0 H&R Block At Home 2009 Deluxe Federal + State + eFile [OLD VERSION]

H&R Block At Home 2009 Deluxe Federal + State + eFile
Guidance for all your personal tax situations. Federal forms and State forms. Step-by-step interviews guide you through a customized experience relevant to your tax situation. Everything you need to prepare your federal and state taxes in one complete program.H&R Block At Home Deluxe includes everything you need to easily complete your federal and state taxes, plus five free federal e-files. With a new, easy-to-use interface, H&R Block

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0 ION Audio U Record USB Music Archive System

ION Audio U Record USB Music Archive System

Phono/line input records from a turntable,Plug and play USB connection - No driversEZ Vinyl Converter software (PC) and EZ AudioAudacity software records, edits and corrects
USB audio interface with recording software with large, easy to use illuminated buttons for control.The U Record USB music archive system lets you easily convert your favorite records and tapes to MP3 format using your turntable or tape player and computer. Simply connect U

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0 Norton Antivirus 2011 - 1 User/3 Pc

Norton Antivirus 2011 - 1 User/3 Pc

Norton AntiVirus 2011 offers fast, powerful protection that safeguards against viruses and spywareStop viruses and other threats before they can do damageStay safe with up-to-minute protection that won?t slow down your PCDetect and eliminate spyware cybercriminals can use to steal your personal informationKnow when applications are slowing down your PC, so you can make changes to improve performance
Stay a step ahead of threats to your PC with the

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0 CyberLink PowerDirector 9 Ultra - 64bit

CyberLink PowerDirector 9 Ultra - 64bit is the world's first 64-bit consumer video editor! With performance-driven technologies including the introduction of CyberLink's new TrueVelocity video rendering engine, PowerDirector accelerates video processing in every possible way. PowerDirector 9 combines ease-of-use, powerful features and unlimited opportunities to unleash your full creative potential. PowerDirector Ultra64 Create Spectacular Videos at Blazing Speed Turbo-charge HD

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0 Chicago Public Schools cancels classes due to winter weather

CHICAGO (AP) — The nation's third-largest school district will cancel classes Wednesday ahead of a winter storm expected to drop up to two feet of snow on Chicago.

Chicago Public Schools officials say they can't risk the safety of students and staff.

The district's interim chief executive officer, Terry Mazany, made the announcement Tuesday afternoon. He says the decision was made based on projections of continued heavy snowfall through the evening and overnight.

Officials say all school-related programs and scheduled after-school activities will also be canceled.

The blizzard bearing down on the city has already forced airlines to halt flights into the city's two major airports and prompted downtown retailers to close shops early.

Wednesday's planned closing is the first for Chicago Public Schools since January 1999.

Original Source : LaTimes

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0 Storm halts flights at O’Hare, Midway; CPS cancels classes

(Crain's) — O’Hare International Airport had seen more than 1,300 flights canceled by midafternoon Tuesday and carriers at Midway Airport ceased operations, as a powerful winter storm took hold of Chicago.

The Chicago Public Schools announced there will be no classes Wednesday.

The Chicago Department of Aviation said both Midway and O’Hare remained open Tuesday afternoon, but most of the airlines planned to stop operating flights at O’Hare for the rest of the evening. Most carriers at O’Hare indicated they will have limited or no flight operations Wednesday, the department said in a news release.

At Midway, airlines have canceled flights for the remainder of today. Some airlines expect to resume operations Wednesday afternoon, with the majority of flights expected to resume in the evening, the Aviation Department said.

The Chicago Public Schools canceled classes Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the safety of students and school-based staff,” Chicago Public Schools Interim Chief Executive Officer Terry Mazany said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. Principals, assistant principals, lunchroom managers, engineers, custodians and security personnel have to report to their schools, according to the release, but teachers and other staff do not.

Metra moved up its rush-hour schedule and election officials closed early voting sites as the Chicago area braced for a blizzard that is expected to be the city's third-worst storm ever.

Commuters heading to the suburbs packed some Metra trains to capacity in the early afternoon as they attempted to avoid traveling during a storm that could ultimately dump two feet of snow on the city. Travelers were denied entrance to one Metra route on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line as the cars were full, according to a witness.

The suburban transit agency adjusted its schedule Tuesday to run more trains earlier in the day and canceling some rush hour routes. The adjusted schedule can be found on Metra's website.

Gov. Pat Quinn has activated more than 500 Illinois National Guard troops to be stationed at rest areas along interstate highways. The troops, who will be stocked with water and snack bars, will work with the Illinois State Police to ensure stranded travelers are safe.

The Chicago Board of Elections announced voting sites will be closed Wednesday. Election officials say they expect early voting to resume Thursday.

Monday was the first day of early voting in an election that features the candidacy of former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Authorities have said they expected early-voter turnout to be far higher this year than during the last election four years ago.

If forecasters are right, Tuesday's storm will be overshadowed only by the 21.6 inches of snow that fell in 1999 and the 23 inches in 1967.

National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Schaffer said the good news is that the weather system stretching from Central Illinois near Quincy to the northeast across Peoria and up into Chicago won't result in heavy snow until most people are home from work Tuesday evening and in bed overnight.

The National Weather Service warned that high winds with gusts of up to 60 mph could produce waves on Lake Michigan of up to 25 feet, leading to considerable coastal flooding and freezing spray, particularly along Lake Shore Drive.

Travel across the plains and Midwest was a mess.

Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City and Tulsa International Airport were both closed. In Texas, the destination for thousands trying to get to the Super Bowl on Sunday, Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport was closed for about an hour so crews could treat runways glazed over with ice.

Original Source : Chicago Business

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0 Metra Train Schedule Problems

Because of the extreme blizzard warning for the Chicago area, Metra will be supplying extra service in the early afternoon from its downtown terminals on numerous of its lines to accommodate consumers who will be departing perform early on Tuesday, Feb. 1st.

This modified schedule will suggest that some frequently scheduled rush hour trains will not operate on Tuesday. Metra will carry on to use all feasible measures offered to fight extraordinary weather problems. Please permit additional travel time to assure your protected passage to and from your destination.

Please review the list of early departure trains to see how this will affect your commute home.

Original Source : Metra Trains

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0 Set a Standard of High Expectations with Accountability

Professional ball teams with a chance of getting to the championship set high performance standards for their team members. It is imperative that professional women in leadership positions do the same in business.

It has been my experience in consulting with organizations the past seven years that few business leaders are consistent enough in communicating job performance expectations. Even fewer do a good job of holding their employees accountable to the expected job performance. This is a lesson women business leaders must learn.

The reason this is an important area for business women to focus on is that a recent study of 34,000 employees showed 60 percent of those who reported their companies were doing too little to correct poor employee performance said they were not positively engaged in their work. On the flip side the survey showed that 73 percent who believed their company did address poor performers were positively engaged in their work.

On championship athletic teams, poor performance is not tolerated. Under performers are held accountable and replaced. Although in the business world it is more difficult to replace employees from a practical, tactical and legal standpoint, professional women need to understand that it should be just as easy to set clear expectations for employees and hold them accountable to those performance expectations.

If a standard of high expectations is the norm within a company culture, team members that are a fit for that type of culture appreciate the fact that they and their team members are held to a high standard and, as such, will participate in holding each other accountable to the standard.

Another key for women in leadership positions to remember is that they must also hold themselves to the same high standards expected of others in the organization. They must model the behavior they expect from their team members. The quickest way to lose the engagement of otherwise positive, high-performing employees is to show up with a “do as I say, not as I do” leadership style.

At a leadership conference many years ago, I heard retired Army General Norman Schwartzkopf give a keynote address in which he discussed this very subject, saying, “Successful organizations set high standards. When high standards are set and clearly communicated, more times than not, people will work to meet and even exceed those standards.” This is the foundation of any championship team.

In working with both male and female business leaders, I’ve noticed two challenges to applying this approach. The first is that leaders fail to set and communicate the high performance standards for fear of being seen as too demanding or autocratic. The second, which is related to the first, is the fear of not being liked.

I’ve learned from my own personal experience that it is much better to be respected than liked. If, as a business leader, you try to be liked, you will end up being neither liked nor respected. If you lead by communicating clear expectations with specific accountabilities and you give your people the latitude to learn from their mistakes while celebrating and reinforcing their wins, you will be both respected and liked.

This is the reputation to which professional women on their way to leadership roles should be aspiring.

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0 10 Ways for Moms to Save Money in the New Year

The New Year is here! Have you set your New Year’s resolutions? Is one of them to save money or pay off debt? I would like to share with you ten ways for moms to save money in the New Year! Simple tasks that will help you reap the benefits for months to come.

1. Shop around for car insurance! Many companies out there have high rates and you may be unaware of the savings you are missing out on. I would recommend looking online as well as your local insurance companies. You will also find you will receive cheaper rates if you have multiple vehicles on a policy.

2. Make a grocery list and stick to it. Before you run to the store, look through your cupboards and come up with a list of the things you actually need. No impulse buying!

3. Use coupons. This is a challenge for some. But you’ll find there are coupons for everything from developing photos online to a meal at a local fast-food restaurant to groceries. There are also many coupon websites that will allow you to print off coupons that you know your family will use.

4. Evaluate your phone plans. Many people I come into contact are unaware that there are unlimited long-distance calling plans out there. Your local phone company may not want you to know this, but you can find a better deal. It does take time to call the companies and find out all of the details, but you’ll be glad you have spent that time when you see your next phone bill.

5. Find a local cosmetology school and save on your haircuts. You’ll be helping students learn their trade as well as getting a hair cut for as little as $8!

6. Buy store-brand baby diapers. Diapers are just that, diapers. There is no need to have the most expensive brand to catch your little one’s poop, right? You’ll be able to save about $10 by buying a box of store-brand diapers instead of the name brands

7. Don’t pay for babysitting for a night out. Trade with a friend or neighbor who has children nearby. This allows you to have time out, you know your kids are safe and you’re allowing your friend to have the same peace the next time she has an event.

8. Shop online! You’ll be able to compare items from one store to the next. You’ll also find that most online sores have a sale or clearance section. I recently bought an $18 outfit for my daughter online for $4.60. Now that’s thinking smart! Don’t forget to find those coupon codes while checking out online as well.

9. Start a savings account. We often over look the value of having money put away for a rainy day. If you saved just $5 each week that would be an extra $260 in your bank account at the end of the year.

10. Lastly, pay your bills on time. This will eliminate costly late charges and fees. It will also keep your credit in good standings.

Here’s to the New Year and saving some money along the way!

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0 9 Tips to Increase Focus

As a kid in school, I was by far the math and science whiz. Reading, however, was an extremely trying task. My mind would wonder to such a point that I’d often have to reread a paragraph several times before I would actually grasp the material. Today, I find that I’m always thinking about things other than my present situation and I multitask to such an extent that I’ll be on task number five before completing tasks one through four.

Whether I have ADD or I’m just a product of this crazy-paced, technology-ridden world, my ability to focus is not what I’d like it to be. And, I get the impression I’m not alone. Many of us suffer from constant distractions that make it difficult to concentrate. The good news, however, is that there are simple things you can do to help:

In-the-Moment Tips:

   1. Computer Alerts. Working on a computer can be very distracting. Especially with the sounds and pop-ups that alert us to fresh emails, tweets, IMs, etc. Every time a “ding” goes off, I tend to stop what I’m doing and re-focus on the newest “ding.” Turn off sound and pop-up features, and log out of email, chat, and twitter applications to enable you to fully focus on your current task.
   2. Phones. If you get a lot of phone calls and have trouble ignoring them, forward them to voice mail, turn off your phone or silence the ringer. Set aside a specific time during the day to get back to people via phone.
   3. Make Lists and Make Plans. Listing out what you want to accomplish and how you want to do so helps to keep you on track. Without a plan, however, it is easy to put things on hold to check email, clean or surf the Web. Set time lines and “deadlines” to each of your tasks. This will hold you responsible to completing things on time.
   4. Declutter and Organize. Clutter often equals distraction. If you have lots of papers and random items lying around your desk, they will constantly be a reminder of other things on which you could focus. Organize your work area so that you can focus during work time and deal with the “in-box” in a timely way.
   5. Create Intermittent Active Time. When our bodies and environments are stagnant, our brains can start to drift or go on auto pilot. Take breaks throughout the day that get you moving and into different areas of your home or office. It will help you to refocus more effectively when you come back to work.
   6. Get Away. If you are in an office environment and have trouble focusing at your desk, try booking a small conference room or work space that allows you to get away from the distractions. If you are doing a lot of computer work, see if you can “book” a laptop for the day and go somewhere that is quiet. If you are at home and your family is making it difficult to concentrate, go to a neighborhood coffee shop and spend a couple of hours there getting focused.

Long-term Tips:

   1. Diet. Our diets can have a tremendous impact on our ability to focus. Eating very large, heavy meals can cause our digestive tract to “hoard” the blood that could be used by our brains. Eating lighter, more frequent meals sustains our energy levels and keeps blood flow stable to the brain. Further, avoid processed foods that often contain preservatives, dyes, and other artificial and synthetic ingredients. Research has shown that these ingredients promote hyperactivity in individuals who have ADD and ADHD, as well as those individuals who don’t.
   2. Exercise. Exercise allows us to release stress, clear our minds, and think clearly. The best way to set the stage for the day is to exercise early in the morning. This will help you to think through your day and how you want to tackle your “to-dos.”
   3. Sleep. One of the biggest contributors to lack of concentration is lack of rest or, believe it or not, too much rest. Your mind depends on proper sleep to function optimally and concentrate. Aim to get seven to eight solid hours each night.

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