commerce

Adjusting Sales Strategies for E-Commerce 2011

2011-01-19T15:52:00.001-08:00

By Shaun Ryan
E-Commerce Times
01/15/11 5:00 AM PT

If you haven't already, take the time to review the on-site technologies you currently have in your arsenal, and work to guarantee they are searchable and able to exchange data. Doing so will help you maximize the value of each of your technology investments and ensure they are working for you to drive business success in 2011.

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As e-commerce marketers set or adjust their strategies for 2011, there are some important trends and developments to pay attention to that can help capture new revenue streams and strengthen brand awareness this year and beyond.

For many retailers, selling online is a critical component of their business, but they also have other channels to manage. For those businesses, the coming year will bring an increasing focus on the Internet and mobile technologies, not only to influence online sales, but also to affect sales that happen through other channels.
In 2009, Forrester found that 42 percent of all retail purchases, worth $917 billion, were influenced by the Web in some way. By 2014, that figure is likely to jump to 53 percent. Even catalogs, long thought to have gone the way of dinosaurs, are proving to influence online sales. People like to flip through catalog pages and then purchase the item they are interested in online.

by : http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/71658.html

Keep Branding Consistent

The key to effectively combining the online and offline shopping experience is to ensure consistence of brand across all channels and to offer an intuitive method of "discovery" that allows consumers to quickly find the products they are looking to buy. Site search obviously plays a critical role here.
Some businesses are taking this combination to the next level by allowing customers to make purchases online and redeem them offline -- think services like Groupon or OpenTable. This provides the unique ability to track offline sales and sales drivers as in the world of e-commerce.
Another interesting tactic retailers are using is bringing an online component into their offline stores. CompUSA, for example, has developed kiosks in its stores that shoppers can use to search for product information and availability in real-time to prompt an in-store purchase.
Many multichannel retailers are also providing better mobile site functionality to enable consumers to search for products online while physically in stores to do price comparisons, get consumer reviews and other information to help inform their purchases.

Understand Your M-Commerce Customers

While talk of m-commerce may be reaching the saturation point, it continues to be an important growth opportunity for companies selling products online. The influence of mobile on the retail market is expected to increase exponentially in coming years; as it becomes more mainstream, e-tailers that are slow in optimizing their websites for mobile visitors risk damaging their brands and harming customer relationships, as well as missing a significant sales opportunity.
For those embarking on an m-commerce strategy this year, understanding how customers interact with a mobile site is essential. For example, search plays a critical role, so it should be a focal point.
Without fast and relevant site search, m-commerce sites will fail to create an experience that encourages visitors to shop and buy with their phones and other Web-enabled devices.
Additionally, user ratings and reviews are important, as many people use mobile devices to research products -- possibly while standing in a physical store . But don't just take it from me. Consider surveying your customers to determine how many of them view your site from a mobile device and what they expect from the mobile experience.

Combine Data Sources

Despite the opportunities that exist to combine typically siloed efforts (e.g., email marketing, site search, video and social media) to significantly increase their benefit, many e-commerce companies aren't doing this.
Data gleaned from multiple on-site technologies can be used to more successfully recruit customers and maintain loyalty within your current customer base, as well as measure the effectiveness of campaigns, conduct keyword research and better understand online behaviors.
For example, integrating user reviews with site search can provide you with another important navigation tool for your online shoppers: the ability to search for products by how they are rated, as well as how they are reviewed. Data gleaned from combining applications can also be used to better target other activities, such as paid advertising and even promotional offers.
Social media is another important example of how, by combining data sources, you can more effectively extend your influence. Many retailers have a Facebook page, a Twitter feed or even a YouTube channel to help build a community and promote special offers.
Adding content from these social sources to site search results lets visitors who are searching for specific content on your site also see related social media posts within the search results, encouraging them to click through to various pages. This provides additional content to help your customers make their purchasing decisions, and share their shopping experience with friends and family.
If you haven't already, take the time to review the on-site technologies you currently have in your arsenal, and work to guarantee they are searchable and able to exchange data. Doing so will help you maximize the value of each of your technology investments and ensure they are working for you to drive business success in 2011.
As you embark on a new year filled with strategies designed to help capture more sales, be sure to take a closer look at some of the emerging market trends. Addressing these trends early can help you to compete more effectively, build your brand, solidify even greater customer loyalty, and ultimately increase sales.

Groupon CEO Apologizes for Bungling Japanese Holiday Meal Promotion

2011-01-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

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By Rob Spiegel
E-Commerce Times
01/17/11 12:55 PM PT

Groupon took a novel approach to solving a problem that cropped up with its service in Japan. Instead of attempting to deny, distract from or otherwise minimize its offense, Groupon's CEO publicly admitted that it had performed poorly, apologized, made restitution, and told its customers what the company would do to make sure the same thing wouldn't happen again.

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Rob Spiegel, E-Commerce Times Sometimes it's best to say you're sorry. Groupon's CEO, Andrew Mason, released a subtitled video on YouTube apologizing for problems Japanese customers experienced during a New Year's promotion. Groupon's deal-of-the-day site offers promotions and discounts to local markets. The company emphasizes social networking by encouraging consumers to share with friends.

The sharing didn't turn out so well in Japan. Groupon expanded into Japan last year in August when it bought Qpod. The problem came with a promotion for the hard-to-prepare, traditional New Year's meal, "osechi." Groupon's partner, The Bird Cafe, promoted the meals for 10,500 yen. (US$127) Many customers were left unsatisfied with late delivery times and poorly prepared meals. Customers loaded the disaster pictures online.
In territories where Groupon is well established, the company works with businesses to set a limit on the number of promotions so the partnering company will not get overwhelmed. In Japan, Groupon has not fully implemented this system. Groupon capped the Bird Cafe at 500 customers, but the cafe still got overwhelmed.

Groupon is using the video apology in an attempt to rebuild its image in Japan. The company has also issued refunds of 5,000 yen, about half the purchase price. The snafu is not surprising, given Groupon's steep growth curve. Something was bound to pop. The sharp growth will likely continue, given Groupon's recent investment take of $950 million.

Exception to the Norm

Groupon insists this Japanese situation is small compared to its vast number of successful promotions.
"Groupon has worked with more than 50,000 merchants in the past year," company spokesperson Julie Anne Mossle told the E-Commerce Times. "This experience was definitely the exception and not the norm. In addition to the apology, and the gifts, letters and refunds we proactively issued, it was important to connect Andrew with the people of Japan to demonstrate the level of respect he and we have for the country."
Groupon erred by taking its partner's word on the volume it could handle for the promotion.
"Unfortunately, if a business says they are able to support X amount of customers, it's difficult for us to push back on that," Mossler said. "In this case, we did and insisted on a cap of 500, which ultimately was still too high."
Groupon provides tools to its numerous local partners to help them implement a Groupon promotion. The company is working with its international branches to streamline the strategies.
"We find that the businesses who do the best on Groupon are those who take full advantage of our merchant services tools," said Mossler. "We're working closely with the international teams to make sure the best practices are widely implemented. If there's a way to help other countries avoid some of the growing pains we had in the United States when we were just beginning, we'll do everything in our power to do that."

Expanding Across Borders Can Be Rough

Groupon may have tripped on its own growth curve.
"Groupon has been on a rocket ride," Carl Howe, director of anywhere consumer research at the Yankee Group, told the E-Commerce Times.
"It's always tricky to go into new countries. Each country has different societal and consumer behaviors," he pointed out. "This happens a lot to companies. They go into a new country and make mistakes. You just have to learn and move on. The tricky part is to not assume that what worked in one country will work in another country."
Groupon hopes to connect with the Japanese people and gain acceptance through the YouTube apology, which is personal and respectful.
"The YouTube apology is actually very clever," said Howe. "Will it work? We don't know. But it's a nice try."

by : http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/71664.html

Apple Reaches New Altitudes

2011-01-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

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By Richard Adhikari
MacNewsWorld
Part of the ECT News Network
01/19/11 9:00 AM PT

The holiday season was especially kind to Apple, judging from the figures the company revealed about its first fiscal quarter for 2011. Revenues hit a record $26.7 billion, while net profit reached $6 billion. COO Tim Cook remarked that the smartphone market is "growing like a weed" and that the company was unable to meet demand for the iPhone 4.

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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) chalked up yet another blowout quarter for its fiscal Q1 of 2011, which covered last year's holiday selling season. The months of November and December are typically very strong ones for the company, but this time, Cupertino exceeded analysts' wildest expectations.

Revenues for the quarter ended Dec. 25 hit a new record, totaling US$26.7 billion. This was more than $11 billion, or 70 percent, above the roughly $15.7 billion chalked up during the same period last year.
Net quarterly profits also hit a new high of $6 billion. This was over $2.6 billion, or nearly 78 percent, more than the $3.38 billion figure Apple posted for the year-ago period.
International sales accounted for 62 percent of the revenue, up from 58 percent in the December 2010 quarter.
However, gross margins fell slightly, from nearly 41 percent to 38.5 percent.
The company generated $9.8 billion in cash during the December quarter, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said.
Strong sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs fueled the record quarter, he stated. Apple sold more than 4 million Macs, a growth of 20 percent year over year.
Apple sold 16.2 million iPhones in the December quarter, compared to 8.7 million in the same period last year, Oppenheimer said. During the quarter, Apple sold 7.3 million iPads, over 3 million more than in the previous quarter, he remarked.
Oppenheimer's guidance for the next quarter was conservative, as it usually is. Apple expects revenues of about $22 billion and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of about $4.90, which is $2.76, or about 43 percent, lower than the $6.43 EPS Apple chalked up in the December quarter.
However, analysts will likely take into account Apple's penchant for understated guidance.

Got to Admit It's Getting Better

Apple remains the best technology company on the planet with numerous opportunities on the horizon, including a CDMA iPhone, the forthcoming iPad 2 and other items in the pipeline, Gleacher analyst Brian Marshall said in a note to investors Tuesday after the Apple earnings call.
He maintained his buy rating on the company's shares, which seems to indicate he's expecting it to perform well in the forthcoming quarter.
Statements by Oppenheimer and Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook during the question and answer session after the earnings report was presented also contradicted Oppenheimer's conservative guidance.
"We're in some great markets, some fast-moving markets," Cook stated. "We have the best products we've ever done and a great product pipeline."
Apple has grown Mac sales for 19 straight quarters but "we still have a very low share of the overall PC market," Cook said. Further, the company has a "relatively low share" of the handset market, which he said is worth more than $1 billion a year.
"The smartphone market is growing like a weed," Cook added. "We have considerable momentum here, and we're growing at an incredible pace."

Growth Is All Relative

Oppenheimer said the demand for iPhones has been "incredible" and Apple "couldn't make enough iPhones in the quarter."
Apple expects demand for the smartphone to grow. Adding Verizon Wireless as a carrier in the United States will probably boost demand for the iPhone 4 even further, Cook suggested.
"We are thrilled to offer the iPhone 4 to Verizon's 93 million customers as well as to any other customers who want it on Verizon," Cook said.

Solving the iPhone Supply Logjam

Apple was unable to meet the demand for the iPhone 4 in the December quarter and still has "a significant backlog," Cook stated. He declined to state when that would be cleared up.
Demand for the iPhone 4 is pretty robust, and it will only pick up further as more carriers in more countries, such as China, pick up the device, Harry Wang, a director at Parks Associates, told MacNewsWorld.
That could exacerbate the backlog.
Part of the reason for the backlog is problems with suppliers, Wang said.
"In terms of components -- screens, and maybe the chipset -- there are problems," Wang elaborated. "There could be a bottleneck in supplies of microcontrollers."
That might lead Apple to expand its capacity in the next two to three months, and Wang expects the bottleneck to ease toward the end of the first calendar quarter of this year.

Rocking With the iPad

Apple also has ambitious plans for the iPad.
Cook said the device was in 46 countries by the end of the December quarter, and "we're confident to add another 15 countries by the end of January."
Over 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies are deploying the iPad or adding it to their list of approved devices, Oppenheimer said.
The iPad will continue to dominate the tablet space this year despite facing "much more formidable competition" than it did in 2010, Rhoda Alexander, a director at IHS iSuppli, told MacNewsWorld.
That challenge will largely come from tablets running Honeycomb, which is the nickname for version 3.0 of Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android operating system, Alexander said.
Still, it'll be "a case of everyone else playing catch-up, and everybody else will still be distant seconds," Alexander said.
Apple's strength will lie in its apps, where it "has a significant lead in the field," Alexander stated.

Comcast OK With Feds' Conditions for NBC Merger

2011-01-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

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By Erika Morphy
E-Commerce Times
01/19/11 10:35 AM PT

Comcast seems sanguine about the requirements federal regulators imposed on its merger with NBC Universal, but critics are lining up to decry them for going too far or not far enough. Comcast will be hard put to monetize its assets, suggested Ryan Radia of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. It will be difficult for independent content creators to compete, argued Jonathan Askin of the Brooklyn Law School.

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After a year-long review, the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice have approved Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSK) proposed merger with NBC Universal -- but only if a variety of conditions are met. Chief among them is that Comcast must give up management control of the video website Hulu.

The merger will create a new media force that touches not only television and movie content, but also the way it's delivered. At bottom, it positions Comcast as the nation's largest cable and broadband company.
Under terms of the US$13.75 billion deal, Comcast will acquire control of NBC Universal from General Electric (NYSE: GE). It will own 51 percent of a company it will create from NBC Universal's media assets, which include TV and movie content. GE will hold 49 percent. The deal will close by the end of January.
Consumers also come out as winners in the deal, John Flynn, senior counsel to the chairman for transactions at the FCC, told the E-Commerce Times.
For example, "there is the extending programming for Spanish-speaking viewers and children," he said. "There is also expanded access to broadband for rural areas of the country and underserved communities."

Bye Bye Hulu

A key concern for regulators was Comcast's involvement in the management of Hulu, an online video site co-owned by News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWS), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and NBC Universal. It has become wildly popular in the last few years and recently has shown signs of branching into its own content, with the debut of a five-minute original entertainment news recap.
The FCC and Justice are requiring that Comcast give up NBC Universal's management rights to the site. Essentially, it will still be a part owner, but it will not have any voting rights or representation on the board of directors.
"We and the Department of Justice did not want Comcast to be able to thwart competition from Hulu," Flynn explained.
Comcast also will not be able to restrict NBC programming or its regional sports networks from competitors' networks in many cases. It must also set aside channels for independent programmers and keep NBC programming free on over-the-air TV stations.
In addition, the government is requiring that Comcast make NBC Universal programs available to third-party streaming services outside of Hulu.
Finally, Comcast is required to make stand-alone broadband service available at $49.95 per month for three years -- meaning consumers cannot be forced to buy a cable and broadband bundle.
These conditions will remain in place for seven years, a longer period than typically applies to such deals.
Comcast and the Department of Justice did not respond to the E-Commerce Times' calls in time for publication.
The conditions Comcast accepted are consistent with the way it intended to conduct the Comcast and NBC Universal businesses and will not prevent it from executing its business plans or impair the competitiveness of any of its businesses, said David L. Cohen, Comcast's EVP in public policy, in a blog post outlining the deal.

A Tighter Squeeze

Some industry watchers have expressed disappointment at the extent of the conditions the government imposed.
"These conditions don't increase consumer welfare and are more onerous than what regulators typically require," Ryan Radia, an analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the E-Commerce Times.
The restrictions are particularly burdensome given that the online video market is highly competitive and rapidly evolving, he continued, and subjecting Comcast to them while its competitors are free to innovate is not fair.
The requirement that Comcast treat its own video content on par with competing video sources is one example. "One of the benefits of a deal like this is that it gives a company new opportunities to monetize assets," Radia pointed out. "In this case, Comcast will find it difficult to do so."
The requirements also impose Net neutrality, Radia said.
At the end of last year, the FCC did put in place a Net neutrality order that applies to all firms, but there is a good chance it will be struck down, he noted. However Comcast will still be subject to it under this agreement.

Too Powerful

On the other end of the spectrum is Professor Jonathan Askin with the Brooklyn Law School, who believes that despite the requirements, the merger consolidates media distribution and content control to such a degree that it will be very difficult for an independent content creator to compete on a level playing field.
"The FCC and DoJ conditions are a short-term prophylactic, but in the long run, without eternal vigilance by a committed regulator, they will probably prove to be relatively meaningless patches," he told the E-Commerce Times.
Imposing merger conditions has increasingly become a tool by which the government can promote public policy objectives, Askin continued, but they typically are of short duration and do not affect parties beyond the merging entities.
"It certainly would be better for government overseers to craft broader, systemic policy reform that would apply equally to all similarly situated players rather than having to resort to 'piecemeal regulation by merger condition,' which essentially creates an unsustainable patchwork of inconsistent behavior, expectations and policy," he explained.
FCC's Flynn, not surprisingly, disagreed. "We think we have struck the right balance. The fact that some people thought the conditions didn't go far enough and some thought they went too far shows, hopefully, that we succeeded."

Amazon's Beanstalk Eases Climb to the Cloud

2011-01-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Amazon's Beanstalk Eases Climb to the Cloud

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By Rob Spiegel
E-Commerce Times
01/19/11 2:13 PM PT

Amazon has come up with an automated system to manage a broad range of cloud computing services, removing a major obstacle for companies that don't have the IT resources to handle deployment and maintenance issues. "This is a pretty smart move on Amazon's part and builds on their rapidly growing -- and effective -- suite of IT services," said technology project manager and Geek 2.0 blogger Steven Savage.

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Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) wants to make your cloud computing simple. The company announced Elastic Beanstalk on Wednesday. The application makes it easier to use Amazon's cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The new application lets developers quickly deploy and manage Web services such as storage, computing clusters, application health monitoring, load balancing and auto-scaling. The service is free for those using paid products such as EC2, S3, RDS and VPC.
Elastic Beanstalk helps developers simplify and automate applications while still retaining total control. Amazon notes Beanstalk is the first of several versions in the works. The current one supports Java with Apache Tomcat and Eclipse tools. Amazon plans to expand the tools with additional languages and application environments.
Amazon did not respond to the E-Commerce Times' request for comments by press time.

Don't Know Much about AWS

As part of the simplification, developers no longer need to be familiar with AWS in order to run applications on AWS technologies.
"Elastic Beanstalk is easy to begin and impossible to outgrow," Adam Selipsky, vice president of Amazon Web services, said in making the Elastic Beanstalk announcement.
"It automatically scales up or down as needed," he added, "and developers don't need to worry about the configuration required to set up their infrastructure on AWS."

The Smarts Are With Amazon

Amazon has plenty of IT oomph. This is the power that lets Amazon handle mega traffic during December with no threat of crackups.
"This is a pretty smart move on Amazon's part and builds on their rapidly growing -- and effective -- suite of IT services," technology project manager and Geek 2.0 blogger Steven Savage told the E-Commerce Times.
Beanstalk's ease of use "will increase buy-in and customer satisfaction, and it will probably decrease the time that their personnel have to spend on support. It also sounds like Amazon has planned future expansion to support more languages."
Not much fanfare has been made over Amazon using its computing power to match the wants of the marketplace, though the company is providing a significant cloud offering. In fact, Amazon expects paid services to overtake product sales at some point in the future.
"Amazon's expansion into the service realm for IT has been successful and well done," said Savage, "though it's been oddly overlooked by much of the media. Clearly, Amazon gets the truth -- outsourced IT services and cloud computing are the wave of the future, and Amazon wants to provide it. They have over 15 years of experience with their own, rapidly expanding IT needs and customer base, and are ideally suited to provide services in this space."
The timing is right for Amazon, as cloud computing has become the rage.
"I am a strong believer that Corporate IT is going away," said Savage. "It's simpler to outsource, get off-the-shelf, use mobile, and use existing services. I've seen IT-light companies function effectively."

The IT Future Looks Cloudy

Amazon saw the cloud computing future and hopped aboard.
"Amazon was clearly one of the first to market to the cloud platforms game," said Al Hilwa, IDC program director, applications development software.
"Their services are popular with developers. However, the Java and Ruby cloud market is definitely getting more love these days with players such as VMware's (NYSE: VMW) SpringSource and their Hyperic provisioning and deployment technology, and now with the Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Heroku acquisition," he told the E-Commerce Times.
The Elastic Beanstalk is an easy in for new users, while still offering advanced features.
"This announcement by Amazon delivers some capabilities in the Amazon cloud that others have talked about," said Hilwa. "Amazon's partners like JBoss and EngineYard are also competing with the above players, though relying on Amazon for much of their infrastructure and application platform offerings capabilities."

by:http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Amazons-Beanstalk-Eases-Climb-to-the-Cloud-71683.html

EBay stock pops 5% on strong sales

2011-01-19T15:45:00.001-08:00

EBay stock pops 5% on strong sales

Click the chart for more on eBay shares. By Julianne Pepitone, staff reporterJanuary 19, 2011: 5:59 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- John Donahoe took the helm at eBay at the start of 2008, just as the company unveiled a slew of changes to the decade-old online marketplace. A major revamp of eBay's fee structure and feedback policy was meant to shore up market share, but veteran sellers were furious and threatened revolt.
The company has clawed its way back up since those torrid times. On Wednesday, the San Jose, Calif., e-commerce giant reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations and raised its outlook for the year.

PayPal and mobile especially helped the company during last quarter's holiday season.
EBay said its fourth-quarter revenue rose 5% over the prior year, to $2.5 billion. Net income rose to 42 cents a share, or $559.2 million. EBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) shares rose 5% in after-hours trading.
PayPal and mobile payments shine: Online payment service PayPal ended the fourth quarter with 94.4 million active registered accounts and is adding about 1 million active accounts per month.
PayPal's "net total payment volume" was $26.9 billion last quarter. The biggest growth came in mobile: For the full year, the volume of PayPal mobile payments increased to a whopping five times 2009's total.
Those figures weren't broken out, but eBay said its "portfolio of mobile applications" were popular with holiday shoppers. The company's overall mobile gross merchandise volume -- the total of stuff it sold to those shopping on their smartphones and other gadgets -- was almost $2 billion for the full year.
Europe was another bright spot, Donahoe noted in a conference call with analysts. But he's not as pleased with domestic figures.
"We're on a good trajectory, but I'm not totally satisfied with where we are in the U.S.," Donahoe said on the call.
Who's selling and for how much: The number of active eBay users rose 5% over the year to 94.5 million.
Another widely watched metric is eBay's gross merchandise volume (GMV), which is the total value of items auctioned. Excluding vehicles, GMV for the fourth quarter was $15 billion.
EBay has come a long way from 2008. The company's stock took a dive in the first months of Donahoe's tenure, as the site's core sellers spearheaded protests, including a week-long boycott -- and many jumped ship, moving their online storefronts to other sites like Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500).
The fee changes reduced some upfront costs but raised the commission eBay takes on completed sales. That hike was painful for small businesses that depend on meager profit margins.
Even more incendiary, though, was the site's decision to block sellers from leaving negative feedback about buyers. EBay's feedback system had been a two-way street, which helped the site differentiate itself from early competitors. Sellers were not happy to be silenced.
That lingering bitterness turned eBay from a site with a strong user community into a more generic sales platform.
But the changes did eventually pay off on the bottom line. For 2010, eBay's full-year revenue hit a record $9.2 billion -- up 21% from the $7.7 billion it had in 2007.

by:http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/19/technology/ebay_earnings/index.htm

La croissance de complexe cranio_faciale

2010-12-31T00:35:00.000-08:00

La croissance de complexe cranio_faciale

Selon les travaux de BROADBENT la face dans son ensemble se déplace en bas en avant, suivant une direction générale qui part de centre de la celle turcique jusqu’au point gnathion (situe au niveau de la symphyse mentonnière).
Les principaux plans qui sont à la base de ces travaux sont les suivant : plan nasal, plan occlusal, plan mandibulaire. Ces plans se déplaçant parallèlement entre eux.
La croissance de la face dans le sens transversal :
La face se déplace pendant les premières années de la vie dans le sens transversal en plus grande proportion que le sens vertical.
La distance nasion-menton représente à la naissance 70% de la distance bizygomatique puis 80% à 5 ans et enfin 87% à l’age adulte. La largeur de la face garde la même proportion avec sa profondeur, la largeur canine atteint son maximum vers l’age de 9 ans
La croissance de la face dans le sens antéropostérieur ou sens sagittal :
D’après les auteurs, il y a une indépendance de développement entre le maxillaire supérieur et la mandibule dans l’espace, dans le temps et en quantité. Le maxillaire supérieur aura tendance à ce déplacer en bas et en haut, alors que la mandibule va faire son déplacement en bas et en avant. L’harmonie entre les deux bases va se réaliser grâce à la croissance de rattrapage des procès alvéolaire, il y aura réajustement des proportions : et harmonisation des 2 pièces squelettiques.
Rappelons que le nouveau né présente toujours une rétromandibulie et grâce à la fertilité de la croissance mandibulaire par rapport à celle du maxillaire supérieur le profil devient plus harmonieux.
La croissance de la base du crâne :
La base du crâne comprend : l’ethmoïde, sphénoïde, l’occipital et une partie du frontal et une partie du temporal.
a- accroissement en longueur : dans le sens sagittal ou antéropostérieur (revoir le schéma des sutures). La majeur partie de la croissance dans se sens se fait avant la naissance, et juste après celle ci la plupart des sutures vont se fermer, seule la synchondrose sphéno-occipitale et la septa-ethmoidal sont active jusqu’à l’age adulte des phénomènes de remodelage s’observe quelque peu, permettant la formation des arcades sourcilière, orbitaire et des sinus frontaux.
b- Accroissement en largeur : il se fait grâce aux sutures orientées dans le sens de la largeur et principalement avant la naissance celle-ci se forme très taux, 3 ans à partir de la naissance ne subsistera que des phénomènes de remodelage.
L’accroissement du complexe NASO-MAXILLAIRE :
Le complexe naso-maxillaire comprend 5 os : c’est le maxillaire supérieur, os palatin, malaire, les os propre du nez et enfin le vomer, les 4 premier os sont pairs par contre le vomer est unique.
a- accroissement en largeur : la croissance va se faire par le jeu des sutures sagittales qui sont ; la suture inter , la suture inter maxillaire, la suture interpalatine, l’accroissement va se faire aussi par remodelage (phénomènes d’appositions_résorptions).
Après 5 ans les sutures sont synostosées (inactivés) l’élargissement du palais va se faire à partir de ce moment là grâce a un allongement divergent de l’arcade avec l’apparition des dernières molaire.
La suture palato médiane n’est synostosée qu’à l’age adulte permettant ainsi son utilisation pour une action orthopédique éventuelle grâce à un appareil d’O.D.F.
La suture maxillo-malaire ainsi que le remodelage participe aussi à l’augmentation de la largeur bizygomatique.
c- accroissement en hauteur et en longueur : il se fait grâce aux sutures suivantes
- la suture FRONTO-MAXILLAIRE.
- La suture MAXILLO-MALAIRE.
- La suture ZYGOMATO-MALAIRE.
- La suture PTERYGO-PALATINE.
- La suture PREMAXILLO-MALAIRE, la suture PALAINE transverse, celle-ci est active toute la vie.
L’accroissement en longueur et en hauteur serait sous l’influence du septum nasal et des phénomènes de remodelage fonctionnelles : la zone antéroinférieure du maxillaire supérieur se résorbe au fur et à mesure de la poussé sagittale ce qui rend cette région encore plus saillante.
a)- la voûte palatine : plate à la naissance elle va s’éloigner progressivement du plancher de l’orbite et devenir plus concave lors de l’édification des procès alvéolaires et grâce aussi aux phénomènes de remodelage.
b)-les orbites : ils atteignent leur volume définitif à 3 ans.
c)- les sinus maxillaires : se forment au moment de l’éruption des dents temporaires et ils auront une action modelante sur les régions osseuses environnantes
d)- le nez : sa croissance dépend du complexe septo_ethmoidal, il atteint sa taille définitive juste après la puberté.
e)- les tubérosités : elles font son apparition par phénomène de remodelage qui permet la mise en place de la 2eme et 3 eme molaire.
f)- les procès alvéolaires : il se développent grâce à une apposition osseuse considérable ce qui permet l’édification des arcades dento-alvéolaires, ces procès jouent un rôle de rattrapage entre le maxillaire supérieur et la mandibule.
La croissance de la mandibule :
C’est le seul os mobile du complexe cranio-facial à ce caractère particulier d’avoir une origine membraneuse tout en ayant des cartilages secondaires.
La mandibule est reliée à la base du crâne par l’intermédiaire des cavités glénoïde sa partie postérieure, ces cavités se déplacent en bas et arrière au cours de la croissance.
La croissance de la mandibule doit être plus important que celle du maxillaire afin d’aboutir à une harmonie entre les deux parties osseuses.
Accroissement en largeur de la mandibule :
a la naissance cet accroissement va se faire grâce à la suture inter symphysaire dont l’activité va cesser dés la première ou deuxième année de la vie post natale.
L’élargissement de la mandibule va alors se faire grâce à l’allongement orienté d’une manière divergente de cette pièce squelettique.
Accroissement en longueur de la mandibule :
D’après la majorité des auteurs il semblerait que le cartilage condylien joue un rôle principal dans l’accroissement en longueur de la mandibule.
Accroissement au niveau de la branche montante ou ramus :
Il se fait grâce aux phénomènes de remodelage apposition en arrière et résorption en avant en avant permettant l’évolution ultérieure de dernières molaires sur l’arcade, le phénomène d’apposition étant plus important que celui se la résorption la, branche montante va alors reculer et s’épaissir.
Accroissement au niveau du corps mandibulaire ou branche horizontale :
L’accroissement va se faire aussi grâce au phénomène de remodelage entraînant un allongement du corps mandibulaire avec une apposition plus importante au niveau du menton rendant celui_ci plus saillant après la puberté.
Accroissement en hauteur :
La branche montante ; courte à la naissance s’accroît grâce à l’activité condylienne d’abords puis remodelage osseux donnera sa forme définitive à la tête et au col du condyle. Cet accroissement va déterminer la dimension verticale de l’étage inférieure en même temps que longueur totale de la mandibule.
CROISSANCE ET DEVELOPPEMENT DES
PROCES ALVEOLAIRE ET
ETABLISSEMENT DE LA DENTURE.
En même temps que la croissance osseuse et celle des parties molles a lieu le développement dentaire et celui du système alvéolaire qui le rattache aux maxillaires.
Du point de vue embryologique :
La lame dentaire primitive est une formation épithéliale. Elle pénètre dans le conjonctif sous jacent en émettant des digitation assez régulièrement espacées. Chaque digitation est à elle-même double (germe de la dent temporaire et de la dent de remplacement).
A la 16eme semaines de la vie intra utérine, une autre digitation apparaît dans la partie postérieure ; elle donnera naissance aux germes des trois molaires permanentes.
A la 10eme semaines les digitation ou bourgeons dentaires vont prendre la forme d’une cupule soit chaque bourgeon reste rattaché à la lame par un pédicule (tissu épithéliale) ; celui-ci va peu à peu s’amenuiser au fur et à mesure que le follicule dentaire se développe, et il ne subsistera plus que quelque d’élus épithéliale.
Dans le tissu mésenchymateux sous jacent, va se différencier du tissu conjonctif pour aboutir à la formation de la pulpe dentaire.
Chaque type de tissu donnera par la suite des cellules extrêmement différenciés (améloblastes et odentoblastes) qui permettrant l’élaboration de l’émail et de la dentine.
La racine dentaire, elle se forme à partir d’un anneau épithélial entourant le tissu odentogéne.
Le parodonte sera en même temps élaboré à partir du tissu conjonctif.
Croissance dentaire :
Lors de sa formation, le follicule dentaire, en même temps qu’il se minéralise, effectue un mouvement en profondeur qui le rapproche de la partie conjonctive la plus vascularisée.
Une fois la couronne vélarisée et le début de la formation de la racine déclenché, le germe dentaire va subir un second mouvement ascensionnel.
En fait ce mouvement n’est pas pour uniquement vertical. Le germe subit diverses modifications. Ainsi nous avons un mouvement avial en direction occlusale. Un mouvement de translation et même de version autour d’un axe transversale et un mouvement de rotation autour d’un axe horizontal.
Tous ces mouvements ajoutés à la croissance osseuse et alvéolaire coroomitantes vont déplacer les germes dans le sens linguovestibulaire et aussi médial (rapprochement de la ligne médiane) tout on les écartant les uns des autres. L’une dite pré clinique et l’autre cliniquement visible. L’une dite pré clinique et l’autre cliniquement visible.
Formation et croissance des arcades dentaires :
L’os alvéolaire apparaît dés le 4eme mois de la vie intra utérine. Il n’existe que si la dent existe. Il naît, vie et meurt avec la dent. Il se forme par apposition périostique au dessus de l’os basale sans que, cependant, aucune limite anatomo histologique ne vienne le différenciée du tissu osseux basal.
Pendant le mouvement d’éruption de la dent, s’édifice alvéolaire subit un remaniement par apposition sur la face interne et résorption sur la face externe qui veut permettre un déplacement vestibulaire et occlusal du germe.
Ainsi se forment les arcades temporaires qui prennent une forme semblable à celle de l’os qui les supporte c’est-à-dire hémicirculaire.
Rapport des crêtes alvéolaire entre elles :
Pendant la vie intra utérine, la crête inférieure est en retrait de la crête supérieure. Ce rapport se maintient à la naissance es raison de la rétrognathie mandibulaire.
Dans le sens vertical les crêtes sont séparées du niveau de la partie antérieure afin de permettre le passage de la pointe de la langue, qui est volumineuse à ce stade.
Mécanisme de l’éruption dentaire :
Ces théories expliquant ce mécanisme sont nombreux. Plusieurs facteurs seraient responsables. Nous retiendrons le rôle important joué par le tissu pulpaire et de la circulation sanguine au niveau de l’apex et du sac dentaire de la dent de remplacement.
De plus le gubermaculum dentis (reliquat épithélial) semble jouer un rôle dans le guidage de la dent.
La couronne fait son éruption dans la cavité buccale lorsque la 2/3 de la racine est formées et son orientation dépend alors de son environnement musculaire.
Chronologie de l’éruption dentaire temporaire :
La minéralisation débute par les incisions (au 5eme mois de la vie intra utérine). A la naissance pratiquement toutes les couronnes sont calcifiées (en grande partie pour les canines et prémolaire).
L’éruption commence par celles des incisives.
Incisives centrales et latérale : (entre 6 et 12 mois)
Canine entre 18 et 24 mois
1ere molaires entre 12 et 18 mois
2eme molaires entre 24 et 30 mois
Donc tous les 6 mois, apparaît une catégorie de dents avec priorité pour les dents de la mandibule (sauf latérales).
Denture permanente :
Le mécanisme de l’éruption, simple pour la denture temporaire, se complique pour la denture permanente puisqu’il est nécessaire qu’un phénomène biologique particulier ait lieu auparavant.
La rhizalyse des dents temporaires :
Le germe de la dent de remplacement, pour trouver une place sur l’arcade devra auparavant résorber la racine de la dent temporaire qu’il trouve sur son chemin.
Le processus de résorption a lieu sur le pourtour radiculaire et dans la cavité pulpaire.
Cette résorption est la plus importante au niveau le plus proche du sac péricouronnaire et finit par atteindre la totalité de la racine. La dent ne tient plus alors que par quelques faisceaux de ligament et va finir par faire sa chute.
Chronologie de l’éruption : la minéralisation débute par la 1ere molaire pendant la vie intra utérine (cuspides) ainsi que celle des incisives, puis vont suivre les canines, prémolaires et les 2eme molaires (après 3 ans) les dents de sagesse après 7 ans.
La minéralisation de la racine n’a lieu que 3 ans après l’éruption
Tableau : Chronologie de l’éruption.

Incisive centrale
Incisive latérale
Canine
Première prémolaire
Deuxième prémolaire
Première molaire

Maxillaire
7 ans à 7 ans et1/2
8ans à 8 ans et1/2
11 ans à 11ans et1/2
10ans à 10ans et ½
10ans et ¾ à 11ans et ¼
6ans à 6 ans et 1/3

Mandibule
6 ans à 6 ans et1/2
7et1/4 à 7 et3/4
9 et ¾ à 10 et ¼
10ans à 10ans et ¾
10 ans et ¾ à 11ans et ½
6ans à 6 ans et ¼

Séquences d’éruption :
Les modalités de l’éruption sont très variables la séquence la plus favorable et la suivante
- au maxillaire :
1ere molaire, incisive centrale, incisive latérale, 1ere prémolaire, 2eme prémolaire, canine, 2eme molaire.
- à la mandibule :
1ere molaire, incisive centrale, incisive latérale, canine, 1ere prémolaire, 2eme prémolaire, 2eme molaire.
DONC : 6-1-2-4-5-3-7
6-1-2-3-4-5-7
Modification des arcades pendant la croissance :
1- modification de forme et de dimension :
La forme initiale de l’arcade semi circulaire tend à se modifier en s’allongeant. L’arc antérieur à s’accroître cependant le périmètre de l’arcade s’il augmente à cette époque redevienne au moment de l’éruption de la prémolaire.
Ainsi l’arcade mesurée du point incivil à une tangente aux faces distales des deuxièmes molaires temporaires ou des deuxièmes molaires et plus petite à 18 ans qu’à 3ans (Morees)
La longueur est plus faible au maxillaire impide2mm
La longueur est plus faible au maxillaire impide3-4mm
Au niveau canin, la distance inter canine assurée entre les pointes cuspidienne augmente.
Ainsi au maxillaire supérieur nous avons une augmentation de 6mm et à la mandibule seulement 3 mm.
D’une façon générale :
- à l’arcade supérieure le périmètre reste sentant et la longueur augmente un peu.
- A la mandibule le périmètre et la longueur diminuent légèrement au cours de la croissance
2- modification d’occlusion :
Les faces distales des molaires temporaires se trouvent sur une même verticale les 1eres molaires se déplacent vers le coté mésial de 2 mm pour celles du haut et 4 mm pour le bas, pour établir l’occlusion adulte normale.
3- modification des rapports avec le squelette :
La surface occlusale à peu prés plane chez l’enfant va s’arranger peu à peu dans tous les sens pour établir la courbe de SPEE.
Dans le sens mésial, un mouvement se fait au niveau de toutes les dents et cependant toute la vie.
Tous ces mouvements dentaires tant à l’intérieur de l’os qu’à l’extérieur aboutissent à l’occlusion dentaire et à le formation des arcades.
Les arcades dentaires sont dns un véritable couloir dentaire réalisée d’une part à l’intérieur, par les muscles formant la langue et d’autre part à l’extérieure par la sangle labio-jugale.
Dans cette zone la dent va se trouver en équilibre entre les forces déployées par ces deux groupes musculaires antagonistes.
Conclusion :
L’étude de la croissance est indispensable à la poser de diagnostic, du traitement et du pronostic.

la DDM

2010-12-31T00:31:00.000-08:00

Disproportion entre la dimension des dents et la dimension des maxillaires ;
- Elle se décrit sous les formes de microdontie te de macrodontie relative.
I.2 Classification
I.2.1 Par excès ou par défaut
I.2.2 En fonction de la localisation (MERRIFIELD)
- Antérieure ;
- Latérale ;
- Postérieure.
I.2.3 En fonction de l’étiologie (CHATEAU)
1) Macrodontie relative typique : denture globalement trop grosse pour des maxillaires normaux ;
2) Macrodontie à prédominance incisive : l’excès de dimension MD concerne le groupe incisivo-canin ;
3) Endognathie constitutionnelle : le maxillaire est trop étroit pour une denture normale ;
4) Brachygnathie relative : la dent la plus distale qui évolue provoque une pression mésiale => DDM.
I.2.4 En fonction de la chronologie (SCHWARTZ)
· Encombrement type I : d’origine génétique ;
· Encombrement type II : d’origine environnementale (perte prématurée d’une lactéale, conséquence du Lee Way) ;
· Encombrement type III :
- croissance squelettique tardive => encombrement incisif ;
- évolution de M3 => encombrement ;
- augmentation de la tonicité labiale post-pubertaire.
I.2.5 En fonction de la dysmorphose associée
- Basale (cl. I, II et III de BALLARD) ;
- Alvéolaire (pro- rétro- endo- exo-alvéolies qui aggravent ou masquent la DDM) ;
- Dentaire (inclusion, agénésies, malpositions, …).
II. ETIOLOGIES
II.1 Discordance de croissance osseuse et de croissance dentaire (CAUHEPE)
1) indépendance phylogénique ;
2) indépendance génétique : pas de relation entre gènes codant pour la dimension maxillaires et la dimension des dents => possibilité de mécanismes d’hérédité croisée ;
3) indépendance embryologique : origine histologique différente. Apparition asynchrone ;
4) indépendance ontogénique :
- croissance dentaire dépend de l’hérédité ;
- croissance osseuse dépend des fonctions.
- Rotation mandibulaire antérieure : tendance incisives < à buter sur incisives > => encombrement incisives < ;
- Rotation mandibulaire postérieure : orientation et/ou éruption plus postérieure des incisives <.
II.2 Facteurs pathologiques
- Peuvent entraîner une diminution de taille des arcades :
1) carences vitaminiques ;
2) troubles endocriniens ;
3) infections locales (caries, infection péri-apex, …) ;
4) traumatismes ;
II.3 Facteurs neuro-musculaires
- Forces linguo-labio-juguale => croissance sagittale, croissance transversale ;
- Muscles abaisseurs et élévateurs => croissance verticale ;
- ó La direction de croissance (et la situation) est soumises aux fonctions oro-faciales.
II.4 Facteurs environnementaux
- L’environnement familial, socioculturel, écologique (régime alimentaire, …).
II.5 Facteurs iatrogènes
- Encombrement postérieur crée par FEO ;
- Ancrage mal contrôlé ;
- Extraction prématurée ;
- …
III. Evaluation de la DDM
- Elle est qualitative et quantitative ;
- Elle repose sur des critères :
- Cliniques ;
- Radiologique ;
- Céphalométrique.
III.1 Evaluation clinique de la DDM
III.1.1 La microdontie relative
- Nombreux diastèmes ;
- Dents de petites tailles ;
- Dents souvent en rotation (secteurs latéraux) ;
- Dès le stade de denture temporaire.
III.1.2 La macrodontie relative
III.1.2.1 Signes clinique exobuccaux
- Rapports entre les incisives et les lèvres : pro- retro- bipro – biretro-chéilie, béance labiale, contracture musculaires.
III.1.2.2 Signes endobuccaux
· En denture temporaire :
· Insuffisance ou absence de diastèmes dans la région incisivo-canine ;
· Signes souvent peu frappants ;
· Signes d’appel.
· En phase de constitution de denture mixte région postérieure :
· Diastème insuffisant après la chute lactéale ;
· M1 évolue en mésioversion dans la face distale de V ;
· Expulsion de 2 lactéales à l’éruption d’une définitive.
· En phase de constitution de denture mixte région antérieure :
Secteur incisif :
· Incisives occupent la plus grande partie de l’espace inter-canin ;
· Evolution des 2 en position ou version linguale ou palatine par rapport à la 1 ;
· Incisives en éventail ;
· Rhizalyse prématurée des 2 par la 3. (sur ??)
Secteur canin :
· Persistance de III + encombrement incisif + dénudation radiculaire de l’incisive la plus vestibulaire ;
· Expulsion unilatérale d’une III + encombrement + réduit + déviation des milieux inter-incisifs ;
· Expulsion de 2 III sans encombrement mais diminution ou disparition de l’espace nécessaire aux 3.
· En denture mixte stable :
· Les 4 incisives occupent la place des 3 ;
· Chevauchement, rotations, … des 4 incisives = signes de DDM.
· En denture adulte jeune :
· Evolution en version ou rotation ;
· Inclusion des C ;
· Enclavement ;
· Encombrement IC ;
· Dénudations ;
· Facettes d’abrasion ;
· SPEE accentuée.
· En denture adulte :
· Encombrement de classification III de SCHWARTZ ;
· Inclusions, enclavements des M3.
III.1.2.3 Signes occlusaux
· Déviations des centres ;
· Prématurités occlusales ;
· Déviation du chemin de fermeture ;
· Modifications des rapports sagittaux de cl. II et III ;
· Encombrements +/- marqués selon la profondeur de SPEE.
III.1.2.4 DDM et rapports dentaires
· Sagittal : Cl. I, II et III : 3 secteurs possibles ;
· Vertical : infraclusion, béances, supraclusion (encombrement incisif <). ;
· Transversal : diminution de l’espace disponible par endoalvéolie ou endognathie possible.
III.2 Evaluation radiologique de la DDM
- Par microdontie : apex quasi // en position pré-éruptive en panoramique ;
- Par macrodontie : Norma Latéralis – Latéral oblique – RA.
III.2.1 Norma Latéralis
III.2.1.1 Qualitatif
· Secteur incisif :
· 3 se superpose sur 4 et 2 au lieu d’être entre ;
· 3 > inclinée en avant et couronne masque apex des 2 ;
· Superposition complète des germes des 3 et incisives (mandibule ?) ;
· RICKETTS : germes de 3 sur corticale interne de la symphyse.
· Secteur latéral :
· Inclinaison antérieure des PM apparaissant incluses ou enclavées ;
· Superpositions de germes juxtaposés ;
· Superpositions entre germes 5 et racine de M1 ;
· Bouquet de germes 3-4-5 ;
· Secteur postérieur :
· Réduction de l’espace disponible des M2 et M3 ;
· Superposition des germes de M2 sur racine M1 ;
· Tables occlusales de M1, M2, M3 en courbe convexe, en arrière ;
· Pincement des racines de M1 par couronnes proximales ;
· M3 située en projection de la branche montante.
III.2.1.2 Quantitatif
· Analyse du sens vertical : + FMA est augmenté + rotation postérieure => + l’espace osseux disponible sera restreint ;
· Alpha et bêta de BOUVET : si diminue => présomption de DDM par excès ;
· Evaluation de RICKETTS :
· [face distale de M1> - plan ptérygoïdien vertical] : DDM post. si = âge patient + 3mm ;
· [Xi – face distale de M2] > 26mm => pas de DDM post ;
· [Xi – face distale de M2] < 20mm => présomption d’inclusion de M3 par DDM post.
III.2.2 Latéral oblique de 25°
- Détermination de la DDM post. (surtout M3) : CROCQUET.
III.2.3 Latéral oblique 18° et 25° de roulis
- Image Mlr est sans déformation => estimer DDM post.
III.2.4 Les clichés RA
· Largeur des couronnes des germes ;
· Diagnostic d’agénésie, de germes surnuméraires ;
· Confirme une DDM soupçonnée à la téléradiographie.
III.2.5 La panoramique
· Position des germes / apex / aux autres ;
· Degré de rhizalyse des lactéales ;
· Les images des apex en éventail ;
· Position des canines ;
· Orientation des tables occlusales ;
· Enclavement, Inclusion.
· Mais pas de diagnostic ferme sur DDM ou Agénésies.
III.2.6 Radiographie du poignet
- Permet de distinguer DDM transitoire d’une DDM réelle en confrontant âge osseux et âge dentaire.
III.3 Etude des moulages
· Secteur antéro-latéral :
· Indice de NANCE : [mésial M1 – mésial M1] = espace nécessaire + espace disponible + dents non évoluées mesurées sur RA ;
· Secteur postérieur :
· Indice de RICKETTS ;
· Indice de CHATEAU :
· P10 = (diamètre MD de 1 + 4)*4.7 (au maxillaire) ;
· P10 = (1+6)*3.85 ;
· P10 (1+4+6)*2.84.
· Indice dent / arcade de PONT (secteur incisif seul) : largeur maximum de l’arcade supérieure doit être égale à la moitié du diamètre bizygomatique osseux ;
· Indice arcade / face de largeur d’IZARD ;
· M3 : [espace rétro-molaire] < 8mm : défavorable.
III.4 Diagnostic différentiel
1) Anomalie d’inclinaison des PA d’origine neuro-musculaire :
a. Endo- et rétro-alvéolie peut créer ou aggraver un encombrement par diminution de l’espace disponible ;
b. Exo- et pro-alvéolie peut augmenter ou compenser en totalité ou en partie un manque de place. Peut aussi masquer une DDM.
2) Dysharmonie transitoire :
a. En denture mixte et disparaît spontanément :
b. Présence simultanée des dents les plus larges ;
c. [diamètre MD des IV et V]-[diamètre MD des 4 et 5] > 2mm = dysharmonie transitoire.
3) Discordance de maturation os – dent :
a. Retard important de la croissance osseuse / croissance dentaire.
4) Dysharmonie dento-dentaire (DDD)
- L’indice de BOLTON :
· Rapports d’ensemble des arcades complètes :
{E diamètre MD [36-46]}/{E diamètre MD [16-26]}>91.3 => dents mandibulaires trop large (et inverse) ;
· Rapports du groupe incisivo-canin :
{E diamètre MD [13-23]}/{E diamètre MD [14 à 16 + 24 à 26]}>77.2 => dents antérieures trop large (pareil à la mandibule).
5) Anomalies génétiques :
- T21 : Macrodontie, biproalvéolie avec diastèmes.
IV. Conséquences thérapeutiques de la DDM
IV.1 Objectif de traitement de la DDM :
1) Rétablir les contacts proximaux ;
2) Reconstruire une occlusion équilibrée.
IV.2 Principes de traitement
- Soit augmentation de l’espace disponible (pas d’extraction) ;
- Soit la diminution de l’espace nécessaire (extraction).
IV.3 La décision thérapeutique
- Se fait en fonction de :
1) Importance de la DDM (évaluation qualitative et quantitative) ;
2) Etiologie ;
3) Stade de croissance ;
4) Typologie ;
5) Formes cliniques ;
6) Etat dentaire ;
7) Profil.
IV.3.1 Facteurs quantitatifs
1) Le Lee Way :
a. 0.9 mm au maxillaire = 1.8 mm ;
b. 1.7 mm à la mandibule = 3.4 mm.
2) L’encombrement :
a. Mesure l’espace disponible (fil de laiton) ;
b. Mesure l’espace nécessaire (diamètre MD de 5 à 5) (?).
3) Le redressement incisif :
a. Quantité angulaire de redressement prévue = x*0.8mm par hémi-arcade.
4) La courbe d’occlusion :
a. Indice de BALDRIDGE :
D = (1/2)x{0.48x(Dr+Dl+0.5)} ;
5) Le redressement molaire :
a. S’évalue à la radiographie en simulant le mouvement de version dentaire.
IV.3.2 Facteurs qualitatifs
1) L’esthétique de profil :
· La position de l’incisive inférieure ;
· La lèvre supérieure varie en fonction de sa croissance et de la position des incisives maxillaires ;
· La lèvre inférieure … idem ;
· Recul de 1mm de la 1 => 1/3 à ½ mm de recul labial ;
o Les typologies mandibulaire de croissance : Rotation postérieure : extractions => affaissement de la HEI ;
o Rotation antérieure : contre indication des extractions.
· Facteurs esthétiques et formes cliniques : Extractions de monoradiculées pour DDM antérieure ont un impact esthétique défavorable. Cl. II div. 2 au profil rétrusif : Extraction peut accentuer ce profil.
1) Les facteurs neuro-musculaires :
o Le traitement se fait en fonction de l’équilibre neuro-musculaire et des fonctions oro-faciales ;
o Hypertonicité peut => une récidive ;
o Troubles ventilatoires => souvent endoalvéolie. A traiter avant.
o Levée de parafonction évite la récidive.
2) Les facteurs parodontaux :
o Hauteur de gencive attachée ;
o Epaisseur de la corticale interne ;
o Sujets à risque de maladie parodontale à traiter plutôt par expansion ;
o Santé parodontale est un objectif majeur dans le traitement des DDM.
IV.4 Les moyens thérapeutiques
IV.4.1 Les traitements préventifs
1) Encombrement type I : hygiène buccale, mainteneurs d’espace avec arc lingual et barre palatine, arc de NANCE ;
2) Encombrement type II : barre linguale de 3 à 3.
IV.4.2 Les traitements orthodontiques
1) La microdontie : multi-attaches pour fermeture des diastèmes mais récidive +++ => répartition des diastèmes pour que les rapports occlusaux soient équilibrés ;
2) La macrodontie : but = augmentation de l’espace disponible par expansion sagittale et transversale :
a. Meulage des bords proximaux : Stripping :
i. Encombrement type I : non favorable ;
1. utilisation du Lee Way ;
2. meulage surfaces mésiales des C, IV et V ;
3. pose d’un arc pour prévenir la diminution du périmètre d’arcade.
j. encombrement type II : expansion récidivante au maxillaire et limitée à la mandibule.
b. Distalisation des secteurs postérieurs :
1) Maxillaire : FEO, correction de cl. II et dérotation molaire ;
2) Mandibule : souvent localisation canine => need augmentation de largeur d’arcade en direction sagittale (???).
IV.4.3 Les extractions
1) Les extractions pilotées :
- Méthode interceptive pour éviter ou simplifier un traitement ODF par extractions successives de dents lactéales puis de permanentes dans un ordre prédéterminé :
- Indications :
- DDM > 6-7 mm ;
- Cl. I ;
- Normo- ou hyperdivergence.
- Contre-indications :
- cl. I, rétro-alvéolie, supraclusion ;
- cl. II div. 2 ;
- cl. III ;
- Hypodivergence.
- Il existe les méthodes de HOTZ, TWEED et DEWELL, BEGG.
2) Extractions en denture définitive :
- Décision en fonction :
- du diagnostic ;
- de l’état dentaire ;
- de la motivation ;
- de la forme clinique ;
- de l’équilibre esthétique.
- Permettent un gain d’espace ;
- ó moyen de décompensation des dysharmonies squelettiques en fonction du problème morphologique.
IV.5 Séquences de traitements
1) En denture mixte :
- Si DDM majeure : extractions pilotées des lactéales et PM ;
– Indications :
- DDM majeur > 4-5 mm par hémi-arcade ;
- Cl. I
- Normodivergent ;
- Pas de supraclusion.
Contre-indications :
- Les incisives s’alignent spontanément ;
- Problèmes parodontaux diminuent ;
- Racourcissement et simplification de la phase multi-attache ;
- Force naturelle pour mise en place des incisives ;
- Diminution du temps de contention.
2) En denture définitive :
- Cl. I : importance du repositionnement incisif et nivellement de SPEE.
Extractions 4 PM1 si DDM antérieure et biproalvéolie ;
Extractions 4 PM2 si DDM antérieure légère, profil rétrusif.
– Cl. II : extractions en fonction de l’importance de la DDM.
4 PM1 si encombrement incisif et repositionnement incisif ;
34/44/15/25 si cl. II div. 1 + DDM antérieure et latérale + surplomb ;
si cl. II div. 1 + DDM majeur à la mandibule ;
si cl. II div. 2 : 4 PM1 et 4 PM2 si DDM importante (BEGG).
– Cl. II hypodivergente : Edgewise : extraction 4 > pour repositionnement idéal des incisives > ;
extraction 5 <.
– Cl. III : PM1 ou PM2. Ca dépend.
V. Pronostic
V.1 Sans traitement
1) Conséquences dentaires : rétention dentaire, caries, abrasions prématurées, fêlures, fractures ;
2) Conséquences parodontales : gingivite (hygiène difficile), dénudation, absence ou le manque de GA, proximité radiculaire ;
3) Conséquences fonctionnelles : prématurités, latérodéviations, proglissements ;
4) Conséquences esthétiques : le préjudice => troubles psychologiques.
V.2 Avec traitement
1) Stripping : caries proximales ;
2) Extraction :
a. Aggravation du profil concave ou de l’hypodivergence ;
b. Rupture de la continuité d’arcade ;
c. Problèmes pour la fermeture des espaces :
i. Obtenir le parallélisme des axes des racines dentaires ;
ii. Contraction de l’arcade et modification de l’ENM ;
iii. Réouverture partielle possible.
d. désordres occlusaux en cas d’abandon de traitement.
VI. Conclusion
- L’évaluation de la DDM se base sur des critères qualitatifs et quantitatifs et permettent d’établir un diagnostic ;
- Celui-ci est absolument indispensable pour toute décision thérapeutique ;
- Les traitements sont multiples et adopté en fonction du stade d’évolution, de la typologie, de la forme clinique squelettique.

MORE : http://www.lescoursdentaire.com/1808
POST :http://www.lescoursdentaire.com/1808

Free e-commerce catalogs

2010-12-25T16:20:00.001-08:00

Free e-commerce catalogs managed

 Wednesday, February 03, 2010 

 Labels: Guest Post, spreadsheets 

 Guest post: Dan Salcedo is founder of the DC based international development organization OpenEntry,  with the mission of helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs)  worldwide benefit from the exciting new opportunities opened up by  global e-commerce.  Working with a team of volunteer developers, he  built a catalog generator that enables SMEs in developing countries to  create their own free e-commerce catalogs, managed via a Google  spreadsheet.

Years ago, I noticed artisans in developing  countries were selling their items to a long chain of middlemen that  only paid them 10-15% of the final retail price, even through  conventional fair trade channels.  So I launched a non-profit  organization to help artisans disintermediate all the middlemen by  selling directly through e-commerce catalogs that they could create and  manage themselves.  We recently relaunched our OpenEntry  catalog generator using a bunch of Google tools including Docs, Sites,  Checkout, Picasa Web Albums, AdSense, and Apps Engine.  And our User Manual,  built on Google Sites, is full of YouTube videos.  This enables us to  offer totally free e-commerce catalogs (software, hosting, user support)  to artisans and SMEs worldwide including the following:

www.NatureNepalHS.com

Nature Nepal-Herbal Care

Nepal

main.openentry.com/mereville

MerevilleyTrust

India

www.pupbd.org

Pollee Unnyon Prokolpo

Bangladesh

Each  catalog is managed by filling out a Google spreadsheet with three  sheets containing information on the company, products, and additional  pages (see products sheet below).

The  images are stored on Picasa Web Albums and sellers use Google Checkout  (as well as PayPal and 2Checkout) to accept credit card payments.   Google Sites helps users generate attractive HTML that can be added to  some of the spreadsheet fields to improve aesthetics.  Google App Engine  reads the spreadsheet, then generates the catalog hosted on Google  servers.  These tools also made it surprisingly easy to enable OpenEntry  catalogs to be managed with a smart phone.

Google recently added  a feature enabling the ownership of their spreadsheets to be  transferred to a third party, which makes it easy to transfer  spreadsheets to the final SME vendor.  This is very good news because it  enables the OpenEntry User Support team in Nepal to set up catalogs and  transfer ownership to the SME vendor who can then operate it securely.  This also means we can now transfer blocks of catalog accounts to young,  ambitious entrepreneurs anywhere in the developing world, enabling them  to start their own legitimate enterprises.  Even though the OpenEntry  catalogs are free, the entrepreneurs can charge for setup, digital  images, custom templates, training, maintenance, etc.  And they can even  do it from an Internet cafe until they can afford their own computer.   This reinforces the conclusion of the United Nations Development Program  evaluation of our  platform (under its previous name, CatGen) that generated 4000 jobs for  artisan women and "a relatively inexperienced group of young IT  professionals" in Nepal.

Because this is a non-profit initiative, OpenEntry is seeking volunteers to help with a variety of technical tasks starting with template design.

Posted by: Dan Salcedo, Founder and CEO of www.OpenEntry.com, dsalcedo@OpenEntry.com

     |  Email Post    

More Here : http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/02/free-e-commerce-catalogs-managed-with.html 

How to Treat a Common Sore Throat

2010-12-21T05:20:00.001-08:00

By Richard Ferri, eHow Contributor

A sore throat is a common medical condition that can require some simple treatment.

A sore throat is a common medical condition also known as "pharyngitis." Sore throats can be caused by viruses, bacteria or substances such as alcohol, tobacco or pollutants. Sore throats that do not require antibiotics or other prescription medications can usually be self-treated by some simple interventions. The common "mild" sore throat is typically one which is slightly painful when swallowing, has a red/irritated appearance and may include a low-grade fever. This article will help you treat the simple sore throat at home.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You'll Need:

Over-the-counter (OTC) pain killer and fever reducer
Warm salt water
Hard candy or lozenges

1
Take an OTC pain killer and/or fever reducer such as acetaminophen (brand name: Tylenol), ibuprofen (brand names: Advil, Motrin, Nuprin) or naproxen (brand name: Aleve) to help with the ache and discomfort. These medications will also help bring down any fever you might have.
2
Gargle and spit warm water (an 8-oz. glass) mixed with about 1 tsp. of table salt. Do not drink it! The warm salt water will bathe your throat, reduce the discomfort and assist in removing any exudate from the back of your throat.
3
Drink plenty of clear liquids (warm, cool or room temperature--according to your likes and how it feels). Do not consume any food or liquids that cause irritation or coat the your throat, such as dairy products.
4
Keep your mouth and mucus membranes moist by sucking on lozenges or hard candy (the less sugar, the better though!) You can also rinse out your mouth with clear, warm water.

Read more: How to Treat a Common Sore Throat | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2195065_treat-common-sore-throat.html#ixzz18kgvw0RK

How to Attach Snow Plows to Cars

2010-12-21T05:19:00.000-08:00

By chriss, eHow Contributor

updated: December 19, 2010

It takes only the right hitch to connect a personal snow plow to your vehicle.

There was a time when you had to wait for a snow plow to show up at your home to clear your driveway. Otherwise, you could not get your mired vehicle out of the snow to get to work or the grocery store. Today, snow plows have become available to the public for installation on their vehicles. For a rear mounted snow plow that installs in seconds, you only have to back you vehicle out of the driveway to clear a path. This works well for vehicles that have hitch receivers already installed. The do-it-yourself repair person can install his own receiver on the back or front of his vehicle and attach a personal snow plow.

Difficulty:: Moderate

Instructions

Vehicle owner's manual

Floor jack

Jack stands

Wire brush

WD-40

Receiver hitch kit

Socket set

Torque wrench

Snow plow

Felt pen

Hammer

Drift punch

Drill motor

Drill bits

Nuts, bolts, spacers and lock washers

1
Refer to your owner's manual to find out if you have trailer hitch mounting holes in the rear of your vehicle. Most vehicles have been manufactured for an optional trailer hitch receiver. You can also visit a trailer supply and indicate your vehicle year, make and model for the determination of a compatible aftermarket hitch receiver. You will require a bolt-on hitch receiver that has a two-inch flat block for the rear of your car. Purchase a front-mount two-inch receiver if you wish to mount the hitch to the front of an SUV or truck.

2
Place the vehicle in park or neutral with the emergency brake set. Use a floor jack to lift up the rear of the vehicle high enough to place two jack stands under the frame in front of the rear wheels. The jack stands should be stable and in the locked position. Slide under the vehicle and locate the mounting holes for your receiver hitch. There should be three or four on each side of the frame. Clean the holes out with a conical wire brush and WD-40.

3
Make certain no obstructions sit in the way of the hitch receiver, like a muffler hanger or a wiring harness. Pull the receiver hitch under the vehicle and have an assistant help you lift it up to align the bolt holes. Start on one end, running one kit bolt into the threads by hand.

4
Go to the other side and insert another bolt in by hand. Push and tilt the receiver hitch frame until you have all the bolts started. Tighten bolts until you have them moderately snug. Use a torque wrench to tighten the receiver hitch bolts, according to the directions supplied with the hitch. Use the floor jack to lift the vehicle and remove the jack stands. Use your assistant to lift the snow up into position and shove it forward into the receiver hitch slot. Insert the lock in the receiver hitch frame to lock the plow into place.

5
Use your assistant and a floor jack to lift the receiver hitch up against the rear frame of the vehicle for the custom mount hitch. Make sure to align it squarely and evenly. Use a felt pen to mark the drill holes in the frame through the receiver hitch mounting holes. Lower the hitch. Use a drift punch and hammer to make a tap mark on the hole locations. Use a drill motor and bit to drill each of the holes, making sure you have the correct diameter bit for the bolt size.

6
Have your assistant help you lift the receiver hitch up into position. Place a bolt with a spacer down through the top of the frame and place a lock washer and nut on the end of the bolt. Move to the other side and do the same for another hole. Place all the bolts through the frame and twist the lock washers and nuts by hand.

7
Tighten the nuts with a socket and wrench, just snug enough to hold the hitch firmly. Finish tightening the nuts with a torque wrench, according to the hitch directions. Use the floor jack to lift the vehicle and remove the jack stands. Have your assistant help you lift the snow plow into position. Push the snow plow into the receiver block and push the locking pin into place.

Read more: How to Attach Snow Plows to Cars | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7663671_attach-snow-plows-cars.html#ixzz18kgWdbjd

What to Look for in Motorcycle Helmet Radio Communications

2010-12-21T05:17:00.000-08:00

By Colby Stream, eHow Contributor

updated: December 19, 2010

A portable CB is one option for your motorcycle helmet communications device.

You might think you only have two choice for your motorcycle helmet communications: Radio and Bluetooth. However, you can choose one of many types of communications from the "radio" category alone. Ensure you know what they are before buying your motorcycle communications radio.

Types

Radio communications for motorcycle helmets come in a variety of forms. One is Citizens Band, known as CB. Another is Frequency Modulation, abbreviated as FM. This sounds as clear as standard FM radio only it uses a narrower frequency, according to Intercoms Online. Two other types, the Family Radio Service and General Mobile Radio Service, act more like walkie talkies both in sound and distance.

Range

Not all motorcycle radio communications will reach the same distances. When you buy your helmet radio, pay attention not only to how far the maximum range is but also how well communications will reach with obstructions around. These obstructions can include hills, buildings and pouring rain.

Special Features

Take into account where you will be driving when using your radio. If you'll be in the rain much, buy a water-resistant set. Also consider if you want your radio to be voice-activated or switch-activated. Finally, decide whether you want your radio to fit entirely in your helmet or attach partly to your motorcycle, and ensure that your helmet has room to fit the radio.

Nokia Has Apple’s Moves, but Not Its Timing

2010-12-21T05:11:00.001-08:00

Jubak's Picks
Monday, December 20, 2010
Nokia Has Apple’s Moves, but Not Its Timing
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) wants to be the other cell phone maker besides Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to make a profit and have control over its business. Now if the company could just get its new phone, the E7, out the door. The success of Apple’s iPhone is built on the extraordinary power that controlling both the software and the hardware gives Apple. The company can make sure everything works together because it decides what gets on the platform and what doesn’t. No lame pre-installed apps from cell phone service providers. No word-processing software that works differently in different programs on the same phone. No graphics that only kind of work. Nokia is aiming for the same business model. In early November, the company decided to take full and sole control of the Symbian operating system for smart phones. To a degree Nokia had no choice. Its partners in the Symbian Foundation set up to oversee the software, Samsung and Sony-Ericsson, had abandoned the platform for Google’s Android. But Nokia decided that it would make the best of the hand it had been dealt: By taking over full control of the software, the company could customize the next version of the software for its new products and use it to develop a next-generation operating system called MeeGo. MeeGo is still scheduled to be introduced in 2011, but on December 14, Nokia announced that its new smart phone, designed to close some of the smart phone gap with not just Apple, but also Samsung and HTC, would miss the Christmas buying season completely. The phone won’t hit stores until early 2011. The delay isn’t a killer for either the E7 or for Nokia, but it sure doesn’t do anything to help the company to regain momentum in the market. (Nokia’s last major smart phone, the N8, also hit the market late.) Nokia still owned 37% of the global smart phone market as of the end of the third quarter, but that was down from 45% in the third quarter of 2009. Smart phone sales rose by 96% in the third quarter of 2010 from a year earlier and accounted for 20% of the overall cell phone market. That overall market grew by 35% in the third quarter. I think Nokia does have a future. (Which is why it remains in my Jubak Picks 50 portfolio.) The company does know how to manufacture phones. They will eventually get the design right. And 37% of the smart phone market is something they can build on. But I’d wait a bit yet on Nokia’s shares. I know the stock is down 37% from the April 5 closing high, but I think the arrival of the E7 in stores will unleash another round of negative press: The phone was late. It doesn’t stack up. The Symbian operating system doesn’t cut it. And on and on. The 52-week low is $8. I think there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get the stock for $8.50. And then even a recovery to $10 would represent an 18% gain. Full disclosure: I don’t own shares of any of the companies mentioned in this post in my personal portfolio. The mutual fund I manage, Jubak Global Equity Fund (JUBAX), may or may not now own positions in any stock mentioned in this post. The fund did not own shares of Nokia as of the end of November. For a full list of the stocks in the fund as of the end of November, see the fund’s portfolio here. Related Reading: 20 Soaring Stocks That Are Still Undervalued How Much Can You Make Trading? Spain and Portugal Have No Clothes The First Post : http://www.moneyshow.com/investing/Jubak_Picks_Portfolio.asp?aid=Jubak_Picks-21610

Quick Case Study: Steve Selengut

2010-12-18T12:02:00.003-08:00

The 18th edition in a series of posts that highlight one Expert Author who has achieved success by doing just one thing exceptionally well.

Steve Selengut has built up his article inventory by using 1-on-1 interactions with real business owners as inspiration.

Steve’s passion is helping investors overcome the many challenges they face. When a solution or strategy he’s shared works for his audience, he is driven to write even more.

Steve says, “I want my readers to love the content based on their ability to understand and use what they have read. I don’t want readers; I want people to use, apply and enjoy what my articles contain. I’m in the business of helping people (in part through articles), not in the business of writing volumes of articles. When a new topic is identified that a business owner would benefit from, I write on it.” He continues, “I write long articles, sometimes up to 1,200 words, as quality of my articles is more relevant than sheer number of articles.”

Extra Dimension to his Communication Plan

Article writing and marketing adds a dimension to Steve’s communication plan. It enhances his credibility and connects interested people with his website.

“Article writing is a small part of a multi-tiered marketing plan my company uses, but an important one,” he says. Reading and writing articles also helps Steve to keep abreast of the hot topics in the field of investing.

“Mother of Improvement”

In addition to the writing direction Steve gets from his real business relationships, he also treasures feedback he gets about the impact of his existing articles. “I like seeing the number of new readers, and I like the [monthly reports that] come through by email.” He continues, “These give me an excellent idea as to what the responses to articles are. Feedback is the mother of improvement.”

Statistical data for each existing article, like the click-through rate, gives Steve ideas on how to focus his efforts. It gives him ideas for what to do, and what not to do, in the future.

Steve passed along these (5) tips for improving your article writing and marketing in the future.

Focus On Quality – Don’t set out writing an article with the goal of writing to the minimum word requirement and just have your article accepted. Instead, have the goal of sharing quality content that’s truly useful to your target audience. The small time investment to make the content great is sure to pay off.
Exponential Power of Great Content – If every one of your readers loves the information you’ve shared, think about what happens when that initial group of people passes on your content to other people they think would be interested in it. The Internet is all about sharing and that pass-along factor plays an important role when the content is great.
Think Like Your Target Audience – What types of challenges do they face in their everyday life? If you can answer that question with a list of challenges, use that list of challenges to write a whole set of original articles. This is a quick way to write articles focused on topics that your target audience is looking for.
Use Available Data – Investigating the article analytics reports on your account can give feedback on exactly what strategies are working for you. It lets you see how many people are actually influenced by the information and it can give you the beginnings of a road-map to your future writing plans.
Share With Others – Getting more people to see your articles increases your chances the article will be picked up and republished on other sites. When an article gets picked up, it creates one more access point for that information, and that can really help your traffic.

Use these tips today to write your next set of high-quality, original articles for more traffic back to your website or blog. Also, leave a comment to share one or more of your “Do’s” and “Don’ts” for article writing.

Posted by Marc, Communications Manager on December 10, 2010 at 9:30 am | 1,333 views

by : http://blog.ezinearticles.com/2010/12/case-study-steve-selengut.html

Your Member Interface Has Been Widgetized

2010-12-18T12:00:00.001-08:00

We’re excited to launch a new Member Interface that’ll have you jumping up and down!

Yesterday, our Developer Team launched a New BETA Member Interface, which you can personalize and make your own. We figured since you are the one using it, why not have the ability to make it look and work the way you want it. Right?

If you haven’t done so yet, log into your Author’s Area. From there, you’ll notice this text link on the left sidebar: “Try the new homepage.”

Clicking that link launches your journey into personalizing your space. Keep in the mind that it’s in BETA right now, so you can revert back to the old look if you prefer.

On the top of the page is the “take a tour” link. The tour will walk you through a few steps to explain the customization process.

Once you log in, take the tour, move your widgets around and jot down notes to let us know why you love it or why it may be something you won’t use.

So how does it work? Simply login and begin.

Let’s explore a few benefits this tool brings to you:

Completely Customizable Homepage – You can change the theme, move your widgets around, and only display what is important to you. You can also change it at ANY time.
Easy Access – You will have instant access to important tools and resources. Display your stats, profile, live articles, pending articles, problem articles, your recent activity, message center, quick links, EzineArticles Blog, scheduled articles (Premium membership only) and more.
Faster Load Times – Articles in each article status (pending, live, draft, etc.) appear faster than ever before. Authors that have many articles will notice a significant decrease in load times. The normal 30-45 second article load time is now instant!
6 Themes to Choose From – Change your background to fit your personality.
Default Option – If you finish customizing and realize you don’t like it, click on the red “Reset Widgets” button in the “Add More Items” window to return your homepage back to the default widget style and layout.
Submit an Article – You have the ability to submit an article right from the homepage. Like the old interface, you will be alerted if anything is missed in the process.

So … what are you waiting for? Go play!

And remember, this is in BETA testing right now, so you can switch back to the old homepage at any time.

When you’re done, stop back and leave us a note. Tell us what you liked and what we can improve. Your suggestions pave your road to success.

Posted by Penny, Managing Editor on December 17, 2010 at 1:29 pm | 1,039 views

by : http://blog.ezinearticles.com/2010/12/your-member-interface-has-been-widgetized.html

Waiting After the Interview

2010-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

By Stephanie Clark

http://ezinearticles.com/?Waiting-After-the-Interview&id=5574226

You've had your interview, which you think went well. The recruiter said that management wants a new recruit in place within two weeks, and that you'd receive a call, either way. Two weeks later and you are still waiting.
All that waiting seems to demand action; after all, we are often urged to be pro-active. "What if I called to inquire? Would that help show my interest?" wonders the impatient job hunter. So what is the best way to handle all that silent waiting?
It all depends.
There are many approaches, a few are listed below, and depending on a person's character, strength of verbal communications, rapport established with the interview team, indications given about how soon a decision will be made or when the chosen candidate will ideally be starting, a candidate may elect to wait patiently, or to follow-up.
• At the end of the interview, ask "May I give you a call to follow-up on the selection process?"
• Most people feel comfortable sending (and receiving) two, perhaps three, follow-up emails. After that it starts to feel desperate, which is a job offer deal-breaker.
• Keep track of who you call, what was said, who you've not yet reached, to make sure that you don't feel foolish for having forgotten, and that you don't overdo the attempt to solicit a reply.
• If it is outside your comfort zone to follow-up, you might choose to say so. "I apologize for adding yet another email to your Inbox. I am compelled to write, though, as I am just so sure that I have precisely the skills, attitude and experience to succeed in the position of (insert)."
• Instead of an email try a postcard or short hand-written note, snail-mailed.
• Call, but rather than leaving a message, try calling until you reach a real live person. Best bet for getting through to the hiring manager is to call very early, or quite late in the day.
• Send a last-ditch letter. Be frank. Tell the person that they indicated a decision would be made by this time, and that whether it's positive news, or not, you would like to know.
It is a sad truth that not all interviewers, recruiters, or HR personnel follow through on their promise to call either way. Although everyone deserves the courtesy of knowing, it's also true that lots of folks have trouble delivering bad news. One last idea:
• Never give up. Even if you didn't land that job, send an email two months or so down the road, thanking them again for a great interview, sharing that, although you are exploring a few possibilities you are still available. Suggest that if they know of a suitable position, in their company or another, you would be very grateful for a referral or more information.
Silence is relative, and possible reactions vary according to many variables. Ultimately it is up to each job hunter to determine what tactics he or she is comfortable using.

Award-winning and published professional resume writer, Stephanie Clark, is owner of New Leaf Resumes, a full-time resume writing and interview coaching service. Her global clients range from entry to senior level, and have one thing in common: serious about managing their career options, they appreciate working with an expert.
Published in several American and Canadian career publications, Stephanie also writes a weekly career article for a local daily paper.
Stephanie delivers strategic resumes and unforgettable cover letters by staying ahead of industry trends through participation in, and leadership of, classes in resume design and content development. She continues to hone her own talents with classes from America's leading resume writers, Louise Kursmark and Wendy Enelow, of the renown Resume Writing Academy.
Recently invited to contribute as an Invited Expert Blogger, you can follow Stephanie's interview blog at http://www.careerthoughtleaders.com/blog.
Contact Stephanie through her website, at http://www.newleafresumes.com, or by calling toll free (North America-wide) 1-855-550-5627.
Please contact Stephanie for permission to reprint this article.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephanie_Clark

http://ezinearticles.com/?Waiting-After-the-Interview&id=5574226

Light Layers of Fall, Part III: The Hoody

2010-12-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

The days of cool Fall weather are quickly coming to an end, so I thought I should post this last installment of “Light Layers of Fall” before it gets consistently freezing outside.

We have a couple more “Light Layers of Fall” posts that we shot a while back as well, but I think due to the rapidly changing weather, I’d rather save them for “Light Layers of Early Spring”. Anyway, for this final edition I’m highlighting a very misunderstood, and underrated, piece : the hoody (or “hoodie”).

When most guys think of a hoody, they think grey fleece, XXL, a college football banner across the chest, and maybe a mustard stain or two. Of course a hoody is a great lounging piece because of its comfort and practicality, but it can be more than that. It can also be a great layering piece that is stylish rather than sloppy.

Here, three hoody looks that don’t scream fratboy.

1. Cashmere Pullover over Bowtie

Just because it’s a hoody doesn’t mean it has to be three sizes too big. I’m 6’1″ 190 lbs and this cotton/cashmere blend is a size Medium.

This is one of my favorite hoodys in my collection (also featured here). It’s fitted, simple, stretchy, comfortable, and navy blue. When in doubt, go with navy blue – it’s classic, subtle, dark but not formal, flattering on most skin tones, goes with just about everything, and it’s not very “notable” (meaning you can wear it several times without striking too much attention).

Hoody by Club Monaco (size M). Oxford shirt by Thom Browne (size 2). Gloves by Uniqlo. Cotton pants by Helmut Lang (size 34). Bowtie by Le Noeud Papillon. Suede wingtips by Bass. Striped socks by Kenneth Cole.

2. $10 Fleece Full-Zip + Tailored Trouser

The beauty of fleece hoodies: they are inexpensive, and sold just about anywhere. I picked up this one (in a couple different colors) a while back from a local sporting goods store. It was $10.

I often mix high-end pieces with more affordable ones in the same outfit. Similar to mixing formal and casual, I like the idea of blending high and low to create a unique, well curated, look. For example, everything in this outfit was under $50, with the exception of the pants which are part of a bespoke suit.

Hoody by Russel Athletic (size S). Shirt by American Apparel (size M). Down vest by Land’s End (size S). Vintage wool striped tie. Pants by MAB (custom made, my own design). Sneakers by Vans.

Also note: if they fit properly and are cut from the correct fabric, the trousers from your three-piece suit can easily transition to casual wear. They can even look great with a hoody and sneakers.

3. Full Zip + Tweed Jacket

A blazer (or suit jacket) layered over something as casual as a tank top can be a tricky look. A full-zip hoody is the perfect middle ground to compliment them and tie them together.

This is a great way to wear a suit jacket in a very casual setting. Like going to watch a sporting event type of casual.

Hoody by Cheap Monday (size S). Tweed blazer (part of this 3-piece suit) by MAB (custom made, my own designs). Tank top by Fruit of the Loom (size S). Jeans by APC (“new standard” 32). Gloves by Hilts and Willard. Watch by Montblanc. Linen pocket square from street fair years ago (I think). Suede wingtips by Bass.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Yours in style,

Original source : http://www.thestyleblogger.com/light-layers-of-fall-part-iii-the-hoody/

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's tomboy style ignites blogger buzz, but is no cause for worry, experts say

2010-12-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

BY Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, March 3rd 2010, 1:59 PM

INFphoto

Brad Pitt (r.) and Angelina Jolie (not pictured) let three-year-old daughter Shiloh (l.) pick out her own clothes, sources say.

Related News

Oh, boy! Shiloh Jolie-Pitt’s newly cropped short haircut and tomboyish wardrobe have style mavens, celeb watchers and bloggers puzzling over why Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie?a>??s 3-year-old girl apparently doesn’t want to look like a girly-girl.

“Does Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s daughter secretly want to be a boy?” asked Mark Marino BettyConfidential.com. While admitting that Shiloh looked “adorable,” he went on to report that many bloggers mistakenly thought she was her 19-month-old brother Knox when she went boating last month with her famous parents. on

When Pitt took daughters Zahara, 5, and Shiloh clothes-shopping on the Left Bank in Paris People.com reports, they got to pick out their own duds. “Zahara chose very girlie outfits, but Shiloh only wanted items from the boys’ collection, which is in another boutique across the street,” a source told People. She chose acid-yellow boys jeans, cotton scarves and shirts, People.com reports.

Some Jolie-Pitt clan-watchers like Shiloh’s look. “Yeah, yeah, some people might think Suri Cruise is super-adorable in her high heels and ballerina getups,” wrote Kate Torgovnick on TheFrisky.com. “But I think Shiloh Jolie-Pitt is way, way cooler. It takes a special kind of 3-year-old to embrace tomboy style in the way Shiloh has.” recently,

So should Shiloh’s sartorial style be cause for concern? It’s a non-issue if she’s shunning dresses because she wants to, says psychologist Lisa Rene Reynolds. But if her parents are the reason for her ultra-boyish attire, it could be a problem.

“If they are trying to bend gender roles in order to be politically correct, then that could lead to self esteem issues and role and gender confusion later on,” she says. It could also lead to teasing, Reynolds says, if people start making comments like, “You must be a boy because you dress in jeans and boots all the time.”

At age three and four, Reynolds says, it’s typical for kids to exert their influence over clothing choices and parents should let kids wear what they want within reason.
“At this young age, it is not a huge deal unless someone were to question her gender."

There could be a very simple reason for Shiloh’s tomboyish way of dressing: comfort. “Some kids have preferences in clothing due to sensory issues,” Williams says. “They don’t like tight waist bands, some clothes may make them feel itchy and squirmy, and some kids like to be covered up and feel the warmth and pressure of clothing on their body.”

Age four is a little early to diagnose gender identity issues, says Dr. Eva Ritvo, psychiatrist and co-author of "The Beauty Prescription.”

“It is very common to want to experiment with clothes and there is a lot of room for variability in small children,” she says. “You want kids to be creative and comfortable. A lot of little girls don’t want to wear dresses and they don’t grow up wearing men’s clothes. Girls like to play around and skirts can be uncomfortable."

Dressing in a particular way is an important form of self expression and stage of development for kids, says teen expert and advice columnist Sarah Burningham, author of “How to Raise Your Parents.”

“Kids change their style constantly,” she says. “There is so much pressure on kids today, and clothing helps them discover who they really are. It’s a way to put yourself out there. Shiloh’s a toddler, so this is probably just a stage. It’s important to just let it run its course.”

Original source : http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/03/03/2010-03-03_shiloh_joliepitts_tomboyish_style_is_a_hot_topic_for_style_mavens_and_celeb_watc.html

Tip-of-the-Day: Attacking the Rain in Style

2010-12-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Nothing beats down a spirit like a rainy day. But not for me. Some of my favorite clothing is built for the rain.

An easy way to “stand out from the crowd” on the streets: check the daily weather forecast in the morning, be prepared and have a good piece of rainwear. On a wet day, average Joe Dresser is usually uncomfortable, cold, and looking miserable in a soaked, heavy fleece jacket or wool peacoat.

A big part of being “stylish” is dressing appropriate for the situation, and the weather.

Here, five looks to help you stay dry in style, for five different occasions.

1. Casual

Yellow has been a go-to color for rainwear for as long as I can remember. I think it may be due to a subconscious yearning for sunshine. Regardless of its origin, it just works.

The problem is, I think alot of men prematurely out-grow wearing the classic yellow parka. On the street there seem to be alot of children wearing them, but rarely an adult – which makes it so refreshing to see a man in a bright, rubberized slicker.

It’s a great, “safe” way to wear a bold color in an off-summer casual outfit. Not to mention that a rubberized cotton is completely impermeable.

I did another casual rainwear post back in Spring/Summer, see here.

Ruberized yellow rain slicker from Army/Navy surplus store (size S, $25). Micro check hidden-button shirt by Steven Alan (size M). Navy cardigan by Uniqlo (size M). Jeans by JBrand (34). Low-top bean boats by L.L. Bean. Wool socks by Land’s End. Watch by Montblanc. Watchband by Corvus.

2. Business Casual

If you’re only going to add one thing to your wardrobe this year, make it a tailored trench coat – in a neutral color like khaki or navy blue.

It goes with just about everything and because they are usually cut a little bigger (to fit over a suit), they are a perfect last layer to throw over anything from a blazer to a down vest to a denim jacket. (Post on trench layering coming soon!).

Not only will you look more appropriate (and slightly bad-ass) and be more comfortable when it rains, a good trench will also dramatically increase the life of your outerwear that is not meant to get wet.

For those keeping track, this trench was featured a while back, here, and more recently here.

Reader:

Hey SB,

Daily reader from way back here. You have so much footwear, what would you say is your favorite pair? Just curious. Keep up the blog, your readers are loving it!

SB:

Hey there. Glad you are enjoying the site.

It would be difficult to choose one pair as a favorite, but these corset-inspired two-tone brogue lace-up boots by Alexander McQueen (r.i.p.) are definitely near the top. Thanks for reading.

Trench by Brooks Brothers Black Fleece (size 2). Grey donegal pants (part of 3-piece suit) by MAB (bespoke, my own design). Boots by Alexander McQueen. Leather unlined gloves by Saks Fifth Avenue (size S). Umbrella by Davek.

3. Business

The advantage of a single breasted rain coat (like this navy mac)? It’s easier to throw on and keep open – meaning you don’t have to cover up your outfit.

The simplicity and straight-forwardness of this outfit is complimented nicely by a piece of outerwear with similar characteristics.

Navy mac rain coat by APC (size M). Navy gingham shirt and grey sharskin trousers by MAB (bespoke, my own designs). Flannel tie by Thom Browne. Silver tie bar by Tiffany & Co. Cordovan tassel loafers (with rubber soles) by Alden. Wool socks by Land’s End. Umbrella by Davek.

Yes, I wear leather shoes (with rubber soles) in the rain. I have a fairly large shoe collection, so the way I see it, getting them wet once in a while won’t kill them. Besides, I like my leather uppers with a little beat-in texture and character to them.

If you are really adverse to wearing your “nice” shoes in the rain, you can invest in some r ubber covers or “swims”. I wear these once in a while (over my favorite shoes) but usually end up forgetting/losing them. With swims, go black over black shoes, brown over brown shoes, and every once in a while try a bright yellow or red for an unexpected pop.

Another strategy used by some of my friends in the corporate world is wearing rain-appropriate footwear (Bean or Hunter boots, for example) during their commute to the office and carrying “work” shoes in their bags/briefcases. In my opinion, this is a pain in the ass (an even bigger pain in the ass than inserting and removing swims). I also don’t like to carry a bag in the rain if I don’t have to. Keep in mind, however, that I am a stylist, so there is rarely a situation when I must wear a suit in the rain.

If you’re like me and don’t care to cover them or carry them, invest in some cordovan shoes with rubber soles (they are significantly more durable than other hides) and just get them shined for $3 if you get caught in the heavy stuff.

4. Business Formal

My view on umbrellas is similar to my view on footwear:

You can buy them cheap three times a year and never be quite satisfied (these products are short lived and get worse with time), or you can buy quality and enjoy a well-made product for years (pieces that often get better with age).

The irony is, on top of the benefits of looking and feeling better, you usually end up saving money when you buy quality.

For example: three $20 umbrellas/year for 3 years = $180. One well-made made umbrella that can last 5 years+ (provided you don’t lose it): $150. Savings = $30.

Same goes for shoes. For example: 3 pairs of $120 mass-produced “dress” shoes per year, for 3 years = $1,080. One hand-made pair of shoes that, with resolling, can last 3 years+ = $895 (+ two $40 resollings) = $975. Savings = $105.

Someone should really do a longterm case study on the benefits of purchasing quality products. Maybe that could have been my dissertation at Columbia – damn, a little late.

Trench by Brooks Brothers Black Fleece (size 3). Midnight suit (part of this 3-piece) and brown bengal stripe shirt by MAB (bespoke, my own designs). Purple crown emblem by Hickey. Umbrella by Davek.

This is one of those pieces that I can realistically see myself wearing well into my sixties. It doesn’t get much more classic than a double breasted, belted khaki trench coat.

It’s the perfect rainwear to go over a business suit, and if you get it cut to 3-6 inches above the knee, it also looks great with jeans and a layered casual look.

5. Formal

In the chance that you have to step out to a formal event on a rainy day/night, go with a simple, above the knee length, black treated cotton topcoat.

As always with formal attire, make sure the fit is slim, sharp and well tailored.

Black cotton topcoat by Theory (size 40). Hidden placket shirt, white satin suspenders, black bowtie and midnight navy tuxedo (as featured here and here) all by MAB (bespoke, my own designs). Shoes by Bally. Watch by Montblanc. Umbrella by Davek.

Thanks for reading. Stay dry.

Yours in style,

Original source : http://www.thestyleblogger.com/tip-of-the-day-attacking-the-rain-in-style/

Credit Card Laws Crash Course

2010-12-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

By Erin O'Brien, eHow Contributor

Credit Card Laws Crash Course

How to Make the Most of Them -- and Your Money

Credit Card Laws Crash Course (photo: sjlocke/iStockphoto.com)

To actually see an end that's not 15 or 20 years out, to see that if I pay this amount for three years, the debt will be gone? I can do this.
— Sarah M.

On an otherwise unremarkable spring day, Sarah M. stepped out of her tidy suburban home and pulled a credit card bill from the mailbox, just as she had been doing for more than 20 years. The balance, payment terms and interest rate were as she expected, but there was something new on the bill. There was a chart that detailed how long it would take to pay off her $9,000 balance if she made only minimum payments.

"It was nearly 18 years," Sarah said. "I almost fell off my chair."
Another entry on the chart; however, showed how a higher monthly payment would erase her debt in only three years. It was that hard-and-fast calculation that gave Sarah new determination.
"To actually see an end that's not 15 or 20 years out," she said, "to see that if I pay this amount for three years, the debt will be gone? I can do this."
That bit of information on Sarah's bill was courtesy of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. The act, also known as the Credit CARD Act, was phased in during 2010 and is helping consumers like Sarah from coast to coast.

Making the Credit CARD Act Work for You

According to the Federal Reserve, Americans carried a staggering $826 billion in revolving debt in June 2010. The Nilson Report, which compiles statistics about U.S. consumption and payments, states the average household in the United States had 5.4 credit cards as of April 2009. Almost half of the credit card users carry over a balance each month. Those balances translate into much more than the sum of items purchased with plastic. They also include a barrage of fees, interest and penalties that can inflate modest balances into lifetime loans. The Credit CARD Act aims to ease the sting for consumers, but not unless consumers stay alert. Credit card companies cannot raise your rate during the first year you have an account. This rule does not apply if you're more than 60 days late in making a payment. It also does not apply to variable rate accounts or those featuring an introductory rate. You cannot be charged over-the-limit transaction fees unless you have authorized over-the-limit transactions on your account. Play it safe by saying "no" to opt-in features.

Gift Card Rules

(photo: Philipdyer/iStockphoto.com)

Gift cards are a safe and convenient option for uncertain shoppers. Electronically loaded balances on those colorful plastic cards were sometimes misleading in the past, leaving gift recipients unhappily surprised at the cash register when unexpected fees came off their balance -- or, worse yet, when the gift disappeared all together due to an unclear expiration date.
As of August 2010, gift cards are under the umbrella of new rules, courtesy of the Credit CARD Act. This makes gift-card transactions more secure for givers and recipients.
A gift card -- both the single-store type and those that are issued under corporate names such as Visa or MasterCard -- cannot expire for five years from the date of purchase or the date of the last addition of funds.
Any fees associated with the card must be clearly stated on the card or its packaging. Fees may apply to buy or replace a card or for inactivity if you haven't used the card for a year.
Reloadable bankcards that are not gift cards and cards given as part of a reward-style program are not covered by the new rules, but the issuers still must disclose any fees or dates of expiration.

Know the Fees

Credit card bills must be mailed or delivered to cardholders 21 days before the payment due date, which is an increase from 14 days. But, don't get lax with the newly extended period. A late fee is still a late fee.
Under changes that took effect in August 2010, late-fee amounts will dip. Most often, late fees will decrease and be standardized at $25 dollars, but credit card companies can raise these fees if you have been late on a payment within the past six months. Additionally, card companies may no longer double penalize you in a single billing cycle. That means if you incur a fee for exceeding your spending limit, you may not also be charged a late fee.
If you have split-billing with different interest rates applying to certain portions of your balance, and you pay more than the minimum payment, the credit card company must first apply those additional funds to the portion of your balance that carries the highest interest rate.
Avoid costly higher-interest offers, such as cash advances, and try to keep your balance at one simple rate. Those 21 or younger have to show proof that he or she can make monthly payments; if they can't provide that, they'll need a co-signer. To get an increase in a credit limit if you are under 21, your co-signer has to agree to the increase as well. Co-signers, beware: Should the person you vouch for become unable to make the payments, the credit card company will come looking for you. You won't be free from responsibility once the person turns 21, either. If you sign on as a co-signer, it could affect your credit for years to come.

Borrower Beware

Lenders are constantly looking for ways around the new protections. Case in point, according to the National Consumer Law Center, some credit-card companies are allowing over-the-limit purchases, then charging a "late fee" instead of an "over-the-limit" fee if a purchase is not paid in full in that billing cycle.
Lauren Saunders, managing attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, advises cardholders to keep track of their balances and credit limits. "In addition to being aware that your minimum payment may be higher than you expect if you go over your limit," she said, "consumers might try calling their credit-card company and asking if they can have a 'hard' credit limit, where transactions are denied if they go over the limit."
Consumers should understand that the most effective line of defense against evasive practices is themselves. "Consumers need to read what they get in the mail from their credit-card company. They need to understand what it is that the credit card is offering them," said Susan Weinstock, financial reform campaign director at the Consumer Federation of America.
Consumers can also log on for solid guidance. The Federal Reserve's website is brimming with clear language and good advice when it comes to the Credit CARD Act and using credit cards in general. Tips include paying your bill on time, staying within your credit limit, paying more than the minimum monthly payment and reading those "change in terms" notices.
"If you're unhappy with what your credit-card company is offering, shop around," Weinstock said. The Credit CARD Act makes this easier now with a 45-day notification requirement for all major changes to your account, although some exceptions apply to accounts with variable or introductory rates and accounts more than 60 days late. It's also wise to monitor your credit report regularly, so you can keep on top of inaccuracies and address anything that might hurt your overall credit score.

A Lesson Learned

Sarah, meanwhile, is optimistic that she'll pay down her credit in three years, but she's quick to admit that it took her much longer to grasp the implication of her debt.
"It's easy to flash plastic and not think about the consequences," she said, adding that the real expense of paying with credit comes due no matter what new consumer protections are legislated.
"It costs money to borrow money."

Read more: Credit Card Laws Crash Course | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/feature_7175792_credit-card-laws-crash-course.html#ixzz18UP0jjT4

How to Find a Secured Personal Loan

2010-12-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

How to Find a Secured Personal Loan

By Ana Jackson, eHow Contributor

updated: December 4, 2010

A secured personal loan involves pledging an asset or assets to back the loan. Secured personal loans are appealing due to their cost-effectiveness. You typically pay lower interest rates, as the collateral reduces the lender's risk. If you default on the loan, the lender can sell the collateral to minimize the loss. If you're considering applying for a secured personal loan, it is important to follow the right procedure.

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You'll Need:

Collateral

1
Take inventory of your assets. Decide what you would like to use as collateral for your secured personal loan. For example, you can use a car, a boat, a motorcycle or a motor home. Other options include CD savings accounts and cash investments.
2
Determine your credit score. If you don't know what it is, purchase it from either of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can also obtain it from FICO for a fee of about $15.
3
Request a copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com. The service is free. Examine the report, and make sure that all the information is accurate.
4
Compare the products available from at least three different lenders. Banks and credit unions are an ideal place to start, as these types of lending institutions generally offer lower interest loans. Compare the repayment amounts, interest rates and any applicable fees, as well as the terms and conditions.
5
Opt for a loan with a fixed interest rate, which means that the monthly payment will remain the same for the length of the loan.
6
Provide your contact and employment information, and offer the collateral.
7
Read all the terms and conditions thoroughly before signing the contract.

Read more: How to Find a Secured Personal Loan | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7598424_secured-personal-loan.html#ixzz18UOjSVls

2010-12-18T10:26:00.001-08:00

How to Find a Trustworthy Charity

By Maria Scinto, eHow Contributor

Whether you'd like to donate to a charitable organization out of the goodness of your heart or because you need an income tax deduction (or a little bit of both), you want to make sure you choose a trustworthy one. You want one where you can be sure that your money will actually get where it's supposed to be going. It isn't always easy to do this, however, as there are always scam artists out there trying to make a quick buck off of other people's good intentions. Take some steps to make sure that your next charitable contribution goes to help the people, animals, land trusts, that need it rather than lining the pockets of the undeserving.

From Essentials: Holiday Charity Giving Guide

More: See All Articles in this Essential

Difficulty:: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Internet access

Check or credit card

1
Ask the charity's contact person if your donation is tax deductible, even if you are not interested in taking the deduction. If the organization is a true charity, the deduction will most likely be tax deductible. If the outfit is a scam or a for-profit company posing as a charity, then, it won't be tax deductible. There may be some legitimate causes that for some reason do not have that tax status, but this should be a red flag that will tell you you need to collect more information about the organization before agreeing to make a donation.

2
Inquire as to what percentage of your donation will go towards the actual cause you're hoping to support. At least 60% of all funds raised should go towards the stated cause. If not, the overhead for this organization is way too high, which means that this "charity" is either remarkably inefficient or that someone, somewhere in this so-called nonprofit organization is actually making quite a hefty profit.

3
Never agree to make a donation over the phone, unless you are the one who placed the call to the charitable organization. Telemarketers are frequently employed by scammers and fake charities.

4
Do your homework. Check out not only the website of the charity itself, but also any press coverage it's received. If it is a legitimate organization, it should have received a certain amount of media coverage, and the media may indicate whether or not this charity is getting the job done in the manner it claims.

5
Pick a local charity if possible. That way you can see for yourself firsthand evidence of your organization at work. You can even choose to bypass the middleman and make a direct donation to your local church, soup kitchen, animal shelter, public school, library, or other organization in need of a little financial help.

6
Search the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance website for any mention, positive or negative, of your charity. You can also check with other watchdog groups monitoring charities, groups such as the American Institute of Philanthropy, Charity Navigator, and Guidestar. Guidestar posts copies of the federal tax returns filed by each charity.

Read more: How to Find a Trustworthy Charity | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2330586_find-trustworthy-charity.html#ixzz18UOLJnGF

8 Great Gadgets to Give or Receive

2010-12-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

8 Great Gadgets to Give or Receive This Season

By Crystal Hsing, eHow Contributor

updated: December 3, 2010

Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Electronics make great gifts for the holiday season.
Who doesn't crave the latest gadgets, especially when they're wrapped up under the tree? From digital cameras to MP3 players to LCD monitors, the market is filled with high-tech electronic goodies, but which ones are the hot items for this holiday season? Take a look at eight popular gadgets that make a perfect present, whether you are giving or receiving the gift.

Digital camera

portable hard drive image by Adrian Costea from Fotolia.com
SLR cameras are all the rage these days, but with prices ranging from $400 to $700, it may be easier on your wallet to consider point-and-shoot digital cameras. Look for cameras with reliable, built-in, automatic flash and long battery life to get the best bang for your buck. For around $250, Samsung offers its ST80 Wi-Fi Camera, which lets you instantly upload your photos or videos directly from the camera onto sites like Facebook and Youtube via its handy built-in Wi-Fi connection. Canon's PowerShot A3100 IS is a steal at $99 with features such as a 2.7" LCD screen and Face Detection technology.

iPad accessories

If you know someone who already has an iPad, why not give them something that adds a little oomph to their tablets? From covers to screen protectors to docks, there are plenty of add-ons to choose from. Kensington offers its Powerpad iPad Dock that doubles as a case with built-in speakers and provides up to five hours of extra battery life. All that for $100. If you're looking for something more budget-friendly, try an iPad stand, like Bracketron's Netbook and iPad X-type Stand, which sells for around $12 and allows users to watch movies or read their iPad hands-free.

Headphones

headphones image by Daniel Wiedemann from Fotolia.com
A set of good headphones makes the perfect gift for the music lover in your life. Many headphones offer noise-reduction abilities that up the sound quality of any musical experience as well as full-ear enclosure for added comfort. Prices range from $10 to over $500 depending on the quality you want. Eskuche's Control CPU and Koss Porta's Pro headphones both offer great sound with a sleek, retro look for around $50. Other options to consider are high-performance earbuds, which can run anywhere from 450 to $250, for those who are always on the go and don't want to lug around hefty headphones.

Microsoft Kinect

black and blue game pads image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com
For the gamers, you can't go wrong with Microsoft's answer to the Nintendo Wii: Kinect for Xbox 360. With sensors that track your body movements and your voice, Kinect offers a one-of-a-kind gaming experience, no controller necessary. The Kinect sensor (Xbox console not included) sells for $199 in a bundle that includes two games; each game usually sells for around $50 on its own.

External hard drive

external hardrive image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com
It may not be the sexiest gift, but the peace of mind that comes with knowing your important computer data is safely backed up on an external hard drive feels priceless. It's the perfect gift for those on your list that pride themselves on extensive digital music, video or photo collections. External hard drives come in all shapes and sizes, with different capacities ranging from a couple of gigabytes to terabytes. Important specs to consider include reading and writing speeds, connection types (USB 3.0, USB 2.0, FireWire, etc.), and information such as noise level and run temperature. The Western Digital My Book 3.0 was the best reviewed external hard drive on www.consumersearch.com and comes in 1 or 2 terabyte models for around $150 and $180, respectively. For those who value portability, Iomega's eGo portable hard drive boasts a slim design at about 6 in. long with either 250GB or 500GB capacities.

MP3 player

music pocket pc image by Alexander Oshvintsev from Fotolia.com
The market for MP3 players is pretty much dominated by Apple, and for good reason. IPods, from the shuffle, the nano, the touch and the classic, iPods have become the standard by which all other MP3 players are judged. The shuffle runs for a mere $49 and comes with a built-in clip that's perfect for those on the go; the newly redesigned nano starts at $149 and now uses touch-screen technology; and, the iPod touch includes features such as Facetime, Retina display and Wi-Fi capability for internet access, all starting from $229. For the non-Apple lovers, Microsoft's Zune HD sports a 3.3-in. display with an HD radio tuner and an amazingly long estimated battery life of 33 hours.

Ebook reader

Die hard book lovers may be holding out against ebooks, but there's no denying that digital readers are here to stay. Take factors such as portability, screen size and battery life into consideration when choosing which reader to get. The third generation of Amazon's Kindle now comes in models with 3G/Wi-Fi ($189) with improved battery life and even plays MP3 audio. Barnes & Nobles' Nook Color is significantly pricier at $249, but the 7-in. color touch screen is hard to beat. Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook are the most popular readers, but they are not the only choices in the market: the Sony Reader comes in Pocket and Touch Editions while Apple's iPad definitely functions well as an ebook reader, among all its other uses.

Smartphone

Smartphone image by Dominator from Fotolia.com
If you're thinking about gifting someone with a smartphone, be sure to consider what they'd be using the phone for most. For avid texters, the Samsung Reality comes with both a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard for maximum texting potential. Apple's iPhone 4 is perfect for those who want their phone to do it all: texting, gaming, web-surfing and other forms of multimedia. Another important factor to be aware of is the recipient's wireless carrier, as certain phones are only available on a particular network (such as the iPhone, which is currently only carried by AT&T, though the Wall Street Journal recently reported that the iPhone would be available for Verizon subscribers in early 2011).

Read more: 8 Great Gadgets to Give or Receive This Season | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7596550_8-gadgets-give-receive-season.html#ixzz18UO4RJmP

How to Know When to Issue a 1099-MISC

2010-12-18T10:24:00.000-08:00

How to Know When to Issue a 1099-MISC

By an eHow Contributor

File a 1099-Misc

A 1099-MISC needs to be issued by your trade or business under many situations when you pay someone for rent, services, royalties or other various fees.

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Difficulty: Moderate

Things You'll Need:

Spreadsheet Softwares
File Cabinets
Office Software
Accountants
Calculators
Notebook Papers
Tax Services
EIN
Business Services
IRS Forms

Who Must Issue 1099-MISCs

1
Determine if you have a trade or business. If you are operating for the purpose of making a gain or profit, you have a trade or business.
2
Determine if you run a nonprofit organization, a taxable farmers cooperative, a government agency, or a trust of a qualified pension or profit-sharing employer plan. These are considered trades or businesses for 1099-MISC purposes.
3
Calculate if you paid $600 or more during the tax year in the course of your trade or business to an individual or partnership. Professional fees to an attorney, doctor or other professional are included. Payments to corporations are included only if they are for medical, health care, legal or fishing activities.
4
Calculate if you paid $10 or more in royalties.
5
Issue 1099-MISCs if you have or manage a trade or business and have paid $600 or more to an individual or partnership (or certain corporations) or have paid $10 or more in royalties.
6
Issue a separate 1099-MISC to each individual or partnership (or specific corporation).

Payments Requiring 1099-MISC

1
Determine that you paid $600 or more in compensation for services rendered by a nonemployee to your trade or business. Include the gross amount of payments in box 7, including anything you paid the contractor for supplies and materials.
2
Determine that you paid $600 or more in rent for office space, machines, equipment or land in the course of your trade or business. Write the amount in box 1. Do not include amounts paid to corporations or real estate agents.
3
Verify that your trade or business gave any prizes or awards to an individual who is not your employee. Include only amounts of $600 or more. Put amounts in box 3. But don't report it if the prize was transferred directly to charity.
4
Verify that your trade or business paid $600 or more in medical or health care payments to an individual, partnership or corporation. Put the amount in box 6.
5
Verify that your trade or business paid $600 or more to an attorney or corporation for any legal services. Write the amount in box 7. If you cannot determine the amount paid that applies to legal services, write the gross amount paid, even if less than $600, in box 13 and put the letter A after the amount.
6
Determine if you paid $600 or more in taxable fringe benefits to nonemployees in the course of your trade or business. Write the amount in box 7.
7
Determine if your trade or business paid $600 or more in punitive damages. Write the amount in box 3.
8
Determine if your trade or business paid $600 or more in director's fees. Write the amount in box 7.
9
Determine if your trade or business paid $600 or more to a deceased employee's estate or beneficiary. There are some tricky rules on this one, so be careful and get some help. Write the amount in box 3.
10
Verify that you paid $600 or more for your trade or business to purchase fish from an individual, partnership or corporation. Write the entire purchase cost in box 7.
11
Verify that you paid a share of fishing boat receipts to someone. The rules are quite tricky on fishing boats, so see a tax professional. The amount is written in box 5.
12
Verify that you paid royalties of $10 or more in the course of your trade or business. Write the amount in box 2.

Read more: How to Know When to Issue a 1099-MISC | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_13664_know-issue-1099.html#ixzz18UNh0WWE

How to Get Your W2 forms online For Free Read more: How to Get Your W2 forms online For Free | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4736251_w-forms-online.html#ixzz18UN27Mjw

2010-12-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

By mwchambers, eHow Member

User-Submitted Article

If you don't want to wait to file, you can get your W2 online. It's faster and it's free.

Difficulty: Easy

1
Check with your employer to verify whether or not your W2 is available online. If you can't get a straight answer, proceed to step 2.
2
Go to www.w2express.com, or www.rapidtax.org/id42.html. Click on "Find employer name" below the login box at www.w2express.com, then you can search for your employer by clicking the letter that begins with the company you work for. After you find the employer click on it. It will tell you what the id number is.
3
You can now login by using the id number and some of your personal, secure information. You will need to know the gross amount of your last paycheck to log in to your account.
4
You can then select to view your W2 online and print it. Print out the W2 to take to your tax preparer. You can request multiple copies of your W2 for free. Just visit the website and sign back in. Note that some employers do not offer online W2's. You will then have to wait until you receive the paper W2.

Read more: How to Get Your W2 forms online For Free | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4736251_w-forms-online.html#ixzz18UN8UfNg