Info Meeting

As what with many companies, the sentiment of the client relationship determines the success of the Blue Skies marketing recruitment business. When the agency was first operational there was a mantra in mind, and this was to improve upon the normal quality of service that both candidates looking for marketing jobs and clientele receive in recruitment service firm.

There is a single unmistakable distinction which separates the company from their rivals, which is that at some moment or other each and every member of its marketing recruitment staff has spent time working in an agency or client side. All this is important as it does ensure Blue Skies possess a crystal clear understanding of what both candidates looking for a marketing job, and marketing agencies with open a job in marketing. Find jobs in marketing online at Blue Skies. They have a good reputation with jobs in marketing.

BlueSkiesCareers.co.uk has four offices, in London, the North West, the Midlands and Yorkshire; sourcing candidates wanting for a role in marketing. BlueSkiesCareers.co.uk supply recruiting services aimed at the freelance and permanent positions.

The recruitment consultants cover loads of different sectors, yet the most likeable are their marketing jobs. Blue Skies are also extremely easygoing to chat to and there should without doubt be a recruiter in one of the locations who will attend to you. Take a look in their site first, that can give you yourself the confidence or the drive to observe what BlueSkiesCareers.co.uk is really about for yourself. It’s fun and also really simple to navigate around, there are sections on everything one can want; search for your ideal marketing jobs, press, events, ratings, business’ the recruiters service for, and even an area where one can often find a little interview tactics.

Within Blue Skies, the marketing recruitment agency have a special section named b.creative. Blue Skies service a lot with the agencies side of the marketing sector and help to produce some amazing work. The marketing recruitment agency get together often with gifted creative folk, and with folk who have experience in brand to brand marketing. If you are an art worker, copywriter or designer working on or offline, then why not use b.creative to aid you yourself get that next special member for your business’s team.

The W377 has not been the most well received handset Motorola have every built, never the less it remains worth evaluating if you see one with a lot of free texts and minutes. With this mobile phone Motorola have built something which is a bit too basic for the price. The functional design of this phone is middle of the road.

There are lots of offers available online to possible mobile handset users. For example, using a mobile phone comparison site you can get a 12 m free line rental mobile.

The W377 has support for 2G GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 . This phone has a VGA, 640×480 pixels camera. If you use the Internet on the move, you will be pleased to know a WAP 2.0/xHTML compatible browser is included. For a mobile handset of its type, in terms of weight, the Motorola W377 scores well against its competitors at 95 g,. In terms of colours the W377 comes in, Cannon Gray, Lustrous Silver and Mandarin Orange. The W377 is one of the more compact phones on the market. The battery that is shipped with the W377 is a Standard battery, Li-Ion. On to battery duration the Motorola W377 has 250 hours standby charge and 7:30 talk time. The Motorola W377 is equipped with Polyphonic, MP3 ring tones plus a vibrating tone . The screen is a TFT, 65K colors. The Motorola W377 comes equipped with bluetooth, making the vast majority of accessories compatible. Additionally the Motorola W377 has the following additional features:

iTap (T9)

Calculator

FM radio

Organizer

Built-in handsfree

.

Although this is a pretty new model, there are already far more advanced competing products on the market. It is therefore pretty easy to pick up some real bargains on the W377.

Halloween brings great fun and festivity. Every popular holiday does that, but Halloween is different. During Halloween, your mood is totally different. Your heart is full of joy and your mind is full of ideas. There are no stresses and no body thinks about work. Its only fun and joy. Halloween changes every mind and heart. There is joy all around. Halloween Desktop wallpapers help you enjoy that mood all through the year. Let me tell you more.

Halloween is a festival for people of all the age groups and all the people love the fear and the fun. What about bearing the joy of Halloween on your desktop all the year? You can do that with Halloween Desktop wallpapers. You can download and enjoy the wallpapers, share them with your friends and enjoy. Getting good wallpapers for Halloween is a matter of good search. Some websites offer downloads with malicious attachments; therefore search for a site of good reputation.

Halloween is to be enjoyed. One should forget work for that day and have fun. Looking at Halloween Wallpapers you can fight with your stress and enjoy a new freshness. Halloween is one such festival. Wallpapers for Halloween will not only scare you but also others who dare to watch the wallpaper.

Desktop wallpapers for Halloween are a great treat for the eyes all through the day. These wallpapers add color and festive spirit not only to the computer screen but also your mind and heart. Whenever you will look at the wallpaper, you will feel joyous, because it will remind of the fun during Halloween. Download few good Halloween Wallpapers and keep them on your screen all through the year. Enjoy with Halloween wallpapers. Have fun and have joy.

The author, C.D.Mohatta writes for screensavers and desktop wallpapers on topics like nature, spirituality, motivation, love, holidays, animals, etc. One more site associated with the author has free fun games which surfers can play online. The author also writes for romantic ecards.

I casually glanced down at my hand, but instead of a wedding ring and an engagement ring, there was only the narrow gold band.

“Randy!” I yelped. “My engagement ring is gone.”

It was Valentine’s Day, and my husband, Randy, and I were on our way from my niece’s wedding, which had taken place in one town, to the reception, which was being held in another city about fifteen miles away.

If there hadn’t been other cars behind us, I think my husband might have been tempted to slam on the brakes.

Of course, one of the things I have always admired about Randy is his ability to remain unruffled during a crisis. Like that time one winter when the landlord had arranged for contractors to build a sloped roof over the flat roof of a house we were renting, and the next thing you know, the snow trapped between the two roofs started melting, and then gallons of water began dripping into the house and THEN the ceiling caved in…

Or that summer when I had agreed to help teach a one-week summer school course at the university for high school students and had come down with a terrible case of the stomach flu on Monday, and Randy had cheerfully agreed to take my place. All week he divided his time between teaching the class and then rushing home to see if I needed anything…

Or the Thanksgiving right after my father had died and we were hauling home some of my parents’ furnitureall that I had left in the world of both of them because my mother had died seven years earlierand it had started to rain part of the way through our 250-mile journey. Randy stopped the pick-up truck we had borrowed from a friend to cut his shoelaces into pieces so he could tie the tarp down better to keep the furniture dry…

In each of those instances, my husband had been an unshakeable source of strength who came to my rescue.

And he didn’t disappointment me this time.

“Where did you have the ring last?” Randy asked as he calmly kept driving.

I thought back over the hectic events of the day

Let’s see…just before we left the church, I was busy buttoning up my niece’s train…and before that I was occupied with watching the ceremony and trying not to cry…and before that I had been busy pinning on corsages and boutonnieres while the photographer impatiently breathed down my neck, never mind that he was late getting to the church…

When HAD I last noticed I was wearing the blue topaz ring with the delicate gold swirl around the stone?

That was part of the problem. I was not accustomed to seeing the ring on my finger. A few years earlier, I had decided I would only wear it for special occasions. Between cold weather in the winter and gardening in the summer, I put on hand lotion about ten times a day, but if I don’t take the topaz ring off every time, then the little crevices get all disgusting, and yet, I was afraid I would lose the ring if I kept taking if off…

“THAT’S IT!” I exclaimed. “Hand lotion!”

My husband gave me a sidelong glance. “Huh?

“Just before we got to the church, I took off my ring and laid it in my lap so I could get some more hand lotion, but I didn’t put it back ON.”

By this time we had nearly reached the reception hall.

“Check the floor,” Randy suggested.

I frantically thrust aside the floor mat…but there was no ring.

Then I groped under the seat. No ring there, either.

Randy quietly asked the next logical question. “Did it somehow fall into your purse?”

I hurriedly checked my purse. Nope. No ring.

“Could it have fallen into your coat pocket?”

My coat had big, horizontal pockets…but…no ring.

“All right,” Randy said, as he searched for a place to turn around, “that must mean it fell onto the ground when you got out of the car.”

Fell on the ground!

I could feel my throat growing tighter. “What if somebody drove over it?” I wailed.

“Don’t get yourself all worked up for nothing,” Randy said soothingly.

“For NOTHING? But it’s my ring…the one you gave me when you asked me to marry you…”

Actually, Randy didn’t give me the ring. Santa Claus did. In a crowded mall. In front of a group of parents who were there with their kids. When Randy got down on one knee, everyone applauded…

“We’ll find your ring,” my husband said. “Don’t worry.”

Although the drive back to the church seemed to take twice as long, we finally reached the parking lot.

“Now, let’s see,” Randy murmured, “we were parked over there…”

And before I could manage to unbuckle my seat belt, he had stopped the car, thrown open the door and…

“Here it IS!” my husband shouted triumphantly, scooping the ring off the ground.

If I’d felt like crying tears of consternation before, I felt like sobbing with relief now.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Randy said with a smile. “Hold out your hand.”

As he slid the ring onto my finger, however, I noticed HIS hands were shaking. And not just a slight tremor.

I pointed this out to him.

“Yes, well,” he said, “it’s not every day your wife loses her ring in a parking lot and then you spend the next half hour hoping it didn’t get stuck in somebody’s tire treads.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Oh, sure. For years I’ve been under the impression that the man didn’t have a nerve in his body that nothing ever rattled him.

And now this.

Then again, it also means that I have discovered one more reason to admire my husband. Even when he’s rattled, he can still think calmly in a crisis.

If only he could teach me to do the same thing.

About The Author

LeAnn R. Ralph is the editor of the Wisconsin Regional Writer (the quarterly publication of the Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Assoc.) and is the author of the book, Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm) (August 2003). She is working on her next book, Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam, which will be available later in 2004. Share the view from Rural Route 2 http://ruralroute2.com

bigpines@ruralroute2.com

World population growth is accelerating. True, the rate has halved since the historical peak of 2.2% in the 1960s, but estimates show that by 2050, population numbers will be close to 9 billion – almost 3 billion more than current rates. There are now more than 25 mega cities in the world, each harbouring in excess of 10m people. Compare this to the early 1800s, in which just 3% of the world’s population inhabited cities, and it is easy to see why population growth has become an important area of study; it is rapid and consuming, and concepts like the mega city show just how the way in which we live enters new paradigms according to population levels – now the number of people who live cities is closer to 50%. What does this mean for concerns over climate change, global warming, and CO2 emissions? Technically speaking, population growth does not have to affect these problems at all; there is no inherent link between pollution and increased population, nor is there a link between CO2 emissions and population growth. Certainly, there is the simple fact that more people means more CO2 being released into the atmosphere through the conversion of oxygen, but this carbon can be encompassed within the existing carbon cycle, meaning that – according to definition – it is not contributing per say to global warming. With that in mind, it is perfectly possibly to argue that, though the link exists, there is no need for population growth to affect CO2 emissions, climate change, or global warming. What makes growing population a problem for climate change is human habit. In the age of industry, in the paradigm of consumption and mass production, carbon emission has become a necessity; the burning of fossil fuels as a cheap and efficient energy source has dominated human production since the industrial revolution, and has reigned for 200 years. Under such a system, population growth is dangerous for world climate change and CO2 emissions levels, because the system dictates that production must rise with population, so that carbon levels, too, must necessarily rise. Indeed this is evident in the break down of rising CO2 emissions rates, in which up to 25% can be attributed to transport modes. That percentage will rise under the current system as populations rise. Population growth, then, is not detrimental to the environment by default, but has a serious effect because of the system of mass production and carbon based energy. To curb that problem, we need a new paradigm and a new system, in which either mass production is halted, or carbon based energy is made obsolete. With the first of those options looking at this time an effectual impossibility, we must enter a new paradigm under the protocol of the second option; the switch from carbon based energy, to renewable energy. That way, the rapid growth of populations across the world need not add to the ever more serious problems of global warming, CO2 emissions, and climate change.

With modern advances in body augmentation, DNA manipulation, BioTech, Robotics and computer human interfaces it appears we may soon be modifying humans in a very big way. Some see ethics issues in this as we modify ourselves, will we still be human? Will we be playing God and make mistakes, which are irreversible? If we screw up big time, will we have the ability to change back? Chances are there will be mistakes along such lines, hopefully they will be small ones and hopefully we will pay attention and be careful along the way.

You see soon we will be modifying human life to be better and it will be our choice. You can choose to remain all-human and live a much longer life if you wish. But being all or 100% human maybe considered inferior in the future. But if you are a purist you can make that choice and it should be no problem. And there is no doubt if you do that you will not be alone in your purest views, there will be a huge following, and that is a good thing, CHOICE is always a good thing.

Have you considered how you feel about these things personally? For instance do you want the worlds libraries hooked to a wireless chip mounted on your skull covered up by your scalp? You would be smarter, have instant communication and your brain would have all the world’s knowledge? What if you could be young again, say the body you had in your 20’s but with your same knowledge and experience base now? Would you take that super pill? Or do you prefer to be older with achy bones and lack of that high energy? Well, what say you now? You do not have to decide right now, but soon, one day in the not so distant future you will need to make up your mind. Think on it.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

The world of business startups is rife with option. You can take on a franchise or set up your own business from the ground up. each approach has its pros and cons.

There are many franchises available to buy. Many companies you use are probably franchises, from restaurants to cleaning services. When you purchase a franchise you are basically getting a business in a box. When you buy into a franchise, many aspects of the business including marketing are taken care of off. There are many different franchises available. Some will give you the business name, equipment and everything you need for start up, others only give you the basics and you still have to buy or lease a location, purchase equipment and the inventory you will need.

The negatives of buying a franchise however are that you are not free to change much of your business model, and the cost is often restrictive. Visit the Key Mergers website for more information or if you would like to f you would like to buy a business or for details of available franchises.

Taking the plunge and going it alone however means that you can grow the business organically over time, you can limit your initial outlay and you can be as creative with the direction of your business as you like. However, your model may not be tried and tested and you will likely have to develop your own support network from the ground up along with your business.

So, as you have probably gathered by now, the rational for choosing whether to buy a franchise or go it alone are multi-dimensional There is a trade-off between creativity, fleximility, risk and reward.

Weight loss plans come in all shapes and sizes. Some are fad diets that are too restrictive to follow more than a couple of weeks, while others are provided by professionals that make customized plans for us. All of them give us some guidelines on what we should and shouldn’t eat to ultimately reach our weight loss goals. No matter how many food plans we try, healthy or unhealthy, there are some fundamental things you must know in order to be successful in a weight loss program that, believe it or not, have nothing to do with food.

1. Readiness- Are you ready to make change in your life right now? How would you know? The reason many weight loss plans fail is because people are not truly emotionally ready for change. In order to have true lifelong weight loss you have to commit to trading your old habits in for a new, healthier lifestyle. This has more to do with readiness for change than a desire to shed pounds- there is a big difference. The good news is, as you start on the journey to change these old habits you will be amazed how much better you feel physically, psychologically, and emotionally. This is the place where the people who have experienced long term weight loss have entered and want to stay. When you are truly committed to changing your lifestyle you will achieve lifelong weight loss and so much more!

Ask yourself a few questions. Are you ready to make permanent dietary changes for you and your family? Are you ready to start exercising regularly? Are you ready to defend your new lifestyle changes to those who are undermining your efforts? Don’t fret if you aren’t completely ready to dive into change. This is the stage to keep up the learning process by reading articles and gathering information. You will know when the time is right and that will be when you answer an unequivocal “Yes!” to the above questions.

2. Developing a vision. When I ask people what their goals are for a weight loss program the answer is always, “to lose weight of course”, or “to lose x amount of pounds”. It is crucial to have another more, heart-felt reason to lose weight other than losing pounds and appearance. This is because when times are tough, and they will be during any change process, you will need a heart-felt or internal reason to lose the weight to keep you motivated. Losing weight for appearance is ok but it is an external reason and will not help to keep you motivated for long.

In the past my clients have chosen things like, being able to play with their kids, running a marathon, backpacking trip they have longed to go on for years, and a big motivator is often a health condition. I call this your vision. It is imperative to take a few minutes to learn what your vision is. What is important to you that you will be able to achieve with weight loss? Write this vision down and plaster it everywhere so you always see your end goal and it will always help to motivate you further when times are tough.

3. Self Talk – is yours negative or positive? Unfortunately it’s true that we are our own worst critics and like hearing any critic it often leads us to failure because we believe the critic is right. Furthermore, we start to believe things are true that are absolutely not true. For instance, if a child is told they are a klutz from an early age they will likely always think they are a klutz. We believe what we are told repeatedly.

What do you tell yourself? One common statement I hear a lot of these days is, “I can’t eat carbohydrates because once I start I can’t stop”. This is a belief that you have set up from constant defeating self-talk and once you believe it then no doubt you will act it out. However, there is no scientific reason why a person would not be able to stop eating after having a bite of carbohydrates. Your belief makes it your reality. So whenever you hear yourself say I can’t do something or any other self-defeating talk. Stop yourself and change the sentence to a positive. For example, I realize that carbs have been a challenge for me in the past but I can eat a portion and put the rest away for later. Keep working on your own positive reinforcement by being gentler with yourself and tell yourself all that you CAN do.

4. Be prepared for change. All weight loss programs require us to change a habit yet no one warns us about the process of change. The first thing to know is that the beginning of change is difficult and uncomfortable. This is because it forces us to get off autopilot and focus on our new behaviors. Luckily it takes about 21 days to make a new habit and the uncomfortable part goes away and our new habits become autopilot.

For example: Imagine you get your dream job and it requires that you have to get up at 5:30am. Yikes! You normally get up at about 7:30 am. So, what do you think will happen that first morning when the alarm goes off at 5:30? You aren’t going to feel so great and your body is going to beg you to get back into your warm bed! This will go on for about 2-3 weeks until your body stops fighting you and realizes this is the new habit. The same thing will happen to you when you change eating and exercise habits. Just expect a little resistance and keep going! Your new healthy changes will eventually become your new habit. You just have to keep at it.

© Meri Raffetto, 2005

Meri Raffetto is a Registered Dietitian and a recognized professional in the area of nutrition and wellness. She is the owner of Real Living Nutrition Services providing interactive online weight management programs. Sign up for her free monthly nutrition newsletter at http://www.reallivingnutrition.com.

Are you looking to create the perfect website? A complete novice when it comes to HTML, CGI, FTP and all the other associated pieces that make up the website puzzle, then this article is definitely for you.

By following the 5 guidelines listed below you are guaranteed to create the perfect website.

1. Plan your website

Creating a plan of your website will help you identify the purpose of your website and will also help you to see how many pages you will require. You should then research similar sites to see how they appeal to their target audience. You should also make a list of the tools that you will require, for example do you intend to have a guestbook, a message board, a chat room, a web journal or blog. How often do you intend to update your site? Are you going to sell products from your site?

By answering all of the above questions you will have a very clear perception of what your website will be about and what you will need to get it up and running. You can then move on to step 2.

2. Finding the right hosting service

Choosing the right hosting service will depend on your individual needs and having created your website plan this will make choosing the right host a lot easier. Before paying for hosting I recommend that you check out some of the free hosting companies. Here you can host your website for free and learn about web-building in the process.

Here are a few of the sites that I trialled:-

www.bravenet.com – This site allows you to have your own free website yourname.bravenet.com. The tools on this site are excellent and include a guestbook, message board, web journal and site counters to name but a few. They also have a website builder which is very important for the novice user. Great templates and also easy to use.

www.frandt.com – Offers free web hosting yourname.frandt.com. Another great site with many tools.

www.tictacwebsites.com – You can get a 10 day free trial from this website. Another great site with an abundance of facilities. If you decide to use them hosting is $20/month.

There are many more hosting services available and a quick search for free hosting or paid hosting will give you a huge list. I will recommend that as a novice you start with the free hosting services. This is some great advice that I would have loved to receive prior to starting my website.

3. Starting Your Website

Once you have chosen your hosting company the next thing is to start building your website. Using the site builders is the best way. You choose your template and then start imputing your content. Don’t worry about getting everything in on the first attempt, you can always edit your pages as you go along.

If you are intending to put in e-mail forms for subscriptions or feedback most hosting companies have this in their tools section. If not you can just create a link to your e-mail account.

Do not worry about adding pictures and advertisements, these can all come at a later stage, for now the main priority is to get your website up and running.

4. Publishing Your Website

Once your website is completed the next stage is to publish it on the web. Your hosting company will have a facility for this. This usually involves submitting your website to various search engines. You may also be required to create keywords and meta tags. Keywords are words that will be picked up by search engines and will help generate more traffic for your website. Try looking for keyword software. Some web hosting companies do all this for you which are an extra bonus.

Now that you are published on the web you are ready to move on to the last step.

5. Promoting Your Website

This is where the frustration begins. You have your website, it’s on the internet but how do I get people to visit it. There are numerous ways to get traffic and the internet is full of ways to do this. Joining a traffic system is probably the best. I use traffic swarm to promote my website and also instant buzz. Both of these have really worked for me and have increased my traffic significantly. Another way is to advertise, you can place adverts for free but this can be extremely time consuming has to go to each website individually. I used adblaster, a great piece of software that allows me to type my ads and them with the click of just one button my ads are submitted to over 2500 websites. Ezine articles are another way of getting people to your site. Check the ezine directories and submit your articles.

Now that you have the knowledge, why not get started creating your own website. If you need free advertising I provide it on my website.

Amanda Evans is the owner and producer of http://www.amandawrites.com a website dedicated to helping people achieve their goal of become a writer. Why not visit and subscribe to our free newsletter.

It was late, I had put off going to the Software Convention till the last minute. I just had to watch my favorite show on TV,
“S-Files”. Its that episode where the Computer Salespeople all turn into Pod People and ,,,,well never mind. Its really scary!
So I’m driving down the lonely one lane road from my house to the Convention. Its dark and the shadows are creepy, I’ll never watch S-Files again, I swear!

I pull into the parking lot, the convention is being held in the old YMCA. Geez, its dark, only 1 parking lot light and its flickering on and off. As I walk up to the entrance, I remember the old story about how, back in the Dot.Com days, when they tanked, the building was used as a makeshift morgue, to hold all the bodies of the CEO’s who committed suicide.

I get this really creepy feeling on the back of my neck as I go in,,,,oh, its just a Linux software salesman at the first booth. Is it my imagination or are his eyes glowing?

I head to the registration desk to get a program. I see the place is kinda empty, guess cause its so late. Well, I’m here to see who is offering the latest demos and what kind of freebies I can score.
The front booths are usually the big sellers and they never give away freebies or demos. So I head to the back, hmmm, the lights back here are terrible! Here’s a booth, Anti-Spyware 4 U.

The salesman shuffles up to me and says “Please take a demo of our new product”. I look at it, it says this is the latest greatest software to combat Spyware. I take the CD out of the plain paper cover and look at the Logo. Its just a plain shiny cd? Wow I can see myself in it I remark. “We spared no expense” a voice says behind me, making me jump. I didn’t even know he was behind me. Wait, I should have seen him behind me in the reflection off the CD.

I gotta be imagining things I say to myself. I ask the salesman for a brochure about their other products and as he hands it to me, our fingers brush each others. Jeez! His fingers are as cold as ice! Well, he is a salesman after all.

I thank him and head off to the other booths, seeing that I’ve gotten here too late after all, everybody is leaving. I decide to swing by the refreshments table to see if I can at least get a drink and some cookies. It sure is dark in here I think again as I come up to the table. As I scan the table, a little old lady comes up and asks me if Id like any milk and cookies. Yes Mam I reply. She hands me a little plate with cookies and paper cup of something white. I assume its milk, but its so dark in here! And there seems to be a fog or steam on the surface of the milk. Well beggars cant be choosers I think to myself as I thank her. She gives me a freaky cackling laugh as I turn away, stunned I turn back around and to my Horror, there is no-one there! Where in blazes did she go ?

I’m outta here my mind screams to me as I head for the door at a ever faster walk. In a minute I’m in my car with the doors locked and the engine warming up. Whew, That was the strangest Convention I’ve ever seen.

All the way home I’ve got a death grip on the wheel, just waiting for something to jump out of the shadows. Like a IBM salesman, now that would be scary!

If only I had known the other horrors that awaited me!

I breathe a sigh of relief as I close and lock the living room door behind me. Still shaking my head I head over to my Puter to try out this latest and greatest Anti-Spyware Software. As it boots, I get a message to disable my own Anti-Spyware program. I thing this odd, but I remember reading somewhere online that some programs can conflict with others so I comply. After a few seconds I get a message that the new Program is installed and it needs to connect to get possible updates.

So I get online and let it do its thing. A reboot is needed it says, OK so I reboot. The Puter comes up and I get online to check out the latest results of the Mullet contest. what’s this ? This isn’t my Homepage, it’s a site where you can ,,,Holy Hand Grenades! Its Porn! I close the Browser and man alive, I’m beset by about a dozen popups offering me things that, well, no decent person would want. I’m figuring now that I’ve been had by this Anti-Spyware CD. I do a Restore and get back to my Online Mullet competition site. Then I remember that I need to transfer some money in my savings to my checking account. So I head to the Bank site and take care of it. I must be tired, the puter seems slow to me. I check my mail and the wait to login is frustrating. I decide to call it a night. I’ll take care of it tomorrow.

After a tossing and turning night and dreams of my Puter melting, the new day dawns. With a cup of coffee I head to the Puter to see who won the Mullet Contest. The boot takes forever and the login freezes the first time so I have to power off and back on again. I’m really mad by now. I’ve been had by some sleazy software company! I finally get online but the Mullet competition site wont load. I cant tell if it’s the Puter or maybe the online connection. As it dawns on me that I’m gonna have to take it in for service, I hope I’ve got some extra in my savings to cover it. I head to the Bank site but it wont load either. Then I notice the Hard Disk light blinking away. I’m not doing anything at the time so it shouldn’t be accessing anything. Cursing, I turn the Puter off and pick up the phone to call the bank. I get a live person after waiting only 5 minutes so I figure the day may be improving. I give her my account info and she comes back saying “I show that account being closed last night after all money was withdrawn”! . There must be a mistake I say, she checks it again and says its true. The money in the account was transferred to a Bank she has never heard of in ,,,,Transylvania of all places. As I hang up in shock, I could have sworn I heard her laughing just like the old lady at the convention did last night.

I figure I better head to the Police Station to get some help. In a Panic I head for town. As I make the last turn into town, I glance towards the location of the YMCA, where all this started, only to see its not there! Its burned to the ground! Stunned, I stop in the street and get out. Nothing but ashes. The Man in the car behind me gets out and asks me if I’m ok. I mumble I’m lucky to be alive, I could have died in there last night. Puzzled the man says, but the YMCA burned down 2 nights ago!
As I get back into the car, I glance at the spot on the seat where I put the CD and the Pamphlet. Gone. Just a little pile of dust.
At the Police station, a sergeant takes down my story and informs me I’ve been the victim of online Identity theft. As I’m leaving, A couple of kids run by, in costumes, yelling “Happy Halloween”

Are you scared ? You should be!

About the Author: Doug Woodall has a web site at http://www.spywarebiz.com
There he provides free information and recommended products to combat Spyware.
His Website is recognized by Learning Fountain and ISafe
Doug’s Articles have earned him Trusted Author Status at ImpactArticles.com
He is a member of the IWA (International Webmasters Association)
Article edited for proper content by Wendy McCallum
Permission to copy ok as long as about author info remains with article.