Google’s AdSense is an attractive revenue making opportunity for small, medium and large web sites since a long time now but it’s against the rule of Google’s AdSense if you are running any website only for AdSense earning for which you need to include a few Affiliate links or sell your own product, too.

Googlehas a lot of forbidden practices when it comes to AdSense, and too many user are finding out they spoiled Google’s policies after the fact – because they never bothered to read the AdSense policies in the first phase.

Google AdSense is the Google program where you can host pay-per-click ads on your Website. When someone clicks an ad, you earn money. So if you are one of those people that don’t like the idea of paying for a site, this is an excellent way to earn your money back and then some.

How Much You Can Earn With AdSense?

The amount you’ll earn depends largely on the amount of targeted traffic you receive to your own site, how well the ads match your audience’s interests, the placement of the ads on your pages, and of course the amount you receive per click.

Ideally, you should create a site on a topic you know a lot about. That way you’ll have a much easier time creating a generous amount of content on that subject.

Determine a goal for what you want to earn using AdSense. Of course, you want to earn a lot, but make sure it’s realistic.

    Be realistic Forget about the fantasy story you read on internet about earning big money from Google. If you think of making a website and getting to be instant rich, it is likely to disappoint you. Imagine that if you build a small website with 100,000 page views per month with 0.5% CTR and 5c average payout, you will only get US$25 (100,000 x 0.5% x 0.5c). To achieve 100,000 page views a month, you possibly need 500-1000 users. By theory, your website can reach more than billions of internet users in the whole world, but there are also 100 millions of websites competing for users.
    Website promotion techniques especially search engine optimization and article marketing will bring more traffic to your site. You also need to have content that will attract the ads with the highest Pay Per Click (PPC) rate that are relevant to that content. Google is at least as interested as you are in having your ads perform well on your site and therefore provide the info you need to optimize your AdSense.
    Start building keyword-rich pages containing well researched, profitable keywords, and get lots of high quality links to your site. For example, if your site is about topics such as debt consolidation, web hosting or asbestos-related cancer, you’ll earn much more per click than if it’s about free things. On the other hand, if you concentrate only on top-paying keywords, you’ll face an awful lot of tough competition. What you want are keywords that are high in demand and low in supply, So do some careful keyword research before you build your pages.

How to Join AdSense:

Once you have pages ready for your website, go to http://adsense.google.com to apply.

When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you’d like to show the ads. If you’ve done a good job of defining the content on your web pages, the ads that show should be relevant to the content of your page…increasing the chances of click-thrus by your visitors.

You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages. The placement is up to you. You can even customize the colors to match your site’s theme. Google AdSense allows you to specify up to 200 URLs for sites you want to bar from placing ads on your pages. The problem is that most times you won’t know the competitors are out there until their ads appear.

Google Money Making Tips on Succeeding:

    Create a website with your Don’t try to use a free web host because your site will likely have banners and pop-ups and get rejected because it looks unprofessional. A free web host will give you a website address like this:

http://www.thefreewebhost.com/yoursite/member1234/home.html instead of… http://www.yoursite.com Start by registering your own domain and then select a web host.

    Quality is the most important part of any web site. If your site does not contain the content of expected quality the visitor might not come back, if the main goal of your site is to make money with AdSense, be sure to choose a topic that you know a lot about so you can write lots and lots of content. A variety of size and shape ads for placing in your content are available. These can be text or image ads or both – you specify what you’ll allow. Ad units are full ads. Link units are simply a strip of text links that your visitors might want to click. Google allows you to put up to 3 Ad Units and 1 Link unit on each page of your Web site.
    Get traffic. Once your site is up and running you’ll need to learn how to get your site listed in the major search engines.
    Google AdSense for Search – This place a search box on your Web site. When a user enters a term and conducts a search, a search results page opens, that hosts more pay-per-click ads. You can customize the color scheme of the search results page to harmonize with your web site. Although Google doesn’t release exact details as to how they determine the ads to serve on a given page, they do say that it’s the text content of the page that matters, not the Meta tags.
    Google Referrals – You canmake money by referring visitors to use a Google product, like AdSense, AdWords, the Google Toolbar and other Google software. For example Google generates the code that you paste into the desired location on your web page. You can choose from a wide variety of buttons and text links of different colors. If someone goes to your site and clicks the link and signs up for an AdSense account, when that person earns a $100 from Google AdSense and receives a payout from Google, you’ll also receive $100 for referring them, if an ad dynamo happens to visit your site and uses your referral link, you can make money anyway!

Google AdSense Payments:

Google will not issue an AdSense payment until your earnings exceed $100. Unfortunately, there are loads of Google AdSense Forum entries about website operators who accumulated $90 or more in click through earnings only to get banned from Google and not get paid anything at all before they ever reached $100. This may be because Google doesn’t take a close look to see if you’re complying with their guidelines until it comes time to pay you.

Don’t's:

    Do not click your ads. If Google catches you, they will suspend your account and retain any earnings you might have. However, if you, by mistakes, click your ads for one or two times, Google will keep that earning but rather not to punish you as long as it doesn’t happen constantly.
    Google has a lot of restrictions on how the ads have to be displayed. One of the major reasons for account suspension is that webmasters tried to blur the ads and mislead others to think that it’s “content”. For simplicity, never attempt to use CSS to hide Google’s logo unless you’re authorized to do it.

Patience is key with Google. It can take a few months. Don’t create a hodgepodge site with topics on everything under the sun. Stay focused and make sure your site has an obvious theme.

Getting into Google is completely free and can bring in hundreds or even thousands of visitors per day. Then do the same with Yahoo, MSN, etc. All The Best!

By emarketinguide

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Forexpros – U.S. stock futures pointed to a broadly lower open on Wednesday, after rallying sharply the previous day on the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep rates at ultra-low levels “at least” through mid-2013.



Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a loss of 1.5%, the S&P 500 futures fell 1.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.9%.



The Federal Reserve pledged on Tuesday to keep its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low, adding that it will maintain a loose monetary policy until “at least through mid-2013.”



In a statement, the Fed said growth was much slower than expected and the labor market had deteriorated, underlining concerns over the U.S. economic outlook.



The Fed also indicated that it “discussed the range of policy tools available to promote a strong economic outlook recovery in a context of price stability” and said it was prepared to employ the tools “as appropriate”.



Meanwhile, shares in Walt Disney tumbled 4.3% after the company reported restructuring and impairment charges totaling USD34 million in the third quarter.



On the upside, department store operator Macy’s saw shares climb 3% after reporting a 64% increase in second quarter profit. The upbeat results prompted the company to raise its full-year earnings forecast.



Clothing retailer Polo Ralph Lauren saw shares surge 10.2% after it said fiscal first quarter net income rose 52% to USD184.1 million. Revenue in the quarter rose 28% to USD1.49 billion, above expectations for revenue of USD1.43 billion.



Other notable earnings scheduled for Wednesday include, technology firm Cisco Systems and media giant News Corp., which were both slated to report results after the closing bell.



Meanwhile, shares in Bank of America could be active, as chief executive Brian Moynihan was scheduled to face an investor conference call later in the day with Fairholme Capital, which owns around 92 million shares in the bank.



Across the Atlantic, European stock markets posted sharp losses, as mounting fears over sovereign debt contagion weighed. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.7%, France’s CAC 40 fell 1.5%, Germany's DAX shed 0.5%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.25% lower.



During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.9%.



A report from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s trade surplus widened to USD31.5 billion in July, the highest level in more than two years. Analysts had expected China’s trade surplus to widen to USD27.4 billion.



Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on the federal budget balance as well as reports on crude oil stockpiles and wholesale inventories.

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Forexpros - The U.S. federal budget balance fell less-than-expected last month, official data showed on Wednesday.



In a report, Department of the Treasury said that U.S. federal budget balance fell to a seasonally adjusted -129.4B, from -43.1B in the preceding month.



Analysts had expected U.S. federal budget balance to fall to -140.0B last month

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Forexpros - The Euro was lower against the U.S. Dollar on Wednesday after the release of U.S. data on Federal Budget Balance.



EUR/USD was trading at 1.4226, down 1.04% at time of writing.



The pair was likely to find support at 1.4070, Friday’s low, and resistance at 1.4426, Monday’s high.



Earlier in the day, official data showed that The U.S. federal budget balance fell less-than-expected to a seasonally adjusted -129.4B last month from -43.1B in the preceding month.



Analysts had expected U.S. federal budget balance to fall to -140.0B last month.



Meanwhile, the Euro was down against the British Pound and the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.14% to hit 0.8798 and EUR/JPY falling 1.26% to hit 109.24.

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FXstreet.com (Córdoba) – The EUR/USD peaked earlier at 1.4540/47, the highest price since January 14, 2010 but lost bullish momentum, moved in ranges for some hour and currently is testing levels below 1.4500. The pair is retreating after rising 200 pips from today’s opening price, extending to almost 400 pips the distance from Monday’s low.

The EUR/USD hit recently at 1.4987 the lowest price since early European session and remains hovering barely below the 1.4500 level.

Fan Yang, Chief Technical Strategist at FXTimes points out that the pair “is likely returning to its bullish mode”. “A swing projection seen in the daily chart is suggested by a positive reversal signal where the RSI low is lower, but the price low is higher”, Yang says. He affirms that the swing projection targets 1.4675, “this is the short-term target at the moment”.

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By: Tom Jennemann

New York 20/04/2011 - Comex gold was steady above $1,500 on Wednesday morning on a weaker dollar and governmental debt worries.

But prices have eased slightly from the morning's high following a flood of positive earnings reports and stronger equity markets.

Gold futures on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange for June delivery were recently trading up $9 at $1,504.10 per ounce in New York and earlier in the session reached an all-time record of $1,506.20.

"The impetus for the run-up early this morning was clearly the softer dollar, which is getting hammered and fell to its lowest level in the past 15 months [against the euro],” a US-based fund manager said. “When the dollar takes a beating like this, metals are going to rally."

The euro rose 1.4 percent to 1.4543 against the dollar this morning largely on increased risk appetite and after a successful bond auction in Spain.

But the yellow metal has edged down marginally from its intraday high since the open of equity markets in New York.

"We've seen some quite positive earning reports from the likes of Intel and Freeport-McMoRan, which had the Dow up by over 175 points," the fund manager said.

“Despite all the dire headlines of late, Wall Street doesn't think the economy is hanging off the cliff,” he added. “Some folks are looking at riskier assets this morning as the stock bulls have returned.”

Standard Bank echoed this sentiment in a note. "Fears that the global economic recovery might be in jeopardy, sparked by Standard & Poor's ratings outlook downgrade of the US, have been dispelled by strong corporate earnings results and a steady improvement in US housing data," analyst Marc Ground wrote.

Existing US home sales rose 3.7 percent in March to an annualised rate of 5.1 million units, slightly ahead of expectations, the National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday morning.

Nevertheless, many investors continue to express concerns about the burgeoning debt crisis in the US and Europe and inflation around the world.

Bolstering this argument was S&P's surprise outlook downgrade of US long-term debt to "negative" to "stable".

"This latest chapter in the saga of sovereign debt concerns highlights gold's benefits as a risk-hedge and currency diversifier. It also presents new challenges for investors who traditionally, in times of uncertainty, steer capital towards US Treasuries," Marcus Grubb, managing director of the Investment at the World Gold Council, said in a statement.

Additionally, the US government does not have a credible plan to cut the deficit, International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard said on Wednesday according to French paper Le Monde.

Comex silver for May delivery also soared on Wednesday - it was recently trading up about one dollar at $44.90 per ounce, which is a 31-year high. The closely watched gold-silver ratio has dropped to 33.5 - a 28-year low.


(Editing by Mark Shaw)

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DailyFX provides forex news on the economic reports and political events that influence the currency market.

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Now that you have a trading system designed and coded, it is time to test it to make sure that your coding is free of logical and technical errors. We will also look at something known as optimization - a feature in some trading programs that allows you to fine tune your trading rules to fit the stocks that you plan on trading.

Testing Your Trading System
The vast majority of trading applications that support programming languages also support testing tools. These tools are divided into two categories:

1. Technical
Technical testing tools search for technical errors in your code. For example, if you forget to add a semicolon after a statement, the technical testing tool will notify you that your statement is invalid.

The location of the technical testing tool depends on the trading application being used. MetaTrader displays an error or flawed results when you try to compile your code, while trading applications like Tradecision have a "code check" utility built into the interface that lets you check your code for errors before applying it.

2. Logical
Logical testing tools search for logical errors in your code. For example, if you happened to use a "greater than" sign instead of a "less than" sign (which is not a technical error), a logical testing tool will show you that your results don't make sense.

The most popular logical testing tool is the backtesting tool. This tool allows you to take past data and apply your trading system to that data. This gives you an idea of the following:

* Whether your trading system is a profitable one
* What conditions prove to be most profitable
* Where any errors in your rules might exist

(For more information, see Backtesting: Interpreting The Past.)

Troubleshooting Your Trading System
As with any other type of programming, troubleshooting can be a tedious and difficult task. Finding errors in your code requires systematically sorting through your code to identify syntactical errors that, although often minor, can bring your program to a halt.

Here are some common errors to look for:

* Missing semicolons after statements - These have to be after every statement.
* Undefined variables - Remember that you have to declare them before you use them!
* Spelling mistakes - If any names or functions are spelled incorrectly, the trading application will return an error (see example below).
* Incorrect usage of (=) - Remember that "=" assigns one value to another value, while "==" means "equal to".
* Incorrect usage of built-in functions - Consult your trading application's documentation or application programming interface (API) to make sure that you are using the correct syntax.

Some trading applications contain a feature that will let you test your code before using or compiling it. This feature allows you to see what the error is and on which line it can be found. Take Tradecision for example:



Figure 1

Here we can see that Tradecision gives us the location (line and column) of the error, a description of the error and the type of error (in this case, it is syntactical). If we look at the expression, we can see that in column 8 "xrossBelow" is not a valid function. If we replace the "x" (which is in column 8) with a "c", then we will have valid code.

If we look at MetaTrader, we can see that the errors come up when we try to compile the program:



Here we can see that in the description it says the "BuyNow" variable wasn't defined. Double clicking on this error message will bring us to the specific location of the error in the code.

As you can see, most trading applications give you an easy way to locate technical errors and fix them. Fixing the errors simply involves systematically going through each error message and then recompiling the code and/or applying the trading system to your charts.

Optimizing Your Trading System
Some trading applications let you select variables to be optimized. Tradecision, for example, lets you easily select a variable and replace it with code that will attempt optimization. Optimization itself is simply a process that finds the optimal value for a particular trading system element based on past results and performance. Note that over-optimization results in trading systems that are unable to adapt to market conditions; therefore, it is important to only optimize a few important variables, not every variable!

Here is what the optimization feature looks like in Tradecision:



Figure 3





You can see that we declared two new variables and set them equal to "#". The "#" simply means that the trading program will replace this with the optimal number. Next, you can see that we used the new variables within our trading strategy. Finally, we set a range for the numbers (so that the program will not search to infinity).

Some other trading programs have features that operate in a similar way, allowing you to replace the numerical value with a "#" and telling the trading application to optimize it.

Conclusion
By now you should have developed a working trading system in which you can have confidence. In the next part of this series, you will learn how to apply your trading system to charts and how to use it to make trading decisions!

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LONDON - Renault has launched a Facebook game in an effort to target its super-mini Twingo model at younger, city-dwelling consumers.

Renault: implements Facebook campaign

In the Facebook app, created by Publicis Modem, the French manufacturer poses a series of questions about contemporary life in an attempt to engage male and female drivers between the ages of 20 and 35 years old.

Question include, "Ever added someone from school just to see what job they're doing now?" and, "Have you ever posted and deleted and then posted and deleted a comment on a friend's wall until you got it just right?".

Cristel Davila, Publicis Modem, said: "Facebook is both the embodiment of modern times and the perfect place to target our audience. From our side, it was crucial to get the questions and mechanics spot on, to ensure that this Twingo campaign had viral potential."

Separately, Renault is rolling out a new reality TV programme on its Renault TV platform. To promote the launch of its Mégane Coupé Cabriolet and Renault Wind coupé-roadster models, the marque is inviting consumers across Europe to audition to take part in a road trip. The show, entitled 'Very Good Trip', will screen in June and July.

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A new business can be established with a maximum of nine days in Hanoi from Tuesday (November 17, 2009), instead of the 30 days it takes at present.

The announcement was made Monday by the deputy director of the capital city’s Department of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Van Tu. Under a decision recently issued by the Hanoi People’s Committee, selected staff from the planning and investment department, tax agency and the police will gather at the department’s business registration office to deal with applications for establishing a new business. With this arrangement, businesses don’t have to spend time running around to complete all necessary procedures, Tu told Thanh Nien. The department has also proposed adequate compensation for the staff so that they do not solicit bribes or engage in other actions that cause difficulties to businesses, he added. The government is making several efforts to streamline administrative procedures that have been criticized as time-consuming and too complicated. However, many failings found in the 2001-2010 administrative reform program has prompted the National Assembly to directly oversee it next year. Reported by An Nguyen

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Vietnam’s central bank is placing greater importance now than earlier this year on managing the stability of the country’s foreign-exchange market, fund manager Dragon Capital said in a note to investors.

The so-called official exchange rate of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar was about 17,856 per dollar as of Friday, compared with 17,483 at the end of 2008. On unofficial markets, the currency’s exchange rate is fluctuating between 18,200 and 18,300 per dollar, according to the research note from Ho Chi Minh City-based Dragon. “Over the past quarter, indications are that the State Bank of Vietnam has shifted tact from expanding credit to managing the foreign exchange” rate, Dragon wrote in a note Thursday. “Dollar injections (Vietnamese dong subtractions) are the likely policy component in rising Vietnamese dong interest rates.” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., which predicted last month that the Vietnamese central bank would devalue the dong by 4 percent by the end of the year, this month said that “pressure for greater flexibility” in the exchange rate is increasing, citing a decline in the country’s foreign reserves. Vietnam’s foreign-exchange reserves dropped to US$17.6 billion by the end of June from $23 billion at the end of 2008, according to the Asian Development Bank. HSBC Holdings Plc said this month it expects “modest” depreciation in the official exchange rate to 18,200 dong per dollar “in the next few months.” The State Bank of Vietnam is working with international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to bolster the country’s foreign-exchange reserves and prevent instability in the dong, central bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau said this week. “Vietnamese dong liquidity is getting tighter,” Dragon said. “Dollars are available, but domestic sentiment for the Vietnamese dong is uninspired.” Source: Bloomberg

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Seventy-year-old Ta Tri Hai on violin The elderly but healthy man with a ponytail and a long, silky white beard is not busking but simply playing for the joy of it.

Now into his seventies, Ta Tri Hai has become a fixture of April 30th Park on Han Thuyen Street in the morning and September 23rd Park on Pham Ngu Lao Street at night. With his trademark cowboy’s hat, Hai is a familiar sight to the people who live in this part of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 and a welcome surprise to the tourists and other pedestrians who happen to be passing by. Street airs Hai has been playing his violin, mandolin and harmonica in the great outdoors for going on 60 years. Born in Hanoi, he has lived in this southern metropolis for 32 years. The retired engineer and self-taught musician is proficient on his chosen instruments and has a vast repertoire that includes many songs from other countries. Every day for five years, Hai has been performing in April 30th Park in the morning and September 23rd Park in the evening. “I spend more time playing out here than staying home,” he says. “I’m getting old. The music keeps me occupied and makes life more interesting.” Many passers-by stop to listen and sing along with him or accompany him on their own instruments, young people particularly. Hai always has his violin, mandolin and harmonica with him when he goes to the park. “I carry the musical instruments here. The young people who can play them seem very adept and natural,” he says. “I choose to sit in the park as few areas of this noisy city have a quiet place for people to sit together with the plants and grass and enjoy music.” Ngan Sao Club So many people were coming to hear Hai play and to learn from him that he gave them a collective name: the Ngan Sao Club, whose name means “a thousand stars.” Anyone who likes good music can join, and instrumentalists of every kind are welcome to play along with Hai while the other spectators sing. In the shade of the trees, Hai and the Ngan Sao crowd liven up the park and adjoining street with their music. Sometimes they perform for hours at a stretch, and at any one time there can be up to 100 musicians and singers. Global contact Besides his musical prowess, Hai can speak English and French. Many foreign students and tourists stop to listen and chat with him, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser when he takes a foreigner’s request and plays one of their folk songs. “Some tourists still send me emails with photos regularly. They stay in touch,” he says. Hai keeps a notebook with him for people to write down their thoughts and feelings, as well as their names, addresses and phone numbers. Turning over the pages, one can see comments in Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, English, French, Thai, Arabic and so forth left by Quang Thanh, Martin, Jessica, Amy... Hai says he’s onto his ninth notebook. He probably doesn’t know exactly how many people have written in his notebooks and how many languages they contain. Obviously he cannot understand all the comments but he holds them in high regard without exception as their authors came from all over the world. Every night after his public show, Hai returns to his small rented room in an old building on Ngo Duc Ke Street in District 1. When he returns to the park the next morning, a sizeable crowd has already assembled in anticipation. And so the music resumes. Reported by Diem Thu-Ha Dinh Nguyen

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Contestants from Miss Teen Vietnam 2009 The increasing popularity of homosexual beauty contests has raised eyebrows, with people asking whether or not such events are legal.

A week doesn’t go by without a beauty pageant or fashion show making headlines in Ho Chi Minh City. Publicity magnets, these events have launched the careers of several of Vietnam’s most successful models, actresses and singers. But as the times change, so have the beauty contests and fashion shows, as some of the most popular pageants are now for homosexuals and teenage girls while the catwalks have become crowded with transsexuals. Many of these events are unlicensed, but they’ve been growing in popularity and numbers throughout the country. But some worry about their legality. Issued last December by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Department of Performing Arts, Regulation No. 87 states that transsexuals cannot take part in beauty contests. The regulation, however, doesn’t mention anything about pageants for homosexuals. But in Vietnam, it is commonly accepted that if something is not mentioned in the law, it is forbidden. Gender benders Despite technically being underground, gay contests have attracted a lot of public attention. VIETNAM’S REGULATION ON BEAUTY CONTESTS: Beauty pageant contestants must: 1. Be Vietnamese female citizens aged 18 or older 2. Have graduated from high school 3. Not have undergone cosmetic or sex change surgeries 4. Have no criminal record; not be under investigation for any crime One popular pageant is the annual Miss Angel Contest for homosexual men, first held in 2006 by The gioi thu ba (The Third World) Co. Ltd. and gay club Bau troi xanh (Blue Sky). Contestants, aged 16-24, compete in three rounds including the female costume round and a session in which they must demonstrate their knowledge about HIV/AIDS and safe sex. The jury consists of make-up artists, psychologists and members of the Ho Chi Minh City’s AIDS Prevention Committee. This year’s pageant was held in June, attracting hundreds of contestants from HCMC and other provinces. An audience member who wished to remain anonymous said most of the contestants were transvestites but that some transsexuals had also participated in the event. The crown was won by Lam Thy, 20, from the southern province of Tay Ninh. In an interview with Thanh Nien after the contest, Thy said she had had her breasts augmented and would undergo more complicated sex-related surgery in the near future. The Prince Style Contest for lesbians was held earlier this month, becoming the first public contest of its kind in HCMC open to all lesbians from southern provinces aged 17-28. Opening up? Vietnamese society is relatively conservative on issues of homosexuality and gay people and transgendered individuals often suffer social stigma. Two homosexual men compete at Miss Angel 2009 in Ho Chi Minh City last June But in recent years, several famous transsexuals, such as singer-actress Cindy Thai Tai, have opened up about their sexuality and gained acceptance. An increasing number of people from the transgender and homosexual communities have become more confident in going public about their sexuality. Many experts have said the government should consider changing laws to accommodate cultural events for transgendered people and homosexuals. The Department of Performing Arts is currently drafting a new law on fashion shows, but it so far does not mention whether or not transsexuals and homosexuals can perform in fashion events. Transsexual model Ha Vy, however, told Thanh Nien, she had been earning a living performing at parties, bars and other local venues throughout HCMC and neighboring provinces. The Dem Vong (Echo of the Night) Café in Hanoi is famous for its regular fashion shows every Monday and Thursday by models from Pattaya Club, the first public transsexual model group in the capital. An official from the HCMC Department of Justice who asked to remain anonymous said Vietnamese law only allows sex-related surgery for those who want to reaffirm their innate gender, specifically in cases of genital deformities and unclear genitalia. “There is no mention about transgendered people in the Civil Code,” he said. Too much too young Miss Teen Vietnam 2009, also called Teenage Star Vietnam, organized by Vietnam Multimedia Corporation’s VTC Television and VTC Game, has attracted female student competitors aged 16-19. Thousands of contestants competed in the pageant’s initial round from June to July 15, hoping to win a wide range of prizes from tourist trips to scholarships and cash. But the contest has violated the Regulation No. 87, which states that only those over 18 can compete in beauty contests. Pham Dinh Thang from Department of Performing Arts said the department had told organizers that underage girls cannot take part in the pageant. “We also asked Miss Teen’s organizers to consult the Ministry of Education and Training because the contestants are high school students, but the ministry has not responded yet,” he said. Reported by Do Tuan

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Miss Venezuela, Stefania Fernandez waves onstage after winning the Miss Universe 2009 annual pageant held at Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas August 23, 2009. Venezuelan Stefania Fernandez, an 18-year-old brunette, won the Miss Universe 2009 title on Sunday, giving her South American country its second consecutive win and its sixth title in the beauty pageant.

The svelte Venezuelan model defeated favourites from Australia and Dominican Republic to became the 58th winner of the crown in a show broadcast live around the world from the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas. The first runner-up was Miss Dominican Republic, Ada Aimee de la Cruz, while Miss Kosovo, Gona Dragusha, was second runner-up. Fernandez received the crown from fellow Venezuelan Dayana Mendoza, who won the 2008 Miss Universe contest held in Vietnam's resort city of Nha Trang. Overcome with excitement as the two Venezuelan beauties embraced, Mendoza initially fumbled and dropped the jewel-studded crown before placing it on Fernandez' head. It was the first time that a contestant from the same country won the title for a second year running. Oil producer Venezuela is famous for its beauty queens and has accumulated more international beauty pageant titles than any other country. The South American nation had produced five previous Miss Universe winners in 1979, 1981, 1986, 1996 and 2008 and has also won the Miss World contest five times. Only the United States has won more Miss Universe titles with 7. Fernandez was selected out of five finalists chosen from a total field of 83 contestants. The other five finalists came from Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Australia and Puerto Rico. In the deciding questions that preceded the announcement of the winner, Fernandez was asked by a judge what obstacles faced women seeking to become leaders of business corporations. "We've already reached the same level as men," she replied confidently, speaking through an interpreter. Before her, 21-year-old Australian model Rachael Finch, who had been widely favoured to win the crown, defended the swimsuit parade of the pageant, which has sometimes been criticized by critics of beauty contests. "I think our bodies are a beautiful part of a women and we should definitely show them to the world," Finch said. Government officials in the Bahamas, a scattered group of islands and keys southeast of the United States, were hoping that hosting the 2009 Miss Universe pageant would provide a much needed short-term boost to the islands' economy and tourism industry. Bahamas, like other Caribbean states, has been badly hit by the global economic recession which has reduced visitor arrivals and investment. Bahamas' unemployment rate has nearly doubled in the last year to just over 14 percent in May. The annual Miss Universe pageant -- which tries to present itself as something more meaningful than a swimwear parade -- was first held in Long Beach, California, in 1952. The event was taken over in 1996 by U.S. real estate mogul Donald Trump. Source: Reuters

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A worker packages cooking oil bottles at a factory in Ho Chi Minh City Further fiscal stimulus is needed as the US$8 billion package this year has worked its way through the economy, showing good results, experts say.

If the economy is not completely out of the woods by the end of the current stimulus package, its continuation should be considered though the amount can be smaller, economist Vu Dinh Anh said Friday in a report on Vietnam Television’s website Cao Sy Kiem, a member of the National Advisory Council for Monetary Policy, said more stimulus measures would be necessary even after the economy has recovered. “Local businesses need to descend the ladder step by step and there should not be any abrupt end in stimulus spending,” Kiem said in an interview with Tien Phong newspaper Wednesday. Although the government’s program to subsidize 4 percent of the interest rate on loans taken by local businesses has shown real effects, it can only meet about one third of the credit demand, he said, noting the program is also set to close in the next four months. Vietnam’s economy accelerated in the second quarter as the stimulus helped drive credit growth and buoyed construction activity. The nation’s commercial banks have lent more than VND397.7 trillion ($22.3 billion) to businesses as part of the government’s loan-subsidy program as of August 27, a 0.43 percent increase from a week earlier, according to a central bank report Friday. “The government’s interest-rate subsidy program has helped the banking system and companies avoid bad debt and bankruptcies,” Tran Du Lich, a member of Vietnam’s National Assembly Committee for Economic Affairs, said at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on August 19. Lich said the National Assembly will early next year discuss the size of another lending program for medium and long-term loans to help companies restructure businesses through the end of next year. The International Monetary Fund has said the global economy is recovering from a severe downturn, but it is too soon for governments to begin winding down stimulus efforts, according to AFP. “The outlook is improving but we do feel that it is very important to stress that it is no time for complacency,” AFP quoted IMF spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson as saying at a news conference Thursday. Kiem said interest rates on loans subsidized by the government are around 6 percent now but they would return to around 10 percent without the subsidies, which would cause many difficulties for local businesses. “What the government should do is to provide more credit,” he said, noting a credit growth target of around 30 percent is viable. The central bank plans to ease limits on credit growth this year as it aims to help the nation reach its economic expansion target of about 5 percent. The State Bank of Vietnam aims to cap expansion in lending at 30 percent, and will try to slow loan growth in the coming years, Governor Nguyen Van Giau said in a statement on the central bank’s website Friday. Credit from banks has grown 25 percent in the eight months through August from the end of last year, Giau said at a meeting in Da Lat on Friday. Vietnam’s economy may grow 5.2 percent this year, he said. Source: Thanh Nien, Bloomberg

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Đông Nhi nổi tiếng nhờ cộng đồng mạng trước rồi mới chính thức bước vào sân khấu chuyên nghiệp.

Cô sở hữu nhiều ca khúc hit làm mưa, làm gió các bảng xếp hạng như “Khóc”, “Lời thú tội ngọt ngào”, “Bối rối”…

Không chỉ biết đàn, múa, hát… Đông Nhi còn có khả năng sáng tác. Đó là điểm đặc biệt của cô so với các ca sĩ trẻ khác hiện nay.

Tuy được nhiều khán giả trẻ mến mộ, nhưng Đông Nhi không chọn nhạc teen để theo đuổi. Cô chỉ hát một số ca khúc mang hơi hướng teenpop, còn lại đa phần vẫn là những bản tình ca đầy tính tự sự.

Thời gian tới Đông Nhi sẽ “lột xác” với hình ảnh nữ tính để phù hợp với lứa tuổi của mình.

Trong sáng tác cũng vậy, cô sẽ chú ý nhiều hơn về ca từ và giai điệu để ca khúc có chiều sâu, thể hiện rõ nét cá tính của cô hơn.

Không chỉ hát pop, cô còn thử nghiệm dòng R&B và rock alternative. Đó là cách để cô làm mới chính mình.

Hiện Đông Nhi rong ruổi cùng “Thế giới Vpop” đến các tỉnh miền Trung và Tây Nguyên cùng các hot girl Phạm Quỳnh Anh, Hoàng Thùy Linh, Khổng Tú Quỳnh.

Sau khi trở về, cô sẽ tiếp tục hoàn tất CD đầu tay vẫn còn dang dở. Hiện CD đã thu xong phần audio gồm 8 ca khúc, trong đó hầu hết là những sáng tác của chính Đông Nhi.

Cô cho biết, vì album đã “ngâm” quá lâu nên cô sẽ quay thêm vài video clip tặng kèm để “chuộc lỗi” với khán giả.

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Một nhân viên kiểm tra cốc thủy tinh trong phòng tiệc ở cung điện Buckingham.

Lính gác tuần hành tại cung điện vào mùa đông tháng 2/2009.

Chiếc xe đưa Thủ tướng Anh Tony Blair rời cung điện sau khi đến thăm Nữ hoàng Elizabeth để xin phép về việc giải tán quốc hội trước khi bầu cử, ngày 5/4/2005.

Tổng thống Mỹ George W. Bush bước qua phòng tranh của cung điện với Nữ hoàng Elizabeth, ngày 19/11/2003.

Nhân viên chuẩn bị đĩa ăn có dấu hiệu hoàng gia tại bữa tiệc trong cung điện, ngày 25/7/2008.

Nữ hoàng Elizabeth chuẩn bị thu âm bài phát biểu chúc mừng Giáng sinh tại cung điện, hôm 12/12/2007.

Các bộ váy của Nữ hoàng Elizabeth II được trưng bày trong cung điện.

Khách khứa trong phòng khiêu vũ của cung điện tại bữa tiệc sinh nhật lần thứ 50 của Thái tử Charles.

Một chuyên gia lau chùi chiếc đèn chùm thủy tinh có từ thế kỷ 19 trong phòng khiêu vũ của cung điện.

Chiếc bàn cổ kính được chạm hoa văn tinh xảo.

Khách khứa tham dự bữ tiệc mừng sinh nhật lần thứ 80 của Nữ hoàng Elizabeth II tại phòng khiêu vũ của cung điện, hôm 19/4/2006.

Chiếc cầu thang cổ điển.

Phòng ngai vàng.

Một bức tranh cổ.

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Pha Lê là MC chương trình "Lựa chọn thông minh" của Đài truyền hình Hà Nội.

Người đẹp đất Cảng từng dự thi Hoa hậu Du lịch 2008.

Cô đã lọt vào top 20 Vietnam Idol 2008 và đang chuẩn bị ra album đầu tay.

CD của cô có tên "Hoa thuỷ tinh" gồm 9 ca khúc của những nhạc sĩ trẻ.

Tên tuổi của Pha Lê được nhắc đến nhiều khi có thông tin về chuyện tình cảm của cô và cầu thủ bóng đá nổi tiếng Công Vinh.

Tuy nhiên, Pha Lê khẳng định, giữa hai người không có chuyện gì sâu sắc.

Mới đây, cầu thủ Việt kiều Lee Nguyễn, khi thi đấu tại Hà Nội tình cờ xem Pha Lê hát đã bị ấn tượng bởi sắc đẹp lạnh lùng của cô.

Anh đã chủ động làm quen và xin số điện thoại của Pha Lê.

Người đẹp tiết lộ, mối quan hệ này hiện dừng ở mức tình bạn do hai người ở quá xa nhau và mới chỉ gặp nhau có một lần.

Nhiều người đùa gọi cô là "Người đẹp sát cầu thủ".

Pha Lê luôn tự tin khoe những đường cong nóng bỏng.

Phong cách người đẹp hướng tới trên sân khấu là sự gợi cảm.

Cô vừa hoàn thành luận văn tốt nghiệp Đại học Ngoại ngữ.

Giờ đây, Pha Lê hướng hoàn toàn thời gian, tâm sức của mình vào việc phát triển con đường nghệ thuật.

Sức hút khó cưỡng từ sự khiêu khích gợi cảm của Pha Lê.

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