So How Do Sunglasses Work?

There are two reasons to wear sunglasses. The first reason is if you don't like the bright sun shining in your eyes, as the dark surface of the sunglasses helps to block out bright light and make the world appear darker. The second is that the sun's ultraviolet rays can be harmful in the long term, causing all sorts of problems with your eyes including loss of eyesight and eye cancer. Good sunglasses protect against this, as their lenses filter out most of the harmful UV rays.

So how do sunglasses work? The darkening effect is a very simple one: looking at the world through tinted lenses makes it seem darker to you - even though the effect is really just an optical illusion, it can help you if exposure to bright sunlight tends to give you a headache or cause you to squint.

The UV-filtering effect, however, is more complex. UV-filtering lenses are coated with special chemicals that allow light to pass through them, but reflect away UV. UV rays are basically high-frequency light waves, which means that the chemical structure has to be built to deflect higher frequency light while allowing through lower frequency light. This is difficult science, and the materials needed to do it are expensive.

The most complicated sunglasses of all are prescription sunglasses. These are sunglasses that not only protect from light and UV, but also work like normal glasses to correct your eyesight. For this to work, it requires that normal vision-correction glasses are taken, tinted and coated with UV-reflecting chemicals - a complicated three-step process. However, all the ingredients work together flawlessly, to produce sunglasses that are wearable by people who need their vision corrected all the time. It is even possible to buy clear tinted lenses that fit over the top of your normal glasses, effectively a do-it-yourself way of making prescription sunglasses.

Choosing Your Web Host

These days, there are so many web hosting companies out there. All of them offer roughly the same options, but what makes a great web host? The indirect answer is that it depends on your needs. The purpose of this article is not to discuss the aspects of most hosting plans, but to discuss what you should be looking for.

The Name of the Game: Customer Service

Since most hosting companies provide the same hosting options, the more important topic is customer service. It's easy to throw together a few servers, get a dedicated connection, add some more hardware, design a web site, and call yourself a web host. Buy what's behind that web site?

It doesn't matter if you're a new to web hosting or if you're a seasoned professional, everyone needs to contact technical support sometime. A good web host will offer a "knowledge base" or "frequently asked questions" on their web site to give answers to the most common questions. This is helpful for you because you don't have to pick up the phone or email tech support if your question is there.

If you're question is not covered on the web site, a good web host will have multiple ways for you to contact them. The most common form of communication is email or telephone. The downside of email support is that it can take time to get your questions answered. If you're new to web hosting, putting your question into words could be a problem in itself. Tech support by phone is usually quickest, but it also has it quirks. After calling the toll free number, you have to press 1, then 3, then 2, and then have to hold for the next available representative. If you're lucky, the person that answers the phone speaks coherent English and actually has a clue about their services. A new form of tech support is "live support" where the company will have an icon on their site for you to click that will open an instant messenger window. This is great because you get to talk with the representative in real time without making the phone call. You still have to put your question into words, but at least they can help you clarify you problem.

To test their customer service, spend some time navigating their support web site. If it seems to be lacking, move on to the next host. Do some research on the web to see if there are any complaints against the company. There are many forums on the internet dedicated to that subject. Check out there links: http://www.webmaster-talk.com/.You can also try to giving their toll free number a call to ask questions. Get a feel for what their company is like over the phone.

Another Solution

If you are using a web designer for your project, check to see if they offer hosting. They probably offer the same packages that the bigger companies offer at close to the same price. The biggest difference should be the customer service. Because most web design firms are small companies, you should get personal service that is catered to your needs. At my firm we offer hosting exclusively to our clients. The difference we provide is that when you email us, we guarantee a response within one hour. If you call our office, a real person will answer the phone. In a saturated market such as web hosting, giving the best service to the client is the only way to do business.

7 Tips to Spice Up Your Flash Banner Design

An attractive and effective banner design in Flash will help in enhancing the CTRs or click through rates. Once the CTR is increased, there will be more sales, and therefore more revenues. For increasing the CTRs, ensure that your banner animations are quickly downloadable. If you want to spice up your Flash banner design, it is imperative that you get it designed by a professional Flash design company.

Here are some tips to design your Flash banner:

Use of Colors in Banner When you are designing a banner, exercise caution while choosing colors. This is especially significant if you are targeting a specific country. Say for instance, if you are using black to design your banner, be careful to target web users in the United States. This is because black is regarded as the color of mourning in the U.S. On the other hand, red denotes warning and danger in some countries. You should be careful with the use of red in your banner design. Add Animations If you are feeling like adding animation to your banner ads, then use it wisely. Animations should entice your visitors and not annoy them. There are certain guidelines that you should follow while including banner animations. Let's have a look at them: Use Vibrant Colors - If you want to increase CTRs, you should use vibrant colors like yellow, blue or green. In case you wish to use red, then use it in moderation. Include a Call-to-Action Button - You can also increase your CTR by adding call-to-action buttons like 'Submit' or 'Click Here'. You can design these buttons using attractive graphics so that web users are tempted to click on them. Animation Should not Loop Continuously - Make sure that your animation doesn't loop incessantly. It will annoy your visitors more than pleasing them. It should loop not more than 7-8 times. Also ensure that you keep the most significant message on the last frame. Restrained Animation - Adding animations to your Flash banner doesn't imply that you over do it. It should be restrained to grab the attention of your visitors, and not too high flying to mess the design of the web page you are advertising on. Place the Message in the First Frame - Online users have little patience. They will generally not wait for a long time for the banner animation to load. Therefore, your designer should place the message in the first frame, if your banner takes a long time to load. Design Should Blend with the Page The banner design should blend with the rest of the web page. It should not be so flamboyant to scream out the message, "CLICK, CLICK, CLICK". This will irritate your visitors as they will have a feeling that things are being imposed on them. Instead, your banner design should gel with the rest of the page. Banner Should Link to an Informative Page It is information that web users look for. If visitors click on your banner, they expect to be directed to a page that provides the information they are looking for. Therefore, you should link the banner to a page that has information. Include the word 'Free' You should always include the word 'Free' in your Flash banner to increase the CTR. The word free tempts users to download something without cost. You can offer a free demo game for enhanced response! You can also offer some benefits like SEO. Short, Crisp Message Your banner messages should be simple, lucid and short. This will make your banner more focused. Update Banners Frequently Your banner should be updated every two weeks. Banners that are updated on a regular basis have higher CTRs.

I would suggest that you test your Flash banner for some time to see the results. Results imply higher CTRs and increased sales. If you stick to the above mentioned tips, you will experience better CTRs.

Chopard Luxury Watches and Jewelery

The Chopard luxury brand now boasts more than one hundred boutiques worldwide. Not just a manufacture of fine watches but also of exquisite Chopard jewelery. The name Chopard has surely become an internationally recognised luxury brand. With models such as the Tonneau, the Chronograph Mille Miglia and the Perpetual Calendar this is a brand which will not disappoint the watch collector or connoisseur.

The Chopard luxury watch company was established in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in the Swiss town of Sonvillier. Chopard created fine pocket watches with high precision movements building a reputation for quality and innovation within the Swiss watch industry.

In the pre-war years Chopard watches were familiar within society circles and had reached marketplaces within Russia and Scandinavia.

In 1920, under the direction of Paul-Andre Chopard, grandson of the founder the Chopard company relocated to Geneve. The brand continued to create fine timepieces, both pocket watches and wristwatches.

The Chopard family involvement came to an end in 1963 when the business came under the ownership of Karl Scheufele. The implication of this change represented a radical departure for the Chopard brand. Mr Scheufele was a third generation watchmaker and jeweler. His vision for the luxury brand was the incorporation of fine jewelery into the Chopard product portfolio.

Now not only fine wrist watches, but also exclusive high quality jewellery left the Chopard workshops. These distinctive pieces of Chopard jewelery became instantly popular throughout the world.

The reputation of the original luxury watch brand's founder combined innovation and quality particularly with regard to the high precision mechanical watch movement. Taking inspiration from this, a return to these values took place with the release in 1996 of a brand new in-house mechanical movement.

Over one hundred years have passed since Louis-Ulysse Chopard created his first timepiece and in his honor these award winning movements have been named L.U.C. A fitting tribute to this pioneer of the Swiss watch industry.

Learn French in France - How To

French is one of the languages that always come on top of the list of the languages that one would like to learn. The fact that it is considered the language of love and romance with a rich cultural history coupled with the fact that it is the official language of more than 30 countries all around the world explains why most people are eager to learn it as a second or third language.

There are many ways in which one can choose to learn the French language. The standard option is to go sign up for regular language classes at a language training institute. Since this is not an option for most people in today's fast paced life and work culture, many other flexible options to learn the language have sprung up in recent times. The most popular of them are the online or PC based French language courses that offer an interactive and flexible option to learn the French language.

But, the best way of all to learn the French language for people with time, resources and inclination is to undertake what is popularly known as a French immersion course. A French immersion course will mean that you will have to travel to France from your country of residence for a short while and undertake a French learning course there. The most obvious advantage with this way of learning French is that you will be tutored by native French speakers in a course developed by them, so it will be without doubt the best French language course you could ever take. Travelling all the way to France and staying there for the duration of your course will mean that you will have to encounter and relate to native French speakers day in and day out throughout the course of your stay.

There is no equal to this real life French experience, as you will learn to speak the language from native speakers in their own country, interact with them everyday and gain a firsthand understanding of French life and culture. A French immersion course will provide ample opportunities each day to improve your French language skills - be it haggling with a vegetable grocer over the price of tomatoes, or asking someone for directions to go visit your favorite tourist spot in Paris, or even asking the French girl or boy that you happen to meet to accompany you on a date! You will have no choice but to exercise your new found French muscles to the full during your stay in France!

An important point to note is that though most preferred France is not the only French immersion destination. Canada with its own take on French culture and large French speaking population is another great place to have your French immersion experience. Another exciting option is to visit one of the popular French speaking Caribbean islands on a vacation and also club your French immersion experience with it. Whatever be the place you choose to have your French immersion experience, you are guaranteed to master every nuance of the language and have a load of fun along the way!

Lady Gaga Videos Rocks the Pop World

If you're looking for someone who is redefining music videos as we know them, look no further than Lady G. This up and coming singer has already put her mark on the industry because of her unique approaches to pop, fashion, and stardom at large. It is the Lady Gaga videos though that really make this woman stand out in the crowd. Featuring story lines fit for feature films, Lady G's music videos take audiences on a journey through the song, rather than just a display of the lyrics. Here we will look at some of the fan favorites that have shown up over the years.

One of the Lady Gaga videos that really made it big was "Bad Romance". Filmed in a Russian bath house, this video showcases some of the craziest costumes we've ever seen from Gaga, including a full white PVC cat suit and matching mask. There is also a part of the video where Lady G walks around in a fully beaded green couture dress that had matching 8 inch heels. In this video, Lady G ends up burning a man alive who had seemingly been keeping her a slave in the bath house. The last scene is nothing more than Lady G lying on a burnt bed with a skeleton by her side.

Another story telling video from Lady Gaga was made for the song "Paparazzi". In this one, Lady Gaga is a star that ends up killed by a man she was having a relationship with. It turns out that she wasn't dead though and she ends up poisoning that man later on in the video. This one of the Lady Gaga videos is more French than anything, but she does speak Swedish in the beginning. The outfits in this one include a figure fitting Mickey Mouse yellow suit with matching black lipstick.

The most controversial of all Lady Gaga videos though just recently came out. Made for the song "Telephone", this video tells a Thelma and Louise type story with Lady Gaga and Beyonce. The song itself is about not answering a phone at a club, but the video brings it to a whole new level. Featuring everything from the singer clad in nothing but caution tape to a dance number for thong wearing inmates, this video literally dropped some jaws when it came out. You can't even watch it on basic MTV because of the risqué quality of parts of it. This is just another way that Lady Gaga continues to shock us all.

How Do Tax Code Changes in September Affect You?

Alistair Darling has performed an unprecedented u-turn as Chancellor by changing and back-dating income tax thresholds during the tax year.

Following the furore and political crisis that followed the elimination of the 10p tax band where millions of employees lost out, the latest action to reduce the impact is to increase the personal tax allowance by £600, for example the emergency tax code of 543L will change to 603L changing allowances from £5,435 to £6,035.

The amount of earnings on which the 20% tax is due will decrease from £36,000 to £34800 and as a result the higher rate threshold, the point from which 40% tax is due on earnings will be reduced from £41,435 to £40,835

The overall effect is to reduce the taxable pay of 20% tax payers by £600 during 2008/09, with a resulting fall of £120 in the amount of tax paid within the year. Monthly paid employees with cumulative tax codes will receive £60 of this £120 in their September pay, followed by £10 a month for the rest of the tax year. Weekly paid employees' net pay will increase by about £53 in week 23 and by about £2.30 per week thereafter. Employees with non-cumulative codes will receive an increase of £10 monthly paid or around £2.30 weekly paid, and will receive the full increase when either they are given a cumulative code during the tax year or after the year end when their full liability for the year has been determined.

So what effect will this have on us? Well, from an employee's point of view the major changes will be that anyone not exceeding the new £6,035 allowance will stop paying tax altogether but if their pay exceeds that amount and they are cumulative paid they will be paying £120 less tax over the year. There are unfortunately still downsides in the new Personal Tax Allowance. Employees who earn between £6,035 and £10,510 will still pay more tax than they would have done if the 10% rate had remained in place. At the same time employees earnings between £16,000 and £40,000 who already benefit from the April 2008 changes are gaining a further £120 in their net pay.

There are no changes to the age 65 and 75 personal allowances. These have already been increased substantially from April 2008.

Employers will receive a letter from the HMRC warning them of the change to the tax bands and personal allowances sometime in July/August but here at Qtac we will be going that step further and be distributing an update to all of our customers, which will simply update all L suffix codes and tax bands within our client's payroll so that our clients can continue their daily duties with little interruption. If you are using any Qtac Payroll Products payroll software full instructions will be given in plenty of time but importantly remember that you must implement changes after the last payday before 7th September.

Mistakes to Avoid in your eBay Auctions

Online auctions continue to grow in popularity as an easy and efficient way to make money on everything from unwanted household items to rare and expensive collectables and even to bulky items like cars.

Log on to eBay and you will see countless auctions on any item you can imagine. As eBay auctions grow in popularity, it becomes harder to make money with your auction because it often gets buried or overlooked with all the competing auctions in the same category. Therefore, to make money on your auction, it is important to set your auction apart and avoid common eBay auction mistakes. Here are 3 important mistakes that you must take note of:

1. Wrong product category or product category not specific enough. As it is relatively simple and inexpensive to auction an item, many sellers simply do not put in enough effort researching the market. The result is the auctions are put up in the wrong category. This would be tantamount to pitching your deal to the wrong market.

However, if you are marketing your product in traditional channels and paying money for your promotions, you are likely to do a lot more research and legwork. If you want to earn a serious income, then you should not treat your eBay auctions any differently.

To research, find the best eBay category to put your product auction in. If you are selling coins, eBay shoppers do not have the time to search all 38,000 plus auctions put up under the category of coins. You need to define your product category as specific as possible. You will then target the true eBay shoppers that are likely to be interested in your auction.

2. A blurred or ugly looking image. Be sure your eBay auction has a clear professional looking image. Pay heed to the saying "A picture speaks a thousand words". Also, don't forget to ensure that your image file size is not too large. If the image takes minutes to download, the typical eBay shopper is bound to skip your auction.

3. Incomplete and unclear product description. Be sure to give a detailed and precise description for your eBay auction item. For instance, you can give exact dimensions of the product or give specific details about the condition of the second hand item. An incomplete or unclear description is not likely to attract bidders for your item.

All in all, the best exercise I can suggest is to visit your eBay auction and honestly ask yourself if you would be even tempted to put in a bid for this product.

If the answer is no or even probably not, then change it. If you are passionate about your auction and take the time to make it professional, your auction is likely to stand out. Make the effort to do it right and you are likely to have successful auctions.