With the big brother Google around and big players like MSN and Yahoo trying their best to remain in the internet search market, starting a new search engine requires nothing less than a perfect algorithm. As a general user I always wish I had an option when I search the web and somebody would come from nowhere to beat the giant G.

When I came across TigerTom Search I was expecting a competition to Google. But the result was not what I expected. First I searched “lorla” and it was nice of the search engine to give this blog the first position. But it was sad that it couldn’t recognize “Canada”. What I got was “This result has been filtered out” (see screenshot below). Hey! it is not Iran or Syria! But the Google does recognize the country and listed ads about mortgages. On top of that there was no “Images” or “News” about Canada in www.tigertom.org.ukworld.

I don’t know if the goal of the website is providing its user with a better search result or not. Or it may be because it is in betastage.

Well, for me it seems this site just proved that Google is unbeatable!
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Youth are the pillar of society and these pillars are being crumbled by drugs, alcohol and gang-culture. Boat Angel Outreach Centers are established around the world to help these mis-guided youth to guide them to the right path.

According to Rev. David Crawford, 5,000 people sleep on the streets in the Los Angeles area and they are vulnerable to various negative influences like drugs, alcohol etc. Boat Angel Outreach Centers help the these people to get a better life.

Youths go through a one year Bible School & Ministry Training program and multiple daily services. The school program inclues running three miles six day a week, attend high school and Bible School, and two to three hours of church and worship services daily. In addition to the two to three hours of church and worship services daily they are taught choreography to reach out with hip-hop and break dancing. Every summer these youth go on the road on outreaches across the United States.

In Wikieup, AZ, they have acquired a land and plans have been drawn up to construct a permanent 5,000 square foot building with an estimated cost of $200,000 which will be a sanctuary for misleaded youths in the society.

Boat Angel Outreach Centers are run by the help of generous people who donate used cars, boats, boat houses etc. Car Donations and other donations will help the Outreach Centers to achieve the noble goal to help those who can’t help themselves.

If you want be of some help in this great work you can send your check to:
BoatAngelOutreachCenter
1745 N. Ashbrook Circle, Mesa AZ 85213
Note: This is a Sponsored Post

The Police entered the public eye during the punk era of ’80s but this group was never truly punk. All these years they have gone through a rollercoaster trip from ‘80s stadium kings, fall into antagonism and recent reunion. Which is reflected in this months issue of the MOJO magazine (based in the UK) featuring an exclusive interview with the reformed The Police who are back with a world tour.

The album, The Policeis the compilation of greatest hits released by The Police on June 5, 2007 to accompany their reunion tour. It contains 28 songs spanned over two discs, a mixture of hits and fan favorites. The album debuted at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 58,000 copies in its first week.

When you click on the adjacent poster, you will be taken in The Police banner where you can watch their videos, get track list / jukebox, news about their tour and ringtones. You can also participate in contests and win prizes that can let you win a trip to New York and there is also an option to send the link to your friends tell about these offers.

Please click on Police Cd to go and view an awesome banner where you can watch The Police’s videos, listen to tracks from The Police’s new 2 cd hits collection, enter to win a trip to NYC to see The Police in concert and even view details about their current world tour.

All of their songs are masterpiece in the album but “Driven To Tears” has always been my favorite and it was the first song I listened from the CD:

… Hide my face in my hands, shame wells in my throat
My comfortable existence is reduced
To a shallow, meaningless party
Seems that when some innocents die
All we can offer them is a page in a some magazine
Too many cameras and not enough food
‘Cause this is what we’ve seen
Driven to tears …

This is a great release. I have got my copy! What about you?

With all the environment related problems and global warming, conservation of environment has gathered much attention these days. People are more concerned and worried in keeping the nature in the natural environment or restoring the role of nature in this environment.

Last week, a new social networking site for environement friendly people is setup for submiting pages to grow green news. In addition to web pages, the registered users can submit photos and videos to the stories.

The voting system as in other social networking sites are called Growing and popular stories “grow” higher than the others. If members like the story and think that the story is relevant and interesting they can help it grow in its popularity by voting for it. The members can discuss the submitted stories and tell how good it is or how worthless it is (if it is so!). After certain growth, they are promoted to the frontpage as the Top Stories which can eventually be picked up by the main site.

The submission process has 3 steps. First I had to enter the link, then in the second step the details like title, tags, category and description. Unlinke other similar sites, in addition those regular details there is an option to upload a photo, embed YouTube video, and enter trackbak.

They also have a shortcut that can be used as a bookmark for easy submission. But the shortcut could only get the URL of the page submitted. I think, they need to work on getting at least the title and some details like photos from the post.

It is a nice start and I love the neat green layout. This site has given me a feeling that I am missing some greener side in this blog. I am thinking of writing some “Let’s Go Green” posts in future.

It is illegal to drive without an insurance in most of the places. Knowing a few things before applying for a car insurance can be helpful in reducing the insurance rate you can get. A simple theory in insurance rate is that good drivers pay less and bad drivers continue to pay for their driving habits.

Before applying for a car insurance, first thing is to get are the letters from the previous insurance company. The insurance experience might be very useful in lowering the insurance rate. You might also need a driving licence valid for the place you are living. In Canada, people living in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan might not have much choice as the government provides the insurance, but for other places my experience tells that one needs to do a bit of market research before deciding on going for a particular company.

Thriftyscot.co.uk provides details on getting a competitive rate and gives some guidelines to cut the cost of your car insurance. The website is also a very helpful resource in getting other insurances like home insurance and life insurance.
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After three years of development and refinement of its tool, Accoona Corp., a pioneer in artificial intelligence search technology, is finally going public.

A venture in a internet search business in not an easy task. When key players like Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask are competing among themselves to get higher chunk in their share of 90% search world, new players need to come with somthing exceptionally better. It is to be seen if Accoona can capture some big chunks in the huge market.

Some of Accoona’s main strengths lie in the partnerships with European and Chinese markets since its creation in February 2004. Its big business index comprising of some 13 million North American, 18 million European and 11 million Chinese businesses can also be considered a big asset. Accoona has also developed a unique, online-based lead generation business model called Exchange Place, where advertisers can acquire real-time, qualified and verified consumer leads through a competitive bidding process.

It would certainly be a good thing if we have much better choices around when we need to find something in the vast cyberspace. Good luck to Accoona!

In a latest news, laser printers are more harmful than smoking cigarettes. According to BBC, the Queensland University of Technology scientists have called on ministers to regulate these kinds of emissions. They say some printers should come with a health warning. The researchers carried out tests on more than 60 machines and found one-third were found to emit ultra-tiny particles of toner-like material, so small that they can infiltrate the lungs and cause a range of health problems from respiratory irritation to more chronic illnesses.

Whatever may be the case, we can’t live without printers in the current time. The best option seems to opt for inkjet ones. But the quality of inkjet can’t beat that of laser printer.

Many natural disasters in the current time can be attributed to the climate change and global warming. The term “global warming” might be technically correct but I can’t really care about global “warming” when the temperature outside is -30 degrees Celsius. “Climate Change” is a better way to talk about the the global climate crisis. I think “climate crisis”, or “climate chaos” might convey better meaning on what the earth is experiencing.

I came across a nice online channel creating awareness in climate change and in making the world a better place. It has a nice collection of videos on news, views, energy policies, and recent efforts in creating awareness and contributions in minimizing climate related problems.

I watched a video on the official launch of the “greenest city in
America” contest. A fleet of Yahoo sponsored hybrid taxis were to be given the the winner city to create awareness on the issues of climate change. The contest will be helpful in generating a sense of responsibility in an individual or an organization to deal with deteriorating environment. Carbon emission from vehicles may be a small portion of the greenhouse gases as compared to forest fires and industrial emission but it sure is the best way to create awareness among individuals. These are the same people who can control other sources of other greenhouse gases.

The desire and motivation to be more climate friendly is also dictated by cost factor. As of current, the hybrid and energy efficient technology are costlier than the conventional technology. To bridge this imbalance, policy level changes should be enforced to motivate individual users to use environment friendly technology.

A long-term loan for property, and the buildings on the property, is called a mortgage. Lending institutions such as banks and mortgage companies are the largest mortgage lenders, but some credit unions offer long-term loans. Sometimes a seller will finance the home they are selling and some mortgages are assumable from the current homeowner.

Paying back the capital

Most mortgages generally require down payments as a firm commitment from the buyer to the lender of the buyer’s intention to repay the loan. Some lenders will offer mortgages for 97% or 95% of the value of the property. The borrower, then, is required to make only a 3% or 5% down payment. Generally, when a mortgage is made with less than a 20% down payment, mortgage insurance is required.

Paying back the loan, you can either pay a little at a time as you go or pay it all off at the end which are explained as follows:

Repayment mortgages - Each monthly payment pays off a little of the underlying debt, as well as interest on the loan. At the end of the term the mortgage is cleared.

Interest only mortgages - With this type of mortgage, you pay-off the interest on the loan but not the capital. At the end of the mortgage term you are expected to repay the capital, how you fund this is your business.

Endowment Mortgages - You use an endowment policy to provide life insurance and save funds to repay the loan at the end of the term (usually 20-25 years). In the 1980s endowments were very popular and heavily marketed by lenders. However, many people were not told of the investment risk. This was mis-selling and lenders faced huge claims for compensation. As a result, endowment mortgages have declined sharply in popularity. Relatively few endowments are sold today but there are still millions of policies yet to mature.

Paying the interest

As in cases of other debts, you have to pay interest on mortgages. Howerver, there are range of options to pay the interest.

Variable rates - This means you pay the going rate on your loan. The mortgage rate changes every time interest rates change or, as in most cases, the overall effect of any interest rate changes is calculated once a year and payments are altered accordingly. Whatever kind of mortgage you start with, it is likely to change to variable rates at some point.

Fixed rates - The interest rate is fixed for the period agreed - often two to five years. These are ideal for budgeting or if you think rates might increase. You do not benefit if rates fall, and will face penalties if you try to quit.

Be aware of very low rates as they can be used to trap you into paying over the odds at a future date. So one has to check how long you will have to stay with the lender before you can switch without penalty.

Capped rates - These are fixed, but if rates fall you pay the lower rate. Such deals can be a good for budgeting.

Cash back deals - This is when lenders offer money back if you take out a particular product. However, nothing comes free in life and cashback mortgages may be weighed down with hefty penalty charges if you later want to switch lender.

Discounted rates - Under this type of mortgage the borrower is offered a discount off the lender’s variable rate. The rate paid will fluctuate in line with changes in the variable rate. The discount applies over a set term.

Bad Credits

Lenders divide customers into two classes namely good and bad. The good credit holders get low rates and friendly terms. The bad credit holders get high fees and ugly rates. Bad credit mortgages, or subprime loans, were created for borrowers with varying problems, such as a bad credit score, insufficient credit or employment history, nontraditional credit, unverifiable income, or inadequate savings. Lumping them all into the same category forced some borrowers to pay higher rates than they deserved. Today, however, borrowers with a just a few credit dings can find better terms for their bad credit mortgage or debt consolidation loan. Understanding bad credit mortgages pricing can save you a lot of money.

I am really scared of horror movies! I hate movies with a lot of blood. But suspense and thrillers with a horror touch is sometimes entertaining. I prefer novels to movies when it comes to horror and movies to books when it is a comedy.

I have read some of Stephen King’s novels and they really have nice plots and smooth flowing story line. When I saw the trailers of his upcoming movie, “The Mist”, the suspense was thrilling rather than horrifying. After seeing the trailers I was left wondering what I would do when I was in that situation. I guess, I have to make it an exception in my preference to see it.

The new science fiction/horror flick, The Mist by Stephen King, is directed and adapted for the screen by Frank Darabont. Starring Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones, William Sadler, Frances Sternhagen and Jeffrey DeMunn the movie will be in theatres on Nov 21st.

Yesterday at a press conference in New York, Stephen King is quoted as saying “Frank wrote a new ending that I loved. It is the most shocking ending ever and there should be a law passed stating that anybody who reveals the last 5 minutes of this film should be hung from their neck until dead.”

That is the horror writer’s horrifying warning!