Making More Money By Learning French Online

I work for a private company which takes government and private contracts for linguistics work.? There is a lot of work to be done in the field of understanding language and intent.? I am already tri-lingual and make a decent living for myself.? Well the more languages you speak the more helpful you are and the more assignments you get handed.? Hence, my company would pay me more if I was quad-lingual.?

I am so busy with my family and job that I feared I?d never have time to learn a fourth language.? I wanted to find a place that offered online French learning.?? I came across Transparent Language and found their program is easy, effective, and affordable.? I picked up French in no time at all and can now help on assignments involving French and the added salary didn?t hurt much either.

No Comments

No comments yet.

Comments RSS

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

joan crawford joan crawford john goodman kendall marshall

Conficker: Microsoft says two basic security steps might have stopped infections

If businesses and consumers stuck to security basics, they could have avoided all cases of Conficker worm infection detected on 1.7 million systems by Microsoft researchers in the last half of 2011.

According to the latest Microsoft Security Intelligence report, all cases of Conficker infection stemmed from just two attack methods: weak or stolen passwords and exploiting software vulnerabilities for which updates existed.

More: Microsoft: Conficker still the top corporate network threat

BATTLING BOTS: Microsoft names alleged Kelihos botnet creator?

So using strong passwords and boosting password security in combination with promptly patching known vulnerabilities would have gone a long way toward reducing the number of Conficker infections, which rose by more than 500,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the study.

Despite these simple steps, Conficker has remained at the top of the enterprise threat list for the past two and a half years, the study says.

In defense of computer owners, the worm often carries key loggers that steal passwords, says Tim Rains, Microsoft's director of trustworthy computing. The report includes a graphic listing some of the passwords that Conficker tries when it's on a machine inside the enterprise trying to get into file shares, and the list is a who's who of weak passwords (11, 22, admin, asdfgh, foofoo, Password).

The report has recommendations for businesses trying to battle advanced persistent threats (APT), which it describes as targeted attacks that can use a variety of methods and that are carried out by adversaries who are very determined. That determination and commitment to long-term infiltration are the key features of APTs, Rains says.

To fight them requires holistic risk management that includes prevention, but also effective detection. A big-data approach to aggregating network security and traffic data and analyzing it for anomalous behavior increases the chances of noticing malicious activity of stealthy malware, he says.

Businesses should also architect their networks in segments designed to contain successful attacks, giving IT security more time to discover them and respond. That response should be well thought out and rehearsed so it can be implemented quickly when the time comes, he says.

(Tim Greene covers Microsoft for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/Tim_Greene)

Read more about wide area network in Network World's Wide Area Network section.

sleep no more cyber monday deals war eagle war eagle

Why Pygmies of Africa are so short

Why the Pygmies of West Africa have such short stature, while neighboring groups don't, has been somewhat of a mystery. Now new research suggests unique changes in the Pygmy's genome have both led to adaptations for living in the forest as well as kept them short.

Researchers analyzed the genomes, the "building code" that directs how an organism is put together, of Western African Pygmies in Cameroon, whose men average 4 feet, 11 inches tall, and compared them with their neighboring relatives, the Bantus, who average 5 feet, 6 inches, to see whether these differences were genetic or a factor of their environment.

"There's been a long-standing debate about why Pygmies are so short and whether it is an adaptation to living in a tropical environment," study researcher Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Pennsylvania said in a statement. "Our findings are telling us that the genetic basis of complex traits like height may be very different in globally diverse populations."

  1. More science news from msnbc.com

    1. Robots: The gateway to 'mind-blowing sex'?

      Robotic sex won't just blow your mind, it may curb many of society's ills, says a new paper that envisions Amsterdam?s red light district staffed by androids that perform a full menu of sexual services.

    2. Frog fungus causes grisly death by dehydration
    3. Sea monster? Plant fossil? Scientists baffled
    4. World's 'most threatened' tribe in dire straits

Short population
The Pygmy and Bantu populations separated genetically about 60,000 to 70,000 years ago; then roughly 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, they started interbreeding.

Some Pygmy women, after having sex with a Bantu man, have given birth to half-Bantu babies, a phenomenon that integrates Bantu genes into the Pygmy population. These women and their offspring stay in the Pygmy village, and so don't mix with the Bantu. However, offspring resulting from mating between a Pygmy man and Bantu woman are rare, so the Bantus don't have many Pygmy genes.

The researchers analyzed the genomes of 67 Pygmies and 58 Bantus for changes that would provide information about an individual's ancestry. These changes are small, nonharmful misspellings in the code (the chemical bases A, C, T and G) that makes up the genome. For example, a Bantu might have an A where a Pygmy has a T.

By analyzing large numbers of these changes, researchers can tell how much of an individual's genome is Bantu and how much is Pygmy.

Selected for statue
The researchers also used this letter-change data to look for areas of the genome associated with height and those that were "naturally selected" for ? parts of the genome that are passed down through the generations because they provide some sort of survival advantage.

The data revealed height had a genetic component related to Bantu ancestry: The more Bantu ancestry an individual from the Pygmy tribe had, the taller that individual tended to be. One part of the genome, on chromosome 3, was especially important in this trait, the researchers said.

"We kept seeing a lot of them [these single-letter differences] highlight that region in chromosome 3," Tishkoff said. "It just seemed like a hot spot for selection and for very high differentiation and, as it turns out, very strong association with height as well."

Height genes
The researchers zoomed in on the genes in this area of the genome. One of the genes they found had already been associated with height changes in other populations, but the rest hadn't.

They found new changes in hormone pathways and immunity that seemed to correlate to the pygmy's short stature. These could have been selected for because of their influence on height or because changes in these genes play other roles in the body that were advantageous to the Pygmies, Tishkoff said.

For example: An immunity component might be selected for because it helps the pygmies fight off infections, which are prevalent in their habitat. And the link to hormone pathways also makes sense, Tishkoff said, because changes to them could help the Pygmies reproduce at earlier ages. Shorter height could just be a byproduct of these changes.

The study was published April 26 in the journal PLoS Genetics.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh onTwitter, onGoogle+or on Facebook. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries onTwitterand on Facebook.

mega millions winners ray allen nascar easter

Free Home Based Business | Business Development Center

Free Home Based Business imageMost traditional businesses can cost thousands to start. So if you want inexpensive and/or free then try using a Web based business. There are several free tools available to help you create a high content design with a specific focus that can be a great marketing asset. If you don?t want to have to invest in a product then affiliate selling may be the best option for you. Once you have your web site complete and have high volumes of traffic using your key words and SEOs then you are ready to find a merchant that will affiliate with you. The affiliate promotes a merchants site with a link on his or her own web page. The merchants products and services are promoted through the link. When a customer clicks on a link and makes a purchase the merchant gives the affiliate a commission. This is because that visitor found the link from the affiliate.

The merchant and the affiliate will agree prior to the link being posted on what the actual commission will be for a particular sale. The affiliate needs to make sure that the product and services he or she is promoting have to do with each other. You want to have a targeted audience and be able to promote these products and services on the affiliate site. If an affiliate has several types of businesses to promote they need to have their own sites independent of each other. This will keep things organized and only get the visitors who will generate sales. Make sure that all the pages you have are themed are easy to find on the popular search engines. You want to make sure that you are attracting potential buyers who are specifically looking for what your merchant or merchants have to offer.

Once you have figured out if a program offer is relevant to what your site contains choose a web site with high ranks on keyword searches. The higher the ranking on a specific search engine the higher the traffic that will be generated. This will also mean that this is a popular program, which is what you are looking for. You have found that site that will help you build a good affiliate relationship. Now it is time to contact your affiliate manager. This person will work with you to establish an account with the said company. It is their job to be helpful and affective as well as respond back to you quickly. The affiliate manager should also be willing to go that extra step to make sure you have long-term success.

The best method of selling your site to someone else is to speak to your customers and visitors, as they are your friends. They will feel more comfortable and in turn promote and advocate your sites and business to others. The best way to generate cash flow is to sell other peoples products, within an affiliate program. It is a sole source of income for the seller if they are not using an affiliate program. The more products of other people you sell the more in turn you will make. The first successful website is always the most difficult. Once you have figured it out you will surely succeed.

josef stalin kourtney and kim take new york anne hathaway nathan hale

Japan political power broker acquitted in scandal

Ichiro Ozawa, a powerbroker of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, enters the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo Thursday, April 26, 2012. The court acquitted the veteran lawmaker Thursday in a political funding scandal. Ozawa was charged last year with overseeing false accounting by his former aides in a murky 2004 land deal. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

Ichiro Ozawa, a powerbroker of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, enters the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo Thursday, April 26, 2012. The court acquitted the veteran lawmaker Thursday in a political funding scandal. Ozawa was charged last year with overseeing false accounting by his former aides in a murky 2004 land deal. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

Ichiro Ozawa, a powerbroker of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, arrives at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo Thursday, April 26, 2012. The court acquitted the veteran lawmaker Thursday in a political funding scandal. Ozawa was charged last year with overseeing false accounting by his former aides in a murky 2004 land deal. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

(AP) ? Ichiro Ozawa, the veteran Japanese lawmaker who engineered the ruling party's rise to power, was acquitted Thursday in a political funding scandal that has damaged his chances of becoming prime minister.

The scandal also cost Ozawa his membership in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, though he continued to wield great influence as a political power broker. The acquittal means his membership could be reinstated, allowing him to exert even more sway.

The 69-year-old was charged last year with overseeing false accounting by his former aides in a murky 2004 land deal. Prosecutors claimed the three aides, who were convicted last year and have since appealed, acted under Ozawa's orders, but the Tokyo District Court said it found no evidence of that.

Though Ozawa played a key role in the party's historic rise to power in 2009, defeating the long-ruling conservatives, he is unpopular with voters and has a negative image as an old-style, wheeling and dealing "shadow shogun." He still has a loyal core of supporters, many of them young politicians whose careers he helped launch.

Prosecutors alleged Ozawa was fully aware of false bookkeeping by the three aides to cover up questionable funds used in the land deal, and that he authorized the false entry of the transaction in an annual political funds report to the government.

Ozawa repeatedly told the court he had no knowledge of his aides' actions. He said his indictment was based on an "unjust and illegal" investigation and demanded that the trial be scrapped.

The three aides, who were tried as a group, were given suspended prison terms of up to three years for failing to register a 400 million yen ($5 million) loan from Ozawa to his funding body in the Tokyo land deal and for accepting 100 million yen ($1.3 million) in illegal donations from a construction company.

Ozawa's trial also caught attention as it revealed that prosecutors had fabricated one of the aides' remarks in interrogation documents. The court later excluded some prosecution documents from the case, leaving prosecutors to make the case without hard evidence showing Ozawa's role.

Even as the scandal brewed, Ozawa wielded a great deal of influence within the ruling party. He lost a party leadership vote to then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan in 2010, but several months later played a key role in pressuring Kan to resign.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has indicated that his party would consider reinstating Ozawa's party membership if he was acquitted.

Ozawa stood trial after a judicial panel comprising ordinary citizens sought his indictment, despite earlier decisions by prosecutors to drop the case due to insufficient evidence. He alleged that his indictment was an "abuse of state power intended to eliminate me socially and politically."

Associated Press

verizon galaxy nexus lawrence lessig lawrence lessig time magazine person of the year 2011

Federal judge rules yet another Florida drug-testing program unconstitutional

Welfare applicants aren't the only people the courts have forced the state of Florida to stop drug testing. A federal court ruled on Thursday that Gov. Rick Scott also doesn't get to randomly drug test 80,000 state workers.
Judge Ungaro said Mr. Scott had overreached in his executive order because there was no evidence of a large-scale problem and no reason to mandate drug tests.

The governor?s drug testing requirement ?does not identify a concrete danger that must be addressed by suspicionless drug-testing of state employees,? Judge Ungaro wrote. ?And the governor shows no evidence of a drug-use problem at the covered agencies.?

Scott plans to appeal. Not only that, Florida may face two more drug-testing lawsuits, one over another requirement in Scott's executive order, calling for drug testing of applicants for state jobs, and one over a law passed last month and taking effect in July, "that allows all state workers to undergo random drug testing but does not make it a requirement." Because obviously there would be no pressure to take a drug test that you were "allowed" but "not required" to take at work.

I fully expect that soon Rick Scott will be trying to "randomly" drug test everyone to cross the border into Florida, and using state money to fight off those lawsuits, too.

(Load) (Load) (Load) (Load) (Load) (Load) (Load)

whitney houston passed away cnn heartbreak hotel don cornelius

Investing in Bulk: The Costco of Real Estate! ? Online Rental ...

It?s no secret to readers of this blog or basically anyone that?s picked up a newspaper in the last 10 years, that the housing market we?re currently facing in the U.S. is virtually unprecedented.? After the housing collapse, many Americans found themselves forced to move out of foreclosed upon homes and, even as the market improves, with credit that is simply not good enough to buy a new home.? This has lead, of course, to a boom in the rental market, which has in turn lead to some surprising investment moves by companies who want to take advantage of this climate.

For instance, a recent article in the New York Times describes Waypoint Real Estate Group, who has a number of offices and inspectors with the sole focus of buying homes that are in foreclosure, fixing them up and marketing them as rental properties.? But Waypoint isn?t doing this in the way that an individual would go about becoming a landlord.? Instead, they?re purchasing homes on a massive scale, with their current operation snapping up five to seven homes every day, mainly through bank auctions.? The homes are bought only after putting some numbers into their proprietary algorithm to determine if the place is actually worth the investment at which point they are bid on and renovated to bring them up to a rentable state.? Waypoint even offers current occupants, the victims of foreclosure, the opportunity to stay in the house and rent it from them once the renovations are complete.

Real Estate experts and economist have mixed feelings about the future of this kind of project, but the fact remains that Waypoint is committed to seeing returns on these properties.? Regardless of what this may mean for local communities (where it could see property values go up initially as fewer homes stand vacant), it does mean that there are going to be a number of new property managers and landlords coming into the game with the aim of earning around an 8% return on their investment in just the first year.

While we can?t say for certain yet whether this influx of new rental property will be a good or bad thing, we can say that Waypoint and other companies like them are going to need to go beyond a real estate estimating system once they become landlords.? Having a great rental property, with new appliances and attractive landscaping, is just one piece of the puzzle.? What they?ll need next is an effective and efficient way to manage the rental applications and leases at all of those properties.? The company plans to buy between 10,000 and 15,000 new properties by the end of next year and must have a plan in place for managing them once all the renovations are complete.? An online rental application coupled with an online leasing system, like that offered oh-so-awesomely by the team here at Rocket Lease, would be a great start for Waypoint and their brethren.? We know that Rocket Lease is a great tool for an individual landlord, but there?s no reason that it can?t help out the real estate fat cats, too!? By allowing themselves to easily track their rental applications and have all their leases in one easy to access place, these companies will be able to better serve their tenants and the communities where their properties exist.

Like this:

Be the first to like this post.

dj am bully bobby abreu spike lee

Auto Dealership Financing - How Do They Solve Your Car Loan ...

After air, food and water, cars are the next necessity for surviving in America. Yes, all car lovers will be in sync with this statement. But, cars are getting expensive day by day which makes auto loans indispensable.

As always, many loan options are available for car buyers with good credit score. Now, do borrowers with an imperfect credit history have the same choice? Sadly, they are not offered loans by banks and other stringent lending institutions.

Why do lenders discriminate car buyers on the basis of their credit history? The answer is simple. Credit report manifests your pattern of availing credit and paying it back. It helps them decide whether you are a risky proposition or not. When you haven?t paid your loan in the past and have a bad score, there are chances you won?t pay now. This is their logic to deny you loan.

When you have a no credit score, lenders don?t have any precedence to judge you.

You may make the payments regularly or you may not. There is a sense of uncertainty which makes you perilous. The case is worse for someone with bankruptcy. When you are declared insolvent and your property is used in repaying debt, your credit-repaying ability is greatly damaged.

But, all this was your past. It should never affect your present, right? If you have a bad credit score, does that mean your car dream is shattered? Will you never be able to buy a car if you have a zero credit history? When you won?t get a loan after bankruptcy, will your chances of improving your credit dwindle?

Your Ray of Hope

Well, you need not worry about all this anymore What if I tell you that you can buy your car and get a car loan from one single place? Yes, auto dealership is the place that provides you one-stop solution for all your car needs.

You can get loans irrespective of your credit situation. This is perfect choice for improving your credit score.

Most of us shy away from dealership financing because of scams and other con-stories associated with dealership. But, you must know that dealers are like other businessmen. If they don?t keep their customers happy, they are going to ruin their business. So don?t write off dealership. Instead just stay a bit cautious and get the most of dealer financing.

Why Dealership Financing Is For You?

1. Dealers often offer 0% financing for the first year and several other schemes which can lower your loan cost.

2. Auto Dealership addresses all your car needs. Not only financing, repairs can also be done at the lot. This means you don?t have to run around for several things.

3. Lenders want you to provide vehicle information like manufacture year, make and model, VIN, etc. before finalizing the contract. But, when you are getting your loan from the dealer?s lender, this process will be done much faster.

4. As dealers have tie-ups with many lenders, you get to check several lenders in one go. This makes comparison easy and also lets you take a perfect decision.

5. Lenders get large amount of business from dealers. As the dealer has a huge network, there is high competition among lenders. So, you get special deals at the dealership.

6. There are many lenders in the dealer network. High means you get great rates and flexible loan terms.

7. When you avail a loan from a dealer, you get to keep your local lines of credit open. It is obvious that a bank or union won?t offer you another loan in a short span of time. So, dealership financing seems like a good alternative.

What Are The Requirements for Getting Dealership Auto Financing?

1. You must at least earn $1,000 per month.

2. Your employment term should be at least six months.

3. You must be living at your residence for at least six months.

4. Dealers do offer no money down auto loans but to get maximum advantage of low rates, it is advisable to get at least 10%-20% down payment.

5. A co-signer can also work wonders for your loan application.

All these requirements are very easy to fulfill and are not very rigid. Because of less stringent approval criteria, dealership financing is a blessing for borrowers with credit issue. So, next time you decide to buy a car, think of dealership finance.

all star weekend 2012 howard hughes giada de laurentiis nationwide race

Florida doctor: I found the G spot on 83-year-woman

The decades-long search for the G spot, considered by many to be the holy grail of women's sexual pleasure, has reached Tampa Bay.

Dr. Adam Ostrzenski, a semiretired gynecologist with an office on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, said he discovered it last fall during a postmortem exam of an 83-year-old woman at a university in his native Poland.

His findings, detailed in an article published Wednesday in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, have brought him worldwide attention, from the Los Angeles Times to the British Broadcasting Corp. His phone has been ringing nearly nonstop. He's flying to New York in a few days to appear on the popular TV show The View.

Is the 71-year-old physician reveling in this burst of fame?

"Honestly, I don't like it," he said.

But isn't the attention to his life's work a good thing?

"It also takes me away from my work," he said Wednesday afternoon, conducting what he said was his 57th media interview.

At his St. Petersburg practice, the Institute of Gynecology, he performs reconstructive and cosmetic gynecological procedures. He says he has developed seven new techniques for vaginal rejuvenation. His website lists workshops for physicians and procedures such as vaginoplasty, G-Spotplasty, and thin and thick labia labioplasty.

His daughter, general practioner Kasia Ostrzenska, said that while in surgery, many times he has observed a vaginal tissue structure that he wanted to know more about, and this helped prompt the study.

He traveled last September to Poland, where regulations permit dissection of human remains soon after death, when it's easier to see fine distinctions in tissue.

He said he peeled back the six layers of the cadaver's vaginal wall and found a sac structure between the fifth and sixth layers that housed grape-like clusters of erectile tissue.

The dissection took seven hours for the Poland-trained physician and anatomist, who said he was inspired by the first principles of medicine ? "first you have to establish the anatomy.'' If confirmed by further investigation, he said, he hopes his finding will help rewrite anatomy books.

He plans to return to Poland in May for additional studies.

Some in his field are cheering him. Isolating a unique structure capable of boosting women's orgasmic powers should lay to rest the doubts of those who question its existence, said Dr. Andrew Goldstein, sexual medicine specialist and director of the Centers for Vulvovaginal Disorders in Annapolis, Md.

And while the psychological aspects of female desire get more attention, Ostrzenski's report recognizes that "women have anatomy issues that contribute to their sexual problems," said Dr. Michael Krychman, director of the Southern California Center for Sexual Health. "There are remedies ? physical remedies ? that can be brought to bear on those."

Others see fatal flaws in the study and are busily preparing scientific rebuttals.

Beverly Whipple is the Rutgers University sexologist who popularized the name "G spot" as coauthor of a 1982 book on the subject. She's among critics complaining that his study doesn't point out research on the complexity of the female orgasm.

"No, there's not an 'it'," Whipple said. "It is not one entity."

Nor, she and her colleagues say, did Ostrzenski show that the G spot he found has nerve endings or that it has any role in female sexual arousal.

Ostrzenski agrees his study was small and limited and requires more inquiry. He understands the negative reactions. "Everything which is new creates skepticism," he said.

Nevertheless, he considers his study a key moment in the search to determine whether a G spot actually exists.

Dr. Kasia Ostrzenska, while dismayed at the negative reaction, said she's pleased that her father's work also is getting positive attention. Many of her patients are women who suffer from libido issues as they get older.

"Once we settle down in a relationship, have children, have careers, we can have a difficult time finding that 'on button,' " said Ostrenska, 43. "My husband can walk past me while I'm brushing my teeth and he's ready. We are different creatures sexually.''

Ostrenska, known to her patients as Dr. Kasia, is a contributor to the Times' Personal Best health section, where she has written about topics such as sexuality, nutrition, memory loss and fitness. She even teaches Zumba classes in a studio adjoining the Bay Medical Center offices at 7001 Central Ave., where she and her father practice.

Born in Poland, she brought her family to St. Petersburg from Washington, D.C., when she was pregnant with her daughter, who's nearly 11. Her parents had moved here not long before and urged her to move down.

"I'm just very proud of my dad,'' she said.

"It's nice he has some shimmer because he deserves it. He's a good man and a good dad.''

Information from the Los Angeles Times and staff writer Charlotte Sutton was used in this report.

eli whitney blake griffin dunk on kendrick perkins kendrick perkins carolina panthers