Christina LaVassaur's Open Salon Blog

5 Tips For Fountain Pens Gift Giving

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:03:47 -0400

Fountain pens make great gifts. They're personal, stylish and fun, not to mention very useful in everyday life.

There are so many fine pens to choose from, and you can guarantee personalization by having them engraved. However, because there are a lot of options, choosing the "right" pen for that special person on your gift list can be intimidating. Here are some tips for making it easy and enjoyable instead.

Tip #1: Focus on the other person's preferences, not your own.
If you like the same things, you've got it made. But that's usually not the case. Put yourself in the other person's shoes and you're off to a good start.

Tip #2: What type of writing instrument?
There are four choices: Fountain Pen, Ball Point Pen, Rollerball Pen and Mechanical Pencil. What type is used as an everyday writing instrument? How about for special occasions like signing documents or writing personal correspondence? What is his or her profession? Answering these questions will help you determine the type.

Tip #3: Evaluate a handwriting sample of the person.
This is especially helpful if you're going to pick out a fountain pen. And it's easier than it may sound. For instance, a fine nib is your best bet for smaller writing or writing that has slimmer lines. On the other hand, a medium to broad sized nib works well for writing that's larger and darker. If the sample wasn't written with a fountain pen, it will either confirm or change the decision you made as a result of Tip #2.

Tip #4: Decide how much you want to spend.
This can help you narrow the field and not get too distracted. But give yourself a reasonable range so you'll still have plenty of choices. Sometimes a slightly more expensive writing instrument will make a big difference in quality, performance and appearance.

Tip #5: What's the person's style?
Is he or she traditional, a trendsetter or somewhere in between? Get your clues from personal or business attire, accessories such as watches, jewelry and eyewear, even what the person drives. These answers will help you pick a pen brand, finish, color and more, until you've made your final selection.

Personal Wireless with Bluetooth

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:03:32 -0400

If you already have a wireless network for your computers, you may be very interested in what's coming next. Would you like it if your PDA, your mobile phone, your mp3 player and almost everything else you connect to your computer could be wireless too? It's already a reality...

Personal Area Network.

Using wireless networking with your personal gadgets is often called PAN, which stands for Personal Area Network. The idea is that, in the future, we'll all have laptop computers with their batteries charged and no more need to connect any wires to them at all -- you just place your Bluetooth device near the computer, and the computer sees it and can use it straightaway.

Bluetooth has been around and in-use since 1999, and it's only getting more popular. It was designed to be secure, low cost, and easy to use from day one.

There are two classes of Bluetooth that are in popular use: class 1 and class 2. Class 2 is the most common and cheaper standard, allowing you to use a device that is up to 10 metres (32 feet) away. Class 1 is rarer, but you can still find devices that use it easily enough, and it has ten times the range: 100 metres or 320 feet.

How Does It Work?

Bluetooth is more flexible than 802.11 wireless networking, in exchange for the shorter range. Essentially, a Bluetooth-enabled computer has one Bluetooth receiver installed in it, and this receiver can then be used with up to 7 nearby Bluetooth devices. On the other end, wireless devices do not need to have Bluetooth installed if they support it -- it is already integrated.

Like 802.11, Bluetooth works by using radio signals to create bandwidth. It is not, though, the same thing as an old-style wireless mouse or keyboard, which required a receiver to be plugged into one of your computers' ports, and didn't have range or stability anywhere near that of Bluetooth.

Many computers now come with built in Bluetooth, especially Apple Macs. If you want to add Bluetooth to a computer that doesn't come with it pre-installed, you should probably use a USB to Bluetooth adapter, although internal Bluetooth devices to install in your computer are available. If you have a laptop and a spare PCMCIA slot, you can get Bluetooth cards for that too.

What Can You Do With Bluetooth?

Mobile phones with Bluetooth are very popular, and so are PDAs -- the instant synchronisation of addresses and calendars to a computer is a useful feature. Other than that, almost anything that would usually use USB can be done using Bluetooth, including digital cameras, mp3 players, printers, and even mice and keyboards. If you take a look through the comprehensive list of Bluetooth 'profiles' (kinds of devices that could, in theory, be Bluetooth enabled), it includes cordless phones, faxes, headsets, and even video.

Basically, more than anything, Bluetooth is a replacement for USB: some say that while 802.11 wireless networking is wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth is wireless USB.

Not Just for Computers.

Part of the power of Bluetooth is that it isn't just used to connect things to computers -- it can be used to connect almost anything to anything else, if both things are Bluetooth-enabled and recognise each other.

Mobile phones, in particular, take advantage of this. Hands-free headsets often use Bluetooth to communicate with the phone. Some cars, for example, now have on-board computers that will connect with a Bluetooth phone and allow you to make hands-free calls, regardless of where the phone is in the car (even if you've left it in your bag in the trunk!)

On top of that, of course, Bluetooth devices can communicate with each other. This has led to some people sending messages from their Bluetooth PDAs to others in close range -- not an especially useful feature, but quite fun. This is called 'bluejacking', and the first recorded instance of it was a man who sent a Bluetooth message to another man's Nokia phone while they were in a bank together. What did the message say? 'Buy Ericsson'.

Since then, it has become possible to send images by bluejacking, and it is widely believed to be the newest advertising medium -- yes, it lets billboards send messages to your phone, a practice known as 'bluecasting'. Whether you think that's cool or annoying, of course, is your choice.

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10 Secrets To Improving Your Websites Conversion Ratio

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:03:16 -0400

According to the so-called experts, a decent conversion ratio is right around one percent. In other words, one out of every one hundred visitors to your websites and converts to a sales.

Personally, I think you should ignore what the experts say, and strive to achieve as high a conversion ratio as possible. You should never be satisfied. You should always be looking for ways to improve your conversion ratio. My website consistently converts anywhere from 3 to 5 percent, and often converts as high as ten percent!

Unless you're selling a big-ticket item and making £200 or more per sale, it's extremely difficult to make any real money with only a one percent conversion ratio.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and if your website is attracting hundreds or even thousands of visitors a day, then obviously you can do quite well with a one percent or lower conversion ratio.

But what if you don't have that kind of traffic - and most websites don't. Then what? What if you're selling a £20 e-book and you're only attracting a hundred visitors a day to your website? With a one percent conversion ratio, that means your website is making a measly £20 a day. And believe me, that am much more common than you realize.

However, what if you could improve your conversion ratio to 3 percent, 5 percent, All of a sudden; you're making £60 to £100 a day with the same amount of traffic. Improve your conversion ratio to ten percent and viola, that £100 a day turns into £200 a day!

So, how do you go about improving your website's conversion ratio? Here are some tips that should help:

1. Make sure your visitors know what you do, the instant they land on your website. Don't make them have to guess. Tell them right up front with a benefits-laden headline.

2. Make sure the design of your website is up to par, Make it easy to navigate. Get rid of distracting flash or stupid, meaningless graphics that are a waste of everybody's time and take forever to load, Simplify your website. Get rid of the flash, graphics and pop-ups!

3. Use psychologically effective colours. The colour blue suggests quality, trustworthiness, success, seriousness, calmness - the perfect choice for sales pages. Avoid purple, which connotes uncertainty and ambiguity, and only use yellow to highlight key words and phrases. In addition, try to have as much white space as possible. This makes for a much cleaner looking, easier to read website.

4. Get your own domain name. URL's that contain names like, "Geocities", "Angelfire" or "Tripod" have amateur written all over them.

5. Prove what you say. Back up your claims with cold, hard, indisputable and verifiable facts

6. Put your name, telephone number and street address on your website

7. Use authentic customer testimonials, complete with first and last names. Just make sure you get your customers permission first.

8. Offer a fair and reasonable money-back guarantee. Thirty days is good. Sixty or ninety days are better!

9. Make it easy for your customers to pay. And offer a variety of payment options. I can assure you, if you're using PayPal only, you're losing sales. There are a lot of people out there, I included, and that just won't do business with PayPal. It's too much of a hassle!

10. And last but not least, make sure you have a powerful sales letter. A strong and effective sales letter can blast your earnings into the upper stratosphere!

If you aren't capable of writing that type of sales letter yourself, hire a copywriting expert to write it for you.

CHR

http://webspacehost.com

5 Surefire Ways To Ruin Any Website

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:03:31 -0400

Owning a website gives you certain rights. For example, you have the right to plaster your URL all over the doors and windows of your SUV in hopes that someone in one of the 7 cars you pass on the way to work will get the urge to visit your website and spend gobs of money. You own the website-this is your right. You also have the right to post pictures of your family, friends, pets, and other totally uninteresting images all over your website after all it's yours. One of the biggest rights you have as a webmaster is the right to make your website successful (and profitable) or to run it into the ground like a 737 missing both engines and landing gear. For those of you who despise online success and frown upon the wealths of cyberspace I have compiled a list of 5 ways to ruin any website.

1. Make Your Website As Cluttered As Possible

Nothing makes visitors leave quicker than a cluttered website that is hard to navigate around. So if you want people to flee from your site like it's a rabid wolf then be sure to put as much junk as you can on the homepage. Then make the links to the rest of the website hard to find. Be sure to have lots and lots of pictures, forms, banners and pop-ups as well. All the relevant information should be well hidden, and the main focus should appear to be the countless programs you want visitors to sign up for. That should keep any pesky visitors from ever coming back.

2. Never Update Your Website

If someone were to visit your website today and then come back 6 months from now they should see the same information. Nothing should be updated. This will let them know that you care nothing about the website and that you have nothing new to offer them. The next time they see a listing for your website they won't even bother to visit. Great!

3. Never Ever Advertise

Advertising cost money and it might draw some good targeted traffic to your website. So be sure to never advertise. You can just keep promoting your website through those same tired free programs that you have been using for years. This should bring you little or no traffic, and the traffic that does come won't be your target audience so they're almost certain to leave without spending a dime. Awesome!

4. Always Sell A Crappy Product

Selling good products online can get you a good reputation. A good reputation can get you repeat sales and new customers. You don't want all this hassle. So find the worst products you can and sell them exclusively. This should damage your reputation to the point where no one wants to bother buying from your site. Be sure to lie about your product too. This will further ruin any kind of credibility you may have.

5. Never Respond To Any Questions

If someone emails you with a question about your website or products on your website, Do Not Reply. Replying could be considered courteous and businesslike. You don't want to come off that way. It's better to just delete any emails from people who were interested enough in your website to take the time to email. Hopefully this will drive them to one of your competitors websites and out of your hair.

There you have it folks. Five great ways to ruin any website. So don't blame me if you don't follow these tips and you become an online success story. I've done all I can to try and help out. And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to write down the URL that's airbrushed on the hood of this Ford Explorer beside me...

CHV

http://webspacehost.com

A day at Barrows - RuneScape Reflections

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:03:38 -0400

The Barrows is a very popular, challenging and dangerous minigame in the massive online website game called RuneScape. Many players make big money at the Barrows, but many - even the experienced Barrowers like myself - risk loosing millions worth of items due to bad luck or not being alert.

I am Barrowing a lot to get my mage and range levels to 99 (currently range 96, mage 97, combat 91). Barrowing is great mage training as the loots from the chest often provide me with the necessary runes to cast Magic Dart of Slayer (slayer lvl 55 required). I have so far done well over 100 runs in the Barrows, and have acquired more than 3000 boltracks and blood runes and about 8k chaos runes. I don't keep count of gp or mind runes, but I am never out of stock of needed runes.

<b>The most treasured loot I've gotten so far from The Barrows is:

* Torags Platebody
* 2 Guthans Helms (sold for 3.35 mill gp each =))
* Veracs Helm
* Veracs Brassard
* Veracs Plateskirt
* Karils Skirt</b>.
Not to mention all the half keys - at least 4.

Most people pray Protection against melee attacks and thus don't have to hide and run like I do, they just activate prayer and let their character autoattack with a magic spell they have set. So these players spend a lot of prayer potions to finish off the brothers in the crypts. When you enter one of the crypts (spade needed) your prayer will be drained by approximately 10+ every 10 seconds or so. Without the sip of a prayer pot Barrows would be impossible to do except for those very high levelled accounts.

My way of barrowing is very risky but it saves me expenses on prayer potions. I have a moderately high combat lvl with 70 defense, but I only mage and range at Barrows as I have quit training melee altogether. Here is a simple description of how I do the Barrow runs.

I stock up with runes for entangle spells (79 magic required) and magic dart spells (55 slayer required). I don't use pray on the melee brothers at all - I simply search their tomb and instantly entangle the brother that emerges. Then I run off a couple of squares and attack with magic dart. The tangle spell holds my foe to the spot for 15 seconds, enough time to cast 4 magic darts. Before the tangle spell breaks I run behind the tomb and waits 5 seconds before I repeat with a new entangle. After a hold spell has been cast and worn off, your enemy will be immune to any hold spells for 5 seconds! Therefore it is important to keep your distance from physical contact with the melee brothers if your prayer is off - their "embraces" aren't exactly like the ones you get in momma's arms =p

Finishing off the Melee brothers like I do is very risky. You must know how to hide behind the tombs the proper way. I use a technique that is similar to "side-stepping", two of the corners of each tomb give this possibility. Side stepping is used by high levels that fight close up with the brothers - when they need to eat and regroup they have positioned themselves at a corner of the chest such that when they just move a step off from their foe which will be stuck on the corner of the tomb.

I keep getting questions and comments on why I don't use Melee Prayer like everyone else. My initial thought was to save on prayer pots so I started using ancient magick. Again without praying melee. With my high magic level I can use Ice barrage - it holds the enemy for 20 seconds and deals massive damage. Ancient Magick turns out to be is very expensive, so I would start with an Ice Barrage and then continue my attacks with Ice Bursts. I made profit anyway (guess I was lucky with my lootings) - but I'd rather use my blood runes for some proper pk'ing.

After some experiments and testing I decided to continue with Modern Magic instead, and haven't regretted since. The risk has increased, but it only makes it more entertaning. If I should die and loose my Ahrims mage outfit or Guthan helm - well I hope the finder will be happy =p. So far I have been lucky - yesterday I got Veracs Plateskirt! Now I only need Veracs Flail for a full Verac set.

Aaaa! - the satisfaction of picking up free stuff! This happened on the same day as I got Veracs Skirt!

I was in Dharoks tomb preparing to take him down - as always with butterflies in my stomach - killing Dharok without melee prayer on is VERY DANGEROUS (that guy can deal at least 58 damage in one hit when his health bar is close to zero).

Suddenly I see a player getting massive blows to his character, it happens so quick that he has no chance to escape. And voila! On the ground is the remains of this poor player - and what riches he dropped! I picked up: Obsidian Shield, Black mystic top and bottom, 200+ rune arrows, Berserker helm, black ranger set and so on. My inventory was full of lobs and I unfortunately had to see some of the things this poor player dropped being picked up by others as I couldn't gobble up them lobbies fast enough.

With a newly "looted" obby shield and a fresh Verac Plateskirt in inventory I decided to teleport to closest bank and have a break from the game. No need to test my luck further =P

Anyway - Dharok is still waiting for me at the Barrows.

CHL

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