Titleist is a powerhouse in the game of golf – being the premier supplier of golf equipment to pros and amateurs alike. It stands to follow that Titleist Golf Balls are one of the best selling brands …. ever. But which ball is the best for your individual game? As an experienced and dedicated golfer for over 15 years, I’ll share my opinions on which Titleist golf ball is the best for your game. I’ll rank each ball on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being bad, 5 being excellent) – and explain some of the benefits that each ball could add to your game. Equipped with this information, you’ll be able to determine which Titleist ball is best for your golf bag arsenal.

The first step in determining which golf ball is best suited for your game, you need to know what type of swing you have. A local golf shop or pro usually has equipment to analyze your swing – and will do so free of charge! After you learn your type of swing and club head speed during your swing, you need to determine the most important aspects of the golf ball for your game – do you prefer balls with a softer feel, better spin capability, long distance, or increased accuracy?

Now getting down to business – let’s talk about each of the four golf balls I’ve chosen to analyze. In order they are, Titleist Pro V1, Titleist DT So-Lo, Titleist HP Distance MX, and Titleist NXT. I graded each ball according to their iron accuracy, driver accuracy, driver distance, spin, and soft feel. I rated each ball in each category from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best.

The Titleist Pro V1 is their “expert” ball – which explains its price, $44/dozen! The Pro V1 is a 3-piece ball, and is a popular choice in the PGA Tour. I rated this ball a #5 for: spin capability, driver distance, soft feel, and driver accuracy. In addition to a high price tag, the only other area I felt this ball fell short was with its iron shot accuracy (#3).

For golfers with a slower head speed, you may want to consider the 2 piece Titleist DT So-Lo. It is priced much more reasonable than the Pro V1, at only $22/dozen. I rate this ball as a #5 for: driver distance, and soft feel. I gave it a #4 for: iron accuracy, driver accuracy, and its spin capability. Not bad for half the price of the Pro V1!

If you’re looking to make an instant impression off the first tee box, consider the Titleist HP Distance MX 2-piece. It has an attractive retail price of $19/dozen, and has some promising characteristics. I rated it as a #5 for its distance with a driver. It scored a #4 for its driver accuracy. However, I felt it was a #3 for its spin capability, softness, and iron accuracy.

Lastly, I scored the Titleist NXT 2-piece ball. The price is more than all the others except the Pro V1 – at $28/dozen. This ball received a #5 for distance with a driver. It scored a #4 for driver accuracy, and softness of feel. In regards to the other categories, I ranked it a #3 for its iron accuracy, and spin factor.

I hope that you found the analysis of the top selling Titleist golf balls beneficial, and that you can now make a more educated decision as to which is best for your personal swing … and your bank account! Most of all, it is my hope that this information will increase your enjoyment of the game by finding the best ball for you.

Most songs we write and record have instruments and/or vocals, but nothing else. Let’s face it, the most exotic sound on most of our recordings is a tambourine. This is not necessarily a Bad Thing. After all, “instruments and/or vocals” takes in a pretty wide range, from Gregorian Chant to Smooth R&B and everything in between! But every now and then, just for the sheer novelty value, you ought to consider using some kind of sound effects in one of your songs.

Some songs, like “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles, are positively filled with scene-setting sound effects. Birds twitter throughout “Blackbird” by the same band. More recently, digital mixmeister Beck and others have combined “found sounds” and other effects with musical samples to create audio collages in their songs. Of course, this is a technique where a little bit can go a long way. There’s no need to overdo it!

As a songwriter, you can specify what sound effects will be heard when by adding notations like (alarm clock here) to your lyrics sheet, or at least having a firm idea of what specific effects will be used where as you write the song. In this case, the effects would be considered part of the song. Alternatively, you can wait until you have your Producer hat on and decide whether and where to add sound effects when you mix the song. Here, the effects would be considered part of the arrangement.

Name That Sound

There are three main sources for sound effects: (1) sound effects CDs or websites; (2) TV shows, DVD movies, etc.; (3) personal recordings.

With sound effects CDs or websites, you get pre-recorded sounds of all kinds, with many variations, labeled as to subject and duration. You need the sound of a car starting up and driving off? There were a dozen variations of this sound on one CD I found. Need birds, or crickets, or elephants? Again, labeled samples by the dozen can be found on sound effects CDs. And there are whole CDs of rainstorms, jungle sounds, etc., ready for use!

Sound effects CDs can be found by the score at your local library – mine, a medium-sized branch, has drawer after drawer full of the things! For me, this beats the websites, which can be awkward to use and usually make you pay for your samples. If you’re in a real hurry, maybe try online, but otherwise just head on down to the library!

Another really neat (and cheap) source of sound effects is to record a movie or TV show as you watch it and then lift some of the effects you hear (or dialog – talking is a sound effect too!) by copying them over onto a cassette or whatever you use to import outside audio into your studio.

Finally, one of my favorite sources of sound effects is to record my own. With portable, battery-operated recording devices like the Zoom H4 and others becoming available, it is a simple matter to get CD-quality recordings “on the fly” of anything from your very own rainstorm or your cute pet kitty to the crowd at a football game. A warning, though. Once you start thinking this way, it’s hard to stop. (I could record an oncoming train! I could record a volcano!)

There are sounds all around you. Why not try incorporating some of them into one of your songs? It works!

When shopping for fishing flies in stores you can find simple dries and nymphs ranging from 79 cents each to $1.95 each. Online you can even get them cheaper. I have seen them for 42 cents each.

The more expensive flies carried by the premium fly shops are tied in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the fly tying capital of the world. There are over a dozen major fly tying companies that have tying facilities there. The fly tying resource base there (number of experienced fly tiers) is larger than in any other part of the world.

Other areas of the world that do a significant amount of fly production include China, Sir Lanka, and Kenya. There is some production in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Philippines. The fly production in the United States and Europe where the largest number of users are is primarily by home tiers or tiers that tie for specific fly shops. There are a few home tiers that sell their flies on the internet.

At the fly factories the cost of production is based on materials cost, labor cost, facility cost, administrative cost, and profit. Currently for the simple dry flies and nymphs that adds up to about $3.50 USD – $4.50 USD a dozen (I will use USD in the rest of the article) in Thailand, and about $2.00 – $2.50 in Kenya.

When shipping to the US, Europe, Canada, or Australia the shipping costs run as much as $0.15 USD a dozen and duty for the US is approximately 10%. In the US there is also excise tax that must be paid based on the first sale after they enter the country that runs about 9 1/2%.

Based on a $4.00 a dozen factory cost the fly company importing flies must add shipping, duty, and the excise tax they will incur when they sell to the shops which brings the fly cost to $5.63 per dozen. The fly companies that are importing the flies need to make a profit so the cost to the shops are generally at keystone (50% markup) so the cost to the shops is now at $11.26 per dozen (94 cents each).

When the fly shop pays shipping and marks up for their operating costs and profit, keystone again, the cost to the consumer is pushing that $1.95 figure you see as you walk in.

The large box stores, in order to get the pricing down to what they do are either getting huge discounts for volume buying or they are getting flies that are tied somewhere other than Thailand, or both.

Some retailers have their own tying facilities and are not only tying at the less expensive locations but are skipping the importing fly company’s costs by going direct.

Hopefully now when you get sticker shock when you go into a fly shop you can understand why the shop is charging what it does.

Unfortunately, almost everyone has sustained a headache. Headaches come in many varieties: cluster, migraine, sinus and stress or tension headaches. This article will discuss avoidance of headaches or steps you can take if you are experiencing headaches.

As a practicing chiropractor of over 36 years my experience has been that most people will get several headaches a year. When these occur, they are annoying but generally not of a serious nature. However, some people will get headaches more frequently. I’ve talked to some patients who get headaches daily, which means they have a headache 365 days per year. Even if a patient gets a headache once or twice a month that’s a dozen to two dozen headaches per year, which I think is too many.

One bit of good news is that only a small fraction of headaches people suffer from is because of serious disease or injury. If someone believes their headaches are due to these types of conditions the best way to rule it out is by having a MRI of the brain and skull and to have a blood lab test performed. If these tests are negative or inconclusive one can take other steps to work to avoid headaches and obtain headache relief.

The number one reason people experience headaches is from poor posture causing mechanical irritation to the nerves and joints of the upper spine. With so many people working at desk jobs and with students, of all ages, having to be in a seated position for hours and hours it’s important that we are aware of our upper body postures. The more the head and shoulders are back, in erect fashion, the less physical stress is incurred at the upper levels of the spine and a concomitant reduction of headache frequency and severity will occur.

Posture is also important when sleeping. It is best to sleep on one’s sides and back and avoid sleeping on the stomach. While it is sometimes hard to find the proper pillow some diligence in searching for and finding appropriate support for one’s head and neck can be accomplished.

Another aspect of headache avoidance is to be aware of our fluid and nutrient intake. Dehydration is a frequent cause of various types of headaches. Most people need to measure the amount of water that they drink daily or else they really won’t know if they are being consistent with their hydration. There are resources available to tell you how much water you should drink per day.

Additionally, some people need to avoid certain food triggers, especially those who experience migraine headaches. It is common for food such as wine, cheese, chocolate, and coffee to initiate a headache in some people. Also, some smells such as perfumes, cleaning products, chemicals like gasoline and scented candles may affect some headache sufferers. It is important to determine if there is a sensitivity to these types of products to avoid headaches.

To those who have taken the previously mentioned steps to avoid headaches but are still suffering from headaches I’d like to offer this advice. For several decades now I have had great success in helping people to reduce or eliminate headache frequency and intensity through chiropractic care. The entire chiropractic profession can claim similar accomplishment. Chiropractic care is very safe, gentle, and natural. No drugs or pharmaceuticals are administered by chiropractors.

I would respectfully advise anyone who is experiencing headaches to consult with a chiropractor to determine if a healthier, happier life can be obtained and obtain headache pain relief.

Witch’s Dozen Powerful Reasons to Learn Creative Copywriting Marketing

“But I hate writing! Why would anyone want to learn copywriting?”

Because, my friend, there are a dozen great reasons, at least:

1) FREE MARKETING /ROI! Most important!!! Timea or out-sourcing is your only cost. But once it’s out there on the net, it continues to build readership, for FREE!

2) LEADERS ARE MADE NOT BORN! ANYONE can learn… Invest in some good training to listen to in the car

3) LUCRATIVE: Copywriting is THE single BIGGEST earning skill on the internet today! Ask the masters!

4) CUMULATIVE IMPACT: Crucially, your content is out there forever. Powerful, emotive words generate leads as time passes and more people find you over time.

5) RELATIONSHIP BUILDING: Social media, video, articles (just for starters…) grab MASSIVE attention and build relationships online AUTOMATICALLY.

6) FUN! Because advertising copy is about peoples’ psychology, this makes writing ad copy one of the most fun aspects of your business. Doesn’t knowing peoples’ ‘buying itch buttons’ fire your cylinders? Finding the right buttons to press is a challenge!

7) AUTHORITY: Educate your target audience and establish yourself as preferred expert amongst your competitors.

8) TRACK RESULTS: You can monitor where your leads are coming from, so you know what your investment of time is worth and GET BETTER!9) VIRAL MARKETING Valuable copy will be picked up by 3rd party content publishers, such as ezines. They post your verbatim copy to their sites, exposing you to even more ‘qualified’ traffic. Master the art of viral marketing, to guarantee your business a steady stream of customers. Create some compelling ad copy with some basic creative writing techniques once and your personal digital doppelganger continues to market for you automatically ever after, whatever the time zone!

10) NOVELTY FACTOR: Google ranking of your business pages depends on freshly up-dated information and popularity amongst other readers. In turn this depends on the relationship you build with both. This can be the beginning of a beautiful MBA!

11) POPULARITY: “Most popular today” status gives your copywriting marketing strategy more reach.

12) DIALOGUE: Two way communication with your readers not only increases your value, it’s great qualitative market research amongst your fans. E.G. pose a highly specific question to your audience in order to gain feedback! (I said this was a witch’s dozen, remember! )

Top Implementation Tips:

1) Upload to various sites, or invest in broadcasting software which helps you DOMINATE

2) Inform your current database of subscribers about article or blog broadcasts

3) Include all social media groups in your marketing broadcast

4) If the article directory you posted the article to is also a social community, then include writing a tagline after the link to the article

For more great marketing tips, or access to resources to learn this skill of the millionaire marketers out there, come and visit me on my web home pages, where I dive into all of this stuff in greater depth and offer more hot tips for generating leads and sales conversion.

(A Civil War story they would never tell)

Nashville, Tennessee, 1860, close to the river resided a district know as Smokey Row, consisting of a four block long, two block wide, where the industry of prostitution thrived-overall, eight full blocks of homes and houses of ill repute. Had you asked the Marshals of Nashville at the time for the federal census of these business women, they would have told you they counted over two-hundred, listed in such an occupation, but surely there were more, the unlisted list, mostly white but nearly a dozen of mulatto women were on the list, a great number were illiterate, close to two-dozen widowed. The youngest in her early teens, the oldest near sixty. Among the many, a dozen were from Kentucky, Alabama, Ireland and Canada, the rest from Tennessee. Most used, or went by common names.

On North Front Street, there was a great mansion, nearly thirty people lived in the house, among the prostitutes were several children and one black man in his early twenties, Tom Dimple. And the War Between the States began. Forth Sumter was hit, shelled. In 1863, Brigadier General R. S. Granger command in Nashville, tried to ship the vile women out of the city by steamboat, but to no avail, they all crept back into the city in even bigger numbers.

One hot evening Tom Dimple, in Nashville sat on top of the roof of this great mansion on Front Street, where he worked as a janitor, looked over the tops of the town’s roofs; the chimneys towering into the sky. After it got dark, and the street lights went on, the soldiers started coming as usual to the house of ill repute, by this time there were nearly as many bare-faced black prostitutes that they paraded the streets as freely as the whites, even to the public squares, by day and night. The newspapers complained of this, and the commanders of the troops complained about the Negresses, but with the war going on, the sex need of the soldiers allowed the influx of black females into this sinful business, if only to relieve the workload on the white females.

Folks could hear Tom Dimple aching in pain on the rooftop, and at times on the balcony, and this evening was no different, this evening he was on the roof with the cool and fresh breeze in the hot night, again in pain. Moreover, those who knew him had a joke about him: that he was the best friend to the black women at the house they ever had (and perhaps a few of the white women) being simply a janitor. And called him with whispers, Enema Dimple, and not to his face-because of his restlessness in having intercourse with those women there, three to four times a day, but for having constipation more often than not. Because he got so cramped up, he had to hold tight onto the toilet seat each and every time, if not for burning sensations in his penis, then for rectum release, that one time he got so cramped up, bloating, spasms, and cramping, peristalsis, he was put on crutches. Moreover, it came in due time, he became more a patient than a janitor at the house, but they all liked Tom nonetheless.

Therefore, there he sat this one evening on top of the roof, a skillful janitor and one sexually addicted, and skillful young man in the art of interaction.

Before he went back down to his room this evening, it was dim and quiet on that roof, and he was in much pain, so much so he wanted to jump off the roof-commit suicide, although he knew the women would not understand, and being grateful to the house establishment he felt this was not the thing to do-and perhaps he’d postpone it: his spine hurt and so did his penis, and he had not had a bowel movement in seventeen days, nor a check up by a doctor ever, and so he prayed with pious ignorance: “Oh Jesus,” he cried “if only you would hear me, I’d mend my ways this very day, help me through this hard time, take all this pain away-please, oh please, please, I beg you, I’ll be a new kind of young man, just heal me. I’ll do anything you ask, I’ll leave this house of repute, and be a good boy like my momma told me to be, and go to church every Sunday” and, Lo and behold -just like that, in a clap of an eye, everything was back to normality. His pain reduced to nothingness, his penis back in good operating order. As a result, at that very moment, he had to rush off the roof and take a great dump in the bathroom, and his spine was back in good shape, like iron. After all this, he went to bed to have a good and pain free night’s sleep. The following morning, when he sat down and had breakfast with everyone, he didn’t say a word of his promise. And simply went back to work as normal, matter-of-fact, he went back to doing whatever he was doing before, with even more enthusiasm and gusto.

The joy of receiving a bouquet can easily turn into a real disaster if you are not aware of the cultural differences between the rest of the world and Eastern Europe. If you master the art of giving flowers the way people do it in Eastern Europe however, you will be able to multiply the pleasure of both yourself and your Eastern European girl.

Giving flowers is one of the best ways to show your lady that you care for her. However, you will have to learn these simple facts about the etiquette of giving flowers to a Eastern European girl to avoid awkward situations:

Never give your date an even number of flowers. This is very, very important. In Western Europe people often give flowers in half dozens or a dozen. In the majority of Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Litva and few more countries an even number of flowers is given only to the dead.

People in Eastern Europe bring even numbers of flowers when visiting the graveyard or when going to a funeral. These are the only occasions when you will see Eastern European girls giving flowers in twos, fours, sixes, and so on.

When you are giving a flower or a bouquet of flowers to a girl from Eastern Europe – be it on a date or when visiting her at home – always try to give uneven numbers. The only exception to this rule is the number 13. Even though it is an uneven number, it is believed to bring bad luck. You can buy either eleven or fifteen instead, but do not give thirteen flowers to your lady.

The color of the flowers you choose to give plays a very small role but it is still worth mentioning. Generally, it does not matter hugely what type of flowers you decide to give to your lady. However, there are still a few things you are best being aware of.

White flowers, especially calla lilies, are used mostly at weddings. However, white chrysanthemum flowers are most likely to be seen at a funeral. It is a good idea to avoid giving white and yellow flowers in the first place, and you will be sure to avoid any misunderstanding.

Good choices when it comes to flowers to bring on your first date are pink, purple and other strong colored blooms. Roses are always an excellent choice. Pay special attention to the fact that a red rose has a very strong symbolical meaning in expressing your love for someone, so do not bring a single red rose on your very first date with your Eastern European girl.

We often see cowboys wearing leather chaps without ever knowing what they’re for aside from giving the cowboy that “wild wild west” look. Now, we see motorcycle riders donning the same kind and we start to think that there are probably a dozen of things we don’t know about them.

Here are some things we need to know about leather chaps and what it has to do with motorcycle riding:

What are chaps for?

Chaps are the protective apparel for the legs. Because these are made of sturdy leather, chaps protect the legs while driving a motorcycle. They also protect areas of the lower body that are vulnerable to abrasions, scrapes, chafing and scratches. They give ample protection for the shin and ankles, and shields them from all sorts of hurdles. And the thicker the leather, the higher the degree of protection them will impart on the rider.

How to use chaps

Motorcycle riders tie the chaps on trousers by attaching the accessory belts that come with it.

Kinds of chaps

Today, the common types for men are the batwing and the shotgun. The difference between the two is that the batwing chaps are flat at the bottom and includes only two fasteners that will protect the thighs of the rider. Because this kind allows for easy movement, this is the type which is better to use when riding motorcycles or engaging in motorcycle races.

The shotgun chaps on the other hand wrap the legs completely, are narrower and more snug in shape compared to the batwing. This type of chaps is more commonly used during horseback riding and protects the rider’s lower body from heat or cold.

Since not all riders are men, there are also ladies chaps that are now available in stores today. Yes, there is a growing number of female riders who are just as passionate about motorcycle riding. Ladies chaps are also available in various designs, styles and shapes. These leather made ones also give sufficient protection for the legs.

For more practicality, there are also ones that have been designed to fit either sexes like the Harley-Davidson Unisex Premium Classic Chap which a male or female rider can make use of.

Advantages of using a chap

The right kind will assure you of protection thus giving you peace of mind during the ride making it even more enjoyable. Aside from that, it will give you that traditional biker feel that no other motorcycle accessory will make you feel.

Who else uses chaps?

Bikers are not the only ones who use chaps. Hunters also make use of chaps to protect themselves from insect, snake and animal bites and to protect their shins, legs, and ankles. Mountaineers also find them useful in their climbing giving ample support for their lower body. Cowboys wear them so that their legs are properly protected from cattle and horses.

Indeed, there’s more to leather chaps than just being image boosters.

The variety of functions that today’s’ fax machines perform make them indispensable to the modern offices. They double as printers, copiers, retrievers and telephones. All these tasks are performed without the bother of sending emails and taking print outs. Documents can be sent and retrieved at the click of a button. These devices are very fast and it usually takes 3 seconds to transmit a page at the speed from about 14400-33600bps. Auto-Redial ensures that the fax is sent to the recipient without any delays if his/her phone is too busy.

Messages can be received and sent and the received and the hard copy on plain paper have a resolution of very high quality and astounding clarity. The function of the copier on the machine makes it possible to obtain over eight dozen copies almost immediately and it has the inbuilt capacity to store about ten dozen pages for over forty hours. The size of the material to be faxed can be modified and adjusted to fit on A-4 size paper with the Thermal Transfer function. The compactness of these machines, their stylishness combined with feather lightness ensures that they can fit on the top of your desks with the minimum of pain! They consume very little amount of power and are highly user friendly.

Some new features include the thermal transfer faxing which is considered more economical and cost effective in the long run. For on thing there is no need to buy ink cartridges for the print out on the paper. Instead, the thermal paper has the power to store ink and the heat generated will help to print the impressions on to the paper. This is a new concept and one that is catching up very fast. The thermal transfer fax has a phone combined in it and can be used like the normal telephone when it is not set in the fax mode. The memory storing facility is so efficient that it can store up a memory of 15 pages at a time. This works very well when bulk faxing jobs have to be undertaken.

They also possess an Error Correction Mode that facilitates the easy reversal of errors performed while faxing from a remote access from phones at a long distance. They may also be operated from a variety of locations. The icing on top of the cake is that it can send the faxes to multiple locations (over a hundred!) at the same time without any delays whatsoever. Other plum features include speed dial, group dial and distinctive caller tones for identification in its phone functions and TWAIN imaging for sharing photos and drawings. This is a feature that would be very helpful for architects in minimizing their work.

Just In – NASDAQ Tells Investors the Best Ways to Research Stocks before Buying

NASDAQ, which stands for the “National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations” is the #1 screen-based electronic equities market in the US, and the second-most important one in the world in terms of market capitalization. NASDAQ grosses more trading volumes than any other stock exchange anywhere. So when the NASDAQ issues a guideline or comes out with tips, you must know about it.

Recently, NASDAQ has published a report, where they have recommended how investors should carry out a detailed research before buying a stock. NASDAQ recommends 12 steps for thoroughly analyzing a stock, and has named it the NASDAQ Dozen.

What Is The NASDAQ Dozen?

NASDAQ Dozen is the 12 steps to research any stock. These steps are,

1. Revenue

2. EPS or the Earnings per Share

3. ROE or the Return on Equity

4. Recommendations

5. Surprises in earnings

6. Forecasted growth

7. Growth in earnings

8. The PEG Ratio

9. Earnings of the industry

10. Days to Cover

11. Trading done by company insiders, or Insider Trading

12. Measurement of the stocks rise or fall, or the Weighted Alpha

Here is a detailed explanation of the NASDAQ Dozen for analyzing a stock.

Revenue – This one’s quite simple, and it refers to the revenue earned by the company.

EPS – EPS or the Earning per Share is a mathematical calculation that is arrived at by dividing the company’s earning by the total number of stocks. The EPS of a good stock is always high, but also check whether the EPS is rising or not.

ROE – The total profit or loss after taxation and interest, and divided by the stockholder’s equity. NASDAQ recommends those stocks where the ROE has risen for at least the last two years.

Recommendations – What are the experts saying about this stock? Since they are doing research all the time, it makes sense to find this out.

Surprises in earnings – Results are announced in each quarter, and analysts will always predict the earnings or the EPS for the next quarter. Now if you find that the actual EPS is more than what was predicted, then you can conclude that this is a good stock to buy.

Forecasted growth – While it is important to find out the past earnings, you should also know what the experts are saying about the future growth prospects.

Growth in earnings – This is a projection of the expected earnings growth over the next 5 years according to the stock analysts.

PEG ratio – The ratio is arrived at by calculating the stock’s price, the EPS and expected growth of the company. NASDAQ is asking investors to pick those stocks where the ratio is lower than 1.

Industry earnings – The earning of the company needs to be compared with the other businesses in the industry to get the overall picture. If you find that the company is doing better than the average industry returns, then you should go ahead and pick it up.

Days to cover – How many days will it take for the short sellers to get their positions covered? This should of course be based on the stock’s trading volumes.

Insider Trading – An analysis of whether the company insiders are buying the stock or not. If the managers are confident, they will be buying the stock themselves.

Weighted Alpha – This is an evaluation of the stock’s rise or fall over time.