Michelle, his unwitting wife. She cleans up breakfast dishes before heading off to work an hour later. Michelle loves Martin and thinks of him throughout the day. She faithfully trusts him.

Unfortunately, Martin yields to his desires and a rendezvous devised. His next business trip provides the perfect alibi. He will meet his chosen “eCheater” at a nearby convention hotel. Michelle remains clueless.

But wait, “eCheating” serves a compelling purpose, true? Just listen to one slogan “When Monogamy becomes Monotony.” This catchphrase conjures up a sense of justification or reason. It includes not just a sex theme, but a sense of fellowship.

Does marriage end when it’s unexciting?

Is in fact adultery the answer?

These new dreadful alliances would lead you to believe it is!

I am deeply troubled these “eCheating” businesses are flourishing! Isn’t it time we put an end to them? How? What can YOU do about them?

Be proactive.

Get informed.

Search adultery keywords for banner ads.

Learn these “ECheating” sites by name.

Search computer history for visits to them.

Install spy ware on home PC - yours of course.

Keep an eye on credit cards statements.

Monitor computer usage.

Paying attention to your relationship.

Fight for your marriage and spouse - seek help.

Don’t use God or the Bible as a weapon in confrontations.

Therapy sessions don’t work if you are forcing them.

Don’t require your spouse to go to therapy - it will deliberately fail after a few sessions and be used against you.

Safeguard your homes and kids from the internet.

Make time to watch the eHighway carefully for those hazardous detours.

Communicate better; be more affectionate, appreciative, available, accepting and affirming.

Be positive, attractive and irresistible.

Consider a make over if necessary.

Request a copy of my article “Is your spouse cheating online?” Send a request to mitchellreports@bellsouth.net

Recognize the signs of adultery early on.

If you don’t know them, I can help you.

You are not alone…let’s break these alliances together.

To receive a free special report entitled Emergency Infidelity Survival PlanTop Fifteen Steps to Implement Right Now! send an e-mail to mitchellreports@bellsouth.net, with “Emergency Plan” in the subject line. We will respect your privacy.

Won’t you take a look at my new book. I’ve helped thousands of clients facing adultery and want to help YOU next. That’s why I worked so hard to share just the right information with YOU. It’s filled with facts, details, secret tips, and advice from an experienced Private Investigator - ME! My observations are unique, timely, and right on the mark! In fact this book is used by PI’s nationwide to help their clients survive. This book is perfect for ANYONE facing a troubled relationship. This small investment will be well worth it. I promise YOU!

© 2005 Bill Mitchell All rights reserved.

A note to all publishers: Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine, newsletter or website as long as the article’s content is not modified and all links as well as the author’s resource box are included.

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Bill Mitchell, Seven-Day Detective, is an internationally renowned author who is recognized for his practical, solution-based investigative strategies to marriages facing infidelity. As a recognized expert on infidelity and child custody, Bill Mitchell appears regularly as a guest expert on TV and national talk shows including Dr. Phil, Today Show, and The Early Show. He has been interviewed by numerous publications including Chicago Tribune, Esquire, Ladies Home Journal Online, and PI Magazine.

Just a note to ask if there are other married women and men who are happy in their marriage and in their affair at the same time? I am fulfilled at home, in the bed and emotionally, with two men meeting my needs.

It would be great if I had found a guy who could satisfy me both emotionally and sexually, but it just didn’t happen. My partner is also married and feels the same way. We will never leave our spouses, and they are unaware why we don’t hound them for physical intimacy anymore. They are both relieved of the pressure, and there are no more fights or silences.

People stay married for many reasons, and not all problems can be worked out. The four of us are friends, and I sometimes wonder if they would even object. Let’s face it. There are those who just do not like sex! I believed in no sex before marriage, and now I know why my guy was okay with that! He is not gay, but just says it’s not what it’s cracked up to be.

Chastity

Chastity, in one of P.G. Wodehouse’s books, Bertie Wooster quotes something Jeeves told him. “There can be no love where there is not perfect trust.”

When people learn about a spouse’s infidelity, they feel their world has come crashing down. We have never gotten a letter from someone who found out their mate was chronically unfaithful, and they were happy about it. They feel deceived and lied to. There are therapy groups where people talk about D-day, the day they learned of their spouse’s infidelity.

You are explaining things to yourself in a way which justifies you and makes your spouse the problem. But go ahead and try to prove your claim. Tell your husband tonight, and encourage your “partner” to tell his wife.

Wayne & Tamara

No Higher Ground

I have two friends I recently learned were, or are, in a gay relationship. I say “were or are” because one of them, Tom, is saying the relationship was a mistake and over before it started. The other one, Ray, says he walked away from one aspect of their relationship, but is not willing to give Tom up as a friend. Tom says Ray is “a friend I can’t get rid of.”

I discovered the relationship by noticing Ray is extremely possessive of Tom. Ray becomes jealous and angry when Tom is with his straight friends. To look at Tom with those straight friends you would never guess in a million years he is gay. Tom has gone to extreme measures to make sure his friends know nothing about Ray.

Ray keeps a picture of Tom on his desk at work, and he is extremely upset if Tom can’t meet him for lunch. Tom, on the other hand, panics at the thought of his family finding out about Ray. I am not to mention Ray’s name around Tom’s friends or family, which makes me feel extremely disloyal to Ray.

Tom truly wants Ray out of his life, but Ray threatens to out Tom to his friends and family if he breaks off their relationship. I care for both of them, and neither of them will seek professional help. What can I do to help them? Or should I just step away from the whole thing?

Phyllis

Phyllis, no one is on the higher moral ground here. Tom wants you to lie and hide his life from people who care about him and think they know him. Ray is trying to blackmail Tom into a relationship.

Both are seeking, or sought, a relationship they are not entitled to. You would like to champion a cause, but neither Tom nor Ray has a cause to champion. Perhaps their collision will induce some truth and reality into each of their lives. Stay out of it.

Wayne & Tamara

Direct Answers - Column for the week of March 22, 2004

About The Author

Authors and columnists Wayne and Tamara Mitchell can be reached at www.WayneAndTamara.com.

Send letters to: Direct Answers, PO Box 964, Springfield, MO 65801 or email: DirectAnswers@WayneAndTamara.com.

Have you been blindsided by an unhappy spouse who suddenly announced, “I don’t love you anymore”? If so, then you know that these words can split a marriage wide open, along with the heart of the partner who may not have suspected that anything was wrong.

Like most spouses in your situation, you may be confused and struggling to understand what those five ominous words “I don’t love you anymore” really mean. Let’s look at four of the possibilities:

1. Your Spouse May Have Confused Feelings

The most common situation is that the partner has doubts about his feelings. A more accurate wording might be: “I don’t think that I love you anymore, but I’m not absolutely sure.”

If this is what your spouse means, you can often use this doubt, even if it’s only a very small doubt, to buy time for your marriage. Your spouse may be more likely to agree to go to marriage counseling while he takes additional time to determine if he really wants to leave the marriage or not.

Rather than framing an appeal to your spouse as doing you a favor, say instead, “Please don’t throw away your investment of time in our marriage yet.” This request reminds him that he’s losing something if he walks away.

Help him recall all the energy, hard work, and dreams he has invested in the marriage so far. He may conclude that it just makes good sense for him to wait until he’s absolutely sure about what he wants to do.

2. The Romance May Be Gone

Another meaning the words “I don’t love you anymore” can have is that your spouse feels she loves you but that she is not IN love with you any longer. This is usually extremely difficult for the other spouse to comprehend. How can she say that she loves you but not in a romantic way, more like a friend or sibling? What does she mean?

When she says “I love you, but I’m not IN love with you,” she may feel that she has been the main one trying to keep romance alive. She may have told you that she wished you communicated more or would take more initiative in planning romantic or fun things to do. She has probably tried to initiate discussions about her needs or how the two of you could feel more bonded.

It’s likely that in the past your spouse has suggested you both go to marriage counseling, all to no avail. She probably feels that her pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Her perception may be that you don’t value the relationship because you have been unwilling to make changes that are important to her.

She eventually may resign herself to the fact that you aren’t going to change. Her feelings of sexual desire and romantic attraction often diminish over time until the passionate spark is no longer there. She still cares about you, but she doesn’t feel romantic toward you any longer.

It’s impossible to predict which sparks can be fanned back into flames. Some spouses will leave anyway, saying that it’s too late, that the other spouse has waited too long to start taking acton. Other spouses may be deeply touched by the partner’s depth of feeling and efforts to change. They may agree to stay in the marriage and see what’s possible with both partners working on the relationship.

3. Abuse Almost Always Puts Out the Flame

A third possibility is that your spouse has shut down loving feelings towards you because of physical, verbal, or emotional abuse. It’s not hard to predict that partners who are threatened, slapped, verbally put down, constantly criticized, and unappreciated would not be likely to have loving feelings toward the abuser. Often they have no other choice but to leave the marriage in order to protect themselves and their children.

If you have a history of being abusive in any way to your spouse or children, it’s time to find an experienced therapist to help you. You will want to look at yourself in the mirror of a trained professional’s eyes. Often abusers themselves were abused as children. Abusive behavior was ingrained in them at a very young age.

If this is your case, know that you can’t help the environment you grew up in. What you can do is to make sure your loved ones are protected from it. Often people act out unconsciously the patterns they were taught as kids, only to perpetuate the cycle by acting the same way with their own families. The good news is that this vicious cycle can be stopped if you are willing to get help.

4. Addiction Can Kill Love

A fourth possibility is that if you have an addiction, your spouse may have had all he can endure. Addictions can take many different forms. Common addictions include alcohol or drug abuse, gambling, sexual addiction, and compulsive spending. Any of these behaviors can destroy a marriage.

The pain, confusion, and problems associated with living with a spouse who drinks until she passes out on the sofa each night can certainly dull romantic excitement. More often than not, the person drinking or using drugs doesn’t think she has a serious problem.

When the person is confronted about the drinking or drug use, a standard comeback is “I’m not an alcoholic (or druggie) because I can stop anytime I want to.” This is called denial, and many marriages have been wrecked because of it. For there to be any glimmer of hope that the marriage can be salvaged, the spouse with the addiction must be motivated and willing to seek help.

In an ideal world, your partner would be able to tell you in a clear, coherent fashion what his experience in the marriage has been, at what point his feelings for you changed, and why. If your spouse can do this, you’re fortunate.

Since people vary in their depth of self-understanding and the ability to communicate feelings, you may have more difficulty in getting immediate answers to your questions. And your spouse may still be trying to put all of the pieces together himself. When he says he doesn’t know why his feelings have changed, he may be telling the truth.

You may never know everything involved in your partner’s shift from being in love with you to not wanting to be in the marriage, but it’s important to understand what’s happened as much as possible. That’s where counseling can help.

You can tell your spouse that whether your marriage makes it or not, you need to process what has happened and take responsibility for your part. State that it will be really difficult and painful for you if the two of you end your marriage without even trying marriage counseling.

Your goal in entering counseling is to learn more about yourself and your partner, to improve your relationship skills, and to buy time for the marriage while you tackle the problems. That puts you in the best position to explore why the embers of love have died and to see if they can be fanned into flames once again.

Tips adapted from the book Keep Your Marriage: What To Do When Your Spouse Says “I don’t love you anymore!” by Nancy J. Wasson, Ph.D. and Lee Hefner. Available as an e-book at http://www.KeepYourMarriage.com. , where you can also sign up for the free Keep Your Marriage Internet Magazine. Contact Nancy at Nancy@KeepYourMarriage.com.

Certifications, offered by various vendors are a good way for IT professionals to seek validation for their skills. In today’s arena, there are lots of vendors offering specialization in particular domains. Professionals often get confused about which certification to go for as some of them have as little as hair thin difference between them. It is best to first identify your job role, the knowledge and skills required and accordingly select to take a particular certification to ensure career success.

Let us in this article try and get some clarity between two major certifications of Microsoft i.e. MCSE and MCSA which are often confused upon.

Why MCSE?

For a MCSE (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcse-exam/mcse-exam.html) candidate, it is preferable that he should have at least two years of experience in implementing and administering desktop and network operating systems, and designing a network infrastructure in the typically complex computing environment of medium-to-large organizations. The candidate should also have at least one year of experience administering Exchange Server environments involving multiple physical locations, mixed connection protocols, and Internet messaging.

MCSE has two tracks Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows 2003. The 2003 track requires 6 Core Exams, 1 Elective Exam and 2 Upgrade Exams to be cleared.

Core Exam include:

Group I: 70-290, 70-291, 70-293;

Group II: 70-270, 70-210; Group III: 70-297, 70-298.

Elective Exams include:

70-086, 70-227, 70-228, 70-229, 70-232, 70-281, 70-282, 70-284, 70-285, 70-297, 70-298, 70-299, and 70-301.

Upgrade Exams include

70-292 or 70-296.

Either CompTIA Security+ or Unisys UNO-101 can be substituted in place of the elective exams.

Why MCSA?

The need for qualified system administrators is very real in today’s business market and the excitement for MCSA (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcsa/mcsa.html) is growing daily. A candidate for MCSA should have at least one year of experience working with a desktop operating system, a network operating system, and an existing network infrastructure. As soon as candidates pass their first qualifying exam for the MCSA program, they achieve a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certification.

MCSA also has two tracks Microsoft Windows 2000 track and Microsoft Windows 2003 track. MCSA 2003 requires 3 Core Exams, 1 Elective exam and 1 Upgrade exam to be cleared.

Core Exams include:

Group I: 70-290, 70-291

Group II: 70-270, 70-210

Elective Exams include

70-086, 70-227, 70-228, 70-284, and 70-299

Upgrade Exams include

70-292

What’s the difference between MCSE & MCSA?

Let us look at a few major differences between the two certifications which will help you get a clearer idea about them:

MCSA (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcsa/mcsa.html) when compared to MCSE (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcse-exam/mcse-exam.html) is a basic level certification. As an MCSA you must know every thing about implementing, managing, and troubleshooting the existing network and system environments based on the Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. However, you will not be responsible to set up new networks and systems as a part of your job function. But as a MCSE knowledge about designing and deploying new networks and systems is necessary.

Being an MCSA professional means that you will be able to implement, manage, and maintain the typically complex computing environment of medium-to large-sized companies. On the other hand, being an MCSE professional you will be able to plan, design, and implement Microsoft Windows server solutions and architectures in medium-to large-sized companies.

The experience that is required for both these certifications is also different. MCSA requires 6-12 months of experience of administering client and network operating systems while MCSE requires at least one year of experience in implementing and administering network operating systems and desktop operating systems.

Jobs for an MCSA include systems administrator, network administrator, information systems administrator, network operations analyst, network technician, or technical support specialist. For an MCSE jobs include systems engineer, network engineer, systems analyst, network analyst, or technical consultant.

MCSA provides you with a credential that represents a set of skills which will be advantageous if you plan to pursue MCSE Certification. Therefore, earning an MCSA will qualify you with the option to use these credentials and acquire MCSE through Upgrade path to MCSE.

If you look carefully, both these exams although similar to each other specialize in different domains. A clear understanding of both the certifications is necessary before you decide which one to opt for. So make the right choice and get going!!

Whizlabs (www.whizlabs.com), an ISO Certified company, is a leading provider of IT skill assessment and certification exam preparation tools. Whizlabs’ suite of offerings include “IT Certification Exam simulators and Instructor-led, Online Trainings” for various exams by Sun, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, BEA, Cisco, and other leading IT vendors and “IT skill Assessment Management Solution” for Corporations, Training Institutes, and Universities.

In its first 3 years of inception Whizlabs has helped 300,000 software professionals in realizing their dream of acquiring IT Certifications of their interest.

Whizlabs offerings have fuelled the career growth of IT professionals working in 321 Fortune 500 companies spread in 118 countries across the globe.

The author can be contacted at authors@whizlabs.com

*First Published at Whizlabs’ site.

Have you ever read a book by George Orwell entitled “1984″? He wrote his pessimistic view of the future in 1948. This is the book that gave us Big Brother, the idea of constant surveillance, and a model society based on strict conformity. Among the tools developed to promote conformity, Orwell’s society invented Newspeak, where words are redefined to meet the draconian social order.

In Newspeak we learn that “war is peace,” “love is hate,” and other definitional reversals that send chills down the spine of anyone who understands the implications. The actual 1984 has come and gone, but many of Orwell’s predictions are with us, especially newspeak. We are no longer fired but downsized, wars produce collateral damage instead of civilian casualties, and religion is science.

Did that last one get past you? If not, you may be in a minority, because American school boards have been and remain under pressure to insert religious instruction into the science curriculum as science.

In recent months the question of how schools should treat the revisionist “Intelligent Design” (ID) doctrine, a claim by a very vocal group of extreme fundamentalist Christians that science classes should present the Genesis story of the creation of life and its diversity on an equal footing with scientific theories. The story has been featured in practically every medium available, from the august pages of Science magazine to a front-page series in the New York Times, and everything in between, including Time, Newsweek, American Scholar, Natural History, the American School Board Journal, and on and on. The quantity, length, and emotional outpouring of the coverage rivals that given to the Abu Ghraib and Swift Boat issues of 2004. Even in religious circles there are opposite camps, the Archbishop of Vienna supporting the intelligent design doctrine (New York Times, 7 July 2005), while Vatican chief astronomer Father George Coyne defending Darwinism (The Tablet, 5 August 2005). Finally, no less a scientific non-expert as President Bush went on record saying he though ID should be taught in schools.

The issue of whether or not to teach biblical creationism (under the new name “Intelligent Design”) and to “warn” students that evolutionary theory is a weak idea from the fringes of scientific respectability is once again in the courts. Pennsylvania’s Dover Area School District has been sued by eight families who oppose any passing off of religion as science and requiring teachers to misrepresent science in their classrooms.

Why doesn’t ID deserve equal time as the alternative scientific theory to biological evolution? In simplest terms, because ID is not science, nor is it based upon science. ID is based on literal interpretation of bible stories, with no testable hypotheses, no explanation that meets the meaning of “scientific”, and no possibility of changing its views in the face of contradictory evidence. In short, Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory or claim, and is thus ineligible to be presented as science. ID is based on some people observing complexity in nature and, because they cannot understand what is happening or how it came to be, believe God must have done it. I haven’t a clue how my car engine works, but I am also pretty sure that God did not make it! Imagine what John Paul Jones would have thought if he could have seen a nuclear aircraft carrier…

The few Ph.D. scientists who support the idea are chemists, engineers, and physicists, not biologists. The few biologists who support the idea are mainly biochemists, again with limited experience of whole organism biology. Their take on the complexities of evolution are as limited as car mechanic’s knowledge of pharmacy.

Real science is the practice of observing and explaining nature without resorting to the supernatural. Just because we don’t know how something works doesn’t mean God did it. In fact, as soon as we credit God (or angels, leprechauns, demons, whatever) with something we have stopped doing science.

As for the core of the issue, let mean evolutionary biologistmake one thing perfectly clear: Evolution is a fact. It is on an absolute par with the orbit and shape of the earth, the behavior of electrons to produce electricity, and the constancy of the speed of light. To deny biological evolution is no different than denying those other factsthough some people do still believe that the earth doesn’t move and is flat and the speed of light is variable.

The theory of evolution by means of natural selection is a scientific explanation of how (not if) evolution happens. The holes in the theory are minor, and deal with questions about whether organisms evolve quickly or slowly, in rapid steps or gradual transitions, or whether the host or its parasites is the major force for change. So far, the theory of evolution is so well supported that it has no scientifically valid competition.

Science teachers should be able to hit ID head on, by saying up front “Intelligent Design is one of thousands of religion-based explanations for the origin and diversity of life, but like those others it is not a scientific explanation because…”

Alternately, for those who delight in the peripheral issues, perhaps scientists and non-fundamentalists could start demanding that ID/Creationists must subject their beliefs to the scientific method, to provide “equal time” in church. Perhaps we should insist upon having a notice stamped inside Bibles that reads: caution: these accounts represent only a few of several thousand religious viewpoints, any of which might be true or all of which might be false.” It might be interesting to see what real physicists, biologists, and chemists have to say about the burning bush, immaculate conception, and transmutation of water into wine. What might we learn by shedding some light on the parting of the sea, walking on water, and the nature of demons? More important, what might we learn about ourselves?

Dr. Sprackland is an evolutionary zoologist and herpetologist, and director of the Virtual Museum of Natural History at http://www.curator.org. His article on venoms, “Toxic Treasures,” was the cover story in the October 2005 Natural History magazine. His article on “Origins” for the November 2005 American School Board Journal, covered details of the Evolution/intelligent design issue.

Virtual Museum of Natural History at http://www.curator.org

High-tech private investigators are becoming the answer for many Internet users who have been victimized online. The use of e-mail by that unethical element lurking in cyberspace rings all too common these days. With law enforcement agencies overwhelmed and under trained to address these issues, victims have often been left to deal with them on their own.

Frustrated, powerless, even scared, many people have turned to InfoPursuit, a California based private investigative firm, for assistance. The fact that they employ experts trained in the specialized field of e-mail tracing and Internet-based investigations makes them unique. They take pride in being able to uncloak the seemingly anonymous sender by tracing e-mail back to its source.

“We have a highly skilled staff, most of which have former law enforcement experience,” says Jeff Duggan, Director of Services at InfoPursuit. “The e-mail tracing techniques we employ are on the cutting edge and have proven effective in resolving the unknown, the identity of the sender.” This online based firm hosts a Website at www.infopursuit.com, detailing the various services offered.

More and more people everyday find themselves on the receiving end of some type of threatening or harassing e-mail. Cyberstalking, online bullying, and e-mail fraud schemes have created a very disturbing and volatile environment for a vast number of users. With e-mail becoming a household term, people today are using the Internet as their primary means for communication. The need to trace malicious e-mail is increasing.

InfoPursuit’s ability to trace e-mail messages and track down these Cyber-terrorists has brought relief to many. Vicki Hansen, a former student who relied heavily on the Internet, is an example of someone who found resolution through InfoPursuit. “They were able to trace an e-mail message for me and identify the harassing sender who was using a free e-mail service,” says Hansen. “I first went to the police and the only advice they gave me was to turn my computer off.” Like Vicki Hansen, many students and professionals alike depend on these technologies daily. For that reason, they just do not have the ability to turn off the computer in hopes of the problem disappearing. Now they don’t have to.

If you are experiencing a problem with someone on the Internet or would like more information on the e-mail tracing services offered by InfoPursuit, contact Jeff Duggan or visit their Website at www.infoPursuit.com. Some of the other services offered in addition to tracing e-mail are Internet profiling, people finder searches, personal background checks, criminal record searches, and business checks.

InfoPursuit was established in 2002 and currently serves clients worldwide. They have assisted individuals, businesses and law enforcement agencies with high-tech investigations.

InfoPursuit
http://www.infopursuit.com
contactus@infopursuit.com

The world of small business accounting software can be a minefield for any business owner. However choosing the right package is one of the most critical business decisions you will make.

Here are the seven things you must consider before making a purchase that will help you achieve your businesses goals.

1. Scalability

Businesses change over time so it’s critical that the small business accounting software you choose can change too. Some
things that often change are the number of products and services offered and the number of employees. When you choose your package try and imaging the business in 5 years or 10 years time and how different it will be. Use this information to guide your purchase decision. It may well be better to pay a little more now for the software knowing that it can be easily
upgraded when needed with minimum disruption and cost to your business.

2. Support

It is important that any software has great support for when something goes wrong (and it always does). Most major companies
offer support but you also need to think about support in your local area. It’s often much easier to have someone locally
come in and do things you need done with your software than have someone trying to help you over the phone. Make some
enquiries with other businesses about the package they use and who helps them.

3. Accountant Interface

It’s most unlikely you will handle every aspect of your businesses accounting. Your accountant is an important factor in making the right decision. What software are they used to working with and what do they prefer? Can you easily supply them data and reports from your package without the need for any extra work (which you’ll have to pay for). Don’t be afraid to ask their opinion as they live and breathe this stuff.

4. Best Value For Money

Once you have selected the right package for your business you may as well get the best value. Shop around as the price can
vary greatly and the product is exactly the same. Online merchants such as Amazon may offer better pricing because of the sheer volume of products they sell. However price is only one part of the equation so if their is great merchant locally with support or installation assistance this may be far more valuable.

5. Major Brands

There are two major players in the small business accounting software market. They are QuickBooks and Peachtree. Microsoft is expected to enter the market soon. I recommend choosing a major brand so that you can get regular updates and you know the company will be around as long as your business needs them.

6. Ease of Use

Ease of use is a personal thing but it is worth trying the software before you buy it if you can. Remember to get the person who will be the main user to test the software as well. Also consider how well the package can interact with other software you use. This is an advantage the Microsoft package may have when it’s available.

7. Features Needed

I touched on this earlier when talking about thinking ahead as to where you business will be in 5 or 10 years time. Most
accounting software packages come in several different versions. If you don’t need certain features now and can’t see a need for them in the future then don’t buy them. The major differences are usually - number of users allowed, inventory management capability and number of reports available.

To sum up think ahead when planning your purchase of small business accounting software. You will make a much smarter
business decision that will save you plenty of trouble and money in the future.

Please visit us for more information and a feature by feature comparison of:
Small Business Accounting Software

The last couple of months have seen the vulnerability to your privacy dramatically increase. Anti P2P laws, the government, the police, spyware servers… Everyone wants to know more about your activities on the Internet. Everyone wants to know what you have on your pc.

What sites you visit on the Internet, how often, how long you have been using it, what programs you use etc etc…
They are trying to make laws in Europe to allow the government to sniff into your e-mails, listen to your phone calls, and thanks to other recent laws your ISP must keep all logs of your online activity…

Your privacy is being threatened on all fronts.

One of the latest programs that helps you protect yourself against “privacy sniffers hordes” is PeerGuardian2 released
by Phoenixlabs on http://wwww.phoenixlabs.org/. At this moment the latest version of PeerGuardian is 2.0 Beta 6b.
I’ll skip the boring installation instructions and just give some advice regarding effective use of PeerGuardian mainly on sharing programs such as Kazaa, Edonkey, Shareaza, DC…

You can use it in combination with socksifying (explained at http://www.proxyblind.org/tut.shtml ). Which should increase your privacy dramatically and make it very difficult to trace you. When you open PeerGuardian you will see what a simple and effective program it is.

On left side are:

• Disable - display number of blocked IP’s;
• List Manager - display number of sources used for uploading;
• Check Updates - with info about latest updating.

On right side are:

• Block HTTP - HTTP allowed or not (mean do you want to block IP during surfing through the Net or not)
• View History - Actually logs of blocked and allowed IP’s
• Clear Log - Clear your logs/history

By clicking on setting you’ll see another screen with:

• Auto-Update - You can set to check automatically for new release of PeerGuardian, aut. update of lists and time to check for update
• Logging - With setting how much lines to logs and enabling/disabling allowed connection with specify of days for removing
• Startup - To chose start of not with Windows, start minimized or not and displaying splash screen or not
• Optimalization - Normal to use IP ranges exactly as it is inside list or agressive that use a less CPU and block much more (it is explained by programs self how).

Now the most import parts. Click back on protection and click on list manager and you’ll see oversight of your list. To create list for yourself what is strongly recommended go to this URL:
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/sources.txt (Bluetack sources that are updated daily.) and then added every single url that you find there to your list. How?

Click on “Add” (it is if you would to download list on daily basis from internet. Create list button is for creating your own list from local sources) and type by description name of list and check URL to specify URL which PeerGuardian should check and update your list. By type it shows wether or not that IP is blocked or allow.

Repeat the same method using other URL’s, click ok and you are done. Start your sharing program (eventually socksified which should increased your privacy) and surf safe.

Make, the webmaster of ProxyBlind -
The site about proxy server, privacy, security and anonymity!

A Software Model that emphasizes on global delivery of quality software build by talented pool of professionals at an economical cost from a development center that is located in a foreign land is Offshore Software Development.

The burgeoning competition to be branded as the Quality Offshore Software Development Company has signaled the requirement to implement the best of the resources and innovative strategies. After a jerk of the start-up phase, HyTech Professionals has implemented the approach that encompasses the minutest details, which had been or may have been easily overlooked by the nascent businesses to win the client interest. Clearly, the enticing feature of Outsourcing is cost savings without compromising on quality. To achieve this objective, the initiative should begin with the Best possible approach by the offshore client and the Software vendor.

Huge cost savings, time optimization and talented technocrats in a minimal risk environment are often accompanied by some challenges such as communication gaps, decreased visibility to project status, unexpected spikes in budget allocation and cultural hindrances.

The opening channel to venture in Software Offshore Development is the Smooth flow of communication between the offshore client and the vendor. A constructive dialogue between the two sides is not limited to verbal communication, but is aggressively pursued in writing, meetings and conferences.

Seamless communication can be reinforced by working on a global clock, which is accomplished by implementing work-schedules with a time overlap between the software offshore client and the vendor. Though, it may be expected that the offshore vendor works in accordance with the client suitability. Local presence of the offshore vendor can be of an added privilege to the client, as it guarantees direct and constant interfacing. The flexibility and ease to approach the offshore vendor strengthens the client confidence.

Another factor that should be taken care of is the Budget forecast for the project. The Technical and Business Analysts should take into consideration the following:

• The vendor Rates: what is more suitable to the project requirement. Should the accepted rates be “Per Project”, “per Hour”, “per Month” etc?
• The Risks involved in accomplishing the task
• Is the quality being compromised for an attractive price?
• See through any hidden costs. For example: Change or modification in the Client specification, Re-doing of any deliverable.
• The Offshore Vendor Resource matrix that cover the attributes required by the Client

Once the offshore client is confident that the terms of engagement are clear, both the Teams coordinate the efforts and work on the project. The Engagement Model may be transparent to win the client interest and hence the one that adds value to the relationship.

To foster the nascent relation between the offshore client and the software vendor, it is imperative that the offshore vendor architects the design such that which ensures an uninterrupted work-flow. Implementing a development environment that is a replication of the offshore client environment serves as a conduit to smooth accomplishment of tasks.

Apart from setting up an extension of the Client backdrop, the teams engaged from either side should delegate their tasks through a single point of contact to eliminate any ambiguities that could arise due to multiple interfacing channels. All the tasks relayed between the Offshore and the Domestic teams should be anchored on close communication and active follow up.

How much ever one decides to implement an error-free design, some issues or unpredictable lags can reap up and slow down the work-process. Such issues if handled with a mutual consensus and cooperation from both the parties can ramp up the process to successfully achieve the target.

In conclusion, a summary of the steps for the best practice in Offshore Software Development are:

1. Implement a Transparent Model that is customer-centric
2. Conduct a proper survey to shortlist the best suitable vendor for the project
3. Finalize the contract that explicitly defines the Financial terms and states Service Level Agreement
4. Fragment the Software Lifecycle in phases- from Inception to Delivery
5. Develop and deploy the accomplished tasks in a close collaboration with the Offshore Client.

Source: http://www.hytechpro.com/best_practices_in_offshore_software_development.html

About The Author

John Parker

This article is powered by A-1 Technology, an offshore outsourcing company

sec@a1internetdesign.com

The Problem:

Are you bombarded with popup ads? Seeing new toolbars in
your browser? Does your home page change to
unwanted/unknown destinations? Bombarded with irritating
spam? Perhaps strange software loads when you first start your
computer, or your favorites file may have new entries that you
don’t recognize and don’t want. If this is happening to you, your
PC (Personal Computer) is most likely infected with adware
spyware, spybot spyware, trojan viruses or other harmful
internet parasites.

What Is Happening?:

Your privacy is being seriously invaded. These programs have
the ability to track your Internet usage habits and even steal
such personal information as bank account numbers and
passwords. If you are like me, this is scary, isn’t it? But there’s
more…spyware even has the power to install even more
parasites on your computer without your knowledge and
without your consent. Everything you do and everything you
type can be recorded without your knowledge and without your
consent. Using spyware, companies can find out what your
interests are and even track your purchasing habits. Hackers
can and sometimes will access your PC and do anything they
wish. Unscrupulous individuals can even steal your identity
(you’ve heard of identity theft, haven’t you?) and you would
never be the wiser, at least until it is too late (this would be
when the bill collectors, or even the police, start calling you!).

To Determine If You Are At Risk, Ask Yourself These 3 Questions:

Have I downloaded files, documents or free mp3 music online?
Has my computer suddenly started getting annoying ads
popping up on the screen?
Have I suddenly noticed that my computer is running extremely
slow?

What Is The Solution?

There is only one solution to this problem and that is to protect
yourself and your privacy with a Spyware protection solution.
Spyware protection software helps you to completely clean your
computer of invasive threats. As a result, your computer will be
clean and its performance will be better. Simply put, it will run a
lot faster. Additionally, you will have protected your privacy -
personal information, financial data, and your financial security
will be protected. In the information age, where having just one
piece of your personal information can ruin your life, protecting
your personal privacy while online is of the utmost importance.

Joe Borges makes it easy for you to protect your sensitive information while on the Internet. To get free tips, tools and other essential information, visit our Anti Spyware Software website.

Joe Borges is an Internet Marketer and Online Business Owner with experience in web development and implementation. He is also a professional SEO Consultant, helping internet businesses increase their web presence, website traffic and Search Engine Ranking. Get essential tips, tools and strategies that you can use right now to protect your most sensitive information by visiting: http://www.alertcomputer.com