We all know that an education can improve your standing in life. A college degree can increase your opportunity to enjoy a better standard of living, and also bring you career fulfillment. But what if you don’t have the time or ability to quit your job and go to college full time?

Many busy people choose to attend night classes on a part time basis. While this is a good solution, it can take many years to earn a degree this way. Plus, you have to take the classes when and where the college offers them. Not much flexibility in that.

Thanks to the Internet, it’s now possible for you to earn a college degree in your spare time at home.

Don’t confuse legitimate college degree programs with diploma mills. When you enroll in a legitimate online college degree program, you will have to follow course guidelines and do your homework – just like every college student. The only difference is, you won’t be sitting in a physical classroom.

You’ll have the benefit of studying under top-notch teachers and instructors who will guide you in your studies and be available via email to answer questions. One-on-one support is very important, especially when studying long distance. You’ll want to make sure your online degree program offers this type of help.

To avoid being scammed by unscrupulous degree mills, you’ll want to do your research and make sure the online degree program you’re interested in is fully accredited. It won’t do you any good to have a degree that isn’t recognized by employers and professionals.

Whether you’re looking to earn a bachelor’s degree, masters degree, doctorate, or earn a certificate of training, you have many fine online degree programs to chose from. So go ahead and investigate your options in advanced education. You are no longer restricted by time or location from reaching your goals. If you aspire to improve your status in life, a diploma is only a click away.

It’s amazing how we fool ourselves… while at the same time believing we are doing what’s best.

Let me give you an example. I overheard a guy telling a group of friends, over drinks, how he had become fed-up with work. Guys being guys, they immediately started to come up with options to fix the problem – ideas like changing company and changing jobs. That was when the guy got all logical…

‘Yeah, but I need to pay the mortgage and my kid’s education and we’ve got a holiday planned for the Bahamas and…’

I interrupted. ‘How much do you need?’

‘A hundred grand a year,’ he replied.

‘What’s more important,’ I asked, ‘your happiness or the money?’

Of course he said happiness. Then he got all logical again. ‘But I can’t be happy unless I can pay the mortgage and give my kids the best and have great holidays.’

‘How many hours do you work?’

‘Around fifty.’

‘And how do you feel when you get home?’

‘Tired.’

‘What would your kids prefer, a father who is worn out for forty eight weeks of the year but has four weeks to entertain them per year or a dad who is a real Dad all year round?’

The conversation went on, me questioning, him justifying what he perceived as logic.

Yet it’s not logic, is it? It’s not logic to deny your heart’s desire to change life when it’s hurting you. The mortgage, the kid’s education, the holidays are just stuff. And, like most people find after a heart attack or a divorce or an accident, is that this ‘stuff’ is not that important. What’s important is something else…

Life!

The problem is we got “Conditioned Logic” – “logic” transferred to us by society: friends, family, schools, college, the media, religion etc. We took it all on and felt we had to behave in a “conditioned” way. The repetition of that conditioning is fine for a while, but when we end up doing something we don’t love, each time we do it takes a little of the soul away. Let me put it another way.

What gives you the power to succeed is what you perceive to be logic. Real power is not necessarily doing what society dictates. Real power is often something else. It is that knowing that comes from nowhere to tell you, you must do something different.

It might seem logical to have the house, the car, the private education, the holiday, but is it powerful. What is powerful is, to say I am not happy and things must change; I’m not killing myself for forty-eight weeks just for four weeks of pleasure; I’m not excited by my work and I’m willing to live in a smaller home if it means I can have more peace, less stress and fall back in love with my partner.

It’s not all about the stuff, is it? It’s about happiness and love; happiness and love of your partner; happiness and love of your children and family; happiness and love of your work. If you have that then you have it all.

Now that’s the power to succeed!

Does your current way of living support that?

Best wishes

Rixz

Christmas shopping online is not for you? If you are one of those that share this thought, you probably like to enjoy the atmosphere of physical shopping. Doing your Christmas shopping online despite all its convenience, lack the festive mood. The convenience of online shopping has reduced the shopping experience to a browse and click mode, no mood and very little atmosphere.

So, you might think that despite the staggering numbers that shows how many people are actually doing their Christmas shopping online, they are just a minority out of the entire Christmas shopping population. Well, while I do not have the statistics to back this up –this thinking is likely to be true

To ascertain the fact that the Christmas shopping online folks are really a sub-set of the Christmas shopping crowd, just visit Marcy’s, Barnes and Noble or one of the large departmental stores during the pre-Christmas period, and the crowd you see would highlight the fact that a very large proportion of shoppers are still doing their shopping offline.

And of course, it is this crowd that give rise to the Christmassy feelings. Never mind that you have to wait an hour to find a parking lot or half an hour to pay for your purchases, this feeling enhanced by the jingles that flood the stores is something that doing your Christmas shopping online would never be able to offer.

Having said so much about the value of shopping physically, are there any merits to doing your Christmas shopping online? Yes, from my own experience there are at least two major contributions that doing your Christmas shopping online can provide.

First, Christmas shopping online eliminates the hassle of browsing and deciding at absolutely ground zero on the spot. Imagine you are doing shopping with only a vague idea of what to buy for whom and your only reference is some scribbling on a post-it note.

Enter online Christmas shopping, and you are able to browse online and zero in on the category of items that you would like to get for your love ones. One of the biggest value of Internet is it allows you to conduct your research and craft a comprehensive list of items that you would like to get for your love ones. So that, when you are doing it physically, all you have to do is to choose from the different brands and decide on the ones that have the best value. Thus, saving time and allowing you to buy for more people in lesser trips.

The other contribution of online Christmas shopping is that it is able to take care of your ‘bulk purchases’. What I mean is during this festive season of giving and sharing, there would be lots of gifts exchange, and gifts giving to acquaintances.

So, for this group of people, you would probably be getting something that is nice but would not invest too much thought into it, and then you would buy plenty of it to last through the season. Doing your Christmas shopping for these folks online frees out more time for you to choose something special for your love ones. It also takes care of the inconvenience of bringing a lot of stuff home (online shopping would have the purchase deliver right to your door steps).

There you have it! Online Christmas shopping allows you to do a thorough research on the gifts to get for your love ones and it also gives you more time in physically shopping for those gifts by allowing you to buy the generic stuff online. So, using technology allows you to enjoy the magic feeling of shopping under the thick Christmas atmosphere provides by shopping malls with lesser things on your mind to worry about.

Having said all these, I hope you folks would integrate (what a word!) online shopping to brighten your overall Christmas shopping experience and enhances the joy and magic buying for those special ones…

What marks a successful after school program? What are the things that you
should look for when enrolling your child into one such program? Other
than the obvious advantage of learning something new, successful programs
incorporate many things that help the development of the child.

Development of social skills is one of the more important objectives of a
good after school program. In a recent survey, parents indicated that
while they do want their children to respect others, they also wanted them
to imbibe skills like getting along with other children and getting used
to children outside the immediate circle of friends. Many children find it
difficult to make new friends and get along with people outside their
group.

Good after school programs place special emphasis on security and safety.
They keep children out of trouble and keep them safe. A good after school
program should be fun, especially when the children are young. If the
activity is fun, you will not have to worry about keeping him interested
or motivated. To be effective, programs should be organized and
structured. They must also suit the age of the child. The child must be
aware of the purpose of the program, and must be convinced that they are
attending the programs to accomplish something.

The holiday season is a time to step back from daily routines, reflect and spend time with loved ones. This year, take time to truly feel the holiday spirit by gathering family and friends together to decorate the home for holiday festivities.

Try these 10 special yet simple activities to be enjoyed with loved ones:

* Fill your home with the warm, beautiful light of candles. During the holidays, candles are available in all shapes, sizes and styles — often decorated with glitter and sequins for an even more glimmering effect. Cluster them together in a fireplace as an alternative to a crackling fire.

* Create festive table decorations — a fun and easy project to do with the kids! Grab some plain salt and pepper shakers, slather on some glue, then add glitter, sequins, silver stars and puffy paint . . . voila, these shining shakers are sure to add decoration — with function — the table.

* Top the tree with something extraordinary. Have an older guest and a younger one create the focal point of the room by topping the tree together with an eye-catching decoration. This season, Swarovski introduces a crystal Tree Topper, a beautiful large crystal star surrounded by six smaller stars creating the appearance of a large snowflake. Available in either chrome or gold plating, the tree topper creates a beautiful crown for a Christmas tree, a centerpiece for a holiday table or mantle decoration.

* Wrap silver or gold garland around lampposts, pillars and staircase banisters and drape tinsel on mirror frames and mantles. Add bows for some additional color and sparkle.

* Bake cookies! Use fun holiday-themed cookie cutters to create different shaped treats and decorate them with colored sugars and glossy icing.

* Catch the light. Swarovski’s Little Star Ornament can be displayed anywhere from the mantle to a chandelier against a window. Fill your home with these miniature six-point stars to bring cheer into every room. Hang multiples of the same crystal ornament from a mantle, interspersed with greenery, colorful berries and candles creating a personalized holiday display.

* Cover throw pillows with festive slipcovers or purchase simple ones and add on beads in holiday colors. All that is required is a needle and thread, some beads, trim and lots of creativity.

* Fashion napkin holders out of crystal ornaments and now place them around fancy cloth napkins to top off a festive holiday table.

* Sprinkle glitter on flat surfaces to make a holiday table, mantle, shelf, windowsill twinkle.

* To make the new tradition of decorating together even more special, give memorable gifts to each participating member this year. Swarovski’s 2003 Annual Edition Ornament is an eight-point star which beautifies the home by catching light through its 207 crystal facets. This collectors item includes a silver plate engraved with the year is suspended from the ornament’s navy blue ribbon. The ornament, which is updated each year, is a perfect gift to mark the years and start a holiday gift-giving tradition.

Fun with loved ones is what holiday spirit is all about. Celebrate each other. Make memories and traditions this year that will last forever.

Build family communication and togetherness by having a weekly toy game hobby night. It is so easy these days to let work, school, and the business of life rule the day, that we can easily lose touch with each other. If we get together one night each week for a toy game hobby night, we can rekindle those family ties.

Those families with small children will probably focus more on the toy aspect of the toy game hobby night. Take the time to get down on the floor and play with those youngsters. Cuddle those dollies and call yourself “grandma” or “grandpa.” Push those trucks around and pretend right along with the kids. If your back can take it, let them take turns riding you like a horse while you crawl around and neigh. Every kid loves that!

On summer evenings, try toy game hobby night in the sand box at the park. Using an old mesh produce bag, collect a variety of suitable sand toys to take along. These toys include various containers, a few wheeled vehicles, toy garden tools, and cast-off kitchen utensils. In the sandbox with your kids, you can create towns with roads, castles, or just about anything.

Modeling dough is also a great activity for toy game hobby night. Collect some small cookie cutters and old jar lids (for pans) and create fancy cookies and desserts - inedible and calorie-free, of course! The kids can turn a large box on it’s side for a counter and place the goodies on display to sell. Of course, you’ll pretend to buy, eat, and enjoy!

Some fun games for family night include card games like Uno, board games like Candy Land or Life, and dominoes. When choosing games to play there are several things to consider. Is Scrabble, for instance, fun for everyone, or does all the spelling and thinking feel like work to some of the players? Does the game take forever to play, so that some players’ attention spans play out? Does the game encourage merciless competition, like Monopoly, leaving losers feeling left out? It’s important for kids to learn how to lose and still have fun. Don’t “throw” the game, intentionally letting them win all the time, but don’t mercilessly beat them every time either. Make it fun. If losing is a problem for some of the kids, check out some of the new cooperative games where everyone is on the same team.

Hobbies are also great to share as a family. Maybe your family would be interested in pursuing musical skills together. Families make great singing groups because their voices match well. If that’s not for you, maybe you’d all enjoy fishing. Square dancing is fun for some families, while others enjoy playing badminton or other active games and sports. The important thing is to have fun together.

Having a toy game hobby night every week will help you stay close to your kids as they grow up. It will keep the bond of love fresh and the lines of communication open. Plan a toy game hobby night this week!

The holiday season ushers in a time of joy and a spirit of giving — as well as frequent frustration at finding the perfect gifts for the special people in your life. But as the gifts add up, so do the bills. Wouldn’t it be nice to do all your holiday shopping without having to worry about money? You now have a chance to make that dream a reality for all your gift needs.

Lillian Vernon Corporation, a leading national catalog and online retailer, has launched a new sweepstakes. The grand prize is $25,000 of Lillian Vernon products, the first prize is a luxury trip for two to New York City, and the second prize is a year of fresh flowers.

The grand prize winner will receive a $25,000 Lillian Vernon super shopping spree over the next decade. With this prize, the winner can stock up so they never have to shop for a gift again. The winner may choose from over 6,000 products including housewares, holiday and seasonal décor, children’s toys and furniture, organizational products and gifts for all occasions that can be personalized free of charge, a Lillian Vernon trademark.

First prize is a three day/two night luxury trip for two to New York City, complete with roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations at the Intercontinental Central Park South, an ultimate spa day at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon & Spa, dinner at the famous Tavern On The Green in Central Park, and two orchestra seats and an exclusive backstage tour to Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out,” Broadway’s Tony-award-winning musical that features music by Grammy Award winner Billy Joel and choreography by the famed, Tony Award-winning Twyla Tharpe.

Second prize is a year of flowers: 52 beautiful, seasonal fresh bouquets delivered to the winner’s home every week from The Flower Club.

Porsche vs Ferrari

Porsche and Ferrari are German and Italian sides of the same
coin, interpretations of the sports car idea. Both founded by a
dominant patriarch, both honed in racing, both more than 50
years old, both with engineering and styling integrity. Whether on
the track of Le Mains or on the streets, the two have always been
put head-to-head and compared. Even the most naive motorist
associates these two names with both performance and style.

We’ve decided to compare the methodical Porsche 911 Carrera
4S and the passionate Ferrari F430 because both of them astonish
with their performance while attempting to maintain a reasonable
amount of practicality but do not pretend to be anything other than
sports cars.

A modern sports car should feature these characteristics: it should be
started easily, maneuvered around town, blasted on a couple of
country roads, it looks and performs the part on a racetrack but at the
same time it is very safe.

The easier way to separate the two cars is by measuring figures since
both of them have mastered the modern sports car requirements and
basically there’s no other way to choose between these two phenomenal
cars.

What initially impresses is Ferrari’s lightning fast 4-second 0-100km/h
acceleration and thrilling exhaust tone. As the occupants are pinned to
the seats, the new generation 4.3-litre V8 pushes out 368 snarling
kilowatts. Porsche’s acceleration also offers that kick in the pants a
super car should deliver, although it is 0.8 seconds slower at the 100 km/k
mark.

With such acceleration performance, it comes natural for both cars to
excel in the braking department. The two cars offer optional ceramic
discs for impressive stopping.

Porsche’s engine gets the upper hand as it is more refined and on
the economy rank leaps ahead Ferrari with a 11.8 liters per 100 km
as opposed to 18.3 liters. Both cars deliver the power through impressive
6-speed gearboxes and offer top rate handling performance.

Both F430 and Carrera4S offer great interior comfort and even if the
space is limited, the occupants don’t feel claustrophobic and flustered.
Although an impressive mix of suede, carbon fiber and aluminum abound
in the Ferrari, the Italians stand no chance when it comes to the high finish
level attained by the Germans.

Speed and silence are key elements for any super car. The look and
appearance is the biggest draw card. The Carrera 4S is a typical Porsche,
despite the new proportions. It is a great looking car, like any other 911 but
somehow the styling no longer creates the jaw dropping reaction that the
Ferrari does. Indeed, traditionalists may say that Porsche pays homage to
its roots, but the truth is that Ferrari F430 simply draws the attention.

However, even if Ferrari F430 takes your breath away with its appearance,
the super car title goes to the Porsche Carrera 4S with a more complete all
round package.

Porsche turbo 1975 - now

In 1975 Porsche introduced the first Turbo. The engineers
experienced this new engine and Chairman Ernst Fuhrman
decided that they could use a turbo on a production car. The
first prototype was displayed at several European shows in
1973. In 1974, “911 Turbo” went on sale and at the time it had
a 3.0 liter 260 bhp engine.

The new Porsche was full of luxury. The standard Turbo had
air-conditioning, electric windows, tinted glass, headlamp washers,
a leather interior and Bilstein shocks. Originally, it was supposed
to be a limited edition, with only 500 models to be sold. However,
the demand was so high that more than 1000 cars were sold. It was
now clear that Turbo would have a secure future.

What attracted so many customers was its huge rear wing, widened
wheel and big tires. This great look combined with the powerful engine
made the Turbo look faster than any other 911.

In 1978, the model was improved by the increase of the engine
capacity to 3.3 liter and some other modifications. Now the engine
produced 40 bhp more. The rear wing was also revised: the two
separate grilles were replaced by one larger smooth surface, placed
a little higher in order to make room for an intercooler.

In 1979 though, the Turbo was withdrawn from US and Japan, as a
response to the second energy crunch.

In 1986, Turbo became again available in the US. This was the first
year Porsche used flares that were created in the stamping – process
of the fenders. In 1992 Porsche showed the Turbo S at Geneva’s
Motorshow. It’s engine delivered 381 bhp. The car weighted 120
kg less then the standard Turbo and this helped making Turbo S
really fast. There were built only 80 Turbo S.

In 1993, the engine capacity was increased again, now reaching 3.6
liter. It was easily recognized by the Turbo 3.6 badge. Also, there was
a 93 Turbo 3.6 based 911 Turbo S built.

In 1996 Porsche launched yet another Turbo, based on the 993 series.
Its engine produced 408 bhp, featuring a six-speed gearbox and
four-wheel drive. It looked more elegant thanks to the less evocative
rear-wing. The wheels are 18 inch in diameter. It saves 20% of the
weight because the five spokes are hollow. The front wing has
air-ducts that lead extra cooling air to the brakes, making them more
powerful than before. They can stop the Turbo from 100 hm/h in 2.6
seconds and from 200km/h in just 5 seconds, increasing car’s safety.

Porsche has recently introduced the 996 Turbo. The styling is different
from the previous Turbo models. Its aerodynamics are improved, making
it much faster than the 993 Turbo. It gets to 100 km/h in only 4.2
seconds and has a top speed of 305 km/h. The new Turbo has a few
details that make it easy to recognize: bi-xenon headlights, air intakes
behind the doors and a movable rear-spoiler.

Bluetooth Wireless Networking

Bluetooth technology offers three different types
of defined ranges, based on output ranges. Class
1 devices are the most powerful, as they can have
up to 100 mW of power, with a regular antenna
giving them a range of around 130 - 330 feet.

The class 2 devices are lower power, offering up
to 2.5 mW of power. A regular antenna will give
them a range of around 50 - 100 feet. Class 3
devices use even less power, up to 1 mW of power
to be exact. With a regular antenna, they will
have a range of around 16 - 33 feet.

Even though you may not realize it, Bluetooth
wireless technology has never been intended for
anything other than short distance types of
communication. With Bluetooth wireless, the short
range is actually a benefit.

For one, the short range will reduce the change of
interference between your devices and those that
belong to others who are nearby. Overall, this
is a basic type of security, designed to protect
you and your devices.

Secondly, the lower power used for short range
means a longer battery life. Most Bluetooth
devices will get their power from a battery,
meaning that anything you can do to lengthen the
battery life is very important.

The wireless networking offered by Bluetooth is
actually among the best, even though it uses
short range communication. Bluetooth is used
with wireless controllers, the internet, and
even wireless headsets.

For the best in short range technology, Bluetooth
is extremely hard to beat. If you’ve never tried
Bluetooth before, now is the time. It’s the best
with wireless networking, especially for those
who enjoy hands free talking on their cell phone.