Conduct Contextual Backlink Building Campaigns To Become In ...

Google has indexed vast amounts of pages and a few of these pages haven?t been visited because of it but they are indexed due to link analysis. This statement suggests that links are crucial for websites to occupy a much better devote the internet search engine created results. Link generation however isn?t as simple because it was at past.

Contextual links

With internet search engine increasingly sophisticated, Search engine optimization techniques have developed too. Among the improvements observed in Search engine optimization techniques is by means of Contextual Links. Today, the majority of the companies offering professional and affordable Search engine optimization services depend on contextual backlink building due to the multitudes of advantages connected with this particular technique. The greatest benefit of implementing this method could be observed in the type of high internet search engine ranking the imagine every business owner.

How contextual links assistance to achieve greater internet search engine ranking?

The idea of contextual links is quickly becoming popular due to the advantages are multifold. It however is important to understand the way the whole process really works. The most crucial factor to know is the fact that contextual links suggests your title to other people who might be searching for something highly relevant to your company. But, the significant factor here?s these links appear naturally plus they just let visitors learn about your presence try not to compel them to apply your services. What it really means would be that the anchor-text promotes your title without marketing it and that is precisely what natural backlink building is about.

Just due to natural appearance of those links inside a publish, they?re considered impressive. Though they work effectively but contextual backlink building isn?t a child?s play. Given that they require plenty of expertise, it is advisable to employ a professional Search engine optimization company to conduct contextual backlink building campaigns in your account. These businesses work by placing different blogs on different blogs. Due to the various Insolvency practitioners of those blogs, they?ve created a larger effect on web spider and help your research ranking to maneuver up a little.

Change is the best way to impress Google:

With ever altering Google internet search engine formula, it might be hard for Search engine optimization companies to maintain the interest rate. Although it is difficult to thrill Google along with other search engines like google however it needs to be achieved nonetheless. Contextual backlink building campaigns carried out with a professional search engine optimization company can certainly help to produce an effect on the internet along with other search engines like google. As these companies continue altering your blog posts with backlinks to your web page, they create Google believe that links are natural and submissions are authentic, unique and top-notch.

Purchasing contextual backlink building packages:

Today, contextual link building service can be simply be acquired as different companies offer different backlink building packages but you have to spend a while in it before finalizing your choice. You have to make sure the following before permitting a business to dedicate yourself you.

Source: http://koottaxi.net/2012/11/01/conduct-contextual-backlink-building-campaigns-to-become-in-front-of-pack/

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What's happened to Love All Blogs?

Nov 1, 2012

Love All Blogs is offline at the moment whilst the last few touches are made before it re-launches tonight around 9pm . I say?touches but really I mean gentle caresses.

Love All Blogs is evolving into something new, with ?new bits? and if it?s alright with you I?d like to tell you a bit about the new stuff. We?ve worked like dawgs to try and bring a new site that offers bloggers something a bit different, LAB isn?t a traditional blogging network and I for one am rather proud of that.

There are new showcase categories, to fit in with suggestions and requests made by bloggers *stares hard at Red Ted Art and Here Come the Girls*, husbando no.1 is beavering on these whilst he?s not out earning a living and so they may not appear on LABit for another 24 hours yet?

New categories include: Blogging, Campaigns & Politics, Family Fun, Fatherhood, Food and Drink, Home & Garden, Kids Activities, Kids Craft, Motherhood, Music film & theatre, Nature & Wildlife, News & Media and Teens ? and that?s on top of the existing ones.

LAB?s Opportunities Group is blogger outreach. Yes you read that right, blogger outreach, the thing I vowed not to do on Love All Blogs. But when LAB does blogger outreach it does it in a new way, here is a brief summing-it-up?

A private forum split into Opportunities sections.

It?s FREE to use for both Bloggers and Brands / PRs /SEOs / any one who want to connect with bloggers.

There is section for open discussion between Brands and Bloggers. Maybe a PR want?s feedback on campaign they have run or want to ask actual blogger what they like in an approach. It?s also a chance for bloggers to openly ask Brands questions too. We don?t think blogger outreach ?should be a ?them? and ?us? ?and that?s why I hope that this space will be a really good way to communicate, improve and forge really valuable relationships.

You can request to join and we look at every blogger and brand / PR who wishes to join individually, the only criteria is that we need to be satisfied that you are who you say you are.

There most certainly won?t be lots of spammy US ?Hey my man, I love you site so much that I am giving you, yes you! a free ? yes FREE! post riddled with links to publish? type affairs.

Love All Blogs is not the middleman, we are just facilitating shizzle ( sorry I just realised that I used the?word?facilitating and had to claw back my kudos with the word ?shizzle?)

LAB will share when new?opportunities?arise on social media and also in a Weekly Opportunities Newsletter which will contain snippets of opportunities added that week along with links to the threads to find out more. One email each week. Nice.

Stock Photos, Clipart, Blog Bling, Freebies?.

For those who know of Piccy.co, I have moved most of the site over to LAB now, with more to be added all the time. This will make LAB a cool place to go to find very affordable stock photos and free bloggy bits.

?

Tutorials

From Basic CSS to photo editing to design to WordPress? we?ll be adding tutorial every week to this section. I?m building up a Basic WordPress section at the moment as with the recent influx of new bloggers I have been asked a lot of?WordPress questions flying around Twitter.

?

Comps!

Giveaways and competitions *honk*, we?ll be giving away things ? wahey!

Right. Did you get all that? Bored yet? Hopefully you?ll agree it?s all in keeping with the ethos of Love All Blogs and thank you, so so so much for supporting LAB since it started back in January *huggawugga*

And a huge thank you to Steph who has helped me lots!

?

Source: http://mammasaurus.co.uk/whats-happened-to-love-all-blogs/

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VI6ARG30 - Peel Amateur Radio Group celebrates 30 year history in ...

Peel Amateur Radio Group have a special Anniversary coming up that we would like to share; we're celebrating our 30th Anniversary!

To help celebrate we will be using our specially assigned call sign VI6ARG30. We will be operating between 5th November until 18th November. QSL cards will be issued for stations worked. Further details can be found on QRZ.com

We will also be having celebrations on Sunday the 11th & 18th November which will include the club setting up in a local park in Mandurah. Everyone is welcome to swing past and say hello. BYO Picnic; please contact us for further details or head to our club page on the WIA website. [http://www.wia.org.au/clubs/vk6/PeelAmateurRadioGroup/]

We're a growing club with approx 20 members and embrace all areas from Kwinana though to Waroona, incorporating Rockingham and Mandurah in VK6.

PARG has been working on a Mobile Communications Trailer for the past couple of years which was obtained through generous donations from sponsors such as SES Mandurah, Mayday and Alcoa. Our trailer is primarily used for emergency radio communications back-up to the SES in Mandurah and Club field days.

We are currently in early stages of sourcing a suitable club house in the Peel region.

Please do not hesitate to contact any one of our committee members for more information on us and our activities.

73?s
Michelle VK6MLW
President

Source: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/november2012/peel_amateur_radio_group.htm

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Which candidate do you love more?

A Christian Science perspective: In an atmosphere teeming with opinions, perhaps our biggest contribution can be a peaceful acknowledgement of divine Love, God?s power beyond the power of people, a heart that sees ourselves and those seeking election ultimately as equal rays of a powerful center, Love itself.

By Susan Oakes / November 1, 2012

My children have loved to tease me by stating that I loved one of them more than the other. Early on I would deny their accusations until I began to see they already knew how much it meant to me that they knew they were loved equally and fully and unconditionally. I learned to catch their knowing eye, and roll with the joke.

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Thinking of that experience during this US presidential campaign, I suddenly asked myself, Do I love all the candidates equally? It startled me to ask that. Intellectually, I would reply that I would hope to love everyone equally as God?s children. But in actuality, do I? To vote for one or the other candidate doesn?t need to mean loving one more than the other.

What does it mean to meaningfully love those whom we don?t know personally or even those whom we think we don?t like? What does it mean to hold a lesser love for anyone? And why shouldn?t we? Jesus put it this way: ?If ye love them which love you [or we could say those with whose political positions we agree], what thank have ye?? (Luke 6:32). What is Jesus asking of us? How do we love in this way, and why does it matter?

I don?t really know of any way to do this from a mere personal human kind of love. We seem to have so many opinions and personal preferences about so many things, certainly including candidates. But in an atmosphere teeming with such opinions, what a relieving and refreshing position to simply love ? deeply love as a replacement for anxious political positioning. But what kind of love are we talking about that seems so much easier said than done?

We can still listen intelligently to the issues and policies and even character of the candidates, and vote as wisely as we see fit. But we may most discerningly and more peacefully find that wise choice if we are seeing Love. Not just loving a person, but seeing Love itself, Love as the presence of God. As we read editorials and ponder the pundits? analyses, we can likewise learn how to simultaneously see through the surface presentation to the very presence of divine Love, right there, right here, right now as the Governor of the universe. Look first at the Governor, the divine Principle behind all existence.

Love as God, as a universal presence and reigning intelligence, never breaks down and is constantly giving impulse to our efforts to sort chaos and confusion into peace and order. Love already exists as the simple concept reigning quietly, powerfully behind all the chaotic scenes of conflict and fear and division.

When looking at the sun, I don?t imagine loving one of its rays more than another. They are equally equipped and valued in the warmth, cheer, and light they bring. When looking into the face of Love, I don?t need to fear that any of the rays are less worthy of divine Love. And what is our love but a reflection of the Love that exists.

It isn?t harder for a sun ray to shine on a rock or a garden. The principle impels the natural results. To love is a natural outcome of being Love?s ray. Focusing more on our own and everyone?s true identity as an unarguing shining of Love, rather than on the rocks or garden ? the various choices of politics ? doesn?t make us less discerning, but more so.

In today?s abundance of punditry perhaps our biggest contribution to this season can be a peaceful acknowledgement of divine Love, God?s power beyond the power of people and cloaks of political position, a love-filled heart that sees ourselves and all those seeking election ultimately as equal rays of a powerful center, Love itself. Perhaps how we learn to love equally this season is ultimately more important, and adds more value, than what political position we hold. Our world needs that deeper sense of love much more than it needs more opinions.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/kzaY9mqJ71M/Which-candidate-do-you-love-more

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Hurricane Sandy Bypasses Virginia, Leaving No Edge For Candidates

COLONIAL BEACH, Va. -- If Hurricane Sandy was going to have an impact on next week's presidential election, the swing state of Virginia would seem a likely a place to look.

But on Tuesday, as relieved residents of this resort town on the coast returned to their normal lives having largely escaped the wrath of the storm, any potential political fallout appeared muted.

"We're just happy this one didn't get so crazy," said Julie Sanford, a waitress at Wilkerson's Seafood restaurant, as she served a single customer in a booth facing the swollen Potomac River.

Behind the restaurant, the river lapped at the edge of the building, and an outdoor pier was almost entirely submerged, with just the tops of its pilings visible. Otherwise, the restaurant, like much of the town around it, escaped unscathed. Sanford compared the storm to 2003's Hurricane Isabel, which made landfall nearby and did extensive damage to Wilkerson's, flooding the kitchen and knocking out most of the back wall.

"I thought it was going to be much worse," Sanford said.

Other places along the East Coast fared worse: in New York City, lower Manhattan was plunged into darkness, and the damage from the storm is expected to keep power out, and the subway system shut down for as much as a week. In nearby Atlantic City, some of the popular beach boardwalk was shredded.

The political fallout is harder to gauge. Few doubt that pitch-perfect management by President Barack Obama may help improve his stature among some undecided voters -- just as any bumbling or major recovery delays would prove costly.

And in some of the worst-hit places, the political creep was already setting in on Tuesday. In New Jersey, for instance, Gov. Chris Christie, a prominent Republican seemed to go out of his way to heap praise upon Obama for his cool handling of the crisis.

"He's done -- as far as I?m concerned -- a great job for New Jersey," Christie said Monday morning.

But New Jersey is not considered a swing state -- most polls indicate a healthy lead for Obama, and neither campaign is spending much time in the state. Virginia, on the other hand, is, and both Republican candidate Mitt Romney and Obama desperately want its 13 electoral votes. Recent polls show the race a dead-heat.

On Tuesday, few Virginians along the coast said they any direct political consequence from the storm that had mostly bypassed them.

A few intersections in town were flooded, and some restaurants were closed, but most businesses remained open, almost tauntingly. "Sayonara Sandy, We're Open," read a sign outside a Papa John's.

"Last year I got flooded and the government didn't help us out at all, so why would I expect them to do more this time?" said Robin Burns, a waitress at Steamers Grill in nearby King George. "So why should I care what the politicians say in their speeches? I'd rather look to other issues to decide who to vote for."

"This shit happens," said Stephanie Adams, one of Burns' customers.

Most patrons at Fat Freda's Restaurant in Colonial Beach agreed that Obama seemed to have handled the damage further north appropriately.

"What's he going to do, stop the storm?" asked one regular, who declined to give her name, referring to Obama.

Westmoreland County, home to Colonial Beach, has favored Republicans in recent decades, although Obama won the county by 800 votes in 2008, a margin of 11 percentage points. Neighboring King George County went to Republican John McCain by a similar margin. Yard signs and highway ads seemed to strongly favor the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Virginia did not entirely escape the superstorm's destruction. By 5 p.m., 103,000 residents remained without electricity, and 279 roads were closed, according to Marshal Barnhill, a spokeswoman at the state Department of Emergency Management. Disaster crews were predominantly concerned with small cities in the mountainous western region of the state, Barnhill added, where snow began to fall on Tuesday, with icy conditions are expected to persist into Wednesday.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-virginia_n_2046959.html

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FREE GIVEAWAY: NFL Crock-Pot? Cook & Carry? Slow Cookers ...

Football season, beer and food go hand in hand, and what better way to throw a party or tailgate than to toss out the stress and slow cook those favorite recipes. Don?t have a Crock-Pot?? No worries, for one lucky winner, not only will you get the latest Cook & Carry? Crock-Pot, but you can also pick out which NFL team you want it?Steelers, Giants, Cowboys, they?ve got ?em all?32 NFL teams. (MSRP $59.99)

Not only great for home parties and dinners, this Cook & Carry? slow cooker is also a tailgater?s dream! The easy locking lid with rubber gasket allows fans to get to the end zone without the mess. Oversized handles make carrying comfortable and the removable 6-quart stoneware doubles as a serving dish. And when the party is over, clean up is a snap thanks to the dishwasher safe stoneware and glass lid unit.

So what dishes will you cook up? Chili, Sloppy Joes, your secret cheese dip? To get you inspired, here?s our favorite slow cooker recipe:

Hot & Tangy Wings

Ingredients
4 lbs chicken wings
1 cup Bullseye barbecue sauce
1/2 cup hot sauce ( Franks Hot Sauce)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 cup honey

Directions

Clean and dry all the chicken wings well. Cut off the wing tips, and cut at the joints. Place all onto a broiler pan and broil for 10 minutes until browned, on all sides. Place all browned chicken pieces into crock pot.
Combine all ingredients and pour over the chicken. Place lid onto slow cooker and cook on low 5 hours or high 2 1/2 hours.

What better way to show off your team spirit than with a NFL Crock-Pot? Slow Cookers that will not only show support of your favorite team but will also serve up the best game day food!

Here are the 7 different ways you can enter:

? Leave us a comment and tell us what recipes you want to cook in your slow cooker, or?
? Become a subscriber to weBEgirls and receive monthly newsletter updates, or?
? Follow weBEgirls on Twitter (comment below linking to your Twitter acct), or?
? Become a fan of weBEgirls on Facebook (comment below linking to your FB account), or?
? Follow weBEgirls on Pinterest (comment below linking to your Pinterest account), or?
? Tweet this giveaway on your own Twitter stream, or?
? Link back to this giveaway on your blog (comment below linking to your post)

The more you ways you enter above, the more chances you have to win!

The giveaway ends on Friday, November 9, 2012 at 11pm PT and the winner will be selected by a random drawing. You must be 16 or older and a U.S. resident to enter. Good luck!

Related posts:


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Source: http://webegirls.com/home-food/food/free-giveaway-nfl-crock-pot%C2%AE-cook-carry%E2%84%A2-slow-cookers

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Presidential race rained out even in sunny states

DENVER (AP) ? Crista Laughlin was a mile high and dry, but Superstorm Sandy still kept the 40-year-old Obama campaign volunteer from walking precincts or working the phones.

Instead, she was huddled inside her suburban Denver home, watching storm coverage on television and thinking about her grandson in Norfolk, Va., in the hurricane's path. "I'm actually with the president on this one: The election will take care of itself in a week. What's on our minds is the people," said Laughlin, a 40-year-old volunteer in Aurora, Colo.

The presidential election was, well, rained out Monday ? from the media centers and storm-battered battleground states of the Atlantic coast to the arid, high plains suburbia of Colorado. Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan canceled three Colorado appearances scheduled for Tuesday as the Romney's campaign announced it was suspending political events featuring the top of its ticket. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama scrapped his own Tuesday appearances ? including one in Colorado ? and fled a Monday morning rally in Florida to make it back to the White House before the storm.

The president's campaign emailed supporters urging them to donate to charities that help storm victims. In Romney campaign offices, volunteers cut into their phone-banking and door-knocking time to stockpile canned goods to send to the disaster zone. The storm gave Obama a chance to appear presidential during a national emergency, and challenger Mitt Romney a potential opening should the federal government botch the response.

It also had a political impact thousands of miles away, giving people like Roger Draeger a break.

The 75-year-old funeral driver from Fort Atkinson, Wis., is a Romney supporter, but he was glad both candidates suspended their campaigns Monday. It was a blessed reprieve from the nonstop political debate that has dominated Wisconsin since Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill limiting collective bargaining for state workers last year, triggering a long series of recall elections.

Still, like other residents of this poll-obsessed nation, Draegar quickly began to analyze the upsides and downsides for each candidate, saying both should be visible in the aftermath. Obama "really needs to show a lot of compassion for all those states and cities," he said.

It's a sign of how thoroughly the campaign has permeated swing-state life that Dan Guimond, 61, an economist in Denver, was partly getting his hurricane updates through the political-junkie website Real Clear Politics and The New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight. Guimond is worried about his parents, who live in Massachusetts, but not worried about how the storm could affect the race. "Obama canceled his, what, 26th trip to Colorado? Big deal," he said.

A modicum of politics still continues here. Former President Bill Clinton and Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, were still slated to campaign in Colorado on Tuesday, and the Romney campaign sent the candidate's son Craig to an early vote event Monday afternoon. The president, notably, is scheduled to return to Colorado Thursday. Still, some of his supporters said they may not be able to do as much for him.

Mitt Romney held what his campaign called a "storm relief event" in Ohio Tuesday. His wife, Ann, will help gather donations at campaign offices in Wisconsin and Iowa Tuesday before a Des Moines, Iowa, rally. The Romney campaign also announced Ryan will drop by a donation drive in Wisconsin.

Denver Pastor Leon Emerson, head of the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance, spent the weekend rallying voters for Obama with actor Laurence Fishburne. But he expects Sunday talks at church to focus less on the upcoming election and more on the storm.

"I'll eventually talk about the election, but I may not put as much emphasis on it, depending how this hurricane turns out," Emerson said. "Politics is one thing, but you know what? We're going to keep our attention on helping mankind."

Emerson said his congregation is shifting focus, too.

"We had some plans today and tomorrow, going door to door. It's still going on, but not with the intensity we had, because people want to make sure their loved ones are OK," said Emerson, who has a niece in Hampton, Va.

Some weary swing state voters didn't think the political lull would mean much. "I'm sure the TV commercials aren't going to stop," said Mike Beauregard, a Republican-leaning Independent who owns a cooking utensil shop in Concord, NH.

Others were fixated on images of the storm but still saw the devastation through the prism of the election. In western Wisconsin, at the bustling student union at the University of Wisconsin in River Falls, a television tuned to cable news showed ominous images of the storm. History major Mike Engelhardt, 21, said Obama had the most on the line.

"If he bungles the beginning of the cleanup, that will move a lot of votes to Romney," Engelhardt predicted.

One place the storm may have an impact is North Carolina, where Democrats are hoping new voters who cast their ballots early will overcome the GOP's traditional Election Day advantage at the polls. Rain from the storm shuttered some early voting locations Sunday, and election officials were concerned that heavy snow in the western mountains could make it even harder to get to polling places early.

"The weather could chill participation," state election executive director Gary Bartlett said.

Democrats are counting on running up an edge in early votes in other swing states as well ? ones that lie outside the storm's path but were still on the minds of Romney supporters in sunny Davenport, Iowa, where the Republican candidate made a final Monday afternoon appearance.

Tim Vath of Dubuque said he didn't think the storm would fundamentally disrupt the election. But he did worry that any bad weather now might increase the magnitude of any early-voting advantage Democrats might have.

"Perhaps it could freeze that advantage in place. I doubt it would determine the outcome in those states," said Vath. "At least, I hope not."

As Sandy rumbled past the tiny Chesapeake Bay hamlet of North, Va., William Sullivan, 76, swung by the town's main building, which holds the post office, bait shop and convenience store. Sullivan trashed two-thirds the mail stuffing his post office box, mainly glossy political brochures from both sides.

"Makes me sick to my stomach thinking of the millions of dollars these characters have spent to get elected," Sullivan said before heading back out into the rain. He doubted the dramatics surrounding the storm would change the minds of his rural neighbors. "People have their minds made up," he said.

In downtown Denver, it was sunny and in the 60s as Jeremy LeVal, a Romney supporter, waited at a bus stop. He confessed he has paid limited attention to both the campaign and the storm. He knew the hurricane was bearing down on the Northeast and hoped there was no major damage, but doubted the brief suspension of the presidential contest would matter.

"If people haven't decided at this point," LeVal said, "it probably won't make a difference."

___

Associated Press writers Bob Bakst in River Falls, Wis., Tom Beaumont in Davenport, Iowa, Norma Love in Concord, N.H., Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington, Todd Richmond in Waunakee, Wis., and Bob Lewis in North, Va., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/presidential-race-rained-even-sunny-states-062019045--election.html

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Time-lapse video captures Sandy?s wrath on New York City

A video on YouTube condenses superstorm Sandy's strike on New York City into about two minutes. The video was created by SMvideoChan, who confirmed to Yahoo News on email that it is taken from the Northside Piers Towers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The bridge you can see is the Williamsburg Bridge.

The time-lapse video covers two days, from the early morning on Oct. 29 until? Oct. 30 --? and one very long night of the storm.

The clip shows the darkening sky, the intensity of the wind as water becomes choppy with swells, then rain and, finally, the loss of power to part of the city.

The rainfall is so heavy at times the Manhattan skyline almost disappears from view. Then, as night falls, the power goes. Even sped up, the city looks dark and lonely.

Finally, daylight, calm waters and the storm clouds can be seen blowing over.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/time-lapse-video-captures-superstorm-sandy-wrath-york-204809364.html

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Sudan dreams big with new airports despite crashes

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - After a Sudanese plane crashed at Khartoum's international airport last year, authorities didn't slow plans to build new airports and add more routes. They used the incident to shoot a video showing how safe flying in Sudan is, thanks to its skillful pilots.

"Tower, the wheels are jammed. What shall I do?" the pilot says in the film, replaying for the cameras how he circled for an hour above Khartoum to empty his fuel talks while workers flooded the runway with foam.

As news that the plane was in trouble spread around the city on October 2 last year, hundreds of people rushed to the airport to watch anxiously as the ageing Fokker landed with its wheels up.

It turned on its side but all 45 passengers survived, the advertising video being produced by the civil aviation authority proudly states. A preliminary version of the film was seen by Reuters before its public release.

Sudan has been hit by a string of aviation accidents in the past several years; authorities have registered about 10 safety incidents in the last two years, airline experts told a workshop organised by the aviation authority last month.

In early October a Sudanese military plane crashed near Khartoum, killing 15 people. In August, 32 people including a government minister died when a civilian plane crashed in the south of the country. A Sudan Airways cargo plane crashed while taking off in the United Arab Emirates in 2009, and a cargo plane crashed shortly after take-off from Khartoum in 2008.

Sudan's airlines have struggled to obtain modern planes and spare parts because of a U.S. trade embargo, initially imposed in 1997 over the country's past hosting of militant Islamists, and a shortage of foreign exchange. Airbus, Boeing and most maintenance firms have refused to deal with the country.

But the aviation sector has nevertheless been growing strongly, a rare bright spot in an economy which has been ravaged by wars, ethnic conflicts and last year's separation from the country of South Sudan, which took much of Sudan's oil reserves when it became independent.

Passenger numbers have risen to 2.8 million annually from 1.8 million 2-1/2 years ago, said Mohammed Abdelaziz, head of the civil aviation authority.

"We expect more growth in coming years," he said, predicting that by 2023 Sudan would have 7 million passengers annually. An immediate fillip will come from a September deal with South Sudan to resume oil shipments through Sudanese territory and cross-border trade, a lifeline for both countries.

AIRPORTS

To serve its rising traffic, Sudan plans to build a new airport for Khartoum after its main trade partner China agreed to fund and execute a first construction phase costing $700 million, Abdelaziz said.

"Work will start at the beginning of next year," he said, adding that the remaining $600 million required would be raised through build-and-operate contracts, under which companies building the airport would be able to earn their fees from operating its facilities.

The new airport, designed for an annual capacity of 7 million passengers, is to be ready in three years.

The project, on the drawing board for many years, is overdue, and not just for capacity reasons. The current airport, built by British colonial rulers in the 1950s, has a short runway and lies in the heart of the capital, which is a risk for local residents given the accidents.

"Foreign airlines have habitually complained the runway in the old airport is too short, a disadvantage that results in greater wear on tyres and brakes," said Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, a consultancy.

Much of Sudan's passenger growth comes from domestic carriers which lease used Airbus or Russian planes from other airlines to serve the vast country, where no passenger railway exists and trips by road can take days.

In addition to Khartoum, Sudan is building three airports including one at Wadi Halfa at the Egyptian border. The oil deal with South Sudan has reopened air traffic between the two nations, a big source of revenue for local airlines since South Sudan does not have its own carrier and has few paved roads.

"They make good money with cargo as it is much easier to transport goods to the South by air than on roads, especially in the rainy season," said Sheikh El-Din Abdallah, secretary general of the National Chamber of Air Transport, an industry body.

Three Sudanese carriers offer daily flights to the Southern capital Juba, which will also get a new airport courtesy of China.

Despite the rising traffic, local airlines struggle financially because they pay a premium for spare parts from the few firms dealing with Sudan.

"You get spare parts from firms in South Africa which charge you two times the market price or more," Abdallah said, adding that high taxes in Sudan were also a burden.

MUCH TO ENDURE

Passengers in Sudan have much to endure, not just crashes. To avoid operating losses, airlines often cancel flights on "technical grounds" if flights are not fully booked.

State-owned carrier Sudan Airways, known for its delays, has lost out to new carriers offering better service. Rival Marsland Aviation, which is privately owned, claims a 65 percent market share on domestic routes, according to its website.

Khartoum's airport has been in decay for years, with many passenger information systems and stairways out of service because of the country's shortage of dollars to buy spare parts.

The packed Sudan Airways workshop at Khartoum airport looks like a museum; broken-down planes queue outside, some of them stranded there for a year.

There are positive signs, however. Facing public outrage, officials have overhauled the civil aviation body by splitting off supervision in line with global standards. Passenger and baggage security checks have visibly improved in the past several months. Signs banning people not travelling from the Khartoum airport's passenger lounges have been put up in the past few weeks.

"Monitoring will now improve. They take civil aviation affairs more seriously," said Mohammed Khonji, Middle East head of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

And Sudan Airways has noble traditions. One of Africa's oldest carriers, it used to fly to London and Frankfurt until the European Union banned it over its safety record. Sudanese pilots were once in high demand because of their experience, helping other Arab carriers to get started, before Sudan went into isolation in the 1990s as the U.S. embargo was imposed.

But the drive to strengthen the aviation sector comes as Sudan's links to the global airline network look increasingly shaky. Only about 14 foreign carriers fly to Khartoum, mostly from neighbouring Arab or African countries; Germany's Lufthansa and Dutch carrier KLM are the only Western airlines.

Some foreign carriers have halted or reduced flights because the government requires them to sell tickets in local currency, which they cannot easily convert into dollars because of exchange controls.

Most airlines have sharply raised ticket prices since Sudan devalued its pound this summer. New trouble looms as authorities plan to charge foreign firms in dollars for jet fuel.

"Foreign airlines don't really make much money here these days but could at least spend their pounds from ticket sales to fund the return trip," said a Western diplomat. "If this new policy gets enforced, then most will stop flying here."

(Editing by Andrew Torchia)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-dreams-big-airports-despite-crashes-172204700.html

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SmartAsset Raises $1.5M To Help You With The Big Financial ...

Anthony Ha is a writer at TechCrunch, where he covers media, advertising, and startups. Previously, he was a staff technology writer at Adweek, worked as a senior editor at the tech blog VentureBeat, and was also a reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing.... ? Learn More

SmartAsset, a Y Combinator-backed startup offering interactive tools to help homebuyers understand the financial ramifications of their decisions, has raised $1.5 million in new funding.

The round was led by Javelin Venture Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners, with participation from YC, Peterson Ventures, Quotidian Ventures, and Identified CEO Brendan Wallace. SmartAsset actually announced funding just two months ago ? in the intervening months,?SmartAsset took the stage at YC Demo Day, which probably attracted some new investors. With the new money, the company has raised a total of $2.4 million, and?Javelin Managing Director Jed Katz is joining SmartAsset?s board of directors.

Co-founder and CEO Michael Carvin has said that SmartAsset emerged from his own experience buying a home. When he looked for help online, all he could find was general advice and simplistic financial calculators. SmartAsset tries to go deeper, taking your basic financial information and offering insight like how much money you can afford to borrow and put down, as well as the long-term cost of renting versus buying. The company?s calculations are tailored to a specific location, so it can also tell you about the tax implications of a home purchase.

Moving forward, Carvin wants to turn SmartAsset into a broader financial tool that users turn to for a number of difficult financial decisions. Over the next three months, the company plans to add new features to its home buying guide, then Carvin said it will launch similar tools for college and further education.

SmartAsset isn?t disclosing its current user numbers, but last month, it said it had more than 20,000. And again, these are people who are at least considering a home purchase, so they?re much more valuable to advertisers than a random web visitor.

As a side project, the company also released a tool to help entrepreneurs calculate the impact of their fundraising terms on their ultimate financial outcome. I guess Carvin has been putting that calculator to good use.

SmartAsset Introduction from SmartAsset on Vimeo.


SmartAsset makes life?s biggest decisions easier by bringing full transparency to the financial decision making process. It?s the Web?s first personal finance platform designed to empower people with highly personalized information and recommendations around major financial decisions. SmartAsset?s platform will start with home buying analysis and expand to over 24 other life-changing financial decisions, such as whether to go back to school or when to retire. Founded in 2011, SmartAsset is funded by Y Combinator and angel investors in...

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Invests in early-stage tech companies with incredible potential, managed by teams of energetic, trustworthy and capable leaders. Key focus areas include digital media, Internet commerce, mobile and healthcare IT. Javelin looks for advanced bleeding-edge innovations, where the addressable market size is substantial and strong competitive advantages exist. A typical investment is between $1 to $2 million, with reserves for follow-on investments. In addition, Javelin also considers smaller seed investments for unique companies just getting started. Located in downtown San...

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North Bridge Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Boston, Massachusetts and San Mateo, California. Headquartered on both sides of the country, the firm spreads investments on the east and west coasts.

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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/30/smartasset-funding/

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