Go Shopping – Albert Cuyp Market

 Flowers  Comments Off on Go Shopping – Albert Cuyp Market
Mar 072024
 

Probably the most famous market in the Netherlands, this market twists most of the way down the pedestrian Albert Cuyp Straat in De Pijp area of Amsterdam near the Heineken Brewery. It receives over 20,000 visitors a day and almost twice of that on Saturday. The range of stuff here is amazing from wild game to furniture. It’s definitely worth a visit if one wants to pick up some bargains and great gifts.


Albert Cuyp is a mile-long, no-nonsense, 100-year-old street market. It is the place where locals stock up on food, flowers, clothes and philosophy six days a week. There is something very enjoyable about a market right in the middle of the street, where cars are banned and pedestrians rule. The market has nearly 300 vendors on both sides of the street facing a central aisle that runs down the middle of four blocks of Albert Cuypstraat. One can see – Kurds, Serbs and Cambodians alongside the ruddy old-timers selling and buying, it is a market as which is used for everyday larder, choosing from fruits and vegetables, fresh chickens on ice, and smoked and fresh fish. One can walk through Albert Cuyp and see a tourist, feeling, for just a moment, what it must be like to be a native. There is no pretension here, but value is everywhere.


Most of the stores on Albert Cuypstraat display their wares on the sidewalk and some even have market stalls. There are a lot of flower and plant merchants and clothing stores whose prices attract a regular following, and little cafes along the street selling local specialties. This is a good neighborhood to scout out the numerous cheap ethnic restaurants operated by recent immigrants.


Behind the Albert Cuyp street there are other shops with good deals on computers, pets, furniture, haircuts, and more. The Albert Cuypmarket has more then 400 stalls selling local and exotic foodstuffs, spices and teas, clothing new and second hand and thousands of different odds and ends. One can wander around, sampling the offerings, or look at the public. On this market you notice how international Amsterdam is – People from half of all countries shop and sell here.

Next Day Loans

 Flowers  Comments Off on Next Day Loans
Mar 062024
 

If you are a UK resident looking for the right loan for your needs, you need not look far. Two of the most important things when applying for a loan are researching all the possible options and actually applying for the loan. Imagine not having to leave the comforts of your home to do these things!


With NextDayLoans, you can find all the information you need about just every kind of loan you can imagine. The best part of it is that there is no need to leave your chair. NextDayLoans aims to arm UK residents with the proper information and knowledge they need before obtaining any kind of loan. NextDayLoans provides numerous articles that will help you choose the right type of loan for you. More than that, you can find reviews and data regarding some of the best loan providers in the UK. NextDayLoans also provides links to the most reliable and reputable loan providers you can find in the UK today. With NextDayLoans, you can rest assured that the choices presented to you are trustworthy and represent the best deals out there.


Your options are not limited with NextDayLoans. You can find information on traditional banks, building societies, online lenders, and other financial institutions. Furthermore, if you are already experience financial problems due to debts, you can find help within NextDayLoans’ website. Different organizations that give aid to UK residents are featured and tips on managing your finances are provided. If advice is what you need, NextDayLoans can help you with that. All you need to do is look up information on agencies such as Citizens Advice Bureaux and you will get all the help you need.
Are the numerous financial terms confusing you and making your head spin? Check the loan glossary that NextDayLoans has made available. It will explain terms and acronyms in simple words that the average person can understand.


Have you been turned down for a credit application and you feel that you need to know more about credit scores and reports? NextDayLoans will help you understand the ins and outs of credit scoring. You can even access links to further resources to help you get your credit report.


NextDayLoans is your newest guide to cheapest, fastest, and most reliable loans available in the market today. Whether you prefer your local bank, building society, or online loan providers, NextDayLoans will help you make wise decisions. Information is more than a commodity. It can serve as your tool in finding the best deal for you.


So why not start your journey with NextDayLoans. You don’t even have to get up and about. Let your fingers do the work for you!

Boost your Security with Biometry

 Flowers  Comments Off on Boost your Security with Biometry
Mar 052024
 

Fingerprinting has long been a reliable method of identifying people. This biological trait is unique to each individual. To obtain a fingerprint a dye had to be placed on the thumb and an impression had to be made. To determine the pattern fingerprinting experts were needed. These experts took a long time in comparing fingerprints and identifying matching ones. With the advent of computers comparison became easier and faster.


Biometry as it is commonly known has come a long way now. Biological characteristics such as iris patterns, retinal imaging, face geometry, hand geometry, vocal frequency characteristics, signature characteristics and even gait characteristics are now a part of biometry. Biometric technologies use these various characteristics to identify an individual. They have been claims that the many other biometric procedures are unique to an individual. Proving this claim is next to impossible. Research and practical application of these technologies have not produced similar readings so far and so it is sufficient to assume that they are unique. Each biometric application is suitable for a particular application.


Biometrics can be used to identify people. The techniques that are presently used are not as intrusive or do not need cooperation as with the fingerprinting technique. To confirm the identity of a person is all that is needed. Biometric technology offers that possibility. It is unlike a security pass that can be stolen or a password that can be guessed or broken using brute force. Biometry also does not depend on secrecy like passwords.


Security environments can use biometry effectively. The biometric identity of a person is scanned and stored. Whenever the person enters the office building or a premise requiring security the biometric is scanned again and compared with the record to confirm their identity. The biometric form of identification is a foolproof and quicker way of identifying a person compared to the manual system but requires high quality of data if database searches are to give accurate results.


Use of Biometrics

ID scanners are already being used in access control. For identification of individuals Fingerprint scanners and photos have been effectively used. Biometry is a whole lot wider than these. Information systems security, Access control security in various buildings and premises that require security, Law and order department of the government are where biometrics security implementation could be useful. Large-scale application would be to replace the present fingerprinting and signature system with biometry. The criminal justice system, social security system, Immigration and national security could be places where biometric form of identification could play a big role.


Fingerprinting is already a form a biometric identification that has been in place for a very long time. Ink fingerprints are already fed to automated systems. Face recognition systems are also in use with photography and digital databases of photos being maintained. Face recognition technology is a more covert operation than that of fingerprinting. The individual’s cooperation is not necessary. The photo could be obtained through the various CCTV cameras and then a run on the various databases could be carried out.


Vital Issues


    How effective is fingerprinting if the skin is damaged or greasy?
    If the lighting is variable then facial features are different?
    Photos and facial features change with age.
    Is Iris and Retina scan security effective? Can contact lenses be etched with a false iris image?
    Will the issue of privacy of an individual affect biometric application?
    Retinal scan can also turn up possibilities of health defects, if this information fell into unscrupulous hands it could create more problems.



Biometrics could significantly change the way identification and security is achieved. Maximizing the benefits with regard to civil liberties is a major challenge that has to be dealt with.



David Casper is the webmaster of the website http://www.officearmor.com that deals with complete security for your office and other premises. Various aspects of biometric security like Access control security , finger print scanner etc. are elaborated here.

Real Estate Investing Tips

 Flowers  Comments Off on Real Estate Investing Tips
Feb 252024
 

Beginning a hobby or career in real estate investing doesn’t have to be so
complicated or such hard work if you will only begin with what you have, right
where you are at this moment.

Look for someone who really needs to sell their home and solve their
problem. One of the fastest solutions if they are about to lose the house is to
take over their payments on a subject-to contract. By giving them some
walking money, they can afford to move and still have the cash to rent another
home.

Then, clean up the property, lease it out to a future buyer on a rent-to-own
basis which is called a Lease/Option. You get to collect an up-front, non-
refundable deposit. Three to five percent of the future purchase price is a good
figure to shoot for. You can actually do this every month and make some
additional cash, or concentrate on this method as a full time lifestyle.

Have the renter/buyer sign a contract. You pocket the difference between what
you’re paying the original owner and the amount you’re collecting from the
new renter/buyer. The spread is higher on nice, expensive homes in great
neighborhoods, so don’t be afraid to search in these areas.

This is a good method of collecting extra cash flow every month. There is no
limit to the number of these deals you can do other than your time and effort.

Call on every ¡°For Rent¡± ad in the local paper and just ask if they would be
willing to sell the property in a couple of years if you sign a long-term lease. If
you get a yes, negotiate a fair purchase price, sign a contract and find a
renter/buyer. It really is that simple. Of course, you want to have a lawyer
check out the contracts on the first deal to protect both parties.

Try to get at least $150 more per month than you are paying. Also get a
minimum of $1000 above and beyond what you have paid out as the option
deposit. You don’t want to be working for free, do you?

Let’s look at some figures from actual lease/options. A couple were behind on
their notes because he lost his job, and she didn’t make enough to pay all the
living expense. The stress was causing marital problems and they wanted to
sell, but the house stayed on the market for six months with no takers.

They were getting desperate when a neighbor mentioned the situation to her
church group. One of the group’s members had a son who was looking for a
house that could be leased with an option to purchase in a few years. He and
his wife didn’t have a lot of money for a down payment, but they knew that
buying was better than renting.

After looking at the property, they decided it would be a perfect first home if
they could manage the financing. The couple offered $1000 as a non-
refundable option deposit, if the current owners would give them two years to
qualify for a new mortgage. The timing was right and the current owners
accepted the offer. The monthly payment they agreed on was $200 less than
similar house rentals in the area.

Both couples were happy and they signed contracts for the deal the next day.
The new couple didn’t even move in. They saw an opportunity to make some
quick cash and a good monthly cash flow, so they lease/optioned the house to
another couple for $5000 down with payments that were $300 above their
obligation.

If this new couple closes on the deal in 1 year, they will have earned $5,000
up front and $3,600 over the course of the year in monthly cash flow. By the
way, the sales price was $12,000 higher than what they had agreed to pay the
original owners. Added up this equals $20,600 for just a few hours work.

These deals exist in every town in the world. You can do these until you build
up your bankroll and monthly cash flow. There are no geographical limits.
Travel the world doing deals, living where you please and life is no longer on
a budget.

Go online to get the best contract phone deal

 Flowers  Comments Off on Go online to get the best contract phone deal
Feb 242024
 


When my mobile rings at the moment there is a roughly 50/50 chance that it is some poor sales guy offering me a ‘fantastic’ deal on a new mobile phone. This annual ritual of advances and declines that takes place every July can mean only one thing. My mobile phone contract is due for renewal. In recent weeks I’ve had numerous calls, direct mail and e-mail marketing from various companies trying to win me over as a new contract mobile phone customer. To be honest, I would have been tempted just to roll over my current contract and stick with my mobile network provider had they themselves not shoved a deluge of frankly confusing ‘great deals’ through my letter box. I read through these and found myself without any clue as to which of the contract mobile deals would suit me best.

Perhaps I am becoming less intelligent by the day or is it just that the mobile network providers are vying for customers so hard that they end up confusing us with an ever increasing array of complicated payment structures? At around that time I decided to do things by the book. Firstly I dumped the direct mail in the bin and deleted messages from peaky sales centres. I then visited the website of Ofcom for advice on how to go about finding the best contract phone deals.

The information from Ofcom was simple and straight forward and gave me a good place to start. I made a list of my usage and lifestyle points to structure the basics of the mobile phone deal that I’d need. I then looked through previous itemised bills to find how much text messaging I was going and looked at other areas such as downloading and came up with a ‘package’ that suited my usage. The next thing was to go out there and find contract phone deal that matched up closely with my ‘package’.

So again I tried the web figuring it to be a little more unbiased than going through the more marketing focused communication channels. There was some good stuff online – lots of information from review sites on customer service of the major networks and reviews of handsets that proved pretty useful. This helped me figure out the handset I wanted and so I progressed to the purchase stage of my search for a new contract phone. In the end I went to an online reseller who deals with the major networks ad phone manufacturers. Their site had a tool which basically allowed you to create your own contract moblie phone deal with the handset and monthly payment structure that suits. I picked the handset that I wanted on the contract that I wanted and ended up with an I-Pod as a free gift into the bargain.

This is really the first time that I’ve used the web to compare product and services. I plan on doing it again – next up electricity and gas prices!

Money Saving Tips to Remember Before Planning That Vacation

 Flowers  Comments Off on Money Saving Tips to Remember Before Planning That Vacation
Feb 222024
 

Everybody knows that planning a nice get a way can be very expensive due to the cost of gas, the time of year, the location and food. Here are some tips to consider before packing up and hitting the road.

Make Plans Online

Many travel websites, such as www.orbitz.com, www.expedia.com and www.hotels.com offer great deals in airfare and hotel. They also offer packages that include airfare, hotel and a rental car. Consolidating all these options into one package is cheaper than paying individually for them in most situations.

Expedia is now featuring a New York City summer vacation package offering airfare plus three nights at the Milford Plaza located within one block of 14 Broadway theatres for as low as $527 a person. You have the option to ad a 90 minute harbor cruise for $22.

Orbitz is offering airfare plus three nights in Montego Bay, Jamaica for as low as $522 a person.

Road Trips

Rent a vehicle: If your travel destination is cross country, it may be smart to rent a car. Renting a car is cheaper than the wear and tear you would have to pay on the vehicle you own. Many car rental places offer coupons to upgrade to larger and more comfortable vehicles.

Eating out: Having to eat every single meal at a restaurant on a road trip can add up very quickly. Try taking advantage of the complimentary breakfast your hotel may be offering. Also, when you are choosing restaurants, see if they have a discounted children’s menu if you are traveling with the family or daily specials.

Attractions and Theme Parks: It may be smart to take advantage of multi-day passes, which is way cheaper than buying single day passes each day. Universal Studios Orlando has a package that offers unlimited admission to both Universal Orlando theme parks for up to five consecutive days for two adults and two kids. A three day rental car from Dollar Rental Car is included in the package. This offer is available for $139 per adult. Also, if you have infants, bring your own stroller to these theme parks. Renting strollers can cost you up to $10 a day.

Purchases: Everyone knows when they bring their children on a vacation, everything they lay their eyes on; they want you to buy it for them. Set aside a certain amount of money for the kids to spend. If you do that, they will have to make tough decisions on what they want and will make them spend their money more carefully. As for you adults, why pay $8 for a cocktail pool side when you can purchase alcohol at a nearby neighborhood store? You can make cocktails in your hotel room and pour into a plastic cup to bring down to the pool.

Check out other attractions: You do not have to spend every minute of your vacation at a theme park. Try less expensive attractions. Go visit the local museum or take a tour of the city. Site seeing can sometimes be more enjoyable than sardine packed theme parks, plus they are a lot less expensive.

Renting Furniture As A Practical Option

 Flowers  Comments Off on Renting Furniture As A Practical Option
Feb 202024
 

High prices of furniture and office equipment are the most common obstacles any start up or home-base business face. With the current trend of setting up home businesses, it is still important to maintain a degree of functionality and professional appeal to your home office. After all, clients might want to meet with you at your office and you surely don’t want them to see you slump in your kitchen chair. They may not want to close deals on the counter top or the kitchen table. They surely cannot wait until your city office has been fully set-up and furnished. Buying furniture is only a practical option if you intend to keep your business at home forever. But if you’re waiting for the set up of your true office and want to keep doing business at home for the meantime you might want to try furniture rentals, furniture leasing, and equipment rentals.

There are certain advantages to furniture rentals, furniture leasing, and equipment rentals. First, no large payments. You get to minimize expenditures if you only plan to rent the item for short periods. This is an especially good option for renting audio-visual equipments for home presentations or an extra computer while yours is still being fixed. Also, you can use top quality equipment for minimum rent. A high grade equipment which you could not normally afford for your own office can be rented for a fraction of its cost for a period of time. Second, you have the unlimited access to the machine or furniture for the period you rent it. You don’t have to worry about moving it in with you come relocation time or finding a buyer that can give you a good deal. Third, business usually get easier credit for renting or leasing an equipment than for purchasing it. Because the financing company or leasing company maintains the ownership of your furniture or equipment, there is a lower need for additional forms of security. This translates to higher acceptance rates.

When you consider buying larger articles for furniture or office equipment you risk incurring payments or loans amounting to thousands of dollars. This will put a huge dent on your credit limit. With the proliferation of furniture rentals, furniture leasing, and equipment rental shops in the market and online, renting or leasing furniture and equipment is a viable and practical option.

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