How Can Pens Help Improve Your Business?
March 11, 2010
The advantages of utilizing pens as advertising tools could not be discounted. Because pens have practical role in many aspects of a person’s life, recipients generally cherish it if they are given a pen. The usability of a pen could last for a month or so, largely depending on the type of pen and how often a person uses it for writing. When selecting a corporate giveaway that will be appreciated by the ones receiving it because of its functionality – still at the same time allows the corporation to pay less – the pen is possibly the top choice.
Pen manufacturers would agree that the most common ink colour these days is black ballpoint. If you need advertising exposure, the black ballpoint pen cannot easily be beaten for dollar for dollar advertising & market exposure value. They keep you prominently in the minds of your clients every day when you add your branding or unique company features to the pen.
Black ballpoints are the most preferred amongst sales people & office workers but blue is next in line in popularity. If you are a party-hire company or children wear business you may consider some more interesting colors such as orange or pink but you may lose out a little on usability. After all, practicality is the issue, so a gift pen with blue or black ink is your best option.
Imagination is your only limit when it comes to the outside appearance of a pen. As long as the pen is still usable practically as a pen, you would still achieve your exposure goals regardless of how it looks like.
For the body of the pen you should first focus on the company information you want to add and then consider the design of the body next. If you do not do this you may end up choosing a physical design that you cannot add the info you want which would defeat the original purpose.
When it comes to the body of the pen, do not go too cheap. Quality looking pens will be used by more people than cheap looking ones. Also do not use the cheapest pen interior. A lot of us has thrown away a pen in frustration because a pen does not work when we tried using it. This experience can then leave the person reflecting the quality of the pen on your company which is not good or what you intended.
Choose the corporate gift supplier that will allow you to call for bulk orders for all your gift giving needs; this supplier must also be able to give you details about the choice of materials used for your orders and must confer with you on the issue of the design of the final product.
Learn more about lanyards and uncover some of the most effective corporate gifts you can use for your business.
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The Elegance of the Art Doug Stahnke is a sculptor. And this is a wonderful exclusive article he wrote for us. The Elegance of the Art Let me begin by first defining some terms as I apply them: talent – I think there is a simple truth here. You were either born with it or you...... -
French Language Lessons Have Real Appeal With Business Language Champions If you can remember the French language lessons from your school days you may recall the monotonous chanting of verbs or the cassette player on the teacher's desk crackling out the almost inaudible sound of an overly-enthusiastic French gentleman booking a train ticket to La Rochelle. It was fun, but...... -
My personal collection of book trade ephemera Benjamin Clark is the Curator of Education for the Oklahoma Museum of History. Benjamin wrote this exclusive and very interesting article for us. He retains copyright of the first image and the text, of course. The second image is in the public domain. My personal collection of book trade ephemera...... -
To the audience of music Gunnar Colding is a former professional cellist who for 25 years has been employed by chamber orchestras as well as symphony orchestras of Sweden. This is an exceptional article he wrote for us. To the audience of music There was recently given a concert in New York mainly consisting of...... -
Game Dev Famous Game Dev Vince Desi writes for our Weblog! He will write a series of articles, and this is the Part One of an article about being successful in Independent VideoGame Developer Art! Become a famous Game Dev now! Game Dev (Part One) Part 1. The 3 Essential Elements: I......
- Critical Things to Consider When Comparing Small Business Phone Systems Choosing the right small business phone system can greatly enhance a business's efficiency, as well as reducing the cost of doing business. It's vital to have a strong comprehension of small business phone systems so your company doesn't pay too much or choose a system that doesn't have the......
- Customer Service is a Key Element in Any Virtual Pbx Business Phone System Choice Having plenty of features available when deciding which business phone service, or virtual PBX plan, to go with is great and can be a defining element in deciding which plan to go with. However, there is one other very key element to consider when choosing any plan, or which......
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The 5 Most Innovative New Online Business Models in 2010 [/caption] As time goes on, one of the more interesting trends that continues to happen with surprising regularity is how frequently new business models and ways of doing business are emerging through social media and online tools. In many cases, these trends are helping to reinvent how businesses sell and...... - Corporate Gift Suggestion - Pens Pens are small and fairly cheap. In respect to using them as gifts, they are well utilised. They don't get thrown until they have been fully used. Depending on usage, they usually have a life span of one to two months.. Because of this versatility they are a perfect......
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Does Insurance Really Matter When it Comes to Personal Finance? Most of us look at insurance premiums as a big drain on our finances. Insurance policies do not come cheap, but they may be essential. In many ways, you can look at insurance as a way of avoiding financial failure in the years to come. While you can’t buy a......
The Benefits Of Name Card Printing
March 10, 2010
Sharing your name card is a good way to start off a long-standing association with customers. Clients and sales representatives can stay connected through these cards, thereby increasing revenues of your products.
You must take into account a few crucial aspects before you make a move for name card printing. First of all, the target audience must be identified. Think about the kind of individuals you might hand over your name card to and after pondering over it, instruct the name card printing service provider to tailor the card accordingly so that it better suits your requirements. You will have various types of designs to choose from, as such service providers usually have in-house skilled designers at hand who have knowledge of handling all types of graphic design software.
The design of the card should bring back to people’s minds the products or services of the organization, and should entice potential customers to ring you up. All the necessary details should be printed on the card. It should contain your name, the company name, your official contact information, the organization website address, and an apt tagline that should capture the spirit of your brand.
The quality of name card printing should be classy. Colours should not smudge or overlap and the text should be legible. In order to project the organization as influential and non-frivolous, print your name card on a high quality and heavy paper. Do not be reluctant to try out different colours. You can either go for a dazzling background or you can have the whole card to be created out of coloured paper.
To be able to put into practice these aspects, it is vital that you have proper communication and correspondence with the name card printing service provider. A name card projects your organization’s integrity and adds a sense of professionalism to your dealings, so it is imperative that you get it designed with utmost attention to details.
Discover more about brochure printing and printing services from a trusted printing company.
- Creative Ideas (Part Two) This is the Part Two of the powerful article by Deremiah. (Part One) Creative Ideas (Part Two) RELATIONSHIPS INFLUENCE THE POWER OF YOUR IDEAS... Brian Tracy who has done a lot of research to compile the information in his wonderful book "CREATE YOUR OWN FUTURE" expresses in Chapter 7, page......
- Digital Painting Jeremy White wrote this article exclusively for us. Jeremy is currently in the throngs of several projects and sub projects in digital art (2d here, 3d there), computer programming, and some hobby-level music production. Actually, all of it is hobby level, but... who cares? I consider Jeremy a real artist......
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The Overwhelming Magical Card Trick This self working card trick has long been a favorite of magicians of all ages. Since it's self working, you don't need to learn any special sleight of hand or use any special gimmicks. Another plus is that you can quickly show kids, even young ones, how to do this...... -
E-commerce, a cultural fact? E-commerce, online marketing, shopping, globalization, innovation are all linked together. It is becoming a real huge cultural fact, to be studied, to be understood to comprehend our world and where this world is going to in the near future. E-commerce, a cultural fact? Global E-Commerce and Online Marketing: Watching the...... -
Music Biz Marcos Marado wrote this exclusive article about Music Biz. Is the situation really so dramatic as he explains? Leave your comments, this could be our first really important debate on ManuelMarino.com. Music Biz I'm, first of all, a passionate for music. My passion for music before I can recall it,......
- VoIP Phone Systems - How Do They Benefit Small Businesses? Small businesses do not have the same options as large concerns in adopting new technologies and tools. They are restricted by low funds and resources. VoIP telephone systems are a sensible choice for small businesses as they reduce costs and offer many other features that are otherwise unaffordable for......
- Putting Productivity And Economy To Work With Intelligent Business Phone Systems Is your business communication equipment really working for you? Is it helping you maximize productivity? Are you getting optimum returns on invested capital? Is your business phone system scalable and extensible enough to help you remain in sync with leading-edge convergence technologies?In highly competitive markets across the globe, answers......
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- Setting up Google apps email services for your own domain: Free customized mailboxes for your own domain So, like the rest of the planet you are just another Yahoo, Gmail, Live, or whatever free web mail service. That's good, but what can be better? How about buying or renting a domain name and setup unique email addresses? Do you currently own a domain and you're not willing......
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Nuruplanet Review At Nuruplanet.com you will find an interesting and growing collection of informational card sets that are following the trend that good things can come in small forms and still find usefulness. The mission behind the Nuruplanet company appears to be to provide customers with portable performance enhancing knowledge, which comes......
A Preface To VoIP Service
March 10, 2010
Science has made a lot of astonishing inventions and discoveries, which were always thought to be impracticable from the Stone Age to this contemporary world of expertise. Particularly in the division of communications, technology has rehabilitated the entire globe into a global village. It is now achievable to communicate with anybody at any corner of the planet without any issues.
VoIP (voice over imp) is another contribution of technology, which has been able to provide incredible services, and has made communications a lot easier and interactive in many ways. Its definition in a scientific language is a transmission protocol that lets voice traffic to travel over IP communications networks such as the internet or packet switched networks.
Traffic on VoIP is transferred by converting them in the form of data packets, and reassembling them as sound at the other end, which is unlike in the traditional pest telephone calls. The foremost benefit of this type of data transmission is the possibility of sending more data, using the same thickness of a wire. The second reason is the transfer of video, and computer data along with the sound.
As per the above mentioned transmission technology, VoIP offers very economical rates on its varied services. Even in some cases, free calls are offered from a VoIP provider between their VoIP customers. It gives a lot of charging options like per second or per thirty second billing. Not only that, services like free minutes can also be easily implemented.
Unlike the old times, when a telephone was used just to listen to the sound of the person on the other line, VoIP has provided various services, which have made the lives of people a lot easier in many ways. Apart from high quality and cheap telephone calls, VoIP offers video conferencing, which is a very important tool, especially in the corporate environment, as it makes representatives, sitting at distant locations, feel as if they are sitting inside the same meeting room.
Besides this, assortments of other constructive services are also obtainable, together with voicemail, which lets you transmit the recipient a voice communication if they are not on hand to pick up your call. Voice blocking service is also presented, which is used to obstruct exasperating, and unnecessary calls. Data transfer and file transfer is yet an additional quite useful application of VoIP, which lets you contribute to significant information without difficulty in an exceedingly modest amount of time.
One of the largely used services is the instant messaging, provided by VoIP in both business, and physical sector. All the way through this service, you can contribute to your undersized messages with just a small number of button presses on your phone. Presence indication is a provision, which informs you if the individual you want to call is accessible or not.
VoIP has proved its usefulness not only in offices but also in our personal lives. Now, you can easily talk to your distant friend or a relative, living in some other corner of the world, with ease and quality.
VOIP service plans are less expensive than traditional phone system costs.
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Living as Independent Developer Today we interview Andres Martinez, owner of baKno, a game development studio located in Key Biscayne, Florida. They are a group of video game enthusiasts committed to developing new ways to deliver fun, interactive and challenging software. Living as Independent Developer Manuel Marino: You declare yourself and your team as...... -
How Has the Internet Affected the Music Industry? This article is written by web designer Josh Gutteridge who runs Skyte Media. Skyte Media is based in the Midlands (England) and is a professional web design company that specialises in web design and development. Josh would like to receive comments about this article on his blog. But of course...... -
The Benefits Of Name Card Printing Sharing your name card is a good way to start off a long-standing association with customers. Clients and sales representatives can stay connected through these cards, thereby increasing revenues of your products. You must take into account a few crucial aspects before you make a move for name card printing....... -
Knights and Film Music Today I publish a new music track, inspired by knights, chivalry, code of honour, battles and dangerous wilderness exploration. This is a demonstration of my talent with orchestral arrangements. Knights and Film Music The Knight is an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of courage and honour. Knighthood was...... - To the audience of music Gunnar Colding is a former professional cellist who for 25 years has been employed by chamber orchestras as well as symphony orchestras of Sweden. This is an exceptional article he wrote for us. To the audience of music There was recently given a concert in New York mainly consisting of......
- VOIP Service Providers - The Future Of Telephones If you haven't lived under a rock for the last several years, you've seen the ads for the VOIP Service Provider called Vonage, offering a box that, in addition to an Internet connection, lets you make unlimited long distance calls to the US and Canada for a low, flat......
- The Solution to Good VOIP Service When you are looking for affordable and quality VOIP service it is sometimes hard to know which VOIP carrier to choose. They all claim to be the best thing since sliced bread or canned beer, but how do you separate the marketing hype from reality?The first thing you need......
- Managed VoIP Service - Improvise Your Voice Over Services Managing VoIP services has become a challenge as the world is now moving rapidly towards IP based telecommunications. The technology has diversified in many respects and so it is necessary to offer managed VoIP services to the customers. The VoIP based services have features and innumerable functionalities that make......
- Business Phone Systems - How to Let VoIP Service Pay For Your New Telephone System There's a way out for you if you're a business manager with thoughts of upgrading your system but fear that with the lagging economy you may not be able to pay for new equipment.What if there was a way for you to reduce monthly costs enough to pay for......
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Saving Money with your Phone There are a lot of different ways that you can cut down on what you spend in your household budget every month, and one such example is by saving money through how you communicate on the phone. Telephone services are easily capable of costing a typical family as many as......
The Ways Of Solar Power
March 10, 2010
If you pay attention to the news or information on the environment you have heard about solar power. But how does solar power work and what is it? These are popular questions. What you should know is that solar power is energy from the sun’s radiation that is converted into heat or electricity. Presently, the two major ways you can use solar energy are: as an energy source and as a heat source. Answering the question of how does solar power work is important, so more and more people can learn how they can take advantage.
Ways Of Solar Power
Solar energy functions by changing the sun’s rays into heat with the use of solar thermal collectors for warming water, and more specifically it works by changing the sun’s rays into electrical energy with the use of solar panels to supply power to the appliances in your home. Solar panels are an essential part of ensuring that you are able to use the power that the sun provides naturally.
The procedure is relatively simple in that the sunlight hits the solar panels and is then absorbed by semi-conducting materials such as silicone, which the panels are made out of. Electrons are bumped loose from their atoms and this permits them to be able to flow through the material in order to produce electricity. This sounds very complex, but it is knowledge that has been around and used for quite some time now!
Why should we answer the question of how does solar power work? It’s important because solar power is recognized as being the cleanest and most viable form of renewable energy obtainable in the world today. The technology involved with solar power is quickly becoming fabulously common and in fact universal. Solar power is not only more affordable, it is better for the environment so it should appeal to one and all!
How does solar power work around the home? It’s fundamentally up to you how you want to utilise it. Solar power can be used to heat water, your pool, or even with your central heating. You do have to expend some money upfront in order to get the required equipment, but even within as little as a few months after that you will have made your money back and will only be saving money, or even earning money because in some cases you can sell excess power to your electric company!
Solar power has been applied almost from the beginning of man, but only recently has it really become known as being the tremendous resource that it is. Also, by using solar power you will not only be saving yourself as much money as possible but you will also be saving the environment! Now imagine how solar energy will work for you.
Looking to find the best deal on solar systems power, then visit http://historyofsolarpower.com to find the best advice on design solar panel for you.
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History of Music and Current Recording Industry Crisis Roger L. Bagula wrote this exclusive article for ManuelMarino.com. History of Music and Current Recording Industry Crisis In a time when the whole future of how music is distributed is in question, maybe we should look at the history of music for a guide. Many of us find music...... - Carpet making Here's a very interesting article on the Art of carpet making, written by Alhan Keser. Alhan is in in charge of communications for Tip Top Design, a company that specializes in interior design with oriental rugs. He has lived in Turkey and France, working as a freelance journalist and documentary......
- Music Biz Marcos Marado wrote this exclusive article about Music Biz. Is the situation really so dramatic as he explains? Leave your comments, this could be our first really important debate on ManuelMarino.com. Music Biz I'm, first of all, a passionate for music. My passion for music before I can recall it,......
- How Has the Internet Affected the Music Industry? This article is written by web designer Josh Gutteridge who runs Skyte Media. Skyte Media is based in the Midlands (England) and is a professional web design company that specialises in web design and development. Josh would like to receive comments about this article on his blog. But of course......
- Creative Ideas (Part One) Like the power of electricity your Ideas have greater impact when they rapidly flow in concentrated streams of thought. You'll find this and more in the article wrote by Deremiah, exclusively for ManuelMarino.com . Deremiah *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist), is the winner of the 2004 Nightingale-Conant Acres of Diamonds Award......
- Edges Of Using Solar Power Energy - Its Environmental, Economic, Tax And Social Benefits There are many edges of using solar power energy, it is categories into environmental, economic, tax and social advantages. If you plan to buy a solar power system to use for your house or your office, then you would be doing as alternative scores of people that are conscious of......
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Solar Power Systems That Serve Entire Neighborhoods. Dear EarthTalk: I know of solar power systems that people can put on their roofs to generate electricity or heat water. Are there systems that serve whole neighborhoods? Collective bargaining is a good strategy when looking to get the best price on a given product or service. Solar power is...... - The Big List: 1,019 Different Ways To Save Money. OK, times are tough - We all know it. Right now, you might be worrying about how to pay for groceries or the gasoline in your car, and we can use all the help you can get to stretch each and every dollar. Luckily, I have a few friends that......
- Solar-Powered Camping Products Let's face it: if you're going to be taking an extended trip into the woods, nature doesn't exactly provide power outlets with every tree. The more rustic your camping experience will be, the more you're going to depend on unusual sources for power and energy. Luckily, we have solar technology......
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29 Free Or Low Cost Ways To Save Energy & Money. With everyone's energy costs rising so rapidly and our economy in question at least for another couple of years, we are all starting to look for easy ways to cut energy use and save money, for little to no cost. And here is where this list, and you, the reader,......
Some Tips To Help You Use The Best Trade Show Rental Displays
March 10, 2010
Trade shows are held with a view to allowing industries and corporations alike to display their products and/or services to consumers and in the process make a strong impression on their minds and in order to do so, it is required that you make use of the best trade show rental displays possible. Such displays will in fact make it a lot easier for you to display your products and/or services in a more professional manner and it also means that you will be able to be more aggressive in marketing yourself and your products/services.
Companies that are large in size will find it pretty simple to rent out large independent spaces to showcase their products and services. On the other hand, companies that are smaller in size will be forced into renting smaller modules that may be crafted specifically to meet their requirements. It makes sense for the trade exhibitors to rent spaces to small companies at attractive charges.
Of course, before you rent space at any trade show you must know all that there is to know about the character, nature as well as purpose of the trade show. Also, you need to be familiar with its location and date as well as about who else is participating and what they are displaying. Plus, you will also do well to find out about any limitations as well.
After determining a particular size for your trade show rental displays you must then look at other factors that include banners and signs and other advertisement forms that will help to make your rental display more attractive and beneficial.
You need to also realize that no two industries will have the same show and in fact each will be specialized so as to ensure making a more dramatic impact on the user and consumer. When it comes to displaying your wares at a specialized trade show you must first collect information about the market and competitors including those from previous trade show. Then you will need to find out how effective the space was and only if you are convinced about the benefits of renting the space, should you rent it.
It is also a good idea to bargain for more attractive rent as well as facilities and so be sure to look for better flexibility in so far as displaying your products go. If many others are also trying to rent out the same space be sure that you check out incoming shows and events so that you have a few other options to choose from.
Rental contracts are indeed very important aspect to choosing trade show rental displays. So, be sure to go over the document with a fin comb and do not sign it until you are convinced that it is good for you. Be sure to check that there are no hidden charges or clauses and also ensure that the contract is watertight and the wording unambiguous.
To set up the display you may want to stick to using designed exhibits that are simple rather than complicated and you should survey the needs of customers and also research the better booth rental companies till you find one that is better than the rest.
Finally, the benefits of picking the right trade show rental displays are many and in fact as long as you are able to pick displays that offer full satisfaction in displaying your wares effectively and properly, there will be much to derive from making use of the display.
Click here for more information on Trade Show Rentals and Rental Exhibits
- For game design Andrea Angiolino was born the 27th of April, 1966 in Rome, the city where he still lives. He published many boardgames and books about games, besides developing games for every media. His works appeared in more than a dozen of languages including Korean, Czech and Maltese. He is a game......
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A Preface To VoIP Service Science has made a lot of astonishing inventions and discoveries, which were always thought to be impracticable from the Stone Age to this contemporary world of expertise. Particularly in the division of communications, technology has rehabilitated the entire globe into a global village. It is now achievable to communicate with...... - E-commerce, a cultural fact? E-commerce, online marketing, shopping, globalization, innovation are all linked together. It is becoming a real huge cultural fact, to be studied, to be understood to comprehend our world and where this world is going to in the near future. E-commerce, a cultural fact? Global E-Commerce and Online Marketing: Watching the......
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Listen to Music Online Many asked me to write a post about the Music Pages I've got in my websites, so you can easily Listen to Music Online :) Ok, let's start then. The first page is the Music Demos page here at ManuelMarino.com. You can find it also in the top bar, title...... - French Language Lessons Have Real Appeal With Business Language Champions If you can remember the French language lessons from your school days you may recall the monotonous chanting of verbs or the cassette player on the teacher's desk crackling out the almost inaudible sound of an overly-enthusiastic French gentleman booking a train ticket to La Rochelle. It was fun, but......
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- How to build your business with trade shows One way that really works extremely well in getting a lot of promotion for your business is trade shows.The benefits to doing this are so many to mention.When you first consider it, you might think that you won't get that much exposure. But that is not true. If there is......
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Ideas for Blogging Content Pt 2 Business blogging is rife with benefits for anyone who is able to utilize it properly, as it adds a significant amount of value to a company's web presence, increasing search engine visibility and encouraging excellent and meaningful interaction from readers, driving an increase of traffic to your website in the...... - Six Sigma Training 101 - Better Management Basics What is Six Sigma?Six Sigma is a quality management program that is designed to achieve a six sigma level of quality for products. In the mid 1980s, Motorola pioneered Six Sigma and it has since been adopted by many other companies and manufacturers. Service companies also implement Six Sigma......
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Successfully Selling Antiques If you are interested in a new and interesting way to make money, then selling antiques is a good way to go. If you enjoy dealing in old heirlooms, yard sales, estate sales and flea markets, and you think that selling antiques is a hobby that you will enjoy doing,......
Living as Independent Developer
February 17, 2009
Today we interview Andres Martinez, owner of baKno, a game development studio located in Key Biscayne, Florida. They are a group of video game enthusiasts committed to developing new ways to deliver fun, interactive and challenging software.
Living as Independent Developer
Manuel Marino: You declare yourself and your team as “video game enthusiasts”. How much being a “videogames fan” is important in creating games?
Andres Martinez: All companies have their own stories, but in our case, developing and self-publishing our games has been difficult, with low sales during several months at our beginnings, and still low if they get compared to a regular studio. The only reason we have been able to survive is our passion for the art of game creation.
Can we say that the old games of the past were “better”? What can we say to the nostalgic gamers?
20 to 30 years ago the video game space was totally different. Accessibility to video games was very low, the product itself was like an experiment and the assumed audience was reduced, fortunately for us, we fell into that target, and we enjoyed every bit of Space Invaders, Galaga, Pac-Man, etc.
Some may say that it was better for game developers at that time because it was easier to create totally new and different IPs (Intellectual Properties). But the reality is that, they created myriads of games and only a few stood up to catch the public’s attention. Additionally, they were tremendously limited by technology and market penetration.
So, to answer your question, I don’t think old games were better or worst. But I think that our judgement is usually biased by the emotional attachment we have to those old great experiences.
How is the Independent developers world?
If we can name our day to day activities at baKno a “world”, then it is great!. Being able to make a living out of our own game creations is a wonderful feeling. None of us worked in this industry before and we don’t know how it is to distribute games through an experienced third party, maybe sales are much higher, but I suspect that for those particular jobs your independence is quite compromised.
What’s the difference between being “indy” and being “in the industry”?
We don’t consider baKno to be an industry player yet, we are independents as explained before, but it does not excludes the possibility of being an influent member of the gaming industry at the same time.
Videogames are more a “work of art” or a “industry product”?
All baKno games are a “work of art” built upon an “industry product” foundation. This foundation provides a minimum quality, design and support standards, and it becomes the canvas where the artist paint his game creation.
What can be done to make modern games better and innovative?
Creating better games is not that difficult, just use your common sense to take advantage of the ever-growing processing capacity, graphics and audio capabilities and internet bandwidth. As an example, you can enhance a simple old-school cards game with better graphics and effects, and maybe adding a multiplayer option with audio chat capability. Creating quality innovative games is an art, and for that there is no recipe or guideline to follow.
Why is it that I find games from independent developers being more innovative?
Innovation is weapon that cuts both ways. The more you innovate in a game, the higher the chance of being a great hit or a great failure. Established studios have serious economic responsibilities like payroll or rent, and they cannot afford to risk the company viability in a single game. On the other hand, and usually not even knowing about it, independent developers working from home are the risky creators of real innovative game experiences.
Internet can be of help?
Sure. In general, for casual games Internet has been the medium to reach massive audiences by offering free-to-try downloads, something that would have been impossible (very expensive) by mailing free CDs. In particular, baKno relies heavily on the Internet not only as a distribution medium but also as an effective way to communicate with our customers, and also to enhance the game experience with additional online features.
What are your next projects?
We are working now the online gaming for Billiards. We want to create a subscription service before mid-year. And by the end of the year we want to create a game with 100% pure baKno IP.
How do you see the future of videogaming?
As an interesting mixture of platforms, game genres and players’ demographics. Internet is going to be the default distribution medium, there won’t be a single dominant gaming platform, more and more people will embrace video games as an entertainment alternative, and most important: the general public will recognize the cognitive development value provided by video games (most of them).
- Independent Filmmaking We're back with a new interview, to Actress and Producer Glorinda Marie. We talk about independent filmmaking, filmmakers, actors and movies industry. Here are some interesting links to check, after reading the interview: - Actress Website - imdb - SF Indieclub - Get Bizzzy Acting Coach Manuel Marino: "Glorinda, what......
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Recording Music Industry This is a post I've received from Julien Bernier-Haineault and he is a music producer from Quebec, Canada. He made several songs for a lot of bands that never really got appreciated to their real value. I can say that trying, failing and trying again, now he absolutely knows a...... - How Has the Internet Affected the Music Industry? This article is written by web designer Josh Gutteridge who runs Skyte Media. Skyte Media is based in the Midlands (England) and is a professional web design company that specialises in web design and development. Josh would like to receive comments about this article on his blog. But of course......
- Game Dev Famous Game Dev Vince Desi writes for our Weblog! He will write a series of articles, and this is the Part One of an article about being successful in Independent VideoGame Developer Art! Become a famous Game Dev now! Game Dev (Part One) Part 1. The 3 Essential Elements: I......
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Music, Movies and Independent Films In this exclusive interview, Todd Cericola, owner of Clocktower Pictures, talks about his movie studio, about music in movies and about the independent productions world. Manuel Marino: When did you start your movie studio and how did you have the idea? Todd Cericola: Clocktower Pictures was started in February of......
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- What is Intuition? Intuition is an ill defined faculty. There is a lot of debate whether it is real at all. But from my own experience, intuition is what is suppose to motivate science but doesn’t anymore. There is a type of internal dialogue that isn’t really lingual, not verbal. It seems to......
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Using a Home Improvement Video to Guide Your Project Home improvement handymen these days get a lot of their information from the internet. There is nothing wrong with this as there are many sites just like this one that exists to provide people with useful information on the different aspects of home improvement. However, one thing that you need...... - Palm's 2010 CES Announcements It was a great CES for Palm. Instead of the major splash that they made last year with the Palm Pre, they've shown numerous incremental improvements. We guessed a lot of them earlier today, but this was still more than we expected. Here's a recap Countries Palm started off by......
Global Financial Crisis and Books
December 11, 2008
While the entire world is facing the global financial crisis, publishers rush to get crisis books out. Not exactly a complaining, there are some interesting writings to check out. But I would like to know your ideas about this rush. Anyway, here are my suggestions for these months:
Global Financial Crisis and Books
The Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It. In this trenchant book, best-selling economist Robert Shiller reveals the origins of the crisis and puts forward bold measures to solve it. He calls for an aggressive response, a restructuring of the institutional foundations of the financial system that will not only allow people once again to buy and sell homes with confidence, but will create the conditions for greater prosperity in America and throughout the deeply interconnected world economy.
The New Paradigm for Financial Markets. George Soros argues that the current crisis differs from the various financial crises that preceded it. He bases that assertion on the hypothesis that the explosion of the US housing bubble acted as the detonator for a much larger “super-bubble” that has been developing since the 1980s. The underlying trend in the super-bubble has been the ever-increasing use of credit and leverage.
The Finance Crisis and Rescue: What Went Wrong? Why? What Lessons Can Be Learned?. It features thought leaders from the Rotman School explaining the financial crisis and rescue from a variety of perspectives.
- Self-realization and meditation (yoga for the mind) Peter Cajander allowed us to publish this part from his book Fragments of Reality. It talks about life from a personal perspective covering areas ranging from self-realization, meditation, stress, happiness, death, and everyday living. Peter is a writer, philosophical thinker, entrepreneur, strategy consultant, business executive, and author to name a......
- Artists Psychology Here's an interesting exclusive article Roland d’Humières, 56 years old psycho-analyst from Aix en Provence (France) has written for our Weblog. I think it to be a very interesting writing about the artists psychology, or maybe "arts psychology", what's behind an artists mind. Artists Psychology Whatever is his/her Art, painting,......
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What is Anglo-Welsh Literature and why Should Anyone Care? Ceri Shaw is a former college lecturer from Cardiff, South Wales. Currently he attempts to make a living as a Web Designer and as a freelance writer on a range of topics including Literature. He is a regular contributor to Americymru.com. Ceri wrote this article about Anglo-Welsh literature and its...... -
Punk music in the late seventies Wade Crawley said me "I propose to write an article about the influence of punk and indie music and culture on a young person (myself) coming of age in England in the late seventies and early eighties". I accepted, and Wade wrote this article! I must add also these more...... - The Elegance of the Art Doug Stahnke is a sculptor. And this is a wonderful exclusive article he wrote for us. The Elegance of the Art Let me begin by first defining some terms as I apply them: talent – I think there is a simple truth here. You were either born with it or you......
- Knowing Fx Automated Trading Systems To Make Your Earnings Are you searching for increased profits automated forex trading method? Being profitable from Fx trading today, it can be feasible for personal traders, while formerly limited to large financial institutions. Better yet, have expert traders today been developed into the system thus to their edge, automatic robots that can be......
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Global warming disaster by Booker Our global ecosystem is getting hotter, as well as people who always working to find out how to stop and how to adapt the changing climate. There are people who stand to criticize on how the issue of global warming is getting louder and gain more political attentions throughout...... - Book Review Blog Carnival Welcome to the May 10, 2009 edition of book review blog carnival. book reviews NathanKP presents “Jellicoe Road,” by Melina Marchetta posted at Inkweaver Review - Book Reviews & Cover Art. Woman Tribune presents Stop Training Sitters, Put Everyone on the Same Page with By The Book posted at......
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Investing in this Financial Crisis Sunday Paper - March 8th, 2009 2009 Investment Strategy By Gary Mozda For Investors and friends with a long-term investment focus (i.e. 5+ years) Disclaimer: First and foremost I am in no way providing sound financial advice that you should use to blindly invest with. These are my ideas and...... - Nouriel Roubini Says Markets Will Shut, Get Out of US Dollar Now Nouriel Roubini is about to become a household name almost as recognizable as Warren Buffett. The NYU Economics Professor is known for his eerily accurate market predictions, although he has many critics. For example, he correctly foresaw that at some point soon stock markets would be suspended in order to......
E-commerce, a cultural fact?
November 1, 2008
E-commerce, online marketing, shopping, globalization, innovation are all linked together. It is becoming a real huge cultural fact, to be studied, to be understood to comprehend our world and where this world is going to in the near future.
E-commerce, a cultural fact?
Global E-Commerce and Online Marketing: Watching the Evolution By Nikhilesh Dholakia is a great book that explains all of this.
Specialists from business and academia present a meticulously researched, compelling examination of the effect that globalization, innovation, and relentless technological competition are having on the development of e-commerce and marketing. The editors offer practical managerial insights, important empirical findings, and new ways to comprehend the intricacies of the fast-morphing world of electronic business.
Another book that really catched me is Cyberpop: Digital Lifestyles and Commodity Culture by Sidney Eve Matrix.
Cyberpop: Digital Lifestyles and Commodity Culture is an analysis of cyberculture and its popular cultural productions. Each chapter focus on a particular cyberfiguration, including Hollywood films (GATTACA, The Matrix), popular literature (William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Scott Westerfeld’s Polymorph), advertising for digital products and services (AT&T’s “mLife” campaign), video games (Tomb Raider). Each close reading illustrates the ways in which representations of digital lifestyles and identities which typically fetishize computers and celebrate a “high tech” aesthetic encourage participation in digital capitalism and commodity cyberculture.
What I’m seeing on Internet and around me is an impressive and crazy explosion of virtual shops, like StreetWear-And-Red.com (also StreetWearAndRed.com). Goal of the shop is providing cool designs for the urban and street fashion along with elegant ideas for the modern gentlemen.
In the same explosion I can put my ebook and also my new CD with Rock and Metal Guitar Solos for Multimedia.
I’ve got just a fear, that all of this is going to result in a soap bubble in the future. How much will we be fascinated by the virtual world and how much can we stay far from reality? (Or virtuality is going to be our new reality?).
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Comic Art Mike Dominic wrote this article for us. He is a freelance illustrator and comic artist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has produced work for both print and online comics, including his own webcomic, The Journals of Simon Pariah. He has written articles about comics for Sketch magazine and 24...... - Global Financial Crisis and Books While the entire world is facing the global financial crisis, publishers rush to get crisis books out. Not exactly a complaining, there are some interesting writings to check out. But I would like to know your ideas about this rush. Anyway, here are my suggestions for these months: Global Financial......
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Social Networking and the Left Coast Eisteddfod 2009 Ceri Shaw is a Web Designer and freelance writer. If you remember, he wrote What is Anglo-Welsh Literature and why Should Anyone Care?. Ceri is a former college lecturer from Cardiff, South Wales. He wrote this article for us. Social Networking and the Left Coast Eisteddfod 2009 There is an...... - Artists Psychology Here's an interesting exclusive article Roland d’Humières, 56 years old psycho-analyst from Aix en Provence (France) has written for our Weblog. I think it to be a very interesting writing about the artists psychology, or maybe "arts psychology", what's behind an artists mind. Artists Psychology Whatever is his/her Art, painting,......
- Music Biz Marcos Marado wrote this exclusive article about Music Biz. Is the situation really so dramatic as he explains? Leave your comments, this could be our first really important debate on ManuelMarino.com. Music Biz I'm, first of all, a passionate for music. My passion for music before I can recall it,......
- Advertising Business Internet Marketing 101 Advertising has invariably been a part of the marketing world. It's the lifeline of all products and services that folks use in everyday life. Without these promos, individuals will not grasp that such product exist. That's why corporations these days strive their best to push in whatever means they'll as......
- Online Business Web Hosting Basic Requirement of Web Hosting Plan for a Small Business Web Hosting will discuss about the general feature of Small Business Web Site Hosting, such as disk space, band width, reliability, etc. Those are the basic feature you need to think about when you want to hosting a web site.......
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Enjoying a World Coin Collection Most people who begin to collect coins actually do so by collecting regional coins from their own mother country. So for example, if you are from the United States, then you may want to collect United States coins first and foremost. This is because you are already familiar with the...... - Day 3 - Marketing Arsenal Networking Do-It-Yourself Tools Previously we discussed why you should network and who you should network with. While both of those areas provide key information you need to expand your networking arsenal, nothing provides you with the tools you need to network more that instructions on HOW to network. No matter......
- The Importance of Business Phone Systems in Global Commerce While the internet is found everywhere the world of modern commerce and business, it is the telephone which remains the foundation of the modern commercial environment. A lot of business phone systems are available that make telephone communications straight forward and efficient.So what are the various business phone systems......
Music, Movies and Independent Films
July 30, 2008
In this exclusive interview, Todd Cericola, owner of Clocktower Pictures, talks about his movie studio, about music in movies and about the independent productions world.
Manuel Marino: When did you start your movie studio and how did you have the idea?
Todd Cericola: Clocktower Pictures was started in February of 2008. We are a new company in the Philadelphia area that specializes in independent film. We started it after working on a t.v. sitcom pilot called “Two One Five.” Myself, and my two partners Keelen Monahan and Matt Tomko had all been working individually on producing, directing, and writing and decided to put our efforts into one basket by opening up what would eventually become Clocktower.
How much is difficult to manage a movie studio?
I don’t know that it’s as difficult as it is fun. We are all doing something that we throughly enjoy doing. There is a strong workload, especially since we are a new company, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are a very hands on company working directly with our actors on a one on one basis. We try to cater to all of their needs as well as our own.
I’m a music composer, so the question is natural, how much music is important in the production?
As a musician myself, I think that music is one of the most important thing in a film. If you’re trying to paint a picture to set up a scene, background music is key to setting a mood. A good song will always have the scene set perfectly and you may not even notice it in the background, but when you have a bad song you, as the filmgoer, will always notice the mistake of choice.
What is your latest production? Can you tell us something about it?
Right now we are working on a few things. We are working on a feature film called “Describing the Moon,” about a guy in his mid-twenties struggling with trying to please his friends and complete his life’s goal of becoming a script writer. It’s a fantastic script that’s really dialogue driven, and very funny. We will be finishing up auditions for that next weekend, and should begin filming in October. Two One Five is a big priority as well, we are shopping around to try and sell and make an entire season. As well as entering short film and television festivals to get the name out. The entire episode is up on our website for free viewing at Clocktower Pictures. We are also looking into opening up a second branch of the company under the banner Clocktower Music helping to produce local artists and independent musicians. So we have a lot going on.
How we can define an independent movie and why it’s important that indies are supported in their work?
I think independent film is a very important thing because it brings out more creativity in people. When you’re writing without cause and shooting without big budget you’re working harder at making something the way you see it, so you’re getting the original vision of what you’re going for. It’s like an artists painting, you want to express your own ideas in your own way, not someone else. Too many hands in the cookie jar is never a good thing.
Do you think internet can help indies?
I think the internet is a great advantage for people in any area of creative arts. You can reach out to millions of people at the single click of a button for your company, your movie, your art, your music anything you want. I think with the advent of facebook, myspace, mandy, craigslist, and countless others we’re living in an age where getting yourself out to the masses of people is just that much easier, and that much better.
How do you see the future of movie production?
As far as movie production in general goes, I see it bulking up even more. Budget’s for production are getting larger by what seems daily, actors are making more and more money, and the intake is getting outrageous. On a smaller scale, Philadelphia is getting its own studio soon which has already scene production in the city jump up ten fold.
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Surveying the Land of Scape Taegen Carter is a movie director. He is also the owner of Mythmaker Entertainment, a company that produces shorts and features in the genres of adventure, sci-fi, thriller and drama. Taegen tells us about the production of Scape, that should be completed around June of ’09. Let's read his words,...... -
Music Geek Robin Mookerjee is a songwriter obsessed with music. Is this a good thing? Or a bad thing? I can say he is a real music geek! Read his story and check his website. Music Geek I’m really a fan as much as a songwriter, but a lot of songwriters say...... -
Mobile Games and Technologies Federico Elinger, owner of Pocketsol Games, wrote this exclusive article for us. Pocketsol Games creates high quality mobile games for the mobile phone based java platform (J2ME). The development studio is in Argentina where fun and addictive games are created for most of the actual mobile phones. Mobile Games and...... - French Language Lessons Have Real Appeal With Business Language Champions If you can remember the French language lessons from your school days you may recall the monotonous chanting of verbs or the cassette player on the teacher's desk crackling out the almost inaudible sound of an overly-enthusiastic French gentleman booking a train ticket to La Rochelle. It was fun, but......
- Recording Music Industry This is a post I've received from Julien Bernier-Haineault and he is a music producer from Quebec, Canada. He made several songs for a lot of bands that never really got appreciated to their real value. I can say that trying, failing and trying again, now he absolutely knows a......
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How to Get Kids Interested in Acoustic Music Getting children interested in music is not normally a difficult task, especially considering how many different types of music there are out there. If you are looking to get your children interested in acoustic music, however, the process may be a little more difficult. Children begin listening to music as...... -
How to Quit a Job The following guest post is from Steven of HundredGoals.com. After reading the post, be sure to visit Steven's site to follow the journey towards accomplishing his list of one hundred goals! Many of us work at jobs where there is no opportunity for advancement. If there is opportunity for upward mobility, the positions available...... - Buying More Private Stock I got wrapped up in writing a few other articles; I should have written about this large investment earlier. For the second time in twelve months, I made a very risky investment buying stock options. (You can read about my first risky investment here.) I have invested over $5,000 this......
- Music In Video Games Video game music is great, most people who play video games do not even realize how much the music makes a difference, just like in a movie/TV show music is used to set the mood, its the same in video games as well. Most video game music is made specifically......
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Wives Outearning Husbands, But Getting Shafted This story is actually old (relatively speaking) but I wanted the initial media buzz to die off before I started talking about it. This big story is that more wives are outearning their husbands than ever before. Considering that only 4% of women outearned their husbands in 1970, not increasing......
How to film an award winning movie with no money
February 4, 2008
This is a very interesting story about a director with a great idea but no money. Kely McClung is a director writer actor editor. He’s been able to film his movie with no money and very low resources. But he made it! The award winning Blood Ties is his first feature film. His first short film, AM Session, was recently nominated for HBO’s Short Film Award. Here’s what he wrote for us.
How to film an award winning movie with no money
The four year, twenty-three day, ninety-three minute movie!
Yeah, yeah. The movie’s not that long, it just has been for me. Everyone else, besides friends and family, will get to see the 93 minute version. And the reality is, I might be on it another couple years, though what anyone sees will still be the 93 minute version.
“Blood Ties” was filmed with no money by a crew of three in both the US and Thailand (with just a few moments over the border into Cambodia). Just to make things a bit more complicated, we filmed in the mountains of Virginia, Washington D.C. on the Mall, The Port of Miami, and Atlanta. Our crew numbers stayed at a maximum of three and our cast grew to 154.
And post production? Me. Sound, visual effects, editing, ADR, Foley, graphics, titles, music? Me. Which is not to say everything is great, it’s just what we could afford on a no budget movie. Every time I’d get ready to fire myself, I’d remember that I’m the only guy I could afford! And even with that, I definitely had some long talks with myself.
Is it worth watching? We hope so, and our success on the beginning of the film circuit says we might be right.
Blood Ties won The Action on Film International Film Festival’s “Action Film of the Year”, The Audience Award for “Best Director” at the Big Bang Film Festival, “Best of the Festival” at the Indie Fest USA International Film Festival, “Best Visual Effects” at the same, and has been nominated for various other awards at various other festivals.
Could I teach something about directing? Yeah, probably, even though Blood Ties is a first movie. About editing? Yeah, I’m known as a strong editor. After Effects, sound editing, composing for film, and 200 other subjects involved in making a movie? I’m pretty sure I could. But that’s not want I want to teach or preach or pass on in these few words.
The lesson I hope to share right now is in creating a vision – not only of the movie and what you want it to be but how you want to be perceived – keeping it in mind, and striving toward it with as little compromise as possible no matter how long it takes. Knowing that in twenty or thirty years, your first film won’t matter in the scheme of things except that it will always be, no matter how successful or not, your first film.
One of the things to strive for is surrounding yourself with a strong cheering section. My film partner, my family, my amazing girlfriend. Though they might not physically take on the work, without them, there is no movie.
My film partner, Robert Pralgo put up the initial money, as well as a seemingly endless trickle of money since. He also co-starred, help cast, pushed, pulled and dared me to make a better movie than what we thought was possible.
My family never talked down to me even though I am the one brother of five who they all have to worry about if I have a roof over my head.
And the Amazing Amanda let me see the movie from many different angles, again setting me up to challenge myself to make it even stronger.
Our crew of three rotated several times, and our cast gave their all because they somehow knew that I believed in what I was doing. There would be no movie without all of their many efforts. I give credit to almost everyone I meet and genuinely mean and feel it. They color the way I look at myself and my work, and are reflected in the images jumping around on screen.
And jump around they do! Blood Ties embraced the hand held look simply because I knew where I was wanting to shoot, a tripod, a dolly, or a steadicam would get us arrested. “You mean you aren’t supposed to shoot on the Mall or the Port or in the streets of a foreign country without permission?” Permission is relatively easy to get, if you pay for it. And that just wasn’t part of the budget!
I am sure I could talk about the making of the movie for the about the same length of time it took to make it. And maybe I’ll get the chance to write more. There is a lot more information on our website and other people are starting to talk and write as well.
What I hope with this introduction is to pass on the challenge to others to make the movies they want to see. To learn and persevere. To look at the art around them and if they find themselves saying “I could do that” – then to do it!
- Independent Filmmaking We're back with a new interview, to Actress and Producer Glorinda Marie. We talk about independent filmmaking, filmmakers, actors and movies industry. Here are some interesting links to check, after reading the interview: - Actress Website - imdb - SF Indieclub - Get Bizzzy Acting Coach Manuel Marino: "Glorinda, what......
- Creative Ideas (Part One) Like the power of electricity your Ideas have greater impact when they rapidly flow in concentrated streams of thought. You'll find this and more in the article wrote by Deremiah, exclusively for ManuelMarino.com . Deremiah *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist), is the winner of the 2004 Nightingale-Conant Acres of Diamonds Award......
- Knights and Film Music Today I publish a new music track, inspired by knights, chivalry, code of honour, battles and dangerous wilderness exploration. This is a demonstration of my talent with orchestral arrangements. Knights and Film Music The Knight is an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of courage and honour. Knighthood was......
- Documentary Filmmaking This is a special article written for us by James N. Weber. He has worked on Socially Aware Media, especially documentaries, in South Africa, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Mexico, and is currently working on a project on food security in Guatemala. His work and more info can be found......
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Growing Independent Film Industry in the Southeast Heidi Yost wrote this exclusive article. Heidi (photo) is a talented actress. In this article, she explains Film Industry situation in the southeast, talks about her experience as artist and gives also important hints for the new actors. Growing Independent Film Industry in the Southeast When I returned home to......
- A Way To Save And Raise Money For A Short Film (Or Anything Else) David is striving to be a director and is straight out of film school. He has been learning the ropes, techniques and has completed several short films, even winning an award in college for best short film. His favorite director is Quentin Tarantino and tries to base his shooting style......
- Reading and movies What is reading, but silent conversation. Walter Savage Landor, writer (1775-1864) I love the idea that reading is silent conversation. The books that touch us most fall into that category. Right now I am especially enjoying the Henri Nouwen books and the Alexandra Stoddard books that I wrote about a......
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450 Random Useless Facts [/caption] Most American car horns honk in the key of F. The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan." Barbie''s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. Every time you lick a stamp, you consume 1/10 of a calorie. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes. Studies...... - The Difference Between THEM and US When It Comes To Money. We all have them. Friends that spend like there is no tomorrow, they buy the latest cellphone, the biggest flat screen TV, the newest model BMW. They buy a McMansion to impress their friends and families, eat out every night of the week, and go on extravagant vacations that they......
- Frugal Ideas - Beauty Tips to Kitchen Decorating Being frugal is a great way to save money. Here are some frugal resources to check out: Fun and Frugal Beauty Tips - Some great ideas for saving money on beauty related expenses. Here are just a couple of ideas from the article: 1. To dry nail polish in a......
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