We all know how effective tubes fished on internal weighted heads can be. The fact is that if you only use them this way, you are seriously hampering the true potential of this bait and its versatility. I’ve discovered, many years ago that fishing a tube in weed choked waters was a great way to catch fish. The problem I encountered was the open hook continuously and unmercifully getting snagged all day long. To combat this, I simply tried to rig the tube on a Texas rig. Ultimately I settled on a brass and glass type rig that has always scored well for me. This rig mixes sexy tubes, scent and sound to form a complete package of bass grabbing attention.
Equipment: 6-6 medium fast action spinning rod. The best rods for this method are high modulus models with a solid backbone. I use a Kistler Helium LTA 6-6 He66MS. This rod provides me with light overall weight and a soft tip but also the brute gorilla strength to yank larger bass towards the boat. Not finesse fishing you say? Well consider that I normally use 8lb line and occasionally drop that down to lighter 6lb Yo Zuri Hybrid. Even in the thickest cover, I’ve gotten by with the lighter lines. You could utilize a 20lb super line like Sea King’s 20/6 or 14/4. These will help slice through vegetation with ease. I prefer a fairly fast ratio reel. For tubing, I go with Shimano, no surprise, Sustain 2500 FD. This reel is as dependable as they come.
Terminal Tackle: My tube rig works best with brass Weenie Weights. I like 1/16 or 1/8 Top Brass Tackle Weenie Weights painted black. The weenie weight is simply a shorter, wider sliding bullet weight that is made of brass. This produces much better sound amplification and is environmentally friendly. For hooks, I use either Sugoi 3/0, 3/0 Owner Rig n hook or a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG. What sets this method apart from standard Texas rigs is that I use a fire polished faceted glass bead. This accomplishes two things. First the bead reflects light and flashes. I truly believe that this is one of the best attributes of the rig. Secondly, the bead and the weenie weight slap back and forth, thus sometimes attracting fish to its location. The fire polished, faceted glass beads are super hard and will not cut your line.
The Tube: The ONLY tube I use is a Wicked Tube by Micro Munch Tackle. This bait is a thick walled hand dipped tube that holds the hook nicely. The double thick wall gives the tube durability and is necessary in the thick cover to prevent tearing. Fish do not hold on to the bait, they eat it. This tube is dipped in a salt impregnated plastic mix and then Kick N Bass scent is added to the plastic before the tubes are molded. This produces a tube that is noticeably stinky.
This tube rigged on a Sugoi 3/0 hook has figured for me in almost every tournament I’ve fished. If you have been paying attention so far, you will notice that this rig employs sight, scent, taste, and sound to tantalize Mr. Bass. If you’ve ever fished with the Wicked Tube you surely have noticed the oil slick the bait produces in the water. Its odor will have every cat in the neighborhood clawing to get in your dry storage box to get at them. I prefer the standard 4” tube but occasionally I will upgrade to the larger El Gordo style tube. This is a quad dipped tube that is extremely durable and adds insane bulk. It is truly different and I think that is why it works well for me, not too many other anglers throw it regularly. Its size alone may intimidate some. I’ve noticed it catches bigger fish as well.
Colors: I prefer the following colors; Green Pumpkin, Black Grape, Water Melon Magic, June Bug, Smoke Purple Flake, Road Kill Camo, and Black Red Flake. I match the glass bead to the bait. Black, Brown, Purple, or Green beads will match all the previously mentioned colors.
Rigging: This rig can be set up just like the traditional Texas rig. Slide the Weenie Weight up the line followed by the glass bead. It isn’t necessary to peg the weight or the bead. Next tie the hook on with a Palomar knot for strength. Bury the hook point about a 1/4 inch dead center in the head of the tube. Pull the hook through the side of the bait until the hook eye enters the tube head. Next pop the hook back into the side and pull the point through, penetrating through the opposite side of the tube (back out again). The tube should be straight. The point of the hook should be exposed and tight to the fleshy side of the tube. The exposed point allows for easier penetration on the hook set. The hook doesn’t have to penetrate the extra plastic in the tube, thus sticks into the fishes’ mouth with minimal effort.
——————————————————————————–
“With this rig I usually notice one of two things: either I feel the bass chewing on the tube, similar to a plastic worm pick up, or I don’t feel the bait at all which means a bass has picked it up and is usually moving off with it.”
——————————————————————————–
The Presentation
This tube is very effective in 8ft of water or less. Its light weight won’t allow it to be fished effectively beyond that depth. Because it is weedless, it can be fished just about anywhere and if you add a heavier weight, you can surely probe the depths with it. I prefer docks, boathouses, any overhead cover, inlet points, and flats. Of course the rig will work anywhere provided shallow cover can be found. The rig works when skipped under or through cover. This is what sets the rig apart from conventional tube rigs. The tube itself is weightless. When cast the Weenie weight falls away from the bait and slowly drifts to the bottom. The tube flutters to the bottom even slower. Its slow fall is a crucial trait to its success. Standard tube rigs that are internally weighted spiral to the bottom.
They are directly weighted and fall throughout the strike zone faster then the Texas rig. As the weight of the Texas tube rig slides forward, it slowly pulls the bait along. This is the reason I don’t use bait casting gear. Flipping and pitching are not accurate presentations for this rig. I aim to skip my bait past the target so it slowly falls through cover. After I cast to a piece of cover, I try to maintain a tight line because very often the bait is struck just as it enters the water. If I don’t feel a strike, then I may jiggle the rod tip to get the bead and weight to make some noise. I then let the tube fall on controlled slack line and cover the lower column of the water I’m working.
I don’t fish this bait in open water as I would prefer internally rigged tubes for that. I target specific visible cover and try to pick it apart as best as I can despite the “falling away from cover” action the bait has. Getting the bait to skip is the real art of an accurate presentation with this rig. Sometimes I will try to crash bait through cover so it actually passes by my target. This is because a forceful cast won’t allow the weight to create drag on the cast and keeps the bait on target. The bait will pass through the cover and remain in the strike zone longer. You might also be able to feather a skip cast to put the bait right on the target. The 1/16 oz weight won’t pull the bait as much as a heavier size.
Get the brass weight and glass working to produce some sound. I move the rod tip ever so slightly, perhaps only an inch or two at a time. You do not want to over exaggerate your movements. The slight movements are key because you do not want to physically move the bait while you are attempting to make it sound off.
The Bite: Many tube bites simply feel like a mushy wet rag on the end of the line sensation. With this rig I usually notice one of two things: either I feel the bass chewing on the tube, similar to a plastic worm pick up, or I don’t feel the bait at all which means a bass has picked it up and is usually moving off with it. This happens because the tube is weightless and the bass doesn’t feel resistance in the form of an unnatural internal weight. Normally the line will just start moving off. Polarized sunglasses are a must for this technique. It is important with this and most other jig techniques to “weigh the line”. What this means is to learn what the bait feels like in the water. Usually any lighter or heavier sensation is a strike. When I detect a strike I really like to crank the hook home. Even though I tend to use light line and set my drag tight, I rarely break off on a fish. Normally if I hang a monster, I will disengage the anti-reverse and back reel. I use a sweeping set as this allows me to move more line than the standard over the shoulder jig jerk. I’m not exaggerating when I say that fish don’t spit the tube out. They just don’t. They really do eat it.
Seasons
The Texas rig tube excels during the early spring and through early fall. I simply prefer to fish other baits at different times of the year. It is an excellent big fish attractor because it has a thick profile and doesn’t give off many, if any, negative cues. Rigged with a glass bead, it appeals to all bass senses’ and like I stated earlier, “These tubes get eaten”. The combination of salt and scent are hard for any bass to reject.
Gear Breakdown: Texas Tube Fishing Insanity
Rod: Kislter Helium LTA 6-6 M He66MS
Reel: Shimano Sustain FD 2500
Line: Yo Zuri Hybrid 8lb
Hook: Sugoi or Gamakatsu 2/0 or 3/0 EWG
Tube: Micro Munch Tackle Wicked Tube 4”
Terminal: Top Brass Tackle Brass weight and fire polished faceted Glass bead
Alternatives
The Texas rig tube is a very consistent producer. If by chance bass want a different look, there are several alternatives. I’m a big fan of finesse techniques from the West coast. My sleeper tube rig is the same rig, but with the bead pegged 18 inches above the hook. The sinker is still free to slide and a striking fish won’t feel extra weight. This rig can be crept along the bottom similar to a Carolina rig. This is a noisier presentation as the bead and weight are always in contact.
We all know that tubes are very versatile. I have used these tubes to work bass on inside/outside weed lines with amazing consistency the last few seasons. This is one of those great baits that nobody should be without. It can be especially important to guys who do not prefer to throw a jig.
copyright 2005 Micro Munch Tackle
No part of this article may be reproduced without the written permission and consent of the author
Craig DeFronzo has written over 300 articles that are bass fishing related within the past decade for several of the top bass fishing web sites and periodicals. He is the author of over 12 books and eBooks on bass fishing and is the creator of Micro Munch Tackle. He started a small bait company based on the belief that unique custom tackle would be more appealing to bass that are continuously bombarded by the same commercial baits every day. Custom baits and lighter tackle have helped him achieve success in competition. For more information on custom handmade baits and more articles and ebooks visit http://micromunchtackle.com/
Ebook Create Basics Video Tutorial (An Ebook, Video) Product
Review (c)2003 by Laurie Meade
Eva Ameida and Mark Caron have teamed up to put together a great
beginner’s ebook package. They really considered the beginner’s
point of view in creating this product. They included everything
you need to get your sales website up and compile an ebook to
sell online.
Besides offering a resell option with great bonuses; they also
offer modified and separately priced packages to meet every
beginner’s budget.
Mark and Eva plan to have an affiliate program for the Ebook
Create Basics by mid March 2003. You can promote it as an
affiliate, buy it just to use and learn, or purchase resell
rights to sell it and get all the profits. Each option has its
advantages.
Eva’s main online passion is electronic books or ebooks, so she
has dedicated an entire collection of domains towards this new
avenue of publishing under the name of eBooks N’ Bytes. She has
teamed up with Mark Caron, of AffiliateGurus.com, to make this
incredibly helpful group of video tutorials and ebooks for the
beginning internet marketer.
Although the focus of this package is geared toward the absolute
beginner, some of the information will benefit seasoned
webmasters. However, the videos are basic, anyone fairly
familiar with html, might find them too simple.
This same simplicity however, is exactly what the beginner needs
to swim through the sea of content needed to learn, when trying
to start an online presence. Rather than be totally overwhelmed
with ton’s of unnecessary information (too many of us suffer
from information overload), this set of videos take you step by
step through exactly what you need to know and why.
Eva is the publisher of eBooks N’ Bytes Informer. This is an
ezine of useful tips on how to publish and promote your ebooks,
reviews of ebooks and software, plus contests to win ebooks,
compilers, software, cover art and much more… You can sign up
for her free newsletter by sending a blank email to the
following address:
mailto: ebooksnbytes-subscribe@topica.com
On her site you can find a big list of sites for you to promote
your ebook once it is ready to promote. Her websites have a
wealth of information; you could spend hours, even days browsing
around all the information and resources she provides. You can
find her websites at the end of this review as well as Mark
Caron’s site links, also.
Mark began online in 2000. Click Your Way To Success was his
first ebook, developed in Sept of 2000. CYSTS has been revised
since then with 86 pages of helpful tips and some free videos.
Mark told me, “My passion is to help others because I know what
it takes to build a business long hours, time management family
responsibilities etc.”
He has also published a “Internet Marketing System Video
Tutorial System” After downloading a demo video of this course,
you will have an exact guide of what it entails, what you can
expect to learn. That demo video is available for free at this
site:
Internet Marketing System Video Tutorial System
http://www.affiliategurus.com/internet-marketing-system.html
Personally, as a somewhat seasoned webmaster, (I’ve been
learning for about a year) I found the section on creating PDF
ebooks very helpful, and quite informative to me. They give you
the resources to a free PDF compiler and an ebook on how to
design it. If you are familiar with a word processor program you
won’t have any trouble following the video tutorials. It is
important when publishing your ebook to offer it in both exe and
pdf files. People using Mac computers cannot access exe files.
If you choose to buy the resell rights option, it will take
some study and time to upload all the elements this package has
to offer. Is that really a drawback though? :o)
This can be resolved, by following some extra tips and resources
provided from the authors. Both authors are very good at
responding and answering to any questions you might have after
your purchase.
I am not sure, being that I am NOT a brand new computer
illiterate, if this program is basic enough for the pure
amateur. I do know, that it was simple, YET THOROUGH. It
includes every aspect of what it takes to get an ebook and its
corresponding sales site up quickly, with little stress or
headache.
This includes — –how to write your ebook, –ideas on what to
write about, –how to put it all together in both ebook formats,
–sample templates and graphics, –a tutorial on how to use
those templates and graphics –resources for finding the tools
to do this for free on the web, –plenty of resource material to
learn all the aspects you need to be successful with your
product.
It also offers a chance to be able to profit yourself from
reselling this program to others.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, here is my rating of this
package. I would give it an 8 for its completeness of the topic
presented. I would give it an 8 in simplicity in understanding
and comprehension. If you are new to computers and want a
package that will walk you through the process step by step,
than this would definitely be worth the money and time you put
into it. I would have to give it a 9 for being totally thorough
in including everything a beginning marketer needs to know.
Click your way to success (review)
http://www.affiliategurus.com/ebookreview.html
by Karon Thackston © 2004 http://www.learn-copywriting.com
It was going so well, so what happened? Many copywriters get off
to a wonderful start: The headline is compelling, the body copy
is benefit-filled, but then comes the call-to-action and the
whole thing falls apart. Why? It could be a dozen different
reasons, but one of the most common I’ve seen is that the
call-to-action doesn’t fit the target audience.
Call-to-action statements (those final words that inspire your
customers to take an action - usually to make a purchase) are
not universal. Just like your headline, your sub-heads, and your
body copy, calls-to-action need to be as specific as possible.
They need to “match” the style of your audience.
To me, an effective call-to-action is more than just the simple
“order today” or “click here now” phrase. Yes, those play a
part, but it takes more than that to motivate buyers.
Let’s look at an example or two of powerful calls-to-action and
see what makes them tick.
Langtry Manor (http://www.langtrymanor.co.uk/weddings.htm)
This site represents an old English manor that is available for
(among other things) weddings and receptions. Their branding
positions them as a very upscale, exclusive, highly sought after
location for brides around the world to be married.
After going over the benefits of using the inn for a wedding
and/or reception, the call-to-action comes into play. Notice how
there is more than the simple “contact us today” statement.
Because of the historically romantic setting and immense
popularity of Langtry Manor Hotel among brides worldwide, our
schedule becomes filled quickly. We recommend you contact us for
additional information or to arrange for a viewing of the hotel
as soon as possible. This will help to guarantee a reservation
for your preferred date.
See how the call-to-action fits the audience? The copy doesn’t
stop in the middle of romancing the bride in order to scream,
“Dates are being booked as we speak! Call us today before your
wedding date is gone forever! Don’t let some other bride get the
jump on you! Pick up the phone now!” This audience would run for
their lives if they read that copy.
Tai Chi Flow (http://www.taichiflow.com)
This site actually had three calls-to-action (CTA), one for each
segment of their target audience. See how each CTA struck a
nerve with a specific group.
The ancient masters practiced Tai Chi faithfully and lived a
life filled with peace and wellness. The moment you order your
Tai Chi Flow for Everyone video you’ll vow to never be without
it again!
==============
Your child will receive the same benefits you receive, but
through a video created especially for him/her. Teachers, moms,
and dads agree, Tai Chi kids share some pretty amazing
qualities. Order Tai Chi Flow for Kids today.
==============
Designed according to the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists guidelines, Tai Chi Flow for Pregnancy is the safe
way to receive the benefits of an aerobic workout… even if you
are sitting down. Order Tai Chi Flow for Pregnancy today.
Each CTA appeals to the specific wants/needs/desires of that
individual segment.
That’s what effective calls-to-action are all about. You don’t
lose your connection with the audience at the end. Instead you
maintain that emotional bridge all the way until they click the
buy button.
In your CTA, tell your customers why they should buy. Let them
know what will happen when they buy. Give them some end results
to look forward to. And do it all with the same consciousness
you had when writing the rest of your copy. When you do, you’ll
find your sales process goes more smoothly and your conversions
reach higher rates.
Tired of endlessly searching the ‘Net in hopes of finding the
latest copywriting techniques? Need an up-to-date directory
filled with the best ways to learn copywriting? Visit
http://www.learn-copywriting.com today for the widest collection
of the most popular copywriting resources available.
IF PUBLISHING ON A WEBSITE, USE THIS RESOURCE BOX:
Tired of endlessly searching the ‘Net in hopes of finding the
latest copywriting techniques? Need an up-to-date directory
filled with the best ways to learn copywriting? Visit Learn Copywriting
today for the widest collection of the most popular copywriting
resources available.
Many computer users take hard drive reliability for granted, not even thinking about minimal possibility of drive crash. They suppose that hard disk drive manufacturers have done a great improvement to their products towards disk reliability. And they have, but the reality is that all disks die eventually. Even if you have a recent backup, sudden disk failure is a minor catastrophe. How can we protect ourselves from a sudden hard drive crash? One of the ways is through SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) by predicting future failures.
The essential moment is that the user should understand how drives fail and why. There are two classes of failures the hard disk can suffer: unpredictable and predictable.
Unpredictable failures happen suddenly, without warning and can be caused by catastrophic events, handling damage, static electricity or an electronic component burning out, and there is nothing that can be done to foresee or stay away from them.
Predictable ones are 60% mechanical and occur gradually over time. The degradation of drive performance may include head crashes, head contamination, bad solder joints, bad curcuit board connections, motor break down, worn down bearing, spinning inability, excessive run out, bad servo positioning.
Most hard drives lose their performance slowly, and the disk is able to monitor and diagnose many elements’ condition through SMART, providing an early warning for many types of problems. When a potential problem is detected, the drive can be repaired or replaced before any loss of data.
This technology has developed to be industry standard for drive manufacturers and allows checking hard drive status, reporting it and providing some estimation for future failure date. SMART has been able to predict a gradual degradation of the disk. The original SMART spec (SFF-8035i) was written by a group of disk drive manufacturers. In 1995, parts of SFF-8035i were merged into the ATA-3 standard. Starting with the ATA-4 standard, the requirement for the disks to maintain an internal Attribute table was dropped. Instead, now, the disks simply return an OK or NOT OK response to an inquiry about their health. A negative response indicates that the disk firmware has determined that the disk is likely to fail. The ATA-5 standard added an ATA error log and commands to run disk self-tests to the SMART command set.
Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology systems (SMART) are built in to most modern ATA and SCSI hard disks. SMART disk drives internally monitor their own health and performance. SMART technology features include a set of attributes, which determine reliability-prediction parameters of drive and should not be exceeded under normal operation. Each attribute has an identification number (ID). Some types of reliability parameters are:
- Distance between the heads and the disk platters;
- Faulty sectors;
- Recalibration;
- Drive spin-up time;
- Drive temperature;
- Characteristics of the media;
- Motor and servomechanisms.
Attribute value is a positive integral number, usually in the range from 1 to 253. Initially, all attributes have maximum values. A value of 100 or 200 will often be chosen as the “normal” value. Some attributes are considered life-critical and others are just “informative”. In case of hard drive wearing or when some components of the disk are about to fail, attributes indicate decreasing amount of values. Consequently, high values determine high reliability of the drive and low values – low reliability or high possibility of drive failure. Specific threshold is assigned to each attribute. Once the value drops below this threshold, SMART considers the disk to be faulty, which means it becomes very dangerous to store data on this drive.
Currently, the SMART system can detect about 70% of all hard drive errors.
Its main shortcoming is that it doesn’t provide a direct mechanism for informing the OS or the user if problems are found. In fact, because disk SMART status is frequently not monitored, many disk problems go undetected until they lead to a catastrophic failure.
Monitoring a drive’s behavior, SMART has the purpose of warning a user about the threat of drive collapse while time remains to take preventive action, such as back up the data to a replacement device. So why not use SMART monitor programs freely available on Internet to cut these problems off at the pass?
Vital Data Recovery - Montreal, Quebec, Canada (http://www.vitaldata.ca).
Vital Data is data recovery company, which specializes in recovering data from hard disk drives and other media. Vital Data Recovery offers the most technologically advanced hard drive data recovery available.
An issue every investor faces is that of successfully
implementing his investment strategy.
It’s nice to read or hear about great investing strategies but
oftentimes, when you try to implement them, they fail to deliver
the superior returns.
Here are some key points to consider to maximize your chance of
success when you implement your strategy.
Transaction Costs
Advertised performances seldom take into account trading costs.
One reason is that costs will be very different depending on
which stock broker you use.
Ensure your Trading Cost is kept under 1%. Reciprocally, always
remove a good 1% for transaction costs from any performance
numbers you see.
Bid-Ask spread
This is a hidden fee and can be a Killer. It is too easy not to
pay attention to: for instance, Bid-Ask spread is not included
in Mutual Fund’s Expense Ratios. Very few studies or
performances from investment books take it into account.
Bid-Ask spread is larger for small Cap (sometimes in excess of
1%) than for large Cap (usually less than 0.25%).
Turnover rate is also very important.
Value Investing with lower turnover rate and larger market
capitalizations will suffer less than Momentum strategies that
typically invest in smaller cap and keep stocks for just months,
weeks or even days.
For instance, a strategy investing in small cap with 1% average
Bid-Ask spread and an annual turnover rate of 300% will loose
1%*300%=3% per year. This is on top of trading costs !
Can you execute the trades ?
Most investment strategies assume that you Buy and Sell Stocks
at specific time but can you, in practice, buy or sell at that
specific time ?
How often have you seen Stock Picks recommendations - often on
week-ends - but then on Monday it is impossible to execute at
the Friday’s price because the share skyrocket 20% at the
opening.
Later, the guru proudly announces that his stock pick
outperformed but you could not buy at the set price so could not
reap the advertised gain.
This can be an issue for strategies with frequent trades. Again,
Value Investing will suffer less because there are fewer trades
so it is less sensitive to exact entry/exit points. If you use
Mar
ket Timing, favor systems with few signals per year.
Diversification
After a strategy is highlighted, it is not rare to see it
underperforming. A good example is the Dogs of the Dow. The
strategy underperformed after it was detailed in the early 90s.
Many attribute its underperformance to the fact that too much
money flowed into the strategy thereby reducing its efficiency.
I rather attribute its underperformance to the biggest Bull
Market in History where Value Investing was less rewarding than
Growth/Momentum.
A take is that every strategy will underperform at some point.
This is when your nerves will be at test and when you will be
tempted to abandon and switch strategy… only to see it
outperform afterwards.
The simple solution - highly recommended - is to diversify with
2 or more investing strategies.
Since then, the Dogs of the Dow has been outperforming the Dow
Jones and the S&P500 since 2000.
Conclusion for Successful Investing
Whatever your investment strategy, there will be a difference
between paper profits and real profits. This is true even if you
invest in Index Funds.
To maximize your chance of success in the Stock Market:
- Strive to keep transaction costs below 1% per year
- Pay great care to strategies investing in Smaller Cap with
high Bid-Ask spread
- Beware strategies with frequent trades
- Diversify
Bunk beds are frequently used as a child’s first regular bed after the child outgrows a crib. Some bunk beds also are used separately as twin beds for older children and even adults. Every year, thousands of children receive treatment for injuries associated with bunk beds. Most of these injuries are fairly minor and occur when children fall from the beds. But there are other less obvious yet potentially very serious hazards associated with bunk bed structures that have entrapped children and resulted in suffocation or deaths.
1. Head Entrapment under Bunk Bed Guard Rails.
This can cause death to young children. To reduce the risk of your child slipping feet first into the space between the lower edge of a guardrail and the top surface of the mattress never allow children under 6 years-old on the upper bunk. Also close the space between the lower edge of the guardrail and upper edge of the bed frame to 3-1/2 inches or less.
2. Falling Mattresses or Foundations Can Cause Injury or Even Kill A Small Child.
Mattresses or foundations resting only on ledges need cross wires, or other means of support to help prevent dislodgement, even when beds are not stacked. Securely fasten supports to ledges of both beds with screws or bolts. Supports can be provided by wood slats, metal straps or sturdy wires. Be sure crossties are under the mattress foundation of each bed and that they are secured in place even if bunks are used as twin beds. Fasten additional cross ties underneath the mattress foundation of both beds.
3. Using the Wrong Size Mattress Can Cause Injury or Even Death
Strangulation deaths can occur if a child falls through an opening created between the mattress and headboard or footboard when a regular length mattress is used in an extra long bed frame. Choose a mattress that correctly fits your bed.
4. Use of the Bed without Rails on Both Sides
Death or injury may occur if a very young child rolls off the bed and becomes entrapped between the wall and the side of the bed not having a guardrail. This hazard is not unique to bunk beds. Regular beds can present the same hazard. Always use two side guardrails on the upper bunk. Keep guardrails securely in place at all times no matter what the age of the child. Children move about during sleep and may roll out of bed.
5. Playing Around Bed Furniture Frequently Contributes To Accidents.
Teach children that rough play is unsafe around and on beds and other furniture. Emphasize to children to use the ladder and not chairs or other pieces of furniture to climb into or out of the top bunk.
6. Metal Bunk Beds
To help avoid bunk bed collapse, inspect all mattress support fin tabs and pockets for breaks or cracks in the metal and welds. The fin tabs are inserted into pockets located near each of the bed’s eight corners. Stop using damaged beds as bunks and contact the manufacturer or importer for repair or replacement.
Clive Chansa writes for the Beds and Mattresses website at
http://www.beds-and-mattresses.org.uk/ and he also writes for
http://www.home-furniture.org.uk/
regularly. Beds-and-mattresses.org.uk offers a wide selection of beds and
mattresses at discount prices.
With the sudden influx of pocket bikes, many Americans may believe that this is a new sport. But small, motorized bikes have been around since the 50’s. They appeared soon after mechanized racing karts became common. There were goofy contests such as “jousting.” Two riders would ride at each other while holding rolled up newspapers and try to pop a balloon tied to their opponent’s helmet. After the 60’s, the mini bikes became relatively rare in the states.
During the 70’s, pocket bike racing became a serious sport in Japan. They used inexpensive and low-tech bikes for racing. In the 80’s the Italians took the sport up a notch and began racing better quality, high-tech bikes. Still, the bikes they first used were powered by relatively weak engines with no more power than an electric screwdriver.
By the later 90’s the sport had spread all over Europe. In 1996 the Swiss Pocket Bike Championship was created. This championship grew to include other pocket bike clubs to eventually become one of the largest in the world. Over 120 people compete in 8- 11 races every year. The races, which are held on different tracks, are divided up by the age and sex of the participants as well as the type of pocket bike (junior, stock or racing).
Pocket bike racing remains one of the fastest growing sports in Europe and is also spreading to other countries in Asia and North America. In certain European countries the races are even televised. Italy remains the number one producer of Minimotos, though the machines they create are now much more powerful than the earlier models. The Chinese have recently began making the bikes, which although of a much lower quality than their Italian counterparts, are nonetheless much less expensive.
Many of the top motorcycle racers first learned their sport on a Minimoto. World champs who began on pocket bikes include Valentino Rossi (Italian), Loris Capirossi (Italian), Nobuatsu Aoki (Japanese) and Daijiro Kato (Japanese). However, an English motorcycle instructor named Alec Tague holds the latest land speed record. Alec, who is 39 years old and 5 foot 10, reached 78 MPH on his 12-inch bike. The old record, held by American Dave Myers was 63.888 MPH.
Modern pocket bikes that have not been souped up usually have between 4 and 14 horsepower. Entry-level bikes produce 3 to 4 hp, while racing models can have the power output of 11 to 12 hp. Most bikes weigh around 40 pounds and run anywhere from $200 for a low end Chinese model, to $5,000 for a well-crafted, top of the line Italian bike.
Gerry runs the site PocketBikeInfo.org which is a source of Pocket Bike/Minimoto related articles. Everything from maintanance to racing PocketBikes.
For more information please visit: PocketBikeInfo.org
Looking from 50,000 feet, Pay per click advertising seems like the perfect solution for web site owners looking for targeted traffic. You can target “keywords” that match your service and product. The only time you pay for the advertising is when someone clicks on your ad and goes to your web site to take a look.
That’s all true, and a fair description of the process. Figuring out the proper keywords and finding them at the right price is somewhat challenging, but can be done with a little research. The process is both an art and science since you need to also write a short ad (25 characters for the headline, 35 for the two lines of copy).
All right, you’ve chosen the best keywords, got a good price, wrote a good call to action ad. Now all you do is sit back and wait for the money to roll in when the prospects click on the advertisement. The next day you haven’t seen any sales so you go over to check if your ad is running and see what the stats say. You take a look and see that your advertisement displayed 350 times and got 42 clicks.
You shake your head and say, well at least I’m getting some action. This goes on about the same for the next 5-7 days, you average 2100 displays and about 250 clicks. So that’s 250 views by highly targeted traffic and no sales. Now you figure out the catch 22. Your conversion rate is what you based your pay through for the advertising campaign on isn’t proving out. You’ve got a problem!
And that is what they don’t tell you. If your sales copy isn’t proven and you don’t know your true conversion rate, then it doesn’t matter how many targeted visitors you get. BTW, the conversion rate is the number of visitors divided by the number of sales (100 visitors and 3 sales gives you a 3% conversion rate). You must know this conversion rate in order to see if the keyword cost will pay through (example: if each click costs you .50, and your product sells for less than $50.00, and you only convert 1 in 100 you will lose money).
So how to do accurately determine the conversion rate? Well, that my friend is one of the most challenging things about selling services and products on the Internet. You can’t really launch any kind of sizeable or costly marketing program with out knowing your conversion rate. And due to the popularity and increased cost of Pay per click advertising, it can be very expensive. But if you can’t get traffic, how do you come up with this mystical figure called the conversion rate?
Well you use Pay per click to run some tests. But I’ve always thought that was a pretty pricey method and sometimes difficult to judge as a strictly conversion or sales test. There are some better ways that are much less expensive and might work better.
The first rule of testing is to make sure you’ve done your research. Do a search on the net for similar products, look at the content of the sales message, pricing, and any promotional material. That will give you some idea for a starting point. Don’t worry about the competition, that’s for later on and it’s actually a good thing to see that someone else is selling the same type of services or products. But that’s a whole different animal we’ll have to deal with in a future article.
For now lets just say that you need to review some similar products and see what methods and copy is being used to sell them. Also look at the pricing and any other pertinent information. Make sure you can target the product or service and that a market does exist.
Once you establish the basics, product with potential, defined target audience, competition exists, and created or made arrangements to resell, let the testing begin. I have 3 good places to start that don’t cost a lot of money and have a great diversity in prospects.
1. Number one is eBay. One of the great things about testing on eBay is the traffic and the cost. With so many daily users, ebay is a great source of instant traffic. You can also run a featured auction for around $24. That’s a pretty reasonable cost for some great feedback (no pun intended). Just make sure you pick an accurate category and you feature the auction so as many people will see it as possible. Price is the name of the game on eBay so you might want to choose a lower price just for this test but that’s up to you.
2. Number two is Ezines. They cost a little more but once again you can pick an ezine that lends itself to your product or service. Check out the ezine for readership and subject matter, number of ads per issue, and circulation. Use a classified ad since it will relate well to your Pay per click ads. An easy way to do this is to check out the Directory of Ezines (www.directoryofezines.com ), it’s owned by an old friend of mine, Charlie Page, who is one of the smartest Internet Marketers I know. And no, I didn’t use my affiliate url like some might but I do believe DOE is a very good place to do ezine research.
3. Number three is writing an article and posting it to some of the major submission sites is also very cheap (mostly free but I’m going to suggest you spend a little on some). Write an article that is along the same lines as your product or service (not an advertisement for your item – don’t do that). You always get a bio or signature block that is perfect for getting some targeted traffic. There are several good article submission sites and you can get on the front page of some for a week for as little as $15.00. I do that often with new articles.
So there are three good and cheap ways to test your sales copy, conversion rate, ad copy, and pricing. And once you get a handle on your conversion rate, these are good sales vehicles for day to day sales. I’ve been using these methods for years and have had excellent results and you can too.
The key is to never stop testing. Always track everything you can about any campaigns or marketing methods. Know the best way to spend your advertising and marketing budget. What, no advertising and marketing budget? Well, that will have to wait for another article. I’m out of space and time for this one.
John Dow owns http://www.jdWebWorks.com, a website that specializes in web site design tools, computer troubleshooting, and security. His WebMaster Essentials CD has helped many new and existing website owners by providing a collection of software, utilities, and marketing how to articles on Web Site Design and Marketing. Go here to learn more: http://www.jdwebworks.com/Webtools/webtool.htm
Scuba diving Philippines does not get any diverse, anywhere in the world! No matter what level of diver you are, diving Philippines has something to offer you. In fact I can just about guarantee that the scuba diving you do in the Philippines will blow your mind and make you think twice about diving when you get home. You will literally be spoilt when diving in the Philippines.
Water Temperature.
The water temperature diving in the Philippines, is similar to diving in your warm bath at home! It is absolutely divine. A balmy 22 C to 25 C during the cooler months of December to March and 25 C to 28 C during the warmer months of April to November. Water temperatures like these, gives you the opportunity of diving in the comfort of lycra skin suits or 3mm wetsuits. When you are use to diving in 5mm and 7mm steamers or even dry suits, this type of diving is pure heaven.
Why Dive the Philippines?
The Philippine Islands, which there are over 7,100, have the widest variety of marine life in the world. The diving here is still being discovered, it does however have a number of popular spots which are very familiar with the diving tourist and these sites are world class. Outside these popular diving locations lie thousands of unexplored scuba diving opportunities. Since the Philippines has so many islands, with some of them not easily accessible, the allure for the scuba diver in the Philippines to be the first to explore an underwater reef or to discover a wreck is a real possibility.
Statistics from the Philippine Department of Tourism indicate that scuba divers visiting the Philippine Islands, return for an average of 10 trips each. If this is not a high recommendation on the quality and health of the scuba diving industry in the Philippines, then I’m not sure what is!
Scuba Diving Philippines - What Sort of Diving?
Philippines scuba diving has everything to satisfy the most fussy diver. All you have to do, is put your wetsuit on and put your tank together, even then there is someone there to assist you. From here it gets easier. Someone will carry your gear on and off the dive boat for you, help you put your scuba tank and gear onto your back and help you out of the water when you have finished. Sound easy? You bet it is. Now, what type of diving should you expect? Well pretty much everything you can think of is covered.
Pristine reef diving.
Exhilarating drift diving.
Big pelagic fish action.
World War II wrecks to be discovered.
Fantastic wall diving.
Muck diving for those who like macro photography.
Deep diving.
Coral Gardens.
Night Diving.
Swim throughs and caves.
Technical diving.
Soft coral spectaculars.
The majority of dives are conducted by boat, usually a very short trip from your resort. If you are not diving from a boat you can generally find fantastic reefs right in front of your resort, nice and easy shore diving. For the ultimate experience, live aboard dive vessels can also take you to areas seldom if ever visited by scuba divers, this is the ultimate experience.
Diving Philippines – What will I see Underwater?
The list is too big to try and let you know what you will see underwater, but I will tell you about the marine life you will definitely see underwater. The marine life is exceptionally abundant, from rare nudibrachs to a high density of the 27 species of clownfish or Amphiprion Sp., not to mention the gregarious colours of the soft corals and the vibrancy of the hard corals. If big fish are an attraction, then schooling barracudas, sweetlips, Thresher and Hammerhead Sharks will not disappoint you. The biggest fish in the world also frequents Philippine waters, the mighty Whale Shark. Even mammals are widely seen, both dolphins and dugongs.
Diving Philippines gives you so many options that every dive will be different and mind blowing, even if it is at the same dive site!
Note: The Philippines has had it’s fair share of dynamite fishing and cyanide poisoning. This is slowly being pushed out, as more Filipinos recognize a better future in tourism dollars. Cyanide poisoning is used for capturing fish for marine aquarium enthusiasts. This practice is being addressed by the Marine Aquarium Council in conjunction with Philippine Authorities, who are training local fisherman in the use of ecological net catching of small fish. They are also teaching good husbandry techniques for the sustainability of this industry.
Diving Philippines is everything and more you want it to be. Your expectations will be met and driven further than you thought possible, the possibilities are endless.
Brett Jankowiak is the owner of http://www.philippines-travel-guide.com, Philippines Travel Guide, his passion for the Philippines is reflected in his writings and articles on his information based website.
When an individual attains his period of puberty, the male hormones present in the adrenal gland of both boys and girls, stimulate the oil glands present underneath the skin. In the usual process, these oil glands lubricate and protect the skin through the openings called pores. But sometimes, the cells that are located near the openings of the skin, block the pores present. In this case the oil content gets accommodated below the skin surface. Therefore, the germs such as bacteria or any other microorganism present in the blood prey upon this oily food. These organisms later on multiply and cause irritation to the surrounding tissues.
Due to the inflammation of skin various types of bumps are noticed. You develop a pustule if the itch persists near the surface. If it gets deeper you get a pimple, which is also known as papule and if it is still deeper it results in cysts. When the pores close with the sebum content on the surface and bulge out, it is whitehead and if the oil gets rusted due to the opened pores you will notice a black colored swelling called blackhead.
The origin of pimples is still unknown. There are still a few issues, which have not been brought to light. Nobody exactly knows why the pores collapse and pack the sebum content within the skin area underneath or nobody has studied as to how this process spreads from one sebaceous gland to another.
The causes of developing adult or teen acne may be mainly due to hormone factor, or heredity, diet factor, vitamin deficiency, stress and much more. It is not at all simple to explain why a disease like acne happens to many of the teenagers.
Paul has been providing answers to lots of queries through his website on a wide variety of subjects ranging from satellite phones to acne. To learn more visit
http://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1520.html
