Ecommerce Option One: Complete Online Store

Software that creates a complete online store for you, with completely integrated ecommerce capabilities, is arguably best for new websites, since it will save you the trouble of buying separate content management software and then integrating it with your current site.

Here are some things you can do with a completely ecommerce-enabled web store that you can’t do with a traditional website that just has a CMS attached:

• Show a “in your shopping cart” list of selected items to users who add something to a cart, then continue browsing your site. Studies have shown that “shopping cart abandonment,” in which users add something to the cart and then forget about it while browsing the site, is greatly reduced when users can see their shopping cart contents in front of them at all times.

• Feature a different product on your homepage each day, rotating based on a dynamic selection from your shopping cart inventory.

• Automatically recommend a brand new product to users who are browsing a related page on your site-without updating the code on that page.

• Remind returning visitors to your homepage of an item they added to a shopping cart on a previous visit but did not purchase.

• Manage your entire website’s look and feel, including both the regular pages and the shopping cart pages, from a single interfaces, without having to copy changes in design from one to the other.

• Automatically remove a product featured on regular pages of your site when it is no longer in stock.

• Show an updated list of the latest additions to your inventory on the homepage or other non-shopping-cart pages.

• Display a signup form for users to receive email announcements of new products, dynamically generated from your web store.

Ecommerce Option Two: Separate Shopping Cart

If you already have a website, transferring everything to a new web store system can be daunting. You may want to start your foray into ecommerce with a simple add-on shopping cart.

But don’t limit your possibilities for the future. You can still employ a full-featured web store now and simply use only its shopping cart functions. Simply set up the online store to show in a directory or subdomain of your existing domain, or host it off-site completely. Then link to the individual product pages on the web store from your existing site.

Users never have to know the shopping cart is actually a full-featured site with its own homepage-they’ll never see those pages, and in many web store software packages, you can simply disable those pages from every being created.

After all, on the web you don’t have to buy a bigger building to expand your store. Why limit your growth with less-fully-featured software? Choose ecommerce software that will grow with your business, and your store can grow as big as you can make it.

Joel Walsh is a writer and online business owner. Check out this affordable web store : www.easystorecreator.com?%20Ecommerce%20Solutions [Publish this article on your website! Requirement: live link for above URL/web address w/ link text/anchor text: "Ecommerce Solutions" OR leave this bracketed message intact.]

Laparoscopic surgery, also known as keyhole surgery or band-aid surgery, involves manipulating controls/joysticks to control a fiber optic camera and surgical tools to perform minimally invasive surgery with only tiny incisions in the person’s body. Laparoscopic surgery has been around for many years now, but doctors have only recently begun to notice a stirring correlation between the top surgeons and video gamers.

Surgeon Butch Rosser, directory of minimally invasive surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, read a reporter’s comments about one of his procedures that referred to him as a “Nintendo surgeon”. This started his thinking that perhaps his apparent gift among many of his peers was because he was a gamer.

Rosser set out to see if there was a correlation by using a standardized laparoscopic training exercise called “Top Gun” to test laparoscopic surgeons that had never played a video game and those that were gamers. “The results were really astounding,” he says. “First of all, if you played video game [at any time] in the past, it was found that you were significantly faster and, more importantly, you created fewer errors than people who had no previous video game experience. Then when we looked at whether you were a current video gamer, we found that if you played video games currently, you were over 30 percent better faster, and created fewer errors than someone who did not play video games at all.”

Alan Castel, psychology professor at Washington University of St. Louis, performed another study where people from different groups are given a series of standard visual tests looking for a particular object (e.g. a letter) among a group of other objects on a computer monitor. “Video game players had faster reaction times on the order of 100 milliseconds, which might not sound like a lot but in this domain it’s quite a strong finding,” says Castel. “And you can imagine, when driving, a difference of 100 milliseconds could really help you avoid accidents.”

The research showed that gamers used the same search patterns as non-gamer, “but video game players were faster and more efficient when carrying out this search,” says Castel.

“Previous research has shown that video game players have more attentional capacity and can carry out search functions in more efficient manners,” says Castel. “Our research was interested in examining whether there were differences in how video game players and non-video game players search the visual environment, how they carry out visual search. We were interested in whether video game players would carry out visual search in a different way relative to people who don’t play video games.”

Castel suggests that not only are video games good “practice” for many mental tasks around activities like military flight training and surgery but that they may also be a good tool for rehabilitation of people recovering from brain injuries.

The mental improvement from video games is clearly there. However, Rosser does point out that surgeons perform better with just three hours of video game play per week. Rosser goes on to say to kids “That Butch Rosser would not be here in this capacity if he played video games and did not have good grades, did not develop perseverance. And I would say to that child out there that thinks that they got a free pass to play video games carte blanche, I say ‘Nooo, sadly mistaken.”

With the current talk from politicians, trying to get “airtime”, of banning video games, imposing regulations beyond other entertainment mediums such as books or movies, and the “detriments” of video games, the work of organizations like the International Game Developers Association, who advocate for a more balanced and fair look at games, is needed more now than ever. Research has shown the positive effects of playing video games and has shown very mixed results of any ill effects.

Those in positions to regulate the video game industry need to take a fair look at the studies in the area before attempting to impose any unfair requirements on the industry. With that said, not all games are appropriate for all ages. Parents need to know what their kids are playing. The industries ESRB ratings are a great first step for this, as are many of the review sites online.

To the kids out there, do you homework, but please play your video games. You may be the one operating on me one day…

Kurt Uhlir, a Chicago technologist and regular commentator on video games by day, oversees products and strategy for Extremely Sharp Swords, Knives & Martial Arts.

1. Government Graduate Loans
This type of loan is the same as undergraduate loan. The only difference is name. Like undergraduates, graduates have the opportunity to get a Stafford or Perkins loan from the government.

Stafford graduate loans are available to any graduate student regardless of their financial situation. Two types of Stafford graduate loans exist: subsidized and unsubsidized. The difference in the two lies in who pays the interest. For subsidized Stafford graduate loans, the government pays the interest. Students pay for the interest in unsubsidized Stafford graduate loans, though there is the option of not having to make payments until after graduation.

A Perkins graduate loan is available to students who demonstrate financial hardship. It has an interest rate of only 5 percent and can finance up to $4,000 of the graduate student’s education. For graduate students who are adversely limited economically, the Perkins loan is not a bad option. However, one must keep in mind that payments are still expected to be received promptly and perpetually. In extreme circumstances it is possible to request a deferment on loan payments until one is able to pay normally.

To apply for either the Perkins or Stafford graduate loans, one must submit a FAFSA form to the government. When the form has been processed the government will send a SAR (Student Aide Report) which will give further instructions on how to apply for these loans.

2. Alternate Graduate Loans
This loan has also been known as private graduate loans, are loans funded by non-governmental entities. Companies offering these loans could be banks, credit card agencies or any other enterprise interested in helping graduate students secure student loans. The Education Resources Institute (TERI) is an example of a company offering this type of loan. It is called the Act Graduate Student loan program. The application can be filled out online at http://gradloans.com. Decisions are received in as little as 15 minutes.

You can first try to visit websites of all the major banks because many do offer student loans services. Or you can use a search engine by typing the name of banks you know. Some banks will even offer graduate loan comparison charts to help their customers see how their loans stack up against the competitors. These charts can serve as a further aide in researching graduate loans.

Dr. Drew Henry maintains a number of websites about Loans, including Auto Loan Secrets, Auto Loan Guide, and Bad Credit Auto Loan Secrets.

http://www.dobbertinhydrocar.com/

Then we remember a research company in CA doing a private industry project with a water skimmer speed boat.

http://www.americanhydrofoil.com/

There are many such projects, which we do not know about as well as some pretty bizarre conspiracy theorists misinformation type information out there.

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1028393/posts

The actual unit being built is much faster than the specified speed. And it is a lot more capable than ever thought. And they are in use now. But the smaller assault style hydrofoil skimmer vehicles are the future like the strike vehicles used now in Baghdad only on the water actually traveling above it. These type of water vehicles have all kinds of uses from transporting seal teams, delivering weapons to enemy ports for blockage or Unmanned Above Water patrols for coastlines or to swim circles around the whole fleet at 50 miles out for additional buffer zone to give information to the Net Centric system guarding those assets in the fleets. Six or seven of these going around in circles and you have a complete out ring safety net, including taking weather, surf, temperature readings.

Now then, what if you used the some of this technology and this prototype and set up skimmer skis, which come out as the boat/car reaches speed. If this worked with some armor light-weight armor plating. You build a car-boat on a chassis of a vehicle like a SmartTruck or Presidential Limo. You could have a amphibious, strike vehicle once you got to the shore. A car, a high speed boat and if you got into serious problems head for the water. From the water to the land You could literally hit the beach at 30kts. On the water at 100+ Knots and then slow down to 50 knots on the water as this boat can do that already. Slow down to 30 knots and drive out of the water and accelerate to 100 knots again.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Fret no more. Here are the RULES but like all rules, they may
be broken or should I say improvised and revised to suit you. I
say whatever makes you and/or your daughter happy!

1. Confer with your daughter. She will come up with a color
scheme for her wedding.

2. Ask her whether she wants the color of your dress to
complement her wedding color/colors or almost match it. Examples
of complementary colors to a red color theme is burgundy, wine,
claret red, dark pink, and purple. As for a “match”, it would
certainly be difficult to have an exact match of the colors, as
your dress will be of a different manufacturer, style, fabric,
and dye. So, do not stress over this.

3. You, as the mother of the bride, will decide on a color or
colors, after consulting your daughter. Suggest to her to be
flexible on the choice of colors–perhaps two or three choices
would be great. Mother of the
bride dresses are not made like bridesmaid dresses, the
latter being preordered and tailored months ahead of time for
the occasion. Shopping for a mother of the bride dress can be a
headache and nightmare rolled into one, especially for the plus
size woman or if you live in a rural city.

4. Do not forget to involve the mother of the groom. After you
have an idea of what color you would or should be wearing,
inform her. She will definitely appreciate that as she will be
in a panic mode as well, going through the same motions as you
will soon be, looking for that perfect “mother’s” dress.

5. Shop as soon as you can. Finding YOUR dress is important too.
Understand that you are shopping for a specific style that you
like and look great in, a specific color, and then a specific
size. Then, you will need to allow sufficient time for
professional tailoring of the dress, to get it to fit just
right! Also, what about the accessories like shoes and jewelry?
You will be surprised how many ladies come to my online store www.audreysmotherof
thebride.com hoping to find their dress within a WEEK of the
wedding!

6. Shop bridal or department stores first. You can get a first
hand look at the styles out there and the type and quality of
fabrics. Do not ignore online formal wear stores. Visiting an
online store is easy and stress free as they are a source of
great ideas of what you would like to wear on that special day.
Our online store stocks a variety of fashionable dresses,
especially for the plus size mother
of the bride.

7. Take care of yourself in these nerve-wrecking times of
preparation. Remember, you need to look good as well, although
it is your daughter’s wedding.

8. Now, sit back and relax. You have found your most perfect
mother of the bride dress and have a few more weeks to spare.
Give yourself a big pat on the back!

I have added a New Page to my Web Site. This page allows you to find many items like flowers, cellphones, steak, jewellery, pet supplies, pet medicines, rings, puzzels, kids toys, window blinds, food, wine, and much, much more. I will continue to add on more as time goes on. I am trying to make a “One Stop Shopping” experience online for those that do not have time to surf and find the things they need. Or sorta like a window shopping experience. I have purchased items from the companies that I have listed so I know first hand they are legitimate and trustworthy. They are many discounts I have worked out for my web site visitors as well. So when you visit… be sure to save as favorite places so you can revisit. I will continue to have more companies as the weeks go by as well as more specials. Merry Christmas to All and we wish you a very properous New Year.

******************** One Stop Shopping

Jim’s Favorite Shops

Click Link Below to Visit My New

“One Stop Shopping”

http://www.jimbonham.com/OneStopShop.html

Insurance protect financially you and your family in the future. Depending on the kind of insurance that you will choose to get, insurance can even provide for your health concerns, for your retirement and even for your death and burial.

But while it is important that we are protected against any unexpected eventualities, some people still shy away of availing insurance on their own, preferring their companies to do it for them. Like legal matters, all those insurance mumbo jumbo tend to confuse and sometimes even frighten people.

Here are some of he frequently asked questions about insurance.

What are the kinds of insurance?
There are two major types of insurance. The life and the non-life insurance. The life insurance, as the name suggests, protects the family of the person in case something happens to him. When a person who is insured dies, the money that he insured will be given to the beneficiary that he has chosen.
The non-life insurance is an insurance that protects properties. Under this category, there are several different types. There car insurances, which protect automobiles from wreckage in case of accidents; property insurance, which protects properties especially houses from fire and other forms of destruction; deposit insurance, which most banks have in order to protect their depositors from losing their money in case the bank suffers financial setbacks; and health insurance, which helps in covering for medical and hospital costs. Among the various non-life insurance, the most popular is the health and car insurance.
Some insurance also provide for the future. Some of the insurances are retirement plans and death plans, which covers for burial costs.

What is the difference between a premium and a face amount?
Premium refers to the amount that you have to pay every year for the insurance. Some insurance companies also offer to divide the premium into monthly installments to help their clients. The face amount on the other hand is the amount that you have insured yourself into. For example, if the face amount in your policy is set at $500,000, then your beneficiary will receive $500,000 when you die.

What do you mean by double indemnity?
Some insurance policy offer an accidental clause that would double the face amount in case death has been established as accidental. This is done to protect the insured’s family in case of an untimely death. Double indemnity means that the face amount will be doubled when death is accidental.

Is the beneficiary always the legal spouse?
No. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not always the spouse who is the beneficiary. It is up to the person to choose, who he names as beneficiary. It can be any member of the family as long as insurable interest is established. If in case, the children are named beneficiaries and are still not in legal ages, a ardian will be named to assume control of the money for them.

Ian King makes it easy to find and understand insurance, quickly and easily. To learn the essential keys to insurance that you must know visit insurance agents errors and omissions and for more info on auto insurance visit auto insurance adjuster

There are three ways you can use VoIP. You can
either connect using your regular phone and an adapter, a
special internet phone, or download software and use your
computer. Here are the methods, in greater detail:

Using your home phone. If you would like to
switch from your regular phone line to VoIP, many people opt to
continue using their home phone. To do this, you must use an
analog telephone adapter, or ATA. This device converts the
analog signal (your voice) to a digital signal. Once the signal
is converted, it goes through the internet connection. When
shopping for a service provider, ask them if they include this
adapter with their packages. Most do.

Connect using an IP phone. When using a special
IP phone, you don’t need a separate ATA. Everything you need to
use your broadband internet connection as your telephone service
is included with the hardware. Instead of using a regular phone
jack and connector, it uses an Ethernet connection to plug into
your router.

Connect using your
computer. If your computer has speakers, microphone, a
sound card, and a high speed internet connection you can use
your computer for VoIP. Companies offer free or low cost
software downloads which allows you to use your computer to make
phone calls. Using this method is either free, costing only the
price of your internet connection, or nearly free. Earthlink’s
Vling software is both free to download and free to use. The
only hitch is that you can only talk with other Vling users.

Florida’s West Indiana Manatee-What is Killing Them? The top manatee story after the recent hurricanes was in Lee County where residents rescued a manatee that was the victim of Hurricane Charley’s storm surge. The stunned and tired manatee was splashed onto Pearl Street after the storm surge receded. This was one manatee that did not have to be included in the mortality numbers this year.

The manatees killed this year are divided into categories by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. 1/1/04 – 9/30/04 numbers: Watercraft-60, Flood Gates-1, Other human-4, Perinatal-65, Cold-36, Natural-20, Undetermined-43, Unrecovered-2 for a total of 231.

According to the February 2004 count of manatees in Florida by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission there were only 2568 manatees remaining in Florida.

If you see a dead or injured manatee or one that’s been harassed while in Florida, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s toll-free hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC.

Lastly, as a visitor to our tropical paradise, do not approach, touch, feed or water manatees. It is against the law and carries a fine as well as a possible jail term. Use your camera to make memories, not a police experience.

Dolphins – Our favorite Marine Mammal. Dolphins are not endangered at this time, but the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 requires you to stay away from them. Do not encourage them into the path of danger by boats or other human interaction. Wild dolphins have been found injured by firecrackers placed down their blow hold, beer poured over them and into their blow hold and other horror stories. These beautiful creatures think man is their friend but the next person they meet may be their enemy instead.

There are licensed facilities where you can interact safely with dolphins that have been raised in captivity or rescued.

Sea Turtles-Has the 2004 hurricane season hurt their recovery? South Florida is home to Loggerheads, Leatherbacks and Green sea turtles. Hawksbill and Kemp’s ridley have occasionally been found. These are the five species found in US waters in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The population of loggerheads nesting along the Atlantic coast of Florida is the second largest in the world. The nesting season runs from around May to September and within approximately 60 days of nesting, the hatchlings too are in danger.

It is too soon to have counts, but the yearly numbers will reveal the losses. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be reporting the 2004 figures early next year.

There are other dangers to our sea turtles. The turtle hospital in Marathon, Florida treats a variety of turtle ailments, such as flipper amputations caused by fishing line and trap rope entanglements, shell damage caused by boat collisions, and intestinal impactions caused by ingestion of foreign material such as plastic bags, balloons and fishing lines. Turtles love jellyfish and shrimp and ingest filters from cigarettes and plastic in error. Turtles that died from starvation were found with a stomach full of cigarette filters.

The most recent nesting totals for Florida’s turtles from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for the year 2003 is:

Loggerheads: 63,446

Green Turtles: 2262

Leatherbacks: 842

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP THE SEA TURTLES?

1. Never throw litter on the beach or in the water.

2. If pets are allowed on the beach, keep them leashed at all times.

3. Obey all beach rules and stay away from turtle nesting sites.

4. Help spread the word about sea turtles. The more people know, the more they will want to help them.

5. Watch for turtles while boating.

6. During nesting seasons, turn lights facing the beach off or have proper filters.

7. Participate in local beach and reef cleanups.

8. Do not buy sea turtle products-jewelry, oil, leather, meat or eggs.

Kathy Runk has been a volunteer exhibit guide at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, volunteer for the Save the Manatee Club in Florida, attended Dolphinlab in Marathon, Florida and adopted Elsie the manatee, dolphins Merina and her baby Calusa. Kathy is the owner of http://www.myoceantreasures.com that sells ocean themed jewelry and gifts.

Designer fashion store Matches are now stocking the brand new and really unique bangles and bracelets by Hannah Martin. Jewels that are a little bit dark, a little bit decadent and terribly sexy. We bring you direct from an airy loft apartment in New York City- Haute Hippy, the trademark says it all. The very best of both worlds combine for an amazingly vintage inspired, fabulously made pieces that are stunning, amazing and astonishingly cool. And now for the 2 J males, Julian David and the fashion forward Julien McDonald. With astonishingly soft, feather-light neck scarves in a variety of patterns Julian David is the scarf man to watch and get all set to party in Julien MacDonald’s amazing dresses.

Be completely stunned by the very latest designer collection to hit the shops, it is London based label Loha Vete by Max Zubari. These designer clothing pieces are love-worn t-shirts embellished with Zubari’s own personal statements of wisdom about life, love and anything in between. Wear your heart on your sleeve and make conventional clothing a personal statement. Stay up to date with all the latest Christian Louboutin fashion styles.

Be sure to visit the designer clothing shop Matches site for even more information about these hot new fashion designers, the very latest must haves and the inside knowledge about all things fashion and designer on designer shop Matches daily blog.