Bamboo is a unique alternative as a flooring option. Both beautiful and durable, bamboo floors can add beauty to any area of your home and can withstand the wear and tear of daily life.

Here are my top five reasons to choose bamboo flooring for your home:

1. Aesthetic Beauty

Contrary to popular belief, bamboo is actually a grass not a wood product. Because of this difference, bamboo has a different look than your typical hardwood floors. Color can be determined by the manufacturing process (length of time carbonized) and your typical order of bamboo flooring will be rather uniform in color and easy to match when installing. Also, staining is now possible for bamboo floors resulting in over thirty different styles and colors being available. With this many choices, you’re sure to find something to perfectly fit your style.

2. Durability

Bamboo is not only beautiful, it is also quite durable. Bamboo has received hardness (strength) ratings higher than many hardwoods. In addition to its hardness rating, bamboo is also resilient. This means it “bounces back” after most impacts and doesn’t dent. This resiliency is also better for your feet and back since the floor will tend to “give” slightly and not be so hard to walk on everyday.

3. Moisture Resistance

Bamboo is also a naturally water resistant material. In addition to its natural resistance, part of the manufacturing process includes lamination which increases its resistance to warping. Because of this moisture resistance, bamboo flooring can be used in bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms where hardwood and laminate floors shouldn’t be used.

4. The Environmental Benefits

Bamboo is a sustainable material. This means it can easily and quickly be re-grown in a reasonably short time. Bamboo is typically harvested every four to five years without actually destroying the plant. Also, because of its resiliency, bamboo doesn’t have to be refinished as often as hardwood. This cuts down on the chemicals necessary to maintain the floor.

5. Easy Cleaning

Bamboo floors, like most hard flooring materials, are easier to clean than carpet. No vacuum required, just a dust mop to keep things nice and clean. And, unlike tile, there is no grout to worry about keeping clean.

Summary

Bamboo is a great addition to any home. It is an eco-friendly, easy to maintain flooring material that can match any style you choose for your home.

Damion Rutherford is the marketing director for www.free-flooring.com, a FREE consumer’s guide for all of your bamboo flooring needs.

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It’s very upsetting to find someone using your business name, or one that is “confusingly similar.” If you’ve taken legal steps to protect your name, you are in a much better position to protect your interests.

* If you are successful, you will be copied.

I learned this lesson the hard way. When my business partner and I started Tables to Teapots (a retail store in Acton, MA), we had no idea how successful we would be. After several years of hard work, a TV feature on Chronicle and a story in Inc. Magazine, our business was booming. Then one day, a customer came in and said, “I didn’t know you’d opened up in New Hampshire.” Well, we hadn’t opened up in NH. But, an enterprising copycat had opened a store and called it NH-Tables to Teapots.

We were lucky. While we had the rights clearly established in Massachusetts, we had not filed a federal Trademark protecting the name in other states. By taking an aggressive position, I was able to convince the NH copycat to change the name of his business.

Legally, our “rights” to the name attach from the time we used it in commerce. However, we would have been on stronger footing if we had registered the Trademark.

Trademark/Service Mark Registration

Any word, phrase, name, symbol, sound … that identifies or distinguishes your product or service from those made or sold by others, is eligible for Trademark Protection. (Trademark applies to products; Service mark applies to services.)

Check to Confirm that Your Name is Available.

Before you invest in applying for a Trade/Service mark, it’s important to search and see if anyone else is claiming the name or similar name. You can search online for the Internet domain name (www.networksolutions.com). You can also search on the Web site of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov). These searches do not guarantee that the name is not in use, but they are a good indication of availability.

Steps to Protect Your Name

1. Reserve the Internet Domain name.

2. Use TM or SM symbols.

Put the Trademark (TM) or Service mark (SM) symbol on your materials. This puts the world on notice that you are claiming the mark.

3. Register in your State.

In Massachusetts, the filing fee is $50 and lasts 10 years.

4. Register in the US.

The Federal filing fee is $375 and once approved you can use the ® (stands for registered mark), and the protection lasts so long as the mark is used in commerce.

5. Register Internationally.

International registration has become much easier with the Madrid Protocol (effective November 2003), which allows a mark to be protected in several countries by filing a single application.

In conclusion, if your business name, tagline or brand is important to your business, then it makes sense to take steps to legally protect it.

Jean Sifleet is a practical and experienced business attorney whose career spans many years in large multi-national corporations and includes three successful entrepreneurial ventures. Jean has extensive experience in dealing with intellectual property matters in the large and small companies and as a small business owner. She has authored numerous books and publications on avoiding legal pitfalls in doing business. This article is excerpted from her new book, Advantage IP – Profit from Your Great Ideas (Infinity 2005). For more information, Jean’s website is http://www.smartfast.com

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In nearly 5 years of online dating, I found that a large
percentage of men (and I hear that women do it too), lie about
themselves in one way or another. Typically, it’s height that
most men are dishonest about, and I hear that women most often
lie about their weight. In my profile, I said that I was partial
to men who were 6’0” or taller. As a result, I met more than a
few men who said that they were 6’0” tall, but upon meeting
them, I found that they were usually much shorter. I can
honestly say, that in the years that I was dating online, I must
have met dozens of men, and in my estimation, a good 80% of them
were completely dishonest only with regard to their height.

Online dating sites are repetitive in their advice to post a
picture with your profile. They’re right. You will most
definitely get more responses to your profile if you add your
picture, than you will if you don’t. The first time that I went
online and did my profile, I didn’t post a picture, because (and
this is a common excuse), I didn’t want anyone I knew to fluke
onto my picture online. At that time, I posted the profile, and
within minutes I received about 3 or 4 “smiles” or some sites
call them “winks”. Okay, not amazing, right? About 2 weeks
later, discouraged with the number and type or attention I was
receiving, I posted a picture. The response was instant. I was
swamped. The site administrators are definitely right. The
profile with the picture gets much more attention than the no
picture profile.

When you’re posting a profile picture, in gawd’s name, PLEASE
post a picture that is RECENT. Recent picture means within the
last year or two. Too many times daters (men and women) post
pictures of themselves that are 9, 10, sometimes 15 or 20 years
old, taken way back when they were 40 or 50 pounds lighter, had
more hair, and before they began to look like they do at
present. Nothing is more frustrating than meeting someone who
posted a picture of themselves that is older than dirt! Most
times, they don’t even look like the same person. DO NOT POST AN
ANCIENT PICTURE OF YOURSELF…EVER! Save yourself the
embarrassment, and post a recent picture. I know women who have
walked out on dates with men who were dishonest with regard to
their physical description. And they should!

If you’re going to date online, do it right. Be honest, and
include a RECENT picture with your profile. Nobody wants to see
a 20 year old picture of you expecting that that’s who they’ll
be meeting. It’ll only get you a bad reaction from the other
party. Save yourself the humiliation and headache, and be honest
from the beginning.

Here’s to happy dating!

Nicolette.

Copyright 2005 Nicolette Arden All Rights Reserved.

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How Can 1031 Exchange Help You In Generating Business?

The §1031 tax deferred treatment of capital gains is one of the
most attractive real estate investor vehicles for preserving and
building real estate wealth: This provision of the tax code
allows property owners to exchange their property for other
like-kind property without recognition of capital gains.

The capital gain and tax liability are both transferred
(”deferred”) from the “old” property into the “new” one, so
there are not tax consequences or liability to the seller at the
time of the sale of the “old” property.

The beginning

————-

The concept of exchanging properties to avoid (”defer”) tax is
not new. 1031 exchange reformed variation of Two and Multi-party
exchange.

First; Two-party exchange

————————-

Direct exchange (i.e., a swap), or the “your property” for “my
property” is called a two-party exchange. Here there are two
property owners who each want the other’s property. When this
rare situation occurs, the parties exchange properties and avoid
(”defer”) tax liabilities. The main problem here is that rarely
there will be two property owners who each want the other’s
property.

Then; Multi-party exchange

————————–

The three-way or multi-party exchange technique was designed to
solve the dilemma of a two-way swap. The big problem here is
that if one or more of the parties would not cooperate with the
exchange, the entire exchange failed like a “Domino Effect”.

Now; 1031 Exchange

——————

By permitting you to “sell” your Relinquished (”old”) Property
now and use the proceeds to buy the Replacement (”new”) Property
later 1031 exchange eliminate the need of finding another real
estate owner who agrees to exchange properties (instead of
selling) to avoid tax liability.

Exchange Requirements

———————

Overview

——–

There are three conditions that must be met to accomplish
non-recognition of gain under §1031:

1. The properties exchanged must qualify, and be of “like-kind”.

2. There must be an actual exchange, not a transfer of property
for money only.

3. The time requirements must be strictly followed. Qualify,
“like-kind”

To qualify as a like-kind exchange, the property must be both
(1) qualifying property and (2) like-kind property.

What is a qualify property? For income tax purposes, real estate
is divided into four categories made as of the date the
transaction:

1. Held for business use (§1231) - property used in normal
course of business or rental property; Qualify

2. Held for investment (§1221) - property purchased and sold for
generating capital gain; Qualify

3. Held for personal use - vacation home, second home; Does not
Qualify

4. Held primarily for sale (dealer property) - resale or
inventory; Does not Qualify

The first two classifications “held for business” and “held for
investment” qualify for §1031 treatment while the second two
“held for personal use” and “dealer property-do not”. What if a
property falls under two categories?

For example what if a property held for investments partially
used for personal use? The sale will be allocated between the
two categories based on the portion of each one.

The Exchange Process

——————–

The following is a review of the process and timeline:

Sale of Relinquished (”old”) Property

To trigger the tax deferred transaction, you must sell your
property.

Identification the Replacement (”new”) Property

You have 45 days from the day you sell the “old” property to
identify the replacement (”new”).

Replacement Property is identified only if it is designated as
one in a written document signed by you. This document must be
hand delivered, mailed, faxed or otherwise sent before the end
of the identification period to a person (other than yourself or
a related party) involved in the exchange. The document must
include unambiguous legal description or street address of the
property.

Number of Replacement Properties that can be identified You may
identify more than one property as Replacement Property subject
to three rules:

3-Property Rule: The maximum number of replacement properties
you may identify is three properties regardless of their fair
market values.

The 200 Percent Rule: There is no limit on the number of
properties you identify as long as their total fair market value
does not exceed 200 percent of the total fair market value of
all Relinquished Properties.

The 95 Percent Rule: There is no limit on the number of
properties you identify as long as during the Exchange Period
you actually received identified Replacement Properties having a
fair market value equal to or more than 95 percent of the total
fair market value of all identified Replacement Properties.

Value of Replacement (”New”) Property

————————————-

The value of the Replacement Property must be equal to, or
greater than, the adjusted sales price of the Relinquished
Property.

All proceeds from the Relinquished Property sale need to be
invested in the Replacement Property.

Sale Proceeds Go To Qualified Intermediary

——————————————

Section 1031 requires an actual exchange of properties. If you
simply sell your property and reinvest the money in another
property, you will not qualify for exchange treatment, even
though it is a simultaneous close.

A Qualified Intermediary is a person (or company) who, for a
fee, acts to facilitate the deferred exchange by entering into
an agreement with you for the exchange of properties. The
Qualified Intermediary does not provide legal or specific tax
advice to the exchanger, but will usually perform the following
services:

1. Coordinate with the exchangers and their advisors, to
structure a successful exchange.

2. Prepare the documentation for the Relinquished Property and
the Replacement Property.

3. Furnish escrow with instructions to effect the exchange.

4. Secure the funds in an insured bank account until the
exchange is completed.

5. Provide documents to transfer Replacement Property to the
exchanger, and disburse exchange proceeds to escrow. Receipt of
Replacement Property

You have 180 days from the day you sell the “old” property to
receive the replacement (”new”).

Replacement property is treated as received before the end of
the exchange period if:

1. You actually acquired the Replacement Property (close the
transaction) prior to the end of the exchange period (180 days,
or the due date of the taxpayers tax return, whichever is
earlier), and

2. The Replacement Property acquired is substantially the same
as identified during the 45- day identification period.

Boot and Taxable Gain

———————

Money and unlike property in an exchange is called boot.

If, in addition to the Replacement Property, you receive money
or some other kind of boot, you may have taxable gain. The tax
is due only on gain that comes from the money and other boot
received.

Tax USA Inc. ————

Tax USA, Inc. is a complete tax, accounting and financial
management firm specializes in small businesses, corporations
and high income individuals.

Tax USA Inc.’s mission is to exceed clients’ expectation by
providing superb tax, accounting & financial Management services.

We offer our clients tax, accounting and bookkeeping services,
CFO Outsourcing, Budget Review and Business Plans, Cash Flow
Management, Payroll Services and Entities’ Incorporation.

Our Clients ———–

We focus on small and mid size businesses, non-profit
organization and high income individuals. Client list comprised
of corporations, non-profit organizations and high-tech
employees. Our corporate clients operate in various industries:

- Security - Information Technology - Internet - Retail -
Manufacturing - Transportation - Real Estate - Project
Management - Business Development

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Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a thief.

It steals relationships. Calls and visits from family and friends, who have become fed up with the ODD child’s behavior, become fewer and fewer until the ODD child and his family are left completely isolated at a time when they need help the most.

ODD cheats parents out of time, since children suffering from it need constant
supervision. Mothers and fathers get precious little time to sleep, exercise, relax
or take time for themselves.

It robs families of memories of happy holidays and festive occasions. Instead
they are replaced with recollections of special events marred by outbursts.

ODD takes away the ability to learn. Frustrated, overburdened teachers often
don’t have the skills to cope with an ODD child, and many times just give up.

The disorder pilfers any social confidence or self-assurance its young victims
might have. School becomes hell for the ODD child, his parents and his teachers.

By the time most children have been diagnosed with ODD, parents are
exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster they’ve endured by living with the
uncontrollable outbursts and constant arguing. Families sometimes are disrupted
to a point where the child has to leave the home for foster care or a hospital.

Although the situation may seem hopeless, families have found ways to work
together and cope with an ODD child. Many children get better and sometimes
are even rid of the disorder after treatment. Others – especially those with more
than one psychological or behavioral problem, a common problem with ODD
children – may not. What is important for parents to understand is that their
family can cope with an ODD child whether the disorder improves or not.

Many parents have trudged this road before you and have plenty of wisdom to
share. Look online for support groups in your area. It always helps to share your
burden with someone who has been there already.

© Tracy Linville - http://www.AnswersAboutODD.com
All rights reserved. You may freely distribute
this article. The copyright and this resource box must be
included.

http://www.AnswersAboutODD.com

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1. Using an idea journal is fast, easy, and convenient.

It will take you less than 15 minutes each day to record your ideas, goals, and dreams into your idea journal.

2. Motivates you to take action on your most valuable and promising ideas.

Use the idea journal to track your ideas. These ideas may be the launch pad to your desired future; you must have a system to record each idea in order to capitalize on it in the future.

3. Maintain laser-focus on your goals, dreams, and ideas – you must stay disciplined and persistent.

The idea journal helps you to keep your goals, dreams, and ideas in front of you on a daily basis. The more you review your goals, dreams and ideas the quicker they will manifest into reality.

4. Use the idea journal as a tool to express your creativity.

The idea journal is your tool to be who you have always dreamed of being. Think of your idea journal as a tool that will help you to unleash your urge to create. The words and pictures in your journal are uniquely yours. Do not be afraid to express yourself.

5. Capture your brilliant ideas in one location.

Having a central location to store your ideas is efficient as well as good common sense. When you want to find an idea from one day ago or one month ago, you can find it.

6. Compare and combine your current ideas with your past ideas.

Use your past ideas to help you develop new ideas by combining elements of past ideas with your new ideas.

7. The idea journal is a planning tool that moves you toward your goals at a faster rate.

Use the idea journal as a planning tool – conduct brainstorming, develop mind maps and create word associations in your idea journal.

8. The idea journal helps you to stimulate new ideas when you review your past ideas.

Develop your creative abilities by reviewing your past creative endeavors and learning something new each and every time you engage in a creative project.

9. You gain greater self awareness into your passions, interests, and desires.

The more you write and review your goals, dreams and ideas, the more you will understand what it is you desire out of this life.

10. The idea journal serves as a valuable resource for future projects.

Refer back to your idea journal to help you get started on new projects.

11. The idea journal serves as your recorded time of invention, if notarized.

If ever there is a dispute related to when an idea originated, a notarized page in your journal may be the difference between you receiving credit for being first to conceive an idea or receiving no recognition at all.

12. A valuable tool to help you grow and develop in your desired direction

The idea journal is not just a place to record ideas, it is a tool that will help you grow every time that you use it.

Vernon Myers is the founder of IdeaMERGE.NET – Where Ideas and People Unite! - An online networking site devoted to connecting people who have ideas to people who have experience and advice to share.

Vernon is the author of The Idea Journal – visit http://www.ideamerge.net/products to find out how to unleash your urge to create.

Visit Vernon’s blog, The Idea Pipeline, at http://www.ideapipeline.blogspot.com to discuss your ideas, dreams, and goals or to leave your comments.

Copyright (c) 2006, all rights reserved.

You may copy, forward or distribute this article if this copyright notice and full information for contacting Vernon Myers are included. Contact him at: http://www.ideamerge.net or email: info@ideamerge.net

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From early on in my online career I realised that the fastest way to internet riches was to find a marketing concept that brought me profits and plough as much as I could into that resource, thus building my business and capital as I went.

For those just beginning in home business marketing it would be prudent to start off with a very small investment (I started with around $30) and try to build from there. It would like to report that I was very wise after the first investment but the truth is that the illusion of easily gotten riches lured me into a spree of buying virtually every item of software/marketing resource that I happened to feast my eyes upon.

Needless to say this is not the best way to go about building a successful online career but the experience and benefits I got from this initial burst of enthusiasm, in how not to go about targeted advertising, far outweighed the financial losses. I have spent money on most of what the web has to offer in terms of marketing and can now enlighten you on what to buy and what not to touch with a 12 ft barge pole.

FFAs or Free For All link pages were once a useful free resource and could have provided at least a few hits per day given the right ad. Today using the free version of these pages is all but useless and in my humble opinion a total waste of time. The vast majority of people submitting to these sites today are using automated submission software so human eyes WILL never see your ad and as far as I know Automatons (Robots to some people) DO NOT buy products;-)

Paid or free safelists from my experience are just not worth the effort involved. The very fact that everyone posting to a safelist is not interested in the subject matter but in selling their own products gives us some idea on the ineffectiveness of this method. Couple this with the time spent sorting through emails mostly for deletion you really could spend your time in more worthwhile marketing ventures.

Moving up the ladder of effectiveness we have banner advertising. From my experience the best banner I was able to design brought me in a maximum of 2.8% click through rate and from what I hear this is a GREAT %. Most banners will only pull a 1% CTR. If you can find a company selling banner advertising cheap enough to bring you into the profit zone then certainly give it a bash. Please remember though to track all your banner ads otherwise you will not know whether you are getting massive click throughs or none at all.

If you are going to post to classified sites then opt for the free version. There is some good classified submission software out there and may be worth the investment. Again ALWAYS TRACK YOUR ADS. For free classifieds visit:

http://www.workathomebiz.info/adlandpro.html

Renting an email list is a good option and can bring you many hits to your product or affiliate site. Make sure that the list is optin only, meaning the people have requested to see your ad. There are many good reputable companies out there and if you are willing to pay sometimes high fees to rent a list, this can be a profitable venture.

Search engine submission is definitely a worthwhile project and considering a good listing will bring you daily and continuing free traffic I suggest you spend a bit of time perfecting this method. I use Web Position Gold software to automate my submissions and prepare my pages for submission. This cuts down in hours of work and I would certainly recommend any budding business owners to get a copy. To learn more about Webposition Gold visit this link:

http://www.webpositiongolddownloads.com

I have also paid for a listing to Yahoo’s directory. At $299 per year this may sound very expensive to some but the traffic I have gotten from this listing paid for the submission within a short period of time.

Pay per click advertising is another good advertising resource to drive TARGETED traffic to your site. First figure out how much you can afford to pay per visitor to your site. For instance if you make a sale every 100 visitors and your product costs $20 then if you paid 20 cents per visitor you would break even. The reality is of course that you can get visitors for much less than 20 cents and I have many keyword phrases that will send visitors to my site for 1 cent each. If you can find a few good keyword phrases at a profitable price then you will do well. Two good PPCSEs to start with and that I use are Overture.com and Findwhat.com.

Ezine advertising is by far the best form of advertising and more importantly is reasonably priced. From my own experience a solo or top spot ad are the most effective and will return more visitors for the price. For a good list of ezines visit:

http://www.directoryofezines.com/

A word of WARNING before closing this article: If you want to keep your business and your reputation intact then NEVER EVER use bulk email advertising. It just isn’t worth the risk. The hassle that you will get from sending out unsolicited email to 1000s of untargeted prospects will bring your business down in the long run. There are enough forms of advertising listed here to keep you going for a long time. Don’t waste your time on unproductive and senseless SPAMMING.

I wish you all the best in your efforts:-)

Copyright 2004 Mal Keenan

About The Author

Mal Keenan is editor and publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter: http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/

For a comprehensive leads package and followup system in one visit here:

http://www.homebusinessnetworking.com

For A Home Business You Can Believe In:

http://www.eliteteamireland.com/

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Think “outside of the box” when sending your next floral gift! The possibilities are endless! Floral Design is an art and florists can customize a masterpiece of flowers!

Many florists put a sampling of arrangements on their websites for you to see, but don’t feel confined to the photos! The most impressive arrangements are of an “original” design.

Ask the florist about any “specialty” flowers they may have in stock. Inquire about alternatives of greens, grasses, ruscus, palm leaves, etc. Have your local florist use a unique urn vase, a large basket or another unique container instead of a standard vase.

When in doubt, play to the senses, ask for aromatic lilies, roses and orchids in striking colors. Combined in a unique elegant vase, this floral gift will make quite an impression!

Tropical flowers offer a unique presentations as well. Their vivid colors and exceptional textures are far more dramatic than a standard daisy.

To ensure that your recipient receives what you asked for, be sure to order direct from the florist designing & delivering the order. Call Centers/Order Takers do not know what the florist has in stock, leading to substitutions. You can also be assured that your order will be filled to value when dealing with the florist that will be creating your floral gift. Why pay someone to order your flowers for you?!?! Call a florist directly. Call the florists that the middlemen call!

So, use your imagination! A unique gift of flowers customized by YOU will be very appreciated!

Tenley McDonald- Former Florist- Now Co-Owner of http://www.flowerpowernetwork.com (Online Directory of Real Local Florists) Ms. McDonald has over 14 years experience in ~Consumer Relations/Marketing ~Customer Service Management ~Floral Design.

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Use of herbs for health and as a medicine has a history dating back to man’s evolution on the planet. From times immemorial, man has experimented and used botanicals to heal and provide remedial treatments.

Ancient cultures from India, China and Japan have remarkable history of herbal use which part of the pharmacopoeia of these cultures. While the herbs have been extensively, there are very little clinical experiments until about 100 years back. However, there is an extensive and exhaustive empirical evidence of the efficacy of various herbal treatments.

In the last century, there has been an increased interest in herbal remedies due to its cost effectiveness and non-toxic nature. Herbs are generally safe to use as medicine in or general tonic for maintaining good health.

Herbal products are derived from botanical sources. Most of the herbal products are safe to use for its nutritional value. For medicinal purposes, it is better to check out the source and labels to ascertain safety, evidence of its healing properties and whether the herbs are safe for general consumption.

World health organization has estimated that 80 % of the world population uses some or the other herbs for health and healing. Increasing research is throwing up clinical evidence for its efficacy in prevention of various modern day problems such as cancer, diabetes, nervous disorders and blood pressure. Most of the herbal products available today are conveniently processed and packed as herbal tea or coffee, and in the form of capsules as nutritional food. While products labeled as nutritional supplements are safe to use it is best to consult a physician for treatment of disease.

To check the details of the efficacy and what to consume or what not to consume it is best to refer to the website of American health Products Association website at www.ahpa.org.

This article is copyright © of R.G. Srinivasan a Certified Trainer, Writer and Author. He is passionate about alternative therapies and holistic health. Check out his herbal health blog at http://alternative-healthnews.blogspot.com for more on the subject of health and fitness.

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Enter the Dragon
You stumble through a maze of mirrors, placed methodically so that the camera filming you doesn’t film itself… you have hot pink fluids smeared over your arms and torso as an obscure, esoteric reference to human blood… there is a chinese actor chasing you with an over-sized rabbit’s foot with marshmallow roasters attached to the fingers as an obscure esoteric reference to a bear-claw-esque weapon (which will henceforth be reverenced in the form of a mouth-watering innamon/frosting medley pastry).

Is this the freakiest haunted carnival fun house ever? Is it a story Spielberg, Coppola, Lucas, and the like tell over a campfire to try to scare each other sleepless? None of the above! This horror (multiplied by several millions) is what a poor innocent signal particle experiences every time he/she is sent through the most horrible rollercoaster of death: the fiber optic cable.

Enter the Nightmare
Fiber optic cable is virtually a tube lined on the inside with a flexible mirror that bounces the poor innocent signal particle around until it gets to the other side. Imagine trying to shine a light down a bending tunnel. If the tunnel is lined on the inside by mirrors, the light will bounce around until it finally arrives at the end. More specifically:
each optical fiber has three layers:
1.Core: A thin glass center of the fiber where the signal/light particle travels
1.5.Scary Chinese actor with over-sized rabbit’s foot
2.Cladding: Optical Material that surrounds the core and reflects the light back into the core.
3.Buffer Coating: Plastic coating that protects the fiber from damage and moisture.

Thousands of hundreds of tens of a couple of these fibers are arranged in bundles in optical cables in an outer covering called a “jacket”.

Single Mode Lee vs. Multi-mode bear-claw man
Optic fibers come as Single-mode fibers and Multi-mode fibers.

Single Mode fibers have small cores (about 9 microns in diameter) and transmit infrared laser light.

Multi-mode fibers have larger cores (about 62.5 microns in diameter) and transmit infrared light from LEDs (light emitting diodes).

Who Cares How it Works, Get Back to the Scary Chinese Actor with the Bear-Claw
Lets talk advantages to Fiber over Copper:
Thinner- Optical fibers can be drawn to smaller diameters than copper wire.
Less Signal Degradation- fiber optic cable not only can be used in networks, but to extend USB, Firewire, DVI, and other types of signals that degrade over short distances. Gefen, for instance, carries a great DVI extender that will carry your DVI signal up to 1640 feet, for when you want to do a powerpoint at a Vegas trade show at the Belagio without leaving the dollar black jack machine at “Jim’s Food and Fuel Safari” somewhere far away from the strip.

No Interference- Interference will someday be extinct from the english language except when used soley to refer to the famous playground Deus ex Machina that saved you from total dodgeball humiliation. In other words, with the advent of fiber optics, information will be sent through light signals and not electrical signals (used with copper wires), eliminating that nasty bully called interference.

Less Power- Because signals in fiber optics degrade less, less power is needed to make degradation corrections.
No Fire Hazard- Since light (not electricity) being passed through these cables, there is no fire hazard.
Flexible- Fiber optic cable is smaller, more flexible, and therefore more agile than copper. It is especially useful in medical imaging, mechanical imaging, plumbing, etc.

Cameron Postelwait works in business development at Sewell Direct, proud carriers of Fiber Optic Extension products, the USB to Serial Adapter, and many other connectivity products.

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