I was tired of craning my neck and reading by cabin light on long flight. I started to take note the he was listening to his book while comfortably reclined with his eyes closed. On bumpy car and bus rides, I had to put my books and magazines away because of motion sickness. All the while, my husband was looking out the window, soaking in the sights and listening to a good story at the same time. So I thought it was time to give my tired eyes a vacation too, and I haven’t turned back since. Audiobooks allow you to pass the time relaxing listening to the latest bestseller, catching up on the classics, or even learning a new language while you are en route to your final destination.

Audiobooks have some great advantages over traditional books. For one thing, listening is a passive activity, so there’s no need to don reading glasses and constantly scan the pages. You can simply slip on your headphones, sit back and remove yourself from the traveling fray of the airport or train station. I have found that one the most enjoyable aspects of audiobooks is that they are read by a narrator, who is often times a professional actor. This tends to bring a little more life to the story, as the narrator will often create different voices for the many characters within the story.

Also, if you are trying to brush up on a foreign language, it helps to hear the language as it is spoken by a native, as opposed to trying to discern pronunciation from text. Another great advantage is the size and transportability of audiobooks. If you download the material to your iPod or MP3 player, you can literally carry hundreds of books on a device no bigger than a deck of cards. This means that if the story that you are listening to is not quite what you expected, you can move on to a new book, or even review one of your favorites almost instantly.

Now audiobooks are not quite perfect. For one thing, it can take a bit longer to listen to a book than to read it yourself. For example, Ken Follett’s “The Pillars Of The Earth” clocks in a 40 hours and 10 minutes for the unabridged audiobook, and you could most likely read the same material yourself in about 35 hours. To me it’s similar to being chauffeured to a destination as opposed to driving there yourself. Another disadvantage, albeit a small one, is that audiobooks are not as easy to navigate as traditional paper books. If you have to review material already covered in a book, you may find it a bit more difficult to find an exact line or phrase that you had previously read. Finally, cost can be a factor as well. At a bookstore, the audio version of a book is typically more expensive than a hardcover.

While audiobooks are readily available at most book stores and even for free at public libraries, my favorite audiobook source for is Audible, an audiobook download service. Audible allows you to choose from over 40,000 titles, which you can then download to your MP3 player, or copy to CD’s. You can choose from traditional books, classic radio programs, and even magazines and newspapers. Using the aforementioned “The Pillars Of The Earth” by Ken Follett, you could purchase the hardback at your local bookstore for about $23, while the same book at Audible would cost $41. This pricing difference can be brought down however by subscribing to one of Audible’s “AudibleListener” programs.

For an introductory price of $7.50 per month, you can join Audible’s AudibleListener Gold program and get one download credit per month and also get a discount of 75% off list price for any additional audiobooks purchased that month. Most books count as one credit, but there are rare exceptions. I have found it most useful to use the credits toward larger purchases, and if needed, purchase lower price titles with the 75% membership discount. It just doesn’t make sense to use credits on books that cost less than the subscription price. In addition, you can bank your credits (up to 6) to use in the future. Once you have purchased the title, it is yours to keep. Audible keeps an on-line library of your titles, so that you can download them at any time in the future to your approved device, even if you cancel your subscription to the AudibleListener program.

To use the Audible service, you visit the website Audible.com and create an account. You will have the option of purchasing the titles a la carte, or subscribing to one of their “Audble Listener” programs, which allows you a number of credits per month, and a discount on purchases over and above your audiobook credits. They typically have an introductory special that will allow you to try the service for a lower upfront cost for the fist few months. Once you have signed up, Audible will direct you to download the software appropriate for your device from their website. One your profile is complete, you can shop by genre, author, or subject matter and begin your book.

Audible is currently running a special promotion that offers your first 3 months for $7.50/month. Click here for more information.

There may be some books available on building a hydrogen fuel cell that uses pure hydrogen, although that actually may not be the best option for you if you are planning to use hydrogen to save gas. Pure hydrogen is a very efficient and clean fuel, but building an engine that runs 100% on hydrogen can be very expensive and complicated for the average person. A better alternative may be some type of HHO generator, which is a hydrogen based gas saver.

HHO generators actually generate a hydrogen/oxygen mixture which is used to supplement gasoline usage, and since you are not doing a 100% conversion, it is a much easier project to take on. As a matter of fact, it shouldn’t cost more than a couple tanks worth of gas in cash to build a HHO based hydrogen gas saver. Although a HHO generator won’t completely replace gasoline usage, it has been reported to improve fuel economy by up to 40% in some cases.

Through electrolysis powered by the vehicles battery/alternator, the HHO gas is extracted from plain tap water and bubbles to the top of a reservoir where a vacuum tube is situated. This vacuum tube carries the HHO gas to the engine where it will supplement your gasoline usage. Since they are a partial conversion, they are removable and will not void any type of warranty your vehicle may have.

So forget looking for books on building a hydrogen fuel cell, what you need is a guide that shows you step-by-step how to build and install your own HHO generator. For your convenience, I’ve written a review of the Top 3 Guides available that show you the whole process from start to finish.

Option #1: Get better mileage out of your existing car
By changing your driving styles and performing some simple fuel-saving maintenance, you can get better fuel economy out of your existing car. This could save you hundreds or more per year, depending on what you drive and how much you drive.

Inflate Your Tires to the Highest Recommended Pressure

One of the first things you can do is make sure your tires are properly inflated to their highest recommended pressure specifications. Under-inflated tires don’t wear properly and rob fuel economy - as much as 15%.

Use Your Air Conditioner Sparingly

Using your air conditioner sparingly will help you save fuel. Air conditioners use the engine - and thus fuel - to run.

Get a Tune-Up

Things like air filters and your engines oil can have a major impact on fuel economy. A dirty air filter is one of the biggest culprits, and is generally very inexpensive to replace.

Change Your Driving Style

Accelerate smoothly and anticipate the road ahead. This may sound like a no-brainer, but its important to note that your driving style has a major impact on fuel economy. If you drive like a race car driver, it will certainly be reflected in your fuel economy, so slow down, accelerating and braking as smoothly - and safely as possible.

Don’t Fall for any Fuel-Saving Gimmick Products

With gas prices on the rise, marketers are pushing gimmick products with bogus claims about their fuel saving. Most of these products fail to meet expectations, and are designed to cash in on consumers who are looking to cut down on fuel expenses. Don’t fall for these!

Option #2: Drive Less!
This one may or may not be an option for you, but regardless, the easiest way to start cutting back on gas expenses is to simply drive less often. With gas prices skyrocketing to new highs, many Americans are already taking this route.

Option #3: Get a More Economical Car
Maybe it’s time to get something a bit more economical. Depending on what you are driving currently, chances are that you can replace your existing car with a far more economical car, which could save you thousands a year on gas expenses.

If this is the route you choose, remember to get a free quote to sell your car today from a reputable used car buyer like our team at Big Bucks Auto™. No matter what you’re looking to sell, we can buy it, fast - and for more than you might expect.

And before you give up all the space your big SUV affords, or lose the sports car for something - well - less sporty, remember that economical doesn’t have to mean boring. For example, there are several new mid-size SUVs on the market which afford their drivers very acceptable gas mileage.
And to get your sports car fix while saving at the pump, look to sporty but smaller sports cars. Cars like the Mini Cooper and Mazda Miata MX-5 can give you some of the thrills you desire, while sipping fuel at the same time.

See how much you could get for your existing gas guzzler. See our website’s Why Choose Us to Buy Your Car section to learn more about selling your car fast, and for a high price without any obligation! You’ll be in a more economical car in no time!

Sand Filters.

Sand is the oldest and most popular method of filtration. All sand filters share two things in common:

1. When in the filtration mode, water flows from top to bottom
2. They all have some sort of lateral or underdrain with slots to hold back sand while allowing clean, filtered water to pass through.

High-rate sand filters use a special filter sand, normally .45 to .55 mm (also known as pool grade #20 silica sand), because it has sharp edges that separate particles, allowing filtration to take place. They operate on the basis of “depth” filtration where dirt is driven through the sand bed and trapped in the spaces between the sand particles. Initially, a clean sand bed removes larger particles, and then, as the bed starts to load up with debris, the filter removes finer particles. The sand can be cleaned by backwashing which involves reversing water flow through the filter to the “waste” line. Sand Filters trap debris as small as 20 to 40 microns.Diatomaceous Earth (DE) Filters.

Diatomaceous earth is a porous powder with microscopic openings that when magnified look like tiny sponges. Clear water can pass through these openings, but particles, as small as two to five microns, are trapped during the first pass through the media. D.E. filters have internal elements that become coated with D.E. It is this ‘filter cake’ that strains dirt, dust and algae from the water.

Similar to sand filters, when D.E. filters become dirty, they are cleaned either by backwashing, or regenerating and draining the clogged D.E. to the ‘waste’ line. To restore filtration, a fresh ‘charge’ of D.E. is added to the filter. For sparkling, clean pools; step up to Hayward D.E. filters.

Cartridge Filters.

Cartridge filtration has been available for a relatively long time, but has only recently begun to enjoy rapid growth and acceptance.

When water passes through a cartridge filter, dirt is screened out at the surface of the cartridge element. When clean, the element will trap larger particles, with finer particles being filtered out as the pores of the element become clogged by the larger debris. The cartridge element can be removed and cleaned by pressure washing inside and out with a garden hose. Cartridge element filters trap debris as small as 10 to 15 microns.

Of course, that is why such popular services like MapQuest exist, why almost all magazines today are designed via mini “sound bites” and why Apple places a premium on simplicity and clarity.

I was just looking at some old magazines the other day and the visual layout is completely different - once linear, they are now modular. Some examples include USA Today, Readers Digest, Men’s Health and Consumer Reports.

This is particularly important with anything that has a high percentage of text. This includes brochures, sell sheets, magalogs, proposals, emails and the like. I am always a bit surprised when some of my design coaching clients send me an email that stretches from one side of the email browser to the other.

Try using more: sidebars, subheads, quick summaries, “what’s ahead” content, informational bullets, drop quotes and “mini-profiles” in all your communications. As designers, we are particularly tuned into this but we can all improve and refine our communications with these principles in mind.

If it takes to much “perceived effort” to read something, believe me, people will not do it. So think about giving your clients clearer and easier access to information. You will find, slowly and surely, an increased response to your communications.

Chiropractic Marketing Tips 1: The Internet

Who isn’t connected to the internet these days? People spend countless hours on the web just surfing, downloading, chatting etc. Why don’t you make use of this market by setting up your own website. Just set up a basic website first. A website that tells somebody about yourself, the services that you aim to give, and even a special offer to new patients.

Once you set up a website, you can ask current patients for testimonials to post on your website. These testimonials will help convince prospective patients that you are a real, caring doctor that has seen successful cases in your practice.

It’s important not to focus on building a fancy or pretty website. Not only will this cost you a lot of money, but it is not effective in getting new patients. It’s best to keep it very simple, yet focused. Your site for new patients should be easy to load and read. You want the new patient to call you to schedule an appointment, so your website should lead them to this action.

A simple web address that people will surely remember can be one of the steps that you can take. Aside from that, make sure that your site contains common keywords that your prospective patients will likely search for. The more keyword focused you can be on your website (within reason), the more traffic will be driven to you through the major search engines. When I teach doctors on how to set up their websites, I will recommend they focus their pages on keywords people are searching for in their area.

Chiropractic Marketing Tips 2: Radio

You can try radio broadcasting. Before anything else, figure out the market that you are targeting because this will play an important factor in the radio station that you will get, the time slot that you will play, duration of your ad, etc. As a tip, the time that most people drive to and from work are the peak hours since most people will be tuned to their radio. Although it will definitely reach a lot of listeners, this will cost you more money.

Chiropractic Marketing Tips 3: Yellow Pages

When people need help right now, they still turn to the Yellow Pages for a chiropractor. Once you decide to put up an ad in the yellow pages, make sure that you provide an attention grabbing headline. After the headline, a list of bullets detailing your services and how they benefit the patient. Also focus on what makes your office different. Keep the images small and to a minimum. You want to use the valuable space in your ad to convince the prospect to call you.

Use these three chiropractic marketing tips as a basis for growing your practice and profits.

A few years ago reverse call services were not available to the public. You had to hire a private investigator or detective to do the research for you. But now the same service they use is available to the public for a very reasonable fee.

So can you get this information for free? Sometimes you can if you are lucky. First thing you can try is to enter the cell phone number in Google or try phone:(insert number here) and see if you get any results. Most cell numbers will not return any info. Unless the person has posted their name and number on a board or website somewhere you will not find anything.

Free search services will give you the same result because they use a free data base to run their directory. If you try one and come back with nothing you can bet all the other ones will not give you any results either because they usually share the same free data base.

Paid directories are a different story. They pay for a data base feed that keeps their search feed up to date and current. As soon as someone buys a new cell phone it will go into the data base and show up in the search. This is why they charge a fee to use their site and it is also why it is worth paying for the service. Plus you can run a preliminary search for free to see if the number is listed before you decide to join. The only ones I have not been able to trace are the prepaid over the counter cell phones.

Depending on what site you join you will have access to the persons, name, location, full address, plus you may get access to court, finance, bankruptcy, marriage, job history, criminal records and even run people searches to find lost friends. All this for a small membership fee. Here is a little tip I learned the hard way. Pay the difference and go for the full year of membership instead of the one time search fee. Once you discover for yourself just how much info you can dig up on someone you will end up spending hours on their site.

Experts have been using reverse call lookups for years. They get paid a large fee for their service and all they have to do is enter a phone number and print out their results. Now you can do the same thing at home. All inquires are discreet and no one will ever be able to tell if you ran their number.

So go ahead and trace those unknown cell phone numbers and see who the mystery caller is. Want to turn the tables on them and ruin their day? Call them back and let them know you now have their home address and name plus you know where they work. I can almost guarantee this will stop any prank caller.

Now, a free criminal background check is not going to be as thorough as the paid version, but you can learn a LOT. Here are some quick easy tips for you.

First of all, you are going to want to check with the National Sex Offender Registry. What’s that you say? The prospective date, nanny, or employee that you want to check up on could not possibly be a sex offender?

Let me tell you. No sex offender in the world comes with a warning label tattooed on their head, and the reason that many of them get away with doing what they do is that they are charming and charismatic. It is free and easy to run a records check through the National Sex Offender Registry, so there is no reason not to.

Now, many local counties, cities and states have their own version of sex offender registries these days so you should check those also.

Next, check to find out if the county where the person you are running a check on has court records available online. If so you can do a criminal records search for free from the privacy of your own home. If not, you will have to go to the county courthouse.

You will want to do criminal records checks AND civil records checks.

Civil records checks can tell you a lot. They can tell you if someone has declared bankruptcy, if they have been sued, if they have filed a lawsuit, if they have been divorced in that county…

And by the way divorce filings and proceedings can tell you a lot about a person as well.

In some states, a person’s driving history is public record. You can find out if someone has frequently been cited for speeding, for example.

These are just a few ways that you can find out a whole lot about a person’s character and background, for free.

It should be used in areas where you need to cover like a 60 degree horizontal zone. This provides you with two benefits, first you are focusing your wireless signal in the area that you need it and two, this will increase your security because half of you signal is not going out of your building. Omni-directional antennas emit signals in a circle pattern with usually half of your signal leaving the building. If you signal isn’t out side your area of operations then you won’t have war drivers knocking at your dooor.

Yagi antennas narrow your beam even more; this can be used for short distance point to point links or to blast through obstacles. Point to point links can be buildings that are a couple blocks apart or in a smaller campus environment like a campus. Use Yagi antennas if you have some links that need to get through some sort of obstacles like trees or thin walls.

Highly directional antennas serve one purpose and that is to provide point-to-point links at longer distances. Grid antennas are very popular for point-to-point links because the perforations let the wind go through it. IF they didn’t have the perforations then every time the wind blew the directional antenna would mover causing the link to drop.

If you are setting a up home and or small to medium business you should focus on using directional antennas. They will save you money and give you a more secure network.

There are many different types of antennas for the ham radio operator. There are directional antennas such as the yagi and quad and nondirectional antennas such as the vertical. Each of these types of antennas have their place. There are wire antennas of all types and sizes depending on the frequency being used and how much room you have to put one up. Wire antennas for the most part are semi-directional and usually radiate their signals in a figure eight, broadside to the plane of the wire. Wire antennas can be made directional depending on the design and configuration. So can vertical antennas but it requires more than one antenna and adequate space to erect them.

The yagi type of antenna is directional and has several elements that are generally designed for one frequency. There are those that will tune to two or three amateur frequency bands but lose some power and bandwidth in the design. These antennas are designed to be mounted on a tower or pole type of support with a means of turning them in the direction that you want the signals to go. They are very popular with the serious hams because of their ability to receive and transmit radio signals in the desired direction.

The cubical quad antenna, like the yagi, is a directional antenna also. These antennas tend to be very large at some frequencies. They are very effective directional antennas if you have the room to put them up. Cubical quad antennas are made of wire and some kind of supporting structure such as bamboo or fiberglass poles. They also are mounted so they may be rotated into the desired direction.

Wire antennas are for the most part designed with a specific frequency in mind. They can be very simple in design such as a dipole, which is two pieces of wire insulated in the center and installed between two supports and relatively flat or supported by one pole and the sides sloping like an inverted vee shape or supported by a single pole with the wire sloping in the direction that you want the signal to go. These antennas are very simple to design, tune and install and are very popular with beginning ham radio operators. Wire antennas can be very complex also with many pieces of wire, signal traps, coils, insulators and tuner components.

These antennas are the most used types of Ham Radio Antennas. Antenna design, tuning and installation can consume a lot of the ham radio operators time, but it is very rewarding when those signals come in and go out where you want them to, with the maximum transfer of power.