Monday

Eco-Friendly Non-Woven Tote Bags


You'll have piece of mind knowing you are helping the environment with tote bags made from 80% post consumer recycled plastic bottles. These durable and attractive bags come in a choice of three colors with eco-symbol green accent. Recycled logo appears on bottom of bag.

They make great handouts at trade shows, health fairs, job fairs or corporate events. Besides giving a useful gift, you are setting the right example when it comes to helping to save the earth. Oh yea, and your logo or message comes imprinted for all to see.

The Premium Tool Set

We've just launched another new product, the Premium Tool Set. This is a promotional product we'd put in the higher quality bracket of promotional items ideal for use in incentive offers where you want to encourage people to respond to a mailing, or register on your web site.

So what it? Well it's a multi-tool which contains a set of different tools that all folds up in a neat compact way. Some of the tools include pliers, wire cutters, screw drivers, a knife, a ruler and more - 15 in total. It's made of metal so has a heavy durable feel to it, and it looks impressive in screen shots too so you can entice people more easily by including a picture in your email or mailing where you offer the incentive.

Of course your logo can be imprinted in full colour onto the tool set, giving you good brand exposure.

This should appeal well to a male audience, so if you're looking for a good incentive to encourage people to order from you, or re-order too, then this is a good product for you to consider using.

T-shirt design printing: Choosing between screen printing and digital printing

Different techniques can be used to print your t-shirt design onto your T-shirt, and unsurprisingly, they produce different results. In this article, we examine screen printing and digital t-shirt printing, and the pros and cons of each one, to help you choose the best way to create your dream t-shirt.

Screen printing for t-shirts
If you had an industrious art teacher at school, you may have tried a simple version of screen printing in which a template for each color of your design creates the spaces where the ink can be pressed onto the fabric. The same principle applies in professional t-shirt screen printing, although there is more automation of the actual printing once the set-up has been completed.

Digital printing
This is sometimes called "direct to garment digital printing" or simply DTG. This technique involves the application of textile water-based inks to the t-shirt using a specialized digital printer The design is usually fixed onto the garment with a heat press.

Choosing the best t-shirt printing technique
When considering which technique to choose for a t-shirt print run, many people ask which provides the best quality finish. In fact, the best technique depends on the t-shirt design you want to print, as some are better suited to each technique. It also depends on the colors you are printing and the color of the base garment too.

The best T-shirt designs for screen printing
Bold designs with thick lines and few colors are best suited to screen printing, producing very high quality results. If you are using a digital image with fine color blending or black and white shading in your t-shirt design, screen printing will simply not be able to reproduce the image well.
Of course, other factors will influence the price of your t-shirt run, such as the number being produced, especially as screen printing does involve more setting up before printing can begin. The number of colors in the design also affects the price as a different screen is required for each color.
If your T-shirt design is relatively simple, screen printing may well be the best option as it produces a very high quality finish. Many in the t-shirt printing industry maintain that the best vibrancy of color can only be produced by screen printing.
The durability of screen printed t-shirts following multiple wears and washes is also considered to be the best, but of course, the quality of inks used and the base garment will also be a factor.

The best T-shirt designs for digital printing
Advances in printing technology have improved the finish of digitally printed t-shirts immensely over recent years. If you tried it a few years ago and were disappointed by seeing dots in your design, don't let it discourage you now. Modern digital t-shirt printing machines produce better finishes now, with better durability than ever before.
If you are using a photograph or complex, multicolored image in your t-shirt design, digital printing is the way to go as it can reproduce photo realistic designs. In addition, it's the cheaper option if you only need a small number of t-shirts produced as the set-up costs are lower.
One important factor to consider with digital printing is the color of the base garment, as generally that color is the most prominent in the design, and as a result, best effects are achieved using white t-shirts when printing a multicolored design. Only the very best DTG t-shirt printers may be able to get excellent results with black or dark colored t-shirts. Printing white ink can still be problematic, so avoiding using DTG t-shirt printing for designs that contain substantial white areas, especially on dark base garments, is a wise choice.

Summary
With the advances in digital T-shirt printing over recent years, it's no longer simply a case of "screen printing produces the best results" - instead, start with the needs of your design and examine whether screen printing or DTG digital T-shirt printing can best reproduce it.
In short, if your design is simple and has few colors, generally screen printing is the method to opt for, but may be more expensive for a small print run. If your T-shirt design involves many colors and photo realistic images, then digital printing should be your first choice. Of course, the best t-shirt printing companies will be happy to give you advice on what is best for your needs.

Friday

How To Purchase Diamond Jewelry

If you're a man, you're probably thinking of giving your bride-to-be a diamond ring and would like to ask her to marry you. The idea seems simple enough; you'd go to a jewelry store, select a diamond worthy for your beloved, pay for it and you're ready to go. In reality however, this is not always what it feels like especially if you are able to get a hold of the price tag of your chosen sparkler and you would soon realize how intimidating it is to purchase diamond jewelry gifts. If you have the intention to purchase a diamond in the near future, it is important that you know the tricks of the trade for you to take charge of your transactions and get a run for your money.

According to Fred Cuellar, gemologist and one of the world's top diamond experts, there are basically four things that a consumer has to remember when he or she intends to purchase diamond jewelry gifts, and these could be summarized as BEST: B-budget, E-expectations, S-savvy, and T-timetable. In terms of budget, you should try to figure out first how much you intend to spend on buying diamond, and you should stick to that budget outlay; a month's salary could already be a good starting point. For expectations, it is important that you know and understand the needs and wants of the person to whom you are going to give the diamond so that you will have an idea what to look for and what to pick out from the bunch. Being savvy requires you to know the given cost of diamond in the market and the best designs available, as they say knowledge is power; and for the element of timetable, you must have a laid plan about when and where you intend to give the diamond, do not haste things and be sure to give yourself enough time to analyze things.

Now that you have a crash course about making diamond purchase, you should also know where to buy your sparklers. You have two options where you could get your diamond jewelry gifts, first is for you to go online and second is to check your local jewelry shops. Buying online is probably one of the most practical means to buy diamond gifts because you don't have to break a sweat and everything is just one click away; however, the drawbacks with this are you cannot appraise the diamond and the possibility of scams are high but if you really want this option, be sure to do a background check on the online stores where you intend to purchase. The latter option of buying your diamond gifts on you local jewelry store is a better choice because you would be able to appraise the diamond personally and long time jewelers could help you out with your questions, which would assist you in arriving at the right decision.

As for the diamond, always remember the 4Cs: clarity, color, cut and carat; all of which are important elements that determine the real value of sparklers. Clarity is what determines how free from blemishes and inclusions a diamond is. Different types of diamond are assigned with clarity grades that may range from flawless to obvious inclusions. Sometimes, due to quality issues there are diamond pieces that are treated to reduce their imperfections by irradiation, filling imperfections, or laser drilling, these are known as clarity enhanced sparklers which are usually lesser in value.

When it comes to color, diamond pieces are available in virtually all colors; however, colored sparklers are rare and truly expensive so chances are, the sparklers you would see during your shopping are either white or yellow in color but between the two, it would be better to go for whiter diamond pieces. This is because the yellow coloring of sparklers came from nitrogen which affect their sharp and sparkly features; hence, as a rule of thumb, the yellower the diamond, the cheaper it becomes. When it comes to cut, diamond pieces could be cut in different ways, the most common of which is the round brilliant cut. More than indicating the shape of the diamond, a cut also determines how sparkly such gemstone will be.

It is never enough for a diamond to be clear and white, because your diamond will not sparkle unless it is cut properly. As cut is extremely hard to analyze, the three things that you should look at are brilliance, fire and scintillation; however, if you really want to make things easier, the standard round brilliant cut is probably the most preferable choice compared to other cut. Lastly, the carat refers to the unit weight of a diamond. Majority of diamond pieces used for fine jewelry often weight one carat or less; this is because a fraction of a carat can make a big difference on the value of diamond.

Purchasing diamond jewelry gifts is a daunting task. Hence, it is always best to be an informed buyer in order to get the most out of your money. Not because a diamond is round brilliant cut doesn't mean it's already a good purchase. Remember that there are still three remaining Cs that you have to consider. A clarity enhanced diamond might be inexpensive but also consider the quality. Educating oneself is a good way to make the right purchasing decisions.

Thursday

Five Important Rules for Yoga

The word "Yoga" drives from Indian Sanskrit "yug" or "yuj" which means harmony and accordance. It is a traditional mental and physical discipline, originated in India, which helps people to develop their potentiality. The essences of yoga lies in attaining mental peace, improving concentration powers, harmony in relationship and a relaxed state of living. Yoga postures are easy to learn and improve their capability in psychology, emotion, spirit and physiology. In recent years, Yoga becomes a popular exercise, especially for women because it has many benefits.
The most important benefit of yoga is physical and mental therapy. Study shows that yoga can reduce the catabolic process of cell deterioration and slow down the aging process because it could keep your body in clean, flexible and well lubricated states. And yoga is a good mental therapy which could influence all system and organs of the body according to medical experts. It is a preventive and curative therapy.
The word "Yoga" drives from Indian Sanskrit "yug" or "yuj" which means harmony and accordance. It is a traditional mental and physical discipline, originated in India, which helps people to develop their potentiality. The essences of yoga lies in attaining mental peace, improving concentration powers, harmony in relationship and a relaxed state of living. Yoga postures are easy to learn and improve their capability in psychology, emotion, spirit and physiology. In recent years, Yoga becomes a popular exercise, especially for women because it has many benefits.
The most important benefit of yoga is physical and mental therapy. Study shows that yoga can reduce the catabolic process of cell deterioration and slow down the aging process because it could keep your body in clean, flexible and well lubricated states. And yoga is a good mental therapy which could influence all system and organs of the body according to medical experts. It is a preventive and curative therapy.
And then, people with high blood pressure, back pain and respiration problem could get many benefits from yoga. For high blood pressure people, yoga could pay a positive role in treatment. Under regular practice of yoga, people with respiration problem could gradually control their breath. In brief, yoga is conducive to people's health.
But yoga has its own features. You could abide by some rules when you practice yoga. At first, you should choose the best time to go yoga. Generally speaking, people go yoga in the morning, afternoon and at noon. Actually, you could practice it all the day if only your stomach is empty. In other words, you shouldn't practice it within three hours after meals. But yogi believes that four to six o'clock in the morning is the best time.
And then, place plays an important role. You'd better to practice it in a clean and comfortable room with sufficient space for stretching yourself. Green plants, flowers and soft music can help you to relax nerves. An open area without gale, pollution and strong sunlight is also a great choice to practice yoga.
Third, some props are necessarily. Yoga mat has a cushioning action and help you to keep balance. For beginners, yoga rope, yoga strap, yoga socks, and yoga block are other necessities to practice some difficult postures. By the way, you could purchase a yoga mat on online stores because they usually sell yoga mat with other props. It is easy and convenient for you to prepare for the learning.
Fourth, the cloth should be loose and soft. The cotton material is the best choice. When you practice it, you should take off shoes, socks (except for in winter), watch, glass, belt and other accouterments.
Fifth, it isn't a good habit to practice yoga twenty minutes before and after taking a shower. It could hurt your health and consume your energy if you take a shower before practice it. The blood circulation could speed up after take a shower. In this way, it could increase your blood pressure, and add the burden on heart. The best way is taking a cold shower after practice it.
Yogic theory and practice increases self-knowledge which is a spiritual sort pertaining to grasp something about the nature. You could get lost in a rush of activities and push of desires after you are at peace, as a being and at rest state.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5383039

Wednesday

The Truth Behind Silent Generators

Data Processing has changed greatly over time. While one can track the beginnings of the modern analytical computer to Charles Babbage (1791-1871), we really saw the beginning of modern day information systems during World War II when they were used as code busters. After the war, few anticipated how much computers would affect our lives. Early on even IBM thought that there would only be a handful of companies that would need a computer.In those days, computers were massive systems based on vacuum tubes and core memory. With the advent of the integrated circuit, computer architectures took a giant leap forward. The mainframe systems of the late 1980’s evolved into Client/Server applications of the early 1990’s. In parallel, the Internet grew from a few engineer and research systems to a World Wide network. It wasn’t until an Al Gore authored bill allowing commerce to be carried out over the Internet did things really start to change. Every business, every organization, had to carve out a space on “The Net.”The ubiquitous nature of The Internet made it the perfect way for business to have a global reach while maintaining a local presence. Soon, application vendors were making Internet based applications. Today, solution providers are exploiting service oriented architectures and BPEL to provide more agile environments in which to do business.Today, combining Internet access with massive, inexpensive compute power, data processing has been transformed from an ancillary function of accounting departments to mechanisms by which organizations can transform and enhance their internal processing while integrating their interactions with customers and suppliers.The key to modern day data processing is not simply the automation of some manual process. Today, business realizes that data processing, information systems, change the very processes that are used to run the business. They not only do same things more efficiently, the do thins differently.In the past an order was printed and sent to a supplier. The order was received and, if the item was in stock, it was shipped. Items not in stock were placed on back order. Today with Supply chain integration, the entire supply chain is integrated into one network. Warehouse management software notifies suppliers when stock levels drop and order are placed. The suppliers themselves use data mining and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software to predict ordering patterns and anticipate customer needs.Even how businesses interact with their customers has changed. In the past, businesses used mass marketing to appeal to the greatness number of possible customers. Today, we have mass customization where businesses on a group basis provide customized goods and services.

Thursday

How to Select A Computer Mouse


Selecting a computer mouse is worth a laugh, right? Wrong. For most of you who are not aware of RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury – caused due to repetitive movements involving a specific set of muscles and joints, e.g. – trigger finger, carpal tunnel syndrome etc.), this seemingly small little instrument can cause injuries that are pretty disabling.

Though the fact is that RSI depends more on the posture than on the computer mouse itself, we shall concentrate more on the mouse than on the posture in this article.

Coming back to the topic of selecting a computer mouse, we shall discuss a bit as we go along the criteria for selecting it.

Optical Mouse

Does it fit? - Amongst the various computer mice available, seek the one that best fits your palm. Of course, customization is not possible, but across the various companies and models, the size changes and that might make a difference.

What type do you need? -

a) If you are using the computer for general purposes, it is ok to buy the good old scroll mouse. This is the most common type of computer mouse that has a roller at the bottom and has two buttons and a scroll wheel on the top. It is the cheapest and most widely used.

Disadvantages? – The lint and the debris that get between the roller and the connectors do not let the connectors function properly. Moreover, the accuracy and response of this once mighty computer mouse is not at par with its counterparts today.

b) Suppose you are a graphics designer or a gamer and you do not get a response from your computer mouse that is good enough for you. Enter the optical mouse. It looks the same as a scroll mouse but underneath, there is no roller that slows up the response. Instead, optical mice use a red LED (Light Emitting Diode) that throws red light onto a surface, which bounces off and is captured by a CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor. Now, as you move the mouse, the variations in the image captured by the sensors cause the cursor on your screen to respond accordingly.

Why is it more accurate? – The image response works at close to a hundred times per second. Variations of the optical mice which use laser technology are also available in the market.

c) Want to operate the mouse at a distance? Have a problem with the wires connected to the mouse? That’s when you need a wireless mouse. Most wireless mice that are available in the market are pretty reliable and the best thing about them is the fact that they can be used even when there is no clear line between the PC and the mouse (which is not so in the case of an infrared mice). That is basically because they are radio-based (RF-Radio Frequency) devices and hence do not require any optical or physical connection with the computer.


 
Wireless Mouse
 
Issues? – The first of course is the fact that you will need to charge them up for operation. Secondly, the computer will need to have a receiver – an external device, a built in component or a special card that you can place in an expansion slot.

The Bluetooth computer mouse is a type of wireless computer mouse that uses Bluetooth technology to connect to a computer. Another is the RF mice that can operate from a distance of 33m.