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Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

Posted by Linda | 4:23 AM

I have been a US citizen for more than 30 years but not in 1963. With so many reviews here I have absolutely nothing to say about the actual events of that terrible day in Dallas.

Just where I was and what I was doing at that time. I was getting ready to leave my native Czechoslovakia for the USA (it took me 5 years more to arrive in New York) and I listened every night to Voice of America in Special English.

That evening it started slowly but it quickly became a regular broadcast US English I had more difficulty to follow. I understood the tragic news, however. 'President Kennedy was shot' followed quickly by the announcement of his death.

I started to call all friends I had in the city of Prague who tuned their radio to the same VOA broadcast.
Just as the book describes the American reaction, we had a hard time to believe what we heard. But it was the reality and the end of an era for a great part of the world.

Were the three years of JFK's presidency some kind of dream? It looks that way now.

Was there some kind of conspiracy? Many believe it was. My personal one is based on the movie Manchurian Candidate, wisely not shown here for several decades, with Oswald as the pre-programmed automaton.

Even if US agencies knew or suspected something like that, they could not risk WWIII by even hinting it publicly.
So we got some 10 or more conspiracy theories instead that will never be proven or disproved.

The authors did a very decent job and the popularity of their book is well deserved.

My New Panasonic 47 Full HD Smart 3D LED TV

Posted by Linda | 9:50 AM

I like and have bought many Panasonic product. In my experience they are well designed, durable and of good quality.
I have had this TV for several months now and so far it has done nothing to change my view.
Just to qualify my review I have used the TV for Freeview (SD + HD), BT Vision, Lovefilm Instant, Internet (YouTube, BBC iPlayer etc.), streaming from my home PC, watching DVDs and Blu Rays (Panasonic Player) but not gaming.

Good Points.
Excellent picture quality both on HD and SD.
Easy to set up, easy to connect to the Internet (WiFi in my case).
Easy to use.
Good connectivity options (USB, streaming from my home PC (windows 7), Scart, HDMI, PC (Monitor and sound)).

Not so good points - but all minor in my view
Nothing to do with the hardware but disappointed that I could not connect to Lovefilm Instant directly from the TV. Have done so via a laptop - but that's a bit messy.
Position of the connection slots HDMI, USB etc. could have been better placed and made easier to use.
On/Off switch should have been positioned on the front of the TV.

HTC End Support for the HTC One V Sim Free Smartphone

Posted by Linda | 5:18 AM

Ok, I have been busy with lots of things in the last couple of months that I didn't have much time to post here. Most of you who keep at least 3 active blogs, a full-time job, a family and social life would relate to this quite well. You plan on doing one thing and something else gets in the way.

Other than that I'm fine and well - thank you for asking :)

Anyway, one good thing that I managed to achieve this month is that all my credit cards and cheap loans have all been paid off. At the beginning of this year, I made a resolution to pay off all my debts before the year ran out - which I have now done. Yay including shifting my domain to the Leicester Square Hotels website ....

It feels great when that weight is lifted of your shoulders. Nothing to worry about, just spend your money the way you have always wanted.

So, with that in mine, I thought I should spend a few spare cash on a new smartphone. With lost of different handsets to choose from, I went for an HTC handset.

But after picking up this HTC One V Sim Free Smartphone on Amazon, it turned out that HTC have ended their support for the handset. Which means that anyone unlucky enough to be using it would have to either upgrade to a newer version or get a different handset.

If I knew this I would not have bought it ofcourse. But I can still return it, but within the last few days, I've become attached to it that the thought of sending it back is not something I'm ready to encourage. So, in the meantime, I will continue using it until I have enough spare cash soon to get a another handset.

Other than that the handset works and looks great - I have no idea why HTC would want to cut their support for the handset short.

This review is from: Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot (Hardcover)

Posted by Linda | 3:43 PM

I just finished the Kindle Book, "Killing Kennedy" Great read, well written and researched. Highly recommended. Many new things I hadn't heard before. Even a personal surprise or two about Bill O'Reilly's ties to the Kennedy's and follow on of the assassination. I'm not saying Bill did it or conspired with Oswald, Just saying you should read and check out his multiple connections.... Coincidence???????

I read this book in conjunction with watching two TV shows on the assassination. Based on eye witness accounts of when the first bullet was fired, it's quite likely it hit some part of the traffic light pole that extended over the street. A shooter following the president through a scope wouldn't have seen the pole soon enough to hesitate. Digital blood spatter overlays match the assumption Kennedy was killed from a rear shot. Also, I had never seen so many people that were there being interviewed or knew there were so many other films from that day at other angles. No magic bullet, no grassy knoll shooter. One shooter, three bullets.

Not saying a lot of people didn't want Kennedy dead. Johnson, White segregationists, Hoover, Castro, CIA, The Mob, and God only knows how many others he pissed off and probably all wanted him dead. Just not the connections to the case or opportunity like Oswald had.

My September Earning Update

Posted by Linda | 4:49 AM

I know, this post is almost 2 weeks late, but it's better late than never I always say. Most people post their blog earnings on the first or second day of the month, but due to very tight schedule and other personal commitments, I could not get around to writing my post on how my earning for September was.

That said, I will quickly run through some of the posts on this blog and my other sites that performed far more than I expected. Although, it could be better, most of these post did well because they get far more traffic this time of year than any other. What this goes to show is that focusing on seasonal products and services have better chance of doing well when the time swings back round.

First,  this post Erotic fiction needs a touch of wordplay to be foreplay was one of the biggest performers when it comes to income. About 11 people followed the link to buy erotic products which I could not believe. No matter how hard things are these days, keeping your feelings and sexual appetite healthy is still as important as it has always been.

Another one that did perform quite well  was - Is Your Affiliate Business Important To You? I did this post after I noticed how well some of my pages on hubpages were performing. Within days of posting this article over 300 people visited the site and over half of them signed up.

If you have not seen the post, please take a minute to check it out and see if there's something for you to pick up from there.

My intention for the month of September was to hit my target of $900, but how did it turn out? Well,  after I put together the earnings from various blogs and sites, we came to a total of $1329. This includes private blogging, product reviews, odesk affiliate referrals and Amazon associate payment.

As discussed previously, there are far more ways to make money online, you just need to find what works for you and stick with it. For me, what works now is hubpages and setting up a passive income pages there is all you need. It takes care of itself - literally. Which means once you have a minimum of about 12 pages you are on your way to monthly passive income.

Your Password Emailed in Unencrypted Plain Text

Posted by Linda | 4:16 AM

If you have been active on the internet for some time, you will have used many different usernames and passwords more than you care to remember. But what happens when you try to log in to one of those sites and you can't seem to remember your password. Different sites use varying methods to help remember your password - some even require that you submit your mother's maiden name during the initial account set up.

Others in the other hand - especially Google, lately require that you submit a valid phone number so that when you forget your password, it can easily be sent to the number you selected.

But what has now been under heavy scrutiny lately is that some online heavy weights are emailing customers' passwords via email in plain text form. The fact that they can do this means that anyone in the company with access to the database can just as easily see these passwords in plan text as well.

One of such companies is Tesco. The company came under fire only when a researcher discovered that the company, for a very long time, has been sending password to users in unencrypted plain text. Of course this totally goes against security best practice. What this means is that if a hacker manages to get their hands on the data, everything would be in plain text. Although, this is a major security issue, this alone does not necessarily mean that their system is open to compromise.

Seeing that other high profile companies like Yahoo! and LinkedIn have fallen victim to hackers, every company should by now be reviewing their online security and how user details are managed.

However, one simple step that users can take to make sure they are not too vulnerable to identity theft and hackers getting their hands on their vital personal details is to use different usernames and passwords for every sites.

Fifty Shades of Grey just wasn't enough storyline for me

Posted by Linda | 1:01 PM

My sister harrassed me and my husband for weeks about getting this book. We were in Costco and my husband pointed the book out to me so I decided to buy the first book to see what all the fuss was about. I decided against the 3 pack bundle and I am so glad I did.

First off the book is an extremely easy read, however, it is repetitive as other reviewers have stated. Also, unbelieveable as other reviewers mentioned....a 27 year old owning a company with 40,000 employees? Come on now...I work for a company with 50,000 employees and my company is several decades old. You don't just start up and own a business of that magnitude in just a few years...I have my MBA but it doesn't take one to figure out that it is total B/S. I am all about willfull suspension of belief but geez... make it a little more believable.

I had high hopes for the book, however, it is just too adolescent for me. I am 33 years old and I couldn't get over the fact that a middle aged woman who is an executive in the television industry wrote this. It makes me wonder how in the heck she got an executive job.

Ok...about the book: Sex, sex, sex, and little plot. This is my first erotica book and I found myself wanting more of a storyline. At first the erotic scenes were hot but then they became repetitive like the rest of the book. I wanted to find out more about Christian in the first book and wanted to find out how he felt about her (Ana) but the ending entailed him beating the shit out of her (Ana) with a belt because she wanted to see "how bad it could be". Then finally she stood up for herself and left him. As a strong woman myself...I decided I liked that ending and decided not to read the other books. I am a hopeless romantic and "The Notebook" is my favorite book which is also an easy read but not to the degree of simplicity and repetitive nature of this book.

Am I mad I wasted my time reading the book...no atleast I know what all the hype is about now. It did make me realize how lucky I am that I have my loving husband so I gave it an extra star for that. I won't bother reading the other two books...I will just google the ending to find out instead of reading through all of the repetitive jargon and lip biting, frowning, smirking, etc. I don't have much time to read...I have 2 small children and I work so if/when I do read a book, the next one will have more of a storyline.

I don't recommend buying the book...borrow it or get it at the library if you want to know what all the fuss is about.

Is Your Affiliate Business Important To You

Posted by Linda | 10:35 AM

This month I planned to post all my earnings from some of the top earning sites and blogs that I maintain. But somehow I got carried away with other things and didn't get round to doing it. As always, this sort of demonstrates what happens to many of the guys out there. Many people have plans to write a blog post but get caught up in other things, and they end up no writing that post.

For me, when it comes to making money online you have to choose what is important to you. Some people spend their time watching their favourite TV programme, eating, facebook, spending time on Youtube watching other people do funny things. If we don't make time for things that matter to us, it's probably because those things don't actually matter to us as we'd like to think.

Gone are those days when I would spend hours on end just browsing the web, soaking up on other people's achievements, how much they's made and how they plan to make even more. These days my focus is on making every minute I spend online count. If there's nothing for me to do, I won't fire up my computer. There is a long list of books to be read, articles to write, products to promote. So, anything spend not doing any of those things can not be regained.

Here are things you could do make sure that you are not waiting time online not promoting your blog.

1. Write a blog post - don't procrastinate, just write that post you've been meaning to write. Once you've done it you could always come back and make it better. The hardest part is to get started but once you've written your first line, it will all start flooding in.

2. Join a good affiliate programme - if are not currently signed up with services like Hubpages, now is the time to sign up. They have one of the biggest and the best for those serious about making passive income online. I signed up a few months ago when I saw how much folks are making and I'm glad I did. To give you a taste of how much people are making, see this screenshot.

3. Invest - investing could be interpreted in many forms - it could be time, money, knowledge or whatever it is. But investing in your online affiliate business could be one of the best decisions to make. Any time or money spent now should be done wisely. If after the projected period you don't get any returns then try something else.

Those are a few of the things you could do to get you started. But what matters here is that you don't spend vital hours browsing the web when you could be making money. There are lots of programmes and blogs on how to get started. But if you are like some of my friends and you need someone to work with, I would be more than happy to show you the ropes for a weeks and let you carry on from there.

Remember, the future is for those who prepare for it today.

Fifty Shades Trilogy - annoying and repetitive

Posted by Linda | 6:09 PM

I will admit that the first of the three in the trilogy was good. In the second the characters started to become more unrealistic and annoying. The basic layout of the second book was they got into a fight then they had sex then they talked about how much they loved each other then there would be a little bit of the plot.

In all honestly the author could have just copied and pasted all the sex scenes and lovey dovey talks and it would be the same book. The third book was just unbearable. I stopped halfway through because of Christians obnoxious need to control everything she did and Ana's even more annoying need to give in on what she wanted just to make him happy. She would be telling him how she felt only to have him seduce her mid argument.

As a result he continued to be controlling and it felt as if he never respected her independence. In my opinion the book is saying that it is okay to be in a controlling relationship when the sex is good as long as he seems to be making an attempt to change. The second and third book romanticize this unhealthy controlling relationship that this young girl is in.

I also do understand that this is a fantasy book, but it was more unrealistic than a cheesy horror movie on the SyFy network. First off Christian started his company when he was either 19 or 20 (because he did complete 2 years of college) and by the age of 27 he was making about $100,000 an hour.

Not only that but he had enough time to become amazing in bed, which as most women know it takes quite some time to train most men. Second, Ana climaxes at least once every time they have sex. Again if it was like this and they only had sex a few times in the book, then it would be believable. They also get married a couple of months after meeting and none of their friends or family put up a fight about this.

Everyone just asked them if they were sure this is what Christian and Ana then went on their marry ways. Finally, there wasn't a prenup! I don't personally know any billionaires, but I am assuming they would get prenups.

Bottom line, if you want to read a book with mediocre sex scenes and your fantasy is to have a man control you not only in the bedroom but in your life then this trilogy will be a good read for you. If not then the first book in the trilogy is good and I would recommend just finding a summary of the 2nd and 3rd online.

Erotic fiction needs a touch of wordplay to be foreplay

Posted by Linda | 2:56 PM

Every few years a piece of erotic fiction reinvents sex for us. What happens to women’s libidos between Melissa P’s One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed and Belle de Jour’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl is anyone’s guess (presumably we all get a huge amount of needlework done), but somehow we white-knuckle it through until the next humdinger.

The latest tale to set us all a quiver is E L James’s Fifty Shades of Grey – now the fastest-selling paperback since records began. Written by British mother-of-two Erika Mitchell, the book tells the story of Anastasia Steele and her sexual awakening at the hands of ageing buffoon – sorry, handsome billionaire – Christian Grey.

Sexual awakenings are rather unusual these days. There's a reason why the heroines in “mummy porn” tend to be fully awakened raging nymphomaniacs with sadomasochistic tendencies: when you find yourself married to a paunchy banker whose idea of a "sexting" is “Don’t forget the Mr Muscle”, you probably wish you’d spent your youth being tied up by every plumber, tennis instructor and viscount you met, too.

Women are pathologically lazy creatures, though, so when Catherine Millet described in her Sexual Life how she was only able to reach orgasm after 300 men, I think we were all rather relieved that we’d left the exploits to her.

A flick through Fifty Shades of Grey tells me why it's a winner. Like Austen's Emma (on which all erotic fiction plot lines are said to be based), this bestseller features a traditional build-up and the prerequisite ripped-jeans-wearing old sleeze-bag. Still, there’s a fundamental problem: the writing.

Bad writing has the same effect on my libido as Bryan Ferry – sending every motor neuron into emergency shutdown.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rewards his three millionth follower on Twitter with a new house.

Posted by Linda | 10:56 AM

Like most people, I too have a Twitter account when I connect with people I find interesting. But for one lucky Venezuelan, following someone on Twitter has earned her a house from no other than their president. Rumour has it that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave a house to Valdivieso as a gift for being his 3 millionth follower on the popular networking site, Twitter.

In the last could of years, the president has not only started using the internet heavily, he has also joined many social networking sites like Youtube, Myspace, Facebook and most recently, Twitter.

According to reports, he kept in contact with his government officials back home in his country while he was away in Cuba on medical treatment for cancer.

4 Guaranteed Ways to Make Money Online

The president sent a tweet to the Valdivieso to congratulate her for being his 3 millionth follower. She could not believe when the news go through to her that was to get a house. The government however, has been going through a massive public housing programme to deal with the countries housing issue. While this is a one off, many critics of the president have hit back this was not a good way to reward someone for simply being a supporter.

What do you think? Do you think it's over the top? Leave your comments below.

Astro Pneumatic 3018 3-1/2-Inch Digital Tire Inflator with Hose

Posted by Linda | 12:29 PM

Thank god for the nice weather this past week - it has been much brighter than the last few weeks. As a result I have been spending time riding my bike. For a bike lover like myself whenever the sun comes out, I usually make good use of it. The only problem is that the cops would not allow bike riding in the park which means that the only few places to ride is the main roads and back streets.

so with today being quite warm and dry, I decided to go riding on the South Bank with a friend. The streets were calm - not a lot of traffic but nonetheless it was still busy with midday church goers all on the road which meant that we had to be a little more careful.

Before I move on, I would like to say a big thank you to those who wrote in with their feedback on the Tyre Inflator review. We bike enthusiasts love to share what makes life a little easier as well as the tools we use. With that in mind I thought I would share my experience with you on Astro Pneumatic.

The Astro Pneumatic is a much more expensive Tire inflator compare with  this one. It is not cheap - the reason is that it is a combo of inflater and gauge. Which means that not only can it be used to inflate your tyre, it can also be used to gauge it.

This gauge is awesome. Air seems to get through effortlessly without resistance when inflating -which is what you'd want. But if for any reason you think you've over inflated your tyre, depressing the lever a bit will bleed off extra air. Holding the lever all the way will inflate again. With this Astro Pneumatic you can easily achieve the pressure you want. The gauge shows you the pressure on the small digital screen allowing you to either inflate or deflate.

I've checked this against a few on the market which I have used in the last this appears to be what everyone should be using. You definitely cannot go wrong. Like I said initially, it is a little on the pricey side, but remember you always get what you pay for. Did I mention that it has a very long hose?

Tyre Inflator - Ultraflate Plus Tire Inflater

Posted by Linda | 10:36 AM

Since I changed job last year, my daily commute has also changed from cycling to spending over an hour on the train each morning -  which means that the only time I get to ride and enjoy my bicycle is on the weekends and evenings ( that's if the weather permits).

In my previous job everyone used a bike because the office was in an industrial complex on the opposite end of town with very little traffic. And because everyone was using bicycle, it was normal for me to get one when I joined. So, not only did I save on fares, it also allowed me to enjoy the great outdoors and also get to ride around.

But as anyone who owns a bicycle knows, one thing that can really dampen your is when you have a flat tyre. It doesn't matter whether you're on the road or about to set off on your daily ride. When I had one last week just a few minutes into my evening ride, I was forced to jump on a bus back home. Luckily I use one on those folding bikes from Evans Bikes. If I had one of those Tyre Inflator thingy, I guess that would have helped, but unfortunately, I didn't have any. Besides, how many people do you know riding around with Tyre Inflator in their Avenir Bigmouth Velcro Seat Bag?

As it turns out there are lots of very cheap Tyre Inflators on the market that is very simple and easy to use. The cool thing about it is that it's even very stylish and small to fit into your breast pocket. I just bought one after I had my tire deflated last week and thought this would be something I could take with me on my rides.

Here's a video of how small these Tyre Inflators are and how to put it together once you have the package.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

Posted by Linda | 3:05 AM

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest: Okay, so I made this my break book for work so I could read it slowly. After all, it is the last book for Larsson, ever (unless the rumors are true). That lasted until about halfway through the book because I then spent two late nights reading the second half of the book.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest starts about 40 minutes where the last book left off. Lisbeth is in dire straights and Blomkvist must protect her. The plot revealed in book 2 is a major plot line to this story. There are a few sub-stories that keep the pages turning. I started to get worried at the end because I wanted to see everything wrapped up because there are no more books.

I am so team Lisbeth. This whole series is exceptional. Yes, Lisbeth spends most of her time in a hospital bed in this book, but it is what she does there to free herself that is entertaining. Blomkvist is still a 'ho and Berger has new job blues.

Side note: I called my work roommate at home today to tell her that I had finished and we could now talk about it. She's on medical leave and couldn't talk too much. She had already finished the series and thanked me for introducing her to the series. She in turn, has two others hooked on it.

Robin Gibb cancels tours and appearances as he undergoes more surgery

Posted by Linda | 1:26 PM

Robin Gibbs fans the world over are today worried as the star undergoes more intestinal surgery. He has not been in good health since the middle of last year when he first cancelled his tour dates due to health concerns.

But today, he tour manager has issued a statement to the media that the Bee Gees star continues to have serious health issues - and asked.

Earlier this year the singer announced that he had beaten the cancer, but it now appears that he's far from beating it. On Sunday, according to the statement, the singer underwent more surgical procedures and is currently recovering. In the mean time all his tour dates and appearances have been cancelled.

As it stands the likelihood of him touring soon is in serious doubt - so those who were lucky enough to get tickets for his Titanic Requiem concert are asked to seek refund. Titanic Requiem was a collaboration between Robin and his brothers and was on promotion tour when he first when into hospital.

He is set to have the world premiere of the music on April 10 at Central Hall in London where he is also due to debut a new song called Don't Cry Alone.

He has been having treatment for liver cancer since last year - including twisted bowl - which his brother Maurice died nine years ago from at the age of 53.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Posted by Linda | 2:59 PM

We all have our own journey, and map our own course accordingly. This book allows the reader a rare view of someone else's life journey unfolding at a young age when taking big risks are an easier decision than they are later in life.

I have rarely felt as moved by someone else's journey as I have this one, perhaps because Stayed's writing is succinct, accessible, but not overly descriptive. As my former college English professor chirped - "Show me, don't tell me!" Strayed does just this, leaving us to live the moments on the trail as if we were her past travelling companion instead of merely a seated reader flipping pages with abandon - immersed in the journey.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you have ever left the prescribed path in search of a new life, or have wondered what would come of attempting to venture off in to the unknown in order to heal a painful past, this is the book for you.

I also love the fact that Strayed embarked on this journey as a normal working woman would or could - she is not an East/West coast elite liberal arts college grad who decided to strike off on a 'wild' post college adventure to find herself because of a huge trust fund and a taste for a bohemian lifestyle.

Strayed's journey comes across as true and pure. I for one am glad she made it from darkness to light, and am grateful for the opportunity to read about her amazing life. Thanks Cheryl!

How to increase your traffic by news jacking

Posted by Linda | 12:30 PM

If you missed my other blog on Formula 1 live streaming - please see that article on how to watch all the races live on your computer.

Now back to business. If you are a blogger or run a niche website, you will want to listen out for all the latest news and see how you can benefit from it. This is exactly what all major news organisations do - so it's nothing new in the industry.

For example, I just read about Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour dates and that some of those dates have been cancelled because someone in band has been ill. And the headline was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour dates cancelled.

Lets use this as an example of how you could do a bit of new jacking.

The point here is to quickly and cleverly write a detailed post on what happened based on the article you just read, your research and offer other things in those cities that people could do instead whilst the tour dates are cancelled. For example, if you are in London, you might want to the last film premier at the Leicester square cinema. But what is important here is that you carefully use the keyword 'Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band' in your title and in a few paragraphs of your article.

So, let think of how we could write our little article about the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band news we just read.

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour dates are in danger of being cancelled because of ill health. According to tour manager, one of the lead guitarists was hospitalised due to viral infection. Although he's well on the road to recovery, the tour doctor has suggested he stayed in hospital for another two weeks for careful observation.

Missing the gig? Don't worry, here at Top concert Tips we've been looking at 5 amazing things you could do on a short break to London instead...
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Now at this point you could talk about 5 things they could like visit the National Portrait Gallery, Late Night Laughs, The Penthouse, madame tussauds and anything you think may be interesting for them to see and enjoy. If you have affiliate links for these attractions you could instantly start earning from this targeted traffic.

What is good about this strategy is that you can easily apply it to any niche you are into. And you can never run out of things to writ and talk about on your blog or site.

Hopefully that was a good tip on how to start generating good quality content and start making more money online.

Good luck

Is This Online Wealth Generation a Scam

Posted by Linda | 2:58 AM

Is Dr Peter James Hardy’s ‘Online Wealth Generation’ system a scam?

Ok, Online Wealth Generation from the fabulously named ‘Dr Peter James Hardy’ is really doing the rounds at the moment so I thought I’d take a look at this for Insider’s Edge.

So what is it?

It’s billed as a way to beating certain casinos’ so-called ‘random number generators’. Follow the sequence and apparently your odds of picking the right colour playing online roulette increase to 71.4%.

Sounds MAGIC… as do the tremendous profit claims. Hmmm.

Peter explains that all you have to do is deposit £45… or ideally “between £65 and £125 pounds” into his carefully selected casinos. Automatically this sets a couple of alarm bells ringing. Marketers like making big claims – that’s the name of the game. If they make honest claims that can be backed up I see nothing wrong with it. However, the upfront promise from Online Wealth Generation is in my opinion misleading, reckless even because unless he personally owns these casinos and hands you the key to their bank vault it cannot be backed up. Here’s what it says:

“The following method is guaranteed to be 100% risk-free & extremely profitable… you will earn £400 to £600 per day”.

By depositing £45 into an online casino you are automatically risking that money. Yes, some of these casinos will offer you a ‘welcome bonus’ to get you to sign up, but these always come with strings attached.

UPDATE! Does this face look familiar? Click here to see where else this scamster’s cropped up…

How much does Online Wealth Generation cost?

It’s a clever sell because you’re not asked to part with any money for this strategy upfront. You get the system for free when you fill in your email address (it’s sent to you). The payment plan that’s proposed sounds incredibly trusting, perfect even.

So how does the good doctor get paid?

You’re asked to ‘donate’ 5% of your earnings from using the system – sounds fair enough. But something’s amiss here. According to the blurb they claim that “93% of all our users do donate on a regular basis”. Call me sceptical but I doubt if even 60%, let alone 93% of people who sign up to this will even try the system. Although the world is populated with wonderful, trusting people, there are also folk who won’t want to go to the hassle of making regular PayPal payments, or will simply forget.

You might be thinking “well… what’s the harm in just giving it a go?” and to be honest if this was a Betfair strategy or one which involved any of the large online bookmakers I would agree.

However, I’ve been digging around and found some evidence which goes some way to explaining why Dr Peter James Hardy is so unbelievably generous with his system.

How I the good doctor really makes his money

To use his system, Dr Peter James Hardy recommends you use one of the 5 specific online casinos he’s hand picked. These are casinos which I had previously never heard of. So why does it have to be these 5? Apparently it’s all down to the RNS random number generator on which the system is purported to be founded on. This system “only functions on those listed casinos”.

I did some research into these casinos to see what I could dredge up. Nearly all of them are based offshore – partly due, no doubt to America’s strict gambling laws. This isn’t necessarily a red flag, however it does mean that you have to be on your guard. Big time. Why? Because you’re not subject to the same laws are you might be subject to in the UK.

Under ‘terms of use’ for one of these casinos it states: “**casino name** is incorporated under the laws of Antigua and Barbuda and is fully licensed and regulated by the laws of that country for the purpose of operating virtual casino gambling on the Internet”. I’ve blanked out the name here because it would be unfair of me to pick out one. Again, I’m not saying that these are scam casinos, what I am saying is do some research before you even think about depositing your money into any of them. Some people appear to have had trouble picking up winnings with at least two of them, others have had different wrangles, and others seem to suggest the casinos are kosher – though they could well be plants. Be streetwise on this.

I suspect Online Wealth Generation has struck a hefty deal with these 5 casinos. Since you need to create an account with them to try and profit from the ‘so-called strategy’ he would make a very decent income giving this away for free if enough people signed up. I wouldn’t have a problem with that if the system worked. The problem is he’s created an elaborate backstory to get you to open accounts.

You’re also asked to give your name and email address in registration which could be also be a motive behind this one – that he wants to flog you more products by email at a later date.

Avoid this one with 3 bargepoles and small dose of the plague. However this is not a closed shop. If anyone's had a good experience with this do let me know by leaving a comment below.

Watch Formula 1 Online Free

Posted by Linda | 2:41 PM

Watch Formula 1 Online Free - Since the new season started last weekend, many fans the world over have been struggling to find ways to watch formula 1 online free. I first though this was an issue with viewer in this country, as it turned out it is a wide spread problem. Even those sites where you could watch formula one free online have all closed down.

What this means is that to be able to watch all the races live, you either have to subscribe to a package like Sky (if you are in the UK) or speed.com. Both of the companies allow their subscribers to watch all the races live on their website as well as on TV and smart phones.

As I bloged last week about Formula 1 live streaming - you can also stream them on iPad and Android phones. Although their site says Watch Formula 1 Online Free, you are already paying for the service - which is why you are able to watch it in the first place. Of course they couldn't charge you for streaming it on mobile device because you are not using their network.

So, what if you don't have a satellite TV or cable subscription? Your options are limited. You could either watch it on one of those non English speaking sites and be prepared to put up with the frequent ad break interruption. This is what most people do at least they can watch the race live. Another option however, is to reduce the the volume of the tv and tune into and English speaking radio like BBC 5 Live. These guys are the leaders in live sport commentary - so while you are watching it on the website, you are listening to the radio commentary.

The obvious downside is that the radio is always 20 seconds ahead of the live web streaming. You will have heard the action 20 seconds before seeing that section on the live stream.

But if you are prepared to put up with that mismatch, then that is the closest you are ever going to get for you to Watch Formula 1 Online Free.

Suggestions on how to prevent my TomTom's cradle falling off from my windscreen

Posted by Linda | 5:02 PM

I've got a TomTom ONE. Since getting my new car, the suction pad holder keeps falling off from the windscreen, which fortunately has only fallen into the front passenger footwell or on the seat. I have cleaned the windscreen and still does this. I don't want the satnav to fall off and go into my footwell and esp under the pedals.

I would love to use a non slip mat. Problem is that the jack for the power cable to fag lighter is at the bottom, not on the side or back. So it doesn't sit flat. The only charger I have is the car charger.

Any ideas as how to keep the TomTom cradle sitting on the windscreen until I remove it myself or other suggestions. I know of friends who their satnavs died on them whilst driving because the battery life is rubbish.

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy2

Posted by Linda | 5:39 AM

I have read the reviews and am amazed that so many people are clueless as to the origins of this story in Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy.

The original story Master of the Universe was based off of the characters of Twilight Edward and Isabella and the description of some of his mannerisms is based of a real live human Robert Pattinson. The author was another fangirl of the actor and the saga.

If you are not a twilight fan and you are repulsed by the whole Twilight genre then you wont even begin to understand this relationship, or where this author is coming from. Yes she changed the names for legal reasons but that isn't going to change the characters they were built from and will only confuse most even more.

This is a classic Edward/Bella fanfiction written about their unrealistic love. They fall so hard and its so deep that NO one can ever understand that kind of love because they are human and this kind of love isn't realistic when both are human to an average outsider.

Edward was originally a vampire in Twilight and had no sexual experience for over a hundred and nine years and when he meets Bella and falls its VAMPIRE love that you are witnessing. NOT human love. It is fiction people it isn't real and I am surprised that men are expecting this awesome story when deep down its just another harlequin romance novel without the har.

You can call the characters TOM and JERRY and you will still never understand the true deeper meanings that the Twilight fans do understand that you all are not privy to. The twilight fans are the majority and there are a ton of older women in the fandom that do not reveal their obsession for this saga because Stephenie Meyer classified it as a YA book even though it was written for adults originally.

I am sure the raving reviews are coming from the closeted twihard women who have respectable jobs and images to uphold and fear ridicule from friends, co workers and family so that is probably why you are all a little confused as to why this book is so well received.

I don't care one way or the other if you find my taste in stories unacceptable, this is what I like and you can bad mouth the Twilight series all you want. I liked the ORIGINAL story and followed it religiously when it was MOTU. I bought the book and have to admit...I haven't been able to read past page twenty because it simply isn't acceptable to bother even trying to see this Fifty character as anyone other than Edward even with the name changes, it just doesn't work.

James had a huge following ranking number one in the fanfiction fandom at the height of the mania, and then pulled to publish.

In doing so, the story does not or will not make sense to the rest of the world who is diving into a trilogy that is without the saga it was originally based on. You will never get it or understand it so don't bother if you aren't going to invest you heart into it and read the Twilight saga first and then read the fanfiction version the way it was meant to be read. Then just maybe you you will get it, but there are no guarantees, because she had many haters of this falsely misleading genre.

I highly recommend that Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy story also be classified as Adult Erotica and remove the BDSM title. Never at any time does she submit to him and for those that call it porn, welcome to the new millennium of women enjoying a little kink in their lives. It is too bad that so many lack the desire to embrace sexual pleasure as a good thing versus taking us back to the 1950's where the word sex was hush hush....*rolls her eyes*

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy is classic Romeo Juliet stuff...one would die without the other...and if you didn't understand Shakespeare you will never understand Fifty or Edward.

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy - My Honest Review

Posted by Linda | 12:23 AM

Being a fan of erotica, I was looking forward to reading this, considering how much publicity and praise it has received. Wow, was I disappointed. The writing of the book, along with the dialogue, is absolutely awful. I can handle that, as long as the actual sex is hot, but I felt those scenes left much to be desired, with the exception of the first one.

The actual BSDM, is tame compared to other erotica I have read. Erotica is fiction, but when the characters are put into a modern, everyday setting, I find it incredibly hard to believe a college graduate has never even masturbated. The notion of it is so distracting, it completely took me out of the story. Ana's conflicted feelings and tears over a BSDM relationship is what bothered me the most and left me unable to enjoy the story.

Ana wants to have a traditional relationship without the BSDM aspect, but seems to go along with it because she has fallen in love with Christian. That type of relationship, whether it is onlymwritten in books or in real life, is based off of a mutual want of that type of relationship.

How Christian pushes Ana into it doesn't float my boat. The way he dominates her outside of the sexual aspect is something I didn't enjoy. Women who are sexually submissive, does not mean they enjoy being submissive in other aspects of their life, even to the person they are submitting to sexually. Perhaps if this had not been in modern times, I would have liked it more, due to suspension of belief being greater.

Fifty Shades of Grey is completely the Twilight of erotica. It is poorly written, over-hyped,and is only enjoyed by people who rarely read erotica, or read in general. Like Twilight, it also features a heroine who had no self-esteem until she meets the hero, who also believes it okay to stalk her.

For anyone who enjoys erotica, skip this one.

WATCH FORMULA-ONE - Formula 1 live streaming

Posted by Linda | 11:45 AM

First thing first - It is important that you do not watch illegally - we recommend that you either subscribe to watch or check how your local service provider charges for sport channel subscriptions. That said, whatever you do don't get anyone of these credit cards. Instead, go for these low interest credit cards for those looking for very cheap loans.

With the new season about to start in just a few hours time, most Formula One fans are desperately looking for ways to watch their beloved sport. Some of them prefer Formula 1 live streaming on their computer or internet enabled TV. But if you are lucky enough to be living in some of the countries where they still show the races live on terrestrial television, then you're in luck.

But for others, the luxury to watch formula one live on TV is no more. For example those in the UK have can no longer watch all the live formula One races on the BBC, this is due to the latest contract signed between the BBC, SKY and Bernie. What this means is that only a handful of the 21 formula one live races will be streamed on the BBC. But there will be extended catchup show in the evening after the race.

SKY, however, will be showing showing all the races. Formula 1 live streaming is something they will also be providing their customers with smartphones and iPads. So if you are a Sky customer you will be able to watch all the Formula 1 live streaming straight from your handheld devices or online.

So, how to you watch Formula One - F1 if you don't have Sky or other digital TV subscription? Well, you have a very few option:

  1. 1 You could look around for some none English speaking broadcasters and see if they have any Formula 1 live streaming available on their site. I've seen a few myself and won't mind sharing it.
  2. This follows on from point 1. If you are in the UK and watching one of those foreign channels, you could turn the volume off and tune your radio to 5Live sport. That way you can listen to all the Formula 1 live streaming commentary in English.
  3. You could decide to just get Sky and watch all the live races.
I'm afraid you haven't got much choice. Things have changed and in the very near future all major sports will move to pay tv. But for now it looks like Formula One is the first to make that move.

Be sure to visit this article to see how this beautiful girl is making passive income online - I highly recommend it.
In the mean time, if you know of any better way to watch Formula 1 live streaming please let us know and we will be more than happy to share it with others.
Formula 1 live streaming

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

Posted by Linda | 3:52 PM

The first time I heard about this book I thought "interesting.. not sure I am into the whole BSDM thing, but what the heck". I am SO glad my subconscius, who yelled "oh come on, just give it a try" won the argument. I LOVED the story.

Anastasia Steel and Christian Grey as as different as two people can be, except for the fact that they are meant to be together. She is innocent and has saved her herself for her true love; He is well-versed in carnal desires to the point that his life-style is one of dominant-submissive relarionships. He has a kinly sex life and has no intention of changing...until he meets Anastasia. The first book, and really all three, focus on the evolution of their relationship. He is a difficult man to deal with, but deep inside he has reasons for being that way. Anastasia has a good heart and sees through him as no one else can. They argue, they make up (boy, do they!) and they show us that they are truly complimentary to one another.

I love the sense of humor. The plot kept me captivated. I could NOT put the book down, especially on their more intimate moments! Heck, made me want to get into a fight with my husband just so we could make up the way Christian and Anastasia do. :-)

I highly recommend the book, and I also recommend you get the second and the third as you WILL want to know how this turns out. I won't tell you, so find out for yourselfe. You will be captivated!

Amazon’s brilliant plan to pay you crazy money for your iPad 2

Posted by Linda | 12:29 PM

It’s been three days since Tim Cook unveiled the new iPad, but you’re still stuck with your trusty old iPad 2. You’re keen to get rid of it so you can buy the new one, but you forgot to log in to one of those buy-back sites before Wednesday’s launch. Predictably, the announcement sent trade-in values plummeting—before the launch, some of these sites were offering close to $300 for your entry-level iPad 2 (the 16GB Wi-Fi model), provided it was in “good” condition. Now they’re willing to part with far less: As of Saturday morning, if you’ve got a well-cared-for iPad 2, NextWorth will give you $241 for it. BuyBackMac is offering $224. eBay’s Instant Sale will net you $200. And Gazelle, the most popular of the buy-back sites, will only part with $185.

Sure, if you’re hurting for cash to subsidize your early adopter lifestyle, $200 is nothing to scoff at. But if I were you, I’d skip by all of these sites and instead log in to Amazon. As of right now, its trade-in service is offering $351 for a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2 that has “normal wear,” and up to $390 for one in “like new” condition. Indeed, Amazon Trade-In’s lowest offer for an iPad 2 is $300—if your tablet isn’t water-damaged and is at least in working condition, you’ll get that baseline amount.

What’s going on here? Considering that Apple is selling new iPad 2s for $399, how can Amazon afford to shell out up to $390 for your old one? What’s it doing with all the iPads it’s buying? Is Jeff Bezos running a charity?

Nope. There’s one catch to Amazon’s trade-in program, and it’s brilliant. While other sites will give you cash for your old goods, Amazon will only give you store credit. Thus, the “extra” money you get from Amazon compared to other trade-in services isn’t a total loss for Bezos. All that cash will be plowed back into Amazon’s own business. Depending on what you buy with your newfound wealth, the company may be making a nice profit on the deal.

To see why Amazon’s trade-in service is so clever, let’s try to think through the economics of an iPad trade. Say Amazon gives you $350 for your iPad 2. A company spokeswoman says that when people send in their gadgets, the company farms out the devices to a variety of third-party merchants, who then inspect, erase, and package  device for reselling. (The company says it does not harvest your devices for parts.) Where do these merchants resell your iPad? On Amazon, of course!

At the moment, good-quality used iPad 2s are selling for about $360 on Amazon. (That’s higher than the $335-or-so that used iPad 2s are selling for on eBay, but Amazon’s customers may be OK paying extra for the convenience of skipping the auction process.) Amazon doesn’t get to keep that full resale amount; it’s got to split it with the third-party seller, and the company doesn’t disclose the terms by which it distributes trade-in revenue to its merchants.

We can assume, though, that the split will be highly in Amazon’s favor, since it has done most of the work to get the deal: It procured your iPad, it paid for shipping, and it’s handling all the resales on its own site. Let’s assume that Amazon gets to keep 85 percent of the resale price—so let’s say it gets $306 on an iPad it sells for $360. This means that after giving you $350 for your iPad 2 and then reselling it, the company is out $44.
Remember, though, that Amazon didn’t pay you cash. It only loses $44 if you spend all the store-credit in your account. If you don’t spend it—which sounds unlikely, except that Americans leave billions of dollars of gift card money unused every year— Amazon doesn’t lose anything on your old iPad.

And if you do spend it, you’ll spend it buying stuff from Amazon, which means that it keeps some of the money for itself. How much Amazon keeps depends on what you buy with your trade-in money. The company’s margins are notoriously low, so it’s not a whole lot: If you spend your $350 on a wide range of goods, Amazon will likely net 1 to 5 percent in profit, so somewhere between $3.50 and $17.50. So now the $44 it’s “lost” on your trade-in shrinks to something between $26 and $41.

There’s a chance, though, that Amazon could get very lucky on you. If you use your trade-in money to buy a device or service that keeps you locked to the company for a long time, Amazon might end up making money on you over time.

What kind of purchase would yield that sunny scenario? There are a couple obvious ones—purchases that might be especially appealing to the sort of early adopters who trade in their old iPads to buy new ones: If you use your trade-in cash to buy a Kindle or subscribe to Amazon Prime, Amazon wins. Each of these services are long-term revenue generators for the firm. After people get Kindles, they start buying ebooks at a ferocious rate—and, of course, they can only get them through Amazon.

Prime, meanwhile, changes how people think about shopping; after joining Prime, people look to Amazon as the first place to buy everything. One analysis says that after joining prime, the amount of money that a customer spends at Amazon jumps from $400 per year to $900 per year. Thus if Amazon loses a small amount on a trade-in now but gets you addicted for the next decade, you’re the chump, not Bezos.
It’s true that not all trade-ins will turn out so well for Amazon. If the price of old iPads drop significantly between your trade-in and the eventual resale—or if Amazon pays slightly more to third-party resellers than I’m assuming—then it could be losing a lot more on the deal. But Amazon has always been willing to risk a lot in the short term for long-term value. Or, as Bezos once put it, “We are willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time.”

That’s its plan here. At first, Amazon’s high-dollar trade-in prices look like generosity. But by using the release of a new iPad to lock in new customers for itself, Amazon may be riding its rivals’ coattails to a long-term victory. Clever, clever Bezos.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition

Posted by Linda | 10:18 AM

I love it when authors construct a whole new world for their characters to inhabit. They go as far as writing spin-offs to successful series that are still set in the same world. Even writing guides/encyclopedia and making it feel authentic. JRR Tolkien exemplifies this beautifully with his invention of Middle-Earth used not only in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, but in everything else he wrote.

It looks like JK Rowling is going down the same path. After ending the hugely successful and much loved Harry Potter series, she released The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a supplement especially to the 7th book. It is a collection of five short stories for children that tells tales of bravery, wit, tragedy, and survival of wizards and witches. It even has notes by the late professor Albus Dumbledore at the end of each story. And I also must mention that this particular edition was "translated from the original runes" by former Hogwarts student, Hermione Granger. Haha, see what I mean? A huge Potter fan will get a major kick out of this. I know I did.

My personal favorite is The Tale of Three Brothers which is narrated in full by Emma Watson in the seventh movie (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 1) as Hermione Granger. Dumbledore said in his will that his copy of the book will go to Hermione on the event of his passing. This story is directly connected to the 7th book for it explains what the "deathly hallows" are.

This book says something about JK Rowling's imagination. She gave the readers seven books to enjoy. And then she goes on and releases actual Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. She is so creative and it makes me appreciate her so much more.

Overall, it is an easy read. I am not sure how non-HP readers will take this but if you loved the seven books in the series, you will definitely love this.

Recommendation: Every Harry Potter fan will love this.

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7" - Dysfunctional Wifi

Posted by Linda | 12:48 AM

The wifi on the Kindle Fire is inexcusably dysfunctional. I wish to do three things with my Kindle Fire (in order of importance to me):
(1) watch Netflix,
(2) browse the web, and
(3) read comic books.
When I watch a video on Netflix, I have approximately one hour of uninterrupted, glitch-free viewing time. After this hour, I will get a "Buffering" message. If I leave the device alone, 9 times out of 10, I will watch the buffering message for about 2 minutes, and then get a message that Netflix is experiencing network problems (the 10th time, the buffering will end, and the video will resume). Then, I must shut off the wifi on the Kindle Fire, wait 30-60 seconds, and restart the wifi.

I will then have anywhere from 5-20 minutes more viewing time before I must go through the entire process again.

When I browse the web, I have a similar problem, minus the predictability. At any time, the wifi will decide to no longer function, and I must restart the wifi on the device in order to get back to browsing. Even worse, occasionally, the Kindle Fire will simply refuse to reconnect to my home wifi network. The only way to resolve this problem is to unplug and power cycle my router. I have to cut off internet access to all my devices in my home for one minute, so that the Kindle Fire can reconnect.

For my final use, reading comic books, the Kindle Fire works quite well. However, its screen is not the same size as a comic book page, and thus I am forced to view panel by panel, and full or multi-page spreads can only be viewed at a lower zoom level. This limitation is something I knew going into my purchase of a Kindle Fire, but, at the time, it was a compromise I was willing to make in order to get a web-browsing, Netflix-streaming, comic-book-displaying tablet for $199. Sadly, that compromise has not worked out in my favor.

I've been using the Kindle Fire now since December 2011, and I am thoroughly disappointed. I have given it two stars because (1) it works as an e-book reader, and (2) it works as a comic book reader. I consider my $199 wasted, and I will now be buying a tablet that uses iOS, because that operating system has worked flawlessly for me on my phone - for each of the functions I've mentioned - for several years already.

Time Flies, This Clock Crashes

Posted by Linda | 12:31 AM

Behold the World's Worst Timepiece. If you are like me, you are probably searching for a cute, inexpensive but fairly reliable clock. You are endeavoring to disregard the negative reviews and pin your hopes on the positive. Don't kid yourself, and don't buy this clock.

As soon as I extracted the timepiece from it's box, I knew something was terribly wrong. It was disturbingly light, even with the battery in. The backlight consisted of one microscopic bulb located at 3. The body was loose, flimsy, and rattled when jarred.
The battery being installed, the second hand ticked erratically for less than a minute, then stalled, alternating between two positions. I re-wound the clock, adjusted the battery, tapped, and pleaded to no avail. I earnestly believe it is incapable of working properly.

In short, run. This clock certainly won't.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Kicks Butt, But the Editing Does Not

Posted by Linda | 2:23 AM

"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" concludes Stieg Larsson's "Millennium" series of three sex crime books featuring the hacker/detective Lisbeth Salander and her journalist friend Mikael Blomkvist. (A fourth novel reportedly was left unfinished on Larsson's laptop when he died of a heart attack.) While the first two books ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "The Girl Who Played with Fire") may be read independently of the other, "Hornet's Nest" requires reader familiarity with both of the earlier volumes.

"Hornet's Nest" picks up right where "The Girl Who Played with Fire" left off. At the end of that second book, Salander was awaiting transport to a hospital with a bullet in her head after being shot by her sociopath father, Alexander Zalachenko. "Zala," as it turns out, was a Soviet agent who had defected to Sweden. When Salander was only 13, and after Zala had brutally beaten her mother, Salander tried to kill him with a Molotov cocktail; she succeeded only in severely burning him.

Much of "Hornet's Nest" is concerned with Blomkvist's uncovering the rogue Swedish security police element that had protected Zalachenko and kept Salander locked up and mistreated in a mental institution through her teens. Late in the book, the story takes up the trial of Salander for the attempted murder of her father--or so it was presented, but after the testimony focuses on Lisbeth's mistreatment by the state, the attempted murder gets lost as the conspiracy unravels.

This points to a weakness (or a charm, depending on how you look at it) in Larsson's writing: his expository sections tend to go on ...and on. We don't really need all the background history of the Swedish Security Service, for instance, but we get it, seamlessly blended in with the fictional events of the novel. Also, the account of the trial, after slaking the reader's thirst for justice, drowns the reader in continued court dialogue. When the judge offers to let Salander go if she promises to return to court and Salander admits that she would flee the country if he did so, you're ready to go with her. When she at one point does leave Sweden for Gibraltar, the chronology becomes confusing, and in any case the sequence seems pointless. An editor needed to take scissors to manuscript, methinks.

A rather substantial subplot involves Millennium editor-in-chief Erika Berger's decision to accept a position with the prestigious if stodgy newspaper, Svenska Morgon-Posten. Once ensconced in her new job, Berger is threatened by a mysterious rival and detractor. This entire story line, though, aside from underscoring the overall men-who-hate-women theme of the series, appears to be a plot device to allow Berger's frequent lover, Blomkvist, to take up an unlikely affair with a security service officer.

The denouement is made for the movies: it is suspenseful, dark, and grim. The payoff is big, with a violent but satisfying finish. (One might say Larsson, ahem, nails the ending.) The coda, too, wraps (most) things up nicely.

All in all, it is the characters that make the story work so well. Salander is a compelling character: an anti-social, counter-cultural, almost idiot savant, technogeek, woman warrior. Blomkvist, too, holds great appeal, despite his lack of any apparent personal integrity in his intimate relationships. The three books have well-constructed stories, if overripe exposition, but it's the smart, strong and occasionally vulnerable characters that draw the reader in.

I can't praise the reader, Simon Vance, highly enough. His interpretation of the material really made this story come alive. I know I've elsewhere criticized his Count Chocula version of private security chief Dragan Armansky, but all of his other voices, including Salander's, are superb. He is the rare male reader who can convincingly do women's voices. Vance's reading is definitely worth springing for the audio book.

Would you buy this Keurig B60 Special Edition

Posted by Linda | 3:28 PM

I received the Special Edition Keurig as a Christmas gift, and fell in love with it instantly. I used to hate brewing coffee in my work office every morning, it made such a mess every, single time! Having the Keurig makes coming to work honestly exciting, because I am just so excited to brew my coffee so quick and easy with no messes! I even set the clock on it and the auto on/off feature is great! The Keurig is ready to brew my coffee the moment I walk in my office every morning!

I did start having problems after a month of use. The machine would brew partial cups of coffee, and then started giving me the Prime message. After following the trouble shooting provided in the user's guide, I had to call customer service, as the issue was not going away. Customer service said they would have a technician call me back in 24-48 hours, and they actually called back in about 6 hours.

The technical support person was very helpful, and funny enough my machine worked fine while she was on the phone with me. However, she said that if the problem came back to simply call again, that she had documented all the issues and the trouble shooting we had done, and that they would replace my machine. It stopped working after a couple more days again, so I called them about the replacement.

They had my new machine to me within the week I called that last time, and I don't even have to ship back the old one, which I was super worried about! I just have to send back the K-cup part, to prove ownership, and that's that! Best customer service and replacement policy I've ever encountered.

My new brewer is working like a pro, and I'm so glad to be back to brewing! I love Keurig!

Canon PowerShot S100 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

Posted by Linda | 3:04 PM

I have had my S100 for close to a week now and have probably shot about 1000 frames. Let's make no mistake, this is not a DSLR but it's a great little camera, takes great pictures and fits in my pocket. It will never take the place of my Nikon D90 but with this I always have a camera with me!!!

Canon did a nice job with this unit and they continue to be the king of the point and shoot.

I have used the camera outside for nature and scenery, inside for people and pets. It produces very nice results in auto and messing with the different functions allows me to fine tune the photo.

It does not work well for moving objects but that's why I have the D90.

I captured several images that I would not have simply because I had it with me. That the real value of this unit.

Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, the Best Leather Conditioner 8oz Bottle

Posted by Linda | 2:23 AM

Normally when I purchase products on Amazon I usually ignore the "suggested products" they try to batch with your primary purchase as a package deal. In my case I was buying the heavy duty occidental leather suspenders to support my gun belt that's weighed down with two 1911's and several mags.

In the suggested product section was Leather Honey, and I figured at best it would do what it claimed and at worse it would at least serve as some protection for the leather. When I got the suspenders they were exactly what I expected, extremely heavy, ultra thick and leather so stiff you could have broken brick with them. So I followed the directions on the Leather Honey hoping it could work some magic on the leather and 2 days later the results were beyond belief.

What had been hard saddle grade leather had been transformed into supple beautiful leather without losing it's ruggedness. As other reviewers have noted the easiest way of working with Leather Honey is to warm it first before applying it to the leather you're working with. In my case I heated it by placing the bottle in a pot of boiling water, which it should be noted this worked well, but I forgot to remove the inner seal so my bottle warped. If you remove the cap and seal it shouldn't do this.

Also as is implied by its name, Leather Honey is exactly the same consistency as thick honey. So while it is suggested that it should be applied with a rag or sponge, just grab a pair of rubber gloves and use your hands to work the honey into the leather. Remember a little goes a LONG way, for rock hard heavy leather, just 1/10th of my bottle turned it into very flexible soft leather. The only draw back I could think of to say about this product is that it will in fact darken your leather.

On my suspenders it turned them from a light natural leather color to a rich dark walnut or even oak color. In my opinion this was a vast improvement in the color of my leather, but if you love the light color of your leather item then this might not be the product for you. Needless to say if you have a black leather couch or anything already dark color, this won't be an issue for you.

Overall if you own anything made of leather that you want to protect, especially if it's brand new and you don't want to wait years for it to be "broken in" from use, then you can't pass Leather Honey up.

Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

Posted by Linda | 2:09 AM

We all know the first book of a series is almost impossible to beat. I won't lie to you - that's true for the Hunger Games, too. But, all things considered, this is an unusually strong example of a second installment. (To be honest, I still like it much better than the final installment.)

The beginning is a bit slow as we're thrown into the slightly distanced aftermath of the 74th Hunger Games. Our main characters are living at home. And...well, for a little while, that's it. They are not engaged in their relationships or their lifestyles. Understandably, they're scarred; annoyingly, especially in Katniss's case, they are too lazy and uncaring to try and rebuild.

Nevertheless, it's a realistic start. As the plot progresses, things begin to change and we become increasingly suspicious. Katniss and Peeta should be finished and living easy lives, shouldn't they? But, of course, this is Panem and the Hunger Games, and nothing is quite that simple. Our conspiratorial dystopia can't just let that happen. So things change, deals are struck, threats are made.

I don't want to give anything away here, so I'll try to be vague. To put it simply, this book took exactly the turn I dreaded. I feared repetition; I was afraid this plot would become a dull, replicated version of the first. But honestly, just after that twist turned, I was proven wrong. It was dynamic and it was different, and the consequences were new. The secondary characters were wonderful and I adored Katniss's new acquaintances. The suspense wasn't hard to keep an investment in (although it simply couldn't match that of the first book), and the details were all fresh and original. What a relief that was.

Now, I do think there was a bit too much "middleness" happening here. In writing, you want every scene to have its own story arc and fit into the broader arc of the overall tale. The same should go for installments in a series; each, I believe, should have its own unique storyline with its own progression and climax and conclusion, all of which fit smoothly into the overarching story. I wish that was better done here. There are climaxes, but they are smaller than I'd like; the conclusion is a cliffhanger, which we accept as readers of a trilogy, but not a very satisfying one. Our story arc stays too high; it moves right into the next plotline without fully coming down from the one we just endured.

That's an exhausting way to read, if you ask me. I appreciate the newness of everything - but I wish it wasn't thrown in there just to confuse us and make us desperate for the next instalment. That's great and all, and it needs to happen for a series to be successful, but we can't ignore the needs of each book along the way.

To conclude: a steady increase of risk and twist for the overall series plot and a great new approach to our characters' experiences, but a bit too reliant on building the stakes for the future and not reliant enough on the now.

SEO Made Simple (Second Edition): Strategies For Dominating The World's Largest Search Engine

Posted by Linda | 3:09 AM

It seems that the camps are divided on this book, but I think this is rather unfair considering its main purpose is as a great place to start with SEO. For someone who has only recently begun to learn about the intricacies of SEO, I found this a useful way to extend my link-building repertoire, with some great tips on what to avoid as well (not just black hat techniques but simple things like not exceeding the optimal amount of links to use).

I would have been interested to find out more about why exactly some of these techniques work, perhaps an elaboration of some of the features Google's algorithm is looking for. Obviously the general points are covered concerning authority and relevance, but it would be great to have a little more detail so that I could react to situations with confidence that perhaps would not be described in the book.

Saying that, I do not detract away from the merits of this book; for me, this is a great place to start and combines a lot of useful techniques in one place, reinforcing what I already knew. If you are serious about SEO and concerned that this book does not go over absolutely everything then you will continue to learn more about the coding and web development side of SEO and on-page optimization elsewhere.

No one expects a 100 page book to be exhaustive on any important and intricate topic, so why should this be any different?

Spice Stack Super Spicestack 27 Bottle Spice Rack White - Spice Stack 27100

Posted by Linda | 12:30 AM

With all the swivel-store commercials that I see, and my disorganized spice cabinet, I went on Amazon to look at them only to find they had bad reviews about their flimsy and overall ineffectiveness. Then I found this thing, and while it is a little pricier than the swivel store, it was rated much better.

The box does take up all of the space where my spices were littered about in my cabinet, but now I can actually find them within seconds as opposed to rooting around and looking through all of them. You can double (maybe triple) the little spice bottles in one slot, and there are bigger slots for things like a big bottle of onion powder.

It also comes with pre-printed and blank labels to cover all your bases for organization.

With all that said, if you own your home (or can otherwise make permanent changes to your dwelling) and have a pantry with a door, I would suggest getting one of the racks that you can mount to the inside of the door. It will hold more spices and other miscellaneous things and is easier to grab things quickly. A friend of mine has one of these and I liked it a lot, but since we are renting we don't want to put holes in the doors.

However if all your spices are just shoved in a cabinet right now, pick up one or two of these so you can organize and go right for the chili powder the next time you need it.

Premium Noise-Isolating Headset with 3-Button Apple Control

Posted by Linda | 6:17 AM

This is my 2nd pair of Klipsch IEMs. I also own a set of Promedia in-ear phones. Bass is a bit deeper with the S4i vs. the Promedia (maybe it's my imagination) and having the iphone control on the earphone cable is great. The sound is a bit bright/harsh at high volume but at moderate/low volume it's exceptional; smooth and balanced. For the price these Klipsh phones are a steal for the sound they produce.

The same can be said about the overall sound quality of the Klipsh Promedia phones too, excellent sound for a great price. The main thing you get with the S4i over the Promedia is identical control of your iphone as with the Apple earphones (minus the lousy Apple earphone sound quality and better background sound isolation).

I was looking at some of the pics posted here about cables falling apart at the plug. I have to wonder if those images are from an older model (or a fake) since my connector is different. There's a definite strain relief on the cable and it looks like only abuse would fray in my unit I've had the Promedia IEMs for 4 months now (same strain relief) and they've done wonderfully so far.

I expect the same from the Noise-Isolating  S4i.

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

Posted by Linda | 11:42 PM

The first chapters of American Sniper are a perfectly suited introduction to the aw shucks, God, Country Family school of American kickass manhood. It is mind-bendingly simple to understand exactly why this nation will continue to be greatly defended for generations to come, because anyone who reads Chris Kyle's book and knows where Kyle is coming from (I do!) will recognize in a heartbeat the kind of Texas cowboy we will always have millions of. Kyle himself would never tell you that he's a one man army, but he is just the kind to fill the top ranks of the best army on the planet so long as it's funded.

There's only a little to say about the metastory here, as I will be slightly intrigued but much informed and entertained by the story to come. That is that you see in Kyle's story, the new soldier - the prototype by which humanity will be defended for generations to come.

He is not an outsider. He is not from the dregs of society. He loves his father and his family - his is not desperate for approval. He rises to the challenges of defending his country, and it makes all the difference that he is a volunteer and that this remains a free country. So long as our military institutions retain their transgenerational links, then they will be the fuel that will power militaries of the future. We must hope and indeed pray that armies comprised of such free men will remain victorious from here on.

It's corny. It's easy to understand. Because of that we are most fortunate. We retain the formula. He's just a fighter and he hates to lose. He understands that he has become a weapon and he is serious about his patriotic committment. His mission is a job and he is remorseless and relentless. He understands the deal of morality he has made, and he values an American life first. That is the kernel of it. The rest is training and experience, and now his knowhow is plowed back into instruction. That, my fellows, is a professional, and that is what we want our military forces to be.

One more thing. I would compare this book unfavorably to Wasdin's SEAL Team Six. I must confess that I like Wasdin's sense of himself as a warrior and as a person better than I like Kyle. Kyle is his own worst enemy talking about the kind of man he might have been if he were better. It's the kind of explanation those who are apt to respect him don't ask for and the kind those who are apt to disrespect him will find ridiculous. He's a soldier. Period. I'm sure it comes off much better in person than it does in the book. At any rate, we are fortunate to have all sorts on our side.

5 Important Tips for More Successful Campaigns

Posted by Linda | 8:23 AM

With the world of social media dominating high volumes of b2b and b2c communications, what’s happening to email?

There is no doubt both the use and success of email has been in decline over recent years. What this means to marketing professionals is that of you want your email campaigns to succeed, then they need to be exceptional.

For me, email campaigns simply don’t work in isolation, especially in the b2b world. Perhaps that’s due to the nature of the business I work in but I believe to get the best results, email must be one dimension of a multi-touch strategy.

Anyhow, here are my top 5 tips for successful e-mail campaigns.


1. Subject Line
I believe around 80% of writing and design time should be spent on a compelling, engaging subject line and 20% on the rest of the content. If the subject line doesn’t scream ‘READ ME NOW’ then the content is pretty irrelevant.

2. The Hook
I can honestly say I don’t think I have ever replied to a ‘marketing’ email that did not have a great hook. We need to engage our audience with a great subject line the POW, give them an offer of something they can’t refuse. Take Tesco as a good example, I have used the £10 off your next shop voucher countless times.

3. Personalisation
Which brings me onto one of the most important factors. Personalisation is not just about adding the recipient’s name to the top of the email. It’s about understanding you target market. With a good knowledge of your customers needs and wants, your emails should render dynamic content based on the segment of people you are sending it to. Do not underestimate the important role CRM plays in marketing.


4. Screen Real Estate
People receive and read emails in different ways and as the sender you need to be acutely aware of this. Some recipients open their email fully in Outlook, others use the preview pane, others on iPhones etc etc. This means that you need to get you key message in the top left corner of your design so it has the beat chance of being seen, no matter what device the recipient is using.

5. Follow Up
Sadly, in my experience this is rare. I must get 30+ marketing emails a day and perhaps only 1-2 followed by a phone call. It is however those 1-2 that get my attention as they usually prompt me to revisit the email in my inbox. It’s the lack of professional follow-up that is usually at the centre of failing campaign, invest the time to do this properly and you will be more successful.

Next time you create a campaign review these 5 steps and see if you have them covered. Good luck

Download Native American Flute Lullabies Free Now

Posted by Linda | 12:55 PM

For those looking for a nice and free way to start 2012, there's free MP3s to download right now on Amazon.com. You will need to hurry though as the free download offer ends this week.

You don't have to buy anything - just select the whole CDs or any of the songs you are interested in and start downloading. If you are not familiar with any of the songs, there's a sample player on the site to help you listen before you start downloading. Who cares anyway, the whole thing is free so if you are not happy with the songs, just delete.

I have downloaded some of the songs myself so I thought I would put it up here in case anyone is interested. I believe in sharing - especially when it's online and free.

Why pay for something when you can get it for free - I say.

Hurry over here and start downloading NOW.

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