Vioxx Litigation

Vioxx (Rofecoxib) is a COX-2 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) developed by Merck & Co., which was used to treat symptoms of osteoarthritis, acute pain, and painful menstrual cycles. The use of NSAID's is associated in some patients with serious problems from stomach ulcers, including bleeding. NSAID medications are also associated with liver damage in some patients.

Some of the biggest historic complaints about Vioxx relate not to its safety, but to cost-effectiveness. Some argue that it was overprescribed for treatment of pain which could be managed at least as well with older, less costly medications.

For several years, lawyers have been asserting that Merck was aware of problems experienced by patients taking Vioxx, including the previously mentioned problems with stomach ulcers and liver damage, but also including heart problems and kidney damage. They allege that Merck deliberately suppressed information about these side effects from patients and physicians. Two prominent medical journals have published articles which associate Vioxx use with a significantly heightened risk of heart attack. These side effects are believed to be most likely to occur in patients who took Vioxx for fifteen months or longer.

In September, 2004, Merck announced that it was voluntarily recalling Vioxx from the market. This decision followed a test intended to show that Vioxx could help prevent colon polyps, but which indicated that Vioxx users were twice as likely to suffer heart attacks or strokes as compared to subjects receiving a placebo.

Merck's decision to recall Vioxx is expected to result in an acceleration of the class action litigation being filed against Merck. It may also accelerate the resolution of the litigation. First, many lawyers see the grounds given for the recall as validation for their assertion that Vioxx was an unsafe medication, irresponsibly marketed to patients who would have obtained the same benefit from cheaper, safer medications. Second, there is a possibility that if a large number of lawsuits are filed in different courts, a court may consolidate the litigation.

In some states which permit punitive damages, in the event that it loses the litigation, Merck is likely to attempt to use its voluntary Vioxx recall as evidence to mitigate its liability.

Laser Hair Removal Chicago

Laser hair removal will work on almost any part of the body, from your legs, arms, and upper lips, chin, neck, face, to even your back or shoulders, practically anywhere.

New breakthrough laser technology can get rid of unwanted hair, quickly, easily and now with proven long-term results.

If you hate shaving, are tired of putting up with painful waxing, tweezing, depilatory creams, and all of the time that removing unwanted facial or body hair can take, laser hair removal may be right for you. Getting rid of unwanted hair can be painful and time consuming. Until now, the only options for removing unwanted hair were smelly hair removal creams, sharp razors, stinging wax or painful electrolysis needles.

Since the laser can treat lots of hair follicles at once you get much quicker (and more permanent) results than those other temporary fixes

In fact, laser hair removal is perhaps the greatest hair removal breakthrough in the last 50 years.

Laser Hair Removal before and after pictures:

before laser hair removal 2 months after 2 treatments

Hopefully the following information will give you a clearer understanding of laser hair removal and what it can do.

First, in order to understand how the laser works to remove unwanted hair, some background information about hair growth will be helpful. Unlike other methods of hair removal, laser hair removal success depends upon the hair growth cycle.

Human hairs are made up of three parts: the bulb at the base of the hair follicle (which produces hair), the shaft and the hair itself. The bulb and the shaft are embedded beneath the surface of the skin, therefore the hair is the only part visible to the naked eye.

In order to remove unwanted hair on a long-term basis it is necessary to destroy the hair follicle and its bulb.

Maybe you've heard that removing hair makes it grow back thicker and darker? Well, it won't. And removing hair also will not make it grow back faster.

Every single hair follicle follows a cycle that includes growth, resting and shedding. Generally 70-90% of your hair is growing at any one time (called the Anagen stage). And the other 10-30% of your hair is resting (called the Telogen stage). These figures are site-dependent. That is, they vary depending upon what part of the body the hairs are located.

At the end of the resting stage, each old hairs shed and new hair begins to grow again (Anagen stage). It is only during this growing phase that hair follicles can be disabled by laser hair removal.

Other options available to removing unwanted hair:

Before laser hair removal, there were essentially only 4 different choices:

1) Shaving

2) Waxing, Tweezing, or Plucking

3) Hair removal products: Depilatory Creams, or hair removal creams

4) Electrolysis

1) Shaving:

Nearly everyone has a razor and that makes shaving the most common method of hair removal. But, shaving only lasts a few days (at the most) and requires you to make a constant commitment to keep doing it.

2) Waxing and tweezing the hairs (or plucking). Both of these methods remove hair from the follicle bed, but they do not destroy the follicle itself. So that means you'll get hair regrowth.

Most people find waxing and tweezing to be extremely painful.

Also, waxing can cause allergic reactions, pimples and/or inflammation of the hair follicles.

3) Another short-term method is using hair removal products such as depilatory creams. This method takes a lot of time for the cream to fully dissolve the hair. Also, many people find the smell from these creams unpleasant. These creams are not gentle enough for facial hair for most women. And it can be a pretty messy process.

These first three options are all temporary methods of hair removal and the major problem is that all of them must be repeated on a regular basis.

4) Electrolysis: Until now electrolysis has provided the only long-term method for eliminating unwanted hairs. During electrolysis, a needle is inserted and an electric current is passed into each and every hair follicle being treated.

Since each and every hair follicle requires separate treatment this is a very tedious process. You can expect to make multiple visits to the electrologist (treatments can take several months to years to complete).

The Most Practical, Least Painful and Most Effective Method Now Available To Remove Unwanted Hair...Laser Hair Removal.

And new laser technology beats these other dated methods hands down.

One of the major benefits with lasers is the ability to treat a larger area of your skin at once. So it only takes a fraction of the time electrolysis would for the same area because you don't need to identify and probe each individual hair follicle.

The laser has been designed to treat only the hair follicle while leaving the areas around it unaffected. And since the laser uses pulses of light to remove hair, there's no irritation to the skin (as with other hair removal methods we talked about).

How Laser Hair Removal Works:

The laser emits a gentle beam of light which only is absorbed by the hair follicle (leaving the skin unharmed). The laser delivers energy which is absorbed in the hair and transformed to heat. The heat destroys the hair follicle within a small fraction of a second.

The key to optimum results is being able to adjust the pulsewidth (the amount of time the laser is on) so that it can pass through the thin layer of skin to reach the deep hair follicles.

Laser Hair Removal Chicago FAQs:

Who Are The Best Candidates For Laser Hair Removal?

Because the laser's light energy is absorbed by the pigment melanin, in the skin, people with greater contrast respond best. So individuals with dark hair and light colored skin get maximum results.

That's why you should avoid tanning before and after the treatment for best results.

However new laser technology has made it possible for other people (including dark complexions) to get significant results.

What Areas Can Be Treated?

Laser hair removal is good for both facial hair removal and for body hair removal. Specific body sites include the upper lip, underarms, legs, back, shoulders, chin, cheeks, and other facial areas for women, etc. Laser hair removal can be used almost anywhere that's covered with unwanted hair. Perhaps the most commonly treated areas are facial hair in women. This may be because facial hair is so obvious and so troublesome for those who have it. It can also take a lot of time, on a very frequent basis, to get rid of facial hair by plucking. The chin and the upper lip are the most commonly treated. Also see laser facial hair removal.

How Much Does Laser Hair Removal Cost?

The cost varies depending on the area treated. The larger the area the greater the cost.

However your total investment in laser hair removal ends up being significantly less than many other cosmetic alternatives. For electrolysis you must figure the cost of making many tedious visits (a lot more than the handful of laser treatments you'll need).

Or if you figure the cost for continually shaving or waxing. But it also makes more than just economic sense when you consider the discomfort and pain associated with other traditional methods. Not to mention the time you save. So laser hair removal can give you one less thing to think about. One less thing to worry about. And more time for yourself. Most patients consider the cost an investment in themselves.

Can you get permanent hair removal by laser?

Electrolysis has been described as permanent hair removal, and now there are laser systems being marketed as being able to achieve permanent hair removal. However, in each case, those involved are making their own definitions of what "permanent hair removal" is. For the most part, it is not going to resemble your definition of what permanent hair removal would be.

One should keep in mind that as the skin ages, some hair follicles enlarge and become visible with time. Therefore, it is possible that even if a particular method of facial hair removal or body hair removal does permanently destroy a particular follicle and stops growth of that hair, others nearby can take its placeover a period of time. For more on this and why it is so, see the facial hair removal page. So, if you assume that after having one or two laser hair removal treatments will take care of the problem once and for all, you could be disappointed.

Also, be aware that any one persons response is not entirely predictable. There is an occasional person who will not get much of a response. On the other hand, we have seen some who have had complete clearing of an area for many months after a single laser hair removal treatment, and no sign of growth yet. Perhaps the response will be permanent, or just last a few years. The technology just has not been around long enough to know yet.

However, having said all that, the evidence is mounting that laser treatment can have some very long lasting results, probably more so than any other method. And certainly with far fewer treatments and less pain than with electrolysis. So, if your idea of permanent hair removal would be a very significant reduction (or maybe even complete clearing), plus or minus the possiblility of requiring a repeat treatment once every year or few years, then the technology is pretty likely to make you happy.

Does Laser Hair Removal Hurt?

Not really. As compared to the pain from waxing or electrolysis most patients say their laser treatment was relatively pain-free. Many patients describe the treatment as tingling or a slight snapping sensation.

Usually, the majority of patients can easily tolerate this sensation without any type of anesthetics. However you may elect to use a topical numbing cream before your procedure.

If you do feel any discomfort it's only while the area is being treated. Then after the procedure the area treated may become pink or red (like a mild sunburn) for a day or so.

Also after leaving the office you will not need any bandages because there is no damage to your skin.

What are the laser treatments like?

Laser Hair Removal is a gentle three-step process. First, we gently cleanse the area to be treated. Next, we shave the area. Then the area is scanned with the laser. The laser energy passes through the skin and is absorbed by the pigment in the hair follicle. In a fraction of a second, all of the treated hair follicles are disabled.

Treatments can last from a few minutes to most of an hour, depending on the size of the area being treated.

How Long Does A Laser Hair Removal Treatment Take?

body area treated laser treatment time upper lip 1-10 minutes chin 1-10 minutes upper lip & chin 1-10 minutes full face 5-30 minutes bikini area 4-30 minutes full legs 30-90 minutes lower legs 15-60 minutes forearm 15-60 minutes full back and shoulders 40-60 minutes full chest 30-60 minutes breasts - woman 5-15 minutes calves 10-60 minutes undearms / axillae 2-15 minutes

The length of time needed depends on the size of the area being treated. For instance, the upper lip will only take minutes, while other areas, like the leg will take more time.

The times listed are a range. Variables include laser used, the spot size of the laser which is often somewhat dependent upon the amount of laser energy required (fluence).

Laser energy used (dose) is in turn affected by skin and hair color.

Most treatment times end up toward the lower end of the range given here, however.

Also, treatments tend to go more rapidly each successive treatment.

The time it takes is still a fraction of the time electrolysis would take for the same area because lasers can treat multiple hair follicles at once.

How many treatments will I need?

The laser can only disable actively growing hairs during your treatment. And because hair growth occurs in cycles, only a certain amount of hair follicles are growing at any one time.The number of treatments you may require for optimal long-term benefits depends on the area you wish to have treated, the hair density and your hair's growth cycle. Your hair grows in cycles and many factors influence it's growth. Age, ethnicity, weight, hormones, diet, medication and metabolism all play a part in your hair's location, thickness and resilience.

The laser energy is only effective on hairs which are in their active growth phase. Many hair follicles are in their resting stage at any one particular time. That means several visits will be necessary (but nowhere close to number needed for electrolysis) to catch the hairs that were in the resting stage before. As a general rule, several treatments will be required. However, most times you can expect to see a 50% reduction in hair growth after just one treatment. Then after determining your individual characteristics we can develop a treatment schedule that's best for you.

How far apart in time should laser hair removal treatments be given?

Because the hair removal laser is only effective on actively growing hair follicles, treatments should be spaced apart so that the hair follicles in the area have time to begin growing again. If the treatment is given too soon, that particular treatment episode will not be effective. The answer is dependent upon several factors. But, for the bulk of cases, we suggest about two months between treatments.

What complications and risks are possible?

Lasers have been carefully tested for their safety. Occasionally blisters can develop, and very rarely, scarring or infection. Also there is a possibility of hypo or hyperpigmentation (if this does occur most changes in skin color will fade away over time). But these same effects can also occur with electrolysis and even shaving or waxing.

Are laser hair removal treatments performed in both the Oak Brook office and at the University of Illinois in Chicago office?

We are not currently doing laser hair removal treatments at the University of Illinois in Chicago office, only in the Oak Brook office.

How do I get to the Oak Brook office or the University of Illinois in Chicago office?

Our offices are easy to get to. In Oak Brook, we are in the middle of the Oakbrook Center Mall, in the professional building. In Chicago, in the Chicago Medical District within the University of Illinois College of Medicine campus. For details, check our contact page.

How does Laser Hair Removal work?

Laser Hair Removal uses a low-energy laser to gently remove unwanted hair, putting an end to routine shaving and waxing. This advanced technology transcends the older, painful hair removal treatments to deliver long-lasting results. Because the laser treats more than one hair at a time, it is possible to treat larger areas such as the back, shoulders, arms, legs and face. Laser treatments leave your skin looking and feeling smoother and silkier. Best of all, Laser Hair Removal treatments are a safe, fast, gentle, and effective alternative method for hair removal.

The laser slows the growing capacity of follicles in the growth cycle at the time of the treatment. Since some hair follicles may enter their growth cycle after your treatment, multiple treatments may be required to deliver optimal results. Treatment results will vary from patient to patient depending on skin and hair color.

Removing hair does not make it grow back thicker, darker, or more rapidly, though it often seems that way. This is because hair removal attempts often begin at a time (such as puberty) when the hairs in an area are getting larger and thicker anyway. So when they come back after plucking, etc., they come back larger; but they would come back larger during the next growth cycle for that particular hair anyway. The laser may cause hair to come back slower and thinner.

What do I need to do before my laser hair removal treatment?

Tanning should be avoided. Also you should leave a slight stubble for laser hair removal to be effective. Therefore you should not shave the areas to be treated for about 3 days prior to your treatment. Also avoid waxing, tweezing, or bleaching those areas several weeks before laser treatment.

What about after laser treatment - is any special care required?

After your treatment you can return to your normal activities immediately. The use of sun screen is recommended on any treated areas exposed to the sun, and sun exposure should be minimized before and after laser hair removal treatment.

What about after treatment - will I look presentable?

After laser treatment, there is usually some pinkness or redness in the treated area which goes away after a short time. There are no open wounds, bandages, or anything like that. Most patients leave the office felling that they look presentable, but in some cases, a little makeup is helpful to minimize redness.

Is there a significant recovery period?

No.

How many different hair removal lasers are there?

Lots. There are many hair removal lasers available now, with more becoming available all the time. There are now several different types of systems available for laser hair removal: diode, alexandrite, flashlamp-excited, Nd-YAG, pulsed, long-pulsed, Q-switched, and ruby lasers. In addition, there are intense pulsed light hair removal systems, such as the Photoderm and the EpiLight, which technically are not true lasers. Specific hair removal lasers include: IPL Quantum HR, ESC EpiTouch Alex, Lyra, Palomar Epilaser, Aesculap-Meditech RubyStar and MeDio Star, Altus CoolGlide, Candela GentleLase, Coherent LightSheer, Continuum Medlite IV, Convergent Polaris, Crystal Focus Multipulse NDLP, Diolite Apex 800, and the Cynosure TKS and Apogee 40.

What hair removal lasers do you use?

We use the Apogee, Epitouch, and GentleLase hair removal lasers, as well as other skin lasers. We are continually evaluating the newest technology.

What are the benefits of Laser Hair Removal?

It combines the speed of shaving with the lasting results promised by electrolysis. Laser Hair Removal is effective on almost any area of the body where smoother, younger, hair-free skin is desired. Larger areas can be treated more easily using lasers than with electrolysis, waxing or tweezing

How is Laser Hair Removal different from electrolysis?

Electrolysis is a much slower process. With electrolysis, a needle is actually inserted into each hair follicle, one at a time. Once inserted, an electric shock burns the follicle to retard hair growth. Laser Hair Removal uses the light of the laser to scan the treatment area and within minutes, all of the growing hairs in the laser's beam are treated. Most patients who have had both procedures say that Laser Hair Removal is less painful, faster and more convenient.

Conference call

A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party merely listens into the call and cannot speak. It is often referred to as an ATC (Audio Tele-Conference).

Conference calls can be designed so that the calling party calls the other participants and adds them to the call. In most cases, the participants are able call into the conference call themselves. They do so either by dialing into a "conference bridge" (a specialized type of equipment that links telephone lines), or by using a special telephone number set up for that purpose.

Most companies use a specialized service provider for conference calls. These service providers maintain the conference bridge, and provide the phone numbers used to access the meeting or conference call.

Three-way calling is available (usually at an extra charge) for most customers on their home or office phone line. To three way call you call the first person you wish to talk to. Then you must press the flash button and dial the other person's phone number. While it is ringing press flash again. This will put your three people together. This option allows callers to add a second outgoing call to an already connected call.

Usage

Business

Businesses use conference calls daily to meet with remote parties, both internally and outside of their company. Common applications are client meetings or sales presentations, project meetings and updates, regular team meetings, training classes and communication to employees who work in different locations. Conference calling is viewed as a primary means of cutting travel costs and allowing workers to be more productive by not having to go out-of-office for meetings.

Conference calls are used by nearly all United States public corporations to report their quarterly results. These calls usually allow for questions from stock analysts and are called earnings calls. A standard conference call begins with a disclaimer stating that anything said in the duration of the call may be a forward looking statement, and that results may vary significantly. The CEO, CFO, or Investor Relations officer then will read the company's quarterly report. Lastly, the call is opened for questions from analysts.

Conference calls are increasingly used in conjunction with web conferences, where presentations or documents are shared via the internet.

Conference calls are also beginning to cross over into the world of podcasting and social networking, which in turn fosters new kinds of interaction patterns. Live streaming or broadcasting of conference calls allows a larger audience access to the call without dialing in to a bridge. In addition, organizers of conference calls can publish a dial-in number alongside the audio stream, creating potential for audience members to dial in if and when they wish to interact

Party line

Conference calls can also be used for entertainment or social purposes, such as the party line. People call in to a specified telephone number, and are connected to conversations with other callers. This serves as a way to talk to and perhaps, subsequently, meet new people. However, conference calls are most commonly used by businesses.

Baines and Ernst

At Baines and Ernst we provide free confidential advice for anyone with a debt problem.

Struggling to keep up with repayments Suffering from creditor pressure Consolidation loan refused Afraid to open your mail In arrears

For a Free Consultation: Fill in the quick and easy form to access years of experience in helping people like you.

Consolidate Your Debts Into One Single Payment Today.

Testimonial: "I called Baines & Ernst when I was in desperate need of help...you have helped me get through one of the worst periods of my life, and I cannot thank you enough for that." Ms Murphy, Jersey Click here for more satisfied customers.

We offer a complete service and will advise you of all your options. Apply online NOW and find how debt management can help you.

A financial solution specialist can help you regain control of your finances. Having your debt managed by experts can give you a fresh start.

We will put you in touch with companies that offer a range of financial solutions to help people with debt problems.

Company Profile

We are a progressive and professional company based in the centre of Manchester. We are well established, having been in business for over 6 years and have now helped over 100,000 people resolve their debt problems. We currently employ over 300 staff, many of whom are graduates or who hold other professional qualifications.

We were originally a debt collection agency but very quickly found that most debtors have multiple debts, were willing to repay them all but were unable to do so in full. We therefore decided to change from being debt collectors into a company which helped people make reduced payment arrangements with their creditors and providing ongoing support until their debt problem has been resolved.

We aim our service at those people who have debt difficulties and who can afford to pay for help in resolving those difficulties. Put simply, our clients are not poor, they just have a debt problem and we see our role as helping them regain control of their finances.

Strategic Partnerships
We believe that we must have a full range of options available to ensure that we can offer the best solution to each individual client. We also recognise that we cannot provide all possible solutions from our own resources. Consequently, we have a number of strategic partnerships in place with other professional organisation's to ensure that clients will always be offered the most appropriate solution to their problem.

We only ever enter into a strategic relationship with a new partner after we have carried out rigorous checks to ensure that the new partner will provide solutions of the same high quality as those we provide ourselves.

How We Can Help You

We believe that it is important that we help you find the best way to resolve your debt problems. To do this, we follow the following steps:

1. Before we can offer you any help at all, we must make sure that we understand your problem,so we will first conduct with you a full assessment of your current financial situation.

2. If appropriate, we will discuss with you how you might be able to make some economies in your monthly expenditure.

3. If, having made all the economies that you can reasonably be expected to make, you still have insufficient funds to service all of your unsecured commitments in full, we will identify what suitable solutions may be available to you.

4. We will describe to you each solution that we believe may be suitable to your needs and discuss with you both the advantages and disadvantages of that solution.

5. After we have discussed with you every option that we believe is suitable, we will leave you to decide which option you want to choose.

6. We will be open at all times during our discussions with you, making sure that you know the basis upon which we charge for our services and the likely total cost of any service we may provide you.

Debt Management Plans

A debt management plan can be used to resolve any problem you may have with your unsecured debts. It is an informal arrangement suitable for people who do not have very significant debts, who may not have very high disposable incomes or who expect that their circumstances may change in the near future.

You will make one affordable payment each month to us, which we will distribute to your creditors on your behalf.

We will negotiate to try to reduce or freeze any interest or other charges on your debts, although we cannot guarantee this.

Click Here for Frequently Asked Questions about Debt Management Plans.

Your plan is fully flexible and can be changed at any time to suit your changing circumstances and needs. You can even cancel your plan at any time with no penalty to yourself.

We keep your plan under regular review and, if we believe that an alternative solution has become available, we will tell you about it, so that you can make an informed choice as to what you want to do.

We employ fully trained advisors who understand the importance of a fast and efficient response to any enquiry you may have. Our aim is to deal with every query as quickly as possible, usually at the time of the initial phone call.

Voluntary Arrangements

An Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a legal process by which you can gain protection from your unsecured creditors by entering into a legally binding repayment agreement with them, which is then supervised by a licensed insolvency practitioner.

This process is suited to those debtors who have a reasonably high level of disposable income but who also have a very significant unsecured debt problem.

The arrangement is supervised by a licensed Insolvency Practitioner who is responsible for all negotiations with your creditors and for ensuring that you make all of the payments required under the terms of the arrangement.

You are normally required to make regular monthly repayments, usually over a 5 year period, after which any balances remaining on your debts are written off.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions about Individual Voluntary Arrangements.

If you are a homeowner, you will normally be required to release any equity you have in your property by taking out a mortgage or secured loan and paying this money to your creditors.

Once an IVA has been agreed by your creditors, all interest and charges on your unsecured debts will be frozen.

Your supervisor in the IVA is required to review your financial situation every year and, as a result, you may be required to increase your monthly contributions into the IVA.

Protected Trust Deeds

A Protected Trust Deed is a legal process available to residents in Scotland whereby you can gain protection from your creditors in much the same way as with an Individual Voluntary Arrangement in the rest of the UK.

On agreement, your creditors will accept a reduced amount in full and final settlement of your debts with them.

Payments are normally made over a 3 year period, after which the balances on your unsecured debts are written off.

On agreement, all interest and charges on your debts are frozen.

Your protected trust deed is supervised by a licensed insolvency practitioner, who is responsible for all negotiations with your creditors and who is also responsible for ensuring that you keep to the terms of the Trust Deed.

Career Opportunities

We pride ourselves on being an equal opportunities employer and, as a result, have a very diverse and dynamic workforce. We have a strict policy of non-discrimination on the grounds of nationality, ethnic and national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age or disability. As far as we are concerned, if you are the best person for the job, you can have it.

We have a rigorous selection process to ensure that the career paths we offer our employees match their individual abilities. We have an ongoing personal development and training programme for all employees to allow them all to fulfil their full potential. We have a policy of promotion from within wherever possible.

Where appropriate, we offer sponsorships to employees for professional qualifications. Currently we have employees studying for ACCA, AAT, CIPD and CIM.

To make further enquiries about career opportunities at Baines & Ernst, please call 0161 216 8112.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please select the FAQ from below:

• Debt Management Plans
• Individual Voluntary Arrangement
• Protected Trust Deeds

Contact Us

New Business Enquiries
Telephone: 0800 096 1331
Email: enquiries@bainesandernst.com

Customer Service
Telephone: 0870 010 8404
Email: customer.service@bainesandernst.com

HR and Recruitment Enquiries
Telephone: 0161 216 8112
Email: work@bainesandernst.com

Company Address
Baines and Ernst Ltd
18-22 Lloyds House
Lloyd Street
Manchester
M2 5BE

Main Phone: 0161 212 2054
Fax Number: 0161 212 2060

AdSense

AdSense is an ad serving program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis. Google is also currently beta-testing a cost-per-action based service.

Google utilizes its search technology to serve ads based on website content, the user's geographical location, and other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google's targeted ad system may sign up through AdWords. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the ads are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the ads is often relevant to the website.

It currently uses JavaScript code to incorporate the advertisements into a participating site. If it is included on a site which has not yet been crawled by the Mediabot, it will temporarily display advertisements for charitable causes known as public service announcements (PSAs). (Note that the Mediabot is a separate crawler from the Googlebot that maintains Google's search index.)

Many sites use AdSense to monetize their content and some webmasters work hard to maximize their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways:

1. They use a wide range of traffic generating techniques including but not limited to online advertising.
2. They build valuable content on their sites which attracts AdSense ads which pay out the most when they get clicked.
3. They use copy on their websites that encourage clicks on ads. Note that Google prohibits people from using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates. Phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and "Advertisements".

The source of all AdSense income is the AdWords program which in turn has a complex pricing model based on a Vickrey second price auction, in that it commands an advertiser to submit a sealed bid (not observable by competitors). Additionally, for any given click received, advertisers only pay one bid increment above the second-highest bid.

History

The underlying technology behind AdSense was derived originally from WordNet and Simpli, a company started by the founder of Wordnet — George A. Miller — and a number of professors and graduate students from Brown University, including James A. Anderson, Jeff Stibel and Steve Reiss.^[1] A variation of this technology utilizing Wordnet was developed by Oingo, a small search engine company based in Santa Monica founded in 1998.^[2] Oingo focused on semantic searches rather than brute force string searches.^[3] Oingo changed its name to Applied Semantics, which was then bought by Google for $102 million in April 2003, to replace a similar system being developed in house.^[4]

AdSense for feeds

In May 2005, Google unveiled AdSense for feeds, a version of AdSense that runs on RSS and Atom feeds that have more than 100 active subscribers. According to the Official Google Blog, "advertisers have their ads placed in the most appropriate feed articles; publishers are paid for their original content; readers see relevant advertising — and in the long run, more quality feeds to choose from".

AdSense for feeds works by inserting images into a feed. When the image is displayed by the reader/browser, Google writes the ad content into the image that it returns. The ad content is chosen based on the content of the feed surrounding the image. When the user clicks the image, he or she is redirected to the advertiser's site in the same way as regular AdSense ads.

AdSense for search

A companion to the regular AdSense program, AdSense for search lets website owners place Google search boxes on their pages. When a user searches the web or the site with the search box, Google shares any ad revenue it makes from those searches with the site owner. However, only if the ads on the page are clicked, the publisher is paid. Adsense does not pay publishers for mere searches.

How AdSense works

Each time a visitor visits a page with an AdSense tag, a piece of JavaScript writes an iframe tag, whose src attribute includes the URL of the page. Google's servers use a cache of the page for the URL or the keywords in the URL itself to determine a set of high-value keywords. (Some of the details are described in the AdSense patent.) If keywords have been cached already, ads are served for those keywords based on the AdWords bidding system.

Abuse

Some webmasters create sites tailored to lure searchers from Google and other engines onto their AdSense site to make money from clicks. These "zombie" sites often contain nothing but a large amount of interconnected, automated content (e.g.: A directory with content from the Open Directory Project, or scraper sites relying on RSS feeds for content). Possibly the most popular form of such "AdSense farms" are splogs ("spam blogs"), which are centered around known high-paying keywords. Many of these sites use content from other web sites, such as Wikipedia, to attract visitors. These and related approaches are considered to be search engine spam and can be reported to Google.

There have also been reports of Trojans engineered to produce fake Google ads that are formatted to look like legitimate ones. The Trojan Horse apparently downloads itself onto an unsuspecting computer through a web page and then replaces the original ads with its own set of malicious ads.^[5]

Criticism

Due to concerns about click fraud, Google AdSense has been criticized by some Search engine optimization firms as a large source of what Google calls "invalid clicks" in which one company clicks on a rival's search engine ads to drive up its costs.^[6] Some publishers have been blocked by Google, complaining that little justification or transparency was provided.^[7]

To help prevent click fraud, publishers can choose from a number of click tracking programs. These programs will display detailed information about the visitors who click on the AdSense advertisements. Publishers can use that data to determine if they've been a victim of click fraud or not. There are a number of such commercial scripts available for purchase. An open source alternative is AdLogger.

Google has also come under fire for allowing AdWords advertisers to abuse trademarks. In 2004, Google started allowing advertisers to bid on any search terms, including the trademarks of their competitors.^[8]

The payment terms for AdSense customers have also been criticized.^[9] Google withholds payment until an account reaches US$100 ^[10], but many small content providers require a long time - years in many cases - to build up this much AdSense revenue. These pending payments are recorded on Google's balance sheet as "accrued revenue share". ^[11] At the close of its 2006 fiscal year, the sum of all these small debts amounted to a little over US $370 million - cash that Google is able to invest but which effectively belongs to its customers.

AVI to DVD with Permanent subs!

This guide will also work for adding Subs while converting using WinAvi. Simply follow the steps below for adding subs.

This guide will help you to convert your .Avi files into DVD's with subtitles. I have tried my best to make it simple and error free , however, If you find any errors or problems please feel free to contact me.
In order to use this guide you must have Tmpgenc Plus 2.5 and Tmpgenc DVD Author 1.6 registered versions , except the above mentioned programs all other softwares used are freeware. So, let's move onto the guide.

Required Softwares: VirtualDub Mod or NanDub (Freeware)
GSpot (Freeware)
VobSub (Required for subtitles only-Freeware)
ffdshow Video Codec Pack ( Required for way 2 of adding subtitles- Freeware)
ffmpegGUI (Freeware)
Tmpgenc Plus 2.5 + (Shareware)
Tmpgenc Dvd Auhtor 1.6 + (Shareware)


Note:This guide is just that, a guide! In order to use it you must have TMPGEnc Plus (unless the free version work's!) and TMPGEnc DVD Author ! All these program's are excellent and should be supported as such! Errors,Suggestions and comments are welcome.Thank you!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- First of all make sure that the name of your .AVI file and .srt file is simillar (except the extension) as shown in the image1 below.


2- Now open your .AVI file with GSpot to check the audio and video format as shown in the image2 below. As you can see the file we are going to use is encoded with MP3 Audio So, we have to convert it to AC3 format.


3- Now open your .AVI file with Nandub and save the audio as .wav file as shown in the image3 below.

- If your file is encoded with ac3 audio than you have to extract it simply in VirtualDub Mod as shown in the image 4 below.


4- Now we will convert .wav file which we extracted from .AVI file using Nandub to AC3 format using ffmpegGUI (Image5) . If you are working with 2 files than do the same process for both files.


- Open .wav file in ffmpegGUI and chose settings as shown in the image above, select your output folder and filename and click convert. This process will take 5-15 minutes

Adding Permanent Subtitles

You can add permanent subtitles using one of the methods explained below.
Way 1- Using VobSub:
5- Download and Install VobSub. Make sure that file name of both .AVI file and .Srt files are same as shown in Image 1. If you can't see subtitles during preview in Tmpgenc than click options>Environmental setting>VFAPI Plugin and increase the priority of Direct show Multimedia reader until it becomes at top as shown in the image6 below.



Now the subtitles should appear during preview in Tmpgenc as shown in the image7 below.


Way 2- Using ffdShow:

6- Recently I came to know that subtitles can be added using ffdshow codec pack aswell. All you have to do is to open ffdshow configuration as shown in the image8 below. Again make sure that file names are simillar as shown in the image1 and improtantly uninstall Vobub or disable auto loading version of VobSub otherwise you will see two subtitles.

- check the subtitle option in configuration window as shown in the image9 below..



- Now the subtitles should appear during preview, If so than you are done.
Now let's move to the next step of guide and that's of encoding using Tmpgenc.

7- Open TmpgencEnc plus and project wizard will open automatically if not than click file>Projectwizard as shown in the Image10 below.


- Select PAL or NTSC according to your region and audio as CBR-MP2 as shown in the image 10 above. In the next window simply select your file and click next.8- After selecting your file now click on the Othersettings button as shown in the image11 below.


- A new window will appear with some options, click on Advanced Tab and select your screenratio, I will use Full screen keep aspect ratio option as shown in the image 12 below. You can select other options as well if you know what are you doing otherwise simply select Full screen keep aspect ratio.

9- Click Next and now select the video resolution that's 720x576 and Video bitrate as 2000 kbits/sec. You can select higher bitrate as well but I don't see any difference in quality by increasing birate, this way you can also add 2 movies in 1 dvd while authoring.


- Now click next and select your output destination and make sure that you uncheck the start encoding immediately option.10- Now select video only option as shown in the image below and click save project from file>saveproject.


Now if you have only one file to convert than start encoding by click start button, otherwise you have to save this project by clicking file>saveproject. If you have more than one file to convert than do the same process for second file and so on.11- Now after doing the same process for rest of your files click batch encode from file>batch encode as shown in the image below and click run.


That's it now this conversion can take up to 12 hours depending on your PC.

After Conversion you have to Author DVD in Tmpgenc Dvd Author. Click here for the guide.


Authoring is not that difficult but if you don't know than wait until tomorrow i will post the guide.

In case the images are not loading then you can access this guide at my very own site as well.click here
QaisarSoft

Please don't waste my bandwidth and click only if images are not loading.

Please leave comments,suggestions and errors.
I will try my best to keep this guide uptodate and please don't ask me for cracks ..you can get TmpgencEnc Plus and Author from most of the torrent sites.

A quick guide for using Tmpgenc Express 3.0

A quick guide for using Tmpgenc Xpress 3.0
1. Open Tmpgenc Xpress 3.0
2. Click On Start New Project.

3. Click On Add Files. Add Both Part of The Movies. Starting with Part 1 And Than Part 2

4.Once you Select The Files you will have option to change the Aspect Ratio..I suggest 10:11 (NTSC 4:3) But The Choice Is Your.

5. Than you Move On To Set Output. you Will get to this screen.

6. Here you will Change The Aspect Ratio to Image 16:9. But Again That is Your Choice.
7. Than You Will Get To This Screen Select your Image Resolution. I Do 704x480.

8. You Will Get to This Screen. Nothing To change here..unless you guys want to experiment.

9. Alomost Done. click on Encode. Over Here you will decide. if u want to output the whole file ie cd 1 and cd 2. or if u want to out put the clips separately.. with bunty or babli. u will need to output the clips separately. but than when you use dvd author it will make the dvd files for both clips.


Hopefully this guide will help

Playing media files without any issues

I have come across many threads wherein members have problems with playing various types of media files (.avi, .mkv, .ogg, etc..).
Most of the problems arise when we don't have the required Codecs installed in our system.
So I just write this article which helps us in combating this problem.



Overview:
Most of the files actually play without any fuss, only that the audio or the video will come; so some of us will find it difficult to find what is wrong as it wont show any error (BSplayer will show, and some media player will show the error but will continue to play the file).

We can follow the following steps to make all the files play without any issue. We will look into individuals programs now.



VLC player:
VLC player is my favourite player as:
- It dont need any Codecs to play any file
- Plays a variety of files (inc. DVD's and .mov files)
- It supports most of the OS
- It's Free!

More info and download:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/




Gspot
GSpot is a free utility which identifies the codec required to play an AVI file and supplies other information as well.
● Establishes what video codecs (audio and video) are required to play an AVI file.
● Determines whether these codecs are installed on your system.
● Isolates problems associated with these codecs.
● Simple operation - Basic use: "File > Open", then read the results.
Screenshots:
The main window when the program is run:


To find the list of the installed codecs in your system:


Find out the required codec using Gspot. And then d/l that codec, install, and now play the file.

Download:
http://www.headbands.com/gspot/download.html




ffdshow
ffdshow is DirectShow and VFW codec for decoding/encoding many video and audio formats, including DivX and XviD movies using libavcodec, xvid and other opensourced libraries with a rich set of postprocessing filters

Filter also supports nowadays decoding of virtually all audio formats used in movies, including AC3, DTS, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis, and several subtitle formats.

To summarize its main idea, the FFDSHOW consumes way less CPU power than original DivX or XviD codecs, even with maximum post-processing. At the same time the post-processing seems to give excellent quality results and allows more configuring than the original DivX codec. It can even automaticly reduce post-processing if your CPU is getting overloaded. The noise filter adds a kind of a rasterising effect to the picture - might be useful in some cases.So you wont need 95% of the codecs required to play the files.

When we install the software, we get to see this:
Video:

Audio:

Just make sure that you have every check box clicked on so that your media player can play all the files without any fuss.

Download:
ffdshow



Codec packs:
Codec packs contain all (or 95%) of the codecs that we might need to play any particular files. We might end up downloading more than the number of codecs that we might actually require to play the files.
This might seem a one stop solution but these are the shortcomings:
-- Some codecs in the so called mega codec packs are illegal
-- DVD's dont play agian ,in case we update/ reinstall the codec packs, so we will have t reinstall the DVD software (not VLC player though :p)
-- We dont need that many codecs also biggrin.gif
-- We have VLC player which plays files without codecs :d
Some popular Codec packs:

K-lite codec pack:
The K-Lite Mega Codec Pack is a software bundle which includes the K-Lite Codec
Pack Full, QuickTime Alternative, Real Alternative and BSplayer.
www.k-litecodecpack.com/

ACE codec pack:
www.divx-digest.com/software/acemega_codec.html

Matroska Pack:
Matroska Packs for Windows playback & creation. ... itself as a very slim and
intelligent alternative to the usually overloaded codec packs out there.
www.packs.matroska.org/


Video codecs which are used commonly in avi files are divx codecs (div3, div4, etc..) or XVID.
Audio codecs that commonly used are AC3 or .mp3 or other such codecs.
So use Gspot to find out the codecs that you need and d/l them.


Comments plz

If anyone have to add to this, plz post.

Any Format To Dvd Guide

Hello Friends,
I m going to guide u, how u can convert any format to a DVD.
But first if all my ENGLISH is not good.If u see any eng mistake then plzz forgive me
now here r some easy steps.
first u should have WinAvi Convertor and that should b registered.
Now first click on winavi icon .
here u can see this screen

now click on DVD
here u can see this screen

u can select movie files here, u want to convert
and then click on OK
after that u will b see this screen

here u should select last movie file and move it up
if u want to change the output folder then click on BROWSE but if u don't
then leave it as it is.
Now pres on ADVANCED
now u can see this screen

that is the most importent step
here i have made 5 steps
now i will be explain them one by one
1st step:
here if u want to get good result then leave them on AUTO because WINAVI auto adjust
ur real movie file settings
but if u want to change format or ratio then u can force them.
it is depending on ur DVD PLAYER if ur DVD PLAYER sport NTSC and PAL both
then leave it on AUTO but if not then u can change it for ur DVD PLAYER.and also AUTO ratio mean ur selected movie ratio, if u want wide screen then u can change it into 16:9 or
4:3 .
2nd STEP:
here if u have DVD5 or single layer DVD WRITER and u want to WRITE only one DVD then u can remain it as that picture.
but if u have DVD9 or Double Layer then u can change it for ur need.
3rd STEP:
Here if u want good result then click on BY QUALITY but if u r in rush
then clcik on BY SPEED
4th STEP:
here u can change AUDIO BITRATE, it is depenging on u but my advice is that
clcik on 128000 or 160000.because that will b give video, some more space.
5th STEP:
here u can change CHAPTER LENGTH
its totally optional.
After these steps u can click on Ok but if u want to know about ENCODE then click on that..
now u can see this screen

here only two things r important
1st:
here u can leave SOURCE ASPECT RATIO on AUTO but if u have changed(upper 1st step) into 16:9 or 4:3 then u should change it here too.
2nd:
here leave SOURCE TARGET RATE on AUTO
here u can click on SOFTEN PICTURE but also u can leave it as it is.
After every things click on Ok
Now u can see this screen

Here some people think they have done their job, but they r wrong.
if u want a good result then u should click on both(see upper Picture)
that will be slow down ur converting speed but will give u good result.
and a very Important Advice
PLZZ DON'T DISTURB UR COMPUTER DURING CONVERTING

How to rip a VCD!

All you need is Isobuster Just follow these simple steps!






Hope this helps!

Step-by-step tutorial - Joining AVI files

Hey,

I've made another simple guide on joining avi's since there were a lot of questions and posts regarding this. This will hopefully solve their problems as this is a simple step-by-step process. The only software required is VirtualDub >>>> http://www.virtualdub.org/download

1. Open VirtualDub from your directory



2. Go to Video > and select Direct Stream Copy



3. Do the same for Audio... Hit Audio > Direct Stream Copy

Now click on File > Open



4. Select the first part of the movie you want to join. In this case I'll use an example of Hum Tum (2 parts) Note: You could have as many parts as you wish



5. Now you should have something like this...



6. Now lets add the remainder parts.. Go to File > and click on Append AVI Segement



7. Now select your second part. Note: This step may be repeated as many times as you wish to add more parts.



8. After you've added all the parts you wish to join Click on File > and hit Save as AVI...



9. Pick the directory where you wish to save the joined AVI...and now you should have something like this...Please wait until as the files are being joined...



10. VIOLA!! Look in the directory where you've saved the joined AVI...



Hope this guide will help you and will clear away all of your confusion of joining AVI segements.... If you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to post it!