Prepaid Phone Cards - Everything You Need to Know

What Is a Prepaid Phone Card?

Prepaid phone cards are cards you buy for a predetermined price for making long distance calls. These cards are usually available in even dollar amounts and even number of minutes.

Why Use a Prepaid Phone Card?

Prepaid phone cards are convenient because they can be used anywhere and because you pay in advance, there isn't a bill. The type of people who use prepaid phone cards the most are travelers, people who regularly call overseas, students and people who haven't chosen a long distance provider. Calling cards are also very convenient to buy. They are sold at newsstands, post offices, stores and online.

International Calling Card Rates?

International calling card rates vary quite a bit depending on which country you call or how you make the call. Usually prepaid phone cards offer lower rates than a phone company's basic international rates.

How Do I Make Calls with a Prepaid Phone Card?

To make a phone call, dial the access number and the PIN number printed on the back of the card. An automated voice will ask you to enter the number you want to call, and inform you of the number of minutes you have left on your card. You might also be prompted for other options.
You can increase the number of minutes on most calling cards by charging your credit card. Cards that don't let you add minutes means you have to buy a new card after all the time has been used. Keep track of the date your card expires so you don't lose unused minutes.

Who Makes Your Phone Card?

• Carriers are responsible for the telephone lines that carry calls.
• Resellers buy telephone minutes from the carriers.
• Issuers determine the card rates and provide toll-free customer service and access numbers.
• Distributors sell the cards to the retailers.
• Retailers sell the cards to consumers.

What Are the Disadvantages of Using Prepaid Phone Cards?

• Access numbers and/or PINs that don't work or are always busy;
• Calling card providers that go out of business, leaving people with useless cards;
• Rates that are higher than advertised, or have hidden charges;
• Cards that charge you even when your call doesn't connect;
• Poor quality connections; and
• Hidden expiration dates.

How Can I Avoid Prepaid Phone Card Problems?

Be sure to read the conditions for your calling card. Read the fine print! Verify the rates, check the expiration date, look for a toll-free customer service number, and understand the dialing instructions.

For more information about getting the lowest price on Prepaid Phone Cards, please visit http://www.cards2phone.com/

Challenging and Promising Future

With the development of the whole mechanical industry, valves are adopted in many fields. According to the various requirements, there exist more than 200 kinds of valves, reaching an amount of more than 3000 specifications. But we must admit the fact that the majority valve's producers in china are the minor enterprises which are not able to compete with the international valve's suppliers. In fact, China stands a low position with the aspect of developing and producing high-tech valve products. It is true that the valves which are operated in major projects with large scale of petrifaction and nuclear power, etc. are imported. I believe that every company in China wants to be a competitive and independent one in this field. Certainly, the urgent task is to apply new technology into valve's producing in order to make China to be competitive.

Nowadays, we have found that the idea of human oriented is popular on every aspect. Previously, we focus more on the product's raw material, structure, mechanical strength, working performance and service time. Since valves are closely related in our daily life, the spirit of human-orient should be truly and efficiently implemented. We can't be restricted by the traditional ways. It is no doubt that the ones with sprit of innovation strive out. It is suggested that the products which can generate the idea of security, energy-saving and environmental protection harmoniously stand out.

With the quick development of high technology, it is necessary to apply them in to the products. As the conditions of high and low temperature, high pressure, micro vacuum, deep-etching, radioactivity and rank poison become more and more common, the requirements for the valves should take more serious consideration on these aspects. The raw material concerns a lot. Our major task is to develop new suitable material using new high-tech to produce valves. It is well-known that the information-basing tries to improve people's daily life. Basing on this, we can try to realize the all-in-one of information technology and artificial intelligence technology. Then it is the real innovation of the valves.

We can't drive our attention only on the separate new valves production. From some perspectives, we can invent some special valves in particular fields. They are said to be the corollary equipments. Only the specific ones can affect well. The valve's designer should have a clear understanding of the whole project. Then he or she would know how to choose the most proper material and structure. As a consequence, the benefits are maximized.

Above all, maybe it is the major tendency of the field of valves. The minor enterprises hold their own teams of research and development. The aim and focus varies. But for all of them, it is important to learn from the previous experience. Considering the current situation on valves, we hope China's valves would proceed a healthy and competitive way and lead to a promising future.

Gao Grace

California's Ban on Driving With Cell Phones - A Slap in the Face

Have you ever wanted to slap a police officer in the face? Or your kids? Or another driver on the road? Here's your chance to do it...at least, metaphorically. Stay tuned and I'll tell you how.

But, first, let me start by saying I was out running this morning. Okay, jogging. Okay, ambling, really. I was safely on the sidewalk racing towards an intersection...okay, plodding towards an intersection. I had the green light to cross, but a Lexus waiting to turn right on the red was blocking the crosswalk. At the wheel of the Lexus was an otherwise intelligent looking thirty-something woman who had absolutely no idea I was coming. Now, most people who don't want blood, skin and other traceable human DNA samples splattered on the grill of their luxury cars take the time to look up and down the sidewalk before accelerating through a crosswalk. Not this bird. I couldn't blame her for not seeing me, though. After all, she was quite busy talking on her cell phone. Not, by the way, handsfree. She was chatting away while holding the phone up to her ear. That logs her at the top of my list of bottom dwellers, especially since anyone who runs, bikes, walks, drives or breathes encounters these people on a daily basis. My typical calm, cool, mature reaction would be to run right up to the car, not quite in front of it and, when she takes off without looking, I would knock on the fender and scare the gossip out of her. I didn't do that this morning for one simple reason. I couldn't take the chance she would actually hit me because I wasn't wearing clean underwear. Yes, despite the fact that I'm a grown man with three kids of my own, I couldn't bear to hear my mother say "I told you so" when she arrived at the hospital and heard the nurse and doctor talking about my dirty drawers. So, I let this woman go...and she never once looked my way. Never had the slightest clue that if I had been a less attentive eight year old or a passive aggressive adult with clean underwear, she could have easily ended a life.

Six miles later...okay, half a mile later...I was approaching another pedestrian danger zone-the dreaded homeowner blindly backing out of their driveway. Now, these people don't get my fender rap. For no-look driveway backer-outers, I reserve the "arms thrown up in the air" and the "what the f" look. They seem to respond to it. Not always amicably. In fact, never amicably. But, I wasn't going to employ that tactic in this case, because the driver about to back out was an elderly woman who looked like she should have had her license revoked for senility eight years ago. I didn't want a heart attack on my hands. Plus, I would have had to wait around for the paramedics and miss my son's school play. But, guess what? I didn't need the look anyway. This woman peered down the street both ways...and saw me. Before even taking her car out of park, she smiled and politely waved me on, then waited until I safely passed until she proceeded to back out of her driveway.

So, what gives? How is it that a senile woman who's probably shaking off a long night's sleep courtesy of Ambien with a morning dose of Xanax chased down by two cups of Maxwell House coffee turns out to be a better, more vigilant, safer driver than a healthy, active, professional woman in her prime? It's the cell phone. And that brings me to my point.

As of July 1, 2008, California drivers were banned from using cell phones without a handsfree device while operating a moving vehicle.

The plan was to save lives. Not a bad plan. The problem is, it didn't work. A recent study by the National Institute For Highway Safety determined that the law has had no effect whatsoever in reducing crashes. Before the ban, California had 8 crashes per 100 vehicles. A year after the law went into effect, we had 7.5 crashes per 100 vehicles. Now, I'm not trying to negate the value of that half a person whose life might have been saved in that half a crash reduction. In fact, it could have been me. After all, my wife would be eager to tell you I'm half the man I was twenty years ago. The thing is, the half a crash reduction corresponded to a similar reduction in accidents in neighboring states that didn't enact a cell phone law. So, the statistics show that the cell phone ban had no impact whatsoever.

What's the deal? Some would say people are just ignoring the law. They'd be right. And, let's face it, with a $20 fine for a first offense, no one is waking up in a cold sweat at 3:00 a.m. worried the fabric of their family's financial foundation will be torn asunder by a cell phone fine. I mean, $20 will barely buy you two iced coffee drinks at Starbucks. Or a gallon of gas once the Gulf oil spill works it's way through the economy.

And process this-you can be fined up to $1000 for a first time littering offense. Apparently a gum wrapper on the side of the road is more of a threat to society than a distracted, reckless featherbrain behind the wheel of a two ton moving vehicle. (Wipe that smug smile off your face, litterers of all things non-biodegradable, your day of reckoning is coming in a future blog.)

There's a story told by Nasreddin Hodja, the ancient Turkish mystic, that sums up our law perfectly. Hodja was standing in the marketplace when a perfect stranger slapped him in the face. Hodja took the stranger to the Qadi-a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law-and demanded compensation. As the proceedings unfolded, Hodja began to suspect that the stranger and the judge were friends. His suspicions were confirmed when the stranger admitted guilt and was handed down a fine of one piaster. Further, the judge granted the defendant the leeway to go get the piaster and bring it back to Hodja at his own convenience. The defendant left and Hodja waited...and waited...and waited. After a length of time had passed, Hodja approached the Qadi and asked, "Do I understand correctly that one piaster is sufficient payment for a slap?" The judge answered, "yes." Hodja then slapped the judge in the face and said, "You may keep my piaster when the defendant returns with it."

Hodja's humorous wisdom aside, that's the California cell phone law. The fine is so minimal that drivers would rather slap police officers, their fellow drivers, the State of California and their passengers in the face than put down their phones in the name of safety. These people either just don't realize the danger...or they just don't care. Either option places them squarely in the beans for brains category.

Now, I have my own opinions of those who ignore the law, but I'll keep my thoughts to myself because I'm sure they're all very nice people (self-centered, arrogant posers.) They're probably all outstanding citizens (who drown puppies for pleasure.) I doubt any of them would ever harm a fly (only a carload of babies.) And besides, who amongst us hasn't held a cellphone up to their ear during the most pressing of meaningless conversations? (Me and millions of other drivers.)

So, yes, I'll keep my opinions of those who flaunt the law to myself (I bet they kiss with their eyes open.) But, I would argue for the usage of hands free devices from an entirely different point of view. Not a legal one. A practical one.

We all know that anyone can drive with one hand. But, if one hand is tied up holding a phone to your head, then you unequivocally give up your ability to use your other hand for the important things in safe driving-like drinking coffee, turning up the radio, throwing water bottles at the kids in the back seat, applying make-up, eating tacos, sending a car fax or flipping off the driver next to you who almost sideswiped you because he was holding a cell phone up to his ear. All of these are rights and privileges we've earned as drivers but, so help me Buddha, we flush every one of them down the toilet when we tie up one hand with a cell phone. (Yes, I know most California drivers can use two hands to eat a Double-Double Burger and drink Diet Coke while steering with their knees-but, for legal liability reasons, I'm going to avoid that recommendation here.)

So you see, I'm not dismissing the fact that we live in a car culture and require access to a full array of amenities in our vehicles. If you think about it, most people spend more time in their cars than in church. But you wouldn't carry a ticking time bomb into church. That's what you do when you hold a cell phone up to your ear while driving. You know who you are, people. What you don't know is when the crash is going to happen. But, as sure as Justin Bieber will join the forgotten ranks of Shaun Cassidy and Leif Garrett, it very likely is going to happen. It's just a matter of time.

So, for the love of runners, bikers, walkers and wide-eyed babies everywhere, I'm asking all of you common sense challenged chatty-cheetahs to put your phones down and get a handsfree device once and for all. Do it today. If that's too much of an effort for you, then remember this. When you do finally cause that accident, whether a fender bender or major pile-up, the rest of us law-abiding drivers will take great satisfaction in knowing that your cellphone bill will prove irrefutably that you were trading party dip recipes over the cellular network at the exact time of the accident. When a gum wrapper tossed out a car window can do that, I'll slap myself in the face.

John R Trujillo

Treasures of Learning

All over the world, libraries are considered one of the best sources of knowledge. For this purpose, every area is provided with the facility of its own library that is open to the public on easy terms. Contrary to this, in our country the 'library culture' is fast declining instead of growing. A proper library culture is one in which people go to libraries not only for studying and consulting reference books but also for their pleasure reading during spare time. In the past, private libraries and people taking full advantage of this facility could still be seen in different parts of the city.
But now, even students don't use the libraries established in their schools and colleges. There are many factors contributing to the dismal condition of libraries in our country. The foremost factor is that a 'library culture' is not developed in our children at school level. Almost every school has a scheduled library period at least once a week. But this period is usually taken either by teachers to complete their courses or is wasted by the students in chitchatting. Those who want to read are faced by another problem-the non-availability of good books. Most libraries in our educational institutes are not well stocked. The fault for this lies with the librarians who do not bother to inform the concerned authorities about the need for additional books as per their duty. The school/college authorities should also make sure that not only old but recent books, related to all subjects, are also available in the library. Thus, the library period that can be used effectively to inculcate the habit of going to a library for reading purposes in children is wasted due to the negligence of those responsible for educating our youth.
However, the matter is more complex than this. Even if our schools manage to create awareness about the use of libraries and the public starts appreciating books and wishes to read, the scarcity of good public libraries will be a huge hindrance. Even in a big city like Karachi, the libraries present are so badly stocked that they are not worth visiting. I once went to Liaquat National Library and was shocked to see that the whole English section consisted only of large numbers of dictionaries. Libraries like Aga Khan Library and Defense Library are comparatively better but these are open only to members. People living in other areas can't access these libraries and the membership fees are also too high to be afforded by everyone.
The only solution to all these problems is that the government sets up good libraries in as many areas of the city as possible, which should be open to any one who wants to read. Furthermore, a regular inventory should be conducted of these libraries to ensure that the latest books are available and the old books are in good reading condition.
Syeda Mahwish Fatima Naqvi write Articles, Features, Column in Different newspapers and Magazines, working as a content writer.

How to Make Money With EBooks

People love ebooks these days as there is so much useful information that is available. By selling this information, you have an incredible opportunity to make money on the internet. This article will outline some excellent ideas on how to earn money with ebooks.
If you have written many articles in the past, you may be sitting on a gold mine. One thing you could do is compile those into an informational ebook and make money selling it on the Internet.
There is software available that will set this all up for you. eBookgold is a website that you will definitely want to check out.com. They offer great training on how to make ebooks and they make the process very simple.
You can make money selling your own ebooks and keep 100% of the profits. To do that you would need to market a moneymaking website that includes a sales page about your ebook.
Another way that people get rich making money with ebooks is they publish them and sell them in the Clickbank affiliate program. This is a great idea, because although you will pay out some of your profits in commissions, you can easily make up for that in the volume of ebooks sold.
Clickbank has affiliates numbering in the thousands, and they are always looking for great products. They are the largest digital information provider in the world and therefore an excellent place for you to sell your e-book.
If you decide you want to do this, be prepared to pay out 50 to 75% of your profits in commissions. The more money you are willing to give up, the better your chances are for more affiliates to get on board with selling your product.
Another idea that you can implement is embedding links to other products you sell within the ebook itself. You could then give the ebook away for free and let people read it and make purchases out of the embedded links.
Viral marketing is another way to make money with e-books. Allow people to create a brandable version of your ebook by joining affiliate programs underneath you. You want the programs to be 2 tier in nature so that whenever your affiliates are making a sale, you earn a commission as well.
These are a few ideas on how to make money with e-books. Because they provide instant access and contain information that people are interested in, they are always in demand and very easy to sell on the Internet. This creates a tremendous Internet money making opportunity for you.
John Baril lives in Delta, British Columbia, Canada with his wife and 2 young boys. John is a full time Paramedic and also runs a successful affiliate marketing business.
Find out how to profit in affiliate marketing with his outstanding free e-course available at: Simple Work At Home Opportunity

The Help You Always Wanted, But Never Knew You Wanted It!

All across the United States, people are hurting. Gas prices are rising, food cost are high, you have to pay if you want to travel, everything is rising. Your salary is not. Foreclosures are at an alarming rate. No more of the 1 family household. The "'Brady Bunch" days are over with. Carol Brady is the mother who sits at home everyday and talks to Alice, who's paid to take care of the Brady Household. Even the well to do are struggling, quiet is kept. Gone are the days of the middle class.
$4.00 a gallon for gas. $3.00 for a gallon of milk. $6.99 for a #2 meal at Burger king. Wow! It doesn't take a rocket science to know it takes money to survive. It doesn't matter your situation,the bills will continue to come every month and the only requirement is to pay them. I know what it's like to have the electricity to be shut off, the gas to be shut off, the cable to be shut off in the mist of watching a good movie. Without electricity, no video games to be played, no microwave to warm anything up, nothing. I used to be stressed out until my late Aunt told me" Bills never stop coming". If you like to shop and you have a credit card and you don't have the money to pay for your purchase, you will pay for the purchase with the card. Credit card companies love to send you credit card offers to get you to buy. Visa, Mastercard, Discovery, etc.
Everyday, more people have the desire to make money online. Pay the bills, make extra money to buy your dream car. There is the solution to for your troubles. Ebooks are the solution. Information is the key and ebooks are the avenue. This solution is great for work at home mothers, work at home fathers, students, disabled individuals, people who want to make money online. This business is so simple, so user friendly, I should write an ebook about it, even though I don't have a clue how to yet. All I know is, I want to make money online. Ebooks are a great way to gather information. For more information on starting your work at home, simple, very low cost( under $3) business, you have to go on the website.
http://www.jentaprises.blogspot.com

What Makes Cash Gifting A Viable Home Based Business Alternative?

Hopefully you had a chance to read the first part of this article on Cash Gifting, as it exposes some of the reasons many Cash Gifting programs failed in the past. A solid Cash Gifting program, if it is to be a legitimate home based business alternative, must be simplistic in nature, without surprises, smoke and mirrors and incorporate a very effective and efficient business model.

With this in mind, let's take a look at a program and see if it meets the standards to become a viable income opportunity.

A Cash Gifting home based business model needs:
1) A simple to follow, time tested and proven, marketing system that anyone can follow. This will assist a new member in starting their work from home opportunity correctly.
2) A tracking system that allows a member to track the scheduled arrival of any gifts being sent to them.
3) A fully functional back office where all members can update personal information.
4) Tutorials on advertising with classifieds, ezines, banners, Pay Per Click, voice broadcasting etc. Along with access to prewritten ads that have been tested and proven to deliver results.
5) An area where the members can order advertising tools such as company approved custom business cards, postcards and flyers.
6) Members should also have access to autoresponders, lead generation and a follow up letter series to stay in contact with new prospects.
7) Above all, a step - step system that takes the new member through the process from sign up, to paperwork completion, to advertising… Right up to the point when they receive their cash gift at the door.

Now with all of the above components in place, an entrepreneur should be able to launch a home based business without investing a lot of effort in start up. In this type of ideal environment the majority of time can now be spent on developing the business, as the business infrastructure is already in place.

Every work at home business needs a strong foundation to be successful. With more and more people every day looking to make extra income in their free time, getting started "right" is the key element between success and failure. It really doesn't matter if you're looking to leave your J-O-B; working from home to spend more time with the kids; a Baby Boomer working toward retirement; or someone just looking to create the excitement of building his/hers own fortune, one thing remains true to all business, without a strong business model or foundation you set yourself up for failure. Author Henry David Thoreau said it very well, "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

Wishing you a multitude of success in whatever you do and remember that, "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." (William Jennings Bryan 1860-1925, American Lawyer, Politician)

God Bless and Always Remember To Make It A Great Day!!

Michael J Kohn
New Image Marketing Group, Inc.

Please Visit Us At: http://www.MastersIncome.com, http://www.PassiveMillions.com

Work At Home Online Business Tips

Sometimes it can be a bit of a juggle finding enough hours in the day around your day job to successfully start and build a work at home online business, so herewith some tips to make your online home business building process smoother.

When starting a work at home online business and going through the training there always appears to be so much to do and of course we want to get everything set up as quickly as possible in order to start making money online.

However, you may find that a lot of the information that you are provided with is totally new to you and so before being able to implement the tasks you may need to learn some additional skills and so you need to try and avoid suffering from information overload.

By trying to get as much done as possible in the few hours available without having a total understanding of what you are doing will only lead to confusion and frustration. It can become overwhelming, so you need to focus on one task at a time and try and stay organized and work as efficiently as possible. Making use of To-Do Lists helps – you could have an urgent list, important list, daily, weekly and monthly lists.

It is highly likely that you will want to implement some changes to your website but at this stage your knowledge of html is really minimal, so you first may need to spend some time learning html before you move on to the stage of being able to successfully make changes to your website.

You will also be eager to start driving traffic to your work at home online business website and may want to implement a pay-per-click advertising campaign but your experience in this area of advertising is also lacking. Again you would need to spend time learning the ins and outs of pay-per-click before starting a campaign otherwise it could end up costing you dearly.

There are many internet marketing methods that you would no doubt be introduced to during your work at home online business training, such as article marketing, email marketing, forum marketing, blogging, traffic exchanges, safelists, pay per click, classified ads, ezine advertising, social bookmarking, etc. Avoid trying to implement them all at once. Choose one and focus on it until you are having success then move on until you have 2 or 3 methods that you are skilled at.

You may like to initially focus on building your list by getting subscribers to sign up for your work at home online business ideas newsletter. You can do this by buying leads, placing classified ads with your autoresponder email address in it rather than your website address, put an exit pop up on your home page, put a newsletter sign up form on all of your web pages, etc. Each new subscriber you get to your newsletter means that you are making progress.

You could for example then move on to learning how to write and distribute articles which is a great way to drive targeted traffic to your website as you will be building back links to your website which will result in higher positions in the search engine results

Building a work at home online business is a step-by-step process and takes time. It is rather like building a house, you cannot put the roof on until the walls are built and you cannot build the walls until the foundations are laid and so building an online home business needs to follow a similar logical process.

Don’t rush, take your time and get to grips with the information provided in order to build a solid foundation to your online home business. Choose the internet marketing methods that are most effective for you and build your work at home online business one step at a time instead of trying to implement everything all at once.

About the Author:
Cynthia Minnaar is the owner of www.cyns-home-biz.com. Subscribe to her Free Online Home Business Ideas Newsletter and learn how to start and build a work at home online business. Download a free copy of Dotcomology and learn the secrets of making money online. You may publish my article if you include the bio.