leenajohn asked:
1. Identity Theft — We all are aware about it, but anyhow very difficult to stop. ID theft occurs when frauds steal personal information from your garbage, mailbox, recycling bin, or computer. They further store all documents containing your personal information in a locked file and cut before discarding. You need to keep all your personal identification numbers very confidential. Do monitor your account statements and your credit report on monthly basis. If you suspect a victim of ID theft, contact local police immediately.
2. Internet Fraud — Beware of fake Web sites, e-mails and phone calls from spammers pretending to legitimate business asking for your banking and personal information. You can enter you personal or credit card information on secured Web sites. Look for the letter “s” (http://) and for an unbroken padlock symbol to determine if in case the site is secured. Check for the BBBOnLine Reliability Seal or even other sign of trust on each Web site. Please do not download programs on your computer from any unknown sources.
3. Advance Fee Loans — When seeking a loan, it’s against the law rule for the provider to ask you to pay for their services until you get your loan or credit. Lawful lenders never “guarantee” or say that you are probable to get a loan or a credit card before you apply, particularly if you have bad credit, no credit or a bankruptcy.
4. Work from Home — Work at home ideas, such as envelope stuffing and product gathering, are not what they’re split up to be. The Internet has seriously increased the number of these scams. Look out for open fees for supplies, claims of no experience needed and exaggerated claims of effectiveness.
5. Nigerian Letter Scam — The Nigerian letter scam carries on proliferating. This scam are regularly received by e-mail, claims there are millions of dollars waiting to be deposited into your personal glance account. But these scammers are only after your checking account information. Best thing to do is completely ignore them.
6. Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams — Victims are informed they have won a huge lottery prize or sweepstakes and are sent a false check for part of the “winnings.” In return, they are asked to pay back a little part to cover taxes and/or processing fees before the remainder of the “winnings” is sent. Legitimate lotteries and sweepstakes contests would not need you to pay money in order to receive your prize. Foreign lotteries are against the law in the United States.
7. Overpayment Schemes — This is how it works: You may advertise your car for sale. The scammer agrees to purchase your car, but gives you a check for too much money. He takes the car, and tells you to deposit the check in to your account for the credit, and then send him your check for the difference. By the time you find out his original check is no good, he has your check and the car. Never agree to payment for more than your selling price.
8. Home Repair Rip-offs — More and more, unreliable scam artists show up on your entrance offering to do house and yard work for various costs. Don’t hire them. When you need work done around your home, get guess from a minimum of three contractors who have stable addresses in your area.
9. Health, Beauty & Fitness Claims — Beware of advertisements, which promise “rapid and easy weight-loss,” “miracle cures” or “recently discovered” treatments for disease and illness. Before signing any agreement, take the time to read the fine print and make sure you understand your obligations and the termination or refund policy.
10. Bogus Charities — Watch out for bogus charities with names, which sound like legitimate ones. Ask fund-raisers for their names, the charitable trust names and their contact information before allowing for a donation. Find out how much of your contribution actually goes to the program. Visit www.give.org for a list of national charities.
Brenda Williams asked:
One of the largest single-day sporting event in history is the Indy 500. The running of the Indy 500 has been going on since 1911. The 93rd running of the race will take place in May of 2009, making it the 64th consecutive year without interruption. Other names of the race throughout history have been the International 500-Mile Sweepstakes (twice), the International 300-Mile Sweepstakes and the Liberty Sweepstakes. The race has been carried on television and radio. It debuted on radio in 1952 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. The firs time the race was televised from start to finish was in 1986 by ABC.
The race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which was built in 1909. Its first track was a gravel and tar track which was then changed to all brick and then pavement. The first Indy 500 took place on May 30, 1911. The venue currently holds approximately 400,000 people. The first race was seen by just over 80,000 people who paid $1 for admission. The first race included Ray Harroun, the inventor of the rear view mirror. The race was originally an open event which meant that anyone could race in the event if they wished to do so. Now the race is by invitation only. Drivers must qualify for participating in the event.
When the race was an open event the qualifying procedure entailed the admission fee and maintained a certain speed was allowed to join the field. The order of start was determined at random, by determining who handed in their signup forms first. Now the qualifying, since it is by invitation only, is a little tougher. The current speed-based qualifying was started in 1915 and the field was limited to 33 entries, which is still the case for today’s race. The qualifying process today consists of a four-lap distance and it was introduced in the year 1933.
With each race comes traditions at the Indy 500 from year to year. The most popular tradition, and most popular words in sports aside from “Play Ball,” is “Gentlemen, start your engines!” Other traditions include the detonation of an explosive to signal the opening of the arena’s gates at 6am on the day of the race, “Taps” is played to symbolize the remembrance of Memorial Day along with a flyover, “God Bless America” is performed by Florence Henderson and “The Star-Spangled Banner” is performed by a different popular artist each year.
There have been a multitude of accidents during the running of the Indy 500 and a handful of deaths involving drivers, crew, spectators and driving mechanics (which haven’t been used since the early years of the race). The last death during the Indy 500 was in 1973 when Swede Savage died on July 2nd in a hospital from injuries suffered in the race. Some believe that Savage might have died do to contaminated blood from a transfusion. Savage was the 14th driver to die either at the race or after the race to due injuries from an accident or from heat exhaustion
Lionel Wayne asked:
Do contests like American Idol, participating on some music talent search contest, open call audition or some talent competition actually help an amateur break into the music business?
A lot of people have been asking me this question lately and so I decided that perhaps it might be a good idea to bring a little clarity to this issue.
Does participating in a talent competitionin itself guarantee you a bright future in the music or entertainment industry? The answer is NO.
Developing any career takes time and hard work and singing songs and hoping to win the talent contest will not guarantee that you will be the next rock superstar. It does however accomplish a number of very important small tasks that can be instrumental in helping you become a new music talent.
Every one knows that training and practice are important but it is not always obvious that certain physical abilities like having an ear for music or a flare for performing are also necessary for success in the business.
I am sure many of you have heard the stories of people that have the most amazing musical abilities. Wonderful voices, amazing music talent on a particular instrument and perhaps even a great stage presence yet these people are still not big in the music industry.
Well talent and ability need to be supplemented with business savvy and marketing expertise. All the marketing in the world however will not help if no one ever hears what you can do. Even if they hear what you can do you still need to know weather they are enjoying what they hear. You as an artist or musician need to understand what does public, that is viewing you likes and want so that you can adapt your performances to give your audience. It is only once you fill this need that you will then become successful.
Well the music talent contest does assist you in these other very important aspects of building your career in the entertainment industry. It gets your music to the public and gets you heard. It provides a means of getting feedback from your potential audience on your talent and it can assist you mold and modify what you do to fill their needs.
It gives you practice and if you advance in the contest actually helps you build a portfolio that shows how your talents have actually improved over time and provides the entertainment industry with a better idea of what you are capable of. Participating in a talent competition like this is supposed to be two things. It is supposed to be fun, and it is supposed to help you develop. Well the Music Media Entertainment Group is trying very hard to develop a website that will accomplish both of these results.
Our website provide rich resources of various talent competitions and you can register online. We have created a rich musician resources for our visitors on all topics related to music far and wide. You can “listen to free online music”, “download free music online”, “free downloadable mp3 music”, “download free music software video”. The site also has music creation tools like “music composing software” and “free music mixing software”.
Visit http://www.musicmediaentertainmentgroup.com and enjoy.
Ryan Reynolds asked:
It’s not a secret anymore that Australia is a hodgepodge of countries and culture. Blame it on the inviting and alluring appeal of the Land Down Under, or blame it even on the very democratic Australian visa system. Whatever it is, Australia enjoys a rich tapestry of culture and breathtaking kaleidoscope of people from all walks of life. Australia is indeed a sweet melting pot, and this is especially evident during festivals and holidays. In fact, even if you travel Australia entirely, you’d be surprised that a year isn’t enough for you to participate in everything. In Australia, the whole year round is peppered with colorful festivals and frenzied celebrations that each country has brought along with them.
The Chinese New Year, for one, is a fiery explosion of bursting dragons and dancing fireworks, whereas Laotian Buddhists celebrate amidst a shower of flowers and restless gongs. Even the Greeks and the Brits have their own awesome festivals to share, and for that matter, every other nation that travel Australia and settle there makes Australia one bit more colorful than it already is with their smörgåsbord festivities.
Of course, Australia too has its own distinct gamut of festivals, from the artistic (like the Adelaide Festival of Arts or the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures), to something as petty as brick-throwing contests, which just goes to show that Aussies are the most fun-loving, outdoorsy people there ever was. For the Australian flavor of the Mardi Gras, there’s even Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras every February, flocked by tourist from all over the world.
Even when the calendar isn’t busy and bustling with festivals and parties, you’ll find out soon enough that to travel Australia is to lose track of time and to plunge into the world.
