Archive for April, 2008

Maternity Air Bed - Does It Work?

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

A maternity air bed is an inflatable mattress that has a belly-sized hole in the center. It is designed with the idea that pregnant side or belly sleepers can comfortably rest on such a bed. Having tossed and turned my way through four pregnancies, a maternity bed sounds like a great idea. But before you rush out and buy one, let’s look at what facts we can find.– Maternity air beds are, in fact, still air beds. That’s important to realize because they are susceptible to the same types of problems as any other air mattress. Holes, slow leaks, and uneven support are issues for any inflatable bed. So checking to see that the maternity air mattress bag is of superior quality is simple common sense. Also check on what the procedure is for patching any leaks. You want a thick gauge vinyl with an extra-durable patch.As I said earlier, while these issues are true of any inflatable mattress, they are not deal-breakers, in my opinion. I’ve slept on a waterbed for over twenty years and the occasional leak happens. But with a high quality bed, leaks are extremely rare and with the correct type of patching material, leaks can be fixed in minutes and remain leak-free for years.I’ve also purchased air beds that developed a leak the first time I inflated them. Just remember, ‘quality’ is the buzz word here.Let’s look at another occasional problem with air beds. The uneven support issue is a bit tougher to deal with than the leakage issue. Usually an inflatable air bed just needs more air to offer better quality support. However, it is possible to over-inflate such mattresses and no mama-to-be needs to feel like she’s trying to sleep on top of a huge ball!The truth is twofold here. The inflation issue of a maternity air bed would come down to:1. Individual preference. You might need to spend a few nights experimenting with different amounts of air to find the optimum amount for you. The belly hole in these air beds usually comes with an inflatable pillow, as well, so you can adjust the size and support for your growing tummy or fill the hole completely and use the air bed as any other inflatable mattress.2. You love it or you hate it. I think this is especially true if you’re pregnant. Let’s face it; pregnancy is a challenging time when it comes to physical comfort and what works for one woman is torture for another. I love my waterbed, but I had to find a more conventional bed during the last month of my pregnancies. As any pregnant woman will tell you, you’ve got to do what works for you. In addition, what works may change over the course of your pregnancy.Another word of caution. Some folks simply don’t like sleeping on a vinyl mattress. It just doesn’t feel right to them and, of course, vinyl doesn’t breathe well. Again, I think a helpful thing to keep in mind is that this is no one’s idea of a perfect bed. This is a possible temporary solution to some of the discomforts of pregnancy. That means it’s going to work for some women and not for others.– The pros of using a maternity air bed would be similar to any inflatable mattress as well. For not a lot of money, you’ll have a spare bed that conveniently deflates and folds up. An air bed is portable and can be used wherever you need one. They can be very handy when traveling, for example. So an added benefit of this particular maternity purchase is that you can actually use this product when you’re no longer pregnant. Or you can sell it to your friend who just found out SHE is having a baby!Another pro to using a maternity air bed is back to the inflation issue. You can add or remove air over the course of your pregnancy to adjust to your growing needs and aching back. This is a huge issue for most pregnant women and is probably the area in which these types of beds really work their magic, if they’re going to work for you at all.The bottom line in deciding whether a maternity air bed would work for you is to try one, of course. And if you’re comfortable on your current bed, then don’t fix what’s not broken! But for those pregnant women who are experiencing a great many sleepless nights and are avid side or belly-sleepers, a maternity air bed is worth considering.Colleen Langenfeld has been parenting for over 26 years and helps other moms enjoy mothering more at http://www.paintedgold.com Visit her website and learn more about a maternity air bed today.
We also recommend: inflatable bed

Best MLM Promotion - Why You Should Be Writing MLM Articles

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Why should you write MLM articles?Because it’s nuts not to. You’re building a future for yourself. You’re building a presence online. You’ll be able to take advantage, leverage your writing forever.It’s like putting $2000 into an IRA. In fact, think of it as your “Online IRA”. Talk your stories into a microcassette recorder. I just got a new Sony M-470 for $29.95 at Staples. My old one that I’d had for 10 years started acting up.Go for a walk every day. Pick an idea or two to focus on. An incident in your life, maybe. And then just start talking about what happened, and how it relates to now and how it relates to the business you’re building. You talk and hit “pause,” then un-pause and talk and pause, then un-pause and talk and pause. It’s very simple.Tell what you learned from the experience, and how you use that knowledge now. And if you don’t use that knowledge now, talk about how you SHOULD be using it now.Your job is to teach others how to do network marketing. So do it. Pick an incident from your past - even if it’s only from this morning - and talk about it in detail. Answer who, what, when, why, where, how. Tell what happened and when and where, who was involved, why it made such an impression on you, and how you use the experience now. Tell how it affected your interpersonal relationships and the effect it has had on your network marketing. Mention any funny elements. Look for any delicious irony. Feature it.And that’s all there is to it. You should be able to come up with 400-700 words on just about any incident, and that is perfect to submit to the online article directories to get a link back to your website.These MLM articles can be producing leads for you ten or twenty years from now. They can be the start of having YOUR name become one of the most recognized names in network marketing. Your writing can be the building block of your empire.Commit to 2 or 3 MLM articles a week, or one a day, or whatever you are comfortable with. And then do it.As you go, you’ll figure out lots of other ways of using your writing. You’ll figure out other ways of MLM promotion. Every time you write, it’s an ad for you as an MLM mentor.I learned years ago that whatever work you do, leverage it to the hilt. Squeeze every last ounce of income and benefit out of the work that you do. When you write an MLM article, you will figure out ways to use it over and over and over and over and over and over.Whatever you write tomorrow … you may figure out 3 new ways to use it … FIVE years from today! And there’s nothing to it then, because you did the work 5 years ago! You’re investing in yourself, in your future, in your family’s future. You’re improving your skills, making yourself more valuable. You’re having fun. You’re not spending one cent on gas.You’re putting one more building block in your empire. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at the skill, and the better you will get at marketing.You’ll quickly reach the point where you can teach others. You’ll become a magnet, and you’ll gain MORE skills. So you’ll become MORE of a magnet. People will join you. Your business will build.And all the time, day after day after day, all you do is you just keep talking into that microcassette recorder, telling your stories. And then transcribe them.I now walk 3 miles every morning. Depending on how active my brain is, I can do 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 MLM articles each morning, as I walk. Then it’s just a matter of transcribing and a little editing.Don’t TELL me you can’t do this! If you tell me you can’t do this, you’re telling me that NOTHING has ever happened to you in your life! All that you need is to have had SOMETHING happen to you in your life, that you can talk about. That gives you a chance to do your best MLM promotion every day of the week.AND you need to spend $29.95 for a microcassette recorder. Well worth it!Richard Dennis writes a ton of MLM articles and also tends to his blog at http://RichardDennisNetworking.com
We also recommend: microcassette recorder

Review of Rio MP3 Players

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Below you will find some useful information and comments about a few of the most popular MP3 players by Rio, including the Nitrus, Carbon, Cali, and Forge. None of these MP3 players are perfect, but each offers a unique set of strengths and weaknesses that should be taken into consideration before you purchase any one of them. Be sure to compare price, usability, and the overall performance of each.Rio Carbon 5 GB MP3 PlayerManufacturers Description: The Rio Carbon is capable of holding up to 80 hours of MP3 (160 hours WMA) music, and with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, music lovers need not worry about running out of juice.Sporting an ultrathin and tapered design and with 25 percent more memory than iPod Mini, this tiny MP3 player–about the size of a business card–will slide into any pocket, virtually unnoticeable. The Rio Carbon is capable of holding up to 80 hours of MP3 music (160 hours of WMA), and with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, music lovers need not worry about running out of juice. Supporting USB 2.0 and a host of file formats, users can download music efficiently and easily from most of their favorite online music sites. The Rio Carbon also includes voice recording and provides seamless integration and support of both the Windows and Mac platforms.Features:- 5 GB of memory stores up to 80 hours of MP3 music or 160 hours of WMA music - Plays MP3, WMA, and Audible audio formats - Built-in microphone for voice recording - Easily drag and drop data and music files onto your player - Rechargeable battery offers up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge - USB 2.0 for faster downloads - Charge from USB or the included power adapter - Windows and Mac compatible - Includes Rio Music Manager, the most intuitive way to create and manage your digital music libraryComments: Users tend to agree that this is one of the best mp3 players Rio has developed. It’s really quite small and slim, and can actually fit in your pockets. 5GB of memory really doesn’t sound like all that much any more, but I think most new user will find that that is plenty of space. The long battery is nice (20 compared with iPod’s 12), and the interface is easy enough to work with. One little dissapointment is the inability to hit any buttons on the device when it is in its carrying case. Also, it does have some compatibility issues with Mac music programs like iTunes. If you really love Mac, you may want to consider iPod or Shuffle instead (this goes for all Rio products).Price: $230Rio Cali 128 MB Sport MP3 PlayerManufacturers Description: Wrapped in grippy, protective rubber, the Cali 128 is built to play hard. Solid-state electronics carry over 30 songs with no skips — ever. Comfortable Sport Clip earphones, case with armband, and integrated stopwatch with lap timer make the Cali a functional sport accessory. 5-band adjustable equalizer gives more control over your sound than most players. Onboard FM tuner means you always have something to listen to. An empty expansion slot allows you to add up to 512 MB of additional SDTM or MMCTM memory. Simple menus and intuitive controls make for easy one-handed operation.Features:- 128 MB of memory plays back over 2 hours of MP3 or 4 hours of WMA music (over 30 MP3 or 60 WMA songs)* - Expansion slot to add up to 512 MB additional memory using SD or MMC cards (sold separately) - USB 1.1 connects to almost any computer - Transfer content between multiple PCs - 18-hour continuous playback using one Energizer AAA Battery - 5-Band adjustable equalizer with pre-setsComments: Anyone considering buying this device should be aware of some odd functional issues that may be frustrating. First of all, when changing memory cards, many users have had to actually take out the batteries in order to get the device to recognize the new memory card (another note: some users have had problems getting the device to accept 3rd party memory cards). Also, it seems that the player may not be able to play regular mp3 formats you may have on your pc hard drive. Rio admits that these mp3 files need to be converted through their own software in order for them to work. These, and other odd quirks, undermine this particular player quite a bit. On the positive side, the device has good battery life, plays clear, crisp music, and has a good radio feature as well.Price: $120Rio Forge 512 MB Sport MP3 PlayerManufacturers Description: The Rio Forge series is our latest generation of flash based sport players. The Rio Forge was designed for people that like to play hard and use music to play even harder. The new design integrates the grippy, protective rubber from previous models with a new shiny stainless steel face plate for added durability. Up to 20 hours of battery life allows you hours of non-stop work out time. Comfortable Sport Clip earphones and a newly designed case with armband keep your player and music secure and accessible. Simple menus and intuitive controls make for easy one-handed operation. Stopwatch and Lap Timer make the Rio Forge the ultimate gym or running companion. Plus, the new FM record feature allows you to record radio content onto your player to listen to at a later time.Features:- Holds 16 hours worth of Music - Storage capacity may be upgraded up to 1 GB - Durable Stainless Steel Face - 512 MB of storage - Stopwatch feature for work-outs - Up to 20 hours of battery lifeComments: This latest generation of sport mp3 players by Rio is perhaps the best so far. What we really liked about this device is the easy to use and intuitive user interface and clear LCD screen. The one downside is the 512mb upper limit in storage (although technically you can upgrade to 1GB), which is a little low compared with the market average. Even so, the features like the FM tuner and stop watch make this a really cool little sport mp3 player. It’s about as durable and user friendly as they come, plus the battery life is friendly for those long work-outs. Thumbs up on this one.Price: $180Rio Nitrus 1.5 GB MP3 JukeboxManufacturers Description: The revolutionary Rio Nitrus packs 1.5 GB into a stealthy, razor-thin design. With the ability to carry over 375 songs, never before has this much capacity been offered on a player this small. Fast USB 2.0 connection loads the player quickly. Simple menus, thoughtful controls, and a clear display make navigation instinctive. A 5-band adjustable equalizer provides a custom listening experience. Quality components throughout yield a player without compromise.Features:- 1.5GB HDD plays back over 25 hours of MP3 or 50 hours of WMA music (over 375 MP3 or 750 WMA songs) - USB 2.0 for fast transfers - Transfer content between multiple PCs - 16-hour continuous playback with the rechargeable LiIon battery - 5-Band adjustable equalizer with pre-setsComments: This is an overall fairly solid mp3 player with a few design and engineering defects that should be mentioned. First, the buttons are not quite as easy to use, or as well laid out as some of Rio’s other players. Specifically, the volume buttons are smaller and closer together than they should be. Another thing is problems with the battery life, some users getting significantly less time out of their batteries than they are supposed to. And you really can’t expect to get the full 16 hours. Also, the scrolling feature doesn’t seem to help much. On the plus side, the device is big enough in storage size (1.5GB), and small enough in physical size to appeal to alot of potential consumers. The sound is also quite good and just about every volume level.Price: $175Bradley James is a senior editor at SciNet.cc, a website containing many helpful consumer electronics review articles. For more information on Rio mp3 players, please visit our Rio mp3 webpage.
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GBC USP13 Universal Speed Binding Punch Review

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Overview: The GBC USP13 is the same machine that was originally designed and manufactured by Sickenger before they were purchased by GBC. This machine is designed for extremely high volume applications and is commonly found in large print shops and binderies across the United States. It utilizes a short and straight paper path to help minimize jams when running thick and coated paper stocks. This design also allows this machine to run collated documents with intermixed index tabs and papers of different weights.Strengths / Features: The GBC Sickinger USP13 is designed for large binderies, print shops and in-plant printers that need to punch millions of sheets per month. It is capable of punching up to 120,000 sheets of paper per hour and operates at an average of 80,000 sheets per hour. That is double the speed of the GBC AP2 automatic punch. You simply load your collated documents into one side of the machine and in seconds they will be punched and ready to finish. The straight paper path and variable speed settings of the USP-13 automatic punch make it far better suited for handling thick, glossy and coated paper stocks than other automatic punches. By turning down the speed you can help to reduce misfeeds and problems when running specialty paper stocks and heavier covers. It is designed to punch sheets as light as 16lb bond and as heavy as 110lb index. The Sickinger USP13 has been around for years and has been in use in high volume binderies and print shops. This is a reliable machine that you can count on to handle your volume punching needs. Parts are readily available and there are experienced service technicians that have experience with this specific machine in most major cities across the United States. There are more than fifteen different die sets available for this punch. In fact, punching dies are available for all of the major binding styles including: Comb binding, spiral coil, twin loop wire, Velobind, Proclick, 3-hole and 2-hole punching. Custom dies can also be produced to your specifications for use in specialty applications.Weaknesses / Limitations: Users who are considering purchasing this machine should note its size and weight. This machine weighs about fifteen hundred pounds and has a massive footprint. It measures, 38″ W x 74″ L x 50″ H. It is important to make sure that you have the space for this machine and a way to get into your shop. Although the GBC brochure advertises that you can switch dies in seconds, it truthfully takes between one and two minutes for most experienced operators that switch die sets. No specialty tools are required which is a good thing. However, the die change time on this machine does not make it ideal for short run applications or for shops that are constantly switching punching patterns. The GBC Quantum is far better suited for those types of applications. Like the AP2 Ultra, the USP13 is limited in the sizes of documents that it can punch. It can punch documents with a binding edge as short as 6″ and as long as 13″. However, the unpunched edge of the document must be between 5″ and 12″ long. This means that it cannot punch legal sized paper or extremely small sheet sizes. This is something to keep in mind. Although this machine can punch collated documents with mixed paper stocks, it can still have trouble with plastic or poly covers. It is sometimes possible to punch these types of covers by collating them into your documents. However, if the lift happens to fall so that the clear cover is on the top or bottom of the stack that is being punched it can cause a paper jam. Unfortunately the best way to handle plastic covers is to punch them with a desktop binding punch one or two at a time. Although the USP13 is extremely reliable, it is a really good idea to consider purchasing a maintenance contract for this machine. Much like a photocopier or piece of printing equipment the USP-13 will require maintenance over time and there are literally hundreds of components that all work together to punch your paper. Having a trained technician perform regular maintenance will help you to protect your investment and reduce potential downtime.Recommendation: The Sickinger GBC USP13 is an excellent quality automatic binding punch that has been used by large binderies and printers for years. This machine is capable of handling a wide variety of document sizes, paper thicknesses and can even punch collated documents with index tabs. With an average speed of 80,000 sheets per hour this machine is one of only a few choices available on the market for ultra high volume users. Provided that you have the budget, space and volume to warrant this piece of equipment I would highly recommend the USP13.If you need more information or would like to purchase the GBC USP13 Universal Speed Binding Punch or any of the other Automated Binding Systems that we carry please feel to visit our site or contact us with your questions.This review was written by Jeff McRitchie who is the director of marketing for Mybinding.com Jeff has written more than three hundred articles and more than two hundred reviews on Binding Machines, Binding Supplies, Report Covers, 3-Ring Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Supplies, Paper Shredders and Paper Handling Equipment
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Hello world!

Monday, April 28th, 2008

Welcome to blog percuma @ od3n [dot] net. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!