The Biggest Ugly Dog

The biggest, ugliest dog ever seen at Westminster made its debut in 2005 and instantly made a hit with the crowd. His large lumbering feet seemed to be twice the size of what any feet on any dog ought to be….and the pendulous flopping jowls and undulating flaps of skin which wobbled and waved beneath his chin as he moved were a sight to behold. Huge streams of slobber dripped from his jowls as he stood before the Judge. The world had just been introduced to the Neopolitan Mastiff (Mastino Neopolitano)

The Neopolitan is a Mastiff that is said to be one of the most ancient of breeds, a real relic that goes back to the Roman Empire in its heyday. This is an immensely bulky dog giving the impression of great power and strength. His body is covered with loose skin which hangs in wrinkles and folds, especially on the brisket, chest and head. The head on the dog is huge, the skull is two thirds as deep as the muzzle and the muzzle is broad with widely flaring “open” nostrils and deep jowls. The ears are small and nearly always cropped and the tail is tapered and short. The Neopolitan in movement seems to be even more massive and lumbering, appearing much like a slowly moving and thoughtful bear as it gaits. The legs appear short even though the dog is relatively tall, at 26-28 inches, because of the depth of his massive chest, which extends to well below the elbow.

In the history of the breed, it is believed that he was one of the fighting dogs that were used in the Gladiator battles of wild animals fought for the entertainment of the Roman crowds. The wrinkles around the neck served to protect the chest and throat from the bites of predatory animals and the dog’s massive and punishing jaws were brutal weapons. In the middle ages , after the downfall of the Roman Empire, nearly all of the Mastiff breeds were again used in another type of battle, in the pits, fighting against other dogs for sport and wagering. Throughout Europe and Great Britain, dog fights were a huge entertainment and were quite popular. Gradually the terrier and “pitbull” breeds replaced the larger Mastiff breeds in this sport and the Mastiff became more useful as a family and property guarding dog. Actually, the Neopolitan Mastiff, (and nearly all the Mastiff breeds) do not possess the temperament to START a fight, however they of course make a strong and fearsome foe when they are inclined of necessity to protect themselves.

Because they are not naturally inclined to be aggressive, they are loyal and affectionate companion dogs, being good house dogs, except for their innate messiness in terms of slobber and drool. The Neopolitan Mastiff of the modern world has a large number of fans. He is a dog whose ugliness is almost endearing. The old saying “he has a face only a mother could love” is definitely true of this breed.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Dogs

Michael Russell - EzineArticles Expert Author

Using CRM to Improve Your Marketing ROI

“Marketing ROI” is a trendy catch-phrase these days, but what does it really mean? While many top managers we speak to think their marketing programs are generating positive results, in reality, most of them don’t really know.

Since Marketing’s top priority is to generate qualified leads for Sales, management’s focus should be on measuring the quantity and quality of leads which Marketing is driving into the sales pipeline, and which Sales is converting into revenue. The best place to capture and analyze this information is in your CRM (customer relationship management) system.

Yet getting this information from most CRMs is difficult, because sales orders typically bypass the CRM altogether and are entered into a separate Order Entry system. Too often, it is difficult to track sales orders back to the marketing program that originally generated the sales lead.

If you are serious about tracking the return on investment from your marketing efforts, here are some simple but critical steps you should follow to capture the right data, at the right time in the sales process:

Make sure your sales people are accurately tracking each actual sale in your CRM system, by converting opportunities into closed orders, with accurate order values.
In addition to normal CRM entries, make sure your CRM has standard fields to capture the following data:

Lead Source

Campaign

Market Segment

Sales Region

Win/Loss

Reason for Win/Loss

Competitor

Train and require all marketing and sales personnel to fill in each of these fields in the CRM consistently, as leads are generated throughout the sales process. Many companies program rules into their CRM workflow which makes these fields required.
Take steps to collect, analyze and measure the results of each campaign, as soon as the campaign has been completed. This will allow you to capture the information while it is still fresh, and instill discipline and accountability in your organization to regularly report results.
Proactively track and compile statistics for management which highlight Marketing’s contribution to Sales’ success. At a minimum, management should be receiving quarterly reports with the following marketing data, sorted by campaign, lead source and sales region:

Total leads generated

Leads passed to Sales

Orders from leads (number, dollar value)

Close ratio

Total campaign investment

Sales divided by campaign investment (ROI)

By creating and following these simple processes, you can be among the few companies out there that are actually measuring their Marketing ROI efficiently. The benefits from such discipline are numerous, including:

Continuous campaign improvement

Better marketing budget justification

Improved recognition of Marketing’s role in driving sales growth

Better collaboration between Marketing & Sales

Increased revenue and profit!

Cube Management provides sales acceleration services to emerging growth and mid-market companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. The experts at Cube Management work across the entire spectrum of marketing, sales and business development to provide customized solutions that drive revenue and profit growth. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process & People to produce winning results.

Be Taught about the Momentous Royal Family

Public Business & Image

Individuals of the British Royal Family play a part in many tens of hundreds of royal functions every month, all over the UK, as formally recorded in the Court Circular, to admire, encourage and discover the achievements or performances of people societies and businesses in an array of parts of life. As representatives of the sovereign, they regularly connect with the British Nation in celebrating recorded occasions, vacations, celebratory & sad episodes and generally she also sponsors or partakes in many generous, cultural and public activities.

Their tours overseas on behalf of the United Kingdom (also referred to as State Visits when the sovereign legitimately visits other government officials) attracts public attention to good-natured affairs within & between the Commonwealth and other nations, to British cargo and trade, & to Britain as a historical, vacation, and visitor destination. Their current tasks and usual; positions adds up to the height of a current “royal court,” & supply a completely British & historical vision to ceremonies (e.g. Trooping the Colour) & flavour to public demonstrations (For example, Garden Parties, Royal Ascot).

Right the way through their lives they draw immense public attention in the form of photographic, printed and TV commentary on their activities, family contact, rites of passage, personalities, garments, manners, and public roles.

Royal Payment

Money that aid the British Queen in the process of her responsibilities as the head of state of the U.K. comes from the Civil List. This is a return of a miniature piece of the earnings from the Crown Lands that are supplied by the head of state to parliament at the induction of each and every reign; all Crown Land being overseen by The Crown Estates, an institution that is completely answerable to parliament. In the 2003-04 monetary year, the sum surrendered was one-hundred and seventy six million pounds, where the Queen’s overheads was only ?36 million. The Queen’s expenses doesn’t however contain the expenditure of guards. For details about the Royal Family History, visit the Enjoy England website.

Compare the BlackBerry 8800

BlackBerry really put their backs into the design of the BlackBerry 8800 producing a real design classic. With the 8800 BlackBerry have produced a handset which is functional, if a little basic for a entry level handset. BlackBerry have done a outstanding job on the overall design of this phone.

The BlackBerry 8800 is compact and convenient. The 8800 is 134 g, in weight. If colour is important to you you may like to know that the 8800 only comes in Silver. This mobile handset is bluetooth enabled which means it is compatible with the vast majority of devices. The screen is a 65K colors. The available ring-tones enabled on the 8800 are Polyphonic, MP3 including a vibration alert. Moving on to the all important battery cell duration the BlackBerry 8800 has 5:00 talk time and 530 hrs reserve charge. The battery cell that comes with the 8800 is a Li-Ion. The 8800 has support for 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 . A WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML compatible browser is also included allowing mobile Internet access. Additionally the 8800 has, Built-in GPS navigation with BlackBerry maps, Document viewer (Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect and Adobe PDF), Media player, Java, Organizer, Built-in handsfree, To-Do list and Voice dial.

Unfortunately for BlackBerry the 8800 faces is very stiff competition from other products meaning it is relatively easy to get a fantastic deal on this mobile handset. The most popular place to buy a mobile phone at the current time is on the Internet. Ordering online can deliver some significant cost savings, it is even possible to get a mobile with free line rental on the BlackBerry 8800 , which may not cost you a penny.

Essentials of On Line Sports Results Bets

Link together two of everybody’s topmost pursuits and what you’ll unearth is a craze that’s termed a sportsbook. Well: what could be more resourceful. Fancy a troop of fellas cheering their favorite local lineup, and all the time bets will be placed in addition to the tumult. Set to get their share of the delights, on-lookers regularly seek to divine who will make it in the approaching game. Put together, this all is set to turn into a warmhearted game known as sportsbook. NCAA Basketball Betting

Conceded that it is bound to appear to be addicting, instead sportsbook betting is, in reality, merely an amusing entertainment and to team up with fellow sports addicts. You’ll be able to bet a a piddling budget of dough and nevertheless have a ultra cool time. Also, read on for a number of facts to help you get started sportsbook betting.

If you want to wager, you should look up a sportsbook, i.e. a place which proffers sportsbook. In the U.S., there’s currently four states to do sportsbook betting lawfully, but if you don’t care for legality, you can try it anywhere providing you can find a bookie *and* happen to be legally of age. Covered sports events you can choose to risk money on are pro plus, in addition, college football + basketball, professional baseball, professional hockey, plus, in addition, bets on both horse and dog racing. Clients will be able to wager on the complete tally of a game, at which point an opponent will be knocked out, and even whether a given tossed coin in a game lands heads or tails.

The sportsbook company place their trust mere numbers make it easier for you come to a conclusion which lineup you feel will make it. There’s the spread, meaning leverage in points given to a a inferior contestant that is presumed to fail by a set number points. Of Course, this describes the bookmaker’s approach of enabling antes for a sports book. To take a practical example, we can choose to bet on a club that is presumed to fail and and nevertheless profit from the wager providing the contestant loses by a set number of points.

It stands to reason that there are many different breeds of antes, the straight bets being the best known in sportsbook betting. Why not conduct some test runs, and enjoy the fun while you’re at it. Just remember to ensure that you won’t get gripped and use up your total retirement pension on a conceit. For you will certainly be caught in rue for life.

Sexual Abuse RecoveryUnique Approach

Have you been in therapy for three or more years for sexual abuse recovery and still have many of the same issues plaguing you? If so, you might want to consider a different approach to the healing process.

Sexual Abuse, rape and incest recovery is much easier with Hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is highly effective to heal the negative effects of sexual abuse, rape and incest.

Using a seven-phase program in conjunction with hypnotherapy to heal the emotional wounds by moving through the pain toward freedom and triumph over trauma, you will discover you can live the life you deserve. In this seven-phase program you and Dr. Neddermeyer become partners on your path to healing and creating healthy sexuality and the complete celebration of the joy of living pain free.

Healing from Sexual AbuseIs the time right for you to finally heal sexual abuse in your life and create the life you deserve? Of course it is time! And now that you have made that decision, the rest is easier than you think - especially with the power and effectiveness of Hypnotherapy. The time is certainly right for you to heal from sexual abuse, rape, incest, or in fact any other form of mental or physical abuse. The light at the end of the tunnel is a reflection of who you really areyou are NOT the abuse! You are YOUa unique and wondrous person. You will learn how to alter your thoughts, words and actions and triumphantly begin living a life of freedom from sexual, emotional or physical abuse.

Sexual Abuse - Victim or Survivor? You are not a victimyour abuser didn’t destroy youyou are only woundedNOT dead. You are a Survivoralbeitin a lot of emotional pain. Through the healing process you can transition from being a Survivor to being a Thriver.

You can be the master of your own life! The only control your abuser now has over you is a carry-over from what your perpetrator forced upon you in the past. You can stop that control. Now by your own choice you are your own master!

Sexual abuse affects your life until you complete a healing process specifically for sexual abuse recovery. Although anyone can have the following issues, they are especially prevalent among survivors of sexual and physical abuse. Sexual Abuse After Effects include, but are not limited to:

•	Anxiety. Do you often worry, unable to sit still or constantly on the go?
 •              Panic Attack--heart palpitations, shortness of breath
 •              Relationship Problems. Are your relationships with family, friends, and significant others    full of stress, inability to truly communicate?
 •	Nightmares/flashbacks
 •	Insomnia. Trouble relaxing and sleeping.
 •	Addictions. Do you attempt to fill the void with food, drugs, alcohol, work, or sex?
 •	Extreme Emotions. Do your emotions often seem out of control?
 •	Depression. Do you feel that life will never be better and that as long as you are alive you will be in pain?
 •	Hyper-vigilant. Do you feel like you must be constantly on guard?
 •           Inability to trust or trusting indiscriminately.
 •	Physical Issues. Are you plagued by--headaches/migraines, stomach problems, MS, PMS, TMJ, Cancer, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Restless Leg Syndrome, Lupus, Lower Back Pain?
 •	Angry Outbursts/Road Rage. Does your anger interfere with your life?
 •           Shame/Guilt/Humiliation.  Do you believe you are at faultIf you had only....thus you experience the ensuing shame, guilt and humiliation?

In an effort to prevent child sexual abuse, Dr. Neddermeyer also treats abusers. Child molesters, pedophiles and sex offenders have responded successfully to therapeutic hypnosis. A pioneer in this field, she is dedicated to bringing this treatment program into the mainstream. Dr. Neddermeyer recently presented this unique recovery process to professionals in New Dehli, India at the 2nd World Regression Congress. She presented the program in the Netherlands in 2003 at the 1st World Regression Congress.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, author, “If I’d Only Known…Sexual Abuse in or Out of the Family: A Guide to Prevention, specializes in: Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life’s challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD - EzineArticles Expert Author

The Property Index — the Incredible Trans National Real Property Information Center

The Property Index site has a vast range of property for sale in France, view the range online.

Regardless the fact that Property Index is only a rather young house, they were founded only in March of 2007, they were very fast to establish expert status. In actuality they are a quite down to earth house devoted to counseling everyone who is looking to let, sell, rent, etc. real estate assets in a globalized world. They pledge to lend you a hand to locate just what’s required very swiftly plus, even better, straightforwardly. Real estate is available in most areas of the world these days, arguably the coolest area being real estate available in France. It should be straightforward to write up the terrific real estate you can purchase in France, the motive for picking real estate here is a combination of the houses and apartments you can purchase and the fun opportunity of being able to live amid this high-spirited and strenuous populace.

It is one of the most fashionable property markets these days, and considering the lovely landscape and great sunshine surrounding you, how can you go wrong! Real estate in France is steeped in history, art and culture, this country has been and still is home to quite a few sophisticated nations. Around 25-30 years back you’d find merely a trickle of UK citizens who are looking for real estate in France. Ask just about anyone who has moved to France and they’ll back it up. Most people would insist on labeling it a momentary craze and others insist on labeling it a as something approaching a compulsion. People set on relocating over here may extend from yuppies who are looking for a new life perspective to senior citizens looking to enjoy themselves and put their feet up.

Note that you may have to wrestle with a few unmanageables when looking to acquire real estate overseas: as can be expected, there are hundreds of varied, sometimes conflicting, procedures be it when budgeting, popping in or purchasing. Even if one single procedure is missed it may easily generate insurmountable unmanageables not to forget, more importantly, money loss. Obviously and expectably with this fashionable location, real estate might be high-cost in this destination and that is simply a consequence of the top market pressure. Despite this clients certainly are spoilt in terms of choice in such a location so rich in fair terrain. It offers the whole thing a patron could ever yearn for and plenty more.

Hurricanes and Hair Loss

For those individuals who are worried about hair loss at least during the 2006 Atlantic tropical hurricane season with the wind blowing fiercely you will not have to worry about having a bad hair day because you don’t have any. Isn’t it nice to know that there are benefits to being bald and not having very much hair?

Imagine if you will being trapped in a violent hurricane storm and you are a newscaster and your hat blows away? All of a sudden the whole world is looking at your messed up hair, but if you are bald you look the same issue always do and no one would ever know the difference. Hair loss does have benefits and one of the benefits will be during the hurricane season.

If you watched Fox News during the 2005 Atlantic tropical hurricane season you would have seen many of your famous newscasters and reporters out getting literally blown away by hurricane and gale force winds. Had those reporters been bald like a couple of the guys on the weather Channel they would’ve been looking fine, but instead their hair do was blowing all over the place and they looked rather silly and somewhat stupid.

So during the 2006 Atlantic tropical hurricane season you may want to get your hair completely shaved off and go with the new hurricane hair do, which is the bald look. Consider all this 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Lance Winslow - EzineArticles Expert Author

Targeted Pop Advertising Drives Traffic, Increases Sales

In order to generate online sales, your business must increase Web traffic and - more importantly - drive targeted visitors to your site. A highly successful method of doing so is targeted pop advertising, also referred to as targeted pop under ads.

With the right Internet marketing and advertising company as your partner, targeted pop advertising is a very cost effective method that allows you to increase Web traffic and send targeted visitors to your website. In essence, this form of marketing allows thousands of people to actually see and visit your website at the same time they are looking for your type of products and services. This is because the visitors have been targeted according to the topic or topics that you select. For example, if you are promoting a home business opportunity, Internet users looking for home business opportunities will see your pop under ads. Likewise, if you have a shopping site, or are promoting medical or legal services, visitors who are specifically interested in those areas will be exposed to your pop under ad.

In order to get the most bang from your marketing buck, choose an Internet marketing and advertising company that:

1. Has established affiliate relationships with popular high-traffic websites. The owners of these sites will have coded their Web pages so that a full-page pop under ad window will open when someone visits their site. This relationship will ensure that your website is displayed to thousands of potential customers or clients.

2. Has time delay technology that ensure that you will not be charged for your pop under ad until it has been on display for at least 20 seconds. Some disreputable companies will count ads that have already been closed by the user before being fully loaded or read, thereby decreasing your return on investment.

3. Has technology that overrides or gets around pop up ad blockers.

4. Offers advertising packages that only count unique visitors in a 24-hour period toward your allotted pop under ad block.

5. Carefully places pop under advertising so as not to overload website and annoy visitors; rather the pop under ads will have maximum appeal.

6. Offers a good value, by guaranteeing a certain number of pop under ads for a low price. You should look for a company that offers pop under ads for less than two cents apiece.

7. Provides you with a unique Web address to view the actual Web visitors who respond to your pop under ads and track your progress.

Research has demonstrated that pop under ads are often more effective than email campaigns. This targeted pop advertising approach works because only those visitors who are interested in your particular category are exposed to your pop under ads.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
Learn more about Targeted Pop Advertising or Majon’s Computer Software directory

Braided Rugs

Braided rugs, hooked rugs and loom woven rugs are the three traditional types of rugs. They were hugely used in the past. Braided rugs have been made ever since man learnt how to make them- and that was really a long time ago!

Braided rugs are an important part of every culture’s craftsmanship. However, their popularity is fading slowly but steadily. Nowadays, only the 3-strand standard braid is still used in the making of braided rugs. There are also some designers and style houses that are trying to revive the craft by creating braided rugs with different shapes, sizes, colors, and design patterns. Boutique rug makers have turned the commonplace braided rugs into fashionable accessories. Whimsical designs and unique shapes are improving the image of these traditional floor coverings.

Unlike woven and hooked rugs, which can be found in all parts of the world, braided rugs are specific products of America. The tradition was founded in New England, which was the birthplace of American textile industry. One of the reasons for this was that fabrics could be easily bought there, so people started making the best of it. Usually young women and girls used to make braided rugs. They learned braiding so and so, as they had to make their decent hairstyles. Braiding required no equipment and could be done at meager lighting, so female rug makers used to chill out in the long evenings, braiding just for pleasure. As there was no electricity and no television or any kind of entertainment in the evenings, their pastime was really huge. A lot of braiding was required to fill up the boring hours. Braided rugs provided New Englanders with comfortable feel and warmth in the atmosphere of their rigid houses. In mid 1900s there was an increase of interest in rug making. As braided rugs and hooked rugs were made from similar fabrics, a mixture between the two types occurred- many people finished their hooked rugs with a sturdy braided edges.

Braided rugs from New England were made in a totally practical way. They served certain purposes, so they were made to do it in the best possible way. They were sturdy, warm, comfortable to walk on and easy-to-clean. They were so tightly braided and laced together, that maintenance required only mere sweeping with a stiff broom. Another practical point was that they could be reversed and used on both ways, so that their durability was prolonged. Braided rugs can be cleaned also by vacuuming. Rough shaking or beating on a line is not suitable for them, as the fabrics can come untwined. Spots can be cleaned with soap or at a dry-cleaner’s. If your braided rugs are put on a strategic point in your house with a lot of traffic, you may reduce wearing off by rotating them. Braided rugs are tough and robust.

Traditionally made braided rugs contained natural fibers. Nowadays, rugs can be braided from all kind of fibers: synthetic or blended yarns, which are more durable than natural ones. In addition, their colors fade away more slowly. You can also buy rugs for the patio, which are braided with polypropylene fibers. They are especially tough. Recent production of braided corn mats has also been improved on, using synthetic fibers as upholding material.

For more information click braided rugs
Article by Robbie Darmona - an article writer who writes on a wide variety of subjects.

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