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AlternativeStudentLoan.com

About a month ago I wrote a little content for a company offering student loans, and while I was writing them I learned a little about loans.  I didn't realize, for instance, that parents or guardians can get loans for students in High School to help pay for private tutoring and other expenses.

It seems that getting an education is getting more expensive by the day.  Back when I was looking forward to college my older brother was going into his second year.  By the time he finished he was pretty much debt free, apart from a small loan.  By the time I finished my four year course, I was tens of thousands in debt.  Tuition fees, books, 'entertainment' - if I'd known how much it was gonna cost I would have either not bothered going at all, or (more likely) I would have prepared better for the cost.

Possibly the best way to prepare is to find a good student loan, with a low interest rate.  Private student loans from AlternativeStudentLoan.com seem pretty good.  Students can borrow up to $30,000, and the application process is very simple.  If you're heading off to college this year you should take a look.

Expat Medical Insurance Policies

A good friend of mine is leaving this weekend for a few months in India, but she refuses to take her anti-malaria medication until she moves below a certain altitude (apparently mosquitoes can't survive over a couple thousand feet).  I've been telling here to start taking them on day one, but she won't listen.  Crazy woman.

I hope, then, that she has the presence of mind to take out medical insurance for her trip.  After all, being caught with an illness or injury while living abroad without insurance can be a costly error, as my brother would have agreed when he got malaria - if he hadn't been too weak to talk, stuck in some run-down hospital in Bangalore. 

For people in a similar situation - either going overseas for a few months or moving abroad permanently - it's always a good idea to pick up some international medical insurance before you leave.  As one of the world's leading expatriate insurance brokers, Expat Medical Insurance offers comprehensive insurance policies that cover everything from emergency medicine to maternity insurance. 

Expat Medical Insurance is an ideal broker for those crazy kids who decide to teach English overseas.  While the more professional EFL schools may offer insurance as part of a package deal, it's always wise to arrange your own policy in case the school's insurance doesn't offer enough coverage.  With cover available internationally, it makes perfect sense if you plan to extend your trip and take in a little sightseeing after your placement is over. 

Since Expat Medical Insurance operates internationally they have overseas offices who can help on the spot - their Shanghai office, for instance, can help advise you with China health insurance.  Wherever you travel, you know you'll receieve the best care possible.

SPEEDtv.com

Continuing the car theme, here's a nice site for all you NASCAR fans.  SPEEDtv offers all sorts of news and features to keep you up to date on the latest developments in the world of NASCAR.

If NASCAR isn't your thing, SPEEDtv also offers news about racing in general.  If it goes fast, you'll find it at SPEED.  Just today they feature a review of the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, surely the most vulgar supercar on earth.  Vulgar it may be, but there isn't a man on earth who wouldn't step over his own mother to get in one.

Except Gandhi, perhaps. 

He was more a Ferrari kinda guy.

Ford Mustang Forums

As I'm sure I've mentioned before I've always had a soft spot for the Ford Mustang.  There's just something menacing about this classic American muscle car.  Whenever you see one you get the impression that it's getting ready to pounce on a Miata.  It's just evil. 

Those of you who share my love for this classic will enjoy Mustang Forums, a site dedicated entirely to the brooding monster.  Apart from the lively forums, my favorite section of the site is the Ford Mustang timeline page, detailing the development of the Mustang from its introduction in '64 to the forthcoming 2009 model - including details of the current, retro-styled 2006 and 2007 models, complete with that mean-looking forward slanting grille. 

Basically, there's enough entertainment here to keep any fully certified petrolhead busy for weeks.  Gentlemen, start your engines.

The Gambling Guide

The Gambling Guide is the starting point for gambling novices.  Offering advice and guidance on how to gamble on everything from sports to blackjack, The Gambling Guide helps give you a head start before diving into the world of online gambling.

For me, the most useful part of the site is the section that deals with card games.  I've always been a fan of poker, but I just don't know enough about it to be willing to risk money on it.  The Gambling Guide offers a great introduction to everything from Texas Hold 'em to seven card stud, allowing you to learn the ropes and pick up a few tips and tricks before the cards are dealt. 

Goolight - Naturopathy Blog

My older brother, Scott, is a bit of a hippy at heart.  He recently spent ten days observing a vow of silence in an ashram.  He has a yoga mat.  He eats chickpeas. 

Those who know me know that this isn't really my bag.  The food I like resembles nothing found in nature, I breathe most of my air through a cork filter, and the only exercise I get is during the walk from my house to my car.  I'm a posterboy for poor health, and my brother will outlive me by a decade or three.

Those who take a rather more proactive approach to their health should enjoy this naturopathy blog, Goolight.  Naturopathy is a method of treating illness and maintaining health through natural remedies - diets, exercise and other non-medical treatments.

The site discusses the health benefits of certain types of exercise and diets - from 'regular' things like walking to herbal remedies such as black cohosh and aloe vera.  It also talks about alternative approaches to health, such as acupuncture and ayurvedic therapies.  All in all, an excellent introduction to naturopathy.  My brother will love it, and even an old set in his ways couch potato like me could pick up some useful advice.  Highly recommended.   

LocalWineEvents.com

For those of you who are fans of the vine you could do worse than to take a look at LocalWineEvents.com, a website devoted to promoting, you guessed it, wine events. 

The site provides a searchable Wine and Food events calendar, worldwide by city.  As well as offering a calendar, retailers can also sell event tickets through the site. 

With over 75,000 events posted so far, LocalWineEvents.com should be your starting point whenever you're looking for something to do. 

UK Gambling Site Reviews

In the past ten year or so the online gambling industry has grown massively.  In fact, it's now worth over $12billion each year.  Because of this massive growth in popularity there have been hundreds of gambling companies who have chosen to set up shop on the Internet.

The question for the gambler, of course, is this: which gambling should I choose?  The answer isn't simple, either.  Most gambling sites periodically offer registration bonuses to new gamblers, so you could end up ahead before you even start gambling.

This is where UK Gambling Site Reviews comes in.  With consumer reviews on all the major UK gambling sites, the site offers a guide to the world of online gambling, familiarising the novice gambler with the industry before they begin.

In addition to reviews the site also offers guides to the most popular forms of online gambling, from Texas Hold 'em, roulette and other casino games to sports gambling.  If you're looking to try online gambling, UK Gambling Site Reviews is the place to begin.

Plasma TV Reviews - a Simple Guide

Just a few short years ago we had a very simple choice when it came to selecting a new TV - screen size.  Since our only option was CRT (cathode ray tube) it was simply a matter of deciding a budget and buying the biggest TV we could find for that price.

These days, however, it's all very different.  We have a plethora of options to choose from - LCD, plasma, rear projection... it can be difficult to decide. 

To make our choice a little simpler there are sites on this here Internet that offer tips and advice on selecting the right TV.  One of the best of these sites is Plasma TV Reviews, a UK based site that offers news and reviews about all things plasma. 

Once you decide that you want a plasma TV, the site offers a simple, easy to read plasma TV guide to help you pick the best TV for your needs.  Best of all, the reviews are written in plain English so you don't need to be an expert to understand them.  They simply give you the information you need to make an informed decision about which TV will give you the greatest enjoyment for the smallest cost.  Simple. 

So... what are you waiting for?  Get over there!

SearchNLink - SEO Friendly Directory

One of the many challenges for any business in building an Internet presence is ensuring that their site is visible to search engines.  Since the majority of traffic for the majority of commercial websites comes from search engines such as Google it's vital that businesses encourage other sites to link to theirs.  After all, it's through links that the search engines discover sites, and it's only through good links that they promote them up the rankings, allowing more web users to find them.

One of the most successful methods in building links is by submitting your site to link directories.  Essentially, directories are designed to show links according to the category of the websites (i.e. shopping, entertainment, etc.).  By submitting your site to link directories, the search engines bump your site up their rankings.

However, it's important to only submit your site to good directories.  Some poorly managed directories are frowned upon by the search engines as their listings aren't properly categorised, so the search engines don't place much value in them.  By using a good directory - for example, this SEO friendly directory at SearchNLink - you can go a long way towards reaching the front page of the search results for your chosen subject.