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Hot tubs are popular with most people and for various reasons. They are excellent investment options not only because many of them improve the value of a home and property, but also because they contribute to healthy lifestyles and can serve a variety of purposes. They are great for parties and entertainment, and can often ensure a full guest list attendance at parties, while they are also perfect for relaxing and stress reduction. Choosehottubsdirect.com is an excellent resource for finding the perfect hot tub to accommodate all of your family’s needs.

One of the more recent trends with hot tub maintenance and operation is the use of solar heating panels to heat the water. This environmental oriented home power resource has become more affordable in recent years due to its increase in popularity and advancements in solar heating panel design and construction. Many packages are self-assembly and installation and can provide most of the electricity needed to run a household. Solar power first became popular with heating pools, and the natural progression was to apply this to the power requirements of hot tub. An investment in solar energy panels can eventually save enough in electricity costs to pay for the hot tub.

Solar water heating systems are usually composed of a fluid system that is used to move the heat that is collected from the solar panels to the necessary point of usage. This is known as a thermal solar collection system. It is important to realize that these systems are not entirely dependent on sunny days to function, but usually have a reserve tank that stores the heat for later use. They were developed to provide for a variety of household needs including laundry and shower heating as well as various business applications. Home pool and spa heating is an excellent application of these systems and can save enormously in power costs each year.

With his recent biography, called Hunter S. Thompson: An Insider’s View of Deranged, Depraved, Drugged Out Brilliance, of late gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson, friend Jay Cowan relates his experiences and the time he lived with the addiction treatment eschewing writer.  He knew Thompson during the last thrity years of his life when he took refuge in his home in Aspen in a place called Owl Farm.

Cowan lived with Thompson in on again, off again arrangement until he turned thirty-five and moved out for good.  The two writers met when Cowan was still in high school and the lead editor for the class yearbook during the political race for mayor.

Because of Thompson’s infamous reputation for a wild and insatiable appetite for drugs and alcohol, Cowan gives other details that help to humanize Thompson.

Cowan demonstrates in his autobiography that he was one of his closer friends out of the inner circle that Thompson kept throughout the years.  He shows that the journalist actually had a growing concern with how the public viewed his insane and crazy persona as his only facet, and therefore only wanted more.   Cowan hints that this probably manipulated his already extreme addiction into a worse problem as the years went on.    With the number of shots and barbiturates that he consumed, his slow deterioration seemed inappropriate to his image, a situation that bothered Thompson as well.

As his addictions worsened—that threat of lawsuits was a common problem, his increasing number of passed out states, and cocaine tabs were talked about like laundry bills—Cowan took action with some of the other friends of Thompson who were worried about him.  They attempted to stage an alcohol abuse intervention that sadly went awry.  By that time in his life, the drugs and alcohol he consumed had become fundamentally linked to who he was as not only a writer but as person.

Despite these addictions and never having received any help whatsoever for them through a residential drug treatment center, Thompson remained as intelligent and quick-witted as ever, even into his old age.  Though many may not have agreed with his controversial views, he was nevertheless a deeply influential writer on what we know as journalism today.

We may not all be lucky enough to live in a LEED certified building, but there are things we can do within our own homes to reduce or energy costs and the impact our family is having on the environment.  Here are some ways you can give back to mother earth in your life and in your home.

Walk, bike, and take the bus: Doing this one day a weak instead of driving your car can do wonders for the environment and not to mention your health. If you decide to walk or bike to some of your every day errands you are making two positive choices.

Buy a car with good gas mileage: Yeah, perhaps that brand new Hummer looks really cool but costs an arm and a leg to fill up at the pump. Well when you are looking to trade it in think about getting a more economical care that gets better gas mileage.

Install low flow showerheads and toilets: Low flow showerheads and toilets can save tons of gallons of water with every shower or flush. They are relatively inexpensive, about 10 or 20 bucks each and can save about 300 pounds of Carbon Dioxide a year if electrically heated and 80 pounds of Carbon Dioxide a year for gas-heated water.

Install blinds: Window treatments can do wonders for your energy bills. Try out Next Day Blinds, they have tons of varieties.  Next Day Blinds is sure to satisfy both your design and green living needs.

Replace old, less energy efficient appliances with new ones: If you are in the market for a new refrigerator or dishwasher, pick more energy efficient models. Front loading washing machines are much better than traditional ones. And just replacing that old fridge could make a significant difference in your overall energy consumption yearly.

First check out the following article from NECN:

Companies turn to Twitter for Customer service

Companies are now using Twitter as a means of speeding up their customer service.  Also using MySpace and Facebook as well. It remains to be seen if customers will take advantage of the new type of services.

The article notes that Bank of America and Wells Fargo are staffing Twitter accounts to offer help to customers, and others, like Citigroup and American Express have Facebook or MySpace presences. It’s not perfection – Bank of America and Wells Fargo have only one person monitoring their account.

Twitter as a customer service tool could be helpful, but it will not replace individuals who have customer service training and business training. Customers still enjoy meeting with people face to face it allows for questions to be answered that come up after initial information is given. Twitter is an interesting animal, who knows if it will just become another internet wasteland full of so many people the information is useless. Also, Twitter could use a better search function, because as of yet, it is very difficult to find an individual on Twitter.

How this could help the customer service industry is that it could get simple questions answered quickly. It would be interesting for these companies to add how long it takes these reps to answer a question. If every company did this there would be a need to train employees under a new type of customer service training model, or it could have the potential for job creation. All the good it would do only helps if people actually seek it out. So would you use Twitter for customer service?It could be used as a vaild way to multi-task perhaps while at work. But other than that there is nothing better than a little human contact. Leadership skills cannot be relayed via a computer screen.

Sulim Yamadayev, longtime for of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, was shot and killed at close range outside the busy residential complex in Dubai where he lived. The brazen attack took place Saturday and Yamadayev died in hospital on Monday. Police are calling the shooting “an assassination.”

The former rebel has long opposed Kadyrov. The Kremlim-backed president has imposed Islamic rules on the region and has been consolidating his power. Yamadayev and other foes have accused the security force of torturing and even killing opponents and their families.

Yamadayev left Russia last September after his brother was shot and killed in central Moscow.

Dubai is more famous as a popular tourist destination. All along the beach it’s easy to find a 5 star Dubai hotel or exclusive resort. However, the recent real estate boom also resulted in the building of many residential complexes along the coast. Yamadayev lived in one such building and was assassinated in plain sight in the parking lot of his complex.

Several other Chechen renegades have been assasinated abroad in recent years. The most recent was the shooting of one of Kadyrov’s former bodyguards in January in Vienna.

Taking the step towards finding a rehab for a loved one or yourself is an extremely difficult decision to make, but it also means that there is help on the horizon. Reaching out to a solid support system for help through this difficult process means that you are moving in a positive direction towards recovery. Drug and alcohol treatment is most successful when therapists, addiction counselors and medical professionals are involved. Although some people who are chemically dependent may think they can fight the disease on their own, the chances of long term recovery without an experienced network of support is very unlikely.

Facilities that treat drug and alcohol addiction range in methods and approach. Drug rehab most commonly involves the 12 Step program because it can be easily followed after a resident leaves rehab. When looking for the appropriate facility to send your loved one, it’s best to search for one that provides foundational healing and personal development coaching. Addiction behaviors are often ingrained in people from childhood; treatments that are most effective involve therapeutic approaches that help addicts unlearn the trained habits they’ve acquired with years of drug use. Many people who enter a long term program have had especially tumultuous histories with drug abuse. Basic social and life management skills have been erased or, in some cases, never even taught to them in the first place.

Long term drug rehab often focuses on giving residents the tools they need to live healthier lives all around. Intensive therapy sessions and structured workshops provide addicts with ongoing, developmental treatment. Residents learn how to become a functioning member of society and contribute to the greater good. Long term rehab not only helps people manage their addiction, but also gives people a second chance at discovering who they are.

There is no price that can be put on saving an individual’s life.  This needs to be kept in mind when choosing a drug rehab center.  There possibly comes a time when there are only two options: get help or risk losing your friend or loved one who is in need of rehabilitation.  It is important that the person gets help as soon as possible to prevent them from causing any more damage to their own body or emotionally to those that they love.
Watching a friend or family member suffer through addiction is a very painful experience.  You want to do everything you can to help this person but there is nothing you can do if they are not willing to accept the fact that they need help.  There is a risk of alienating this person or losing them as a friend if you approach them about the subject of drug or alcohol rehab, particularly if they don’t yet think there’s a problem.   But when all is said and done if that person chooses to get help they will end up thanking you for being one of the first to notice they have a problem and should seek help.

Goa is considered by many to be the holiday capital of South Asia. The smallest of India’s states, Goa is a former colony of Portugual located on the west coast of the subcontinent. It’s many beaches and harbors and a hot and humid climate make it an ideal tourist destination. However, there is more to enjoy in Goa than sun and sand.

There are numerous forts, churches, and temples that shine as examples of Goas rich and varied history. Here the Hindu face of India is accompanied by the Catholicism of Portugal and residents are just as likely to speak Portuguese and English as the official language of Konkani.

The capital city of Panaji is considered the most likeable of the Indian capitals while the city of Margao is a historic destination reflecting the Portuguese influence on the state. Goa is actually home to more villages than cities, offering a more traditional and relaxing environment to explore.

Visitors can frequent the many markets, restaurants, and clubs throughout the state while staying in one of the five star hotels in Goa. If luxury isn’t your cup of tea, there are a variety of other accomodations available. Just be sure to find something that is close to the attractions, shopping, and famous Goan cuisine that make this coastal state such a hotspot.

My daughter goes to school year-round.  This makes it more difficult for us to plan long family vacations, but means I have more time to myself since I telecommute most of the time.  The point of this post is that while other schools are just starting up, she is right in the middle of a geography unit in her social studies class.  She came home last week all excited about the stuff she is learning.  She even brought home a map that the teacher had them fill out showing all the counties and major cities in our state.

I’m really not sure when geography became synonymous with cartography, but apparently that is what they are teaching school kids these days. She doesn’t seem to be learning anything about climate, topography, crops, industry, or the major exports of China like I learned in my geography classes.  She just spends hours staring at her new map of the United States and a bunch of Mexico maps that her mother had left over from a previous job assignment.  I asked her what she was looking at and she said she just loves to see where roads intersect and how many different ways there are to go between the same two places.

I guess it’s a start.  Maybe her curiosity will grow to more than just following lines and identifying rivers. Maybe she’ll start asking questions about the people, animals, and crops in the various places she’s investigating.  Then she’ll really be learning geography.

Recently, I was surprised to learn that in general tires are an important part of the fuel efficiency of your car. By keeping tires properly inflated, you can help improve your car’s gas mileage.  Look for gas stations around town that offer free air for tires – that can really help stretch the value of the dollar at the pump.

With gasoline prices at alarming peaks, I’m doing everything I can to maintain my car to improve gas mileage. For the most part, things like replacing the air filters are important for keeping the engine in good condition – so it keeps the car running well, in addition to improving how many miles I can travel per gallon.

Since checking the tire pressure regularly, I’ve noticed that two of my tires have to be inflated much more than the others. Neither one looks like a flat tire, but it’s likely that they are suffering from a slow leak somewhere. So, I’ve started checking out wheel and tire packages to see if I can find good deals on replacements. The search unearthed some really interesting products – especially these Toyo tires. With treads like that, you have to wonder what kind of vehicle would sport them.

Today, BusinessWeek brought to our attention the devaluation of The New York Times Company. Just last year, the paper and its respected firm were worth double what stock prices show today. It isn’t just the respected New York Times that suffers. All newspaper stocks have not been favorably valued for quite some time. According to the article, the attributed culprit is a decrease in advertising revenue. During the dot com boom, traditional media companies were hit hard. Today, the Times has transitioned itself into the Internet era by establishing its online presence and garnering substantial website traffic. Adapting to the current technology has been a step in the right direction, but media companies throughout the industry are still struggling. It will be interesting to see how the Times Co. will adjust to this stressed economy and bring back the value associated with its revered reputation.

I am planning to go backpacking in Europe this summer as a graduation present to myself. I’ve got my sleeping bag, backpack, some money and several maps of the countries I want to visit. I have several France maps, an England map and a couple of different maps of Spain.

I cannot wait to see the Eiffel Tower and the city of love in the evening. I think I will be a traveling journal with me to write down my thoughts and experiences. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a coffee shop everywhere I go.

I’m also looking forward to seeing Buckingham Palace and tanning on the beaches of Spain. Even if I can only stay in each country for a couple of weeks, I think I’ll learn a lot more myself versus just visiting Europe for two weeks.

I love the summertime. My favorite part about the entire season is tennis. I love everything from playing in the sun to comparing this year’s Wimbledon scores to last year’s. In fact, if I can’t watch a specific set then I have to catch the Wimbledon highlights in the evening.

I like to play and think about being one of the star athletes and that I’m going for the third in the Grand Slam season. So few in history have acquired a Grand Slam in one season and I wish I was one of them. I love Wimbledon, especially because it’s played on a grass court.

I wonder if the queen of England ever watches. You do find celebrities there. Tiger Woods is friends with Federer, the two time runner up. I wonder what other celebrities will be there.

Stocks fell sharply worldwide Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. government’s stimulus plan to prevent a recession.U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but were primed to open Tuesday’s session with steep declines, according to futures trading.

To read more about this story, click here.

Whether its brokers, investing companies, or online stock picking services you know the market is tremendously sagging. And seemingly each day there are more bad signs for investors and the market.

Like a fatigued swimmer flailing for shore, investors are just hoping to find the bottom. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has declined nearly 6% over the past three trading sessions, while the Dow Jones industrials are off 5% and the Nasdaq just over 5%. The Dow, down more than 8% for 2008, is at its lowest level since March, 2007, while the S&P 500, off 9% for the year, has hit a 15-month low.

To read more about this story, click here. More and more signs keep popping up indicating a recession; not that the economy is heading for one, but that we’re already in the midst of one.

As social media has grown in popularity, both for recreational and business use, many investors, like Arthur Trueger, are interested in the outlook of the this new web technology.  Here are some proposed trends for the upcoming year.

1.   Consumers will continue to rely on social media platforms to research products and service.

2.   The growth in data and content created by the social media will also bring change to the traditional search models.

3.   Likewise traditional models for businesses to research their consumers will fundamentally change.

4.   Customer feedback and the social network will overtake price, and in some cases brand as a major factor in online purchase decisions

5.   The data generated from Web 2.0 will be increasingly important to all organisations, not just to web based businesses

To see what the other five trends are click here.

Here are 10 tips that can help any person become more responsible at managing their finances.

1.   Get paid what your worth, and spend less than you earn – Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace, by conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do.

2.    Stick to a budget – You need a budget whether you make thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

3.    Pay off credit card debt – Credit card debt is the number one obstacle to getting ahead financially.

4.    Contribute to a retirement plan – Ask your employer if they have a 401(k) plan (or similar plan), and sign up today. If you’re already contributing, try to increase your contribution. If your employer doesn’t offer a retirement plan, consider an IRA.

5.   Have a savings plan -  Resolve to set aside a minimum of 5% to 10% of your salary for savings BEFORE you start paying your bills. Better yet, have money automatically deducted from your paycheck and deposited into a separate account.

To read the remaining 5 tips, click here.

KBW analyst Diane Merdian now estimates Citigroup will take $15.3 billion in writedowns in the fourth quarter tied to mortgage-backed debt and collateralized debt obligations, instead of the $11 billion previously estimated.

The writedowns stem from continued deterioration in the mortgage market. As mortgages — especially subprime mortgages given to customers with poor credit history — have increasingly defaulted, banks have been forced to cut the value of bonds and debt backed by the troubled loans.

Citigroup took about $6 billion in writedowns during the third quarter. Late last year, Citigroup anticipated it would take between $8 billion and $11 billion in writedowns during the fourth quarter.

To read more, click here.

Jackson Hewitt, a tax service corporation, announced the hiring of a new Chief Financial Officer in Daniel O’Brien.

Daniel O’Brien, most recently CFO of Honolulu-based Hawaiian Telecom Communications Inc., has previously held the CFO title at a number of companies, including Global Crossing, Genuity Corp. and GTE Corp. He succeeds Mark Heimbouch, who became chief operating officer of the Parsippany, N.J.-based firm in October.

O’Brien will replace Mark Heimbouch who was named the companies COO in October.  To read more about this appointment, click here.

This MarketWatch.com article lists the worst jobs; the criteria was the percentage of jobs in an industry that paid less than the median wage in 1979, adjusted for inflation, and had neither employer-sponsored health insurance nor a retirement plan.

1.   Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop – 87% bad jobs

2.   Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession and coffee shop – 87 %

3.   Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers – 85.4%

4.  Fabric and apparel patternmakers – 82.2%

5.   Lifeguards and other protective-service workers – 81.6%

To find out the worst jobs that round out the the top ten, click here.

Entertainment events receive plenty of attention throughout the holiday season; everything from fine arts to sports to concerts.  People need a way to ease all the drama associated with extended family gatherings, so they turn to live entertainment events.  Concert tickets for winter events such as the Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol are in high demand year in and year out.  Football tickets are always a permanent fixture in and around the holiday season, with the all the college bowl games and the mother of them all, the Super Bowl.

If the Holiday shopping rush isn’t enough to jump start your online sales, here are five tips to get it going.

1.   Don’t make people register to make a purchase. Shoppers know they have to provide their contact information anyway, so why make them fill out a separate form?

2.   Reassure shoppers about security and privacy. Have a security/privacy policy on your site, ensure checkout pages are secure and make security icons very visible

3.   Make the “Add to Cart” button large and obvious. The same goes for other important buttons such as “Checkout” and “Complete Purchase.”

4.   Have as few checkout steps as possible. The fewer steps, the easier it is for shoppers to complete a purchase.

5.   Give shoppers a reason to buy from you. Make special offers (such as free shipping) very visible, especially on shopping cart and checkout pages.

To read more about these tips, click here.

Hopes that the country’s trade troubles may be easing was spurred by the news that during the third quarter, the deficit was at the lowest level in two years.  On Monday the Commerce Department announced that the current account trade deficit fell by 5 1/2 percent to $178.5 billion.  This was the smallest current account imbalance since 2005’s third quarter amojnt of $173.4 billion.

Click here to read more about the lessening trade deficit. 

It was 13 years ago when Pizza Hut debuted the first web-page order form, yet ecommerce retailers still can’t get all the kinks worked out.  High traffic on Black Friday, and the recently dubbed, Cyber Monday caused a outtage of some major online retailers, who you would think had enough resources to protect against such a mishap.  Sears.com and Yahoo Shopping experienced 8 and 10 hour crashes, respectively.  Other retail behemoths like Wal-Mart and Circuit City also experieced some minor mishaps like extremely long load times and items disappearing randomly from shopping carts.

These hiccups on many online retail sites weren’t actually caused by the insanely high number of purchases made online, but rather the online equivalent of window shoppers – people just browsing e-commerce sites and eating up bandwith.

To read more about these online window shoppers, who are disrupting your online shopping, click here.

Harris Private Bank Managing Director, Mark Johannessen gives 5 finance tips on how to bring in the new year.

1.   One of the best gifts you can give yourself this year is a financial assessment. Working with a financial planner can help you define and commit to your financial goals and determine what amount of time and effort it will take to get there.

2.   One step in recognizing your financial strengths and weaknesses is hand delivered to you each month — your bank statement. Make a resolution to track your bank statements for three months to see exactly where your money is going.

3.    As you are wrapping gifts this year, think about a budget for next year’s gift giving. Many Americans go into debt to foot the bills for their holidays.

4.   And speaking of credit cards, they can both help and hinder your progress to a secure financial future. If you pay off the cards each month, they can provide you with a detailed summary of your purchasing patterns, helping you to budget accordingly. However, if you continue to roll over a balance, then credit cards — no matter how low the interest — are taking money out of your pocket.

5.  Many companies increase employees’ salaries beginning with the first paycheck in January. If you are expecting an increase this year, commit now to immediately siphoning the bump in pay right into your 401k plan or retirement savings vehicle.

To read more about these tips, click here.

The 18th US-China Joint Commission on commerce and trade took place this week in Xianghe.  One of the major outcomes was the Chinese banishment of imported Hollywood movies.  US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said “My understanding is that there is a suspension, which has happened in the past.”  Gutierrez said that the US is lobbying China to end the ban.  The commerce secretary goes on to say “the problem we have with movies, with films, is that there’s a limit…a quota on them, and we’d like to get that lifted.”

Read more here.

In piece of interesting commerce news, the US and China have come to an agreement that would facilitate the acquirement of tourist visas for outbound chinese tourists.  After years of negotiations the US becomes the 134th country on China’s Approved Destination Status (ADS) list.  Currently the US issues only business travel visas.

The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) says that the agreement will provide a strong motivation for bilateral ties in such sectors as the economy, trade, and culture, as well as invigorating the tourism industry.

US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez says “the agreement will open a large and growing market for the US travel and tourism industry.”  The US Department of Commerce estimates that the number of Chines vistors would reach 579,000 annually, by 2011, up from 320,000 last year.

For more information, click here.

Through the first 37 days of the holiday shopping season, e-commerce spending is up 18%.  December 6th now holds the record for heaviest spending in day with $803 million, up 28% from the same day last year.  ComScore, Inc. conducted the survey to find this commerce news.  From November 1st to Decembe 7th $18 billion have been spent online.  You can read about more finance news here.

In some big commerce news today, QVC, one of the largest multimedia retailers, announced that they will be bringing on Claire Watts as their new president of US Commerce.  In her new position, beginning January 7, 2008, Watts will be responisble for “…planning, programming, merchandising, broadcasting, TV sales, and QVC.com for the U.S. operation.”  This is huge commerce news, seeing as QVC is a integral outlet for manufactureres and sellers of a wide variety of items.

To read more about this announcement, click here.

Online reputation management concerns how your brand name is perceived online and in the search engine results.  With the development of Web 2.0 and social networks there is a growing need for companies to monitor what is being said about them and reacting by taking part in the conversation.  You can check out all the latest news and information on the field of online reputation management at Rep Guardian.