Call 1-800 Flowers for Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day, Sunday, May 9 this year, is just around the corner so I checked out gift items at 1800flowers.  There are so many to choose from at just about any price range.

1800flowers have non-floral items.  A fun thing this year is this lovely fortune cookie. This colossal cookie is hand dipped in Belgian chocolate and sprinkled with pink and white sparkles.  You add your special message inside.  For the wine lover, there are baskets of wine, cheese and crackers to choose from.  You have to be over 21 to purchase this. There is a selection of luscious chocolate and candy baskets as well.

Don't forget the flowers.  Bonsai plant of azaleas and gardenias make for a perennial reminder of your appreciation.  As usual various floral arrangements such as the Martha Stewart collection are available in various colorful designs. Red roses are always a hit, or any color roses for that matter.  Don't forget the tulips, lilies and orchids.

There is plenty to choose from at 1800flowers.

1800Flowers Adds to Joyful Occasions

There is hardly a family event where giving flowers would not be appropriate.  We share each others joy on births, birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries and on no particular occasion at all.  We cheer each other up when we are sick or sad or when we lose someone.  Always, flowers are a welcome gift.

Florists like 1800flowers understand the power of flowers to gladden our hearts and so they take pains to have a wide choice of arrangements for the special occasion.  Welcoming a newborn and honoring a mother's love with flowers has been a common delightful practice.

Choose from a wide variety of birthday flower arrangements at 1800flowers virtual catalog. Fragrant gardenias, an arrangement of orchids or a vase of roses are only a few of what is available.  Add a trinket if you wish or a box of chocolates. Whether near or far, you can send the gift and trust that it will get there as fresh as if the flowers were picked the same day.

For that important anniversary, 1800flowers has a collection for any taste. If you forgot to buy a gift, remember the florist is only a mouse click away or if you cut it too close, your local grocery florist surely has some beautiful arrangements to choose from.

You can never go wrong with flowers.

Jerry Murdock and Insight Venture Partners Help Expand Internet Growth

The internet has come a long way in the last two decades, thanks to many talented engineers and geeks, the likes of Gates, Allen, Jobs and the Google founders no less and countless more whose names are not even known to the average internet user.  Equally lesser known are venture capitalists like Jerry Murdock and Insight Venture Partners who focus on companies involved in infrastructure software, internet verticals, mobile technology and data-enabled businesses to come to fruition and enlarge their market share.

In 1995,Jerry Murdock  and Jeff Horing co-founded Insight Venture Partners for the purpose of helping internet enhancing companies in the process of expansion, find their focus and the best way to achieve their goals. They raise venture capital for a variety of companies who are making the internet better and better.  Who would have dreamed that anyone can earn a degree by enrolling in a university such as Capella University or state universities, buy and sell goods, book a vacation, just sitting on a desk in front of a computer?  All these because some talented software engineers got together to invent a utility and a venture company was available to help them improve the business.

Jerry Murdock has been an active policy maker at Insight. His vision may have been influenced by his association with the Colorado based Aspen Institute where he is a member of the board. The Aspen Institute has a two fold mission: " to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues." 

Thanks to these countless people, all of us benefit from the expansion of the internet and mobile technology.

1800flowers for All Ocassions

Although Valentine's Day keeps florists like1800flowers busy, sending flowers to express good feelings is getting as common as sending cards.  The growing practice of giving flowers for different  occasions is making florists happy. Red roses have been the traditional flower to express undying love.  But how about white, pink, yellow and the many different colors roses are grown? A bouquet of roses with or without chocolates, or with a ring?

There are different arrangements suitable for different occasions. Expressing sympathy with flowers has been another age old tradition. A white flower arrangement or a flowering pot can such a fitting expression. A plant or a small tree might take the place of a sympathy wreath.

1800flowers have floral designers especially for this sensitive occasion.

 

Sending flowers to express thanks is increasingly getting as popular as sending thank you cards, to the delight of recipients.  Here creativity is limitless.  Flower arrangements, flower baskets, plants and of course, baskets with goodies are equally delightful.  1800flowers has special thank you gifts when it is important to send the very best.

Alex Crisses Insight Venture Partners

Alex Crisses Insight Venture Partners is a boon to software entrepreneurs looking to expand their operations.  Alex Crisses is one of the principals of this company which assists software companies poised for growth to achieve their expansion goals.

Alex Crisses who joined Insight Venture Partners in 2002 concentrates on infrastructure software and internet focused businesses.  Crisses distinguished himself in college by graduating with highest honors from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and obtaining his MBA degree with High Distinction from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker scholar.  Alex Crisses Insight Venture Partners have raised over 3 billion in venture capital for software and internet vertical companies.  Alex Crisses Insight Venture Partners have helped companies like internet vertical expansion company, Netshops and telesales optimization company, Aelita.

When not working on venture capital activities, Crisses is busy with fund raising activities for Minds Matter, an organization working with underprivileged New York City high school students and raising funds for the benefit of New York City Police Department among them, Sergeants Benevolent Association benefiting police sergeants.

Red Roses for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is around the corner once again and flowers are always a fail safe gift. My husband, Felix, was not very creative with his gift giving.  His idea of a gift was giving something he liked.  He was sure that if he liked something, others would like them too. Felix loved red roses and so he gave them to the people he loved.  Just before Valentine's Day, he would order a box of two dozen red roses one each for me, our two daughters Emilie and Melissa, his mom and my sister-in-law, Cathy.  Sometimes, he added a box of chocolates or a trinket or a card, but we knew we would always got red roses. He did it year after year except when he got too sick to do it.

                                                   Felix passed away a few months ago .  We will not get red roses for Valentine's Day this year.  Instead, on Valentine's Day, we will bring him red roses and we will remember just as he always did.                                                                                                                                                      

The Steve Stevanovich Center Sponsors Financial Seminars

Businessmen, financial managers, and various other economists will find a wide range of seminars at The Steve Stevanovich Center for Financial Mathematics at the University of Chicago.

In 2009, the center sponsored two major conferences, one in Skagen, Denmark in June 2009 on Financial Econometrics and Statistics: Current Themes and New Directions and another in Chicago in October 2009 on Liquidity, Credit Risk and Extreme Events. In November 2009, the center sponsored a seminar on liquidity, and another on Index Option Returns. Open to the public, these conferences allow front line economists, businessmen, asset managers and others to learn from various mathematics and economic experts around the world. These seminars are supported in part by an endowment given by Steve Stevanovich to the University of Chicago.

Steve Stevanovich is a successful asset manager who graduated from the University of Chicago School of Business. The Stevanovich Center also offers a Masters Program in Financial Mathematics with goals of providing the student with scientific knowledge based on combination of mathematics and statistics with real world economist experiences.

Sak Narwal Rises to the Challenge of Catching Redfish

The redfish is one of the fisherman's favorite challenge and Sak Narwal likes a challenge. Considered a warm water fish, the redfish has similar structure to the stingray and catfish. The copper color gives them the reddish hue.

The redfish is generally found along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast where avid fishermen pit their skills with this agile fish. Once an endangered species due to over fishing, redfish live a long life (40-50 years) and grow large up to 36 inches and ninety pounds. The Louisiana coast is a favorite fishing ground for fishermen like Sak Narwal, a catch and release fisherman who enjoys the challenge and the solitude of fishing.

Redfish can be lured with cut bait of mullet or mantis shrimp. The redfish has a keen sense of smell and can be lured towards the hook which can be reigned in by the angler. It is a voracious eater and bottom feeder. Some fishermen like to troll in a flat bottom boat. This can be a challenge since the redfish has a keen sense of hearing and can detect the boat from afar. Many anglers prefer to wade into the marshy water to keep as quite and unobtrusive an approach as possible. Of course, he is also competing with diving birds like gulls and terns who enjoy fishing for redfish as well.

Redfish is abundant in Louisiana, Texas and Florida as well as the Carolina coasts. Sak Narwal, who likes to learn from nature, has pitted his skills with this mighty fish in the Louisiana marshes.

Online Florists Make Gift Giving a Breeze

Buying gift flowers has never been easier. Thanks to nursery growers and the transport industry, fresh flowers can be flown anywhere in the world. Online flower shops like 1-800 Flowers specialize in making gift giving very convenient.

Basically, the customer goes to the website of a flower shop, chooses the floral arrangement, and makes the purchase with the click of a mouse. The similarity between online florists end here as there are different venues by which flowers are ordered online and delivered to the recipient.

• Wireless florists such as 1-800 Flowers specialize in flower arrangements and gift baskets on their online catalog. These arrangements are then sent to the recipient via transport delivery.
• Some online florists have a network of local florists who fulfill the order and deliver them to the recipient in the florists vicinity.
• Local florists also have their stores online so that customers can order via internet or telephone and flowers are delivered by employees in the florists' vehicle.
• Courier florists specialize in taking orders bunched and packed in the nursery and sent to the recipient in boxes. The recipient is usually responsible for cleaning and arranging the flowers, themsleves.

Whether you go through a major florist like 1-800 Flowers or through your local florist, ordering flowers online is a time saver for the consumer.

American Career Group Matches Job Seekers with Jobs

Despite reports of unemployment going down, looking for work in this economy can be a tricky endeavor. Thanks to the Internet, applicants can submit resumes online and reach a bigger pool of potential employers. At the same time, the Internet has also provided opportunities for job matching companies such as American Career Group to provide a close match of job seekers and employers.

Like local or regional staffing services, companies like American Career Group broker human resource services on a national and even global level. Job applicants choose their areas of experience or career choice. Employers, on the other hand, provide job descriptions and qualifications of the successful job applicant. When a match is found, the parties concerned are connected to each other for further negotiations.

Although many jobs have downsized, openings in niche industries and services continue to advertise for certain jobs. For example, health care remains a niche seemingly always in need of qualified workers such as nurses and allied health care workers. American Career Group has a network of employers, recruiters and staffing companies across the country to match applicants and job openings. Through this wide network, job applicants can get assistance with such things as resume writing, retraining, interviewing tips, networking and continuing education. Employers are able to prescreen and choose qualified applicants from a wider pool.

Whether you are looking for a job or looking for a career, online staffing companies are a good resource to steer you to the niche occupation of your choice.

Gadgets for Eyeglasses

Remember Geordi La Forge' eyeglasses on Star Trek: Next Generation? Blind since birth, Geordi is able to see through his VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ replacement.) Modern technology is not quite there yet but more digital enhancements may soon be available in an eye wear store near you.

Hearing aids have long been embedded on eyeglass temples. TriSpecs has come out with sunglasses having MP3, Bluetooth technology and headphones on the eye wear temples. Vuzix boasts of its iWearAV920 model of video eyeglasses which connects an iPod through a USB drive right in the glass temple allowing for movie or video viewing on the eyeglasses. Sony has also come out with its own version of this video eye wear. Another futuristic innovation is NEC's invention of the translator eye wear. The gadget called the Tele Scouter is a pair of eyeglasses without the lenses. Software translates the spoken word picked up by headphones on the eyeglasses and projects the translation right into the wearer's retina much like a movie subtitle.

Scientists continue to work on technology to aid the visually impaired. Soon Star Trek's Geordi LaForge VISOR may be around the corner. It can happen. It will happen.

Deven Parekh and Insight Venture Partners Focus on Internet Enabled Businesses

Deven Parekh has been a managing director of Insight Venture Partners since 2000. This venture capital company focuses on business software and internet -enabled businesses especially domain related internet companies. More recently, the company has focused on domain-rich internet ventures which own literally thousands of keyword rich domain names.

Deven Parekh completed his BS in Economics at the University of Philadelphia Wharton School of Business. He received the Henry Crown Fellowship of the Aspen Institute, an institute dedicated to training leaders whose ideals and ideas define a good society and to fostering values-added leadership. Henry Crown was a Chicago businessman committed to honor, integrity, industry, and philanthropy. Parekh is experienced in mergers and acquisitions. He worked in the M & A activities at the Blackstone Group and later worked as M & A principal at the New York based merchant banking firm of Berenson Minella & Company. At Insight Venture Partners, Deven Parekh is a managing director and is active in the M & A activities of the company alongside founders, Jeff Horing and Jerry Murdock. Among Parekh's community projects is Publicolor, a company dedicated to helping disadvantaged and disaffected adolescents through the use of color, paint and art to enhance the learning environment.

Gift Baskets for Holiday Gift Giving

For a few years now, I have been sending out of town friends gift baskets for holiday and special occasion gift giving. With so many products to choose from and so many vendors available online, I have been able to tailor the gift to friend's likes.

For my gourmet friends, I can send a gift basket of wine, cheese, nuts, with a cookbook or a special utensil. To my bibliophile friends, I can send a basket of books by their favorite authors. To my plant loving friends, I usually send 1800flowers gift baskets. My movie viewing friends enjoy popcorn gift baskets with a DVD, varieties of popping corn and a movie pass.

I have also made up unique gift baskets from specialty store finds all year round. I pick potential gifts I know certain friend might like that I can later put in a gift bag. Jazz lovers might like vintage Blue Note music or CD. I might pick up a Fiesta plate for or a Hummel figurine for friends who collect them. I especially enjoy thrift store finds of rare items that someone might like.

For the upcoming holiday season beat the crowd. Make your own gift baskets or order from your favorite online store.

Poinsettias: Most Popular of the Christmas Flowers

Flowers for the winter and Christmas season are now showing in stores and poinsettias are leading the pack. It is the best selling flowering potted plant though most of the sales occur in a 6 week period. With over 100 varieties of the plant and different colors to choose from, poinsettias remain vibrant for several weeks or months.

Poinsettias are native to Mexico where ancient Aztecs called it Cuetlaxochitl and used its sap to make red dye. It derives its name from Joel Poinsett who introduced the plant to the United States in 1825. Today, poinsettias are grown in all 50 states, California growing and exporting the largest number.

The colorful leaves are bracts or modified leaves while the flowers are the small, usually yellow accent in the center of the bract. The plants are priced according to the number and density of the bracts. Choose plants that have sturdy green leaves down to the soil and have fully colored bracts. The flowers in the middle should be firm with no powdery pollen falling out. This is a sign of aging and the plant will soon loose its color. Choose plants that are balanced all around and look full from all sides. When you take it home in cold weather, be sure to wrap it as it is sensitive to drops in temperature. Allow indirect light for about 6 hours a day and water only when dry allowing good drainage to avoid root rot.

You can purchase poinsettias just about anywhere,at nurseries, flower shops, grocery stores and online florists. Checkout sale coupons at 1800Flowers coupon for a wide selection of poinsettias in beautiful containers. Poinsettias make colorful inexpensive Christmas decorations and holiday gifts.

Fall Decorations with Flowers and Leaves

Autumn is such a colorful season and decorating the house can be easy and inexpensive. Colorful flowers of yellow and orange with a variety of brown, yellow and red foliage arranged in just about any kind of vase make nice centerpieces. I enjoy looking at how creative my neighbors decorate their homes and porches for the fall season.

• Yellow, brown and orange mums often go on sale in the fall. Placed in a basket, a ceramic pot or autumn colored gift baskets, mums are just a natural. Clustered with pumpkins on the porch, two or three pots of mums make for an inviting welcome.
• Fall leaves of various colors, sizes and shapes on a table runner with small pumpkins and a centerpiece of fall flowers and candles make for a festive table.
• Various door wreaths of fall leaves, flowers, gourds, and berries adorn my neighbors' doors.
• And of course, there are the carved pumpkins and black and orange decorations for Halloween.

I don't have to come up with original ideas. I can just copy my neighbors' creations as they outdo themselves year after year.

Steve Stevanovich Gives Back to the University of Chicago

Asset manager, Steve Stevanovich, who has made a name for himself in the financial world, has now embarked on giving back to his alma mater, the University of Chicago. He has not only given a 7 million dollar endowment to establish the Steve Stevanovich Center for Financial Mathematics but he also lends a mentoring hand to students and financial managers.

Launched in 2006, the Steve Stevanovich Center for Financial Mathematics was formed to bring together mathematical theory and research with real world financial experience and academicians with financial experts. The result can be improved market analysis and risk assessment in the financial markets. The center is the only financial mathematics research school in the world and plans partnerships with other universities world wide. It offers a one year graduate program in Masters of Science in Financial Mathematics. By learning from mathematicians, researchers, economists and real world financial asset managers and practitioners, students learn different ways to interpret even subtle changes in the financial world, hopefully preventing a repeat of the tragic economic downturn of the past year.

The center will move to its own location in the renovated mathematics/ science building on the university campus. Seminar and conferences have been scheduled throughout the next year. Steve Stevanovich has been visionary and his goals has come to be.

Steve Stevanovich graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelors in Economics degree in 1985 and an MBA from the University of Chicago School of Business in 1990. He is a successful asset manager with a focus on integrity in asset management.

Medallion Taxicab Technology Passenger Enhancement Projects and Amos Tamam

Amos Tamam has worked tirelessly to bring enhancements to the taxicab industry and this has paid off not only for Amos Tamam who owns Taxitronics but for taxi drivers and taxicab owners in New York City, Philadelphia and possibly major cities worldwide.

In March 2004, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission mandated that medallion taxicabs implement certain technology enhancements. These enhancements focus on the following:

• automated collection and submission of trip data
• installation of a passenger information monitor including a passenger information map in the taxi
• electronic transmission capability in the taxicab
• equipment to enable credit and debit card payment

Amos Tamam founded Taxitronics, a company dedicated to the technology that has made it possible for medallion taxicab drivers to comply with the New York City Taxicab Technology Passenger Enhancement Project (T-PEP.) What this means to all concerned is increased safety for taxi drivers and passengers who need not carry large sums of cash, more comfort for the passenger who can follow the route and access online entertainment, electronic communication and GPS monitoring between the cab driver and the fleet manager, and automated collection and submission of data required by law.

With the success of this project, watch for it in taxicabs in your city.

Photo: Flickr: litherland

Sakwinder Narwal: Fishing Enthusiast

Many busy entrepreneurs and businessmen play as hard as they work with such leisure activities as yatching, party going, or flying. Not Sakwinder Narwal. Sakwinder "Sak" prefers the quiet joy of fishing. And fishing he does with a passion.

Sakwinder Narwal goes to the ends of the earth to fish, an activity he finds not only relaxing but also a great learning experience. He enjoys observing the habitat and nature around his fishing venue, learning fish habits and meeting the challenges each fishing environment presents. Fishing, a sport that requires great patience is well suited to Sakwinder Narwal who likes to study the ambience of different fish habitats and the life cycle and unique characteristics of fish . And he has fished many rivers, oceans and lakes. He has fished for shark in the waters off Montauk Point in Long Island, New York, shad in the Delaware River in New Jersey and salmon in the inlets of Bristol Bay, Alaska. A strictly "catch and release" fisherman, Sak Narwal can be found at least once a week in some fishing ground somewhere, reveling in the activity of matching his wits with the fish.

K-Designers Gives Back to the Community

K-Designers, a home remodeling company, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2008. Not only is the company a leader in its industry but it is also committed to giving back to the community and making people's lives better.

K-Designers is an active supporter of Habitat for Humanity, contributing time, talent and treasure to this charitable institution which brings homes to deserving families. K-Designers has made generous donations in money and volunteering to such organizations as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Cancer Society. The company has also been active in worthy causes in their local community.

K-Designers was founded in 1978 in Casper, Wyoming by Larry and Lee Judson and four employees. With a commitment to excellence and providing the customer with the best option customized for their needs, the company has grown into a 63 million dollar business.

Now, the company is giving back to the community.

Let YMT Vacations Plan Your Family Reunion Cruise

If you are planning a family reunion, a cruise vacation is a great option and travel agencies like YMT Vacations can relieve you of the headache of coordinating the event.

A cruise has many advantages for family reunions:

• In a cruise, families can choose the extent of togetherness without hurting any body's feelings. Having their own cabins, families can plan to meet ( or escape) each other.
• There are activities for all ages. Children can have supervised play activities or just spend time with their parents and relatives. Older adults can read a book, go to the casino or just watch the scenery. There are sport activities, dancing, and adventures for the more active generation.
• The all inclusive cost (except for gratuity and inland tours) eliminates the hassle of finding a large enough venue to accommodate get togethers, meals or entertainment.
• There is food 24/7 for everyone. It is easy to accommodate special dietary needs.
• Planning is easy. Families can be directed to the travel agency like YMT Vacations which specializes in planned vacations.
• Cruises can be for a long weekend or for two or more weeks and are all around the world. YMT Vacations can find a cruise to meet your needs.

For your next family reunion, do consider a cruise.