Trackless Shower Door: a Friendly Door for Disabilities People ...

Trackless Shower Door 1

Trackless shower door is a great innovation. For people who love spending their time in a bathroom for long hours, bathroom does not only need to be a clean place, but also a comfortable one. That?s why bathroom as a privacy area has always been a central attention for those people. They like their bathroom look not only clean but also beautiful.

To beautify a bathroom, many people add some fixtures which have a high aesthetics value, for example adding a beautiful shower curtain. Shower curtain which has functioned as a door for shower stall comes in various beautiful design. Many people choose to purchase and install shower curtain to their bath for adding a fresh effect in it.

However there is a disadvantage of shower curtain. The care and maintenance of shower curtain is not easy. Sometimes it?s not machine washable, and after a few years it?s becoming discolored. It?s extremely reducing the beauty of a bath.

Because of the negative effect from shower curtain, many people tend to choose to have shower doors nowadays. Shower doors are relatively long lasting and easy to take care of. One of shower door options is trackless shower door.

Trackless door is recommended by ADA, American Disabilities Act, especially for being installed in public restroom. The design of trackless door is ideal for disabilities people. It has accordion style which opens from the center for a full access to bath area. This gives benefit to people who are in wheelchair to mobile. It provides save and barrier free access to shower. Disabilities people are also able to enter and exit the shower easily and safely. The other advantage of the trackless door is it forces the water to run back into the shower rather than out onto the floor. It avoids people to slip and fall down.

Trackless Shower Door 2

Trackless door now is becoming popular because of its advantage. It?s also beautiful and has elegant design. It comes in glass and plastic designs. However many people choose glass as the material of the trackless door because it?s easy to clean. You can also choose the other material which is water resistant.

The price of trackless door is various. For basic model, it comes in range between $ 70 until $ 80. However for some people who have a lot of money, they can choose their own model and design which can fit with their needs. For some advance models, they can be excess of $ 800.

Trackless Shower Door 3

With all the advantages and the various prices, trackless? door is totally a good choice for family who especially has disabilities family member. Trackless shower door does not only give a convenience for disabilities people, but also an elegant effect that beautifies your bathroom.

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Sudan asks AU to move summit over Bashir snub

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Venus transit 2012: a chance to test Earth-hunting techniques ( video)

Venus's 2012 transit across the sun will let researchers test methods for observing Earth-like planets light years away. It's an opportunity that won't be available again until December 2117.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / June 5, 2012

This June 2004 file photo shows the transit of Venus, which occurs when the planet Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, is pictured in Hong Kong. Venus will cross the face of the sun on Tuesday, June 5, a sight that will be visible from parts of Earth.

Vincent Yu/AP/File

Enlarge

There's a little black spot on the sun today.
No you don't want to miss this rare display. (With apologies to Sting)

Skip to next paragraph

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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "off"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // --> NASA's planetary scientist Lori Glaze discusses the transit of Venus.

It's V-Day 2012, the day Venus transits the sun, appearing as a black dot against the star's searing surface. It's a show that won't make its celestial revival until December 2117.

For many skywatchers, this event is drawing eyes because it is rare and intimately tied to the history of humanity's quest to take the measure of its corner of the cosmos. In the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists risked their lives traveling to far-flung corners of the globe to carefully record the track of the first lady of the solar system across the sun. Back then, it was the best means available for trying to estimate the Earth's distance from the sun and derive a size for the solar system.

But for some astronomers, Tuesday's transit offers an unique opportunity to use Venus as a surrogate for Venus- and Earth-size planets orbiting other stars, as researchers hone their skills at analyzing potential havens for life outside the solar system.

For others, the transit could help unravel a longstanding mystery about Venus itself: What drives the "super rotation" of its atmosphere? Venus spins on its axis once every 243 days. Its atmosphere performs the same feat in four days, with winds traveling at nearly 450 miles an hour.

A long time to wait

Venus's transits owe their century-scale frequency to the orbital paths Earth and Venus trace around the sun.

Seen in relation to the plane of Earth's orbit, Venus's orbit has a slight tilt ? about 3.4 degrees. Depending on where the two planets are in their respective orbits, that leaves Venus trailing the sun toward the horizon at nightfall or rising ahead of the sun before dawn. But on Tuesday the two planets' orbits are aligned in such a way that Venus will pass directly between Earth and the sun during Venus's inferior conjunction, or closest approach to Earth.

Venus's transits occur in pairs, separated by eight years?? Tuesday's transit is paired with one in 2004. The pairs repeat their appearance twice in a 243-year cycle, with one return time spanning 105.5 years, and the other 121.5 years. So, if you miss this one, tell your children to tell their children to take heart. We're in a part of the cycle with the shortest return time ? in December 2117.

Astronomers are working hard not to miss it.

A chance to study other Earths

Tuesday's transit represents "a great opportunity" to test approaches for studying atmospheres of Earth-scale planets orbiting sun-like stars, says Jean-Michel Desert, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., and a member of the team conducting the experiment.

The team, led by Alfred Vidal-Madjar at the Institute for Astrophysics in Paris, will use the Hubble Space Telescope to watch the transit via the light reflected off the moon, since the orbiting observatory would be permanently blinded if it tried observing the sun directly.

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Compact and flexible thermal storage

ScienceDaily (June 6, 2012) ? Biogas plants, combined heat and power plants don't just generate electricity, they also produce heat. However, unlike the electricity they yield, the heat generally dissipates unused. A new technology is set to change this: It will allow the heat to be stored lossfree in the smallest of spaces for lengthy periods of time, for use as and when required.

There's a growing trend towards generating electricity from biogas. But these systems would be considerably more effective if better use could be made of the heat that is produced in the process. Roughly half of the total energy content of the fuel is released as heat, which typically dissipates into the atmosphere unused. Large quantities of heat likewise escape from combined heat and power plants, not to mention many industrial installations. The root of the problem lies in the fact that the heat is not generally used at the time it is generated -- and options for storing it are limited. Traditionally, water tanks have been used for this purpose, but they can only absorb a finite quantity of heat. And of course, the heat can only be stored for short periods of time, because although the water tanks are insulated, the water gradually loses its heat to the surrounding atmosphere.

Working together with industrial partners such as ZeoSys GmbH in Berlin, scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart are currently developing a new type of thermal storage system. This new system can store three to four times the amount of heat that water can, so it only requires storage containers around a quarter the size of water tanks. Moreover, it is able to store the heat loss-free over lengthy periods of time and can even operate at temperatures well in excess of 100 degrees Celsius. The new system contains zeolite pellets, from the Greek ze?, meaning 'boil' and lithos, meaning 'stone'. Normally this material is used as an ion exchanger, for example to soften water.

Because zeolites are porous, they have a huge surface area: A single gram of these pellets boasts a surface area of up to 1000 square meters. When the material comes into contact with water vapor, it binds the steam within its pores by means of a physicochemical reaction, which generates heat. The water is in reverse removed from the material by the application of heat and the energy is stored, but not as a result of the material becoming palpably warm -- as when water tanks are used. What is stored is the potential to adsorb water and in the process release heat; the term 'sorptive thermal storage' is frequently used to describe these systems. And provided the dried zeolite material is prevented from coming into contact with water, it can store the heat for an unlimited amount of time.

Mobile test facility with a storage volume of 750 liters

Although the basic principle has been widely understood for some time, it had never before been translated into a broad-based technical application for storage systems. "We took the principle and confirmed it was technically feasible," says Mike Blicker, group manager, heat and sorption systems in the IGB. Initially, the researchers used a 1.5- and then a 15-liter reactor to demonstrate that the process really does work. Blicker explains: "First we developed the process engineering, then we looked around to see how we could physically implement the thermal storage principle -- i.e. how a storage device has to be constructed, and at which locations heat exchangers, pumps and valves are needed."

The institute's development partners were responsible for the material testing side of the project, investigating which of the various zeolites would be best suited for the purpose, how big the zeolite pellets needed to be, and whether or not the material would remain stable even after numerous storage cycles. They proved that heat could be stored and discharged many thousands of times without the system showing significant signs of wear and tear. The researchers subsequently up-scaled their operations to the current test facility, which has a storage volume of 750 liters and is mounted in a transportable container, along with all the additional equipment it requires. Its mobility allows the scientists to test the system in a variety of locations under realistic conditions.

The next stage of their work will be to reduce production costs, further optimize the system and adapt it for a variety of applications. Ultimately, the goal is to be able to store heat both in industrial installations and in small combined heat and power plants such as those used in larger residential buildings. To start with, priority will be given to industrial applications. "It would be ideal if we were able to devise a modular system that would allow us to construct each storage device to suit the individual requirement," says Blicker. The Fraunhofer researchers will be using a model system to demonstrate the principles of sorptive thermal storage at ACHEMA 2012 in Frankfurt from June 18 through 22.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, via AlphaGalileo.

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Abdul Awkal Execution Scheduled For June 6, Despite Claims Of Mental Illness (UPDATE)

The Ohio Supreme Court denied a request today to stop Wednesday's execution of a convicted murderer whose lawyers say he's mentally ill.

The state high court's decision to refuse a mental competency exam for Abdul Awkal cleared the way for officials to put him to death as scheduled for the 1992 shooting deaths of his estranged wife and brother-in-law.

Lawyers for Awkal scrambled Tuesday afternoon to find another way to save the death row inmate who they said believes he's a key adviser to the CIA and White House in the war on terrorism. They plan to file last ditch appeals in federal court and with Gov. John Kasich, who last week denied a request for clemency.

"We're going to push to save his life," said attorney David Singleton of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center. "The execution's going to happen tomorrow unless we can get it stopped."

Awkal, 53, killed his spouse Latife Awkal and brother-in-law Mahmoud Abdul-Aziz at a Cleveland courthouse during the couple's messy breakup in 1992. Authorities said the killing was motivated by a custody dispute over the couple's daughter who was a toddler at the time.

Starting in 2001, Awkal began writing letters from prison to the CIA and the White House, claiming to have valuable intelligence about terrorists. Awkal, according to psychiatrist Dr. Pablo Stewart's recent evaluation, believes he received coded messages from the CIA and the president via TV shows on CBS and NASA's channel.

"The question is not whether you are competent then, but whether you are competent now [at time of execution]," said Awkal's attorney David Singleton, also the head of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center. "He's got substantial delusions ... He thinks he's the hero trying to save the world."

The justices handed down a split decision Tuesday. Two of the seven justices dissented from the majority and said Awkal should be reevaluated by a psychiatrist who's expressed doubts about his finding last month at Awkal is mentally sound to be executed.

Attorneys for Awkal contended that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to use the death penalty against him, because he's "severely mentally ill" and has "delusions that prevent him from having a rational understanding of the reason for his execution," according to Stewart's affidavit.

The opinion from Stewart diagnosed Awkal with schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and said both were possibly the result of a childhood spent with an extremely violent father in war-torn Lebanon.

But two other evaluations filed by doctors who examined Awkal before Stewart determined that he was mentally competent.

"Although Mr. Awkal delusionally believes that the CIA has orchestrated measures to harass him in prison, his delusional beliefs do not currently interfere with his ability to rationally understand the reasons the death penalty was imposed in his
case," said an opinion by doctors Jennifer Piel and Phillip Resnick earlier in May.

Resnick, however, has wavered in that view since reading Stuart's report, according to Singleton.

UPDATE 7:06 p.m. -- This story has been updated to reflect the court's decision to refuse a new competency test

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Day 3 Recap - 28-Day Blog Challenge for Authors

Author Blog Challenge ? Day 3 Recap

Here?s a recap of the posts for the third day of the Author Blog Challenge. If you missed them on our Facebook group page, here are my favorite vignettes from a few of the posts for Day 3 of the Author Blog Challenge.

Many folks used the prompt we provided about writers they admire and writing mentors, but a fair number went their own directions. Still wowed as I read the incredible blog entries from our amazing participants! Please click the names to read the full posts?

__________________

TYLER HURST. My absolute #1 favorite author (whose books I?ve never read, but articles I have), and the only mentor I?ve ever had, is none other than my Highline Community College professor Dr. T.M. Sell. T.M., whose real name is T.M. ? for the love of all you hold dear, do not call him Tim or Terry ? was/is a political science and journalism professor at my very first choice of colleges. While I didn?t take a class from him ? class is a loose term here, as I was enrolled in Journalism 101 but experience enabled me to jump straight to staff ? on writing, he taught a few fundamentals that I still hold dear to this day.

  • Don?t use more words when less will do.
  • Say the most important things first.
  • Leave your bias out of it; it usually sounds better anyway.
  • Know why you?re writing before you know what you?re writing.

_______________

BETH KOZAN. When I was employed in the ?world of work? I mostly read non-fiction. Then, as I was preparing for retirement, I was invited to join a book club made up of employees and former employees of our local Catholic Charities, where I spent the last almost 15 years of my career as an adoption worker.? We now call ourselves The Traveling Book Club, because now that we are mostly retired, we plan an annual short trip to a city.? So far we?ve been to:? Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, and Santa Fe.? We?re thinking of going to Canada next year, perhaps Vancouver, Toronto or Ontario.

_______________

TIA BACH. Speaking of dialogue, I want it to sound like two people talking. Good dialogue should read fast and true. It shouldn?t read like prose. And rules that apply to good writing, do not apply to good dialogue. People speak with words writers are told to avoid: just, that, very. Even irregardless. Furthermore, if you craft a teenager, don?t have them speaking like an adult.

_______________

KATHI LAUGHMAN. As a wonderful storyteller and best-selling author, it would be easy to overlook how [Dick Francis] came to that place in his journey.?I met him as a young single Mom that loved a great story?and he certainly delivered.?He wrote over?40 books and?I own them all, including those that he began co-authoring with his son, Felix before his death.??His stories were full of rich characters, intriguing plots and?at times, breath-taking endings.?They were all meticulously researched by he and his wife, Mary. You felt as if you were being taken on a private journey with him through every story.?What is interesting is that this was in fact his second?career.?His first was as a horseman.?A?renowned and gifted jockey, he was lauded in those circles for many years.

_______________

CRYSTAL LEE. I adire any author that takes a chance and risks writing about touchy topics. Even if their writing style is considered rough (Stephenie Meyer gets criticized about that all of the time) as long as there is an element of truth to what they say. Stephenie Meyer?s gave me courage to write. I figured if she could do it, I could do it too, so in a way, she?s kind of a mentor? In real life though, my writing mentors are my family and friends: my sister, my mom, my friends Heather, Sam and Kyla, and now Jo Michaels.

_______________

T.L. BODINE. I think every book you read has an effect on you.? The best books are the ones that change the way you feel about yourself and your world.? They teach you how to be human.? Here are 10 authors who changed my life and had an undeniable effect on the writer (and person) I grew up to be.? In roughly chronological order? (1) R.L. Stine,?(2) K.A. Applegate, (3) Madeline L?Engle, (4) Richard Peck, (5) William Golding, (6) Robert Cormier (7) Stephen King, (8) Neil Gaiman, (9) J.K. Rowling, and (10) Barbara Gowdy.

_______________

JEN CHATFIELD. As for favorite characters, my number one is Jay Gatsby from, you guessed it, The Great Gatsby.? I?d probably lump all of the major characters in this novel on my?list though.? He?s hot, self-made, tragic, and so stylish.? In other words, he?s perfect.? My favorite heroes always need rescuing.? I have no idea why.? I have literally never in real life been with a man like this.? Maybe that?s the issue.? Plus, the novel takes place in the twenties, my all-time favorite decade.? In a time full of excess, debauchery, and innovation, romance and tragedy are bound to come head-to-head.

_______________

DANIELLE PEDERSON. And finally last, but certainly not least I must mention the books I go to all the time. When I want funny I read scenes with Fred and George, or Dumbledore. When I want bravery I read scenes where Harry stands up for what he believes in. When I want to read about great, although certainly flawed female characters I settle in with Hermione or Ginny. How can I not mention?
My true and best inspiration: J. K. Rowling. Harry, you?re not just awesome, you?re downright life-altering.

_______________

JACKIE BLEDSOE. I consider myself someone who encourages people. I actually believe that is one of the gifts God has given me?the gift of encouragement. I had an incident last week, with my daughter, in which I was far from encouraging.?After it happened, I realized that I need some encouragement with my gift of encouragement. That is my focus this week. Being encouraging so I don?t repeat what happened last week.

_______________

SONJA HALLER. I start to get nervous when I haven?t been inspired in a while. I worry it won?t ever strike again. Then I remember that while it?s great when inspiration shows up like an uninvited guest, sometimes inspiration just wants an invitation. So to invite inspiration, I? Read a favorite author or blogger. Start writing. Create space. Play. Fresh air. Give the inspiration some attention.

_______________

MATTHEW MORAN.?I was at the park the other day doing some pull-ups. There were a few people there ? some with kids. I always ask if they mind if I jump onto the monkey bars for a moment. I don?t want to scare kids or parents. On this day, a man was there with his son. He was, sadly, sitting on the bench while he had his son play. He had a noticeable beer belly? well? belly. I don?t really know the cause. His kid asked him to play a few times. Then his son saw me and said, ?Dad, can you do that??

?Well, back when I was his age,? was his reply.

His son said, ?How old are you Dad??

?41?

Er? I?m older than that.

_______________

ALANA MAUTONE. Isaac Asimov and I also share some similarities in family history.? His parents immigrated from the Soviet Union, as did my paternal grandparents. (One disclaimer-the U.S.S.R. did not exist when my family came to the U.S. but their home area did become part of that country.)? Both his father and my grandfather owned candy stores in Brooklyn, and both Mr. Asimov and my father had to work in the family business.? So in a way, I identify with Mr. Asimov in a way far beyond that of the normal reader/writer relationship.

Thanks to all who posted!

Laura & Marcie

__________________

The Author Blog Challenge is hosted by Laura Orsini and her alter ego, Marcie Brock, of the Marcie Brock ? Book Marketing Maven blog. Please visit Marcie?s blog for loads of great info about low- to no-cost methods of marketing for self-publishing authors.

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Study Skills Are Boring! Or, Are They? | *****

Study skills are boring!? That is what most students tell me when I first meet them.

Boring!? These are skills that can help them get better grades and spend less time on homework how can they be boring?

Honestly, there is a good explanation for the bad rap that study skills have developed over the years because a lot of boring things are labeled as ?study skills.? Learning how to use guide words in a dictionary...a necessary skill, but boring! SQ3R a reading strategy with many merits, but leaves me asking, ?Who wants to take the time to do all five steps?? Boring! Identifying the main idea and supporting details on endless worksheets? Another important skill, but still boring.

There is a broader and more important role study skills should be playing in the lives of our middle and high school students, especially in our current Information Age, when we must prepare students for many careers and jobs that do not even exist yet. Study skills are:

* The skills required to be an independent learner. * Skills that build confidence. * Skills that develop efficiency. * Skills that improve performance to prepare our students for high-stakes tests and the globally competitive job market of the future. * Skills that enable students to be proactive, make good decisions, and think critically.

The LAST thing they should be is boring!

We were all born with a natural desire to learn. Infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers love to explore their world and take pride in learning new things. Just yesterday, my four-year-old was so excited about learning that he stood on top of his chair and raised both arms in triumph exclaiming in a ?na-na-na-na-na-na? tone, ?I learned a new wo-rd! I learned a new wo-rd!? THAT was utter exhilaration over learning!

But, sometime in the elementary years, most students lose that enthusiasm for learning, usually because they lose all of their choices. Learning becomes dictated by their teachers, school districts, and state-mandated curriculum. They are suddenly swallowed into a bureaucracy of texts, tests, and lectures that would bore any rational human being.

Much of these mandates and ?lack of choices? are and will remain out of students? control, but there is a vital component we can offer students to bring some pizzazz back to learning. Teach them study skills principles and strategies to be organized and learn efficiently. Show them they have the power to beat the system. Well, maybe not beat the system, but at least work with the system strategically to be successful. When strategic learning enters the picture, students regain some control. They develop personal power. And they learn important life-long skills that will someday help them manage a home and career.

These may sound like lofty concepts, but they have real, concreteimplications. For example, as parents and educators:

* We can acknowledge that organizing papers and school-work is difficult because traditional systems actually complicate the process. We can then explore principles for organizing and strategies to simplify the process. * We can acknowledge that text-books are boring. But, if students understand how to maximize their brain?s learning process, they can be strategic readers and exponentially increase their reading comprehension while only reading a fraction of the text. * When we want to say, ?Why can?t you plan ahead?!? we can pause and understand that they have never really learned how to plan ahead. Armed with that perspective, we can help them discover how to prioritize their time and think proactively. There is a commercial that depicts two professionals heading into their office building at the beginning of the day. They are both neatly groomed and dressed professionally. You can presume from their appearance and surroundings that they are well-educated people. They are both half-way up an escalator when the escalator suddenly stops.

They look shocked and bewildered. ?I don?t need this!? complains the woman. ?Figures!? grumbles the man. They look around in panic
and start feeling around for their cell phones, but both discover they have forgotten their phones at home.

As the commercial continues, these two ?smart professionals? remain stranded for what appears to be hours, yelling and screaming for help and wallowing in their unfortunate sorrow that they are stuck on an escalator. That?s right it?s an escalator, NOT an elevator.

Are you wondering why they don?t just stand up and walk off?

That?s the point of the commercial...some solutions are so blatantly obvious to some, but not to all. Students, in particular, are commonly stuck on their own escalators, running for help every time they get stuck and not employing any strategies or critical thinking to move forward.

Arming students with study skills --skills for thinking strategically about organizing, managing time, and learning-- gives them the power to simply stand up and walk off their own escalator.

Taking control over their learning? Learning how to ?play in thesystem? with strategy? There is nothing boring about that!

About the Author:

Susan Kruger is the author of "SOAR Study Skills; A Simple and Efficient System for Earning Better Grades in Less Time". Get Susan's FREE Homework Rx Toolkit, featuring "25 Ways to Make Homework Easier...Tonight!", at her website: http://soarstudyskills.com/

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Fishbowl PR shares insights into effective online communications ...

Fishbowl PR is a specialist public relations company, founded in 2010 by Birgit Schonafinger. The company is based in Beechworth, and works with clients from across north eastern Victoria.

Tell us about your market and customers

Our major market segments are medium to large businesses, government agencies and not-for-profits. We work with clients to improve communication with their stakeholders ? in most organisations these include staff, customers, government agencies, community groups and the media.

Part of our role at Fishbowl PR is to develop communication plans: identifying who will communicate what messages, when and how.? A constant part of the business is educating prospective clients about just what public relations is, how it can benefit them and how it differs from, but works in conjunction with their marketing activities.

Which web technologies you are using in the business?

  • Our website is our main online presence. Here people can get a quick snapshot of our expertise, order services and make inquiries, learn more about public relations and connect with us on social media sites.
  • We advise clients on using social media, and tools that can help them to manage their social media presence.
  • We can also recommend monitoring tools which pick up any mentions of the client?s business name online ? allowing our clients to see who is talking about them, and what they are saying.
  • We undertake training through online webinars, and use online phone conferencing facilities for our business meetings.
  • We have experience with TripAdvisor?? a major travel website, where customers rate and recommend accommodation providers and restaurants.
  • We also use e-newsletters and surveys, through systems such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact and Survey Monkey.

What benefits have you gained from using these tools?

The obvious benefit of developing an online presence is being easy to find. Our social media presence has also helped us to win clients by drawing on personal recommendations through sites like Facebook and LinkedIn; demonstrating the power of those connections, both online and in person. It also illustrates the power of being endorsed by a third party, and how we trust other people?s recommendations.

We have also found online webinars to be a great training tool, reducing our travel time and costs while helping us keep up to date on the latest in communication practise.

How do you plan to use high speed broadband in your business when the NBN arrives?

We see the NBN offering greater access to high quality video conferencing, online meetings and training options.

What advice do you have for other businesses who want to maximise their use of web technologies?

Businesses should undertake some research on their target audiences for marketing and PR purposes. Once you understand your audience?s preferences, you can choose the best tools to reach them with ? don?t just choose a tool that you like and hope they will come.

That research helps shape your communication plan, which should consider your resourcing levels and ability to manage your chosen tools. Developing a social media policy in advance can help determine who is going to be able to say what on behalf of your business online. Once a business invests those resources, monitoring is important to help them to find out which tools are working best.

Do you run a business in the Hume Region that uses the internet effectively? Send us your insights and opinions via our contact form.

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Drake Taps 2 Chainz, A$AP Rocky For OVO Fest

The Weeknd is also on the roster for the August 5 festival.
By Gil Kaufman


Drake
Photo: Prince Williams/Getty Images

Drake has pulled together another stellar line-up for his third-annual OVO Fest. The show will take place on August 5 at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre in Toronto and feature sets from Drake, as well as pals 2 Chainz, A$AP Rocky and potential signing
, The Weeknd.

The show will help Drake celebrate the end of his sold-out 27-city "Club Paradise"
 tour and in a statement Drizzy said he's looking forward to the homecoming. "Bringing together the 3rd Annual OVO Fest is such a milestone for me," he said. "A lot has happened over the last three years-a journey that I'm so grateful for-but it's always coming home and performing for my hometown that means the most. This year, we're going to bring it just like we do every year-with high energy and music at its best."

Last month, Drake promised MTV News that this year's OVO would be a "mash-up"
of "Club Paradise" acts and other surprises. "That's the most important show of the year to me, OVO Fest, so I'm hoping that we really make it special this year," he said. "The premise of OVO Fest is you never know who you gonna see."

The YMCMB star has made the OVO Fest an annual must-see event, with star-packed rosters that always blow the crowd away. Last year, he was backed by Stevie Wonder on keyboard, and shared the stage with boss Lil Wayne, Nas, Rick Ross and J. Cole.

The inaugural fest
 in 2010 was no slouch, either, with both Jay-Z and Eminem in the mix, as well as Bun B, Ross, Fabolous, Young Jeezy and Kardinal Offishall.

Drake is currently in the thick of the "Paradise" tour, which finds him sharing the stage night-after-night with J. Cole, Meek Mill, Chainz, Waka Flocka Flame and French Montana and he recently told MTV News
 that he's loving the mix. "I just wanted people to come out and see a unity, because in hip-hop it's always been based off of confrontation," he said. "I think one of the coolest things about where we're at right now, it's real united. We actually all like each other."

Tickets for OVO go on sale on June 9.

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