Online Education Has Come of Age!

Online education is becoming increasingly more popular as the quality and quantity of online degree programs expands. A few short years ago the perception of many professionals in the corporate world was that these degree programs were substandard. If that ever were the case, it is definitely no longer.

As the market embraced the expanding need for online education to cater to working adults, the programs achieved higher quality year after year. At this point most degree programs offered online are at least par with traditional programs and in many cases are much preferred by the working public. Online accredited universities can be easily found with a quick online search.

Most colleges now understand the value of having Internet based teaching modules in one way or another. The technology is too valuable and widespread not to take advantage of it. According to the Sloan Consortium’s report of 2007, 5 years after the roll out of online education, there were almost 3.5 million students taking an online course during the fall of 2006. In addition to that there was a growth rate of almost 10% in online enrollments vs. the 1.5% growth of all educational enrollment combined. This in and of itself testifies to the strength and market of online education. I am sure the statistics have even expanded since that last report.

Taking an online course is quite tough. In a traditional setting it is possible to ask friends or classmates questions and get answers very quickly. While this may be an efficient use of time, working online through email or through a newsgroup setting requires the student to research answers to their questions in much more depth than otherwise. My experience is that the person walks away with a much more profound answer to their question, and that answer is now internalized into their knowledge base.

As a person that spent almost 8 years in traditional schooling and then another 2 years in online education, I can speak with experience that they both have their upsides and downsides. However, for the working adult online degree programs are absolutely the way to go. No longer is it a requirement that you need to quit your job, put your spouse to work, and head off to the bookstore. You now have the educational opportunities to advance your career right at your keyboard.

There are obvious degree programs that make sense to receive at a traditional institution. Anything that requires hands on lab work is an example. But even some of these are being addressed by remote and online institutions.

Most everyone understands the need to educate themselves to increase their financial value to the corporate community. For those that are in a situation where they have families and / or need to work online education is most definitely an alternative that will take you far in your chosen career.

Automotive Repair Equipment Financing

The very competitive automotive repair industry depends highly on sophisticated equipment which is very expensive. Automotive repair equipments like hydraulic lifts, alignment equipment etc play a vital role in the business operations of this industry. Although expensive, they are indispensable in various repair services. Therefore automotive repair equipment financing is assuming greater importance in the automotive repair industry.

The traditional lending institutions may not be willing to finance sophisticated automotive repair equipment due to their unique nature. However, there are a few genuine financing companies which understand your needs and requirements. They offer financial assistance under various categories and at better interest rates.

Commercial car wash requires lot of equipment and so an automotive repair industry needs to be equipped with all the essential equipments for the same purpose. Automatic car wash, In-bay car wash system, vacuum system etc are some of the sophisticated equipment required in car wash processes. But they are quite pricey especially in case of multiple car washes. Therefore, one can acquire the sophisticated equipments through automotive repair equipment financing.

Tire changer is another important component of any automotive repair shop. Nowadays people are particular about the tires they use and thus excellent tire changer equipment is indispensable for satisfying the customers. Automatic tire changer, PAX tire changer, manual tire changer are some of the equipments available in the market. They can be expensive and so the automotive shops need to look for automotive repair financing.

Auto body equipment plays a crucial role in making a wrecked vehicle to useful. This work however involves full line of auto body equipments like straightening equipment, painting bays and so on. In case they have to be worked on various types of vehicles, a full line of auto body equipment can be quite expensive. In such cases the help of automotive repair financing is much required.

Wheel balancer is another vital tool in an automotive repair shop which helps in assessing the potential problems in the wheel, quickly and accurately. Therefore this equipment helps in providing improved customer service. But the cost of wheel balancer is high and so wheel balancer financing provided by some reliable financing companies is essential.

Wheel alignment equipment is another valuable tool in an automotive repair shop. It saves time and helps the mechanic in easy and quick assessment and repair in any vehicle’s wheel alignment. Though essential, they are quite costlier and so many repair shops are not able to afford it. However automotive repair equipment financing provides valuable service to repair shops to acquire these essential tools.

A frame machine in an automotive shop helps to provide life even to severely damaged vehicle. It is also quite expensive, but some valid financing companies offer easy financial assistance to acquire a frame machine.

Automotive repair equipment financing therefore helps almost all automotive shop owners to acquire the valuable automotive repair tools. The financing companies provide straight forward approach in offering financial help. They provide fast approval with minimum application process. Even an online application is enough to get financial help from them. These companies offer help at better terms so that owners can pay their bills in low easy monthly installments.

Making A Living From Anywhere In The World Currency Trading

Make money trading currencies on-line. Currencies are the most actively, heavily traded financial instruments in the world. The liquidity of the forex market directly translates into several critical benefits for traders that can gain an understanding. There are companies and trading schools that you can find on the Internet that will train you for a fee or others that you can sign up with and become a member and many will try and show you the ropes. Some companies offer free demo’s to help train you. Its like using play money until you get the hang of it. All anyone really needs is a computer. So you should be able to operate with a very low overhead. With excess to a phone line or an internet wireless computer card you should be all set. And you can start with very little cash. I know people who have started in this game with as little as $300.00. And I’m sure there is still others who have started with even less. The public has just in the last few years been able to participate in this trade. It wasn’t very long ago this turf was exclusively for governments and large international and prime bankers.Forex trading generates around $1.9 trillion per day in volume, making it by far the world’s largest, most liquid market. Serious traders know that the futures and equities markets provide only limited liquidity when compared with the spot currency market.In addition, though there are obviously many currencies around the globe, roughly 80% of all daily trading is concentrated in the major G-7 currencies. By contrast, the futures market is fragmented among hundreds of types of commodities listed at dozens of exchanges, and equities market volume is spread across some tens of thousands of listed stocks.Order ExecutionThe deep liquidity of the forex market ensures that bid/ask spreads are typically very tight, and the market can absorb large trades quickly and easily. Learn More…
24-Hour Trading no matter where you are located
You get consistently tight bid/ask spreads, day or night, because the currency market offers around-the-clock liquidity. As a trader, this allows you to react to economic and political events immediately. Learn More…Risk ManagementThe forex market’s size and nearly non-stop activity means that it tends to trade in a more orderly fashion than futures markets. Dangerous trading gaps and limit moves are all but eliminated. You’ll ordinarily be able to get in and out of positions with ease.No Market ManipulationThin stock and futures markets can be pushed up or down by specialists, market makers, commercials, and locals. Given the sheer size and depth of the spot FX market, however, real buying/selling by banks and institutions is required to move prices. Any attempt to manipulate the forex market usually is futile.Trade FX and Lower Your Transaction CostsEvery trader should know that transaction costs can reduce profits or exaggerate losses. Due to the decentralized, electronic nature of the FX market, transaction costs are far less than the costs associated with trading either stocks or futures.No Exchange FeesThe absence of any centralized exchange, such as the NYSE or the CME, means that there are no exchange fees with FX. Whereas equity and futures markets take small pieces of each transaction, FX is an over-the-counter market, which means that participants deal directly with one another, typically via the Internet.No CommissionsFX costs are further reduced by the efficiencies created by a purely electronic marketplace that allows clients to deal directly with other traders or a dealer, thereby eliminating middlemen, brokers, commissions, and ticket charges. There are no commissions charged when you trade FX.High TransparencyEvery financial market has a spread between the bid price and the offer price. In futures and option markets, current bids and offers often aren’t displayed, so the real cost of the trade is hidden. By contrast, in the FX market, you can always see current bids and offers, so you’ll always know the true cost of the trade.Tight Bid/Ask SpreadsBecause the FX market is global, continuous, and always liquid, traders benefit from tight, competitive pricing both day and night, making this an excellent market choice for aggressive short-term traders and longer-term position traders alike.Free Streaming QuotesBecause FX is a decentralized marketplace, real-time, streaming prices are absolutely free. Real-time, streaming futures data, in particular, has always been exorbitantly priced, and as more futures exchanges convert from membership organizations to for-profit public enterprises, it is reasonable to assume that such costs may increase. This trend is likely to make the FX market’s cost advantage even more pronounced.24-Hour Currency TradingCurrency trading essentially follows the sun around the world, so you can buy and sell currencies 24 hours per day. If there’s a market-moving event, day or night, you can take advantage of it.- Somewhere around the world, there’s always a major financial center open where banks, hedge funds, international corporations, and individual speculators are trading currencies. If you’re an event-driven trader, the 24-hour nature of the currency market allows you to react to virtually any important development, regardless of when it occurs.- By contrast, the centralized exchanges in the stock and futures markets effectively close at the end of each business day, and after-hours market liquidity can be thin and occasionally treacherous.- Nearly continuous trading and deep liquidity mean there are fewer dangerous gaps in the currency market, so you won’t have to endure the unfortunate surprise of a market that closes one day and reopens the next at a drastically different price.- Stock and futures traders who carry positions overnight are exposed to the very real risk that positions may not be able to be immediately liquidated, should that become necessary or desirable. When trading resumes the following day, prices may have moved substantially from the previous afternoon’s close.Major Financial Center Chicago Time GMTTokyo Open 6:00 PM 00:00Tokyo Close 3:00 AM 09:00London Open 2:00 AM 08:00London Close 11:00 AM 17:00New York Open 7:00 AM 13:00New York Close 4:00 PM 22:00Forex Market OverviewMany active traders have come to love forex because of its strong advantages and exciting opportunities. Not sure how the forex market works? Here’s a quick overview to help you get started.Factors Effecting the MarketCurrency prices are affected by a variety of economic and political conditions, such as interest rates, inflation, and political stability. Moreover, the central banks of various governments occasionally intervene in the forex market to influence the value of their currencies, either by flooding the market with their domestic currency in an attempt to lower the price, or conversely, by buying in order to raise the price. Any of these factors, as well as large market orders, can cause high volatility in currency prices. However, the size and depth of the forex market makes it practically impossible for any single market participant to “drive” the market in one direction for any length of time.Economic GrowthInvestors want to be sure that they are investing in a solid economy that is achieving steady growth. Currency traders looking to assess the economic growth of a country will look at unemployment, trade, and GDP data.Interest RatesMoney tends to follow interest rates. If interest rates go up, money will flow into the country from all over the world as investors seek to capitalize on higher returns. To determine whether interest rates will rise or fall, investors pay attention to economic inflation indicators, as well as speeches by influential figures. Generally, the timing of interest rate moves is known in advance. They take place after regularly scheduled meetings by the Bank of England, The U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, and other central banks.Political StabilityElection turmoil, changes of government, high unemployment and international conflict all make investors cautious to put their money in a given country. Investors will watch for major news that comes out of a country.Forex is a Decentralized, OTC MarketThe forex market, unlike other financial markets, has no physical location or central exchange. Rather, it’s an over-the-counter (OTC) or “Interbank” market, due to the fact that participants deal directly with one another via the telephone or an electronic network. The forex market is unique in that there’s live, active, continuous trading 24 hours per day for most of the week. Somewhere around the world, there’s always a major financial center open where banks, hedge funds, international corporations, and individual speculators are trading currencies. Essentially, foreign exchange trading follows the sun around the world, allowing traders to buy and sell currencies whenever it’s convenient, or whenever the need arises. The world’s currencies are on a floating exchange rate and are always traded in pairs, such as Euro/Dollar or Dollar/Yen. Forex transactions always involve the simultaneous purchase of one currency and sale of another – in other words, in every open position, an investor is long one currency and short the other.
FX traders express a market position in terms of the first currency in the pair. For example, a trader who has bought Dollars and sold Yen (USD/JPY) at 103.99 is considered to be “long” the USD/JPY (pronounced “Dollar/Yen”). Quoting convention is to display one unit of the first currency in the pair expressed in terms of the second currency in the pair. By way of example, if the USD/JPY pair is quoted as 1.6433, this means that $1 is the equivalent of 1.6433 Japanese Yen.Regulation of the Forex MarketThe Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA) placed responsibility for overseeing and regulating the foreign exchange market with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Generally, if a brokerage company offers over-the-counter (OTC) foreign exchange trading to retail customers, it must be registered as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) is subject to strict capital requirements.So good luck and have fun and hopefully make some money.

How Advanced Advertising Through Digital Television Is Helping Broadcasters Towards Greater Revenue

Advertisement revenue has long been the life blood of independent broadcasting companies. However, advances in television technology, most specifically the arrival of interactive television, has meant the number of ways in which broadcasters can generate advertising revenue has increased, giving birth to advanced advertising methods. It has also meant that television, as a mode of advertisement, has been rejuvenated.Interactive television has been the most important development in broadcasting, but it has meant a greater range of advertising methods. Advertising has evolved thanks to the evolution of technology, with content targeted advertising, for example, now allowing advertisers to reach only those who are truly in the market.And, while ad insertion techniques allowed mass advertising to relevant audiences, such as products to local markets rather than a national spread, the development of dynamic ad insertion has brought further possibility through flexibility in advertisement broadcasting.Advanced technology has meant that advertising has become advanced also, with interactive capabilities on digital transmissions allowing viewers to choose, not only the programmes they want to watch, but also the advertisements to view. This freedom of choice arrived initially when the ability to skip advertisements was introduced, a feature that effectively replaced the desire to leave the room during ad breaks. This lack of love for the television advert has long been known by the industry, as has the knowledge that the effectiveness of a television ad was low.Returns on an investment in a traditional television advertisement campaign are low because the message is sent to everyone watching, a large proportion of which are simply not in the market. For example, if 2 million people are watching the Monday night film, only a tiny percentage of those are likely to be thinking about buying a new car. And, of that number, only a small percentage would be in the market to by a Lexus car. Therefore, Lexus can expect a low return on their television ad.However, thanks to targeted advertising on digital television services it is now possible for only those interested in a Lexus to choose to view the advertisement. Of course, the advertisement itself must still be created for a considerable cost, but the chances of a better return are significantly increased. This is because the ad is targeted at specific viewers, with viewers of a programme on the history of the motor car likely to be watched by people who have an interest in motor cars.By targeting this programme, there is a greater likelihood that viewers will be interested in buying a new car with advanced features, perhaps even a Lexus. Now, instead of a tiny percentage of 2 million viewers, a significant percentage of 2,000 viewers who have chosen to look at the advertisement will actually purchase or, at least, consider and enquire about purchasing the car.Ad insertion brings the advantage a step further, with viewers able to delve into further information through the digital capabilities of the set top box. Windows of information can be brought up, providing details on sales promotions in certain areas or regions, specifics of the particular Lexus shown in the advertisement, or even the full range of Lexus cars and their prices.In essence, the viewer can access a complete brochure through the digital platform. It is also possible for viewers to look at what other car manufacturers have to offer, with advertisements associated with the core topic the priority.Of course, the dynamic element of this advertising method means that there is an near endless list of advertisers for broadcasters to sell ad space to. The sense of ad space has changed from time to server presence, so instead of three car ads using up 90 seconds of broadcast time, seven times as many can be available to access at any time by viewers.With the benefits of advanced advertising clear to see, advertisers are quick to turn to the capabilities that interactive television is providing. But the advances in digital interactive television have created even more advertising opportunity.Not only has content targeted advertising meant that the rate of return on advertisements has been greatly improved, but the arrival of dynamic ad insertion now means that more companies can take advantage of programming relating to their own products. This, in turn, means the potential for an increase in advertisement revenue for broadcasters is there.

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