The Benefit of Hiring a Website Design Agency

When it comes time for your business to develop a new website for itself, there might be a few questions you'll find yourself asking. One of the biggest questions that business owners ask is what the difference is between a self-designed website, and the work of a website design agency? There are so many tools available now for people to independently build their own websites that many people are curious as to what the function of a website design agency is. Do they use programs that are different from the tools available to the mass public? Will the results be any different? Are there trade secrets that only they know? Will customers be able to tell if you've developed your website yourself?

It is true that there are many tools available now to develop your own website, many of them free. Many of these tools, when put in the right hands, can build beautiful and functional websites. However, just because these tools are capable of building amazing websites, it doesn't mean they always do. Any pencil is capable of producing a beautiful and lifelike sketch, but the skill level of the person holding the pencil will control the outcome. The same is true of the website development tools available to the mass public and the difference in outcome when a website design agency uses them.

The truth is that many professional website design agency employees actually do use the free tools made widely available to the public. The difference is that they combine them with industry-specific tools, and use them at a much higher level than the average person. Many tools, such as WordPress, can provide a wonderful framework for a website, but it will look cheap and unprofessional if designed using a premade template. You don't your website to look like a teenager's blog, right? A professional web developer will know how to take a tool like WordPress and customize it in such a way that it becomes completely unique, with no risk of the site looking like someone else's. Web developers are highly trained professionals with a very specific set of skills and an understanding of certain technologies. Without a formal education, most people couldn't successfully use the industry tools they combine with the mass-market ones in order to make beautiful websites. Though it is entirely possible to create a website yourself online using only amateur tools, it simply won't have the same look, feel, depth, or functionality as one professionally designed and built by a website design agency.

Your website is one of the most important investments you'll make into the marketing of your business, so it has to be done right. If you have experience and expertise in building websites, go ahead and design one yourself. Otherwise, you will get a much cleaner, more streamlined, and more user-friendly result from hiring a website design agency. It might cost a bit more than using a free online tool, but the boost it will give to your business will be well worth the initial costs. Hiring a professional is money worth spending.

Climbing the Maasai Mountain of God - A Journey to the Top of an Active Volcano

The Maasai call it "the mountain of god", for not only do they believe their ancestors descended from it; they believe God lives atop it. It rises sharply and proudly out of the Great Rift Valley with jagged edges and carved angular slopes - as regal as is ominous, as beautiful as is rare - we call it Lengai. "Lengai" [pronounced: ling-eye] rolls trippingly off the tongue while conjuring images of mythical lands and far off places. It is, in actuality, a volcano - an active volcano at that; and the only active sodium carbonate volcano in the world.

Lake Natron

Lengai is situated in one of the most spectacularly jurrassic and underrated areas of Tanzania. Lake Natron is a natural alkaline soda lake that, from a distance, looks like a great, expansive puddle that covers the valley floor and glistens in the sunlight. The environment, however, is hostile; temperatures of the mud can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius and the alkaline level can reach a pH of 9-10.5!

Natron's edges are dotted in a pink tinge created by the thousands of flamingos that migrate there annually. They are some of the only creatures who can thrive in these conditions, the caustic environment actually acting as a barrier against predators. The fringe of the valley around it is composed of emerald green hills and slopes that create scenery unrivaled anywhere else in the world. Among this naturally pristine spectacle sits Lengai.

Setting up Camp

We arrive at the riverside base camp dusty from the hours of rambunctious 4 x 4 off-roading (no other type of vehicle could possibly make it out here). The campsite is minimalist complimented by the grandiose of the looming mountain that overlooks us. That is what we're going to climb tonight?? A few meters walk from where we set up our tents is a small river winding its way out of a canyon. We are told it leads to water falls, so we decide to take the short hike to cool off in the mid-day heat. After about 30 minutes of trekking in and out of water along the rocky ledges we reach the fall. Situated between two cliffs, it is blanketed in moss and flora. The noon sun makes rainbows in the mist and we swim and baske lazily on the shore like sirens. The scene is something of enchantment.

The Climb

The hike begins at midnight, the reason being we are to get to the top in time to watch the sunrise. As our vehicle clamors along the pocked earth to her base we can just make out a faint tableau in the moonlight. Our minds begin to wonder and we all sit silent with our doubts. We start trekking and immediately the effects of the 45 degree slope are felt. Our legs burn and shake with uncertainty beneath us. We laboriously climb higher through different elevations of vegetation: aromatic fields of mountain heather, dense grasses, rocky crevasses, and burned bush. We rest intermitantly to break our sweats and catch our breath. As soon as we stop moving however, the chilled wind penetrates our jackets forcing us to continue on our way, only to sweat again in minutes. It is virtually impossible to find a level of temperate comfort between the cold wind and the body heat generated by the climb.

As we near the top the landscape changes from difficult to hostile; the earth is covered in jagged rocks and loose volcanic debris. The slope continues to get steeper still and parts of the climb are having to be done on all fours. Whose idea was this?? Moments when one has to catch themselves from a stumble are often thwarted by a giant blast of cold air that wails down the incline like a banshee. We continue despite the innate urges to turn back - and suddenly the top comes into view in the blue-haze of daybreak. We lob ourselves over the side and all sit back in exhaustion and amazment as the African sun rises in the East.

From the distance, Lengai looks like her peak is exactly that, a peak. In reality, however, her ashen and barren cavern is vast and plain-like. The summit itself is lunar covered in a white molten crust with towering individual peaks (formed by mini-eruptions) that jut out in sharp, sporadic disarray. As you wander its vastness you feel a sense of tremendous accomplishment negated by a certain sense of unease. In certain areas, your feet crack through the crust setting free sulfurous smoke that rises out of the footprint as an eerie reminder that while Lengai may appear to be stable to the eye, she is anything but.

The wind is a constant force at this elevation; clouds fly past your face and seem to fall down the side of the mountain with no hesitation as if they're being poured like milk out of a carton. A trip to volcano's edge offers a spectacular view: a sweeping panorama of the entire region and beyond. Kilimanjaro, Meru and the lesser mountains are seen in the distant haze. The Serengeti lies just on the horizon. The sloping Great Rift slips effortlessly into the valley and from this vantage point looks like a massive green velvet curtain rippling to the floor. Summiting Lengai offers some of the most beautiful landscapes the eye can behold and is definitely a unique and worthwhile endeavour.

That is, until you start down!

Interested in climbing Lengai or planning a Tanzania Adventure? Combine this climb with a Crater Highlands Trek for a real "Out of Africa" experience! Contact Tropical Trails - The Tanzania Adventure Specialists at:

info@tropicaltrails.com

www.tropicaltrails.com

Combat Negative SEO With Google Disavow Tool

It is really infuriating when you own a site and receive an incoming link which you don't really want. You are left with almost no option and need to depend on the mercy of the webmaster of the site which is sending incoming links. You can send emails asking him to remove the link and if he is kindhearted enough, he may oblige you. But if he is getting paid to do that he will not be so amicable and will not remove the link.

In this respect, it is important to understand how negative SEO works. Google takes into account different factors before deciding the worth and the rank of any site. One of the important factors is the quality of the site from where you are receiving your incoming links. If those sites are really low quality site and have low page rank (PR) then Google will consider your site to be low quality as well and will consequentially pull your site down. Negative SEO depends on this factor and try to pull down competitor's sites by sending them links from low quality sites.

The scenario is about to change as Google has introduced a new tool for the webmasters called the "Disavow Tool". What this tool does is that it allows the webmasters to report to Google about the incoming links which are unwanted. Google, in return, will not consider those links and those sites anymore to decide the rank of your site. This tool, thus, eliminates the need to depend on the whims of other webmasters. You can simply report to Google about those unwanted links and relax.

Obviously, Google can't remove those links but the links will be ignored and thus those links will become worthless. They simply will cease to affect your ranking.

Earlier, Google used to send warning emails if it found unnatural links, paid links or link exchange, asking the webmasters to remove each of those low quality inbound links. Google and other prominent search engines will rank your site better after removing those malicious links. This also helped users to receive a positive perception about your website.

But if some sites are stubborn, then you can't really get them to remove links to your site. In this case, this new tool is like a real blessing. You can simply use this tool to completely disassociate your site from those unwanted links. To your great luck, the tool is rather easy to use too. The steps are as follows:

1. Open Google Disavow Tools page. 2. Provide your domain name and validate it. 3. Upload the file which contains all the links you want to disavow.

After that Google will duly ignore those links and you will enjoy the benefits of only those links which you want.

The Cost Of A Winter Holiday

It's something that one assumes everyone knows, namely how much is a week's skiing? But I watched something with Eddie Edwards (yes, "the eagle") some woman and some PR bloke from Austria and it dawned on me that perhaps people might like to be told.

Skiing (when I say skiing I mean sliding on snow holidays, boarders don't get your noses out of joint, it's just skiing is a shorter word to type) has always been considered expensive, there was a democratising of price that went on during the eighties and until quite recently, but now you'd be lying to say it was cheap, although perhaps we had more money then.

The papers and PR mouthpieces always try and say "good value yada, yada" - do not believe it, in truth I reckon you're looking at the best part of a grand in any currency for a week per person.

There are three ways you can do the holiday: a hotel - up to you how much you spend, self catering or package. The latter former: A week's ski is usually about GBP500 a head (could be a bit less, could be almost double on the busy half-term week) but as a yardstick a monkey is what you're looking at. This includes flights, transfers, an evening meal (with booze) with breakfast and usually an afternoon tea after leaving the pistes.

Now, when you see 500 it looks to be a deal, BUT (do you like big buts?) this does not include lunch (usually), does not include a ski pass - Eur200 and does not include ski hire - Eur100. There is also one night a week where you will not get fed as the chalet staff are entitled to one night off - perish the thought that enough staff be employed to cover this contingency.

So there you go, the best part of a grand, but this will come with peace of mind. Now the other type of holiday is your self-catering. I'm going to say for a two bedroom apartment in some comfort (such as Alice in Monetier) you're looking at Eur1000 for low-season and say Eu1500 for higher, more if it's half term. Of course you can squeeze your mates in on the sofa-bed, but aren't you getting a bit old for that? I's not 18-30 you know. So let's say Eur300 p/p for a bed.

Flights say Eur100 p/p, could be less, could be more, but as a working figure it's about right. Transfers: Eur50 each way p/p. Or a hire car. The airports that serve Serre Chevalier are Turin and Grenoble with Lyon only 20 minutes beyond that. Car hire is about Eur150 a week.

So we're up to Eur400 right there. Ski pass and hire brings you to Eur700 and I'd say you'd get change out of Eur100 for a supermarket shop for a week, with booze, you do get the ability to make a lunch up, so that makes up for paying rather a lot for food on the hill.

I wish I could say eating on the piste is good value, but you're probably looking at Eur20 p/p per meal. For a family of four that's Eur480 over the week. Yes you can have a sandwich and a bowl of onion soup, always the most economical and hearty, in which case you can pay less. Not certain kids would understand why they can't have a can of coke, but there you go.

Chuck in lessons, that's another Eur100 for the class. There are some places that do bundles lessons, ski-pass and ski hire, such as the Serre Che-based Ski Connections, this can help shave points off the price and are worth investigating. There are some deals to be had, but for the packages these are usually in January or April, the price soars in school holiday times - and anyway why be on the slopes when they are full of kids?

In truth skiing is expensive, but man is it worth it.

Employees Beware Of Complaining

I am frequently contacted by persons who are astonished that they have lost their jobs for what they allege is retaliation for complaining about their supervisors, complaining about some company policy or complaining about their work conditions. What they have in common is that they all believe that their right to complain in general is somehow legally protected. That is certainly not the case for the most part, unless there is some type of law which provides this protection, usually known as a whistleblower law, or there is some legal protection for reporting waste or fraud to a government agency, like the IRS, or an oversight agency in the security industry. Those laws have very specific requirements, and still cannot protect an employee's job, but they may provide, often many years down the road, a financial award for the reporting person. Workers may be protected if they discuss terms and conditions of employment with one another, but once again, a government agency, such as the National Labor Relations Board, would have to agree to accept their complaint, and the process involved would generally be lengthy and usually not altogether satisfying.

Aside from these limited protections, most employees should be careful about what they complain about, as it may cost them their job. Unless there is some type of discrimination involved, in which case an employee is able to file a complaint with a government agency, an employee has no protection from being terminated. Filing a complaint of discrimination with a government agency also does not protect one's job, and although employers are not supposed to retaliate against the employee filing the complaint, they often do. Also, even if the employee thinks it isn't fair that he was terminated and the person he complained about was retained, there is no law that prevents this selection process unless there is discrimination involved. There is not a national workplace anti-harassment law as many employees think there is, and harassment must usually be tied to some protection available under the civil rights laws. Although an employer may have an anti-harassment policy in place, that policy may not have any "teeth" under the law.

I tell these persons that if they had contacted me during the time frame in which they were making the complaint I would have suggested that unless the complaint was extremely important, I may have suggested they not make it at all, or tell them they should have stopped the process if their employer asked them not to pursue it or made an attempt to resolve it, even if the employee wasn't happy with the attempt. In some cases, I suggest that a lawyer should make the complaint as a buffer between the employee and the employer, and I have been able to save many jobs in this manner, as employers are often reluctant to retaliate against employees if a lawyer is already involved.

Employees are also frequently astonished when they learn that their job is not theirs for life. Pennsylvania is an employment at will state, which means that an employee can usually leave a job at his discretion, unless it violates a contract he has signed, with the converse being that an employer has broad discretion to terminate an employee. The usual response I receive when I ask the employee why, if their situation is so difficult at work, they don't look for another job, besides the responses that it is a difficult economy, is that they don't see why they are the one who should leave.

However, a side effect of continuing to complain when an employer asks you to stop, or feels the situation has already been resolved, is that the employer, in addition to terminating the employee, opposes their claim for unemployment compensation and alleges that the employee has committed some willful misconduct which prohibits them from receiving unemployment compensation. This process often results in delay in receipt of compensation, and possibly loss of compensation if the hearing referee rules in the employer's favor.

Therefore, before one decides they are going to raise issues based on principle, one had better determine the possibility of being terminated, losing unemployment compensation benefits, and receiving a negative reference from their former employer.

Chronic Pain Management for Cancer Patients

Chronic untreated pain is debilitating, it dramatically affects a patient's ability to participate in daily routines and in some cases takes away their will to live. Tragically, many people are suffering chronic pain unnecessarily. This in part, due to them not being made aware of the importance of pain management and being shown the simple tools necessary to achieve it. Lack of knowledge regarding the benefits and side effects of available medication is also a factor.

Many patients associate morphine and methadone with drug addiction and are reluctant to take it due to their belief that it will cause them to become "high" or sedated, this and their attempts to brave out the pain, results in their pain spirally out of control. This could be prevented if they were informed that chronic pain effectively "uses up" medication and that these drugs when taken for the relief of pain associated with cancer, can dramatically reduce both the occurrence and intensity of pain, without causing sedation.

Not long after my husband's terminal cancer diagnosis, I observed that despite his medication, he was in considerable pain and this upset me greatly - determined to help him, I turned to the internet to learn about the progressive symptoms of his disease, the pain he would experience and methods available to control it.

One of the most important things I learned, was that in order to obtain the best possible pain control - medication must be taken at regular prescribed times, regardless of whether pain is or isn't present, effectively keeping in front of the pain.

I learned that there are different types of pain and that not all pain responds to the same medication; and how to measure intensity of pain and encouraged Brian to communicate to me - the type of pain he was experiencing and its intensity by using a pain scale. Brian soon realized the benefits of this - It was an immense relief for him- to know that I understood what he was experiencing and more importantly - that I could do something about it.

Despite the large amount of methadone Brian was taking; he remained active and alert, drove his car for eighteen months after diagnosis and was able to continue going fishing, which was the passion of his life. Keeping him out of pain became the reason for my existence and I was vigilant in giving him his medication at prescribed times.

There were many occasions when caring but uninformed loved ones and friends, said to me. "Brian does not need for you to be giving him medication at this time - he is not in pain". And I would patiently explain to them, that the reason Brian was not in pain, was because the regular medication he was receiving effectively allowed for him to remain in front of it.

Experience has taught me that knowledge is the key, to better quality of life, not only for the cancer patient but for those who care for them. My understanding of the stages and symptoms of Brian's disease, allowed for me to be one step ahead of its progression and gave me the opportunity to have medication and later, physical aids such as oxygen, wheelchair etc - on hand BEFORE Brian needed them. This alleviated much of the fear, pain and discomfort he would otherwise have suffered.