Death of Conventional American Cell Phone System

Over the next few years, several businesses are planning start selling dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi phones, which will can make calls using either a cellular network or a wireless Internet connection.

These phones are likely to alter the telecommunications industry and change the way consumers use phone service. They may spell the end of conventional wired telephone services.

As much as 30% of cell phone calls are now made inside homes. If those calls could be made more cheaply by means of the internet, wireless companies could free up capacity, and both businesses and consumers could save money.

The technology is still in an experimental stage, but some companies have already begun to offer cell-Fi phones on a limited basis.
USA Today August 24, 2005

Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Earlier this week New Scientist reported that 4G cell phones(not land lines)in Japanusing this technologycould receive data at 100 megabits per second on the move and at up toone gigabit per second while stationary. To give you an idea of that bandwidth power, you could look at 32 high definition (not regular TV) video streams at once while you were travelling in your car.

The US is making some limited progress in 3G phone networks.

Verizon has already rolled out its 3G networks in 14 US citiesand you can connect unlimited wirelessly to the Internet for $60 a month in these cities. Unfortunately Chicago is not one of the cities, but within a year they should have most of the US covered.

The sprint Nextell mergeris rapidly following with their 3G EVDO systems. However, it is my belief that you and I will not have to wait ten years for 4G phones or expensive 3-G wireless as Wi-Max is on the way and will be here in 1-2 years.

Wi-Maxis already being tested in remoate areas of Argentinafor widespread access to the Internet.

WiMax isshort for worldwide Interoperability for microwave Accessandcomes in two flavors. The first, known as fixed wireless, is similar toWi-Fi, but on a much larger scale and at faster speeds.

Unlike Wi-Fi, Wi-Max can transmit up to 30 miles. Yes, you read it right, 30 miles. It doesn't take many Wi-Max towers to cover most cities. Most communites will only require a handful of Wi-Fi transmitters to provide coverage to their residents.

Thereally exciting developement though is nomadic Wi-Max whichwould keep WiMax-enabled devices (like your "cell" phone)connected over large areas. Intel is projecting that they will have this deployed in their notebooks in late 2006 or early 2007.

I have had conventional VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone service for nearly three years and over 2. 5 million Americans have now made a similar choice. Next year, WiMax will be widespread.

What is the Exciting news for You?

In the next few years it is clear to me thatyou will have the ability to connect wirelessly to the Internet nearly everywhere in the country.

If you have a VoIP wireless phone that connects automatically to the Internet you can make a call on the Internet. Just like current systems like Vonage, there is a fixed monthly fee and you can make as many calls as you want for a fixed amount. This includesmany countries like Canada and mexico.

Other plans allow you to add up to 35 countries to the list.

The major innovation here is that you will do this wirelessly and not be fixed to the few hundred feet you can walk in your home on your portable phone.

So rather than use your cell phone, you will connect to the Internet wirelessly and use VoIP as an alternative to your cell phone carrier. These new VoIP wireless phones are essentially alternatives to your cell phone.

Just as many people dropped their land lines nearly everyone will be dropping their cell phone carriers. The reason? Rock bottom prices. No longer will you pay over $100 a month for your cell phone. You will pay $25 for your home AND cell phone for unlimited use. Also remember that you avoid paying taxes or hidden fees. Just $25 a month.

So you can call anywhere in the United States and Canada for one low monthly fee. If you have to call internationally the rates are typically 3 cents a minute. Compare that to the nearly universal $1 per minute or more for most international cell phone calls.

Very exciting and one of the major fruits of Moore's Law.

In one month my technical staff is deploying an open source VoIP system in our office called Asterisk that is equally amazing. I need to make a one time purchase of about $10,000 inhardware and rent a voice T1 line for about $500 a month, but after doing that I will be able to have nearly 200 phone lines that I can have unlimited calls on.

Absolutely amazing considering that this would costs hundreds of thousands of dollars in conventional PBX systems and tens thousands of dollars in monthly phone fees.

It could not be clearer that the death bell is tolling for the conventionalAmerican phone system.

One thing you can count on in this life is change.

Who would have thought thatAT&T would have ever collapsed as in its hey day it was one of the largest and most powerful corporations on earth.

Well technology can do that.

That is why I am equally convinced that even though the top ten drug companies have more wealth than the rest of the Fortune 500 companies combined, it is clear that they, like the phone companies, will fall.

You and I will catalyze that process. Mark my words. This is happening as you read this page.

Related Articles: Cheap high-Speed Internet Revolution Next YearTelecommunications MeltdownHigh-Speed Wireless Modems

Dr. Mercola is the founder of Mercola.com , one of the world's most visited and trusted health websites, and publisher of the free Mercola.com e-newsletter -- the #1 dietary health and wellness newsletter on the Web with over 500,000 subscribers. Dr. Mercola, a physician for over two decades, is also a New York Times bestselling author whose latest book, "Dr. Mercola's Total Health program," presents his entire renowned dietary health program and has sold over 150,000 copies. He is routinely interviewed by the media for his expert insights, including CNN and ABC world news Tonight. His passion is to change the fatally flawed conventional medical system to one focused on real prevention and cure.

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Important Fees Associated With Prepaid Cards

prepaid credit cards are becoming increasingly popular amongst consumer to improve financial discipline and credit history. Though, a prepaid card doesn't come a with late penalty because there are no repayments to be made, but there are various other fees associated with them, which increase the ownership costs. Having a good knowledge about these fees helps the consumer make an informed decision. Listed below are some important fees levied on prepaid cards.

Annual Fees

Charged by the prepaid card issuing company for usage of the prepaid card on an annual basis.

Monthly fees

Charge by the prepaid card issuing company for usage of the prepaid card on monthly basis.

customer service fees

Charged by the prepaid card company for providing initial customer service to issue the prepaid card.

activation Fees

This fees is charged by the prepaid card issuing company for activating the prepaid card

Fees per purchase

Every purchase done by your prepaid card can attract a fee per purchase. Some prepaid card companies levy this fees to increase their revenue.

ATM Cash withdrawal fees

Whenever you withdraw money from ATM's prepaid card company slaps ATM cash withdrawal fees to your account.

Inactivity fees

This fees is charged when your prepaid credit card is not used for a specified period of time.

Now, you have an idea of the most important fees associated with prepaid cards. To use this information you can compare various prepaid cards and fees associated with them. Comparing this way, you will be able to lower your total ownership cost of prepaid cards.

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Grow Your Chiropractic Business With Massage Therapists

One group of professionals you may consider adding to you network are licensed massage therapist or LMTs. It is a good idea to know a few massage therapists because you will have patients ask you who you recommend from time to time. Your patient will be very thankful if you refer them to a good LMT, especially if they were going to resort to a blind attempt of finding someone credible by using the phone book. If your philosophy is sound, you should not be intimidated by massage therapists and understand that what you do is very different. You should also be able to explain these differences. Unfortunately sometimes the general public may not know the difference between massage therapist and chiropractors. Thats fine; this can be another opportunity to educate your patients.

Your first necessity is to come into contact with a reputable massage therapist. Introduce yourself to as many as possible throughout your town or area of practice. many will offer you a tour of their facility and sometimes even a free massage. take them up on the free massage if offered. This will give you a chance to see how good they are at what they do and give you more time to work on your new network relationship by visiting with them. When you are visiting with these LMTs you are interviewing them at the same time. They are probably interviewing you also. Ask yourself questions like, is this someone I would trust with my patient, could I see myself becoming a client of this person? They need to have a respectable facility, reasonable fees and a philosophy that is somewhat close to your own. The last thing you want to do is refer a patient to a bad business that does not share your same philosophy. This could jeopardize your relationship with your patient.

I recommend you have about 4 to 5 massage therapist that you have built a rapport with. They need to be spread out in your area of practice for two reasons. first your patients do not want to drive all over town to get to your recommended LMT. Second this gives you a spread out area to receive your referrals from. Once you have your 4 to 5 LMTs you can trust and refer to, you also have 4 to 5 LMTs referring to your business. As always it is a good idea to keep in contact with each of them periodically to maintain your network.

When you refer a patient to a LMT, call them and let them know you sent that patient over to their business. Do no be afraid to put light pressure on them to refer you a patient or two when the timing is right.

Occasionally LMTs will want to barter with you. You may want to do the same. It is your decision. This may be the chance you are looking for to build your network relationship even stronger.

A great way that I have found to start the referral process with LMTs and build my practice at the same time is to offer a monthly special. For example, in the month of july refer a friend or family member to our office and receive a free 30 minute massage from a licensed massage therapist. Post signs in your office, have your receptionist tell patients and tell them yourself. This inspires patients to refer people to your office and at the same time allows you to start the referral process with your network of LMTs. Run the special only once every few months. This puts a since of urgency to your patients to receive their free massage. The only down side is you pay for the 30 minute massage. This is a small price to pay to add a new patient to your growing practice, and some massage therapist will give you discounts for your paid referrals. Again, its a win, win, win situation for everyone involved.

Dr. Ryan Marshall is a Tulsa chiropractor and a member of the American Chiropractic Association.

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Rock Band Video Game - Rock Band vs Guitar Hero - Who Wins?

As everyone knows by now, Rock Band video Game is out and taking the nation by storm. At least for those who have been able to get their hands on the game thus far. Well, the question that everyone has been dying to have answered follows. Rock Band video Game vs Guitar hero ... who wins?

MTV's Boston-based Harmonix thrilled players of the music/rhythm genre when they first came out with their Guitar hero game. It was so unlike anything that was then available. It was so popular that there have been two subsequent versions, with the latest version just released as Guitar hero 3.

Well, Harmonix has now gone and outdone themselves with their latest creation, Rock Band the game. Developers wanted to not just come up with another game: they wanted to come up with a way for people to actually play music ... and boy, did they!

Guitar hero originally came with only a guitar player option, but a slew of tracks to play. It has taken this third version for Guitar hero developers to finally get around to offering a drum kit. Something that already comes standard with every Rock Band game. Rock Band does another "one upper" by not only including the guitar; it also comes with a microphone kit.

If you were to do a side by side comparison, there are special features each of these games offer. Guitar hero may offer more songs to shred with the guitar right now (a bit over seventy titles at last count), but Rock Band will be adding new tracks every week. Rock Band also has a better quality soundtrack than Guitar hero and even though Rock Band video game costs a bit more, it just blows the door off Guitar hero in overall capabilities. Its multi-player feature looks to be a bit more challenging (and fun) than Guitar Hero's battle mode which pits a player against just the computer. There is also a Tour Mode for Rock Band being set up to run online that Guitar hero just can't compare with.

There was an actual "Cyber Battle of the Bands" held between both these games at this year's EA gaming convention. The final conclusion, after a four song play-off was that Guitar hero 3 was hard put just playing catch up to the newest contender on the video gaming block: Rock Band won, hands down!

The ultimate "Battle of the Bands" will actually be played out in the retail arena. With the upcoming holidays, it should be interesting to see if Rock Band continues to outdo Guitar hero.

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