Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Book Says Da Vinci Hid Biblical Images
Was Da Vinci's Mother a Slave?
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
April 9, 2008 -- Leonardo Da Vinci, regarded by many as the greatest genius of the Renaissance, was the son of a humble slave girl and had at least 21 half-siblings, according to compelling new evidence unveiled in Florence, Italy, on Wednesday.
Newly discovered documents published in two books ("Was Leonardo's Mother a Slave?" and "Leonardo's Family Tree," both edited by da Vinci scholars Agnese Sabato and Alessandro Vezzosi) have made it possible to reconstruct da Vinci's little-known family tree.
"Da Vinci's family was indeed a large one. His father Piero married not his mother, but four other women. His mother Caterina was married off to another man and had five children of her own. That's what you would call an enlarged family," Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Museo Ideale in the Tuscan town of Vinci, told Discovery News.
Very little has been known about da Vinci's mother and the circumstances of his birth. The only account dates to a 1457 tax record in which the artist's grandfather listed the members of his family and briefly described his grandson:
"Lionardo, aged 5, the illegitimate child of Ser Piero and Caterina, who at present is married to Acchattabriga di Piero del Vaccha da Vinci."
Beyond this, scholars had very little to go on. While Ser Piero was easily identified as a Florentine notary, nothing was known about Caterina. As legend has it, she was a peasant girl from Vinci.
Now, 30-year-old research conducted by the late director of the Leonardo Library, published by his son Francesco, suggests a completely different scenario.
"Archival research has shown that there isn't any Caterina in Vinci or nearby villages that can be linked to Ser Piero. The only Caterina in Piero's life seems to be a slave girl who lived in the house of his wealthy friend Vanni di Niccolo di Ser Vanni," Cianchi wrote.
Evidence for "the slave Caterina" comes from Vanni's newly discovered will. The wealthy banker named his friend Ser Piero the executor of his will, and left most of his estate to a religious order. He left the slave girl to his wife Agnola and his Florentine house in via Ghibellina to Ser Piero.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Phone Angelina! There’s a New “Hacker” Around!
Phone Angelina! There’s a New “Hacker” Around!
According to NewsFactor, “AKILL,” otherwise known as 18-year-old Owen Thor Walker, was charged Tuesday for his involvement with a network that is being accused of hacking into 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from unknowing victims. Hackers like Walker are taking over computers and gathering them into centrally controlled clusters known as “botnets.” Once these clusters are formed, hackers can use the computers to steal credit card information, tweak stock trades, and even crash industry computers.
A crack down on “botnets” has been going on since June of 2007, and eight people have been indicted, pleaded guilty, or have been convicted since then. Another thirteen people have warrants out for their arrests in the United States and overseas.
Walker pleaded guilty to two charges of accessing a computer for dishonest purpose, two charges of accessing computer systems without authorization, one of damaging/interfering with computer systems, and one of possessing software for committing crime, all of which add up to a maximum penalty of several prison terms of up to five years.
Walker had no computer training whatsoever, and also suffers from Aspergers Syndrome. He also received $40,000 for his partaking in the scams, and was responsible for the collapse of a computer server at the University of Pennsylvania. According to Stuff.co.nz, Walker was reportedly bullied at school and left. Sounds like a hacker's remake to me!
What do you think about the new Ryder Mansion?
What do you think about the new Ryder Mansion?
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Thursday, April 3, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Income Cloner
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Post a comment below… I would love to hear what you have to say about this video 
Determining the price you should charge for your products can be difficult. You don’t want to charge too much or consumers won’t buy it. Yet you don’t want to charge too little or they will view that as your product not being something well made or that offers them quality information.
Having the lowest price out there isn’t necessarily the way to go. This is because you are going to be working hard to build up a solid reputation with your target market. They will come to see the value of what you have to offer that is more than your competition.
It is for that reason that they will be willing to pay more for it. There is peace of mind that comes with buying from someone you can trust. If you have done your part to offer a great product and to show that you are going to stand behind it there is no reason why they won’t pay for it.
With that being said, don’t be afraid to set your price where you think it should be. You will of course need it to be high enough for you to make a profit on each sale. Take the time to crunch numbers so you have a realistic idea of how much it is costing you to produce each item.
You will be surprised at how many people out there are working hard and then not generating very much profit at all. Why? Because their selling price is too close to the cost of producing the product. You want to have as high of a profit margin as you possibly can.
This is something to really think about when you decide what you will be selling. For example if you choose to offer informational products you will mainly have your time involved. You won’t have too much involved in materials. Therefore you can sell this type of product at a decent price with almost all of it being profits.
You may want to test out your prices in order to figure what consumers are going to pay. You can have it offered at two different prices and see which one is getting the most results. You may be surprised though to find it isn’t always the cheaper price that gets the results.
Test out your website as well so you can see where you are losing consumers. If they are taking their time to look around at your site but then leaving it when they see the price you will know that you need to make an adjustment to that price.
Supply and demand are important factors to consider when you are setting prices for your products. If there is a high demand for it but very few people offering it, you can ask more money for it. Consumers will pay the going rate in order to get their hands on it.
Yet there will also be plenty of entrepreneurs out there that decide to sell the same or a similar product. They are able to see the potential for them to make profits as well. Therefore it isn’t going to take long before there is more of the supply that is needed. As a result prices are going to begin to drop.
Should there be more products out there than a demand for them; the prices will be very low. You definitely want to be able to sell products that continue to be in high demand. Try to choose a niche market where you will never have a problem with having a demand for your products.
It is a good idea to have a general ballpark figure of what your competition is charging as well. Yet if you have additional features with your product that they don’t, yours will warrant a higher price. Just make sure you make these additional features known to your customers. That way they will be willing to pay for your product instead of someone else’s.
There are definitely many factors that go into setting your price for your products. You want to be able to offer consumers a good value for what they will get in return. At the same time you will want to ensure you are able to make a good profit. Be flexible with your prices and pay attention to what customers are responding well to.
You will need to conduct your own research of the market to figure out where to start. Don’t be afraid to set your own price though based on what you think you have of value. You also need to consider what you need to make in order to be a profitable business.
There is often a great deal of trial and error that goes into pricing products. If you pay attention to the results of your testing strategies though you will be able to fine tune the cost as you go until you are very happy with the results.
Million Dollar Office
03
03
2008
Use Effective Tools to Manage your Business
Posted by: admin in Random Blurbs.., Internet Marketing
There are plenty of tools out there you can use to manage your business. Yet many people don’t use them because they aren’t sure how. All of the data you collect about your business won’t do you any good if you aren’t able to effectively interpret it.
Testing is one of the main ways to figure out what is working for you and what should be looked at closer. The only way you will be able to determine the value of those tests is by knowing what the responses you get mean. If you are using a software program to assist you with collecting that data then take the time to know how to read the information.
There are no right or wrong tools out there to assist you. The key is to grab a handful of them that can assist you with moving forward. They should readily allow you to see where you are and what you need to do in order to achieve your goals. Be willing to try new tools too so that you can continue to benefit from new features as they become available.
Text Messaging as a Method of Marketing?
Texting has certainly become an extremely popular method of communicating in our society. It has also started to be used by some as a way of marketing their business. However, you need to make sure you have the individuals permission before you start sending materials to their phone.
One way to do so is to give them the chance to include their phone number for text messages when they opt in. Not everyone has texting as an option on their phone. There are many packages that include it though. Yet you don’t want to be sending advertising to a consumer and then they get charged for it. That won’t encourage them to buy what you are selling.
The verdict is still out as to how big text messaging as a method of marketing will become. If you are looking for a way to reach your customers instead of just by email you may want to give it a shot. Since it is still relatively new you can capture the attention of those that will be open to the material coming to them in a new way.
Give your Customers a Voice
All of the marketing tactics you come up with are to allow your customers to hear what you have to say. Yet at the same time you need to make sure you give your customers a voice. As with any relationship, this one will fail if it isn’t a two way street.
There are many different ways you can make sure your customers have a voice. One of the easiest is just to make sure they know how to contact you. Try to have several options available so they can choose the one that is the most convenient for them. If you are offering a newsletter, include questions, comments, and concerns from your customers.
The fact that you are willing to publish such information shows that you really do care what your customers have to say about your business. Chances are they are going to be sharing their feelings with people they know and even on various online sites. It is best that you get that information from them too so that you can make your business the very best.