russmir.org

eBay presents an almost perfect work from home opportunity for many entrepreneurs. You can make money on eBay to supplement a full time job, it is great for stay at home moms and what an opportunity for retirees. In fact many of eBay’s full time sellers today started as part time sellers when they first entered the eBay marketplace.

Unlike many business opportunities you can make money on eBay from almost anywhere. It doesn’t matter whether you live in downtown New York City or the remote reaches of Montana, there is an opportunity for success.

You can make money on eBay no matter who you are. It doesn’t matter whether you are just out of school or retired. It doesn’t matter whether you have a high school diploma or a college degree. The eBay opportunity is equal for all.

One of the real advantages to an eBay business is that you have a huge number of ready, willing and able prospective buyers just waiting. You can make money on eBay without many of the traffic generation challenges that come with other online businesses. Your initial challenge is finding the right products and then just getting that existing traffic to come to your listings. As you gain experience you can learn more sophisticated traffic strategies to make even more sales.

Give eBay a try. You can simply register as a buyer and learn the ropes while you start to develop a solid positive feedback record. After making a few purchases the next step is to register as a seller. Make a few sales and you will soon know the basics of sales. From there you can decide if the opportunity to make money on eBay is right for you.

To Your eBay Success!

Bob Hamilton is an entrepreneur, writer and consultant. Bob sold his brick and mortor store to sell on eBay and has been helping others to get started on eBay ever since.

High Pagerank - SEO

Canine cough or Kennel Cough is actually bronchitis, characterized by a harsh, hacking cough. The disease is highly contagious, transmitted by air and wind currents contaminated by cough and sneeze droplets from infected canines. Kennel cough is actually a complex of infections, chief of which is Bordetella Bronchiseptice.

Bordetella is able to render the normal respiratory tracts safeguards against infections inoperable. It disables the immune cells that normally destroy bacteria. The incubation period is 2-14 days and is characterized by a non-productive hacking cough, and more complicated cases involve a greenish eye and nasal discharge, obvious breathing difficulties, and possibly pneumonia if left untreated.

Diagnosis is usually based on the clinical signs already given, wit possible x-rays to determine the extent of lung and airway restriction and a bacterial culture may be required in extreme cases to determine what other viruses, if any, are present before treatment can begin.

Treatment consists of an antibiotic therapy and cough suppressants if the coughing remains non-productive, as coughing can persist for up to three weeks after treatment with antibiotics. Injectable and intranasal vaccinations are available, with the intranasal being more effective, since it is applied directly to the respiratory system. It usually takes 4 days to generate an immune response after the intranasal vaccination, and vaccination is not useful in a dog that already has kennel cough.

In general, kennel cough is self-limiting and is only serious for very young puppies, especially if they have never been vaccinated and senior dogs that may have a weak immune system or already poor health. Annual vaccinations are the best prevention of this disease, but due to the many organisms involved, it may not give 100% protection. When in doubt always consult your Veterinarian as soon as possible.

Always remember, if you have any questions about your dogs health, be sure to consult your veterinarian.

Randy Jones and his partner Brent Jones have been in the pet industry for a long time. Recently they formed http://Joncopets.com. On the site, customers can shop for the latest dog collars, dog clothes, pet supplies and more. Check them out at http://www.joncopets.com

tips for higher page ranking

Because of the world recession there are a large amount of people looking to earn a full or part time living from the internet and they are presented with plenty of online business ideas. The most common cases of Internet businesses include affiliate promotions, website creation, freelance writing or legitimate online paid surveys.

Also many people make money from writing e-guides and e-books that they sell online, others develop a personal product or will provide a consultancy service. Last but not least, for some people discussion forums moderation can be one of the most profitable online business ideas.

Because of the international financial crisis and the national economies in recession the interest in online business ideas has got a lot higher. With no job been a secure one nowadays, it is only natural that people will focus on home based opportunities that can save the entire family from the risk of working for corporations or employers. You need to get serious about the possible online business ideas that you have felt tempted to try! This is the best advice that you can get.

There are some changes that are obvious on the internet too with Google discarding more and more sites that they consider to be spammy. Because of this new policy that has been put in to practice by search engines, older sites are now preferred to newer ones. Statistics indicate that nine out of ten websites displayed in the top ten search results are sites with older activities online.

You can check the history of any website by the domain record and if you do so, do not be surprised if most of the websites are actually a few years old. However, getting discouraged is not the point here, what specialists are saying is the fact that age could affect the evolution of peoples online business ideas into profit making machines.

While there are some disadvantages, the good news is that the cost of some of the services required for online business ideas are getting lower all the time. If you do decide to make a website, then your domain registration and hosting fees will be far cheaper than they used to be. This is because of the large amount of competition there is for these services, which has made service providers to drop their fees drastically. Also it has become obvious that blog owners are the ones who profit more from search engines, this is due to their highly targeted rich content.

Even if time is ticking and you feel it is time to put your online business ideas in to practice, it is vital that you think everything through! this way you make a wise and financially advantageous choice.

For further free information on how to Make Money Taking Surveys be sure visit Legitimate Online Paid Surveys.

“This article was written by G Williams, an up and coming expert on Dog’s Diets and Health. Did you find these tips on your Dog’s Diet useful? You can find out a lot more about Dog Diets by going to Free Dog Diet Tips.

What is a Teleseminar?

A teleseminar is a class, workshop or lecture delivered over the telephone. It gives students access to training materials they might not be able to find in their local community, and allows them to learn new material without having to travel.

The teacher is usually called a teleclass leader or teleseminar leader. Their job is to create and foster a learning environment where people feel free to ask questions, share ideas and challenges, and discuss the class materials. While some people have a natural ability to teach via telephone, many people find that attending a teleclass leader training program helps them learn specific techniques for phone-based training.

How do Teleseminars Work?

The teacher and students meet via a teleconference line (also known as a telebridge line). As you can imagine, chaos might reign with so many people on a teleconference line, so generally-accepted teleclass etiquette guidelines have been created to help foster the conversation without people talking over each other.

Teleseminars can be a one-time event, where everyone meets on the phone for one hour, or an ongoing series, where everyone meets once a week for several weeks or even months. The more sophisticated the topic and the more in-depth the training agenda, the longer students meet with the teacher. Often during series-style teleseminars, the teacher will assign homework to be completed between class meetings. This helps the student to apply what they learned that week to a real-world situation or project.

Because teleseminars are primarily an audio format, teleclass leaders often provide handouts that students can download from the teacher’s website, visual supplement to the audio teleclass. Traditionally these handouts are in PDF format so that most people can open them. However, some teleclass leaders use Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint slideshows, Flash slideshows, and other downloadable content to help the learning experience.

The calls are typically recorded so that students can download these audio files to their computer or iPod/MP3 player, and listen again at their leisure. This helps to cement the learning and allows students to refresh what they have learned whenever they need to, sometimes months or years later. In this fashion, a teleseminar becomes a life-long learning opportunity for the student.

What Types of Teleseminars are There?

• Lecture style - In a lecture teleseminar, the teleclass leader has a set agenda of information to share. Typically all the students are put on mute and listen to the information being presented. While this may seem like a passive way to learn, it is usually a very condensed way to learn as well. A well-designed lecture teleclass will give the students a huge amount of learning material in a short period of time which can be an effective way of learning for some.
• Interactive style - In an interactive teleseminar, the teleclass leader lectures part of the time, and has set aside time for questions and answers and participatory exercises. This style of teleclass is appreciated by the adult learner who likes to mull over what is being taught and apply it immediately to their own situation. Interactive teleclasses also create a lively atmosphere, full of energy and excitement, fostering a deep learning environment.

What are the Benefits of Teleseminars?

For the student, it is a chance to learn a wide array of topics without having to leave home or the office. Some adult students have a very busy life and teleseminars allow them to quickly get training in one-hour increments without having to travel to multiple destinations. Student can even learn while on business trips. Because there are no travel or hotel costs associated with teleclasses, students can save money.

For the teacher, it is an opportunity to teach students from across the nation and around the world. Many teachers add teleclasses to their service offerings as a way to meet new prospective clients, share their ideas more globally, and increase revenue.

For everyone concerned, teleseminars are a great way to meet other people, especially if the teleclass leader encourages participation. Some leaders will create an online message forum, where students can continue the discussion between phone calls, again fostering both community and continued learning. If the teleclass is recorded, students who miss a session can still access the recording and catch-up with the lessons before the next class session.

Teleseminars are beneficial to both the student and teacher, offering both distance learning and a community environment that home-study courses lack. Whether you teach teleclasses or take a teleclass as a student, you will gain positive experience and a great new network of friends.

Karyn Greenstreet is a Self Employment expert and small business coach. She helps you increase sales and profits, and learn practical small business skills.

Get the free audio and ebook, “The Art of Networking and Referrals” by visiting http://www.PassionForBusiness.com

Internet Marketing

When you think about Marketing, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Marketing are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Millions of individuals are taking full advantage of the Internet these days. And they should considering how many great ways there are to earn extra cash. Some even make the decision to earn a living completely from home. Far too many folks are sick and tired of dealing with major companies and random lay-offs. You simply never know when it might be your turn to go. Therefore they begin making money online. Now, there are several ways one can go about this. Some people choose to start their very own Internet business, which can likely be ran from their home. While others dabble in adsense and make cash off of daily web traffic. Believe it or not, there is a great deal of money to be made this way.

It’s crucial to consider what you need to avoid if your goal is making money online. Along with all the wonderful options at your fingertips, there are scams galore. I can’t tell you how many scammers I’ve spotted online selling their hoopla. They pitch a great game about making money online. Virtually all of them will tell you how much can be made on the web if you do this and this, and then they proceed to pitch a product they’re selling. Most likely it’s a DVD or some sort of bogus software. This is where you have to stop and think for a moment. If they can really make so much cash doing what they’re encouraging you to do, then why are they spending their time and effort pitching something to you? Wouldn’t they be off making money online themselves? Instead they’ve chosen to sell a gimmicky product, which basically just amounts to some information. Obviously they weren’t doing to well.

Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there’s more to Marketing than you may have first thought.

When striving to earn cash via the web, avoid product pitches that guarantee riches. You can attain the crucial information you need for starting an online business, building websites and earning adsense revenue, or selling products via auctions, just by scouring the web. It’s all free. Begin by contemplating how you want to start making money online and what aspect of web-business you’d excel at. The more time and effort you put into your online money-making, the more turn-over you’ll surely see.

As your knowledge about Marketing continues to grow, you will begin to see how Marketing fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

Warwick Motley is the webmaster of :-

High Page Rank Domains

Other names the Chinese Crested is known as are:

• Chinese Edible Dog
• Chinese Ship Dog
• Chinese Hairless
• Chinese Royal Hairless
• Pyramid or Giza Hairless
• South African Hairless
• Turkish Hairless

The “crest” in its name refers to a copious shock of silky hair that graces the dog’s head.

The Chinese Crested is found everywhere, but has never reached great popularity. It has often been exhibited in circuses and carnivals as a “freak.” However, this little dog has many assets that go unrecognized.

There are two types of the Chinese Crested:

• Hairless
• With a full coat, which is called the Powderpuff

The Powderpuff is just about identical to the hairless except for the coat. The two are interbred and shown together. If you breed a hairless to a hairless or a Powderpuff to a hairless you can end up with either type or both types of puppies. Breeding a Powderpuff to a Powderpuff will always produce the Powderpuff type puppies.

Some authors claim the origin of the Chinese Crested is Africa. Others find its origin in Mexico or any of several other warm countries. The Chinese Crested is known to have been carried by trading ships from and to many different ports where it was bought and sold. Therefore, its origin is shrouded by sea tales.

The date of origin of the Chinese Crested is considered to be during the thirteenth century. Oriental countries concentrated on breeding miniaturized dogs, so the Chinese Crested ancestors probably include some of these small, hairless mutations.

The Chinese Crested originally enjoyed a pampered life with few duties except those associated with being a good companion. Very early in the development of the Chinese Crested breed it was probably used as a ratter on trading ships and was even sometimes eaten by human residents of these trading ships (how horribly awful to think of eating such a beautiful creature).

Personality

The Chinese Crested is said to be “a nimble and cunning playmate.” He is a vigilant and sensitive house dog. The Chinese Crested is a loving and obedient pet. He socializes well with other pets and is only a little cautious of strangers. The Chinese Crested is lively and active, but is rarely seen in agility contests. He is easily trained and should do well in obedience work.

Appearance

The Chinese Crested is fine-boned and graceful. He stands about 11 to 13 inches tall and weighs 5 to 12 pounds. He is athletic-looking and well muscled. The legs of a Chinese Crested are straight and strong. The Chinese Crested has a copious shock of silky hair that graces his head. Hair is absent over much of the remainder of its body except for tufts of hair on the tail and feet.

The Powderpuff has a flowing double coat of silky hair that covers its entire body. It is seen in any coat color or combination of colors.

Exercise Requirements

As with most toy breeds the Chinese Crested needs a minimal amount of exercise which can be obtained in your backyard.

Grooming

The Chinese Crested needs to be kept clean with frequent baths using a good shampoo followed by a moisturizer like baby oil or baby lotion. This routine is especially true for the hairless type.

The Powderpuff requires regular brushing and combing. The teeth need cleaning regularly.

You will need a good-quality bristle brush and a safety razor (to shave the face) for the Hairless variety. For the Powderpuff coat you will need a good-quality bristle brush, a wide-toothed comb and clippers.

The skin of the Hairless type responds well to frequent oiling by massaging baby oil or Nivea face cream into the hairless parts. This helps to keep the skin on the Chinese Crested Hairless type smooth and nicely moisturized.

The Powderpuff puppy requires frequent brushing with a bristle or pin brush particularly when the puppy coat changes to the adult coat, at which time daily grooming may be needed. The coat of a Powderpuff Chinese Crested should be brushed in layers with the lie of the coat.

After bathing, grooming and blow-drying, the face should be shaved using clippers (10 mm blade). Take a line from the outer corner of the eye to the ear and in a gentle curve from the ear down to the “Adam’s apple.” This cut is similar to the face of a Poodle. In the U.S. the Powderpuff face is not shaved. Finish off the entire body with a wide-toothed comb if desired. The comb will find any remaining tangles in the coat. Of note in the Chinese Crested is that the dog’s nails should be moderately long.

Connie Limon. Visit us at http://www.abouttoydogs.com and sign up for our newsletters. About Toy Dogs is a guide to the selection and care of toy dog breeds. We feature articles, dog training resources, dog books, dog supplies and a toy dog breeder directory. Purchase a full page ad with up to 3 pictures, a 12 picture video, and advertising in our newsletters for one year at the rate of $25 per year.

Pagerank

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes have trouble understanding business people. That’s because many have a language all their own and mistakenly believe others understand it too. How many have been in a business conversation where we pray others will speak to us like a human being rather than the next paragraph in their head?

Listen to how a financial services manager described his company’s direction: “Our company’s strategic synergy and processes are designed to create a platform where employees can benchmark success in a multifaceted environment stimulating current standards.”

No one could come out of this conversation with even a basic understanding of this company. And this was at a networking event. Using this type of language is counterproductive and inappropriate. It isn’t about how smart you are but what service or value you bring to others.

Let’s look at some more examples that force people to clasp their hands together.

- On Second Thought, Let’s Easel That. Popular, but not everyone is familiar with this training term.
- We Need to Clarify, Rectify and Review. For goodness sakes, this sounds like a medical exam. Just ask for a progress report.
- Let’s Put a Line-of-Sight Out for Our Employees. Is this part of the vision program? Try being direct: let’s start at point A and go to point B.
- Let’s Take This Offline and Put it in the Parking Lot. Cute, but few people actually drive during conversations. State both the reason for the delay and the next step to assure you reach your goal.
- I Need to Get a Pulse on This. Well, put your finger to your wrist. Actually, just ask for clarification.

There are more examples, of course, but perhaps we should table this discussion. We do ask, however, that you give us a heads up so we can continue to think about pushing the envelope. In the meantime, we can straw dog the idea and punch holes in the process to improve the desired outcome. Then we can get back to our original idea. If only someone can remember what that was.

Point is everyone needs to work at being a better communicator. Improved communication helps create many useful things: a real learning organization, for one, and better decision-making processes for another.

When you find yourself using jargon and flowery language designed to impress rather to educate, inform or persuade others ask yourself how you would feel at the other end of the conversation. Then, speak to others like you would like to be spoken too. You know, like a real human being.
For more information, see http://www.browninglafrankie.com.

©BrowningLaFrankie 2009

Darrell L. Browning is a principal and founder of BrowningLaFrankie, LLC, a Philadelphia-based company specializing in helping companies manage crisis situations, train leaders in media and presentation skills and facilitate strategic change through leadership coaching and organizational development workshops.

BrowningLaFrankie are trainers-of-choice for The Wharton School MBA Program at the University of Pennsylvania in crisis communications, media training and business writing. We work with companies and organizations of all sizes both internationally and across the United States. We help companies who need to change–but may not know how–develop strategic plans including assessment, goals and action plans to put you back on the path of success. And if you need specific communication training in media, presentation or leadership skills, we can help.

For more information see our website at http://www.browninglafrankie.com or contact us by e-mail at info@browninglafrankie.com. To receive articles on a regular basis, sign up for our popular ezine or read past issues by clicking on our Contact page, Past Newsletters (bottom right of page) of our website.

Should you have questions regarding BrowningLaFrankie, you may contact Mr. Browning directly at (215) 627-4811 or db@browninglafrankie.com.

When shopping for a car, new or used, start by asking yourself a few questions:

• How many miles will you be putting on the car weekly?
• What are the mpg ratings for the cars you are considering?
• How will the car primarily be used-taking kids to soccer, commuting to work?
• What features do you need/want (air conditioning, CD player, anti-lock brakes)?
• How large of a car loan can you afford?
• How much of a monthly payment can you handle?
• How much do you have for a down payment (cash or trade-in)?

Check the online car sites to find out the current pricing, safety records and other information on the makes and models you are interested in buying.

Get your financing first

Getting your auto loan first lets you know how much money you have to work with and sets a realistic focus on the car buying process. Another benefit of having financing in hand before visiting the dealership is that it will keep you out of their high-pressure finance departments.

The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) you will be charged on your car loan will depend on your credit history and FICO score. Other variables include current interest rates, market conditions and any special financial promotions being offered by dealers or manufacturers on the car you are buying.

The difference between the interest rate on a new car loan and a used car loan doesn’t vary that much because used vehicles don’t depreciate as quickly as newer models. This makes them better short-term collateral for the lender.

A good place to get a free car loan quote is http://www.fastcarfinance.com. Their no-obligation online application will let you now how much you are qualified to borrow.

If you are buying new

Buying new gives you a new-car warranty that lasts for years. It also gives you more control over optional features, and, if you buy the right vehicle, it will have greater resale value down the road.

Shop around to get the best possible price by comparing models and prices in ads and at dealer showrooms. You also may want to contact car-buying services and broker-buying services to make comparisons. Consider ordering your new car if you do not see what you want on the lot.

Negotiate on price. Dealers may be willing to bargain on their profit margin, often between 10 and 20 percent. Usually, this is the difference between the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) and the invoice price.

If you are buying used

A good used car should last longer than your loan. According to The U.S. Department of Transportation, the average life span of a vehicle is 13 years, with final mileage around 145,000.

If you’re shopping for a used car at a dealership, ask for a conditioning report in addition to having your own mechanic check it out. You can also order the vehicle’s history report from an online service like CarFax or AutoCheck.

If you are buying from a private party, you will want to ask:
• How long have you owned the vehicle?
• Has the vehicle been in an accident or repainted?
• When are the next state inspection and emissions tests due?
• How often has the oil and filter been changed?
• Why are you selling the vehicle?

Mike Hamel is the author of several articles about mortgage and auto financing. His material is featured on sites like http://www.1-800-bar-none.com

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Small business online backup is an important part of any small business that wants to prevent crippling data loss. Data loss is a big problem, especially with so many business dependent on their computers and the Internet. Every day, hundreds of small businesses and individuals suffer from data loss and are left helpless because they did not have any sort of backup. This is why every small business should look into online backup as a way to protect their business from possible disaster.

There are many different ways for small businesses to backup their data. One method that many businesses and individual people used to use was to just backup all their important data onto CD’s, and then storing the CD’s somewhere safe where they would not get tampered with or damaged. This really is not viable anymore as no one wants to put so much data on simple compact discs as it is cumbersome and takes a good deal of time to do.

Another way some more tech savvy businesses backup their important data is by using multiple hard drives. They take the data from one hard drive and then copy it to another drive. This leaves them with identical hard drives. It is basically the same as CD backup except it requires a bit more work. The advantage it has over CD’s is that the hard drive data can be synchronized as often as needed so that data stays current. Also, hard drives have much more storage capacity. CD storage really can’t compare with hard drive storage. Still using hard drives is definitely not the best solution and is probably the most complicated small business backup solution.

Small business online backup is the best way to backup data period. Why? Because the data is stored in a separate location. The business doesn’t have to worry about data loss or theft because the online backup company takes care of that for them. Their servers are built to be secure and fast, which means your data is in good hands and can be accessed extremely quickly. Small business online backup is good for these reasons and more. For example, with online backup, you can backup data from one computer and then download that data onto another remote computer easily. This is great for businesses that are very spread out and have many locations that need to be able to access that important information quickly.

There are many companies out there that offer small business online backup, but only a few are worth mentioning. http://www.backupdatatoday.com is quite possibly the best company out there for your online backup needs. Visit their site today and download a free 30 day trial of their cutting edge software.

The best Way to Get High Google Pagerank

No one likes to admit it, but by January 3rd each year we’ve mostly forgotten or postponed our well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions of self improvement. How many of us have chosen ‘losing weight’ as one of our personal pledges? Although a healthier lifestyle is an admirable goal, I will suggest that the most critical resolution is that we take steps to ensure the weight we lose is not from our bank account or our hard drive. Personal security in all areas of our lives should be resolution number one. It does not matter that New Year’s Eve is history and this wasn’t on your list, getting yourself protected and your data backed-up securely is no longer something anyone should put off.

Our electronic world is fraught with external computer threats and internal software and hardware problems. Viruses and Trojans batter your firewall relentlessly and at some point almost every hard drive will fail. It is not a question of if it will happen to you, but when it will happen. In addition, this brave new world of ours offers universal Internet access. Criminals behind bars and the criminal who lives down the block can find their way into your home or your business and plunder your electronic records. If the bad guys don’t get you, their malicious viruses eventually will - it’s only a matter of time.

The objective of every person who owns a computer must be bulletproof security for personal data, protection of our personal identity and all related digital information. There is no more important resolution you can make than to protect yourself and your family from digital loss or theft. To make matters worse, managing and organizing our personal data is getting increasingly more complex. We store our data on our desktops, copy updates from our laptops and try to juggle everything between our Blackberry or cell phone.

For the average non-techie user (that would be most of us), this data dance is reaching the ‘out of control’ stage. Fortunately there are a number of things we can do using inexpensive or free products and services to help wrangle this back under control. As a small business consultant and one who earns a living online, I was forced to discover a solution that was secure, convenient, scalable and cost effective. After security, my primary issue was the convenience factor; I needed something that was basically automatic. I have forgotten to backup critical files in the past and I’ve lost a number of hard drives over the years, and I never want to relive those experiences.

The following recommendations are not hypothetical or offered purely as well meaning advice, this is how I manage, backup, protect and sync my data with inexpensive products and services that I use every day.

Data Backup:

My desktop computer performs a full hard drive backup as I sleep using a remote backup service called Mozy. I have talked about Mozy in previous articles that are available on my website. Mozy is 100% automatic, secure and incredibly economical! They use 128-bit SSL encryption during the data transfer process, which is the same method banks use. 448-bit Blowfish encryption secures your files on their servers keeping your data safe from hackers. Mozy backs up your files whether they’re open or closed and it backs up Outlook files providing disaster-proof email protection. World-class unlimited backup, state-of-the-art security, automatic administration and 100% peace of mind will set you back a whopping $4.95 per month. Duh! That shouldn’t require much thought.

I am not paranoid about data loss (well maybe a little), but in addition to Mozy I sometimes employ a local backup. There are occasions where I have created important documents, written chapters in a book or made site-wide changes to a website and it could be many hours before Mozy begins its nightly backup. In such cases I will do a quick backup to an external drive such as a Maxtor or Flash drive. If you have ever accidentally lost a document that you slaved over for hours… you’ll understand.

Data Synchronization:

Once you have put your main data backup service in place, you’ll want to coordinate the synchronizing of data between all of your computers and peripheral networks or devices. The best solution I have found is a program called GoodSync, which will synchronize data between your desktop PC and laptop, home and office computers, computer and removable devices (USB Key, Flash Drive, CDRW disc), over a local network or the Internet. PC Magazine, Network World and other trusted sites give GoodSync their seal of approval and you can add my endorsement to that list.

GoodSync offers true bi-directional synchronization, which prevents the deletion of files and data loss. Like Mozy, GoodSync is by far the easiest and most intuitive syncing program I have discovered at any price. GoodSync offers effortless automatic synchronization, and this is another no-brainer. You can download and use GoodSync for free, but I would recommend that you upgrade to GoodSync Pro for $19 and use all of their amazing features and free updates.

Data Protection:

My antivirus program of choice is avast! Home Edition. I have been using this program for years and I have never had an incident. avast! is a full-featured antivirus package designed for home users and non-commercial use and the Home Edition is free of charge. I’m sure you are curious as to why such a robust program would be free. It is their opinion that it is possible to prevent global viruses from spreading by efficient prevention, and many users are not able to or do not want to pay for antivirus software. I think the marketing twist is that when you see how well this program performs, you’ll buy the commercial version for your business.

Resident protection (the real-time protection of the operating system), is one of the most important parts of an antivirus program. avast! features a powerful resident module that is able to detect a virus before it has any chance to infect your computer. You can expect 100% detection of In-the-Wild viruses (viruses already spreading between users) and excellent detection of Trojan horses.

Personal Security:

While we are talking about securing and backing up personal data, it is my opinion that the job is not complete until you have protected yourself. You have medical and life insurance, but odds are that you do not yet have ‘identity insurance’. Identity theft occurs to someone in America every few seconds and it is reaching epidemic proportions.

I remember the early days of the commercial Internet when rumors began to circulate about malicious programs that were being spread by file downloads. The early virus attacks were harmless by today’s standards and antivirus programs hadn’t yet been introduced. They were mostly rumors back then, but everyone seemed to know someone - who knew someone - who had been attacked by such a ‘virus’. It wasn’t long before such a thing developed into a global calamity and antivirus software became the first program you loaded onto a new computer.

I believe that is where we find ourselves today as it relates to Identity Theft. Although this is one of the fastest growing crimes, we are in the early stage of a global scourge. You’ve probably heard Paul Harvey or Sean Hannity talk on the radio about a company called LifeLock. LifeLock gets a lot of attention because their CEO Todd Davis publishes his Social Security number online. LifeLock is a proactive identity theft protection agency, specializing in prevention of identity theft rather than just the reporting of it. LifeLock, founded in 2005, is already considered the industry leader.

Such crimes are an unfortunate part of living in our modern world, but there is something you can do to protect yourself from even the craftiest identity thieves. This is by far the cheapest insurance you can buy to prevent identity theft from happening to you. LifeLock is the Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee! I probably will not publish my Social Security Number on the Internet, but I am a customer of LifeLock and the have peace of mind in knowing that I have closed the loop on my security concerns for the New Year and beyond.

DIY Security

When it comes to our personal data, losing it or having it stolen is a devastating, life altering experience. None of us question the need for medical insurance and life insurance, but few of us have identity or data insurance safeguarding us. This is no longer something you should put off as next year’s resolution. You can implement a strategy such as I outlined above for a few dollars per month, and you can DIY in a matter of hours.

When your data insurance is in place, I would be willing to bet you’ll have the most restful night’s sleep you can remember, and there will be no hangover in the morning regardless of how much data you did the night before.

To learn more about the things I mentioned in this article and other time-saving data management tools for non-geeks; visit the website at http://www.DIY-Secure.com.

Tom Heatherington is author of “The Complete Small Business Internet Guide”, former Pres. of Opinioneering Corp., co-founder PICnet, one of the first ISPs in USA. Tom is principal of The Webunet Group and was VP of Sales for Wireless Products for NEC America. Visit his website, http://www.DIY-Secure.com

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