Love and Internet

There are many websites that help singles to find the real love, like Heart Detectives. Very intriguing name, red website, sign up is free and easy; you get access to thousands of local singles.

Another interesting website is eHarmony. It’s free to receive and review matches. You just register and take the questionnaire to receive the matches.

Last one I’ll talk about is Lovebank.com. Unlike other online dating services it features subscribing members only. The membership guarantees unlimited communication with all other members for a very reasonable price, only $39.95 for a full 12 months subscription.

But why these services are so popular? Why is so good to find love through the Net? I wait your replies and stories to include in the article. Just write your story in the Comments section, and if good enough, I’ll feature it in this article.

Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and Batman together!

Let’s start with Harry Potter… Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The central story arc concerns Harry’s struggle against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents in his quest to conquer the world. At The Noble Collection you can find Harry, Hermione and Voldemort wands, Hogwarts bookmarks, The Marauder’s Map, mugs, pendants and sculptures. They are authentic recreations, perfectly crafted.

What to say about Indiana Jones? The character first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, to be followed by Temple of Doom in 1984, The Last Crusade in 1989, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992 to 1996, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. As well as film and television appearances, the character has been featured in novels, comics, video games, and other media. The Noble Collection features the Indiana Jones Leather Bullwhip, the Machete, and other recreations from the movies.

Batman is a comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, appearing in publications by DC Comics. Batman’s secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child, Wayne trains himself both physically and intellectually and dons a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Yes, you can find bat sculptures, pendants, mugs, pens, rings, and bracelets at The Noble Collection plus an incredible selection of swords, armors and other beautiful items.

Karmaloop and Urban Culture

When I speak about Urban Culture, I mean baggy shirts, baggy jeans, sneakers, hip hop and urban neighborhoods… and also jewelry, earrings, long chains.

Urban Wear has evolved over the years. You can find more aggressive styles lately along with very elegant and fashionable designs. Evolving is a good thing, nobody wants to always wear the same things for years, but of course if you follow the trends very closely, you’ll have to spend a lot to keep yourself up to date.

Nice thing about Urban Wear is that it has been influenced also by Japanese streetwear culture, and the ever evolving indie music scene. This brings to new trends and new ideas… and of course new ways to spend your money!

At Karmaloop you can find practically every kind of Urban Wear, every trend and every flavor. What matters is that all the clothing represents the city and is not mass produced. You’ll feel really cool with their apparel.

Prices are very good and you can create your own style easily with just few dollars. We can say that Karmaloop is at the cutting edge of the urban fashion market and sells everywhere in the world.

Baggy, brightly colored urban clothes are not only the culture of cities in United States. This style is going to be international and more and more customers from other parts of the world are being attracted by this fashion appeal.

Street and Urban Fashion, with a touch of red

StreetWear-And-Red.com, which has also the domain StreetWearAndRed.com, provides cool designs for the urban and street fashion along with elegant ideas for the modern gentlemen.

The nice thing about this website is the idea behind it. It is not just a virtual shop where you can find tshirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, polos and jackets, it is also a fashion mark, red and scratchy, a perfect mark for this kind of wear!

We have found the best design to be the “Legend” one. It’s based on a funny phrase but the graphics and the idea are superb!

There are other interesting designs like the vintage ones but seems that there will be tons more in the next days… so it’s better to check this website daily to see what’s new and what’s changed, the website is growing fast and changing daily!

The fascination of Thailand

Ok, there are so many websites in the jewelry wholesale industry, why this one picked my attention? The reasons are many: the website graphics is simple but very effective and elegant, there are good discounts, an impressive availability of new products and designs every month, the prices are really low.

And, of course, in all the designs you can feel the fascination and traditions of a beautiful country like Thailand.

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country which lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. The country is bordered by Laos and Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia.

This is just to have an idea of where Thailand is and why it is so charming.

Thailand is one of the most strongly Buddhist countries in the world. The cultures and traditions in Thailand are significantly influenced by those of India, China, Cambodia. Thailand people are also well-known for their friendliness and hospitality, leading to the country’s so called reputation as the “Land of Smiles.”

The availability of elephants, exotic jungle and beach settings, relatively low production costs, and a mature domestic film industry that provides a legion of experienced crew members, have made Thailand also an attractive location for many Hollywood films and other foreign productions.

Films set in Thailand include “Around the World in Eighty Days”, “The Big Boss”, “The Man with the Golden Gun” and “The Beach”.

I’m sure you’ve seen one of these movies, so if you loved the settings, you loved Thailand natural landscapes, jungles and elephants.

And of course there is silver jewelry. Crafting silver jewelry is a long-standing tradition in Thailand.

You can find all the spirituality of this Buddhist country in the designs. Just browse 925e.com lists to have an idea of what I mean.

A desert riding story

A few girls at the desert at a campfire talked about starting a business—of course, a few cocktails were involved. That is where we started! At this point, there were very few clothing companies with riding gear that catered to quad riding, desert-loving women. The name was picked that evening by one of our friends who wanted the name ‘dirty!’ We had our first meeting and everyone declined business involvement except Kim and me (Tracey). We cleaned up the name and changed it to Huchi. I did research on the name and found out that in Japanese it means ‘Goddess of Fire.’ Let me tell you our road was rocky. Many fights! Honestly, we could write a thousand page book on that! We went to Los Angeles with our spouses to find material to make our pants. We spent a lot of money to come up with the product we have now, which is pretty darn good.

At first, we had our friends sell our clothing at their shop and during desert season at their booth. He got us in Dirt Wheels magazine for our first article. After a while we had so much inventory that it was too hard for our friends to carry everything and the few stores we distributed to only carried a small amount of our inventory.

So by the third year in business, we decided to try it on our own. We had so much fun—sold at the desert (won a toy hauler), Thunderboats, Oktoberfest, Off-road shows, and so much more! We met an heiress, boat racers, rode in the fastest cars in the desert while we threw out clothes for promotion, sold to bigwigs in the police force, military, you name it! We were profiled in several videos and pictures. We signed autographs, and even posed in pictures with some of our best customers. We met so many people and that was the best part. Even men loved buying our clothes for their girlfriends/wives. We learned to size a woman up by the spouse or significant others body description. We do not know how it happened, but our product has been sold online all over the United States.

There are lots of people who have asked us how to start a business! In fact, right before writing this article, I had a friend’s son ask how to legitimately to sell online. One reason that most people do not become rich selling clothing is because there are just so many clothing companies in operation, causing difficult competition.

Here is our best piece of advice—networking and customer service are critical for a successful business. A word of caution, think twice before starting a business with family or friends. It is tough!

He is a fat, jolly man wearing a red coat and trousers with white cuffs and collar who delivers presents to all of the good boys and girls in the world, and coal to the naughty children.

Is Santa Claus real? well, of course not, but the figure is more than a legend. It is connected to the story of Saint Nicholas.

The History of Santa Claus

Nicholas was born during the third century in the village of Patara. His wealthy parents died in an epidemic and Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist people in need. Still young, Nicholas was made Bishop of Myra. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who persecuted Christians, Nicholas was exiled and imprisoned and died december 6, AD 343.

Many stories have been told of Saint Nicholas about his generosity to those in need, especially children. This is why he is known as protector of children. To have more info about him, you can search the net. There are so many websites with interesting stories about him.

Going back to Santa Claus, surfing the Internet you’ll find also many websites selling magical greetings, gifts and Santas letters.

There is much time before Christmas, but I discovered this website just now and it is very well done. It delivers a personalized letter from Santa and also deluxe packages.

The deluxe package is a kid’s dream come true, the letter is packed with a whole box of custom Christmas goodies. You receive a huge, shiny, bright red box “directly from the North Pole” with a glossy autographed photo of Santa Claus, genuine reindeer food, an authentic collectors piece of Santa’s suit and a CD with a personal greeting From Santa Claus.

The bright red box will be addressed with a shiny gold foil shipping label, a North Pole postage stamp and a return address label from Santa’s workshop. About the workshop, the website has a “workshop area” where you can download a free countdown to Christmas module for your MySpace page, Blogger or website. It is not static, there is moving snow in the background and it is a nice addition to every website when Christmas will be near.

Star Wars loves Cycling

The Star Wars jerseys are made of 100% ProSenor, a technical fabric which wicks moisture from the body so you remain comfortable on your ride. This is a popular design that they picked up in order to connect with the large Star Wars following. They currently do not attend Star Wars events in relation to this jersey, although it is something they have considered.

Being a mountain bike enthusiast, I decided to take my lightweight aluminium beauty and go for a ride. Nothing really serious, just 5 miles, to feel this new jersey and test the fabric. This has been my worst performance and probably one of my most valuable experiences. The weather was cooperative, with a sunny and clear sky. I cruised at a comfortable speed. The roads were in fair condition, no hills, scenic routes and not much traffic. A great course! The only problem was the temperature, really hot.

The jersey worked very well! The fabric is as they said, breathes with you and controls moisture and temperature to keep you performing at your best. Probably I would have had many more problems with the temperature, with another fabric. So I’m very satisfied and happy of this product.

I understood the importance of using the right wear. You can’t just have a tshirt and common shorts. A helmet is essential, as gloves, and elbow guards. A good pair of shoes is also recommended. And of course technical fabric clothing.

The reward of this experience has been a great spaghetti plate with pomodoro and parmigiano. A very simple plate, but I consider it the best of the Italian cuisine. Maybe it is the best food also for sports?

Few tips for cycling beginners: eat healthy food (mediterranean food) or you’ll never cover long distances; find the perfect bike for you, you don’t need to spend 20,000 dollars but you need a bike with three chain rings, which gives you the most range of gears; wear a bike jersey, typically made of synthetic materials that help wick away moisture from your body, and including a rear pocket to carry extra supplies while you ride; buy yourself some proper cycling shorts; set realistic goals and start slow; relax and enjoy the scenic routes.

Fashion, internet and our society

Manuel Marino: The styles you present are sporty but also with an elegance touch, we can say unique looks, right?

Justin Hoehn: Absolutely. We try to give our customers diversity. We believe that the stylish consumer has different needs for different occasions. You might want to dress in an urban influenced t-shirt when bumming around town but tomorrow, you might have a tee time & need a nike dri-fit polo.

What can you tell me about your latest alternative apparel line?

We recently added alternative apparel to our product line and are extremely excited about the response we’ve had from our customers. Alternative apparel is in the same mold as american apparel. The line is made from high quality fabrics, fitted and fashion driven. They focus on core prodcuts and do a wonderful job at expanding on colors and certain fits. You’ll see awide range of celebrities sporting the line (Pitt, Timberlake, Leonardo, Clooney, Fergie, Walberg, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria) this is just to name a few.

What do you think about fashion in 2008?

Fashion is always changing, sometimes for the better / sometimes for the worse but at the end of the day, we like the classic / minimal look to pass the test of time. Although everyone appreciates a saville row tailored suit, the reality is you have more people working from home or in a casual office enviroment. They’re more comfortable in a tee & jeans, tee and designer sweats or some sort of combination. It’s no longer a sloppy look since designers have tightend up the fit & color options and it’s become more acceptable in the office, especially at younger companies.

What about fashion and internet, is it a good alliance?

The web has obviously been a wonderful alliance for all business. The consumer has more choices in a matter of minutes than they would in an entire day of shopping at the malls and you don’t have to pay for gasoline. The knock has always been that you need to try on / see in person what your going to buy. At leadapparel.com, we have made it a priority to make this a seamless process. The addition of images for each color and sizing charts for most products elminates the risk of ordering something that doesn’t fit or not the exact look the customer was expecting.

It’s only going to grow into a more sophisticated shopping experience. We’re looking into video displays for certain products and I’m sure by this time next year there will be a must have for online stores such as ours.

Is it really so important appearance in our society? is it really a good thing?

Appearance and style has always been important and always will. Call it vanity, expression or necessity, we all have style, whether it’s bad or not is up for debate. But there is no doubt in my mind that style is an important aspect in for living a more exciting and interesting life. People with a great personality seem to give off more style even if they are wearing the same get up as the next guy with a bad attitude who thinks style will carry him alone. If you are constantly following the crowd, it can become mondane but if you are diverse and comfortable with your style, it’s a major plus on how it comes off to others.

I think it’s only smart to keep your appearance looking good. Sure, there might be too much focus on “appearance” in some circles but I think there’s no doubt that someone’s overall appearance is a direct reflection of a person’s vibe and personality.

The life of a T-shirt Designer

I’m a t-shirt designer, in fact I’m simply a designer, but I’ve found myself straying from the rather bland world of graphic and web design to the glitzy and glamorous world of fashion without even realising it.

I can’t say I’ve made a fortune from t-shirt design, but I will say it’s one of the most rewarding career shifts I’ve taken in my life so far. My time is split between conceiving and designing unique and original ideas for new t-shirts, and reviewing new and established t-shirt fashion labels on the Net.

My consumer market expands daily, these days savvy fashionistas realise they can make an immediate impact in any wardrobe with a few choice artistic tees, a frugal yet fashionable way to stand out from the crowd.

The beauty is there are so many sources for t-shirt design these days that you are bound to find a design you love, a design that no one you know and perhaps not even friends of your friends have yet discovered. Impact and individuality, artistic style and originality, these are the watchwords of the t-shirt fashion industry and its consumer base.

One explanation for the ‘t-shirt boom’ is a revolution in Internet technologies, with the arrival of Web 2.0, more and more websites, stores, business and consumer networks, search engines and directories realise they have to keep their audience engaged, and consequently interactivity has become the name of the game. It doesn’t really matter what you create or sell, if your potential buyers are bored they will leave.

Unlike the ‘real world’, the online shopping experience cannot rely on the vitality of human senses such as taste, touch, smell to inform their choices. Perhaps we’ll find a way in the future to replicate these essential components of the human and therefore shopping experience. Until then we have one vital advantage on the Net and that is the interactivity of community. Something unheard of in the modern world, a concept one might even describe as old fashioned, has created a revolution on the Web. The explosion in user-rated and user-generated content has changed shopping online forever.

Amazon.com and Ebay.com are the most likely pioneers in this way of selling, consumers turning to the opinions, comments and reviews of past buyers and contributing their own. The difference is that this methodology has moved far beyond seller ratings and book reviews, and I’m proud to say that the t-shirt fashion world is leading the next stage of the Internet’s development as a fully-rounded experiential shopping platform.

Until recently t-shirt designers had two choices, firstly they could set up their own independent store with ecommerce capabilities and secure hosting and hope and pray they can cover their costs. The second choice was Cafepress.com which has been running for over a decade now and provided designers a way to economically begin to sell their unique t-shirt designs to a worldwide audience, whilst keeping costs as low as possible for their consumers. The problem with Cafepress.com and Spreadshirt.com (a later arrival offering higher quality screen printed tees) is that neither offers any real quality control. Yes Cafepress.com still sells a basic white t-shirt with the design of your choice from only $9.99 but they have serious limitations on the size and placement of any contributed image. Essentially you’re talking a 10″ square box in the middle of your t-shirt, no matter what the design may look like.

Some years back a new company, formed originally as a thread on a t-shirt forum burst onto the scene, and it completely revolutionised the way that people buy fashion. Threadless.com introduced the idea of totally empowering the customer, not only enabling them to rate the current collection on sale and communicate personally with each designer, but more so, the customer can decide if a t-shirt is ever even made! Yes, before a new design is printed users of Threadless.com can vote through a 7 day process that defines the fate of every t-shirt they sell.

I can imagine a bright future for the online consumer, more and more choice, variety, control over design and production. The only problem is the rising cost of fuel. The ‘virtual shopping’ experience may always be able to compete with smaller items, but as the world runs dry, shipping expenses will become highly prohibitive. The future may be far less complicated than any of us can imagine.

An intense trip in the profound Mexico

My idea for Fair Trade Silver came from a trip I took in May of 2006 to Mexico. My best friend, Kim, and I flew into Benito Júarez International Airport in Mexico City. We had worked since that January to plan a trip to see the “real” Mexico, that is, a trip that did not include staying in Americanized hotels and resorts.

While reading Jared story I thought, well, this is a really nice experience, in Mexico, culture and tradition are seen as central to life and society and Mexican people are profound and warm, not at all superficial. But you can’t understand their traditions if you stay in hotel. I continued to read his story…

My main goal for visiting Mexico was to visit Taxco in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

Taxco de Alarcón (Taxco) is a former colonial silver-mining center in the northern part of the Mexican state of Guerrero on the western arm of the Sierra Madre del Sur. It is located 200 km southwest of Mexico City along the old highway to Acapulco at an elevation of 1,800 m (5,900 ft).

…Taxco is known by many as the sterling silver capital of the world for it is home to countless shops that sell beautiful machine- and hand-crafted sterling silver jewelry made from silver mined just outside the town.

Taxco reminds me of quaint European town with its narrow, cobblestone streets and white-washed buildings that are perched on the side of a mountain. When one visits Taxco it is shocking to see how purely “un-Americanized” it really is. There are no Wal-Mart nor are there other corporate giants.

I love corporate giants :) and I would love to see a Wal-Mart in Italy, but this time I really envied Jared for this experience. The Aztecs founded a city they called “Tlacho”… what artistic treasures Jared will find?

…the silver trade in Taxco relies on buyers that travel from around Mexico, the United States, and the rest of the world to Taxco with cash in hand to purchase goods to bring back to their stores. I met many buyers there on their annual buying trips for stores in the United States and Canada. What really struck me, however, was the indigenous population that lives nearby.

As Olen Jewelry moves into the future, I am exploring the possibility of opening a community crafting center in or around Taxco where local artisans can use the workspace for free to create their jewelry. I will then bring their goods to the United States where they can be sold to the mass-market. All artisans will receive the majority of the proceeds from the sale of their jewelry. In this way, those people who do not have the money to invest in equipment and raw materials can still put themselves to work creating jewelry that truly is an expression of themselves and of Mexico.

This is admirable… well, a good business idea, of course, but also admirable, indeed. And we wish Jared to succeed in this project! We’ll post an update about this in the future.

A beautiful Car-Pc

When did you start your business?

We started in May 2003. (You can read this page).

How did you have the idea to start it?

I personally installed my very first car-pc in 1996. At this time a mp3 player was very expensive and I wanted to hear mp3 in my car. So I took an old big desktop PC and put it into the car. Later I also added a GPS receiver for getting navigation.

Why we should have a Car-PC?

When you want to have a very own customized system with all possibilites in your car, then a car-pc is the only way to go. And especially if you are a PC enthusiast, nothing comes around a car-pc. You will be able to stay fully updated with all latest technologies and possibilites.

Is GPS really useful?

I would never take a printed map again :) A map can not show you the nearest rest station or restaurant. And a map does not tell you where to drive and when you will arive there. GPS simply adds a lot of comfort to your life.

How do you see the future of technology?

There recently are a lot of approaches from the industry to fully digitalize our lives with total networking, internet & digital services everywhere. Best examples are ViiV or MID units. However I guess people either are not ready yet for all the new possibilities or they simply do not want to go this “next step”. So actually I am not sure about the future.

What are your next projects?

As we know that the topic “car-pc” is not so easy to understand, we currently work on a new improved systembuilder which will guide our customers to the best configuration based on their needs and not on their knowledge. We also will add new techniques like Geotracking for parcels and PayPal Express checkout. And we will more and more use Ajax on our website as this brings a lot of comfort for the visitor.

Wally said me: I have lots of great stories for your weblog, we have trekked to little known regions of France and Italy to find foods and meet with wine makers.

And this is one of these stories, exactly, one story written by my wife, Terry, about finding a “new” winemaker in France. This happened in May of this year.

A Taste of Fate: Meeting Winemaker Jacky Blot

Many of my vacations truly are “working vacations”. Yes, we spend three weeks in France, but we are visiting wine makers, cheese producers and the like. Yeah, I know, tough job – but someone has to do it. I can’t complain. I do work at hunting out products. Much like the truffle pig, I am always sniffing around, looking in local shops, watching what the locals are eating. Of course this often means eating and drinking many things to be assured of quality – I never just take someone’s word for it – but that is another story altogether.

When I eat a cookie I like in Italy, I will find out who imports it to the U.S. I am quite vigilant. This is just the best way to bring my customers items they might not find otherwise, such as many of the wines we have in our shop. Sometimes I find them through a focused tasting or meeting wine makers. Sometimes greatness just falls in your lap, almost like Divine Intervention.
Forces were at work when we discovered the lovely wines of Jacky Blot: Domaine Taille aux Loups (whites) and La Butte (reds).

The Intervention came by way of a kindly Paris wine shop owner, Christophe Vidal. While we were buying some wine from his shop, I noticed some odd whiskeys from Japan which started up a conversation (and some sampling of said whiskeys, did I mention how nice this guy was?). In our discussion of the wine business, we mention that we are planning to visit a winemaker or two in the Loire Valley. As we are about to leave we hear a shout. He comes running up to us with an open bottle of wine. Turns out that the winemaker, Jacky Blot from the Loire Valley, had been in his shop earlier for a tasting of his wines. Jacky had left an open bottle but Cristophe didn’t need it, perhaps we could take it back to our apartment and enjoy it. We took our Taille aux Loups wine, happily skipping back to our apartment and marveling at the kindness of strangers.

The wine is a delightful surprise. Chenin Blanc grapes, light, crisp, wonderfully balanced. What a nice gift! My husband, Wally, ever diligent, looks up the winery and I can see he is contemplating – actually becoming determined – to find the winery in our travels. We move on to the Loire and are having dinner in the city of Tours when, lo and behold, the Taille Aux Loups is on the wine list by the glass. We have to order it, and yes, it is as good as we remembered. Okay, that settles it; we have to find this winery.

After a few days of trying wines in Chinon and Saumur (both great cities to visit and sample wine), we track down the winery Taille Aux Loups. We drive along curvy roads, follow the river (because we don’t know exactly where it is) along the south bank of the Loire east of Tours. Eureka, we find it! Jacky’s daughter Françoise greets us warmly as we come in from the rain, and sets up quite a tasting for us. We try sparkling wines, the whites that we love, and reds from nearby Bourgueil. It is quite fantastic, especially since we don’t even have an appointment. Jacky pops in and gives us an exuberant hello, but he is quite busy with a bunch of clients in another room. We write down the name and phone number of their distributor in California and buy some bottles to add to the collection we have amassed during the previous few days. We high five ourselves once we get in the car, feeling the excitement of another successful hunt. We rub our hands in anticipation of tasting this wine for our clients back home, and hope that the distributor, Adventures in Wine, carries the wines we want. We have never bought from them before, or even heard of them.

We return to our Paris apartment a few days later with our cache of prized wines. I really want to serve Jacky’s wine at our upcoming tasting in two weeks. I need to email my assistant Dave to find this company. As I am looking in my purse to find the business cards from the wine makers we visited, I find a card for Adventures In Wine! I have no idea how it got there. I don’t remember ever meeting the person whose name is on the card. There is no other business card from America in my bag, having cleaned it out before we left. Françoise at the winery did not give me a card, she just had me write down the name in my notebook. But here it is. Magic! That did it. We were obviously destined to have this wine in our shop.

The importer has the whites I want, not the reds, but they are ordering them for me. So with this happy set of circumstances, I am able to offer this fantastic wine to our customers. And it all began because I had noticed some odd whiskeys at a Paris wine shop and started asking questions.

Graphic t-shirts enter the world of haute couture

It was only 15 years ago when teenagers were still seen wearing Nirvana band t-shirts showing off their adoration for the grunge band lead by Kurt Cobain. These t-shirts were seen as un-stylish, over-sized, and definitely not acceptable in any New York nightclub (not that these kids were trying to get in). That was back then. Today, brands from Armani to American Eagle carry graphic t-shirts that are both stylish and are completely acceptable elements of fashionable clothing. This has happened for many reasons, mainly due to changes in t-shirt manufacturing, but also in the mindset that it is okay to pay over $10 for a tee.

Graphic t-shirts, in general, were part of the anti-establishment culture that reigned with the grunge movement and previously with 80’s hip-hop (anyone say Run DMC?). Then came West Coast gangster rap and its series of graphic tees that idolized stars such as Tupac. Interestingly enough, we also owe these two groups for the advent of plaid as being cool.

These days, vintage tees from the 80’s – especially Run DMC’s – are sold for astronomical amounts (up to $13 000) and major fashion houses such as Armani and Ralph Lauren have began to produce graphic t-shirts with new techniques that make them fashionable and hip. New weaving techniques have made it possible to make very fine cotton, while distressed finishes allow for vintage looks to be enhanced – as seen in many American Eagle t-shirts.

What has really made graphic tees a hot item are the many 2.0 websites that have popped up – such as Threadless.com – that feature very original designs, which was rare thing back in the day. Now that a t-shirt can be a work of art and not something mass-produced, its value rises and it becomes a cool t-shirt. These new arenas are giving way for more graphic t-shirt designers to show-off their talents. They are relying on the graphic design software that is readily available – also something absent a few years ago.

New York stores now readily carry graphic t-shirts that resemble the usual Gothic style as well as abstract designs. These tees have become part of the mainstream. The market for graphic t-shirts has grown in the meantime. People are not only okay to pay a lot of money for graphic tees, they are also okay with displaying messages besides a name brand or a band name on their clothing. Now every college student wants a t-shirt that sends a message about him or herself in an original way, and be able to go out in clubs without a problem.

In the streets of New York, you will not miss the number of ironic, funny, or offensive messages delivered via graphic tee. In clubs, worn under a dress jacket, graphic t-shirts are becoming a statement. They have become what’s hot. Meantime, those anti-establishment folks have turned elsewhere. The mainstream crowd should not be far behind.

MADISON, Wis. – A garbage truck operator is being hailed as a hero for finding $10,000 worth of diamonds that had accidentally been thrown away.

“We got a call from a customer that had some earrings in the garbage,” said front-load truck operator Ron Lund.

At Pellitteri Waste, where Mr. Lund works, those types of calls come in about once a month so he really wasn’t surprised, though these were no average earrings. They were $10,000 diamond earrings from a local jewelry store, WISC-TV reported.

What surprised him is he actually found them! “I’m thinking, ‘No way, I’ll never find them,’” said Lund. “I told them, ‘Good Luck,’” he laughed. On his route, Lund picks up garbage from more than 130 businesses, including the jeweler. “I was thinking, ‘Little diamonds versus 30,000 pounds of garbage,’” said Lund. “No way.”

But, those little diamonds got him looking.

“I kind of knew where the store was on the load,” said Lund. “So I drove forward to lay it out.” And the digging began. “I grabbed a bag and started looking in there and that’s where I found them,” said Lund. “I found one first then I thought the other’s got to be in the bag, and I found the other one.” It took him a total of eight minutes. “I was just surprised I found them,” said Lund. “I’m surprised anybody would find them.”

The business owner gave him an $80 reward.

Lund said that he decided to try his luck again. “I already spent it,” he said. “I went and bought Powerball tickets. I figure I found the earrings, I’ll buy the tickets and maybe I’ll get lucky.” Lund also admitted he once dumped all his keys into the garbage, and was lucky enough to find them, too.

Ana Davila (JewelryDays.com) commented this way:

What a very remarkable deed (..and luck!) done by Ron Lund! Who would have thought you could find something tiny and valuable in heaps of trash. What I did not like about the incident though, was that the company only gave kind, hardworking, and honest Mr. Lund only 80 bucks. I mean, for something worth $10,000? They could have at least given him a thousand, 500, or even just make it a hundred. I just think he deserves more than 80. Surprisingly, amidst all the surprises, Mr. Lund was happy about it and bought himself Powerball tickets. I commend Mr. Ron Lund for a job well done, not only being honest, but someone who does good without asking for anything in a return. Ron Lund, you are a true hero and a fine example for us all!

Adrian answered to our question sending us a long interview made in the past. We quoted what we feel is the most interesting part of it.

The future of Online Shopping

Niche stores, such as ours, sell merchandise that is not available in local stores. In my opinion, online retail sales and markets will continue to consistently expand for these niche e-tailers who embrace their online marketing with national and global perspectives.
Another trend is the increasing importance of online marketing in generating offline sales, especially for national rather than cross-border transactions. We are experiencing this at the moment, with an exponential increase in sales transactions over the phone as a result of being found on the Net. These customers, whether making personal gift or (usually) larger corporate gift purchases, are often visiting our site as they speak to us on the phone. The Internet and telephones (whether VOIP or not) complement one another extremely well. In combination, they provide instant feedback, undistracted viewing of products and the personal touch, all at once.
Our site is rich in content about Australia, such as a quiz about Aussie landmarks, polls about Australian Aborigines, a blog about Aboriginal art, articles about Australia and even an interactive koala jigsaw for kids. This is what online shoppers are expecting more than ever before. It’s termed value-added shopping and provides lots of informative and detailed content with the added bonus of a rich, dynamic virtual experience. The provision of value-added shopping should be considered basic hospitality by all online retailers who appreciate the honour of receiving visitors to their site.

Has the internet changed your life?

The internet was an amazing technological breakthrough. We have had the internet for so long now that it makes a person wonder how they functioned without it.The internet has changed our lives in so many ways. We spend less money using the internet. We spend less money on postage, envelope, and paper when writing a friend or family member a letter. We can type a letter and hit the send button and they have it in a matter of minutes rather than days or weeks. Plus you don’t have to take the time to drive to the Post Office, stand in line, and spend money on stamps.

Some tips to think about when deciding to have a web site built

People are always asking me: what is the best way to advertise using the Internet.

Well it depends on your goals. Over the last six years I have seen Internet use increase as well as Internet advertising increase. In fact, all recent research shows that 2007 has been a banner year for Internet advertising. It makes since to advertise online when you realize that the time spent online was up, too, with consumers spending an average of 11 hours per week on the Web. That is up from nine hours in 2006 and eight in 2005. There are many ways now to advertise online most of them mean you need your own web site. Then once your web site is built you need to get it found in Search Results. There is the “sticking” point. This is not easy unless you have someone who knows Internet marketing and/or how to get you found in the Search Results; known as SEO.

Well I have a different take on how to get my clients found in Search Result. A few years ago I realized that Search Engines were going to get more granular with search results; meaning they were headed in the direction of wanting more searches to focus on a specific areas of the world, the US, a city/town/community. I started searching the Internet to see who was providing Community Websites with a focus on community services. The only sites I found were all in Europe. I decided then that I wanted to provide a way for local community businesses to use the Internet to advertise their products and services whether they had a web site or not. That is how www.ShopGaitherburg.com was born.

ShopGaithersburg.com represents a suburb of Washington, DC. Over the last 20 years this community has doubled in size as a community in Northern Montgomery County, Maryland. I realized that there where a lot of businesses that wanted to use the Internet to advertise, but either couldn’t afford developing a web site of their own, or they didn’t think the Internet would work for their type of business. I started by asking prospective clients, when was the last time you got a call from the phonebook. Many of us can remember when the phonebook was a “booster-chair” for our children. Well it isn’t any longer and more businesses are giving up their phonebook ads for the Internet, because people looking for services want more information than just a company name and phone number.

My theory was that a business didn’t need a website of their own to advertise to the local community on the Internet; they needed to be connected with a GOOD website and their single page would be their advertising. Well it works!!! Now I have 5 other community web sites open and 17 domains opening over the next two years.
Here’s what I have learned. SEO is not magic and I don’t wave a magic wand to get my clients found at the top of the Search Engine Results. They get there through hard work and my clear understanding of what it takes to get my clients ranked as high as possible. It’s not “rocket science”! It works because the Search Results are now focusing on local community areas. Here are three (3) points to consider when you want better Search Rankings:

1. Google gives HEAVY weight to the TITLE tag of your web site. Your Title tag can be read by you in the blue space at the very top of your screen. It can be found in the HEADER Code of the source code used to develop your web site. Your TITLE tag should NOT have the name of your company or the name of your web site. It should have a couple of short sentences using your keywords.

2. Make sure each page of your web site has a different Title tag. Your web site designer can do this for you. Each page should have good content and the Title tag should be relevant to content on the page.

3. Your content and code is the only thing Search Engines can read. Don’t put your most important content and links behind Flash. Ask your designer to put text links at the bottom of each page of your site if you are using Flash. This will help Google and all other Search Engines index your entire web site content.

All advertising online is increasing and there are projections that US online advertising could be more than double as a percentage of total media, rising from only a 6% share of total media in 2006, to slightly more than a 12% share by 2010. National advertisers are now placing more emphasis in online advertising then in radio. “Pay Per Click” as online advertising is growing as well. This type of advertising can be very expensive for small businesses since you will have to bid against bigger businesses for the same keywords. Small businesses need to determine what the ROI will be per prospect from the Internet to decide if this type of advertising is worth the money.

As I stated earlier consumers are now spending more time online, what this means to small businesses is that more consumers want to learn about products and services online. Research has also shown that a small business with a web presence is considered more professional then other businesses without a web presence.
If you’re looking for someone to build your web site here are a couple of things to consider:

• Make sure they know more then just how to use Dream Weaver to design.
• Ask how they prepare web sites for the Search Engines.

There are designers that will design a great looking picture on the Internet and expect you to market your web site. The problem with that; generally business owners don’t know anything about marketing their web site.

We Set Up a Website and Sales Increased 1,000%

In 2001, my firm, TRIO Display, was essentially a retail design group that produced stores for professional sports teams, museums, and a myriad of individual specialty retailers. Staff was steady at four to five designers and artists and we pulled in subcontractors as needed. Display sales and design fees ranged from $500,000 to $650,000 per year, which was enough for all of us to live comfortably.

2001 was a wake-up year for me, as it was for many business owners. September 11 made me realize that if I got hit by a truck, my little business was gone and my family, while insured, would still suffer a diminution in lifestyle. I thought about expanding my business by growing the fixture end via a print catalog. I’d been in the mail order fixture business previously and knew that making a real dent required enough capital to send out at least 100,000 catalogs. Even then you were lucky if four percent of the people who received them actually opened them and that, in fact, it takes three to five mailings before customers take you seriously.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Love for Vintage

My love for vintage began when I was a poor college student in NYC, basically out of necessity, it evolved from a hobby and passion into a business. At first my family was a little annoyed at the ‘clutter’ but after some years and much patience they are coming around, beginning to appreciate the history of a garment that has been around for many decades sometimes centuries. How important it is to care for, restore them, the quality of garments from the past and how we are keeping them from the landfills or from being exported to other countries.

When I travel I am always hunting for great finds, a vacation is never complete or satisfying unless I am rummaging through vintage & antique stores. One of my latest finds was a Victorian top, to be the proud owner of such workmanship… to be able to hold in my hands something a young woman wore in the 1800s is very exciting to me.
I have an amazing lace dress from the 30s that has to be one of the most beautiful and delicate things I have ever seen from that era. I could go on and on…

At the moment I am in the process of relocating, my store is down to the bare minimum as I’ve had not one moment’s chance to play with my dolls (mannequins) the past few weeks.

Once the dust settles next month I plan to add many wonderful things. I am really looking forward to finally featuring a fun 60’s psychedelic collection I have been hoarding for years and years, it will include a few great designers of the era. As a matter of fact, the house I am buying is a restored 60s house.

I am also in the process of opening up my own web store, you can take a peek at www. funkyvintage.com at the moment but it will be both www.figure8studio.com and www.funkyvintage.com once the ‘web doors’ are finally open.