The Refresh Orlando Heirs

Are You Safe Ordering Online?

Even this day and age people
are very insecure about ordering anything online. Even though many people
order and give their credit card information over the phone they still are
hesitant upon ordering online. This article will show you what to look for
to see if it is safe to order online, the general process on how things are
processed online, and the securities involved. Knowledge is the key for
security and I want you to gain security by reading this article.

What The Web User Should Know:

Everyone knows to look for the padlock on the bottom
of the browser, right? If not that tells you that the web page is secure.
Along with that padlock on the bottom of the browser your web page SHOULD
display https:// instead of http://. (The s stands for ’secured’)

“How is a web page secure?”

HTTPS is the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) as a sub-layer under its
regular HTTP application layering. If you view a HTTPS page and see a
warning pop up about the certificate of the site read the warning carefully.
Here are a couple of warnings that I came across when setting up a SSL
certificate for my site. Such as . . . Certificate is for
https://theinternetpresence.com
butthe page is for
https://www.theinternetpresence.com. (When I edited the hyperlink and
left out the www, it resolved the issue.) Certificate points to
hsphere.com instead of theinternetpresence.com. (Again, a simple setting
resolved this issue.) Hsphere is the hosting control panel I use that
controls my site. But look carefully at warnings that point to a web site
that you are not familiar with and warnings that state there is no SSL
certificate at all. For an example of these warnings you can visit my site at

https://www.theinternetpresence.com,because currently I’m switching from a
Windows Server to a Unix Server for added stability and security. If you
did not receive a warning then it means that the move was completed.

For a brief description on what the requirements are to obtain a SSL
certificate look below under “What’s the process involved for getting a SSL
Certificate?”

“What about types of Browsers?”

Internet Explorer used to control 90% of the market for web browsers, so
naturally hackers and cheaters were attracted to attacking that browser to
obtain information. So the safe alternative was to use a different browser
like Firefox that was not very popular. But as Firefox gains popularity
they will become a target as well. Their goal was to gain 10% of the
market, and they are now pushing 20% according to statistics of people visiting
my site.

You would be interested in knowing that with a
properly configured web site with the correct shopping cart script for
collecting credit card information that connects to a merchant account gateway,
the credit card number is never seen by the webmaster. It’s true! I
cannot see the process of filling out the information, and when I visit my
merchant account online to view transactions I’m not shown the full credit card
number. “But be warned on how people can work around this!”

“How can they process a credit card that is insecure and/or see my
credit card number?”

1. If the page is unsecured. (http instead of https and the lock is open on
   the bottom of the browser)
2. If they use a simple online form to ask for the information instead of a
   script. (When the information is emailed out instead of processed)
   Even if the form is on a HTTPS page it would still be secured, but as soon
   as it is mailed it becomes unsecured and if anything happens the web
   site owner could lose his merchant account and not be able to apply for a
   new one EVER AGAIN! I’ve seen customers use this way to process cards
   and manually enter them at their store. Needless to say I refused to
   create a site that operates this way for liability issues.

What the Online Store Owner Should Know:

“What’s the process involved for getting a SSL Certificate?”

1. Fill out the required information of name, address, phone number, etc.
2. Certificates range from $39 to $1499. Typically the $39 one will
   work fine.
3. You will get a ‘phone authentication’ call recording your voice stating
   your name for security and asking you to enter a 4 digit code that would be
   provided for you.
4. After that has been verified you can install the SSL Certificate.

“What alternate ways are there to accept payments?”

1. Check. But this way takes longer to achieve payment.
2. COD Will you get the payment after it’s delivered?
3. PayPal Secure, but viewed as unprofessional. (I still offer
   it as an alternative though)

If you have a business that you would like to move
online you should get a merchant account or have your ‘brick and mortar’
merchant account upgraded to online by adding a gateway. If you have any
questions at all on anything about merchant accounts talk to
Corey
Bryant. He has an enormous amount of information on merchant accounts
and setting up your business online. You can email him at

crbryant@loudhost.com?subject=Internet_Presence_sent_me.Youcan also find a
wealth of information about SSL certificates at

http://www.theinternetpresence.com/ssl.htm.

In Conclusion:

It is possible to have an unsecured transaction over the internet, but by far
it is MUCH SAFER than handing your credit card over to someone who can jot down
the number and verification code on the back of the card, or stating the card
number over the phone for an order. I sincerely hope that I did not scare
anyone off with this report, but gave them the knowledge on how to protect
themselves.

Until the next article have a great day!

Copyright © Michael Rock

(You have permission to copy this article as long as it remains intact with the
author’s byline)

Webdevelopmentcontractor (Web Design and Hosting)

Internet Presence

www.TheInternetPresence.com

About the Author

Internet Presence was founded in 2003
from a desire to become independent. Less than 1 year later Internet Presence
has had accounts in three different states ranging from a locally owned auto
collision repair shop to a glass packaging industry that sells its product
worldwide.

Microsoft is a difficult situation for me to evaluate. I think the company still has a lot of growth ahead in some areas. But, that depends on where management wants to take it.

There are three core businesses that are already well developed: Windows, Office, and Servers.

The moat in the first two are wide. The Windows moat is huge.

The business model in operating systems is great. You keep upgrading every few years; the hardware needn’t progress for you to find things to tweak and get people to buy the next step up. It’s insanely profitable.

I think the new launch (Vista) will be bigger than people expect (eventually) in how it allows for cross selling other Microsoft products (but we’ll see about that). I expect the press to be very negative at least until well after the launch, because there will always be some bugs and delays.

Games

Eventually, video games will be a big business for Microsoft. I hate the economics of the console business, but love the economics of the publishing (and development) side of things.

I’m sorry to see that Microsoft didn’t use its cash pile to buy up an established business here (publishers were cheap in the market a few years ago; an all cash deal would have worked well. Now, everyone thinks video games will be the next big thing).

The console wars are going well for Microsoft. The two keys to establishing a dominant console are launching first and getting good games on your platform. We’ll see how Sony (SNE) does this round, but I expect them to be the big loser.

Nintendo may surprise here. I think the Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s new console (Wii) will do very well. It’ll be interesting to see the breakdown of the consoles in both the domestic and foreign markets. I think Sony may still be strong overseas, but could be in a much poorer position at the end of this round than they were with the PS2.

Search

Long-term I am optimistic about search. I think Google’s position is much weaker than most people think. I don’t think Microsoft will be the only one to benefit here.

Search is a very natural cross sell with Windows. That’s the direction everything seems to be headed in (combining online and desktop search). For future growth in terms of market share I think Microsoft is in a better position than either Yahoo (YHOO) or Google (GOOG).

I also think we might see a couple other (largely unknown) search engines gain some share.

I think Google’s strength is its brand. Its dominance helps with advertisers more than users. I don’t think it has a lock on users. Also, I think Google has been poorly positioned for doing much of anything outside of keyword search.

I expect to see a lot more in the way of intelligent, social search inspired stuff. Years from now, much of search will have to be helping you find what you didn’t know you wanted to find.

Google is dominant in a different business: helping you find what you know you want to find (but don’t know the name / location). The two types of search are very different. Both will be important, but the growth in other forms of search will be coming off a smaller base and will likely integrate with keyword search. Google has the most to lose here.

Other Devices

Microsoft wants to perform well on mobile devices and on your TV. Compared to competitors it is very strong in these respects.

The strategy seems to be the one I would favor - to control the point of initial contact wherever software is used and then to only venture into the actual application or content side of the business where it is highly profitable to do so. In video games it will be highly profitable. In other areas it is less likely to be very profitable.

I expect to see more generic, web-based applications. These will be less profitable for everyone. Office should hold up well, but not as well as Windows. Basically, Microsoft needs to take what it has in PCs and import that to TVs, Handheld Devices, Consoles, and the Web.

That should be the strategy. I think that is the strategy. These aren’t unrelated businesses that need to be broken up to unlock creativity (as some have suggested). Rather, the profit potential for each is greatly enhanced by being part of Microsoft. If you take these pieces apart they are worth very little. There would only be the three businesses I started off talking about and the console / games business.

Internationally, there is going to be natural growth for Microsoft’s dominant businesses. It won’t be a tremendous growth rate, but it will be strong and will require virtually no additional investment to secure.

Obsolescence Issues

Overall, I like the future for software a lot more than hardware, because the marginal gains in the quality of hardware will slow greatly in the years ahead.

The question isn’t what can be done mathematically in terms of increasing specs; it’s what that translates to for the user. We are reaching a point where the individual user will not directly see the benefits of increased hardware performance as clearly as he did in the past.

Much of the research that goes in to this area will only serve to bring down prices and benefit memory intensive businesses - it will not provide as much of a “wow” factor for the user anymore.

This is especially true in games. The situation in desktop applications is already such that improving the software design is where most gains will come from.

Computing power is simply not a scarce resource for most individuals sitting at home or in a cubicle. Advances will benefit some users a lot and will trickle down to the end user (often via the web) through fast responses and cheap services. But, that’s a barely noticeable change.

You’ll see something here akin to the kind of thing you see in the brokerage business. It won’t be obvious, because price competition will never be as great in software.

Generally, you’ll just see the prices for doing anything electronically come down. That’s very different from what we’ve seen over the last few decades, where you also had advancements that attracted new users, because they allowed developers to do something differently, not just more cheaply.

This is a very long-term trend I’m worried about. It could weigh heavily on a business like Dell (DELL), because PCs are actually quite durable; once the rate of obsolescence slows, sales will have to slow as the cycle lengthens.

Management

I think Microsoft’s management is absolutely the best in the business. In fact, I think it’s one of the best in any business.

It would be hard for me to find more than a handful of people I’d rather have managing a business I was part owner of. I also think the current arrangement is a good one.

There is enough of a line between current operations and future investments in the Chairman / CEO split that investors will probably get the greatest benefit from the brilliance of the Chairman this way.

Everyone underestimates Bill Gates. It’s easy, because his great triumph came some time ago now. But, he’s interested in building something lasting. I trust him more than anyone in tech without a question. He always impresses me whether he’s talking about his own industry or some other topic. He has exactly the right kind of mind for someone running a business where the long-run is such a concern.

Qualitatively, I think Microsoft scores close to perfectly. I could cite the profitability stats, but I won’t, because you know they’re better than almost any other business on the planet - and that’s with a huge siphoning off of resources to investments in the future that aren’t required to maintain the cash cow, wide-moat Windows franchise.

Valuation

Valuation is a bit more troubling. Microsoft is not at the point on an EV/EBIT basis where I’d be buying the stock if there was a risk of no extraordinarily profitable growth in the future. In other words, at the current price, it clearly makes for a bad bond.

The key is earnings growth. I think you have to believe MSFT will have a real future in search, games, and non-PC devices that will fuel future, highly profitable growth.

I think that future is there. As far as a truly large cap stock (say $10 billion or more) it’s about as attractive as anything on the planet right now - and certainly it’s the most attractive stock of any very large U.S. business. Even though Intel (INTC) and Dell are cheap looking, I don’t like them nearly as much. Dell is an interesting situation, but I don’t understand the business well enough.

I have a better idea of where MSFT is headed - and I like it.

Conclusion

I don’t own shares of MSFT. I won’t be buying any either. I don’t normally own such large stocks. I prefer much smaller businesses, because the mispricings tend to get more out of whack. You aren’t going to see MSFT trade at an EV/EBIT of 7.5 or something like that, but you do sometimes get those chances in small (high quality) businesses.

There are a lot of chances to find wild mispricings without much of the future being a concern. Those are the situations I prefer to invest in, because businesses like MSFT have an awfully large anchor with the amount of capital they’ve got - plus, they tend to be less likely to be wildly mispriced.

However, if I had to own one business with a market cap of more than $10 billion and hold it for a lifetime I would buy Microsoft here without hesitation.

Geoff Gannon writes a daily value investing blog and produces a twice weekly (half hour) value investing podcast at Gannon on Investing

I don’t know what you’ve been told about internet dating, but
it’s not always as easy as 1,2,3. If you’ve searched around or
thought about it much then you’re probably aware of the upsides.
Ultimately, there’s no better, faster way to sort through and
find potential mates that fit the “profile.”

You can take your search much further than you normally could
offline. And if know yourself, what you want, and what to look
for, you can get great results. This is the stuff advertisements
are made of. But with these advantages usually come certain
challenges that you’ll need to work through.

By the way, if you don’t know yourself well and what it is you
want, that’s fine. Have fun with it and learn. Just don’t expect
to meet your match right away. You can use the internet to help
you discover these things.

What you can’t do is use internet dating to smooth out all of
your rough spots and work some kind of magic for you. This will
not be fruitful. Because sooner or later, it all comes down to
the weakest link.

As an example, some people who live in areas of low population
will get online expecting this to fix that problem for them.
They end up blaming the service when they don’t find a lot
people from their area online. They were hoping for something
that the online world can’t necessarily help them with.

So it may not provide the automatic solution you were hoping
for. The question is, what does it allow you to do that you
couldn’t easily do before? How can this make up for the original
problem? It’s a negotiation. Sometimes you have to give a little
before you can take, or in this case, before you can benefit
from this new situation called internet dating.

You have to ask yourself, how important is this? In this
example, would it be important enough to drive a little further
or arrange to meet halfway? Because this is an option that
wasn’t easily available before. If not, then there must be other
things that are more important. What are they?

Others become cynical and quit when their dates don’t represent
themselves accurately or honestly online. It can happen to
anyone. It will probably happen to you. But it seems to happen a
lot more to some people. There are probably two things going on
there. One is akin to the inadvertant but habitual seeking out
of abusive relationships. Here, the person is presented with
signs of problems to come, but consitently overlooks them. Often
the people around them can see something that they can’t.

Or it could be just a simple matter of learning from your
mistakes. You don’t get to use your intuition the same way as
you would in real life, so you have to develop methods that will
make up for this. What I don’t hear about in these cases is any
attempt to prevent this by changing the way they do things. This
usually explains why they’re getting the same results.

It presents a challenge, but again, how could you turn this
around by using the new abilities that internet dating gives
you? One way is to be more direct with people in the future.
This is easier for most people to do online, and as a result
more common.

So learn how to take full advantage of this benefit. It may take
some time. But it’s hard to give internet dating a fair chance
until you do. What could you learn if you could ask people the
kinds of questions that can take weeks, months, even years to
get answered otherwise? Remember I said that internet dating can
be the fastest way to sort through people?

Here’s the most common challenge of all… getting a decent
response to your profile or emails. Profiles in general is a
subject that’s too big to get into here, so let me restrict this
to email. The vast majority of this involves men. There are
approximately 4 times as many men doing this than women. Add
that to the fact that men initiate far more than women and you
can start to see where response might be a problem.

There are many upsides that can compensate for this. A common
one is that men can spare themselves the indimidation factor in
approaching women. And if they play their cards right, internet
dating can be a real confidence builder. Chatting with women
online is a skill that’s not just useful for getting dates
online. It carries over to offline situations as well. But I
digress…

To this problem, the basic answer is the same. That is, you have
to change what you’re doing to get different results. But that’s
a little to vague in this case. The problem is that women
continue to see the same kinds of emails coming a lot of
different men. For the more attractive ones, it’s out of control.

Under these conditions, you have to do something fundamentally
different in your approach to stand out… and standing out is
the only way to get fair consideration. Just refining your
current approach isn’t going to be enough if your current
approach isn’t working.

Take a lesson from nature - evolution had the same idea when it
gave male peacocks their colorful tails. What you do differently
depends partly on you, because it’s mostly just a matter of you
being secure in your uniqueness.

But until you are, and until you’ve developed your unique style
around that, there are some things that you have to understand.
Things that most guys who aren’t naturals don’t know. Once you
do, your results will improve dramatically, reinforcing your
authentic character instead of calling it into question.

That’s as much detail as I can go into in this article, but I’ll
leave you with this… If you want to make internet dating work
for you, learn about what you have available to you, use it,
experiment with it, get creative, and try new things.

At the same time, you have to be aware of what’s going on in
your head. In other words, what are you telling yourself? Become
aware of thought patterns that are working against you. If you
catch them, stop them immediately and replace them with ones
that serve you better.

It’s not so much what’s online or what’s offline that will
determine your results. It’s what’s in your head.

Competitive Ballroom Dancing is a highly competitive sport that is a lot of fun and great for your fitness. There are competitions happening all over Australia almost every weekend with people from almost ever age group involved.

Ballroom Dancing Competitions are held throughout Australia in capital cities and regional center’s throughout the year. They are great spectacles of the skill that is involved with Ballroom Dancing. Dancers compete in three styles, over 5 grades in 6 different age groups. This means that whoever you are, no matter experienced you are, there is a competition for you.

There are three different styles that couples compete in during Ballroom Dancing competitions, these are Modern Ballroom, Latin American and New Vogue. Latin is the most popular of these forms, especially with the younger couples and is the most fiercely competitive, with many couples only competing in this style. In the different styles there are 5 grades. You begin at level 1 and work your way through to level 5 by winning at different competitions, there is also an Open level where dancers from different levels compete against each other. There are also 6 different age levels for dancers, Juvenile, Junior, Youth, Adult, Masters 1 and Masters 2. All of this means that you are only competing against people of your own age and skill level, in the styles that you want. If you aren’t sure if competition is your thing, you can start off with individual events where you dance with a more experienced dancer in only one or two dances.

Competitive Ballroom Dancers compete in high quality events and because of this they need to be fit and prepared for competitions. Dancers train almost every day and for several hours per session perfecting their routines and techniques, they also have several private lessons with their coaches during the week. A lot of work also goes into their outfits with a lot of time and money being spent of dresses, shoes and outfits as every dancer wants to look their best.

If you are interested in going along or getting involved with competitions go along to your local studio and ask for some information or check out the Dancesport Australia website. There are Ballroom Dancing Competitions held throughout Australia and they are great spectacles, especially events such as the Queensland Open, South pacific Championships, World Super Stars at Jupiter’s on the Gold Coast and the Australian Championships held every year in Melbourne, there will be a competition for you no matter who you are or where you are from. Go along and have a look, you are sure to enjoy competitive Ballroom Dancing.

This article is copyrighted. Please feel free to use it in its entirety including copyright information.

Copyright © 2006 Shannon Martin, http://www.ballroomdancingcentral.info/.