I, like many, was pleasantly surprised and learnt a great deal; while the result most certainly was a strong sense of guilt regarding my personal carbon emissions—as was quite rightly the main intention of the book—my outlook on Global warming was much improved.

Anyone who has seen Watson’s enlightening and often hilarious stand-up routines will appreciate the easy-going style of writing in this book, which finds a happy medium between being both educational—with enough facts and figures to satisfy anyone looking to lower their own emissions and increase their recycling know-how—and consistently entertaining. There are laughs on every page, as Watson passes judgment on everything from Government to health and composting and the minutiae in between.

Over the course of one huge learning curve of a year, Watson goes on a valiant mission to reduce his carbon-footprint in any way he knows how. Not content with the already mammoth job of cutting down his own emissions to the bare minimum—which involves taking enormous train journeys as opposed to the easy option of a simple flight—he sets a full-throttle initiative under-way, and before long has people following by the hundred strong.

The book is a winner and deserves its place in the beat-global-warming hall-of-fame. With his refreshingly honest take on his own failures, the book manages to be both believable and very often shocking, too.

Just before I go, I was talking to my brother who works in the business world and he reckons that there is massive return in buying stocks for boiler juice. He is one of those individuals who is of the stance that America is trying to take over the world by taking over the Middle East. I must say I am getting pretty tired of the fact that everyone seems to have the same argument on this, we should all just shut up and be nicer to the planet…

We really are living through scary times in Britain.

The threat of a terror attack is very real and is never far from our minds. But in periods where the country’s security level is racked up a notch it is even more of a worry. Obviously, the authorities are not going to tell us why it has been raised, but there must be a very good reason for it.

I wonder if we will ever get back to a point where we no longer have to worry about terrorism. It was bad enough in the seventies and eighties with regular attacks by the IRA, but this is something else altogether. No-one is safe, no matter where they live; whatever city in whichever country. What a horrible situation to be in.

Britain has been relatively lucky up to now. The worst that we have experienced was the July 2005 bombings in London. Whilst that was terrible, it was still nothing like the atrocity of the Twin Towers in New York. I just hope that we do not have something much larger planned for us.

It makes you wonder just how much our intelligence service does know. Have they done a brilliant job up until now? Or have we only escaped from several large attacks by chance alone? Logic would suggest that the British authorities cannot be aware of every single terror plot. To know of each planned attack they would need ten times the manpower and the ability to read people’s minds. British intelligence may have brilliant skills and the all the latest technology, but they are still only human beings.

Let’s just hope that this latest step-up in security does not precede an attack. And let us hope that we all get to see a safer and happier future.

As you all know, I periodically look into online offers as a matter of interest and I have just found a organisation that does online hr management software. I am actually considering applying for a position with this company, it looks great!

One of the challenges facing many business owners who want to have a website developed for them or to change their existing website is the costs associated with web development. One solution is to use readymade website templates for your home page. Here are some reasons why you should use them.

The main benefit to be had from using website templates is the saving you will have on cost. This kind of template is up to 80% cheaper that having the site build from scratch. Currently there are hundreds of thousands of these templates that you can use and most can be had with your particular niche in mind. Your biggest challenge will be to decide on which one fits your site idea.

Another key benefit is that you will be able to create a website faster by using a template. So your website can be in full operation quicker and leave you with funds to use in your business.

When a website template is used you will be able to get an initial visual idea of what your completed website will look like. This will save you from having to do many design alterations prior to seeing the end product. You will be able to try many templates until you find one that is suitable for you.

To effectively use these templates to create your website, you are advised to use a website development software tool designed for that purpose. There are a lot of websites developed by hand using templates and even though costs will be reduced in its development, some programming know how will be necessary to put out the end product. A website building software tool that is all in one will allow you to modify the template somewhat and make it what you need. You will also be able to keep control of the sites content.

Finally, it is time for my astonishing link of the month. I have just chanced upon upon this article called Enigin, not only is this company great at what they do, but I am really digging this article as well. Everyone must check them out!

If you have a look at the ‘Pick Me Apart’ blog you will find a couple of really good posts about writing, and how to make money from it.

The first one is called, ‘How to make a Full Time Income with Blogging’. As for what it is about, the title is a bit of a give away… If you fancy becoming a serious blogger then you will find this very interesting.

There is also another post that tells you the best way of going about earning an income with article writing. Anyone who has given this any thought should have a read.

Very useful stuff.

You know, I never really thought that I would get addicted to something like Instant Messaging, but I can’t help myself, it’s too darn fun. It’s this little free program that you download from Yahoo, AOL or MSN. Then once downloaded you can invite friends and once accepted you can begin to chat online with them.

The first time I did it, I spent hours on the computer to typing away and having a good laugh with an old buddy of mine. Then I began to get some ideas. I decided that Instant Messaging would be a perfect little tool to use in my business. I began to use IM to communicate with my team members and new prospects. It totally beats having to be strapped to a phone all day and it’s easy to multi-task with it. You have got to try it if you haven’t already. It’s a great way to begin a conversation with someone who is online instantly.

Many Internet marketers out there turn to SEO to gain traffic and market their products and services. SEO (search engine optimization) is a very effective way to do this and if done right can get you bucket loads of targeted visitors to your websites. However, there are those who think they can take a short cut and get into what is called black hat SEO. Such techniques might get you on the first page of Google within a day or two, but rest assured you will not stay there very long. Black hat SEO will also get you banned from Google and other search engines all together. You risk losing your domain name as well. The best way to utilize SEO is through white hat techniques which might take some time and effort, but the results are so much better.

Choosing a skin care product for myself is a little bit of a process. Even though I tend to be a simple person, I do like a variety of things. When it comes to shampoos, conditioners and body creams, I go crazy over the fruity scents and organic moisturizer ingredients. I mean, come on, why do they have to make so many different types of beauty products for a woman to go nuts over.

Let’s take shampoo and conditioner for an example. There are so many different scents, ingredients, moisturizers, vitamins, etc., to choose from. I have very long, thick and dry hair, so I tend to look for shampoos and conditioners with Vitamin E and other moisturizing properties. Usually when I select a shampoo and conditioner, it is in some sort of berry scent.

When it comes to body lotions and creams, although I like the fruity scents, I am more into the Lavender, Green Tea, Jasmine, Patchouli and other lighter scents. I’m big on essential oils, so any skin care product that contains essential oils, I will snatch it up in a heartbeat. They are usually not that expensive either which helps on my pocket book. Also, they offer many different brands so it makes the shopping experience that much easier.

Other beauty products I love to indulge in are bath products such as bubble bath, fizzy balls and scented soap bars. I actually use to make my own scented beauty bars at one point in my life. It really isn’t hard to do either. However, going out to a store and searching through the many different varieties and scents they have is always fun for me.

Once I have showered and put on my scented skin care product, I will then curl up on the couch, light a scented candle or incense and read a good book. Life is so full of simple little scented pleasures. You just got to love being a woman (not to say that men cannot like scented little luxuries either).

When bathing my children, they also get to indulge in these little bath treats, although, I usually do my best to find that are children friendly and do not sting the eyes. However, I just love the scent of lavender and they make baby products with the scent of lavender. Nothing beats wrapping your arms around your little one and filling your senses up with the relaxing scent of their lavender touched curls. It is such a pleasure.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a lady, but don’t really want to pay out for a boob job? Well now there is a solution in the world of the internet. You can now have all the benefits of being a lady without the expensive surgery.

Did you know 83% of all the women* on the interent were born as men. Yes billions of people who were disatitfied with their gender have made the switch for little less than the cost of a PC and a internet connection. These people carry on useful productive lives in forums, chat rooms, dating sites and online games. They don’t have the costly cosmetic surgery usually required and they have no scars or odd manly features; hands that are just too hairy to be a woman’s. They look just like they were born that way.

It’s not just gender changes that are available either, now on the world wide web you can have a your age altered; not in the manner where you would have botox to look a little younger, no, you can actually become a different age… even back to childhood. Your example Charlie Fester had lived his life as a corner shop assitant, never really feeling he was living up to his full potential. However, recently he made a new life for himself online as Sally a 12 year girl into ponies and the OC. He has made a completely new group of friends who he talks with and shares all of his most intimate secrets. He has never been happier and next month when he is released from prison, he is planning on meeting them all in real life. This really has been a heart warming tale of how someone can completely turn their life around using the power of the internet.

* Stat completely made up

I find myself more and more doing things online, and that isn’t just because I find it more convenient, it is because I don’t have time to go to the shops. I’m not talking about things that are cheaper and just as good through the internet, such as buying your car or horse insurance, I’m not talking about using internet banking to save a trip into the branch. I’m talking about not having time to go to the supermarket in order to buy food, so instead shopping at Tesco online and having things delivered. I’m talking about needing a new shirt, so just getting one online from the marks and spensers website, again to arrive through the post without me ever having tried it on. It’s even got to the stage where at work, we needed some banner stands done for a presentation we are giving next week, and we are just emailing across the completed image files to the company, who are delivering it directly to the venue the morning of the presentation because we don’t have time to look at print samples first.

It is a cliché that we are all part of a ‘time starved generation’ at the moment. I’ve always just ignored it, but I’m starting to think it’s true. Perhaps we need to reassess how we live and what we do with our time, because once it is gone, it doesn’t come back.