Selecting a car seat for your baby is undeniably one of the important choices many parents will have to make in their child’s life. Every parent continually wants to take care of their kid and do whatever they can to guarantee their kid’s safety. Additionally, the law requires the permanent use of baby car seats. With plenty of car seats to go for, it can definitely be a very overwhelming choice. But, armed with a modest amount of advice you can find the most fitting seat for your baby.

A rear facing car seat is the 1st seat your baby will require. Rear facing baby car seats offer a lot more security for a baby’s head, neck, and spine than forward facing seats. Rear facing seats are definitely the best until the baby has reached the maximum weight for the baby seat or until the very top of the baby’s’ head is above the top of the baby car seat in question.

The next phase of baby car seat is a forward facing seat, which can be used by children aged nine months four 4 years of age or when the child weighs in between 9 and 18 kg. This particular range of baby car seat includes a strap that attaches between the toddler’s leg in order to stop them from sliding out of the seat when travelling. Your kid should also keep this baby seat until they have reached the seat’s maximum weight limit or when the top of their head is above the top of the seat.

For a car seat that can be used both rear and forward facing, the Britax First Class Plus seat is a wonderful item to buy. Britax seats are usually highly rated and what’s more this seat can be used from birth to four years old, and also follows the rear and forward facing guidelines as discussed previously. Choose from a large selection of baby & child products including; car seats, prams & pushchairs and nursery furniture from leading brands online.

The booster seat is the last stage in baby car seats. These typically do not have a harness and can be used with a car’s seat belt, which fastens around both the infant and the seat. A great deal of booster seats have detachable backs, which allow for a much better fit for smaller infants, and can even be removed as the kid gets older. Booster seats with side wings give considerably more security in a car accident than those without because they protect the kid’s head. Maxi Cosi car seats have a seat with all these merits. Their Rodi XR won Practical Parenting magazine’s trophy for the greatest Multi-Stage car seat for two-thousand and seven/two-thousand and eight.

Car seats are a key part of being a parent, and there are a great number of baby seat items to opt for. When your kid’s safety is your number one priority, Britax and Maxi Cosi baby seats are outstanding selections.

Surviving divorce can be a valid fear if you’re contemplating getting a divorce. In order to ensure surviving divorce, you should first understand that your divorce decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. Ensuring that you’ll be surviving divorce can be comforting and can influence your path as you consider your reasons for divorce and take the emotional plunge into actually going through with it.

Its tough enough to think about how your immediate life will be impacted by getting a divorce let alone thinking about divorce from an aspect of “the aftermath” of divorce. You may be considering a variety of things in the short term including living arrangements, spouse’s schedules, attorneys, kids, property, etc. Its tough to plan so you can really ensure that you’ll be surviving divorce once its finally over with.

Surviving divorce, just like deciding to divorce, is about separating emotion from logic and making sure you think about the past, present and future. Of course, how you plan for surviving divorce, will differ from others in some respects, but there are some common themes to think about that should ensure you will be successful surviving divorce.

The most common things to think about when you want to be successful surviving divorce are self-evident and basic, but highly important:

Surviving Divorce Concept 1: Reflect on the past to make sure you can eliminate potential regret.

Make sure that you take the time to reflect on the past and remember the reasons that got you to this state of mind. One thing you absolutely must avoid is going through a divorce and regretting your decision. Evaluate, in detail, your reasons for divorce and confirm to yourself yet again that divorce is the best course of action. This will help eliminate regret…and regret can be a large factor in determining your chance of surviving divorce.

Surviving Divorce Concept 2: Admit to yourself that, no matter how your situation got to this breaking point of wanting divorce, that you had a hand in it, and plan to improve yourself.

Even if you know your present spouse is not a good fit for you, be smart enough to know that you shouldn’t waste the opportunity that you have right now to improve yourself, for your own good in the future. At a time like this when emotions are running high, there tends to be a lot of soul searching going on, and that’s a good thing if you want to ensure that you’ve got a solid chance of surviving divorce. Realize that you need to improve for you, this will only help you in the future. Remember, it takes two to tango!

Surviving Divorce Concept 3: Remember that your happiness and plan for surviving divorce should include evaluating and establishing a certain level of self-confidence.
Having self confidence is absolutely critical to surviving divorce because without it, fear usually will win out and your situation will not improve. Even if you get divorced but you don’t evaluate your own level of self confidence in the hopes of improving it, you may be in for a rough time after divorce. If you want a sure-fire way to feel good about surviving divorce, do yourself a favor and get your self-confidence in line.

If your overall confidence and desire to start over with your love life support making a change, you’re off to a good start in making a smart decision about whether to divorce or not.

Surviving Divorce Concept 4: Get your finances in a row and understand that your life will change most likely from a monetary perspective.

This is a major portion of the surviving divorce equation, especially for women in divorce. A lot of time, women in divorce situations have to deal with finance issues and they fear going out on their own because they’ve had financial support previously. Still, this concept is not gender specific and can resonate with anyone because, one some level, your life will change financially as a result of divorce…that’s a guarantee. In order to make sure your chance at surviving divorce is high, you need to be willing to trade potential financial loss to get a divorce. If you’re willing to do this, maybe you’re ready to really take the big step.

Surviving Divorce Concept 5: Understand the true value of using “projection” to ensure surviving divorce.

This is a terrific exercise to go through when you’re faced with a divorce decision and want to ensure you’ve got a great chance of surviving divorce. “Projection” simply means looking to the future and actually imagining what your life will be like once you’re divorced. And, if you’re smart, you’ll see multiple scenarios of what your life will become after divorce and you’ll be able to pin down which factors lead to each one of those scenarios. Then, choose the scenario you’d like to actually live, and take the necessary steps needed to implement those factors. This one of the most important practices to ensure that you’re chances of surviving divorce are high.

Surviving divorce is a difficult thing but it can easily be accomplished if you plan, reflect, think, and execute based on your own goals and needs.

Author of “A Practical Guide To Deciding Whether Or Not To Get A Divorce”, the eBook recommended by counselors to their clients. Proven “Actions Items” to help you decide!
Deciding on Divorce
surviving divorce

Imagine what would childhood be like without toys. They have been around for hundreds of years & youngsters use many hours playing, producing, examining, and testing various flavours of kid’s games. Currently the choice of toys for fledgling boys and chicks is massive and makes obtaining one a tough duty for countless mothers and fathers.

Young development has consistently been a particularly essential component of every single kid’s rearing. Parents would like their descendants to progress, learn, and have a good time while they muck about. A lot of kid’s playthings may assist young boys & chicks to progress. It is not to insinuate that adults should not be engaged in this vital point of growth. Often times, Adults will buy developmental playthings for their little boys and girls and they let the toys school their kids. Admittedly, lots of playthings will probably educate kids in innumerable different skills, however, the adults must remain incorporated in each stage. Who knows, all this might often be nearly as much fun for the carers as it is for the kids. Children seem to learn faster & display subordinate affective anxiety if the parent continues to be incorporated in each phase of the education process.

Should a child has developmentally delayed symptoms, there are some good kid’s toys available in the market for them too. Even if a child is not developmental at a slower pace, toys that assist with progress are also a lovely selection for moms and dads & kids, to promote faculties. It has been known that by utilising the brain, this will benefit the brain cells to grow as they should & remain as they must be. Many of the playthings support kids to develop literacy, grow their ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Playthings for kids also aid them to develop further talents, which include fine-motor coordination of the hands, analysis, creativity, and riddle resolution.

For kids that are not in school yet, the most used playthings for development are simple block toys fashioned out of plastic. These toys will coach a child diligence and steadfastness. They will keep struggling to construct a vehicle with the blocks until they can get it to keep it’s shape there without it falling over. With whole stores dedicated to the sale of toys, parents often find buying them something of a confusing chore.

As the brat gets a little older and begins school, you can upgrade to a more challenging style of blocks, like Lego. These toys remain to train the infant to develop the fine-motor ability of their hands & eyes in unison. about the ages of four to six, toys like Lego are able to also teach a child patience and perseverance.

Ultimately, games for darlings do give carers relief from caretaking, however; when a Adults remain engaged in the playing & learning, it has been proven which descendants master more quickly and are more stable.

I thought I would never feel the light of life again when I realized that my marriage was going to end. In fact I went through a painful year of not knowing if it would end. I had several months of suspecting that she was having an affair. There was weeks that I didn’t see her because she was staying out all night. I tried to do everything that I thought would help to mend the situation. I tried to get her to go to counseling, talk to the pastor at church, but the more I tried the worse my situation became. She resented me for every thing I tried to do.

I was a total wreck. I had waited until I was 31 before marrying. Six years into the relationship we now had two children who were facing with us a life-changing crisis - possible divorce. As it turns out my wife had already made up her mind. At the time I felt like it would have been better to lose her to death, but I didn’t. I just lost her and she was still there. There was nothing I could do to make her change her mind.

I prayed day and night, every moment I could find. I fasted mostly because I had no appetite. It was all I could do to force myself to drink water. She’d felt like I neglected her. Maybe I did. She said she felt like all I needed her for was babysitter. The kids suffered because they would only see her in the morning before she went to work. I would pick them up after I got off from work and they wouldn’t see her until the next morning. After a few weeks of this she began staying home more for the sake of the children, but it seemed she and I were pretty much finished.

Finally she had opportunity to make her escape. I changed jobs and needed to relocate (military transfer). Somehow I managed to be able to take the kids with me and she stayed behind to work a few months longer. She was supposed to meet us in the new location. She ended up somewhere else. Her intentions were clear - she wasn’t coming home. We agreed to let the kids live with me, visiting mom on weekends and holidays.

As anyone could imagine this was one of the most painful things anyone could go through, especially our kids. In the beginning it was really hard for them to go back and forth. We some how came to the conclusion that they should live with me and then with their Mom after a time. We didn’t want the usual absentee dad scene.

Anyway, the pain was almost more than I could bear. When I was outside on a sunny day it felt dark and cold to me. There were times I though of suicide. It only took the thought of leaving my kids without a father to get past these thoughts. There were days when the only way I could ease the pain in my mind was to read scripture for long periods of time. I tried not to sit still or become idle because if I did the pain would come in like a flood. I could get over the fact that I was headed for divorce. I was not in control of anything. I prayed that God would change her mind. When He didn’t I had to accept it. She had a free will. I prayed that he would take away my pain, and that of the kids. He said he would.

As time past it got easier to function on my own. But for the kids who were 5 and 2 when this all started it was getting harder to deal with the absence of Mom. Which made things harder for me in a different way as a parent. I am very interested in their emotional health. They didn’t seem to be prospering in any way. This wasn’t going well for any of us. My son’s schoolwork was suffering and his behavior was getting worse. We got to a point where he was seeing a child psychologist.

As I listened to him talk to the psychologist I learned things that I didn’t realize he was suffering. He really missed his mom. And I could only imagine what his younger sister was going through. I knew that it was hard for me to deal with the situation. I was wasted, but I could only imagine what it must have been like for them as children to deal with the pain that I had gone through for four years.

It was time for them to live with their mother. The divorce had only been final for a few months. We had agreed that I should keep them for a time. Then the time came for me to send them to their Mom. I was devastated. I felt like my entire life had now finally fallen down around me.

When the time came and we got them packed up and moved out a great surprise awaited me. I relaxed! I was sad the first few weeks or even a month after they left. I even cried sometimes. As time past though I started to feel better. I had more time and less stress. I started to realize that I at some point had begun to be healed of the terrible pain that had plagued me for so long.

When I talk to the kids I realized that they too had begun to feel much better. The rift that had begun to form between my son and me was beginning slowly to mending. I can hear the happiness in their voices and that brings me joy. I am even happy for their Mom. They are all doing well and I am the beneficiary. God is good. I now have a saying. Things always work out. Maybe not the way you want, but if God is involve, they work out for the best. All you need is God and time.

Tony L Tate - a regular contributer to On line dating, a web site offering tips and advice for on line dating and relationships.
As a survivor of divorce I believe that you can fully recover and get back to happiness in your life. You may visit On line dating at: http://www.1-on-line-dating.com

Raleigh, NC-The largest divorce firm in the state, Rosen Law Firm, says they’re not surprised by the sharp increase among Army divorce rates and that more needs to be done to counsel the spouses left at home and those deployed overseas.

“There’s a huge difference between typical divorces that we see on a daily basis and the military divorces that we’re seeing,” says Janet Fritts, a divorce attorney with Rosen Law Firm. “The majority of civilian couples we deal with have stopped communicating somewhere during the marriage, but military couples have been communicating in more ways than ever before.”

Divorce experts say young military marriages, co-ed military units, financial decision-making, and the bureaucracy of being a military officer’s spouse are just some of the factors contributing to the already established problems of spousal absence and combat stress among military families.

“Allocation of finances is a huge problem because so many military members have no control over their finances when they’re overseas and their at-home spouses are spending the monthly checks the way they see fit, sometimes on their new love relationships,” says Fritts. With deployments being more frequent and for longer periods, infidelity is another reason why the Army divorce rates have sharply increased. “A lot of times it’s the women who remain on base to take care of the children and when her husband is gone for 6 months to a year, she may inevitably make new relationships with the men on the base,” says Fritts.

Military couples are usually far away from their families and they are not reminded of their marriage vows because they are so isolated on base or overseas. Fritts also explains the growing co-ed military units are not helping either as more military members are establishing relationships with the opposite sex during wartime.

Statistics show the largest increase recently in Army divorce rates are among officers, a position which Fritts describes as having an enormous responsibility. Coupled with the weight of being an officer, the pressure of being a military officer’s spouse also adds to the problem. “When they’re left by themselves on the military base once their spouse deploys, a lot of spouses stop playing the game of being nice to the other military officer’s spouses,” Fritts explains. “Once the deployed spouse returns there’s a lot of disagreement on the roles played and the bureaucracy of military officers and their spouses.”

Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500

Raleigh, NC 27607

www.rosen.com

“Divorce is Different Here”

With offices in Raleigh, Charlotte, and now Chapel Hill/Durham, Rosen Law Firm is the largest divorce firm in North Carolina. Founded in 1990, the firm is dedicated to providing individual growth and support to couples seeking divorce by helping them move forward with their lives. Our staff of attorneys, accountants, and specially trained divorce coaches expertly address the complex issues of ending a marriage. Our innovative approach acknowledges that divorce is so much more than just a legal matter. Specialties include child custody, alimony, property distribution, separation agreements, and domestic violence relief.

For more information on Rosen Law Firm, or for an interview, please contact: Alison Kramer, Director of Public Relations, Office: 919-256-1542, Cell: 919-523-7104, akramer@rosen.com, http://www.rosen.com

Today, small form factor computers demolish the myth that bigger PCs are faster. Specially designed SFF computers from Ovi PC, like the Prometheus, deliver tower-crushing performance in one-third the space, and at the fraction of the price.

In today’s world, the core of technological advancement lies in miniaturization and nano technology. Advancements in these areas are seen in our cell phones, PDAs, laptops, and even in the world of medicine. Unfortunately, the world of desktop computing has not adapted well to this new cutting edge technology. Many huge corporations, who should be at the forefront of this movement, are in fact the ones lagging behind. Today we still see huge 50lb desktop towers paraded in retail outlets all across the United States. Even worse is the saturation of the market of sub-par products like $299.99 desktop towers that were outdated 2 years before they were advertised. Many computer companies are in need of change and reform to continue to keep up with new technology.

In addition, one of the bonuses of miniaturization is cost cutting. Researchers and manufacturers are continually finding ways to save money by utilizing new technology. Production today is faster, more streamlined, more efficient, and costs less than it did 1 year ago. Yet the majority desktop computer market has been slow to take on these advancements, if at all.

Fortunately, companies like Ovi Corporation are helping lead the way with smaller, faster, and more cost effective computers. Their small form factor computers sit at the top of the ladder for system performance and size. With features including the latest dual-core processors, dual-channel DDR2 533MHz memory and high-bandwidth PCI-Express graphics cards, their models deliver the power gamers and computer buffs yearn for. Furthermore, some models like the Prometheus Pro can hold up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, three hard drives, high-definition audio cards and cutting-edge Matrix RAID Storage Technology. With Ovi PC, you get more features and technology than systems costing twice as much.

In due time the rest of the computer market will follow suit, but it takes a lot more time to turn an aircraft carrier, than a yacht. Fortunately for the computer market, companies like Ovi Corporation are working quietly behind the scenes in an attempt to bring SFF computers to the forefront of mainstream computing.

For more info on small form factor computers visit http://www.ovipc.com

Prometheus and Prometheus Pro

The USB standard has become the universal means of connection peripheral devices and equipment to the computer. Computers have either two or four USB port connectors. Each of these can support a large number of connections but to be able to attach more than two or four devices requires a multi-connection hub. There are many different types of hubs and this article seeks to explain some of the important considerations in selecting the best choice of hub for your system.

The USB bus system in computers was introduced in 1996 and has gone through a number of developments and enhancements. It started out as USB 1 which was very slow and had many bugs. Version 1.1 brought a higher bandwidth of 12 MBits/second. The latest version of 2.0 gives a bandwidth of 480MBits/second and is fully backward compatible with USB 1 and 1.1.
Link to a table showing differences between USB speeds (http://www.usb-products.com/usb-speed.aspx)

Port Connections and Power
All USB standards support up to 127 connections (or devices) per computer port. It is unlikely that this would be achievable as the port can only supply 0.5 Amps maximum. Some devices consume a full 0.5 Amps, so are powered from a power adaptor from the mains supply.

Bandwidth Sharing
Generally, the bandwidth of the port (http://www.usb-products.com/usb-port.aspx) is shared between all the devices that are attached through a hub. This means that if you want to add two USB 2 devices with a USB 1.1 device, the bandwidth is shared between all three devices. However, there is an extra complication. Most hubs (http://www.usb-products.com/usb-hub.aspx) have a single chip controlling the bus. This means that the hub will work at the lowest bandwidth determined by the connected devices resulting in the USB 2 devices working at much lower transfer speeds. Nearly all USB hubs on the market today (passive and powered) operate like this.

Multiple Chip Hubs
The transaction translator (TT) is the name for the controlling chip that assigns bandwidth to each connected device. In hubs that have one TT all devices share the same bandwidth and operate at the speed of the slowest. In hubs with a TT per socket, each receives a share of the bandwidth, but this is not restricted to the slowest device.
Examples of this type of hub is the Belkin Tetra hub (http://www.usb-products.com/Products/Hi-Speed-USB-2-0-4-Port-TetraHub.aspx) This has 4 ports each with its own TT.

What this means in reality is that a multiple TT hub will provide much higher bandwidth per port when several devices are connected from one hub.

Maximum Performance and choice of Where to connect a device
If you are after maximum performance for each of your USB 2 devices, each device should be plugged into its own USB port in the computer. Additional plug in cards can provide a vast number of USB ports for most needs. However, this situation might be going too far except for the most demanding of situations. Although several USB devices might be connected at the same time it is unlikely that they will all be in use together.

A useful compromise is to plug small bandwidth devices together into a single hub. These would include: mice; keyboard; Speakers; little used devices.

For devices that require a high bandwidth and are used often, direct connection in to a USB port is the best option. Devices would include: Flash memory drives; external disks; Web cams; Other frequently used devices.

If you don’t have sufficient ports then either more ports should be added with a plug-in card or a good quality hub with multiple transaction translators should be used. The devices placed on the hub are those that are used less often. Those devices placed directly on the port are used most often.

Link to a selection flow chart that helps in selecting a hub (http://www.usb-products.com/USB-Hub-Selection.aspx)

Access Considerations
What type of configuration and mix of port and hubs will depend on the number of devices that you wish to attach. Desktop computer cases usually have ports in the front of the case for easy access. These can be used for devices that are often plugged / unplugged and require the highest bandwidth. These are flash memory drives and portable external drives and MP3 players.

USB hubs tend to clutter up the area with cable connections and power lead. These naturally go out of sight if possible or behind the monitor. For mobile computers, a small compact hub can be obtained. These may have there own wind-in or tidy away cables.

Powered and Passive Hubs
Hubs may be restricted in their use without a power connection as passive hubs rely on the power of the USB bus. Powered hubs have a mains power adaptor to provide additional power for devices. These devices range in the power they require. It is possible to run a number of different devices all from a single passive hub running of a USB port as long as they have low power requirements. With only 0.5 Amps current it only takes one of the devices requiring the full power requirement for the hub to be overwhelmed. Nothing serious is going to happen though except that the single will degrade and many or all the devices will loose connection with the computer. To avoid this situation a powered hub should be used.

Nigel Stephens heads an online business at http://www.usb-products.com supplying computer hardware products. Nigel’s emphasis is in providing useful information so that consumers can make more informed choices.

Consider the convenience and added benefits of renting today’s wireless technology.

Wireless networks have a big advantage over wired networks, especially for short term projects where the internet and rental computers, printers and projectors are deployed.

Wireless networks are easier and faster to setup than wired networks. Wireless devices add flexibility and save time. With wireless you can move your laptops, projectors and printers around and still maintain connectivity. Best of all, you don’t have to run cat5 wires to routers, computers, printers and switches.

Here are some of the wireless products that are commonly rented for company projects:

Wireless Router Rentals

A wireless router is a networking device that connects computers to the internet. With a router you can share an internet connection between multiple computers on the network. Note: The internet cable needs to be connected directly into the wireless router.

Rent Wireless Access Point (WAP)

A wireless access point is a networking device that allows wireless-equipped computers and other devices to communicate with a wired network. A WAP may also be used to expand the range of an existing wireless network.

Rent Wireless Adapters

A wireless adapter is a device that adds wireless network functionality to a computer or laptop. There are three types of wireless adapters. PCI Adapters are for desktop computers. As the name suggests, they can be installed in an available PCI slot. PCMCIA Adapters, also known as PC Cards, are for notebooks. Installation is as simple as pushing the card into an available PCMCIA slot. Lastly, there are USB Adapters. These adapters are compatible with desktop and notebook computers.

Rent Wireless Print Servers

A wireless print server connects a printer to the wireless network, allowing any computer on the network to wirelessly access the printer at any time.

Rent Wireless Projectors

A wireless projector allows a computer user to wirelessly connect and display the computer video on a screen. All you need is a wireless adapter in your computer or notebook and the software that comes with the projector. Today’s advanced wireless projectors allow one computer to connect to multiple projectors AND multiple computers to connect to a single projector.

If you want to have a really impressive presentation, consider renting two or more wireless projectors. Bring your multimedia presentation to the next level by putting on multiple unique screens of your data and video presentation. For example: have animation on one screen and data on another!

Another benefit of wireless projectors is having the ability to have multiple presenters displaying their presentations right from their own wireless laptop or computer. Consider a corporate meeting with presentations from finance, operations, sales and marketing managers.

Wireless projectors are available from 1800 Lumen and 800×600 resolution to 3000 Lumen and 1024×768 resolution.

For more information on the current wireless projector rentals visit: Wireless Projector Rental Info

For more information on other products available for rent visit: Rentacomputer.com/ or Call 800-736-8772

John Beagle is a writer for Xponex Web and Media Services. For more infomation visit our website: Xponex.com/

Of course you want to get your Judgment–that’s the goal of your legal divorce–but you don’t want to go through the adversarial legal system to get it. You don’t want to get all tangled up with lawyers and courts, because the system is designed to work against you.

You don’t go through the legal system, you go around it. You work outside the legal system to make arrangements and reach an agreement with your spouse.

By doing things yourself, you have far more control and far better solutions. Working outside the legal system is the way you get a low-conflict, low-impact, higher quality divorce.

To stay outside the legal system, do not retain an attorney. Neither spouse should retain one. The key word is “retain.” We’re not saying you should never get help from an attorney if you want it, just that you should not retain an attorney unless you have no other choice. If you follow the steps in my series of divorce articles, you may not need any help at all from an attorney. If you do, you will know how to keep it limited and under control.

Retaining an attorney means turning over both your responsibility for your case and control of it. The attorney represents you. You sign a retainer agreement, then you pay $1,000 to $5,000 “on retainer” and your attorney has now taken over control of your case. This is what they mean when they say, “I’ll take your case.”

And they do take your case–right into the high-conflict, low-solution legal system. They have to; it’s the law.

Because you don’t want to go into a system that works so hard against you, you must not retain an attorney unless you have no other choice. You should retain an attorney if you are facing immediate threat of harm. You need an attorney if you:

• Believe your spouse poses a danger to you, your children or your property;
• Can’t get support from your spouse and have no way to live;
• Think your spouse is transferring, selling or hiding assets.

In such cases, you should get a good attorney right away; otherwise, you only want an attorney for information, advice and maybe some drafting and paperwork.

The attorney retainer is the poison apple–don’t bite it.

If you feel uneasy about not retaining an attorney, don’t worry; in the rest of my articles, you are going to learn very effective things you can do for yourself and how to get help if you need it.

There are three different kinds of cases that respond to self-help techniques:

• No agreement between the spouses is needed;
• An agreement will be fairly easy to work out;
• An agreement is needed but it may not be easy to work one out.

No agreement needed or spouse not involved. In some cases, an agreement between the spouses either isn’t necessary or is not possible. In some cases, this is because there are no children, very little property, few debts to worry about, no need for support–in short, nothing to agree to. There are also cases where the Respondent simply will not participate and will not file a Response. Respondent is either long gone or simply doesn’t care. This case will be relatively easy to complete.

Agreement needed. Most couples, however, do need an agreement or should have one. If you have children, you should work out a good parenting plan in a written agreement. If you have income or property worth protecting, or lots of debts to be paid, or if you need to work out spousal or child support arrangements, you should definitely have a written agreement. If Respondent is involved and cares how the divorce is going to be arranged, you should have an agreement.

Agreement will be easy to work out. If you think it will be no problem for you and your spouse to work out an agreement, the rest of this lesson is about the many advantages of a good agreement.

Agreement may not come easily. This describes the situation for most couples going through divorce. If, like most people, you don’t think you can deal with your spouse, don’t worry–see my articles on how to deal with disagreement and negotiate a settlement. You will learn that the things you can do to help yourself are far more effective than anything a traditional attorney can do for you. You will learn about the obstacles to agreement and how to overcome them, how to negotiate effectively with your spouse, and where to get help if you have trouble with the negotiations.

Advantages to an agreement

The marital settlement agreement (MSA) is your key to avoiding lawyers and the legal system, but that’s not all–it has many other important advantages. Your MSA actually becomes your Judgment. It is either attached to and incorporated in the Judgment or the Judgment will be written to include all the terms of your agreement.

With a good MSA you get total control over your Judgment because you decide all the terms ahead of time. Without an agreement, you can’t be sure exactly what some judge might do. The MSA has far more depth, detail, flexibility and protection than a plain Judgment. Almost anything that’s on your mind or in your lives can be included and resolved any way you like.

Some states, like California, have simplified procedures that allow you to get your divorce without going to court–if you have an agreement. Without an agreement, you almost certainly will have to go to a hearing to get your Judgment.

What’s most important is that you get a better divorce outcome when you work out an agreement. And with an agreement, people tend to heal faster and it just plain feels better.

The agreement you are about to negotiate is very valuable and worth working very hard to get. If you work it out with your spouse outside the system, you beat the system!

The Main Message: To beat the legal system, you don’t go through it, you go around it. These are your keys to the high road:

• you and your spouse work out an agreement
• outside the legal system
• without either spouse retaining an attorney.

You can get advice from attorneys, you can get an attorney/mediator to help you work out your agreement, but you do not retain an attorney to handle your divorce unless the attorneys on both sides are committed to a collaborative process.

Once you have an agreement, you have an uncontested case and there’s nothing left to do but red tape and paperwork. If you don’t need an agreement, so much the better; just do the paperwork and you’re done.

If you’re having trouble reaching agreement, read my articles on this topic starting with The Five Obstacles to Agreement.



Copyright 2005 Ed Sherman

Ed Sherman is a family law attorney, divorce expert, and founder of Nolo Press. He started the self-help law movement in 1971 when he published the first edition of How to Do Your Own Divorce, and founded the paralegal industry in 1973. With more than a million books sold, Ed has saved the public billions of dollars in legal fees while making divorce go more smoothly and easily for millions of readers. You can order his books from http://www.nolodivorce.com or by calling (800) 464-5502.

Many small businesses have considered connecting computers and other devices to their corporate network via wireless (WiFi) connections, and a brave few have actually done so. Many of these early networks required that wireless devices be carefully placed within the building so that the wireless signal reached all intended recipients. Typically, these networks lacked adequate security features, which left them vulnerable to information and resource theft by unauthorized persons. These two problems have now been largely solved, meaning that it may be time for more small businesses to look into the potential advantages a wireless network can offer.

Wireless Networking Basics

Building a wireless network requires two distinct types of hardware components, wireless access points, and wireless access cards. The wireless access point is a device, which is attached to an existing computer network via a standard Ethernet cable. It has an antenna on it, which allows it to broadcast and receive signals from PCs and other devices. Each device wishing to communicate with the access point needs a wireless access card, which also contains an antenna. The current wireless standard, called 802.11g, allows for up to 54 megabits of data per second to be transmitted between the desired access point and the access card. While not quite as fast as wired networks, which typically run at 100 megabits to 1000 megabits per second, wireless networks offer more flexibility, and can be less expensive to install. This is especially true for older buildings where installing cable can become cost prohibitive.

Cutting Corners

Wireless networks use radio frequency waves to transmit information, and thus they are susceptible to being blocked by walls and other obstructions in a building. These obstructions can cause “dead zones” where the radio waves are unable to reach their intended recipients. Microwave ovens and other radio frequency emitting devices can also wreak havoc on wireless signals. The solution is to place your wireless access points strategically around your building so that interference is minimized. When the distance from a wireless access point to the wireless device is more than a few dozen meters, wireless repeaters can be installed to boost the signal. These repeaters can also be placed so that the wireless signals can be accessible from all corners of the building.

Wireless Network Security Solved

Installing a simple wireless network is pretty straightforward, but installing a secure wireless network can be substantially more difficult. However, an Ann Arbor company called Interlink Networks now offers their LucidLink products, which make installing comprehensive wireless network security a snap. Before LucidLink became available, an organization wishing to lock down their wireless network would need to hire expensive network security consultants to install and manage the wireless portion of the network. LucidLink packages all of this expertise into a software add-on that is so easy to use that even a small company’s office manager can easily take control over who is accessing the company network via wireless. It goes above and beyond simple address authentication (standard with most wireless routers), and implements what is called a RADIUS server. RADIUS servers are what large organizations spend thousands of dollars installing and maintaining in order to secure their large (1000+ node) wireless networks. Until now, installing a RADIUS server was out of the price range for all but the largest companies. In contrast, LucidLink’s product can be purchased for as little as $99 for a 3 user Home Office Edition, $449 for a 10 user version, and goes up to $3995 for a 250 user version.

Summary

While there are still issues with making sure that all areas of a building are covered, the current WiFi standard (802.11g) has a more powerful signal, meaning less emphasis needs to be placed on the locations of attached devices. However, it is still recommended that a professional site survey be done to verify that all required areas of the building can be reached by the wireless signal. Meanwhile, Interlink Networks has finally solved the security problem at a price that is affordable for small and medium sized business.

Terrence A. Weadock is the President and Founder of Dominant Systems Corporation, an Ann Arbor-based computer network solutions provider.
http://www.domsys.com