Hurricane Season 2007 � Are You Prepared?
by Tara Pingle
The 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season is now upon us. And for those of us in the Southeast Region of the United States, it is a time when we begin to think � how bad is it going to be this season?
Although 2006 was a relatively calm year with only 2 named storms hitting the U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center is projecting a much more active Atlantic Hurricane Season for 2007. Based on the current oceanic surface temperatures, the scientists are predicting between 13 and 17 named storms, 7 to 10 of which will become hurricanes, and of those 7 to 10, 3 to 5 could be major hurricanes, a Category 3 or higher.
If the predictions are true, we only have to look back to 2005 to realize what we may have to look forward to here in Florida. We had widespread evacuations. Many of us experienced days, even weeks without electricity. There was property damage and destruction everywhere. If it happens again, are you prepared?
If you haven�t done so already, now is the time to get your family ready in case a disaster strikes. Waiting for the first hurricane watch is too late. The Florida Division of Emergency Management website has an excellent online Family Disaster Planning tool which can be found at -
http://www.floridadisaster.org/family
With it, you can create a personalized Family Plan, which will include:
* Amount of food and water needed for your family and pets
* Evacuation maps
* Local emergency contact information
The system creates checklists of recommended items and specific quantities of water based on your size family. It also emphasizes the importance of keeping copies of important documents such as insurance papers, birth certificates, and bank account numbers in a dry, plastic container for easy retrieval.
But what if disaster does strike your family home
About The Author
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The Popularity Of Flavored Coffee Drinks
The Popularity Of Flavored Coffee Drinks
by Roland Jefferson
While some people only drink coffee in order to wake up in the morning, others are very selective about the coffee that they drink. If you fall in the latter category, you should try gourmet coffee. This coffee comes from beans that have been grown around the world and then made into flavored coffee drinks, using special preparation techniques.
These types of flavored coffee are actually causing people to stand up and take notice of this beverage especially as people's tastes evolve. While they start out drinking coffee that has a lot of cream and sugar in them, over time they will put less and less cream and sugar and may even start to drink it black. With all of the different choices of flavored coffee available, maybe it is time for you to try something new.
Brief History of Flavored Coffee
In the 1990s, flavored coffee became very popular. However, this type of coffee can actually be traced back several centuries to the Turks. Over time, a lot of people have developed strong feelings about this type of coffee; either they love it or they hate it and only want to drink naturally flavored coffee.
Flavored coffee is made by adding flavored oils to the beans after they have been roasted and before they have been ground. Another way in which this coffee can be made is by adding liquid flavors to the coffee while it is being prepared, in much the same was as cream and sugar are added.
Types of Flavors
Generally speaking, there are four categories of this type of coffee. The first category includes flavors based upon spices such as clove, cinnamon, anise, and cardamom. Next, there are also some coffee flavors that are based upon fruits such as coconut or raspberry. Chocolate based flavors are the next type with the most common being chocolate mint. Lastly, some flavors are based upon nuts like vanilla, hazelnut or macadamia nuts. Cr�me coffees also have their share of followers; these include flavors such as Irish Creme or French Vanilla coffee.
As you can see, there are a lot of different ways in which coffee can be prepared. There are also dark roast, light roast, espresso and regular coffee. After deciding on the blend, flavor and the roast, you have the option of drinking it black or with cream and sugar added.
About The Author
Point of Sale Software Means Big Profits
Point of Sale Software Means Big Profits
by Marvin Cains
Today, most financial transactions use invisible or electronic money. Cash still has its place, of course, but most merchants do a huge portion of their daily transactions through a point of sale device. Point of sale devices, or point of sale terminals, connect a merchant to a financial network that can process electronic transactions. Each point of sale terminal runs a piece of point of sale software that holds the transactions and gives the merchant various options for tracking sales, inventory, profit, and other information. Because POS software is so important to a modern business, picking the piece of point of sale software that is right for the business is important.
When a merchant does much business, it can be difficult to keep track of profits, sales, and inventory. For example, in a restaurant it can take much time, and therefore money, to run totals and hand count items left in stock. Using point of sale menu software you can keep accurate records of business done each day. When you sell a certain item, the software can automatically subtract it from inventory. Even if you do not directly tie your specific system into your inventory, it can at least keep a running total of the each product sold. So you can take off that amount from your inventory without having to count the remaining stock. The time you save by not having to count manually inventory can make the cost of the software worth it all by itself.
Business software has to keep up with the ever-changing nature of modern business, finances, and merchant needs. You may be happy with your current point of sale software, but upgrading to something newer and more current can be a money-saving decision instead of a cost. Think of it like an investment that makes a return every time you make a sale.
Point of sale software has to be written by someone, which is why the cost to buy the most current software can be high. Software programmers and designers have to be creative to design the features that merchants need and will use. There is no need t pay for a bunch of seemingly neat features that you will either never use, or will use but will not save you time or money. You should buy the software that is right for your business and specific needs. This may mean buying a more basic piece of software instead of the high-end example. However, you should be sure the software still meets all of your needs and is designed with a small business in mind. You should also be sure the software will be able to grow with your business so you do not have to replace it right away.
About The Author
Fun Canada Day Ideas For The Whole Family
Fun Canada Day Ideas For The Whole Family
by Alice Seba
Canada Day, originally known as Dominion Day, is the anniversary of Canada�s independence from Britain. It is celebrated on July 1st, is a national holiday and is a great opportunity to have fun as a family.
Here are some things your family can do to celebrate Canada Day:
Fireworks celebrations are held in many locations to celebrate the holiday. Scan the newspapers to find out when and where they will be held. Often there are other events such as live music and craft shows before the fireworks show. If there are other family attractions nearby that you would like to visit, leave early and make a day of it.
A tour of historic Canadian places makes an educational Canada Day activity. If your town or one nearby has a good town website, it can be an excellent source of information about nearby historic places. Tours are often available for a small fee. Learning about your country�s history is a worthwhile way to spend the anniversary of its confederation.
Family outings are a Canada Day tradition. A picnic in the park is a great family activity for the day. Pack some sandwiches, drinks, and snacks. Load up frisbees, tennis racquets, and other sports equipment. Then head off to the park for a day of family fun.
A family camping trip would be a wonderful way to celebrate. It takes some planning, but camping is truly fun for the whole family. Be sure not to forget the insect repellent, sunscreen, lots of outdoor toys, first aid supplies, and plenty of food. Then take the camper (or tents if you really want to rough it) and head out for an adventure.
Bike trips through scenic areas are a nice way to celebrate while enjoying the country�s natural beauty. Canada is home to many bike trails, and Canada Day is a good opportunity to take advantage of them. If you don�t know where the nearest trail is, check with your local visitor�s center or do an online search.
Canada Day crafts are a creative way to commemorate the holiday. Many Canada Day festivals offer the opportunity to do crafts, but you can also do them easily at home if you wish. You can find plenty of ideas online for everything from handprint Canadian flags to maple leaf hats to Mountie door hangers.
Canada Day festivals are jam-packed with activities that the whole family can enjoy. But you don�t have to go to a festival to have a fun day. You can stay home and have your own celebration, or participate in outdoor activities that allow you to enjoy the abundant natural resources that the country has to offer.
About The Author
http://www.HolidayIdeasForMoms.com is your source for less-stress and more fun all year-round. Claim your free subscription and find more Canada Day ideas for the whole family.
Questions to Find and Implement Fast Solutions for Accomplishing 20 Times as Much
Questions to Find and Implement Fast Solutions for Accomplishing 20 Times as Much
by Donald Mitchell
You should assume there are many pathways to creating a 2,000 percent solution (any way of accomplishing 20 times more with the same time, money, and effort) that improves a high profile benefit while enhancing many other benefits as well. With these questions, you will identify the opportunities that you want to use the eight-step process to develop.
1. With unlimited resources and skills, how would you create the most immediate and valuable benefits for your customers and end users?
Since no organization has unlimited resources and skills, this may sound like a hypothetical question. Our experience has been that there are usually ways of approaching the level of unlimited resources and skills by joining with other organizations and individuals whose positions are complementary to your own. By addressing "what" needs to be accomplished, then it becomes easier to consider "who" you need to work with to get the results you seek.
2. What resources and skills do you lack now to implement those ideas?
Make as extensive a list as you can to identify what is missing so that you can separately focus on how to fill in each gap.
3. How can you eliminate these resource and skill weaknesses through adding information and knowledge?
Your choices include hiring people who already are well informed and knowledgeable, helping those who work for you to add the information and knowledge that they are missing and involving suppliers and potential partners.
4. Which organizations are in the best position to put into practice the ideas you have for your organization?
Naturally, if you can draw on all the resources and skills from a few (or even one) organizations, there will be faster progress towards your goal. Otherwise, coordination with too large a group of other organizations can make implementation unusually difficult.
5. How can you interest those organizations in working with you, rather than one of your competitors?
This is an area where imagination helps. Organizations that are more capable than yours are already quite busy pursuing opportunities in which they do not need to share the rewards. Your opportunity needs to put some of their current opportunities to shame by comparison, even after you reap your expected reward from the new success. Clearly, this change in priorities is easier to do when the other organization is smaller than yours. The best opportunities for you, however, will probably require help from those who are much larger than you are. How can you make that organization's involvement be simple, easy and enormously attractive?
Here's an example. Goldcorp, a gold mining company, engaged many of the best mining geologists in the world to help identify Goldcorp's best exploration possibilities through a global contest with prizes of about $500,000. As a result, the company located over a billion dollars in gold. How could you pursue a similar approach to add the resources and skills you need?
Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
About The Author
Wildfire Preparedness: The Five Aspects Of Readiness
Wildfire Preparedness: The Five Aspects Of Readiness
by Paul Purcell
A classic 70�s tune gives us the lyrics, �She ran calling �Wildfire��..� Then a love song, but today, possibly the beginnings of an action / adventure / horror movie. With rainfall low, and temperatures and winds high, the wildfires we�re currently battling across the country are heavily taxing our first responder assets. More fires will surely follow if these conditions continue.
First responder assets aside, these fires have affected local civilians. Thousands have evacuated, and many find nothing but charred vacant lots when they return. What are some innovative ways civilians can protect themselves, their property, and actually help firefighters in the process?
At the household level, most of us have smoke detectors. That�s good, because in a house fire, as in a wildfire, where there�s smoke, there�s F.L.A.M.E.:
Family � Something as massive as a wildfire will affect your whole family. Prepare them now.
Landscaping � Simple and subtle steps can make your property much more fire resistant.
Awareness � In an emergency, time is crucial. Stay aware of the threat and get the warnings early.
Moisture � Some say you fight fire with fire. We say you fight fire with water.
Evacuation � Even after taking all the other steps, a wildfire is something best avoided.
Family
A prepared and involved family is far more able to handle any type of disaster than those who wait for last-minute instruction. Therefore, one of the best things you can do for your family is to prepare them for one of the most common and least forgiving enemies; fire.
1. Take the family on a fire-safety tour through the house. Locate dangers such as overloaded electrical outlets and safety items such as extinguishers and escape routes.
2. In emergencies, redundancy is our friend. You should have more than one smoke detector, fire extinguisher, and escape route from rooms or the house. Hint: If you�re a heavy sleeper, buy a �baby monitor.� Put the transmitter near the farthest smoke detector and the receiver in your bedroom.
3. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to use a fire extinguisher, and how to call 911.
4. Have regular fire drills. Let each family member have a turn being the one who discovers the fire and who has to warn others. On at least every other drill, have everyone evacuate blind-folded on their hands and knees (while exercising due safety) to mimic the realistic conditions of a fire evacuation.
5. Revisit every family emergency plan with the whole family during wildfire season and certainly if one is in your area and possibly heading your way.
Landscaping
Though tragedies usually take the lead in newscasts, stories still abound of how some homeowners managed to protect their properties from wildfire by simple and subtle changes with their landscaping and home. Take these steps now, since in a fire, time is of the essence.
1. Your main landscaping consideration is to remove any dead, dry vegetation, whether on the ground or in your trees, that could transfer fire to your house. Since this aspect of wildfire preparedness has been adequately covered by others, here are a few good outside sources:
- General wildfire landscaping tips: http://www.firewise.org/resources/files/wildfr2.pdf
- Florida wildfire landscaping pointers: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR07600.pdf
- More on landscaping during wildfire season: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR04700.pdf
- Fire-resistant plants: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/emergency/pubs/wildfire_resistant.pdf
2. Be ready to seal your house before evacuating. Create covers for any opening on your home such as attic vents (roof turbines can be covered with metal trash cans), crawlspace openings, etc. Gather your material (such as plywood) and cut, paint, and label (where it goes) each cover now, keeping them stored on your property for immediate use. Put a couple of hooks over each opening you might cover and drill corresponding holes in the plywood covers. The hooks will hold the cover in place while you drill in the screws. This allows one person to do the job and frees up others to perform other necessary tasks. Hint: Also make covers for your windows (including garage door windows) just as if you lived in a hurricane zone.
3. Create a �fire tool box� and include everything needed to prep your house in advance of a wildfire. Store extra garden hoses, water sprinklers, �Y� connectors for extra hoses, wrenches to turn off your gas, rolls of heavy-duty aluminum foil (to cover the openings you didn�t make covers for), machetes and gloves for last minute brush clearing, etc. Store extra tools because you won�t have time to replace tools that might have been broken or lost.
4. Make sure first responders can see your home�s address. Put your house number on your mailbox, near your front door, and painted on the curb by your driveway.
Awareness
A common theme in all our publications and presentations is the fact that in an emergency, our most crucial asset is time (see our other articles at http://www.disasterprep101.com). The two key elements of time in a wildfire are one, to have as much done in advance as possible, and two, get as early a warning as possible.
1. Don�t wait for a wildfire to approach to start your landscaping. Perform that now and keep your property as fire-retardant as you can.
2. Don�t wait for the smell of smoke to warn you a fire is on its way. If fire conditions are right, monitor news channels and listen for community warnings.
3. Learn to recognize your community warnings. Does your community have a reverse 911 system? Sirens? Will the local TV or radio station broadcast the alert? If your community doesn�t have any of these systems, why not start them in your neighborhood? At the very least, have a phone tree.
4. Buy an NOAA Weather Alert Radio since they�re being incorporated into the overall Emergency Alert System. You should also know who your local Ham Radio operators are. See http://www.arrl.org
Moisture
Water is the king of firefighting and fire suppression substances. The best protection for your property lies in your ability to keep a �dome� of moisture in one form or another all over and around your home.
1. One publication under �landscaping� above lists beneficial plants that hold their moisture well. Regardless of the types of plant life in your yard, keep them well hydrated (while following watering ordinances).
2. When setting up your sprinklers, give your yard adequate spray coverage, especially over areas that might worsen the fire such as an above-ground propane tank or wooden deck attached to your house. The best sprinkler for surface areas is the professional directional type rather than the small garden variety that only sprays a weak pattern over a small area. Your garden store rep can help.
3. Put sprinklers on your roof, being sure to anchor them in place since the high winds generated in some wildfire wind storms can blow them off the roof.
4. If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, great! It will give you even water coverage over the grounds and provide a good foundation for the comprehensive water system you�ll need. To your in-ground system add separate �fire� lines that feed water to sprinklers that either spray directly against your house, or outward from your yard to cover vegetation surrounding your property. Too, have a sprinkler line permanently installed on your roof to save you the time of manually putting sprinklers up there. Also, install an additional input valve to allow water from a secondary source like a water pump drawing from your swimming pool.
5. If you have a pool, pond, well, or creek, you have a reservoir that should be put to good use so you don�t draw off the municipal water firefighters need to prevent fire from nearing your property in the first place. It�s a simple matter to keep a gas-powered generator (which self-reliant families should have) and a water pump (such as a pressure-washer), and use the two to draw water from your pool and feed it to your sprinklers. If you have a well with an electric pump, hook your generator to the pump to keep it running should local power fail. Exercise caution when setting up your generator so it doesn�t start its own fire.
6. A final consideration with sprinklers is position. Cover the outer perimeter of your yard, spray against the outer walls and roof of your house, and cover the crowns of your trees if possible. Also, consider outward-pointing sprinklers anchored to an elevated position such as an upper floor deck or porch, or your roof.
Evacuation
We strongly recommend evacuation, even if you�ve taken all the above steps and feel they might work. It�s best that you be pre-prepped and ready to leave at a moment�s notice since time is our most valuable asset. The more ready you are in advance, the more time you have.
1. All your landscaping steps should be taken care of now and maintained, especially during fire season.
2. In wildfire-prone areas, and especially during wildfire season, keep your bugout kits and vehicle ready at all times (with fuel tanks topped off). Hint: With your documents, keep the non-emergency numbers for local authorities so you can call to find out when it�s safe to return.
3. Perform last-minute landscaping ONLY if time allows, since you�ll want extra time to perform the household shutdown steps. However, don�t do anything until you�ve loaded your car with provisions and have nothing left to load but people and pets (in their carriers and/or ready to go).
4. Inside the house do the following:
- Move all flammables (such as furniture and curtains) away from windows making sure each is closed and latched. Lower and close any metallic blinds.
- Leave your fireplace damper open, and close the fireplace protective cover.
- Close all interior doors but don�t lock them.
- Turn off your heat/AC system, and cover any window air-conditioners or floor heater vents with aluminum foil and duct tape inside and out.
- Turn off all gas coming into the house whether from underground line or above-ground tank.
- Turn on inside and outside lights so your property is visible in heavy smoke. Firefighters may need to use it as a beacon.
5.To protect the valuables you don�t have room for in your evacuation vehicle, consider these:
- For waterproof valuables, put them in a bathtub, storage tub, or trashcan you�ve filled with water. (Notice we didn�t recommend your pool, since you should be using it to feed your sprinklers.)
- Large valuables such as antique furniture, etc. should be carried into the center of the house on the lowest floor (the same place you�d go in a tornado).
- Major appliances, such as your oven, fridge, freezer, dishwasher, clothes washer, and dryer, tend not to be consumed by flame or crushed by debris and thereby offer a protected storage location for other valuables. Hint: Disposable diapers are surprisingly flame resistant, and might be useful as wraps for some items stored in an appliance.
6.Lock up the house, leave a note on the door telling authorities you�ve evacuated, check with neighbors to make sure they�re on their way to safety, hop in your vehicle, and leave. Hint: If the area is getting smoky, listen to your radio for road closure information, turn your headlights on low, and set your climate controls to �re-circulate� so as not to draw in smoke from outside the vehicle.
Naturally, this is an article that could go for a few dozen more pages since it�s such an important topic and certainly one where we could offer extensive detail. For now, this will have to do. Will the above information make you fireproof and prevent any damage to your property? No. But it�s very likely to help, especially if you take these steps now. Taking these measures also helps firefighters since any time a wildfire is delayed or a home protected, you take one more item off the shoulders of first responders. Prep now, stay safe, and remember that preparedness is not only a social responsibility; it�s your only true protection.
About The Author
How To Market To Technology Innovators, Part 1
How To Market To Technology Innovators, Part 1
by Eric Lynch
If there's one marketing model every high-tech marketing manager should know, it's the Technology Adoption Life Cycle (TALC). The TALC is the paradigm that describes their prospects� mindsets your sales staff is likely to encounter as they market your products and services. And it all begins with the technologists themselves: the Innovators.
Innovators are the first market you�re likely to encounter when marketing high technology products and services. These are the people highlighted in the far left-hand side of the curve you see above. They love to be the first ones to jump on a new technology. And for good reason: they�re technologists, themselves.
These technology enthusiasts sometimes go by other names. Things like �techie,� �computer-nerd,� or �propeller-head.� They�ll appreciate your technology product simply because it�s cool. Oh, and if it happens to have an advantage over what they�re using now, so much the better.
As Geoffrey Moore says in his landmark book, �Crossing The Chasm,��
�They [Innovators] will forgive your ghastly documentation, horrendously slow performance, ludicrous omissions in functionality, and bizzarely obtuse methods of invoking some needed function - all in the name of moving technology forward.�
You have to market to innovators before you can get the attention of the early adopters. And it�s a good thing: these guys are technology savvy enough to give the early adopters the thumbs-up.
So by all rights, this group should be a pretty easy one to market to. Yet I see high-tech companies miss the boat all the time when marketing to them.
B2B Copywriting: Getting Innovators� Attention
Innovators care about technology issues first. If they care about business issues at all (admittedly, few do) they weigh in at a very distant second. So business benefits won�t get an innovator�s attention.
What will get his attention is new technology - �new� is the operative word. They want to be the first to get a new widget that accomplishes something cool that has never been done before. They�re happy to sign your non-disclosure agreement, as long as they can be among the first to get their hands on your widget.
Innovators have the most advanced brains in the company (really, they do), and they know it. So tell them so in your copy. Paint them a word picture of themselves being part of an exclusive group of advanced engineers who truly appreciate what your breakthrough technology means to the unsuspecting world.
One other thing about innovators: they know they have to live within the confines of corporate America. But that doesn�t mean they have to like it. Though they may not admit it outright, they have a sharp disdain for the �suits� who limit their creativity by demanding something so mundane as a return on investment.
In my next article, I'll give you an example of direct response copy I've written to these Innovators that worked very well in the past. So watch for Part 2 in this series.
About The Author