Seven To Ten

I have to admit that I cannot resist a glass of wine at times. With age, I have become more careful with the bottle but when I was younger, me and my regular drinking buddies can down three to four bottles of wine at a sitting.

My interest in wine has extended to sporadic wine collection in our cellars. It is not a serious hobby but when friends drop by for a visit, it is a unique gesture to treat them to my prized assets. I joined my local wine lovers club and followed wine trends. Gary Vaynerchuk, of Wine Library TV fame, is one of my favorite experts.

This guy has attained a cult status, his website attracts more than 60,000 viewers a day. I think his unique strengths lie in his irreverent commentaries and strange ways of introducing wine tastes. He convinced Conan O’Brien to lick salted rocks and shared samples of dirt and grass with Ellen Degeneres. He also routinely rants about popular wines, even those sold by Wine Library. In a word, he is not the conventional wine commentator.

WLTV has developed into a bustling community where many users participate in forum discussions and have organized numerous off-site gatherings. They have also teamed up with Crushpad in the past year to create the first ever community wine, Vayniac Cabernet.

There are always new episodes at Wine Library TV which airs 5 days a week, so the site is never boring.

The economic downturn is forcing highest number of retail store closings in 4 years. Retail chains are shutting down some mall-based locations but some businesses are eager to move into those vacant storefronts.

These non-traditional businesses focus on an experience, rather than products and they have become the darling of mall operators who are nervous about declining mall traffic and sales, on top on rising retail store vacancies.

It could be the way to go, especially in a recessionary environment. Studies indicate that spending on entertainment and self-improvement services tend to be fairly recession-proof.

If you have a retail store you intend to close it, why not think out of the box and give customers an unique experience?

The amazing jump in clean-energy stocks in 2007 looks likely to continue in 2008. Driven by record oil prices and investors’ enthusiasm stoked by global warming fears, emerging energy technology like winds and biofuels may get their chance to boom.

The WilderHill clean energy index - an index of 48 large U.S. stocks in the renewable energy sector - rose over 58 percent for the year. That compared to an 8 percent gain in 2006 and an anemic 5 percent rise in 2005.

Solar was the big winner in 2007. Most solar stocks in the index rose over 100 percent. the stocks have pulled back a bit and experts encourage a look at wind and energy efficiency specialists. The biofuels sector is expected to rebound after taking a beating last year.

More of the predatory snaring in Wall Street. The situation with Microsoft’s bid on Yahoo seems to be locked in a stalemate.

The software giant has announced that it may rescind its offer to buy Yahoo at $31 a share. Both sides cannot arrive at an agreeable price but it is clear Microsoft execs will not paying the $40 per share that Yahoo demanded.

The offer is not likely to be revoked, this is more of a tactic to put pressure on Yahoo’s board using “market signaling.” The message is that Yahoo’s stock would become vulnerable if Microsoft withdraws its bid. They are confident Yahoo has little alternative but to accept the deal.

The problem for Yahoo is the current offer significantly undervalues the company and they have rejected Microsoft’s overture in February. The deal has since decreased in value from $44.6 billion offer on Jan. 31 to the current $42 billion.

I believe it is best Yahoo accept the offer, holding out will only push the prices of both companies downwards. Unless Yahoo comes up with ingenious methods to boost earnings as revenue from advertisers is not expected to do well this year. No other giants want to enter the fray too, either because they cannot compete with the financial muscle of Microsoft or because they do not find Yahoo attractive enough.

To be a successful blogger, there is a lot of hard work in writing content and promotion. Researching and keeping pace with the methods other pioneers have used to earn their five figure paycheck is important. There is so much to learn and I have been staying up late to do so.

I have upgraded the lamps in my room as well as my kid’s. He seems to be staying up late too, but he is more engrossed in his computer games than studying. Purchasing the lamps from Farreys’ has been a right choice. The site has so many products on offer, whether you are looking for ceiling fans, bath equipment, ventilation or other home improvement products.

The stock of lamps alone is mind-boggling enough: you get chandeliers, pendant lights, wall mount sconces, table lamps, floor lamps, home lighting, accent lighting, outdoor lighting, utility and specialty lighting, all at affordable prices.

If you want to navigate faster and have no time to go through each of their items, there is a convenient search tool which can quickly pinpoint your product if you know the lamp brand, application or style. The wide array of goods signifies the company’s strength - it is valued at $40 million dollars and has come a long way from its humble beginning as a general hardware store.

I will definitely order from them again. Besides a a 30-day return policy, their customer service is friendly and professional. Shipping is fast and safe. If you like to order in bulk, you get better discounts.

Though times are tough now, Americans believe the economy will bounce back by next year. A poll showed 60% of respondents think economic conditions in the United States will be “good” next year.

Most people realize that the economy has cycles of ups and downs. Fortunately, the last two recessions were some of the shortest on record, so in 2009 we should be pulling up out of this. Most Americans feel the economists are right.

83% said they are “confident” of maintaining their standards of living next year, and 85% are “confident” they will keep their jobs over the next six months. Consumers also showed faith that they would be able to pay off their future debts, with 90% of respondents demonstrating confidence they would be able to meet their monthly mortgage payments for the duration of the mortgage.

Other debts like college loans, car payments, and credit cards are in no danger of being defaulted too. The average amount of credit card debt of those polled was $4,000. The Fed’s rate cuts will start to take their toll later this year, and hopefully, the economy should bounce back by the end of 2008.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson detailed a radical plan to change the way government regulates the financial system. He said: “Government has a responsibility to make sure our financial system is regulated effectively.”

The plan would greatly expand the powers of the Federal Reserve and would eliminate or combine longstanding agencies like the SEC. At the same time, Paulson warned that heightened regulation could hinder American financial markets in the global marketplace.

There are praise and criticism from a wide range of financial experts. What do you think?

Everybody is concerned about the weak dollar. But even as the greenback sinks to new lows against the euro and other global currencies, experts say this is not necessarily a bad thing for the U.S. economy.

The falling dollar pose problem for an economy in recession and facing higher inflation. Consumers have to pay more for imported goods like toys made in China or a bottle of wine from France’s Bordeaux region.

It also drives up the cost of commodities priced in dollars. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, commodities have skyrocketed to historic highs.

Confidence by international investors in buying dollar-denominated securities is also affected. Although many foreigners are still buying more U.S. securities than they are selling, there are signs that these investors are slowly shifting away from assets tainted by the greenback, such as U.S. Treasurys.

It is a long time since I played backgammon. Yeah, the childhood game which took up so much of my time back then. My friend introduced me to the idea of playing online backgammon and told me about this site, Backgammon Masters.

I was browsing the site when I saw they were trying to achieve a Guinness Gamer World Record in farthest backgammon dice toss. Imagine tossing 2 backgammon dices out of a helicopter onto a gigantic backgammon board-shaped field. A staff, communicating via walkie talkies, will then move the checkers.

For visual impact, everything is huge here. The size of checkers are 3 feet in diameter and the winner will keep the backgammon dice, custom made out of a special inflatable material to withstand the impact of the fall. It is valued at 1,000 Euro, or even priceless if you consider it is limited edition for this event only. Special event tickets will also be sold and all proceeds will go to charity.

I am sure the amount of publicity generated for their Backgammon Freeroll tournaments will be immense. The site also offers Poker and Blackjack games but I will pass on that since I do not have much luck in gambling. If you need live customer support, it is available.

I will get back to my backgammon game for now..

I heard that eBay has stopped taking new submissions for their affiliate program at commission junction and is starting their own affiliate program from 1^st April 2008. You can register for the new program at http://affiliates.ebay.com from 1^st April onwards.

eBbay’s official launch is over here.