Going overseas protect your passport

When entering some countries or registering at hotels, you may be asked to fill out a police card listing your name, passport number, destination, local address, and reason for travel. You may be required to leave your passport at the hotel reception desk overnight so that it may be checked by local police officials. These are normal procedures required by local laws. If your passport is not returned the following morning, immediately report the impoundments to local police authorities and to the nearest U. S. embassy or consulate.

Passport Fraud

Law enforcement records show that U. S. passports are sometimes used for illegal entry into the United States, or by criminals abroad seeking to establish another identity. This can cause embarrassment to innocent U. S. citizens whose names become associated with illegal activities. To protect the integrity of the U. S. passport and the security of the person bearing it, consular officers overseas have found it necessary to take precautions in processing lost passport cases. These precautions may involve some delay before a new passport is issued.

Safeguard Your Passport

Carelessness is the main cause for losing a passport or having it stolen. You may find that you have to carry your passport with you because you need to show it when you cash traveler's checks or the country that you are visiting requires you to carry it as an identity document. When you must carry your passport, hide it securely on your person. Do not leave it in a handbag nor in an exposed pocket. Whenever possible, leave your passport in the hotel safe, not in an empty hotel room, and not packed in your luggage. One family member should not carry all the passports for the entire family.

Guard Against Thieves

Coat pockets, handbags, and hip pockets are particularly susceptible to theft. Thieves will use all kinds of ploys to divert your attention just long enough to pick your pocket and grab your purse or wallet. These ploys include creating a disturbance, spilling something on your clothing, or even handing you a baby to hold!

You can try to prevent theft by carrying your belongings in a secure manner. For example, consider not carrying a purse or wallet when going along crowded streets. Women who carry a shoulder bag should keep it tucked under the arm and held securely by the strap. Men should put their wallets in their front trouser pockets or use money belts instead of hip pockets. A wallet wrapped in rubber bands is more difficult to remove without notice. Be especially cautious in a large crowd _ in the subway, on buses, at the marketplace, at a festival, or if surrounded by groups of vagrant children. Do not make it easy for thieves!

Do you need bluetooth

When buying any digital electronic device, whether a cellphone, PDA, or notebook computer, it is important to check the specifications to ensure that it will serve your purposes. Bluetooth is becoming an increasingly popular offering in personal electronics, but do you need it?

What Is Bluetooth?

Bluetooth is a wireless PAN (Personal Area Network) transmission protocol standard. In layman’s terms, Bluetooth is a technology that enables a device to communicate and share data with other Bluetooth capable devices – cellphones, headsets, PDAs, notebook computers, desktop PCs, computer peripherals, printers, cameras, and others – through radio wave transmission (so there is no need for wires) at a range of around 1, 10, or 100 meters, depending on the class of your Bluetooth device (Class 1 has the longest range and Class 3 the shortest).

If a device has a Bluetooth chip, it can communicate with other devices that have a Bluetooth chip. Users can share pictures, movies, datasheets, documents, and all sorts of information among them as long as their devices are in range (they do not need to be in direct line of sight). For instance, a Bluetooth-capable digital camera can communicate with a Bluetooth-capable printer for direct printing. Likewise, a Bluetooth-capable cellphone can be connected to a Bluetooth-equipped headset so that a person can take and make hands-free telephone calls.

Bluetooth can be used for internet connectivity as long as a Bluetooth-enabled computer is in range of a Bluetooth modem. Bluetooth devices can also form a small wireless network (called a piconet) of up to 8 devices. For security, devices can be paired and transmissions encrypted. So that it causes only minimal interference, Bluetooth periodically changes frequency channels.

Bluetooth uses the same radio frequency that 802.11 Wireless Networking does, but it is much simpler than 802.11 technology, negating the need for complex network configurations. Bluetooth also has lower power consumption, making it more economical, though its range is shorter.

You Need Bluetooth

If you wish to have an extremely basic home network, Bluetooth is for you. There are no wires to trip you and there are no complex configurations like network permissions or addresses to deal with. Piconets are temporary, so a new device can immediately join or leave a Bluetooth network with nothing more than a simple device discovery. It is important to note, however, that piconets are no substitution for a traditional home network (whether through Ethernet or 802.11 Wireless), which are much more reliable and offer much more full-bodied security options.

If you have a notebook computer, there is a good chance you will want to have Bluetooth connectivity so that you can take advantage of the many Bluetooth-equipped peripherals, thereby eliminating the need for bulky wires. You can also easily synchronize data between your handheld devices and your notebook computer. Moreover, if you are fond of sharing data with other handheld device users, you definitely need to have Bluetooth for easy and convenient data sharing.

You Don’t Need Bluetooth

It is important to note that Bluetooth can present a security risk if you store sensitive information on your Bluetooth-enabled device. If you are traveling with sensitive information on your computer, cell-phone, or PDA, it is wise to disable Bluetooth temporarily to prevent data theft or exploitation. Please also note that some corporations and government entities disapprove of Bluetooth and similar convenience-based additions, so please check with your employer if you intend to use your Bluetooth-enabled notebook for business.

This article may be republished freely as long as this copyright notice and box of resource links are included at the bottom.

Copyright © 2007 MALIBAL, lLc

Creating a unique look with myspace layouts

If you are a member with the MySpace community, then there is a good reason for you to be unique. By being unique there are a lot of chances to create better opportunities. These opportunities will include forming new groups of friends, and networking with various other individuals. MySpace layouts make it possible for all members to be unique.

The number of layouts available is astounding, and there are various unlimited possibilities to pick one. There is no need to be scouting around for too long either, as you will be able to find them easily on the web. All members can create a unique outlook with MySpace layouts, as there are so many themes to relate to. Many of them would have not even seen such themes.

It would be surprising to find themes of your favorite movie star or some cartoon of your choice. Using these layouts should be encouraged because of the vast number of users on this site. There are millions, and imagine if these millions all had the same layouts. It would definitely become boring. Thus to create a better look and feel to the profile, versatile MySpace layouts are offered.

It is no exaggeration when you talk about creating a unique look with these layouts. They are definitely unique because no two layouts are similar in any way. Then one can imagine how many there are, and how they are being offered. Being unique should be the first priority for any member on MySpace. This is because this is the only way to stand out among the crowd.

By standing out among the crowd, one is always making the results of the profile better. There would be no reason for any visitor to complain as such. The visitors to the profile will enjoy reading it, as there will be different layouts from other profiles. Sometimes the variety is so large, that not even one will be repeated in many profiles.

This is the reason you can make it unique. Creating such a unique look to the profile is easy and the chance must also be used, as no other networking site offers such opportunities. This is the reason that most members enjoy using MySpace layouts, as they are free and also can be changed whenever they please. Trying to be unique is also a primary reason that MySpace layouts exist.

They try to offer the best options so that members will never get bored with the usage of the layouts. Being unique is probably what all the members on the site want to do, so they may use this chance to do so. They must also try to pick what they think is the best, and what they think is the right one to match their profiles.

Disneyland-and-disabilities-421

Disneyland and Disabilities

Even if you are confined to a wheelchair or on

crutches, you can still enjoy Disneyland. If you are

on crutches, you should consider renting a

Disneyland Scooter to get around the park. The

rental fee is $35 per day, with a $20 deposit. A valid

driver’s license is required, and you must be

eighteen years old or older.

You can also choose to rent a wheelchair, which is

not electronic. The rental fee for a wheelchair is $8

per day, with a $20 deposit. You do not have to rent

your wheelchair or Scooter from Disneyland. You can

choose to rent the apparatus from a private company,

and have the wheelchair or scooter delivered to your

hotel room. You may find that it is cheaper to rent

from a private company, as opposed to renting from

Disneyland.

All of the restaurants and shops are wheelchair

accessible, as are the entertainment areas. When it

comes to wheelchairs, your problem will be

accessing some of the rides. Some rides are not

appropriate for people who are in wheelchairs,

while others are perfectly suitable. For instance, you

will not be able to enjoy Donald’s Boat, Sailing Ship,

or Tarzan’s Tree house.

However, there are many attractions that you can

enjoy, such as The Disney Gallery, Disneyland

Monorail, the Disneyland Railroad, the Tiki Room,

The Golden Horseshoe, It’s A Small World, Mark

Twain Riverboat, and Tom Sawyer Island. Some

attractions will require you to be transferred from your

wheelchair, such as Alice in Wonderland, Indiana

Jones, and the King Arthur Carrousel.

Cast members and service personnel will be happy

to help with Guest wheelchair transfers, and if you

should lose a wheelchair or scooter that you’ve rented

from Disneyland, simply show the ticket for the

wheelchair or scooter, and Disneyland will happily

supply you with another one. However, if you lose a

wheelchair or scooter that was rented from an outside

company, Disneyland will not be able to help you

replace it, and you may have to pay the rental company

the full value of the chair. This is something to consider

when you are trying to decide whether to rent from

Disneyland or a private company.

Whether you can enjoy a ride in your wheelchair, or

you must be transferred from your wheelchair to the

ride, you can actually enjoy most of the rides at

Disneyland. Do not allow the fact that you can’t walk

around the park keep you from planning a Disneyland

Vacation. Again, Disneyland was designed with

everyone in mind!

(word count 421)

PPPPP

The real estate market in scottsdale arizona

Scottsdale is hot, hot, and hot. Well, at least the temperature is. The real estate market in Scottsdale has been very cool for some time notwithstanding national trends.

The Real Estate Market in Scottsdale, Arizona

Scottsdale is located just to the north and east of Phoenix. With the growth explosion in both areas, it is becoming more difficult to tell them apart. Nonetheless, Scottsdale has a population of just less than a quarter of a million people and his home to the famous Phoenician Resort. With massive growth over the last 15 years, the city has a definite new feel to it.

The average selling price of a home for sale in Scottsdale is just over $210,000. This figure is about $30,000 over the national sales price for similar homes. Unfortunately, the market has been suffering a down period with appreciation crawling along at a little over four percent. Despite these numbers, real estate market appears primed for a rebound.

As with any part of the country, a prime indicator for real estate is the local economy. In Scottsdale, the economy is picking up steam. Job growth is at a strong four percent with much stronger growth projected through the foreseeable future. Practically speaking, this means salaries and worker demand should increase. These people are going need places to live and will have money in the bank. This surely represents a solid real estate market project for Scottsdale.

With its close proximity to Phoenix, practical amenities are plentiful in Scottsdale. With the exception of snow skiing, you can find practically anything you need within 20 minutes. From an education standpoint, schools in Scottsdale are of high quality and consistently rank above national averages. Health care costs are also on par with national averages, while violent crime rates are about half of the national average.

As you might imagine, it gets dry and hot in Scottsdale. Recently, the area went four months without any rain in the middle of winter. Historically, it has received about nine inches per year. Average temperatures in the summer are a robust 103 degrees on average, but winter days can cool down into the forties.

While the weather is mostly blazing hot in Scottsdale, the real estate market seems to have missed out on the recent real estate craze. Perhaps it is just a little late in getting to the party.

How the internet sparked the boom in forex trading

Unless you've been living under a rock the past decade or so, you've undoubtedly heard a new word enter the English lexicon -- forex. Before the advent of the Internet, almost no one had ever heard the word, let alone knew what it meant. But now, it seems like everyone and their brother has a "foolproof" system for reaping tremendous profits trading currencies on the forex. While most of these systems quickly bite the dust -- along with the traders employing them -- thousands of individual investors join the largest financial market in the world, the forex, every day, and many of them do realize their financial dreams without ever leaving the comfort of their home offices. And to think, none of this was possible just a few years ago, before the widespread adoption of the Internet.

The Forex-Internet Boom

For those that don't know, "forex" is short for "foreign exchange," and it is the market in which international currencies are traded. Historically, government central banks, hedge funds, major international banks, and extremely wealthy individuals have been the big players in the forex: George Soros, for example, made his fortune trading currencies -- he made over $1 billion in a single month once! But ever since the Internet reached the masses, the forex has become a favorite trading platform of everyday individual investors like you and me.

Why has the Internet been so important to the expansion of forex participation? Well, for one reason, forex trades have zero commissions. This means in the days before the Net, investment advisors couldn't make money convincing their clients to trade currencies, and without the Information Superhighway, individual investors had no way of placing forex trades themselves. But now, with worldwide cyber-connectivity, anyone and everyone can play the forex -- it isn't just for the Alan Greenspans and George Soroses of the world, now.

A Few Caveats...

It is important to note that while there are no commissions charged on forex trades, there is a spread between the bid and ask prices of each currency pair. For example, the currency pair of the U. S. dollar and the Canadian dollar, expressed as USD/CAD, may have a bid price of 1.0590, and an ask price of 1.0595. What the heck does that mean? It means that that you can obtain 1.0590 Canadian dollars for every one U. S. dollar; or you can pay 1.0595 Canadian dollars for every one U. S. dollar. In other words, you have to pay more for Canadian dollars than the bank is willing to buy them from you -- if you've ever exchanged Canadian dollars outside of the forex, (i. e. on a trip to Canada), you're undoubtedly familiar with this spread.

Secondly, it's important to note that forex accounts allow you to have a tremendous amount of leverage. Typically, you can control $100 of currency for every $1 in your account. So, for example, if you were to risk $1,000 of your actual money, you could control $100,000 worth of currency. If the currency appreciated (went up) by 1%, you would make 1% of $100,000 -- $1,000 -- i. e., you'd double your money on a 1% move! But if the opposite occurred, if your currency depreciated (went down) by 1%, you would lose 1% of $100,000 -- i. e., your entire investment. And you can imagine what would happen if your currency went down by 2% or more!

So the best advice is to play it safe. Read up on the forex and open a practice account before risking real money. The forex is the largest and most exciting financial market in the world, and you don't have to be a genius to make money in it, but you should at least have the basics down. Good luck!

Desert storm veterans

Desert Storm Veterans

Even though the Desert Storm war was over very quickly, it does live on in the history books. While it was triumphant for the United Nations and for the United States, many veterans have not forgotten about what took place there. It is important to remember these men and women for their efforts. They put their own safety on the line to be able to fight for their country.

Many of these veterans of Desert Storm have stories to share of what their personal experience was. This is the type of information you won’t find just by reading history books. Hopefully you can get these stories first hand from family or friends who were a part of Desert Storm. Some of the veterans come to speak at assemblies as well. There are plenty of stories these veterans can share with you online as well.

Through the eyes of the veterans of Desert Storm though you will see a new picture of the events. Too many people have the believe that it was a quick and easy plight due to how fast it was implemented and then over with. Yet these veterans can tell you storms of being afraid, if seeing death, and of wondering if they would be going back home or if their fate would also be to die during the war.

There are various memorials in place to show our honor to the veterans of Desert Storm. This is an effort to help ensure they will always be remembered for their bravery. We also need to be providing those same veterans with the medial help them need. Some of the scars from this war are on their bodies. They need help getting around and doing their daily activities. Others have illnesses that may be related to chemical weapons initiated by Iraq. They have attacked their nervous system and other parts of their bodies.

Other scars they suffered from Desert Storm are emotional though and you can’t see them. The number of veterans from this war diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is very high. As a result there is ongoing treatment for them including counseling and even medication. This continued support is important in order to repay each of these veterans for what they did for us.