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The federal tax code as we know it turns 100 this year. Some tax experts say that makes it well past retirement age.
At a recent Washington, D.C., panel discussion hosted by the tax information publisher Tax Analysts on the aging tax code and what to do about it, the consensus was that it might be time to find other ways to supplement federal revenue.
We're all familiar with the complaints about taxes. It's not just about the amount of money the Internal Revenue Service collects each year. Folks are also very unhappy with the complexity of today's tax code. It's frustrating enough on the individual side, but is even worse at the corporate tax level, especially with the changing, international face of business.
The complexity factor often leads to charges that the Internal Revenue Code is unfair. And that then devolves into fights over exactly what fairness means.
One hundred years ago, the income tax rate was 7 percent and earnings of up to what would be around $100,000 in today's money were exempt. "It was a light tax applied to just a handful of people. It was designed to make the tax system fairer but not raise a lot of money," said Christopher Bergin, president and publisher of Tax Analysts.
But it didn't take long for lawmakers to start fiddling. Just five years later, noted Bergin, the tax had changed dramatically. By 1918 the top rate was 77 percent, in large part because of the need to pay for U.S. involvement in World War I. The second World War transformed the income tax even more, making it more applicable to more Americans.
As the country has grown and changed, so has the tax code. So what now, 100 years later?
The first thing to remember is that we'll always need money to run the government. The only way to end that is to, as some no-tax advocates have admitted, "starve the beast" of federal government to the point where it is so small it can be drowned in a bathtub.
However, most people want at least some federal programs. So we'll always have a need for money to pay for them and an agency, such as the IRS, to collect it.
Who should pay?
The core issue is who pays. Not necessarily how much they pay, buy who pays.
Right now much of the focus, thanks to political rhetoric on both sides, is on wealthier taxpayers. Under a progressive tax system such as ours, they have always paid higher rates. But, said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project and contributing editor at Tax Analysts, the focus has been on too narrow of a sliver of the population.
"I think you squander your opportunity when you spend a lot of time raising taxes a little bit on very rich people," Thorndike said.
Instead, every taxpayer needs, to borrow another political phrase, some skin in the game. This doesn't necessarily mean major changes, but rather better focus on what taxes support.
"If people are disconnected between what they're willing to pay for and what they get, our tax system can't survive in terms of legitimacy, fairness, providing the kinds of revenues and services and protections that an advanced economy needs in this century," said Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "It's critical to reconnect paying for what you want with a tax system that collects that revenue."
But tying taxes more directly to the programs they fund would be difficult for Congress. Capitol Hill lawmakers love to roll things into bills that hide who's paying how much for what in the hopes that by the time the voters figure it out, it will be too late for political repercussions.
Cynical much? Cynical just a bit.
Flat vs. progressive
Personally, I like the progressive tax system. I disagree with flat-tax advocates who say that is fairer. It isn't. A 20 percent tax on $40,000 is "just" $8,000. But that leaves the taxpayer just $32,000 to work with. But a 20 percent tax on $250,000 leaves that taxpayer with $200,000 to spend. Those making less should pay lower tax rates to give them more disposable income.
Reforming our tax system is going to be difficult, but I agree with Bernstein that the first step must be acknowledging what we get for our taxes.
And the next step is acknowledging what everyone else gets for our taxes, too.
Mortimer Caplin, IRS commissioner during the John F. Kennedy administration, said that that every taxpayer should fill out a tax return as "part of the price of citizenship." Caplin cited JKF's declaration in a 1961 speech to Congress that a "strong tax system is essential to a strong democracy."
Or, as former Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. famously said back in 1904, "I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization."
OK, maybe I'm not that cynical after all.
Want the latest news on taxes, tax reform prospects, filing deadlines, Internal Revenue Service alerts and tax-saving tips? Subscribe to Bankrate's free Daily Tax Tip newsletter, our Weekly Tax Tip newsletter or, if you're a true tax geek, both!
You also can follow me on Twitter @taxtweet.
Veteran contributing editor Kay Bell is the author of the book "The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes" and a co-author of the e-book "Future Millionaires' Guidebook."


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Da Level Ad!These brain teasers rely on your ability to recognize groups of common attributes. For each of these puzzles you'll need to figure out why the words or letters are grouped as they are. Sometimes you will be asked to pick the odd-one-out or to place a new word into the correct group.
Which of the following is not like the others?
Dr. Awkward
Don did nod!
Delia failed
AnswerDelicious doesn't belong!
The other words are "palindromes". This means that the word can be spelt the same way forward and backward.
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subset: commoncrawl


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in case you're hungry...
If you like pizza and mushrooms (I know my husband does) then you just might need to try making this.
Other Stories
6 comments:
Quė preciosa foto y qué pinta.ReplyDelete
I'm hungry right now!!ReplyDelete
Wow okay this makes me wish that I still ate cheese! Sounds so delicious.ReplyDelete
Love pizza but never try mushrooms, maybe is time : )ReplyDelete
YUM!!! My absolute favorite pizza!!!!ReplyDelete
Have a great weekend Jennifer//Jennifer :)
You take the best pictures. I want to pick a piece off my screen!ReplyDelete
thank you for your comments!
if you have any questions please email me via the 'contact' link.


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Is your kid a reluctant learner?
Find out how to get your kid excited about being back at school. more
Lactose is a sugar that is present in cow's milk and other dairy products. For most people, lactose is broken down with the help of an enzyme called lactase, and while most animals stop producing lactase when they are weaned, because we continue to drink milk throughout our lives, our bodies continue to produce lactase. People who suffer from lactose intolerance don't produce enough lactase to deal with the lactose. The undigested lactose then begins to be broken down by the bacteria in the gut which starts a fermentation process that can produce excessive wind and abdominal pain.
Lactose intolerance is quite common in people from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and some Mediterranean countries, as well as Australian Aborigines, but is uncommon is Caucasians (about 5% in Australia). As a result many Caucasian babies are incorrectly diagnosed with lactose intolerance.
It is much more common for your baby to get secondary lactose intolerance, which is a temporary condition that occurs as a result of gastroenteritis, when the lining of the gut is damaged. This form of lactose intolerance will improve after a couple of weeks.
Symptoms of lactose intolerance include:
This article was written by Ella Walsh for Kidspot - Australia's parenting resource for newborns and baby. Sources include Vic. Govt's Better Health Channel.
Last revised: Thursday, 19 June 2008
This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace advice from a qualified health professional.


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Republican Gov. Phil Bryant approved a bill on March 18 prohibiting Mississippi cities and counties from implementing bans on oversized food or beverage portions or mandating restaurants list calorie counts, reported the Huffington Post. In addition, local governments cannot prevent fast food chains from promoting kids' meals with plastic toys.
The law—backed by the state restaurant association and chicken growers—immediately went into effect in the nation's most obese state, where nearly 35 percent of Mississippi adults were classified as very fat in 2011, according to federal rankings. "It is simply not the role of government to micro-regulate citizens' dietary decisions," Bryant said in a statement accompanying the bill signing. "The responsibility for one's personal health depends on individual choices about a proper diet and appropriate exercise."
Billed as the "anti-Bloomberg" movement by some legislators, it comes on the heels of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's failed efforts to ban the sale of super-sized soft drinks in the city. Last week a New York judge barred his plan that critics have deemed "paternalistic"; Bloomberg called the Mississippi bill "ridiculous."
While the state will take a hands-off approach to the eating habits of its residents, Mississippi schools can ensure the foods offered are "healthy and nutritious," Bryant said.
Bryant himself overcame childhood obesity and has been an active runner for six years. "Leading a healthy lifestyle is important to me, and it is a personal priority of mine to educate Mississippians on the importance of making good health decisions," Bryant said.


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Cellos for sale
Shop High Quality Cellos at StringWorks
The StringWorks family, nearly all of whom having earned professional or graduate degrees in music (predominantly in cello), are forever dedicated to continuing this focus of providing the finest musical instruments and the finest service. We are cello-focused, but not by design. Our founder is a cellist, our previous and current sales managers are cellists, and our two primary luthiers are cellists. Suffice it to say, if you play cello, you can confidently reach out to us with your questions :) Each of our cellos is handmade (no machine/CDC carved instruments) of solid woods (no plywood, as glue does not resonate as well as wood), and feature spirit or oil varnish (no lacquer, which also doesn't resonate as well as varnish) We've attempted to classify the different cello lines into categories to help guide you to find the right fit, but if you ever have questions, please feel free to call us or email us to discuss helping find you the perfect instrument that fits your playing ability, goals, and budget. Be sure to look at instrument reviews on each page, and Customer Comments collected over the last 20 years of business


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As many of you know, this is the final week for the Cincinnati Post, a paper which has been publishing for over 125 years. The December 31st issue will be its last. For several years, I received both the Enquirer and the Post, but had to finally give up the Post as it just wasn't convenient to read the afternoon paper. It was always frustrating though when I'd want to find one to read at lunch because the boxes were never filled until afternoon.
Here's a blog Lonnie Wheeler linked to from a columnist at the Columbus Dispatch viz the paper's demise.
My mom's uncle was the city hall reporter for the old Time Star and later the merged Post & Time Star. And I actually met my wife because her sister moved to Cincinnati when her husband took a job at the Post. He moved on some years ago, going first to the Akron Beacon Journal (twice), then the Dallas Morning News and now with the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The jobs are growing scarcer and scarcer.
I'm sorry to see it go and wished they could have somehow tried taking on the Enquirer in the morning - an impossibility I know, but I still hoped it would have. I would have switched and only missed Jim Borgmann.
Death of Post will be like the death of an old friend
Lonnie Wheeler was the first newspaper guy I saw at Paul Brown Stadium yesterday. The Cincinnati Post columnist was heading toward the press gate and I caught up with him and gave him one of those perfunctory "How you doin'?" hellos without thinking.
"OK, I guess," he said.
I realized then how poorly I had phrased the question. The Post is one week from the end. It's not a good time for Lonnie, a real newspaper pro, or any of the Post employees, and they've had nothing at all to do with the newspaper's demise. Over the years, I've known lots of talented Post reporters, columnists, photographers and editors, and the paper's circulation always kept falling. This was in part because afternoon newspapers are no longer fashionable and in part because newspapers in general are no longer fashionable. If you've been in the business as long as I have, just the thought of it makes you want to cry.
The death of a newspaper, even one that I don't subscribe to or read every day, always seems like the death of a friend. As long as I've known the Post, it has always been the underdog, the second paper in town to the morning Enquirer. It was always like those commercials that Avis used to battle Hertz. It was No. 2 and it tried harder, as underlings tend to do, and it beat the big guys consistently. It has churned out plenty of talented people, and some of those talented people, like Lonnie, are still there. They have known this was coming for a couple of years now, but they decided to stick it out to the end. From talking to him, I got the impression that in recent days, the newsroom has become an increasingly somber place.
"Weird" was the way he described it. "It's hard to get your work done," he said. "It's like 'something doesn't feel right."
As a guy who believes deeply in the value of newspapers to the communities they serve, this never feels right. When the Reds go to spring training, no one from the Post will be there. When the Reds open the season, the Post seats in the Great American Ball Park press box, which are directly to the left of the Dispatch seats, will be occupied by someone else. Earl Lawson was a daily resident of the Reds' press box for more than 30 years for the Post, and now the paper won't have a seat at the table? Weird? Yeah, for us, too.
As it turned out, a Post reporter was also one of the last people I saw in the Bengals' press box before leaving yesterday. Trent Rosecrans, who covered the Reds for the Post last season, walked up in front of the row where Dayton Daily News' Tom Archdeacon and I were working a few hours after the game and started talking about the Post in a sad, wistful way.
Like Wheeler, he talked about how "weird" it all seemed. He likened it your high school graduation, where you know the end is coming and you may not see a lot of friends and acquaintences again. He talked and talked, like he didn't want to leave. Even though I wasn't finished and was anxious to go, I stayed until he seemed to be done, until he had gotten it all out, his concern for friends who had zero job prospects, his concern for those who were lifelong Cincinnatians and probably wouldn't leave, even though it probably meant leaving the business they love.
I shook his hand, wished him well, packed up my stuff and left. Somewhere on my sad walk between the press box and my car, my sentiment changed. I felt sorry, not for my Post friends, but for the city of Cincinnati.
Next week, it will have lost something important. I wonder how many people know it.


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Frizz-Ease Moisture Barrier Firm-Hold Hairspray Reviews
Okay, decent value.This product gave me a lot of control with a only a little spritz. It doesn't do much for my hair when there's humidity. My hair still frizzes into a curly poof-ball. It's not too expensive. Another thing I don't like is that a little too much and you've got a helmet head. — 6 years, 6 months agovolta | 566 reviews
GoodDont really use it that much....4 times a year, but when I do it holds....Basically all hairsprays are the same to me. I just purchase this one because I own all there other hair products. — 6 years, 6 months agoChrisanneSkye | 74 reviews
Does exactly what it saysThis is my go to hair spray for humid days, rainy days for any time I style with a curling iron or need a strong hold spray. It keeps my ironed curls natural looking, prevents oily roots, and keeps hair in place in any weather. I LOVE THIS HAIR SPRAY! It lost 1 star because hair will frizz if you try to restyle after the spray dries. — 4 years, 11 months agolitleragdoll | 5 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 1 of 1 people said helpful
My Curly Hair's BFFThis stuff rocks! I can wear my hair curly now in the middle of an Atlanta summer and have frizz free controlled curls (the shine and nice smell is a bonus). Really feel like I have a barrier around my curls with this stuff. Works as well as Aveda Air Control — 5 years, 4 months agoglamgirlseven | 21 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 0 of 1 people said helpful
When they say firm hold, they mean it!I have naturally curly hair, and like a product which controls frizz but still leaves my hair soft to the touch. This product left my hair feeling "crispy" and stiff. The nozzle also sprays the product very forcefully- almost like it sprays too much at once. Because of this, the nozzle clogged constantly on my bottle. John Frieda does make some good products, but for me, this isn't one of them. I threw it away and have switched to Aussie Sprunch Spray! — 5 years, 5 months agoStanziMozart | 8 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 0 of 2 people said helpful
I didn't like it:(I brought the mini 2 ounce sample of this and was pretty excited. I thought would love this hairspray, I was so wrong..It left my hair sticky and gross. It also left a flaky dandruff looking residue on my hair. It also has a intoxicating smell, that I think is way to strong. There are so many good reviews about this product but it just didn't work one me:o I hope this found helpful:) — 6 years agoReshmaMathew | 2 reviews
Love itThis always works great for me- I live in Houston, so you know we need frizz control down here! It holds well, never sticky, doesn't have much of a smell- which is good. An added bonus: my bathroom counter does not get a hard-to-clean film from this hairspray. I always buy this stuff! — 6 years agolauren_cooke | 4 reviews
Not the best hairsprayI bought this hairspray a few months ago hoping, after several failed attempts, to find a good hairspray that would control the frizz in my curly hair. Overall, I'm not impressed with this product. My hair still got frizzy and it leaves my hair with a waxy feeling. Once I sprayed it on, it left my hair feeling very dry and hard to work with. If I sprayed it to close to my head or for to long, I wo...read moreuld get white looking clumps in my hair. The only thing I liked about this hairspray was the scent. In conclusion, I was very disappointed with it. I won't repurchase it and will continue on with my hunt for a good hairspray. — 6 years, 3 months agoVintageCouture | 5 reviews
Frizz Ease Moisture Barrier Firm-Hold HairsprayI love this hairspray. I've used this for many years and have used it for uopdo's as well as everyday use. this product works!! It keeps your hair where you want it and yet it is still soft to the touch. The price is great for a product that works as well as this does. — 6 years, 11 months agoPennyb471 | 3 reviews
True to its NameI was especially impressed with this product. I have fine, long (past mid back) and dark, wavy hair. It holds up my curls well, whether air-dried or heat curled but not Too long. I'm content it holds well for up to 5/6 hours. Around the 7/8th hour, it gets a little weak. (It must be because I have really long hair). It doesn't flake (Thank God!) but it does leave hair a bit crispy and crunchy (wh...read moreich sometimes I like anyway, I can live with that). Can't run hands thru hair after it's dried and set. So best to separate or loosen curls before you spray. It holds teased hair well also but I do spray a lot of extra if teased. Scent is mild and a good break from the overbearing ones. Overall, it's a wonderful spray for its price. I will keep using this! — 7 years agoabijoe_devera | 6 reviews
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My Reasons for Reporting This


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BLACK Country rock band, EofE have been announced they will be supporting The Vamps on their upcoming UK tour.
Warming up for big bands is nothing new for the rockers, who bagged a support slot on the recent McBusted arena tour, where they played to more than 380,000 fans across 32 UK dates.
EofE, who formed last year and practise at Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club in Wall Heath, comprises 18-year-old vocalist Tom Harris from Netherton, guitarist Dan Bremner from Swindon, aged19, bassist Luke Bradley, aged18, from Gornal and drummer Nicky Waters who is 25 from Newcastle.
Lead singer, Tom said the band "can't wait" to head back out on the road for the tour which begins on September 23 in Sheffield and ends on October 15 in London.
He said: "The Vamps are incredibly successful, really accomplished musicians, and the same age as us. I'm looking forward to having a lot of laughs on the road.
"The McBusted tour was a fantastic break for us – being able to play some of the UK's biggest and most prestigious venues on our first tour was unreal.
"Their fans were really supportive and the band offered us some great advice."
Fresh from the tour announcement, next week they will be releasing their second single Piece of You.
Describing the song, lead guitarist, Dan, revealed: "Piece of You was a real moment in our set for us on the tour – fans would put their phones up in the air so the arenas were filled with lights. It was quite surreal getting that audience participation and really hit home how lucky we are.
"I wrote it about a girl who was my best friend and she could have been a lot more, however nothing ever happened as the right situation never occurred, things kept getting in our way - now we've lost touch. It's really about missed opportunities and taking your moment, it's one of our deepest songs and it means a lot to me."
The band will also embark on their own headline tour in November, with tickets available now via www.eofe.com.


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How do I update my report now my IVA has ended?
Dear James,
I have just completed my IVA and want to get a mortgage with a special company, but they won't give the mortgage until it states on my credit rating the IVA is satisfied. What is the quickest way to get it updated and how long will this take?
Craig, Barnsley
Dear Craig,
Congratulations on completing your IVA. It's important you make sure your credit report is updated to help you begin rebuilding your credit rating. The Insolvency Service should tell us about the completion but if you'd like to send us confirmation of this, such as a letter from your supervisor, we can check and confirm this for you. We will mark the IVA as completed so that anyone searching your report will know it has ended. It will stay on your credit report for six years from the IVA start date. You should also check to make sure that any debts included in your IVA and listed separately on your report are dated on or before the IVA start date and no longer show as outstanding. If any do need updating, we can help you liaise with the lenders in question. If you think that explaining on your report the circumstances that led you getting into difficulties in the first place might help you, send us and the other credit reference agencies a notice of correction. This is a statement of up to 200 words which will then become part of your report and be seen by lenders looking at it in the future. While the note appears you won't be able to access instant credit. This is because your application will have to be assessed by a person who can read your note rather than by a computer. But if it helps turn a 'no' into a 'yes' you'll probably be happy to wait a little longer for a decision. It's fair to say that when assessing your credit report lenders tend to focus on your most recent credit history, so your job now is to use and manage credit well and build a new positive track record that will give any prospective lender confidence you can be trusted to repay any new credit you ask for. (March 2012)
- Experian Credit Report
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* Monthly fee of £14.99 applies after trial, new customers only. You may cancel your trial during the 30-day trial period without charge.
If you are a Credit Expert customer you can contact the customer services team with any questions specific to your credit report.
Please log in to your account and go to the contact us page to contact the member support team.
Explore our Help Centre
Our credit report centre is full of information on what 's in your credit report and how to improve your credit rating.
Find out how to protect yourself from identity fraud and what to do if you're a victim.
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Provides you with a one-off view of your current and past credit history.


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The stylish Nikon Coolpix S6200 16 megapixel Digital Camera features Nikon's high-performance EXPEED C2 Image Processing Engine. Its slimline and compact body houses 10x zoom NIKKOR ED glass lens with 25mm wide-angle range. Ergonomic design and the rear panel controls, such as the rotary multi selector, enable quick and easy camera operation.
16 effective megapixels along with enhanced image quality and processing speeds will generate stunning pictures. Four different technology advances enable you to capture detailed shots at night, these include combined lens-shift and electronic VR image stabilizations, enhanced motion detection, flash control system and ISO 3200.
Add creative filter effects to your photos and put the finishing touches to your own works on the Nikon S6200 2.7" TFT LCD screen. Take your pick from the high key, low key, nostalgic sepia, selective colour, miniature effect, high-contrast monochrome or cross screen effects. With 18 optimized scene modes to choose from, you can find the perfect one for any photo opportunity. - A.D.
Please note: This camera is refurbished and comes with a 3 month warranty.
|Image Resolution
|16 megapixels
|Screen Size
|2.7" TFT LCD monitor with anti-reflection coating
|NIKKOR lens
10x zoom
|SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards
74MB internal memory
|Scene Settings
|18 optimized scene modes
|High Speed USB
|Battery and Power
|Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 (supplied)
|In The Box
|Nikon Coolpix S6200 Digital Camera
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12
Charging AC Adapter EH-69P
USB Cable UC-E6
Audio Video Cable EG-CP16
ViewNX 2 (CD-ROM)
|Size and Weight
|93 x 56.7 x 25.4mm
Please remember to add postal time (2-3 working days) to obtain a complete estimate of delivery to your door.
You will receive an email to confirm when your item has been sent.
You can also check the status of your order and individual items by accessing My Account details and following the prompts.
Please allow 10 working days from dispatch of your order before notifying us of any late deliveries.
It may be advisable to check with your neighbours to see if a parcel has been left with them, check any outhouses you might have where it may be left if it cannot fit through your letterbox and contact your local sorting office to see if the item has been returned to the depot as undelivered and awaiting collection.
Please see our returns policy.
There are currently no reviews.


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Andrew108 wrote:Pema Rigdzin wrote:Caz wrote:So why does Dzogchen throw Sutra and Tantra out the window so to speak
Is Tantra incomplete compared to Dzogchen, If so many Tantric schools produce highly accomplished masters why is Dzogchen not the pinnacle of all of them ?
Dzogchen doesn't throw sutra or tantra out the window anymore than calculus throws algebra or basic addition and subtraction out the window. It's just that Dzogchen, unlike these forms of math, does not necessitate that one learn the more fundamental teachings before one can comprehend Dzogchen itself. And according to Dzogchen, the end result of sutra or tantra will be receipt, from all the fully enlightened buddhas, of the rigpai tsal wang or empowerment into the energy of knowledge, also known as the direct introduction. So, this means bodhisattvas on the verge of buddhahood... and as I understand it, it will be more of an instantaneous, complete realization of Dzogchen upon being introduced for them rather than the way it usually works for us ordinary Joes.
To understand what rigpa might be then it is essential to bring into your experience both Rangtong views and Shentong views. You can't really get a good view of what Shentong implies unless you get the consequences of Rangtong - it has to be progressive. Both second and third turnings of the wheel of dharma are required for an understanding of rigpa that doesn't end up going against the amazingness of the Dzogchen view. So no actually you DO have to internalize the fundamental teachings before you can comprehend Dzogchen.
This is directly contradicted by the Dzogchen tantras. Besides that, why else is your statement misguided? Because Dzogchen involves direct experience of that which Madhyamaka intellectually contrives. So, to say that Dzogchen depends on Madhyamaka is tantamount to saying that tasting sugar depends on intellectually contemplating what sugar is supposed to taste like. One doesn't have an "understanding of rigpa" as you put it. Rather one's rigpa IS one's understanding. That said, I will certainly agree that Madhyamaka can be a great primer for Dzogchen for sure.


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I knew my 10 days in Berlin would be incredible. What I didn't expect was the movie I was going to watch on the flight home would be just as epic. At 42 I've seen a lot of films. When I was 13 my father showed me A Clockwork Orange. It takes a lot to impress me. Whenever I fly I download a few movies onto my iPad. I usually just look at see what's rated highly on Rotten Tomatoes and is somewhat new. Within the first 10 minutes of Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In my eyes were glued wide opened on the screen. It's a super stylish tragic drama with a heart wrenching and surprising twist. It's too early to tell for sure but I believe it's one of the top 10 movies I've ever seen. I'm so in love with what I saw I would dare say it could even be my favorite movie of all time. If you have seen it let me know your opinion (good or bad). If you haven't seen it wow you are in for a real treat!
"it's instantly clear that something is jumping beneath the surface here, threatening to burst forth." – NYTimes
For more info: sonyclassics.com/theskinilivein and imdb.com/title/tt1189073


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|Slightly-crisp carrots with a dressing of tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and sumac. Mind-blowingly good!
(Makes 5-6 servings; recipe adapted from Carrots with Tahini Dressing from Food and Wine.)
1 1/2 lbs. whole organic carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal in 1/2 inch slices
2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 T Tahini
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T water
1-2 T finely minced fresh garlic (start with 1 T and taste to see if you'd like more garlic)
2 tsp. Sumac, plus more for sprinkling on finished dish
sea salt to taste (Could also use Za'atar if you don't have plain Sumac)
2-3 T chopped Italian parsley
South Beach Suggestions:
Garbanzo Bean Soup with Garlic, Sumac, Olive Oil, and Lemon from Kalyn's Kitchen
Fattoush (Lebanese "Crumbled Bread" Salad with Sumac and Pita Chips) from Kalyn's Kitchen
Cauliflower "Rice" with Fried Onions and Sumac from Kalyn's Kitchen
Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Feta and Sumac from Kalyn's Kitchen
Eggs Fried in Olive Oil with Wilted Greens and Sumac from Kalyn's Kitchen
Lemon Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin and Sumac from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
Ottolenghi's Fried Beans with Sorrel, Feta, and Sumac from David Lebovitz
Bulgur Salad with Sumac Shrimp from For the Love of Food
Sumac Flavored Roasted Potatoes from Chico's Kitchen
Fried Eggplant with Sumac and Garlic Yogurt Dip from 80 Breakfasts
(Want even more recipes? I find these recipes from other blogs using Food Blog Search.)


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Feb. 25 Board of Supervisors Meeting Features 4 Presentations
Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs
12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 551
Fairfax, VA 22035-0065
Contact: Merni Fitzgerald, Director of Public Affairs
703-324-3187, TTY 711, Fax 703-324-2010
Media Pager: 703-324-NEWS (6397)
Feb. 22, 2008
Feb. 25 Board of Supervisors Meeting Features 4 Presentations
Note to editor: A downloadable photo and synopsis of each presentation will be posted on the county's Web site at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/opa/presentations.htm on Monday, Feb. 25.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 25, scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., will recognize residents and staff. For more information, call 703-324-3187, TTY 711.
Meg Thaxton and Lyndsey Butler
The Board of Supervisors will recognize Lyndsey Butler and Meg Thaxton from W.T. Woodson High School for their athletic accomplishments in field hockey and lacrosse.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Month
The Board of Supervisors will designate March 2008 as Alternative Dispute Resolution Month in Fairfax County. Residents of the commonwealth of Virginia and Fairfax County recognize that resolving conflict through mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution promotes mutually agreeable outcomes, preserves relationships and enhances collaborative efforts. Residents are urged to recognize the benefits of alternative dispute resolution programs and to acknowledge the valuable role of volunteers who offer their services to neighbors, students and peers in the workplace.
Dr. Roosevelt Calbert
The Board of Supervisors will recognize Dr. Roosevelt Calbert for his leadership and service in minority achievement, including being the first Fairfax County resident named to the Hall of Fame for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Shin Nan and Aki Goto
The Board of Supervisors will recognize Shin Nan and Aki Goto for their charitable work in the community, raising funds for nonprofit organizations by raking leaves in the Kings Park community. Their efforts have raised more than $12,000 for projects all over the world ranging from Hurricane Mitch relief in Honduras to support for an orphanage and school in Nakuru, Kenya.


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Note: This item is more than nine years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references.
Print – Plain Text – Permalink
News Release
Media Contact: TPWD News, firstname.lastname@example.com, 512-389-8030
Feb. 26, 2008
TPWD, Nature Conservancy Experts Collaborate on Book of Rare Plants
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Since 1987, when Texas Parks and Wildlife Department botanists published their first in-house summary of Texas' threatened plants, more than 225 species have been identified and described as endangered, imperiled, or declining. Because most of these plants are too rare to be mentioned, much less pictured, in standard field guides, only a handful of botanists have known what these plants or their habitats look like.
The 656-page, user-friendly guide, complete with 247 photographs, 215 line drawings, and 234 color maps, describes the officially listed, candidate, and species-of-concern plants in Texas. Individual accounts include information on distribution, habitat, physical description, flowering time, federal and state status, similar species, and published references. The authors also provide brief introductory chapters on the state's vegetation regions; the history of plant conservation in Texas; federal, state, and other ranking methods; threats to native plants; recovery methods; and reporting guidelines.
With the growing recognition that native plants support wildlife, conserve water, promote biodiversity, and exemplify our natural heritage, we must also recognize the need for greater understanding of endangered plants, the threats to their existence, and the importance of their survival. Rare Plants of Texas is highly recommended not only for professional botanists and advanced researchers, conservationists, students, range managers, and others concerned with preserving the ecosystems of Texas and the Southwest, but for those who appreciate the unique floral backdrop of the region and want to better understand the landscape in which they live.
"Rare Plants of Texas is a major contribution to knowledge about Texas plants. The detailed information about specific rare plants, excellent line drawings, and extensive photographs make this book indispensable to anyone wishing to learn about the numerous rare plants in the state," said George M. Diggs Jr., Ph.D., an Austin College professor of biology. "Further, anyone generally interested in Texas botany or conservation will find the carefully done introduction extremely valuable, with topics ranging from the natural regions of Texas to the history of plant conservation in the state"
JACKIE M. POOLE is a botanist in the Wildlife Diversity Program of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She has been working with the rare plants of Texas since 1982. WILLIAM R. CARR, a botanist with The Nature Conservancy of Texas, conducts numerous field surveys and inventories for the conservation of threatened habitat. DANA M. PRICE, formerly a botanist at TPWD with experience in prairie ecology and economic botany, now works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. JASON R. SINGHURST, a botanist and phytogeographer at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, manages GIS and remote sensing land cover classification projects and conducts status surveys of rare plants in Texas.
Rare Plants of Texas is available at stores or direct from Texas A&M University Press (800-826-8911 M-F 8-5 CT; secure online ordering at www.tamu.edu/upress).
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The weekend is over but not for everyone. Here's another "The Horrorist" DJ Set for everyone still going on a Monday and for all worker drones in cubicles. This week's mix is a bit more party than last weeks. How about I give you an offical party story to go with this mix? About 10 years ago I performed in Amsterdam for some giant hardcore event. I think it was the Thunderdome 10 year thing. I did my show and was almost burnt alive Michael Jackson style when I climbed around on the stage and giant flames appeared out of the Thunderdome Wizard guy's eyes. That must have what triggered my need to take a estacy pill. After and "after" is the key word I remembered Marc Acardipane asked me to sing Metal Man on stage while he did his thing. So of course he goes on and I jump up and as soon as I start screaming the lyrics the pills goes into overdrive. By the time I was done doing my best to scare everyone my legs were saying "hey I feel nice and light". Those who know know what I mean. Anyway I walk around a look at 70,000 bald kids hopping like lunatics and get to the hotel with Matt Satronica. I do my best to keep my now well known reputation in order and find Marc Acardipane and other sober fools eating breakfast, order a shit ton of vodka, Jäger and whatever else. Satronica is a trooper and joins in as I abuse the wait staff. To make me feel better Acardipane charges all the alcohol to Lenny Dee's room and Matt and I head into Amerstand to find DJ Jeroen Flammen. We figure he lives here and and well knows everyone so therefore knows where to score some more pills or anything else. We have the wrong address but unbelievably the taxi driver knows Flammen and take us there. Flammens not there and so we walk a bit and go into some Budist Monestary. It was cool but I'm not Zen and think religion is a waste of time so we walk some more. The sun is up and I'm still in my black show gear so it seemed fitting to go into some kinda of Dungeons and Dragons figurine store. They have those in Amsterdam and inside kids or unfortunately grown men play with toys and stage fake battles. I get into some deep conversations with everyone inside interupting every other sentence explaining that I'm "The Horrorist". Eventually someone recognizes me or takes pitty and pretends they know who I am. It doesn't matter my ego was healed for a minute so we left. Back into a cab and we basically told the guy we need to party ASAP. By then it was Monday and he said there was only one place called "The Living Room". It was about 40 minutes outside the city but we had no choice so off we went. We get there and indeed the sign on the front door says, "The Living Room. Your Home for the Weekend!". If you went there sober you would say something like, "Oh god horrible.". Trashed on a Monday you say, "HOME!". We go in and it's all neon and blacklights. It's half empty with a small round table in the center of the dance floor. I remember wondering "why the table?". We drink and start dancing to extremely fast high energy trance. I look at Matt and he starts to sit down but I notice there's someone in the seat. He ends up sitting on a very transexual person. I remember it being funny. In fact that moment alone was worth the years I took off my life for those 3 (ok 4) days. The club fills up with mega tranny's and I'm in the middle of the dance floor with a full drink. I look next to me and there's that table. I put my drink down and say, "ah that's why!". Enjoy this DJ set. No regrets.
"Thunderdome is a famous concept in hardcore techno and gabber music, and is mainly used for an ongoing series of parties and CD-albums. It is organized by the Dutch entertainment company ID&T. In 2002 the concept for the party was the ten year anniversary of Thunderdome." – Wikipedia
For more info: thehorrorist.com


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Doctor: Hatchell responding to leukemia treatment
Posted November 1, 2013
Chapel Hill, N.C. — The doctor overseeing North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell's leukemia treatment said the recently inducted Naismith Hall of Famer is doing well.
In a statement from the school Friday, Dr. Pete Voorhees with the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center said Hatchell "has tolerated therapy exceptionally well" and that "early indicators are that the leukemia is responding to therapy."
"It is still early, but we are extremely pleased with how things are going," Voorhees said. "She remains strong both physically and mentally, which will serve her well moving forward."
The 61-year-old Hatchell stepped away from her No. 12 Tar Heels last month to focus on treatment. In a statement, Hatchell praised the staff at the Lineberger Center for the quality of her care and said "overwhelming love and support" is aiding her recovery.
"I'm feeling better every day and I cannot wait to get back to coach my Tar Heels," she said.
Hatchell is preparing for her 28th season with the Tar Heels and has 908 career victories, making her one of only three head coaches in the sport to win 900 games. She has led UNC to the 1994 NCAA championship, three Final Fours and eight Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championships.
Longtime assistant Andrew Calder is leading the team while Hatchell is away, guiding a roster that features ACC rookie of the year Xylina McDaniel and a recruiting class ranked No. 1 nationally by ESPN.
The Tar Heels will play their final exhibition Tuesday night against Wingate, then open the regular season Nov. 8 against Air Force.


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Chino Hills officials have organized a blood drive to on Feb. 26 support a city employee and his family.
Ryan and Tina Gackstetter's baby daughter, Hope, was born on July 14 with a heart condition called "tricuspid valve atresia."
Before she was born, they learned that her right ventricle was completely sealed. Hope has already undergone several open heart surgeries.
The Gackstetters have received so many ofers of help, they have said that an "amazing act of love" would be to donate blood in Hope's name.
The blood drive is from noon to 5 p.m. at the parking lot of City Hall, 14000 City Center Drive.
Donors must be 17 years old, in good health and weigh 110 pounds.
Tina Gackstetter is a teacher at St. Margaret Mary Catholic School in Chino. Ryan and Tina Gackstetter are graduates of Ayala High School in Chino Hills, Class of 2002.
Information: 909-364-2713.


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THE LIFE of a gangster is an enviable one. A lavish existence brimming with glorious wealth, sharp suits, big families, horse's heads and little friends.
In Omerta – City of Gangsters, players live the life of a 1920s criminal in prohibition-hit Atlantic City.
The game is a turn-based strategy title from the talented Tropico developers Haemimont.
"Haemimont is a very talented team and Tropico 3 and 4 have both been great selling titles for Kalypso so we have a great developer heritage there. The strategy genre is still incredibly popular and continues to grow on console," says Mark Allen, head of PR and marketing at Kalypso.
A player's life of crime starts off small, before putting a gang together to steal territory from rivals, indulging in shoot-outs and robberies.
Kalypso Media hopes that Omerta will benefit from gangsters being the flavour of the month.
"Gangster themed entertainment is very hot at the moment with the success of Boardwalk Empire and the recent release of Gangster Squad. People love the idea of being a gangster and Omerta gives them the chance to do just that," adds Allen.


text: For guests who need to power up on the go, The Market is open 24/7 to provide easy access to a variety of beverages, light meals and snacks. The Market conveniently stocks the essentials of travel, including toothbrushes, razors and aspirin. This photo is a representation of the hotel's facilities and amenities.


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Please share to downloadBrowse another wallpaper like this in Patio Chairs archive. If you want to enjoy as yours, please click the download view full size below so you can choose the size of martha stewart outdoor furniture for amazing in any format size. We have awesome gallery of the latest Patio Chairs to add to your desktop, computer, tablet or smartphones.
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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Healthy Mouth, Healthy Kids
Child`s Lingual Frenum is Full of Bumps
Hello, A few months ago I noticed that my 3 year old child had clusters of little white bumps(sand like) all over the lingual frenum. About a month ago he started to complain that his under the tongue hurts. I took him to the pediatrician who said not to worry, it might be a virus. The bumps did not go away and he still complains occasionally. I took him to a pediatric dentist and he could not tell me what it is. He said that the child`s frenum is not usual in its presentation. Now we have an appointment with an oral surgeon. We are waiting to see him, but in the meantime I am worried and full of anxiety. The bumps seem to be fewer today and flesh color no longer white. They almost appear as sand on both sides of the frenum. Could someone provide an answer, an idea, anything? Thank you
The problem you describe is quite unusual but it certainly does not sound serious. Since I do not personally see a great number of children patients, I consulted with several additional pediatric dentists and none of them were able to provide a good explanation for your son's transient bumps. Given the general uncertainty surrounding these odd changes, though, it is probably wise to have another specialist examine the area personally. Good luck!
John R Kalmar, DMD, PhD
Clinical Professor of Pathology
College of Dentistry
The Ohio State University


text: Make a statement this spring/summer with our must-have men's printed T-shirts. From slogans and graphics, to the season's most essential floral T-shirts, this eye-catching collection will update your look in an instant. Heading on holiday? Bring on the hawaiian print tee. Channelling a rock vibe? Go for a band t-shirt. It's all here in our range of men's printed T-shirts.


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8 Fresh-Pressed Juice Cocktails for Summer
1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 green onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
8 ounces hearts of romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped
4 pints red and/or yellow cherry tomatoes, each cut in half
2 red, orange, and/or yellow peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 avocados, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Heat 3-quart saucepan of water to boiling on high. Add green beans and cook 5 minutes until tender-crisp. Drain beans in colander and rinse under cold running water to stop cooking.
Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, chives, parsley, green onion, salt, and pepper until blended; set dressing aside.
In 4-quart or larger cylindrical glass bowl or trifle dish, place half of lettuce, then half of tomatoes; top with all of beans, all of peppers, remaining lettuce, then remaining tomatoes. Arrange avocados on top. Spoon dressing over avocados to cover completely. If not serving right away, cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate salad until ready to serve or up to 4 hours.
If serving bowl is not large enough for mixing, transfer salad to very large bowl and toss until well coated with dressing. Makes about 14 cups.
2 pounds small potatoes, preferably heirloom
1 cup chopped celery
2 ounces smoked ham, sliced into strips
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, or scallions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, or dill
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 large hard-boiled eggs
Place potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partially covered, until just tender, 12 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Drain and let cool for about 15 minutes.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, taste a bit of potato skin-if it's bitter or tough, peel the potatoes. Otherwise, leave the skins on. Cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces and put them in a large salad bowl.
Add celery, ham, parsley, chives (or scallions) and mint (or dill) to the potatoes. Toss to combine. Add buttermilk, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper; stir to combine. Gently stir in chopped egg. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Get Your Grill On: 10 Unique Burger Recipes


text:
We were planning to go via Seattle, and with 3 of us together we were thinking of renting a car and driving down. But then plans changed, and we went for cheaper.
I thought that in a running low on fuel condition air traffic control should have bumped your plan to the top of the queue in that situation. What they did seems crazy from jus ttheir point of view, even when ignoring the obvious massive inconvenience to the passengers^Wcaptives.


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AMTRAK Rolling for Southwest Chief Support
Groups seek $80 million in upgrades.
Groups seek $80 million in upgrades.
Report critical of inadequate spending on rural infrastructure.
Nearly $20,000 dollars in jewelry and other items were lifted from a Manhattan woman's home.
A 30-year-old man is accused of hitting another man in the head with a set of brass knuckles.
After an accidental fecal contamination yesterday at the Blaisdell Family Aquatic Center, the pool will open for regular business today at N…
Motorists are advised to consider using an alternate route.
The latest forecast released by the Agriculture Department shows the toll from a widespread drought.
Houston teens press police to take action after photos and videos of their alleged rapes appear on social media.
A 6.8-magnitude earthquake has hit Japan's northern coast near the nuclear power plant crippled in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Kansas health officials say a person from the Kansas City area has died of a rare infection caused by an amoeba that lives in freshwater lak…
Jhymiere Moore, 19, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and weapons charges in the death of Genesis Rincon in Paterson.
High levels of toxic blue-green algae have been detected.
When a woman's pickup stalled on a street in Santa Fe, New Mexico, local chef Jackson Ault stopped to lend a hand.
Centers for Disease Control director says he's "disappointed' and "angry" about safety errors that exposed workers to anthrax.
U.S. authorities insist the Alien Transfer Exit Program has contributed to overall achievements in border security.
Man accused of executing six family members faints during first court appearance.
The Cambodian immigrant community is banding together to help the survivors of a devastating fire that killed seven people outside Boston.
Jeh Johnson visited a New Mexico detention facility housing 400 Central American women and children.
A shackled Ronald Lee Haskell was standing before a state district judge during a probable cause hearing when he fell to the ground.
A northeast Kansas man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a woman whose car was hit by his vehicle during a police c…
Unseasonably cool temperatures will arrive next week in the Midwest and as far south as Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Celebrations aside, LeBron James' decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA could complicate the Republican Party's plan.
Two calls were made while 71-year-old Jim Napoleon Garcia lay on the floor as an ambulance was called to take him to an emergency room 500 y…


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San Pedro and the LA Harbor offer spectacular views and exciting opportunities for both the amatuer and professional photographer. Along with portside attractions such as Ports O' Call Village, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Cabrillo Beach and the Cabrillo Beach Pier; there are many views that
involve the harbor itself. Container ships, cruise ships, fishing boats, sail boats, tugs, fireboats and all sorts of vessels fill the harbor. It is the excitment and romance of the Port of Los Angeles that helps to make San Pedro a wonderful place to live and visit.
SanPedro.com P.O. Box 470 San Pedro, CA 90733-0470


text:
Get.TrialBux.com is a unique rewards website that works along side national and international companies offering exceptional products and services.
By participating in our website and referring others to try what our advertisers have to offer you're able to earn our virtual currency (trialbux). Users can redeem their trial bux for box store gift cards, electronics or even CASH!
I couldn't beleive how simple it was to get a $20 gift card!
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I'm actually having fun getting x-mas presents for free with MyTrialBux!
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Thank You SOOOO Much For Putting This Site Up For Us!
~ Armando Bennett
After you see quick and easy this is you'll wish everything in your life was like this.
~ Laure H. Davis


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Nordic night
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Rated 4 / 5 stars
I like it a lot. It's very detailed. What I do not like is that the whole picture isn't fitted to the shot. Maybe it's just me. BUT, this is a fantastic piece of art nonetheless.
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It was unintentional, I just couldn't crop out the backgrounds without cropping a chunk of the drawing out of the picture, as it's tilted. But thanks a lot man, I appreciate it :)


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We are in Charlottesville VA
Learn to do amazing tricks with silks, handkerchiefs, cloths- instantly! For magicians wishing to add a dramatic and baffling visual effect, there is no better choice than a trick with a silk handkerchief!
This book is a treasury of handkerchief (silk) tricks that are easy to perform. Author Karl Fulves reveals the secrets to 61 of the best "self-working" (i.e.- do not need special skill or long hours of practice) tricks with easy to follow illustrated instructions. Over 500 clear illustrations and step-by-step instructions show you exactly how to do such amazing magic feats as making silks appear and vanish, penetrating handkerchiefs with solid objects, cutting and restoring ordinary silk handkerchiefs, creating animated figures from cloth, and performing a variety of tricks that combine card magic with silk magic.
No previous magical experience is necessary, and most tricks require only a simple silk handkerchief (which is not included, but is available from us).
Softbound. 192 pages.
BOOK ONLY. You supply your own handkerchiefs or silks.Book is softbound. 192 pages.


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Computer Cables & PC Cables
Your computer cables are one of the most critical components of your desktop or notebook computer. Your cables connect you and your computer to the world, and make it possible for every interaction. Yet your computer cables are often the most overlooked part of your PC. Most users don't know that getting custom computer cables means you can put your PC in a more convenient location, so that you are not trapped by short keyboard cables, and allow your printer to be moved off of your desk and across the room if needed. Custom cables mean you control the layout of your workspace, rather than the length of the original cables. Buying discount cable products is easier than ever from TigerDirect Business, and we have the most complete selection of custom cables and discount cable products available!
Here you'll find HDMI Cables, Networking Cables, Fiber Cables, Transceivers, Bulk Cables, Display Adapters, USB Cables, Audio / Video Cables, Power Cords, Monitor Cables, and more at the lowest prices.
Recent Cable & Connector Reviews


text: Rachel Zalucki Four score and about thirteen years ago, the American people were confronted with a new type of war waged by a new type of enemy. At the start of the 21st century, America was full of potential, practically leaping at the many possibilities that stretched out in front of them on the plains of opportunity. However, the enthusiasm of this nation was brought to a screeching halt with two words – Global Warming. Al Gore, during his 2000 presidential election, stood in front of millions of people and warned them of their carelessness. He had loved the success just as much as any other American, but he had been smart enough to look beyond the affluence. He had been smart enough to take the lessons taught to him by one of his college professors to heart. However, Carbon Dioxide levels were not as important back then as they are now, but the only reason we are more aware of our damaged atmosphere is because of Gore's warnings. He had looked the world in the face and accused it of killing itself via carbon emissions, but instead of issuing punishment or throwing patriotism to the wind, he proposed a solution. He told the American people of a way to redeem themselves in Mother Nature's eyes, and right their environmental wrongs by swapping fossil fuels with cleaner, alternative energy sources. He promised that we could heal the Earth, but only if we take steps to reverse the damage already done, or at least prevent any further damage. Thanks to him, America is working its way back to prosperity with the help of clean, alternative energy.


text:
No ONE tool does it all in 2017. Here is a list of my notes on my favourite entry-level tools to help to do SEO in the coming year.
These are time-saving tools I use, have purchased or can recommend, with 15+ years experience in internet marketing. These include free browser extensions and plugins; cloud-based online tools and paid desktop software packages.
The best SEO tools will save you valuable time, can provide you with insight and can quickly help you explore challenges and opportunities. The caveat being, of course, you will need some degree of experience to get the very most out of them.
Tools like these help you make a better website and increase user satisfaction. That is very important if you want to rank high in Google.
Your competition is using these tools and others like them, so you should think about using them too.
I am a bit stuck in my old ways, and I don't rely on too many tools but the ones I do, I use regularly.
These are 'white hat' SEO tools. I don't list blackhat tools on this page. I have marked affiliate links as (Aff* = Affiliate).
Table Of Contents
Crawlers & Broken Link Checker Tools
Google crawls the web looking for content to index and present to its users.
SEO Crawler tools mimic 'Googlebot' (in a limited way, it must be said) and crawl and list elements that can be 'optimised' to make your pages easier to crawl and index properly.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Screaming Frog SEO Spider (For Mac & PC) is a crawl tool for analysing the structure of a website.
It's a tool for search engine optimisers, website managers and web developers. SF spiders a site in a similar way any search engine spider would. As search engine optimisation tools go, you'll need to understand technical SEO and have a firm grasp of HTML to get the most from this tool.
It is an excellent program to audit your website from a technical point of view, and with it can promptly collect a lot of the necessary information you need to help optimise your site.
This program is available for PC and Mac. As a Mac user, I'm often confronted with software that slows my mac down a little, so it was a pleasure to see this thing run in the background in a quiet, efficient manner.
Run the spider and it will grab information on your pages. Links, page titles, redirects, 404s, heading tags, status codes, attribute lengths, anchor text, alt text and numbers of internal backlinks, numbers of external links on each page. Quickly identify click depth, see canonical link information or meta-refresh directives. And more.
You can also output this report to CSV.
Screaming Frog spider comes highly recommended for SEO and web designers everywhere. I have used it on small and enormous websites (using a cloud computer to maximise its efficiency).
SF is just about the best SEO software you can buy in 2017 to investigate site structure and for quick log file analysis, IF you are technically minded.
Get a free version too to test it out, before you buy it.
• Website Auditor Software (For Mac & PC)
I paid for a copy of Website Auditor (Aff*) to have a play about with and I liked it.
Website Auditor a tool for spidering, checking and evaluating the links and pages on your site. It's ideal for SEO and web developers alike, tasked with maintaining a website.
I like it to get an idea of the structure of a site – to see how many pages have the least/most links, which pages have external links and finding broken links. It can do a lot more, though.
Website Auditor powerful, and can unquestionably help you audit a site.
WebSite Auditor will help you easily find and fix the following problems:
- Broken links
- HTML code errors
- Duplicate content
- 404 and other server response code errors
- Not indexed webpages
- Missing or too long titles and meta description
I found Website Auditor pretty easy to get to grip with, and it does have a few powerful features:
- Site architecture and internal linking analysis
- Most linked-to and linked-from webpages
- Google PageRank distribution across all pages
- Link Value that each webpage can pass per link
- When each page was indexed and cached in major search engines
- Not indexed webpages
- Complete website SEO health check
- Domain's and each webpage's performance in search engines and social media sites
- Keyword density and prominence in each page element on your site and among top 10 competitors
- Most popular keywords and keyphrases used by your site and top 10 competing sites
It has a fresh REPORTS feature that will even let you print a client friendly report if you need it.
I like this tool. The only downside for me is the actual reporting function. NOT the reporting function itself – that is cool. I just use slightly different metrics.
It suffers the same shortcomings as most other tools available. Reporting focuses on a few metrics and scores them in a way I don't think is as valuable as it could be to the overall SEO process.
But then again, effective SEO is not as machine-friendly as some SEO software companies would hope it to be.
All in all a solid SEO tool for auditing your website structure. Available for Apple Mac and PC.
P.S. A review of Rank Tracker is below – that's good as well. You get that with this software as part of the SEO Powersuite (Aff*)
• Deep Crawl
Deep Crawl (Aff*) is a great online SEO tool and an ideal solution when crawling larger sites, or if you need your crawler in the cloud. This tool is very useful for large site migrations, and it can easily check hreflang tags are set up correctly.
Basically, it's similar to Screaming Frog (above), but has the benefit of remote crawling, saving you having to do it yourself.
Another benefit is Deep Crawl carries out some pre-analysis for you to identify obvious technical problems with your website.
Highly recommended for larger sites, and one of the best online SEO tools you can buy.
A hat tip to Oncrawl, too – as I have heard good things about this cloud-based web crawler and analyser. Unfortunately I have not had that much time to play with this tool.
• Integrity For Mac Only
You can also find broken links on your site with this free tool for Apple IOS computers.
Broken links are a pain in the backside, a waste of Pagerank, and a bad user experience.
Integrity for Mac users is a cool little tool to identify those.
Unless you enjoy clicking every single link on your site followed by the back button, then you'll need to use a website crawler like Integrity!
Integrity a free desktop tool for mac SEO and website designers that spiders your website and picks out broken links.
It will also extract URLs from a website to a CSV.
It's perfect for checking a small site once complete for any broken links or missing images without having to dig through it manually.
It can generate an XML sitemap suitable for submission to Google too, and help check a site for unique page titles. Apart from this, for SEO, you can see at a glance links with 301 redirects, or canonical issues, or even old links to dev servers, etc.
Another significant addition is the ability to see at a glance your most linked-to pages and how many links EXACTLY they have, and from where.
Not bad at all. Especially for Apple Mac designers.
If you are a PC user, check out Xenu Link Sleuth. It's free, and still reliable.
• URL Profiler
URL Profiler (Aff*) is a multi-task tool that can be easily configured to grab data on any URL.
This is desktop software for PC and Mac and is developed more for the technically minded SEO. This is a handy tool for checking if your URLs are indexed in Google, for instance, or if you want to quickly grab social and backlink data for any URL.
Highly recommended for the technical SEO.
Keyword Research Tools
Google Keyword Research Tools
The Google Keyword tool is still very useful. It's changed a lot over the years since I used the public version every day. I've even picked up some links after I spotted some changes to it:
It was always inaccurate, steered you down transactional queries, and is not as useful as it once was.
I have developed my private toolset with access to various API so I don't need the public tool.
If I want competitive data quickly – I usually get it from SEMRush (Aff*) these days. I can recommend Ubersuggest for quick Google Autocomplete research, too, and also I've found Answer The Public to be very useful,too, when investigating what QUESTIONS are being asked on Google by users about a certain topic.
• SEMrush
I must say I have enjoyed using SEM RUSH (Aff) over the last few years.
Semrush is a keyword research tool for, well, professional keyword snoopers.
I had, in the past, steered clear of most of these types of tools as I had traditionally found them while useful, very U.S. centric (I am UK).
I like it!
- This tool lets you see:
- which keywords seem to be popular in your niche,
- related keywords, phrases and terms you might consider weaving into your content and linkbuilding strategies
- gives you an idea (when you aggregate the data) which natural listings in Google are providing competitors unpaid traffic
- lists top ranking sites competing for those keywords
- shows you on average how much a click on this keyword is worth in Google Adwords (although it would be nice to see that in Sterling (£) rather than dollars
- illustrates how competitive this term is (in Adwords at least, by number of competition)
- how many (on average) times the keyword or phrase is typed into the UK version of Google
- you can get a cool firefox plugin as well and export research data to usual formats
- …and more
You can really do some neat stuff if you are a keyword monkey. SEM rush has databases for US, UK, Spain, Germany, France, Spain and other geographic regions.
Keyword Research with SEMrush
SEMrush is an all-in-one suite of digital marketing tools popular among professional SEO.
It includes almost every tool you'd need to manage a successful organic online marketing campaign.
You can register for free to try it out:
Once you're logged in type one of your topics into the search box on the top of the screen and hit SEARCH.
Note: You will notice two more options inside the search box, one says (keyword) and the other lists a region (US in this case but it DOES have a good UK database I work with more):
You can specify what regional search engine you want to see the results from. Even though you reside in one country it doesn't mean that you can't retrieve search data from another. This option allows you to specify that.
Once your hit SEARCH the tool will display overview of various data on theme you've selected.
(A keyword overview report in SEMrush)
You can get a LOT of information about your competition and the marketplace with this online service, examples being:
- Organic Search. This section displays data relating to organic traffic this keyword receives. Volume indicates average monthly number of searches for this keyword. Number of results shows how many URLs compete for this keyword.
- Paid Search. This section presents the paid traffic data – cost per click and competitor density.
- Trend indicates monthly distribution of search volume for the keyword. This metric is ideal if you want to establish keyword seasonality.
Phrase match keywords and Related Keywords
These two reports are the heart and soul of keyword research.
- Phrase match keyword shows variations of the main keyword you specified that customers might use to search for a product or service.
- Related keywords report shows different keywords that relate to the main keyword in one way or another.
Click on "View full report" under Phrase match keyword report.
This will give you access to a full list of phrase match keywords SEMrush (Aff*) had found for the topic:
As you can see, apart from the list of keywords the tool also displays information that can help me better assess those keywords:
- Traffic Volume.
- Average CPC.
- Competition Density.
- Of Results.
- Trend
It also lets me to see the cached SERP (search engine results) page for each keyword.
By analysing this data you can assess which keywords might be worth targeting with your SEO efforts.
SEMrush (Aff*) is a great tool – for beginners and professionals alike. It's the first place I go to for a quick overview of competitors performance in Google.
• Long Tail Pro
Long Tail Pro (Aff*) is a keyword research tool that includes some clever competitor analysis to help you target the right keywords on your website.
This tool can quickly analyze the top 10 results in Google for each of your keywords, saving you boatloads of time.
This tool also checks important SERP data points like keyword usage in the Title Element and Meta tags, Domain & Page Authority, Moz Rank, Number of Backlinks, Domain Age etc.
This is a great tool for keyword researchers, and I know a few colleagues who like it too.
• SearchMetrics Suite
The Searchmetrics Suite (Aff*) is designed to help marketers working for enterprises and agencies plan, execute, measure and report on internet marketing strategies.
It has a free account where you can see some information of how your site performed over the last 6 months.
It's useful for competitor keyword analysis and to get a quick overview of any site that already has some visibility in Google.
SearchMetrics has LOTS of data and that places it amongst the best seo reporting software you can buy.
• SpyFu
SpyFu (Aff*) is also a great tool for competitive keyword research, and while I don't use it that often, many of my colleagues and peers really like this tool so it may be worth giving it a test drive.
I was recently impressed by the accuracy of this tool in judging actual traffic trends to a site:
Hat Tip to Sistrix, too. I've played about with this tool in the past and was impressed, and I have heard good things about it recently.
Rank Tracker Software
• Pro Rank Tracker
ProRankTracker (Aff*) is a simple, easy to use and accurate cloud-based rank checker suitable for most needs.
I use it daily – and I am signed up for the API.
• Advanced Web Ranking
I've tried a lot of ways to check rankings in search engines over the years and generally speaking I've been disappointed with most if not all of them.
Advanced Web Ranking (Aff*) is one of the best. If you want to trial the cloud version FREE, you can access it here (Aff*).
So much so, that we've resorted for many clients to manually checking them / and or developing our own tools to ensure the results we get are what the customer is seeing too. The problem with this type of rankings check is how much time it consumes in the studio. The problem with a lot of automatic website rank checkers, of course is that they could well be software packages that violate Google Webmaster guidelines for instance.
It automatically runs a ranking report checking keyword positions in Google, and automatically sends me a keyword rank check report via email with details of each keyword position (and over time, this generates a cool graph of ranking activity).
It's a pretty comprehensive tool and it certainly seems to perform very well, with a good support forum too to ask any questions.
A very neat feature if you run one site is the sheer number of search engines you can track your rankings on too (thousands of them from what I can see) – not that I bother with search engine submission at all these days of course.
The keyword position reports too are quite comprehensive and you can run as many search engine ranking reports and projects (multiple websites and rank checks) as you wish.
It's fairly intuitive and easy to set up and use after you play about with it.
The software also can check your Pagerank and Alexa traffic stats too (if either of those metrics are important to you) and can keep an eye on competitors rankings too.
If you want to trial the cloud version FREE, you can access it here (Aff*).
Note – I'm still not that obsessed with individual keyword rankings – I'm much more interested in creating good content on a site and acquiring backlinks as naturally as possible to build domain trust – and then unlocking that domain authority by publishing even more content, but in competitive sectors where the linkerati seem to be thin on the ground, for specific keyword phrases, link building is still a must of course.
I've been testing out the rank check tool AWR Website Ranking on a small personal site (after being advised it does not break Google's guidelines – although, if you go by the letter of the law, I wonder if that is wishful thinking, by ALL rank checker tool providers):
First of all, I would like to put one thing aside. There is no way that Google or any other search engine can ban you for using our software' And this is because for Google, AWR looks like a regular web browser. We send the EXACT data web browsers send. There is no way for Google to find out that you are using a tool like AWR.' And even if they knew, they have no way of knowing your website domain. AWR sends queries that only contain the Keywords, NOT the URL. It then searches the URLs in the results Google sent back. This means they have no way of making a connection between the IP address of your computer, where AWR runs from, and your website. If this was possible, then I could fake this information to look like my competitor domain and then get him banned!
It works as expected, and played nice with my Mac Book Pro.
• Link Assistant Rank Tracker Software
I purchased a copy of SEO Powersuite (AFF*) to have a play about with and for review purposes, and I like it. I reviewed it's stable mate Website Auditor above, which is bundled with Rank Tracker (AFF*) in SEO Powersuite, and I like that too.
- Limitless keyword tracking: you can track rankings in over 590 search engines with no keyword or domain limits
- Auto-pilot tracking: set the tracking tool once and run rank checks automatically for set dates and time
- Historical rank tracking: every time you check your rankings, Rank Tracker charts the all ranking changes for each individual keyword and your site's overall SERP visibility
Rank Tracker is pretty simple to set up, and as accurate as it can be, when checking your websites search engine rankings for multiple keywords, on multiple engines.
- pick a website
- pick your search engines you want to monitor, and
- tell it which keywords you want to track
- find out the number of searches and competition for a particular keyword or phrase
- schedule it to check for keywords at any set time of the day
- schedule reports to print or export to web, pdf or csv etc
It can also check the competition for the key terms and track your competition if you are interested in that.
You can schedule when it checks your rankings, and you can schedule reports to publish when you want, too.
It tracks everything about your keyword so you can see its performance over time.
It looks ideal for small businesses to track rankings if you prefer a piece of software you run on your pc or mac rather than a hosted solution.
• SEO Powersuite (LinkAssistant.com)
SEO Powersuite (Aff*) is definitely one of the best all in one desktop SEO packages available for Mac and PC. Check your rankings, your competitors, backlinks and crawl your website. It's a great tool for beginners.
I use this tool set to have a poke around but my favourite out of the tools is Rank Tracker (AFF*) to run quick ranking audits which comes on its own, or with SEO Powersuite.
Link Analysis Tools
• Majestic
I use competitive link analysis:
- to look for any obvious short-cuts to take advantage of – it's always nice to impress new clients immediately, and get them involved (I should do this more, in fact)
- to see which competitors are really spamming it up and getting away with it
- for ideas about posts for a client site that attracts links
- to see which newsworthy items pick up links from the press for instance
- to identify when the site pushes for traffic via link building
- to pick out the links from quality, respected sites that I might have problems getting – for discussion with client's marketing department
- to get an idea the type of sites that will link to a competitor
- to look at the soup of links that a no1, no2 and no3 site especially can get away with and still rank top in Google
- to LEARN how other sites have got where they are.
- to learn a bit about the client's industry and competitors
- to tell clients the task at hand (yesterday I noticed a competitor of my clients had links from The Wall ST Journal, NYTImes etc – it helped me point out to the client his main competitor was REMARKABLE, actively engaged in successful online marketing ALREADY – a player. Another client noticed from my Competitive Link Analysis once a PR7 that linked to his competitor, was actually a site his GOOD FRIEND OWNED. I wonder what happened to that link…
Often, I use competitor backlink analysis to gather historic and real-time data to recommend to a client or show them how they SHOULD be marketing their business to achieve online popularity, while I set about making them popular online.
I love Majestic – it's the first place I look when looking at the backlinks of a competing website. It's been the BEST link building tool available for as long as I can remember – way before Yahoo Site Explorer was mothballed. Majestic seems to be built into everything these days – but standalone it is still a brilliant link prospecting tool.
Hat tip to Open Site Explorer, too (though I've not used the MOZ tools for a while).
I do also utilise AHrefs if I really want to double-down, so to speak, on backlink research for a site and ensure I am getting the most available links to a site (after I have looked at Majestic data, of course).
• Link Research Tools
Link Research Tools, is also one of the very best link research tools available. In fact, having these tools running in the background is a bit like having an extra member of staff.
If you are into fancy charts, they are there. If you just want the data for export, you can do that too. I usually just want the data for my own purposes – and the Backlink Profiler Tool is probably my favourite. The Common Backlinks Tool is pretty useful too. I should say the tools are REALLY easy to use as well. Link Research Tools connects with the other well-known search engine optimisation tools on the market so you can grab a lot of data for lots of pages. The more data, the better.
I will point out while these search engine optimisation tools are GREAT, it's how you interpret the data, and how you go about making this data relevant to your business, that will see you succeed in your own link building efforts. I don't agree with every measurement made by these tools, or with every result they provide. You don't need the same links as your competitors to rank, remember.
If you are a creative marketer, you don't need any tools to be a 'link builder' – I hate that term.
But…. if you want to see how the other guys are doing it, have an easy job where all you need to do is collect the data, or are looking for a bit of backlink-inspiration, or needing a backlink profile you can be proud of – the tools above are a good place to start.
• Link Prospector
Majestic is GREAT for getting link building ideas – but as tool like Link Prospector can REALLY expand upon those ideas, once you've identified a particular type of link you'd like to focus on. Link Prospector (a part of Citation Labs) is a brilliant tool for doing this.
With it you can look for links pages, guest posts, directories, forums and blogs out there, that there is a high probability you could get a link from. It's a mountain of data you get back, so make sure you use this tool in a very focused manner.
Used properly, Link Prospector (and the other great tools that come with it) can save you HOURS of work. Expect to spend some time in an excel spreadsheet after you get the data – but it is worth it!
I spent the weekend playing with this tool and the amount of excellent link data it spat out for me was astonishing. I tested around 10 niches, and it didn't disappoint in any of them. There are no affiliate links of any sort in this independent review.
In short, Link Prospector is a link building tool to help you find places you can get links from other websites. It helps you narrow prospects in a niche based on keywords you want to focus on. You can find link opportunities like guest posts, links pages, directories and forums, to name but a few – essentially websites that link to 'your sort of thing'.
The tool REALLY delivers – scanning a good sized data-set and outputting a mountain of link prospects in the niche you are interested in.
It's easy to use too, though I have seen some other reviewers talk about data overload, and that deep down, the results you get are a little messy.
True – it can get a little messy if your data mining is too broad. But if you really focus on the types of links you are looking for – once you export that data to excel and have a play with some filters, you can really dig up a lot of opportunities.
If you are wise enough to know that you need links, Link Prospector is just about the best tool out there for helping you identify more places to get these links.
TIP – In a post penguin world, its online marketing ideas you are looking for. You do not want to be using the exact same methods as everybody else. You can use Majestic to get a handle on why the top competition ranks where it does. If you take some of those ideas to Link Prospector and look for more of those types of link opportunities, it can deliver some really good opportunities.
Highly Recommended – Link Prospector is a great tool for finding where you can get links. If you are serious about link building, you are crazy not to give this tool a go. Enough said.
*Link Prospector also has some great support tools!
Unnatural Links Analysis Tools
• Kerboo (Formerly Link Risk)
If you need a quick overview of the quality of your backlink profile – KERBOO (Aff*) is my tool of choice. I can vouch for the experience of the team behind this tool, and expect it will get better and better.
If you know anything about SEO, you will know that your rankings can be severely impacted by low-quality links pointing to your website from other sites on the net.
This tool aims to calculate the inherent risk found within a website's backlink profile. It can be used for disavow file management and proactive link profile management via a daily imports feature.
KERBOO (Aff*) is a powerful manual penalty and penguin recovery tool.
Cheap too, considering the time it saves you.
Analytics Packages
• Clicky Web Analytics
Google Analytics is the de facto analytics software, and the only tool for checking lots of data – but I find I log into my Clicky (Aff*) account more than I do GA these days – if all I want is a quick and dirty analysis of a page or keyword. Brilliant tool.
When I find a simple tool I like I usually stick with it forever. I'm amazed at the simple things Clicky (AFF*) does so effortlessly. The control panel seems so much more intuitive than for instance Google Analytics. Instantly accessible.
I tried a few real time web stats analytics packages out (I like software with a free trial) and I must say, Clicky is brilliant.
- See who is on your site AT THAT VERY MOMENT
- See where traffic is coming from AND track outbound visitors too
- See your valuable incoming links in action
- See a MORE ACCURATE bounce rate for your pages
- Too much good stuff to mention
…and best of all, Clicky might very well be FREE if you don't have more than 3,000 page impressions a day – ideal for small businesses.
They even give you an easy affiliate link to promote the software if you like it – which I very much do (so I am using that affiliate link).
Telling you. Try Clicky PRO out FREE. (AFF*) Excellent analytics, and easy to install too.
Copywriting Tools
Grammar Checking Tools
• Grammarly
I know my grammar is lacking and it is something I've always aimed to address.
I doubt grammar is an influential ranking signal today, but, correctly constructed sentences should make reading this blog a better user experience.
Also, translations would be more accurate.
A greater grasp of the English language and a wider vocabulary is a real advantage to a SEO in 2017.
So I am cleaning up my blog and all future posts.
I installed Grammarly (Aff*).
Grammarly is a free Chrome browser extension that helps identify and fix grammar and spelling errors and it's now also one of my favourite SEO tools.
I love the way Grammarly alerts you when you are using repetitive words and offers you synonyms to replace them.
That's a great assist if you have a feel for what your are doing.
It's useful because, often, the number of unique keywords on a page is closely proportionate to the number of keyword searches a page can (usually) rank for in Google.
Easy to install, Grammarly works in the background in Chrome browser on my Mac and integrates efficiently with WordPress.
Highly recommended!
P.S. I used Grammarly to write this post.
Chrome Extensions
I don't really like third-party toolbars – but I do have the odd plugin installed. Chrome Notepad is a free tool for Chrome browser – ideal for taking quick notes – and FREE.
• Nofollow For Chrome
I have NoFollow for Chrome installed – good for quick page link analysis, it highlights rel=nofollow links on the fly which I find useful.
• Awesome Screenshot Minus
I capture screenshots day-to-day and I use this free Google CHROME Add-On called Awesome Screenshot Minus.
On my Mac to take a picture of, for instance, small parts of a screen – I normally use the keyword command Command-Shift-4 (I don't know how PC users do it) but where this software comes in useful is if I want to take a picture of an entire web page that is too big to fit in your browser window.
• Woorank
Woorank is an impressive 'freemium' tool that does offer a lot of quick functionality in the free version. Check it out. We have a free tool on the Hobo site that does a lot of the same on page seo checks.
• Redirect Path
Redirect Path for Chrome is a valuable little plugin that can help you quickly identify the number and type of redirects if any, that brought you to a page. This is incredibly useful for page migrations and site clean-ups.
Spreadsheets, Browsers & Other Tools
I have spent a lot of my time in Excel spreadsheets, more so in the last few years. Google Spreadsheets are cool too…. but with too many limitations for me to make it a daily tool. Excel lets you automate just about everything – and I do these days.
There's nothing more satisfying than taking 30 days work and automating it. You can manage entire sites with an excel spreadsheet – and if you're not on some level, you're missing out big time.
• SEO Tools For Excel
If you're not running your own functions with Excel – Excel Tools For SEO is a great place to start(I also have URL Tools installed). SEO Tools for Excel is a fantastic tool set – once you start with this stuff you can't live without it unless you build your own tools, of course).
Great for combining Adwords data with page specific data and looking for opportunities like under-optimised page titles etc. Tip – Get a Google Adwords API.
• Dropbox
No wonder Steve Jobs tried to buy it. Dropbox is genius – having a folder you can EASILY share with everybody in work or between computers is essential for us these days.
Dropbox is FREE and you can get more space by sharing links like these – Try Dropbox (Aff*).
• Hidemyass
If you are using a desktop rank tracker or any other rank tracker software you'll need a VPN/Proxy. This thing is so easy even I got it working.
You can set up one computer to run ranking queries via rotating proxies (every few minutes or so) via hidemyass and save the results to a Dropbox folder to look at it when necessary (from another machine). I would also recommend you sign up with a service like LOGMEIN or my new tool of choice – Team Viewer– so you can remotely sign into the rank checker computer in case you need to restart the application. Also good for visiting sites you don't want tracking you, or incognito scraping (hat tip to Scrapebox BTW).
I don't use it for soul destroying nefarious purposes like spamming or anything like that but lots probably do.
Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster tools can provide useful insight to your site, but I only really look into these when I am digging deep, or looking for links I am not getting the benefit from.
Other Popular SEO Tools – SEObook, Moz & Raven have good online offerings these days – some more aimed at reporting to clients. While I do have accounts for all, neither is something I visit daily. I have found tools from these sites tools to be VERY useful on the ODD occasion, though – and I know some people swear by them.
I suppose it depends on what you're employed to do, which should influence which tools you invest in.
There are a lot of tools out there that are a total waste of your time, and some are an out and out scam I've had direct experience with all the tools I have reviewed here, and over a decades experience in search engine marketing.
If you are thinking of buying any software, remember, there are little 'cheats' these days in SEO for the beginners – a good tool with only give you work to do.
Keep in mind:
- Competitor Backlink tools can give you ideas where and how to get links but remember you don't need the same links as your competitors, you just need, well, credible links from reputable websites
- Keyword density is not something you should be focusing on at all if you are writing your articles after doing some basic keyword research.
- Page relevance tools – whatever they might key off of, it's probably not what Google is. It's incredibly important to create a semantic and contextually relevant page but you just need a keyword tool (again, probably pretty inaccurate at least when it comes to the numbers)
- Search engine Webmaster tools – I use them for identifying if a search engine has any difficulty accessing particular content on a site, and some backlink analysis
- If you have a WordPress blog (you should be using the WordPress SEO plugin).
The tools I use most often are Majestic (for historic link reports at the beginning of a project), SEMRush for quick keyword research, Advanced Web Ranking or Pro-Ranktracker for checking rankings on a few sites, Clicky for real-time website stats, Google Analytics for quick traffic analysis. I also use a couple of different tools for spidering a site and checking syntax.
Rich, accessible, relevant content and editorial links from reputable sites are what you need to get more visitors safely from Google in 2017.
You should be thinking things like 'how am I going to make my site better', or 'how am I going to keep people on my site longer', or and 'just where is my next quality link coming from'?
Analysis paralysis is pretty common with any tool set, so watch out, and good luck.
If I find the time, I will add the rest one day!
TIP! Test Your Site For Mobile Friendliness!
Google is moving to a mobile-first index and that means your mobile experience better be above average!
Test your site using the public tool found here: ALTHOUGH NOTE if you want to be sure your site is mobile-friendly as far as Google is concerned – it means using this tool. Here's the announcement from Google.
Note that passing Google's mobile-friendliness test does not mean your website is automatically user-friendly. For a site to be even more user-friendly on mobile devices – you should be relying on W3C technologies – so I would recommend you use the free tool (currently disabled) provided by the W3c:
This checker performs various tests on a Web Page to determine its level of mobile-friendliness. The tests are defined in the mobileOK Basic Tests 1.0 specification. A Web Page is mobileOK when it passes all the tests.
I'm currently bringing my site in line with w3c on mobile friendliness and more general web accessibility recommendations.
The Best SEO Tools for Beginners in 2017
I've reviewed a lot of seo tools over the last 15 years or more. Here's my current list of favourites:
- Google Search Console
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider
- Semrush
- Majestic
- Proranktracker
- Google Page Speed
- Clicky
- AnswerThePublic
- Redirect Path
- Grammarly
*NOTE – I've used affiliate links (marked as(Aff*)) for some of the tools in this post. If I really like something I usually get an affiliate account (that means if you were to buy it, I would get a commission). I have also nofollowed all links on this page to external sites to basically comply with search engines easily.