Spyware is a general term used to describe software that performs certain behaviors such as advertising, collecting personal information, or changing the configuration of your computer, generally without appropriately obtaining your consent first.

Spyware is often associated with software that displays advertisements (called adware) or software that tracks personal or sensitive information.

That does not mean all software that provides ads or tracks your online activities is bad. For example, you might sign up for a free music service, but you “pay” for the service by agreeing to receive targeted ads. If you understand the terms and agree to them, you may have decided that it is a fair tradeoff. You might also agree to let the company track your online activities to determine which ads to show you.

Other kinds of Spyware make changes to your computer that can be annoying and can cause your computer slow down or crash.

These programs can change your Web browsers home page or search page, or add additional components to your browser you don’t need or want. These programs also make it very difficult for you to change your settings back to the way you originally had them.

The key in all cases is whether or not you (or someone who uses your computer) understand what the software will do and have agreed to install the software on your computer.

There are a number of ways Spyware or other unwanted software can get on your computer. A common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program.

Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come with SpyWare. Once installed, the Spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers

Aside from the questions of ethics and privacy, SpyWare steals from the user by using the computer’s memory resources and also by eating bandwidth as it sends information back to the spy ware’s home base via the user’s Internet connection. Because SpyWare is using memory and system resources, the applications running in the background can lead to system crashes or general system instability.

Because SpyWare exists as independent executable programs, they have the ability to monitor keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat programs or word processors, install other SpyWare programs, read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser, consistently relaying this information back to the SpyWare author who will either use it for advertising/marketing purposes or sell the information to another party.

Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the user that a SpyWare program will be installed along with the requested software, but the licensing agreements may not always be read completely because the notice of a SpyWare installation is often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal disclaimers.

Examples of SpyWare

These common SpyWare programs illustrate the diversity of behaviors found in these attacks. Note that as with computer viruses, researchers give names to SpyWare programs which may not be used by their creators. Programs may be grouped into “families” based not on shared program code, but on common behaviors, or by “following the money” of apparent financial or business connections. For instance, a number of the SpyWare programs distributed by Claria are collectively known as “Gator”. Likewise, programs which are frequently installed together may be described as parts of the same SpyWare package, even if they function separately.

o CoolWebSearch, a group of programs, takes advantage of Internet Explorer vulnerabilities. The package directs traffic to advertisements on Web sites including coolwebsearch.com. It displays pop-up ads, rewrites search engine results, and alters the infected computer’s hosts file to direct DNS lookups to these sites.

o Internet Optimizer, also known as DyFuCa, redirects Internet Explorer error pages to advertising. When users follow a broken link or enter an erroneous URL, they see a page of advertisements. However, because password-protected Web sites (HTTP Basic authentication) use the same mechanism as HTTP errors, Internet Optimizer makes it impossible for the user to access password-protected sites.

o Zango (formerly 180 Solutions) transmits detailed information to advertisers about the Web sites which users visit. It also alters HTTP requests for affiliate advertisements linked from a Web site, so that the advertisements make unearned profit for the 180 Solutions Company. It opens pop-up ads that cover over the Web sites of competing companies.

o HuntBar, aka WinTools or Adware,WebSearch was installed by an ActiveX drive-by download at affiliate Web sites, or by advertisements displayed by other SpyWare programs-an example of how SpyWare can install more SpyWare. These programs add toolbars to IE, track aggregate browsing behavior, redirect affiliate references, and display advertisements.

oZlob Trojan or just Zlob, Downloads itself to your computer via ActiveX codec and reports information back to Control Server. Some information can be as your search history, the Websites you visited, and even Key Strokes.

It’s what we do to kick off the game; it’s what we do between quarters, at half time, on third down conversions, and when touchdowns are made; it’s what we do that makes us proud of our college and our team. It sets us apart from all others in our league and gives us a unique branding of who we are and all that we represent. It’s called tradition, (a state of mind, a state of inner being and outward display of emotional spirit) or simply put “pride and joy”!

Whether you display your devotion to a college team by the apparel you sport or the gear you accumulate over time, one matter of certainty is that every fan is bound to know, at best, a handful of the many traditions upheld on campus or in the football stadium. From adrenaline rushes to hair raising goose bumps, from moments of solitude and silence to moments of deafening chants and stadium rumbles, there isn’t a college campus or college stadium anywhere where you won’t find a student body or fan base steadfast and enthusiastically involved.

Speaking of stadium rumbles, this calls to mind a Metallica favorite. The Hokies of Virginia Tech are known for their “Enter Sandman” explosive entrance on to the football field as the crowd jumps up and down the moment the music fills the air, causing a rumble effect throughout the stadium. If you are a college sports fanatic and haven’t visited Lane Stadium for this experience, make it a bucket list item. School mascots representative of live animals escort their team to the field like Uga, the bulldog from the University of Georgia and Ralphie, the enormous buffalo from the University of Colorado. Warriors like Tommy Trojan and the Travelers from the University of Southern California and Chief Osceola riding in on a beautiful Appaloosa with a flaming spear take center stage to commence their performance on the field.

Others may rub their hands for good luck on significant tokens or symbolic structures prior to leaving the team’s tunnel or stepping foot on the field of play, like Clemson University’s Howard’s Rock and the University of Maryland’s Terrapin. Infamous arm motions like that of the University of Florida’s notorious gator chomp and hand gestures symbolizing bullhorns for the South Florida Bulls and Texas Longhorns, or the outburst of chants such as, “We Are… Marshall” or “Let’s Go… Tigers”! And then there’s a bit of history to be noted in things like the “Ramblin’ Wreck” of Georgia Tech and the “Sooner Schooner” of Oklahoma. Regardless of what any college or university embraces with tradition, those values interject a deeper inward feeling of pride and spirited exuberance.

Invariably, acts of traditions are not limited to fight songs, sporting school colors, game day chants, body motions, team spirit cheers, and scoring rituals, but they are certain to be learned by newcomers and carried out faithfully game by game, year after year, and decades to come. Many times over, countless traditions seem to have been magically, or accidentally, whimmed up on the spur of the moment with no real reason or purpose in mind. They may have just begun as an unintentional moment of joyous expression, even sometimes perpetrated as a joke of sorts. Be it coincidence or persistence, these college feelings happen to have all the right stuff that dwells in the hearts and minds of students and parents, fans and spectators, players and coaches, staff and faculty members to the point where you might hear one say, “The color orange is in my blood” or “I bleed purple”. You can’t get any closer to the heart than that.

FOR ME, EXPLORATION HAS ALWAYS BEGUN AT CIVILIZATION’S END. In most places, one must retreat from the neon signs and golden arches and fully exit the concrete jungle to find wilderness. Generally, if I have even one bar of reception on my cell phone, I haven’t wandered far enough. Most populated places in America attempt to integrate wilderness into civilization in the form of “green spaces” – finely manicured plots of lawn and picnic benches that are supposed to convey a sense of nature and openness. In the Deep South, it’s the other way around. Here, small towns carve a sense of civilization into immense, untamed wilds. Even larger suburbs seem strained to keep a creeping wilderness at bay.

Slidell is a New Orleans suburb that lies under a canopy of loblolly pine on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It’s an area saturated with rivers and bayous, where small gravel roads lead to stilted home neighborhoods deep in the marshes where you wouldn’t think neighborhoods would or could be. It’s a lowland so low (3 feet, to be exact) that the term “terra firma” doesn’t really apply. And unlike most places in the country, here one can simultaneously be deep in the wilderness and a stone’s throw from a Waffle House.

Slidell is bordered to the east by the West Pearl River, which flows from it’s headwaters in the area of the Nanih Waiya Indian Mounds in central Mississippi and drains into the Rigolets and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico. The Pearl is home to the Honey Island Swamp, one of the most beautiful and least-altered river swamps in the United States. It takes it’s name from tales of abundant wild honey made by renegade bees that had escaped their beekeepers.

SWAMP BOUND

We had made no hotel reservations. There was nothing on the itinerary. We had no plan other than to drive lonely roads and explore forgotten corners of this subtropical wonderland. We drove slowly along Hwy 190, trying to take everything in. I soon saw that tombs weren’t the only objects stolen away by Katrina’s flood waters. A large tugboat loomed just off the highway, miles from any open water. I got out to take some pictures and was instantly attacked by swarms of what looked like over-sized flying ants. These little monsters came in mating pairs, and I was amazed that they would take the time out of their procreative rite to sink their teeth (or fangs, or pokers, or whatever) into my forearms. My only option was to run until I got close enough to snap a couple pictures, then sprint back to the car. It’s amazing how fast an out-of-shape thirty-year-old can run when being chased by hordes of two-headed devil bugs.

A few miles and several more beached boats later, we pulled into a clamshell lot fronting a swamp museum on the banks of the Pearl. A wooden walkway led out to the bank where we met two swamp tour captains, both with heavy Cajun accents. It was early afternoon and both captains had ended their tours for the day. The swamp tour business was good before Katrina, they told me. Honey Island Swamp guides are now lucky to have one full boat per day, and it would have been a waste of gas and time to take only us on an after-hours tour. As we were turning to walk back to our car, another tour boat floated by and offered to take us aboard.

Ah, the swamp. Something I’ve seen in many a movie but never experienced for myself. It was amazingly quiet for an area so rich with wildlife. The setting was right out of the boat launch scene on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland- except that particular ride scene was probably taken straight from here. Old ramshackle boathouses lined the bank across from the launch, and I half expected to pass a fisherman strumming ‘O Susanna’ on his banjo before plunging down a waterfall into the world of swashbuckling pirates. But this was the real deal. It was obvious that Katrina had been here. Lines of boathouses floated abandoned along the shore. Across from the launch one medium-sized boathouse rested atop a much smaller outhouse. A smaller boathouse floated beside the first, seemingly untouched by the storm.

DEAD RIVER

“I’m going to turn on a little AC,” said Captain Neil Benson, owner of Pearl River Eco-tours. “Oh good,” I thought. “I’m dying out here!” Turns out he just meant he was going to drive the boat really fast. It did feel good though. After speeding along the main waterway for a mile or so, Captain Neil stopped to turn into a narrow channel leading into a slough he called Dead River. A slough is a shallow backwater lake system that parallels the main bayou waterway. The Honey Island Swamp is a 70,000 acre maze of these sloughs.

“Watch out for the giant cutgrass as we go,” Neil warned as he pointed to thick patches of tall, broad-leafed grass that brushed the sides of the boat as we drifted past. “That’ll cut your fingers pretty good.”

Neil Benson grew up in the swamp. He first set out alone in a pirogue at age 10 and owned his first motorized flat boat at 12. “I know some people out here that are pretty strange. Everybody who lives in the swamp is running from something- either the law or the voices in their heads.”

This caught my interest. I asked him later to elaborate.

“The swamp is a place to lose yourself- sometimes on purpose, sometimes accidentally. If you are running away from life, the swamp will easily accommodate your request and take whatever past you had and hide it in its waters and beneath its canopy of trees.”

We were about a mile into Dead River’s labyrinth before I realized I hadn’t been bitten by any bugs since we left the car. Not even one mosquito, which surprised me, given we were on an open boat deep in the swamp. In fact, other than our toddler’s repeated attempts to leap from the vessel, this was the most peaceful boat ride I’ve ever been on. The swamp is an eerily beautiful place. Knobby knees of bald cypresses seem to float on the murky surface. The still, dark waters combine with the impenetrable fauna and moss-hung tupelos to cast a haunting, yet enchanting spell. Wikipedia defines a swamp as “a wetland that features temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water.” Neil defines it as as an “underwater forest.”

CRITTERS

Neil killed the engine as the slough opened into an oxbow lake or billabong, created when a wide meander of the river is cut off. I noticed a small green tree frog perched on the handrail next to my elbow. Though the swamp is densely populated with wildlife, it takes a trained eye to actually spot most of it. Once I saw that frog, I began noticing them everywhere. The swamp is like a 3-D Where’s Waldo book. The best way spot wildlife is to think of one type of animal and scan the banks until you see it.

We don’t have a lot of critters in Utah. I sleep on forest floors and dive into lakes and rivers without a second thought. My Texas-bred wife nearly went into cardiac arrest the first time she saw me wade out into the Provo River for a swim. In Utah there is a notable lack of animals that can hurt/maim/kill you compared to the Deep South. The most dangerous creature to hikers in Utah is the rattlesnake- and even he will give you fair warning before striking.

What’s unsettling to me in this bog is the wildlife you can’t see- the critters that lurk beneath the rusty surface of the water. Neil says swimming in the swamp is no more dangerous than swimming in any other river. “Yes, we have alligators, snakes and the occasional bull shark in the river. Yet, like most animals in their natural ecosystem, the animals are more scared of humans than humans are scared of them.”

Well, I guess if it’s only an occasional bull shark mixed in with the alligators and snakes. I feel so reassured!

SWAMP RATS AND GATORS

Somewhat of a political anomaly, Neil is a serious environmentalist who drives a pickup with an NRA bumper sticker. His love for exploration and adventure evolved into a passion for this delicate ecosystem, and he’s been guiding swamp tours for over a decade. A few days after hurricane Katrina nearly stripped life from the swamp by ripping off its canopy and flooding it with salt water, Neil ventured out to inspect the damage with reporter Ben Montgomery of the Tampa Tribune.

“This is unbelievable,” he told Montgomery. “For the life of me, I would have never guessed it. It’s gone. All of it.”

“It was my first time back in the swamp after the storm,” Neil tells me over the phone two years later on the second anniversary of Katrina’s landfall. “It was heart breaking. I’m not an emotional person, but I have to tell you I was in tears.” A couple hours on a boat with Captain Neil reveals his zeal for this place.

Back in open water, we saw our first gator. Once we spotted one, we started seeing them everywhere. As we passed, alligators would swim toward the boat angling for the marshmallows Neil would toss to them. He even reached out to pet the one he calls Big Al.

In the swamp, you see a lot of things out of the corner of your eye. A frog or a snake here, an alligator or a wild boar there. Stories abound about an elusive creature affectionately called “The Thing.” Of the numerous reported sightings, no intelligible photo has ever been taken of the beast. But there are plenty of believers. The Honey Island Swamp monster is more than a myth to fisherman and swamp-dwellers. Over the years several investigators have produced plaster casts of the monster’s supposed footprints. Neil owns one of these casts. He preferred not to discuss it during the tour, “because I’d like to have some credibility.” His official position? “I believe in the Honey Island Swamp Monster and therefore, it exists. If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”

We did not witness this mythical creature that day. But then again maybe we were only taken to the “tourist-friendly” areas of the swamp where the beast is less likely to skulk. Looking at a satellite image of the swamp I’m amazed at how little of it we saw. Next time I’m down that way I plan to convince Neil to introduce me to the more secreted grottoes of this mysterious and wonderful place.

Neil tells me he does take people out on extended private excursions, but he requires customers to sign a “sign your life away” waiver.

“Because when you get that far out in the middle of nowhere, no one can predict what may happen.”

Sign me up, Neil!

Are you looking for ways to start making money online? Do you want to become successful and profitable like many of the gurus say you can? If you are looking for any of these things then you need to read this article for more information. It is possible for you to start making money online once you have obtained the proper knowledge. One way that is often discussed on the web is internet marketing and how simple it is to use. To the newbie marketer you may be thinking that this is impossible and completely hard to complete. On the contrary internet marketing is really easy with some basic knowledge about it and you can become successful with it once you actually begin your new online venture. Thousands of people like yourself have tried it and have succeeded to become profitable and successful businessmen or women. Now it is your turn to begin generating income from online using the same exact system that the professionals are using.

I want to first discuss how internet marketing can be used to start making money online. Internet marketing has been around for many years, but has only picked up in popularity in the past few years or so. Even though many people are getting into it there still is plenty of room for you to take lots of profits from different niches. This is the basic process of how internet marketing is used properly:

1. Look for a niche that you would like to target through various sources such as Amazon.com and ClickBank.com. Here you can perform some simple market research to find profitable niches quickly and easily.

2. Select the proper keyword phrases and words that are to be used on your website that you want to target. These keywords should be highly searched and very low in competition. Use Google’s keyword tool to find them.

3. After finding about 10 keywords write an article around each keyword right away.

4. Choose a domain name with the main keyword somewhere in the domain name for proper SEO.

5. Purchase a cheap web hosting service like Host Gator.

6. Build your website with a pre-made template that you can get from many free sources and are incredibly simple to use without having to know HTML.

7. Upload your articles to your website and begin making money online right? Not yet.

8. You need to have a product that you need to sell to your visitors. You can’t make much money without having a product. You can create the product yourself such as an information ebook, outsource it to an article writer, or use an affiliate product. Any of these choices are good but you will need to decide what is better for you.

9. Set up an email marketing campaign on your website by signing up to an email marketing company such as Getresponse, AWeber, or iContact. AWeber is by far the most popular choice among many internet marketers.

Now that you have everything set up and made sure that it is working properly, you can now begin making money online? One last thing that you need in order to make money and that is customers! Do not forget to continuously promote your website every single day in order to get higher into the search engine and more visitors to your site. Use article marketing as your first choice and then move on to other techniques like blog commenting, social bookmarking, and many others.

There is a vast difference in rebuilding an engine and overhauling it.

When rebuilding an engine it is removed from the vehicle, disassembled, and the motor block is checked for the following:

• cracks or broken components
• excessive cylinder wear
• crankshaft wear
• condition of connecting rods
• condition of camshaft, and
• pistons checked for size and condition of piston ring grooves.

The cylinder head or heads should be taken to an automotive machine shop to have the valves and valve seats properly refaced and any other problems addressed. If the motor has extremely high mileage or has had over-heating problems, then most likely the motor will have to be bored out, the crankshaft re-ground, the connecting rods possibly re-sized and the cam bearings replaced. If the motor needs to be bored, the old pistons will have to be pressed off the connecting rods and the new pistons pressed on. The motor block needs to be cleaned thoroughly and it must be kept clean during the assembly process. Keeping everything as clean as possible during rebuilding will have a positive effect on the life of the motor after it is assembled. Once the block preparation has been done, then the master parts kit, with the proper piston and ring sizes, and rod and main bearing sizes, can be ordered for assembly of the motor. It is always best to replace the old camshaft and lifters with a new camshaft and a set of new lifters.

An overhauled engine is one that has all the accessories removed from the engine including the cylinder head, or heads, and the oil pan. The engine block is not normally removed from the vehicle. New piston rings and rod bearings are installed, with the proper sizes to correspond to the size of the piston and rod journal sizes. It is always a good idea to install a new oil pump also. New gaskets should be used when re-assembling the engine. The assembling of the accessories, when done right, includes cylinder head preparation by a good automotive machine shop. Quality machine work on the cylinder heads assures quality performance from those heads. Most engine re-builders from the automotive machine shops will tell you that re-building of cylinder heads is one of the most critical, if not the most critical operation that can be performed in the re-building of automotive engines. If these guidelines are followed, the overall performance of your completed engine rebuilds will be far superior.

If you follow college sports you have probably heard that the Big 12 is looking into expansion. At first they weren’t going to expand and everyone thought the expansion talk was dead. Then at the Big 12 media days Bob Bowlsby announced that he had been given approval to begin vetting two or four possible expansion candidates.

We all know that money and football are driving the decision for the conference to expand. With the current television contracts in place ESPN and Fox will have to pay approximately $25 million more for each school the Big 12 adds. Although this seems to be an issue with the television rights holders.

So will they add two or four teams? Who will those teams be? At this point no one knows, but the speculations is running wild and the list seems to grow everyday.

We know that football is going to big the biggest factor in deciding which teams get added, but we decided to look at it from softball’s perspective and see what each potential candidate brings to the table in terms of their softball program.

At this point almost every school that is not in a power 5 conference is a candidate. We limited to these seven as we see them as the most viable options.

BYU:

BYU is probably the team mentioned the most often when talking about Big 12 expansion. Currently an independent in football their other sports are in the West Coast Conference (WCC).

Coach: Gordan Eakin (14 years)

2016 Record: 36-21 (12-3 in WCC)

Conference Championships: 12 – Last one in 2016

The Cougars have been dominant over the last 10+ years in whichever conference they have been a member. They have won eight straight conference championships across four different conferences (WCC, Pacific Coast Softball, WAC, MWC). They have gone to the NCAA Regionals for 11 straight seasons, advancing to the Super Regional in 2010 versus Arizona. Add in the fact that BYU has the fourth largest on-campus NCAA softball facility and BYU would fit right in with the other Big 12 schools.

Houston:

Another team that gets mentioned often is Houston. Their location in Texas and the recent success of their football team has helped increase their profile.

Coach: Kristin Vesely (1st season)

2016 Record: 27-29 (9-9 in the AAC)

Conference Championships: 0

Although Houston has not won any conference championships they have been to the NCAA Regionals 7 times. With their last appearance in 2014. Twice they have advanced to the Super Regionals, losing to Oklahoma State in 2011. Houston plays their home games in 2,000 seat Cougar Softball Stadium. New coach Kristin Vesely takes over in 2017, but has been a part of the program for several years. Prior to Vesely the Cougars were coached by Kyla Holas who went 563-376-1 in 16 seasons. In 2016, Houston played 4 teams from the Big 12 and went 3-4 in those games. Given a little time and financial backing of a power 5 conference, Houston could build into an every year contender in the Big 12.

University of South Florida:

If the Big 12 is going to expand a lot of people think they want to get into the Florida market and have mentioned USF as one of those options. The Bulls, coached by Ken Erickson, play in a new stadium and have postseason history.

Coach: Ken Erickson (20 years)

2016 Record: 45-16 (15-3 AAC)

Conference Championships: 5

Coach Erickson has taken USF to the NCAA Regionals 12 times. Twice they have advanced to the Super Regionals and they have one Women’s College World Series appearance in 2012. In 2011 the Bulls opened USF Softball Stadium. The history and the facilities would compare well with the other Big 12 teams. With its location in Tampa the Bulls have access to plenty of talent to continue to compete.

University of Central Florida:

UCF is almost always mentioned along with USF, since they are only about one hour apart. Adding both schools would give the Big 12 a solid presence in the state of Florida. Not too mention it would make scheduling and traveling a little easier for both schools. UCF is the nation’s second largest university at 63,000 students.

Coach: Renee Luers-Gillispie (15th season)

2016 Record: 38-22 (12-4 in the AAC)

Conference Championships: 4

The Knights have been to the NCAA Regionals six times, including in 2015 where they were eliminated by the Florida Gators. In March of 2006 they opened UCF Softball Complex, at the time, one of the top facilities in the AAC. The program has come a long ways under coach Renee Luers-Gillispie who started the program in 2002. Competing every weekend in the Big 12 might be a challenge for a few years for the Knights. Over time and with a commitment to softball they could develop into a competitive team in the Big 12.

Memphis:

The Tigers have recently started to gain support as a candidate for Big 12 expansion mostly due to Fedex offering its support. The company has pledged millions in sponsorship dollars for the Big 12, but how that will affect the Big 12 decision remains to be seen. From a softball perspective the Tigers would struggle to reach the upper half of the conference.

Coach: Natalie Poole (6 seasons)

2016 Record: 26-31 (7-11 in AAC)

Conference Championships: 0

The Tigers have one NCAA Regional appearance in 2011. They have never won a conference tournament. However, they have only played softball since 2006. In that time they are 258-291 overall. Their current roster is littered with kids from around the southeast with a few from the west coast so the Memphis brand is spreading. The question becomes what is the university’s commitment to the sport? Given Big 12 dollars that commitment could grow.

Colorado State:

Colorado State has started to pick up some momentum as a potential addition to the Big 12 conference. Some of that has to do with location and the Denver area having a lot of Big 12 alumni. The Big 12 lost Colorado to the Pac-12 and could easily replace them with the Rams and gain the Denver television market back.

Coach: Jen Fisher (6 seasons)

2016 Record: 22-24 (8-12 in MWC)

Conference Championships: 4 – Last one in 2004

The Rams have been a middle-of-the-road MWC team since joining the conference in 2000. They have finished 1st just once, 2nd three times, and 3rd three times. They have finished 4th or worse 14 times in the nine team conference. It’s tough to be consistently good at softball in Colorado. If added to the Big 12 they would have a lot of the same challenges that Iowa State currently has in the conference. The Cyclones have finished last for five straight season, never winning more than four conference games.

Cincinnati:

The Bearcats have not been shy about reaching out to the Big 12 about wanting to join. Many people believe they have the support of Oklahoma President David Boren. The downside from a softball perspective is they do not currently offer the sport. Could they in the future? Maybe. Currently the Big 12 only has 7 of 10 teams that play softball. TCU, West Virginia, and Kansas State do not play softball either.

Regardless of who the Big 12 adds there will be an impact to the current softball programs. How big of impact remains to be seen based on how many and who they add. So like all of you, we sit back and wait.

You’ve bought an Elvis costume, Buddy Holly jacket or polka dot skirt & underskirt. You’re ready for your 50s themed party then, right?

Wrong!

You need the lingo, man! You’ll be the big tickle of all the beatniks if you turn up and you’re not armed with the vocabulary. So, pop on some thick-rimmed glasses or a polka dot skirt, go hang with the other cool cats, then swing your wheels over to coolsville and read this handy A-Z guide to 1950s slang. Only then will you be ready for the big bash.

Who knows, you might even get yourself some back seat bingo at the end of the night…

A gas – something that will be an incredible amount of fun. AKA “a blast”

I sure would like to take out that Cindy to the flicks, it’d be a gas.

Agitate the gravel – leave quickly.

We’d better get out of here, Brett. Come on man, agitate the gravel!

Are you writing a book? – back off, you’re asking too many questions.

What shall I bring to the party? Where is it? What time?

Jeez, Marlon, are you writing a book?

Baby – cutie, used for either sex.

Hey baby, you come here often?

*Slap*

Back seat bingo – the fine art of making out with a girl in a car.

Oh come on Sally, let’s play a spot of back seat bingo, eh?

Bad news – someone who’s generally a bad egg, perhaps due to rejection.

Did you get any back seat bingo with Sally last night?

No man, she’s bad news.

Bash – party, essential lingo for your 50s themed party!

Hey, you coming to my bash later? It’s gonna be a gas.

Maybe.

Beatnik – a follower of the Beat scene, those pre-hippie types who were fed up of war and worried about plunging into an atomic age.

The Beatniks were generally accepted as the precursor to the hippies of the 60s, with their “turn on and tune out” attitude and rejection of “boring” societal values.

Big Daddy – potential date’s father, or any older person who’s not in the Beat scene.

We were home by nine. She had to report back to Big Daddy.

Bread – money.

Coming to see the band later, Danny?

Nah man, I’m outta bread. Just gonna take Sally out in the car.

Bug – to annoy.

Why ain’t you got any bread, Danny?

Look, will you just forget it? You’re starting to bug me.

Cat, AKA Daddy’o – the Beatniks’ way of describing a fellow hipster.

The rest of you cats coming later?

Sure thing, Daddy’o

Cookin’ – doing something well.

Were the ‘Crazy Cats’ any good at last night’s gig?

Sure thing, they were cookin’!

Cool – we all know this one! Something that is fashionable.

The music of the 50s was far cooler than that 60s rubbish.

Copping a bit – making something up to delude a Beatnik.

She said she had to get home to Big Daddy, but I think she was just copping a bit.

Cruisin’ for a bruisin’ – looking for trouble.

Hey Danny, I heard Sally’s found a proper man.

You better watch what you’re saying man, you’re cruisin’ for a brusin’.

Dibs ­– to call dibs is to lay claim to something before anyone else.

If Sally is losing Danny, I call dibbs.

Yeah, good luck with that…

Dig it ­– understand

Just make sure Sally’s back by nine, young man.

Sure, I dig it.

Eyeballing a doll – giving a potential date a good look over.

Is Mike coming or what?

Nah, he’s still busy eyeballing that doll over at the park.

Get bent – a disparaging remark, meaning get lost, go away.

Danny, you sure Sally’s not eyeing up that guy over there?

Get bent!

Greaser – a person with tonnes of gel in their hair (later became a description for a whole group of people – think Fonzie, Grease.

Look at Mike, preening himself in that mirror. He’s such a greaser.

Go ape – explode with rage, be really mad.

I took Sally back at ten the other night. Her dad went ape.

Hang – as in “hang out” – not do much.

Wanna hang round mine later?

Sure, had no better offers.

Hit the sack – go to bed

Shall we watch another one?

I dunno man, it’s late and we’ve got school tomorrow. I’m gonna hit the sack.

Kicks – thrill gained by doing something fun or incredible.

Shall we go to the park tomorrow?

What for?

Just for kicks!

Knuckle sandwich – a fist in the face.

He was really yelling at me, I thought he was gonna serve me a knuckle sandwich!

Later, gator – goodbye, a shorted form of “see ya later, alligator”.

See you at the dance.

Yeah, later, gator.

No sweat – easy, no problem.

Can you give your sister a lift to the dance later, darling?

Sure mom, no sweat!

Square – similar to Big Daddy, someone who’s not cool, and definitely not a Beatnik.

Shall we invite Marlon?

No way, he’s a square.

The big tickle– a laugh at the expense of the victim.

Actually perhaps we should invite Marlon, he’d be a big tickle.

Turkey– a stupid or foolish person.

That’s a terrible idea, Mike. You really are a Turkey.

-ville – added to the end of words to create an imaginary place: coolsville, deadsville, squaresville, weirdsville.

Why would we go round Marlon’s afterwards? He lives in squaresville!

What’s buzzin’, cuzzin’? – what’s new?

Hey, what’s buzzin’, cuzzin’?

Well, Brad crashed his new wheels, and Marlon’s still a square.

Wheels – a car, the essential 50s accessory.

So, is Brad driving?

No, I told you he crashed his wheels!

Read more about 1950s fashion here! That’s got you started, now buy your cheap 1950s costume at the same site. We’ve added a load of new lines recently, including ladies 1950s beehive wigs, greaser wigs, poodle skirts and pink lady jackets.

Negotiations is simply agreeing on terms of a deal. So how do you out negotiate someone? You out negotiate someone by making some concessions but not enough concessions where you get the bad end of the deal. The biggest skill people lack in negotiations is not knowing when to walk away from a deal. People don’t have to take every deal in front of them. There are billions of deals consummated every day. There will be billions more. But people are egocentric and they think that when they walk away from one deal another one will never appear. That is a silly mode of thought which will leave you unsatisfied at everything you ever agree to if you don’t learn when to walk away.

The second part of negotiations is the product or project you are trying to accomplish. You have to know everything about what you are in negotiations for. If you don’t know everything about it, you better know more then what the person whom your negotiating with knows. The person with the most information on something always gets the better end of the deal. It’s just like school. The harder you study the better grade you get. The more you know about what you are negotiating for, the better points you can make about why the other party should take a certain course of action. The less you know, the more they can manipulate you into taking a certain course of action. The general premise is to know everything before you sit down to the bargaining table.

The final part of developing great negotiating skills is learning to package concessions. Give people concessions. Learn how to give meaning less concessions. The more you concede, the more people feel they have gotten their way. A person who makes concessions is more likely to close a deal. If you verbalize things you would have given up regardless if it was mentioned or not it makes the resolution resounding. If you learn how to package meaningless concessions, know your material, as well as your limits, you will never ever walk into a bad deal again.

You don’t always need a sophisticated program to remove the spyware on your computer. If you have a specific problem and some idea of what is going on, you can follow some of the processes below for totally free removal.

Add/Remove program is one good way to remove spyware. Some parasites can be easily and effectively removed from Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. Other parasites cannot be removed in this way. Some don’t appear in the list. Other times the program will appear on the Add/Remove Programs list, but the remove function won’t work, or will appear to work but only partially remove the spyware. So be aware of these limitations.

If you don’t know where Control Panel is, open My Computer, and Control Panel should be in there. Then open Add/Remove Programs. Any programs that show up in this list in Add/Remove Programs – such as the common trio of Wild Tangent, Weatherbug, and Viewpoint – should be removed. Do this by clicking on the spyware program, then clicking the Remove or the Change/Remove button that appears. Another very serious invader that may not be removed by spyware removal programs will show in Add/Remove Programs variously as MySearch, MyWay, MyWeb, MyWebSearch, etc. Get rid of them! So how do you tell which ones are spyware? Instructions follow:

Anything with the following words in their names is highly suspect for Spyware Add-Remove Program: Search, Web, My, Your, Bar, Toolbar, Browser, 180, Cash, Save, Rebate, Click, Shop, Spy, Ad, Adware, ScreenSaver, Chinese, or anything with a totally random string of letters (such as qsuvzeonfw). This is just a general rule. Be careful and don’t delete any program you actually want. For instance, if you have Java Web Start (a legitimate program), you probably shouldn’t delete it, and if you do, don’t be surprised when certain web pages using Java don’t work!

Weatherbug, Wild Tangent, Viewpoint Media Player, Stop-sign, CashBack by BargainBuddy, HotBar/Outlook Tools by Hotbar/Web Tools by Hotbar, GAIN, Gator, eAcceleration, Date Manager, Precision Time, New.Net, Kazaa, Grokster, Uninstall 180Search Assistant, Win-Tools Easy Installer, BonziBuddy, Alexa, MyWeb/MyWay/My[Whatever].

System Restore is another way to remove spyware. People, who have not yet installed the new Windows operating system Vista into their PC, are probably still using Windows XP version and are familiar with its System Restore characteristic. This System Restore is helpful when your PC starts functioning erratically and when your machine or workstation is attacked and infected by various viruses and trojans.

System Restore differs from a simple PC clean up. A clean up can be usually done on a PC at its present state, while system restore backs up the files in the process, as well as the viruses and other infections. When the machine gets infected, it is recommended to follow the steps below.

1. Access Windows as Administrator.

2. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.

3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.

4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the latest system checkpoint in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next. A message may appear that displays the configuration changes the System Restore will make. Click OK.

5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore Windows restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.

6. Access the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page appears. Click OK.

One thing is for sure. If you’re a Truck Insurance Agency, your policyholders are your bread & butter. The more you quote, the more you write. Finding leads is your Holy Grail, and the Internet is a field ready to harvest! Is the Internet something you’re comfortable with, or is it a dark and scary place full of unknowns? One thing you know for sure… There’s money to be made online! Leads to be found! Prospects to be cultivated! Want your piece of the pie? Who wouldn’t? But how? Finding your Truck Insurance Leads online is easier than you might expect.

Whether you’re a Net Whiz or a Net Newbie, harnessing the potential of the Internet to serve your Truck Insurance Agency is an incredible windfall. Imagine not having to spend your time and energy searching (or paying!) for leads? Why not let your potential insured find YOU on the Internet?

How it’s Done & Where to Start

• Build a Website. Chances are, you already have a website. If you don’t, take heart… it’s not that difficult to set one up. You can do it yourself and there are a lot of Helpful Hosts out there — names you’ve probably heard, like “Host Gator” or “Go Daddy.” The cost is minimal, especially when you compare it to paying someone to do all the work for you. Having someone do all the work may sound good, but why pay someone to have all the fun? Besides, who knows better how you want to be represented than… YOU? After a short learning curve, you’ll be proficient, your insured will be impressed, and she’ll brag about her Tech-Savvy Agent in all the truck stops from Maine to San Diego.
• Set Up a “Capture” Form. When a potential insured visits your site (probably a few months prior to his expiration date) a place should be available for him to enter his contact information. An “auto responder” embedded into your site will notify you that you’ve been contacted. You might want to include an “Info Page” for your Lead to fill out. Not too specific! Just general information, like 1) How many trucks are you running? 2) What commodities do you haul? 3) DOT Number (you can look your prospect up on http://www.safersys.org prior to contacting him.) Why not too specific? Because you need to ask your Client-to-Be these questions yourself! Long-term Agent/Insured relationships are exactly that — relationships! And they need to be initiated and cultivated by you!
• Drive Traffic to your Website. There are a multitude of companies who offer to drive traffic to your site and get you up in the Google rankings — for a price. Are they any good? Maybe. But you won’t know for certain until after you’ve made the investment, which can be substantial. Is that where you want to spend your hard-earned commission dollars? Learning to drive customers to your website YOURSELF is quite do-able. Terms like “Keyword Research,” “Search Engine Optimization (SEO),” “Embed Codes,” may be intimidating to a Newbie — like a foreign language. Remember when “Bobtail/Non-trucking,” “Deadheading,” and “LTL, OTR, & SSR” made you glaze over? But to be a Truck Insurance Specialist in the first place, you’re not unintelligent! A little time invested now will have incomparable rewards (ka-ching!) later.

Marketing on the Internet is here! Do you know a trucker who doesn’t leave home without her laptop in the cab, or a trucking company who doesn’t depend on at least one computer? As they do their searches for “Truck Insurance Quotes,” you have a vested interest in seeing that your agency pops up on page 1. Therefore, you have a vested interest in learning how to make that happen!