Archive for October, 2008

What is a Student Finance Corporation?

Friday, October 31st, 2008

A Student Finance Corpration is an organization which handles lending to students for educational purposes and similar or related matters. Normally the loan would cover tuition fees and other associated expenses like lab fee, living expenses, money for books, etc.

Who can get this loan?

Most student loans come in a variety of forms and the eligibility for them varies. The two broad types are federal and private. There are various types of loans for undergraduates, graduate and degree courses. The amounts depend on one’s financial standing, grades, course for which application is being made.

You’ll find that the Student Finance Corpration has two broad umbrellas under which it provides loans – Federal and private loans. Federal loans are provided under the Federal Family Education Loan Program and are guaranteed by the government. Among Federal Loans Stafford loans are the most common ones and are subsidized and otherwise. Perkins Loans is another Federal Loan which is more desirable because of the terms on which it is available. However, each campus is only allotted with a limited amount of Perkins loans and it’s normally allocated to students with the greatest financial needs.

On private loans. the persons financial standing play a much more crucial role in determining the loan amount than the financial needs and they are based on your credit ratings etc.

OK – How do I get the loan?

Accordingly, the student finance corprations disburse the loan directly to the schools normally and the schools after charging for their tuition etc. will pass on whatever remains as a balance to you in the form of a check.

Do I have to pay interest?

Mostly this depends on whether you have a subsidized or unsubsidized loan. A subsidized loan is one where the government pays the interest on the loan while you are attending school and is given on a need basis. The interest rate is generally floating however, the popular Stafford loan program does not exceed 8.25% and it’s currently at 5.3%.

Interest rates for the Perkins loan is just 5% whereas PLUS – a loan which is yet again another Federal loan is currently at 6.1%. (at time of writing)

Interest rates for the private loans depends on your credit ratings and usually is between 1 – 7% of the Prime Interest Rate.
You should keep in mind that while the ‘not for profit organizations’ do not charge any fee, other organizations (apart from charging interest) may also charge a fee which can again be around 4% of the loan.

In most cases the interest starts accumulating as soon as the loan is disbursed so even when you are not repaying the loan you are being charged interest which you’ll have to pay back later.

How do I repay the loan?

After finishing your course there is normally a six month grace period after which you will have to commence repayment of the loan. In the case of a subsidized loan there will be no interest in this grace period as well. Normally the repayment period will not exceed 10% and in the case of some loans like the Perkins loan, you’ll normally be asked to pay the school directly.

Here again there are various ways in which the student finance corpration can ask you to repay the loan. There can be fixed payments which mean that you will have to pay the same amount each consecutive month until the end of the loan. Or, there could be a repayment scheme which is based on your gross monthly income.

Then there are two tiered and four tiered repayment options which basically involve lesser outgoings at first and then gradually the payment is increased.

If you have taken multiple loans then there is an option for consolidation of these loans as well. What this basically means is that all your loans will be clubbed together by the corporation and the longest term will be taken with the interest rate as the weighted interest rate of all your loans.

When you pay the installment you save tax!

The amount that you repay is allowed as a deduction for tax purposes and the maximum than can be claimed is $2500 over the life of the loan repayment.

Author – Bill Darken – There’s a good student loan area along with more relevant general loans assistance such as home, car, and consolidation loans. There are highly informative eye opening articles and up-to-date loans news at as well, see it all here at federal student loan information or if the previous link is not working, you can paste this link in your browser – loans-only.com.

Analyzing the Financial Market: The Rule of 20

Friday, October 31st, 2008

In our own unique way, we are all investors. We are definitely all investors in time, but the majority American households also have investments in financial assets, namely stocks. These equity investments can be held in a 401k plan, mutual funds, or an IRA. This doesn’t count the good percentage of people that have a personal account they actively manage or trade.

Divining the direction of the stock market can be as confusing as being a termite in a yo-yo. So what would be a good simple gauge we could use to determine if the equity markets are overvalued or undervalued? Price to earning ratio is one determinant, but it has its limitations.

Enter the Rule of 20a simple formula that has been around for many years but hardly ever used. The Rule of 20 is not a magic formula, but it is useful in evaluating if stock prices are over or undervalued. . What it says is this— from l961 to about l994 the rate of consumer inflation when added to the price earnings ratio (P/E) of the Dow Jones Industrial Average has hovered near 20. The market was overvalued when it was above 20 and undervalued when it was at 15. The formula did not work in the go-go years of l995-l999. These five years saw 20% plus gains per year in the popular stock indexes. This was the only time in American financial history we ever saw five consecutive years of 20% plus gains. Painful as it is, we are now returning to a more rational market environment.

What is the Rule signaling now? The current forward-looking P/E ratio of the Dow is 16. Consumer inflation is about 3.5% annually. This gives a Rule of 20 number of 19.5. (Markets are always in a state of flux and you can get the current P/E ratio and consumer price inflation numbers from any major financial publication.)

At a Rule of 20 number of 19.5, the stock market is reaching the Rule’s upper limit. If the Rule holds (and I believe it will), stock prices could still rise but upward potential is limited. As stocks rise towards the Rule of 20 number of 20, it may be wise to take some chips off the tablesell in other words. When stocks fall to a Rule of 20 number of 15 to 17, then think of entering the market by buying good quality equities.

A final note on this Rule. Like any formula devised by mortals, this Rule has its limitations and should not be used in a vacuum. The fundamentals of the company you are buying must also be examined.

Sanford Kahn - EzineArticles Expert Author

Sanford Kahn, Business Author/Speaker, has been a professional speaker for over 30 years to both the corporate and national trade and professional association markets. He was the host and producer of the popular Times mirror cable vision series “Ask the Economist”. Mr. Kahn has authored many articles on the business impact of future economic trends. His most recent publication is The Great Economic & Business Myths That Dominate Our Lives. For more information please visit his web page at http://www.businessspeaker.biz.

Pre-Neolithic Calendars (Accurate)

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Braden is quite wrong when he says the initiations to this knowledge began about two thousand years ago. I think that is when some people emboldened by the earlier Pythagorean partial inclusion of the knowledge into Therapeutae systems like the Essenes, started to study it and write something about it. However, the prohibition on sharing this information which is said to have still been a matter of summary execution in the time of Plato, probably started ten thousand years earlier.

Pre-Neolithic Calendars:

The Ishango or other aboriginal message sticks from places like Australia and Africa are not easily comprehended by us in the present. The tools of forensics and hard sciences are not always possible for each author or scholar to fully comprehend but they are great evidences, and I thank god we have them. The megaliths and stelae or other Neolithic Libraries are the subject of serious investigation again. The list of proofs for trans-oceanic travel in the pre-Christian era would take a full book (at least) if only four lines were devoted to each point. The great seafarers of Atlantis or these early colonizers from the Brotherhood deserve to be studied and we can learn a great deal from how they ran their government or society. Unless you wish to take the alien intervention route of ‘easy answers’ to explain the various things we are discussing, you will have to keep working to understand why Empire and women-hating was so important to those wishing domination and control, as the appropriate means of governance.

I will quote Alexander Marshack shortly, his great work on an ancient lunar calendar is just another item that fits my long held perception, that we know so little and assume far too much stupidity for or about our forbears. Frank Parise wrote a reference book on all known calendrical systems a couple of decades ago. It is totally unbiased and lists the facts as they are known. In it he says the Mayan calendar starts at 3114 BC. In any event he lists it various parts from that time forward. I have heard it was prepared in 3564 BC. It certainly is very old and would have taken someone or a culture a long time to get to the point of this highly complex prophetic calendar that was as astronomically correct as early 20th Century calendars.

When Marshack wrote about the Le Placard baton in 1991 he was erring on the side of conservatism by saying it was from at least 15,000 BC. I have seen it dated as old as 35,000 years and the ‘norm’ for its provenance seems to be 30,000 years old. It is an accurate lunar calendar once thought to be mere ‘notation’ and it took twenty years of detailed analysis for Marshack to prove what it really was. In this quote he seems not to know about other things such as the origin of agriculture and language that we have covered. I guess it is hard for ‘experts’ to keep up to date on all the different fields or disciplines. One other real possibility is that he didn’t wish to go against conventional scholarship and the Sumerian or Bible Narrative origin of language and agriculture. Maybe it was his publisher or some other agency that convinced him not to rock the boat.
It is hard to imagine he did not know the work done at the Franchithi Caves that shows HYBRID grains before the Fertile Crescent ordinary grain harvests. Here we have the quote from his book The Roots of Civilization.

“… the unravelling occurred at precisely the moment that young archaeologists in Europe and the United States had begun to publish arguments that notations could not possibly have existed in the Ice Age and that the microscopic method could not be used to ascertain notation. I summarize the ‘decoding’ since it was not dependent on microscopic cross-sectional analysis of single marks but on a determination of the changing strategies involved in a complex sequence of visual, symbolic, problem-solving….

Remember also that this baton was engraved some 5,000 years before agriculture formally ‘began’ in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East and some 10,000 years before the formal ‘beginning’ of writing… “(2)

It is not easy to go against the forces of intellectual lethargy and worse that are backed by tenured professors. We see Marshack putting quotes around ‘began’ and ‘beginning’ and wonder if he knew better. Often the funding for research dries up when something threatening to the paradigm is being discovered. He also wisely addresses the mental processes of Neanderthal and we open another debate.

“By the Mousterian period, Neanderthal man, for instance, was not only engaged in complex adaptation to his environment, but was also engaged in complex ceremony and rite. By the Upper Paleolithic, modern ‘Homo Sapiens’ was capable of representational art and notation. This combined late evidence {He avoids the Berekhat Ram figurine dated to 400,000 years ago which we have covered. In 2004 they have found beaded art at least one fourth that old and claim it is 30,000 years older than the previously thought to be oldest art.} would seem to indicate that quite early the evolving hominid must have had some means of communication or ‘language’, a capacity and skill that evolved as part of the increasingly complex way of life and culture he was structuring. But how much language, and to say what at each stage, has not yet begun to be investigated. It was certainly more complex than can be deduced by analogy and from studies of the primates. In our efforts to understand the notations we must make the effort.” (3)

I say the notations were the forerunner of Ogham which incorporated the ritual and spiritual chant as well as the obvious sign languages that must have come first. Ogham is a sign language of the hands and knuckles; it is evident by looking at the simple diagrams of it. It also had healing and divinatory roots that make up at least 64 different tracts not to mention the 5 dialects. Modern scholars do not know how the quipas of Peru kept poetry on ropes with knots that are reminiscent of Ogham and knuckles. But, when one considers the ‘me-too think’ that is evident in schooling it is no wonder. There were early 20th Century scholars who still promoted Locke’s ‘Tabula Rasa’. Locke said no animal could think or communicate and that this is what separated man from beast at some point in his development. This, of course, dovetailed rather nicely with the Bible and the Babel story. Even Marshack is not mentioning Koko the gorilla or Kansai the chimp. They both know more English and grammar than many seven year olds.

The historians who made us believe the human was a cave dweller who beat women over the head with clubs are still quoted as having something to offer. Almost all Western academia is still infected by the Ussher born gradualistic ascendance through a ‘god-guided’ Christian entity that somehow created ’sins and demons’ and only had one true representative on earth. The scholars in the Church or the accompanying hegemony who developed the Scale of Nature needed to provide their missionaries and mercenaries with justification to destroy all life and art they found. The Incans and Mayans suffered mightily to see their culture destroyed and yet knew it was coming before it happened. It took the Pope until 1524 to decide if the North American Indian even had a soul as crude as the Hottentot. Needless to say who they had at the top of this evil Scale or Chain of Ascended Being; it was that person who was the Lord’s only representative. The same one that liked Cosmas Indicopleustas making all the heavens revolve around him in the Flat Earth theory.

Maybe I am wrong to think there has been an organized and well thought out conspiracy from the moment of the Treaty of Tordesillas and Columbus’ first invasion. Maybe Manifest Destiny is not the kind of rationale that the elite have used against natives and average people throughout history. Probably I do over-emphasize the Hegelian ‘play both ends against the middle’ whenever I see people like Moses being all things to all people. But it certainly deserves serious consideration if one is to learn enough from history to stop these things from happening. I am certain that animals have a soul and the ability to think and communicate. Yogi Ramacharaka of the Yogic Society of Chicago wrote some excellent books at the beginning of the 20th Century in which he said domesticated animals are at a higher spiritual level than many humans living in poverty. In the end I wonder about the soul of Churchians who limit the spirit and awareness of the soul for all their ‘flock’! Jesus said, ‘We are all the children of God’ and God must have people fulfilling his PURPOSE of harmonization here on earth. We all must think and choose for ourselves as we learn from our soul and all the potential of it and humanity – we must not be ‘fool – owers’!

“It was the first thought of prehistorians involved in the late nineteenth-century debate of science against the church that the newly discovered evidence of prehistoric art and ceremony revealed an evolution of man’s ’spiritual’ and ‘religious’ side, as opposed to his developing ‘practical’ or ‘aggressive’ side as indicated by the tools. This philosophic division of man into two or three parts was an attempt to save his unique ’spiritual’ place at the top of the ladder of creation. Man, the argument went, may have ascended biologically during his evolution, but once near the top he had been given, or he had achieved, a ’soul’.” (4)

And you know who the interpreters for this entity that gave us a soul were, don’t you? Marshack goes on to discuss the scientific and other contributions of Father Teilhard de Chardin, which rocked Catholicism. I am very much in agreement with the ‘templates’ of Teilhardism and the need for a ‘Conspiracy of Love’ which he called for, in great earnestness. His influence can be seen in Jean Houston’s Jumptime. This qualitative Intelligent Design is at the root of all my dedication to writing a new history for man to build proper models of behaviour upon.

So I hope I have established enough of the fundamentals for the reader to see the ‘notation’ and symbols on dolmen, menhir, megalith and stelae or other Neolithic Libraries has a lot to offer us; in seeing how we developed as spiritual beings in a long and fruitful growth, we must return to the bosom of. One of the most important aspects is reflected in the degrees of a circle or mapping system that Bradley said academics have ‘no apparent reason’ for the fact of its existence. It is harmonic and it was understood by the builders of the Great Pyramid.

Author of many books that tell us there are reasons that powerful people have sought to keep average people under them rather than share and care. Our history includes times when we were able to co-operate and achieve more as a species (even more than now possibly) and some people kept a little of the more ancient knowledge to themselves.

Proven Secrets of Writing and Publishing Your Own Book… In Less Than a Week!

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

In their ebook “How To Write And Publish Your Own Ebook…
In As Little As 7 Days”, Jim Edwards and Joe Vitale teach
you how to adapt a proven ebook writing formula to vastly
improve the performance of your own ebook writing
techniques. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, you are
taught how to find a topic, write about it and produce your
own ebook, sometimes in as little as 7 days, reducing the
trial and error sometimes associated with writing your own
ebook.

Of course, we know about ebooks don’t we? You cannot log on
without being offered one. There are various degrees of
credibility associated with ebooks from the brilliant
informative ebooks that you hope that you are buying to the
downright useless regurgitated rubbish that you are
sometimes duped into buying. Well, we do not want to go
down that route do we? No of course we don’t, we want to
produce a well thought out, well written and informative
ebook that not only you will be proud of producing, but also
an ebook that gives people value for money. So, having got
that goal established, how do you even begin to research a
subject that everyone is looking for and put it into words
in the form of an ebook?

The authors are arguably two of the best exponents of the
written word on the internet. Their step by step
instructions in the “How To Write And Publish Your Own
Ebook….In As Little As 7 Days” takes you logically and
systematically through the creation process right through to
the finished product. Their track record for writing
informative and educational ebooks and articles, that have
helped thousands of internet entrepenuers, is second to
none.

At over 200 pages long, “How To Write And Publish Your Own
Ebook….In As Little As 7 Days” has alot to offer those who
really do not know where to start when writing an ebook. Of
course, even those who are adept at stringing a sentence
together will probably find something useful in the book.

“How To Write And Publish Your Own Ebook…In As Little As 7
Days” is designed to teach you:

How to conceive an idea for an ebook that has a market with people willing to pay or it – either directly or
indirectly.

How to write your ebook quickly and concisely in a way that conveys information so that people can use and implement it quickly.

Take positive action towards selling your ebook online by giving you a road map to start marketing your ebook on the internet.

The main instructional section is 80 pages in length and
filled with informative and motivational text. So instead
of: write a book, look for a market, hope and then give up
what about: identify a niche market, identify needs, wants
and problems, write a book that satisfies those requirements
and then market your book to your niche and make some
money.

If you think you cannot write, think you do not have
anything to say or you do not want to write a full length
ebook, that’s okay, every eventuality is covered to get you
to start writing. I mean let’s face it, how much motivation
do you need? I bet if you were offered $50.000 to
write a short ebook you would soon get your pen and paper
out!

Of course, there has to be constructive criticism and for me, I get bored with featured authors who contribute to add a few more pages to the ebook. However, you cannot dismiss the valuable advice of Yanik Silver, Kevin Donlin or Neil
Shearing whose life experiences are included – with
appropriate links to their websites of course! However
irritating these featured articles are (and they will appear
in other ebooks as well) they do provide a valuable in site
into how they got to where they are now. Just remember to
concentrate on one thing – writing and publishing an ebook -
do not get hijacked by outgoing links to other sites.

“How To Write And Publish Your Own Ebook…..In As Little As
7 Days” is finished off with bonus reports for accepting
credit cards, ebook cover design, web hosting and more. All
designed to get your finished product published and making
money.

If you are looking for well written, informative and value
for money instructions on how to write your own ebook,
whether it is 10 pages or 1000 pages, then I believe that
this ebook does deliver on its promise to get you to write
an ebook in as little as 7 days. The only thing it cannot do
is write it for you.

For more information on Jim Edwards’s and Joe Vitale’s book,
“How To Write And Publish Your Own Ebook….In As Little As
7 Days please visit http://www.1st-4-income.com/

Hopefully, the authors will collaborate again in the future
to write an ebook that will again take the mysteries out
writing and publishing on the internet.

Ian Simpson reviews software and informational products on the internet for their value and usefulness. Subscribe to his free newsletter at http://www.information4income.com

The “International” Car

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

This vehicle could actually be considered to be an automobile with a lot of international relations. And this is not because of its sales or performance in other countries, but because how this vehicle was formed took several automobile manufacturers from different countries working together. And this vehicle is the Ford Aspire.

The Ford Aspire is an entry-level compact car that was sold by the Ford Motor Company from the United States starting from 1994 and ending during the year 1997. The body of this vehicle was actually made by Kia Motors from South Korea. Note that the engine and components that are in this vehicle come from Japan’s Mazda. It was made available as a hatchback with an option of three doors or five doors.

This vehicle was actually sold under different names. In Asia, it was known as the Kia Avella. However, in Japan and in Australasia, the Ford Aspire was known as the Ford Festiva. When this vehicle was replaced in Kia’s line up by the Kia Rio, the relationship between Ford and Kia started to dwindle and break down. This vehicle essentially has an average fuel economy that has around thirty miles per gallon, although the manual transmission models of this car can get up to forty-five miles per gallon, yet this has not quite hindered the Ford Aspire to become a favorite among drivers for it is quite favored by drivers for parallel parking.

Mechanical breakdown is something that the Ford Aspires seem not to include in its language for they have been crafted to be quite resistant to this. Putting aside vehicle and travel nuisances such as defective fuel doors and gaskets that do not know how to stay put, the Aspires are have been tested and known to have the capability to run in excess of 200,000 miles without repairs other than the standard maintenance. The engine performance of the Ford Aspire is sufficient enough to daily driving. It is also worth looking at because of its low sticker price.

Standard for this vehicle were dual airbags and given as options were the anti-lock braking system. It had used a 63 horsepower engine with four cylinders. It also had a five-speed manual shift, or as an option, Ford Aspire had the 3-speed automatic transmission. Other options for the Ford Aspire were fog lights, a rear spoiler, and different seats and interior trim. In 1996 though, it lost its front spoilers. The window moldings and the center roof pillars were now body-colored. After a year, the Ford Aspire had minor changes done in that included new front and rear bumpers, headlamps, turn signals, tail lamps, and wheel covers.

Ford Parts and Performance Parts provide customers a look at Ford Parts and Ford Auto Parts’s extensive stock of dependable and long lasting Ford parts and Ford Aspire parts. It could give owners a start on great savings while preserving the performance of the vehicle that exudes performance and comfort. Ford Parts and Ford Auto Parts’s list includes bumpers, carpets, A/C condensers and a whole lot more.

Jason Moore, a 35 year old freelance writer from Austin, Texas. He also works as a marketing analyst for an established auto parts store in the country.

How to Make Rubber Stamps: Comparing Methods of Manufacture

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Vulcanized Rubber Stamps

The traditional red rubber stamp that everybody is familiar with will have been manufactured in a vulcanizing press. The first rubber stamp vulcanizing press was patented in 1890 by Charles Schultze in New Orleans USA. Vulcanizing is today one of the most cost effective methods of making rubber stamps for mass produced stamps. Each batch of stamps is produced using a mould. This method of manufacture is more suited to stamp making where the same moulds are used over and over again. Making custom made stamps with a vulcanizing press requiring ‘once only’ moulds will drive the cost of manufacture up significantly.

Making the mould – before a mould can be made you must have a master plate manufactured from metal or polymer, the master plate has the necessary relief (the artwork is raised) to make an impression in the mould. Having a master plate made each time a mould is required is what drives up the cost of manufacture for vulcanized stamps. Pressing the master plate into a Matrix board creates the mould that will accept the rubber. Heat and pressure is applied to the master plate and matrix board inside a Vulcanizing press. The Matrix follows the shape of the relief provided by the master plate, this then hardens on cooling.

Making Rubber Stamps – Creating stamps is a simple process once the mould is made. Raw rubber stamp gum is placed on top of the mould and then placed inside the stamp press. Hydraulic pressure is placed upon the rubber and the mould from within the stamp press causing the rubber to melt into the areas of the mould that contain the images and text, curing and hardening takes about 10 minutes. Once cured the sheet of rubber is pulled away from the mould and cut up into individual stamps to be affixed to mounts.

Cost of a vulcanizing system is approximately $12,000 AUD

Advantages – Low cost of production for mass produced stamps, good ink transfer.

Disadvantages – Cost of producing master plates and moulds for custom made stamps.

Laser Engraved Rubber Stamps

The traditional raw rubber used for vulcanizing stamp dies is quite unacceptable for the production of laser stamp dies, the laser process requires a very even thickness and blemish free surface to produce an acceptable printed image from a stamp die. The rubber must also be subjected to a specific curing process before it can be exposed to the elevated temperature of a laser beam.

The depth of the engraving is determined by the laser speed, its wattage and the density of the rubber. For example, a 50 or 100W engraver will engrave the rubber deeper and faster than a 25W machine, which may require a second pass to achieve a similar result. Usually supplied in an A4 size sheet form, a good quality laser rubber is required for engraving stamp dies and must also have suitable compression strength and ink transfer properties.

To assist the engraving process, it is necessary to remove the excess dust which is constantly created by the laser cutting action with an efficient exhaust filtration system. As very few, if any, CO2 laser engraving machines were initially purpose built for engraving and cutting rubber, installing and maintaining an effective dust extraction system pays long term dividends. Mirrors, lenses and any exposed bearing surfaces should be cleaned thoroughly as part of a regular maintenance program. Any neglect in this area will be detrimental to overall trouble free laser operation, as the build up of dust and residue will affect running efficiency and the quality of the finished stamp die. Lasers are controlled directly from a computer, the software drivers supplied with lasers work with many graphic programs such as CorelDraw.

Approximate cost of a 25 watt Laser suitable for stamp making is $40,000

Advantages – Production is computer controlled, custom made stamps can be made easily

Disadvantages – High capital investment, maintenance costs and running will be much higher than vulcanizing or polymer methods of manufacture.

Liquid Polymer Rubber Stamps

Converting rubber stamp polymer from a liquid into a solid to make stamps is quite fascinating. Polymer stamps are manufactured between two sheets of glass using precision controlled UV light which passes through a negative containing the stamp artwork solidifying the polymer. Negative production has been simplified with the introduction of water based negative technology, photographic chemicals for producing negatives are now a thing of the past.

The first step in making polymer rubber stamps is to print your images, clipart or text onto Vellum, an almost transparent paper like film.
To produce quality stamp artwork you must use a laser printer, inks from bubble jet printers are translucent allowing UV light to pass where it should not. Water based negatives are easily washed out after being exposed for a few minutes in a UV exposure stamp machine.

Polymer contained in a sachet is now replacing the older cumbersome method of using foam tape to create a dam and pouring of rubber stamp polymers, the sachets have also addressed the age old problem of removing air bubbles from the poured polymer.

The negative of your artwork and polymer sachet is sandwiched between two sheets of glass spaced 2-3mm apart which is then exposed in the machine for a few minutes. Once you have completed the exposure it is a simple process of cutting open the sachet and washing away the excess unexposed polymer before returning the stamp die back to the machine for a 10 minute curing. Once the stamps are cured they can be cut up individually. Polymer sachets are available in a range of sizes up to A4 size.

Processing time is about 30 minutes for a batch of polymer stamps.

Cost of polymer stamp making machines range from $3,500 AUD for an Australian made unit designed specifically for stamp making up to high end imported units with computer controlled washout for $15,000 AUD.

Advantages – Lower capital investment, polymers make almost clear stamps making them ideal for scrapbooking and card making. Stamp relief can be easily controlled during exposure.

Disadvantages – Early polymers did not accept inks as well as polymers available today, this along with being new technology caused initial resistance to polymer stamps.

Summary

Most large stamp manufacturers have a mix of the above equipment. The unmounted rubber stamp dies produced with any of these manufacturing methods can be cut up and affixed to simple hand stamps, dater stamps or self inking stamps. Craft stamps are usually affixed to wooden blocks or in the case of polymer stamps affixed to clear acrylic blocks with adhesives or InstaGrip mounting mat. Various manufactures produces stamp mounts. Astron Industries in Australia manufacturer the clear hand stamp ‘Vuestamp’ and also distribute the Ideal range of self inking mounts. Other brands of self inking mounts are Trodat, Colop and Shiny.

Robert de Rooy is based in Australia and has been involved with the rubber stamp industry in the Pacific region for over ten years, he has provided consultation to the development of http://www.stampsearch.com.au and operates http://www.instastamp.com.au a web site about making rubber stamps.

Sexy Plus Size Bras

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Looking for the perfect bra is difficult for all women. Because each and every woman is different, each with a unique size and shape, finding the right bra is a big, big task. Finding the perfect bra is much more difficult if you are overweight. Plus size bra should both be supportive and comfortable, and should not be restrictive and unflattering.

Plus size women nowadays are lucky because the market is full of plus size bra promising to provide support and comfort in the chest area. And these plus size bra even comes in pretty designs and yummy colors! In the past plus size bra looks generic, made of durable, functional stuff like cotton, and plus size women do not particularly find shopping for underwear an enjoyable experience. But nowadays, just look around the mall and you will find plus size bras with beautiful laces and intricate designs that look very sexy and very pretty.

Sexy plus size bras are very popular right now. Women reward themselves with pretty undergarments to make them feel better. Having a rough day at the office? That’s nothing a feminine lacy plus size bra in silk, lace, or satin with under wires cannot take away.

There is a new generation of plus size bra out there so unlike the drab, boring plus size bras of the yesteryears that were made only to serve its function. These pretty sexy bras of today can range from sports bras to sexy, lingerie-type of bra, to everyday-wear bra. Sexy bra are usually lacy and can be considered peek a boo bra. Some opt to choose bra made from lycra, which is very comfortable because of its stretchiness. There are plus size bra that hug the full form of the woman’s breast, and there are those that are shaped like a half-cup, designed to show the topmost portion of the breast. These sexy plus size bra are available all over, and plus size women buy these because they can be very sexy. However, there is that tiny danger “showing too much” when plus size women wear demi-cups.

Plus size bra can be made of various materials – satin, cotton, lycra, lace or silk. They may have under wires and pads or may have criss-crossing straps at the back. Some are non-padded, and some are strapless. Some enhance the form of the woman’s breast and some try to downplay very full breasts – these special bras are called minimizers and they tend to be more expensive than regular bra. There are also special bra called maximizers, which as the name implies, help women enhance their gifts. Plus size women normally do not go for maximizers and since more often than not, plus size women are gifted with beautiful, full breasts. Most women opt to buy regular plus size bra that is pleasing to the eyes, comfortable, and non-restrictive.

Wearing the right bra can do wonders for a person’s figure. It will make the woman feel good about herself, feel comfortable and confident, and will subsequently help improve her posture. Wearing sexy designs in a somewhat seductive material like silk will undoubtedly help a woman feel better about herself.

Plus size bra is perfect for pregnant women. During pregnancy, the breasts enlarge and the woman’s old bra may not fit, or may feel too restrictive. During this delicate, special period, pregnant women may opt to discard their old bras and wear plus size bra that fits just right. There are a lot of plus size bra made specifically for mothers. These are called nursing bras and are designed to help the new mothers in breastfeeding their babies. These plus size bra are very comfortable and give incredible support, and some designs can be very pretty also. Easy snaps are built-in for hassle free milk feedings which will become very handy especially during those late night feedings. Plus size bra for the mothers should have good support but it is important that they should be unwired because they will wear them when they go to bed and wired bras are very uncomfortable. Usually, the material used are cotton and lycra which both give excellent gentle support to the new mother as she journeys into the path called motherhood.

Joyce Dietzel writes articles for my-bra-store.com a website dedicated to just the right bras for you

Clippers/Suns Series through Four Games

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Whenever I lose a selection, particularly if I don’t have the opportunity to watch the game, I sift through the numbers to see if there was anything flawed in my analysis.

I liked Phoenix plus the five points in Game 4 of the Suns/Clippers series with the rationale that the Clippers 62-34 rebounding edge in Game 2 was an aberration. I was convinced there was no way that the Clippers would outshoot the Suns from the field in four straight games.

It wasn’t, they did, and I was staring at a loss in the premium play column.

In retrospect, I was probably (obviously) on the wrong side. Sure the Suns made a 12-0 run to cut it to one with 56 seconds left. An Elton Brand baseline jumper, a Sam I Am dagger three, and foul shots extended the Clipper’s lead to cover.

In the Suns 130-123 win in Game 1, rebounding was basically a push. The Clippers snared 39 with nine on the offensive glass. The Suns corralled 34, eight on the offensive end. Points in the paint were 48-42 Suns. The difference was the Suns 12-27 shooting from beyond the arc as opposed to just 4-12 for LA.

In the Clippers Game 2 route, the Clippers won the war on the boards 57 (19) – 26 (5). Points in the paint went a whopping 58-36 to the Clippers. The obviously easy put backs more than made up for the Suns 9-4 edge from downtown.

Phoenix’ 94-91 win in Game 3 was decided from the foul line, the Suns converting 23-26 while the home team could only knock down just 14 of 20. Phoenix has slight 56-55 edge on the glass with each team grabbing eight offensive rebounds.

In Game 4, rebounding was again all Clippers including 16-9 ad on the offensive end. LA sank eight more free throws but lost battle of treys, 10-5.

To this point in the series, the Clippers have owned the boards 219-168, 52-30 on the offensive end. Points in the paint are 192-166 Clippers while the Suns have buried 38 threes to the Clippers 20. The Clippers are shooting 174-340 from the field for 50.1% while the Suns are 155-339 for 44.9 percent. Easy second chance points by the Clippers obviously accounts for the disparity in shooting.

To come out of this series, the Suns must find a way to the play the Clippers close to even on the glass. If Phoenix is one and done, the Suns are done. I’m not really sure how you handicap how a team will shoot or rebound on any given night but it is painfully clear from the stat sheet what each of these teams must do to advance.

Dennis Macklin is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Dennis_Macklin.htm

You And Your Cholesterol

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Are you aware that nearly 107 million Americans have total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL or higher, a level at which cardiovascular risk begins to rise.

Mike Flowers of you-and-your-cholesterol.com states that “High Cholesterol and Triglyceride (blood fat) can easily be controlled by following a few simple rules and without giving up some of the pleasures you enjoy most!”

Mr. Flowers also added that ten years ago his doctor wanted to place him on medication due to his high cholesterol levels.

“I was totally shocked because I felt fine, and was going to see him for something unrelated.

At that point, I started thinking about my dad and the Quadruple Bypass he had a couple years earlier.

I convinced my doctor to give me 30 days to reduce my Cholesterol, and get it under control. If not, I would be more than happy to start taking the medication.

When I returned to his office 30 days later, he was completely amazed at how low my levels were and told me to continue doing what I was doing.

To be honest with you, I was more amazed than he was. I was thrilled…not expecting such good results.

It has been ten years since that visit, and each time I visit his office for a check up my levels are consistently good!

A lot of people can lower their levels by incorporating the right diet plan, knowing what foods to stay away from, educating themselves on the benefits of natural herbs and having a simple exercise regiment.

Unfortunately for some, no matter what they do – they will not be able to get their levels under control and will have to seek the advice of their medical professional.”

You can get more information on this topic at www.you-and-your-cholesterol.com.

Mike Flowers is editor of you-and-your-cholesterol.com and has been able to naturally keep his cholesterol levels under control for over ten years using the methods he writes about on his site.

Lach Ness Monster: Lump, Log, or Otter?

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

I have been known to believe in some pretty strange things. Things that no one else gives a second thought. Mostly things, such as Nessie, but this is on the more realistic side of the Fiji Mermaid.

In this article, I have done my research, collected true data, and will present the facts for you one by one so that you can make your own decision. As whimsical as it may seem, I for one believe that something could be there. Now, grab a cup of coffee, or a bag of sugar, and start reading…

First, the lake. Lake Ness, or the popular ‘Loch’ is a long deep lake very near Inverness, Scotland. It is part of a huge fissure in the earth that nearly divides Scotland in half. It is a conveniently murky lake perfect for hiding 30-ft. long serpents and plesiosaurs in, and can also be up to 900 ft. deep in certain areas. The lake is also extremely cold. Reaching negative readings quite commonly. But do not give up hope in Nessie just yet! There are many facts to be revealed still!

Nessie. The history of the lake being a mysterious place dates back over 1500 years. Back to the days of one St. Columba. St. Columba was an Irish monk, who not only converted most of Scotland to Christianity, but was able to sooth the original Nessie, who before his time was a murderess. The sightings and speculations on our dear pal Nessie in the modern age, (comparatively anyway) begin in 1934, with the first photo of Nessie, taken by a Dr. Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, who photographed the allegedly plesiosaur-like neck, head and partial body arising from the water. This photo is below.

http://www.cococomics.net/images/ness/1.jpg

This photo caused a stir large enough to get some scientific experts on the scene. After looking over the photo, they ruled that it was obviously either a twenty-foot otter, or a log sticking vertically out of the water.

One of the most famous photos -entitled the “Surgeon’s photo” aptly, because of the occupation of the photographer- is below.

http://www.cococomics.net/images/ness/1.jpg

Notice something similar? Yes. They are the same photo. This photo, as it turns out, was a hoax. A rather cheaply organized one at that. An associate of the doctor, Christian Spurling, admitted on his death bed that the photo was made using a 14 inch toy submarine, with a piece of wood attached.

This next photo was called the “Mackays and Campbell”, and was taken in 1933.

http://www.cococomics.net/images/ness/2.jpg

The photo was taken by a couple who owned a pub at Drumnadrochit. On April 14, they took the photo, and told Alex Campbell, the man responsible for controlling salmon fishing in the loch. Campbell of course agreed that it was in fact the Loch Ness Monster, because he had ’seen’ Nessie on numerous occasions. Like so many other photos, this one simply faded to the background as more and more ‘evidence’ cropped up.

I will offer, as one last photographic piece of evidence, this photo:

http://www.cococomics.net/images/ness/3.jpg

It is actually a sonar image picked up by a study that was held by Dr. Robert Rines, and funded by the American Academy of Applied Science. The tools used were sonar and automatic cameras. In 1972, one of their cameras photographed what appeared to be a flipper, or Nessie herself, at about 6 feet long, in 4 frames of film. In 1975, they struck another photo, blurred, but appearing to be Nessie’s face.

The Science of Her Existence

‘So what’ you say. ‘That is just a bunch of photos and otters.’ Well, here is the actual science, proving, or disproving the existence of everyone’s favorite lake monster.

We know that the lake is at least 24 miles long, and in places, 900 feet deep. This, by a long boring system of equations, tells us that the lake can hold up to 30 metric tons of salmon. Any creature such as Nessie would only weigh 10 percent as much as the total vittles available, so Nessie, if existent, and single, would weigh around 660 pounds (300kg). However, there is a problem with that theory. Zoologists have calculated that in order to perpetuate the species, or small clan of Nessies, there would have to be at least ten of the said beast. Is this possible? Each one would weigh far less than 660 lbs. This weight is easily topped by the Baltic Sturgeon, a fish that can grow up to 450 lbs. “but what about the temperature of the lake?” You ask? Well, in order for Nessie and her pals to live in such cold water, they would have to be… Let’s see…. Adapted to it over 1500 years? Yes, well, that puts the water issue to rest.

You Decide.

Knowing all this, it is up to you to decide.. Can Nessie exist? Are the Scottish of the Loch simply money hungry skirt-wearers? All I did was state the facts. Now you can form your own conclusions..

EzineArticles Expert Author W. Spradlin

Hi. I am Coconut of http://www.cococomics.net . I have been writing articles like these for quite a while. There are URLs in this article to pictures on my website. I ask that if you use this article, please upload the pictures to your own server. Thank you for reading!