To get the facts, I sought out the man generally considered to be the father of virtual real estate investing: Bryan Ellis of BryanEllis.com.

When I began using the term virtual real estate investing in the late 1990s, I did so because I saw clear parallels between the strategies used for profiting from physical real estate and those that would create income in the online world, said Ellis.

One example of the parallels between virtual and physical real estate Bryan Ellis cites is the similarity between the monetization of domain names versus physical property. “There’s a huge difference between a website and a piece of real estate, but the ways you can profit from them are similar: ‘flipping’, rental/leasing, advertising sales, etc…all of these apply to both markets” he states.

The parallels really are obvious. Consider: A valuable piece of real estate is valuable largely due to the interest that other people have in that specific location. Similarly, ownership of a desirable domain name is valuable for the same reasons. So it doesn’t matter if you own physical real estate or virtual real estate - you’ll likely use similar strategies to turn them into money in your pocket.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing, Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

Impossible! Not really, check, loan, and identity fraud are a real problem. In 2002, the federal trade commission estimated that identity fraud affected and estimated 3.3 million Americans; costing consumers $3.8 billion and business $32.9 billion.

Here are 10 ways to protect yourself from having your financial identity used for someone else’s shopping spree:

1. Order your credit report once a year from each of the three credit bureaus to make sure that you are familiar with all of the reported transactions and that there isn’t any unusual activity. Call (888) 5OPT-OUT to request to have your name removed from their marketing lists.

2. Cancel all unused credit card accounts, and make sure to keep a copy of your credit cards and the toll free contact numbers so you can report the card number immediately if it is lost or stolen.

3. Don’t carry extra credit cards, your social security card or passports in the same wallet except when completely unavoidable.

4. Install a locked mailbox at your office or home to keep people from snatching your mail. Don’t drop paid bills in the mailbox; take them to the post office to be mailed.

5. Ask your bank about its privacy policies and information practices. Find out the circumstances under which your bank would provide your account information to a third party.

6. Always save your credit card receipts to match against your monthly statement. Keep track of when your cards expire to make sure your new card arrives in the mail.

7. Never have your social Security number printed on your checks. Never put your account information on the outside of an envelope or on a postcard. Give your Social Security number only when absolutely necessary. Ask if you can use another type of identifying number whenever possible.

8. Review your phone bills and cellular phone bills each moth for any unauthorized use. And compare your ATM receipts and cashed checks with your periodic bank statements to check for unauthorized transfers or charges.

9. When filling out a loan or credit application, ask how the company disposes of them. When you receive one of those pre approved credit card offers in the mail make sure to cut it in small pieces before throwing it away.

10. When creating passwords or Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) choose something different from your address, telephone number, middle name, the last four digits of your Social Security number, your birth date or any other information that could be easily discovered by thieves.

Bonus- Always write checks using a fine point permanent marker and put a line before the written amount so that no one can add something in once you’ve written the check.

Resources:

Credit reporting bureaus:

Eqifax- P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta GA 30374-0241.

To report fraud 800-525-6285

To order a credit report 800-685-1111

To opt out of pre-approved credit offers 888-567-8688

Experian- P.O. Box 2104 Allen TX 75013-2104

To report fraud or to order a credit report 888-397-3742.

To opt out of pre-approved credit offers 888-567-8688

Trans Union- P.O. Box 390 Springfield PA 19064-0390.

To report fraud 800-680-7289.
To order a credit report 800-888-4213
To opt out of pre-approved credit offers 888-567-8688

Check verification companies: To verify if there are any activities on your account from fraud contact these verification companies.

CheckRite- 800-766-2748
Chexsystems- 800-428-9623
National Processing Co. -800-526-5380
Telecheck- 800-710-9898

Social Security Administration-
To report fraud 800-269-0271
To order your earnings and benefits statement
800-772-1213

About The Author

©BZ Riger-Hull. www.in-spiros.com. For valuable free articles, assessments, & practical success tools mailto:A1@smartautoresponder.com Certified as a Success Coach, “Four Agreements” Facilitator, & Tele-Course leader We help you communicate powerfully, reduce stress, Strategically Attract success, & increase your financial well-being. bz@in-spiros.com

Araches-la-Frasse comprises one of those mountains, even bigger than Chamonix Mont Blanc. It is among the most high ski areas in in the alps, and because of the elevation you are able to snowboard there year-around. The higher peaks stay snowcapped year round and provide year-around telemarking enjoyment. The pistes are amongst the foremost in the alps and it is unsurprising that the mountain is a ski adventure.

Montgenevre is the last adventurous snowboarding mountain. In the most southerly inhabited area in the earth wintertimes are cold and snowfall is dense. The result is snow bedecked summits which extend all the way to the ocean. There is not a nicer ski resort to delight in skiing. With a lot of superior ski areas, you’re never distant from the slopes. If you view to the S when snowboarding you are seeing the whole way to the sea. It truly is the no. 1 ski location.

But are most free credit report offers real?

Unfortunately, most are not actually free. In fact, most require a monthly “credit monitoring” or other fee - one that most people really don’t need.

Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) consumers can request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies - Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

To get your copy, visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com and you can order your credit report online. Or if you prefer, you can make your request by phone or mail.

Other websites that claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring” are not part of the legally mandated free annual credit report program.

So don’t get taken by these other offers.

What should you do if you find any wrong or damaging information on your credit report?

Contact the credit bureau that issued the report in writing (you can also file a dispute online.) Be specific about what you think should be removed, and provide an explanation. By law, the credit reporting agencies must investigate your dispute within 30 days, and notify you in writing - if the information cannot be verified as correct, it must be removed.

One way to monitor your own credit throughout the year is to order one credit report at a time, wait a few months, then order the next. While not all creditors report to each of the 3 major credit bureaus, this will give you a good idea about any changes in your credit.

What about your credit score?

Unfortunately, your credit score is not considered a part of your free credit report, and must be purchased separately. In most cases you do not need to order your credit score frequently, although it is a good idea to know your score before you apply for any major credit purchases.

Does credit repair work?

Credit repair does work. The credit reporting agencies must remove any items that are incorrect. And there is nothing that prevents you from disputing any item on your credit report that you consider to be damaging. While the credit reporting agencies have no obligation to remove any items just because it hurts your credit, many individuals are able to get damaging items removed from their credit report, and improve their credit score, just by asking for the item to be verified.

But be careful - there are many companies that will charge you a fee, basically to do what you can do on your own. And beware of any company that offers to create a new identity or credit file for you, as this is fraud, and can get YOU in trouble.

The best way to protect your credit is to be an informed consumer!

Kris Bickell is the owner of Debt-Tips.com, a helpful site for consumers struggling with credit card debt. For more tips on repairing your credit, sign up for the free course 5 Simple Tips For Getting Out Of Debt Much Faster & Saving A Bunch Of Money.

Here we would like to give you your options and tools available in your disposition. If you are developer who is asked: how do we customize Microsoft Small Business Manager - read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.

1. Great Plains Dexterity - this is proprietary programming language and technology, designed back to earlier 1990th with the goal to build platform independent graphical accounting package - Great Plains Dynamics. Dexterity itself is written in C (following popular those days hope - that C will provide platform independence). You can install Dexterity from Great Plains 7.5 /8.0 CD #2. In case of Small Business Manager - you need to call to MBS Partners, such as Alba Spectrum Technologies/ Obviously it requires a lot of learning / training, but it allows your custom piece be seamlessly integrated with Great Plains interface. Nowadays, however - and this is a good thing - most of Great Plains installations are moved to SQL Server - so you can use Dexterity for custom forms drawing only and make the buttons run SQL stored procedures.

2. Crystal Reports. Great Plains has its own ReportWriter, but its functionality is limited - you can’t do cross modules reports (you can’t link Sales and Purchasing tables in one report, for example). So - you use Crystal. The GP tables structure is in Tools->Resource Description->Tables … and you are in control. Feel free to create views and stored procs directly in the companies databases - it doesn’t hurt the Dexterity engine

3. Direct web publishing from Great Plains SQL databases, using Visual Studio.net and your language of choice (VB.Net, C#, J#, etc). Plus you probably want to have several SQL stored procs.

4. eConnect - this tool is type of SDK with VB.net samples. It allows you to feed data into Great Plains and was primarily created for eCommerce developers.

5. SQL queries - as a developer you have unlimited potential in using SQL queries, because the database in MS SQL Server. Be careful, it is kind of surgery - you can easily delete all your customers, by executing: DELETE RM00101

Happy customizing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies - USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving Chicago, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York and having locations in multiple states and internationally (http://www.albaspectrum.com), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.

Every couple is unique. So here are a few surefire tips to help you find wonderful and unforgettable wedding gift ideas that match the couple perfectly.

Today’s weddings are as unique as the people involved. The wedding day is one of the most memorable and special events in a person’s life; and the means by which the day is celebrated and executed, are no longer routine. So you’ll want to make sure your wedding gift ideas as are tailored to suit the event and the couple.

If you know the theme of the wedding, your shopping time could be cut in half. Simply choose a unique gift, they both will enjoy that concentrates around the theme.

If you don’t know the theme of the wedding, think about the couple. What is their couple “identity”? For example, if they take a trip together… Do they go camping, skiing, golfing, to the beach, to the mountains?

Another approach… what’s their entertainment style? What do they do in their free time? The concept is to come up with something you know they both love and then choose your gift to match the topic. Here’s a sample:

A friend of mine knew my husband and I had a small vacation home on one of the North Carolina beaches. She also knew that whenever we could get away, that’s where we went. For our wedding present, she gave us a book full of photographs and information on the North Carolina coast. Inside the book were two gift certificates, one for a day at the spa for me, and one for a massage for him.

It has been almost fourteen years and we still have the book and remember the gift.

If you want your gift to be as memorable as their wedding day, here are two gifts that will do the trick:

1. Buy the bride and groom engraved keepsake boxes to safely place the special items they’re sure to accumulate as the day goes by. The boxes will safely and securely protect precious memories of the day they married for years to come. For something very special, as you’re choosing the boxes, go beyond the typical keepsake box. Specialize each box to depict the personality of it’s owner.
2. Watercolor wedding paintings make a sentimental and unique gift. You give a gift certificate that allows the bride and groom to send in pictures from their wedding day that are used to do a watercolor painting. The couple will have a one of a kind painting of their favorite photo that keeps the memories alive for years to come.

With just a little bit of imagination, your gift could be the best one they receive.

Adriana Copaceanu provides people with creative gift ideas that don’t blow the bank. Find many Unique Wedding Gift Ideas at her site. In a hurry to get a gift? Check her Gifts 911, where you’ll find last minute gifts for any occasion.

Unfortunately there is a problematic fringe element with in the gay and lesbian community, which is completely vocal and even goes farther than that with threats, slander and even extortion type tactics. But when an activist in the gay and lesbian community is approached on this subject they often say things like;

“In fact, if you do study trends, you know that social change is most often created by “the fringe”.”

Indeed a fringe creates synergy and the synergy follows creating a trend. But the fringe also can be a downfall or create a negative trend. (negative from your perspective, positive from the Christian Hard Right). I kind of am wondering why the G & L Community is allowing the combative, threatening, slandering and lawbreaking Homosexual fringe to help the Christian Right deny the G & L Community their goal.

Thus my comments are relevant. Just read any Blog thread on the gay marriage debate and you will see some very angry people on the other side too, mostly due to their Biblical belief systems or religious leaders telling them what to think. Nevertheless, I can see it all plain as day, maybe because it does not affect me. Controversy and Chaos and all the mass media hysteria of sound and fury in between is of course interesting, but in the end seems silly considering the obvious future of it all. The gay fringe is fighting back and the Christian right is not letting up. Let’s hope we do not get any more reverse hate crimes? Consider this in 2006.

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

The process of emotional growth is both independent, and uncomfortable. To ideally maintain and promote harmony, each partner must be willing to flex with the growth needs of the other, while also contributing to the growth of the relationship.

A long-lasting relationship is founded on compassion, respect, and genuine love for your partner. These qualities can - and should - be frequently expressed in a number of ways, to reaffirm the value of the relationship. Continuously seeking to re-invent the relationship by expressing appreciation for your partner will solidify the connection between you.

To nudge your relationship out of the proverbial emotional drought, here is a list of suggestions for adding more passion into your relationship:

1. Reality check your partner. Before doing anything to encourage the relationship, ask yourself if your partner is good for you, and why. Know the basic answers like the back of your hand. If you find yourself unable or unwilling to admit value in your partner, you may be in the wrong relationship.

2. Acknowledge the uniqueness of the relationship through your partner. There is potential in every moment to experience the greatest point of your relationship. Showing appreciation for your partner’s uniqueness further defines the relationship based on a broader attraction. Communicate the acknowledgement of individuality of your partner frequently, both emotionally and physically.

3. Make love right now. Allow the sexual aspect of your relationship to evolve into an activity of ultimate fulfillment, reserved only for your partner. Instead of making love for your satisfaction, make love for your partner, and allow them to do the same for you.

4. Be friends, too. Would you be friends with your partner, outside of the relationship? If you find the answer is “no,” don’t worry - there’s always time to make new friends. Identify activities you and your partner can do and enjoy together. Participate in a third-party project, such as charity work. Activities beyond intimacy will broaden, and therefore strengthen, the foundation of your relationship.

5. Be what you want to see. Demand no more out of your partner than what you are willing to make out of life yourself. If you are capable of great things - and you are - then get to work. Be certain to test all seemingly realistic requirements on yourself, before seeking to ask them of your partner.

6. Form a pact to achieve excellence in some way. Whether it be a physical health regimen, a bowling tournament, doing the taxes, or managing a business together, forming a pact to achieve excellence in a specific, tangible way will build trust between partners. Commitment to a short-term goal is the best exercise a relationship can get.

7. Love with your whole heart. All too many times, past relationships keep us from loving with our whole heart. If your relationship reality check is solid, ask yourself how you’ve been holding back on your partner, and why. Do you expect criticism, instead of acceptance? Recognize the boundaries of your love, and identify positive ways to expand them daily.

8. Improving yourself improves the relationship. Self enrichment is an effective, important means of perpetual contribution to your relationship. Expanding your personal knowledge and interests will keep conversations interesting and generate new ideas for growing together, through new activities and experiences shared between partners.

Remember, there’s nothing wrong with taking care of you. The more you have to give, the more there will be to share with your significant other.

9. Explore diversity in faith, culture, or politics. Diversity - and its acceptance - serve as a cornerstone of any fulfilling, long-lasting relationship. Your partner is likely to embrace at least some perspectives different than your own with regard to religion, culture, or political affiliation. Look to explore your partner’s diversity, and openly accept the differences that make you both unique.

10. Don’t go to bed mad. Make it a point to resolve differences before going to bed. Allowing arguments or heated discussions to fester overnight can solidify emotions, while leaving the real issues behind. In addition to promoting communication and relationship stability, addressing differences before bed reduces stress and promotes better sleep.

A meaningful, fulfilling relationship is perhaps the greatest investment you can make in both yourself, and your partner. As your relationship grows, look for new ways to interact with each other as you haven’t before. Each human represents a vast Universe of knowledge and emotion waiting for exploration by just one individual with the unwavering desire, patience, and capacity to know them.

Of course, you could go to the couple’s gift registry and pick something from there, but then your gift wouldn’t be unique.

Here are some tips to help you come up with some great unique wedding gift ideas, but first you must ask yourself these questions:

-what do you know about the couple? -what do they like? -where are they planning their honeymoon? -what is their lifestyle? -what’s their personality?

Here are some gift ideas to ponder:

1) Gift certificates to a spa for the bride and groom are great before or after the wedding. The wedding day is often stressful, so you could offer a day at the spa to prepare them for the wedding day or they could use it just after the honeymoon as they prepare to resume their daily activities.

2) Keepsake Box- As time goes by, memories begin to fade and what better and more unique gift than a special box where they can safely store all those precious mementos that become more cherished as the years go by? This box is perfect for things like: the marriage license, special photos, vows and all those other special keepsakes that often get lost as time passes.

3) Etched Glass Wedding Invitation- Have their wedding invitation or special verse engraved on a glass sculpture. This will be treasured for years to come and definitely unique. Or, for a little variation, get the actual invitation and make a homemade project out of it; mounting it on a glass plate and finishing it with a matching colored paint.

4) Name A Star For The Couple- The Universal Star Registry offers “couple stars” as part of their many Star Packages. You can choose from over twenty constellations you would like the star to be in including all twelve zodiac signs, Ursa Major (Big Dipper) or Ursa Minor (Little Dipper), Orion and many more. This gift package also has maps, a certificate of ownership, a fact sheet and helpful hints for viewing the stars. This is truly a marvelous gift for the special couple on their special day!

These are just a few suggestions and tips to help you pick some unique wedding gifts. Try to remember and take these into consideration the next time you want to give the perfect wedding gift to your friends or family.

The AutoCorrect Function though is so much more than just an automatic word corrector or in essence the automated word spellchecker. It is a tool to help you be more efficient in the workplace. For example if you were writing a document or putting in information into a spreadsheet that required you to insert a copyright symbol, then you would most likely go to the Format menu and then choose the Symbol command from the drop down menu, then from the Symbols dialog box choose the Copyright symbol. Gee, what a lot of work that was. For me, way too much work!

What Microsoft has done is to program the Autocorrect Function so that we can type just a few letters and it will automatically put in the copyright symbol, for example type in (c) what you should then see is the copyright symbol. There are a number of other symbols setup to work in the same way such as the Registered Trademark Symbol ® and the Trademark Symbol . To enter the registered trademark symbol simply type (r) and for the Trademark Symbol type in ™. As I am sure you agree, knowing these few simple symbols can save you a lot of time however the real power of Autocorrect is with acronyms.

So what is an acronym?

Well essentially an acronym is simply a series of letters that are used which stand for a greater meaning. For example in Australia we have two terms in business, one is ABN and ACN. Well, ABN and ACN are acronyms for Australian Business Number and Australian Company Number. As you will I am sure notice is that if you had to type out Australian Business Number and Australian Company Number every single time you wanted to use those terms, you would find that you would be typing an incredible amount. So, what Microsoft has done with the AutoCorrect function is to allow you to program into AutoCorrect these acronyms so that when you type them in, they will automatically convert to the full term.

I know, I know, I hear it now. How do you do it!

Well, let me tell you. The first step you must do is to open Microsoft Excel, then goto the Tools menu and then from the Tools menu choose the AutoCorrect Options function. Now I should say the instructions I am giving to you are specifically for Microsoft Excel 2003.

A dialog box will be in front of you called the Autocorrect dialog box and if not selected, choose the Autocorrect tab. About half way down the dialog box you will see a Check Box with the text, Replace as you Type. This function is the one that will correct your spelling mistakes as you type, so if the Check Box is not selected then AutoCorrect will not work. From here, what we are going to do is to enter an acronym and have it return the full text. For example I want the Autocorrect function when I type in cjl to replace it with my full name Christopher John Le Roy. First of all I type in the acronym cjl in the Replace Text box, then in the With text box, I simply type in my full name, then to complete the process simply choose the Add button and then the OK button. You have now entered your first Autocorrect entry.

Lets try it out …

To try this out simply click in any cell and type in your acronym you used and then press the spacebar. When you do this you will find the acronym you typed in will now be the text you typed in the With text box. If it did not work then simply ensure that in the Autocorrect dialog box you have selected the Replace as you Type command.

AutoCorrect is an absolutely fantastic tool and when used in this manner can save you hours of time and frustration with acronyms. Now the really cool part about AutoCorrect in Microsoft Excel is that once you have added an AutoCorrect function in Microsoft Excel it is then available in other applications like Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and many of the other Microsoft Office Applications.