In the early days, making inquiries for a person or business through public records was quite hard and required a lot of time and effort. The bureaucratic labyrinths of differing jurisdictions, location, and access to policies made it complicated to make use of public records as a research tool. Just getting started requires a lot of travel to different places like state archives, county courthouses, city licensing bureaus and all, just to find relevant information.

Thanks to the Internet, free access to public records is now more convenient. The federal, state and local governments have all acted in response to the demands to make some public record information available without requiring physical visits to their facilities. Today, a collection of public records is accessible online, and the good thing is that both the quantity and quality of these records increases day by day.

Easy online access to public records does solve the problem of having to visit several locations to get information. But this doesn’t mean you’ll get all the data you need. Online access to public records doesn’t address important problems such as knowing what public records are available, knowing where to find them and being forced to retype search criteria on each and every site.

However, there are sites especially skilled in finding public records related to a person, business or address. One is the United States Vital Records Information. This public records search site gives details as to how you can get important records like birth certificate, death records, marriage licenses and divorce decreed from every state, region and district of the United States.

CIA’s Electronic Reading Room is a great resource for it allows you to take a glance at CIA public records. Another useful site is the Lexis-Nexis. This free public records search database is a wonderful source for archive stories, state government records and civil court records.

These are just among the many useful resources that you can use. Although they can provide you with the data you need, they are striving to improve their coverage and accuracy.

In most realms of the entertainment industry a producer’s main job is to make sure the finish product is more or less polished and ready for the mass media. The music industry at a certain time was no different. Recently, the role of the producer has become a lot larger and in some regards has started to include some of the duties that were primarily relegated to other notable positions. Twenty years ago when an artist was about to start a recording project they would hire a producer who would then be in charge of booking studio time and finding the right songs and back up singers to fit this artist style. Their final duty was to pick which of the finished songs should make the artist’s album. Skip forward to present day hip hop and you’ll see that a producer in most cases is not only the song writer but in a lot of cases the recording engineer as well. They write and produce the song from its inception to its final cut. Hip Hop has coined the term “super producer” and any producer who makes it to this elite level makes no less then $50,000 for each song they sell. In most cases the producer is even more vital to the success of a song than the artist who is recording the song. Below is a list of the top 5 producers in hip hop.

Teddy Riley – When you single handedly create a new sound you have to be considered one of the all time greatest. In the late 80s Teddy Riley created a sound known as the “New Jack Swing” which had artist lining up to hire him for his services. He was responsible for creating hit songs for Bobby Brown, Guy and Black Street. Teddy Riley is universally regarded as the first super producer.

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – This duo is also known for a unique sound that they created in the early 80s! Creating hits for notable artists such as Janet Jackson, New Edition and Whitney Houston to name a few. The unique sound they developed while growing up along side Prince in Minneapolis Minnesota is credited for many of the hits in the 80s and 90s.

Dr. Dre – When it comes to the rap side of hip hop music there’s no debating the credentials of Dr. Dre. As one of the founding fathers of gangster rap in the early 90s this hip hop legend created a sound that to this day has never been duplicated. The fact that he charges $500,000 to $1,000,000 a song should say it all. I don’t think you can name any hip hop artist that hasn’t enlisted the services of Dr. Dre. Known as a perfectionist, there may be no other producer responsible for as many hit records as Dr. Dre. From his earlier accomplishments in hip hop during the 90s to his present discography which include Eminem and 50 cent, Dr, Dre clearly stands head and shoulders above all other hip hop producers.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Hip Hop

Financial Spread Betting (or Trading) offers a tax free method of speculating on financial markets.

Quite simply, if you think a particular index, share, commodity, currency or sector will rise, you place an UP bet. This also referred to as a Long position or a buy.

On the other hand if you think the particular market will fall you place a DOWN bet (commonly referred to as a Short position or a sell).

The amount of profit you make or money you lose depends on how right or wrong you were and how much you risked per point.

At the time of placing the bet you decide how much you would like to risk per point. This can be as small as £0.01 or a large amount such as £1000+.

Most bets work on either a daily, rolling or contract month basis.

A Daily bet is one which is only open during one particular trading day. You could place the trade at 11am and, if you do not close it beforehand, it will be closed at the end of trading (4.30pm in the case of the FTSE 100).

A Rolling bet is one which, unless you state otherwise, rolls through to the next trading day. This costs a little money and your bookmaker should be able to give you more details.

A trade opened for a particular Contract Month will end up to 3 months in the future. There will be a specific date when the contract finishes known as the Expiry Date or Last Trading Day.

For example: if you opened a trade on the FTSE 100 September contract, the expiry date will be in September, usually the third Friday. The trade will expire at the close of trading on that day.

Some bookmakers also run other types of bets such as weekly and also “Year End”.

Day-traders or “scalpers” will tend to use Daily or Rolling bets but as a beginner it may be wiser to trade over a longer time frame.

If you decide to day trade, bear in mind that you must be correct almost immediately to profit. If you select a longer time scale, you have some breathing space for the trade to turn around.

An example of a trade

It is June and the FTSE 100 is trading at around 5000 and you are confident that it will go higher before September. To back your opinion you decide to use a spread bet.

Logging onto your internet account, the bookmaker quotes you 5010-5020 for the FTSE 100 September contract.

This means that you can buy (go long) at 5020 or sell (go short) at 5010.

Spread betting quotes are always displayed as two seperate prices. You buy at the higher price and sell at the lower one. The “spread” itself (in this case 10) is a charge added by the bookmakers. Different companies have different spreads, some larger than others.

As you are backing the market to go higher, you would buy £1 a point (or however much you like) at 5020.

September arrives and you are close to the expiry date for the contract.

Rather than wait for the last trading day you decide to take your profit as the FTSE 100 is now quoted at 5305-5315.

You close your position by selling £1 per point at 5305.

As you were correct in thinking the FTSE would rise, you have now won £285:

(5305 – 5020) x £1 = £285 tax free

There is no need to hold your position until expiry, you can close it at any time to take your profit or limit your loss.

If the FTSE was trading at 5500 in July, you could have closed then for more profit. All you have to do is log into your account and place another trade in the opposite direction for the same amount per point to close.

Of course, if the FTSE had gone lower in this example you would’ve lost money but you can use stop losses to limit the loss.

Ben Catt is an active financial trader and runs a free website containing hints, tips and information about tax-free financial spread trading and betting in the UK. The site can be found at http://www.FinancialSpreadTrading.co.uk.
He also runs a business opportunity information site – http://www.BizOppsUK.com

http://home.wuliweb.com/index.shtml

http://www.pshares.org/

The circulation of print magazines has declined precipitously in the last 24 months. This dissolution of subscriber bases has accelerated dramatically as economic recession set in. But a diminishing wealth effect is only partly to blame. The managements of printed periodicals – from dailies to quarterlies – failed miserably to grasp the Internet’s potential and potential threat. They were fooled by the lack of convenient and cheap e-reading devices into believing that old habits die hard. They do – but magazine reading is not habit forming. Readers’ loyalties are fickle and shift according to content and price. The Web offers cornucopial and niche-targeted content – free of charge or very cheaply. This is hard to beat and is getting harder by the day as natural selection among dot.bombs spares only quality content providers.

Consider Ploughshares, the Literary Journal.

It is a venerable, not for profit, print journal published by Emerson College, now marking its 30th anniversary. It recently inaugurated its web sibling. The project consumed three years and $125,000 (grant from the Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds). Every title Ploughshares has ever published was indexed (over 18,000 journal pages digitized). In all, the “website will offer free access to over 2,750 poems and short stories from past and current issues.”

The more than 2000 (!) authors ever published in Ploughshares will each maintain a personal web page comprising biographical notes, press releases, new books and events announcements and links to other web sites. This is the Yahoo! formula. Content generated by the authors will thus transform Ploughshares into a leading literary portal.

But Ploughshares did not stop at this standard features. A “bookshelf” will link to book reviews contributed online (and augmented by the magazine’s own prestigious offerings). An annotated bookstore is just a step away (though Ploughshares’ web site does not include one hitherto). The next best thing is a rights-management application used by the journal’s authors to grant online publishing permissions for their work to third parties.

No print literary magazine can beat this one stop shop. So, how can print publications defend themselves?

By being creative and by not conceding defeat is how.

Consider WuliWeb’s example of thinking outside the printed box.

It is a simple online application which enables its users to “send, save and share material from print publications”. Participating magazines and newspapers print “WuliCodes” on their (physical) pages and WuliWeb subscribers barcode-scan, or manually enter them into their online “Content Manager” via keyboard, PDA, pager, cell phone, or fixed phone (using a PIN). The service is free (paid for by the magazine publishers and advertisers) and, according to WuliWeb, offers these advantages to its users:

“Once you choose to use WuliWeb’s free service, you will no longer have to laboriously “tear and share” print articles or ads that you want to archive or share with colleagues or friends. You will be able to store material sourced from print publications permanently in your own secure, electronic files, and you can share this material instantly with any number of people. Magazine and Newspaper Publishers will now have the ability to distribute their online content more widely and to offer a richer experience to their readers. Advertisers will be able to deploy dynamic and media-rich content to
attract and convert customers, and will be able to communicate more completely with their customers.”

Links to the shared material are stored in WuliWeb’s central database and users gain access to them by signing up for a (free) WuliWeb account. Thus, the user’s mailbox is unencumbered by huge downloads. Moreover, WuliWeb allows for a keywords-based search of articles saved.

Perhaps the only serious drawback is that WuliWeb provides its users only with LINKS to content stored on publishers’ web sites. It is a directory service – not a full text database. This creates dependence. Links may get broken. Whole web sites vanish. Magazines and their publishers go under. All the more reason for publishers to adopt this service and make it their own.

About the Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love – Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain – How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, United Press International (UPI) and eBookWeb and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com.

Visit Sam’s Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com

How many times have you been asked to provide a contribution to a church fete or fundraising event – and then filed this request somewhere “Safe”! I guess it’s happened to most of us from time to time. It’s always good to have a reliable “Get out of Jail” recipe which you can turn to; one which gives consistent results and which tastes great too. This is one of my favorites, is traditionally Scottish, and it always goes down a treat. But best of all, it takes less than an hour to make, a further hour or so to cool down and stack in a tin, ready to take to your event!

The Ingredients

9 oz plain flour,
9 oz self-raising flour,
9 oz cornflour (cornstarch),
9 oz castor sugar,
2 250gm packs butter

The Method

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Melt butter gently in a saucepan. It is best if it’s fairly hot as the butter cools down quickly when you put it into the dry ingredients.
(Be careful at this stage; “chip pan fires” can happen with hot butter!)

Pour melted butter into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. I use a big serving spoon at first to incorporate the melted butter, but in a short time the mixture is cool enough to handle and the dough is better if you knead it for a couple of minutes to give an even consistency.

Lightly oil two baking trays (approximately 16″ x 10″) Divide the mixture into two and spread evenly. I use a spatula to give a nice flat surface to the shortbread and to make sure it goes right into the corners of the trays. Prick the shortbread with a fork at intervals – create a pattern, if you like. Place the baking trays into a moderate oven (I use a fan oven which I heat to 150C) and bake until golden brown.

Take out of the oven and cut into portions while still hot, dust with castor sugar and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before storing the pieces of shortbread in an airtight container.

Margaret MacGillivray lives and works in Scotland. She and her husband run a Gift and Coffee Shop in Helensburgh, Argyll.

Live your golfing dreams on an Ireland golf vacation.

The K Club, Ballybunion, Lahinch, Doonbeg, Druids Glen… the names of the courses may not trip off the tongue quite as easily as those of their Scottish cousins but the quality is just as high. An Ireland golf vacation will introduce you to some of the grandest, most charming, most testing and most mystical golf courses in the world. You’ll return home with your putter coated in magic and with memories to fill after dinner tales for decades to come.

An Ireland golf vacation is special – unique even – don’t miss the chance to come.

There is no finer place to play golf in the whole world than in Ireland. You might yearn to feel the Atlantic breeze tugging at your sweater as you wend your way between the high sand dunes on a coastal links. Or you may prefer the lush and rich emerald green of an inland pasture studded with silver bunkers and flower banks. All of this and more is here for you if you care to venture on an Ireland golf vacation.

Ireland has always created great golfers and recent Ryder Cup matches have turned on the skills (and, perhaps, the legendary luck) of the Irish. The next Ryder Cup will be played in Ireland and worldwide interest in visiting this most welcoming of islands has never been greater.

For many visitors to Ireland or Scotland the chance to play on an ancient seaside links course is a large part of the attraction. But links golf does provide a unique experience and will test both your stamina and your golf game in a way entirely unlike anything you might have previously experienced. The wind has the remarkable knack of always blowing in your face – no matter what direction you’re facing.

Links courses rarely allow electronic golf buggies or golf carts. Walking is the rule. This is partly to protect the courses and partly because the terrain would make it impossible to drive a buggy safely. Some of the larger more prestigious courses may have caddies available and most will allow you to pull a simple club carrying golf cart or trolley.

One of the joys of an Ireland golf vacation is that even the grandest of the courses and clubs will welcome visitors. Book ahead to ensure a tee time and visit the website of the club ahead of your visit. Get a feel for local rules about dress and etiquette. Pick a lucky shamrock, warm yourself with a drop of local whiskey and swing away for the game of your life.

The world is full of golf courses but there is no country can boast as many shining jewels as Ireland. An Ireland golf vacation can make your golfing dream a reality. Grab you clubs and bag – lets go today.

You can discover the possibilities of an Ireland golf vacation in more detail on writer Gary Hill’s website. Read about the skills needed for successful golf on a seaside links course. Use the list of courses and website information to plan your trip. Book an all in one Ireland golf vacation package or take the plunge and do it all yourself.
All the information you will need for a successful Ireland golf vacation trip is available – along with help in planning a european vacation package.

Gary also contributes to this medical website on the theme of whiplash injury

Web marketers, do you hear what I hear?

“Click-click BOOM”

That’s the sound of your new linking strategy that’s going to positively blow your competition clear out of the water.

Click-click BOOM.

That’s your target customer, doing her thing, clicking on your URL and dropping onto your landing page, where she is about to be converted to a loyal paying customer for life.

Set your sights on the target customer.

Nowadays, the term “target audience” is so overused that it’s become trite and meaningless. But the fact is, targeting your ideal prospects has never been more crucial to the success of your web based business. On the web, you’re competing with the ENTIRE GLOBE… so if you don’t zero in on that single prototype who’s juiced for what you have, you’re wasting precious time and energy sending your message to the wrong eyes and ears.

So: pick a customer. Zero in on his wants and needs. Speak in words he can understand. Then, sell him something he can USE.

Choose your marketing weapon.

Is the proverbial violence starting to freak you out a little? Don’t worry, this is just a metaphor, and it’s one that’s been used for ages because it WORKS. Marketing is forever being compared to firing guns and weapons, because there is a distinct method to the madness and that method entails scoping out the most likely candidates for your product, and then streamlining your message to hit them dead-on. And imagine, all this being done without them even realizing what happened!

Okay, so you’ve got your target in sight. Your eye’s on the prize… but what marketing strategy will be your “weapon of choice?”

Article Marketing.

Writing articles on the web is the IDEAL way to capture those leads, convert prospects into paying customers and make that “Click click BOOM” happen for your company. Why? Because each of your articles will directly address a market segment that’s hot for your product… and because of the URL that appears at the end of every article you write that gets distributed all over the web.

Click-click BOOM.

That’s your customer clicking the link. He’s sold, brother! You sold him because you told him what he wanted to hear, and you did it in a medium that reached him in his own territory on the web. Article marketing: niche-based advertising to magnetize your customer to the power of your brand. Brilliant!

Reload.

Millions of marketers fully grasp the concept of aiming for the target buying prospect… so they write a couple of engaging articles, but then they tire of the game and soon they’re on to something else. You, my friend, should be firing that web article wisdom in rounds. Write five articles that hit your target audience over their collective head, send them out into circulation… and then write five more. Then, write five more after that! Keep the momentum going! The source of your marketing ammunition comes directly from your noggin, and that means a constant stream of fresh ideas that gives out when you give up the fight.

Are you feeling the Click-click BOOM yet? Let’s hope so. Now put those article marketing guns in the sky and blow your competition away.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Dina Giolitto is the author of ARTICLE POWER: Create Dynamite Web Articles and Watch Your Sales Explode… a 49-page manual covering every aspect of article marketing on the web. Learn about article marketing, copywriting and more at http://www.wordfeeder.com

Any parent of an active toddler has asked this question: “When
should my child start wearing shoes?”

There is no clear consensus. Some parents buy shoes as soon as
their baby pulls herself into a first tentative stand; others
wait as long as possible, preferring not to constrict their
children’s feet.

“As a general rule, kids will need shoes when they are ready to
start walking around outdoors,” says Peggy Wells, who is both a
mother and president of Pip Squeakers, a children’s shoe
company. “You will want something that protects your baby’s feet
but still allows for some flexibility,” she explains.

For parents contemplating purchasing their baby’s first shoes,
here are some suggestions for things to consider from the
experts at parentsplace.com and pipsqueakers.com:

* Make sure you get the proper fit. Shoes that are too tight or
too loose could be painful or cause blisters, and may even
hamper walking. Have your pediatrician measure your child’s
feet, during the regular check-ups. This will provide you with
an accurate measurement when you refer to a shoe company’s
sizing chart.

* Avoid stiff, high-top leather shoes; there is no evidence that
they help babies walk. Instead, look for something soft and
flexible that allows your baby to use the movement of his feet
to maintain balance and to walk. They should be made from canvas
or some other breathable material, and have flat, flexible,
non-slip soles.

* Get shoes your child likes. Pip Squeakers shoes make a
pleasing “squeak” that children enjoy. “It encourages them to
move, walk and explore their surroundings,” says Wells, who adds
that children enjoy creating the amusing sounds with each step.
An added benefit is safety: the sound allows parents to more
easily track the movements of their toddler and keep them within
a close radius.

* Safe closures. Make sure that your baby’s shoes fasten well.
Double-knot laces so that they are less likely to come undone
and make sure buckle straps are secure without being too tight.
Velcro fasteners are the easiest option.

* It is normal to have a slight discrepancy in foot size between
the two feet; you want to make sure to go with the shoe size
that fits the larger foot. Allow about one-half inch of space at
the end of the longest toe to the end of the shoe. The toes
should be able to wiggle freely, and the heel should not slip
with normal walking.

* Get the shoe that is most comfortable for your child, even if
it is not the same size that the measurement device indicates.
Be aware that sizing differs with each shoe company, so refer to
their respective sizing charts. It is advisable to inspect the
shoe fit every couple of weeks, to insure the continuing comfort
of your child’s feet.

Because of their unique ability to make sounds, Pip Squeakers
shoes may be of interest to parents of children with
disabilities who may have vision or mobility problems.

The Mission…To remove any obstacle that stands in the way of
a sale.

Most of us has at one time or another been ripped off by some
unscrupulous individual or a business of dubious character.
Because of this negative experience, we’ve become fearful of it
happening again and so we’re very careful about with whom we do
business.

Your prospects are no different. They fear being taken in some
way. This fear often paralyzes them from making a buying
decision. If the fear is too strong, they simply run for cover
and avoid the potential pain.

Your job as a marketer is to remove all the obstacles that may
be stopping people from buying. By eliminating, or at least
significantly minimizing all the hurdles, you are in effect
eliminating or reducing the effect of a prospect’s objections.

People want to buy. They want to say yes. They desire what you
offer. But the fear can often curtail even a strong impulse to
buy.

You can overcome this problem and improve your sales
dramatically by removing the risk from your prospect/customer
and assuming the risk yourself. In taking the risk away from
your prospect, you make it easier for him to buy. And the less
the prospect feels he is at risk, the more likely he is to want
to do business with you.

Examples

You can remove the risk by offering a strong, money-back
guarantee. Guarantees are a great way to relieve buyer anxiety
and increase sales. The stronger the guarantee — the more
effective it is. A 90 day guarantee will usually produce more
sales than a 30 day guarantee, and a one year guarantee is
better than 90 days. The longer and stronger your guarantee, the
more effective it will be in improving sales.

Another way to apply the risk-reversal principal is to offer a
payment plan instead of requiring full payment up front. Three
monthly payments of $34 is a safer bet than one payment of $100
for your customer, because he actually gets to try out your
product before having committed the full amount for it. As a
vendor, you’re assuming the risk – you’re assuming you’ll
collect on all three payments.

A third example is to accept a post-dated cheque as payment.
You’re assuming the risk because the buyer gets full advantage
of the product for free, until the cheque is redeemable. There’s
always the risk that you’ve accepted a bad cheque, but from the
buyers point of view, you must have a solid product that
delivers what you say to make such an offer.

How?

You can implement this strategy by improving your existing
guarantee. Extend the duration or remove unnecessary
restrictions that weaken your guarantee. The more hassle-free
you can make – the better.

If you can create a guarantee that is far superior to that
offered by your competition, you’ll capture more sales and
you’ll baffle them in the process! They’ll be astounded at your
audacity, but more customers will flock to you because of it.

Most buyers today have come to expect guarantees, so you might
as well offer the best guarantee in the business. Make your
guarantee a prominent part of all your marketing communications.
Guarantees make it easier to nudge an undecided prospect in your
favor.

The interesting thing about guarantees is that with a solid
product or service, you’ll rarely be called on to honor your
guarantee anyway. People tend to relax and forget about it. The
longer a guarantee, the more likely they’ll leave it for later,
which means they’ll forget and never pursue it. This is no
excuse for putting out products of suspect quality, it’s merely
an interesting revelation about human nature. So, you might as
well make it the most power-packed guarantee in the marketplace
and enjoy additional sales because of it!

More resources at www.makeyoursalessoar.com

As with everything else these days, the stock market has gone online. If you can shop, pay bills, and do your banking online, why not invest too? Investing online is not as big of an ordeal as some people make it out to be. The key is to know what you want before you start.

When opening a new account, investors need to answer the regular questions, such as the type of account they want and how it will be funded. When selecting an account type the kind you choose will depend on whether or not the account is taxable or tax-deferred, and also whether it is for just you or you and someone else.

You will also have to decide whether your account will be “cash” or “margin.” A cash account means you are only able to place trades for investments with money in your account. A margin account gives you a credit line from your brokerage firm. You can also have a “margin account with options,” which means you are purchasing the right to buy and/or sell a stock at a specific price. Options are quite complicated and usually only purchased by traders with experience and large portfolios.

After choosing the type of account money must be deposited. The initial deposit can be sent to the firm by check or an automatic transfer from a bank account. Another option is transferring an account from a different brokerage firm, but the process is quite lengthy and can take months to complete.

If you are trying online investing for the first time, start small. Don’t put every penny of your life savings into an online account. A smaller sum is easier to handle and easier to keep track of. When you feel confident and are ready, then you can expand your online account.

Another good thing to do when investing online is to try and stay diversified, in other words don’t concentrate all of your portfolio on just one thing, instead develop a well-balanced portfolio of stocks, bonds, and cash.

Many brokers will encourage you not to bail out on mutual funds. The main reason most investors are in mutual funds are because they don’t have the experience to make their own calls on stocks. They are also occupied with other things beside just watching the stock market. Keeping your mutual funds can be a wise decision instead of prematurely “playing the market” in individual stocks.

It is important to remember that online brokerage firms add fees and charges that need to be looked at closely. Before buying and selling large scale stocks online, look at what the tax results are of such trading. The average online brokerage costs are lower than full-service brokers, but fees can still add up.

Remember that just because you are investing online, the Internet is not foolproof and you are bound to run into some problems. There will surely be times when you are unable to gain access to your account. You’re connection could be down, the brokerage firm’s server could crash if trading is overly heavy, you could experience a software glitch, or you may be away from your computer when there is a major market move. Always be prepared for these things and keep in mind the available alternative trading options such as phone trading.

When investing online it is your responsibility to say as informed as possible. Don’t just settle for what you hear. Instead do a little research on a company before investing in them. There are services that send you automatic e-mail messages over news about your stock; take advantage of these. Remember in online investing everything is up to you and knowledge is power.

For more valuable information about investing online, please visit our website at www.info-research-online.com.