The LuxMob Info Tags

Large businesses require a lot of IT infrastructure and a department to look after it. Small businesses often can’t afford to have that sort of internal support in place, yet they need fully operational IT systems in order for the business to run properly. For businesses like these, external IT support can be a cost-effective yet vital resource.

1. Avoid IT salary bills

Even one experienced, trained IT professional can cost a lot of money. Paying a salary, tax, National Insurance, pension and any other benefits can make a big difference to your bottom line. For small businesses, there just isn’t enough IT requirement to justify employing someone to run the system full-time. Instead, put your money towards your business, and pay a lot less for an external IT professional to help you when you need it.

2. Online and telephone support

If you haven’t got support in the office, you need to know that there’s someone on the end of the phone that can help with any IT problems that arise. Most IT support firms offer phone and online support and, because many problems can be sorted out over the phone, you won’t have to wait for an engineer to come out to your office.

3. Security

Some of the most important parts of your IT system are the ones that protect you from fraud, virus or other harm. Any software that’s protecting your system needs checking and updating on a regular basis, to make sure that your business is secure. Rather than scheduling this in for someone in your office to do, it’s much easier to arrange for an external IT company to come in to your office on an agreed timetable to keep your IT security up-to-date.

Using IT support has many benefits, but for small businesses, the most important thing is that external IT support allows you to concentrate on your business, whilst retaining confidence in your IT systems – and at a much lower cost than employing your own IT expert.

Thames Computer Services provides network support to businesses in the UK and around the world. Visit their website by clicking on IT Support Services.

The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews (13:8) declares with confidence that: “Jesus Christ is the same, Yesterday, Today, and Forever.”

Let the reader recall that this text has its roots earlier in the same book, where a discussion of those under the leadership of Moses (chapter 3) and then Joshua (chapter 4) takes place. In other words, the backdrop for properly understanding the sense of verse 13:8 forms a comparison. Those compared are the Hebrews who left Egypt for the Sinai wilderness in the Exodus (who spent 40 years heading toward the promised land, “Canaan” or Israel)– comparing THAT generation, with the generation of Christians addressed by way of the sermon comprising the book of Hebrews.

One can find just this same comparison implied in 1 Corinthians, this time between the Corinthians and “those who were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the [Red] Sea” (1 Cor. 10:1 ff.). It becomes obvious fairly quickly that the prophetic writers of the New Testament viewed themselves and their generation as analogous to those who lived 40 years in the desert.

Only the “Egypt” they were leaving was Older Covenant Judaism, with its types and shadows (which began when Jesus was killed by his own people with the help of the Romans = A.D. 30), and they were moving toward the promised land, a time when the faith of Jesus would spread throughout the world — which began in earnest after the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem itself (A.D. 70).

The astute reader will notice at once that this time frame (AD 30 - AD 70) spans — you guessed it - 40 years. And this 40 year transitional phase of God’s plan of salvation met with all manner of extraordinary miracles at the hands of the apostles. This was also true of those who witnessed the ministry of Moses for 40 years. Hebrews quotes God regarding them, “Forty years they saw My [miraculous] works….”.

And for 40 years, the Jewish contemporaries of the apostles saw God’s miraculous works by apostolic hands also. This is what it means to say that the “gospel was CONFIRMED to us by them [the apostles]” in Hebrews 2:2-4. Here, confirmed means that God had shown the truth and reliability of the gospel of Christ as it was “confirmed by signs and wonders.” When Jesus, as the Great High Priest, had prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing,” He stayed what would have been the instant wrath of God against the killers of His Only-begotten Son, thereby bringing the Jewish people of his day a merciful 40-year stay of execution.

During this period, the gospel traveled from Jerusalem, to Judaea, to Samaria, and to the “ends of the earth” [an Older Testament euphemism for the Gentile capital, which was Rome]. The book of Acts chronicles just this evangelistic trajectory of the good news of Jesus Christ — together with attending miracles that confirmed the gospel as new revelation from God.

The ancient and analogous transitional period from Egypt to Canaan was called by David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Today” — in the saying, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” The great desire of King David — the Building of the Temple in Jerusalem — was actually carried out by his son — Solomon, the son of David. And, of course, the builder of the Temple reigned in Jerusalem for how long? Right again — 971 B.C. to 931 B.C. — 40 years. So the son of David (Solomon) built the Temple, and the Son of David (i.e. the Lord Jesus) destroyed it (A.D. 70), and replaced it with a Better Temple — the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, redemptive history had moved forward again — onward and upward — with the salvation of the Gentiles, and the dietary restrictions became defunct — for they were only a didactic tool in the first place — the tribal land laws in Israel became obsolete, as well the Temple complex with its tribally-based (Aaronic-Levitical) priesthood. But many refused to move forward, to go up into the promised land and possess it. They fell in the desert, just as the generation of Jews responsible for the death of Jesus fell by the hand of the Romans in A.D. 70.

With no Temple complex or known tribal lineage by which to determine who might serve as a Levitical priest, Old Covenant Judaism has been embarrassed by the fact that they have had no atoning sacrifice to offer for almost 2,000 years. Having rejected the only sacrifice sufficient to bring them atonement, that of Jesus, the Lamb of God, at Golgotha, they have no alternative divinely-appointed mediator that might convey to them the mercy of God so necessary for salvation.

Some have suggested by way of an apologetic defense of Old Covenant Judaism an emphasis upon the importance of prayer and/ or good works as a means of atonement. But this begs the unanswerable question: If all we need for salvation is our own good works, then why did God, since the days of Adam and Eve, ordain that so much blood be shed when it was all unnecessary?

Why go through the encyclopedia of intricate gyrations found in the details of the levitical priesthood for thousands of years — with God often killing or injuring those who sacrifice badly — if the whole affair was needless in the first place? This would render the Jewish God (but not the Christian God), a tyrannical and sadistic pedant, who preserves curious details from the history of liturgy for 21st century historians at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives — Unnecessarily!

One might avert this on the supposition that God commanded sacrifices because they were extremely important. This would also explain the great care God required in their administration, and the severe penalties that followed from malfeasance therein. Yet the Bible tells us that the sacrifices of the Older Testament — in and of themselves — never really got the redemptive job done. If they had, they would not have been repeated endlessly. Nevertheless, they “connected” believers in the Older Testament with the great and efficacious sacrifice yet to come. The most important of all sacrifices would have to be a “once for all” sacrifice — one which Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ and Son of the Living God, offered up to His Father on a hill outside Jerusalem - a Lamb without spot or blemish.

And indeed, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. And, “You shall call his name, “Joshua,” for He shall save His people from their sins.” And the good news is that Jesus Christ is the same: Yesterday [the Old Covenant era], Today [A.D. 30-70], and Forever [A.D. 71 and whatever comes afterward].

That is why the Judaism of yesterday needed transforming, and why salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God is Today and Forever. Praise the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.

Carson day has written some 1.3 gazillion articles and essays with insight and candor. He studied the history of ideas in college and now writes compulsively. He has been quoted as saying “What box?” and remains at large despite the best efforts of the civil authorities.

Years ago, I attended a seminar about goal-setting that I’ve
never forgotten. The leader of the workshop presented the
participants with tried-and-true steps to reaching every one of
our goals. At the time, I thought “It can’t be this easy … can
it?”

Well, the simple steps I learned then are still working for me
today, and I’d like to share them with you. Whether your goal is
to lose ten pounds, or to retire ten years early, these basic
principles can be applied to almost any life situation or
challenge.

The first thing to do is to define the goal — in specific,
measurable terms - and write it down. This helps you to clarify
what your goal really is, and gives it some life.

So, for example, instead of just saying, “I’d like to retire
early,’ your goal should be stated as “I’d like to retire no
later than the year 2004.” When the leader of that workshop
talked about this step, she said, “Having it written down allows
you to stay focused, and to keep your eye on the prize.”

The next thing to do with a goal is to ‘make molehills out of
mountains.’ In other words, break the goal down into more
manageable segments - either by time frame, or some other
measurable unit. For example, if your goal is to lose twenty
pounds, you would ‘make molehills out of mountains’ by declaring
that you will lose four pounds per month.

And keep your eye on the prize.

Now that you have a measurable goal down on paper, and you’ve
broken it down into manageable parts, you need to look at all
the obstacles that are stopping you - or have stopped you in the
past - from reaching it. Write them down.

Then, for each obstacle you define, figure out what resources
are available to you to get over, or past, or through, that
barrier. Negative self-talk in your way?

Create affirmations you can use, daily, to counter-act it. A
well-meaning friend or relative tries to stop you? Make a list
of all the folks you know who support you! For every obstacle,
there is a solution. Find yours, record them - and keep your eye
on the prize.

Finally, you need to determine ways that you will reward
yourself. And don’t wait until you get over the mountain - build
in a suitable reward for each way-point, each time you push past
an obstacle on the way to your goal.

All of these steps WILL move you closer to reaching your goal if
you follow them. What’s stopping you now?

Is your eye on the prize?

A great way for self employed professionals to enhance their reputations is to write articles. But for many, the thought of writing an article calls to mind your school days of struggling to write a composition, trapped indoors while your friends played baseball without you.

Article writing doesn’t have to be difficult and the rewards are great. Since I started writing articles, my website traffic increased, signups for my newsletters increased, the media has sought me out, and I’ve become what Stephen Van Yoder calls “slightly famous”.

Here is the formula I use to write articles:

First of all, I do not see myself as a writer. You will not find me starving in a garret, suffering for my art. I see myself as a communicator. I have important and useful information to impart that can help people build successful businesses. When you look at it that way, it really takes a lot of pressure off you.

Secondly, your articles do not have to be Pulitzer Prize quality. They need to communicate information in a way your customer can relate to. If your customer is put off by high-falutin’ language, don’t use it. Speak in language that resonates with your customer. Remember, your intent is to communicate, not to win prizes or bludgeon others with your knowledge of polysyllabic words.

Next, start out by writing out a sentence or two (no more) that explains what you want to accomplish with your article. Your purpose is two fold: you want to establish your expertise in the eyes of your potential customers and you want those customers to do something. Here is an example for an article I am writing about how self employed professionals can enhance their reputations:

“I will write an article to give self employed professionals ideas on how to enhance their reputations which will result in more traffic to my website.”

That statement causes me to focus on achieving a specific result—more traffic…by providing specific information—reputation enhancing ideas. It really is the most important part of writing an article. Without that focus I am likely to head off on a tangent.

From there, develop a main thought and support it with three or four points. Add a brief story, a website to visit for more information, or a quote from an expert (that expert can be you) and you’ve got your article.

Sometimes when I get writer’s—-I mean communicator’s block. I grab my microphone and “talk” my article. This also ensures that my articles have a conversational tone instead of a boring professor monologue.

Give it a try and you’ll soon be turning out articles with ease and enhancing your professional reputation.

Caroline Jordan, MBA helps self employed professionals who struggle to build their businesses, attract clients they enjoy, improve cash flow, and find additional revenue streams. For more success tips and strategies visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com

When Oprah Winfrey decided to take responsibility for her life she never looked back. She moved ahead. What two new decisions could you make to move you ahead? She exhibited a tremendous change in her thoughts years ago when she decided, never again. Never again will I settle for less than I can be.

Stop right now and think of a moment of ecstasy. Something that gives you ecstasy. Make the picture bigger and brighter. Make the sounds clearer and louder. Now, make the feelings more intense. How good do you feel? This is called the mind-body connection. The mental side of it all. This is more powerful than you could have thought.

Most people think Mother Theresa started off this wonderful, compassionate person. She didn’t. She started a school teacher, one day walking down the streets of Calcutta she had an experience that little did she know it would change her life forever. She heard the cries of a sick man. She desperately tried to get him to a hospital, and at arriving at the first hospital was told they wouldn’t treat him because he was too poor. She pleaded with them that he was going to die and needed attention.
Still they refused. She took him all the way to a second hospital. There she was also told they wouldn’t treat him. She pleaded again. Finally she went to a third, they refused also. Finally the sick man died in her arms. She made a decision right there. As long as she is around, no one would suffer unnecessarily. These simple actions changed her life. Now she has left a trail of influence.

Doctors in ancient Egypt used faeces on wounds. We now know this infuses the wound with bacteria, but back then it was accepted beyond a shadow of a doubt because that’s what everybody believed.

Doctors used to prescribe a common drug called “DES” to pregnant women. Now we know it causes birth defects, and thousands of women are seeking damages for genital cancers and inability to conceive.

People believed the world was flat for hundreds of years, everyone believed it was flat, they were certain about that. How absurd does that come across to you now? Since a gentleman named Christopher Columbus sailed around the world and pointed out it was round, now everyone believes its round. Most people do what the majority does.

On December 1st, 1955 a fiercely determined young black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white woman. Little did she know at the time, this one action would lead to steps that would change the future for years to come. Anyone who picks up a program like this, certainly not you and I, wouldn’t settle for less than we can be. May a friendly relationship begin.

Stop and decide right now who you are committed to being, to take yourself to the next level. Decide right now that following through on this is an absolute must for you.

Stop right now and think, what will it cost you if you don’t take steps to increase your feelings of wellbeing? What will you miss out on if you don’t take action to increase your energy now? Nobody who reads this article would settle for less than the very best.

Dr. Edward Steiner has dedicated over 15 years to understanding nutrition and articulating complex information simply. He has worked internationally with indivduals who wish to improve their lives through the proper use of exercise and nutrition. He has condensed the best information he has discovered in 15+ years into one place at http://www.energyboostnow.com.

Would you like to know what really goes on inside the heads of astoundingly successful leaders? Here is your chance. Part of the research for my book Absolutely Fabulous Organizational Change™ involved highly successful executives filling-out my Abilities & Behavior Forecaster™ pre-employment test.

Each of the executives I tested had planned and implemented organizational change resulting in $10-million - $1-billion in profit improvement. They hail from America’s best-run companies, including IBM, VF Corporation, Intuit, Ritz-Carlton, Outback Steakhouse, Campbell Soup, Excell Global Services, Robert Mondavi Corporation, and more. In other words, you will discover what the best-of-the-best leaders at top-notch companies really are like.

Optimism Fuels the Leader’s Success Pessimism never won any battle (a quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower)

My research revealed the fact that absolutely fabulous leaders are incredibly optimistic people. These leaders consistently scored high on the Forecaster™ test’s Optimism scale.

This prompts the question: What is an optimist? In a book and audio-book I co-authored, “Spontaneous Optimism®: Proven Strategies for Health, Prosperity & Happiness”, my co-author and I defined an optimist as someone who overwhelmingly

(1) focuses on solutions, not problems

(2) possesses a compelling vision for an exciting life

(3) spends most of his or her time working on goals to achieve the vision

(4) persists

(5) takes total self-responsibility for personal successes and failures

For example, Leonardo Inghilleri, senior vice president at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, emphatically told me,
Optimism is absolutely significant. I’m an optimist in life — both my professional and personal life. You have to be positive. Nothing positive is created through negative thinking.

Starting when I was a teenager, I always have had a personal mission statement to help me in my life. It helps me know where I’m going even when I am challenged.

Or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

Highly Creative
In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different (a quote from Coco Chanel).

Results on my Abilities & Behavior Forecaster™ tests show that absolutely fabulous leaders are extremely creative. On the Forecaster™ tests, the leaders’ scores show a classic pattern for creative people: Specifically, they typically score both
(1) low on the Following Rules scale
(2) high on the Creativity Motivation scale

If you think about this, it makes perfect sense. After all, what is creativity? It is not always following all the rules, as shown in the leaders’ low score on the Forecaster™ test’s Following Rules scale.

But, that is not enough. On top of that, these leaders also feel strongly motivated or enthused to do creative work. This is evidenced in their high score on Creativity Motivation. When you combine creative thinking with motivation to actually do innovative work, you wind up with the hallmarks of intensely creative people. Indeed, absolutely fabulous leaders certainly excel at conjuring up innovative, yet practical, solutions to propel their companies to vastly boost profits.

In fact, a chief reason for high-level success in business and in life is a person’s ability to continually create desirable opportunities. General Douglas MacArthur summed this up when he pointed out, “There is no security in this life. There is only opportunity.”

Tremendous Brainpower

To the dull mind, all of nature is leaden.

To the illuminated mind, the whole world sparkles with light (a quote from
Ralph Waldo Emerson).

Absolutely fabulous leaders usually are very, very smart people. This was verified in their scores on the Abilities & Behavior Forecaster™ tests. Specifically, these amazing leaders scored amazingly high on the Forecaster™ test’s Problem-Solving scale. This scale measures a person’s general level of intelligence or overall brainpower. The successful leaders also scored high on three other Forecaster™ test scales of mental abilities, namely, Vocabulary, Arithmetic, and Grammar.

What does this mean for you? For starters, if you are a bright person, use your brains! If you have average intelligence, then do everything you can to boost your brainpower.

Take advantage of this old saying, “Use it or lose it.” First, read books and articles to expand your mental horizons. Second, find absolutely fabulous leaders to be your role models. Carefully observe how they think through situations. Third, get the nutrition and rest you need to use your brain at its peak potential. Fourth, practice thinking through situations, and discuss your ideas with highly successful people who will help you sharpen your thinking. Overall, make sharp thinking into your habit.

What’s in Your Head?

Now, you have the opportunity to examine yourself. How do you stack up compared to incredibly accomplished leaders? What precisely is your own level of optimism, creativity, and intelligent thinking? By peeking into the heads of magnificent leaders, you can use them as your role models when you decide how to improve what is inside your head.

© Copyright 2001, 2005 Michael Mercer, Ph.D.

Michael Mercer, Ph.D., is a consultant, speaker, and founder of The Mercer Group, Inc. in Barrington, Illinois. Dr. Mercer’s “Abilities & Behavior Forecaster™” pre-employment tests are used by companies across North America. He delivers speeches and seminars at conferences and companies. He authored “Absolutely Fabulous Organizational Change™” and also “Hire the Best — & Avoid the Rest™”. You can (a) subscribe to his free e-Newsletter at http://www.DrMercer.com or (b) call him at 847-382-0690.

Your reputation, strengthened or negated by word-of-mouth, is one of the most difficult things to build and one of the easiest to destroy. You must be committed to developing and protecting your good name at all costs… it is one of your most precious assets.

How do you develop and preserve an exemplary reputation? First, you must believe that honesty, credibility and consistency are right… both personally and professionally.

Second, you must consistently deliver what you promise… no exceptions.

And finally, you must build and maintain positive relationships, and treat everyone with kindness and respect, regardless of the situation.

Here’s a personal example. When I help found my own small, competitive long-distance company I developed a policy on treating customers with specific guidelines and scripts for dealing with difficult ones. Sometimes our service consultants were in the unenviable position of having to terminate a customer’s service for nonpayment. As you might expect, this often resulted in a frustrated, angry or regretful call into our service center.

We could have used the opportunity to chastised and pressure these folks… many companies do. However, no matter what the outcome of the call, we made sure that every person was treated with kindness and respect… just as you would treat a friend or family member. Our representatives made every attempt to help these customers… often taking great leaps of faith. And the customers appreciated it! Why? Because it’s so rarely done these days! In other words, we continued to serve when others would not have.

This one policy resulted in more positive testimonials than our other, more formalized, programs. You’d be amazed at how many of these folks ended up becoming some of our best, and most loyal, customers.

I recently read Malcolm Gladwell’s masterful book, “Blink”, where he talks about a recent research study where patients who sued physicians for malpractice, and those that chose not to, responded. The purpose of the research was to uncover why some people decided to sue a doctor over a “technical” error and others, whose physicians had committed identical errors, did not. What did they find out? Not surprisingly, the folks who did not sue indicated that they chose not to because they “liked” their doctor! Overwhelmingly, they said that he/she treated them with kindness, respect and really listened to their problems and tried to find solutions. They essentially “forgave” the technical error because they felt that their doctor really cared.

This was not so for the other group… A full 80% of the patients who did sue cited poor “bedside manner” as a major factor in their decision. Bottom line: Everybody wants to feel appreciated and respected, regardless of the circumstances!

During my years as an executive of my own company, I felt tense before answering strangers’ fated question, “So, Mary, what do you do for a living?” I was braced for anything from a blank stare to a tirade of complaints. Yet, not one of my current, or former, customers ever complained about how they were treated by any employee of the company… even though they may have had other concerns (for example billing errors, service outages). I was also grateful to learn that many ‘defectors’ eagerly recommended our company to others.

As a person far wiser than me said, “A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.” (Joseph Hall) So, it’s wise to remember that a stellar reputation isn’t gained only when things go right but when they go wrong as well.

And as a matter of fact, the way you treat others may actually “save you” if things really begin to unravel… because you’re going to meet the same people on the way down as you did on the way up!

Copyright 2005 Mary Eule

Mary Eule specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses get and keep profitable customers. Formerly a Fortune 500 marketing executive; founder of two successful small businesses and award-winning speaker, Ms. Eule is President of Strategic Marketing Advisors, LLC. and co-author of a new book, ” Mandatory Marketing: Small Business Edition”. She holds a master degree in marketing from Johns Hopkins University. Log onto http://www.StrategicMarketingAdvisors.com for free articles, newsletter and helpful tools, tips and templates.

Selecting a proper domain name is one of the first important steps when starting an online business. In the online community, your domain name actually represents the name and reputation of your business, so choosing a domain name for your website is just as important as choosing your business name.

The first step to selecting a domain name is to brainstorm a list of possible domain names for your business. Ideally, your domain name should contain your business name, if possible. Customers who remember your business name can then return to your website easily by entering the URL of your website on their browser.

If it’s not possible to register a domain name that contains your business name (because it has already been registered), then you need to include your business keywords in the domain name. These keywords should describe what your business does, or what products your business sells.

For example, if you plan to sell rare gemstones, you can register domain names like ‘uniquegemstones.com’ or ‘raregemsonline.com’. These domain names contain the word ‘gem’, which describes your business.

Another reason why you must include your business keywords in your domain name is that search engines will rank your website higher if your domain name contains the keywords you want to optimize your site for. You’ll benefit from a higher stream of targeted visitors from Google, Yahoo or MSN when visitors search for your keywords.

For instance, a website with the domain name ‘webtuitionservices.com’ is likely to rank higher than ‘tuition4you.com’, for the keywords ‘tuition services’, all else being equal.

Additionally, keep your domain name short and catchy. If your business name is too long and complicated, first-time visitors to your site may have a hard time remembering your URL, and cannot return to your website for future purchases.

When choosing a domain name, you should always register a ‘.com’ URL. The ‘Dot-Com’ domain name has become the industry standard, and everyone remembers ‘.com’ first before ‘.net’. If you use a ‘.net’ or ‘.org’, you risk losing potential customers, simply because they assume that your business uses ‘.com’.

Registering The Domain Name

After you’ve brainstormed a list of possible domain names, you need to check their availability before actually registering them.

An example of where you can determine the availability of a domain name is Register.com, Inc. (http://www.register.com)

You can then proceed to register the domain name you’ve chosen. Popular domain name registration services like http://www.register.com or http://www.godaddy.com easily come to mind. The costs of registering each domain name can range between a few dollars to less than $20 a year.

Take note that domain name registration and web hosting are two separate services. The domain name registration service only registers your domain name – nothing else.

A web hosting service, on the other hand, allows you to upload your website onto a server so that visitors can view it via HTTP on the internet. The web hosting service comes together with Domain Name Service (DNS), which is the tool that directs visitors to your website when they enter the domain name on their web browser.

Also note that some web hosting services also offer free domain name registration as part of their web hosting package. One such example is PowWeb, Inc. (http://www.powweb.com). Before you register your domain name at http://www.register.com or http://www.godaddy.com, you should decide on your web host first and find out if they offer free domain name registration. This can probably save you a couple of extra dollars for domain name registration each year.

In conclusion, you need to select a domain name that is short and memorable, so that your visitors can easily return to your website another time. Your domain name should also contain either your business name, or the major keywords of your website, to rank higher on the search engines.

Let’s begin with a little bit of basic knowledge about slot machines.

Modern Slot Machines work on a computer program that randomly selects winning combinations. Winning percentages and odds are set by the manufacturer and are calculated by millions of spins made with computer simulations.

A Slot Machine is a mechanical device employing three, four, five, or more circular reels of varying dimensions. Each of these reels has several symbols, either painted on or attached to it. Most common designs are Cherries, Bars, the Jackpot Symbol, and the Number 7.

Theme Machines are very popular, using red, white, and blue 7’s symbol which trade on American patriotism. To better understand Slot Machine Strategies and how Winning at Slot Machines can be easy, you must first know what kind of Slot Machine you are playing and understand Slot Machine Strategy.

Three Reels vs. Four Reels

Common sense should dictate that it is far easier to line up three matching symbols for a Slot Machine win, than four. To get four of anything is very hard, even on liberal Video Poker. On a Reel Slot Machine, three 7’s can be achieved much more often than four 7’s on a Four-Reel machine. Look for Three Reel machines to play.

Progressive Slots

Progressive Slot Machines are usually Four-Reel machines which offer an open-ended jackpot that increases in value after each pull on every machine within a linked group. The top jackpot can be won only if the maximum number of coins is played and all the winning symbols correctly line up on the pay line. Progressive Slots do not pay off very often, however if you want to play a Progressive Slots, pick one whose Primary and Secondary jackpots are at a high level.

Two-Coin vs. Three-Coin Machines

In a Two-Coin machine, for the top jackpot, or maybe even the top two or three jackpots, the second-coin play will pay considerably more than just double the one-coin jackpot. For example: top jackpot payoff on a Two-Coin machine is three 7’s, paying $1,000, the same three 7’s pays only $400 if you played only one coin. The Three Coin machine will show much higher payoffs for the top jackpots with the three coins played. Three-Coin machines might look more lucrative in their payoff than Two-Coin machines, but don’t be fooled! The player also has to bet more to get the higher payout. Consequently, the player will lose more money. One final piece of advice: whatever slot you play, Two-Coin, Three-Coin, Four-Coin, etc., always play the maximum number of coins. If you don’t, you are not maximizing your winnings.

One Payline vs. Three Paylines

Most Slot Machines show the Center line marked as a payline. To win you must line up a winning combination on that center payline and on that line only. But many machines show Three Paylines: at the top, center, and bottom of the window. This means that a winning combination lined up correctly on any of the three Paylines will pay. The advantage of Three-Paying Machines is they give you more chances of winning and you can get double and triple pays if winning combinations appear on more than one payline together. The disadvantages are that the payoffs are usually very small and the top jackpot is paid only if you line up the proper winning symbols in the correct sequence on the bottom, or third payline. Another disadvantage is that Three-Payline machines are always three-coin machines. Some machines offer five, or even eight paylines but, once again, you have to play five or eight coins per pull. Remember, great advice, play Two-Coin maximum, Three Reel, One Payline Slot Machines.

Double-Up Symbols

An increasing variety of machines now employ so-called Double-Up symbols on their reels. This symbol, usually circular or in the shape of a diamond in a circle, and always bearing the words “Double” across its face, can be very valuable to the slot player. The payoff amount is Double and these Double Symbols also substitute forany other symbol. However, there are not many Double Machines available at casinos. The good Double-Up machines are normally found stuck somewhere in the middle of a group of bad machines, or are relegated to some obscure part of the casino.

About the Author

Eric owns online slots at http://www.slots.onlinebettingreview.com and http://www.poker-palace-casinos.com . Eric has been an avid slots player for over 30 years. He has won many jackpots, but never the BIG one!

We don’t change. I imagine such a statement could find a lot of opinionated opposition if it implied a lack of growth, whether that be on a knowledgeable level, a logical or spiritual one, but in this case we refer to ourselves and who we are in relation to who we were when we decided to grace this world with our presence.

One of the main beliefs in spiritualism is that we are more than we appear to be and that dreams and behaviours of our childhood were shaped by something much more deeper than a logic sequence of events and the power of suggestion adults had on us.

Those conclusions seem to be supported on a cognitive level by one simple point: what we wanted to be as children seem to re-surface in the last few moments of our lives, working like some sort of parameters within which we will define our life as been worthwhile or not.

Our life will be judged primarily by how much we feel we’ve accomplished of what really and deeply mattered to us, nothing less, nothing more than what we truly expected from ourselves, without any chance of cheating or lying, let alone pretending.

So, we don’t change. We simply forget, willingly and we decide to adapt to people and circumstances instead, with the subconscious knowledge that most of the time they will be far beneath our true worth or value, not because that is true, but simply because they’ve fallen into the same powerless illusion.

There are many reasons for this: the fear to step up and improve our life while leaving behind someone we love that is heading in another direction is one, or dealing with difficulties and pain while striving to achieve our best it’s another, counter balanced by it’s opposite which sees us settling for something less problematic and much more comfortable and secure within the boundaries that we know so well, after all better the devil you know than the one you don’t.

Therefore we end up forgetting our dreams and our “what ifs” and abandoning ourselves to self-made justifications, self-pity and, ultimately, denial, maybe hoping in a providential rescue or in the power of a quick-fix in every day materialism.

We can safely state then that change is nothing else than our own individual path to re-discovery, something we use both on a conscious and subconscious level to take us back, so that at the end of the natural evolution of the process we can remember that we were simply on a journey back home to our true self.

A journey without soul will never be a journey within, hence the need to drive down roads less travelled, through choices and decisions that need to bring out the best in us.
Those roads toward what may look like a materialistic hell can reveal themselves as our saviours in the long run, and only when we get the courage to look down their paths far enough, we discover that the light at the end of the tunnel is much brighter than anything else experienced before.

In time of adversity, egoistical measures tell us to cry for ourselves while the spirit within secretly rejoices for a brand new opportunity, another important call home.

There is no spirituality where we don’t want to look, so problems and the change they bring with them have the specific purpose of coming into being for the only reason of giving us another chance, a gift we definitely should not ignore.

We look for peace in our minds and souls and yet we hope to find it in mediocre life styles, shying away from the responsibility each and every choice brings, little we know that compromising our core principles is to deny our peace to come forth, for denying our souls their full expression is to deny a part of ourselves, whether we like it or not, whether we understand it or not.

To hinder, to avoid to express is to hide what is true to us and nothing can ever move us toward internal peace and prosperity if the first step toward re-discovery is never made. Steps can be hard at times, but as we learn to walk, then we can learn to fly, so we can also handle the struggle to improve our own life, if we want it badly enough.

Choice is an option that starts with a simple decision: to be or not to be, to do or not to do. Whatever we choose will determine the quality of life we will eventually end up living, and, if we really have to stay here for a while, what’s the point of living a boring existence that we will regret anyway ? Why not grab life with both hands and make of every single choice an art form, modelling our present the way we want it so that it will shape our future the closest to the way we truly see it?

We should always remember that fear of being or of trying is based merely on a representation in our mind of a given situation. It does not represent reality, as reality is always relative to one’s point of view. Change in itself is inevitable, we don’t have a choice, but the way we change is open to our own free interpretation and if we apply will power and quality to our decision making strategy, no one will be able to judge us, nor stop us.

We change because we choose or because we’ve been chosen. Either way deep down we can win, if only we choose so. We just have to decide to make of change a daily necessity that will take us forward while, ironically, looking for something backward, reaching full circle only when we will consciously be at peace with the child within us.

God chose the race we have to run, but ultimately, we get to choose the direction.

© Luca Del Bianco 2005. All Rights Reserved.

Luca Del Bianco is a songwriter and producer currently working on an album that will take him touring around the best clubs in United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Italy in the autumn 2005. In his spare time he concentrates his efforts on philosophy, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic- Programming) and spiritual readings. From here the neccessity to write a series of articles about his spiritual journey and the logical process of it. To know more about Luca and to listen to his music, please log on to http://www.lucadelbianco.com