1. iDirect Platform:

This is a proven Enterprise platform which provides a wide range of dependable speeds for most any business, government or heavy use individual. Download speeds from 64 kbps to over 2000 kbps and Upload speeds from 64 kbps to over 1000 kbps are available. The platform supports “shared bandwidth” or guaranteed “QOS” bandwidth at much higher pricing. In the U.S. a 1.2 meter dish is standard.
Equipment Cost: Equipment - A 2 watt system will cost about $2,700 installed. A 4 watt system is about $4,300 installed.
Monthly Service: A minimum circuit is about $250. A typical setup of 1000/256 kbps is $499 per month for a shared bandwidth-no FAP setup. For about $350 per month you can get 2000/500 kbps service with a 3 GB throughput allowance per month. There is a cost of $.09 per MB thereafter. The “shared bandwidth” package is far more predictable with the iDirect platform than with DirecWay or Starband setup’s. You can expect to see the advertised speeds 85 % of the time or better.

2. Surfbeam Platform:

This product is in the process of being introduced in America. Surfbeam uses the same platform basically that a cable or DSL provider would use, except it is satellite internet. It is much less expensive than “Enterprise” grade systems. There is only one provider ready to launch this platform in the U.S. and they should begin shipping equipment by April 1, 2005. In most cases a 1.2 meter dish will be utilized with a 2-3 watt transmitter. Download speeds of 1500 kbps and uploads in excess of 500 kbps are the advertised speeds; however, this hasn’t been verified in the field as of this article date.
Equipment Cost: Ranging from $1,295 - $1,995 including installation.
Monthly Service: Ranging from $95 - $400.

3. Starband 484 Platform U.S. :

This is the “beefed up” version of Starband service designed to attract small businesses and heavy individual users. This is DVB (digital video broadcast) technology which is converted to IP - the conversion process is the problem. It adds to overall latency and even with higher upload speeds than their consumer products (they advertise “up to” 256 kbps in Turbo Max mode- unclear what that really is), they don’t support VNP traffic or VOIP connections. Download speeds are listed as up to 20 times faster than dialup…whatever that means. Dish size is 24″x36″ and transmitter strength not given.
Equipment Cost: $900 + shipping + installation (price not given)
Monthly Service: $160

4. DirecWay Business Plus Service (U.S. only):

This is the DirecWay “beefed up” version of service. The only meaningful difference between this platform and the Starband setup above is DirecWay has more experience “massaging” the DVB conversion to IP and possibly more advanced acceleration techniques. They will support some types of VPN and VOIP, but it requires expensive equipment ($2,000+) to be placed at the satellite location and at Headquarters for a VPN circuit- often to the chagrin of the IT department at HQ. Inadequate upload speeds for heavy VPN “chatty” programs still plague this platform.
You can expect download speeds ranging from 800 kbps to 1500 kbps or more. Upload speeds range from 29 kbps to 90 kbps. This system uses a .98 meter dish and 1 watt transmitter.
Equipment Cost: $900 + $375 installation (shipping included)
Monthly Service: $129+

5. Ka Band Satellite Internet:

When this technology becomes available the summer of 2005, it could literally shake the foundation of the satellite internet world - or not! It is a technology that has been many years and over 1.5 Billion dollars in the making. There will be 30 spot beams aimed at the U.S. and 5 used by uplink centers with the initial satellite (Telesat’s Anik F2) which will be operated by Wildblue Communications, a Denver, Co. based company.
It is being targeted to small business operators and consumers in rural areas through a network of rural electric operators (NRTC) initially and through two national distributors as the year progresses. If it works as advertised it will permit telecommuters to successfully VPN into home office much like they would with a cable or DSL connection - except at somewhat slower speeds (due to about 500ms of latency). Still, it has a lot of promise for the small businessman. They will not offer an Enterprise solution for some time- if ever.
With a satellite dish about the size of a trashcan lid (.67 meters) and a two watt transmitter, users will be able to download at speeds up to 1500 kbps and upload at speeds ranging from 128 kbps to 256 kbps.
Equipment Cost: $300-$500 Installation: $ ??
Monthly Service: Three plans with varying download speeds

$49 - 500 kbps download speeds

$69 - 1000 kbps

$79 - 1500 kbps
It is unclear whether the upload speeds shown above will apply to all service levels.

At this time, I am recommending that small and medium businesses needing connectivity right away, go with the more proven iDirect platform. You can learn more about it and other offerings at www.vsatus.com or email sales@vsatus.com .

About the Author:

Randy Scott is the founder of VSAT U.S., a Colorado based sales and consulting firm which provides VSAT satellite internet platforms to business and heavy individual users throughout the America’s and most of the world. Randy has over 10 years experience in the high technology field, both in bi-directional satellite internet and industrial computer hardware as a business owner and Sr. Sales Engineer. You can reach Randy by email: sales@vsatus.com or toll free@ 1-866-978-4613.

Bringing their brand names into the sector could allow them to charge greater prices. With computers being classed like commodities this is a great profit stream for them. Companies of that sort are aware they can get purchasers to buy laptops at high prices providing they market it well. Surely this would be the death of local resellers? With the resources at their disposal they can effortlessly finish the smaller competition. Big manufacturers can leverage their brand names to effortlessly win purchasers over.

I believe they surely are introducing some of the best laptops out today. This is possibly the remaining advantage that local companies can give that the established companies cannot. This is a big sales proposition that must be said. This kind of prospect is generally well educated in the technical details and is able to compare the specs. For this sort of niche, the specifications are generally more sought after than the design.

All game players agree that it is a good change. A method that the local companies may utilise is to cut markup in to sell more units. I mention that with a high degree of uncertainty however. New innovations are constantly being launched and that should hold costs relatively high. It is tough to tell what will occur now that the big manufacturers have become involved in making gaming notebooks.

Reusable air filters can be used repeatedly and you do not need to worry about poor performance wither. High performance air filters are basically the things that do their job in race cars - and they will also do it well in your driving machine. As the airflow towards the engine is improved, you will notice a better response to the acceleration pedal. Apart from the extra horse power, performance air filters will also improve your fuel burning ration and thus your overall fuel economy. More power and less gas burned - this part is a must have for any serious driver.

Power chips often replace your car’s computer chip or enhance it with a power programmer. These are designed to change the stock settings and variables your engine runs on and improve horse power and thrust. The factory limitations can be overridden and this brings you quite a lot of extra power for a very little financial effort.

Cold air intakes work well in combination with performance air filters. They suck in colder air and help the engine work at maximum efficiency. They allow an increase in horse power and they also make the engine sound better for sport enthusiasts.

Performance exhausts allow the gases produced by the engine to get out of the exhaust system faster. This means that the engine has more room to harness the full power of its components and yet another boost in acceleration can be achieved. A small exhaust simply doesn’t have the physical room to allow gases to be eliminated at an appropriate rate, so performance exhausts come in to make things better. Not only will they help torque and acceleration, they also help your engine burn les fuel due to a better-balanced exhaust.

Stock parts are not always the best choice for your vehicle. Because of today’s competitive car market, manufacturers are forced to lower their prices in order to stay on top, and this often leads to cuts in the quality of some stock car parts. Aftermarket performance parts are designed so that your power and torque are allowed to develop at a proper level while your fuel emissions are kept well below the maximum allowable limit.

Copyright 2006 Jason Bibb

It’s very important to choose the correct high performance auto parts for your car in order to make your automobile more efficieny, so choosing the right auto performance part is crucial. Visit http://www.racingzilla.com for more information on performance auto parts.

Property can be located all over the world nowadays, one of the most exclusive areas being properties on the market in France. It should be no big challenge to list a slew of the phenomenal properties for sale in France, one reason for picking property here being a combination of the houses and apartments you can purchase and the terrific possibility of spending your life amongst this vibrant population. This is one of the most favored regions nowadays, and with the overall attractiveness and great sunshine that surrounds you round the clock, how could you conceivably go wrong. Property in France is steeped in history, this realm of the world is and has always been home to numerous civilizations.

The Property Index site has a vast range of property for sale in France, view the range online.

Just twenty years ago you’d find just a dribble of Britons looking for properties in France. Just ask anyone who has relocated to France and they’ll tell you the same thing. Many would prefer to see it as a short-lived fad and others prefer to see it as a that’s nearly a fixation. People interested in removing over here will typically range from yuppie couples who are looking for a perspective to the older generation who intend to put their feet up and enjoy themselves. Do bear in mind, however, that there could be catches when attempting to purchase properties in a foreign country — there are obviously hundreds of procedures to ponder be it when devising a plan, touring or buying. If you miss out on a single action this can definitely generate great catches plus, critically, a failed investment.

Obviously, as is to be supposed with this fashionable region, properties may be high priced in this region which is naturally a consequence of the increasing demand. Despite this customers are spoilt in a place so richly blessed by tremendous panorama. Truly it’s got almost all a client could wish for, etc.

I called one of my mentors recently about a new idea I was exploring to promote my business. It concerned promoting one day seminars which would require an investment of $50,000 each. I explained that although I was new at this aspect of the business, I was working with someone who had done similar.

His suggestion was “Drew, you’ve got to plan to do at least three or four of those events before you work out the kinks. Be prepared to lose money on the first few.” In other words don’t do the event if its overall success depends on you getting it right the first time. No one gets anything 100% right the first time through.

Here’s what happened. The first event lost over $20,000. We made some changes to the format and the second event broke even. It was only after the third event that we got the system to the point where it made money.

If I had gone with the “I’ll give it one try” approach, we would have failed. Planning ahead to gain the benefit of our learning experiences lead to our ultimate success.

I just finished a speaking engagement in Vancouver. During one of the breaks, two ladies approached me and asked my opinion about the current state of their business. They had taken several real estate courses, read a number of books, and attended four different “wealth building” seminars; yet they still hadn’t purchased their first property. In fact, they hadn’t even made their first offer. Sound familiar? It is a very common problem.

They took me up on my invitation to discuss their situation over a cup of coffee. For the first five or ten minutes they expressed their frustration about not getting started and about making a significant investment yet not seeing any return. They shared how their personal situation was getting in the way of their business dreams. In about ten minutes the cause of their problem became obvious:

They were trying to conjure up and solve every conceivable problem they might face ahead of time instead of taking their first step forward.

Now, I’m a believer in planning and problem avoidance techniques. Yet, may people get bogged down in the “what-ifs” and never get into the game. In just a few more minutes together we outlined a three step plan to get them “unstuck” and on their way to actual real estate investing.

Never start something if you can’t afford to withstand a few learning experiences. You can’t plan ahead for every conceivable twist of the road, and throwing more money into more courses is not the same as putting the pedal the metal and getting out there on the road. Failures are there to teach us something, and to make our ultimate success that much sweeter.

Pathfinder is offering consumers who visit their website a free tax savings special report & Free Tax Saving Webinar. For information about these tools visit www.Save10kinTaxes.com

More!

I was watching the television news and the newscaster’s name was Muk Luck Yoing Yang Bieu. I think he is a first generation son of a Pakistani guy.

That’s fine. We need more different kinds of ethnic people in responsible positions to reflect the ever changing polyglot nature of America… the so-called melting pot.

But we can do better.

I have a suggestion.

For a period of one year, we change jobs. Everybody change jobs.

All black athletes leave their jobs as athletes. And become lawyers. All the white guys who are now lawyers, become athletes.

I know I could get in real trouble for suggesting this, if I had a boss over me on this column. Jimmy the Greek was fired by the TV network years ago for not being politically correct, because he said (over the air) that black athletes were better than white. Even though that’s true, he was fired.

But I don’t have a boss. Naaa-naa-naaah-naaaa-naaa-naaaaaaaa!

Black Americans are over-represented in sports, and under represented in the courtroom as (barristers) lawyers. Think of it, steroid built huge black men jammed into suits and ties, arguing unpersuasively for their clients (it takes time for anybody to learn, including me).

Meanwhile, small sized white guys, former lawyers, would be stumbling across a football field, fumbling, missing field goals, tripping each other, falling down for no reason. What fun! It would open the game wide up, make it more exciting.

The kind of sport where anything can happen.

Okay. If the game was really really bad, we could give the ex-lawyers steroids. Just contact the commissioner of baseball for a supply, or call 1-800-Barry Bonds.

Why am I suggesting this you might ask? Isn’t this a crazy scheme, you might think? Try to understand. When a person stretches his horizon by stepping outside his comfort zone, he grows in stature.

We mandate many other kinds of behavior. Why not this?

There could be huge potential benefits. For example, almost all social work today is done by women. All women currently in social work, would leave those positions, and turn them over exclusively to selfish, egotistical young blonde guys named “Lance.”

When you came in to apply for government-provided benefits, that sonofabitch Lance would piss you off so much, be such an arrogant bastard, you’d storm out of the office. You’d be determined to make it on your own, and prove him wrong, rub his nose in it.

We could cut the cost of government benefits in half.

Here’s another possibility. All congressmen and women would leave their posts, and the positions would be filled by honest people….if they can be found.

All corporate executives would give their jobs up to Latino farm laborers, and take up those jobs picking in the fields. This would teach them (executives) what actual hard work is like.
Executive

All East Indians would abandon their positions as hotel and motel owners. This is strictly a personal request. I’d just like once to walk into a hotel lobby and not see chutney cooking on a hot plate…..a small, demure woman in a robe with a ruby between her eyes behind the counter.

I love East Indians, and chutney, and Bombay. Does that make me a racist?

I want to see people open up to new possibilities, that’s all.

I’ll tell you what. If the others give up their jobs, I’ll give up this column, and take up farming.

But I’ll warn ya.’ You’ll have less vegetables available in the store.

© Copyright 2006 by SammonSays.com

John Sammon is the author of two books and writes a weekly humor column you may access at http://www.Sammonsays.com

Cavity wall installation is an awesome place to begin. Although all that may sound like a hard going process I can assure you its not, roof insulation is an exciting tactic to improve the energy efficiency of your house. The majority of apartments around just now were put together after 1928 the walls are made up of two layers with a tiny air space in between the two layers, if you have an unfilled cavity wall in your residence then you yourself might well be losing a hefty level of the warmth in your house. Cavity wall installation is definitely something you yourself want to consider if you yourself want to improve your house. Cavity insulation is awesome for the climate. Insulation is a great way to save money, one way is to use Cavity Wall Insulation Grants.

By insulating the space you yourself will find that you may be helping to reduce climate change and co2 gases and help to save the UK one home at a time which is awesome. With the climate change and co2 emissions we are dealing with, every home in the county should be as eco friendly as possible. You will also help to eco friendly your home with floor insulation as well as using Climate Change Proof friendly kitchen cleaner products. For other incredible eco proof tips please visit BBC Green - the eco site.

Both evolutionists and creationists have certain built-in assumptions in interpreting and using scientific data when it comes to the earth’s age. The issue many times comes down to which assumptions are more reasonable. Dating rocks is not a hard (no pun intended) science.

For example, many times one radiometric dating method will give a vast difference in age from another radiometric dating method used on dating the same rock! Radiometric dating methods have also been severely faulty when tested with the actual historical age of certain rock. For example, Hawaiian lava flows that were known to be no more than two centuries old were dated by the potassium-argon method to be up to three billion years old! (Science 141 [1963]: 634).

The reason for these huge discrepancies is that these methods are based on assumptions that no major changes have occurred in the earth’s atmosphere in the past which could have affected the initial amounts and even the rates of decay of the substances involved (Industrial Research 14 [1972]: 15). If, for example, a world-wide flood the Bible describes in Genesis had actually occurred then it would have, indeed, altered the initial conditions so as to make radiometric dating less than an exact science, to say the least. The Carbon -14 dating method has been known to have fifty percent accuracy, but it is only accurate up to thousands (not millions or billions) of years and can only be used on things that were once living.

Complicated as the subject of the earth’s age may be, a main reason for why evolutionists believe the earth is many millions of years old is because of their belief concerning how the fossil layers were deposited. What one believes about the deposition of the fossils in the Earth will, indeed, determine one’s view of the earth’s age.

Fossils of animals, for example, are formed when animals are buried quickly and under tremendous pressure, so that their bones, remains, and imprint are preserved in rock. If living things are not buried quickly and under enormous pressure their remains will decay rather than become preserved or fossilized. Most of the many billions of fossils in the earth are found in rock that has been affected by water (Sedimentary Rock). Therefore, most of of the billions of fossils in the earth were formed as a result of the animals and plants being buried suddenly and quickly under tremendous water pressure.

Geologists who are evolutionists believe that local geographical floods over a period of many millions of years deposited these animals and plants and preserved their remains in the earth’s crust. This is only one view.

Geologists who are creationists believe that a one world-wide cataclysmic flood, otherwise known as the Genesis Flood, buried most of these animals and preserved them as fossils in the Earth. Obviously, if it was one world-wide flood that deposited these animals and preserved them as fossils in the earth it would not have taken very long. But, if the fossils were caused by local and limited geographical floods then it would, indeed, have required many millions of years before such local floods could have produced the billions of fossils and deposited them in various layers all over the Earth.

There are many problems, however, with the local flood theory as the cause behind the fossils. Even today local floods are not known to be able to generate the type of tremendous pressure and force necessary to fossilize creatures in rock. Among other arguments, it is difficult to explain how local floods could have carved out such majestic and geographical wonders as the Grand Canyon which is thousands of square miles and packed with billions of fossils and was clearly formed by the cataclysmic action and force of water. Yet, evolutionary geologists are content in believing that the Colorado River merely overflowing its banks, now and then, over millions of years was capable of performing such a feat!

The Bible in Genesis 7 says that much of the water that flooded the whole world came from under the ground. We know even today of vast reservoirs of water that are under the earth. Obviously, if the Genesis account is true, there was much greater amount of water underground in the Earth’s past. Genesis 7 says that this water burst through the surface of the earth and, consequently, covered and changed the entire topography of the earth.

Passages in the Old Testament Book of Psalms describe God as raising high mountains from the earth after the world-wide flood so that the water would recede into the ocean basins. The tremendous velocity and pressure from such receding water is what most likely caused the formation of the majestic Grand Canyon with its billions of fossils.

The fossils in the earth are found to exist in various layers of the Earth’s crust. Evolutionary geologists claim that each layer was formed and deposited by local flooding over many millions of years. However, in various parts of the earth there are fossils of trees that protrude through several layers! This indicates that these layers were deposited and formed almost simultaneously and not over millions of years. Otherwise, the tops of these trees would have decayed a long time ago. The tops of these trees could not wait millions of years to become deposited and fossilized so there is no other explanation except that these layers were deposited in quick succession under cataclysmic forces and conditions.

Furthermoree, evolutionary geologists believe that the lowest layers contain only fossils of simple organisms while the higher layers contain only fossils of complex organisms. This, according to him/her, is evidence that complex organisms evolved from simpler ones over many millions of years. As a result of this view, the evolutionary geologist dates fossils according to the layer of rock in which they are found and, in turn, dates rocks according to the type of fossils they contain (circular reasoning!). Thus, the evolutionary geologist simply assumes that rocks which contain fossils of simple organisms must be very old (because of his/her assumption that those organisms evolved first) while the rocks containing fossils of complex organisms must be younger (because of his/her assumption that those organisms evolved more recently) even when there is no actual physical differences between the rocks themselves!

Besides the many assumptions involved, there are other problems with this view. First, there are no actual transitional stages to connect the so-called progression of simpler organisms in the fossil record to more complex ones. Second, this idea that the lower layers contain fossils of only simpler organisms exists only on paper, in evolutionary textbooks, and not in the real world. There are many areas in the world where fossils of complex organisms are found way beneath layers containing fossils of simpler organisms with no evidence of any shifting of these layers. Of course, if a world-wide flood did occur, then in many cases the lower layers would contain fossils of simpler organisms because these would naturally be the first to be deposited.

Many have insisted that our world and universe must be billions of years old because it would have required billions of years for light from the nearest stars to reach the earth. This is assuming that the stars, galaxies, and universe were not created complete and fully mature from the beginning, with the light already reaching the earth from the moment of creation. Creationists believe that because God created a mature universe from the beginning, it naturally has the appearance of being much older than it actually is. For example, when God created the first man and woman they were mature adults and complete from head to toe. If we had observed them five minutes after they were created we would have thought from their appearance that they had been on earth for many years, even though they were freshly created from the hand of God.

Highly respected sientist and physicist Dr. Thomas G. Barnes has shown that according to the rate of decay of the earth’s magnetic field the earth is only thousands of years old and not billions.

According to evolutionists, the moon is nearly as old as the earth and, from the rate of unimpeded meteors hitting the moon’s surface over billions of years, there should have been many feet of lunar dust on the moon. But, when we landed on the moon we discovered only a thin layer of dust. The moon has no atmosphere to burn up such meteors as the earth does so such collection of dust was a major concern for scientists before the astronuts landed there.

There is much more to say on this subject, and there are many positive evidences for a young earth and universe not covered in this article. Excellent articles and books have been written by highly qualified scientists, including geologists, who are creationists showing scientific evidences for a young earth and universe. M.I.T. scientist Dr. Walt Brown provides considerable information on the topic at his site www.creationscience.com. Also, considerable information on the subject is provided by scientists of the Institute for Creation Research at www.icr.org.

Sincerely,

1. High Rates

Watch out for high rates. Just because you have poor credit, doesn’t mean you have to pay outrageous rates. You can expect to pay a couple of interest points higher on a subprime loan compared to a conventional loan.

Before you rush out to apply with a subprime lender, check with a conventional lender first. For one, your credit score may be higher than you think. And two, more and more conventional lenders are offer financing to those with adverse credit.

2. Large Fees

Another way lenders try to get you is with large upfront fees. They may post a low interest rate, but require you to pay a couple of points at closing, on top of other fees.

Trying to compare rates and fees is complicated, so the federal government requires lenders to disclose their annual percentage rate (APR), which includes both fees and rates. It makes comparison shopping a lot easier.

3. Unfavorable Terms

Also, look out for unfavorable terms, such as early payment fees. Since most people sell their home in less than seven years, you may get caught on this clause. Sometimes this can be waived for a fee.

One scam to look out for is immediate foreclosure on a loan if a payment is late or missed. You also don’t want to sign over your home’s deed for a loan either. Careful review of your loan’s terms will prevent you from these situations.

Shopping for a loan with bad credit is just like shopping with good credit. You have to be smart in comparing lenders and their terms to be sure you are getting the best financing for your situation. Taking the time to look at lenders’ sites will save you money and headaches in the future.

To view our recommended companies for poor credit home equity loan lenders,
visit this page:
Recommended
Poor Credit Home Equity Lenders.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of ABC Loan
Guide, an informational website about various types of loans.