Six Mobile Apps for Food and Drink

What brings summer to mind than the idea of lots of backyard barbeques, whether you're in your back yard, enjoying a tailgate party or grilling in a park or on the beach? With these food and drink apps, your summertime can be filled with good food and delicious drinks. Invite your friends and share the fun.

Grill-It!

This grill master's dream app categories food by type, and all the recipes that will make your friends jealous are right there at your fingertips. Choose from beef, port, poultry, chicken, side dishes and vegetables, and award yourself the title, Grill Master of 2012! Just open the app, and you get a new recipe each week for free.

Both Android and iOS mobile users, these apps are $0.99 for each platform.

GrillTime

Another grilling favorite, this app for iPhones takes the guesswork out of grilling perfection. Load the type of food and the thickness then set the timer. Sit back, enjoy friends, family and a brew or two. The pop-up will notify when to flip the food and when it's done to perfection.

Cost: $1.99.

Smoothie Recipes

In this iPhone and Android app, you get 120 recipes pre-loaded. No more using your valuable data plan to surf the Internet for that recipe you had once but forgot to write down.

You get not only recipes for some truly delicious smoothies, you also get nutritional information as well, so you can monitor your intake of nutrients and calories if desired.

The iPhone version costs $1.99, but the Android app is free.

Lunchbox

If cooking at home just isn't on your agenda, pull out the Lunchbox app for iPhones, type in the food you're craving, if any specifically, and watch your smartphone offer a list of nearby restaurants that offer the food or food type you want most.

The app also provides reviews, contact information and even directions for navigation.

Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List

This free iPhone app brings dish serving choices from common but well-loved through gourmet cuisine even for the inexperienced cook. There is little that impresses more than a surprise meal of taste-tempting dishes when least expected. If you want to impress someone or even treat yourself but have no cookbooks, Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List comes to the rescue with over 30,000 recipes pre-loaded – complete with shopping list of ingredients, so you'll ever miss that dash-of-something again.

Mixologist Drink Recipes

This $1.00 app for iPhones brings years of drink mixing experience to your mobile phone. If you are hosting a dinner party, a card party or friends and family night, skip the expensive bars: Bring your own well-hidden bartending “skills” to the fore.

List the liquor you have on hand. Choose a selection of drinks, then ensure you have all the ingredients you need for a night at home, serving expert drink mixes.

Enter your drink, read the recipe, pour and serve – That's it. But don't forget to leave the tip jar!

by Jaye Ryan, a freelance author who enjoys writing about mobile apps and entertainment apps for MobilePhones.org.uk.

Top Tips for Protecting Yourself when Hiring Online Freelancers

When you run an online business, it can be tough to do everything yourself. So, if you need a bit of web design, content writing or other work done, hiring an online freelancer can be an easy and effective way to get the job done.

Online freelancers often do great work, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be sure to protect yourself. Just with any business transaction, you need to play it smart.

Ask for Samples and/or References

Always ask for examples of previous work from your online freelancers. This allows you to quickly weed out those whose style or quality does not meet your expectations.

While it can be tempting to ask for a custom sample to be written or designed, this can lose you the interest of qualified freelancers. There are well-known scams where someone looking for a batch of work on a particular topic like calipers or Mustang steering wheels will place an ad looking for a ‘free sample’ on the topic, then simply use the samples and never hire anyone!

If you really require custom samples to narrow down your shortlist, consider paying for them. Alternatively, if you are concerned that samples will not match finished work, ask for references from previous clients.

Have a Contract

A contract is essential, both for your legal protection and to ensure you and your freelancer are on the same page. A contract does not have to be a mess of legal mumbo-jumbo, there are plenty of free sample contracts available online – your freelancer may even have one themselves.

In essence, your contract should include at least the following details:

• Who owns the rights to the content created
• How much is to be paid for the work and when
• How and when the work is to be delivered
• The number of revisions included in the fee
• Cost for additional revisions
• Any penalty fees for late payment of invoices or non-delivery/late delivery of work
• What happens if you wish to cancel assigned work
• The legal jurisdiction covering any disputes
• Is the freelancer allowed to outsource work or must they do it themselves

Be Professional

Not all freelancers will work out or be suitable for your needs. Make sure when working with a freelancer or terminating a working relationship you are professional and calm. You do not want to burn your bridges or get a reputation as someone who is a nightmare to work with!

In addition always be professional with your working communications, such as asking for updates or assigning extra work. Otherwise, a freelancer whose work you love may leave, leaving you right back where you started … needing to hire again.

This is a guest post by Mary who blogs on everything, from hiring freelancers to buying calipers.

The Difficulties of Providing Mobile Network Connectivity

With mobile technology becoming increasingly more common and complex, people are now able to stay updated and connected easily throughout the day. This is largely due to mobile network connections being widely available, which allow users to access the internet from anywhere, anytime. Though this is a great convenience for users, providers of these mobile network services have a tough job ahead of them: to keep up with the increased number of users and average usage per person, and continue to provide high-quality—and high-speed—services to all users.

Increased Customer Base

Since mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are now widely available and prices have become more affordable for the average consumer, the majority of people either currently own or are planning to soon own one or more of these devices themselves. This means that the number of people using mobile devices will continue to increase until most people own several of the more popular ones. With an increased customer base, network providers must have a more powerful system to keep up with a larger number of people trying to access their network at any given time.

More Uses For Mobile Internet

Social networking sites such as Facebook provide an excellent means for people to stay connected and up to date with current events, both globally and in their circle of acquaintances and friends. Since such services are so popular, users will often want to have internet access on-the-go to log in and check or update their social accounts. Due to this, network usage increases and providers must be able to continue offering services that allow their users to stay connected.

Reliability and Speed

Not only are users requiring a reliable and stable connection at all times, speed is paramount as well. With a larger amount of websites that have a large amount of content, loading time becomes a more pronounced problem when networks are not up to speed. Having a fast connection will often make all the difference in the user’s choice of network providers. In order to keep customers satisfied, servers must be able to provide high-speed connections to all users continuously, which is not necessarily an easy task.

Greater Coverage

Originally it was to be expected that the strength of the signal varied according to location and not all services would be available wherever you went. However, users are now demanding services such as mobile internet no matter where they go. Though some areas may be too remote and inaccessible, users expect internet access in most locations. This means that providers must continue to expand their network’s coverage to wider areas and reach more customers.

Future Trends

Any network provider must be able to keep up with the current level of users and usage in order to succeed. However, planning for the future is critical as well. If a provider can keep up now but falls behind in the future when usage increases further, it may cause great losses to their business and reputation. In order to prevent this, servers must be updated and optimized to allow continued improvement and offering of all services.

With mobile networks being extremely common at this point in time and more users joining every day, mobile network providers must optimize their efforts and networks to keep up. Doing so will not only result in more satisfied customers, it will also expand their customer base as their reputation for offering a reliable and convenient service becomes more pronounced.

Article provided by Philip Rudy. Philip is a Search & Social Manager for ImageWorks Studio and is in charge of outreach for Actix - a company specializing in mobile network optimization

Considerations for Effectively Editing Nonfiction Writing

Editing is an essential process for any piece of writing that is intended for publication, but not all works are edited equally. For nonfiction writing, there are special considerations that need to be made that may not apply to fiction. Here’s what you need to keep in mind when editing nonfiction work.

  

Structural Editing 

 When you first pick up a piece of nonfiction writing to edit, you’re going to being with structural editing. Structural editing does not take into account things like grammar, spelling, or word choice, which are small details compared to the bigger issues you should be paying attention to. Here is a list of what you’re going to be looking for during a structural edit: 

Clarity 

You should do an initial read-through of the writing in which you simply read and comprehend without making any edits. Once you’ve read the writing, consider its clarity. Were all details sufficiently explained? Were any questions left unanswered? Was anything confusing or misleading? Did you understand everything? Which parts were harder to understand or unclear? 

Coherence and Transitions 

 Next, take a look at how all the information fits together. Was it presented in a logical order? Did the information flow? Were there adequate and natural transitions from one topic to another? Did everything relate well to everything else? Did anything stick out as being unnecessary or out of order/place? Is the information well organized? 

Informational Gaps 

 It’s important to make sure that the reader, who is usually presumed to unknowledgeable about the subject, is given a full picture in order to understand the material. Is there any missing information that would make the story/message more complete or easier to understand? Are there any logic gaps, in which it’s difficult to understand how a point was reached? 

Narrative Style 

The narrator of a nonfiction story is usually removed from the action – an observer of events, and the information is usually presented in an objective manner. Is there anything about the narration style that could be improved? Does the narrator ever inappropriately interject opinions? 

Accuracy 

 Perhaps the most important aspect of a nonfiction piece is that the information provided is true and accurate. Double- and triple-check all facts to be sure they’re quoted correctly. Has all the information been verified by a trusted and reliable source? You should also be on the lookout for misrepresentation of facts. A fact should not be presented in a way that the reader could construe a different, incorrect meaning or significance. 

Formatting and References 

Finally, the nonfiction work should be edited for consistent formatting (fonts, paragraphs, margins, etc.). The bibliography, appendix, index, table of contents, and other additions like tables and graphs should be checked for clarity and accuracy. 

Copyediting 

 Copyediting should not be performed until structural editing is complete, and perhaps not until the final draft is made. After structural editing, the author should make necessary changes to improve the piece, and then copyediting can begin. Copyediting for nonfiction is the same as fiction: you’ll look for things like spelling, grammar, word choice, verb usage, and sentence structure. 

 Alayne Valentine is a freelance writer and college student who has plenty of experience when it comes to editing and proofing. She loves to blog and often covers literary devices or the use of grammar checkers. 

 Photo Credit: Dan Patterson

The iPhone is still dominating the market

The majority of high-tech cellular phone users prefer the iPhone over all of the other phones on the market today – and rightly so, since the iPhone has proven to be the best choice for so many reasons. But if you don’t own an iPhone, you may be wondering, what’s all the fuss about? Well, there are a few contributing factors to the all of the hubbub surrounding the Apple Company’s most famous device. 

To name a few: the iPhone’s battery gives the device bionic properties – users can typically enjoy a whopping 7 hours of talk time or 6 hours of 3G data usage which surpasses the energy of many other phones available today. Apple has also graced its newest phones with Retina Display, which will knock your cyber socks right off – pixels are nearly invisible, making its resolution crystal. And if you’re big into Apps, the iPhone’s your match with an App Store that puts over 350,000 of them at your fingertips. Another couple of iPerks: users enjoy free iOS updates, exceptional video conferencing capabilities – not to mention the device’s fashion factor pretty much puts all other phones to shame…it may possibly be the most stylish of them all. 

Users tout the multitude of Apple accessories available, too – from stylish protective iPhone cases to niftybumpers; from handy docks and adapters to designer-made headphones….the list is pretty much never-ending. Users can even purchase remote controls to operate their iPhones from afar – an accessory that is certainly not available for other models of mobile phones. 

Like any other smartphone, most iPhone users are interested in how to jailbreak iPhone because there is so much more you can do with it when it is freed from factory settings and defaults. The downside to jailbreaking your iPhone is that it voids the Apple manufacturer warranty, so you may be out of luck if you need help from the Apple store at a later point. The most current iPhone available is the 4S. Recently launched, users are already praising the next generation phone for its surpassing design, user-friendliness and innovative features. If you already have an iPhone, you have probably come to value it as your most treasured tech device. If you are in the market for one, you’ll most likely come to feel the same. Either way, be sure to secure your digital gem with an iPhone warranty – you’ll be glad you did. 

Bill Radley writes about how to jailbreak your iPhone and many other iPhone related topics.

POS Technology in Travel Industry Improves

Many people all over the world love to travel. In 2011, international tourist arrivals recorded a growth of more than four percent or 982 million. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is also forecasting a growth between three and four percent for international tourist arrivals this 2012. 

This significant growth in tourism has led major players to upgrade their technology in order to get a significant share of the market. And with more travelers opting to do their bookings and payments online these days, it is a must for companies in the travel and tourism sector to improve the tools they use to ensure faster processing of transactions. 

 There’s no denying that companies in the travel industry today have already automated many of its daily functions. An important tool being used now is the point of sale (POS) technology integrated with the global distribution system (GDS). This is a priority by travel management companies (TMCs) and vital for travel agents to ensure productivity and correct transactions. 

In recent years, companies were seen focusing on striking a balance between standardizing and customizing their systems. The standard procedure was maintaining the GDS passenger name record (PNR) covering all required fields in the travel reservation process regardless of geographical location by controlling the point of sale. The customization was implemented in booking flows depending on the needs of different corporations or regions. 

 Moving forward, travel companies need to invest in the integration of their web content and POS software particularly in terms of ongoing maintenance and support. A priority should be the provision of a clear cut travel policy which should also be updated when the situation calls for it such as during an economic crisis. 

 In addition, the point of sale interface must contain the necessary information of the trip. Other services and data that need to be integrated are trip notification and schedule changes, travel advisories, itinerary aggregation and tracking of unused tickets among others. 

 As point of sale software advances, research has shown several areas where travel management companies should focus on. These are on adapting a hybrid reservation system, consistency in passenger name record, corporate compliance and delivery of excellent customer service. Regardless whether the point of sale was internally developed or provided by a third party, what counts is that it is able to ensure a steady workflow for the agent to achieve increased productivity and gain more satisfied customers.

Citations:

• Link in article goes to http://en.eu.sabretravelnetwork.com/images/uploads/collateral/EN_POS.pdf

Sam is a freelance writer who contributes articles covering the tourism and travel industry as well as the tools and technology used in online reservations today. He loves to travel to different countries if time permits. Sam recommends the POS software for travel operators.

Skyscrapers & How They Link Our Past to Our Future

What we build says a lot about us. Ever since the Egyptian pyramids and the Great Pyramid of Giza held the title of the tallest man-made structures for over 3,800 years, humans have been inspired to build iconic, record-breaking structures. Whether its the materials we use, the design and aesthetic, the style or even how tall a structure is, buildings are shaped by our culture. They show how we live, what matters to us, what we value and how we view ourselves. They connect our past to our present and future. Tall structures & buildings have always been a status symbol. In the 19th century, tall buildings reaching high into the clouds were constructed. These buildings were called skyscrapers. While there is not one definitive building that is known as the first skyscraper, there are several well-known buildings that have held the title of tallest building in the world. For forty years, the Empire State Building in New York City held the honor of being the tallest building in the world. In 1972, the World Trade Center North Tower surpassed the Empire State Building to hold the record briefly until Chicago’s Sears Tower won the title. The Sears Tower, now known as The Willis Tower held the honor for twenty-five years until the completion of the Petronas Towers in Maylasia. The Willis Tower is still the tallest building in the United States. Historically, skyscrapers were predominantly found in North America. In the past decade, however the majority of new skyscrapers were constructed in Asia and the Middle East. In fact, none of the top five tallest skyscrapers are located in North America anymore. What do the tallest buildings in the world tells us? As cities become more dense and developed, it makes sense to build vertically. At a certain point however, it makes less economic sense to build these mega skyscrapers. Record setting buildings may be more about ego and showing the world something than constructing a space that really works. The attacks on The World Trade Center Towers in 2001 are seen as an attack on the entire American culture. Skyscrapers represent the culture around them. Skyscrapers are iconic and become both a status symbol of their home city and part of the city’s personality. What inspires architects? Architects are inspired by what is happening culturally, economically and globally? For example, the design of the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower was inspired by an advertisement for cigarettes. Chances are, cigarettes would not inspire today’s architect. Our buildings can connect our present to our past. The design for the current tallest building in the world, the Burj Kharlifa, is derived from Islamic architecture patterning systems. Designing buildings that feature symbols or other significant representations give buildings more meaning by connecting our pasts to our present and future. The five tallest buildings in the world:

1. Burj Khalifa
2. Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel
3. Taipei 101
4. Shanghai World Financial Center
5. International Commerce Centre

Citations:

• Image by Rodrigo_Soldon. CC from Flickr.

Lisa Hirst Carnes writes for a variety of blogs & companies including, the commercial construction firm, Shingobee Builders. Shingobee specializes commercial construction projects like hotel, casino, restaurant, office and community center construction.

Some Advice on Fundraising

Organizing projects that aim to collect funds for specific causes is a common activity. Fund raising is quite a difficult venture for anyone. When you aim to make a difference in the world you have to do it right from the very start. Careful planning together with following the suggestions below will result to more successful and more a memorable outcome. Achieve all these and have your fundraising campaign become a blast. Be transparent when it comes to your intentions and plans. This is very crucial especially with people who work with you in the activity and all the other participants involved. You can do this by explaining to them what the campaign is for, the plans that you have with their donations and how you can create a difference. Setting a goal that is clear to everyone is significant and very effective when you are running these types of activities. You honesty to them will show how serious you are and that you can be trusted. Plan on who will be part of your group and focus on them. Formulating a goal and looking for the right individuals who share the same interests needs your time and effort. The target audience is basically the backbone of your project. From this group you will find individuals who are willing to sacrifice their time and resources to ensure the success of your operation. Create a group who will help you organize everything by picking out those who are capable of leading others and who can work together as a team. There are a lot of aspects in your fundraising aside from solicitation. You need people to host events, arrange activities, formulate schemes and even advertise what you are doing. You must have committees that have specific functions and can still operate together as a whole. Harmony in how everyone work and support each other will produce a positive and more motivating environment that is set for success. Be generous in patting people’s back and showing your appreciation. You don’t have to do something dramatic to express your gratitude. A short thank you note or even a word of approval will be enough. What is important is that you take the time to let people see how you value their services. In this way you can foster better relationships between you, your supporters, the donors and all those who are there in their own little ways to turn everything into a reality. If you try to find ways to make this project more exciting for the participants, you have a big chance of getting very positive results. There are a lot of strategies that you can try to ensure the success of your campaign and at the same time turn everyone involved more efficient by having a more fun and positive approach. Brandon Jones is an expert blogger who shares useful information and produce articles for companies like Signature.

How Can Online Video Production Prove to Be Beneficial for a Business?

How Can Online Video Production Prove to Be Beneficial for a Business?

Online Video Production is known to be one of the best method of promoting the products and services offered by a business organization. It is hassle free as well as cost effective. It can not only be used for promoting products and services offered by a business concern but it also promotes the business concern. In fact it helps in promoting a business organization in the international market thereby creating a brand name domestically as well as internationally. The major advantages of these videos is that they are very practical, describes the business concern and the products and services offered by them very well, easy to understand and economical.

Besides the advantages mentioned above another important advantage of Online Video Production is that it portrays the message in an interesting and appealing manner making a huge impact on the viewer. Moreover, it can help in saving huge amounts of money when the need for training the staff, placed at different locations, arises. There is no need to waste the business organization’s money as well as precious time of the employee responsible for providing training in traveling to different parts of the world to train the staff employed there with new techniques and tools of business. The business concern can simply create a video and use it to train the staff members. It is recommended to provide username and password in case the video is made for some specific people only in order to provide security. Now you may be wondering where to get such videos created.

Actually, there are companies which offer Online Video Production services. However, before hiring any company it is very important to gather all relevant information about them. You can easily get all information over the internet. They can be contacted online for inquiry. Hence, there is no need to spend precious time and visit various places to know about them. Further, it is also important to keep few things in mind before hiring services of a video production company.

The first important thing that needs to be considered is budget. It is essential for any business organization to plan a budget as well as analyze the expenditure and expected return on investment before hiring an Online Video Production company no matter even if the cost of videos is less than other marketing options. Another thing that should be considered is hiring the right video production company. To find the right video production company it is advisable to search online as most of such companies have their websites on internet. By visiting their websites you can easily review their work and on the basis of the quality of work done by them you can prepare a list which you can narrow down to select the best company as per your requirements.

After selecting the best Online Video Production company you must inform them the kind of video you require. You must tell them that the video should not be boring. Rather it should be eye-catching and appealing in order to attract viewers.

3 Tips For Finding Your Perfect Cell Phone and Plan

Having a cell phone is a necessity for most people in today’s busy world. You need a way to keep in touch with loved ones, business associates, and friends.  With a massive market for cell phones, there is no shortage of models to choose from, but choosing the right cellpho

ne for you can be challenging if you’re not sure where to start. The last thing that you want is to buy a phone that has a bunch of bells and whistles that you don’t use, but lacks in some features that you would love to familiarize yourself with. That’s why it’s important to consider your needs and how they will be met before making a final decision.

Narrow Down Your Options

Cell phones are designed with different people and needs in mind. That leaves you with ample options as a consumer, which can be extremely overwhelming when walking into a store to buy a new phone.

That’s why your best bet is to write down all of the things you expect your cell phone to be able to do. Sure, you want your phone to place calls, but are you the type of person who is going to want to use your phone as a music device, or are your needs more focused on Social Media and internet access? How many voice calls are you realistically going to make? What kind of keyboard do you find easiest to use for texting? These are all important questions to ask yourself before you even head into the store.

Consider a Term Plan

All cell phone service providers have long term plans designed to keep their customers on for more time, rather than less. In this vein, you will usually be able to lower the price of your favourite model of phone by signing on to a contract for two years or more. Keep in mind that in order to get a great cell phone plan at a decent monthly price, you’re going to need to let the company check your credit score. If you’ve got a poor credit score, you may have to buy your phone outright and work on a prepaid model.

Try Before You Buy

It’s easy to imagine the things that you may need in a cell phone, but in practice it can be a lot different when you’ve got to use it. Make sure that you have a great handle on exactly where you can expect to have service from any particular service provider before you sign on with them, especially if you’ll be travelling often. Some companies will give you a few weeks with a trial phone to decide if that model is the one for you, but if this isn’t possible, see if you can find a friend or family member with the phone that you’d like and find out if you can test it for a day for two. This hands-on experience will give you a better idea as to whether the phone will work for your needs.

This guest post is from Allison with CreditScore.net.

How To Find Inspiration For New Web Content

How To Find Inspiration For New Web Content 

Climbing your way to the first page of major search engine rankings requires more than dedicated effort and massive amounts of quality content. It also requires insight and innovation. The more creativity that you infuse your online content with, the more interest it will ultimately generate and the better that it will work for you in your efforts to become a trusted name among your market. Following are three easy ways to gain inspiration for phenomenal articles and blog posts, without having to stew endlessly over old ideas.
Give Them The DetailsThe internet has been inundated with blogs and articles detailing the best ways to find a new service provider or retailer. Consumers already know how to screen contractors, compare product pricing and beware of inflated shipping costs. If they do not know these things, there is already a wealth of online information that they can use. In order to provide truly valuable content you will need to rise above articles like this, to provide greater depth and description. Use your posts instead to describe the materials that are used in industry production, the way in which environmental and economic changes are impacting these materials and innovations in the production process. You can also detail how your business is handling these changes and what this means for your products and services in both the short and long-term. In terms of the internet, change is perpetual and thus, web users are always searching for the newest and next best thing. Your content should reflect this.
Think Outside Of The BoxIf you want to stay ahead of the game it is important to start looking beyond what people are talking about right now. This will allow you to avoid posting content that is nearly duplicate to that of your competitors. You will need to start thinking about how your industry is changing and how this will impact how your product and services are provided. This goes beyond materials and production. Mobile phone applications and the transition from web viewing via computer to hand held devices has certainly altered consumer shopping habits. Addressing these issues will not only help you to generate fresh and insightful content, but it will also gear you up for any necessary transition in how your company functions. Talk about digital convergence and your words will hold your audience rapt. You can also write about the different ways in which your products or services are connected to other businesses. This is a great way to start a link sharing campaign with fellow business owners, which will certainly increase the efficacy of your other optimization efforts.

Focus On LSI KeywordsSometimes it can be difficult to explain new aspects of one specific word or phrase. When considering this same word or phrase expressed in different terms, however, the mind is likely to travel different paths. For instance, all though car insurance has been virtually saturated with articles describing how people can save money on this particular form of insurance, there are other, like terms that can help to broaden the possibilities when it comes to generating new content. Authors can instead write about vehicle coverage, which opens the door to discussing moped insurance, motorbike insurance and even motorized boat insurance. These keywords will definitely generate interest and may even open the door to an utterly new niche for you to focus on.
Pay Attention To Social Networking PostsSocial media is a phenomenal platform for marketing your business. It is also the perfect arena for listening in on consumer conversations. In fact, this is the ideal way to garner an understanding of current consumer interests and tolearn more about what your prospective customers might want to know. For example, while a company's clients might have wished to learn more about how to cut car insurance costs in the past, they may now be interested in ways forreducing coverage to gain deeper discounts without compromising the most basic protections. It helps to know what people want to know as this is the only way that you can accurately target the interests of your market base and establish yourself as a trustworthy provider of valid and valuable information.
Michelle Gaunt enjoys writing about e-commerce, literature and tips on saving money.  She recommends using www.homeequityloan.net to save money on your mortgage or getting great rates for home improvement projects.

What a Beautiful Life

What a Beautiful Life

Before, I had been pouting because I did not feel loved. I complained about not

being the center of attention. I walked irritable, dissatisfied and sad, saying evil of my life.

Then cames the cancer.

My life turned upside down. Now I was the center of attention and preoccupation.

Emotions clashed, there was what I wanted, but at what price.

As would be better?

Before, that I felt ignored, now that I know actually exist for them? In fact everything is relative ...

Anyway "what a beautiful life"

Viaje Seguro com a TAP

QUALQUER TEMPO

Na ternura do teu olhar

Janela de tua alma

O tempo é de sonhar

Na delícia do teu sorriso

Espalhado entre teus lábios

O tempo é de saborear

Na tua sensibilidade latente

Razão de meu querer

O tempo é de viver.

Com todos os sentidos te desejo

E sem nenhum sentido te quero

O tempo fugindo à razão.

Quero-te como se fosse noite

Não importa a cor do dia

Quero em qualquer tempo...

O tempo é sempre nós agora.

QUINTA DO VESUVIO - PORT WINE

Quinta do Vesuvio

Quinta do Vesuvio has rocketed to fame during just a few years of ownership by the Symington family, who are well known to anyone who has more than a passing interest in what comes out of the Douro. Nevertheless, the estate has considerable history, starting with the Ferreira family who established the vineyard in the early 19th century. Of these the most notable is Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, referred to locally as the Ferreirinha; she shaped, terraced and planted the vineyards, a task which reputedly took thirteen years to complete. And with the death of her husband, she continued to build on her success, establishing a domaine which was described by James Suckling, writing well over a century later in Vintage Port, as "The showpiece of the Douro". The quinta she built (is there no end to this woman's talents?) is an impressive building on the south bank of the Douro, midway between Numao and Lavandeira. It contained eight massive granite lagares, each holding twenty-five pipes of wine; not quite big enough for a game of five-a-side, but you could certainly have a good kickabout with a couple of mates.

The wines produced here in the 19th century were very well received. Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira developed her domaine, and her empire; she owned thirty separate quintas, and oversaw an expansion in her estate to over 400 ha, of which 100 ha was planted to vines, before her death in 1896. Her descendants managed the estate for the next century, but the property entered a period of slow decline, compounded by a number of disasters along the way. Phylloxera resulted in a loss of many of the vines, and these were replaced by thousands of olive trees which proved to be a bad business decision; they were quite unprofitable. The vineyard area declined, in part because some sites lying along the banks of the Douro were lost when the river was dammed in 1973. By the late 20th century this left the estate ripe for an injection of new capital and new enthusiasm. This 'showpiece' was purchased by the Symingtons in 1989.

The Symington family, the clan responsible for some of Port's greatest names - Graham's, Dow's, and Warre's to name just three - have maintained Quinta do Vesuvio as a separate entity within their portfolio, and have sensitively blended some of the new winemaking techniques available with the traditional practices already in place. Temperature-controlled fermentation equipment has been installed, but the granite lagares, where the grapes are still trodden by human foot, remain. Of the 400 ha, about 100 ha remain planted, mostly with Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Francesca and Tinta Barroca. With such a large area of vineyard it is only natural that soils and microclimates vary, but the entire vineyard is classified as grade A. The ancient olive trees are also put to good use; there is Quinta do Vesuvio olive oil, as well as honey, almonds and oranges! The wine is bottled exclusively as a single quinta vintage Port, with quality maintained by strict selection; typically only 20-25% of Vesuvio's output goes into the wine each year. Although the total annual production of the estate is 575 pipes, the quantity of Quinta do Vesuvio released each year stands at a maximum of 50 pipes (it may be less depending on the vintage), the equivalent of 3000 cases. (13/4/05)

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Trilhos da Vida

Trilhos da Vida

Parecem existir momentos em que Deus acciona um interruptor cósmico que põe em marcha os trilhos que estão sob os nosso pés, encaminhando as nossas vidas para uma direcção incerta. Desses momentos, temos apenas duas certezas: é melhor não sabermos o que nos espera e nunca poderemos voltar atrás.