Insurance

Cheap Auto Insurance quotes are designed in many different ways to cover your specific insurance needs. One needs to analyze these quotes in detail before making a decision. It also helps if you have basic knowledge on all or at least some aspects of cheap Auto Insurance. You can find literally hundreds of online resources offering you thousands of attractive cheap Auto Insurance quotes. But should you opt for them, just because they are cheap? It depends. When it comes to insurance, sometimes the cheapest policy is not the best way to go.

Attention! Have a look at the type of car you drive. Certain types of cars attract higher Car Insurance rates.

You need to know the rules, which govern your state, with regard to Auto Insurance. Certain states, for example, may require you to have comprehensive liability coverage, which is also known as third party liability in some countries. This covers you in case you are at a fault during an accident, whereas in other states, you are simply required to carry a ‘no-fault' policy.

Attention! Policy Period – This is the specific time period that the policy is effective. Some Car Insurance policies have an annual renewal and others have a six-month renewal.

Once you have chosen the cheap insurance quote that works for you, go through the entire policy in detail. Find out more about the coverage levels. You have to carefully study the general policy options. Next comes choosing your policy period. This is an important criterion, because your insurance coverage is only in effect during the period specified by the insurer in your policy. Most Auto Insurance policies cover a span from six months to one year. It is, however, possible to get Auto Insurance for a longer or shorter span of time. Generally speaking, the longer the time specified, the lower the premium you need to pay and vice-versa. Ultimately, the choice is left to you.

Attention! Find a good online discount Car Insurance broker before renewing. The Internet is a fabulous resource.

Always try to find out whether you can cancel your policy before the expiry date, and if so, what are the procedures that one must follow. You can get this information directly from your insurer. Based on the cheap Auto Insurance quote, you can decide whether you want to pay an annual or semi-annual premium upfront, a down payment on the premium and the reminder in several equal monthly installments, or you want to pay an equal monthly amount spread out over a period of 10 to 12 months. Also ask whether or not you insurer charges any interest on the premium. Once you have this basic information, it is easy to see what the best Auto Insurance for you will be - and you should go ahead and take that policy.

Attention! Drive carefully. Although it sounds a little trite to say it, your Car Insurance cost is a factor of your risk profile.

US internet addicts 'as ill as alcoholics'

The US could be rife with "internet addicts" who are as clinically ill as alcoholics, according to psychiatrists involved in a nationwide study.

The study, carried out by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, US, indicates that more than one in eight US residents show signs of "problematic internet use".

The Stanford researchers interviewed 2513 adults in a nationwide survey. Because internet addiction is not a clinically defined medical condition, the questions used were based on analysis of other addiction disorders.

Most disturbing, according to the study's lead author Elias Aboujaoude, is the discovery that some people hide their internet surfing, or go online to cure foul moods – behaviour that mirrors the way alcoholics behave.

"In a sense, they're using the internet to self-medicate," Aboujaoude says. "And, obviously, something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their internet activity."

Non-essential use

Nearly 14% of respondents said they found it difficult to stay away from the internet for several days and 12% admitted that they often remain online longer than expected.

More than 8% of those surveyed said they hid internet use from family, friends and employers, and the same percentage confessed to going online to flee from real-world problems. Approximately 6% also said their personal relationships had suffered as a result of excessive internet usage.

"Potential markers of problematic internet use are present in a sizeable portion of the population," the researchers note.

Compulsive drive

Aboujaoude, a psychiatry professor at Stanford's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, says an increasing number of people are seeking help from doctors because of unhealthy internet use.

He compares the compulsive drive to check email, make blog entries or visit websites to substance abuse – an irresistible urge to perform a temporarily pleasurable act.

"The issue is starting to be recognised as a legitimate object of clinical attention, as well as an economic problem, given that a great deal of non-essential internet use takes place at work," Aboujaoude says.

He adds that the problem is not confined to specific types of internet use. "Online pornography and, to some degree, online gambling, have received the most attention," he says, "but users are as likely to use other sites, including chat rooms, shopping venues and special-interest websites."

Previous research suggests that the majority of "internet addicts" are single, college-educated, white males in their 30s, who spend approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use.

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn10322-us-internet-addicts-as-ill-as-alcoholics.html

Asian elephants

The Antiguan racer, Alsophis antiguae, is endemic to Antigua and Barbuda and was abundant until Asian mongooses, Herpestes javanicus, were introduced in the 19th century. The mongooses hunted many native birds, reptiles and amphibians to extinction and reduced the snake population to only 50 individuals on the 9.9-hectare Great Bird Island. The Antiguan racer had thus become the rarest snake in the world.
To save these harmless reptiles from extinction, the Antiguan Racer Conservation Project was formed by a partnership of organizations including Fauna & Flora International,

With only 10% of the population of their African cousins the Asian elephant is in trouble.

Poaching for ivory and conversion of critical forest habitat to agriculture is threatening the survival of the Asian elephant in the wild. Elephants need large forest landscapes in which to live and conduct their normal migratory and social behaviour. Fragmentation of these landscapes through roads and development is reducing the elephant’s chances of seeing out the 21st century.

We're conserving endangered sub-species in Sumatra (Indonesia) and Cambodia. Our efforts have mobilized field teams into the heart of the elephant ranges, capturing poachers, working with local communities and disseminating important messages on how to live side by side with the magnificent, yet troublesome elephant.

We conduct land use planning using the latest satellite technology, as well as tried and tested local land planning tools. We assist local people to use their land more productively, reducing encroachment into the forest estate whilst reducing poverty.

Our role in throughout the region is to bring together partners to be proactive and strategic in achieving conservation. Our critical role is to guide communities, government agencies, technical specialists and the corporate sector to be sensitive to elephant conservation issues and make decisions with their welfare in mind.

Only through this approach can we save the elephants in an era when land and forest are such valuable commodities. At Fauna & Flora International, we are working to ensure that the elephant’s stake is properly represented as part of the bigger environmental picture.

Latest elephant news in Cambodia

SI's Gary Van Sickle makes his Masters

Tiger Woods. He's your winner. For the 14th time in a major. I know, he's six shots back and that's a big hill to climb. There are two reasons for going out on this limb. One, he played superbly on Saturday. He was burning the edges, and if a few more putts dropped, he would have shot 66, 65 or maybe even 63. Second, the conditions may be difficult Sunday, lots of wind and not all that warm. Tough conditions favor the best ballstriker or, to be specific, the best shotmaker. To get the ball close, players will have to be able to hold the ball against the wind. Woods is the best shotmaker in the game, by far. And six shots can disappear in two holes at Augusta.

Woods has never won a major coming from behind on Sunday, but the players he is chasing have won a total of zero majors and have little or no experience playing in the final groups on Sunday at a major. That ought to be worth a couple of shots. Plus, the guys in front of him will surely have that extra little surge of worry when they see Tiger's name inching up the leaderboard. He isn't the guy to beat starting out, but he may be the man to catch by the time the leaders hit Amen Corner.

Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi made a welcome return to the front row of the grid for the first time this year in Portugal this afternoon, qualifying third aboard his Fiat Yamaha M1. It was the first time the 29-year-old has qualified on the front row since making the switch to Bridgestone tyres and it puts him in a good position from which to attempt a repeat of his victory here five months ago.

Times tumbled in this morning’s free practice and Rossi continued to improve his race setting, finishing the morning’s work in fourth position. This afternoon he continued in the same fashion, topping the time sheets for the first half of the session. In the later battle for qualifying tyres Rossi set his best time of 1’36.199 with ten minutes still on the clock and, with his young team-mate Jorge Lorenzo on pole it looked like being a Fiat Yamaha one-two before the party was spoiled by Dani Pedrosa pipping Rossi to second in the closing minutes.