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DIY enthusiasts will usually have a go at most things. However, more and more, the DIY enthusiast is being regulated in the same way as the professional tradesmen. This isnt to say that they have not been previously bound by regulations applying to construction trades, but that a more consistent application of the rules is being applied.

One area which seems to be avoiding the strictest of regulation is the art of bricklaying, which is not always given the esteem it perhaps deserves. Whilst a building or structure will remain standing under most circumstances, irrespective of the quality of workmanship, the aesthetic qualities of good brickwork will never be able to be appreciated unless the workmanship is of the highest quality. Quality of workmanship of will always be a determining factor as to whether or not the finished project will gain the esteem it should deserve. The choice of brick or masonry block will have a large bearing on the aesthetics of projects ranging from a common garden wall to large housing complex or mall but all will depend on the quality of the workmanship. In the right hands, poor or low quality bricks can be made to look much better than they really are. In the wrong hands, the quality of the brick will not make any difference at all you wont be able to hide poor workmanship.

If you do feel up to having a go, there are some basics that you will need to be aware of. Future articles will cover some of the more practical aspects of Do it Yourself bricklaying.

Do it Yourself bricklaying is not for the faint hearted. Be prepared for some hard graft hard work.

Here are some basics for the determined!

Firstly, you will need to work out how many bricks or blocks are needed. Once you have done this and your bricks are due to be delivered, you will need to plan your site so that, wherever possible, the brick storage areas are sited as close to the point of work as possible. This will reduce any unnecessary handling which will minimise your effort and possible damage to the bricks reducing waste. The bricks will need to be stored on sound, level ground and raised clear of wet, muddy areas in order to prevent contamination and staining.

The stored bricks must be protected from the weather. So must any brickwork under construction, which should include the covering of any completed uncapped work. Always protect newly built brickwork from rain. Remember - maintain an airspace between the brick face and any waterproof covering. Wet bricks will effervesce and these precautions will help to reduce any likelihood of efflorescence and subsequent lime blooming. (this is the white staining often seen on newer buildings).

When using scaffolding, the boards adjacent to the brickwork should be turned back which will avoid any unsightly splashing of the brickwork. Keep the boards clean, not only for safetys sake, but this will also to prevent mortar staining from any rain splashes. You will also need to take care to prevent mortar smearing the surface of newly laid bricks. Cleaning at a later stage is rarely satisfactory, often difficult and can lead to expensive and time consuming remedial treatments. Also cleaning will almost certainly have a detrimental effect on the face of the bricks as many cleaning agents will be abrasive.

Remember - Prevention is better than the cure.

One of the biggest failings of the average Do it Yourself bricklayer is getting the mortar mix too wet or, conversely, too dry. Either way this will have a detrimental effect upon the structural properties of the brickwork, weakening the wall. Also if the mix is too sloppy, it is certain that when using the trowel to clean the excess mortar, it will be dragged across the face of the bricks, leaving an almost impossible to clean, unsightly smear of mortar. This is a similar problem when undertaking the pointing the mortar joints. Again, if the mix is too sloppy you will have similar problems. If the mix is too dry, the pointing is likely too fall out in a fairly short period of time. It is important that all mortar joints are fully filled to help prevent weeping. Any gaps will allow moisture to be retained in the joints and the bricks and mortar becoming subject to frost damage. When building a cavity wall, it is essential that the cavities are kept absolutely clean. Mortar snots on the wall ties will act as a bridge for moisture and cold between the inner and outer skin of the wall. Be scrupulous when installing cavity insulation bats at this stage as dirty cavities increase the risk of damp and cold bridging.

Do not lay bricks when the temperature is at or below 4C or when freezing may occur before the mortar has hardened. Be careful when using admixes always carefully follow the instructions on the container. Remember - temperatures should be rising not falling. Do not lay bricks if the temperature of the mortar may fall to freezing point before it sets or if the bricks are frozen, or the sand contains ice particles. If a frost is likely to occur before the mortar in newly built brickwork has set, protect it with Hessian and protect the Hessian from rain with plastic sheeting. (Dont forget to maintain the airspace).

If however, the mortar becomes damaged by frost take the brickwork down and rebuild.

If in you are in any doubt take the brickwork down and start again.

More practical advice is covered in the following article Do It Yourself Bricklaying #2

Article by Philip Ray

Whilst this article endeavours to contain up to date and accurate information, the article can only be considered as a guide. The author would always recommend that you take local independent professional advice.

After many years working in the construction industry, Phil now teaches in the UK. He has written many articles for web sites like Householders Guide, ukhomeonline.co.uk and yourhomeonlineuk.co.uk. His wide knowledge of the Construction Industry and Housing Markets makes him a popular author on Buying Real Estate.

Continuing with the sales conversion theme, Mike Morgan addressed several issues relating to ad copy.

What's the Deal with Sales Pages, Anyway?

Too many online marketers believe that products sell themselves, and that sales pages are at best an inconvenience. Just put up any old page, and paying customers will start pouring in, right?

Mike Morgan addressed some misconceptions about sales pages, including the idea that it is an isolated part of a marketing campaign. The sales page is a part of the entire sales process, a process that may or may not include:

• Relevant Pre-sales research
• Face-to-face, verbal, and/or electronic communication with prospects
• Expert sales information

There is a fine line between swiping and what Morgan calls "Falling for the Tyranny of the Familiar". Blindly pursuing trends because they worked for others does not guarantee your success. In fact, you will likely will fail because the conditions and circumstances of the other's campaign are not duplicatable nor relevant anymore.

Are Prospects Really Willing to Read Your Salesletter?

Assuming that you have not pre-sold your prospects, a winning salesletter is what stands between you and a steady stream of income. So, why would someone make the effort to read your copy? Mike and others suggest the following:

1. Your salesletter serves as a first (primary) impression of you.
2. People genuinely interested in your offer use sales copy to evaluate your product or service.
3. Prospects will read most, if not all of your sales page if the offer is relevant, and the sales copy
   does not put them to sleep.
4. Marketer-to-marketer (M2M) selling is big business, especially in the various Internet marketing
   niches. Sharp competitors looking to improve their own skills will "swipe" you and apply it to
   their own situations. Plus, they will buy your product if they can learn from it and improve their
   own offers...

The Three Sales Conversion Master Keys.

1. Non-copy elements that influence conversion the most:
   • An (Irresistible) Offer (product, service)
   • List of motivated subscribers; chosen target market
   • The 'hook', i.e. an attention grabbing curiosity that normally requires research to discover.


2. Shortcuts to Winning Copy.

   Swiping, i.e. "ethical stealing", is the most powerful advertising technique. It builds your copywriting DNA. Eventually, copy
   material becomes internalized within you.



3. The "Dirty Little Secret": Testing!

   Writing a sales letter is not the end of the process, it's just the start! You need to test, because even the best copy gets
   stale with time. "Freshen up" your ads from time to time.

Practical Tactics to Consider for Your Next Campaign.

• Consider writing your salesletter before having the actual offer in place. In fact, it may improve the final product.
• Inject personality into your salesletter where appropriate.
• Create a pre-notification list to attract an "affiliate army" to your offer. Provide them with the information and tools they
  need to become effective ambassadors on your behalf.
• Go into the customer's mindset ("Walk a mile in their shoes"). Ask yourself, "How does this product solve my prospect's problem?"
• Incorporate bonuses, but test their placement on your sales page: Is it better before or after revealing the price?

  e.g. After revealing the price for your main offer, write "... and to sweeten the deal", then introduce your bonuses.

Conclusion.

Do you want to know a secret? Mike Morgan revealed to his eager listeners that there is no magic sales copy formula. Rather, making money online demands a marketing mindset that visualizes every step of a campaign's sales funnel from a prospect's perspective. Then, you must test things out, evaluate preliminary results, then tweak until you achieve your goals.

Morgan aims not only to be the best copywriter, but also a sales consultant and confidante to his clients, evaluating various scenarios before selecting the best approach. The end result is a keen ability to discuss high-level campaigns with the world's best marketers. It is a skill and philosophy that distinguishes him - a sales conversion specialist - from the rest of the pack.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rahul Majumdar is a full-time Information Marketing Specialist focused on teleseminar reporting, list-building techniques, and information product creation

Sign up for more of his insights at:

==> http://www.info-entrepreneur-rm.net

Many people are trying to fight off the signs of aging by using anti aging medicine, but whether or not they are succeeding is often a grey area. It may seem pointless to try to fight the signs of aging skin when wrinkles are inevitable. Anti aging medicine is helping people to delay the inevitable and making their lives a little bit easier for a while.

So what is it about anti aging medicine that makes it among the top selling forms of medicine sold in pharmacies today? The fact remains that people are always looking for the fountain of youth. Fighting off "signs of aging" is no longer just about fighting off the physical signs; it's about fighting off aging altogether.

Many people find that they can lessen the effects of aging by using anti aging medicine. This can help them get rid of wrinkles, line darkness and other signs of aging. For many people, getting rid of any of the signs of aging can be a positive aspect to using certain medicines. Many of them will buy lots of vitamin B6 and other vitamins for that purpose alone.

Still, for those who buy vitamin B6 as a skin care anti aging medicine, there are benefits to the vitamin that actually do contribute to aging gracefully. Vitamins and natural supplements are healthy, and can benefit you in the long run.

The best way to actually combat any signs of aging is to remain as healthy as possible for as long as possible. However, all of the hair, skin and nail vitamins in the world can't provide that kind of health.

The best way to remain healthy is to make healthy lifestyle choices. Exercise, a proper diet and plenty of rest are the key fundamentals to any sort of anti aging medicine plan. It all starts with building the foundation to a solid, healthy long life.

No form of any natural hormone program will be able to accomplish the same goals that a healthy lifestyle can. A natural hormone program, without a solid basis, is just another waste of time and money.

The only thing that stands in the way of graceful aging is personal idealism. Anti aging medicine may prevent some of the signs of aging by temporarily improving the skin's appearance, but aging is something that really cannot be combated in its entirety.

It is simply something that must be coped with. If anti aging medicine helps that coping process, it may be well worth it.

Get your FREE anti aging gift and the best information on anti aging medicine at Mike Selvon's anti aging portal, and leave a comment at our anti aging blog.

For decades, educators in general, and those with specific training in music in particular, have been touting the values of the experience. As research continues on the intrinsic value of having students exposed to formal music education, more and more people are understanding how the functioning of the human brain is enhanced by training in music.

In cities throughout Texas, including the larger cities of Dallas, Houston and Austin, music educators, supported by the Texas Music Educators Association, have been touting the value of making music an integral part of a well-rounded educational experience.

But in times of budgetary pressures, is the case for music education -- all too often seen as an easy way to cut costs -- one that stands up to the scrutiny? Music educators may argue that exposing young student minds to the unique disciplines required of music may be almost as important as having health insurance -- the real benefits come when you need it most.

One of the most basic questions concerning music education in Texas may be does it help produce a better citizen? A number of statistics would suggest the answer is a decided yes.

A report by the Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse showed that secondary students who participated in band or orchestra had the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances, including alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs. That alone, with the obvious connection to health insurance issues, might be enough to convince doubters. But even those students who dont make music a part of their career appear to benefit from integrating the subject into their education.

In The Paradox of the Silicon Savior, author Grant Venerable points to an interesting fact: the very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians.

Students in Dallas, Houston and Austin, and throughout Texas, are also more likely to do better in school when they embrace a curriculum that includes music, as suggested by an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students. The study, reported by the College Entrance Examination Board in 2001, indicated that students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Specifically, students with backgrounds in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math portion of the SAT; students with backgrounds in music appreciation did even better: 63 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the math, compared to students with no arts participation.

Those intending a future career in health should take note: a study by physician and biologist Lewis Thomas, The Case for Music in the Schools (Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994), discovered 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group.

While there is evidence that smart students taking music excel, some studies suggest music education can also play a role in actually developing intelligence in Texas students as well as those elsewhere. Consider research by Dr. Timo Krings, who performed a study of pianists and non-musicians of the same age and sex. In the research, reported in Neuroscience Letters, no. 3 (2000), study participants were required to perform complex sequences of finger movements. A brain scan used to detect activity levels of brain cells demonstrated that the brain cells of musicians were more efficient at making skilled movements, an indication that musical training can enhance brain function.

The benefits of music education in developing intelligence appear to come early. In the Kindergarten classes of the school district of Kettle Moraine, Wis., children given music instruction scored 48% higher on spatial-temporal skill tests than those who did not receive music training.

How about success in life? And perhaps even more importantly, does music make us healthier? Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, the world-renowned heart surgeon connected with the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, is one who believes in the value of music education. Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence, traits that carry over into intellectual pursuits and that lead to effective study and work habits, said Dr. DeBakey. An association of music and math has, in fact, long been noted. Creating and performing music promotes self-expression and provides self-gratification while giving pleasure to others. In medicine, increasing published reports demonstrate that music has a healing effect on patients. For all these reasons, it deserves strong support in our educational system, along with the other arts, the sciences, and athletics.

Finally, Dr. Frederick Tims, a leading music educator, as reported in AMC Music News (June 1999), says those who embrace music are healthier as they age. There were significant decreases in anxiety, depression and loneliness following keyboard lessons, Dr. Tims said. These are factors that are critical in coping with stress, stimulating the immune system, and in improved health. Increasingly, society is seeing the intrinsic benefits that those on the front lines of music education have already seen.

Researchers are now discovering how the mind responds to something as simple yet powerful as music, an indication that the future, from a health and wellness perspective, is a bright one. How you treat your mind and body when youre young will certainly affect your health when you get older. Eventually, it will also affect your wallet as well. If you're a young individual who likes to maintain a healthy condition, you should take a look at the revolutionary, comprehensive and highly affordable individual health insurance solutions created by Precedent specifically for you. For more information, visit us at our website, precedent.com. We offer a unique and innovative suite of individual health insurance solutions, including highly competitive HSA-qualified plans and an unparalleled real-time application and acceptance experience.

Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at http://www.precedent.com

A complete rethink of bingo club layout, location and promotion may soon follow the smoking ban, as players from one such land based club in Plymouth, UK, recently experienced the full force of the ban as they were moved on by the Police as they sought to smoke a quick cigarette outside the club main doors. The Police did not take kindly to over 100 people smoking on a main road outside the Gala bingo hall and moved them on or back into the club, minus their cigarettes.

The smoking ban may cause land based bingo clubs to rethink how they advertise and promote softer games in between typical bingo games. It may be that players who are itching for a cigarette could be further enticed into playing slots or similar games in order to help ease their tension or to take their mind away from wanting a cigarette.

Whatever the clubs do to try to keep their players, they will have a tough fight on their hands as online bingo at home allows people the freedom to smoke a cigarette while enjoying the benefits of playing bingo and socialising.

The UK Gambling Commission recently released its updated report on remote gambling and this shows an increase in online gambling over recent months. So the future for online bingo gambling looks rosy.

But it may mean that some players are prevented from playing their favourite game altogether. Consider the 55 + year olds whose only weekly pleasure is an outing to a bingo hall, to meet with their friends and have a cigarette and a chin wag. Those of such an age may not be PC savvy and could find it frustrating that they can no longer smoke in the bingo halls and cannot use a PC to play online. Indeed the report by the Gambling Commission shows that of those surveyed only 5% of 55+ year olds had tried some form of remote or online gambling.

The Gambling Commission might be happy that some people will be prevented from gambling as it could potentially reduce the numbers who end up with gambling problems and could paint a prettier picture in terms of the overall numbers spending hard earned cash gambling online.

However, figures just released show that this reduction is not necessarily going to happen as some 9% of those surveyed in the past two months said they had tried some form of online gambling, up 3% on the previous year for the same period.

While online bingo players still lag behind online poker and online betting players in terms of the percentage who have actually tried some form of online gambling, it does show the second biggest increase for the same period from the previous year.

Behind the National Lottery which showed 1% growth in June 2007, from June 2006, online bingo shows a close 0.5% for the same period, thus proving that it has caught up with online poker and betting as a popular form of gambling with less percentage growth. Proving also that people are entrusting online bingo sites as a legitimate gambling form.

So its seems that players are making that transition over to online gambling and with the smoking ban starting to have an effect, online bingo can only benefit from allowing its players the freedom to smoke online, at home, at anytime.

Written by Morgan Collins for Chit Chat Bingo. Bingo games site online for UK players. Links must be retained in reproduction of this article.

Some people who have moved over to a vegetarian diet are convinced that it has been responsible for curing their diabetes but can this really be the case or is there something else at work here?

Diet is a very important factor when it comes to diabetes but here we are normally talking principally about controlling the level of sugar in the bloodstream and so we are looking at changes to our dietary habits which control our intake of sugar. So can a vegetarian diet help in this respect?

Vegetarians fall into three categories - vegans, lacto-vegetarians and lacto-ovo vegetarians. Vegans eat no animal products, including products derived from animals such as eggs and milk, and their diet is confined solely to plant-based foods. Lacto-vegetarians add milk and some milk based products to an otherwise plant-based diet, but exclude eggs. Finally, lacto-ovo-vegetarians add milk, milk based products such as cheese and yogurt and eggs to a plant-based diet.

In all of these cases, because the diet is essentially centered on fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and possibly some dairy products, it is essentially a low cholesterol, low fat, high fiber diet and tends, by its very nature, to reduce sugar intake and so assist with the control of diabetes.

However, in many people who convert to a vegetarian diet there is something else hard at work in combating diabetes.

The substantial rise in diabetes, especially in the West, is due in no small measure to the fact that we are gaining weight at an alarming rate and that obesity has now reached epidemic proportions in many countries, with the United States leading the field. Weight gain is a major risk factor for diabetes and many people are developing the disease for no other reason than the fact that they are gaining weight.

The solution of course, in the first instance and before the problem gets out of hand, is simply to go on a diet, start taking some exercise and lose weight and what could be better for accomplishing this than a low cholesterol, low fat, low sugar, high fiber vegetarian diet.

So, returning to our original question - can you cure your diabetes by becoming a vegetarian? - the simple answer is yes but it is not the diet itself which will cure your diabetes, but the fact that it can both help you to control your sugar intake and lose weight which is doing the trick. To this end it is a change in diet which is the answer and, while this could be to a vegetarian diet, this does not have to be the case.

Diabetes-Treatment-And-Cure.com provides information on all aspects of finding a natural cure for diabetes and includes a collection of free diabetic recipes.