A big group of us got together late last night to open our Christmas presents together. We always do this on Christmas Eve right around midnight. We had a great time. This morning I woke up thinking about the fact that so many of us ended up getting computer-related or web-related presents this year.

Some of these presents make perfect sense. A friend of mine works for a Tampa internet marketing company doing Tampa SEO and blog content writing. It completely makes sense that she received a lot of books and software related to blogging and SEO work. After all, this is what she does.

However a lot of us actually got web-related presents even if we don’t do work that has a lot to do with being on the Internet. Someone got a copy of Peep Diaries, a book about today’s Peep Culture which has a lot to do with the culture of the Internet. Someone else got a new wireless keyboard and mouse for home computing and gaming. Even the homemade presents were computer-related this year; one aunt made knitted cozies for everyone’s computer monitors!

Did you get any presents this year that were related to computers or Internet work? Did these gifts make sense in the context of your work or daily life? Is this something that is becoming a bigger and bigger trend? I’m curious! Merry Christmas!

Technorati Tags: Tampa internet marketing, Tampa SEO

Have you heard the term “green economy” yet? If not then get ready because you’re going to be hearing it a lot in the next year or so. This term is being bandied about to describe the type of eco-friendly, conscious spending that people are doing more and more of these days.

The green economy is first and foremost about being green in our purchases. It is about supporting green businesses. It is about getting a green education (leed certification to become a leed green associate is a popular example). It is about shopping locally and buying from independent stores.

However the green economy is not just about being green. It is also about being frugal. The recession has caused all of us to cut back on wasteful spending. The green economy is all about making smart purchases. It is about saving money where we can. It is about making our money count. It is about finding a way to make green purchases cost effective.

The green economy is the name of the economy that we’re entering in to. We have already started to take many of the steps that will make us a green economy. Moving even further with these steps is how we are going to see real change in the way that we spend and the things that we buy.

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Are you having people over to your house for Christmas? If so then you should consider getting scented candles to add to the feeling of the season in your home.

Some of the best scents for a Christmas scented candle are:

• Gingerbread. Get a gingerbread scented candle and your home will smell as if you have spent all holiday season baking away.
• Pine. This is a traditional Christmas scent that normally comes from the Christmas tree. If your tree isn’t pungent enough (or you got a fake tree this year) then a pine scented candle is a great idea.
• Cinnamon. These are great scented candles all year long and they’re particularly wonderful at Christmastime.
• Candy cane. One of the most popular scents for Christmas candles is the scent of candy canes. This peppermint smell really makes your home feel sweet.
• Butter rum. This scent and other rich scents like it are great at this time of year. Any scented candle that makes you feel warm inside when you smell is going to be good throughout the whole winter.
• Spiced apple. I’m not sure how this scent came to be associated with Christmas but it’s definitely one that people like to burn in their homes at this time of year.

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You need to travel for business. Should you take your spouse with you? There are pros and cons to doing this.

The pros of taking your spouse with you on business vacations:

• You get to spend time together in a new place. This is great if you have some downtime to enjoy the destination that you are visiting.
• You can take some of the cost of a pleasurable trip off of your taxes. You might enjoy a great time with your spouse but if you went on vacation to attend a Cisco certification training seminar then it still counts as work.
• It makes work more fun!

The drawbacks of taking a spouse with you on business travel are:

• The trip will cost more. Your employer won’t pay for your spouse and you won’t be able to count that part on taxes.
• You won’t get time apart from each other. Sometimes it’s nice to take a break and then come home to your spouse instead of being together all of the time.
• Both work and play will get neglected. You might intend to spend equal time doing both your Cisco certification and spending time with your spouse but it never really works out that way.

So what should you do? It depends on your relationship, your job and your destination. Think it through before making a decision.

Technorati Tags: Cisco certification, Cisco certification training

You are in school. Maybe you are almost done with your degree. However you keep thinking about changing your major. Should you do it?

Here are five signs that you should change your major:

1. You are failing all of the classes that you need for your major. Maybe you can’t handle the work after all. Maybe you just don’t like going to class. Or maybe you are sabotaging yourself. Whatever the reason, if you are failing your core classes then you might want to change majors.
2. You are bored with your core classes. Even if you are doing well in school it’s a really bad sign if you are bored in your core classes. It means you may get bored in your career. You don’t want that so change your major now and enter a new career field.
3. You are jealous of other people’s majors. If you find yourself envious of the students who are in audiology programs or online physician assistant programs then it’s a good bet that you probably want to switch your major to one of those degrees.
4. You are very curious about other majors. This shows that you might not be ready to commit to completing your degree. Learn more about other degrees before you make a decision.
5. You don’t know why you chose your major. If you never had a good reason or can’t remember what the reason was then you aren’t in the right degree program.

Should you change majors now?

Technorati Tags: audiology programs, online physician assistant programs