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Is Your Brand In Trouble?
It’s no secret that American auto makers have been in trouble for years. Yet the recent news that Toyota sold more cars in the first quarter of 2007 appears to have been a surprise to General Motors.Here are 3 key reasons Detroit has suffered for so many years. Watch for these symptoms in your own company and take action to prevent spiraling downward.They refused to pay attention to external news We each work hard all day and the last thing we want to do is think deep thoughts at night, yet you ignore the news at your own peril. GM and the other American car manufacturers apparently didn’t learn their lesson in the 1970s and again were caught not paying attention to news reports. They ignored stories about the aging population and the continuing rise in healthcare cost

no understanding of the game, Bettman felt that further expansion into the United States was the only way to “improve” the league and increase revenues. Under Bettman's direction the league quickly grew from 21 teams to a whopping 30 franchises by 2001.

Today as we are anxiously await the start of the 2006/07 season, teams are faced with a gruelling 83 game schedule between October 4th and April 8th. This schedule will see teams travel all over North America East to West, North to South. Once teams have managed to work their way through the regular season they are faced with the prospect of a two month whirl wind of a games to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup. This year, playoffs will begin on April 11 and end as late as June 11th. By seasons end, the two teams that make it to the final horn will have played 9 months of hockey and more than 100 game

Courtesy - The Lost Art in the Workplace
Courtesy might be one of the most important contributing factors to your day to day workplace happiness. While many people don't think about it in this respect, it really does play a huge role in how happy you are while you work, and consequently what your level of productivity is. There are many little things that you can do to make sure that you are being respectful of your co-workers, but I'm just going to list a few that I think are some of the more common points of contention at the office.And the candidates are: Personal phone calls - This can potentially cause massive problems at your office. While making personal calls at work is often necessary, that doesn't mean that you should be on the phone constantly with your girlfriend/boyfriend,

It has come to that time of the year again; when thoughts of hockey begin to consume the attention of a small but passionate group of people referred to as poolies. The term poolies is the name given to those who obsessively participate in a form of gambling called pooling. Simply put, a group of people get together and pool together a sum of money. This money is held in trust to be awarded to the winner of the pool at the end of the hockey season. Now pooling is nothing new. People have been doing this for decades for any number of sports but it has had an enormous surge in popularity amongst hockey fans in recent years. The reason for this dramatic increase is two fold. First is the advent of the internet, which has made access and distribution of statistical data incredibly easy for those who run the pools. Participants have instant access to real time stats and results through one of the many websites that host pools on the net. As a result, pool participants remain engaged for the entire season with an active online community of poolies.

The second reason for this significant increase in the popularity of pooling is what some might call the over expansion of the NHL since the 1980’s. Expansion of the NHL had actually begun twenty years previous and can be broken into three distinct periods beginning with the 1967/68 season. It was during this season that the end to the original six era was marked and the NHL forever changed.

The original six teams played a 70 game schedule beginning the last week of October and ending the first week of April, a six month season not including a month of playoff games. When all was said and done and the Stanley cup awarded, the season was no more than 7 months long for the two teams that made it to the final. In the 1967/68 season the league doubled in size to 12 teams and played a 74 game schedule starting in Mid October and ending in early April. Playoffs were only slightly longer in duration, so the season remained a reasonable 7 months from start to finish.

The only significant change that occurred as a result of this first expansion was that teams were geographically more spread out; two of which were clear across the continent on the West coast of North America. Prior to this, teams played in cities on or close to the Eastern sea board of the United States and travel was quick and easy, relatively speaking. As a result, fatigue due to travel was not as much of an issue as it is today. It would be safe to say that it was at this point in NHL history that the way players approached the season, began to change and self preservation began to become a factor in the way players approached their regular season play.

The second significant expansion was during the 79/80 season when the NHL welcomed 4 new teams from the defunct WHA. It was with this expansion that the world was introduced to the Edmonton Oilers and hockey took on a new dimension on the efforts of players like Wayne Gretzke, Mark Messier and Jari Curry. The league had now grown to 21 teams playing a 80 game regular season over the traditional 7 month period. To accommodate this new 21 team league, the playoffs had to be changed to accommodate a 16 team tournament and the new NHL was now playing well into May.

The third and last expansion was the brainchild of new NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Bettman had been recruited away from his position with the NBA in 1993 in the hopes that he could improve the financial outlook for the league. With little or no understanding of the game, Bettman felt that further expansion into the United States was the only way to “improve” the league and increase revenues. Under Bettman's direction the league quickly grew from 21 teams to a whopping 30 franchises by 2001.

Xbox Catching Up in 2006
Although there was a delay in delivering the number of Xbox 360s that consumers demanded for the 2005 holiday season, Microsoft is expected to manufacture over 2 million of the gaming consoles in the first quarter of 2006. It's estimated that about 1 million Xbox 360s made it to stores in time for the holidays, so there's a pent-up demand for the console. In addition, reported bugs and cooling problems will likely be worked out in the near future. The Xbox isn't the only consumer electronic hitting the news these days. At the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, a number of manufacturers of cell phones will be honored with innovation awards. For example, Firefly Mobile will be honored for their "Mobile Phone for Mobile Kids," which is specifically designed for tweens. In addition,

hrough one of the many websites that host pools on the net. As a result, pool participants remain engaged for the entire season with an active online community of poolies.

Web Site Success: What Works - Strategy or Blind Luck
How do you build and promote your web site so you can get high rankings and lots of traffic? Is there a proven system that works or is it a crap shoot? Everyone who owns or manages a web site faces the same dilemma.Make no mistake – there is no magic bullet. You can’t fool the search engines; paying so-called web pros and consultants is very risky; and printing your web address on your literature won’t generate substantial traffic either.So what works?There are a few techniques that definitely will make a positive difference and help you maximize your opportunities for rankings and traffic. Here are 5 steps you can take right now:1. Register your site so that it will be crawled by the robotsYou have to let the search engines know you exist so you can ge

de it to the final. In the 1967/68 season the league doubled in size to 12 teams and played a 74 game schedule starting in Mid October and ending in early April. Playoffs were only slightly longer in duration, so the season remained a reasonable 7 months from start to finish.

8 Ways to Cope in a Hostile Work Place
Do you get stressed out at the thought of going to work every morning?Does the thought of spending eight or more hours at work each day get you all wound up and sweaty?Do you constantly find yourself wishing that Monday mornings were Friday evenings?Does the mere thought of interacting with your boss or co-workers leave you feeling emotionally drained?If these feelings have nothing to do with your ineffectiveness at work, then you are probably in a hostile work place.What makes a work place hostile varies largely, but it’s commonly attributed to having a bad boss (this could be an understatement), co-workers who drive you up the wall, and an ineffective Human Resource Department, among other things.Here are 8 survival tips to help you cope in

actor in the way players approached their regular season play.

Flying High
The headline could suggest a drunkalogue , but in fact its quite the opposite . after some years of coming to terms with my Alcoholism , I have managed to finally put down the drink 5 years ago , a day at a time .I was a Flight attendant based in London and had been flying to Los Angeles and back to London every week for about 18 months when I went to the meeting in London from which I have not drunk. I had taken about 10 days off from my roster to detox and attend meetings daily sometimes twice daily, which I highly recommend in early days , there was little else for me to do anyway.My first trip back to Los Angeles was with crew I knew well and the in-flight manager was a good friend, who knew what I was doing and was very supportive. I was his second in charge and I’m

So what does league expansion have to do with the increased popularity of pooling? Well as a result of the NHL’s expansion, players have changed the way they approach their season. Whether it is out of a lack of interest, self preservation or perhaps both, players frequently treat the regular season more like a series of preseason scrimmages. The season is long and the playoffs are tough. As a result, teams are forced to pick and choose which regular season games warrant a collective best effort.

This approach to the season frequently results in half hearted efforts among individual players and even entire teams depending of the circumstances that surround any given game. As a result, fans are often disappointed and feel short changed during the season because they are left with something less that a professional product to cheer for.

The hockey pool is simply the fans response to what can sometimes be a less than exciting or satisfying regular season. It gives fans something to cheer for besides the frequently lacklustre performance of their favourite team. By choosing a team of their own, from the rosters many different teams, they no longer have to depend on the performance of the home team to entertain them. Pooling gives the individual some ownership and control over their roll as a fan. The team they have crafted becomes the main reason to cheer during the regular season.

Whether to pool or not is a no brainer for many and undoubtedly there are a number of reasons for its popularity. The correlation between expansion and the increase in the popularity of pooling cannot be dismissed as simply a coincidence however. The game has become mundane for much of the regular season and fans need something to liven up the mid season duldums. Pooling has done just that and more.

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Virtually all mortgage borrowers go with a mainstream UK lender to make the biggest purchase of their lives, it’s the done thing and to be honest most people don’t realise there is a viable alternati...

Getting fit and body sculpting can go hand in hand if you learn about how to make the most of every workout. Instead of focusing on one or the other, why not create a fitness plan that strives for complete fitness? At one time, getting fit and body sculpting were thought of as two different goals, but this is no more. Here are some ways to get your fitness level up without sacrificing your muscle tone in the process.

The focus is on belief. What do we believe about our abilities? Do we believe that we can overcome any obstacle? Do we believe that we have the ability? Do we have strong faith in our persistance?

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