The Template Temple

HOBBITS AND LICE:

In late 2004 the media was all agog with the small hominids found on Flores Island where I had written about artifacts showing sea travel technology must have existed. I had argued with many people about the issue and their argument had some merit in that we had no proof of a connection to humans or the nearby Mungo Man. However, once we found these creatures which some researchers even think could be part chimpanzee the issue became clearly in my favor. I think the divergence of human lice proven through DNA technology going back 1.18 to 1.8 million years ago is even more telling and I look forward to the further research on pubic lice that might prove hominids cross-breeding. Here is one source for further review.

“It was astonishing and exciting enough to have discovered a new – and wholly unexpected – hominid species last week. The discovery of the partial skeletons of three-foot tall “hobbits” on the Indonesian island of Flores would have been front page news however old they were. But what made them really extraordinary was their age. They weren’t fossils. These were bones rotted to the consistency of blotting paper, less than 18,000 years old; and there are grounds for hoping that the creatures lived on into historical times. Some might even be alive in sufficiently remote island jungles today. The native legends about “Ebu Gogo” suggest that contact between Homo sapiens and Homo floresiensis took place within the last century on Flores.

The idea that our ancestors had contact with other human species is a profound and disturbing one. The whole term “human species” begs the question. If they are other species, can they really be what we mean by “human”? Human is a moral category as much as a biological one. That’s why it is such a useful weapon word in the debates about abortion. To call someone or something human is generally meant as praise, and implies that they should be treated as we treat ourselves.

This interpretation of “humanity” is not, of course, a necessarily human trait. It’s certainly not encoded in our genes. Most cultures, in most of history, have had no trouble in treating other human beings as domesticated animals or very much worse. But we, who speak English, call this process “dehumanisation”.

The skeletal fragments, and the legends from local people, make this story far more vivid than the other evidence for human encounters with other humanoid species. That shouldn’t obscure the fact that this is the second such story this autumn, and the first one is far more chilling.

The evidence there came from lice. As the parents of almost any school age girl will know, human lice are extraordinarily tenacious and well adapted to life on our scalps. They don’t survive for more than a few hours away from human flesh.

The war between lice and their hosts has continued for billions of years – there are species of louse adapted to almost every sort of primate and many species of birds. In humans, they infest our head, our clothes, and our bodily hair. Curiously, the body lice are the same species as head lice – although they behave quite differently, living in clothes, and coming in to feed on skin once or twice a day. Head lice live in hair and feed more often.

But it turns out that DNA analysis shows there are two distinct sub-species of head lice in humans. All over the world, except in western North America, they are the same. But there is a population of lice along the Pacific coast of North America which have been evolving separately from the rest of the world for about 1.8m years. The only way to make sense of this is to assume that their separate development took place on Homo erectus, who also split off from our hominid ancestors about that time ago.

So how could these lice have reached their present, wholly human hosts? It seems to me that this could only have happened through some act of primal genocide when Homo erectus met Homo sapiens somewhere in eastern Siberia. Lice can only travel between living bodies, or very freshly dead ones. If the transmission had been from living bodies, we would expect the same pattern in bodily lice. It isn’t there. Nor is there any trace of Homo erectus in our DNA. So the lice must have come from very fresh corpses and it is hard to suppose that they had died peacefully just before the intruders turned up.

The story of “Ebu Gogo” sounds more improving. According to local villagers, these creatures were around until about a century ago: three feet tall, hairy, and speechless, though they could imitate human speech, like parrots. The villagers tolerated them and even fed them, though they would only eat raw food, until they stole and ate a baby. They drove them from their cave with blazing bales of grass. Shortly thereafter, the villagers themselves moved off and western settlers arrived. The cave where the Ebu Gogo lived has not been found. But if it is – and scientists are looking – it might yield some extraordinary remains.

These wouldn’t be technological. Perhaps the saddest aspect of the whole story is the slow loss of technology it implies. Ebu Gogo seems to have been a descendent of Homo erectus, also known as Java man, who reached the island about 840,000 years ago. This was almost certainly something that required boats, which seem a pretty human-level technology.” (1)

About the Author

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com

To pass the BSCI exam and earn your CCNP, you’ve got to keep a lot of details in mind. It’s easy to overlook the “simpler” protocols and services such as static routing and distance vector protocols. With this in mind, here’s a quick review of some details you should know for success in the exam room and real-world networks!

When packets need to be routed, the routing table is parsed for the longest prefix match if multiple paths exist with the same prefix length, the route with the lowest AD is preferred. If there are still multiple valid paths, equal-cost load-sharing goes into effect.

The ip route command is used to create static routes the command ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 < next-hop-IP or local exit interface> creates a default static route.

A static route with a next-hop IP address has an AD of one, while a static route with a local exit interface has an AD of zero.

A floating static route is a static route with an AD higher than that of the dynamic routing protocols running on the router, ensuring that the static route can only be used if the routing protocol goes down.

On-Demand Routing (ODR) is only appropriate in a hub-and-spoke network. The spokes effectively become stub routers. ODR uses Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) to send route information.

To propagate a default route with IP routing, use the ip default-network command. To do so with IP routing disabled, use ip default-gateway. You can also redistribute a static route into most protocols, but not IGRP. IGRP does not understand a static route to 0.0.0.0.

The ip helper-address command takes certain broadcasts and translates then into unicasts in order to allow the router to forward them. These default ports are:

TIME, port 37

TACACS, port 49

DNS, port 53

BOOTP/DHCP Server, port 67

BOOTP/DHCP Client, port 68

TFTP, port 69

NetBIOS name service, port 137

NetBIOS datagram services, port 138

To name other ports, use the ip forward-protocol command. To remove any of these ports from the default list, use the no ip forward-protocol command.

ICMP Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP) hosts hear multicast Hellos from routers, allowing host-router discovery. HSRP routers create a virtual router that hosts think is a real router. Both protocols help networks cut over to a functional router quickly when their primary router goes down.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

You can also join his RSS feed and visit his blog, which is updated several times daily with new Cisco certification articles, free tutorials, and daily CCNA / CCNP exam questions! Details are on the website.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, just visit the website! You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNP exam with The Bryant Advantage!

Cholesterol itself is not bad. It is a blood fat or lipid, used to make hormones and membranes of cells.

Certain proteins serve to convey the cholesterol through the bloodstream, much like a subway train. When they attach to each other they become lipoproteins. For the most part, two lipoproteins carry cholesterol around.

One protein assimilates with cholesterol to form low-density lipoproteins or LDL, the so-called “bad cholesterol.” No one should like a great number of these, because they leave fatty residues within blood vessels and various tissues. Heart diseases may not be far off.

On the other hand, HDL or high-density lipoproteins do the exact opposite because they eradicate cholesterol to begin with. As such, they have been tagged “good cholesterol.”

What a medically approved exercise does is to raise the number of good cholesterol, flooring bad cholesterol levels. Thirty minutes of exercise every day can make those good cholesterols stay for good.

Exercise does this by triggering the release of enzymes that transport LDL to the liver, which then converts them into bile. They are then flushed away to the toilet bowl, where they belong.

With exercise, lipoproteinswhether good or badbecome bigger. This is a far better deal than having the diminutives ones. Small lipoproteins are hazardous because they can insert into the grooves and dents around the heart and blood vessels.

Cholesterols are manufactured in the liver. Apart from that, the body procures them from food. Wise diet choices must therefore be taken into account for good cholesterol levels.

Check out the Linked In profile for Avista Capital Partners.

Avista Capital Partners Enhances Energy Practice With Appointment of Gerhard Kurz.

Avista Capital Partners and Nordic Capital Fund VII Agree to Acquire ConvaTec Business for approximately $4.1 Billion.

With the prices of real estate and housing soaring high, your sweet home is no more a structure of bricks and steel but is also a means to generate cash when you fall in the need of money. A home is a high value investment which a person makes. So, naturally there is lot of money tied up which can be released if the owner wishes to. The market is filled with various HOME EQUITY LOAN OPTIONS which consumers can avail to meet their financial requirements.

A home equity is the value left in your house after subtracting the unpaid mortgage amount if any, from the current value of the house. For example, if the current value of your house is £ 25,000 and the amount of unpaid mortgages is £ 7,000 then your home equity is £ 18,000. Based on this home equity lenders will provide you a loan which is called a home equity loan. The equity in your house will be kept as collateral.

The home equity loan can be utilised for any purpose you wish to. Whether you want to pay your past bills or want to buy a second home, a home equity loan will serve all your purposes. This equity release schemes are especially beneficial for older people, where they can release a part of their home equity to finance their twilight years.

As there are lots of HOME EQUITY LOAN OPTIONS in the market, consumers need to be cautious in choosing a plan. A brief market research on the options available with genuine lenders in the market will not only prevent them from fraud and cheating but will also help them in getting the best possible deal. People who are busy and are short of time are advised to research online and get quotes from lenders. Taking professional help from various credit counselling agencies can be a good idea. Loan seekers are advised to compare various Home Equity Loan Options and then choose a plan as per their need and wisdom.

The author is a business writer specializing in finance and credit products and has written authoritative articles on the finance industry. He has done his masters in Business Administration and is currently assisting Shakespeare Finance as a finance specialist.

For more information visit our site http://www.home-loans-for-everyone.co.uk

When considering refinancing your home there are a number of important questions homeowners need to answer. Why refinance a home loan? Is this a good time to refinance? Where should you go to refinance your home loan?

Why refinance a home loan? If your able to make your current mortgage payment with little struggle there may be no reason to refinance. If you have other obligations you are struggling to meet lowering your mortgage payment by $100 or more a month may free up needed funds.

Is this a good time to refinance? Timing when refinancing is half the battle. If rates offered are well below the rates you are currently paying you would do well to consider refinancing.

Where should you go to refinance your home loan? As a rule it is usually best to contact your current lender for a mortgage rate quote. Likely you will be quoted a rate that is less than competitive when compare to rate quotes offered by online lending marketplaces who are competing for your business. Therefore is it best to get quotes from these marketplaces in writing and ask your current lender to meet or beat the lowest of the quotes.

Before filling out the online rate quote forms or contacting your current lender you’ll need to determine the real purpose of the loan. Answer the following questions to determine the purpose of refinancing your home loan.

1. Are you seeking to lower your monthly payments?
2. Do you want to consolidate debt?
3. Need cash for large purchases?
4. Are you seeking to adjust your interest deduction expense for tax purposes?

Having established the purpose for refinancing consider how much loan you truly can afford and the amount you wish to save when refinancing your home. If cash is needed for major purchases or investment determine the minimum amount that will accomplish your purpose vs how much you wish to save when refinancing.

Cash-Out Refinance Loan Programs
Lenders are currently offering several loan programs to fit the need for lower rates and cash for major purposes. A cash-out refinance loan provides you with both options in one loan. Compare rates along with interest, tax and insurance to help you determine the total amount of interest paid when paying off the loan.

Home Mortgage Rates
Even if rates are less than 1% you may still see a significant savings when refinancing. For example, the monthly payment (excluding taxes & insurance) on a $100,000 loan at 8.0% would be $ 733.76. If the rate were lowered to 7.1%, the monthly payment would be about 672.03. An annual savings of $732. Using the loan payment calculator at http://www.bcpl.net/~ibcnet/mortgage-calculator.html.

Shopping For Bargain Rates
Definitely contact multiple lending institutions for competitive home mortgage loan refinancing rates. A good place to start is with your current lender/mortgage company. Get a written rate quote and then compare them to the quotes from other lending marketplaces. These marketplaces feature a rate quote form that can be submitted to up to four lenders at a time.

Once you’ve filled out the form and submit it lenders will begin calling you offering you a competitive loan rate quote. When speaking to each lender remember to ask them to provide a couple of refinancing scenarios showing how your loan term length, monthly payment and your total interest expense on the loan will change.

Determine Feasibility
After looking at these scenarios, determine whether or not you should spend the money to refinance. If you determine that it is still feasible to get a loan go to your current lender with the lowest rate quotes from the lending marketplace and ask your lender to meet or beat the lowest rate.

Most lenders want to know if someone made you a better offer so take advantage of the competitive sensation by mentioning a lenders lower rate offer to the lender offering the most attractive loan package. Responding to each call and offer using this method is sure to get you’re the loan at the desired rate and much needed cash to pocket and use as needed.

Mark Askew is the founder of the Mortgage Loan Search Financial Network at http://www.bcpl.net/~ibcnet. A mortgage and refinance rate shopping tools, tips and personal and business financial guides resource.

Yearly with the first ski weekends it’s the unvaried tale. In spite of running to work, and an infrequent hill climb, every winter season kicks off enduring those excruciating first few tours during which one is forgotten in the wake of younger and abler skiing partners.

If you’re unfit while ski touring it’s beastly, and can be downright hazardous. To ski down one needs to have some spare reserves. A tired skier is likely to have accidents and tiredness could be a contributing ingredient to accidents, for example crashes and avalanches.

There must be a better manner in which to start the ski season, and a recently brought out 305 page report by Julia Robinson, who previously looks to extend an answer. Although directed at mountaineers the info is for the most part applicable to ski touring, with its energetic scrambles as well as additional hobbies.

Cycling, training for peak performance is well detailed and easy to read. It’s a quality well rounded book which gathers some good research. One can evolve a specialised training regime or tune your current one. Granted that it is written for climbers, therefore some of the techniques will be inapplicable for skiing, it is certainly a guide to buy if you want to do any of the big 24 hour or multi-day classic routes.

Formglas Inc., established in 1961, has for many years been the leading manufacturer of architectural products for commercial and residential projects using lightweight custom cast, glass reinforced gypsum and cement composite primarily for casinos, resorts, cruise ships, and retail chains. In addition, the Company manufacturers CNC molds & patterns along with fireplace surrounds.

According to Atul Swarup, V.P. Finance, Formglas had three main objectives when selecting a new ERP system. “Currently we use ACCPAC for accounting and a custom-developed system for manufacturing and job tracking. Our goals are to have a single integrated system company-wide, improve our decision making with better information, and improve our project costing and profitability analysis.”

Swarup led the selection team and Formglas evaluated six other vendors before picking Encompix. “We are a project-based manufacturer so it is essential that the software fits our business. We want a single integrated system that’s easy to use and easy to implement — we believe we have found that with Encompix.”

According to ETO Institute (www.etoinstitute.org) spokesperson, Thomas R. Cutler, “Encompix continues to take the leadership role in technology solutions for the Engineer-to-Order manufacturing sector. Too many providers claim to have solutions for this specific process. Encompix has consistently demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the ETO process and nuances and it’s little wonder that they hold the position of ETO marketshare leader.”

Encompix (www.encompix.com) has filled the manufacturing software requirements of Engineer-to-Order companies since 1992. The company name reflects the commitment to developing business application solutions that encompass the complex areas of project-based and job-based manufacturing. Encompix provides ETO manufacturers with a competitive advantage by improving bottom line results.

Encompix
www.encompix.com
Roger Meloy
513-733-0066

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About the Author

Professional Marketing Firm

Interest Only Mortgages

Interest Only Mortgage is a means to payback a certain mortgage. On availment of interest-only mortgage, monthly amortization does not include any partial payment of the loan. The borrower has to pay only the fixed monthly interest of the loan. The principal amount of the loan is payable at one time and based on borrowers and lenders terms of agreement.

In Interest only mortgage, it is a must to determine how the loan payment should be made. Most borrowers are advice before engaging in this Mortgage to at least save consistently. The purpose of savings is to allow the borrower to come up with a lump sum to pay off the principal obligation. The completion of savings must also be made available before the maturity of terms of mortgage arrives.

Another option a borrower may do to effectively secure the mortgage is to make a conversion to a repayment mortgage. It is ideal for the type of a borrower who does not have big income at the time of engagement to the mortgage but expect an increase on the future income. By means of interest only mortgage the borrowers can enjoy low monthly payments. And when financial condition of the borrower increases, he may pay higher monthly payments for the repayment of mortgage.

Interest only mortgage are usually recommended by lenders and brokers but future borrower should be aware that interest only mortgage is beneficial only to particular type of person. Ideally interest only mortgage are good for workers who earn based on commissions or who expect high earnings in the coming year. Investors who expect big return of investment may also effectively acquire this type of mortgage.

Financial experts advise regular wage earners who opt to choose moderate size home loan not to apply for interest only mortgage. A borrower who cannot make a good plan for investing their savings is likewise not ideal for interest only mortgage.

Repayment Mortgages

Repayment Mortgage is a way of paying a mortgage wherein monthly repayments comprises of repaying the principal amount of obligation including the accrued interest. In simple terms, the borrower has to pay monthly part capital and part-interest. In repayment mortgage, at the end of the mortgage the full amount of the debt obligation will be repaid.

During early years of paying, the charges of the mortgage repayments consist mostly of the interest and because of this, less of the capital is actually paid off.

To determine the applicability of this type of mortgage to a person in need, the borrower must assure repayment of the full amount of the loan at the expiration of the term. The borrower must also consider that interest rate are subject to increases and will also affect the monthly payment premiums.

In repayment of mortgage, the borrower may ask the lender to extend the term of payment in case he is unable to pay the amortization or to allow interest only payments until the borrower can update the payment. This request for changes on the terms will increase the full principal obligation of the loan. But nevertheless, the same must be approved by the lender.

Most lenders provide flexible repayment mortgages to allow the borrowers to pay more than the required monthly premiums when their financial capacity improves. Holiday payments are also given to borrowers when they cannot meet the monthly dues.

Ideally, repayment mortgage is the efficient way to pay off the loan. When the mortgage value reduces, the amount of interest payable is likewise decreases. Hence, after few years of paying your dues the monthly repayment will now consist of an increasing amount of capital and a decreasing amount of interest. Tax relief will likewise decrease. This means that the borrowers will unlikely experience negative equity because the mortgage prevailing balance will also reduce. In the long run, the high equity percentages of the borrower’s property will also increases.

Reverse Mortgages

A Reverse Mortgage is a loan that enables homeowners to convert part of the equity of their home into a tax-free income. In this type of mortgage, homeowners do not have to sell their homes, give up the title, or take on a new monthly mortgage payment. It is termed as reverse mortgage because instead of making monthly payments to a lender as with a regular mortgage, the lender is the one that makes payments to the homeowners.
But not all can avail a reverse mortgage. In order to qualify in this mortgage, the homeowner must be at least 62 years of age. The older the applicant, the higher the loan amount can be. Also, the home to be subjected in reverse mortgage must be the applicant’s principal residence, meaning the applicant is currently residing in that particular house for more than half a year.

Elderly homeowners often use reverse mortgage as an additional source of income since most of them are already retired. Payment proceeds from a reverse mortgage can be also used to pay for the applicant’s health care, home repair or modification, paying off existing debts, taking a vacation and paying property taxes or just get some cash in case of emergencies.

The amount of cash one can have depends on several factors like the age of the home, its value, age at the time of closing, and interest rates. The qualified applicant may choose to receive the money from a reverse mortgage all at once as a lump sum, as a line of credit, fixed monthly payments or a combination of both.

The lump sum is the cash paid to you on the first day of the loan as immediate cash. A line of credit lets you take cash advances whenever you want during the life of the loan and until you use it all up. The mortgage becomes due once the home is passed on to the heirs. The heirs then, had an option to pay the mortgage and keep the home or sell the home and pay off the mortgage. They can keep any excess sales proceeds. The homeowner can never owe more than the value of the home in which time the loan is repaid.

This article is provided free of charge by the Mortgage Broker Directory a comprehensive listing of Mortgage Brokers in Liverpool and thoughout the UK.

You’re seriously considering buying a second home or vacation home. What are your options? Is whole ownership the right choice? What about fractional or shared ownership? What’s more important to you – investment or enjoyment? This report answers these questions and more.

A second home is something many aspire to own and enjoy. You’re not alone. In fact, people are buying second homes like never before. Second homes tend to be held for seasonal and occasional use or whose usual occupants live elsewhere.

The expansion of second home growth has had two driving forces behind it: increased wealth and favorable demographics. With tax laws that benefited the transfer of wealth, the stock market boom in the 1990’s and renewed house price appreciation, average household net worth has risen dramatically. These demographic changes coupled with the recent languishing stock market have intensified second-home demand and contributed coincidently to the extreme rise in prices within destination resort areas. Second-home purchases are most commonly made by middle-aged heads of households in their prime earning years.

In 2004, the second home industry in North America achieved record sales volumes. A total of 2.82 million second homes were sold in the U.S., up 16.3% from 2.42 million sales in 2003. This growth trend is attributed to several factors:

* The US economy recovered from a deep recession.

* Cash in money markets languished with the lowest interest rates in decades.

* Confidence in the stock market remained and continues to remain low with consumers seeking out alternative investment opportunities.

* Consumers in the US and Canada saw second home real estate as a safe haven for investment appreciation with the opportunity to also enjoy the use of their new asset.

* Second homes also provide investment diversification, which has become a critical concern among consumers since the stock market crash in 2000 and 2001.

New Ownership Options Available to Meet New Market Demands

In response to growing demand, the resort industry has undergone substantial change in the last five years. In order to broaden market appeal, developers have crafted new second home real estate products to better respond to people’s needs and desires. The most recent innovations in the second home industry are the introduction and rapidly increasing popularity of luxury fractional real estate and the condominium hotel – two of the fastest growing segments of the real estate industry today.

Fractional Real Estate and Condominium Hotels are primarily purchased for lifestyle enhancements. The variations between these products tend to be in how the owners plan to use their residences and what they hope to gain from their ownership. To better understand these differences it is important to note the two primary motivations for owning a second home – as an investment and enjoyment from use of the residence.

Similar to whole ownership purchases, fractional and condo-hotel owners are granted ownership by fee-simple deed with title insurance. Since Fractional Real Estate and Condominium Hotels are backed by deed and title, these purchases are considered equity-based investments as opposed to the non-equity based multi-site destination clubs also popular in today’s market. And, just as you can with a primary dwelling, the deeded fraction or condo-hotel real estate may be resold or bequeathed.

Fractional Ownership

Fractionals are very upscale fully furnished second home properties usually located within renowned destination resort areas or select urban settings where cultural, dining and shopping experiences are extraordinary. More important to the consumer is that resort fractional projects are being located within destinations that have been family favorites for generations. These residence programs normally include superior resort services such as concierge, valet parking and personal gourmet chef services for in-home dining, as well as the use of first class quality amenities and a variety of recreational activities.

Common settings for fractional properties are ski and golf resorts and beach communities. Popular destinations include Aspen and Telluride in Colorado as well as the Caribbean. “Fractionals are typically found in resort areas where prices for second homes are very high and/or there is a scarcity of available real estate,” says Richard Ragatz, president of Ragatz Associates, a hospitality market research and consulting firm based in Eugene, Oregon.

Carl Berry, CEO of Scottsdale-based Star Resort Group, notes that the luxury fractional or private residence club concept has become attractive because property values in popular resort areas has skyrocketed out of reach of all but the wealthiest buyers.

For example, Mr. Berry notes that $1 million now buys a tear-down cabin in Aspen, Colorado, whereas a fractional there costs $200,000 to $500,000, “which is chicken feed compared to what these properties are going for.” Nowadays, $200,000 will buy a piece of a $1.5 million property, according to Ragatz, who notes that this concept has been around a long time. “People have been investing in second homes with relatives and friends for years, but divided-ownership property was never a true product until recently.”

I like to emphasize that the popularity of the second home fractional is that it makes sense to purchasers who simply could not justify the purchase that they might only use for a few weeks out of each year. With a fractional, owners have the asset and all the advantages of second home ownership without the cost or year-round maintenance obligations. Professional management relieves owners of the worry and anguish that often accompanies second home ownership. When coupled with superior hospitality service levels, the fractional purchase is an exciting and sensible alternative in the second home marketplace. Fractional choices are broadening as developers continue to design programs that truly allow owners to use their second home as they prefer at a fraction of the cost.

What Types of Fractional Ownership Are Available?

There are several different types of fractionals that serve divergent interests. The most popular categories include Traditional Fractions and Private Residence Clubs.

Traditional Fractional

This original fractional format was first formulated in the 1980’s to formalize the sharing of a single family home within a destination resort area. Traditional fractions now involve condominiums and attached townhouses as well as detached single family homes. These Traditional Fractionals are usually sold in one-fourth interests, also termed Quarter-shares. Quarter-share owners receive one week of use each month for a total of 13 weeks per year. Variations of the Traditional Fractional include: Fifth-shares with a total of 10 weeks per year and assignment of use every fifth week, and; Sixth-shares with 8 weeks of use per year and allocation of time every sixth week.

Within each traditional fractional format, the weeks are assigned through a calendar that rotates to distribute the most desirable times of the seasons in a fair and equitable manner. The owner may either use or gift their weeks, or they can place their unused time in a rental program and split the revenue with the property manager after costs. Quality of the residence and furnishings is in the 3 to 4-star ranges. Service levels are at the 3-star level, if included in the program offering.

Private Residence Club (PRC)

A Private Residence Club (PRC) is designed to meet the needs of the same affluent buyer that would normally consider purchasing a luxury wholly owned second home. The purchase decision is primarily based on the buyer’s motivation to enjoy the residence and the resort area, although potential value appreciation is a factor.

Affluent purchasers recognize they have limited leisure time and are looking for real estate that is price proportionate to actual use. The Private Residence Club ownership model follows a “pay for what you need and want” philosophy in an intimate, exclusive community together with highly personalized service and a wide range of amenities. As in the Traditional Fractional, owners purchase a share or “fraction” of a Private Residence Club home. They receive a deed with title insurance.

Private Residence Clubs comprise a high-end luxury product sold on a one-seventh (1/7) to one-thirteenth (1/13) share basis. Quality of the residence and furnishings is in the 4-star to 5-star ranges. Service levels are superior with every need or request by an owner accommodated by an attentive staff.

As pioneered by principals of Star Resort Group, the defining quality of the Private Residence Club is in the owners’ ability to access their time in a flexible manner and literally as often as they want, similar to a golf country club and subject to the project’s Reservations Policies and Procedures.

Dave Hanna, President of Star Hospitality and a member of the first PRC development team explains, “In the Private Residence Club program, the owner’s use of the residence is on his schedule and not controlled by a calendar. Generally, ownerships are granted a set amount of time, termed ‘Pre-planned Vacations’, to guarantee each owner access to their residence during peak seasonal times. In designing a particular use plan, we consider the length of the peak season and set a ratio of owners to each home that allows enough flexibility so owners can be assured of securing the times that they want each year. Spontaneous visits by owners are accommodated through a ‘Space Available’ reservation program that allows for use as little as one night at a time and up to seven nights per reservation. Some owners may use the program less in certain years, making more time available at the resort for the other owners.”

Carl Berry adds a note on hospitality service levels: “Certain Private Residence Club projects prefer to promote their program with “5-star service” levels. When compared to the rating system utilized by the hospitality industry for luxury hotels, residence clubs that do not provide fine dining alternatives, butler service and other requisites that earn the 5-star rating are at 4 to 4.5-star levels. That is not to say that the service isn’t excellent, for it is. It’s just not 5-star by hospitality industry definitions. Owners at Star Resort Group projects appreciate the tradeoffs between having a 24-hour butler staff versus having to pay for that convenience in their annual fees.”

PRCs are seldom rented, since the owners generally prefer to keep unused time available for the owners while maintaining exclusivity. The Homeowners Association supports their thinking by not facilitating or encouraging rentals. Should owners decide to rent any of their guaranteed weeks to friends or associates, the renters are treated as the owner’s unaccompanied guests.

Condo-Hotels

Statistics show that the market for homes with rental income potential is nearly twice the size of the market for vacation homes that are seldom rented. However, both markets are growing rapidly in double digits. As expected, the typical buyer is at least partially motivated by investment and rental income and may be younger and less affluent that the luxury whole ownership second home buyer.

A Condo-Hotel unit is a condominium sold on a whole ownership basis with the intent of the owner using some of the time when they wish, while placing the balance of their unused or unscheduled time into a hotel rental program. An operating hotel with attendant services is critical for this program to be successful. The appeal of a condo-hotel ownership to prospective buyers is that there may be an opportunity for rental income to cover yearly operating costs. Strict rules apply toward representation of the condo-hotel product as an investment. It is first and foremost a real estate product predicated on the owner’s planned use.

Although most condo hotels are sold as whole ownership, some condo-hotel regimes have structured a hybrid fractional overlay model into the mix of products in order to reduce the price point and diversify the market. Aside from the prevalent whole ownership condo-hotel model, traditional quarter shares or fifth shares tend to be the most popular hybrid within the condo-hotel platform.

Whole Ownership Second Home Options

For those who choose to use their resort residence for longer periods of time, or are inflexible in their use times, or for those who simply prefer not to share and are willing to pay the price, whole ownership of a second home is the only acceptable format.

You’re One Step Closer to Your New Home

Now that you’re armed with all the facts, the next step is to start shopping for your new second home. And now that you know all about your fractional ownership options and all of the benefits of only paying for what you need, you just might find yourself owning your dream home sooner than you thought possible.

For more information on fractional ownership in private residence clubs and on condo hotels, including listings and photos of available properties, visit the Star Resort Group website at http://www.starresortgroup.com

Every 3 years,technology vendors cook up a new marketing hype to sell their products to gullible clients.In this context,server virtualization is the latest buzzword to hit the data storage industry.

Today, every data storage product in the market, such as network routers,storage area networks and network attached storage are sold by IT vendors under the guise of ’server virtualization’. Indeed,server virtualization seems to be the cure all to all data storage problems, global war, terrorism and probably even AIDS.

In a recent interview, Gary, editor of the data storage portal,data-recovery-reviews .com rubbished the whole concept of data storage server virtualization

To the layman, server virtualization is simply a set of tools to serve as layer between logical and physical storage. Server virtualization promises a great deal – data storage vendor neutral products in data centers and easy server consolidation.This means that CIOs no longer need to worry about buying all their data storage products from a single vendor.

Gary mentioned that server virtualization in the form of vendor neutral data storage is definitely what every IT data center needs,but no data storage company is bound to offer server virtualization since it would mean that their proprietory products could then be replaced at any time with a competitor’s data storage product.

The CIO of a mid size pharmaceutical company, Mike Fisher, recently remarked that it is amazing how each and every data storage product claims to support server virtualization but does not offer product compatibility with products from other vendors.

Gary’s survey of data storage products suggests that data storage vendors are least interested in saving client costs by providing server virtualization data storage products in data centers.

Gary accepts that Vm ware’s server virtualization products come closest to the real promise of server virtualization in terms of data center data storage technology,but there is still a long way to go to achieve true server consolidation and server virtualization.

In conclusion,server virtualization is just another marketing hype that is being touted by technology vendors. Haven’t corporate clients heard of vaporware before?

About data-recovery-reviews. com: Data-recovery-reviews.com is the industry leading data center portal focussing on data storage,network security,data recovery and antivirus software.

Ref: 1) Server virtualization reviews 2) Vmware Reviews