This version should allow multiple hide statements in the same post. This is a test of that functionality.

The first line below is going to be hidden for those below User Level 2.

Here’s another hide statement:

This seems to work! Download the new version of the plugin here (altho it might take time for the Wordpress Plugin SVN to update):

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/show-user-level-content/

Enjoy, and provide feedback!

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In the intervening months, Provident Bank, like many others, struggled in the new economic order. As a result, it was acquired by M&T Bank. Needless to say, I’m interested to see what will happen post-merger, but right now, things are still the same.

M&T’s e-Money Market Account

One of the things that does interest me the most is M&T’s e-Money Market Account. M&T e-Money Market, offered by M&T Online Banking is the newest in a line of high-yield online accounts. FHWWers should now be conditioned to look to make money while they sleep. To work for 4 hours a week requires not having to expend energy and effort to make money, and certainly interest-bearing accounts are key to making that a reality.  What makes an online money market account valuable vs. a CD or bond that also makes money while you sleep is that money markets are fluid — your money is not tied up for a specific length of time, giving you convenient access to your funds.

The usual trade-off, however, is interest rates. As of the date of this post, M&T is offering 1.75% on their regular money-market account. I remember when I was getting 6.5% on MM savings, but sigh, those days are long gone. I hope to see them again soon!

Which online savings accounts are you using? Which would you recommend? Which are suitable for business accounts (versus personal)? Let me know!

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For many of us who have worked hard to make this day possible, this is truly a day of celebration. I think for all Americans, regardless of your political persuasion, we should be happy to look forward to what the possibilities are for us in the years ahead.

In a bit of a spate of irony, I may be personally contributing to this economy. I have had to recently think about buying a new car. With the state of the US economy and in particular, the US automakers, the question is: should I buy a car from one of our troubled US automakers? I’m thinking so.

At The Car Connection, my most recent haunt for online car shopping, I’ve been looking at GMC cars. I like the Car Connection’s website since it makes it easy to locate the various models and features and has quite a bit of detail on the ratings. While GMC might have its share of financial problems (probably much more so than Ford and certainly Toyota), at the very least they don’t have as much of the significant quality woes as Chrysler. I once owned a PT Cruiser, and while it was fun for the first year or so, you could easily tell by the second that quality was not job one over there.

Anyways, GMC, like most automakers, are now producing Hybrids that approach the fuel efficiency of the Japanese automakers. I am hoping that they can power past that and work directly on Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), which would be my preferred mode of transportation.

Should I buy a car? Should I wait? What should I buy? If you were put in a position where your current car was no longer available, what would you do?

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First, the site is now upgraded to Wordpress 2.7, and I’m looking at fixing a number of glitches in the site, including missing downloads, incorrectly functioning tickers, etc. If you spot a problem that needs fixing, please let me know.

Second, I’ve been making lots of progress on personal goals and especially around the FHWW. May “main job” has now been pared down to 4 hours  a day (I know, not a week, yet), but this year I will be paring it down even more. I will spend more time thinking about and writing on muses and microsourcing, so if you have any thoughts, please let me know.

I have a few posts queued up, so I will be uploading them over the course of the next few days. Stay tuned!

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Well, I’ve done a few things to counter-act this potential downside of the work-at-home lifestyle. First,  I’ve created a “work zone” for myself that is completely separated from the rest of the non-work home. I did this by finishing a basement that was unused. You’ll see a post or two about that coming up soon for those who want to learn how to really mold/waterproof a basement to make it work.

Another thing you can do is make your work environment really be a work environment. Don’t have clothes hanging around that need to be washed, or toys that need to be put away. Make the work environment one in which you can be productive and one that shouts “work” rather than “play” and you’ll be tempted to make your time efficient… not the opposite.

To do that, I’ve invested in some good quality office furniture. My source of choice is Henriksen Butler office furniture. This Utah office furniture design and supply house has some really interesting and work-productive furniture that will really help you make that work/life balance effective.

They even offer to help design effective workspaces for the design-challenged:

Henriksen/Butler brings a unique blend of knowledge and technology to solve workplace challenges for business. Whether you have one location or one hundred, we can help create workplace environments that solve problems and boost productivity. The technology we use helps — from initial design through procurement and well beyond installation. We can manage any and all aspects of your workspace transition to ensure everything goes smoothly. From space planning and design to installation, maintenance and on-going support, Henriksen/Butler is creating great places to work, learn and heal.

On their website, you can see office furniture examples and the sort of interior design work they do. The company has multiple locations, mostly in the Southwest / Rocky region, providing solutions for those looking for Nevada office furniture and locations in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, St. Geroge, and Boise, Idaho.

And for companies larger than one, they setup cubicles, chairs, desks, meeting rooms, counters, etc. for medium to large corporations.

I’d love to see what sort of work environments you FHWW’ers have set up. Anyone want to share some photo galleries?

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Read more about the plug-in here… and don’t forget to donate!

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Or maybe there are such sorts of businesses, but they can never truly replace income by themselves. Perhaps the key to a good PIG-type muse is to have a collection of small businesses, each of which contribute a modest amount, but togethr contrbute a significant amount.

In that vein, I’m getting a few of my muses together. The first muse is this blog. But a blog isn’t truly a PIG. Indeed, a blog is really an Active Income Generator (AIG) because it requires continuous work on the blogger to allow it to derive value. Well, maybe not entirely… some blogs automatically parrot information available elsewhere. Those blogs then can truly be PIG-type muses. But it’s the one where new and fresh content is the draw that makes blogs AIGs.

Note: I really need better acronyms, since we like PIGs and the AIG acronym sounds too close to an existing, failing business entity. Anyone have any ideas that convey the same meaning but have better acronyms?

An e-Commerce site as a PIG

So, one of those modestly-contributing PIGs I am considering is an ecommerce site selling a specific niche of items. There is some set-up time involved in an ecommerce site, especially around the website development and selection of products. Also, there is the issue of dealing with customer support and shipping / packaging. But I have a feeling that e-Commerce has evolved so that it can be completely turnkey without requiring the user to do anything but generate traffic.

Here’s where I’m stuck. I need help here — has anyone recently put together an e-Commerce site with a minimal of money and time investment and managed to keep operations humming with little continuous money and time investment? If so, I want to hear about it! What tools did you use? What companies are you working with? Send me your advice, and we’ll keep it posted here.

See you around the 4HWW world!

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Anyways, at every service, whether for the High Holidays or not, there’s always a prayer for the government. I usually gloss that over, since it’s pretty vague. But this time, the words popped out of the page and struck a real chord with me. Somehow, this time, the words of the prayer seem quite relevant to the times.

As excerpted from the Jewish Virtual Library:

The prayer for the government is a biblical prayer, and is read during the Saturday morning service on Shabbat. The concept of praying for the wellbeing of the government was started in 586 B.C.E. by the prophet Jeremiah after the first expulsion from Jerusalem. Seeing as the Jewish people could not govern themselves, they implored God to guide their foreign rulers. David Abudarham first introduced this prayer into the modern siddurim (prayer book) in the 14th century. Jews have adopted different prayers for the governments of the countries in which they live. The prayer is read aloud after the Torah reading, but before the Torah is placed back into the ark. This blessing asks God to guard the proceedings of the government and the nation’s leaders.

Here’s the prayer as is usually translated:

Our God and God of our ancestors: We ask Your blessings for our country, for its government, for its leader and advisors, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority. Teach them your insights that they may administer all affairs of state fairly, that peace and security, happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom may forever abide in our midst. Creator of all flesh, bless all the inhabitants of our country with Your spirit. May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common bond in true harmony to banish all hatred and bigotry and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions which are the pride and glory of our country. May this land under Your Providence be an influence for good throughout the world, uniting all people in peace and freedom and helping them to fulfill the vision of your prophet: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they experience war any more.” And let us say: Amen.

How can anyone disagree?

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I have recently come across a company called Actuate that offers a platform for creating Rich Internet Applications. For folks that are building rich applications that want to get around the difficulties of working with traditional web applications, the company offers a portfolio of content- and application-specific business intelligence products. Business Intelligence offerings, for those that don’t know, are methods for extracting information from the various systems you have in your organization and analyzing and presenting it in a way that can be better understood.

The Actuate system provides a means to meet nformation and online channel application, performance Management and Java Reporting needs. It would probably read like an ad if I wrote more on this, so read here for more information about their business intelligence solution. Let me know what you think — what sort of muses are you working on?

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In pursuing my muse, I have become somewhat dependent on credit card debt. I think even Tim mentions aggressive use of credit cards to finance his muse business. The current economic climate is making it harder for folks like us. More importantly, one of Tim’s techniques is to transfer balances from one credit card to another, using the 0% APR balance transfer techniques. Well, thanks to new credit card regulations and credit legislation issued by the Federal Reserve, it may be harder to get a 0% APR balance transfer.

One of the tools I have been recently using is SmartBalanceTransfers.com, which allows you to compare a wide selection of 0 balance transfer and no fee balance transfer credit card offers from leading banks and use our balance transfer calculator and articles to help you save the most money possible when you transfer a balance online.

The site is prouced by a company called Credit Card Depot Inc, which claims to have helped tens of thousands of consumers find new credit cards online. The SmartBalanceTransfers.com site is designed to provide folks like us targeted information necessary to maximize the savings that can be reaped with a balance transfer credit card.

If you’re using a credit card to fund a muse, like I am, I think this will be worth a visit.

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