God the Wizard of Oz?

Author :

Dorothy needed the Wizard of Oz to get back to Kansas. And in this one sentence, all of our truth about God may be told. Yes or no?'Absolute Intelligence' - a recently released book by Ilexa Yardley proposes just this; that God is a circle, or God is a set of circles, or the one circle that combines all of the other circles. God is for us what the Wizard of Oz was for Dorothy. Is this just a crazy idea?Well, we know all things happen in pairs, or all things are opposite. We have the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, and everything we can think of, really, turning into its opposite side.Yardley figured out that because all things are one side of an opposite pair, all things must be circular. And therein lies a very important symmetry that defines and guards all the rest. Emmy Noether, a Bryn Mawr mathematician, discovered the relationship between symmetry and conservation holds true under any and all circumstances. For example, if energy is conserved (Einstein), there is a symmetry within it, or a continual transformation of particles of mass from one to another, but the sum total of energy never changes. Most people know this.Yardley figured out, because of Newtons third law (every action, an equal and opposite reaction), and Jungs shadows (opposite personality traits are hiding), and, by general observation, the fact that all things in nature have hidden and showing aspects, the universe is a set of infinite diameters'. Or every set of opposites is one point to another, creating an imaginary circle. The circle, like energy, is conserved. It never changes and is never destroyed.We find this in human interactions as well. When we meet up with another person, if we pay attention, our centers connect. We cant locate this in any physical reality, but we certainly can feel it. Yardley elaborates in her book, Think about any object, a lamp in your office, for example. You can find its center with your center, and then you can draw a circle around it in your mind. Cant you? I can."So, how do we do this circle drawing in our minds? Yardley says we can do it because all things are circles. This means all things have pi in them (3.14..that we know from high school geometry class). So, we connect to everything here, there, now and then, through pi. Thats where the intuitive feeling of connection comes from, person to person.So if this is true, then all of the circles that ever were, are and will be, are connected by pi. And all of us can find them inside. And the notion of a supreme being is true 'and' false, depending on how a person wants to see it.Certainly, this is what the 'Wizard of Oz' story is all about. The three men walking Dorothy through the forest, three wise men, or, faith, hope and charity. The witches, one good and one bad, two sides of every opposite pole. And then, of course, the grand finale: the wizard, or the circle, hiding behind a recognizable 'package', but no more a god than you or I.So was it a disaster or not that Dorothy had to get herself back to Kansas without the help of a 'God? Well it depends on how you look at it. 'Absolute Intelligence' is available at Amazon.com. See also <a href="http://www.absolute-intelligence.com" target="_blank">www.absolute-intelligence.com</a>.

Category : General Domain Names

Market Research Means Money

Author : Jason Carr
I recently made a critical mistake in my progression towards business success: I forgot about market research. I had decided that I was going to make some money with an online store. I thought to myself, where should I start? What can I sell? After a bit of brainstorming, I picked a few things that I thought might be good to sell online. I then proceeded to start looking for suppliers. This may seem like a reasonable course of action, but it is not. It is missing a key component of any business plan.A basic assumption for the purpose of this article is that there is competition involved with any business. Even if you make your own, unique product, similar products will compete against yours. However, the existence of competition is not necessarily bad. The fact that online retailers are selling items similar or identical to your own means that there is demand for your product. Competition is only bad for you, as a retailer, when the market is becoming saturated (or is already at that point).Check the electronics market for a good example of this principle. Electronics go for rock-bottom prices online because there are so many different stores that sell them. The difference in prices between stores usually comes down to the cost of shipping. The competition in this area is extreme. If retailers cut their prices any lower they won’t make enough to survive.The first person who had the idea to sell VCRs online probably made a killing. Nowadays, nobody makes anything more than a buck or two per unit. For a home-based business, that’s not good enough. Today’s electronics dealers depend on volume, and very good supply sources, in order to make their money. Generally speaking, small retailers cannot sell at those prices and turn a profit.In order to be successful it is essential that you know what you’re up against, and that means market research.If you are selecting your products, then you need to know which stores already sell those products. You also need to know how many stores there are, how much they are charging and, if you can find out, how well they are doing. Could you sell for less (if only a little)? What are other ways you could differentiate your store from the rest?If you already have your product, then you need to know where and how your competitors are advertising. Are they concentrated in one location? Are there good places that they have overlooked? How much is it going to cost to compete with them for prime ad space?So, you may ask, where do I begin? The answer is Overture. Owned by Yahoo, Overture is one of the largest and most reliable pay-per-click advertising services. Their program can be an extremely effective, but that is something for another day.What you need for research requires no sign-up and belongs to no program. There are two web tools in the Overture Advertiser Center that can be amazingly useful. The first is the Search Term Suggestion Tool. This tool allows you to look up a keyword, like “digital camera”, and find out how many people searched for that term last month. Not only that, but the tool will suggest a list of related terms, like “digital camera review”, for your consideration.The number of searches per term comes from Overture’s partners like Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista, CNN, etc. This is critical information because it tells you whether or not people are looking for your product online and, at the same time, shows you how they are searching for it. This indicates a certain demand for your product.You may be able to judge the size of the demand, to a certain degree, by the number of searches for your terms. For example (numbers taken at time of writing and may not reflect current rates):Digital Camera â€" 1,337,422 (high interest)Used Car â€" 890,346Mountain Bike â€" 133,553Blender â€" 26,648Bubble Gum Machine â€" 1,502Chapstick Raspberry Vanilla â€" 25 (very low interest)Keep in mind that users searching for ‘digital camera’ are not necessarily shopping for one. They may just want information such as reviews or feature lists. It is also good to remember that if people are searching on Yahoo and MSN, as in the case of digital cameras, then you can safely assume that even more people are searching for the same things on Google.The second tool Overture provides is the View Bids Tool. This tool allows you to take the keywords that you found with the term suggestion tool and see how many ads there are for each term and how high the bids are (in order to be listed on top of your competition you must place a higher bid for the term you want). This tool can help you judge your competition.For example, at the time of this writing there are 131 ads associated with the term digital camera. The top bid is 79 cents per click. Bubble gum machine has 13 ads with a top bid of 49 cents. Chapstick Raspberry Vanilla, not surprisingly, has no bids on the term which means that the top spot could be purchased for the minimum price of 10 cents per click.After you have your information from Overture, Google is your likely next step. To my knowledge, Google does not provide any analysis tools to the general public, though information is available to registered advertisers. Despite this limitation, it is easy to find your competition on Google. Simply enter your search term and check the right side of the results screen. The first page should show the top advertisers. Checking subsequent pages will reveal the entire list of advertisers for that term.Tip: Sometimes advertisers may be targeting your term, but not selling your product. Read through the ads and visit the sites to get a more accurate idea of your direct competitors.The natural results (the normal, non-ad results) of your search are important as well. Check those to see the top ranked sites in your market. Those sites are probably there because they employ search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Users are much more likely to click on the natural results than they are the ads. The stores at the top of the list are likely to be well established and may represent some solid competition.Visit your competitor’s web sites and see what they are selling. Check for site quality, organization, ease of use and amount of products sold. Perhaps they sell your product, but it is lost in a vast sea of other related merchandise. That means better chances for your niche store. Maybe their site is ugly or hard to navigate. These are points at which you could gain an advantage over your rivals. Checking other sites will also give you ideas about how to run your own store.The third step in this process is to check out Yahoo! Shopping. Yahoo! hosts what is known as an online mall. That is, retailers setup stores with Yahoo!’s services and are then included in Yahoo! Shopping’s listings. This can be a good way to get fast traffic. For market research, it means easy access to competitor sites. On the Yahoo! Shopping main page, do a search for your product (Braun blenders for example). The results will show sponsored ads and normal listings. The sponsored ads come from Overture, so you should already be familiar with those.The normal listings come from a combination of Yahoo! Product Submit results and Yahoo!’s web-crawler search database. What is important in this list is actually displayed just below the top sponsor listings and just above the normal listings. There should be two numbers: the number of products found and the number of stores they were found in. For ‘Braun blenders’ there were 989 matches from 76 stores (at time of writing). Those numbers give you an indication of how many stores you’re up against.Note: If there are too many matches, the number of stores will not be displayed (ex. ‘sony dvd player’ yields 3,660 matches). Of course, numbers that high shout, “big competition,” even without store numbers.Here again you have the opportunity to scope out competing stores. The thorough researcher would get their names and site locations. This may seem time consuming, and it is, but it will help with future research.Our final recommendation is to visit eBay. Once there, find the eBay Stores area (located in the Specialty Sites box on the homepage at time of writing). Enter your search term to see how many eBay stores are selling your product. ‘Braun blenders’ shows ten items in eBay stores (not bad compared to Yahoo!). In addition, the search may show regular listings below the store results. These results should give you some idea of the popularity of your product as well as the feasibility of selling it on eBay.Quick Recap:Overture (free analysis tools)Google (ads and natural results)Yahoo! Shopping (number of stores)eBay Stores (same deal)Remember, some competition is good because it shows that there is an interest in your product. Too much competition is bad because it means low profitability. The spot where you can make good money is somewhere in between (most likely on the low end of the competition scale). Unfortunately, I know of no exact way to calculate your chances of success. For those who can afford it, hiring a market research professional might help considerably with that calculation. In any case, a solid business plan built on thorough market research will certainly boost your chances significantly.About The AuthorJason Carr is a small business owner, dedicated student of e-commerce strategy, and producer of BeginBiz, an online resource for those looking to start an internet business.BeginBizAdmin@startnetbiz.com
Category : Biking

Mini Moto Engine

Author : Matt Tong
Industrial engines. They are still used by several manufacturers (most notably Blata on their entry level bike) and typically produce between 2.5 and 3.5 horse power (hp). All are air-cooled. Tuning and performance parts are very limited.The Chinese 47/49cc. These engines are used in the Chinese made mk2, and mk3 minimotos. They are air cooled and produce between 2.5 and 3.5 horse power (hp). This engine is different from the industrial engine that is used in the Blata, as it is specifically created for mini moto use.Polini 4.2 engine. This is the basic Polini engine and, as it’s name suggests, it produces 4.2 hp in standard form. It is air-cooled and uses the ‘series I’ crankcase with the 3-port cylinder. There is plenty of scope and parts for tuning but few people bother because most racing classes for the 4.2 won’t allow any modifications.Polini 6.2 engine. The top end of this engine is the same as the 4.2 (3-port) but is available with either water or air-cooling. The bottom end uses the ‘series II’ crankcase. This helps to make it more powerful. Race regulations don’t allow modification to the engine internals but do allow performance parts, the most significant being the exhaust. There are a wide range of alternative exhausts that year after year manage to extract more power from the engine. Consequently the 6.2 ‘tag’ no longer means anything, these little rockets (more often referred to as ‘production’ nowadays) claim power outputs of up to 9hp.The Chinese made water cooled engine. This engine is very similar to the Polini 6.2 however it is a series 1 crankcase engine. The engine is water cooled and is used in the Origami B1 replica. The engine produces around 7.5/8.5 horse power (hp) Many of the parts on this engine are interchangeable with the Polini.What’s the difference between the ‘series I’ and ‘series II’ crankcase?. Fuel is drawn from the carb into the crankcase via a one-way valve known as the ‘reed valve’. The intake port (where the reed valve and carb join the engine) on the series I engine will only accommodate a reed valve assembly with one reed ‘petal’ whereas the series II will take a reed valve ‘cage’ that accommodates two reed petals. A two-petal reed valve will allow more fuel mixture to flow into the engine and, therefore, produces more power.Polini Super engine. The super also uses the series two crankcase but with a 5-port cylinder. It is only available in water cooled now but used to come as air cooled as well. To compete with Polini, Mallossi manufacture an alternative 5-port cylinder. There are no restrictions on tuning supers and with engine ‘porting’, bigger carbs and other performance parts they can be turned into awesome machines (for their size) easily producing 12hp.What is meant by 3 and 5 port?. This refers to the amount of ‘transfer’ ports built into the cylinder. The transfer ports draw the fuel mixture up from the crankcase and ‘dump’ it above the piston prior to ignition. A five-port cylinder has potential to produce more power.40cc or 50cc. The 3 port engines are only available in 40cc. The 5 port cylinder comes in both 40 and 50cc. ZPF offer a tuned 5-port polini cylinder with their own ‘special’ cylinder head. The extra cc gives 25% more displacement and, therefore, has the potential for more power. 50’s are more common in the USA but they're catching on fast in the UK. The UK now allows them to race in championships.The Polini engine components are interchangeable, which can make for some interesting combinations. However, people don’t tend to bother because of class restrictions and it is usually easier to upgrade the whole bike or change the complete engine.Matt Tong has been importing and riding Mini Motos for two years. For expert advice and Mini Moto information please visit http://www.minimotosandmore.com
Category : Small Business

Saint Petersburg, Russia Hotel Infrastructure Continues to Improve

Author :

4th, 2005

Looking for a Vacation in Paradise? Try a Bahamas Vacation

Author : Terry Malone
Plan your next vacation where most people call paradise...the Bahamas Islands. Choose from the many islands such as Grand Bahama Island, Nassau, Paradise Island, Abaco and Eleuthera. The Bahamas is an archipelago of over 700 islands. Find a perfect Bahamas vacation rental and enjoy all that a Bahamas vacation has to offer. Experience the unique cuisine, culture and nightlife of these historic islands.Whether you’re planning a family vacation, wedding, or romantic getaway, a Bahamas vacation offers it all.
There are a number of reasons people select a vacation rental in the Bahamas. Islands such as the Grand Bahamas Island, Nassau, Eleuthera, and Abaco offer some of the best climates, beaches, sun, and fun places to vacation in the world.Eleuthera is famous for it's pineapple - Nassau and Paradise Island boast some of the most beautiful beaches - Abaco offers world-class sailing. However, the biggest attractions by far are the powder-white beaches and sparkling, turquoise water. All of these combine to keep vacationers coming back year after year. There are many great beach resorts on the islands, but you can also plan a vacation getaway with a very private vacation rental in the Bahamas.The Bahamas Islands are full of exciting activities. Vacationers can learn to scuba dive or snorkel on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world - Paradise Island, Nassau, Eleuthera, and Abaco. Grand Bahamas Island is the center of outdoor nature activities, including horseback riding, nature tours, kayaking, National Parks, and more. The steady tradewinds make these waters great for wind surfing and sailing. Let’s don’t forget to mention shopping, sightseeing, cycling, and even nature tours.Let’s go Fishing! All of the Bahamas Islands - Paradise Island, Eleuthera, Abaco - have their secret spots that the local guides are willing to share with vacationing fisherman. There are plenty of charter boats available that engage in sport fishing such as sailfish, marlin, tuna and tarpon. However, the sportfishing meca is on Bimini Island, just 50 miles south of Florida.Whether you’re planning a relaxing family vacation, romantic getaway, or a corporate outing, a Bahamas vacation has a lot to offer for everyone.Terry Malone is the webmaster and owner of Vacation Rentals Unlimited - http://www.vrul.com.
Visit us to find great deals on vacation rentals that are offered directly from their owners.
Category : Destinations

Sacred Love - Humble to the Magnificence of Life, Potent in the Power of Love

Author : Christopher Walker
True Love is revealed in all its magnificence when we understand life from a higher perspective. The Universal Laws are a huge and magnificent perspective on love and life. To understand nature's perspective, or True Love, we sit on the moon and look back at our magnificent planet. Then, all she embraces, shares, and gives holds us in awe, and it is easy to be impressed at the beauty of life. We are objective, nothing affects us, we have love for the earth and all who live on her. We can no longer associate with good or bad, right or wrong. Our footy team doesn't really matter from way out here, we have balanced perspective, and a smile comes over our face.Wow. We can see the whole magnificent story of human existence, including our own, spinning on that globe. The traumas and wars seem just part of something bigger, the overall picture becomes important, events become like the fallen leaves of a great tree, just a part of the evolution of life. This is the perspective given to us through the Universal laws of Nature; we can only love what we see. We are detached, not emotionally bound, in love with the perfection.And now, we descend back toward earth, and, once again, as we lose this vantage from the moon, we begin to see borders and nations, conflicts and disturbances in isolation. We start to become emotional again; we take sides, and lose the huge perfective. Our perspective shrinks from a global one to a local one. Back into our ego, we finally land, feet on the earth. That perspective, so easily achieved on the moon, is lost now, because our perspective is a personal one.With our little perspectives of life we become self interested and argue, "This is right and this is wrong", because now, as a grain of sand on a huge beach of sand grains, we fear our unimportance. We poke our head up out of the sand grains around us and say, "Hey, you bastards look at me. I'm clever. I'm rich. I'm famous. I'm right. I'm spiritual". We create individual identities, so true love is lost, identities reign, emotions are king and queen, we are now unhappy.Now we are grains of sand with individual identities called ego, and we forget where we came from, and the love that made us. We love if lovers are worthy, we block love when we think they are not; we are now small entities, fighting for survival. We are human.As grains of sand we see the world through smaller eyes, and can only see our part of the beach. We see our home, our family, our work, our friends, and our enemies. And our opinion, which on the moon was irrelevant and inconsequential, now becomes the golden truth. The bubble we call ourselves is now constructed with ideas, thoughts, and materials. Now we read newspapers and magazines, attend courses and church, looking to reinforce and justify our personal perspective on the world, "This is good" or "This is bad". Until the tide comes in.True Love means a huge perspective. As we sit beneath the canopy of nature, we can only imagine the wealth of love that must exist. We are just one person, sitting on one planet, of which there are twelve around our sun, of which there is 6 trillion in one galaxy, and of which there are 50 million that we have so far been able to measure. This is love, this perspective. Now look back from there at our little home, and you will see what true love really means. Chris Walker is a world leading change agent, an environmentalist and author of more than 20 books. Born and bred in Australia, he consults to people and organisations throughout the world on improved relationships, health and lifestyle through the application of the Universal laws of Nature. The result he offers is that we stay balanced, share loving relationships, work with passion, enjoy success, and live our personal truth. To learn more about Chris's work and journeys to Nepal, visit http://www.chriswalker.com.au
Category : News-and-Society:Love

Web site questions and answers

Author : Florie Lyn Masarate

How should it be promoted? What should it look like? Can it be done on my own or should a professional be hired to do it?
These are just some of the questions that need to be answered first before designing a web site. Experts on this field can be turned to help and do the job for you. Doing it yourself would also be an option if you are taking into consideration the expenses and the time that can be saved by doing so. There are things that needed to be considered in designing your website. And questions, too.
What is the goal of the site? It would be helpful if you know from the start what you want your site to do. Simple as it may seem, you need to get ideas organized into clear details first. Think of the site in the point of view of others. The impressions that they would surely have upon seeing your site. Putting graphics and pictures into the site as attention-seekers is important to keep up with the many sites available nowadays. Having a site does not only mean having information to give and share. It also means creating an art work that people will be interested enough to see and read through.
What have the others got? By doing your homework and looking up probable competition sites, you can get an edge on what your site should possess. Do your homework. You can get lessons, feedbacks and even inspiration in seeing the works of other people. Looking them up does not mean you have to copy them. It means you have to think of other ways to get leverage over the others. Once this has been done, consider yourself on the frontline and be ready to set some trend.
How do you find a good designer? In this case, you have chosen someone to do the designs for you. In finding the right designer, choose someone who understands and is in harmony with what you want your site to be. It is important to note that some designers want their designs put into your site and not your designs into yours. Consider someone who is interested in what youre doing, think your thoughts and makes them the center of their goal.
Is it accessible? Make it easy for people to see your site and contact you for any complaints or suggestions. Putting contact details would make it easier for people to not only get into your site but you as well.
What is there to remember? Keeping it simple. From the words to the logos to the graphic designs. People did not come into your site for those so stick to the more important things. Just KISS.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

About the author:

Florie Lyn Masarate got her first article printed in the school newsletter in the third grade. Her hobbies include reading any book she can get her hands on.

Category : Web Development