Students Of Success

Lowriding began as a cultural element of Chicano Americans, part
of the street culture of the American barrio where Mexican
immigrants maintained a lively urban culture.Lowrider bikes, one
of the most splendid and unique products of this culture, are a
cross between the Harley and the cruiser bike, decorated with
paint and chrome and streamers, found in any all-American
hometown parade.

As you might surmise, lo
wriding bikes hug the ground.The highest points on a
lowrider bike are almost always its two hand grips, just like
you might find on its motorized cousin, the Harley
motorcycle.The seat of a lowrider bike is down at wheel level
and its pedals are sometimes higher than the seat!These bikes
are typically a highly individualized creation.Most of them are
ridden with enormous pride by their creators, although you can
buy some standard models and a few elaborate models in a good
bike store, especially in cities of the American West.

Despite the fact that these bikes originated within the poverty
of the barrio, lowrider bikes are anything but cheap.Makers of
these one-of-a-kind creations regard their bicycles as much as
an artwork and a mechanical marvel as a means of transportation,
though part of the joy of creation has always been parading them
down the street when completed–these are not pieces of art
meant for life in dusty museums, for the most part.Each part is
usually carefully selected for its utility as well as its
beauty, with the resulting bike a breathtaking example of
technical and artistic ingenuity.

Lowrider bikes are becoming a presence in more and more cities,
perhaps made more “respectable” among the affluent bicyclists
who drive the market by the increasing popularity of their
cousin, the recumbent bicycle .As the baby boomer generation ages and
feels increasing twinges of back pain riding on the dropped
handlebars of road bikes, expect to see more and more lowrider
and recumbent bikes alike.

And once you get your first basic lowrider bike, don’t be too
surprised if you find yourself flipping through the real or
online pages of a lowrider parts catalog musing, “Hmm.I wonder
how that golden sprocket would look on my bike?”Lowrider bikes
have a tradition of creative embellishment and technical
improvisation that calls out the artist and the inventor in many
of us.

What, really, could be better to evoke, especially if you’re
already a bike rider?

Creating Link Popularity - Without Getting Banned
by Dan Thies

By now, most webmasters know that link popularity is the single
most important factor in driving top search engine rankings. But
did you know that some some links can actually kill your search
engine rankings?

The importance of links has led to the creation of “links
programs” such as LinksToYou and others. If you’re already in a
links program, hold on to your hat, because I’ve got bad news
for you.

How Links Programs Work:
In a links program, every member of the program uploads a page
or pages to their website. These pages carry links to the other
program participants’ websites.

Why They Don’t Help Search Engine Rankings:
All of the major search engines are aware of these programs, and
most of them use automated processes to weed out “identical”
pages. Even if a search engine recognizes the link, they won’t
give it much weight.

How Links Programs Can Kill Your Business:
The most popular search engine in the world today is Google. In
late 2000, Google began a systematic campaign of permanently
removing links program participants from their index. Altavista
has begun a similar program, although recent problems kept them
from executing it.

Don’t the operators of links programs know all this?
Of course they do, yet they continue to operate and proliferate.
Tobacco companies know cigarettes kill people, yet they continue
to sell them. I’m sure both would tout the “benefits” of their
product as a justification.

What To Do If You’re In A Links Program:
First, immediately remove all of the program’s pages from your
site. Second, remove all the links they had you set up on your
other pages. Third, if possible, cancel your membership… then
get to work creating some legitimate link popularity.

Creating True Link Popularity
If you want your site to have lasting popularity and relevance
with the search engines, you need links from related sites.
Dedicate 10 minutes a day to locating and contacting other
webmasters to swap links, adding your site to directories,
and publishing articles in your area of expertise.

Create Multiple Layers Of Links
For some search engines, links to your home page are good
enough. At least some of your links, though, should be targeted
at your internal pages. For example, if your site sells tools
for gardeners, get some links set up to your “how to” and FAQ
pages too. This will help you get more of your site’s content
into the search engine, and increase referrals significantly.

Get The Links Indexed!
It doesn’t do you any good to set up links if the search engines
never find them. You can submit the pages that link to you, but
most search engines nowadays won’t index them unless there are
other links to those pages somewhere on the web. Consider
adding a “resources” page to your site, linked from your home
page, with links to all the individual pages that link to you.

How To Make Sure Your Links Get Indexed
In order to ensure that the links pointing to your site get
indexed, you really have to take an additional step, and set up
a second domain and website. The gardening website in the above
example might need a partner site like “gardening-resources.com”
with a single page pointing to all the links pages you’ve set
up.

Once you’ve set up the secondary domain, add a link to it from
your main site’s home page, and wait for the search engines to
index it. Don’t forget to link back to your primary site, of
course - not just your home page, but any content pages as well.
You should submit this additional site to the same directories
that you use to list your primary site.

It also helps to ask for an additional link to your secondary
domain when you set up links swaps. Just explain how the
secondary site helps both partners, by adding link popularity
and helping the links pages get indexed. Any sensible webmaster
will gladly add the second link.

What Happens Now?
As the link popularity of both of your sites grows, they begin
to feed on each other. Don’t neglect to track any search engine
referrals to your secondary site - if they grow to a high level,
you may want to turn it into more than just a links page. If
you’ve done a good job of optimizing your primary site, though,
chances are your secondary site will never outrank your primary
site on any search.

If you take these initial steps today, and commit to a program
of link building for ten minutes a day, your site’s traffic will
begin to rise dramatically within just 2-3 months, and it should
only get better if you stick with the program.

I wish you success.

About the Author

Dan Thies has been helping his clients (and friends) promote
their websites since 1996. His latest book, “Search Engine Fast
Start,” is available at http://www.cannedbooks.com

Finally — A Red, Reblooming Daylily!

Everyone loves a daylily. As one of the best performers in the perennial garden, daylilies are known for being hardy, carefree and profuse bloomers. Daylilies are available in a wide range of colors that can brighten any landscape. New daylilies are always being introduced, but many of the new and old daylilies bloom only once a season. There are a handful of new daylilies that are repeat bloomers, allowing you to enjoy their beauty from late spring until well into autumn. ‘Red Hot Returns,’ the first full size repeat-blooming red daylily that is hardy in the north, was introduced in 2005. This is one of the newest creations of master breeder Dr. Darrel Apps, who is also know for other popular repeat-blooming daylilies including ‘Rosy Returns,’ ‘Happy Returns’ and ‘Big Time Happy.’

Red Hot Returns — New and Hard to Find

Red Hot Returns has cherry red blooms with a lemon throat and grass green tonsils. Blooms are large, reaching up to 5 inches across and will repeat in cycles from late spring until the first hard frost. The foliage is deep green with a moderate rate of clump development. Red Hot Returns will reach 24 inches tall, perfect for mid-border planting or for massing in front of shrubbery.

Planting and Care

‘Red Hot Returns’ is easy to grow and care for - returning year after year to brighten your garden.

Click here to view ‘Red Hot Returns’ on the Carroll Gardens website.

A barista is a person who prepares coffee drinks in a coffee house as his or her profession and especially strives to create the perfect espresso. The barista possesses extensive knowledge on different kinds of beans and roasts and has the technical skills required to master the espresso machine.

Baristas consider the extraction of coffee as art and they actually perform in front of their customers each time they prepare an espresso, a cappuccino, a caffe latte or a caffe mocha. However, if they wish for larger audience and consider themselves as really talented they can consider competing in barista competitions. These events take place every year and they are held at local and national levels. The ultimate title to win is the World Barista Champion.

The World Barista Championship was first held in 2000 in Monte Carlo and it became quickly a public event where the best baristas from different countries battled for espresso making supremacy. The World Barista Championship takes place every year in a different country and the competitors are the winners of the national barista competitions.

In the United States the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) hosts several local barista competitions. There are ten regions, and each state has been assigned to a region. Local competitions are sponsored by businesses, and the winner of each of the local events has the chance to try to impress the jury at the US Barista Championship. There are many barista competitions in Europe and the United Kingdom. Canada, Australia and Central America also have barista competitions at the local, regional and national levels.

In a barista competition the judges have to assess both the contenders and the coffee drinks they make. The criteria based on which they score each barista involve the quality and taste of the beverage, personal presentation, technique and also the presentation of the coffee drink.

The baristas race against the clock as they are only allowed to perform for 15 minutes. They also have 15 minutes before the actual presentation to prepare with every detail for the show - ingredients like syrups, chocolate sprinkles or anything that you can think of except alcohol, cups, trays, blenders, mixers and portable burners. Contenders even roast their own coffee and bring it with them at the competition. After serving their drinks, baristas have 15 minutes to clean their station before they make room for another contestant. The espresso machines used in the competition are key to the taste of the coffee. The machines must be left absolutely clean and free from any impurities.

During the 15 minute performance interval baristas have to prove their skills by preparing 4 espressos, 4 cappuccinos and 4 signature drinks. Four sensory judges that have to decide on the quality of the drinks sample each one of the beverages. While preparing the beverages, the baristas have to present their work, give details about the ingredients they used to the audience and also treat the judges as customers in a coffee shop. One can only imagine the stress.

After the espressos and cappuccinos, which are finished with latte art - complicate designs drawn atop the cup with foamed milk by using the pitcher, the time comes for the signature drink. It is the competitor’s original creation and this is where baristas reveal their creativity and skills combining roasts, syrups, steaming and frothing milk and using all sorts of ingredients and flavours that turn their beverages into savory works of art. The baristas can spend even months to invent this perfect drink that can bring them the victory in a competition.

Here are some examples of drinks that barista champions have invented:

• Troels Poulsen, the 2005 World Barista Championship winner, created a drink called ESB, as in “enhanced sensory balance” by combining melted pepper-gel, espresso and lavender syrup.
• Phuong Tran, the 2005 USA Barista Champion, was inspired by her childhood in creating the Crimson Sage, a drink made of sugar cane juice, white pepper powder and steamed milk infused with sage leaves. She said that as a child she loved drinking sugar cane juice with ice and she always dreamed of using it in a drink.
• Sammy Piccolo, the 2004 Canadian Barista Championship winner, created “Insieme” by using raw sugar, egg yolks, curry, bittersweet chocolate and milk.
• Bronwen Serna, USA Barista Champion of 2004, entitled her signature drink “Sweetness” because the main “secret” ingredient was honey. She also used dark chocolate powder and served it with a dark chocolate square.

Baristas train hard for these competitions, especially if they have the chance to participate in the World Barista Championship. They try to bring to perfection their technique and put together their program as during the competition everything has to work smoothly, no glitches are allowed. They can actually be compared to athletes rehearsing for the Olympic games as some of them even have coaches that sometimes play the role of judges in preparation for the competition.

Barista training

Well, perhaps after reading about the competition requirements it might be wise to brush up a bit on your skills. There are several ways to either get basic skills training as a barista or enhance your existing skills:

• Books and manuals. There are many books or manuals available that take you step by step through the processes of making an espresso, a cappuccino and other specialty coffee drink. The drawback is that you only have still pictures to look at which may make it difficult for beginners to see the details of the methods.
• Videos. These provide both visual modeling as well as commentary on how to produce the perfect cup of espresso.
• Training classes. There are training locations in most areas that offer courses that range from three hours to a full day on learning the secrets of a barista. Many of these programs also deal with how to care for the espresso machine and offer a certificate upon completion.
• Hands-on. Some experienced barista will offer personal training or mentoring for those interested in becoming a barista or in improving their skills.

Whatever you decide to do, if you have a talent for making a great cup of espresso you should consider entering a barista competition. You will meet other people that share your passion for coffee and will certainly get some new ideas to try in your coffee shop.

Jim Cheresly shows you what coffee appliances to use in order to prepare a fine coffee drink at www.madcoffeemaker.com where you’ll find more about coffee roasters, grinders, coffee makers and espresso machines.