Late last month, the New York Attorney General’s office announced the results of an investigation it conducted into the business of creating false online reviews for various businesses. Although it is not a widespread practice for Internet marketing companies, some companies have performed these tasks.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman confirmed that 19 companies signed agreements to refrain from posting fake reviews online and paid fines ranging from $2,500 to $100,000. Essentially, the purpose of the fake online reviews, primarily on Yelp, Google, and Yahoo , is to increase awareness of the company, improve its appearance and even increase revenue.

“What we have found is even worse than old-fashioned false advertising,” the New York attorney general said in a statement. “When you look at a billboard, you can tell it’s a paid ad, but on Yelp or Citysearch, you assume you’re reading genuine consumer reviews, making this practice even more deceptive. This research into large-scale intentional deception worldwide scale The Internet tells us to approach online reviews with caution.”

What the New York State investigators also found was that companies approached experienced Yelp users and attempted to reward them with gift certificates and other types of offers for posting positive reviews. Failing that, they used freelance websites like Craig’s List, oDesk.com, and Freelancer.com to find writers and paid them $1 to $10 for reviews.

Schneiderman also cited a 2011 Harvard Business School study, which examined Yelp reviews that the company labeled as fraudulent. Their top four findings were that chain restaurants were less likely to participate in the scheme, restaurants with intense competition were more likely to post fake reviews of their competitors, restaurants with poor or few reviews were more likely to participate in fake reviews and 16 percent of restaurant reviews labeled fake were more likely to leave either extremely positive or extremely negative reviews than regular reviews.

The internet marketing, or search engine optimization, industry is quite competitive and companies try to innovate their products and services as much as they can to attract more customers. Essentially, it is suggested that clients looking to hire an online marketing company should do their due diligence and do a great deal of research on the company.

In the end, as any internet marketing or SEO professional would say, it takes time to appear on the first page of Google, increase PageRank, and improve domain authority. The best practice is to follow the guidelines posted by search engines, review websites, and other places on the Internet. In fact, there certainly is a difference between sending out a press release and faking reviews.

Furthermore, it appears that law enforcement is continuing its efforts to catch companies offering these services. Schneiderman confirmed that he will still try to prevent the business from lying to customers.

“This investigation into large-scale intentional deception on the Internet tells us that we must approach online reviews with caution,” the attorney general added.

All of these acts can definitely damage the credibility of the internet and websites like Yelp.

“Political science” is generally defined as the study of governments, political processes, and political behavior. It is a branch of social sciences where the study mainly revolves around analyzing, describing, and predicting political behavior along with political systems. In fact, the best way to describe it is as a science that revolves more around subjective clarifications than hard data. It is a science that helps a person understand the relationships between other individuals, groups, and the state, along with the working procedure of modern government.

Political science as a discipline is relatively new and has gained considerable recognition among young students in the United States in recent years. It mainly includes various subfields such as philosophy and political system theory, political economy, policy studies, international relations, and a collection of other related fields. The main aim of political science is to help a student to make a career in politics and to give him adequate knowledge of political procedure which could be useful.

Students who pursue a career in this branch of the social sciences are generally called political scientists and can lead to exciting careers in federal, state, and local governments; law; business; international organizations and electoral politics.

His job responsibilities mainly revolve around the analysis of different areas of political behavior, including public administration, public opinion, taxes, and voting. Apart from this, they usually conduct research on different public issues and political relations and resources. These investigation procedures can be both within the same country and internationally. However, the research and analysis process frequently includes court rulings, public opinion and decision-making. Added to this, they also recommend solutions and sometimes conduct research to make better decisions on issues that generally affect citizens, businesses and the environment.

employment prospects

The job outlook of this domain actually seems to be very inspiring. In fact, according to the latest study by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for political scientists are expected to increase even more in the coming years. According to some experts, overall employment is also expected to grow as fast as the average for all occupations.

Salary Outlook and Other Benefits

The average earnings of political scientists depend entirely on their education, experience, and geographic position in the organization. The starting salary range for a political scientist averages near $27,000. However, with experience and higher educational success, income can increase further to $65,000 or more. Added to this, any graduate with a political science degree can enjoy a decent income and can earn almost $2,500 more per year than the average person who only has a bachelor’s degree. In addition to this, holders of a bachelor’s degree can also enter the workforce as paralegals or administrative assistants. Furthermore, political scientists employed by colleges and universities even have enough opportunities to increase their income by teaching summer courses, writing books, or doing consulting work. They can even enjoy various benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans, paid holidays and vacations, etc. depending on their positions.

Required educational qualification

So by now, if you want to pursue a career in political science or want to grow as a political scientist, you need to have an advanced PhD in political science. If you earn a PhD in political science, you can work as a professor at colleges and universities. More often, these positions lead to significant service to schools, communities, and the nation. In addition to these, there are also bachelor’s and master’s programs in political science. While graduate degrees in political science are respected by all industries, master’s degrees are highly regarded by public and private organizations and by a growing number of numerous non-profit associations.

Today, it is definitely one of the few career options that can provide you with long-term job growth and significant rewards.

Vanuatu has long been a popular wedding destination for couples looking to elope, those looking to avoid a huge financial commitment for their big day, or people getting married for the second time. These days, there is a growing trend for couples, who prefer smaller or more intimate weddings, to choose Vanuatu as their wedding venue. Vanuatu is by far the preferred choice for many couples who want to find inspiration away from home or simply escape the stress and expense of planning such an important event themselves.

A wedding in Vanuatu also involves a bit of fantasy. Marrying your true love in exotic Vanuatu IS different AND incredibly romantic! It provides couples with a unique setting and brings something extra and special to a wedding that simply isn’t available at home. A Pacific island wedding in Vanuatu is an event that neither the bridal party nor the guests will ever forget, for all the ideal reasons!

Vanuatu is fast becoming the quintessential wedding destination for many Australians and New Zealanders, perhaps in part due to the countries’ geographical proximity. Of course, Vanuatu also boasts some exotic wedding venues, all with unique and spectacular backdrops.

Daily life in Vanuatu is very friendly and relaxed. Couples who get married or renew their vows here easily enjoy the ambience of this beautiful paradise and often choose to spend their honeymoon here as well. Either way, more time tends to be set aside to enjoy this special event: it’s a wedding, honeymoon, vacation, and once-in-a-lifetime romantic experience all rolled into one.

BUT be warned: if you plan to organize your wedding in Vanuatu by yourself from home, you will only have yourself to blame if everything goes wrong! Instead, we recommend that you follow the essential guidelines below to ensure your tropical island wedding turns out just the way you want it to.

ESSENTIAL TIPS AND TIPS – The Guidelines

List the services of a local wedding planner. Planning a wedding is always a lot of work, let alone planning one away from home. You will need an experienced wedding coordinator who will be with you throughout the planning process to ensure that your vision of your wedding day is something that can realistically be fulfilled in Vanuatu. When choosing that person or company, look for testimonials from their past clients.

The wedding venue, reception and ceremony. Discuss all your requirements and options with your Vanuatu wedding planner so that everything goes the way you want and within your budget! This includes the Celebrant of the Marriage and legal requirements.

Budget. Consider selecting an existing wedding package. To keep your budget in check, opt for a Package and stick with it. Please do not start requesting food that may not be readily available in Vanuatu as this may result in additional cost to you having to transport it (and keep it fresh in the process)!

The photographer. It is extremely important that you hire your photographer at an early stage. If this is not done, it is very easy to find that one is not available. At Events Vanuatu, we use Island Paradise Photography as our preferred wedding photographer. Feel free to contact Michael at Island Paradise Photography through his website.

Invitations. Give your guests as much advance notice as possible. This means sending out the invitations early or, at the very least, sending out a “Save the Date” notice. Be sure to include destination details! It’s also a good idea to give them the names and contact details of travel agents who can help with guest accommodations, who can offer their guests a better deal or upgrades for group bookings.

Hair and makeup. Skilled hairstylists and makeup artists are few and far between, but there are none better (in our opinion) than Chris H and his team at Platinum Hair & Beauty. She is always in demand, so it will be important to have her wedding planner book appointments well in advance. This is also something worth telling your intended guests of it! otherwise, everyone may look less than their best!

The wedding cake. Judi Clelland of Cake-Fantasy makes the most beautiful cakes. Like Chris H, Judi is in high demand. Judi will be happy for you to contact her directly through her website to discuss her requirements, but again, it’s not a good idea to leave it to the last minute.

flowers Annie Tehei is a local florist who creates the most spectacular tropical flower arrangements, bouquets and table decorations. Just remember that her flower selection will be limited to what is available locally, although our range of local tropical flowers is quite extensive.

Transport. You will need to discuss the arrangements for you and your guest to attend the ceremony and reception with your wedding coordinator.

Weather weather. The beauty of Vanuatu is that it has a tropical climate. This means it’s rarely cold, but you should check with your professional wedding planner so that your proposed wedding date does NOT fall right in the middle of cyclone season! As a seasoned wedding planner, I also recommend that you have some sort of backup plan, in case it rains.

For more expert advice and information on planning your wedding in Vanuatu, contact Vanuatu Eventswedding planning specialists.

Medical coding is like translation. The people behind medical coding take medical reports and turn them into a set of codes. In a medical claim, these codes play a big role. In this article, we’re going to take a look at medical coding and the relevant statistics. Read on to learn more.

The reason for coding medical reports

You may be wondering why we need to code medical records. Isn’t it enough to simply describe the diagnoses, symptoms, and procedures? After all, these reports can be sent to an insurance company.

According to reports released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in the past 12 months there were more than 1.4 billion patients visiting hospitals. This includes patients visiting emergency rooms, outpatient centers, and doctor’s offices.

Suppose there are only 5 pieces of information coded at each visit. That would be a whopping 6 billion pieces of information that the professional would need to transfer each year. However, this estimate is unrealistically low. Therefore, medical coding helps make it easier to transfer a large amount of data.

Apart from this, encryption helps you to distribute the same documents among different medical facilities. For example, the code for strep throat is the same whether you are in Hawaii or Arkansas. With the help of consistent data, you can perform research and analysis efficiently. Health and government agencies make use of the information to keep abreast of health trends. For example, if the CDC needs to analyze the spread of viral pneumonia, the ICD-10-CM code can help them.

Finally, coding helps you find out if a treatment is effective. In fact, this is much more important for large facilities, such as hospitals.

Now, we need to go ahead and learn more about 3 types of code. If you are a medical coder, you will find this information very useful.

three types of code

ICD

ICD is the abbreviation for the International Classification of Diseases. These diagnostic codes provide a uniform vocabulary to describe possible causes of death, illness, or injury. In the 1940s, the World Health Organization (WHO) established this code. Over the past 60 years, it has been revised many times.

These codes help represent the patient’s diagnosis and condition. When it comes to the billing process, these codes help practitioners determine the need for medical treatment.

CPT

CPT is the abbreviation for Current Procedural Terminology. These codes are used to document most medical procedures in a doctor’s office. The American Medical Association (AMA) published and maintained this code. Therefore, AMA reserves the copyright and updates the codes annually.

HCPCS

HCPCS stands for the Health Care Common Procedures Coding System. It is also known as “pueblerinas selections”. Primarily, HCPCS codes pertain to equipment, procedures, and services not covered by CPT codes, including medicines, medications, ambulance rides, prosthetics, and medical equipment.

So this was an introduction to medical coding. I hope you find this guide useful.

According to Alexa, Facebook is the second most popular website after Google. I did more research and found that about 30% of global internet subscribers visit Facebook every day. Facebook currently has 300 million subscribers and is growing rapidly. 45 million updates are made on Facebook every day and users around the world spend about 8 billion minutes per day.

What does it mean to you as an internet marketer? It is a great gold mine. It is not like this? However, how are you going to uniquely position yourself and promote your business on Facebook considering the sheer volume of updates being posted on Facebook every day? How do you capture the attention of Facebook users? The purpose of this post is to educate you on the basic Facebook marketing strategies and tools you need to successfully generate leads and dominate.

Always remember that Facebook is a social network and should not be used to promote your business. The prosperity in your Facebook marketing is directly proportional to the number of strong relationships developed with other users. So let’s get started

Facebook profile

– A picture is worth a thousand words. Be sure to add a photo on your profile
– Fill in your old information like you went to school and make it public so people can find you through search
– Fill in your interests and make it public so other subscribers can relate to you
– Complete all your websites such as a blog, Twitter, your capture pages, etc. in your profile. By default, only your main website is displayed. I highly recommend showing all your websites on your profile. Anyone visiting your profile page could click on your URL and learn more about you.

add friends

After creating a profile, don’t wait for things to happen. Go ahead and find and add a few friends a day every day. It is recommended that you can add up to 25-30 friends every day. Excessive adding of friends will result in removal of your page by Facebook administrators.

Interact with friends through likes and comments

Once you’ve added a few friends and see their content on your home page, start engaging with them by liking and commenting on their updates. Commenting on updates could have a viral effect. When you comment on an update, your comment will appear on the updater’s wall and will be visible to all of their friends. So it pays to make smart comments and drive traffic back to your page. Also, feel free to share quotes, posts, and videos that have had a positive impact on you. The key is to interact with Facebook friends as much as possible.

Facebook photo albums

Feel free to share your photos and videos with your friends on Facebook. People would love to know more about you through photos and videos. If you’ve been to a networking event and taken photos with the leaders and fellow networkers, share those photos with stories about the events and watch your website traffic increase.

Facebook Videos

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth? In 2009, video marketing grew rapidly and is here to stay. Facebook allows you to upload videos or record a video instantly. The more you share the videos, the better it will be. Share your videos about networking events, funny incidents, achievements, and any other videos that can have a positive influence on others. I use Facebook’s video feature in a number of ways and am seeing phenomenal results:

1. Introduce myself to recently added friends. A short video describing who I am and thanking the friendship.
2. I use Facebook’s instant video recording option to wish my friends a birthday.

Facebook groups

The group positions you as a leader and shows the value you can provide to your fellow networkers. Facebook users who join your group can become leads for your business by using effective inbound marketing strategies. It pays to set up a group and provide value to group members through emails, event invites, etc. I also use groups on Facebook to identify like-minded people and to promote my posts.

Facebook events

Facebook allows you to create a public event (visible to all Facebook members) and provides you with a URL that can be used to communicate on other social networks like Twitter, MySpace, etc. I send an email invitation to an event to all members of my group. The event function keeps track of the status of the users (attending, not attending, may be) about the event. I see an increase in numbers for the event when I send a reminder email to people who were unsure or planning to attend.

Facebook Wall Posts

Each user on Facebook has a wall where they post messages and moderate the comments they make. If you are a core Facebook user, I am sure you should post and promote your content on your wall. However, it is much better to learn how to post your content effectively on the walls of members who have a large number of friends. It can be done by giving a lot of value that could be beneficial to the users who visit the page. Facebook will disable your account if they see you spamming. Therefore, be careful when using this approach.

Facebook ratings

Do you have a self-hosted Word Press blog? If not, I would highly recommend you start blogging and provide some valuable content. Facebook Notes is an amazing feature that you can use to make your valuable blog content publicly visible to all Facebook members. In addition, there are applications that import the content of your blog to the notes automatically. Isn’t that cool?

This feature would greatly increase your blog traffic and ultimately your sales if you are using the blog as a powerhouse, as I mentioned in my Attraction Marketing Plan post.

Facebook Apps

I’m not a big fan of apps on Facebook as I generate enough traffic using the resources mentioned above. However, there are a couple of apps that I personally use

Vuyou (Video Email App) – If you are an internet marketer generating leads through various marketing strategies like PPC, classified ads, etc., you may already know the value of connecting with the customer potential. I use this FREE video email app to connect with my leads as soon as they enter my sales funnel.

Network blogging: I use this application to increase the visibility of my blog. This is a cool app that allows Facebook users to subscribe to my blog and access my regular updates.

In 1986, a comedy called Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was released, which takes place in Chicago. It stars Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye, Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson, Jeffrey Jones as Ed Rooney, and Jennifer Gray as Jeannie Bueller. It is produced by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) and Tom Jacobson (Uncle Buck). The director is John Hughes.

The story centers on a 17-year-old boy named Ferris Bueller. One day he pretends to be sick to skip school and have fun. His parents are easily fooled, while his younger sister, Jeannie, is not. As soon as his parents and his sister leave, he gets up and begins to enjoy his day off. He calls his best friend Cameron Frye and asks her to come over with the car, but he really is sick. Finally, Ferris pushes him away, and Cameron reluctantly agrees. Ferris then tries to get her girlfriend Sloane Peterson out of school by having Cameron pose as her father and call Ed Rooney, the dean of students, and tell him to release her because her grandmother just died. Rooney, thinking it’s Ferris on the phone, tries to catch him in a lie. But Ferris calls Rooney on a different line. The dean tries to apologize, but “Mr. Peterson” wouldn’t allow it. He begins to give Rooney a hard time.

Later, Ferris and Cameron arrive to pick her up in one of Cameron’s father’s cars, which Ferris made her take instead of her own car. Together, they all head off to downtown Chicago to have fun. Jeannie, seeing Sloane waiting outside the school, goes to Rooney’s office to tell him that Ferris is faking it, but he isn’t there. He himself has come out to bust Ferris and make an example of him. His younger sister heads home to confirm that Ferris has left. After doing so, he tries to call her mother but is unable to reach her. Meanwhile, Rooney breaks into the house just after she hangs up. Jeannie, thinking it’s Ferris, quietly goes downstairs. At the same time, Rooney hears Jeannie in the hallway and thinks that she is Ferris. They both jump and scare each other. Jeannie kicks Rooney in the face after not acknowledging him. She calls the police and they come looking for her for making a fake phone call.

Meanwhile, Ferris and his friends have left the car in a seedy garage. Unbeknownst to them, the two employees there take the car for a fun ride while the three friends enjoy Chicago. After picking up the car, Cameron realizes that there are many more miles on the car’s odometer than he remembers, so he panics. Ferris’s best friend, then, goes into a trance and then comes out when he falls into a pool. They try to cut the miles by reversing the car, but it doesn’t work. Frustrated, Cameron accidentally kicks the car out the back window of the garage. He eventually decides to take a stand against his uptight father’s father and will take the heat for what happened to the car. Ferris drops his girlfriend off at his house and realizes that he has five minutes to get home before his parents. He takes a detour through some backyards and when he finally gets to the back door, Rooney is waiting for him there hoping to arrest him.

One of the most interesting characters in the film is Ferris’s best friend, Cameron Frye. Cameron is an uptight teenager whose father has the wrong priorities and pushes his son. What Ferris may have been trying to do when he took Cameron along was to show him that “life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” At first, Cameron is hesitant to leave his house and join Ferris because he might get in trouble. But he goes anyway, and later allows Ferris to borrow his father’s car. Later, after falling into a trance, he realizes that he cannot hide from his father forever. After the car is destroyed, he confronts his father and finally seems free.

A personal favorite scene is when Ferris sings “Twist and Shout” in front of the entire city of Chicago. She does this because Cameron had told her that she hadn’t seen anything good that day so far. Everyone including Sloane and Cameron dance to the song and the viewer can’t help but sing and dance along with them. This scene adds a great musical element to the movie.

In closing, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a great feel-good comedy and widely viewed as one of the best movies of the 1980s. It comes highly recommended.

Fencing is a very essential aspect of having a home. This can be done effectively with the help of a fence contractor who is proficient enough to install the fence for you. Consider the following benefits of hiring a fence contractor before you start looking for the right person to do the job:

they are professionals

Since fence contractors are professionals, you can be sure that they will do exactly what they need to do on your fence project. They are the right people to tell you what it takes for your fencing needs. If you want something that provides delicate security in your home, then they can match your house with the right installation.

Proper fencing is essential

While others see it as a way to make a wall around the area of ​​a house and deny entry to intruders, there are those who see the fence as a great measure to increase the privacy of the house. Not to mention, installing a fence around your area will prevent bystanders from watching what’s going on inside your home. With all of these considerations involved, it’s best to give some thought to having proper fencing.

Sustainable products are produced

With the right fencing experience and knowledge, you can expect a longer lasting job in no time. The proper techniques they know will go a long way in providing you with the right kind of service you deserve. With durable materials and skilled experience applied, the fences that will be installed around your house will last longer compared to those that you can install yourself.

The decoration is not a problem

If you don’t want to just have fences installed around your house, you can seek their help to have decorative fences that can reveal your taste and personality. Remember that this type of structure is easily seen from the outside. This draws your attention to having a decorative fence that you can be proud of.

They can remodel what you already have

Homeowners who already have fences around their homes tend to be reluctant to hire fence contractors. But then again, you need to make sure they can work things out by tearing down your current fence and making improvements from it.

Forget about the hard work that fencing project would require if you do it on your own. With the help of fence contractors who know how to handle your needs, you can have a fence that’s both durable and good looking.

This is the second in my Golden Rules of Horse Racing series. I realize that each person has to make their own rules on how to handicap in horse racing, but I am sharing what I have learned after many years of experience and you may be able to get some pearls out of what I have learned. Obviously, the old saying applies, rules are meant to be broken. But before you start breaking the rules, it’s a good idea to learn the rules and why they’re important, and also the price of breaking them at the wrong time. It can literally mean the difference between a winning or losing track day and if you break them often enough it can mean the difference between a losing or winning season or year. Oh!

Hehe, okay, I can hear some of you know, “Tell us, oh great Guru, what is rule number two?”

Rule number two of the golden rules of horse racing is “Keep old racing records and programs.” Any document you have that you have taken notes on or done calculations is worth a lot to you, even if you have been losing.

Picture this scenario, you just had a losing and particularly frustrating day on the track. Nothing seemed to go your way, no matter how hard you tried. You have no idea what went wrong. Angry, you throw away your show and lose tickets and walk or run off the track. I don’t know what mistakes you made before that caused you to lose the day, but I can tell you that the biggest mistake you made that day, you threw away the only evidence that will help you solve the riddle of why. you lost. Now, I’m not saying you should take that program and wear yourself out poring over what went wrong while you’re sitting in your car in the parking lot.

I’m saying this. Take a deep breath when you have one of those days and let it out slowly. If you have any way to relieve tension or pressure that is legal and not self-destructive, now would be a good time to do it. It could be a round of golf, yoga, sitting on the beach, or watching a sitcom, but whatever it is, stay away from the track and everything that happened, but don’t throw away that show and any other written evidence you may have. . .

When you are rested and have had time to calm down, take that program and go through it slowly and methodically. Remember what you thought and felt when you made each decision and bet. That’s right, I said thinking and feeling, because whether we admit it or not, our emotions play a role in our disability and decision-making in life. Once you’ve figured out a few things about what you felt and thought, look for a pattern. Now here is another important key and one that should not be overlooked. We all have wasted days despite making the right decisions. The right decisions are the ones that lead to long-term gains, although they can also result in some lost days. Did you just have a day where, even though you made the right decisions, it was the other guy or girl’s turn to win? If so, smile and relax. Your turn is coming up and you’ll be fine in the long run. If, on the other hand, you made some bad decisions and you see a pattern, you have just bought valuable information. However, I could have thrown it away and wasted day after day if I hadn’t saved that program.

But even a stack of programs with a lot of notes is not enough sometimes. There has to be a way to accurately take notes and compare each handicap factor to weigh their relative value. Visual aids are the best, but not all of us are fluent in Excel spreadsheets. Even a simple method like ladder handicapping can help. It takes a little time and more effort, but just think of the advantage you’ll have over the competition, when they ditch their old programs and move off the track or OTB.

When you follow rule number two, what you are really doing is hurting yourself and your performance. In the end, that’s the hardest, but most rewarding part of this game.

Despite popular belief, the owners of Patio & Pizza Outdoor Furnishings weren’t always experts in pizza ovens. We started out like everyone else with a few (or maybe a lot) failed pizzas and a lot of lessons learned. It was our passion for good food that prompted us to improve our methods and eventually share our gained expertise with the world in the form of our artisan ovens and delicious recipes. With that in mind, we thought we’d share some of our top tips to give you a head start when using your own wood oven for the first time.

Here are 8 lessons we learned while mastering wood cooking:

1. Get it hot

Light the fire in your wood oven before you think it is necessary; It won’t damage anything and will ensure your pizza oven is hot enough when you’re ready to cook. Pizza ovens are designed to withstand extreme temperatures for extended periods of time, by virtue of how the pizza is cooked. Starting your fire early also means you can reduce your flame to an ideal bed of red-hot embers that maintain a constant temperature and distribute their heat more evenly than an erratic flame.

2. Valuable wood

Start your fire with small pieces of wood and use very dry wood; it will lessen the chances of a smoky fire coming out of the front of your oven when cooking. While a bit of smoke can be a welcome addition, as it can impart unique flavors to food, you don’t need to use “green” wood to achieve this effect. Generally speaking, the smoky flavor can be achieved with completely dry wood and a bit of TLC to ensure there is a small flame left within the coals. You can also try experimenting with different types of wood, such as cherry, to test how different smoke flavors can interact with your recipes.

3. Keeping it crunchy

Make sure the oven floor is at the right temperature before adding your pizza by using an infrared thermometer. Aim for at least 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything less than this will mean that the dough maintains its soft, sometimes sticky consistency for a while before it starts to brown, making it difficult to rotate the pizza in the oven and increasing cooking time. Rather, be sure to account for the impact of a higher temperature on the time it takes to bake your pizza to prevent burning.

4. Ashes to Ashes

When things burn, they leave memories behind. It’s important to use a good clean brush to sweep any leftover ashes off the pizza oven floor before adding anything to cook; This not only prevents ashes from sliding onto freshly baked slices, but also extends the longevity of your oven by preventing buildup from forming and potentially damaging your oven interior. From time to time, give your oven a deep clean to pick up anything you missed during your pre-bake sweeps.

5. Flour is power

Use a lot of flour on the pizza peel to make it easier to slide the pizza dough off the peel when you place the pie in the oven. The flour reduces the friction of the sticky dough on the shell, which is necessary to cleanly move a cake into the oven; otherwise, the quick movement of removing the peel from under the pizza could drag some dough around, or worse, pull the pizza out of the oven and onto the floor.

6. We all start somewhere

Use a large spatula to help slide the pizza off the peel when you start. Practice makes perfect when learning how to use a pizza peel, and it’s better to rely on extra moving force during your first few attempts at baking than dealing with pizza on the floor or upside down in the oven. When placing your pizza in the oven, simply slide the spatula just under the side of the pizza facing you and over the peel, then with a small forward motion with the hand holding the peel, gently push the pizza out. off the shovel and into the oven.

7. Less can be more

Try making small pizzas! It gives your friends and family the chance to make their own with their choice of sauces, cheeses, dressings, and more. You can make an entire event out of a pizza party where everyone can make their own personal pizza, and it gives you some relief when planning guests who have dietary restrictions. Aim for pizzas that are about 8 inches in diameter, which is usually enough for one person to enjoy (and they can always have another in 90 seconds!).

8. Experiment, experiment, experiment!

A well made pizza oven will last a lifetime. There’s no reason to stick with the same recipes you’ve made over and over again. In fact, there’s no reason to stick to just pizza! On the Patio & Pizza Recipe blog, you’ll find countless recipes for different styles of pizza, desserts, barbecue, and more. You’ll find that you can make pizza out of just about anything you have in your pantry or refrigerator, and even if one doesn’t turn out as you planned, the lessons you learn will make you a better pizza cook and overall chef. for life.

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For all the glamor and allure that surrounds the venture capital industry, one would expect investment returns from venture capital funds to be significantly higher relative to other investment vehicles that are more widely available. However, industry research indicates that, over time, returns from venture capital have been roughly equal to those of the broader stock market. In fact, more than half of all VC-backed companies fail, and about the same 50% of all money invested in VC funds is lost. This article looks at how a comprehensive IP management strategy could help venture capital firms reduce their risk and increase the return of their respective funds.

Based on some conversations I’ve had with people in the VC industry, the above statistics don’t tell the whole picture. In addition to the half of venture capital firms that fail, there are those that are described as “walking dead”: firms that neither close nor provide the substantial returns needed to satisfy typical venture capital models. A panelist I saw at a venture firm conference last year suggested that for their financial model to make sense, they needed at least 1 in 10 ventures to provide a 20x return on their investment. This could be of particular concern for the industry, given the emerging trend towards fewer liquidity and lower value events.

But what if a hedge fund could extract incremental investment returns from the companies in its portfolio, including failed companies and so-called walking dead companies? I think a comprehensive cross-portfolio IP management strategy could provide higher returns for venture investors.

IP due diligence to reduce business risk

Venture capitalists typically invest in companies in the early stages of their respective life cycles. At the time of making the investment decision, the venture capitalist is betting on the business idea, the management team; And, whether they know it or not, they’re also gambling on the intellectual property that underpins the business.

It is critical that venture capital firms perform appropriate and adequate due diligence to support their investment decisions. Sorry, but simply having a list of patents and applications is not enough. Investors need to understand whether or not patents are strong, with adequate coverage for the business and technology in question. The following quote sums it up better than I do:

“In particular, before you invest in a new business idea for a start-up, why wouldn’t you want to know if you can own the business idea long-term or if you have minimal opportunity to innovate freely in relation to that business? Or Why wouldn’t you want to know if another company has invested $100,000 or more just in patent rights on the new business idea you’re researching?” – from IP Assets Maximizer.

These very important questions must be answered during investor due diligence. Note, however, that patent landscape topographic maps or other abstract visualizations do not represent a sufficient level of analysis. They may be an improvement over a simple list (although some might argue that point), but proper analysis must involve a close examination of patent claims in the context of the business and technology in question.

Intellectual property portfolio management to reduce costs and increase margins

Although most of the portfolio companies financed by a given venture fund will be relatively small and have a relatively small patent portfolio, it may be worthwhile for the VC to look at the entire IP portfolio together.

I did a quick analysis of a couple of regional VC firms: With a relatively small portfolio of companies, these firms had an invested interest in 300+ and 600+ patents. By corporate standards, these are sizeable portfolios. I would expect to find even bigger portfolios with bigger venture firms.

In businesses with portfolios of this magnitude, it is important to understand the portfolio in multiple dimensions. For example, IP professionals, vendors, and business leaders want to know which IP assets support which products. Knowledge of these relationships can allow a company to lock out competitors, reduce costs, increase margins, and ultimately increase returns for investors. Additionally, they will want to categorize their patents by the markets and technology areas they serve, as it helps them understand if their patents align with the business focus.

Bringing this discipline to IP portfolio management has the added benefit of disclosing patents that are not core to the company’s business. With this knowledge in hand, a typical company will look to reduce costs by letting patents lapse, or may try to sell or license its secondary patents, thus creating a new revenue stream.

Intellectual property licenses to increase returns

Patents that are not essential to the business of the owning company may still be of value to other companies and other industries. There are some well-known examples of companies that have been able to generate significant revenue from their secondary patents through active licensing programs: companies like IBM and Qualcomm come to mind. However, there are a number of other companies that have generated significant profits by monetizing their non-core IP assets.

In the case of a portfolio of venture capital firms, each firm may hold only a small number of sub-patents. But across the entire portfolio of companies, the venture firm may have rights to a significant number of patents that may be of value to other companies/industries.

We can extend the concept of monetizing the secondary assets of major venture portfolio companies to the “living dead” and even defunct portfolio companies (although with the latter two groups, we may care less about the company distinction central and secondary patents). In many cases, the business case and due diligence behind the original investment in these likely were sound, but the business failed due to execution or market timing issues. In many cases, the underlying IP assets may still be fully valid, valuable, and available for entry into a focused monetization and licensing program.

A multi-million dollar license revenue stream would nicely complement the periodic liquidity events in today’s VC market.