tips4you

New parents will often get a lot of parenting advice. People are more then willing to offer their experiences and their opinions on how to best raise a child. New parents can become overwhelmed at all the parenting advicesthat will come their way. People are often well meaning in their attempts to offer parenting tips, but they may not realize that a new parent may already have their own ideas on how to best raise their child.

The key to accepting a parenting idea is to take them and use your best judgment to decide if you are going to use them or not. There are often different schools of thought when it comes to parenting tips. You will find that you will be getting tips from many different people who have many different styles of parenting.

One of the most common groups is the older members of your family. It is common for them to give parenting tips that seem weird or even crazy. Back when they were raising children there was not as many studies or research and they were basically left to figure things out on their own. An older person may give tips that contradict the professional recommendations of today. They may say that it worked for them so it should work for you. They may recommend things that just seem funny, usually home remedy type things, which have been time tested and really do work. Older people have some great advice and sometimes, some not so great advice. They are worth listening to, though, because they really do have the experience and know what they are talking about.

You may also get parenting tips from friends who are members of the new age school of thought. These people base their parenting in large part on parenting books. They may follow a certain professional who is considered an expert in parenting. They will often recommended books you can read. Some of their suggestions may also seem strange, like playing music to the baby to make him smarter. You may find you actually agree with one certain style. These tips are usually tested and well thought out. You won't find any home remedies or old wives tales in these tips. Depending on your own philosophies on raising your child you may or may not listen to these tips.

Then there are the tips that come from the well meaning person, but often come across as more of an order then a tip. Most often these are going to come from the grandmas. The grandmas, you will find, will have more then enough tips to give you and they are never afraid to tell you all of them. The grandmas only want what is best for their grandchild, but sometimes they can be over whelming. It is common for them to just want to take matters in their own hands instead of actually telling you the tips. If you do not head their advice you may suffer because the grandmas believe their advice and tips are the only way to go.

The best way to handle parenting tips is to simply listen attentively to the tip giver. If you like the tip then let them know, otherwise you can simply thank them for their help. People give parenting tips with the best intentions in mind. They are not trying to say anything bad about your parenting, but rather help you out. People that give parenting tips are parents themselves and they understand how hard it is to raise a child, so they want to help make it easier for you.

Parenting tips can be quite helpful. It is almost impossible to simply raise a child on your own without ever seeking help from others. Parenting is a hard job and it takes many different people to help raise a child. You should always be open to haring parenting tips because you will get many helpful tips along the way. Just remember that some people are going to offer you tips you may not want to use and some will offer you a wealth of information. It is up to you to decide what tips are useful for you and which are not.

Learn more about parenting today. Visit Joseph's website as he shares his Parenting Skills & Tips

Strategic thinking applies to all that we do in business. Our business communications are one area where there is always room to be more strategic and therefore be more effective. Take a moment and think about some of the voicemail messages you receive each day. How many of them are effective? How many of them are efficient and contain the information and/or questions you really need to respond? How many of them are rambling and incoherent? And how many of them are downright annoying and a waste of your time?

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has some ti=ps to share that will help you leave more effective and efficient voicemail messages and become a more strategic business communicator. Those tips include:

Tip #1: Always plan ahead. Prepare for your call and the possibility you will be asked to leave a voicemail message. Research your subject and your clients and/or prospects before you make your call and be prepared to reference that research in your voicemail message.

Tip #2: Practice delivering your voicemail message prior to placing the call so you are will prepared to deliver a well-planned voicemail message.

Tip #3: Do your homework to get to know the person who will get your voicemail message.

Tip #4: Make it a habit to leave your contact information up front in your voicemail message. This will make sure the receiver of your message knows how to contact you if the message gets cutoff before you finished. Always repeat your contact information at the end of your message (unless you have gotten cutoff).

Tip #5: Discipline yourself to focus on one topic in your voicemail message. If you have too many topics, please consider e-mail to be a more effective communications tool for multiple topics.

Tip #6: Provide enough detail in your voicemail, without using up all the available space for your message, so the receiver has what he or she needs to respond to your message and so you will not waste time playing phone tag.

Tip #7: Always speak distinctly and clearly to ensure your voicemail message will be understandable to the receiver. You should slow down and pronounce words carefully.

Tip #8: Please spell your name and/or any difficult or unusual words if your name is hard to pronounce or unusual, or if an unusual word may be difficult for the receiver to understand over the phone.

Tip #9: Always state who the voicemail message is for since some voice mail system may serve multiple people.

Tip #10: Keep your voicemail message simple and concise. A business message should be to the point and in as few words as necessary.

Tip #11: Always correct yourself if you misspeak in your voicemail message by starting that part of your message again and repeat it correctly.

Tip #12: Never leave the same voicemail message twice. Always change your voicemail message to include another great point or piece of information.

Tip #13: Leave yourself a voicemail message and listen to it carefully. Listen to the tonality of your voice. Ask yourself if you are not speaking in a monotone and if you sound boring. Avoiding the monotone and boring speaking will increase the effectiveness of your voicemail message and will increase the probability that it will actually be listened to by the receiver.

Tip #14: Set a goal to try to keep your voicemail message to under 60 seconds.

Tip #15: Make sure to state a reason for the recipient of your voicemail message to return your call.

Tip #16: Always speak with enthusiasm when leaving your voicemail messages. You should actually smile when leaving your voicemail message since your smile will come across on the phone.

Tip #17: Always know what you want from the receiver of your voicemail message and what specific action(s) you want that person to take.

Tip #18: Always reflect the appropriate emotion in your voicemail message.

Tip #19: Never state in the message that you will plan to call them back. Again, this only gives the person an excuse to ignore your message.

Tip #20: Consider the timing of your voicemail message. Do not leave voicemail messages at odd hours of the night. Most voicemail systems offer a time stamp and the person hearing the message may immediately suspect you really did not want to talk to them. The best hours to leave voicemail messages are from 6:45 AM to 8:00 AM and from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Aggressive people are usually working during these time periods, and the person receiving your message could potentially view you as one. And make wise use of time zone changes to make as many calls as possible during the optimal voicemail periods listed in the previous tip.

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach encourages you to fully realize the benefits of strategic thinking in making you a more effective and efficient business communicator. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, ?Glenn?s Guiding Lines ? Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach? and has published more than 275 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or jgecoach@aol.com

Many parents love to giving various parenting tips. If you are a parent, you may have encountered a number of them. We have to appreciate their advice as it is based on their experience and experience do count in any advises. However, you may be confused as you could be overloaded with tons of tips and advises. The key here is to know which one is suitable for you and which one may not be suitable.

Determining Usefulness

The first step is to determine if you can or want to use a tip. Obviously, you will ruin into tips that you just do not agree with or feel are just not for you. Those you can disregard. However, more often you will likely be unsure if a tip is useful. Try the following to see if those tips are useful for you:

- Ask yourself if it seem reasonable.

- Determine is you would actually do this.

- Think about how it would work for you and your kids.

If you are still not sure if the tip is good, what you can do it give it a try and see the result.

Trial and Error

As mentioned, the next thing to do is try the tips out. See if they do work. If something doesn't work then let it go. If that tip works for your kids, put it in your list of skills.

Sometimes you can not tell if something will work unless you give it a try and there is nothing wrong with that.

Ways to Use Them

Parenting tips come in many forms and you may wonder how the heck to even use a tip. Sometimes you may feel overwhelmed. When you get a good tip try writing it down and when a good time comes up use it. You do not have to feel pressured to change your style to parenting just because they are the best parenting tips in the world. Let them happen naturally. Use them if you need them. Do not impose yourself to apply the tips as you can drive yourself nuts and perhaps for your kids too.

Parenting tips can be nice. Do not immediately write them off. Try to see if you can use them and you may be surprised at what you can learn. It is amazing sometimes just how great parenting tips can be. Just do not let the people think that you are not a good parent because of your different approach to parenting. Parenting tips are given so that they can build up your skillset.

Be a better parent today! Find out how you can be a better parent by visit Joseph's website for more Parenting Tips. Visit us here ==> http://www.parentingskill.info

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Communicate to motivate!

Table of Contents

The Importance of Good Writing

TIP #1: Be Active, Not Passive

TIP #2: Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

TIP #3: Don't Be Verbose and Run On and On and Use More Words than You Really Need to Use to Get Your Point Across

TIP #4: Skip the Big Words. Your Reader is Not Impressed

TIP #5: Shorter is Usually Sweeter

TIP #6: Structure Your Paragraphs Logically

TIP #7: Are You Sure That's the Right Word?

TIP #8: Have a Conversation

TIP #9: Say What?

TIP #10: Avoid Qualifiers

TIP #11: Get Rid of Repetitive Redundancies

The Importance of Good Writing

Does your job require you to write? Anything at all? If not, you don't need this article. However, if you're occasionally called on to write a letter to a customer, instructions for a subordinate, details on the operation of a process, a training manual, an annual report, an article for the company newsletter, or even an email to a co-worker, you'll develop a reputation as a writer.

Will that reputation be good or bad? Will people enjoy reading your work - or cringe when they get something from you? Most of the time, that will depend on your writing style. People like to read things that are easy to understand, are written in plain English, and follow a logical progression of thought. Misspelled words, grammatical errors, and poor sentence structure are all distracting to your message. This booklet is not intended to be a primer on spelling or grammar, but you can greatly improve your writing just by following 11 simple tips.

TIP #1: Be Active, Not Passive

A common error is writing in the passive voice when active voice will sound better and make more sense. Active voice is usually preferred because it makes the sentence clearer and shorter.

Instead of this: The man was bitten by the dog.

Try this: The dog bit the man.

Instead of this: A rude noise was made by the student, and the principal was called by the teacher.

Try this: The student made a rude noise, and the teacher called the principal.

TIP #2: Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

Your writing shouldn't cause your reader to scratch his head and say, "Huh?".

Instead of this: If the Internal Revenue Service finds that an individual has received a payment to which the individual was not entitled, whether or not the payment was due to the individual's fault or misrepresentation, and whether or not the payment was due to a miscalculation by the Service, or some other type of error, nevertheless, the individual shall be liable to repay to the Department of the Treasury, the total sum of the payment to which the individual was not entitled.

Try this: If the IRS overpays you, regardless of the reason, you are required to return the amount of the overpayment.

TIP #3: Don't Be Verbose and Run On and On and Use More Words Than You Really Need to Use to Get Your Point Across

Some writers seem to enjoy long sentences. The go for quantity rather than quality. In reality, it takes more talent to be concise.

Instead of this: ABC Software, Inc. today announced its early adoption and planned use and support of Microsoft's new Visual Studio for Applications (VSA) technology as a fundamental component of the platform on which ABC Software's next-generation solutions will be built. ABC Software has a strong history of providing customers with solutions adaptable to unique business needs through award winning customization tools. VSA provides important capabilities that will enable ABC Software to take customization flexibility to more advanced levels in its next generation products.

Try this: ABC Software is one of the first to adopt Microsoft's new Visual Studio Applications (VSA) technology. ABC has a history of providing customization tools that are adaptable to a wide variety of business needs. Using VSA will enable ABC to create even more advanced versions of its software.

TIP #4: Skip the Big Words. Your Reader is Not Impressed.

Some writers believe that they'll be more highly respected or appear to be smarter if they use big words. In reality, however, most people are put off by that. The writer appears to be a pompous show-off. Just say what you mean in plain English!

Instead of this - Try this:

additional - extra

advise - tell

attempt - try

commence - start

consequently - so

forward - send

individual - man or woman

initial - first

in excess of - more than

in the event of - if

numerous - many

on receipt - when we get

on request - if you ask

particulars - details

persons - people

prior to - before

regarding - about

referred to as - called

sufficient - enough

terminate - end

TIP #5: Shorter is Usually Sweeter

A good rule of thumb is to let each sentence accomplish just one thing. Too many ideas in one sentence make it confusing. Instead of stringing several ideas together, simply put each one into a separate, shorter sentence.

Instead of this: The government and financial community in The Bahamas appreciates the need for companies to operate under the laws of a jurisdiction which minimizes taxation, reporting requirements and bureaucratic intervention while providing flexibility for operation in a liberal and concessionary environment.

Try this: The government and banking community in The Bahamas recognizes that companies want to pay less taxes. Those same companies want to be free of onerous reporting requirements and bureaucratic interference. The Bahamas allows businesses to operate freely and will even provide concessions to attract them to the islands.

TIP #6: Structure Your Paragraphs Logically

It's very confusing to the reader if your thoughts jump back and forth instead of following a logical progression. From reading magazines and newspaper articles, most of your readers will expect you to start with a generality, and then continue with more detail and specific examples.

You may do this without thinking when you are speaking. You pass a friend in the hall at work who asks what you did the night before. You stop and tell her that you went to a great new restaurant where the food and service were outstanding. You tell her the name of the place, where it's located, and say, "You should check it out." By that point in the conversation, it's time to get back to work.

Later, you go out to lunch with another friend, and spend an hour together. She asks you the same question and you start your answer exactly the same way. But since you have more time, and she is truly interested, you start giving her details. You mention who you were eating with, gossip about who else you saw there, list every item on the extensive dessert menu, and describe the ambience of the place in intricate detail.

When you write something, your readers will be in a variety of locations and circumstances when they receive your communication. You want to be sure you write the most important messages at the beginning, and then go into more detail for those who have the time and interest.

TIP #7: Are You Sure That's the Right Word?

Much has been written about how confusing the English language is for those who are trying to learn it for the first time. But writers know it can also be confusing for those who have spoken and written the language their entire life! Here are 55 sets of words that writers frequently confuse - and a quick review of their proper usage:

Affect - to influence;

Effect - result

All ready - prepared;

Already - at this time

All right - satisfactory;

Alright - incorrect usage

All together - a group;

Altogether - completely

Allude - to refer to;

Elude - to evade

All Ways - by all means;

Always - forever

Any way - by any method;

Anyway - in any case;

Anyways - incorrect usage

Appraise - to estimate a value;

Apprise - to tell

Ascent - upward movement;

Assent - to agree

Assistance - help;

Assistants - helpers

Bare - naked;

Bear - carry;

Bear - animal

Beside - next to;

Besides - also

Born - brought into existence;

Borne - carried

Brake - stop;

Break - shatter

Buy - purchase;

Bye - goodbye;

By - next to

Capital - the seat of government;

Capitol - a building where a legislature meets

Compliment - praise;

Complement - to enhance or complete

Connote - to imply;

Denote - to indicate

Continual - occurs regularly;

Continuous - never stops

Correspondence - written communications;

Correspondents - people who write the communications

Desert - leave behind;

Desert - an arid land;

Dessert - after dinner course

Device - invention;

Devise - to invent

Discreet - prudent, circumspect;

Discrete - separate, distinct

Disinterested - unbiased;

Uninterested - indifferent

Elicit - to bring out;

Illicit - illegal

Except - other than;

Accept - to receive

Fair - average;

Fair - beautiful;

Fair - just;

Fare - fee for transportation

Farther - literal distance;

Further - to a greater extent

Forward - toward the front;

Foreword - introductory note

Gorilla - a large primate;

Guerrilla - non-conventional warfare

Hanged - past tense of hang (execution of a criminal);

Hung - past tense of hang (as with a picture on the wall)

Heard - past tense of "hear";

Herd - group of animals

Illusion - misperception;

Allusion - indirect reference

It's - contraction of "it is";

Its - possessive of "it"

Lead - to be out in front;

Lead - heavy metal;

Led - past tense of being out in front

Lessen - to make less;

Lesson - something learned

Overdo - to carry too far;

Overdue - past due

Passed - past tense of "pass";

Past - a time gone by

Patience - forbearance;

Patients - clients of a doctor

Peace - absence of war;

Piece - part of something

Presence - being somewhere;

Presents - gifts

Principal - head of a school;

Principal - holder of a high position in a business;

Principal - sum of money that earns interest;

Principle - a rule or standard

Raise - to lift up;

Raze - to tear down

Residence - a house;

Residents - people who live in a house

Respectfully - courteously;

Respectively - in the order mentioned

Right - correct;

Rite - religious ceremony

Sight - something seen;

Site - a place;

Cite - quote an authority

Some time - a period of time;

Sometime - at an unspecified point in time

Stationary - not moving;

Stationery - writing paper

Straight - not bent;

Strait - passageway through water

Tenant - a renter;

Tenet - strongly held belief

Their - possessive of "they";

There - not here;

They're - contraction of "they" and "are"

Waiver - give up a right;

Waver - to be indecisive

Who's - contraction of "who" and "is";

Whose - possessive of "who"

Your - possessive of "you";

You're - contraction of "you" and "are"

TIP #8: Have a Conversation

For most things that you write, an informal tone is not only appropriate, but easier to read. Unless you're writing a scholarly paper on some rare disease for your next medical convention, you should avoid the use of jargon.

Don't think of your readers first as engineers or bankers or lawyers or business executives or co-workers. Think of them first as people who have plenty to do and don't want to labor over their reading.

Good communication involves more than speaking and listening, or writing and reading. It involves clarity on the part of the writer, and understanding on the part of the reader. It involves an interaction between two or more human beings. Your writing should be as easy to read and understand as your conversation around the water cooler. And especially avoid whatever buzzwords, business jargon, and clichés are currently in vogue.

Just imagine if people talked the way some of them write. You might get a voice mail like this:

"Hey George, let's think outside the box, examine our core competencies, interface with our strategic alliances, and see if we're on the same page. I figure it's a win-win and a no-brainer. We should just touch base, and then hit the ground running. I figure if we're proactive, we'll find some great synergy. Going forward, I think this will not only be an important value proposition, but may even be mission-critical. I just wanted to give you a heads-up that it needs to be tonight, because I'm out of pocket all weekend. At the end of the day, I think we'll find we've missed some things that weren't on our radar screen. Bottom line, it's all about positioning. And remember we need to walk the walk. After all, there is no "I" in team and we need to go for result-driven empowerment. So keep me in the loop, okay?"

Wouldn't this jargon-free voice mail be easier to understand:?

"Hey George. Let's invite a couple of girls out for a date. It would have to be tonight because I'll be gone for the weekend. We've been saying we have to get out more. It'll be fun! Call me back when you get a chance, okay?"

Remember to write more like you talk.

TIP #9: Say What?

Read what you've written out loud! Sometimes that will reveal problems that you don't "hear" in your mind when you proof your own work. You may know precisely what you mean when you write the sentence, and still have it be totally misunderstood.

Sometimes the problem comes from moving your subject and verb too far apart in the sentence.

Instead of this: President Bush wrote his State of the Union address while traveling from Washington to Omaha on the back of a menu.

Try this: President Bush wrote his State of the Union address on the back of a menu while traveling from Washington to Omaha.

Instead of this: Dr. Smith has been writing a treatise on the history of diabetes research since the early 1900s.

Try this: Dr. Smith has been writing a treatise. It discusses the history of diabetes since the early 1900s.

TIP #10: Avoid Qualifiers

Your writing will typically be stronger if you avoid certain qualifiers. No, that's not right. Your writing is stronger when you avoid certain qualifiers. Do you see the difference when the word "typically" is removed from the previous sentence?

"Typically" is one of dozens of qualifiers that people use both in their writing and speaking. Other examples are "possibly", "nearly", "approximately", "likely", "sort of", "maybe", "try to", "believed to be", "should be", "usually", "most", "sometimes", "occasionally", "I think", "perhaps", "roughly", and "generally".

The use of too many qualifiers in your writing will make you sound unsure of yourself, or worse yet - evasive.

Instead of this: The food was somewhat tasteless.

Try this: The food was tasteless. or The food was bland.

Instead of this: It was a fairly hot day.

Try this: It was a hot day.

TIP #11: Get rid of repetitive redundancies

A redundancy is unnecessarily using two or more words that mean the same thing - like repetitive redundancies. The second word is excessive and superfluous. Here are some examples of redundancies to avoid:

o small in size

o I thought to myself

o all-time record

o money-saving coupon

o join together

o merge together

o young child

o unexpected surprise

o hollow tube

o academic scholar

o past history

o honest truth

o close proximity

o previously recorded

o mental telepathy

o refer back

o added bonus

o bare naked

o consensus of opinion

o hot water heater

o it's raining outside

o passing fad

o surrounded on all sides

o unsolved mystery

o puppy dog

These few tips probably won't win you a Pulitzer Prize or get you elected President, but hopefully you've learned enough to make your next writing assignment easier and more enjoyable...for you AND the reader!

©2005, Daniel P. Stuenzi, All Rights Reserved

Dan Stuenzi is a freelance marketing copywriter from Omaha, Nebraska. For a free monthly Business & Marketing E-newsletter, visit his website at http://www.wordsmithusa.com

Do you think that your choice in tips is the right choice or simply politically correct? What I mean by politically correct is, is your choice in tips controlled by the opinion of your peers or some professional player that you know, or is it based on fact? By the end of this article you should be able to answer this question for youself.

## What are the differences in pool cue tips? ##

As you probably already know, you have everything from very soft singlepiece animal skin tips from various types of animals (elk, cow, water buffalo and cape buffalo) to very hard single piece animal skins. There is also the laminated tips ranging anywhere from three to fifteen layers. The laminated tips also range from soft to extremely hard using various animal skins and tannages. The end result is a myriad of confusing choices. I would like to unmuddy the water for you somewhat. All of these variables can impact power, accuracy, and your sight picture.

First let's assume that you already know that the shape or radius of the tip is of utmost importance and must be maintained at all times during gameplay. That very important shape that I just mentioned is the radius of a dime (roughly) or a "0.375" radius. In other words, hold a dime edgewise up to your tip and look over the top... If it does not match the shape or radius of a dime on the top of your tip, you've already got a problem.

When the ball is struck by the tip, the portion of the tip that takes the force is no more than an eighth of an inch offcenter in all directions. This is true regardless of whether you've struck the cue ball a sixteenth off center, or a full tip off center. What this radius does is generate the force, regardless of where it is struck, to the center of the tip and down through the center of your cue. Soft tips create more distortion than harder tips. In otherwords, a larger area of the tip makes contact and wraps around the cue ball in the case of a soft tip.

This may give you more tip confidence, particularily if you're a beginner, because you will miscue less, despite having a sloppy stroke; but, the price you will pay is less power and a whole lot more deflection of the cue ball, because you have moved all of the tip to one side of the cue ball with virtually no penetration. On the other hand, a hard tip will focus the energy in a much smaller area at impact and will give you a higher degree of penetration. When I speak of penetration, I mean the force being directed to the cue ball by virtue of the direction the cue is being swung or pointed and that force penetrates the cue ball in the direction that the shaft or cue is being driven. As an added bonus, a harder tip lasts longer.

## What about miscueing with hard cue tips? ##

The simple fact of the matter is, that the small, glasslike particles of chalk, which cause the friction, are held higher up on the surface on a hard tip so that they will penetrate deeper into the surface of the cueball at impact. A soft tip allows more particles to come into contact because of it's increased tip surface at impact; however, though there be more particles in contact with the cue ball, it does not penetrate the cue ball as deeply and therefore creates less friction per particle. Bottomline: You have the choice of either more particles penetrating less or fewer particles penetrating more... The net total friction is about a trade-off. Whether the tip you choose is one single piece of hide or laminated multipe pieces of hide, the key issue is the more penetration means more accuracy, more power, and tremendously less cue ball deflection and negative effects on your sight picture. As a side note: You've probably noticed, if you've played much, that a tip plays its best just before it has to be changed. This is because it has been pounded enough through constant play to make the tip more dense (harder in all areas).

## What does Meucci Originals do with this information? ##

After testing every tip on the market, and measuring it's resultant power and deflection variation, we have found that a hard tip with even harder outside edges around the circumference will perform the best. Harder outside edges so that the energy is directed into the cue will be focused more towards the center of the shaft, while at the same time keeping the outside walls of the tip from breaking down. There is only two ways to get this result: 1. A hard water buffalo tip. or 2. To compress the tip of your choice as hard as you can, then shape to a dime radius and then pound the outside edges to further harden the circumference and reshape that area to be once again a dime radius.

We take both the latter and former choice at Meucci Originals with the well-known Le Professional tips or hard water buffalo tips. I hope I haven't caused you even more confusion. I think the choice should now be simple: your choice should be made according to knowledge and experience instead of the fashion of the day.

Bob Meucci is the owner of a pool cue manufacturing company. More information (including pricing on tips) can be found at Budget Billiards cue tips page.

Horse racing handicapping is a thoughtful process filled with comparisons. But betting on horses may not be the same thoughtful process. People bet on horses for all kinds of reasons, the least of which are tips. Free tips are usually worth exactly what you pay for them. There are no shortage of tips floating through the air on any given day at any given race track.

As I recently walked through the grandstand and stood by the saddling ring I overheard one person telling how he had gotten a call from a relative in New York with a tip on the race we were about to watch. This seemed interesting since the race was in Florida. The tip turned out to be a stinker and the horse is still probably running.

But while I was craning my head to get my ear closer to the tip giver, I also saw a jockey very cleverly hold up three fingers as he adjusted his chin strap. The gesture was addressed to the couple standing to my left and probably wasn't noticed by anyone but me and them. I had no clear cut picture of how the race would shape up and feeling adventurous, I placed a whole $2 bet on the nose of the 3.

The race was exciting and the 3 mounted a furious come from behind charge down the stretch and did indeed win the race, paying $27 for my measly $2 investment. You are probably thinking, "If only he'd bet a $100!" I have to admit, I thought the same thing, briefly, but life around the track has taught me a few things and one of them is that tips, even tips from jockeys, usually don't pay off.

The trouble with tips is that they are usually only about one horse and there are other horses in the race. As good as the horse may appear to the trainer, exercise rider, jockey, groom, stable cat or wherever the tip comes from, that is still only information about one runner. You need to know about all the runners. My tip is to stick with a good system and only bet a tip when you are looking for some adventure in life, though, let's face it, using a good system and making a profit from horse racing is quite an adventure in itself.

Another tip is not to make any large bets on tips. Consider the motive of the person who is giving the tip and where he or she got the information. For instance, suppose you have a horse that is going to be the favorite in a race and you want to bet on it and make some money, but the problem is that the odds are going to be quite low so your investment won't pay very well. What is the best way to get the odds up on your horse? You guessed it, start circulating tips about the other horses in the race.

I've been around horse racing most of my life and have met some fine people on the backstretch. Most people who are involved in horse racing like most people you meet anywhere are decent hardworking folks, but just as in any area in life there are a few characters who try to get an edge. The same can be true of Wall Street or any other place where money changes hands.

So take every tip with a grain of salt and bet lightly. It may be worth $2 just for the adventure and the fun of telling the story, like my $27 winner and the three fingers.

The most consistent horse racing systems have to have the basics and a handicapper must understand the basics. I have been around horse racing for 50 years including as an owner. Without the basics the rest is not going to do any good. If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to True handicapping and get the truth.

Bill Peterson is a former horse race owner and professional handicapper. He comes from a horse race handicapping family and as he puts it, "Horse Racing is in my blood." To see all Bill's horse racing material go to Bill's handicapping store.

To gamble is to risk but there are options to help cut back the risk.

Set your limit

First and foremost important is to remember, gambling is for fun! Do not gamble if you cannot afford to lose. Have a specific amount set aside for gambling and stick to it. Don't borrow money to gamble and don't ever go past your set limit.

Take Frequent breaks.

Don't attempt to play at a casino if you are under stress, depressed or troubled in any way. All distractions can cause you to lose your concentration and obviously result in losses you may not incur otherwise. Bright lights and loud noises are created to the casinos benefit. If you are gambling online, ensure that you are not going to be distracted and if you are, stop play until another time.

Slots Tips

Tip #1. Always play the max coin amount on progressive slots. It is best to play max regardless of whether the slot is progressive or not but how painful would it be to hit a jackpot on less than max bet?

Tip #2. Know the payout schedule before sitting down at a slot machine. Just like in poker, knowledge of the odds and payouts is crucial to developing a good strategy.

Tip #3. If you are not having luck at a particular machine, then move on to another one. Don't play it all night, hoping for it to finally pay off.

Tip #4. Always ensure your bet registers in the machine prior to pulling the bar or hitting spin, you will not be given the max coin winnings if the machine doesn't record a max coin bet being placed.

Tip #5. Never leave your machine until you are done playing. There is no worse feeling that someone taking the machine you were playing at because you went for a drink or to use the restroom. Make sure you take care of personal business prior to choosing your slot. There are waitresses for drinks.

Blackjack Tips

Tip #1 The most obvious is to ensure you know the rules of blackjack. It is always a good idea to have a strategy when you play blackjack. All winning systems are based on a basic strategy which consists of statistically speaking, there exists only one best action a player can take for each of the possible hands he can receive versus each possible upcard the dealer may have.

Tip #2 Learn about the house rules of each casino, the better the house rules, the more money you can expect to win in the long run. And yes, house rules do vary between casinos.

Tip #3 Learn the proper way to use your bankroll. There are statistically proven methods to keep control of your balance and the amount of bet you should place based on your total bankroll.

Tip #4Never drink alcohol when you are playing and always leave the game once you start to feel fatigued. You may start to make mistakes that you won't even notice.

Poker Tips

Tip #1 The best tip for poker playing is to read up on the game play, the variants of the game and ensure you know the rules of the game.

Tip #2 When you first start, it is a good idea to sit out and watch the other players prior to starting your game. Watch how they bet and how much they bet.

Tip #3 As you advance as a player, learn how to bluff. You must know the game well and bluff only when you feel secure that the other players will not call your bluff.

Tip #4 It is also a good idea to try to play against less skillfull opponents. Obviously, you will have a better chance at the game if you have more knowledge and experience.

Tip #5 Most important is what many of us have heard before, "Know when to hold 'em and when to fold "em". Mistakes are made quite often in poker when players want to stick it out with hands that have no value. That is a guaranteed loss. And stick with the no alcohol while playing rule.

Video Poker Tips

Tip #1 Just as with poker, you must know the game of video poker. There is a wide variant of video poker games, with each having a different set of winning card combinations. It is a good idea to pay attention to whether or not a machine uses one 52-deck of cards or more than one. The more cards there are, the less likely the player will win.

Tip #2 There is no such thing as a loose or tight video poker machine. They do not operate on reels like a slot machine, each card has an equal chance of showing up on any hand.

Tip #3 Always play the maximum number of credits allowed on progressive video poker, if you hit a royal flush, you will want that jackpot.

Tip #4 Until you are a master player, play at the lowest coin denomination amount possible. This will give you more cash to play on and learn as you go.

Tip #5 It can be very helpful to play a handheld video poker game (like you can get at any store with board games), this will also give you experience and a good knowledge of how the games will play.

The most important of all with all games- HAVE FUN!

Source: http://www.cash2c.com