Car Free DC

You can dress up in a Halloween Costume all over again

Remember when we were kids? Remember dressing up in a costume and going trick or treating? At least until you hit that age where you thought you were to old to go trick or treating anymore. You stopped dressing up in costumes and reverted to playing pranks, passing out candy, or just hanging out with friends watching scary movies. Now your an adult, and Halloween costume fun is back!

Yep, now you can dress up in Halloween Costumes all over again, only now, you have a even more fun doing it. The treat you receive has changed. You no longer go door to door begging for candy. You now dress up in your costume and go out to a club, bar, or a friends party. For one night you get to be a kid in adult skin. 

A good place where you can find and buy Halloween Costumes is costumecauldron.com. On their website there is a secret HAUNTED HOUSE backdoor on costumecauldron.com that gets friends a great discount! Go to the homepage halfway down on the right and click on the brown comma in the line that reads “Our Store now has over 8,000 masquerade items for you to choose from!”

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The G.R.E.A.T. Tips of Storytelling

Remember that a great story has five things in common, the G.R.E.A.T. tips of storytelling.

1. G A great story provides GLUE; connecting our message to what consumers already believe is true; an accepted wisdom. Great stories tie directly to the target market’s understanding of the world. Different groups of people have different viewpoints. People have common needs and wants housing, protection, recognition, hunger, social interaction, to have children and protect them, etc. Yet while there are underlying sets of needs that all people have, there are many different paths that people take to achieve these needs. For example, people of equal incomes don’t all drive the same car, drink the same beer, live in the same neighborhoods, or even vote for the same candidates.

Marketing needs to explain the differences. To do that, the marketer needs to understand that different segments of people have different values and thus different viewpoints that explain their universe. Some people believe in strong individualism and others that “it takes a village.” Some individuals believe that environmentalists help save the world and others that they are misguided obstructionists. Effective stories provide glue and thus an attachment to a specific set of beliefs. A story won’t be great unless it is glued to a strongly held set of beliefs that are fundamental to your target market.

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The beauty of distance learning courses

The beauty of distance learning courses is that you can complete your education right from your home with the help of a personal computer and an Internet connection. What can be an easier way of acquiring required skills than joining a distance learning program? So, now you can earn a higher degree from an institute that is not located in your hometown without learning your home.

Distance Learning Is For Everyone

What is distance learning is a question that is frequently asked by the working people, stay at home parents and retirees. However, it does not mean that distance learning courses are available for only these people. On the contrary, literally any one in the world can take benefit of these courses and get an Online Degree.

One of the best university level education is Kaplan Open Learning. Kaplan Open Learning is a specialist UK online higher education division. Kaplan Open Learning has been established as an affiliate college of the University of Essex. The College provides university level education, offering programmes of study for students who wish to obtain a university Foundation Degree or top up that degree to an Honours Degree.

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Words, Experiences, and Iconography

You’ve developed the basis for a great story by coming up with G.R.E.A.T. story foundations, and you’ve put these into the Seven-Question Test format, which provided you with a succinct message strategy. Now think about key words, rituals, and visuals that will bring your story to life. Words Language and words that connect with the target and are unique to brands helps to tell stories consistently and powerfully. Words are important. Think about describing a person. You might say, “He takes chances.”

However, the words courageous or fearless conjure up more emotions. So does risk-taker or specifics, such as “He cliff-jumps” or “He races dog-sleds in Alaska.” In describing a business relationship, you might say, “They’re a great partner.” But we’d bet that if you would use descriptive phrases, such as “They are good teammates,” “They’re an advocate for our business,” or “They are innovative,” you would differentiate them to a much greater degree. Choose your words carefully. Don’t use the same descriptions everyone else does. Some words should be banned from the language of branding because they are used so often and are such big tent words that they are almost meaningless, such as “quality” and “solutions.”

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ZAGG has introduced its latest invisibleSHIELD products

ZAGG has introduced its latest invisibleSHIELD products for the iPod classic, iPod touch, and iPod nano (with video). invisibleSHIELDs for all three models are available as screen or front shields, which cover the screen on the iPod classic and iPod nano, and the entire glass surface of the iPod touch, as well as full body shields, which include specially-cut film that covers not just the front but the side and back of the iPods as well.

All invisibleSHIELDs are made from aviation-inspired, scratch-resistant clear urethane film, and carry a lifetime guarantee. ZAGG invisibleSHIELDs for the iPod classic, iPod touch, and iPod nano (with video) are available now and range in price from $10-$25.

In keeping with the tradition of offering support for all the latest and greatest devices they have just announced the availability of, and a pre-order sale for a 3G iPhone shield. Anyone who orders early will receive 20% off, which brings the full coverage shield from $24.95 down to just $19.96. They are also offering either just the front protection for $11.96 or the back for $15.16, which is the price after savings.

I have their thing on my iPod Video and it has done a fantastic job of protecting it in my pocket etc. without adding any bulk.

iPhone 3G Case Alternatives

If you are not the type to carry your phone in a case, you do have options when choosing protection for your new iPhone 3G. The Invisible Shield by Zagg consistently receives good reviews and will help protect the iPhone 3G against scratches. If installed properly, the Invisible Shield for the iPhone 3G is a great alternative to an iphone 3g case. It will not protect against drops, but it certainly offers numberous advantages, the most obvious being scratch protection.

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Interactive Basics: Domain Names

Domain names, also referred to as host names, are memorable alphabetic names given to numeric Internet protocol addresses. By giving a Web site a memorable domain name such as www.yahoo.com, users are able to more effectively and efficiently search for and find the products and services they desire. Domain names have become one of the keys to a successful Web site for one obvious reason—your Web site is where you will direct all your potential customers.

Owning a domain name has become so low cost (as low as $6.95 a year for registration), there is no reason your company shouldn’t use it as a way to make a great first impression and hold a place in the mind of your customer. Once you own a domain name, it is yours to keep as long as you continue to renew your subscription. There are many companies that service domain name purchases. Among the most common are GoDaddy.com, and Networksolutions.com. A short domain name will be more memorable. Own as many extensions on your domain name as you can.

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Want to Spend Sixty Hours in Gridlock? Or on a Beach? The Choice is Yours

An appropriate story for DC’s first CarFree Day: A new study by the Texas Transportation Institute reveals that traffic in the Washington, DC metro area has gotten so bad that we are now tied for second worst commute in the nation.

The Washington Post’s coverage of this study reports that drivers in the top three areas sit in “gridlock for an average of 60 hours a year, equivalent to a week-and-a-half of work - or vacation.”

Some other numbers might make you consider sitting behind the wheel:
Washington area drivers annually sit through “more than 127 million hours of delays at a cost of $1,094 per rush-hour traveler.”
Gas wasted while sitting in traffic: 91 million gallons of fuel.

And a grim assessment of the future of this area if traffic congestion continues to multiply at this rate: “A projected 218 lane miles or 74 million more transit riders would have to be added each year just to maintain current congestion levels.”

For tips on reclaiming your time, money, and eliminating road-rage, check our “how-to” section for ideas on how to go car-free. It might be easier than you think.

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Hello from California

This past and next week I’m on vacation in California. Everywhere I go I can’t help but to notice bicycle facilities, but who can blame me when they’re as inspiring as the Berkeley Bicycle Boulevards?

South Lake Tahoe Bicycle FacilitiesOn an excursion with some friends I saw some other interesting facilities in South Lake Tahoe. They seem to have been created with tourists in mind. Every sign post on the bike routes includes a map. Quite useful as I had to refer to it a couple times on my ride.

And since this is a post about California I have to mention my previous residence; LA, or more precisely Pasadena. Yes, people actually bike in LA. A proposed law to outlaw bicycling two abreast meets strong opposition. Some claim that the ordinance is aimed at the twice weekly Peloton ride around the Rose Bowl. The perimeter road of the Rose Bowl serves as a popular track for both runners and bikes. The three-mile circuit at the bottom of the Arroyo Grande canyon sees far more pedestrian and bicycle traffic (except before and after events at the Rose Bowl).

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Bike to the Future in China

Rental Bicycles in BeijingIts a little strange to read about the promotion of bicycle transportation in China. While once heavily reliant on this affordable, clean manor of moving goods and people, China’s throngs of bicycles began to be displaced by motor vehicles during economic expansion. A friend of mine who recently returned from Beijing and Shanghai lamented that there were far fewer bicycles on the polluted city streets than she expected.

Apparently reversing this trend, there have been a number of heartening developments in China in recent years. Previously we’ve blogged about carfree days in China, air pollution and the Olympics in 2008. This fell into my inbox a couple of days ago: bicycle rental in Beijing. So its not automated like the smart bikes DC is getting, but they are looking to ambitiously expand their program. So is a Green China on the horizon? Or is it still more talk than walk (or bike in this case)?

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On Your Left: Attention Mount Vernon Trail Riders

It was inevitable - the Wilson Bridge project is causing a portion of the Mount Vernon Trail to be closed for construction. The affected part of the trail is south of Old Town at the end of Royal Street and goes under the bridge and behind the apartment complex.

If you’re traveling the Mount Vernon Trail and need to cross this section of the path, you’ll need to take an alternate route. From the north, make a right on Green Street (the last street on Royal as you head south) and take a left on Washington Street to connect back up to the path. Reverse if you’re coming from the south.

They expect this work to last until at least August 24th, with intermittent closures occurring through September. For more information, check out http://wilsonbridge.com.

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