My 2¢ Worth

hristmas arrives in two days, in this part of the world anyway. You may be surprised to learn that it was only in the fourth century, that the Christian churches decided to celebrate the birth of Jesus and observe the same as a holiday. While Christianity was still in its infancy, Easter used to be the main holiday for the Christian community in most parts of the world.

ddly enough, the bible has no mention of the actual birth date of Jesus Christ. According to some evidences in the bible, Jesus is supposed to have been born in spring, though this fact remains dogged with controversies. According to the historical records available, Christmas was first celebrated on January 6 according to the old Julian calendar. The day was also observed as an official Roman holiday starting from A.D. 534. The celebration of the day was switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1743. This resulted in a change of date for Christmas celebrations, which fell on December 25.

here are many other holidays celebrated at this time of year. Some of these include the Chinese New Year, Hanukkah, Islamic Ramadan and Kwanzaa, an African American holiday celebrated from December 26 to January 1.

 wish all of you a happy holiday season whether you celebrate some, all or none of these.

s for me — I just celebrate life. Any day I wake up and I'm not 6 foot under is cause for celebration!

Feature Article

Reality Check!

by: Ken Darby The Pebble

The grizzled old sea captain was quizzing a young, tyro naval student. "What steps would you take if a sudden storm came up on the starboard?"

"I'd throw out an anchor, sir."

"What would you do if another storm sprang up aft?"

"I'd throw out another anchor, sir."

"But what if a third storm sprang up forward?"

"I'd throw out another anchor, captain."

"Just a minute, son. Where in the world are you getting all these anchors?"

"From the same place you're getting all your storms, sir."

Such is life. Every once in a while we need to get our feet back on solid ground.

I can't think of a better time to do that than right now.

We should have a real look at what we accomplished last year, relative to our goals. I know I started out with big plans and did not achieve them. Yet in a strange way I did achieve them.

The reality check says I do not have the money in my pocket that I planned on. However, it also says that through the course of the year I learned a lot, gained confidence and if I should keep on my same path my objective will indeed appear.

I realize things change from time to time, day to day. I realized that the thoughts and ideas I began with have been changed, amended, clarified. I realize those changes have only made me better equipped to accomplish my objective.

The reality is that last year I was not yet ready to achieve what I thought. This year, I am. Interesting isn't it.

I could have quit a dozen times last year, what with no results here and no results there. I became so frustrated at times that the easiest thing in the world would have been to quit.

Yet reality says nothing — NOTHING — is in vain if you keep on keepin' on.

In other words if you continually see yourself, in your minds eye, as a successful individual, having certain material goods around you; if that image never wavers, if you are constant with that image — it will come to pass.

Yes, you will have failures along the way, many of them. At least I hope you do for if you do not then you aren't doing anything. The failures not only show you the way not to go, they have a way of showing you what to do next.

In truth, I wish upon you hundreds of failures. The more the merrier. For when you fail often you are on the fast track to getting your objective.

The failures build your confidence, your determination, your resolve. Or so it should. Just remember quitting is easy. Anyone can quit. It takes a person of firm resolve to carry on where all the signs are against you. That is why there are so few millionaires, compared to non-millionaires.

Reality says keep on keepin' on. Stay true to your objective. Fear not failure. Look at it as a friend for it brings you one step closer to your goal.

Reality Check!

**************

Ken Darby writes articles, books and other material helping people achieve their goals. We pay for your dream home.
For an amazing income opportunity take a look at www.thenewsshop.com/oursalespeople.htmlYou might want to see if an internet business is for you. For a series of short emails that shows you, sign up for the Pebble at www.the-pebble.com

Nowrap for Tables

Are your tables wrapping text and making some cells taller that others as a result? There's a very simple solution to this problem, an attribute of the <td> tag within your table. It's called nowrap and has no other value than itself. Here's how it works:

<td nowrap>

What this does is preclude text from wrapping inside the cell, but it will have the effect of stretching your tables horizontally. But if you want nice clean tables that don't have cell height variations, it's an effective method of ensuring all text stays on one line.

* Get these syndicated tip feeds for yourweb site, free. *

Second Article

When "Freebies" Aren't Free

by: j l Scott, Phd iCop

It seems that "benefits" are not enough to sell your product or service. "They" tell us that you must give away "freebies." Instant gratification and all that.

Now rather than get on a roll about what I think about instant gratification - and the babies who demand it - let's just assume that freebies are a necessary evil. Let's think about how to use them ethically.

I've written about jacking up the supposed worth of freebies before so I won't be redundant here. Now, let's talk about whether your freebies are really even free.

First we have something called "shareware." I don't know where this name originated. It seems to mean something that you get to use a portion of until you pay for the full version. Or, they share it with you for a limited amount of time - unless you pay for it. This is NOT free!

Then we have those freebies that I call, "hooks." You are offered something for nothing. But when you start to download or access it - you suddenly find the condition. For instance, you must subscribe to an ezine before you can actually have the freebie. You are paying a price, whether it's money or not. THIS is not free!

In fact, it isn't even honest.

Many ezines give away eBooks for new subscriptions. Subscribe to the ezine and receive the eBook. Straightforward and honest. The condition for receiving the eBook is right up front.

But when someone offers the "freebie" first, without mention of any condition - THEN demands the subscription before delivering - that's manipulative and dishonest. It's also insulting the intelligence of the visitor.

Please examine your "freebies" - and how they are "given" away. The very basis of professionalism is honesty, ethics and integrity. Don't play cute and think you're fooling your visitors. The word on underhanded methods will spread like wildfire.

**************

dr. jl scott is the Founder of the International Council of Online Professionals (iCop™) - and also the publisher of the Internet Marketing Trade Journal™ - the ezine that keeps you up to date on Internet marketing coming of age. Click Here for your subscription.

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