According to several interviews, DJ Ruth Flowers learned how to spin at the tender age of 65 during her grandson’s birthday party. But she’s no stranger to music. DJ Granny is a trained singer and it took year 4 long years to become a really great spinner.

Flowers’ sets are fusion of techno and dance peppered with rock by the likes of Queen and the Rolling Stones. She is now doing her first single and believe it or not she has no plans to retire yet!

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If you’re looking to improve tourism in your city perhaps having a giant crossword puzzle is the answer. At least, for people of Lvov City in Ukraine that’s their strategy. They set up a 100 feet tall giant crossword at the wall of residential houses. What makes it even interesting is during morning it looks empty but when you visit at night you will see there are answers written!

The questions on this puzzle are scattered around the major stops of the city including theaters, fountains, monuments. etc. The idea is to create a sense of adventure for people to go and visit these great spots so they can find all the questions and answer it in front of the building. Better yet, wait at night to check if their answers are correct.

Quite an interesting yet odd concept to lure people to the city. Then again, the combination of curiosity and adventure is really hard to resist!

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The infamous movie critic site, RottenTomatoes, have a combined Alice in Wonderland ratings of 54%! The consensus? Critics believe Tim Burton’s Alice sacrifices the book’s minimal narrative coherence — and much of its heart — but it’s an undeniable visual treat. Despite the not so favorable feedback, the movie managed to set a new record for March openings in North America as it earned around $41 million just on opening day.

Here are some reviews from different sites:

Gorgeously mounted but fundamentally humdrum, Tim Burton’s movie achieves sumptuous beauty with ease but fails to connect on a full-bodied emotional level, making for a pleasant but somewhat empty ride. -- from Screen International

The movie’s strengths are the costumes, the makeup, the production design, the special effects, the vocal work and a terrific musical score by Danny Elfman that has a quality of magic and wonderment missing from the screenplay. -- Entertainment Spectrum

…the visuals are overwhelming, the direction to most of the cast seems to be to chew the scenery, and we’re back to a movie being released in 3D for no discernible reason. -- New England Movies Weekly

Alice is a really good time, as well as a great example of how 3-D can be effectively used as a tool to immerse us in imaginary worlds. -- Aisle Seat

Then again, critics criticize because that’s their job. The best way to find out if these Alice in Wonderland ratings are true is to see it for yourself.

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Starting today, Brook and Dunn tickets are on sale for their last show entitled “The Last Rodeo Tour”. The American country song duo will say goodbye to their fans after 20 long years of entertaining fans around the globe.

Ticket price for the show ranges from $19 to $65. The dynamic duo is considered one of the most successful collaborations in the history of music. If you remember, legendary singers Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn announced last summer that they would go to different paths after a nationwide tour in 2010. Last fall, they released their greatest hits compilation and this year they will perform these songs in different cities and states.

As early as today, some ticket buyers are complaining about high ticket prices from online sites like TicketMaster. Some tickets go as high as $1,000 per seat! Imagine the ripoff fans will face in the coming days!

The futuristic Houston Dome project is creating a big buzz in the online community for its amazing design and controversial impact to human society. Some experts say it will help save United States’ 4th largest city from natural disasters such as extreme heat and violent hurricanes. On the other hand, human rights activists believe this is a huge prison that will curtail freedom.

As featured in Discovery Channel, a team of engineers believe the only strategy to save the troubled city is to move it indoors. It’s estimated that this dome is around 21 million sq feet -- making it the biggest structure with roof in the whole world.

House Dome project will use panels over 147,000 panels to cover the city but the main concern is that using using glass or plexiglass would make the whole dome extremely heavy and dangerous to the people. The solution is to use ethylene tetra fluoro ethylene (ETFE) -- a lightweight transparent and very strong polymer that can withstand strong winds of 180 miles per hour.

To date, the project remains a concept due to so many variables as well as technical and social issues to consider. For one, financial issue is one of the biggest concern for it will cost billions of dollars not to mention the time to make this dream a reality.

I’ve found an interesting video about this Houston Dome project and its social issues.

The two main gift basket markets would be the individual gift-giver and also the business customer. Each tend to be profitable and also interesting to do.

The individual gift-giver is a oftimes a woman. The reason for this is that guys might purchase a gift basket, however they generally just think about it right after they have seen one. Women purchase lots of gift baskets than men for wives, mothers and girlfriends typically presume the obligation of shopping for presents on behalf of men of their lives, even if the receiver is the guy’s buddies, family members or even co-workers.

Business clients, on the other hand, are excellent buyers. The majority of companies own lengthy gift lists, and in addition they purchase year-round, not only in the course of the holiday seasons. They frequently appreciate employee promotions, anniversaries, retirements and birthdays during the entire year. Many also present gifts to clients throughout the calendar year.

In terms of product offerings, most small businesses carry standard baskets and custom baskets. The ratio depends entirely on the nature of gift baskets you’re selling and behavior of your target market.

Standard baskets include things like toiletry and bath, wedding party and baby shower, and gourmet food baskets can have demos you can display to potential buyers. If the items are nonperishable, it is possible to assemble and hold several of them to reduce your work expenses and to let you ask for cheaper selling prices for these types of gifts.

The majority of gift basket vendors provide the variety of standard and custom made baskets. Custom baskets could be a made-from-scratch agreement, or perhaps a deviation on one of your regular products.

The beauty of a gift basket business is that offers you many options where to locate your day-to-day function and how to get it started. It is possible to choose to retail store, a stockroom area, or to work at home. Regardless of your specific location, you may promote in person, through teleordering, on the world wide web or use a mix of these strategies.

Due to the space needed to keep stock and put together baskets, home-based gift basket firms will quickly realize their own expansion is restricted by its existing space or room. Regardless of whether this is a dilemma would depend on your individual objectives.

In case you are trying to build a large business along with numerous workers and yield thousands and thousands of dollars every year in product sales, you will need a business establishment. In case your aim is just a small venture that makes an appropriate earnings to suit your needs, staying at home often is the ideal arrangement.

Based on Gift Basket Review mag, the chosen forms of advertising and marketing of all the well-known gift basket companies are networking or word-of-mouth; phone listing; direct mail; pamphlets; and classifieds advertisements.

Direct-mail advertising and marketing is definitely an outstanding program for gift basket firms. One business owner sends a postcard to her full customer base at the start of each and every calendar month. If there is a holiday during that period, the greeting card centers on gift suggestions for that holiday. If it is a no-holiday month, the greeting card may deal with birthdays or a part of her small business that is quite sluggish.

Bring a number of literature and small business cards to give to folks in elevators, hallways as well as on the street who might stop and comment on the basket you are holding.

There is certainly no small business where customer satisfaction operates much better as a marketing program compared to gift baskets. You’ll have loads of chance to work together with your clients; make the most of every contact to show your exceptional service. After that take it a step further. For instance, one business proprietor we know sends handwritten thank-you notes to completely new clients, buyers she hasn’t seen in a while, and shoppers who put exclusive purchases.

And here’s a great example of smartphones’ role in small business courtesy of Jackson Comfort Systems.

The owner of Jackson Comfort Systems in Northfield, Ohio, once tried out a credit card processing service from Nextel, but her technicians hated the bulky phones it required. Then she looked into options from AirCharge and United Bank Card, but those services were pricey: up to $250 for portable credit card machines and $25 per month, per truck for wireless service.

Eventually, she asked her 27 technicians to simply write down customer credit card numbers. Payments would get processed in her office. But that led to errors and higher credit card fees. Plus, customers didn’t like it.

“It was frustrating,” says Jackson. “We pride ourselves on good customer service, and that meant we weren’t giving it.”

But in May, Jackson received a flyer telling her about a new service called GoPayment from Intuit (INTU). For $20 per month, Jackson’s technicians can use their existing cell phones and text messaging services to process payments. Instead of waiting weeks to get paid, Jackson Comfort Systems gets its money on the spot.

Paying with plastic has been the norm for years, but for many small businesses like Jackson’s that operate remotely, it has been an elusive benefit. Out on the road, options were limited: buy cumbersome machines for hundreds of dollars, call the office with credit card numbers, or simply miss a sale by refusing to take credit cards.

Now, photographers, contractors, limo drivers and dog trainers — any business that operates remotely — can find a wealth of new software to process credit cards on mobile phones.

Apple’s (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone has been a big driver, with a slew of new applications popping up in the last year. Users type a credit card number and expiration date into the phone, and have the customer “sign” on the phone’s screen.

“Now we have some small businesses that are running their whole businesses off the iPhone,” says Derek Del Conte, co-founder of Inner Fence, which developed the first iPhone application for processing credit cards.

Inner Fence’s app costs 99 cents to download and then $25 a month. Each transaction costs 25 cents, plus 2.09% to 3.79% for fees charged by the credit card companies. The app also lets business owners issue refunds, review prior sales and email PDF receipts of their transactions.

GoPayment, the service that Jackson uses, requires a $60 setup fee and a $20 monthly fee, plus a $0.23 per-transaction fee and 1.64% to 3.54% for credit card processing fees.

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The increasing interest in handheld point-of-sale terminals isn’t any big surprise. This set of end users is made up mostly of business people who really need to travel for business but would like to provide credit and debit card payment alternatives for their buyers.

Mobile credit card processing equipment make it possible for vendors to process credit card payments easily and safely, wherever they head out. These types of terminals present mobility and transaction versatility, enabling them to make use of several gadgets to process swiped bank card dealings or e-commerce product sales via online-based payment gateways. On top of that, using a handheld unit to process settlement transactions allow these vendors to benefit from a reduced, low priced fee when compared with keyed entries.

Mobile terminals can easily catch card details offline and save orders for later transmission, an essential advantage for retailers who end up in distant areas. But will your small business profit using this solutions? It will depend on your merchandise and services and also the forms of payment methods that best serve your customers and prospects.

Mobile credit card processing solutions at the moment consists of multifunctional units in which merge mobile handsets, Smartphones and point-of-sale transaction terminals along with different peripheral devices and software package, making it possible for vendors to assimilate a number of bits of point-of-sale machines into a single device. This minimizes the acquisition of repetitive equipment, delivers a hassle-free solution for carrying out various small business chores and presents vendors an opportunity to monitor a purchase from virtually any place.

The transaction period for processing a credit card using a mobile port can in reality be less than with a conventional land-line port, with respect to the coverage and the kind of portable gadget. A number of handheld programs enable sellers to transfer their cashier and check-out areas to virtually any spot inside the shop, in contrast to a permanent site which is linked to a land line and also a power source.

Vendors who are hesitant to get away from their own wired terminals might favor attaching external units, for instance those supplied by U.S. Wireless Data, AIRPAL and IVI Checkmate, that alter regular land-line terminals into mobile devices. When plugged into ordinary terminals and mobile phones, these types of gadgets function as handheld terminals and let retailers to get the best of both worlds – the ease and freedom of a mobile port yet the range of a wired one.

Numerous providers supply economical peripheral devices and computer software, such as Scanning Systems and LinkPoint International, which could transform any kind of PDA directly into a transaction-processing port. These types of mobile credit card processing equipment provide vendors the possibility to swipe clients’ credit cards or take e-commerce purchases via Net gateways.

When you check out the world of mobile solutions, be sure the port you buy provides the following advantages:

• Service for debit, credit, charge and stored-value cards, along with loyalty marketing programs.
• Capacity to process protected ATM/debit card orders.
• Assistance for Address Confirmation Service.
• Electronic benefits transfer (EBT) functions.
• Integrated network modem (and the power to compliment extra networks).
• Built-in thermal printer together with drop-in paper loading.
• Capability to hook up to peripheral devices, including barcode wands and check scanners, via an RS-232 program.
• Easy-to-read backlit LCD display that supports non-English fonts.
• Long-lasting, standard rechargeable electric battery pack.

This is merely a starting peek in to the broad universe of mobile credit card processing equipment as well as their complementary peripheral devices and software program. Before buying one, connect with other business people who employ these, read industry reports and also ask for product document from the suppliers. Search past the technology and chose the wireless port that perfectly agrees with your small business requirements

How is it possible for a small business phone service to make this kind of impressive mix of price and value? Because of new technological know-how that let calls be transferred over IP (Internet Protocol) networks, as well as the Web 2.0 advancements. Together, these changes have altered the characteristics of the small business phone program.

There are 3 reasons why countless organizations feel that small business phone service is the ideal method for 2010 onwards:

1. No or low cash expense. As opposed to laying out great amounts of dollarsin advance as a capital cost, you can pay as you go and chargethe service as an working expense
2. Cheaper operational fees. There is no software program and very little components to buy to begin with.
3. Very easy to combine with other devices

There are actually three small business phone functions and applicationsthat can support your organization be a lot more effective even more efficient:

• Call logs. By using a call log with a small company telephone program has many rewards. Some organisations utilize this feature to monitor message or calls for charging purposes. Other companies use call logs included in their small business phone system to track qualified prospects, call backs and deals. This will checkthe success of special campaigns or ensure correct billing.
• 24/7 auto-attendant. With this small business phone capability, business owners can be assured that calls are responded to no matter what time of day they come in. By using this telephone function means each and every phone call gets properly screened and routed, and that messages are sent to the right individual on auto-pilot.
• Internet fax. As part of a small business phone service, Internet fax is a real productivity-enhancer. Businesses use this to send and receive essential agreements in the business office or on-the-go. By choosing a phone system with built-in Internet fax, organizations save both time and cash.

Things to Keep away from When Selecting Small Business Telephone Program

• Steer clear of long-term legal agreements. The normal small business phone service contract lasts for one year. Considering that charges shift frequently – generally to our favor – you really don’t want to be locked in at a more expensive monthly fee.
• No technical service. Make certain you know who to call if you will need help, both during regular business time and even other times your company is open. You cannot afford to lose clients mainly because your telephone service is down.

I sincerely hope you find this article about small business phone service very useful in choosing a service fit to your business demands. The great thing about this is that advances in telecommunication will favor the little guys like us.

Women usually bring a somewhat different set of assets to the table when looking for financing. Because of this, small business financial loans for women became ever more popular and successful. These credits, which may cost approximately $250,000 or higher, typically deal with the weight of the overall business plan and also the woman’s a unique character, credit rating, expertise and dependability. The forms is as comprehensive as that of a regular small business equity loan, but its emphasis is somewhat distinct.

See the details below to discover where to look for loans, scholarships, and other sources of financing.

• Small Business Administration (Office of Women’s Business Ownership) (www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness) – The SBA is doing more than ever to assist level the playing field for women business owners, who still confront specific hurdles in the world of small business. At every single point of developing and extending a prosperous company, the Office of Women’s Business Ownership is here to counsel, instruct, inspire and inspire. Take a look at their “Hot List” of outside resources.
• American Association of University Women. (www.aauw.org) – This institution is without doubt one of the premier private options of capital for graduate women across the country, helps aspiring scholars world wide, lecturers and activists in local communities, women at very important phases of their jobs, and those going after vocations where women are not greatly represented.
• The Women’s Funding Network. (www.wfnet.org) – Encourages the improvement and growth of women’s fundsthat enable women and girls by fostering ideal alliances among women, donors, communities and associations.
• The Ada Project for Women (TAP). (http://tap.mills.edu) – Features tips on conferences, discussion organizations, establishments, fellowships, grants, and famous women in computer science.
• Financial Women International. (www.fwi.org) - Gives info on professional improvement, information sharing, peer social networking, mentoring, leadership improvement, and career growth for women.

You can as well find business grants for women who desire to begin a small home-based business. These loan are fashioned especially for women with little kids who want to remain at home with their children but still need an ongoing revenue. Loan amounts ranges from $1,000 to $10,000. They, too, need a business plan and additional accreditation, although applications generally are not as quite hard as those for bigger financial loans.

Additionally, small business loans to women can normally be a very good investment for loan companies. Women usually bring in specific expertise and management styles to business that may be lucrative. Additionally, in some fields like architecture and construction, businesses owned or operated by women are sought after – not because of the fact that of their minority status to complete a legal requirement and also because women provide a different mindset on the job.

It’s important to take note that women are now helping to finance other women’s business ventures. Those who’ve paved the way by establishing and owning their own enterprise now understand that other women-owned organizations as excellent investments. You’ll even find venture capital groups these days composed exclusively of women with the aim of investing in only women’s organisations.

I hope you check out these highly recommended sites specifically focused on small business grants for women. With these particular financial loans, it is easy to rely on your different points of views, experiences and resources being regarded highly by creditors offering them. Keep in mind, financing for your dream business might be just around the corner.