nazrullah's Blog

It is that time of year again. Everybody is getting ready for the holidays and deciding what presents and gifts they want to get their family and friends. I know some of you out there might find it hard to know what to get everybody on your list. I have a few tips for you which will make shopping a little easier this year. If you are going to be being any electronics or other gadget type gift then you definitely do not what to miss this article. I have important tips you need to know about when buying the latest gadgets.

First off start your holiday shopping early. It does not matter how early in the year it is. You can start buying presents and gifts for loved one right after the holidays and Christmas when everything goes on sell. This is a great time to find awesome deals. One word of caution here though. This is not a good time to buy the latest electronic gadgets like digital camera or computers. Electronics like these are changing so fast with new models coming out and prices on old models dropping what seems like everyday. What seems like a great price on a digital camera now might not be such a great price 8 months later when you are ready to give the camera to that special person. Now for non-electronic gifts anytime is a great time to get them. Gifts like decorations, clothes, classic CDs and DVDs are great to buy way a head of time.

Step two is to write down any items you hear a family member or friend mention they would like to have. If it is early enough in the year then you can even ask them questions about that item without them thinking you might purchase it for them. Try that a month before Christmas and see if they are a little suspicious. Keep this list someplace secret and convenient and simply add to it over the year. This list will come in handy for birthdays as well.

Step three is designating an area someplace to keep all the gifts and presents you buy early. It can be a closet or box tucked away someplace where the people who the gifts are for never look or use. Also make sure and keep all receipts organized in case you need to return something.

Step four is finding gifts for those hard to buy for people. In this case get them something fun and unique. Buying gadgets and other off the wall items is great for these types of people. When I say gadgets I do not mean items like digital cameras and computers. I'm talking about RC floating snack trays, kitchen gadgets like a pop-up hotdog cooker or a self stirring mug. They are sure to love those unique gifts.

The world of advertising is changing. Companies are finding it harder and harder to find those customers they require to make profit. Companies have experimented with TV, radio and written advertising. There is now a new technique, affiliate marketing. Even the larger, more reputable companies such as Blockbuster, Sky and Post Office are trying out this 21st century viral marketing. The theory behind this technique is that the company is getting a known number of potential customers for the amount they spend. A conventional advertising method such as television ads do not have a predetermined return on their investment whereas in affiliate marketing the company is only paying out if they get a new customer. Sites are taking advantage of affiliate marketing but instead of solely monetary rewards being sent out, there are rewards in the form of iPods, iPhones and consoles.

Here is an example of how they can give you a free iPod:

1. You register with the freebie site and complete a trial with Blockbuster.
2. Blockbuster pays the freebie site a bounty for you becoming a member with them. This commission normally ranges from £15-£50.
3. You then refer 5 friends to also complete a trial with Blockbuster.
4. Blockbuster pays the freebie site another 5 times.
5. Six offers have been completed in total. The total money collected by the freebie site is enough to cover the cost of an iPod. They buy the iPods at wholesale prices and keep the excess money as profit.

Referral marketing has been around for a while now. You may have noticed these free iPod offers all over the internet and simply dismissed them as scams. It may surprise you then when I say that these are in fact legitimate sites, some have even broken into the INC's top 500 companies list. These sites have transformed 21st century advertising.

To get you free item, you simply have to register with an offer and then refer a few friends to do the same. There are a range of offers, from free 14 day trials with Blockbuster and Lovefilm, to internet and TV services from Sky. These schemes started off giving away free iPods as they were deemed the easiest to market but they now give away anything you can think of. If you can't see an item you're interested in then you could opt for a custom order or even a bank transfer. It is similar to some real life situations where, for example, a gym may give you a free session if you bring a friend along who pays. This referral setup up makes the site go viral. All advertising is word of mouth and so is extremely effective.

This scheme is for real and thousands of gifts, costing millions of pounds, have already been sent out. Some sites are better than others in respect to referral rates and customer support but they are all legitimate. This internet craze began in America but has since spread to other countries such as the United Kingdom. It has been covered by many legitimate sources such as the BBC, NBC and CNN. The companies advertising through the sites are highly reputable companies which increases the legitimacy of the site. Of course it does involve some effort to persuade friends to sign up but for students this is a great opportunity to get some of the latest gadgets for completely free.

When signing up to reward sites like these the Terms and Conditions should be read. The sites are following the Data Protection Act so your personal information is safe.

The "theory of the Big Bang" is an interesting a plausible theory. Having few other plausible theories, I welcome the thought to consider it and appreciate those who have brought this theory and concept to the forefront, although I must say personally I do have some issues with it. And since I was not around for the big bang to observe and see it, there to lies another issue with adoption of the theory. Additionally if I were around during the big bang, I would not have lived to tell about it and would not be here today as carbon based bipod cruising around this pale blue dot.

There are no reasonable, believable or plausible religious explanations of the beginning of the universe; that is to say that the biblical explanation in Genesis is completely out of the question and silly to even bother to contemplate. Indeed it is human nature to seek answers to those things we do not know. And it is perhaps in the best interest at the time of the religious leaders of the day to come up with something plausible to their local human groupings to answer such questions for them in order to align them in thought to make it easier to control them; Apparent goal of religion.

Even though humans seek answers to questions that cannot be known now, that does not mean that some day they will not know and thus it makes sense to move on to another subject which could more easily be known now and wait to see if additional information presents itself to consider alternatives of adoption of the Big Bang. Indeed there is much we do not know. Will you consider this in 2006.

As an over the road truck driver one has endless hours to spend just thinking. I don't know about you, but I think about weird, sometimes complicated things. For instance, is a horse really a horse? Anyway, I would like to hear about what some of you think about when trucking across this country of ours. For now, I would like to share this piece of information as just one of the "things" I think about :

The Big Bang Theory...we all know the story: Approximately 15 billion years ago an enormous explosion started the expansion of the universe. What existed before this explosion is purely unknown. World re-known British theoretical physicist and mathematician, Stephen Hawking was once asked what existed before the explosion. His answer? He thought for a moment and simply answered, "Well, there was nothing." Nothing?

Now I am in no way within the same category of intelligence when it comes to Stephen Hawking. My High School teachers will attest to this fact. In fact, science and math were my two worst subjects! But his answer got me to thinking. Before the universe "began," there was "nothing." Well, what is "nothing?" Nothing is defined as the lack or absence of anything at all. If I hand you a box and tell you that you can have what is in the box, and you open the box and it is empty, then there is "nothing" in the box. No existence of anything, only nothing. Now, could you take that "nothing" and make something out of it?

Simple, common sense tells me that something always comes from something else. You cannot take nothing and create something else from it. Stretch out your arm and open your hand. Now, I want you to take what is in your hand, (nothing), and make something from it. Can you? Of course not, because there is "nothing" in your hand. And, since something always comes from something else, how can you make anything?

Let's look at something that is common in our lives. Let's say...glass. Did glass just appear out of nothing? Glass is derived from sand, soda ash and limestone. What about limestone? Limestone mostly consist of calcium carbonate. Did calcium carbonate come from nothing? No, calcium carbonate is a chemical combination of calcium, carbon and oxygen. OK, what about oxygen? Natural oxygen comes from a mixture of three isotopes: 16O, 17O, and 18O. Something ALWAYS comes from something else.

What about human blood? Can it come from nothing? Human blood consists of the red blood cells, the white blood cells and the platelets all floating around in a fluid called plasma. Something ALWAYS comes from something else.

OK, what about air? The air that we breathe ... does it come from nothing? Air comes from 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen with traces of carbon dioxide, argon, water vapor, and other various components. Something ALWAYS comes from something else.

Being in trucking most of my life, I thought about common petroleum-derived diesel. Maybe diesel comes from nothing? Wrong! This type of diesel comes from about 75% saturated hydrocarbons, mostly paraffins, and 25% aromatic hydrocarbons. What about these things called paraffins? Perhaps they come from nothing? Paraffins are chemical compounds that are made of only two elements : carbon and hydrogen. Something ALWAYS comes from something else.

According to Stephen Hawking, perhaps the most intelligent human being on our planet, in the beginning, there was nothing. But, in this case, the "nothing" is something. And, since something ALWAYS comes from something else ... then where did the "nothing" come from? The "nothing" could not have just appeared from "nothing." The "nothing" had to come from something else, because common sense AND science tell us that something ALWAYS comes from something else. If indeed there was "nothing" then "something" had to exist BEFORE the "nothing" in order for the "nothing" to have come into existence.

What existed BEFORE the "nothing?" Could it be some kind of "Creator?" But if something always comes from something else, then where did the Creator come from? The only explanation in my simple mind, is it would have to be something supernatural. Something far beyond our science, logic and common sense. A question that man can never comprehend or understand. It is simply beyond our reasoning.

Many supernatural phenomenons can be explained by science. Yet, there is still one that cannot be explained or understood: what existed before the "nothing?" Before there was a universe ... before there was life ... before there was space ... before there was time ... there was nothing. But, again, in this case ... nothing is something. What existed before the "nothing" will never be answered by man or science. We are not meant to know or understand.

Something always comes from something else. What came before the "nothing" can only be something of supernatural existence.